ã€ŠVoid Evolution Systemã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Prologue

    ¡®Survive¡¯

    As he stood with blood, both his own and from various other beasts, covering his body, he only had one thought in his head.

    ¡®I need to survive¡¯

    He strengthened his grip on his weapons and charged forwards. He appeared before the beast and shed down, cutting a gash in its neck while the beast swung its paw at his head. He teleported behind the beast, and even while coughing up more blood, he kept stabbing and shing.

    ¡®Survive. Survive. Survive¡¯

    As the single word repeated in an endless loop, he jumped on the back of the beast, which was already starting to be sluggish from blood loss. He stabbed down once again; however, his weapon broke on contact.

    ¡®Survive. Survive. Survive.¡¯

    Even as he began losing his bearings from blood loss, he could only hear one word. He stuck his hands into the wound on the beast¡¯s neck and ripped it open, sinking his teeth into its raw flesh.

    ¡®Survive. Survive. Survive.¡¯

    He wed, bit, and ate, and with thest bit of reasoning he maintained, he used the broken weapon to stab into the gaping hole in the beast¡¯s neck. The beast fell to the floor, lifeless.

    As he began to lose consciousness, he saw a holographic screen appear before his eyes.

    [Level up!]

    [1st ss obtained!]

    ¡®I¡­survived.¡¯

    As he drifted into unconsciousness, a smile began to form on his lips.

    ***

    5 days earlier

    In a hospital somewhere in Los Angeles, a young man could be seen sitting patiently beside a hospital bed. He was 17 years old, with shaggy ck hair and amethyst eyes that looked almost hollow. Combined with his skinny build, he was someone who could¡¯ve been extremely handsome if not for his unkempt condition.

    On the bed was a middle-aged woman with simr features, evidently his kin.

    ¡°Mom, it¡¯s been 6 years since the world changed, but I¡¯m still okay. You don¡¯t have to worry about anything; your son will make sure you can wake up and enjoy this new world as well. Just please fight on and stay alive.¡± Although he hoped to get even the slightest twitch as a response, he knew it¡¯d be impossible.

    The young man continued having idle chatter with his mother as he thought back to the incident that¡¯s been coined as the ¡°World Awakening¡±.

    At that time, while he was just a freshman in high school, the worldpletely changed. As if they had been living in a certain Korean novel, mana awakened in the world, gates began opening, and a holographic screen showed up in front of the eyes of every human that outlined their ¡°status¡±.

    Each individual was given a talent to start with, ranging from simple abilities like enhanced eyesight to insane fantasy stuff like pyrokinesis; hell, there was even a story on the news about some guy who got Raisin maniption.

    And within this myriad of abilities, he awakened a spatial affinity with the skill ¡°short-distance teleportation¡±. At first, he was excited, thinking about intense battles and gaining great power, but the reality was quick to shoot him down.

    His ability only worked in the area 10 meters around himself, and his physical stats were insanely weak, leaving him tired after using his ability a couple of times. Due to this, he was never able to fight beasts and level up, only bing level 5 through sheer coincidence and kill stealing.

    To be honest, once he realized his own weakness, he never wanted to be a hunter and explore the mysterious gates. However, he was left without a choice. He had no useful skills for the changing world but was in desperate need of money.

    When mana awakened, not everything was fantastical and cool, as there were many people whose bodies couldn¡¯t adapt to the changing environment, leaving them hospitalized andatose, his mother being one of them. There was no cure for this ailment yet, but even the costs for the hospital to simply keep the patient alive were thousands of dors.

    So he persisted. He joined the Guild Association, which manages hunters, and became a member of a collection team for the guild his best friend was a part of, keeping him rtively safe from attacks.

    Sometimes he¡¯d act as a porter and steal a kill or two, but after his stunt was discovered, even that stopped being allowed. And like that, 6 years passed. He never made any progress and barely made enough money to support his mother.

    ¡°Mr.Damien? Mr.Damien Void?¡± Suddenly he was snapped out of his thoughts by the call of a nurse. ¡°Sir, we need to take care of the patient now, so we would appreciate it if you could wait outside for a few moments.¡±

    Since he knew of this routine from his countless visits over the past 6 years, he nodded and left the room.

    ¡®Damn. After thatst raid, I haven¡¯t been able to get a job in a while.¡¯ He thought to himself.

    ¡®If I don¡¯t manage to join another raid in the next week, I probably won¡¯t be able to afford to continue paying mom¡¯s medical bills. No, I have to¡­ No matter what, I won¡¯t stop paying those. Even if I have to move out of my apartment and live on the streets for a while, I still have to pay her bills.¡¯

    ¡°What am I even supposed to do with these weak-ass stats?¡± Damien thought out loud as he decided to check his status.

    ¡®Status¡¯

    As soon as he thought the word, a holographic screen popped up right in front of his eyes.

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Human

    Male ¨C Age 17

    Level 5 ¨C [ssless]

    Experience value: 0/100

    Titles [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique]

    Affinities: Space

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 20

    STR: 3

    AGI: 5

    DEF: 2

    INT: 3

    DEX: 5

    Skills: [Short Distance Teleportation Level 1], [Minor Telekinesis Level 1], [Minor Regeneration Level 1]

    Damien heaved an exasperated sigh. ¡®All my problems could be solved easily if I could just get stronger, but my physique seems to be stuck at this pathetic level no matter how much I try to improve.¡¯

    He thought back to the times when he would try his hardest to work out, even going so far as to use the One Punch Man and Solo Leveling workout routines to improve his body, but to no avail.

    When he first awakened the system, he already had 2 titles. Thinking back to how much he bragged about it back in high school, he felt like crawling in a hole out of shame.

    As it turned out, his first title, which was only represented by a series of dots, was absolutely useless. At first, he thought it would be like one of those novel tropes where the title was too powerful and therefore sealed, but after 6 years, he had given up that faint hope.

    His second title was even worse. It wasn¡¯t just useless; it was harmful. Instead of Void Physique being some kind of cheat power that granted him an easy understanding towards his spatial affinity, it just absorbed most of the nutrients and strength meant for his body like a ck hole and converted it to magic power.

    Due to this, he had a good amount of magic power for someone at his level, but that was redundant when his body couldn¡¯t even handle the strain of teleporting too frequently.

    ¡®Even my spatial affinity is one of the rarest and most challenging affinities to train. After all these years of constant effort, the only thing I¡¯ve managed to achieve is the ability to float cups towards me.¡¯ He thought as he sighed once more.

    ¡®Seriously, it would be nice if I had some plot armor or something, at least that would randomly give me a way to cure Mom, and then why would I need to care about being a hunter? I could just live the peaceful life an ordinary citizen with shit luck like me should be living.¡¯

    As his thoughts continued to get more and more self-deprecating, the nurses finished their procedures with his mother. He went back into the room to bid her farewell before leaving.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this useless son of yours, mother. All you need to do is keep living. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t do more for you, and I¡¯m sorry your son is so thin that he probably won¡¯t be able to get a girlfriend before you wake up,¡± he chuckled slightly at his own joke as he continued,

    ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving now. I promise I¡¯ll bring you more stories of the gates and the crazy stuff that¡¯s happening in the world next time Ie. I heard that even that guy with the Raisin Maniption has be famous. One day, this son of yours will stand at the top of the world and make sure you can live any life you desire.¡±

    After leaving those words, he left the hospital. On his way out the door, however, he was abruptly tackled to the floor.

    ¡°Damien!¡±

 Chapter 2

    ¡°Damien!¡±

    Feeling the 2 soft mounds glued to his chest, Damien looked up and saw a beautiful girl around 17 years old. She had dark blue hair, matching eyes, and a body that had been refined over the years forbat. This was his closest friend, Elena Pierce.

    ¡°Geez,¡± she said with a pout, ¡°you didn¡¯t even notice me waving at you! Hmph, you must¡¯ve been overthinking things again. You really need to get out of that habit.¡±

    Damien was used to this behavior though, so he just took her off of him and stood up while offering her a hand. ¡°So? What happened to get you so excited?¡±

    And just like always, she pretended like nothing happened and took his hand to stand up.

    ¡°Well, the guild just got ess to another gate, and it looks like it¡¯ll be a big one this time! It¡¯s only a B rank gate, but the mana signature it¡¯s giving off is abnormal. And since I¡¯ll be going this time, I can be sure that you¡¯re safe if youe too! So, what do you think?¡±

    Damien nodded with gratitude. Although she tended to act like a mom around him sometimes, she always had his best interests in mind.

    Even when she found out about his mother, her first reaction was to help him pay; however, he refused since he didn¡¯t want to owe her anything.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be there. Anyway, that¡¯s probably not why you¡¯re so happy though, right?¡± Damien responded. After all the years they spent together, he had a pretty good grasp of her personality.

    ¡°Nope! I have some time off right now, so we can finally hang out!¡± She said while she grabbed his hand and started dragging him away with a slight blush on her cheeks, though Damien failed to notice it.

    ¡°Fine, fine, let¡¯s go¡ª it¡¯s not like I have anything better to do.¡± As Damien let himself get dragged, he thought back to when they first awakened.

    Although he was stuck with the short end of the stick, Elena had massive potential from the very beginning. Although she was supposed to be a healer, she loved to fight on the front lines, turning her into abatant who could continuously heal herself and have evesting stamina inbat.

    And after she got her first ss, she became known as the ¡°War Priestess¡± by the masses. She was someone who had the potential to reach even 4th ss with enough work, so she was always favored by the guild.

    As he was lost in thought once again, Damien and Elena arrived at a cafe. After they ordered and sat down, Damien suddenly realized something. ¡°Hey, if the gate tomorrow is so abnormal, why are you asking someone as weak as me toe along?¡±

    ¡°Hmph,¡± Elena pouted, ¡°because if youe with me, I can at least look after you. Do you think I don¡¯t know that you¡¯ve been getting injured all the time by going through a gate after the gate and overusing your skills?¡±

    Damien averted his eyes, knowing she was right. ¡°Well, I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡± He was just recently losing his mind over trying to find a new gate so he could make some money, so he would be stupid to reject her offer.

    Besides, he had never been afraid to enter any gate, no matter its difficulty. His only fear is that there¡¯s nobody to take care of his mother if he dies; after all, his dad disappeared to god knows where around 10 years ago, and they had no other family that was still around.

    Time passed swiftly as Damien spent his day with Elena. They finished eating and visited an amusement park and spent the rest of the day there.

    Sometimes he wonders if these types of days that they have every so often can be considered as dates, but he quickly shook off the thought. He had to take care of his mother and make sure his life was still livable first and foremost.

    Besides, with her potential, she¡¯d be a huge figure in the near future; he can¡¯t let himself be a burden to her for much longer.

    Walking back from the amusement park, Damien looked at Elena, who was jogging ahead of him and giggling like a child. He found this kind of scene refreshing since she only acted like this around him.

    When she¡¯s around her guildmates, she¡¯s always cold and has a fierce aura surrounding her, making her generally unapproachable.

    That¡¯s why he enjoys spending time like this, thinking that maybe she needs days where she can act like an ordinary girl instead of the guild¡¯s most promising fighter.

    Watching her, he thought back to their days in high school once again. He was naturally an outgoing person, but he was never able to make any friends. Even with his looks that should have made him popr he had no luck.

    He was even bullied at one point in time by one of the other guys in the ss. Perhaps it was jealousy or maybe it was something else, Damien didn¡¯t know. What he did know was that meeting Elena was salvation for him

    His dreary school life instantly brightened up as she became akin to a sun in his dark world. He really didn¡¯t know how to repay the gratitude he felt towards her.

    After saying goodbye to Elena, Damien headed back to his apartment and started preparing for the raid tomorrow.

    The following day, Damien grabbed his supplies and headed to the meeting spot in front of the gate. It was rtively early, but since he¡¯s weak, he decided it¡¯d be better than risking beingte. The world was slowly transforming into one where strength is king, and thew could no longer fully contain certain people.

    As he rode the bus, Damien felt his chest constricting as an ominous feeling rose within him. Although he had read enough novels to know that this kind of feeling isn¡¯t something to be ignored, he had no choice but to continue forward.

    After all, he¡¯s too weak to do anything about it even if things go wrong, and his most prided expertise is in fleeing. All he can do is hope that he¡¯s just imagining things and trust those on the front line.

    When Damien stepped off the bus, he was greeted by Elena, who seemed to have been waiting for him.

    ¡°Hehe¡­I knew you¡¯d show up early, so I came and waited! How is it? Surprised?¡± She said while jumping up and down.

    Damien smiled lightly and made idle chatter with her as they walked to the gate. Upon arriving, Damien noticed Elena¡¯s behavior revert to coldness, though she still held some warmth when she spoke to him.

    As he knew this was just her personality with the guild, he just sighed lightly and headed over to where the collection team was.

    ¡°Yo, Damien! Looks like you¡¯re here again, huh. Guess we¡¯ll be having an easy time in today¡¯s gate.¡± Called a burly middle-aged man.

    ¡°Hm? That skinny kid? Why are you acting like that?¡± His buddy questioned.

    ¡°Haha, Pete, you haven¡¯t been on a raid with him before¡ª that¡¯s why you don¡¯t know. Although he has one of the weakest bodies I¡¯ve ever seen in a hunter, his collection speed is great!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, Dave, if it¡¯s as you say, I guess we can just sit back and let the kid do all the work today!¡±

    Damien just smiled and waved as he continued walking. Even if those stronger people and front liners tended to look down on him and berate him for his weakness, those who were in his crew in the collection squad always held him in high regard; after all, his short-distance teleportation and minor telekinesis are both skills that excel in side jobs like this one.

    Those guys get to finish much faster when Damien is around and get toze around for the rest of their shifts.

    Although Damien had just previously been hoping everything went without a hitch, he always considered himself someone with dogshit luck, and naturally, such luck needed toe into y at this moment. While he was preparing his equipment, an arrogant voice sounded from behind him.

    ¡°You there, dirty kid, I need a porter, and you¡¯reing with me to do it.¡±

 Chapter 3

    When Damien turned around, he saw a rtively handsome man in histe 20s with blonde hair and green eyes standing there haughtily.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m good¡ª find someone else to do it for you.¡± Though he responded casually, he inwardly prayed that he wasn¡¯t dealing with an arrogant young master of some corporation. Sadly his prayers weren¡¯t unanswered.

    ¡°Hmph! Who do you think you are, talking to me like that! I am Jin Horten, heir to the Horten conglomerate! If I say you do something, you do it!¡± The arrogant man said.

    Damien sighed. The Horten conglomerate was one of the worlds leading techpanies even after the influx of mana. They had more than enough power to ruin his life and the lives of those around him without any repercussions.

    As he sighed again, Damien followed the man. ¡°I wonder what other fun my dogshit luck will bring me today.¡±

    When Damien arrived at the area where the front liners were gathered with Jin, he received looks of disdain from almost everyone, which he promptly ignored. Turning to look at Elena, who was barely hiding her surprise, he could only sh a helpless smile.

    ¡°Listen up, people!¡± Jin yelled. ¡°I¡¯m Jin Horten, and I¡¯ll be leading the expedition today.¡± He paused, seemingly enjoying the shock on everyone¡¯s faces when they realized his background.

    ¡°This gate was officially listed as a B rank gate, but the boss will likely be a 1st ss beast. We need to proceed with utmost caution so we can close the gate sessfully.¡±

    As he spoke, Jin snuck several nces at Elena, trying to impress her; however, she remained as stoic as usual.

    While Jin continued to give an overview of the raid n, Damien looked at the gate in wonder. It was like a swirling vortex of deep blue attribute-less mana that maintained its shape by assimting the mana in its immediate surroundings.

    Gates usually sustain themselves like this, however after all the mana in a radius of 50 meters from the gate is absorbed, it can no longer sustain itself and copses.

    This copse is usually just an implosion of mana that decimates the area around it, but in some cases, it can lead to a dungeon break, where beasts use the moment the gate destabilizes to breach the barrier and arrive on Earth.

    These incidents, although rare, have led to many cities being decimated in the past. Therefore, the Guild Association made a rule where no gate is allowed to remain untouched for longer than 1 week.

    When Damien looked at this gate, he felt an undeniable attraction to its function. Slowly but surely, he got stuck in a trance staring at it.

    ¡®Although it¡¯s never expressly mentioned, these gates also make use of the spatial attribute to function. The suction force of the gate resembles my Void Body in some ways, by absorbing everything that¡¯s usually meant for different situations and repurposing it all to sustain itself.¡¯ Damien realized.

    ¡®If my Void Body works on the same principle, what would happen if I consumed more energy than the limit? Is that the way for me to strengthen myself? If so, how-¡®

    He was abruptly woken up when he felt a powerful force kick him to the ground.

    ¡°Hey! Worthless little shit, if you aren¡¯t going to listen to me, then what¡¯s the point of even having you here?¡±

    Damien looked at Jin with hateful eyes but said nothing, swearing that one day he¡¯ll get strong enough to repay his grievances. As it turns out, Jin wasn¡¯t even saying anything meaningful.

    The only reason he even bothered to hit Damien was to maintain his superiorityplex. Damien looked at the gate one more time before acting like he was paying attention to Jin¡¯s speech.

    However, he was still stuck thinking about his Void Body. ¡®A method to strengthen myself. Even if it¡¯s only in theory, it¡¯s still the first step forward I¡¯ve taken in years. The question is, where am I going to find an energy sourcerge enough to test my theory?¡¯

    He continued to ponder on this concept while letting Jin¡¯s words go in one ear and out the other until he finally finished his speech. Once everyone separated to prepare, Elena walked up to him.

    ¡°Hey, are you okay? That asshole is only leading this raid because of his background. If it wasn¡¯t for that, I swear I would¡¯ve-¡± Since it seemed like Elena would go on a rampage soon, Damien smiled lightly and patted her head.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay, don¡¯t worry. If it wasn¡¯t for his family background, he wouldn¡¯t be shit, so why should I worry about him instead of thinking about how I can improve myself?¡±

    Elena blushed but didn¡¯t stop him. ¡°W-well whatever! If that¡¯s what you think, then I¡¯m fine too.¡± Even as she tried to y it off, she put her hand on Damien¡¯s chest and began to heal him.

    Seeing this, Damien chuckled. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re done worrying about me, how about you go get yourself prepared for the raid? It would look bad if our friendly neighborhood War Priestess was fumbling around, right?¡±

    Elena¡¯s blush deepened at his tease, but since his words were partially correct, she scurried away to get ready.

    Damien watched her for a while before turning back to the gate, his expression bing serious. ¡®That ominous feeling only got stronger once I got closer to the gate. Well, no matter. If ites to the point where I need to flee, I¡¯m confident I can get out, only¡­¡¯

    Damien looked towards Elena again, ¡®Even if I need to sustain some internal bleeding, I have to make sure she makes it out too.¡¯

    He¡¯d mentioned before that she was his best friend, but it was more urate to say she was his ¡°only¡± friend. After that fateful day of awakening, when everybody got their powers, even social hierarchy went through a change.

    While those with useless powers were shunned to one group, those with stronger abilities gathered together; however, Damien could be said to be somewhere in the middle.

    He was ostracized by both sides, and the only one who had stuck with him was Elena. Thinking back, he couldn¡¯t help but feel grateful to her once again.

    Gathering his thoughts, he stood up and joined the attack squad. Deep within his eyes, an intense determination began burning. To keep himself safe, and to keep Elena safe. No matter the situation and no matter the consequences.

    As his resolve grew firm, the space around his body started to distort. Whatever happened in this dungeon would be a new beginning for him; whether it was a good or bad one, only time would tell.

 Chapter 4

    Expansive.

    The scenery inside the dungeon could best be described this way. When Damien entered the gate, all he could see was a huge cave system that spanned the distance of several miles, its end at a point he couldn¡¯t even see.

    ¡°Alright, folks, we should only be seeing first-ss beasts that are at most level 20 around this floor, so be prepared to take them out. Even if they¡¯re weak we still have to stay vignt in case something unexpected happens.¡±

    Once Jin gave the order, the team began moving, with Damien following at a slight distance behind them.

    As time passed, the raid continued without a hitch. With beasts being at the maximum of level 20, the attack squad, which isprised of many first sses whose levels average around 30, weren¡¯t having any issues, especially with Elena present.

    Whenever they met a beast that seemed like they would need to team up to kill, she would charge forward with her sword and start shing in a seemingly reckless manner.

    After all, no matter how refined her fighting style was, its base principle was her ability to constantly heal herself and replenish stamina. With this, no beast near or even slightly above her level was her match.

    However, even with this assurance, the team continued forward vigntly. The most dangerous aspect of weaker dungeons like this one wasn¡¯t always the beasts.

    Around 2 years after the World Awakening, when humanity was finally beginning topletely adapt to mana and the changes it brought, they discovered something that changed their entire viewpoint of its capabilities.

    When an advance party from a nameless guild was exploring one of their dungeons, they came across other humanoid species.

    Naturally, they attemptedmunication before wantonly attacking and identally discovered that they were no longer speaking anynguages that existed on Earth.

    As it turns out, the introduction of mana and the system that follows it grants all beings under its influence with a sharednguage.

    As the inhabitants of Earth use English as their universalnguage, this newnguage wasn¡¯t introduced until they came into contact with other intelligent species.

    When the members of this guild began speaking to the humanoid individuals, they learned that the dungeon they were in was actually connected to another world called ¡®Lahor¡¯.

    As other guilds also began meeting intelligent races in dungeons, they learned of the existence of countless other worlds.

    As it was exined by the denizens of some of those other worlds, gates are phenomena that only appear in worlds that are newly awakened to mana.

    After a world has adapted to and assimted with mana, dungeons are structures that naturally spawn; however, a world that hasn¡¯t fully assimted with mana doesn¡¯t have the structural integrity to hold constructs born from mana, such as dungeons, without copsing. Due to this, gates appear and connect to dungeons in various other worlds.

    In one dungeon, connected to a world called the ¡®Cloud ne¡¯, Earthlings met humans that treat the system as something akin to the ¡®heavens¡¯, and rather than leveling up, they consider it as ¡®cultivation¡¯.

    Through these countless interactions with other world denizens, the citizens of Earth learned many things, especially the fact that these otherworld denizens are barred entry to Earth through the gates.

    It seemed to have something to do with the concept of ¡®bnce¡¯. However, because humanity has only lived with mana and the system for 6 years, they weren¡¯t able topletely understand these moreplex theories.

    Several hours passed, and the dungeon seemed to have been mostly cleared. The group decided to take a break beforemencing their final sweep. During this break, Elena naturally went to Damien to check on him and chat for a while.

    In another area of the dungeon, Jin stood with a hateful look in his eyes. ¡®Dammit. That woman should be mine! Why does she keep looking at that trash instead of me?¡¯

    Throughout the entire time they were raiding the dungeon, Jin was constantly trying to show his strength and valor to impress Elena, but she acted like he didn¡¯t exist. As the only son of a wealthy and influential father, Jin was never treated with indifference like what Elena shows him.

    ¡®But that only makes me want her more.¡¯ Jin looked over at Elena, who was chatting andughing with Damien, showing apletely different personality than she did with others as envy began to cloud his mind.

    ¡®All I have to do I get rid of that trash. If that hindrance is gone, then there¡¯s nothing stopping her from bing my woman. Hehehe, anything can happen inside a dungeon, right? If a weak porter dies because a beast just ¡°happens¡± to break through the lines¡­¡¯

    His expression twisted as his thoughts continued, and a malevolent aura started to spread, only to be retracted immediately after. ¡®Damien was it? Well, I guess I¡¯ll let you have her for now since it¡¯ll be thest conversation you ever have.¡¯

    Meanwhile, Damien continued chatting andughing with Elena, oblivious to the fact that he was being put to death by an arrogant young master.

    ¡°So? This dungeon seems to be pretty normal to me¡ª I don¡¯t see why the signature it gave off was so weird.¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± Elena pondered, ¡°maybe it has multiple floors? If that¡¯s the case, then there¡¯s nothing to worry about since the gate will close once we clear this floor. But isn¡¯t that good news for you? You get more money for less work.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess so¡ª anyway, it looks like that asshole is gathering everyone up again, so you should probably head over.¡±

    When the attack squad began gathering, however, a thunderous roar resounded through the cavern. As heavy footsteps approached the group.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± Eximed Jin, ¡°Just from its aura, I can tell that it¡¯s probably a 1st ss! Everyone get together and be ready to either fight or flee on mymand!¡±

    When the footsteps stopped, what was revealed was a massive tiger-like beast around 20 meters tall that had a fiery aura radiating from its body.

    ¡°It looks around level 50, a newly ascended 2nd ss. If we work together, we should be able to kill it!¡± Jin yelled.

    Damien retreated many meters as to not get caught in the crossfire as he watched the attack squad get into formation. The squadprised of 2 tankers, 2 healers, a mage, and 3 damage dealers, including Elena and Jin.

    The beast charged forward with a roar and shot mes from its mouth. As the tankers took the hit, the mage utilized his ice affinity to freeze the beast¡¯s paws.

    Elena and Jin charged. While Jin melded into the shadows and sliced at the beast¡¯s tendons and other sensitive areas with his twin daggers, Elena confronted it head-on.

    The tiger roared in anger and swung its paws at Elena while she deftly dodged and shed at its neck. Time passed as the squad slowly chipped away at the beast, making it umte various gashes and wounds.

    With Elena¡¯s ability, she was able to keep fighting even after most of the team had run out of mana or stamina.

    With the mage letting out asional ice spikes as his mana replenished and Jin limiting its movements by cutting its exposed tendons and ligaments, around 15 minutester, she managed tond a fatal hit, letting the beast drop to the floor, dead.

    With theprehensive nning and experience they had, the team managed to finish the fight without any unexpected circumstances and were promptly healed by the healers. As everyone began catching their breaths, the entire cave began to rumble.

    Everyone¡¯s faces immediately paled.

    ¡°The gate¡¯s closing! We need to get out of here!¡± Yelled one of the tankers as he ran with all his might.

    Everyone else soon followed as even Damien had to continuously teleport to reach the gate. Being trapped in a dungeon usually meant death with no escape.

    Once the gate closes, there is no connection left to Earth, so even if one manages to escape the dungeon, they¡¯re trapped in apletely different world.

    As Damien ran, he looked around for Elena and noticed her falling behind.

    ¡°Elena! What are you doing?¡± Damien yelled before abruptly realizing the situation.

    The gate closed out of nowhere, and as the one who did most of the work to kill the 2nd ss beast, she must¡¯ve used most of her mana. Without being given time to rest, she was basically on the verge of fainting.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± Damien cursed as he ran back to grab her. He put his arm around Elena¡¯s waist, which she subconsciously rejected before realizing it was him, then without pause began spamming his short-distance teleportation to flee.

    As the gate came into sight, Damien felt his mana draining at a rapid rate, and his body began to break down. His blood churned and leaked through his pores, but he kept going.

    He remembered his ominous feeling, and he remembered his resolve. And just as his internal organs were going to rupture, he made it out of the gate.

    As he set Elena on the ground, he smiled. Although it felt a bit anti-climactic, he was d he managed to get both of them out of the gate without issues.

    And then, just as he was about to ask Elena, who had regained some vigor, how she was doing, he felt his body flying backward.

    ¡®Huh? Backward? What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Damien thought as his mind failed to understand what caused such a bizarre situation. As reality sunk in, he began to panic.

    He knew that what was behind him was a gate that was on the verge of closing, but he had no means to save himself.

    His mana was overdrawn, his body was at its limit, and his consciousness was already weak.

    As he felt the mana current of the gate graze his back, thest thing he saw was Elena¡¯s horrified expression and a certain bastard smiling at him and waving.

    And then, everything went dark.

 Chapter 5

    Feeling an aching pain all over his body, Damien slowly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by cold hard stone in every direction.

    ¡®Huh? Where am I?¡¯ Damien thought before he remembered the events that led to this point. ¡®Fuck! That arrogant bastard actually pushed me into the gate! I didn¡¯t do anything to-¡®

    Before his thoughts could go too far, Damien heard a series of roars and screechesing towards him. When he looked down, he realized that he was covered in blood, which must have attracted beasts.

    Coming to this realization, his face paled. He quickly got up, confirming that enough time had passed for him to regenerate from any major wounds, and ran.

    Damien was weak. He had spent the majority of his life after the World Awakening fretting over his weakness, and now in this situation, his weakness became all the more apparent. He ran and ran, but the beasts naturally weren¡¯t only in one direction.

    Damien could only consider himself lucky that the beasts in the immediate surroundings of the gate had been wiped, or else he would¡¯ve died before he even woke up.

    ¡®Fuck fuck fuck! What do I do? I can¡¯t fight, but I can¡¯t live without food. If I don¡¯t fight, I¡¯ll die, but if I fight, I¡¯ll also die!¡¯ Damien panicked. Although he had plenty of experience inside gates, his level ofbat experience was almost nil. He had probably stabbed a sword a couple of times when he stole kills to level up.

    Damien didn¡¯t know how long he ran, but it was long enough for the cries of beasts to fade into the distance. He approached a cave wall and sat down to rest his aching body. This amount of running could be considered the most physical exercise he¡¯s had in a very long time.

    As he sat with his back to the wall, he tried to calm his breathing and mind, but no matter what he tried, his thoughts wouldn¡¯t stop.

    ¡®I¡¯ll die. I¡¯ll really die. I can¡¯t do shit against beasts. I don¡¯t have a weapon, I don¡¯t have muscles, I don¡¯t have offensive skills, I have nothing. I don¡¯t know where this dungeon is¡ª I don¡¯t know how far away Earth is or if it¡¯s even in the same gxy. What will happen to Mom when I¡¯m not around.¡¯

    *Pah*

    Damien pped himself in the face. ¡®No! I can¡¯t give up yet! Even if she thinks I¡¯m dead, it¡¯s fine. What I need to do now is survive. Survive and make it back to Earth. Make it back to mom, make it back to Elena, and make it back to drop a on that sick bastard¡¯s head or something.¡¯

    Thinking of thatst point, Damien¡¯s blood boiled in a fury. Damien let all of Jin¡¯s antics slide because of his background. He had to endure because he had nothing. He ended up in this situation because he was weak.

    ¡®I have to get stronger. It doesn¡¯t matter what I have to do to reach that point, but I have to get strong enough to return.¡¯

    Though he was still in a panic over the situation, he knew that if he sat still and did nothing, his only oue was death. He had always worked without fear beforehand, and now, even though the situation is much direr, all he needs to do is the same thing he always did. Survive.

    ¡°Damien, you must always remember. Although you are weak, you must forge a will to live, a will to achieve, and a will to survive. No matter the circumstance and no matter the adversity, you must survive because if you survive and you fight, and you persevere through it all, one day you¡¯ll be someone that even the heavens must look up to.¡±

    Damien thought back to his dad¡¯sst words before he disappeared to who knows where. ¡®Fuck, why am I thinking about that bastard right now.¡¯

    But no matter how much he cursed his father, he could never bring himself to hate him.

    As he grew and thought back to hisst memories of his father, he could feel the pain his father always hid from him and his mother. And thinking about his father¡¯s words in the situation he¡¯s in now, he could feel his father¡¯s resolve.

    Though he didn¡¯t know what that resolve was towards, it didn¡¯t matter anymore. ¡®Dammit. If that guy could talk all that martial master bullshit and forge such a resolve even before the World Awakening happened, why should I pussy out here?¡¯

    ¡®I need to go back and cure mom, I need to go back and check on Elena, I need to go back and pummel that arrogant asshole, and I need to find my father one day and punch him in the face.¡¯

    Damien began to forge his resolve. He had forgotten in his panic, but he hadn¡¯t died yet, and he still had plenty of things to do. As long as he hadn¡¯t died, he could still achieve what he wanted to achieve. As long as he hadn¡¯t died, just like his dad used to say, he¡¯s be someone even the heavens must look up to.

    It seemed like space itself had bore witness to his resolve and his deration, as the space within a 25-meter radius of Damien started to twist and distort; unfortunately, Damien was too deep in his thoughts to notice.

    Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open, and the space reverted to normal.

    Several hours had passed since Damien sat down to rest, but it seemed he was in a rtively secluded area since no beast attacked him during his panic.

    ¡®Geez, I must be some kind of idiot to have a panic attack in this kind of life or death situation. How do those novel mc¡¯s even adapt shit like this happening so fast?¡¯ Damien chuckled

    ¡°Well, if I was a novel mc, my plot armor would¡¯ve saved my mom by now, and I¡¯d get a random power boost to deal with this situation, but obviously, that isn¡¯t happening.¡±

    Damien stood up, his eyes having regained their rity; he began to quietly run around the dungeon floor.

    ¡®No matter which world this dungeon is connected to, it has to have weapons, and someone had to have died in here before. There¡¯s no way our party was the first to ever explore it.¡¯

    And after what seemed like hours of running, he found what he was looking for, a pile of bones and a slightly rusted pair of short swords.

    ¡®I was kind of hoping for a spear, but short swords work too,¡¯ Damien thought as he picked them up. They were entirely made of some type of ck metal, and although the one of them was showing signs of cracking already, they were more than sharp enough to work as a temporary solution.

    ¡®Well then, let¡¯s get to hunting.¡¯

 Chapter 6

    One day passed since then, and Damien could be seen crouching behind a rock with his short swords out. At the moment he was stalking his prey, which was¡­a bunny.

    Even Damien thought it was extremelyme for him to hunt bunnies, but when he carelessly attempted to kill the first one, his only reward was a deep gash on his leg that still hadn¡¯t healed.

    Because of that, Damien started calling this species, Demon Bunnies, and began using hit and run tactics using his teleportation to kill them while they were off guard.

    ¡®Now¡¯

    And just like every time he hunted for the past day, he waited for his opportunity and teleported directly behind the bunny, stabbing his short swords down before he even teleported, instantly killing it.

    Another discovery he made was that his teleportation ability carried his momentum. Although he had no idea how that worked scientifically, oldws of science didn¡¯t apply to the new reality.

    Still, he did his best to use the old science he learned to justify his power. It was human instinct to try and define the unknown in terms one already has knowledge of.

    Using his bunny killing method, he had already gained a level, but killing the same beast too many times significantly decreases the amount of experience earned, so he would have to move on to bigger prey soon.

    Grabbing the fresh bunny carcass, Damien went back to the cave he had found and set up residence in yesterday. He threw the body into the pile of other bodies and sat down.

    Today would be his 2nd day going without food or water, but he was holding up rtively well due to the rich density of mana in the environment. Although he had 6 or 7 demon bunny corpses, he knew it would be stupid if he ate them as he is now.

    Beast mana is infused in their bodies to strengthen them and is ipatible with humans, so it¡¯s usually impossible to eat beasts unless the carcasses are purified by a priest ss or simr people.

    When the world first changed, there was a couple of cases of people trying to cook and eat beast meat, however, things didn¡¯t end well for them.

    Through further research, it was discovered that 99% of the time, people who ate non-purified beast meat had their bodies corrupted by the foreign mana and exploded.

    The other 1% of people mutated into Demi-humans, but not the cute cat girl kind of that show up in the manga, rather they would have wolf heads and wolf paws with random tufts of fur jutting out from their bodies.

    These people also tended to lose most of their reasoning, bing more animalistic and primal.

    Even knowing about these abysmal odds, Damien had a certain level of confidence in mutating sessfully as long as he got stronger before he attempted it.

    Either way, he would have to eat the beast meat, he just decided to dy it to increase his chances. However, he could onlyst at most another day or two before he needs to eat.

    Once Damien got his thoughts in order, he thought back to theyout he made of the floor he¡¯s on.

    ¡®I don¡¯t know which floor this is, but it¡¯s definitely near the top. There are also only ssless beasts on this floor since the rest were wiped out during the raid. Although it¡¯s frustrating, there¡¯s no way to go up or closer to the surface, there¡¯s only a single staircase that leads to the next floor.¡¯

    ¡®I can¡¯t gain much more from ssless beasts unless I kill everything alive on this floor, but that¡¯ll drain my stamina to the point where I¡¯ll be forced to eat the beast meat and take my chances with mutation.¡¯

    As his thoughts followed this path, he made his decision. ¡®I already firmed my resolve. There¡¯s no more use in hesitating. If it means I can get stronger faster, I¡¯ll go down to the next floor.¡¯

    But first, he decided to rest. Among the ssless beasts here, he could reign rtively supreme with his teleportation, so they don¡¯t usually disturb the area where he stays.

    What felt like a couple of hourster, Damien woke up feeling refreshed. Since it¡¯s only been around a day and a half since he got stranded, he still had a rtive view of the time.

    When he got up, he looked at the pile of corpses he¡¯d made and sighed. He didn¡¯t know if he¡¯d be able toe back for these and felt it was a waste to save them.

    ¡®Okay. It¡¯s time to go. This will be my first time facing real danger in my life.¡¯

    With an increased sense of vignce, Damien walked down the staircase leading to the next floor.

    When he reached what he had dubbed as the second floor, he was surprised to find that nts were growing here and there. Although it was mostly as deste as the 1st floor, it still had a bit of spice.

    Damien was pleasantly surprised by this discovery, after all, this meant that there was a possibility of there being a water source somewhere in this dungeon.

    As Damien vigntly walked through this new floor, he finally met his first prey. In front of him was a grey wolf that was slightly shorter than the average human, and judging from the aura it gave off, it was probably around level 8 or 9.

    Damien and the wolf eyed each other vigntly before the wolf made the first move and pounced. Damien jumped to his right and drew his short swords. He then teleported to the left side of the wolf and shed down.

    The wolf howled in pain as a gash was created in its side and attempted to bite Damien, however, he had already teleported to the adjacent side of the wolf, repeating his previous motion.

    The wolf, in its confusion, turnedpletely towards Damien, who vanished from the spot and continued his tactics, 3 stabster, the wolf copsed to the floor.

    [You killed Lvl 9 Grey Wolf, obtained 50 Exp]

    ¡°Haa..haa..¡±

    Since the wolf didn¡¯t possess a great deal of intelligence, it was rtively easy to deal with, but Damien was still gasping for air. After all, he was never in frontal confrontations before this. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. Even though his fight was for survival, he found himself having fun.

    Fighting, killing, growing stronger. Ever since the possibilities opened up with the introduction of mana, this was all he ever wanted to do.

    As he looked forward to the seemingly limitless future, he reaffirmed his determination.

    ¡®I will survive.¡¯

 Chapter 7

    Another day passed sessfully as Damien continued hunting Grey Wolves. By this point, he had killed 6 more wolves and had sessfully reached level 9.

    ¡®Damn, it took 6 years for me to reach level 5 but now I¡¯ve added another 4 levels to that within 3 days. I know the circumstances aren¡¯t even close to being in my favor, but maybe this is the kind of environment I needed for my growth¡¯

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Human

    Male ¨C Age 17

    Level 9 ¨C [ssless]

    Experience value: 250/1,000

    Titles [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique]

    Affinities: Space

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 100

    STR: 5

    AGI: 8

    DEF: 3

    INT: 6

    DEX: 8

    Skills: [Short Distance Teleportation Level 3], [Minor Telekinesis Level 2], [Minor Regeneration Level 5]

    After constantly using his teleportation skill in battle, his mastery began to grow, increasing his distance limit to 25 meters. Furthermore, he passed time by ying with his telekinesis to pull his des towards himself and managed to increase its level once.

    Naturally, with all the healing he¡¯s had to do with his constant scratches and gashes from battles, his regeneration had the most improvement.

    ¡®Sadly my physical stats are still stagnant, even though my mana capacity has increased 5 fold. I still haven¡¯t been able to test my theory about my Void Body, but I have a feeling that the best ce to test it is when I eat and am forced to mutate.¡¯

    Damien decided to stop hunting for a bit and train his abilities. Although he hadn¡¯t failed in a hunt yet, it was only due to his teleportation and the low intelligence of the beasts he fought. He knew that as he went further down into the dungeon, his current advantages would fade.

    Sitting down in a meditative pose, Damien closed his eyes, trying to feel the space around him. Even before he awakened, he always felt an intrinsic connection to space, as if his awareness was always better than it should be. This feeling only became more prominent after he came in contact with mana.

    He did not doubt that if it wasn¡¯t for his Void Body holding him back from physical improvement, he would¡¯ve had enough talent to rival the likes of Elena and Jin.

    As he focused on this intrinsic connection, Damien felt like he was in the middle of an endless ocean. Layers uponyers and waves upon waves crashed down on him from every direction, seemingly upholding thews of space in the area.

    As he dove deeper into this phenomenon, he felt as if he could connect any two of theseyers and simply walk to the point in space where they begin and end.

    ¡®I see, so this is the underlying principle behind my teleportation ability. I¡¯m subconsciously connecting two points in space and transporting myself through the spatialyers. If it¡¯s like that then I wonder if¡­¡¯

    Damien connected himself to a faintyer of space he felt past the end of his perception and willed himself forward.

    ¡°Cough..cough..¡±

    Suddenly, he appeared 30 meters away from his original position, however, he was now kneeling on the floor and coughing up blood. Still, his eyes were as bright as ever.

    ¡®So that¡¯s how it is. Usually, I just see a blur before I¡¯m at the point where I wanted to be but I felt it clearly this time. If my body isn¡¯t strong enough, the spatial turbulence caused by the connection of two non-adjacent points in space will rip me to shreds.¡¯

    ¡®As my understanding of my spatial affinity grows, I can lower the amount of turbulence, increasing the distance I can travel. Simrly, as long as my body grows strong enough, the distance limit will not matter anymore. It looks like I have to test my theory on the Void Body sooner than I originally nned. Only then can I start growing.¡¯

    Since he wouldn¡¯t make progress in the spatial element for a while, he decided to train his swordsmanship. Damien took a stance and swung his swords repeatedly, trying to lower the amount of wasted motion as much as possible.

    Hours passed like this until the day came to an end, and Damien finally finished training. By the end, he had awakened the skill [Sword Mastery].

    Although it was only level 1, it still signified that he had stepped on the right path. Damien decided that it was best to rest for a while before he started fighting without abusing his teleportation. Only like this would he be able to consistently improve.

    Earth POV

    In a hospital somewhere in Los Angeles, a young woman could be seen sitting patiently beside a hospital bed. She was 17 years old, with dark blue hair and matching eyes that had lost some of their light. Combined with her trained body, she was no doubt someone who could be considered a top beauty.

    On the bed was a middle-aged woman with ck hair, her eyes were closed as she remained in aa for thest 6 years.

    ¡°Aunty, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Elena said with tears in her eyes. ¡°I told him I would protect him, but in the end, he was the one who saved me. That bastard who screwed him over isn¡¯t even trying to pretend like he didn¡¯t do it.¡±

    Thinking about that hateful Jin, Elena¡¯s eyes grew red with fury. It had been 4 days since Damien had been trapped in the dungeon, and Jin had been unting himself like he didn¡¯t do anything wrong. To make matters worse, he was now openly attempting to pursue Elena and make her his woman.

    ¡°Aunty, no matter what, I refuse to believe that he¡¯s dead. Damien would never leave you behind. That bastard has toe back. After all, I-I never told him how I¡­never mind.¡± Elena sighed.

    No matter what people said, no matter what the odds of survival are, Elena adamantly insisted that Damien was alive.

    When he disappeared through the gate, Elena had raged and punched Jin so hard he flew 10 meters before he managed to stop himself. She would¡¯ve done much worse if she wasn¡¯t stopped by her guild.

    After that incident, she took some time off and began visiting the hospital almost daily. She had also taken over Damien¡¯s mother¡¯s hospital bills in his stead.

    ¡°I promise you that I¡¯ll get stronger. So strong that when hees back, he won¡¯t even recognize me. Next time I see him, I¡¯ll properly tell him everything. At that time, aunty, I hope I can have your support as well.¡±

    Checking the time, Elena got up. ¡°Goodbye for today aunty, I¡¯ll probablye back pretty soon so you don¡¯t have to worry about not havingpany.¡±

    Elena left the hospital room and sighed. She wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes as she resolved herself. ¡®Never again. Never again will I be forced into a position where he has to protect me.¡¯

    ¡®When hees back, he¡¯ll definitely be strong, and at that time, I must be able to stand before him confidently.¡¯

    Just like Damien did a few days prior, Elena resolved herself to be stronger than anyone.

 Chapter 8

    In an unknown dungeon somewhere in the universe, one could see the scene of a slightly skinny young man with ck hair and amethyst eyes fighting against 3 human-sized grey wolves.

    The wolves eyed the human warily, after all, in the past day he had gone around and continuously killed members of their pack. Even with their limited intelligence, they knew he was someone dangerous.

    The young man, Damien, was also vignt about the wolves. To improve his sword mastery, he had be active in his hunt and found many grey wolves that he subsequently killed. However, since he was only one step away from a ss change, he needed a much greater amount of exp than ever before.

    The 3 wolves circled him, but Damien didn¡¯t give them time to prepare. He immediatelyunched himself towards the first wolf and smashed down with one of his des, while simultaneously throwing his second de at the wolf behind him.

    As the wolves tried to dodge, Damien used his telekinesis to hold the first one in ce while manipting the direction of his other de to pierce the second wolf¡¯s flesh.

    Suddenly, he vanished, narrowly avoiding the ws of the third wolf and appearing on its back, slicing a deep gash along its spine.

    With the 3rd wolf paralyzed, Damien vanished once more, reappearing holding the handle of his second de and pulling it downwards with all his might, cutting a through the flesh on the wolf¡¯s chest.

    He continued to dance around the wolves, most of the time choosing to dodge with his body, but teleporting when he sees things get dangerous. After five long minutes, the first two wolves had fallen.

    [You killed 2 level 9 Grey Wolves, gained 100 exp]

    Walking over to the third wolf who had been paralyzed at the beginning, Damien could see the hateful look in its eyes. However, he felt no remorse. It was kill or be killed in the dungeon, and he would not choose thetter option. He lifted his short sword and swiftly beheaded the wolf.

    [You killed a level 9 Grey Wolf, gained 50 exp]

    Gathering his breath and wiping the blood off his des, Damien once again realized he was smiling. Recently, he had begun musing that he might be a battle maniac, as he felt an undeniable thrill in this kill or be killed environment.

    If it wasn¡¯t for his goals and his priorities back on Earth, perhaps he¡¯d stay here longer than he needed to just for the thrill.

    Damien walked back to his little cave abode while silently admiring the dungeon scenery. The area he was at now, had much more flora than anything he had previously seen.

    Countless nts of various fantastical colors bloomed everywhere, however, he had almost found out the hard way that they¡¯re poisonous. Luckily, he decided to feed one to a dying wolf first and ended up killing it.

    Reaching his home base, Damien sat down to rest. ¡®It seems like these wolfckeys won¡¯t be enough to get me up to 1st ss. Each of them is only giving 50 exp now, while the first one only gave around 200 exp.¡¯

    ¡®If I kill anymore I won¡¯t even gain anything. My next big fight will be against their leader, who¡¯s most likely a 1st ss. Judging by how easy it¡¯s be to kill level 9 beasts, a 1st ss shouldn¡¯t be too hard. Even if it¡¯s a tough fight, it¡¯s still doable.¡¯

    Sadly, as someone who had given up on the thought of getting stronger, Damien possessed little knowledge of the difference between sses. In due time, he woulde to regret his hubris.

    Damien rested for 4 hours before standing back up. It was his 5th day in the dungeon, and he had the inexplicable feeling that something major would happen today. Damien stared at the cave ceiling, his eyes seemingly attempting to pierce through reality to gaze upon a certain hospital room on earth.

    ¡°Mom, I know you can¡¯t hear me, but I want you to know that your son is okay. Though this environment is harsh, it seems to be exactly what I need to grow. Don¡¯t worry about a thing.¡±

    ¡°By the time Ie back to Earth and back to you, I¡¯ll be someone you can be proud of. I¡¯ll heal your sickness like it¡¯s nothing and let you live avish life, and maybe we can even find dad and beat him up a bit for leaving.¡±

    Damien didn¡¯t do this often, but after the reality set in that he might be at the opposite end of the universe from Earth, the pain of being alone came to the forefront.

    He missed idly talking to his mom, even if she couldn¡¯t hear him, he missed his happy days with Elena, where they acted like nothing else in the world mattered, he even missed his shitty one room apartment, where he at least had a bed to sleep in.

    Although he had yet to face death, he knew it would happen at some point. He knew his easy ride so far was only because he hasn¡¯t met a single beast who evolved past level 10 yet.

    He sometimes wondered how he could keep such a positive outlook in this kind of situation, but he realized that the humorous attitude he kept was only a coping mechanism, because some part of him deep down still wanted to think that everything was just a nightmare and that he was still on Earth living peacefully.

    Thinking back to his life for the past five days without said coping mechanism, he shivered. He hadn¡¯t eaten once, and he spent day after day killing, running, and training.

    Was it mana that gave him the nutrients he needed, was it just a constant adrenaline rush due to the situation, or was it abination of both? Damien didn¡¯t know, but he knew he¡¯d run out of steam soon.

    He let himself rest for a total of around 15 hours through the entire experience, and that¡¯s only if his sense of time is still urate. He didn¡¯t want to imagine the kind of personality he¡¯d have once hepletely epted his circumstances.

    Maybe he¡¯d lose all his humanity and turn into a beast himself¡­ However, he didn¡¯t let the thoughts stir for too long. No matter what he turned into, he didn¡¯t have a choice in the matter.

    He needed to grow stronger regardless of anything, and if he¡¯s forced to throw away his humanity to achieve this, he¡¯d do it in an instant. As long as his core principles didn¡¯t change, he didn¡¯t care what became of him.

    Calming his mind, he held his hands out, as his short swords came flying towards him.

    ¡®Last time I felt this kind of premonition, I was thrown into a dungeon and left to die in another world. No matter what happens this time, I must remember, I must survive. No matter what I must survive.¡¯

    Even after five days, he still remembered the will he forged after his panic attack in the beginning. ¡®Survive¡¯. Whether he was joking around, killing, training, or sleeping, this word constantly reyed on loop in his head.

    ¡°Well,¡± he chuckled to himself, ¡°I wonder what kind of fun my dog shit luck will bring me today.¡±

    The hunt resumed once again, only this time, unbeknownst to him, Damien would be the prey.

 Chapter 9

    2 hours had passed since Damien decided to hunt once more, but his ominous feeling never lessened. Coupled with the fact that he felt like he was being watched, his vignce was at an all-time high.

    Damien walked through an unexplored area of the second floor and watched his environment carefully. Throughout his entire 2 hours of walking, he hadn¡¯t run into a single beast.

    Although the Grey Wolves were the most prominent beasts on this floor, he had run into many smaller and weaker beasts during his travels, however even they were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, he heard a branch snap.

    ¡°Grrrr¡­¡±

    From behind him, he heard the growl of a beast, however, he didn¡¯t make any sudden movements. ¡®A beast that could approach me without alerting my senses! No matter how strong this beast is it¡¯s definitely on apletely different level than the wolves I¡¯ve been fighting.¡¯

    Damien slowly turned around. When he did, he saw a wolf iparable to anything else he¡¯d seen on this floor. It was around 3 meters tall and its grey fur contained patches of ck here and there.

    With its every movement, ck lightning coursed through its figure and charred the ground around it. Its aura was so suffocating that Damien was almostpletely rooted on the spot.

    The wolf stared at Damien with a level of rage and intelligence that none of the other wolves possessed.

    When it had returned from its hunt earlier, it had found that many of the younger wolves in its pack were being in one after the other. Its kin was one of them. In its rage, it tracked him down and confronted him itself.

    Damien didn¡¯t know what level this beast was at, but he knew he couldn¡¯t face it with his current strength. ¡®Is this the difference between sses?¡¯ He thought to himself as he prepared to run.

    Damien knew he¡¯d be a fool to turn his back on this beast right now, so his only options were to go left or right. Looking at the beast vigntly as if he was preparing for battle, Damien lowered his body. Then, he turned right and ran as fast as he could.

    The wolf, however, didn¡¯t move, seemingly wanting to toy with its prey. After Damien made a good amount of distance, the wolf let out a howl and shot forward. Within only a matter of seconds, it caught up with Damien, shing its ws forward at a speed he couldn¡¯t follow.

    Before Damien knew what had happened, he lost feeling in his left leg and tripped. The wolf had precisely severed his Achilles¡¯ tendon.

    Biting his lip to muffle a groan of pain, Damien began teleporting away, however since he wasn¡¯t in a correct state of mind and was moving linearly, he couldn¡¯t escape.

    Every time Damien made distance, the wolf caught up immediately, inflicting more flesh wounds on Damien while he continued fleeing. But as he teleported forward one more, he realized the wolf had stopped its pursuit. When he raised his head, all he saw was a vast expanse of darkness.

    Damien felt despair. Behind him was a monster he couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine defeating, and in front of him was a vast abyss whose depth was unknown. He looked to his left and right, and realized that the area around him had narrowed, leaving him without an escape path.

    The wolf stared at Damien, and noticing the despair that was forming in his eyes, it felt ted. This was the scene it was hoping for. It wanted the killer of its kin to feel the sensation of death slowly encroaching him. He wanted Damien to feel fear he¡¯d never felt before.

    Damien was desperate. He knew he would die here if he couldn¡¯t kill this wolf, but his options were limited.

    Looking at the deep abyss in front of him, Damien had a crazy idea. ¡®If ites down to it, I can always do that.¡¯

    Since Damien knew he couldn¡¯t run anymore, he prepared himself for his body to break down during this fight, however, he wasn¡¯t too worried.

    Once he achieves his 1st ss, his injuries will be healed and his stamina will be replenished, although only on the surface level. He wouldn¡¯t be able to regrow an arm or anything that major.

    Damien took out his short swords and vanished from the spot, appearing at the wolf¡¯s back legs. He stabbed both of his swords towards the same point and hoped it would be enough to damage the wolf.

    However, his hopes were crushed. Even with all his strength, he was only able to make a small cut into the wolf.

    Damien vanished again, appearing on the other side of the wolf, as he resolved himself to cut until the wolf bled out. Sadly, the wolf wouldn¡¯t let him do as he pleased.

    Due to the difference inbat experience, it only took a minute or so for the wolf to figure out his patterns. Leading to ws or a gaping maw greeting Damien every time he teleported.

    Although it was clear that the wolf had a lightning affinity, it didn¡¯t take Damien seriously enough to use it.

    Like this, the fight continued for several minutes. While the wolf still only had a few gashes, there were plenty of cuts on its body that were leaking blood.

    But Damien was in a much worse position. His whole body had been covered in cuts, with a deep gash running along his back, he was bleeding profusely, and it looked like he had no chance to win.

    When the strain of constant teleportationbined with the wounds he received from the wolf, his internal organs were only a couple hits away from turning into mush.

    At this point, Damien wasn¡¯t even thinking properly. All his fear and despair were locked away as his focus stayed solely on keeping his life. His whole being was focused on the word that had be his motto ever since he was stranded.

    ¡®Survive.¡¯

    His gaze focused on a deeper wound he had made on the beast¡¯s neck and he saw an opportunity to win, however, before he could move, he felt his consciousness grow thin. An intense wave of fatigue almost overwhelmed his senses.

    With his body in such a terrible condition, the fatigue he¡¯d umted finally crashed down on him. He felt his weakness clearly, and he sensed death approaching. ¡®No. No. No. No.¡¯

    He couldn¡¯t ept it. He hadn¡¯t even reached the truly grueling floors of the dungeon, yet he was already going to die? After all that resolve he built up, after all those inner monologues he used to calm himself, he would end up dying here?

    He refused to ept it. He stared at the beast in front of him with a maniacal glint in his eyes. ¡®Good. Good good good!¡¯

    Something had snapped within his mind.

    He charged once again,pletely ignoring the pain that was forcing his consciousness down.

    The wolf stared at him with what seemed like contempt in its eyes as it opened its mouth. As Damien stabbed into its neck, it bit down ferociously, tearing off his arm.

    However, Damien continued to ignore the pain. His body was in a state of shock, but he moved again with teleportation. Before the blood could even flow from his now armless nub, he was on the wolf¡¯s back, stabbing and shing continuously with the arm he still had.

    ¡±Awoooo!¡± The wolf howled in pain, feeling the sharp de tearing through its flesh.

    Blood spurted out of the beast¡¯s wounds. Although he sacrificed his left arm, he finally made a substantial wound on the wolf. But Damien wasn¡¯t in the state of mind to celebrate this achievement.

    ¡®Survive.¡¯

    As he stood with blood, both his own and his opponent¡¯s, covering his body, he only had one thought in his head.

    ¡®I need to survive¡¯

    He strengthened his grip on his weapon and even while coughing up more blood that was now mixed with bits and pieces of his organs, he kept stabbing and shing.

    ¡®Survive. Survive. Survive¡¯

    As the single word repeated in an endless loop, he tore into the wolf, which was already starting to be sluggish from blood loss. He stabbed down once again, however his weapon broke on contact.

    ¡®Survive. Survive. Survive.¡¯

    Even as he lost all his bearings from blood loss, even as death began to embrace him, he could only hear one word. He stuck his hand into the wound on the beast¡¯s neck and ripped it open, sinking his teeth into its raw flesh.

    ¡®Survive. Survive. Survive.¡¯

    He wed, bit, and ate, and with thest bit of reasoning he maintained, he used the broken weapon to stab into the gaping hole in the wolf¡¯s neck.

    The wolf began to fall. Its eyes were filled with unwillingness, thinking that if it just used all its power from the beginning, it wouldn¡¯t have ended up in this state, but there was no medicine for regret.

    However, it wouldn¡¯t go down easy. Even if it died here, it would take the human that killed its kin with it.

    Staring at the abyss that was only a slight distance away, the wolf jumped.

 Chapter 10

    After using thest of its strength to jump, the wolf died, however, Damien, who was still on its back, didn¡¯t realize this or even the fact that he was currently falling into an abyss.

    Just as he was about to pass out after killing the wolf, his consciousness was forced awake by a mind-numbing pain. With this pain came rity, and while being d he survived, he also realized that he had eaten huge chunks of the wolf¡¯s flesh and meat while he was in his deranged state.

    Now Damien was feeling the consequences of his actions. He had begun his mutation. Since he had killed the wolf, he knew he had leveled up multiple times, but he didn¡¯t know exactly how much since he couldn¡¯t focus on the holographic windows that popped up in front of him.

    Inside Damien¡¯s body, mana raged as his organs healed, however, they were immediately crushed into paste right after.

    This process continued as the essence that he was granted from the rising of his league battled the lightning attribute mana of the wolf that was raging inside of him, frying his organs.

    Damien felt like he was strapped to an electric chair, only he couldn¡¯t die, while simultaneously being struck by hundreds of hammers and needles on every inch of his body.

    The electric currents raged, leaving him paralyzed so he couldn¡¯t even scream out in pain.

    It wasn¡¯t just his organs that were feeling this process though, as his skin, his bones, and even his blood also started being refined.

    Throughout all of this, Damien stayed conscious. He could only focus on the pain he felt and the sensation of his body essentially bing a flesh bag and then being healed back to normal over and over again.

    Combined with the endless darkness he saw on every side, Damien really thought he might¡¯ve gone to hell.

    His body was still straddled to the wolf¡¯s carcass, but as time went on, pieces of said carcass evaporated into essence and entered Damien¡¯s body.

    Sensing the current condition of its owner, his Void Body had activated, devouring every form of energy in the near vicinity.

    Damien, however, was unaware of this, attributing the influxes of energy as waves of beast mana fighting against the natural mana he gained through his level-ups.

    Seconds turned into minutes which felt like hours to Damien, and at some point, he had stopped falling.

    His body, which should¡¯ve been smashed to meat paste upon falling such a distance, actually created a small crater when it reached the floor.

    Damien still didn¡¯t move though, since his mutation was still ongoing.

    His eyes, which were always a deep amethyst color, were now mixed with red, and his hair gained some silver highlights and lengthened until it was shoulder length. His canines sharpened as well, while his body, which had remained skinny to this day, began growing some muscle.

    The biggest change happened in his legs. While on the outside, his legs just gained some muscle and stayed symmetrical with the rest of his body, their internal structure waspletely changed.

    Every muscle, bone, tendon, and ligament was optimally arranged to waste no motion and to prioritize speed.

    Tufts of fur began growing out of various parts of his body, but were immediately turned into energy by his Void Body and consumed.

    A pair of wolf ears started sprouting on the top of his head too, however they met the same fate as the fur.

    It seemed that Damien¡¯s theory about his Void Body was partially correct. When such arge influx of mana and energy entered his body, it immediately destroyed him from the inside. If his Void Body hadn¡¯t stolen that energy, he would¡¯ve died immediately.

    Due to this, he was able to strengthen, while anything excess that was created was turned into energy for his physique.

    Through his reckless action, he was able to unlock a sub ability of his physique, though Damien didn¡¯t know that.

    He had expected his physique to consume all of the beast¡¯s mana, making him go through minimal mutation, however, his physique allowed him to optimize his mutation forbat, while only stealing the excess that was left afterward.

    What felt like many dayster, Damien finally felt the pain recede to a tolerable level. Though he still felt phantom pains where his left arm should¡¯ve been, even that wound had been seared closed by the rampaging lighting attribute.

    ¡°Haa..haa..¡±

    Damien caught his breath the torture he was forced to endure almost made him insane, but now that the pain didn¡¯t cloud his mind, he could feel what he had gained.

    His eyesight had sharpened immensely along with his hearing and his canines seemed sharp enough to cut his flesh like butter, while his body was on apletely different level.

    Back on Earth, no matter what he tried, whether it be dieting going to the gym, or evenpleting the One Punch Man training routine every day for a week, he was never able to change his build.

    Now, however, he had finally formed some muscle. Although it wasn¡¯t defined yet, he could see that the framework of a proper six-pack had formed. ¡®And all it took was eating one wolf and enduring just a tad bit of brutal torture!¡¯ Damien joked to himself.

    He could also feel a new sort of danger sense had formed within him, along with a certain desire, however, he suppressed it while remembering that he had just leveled up. He then checked the notifications he got while he was mutating.

    [You killed Level 15 Thunder Wolf, Gained 5000 exp]

    [Leveled up]

    [Leveled up]

    [Leveled up]

    [Leveled up]

    [You have sessfully raised your league for the first time. Through the growth of your legend, a ss can be obtained.]

    [Choose a ss]

    [1.Swordsman]

    [2. Spatial Mage]

    [3.Cleric]

    [4. Monster Hunter]

    [5.Explorer]

    [Congrattions! You have sessfully mutated. You are the first individual from the world [Earth] to aplish a perfect mutation. Due to this immense achievement, you have been granted the title, [Evolver]. Your legend has been advanced.]

    Damien was shocked as he read the messages. Words like ¡®league¡¯ and ¡®legend¡¯ werepletely foreign to him, but he mused that it must be the basis on which the system categorizes strength.

    Checking the ss list, Damien felt he didn¡¯t even need to contemte his choices. His biggest strength was his teleportation, and bing a spatial mage seemed to be a way to expand upon simr powers. Thinking up to this point, Damien didn¡¯t hesitate and chose his first ss.

    [You have be a spatial mage. During the creation of the universe, the first concepts to exist were creation and destruction, followed by space and time, then life and death. Space is an essential concept in upholding the fabric of reality. You have embarked on a path to discover its secrets.]

    Although he didn¡¯t feel any major changes, Damien felt his horizons broaden. The concepts he could never quite grasp and new ideas on how to use his spatial affinity flooded his mind.

    Choosing his ss had somewhat enlightened him, but how he chose to go about using that information was up to him.

    Unable to hold back his anticipation any longer, Damien decided to check his status.

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Half-Human/Half-Beast

    Male ¨C Age 17

    Level 14 ¨C [Spatial Mage]

    Experience value: 50/4500

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Space, Lightning

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 740

    STR: 60

    AGI: 90

    DEF: 60

    INT: 50

    DEX: 90

    Skills: [Teleportation Level 1], [Minor Telekinesis Level 5], [Regeneration Level 2], [Sword Mastery Level 3], [Danger Sense Level 1]

    Damien was ecstatic. Seeing his stats which had increased more than tenfold, he realized the benefits of evolution. Thinking about the title he gained, he checked its effects, something he¡¯s unable to do for his other 2 titles.

    [Evolver]

    [A title granted to those who have exceeded their racial limits without suffering consequences. Bypleting a perfect mutation, you have acquired the ability to evolve like beasts while simultaneously gaining sses like humans.]

    Damien smiled, thinking that the title was self-exnatory. He had also gained a new affinity for lightning, though he guessed that this was just due to luck.

    His teleportation skill was no longer short distance, as he could clearly feel a connection to the spatialyers in a 5-kilometer radius. He also felt like he could abuse his teleportation without strain for extended periods of time.

    Next, he tried to test his regeneration. He went to cut his arm, only to realize that his arm was no longer there. His face turned grim.

    ¡®No matter. Let this arm be a reminder of my near-death experience today. I was so confident in killing a 1st ss, only for it to toy with me and almost take my life. I¡¯ll find some way to heal my armter, but for now, I need this lesson.¡¯

    Although he still attempted to joke around, his mind had nowpletely epted the situation. After all, he almost died. If he was still feeling even the slightest bit of denial, he might lose his life for real in the future. As Damien¡¯s thoughts turned darker, that certain desire rose again. However, this time, he was unable to suppress it.

    It was a bestial desire that came from the core of his being.

    A desire that rose to prominence after losing a part of his humanity.

    A desire felt by all beasts who grow stronger under the system.

    It was the desire to kill.

    To kill, to eat, and to evolve.

 Chapter 11

    Blood.

    The cracked stone floors of the endless cavern were being dyed red and a putrid stench began to suffuse the environment. Most of the beasts on this floor were fleeing in every direction, hoping to find salvation from the predator that stalked them all.

    Of course, most of them decided to fight back at first, after all, a beast¡¯s natural instinct was to kill, eat, and evolve, however, the beast they were up against was too feral. Every beast that attempted to fight was either torn up, exploded and fried by lighting, or had its body parts mangled mysteriously.

    This scene had continued for 3 floors already, but the predator was far from being satiated. Whenever it saw any life, it moved to kill. Whenever it felt fatigue, it tore open beasts and ate them raw. Whenever it felt dehydrated, it would drink their blood for sustenance.

    It didn¡¯t seem to care about anything at all, even its own health, as it moved with the singr purpose to bring death. Besides, even if a beast managed to injure it, the beast would rapidly heal. Their strength ranging between levels 10-20 had no ability to resist.

    The various beasts who originally inhabited the floor had enough intelligence to know they couldn¡¯t survive alone, so they teamed up and attacked. A group of thirty beasts all together surrounded a single one, however, it was the group of thirty that truly felt fear.

    The beast they were facing had a mane of ck hair with streaks of silver, eyes that were a mix between deep amethyst and blood red, swirling in a yin yang pattern, and a bipedal body that was growing more and more muscle as time passed.

    This beast was naturally Damien.

    After Damien¡¯s thought process turned dark in the abyss, he lost control over his emotions, inadvertently letting his beast side take over. Without any control over his newly gained bestial instinct, he went berserk and began killing everything heid eyes on.

    An indiscernible amount of time had passed since then and Damien had descended 3 more floors. If an observer was present to witness the aftermath left on those 3 floors, all they would see is an endless sea of blood and mangled corpses.

    Any beast that escaped his grasp either tunneled into the ground farther than his reach extended or fled to the lower floors. However, most of thetter group still ended up dying by his hand.

    Even though he wasn¡¯t rational in the slightest, he still had all his power. He would teleport freely to cut off any escape routes and channel lightning as if he had been wielding it all his life. He killed, he ate, and he evolved until the floor he was on had no more use to him, then he descended to continue.

    Even after all this time, he showed no signs of regaining his rationality.

    The group of beasts that had surrounded him charged ferociously, as they knew their lives were already forfeit. Their only hope was to take him down with them.

    But Damien, especially without his rational mind, was a being who was hell-bent on survival by any means. After his near-death experience, this became rooted firmly as the core of his mentality.

    Those within the tide of beasts that possessed elemental affinities chose this moment to attack. A barrage of fireballs, ice and earth spikes, and even wind des converged upon his location. However, this was all for naught.

    Damien had already vanished from his original position, appearing at the edge of the tide. His stance was prone as his nails elongated and became more w-like. He lunged at a beast and directly tore out its heart, throwing it to the side. He then continued his ughter.

    ck lightning danced around his body, increasing his speed threefold as he pounced from beast to beast. His movements werepletely primal but looked eerily beautiful as he moved efficiently within a whirlwind of blood.

    Everywhere he passed, dismembered limbs and random organs of beasts flew. The tide of originally thirty beasts was already cut down by half in just a matter of minutes.

    The beasts gave up on elemental attacks after seeing Damien avoid them easily, and used their body strength to try and wear him down. Various ws, hooves, and talons continuously fell on his body, umting countless gashes, however, it didn¡¯t matter.

    With only beasts of simr levels around him, Damien was nigh invincible. His regeneration was passively healing every injury he received, leaving him without even a single scar.

    Another few minutester, Damien had mutted every beast in his vicinity, even the ones that weren¡¯t a part of the beast tide that desperately attacked him.

    He turned to nce at the dismembered flesh and chunks of organs thatid waste to the originally dry ground and snorted, continuing to the next floor.

    After a certain point of continuous evolution through eating beasts, Damien had formed a sort of 6th sense that allowed him to know whether a beasts meat and blood would benefit him. This was why, even in his berserk state, Damien never stayed on one floor for too long.

    The Damien that almost died on the 2nd floor couldn¡¯t even begin topare with the Damien that existed in the present.

    With him gaining a surefire method to strengthen his body and a 1st ss rted to his spatial affinity, his full potential was finally unleashed. It was previously mentioned that without the limitations of his body, Damien theorized that he¡¯d have talent that rivals Elena and Jin¡¯s, however, he was sorely mistaken.

    His talent vastly eclipsed both of them, and his spatial affinity was one of the rarest elements. Now that he could follow two different power systems to gain strength, through evolution and ss advancement, his growth rate would hail him a supreme genius.

    However, Damien was in no mind to care. He continued to kill eat and evolve, every once in a while he would gain levels as well, as he continued to descend the dungeon.

    Damien¡¯s main consciousness was currently trapped in a world filled with blood. When his bestial instinct took over, he suddenly appeared here with no idea what was going on. When he tried to move, he had realized that his body was semi-ethereal and seemed to be fading out of existence.

    He wasn¡¯t the only one in this world, however, as he soon discovered an enormous wolf that he remembered killing only a couple of minutes prior.

    The wolf had charged at him as another harrowing battle between the two began, but just as Damien managed to kill the wolf, which was much weaker than its living counterpart, more and more beasts began appearing around him.

    Thus, Damien was trapped in a seemingly never-ending battle. Each time he killed a beast, another one appeared without end. He was only given an hour or two of reprieve every so often when his body was descending to a lower floor.

    With the continuation of this cycle, he was slowly starting to lose his sanity.

    Unbeknownst to Damien, who had no room to think about anything other than surviving this endless beast tide, this world was something akin to his sea of consciousness.

    Each time he devoured a beast and further evolved himself, his bestial instinct would grow. Each beast that appeared was just a manifestation of this desire.

    Damien¡¯s fight in the blood world wasn¡¯t one for survival, but rather a fight for sanity. If he ended up dying to these beasts, he would forever live solely on his bestial instinct. His thoughts and emotions as a human would cease to exist.

    Thus, Damien continued fighting two never-ending battles simultaneously. One with the goal of evolution and strength, and the other with the goal of maintaining his will.

 Chapter 12

    Time passed in this manner as Damien conquered two more floors. Paying no mind to the blood-stricken walls around him, he continued forward to the next floor.

    This floor, however, was different from the rest. Rather than the endless cavern he had seen up until this point, this floor was roughly the size of a city. Its walls were smooth and lit with what seemed to be primitive torches made by lighting bundles of wood on fire.

    In front of him wasn¡¯t dreary stone with the asional flora, but a roughly built vige. There were indents on the cave floor that seemed to indicate roads and small shacks and huts made of mud and rock ced along the road randomly.

    Damien¡¯s beastly instinct became vignt. Although he would usually wantonly attack anything in sight, this abrupt change in environment had invoked the natural cautiousness he had inherited from the very first wolf he devoured.

    As he scanned the ce with his spatial awareness, he spotted many small green creatures, the tallest ones being just above 1 meter in height. At the same time, they spotted him.

    When they did, they suddenly began screeching to each other, seeminglymunicating.

    Then, they all grabbed their weapons and congregated around the main stone hut in the middle of the vige.

    Thudding footsteps rang out and echoed through the city as the door to the hut opened. What stepped out was another green creature, however, this one was around 1.7 meters tall and had a round body. Its body was covered in armor made of beast bones and on its shoulder stood arge battle axe.

    ¡°KREEEE!¡±

    It screeched as it looked at Damien while radiating an air of superiority. Meanwhile, Damien¡¯s blood boiled.

    On the past two floors, he hadn¡¯t found more than two or three beasts that could help him evolve, and in his rage, he ughtered the rest of the floor. However, he could see that the humanoid creature in front of him would help him immensely.

    Sparing no time for thought, Damien charged. With his every movement, space distorted and mutted the random goblins that were in his path, while Damien¡¯s sole focus was on their king.

    With a bestial roar, Damien stuck his ws forward, attempting to pierce the heart, however, he was immediately repelled. Confused, Damien tried once more, only to face the same problem.

    ¡°Kekekekeke¡±

    The Goblin King let out a peal of strangeughter after seeing his confusion. Its skin had a natural property of absorbing and reflecting physical damage, and this is what had allowed him to reign over this floor to this day.

    One of the king¡¯s favorite things was watching its enemies try to breach his defenses, only to achieve nothing. So, the king stayed its hand without attacking, confident that it would get to see another amusing sight today. Unfortunately, its opponent was Damien.

    Seeing that physical attacks were useless, Damien charged lightning in his palms before shooting it forward, trying parts of the goblin¡¯s skin.

    ¡°KREEE!¡±

    The Goblin King was enraged. Even if the attack didn¡¯t hurt it, it was insulted that the enemy had injured its skin. Raising its great axe, it charged. The goblin swung its axe at Damien with immense strength as Damien quickly teleported out of its way.

    Appearing behind the goblin, he grabbed its head and ran electricity through its skull. Though the attack didn¡¯t do damage, it managed to paralyze the goblin for a second. Using the opening he created, Damien grabbed the goblins arm and distorted space, using the pressure to turn the arm into a sack of paste.

    ¡°KREEEEEEE!¡±

    The goblin roared in pain. It had never felt this much pain, as the impact was usually negated when it hit its skin, and it lost the ability to think rationally. It turned to Damien and wildly began swinging its great axe, which Damien dodged with ease. The power has lessened greatly due to the goblin¡¯s state of mind, so he felt no danger from the swings.

    Ducking under the goblin¡¯s swing, Damien used another spatial distortion to break the goblin¡¯s leg, earning another screech of pain.

    Although the goblin king could negate physical damage under a certain level, he could neverpete if the environment was the one that deemed him to die. Space was an esoteric and extremely powerful concept, which was why spatial users were generally always feared.

    Once the goblin lost its bnce, Damien immediately grabbed its head and distorted it, leaving it twisted at a 180¡ã angle. With its neck snapped, the goblin king immediately died.

    When the surrounding goblins witnessed this, their eyes turned red with rage. Screeching at the top of their lungs, they charged at Damien.

    However, they never stood a chance. Damien simply distorted the space around him and all those goblins died fruitlessly. His whole focus was on the corpse of the goblin king. With greed in his eyes, he began to devour.

    After eating the goblin king, Damien¡¯s body once again went through an intensive mutation like the first one. Although it wasn¡¯t nearly as bad, the pain was still immense.

    Up until this point, devouring beasts had only served to strengthen his body, not change its structure, but it seemed that unique traits that would help him improve would always result in these kinds of mutation.

    While Damien fell to the floor, his muscles, tendons, and tissue were all being pulled andpressed continuously. When they were finished, they had also gained the property of absorption and reflection that the goblin king possessed.

    And just like it did with the wolf, his Void Physique activated and turned the remains of the goblin king into essence to aid his mutation.

    As his body evolved, Damien once again fought the goblin king in the blood world. This goblin king, being only a manifestation of his instinct, did not possess its unique trait. With its death, Damien finally fell to the floor.

    ¡®I have no idea how much time has passed since I entered this mysterious space, but I can still feel a connection with my body.¡¯

    During the short moments of respite he had, Damien had begun thinking of his circumstances and had formted a general idea of what happened.

    ¡®I went berserk. I don¡¯t know what exactly is going on but I¡¯m sure that all the beasts I had to kill recently were already killed once by me. But it looks like the cycle has finally ended.¡¯

    ¡®Whatever the immense pain I can faintly feel from the connection to my body is, it¡¯s my opportunity to regain control.¡¯

    The evolution process, being aplete change in the structure of his body, would naturally take time toplete. And during this time, Damien meditated to regain control. When he did, he felt the desire to kill that had formted this blood world.

    ¡®I see. So this whole time I was fighting my bestial instinct.¡¯ Damien was drenched in a cold sweat. ¡®If I had died here, my ego would¡¯ve been erased. How scary. But that doesn¡¯t matter anymore since I¡¯ve already won.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s eyes snapped open. I¡¯ve already overpowered this instinct. Now all that¡¯s left is to force it to submit to my rational mind. As Damien thought this. He released his entire aura and distorted the space around him.

    ¡°This is my mind! My body! I, Damien Void, will never be something akin to a mere beast! Break for me!¡±

    Damien roared with all his breath as he punched the ground with immense force. Immediately, the blood world began to crack. ¡®Hmph. I will be something even the heavens must look up to. How dare I be controlled by the instincts of a beast.¡¯

    As he had this thought, Damien¡¯s view turned ck and the immense pain of evolution overwhelmed him.

 Chapter 13

    Damien felt a rush of memories superimpose on his endless fight against the beast tide. These were naturally the records of his deeds in his berserk state.

    Although the pain of evolution was still present, it was nothingpared to the pain of integrating two sets of memories that took ce at the same time.

    Damien was now aware of his rampage, but he wasn¡¯t too surprised at what had happened, since he had fought the manifestation of the bestial instinct that was controlling him.

    What he was more surprised about was the fact that he had seemingly just defeated a floor boss. This meant that he was on a floor that was a multiple of ten, though, with the length of his fall unknown, he didn¡¯t know which floor it was.

    ¡®Although I¡¯m back in control of my body, I still feel a stronger desire to kill than I did before. Also, even from a nce, it¡¯s clear that my body has changed.¡¯

    Damien looked at his nails, which were more apt to be called ws now. He then retracted them with a thought. ¡®Retractable ws are pretty cool though. I feel like wolverine or something. Anyway, I should check the changes in my status after my rampage.¡¯

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Half-Human/Half-Beast

    Male ¨C Age 17

    Level 26 ¨C [Spatial Mage]

    Experience value: 365/9000

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Space, Lightning

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 1350

    STR: 180

    AGI: 150

    DEF: 200

    INT: 130

    DEX: 180

    Skills: [Teleportation Level 4], [Telekinesis Level 1], [Regeneration Level 6], [Sword Mastery Level 3], [Danger Sense Level 6], [Devour Level 1]

    Damien was satisfied with his improvements. Although it was true that he wasn¡¯t in his right state of mind, it seemed like he had improved quite a bit.

    Most of his improvements came from evolution, as he consumed every beast that would make his body stronger, but for those beasts that wouldn¡¯t help him evolve or the ones he had killed in a blind rage, they were turned into Exp.

    Like this, he had an extremely strong bodypared to his level, and it seemed he could now fight evenly against most beasts within the bounds of 1st ss.

    He also noticed the new properties of his body. His abs werepletely formed now and his body looked like it was chiseled rather than built through exercise. His height had also grown 1.9 meters. If it weren¡¯t for his missing arm, it¡¯d be a perfect body.

    Structurally it was different as well. With the Goblin King¡¯s unique trait of absorption and reflection, his whole body had be more dexterous. He felt that with enough training, he could twist and dodge at impossible angles, catching his enemies off guard.

    The second thing Damien paid attention to was his skills. His teleportation¡¯s range had grown quite a bit, reaching seven kilometers, while his telekinesis could now be used with more versatility, such as when he distorted space to kill the goblins.

    Since he never used a sword, his mastery obviously hadn¡¯t improved, but his danger sense had made immense progress and he felt he could use it to sense any prescience within a one-kilometer radius.

    His main focus was on his new skill. He had an inkling of what it did, but he still checked to make sure.

    [Devour]

    [Due to the synergy between the title, [Evolver] and the [Void physique], a new skill has been created. This skill substitutes the consumption process when evolving and helps optimize evolution to prioritize the user¡¯s needs. Due to the creation of a unique skill, your legend has advanced.]

    Damien was d he got this skill. Now that he had his rationality back, he was reluctant to continue behaving in such a primal manner. After all, no normal human would enjoy tearing open and eating beasts raw.

    Furthermore, since the skill optimized the devoured energy to suit his needs, he could quench his hunger and thirst without needing to physically eat and drink beast blood.

    The indiscernible amount of time he¡¯d spent in his berserk state had left a slight trauma in his mind. He now held a slight disgust towards the sight of blood that wasn¡¯t useful to his evolution.

    Looking at his surroundings, Damien noticed many goblin bodies littering the floor. ¡®Even if they won¡¯t help me get stronger, they¡¯re a good chance to test this skill.¡¯

    Damien took some time to pile up all the bodies in the middle of the room. Once he was done, he put his hand on the pile and cast his skill.

    ¡®Devour¡¯

    An abyssal ck fog seeped out of his arm and formed a huge construct that looked like the maw of a terrifying beast. Then, the fog went forward and enveloped the entire pile.

    Damien could feel the foreign mana enter his body and be annexed as his, while a good portion of it strengthened the trait he gained from the Goblin King, but the most intriguing part was that most of the essence went towards providing him sustenance.

    Damien immediately felt much lighter, as if a mountain had been taken off his back. ¡®It seems there was a lot of hidden fatigue built up in my body after what I can only consider as months of endless ughter.¡¯

    Damien was pleasantly surprised. He had no idea he was carrying so much fatigue, but if the skill could pinpoint that and counter it, it was even more perfect than he thought.

    Standing up, Damien stretched his body. ¡®Ahh, it didn¡¯t set in earlier since I was preupied with the changes in my body, but it¡¯s good to be back.¡¯

    Damien loved battle. He had epted the fact that he was a bit weird in this regard, but spending so much time in an endless battle to the point where he couldn¡¯t even measure it anymore was too much even for him.

    Due to this, Damien decided to take a small break in his descent and train. Looking around at the small huts and shacks, Damien smiled. ¡®Although it¡¯s just the work of goblins, it¡¯s nice to see a change of scenery. Perhaps at the lower floors, I might see some even more interesting things.¡¯

    When he entered the Goblin King¡¯s hut, his smile grew even wider. He immediately disregarded everything else and punched forward,nding on a soft surface. ¡®Haha! A bed! Who would¡¯ve thought I¡¯d be lucky enough to find a bed anywhere near here!¡¯

    Damien rolled around in the small bed made of unknown materials like a child as he slightly rxed. Even though it was idental, I still spent a long time power leveling. I guess I should take a break and bring my sword skills up to par and refine my fighting style.

    Thinking idle thoughts, Damien closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. With his body and mind finally rxing after many grueling months, he ended up having a nice dream.

    It was a dream of the future with his mother, his father, and a couple of blurry figures that he didn¡¯t know quite yet rxing andughing.

    It was a dream of what he sought to achieve. A dream of his peaceful life after he reached the apex.

    Damien woke up with a gentle smile on his face, a huge contrast to the intense fire burning in his eyes. With the mes of motivation pumping heavily through his body, he began his training.

 Chapter 14

    Ever since regaining control of his body, Damien had felt a slight disconnect between his thoughts and movements. Besides this problem, his sword mastery severelygged behind the rest of his improvements.

    He also had never created a real skill for his lightning, only subconsciously using it in his berserk state. Now it was time for him to digest his gains and further expand upon them.

    Damien exited his hut and stretched his body. ¡®If only I could have a training montage or something. I feel like time would pass easier that way. Sadly this isn¡¯t anime so I have to work for my gains.¡¯

    Even as he sighed about his unfortunate fate as a real person, he took his sword off his back for the first time in what felt like months. ¡®I should perfect my sword forms and maybe attempt to create an art since I¡¯ll be stuck here for a while.¡¯

    ¡®I also don¡¯t know if something like sword aura exists since it was never discovered on Earth. Maybe that¡¯s something I can gain with enough practice. Since I have a spatial affinity it¡¯s a basic requirement to have a dimensional sh of some form¡¯

    Thinking idle thoughts, Damien began swinging his sword. He especially had to focus on bnce, since he did not possess a left arm.

    Minutes turned into hours as hours became days and Damien was still practicing his sword without rest. If one could witness him, he would look like he was dancing, only his dance was deadly enough to cause fierce winds to howl throughout the area.

    A few minutester, Damien paused. ¡®Sword aura definitely exists. I can feel something ethereal growing within me as I perfect my sword.¡¯

    Damien could feel a sharp aura growing around his body as he continued to practice, shifting his whole presence to be more sword-like.

    His sword mastery had just reached level 6 for him to feel this sensation, so he mused that his sword aura would beplete after he reached level 10.

    Feeling that he wouldn¡¯t make any more progress in his sword skills, Damien switched to training his lightning. Although he had plenty of ideas for how to use his spatial affinity, most of them were supportive rather than offensive. He figured that many of his ideas could only be used at second or maybe even third ss.

    Summoning his lightning he began to ponder its usage.

    ¡®My ck lightning is more focused on power than speed. Although it can increase my speed, I¡¯ve already figured out the method for that. Simply channeling it internally is enough for now. I can also infuse it into my weapon for added pration and damage.¡¯

    What he needed now was attacks that used his lightning externally, so Damien began to ponder the various anime, light novels, and mythology he had seen on earth for ideas.

    After all, even if they were fictional, the authors and creators tended to put a lot of time into working out the practicality of attacks so their readers wouldn¡¯tin about it being too unrealistic.

    Damien¡¯s eyes lit up as he had a thought. ¡®Beam weapons! Everyone loves beam weapons! Let¡¯s do that then.¡¯

    Damien put his arm out and began to charge his lightning into his palm. He concentrated onpressing the lightning as much as possible until he felt that it would just explode if he continued. Then, he released it forward.

    BOOM!

    Damien flew backward 10 meters before he managed to stabilize himself. It turns out, rather than a beam attack, he had just created a bomb.

    After he released the lightning, it took the shape and size of a baseball and flew forward, impacting the cave wall and exploding.

    The force of the explosion was great enough to push Damien back, even though he was rtively far from its center. He didn¡¯t get what he wanted, but he got something useful.

    ¡®Damn. It seems like I suck at controlling my lightning externally at the moment. I¡¯ll need to practice moreter, but I don¡¯t want to take too much time here and dy. My main priority is to get to the surface and then find a way to Earth.¡¯

    Because of all intensity of hisst many months¡¯ worth of fighting, he had nearly forgotten his original goal. Survival had be one of the most important things to him.

    Now that he had taken a breather, he once again remembered his mother that he left on earth and the revenge he had yet toplete.

    Thinking about revenge, his mind began to turn red. ¡®Kill. Kill. Kill.¡¯ The word repeated in his head over and over again until he was forced to stab himself in the leg.

    Blood ran down his leg from the wound he just created and his mind slowly regained rity. Damien smiled wryly.

    ¡®Although I¡¯ve regained control, the bestial instinct isn¡¯t something foreign. After I mutated it has be a part of me. If I don¡¯t control my emotions there¡¯s a good chance I¡¯ll go berserk again.¡¯

    Damien sighed thinking about the future, but he was still resolved to continue. ¡®Just like I learn to control my lightning and spatial affinities, just like I learn to control my body and refine my movements, I just need to learn to control my instincts and not run rampant.¡¯

    Once he hadpletely calmed down, Damien removed his sword from his leg and allowed it to heal.

    ¡®It¡¯s time to continue forward.¡¯

    And like that, Damien descended to the next floor. Just like he did when he was berserk, Damien chased down beasts to kill so he could level up, and when he sensed that a beast could help him strengthen his body, he¡¯d devour it.

    He continued this routine for the next 5 floors, however, unlike before, he was conscious of his movements and constantly working not only to improve his level and body but his techniques.

    His sword mastery became level 8, his teleportation gained a level, and his telekineses could barely even be called that anymore.

    As its level grew, it became more and more like ¡®spatial control¡¯ than simple telekinesis, allowing him to bend space to his will and manipte it more freely.

    Furthermore, Damien was no longer killing every beast on the floor to be satiated. He would only kill until he couldn¡¯t benefit anymore and then leave. Now that he was conscious, he wanted to make sure he wouldn¡¯t be more bestial than he already was.

    After all, he doesn¡¯t n to surround himself with corpses forever. If he wants to properly integrate with society and return to Earth with his head held high, he needed to maintain thest bits of his humanity that he had left.

    Now that Damien was on the lower floors, beasts were bing much more intelligent as their average level rose. He could no longer rest or lower his guard at any moment.

    The second he did, he¡¯d be sneak attacked by various beasts who saw him as a treasure for getting stronger. He also couldn¡¯t clear floors as fast as he could during his rampage.

    Though it waspletely up to him when he descended, he always made sure he was the strongest being on his current floor before he did so. He needed to be prepared for any eventuality.

    And like this, Damien continued his routine. He would kill, he would devour, and he would level up and evolve. He never slept anymore, and removed his fatigue purely through the energy he gained from his devour skill.

    As he kept going, a gut feeling began to rise. Usually, when he felt this gut feeling, it was ominous, like when he was stranded in the dungeon or when he had his near-death experience, but this time was different.

    This time, his gut feeling was telling him that an opportunity was waiting for him.

 Chapter 15

    Another month or so passed.

    Currently, Damien had cleared another 4 floors and was headed to what he assumed was the next boss room. However, he doubted he would have any trouble, considering how much preparation he took before descending.

    As he walked down the slope that led to the next floor, he pondered on the environment he¡¯d been seeing as he went lower.

    ¡®Surprisingly, the most deste areas of the dungeon are the higher floors. The only way for beasts to survive is to eat each other and evolve. However, the farther Ie down, the more vegetation I see in the surroundings.¡¯

    ¡®If it¡¯s like this, then perhaps on even lower floors there are areas where monsters have formed a stable ecosystem rather than thend of death and survival that I¡¯ve grown ustomed to.¡¯

    On the past 9 floors he¡¯d cleared, he saw growing amounts of various nts and grasses. There was even a single tree on the most recent floor. He mused that sometime within the next 20 floors he might get to see a forest for the first time in what felt like years.

    Thinking idle thoughts, Damien reached the next floor. Unlike the goblin vige, he saw on the previous boss floor, this one was cloaked in ring darkness.

    Damien walked forward vigntly as to not fall victim to any ambushes as he entered the boss floor. He stretched his spatial awareness as far as possible, and what he saw made his face pale.

    Although it was never mentioned previously as Damien never felt the need to think about it, he had an extremely irrational fear of spiders.

    But it wasn¡¯t the kind of fear where he would run as far as possible to get away, rather it was the type of fear where he would use any means possible to kill any spider he sees, so as to decrease the number of spiders in existence as much as possible.

    As for what he saw covering the entire boss floor? Webs. In every direction, he saw webs strewn about to catch any prey that was unlucky enough to wander into their grasp.

    Luckily, Damien didn¡¯t see the spider who strung the webs, or he might¡¯ve gone berserk even while being fully conscious.

    Damien became extremely paranoid for no reason. No matter what the boss on this floor was, he had built the capability to y it with ease, however, there was a reason his fear was considered irrational.

    Suddenly, Damien shed his sword to his left, emitting a wave of lightning, but he hit nothing.

    The spider was surprised to see Damien react to its movements, but it wasn¡¯t worried. It had been born with a special set of eyes that allowed it to predict its opponent¡¯s movements and see through anything false.

    Due to this, it had developed a superior intelligencepared to most beasts on its level, and seeing that Damien was much stronger than it was, it decided to use its eyes and intelligence to win this fight.

    Many minutes passed, but Damien still hadn¡¯t caught sight of the spider. He had sensed it attempting to attack 3 or 4 times, but whenever he countered, it was never in the same position.

    Damien was starting to get irritated. Usually, he¡¯d just distort space around him so that the spider would get crushed by pressure, but he wasn¡¯t thinking calmly. After many more minutes of the same routine, Damien lost his cool.

    ¡®Screw it! I¡¯m going to blow this damn spider all the way past hell and down wherever the ce deeper than hell is!¡¯ Damien gathered andpressed and released lightning continuously, forming lightning bullets that flew through the floor.

    A series of explosions rang out, causing clouds of dust and debris to be kicked around. And within that dust and debris, Damien spotted the spider. Finally seeing the annoying pest he needed to kill, he immediately teleported over.

    The spider panicked, it had predicted that it could use its poison to kill Damien after wearing him down, but it could have never predicted his immense hatred for spiders. As it beganputing new paths to victory, it felt a sharp pain in its abdomen.

    Damien was behaving like a primate at this point. He threw down his sword and continuously bashed the spider¡¯s body with his fist. Every once in a while, he would teleport into the air and drop a heavy kick onto its head.

    The spider was specialized in poison and ambush tactics, so its physical ability wasn¡¯t that developed, and Damien could¡¯ve ended the fight with a couple of swings of his lightning-infused sword, but he was much more brutal.

    Now that he had the spider in his grasp, he wouldn¡¯t let it escape. Whenever it tried to run, he would appear in front of it and continue his brutal beating. The spider could onlyment at the fact that it had met such a devil and wonder what it did to deserve such a fate.

    Luckily, it didn¡¯t need to endure for much longer; as Damien let onest heavy punch towards its head, crushing its skull and killing it.

    ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­Another scourge eliminated¡±

    Damien smiled, seemingly proud of himself, before looking at the spider corpse in disdain. He really didn¡¯t want to devour the spider.

    He felt that it would be a stain on his record to take on characteristics of a spider, but he knew he had to continue growing stronger. Now that he had eliminated the scourge to humanity, his rational mind was back in control.

    Damien put his arm forward and that gaping shadowy maw once again formed,pletely consuming the spider. Damien had mentally prepared himself to feel extreme pain in his body, but he wasn¡¯t ready at all.

    This time, the evolution of his body was minimal, after all, the spider itself didn¡¯t have a strong body.

    Instead, Damien felt a searing pain in his eyes, as if they were being melted by intense heat and repeatedly stung by a horde of wasps at the same time.

    Considering the intense amounts of pain he had to endure during his time in the dungeon, Damien never expected he¡¯d reach a level he couldn¡¯t handle again, but reality proved him wrong.

    The pain in his eyes at the moment genuinely made him want to scream like a little girl and roll around the floor, but he bit his lip until it bled and endured.

    Hourster, his evolution ended. Removing his hand that was covering them, he slowly opened his eyes. When he did, he had no choice but to gasp in amazement.

    The world he was seeing now waspletely different than what he could see before. The ring darkness that felt almost abyssal was no longer a problem, and he could see everything as if it was broad daylight.

    The significance of this couldn¡¯t be underestimated. Ever since he was stranded, Damien could only see clearly due to his eyes adapting to the environment and his senses sharpening from his first mutation, but the environment he saw was still gloomy and darks.

    Now, every detail of the cave around him could be seen clearly. Every crack in the yellowish-brown cave walls, every speck of dust that was kicked up by his previous rampage, every small nt organism that stuck to the ceiling and floor, it was all as clear as if he was looking at them through a microscope.

    These were just the superficial aspects though.

    When Damien waved his arm, he could see physical ripples ur in the space surrounding him. The spatialyers he could previously only sense when he meditated or concentrated were clear to see.

    Even more surprising were the swirls of multicolored light that lingered around the environment. Yellowish light radiated from the cave walls and ceilings, a slight hue of green could be seen in the air, and patches of purple were scattered about the rubble on the floor.

    ¡®These patches of purple are the lightning mana I released earlier when I carpet-bombed this ce!¡¯ Damien realized. ¡®Then this must be earth, and this is wind! Haha, this is amazing!¡¯

    Although Damien had received many special things before this, he felt that these eyes were his most useful evolution to date. Suddenly, a holographic window appeared, snapping him out of his reverie.

    [The user has received the trait, All-Seeing Eyes.]

    [All-Seeing Eyes resonates with a dormant attribute within the user.]

    [Trait: All-Seeing Eyes haspleted resonance with the dormant attribute. The trait has gained the ability to evolve and will be shown in the [Skills] section of the user¡¯s status.]

    [Due to being the first human from the world [Earth] to create an evolving trait, the user¡¯s legend has been enhanced.]

    Damien grinned. Although he didn¡¯t know what the dormant attribute was, he knew it¡¯d be a good thing once he discovered it.

    He had also gained a trait he could evolve, unlike the Goblin King¡¯s trait, which would only work on those of equal or lower level than him no matter how strong he got.

    Damien¡¯s grin widened. Even if this eye power was the opportunity he had been sensing recently, he¡¯d be satisfied. But noticing that his feeling remained, he was excited for what was toe.

    Thinking about how his luck had finally begun to reverse, Damien continued to descend.

 Chapter 16

    For the next few months, Damien had a great time on his hunt. His new eyes helped him see through everything, subsequently making his daily life easier.

    He could tell which beasts were useful or not from a nce, and he waspletely immune to ambushes. His eyes, whenbined with his Danger Sense, granted him such security.

    Thus, he would asionally take a couple of hours out of his day to get proper sleep.

    However, this ease didn¡¯t help him shorten the amount of time it took to clear the floors. As he had predicted earlier, the lower he descended, the more he saw vegetation and stable ecosystems forming.

    Due to this, he wasn¡¯t being constantly attacked like he was used to, and had to actively seek out beasts to hunt.

    Starting from the fifth floor, second-ss beasts began to appear. At first, Damien was extremely wary of these beasts.

    After all, his first experience with a beast above his ss level almost killed him, but his eyes turned out to have a sort of aura detector that let him know whether he could win or not in a fight.

    Every individual gave off a feeling ranging from ¡®that¡¯s easy¡¯ to ¡®that¡¯s impossible¡¯ and the 1st ss beasts Damien met on the fifth floor were all in the ¡®that¡¯s easy¡¯ category.

    Being the only human in the dungeon, he had no basis forparison to understand just how strong he had gotten. Although his mana-rted abilities were still within the peak of first-ss, his physical body had far surpassed that level.

    Those entry-level second-ss beasts on the 35th floor posed no problem to him, and since he devoured them before continuing, the subsequent stronger second-ss beasts also could not bother him.

    And like that, several monthster, he had reached the ninth floor, just shy of his third boss floor, and had be level 42.

    During these few months, Damien had been constantly using his sword and fighting beasts, leveling up his sword mastery and finally reaching the level 10 mark.

    When he did, he felt apletely new sensation envelop his body. The slight sword-like aura that has previously surrounded him had been entuated and concentrated until it became faintly visible to the naked eye. Along with this change came a system message.

    [Sword Mastery has reached level 10. As the criteria have been met, the user gains understanding towards [Sword Aura]. To evolve this skill, the user must create their own sword art and surpass the limits of their swordsmanship]

    Damien wasn¡¯t surprised by this message, however, he was surprised by the requirements to further evolve the skill.

    ¡®It looks like I¡¯ll have to spend a good amount of time to evolve sword mastery again. I should take a break to at least gain a starting point for the path to my unique sword art.¡¯

    Thest break he had taken for training was 29 floors prior when he defeated the goblin king. After memorizing the location he was currently at, Damien teleported.

    When he reappeared, he was back on the goblin king floor, where he could still see the ruins of the previous settlement.

    This skill was called [Warp]. After many grueling months, his other skills had naturally evolved as well, with sword mastery being thest one to reach this level.

    Warp was the evolution of his teleportation. This skill, along with increasing his short-distance teleportation range to 100 kilometers, allowed him to teleport to any location he could picture in his mind. However, the farther the location, the more exorbitant the mana cost.

    When Damien first saw this skill, he immediately attempted to reach Earth, but the mana cost was simply too astronomical for him to seed.

    But, he found sce in the fact that he had acquired a method to return home. Now, all he needed to do was grow strong enough to utilize it.

    His other skills, although they had evolved too, were nothing as oundish as warp.

    Telekinesis had be spatial control, as he had predicted many months ago, and regeneration had be high-level regeneration, allowing him to reattach limbs if they were ever cut off, though he couldn¡¯t grow new ones quite yet.

    Danger sense had be redundant after he obtained his new eyes, so he wasn¡¯t too excited about its evolution, but it didn¡¯t disappoint him.

    Its evolution focused more on sensing presences than sensing danger and it became ¡®mana sense¡¯, allowing him to have something akin to spiritual sense from those cultivation novels he used to read.

    The most curious case, though, was devour. Although devour was the skill he had used the most, it hadn¡¯t evolved, and was stuck at level 5. No matter how much he devoured, the skill level wouldn¡¯t move.

    Damien mused that he would need to devour some extremely strong beasts or beasts with special traits like the spider he killed to level up more.

    While he was thinking about his skill evolutions, Damien cleared out all the beasts that had begun inhabiting the area after the death of its previous owners and started training.

    A month or twoter, Damien could be seen standing still, concentrating on the sword in his hand. However, without doing anything else, he opened his eyes and sighed.

    ¡®It looks like it isn¡¯t easy at all to forge a new path with the sword. This will take much more effort than any of my previous sword training. For now, I should just continue to descend and find a way out.¡¯

    With this thought. Damien rested for one more day before teleporting back to his previous floor. However, when he arrived, he was greeted with pure chaos.

    Various beasts were roaring and stampeding towards a certain direction as if drawn to a treasure, and theypletely ignored Damien, who was dazed by this turn of events.

    ¡®What the hell is going on here? Is there some sort of divine medicine or something that is maturing?¡¯ Damien had long adapted to the mentality of the beasts in the dungeon.

    A stampede like this could only mean that something had appeared that was extremely alluring to these beasts and would allow their strength to skyrocket. In his curiosity, Damien followed the tide.

    When he reached the apex of the tide, he saw something even more unexpected. Rather than a divine medicine or something of that sort, the target of these rampaging beasts was a single beast.

    A seemingly adolescent wolf pitch-ck fur, a pair of wings that seemed to be taken from a fallen angel, and golden eyes was facing this massive tide of beasts that showed no signs of pause.

    Damien knew that killing this beast should allow him to grow even further, however, something told him to reconsider.

    Damien immediately charged into the beast tide, but instead of aiming for the wolf, he started wildly ughtering the beasts that were chasing it.

    Rather than the obvious throbbing in his eyes and the climax of the gut feeling he¡¯d been having for the past few months, the thing that made him decide to help the beast was its eyes.

    It¡¯s eyes that held the firm resolve and desperate push for survival. He knew those eyes. After all, they were the same as his.

    In every beast he hade across so far, he had only seen bloodthirst and greed for strength. The drive that he built and the drive he was now seeing within the wolf was something he had never encountered before today. He could sympathize with this wolf.

    For the first time since he had fallen into the abyss after killing that thunder wolf, Damien felt an emotion he could consider as human.

    And as someone who even resorted to amusing himself with thoughts of anime and light novels to maintain the tiny shred of humanity he had left, this human emotion was like a candle in the wind that he desperately wanted to keep lit.

    And so, he decided that he would save this beast.

    He would act for a goal other than pure survival and strength for the first time in what felt like many many years.

 Chapter 17

    Damien felt like he was back within the blood world as he constantly ughtered beasts from every side. In this kind of situation, he realized the usefulness of the goblin king¡¯s trait.

    This kind of intense melee was a situation where he would inevitably get injured many times, but with the reflection trait, he was able to transfer damage back onto his attackers.

    Damien hacked and shed, bing a tornado of blood on the battlefield. ck lightning coursed through the ground and splintered it while space distorted with his every movement, crushing countless beasts.

    As Damien continued to kill, his eyes became bloodshot and he nearly lost control over himself again. The sight of rivers of blood and a ground littered with corpses awakened the instinct he had been suppressing all this time.

    Before he knew it, Damien was already at the front of the beast tide and facing that wolf he had seen. Now that he was up close, he got a better look at the beast and couldn¡¯t help but be surprised.

    He sensed an extremely potent bloodline in this beast that surpassed everything he had seen to date. The strange thing was that he felt no desire to consume this bloodline.

    However, now was not the time to be thinking idle thoughts. Even with Damien¡¯s earlier rampage, the beast tide was still raging. These beasts were acting without regard for their lives, almost as if they were fated to die if they didn¡¯t capture the wolf.

    Not wanting to waste any time, Damien started shooting his lightning bombs into the crowd to cause aoe damage while simultaneously using his spatial distortion and sword skills to kill any beast that came near.

    Hours passed like this, and Damien was still fighting. Stamina was never a problem for Damien, as he could replenish it by devouring the bodies of beasts he killed. Even so, Damien was starting to get bored with this constant tide.

    None of these beasts were strong enough to entertain him for long, but they wereing in such numbers that even he would be having trouble if that wolf wasn¡¯t fighting with him.

    Even after realizing that Damien was fighting on its side, the wolf didn¡¯t react. Just like Damien at the beginning of his fall, the wolf was only focused on survival.

    The fight continued, and by the end of what seemed to be an entire day of constant battle, the wolf had exhausted itself. It was prepared to die at that moment, but to its surprise, and beast that tried to get near it was mysteriously turned into a mangled corpse.

    This was naturally Damien¡¯s doing. His newly evolved spatial control skill gave him much more variability in his usage of his affinity, and creating a distortion field around specific areas was rtively easy for him.

    Another day passed and the tide of beasts finally began to thin out and disperse. At this point, Damien had most likely in the majority of the beasts on this floor, leading to the current situation.

    Once the tide finished, the wolf got up and distanced itself from Damien, eyeing him warily. Even if he¡¯d helped it previously, the wolf had always held the assumption that he just wanted to take her corpse for himself.

    Damien smiled wryly seeing the wolf¡¯s behavior. If it was any other beast, they would¡¯ve been correct in this assumption, as Damien wasn¡¯t the kind to show any mercy. But with so many signs telling him to save this wolf, he would be an idiot to continue his usual methods.

    ¡°Alright rx, I have no intention to kill you,¡± Damien said, but the wolf only became warier.

    Sighing in exasperation, Damien teleported directly behind the wolf and picked it up by its scruff before it could react. ¡°You see how easy it was for me to grab you? I told you I don¡¯t want to kill you so just rx.¡±

    The wolf gave up struggling after realizing this fact and silently stared at Damien. After a short staring contest, Damien moved to put the wolf back on the floor, only to be stopped by an ear-splitting roar.

    Damien raised his head in panic and saw a sight he would never forget. From the slope that led to the next boss floor came a massive beast. A beast bigger than anything he had seen so far.

    It was 50 meters in height and had a length that matched. It had 4 legs and was covered in inky ck scales, and the most ring feature that entered Damien¡¯s eyes was its wings. A huge pair of bat-like wings.

    ¡®A dragon!¡¯ Damien eximed as his eyes started throbbing. This throbbing was pr opposite to the one he felt when he saw the wolf. If that one was considered as a signal for opportunity, this throbbing could only be tranted to one word. Run.

    And run he did. He hugged the wolf, who was trembling in fear, to his chest and began teleporting away like a madman. But the speed of this dragonoid creature was insane.

    Just like his very first fight with the thunder wolf, the dragon caught up to him within seconds of his teleportation. But different was the scale. Each time it caught up, it stomped its legs and caused slight earthquakes in its attempts to squash him t.

    However, his mentality was much more firm than the first time he was in this situation. Damien maintained his calm and thought about how he could escape this situation.

    ¡®Fuck! Being squashed here would be a way worse death than anything that wolf could have done to me! I need to-¡®

    But his pondering came to an end when he felt an intense pull attract him in a certain direction.

    This wasn¡¯t a physical pull, but rather his spatial affinity reacting to something on this floor. Ignoring everything else, Damien fled in that direction.

    Continuously changing his movement patterns to avoid the massive beast that was hot on his tail, Damien felt the source of the pull get closer and closer. But when that source entered his movement range, all he saw was the empty cavern floor.

    Damien wasn¡¯t fooled though. He could feel a bulbous disruption between the spatialyers, and without further thought, he teleported into it, disappearing from the cave entirely.

    The dragonoid creature appeared shortly after but was left in confusion. The prey it had been chasing hadpletely vanished from its detection.

    Even though this specific prey had continually disappeared, it had always reappeared a distance away. The beast had always been able to track its smell to follow it. This time, the trail ended here.

    The beast was furious. It had put in a good amount of work and forced the beasts on this floor to attack the source of the strong bloodline aura it felt, but it was all for naught.

    That day, an intense roar of wrath reverberated through the entire floor, scaring every beast residing there into hiding for the next week.

    The source of the roar, however, had gone back to the boss floor to rest and prepare until it felt the aura return.

 Chapter 18

    Meanwhile, Damien was standing in the mysterious space in a daze. He had no idea where he would end up, but what he saw before him wasn¡¯t even close to what he¡¯d have expected.

    When Damien teleported into that bulbousyer, he hadnded in what looked like a study. A human¡¯s study. It was a long room with wooden flooring and ceiling.

    The walls were lined with bookshelves and in the middle of the room stood a line desk. With the way the room was structured, there was no way to enter or exit, making one wonder if its design was a mistake.

    However, Damien knew that there was no mistake. With the location of this study being between the spatialyers, the only method for entry and exit was some form of spatial power.

    Being vignt about the first man-made structure he¡¯d seen in many months, Damien spread his mana sense to check for any signs of life. Confirming that he was alone, Damien moved to sit down, only to realize there was a chair in this room he could use.

    Sitting in a chair was such a novel experience that one would never truly put much thought into it, but for Damien, who¡¯s closest interaction with infrastructure in a very long time was a bed made by goblins, this experience was heavenly.

    The soft sensation on his body, the support he felt on his back, the ability to recline to a position that was mostfortable for him, Damien reveled in this feeling.

    ¡®Ahh, this is the kind of thing I miss. Now if only there was a tv or something this would be perfect.¡¯ Damien smiled as he pet therge fluffy object in his arm.

    ¡®Wait¡­¡¯ Only then did Damien remember that he wasn¡¯t alone. He was so caught up in escaping that he hadpletely forgotten about the human-sized wolf he was carrying in his arm.

    Looking down at the wolf, Damien noticed that it was fast asleep, seemingly having passed out due to either fear or the strain of continual teleportation.

    Once again Damien recalled something important. It was his first time attempting to teleport with another individual besides himself.

    Luckily, his original skill had evolved many times over, so it seemed the burden of carrying more people with him wasn¡¯t a problem. If he had tried this a couple of months ago, the wolf would probably just be a pile of mincemeat at this point.

    As he rxed, he looked around at the long rows of bookshelves around him, only for his eyes to pause on the desk in front of him. Gently cing the wolf on the ground so it could rest, Damien picked up the single book that was sitting on the desk and opened it.

    ¡®Congrattions to whoever you are! It seems that you have been lucky enough to stumble upon an abode of mine. Well, I doubt luck had anything to do with it if you¡¯re in this dungeon, but for the sake of the expression, pretend it did¡¯

    Damien read the book with a deadpan gaze. ¡®It seemed whoever wrote this had quite the entric personality¡¯ he thought as he continued.

    ¡®Okay well I guess you got yourughs out with thatst joke so let¡¯s get serious. My name is Kurt Galloway, and I am what you would call a Spatial Grandmaster. Since you¡¯ve stumbled upon both this dungeon and the subspace you¡¯re currently in, it¡¯s no doubt that you are a promising spatial affinity user as well.¡¯

    ¡®Well then, let me give you some backstory. The dungeon you¡¯re currently in is one I¡¯ve titled the First Dungeon. Why, you ask? Well, it¡¯s because I¡¯ve theorized that this is one of the oldest, and perhaps even the first, dungeon that was naturally created in our world.¡¯

    Damien scoffed at the terrible naming sense and kept reading.

    ¡®Being one of the first dungeons to ever exist, the beasts contained within it have a much more substantial level of Godbeast bloodline than those that exist on the surface. Due to this, a harsher environment where all beasts are desperate to kill and consume each other¡¯s blood to evolve was created.¡¯

    ¡®I entered this dungeon by pure coincidence, but upon my entry, I realized how strong the beasts residing here actually are. After all, I¡¯ve mused that the strongest beast in this dungeon, the one who resides on the 100th floor, is a demigod level existence at the 5th ss.¡¯

    This was the first time Damien had heard the number of floors this dungeon had in total, and it made him feel utterly hopeless.

    ¡®A 5th ss existence? How long will it even take me to reach such a level?¡¯ But Damien wasn¡¯t one to fall into despair without attempting to do anything, so he persisted in reading.

    ¡®My purpose in entering this dungeon was to find myself a beastpanion. And just recently, I found a dragon! Haha, an actual dragon! How is it, are you jealous?¡¯

    Damien rolled his eyes.

    ¡®Kuhum. Well, let¡¯s continue. I¡¯ve spent many years searching for those I could pass my legacy to, however, I was never able to find someone fitting. For this reason, I¡¯ve ced subspace like this one within many different areas in our world that are only essible to those with extremely high affinity for the spatial attribute.¡¯

    ¡®Inside this subspace, I¡¯ve left my insights on subspace creation and many of my other iconic abilities, a few treasures that will aid you in your path forward, and information regarding everything of importance in our world.¡¯

    ¡®Now, if I¡¯m alive, I sincerely hope youe and find me, however, if I am not, make sure you showcase my legacy to the world once more and make sure my name isn¡¯t forgotten in the annals of history.

    -Kurt Galloway¡¯

    ¡®P.S. I bet you were really scared of that cliffhanger I left about the hundredth floor, huh? Weren¡¯t you? Anyway, you don¡¯t have to worry about that since I¡¯ve set up a teleportation array on the 50th floor. Just defeat the boss and you have a quick trip to the surface waiting for you! Okay, goodbye for real this time.¡¯

    Damien sighed in exasperation as he read the final excerpt, but his eyes couldn¡¯t help but brighten. He had finally found a way out of the dungeon, and not just that, he had found a way to advance his spatial ability and his knowledge of the new world he was in.

    This way, he wouldn¡¯t need to go in blind and randomly get himself killed by identally saying something he shouldn¡¯t.

    As Damien looked around once again at the rows of bookshelves that surrounded him, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡®Well then, I guess it¡¯s time for a real-life info dump.¡¯

 Chapter 19

    As Damien scoured the bookshelves, he found that there truly was knowledge about everything, from the history and powers structure of the world to the various upations that people followed.

    Another section of the bookshelves was wholly devoted to spatial affinity and the different methods of its utilization.

    As Damien scoured the bookshelves, he noticed a section focused on beast taming. Looking at the wolf that was still peacefully sleeping on the floor, Damien thought it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to study up on this field.

    Although most of the information he found was useless to him, who had no interest in taking beast taming as a profession, he found a certain ritual titled the ¡®Equal Blood Pact¡¯.

    This pact seemed to be perfect to useter, so he set it aside before he went on to read the information he found to be the most crucial.

    As he read, Damien was pleasantly surprised. The world Damien is stranded in is called Apeiron and it¡¯s what could be considered a typical fantasy world.

    Apparently, they had titled the system as the [Apeiron Records] and had changed the name of the world to match. Since he thought this name was cooler than just calling it ¡®the system¡¯, he decided to use it from now on.

    This world awakened mana thousands of years ago and is ruled by 5 massive empires, the strongest of which is the Adire Empire, with around 1/3 of thend being a forested beast domain ruled by 4th ss beasts who gained their human form.

    There was also a plethora of other races inhabiting the world. Mainly elves, dwarves, and beastmen.

    Each race had their own specialty and tended to seclude themselves from each other, but surprisingly, there wasn¡¯t a huge amount of racism between them.

    There are also other peak powers like the adventurers guild, auxiliary guilds like the alchemist and forge master guilds and multiple merchant associations. Out of these powers, the adventurers guild is rumored to be the strongest, with a half-step demigod at its head.

    As mentioned before, this world has several 4th ss beings and they are considered the top tier of the world.

    Ordinary civilians which make up a majority of the world¡¯s poption hadn¡¯t achieved even their first-ss yet, while 1st sses are the mostmon. Second-ss individuals are usually considered around A and the lowest tier of S rank adventurers and third-ss ounts for the S and SS rank.

    There currently aren¡¯t any 5th ss beings alive on the, but it¡¯s been said that there were one or two of them who resided here in the past.

    5th ss is considered as the demigod level, and the method of advancement to god level is only known by them. It¡¯s also fabled that most demigods choose to travel to the ¡°Heavenly World¡± where all peak experts reside.

    Reading this far, Damien decided to take a break before his head exploded from too much information. He found that the customs of this world aren¡¯t that different from Earth, but its hierarchy and strength were vastly different.

    After all, even if he went back to Earth right now, Damien would be one of the strongest humans, but here, he was just another ant. Damien grinned at this thought.

    Stronger opponents, better fights, and much more fun. This is what Damien had understood from the power scaling of the world.

    Damien also found out through his reading that he was currently on the 39th floor, making the dragonoid beast, which he had now discovered was a wyvern, the 40th-floor boss.

    ¡®Damn! Did I climb to the 40th floor already? I swear the goblin king was the 10th-floor boss, but I guess it was the 20th. It seems the only reason it was so easy was because of the intense strengthening I got from my rampage.¡¯

    When he put some thought into it, started to make sense. The goblin king¡¯s physical trait that he had stolen was extremely useful against those on or lower than the level of the user. Even in his fight against the beast tide earlier, this ability alone had led to the deaths of a few beasts.

    Now that another mystery was solved, the main question he had was about how much time had passed. After he entered the blood world, his sense of time hadpletely derailed. Putting this to the side, for now, Damien continued.

    As Damien switched to reading about the auxiliary upations, the wolf slowly woke up. When she did, she immediately jumped back and got into a battle-ready stance.

    She didn¡¯t understand why she had allowed herself to fall asleep after everything that had been going on these past few days, but she wasn¡¯t ready to die yet.

    ncing around, she found herself in a strange environment, and soon, she saw a bipedal creature leisurely sitting in the distance. With this, her memory started flooding back to her.

    From the events leading up to her meeting with Damien, all the way to the appearance of the wyvern and her passing out in his arm, she remembered it all. After receiving all the information, she lowered her guard ever so slightly.

    After all, this being could have killed her multiple times over as she slept, but she could feel that she had barely even been touched.

    Damien was so absorbed in his reading that he didn¡¯t notice any of this happening, but he soon finished his book and looked up, only to see another pair of eyes looking back at him.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re up?¡± Damien said in surprise. ¡°Well, first things first, can you understand me?¡±

    The wolf slowly nodded in acknowledgment.

    Although Damien was a bit surprised by her intelligence, he didn¡¯t think it was crazy, after all, he had just learned of the existence of an entire nation of beasts whose leaders had even taken on human form.

    Damien pondered for a bit and decided to be blunt. ¡°This might be a bit sudden, but I want to for a pact with you. This pact will connect us and we will bepanions from this day forth. So, what do you say?¡±

    The wolf was a bit confused about some of the words Damien used, but she got the gist of the situation. Hearing that she would have to form some kind of bond with this creature she didn¡¯t know, she vehemently shook her head no.

    ¡°Okay, I understand your aversion, but hear me out. You have a plethora of beasts and that giant wyvern chasing you, and my goal is to kill that wyvern and the beasts stronger than it before leaving this dungeon.¡± Damien coaxed.

    ¡°If we form this pact, we both have better chances of survival. Plus, when I go to the surface, I can take you with me. Haven¡¯t you ever been curious about what it looks like outside of these dreary cavern walls?¡±

    Seeing that the wolf was still hesitant, Damien was even more convinced to take it as his beastpanion. After all, this kind of cautious attitude is exactly what had helped him survive after his fall into the abyss.

    Thinking this far, Damien continued to coax the wolf and attempt to persuade it.

    The wolf fell into thought. She knew she couldn¡¯t survive alone due to the wyvern sensing her bloodline aura, so it would be best to gain help.

    Plus, she was interested in what the bipedal beast had told her about a world outside of this cavern. Slowly, she nodded her head, expressing her agreement to the pact.

    ¡°Great!¡± Damien eximed as he grabbed the sheet of paper outlining the blood pact. After reading it over one more time, Damien spoke,

    ¡°It looks like all we have to do is take a drop of blood each and express our consent. The rest will be done by the system.¡±

    As they both did as he said, a system message popped up in front of Damien¡¯s eyes.

    [Congrattions. You have formed a pact with an unnamed level 40 Fallen Wolf. As the first individual from the world [Earth] to aplish such a feat, you have been awarded experience. Your legend has been enhanced.]

    Along with this message, Damien felt a wave of foreign emotions. Uncertainty, doubt, curiosity, and most prominent, an intense will to survive.

    The wolf felt a simr rush of emotions. From Damien, she felt worry, anxiety, determination, and an intense me that shone with heat surpassing any sun that represented his will to survive.

    As they shared emotions, Damien smiled. ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s time for introductions. My name is Damien Void, and it¡¯s a pleasure working with you.¡±

    The wolf felt a bit dazzled by this smile but was confused about what to say. Although she couldn¡¯t talk yet, she could convey her feelings to Damien through their pact.

    Feeling her confusion, Damien shook his head in amusement and asked, ¡°So, do you want me to name you, or do you want to do it yourself?¡±

    The wolf¡¯s eyes brightened as she nodded, conveying her desire for a name unique to her.

    Damien smiled once again. ¡°Okay then, from this moment forth, you¡¯ll be called Zara.¡±

    Zara wagged her tail, conveying her satisfaction towards her new name as she walked forward and nuzzled up to Damien. Now that she could feel his emotions clearly, she had no reservations towards him.

    Damien ran his hand through her soft fur as he fell into thought.

    ¡®Well then, I guess it¡¯s time for me to have my very first proper training montage.¡¯

 Chapter 20

    Earth, within an unknown dungeon.

    A girl with dark blue hair and matching eyes stood before a giant snake-like beast. Her eyes shone with a vicious light as she charged to face it head-on.

    The snake held the human in contempt. She hade to hisyer alone and expected to defeat him? He couldn¡¯t help but look down on her. As it opened its mouth, a stream of green gaseous substance poured out, heading straight for the girl.

    However, she didn¡¯t stop her charge. A faint blue hue surrounded her body and she sped straight into the snake¡¯s breath. Before the snake could celebrate its easy victory, however, the girl emerged from the cloud and jumped towards the snake¡¯s head.

    ¡°Haa!¡±

    With a spirited shout, she raised her sword, which was now covered in a blood-red hue, and swung.

    ¡°SKREE!¡±

    The snake let out a shrill screech as a deep gash appeared on its body. However, it had lost its chance to do anything. The girl¡¯s speed suddenly multiplied as she moved around the snake¡¯s huge body and cut various gashes in its flesh.

    After many minutes of this, with the snake being unable to even escape from this girl who had seemingly infinite stamina, a sword was plunged directly between its eyes. The snake, whose eyes were filled with unwillingness, slumped to the floor lifeless.

    ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± The girl panted as she wiped the blood off her sword. Feeling the new levels of power coursing through her body, she checked her status

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Elena Pierce]

    Human

    Female ¨C Age 18

    Level 65 ¨C [War Maiden]

    Experience value: 20,100/68,000

    Title(s): [N/A]

    Affinities: Light, Life

    Physique: None

    Magic Power: 1200

    STR: 180

    AGI: 190

    DEF: 175

    INT: 195

    DEX: 185

    Skills: [Recovery Level 4], [Holy Magic Level 1], [Regeneration Level 5], [Sword Mastery Level 5], [Judgement Level 6]

    Although she was satisfied with her strength, she thought she wasn¡¯t improving fast enough.

    ¡®It¡¯s been one and a half years since Damien disappeared, and in this time I¡¯ve only gained around 30 levels. While this speed is extraordinary inparison to the other ¡®geniuses¡¯ I¡¯ve seen, it doesn¡¯t feel like it¡¯s enough.¡¯

    Although she couldn¡¯t exin it, she had always had a feeling that she should be leveling up faster. This feeling was simr to the one that told her Damien was alive.

    She may have been hallucinating, but she truly felt as if there was a faint link between them, allowing her to know if she could keep up or not.

    Around 5 days after Damien¡¯s disappearance, she felt an intense stinging sensation in her heart, and when it vanished, she felt like she could no longer sit still. She started covertly going to any avable gates that could make her stronger and leveling up like crazy.

    Her guild also became a problem due to this. She spent all of her time either inside of a dungeon or visiting Damien¡¯s mother, so she became rtively unreachable, and the guild began berating her for it.

    They had also begun pressuring her to partner with Jin in various publicity stunts and dungeon raids, but she vehemently refused. It seemed that the guild itself had been bought out by the Horten conglomerate and had be their dogs.

    With Jin¡¯s active pursuit of her never ceasing, and even getting worse once he had her guild¡¯s backing, Elena decided she¡¯d had enough. She entirely left the guild and acted solo.

    Luckily, anyone could earn money through hunting beasts, and their corpses could be sold in various subsidiaries of the Guild Association, which had long cemented its reputation and status that was above any other organization in the world.

    Elena was pissed, but she couldn¡¯t do anything about it, so she hid her strength and continued to level up. In the world¡¯s eye, however, she had stopped her action as a hunter due to the grief of her friend¡¯s death.

    Elena put her hood up to hide her face and stealthily exited the dungeon, heading to the hospital once again to have idle talk with Damien¡¯s mother.

    Although she was unresponsive, her presence was enough to remind Elena of Damien. As Elena entered the hospital room that looked just the same as it always did, one of the clerks at the front desk subtly grabbed her phone and made a call.

    ¡°Yes sir,¡± she said, ¡°the woman you were talking about has just entered the hospital.¡±

    On the other side of the line was a rtively handsome man, whose twisted expressionpletely ruined his face. After ending the call, Jin smashed his phone on the floor.

    ¡®Dammit! That slut is still over there taking care of that bastard¡¯s mom! How does she even get the money for it? Hmph, she¡¯s probably selling her body like the whore she is!¡¯

    Jin¡¯s expression became more and more menacing as time passed, and his aura began to leak, forcing his assistants and bodyguards to make distance.

    ¡®Well, it doesn¡¯t matter anymore then. If she¡¯s already letting others have a taste, it doesn¡¯t matter if I get a little forceful. Hehe, yes she hadn¡¯t even leveled up since she left the guild, she¡¯ll be easy prey.¡¯

    Jin smiled wickedly and stood up. ¡°All of you, don¡¯t follow me. This young master is going to have some fun tonight.¡±

    Stuck in his delusions of tasting Elena¡¯s body, which he had been chasing for the past year and a half, Jin failed to notice the ominous air that was revolving around him.

    Back in the hospital room, Elena was making idle talk to Damien¡¯s mother, telling her of the events that were taking ce in the world.

    ¡°Stronger gates have been showing up recently, and some are even so strong that only our peak experts can close them. Luckily for me though, these gates are the ones that help me level up the fastest.¡± Elena said before switching the topic.

    ¡°Oh, I also heard that the guy with raisin maniption has be a multi-millionaire through reality tv. Isn¡¯t it crazy that even a power as stupid as raisin maniption can make you rich? I guess the world will always love itsedy and stupidity.¡±

    The ¡°Raisin Game¡±, as it was titled, was one of the most popr shows on the inte at the moment. As the threat of gates and monsters started to be more serious, themon popce turned to shows like this to negate their worries.

    After all, it was a man who had been stuck with the sad fate of having useless powers but had been creative enough to raise his fame and status until he was at the top. Humans will always love a good underdog story.

    However, this was only entertainment for themon popce. Among those who sought power, the most trending topic was about a certain Japanese man named Fujimura Ryutaro.

    Even before the World Awakening, Ryutaro was a famous swordsman who had practiced throughout his life. Once mana was introduced, he had continued on this path.

    He had risen to prominence and be one of Japan¡¯s most talented hunters, and now, after six and a half years, he had achieved a groundbreaking feat.

    Ryutaro had raised his Sword Mastery skill, which wasmon among those who had even slight attainments in swordsmanship, to level 10 and unlocked something he called ¡®Sword Aura¡¯.

    Sword Aura was a widely known concept to those who had ever been engrossed in the fantasy genre, and its discovery had rocked the world.

    After all, if concepts that were only prominent in fiction turned out to be real, did that mean that humanity on Earth had already been in contact with mana before, or was the human psyche already prepped by the system to adapt to mana beforehand?

    Many scientific studies had been started due to this discovery, and humanity was starting to enter a new age.

    After getting this far, Elena decided it was time for her to leave. She had already been ranting for many hours and felt that any more would be embarrassing.

    After Elena left, the shadows that lurked in the corners of the room converged into the form of a man.

    The man, whose features were obscured behind a veil of shadows, had a mystifying presence. It was as if he both existed and didn¡¯t exist in reality. He walked up to the bed and stared at Damien¡¯s mother for a few long minutes before heaving a sigh.

    ¡°ire, I¡¯m sorry you had to end up in this condition. If his birth didn¡¯t sap all the mana in your body you¡¯d be livingfortably, but I know that neither of us would want it that way. Even if I can¡¯t be there to watch over him, he¡¯s my pride and joy.¡± As he spoke, the man¡¯s body began to fade.

    ¡°Just wait a bit longer. I can feel his presence in a world nearby. I believe he¡¯ll return soon and wake you up. As long as that stupid brat listened to the things I taught him when he was young, he¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Suddenly, a nurse entered the room.

    ¡°Hello? Is anyone there?¡± She had thought she heard voices through the door, but visiting hours were long past over.

    However, when she entered, she saw nothing but a sleeping patient and curtains blowing softly in the wind.

    The shadowy figure had vanished as if it never existed in the first ce.

 Chapter 21

    Meanwhile, Elena was walking home. ¡®I wonder when the next big gate will show up. I need more opportunities to increase my strength so I can walk uninhibited on this world and maybe even explore new worlds.¡¯

    Elena was always a girl with plenty of ambition. For this reason, she had trained and risen through the ranks of her guild until she was one of its top talents. Only in the past year and a half had her motivation for strength gone through a slight change.

    But this slight change didn¡¯t mean that the core of her personality has changed. At the end of the day, Elena was still a person who wished to explore the universe and be a peak powerhouse that surpassed even the demigod level that had recently been discovered.

    Thinking about how she should raise her strength, Elena walked down the dark streets lit only by the asional streetmps and unwittingly ended up taking a nearby alleyway as a shortcut.

    Suddenly, she sensed a presence behind her.

    ¡°What a surprise that we just happened to meet here!¡± Came a pretentious and irritating voice.

    Elena turned around to see Jin standing at the entrance of the alleyway. He was dressed in dark clothes and if one wasn¡¯t aware of his status, they¡¯d immediately call the cops on this suspicious-looking individual.

    Though it wasn¡¯t like the police could do anything to him either way.

    Elena panicked. She had been so deep in thought that she had failed to realize she was being tailed. And since it was Jin here, the reason was undoubtedly something sinister.

    ¡°What do you want with me?¡± Elena said as she tried to put up a strong front, but the subtle shaking in her body gave her away.

    Jin was so iparably excited when he saw this prideful woman trembling in his presence that he almost pounced on her right away, but he managed to contain himself.

    ¡°Hehe, Elena don¡¯t be so hasty. Why don¡¯t youe have a nice and friendly conversation with this young master?¡± He said with an expression that directly opposed the words ¡°nice¡± and ¡°friendly¡±.

    Jin walked forward, lustfully eyeing Elena¡¯s voluptuous body. After reaching 2nd ss, she had be even more beautiful than she was when he first saw her. Her shoulder-length sea-blue hair glistened in the moonlight and her eyes were like two shining sapphires that Jin couldn¡¯t help but feel drawn into.

    Her body was curvaceous in all the right ces, with breasts that would make any man go red with lust. Jin smiled lewdly as he thought of all the things he would do to her tonight as he finally reached her.

    Elena was backing away fearfully with his every step forward, but with his level, he easily caught up to her.

    ¡°W-what are you scheming Jin?!¡± Elena shouted as she tried to attract attention to the alleyway. However, it waste at night and the streets werergely empty. Those who were out at this time weren¡¯t the type to help a damsel in distress either.

    Elena turned as she attempted to run away, but Jin caught her wrists and pinned her down to the ground.

    ¡°What¡¯s the rush, Elena? Do you hate me so much? All I want to do is talk.¡± Even as he spoke such innocent words, Jin tried to run his hands down her exquisite face.

    However, Elena didn¡¯t allow that to happen. She wrestled for control, forcing him to give up on his attempts.

    Still, Jin didn¡¯t care. He would finally take what was his. He didn¡¯t care if she was sullied or unwilling, all he wanted was to use her and then throw her away like trash.

    As Jin¡¯s hand went towards Elena¡¯s heaving bosom, he felt his euphoria heighten to a new level, and he looked towards Elena¡¯s face so he could witness the look of despair she held.

    However, he was bound to be disappointed. When his eyes met hers, all he saw was contempt. Elena¡¯s helpless expression was nowhere to be seen, as currently, she wore a cold smile on her face.

    In this position, how could Jin even think about running away? This was what Elena had been aiming for. Elena was someone who spent almost every day diving into gates and fighting life or death battles with various beasts. With this kind of lifestyle, what kind of dumb joke would it be if she was scared of the likes of Jin?

    Elena swiftly grabbed Jin¡¯s wrist, preventing him from escaping. Jin used everything he had to try and escape, but it wasn¡¯t an option from the start. Jin had only just entered 2nd ss, while Elena was already 15 levels ahead of him. Today, she had thoroughly decided to teach him a lesson.

    When he had openly pursued her even after she rejected him countless times, she ignored him. When he bought out her guild to coerce her into joining him, she ignored him. And when he had pushed Damien into that gate one and a half years ago, she had pushed down her rage and ignored him.

    This wasn¡¯t out of respect, adoration, or any positive feeling, rather it was solely due to his backing. But in this kind of situation, why would Elena continue to care about something as superficial as backing?

    Looking at Jin, whose face had paled in horror, Elena felt a strange sense of satisfaction. ¡®Could it be that I¡¯m a sadist? Or is it just that this guy is such an asshole that anyone would be a sadist in front of him?¡¯ At the end of the day, she didn¡¯t care.

    Thinking of a great idea, Elena cut Jin¡¯s pants off, leaving him stark naked from the waist down, before frowning in disgust.

    ¡®Damn, it really pisses me off that I have to look at this thing, but it¡¯ll be more fun seeing him run down the streets like this, so I guess I¡¯ll let it slide.¡¯

    Elena invoked her mana, and a holy white light appeared at her fingertips.

    ¡°Well then, since you like to think with this little, wait no little isn¡¯t enough, should I say tiny, or microscopic? No, even an ant¡¯s dick is probably bigger than this thing! You seriously have a lot of guts to go around acting all high and mighty with this atom-sized thing between your legs. Ah, I¡¯m getting off-topic.¡±

    Jin almost coughed blood and passed out just from that. It seemed that Elena had inflicted a critical hit before she even did anything. Ignoring Jin¡¯s situation, Elena continued.

    ¡°As I was saying, if you like to think with this smaller than an atom-sized thing between your legs so much, I guess it¡¯s my duty as a former teammate to get rid of it right? After all, you need a clear head to go into gates and fight!¡±

    Jin¡¯s face paled even further as he realized what she was about to do, but he was unable to escape from her grip. He could only helplessly watch as a small beam of white light shot out of Elena¡¯s fingertips and cleanly cut off his ¡°pride¡± as a man.

    ¡°AHHHHHHH¡± Jin screamed. The feeling of emptiness between his legs, although he was used to it for a different reason, was one of the most painful experiences he ever had.

    Elena smiled looking at such a Jin as she proceeded to cut his Achilles¡¯ tendons so he couldn¡¯t move. As a 2nd ss, Jin could easily heal this small injury, though he¡¯d never be able to regain his manhood.

    Elena did this so that jin would only be able to leave the alleyway after he healed, which would be in the morning when the streets were plenty popted.

    Taking his phone and crushing it so Jin didn¡¯t have an easy way out, Elena threw him to the floor and walked out of the alleyway with an eery smile on her face. Elena suddenly had a silly thought.

    ¡®Looks like I¡¯ve prepared a great present for Damien when he returns. I wonder how he feels about eunuchs?¡¯

    Whistling the tune of her favorite song, Elena continued to walk home as if nothing happened.

 Chapter 22

    6 monthster

    Within the subspace, Damien could be seen facing Zara, who was charging a beam of ice. Unlike usual, Damien right now was a mess, with parts of his body frozen and in the process of thawing.

    ¡°Okay, this is the one. Shoot it, Zara.¡± Damien said as he put his arm out. On his cue, Zara released the beam of concentrated ice energy at Damien, but he didn¡¯t move. He stood with his arm out and closed his eyes.

    The beam moved at extremely fast speeds and in the blink of an eye was already in front of him. Suddenly, the beam took a sharp turn to the right and crashed into the wall.

    ¡°Hahaha! I finally did it!¡± Damien eximed as he ran over and hugged Zara. She, who knew how hard he¡¯d been working these past 6 months, was equally as happy for him

    In these months, neither of the two had left the confines of the subspace and spent all their time training. At the beginning of their stay, Damien had spoken to Zara about many things, and after observing her with his All-Seeing Eyes, he noticed that she had an untapped affinity for both shadow and ice.

    It turns out that Zara had never had time to focus on her affinities due to constantly living in hiding, so she had never developed them. Now that she had time and a sparring partner, she made immense improvements.

    Unlike Damien, who was the type to charge headfirst into battle and use brute strength to win, Zara was specialized in concealment. In these past 6 months, she had exponentially increased herbat ability and attack techniques through the use of her ice element, while she mainly used her shadow element for stealth and utility.

    If she was ced in the same situation Damien had found her in once more, she would easily be able to kill most of the beasts in the tide and escape before the wyvern even had a chance to show itself.

    What¡¯s more, her concealment prowess was top tier. Damien mused that even peak 2nd ss beings would be unable to sense her in her concealed state. The only reason he could do so was because of their link.

    Zara¡¯s favorite skill, however, was one she developed based on the pact she formed with Damien. It was a simple ability that allowed her to live within his shadow.

    Although Damien didn¡¯t understand why, Zara felt the mostfortable within his shadow, and tended to spend most of the time when they weren¡¯t rxing or training there.

    Her ability to fight together with Damien as a team also improved immensely. Now, all she needed wasbat experience using her new affinities, which she can easily gain in their descent to the 50th floor.

    Damien wasn¡¯t sitting idly these 6 months either. Damien had begun training with his ck lightning, attempting to understand its properties.

    This came much more naturally than he expected, and he effectively raised its level to the point where its infusion into its body gave a 5x multiplier in speed, and its power, when infused into his de, was immense.

    His swordsmanship had also seen steady improvement. 6 months didn¡¯t seem to be enough time to create his unique sword art, but he had taken steps in the right direction. With the rough outline already in ce, all Damien needed to do was continue practicing and perfecting it until it wasplete.

    His greatest improvement, however, was his spatial affinity. After reading up on Kurt¡¯s insights into spatial element, Damien was enlightened on which path he wanted to take with his ability.

    First, he practiced his control over singr points in space as a prerequisite and then, after 3 months, finally had the understanding towards the element to create his own subspace. Although it wasn¡¯t asplex as Kurt¡¯s and couldn¡¯t store living beings, he had essentially created himself an inventory.

    It took all his mana to cast, but didn¡¯t require mana to be maintained, furthermore, as long as he leveled up and increased his mana capacity, he¡¯d be able to erge the space within it.

    After this, Damien further refined his understanding of the concept of ¡®a single point in space¡¯ and worked towards gaining absolute control over that single point.

    And finally, at the end of their 6-month training session, he had grasped the ability to control vectors using points in space as a medium.

    [You have obtained a glimpse into your path to 2nd ss. Due to your enlightenment, your legends have been enhanced.]

    Seeing this system message, Damien finally remembered to check his status. ¡®Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t checked my status since the 20th floor. I wonder what kind of changes there are.¡¯

    After having a long break, Damien had realized why he had forgotten about his status. Perhaps it was a subconscious decision, but Damien didn¡¯t want to know how much time had passed.

    He remembered recently that his status had a section that showed his age, and that would obviously designate the time.

    However, he was already this far and already so close to leaving the dungeon, so he had decided that he would check his status. No matter what happened, he still had the same goal. Resolving himself for what was toe, Damien summoned his status.

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Half-Human/Half-Beast

    Male ¨C Age 19

    Level 49 ¨C [Spatial Mage]

    Experience value: 40,300/49,000

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Space, Lightning

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 2500

    STR: 250

    AGI: 275

    DEF: 245

    INT: 230

    DEX: 265

    Skills: [Warp Level 3], [Spatial Control Level 4], [High-Level Regeneration Level 2], [Sword Mastery Level Max], [Mana Sense Level 5], [Devour Level 5], [Spatial Magic Level 5], [Lightning Magic Level 5], [Inventory]

    Trait(s): [Shock Absorption], [All-Seeing Eyes Level 2]

    Damien exhaled a long breath as he tried to calm himself down.

    ¡®2 years. It¡¯s been 2 years of constant fighting, killing, and growing stronger. I have no idea what¡¯s going on with Earth right now or even if my mother is still fine, but I can¡¯t let these things weigh me down. All I need to focus on is returning.¡¯

    Luckily, Damien had already prepared himself for much worse scenarios than this one, so he had a rtively easy time calming down, however, it was still a bit hard for him to ept reality.

    Sensing Damien¡¯splicated emotions, Zara walked over and nuzzled up to him. These past months, Damien and Zara had grown extremely close to each other. They were alone in this world without anyone else, so it was natural for them to be each other¡¯s support system.

    And indeed, petting Zara¡¯s silky smooth and fluffy fur was a great way for Damien to get a grip on himself. Laying down using Zara as his pillow, Damien began nning his next steps.

    ¡®Firstes the obvious. Kill the wyvern and whatever boss is on the 50th floor and escape the dungeon. After that, it seems the adventurers guild is my best option. I have no desire to be tied down to some empire in a foreign world.¡¯ Damien continued this thought process.

    ¡®I can¡¯t n ahead of this without knowing the current situation on the surface, after all, who knows how long it¡¯s been since that Kurt guy built this ce. Even the treasures he left were mostly for strengthening the body, so I gave them all to Zara.¡¯

    The only real benefit Damien got from this subspace was information and a safe environment. But Damien wasn¡¯tining. Information was what he needed most right now, and the environment had helped him consolidate his current power to its peak.

    All that was left for him was to kill the wyvern and acquire his second ss.

    ¡®That¡¯s right. Everything elsees after. Let¡¯s take things one step at a time.¡¯

    Damien suddenly grinned. His change in attitude surprised Zara, but she didn¡¯t think too much of it until he suddenly stood up.

    ¡°Alright,e on Zara. It¡¯s time to go dragon hunting.¡±

 Chapter 23

    On the 40th floor stood a massive wyvern whose rage and excitement were evident in its eyes. Not long ago, he had sensed that extremely potent bloodline aura re-emerge in roughly the same position it had been when he lost it.

    In his excitement, he was preparing to leave his stronghold and catch that beast before it could run again, but he realized he didn¡¯t have to put in so much work. That aura was already speedily making its way towards him.

    The wyvern stood up, its head held high in pride, as it looked towards the entrance to the 40th floor. But what emerged in front of him wasn¡¯t what he was expecting. Rather than the wolf he had been chasing, the one that emerged from the entrance was the bipedal beast that had aided the wolf.

    However, the wyvern wasn¡¯t mad at this fact. He had always felt it was a stain on his record to let someone weaker than him escape his grasp, and he felt that killing this beast was the best way to regain his honor. Plus, he felt that bloodline aura on the bipedal beast now, meaning he¡¯d reap the same rewards by consuming it.

    When Damien emerged on the 40th floor with Zara concealed in his shadow, he expected the wyvern to immediately attack, but it seemed he had underestimated the temperament of this beast. The wyvern stared down at Damien as if provoking him to attack.

    And although Damien wasn¡¯t provoked, he was indeed rushing to kill this beast. During his 6 month stay in the subspace, Damien had read up on the various beasts in the world. It seemed that all beasts were descended from what was known as ¡®Godbeasts¡¯.

    The bloodline of these godbeasts within them became more potent as beasts evolved, and when they reached 5th ss, normal beasts could also walk the path of bing godbeasts. One of these godbeasts was the True Dragons.

    This wyvern was one of their offspring, and judging from its intense fixation on Zara¡¯s bloodline, it must have umted arge portion of True Dragon bloodline.

    This wasn¡¯t what Damien was interested in though. What caught his interest was a trait that True Dragons possessed, their superior regeneration. A True Dragon¡¯s regeneration was capable of regrowing limbs, which was something Damien desperately wanted.

    Although it hadn¡¯t impeded him much, Damien was still missing an arm. He mused that if he killed this wyvern and devoured it, even if he couldn¡¯t regrow his arm, he¡¯d be able to take steps in that direction.

    Not wanting to wait any longer, Damien charged forward with his sword drawn. The wyvern met him head-on as it charged as well. When he got close, Damien teleported to the wyvern¡¯s side and used the first step of the sword art he¡¯d been creating.

    ¡®Void Sword First Step: deless¡¯

    Damien¡¯s sword flickered as its de disappeared from existence. In the next second, a 10-foot long gash tore through the wyvern¡¯s scales.

    This was the first step of his art. When Damien swung his sword, he¡¯d meld its de with the spatialyers in the surroundings and essentially form a spatial tear that acted as his sword de.

    This tear would superimpose on whatever existed in the spot upied by its space and banish it into the void. It was an unavoidable and unseen de, which was why he chose to call it ¡®de less¡¯

    The wyvern let out a guttural roar as its flesh and muscles were exposed and swung its ws towards Damien. However, Damien had long vanished from the spot. The ground cracked as a miniature earthquake was induced by the wyvern¡¯s paw.

    When Damien reappears, he was on top of the wyverns head. Turning to face its back, he once again used the first step of his art. Another deep gash appeared on the wyvern without it even understanding what was happening.

    The wyvern was getting fed up. The ant he could¡¯ve crushed within seconds 6 months ago was now handling him like a child. Damien hopped off the wyvern¡¯s head and stood in front of it, taunting it to do something.

    And the wyvern easily fell for his provocation. Opening its maw, it concentrated a beam of energy to fire. This was its trait as a descendant of dragons, Breath. Facing genuine dragon¡¯s breath, Damien wasn¡¯t scared in the slightest.

    When the beam fired, it sundered even the space around it as it charged unimpeded towards Damien. ¡®This is the perfect practice dummy¡¯ Damien thought as he looked at this attack.

    While Damien put his whole focus towards the breath attack, using it to perfect his vector control, a subtle shadow detached from his own.

    The breath attack finally reached its target, as Damien put his arm out and put all his focus to block it. At first, he could only slightly divert the trajectory of the attack, making it narrowly miss him, but his entire left side was slowly being burnt.

    His flesh melted and his internal organs began to feel the heat of the breath, but Damien continued forward with the same method. Slowly but surely, Damien was able to avert the breath until it couldn¡¯t affect him anymore, though his entire left side was burnt to a crisp in the process.

    ¡®Ha! This pain isn¡¯t even half of what my eyes went through in thest evolution.¡¯ Damien scoffed as he took a moment to pat himself on the back for his sessful evasion.

    Meanwhile, the wyvern was even more enraged. The breath attack that it had prided itself on, that it had inherited from its all-powerful ancestors, had been blocked. Even though the bipedal beast had been injured in the process, he couldn¡¯t see any signs of pain on its face.

    As the wyvern focused on Damien, it failed to sense the slight chill that began to permeate the air. Zara had stealthily made her way towards therge gashes on the wyvern¡¯s back and was preparing herself to go for the kill.

    This was why Damien hadn¡¯t attempted tond any fatal wounds on the wyvern. All he wanted from the wyvern was its experience and its corpse. Zara, however, was constantly chased by this wyvern and its underlings forrge periods of time.

    Over the past 6 months, Damien had also discovered that Zara¡¯s parents were the previous inhabitants of the 40th floor and had been killed by the wyvern months before his arrival.

    Naturally, with this kind of grudge, Damien would allow her to get the kill. He only made some preparations for her since her strength wasn¡¯t necessarily enough to break through the wyvern scales. And since they were connected through contract, Damien would still get the experience from killing the wyvern.

    In return, Damien had promised Zara that every beast from the following 9 floors would be given to her, so she could also grow in strength.

    Once Zara was prepared, she sent tendrils of darkness into the wyvern¡¯s wounds, corroding them, while she sentpressed sts of ice energy to freeze off its muscles and organs before destroying them.

    By the time the wyvern moved to stop her, Damien was already healed and in front of it, stabbing into its eye and temporarily blinding it. Although the wyvern was enraged that it was getting attacked from two sides, it couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    Damien kept its attention on him, without allowing it to focus its attacks on Zara, while Zara slowly chipped away at its life force, making sure the wyvern could feel the pain of its corroding insides. And within 10 minutes, the wyvern fell to the ground as a lifeless corpse.

    Damien smiled at Zara, who hade back into his shadow. Although she acted like nothing special happened, he could feel the relief and satisfaction she was feeling inside. While feeling happy that his partner obtained her revenge, Damien walked towards the wyvern corpse.

    ¡®Devour¡¯

    The shadowy maw emerged from his palm and swallowed the corpse into its abyss, turning it into pure nutrients for Damien. Zara was shocked as she watched, but Damien had already warned her of what he was about to do so she didn¡¯t panic. After all, he was going to be in a load of pain after his devouring.

    And a load of pain was indeed what he felt. With the goblin king, it was his muscles, tissue, and tendons, with the spider, it was his eyes, now with the wyvern, the intense pain he felt was concentrated in his throat.

    Although different from the spider, his bodily defenses were also being significantly raised. As time passed, multiple dragon-like scales appeared and disappeared on Damien¡¯s skin, while his eyes became reptilian before that receded as well. Within his throat, Damien felt a burning sensation akin to swallowing the sun as he endured.

    The pain was terrible, but putting together the context clues, Damien had a good idea of what he was receiving at the moment, and that thought made him iparably excited.

    Slowly, his evolution ended, and Damien felt his body filled with renewed vigor. This type of vigor made him feel extremely bestial, giving him the urge to roar to the heavens to assert dominance.

    And roar he did.

    It was the roar of a king, the roar of a dragon, and with this roar, came a destructive, semi-translucent beam of energy that destroyed everything in its path.

    Damien had acquired the dragon race¡¯s most prided trait, Breath.

 Chapter 24

    The 40th floor, which used to be a pristine cavern with patches of lush greenery, was now covered in dust and falling rubble. The ceiling had copsed and almost everything on the ground had been shredded to pieces. This was a result of Damien¡¯s roaring.

    Once he came back to his senses, Damien¡¯s gazended on the destruction he had just caused. He smiled at this scene, seemingly proud of his work.

    Although Damien was happy about his new breath ability, he was more excited by the fact that it incorporated his affinities rather than just being a fire-based ability.

    The breath he had just released was semi-translucent due to its main attribute being space. The only reason it could be seen was due to the ck lightning that coursed through it and the rippling and tearing of the space it passed through. In summary, it was utter annihtion.

    After appreciating his new trait, Damien noticed that there was an overflow of system messages he had to check. First was the records of all the monsters he¡¯d killed, including the wyvern which was apparently at level 65, but he ignored those.

    [You have made immense achievements in your path to obtain strength and raised your league once more. You have fulfilled the requirements to obtain a new ss. Gain strength, obtain achievements, and build your legend.]

    [Choose a ss]

    [1. Swordmaster]

    [2. Beast Tamer]

    [3. Schr]

    [4. Vector Controller]

    [5. Priest]

    Damien didn¡¯t even need to think. His path had always been with the spatial attribute, and controlling vectors was the path he chose himself.

    [You have be a Vector Controller. By using space as a medium, you have obtained the ability to control matter and interactions through their rted vectors. In the beginning, you may only be able to control eleration, inertia, and other concepts in the immediate area, but at its peak, you may be able to obtain control over the vast universe.]

    [By bing a 2nd ss being, you have obtained the qualifications to choose a subss.]

    [Choose a subss]

    [1. Lightning mage]

    [2. Healer]

    [3. cksmith]

    [4. Alchemist]

    [5. Beast Tamer]

    Damien didn¡¯t think much of the subsses and chose lightning mage, as it bestplimented his affinities and fighting style. He was abat-oriented person, not someone who excelled at auxiliary upations.

    Just like this first ss change, Damien¡¯s head was filled with insights on how to utilize his new power.

    Previously, he could barely be said to have achieved a preliminary understanding of the concept, but now he¡¯d firmly stepped into that realm. What he needed to do now was to further understand his power and decide how to implement it into hisbat style.

    The biggest change he could feel was within his body. He could feel his blood and his cells work as they regenerated his charred left side. He could also feel the clumps of activity that gathered in the stump of his left arm.

    This made Damien smile even wider. It seemed he could finally heal his arm. Although the power he obtained from the wyvern had boosted his regeneration, it wasn¡¯t quite enough to evolve it. If hebined it with his newly gained control over his internal body, however, it might be possible.

    After asking Zara to stand guard, Damien sat down and concentrated on the activity taking ce in his arm. As he experimented with these clumps, he realized that he could move his blood and cells as he pleased.

    This was a sub-ability of his telekinesis that he hadn¡¯t known he could use before he received the insights from his second ss.

    Using his regeneration skill, which had directly achieved max level after he devoured the wyvern, he began regrowing his arm. However, this ability wasn¡¯t enough to regrow limbs before evolving.

    But if he just had to make the basic structure, it was more than enough. Damien spent two days using his mana sense internally to memorize and understand the structure of the arm he already possessed, and then began mirroring and replicating it on his left stump.

    Slowly but surely, the outline of his left arm began forming. As he did this, he simultaneously used his telekinesis to initiate and control his cell division and replication to form the inner structure of his arm. Being a mirrored copy of his right arm, its strength was equal as well.

    Bones began forming inside the shell, followed by tendons, ligaments, muscles, tissue, and finally his skin. An entire week passed, and Damien could be seen sitting in the same position.

    However, different from the start of the week, Damien now had twoplete arms and perfect symmetry in his body.

    Damien stood up and drew his sword without pause. After swinging it randomly for a couple of seconds, he started to think.

    ¡®It¡¯s been around 2 years since I lost my arm, so my center of bnce haspletely changed. It seems I¡¯ll have to train for a bit to adapt to having all my body parts back¡¯

    After thinking for a bit, Damien finally spoke. ¡°Zara, I have to stay here for a bit to get used to my new strength. Go on ahead without me and start training. I¡¯ll join you soon.¡±

    Zara was unwilling at first, but after Damien assured her that nothing on the lower floors would be able to bypass her concealment, she nodded and left towards the 41st floor.

    Meanwhile, Damien continued to practice without fail. Like this, another 2 months passed.

    During these 2 months, Zara had made immense progress. When she first entered the 41st floor, she refused to leave her concealment and silently whittled down the poption of the floor while devouring beasts.

    By the time she reached the 42nd floor, she realized that Damien wasn¡¯t lying when he said that she wouldn¡¯t have a problem. She was just too used to being around a monster like Damien that she had forgotten that she was a monster herself.

    Slowly, she began leaving her concealment and fighting beasts head-on to increase herbat experience. But even then, they couldn¡¯t injure her much. This continued until she made it to the 45th floor.

    On this floor, she met a beast that looked like a massive lion and she decided to challenge it. The lion had a fire ability thatpletely negated her ice and dispersed her shadows, forcing her to use her pure physical prowess to fight.

    She stepped through the shadows and capitalized on her greater speed to run around the lion and umte bites and scratches. However, this was the first fight since she started where she couldn¡¯te out unscathed.

    While she was aiming to kill the lion by viciously biting into its neck, the lion had shed her with its giant paws infused with fire, leaving a huge gash on her side that continued to burn for some time.

    Luckily. She had killed the lion, so she vanished into the shadows, and covered herself in a coat of ice. This was the first experience that let her know the importance of defense.

    Zara continued to fight within the next 4 floors and reached the 49th floor as a true 1st ss. With her evolution, she had gained 2 extra tails. It seemed to be rted to her bloodline, but what exactly her bloodline is remained a mystery.

    Her body, although not as tough as Damien¡¯s, had been thoroughly refined through her constant battles, and her affinities had be much more versatile.

    She had also created a new skill that allowed her to cover her body in ice armor, enhancing her defense to another level. When she came back to the 40th floor to show Damien, he was genuinely impressed.

    With her 3 tails, fallen angel-like wings, pitch ck fur, and pristine whitish-blue ice armor, she truly looked like a beast straight out of some old mythology.

    Damien had also adapted to his new arm and corrected his body bnce. With this, he was finally ready to kill the 50th-floor boss and escape the dungeon.

    When they entered the 50th floor, though, the boss was somethingpletely outside of his expectations.

 Chapter 25

    The scenery on the 50th floor was simr to that of the floors leading up to it, but for a different reason.

    Patches of lush greenery could be seen here and there, but the most jarring part of the area was the random areas of destroyed trees andnd. It seems that the 50th floor was originally something akin to a small forest, but whatever lived here had torn it down.

    Wood bark was strewn around, with some pieces in a half charred state, grass and nts that used to stand tall were withered and dead, and a foul stench permeated the air. In the center of all of this was a creature unlike anything Damien had witnessed before.

    It had 3 heads, each of a different animal, a lion, a snake, and a goat, and a huge body that took up a good portion of the space avable in the cavern. Its body was panther-like, specialized for speed, its feet were talons like a bird, and its tail was that of a scorpion. It also had a pair of massive wings.

    Its 3 heads swiveled as one when it sensed Damien¡¯s presence, and without any suspense, it charged.

    The chimera drew near as each of its heads charged up a separate attack. The lion let out a massive roar that shook the earth, the goat channeled energy between its horn to shoot out like a beam, and its snake head shot out poisonous breath.

    However, beam attacks weren¡¯t something that would work on Damien anymore. Especially from those that were in the same ss as him.

    During the 3 months he spent adjusting to his body, Damien wasn¡¯t idle in his other training. His control over vectors had improved to the point where he could divert these attacks without burning himself likest time and he had created a second step for his sword art.

    However, as this would be hisst fight within the dungeon, Damien decided to be a little reckless. Since Zara had already moved to attack the beast, he just had to distract it. Damien opened his mouth and sucked in arge breath.

    His chest expanded, his cheeks puffed, his throat constricted, and when his movement reached its apex, Damien let out an even more ferocious roar than the chimera.

    With this roar came an ethereal beam of rippling energy covered in arcs of ck lightning that sundered even space itself as if only it could exist.

    When the beam collided with the chimera¡¯s attacks, a muted explosion rocked the entire 50th floor.

    The splintered remains of trees and withered grass that was already on the verge of death were all incinerated into nothingness, and even the ground had cracked into hundreds of pieces, eliciting reactions from even the beasts on the 49th and 51st floors who could only feel the aftershocks of the sh.

    While the poisonous breath of the snake and the energy beam of the goat were both obliterated in the sh, Damien¡¯s breath attack had retained a bit of its energy. It continued forward and pierced the middle head, the snake, causing it to explode into countless pieces.

    The chimera roared in pain. While its 3 heads were connected to the same body, they only shared a piece of their consciousness. For the most part, they could think independently. For this reason, rather than feeling like it had lost one of its heads, the lion and goat head had felt like they had lost a brother.

    This infuriated them to no end the chimera lifted off from the ground and began flying, using its speed to try and catch Damien off guard. A rain of energy beams and fireballs rushed at Damien from every direction. Damien, however, simply abused his teleportation.

    Whenever he was close to being hit, he¡¯d vanish and reappear in the distance. Since he had decided to have fun during this fight, Damien didn¡¯t even counterattack, further enraging the chimera.

    Was this bipedal beast looking down on it? When this thought crossed its mind, the chimera almost lost itself to rage. It intensified its attack further, destroying any remaining unbroken areas of the cavern.

    At this time, Damien stopped dodging every attack that came at him. Every once in a while, he would stop and allow himself to stay within an attack¡¯s trajectory, gently flicking his finger to divert it. Now that he had two hands he had even more freedom to do this.

    Although the hand motions weren¡¯t necessary to affect vectors in his vicinity, they were a sort of intermediary that Damien used to get more ustomed to his power. Once he had improved to a certain level, he would be able to block any attacks aimed at him without even moving.

    Damien continued to wave his arms, looking like a conductor leading an orchestra, however, this was no symphony. Instead, it was a cacophony of destruction that would make anyone want to bring up a certain ¡®art is an explosion¡¯ reference.

    With none of its attacks even slightly affecting Damien, the chimera decided to descend and use raw power, but before it could do so, it noticed its tail had been frozen stiff. In the next moment, the entire tail shattered and blood spurted out from the point where it used to connect with its body.

    Next, tentacles made of shadowstched onto its wings and bound them, before another portion of shadows came together in the form of a beast. This was naturally Zara, who had used her own wings to fly beside the beast in concealment while waiting for the opportunity to strike.

    Although she could have attacked much earlier, she could feel how much fun Damien was having and decided to let him y for a bit longer. However, he had already been wantonly teleporting and manipting attack trajectories for the past 20 minutes, and she was getting bored.

    Once Zara materialized, she quickly used her razor-sharp teeth to tear one of the chimera¡¯s wings off while using her ws to incapacitate the other one. As the chimera fell to the floor, Zara went for a fatal attack, before abruptly stopping and fading back into concealment.

    This was naturally Damien¡¯s doing. Now that ytime was over, he decided that this beast was the best practice dummy for the second step of his sword art.

    With the beast falling, Damien rushed into the air to meet it as he left after images in his wake. Then, his figure became ethereal as he danced around the beasts.

    Even with its elegance, this was a dance of blood.

    If the first step of his sword art was a single strike to cause critical damage, the second step was a sword dance to umte injuries on his opponent and bleed them out.

    As his figure shed in and out of the space surrounding the beast, chunks of its body began to disappear. They weren¡¯t mangled or sliced like a normal sword would do, rather they had been banished from existence, floating somewhere in the infinite void.

    When Damien was finished, only about one-third of the beast¡¯s body remained. Damiennded on the ground, his steps not even raising dust, as behind him, the figure of the beast fell with a resounding thud.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Second Step: Dance of the Void¡¯

    His entire sword dance that had cut a 75-meter long beast into a 25 meters long flesh bag had onlysted the amount of time it took for the beast to fall to the floor after its wings were clipped.

    In the first ce, the entire fight was pointless. Damien could¡¯ve ended it in the first 5 minutes if he wanted to, but he had grown quite attached to the dungeon that had been his home for the past 2 years. For this reason, he decided that the best way to bid it farewell was with a grand battle.

    As the experience poured in, Damien went to devour the corpse of the chimera, but before he could, it turned into particles of light before sinking into the floor.

    In the space it had previously upied stood a grand formation, which looked like a giant circle filled with mysterious patterns.

    Damien could feel the spatial fluctuations emanating from the formation and wanted to study it, but he knew it wasn¡¯t the time. This dungeon had 100 floors and he had only cleared 50. He had naturally nned toe back once his business was settled and finish what he started. He could study the formation then.

    Looking at the formation, Damien felt his anticipation rise along with slight anxiety. He then quickly checked his inventory to make sure he had brought everything he needed.

    Within it was all the books he thought would be relevantter that he took from Kurt¡¯s subspace, his cracked sword that had apanied him from the beginning of his journey, and the carcasses of hundreds of beasts that Zara had in on the previous 9 floors.

    Although he wanted to go further up and grab more carcasses, he only had so much space in his inventory, so he made do with what he could.

    Damien then resolved himself and started walking towards his lifeline to exit the dungeon. ¡°Zara, this is our ticket to leave. The surface I told you about on our first meeting is just past this formation.¡±

    Sensing Damien¡¯s turbulent emotions, Zara emerged from his shadow and nuzzled up to him, showing her support. Damien smiled at her little gesture. ¡®That¡¯s right. Everything is already nned out and we¡¯re already strong. What am I even worrying about?¡¯

    After he assured Zara that he was fine, she returned to his shadow. And without further ado, he stepped into the formation.

    What greeted Damien was a blindingly bright light and the beautiful smell of nature.

    After two grueling years, he had finally reached the surface.

 Chapter 26

    Lush greenery in every direction. Tall trees with beautiful foliage, flowers of all colors, bushes, healthy grass lining the entirety of the ground, and most importantly, a bright blue sky. Clouds drifted calmly along the beautiful blue sky as a huge sun stood tall in the distance.

    The warmth it gave off, the freshness of the mana in the air, the subtle wind brushing against his cheeks, these were the sensations Damien was taking in with bated breaths.

    Even if he wanted to doubt whether or not he was still in the dungeon, the sights around him refused to let him do so. Without his knowledge, tears were running down his cheeks. Reality had finally set in. Damien had escaped from that hellish cycle of killing, devouring, evolving, and descending.

    Standing beside him, Zara was also feeling intense emotions. The only thing she¡¯d ever known was the walls of the giant caverns that made up the floors of the dungeon. When she was little, her parents would tell her stories of a word beyond those walls, but she always took them as fairytales.

    Only when she met Damien did she realize that the ce her parents had spoken about was real. As she gazed at the scenery around her in wonder, Zara felt like everything she had been through to get to this point was worth it. And when her gazended on the one who made it all possible, she felt unknown emotions overwhelming her.

    The duo stood like that for many minutes, silently admiring the fresh air of Apeiron, before Damien decided to move. There were a few things he wanted to do when he got out of the dungeon, and this was one of them.

    Spreading his mana sense, Damien found what he was looking for. He then began to run to that location. Though he could¡¯ve reached it immediately by teleporting, Damien was too lost in the feeling of freedom that he didn¡¯t care for such trivial things.

    Zara followed him happily, simrly basking in the sensation of fresh air as they reached the destination. Arge flowing river. The water was clear enough to act as a mirror, and the mana within it allowed plenty of life to thrive.

    Without thinking twice, Damien jumped in. Submerged in the cool water, Damien smiled. Maybe it hadn¡¯t mattered back when his only thoughts were on survival and escape, but now that he was free, he desperately felt the need for a bath.

    It had been 2 years since he had taken one, and frankly, he stunk. Not just him, but Zara as well. There weren¡¯t many water sources in the dungeon, and most beasts satiated themselves with the blood of the fallen. This was why there weren¡¯t many proper ecosystems within the dungeon.

    Although, Damien mused that there was most likely water on the lower floors, considering how nt life increased as he descended. Running his hands along his skin, Damien watched 2 years¡¯ worth of dirt and grime rub off, leaving smooth skin that looked like the work of an artist.

    After washing himselfpletely, Damien left the water and looked at his reflection. There, he saw a man that bore barely any resemnce to Damien before his fall. He was just shy of 2 meters tall with hardened muscles that looked sculpted out of the finest minerals.

    Although he wasn¡¯t abnormally muscled, every fiber of his being was optimized and loaded with power that one could sense with even the simplest nce. His body was basically perfection incarnate.

    His face was just as chiseled. He had a sharp jawline and sword-like eyebrows. His nose and mouth were also proportioned just right. His hair was like a cascading midnight waterfall with streaks of silver akin to shooting stars.

    However, his most jarring feature was his eyes. His irises were still a mix of his original deep amethyst and blood red, swirling in a yin-yang pattern, but now held tinges of gold that flowed like particles.

    His pupils were not normal anymore either. They were shaped like a ck cross that ran down the middle and towards the edges of his irises, almost like he was an anime character. These pupils were the effect of his All-Seeing Eyes.

    He honestly looked like some sort of immortal cultivator.

    The only stain on his appearance was his clothing, which consisted of what, at this point, was just a rag that covered his manhood.

    With two years spent in that insane environment and the constant evolution of his body, how could Damien have retained his clothes? Even he hadn¡¯t put much importance on this fact until he looked at his reflection and realized it.

    While Damien was admiring his appearance, Zara had also finished cleaning up. Although she also spent a moment admiring her appearance, she wasn¡¯t a narcissist like Damien so she was satisfied with a nce.

    Sensing her thoughts, Damien frowned a bit. ¡°How can you even call me a narcissist? I¡¯m just objectively the most handsome man I¡¯ve ever seen. Objectively, of course.¡±

    Zara rolled her eyes. With how serious he always was in the dungeon, she didn¡¯t expect him to be like this once they left, but perhaps it was only natural.

    Most of Damien¡¯s personality traits after his fall had been based on anime characters and cultivation novel MCs in the first ce. Otherwise, how could he be so ¡®calm and indifferent¡¯ by only using the will forged with the words of his father?

    With his burning will for survival alone, he would¡¯ve be feral long ago. So, he mimicked their temperaments and actions as a sort of guide. This was why sometimes he¡¯d end up saying and thinking some rtively corny phrases and shouting at the heavens.

    And weren¡¯t most of those characters narcissists too? Perhaps in front of crowds, Damien would continue being indifferent, as his social skills had be nonexistent in the past few years, but when he was alone with Zara, he¡¯d naturally joke around.

    Zara rolled her eyes at his thoughts and stared at him with a deadpan gaze. Damien attempted to justify himself for a few more minutes, but his resistance dwindled under her dead fish state that didn¡¯t change.

    ¡°Fine fine, you¡¯re no fun. Let¡¯s go find a town or something so we can rx a bit before we continue our journey.¡±

    With this, Zara hopped back into Damien¡¯s shadow, which had be her safe space, and Damien began teleporting in a straight line forward. He had no idea where he was and only had a rough outline of Apeiron, so he figured this was his best move.

    Within an hour, Damien had exited the forest. He had seen a couple of small tribal settlements on his way out, but these weren¡¯t enough to provide him with thefort he wanted, so he kept going.

    Damien¡¯s mana capacity was insane for someone who just received their 2nd ss, and his teleportation barely even took any mana at this point when it was within his awareness range. This was his starting skill and the key to his sess, so it had grown alongside him to be a conventional skill for him to use.

    When Damien exited the forest, he saw a vast in filled with various hills and mountains. This area was straight out of a fantasy novel. This kind of natural beauty was rare back on Earth, especially after the mana awakening when humanity gained the ability to survive in harsher conditions.

    Damien admired his surroundings as he continued teleporting, but he was getting a little bored. ¡°Zara,e out. Let¡¯s race to the first city we see. Winner gets to make the loser do whatever they want for a week.¡±

    Zara hopped out of his shadow but didn¡¯t move, watching him with judging eyes.

    ¡°What? Okay fine no teleportation. But you¡¯re not allowed to fly either. Your wings give you an insane speed boost.¡±

    Zara begrudgingly nodded her head and took her stance. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder what she¡¯d make Damien do for a week once she won, but she knew she couldn¡¯t let him win. He¡¯d probably make her act as his mount or something.

    ¡°Alright, we start on go. 1, 2, 3, Go!¡±

 Chapter 27

    Many hours had passed and two streaks of light could be seen speeding through the mountainous ins. One of these was entirely ck while the other was a mesmerizing shade of purple.

    These were Damien and Zara, who were still racing to find a city. While Zara¡¯s ck magic power was a normal thing even within the dungeon, Damien¡¯s purple color was new.

    During his stay in Kurt¡¯s subspace, he had read about the qualities of magic power, which was the term used to qualify each person¡¯s unique mana.

    While most people had blue magic power, which was normal and carried the traits of normal environmental mana that had simply been annexed, many geniuses had colored magic power.

    This color was a result of the mixing of their unique traits and abilities into their magic power. This urrence was natural and couldn¡¯t be forced in any way.

    Just like that, when Damien first called out his mana after gaining freedom from the dungeon, it had randomly shifted to this purple color.

    Damien mused that Zara¡¯s magic power being ck was either a racial trait or something she developed during her fight for survival after her parents died.

    Meanwhile, for his magic power to suddenly change color, it was probably due to hisck of contact with natural mana outside of the dungeon after he started gaining power.

    Anyway, as Damien and Zara raced, they started to see small cities in the distance that they quickly passed by.

    Damien knew it would be a ssic fantasy world trope if he started small and then reached the capital of whatever empire he was currently in, but he felt that his power level was too strong for that.

    He was already a 2nd ss and had killed plenty of higher-level 2nd ss beasts, and he knew nobody in this world, so there was no point in making a grand entrance after power leveling for a while.

    Therefore, Damien decided to ignore all the smaller towns and cities and head straight for the first metropolis he saw.

    Apeiron, while being a ssic fantasy world, had also been in contact with mana for thousands of years. This contact naturally led to technological advancement.

    Air conditioning and modern-style bathrooms were normal in this world, with different contraptions like spatial rings being invented that even eclipsed earth¡¯s technology. For some reason, however, the medieval aesthetic standards never changed much.

    Thinking idle thoughts, Damien continued to run at full speed for many more hours until finally, he saw a huge city in the distance. Looking over at Zara, who was easily keeping up with him, Damien grinned before infusing a bit of mana into his legs.

    Seeing this, Zara did the same and their speed drastically increased as they made it to the city.

    It was another normal day in the city of Archdale, and n was once again enjoying his stable life as a city guard. Being the secondrgest city in the Adide Empire besides the capital city of Aurora, even city guards had a healthy sry.

    n woke up today feeling extra refreshed. He ate breakfast with his wife and sent his kid off to school before walking to work. n was the typical cheerful guy who didn¡¯t let his worries bog him down, so on his walk to the West gate that he guarded, he greeted a few neighbors and shop owners that lived on his street.

    Reaching the west gate, he was surprised to see that there was rtively no queue to enter.

    ¡°Yo Freddy!¡± n greeted his boss as he walked to his post, ¡°why¡¯s it feel so empty today?¡±

    Freddy looked at n with a warm gaze. Although their job was pretty boring, he was d to have such a cheerful subordinate who brought the mood up.

    ¡°Ah, nothing much. I heard that there¡¯s some big event going on at the Adventurer¡¯s guild today so most of the traffic ising through the north gate. We just have to deal with the ones who are here for other business.¡±

    n nodded his head in understanding. Even if it was a varied profession that epted everyone, the number one most desired job for many people was to be an adventurer. After all, if you managed to climb the ranks and increase your rank, you could get many perks without having your freedom restricted like those who worked for the empires.

    As he continued doing his job like he did every other day, n suddenly witnessed what looked like a tornado approaching from the distance. When the crowd outside the gate noticed this anomaly, they quickly scattered in every direction, while n called his fellow guards forward.

    Most of these guards were ssless or low-level 1st ss while the stronger ones were mid-level 1st ss. They were only the first line of defense. If the disturbance was big enough to threaten the city, the empire army and some adventurers woulde to take care of it.

    As n and the others warily watched the approaching storm, one of them eximed, ¡°Hey, what is that?¡±

    Focusing their attention on what the man had pointed out, the guards saw the silhouette of a beast at the forefront of the storm. As they gripped their weapons steadily and prepared for an attack, they failed to notice the human figure running next to that beast.

    As Damien and Zara continued to speed towards the gate, they kept increasing the amount of mana they were using, though they didn¡¯t use any of their special skills with respect for the rules they had set.

    In consequence, a huge storm of dust and dirt they kicked up followed them on their journey. As they approached the gate, both of them upped their speed once again. Looking at Zara, who was matching his pace, Damien suddenly had a wicked thought.

    Revolving his lightning through his body, Damien shot forward, leaving Zara in the dust before abruptly stopping around 10 meters away from the gate. Only a secondter, Zara joined him.

    ¡°Hahaha, looks like I win!¡± Damien said as heughed rambunctiously. ¡°Be prepared to be my mount and pillow for the next week, Zara!¡±

    Zara was visibly annoyed. When they set the rule that they weren¡¯t allowed to use their special skills, they had never mentioned affinities. If she had thought of that, she could¡¯ve merged with the shadows and appeared in front of the gate in an instant.

    When she heard that he wanted her to act as his mount, she felt even more indignant, but Damien wouldn¡¯t let her off easily. Zara pounced at Damien and began pping him with her paws to further showcase her indignation and Damien continued tough, feeling nothing from her light pats.

    Meanwhile, the guards stood at the gate dumbfounded by the scene in front of them. The giant wolf that they thought was a wild beast was apanied by a human, and from the aura they felt from the brief moment these two had showcased their abilities, they were incredibly strong.

    And when the wolf had pounced on the man, rather than being crushed or pushed to the floor, he just stood there acting as nothing happened. To further add to this, the man was incredibly handsome, making the guards forget all their fear due to their envy.

    Seeing how the man was dressed in only a rag that covered part of his bottom half, one of the guards lost himself to envy and was about to shout at him that he couldn¡¯t enter before he was abruptly pped on the head. Turning to look, he saw that it was the usually cheerful n that had done it.

    n was a wise man, and seeing the speed and power that was barely even showcased by these two beings, he realized that they were both leagues stronger than anyone present at the moment.

    For this reason, he decided to be civil. ¡°Excuse me, sir, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to enter the city with that appearance. As there are plenty of children around, it might be a bit too indecent.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡± It was only at this moment that Damien realized there were other people around. Briefly ncing at the man who he deemed as a guard, he looked down at his body, which was basically naked at the moment. It seemed as though he had once again forgotten that he didn¡¯t have clothes.

    ¡°Ah, sorry,¡± Damien said, reciprocating n¡¯s politeness. ¡°I don¡¯t have any clothes or money on me at the moment.¡± After thinking for a bit, Damien nodded his head and pulled the corpses of a few weaker beasts out of his inventory.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, could you go sell these for me and buy me some clothes? You can keep whatever change is left when you¡¯re done.¡±

    n smiled, epting Damien¡¯s proposal. Although these beasts were all 1st ss, it was obvious from their corpses that they¡¯d been in effortlessly.

    Not only would he not risk offending someone this powerful, but he¡¯d also make a good amount of money from the exchange. n stored the corpses in his spatial ring and walked into the city under the envious gazes of the other guards.

    About an hour or soter, Damien smoothly entered the city with Zara.

 Chapter 28

    Damien was now dressed in a casual all-ck outfit consisting of a short-sleeve shirt, pants, and shoes that looked strangely simr to high-top sneakers from Earth.

    Taking some time before attempting to do anything important, Damien toured the city with Zara, who was now only around half his height, and frankly, extremely cute.

    Damien didn¡¯t know until a couple of minutes ago, but most beasts could freely change their size within a certain range after they acquire their 1st ss. It¡¯s just that most don¡¯t choose to get smaller since being bigger was usually a sign of dominance.

    Zara only decided to shrink because she could see the fear on the faces of those around them and she didn¡¯t want to deal with anything annoying while they were rxing.

    However, this move of hers still ended up causing quite a few disturbances for them. You would think that Damien, this extremely handsome man, would cause plenty of heads to turn and women to flock, but that was wrong.

    Handsome men were everywhere on Apeiron, after all, mana had the effect of beautifying people. Although Damien was significantly more handsome than usual, it wasn¡¯t enough to make women go mad for him.

    On the other hand, an extremely cute wolf with silky smooth and fluffy fur that seemed to be begging to be pet was a fatal attraction. Not just women, but families with children also fake up asionally and attempted to pet Zara, but she wasn¡¯t some pet.

    Damien attempted to warn the people, but they decided not to listen and quite a few of them ended up with minor injuries as consequence. Naturally, Damien protected the kids, but he didn¡¯t spare a nce towards adults who didn¡¯t respect other people¡¯s privacy.

    After a couple of incidents, Zara gave up and just hid in Damien¡¯s shadow as they explored. She would still be able to see everything that was happening, it was just a shame that she couldn¡¯t walk around with Damien.

    While they toured the city, Damien was pleasantly surprised by what he saw. Most of the buildings were only 2-5 stories tall, as skyscrapers weren¡¯t a popr concept in this world, but the whole city had a nice feel to it.

    Shops lined the streets selling various goods. Clothes, weapons, potions, and many more items were on disy. Damien also saw the asional tavern and restaurant, making him crave cooked food, but he decided he¡¯d visit themter.

    As he reached the center of the city, Damien saw the appearance of fewer and fewer establishments, as the ones that were present were the more high-end services. And then, heid his eyes on a buildingrger than almost every other one in the city. This was the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.

    He felt the urge to walk in immediately and continue forward with his goals, but he knew he should take some time to rx. He was finally out of his cycle of constant work, so he should rx when he can. Damien spotted an inn nearby and booked a room with some of the money he had gotten back from n.

    Although Damien told him to keep all the change, n still gave half of it back to Damien. He was a considerate guy and figured that Damien would need money for his stay in the city. Damien liked this trait and ended up only taking one-fourth of the money.

    The currency in this world was as Damien had expected. It used a system of copper, silver, and gold. Above gold were the white gold coins, but those were reserved mostly for the upper echelons and nobles of the empires.

    1 gold was 100 silver and the ratio was the same from silver to copper, but the ratio between white gold and gold was 1000:1, making it a coin used only for massive or extremely expensive purchases.

    Damien¡¯s room was only 10 silver coins, as he had chosen a mid-sized inn to stay at. His room was also rtively normal. It was no bigger than a one-bedroom apartment on Earth and contained a connected bathroom. When Damien entered the room, he immediately flopped down into the bed.

    ¡®This city is really nice. If this is the standard for big cities in this world, then I¡¯d be satisfied, but it¡¯s only the second biggest in the empire. I¡¯m not even in the capital yet. Damn, and here I thought I¡¯d end up meeting some giant figures using my heavenly protagonist luck¡¯ Damien joked to himself.

    He liked to view himself as the protagonist of some story, but his luck has always been too dogshit for that to be possible. Only recently had his luck be at least semi-normal.

    ¡®I¡¯ve had my fun today, so starting tomorrow I¡¯ll get back into work. First, I join the adventurer¡¯s guild. I can make quick money that way and acquire better information. Plus, it¡¯s the best ce to sell all these beast corpses.¡¯

    Damien looked into his inventory where hundreds of corpses wereying with no purpose.

    ¡®I could easily sell them to some random butcher or something, but I doubt they¡¯d be able to buy this amount. The guild is stupid rich so I¡¯ll get the best prices there.¡¯

    As Damien was thinking, Zara came out of his shadow, returning to her full form and rxing on the floor. Damien grinned seeing this and hopped off the bed, opting to use her back as a bed instead. After all, teasing Zara was too fun and he could do whatever he wanted for the next week.

    Zara grunted to show her dissatisfaction, but honestly, it was just a front. Although Zara didn¡¯t necessarily like being ridden on, she didn¡¯t mind much if it was Damien. If anyone else tried though, they¡¯d probably be killed without hesitation.

    Damien also knew this, which is why he acted without reservations. Even if their contract technically made him superior to her, he didn¡¯t enjoy treating her that way.

    She was hispanion and the one person he could trust his back to in this new world. He wouldn¡¯t make her do anything that she was ufortable with.

    The next morning, Damien walked out of the inn with a miniature Zara and headed to a restaurant to have his first bite of cooked food in years. Zara couldn¡¯t quite understand this concept, but hearing how excitedly Damien spoke about it built her anticipation as well.

    Damien chose a restaurant called ¡®The Nightingale¡¯. Since it was situated near the central area of the city, it was rtively expensive, but he had gotten the rmendation from the innkeeper, who imed it was one of the best in the city.

    It was also rtively close to the guild, so it was convenient for him. Entering the restaurant, Damien was stunned by its elegance. Frankly, with the set of clothes he obtained yesterday, he didn¡¯t fit in at all.

    His appearance made many guests turn their heads his way, but seeing his get up, their gazes turned to disdain. Damien ignored all this and walked up to the reception. ¡°Table for 2 please.¡±

    The receptionist was also looking at Damien with disdain, and almost immediately responded. ¡°We don¡¯t serve dogs at this establishment.¡±

    Damien was already getting pissed off. This wasn¡¯t even a cultivation world but people here wanted to go around offending strangers for no reason. But he didn¡¯t have to do anything. Zara growled ferociously and released some of her bloodlust, causing the receptionist to fall to the floor covered in a cold sweat.

    Damien didn¡¯t even bother being polite anymore and directly walked towards a table and sat down, with Zara jumping up to the chair in front of him. Although the scene was quiteical, nobodyughed. Many of them were still scared of the bloodlust that was released.

    Damien and Zara always concealed their auras, as it became a habit from the dungeon where nobody wanted to be swarmed by beasts because they were careless. For this reason, nobody could immediately tell their power level. Their bloodlust was on an even greater level.

    It had been mentioned countless times that the only option in the dungeon was to continuously kill. Not to mention Zara who had killed hundreds of beasts and had a naturally feral aura, if Damien released his bloodlust, that receptionist who was only at first-ss might¡¯ve fainted on the spot. His kill count had far surpassed the thousands.

    The waiter soon arrived and took their order while being baffled. They had ordered enough dishes to feed 6-8 people, but there were only 2 of them. Still, the waiter saw what had happened previously, so he kept his mouth shut and epted their order.

    When the food arrived, Damien was already salivating. He immediately dove in, not caring in the slightest about table manners. His razor-sharp canines dug into the meat and he swallowed without any thoughts about choking.

    Another useless perk of his enhanced throat made to breathe dragons breath was the ability to eat without worries.

    Damien was in a daze at the beautiful tastes in his mouth. The sulent meat and the dripping juices were something he savored as much as possible before he took the next bite. Zara was in the same boat.

    She, who had never eaten anything but raw meat, was in another dimension due to the variety of vors she was tasting.

    After 20 minutes of voracious eating, the duo got up and left for the guild. Damien had left the money on the table since he couldn¡¯t be bothered to interact with the flies that worked at the restaurant anymore.

    Unbeknownst to the two, there was an individual who had been able to see through their concealed auras.

    This person watched them with an interested gaze from inside the restaurant, bing more interested by Zara¡¯s bloodlust and the fact that Damien¡¯s hidden aura was more bestial than the actual beast next to him.

    That person let out a light chuckle. ¡°It seems I¡¯ll have some funpany on my journeyter.¡±

 Chapter 29

    When Damien entered the adventurer¡¯s guild, his first thought was ¡®as expected.¡¯ Though it was much cleaner than the stereotypes, it had checked all the rest of the criteria for a typical guild. A reception area lined with pretty receptionists, a bar full of rowdy adventurers of different races chatting andughing, and a mission board.

    Damien smiled at this. It seemed that someone on earth had done some world traveling at some point, or there was no way fantasy novels would be so urate. Checking yet another spot on the cliche checklist, when Damien opened the doors, all eyesnded on him.

    By this time, Zara had already gone back into his shadow, so he was alone to bear the brunt of these gazes. However, he didn¡¯t even flinch. The gaze of that feral chimera he fought on the 50th floor was leagues scarier than these random guys he¡¯d never met before.

    Plus, he basked in the envy that was being transmitted to him by their gazes. After all, doesn¡¯t the fact that they envy him just prove that he was better than them? Although he had long since been aware that he shouldn¡¯t get conceited, he wouldn¡¯t miss the chance to enjoy this feeling every once in a while.

    Scanning the room, Damien felt no threat from any of the current adventurers and his pupils clearly showed the discrepancies in their mana. Damien promptly ignored the crowd and walked towards the reception.

    ¡°Hello!¡± Said the cheerful girl at the counter, simrly ignoring all the gazes focused on her. ¡°How may I help you today?¡±

    Damien responded in kind, keeping his words concise and blunt. ¡°I¡¯d like to be an adventurer.¡±

    Damien¡¯s t tone caused the reception girl¡¯s eyes to twitch a bit, but she continued to act professionally. However, it seemed some of the adventurers didn¡¯t take well to his tone.

    As he was about to continue, a man approached him from behind, attempting to grab Damien¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Hey, you!¡±

    Damien¡¯s arm flickered, and the next instant, the arm the man had been reaching out to grab Damien fell cleanly on the floor.

    ¡°AAAAAH¡±

    The man screamed, looking at Damien with eyes filled with horror. It wasn¡¯t any different for anyone else in the guild. They alternated their gazes between Damien and the man spurting blood on the floor before sprouting into a cold sweat, d they weren¡¯t the one who decided to provoke him.

    ¡°Hm?¡± Damien turned around, seeing the mess he made. He didn¡¯t feel anything for taking the guy¡¯s arm, even if he moved on instinct. Damien¡¯s reflexes were trained so that anything that approached him with hostility would be instantly cut down, no matter the level of hostility.

    Maybe it was a bit much, but this was how he¡¯d been living for the past 2 years. It would take more than just a day or two for his old habits to calm down.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Damien eximed, ¡°Hey man it looks like something happened to your arm. It looks like my hand slipped! You should make sure to not grab people without permission in the future.¡±

    With those words, Damien proceeded to ignore the man, turning back to the surprised receptionist girl. ¡°Anyway,¡± he said, ¡°continue what you were saying.¡±

    The receptionist girl was startled, but she had been working at the guild for a long time, so she was quick to regain her bearings.

    ¡°Y-yes! Bing an adventurer is simple, you just have to prove that you¡¯ve at least acquired your 1st ss and you can be an F rank. As you take quests and umte merit points, you can increase your rank.¡±

    Damien interrupted her. ¡°And if I¡¯m past 1st ss already?¡±

    The girl¡¯s eyes widened for a second before she continued. He looked very young but was already a 2nd ss or higher? His talent must¡¯ve been extremely high.

    ¡°If you¡¯re already a 2nd ss or higher, you can take a qualification mission from the guild to prove your strength. Once that¡¯s finished, your performance will be evaluated and a fitting rank will be assigned.¡±

    Damien nodded his head in approval. It looked like he wouldn¡¯t have to start at F rank with his strength and rank up by doing crazy quests like in isekai anime. Damien honestly couldn¡¯t bring himself to kill some petty goblins anymore.

    ¡°Okay then,¡± he replied to the girl. ¡°I¡¯ll take that quest.¡±

    The girl nodded her head and began filling out some forms. She then handed them to Damien so he could fill in his same, age, and some other misceneous information.

    Nicknames and pseudonyms were allowed, but with him being a stranger to this world, he felt it was unnecessary. Still, after thinking for a bit, he just wrote ¡®Void¡¯ instead of adding his first name as well.

    He felt that he could never be too cautious.

    ¡°Okay!¡± The girl said after she received his forms. She handed him an F rank guild card and continued. ¡°For now, here¡¯s your F rank card. If youplete your mission, your card will be automatically updated through our system. The next qualification mission is-¡±

    As the girl was talking, someone came down from the stairs that led to the second floor and whispered something in her ear while sneaking a few nces at Damien. The girl¡¯s eyes widened for a second before she masked her expression. Then she spoke to Damien once more.

    ¡°It looks like there¡¯s an escort mission that¡¯ll be starting in a week, and the client has allowed it to be used as a qualification mission. Would you like to ept?¡±

    Damien was a bit suspicious, but being confident in his fleeing ability, he epted the mission. After that, he turned to leave the guild. However, after taking only a few steps, he heard a crunching sound under his feet.

    Looking down, he saw that he had identally stepped on the other arm of that guy from earlier, turning it into a bag of meat paste. With an innocent look on his face, Damien spoke.

    ¡°To bepletely honest with you, this wasn¡¯t on purpose. Now I know it sounds like an excuse, but hear me out. I genuinely forgot that you existed.¡±

    Although he was telling the truth, he still didn¡¯t feel like staying there to hear the man¡¯s agonizing cries, so after leaving those words, he vanished from the spot.

    Damien reappeared in his inn room as Zara left his shadow. For some reason, he could teleport freely with her in his shadow and she would teleport with him. Whether it was because of their pact or because his shadow was a part of him, Damien didn¡¯t know, but it was convenient so he didn¡¯t question it.

    Pulling out his guild card, Damien studied it while recalling the information he read in the subspace.

    ¡®These cards are like a sign of status. While an F rank card doesn¡¯t do much, when I get my A rank card it¡¯ll provide me many benefits. Plus, it acts like a credit card so I don¡¯t have to take out annoying amounts of money during transactions. Although I doubt any bandits would be my match, it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry.¡¯

    Damien quickly lost interest in the card. It had plenty of small runic symbols on it, but he couldn¡¯t understand them in the slightest, so it was useless to study them. Looking into his inventory again, Damien remembered his sword.

    When he took it out, it almost crumbled on the spot. When he found it, it had already been in a used condition, and its twin had broken in his first real fight. He didn¡¯t know how this one managed tost all the crazy fights he had after that, but he was d it did.

    Its de was fully ck but contained many spider web cracks on its surface, and the hilt was extremely worn. However, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to throw it away. It was his very first partner.

    He put the sword back in his inventory to prevent any more damage and decided to get himself a new de.

    But first, he¡¯d have to go back to the guild to get rich off selling his stash of beast corpses.

 Chapter 30

    Damien directly warped to the reception desk he¡¯d gone tost time, greatly startling the receptionist girl, whose name was Lena.

    After Damien¡¯s abrupt exit, she had continued doing her job, only asionally thinking about the entric new adventurer she¡¯d met. But who would have expected that only a couple of hourster, he¡¯d reappear out of thin air?

    Controlling her emotions, Lena out on her professional face. ¡°Hello, sir! How can I assist you today?¡±

    Damien, as if repeating theirst interaction, replied in a t tone. ¡°I¡¯d like to sell some beast corpses.¡±

    However, this time, no idiot wanted to test his patience. Although the bloodstains had been cleaned up, everyone¡¯s memory was still fresh on what happenedst time.

    Lena was once again surprised but continued her transaction. ¡°Okay, can I get a rough estimate of the number?¡±

    Damien pondered for a bit. Although his total number of corpses neared a thousand, he figured he shouldn¡¯t pull them all out here. Making his decision, he replied. ¡°About 200 or so.¡±

    Lena panicked for a second. ¡°Sir, this isn¡¯t a level of transaction I have the authority to handle. Please allow me to take you to the backroom to meet with someone else.¡±

    Damien nodded and followed Lena to the second floor of the building. The second floor wasn¡¯t much different from the first, only the adventurers were much stronger than those on the first floor. There were even one or two people in the room that Damien felt could give him a good fight.

    Damien and Lena arrived at a secluded room and entered before Lena left to call her superior. Damien looked around the room for a bit before thinking about the weapon he wanted to get.

    As Damien learned in his reading, weapons, armor, and other utility items that were built through or for the use of mana were called artifacts.

    Artifacts were split into many categories based on their strength. The majority of artifacts ranged between F and SSS ss just like the adventurer system.

    Each ss level had 3 rankings of artifacts that represented low middle and peak. F to D rank artifacts were 1st ss, C to A rank was 2nd ss, and S to SSS were 3rd ss.

    4th ss artifacts were called Chaos rank, but there were only an extremely limited amount of them avable on Apeiron, as there was only one cksmith alive that could forge them. Just like rumors of Demigods, Demigod rank artifacts were only a legend.

    As for the rank above it? The citizens of Apeiron could only specte.

    While he was in thought, Damien heard a knock on the door, followed by the entrance of ady he¡¯d never met before. Thedy was around 1.7 meters tall with flowing blonde hair and green eyes. The feature that stood out most, however, was her pointy ears. It seemed thisdy was an elf.

    ¡°Good evening, Mr.Void. My name is Edea Qihorn and I¡¯ll be in charge of your transaction today.¡± She was as professional as senior guild staff should be.

    Damien nodded his head, unfazed by her beauty and the faint cleavage she showed off when she slightly bowed to him.

    ¡°I have plenty of beast corpses to sell today. A majority are only first ss, but there are a few second ss in the mix as well.¡±

    As he spoke, Damien dumped a pile of 135 1st rank beast corpses on one side of the room before filling out the rest of the 200 with 2nd sses.

    Edea immediately held a favorable opinion of Damien. Usually, she could use her charm to rile up male and even a few female clients and conduct more beneficial deals, but it seemed today¡¯s transaction would be the straightforward type.

    Quickly adjusting to the situation, Edea looked over the heaps of beast corpses in the room as her eyes held a faint hue of gold. This was a special skill of hers that allowed her to see the value of items she looks at. She was a true businesswoman through and through.

    The use of this skill only surprised her more. The amount of mana in the corpses was absurd, and the method by which they were killed was both clean and cruel. Even the 2nd ss beasts were killed without any useless gore.

    Quickly calcting in her head, Edea gave her estimate. ¡°For the 1st ss corpses alone we can give you 50 gold, as for the 2nd sses, we can offer 600 gold. What do you think?¡±

    Damien thought for a second about what he knew about the currency system of the world. Supposedly, most 1st ss corpses sold for anywhere between 40 and 75 silver, so he was fine with the seemingly small amount of gold he¡¯d get for them. 2nd ss corpses are usually sold for between 1 and 20 gold depending on their mana level and other factors.

    He realized that bing an adventurer was truly a rewarding profession. He also realized the only reason he was seeing such high numbers was that he was selling in bulk.

    After mulling it over, he decided it was a good price. Besides, he had no use for the money at the moment. Even if he had to spend it all on his new sword, he¡¯d be fine. He still had around 600 corpses stored, even if they were mostly 1st ss.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s finish this quick since I have things to do before my qualification mission next week.¡±

    Edea nodded as she took all the corpses in her spatial ring before pulling out a separate ring with his money in it. Damien took the ring and emptied its contents into his inventory.

    This was how transactions worked in Apeiron. Even if they weremon, it wasn¡¯t enough for people to wantonly hand out spatial rings. Skilled cksmiths with a solid foundation of runic knowledge were needed to make them, and forrger storage, more skill was needed.

    A spatial ring that carried the same amount of space as Damien¡¯s inventory would be reserved for those emperors of the respective nations.

    Before leaving, Damien decided to get Edea¡¯s rmendation. ¡°Who is the best cksmith in this city?¡±

    Edea thought for a moment before responding. ¡°That would have to be Sir Vormec. He¡¯s the only cksmith in the city who can forge 3rd ss artifacts. His shop is located only a short walk from the guild, so you shouldn¡¯t have trouble finding him.¡±

    Promptly thanking her, Damien warped outside the guild.

    Looking at the spot where Damien was just standing, Edea smiled lightly. ¡°It seems there¡¯s another promising youngster in our ranks. No wonder that person was interested in him.¡±

    When Damien appeared in the middle of the street, he realized that he never asked for specific directions or even the shop¡¯s name, but he¡¯d be too embarrassed if he had to go back and ask, so he walked around the streets for a while in search of the shop.

    After half an hour, Damien finally saw the shop. It seems the reason Edea never specified the shop¡¯s name was because there wasn¡¯t one. It was simply a nameless storefront that held the strong smell of smoke. Damien only found this out by asking one of the street vendors.

    This Vormec seemed to be slightly entric and didn¡¯t care for fame, only his craft. He only made artifacts to sell because he needed money to buy more metals and find more knowledge on forging.

    Walking into the shop, Damien could barely contain his anticipation towards his new weapon.

 Chapter 31

    The inside of the shop was exactly what Damien expected it to be. The walls were lined with various weapons, some that he had never even heard of before, and there was nobody behind the counter.

    There was also a door leading further in, most likely leading to the forge. Damien walked up to the counter and run the bell he saw there, hoping he¡¯d get a response, and while he waited he decided to check the weapons on the walls.

    Heading over to the swords, Damien picked up a few and tried them out, but he couldn¡¯t get a good feeling from any of them.

    Broadswords were too heavy for his fighting style while normal double-edged swords weren¡¯t to his liking. He wanted something simr to a katana but not exactly. Something like a certain sword he had read about named ¡®Dawn¡¯s Bad¡¯ but longer.

    As Damien browsed the shop, asionally taking a swing or two with a sword, a stout man walked out from the back. ¡°Hey, kid! Why¡¯d you ring the bell if you ain¡¯t ready to buy anything!¡±

    Damien turned around and saw the man he assumed to be Vormec and headed over. ¡°None of these swords fit me that well, I¡¯d like to request something custom made.¡±

    Vormec scanned Damien from head to toe before letting out a scoff. ¡°What, are you saying that my work isn¡¯t good enough for ya? If that¡¯s the case why don¡¯t ya just leave?¡±

    Damien was already starting to feel exasperated, but he didn¡¯t want to cause any misunderstandings. ¡°No, sir. It¡¯s just that the design I¡¯m looking for is a bit unique, and I¡¯d like an S or SS rank sword, while these swords are at most at A rank.¡±

    There were a few reasons Damien wanted to have either an S or SS rank weapon.

    First was cost. Since he didn¡¯t know how much the average cost of a custom weapon was, he decided to y it safe.

    Second was time. It would take him a while before he overtook an SS rank sword in power, so he¡¯d be able to use it for a long time.

    And third was durability. He mused that the sword he found in the dungeon was at least a B rank artifact, and he¡¯d pretty much destroyed it in only 2 years of use. His Void Sword Art wasn¡¯t something that just any sword could handle.

    Vormec was still displeased but decided to hear Damien out. Especially after hearing of a new design for him to forge. Throwing Damien a light sword, Vormec decided to test him. ¡°Here, boy. Take this sword and show me that you can handle a sword that¡¯s higher than your level.¡±

    He had seen plenty of young masters and misses from powerful families that wanted a higher-ss weapon so they could fight above their ranks, but it wasn¡¯t all that simple.

    As an artifact¡¯s tier was raised, it would develop certain effects or powers of its own. If the wielder wasn¡¯t careful, they could end up injuring or even killing themselves by biting off more than they could chew.

    Dameon was hesitant, though. ¡°No offense, but I¡¯m not sure it¡¯d be a good idea for me to perform my sword art inside the city. Although I don¡¯t know how sturdy it is, I¡¯d rather be safe than sorry.¡±

    Damien then grabbed Vormec by his shoulder and continued. ¡°I¡¯ll apologize in advance for this.¡±

    Vormec was about to flip out when the boy reached for his shoulder, but the next thing he knew, he was in the middle of the grassy in outside of the city. He could still see the city in the distance. ¡°The hell are you doing boy!¡± He shouted.

    Damien smiled wryly but still entertained the old man. ¡°Sir, I¡¯m showcasing my sword art just like you said.¡±

    Vormec was still angry that he had been transported without warning, but after a bit of thought, his eyes widened. It didn¡¯t take long for him to realize that the boy in front of him had a spatial affinity. Backing away slightly, Vormec watched Damien as he got into form.

    Damien faced the in and decided to put his full power into his attack. He figured that if he impressed this old man, he¡¯d be able to get himself a better weapon.

    Taking his stance, Damien made his move. His sword flickered as its de disappeared, and in the next instant, arge gash that spanned for hundreds of meters appeared in the in.

    ¡®Void Sword Art First Step: deless¡¯

    When Damien turned around, he saw Vormec standing there with a priceless expression on his face. His eyes were wide as saucers and his jaw was open so wide he could fit a fist in it.

    A few secondster, Vormecposed himself and hurriedly spoke. ¡°Boy! Gimme that sword quick!¡±

    Damien, confused about the sudden request, handed the sword to Vormec, who proceeded to inspect it.

    ¡°Quick, destructive, bestial.¡± Vormec started spewing nonsense. However, to him, it was art.

    Vormec could see the emotion and intent behind the experiences and attacks of any sword he made, this was why he enjoyed having regr customers rather than mass production. The intent he saw in the weapons he made helped him gain insights into his forgery.

    Although Damien¡¯s swordsmanship looked rough from the outside, it was filled with savagery and brutality that he¡¯d only ever seen from beasts. It was a sword whose only motive was the primal thirst for blood and survival. It held its own brand of beauty and elegance.

    Vormec was infatuated with the new series of intents he was witnessing and no longer needed to think about his decision.

    ¡°Take us back to the shop, boy! I¡¯ll make yer sword.¡±

    Damien smiled brightly as he once again grabbed Vormec¡¯s shoulder and warped them back to the shop. He then spent an hour or so going over the design and materials he desired for his sword with the cksmith before leaving the shop with an even brighter smile on his face.

    The sword would be SS rank and should have cost him around 800 gold, but he had made a deal with Vormec where as long as it was within his ability, Damien would go to Vormec for any of his artifact needs, and he got a discount.

    Although it still cost him almost all his money, Damien wasn¡¯t worried about this. He went back to his inn room to wait a week for his new sword to be finished and for his first quest to begin.

    Damien also got to keep the sword he used for his showcase, so after a few hours of rest and rxation using his Zara pillow, he directly warped back to the ins to train.

    What Damien was training now was the 3rd step of his sword art. He had the rough idea for a while, but couldn¡¯t implement it due to the condition of his old sword. This mode would be an area of effect type, so it required more durability.

    As Damien spent his week practicing, many events were taking ce in the shadows.

    ***

    Within a hideout somewhere in Apeiron, a certain organization was making their ns.

    ¡°Leader,¡± said a ck-robed man, ¡°the target will be moving in a week to return to the capital. This might be ourst chance to capture them.¡±

    The leader, a middle-aged man who was situated on a throne, fell into thought. They had been attempting to capture the target for many months now but to no avail. They always had guards around them and was a strong individual themself, making it difficult to move.

    The leader didn¡¯t want to send any of their upper echelons, but the weaker members weren¡¯t going to cut it. He had to ept that.

    ¡°Very well,¡± he finally spoke, ¡°send a team of 2nd ss members and let Adrian lead them. Let¡¯s see how the target tries to escape from a 3rd ss.¡±

    The ck robes men bowed and left the room. The leader gazed into space, attempting to get a hint at the future, but he didn¡¯t have that sort of power. ¡®Whatever this ominous feeling is, I hope Adrian will be enough to handle it. Nothing can be allowed to go wrong this time.¡¯

    The wheels of time continued to turn as many figures moved with their own agendas, and a week passed by.

    Damien was ready to finally make some progress towards his goals.

 Chapter 32

    The quest was scheduled to start in 3 hours, so Damien still had a bit of time. He naturally had a n for how to spend it. He was already on his way to Vormec¡¯s shop to pick up his new de.

    His anticipation was through the roof. Simply practicing the 3rd step of his sword art for a week was enough to start dulling the edge on the A rank sword he was borrowing.

    He also knew that the SS rank sword he was about to get would have a special effect.

    His excitement was only natural. This sort of situation was basically like getting a game item but in real life. Damien walked to the shop this time since he was wasting time, and soon he reached his destination. Upon entry, he was greeted with the same smell of smoke and molten metal asst time.

    However, this time Damien went straight to the back room without any decorum. This was what Vormec had told him to do from now on, as it was how he treated his regrs.

    Damien immediately spotted Virmec sitting at his forge. He was staring intently at a sheathed de that looked simr to a katana. Damien rushed over, catching Vormec¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Ah, yer finally here, boy!¡± He said as he looked at Damien. ¡°First gimme back that de you borrowed. Let¡¯s just make a trade-off.¡±

    Damien promptly pulled out the slightly dull de and exchanged it with the cksmith, who handed him the sheathed sword he was staring at earlier.

    When Damien firstid his hands on it, he immediately felt a connection. It was like the de itself resonated with his entire being, bing one with his desires. With shaking hands, Damien pulled it out of its scabbard.

    It was a single-edged sword with a small hilt. The entire thing was ck from the de to the handle, while the de had purple designs spiraling along its surface. As he admired the de, a system window appeared in front of him.

    [Devourer]

    [A sword made by a talented cksmith to embody the traits of its wielder. It is bestial and ferocious but carries its own brand of elegance. This sword was made for the sole purpose of devouring its enemies. During its creation, it birthed the special effect, [Amplification] to aid its owner.]

    Although he was startled, he wasn¡¯t too surprised. The system could record his achievements, so it would naturally record artifacts as well, as they were the achievements of their creators and would take part in the legends of their wielders.

    Damien raised his eyebrow. ¡°Amplification? What exactly does it amplify?¡±

    Vormec, who had a smug grin on his face the whole time, answered. ¡°Everything. Mana output, destruction, attack power, elements, everything run through the sword is amplified. Honestly, it might be one of the best SS rank weapons I¡¯ve ever made.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened as he thought of the prospects such a weapon held.

    Holding the sword that seemed to perfectly suit him in his hands, Damien felt he couldn¡¯t wait anymore. He gave a quick thank you to Vormec before teleporting back to the area in the ins where he had been practicing for the past week.

    An hourter, Damien could be seen in what now looked more like a wastnd than a grassy in with a smile on his face. Countless gashes that were tens of meters deep ran through the terrain and surrounding Damien was a huge crater.

    Sheathing the sword, Damien adjusted it on his hip. Even the sheath of the sword was ornately designed, and since Damien didn¡¯t have to do any intense movement for the next little while, he decided he¡¯d carry the sword on his body rather than in his inventory.

    While thetter was more logical, there was a certain nuance to the former that he enjoyed. Taking a quick look, Damien realized he still had an hour left before the specified meetup time, so he spent the next hour refining his vector control.

    He realized that he had been toox in his training ever since he escaped the dungeon.

    The environment there that was filled with death in every direction stimted his growth, and he felt a little out of ce in such a rxing atmosphere. He hoped that he could have another great fight soon to get his blood pumping.

    During this hour, Damien focused mainly on creating an impregnable defense. He attempted to control multiple points in space to affect the corresponding vectors, rather than a single point of deflection.

    This way, once he¡¯d mastered the technique, he could form a barrier that deflects or teleports all iing attacks.

    He was also attempting to control the ¡®Force¡¯ aspect of vectors so he could redirect attacks back at their senders with amplified strength.

    Although an hour wasn¡¯t enough for him to make insane progress, he was able to take steps in the right direction. All he needed was constant practice to perfect it. At that point, the technique he was creating might even be registered by the system as a skill.

    Skills were an interesting concept, as they were like the crystallization of certain factors pertaining to their users. As such, skill books or easy cheats towards gaining skills didn¡¯t usually exist.

    The only way to create something like this was through a good amount of sacrifice, and usually wouldn¡¯t be done by someone unless they were on death¡¯s door and wanted to leave something behind for their descendants.

    The natural way to earn skills was through hard work, practice, and experience.

    An example was how Damien had to do intense training with the sword to receive the [Sword Mastery] skill but achieved regeneration through constant injury and healing. The former was through practice and thetter through experiences.

    If Damien wanted a Fire Resistance skill, then logically he could bathe in fire constantly to gain it, though he was far from being a masochist and wasn¡¯t willing to do that.

    While pondering on what skill he¡¯d earn through his perfection of vector control, Damien arrived at the meetup spot. He noticed that there was already a group of 5 men and women waiting and he promptly joined them.

    They did a quick introduction but Damien honestly didn¡¯t care enough to remember their names. He doubted he would ever see them again after this quest.

    After waiting another half hour, a carriage arrived in front of them. From the outside, it lookedpletely normal, but for some reason, it carried a regal aura.

    The door opened and a young woman stepped out. She had long ck hair and brown eyes, with a rtively ordinary face, and her aura suggested that she wasn¡¯t someone weak.

    But Damien wasn¡¯t fooled in the slightest. Apanied by a slight throbbing in his eyes, her appearancepletely changed.

    Now, what Damien saw was a beautiful girl with pink hair and ruby red eyes. Her aura was like a sheathed sword just waiting to be unveiled.

    For the first time since he left the dungeon, Damien met someone who could give him a great fight. By what his eyes were telling him, she was only slightly weaker than him.

    The color of the mana he saw around her was peculiar as well. There was the light green color of wind mana that he was used to, but also a faint grey hue that seemed illusory.

    As he looked at her, Damien almost couldn¡¯t control himself. He almost started a fight right then and there. His bloodlust subtly leaked out of his body, alerting the woman to his current state.

    While she was evaluating the adventurers that had been hired as her escort, the girl suddenly felt a predatory gaze on her.

    It wasn¡¯t lustful or envious like the ones she was used to, rather it was one she often felting from herself. It was the gaze of someone hungry for a blood-boiling battle.

    Surprised, she looked over at its source. Seeing the handsome man who could barely control his bloodlust, she couldn¡¯t help but smile as her gaze slowly adopted the same battle-hungry glint.

 Chapter 33

    However, before the two could start their riveting battle, an old man stepped out of the carriage.

    ¡°Hello everyone. My name is Dous and this is my youngdy, who you will be escorting today. I hope we can all cooperate on our journey to the capital.¡±

    Damien¡¯s bloodlust quickly receded as he snapped back into reality. He could have a friendly battle with thisdyter. For now, he just needed toplete his mission. The girl felt the same sentiment as she looked away and introduced herself.

    ¡°I¡¯m Katherine Hart. It¡¯s nice to meet all of you.¡± Her curt attitude and indifference got on some of the adventurers¡¯ nerves, but they knew they were escorting someone of high-status today, so they forced their annoyance down and made friendly introductions. Excluding Damien of course.

    When his turn came, he simply matched Katherine¡¯s gaze and uttered, ¡°Void.¡± And went back to minding his own business.

    Damien¡¯s tant disregard for status once again caused some people to be incensed, but they didn¡¯t say anything. It wasn¡¯t their ce to punish him. However, to their surprise, Katherine did nothing.

    ¡°It¡¯ll take us at least a month to get to the capital. There¡¯s a separate carriage for you guys to rest in whenever you want to.¡±

    With these words, she entered her carriage. When Dous was about to follow her in, Damien raised a question.

    ¡°Hey, do you mind if I just sit on the roof of your carriage? I won¡¯t move much so you don¡¯t have to worry about disruptions.¡±

    Dous hesitated, but receiving a positive response from inside the carriage, he reluctantly nodded. Damien then vanished and reappeared on top of the carriage without a sound.

    Looking at the other adventurers, Damien continued. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here the whole time so you guys can figure out the rest among yourselves.¡±

    Damien went back to ignoring everyone. Truthfully, he was slightly embarrassed by his behavior. He didn¡¯t expect that his conversational skills were so low. Every word that came out of his mouth sounded snappy and indifferent. But this was to be expected.

    In the first ce, when he was on Earth Damien was constantly looked down on for 6 years. Then, he spent 2 years in a dungeon where he didn¡¯t talk to anyone except Zara, and even that was only for hisst 6 months.

    Frankly, he was never a good conversationalist. His witty side only came out when he was with Elena or Zara, while he never really cared about anyone else. This behavior had only been amplified. He knew people would have a bad impression of him, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    So, he decided that he¡¯d ept his calm and indifferent facade and make it a part of his personality. A lot of his favorite characters were calm and indifferent, and mimicking them was the only way he knew how to develop his personality.

    The first week of their journey passed swiftly. During this time, there weren¡¯t any major disruptions. Every once in a while, bandit groups would attack the carriage, but they couldn¡¯t do anything.

    The carriage itself had two 2nd sses in it and was being guarded by 10 more 2nd sses. There were only 5 adventurers including Damien, but he knew otherwise.

    His eyes wouldn¡¯t be deceived by any concealment or illusions. He could clearly see the 5 guards hidden in the shadows. He simply neglected to mention them because he didn¡¯t care.

    Plus, these bandit attacks were perfect target practice for him. They would always start their attacks by surrounding their group andunching ranged skills and attacks, so Damien had the perfect opportunity to refine his vector control.

    Within this week, they had already been attacked 5 times, and none of these bandits¡¯ attacks could touch the carriage he was sitting on, even if they had a 2nd ss in their midst. This past week marked one month since he had achieved 2nd ss, and although his level hadn¡¯t risen, his power had been greatly advanced.

    He was now able to create a deflection barrier using countless vectors as its base, while he could retainplete control over all factors rted to a single vector.

    He mused that he could theoretically cause atoms to collide within this single point and create a natural nuke, but it¡¯d explode directly in front of him, so he had no thoughts of attempting this until his range increased.

    Another factor he was focusing on was gravity control. Gravity was intrinsically linked to space, and in certain interpretations could be considered as space bending.

    For this reason, Damien had always had a slight amount of control over gravity, and it was even subconsciously in use when he first created his distortion technique, but he had only started consciously focusing on it after gaining his 2nd ss.

    Being able to control vectors gave him a clearer medium to affect gravity.

    On the 10th day since the start of his quest, Damieny on top of the carriage rxing as he spoke to Zara, who hadn¡¯t yet exited his shadow in a while. Although she was fine within the city or when they were alone, now that they were supposed to be protecting someone, Zara had stayed concealed for safety.

    She liked to think of herself as Damien¡¯s trump card. She was the one who wouldnd a fatal attack when their enemies were distracted. She was never someone who enjoyed direct fights.

    Zara was now equivalent to someone around level 70, but she didn¡¯t possess the ability to see the system windows. Beasts, as beings who developed intelligence as they grew stronger, weren¡¯t beings who could inherently see their status, as they wouldn¡¯t even be able to understand it.

    Instead, they¡¯d gain this ability when they reached 4th ss and obtained their human forms. Before this, beasts instinctively knew their power level and skills. Since they were naturally stronger than most humanoid species¡¯ at the same level, this was a sort of bnce mechanism.

    However, not seeing the system didn¡¯t detriment the development of their intelligence, and a beast like Zara who had a mental connection with a human while also being naturally intelligent would grow extremely fast.

    The emotions she transmitted through their link were bing closer and closer to full-on thoughts and it seemed like she wasn¡¯t far from learning how to speak.

    Damien was naturally excited by this prospect. Zara was like his best friend, why wouldn¡¯t he be excited for her to obtain the ability tomunicate more thoroughly?

    He mused that he should quickly help her reach 3rd ss since at that point she¡¯d reach that goal. As he was having this thought, Damien¡¯s danger sense started ringing like crazy.

    Without another thought, he held onto the carriage and teleported a whole kilometer backwards. Feeling the fluctuations and rapid movement, the two inside the carriage quickly came out.

    However, before they could question Damien, the area where the carriage once stood exploded.

    Dust flew, the ground cracked and shook, and a huge mushroom cloud rose into the sky. In the center of the damage stood a single man. He was around 1.8 meters tall and was fully covered in a ck robe, except his face which was covered by a ck horned mask.

    Out of the woods, 30 ck robes figures emerged. The only difference between them and the man was that their maskscked horns.

    Sensing the man¡¯s billowing aura, one of the adventurers yelled in a panic. ¡°T-t-third ss!¡±

    The man was naturally Adrian who had been sent by that mysterious organization. All of theckeys around him were 2nd ss as well.

    ¡°Well then,¡± he said with a maniacal smile, ¡°we¡¯ll be taking that youngdy off your hands for you.¡±

 Chapter 34

    Damien was already battle-ready. If Katherine was the first person he met in this world that could give him a good fight, the man in front of him was the first person he met that could threaten him.

    Teleporting to the forefront of the battlefield, Damien spoke to those on his side. ¡°The 11 of you take on the 2nd sses. Ms.Hart, help me take this guy.¡±

    While the adventurers were confused about the discrepancy in the number that Damien mentioned, Katherine and Dous were not. Their faces clearly portrayed their shock, but they didn¡¯t have time to question him at the moment. Sending Dous¡¯ gaze, Katherine slightly nodded her head before rushing towards Damien.

    Receiving the signal, 5 figures emerged from the shadows and lined up with the adventurers. Without further ado, the 11 weaker members on their team faced the 30 on the other side.

    As battle erupted, Damien continued to stare at Adrian without moving. Soon, Katherine joined him. ¡°It¡¯s awfully bold of you to make a frail youngdy such as myself join you in this intense battle, no?¡± She jested

    However, Damien wasn¡¯t paying attention. His whole focus was on the enemy in front of him. Katherine pouted at this but didn¡¯t say anything else. Damien suddenly spoke.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you can do, but I won¡¯t say anything as long as you don¡¯t get in my way.¡±

    Without another word, he sped forward.

    Adrian was watching everything y out with an amused smile. He didn¡¯t care about the lives of his subordinates nor what was going on anywhere else. He saw that the target was in front of him, so he mused it¡¯d be an easy mission.

    The target was only a 2nd ss, and her guards were all 2nd ss as well, so he wouldn¡¯t have any problems. However, before he could think any more, an intense bloodlust assaulted him.

    Looking at its source, he saw one of the adventurers hired for the mission staring at him. He was nning to tease the kid, but before he could say anything, he was forced to engage inbat.

    Damien didn¡¯t immediately start with his spatial abilities, opting to use lightning to test the waters. He circted lightning through his internal body and increased his speed 5x and also infused it into his de.

    He arrived in front of Adrian in an instant and shed down. As his de cut through the air, arcs of ck lightning danced and the amplification effect of his sword bared its fangs. The infused lightning, whose properties already leaned towards destruction, became even more destructive.

    Adrian took out his weapon, a huge hammer, and parried the blow. Their first sh resulted in a small explosion as Damien flew back 10 meters before stabilizing himself. Adrian, on the other hand, only took a single step back.

    Before he could attack, Adrian found himself surrounded by wind des that cut towards him. Though the power wasn¡¯t great, the scale was huge, with hundreds of desing from every side. Adrian started continuously parrying while feeling confused.

    ¡°The target is a wind user, but her ability shouldn¡¯t be this much right?¡±

    While Adrian was confused, Damien could see that there were only around 20 wind des in the attack. In this moment, Damien realized the identity of the second type of mana he had seen surrounding Katherine.

    It was an illusion affinity.

    Taking advantage of the time when Adrian was upied by the illusion, Damien teleported behind him and made his first serious move.

    Although he enjoyed using lightning, he knew it would never measure up to his spatial ability, and at some point, might even fade into the background. Damien¡¯s body became illusory as he moved while producing multiple after images.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Second Step: Dance of the Void.¡¯

    Damien danced around Adrian as he attempted to cut through his body with his spatial des, but Adrian was much stronger than him, allowing him to use his experience to counter Damien¡¯s attacks.

    It was at this time when Katherine decided to join the fray. She summoned a scythe from thin air and, like Damien, began striking from all angles.

    Her scythe was a silver color with gold etchings running along its handle. If scythes were usually portrayed as weapons of the grim reaper, this scythe was more like something an angel would use.

    Damien was at the forefront, cutting through Adrian¡¯s flesh and upying his attention while Katherine was attacking from mid-range, with every swing of her scythe cutting the air in its surroundings and producing various ranged attacks out of wind, which were further multiplied by her illusions.

    Adrian was incensed. He was fighting two mere 2nd sses but they were able to overwhelm him in such a manner. In his rage, he stopped caring about his mission. The reason he¡¯d only been using physical attacks was because the leader had said to keep the target alive, but he didn¡¯t care anymore.

    Within seconds, the atmosphere in the vicinity began to superheat as crimson mes bloomed around Adrian¡¯s figure. Sensing danger, Damien directly teleported to Katherine, grabbed her and teleported away once again.

    The area where they were previously standing became a field of moltenva as the ground continued to melt. Adrian beganughing loudly.

    ¡°HAHAHA! You little kids are dead now!¡± He said as he raised his hand. Then, he uttered a simple word that was followed by pure destruction.

    ¡°Explode.¡±

    Theva surrounding him ballooned and exploded outward, swallowing everything within a 50-meter radius. Luckily, most of the adventurers and guards had retreated after the atmosphere had started superheating.

    2 of the adventurers and almost all of theckeys Adrian brought, however, were swallowed by theva and turned into ash.

    This was the true difference between sses.

    Although Damien never really felt this difference due to his intense power, this was the reality for most people. Damien would have been fine due to his vector field, but even a supreme genius like Katherine who could fight across sses would have been heavily injured by that attack.

    Her main forte seemed to be rangedbat, so her body naturally wasn¡¯t strong enough to cope.

    After this attack, Adrian began wantonly attacking Damien, shooting beams of sma and throwing waves ofva in his direction. Damien abused his teleportation to avoid what he could, but the attacks were too overarching, forcing him to deflect more than he dodged.

    Damien was still holding Katherine in his arms as well, so he had a difficult time avoiding injury. Eventually, he started to umte burns. His flesh melted but regenerated just as fast, and Damien continued to dodge.

    He was looking for the right opportunity to attack, but Adrian wasn¡¯t leaving him any openings to exploit.

    Damien turned to Katherine as he got an idea. ¡°Can you use your illusions to make him think he sessfully hit me?¡±

    Katherine had a slight blush on her face from being held in Damien¡¯s strong arms, but this was a subconscious reaction. Her whole attention was simrly on the battle in front of her.

    Hearing the question directed at her, Katherine thought for a second before responding. ¡°I can, but in his current state, I¡¯d at most be able to fool him for 3 seconds.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°3 seconds is more than enough.¡± Immediately, he contacted Zara. ¡®You know what to do.¡¯

    Katherine immediately went to work, weaving an intricate illusion to cast as Damien continued taking the brunt of Adrian¡¯s attacks. Within 5 minutes, she was ready, and after signaling Damien, she cast her illusion.

    Adrian had been intensely watching Damien as he continuously avoided his attacks, and he had noticed Damien getting hit a few times, but he had teleported so quickly that Adrian wasn¡¯t able to see the amount of damage he had taken.

    However, the next time Damien appeared, he saw it. Many areas of his flesh had been melted and even his bones could be seen in his left arm. Seeing this, Adrian released a huge wave of magma, hoping topletely incinerate the two rats in front of him.

    Damien, who was busy nning with Katherine, suddenly looked up with horror written on his face. In the next moment, both of them were reduced to ash. However, something didn¡¯t feel right to Adrian.

    Before he could figure out what the problem was, Damien appeared before him with his sword heavily striking towards the ground. Without time to react, Adrian could only erect basic defenses. However, Damien¡¯s sword wasn¡¯t aimed at him.

    The sword smashed into the ground and caused a huge dust cloud to rise and then, reality seemed to crack.

    The sky became the ground and the ground became walls. The new sky was now a ck abyss that seemed to consume everything.

    Multiple cracks formed in the air as the surroundings began to shatter like ss. Space began swirling like a whirlpool and contracting upon itself, reducing everything within it to shreds.

    This was what Adrian was experiencing right now. Sensing death approaching him, Adrian erupted all his mana and used it to form a barrier around him, but even the barrier was slowly being contracted.

    And then, everything went ck.

 Chapter 35

    After Katherine cast her illusion, Damien immediately teleported her to the others before he charged. Now that he had a moment of respite, he could finally fight without the extra burden.

    And knowing that he was fighting against a 3rd ss, he decided to use the strongest ability he had developed to date.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Third Step: Spatial Copse¡¯

    This was the ability Damien had used. Using his sword as a medium, Damien would cause space to fold in on itself, and then he would cut the vectors in charge of spatial stability and copse the surrounding space.

    This ability wasn¡¯t one he could use when fighting with a team or even Zara as it didn¡¯t spare anyone caught inside of its range. Even Damien wasn¡¯tpletely confident ining out unscathed at his current strength.

    This was why Damien teleported back to the group directly after using the ability. From the outside, the scenery was just as confusing as it was for Adrian.

    Space seemed to swirl and everything within it began to distort. Trees bent like rainbows and the ground bulged and flowed like waves of the sea. The sky didn¡¯t be an abyss but simrly began to crack and fall like ss.

    In the middle of it all, the group could faintly see the silhouette of a man covered in seemingly imprable waves of crimson me, but even he and his barrier began to bend and distort, then when the distortion reached its peak, the space imploded.

    It wasn¡¯t loud or destructive like one would expect, rather it was noiseless. Everything within the affected space was turned into dust as the only thing remaining was a 15-meter deep crater. Damien looked at this scene with pride on his pale face.

    Although teleporting didn¡¯t use up much mana, doing it continuously with another person while also abusing his vector control right after using the 2nd step of his sword art for around half an hour was extremely draining. Casting spatial copse essentially used up the rest of his remaining mana.

    This might¡¯ve been the first fight Damien had partaken in where his vast mana pool was emptied. And rather than being distraught at this, he was filled with excitement.

    This battle was truly amazing for him and made him eagerly anticipate growing stronger and fighting even stronger opponents. Katherine had a simr glint in her eyes. Evidently, she was just as battle-hungry as Damien. However, both of their faces scrunched up in the next second.

    They hadn¡¯t been rewarded any experience yet, which meant that somewhere within that destruction, Adrian was still living.

    Sure enough, a portion of the crater began to melt and Adrian stepped out into the open. Half of his face was a mangled mess of flesh and his whole left side was barely functioning. It seemed like he was going to die at any moment.

    Coughing up blood, Adrian looked at the group of 2nd ss beings who should¡¯ve easily died by his hand. His rage had calmed down by his near-death experience and he knew he¡¯d failed this mission. He couldn¡¯t go back to headquarters and face their leader, as he¡¯d definitely be tortured and maybe even killed.

    So, he made a rational decision. If he would die no matter what, he¡¯d at least take everyone with him. His eyes turned maniacal and he began revolving his energy. Without another word, he turned everything into ash, including himself.

    At least, that was what was supposed to happen.

    Instead, Adrian felt the world spin once more. The only difference was that this time, he could vividly see his body slumping to the floor as his vision spun. Behind the slumped body stood a 3-meter tall ck wolf with wings.

    It stared at him with its cold golden eyes and held what seemed to be a taunting smirk on its face. With this scene engraved into his psyche, Adrian¡¯sst wisp of life force vanished.

    A rush of experience flooded Damien and Katherine. It seemed the system had its way to measure contributions and party y.

    This made Damien wonder how he managed to earn his first 5 levels through kill stealing, but he didn¡¯t care much. That was the past and it didn¡¯t matter anymore.

    Since he had done most of the work, he naturally got a greater share of the experience, but Katherine¡¯sst y with her illusion was equally game-changing, so she also got a good share.

    With this amount of experience, Damien jumped straight from level 55, where he¡¯d been since killing the chimera, to level 70. ¡®3rd sses are huge bags of experience, huh.¡¯ Damien thought as he grinned at Zara.

    Meanwhile, everyone else was in shock. When they thought their lives were over, a huge beast appeared and slew their enemy. Then, that beast went over to Damien and started acting coy and asking for praise.

    This whole situation had thempletely bbergasted. In the first ce, they were up against a 3rd ss! Weren¡¯t their lives supposed to be forfeit from the very start?

    But they weren¡¯tining. They got to live and came out of the battle with an extra level or two under their belts. This was enough for them.

    The only one who wasn¡¯t shocked was Katherine. She had already seen Zara at the Nightingale 2 weeks ago. As she gazed at Damien and Zara, her eyes glowed golden for a split second before returning to normal. ¡®As I thought, it was a good idea to get him toe with us.¡¯

    Due to Damien¡¯s early interference at the beginning of the battle, both carriages were able to survive, and the group was promptly able to continue their journey. Damien retook his seat on top of the main carriage and the adventurers took turns guarding and resting.

    The only difference was that Damien had a guest on top of the carriage with him. Only a day after they had begun moving again, Katherine climbed up with him and kept trying to start a conversation.

    In the beginning, he tried to ignore her, but she made it difficult for him. By the end of the day, he couldn¡¯t hold himself back anymore and sarcastically replied to her.

    Much to his dismay, his sarcasm only fueled her determination to talk to him and he could only sigh at his fate. But, as time passed, Damien realized that the two of them were very simr, so he slowly began opening up to her.

    Katherine was also a battle maniac. This much he could guess from their first meeting alone, however, that wasn¡¯t where the simrities ended. She was also someone with an adventurous spirit and though it was only spection, Damien was sure that she had a special pair of eyes like him.

    During their conversation, Damien ended up learning that Katherine had seen him and Zara at the Nightingale and decided to open the quest as a qualification mission after guessing that he would be registering as an adventurer.

    When Damien heard this, he only had one thought. ¡®Is she perhaps an idiot?¡¯

    And being the blunt person he is, Damien asked her directly why she would recruit someonepletely unknown for a quest that concerns her safety. Seasoned adventurers at least had track records to prove their credibility, but Damien was a total unknown.

    This was a world where people kill each other to get stronger. As a matter of fact, this was almost the only way to grow stronger. Added to that, men were extremely lustful creatures.

    Especially after gaining supernatural amounts of power, there was no shortage of men who took advantage of women andmitted atrocious acts simply because they had the power to do so.

    As for Katherine¡¯s response?

    ¡°Hmm¡­perhaps it was fate? Also, making men fall into illusions of getting raped by other men is a lot of fun you know?¡±

    Damien shuddered and made a mental note to never offend this woman. Although he loved violence and battle, he never thought of himself as a particrly sadistic person.

    However, thinking about it again, he realized that if he saw Jin in that situation he¡¯d supremely enjoy it.

    And since he wasn¡¯t the type of vermin who¡¯dmit such immoral acts, he had no reason to worry about himself experiencing such a thing. In his fear of being put in such a situation, it seems he forgot that his eyes wouldn¡¯t allow him to fall victim to such a thing in the first ce.

    He then ignored the topic that seemed to be a rabbit hole of trouble and luckily, Katherine seemed to be too interested in Zara to continue as well.

    As Damien and Katherine improved their rtionship, 2 weeks passed and the group arrived at the capital of the Adire Empire, Aurora.

    Damien¡¯s first quest and his introduction as an adventurer had finally ended.

 Chapter 36

    Aurora, being the capital of a massive empire, wasn¡¯t anything to scoff at. The city¡¯s perimeter was thousands of kilometers long, as opposed to Archdale which was roughly the size of Los Angeles, around 600 km.

    Damien was still rxing on top of the carriage with Katherine and Zara, who hade out earlier since it seemed that there was no more danger. His guard was mostly lowered now though.

    Damien never thought to ask about Katherine¡¯s real name or status, but ording to her, inside Aurora, she was untouchable, so Damien wasn¡¯t worried about attacks anymore.

    Aurora had a clear resemnce to cities on Earth, besides the architectural style. It was separated into various districts that served different purposes such as themercial and residential districts.

    When Damien spread his awareness, he noticed that he could only cover around 3/4ths of the city. Since this was also his teleportation range, it was a significant discovery.

    And in the center of it all was a pce that wasrger than any building Damien had seen before. Since Aurora was built on a slope, it could be seen even from outside the city walls.

    Being the city where most of the empire¡¯s nobles reside, there was a clear caste system in ce, resulting in scenery that grew more and more refined as it reached the center.

    With the caste system, Damien expected to see a slum or something along those lines, but he was surprised that he couldn¡¯t find anything of the sort. After asking Katherine, he found out that Aurora was the only empire that didn¡¯t condone very and forcedbor of any sort.

    It seemed their king was a smart man who understood that such practices, while beneficial in the short run, only end up leading to internal conflict and rebellion over time.

    Although there was still some slight discrimination between castes, it wasn¡¯t enough to brew conspiracy. However, this was just on the surface. There seemed to be a supremacist faction within the nobles, but they didn¡¯t have much freedom to move without having a 4th ss in their ranks to rival the emperor.

    Another half-hourter, the group reached the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, which was also much bigger than the one in Archdale. It was basically a skyscraper, but Damien couldn¡¯t understand the need for such space within an adventurers guild until he entered inside.

    The first five floors were like arger and cleaner version of the guild in Archdale, but above that, there were many differences. First was the 6th to 10th floor, which was a sort of trade center for adventurers to buy and sell things they received or gained on their quests.

    Damien couldn¡¯t sense what was located above that, but he didn¡¯t need to. It seemed that this wasn¡¯t a mere branch of the guild, rather it was its headquarters. The floors above the 10th floor were probably for logistics, with the top floor designated for the guild master.

    Although each branch of the guild had a guild master, there was only one true master of the adventurers guild.

    A rumored half-step demigod.

    Damien¡¯s eyes burned as he thought of this level of power, but he quickly suppressed that feeling as he walked with the rest of the group to the reception area. Without any dy, they were able to gain the promised rewards for the quest.

    For some reason, Damien had assumed he wouldn¡¯t get rewards since it was his qualification mission, but he was wrong. Just like the other 5, he received a whole 600 gold coins. It seemed that Katherine¡¯s backing was loaded.

    After the others said their goodbyes and parted ways, Damien stayed at the desk. ¡°I¡¯d like my new guild card.¡± He stated to the receptionistdy.

    ¡°Ah!¡± She eximed. ¡°I apologize sir, but there were some slight changes to the card you were meant to be given. Due to your feats of ying a 3rd ss during the mission, you¡¯ve been granted ess to S rank quests even while your rank remains at A.¡±

    It seemed the guild was making the change in his status before handing him the card. 5 minutester, thedy pulled out a pure white card.

    ¡°This is your new guild card. If you would like to ept any quests or ask any questions, feel free toe to me. Enjoy the rest of your day!¡± She said with a cheerful smile on her face.

    Damien smiled lightly at her and nodded before walking to the mission board with a slight pep in his step. This was because he had made a huge achievement today. He had finally held a normal conversation with another person that wasn¡¯t Zara.

    Naturally, this person was Katherine. Although they¡¯d separated a while ago, Damien was still proud of himself for the improvement in his social skills.

    Though he was still stiff towards literally anyone else, he chose to ignore that fact just like he had been ignoring Zara¡¯s teasing for thest hour or so.

    After looking over the mission board for a bit, Damien chose a ssic beast ying mission.

    And then, 3 more months passed.

    In these 3 months, not much happened. Damien continued to take S rank quests and a few A rank quests at the guild and his nickname, ¡°Void¡±, began to spread.

    However, most people chose to call him by a different nickname.

    Due to the fact that Damien only took extermination and ying quests, his extremely clear speed, 100% clear rate, and the massive ck wolf that seemingly lurked in his shadow, people began calling him the ¡°Grim Reaper¡± much to Damien¡¯s amusement.

    Some of the experienced adventurers began treating him as an equal while the rookies admired him. This was because his advent came with information on his past.

    He had appeared out of nowhere, adding to his mysteriousness, and on his first mission, he had in a 3rd ss as a 2nd ss being.

    During these 3 months, Damien had earned quite the sum of money and had bought himself a mansion within Aurora. It seemed that adventurers at A-rank and above had simr status to nobles so Damien was able to live in a rtivelyvish environment.

    He hadn¡¯t been cking in his training either. Since he had just created the 3rd step of his sword art, he decided to put all his focus on vector control. Damien¡¯s defense was already at a level that was imprable by those at the same level, and he even managed to figure out a few offensive uses of his ability.

    His gravity control was now able to crush 1st ss and mid-level 2nd ss beings with ease, while those stronger than that level would only be slowed down.

    However, he could also control gravity to move in any direction, so disrupting their movement or attack patterns was much simpler than it used to be.

    He had also experimented with controlling molecules, increasing their vibration rate to create sma beams. He had also created an ability that mimicked a sort of space de which gave him a less destructive attack for his space affinity.

    Damien refused to attempt anything with smaller particles, as he felt he¡¯d just end up killing himself at his level of control.

    Thest thing he had begun experimenting with was personal vectors. He had glimpsed this concept when he recreated his left arm, but he never expanded on it. This specific research was still in its preliminary phases, so he didn¡¯t have many uses for it yet. These new abilities had contributed a great deal towards his grim reaper title.

    Damien hadn¡¯t run into Katherine again since the mission ended either, but he didn¡¯t mind much. He had many things to do, so if they met then they met. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t think about it too much. She might be his only human friend in this world, but they both had their own priorities.

    Today, Damien had decided to go to the tavern and rx for a bit. He had been working constantly once again while forgetting to rest. Although this habit was technically bad for him, he had long forgone the need to sleep.

    He would just devour a few beasts when he felt like he was getting tired and used the energy to clear his fatigue.

    However, at Zara¡¯s urging, Damien took a single day every week for a break. Usually, he would just have a drink or two and then rx and talk to Zara for the day, however today while he was at the tavern, he heard an interesting piece of news.

    ¡°Hey, did you hear?¡± A random man said to his friend. ¡°The Nexus event is starting in 6 months, and since it¡¯s the 1000th anniversary since the first one, the prizes are huge!¡±

    ¡°What are the prizes?¡± The friend asked eagerly.

    ¡°Third ce and Second ce prizes are crazy but not enough to be so excited. It¡¯s the first ce prize that matters most.¡±

    The man¡¯s friend was beginning to lose patience, and seeing that the anticipation of the friend and the crowd that was listening in on his conversation reached its peak, the man spoke once more.

    ¡°Elixir.The heavenly potion that can cure any wound or illness.¡±

 Chapter 37

    Damien froze as the man¡¯s words yed on repeat inside his head. A potion that could cure any wound or disease. Even if one was on the brink of death with their heart pierced and body mutted, Elixir could bring them back to the peak of their health.

    With this information came a rush of emotion. Scenes of his mother reyed in his mind. Her efforts to raise him after his dad disappeared, the constant stress she endured that started turning her hair white even before she was 40, and the way that she never let him worry about a thing, even while she was carrying such a major burden.

    Ever since he was old enough to understand the struggles she was going through just to give him a proper life, he had been overflowing with the urge to repay her, but before he could even gain a method to do so, the world changed. His mother fell into aa and rather than being able to repay her, he was forced to do everything he could to just keep her alive.

    So many things had been happening recently that Damien had put all these thoughts to the back of his mind, but the Elixir made him recall one of the only things he missed about Earth. If he could truly win first ce in this event and gain the prize, he would have a way to cure his mother the second he gets back to Earth.

    His old determination rose to prominence once more as Damien managed to lift himself off of his seat and rush out of the tavern. His destination? The adventurers guild. The trade center on the 6th to 10th floor wasn¡¯t just for material items, but information as well.

    And while the man in the tavern would be much cheaper, he preferred to spend some money to use a reliable source instead. He had plenty of money anyway. He wasn¡¯t avish spender in the slightest and his 3 months of constant work ended uppiling him a small fortune.

    Entering the guild, Damien went straight to the 8th floor where the information brokers stayed and queued into line. All of the brokers who were allowed to sell their services at the guild were trustworthy, so it didn¡¯t matter which one he went to.

    Plus, the information he was looking for wasn¡¯t secretive, so he didn¡¯t need to be cautious.

    Half an hourter, it was Damien¡¯s turn, and he didn¡¯t waste a second as he entered the private room. In front of Damien was a stick-like old man with a flowing white beard that made him look like a martial arts master.

    ¡°What do you seek from me today?¡± The old man said as Damien made himselffortable on the couch in front of him.

    ¡°I want all information you have on the uing Nexus Event. From the general things to the requirements to participate.¡± Damien responded.

    ¡°Very well. That will be 350 gold.¡±

    Damien stared at the old man for a few seconds before nodding his head and taking out a storage ring with the money in it. It was well known that the brokers here were exorbitant in their prices, so he didn¡¯t make a fuss.

    On another note, Damien had realized that he was showing off his inventory quite frequently on ident, so he went out and bought 2 storage rings. One was just a decoration to make people believe he wasn¡¯t using his own spatial storage, and the other was for transactions.

    epting the money, the old man began to talk. ¡°After the Great War that took ce 1000 years ago, the various races on Apeiron decided that they needed to build their rtionships and solidify their bonds in case a simr situation ever happened again.¡±

    Damien was startled at the sudden history lesson that seemed to raise some sort of g, but he ignored it and continued listening.

    ¡°The solution they decided on was the Nexus Event. Every 10 years, all races and empires of the world have their younger generationspete for prizes and opportunities. During this event, many can forge connections and make alliances for the betterment of the world.¡±

    Damien understood the importance of such an event. Even back on Earth, they would have events like the Olympics that were hosted and attended by many nations of the world.

    ¡°Although there are still struggles for supremacy between those who live in this world, the event signifies their promise for unity against outside threats.¡±

    Pausing for a second, the old man looked deeply at Damien. Although he was currently giving information, he was also attempting to gain information.

    He had long heard of the rumored ¡°Grim Reaper¡± who had shown up out of the blue, and many were interested in his history. The man wanted to see if Damien had any reaction to the mention of outside threats, but he was left without any hints. Seeing that his probe failed, he continued.

    ¡°As for the requirements to participate, it¡¯s really simple. As long as you are below 40 years old you can gain entry, but this is only as a regr participant. To be qualified as a genius, you need to gain recognition. For our Human Race, the ce where you can do this is the Zenith Academy.¡±

    While 40 years sounds old, it was nothing in the eyes of true powerhouses. As one leveled up, their lifespan would naturally increase as mana regted their body functions.

    A 1st ss alone can live for 200 years before dying naturally, while a 2nd ss has 500 years, a 3rd ss has 1000 years and a 4th ss has 2000 years. As for 5th ss, that remained a mystery.

    Due to this, Damien wasn''t surprised by the age limit. Damien had also read about the Zenith Academy. It was a public academy in the human domain that was prided as the #1 magic academy in the entire world, including those of other races.

    This academy waspletely unbiased and unsegregated, even epting students of other races. As long as one fit the standards of the academy, they were free to join.

    There was only one question Damien still had. "What''s the difference between entering as a genius and through normal methods?"

    The old man smiled. "It''s simple really. It''s a matter of status and opportunity. While everyone will be participating together whether they are a genius or average, geniuses get priority to be seeded and are given better amodations during the duration of the event. If you are nning to enter, I suggest you try to do so as a genius."

    Damien nodded his head as he began to formte a rough outline of his next moves. As he moved to edit the room, the old man once again spoke up.

    "Ah! I almost forgot about prizes. 3rd ce will receive an SS rank artifact, 2nd ce will receive a rare permanent stat boost potion along with the 3rd ce prize, and 1st ce receives the other prizes as well as Elixir, which you''ve probably already heard about. However, this is not it."

    The old man watched Damien''s intrigued expression with a smile on his face. He enjoyed seeing the younger generation produce talents with ambition like Damien.

    "Since it is the 1000th anniversary of the Nexus Event, the peak powers of each race decided to pull out all the stops. Along with providing Elixir, a potion whose rarity is on par with the number of 4th ss experts of the world, they decided to allow the top 50 participants to enter into the Eternal Secret Realm."

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock. With Kurt being a supreme powerhouse of the world, he had naturally left behind information on the Eternal Secret Realm. This realm was like a hidden world that could only be opened by the joint efforts of many 4th stage powerhouses.

    It was a mystical ce filled with both high risks and high rewards. It''s said that even the small amount of Elixir that was present in the world was obtained from this secret realm. The number of treasures inside were innumerable, but there were many hostile beasts and a few barbaric races that lived inside it.

    Thanking the old man, Damien left the guild and headed back to his house. ''The tournament is my ticket to saving my mother while the secret realm is my ticket to 3rd ss. This set of events might be my ticket back to Earth.''

    Now that he had fought one, Damien knew the true difference between second and 3rd ss. There was a reason why 3rd ss consisted of 100 levels rather than 50 like first and second ss.

    Even Adrian, who was only at the beginning of 3rd ss, had around 10 times the amount of mana that Damien had. The only reason he was able to win was because he hadn''t allowed Adrian to make use of thatrge mana capacity.

    If Damien was able to achieve 3rd ss, he would finally be able to go home, if home was even the right word anymore. Even if his mana capacity wasn''t enough to warp him back to Earth, his vector control would have improved to the point where traversing space would be easy.

    His warp ability couldn''t take him to Earth, but that was solely due to mana capacity. Through his attempts, he had sensed the general direction and distance to Earth. It wasn''t that far at all. Even if he had to spend years traversing outer space, he''d do it.

    His main goal was always to return. While he had a burning desire to explore the universe and the myriad of worlds it contained, this could wait until he had healed his mother.

    Damien smiled thinking that he had finally seen a path forward.

    ''Well, it''s a bit cliche, but I guess it''s time to start my own academy arc. Let''s just hope it isn''t as boring as high school.''

 Chapter 38

    The Zenith Academy wasn¡¯t too far from Aurora, but it would still take two weeks for Damien to get there. For this reason, he decided not to leave just yet.

    He was about to head to a prestigious academy to gain the title of supreme genius, so he figured he shouldn¡¯t show up in the fantasy world version of an Adidas tracksuit. Before anything else, he went to themercial district and visited a clothing store called ¡°Averci¡± which was a designer brand of Apeiron. Entering the store, Damien was greeted by rows of pristine shelves lining the walls and clothing of all kinds. He gazed around in wonder before he was greeted by an attendant.

    ¡°Good afternoon, sir. How may we help you today.¡± Although this attendant had noticed Damien¡¯s shabby clothing, he didn¡¯t look down on him at all. There were many precedents of people whose looks didn¡¯t match their strength and authority. This attendant wasn¡¯t an idiot like the one Damien met in the Nightingale.

    ¡°Hello,¡± Damien politely responded. ¡°it¡¯s pretty obvious how bad my sense of style is so I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be a good idea to pick for myself, but I¡¯d like to buy 5 sets of clothes. I want full outfits from outerwear to shoes if you could rmend something for me.¡±

    The attendant smiled seeing that he was correct in acting respectfully. 5 sets of clothes weren¡¯t anything cheap, especially if every piece of clothing was handpicked by specialists like him. And since he would get amission forrge purchases, he had no reason not to be happy.

    The attendant led Damien through the shop as he looked at the various clothing and designs and he had to admit that they were much more stylish than earth. The style of these clothes was also simr to 21st-century clothing which Damien was satisfied with.

    ¡°Do you have any preferences for clothing, sir?¡± The attendant asked. He would need a basis to provide Damien with the best options he could.

    Damien thought for a moment. To bepletely honest, Damien¡¯s fashion sense was atrocious. On Earth, Elena would constantly have to apany him when he shopped so he could buy wearable outfits. Thinking this far, he decided to keep it simple.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want anything too shy, and ck would be best. Otherwise, dark colors work fine.¡±

    The attendant nodded and got to work. 2 hourster, Damien came out of the store with a few thousand less gold in his wallet and looking like a new man. There¡¯s a saying that clothing can change a person, and it was certainly true.

    Damien was very handsome and the way he carried himself made him stand out from the crowd, but his clothing tended to blend him back in. He was just a strong adventurer in people¡¯s eyes. However, when he stepped out of the store, many eyes immediately fell on him.

    Damien was wearing a ck turtleneck and long ck pants with a belt. The belt was also ck but the buckle had an intricate gold design on it that added a minimalist aesthetic to his look. He also had on a ck coat that¡¯s length reached his knees which also had small gold designs swirling its surface.

    His shoes were simr to ck Air Force 1¡¯s, giving him a slightly dangerous vibe. And to finish off the outfit was a simple gold chain around his neck. By the urging of the attendant, Damien also had a silver cross-shaped piercing hanging from his ear.

    He never thought he¡¯d one day get his ear pierced, but after he saw himself in the mirror, he had to admit that he looked damn good. If he had to describe his new look in one word, he truly had to say that he was covered head to toe in drip.

    This new outfit mixed with his unique yin-yang irises and ck hair with streaks of silver that was tied up neatly in a ponytail at the moment made him look like a truly supreme individual.

    The clothes he had on now weren¡¯t just for show though. The designer brands in this world were so popr not just due to style, but functionality as well. Damien¡¯s clothes were filled with invisible runic inscriptions that made it on par with an SS-tier artifact armor. He also had 4 more full sets of clothes in his inventory.

    Damien wasn¡¯t one to wear armor. In the first ce, his body was so tough that most armors were useless, but he would never give up the opportunity to guarantee his safety, especially if he could look stylish while doing so.

    With his new look secured, it was time to leave Aurora. He teleported directly out of the city and traveled on foot for a few hundred meters before calling Zara out of his shadow.

    ¡°Say, it would be a lot quicker if you just flew us there right?¡±

    Zara was a little annoyed since she could tell Damien just wanted toze around during the journey, but she soon relented. Zara didn¡¯t get the opportunity to fly much in the first ce since they were usually inside a city.

    She would use this opportunity to enjoy the freedom thates with cruising through the air. With Damienying down on her back, Zara took off in the direction of Zenith Academy.

    ***

    Within arge meeting hall, a beautiful pink-haired girl could be seen speaking with her family. ¡°Father, I would like your permission to go to the Zenith Academy so I can earn my ce in the uing Nexus Event.¡±

    Being within the confines of her own home, Katherine had dispelled her disguise and walked around freely. Even if she hates her siblings, she was the strongest among them so they couldn¡¯t touch her.

    Katherine¡¯s father looked at her deeply before sighing in resignation. This daughter of his was always his favorite due to her hard-working personality and immense talent. The only problem was that she had also inherited the adventurous spirit he had when he was younger. If she was a bit less unrestrained, she would be the perfect sessor, but he knew it was impossible. Once again sighing, he responded to her request.

    ¡°Fine. I know that I won¡¯t be able to convince you no matter what I say, but you must be extra careful this time. In addition to using your disguise and the name of Katherine Hart, you must take Rhea with you and allow her to apany you at all times. Last time, the supremacist faction sent a 3rd ss after you, so I won¡¯t allow you to move freely without a 3rd ss protector.¡±

    Katherine was satisfied with his response, as she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to push him any more than this. Her stubbornness was also a trait she inherited from her father.

    Their many simrities were the reason she was able to speak freely in front of him while the rest of her siblings could only speak with respect and reverence.

    Besides, Rhea had been her protector since she was a child, and was like an older sister to her. She wouldn¡¯t mind having here along. Katherine slightly bowed to her father before leaving the room to prepare for her uing journey.

    After she left, Katherine¡¯s father fell into thought. ording to the reports of the guards he had sent with herst time, Katherine¡¯s survival from the attack was due to a certain adventurer she had hired as an escort. He was also told that the two had gotten very close during their travels.

    Summing up his thoughts, he raised his head and spoke into the seemingly empty room. ¡°Zero, find any information you can on that boy and make sure he¡¯s trustworthy. If you find anything suspicious, report it immediately.¡±

    A shadow swiftly appeared in front of Katherine¡¯s father with its head bowed. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Leaving these words, the shadow promptly disappeared, leaving the room empty once more.

    Meanwhile, Katherine had finished gathering her things and had left for the academy. This time, she didn¡¯t hire an escort, instead choosing to use a flying beast to speed up her travel time. While flying to the academy, she couldn¡¯t help but think of a certain young man.

    ¡°I wonder if we¡¯ll finally get to fight this time around.¡± She wondered with a smile on her face.

 Chapter 39

    2 weeks passed in a sh as many hopeful youngsters began preparing for the uing Nexus Event. Even if they weren¡¯t able to enter the top 50 and receive any rewards, there were plenty of ways to gain recognition during the event.

    Although the only major powers were the empires and guilds, there were many smaller powers subordinated to these behemoths that used the event for recruitment.

    Doing well in the tournament would always gains, and even those who weren¡¯t recruited gained experience that would further their progress on the path to strength.

    These 2 weeks werergely uneventful for Damien. He had spent the entire time on Zara¡¯s back, only stopping when she wanted to rest. He had been constantly running simtions in his head about how to advance his vector control during this time.

    His research on personal vectors had also increased by arge margin. With this, he could speed up his already fast regeneration rate, naturally increase his speed, and do many other things without using too much mana. By the end of the 2 week period, Damien spotted a city in the distance.

    This city wasn¡¯t nearly asrge as Aurora but wasrger than Archdale, making it arge city in its own right. This was Zenith City, which was an extension of the academy. The poption of this city was solely the students that attended the academy.

    As they arrived closer, Damien decided to walk the rest of the way. He wasn¡¯t at the academy to learn or advance himself, he was only there to receive the recognition he needed for the Nexus Event in 6 months.

    While the academy did have a period where they held examinations for the yearly entrance of students, that time had long passed. Rather, there was a separate examination period whenever the date of the Nexus Event was announced.

    For this purpose, there were 2 huge buildings on either end of the city that were used to examine those students that wanted to join.

    The sky around this building in front of Damien was crowded with various tamed beasts that were being used as mounts by higher ss individuals and the ground wasn¡¯t visible under the sea of people present.

    The traffic shocked Damien as he wondered if both buildings had such arge influx of people. It seemed he truly underestimated the hype that came with this event.

    Since Zara had already returned to his shadow, Damien decided to just be patient and wait in line. This was an especially grueling thing for him, who had been moving constantly for the past two and a half years.

    Patience wasn¡¯t a virtue he was aligned with in the slightest. Luckily he still had many simtions to run to pass the time. Damien closed his eyes and moved with the line as he pondered.

    Every once in a while, the space around him would fluctuate and bend, causing those in his surroundings to give him a wide birth.

    They were confused as to why someone who looked and dressed like some young master of an influential family was waiting in line down here instead of in the sky, but they weren¡¯t brave enough to question it.

    The reason the space around him was fluctuating was that Damien was working on expanding his range.

    His vector control was mainly used in defense simply because he didn¡¯t have the range to affect an enemy¡¯s vectors when he wasn¡¯t in direct physicalbat. The distorted space was a manifestation of his efforts as his power began to disperse and concentrate.

    It wasn¡¯t until almost 6 hourster that Damien¡¯s turn finally came. Luckily, the examination building was open 24 hours a day so they could efficiently deal with the influx of people.

    The building itself was divided into 5 floors with many private rooms that were meant to test 10 individuals at a time. This added up to around 50 people per examinees per turn. The fact that it took Damien 6 hours to get a turn even with this number showed the astonishing amount of people participating.

    As he entered the room, he saw 9 other people that he didn¡¯t bother to pay attention to. Damien was single-minded in this regard. Maybe this was the reason why he had rarely interacted with people who weren¡¯t attendants during the 4 months he had spent on Apeiron.

    Once everyone was present, a middle-aged man entered the room and scanned the examiners with indifferent eyes, causing them to bow their heads in respect.

    Well, all but one of them. However, the man didn¡¯t care much. He was used to arrogance, and it wouldn¡¯t be long before the kid was shown his ce.

    ¡°Alright, you lot. Line up single file ande forward.¡± The man said as he took out 2 stones from his spatial ring and ced them on the table in front of him.

    ¡°These are testing artifacts. The one on the left shows your age and the right shows your level. Come up and say your names before cing your hands on these stones one at a time. Everything elseester.¡±

    The examiners followed his instructions and Damien, being thest to enter the room, went to the end of the line. Soon after, the first person went forward.

    ¡°H-hello senior, my name is Alex Hale.¡± The kid said as he put his hand on the first artifact. Quickly, it glowed as the number 30 appeared on the stone. Next, he put his hand on the second artifact, which showed the number 50.

    ¡°Alex Hale 30 years old Level 50. Alright, go stand in the back and wait for the rest.¡± Clearly, the man wasn¡¯t impressed by the results. Although the kid was above average, he was nowhere near close to being a genius. ¡°Next!¡±

    ¡°Ava Trunks 25 years old Level 51¡±

    ¡°Wendell Ray 34 years old Level 43¡±

    ¡°n Wright 22 years old Level 57¡±

    Slowly but surely, the other 9 individuals in the room finished their turns. Damien was honestly surprised about the ages and levels of these people. 2 of them were still at 1st ss even though they were close to the disqualification age for the event.

    However, not everyone could level up like Damien. Not even including his leveling speed, the speed by which he raised his physical stats was nothing less than heaven-defying. It was natural that most people would take many years to reach his level.

    Even supreme geniuses like Katherine had been training since they were young. If anyone realized that Damien reached his current level in 2 years, they might even kill themselves from shame.

    Finally, it was Damien¡¯s turn. The examiner honestly wasn¡¯t expecting much from the youth in front of him. He¡¯d been observing the reactions of the people in the room, and this youth seemed to be surprised even by those at the peak of 1st ss.

    Annoyed, the examiner rushed him on. ¡°Alright hurry up and tell me your name so we can finish this.¡±

    Damien hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should just give his surname like he did when he was adventuring, but ended up deciding against it.

    First off, this was a school. It would just be weird to use an alias here. And second, he honestly stopped caring. No matter what, people wouldn¡¯t find any information on him before he arrived at Archdale, so there wasn¡¯t a reason to worry.

    ¡°Damien Void.¡± He said as he ced his hand on the first stone.

    Quickly, the number 19 appeared on its surface, surprising everyone in the room. It seemed that he was by far the youngest out of them all. However, their surprise wasn¡¯t even close to being over.

    Just as he finished with the first stone, he did the same with the second stone. Instead of an immediate response like those that showed up for the others, the stone shuddered for a while before it could show his level.

    He could feel a foreign energy invading his body which was most likely the method the artifact used to measure his level, but it was quickly devoured by his physique. Damien had almost forgotten about this specific quality since it barely showed itself anymore.

    He devoured plenty of beasts for one reason or another, leading to his physique constantly receiving energy. However, the invasion of this energy seemed to stimte it.

    The stone began to glow, but soon, cracks began to appear on its surface. Damien was slightly panicking. He had never needed to control his physique nor had he ever found a method to do so.

    In the next second, however, themotion calmed down and the stone once again began to glow. Luckily, it seems his physique was satiated once more.

    If the other examinees were surprised by his age or even the phenomena that urred when he touched the stone, they were so shocked they almost fainted when they saw the number it portrayed.

    Even the examiner¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he struggled to get the words out of his mouth.

    ¡°D-Damien Void Age 19 L-Level 75.¡±

    Damien was halfway to 3rd ss.

 Chapter 40

    No words needed to be said. The results spoke for themself. For the next few minutes, the room was enveloped in silence as everyone stood in a daze.

    Even Damien was surprised. He never bothered to check his status as he leveled up and put all his focus into improving his actual skills. It seemed he¡¯d need to check it soon.

    This continued until one of the other examinees lost his cool. ¡°No! It has to be rigged! You all saw how the stone cracked before the number came out! He has to be lying!¡±

    The crazed yelling snapped everyone out of their dazes. The one who yelled was Alex, who had just recently entered 2nd ss at 30 years old. He couldn¡¯t believe that someone an entire decade younger than him was so far ahead. Lost in his madness, he brazenly attacked Damien.

    Raising his hand, Alex shouted, ¡°Heaven Sundering Palm Strike!¡±

    Arge palmposed of ferocious mes charged towards Damien, but it was nothing more than a party trick to him. He was making unfairparisons though. Thest me attack he had seen was from a genuine 3rd ss being. How could someone who was barely 2nd sspare?

    But Damien was angry. He wasn¡¯t angry at being attacked nor was he angry at being looked down on. Rather¡­

    ¡°What the hell is up with your cringe ass naming sense! It¡¯s literally in the wrong world type! Also why the hell are you screaming out your attack name like an idiot?! Aren¡¯t you embarrassed?!¡± Damien roared.

    He was raging at the naming sense of this kid. It brought out Damien¡¯s suppressed childhood memories of when he got too into cultivation novels and would attempt to summon attacks by screaming things like ¡°Heaven-Copsing Strike!¡± In his backyard for the whole neighborhood to hear.

    The unlocking of his ck history sent him into a rage and rather than just swatting away the attack as he¡¯d normally do, he made an actual move. He pulled back his fist and let out a ferocious punch in the direction of the oing attack.

    The punch was so brutal that it caused winds to form and swirl within the private room, as when these swirling winds met the me palm, they turned into a raging fire tornado.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± With a cold harrumph, Damien flicked his finger, and the me tornado that was still charging towards him abruptly moved in the opposite direction like it was in a pinball machine.

    The sudden turn of events took everyone off guard and before they could move, the me tornado consumed the terrified Alex. When it subsided, all that was left was a charred and broken body.

    Although Alex was still alive, he wasn¡¯t going to be able to function as a living being anymore without the help of something on the same level as Elixir.

    Witnessing the scene he had just caused, Damien turned his head away and started whistling. ¡°Oops.¡± He said as he muttered under his breath, ¡°well if it wasn¡¯t for his stupid naming sense pissing me off he probably would¡¯ve gotten off easier.¡±

    The other examinees were drenched in a cold sweat while the examiner looked at Damien with an interested gaze. Unlike them, he was able to clearly see what happened. ¡®This young man is a spatial mage¡­no, perhaps he has even stepped into the master level!¡±

    The people of Apeiron used a specific system to measure the level of control one had over their affinity.

    This system waspletely separate from sses, as one¡¯s control only improved with constant practice, insight, and talent. Though, more mana was needed at each stage, leading to ss still being important to improve control.

    From the beginning, it was Apprentice, Mage, Master, Grandmaster, and Saint.

    The apprentice level signifies someone who had just stepped onto the path of understanding their affinity, such as Alex who could only create a simple palm out of fire.

    The mage level signifies when one breaks through those figurative shackles and begins to construct various different uses for their affinities, such as Damien¡¯s lightning boost or Katherine¡¯s illusions.

    The Master level is where a true change urs. At this level, one looks past the surface and bes abstruse in the use of their affinity. Damien¡¯s vector control is an example of this. It isn¡¯t a ssic space ability, rather it uses space as a medium to affectws of physics and whatnot.

    The Grandmaster level is more of a title, given to those who havepletely mastered the abstruse use of their affinity that they specialized in. When one reaches Grandmaster level control, they can create a domain where they be the sole ruler and king.

    As for the Saint level? The information regarding it was strictly kept by those 4th ss beings of the world. Nobody knew exactly what being a Saint entailed, but it was rumored that affinities evolve into somethingpletely new when one reaches this level of control.

    For Damien to be at the Master level at such a young age, the examiner didn¡¯t even want to think about how much talent he had. Making his decision, he finally spoke.

    ¡°Okay. You have already proved your skill to me. Take this token and exit the hall. Someone will be waiting to exin the rest. Also, tell them toe inside once they¡¯re finished. I need help with something.¡±

    He was naturally referring to Alex, who was just a living corpse at this point.

    He tossed a circr token to Damien before turning to the other examinees. ¡°As for the rest of you, it¡¯s time to have a short battle with me so you can prove your skill.¡±

    Damien didn¡¯t stay to watch and quickly went to find the person who was waiting outside. It seemed that she wasn¡¯t prepared to have a guest so soon after the examination started, so she fumbled a bit before handing over a pamphlet and a card to Damien.

    ¡°This pamphlet outlines everything you need to know about the academy as a new student. As for the card, it is your student identification.¡±

    Seeing the confused look on Damien¡¯s face, she exined further.

    ¡°The artifacts you used for testing already scanned your mana signature, so as long as you infuse your mana into the card, your name and rank will appear on it. It¡¯ll also lead you to the specific area you need to go to for lodging and sses.¡±

    Nodding his head, Damien promptly left the examination building as the girl entered the testing room.

    When she got inside, everything looked normal besides the charred corpse on the ground. She let out a short yelp before regaining her bearings. Unfortunately, the noise had attracted everyone¡¯s attention.

    The examiner then addressed her.

    ¡°Good, you¡¯re here. Take that kid away from here and send him wherever he needs to go, that¡¯s not important. It seems we have another candidate for supreme genius entering the academy. Notify the elders so they can keep watch on him. It¡¯s the boy that sent you in here. His name is Damien Void.¡±

    The girl¡¯s face paled slightly when she heard this news. A supreme genius candidate? And she had just waved him off like some average student! As she dragged the breathing corpse of Alex out of the room, she prayed that Damien wasn¡¯t offended by her attitude.

    Meanwhile, Damien peacefully walked through Zenith City while enjoying the sights. He had long forgotten about the girl in question. Finding a nice park, Damien sat on a bench and enjoyed the cool spring breeze as he read through the pamphlet he was given.

    The academy, at the end of the day, was still a school. Even though he was here because of the Nexus Event, he still had to attend at least one ss during his stay. Recalling the mention of a Great War by the broker he had visited, Damien chose history.

    If the war was a potential g as he suspected it to be, he needed to be prepared in case he got swept up in the storm.

    Next, he read over the various facilities contained within the academy. There was a myriad of different choices that were based on affinity, and to enter the higher level and more beneficial training environments, he needed premium points.

    Premium points were the school¡¯s version of currency, and they could be earned by doing various tasks to benefit the school and by taking missions from the school¡¯s version of an adventurers guild.

    However, even this could be avoided. He just needed to find a high-level figure to either sponsor him or take him as a disciple and they could gain him ess to these facilities.

    The reason this was important to Damien was simple. Unlike what he would have expected, the school had a training environment for spatial affinity users. Once again he saw Kurt¡¯s name. It seemed he was an important figure at the school and had personally built the training ground.

    ¡®If I¡¯m not wrong, that Kurt guy must have left another subspace within that training environment. Knowing his entric behavior it¡¯ll be annoying as hell to enter, but it¡¯ll be extremely beneficial to me. I must find a way to enter this space.¡¯

    Little did he know, it would be much easier than he thought.

 Chapter 41

    2 weeks passed at the academy, but Damien hadn¡¯t achieved anything special. Besides having to attend a single ss once a week, his life wasn¡¯t that different from when he was an adventurer.

    Zenith City functioned based on normal currency rather than premium points, so Damien was able to get himself a quiet house to live and practice in.

    Premium points were used for facilities and the treasury, basically for anything needed to increase power. This was to incentivize students without stressing them. If premium points were required for housing and the likes, there would be much more chaos in the academy. Especially because there wasn¡¯t any monthly allowance system.

    The history ss Damien had enrolled in was extremely boring and reminded him of world history sses back in high school. So far, there had been no talk of the Great War and all the history focused on the human domain and it¡¯s development since the induction of mana.

    When he wasn¡¯t in ss, Damien was back in his routine of constant work. He¡¯d find any beast ying mission he could andplete it. Every once in a while, he¡¯d go on collection missions as well. The reason he didn¡¯t particrly like these was because they were incredibly easy for him, who could teleport, and didn¡¯t help him improve.

    Right now, his issue was how to spend his premium points. There were many interesting potions and treasures in the academy treasury that he could buy, but most of them wouldn¡¯t really help him. His physical stats were too high for potions meant for 1st and 2nd sses and his mana capacity was even higher.

    The only option left for him was to use the lightning training grounds. He was genuinely disappointed in the development of his lightning affinity, but he never really put time into improving it. With the rapid improvements of his spatial affinity there was no need to.

    However, Damien had now reached a roadblock in developing his spatial affinity. He knew which path he should take to further his vector control, but he didn¡¯t have anywhere to go after that. His 3rd ss couldn¡¯t stay as vector controller after all. So, he decided to switch his focus and hope that it would grant him new ideas.

    He had long since given up on being creative in his uses of lightning. The only goal he had at this moment was to make it extremely destructive.

    He had also realized that his vector control could be used to enhance his lightning. He decided to train this aspect within the training area as it was specifically meant for lightning affinity users. Plus, he was curious about what these training grounds really were.

    The academy was structured simr to a University on earth, making it essentially its own small city within Zenith City. Damien had plenty of trouble navigating at first, but the pamphlet he was given had a map as well, so he just opted to use that to get around.

    After walking for half an hour, Damien arrived in front of one of thergest buildings in the city. This building was shaped like a massive pyramid that pierced the clouds. It was the location of every training ground the academy possessed.

    When he entered, however, he saw a hall the size of a normal 2 story building without any of the steam age characteristics of the pyramid. Although confused, he just continued forward and registered himself for the lightning training grounds.

    There were 3 options avable to him. First was the basic training ground, second was something called ¡°Lightning Valley, and finally was ¡°Thunder Mountain¡±. Their prices were 10. 100, and 500 premium points respectively.

    Looking at his student ID card, he saw the number ¡®644¡¯ written next to the premium point section. Satisfied, he picked the highest option. He had no use for premium points beside using this facility, so he didn¡¯t care about his expenditure.

    The receptionist was surprised by his choice, but said nothing. He pushed a button on his station and led Damien to a door behind the desk. When the door was opened, Damien sensed slight spatial fluctuations, making him realize the truth behind the building.

    It wasposed of many subspaces that catered to various affinities. The unique shape of the building most likely rted to how the subspaces were sectioned off and the button was most likely to choose which subspace the door would connect to.

    Entering the door, Damien was immediately greeted by a thick bolt of lightning that tried to strike him down, but before it could, he had teleported away. Turning around, Damien noticed that the door had disappeared. He then felt a ping from his ID card.

    Taking it out, he noticed that the words on its surface had changed.

    [Damien Void]

    [Thunder Mountain]

    [Time remaining: 71 hours 59 minutes 55 seconds]

    [To exit early, inject mana into your Student ID card.]

    It was in and simple, but he understood the point. A verbal exnation for every new student would be a hassle, so this system was much more efficient. It could also be used for those who already knew the rules.

    Now that he had taken care of that, Damien finally got a chance to look at his surroundings. The name Thunder Mountain wasn¡¯t an exaggeration in the slightest.

    The ground around him was already on a slope and in front of him stood one of the biggest mountains he had ever seen. It wasrger than even Mt. Everest on earth, standing proud at 10,000 meters. It¡¯s peak was shrouded in dark clouds just like the rest of the sky.

    There was nothing besides this mountain within the subspace. The entire area was constantly being struck by lightning bolts, with even the smallest ones being thicker than an arm. It seemed that the father one climbed up the mountain, the stronger the lightning would get.

    Just looking at this lightning gave Damien insights towards increasing his destructive power. Everywhere itnded there would be havoc, with some rocks even disintegrating on contact. However, Damien could see much deeper than the normal person.

    He could see the rampaging lightning mana that ran through the ground like snakes, and he could see the highlypressed mana within the clouds. The purple colored mana even permeated the air in the surroundings, everything within this space was supercharged with electricity. Damien smiled as he looked towards the peak of the mountain.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope the lightning up there isn¡¯t as painful as evolution.¡± Leaving these words, Damien began a rapid climb to the peak.

    3 dayster, Damien could be seen on the peak of Thunder mountain surrounded by vtile ck lightning. Natural purple lightning as thick as a telephone pole constantly attempted to strike him down, but to no avail.

    When it met the ck lightning surrounding Damien, they¡¯d go through huge shes, leading to chunks of the mountain peak being dislodged and causingndslides.

    However, he had only been training for 3 days. There was no way he would have advanced enough to ward off every bolt of lightning that was aimed at him.

    Very often, tens of lightning bolts would breach his own lightning defense and charge towards his body. While half of these would be deflected by his vector field, the other half were allowed to directly strike his body.

    This was because Damien had discovered something interesting. The lightning mana within this space could be devoured by his Void Physique to increase hisprehension.

    This absorption was the only reason he was even able to contend in quality with the lightning at the peak.

    The berserk natural lighting mana that entered his body rampaged, attempting to fry his organs and blood, but it was quickly tamed by the devouring force that emanated from his physique. The lightning filled essence was then purified and sent back into his body to nourish it rather than to destroy.

    Suddenly, the Damien¡¯s eyes snapped open. Still seated, he let out a bestial roar into this sky. And as expected, this roar was apanied by a massive whirlpool like beam that escaped his mouth.

    The difference between this breath and the usual, however, was that the lightning that usually just danced around the spatial storm was actually integrated inside it.

    While the spatial storm tore through everything in its path and mutted it¡¯s targets, the lightning now followed its attack, incinerating everything that could¡¯ve stayed intact after the initial damage.

    After spending a few minutes roaring with abandon, Damien smiled and checked his status.

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Half-Human/Half-Beast

    Male ¨C Age 19

    Level 75 ¨C [Vector Controller], [Lightning Mage]

    Experience value: 78,450/80,000

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Space, Lightning

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 3900

    STR: 275

    AGI: 290

    DEF: 265

    INT: 250

    DEX: 290

    Skills: [Warp Level 5], [Spatial Control Level 7], [High-Level Regeneration Level Max], [Sword Mastery Level Max], [Mana Sense Level 8], [Devour Level 5], [Vector Control Level 6], [Lightning Magic Level Max], [Inventory]

    Trait(s): [Shock Absorption], [All-Seeing Eyes Level 3], [Dragon¡¯s Breath]

    There weren¡¯t many changes to his status since he hadst checked it in Kurt¡¯s subspace besides his long-forgotten subss.

    His physical stats and mana capacity had only increased by leveling, as he hadn¡¯t found any particrly special beasts that granted him massive gains like he did in the dungeon. The time he spent ying beasts on the surface truly entuated how special the dungeon was.

    Besides that, a few of his skills had leveled up a small amount and his spatial magic had evolved into vector control. The change that he was excited to see, however, was that his lightning magic, which had been stuck at level 6 for the longest time, had finally achieved max level.

    ording to the control stages he had recently learned of, he should still be in the Mage level, but he wasn¡¯t far from reaching the Master level. All he needed to do was find more abstract applications for his lightning.

    Checking his ID card, he noticed that his time within the training ground was over. The door had reappeared at the bottom of the mountain, and Damien directly teleported to it.

    Thinking that he should use this facility more often, Damien exited the door with a smile on his face. Upon his return to the reception area, though, Damien was greeted with a taunting and familiar voice.

    ¡°Oh, look who we have here! What¡¯s with that stunned face? Don¡¯t tell me you missed me so much that you¡¯re too stunned to speak!¡±

 Chapter 42

    ¡°Oh, look who we have here! What¡¯s with that face? Don¡¯t tell me you missed me so much that you¡¯re too stunned to speak!¡±

    In front of Damien stood a familiar pink haired ruby eyed girl. Compared to the first time they met, Damien had to admit that she was much more attractive now.

    Last time, she was wearing in clothes as if to disguise her status, but today, she was dressed up like Damien.

    She had on a sleeveless top with silver patterns running along its surface and a pair of pants that matched. Her shoes were a pair of ck boots. Although it wasn¡¯t shy, it was oriented forbat, and coincidentally matched Damien.

    Looking at her curvaceous figure, Damien ended up stunned for a second, only to instinctively respond in kind.

    ¡°Yeah yeah I missed you so much, but I wonder who it was that couldn¡¯t wait to see me and waited eagerly for me at the door?¡±

    Katherine, still in disguise, was also momentarily stunned. Even if she had a slight transformation from theirst meeting, Damien¡¯s was outrageous.

    From his outfit to his neatly tied hair to the cross-shaped earring hanging from his ear, he looked like apletely different person.

    She also had a gnawing feeling that he was looking straight into her ruby eyes,pletely unaffected by her disguise.

    ¡°Well,¡± Damien said in a questioning tone, ¡°are we going to keep crowding in front of the door, or are you cool with leaving?¡±

    Katherine simrly snapped out of her daze as her face was colored red. In reality, she had also juste out of the door from the wind training ground and happened to see Damien exit after her. In her rush to tease him, she had forgotten that they hadn¡¯t moved.

    As the two continued trying to get the upper hand on one another, they exited the pyramid and headed to a cafe. It had been 3 months since theyst talked so there was plenty to catch up on.

    ***

    Within a certain office in the academy, a middle-aged man with ck hair and red eyes looked down from his balcony, his gaze seemingly seeing past the various structures that inhibited it.

    ¡°Ohoho, what an interesting duo. Especially that boy. It seems I should keep an eye on him.¡±

    The training grounds were secluded areas that most people couldn¡¯t peak into when they were upied, but this didn¡¯t apply to everyone. The man was an exception to that privacy rule.

    ¡°Ohoho, the elders are already scrambling to see who they should train for the uing event. Maybe I should get involved this year as well. After all, this is a special asion.¡±

    The man smiled as he went back to his desk, quietly continuing his work as he thought about the uing event.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Damien and Katherine had just finished eating and catching up about the past 3 months. Zara had also left the shadows to join them. As they walked around the academy, their conversationnded on the Nexus Event.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re participating, right? Or are you perhaps some old fogey pretending to be young?¡± Katherine asked, still attempting to win their teasing match.

    ¡°Please,¡± Damien scoffed, ¡°I¡¯m 19 right now I¡¯m naturally a young and handsome genius ready topete. If anything, aren¡¯t you the old fogey here?¡±

    ¡°Hmph! Didn¡¯t anyone tell you that it¡¯s rude to ask ady her age? Besides I¡¯m not even that much older than you!¡± Katherine pouted but she was inwardly surprised.

    She was turning 21 this year, making her a year older than Damien and she had one of the best nurturing environments one could hope for.

    Thinking this far, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder what his background was, but whenever the topic came up, he¡¯d brush it off and change it.

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going all the way to the top in this event, so you better make it there too. I¡¯ve been wanting to fight you since the moment we met.¡± Damien continued.

    Katherine nodded her head with an eager look in her eyes. Although they could easily fight at any time, she understood his sentiment. In 5 months, they¡¯d have immensely improved both their techniques and levels.

    Also, from Damien¡¯s words, it seems he wanted to fight for the 1st and 2nd ce positions, which made it even more exciting. Just thinking about it made her blood pump as her eyes filled with motivation.

    ¡°You¡¯re right! I can¡¯t waste any time on a loser like you. It seems I should go back to training.¡± Not even waiting for a response, Katherine ran off.

    Damien smilingly shook his head. ¡®Well, I have to agree with her on that one. Training is what¡¯s most important for these next 5 months. Besides the tournament, that secret realm sounds like a lot of fun. I have a lot of preparing to do.¡¯

    Damien hopped on Zara¡¯s back as they flew out of the academy. He was going to train his sword art, so he needed open space.

    He didn¡¯t want to cause damage in the academy and be forced to pay for it. However, neither Damien nor Zara noticed a third presence tailing them with interest.

    Reaching a secluded forest, Damien hopped off Zara¡¯s back and pulled out his sword.

    ¡°Zara, I¡¯ll be staying here for a while so don¡¯t worry about me. You¡¯ve been staying in my shadow and letting me take all the rewards for the missions we¡¯ve been going on. Go get stronger while I¡¯m here, I¡¯ll wait for you and leave once you¡¯re back.¡±

    Indeed, regardless of whether it was as an adventurer or student, Damien had always prioritized beast-ying quests, and Zara never took any rewards. The bodies needed to be presented as proof ofpletion, so she didn¡¯t have any time to gain strength.

    After nodding at Damien gratefully and nuzzling up to him for a bit, Zara vanished into the woods.

    Damien kept his sword in his hands and sat down on the ground cross-legged. ¡®It¡¯s not yet time for me to create the 4th step, but I have plenty of improvement to do for the first 3 steps.¡¯

    Every use of his sword art had been catered towards mass destruction. He had never considered other uses of the art. Even chaining from one step to another was an unexplored concept.

    Hypothetically, if he could limit the effects of the 3rd step, spatial copse, and use it to restrain the target in a locked space, it would immensely benefit the 1st and 2nd steps.

    Likewise, if he used the 2nd step, dance of the void, and used the first step, deless, as a finisher, it could be a devastating attack.

    His sword art wasn¡¯t some structured masterpiece that exponentially increased in power when one move was chained to the next, rather it was more apt to call it aption of his achievements in the sword path.

    This made it so each move had a great deal of individuality, and there was immense potential for multiplebinations and chains. Damien only needed to work out the details.

    He had a feeling that once hepleted this step and made thisption into a true art, his sword mastery would finally evolve into something new.

    He sat there like a statue for 3 days without moving a single muscle, but every once in a while, the space around him would contort and copse, while at other times his sword would randomly vanish.

    But throughout this process, only a small amount of damage was done to the surroundings.

    At the end of those 3 days, Damien slowly stood up with his eyes still closed. He began moving slowly, but as time passed his speed picked up.

    He looked like he was performing a one-man show as he danced with abandon alone in the forest.

    His sword was kept in fluid motion as small areas of thend kept disappearing without a sound.

    As his speed reached its climax, a change urred. Every 5 moves of his dance, his sword would flicker and deep gashes were created in the lush ground.

    However, unlike the massive chunks that were damaged when he usually used the 1st step, these gashes were strictly linear and concentrated. The damage was more pronounced in its depth than its width.

    Damien kept his dance going for 4 weeks, every once in a while stopping when he ran out of mana and going back into contemting the fusion he was attempting.

    In the first and second week, his dance was apanied by the gashes created by the first step, but on the third and fourth, those gashes stopped appearing altogether.

    Instead, space would contort and thicken, causing the tree branches that were swaying in the wind created by his movements to abruptly pause for a second before they continued their movement.

    By the end of the fourth week, each swing of his was apanied by a constricting pressure that disallowed any escape from his de.

    Falling leaves were stopped in ce and directly cut by his sword, and trees were split in half with their trunks being unable to fall over.

    When Damien finally stopped moving, many of the trees in his vicinity fell in different directions as the spatial locks disappeared.

    Damien¡¯s shirtless figure was covered head to toe in sweat. Although he had always trained himself intensively, this time he had gone without pause for over a month.

    The only time he stopped was when he ran out of mana, but even then he was pushing his brain to contemte the fusion he was performing.

    But his efforts were rewarding. He hadn¡¯t beenpletely sessful in learning how to fluidly switch between andbine the steps of his sword art, but he had made good progress.

    Looking at the surrounding environment, Damien noticed that Zara wasn¡¯t back yet so he decided to once again work on refining his vector control, when all of a sudden, he heard the sound of ppinging from behind him.

    ¡°That was a truly impressive showing, young man.¡±

 Chapter 43

    A storm.

    This was the best way to describe the scene Damien saw when he turned around. A raging storm of crimson magic power that looked like a sea of blood.

    Without a second thought, Damien immediately teleported hundreds of meters away and release his own amethyst magic power. However, in front of that blood sea, his magic power was like a tiny boat swaying with the wind.

    Still, he didn¡¯t panic. Although the middle-aged man in front of him was extremely powerful, he didn¡¯t sense any hostile intenting from him. Damien didn¡¯t let his guard down though. This was someone who could kill him with a single smack.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Damien questioned as he red at the man vigntly.

    The man smiled. ¡°Ohoho, you are indeed a feisty young man. Don¡¯t worry about who I am for now, juste at me with your full strength. If not, you might end up dead.¡±

    Without another word, he disappeared from his spot. Before Damien could even register what happened, he was flying backward with such force that the trees behind him were crushed on contact with his body.

    ¡®I¡¯ve felt this once before.¡¯ Thest time Damien felt this sensation of his brain being unable to keep up with the movement of his body was when he was thrown into the dungeon all those years ago.

    The cause? Naturally, it was a massive difference in strength. Damien no longer had the time to care about motive or identity. He couldn¡¯t even flee from someone whose strength was so far above his. He could only retaliate or as the man said, he¡¯d die.

    It was only after he had flown for a kilometer or so like a broken kite that he managed to stabilize himself. His back was covered in a cold sweat. The only reason he was still uninjured was simply that the man in front of him didn¡¯t seem to have any intention to hurt him with that strike.

    Damien promptly drew his sword and coated it with ck lightning, warping directly in front of the man and shing down. The man smiled lightly as he raised his hand to block the iing sword. However, Damien didn¡¯t pay it any mind.

    ¡®Obviously, this old man is testing me or something. Who knew I¡¯d get into a ssic cultivation scenario in a fantasy world¡¯

    Damien figured that this old man was some powerhouse who had witnessed his training and decided to have some entertainment. If that was the case, it was Damien¡¯s job to impress. Maybe he could gain some benefits that way.

    Damien smirked. If there was one thing he was confident in, it was his fighting ability. Without wasting time, he began performing his Dance of the Void while circling the man. For the first time, the small spatial tears and distortions created by the technique weren¡¯t able to banish anything to the void.

    The man kept leisurely watching Damien move while easily blocking all of his moves with a single hand. Damien was getting fed up. As he danced around the man attempting to inflict any wound he could, he used his other hand to lightly flick the air. Each time he flicked, molecules were forced to vibrate and sma began generating.

    Then, those beams of sma shot towards the man from every direction. He also decided to stop conserving mana and wantonly attacked with various techniques. Still, nothing worked on the man.

    Huge rifts created by ¡®deless¡¯ were unceremoniously shattered, and as space copsed and twisted, the man simply stood there unharmed. Beams of sma kept firing, and at some point were amplified by vtile lightning, but all to no avail.

    It had been around an hour since Damien had started his attempt to harm this old man, but he hadn¡¯t been able to make the man budge even a single step. Damien¡¯s mana reserves quickly depleted. He was fighting much more recklessly than he usually did, but that wasn¡¯t for no reason.

    At some point, he stopped seeing this as a bid to impress the man in front of him, rather he had found a target who could withstand everything he threw at it. A perfect training dummy, if you will.

    Damien simply continued practicingbination attacks with his sword art and vector control as he circled the man continuously, every once in a while making distance and sending sword waves and thick lightning bolts. And 3 hourster, Damien ran out of steam.

    He smiled to himself as he thought of the improvements he¡¯d made in the past 4 hours.

    Although the man didn¡¯t budge from his spot, the pressure of knowing his target could kill him at any time had pushed him forward. Frankly, Damien missed this feeling of death looming over his head.

    Suddenly, a voice rang out. ¡°Alright, now that that¡¯s over, how about we see if you can survive this one attack of mine¡±

    Damien, in his excitement, had forgotten that the man was a living being and not a training dummy.

    When he looked up, the man was still standing calmly, however, the winds in the area had begun whipping violently.

    At first, he thought the man was a wind affinity user, but looking at the sky, he realized his mistake.

    Simr to the scene he had seen at Thunder Mountain, vtile ck clouds rumbled in the air. The lightning within those clouds, however, was much worse than those of Thunder Mountain, in addition, it was also crimson in color.

    The lightning danced wildly before gathering at the spot above Damien¡¯s head, and then, they sped down to smite him.

    Damien could feel that if he was struck by that lightning, he¡¯d be severely injured if not dead. Everything seemed to stop as the only things left in the world were Damien and the red lightning that attempted to reap his life.

    Closing his eyes, Damien breathed in until his lungs couldn¡¯t contain any more air.

    The man stood watching this spectacle with interest. The boy in front of him truly was amusing.

    He had charged forward without hesitation even knowing he couldn¡¯t beat his opponent, he had used someone exponentially stronger than him as a training dummy, and now in the face of death, he had closed his eyes.

    The man knew this wasn¡¯t the resignation that most people would feel at this moment, rather it was preparation for something. He was honestly impressed most by Damien¡¯s guts and his will.

    The thought of battling this boy when he reached the same level managed to make the man¡¯s blood boil, something he hadn¡¯t felt in many years.

    He smiled and continued observing, preparing to intervene if anything went wrong, but as the milliseconds ticked by, his brows became increasingly furrowed. Even now, the boy was still inhaling as if to fill his lungs with as much air as he could.

    From his observation, this boy had space and lightning affinities, so what use would breathing be? However, he didn¡¯t have to wait long for his answer.

    As the lightning reached halfway to Damien, his eyes snapped open, and without missing a beat, he opened his mouth.

    A huge roar that surpassed any mere beast erupted from the mouth of a human.

    Even the sound waves produced by this roar were enough to obliterate the environment around Damien. The ground shattered and caved, the trees flew in all directions, and the lush grass that covered the ground was reduced to ashes.

    Out of Damien¡¯s mouth came a beam of ck light that had the thickness of a small tree trunk. Different from his usual breath that was more like a spatial storm, this one was a beam of destruction.

    There was no distinction between lightning and space, as they melded and fused into something greater. However, Damien was unaware of this. In hisst-ditch attempt to survive, he had used up everyst bit of mana he had in his system and ended up passing out on his feet.

    Two beams met in the sky, and the world was painted ck and red. From the sky to the clouds was a massive lightning storm that could rip even a peak 3rd ss being to shreds in an instant.

    And from the ground up? Pure destruction.

    The ckness was thick enough to block all of one¡¯s senses, and space hadpletely shattered into pieces.

    The broken trees and ground in the surroundings had already been banished to the void as ck lightning wantonly shot through the air and sundered everything that still existed, creating countless massive craters.

    If one saw this scene, one would truly believe the world was ending.

    The man had long since grabbed Damien and escaped from the area of the collision. Although he could survive, he wasn¡¯t sure he could say the same for Damien.

    A few kilometers away, on top of a mountain peak, he stood and admired the chaos they had caused. Shifting his gaze to Damien, he couldn¡¯t help but admire the kid.

    He knew that the attack he had released was subconsciously put together, but whatever that power was, it was extremely dangerous.

    Even if he had lowered the intensity of the lightning to the peak of 3rd ss, it wasn¡¯t something a 2nd ss should everpletely block. He had at most expected Damien to offset some of the damage before he had to step in and save him.

    He smiled to himself once more. ¡°Interesting! Interesting indeed. The kid¡¯s destructive power is great, but he has plenty to improve on. Haha, I¡¯m excited to see the looks on those elders¡¯ faces when I¡¯m finished with him.¡±

    Deciding to keep up his identity as a mysterious senior, the man chose to leave while Damien was still unconscious.

    But before he did, he left a circr golden-ck token on Damien¡¯s chest along with a small note made with his mana.

    ¡°Kid, if you ever want to use that spatial training ground at the academy, take this token to the disciplinary building and hand it to the elder there. Next time we meet, we¡¯ll have some more fun.¡±

 Chapter 44

    By the time Damien woke up, the sun had already set. His eyes fluttered open and he realized he was resting on Zara, who had returned a few hours ago, rather than copsed on the floor.

    He learned from Zara that she had returned to the spot he was training after she finished her hunt, only to find pure devastation. Luckily, they had their link. Through this, Zara was able to locate Damien before her panic set in and also feel that he was safe.

    As she recounted the events on her side, Damien smiled wryly. The moments before he fainted started reying in his head. For the first time in almost 3 years, he had beenpletely and utterly defeated. There wasn¡¯t even a chance for him to win.

    He had truly been humbled by the experience. Recently, he had begun slightly looking down on this world, as the only person he¡¯d met who could match him even slightly was Katherine, but today proved to him that there were many hidden masters around the world.

    Only after ruminating over this point for a while did Damien realize the slight weight on his chest. Grabbing the object, Damien found the token and note that was left for him. His eyes slowly widened as he read its contents.

    ¡®No wonder that old man took an interest in me. It turns out he¡¯s one of the higher-ups in the academy. Who would¡¯ve thought that the elders would have such power.¡¯

    His wry smile grew as he put on a set of clothes and hopped on Zara¡¯s back.

    As they took off, they flew over the site of Damien¡¯sst battle, leaving him extremely shocked. When Zara had said devastation, he thought she meant the gashes and craters from his assault, but he was sorely mistaken.

    The whole area was like a wastnd where life couldn¡¯t grow anymore and craters littered the cracked earth. The living greenery only existed over a kilometer away from the crux of the battle. ¡®What the hell happened here? Because I for sure didn¡¯t cause this.¡¯

    Damien remembered the final lightning attack the old man had sent at him, but his memory cked out after that. ¡®Did I pass out and force him to save me from his attack? If he caused all this destruction on his own, how strong is he really?¡¯

    But he truly couldn¡¯t be mad at the old man¡¯s appearance. Even if he was slightly humbled, he improved immensely through the fight, if it could even be called that.

    He was much closer to the fluidity he had been seeking, and he even felt that he had slightly touched on something greater. However, no matter how much he tried to remember what that something was, he couldn¡¯t.

    Slowly but surely, Damien and Zara reached their abode in the academy. What greeted them was the yelling of a certain girl.

    ¡°Hey! Where have you been for the past 4 weeks? I¡¯ve been looking all over for you!¡±

    Once again Damien was forced to smile wryly. The original n was to be back in a week, but both he and Zara had gotten too into their training and forgotten the flow of time.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry about that. We were out training. So? How does the little princess want us topensate her?¡± Damien teased.

    Katherine blushed at his form of address but knew he wasn¡¯t serious. ¡°Hmph! You owe me dinner and conversation for the next week! If you skimp me on this I might just move in and annoy you to death!¡±

    Damien shook his head. This girl seemed intent on intruding on his property no matter what. Even in that short amount of time they¡¯d met each other before they went their separate ways to train, she had forced him to give her his address.

    Walking into the house with Katherine and Zara, Damien immediately plopped down on the couch. ¡°Fine fine you can do whatever you want, but if you want to eat here you¡¯re cooking. I don¡¯t have that kind of skill.¡±

    Katherine rolled her eyes but still went to the kitchen. She had been trained in various arts by her family, not just inbat. Her cooking skills were excellent. As she started cooking, Damien decided to rant about the encounter he had while training.

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe what happened to me earlier. I actually got beat up by some random old man who¡¯s apparently from the academy. He just showed up out of nowhere and started beating me up!¡±

    Katherine¡¯s eyes widened. Someone capable of beating Damien up had to be immensely strong. However, she didn¡¯t voice this opinion as she had already gotten a taste of his shamelessness earlier.

    ¡°So Mr.Perfect finally got his ass handed to him, huh. How¡¯s it feel? You gonna cry?¡±

    ¡°Why would I cry?¡± Damien responded with a grin. ¡°That old man gave me ess to the spatial training ground as a reward. Even that crazy guy thinks I¡¯m awesome, see?¡±

    Damien pulled out the token he had been given and waved it in her face to brag. Although he¡¯d been humbled, change wasn¡¯t something that happened in an instant.

    Besides, shamelessness was a personality trait he possessed even before his fall. It was ingrained in his bones.

    Rolling her eyes, Katherine looked up at the token Damien was holding before her eyes widened in shock and she dropped the knife she was holding. ¡°Y-y-you bastard! Tell me right now what did that old man look like?¡±

    Damien was confused by the sudden change in her behavior but obediently described the man¡¯s appearance.

    ¡°Hmm, he was a middle-aged man with purple hair and red eyes, his build was kinda big, but he obviously can¡¯tpare to me. Also, he used red lightning to attack. You should¡¯ve seen his magic power. It seriously looked like a sea of blood.¡±

    The more he talked, the more shocked Katherine became. She knew the identity of the man Damien had met but decided not to tell him. It¡¯d be fun to see how he reacts when he finds out.

    ¡°He must be a pretty high-ranking elder then. Those tokens aren¡¯t something just anyone can give out.¡±

    Katherine lied with a straight face. She then continued cooking as if nothing happened as the two continued to banter and talk about various subjects.

    Soon, the food was ready. Arriving at the table, Damien was genuinely surprised. It was beast meat and something that looked like rice with assorted vegetables. A simple but refined meal. Taking his first bite, he almost melted on the spot.

    ¡°Wow! You weren¡¯t kidding about your cooking skills. This is wifey-level skill right here for sure! Someone needs to wife you up ASAP!¡± Damien sang his praises before quickly adding, ¡°not me though.¡±

    Katherine was happy with his praise and even slightly blushed at the talk of wifing her up, but hearing thest part of the sentence her mood immediately fell.

    ¡°Hmph hmph! Guess someone never wants to eat my cooking again. Zara, youe here. It¡¯s all us girls now since a certain someone wants to be cheeky.¡±

    Smirking at Damien, Zara pranced over to Katherine before gettingfortable at her side. Damien¡¯s mouth was agape seeing this scene.

    ¡®Why is Zara walking like a pretentious anime girl? Wait since when did she even learn how to walk like that? Is this the so-called ¡®girl power¡¯ that even spans the racial andmunication barriers to team up against unsuspecting men like me?¡¯

    Quickly realizing that he¡¯d get nowhere if he didn¡¯t correct himself, Damien hurriedly responded. ¡°Okay fine! I would love to marry you, oh beautiful Katherine. Now continue making me food, okay?¡±

    Naturally, the food was his main objective. It was too good for him to be forced to stop eating it for such a small mistake.

    ¡°Good that you know! Oh, by the way, I don¡¯t want to marry you so you can keep all that talk to yourself.¡± Katherine said with a smirk.

    Damien was endlessly sighing in his heart. If she didn¡¯t care in the first ce, why did she have to bring it up? He guessed that this was an irrational woman thing that he¡¯d never understand, only to pause his train of thought as two murderous resnded on him.

    Cold sweat drenched his body. ¡®Devils. They¡¯re truly devils who can read my mind.¡¯ The whole situation was so bizarre to him, who was terrible at social contact, that he forgot that one of them could genuinely read his mind.

    After that stunt, their dinner continued with moreughing and joking before Katherine left back to her abode. Before departing though, she had also left him a message.

    ¡°You should head over to the disciplinary building with that token right away. Something tells me that there¡¯ll be an interesting surprise waiting for you there.¡±

    Damien was put off by the suspicious and sly smile on her face but decided to heed her advice. He had an inkling of her status, so if she was saying it¡¯d be a surprise, it¡¯d definitely be worth it.

    Since he had already gotten ample rest after he passed out, Damien couldn¡¯t sleep. He decided to ruminate over his gains from the past 4 weeks before heading over with the token in the morning.

    ¡®Sigh, what does that old man have nned for me this time?¡¯

 Chapter 45

    The disciplinary building was only 5 minutes from the pyramid containing the training grounds so Damien didn¡¯t have any problem locating it.

    This building was a normal rectangr 2 story building attached to a separate smaller building that seemed to be a prison of some sort. Entering the building, Damien was faced with many students of all ages walking around and doing their jobs.

    A few were even dealing with other students who seemed to have been brought in due to vitions.

    Damien quizzically watched these activities and mentallypared them to police stations back on earth. The processes were mainly the same, only the disciplinary officers in the academy had much more prestige than cops.

    Keeping order in the academy was a job that could get you a continuous supply of premium points, so it was naturally sought after by many. But there were strict criteria and evaluations necessary before one could be epted, leading it to be extremely desired by the students.

    ¡°Admission trials for the officer position officially ended a week ago, so there¡¯s no need to look around.¡± A strict feminine voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

    Damien looked over and saw a tall blonde girl with green eyes looking at him with annoyance.

    ¡°Hm? I don¡¯t want any position here. Anyway, where¡¯s the elder that runs this ce? I was told toe see him.¡± He responded, ignoring her irritated tone.

    Hearing his request, the girl¡¯s expression shifted to disdain. ¡°If you were nning to lie then at leaste up with a better one. Everyone knows that Elder nc is a woman!¡±

    Damien shrugged. ¡°I want to see her, then. Is that better?¡±

    This further infuriated the girl. ¡°This is the disciplinary office! No random hobo off the side of the street cane here and act as they please! Leave now before I use force!¡±

    Damien rolled his eyes. ¡®What¡¯s with the cultivation novel scenarios I keep getting myself into? Isn¡¯t this supposed to be a fantasy world?¡¯

    He had no intention to go through a whole ¡®misunderstanding and face-pping¡¯ situation so he just stopped bickering and pulled out the token he was given. ¡°Here, take this and quit your yapping.¡±

    Seeing something fly at her, the girl was about to attack but stopped when she noticed what it was. Carefully catching the token, she observed it as carefully as she could.

    It was an intricately carved circr token filled with ck and gold colors. On its surface was an image of a 9 headed serpent, a hydra. Seeing this, the girl stopped in her tracks.

    ¡°W-where did you get this?¡± She asked in a shaky voice.

    ¡°I fought an old man and he gave it to me afterward with a note telling me toe see an elder here. Now do you believe me or does this have to get annoying?¡±

    The girl quickly shook her head. No matter how much she wanted to im that the token was fake so she could cause problems for the annoying guy in front of her, she couldn¡¯t.

    There was a limited amount of these tokens forged in the first ce, and although people had attempted to forge them, there was a secret mana signature embedded in each true token that proved its authenticity.

    Her face flushed in shame, the girl quickly ran to the 2nd floor of the building, seemingly going to grab the elder. With the authenticity of the token proven, she couldn¡¯t mess with Damien anymore unless she wanted to get expelled from the disciplinary squad or worse the academy itself.

    On the 2nd floor, the girl ran to a certain door and knocked furiously.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    Gaining permission, the girl entered the room with shaky hands. Upon entering, she saw a beautiful middle-aged woman with ck hair and cold blue eyes leaning over a desk.

    Although this woman could be said to look older, she had in no way lost her beauty. She had a figure that could make countless men fall for her with a single nce. This was the Disciplinary head, Elder Rosary nc.

    Seeing who entered the room, her gaze softened slightly. ¡°What is it, little Lana? Was there a problem that you couldn¡¯t solve on your own?¡±

    Lana slightly nodded before shaking her head. Even after many years, she was still infatuated with the elder¡¯s appearance. The fact that she always treated Lana like a big sister or mother rather than an elder only worsened her condition.

    ¡°Elder, there is indeed a case I can¡¯t handle, but it isn¡¯t anything from the disciplinary squad. Take a look at this.¡± Lana said as she handed over the token.

    Inspecting the item in her hands, the elder¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°This is?!¡±

    Lana nodded, still holding some shock many minutes after realizing the identity of the token.

    The elder sighed and shook her head as she stood up. ¡°Alright, take me to whoever brought this in.¡± Although she was outwardly calm, she was brimming with questions internally. ¡®What the hell is that old fogey doing?¡¯

    Damien spent 10 minutes enduring various gazes thatnded on him curiously. It had to be known that Lana was both the most important member of their squad and the strongest. For someone to make her behave like that, they must be interesting.

    Only after what felt like hours of silence did Damien hear footstepsing from the staircase. This was Lana and Elder nc.

    Arriving in front of Damien, the elder looked him up and down. Besides his above-average looks, she couldn¡¯t see anything special about him. ¡°So? How did you end up getting your hands on this token?¡±

    Once again, Damien repeated the story of how he was beaten up by an old man and woke up with the token and the note on his body. Elder nc shook her head in exasperation.

    ¡°That damn fogey is always doing entric things. Anyway, we can¡¯t do anything for you in this case. This is just one of that old man¡¯s games.¡±

    Damien raised his brow at this. If they couldn¡¯t do anything for him then why was he even here?

    Sensing his confusion, Elder nc continued speaking.

    ¡°I¡¯ll exin. Our disciplinary squad is one of the only ces where the authenticity of this token can be verified, so he probably sent you here for that. As for finding him? Your best bet is the mountain in the distance behind the academy.¡±

    Damien knew which mountain she was referring to. It wasrger than even Thunder Mountain that he had trained at and was located only a slight distance from the academy. He didn¡¯t know its name yet, but he had already figured it held some importance.

    ¡°That mountain is probably full of traps and other annoyances that you¡¯ll have to pass through before you can reach him. That old man loves to think of himself as mysterious and go around testing people, so good luck with whatever it is you n to do from here on out.¡±

    Damien thanked the elder before turning to leave, only to remember something he¡¯d forgotten for a while. ¡°Ah, shit! I haven¡¯t been to ss in like a month!¡±

    Hearing his exmation, the elder shook her head. ¡®They¡¯re truly alike. That old fogey also had this indifferent to anything but training mentality back then. No wonder he took a liking to this kid.¡¯

    Waving her hand, she addressed him. ¡°It¡¯s fine, kid. Just go meet with that old fogey and make him teach you. I¡¯ll have someone contact your teacher and notify them. Just tell me your name first.¡±

    ¡°Damien Void.¡± He replied.

    The elder nodded before heading back to her study. Receiving that affirmation, Damien once again said his thanks before leaving.

    Back in her office, the elder looked through the new student roster to find Damien¡¯s name.

    ¡°Damien Void¡­.WHAT?!¡± Finding his name, the elder lept up in shock.

    ¡°Age 19 Level 75 Spatial and Lightning affinity! That old bastard! He knew I¡¯d only check the books after everything was done! He fooled me again!¡±

    Just like the rest of the elders, she was looking for people to sponsor or train for the Nexus Event so she could gain some benefits, and Damien had been one of the candidates on her list.

    Spatial affinity was incredibly rare, and he was also an immense talent, making him someone many elders were paying attention to. Unfortunately for her, her favorite student Lana was already past the 40 year age limit, so she couldn¡¯t participate.

    ¡°So the old bastard is also participating this year. And if it¡¯s that kid, I wonder if the rest of us stand a chance.¡±

    Flipping through the rest of the pages of the roster, Elder nc found something interesting. ¡®Oh? Another promising seedling. Looks like I¡¯ll have to ce my bets on her.¡¯

    The page she was looking at had a picture of a slightly above-average girl with ck hair and brown eyes.

    ¡°Katherine Hart Age 21 Level 85 Wind and Illusion Affinity¡±

 Chapter 46

    Since it was rtively close, it took less than a day for Damien to reach the mountain. It looked to be close to a full 10,000 meters in height, leaving Damien stunned by its magnificence.

    It didn¡¯t have the same rumbling sky or cracked surface as Thunder Mountain did, rather this one was a true natural beauty. The entire mountainside was filled with lush trees and various beautiful flowers.

    When he spread his awareness, Damien could sense many beasts cohabitating its surface as well. And unlike the scenes in the dungeon, these beasts didn¡¯t constantly feed on each other for growth. There were even a few species that seemed to be herbivorous, without the need or desire for meat.

    It was a clear day, so Damien could see up to the peak of the mountain, which was capped in snow, giving off a beautiful contrast with the vibrant colors that led up to it.

    Damien thought this environment gave off a feeling of bliss.

    No endless fight on the path to strength, no burdens or worries, and no pressure. However, this type of life didn¡¯t appeal to him. He loved gaining strength, he loved pressure that stimted his growth, and although he didn¡¯t love burdens, he knew they were inevitable if one had even a single person or thing they cared about.

    In reality, everything besides oneself could be considered a burden on this long and arduous path, and it was normal for many people to forsake everything for the sake of strength. Some people even choose to be so cold-hearted that their own families be nothing more than pawns to fit their needs.

    Damien knew he had the chance to take this path if he truly wanted to, but he didn¡¯t have any desire to be like this. He liked his human side, his sometimes vtile emotions, and the bonds he had with the select few people he was close with.

    He agreed that others could be burdens for him, and he even understood that from a certain perspective, his own mother who was bedridden could be considered a burden, but he didn¡¯t care.

    He had a taste of the endless cycle of blood that came from being alone, the feral and primal nature that one would begin to develop. He had no interest in that.

    If he wanted to do that, then that day he would¡¯ve forsaken his humanity and devoured Zara rather than saving her.

    Shaking his head, Damien snapped out of his thoughts. Now wasn¡¯t the time for introspection.

    He gazed up the mountain and thought to himself, ¡®if I¡¯m being honest I could spam teleport and make it to the peak in a few seconds, but I doubt that¡¯s what that old man wants.¡¯

    It had only been 2 days and he was already tired of ying the old man¡¯s games, but he decided that he¡¯d concede with this onest challenge. Without further ado, Damien began rushing up the mountain.

    And indeed, just as Elder nc had suspected, there were countless traps set up along the way. Some were stupid traps that could only kill mortals, such as a swinging tree trunk, but some were even slightly dangerous to him.

    There was a pit full of 3rd ss vipers that he almost fell into, mechanisms that suppressed his spatial ability and forced him to narrowly dodge razor-sharp des with his bare body, and many other traps.

    ¡®This old man seriously has a wild imagination.¡¯ Damien kept climbing without stopping as he evaded trap after trap. Surprisingly, no beasts attacked him besides those within the traps. It seemed that there was some sort of order among them.

    Even the ones that looked desperate to eat him begrudgingly turned away as he continued his climb. And by the time night fell, Damien reached the snow-covered peak.

    There, he saw a familiar middle-aged man staring into the distance with his back facing Damien as if toe off as more mysterious. Knowing that this was the old man¡¯s quirk, he didn¡¯t pay attention to it, instead opting to sit down and recover his mana.

    When Damien closed his eyes, the man took a peek behind him and witnessed Damienpletely ignoring him. He was disgruntled but didn¡¯t bother the kid as he recovered his mana. Half an hourter, Damien¡¯s eyes began to open, and the man returned to his original pose of gazing into the distance.

    ¡°Old man, there¡¯s no need to act so mysteriously with me. That elder already told me about your antics.¡±

    The man¡¯s shoulders twitched a bit when he heard this, and he reluctantly turned around. ¡°That damn witch! Looks like I need to teach her a lesson when I get back.¡±

    Noticing Damien¡¯s deadpan gaze, the man quickly changed the subject. ¡°Kuhum¡­ I guess now is the time for formal introductions. My name is Malcolm Grey, and I am the Headmaster of Zenith Academy. And I want you, Damien Void, to be my student.¡±

    The air of an expert radiated from Malcolm as he revealed his status, waiting to see the shock on Damien¡¯s face.

    However, Damien¡¯s gaze was still deadpan.

    ¡°Okay, now what?¡±

    Malcolm¡¯s brows twitched. ¡°Kid, don¡¯t you get it? The headmaster of the whole academy wants to take you as a student. Aren¡¯t you supposed to be like ¡®Wow! What an opportunity!¡¯ or something?¡±

    Damien¡¯s dead fish gaze intensified. ¡°Old man, I figured you were the headmaster after the reactions of everyone I showed the token to. It isn¡¯t that hard. Also, why would I be surprised about you wanting to train me? You literally made it so obvious with all the testing and mysteriousness. So, let¡¯s just get on with the actual training part.¡±

    The twitch in Malcolm¡¯s brow became even more pronounced. Not only was the kid being so blunt that it slightly damaged his ego, he even had the nerve to keep calling him ¡®old man¡¯ even though he¡¯s known his status since the beginning.

    Sighing at the fact that he couldn¡¯t keep his cool image, Malcolm¡¯s eyes turned serious and his whole aura shifted.

    ¡°Very well, since you want to learn then let¡¯s start immediately. Your sword art seems to be original and you¡¯ve already found a path so I won¡¯t say anything about it. The same goes for your spatial affinity. I can teach you about lightning but that¡¯ll be secondary.¡±

    Damien felt his pride swell hearing all the praise he was getting, but he was soon brought back to reality.

    ¡°The most important thing is your mana control. Frankly, it¡¯s shit. Completely garbage for someone your age. Even little 5-year-old children can easily wield mana better than you without even trying. I saw during our first fight that you have immense reserves of mana, but you still ran out within only a couple of hours. Truly, you should be ashamed of yourself.¡±

    Damien was too stunned to speak. Since he had begun his climb in strength, he had never received such a harsh rating of his abilities. He fought a 3rd ss and seeded in killing him, begetting praise. His level was insane for his age, begetting praise.

    Not once had someone insulted or berated him since he had left earth. He was about to retort and get angry at the old man, but he stopped himself and thought about the words he had heard.

    The more he thought, the more he realized the truth in those words. Damien had put all his focus on his sword art and his affinities. Not once had he ever focused on mana control.

    He had always used mana however he pleased without any rhyme or reason to it.

    In the first ce, the structure of his mana control was based on how it had been utilized by the feral version of him when he had been taken over by his bestial instinct.

    How could a feral beast with barely any conscious thought be able topare to an intelligent being?

    Beasts above 2nd ss had already started developing intelligence, so even they probably had better mana control than him. His eyes hardened as he realized this.

    ¡®Ahh, I truly got too conceited recently. If nobody had said anything, I probably wouldn¡¯t have corrected it before it turned into a habit I can¡¯t change.¡¯

    Malcolm had been watching Damien this whole time, seeing how he¡¯d react to his harsh words. In fact, he had made sure to make his words more taunting specifically to test Damien¡¯s reaction.

    At first, he was disappointed seeing Damien get angry. But as he continued to watch Damien fall into thought and saw his eyes harden as he realized the truth, Malcolm became appreciative.

    This kid was truly worthy to be his disciple.

    Pride is normal and was bred within almost every lifeform as they gained strength. With all the hard work most people put into their strength, how could they not hold immense pride over their achievements?

    The main issue was knowing when pride turned into arrogance and fixing the issue before it stabbed them in the back.

    Seeing Damien look up at him, Malcolm smiled.

    ¡°Good. It seems you¡¯ve realized the truth of the matter. Let me reintroduce myself then. My name is Malcolm Grey, a 4th ss, and the only person in the human domain who has reached the Saint-level in mana control. Are you willing to ept me as your teacher?¡±

    This time, Damien¡¯s eyes truly did widen in shock. The quirky old man in front of him was actually a 4th ss and someone who reached Saint-level to boot.

    This level was seen as a legend by many people in the world, but someone who had reached it was standing before him.

    His decision didn¡¯t even take a second. Bowing his head, Damien repeated a line he¡¯d read countless times in novels.

    ¡°Damien greets his new teacher.¡±

    Malcolm¡¯s smile grew even wider. ¡°Good! Now, let¡¯s start our training to make you unstoppable in the Nexus Event. The first and most important priority? Mana Circuits.¡±

 Chapter 47

    Mana Circuits.

    ording to Malcolm, ¡®mana circuit¡¯ was a term used to broadly define the pathways and methods people used to wield their mana. Since everyone¡¯s body was different and everyone had different specializations, there were many different iterations of mana circuits created through the years.

    Many important ns and powers within the world have their own methods for structuring mana circuits that have been passed down through the generations, highlighting their strengths.

    However, there were also generalized methods for their creation as well. Even themon popce could easily get their hands on these, which was why Malcolm was surprised at Damien¡¯s terrible usage of mana.

    The purpose of mana circuits was to act as both a pathway for mana, simr to meridians in cultivation novels, as well as to optimize and amplify its power. The structure of the mana circuit of someone who specialized in defense would mirror that, while the same went for offense and support.

    Malcolm continued to talk about the history of mana circuits, which dated back thousands of years. By the end of the spontaneous lecture he was given, Damien truly felt enlightened.

    To think there were so many different ways to utilize mana. Damien felt like an idiot for never trying to learn about this. There weren¡¯t books on it within Kurt¡¯s subspace in the dungeon either, making him believe that this specific knowledge was kept elsewhere.

    ¡°Now that you have all the general information, your job is to create your own mana circuit. After seeing your talent the other day, I¡¯m sure you can do it. My mana circuits were built using the vtile nature of lightning as its base, but yours needs to be different.¡±

    Malcolm hadn¡¯t been idly standing by when Damien was climbing the mountain. He had been carefully watching to see how Damien dealt with every situation.

    ¡°It¡¯s clear to me that lightning isn¡¯t something that you particrly focus on, only using its destructive power asionally. So, you need to either structure your mana circuits based on your spatial affinity or do something new. The choice is up to you.¡±

    Damien fell into thought. ¡®Although my spatial affinity is definitely my strongest power and will most likely remain that way in the future, it¡¯s not all I have.¡¯

    Although it was faint, Damien still remembered the feeling he had that he touched upon something greater. While he didn¡¯t know exactly what it was, he knew that he couldn¡¯t close off the doors that led to that possible future.

    ¡°Naturally, as your teacher, I won¡¯t force you to start and continue the process without any guidance. While most of the work will be done by you, I¡¯ll give you a starting point and help you if you evere across roadblocks in your path.¡±

    Listening to Malcolm, Damien smiled. A teacher that didn¡¯t restrict him and instead chose to subtly guide his path was exactly what he needed.

    Seeing the fire that was growing in Damien¡¯s eyes, Malcolm continued. ¡°I suggest you start by feeling the structure of your internal body. This can be a great basis to create your circuit.

    And finally, he decided to end his speech.

    ¡°The body itself is a huge interconnected system that keeps you functioning, and mana circuits are very simr to veins and arteries. That¡¯s it from me. Inject some mana into that token if you ever need to contact me.¡±

    With that, Malcolm vanished. Damien didn¡¯t even realize this, though, as he continued ruminating over the new information he had gained.

    Although the concept of mana circuits was extremely different, Damien knew that his own method would be vastly different from the denizens of this world. After all, he wasn¡¯t a native here. He had earth¡¯s specialty from before mana erupted, science.

    Mana technology and previously modern science were leagues apart in both functionality and methodology. Since mana was a mysterious energy that could break thews of physics, it made many new things possible.

    However, precisely because it was constrained and limited by thews of physics, modern science was full of great ideas and the ingeniousness of mankind. Many things were already theorized using science that became easily applicable due to mana.

    Like this, Damien decided to make his mana circuits function more algorithmically. He would create an intricate system within his body that boosted his efficiency and output manifold.

    He only had 5 months to design and implement this system. He decided that he would put any development into his abilities on hold and focus wholeheartedly on this task. Other than his daily practice to make sure his skills don¡¯t rust, he wouldn¡¯t do anything else.

    He spent the next week on the mountain peak, sitting unmoving as he studied the structure of his internal body. He had done this once before, but only for a single arm.

    This time, he focused on everything. The rate at which his heart pumped blood and the movements of that blood through his veins and arteries to create a sort of feedback loop, the flexing of his muscles that caused various tendons and ligaments to move as his bones followed suit, even the response of neurons sent to and from his brain down his spinal cord that facilitated his control over his body.

    Damien put his whole focus onto these processes to the point that he no longer felt the flow of time around him. He also pondered on various examples of mana circuits he had read about to see if they had any use in real-life scenarios.

    He wasn¡¯t a big science fanatic back on earth, so he wasn¡¯t familiar with too many theories that could help him, but he had the basic knowledge to use as a basis.

    His ambition for his mana circuits was as grand as can be. Maybe not within these 5 months, but sometime in the future, he wanted his mana circuits to act as a perpetual motion system. If his idea seeded, he¡¯d, in theory, gain ess to a nigh-infinite supply of magic power.

    However, whether through mana or science, perpetual motion has never been achieved. Nothing could continue moving indefinitely when it was drawing from a finite power source.

    Even celestial bodies, which seem to rotate and move infinitely, do not truly achieve perpetual motion. Many forces disrupt their flow of kic energy, such as sr winds, gravitational and thermal radiation, etc.

    To even gain a possibility of achieving the wild dream of infinite mana, Damien needed to create a mana circuit that could constantly evolve.

    ¡®Evolve.¡¯

    The word brought back memories of his first evolution after killing that 1st ss wolf. ¡®What was it that allowed me to evolve at that time? Although I believe in my will and tenacity, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to grant me a perfect evolution. No, it was my Void Physique that allowed that.¡¯

    His Void Physique had always been a mystery to him. It devoured energy like a ck hole but also fed him energy whenever he evolved. He had even begun to muse that his devour skill might be a product of his physique.

    He had never truly studied his physique in-depth, and the reason was that its actual location was unknown to him. This problem might sound stupid, as physiques were essentially one¡¯s body, but Damien¡¯s was different.

    He could always feel a faint connection to what he assumed to be his void physique, and it was always superimposed on his body, yet not existing within it. It was confusing even for him as if its true existence was in a separate dimension or something.

    Still, he determined that his physique was the beginning of the path he needed to take to reach his insane goal. So, he put his all into attempting to study it.

    Another week passed without any progress. Damien was starting to get frustrated. He had never experienced failure in his training, only slight setbacks that he could ovee with time. This time, he hadn¡¯t even been able to find an inkling of a path forward.

    But he wasn¡¯t going to quit now. He had seen a vision of the insane power he could grant himself in the far future if he seeded here, and he wasn¡¯t going to let it go easily. If he couldn¡¯t reach his Void Physique directly, he¡¯d simply need to study his devour skill first, since he suspected that they were linked.

    The devour skill was the method his physique utilized to help him evolve. This was his conjecture. And as he spent his time studying it, he knew he was correct.

    The devour skill was mysterious in just how greatly it could optimize the usage of energy he devoured, and this was specifically the concept he was focusing on. Optimizing the energy, amplifying its effect, and evolving when a better option was presented.

    Damien had finally found a clue. He had to build a true physical construct within his body that could be evolved, enhanced, and tweaked as he pleased. Rather than an ethereal path to carry his mana, he decided to change his body structure.

    For the first step, he took an idea he had seen used countless times, a mana core. Although it wouldn¡¯t be cultivated the same way, the concept was simr. However, he had no interest in wantonly experimenting with his body and identally injuring himself.

    He first drew his magic power out of his body and beganpressing it. He used his spatial affinity to aid thispression as he gushed out mana into a ball on his palm.

    The sphere shrunk as its power grew, but it looked more like an attack than something that would be corporeal. He then decided to revolve the ball of mana as it waspressed, hoping that this would also aid the process.

    And aid it did. The ball became smaller and smaller, as the mana thatposed it started liquifying. And, by the time he had used up half of his mana capacity, all that was left on his palm was a small amethyst marble that he could pick up and move as he pleased.

    It was pure solidified mana.

    After half a month, he had taken the first step forward towards his grand ambition.

 Chapter 48

    Another half a month passed as Damien moved to ponder the structure of his mana circuits.

    Mana circuits were ethereal but still tethered to the body. If he wanted to design an intricate circuit, he needed to n it well. Being interlinked with the body means that any small injury could disrupt his entire circuit.

    It was the same idea as removing a small cog from a huge machine and causing its downfall.

    To solve this problem, Damien decided to design his circuits in quadrants pertaining to specific areas of his body. This way, if his arm ended up getting severed, the overall system would only slightly weaken, rather than shutting down.

    This was solely for the ethereal aspect of his mana circuits. The corporeal structure that he was creating was different and didn¡¯t possess the same w. It was essentially a new body part and would qualify to regenerate through his skill, so he didn¡¯t need to worry about it.

    Damien had done many experiments over the past half a month on how he should structure the physical aspect of his circuits, and he had finally decided.

    The mana core he had created would be ced in the center of his chest, essentially bing a second heart, and he would form veins that scaled his entire body connecting to that heart. He also decided that a set of meridians were necessary to facilitate the flow and blockage of energy.

    These would be smaller variants of his mana core that carried only a portion of its functions.

    The creation of this corporeal system would be a long and grueling process, and he didn¡¯t even have enough mana toplete what he had now termed as his ¡°mana heart¡± so he once again tried something new. Rather than devouring corpses, he targeted his skill at the atmospheric mana around him.

    Surprisingly, it worked. He couldn¡¯t increase his mana capacity this way, but refilling his tank at a rapid pace was child¡¯s y.

    Luckily, he would be able to move around fine during the process and wouldn¡¯t have toplete it all in one go. After all, his mana circuits wouldn¡¯t have negative effects on his internals even while they were iplete, as their functionality would be null until hepleted their ethereal counterpart.

    The final thing he had to decide was the basis of his ethereal circuits. It would be most logical at this point for Damien to optimize them towards his spatial affinity, but he opted against that. He didn¡¯t want to be limited to just that much.

    However, he couldn¡¯t make circuits that epted everything, as it would limit his potential due to having too much freedom. Instead, he decided to keep it broad but not too expansive.

    He wanted his mana circuits to focus on destructive power. He decided to block off all routes he had towards external healing and more positive powers. Naturally, this wouldn¡¯t disallow his own regeneration and simr skills, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to utilize such practices on others.

    During the month that had passed since Damien began, Malcolm had visited weekly to track his progress. However, every time he came, Damien was deep in thought and didn¡¯t even notice his presence. What surprised Malcolm was that Damien hadn¡¯t even started construction of his mana circuits yet.

    For a genius like him, it should be easy, so Malcolm figured that Damien was aiming for something greater. He naturally supported this, but he hoped that Damien wouldn¡¯t try to do too much and end up failing.

    There were only 4 months left until the Nexus Event officially began, so Malcolm once again decided to check on Damien. Reaching the mountain peak, he saw Damien standing up and ying with an amethyst marble.

    This was the first time Malcolm had seen a change in Damien, so he was pleasantly surprised. Sensing something peculiar about the marble, Malcolm analyzed it, only to be shocked by what he found.

    The marble was made up of pure crystallized mana, something he didn¡¯t expect to see from someone who was working on mana circuits. ¡°Damien, what are you nning to do with that?¡±

    Malcolm was a bit suspicious since that marble had the potential to be used as a bomb, but Damien¡¯s answer left him even more surprised.

    ¡°Hm? Ah, old man you¡¯re back. This is nothing, just a slight experiment I did while I was contemting the mana circuits I¡¯m going to make. I have the base idea down now. All I need to do is implement it.¡±

    Hearing this, Malcolm decided not to ask too many questions. Damien¡¯s choice was his alone, and as long as he didn¡¯t n to use those mana beads as weapons, he didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Alright then. You have 4 months left until the start of the event, so make sure not to waste too much time.¡±

    Malcolm was about to leave once again when Damien stopped him. ¡°Take me with you this time, old man. I¡¯m going to take a little break before I start for real.¡±

    Malcolm nodded. It wasn¡¯t a bad thing to take rest every once in a while, especially during a big project like Damien¡¯s.

    Damien only felt his shoulder be grabbed before the wind started whooshing around him. The next thing he knew, he was back at the academy.

    Bidding farewell to Malcolm, Damien headed back to his abode where he was once again greeted by Katherine. Since thest time they had met, she decided that she¡¯d stay at his house. She imed that the dorm she was staying in was too stuffypared to it.

    He would usually be against it, but he honestly doesn¡¯t stay at the house much and Zara seemed to enjoy herpany, so he agreed.

    Speaking of Zara, she hadn¡¯t been with Damien since he left for the mountain. He told her to stay home when he left and realizing that he¡¯d be at the peak for a while, he told her to hunt and increase her strength. He¡¯d only be back for a day, so he decided he wouldn¡¯t disturb her training.

    Once again, Damien plopped down on the couch as Katherine went to the kitchen to make food. If anyone else saw them, they¡¯d think the two were dating, but the two of them were too oblivious to even make the connection.

    ¡°You could¡¯ve told me that old man was the headmaster, you know. I mean, I guessed it easily but still.¡±

    Katherine giggled in response. ¡°Well, I thought it¡¯d be more fun to surprise you. Oh yeah, did he take you as his student?¡±

    Damien rolled his eyes. ¡°Yeah, the old man is helping me fix some things that I was being stupid on. What about you? With your talent, there has to be an elder who wanted to teach you.¡±

    Katherine smiled. ¡°Yup! It was one of the Grand Elders too! Her name is Elder Monique and she specializes in illusion affinity as well. Hehe, I can¡¯t wait to beat you up in the tournament.¡±

    ¡°Sure sure you¡¯ll be the one beating me up. You have to be careful though, if you lose I might just have to spank your butt as punishment.¡± Damien replied with a sly smile.

    ¡°Shameless!¡± Katherine muttered as a rosy blush covered her face.

    The two continued chatting as they ate dinner with each other. They were growing closer at an abnormal rate that would be weird by anyone¡¯s standards. After all, the two have only had close rtions for around 2 months.

    However, it wasn¡¯t surprising. Katherine was a sheltered girl with an adventurous personality that quickly got attached to anything she found interesting. As someone who didn¡¯t have many close friends, she gravitated towards Damien often.

    Damien was simr as well. And him being terrible at talking freely with anyone besides her, he also gravitated towards her. The two had a slight amount of co-dependence, but it wasn¡¯t unhealthy.

    If two people only had each other in the same age range that they could freely speak to and were also extremely simr in their personalities, it¡¯d be weirder if they didn¡¯t get close fast. But they were both dense as ake, so neither had noticed this in the slightest.

    Night soon fell and the two retired to their rooms. Damien, however, warped back to the mountain peak. It was rtively close so he didn¡¯t need to use too much mana.

    Talking with Katherine for a few hours honestly made him much more refreshed than sleep did. He didn¡¯t know why that was but just assumed that it came from the synergy between like-minded people.

    Spending a few hours to recover his mana, Damien ended up falling asleep. He woke up the next morning with a wide smile on his face.

    ¡®There are only 4 months left for thepetition to start. If everything does as nned, it¡¯ll take 2 months to develop the corporeal system and 2 months to develop the ethereal one.¡¯

    Without waiting, Damien began the process. The first step was the mana heart. Just like he did previously, he gathered mana in a ball shape. Only, this time it was at the center of his chest, directly next to his heart.

    This was a step Damien needed to take extra care with. He gently used his spatial affinity topress the swirling ball of mana in his chest. As time passes, the ball became smaller and smaller, and at this time Damien started devouring the atmospheric mana.

    Rather than a marble, he wanted his mana heart to be at least the size of a golf ball. The mana keptpressing as even more mana was added to it, creating a semi-liquified ball whose mass kept increasing.

    He lost track of time and even of the functions of his body as his sole focus waspressing his mana heart. Mana roared and his body protested the foreign mass that had intruded on its structure, but Damien didn¡¯t care.

    He had already run many simtions and figured out the perfect positioning for each piece of his new organ. The strain was only present due to therge portions of mana that were still being liquified.

    Damien continued like this for an entire day and a half. Every time his mana capacity lowered, it was regenerated by the ambient mana he devoured, and this mana went directly into his mana heart.

    By the end of the second day, Damien fell to the floor exhausted. His consciousness started fading due to the intense concentration and mana depletion he had felt over the past 2 days, but he held a wide smile on his face.

    Within his chest, he could feel it. Although it didn¡¯t beat or pump anything, he could feel a second baseball-sized heart made entirely of mana, just waiting for him to give it function.

 Chapter 49

    The next 4 months passed without any unexpected scenarios.

    In the time Damien wasn¡¯t training either by creating his mana circuits or getting lectured about lightning by Malcolm he was constantly with Katherine.

    They made a point to at least have dinner together every night, having idle conversation about their days and what they were doing with their respective teachers.

    Naturally, they left out the most important details so they could surprise each other when they actually fought, but everything else was shared. When Katherine heard that Damien had never heard of mana circuits until Malcolm exined it to him, she almost fell out of her chairughing.

    Inwardly, however, she became even more curious about his identity. Not having a method to create them was natural but not knowing of their existence in general was mysterious. No matter how many topics they spoke about throughout the past few months, his past was never one of them.

    The two had grown much closer over this period of time. Especially with them essentially bing roommates, they spoke to each other constantly. Sometimes they would get close enough for even they themselves to suspect their rtionship before awkwardly brushing it off.

    Neither of them dared to bring up the topic. They had only known each other for around 6 months in total, which was hypothetically more than enough time for something to develop, but with neither of them saying anything, their rtionship slowly became filled with palpable tension.

    This tension wasn¡¯t bad, though, they just had moments where they would be awkward around each other and act like normal teenagers, blushing and unable to make eye contact.

    His rtionship with Katherine wasn¡¯t even close to the only thing he had improved over the past 4 months. His control over lightning had seen a drastic rise after he gained an expert like Malcolm as a teacher.

    He even developed a fun ability where he could call down lightning from the sky to smite his opponents, the same one that Malcolm had used on him during their first meeting.

    Though, the scale was much smaller when Damien used it. The ominous ck color of his lightning also carried different properties than Malcolm¡¯s crimson kind, making the effects differ.

    None of these were the greatest improvements, however, as Damien¡¯s main focus wasn¡¯t there. Rather, it was on his mana circuits.

    Unlike his original n, it took almost 3 months toplete the corporeal structure he had created. After his mana heart was finished, he spent 2 monthspleting the intricate system he built that covered his neck down to his toes.

    This system was honestly a work of art. Thin purple strands nowyered Damien¡¯s entire internal body, as rather than a circtory system as he had originally nned, he structured it more like a nervous system.

    And nerves were much more intricate than arteries. They snaked through his body, coiling around each other and forming patterns as they filled his body.

    8 quadrants made up this system. One for each extremity and 4 for his torso alone. He figured that there¡¯d be times when he¡¯d be run through, and he couldn¡¯t have the whole upper body portion of his mana circuits be jeopardized by that.

    Another change he made was his heart. After extensive thought, he connected his physical heart with his mana heart to stabilize the mana circuits¡¯ position within his internal body. Now, they had be a true part of him.

    When his body evolved, they¡¯d evolve along with it, and like legos, they could be taken apart and put back together as he pleased.

    The final month he spent on his corporeal circuits was when he made another drastic decision. He decided to link his brain to the system as well, creating a feedback loop that spanned every part of his body. Since he didn¡¯t want to end up brain dead, he took 2 weeks studying its functions before even attempting this step.

    This part was by far the most dangerous, as he had to put hisplete focus on every movement he made. That week, he wasn¡¯t even able to move an inch from his spot on the mountain. When Damien finished, a faint purple hue seemed to emanate from his skin as his newly created ¡°meridians¡± shone.

    They weren¡¯t the same meridians that cultivators had, but he named them like that anyway.

    And once that was done, Damien began working on the ethereal system. Once this system was finished, it would be anchored to its corporeal counterpart toplete his mana circuits.

    This process was much easier for him than the previous one.

    Creating the corporeal circuit was like creating a new body part, altering the base structure of his body. But the ethereal portion was simr toprehending his affinities. He drew the pathway in his mind and focused on the ¡°concept¡± he wanted to imbue in them.

    He only had to trace the already existing parallel within his body.

    As he formed these ethereal circuits, his mind wandered to various forms of destruction. Nuclear explosions that instantly incinerated hundreds of thousands of lives and the nuclear winter that reaped those who survived, the collision of celestial bodies that formeds and gxies, and even moreplex forms of destruction like mental breakdowns and wrath.

    All these thoughts of destruction fueled his creation as an ethereal reddish-ck construct formed within his body. He started from his lower extremities and worked his way up, purposefully evading his mana heart as he built.

    And then, on the final day of its creation, he linked the core of his ethereal circuits to his mana heart.

    In that instant, the world lit up and Damien could swear he heard something akin to a car engine revving.

    His body emitted a blinding amethyst glow as mana began cycling through the circuits he had set up.

    Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

    His mana heart started beating as it pumped mana through every part of his body. Since it was connected to his actual heart, it functioned in a simr fashion.

    There were also benefits to connecting to his brain. Damien felt euphoria as the mana in his body followed the pathways he created as he flicked a casual bolt of lightning to test his gains.

    It was instant.

    Not only was there not even a microsecond of dy between his thoughts and actions, but the power of that simple flick was also enough to drill a small hole into the ground. Damien almost leapt with joy.

    He honestly couldn¡¯t see anyone defeating him now, but he quickly calmed himself by thinking about how Malcolm toyed with him all those months ago.

    ¡®That¡¯s right. My strength has been optimized and slightly amplified, but it hasn¡¯t been raised an insane amount. I need to keep my wits and not get conceited.¡¯

    And as he brought himself down from his momentary high, another unexpected event took ce. A system window popped up in front of his eyes.

    [You have begun pioneering a new realm of mana circuits. Although many have built them in either corporeal or ethereal form, very few have chosen to interconnect both. As your path continues, you might even be able to unlock mysteries pertaining to the soul. Through this monumental achievement, your legends have been enhanced]

    [Your mana circuits have been listed as a new ¡®Trait¡¯]

    [You have been granted the trait: [Ananta Matrix]. Your legends have been enhanced.]

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened. It seemed the system truly was omnipresent. It had even realized the grand intent he had behind the creation of his mana circuits and granted him rewards based on it.

    He had no idea what the ¡®Ananta Matrix¡¯ was or what it had to do with his mana circuits, but for it to be ssified as a trait, it had to be good. All he had to do was continue forward as he always did.

    As he finished up, Damien got up and stretched. It had been 5 months since he¡¯dst seen Zara and he was curious what she was up to.

    During these 5 months, they hadmunicated constantly through their mental connection, and Damien could feel that Zara¡¯s thoughts had be more coherent.

    Even though she couldn¡¯t speak yet, her thoughts were basicallyplete sentences, rather than the bundles of emotion he had received when they first initiated their pact.

    The Beast Territory wasn¡¯t far from the Zenith Academy, as it was situated in a ce easily essible by all races.

    Damien didn¡¯t understand why it was necessary to be close to the beast domain as well, since beasts without their 4th ss couldn¡¯t take human form, but he had learned from Malcolm that it was a sign of goodwill.

    After all, if the academy was in the center of every race¡¯s domain besides the beasts, what kind of message would it give off?

    Anyway, Zara had traveled to the beast domain during the first month that Damien had been training and had spent her time there evolving.

    Although the inner areas of the beast domain were developed and not much different from human territories, there were plenty of beasts that preferred roaming free and hunting as it was truest to their nature. This was even more so for 2nd ss beasts as their intelligence was still budding.

    Zara was a special case, and Damien mused it was due to her bloodline that her intelligence had been high enough for her to understand his words when they were mere 1st sses.

    Now that their preparation period had ended, Damien called her back. He didn¡¯t mind being separated if he was stationary, but with him going to the tournament, he couldn¡¯t bear being too far.

    Zara shared this sentiment. The two had been together through many rough experiences and had forged a bond thicker than even blood. Regardless of anything, if someone asked Damien who the person he was closest to in the world was, it would undoubtedly be Zara.

    Damien warped back to his house and had his nightly dinner with Katherine as they excitedly talked about various things. However, the topic for today was mainly on the uing Nexus Event.

    After all, its start was merely a week away.

 Chapter 50

    The next morning, Damien and Katherine were summoned by their respective teachers for a meeting. With the Nexus Event rapidly approaching, it was time for them to make preparations and leave.

    The event¡¯s location would change every time, and this year it was being held in the human domain. Due to this, they only had to leave now. Most people from the various other domains in the world had already started making their way towards the venue.

    As they arrived in front of the disciplinary building where they were summoned, they saw 3 other students waiting, 2 girls and a boy. The 5 of them waited in silence for a few minutes before the doors to the building opened.

    Out of those doors came their teachers. ¡°Good. The 5 of you have been officially titled as supreme geniuses from our academy, and will be representing us in the event.¡± Said Malcolm, who was at the forefront of the group.

    The other 4 quickly bowed to him while Damien simply nodded his head.

    Malcolm and Damien shared a more casual rtionship than most teachers and students since both of them liked to banter and make fun of each other, so Malcolm didn¡¯t mind the seemingly disrespectful behavior.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do all the exining on the road, for now, let¡¯s leave.¡±

    Malcolm let out a shrill whistle. Instantly, 2 flying beasts arrived in the sky above the group. One looked awfully simr to a gryphon while the other was more reptilian, seemingly a subspecies of wyverns.

    However, when the group was about to mount the beasts, both beasts entered a slightly panicked state. Their bodies shivered as their heads lowered to the ground. Everyone was bbergasted until they witnessed arge shadow cover the sky above them.

    The shadow started changing shape, and in its ce stood a wolf the size of a 2 story building with beautiful ck wings. Looking down at the other beasts in contempt, the wolf let out a prideful howl.

    ¡°Awooooooo!¡±

    This caused the two beasts to shrink back even further, unable to even move properly due to their fear.

    Seeing this scene, the group became weary and took battle stances, well, all but two of them. Damien and Katherine simply smiled at each other before Damien walked forward.

    ¡°Alright alright, you¡¯ve made your grand entrance so you can stop now. Can¡¯t you see that you¡¯re scaring the others?¡±

    The wolf looked at Damien and snorted, but still came down obediently. Reaching the ground, it shrunk down to the size of a normal human and rushed towards Damien.

    Damien greeted it with a hug. This wolf was obviously Zara, who had gone throughrge transformations since Damien hadst seen her. Besides her size, the aura she gave off was much more overbearing, and her eyes now held a hint of silver.

    Damien smiled as he felt Zara¡¯s excited emotions. ¡°Yeah I missed you too, but we have all the time in the world to catch up. For now, let¡¯s just get moving alright?¡±

    Looking at the rest of the group that was staring at him, Damien raised his brow. ¡°What? Are we leaving or are you just going to keep staring at me?¡±

    They soon snapped out of their dazes. Out of these people, the only other person who knew of Zara¡¯s existence besides him and Katherine was Malcolm.

    Even if he hadn¡¯t seen her when they first met, how could he miss the wolf in Damien¡¯s shadow while he was observing him? If he did, wouldn¡¯t he be disqualified from being a 4th ss?

    ¡°Well, I guess Damien has his own ride, so the rest of us have more space.¡±

    There were no more disruptions as the group got mounted the other two beasts and took flight. Katherine had unceremoniously climbed atop Zara though, and Zara didn¡¯t have problems with this.

    She and Katherine were very close to the point of being called friends, and so Katherine became the only person other than Damien that Zara would allow on her back.

    Damien rolled his eyes at this but said nothing, instead opting to ask Malcolm for information. ¡°Hey old man, tell us about the Nexus Event now that we¡¯re already on the way.¡±

    The other 3 students were baffled by the fact that Damien called the headmaster so casually, but before any of them could make a fool of themselves, Malcolm responded.

    ¡°Calm down brat, I¡¯m getting to it. The Nexus Event changes its structure every year but has a base concept that remains consistent. The first event will always be aprehension test to weed out those who don¡¯t even qualify to be considered above average.¡±

    Malcolm smiled seeing the surprised look on the students¡¯ faces before continuing.

    ¡°However, don¡¯t be fooled by this. There will still be thousands of people who pass this phase. After that, it¡¯s a point-based event. There will be 3 rounds that weed out thepetitors until only the top 12 remain. After that is the main event which is a normal single-elimination tournament.¡±

    Damien felt his anticipation grow after hearing this exnation. Normal tournament arcs always bored him, as fighting 1v1 over and over again can be monotonous. Events like this were more to his preference.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you all know the prizes for the top 3, but there are also various smaller prizes for those who ce in the top 10, along with the entry to the secret realm that¡¯s granted to the top 50. The other important aspect is the connections you should make.

    Malcolm became slightly more serious as he spoke.

    ¡°As future powerhouses of our world, it¡¯s important that you make strong ties to those in your generation. Regardless of race or opinions, you should attempt to remain friendly. Naturally, I won¡¯t force you to like everyone, but keep my advice in mind. We can¡¯t have a repeat of what happened 1000 years ago.¡±

    Malcolm¡¯s words turned the atmosphere solemn. Damien also remembered something he had once deemed as a g but forgotten due to his training.

    ¡°Old man, can you tell me more about the Great War? In my defense, you made me skip my sses so I didn¡¯t learn anything.¡±

    Malcolm rolled his eyes. This kid was truly too ignorant, but it was his job as a teacher to fix that, so he carefully exined.

    ¡°The Great War that took ce 1000 years ago was an unprecedented tragedy for our world. Many nations and powerhouses alike fell. Even a demigod ended up dying due to this war. His name was Kurt Galloway, and he was the one who created the training grounds in our academy.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened. Kurt was the reason he was still alive today, as, without the subspace in the dungeon, he would¡¯ve long fallen victim to the wyvern of the 40th floor. The fact that he had reached demigod level was a shock in itself, but for him to die in that battle was even more shocking.

    ¡°That war is the reason all races in this world love in rtive harmony. Due to the racism and segregation at the time, it became much easier for enemies to pick them off one by one. As for who that enemy is? It was a race called Nox.¡±

    Even those who had knowledge of the war had their interests piqued. The Nox were always mentioned as the perpetrators, but nothing else about them was made known.

    Malcolm nodded. ¡°Since you are all on the path to bing important figures in the future, it isn¡¯t hard for me to tell you. The Nox are a race from a distant star somewhere in the universe, and their power far exceeds our own.¡±

    Malcolm sighed as he continued.

    ¡°We still don¡¯t know their purpose for invasion or even their home since we have been forced into a defensive position. When the Nox invaded 1000 years ago, it started the Great War. They had 3 demigod level beings among them while we only had 1, and their 4th sses were uncountable.¡±

    Due to the many deaths they sustained during the invasion, there were few 4th ss beings alive today. This was all Malcolm said before he changed the topic.

    ¡°You will learn more as you gain power and rise in rank. For now, this is enough. Focus on what¡¯s ahead of you rather than things that will not matter until the far future.¡±

    A heavy silence descended after this, as everyone was in their own in thoughts. Damien was still thinking about the Nox.

    ¡®Otherworldly invaders, huh. As I thought this is probably a g. The Earth is also nearby, so it isn¡¯t certain that it won¡¯t be targeted. Although I don¡¯t care much about the world itself, there are still things I care about there. I need to return quickly after I gain enough power.¡¯

    Damien shook off his depressing thoughts. As Malcolm said, these were all things that would only matter in the future. For now, Damien just wanted to have fun in the Nexus Event, obtain 1st ce and get the Elixir, and then explore the secret realm.

    ¡®That¡¯s right. Everything elseester. Who knows, by the time I have to deal with an invasion, I might even be powerful enough to wipe the floor with them.¡¯

    As he cheered himself up, a smile returned to his face. Besides his own internal pep talk, he also had 2 others who sensed his emotional state. Zara was mentallymunicating her cheers, while Katherine was gently holding his hand.

    Damien¡¯s smile became gentle. ¡®Damn, it¡¯s kinda nice to have people around me who care, huh.¡¯

    The week passed by in a sh as the group arrived at a massive arena-like structure.

    It was time for the Nexus Event tomence.

 Chapter 51

    Apeiron was structured in a very ssic manner. There was the human domain, the massive Helia Forest, and many smaller domains existing between them.

    The structures of these domains were also simple. Within the human domain, there were 5 empires. Namely, the Adire, Stanton, Lennon, Wolford, and Gerard empires. While they had minor power struggles, their overall bnce was always maintained due to each having a separate specialization.

    Each empire had 4 major ns below their royal family and many smaller ns and families below them. This was in ordance with an agreement made so the bnce between them wouldn¡¯t crumble.

    The Adire empire was the strongest andrgest of the 5 empires. It covered the majority of the central area of the human domain, consisting of many mountainous and grassy in regions.

    The Stanton and Lennon empires were situated in the far north and south, with the Stanton empire in a massive snow-covered nd and the Lennon empire closer to the sun. This led to cultural development where the Stanton empire became simr to Eskimos and the Lennon empire adopted a more traditional eastern culture.

    Meanwhile, the Wolford and Gerard empires were on the east and west of the human domain. The Wolford empire was surrounded by forests and mainly specialized in hunting with their culture revolving around this concept as well.

    The Gerard empire was by the Boundless sea that surrounded the entire massive continent that made up Apeiron. They naturally focused on sea trade and exports.

    The Boundless Sea essentially made the entire continent into a giant ind, and many people had wondered whether there could be other continents orndmasses floating within it, but nobody had ever explored the entire sea to find out.

    It was too expansive for even a 4th ss to cover it, and even in space, it would take arge amount of time to circle the entire to explore. Perhaps some demigods who ascended to the Heavenly World knew the truth, but it was never shared with anyone else.

    The Helia Forest was home to both the Beast Domain and the Elven domain, as both coexisted and shared thend. The Helia Forest alone took up around 1/3rd of the space on the entire continent, so the two races weren¡¯t cramped for space.

    The Elven domain was ruled by the Kiria royal family and didn¡¯t follow the same system of ns and smaller powers as the human domain. Elves were typically more united as a race due to their nature and didn¡¯t tend to enjoy conflict. However, this didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t fight.

    Elves were always known as a peaceful race, leading many ambitious people in the past to attempt to conquer them, but this was a terrible idea. When they were forced to enter battle, the usual peace-loving elves became bloodthirsty war gods.

    The duality of their nature was never exined, as nobody dared to ask, but once it became known nobody wantonly picked fights with them. This demeanor only came forth in life or death battles or moments of extreme stress, making many people wonder if it was controble or a subconscious defense mechanism.

    The Beast domain was also ruled by a royal family, but not much was known about them. They tended to stay secluded within their domain and watch over their subjects. While the various other ruling ss individuals knew their names and strengths, it was never disclosed to themon popce.

    Beasts weren¡¯t the only ones living in their domain, though, as demihumans also chose to make their home there. Demihumans were the product of a union between beasts and other races and were shunned heavily before the Great War. This was due to some more disgusting individuals mating with beasts before they received their human forms to produce children.

    This kind of practice was extremely frowned upon. Until a beast gained its human form, it was absolutely forbidden to mate with them for obvious reasons. Nowadays, the discrimination isn¡¯t as high, as many demihumans are born from demihuman parents, but their race still decided to stay within the beast domain as it had been their home for many years.

    In the Nexus Event, the beast domain¡¯s participants were usually demihumans, as beasts who fit the age range were usually unable to verbally speak. This was a requirement as well that was set so there wouldn¡¯t be any misunderstandings during the tournament.

    The final major domain within Apeiron was the dwarves domain. The interesting fact about them, however, was that they lived underground. Dwarves were a race of scientists and cksmiths who naturally preferred heat to the point that they built their empire close to the molten core of the.

    The royal dwarf lineage was called the Temor family and with their citizens, they built a massive underground empire that spanned roughly the same distance as the Adire empire of the human domain.

    Dwarves were naturally weaker inbat due to their smaller physiques, but it wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t hold power, or rather, their power couldn¡¯t be mobilized offensively.

    Their strength usually came from artifacts and technology that they invented. For this reason, they tended not to participate in the Nexus Event, but they still attended it.

    They could both sell artifacts to gather more raw material and form connections and long-term business rtionships with the major empires on the surface. Their intelligence was their strong suit, and business was almost a natural instinct to them.

    All of these various races and various powers were now congregating in a single spot that Damien was gazing upon at this very moment. It was a massive arena that seemed capable of housing hundreds of thousands of people and on its exterior, countless massive screens showcased the view within to those who couldn¡¯t enter.

    Damien didn¡¯t understand how such a massive event that would have thousands of participants could efficiently be hosted within such an enclosed space, but his doubts were soon answered.

    Within the arena he could sense countless spatial fluctuations emanating from various spots, seemingly holding subspaces to host the events. Most likely, those screens he saw earlier were going to be used to broadcast what was happening to the spectators.

    Damien followed Malcolm into an elevator-like structure that took their group to a huge penthouse that overlooked the entire arena. Within this penthouse, there were various figures already gathered.

    On a raised tform, 9 people sat together with grand auras emanating from their bodies. They were 7 men and 2 women, the leaders of the various nations of the world.

    The 7 men were the 5 emperors of the human domain, the dwarf king, and the beast emperor while the 2 women were the Elf queen and the beast empress.

    The human domain wasrgely patriarchal and the elven domain matriarchal, while the beast domain was ruled by the emperor and empress who wielded equal authority. The dwarf domain¡¯s ruling was based on mastery of their craft, so the gender of their ruler was always subject to change.

    ¡°The geniuses of this year¡¯spetition sure are interesting.¡± The beast emperor said.

    ¡°Indeed, I see you¡¯ve brought an especially talented youth this year.¡± The Lennon emperor, Jonas Lennon said.

    ¡°Yes,¡± the Elf Queen chimed in, ¡°not just the Demi-human kid but also that girl from the human domain isn¡¯t bad.¡±

    ¡°Those from the Zenith Academy still haven¡¯t shown up. I heard they have many good seedlings this time around.¡± The Dwarf King added.

    The 4th ss beings that stood at the top of the world conversed lightly as they waited for the event to start.

    At this time, Damien¡¯s group arrived at the penthouse. All eyes turned on them for a second as silence reigned. Then, as if nothing happened, everyone went back to their conversations.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Malcolm said with a smile, ¡°time to make your debut into the world.¡±

    Damien and the others followed. In their group, Damien and Katherine were the only humans, with one of the girls being a demihuman and the other boy and girl being a pair of elven twins.

    The diversity of their group was unintentional but still gave off a good impression. The academy was prided for being unbiased, so having too many people of a single race would raise brows whether their qualifications were fair or not.

    The group walked through the room and reached the elevated tform. It wasmon courtesy to greet these emperors and empresses before moving on to anything else.

    Malcolm only gave a slight nod as a greeting, being an individual on their level, while the rest bowed.

    ¡°We greet seniors.¡± The others said in unison. This time, Damien also followed the same customs. He could be as wild as he pleased in front of Malcolm, but these were beings who could toy with him as they pleased that he didn¡¯t know. Offending them on ident would take his life far earlier than he¡¯d like.

    His bow was still not as low as the rest though. Maybe it was a matter of pride or maybe it was a matter of habit, Damien didn¡¯t know. All he knew was that the only people he¡¯d ever bowed before were his mother and his teacher. He didn¡¯t enjoy giving his respect to people who hadn¡¯t done anything to earn it.

    Receiving affirmation from the leaders, the group raised their heads. The first to speak was the beast empress.

    ¡°You boy, what is that girl doing in your shadow?¡±

    Damien was surprised at first but quickly calmed down. How could Zara even think to hide from 4th ss beings?

    However, she still prided herself on her concealment. Seeing that she was discovered so easily, she warily red at the beast empress without leaving his shadow. Her boldness only existed when she was in her safe space.

    ¡°Ah, I apologize for her rudeness senior, it¡¯s just that she doesn¡¯t really enjoy crowds and tends to findfort there. Though I have no idea why.¡±

    The beast empress smiled. ¡°You must¡¯ve gone through many life or death situations together. You¡¯re around the same age too, so it isn¡¯t surprising that she¡¯d get attached to you.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Damien didn¡¯t know how old Zara was, but finding out that they were of simr age truly surprised him. Considering her behavior when they first met, he thought she was much younger.

    As Damien was thinking of how to respond, he noticed a fierce gaze on him. Looking over, he saw arge pink-haired man with ruby eyes on one of the central thrones.

    ¡®Pink hair?¡¯ Damien slowly became drenched in a cold sweat. He and Katherine were standing shoulder to shoulder as opposed to everyone else who had a healthy amount of distance between them. Sneakily ncing at her, he once again saw the pink hair and ruby eyes under Katherine¡¯s disguise.

    His cold sweat intensified as he covertly took two steps to the side, putting afortable distance between him and Katherine.

    ¡®Fuck! She was a princess this entire time??¡¯

 Chapter 52

    Damien¡¯s actions were hardly noticeable, but that didn¡¯t mean nobody saw him. Both his sneaky look towards Katherine and his slight movement to create distance were clear as day to those 4th ss beings that were observing him.

    This both amused them and piqued their curiosity. With their strength, it was normal that they could see through Katherine¡¯s disguise and witness the pink hair and ruby eyes under the ck-haired brown-eyed facade, but for a boy that was still at 2rd ss to do so was a different story.

    Now, all their gazes were focused on Damien and even the Adire emperor¡¯s fierce gaze held a hint of admiration. But none of them brought it up. It was one thing for the boy who looked extremely close to her to notice, but her identity was hidden for a reason.

    Meanwhile, Damien was silently praying that the matter would be glossed over. Although he previously said he had a clue about her status, he at most thought she¡¯d be from one of the major ns of one of the empires, not a legitimate princess.

    But it¡¯s not like it affected his view of their rtionship. He didn¡¯t have respect for status. He only respected strength and character. If he likes her he¡¯d like her regardless. Still, standing in front of her 4th ss father made him act slightly more respectful.

    ¡°Boy, I know that little girl in your shadow seems awfully attached to you, but be aware that she can¡¯t participate in the tournament. How about you leave her with me instead?¡± The beast empress said, changing the topic.

    Damien was caught off-guard. Leave Zara with a stranger? He would never even consider it. Even Zara was filled with apprehension at this thought.

    Beasts evolved through their bloodlines which increased along with their strength. Every beast had the slightest amount of godbeast blood within them, and as they grew in ss this bloodline became more potent.

    They had 2 options for evolution. Either they follow the steps of their ancestors and be true godbeasts themselves through their bloodlines, or they assimte other strong bloodlines to create their own new variation and carve their own path.

    Each path had its own merits and demerits. While following the footsteps of theirtent bloodlines was easier, it would limit their potential to the level their ancestors reached. Although they could progress farther it could be incredibly difficult to do so.

    On the other hand, forging a unique bloodline was a terrifyingly difficult path in its own right. It would take much longer for a beast to evolve into a godbeast no matter how much they leveled up. However, their potential would be limitless. If they forged their path without stopping, they could possibly reach a peak above the peak.

    Zara was a beast with an incredibly unique bloodline and Damien had sensed this even from their first meeting. His beast half also had the potential to make him into a godbeast, but Zara¡¯s bloodline wasn¡¯t helpful for that.

    But that didn¡¯t mean that other beasts wouldn¡¯t covet her bloodline. He had seen a prime example of this through the wyvern on the 40th floor. It spent months chasing her for her bloodline, even throwing away its pride and leaving its nest to capture her.

    Due to this, Damien couldn¡¯t help but be wary. He knew he couldn¡¯t do anything to these 4th ss beings, but if any of them wanted to take Zara away from him for their own selfish intentions, he¡¯d use his life to make sure it didn¡¯t happen.

    After all, he¡¯d designed a hidden function in his mana circuits specifically for a situation where he was fated to die either way.

    Damien¡¯s body started leaning forward as he adopted a defensive posture and his feral bestial aura slightly radiated. If it was to protect Zara he didn¡¯t care enough to control his bestial instinct. His best fighting state was when it was in control.

    Seeing this, the beast empress smiled helplessly. She realized that the boy in front of her knew the secrets of beast evolution and doubted her intentions.

    She was also extremely surprised. She didn¡¯t sense it before but the boy seemed to be a demihuman. The curious thing was that he didn¡¯t radiate an aura of someone who was born a demihuman, but rather of a progenitor of whatever his bloodline was.

    ¡®An evolver?¡¯

    Once the thought struck her, she couldn¡¯t get it out of her head. If this boy was truly a human who achieved perfect evolution, his potential was much greater than she originally thought.

    ¡°Okay, no need to get protective. It was simply a suggestion. However, when this event ends, you shoulde visit us in the beast domain. We¡¯d wee you with open arms.¡±

    The others in the group couldn¡¯t hold back their shock. The only one who had an idea of what was going on was the beast emperor who shook his head with a helpless expression on his face. This wife of his always seemed to do whatever she wanted without consulting anyone about it.

    Damien slightly rxed realizing that he had identally revealed a secret of his. ¡®Well, no need to fret over it. She doesn¡¯t have any hostile intention so perhaps this could be another opportunity for me.¡¯

    As they continued interacting, the arena slowly filled up until maximum capacity. Not only that, thend surrounding the arena was packed for miles with a crowd of people. Suddenly, a booming voice rang out.

    ¡°Wee everyone to the 100th-anniversary Nexus Event! There are plenty of exciting games that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat, so be prepared and be excited!¡±

    The crowd roared with cheers and apuse as the announcer continued.

    ¡°Theprehension event has already been concluded, so it¡¯s about time we move on to the main event! This year we have 3000 geniuses from across the world participating, so without further ado, let me introduce our first stage!¡±

    Damien was a little confused, but his doubts were instantly answered by Malcolm who was standing beside him.

    ¡°Theprehension event is to weed out the weak people who won¡¯t stand a chance in the mainpetition. Why would those in this room who have already been dered as supreme geniuses need to go through that selection process?¡±

    Nodding his head, Damien continued to listen to the announcer.

    ¡°For the 100th anniversary of the Nexus Event, our leaders have gone all out in the preparations! For our first event, a fan favorite and a ssic, Survival Games!¡±

    The audience roared once more. It seems survival games truly was a fan favorite. The screens around the arena lit up as scenes of mountains, rivers, deserts, and ins began disying. There was even a region filled withva.

    ¡°This is our arena for the first game! A small world filled with various terrain for our many participants to choose from!

    ¡°The rules are simple! This game willst for an entire week and the goal is to survive. Thepetitors will be given a bracelet artifact before they enter that will track their position at all times.

    ¡°Losing your bracelet means you¡¯re disqualified and having someone else¡¯s bracelet gains you a point, even if you got it by stealing from the person who originally disqualified them.

    ¡°Each day, the space within the small realm will shrink, so you don¡¯t have to worry about a boring match where everyone stays hidden!

    ¡°Teaming is allowed, and cheating will not be disallowed unless it¡¯s reported, so if you have that idea¡­don¡¯t get caught!¡±

    ¡°Now, all ourpetitorse to the stage!¡±

    As the announcer finished, Malcolm smiled. ¡°This is your time. Go out there, shine bright, and make sure your name resounds across the entire continent.¡±

    Bright fires were lit in everyone¡¯s eyes. The thought of glory was enticing, and their whole purpose was to show their worth.

    Down below, the 2950 normal participants were already in ce. The only ones remaining were the 50 supreme geniuses in the penthouse.

    While it may seem that the supreme geniuses will easily win and take all 50 top spots, that had never been the case. There was more to the event than just strength, and one¡¯s wits and tactics were also put to the test.

    Every decade, countless underdogs rise from the ranks of the normalpetitors and im their spots among the top 50 or even the top 10. It was these stories that motivated those that couldn¡¯t be titled supreme geniuses to continuepeting.

    Damien entered a small teleport formation with the rest of the geniuses that took them directly to the center of the field. Once there, they were immediately handed their bracelets which they promptly put on.

    Damien basked in the cheers of the audience. His blood pumped and his mana danced as his excitement grew for what was toe. A battle of strength, a battle of wits, a battle of status. Damien didn¡¯t care for its form. As long as it was battle it made his blood boil.

    He wasn¡¯t the only one feeling this. Katherine was standing by his side basking in the same emotions as the announcer spoke once again.

    ¡°Now, the time you¡¯ve all been waiting for! Let the battle¡­¡±

    The arena became silent as anticipation bubbled.

    Damien suddenly felt a soft punch from his side. Looking over, he saw Katherine shing him an enchanting smile.

    ¡°See you on the other side.¡±

    Damien smiled back as he felt the light of teleportation swallow him.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, let¡¯s see who wins at the end.¡±

    As the participants started disappearing from the tform, the announcer¡¯s words finally fell.

    ¡°Begin!¡±

 Chapter 53

    When Damien opened his eyes, he was in the middle of arge nd. He immediately activated his vector field as an attack headed his way. It was a line of earth spikes that would have caught any normal person off guard and immediately eliminated them.

    But Damien wasn¡¯t a normal person. When the earth spikes were within range, they were suddenly crushed under their own weight and dissipated. When he turned to look in the direction the attack came from, he saw a skinny man with panic in his eyes.

    Damien didn¡¯t even pay attention to this man. Directly teleporting past him and making his way out of the nds. The man was confused as to why the kid he had attacked didn¡¯t retaliate, but he didn¡¯t get the chance to think farther as spatial light covered him and removed him from the small realm.

    Damien easily took the bracelet of the man as he passed by. He mused that even though the man made it past theprehension test, he was in the lowest tier of peoplepeting.

    Killing was strictly forbidden within thispetition, but severe injury of any kind was permitted. Due to this, Damien didn¡¯t spend too much time on weaklings. If he saw one, he¡¯d quickly eliminate them. His targets were the other supreme geniuses and maybe the hidden tigers who had entered normally.

    It was below him to bully those weaker than him in a friendlypetition. This wasn¡¯t a life or death battlefield where ughter was his best option.

    He moved quickly and efficiently as the nds slowly began sloping into a mountainous region. This was where Damien would hunt for the next day before he measured the rate of shrinking of the small realm.

    Artifacts were also banned for the first phases of the tournament, leaving Damien with only his fists as weapons. This tule was put in ce to guarantee fairness in that people won¡¯t move further in thepetition by simply relying on their status and wealth.

    This was another reason why dwarves never participated in the event. Artifacts were their main strength, so the rules were against them even if it was done so unintentionally.

    Though, artifacts would be reintroduced into the event atter stages

    This rule left Damien with a smaller arsenal of tricks up his sleeve, but he wasn¡¯t defenseless. His body was always his strongest point, and he had developed a solid level of destructive power through his affinities while training with Malcolm.

    His sword art was useless, but there was still one move he could use. deless was designed in such a way that even his arm could be used as a de. He could also mimic the effects of spatial copse simply with his spatial magic, but the damage was much smaller.

    On his way up the mountain, Damien encountered many weaker participants who didn¡¯t even notice as their bracelets were stolen. Sadly, he wasn¡¯t able to find anyone who could truly fight him. Nevertheless, Damien continued on, hoping to find a worthy opponent soon.

    In a huge desert spanning the majority of the west side of the small realm, Katherine was having a much more fun time than Damien.

    With the desert being rtively t beside the various sand dunes strewn along its surface, the participants within it were engaged in a small battle royale. Katherine quickly joined this battle and started amassing points.

    Simr to Damien, she felt it was below her to bully the weak, so she simply used illusions to manipte them, grabbing their bracelets while they assumed nobody was around them.

    When this didn¡¯t work, she would shootpressed air bullets that instantly knocked out most of her opponents, granting her more points.

    As she continued this cycle, she ran into a human youth that blocked her path. He pulled out a table, two chairs, and a tea set. ¡°Miss Hart, why don¡¯t you put away your hostility so the two of us can have a chat over tea?¡± The youth said while scanning her with a lewd gaze.

    Katherine immediately felt disgusted. She knew who this youth was. His name was Evan Lockheart, one of the supreme geniuses from the Stanton Empire. Even within the penthouse where all the geniuses were mingling, he was constantly attempting to woo the female geniuses.

    None of them gave him the time of day with him not even attempting to conceal his indecent intentions. It was obvious that certain people didn¡¯t choose their participants based on character, but only strength.

    Without a single word, Katherine flicked her wrist as a massive sword made of wind flew towards Evan, however, he just smiled and lightly stepped out of its path, allowing it to decimate the table he was previously sitting at.

    ¡°My my!¡± He eximed, ¡°it appears that you¡¯re quite the feisty one! Well, no matter. Taming your type is my favorite pastime.¡±

    As he spoke, the earth around him began to vibrate. The Stanton empire was known for its talented earth affinity users, so the element didn¡¯t surprise Katherine.

    If it was 6 months ago, she¡¯d slightly panic about how to deal with the present situation. After all, neither her wind nor illusion affinities were effective counters for earth. But now? She didn¡¯t even bat an eye at what Evan was doing.

    This confrontation was naturally witnessed by the countless spectators within the arena. Within the cacophony of cheers and boos, the announcer¡¯s voice rang clear.

    ¡°Here we have it,dies and gentlemen! Our first confrontation between supreme geniuses is about to begin! ce your bets at the betting booth and see if you can win big!¡±

    Many people were already headed to the booths before the announcer¡¯s words even fell. The betting booths were a way to enhance the audience¡¯s experience during the tournament. It was both a way to make money and support their favoritepetitors.

    Although they couldn¡¯t hear what was being said within the small realm arena, the audience could clearly see Evan¡¯s lewd stare and Katherine¡¯s evident disgust through the projection.

    The women in the audience and quite a few of the men didn¡¯t like this type of disgusting character, and so they immediately put bets on Katherine, while those of the Stanton empire were the majority of those who bet on Evan.

    The Stanton emperor sighed helplessly as he received more than a few sidelong nces from the others around him.

    ¡°You know how the world works. Strength speaks louder than character. Besides that, his family is one of our 4 major ns. Even if I decided to reject, there would¡¯ve been arge uproar over my decision.¡±

    He was right. Although it wasn¡¯t too exaggerated on the surface, the world truly was one where strength is king. The one with the bigger fist could twist things as they pleased as the losers wallowed in self-pity.

    Meanwhile, Katherine¡¯s first major sh of the Nexus Event finally began. She concentrated wind below her feet and retreated to a distance while constantly firing air bullets and wind des in Evan¡¯s direction.

    These were all met be earth walls. Although they could mitigate the damage from the wind des, the bullets were specifically built for pration. Holes began forming in the earth walls, forcing Evan to dodge.

    He stomped his foot on the ground, resulting in a disruption of the sand he was standing on. The sand billowed out in waves as it attempted to swallow Katherine.

    Even though it was a rare subset, sand was still within the boundary of earth, making it something those with immense control over their affinity could manipte. Being a supreme genius, Evan met this standard of control.

    Sensing danger from the wave of sand, Katherine used her propulsion to fly above its range, creating massive gusts of wind that threw the environment into a flurry.

    But to everyone watching, it was clear that she was on the losing end. Evan was in an environment that perfectly suited his abilities, allowing him to gain the upper hand.

    Realizing this, Katherine went on a full offensive. Her speed increased fivefold, making her figure blur as she darted around the battlefield. From every direction, countless bullets and swords ofpressed wind rained down.

    Only about a third of them were real though. Evan clicked his tongue. He knew that Katherine possessed an illusion affinity, but he was still forced to defend against every attack, not knowing which were real or fake.

    Katherine¡¯s new strategy was wholly focused on explosive power. Each bullet that hit the ground caused a massive eruption of sand, clouding the atmosphere and hiding her position as she continued her assault.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Evan cursed as he became annoyed. With another stomp of his foot, he increased the gravity around him in hopes of dragging her to the ground, but this was the wrong choice.

    The increased gravity elerated Katherine¡¯s attacks and made their power even more explosive as they crashed into the ground. Evan was flung backward as he coughed blood.

    His gravity control was still in its beta phase, so he didn¡¯t know the specifics of how it worked. The only reason he used it was in hopes that it would slow her down. And in truth, it did.

    Katherine mmed into the ground as her assault came to a pause. Without warning, several earth spikes emerged around her, cutting off her escape routes. The power of these spikes vastly outstripped the ones Damien deflected earlier, posing a serious threat to Katherine.

    Since she just plummeted to the ground and had yet to recover, she wasn¡¯t able to put up a proper defense or counter. It was clear that she had lost this match.

    The audience was on the edge of their seat, paying rapt attention to see if Katherine could work her way out of this perilous situation when all of a sudden¡­

    p.

    A resounding p was heard, followed by a huge shockwave that even disrupted the viewing devices slightly, causing static to form for a split second before it returned to normal.

    When the screens came back on, the scene in front of them left the audience stumped. Gone were the residual effects of battle, gone were the massive walls of earth and waves of sand, and gone was Katherine who was previously stuck in a perilous situation.

    In front of them was Evan, who had blood leaking from his ears and a horrified look on his face. And behind him stood Katherine. Nobody could make heads or tails out of the situation besides a few powerhouses who had noticed from the start.

    A voice rang out in the stands. ¡°It was all an illusion!¡± Causing a tidal wave of discussions to erupt.

    Katherine watched with a malicious grin as Evan fell to the ground unconscious. Grabbing his bracelet off his wrist, she spoke.

    ¡°On to the next target.¡±

 Chapter 54

    3 days passed in a sh as the games continued. Within every area of the small realm, there were constant battles taking ce, with every participant trying their hardest to prove themselves.

    By this point, the realm had shrunk to nearly half its original size, but it wasn¡¯t a linear decrease. It seemed that as the final day drew closer, exponential amounts ofnd were removed from the ying field.

    This removal ofnd was apanied by a visible fog filled with spatial attribute that teleported anyone it touched out of the realm, effectively disqualifying them.

    Out of the 3000 original participants, only 2200 remained, and there were still 4 days left in the week. These 4 days would be even more brutal as the area shrunk and battles became more prominent.

    The audience outside mostly hadn¡¯t moved from their spots during this time, watching with rapt attention for any intense battles that would ur. Still, sleep was necessary for people without high ranks, so there were recordings avable of the most important battles that people could purchase.

    There was also a leaderboard present that showcased the top 50 participants based on the points they gained in real-time.

    Katherine¡¯s fight in the desert was one of them. By this point, she had left the vicinity of the desert area and entered the oceandscape.

    She encountered many foes and umted enough points to reach the top of the leaderboard, even defeating another supreme genius from the elven domain.

    She was excited to see that these people titled as supreme geniuses could give her good fights, but she knew that the best had yet toe. In this manner, she continued moving forward.

    Damien had spent these 3 days in the mountainous region defeating anyone he saw. It was honestly smooth sailing for him so far. He had yet to run into a single supreme genius and most of the normal participants couldn¡¯t even notice him taking their bracelets.

    Feeling bored of this continuous routine, he decided to switch things up. He stopped using his rush strategy to umte points and instead stopped aiming for points altogether and used the tournament to train.

    Every time he came across another participant, he¡¯d y as a weakling and battle it out with them, but he never truly attacked. Instead, he trained his ability to dodge and counter.

    As a spatial affinity user, he always relied on teleporting to dodge. And while his instincts were sharp as is, he wanted to train his body reflexes to reach the same level. After all, he could very well run into opponents that could read his teleportation path, making it useless.

    Like this, he gained a ton of battle experience, and his reflexes slowly improved. In the beginning, he was hit countless times by various elemental attacks, but none of them could get past his bodily defenses, so he remained uninjured.

    As he traversed the forest, Damien finally ran into an opponent he could consider as strong, with his senses telling him he¡¯d receive a good fight. It was a young man from the Lennon empire who stood regally as if everything was beneath him.

    When Damien approached, the young man raised his brow before grinning. ¡°Oh, what do we have here?¡±

    Damien rolled his eyes. ¡°Shut up and fight me already. Stop acting like a pretentious brat.¡±

    The youth became incensed, but he soon controlled his emotions as his grin widened. ¡°Well well, as someone who holds the title of supreme genius, isn¡¯t it bullying for you to face me on an even ying field? Let¡¯s spice things up shall we?¡±

    A long katana-like sword appeared in his hand. Even if one only took a brief nce it was clear that the sword was an artifact. This was tant cheating!

    Even the crowd outside started yelling and booing, forcing the announcer to speak. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, you have to remember the rules! Cheaters can only be disqualified if a participant reports them for it! Unless his opponent says anything, we are bound by the rules!¡±

    It was truly an ingenious strategy. With the pride that most of the supreme geniuses held in their titles, they were bound to get conceited and attempt to face the youth on his own terms.

    Even though Damien didn¡¯t hold this same pride, he didn¡¯t say anything about the weapon. If anything, he weed such a thing. This would both be great for his training and also more interesting.

    Without another word, the two charged at each other. Damien had long deployed his vector field as he burst forth with a vicious left hook. The youth narrowly dodged while shing down with his sword.

    Damien twisted his body while altering the sword¡¯s path with his vector field, causing it to switch directions. This caught the youth off guard. Not wanting to miss his chance, Damien shot a bolt of ck lightning towards the youth, who raised his sword to block.

    Damien thought it¡¯d be done there, but he was wrong. The lightning was absorbed into the sword as the youth smiled.

    ¡°I wonder how long you canst against your own lightning.¡±

    The two shed once more, but this time, the lightning gathered within the youth¡¯s sword sprung forth attempting to paralyze Damien. While his vector field wouldn¡¯t allow him to be touched, he decided to turn it off for now so he could experience true battle.

    He had already considered his choices long before the event even began, and had decided he¡¯d limit himself during this time. It wouldn¡¯t be fun if he caused mass destruction and immediately win. This choice put Damien in a rough spot at the moment, but this kind of pressure was what he wanted.

    He continued dodging by the skin of his teeth as the youth¡¯s attacks became fiercer and fiercer. Unless he wanted to go back on his word, he¡¯d have to think of another strategy to win.

    Damien quickly teleported out of the young man¡¯s range as he got an idea. Without further ado, he also pulled out a sword. This didn¡¯t make the youth scared though. It actually caused him to smile brightly.

    ¡°Judges! This man is cheating by using an artifact!¡±

    This was his n all along. As long as he forced the other party to use their own artifacts, he could call them out and disqualify them, earning their badges. This strategy was specifically created to deal with supreme geniuses.

    Even if they called him out after he made this move, it wouldn¡¯t be counted. The words of a disqualified participant no longer mattered.

    The crowd outside was able to hear these words, as addressing the judges was a keyword to turn on the audio system. It was set up like this so calls of cheating wouldn¡¯t be overlooked in the mayhem of countless battles.

    The crowd went into a frenzy at the youth¡¯s shameless actions, but they couldn¡¯t do anything about it. They were just here to watch the event, not participate. Even the announcer was shocked for a second, not thinking that the rules on cheating would be used in such a way.

    However, the action wasn¡¯t illegal, just extremely shameless.

    The announcer regained his bearings as he addressed the issue. ¡°Alright people! We have our first call for cheating in the event so far! Before anything else, would the used party like to say a few words in defense?¡±

    The arena turned silent as everyone¡¯s attention fell on Damien. Even while all this was happening, he stood there with a carefree smile.

    Seeing how he was being addressed, he shrugged and spoke up. ¡°How am I cheating? I don¡¯t see any cheating happening on my side.¡±

    Once again, everyone was stumped. Was this kid an idiot? The sword was still clearly in his hand, so how could he say he was being falsely used? But Damien didn¡¯t let them wait for too long.

    As his smile grew, he continued his sentence. ¡°After all, this is just a normal steel sword. Wasn¡¯t the rule that artifacts aren¡¯t allowed? Well, this isn¡¯t an artifact in the slightest.¡±

    Damien held up the sword for all to witness. The announcer touched his ear, seemingly receiving word from someone with more power before he spoke. ¡°I-It¡¯s true folks! The sword in his hand has been confirmed to be a normal steel sword! What a turn of events! The participant has used a loophole in the rules to turn the odds in his favor!¡±

    The crowd was silent, trying toprehend the announcer¡¯s words before they erupted into maddening cheers.

    What a drama they had just witnessed!

    From the intense fight beforehand to the call for cheating to the loophole, their emotions had been taken on a rollercoaster with endless loops.

    Back in the small realm, the Lennon youth¡¯s face had gone pale. He never expected such a loophole, nor did he expect Damien to pull out a normal sword. He didn¡¯t even check before calling for cheating, as he didn¡¯t want to get eliminated before his call was acknowledged.

    Robotically turning towards his opponent, he saw Damien looking back at him with a devilish grin on his face.

    ¡°Now that that¡¯s over, it¡¯s time to have some fun.¡± Damien raised his sword and decided to teach this youth a lesson.

    ¡®Void Sword Art 3rd Step: Spatial Copse¡¯

    Damiens steel sword smashed into the ground and shattered on impact, but it still achieved its intended effects.

    Space bent and twisted as the solid ground beneath their feet took on a more rubbery texture.

    The Lennon youth was horrified and attempted to run, but his attempts were futile. When he went forward, he¡¯d end up heading left, and when he went left, he¡¯d end up going right. There was no sense of direction within the copsing space.

    Damien had toned down the power of his attack, so the youth was able to leave the copsing space rtively unharmed. But he had made a misstep within the space as he recklessly attempted to escape, causing his arm to superimpose an area of the twisted ground and fuse with it.

    In a panic, he hadpletely severed that arm.

    Damien smiled at this scene before walking up to the youth and sliding his wristband off of his only remaining arm. ¡°Next time, be careful who you mess with. Not everyone is as nice as me.¡±

    With that, Damien teleported away. It looked like thest 4 days of the survival games would truly be a fun time.

 Chapter 55

    The days passed in a sh as Damien and Katherine continued gaining points. It was already thest day of the event, so not many participants were still active. Due to this, it was much harder to find opponents and gain points.

    Both Damien and Katherine had already made their way up to the top of the leaderboard through their efforts, gaining massive amounts of bracelets from the stronger foes they defeated, but neither had run into another supreme genius in this time.

    This was confusing. There were a total of 50 of them, so logically they should have more encounters, but this spoke to the immensity of the small realm they were in.

    There were 5 regions of varying climates and most people would choose the one that aligned closest with their affinity. Even while the realm shrunk, a piece of each of these environments would still be present. And perhaps many of the supreme geniuses had already fallen.

    However, everything would change today. As the day began, the rate of shrinking within the realm increased by arge margin, crowding everyone towards the nds in the center.

    Damien stood at the edge of this nd and covertly watched as more and more people arrived. He¡¯d already been in this position for a few hours and a few hundred people were strewn along the area warily eyeing each other.

    As more and more people crowded in, the announcer¡¯s voice fell on their ears. ¡°Listen up participants! There are currently 1,506 of you remaining, congrattions! However, this number is a bit too much for us. Being smart people, I¡¯m sure you all know what I mean¡­¡±

    Damien swore he could hear the announcer grin through his words.

    ¡°A Battle Royale! Until only 1,050 of you remain, duke it out and see whoes out on top! Leaving the nd area means disqualification! Now, begin!¡±

    Nobody moved. They all watched the people next to them vigntly as they nned their next course of action. It would be embarrassing to fall here due to carelessness. Since nobody else wanted to make the first move, Damien decided to take it upon himself.

    A faint ck hue emanated from his body for a split second before lightning erupted in his surroundings. The thick ck snakes traveled through the air and ground in all directions, attempting to sunder everything in their path.

    Two of the participants nearby Damien were immediately paralyzed and knocked out while the third managed to narrowly dodge. He quickly moved to collect their bracelets before looking up.

    The entire arena was quiet, staring at him before all mayhem broke loose. It seemed that his move had been a horn to begin. Damien grinned. He would only use lightning in this free for all unless he was forced to teleport.

    Running a constant stream of electricity through his internal body, Damien increased his speed fivefold as he dashed into the battlefield.

    Chaos was everywhere. Various elemental attacks were flying randomly through the air without target. The ground rumbled and quaked in some areas while massive water spouts and pirs of fire sprouted up in others.

    The crowd was stunned. This was a true free for all between 1500 people, so it was naturally insane to watch.

    Damien maneuvered through the battlefield like a fox as he found opponents and rapidly took them out, gaining points. But this wasn¡¯t his main goal. He was looking for a supreme genius to fight.

    On the other side of the battlefield, Katherine was also having a great time. Just like Damien, she had put away her illusions and was solely relying on wind to take care of her enemies. Tornados picked up and threw participants into chaos before they were finished off by des and bullets of wind.

    She rushed through the masses of people while umting points even faster than Damien. Wind was usually used as a supportive element, but her training had always been focused on making it destructive.

    Herst fight with Evan had been a small portion of what she¡¯d learned in the 6 months Damien was creating his mana circuits. Her teacher, one of the two Grand elders of the academy, was extremely adept at illusions to the point of slightly affecting reality.

    She could create constructs with true physical weight and power that she could then use in battle, even changing the environment to somethingpletely different for short periods.

    When Katherine saw this, she was made aware of how much potential she was wasting in her illusions. She wanted to reach a level where she could make someone doubt whether their whole life was illusion or reality. She wanted reality to be her illusion.

    Due to her intense focus on this, she had fallen behind on her wind affinity, but she made up for this bybining the two. Her small sess in illusions allowed her to maintain smaller constructs as she pleased, so she used it to enhance her wind.

    She used illusions to create the tornados and used wind to power them, causing her to need much less focus to keep them active. She had also gotten the idea ofpressing wind from Zara, who showed her how she used ice.

    Katherine took this slight inspiration and expanded on it, creating des that could rip through the atmosphere. She was extremely impressed by Damien¡¯s spatial affinity and worked to be able to manipte space using air as a medium in the future.

    While Katherine used her newly improved abilities to eliminate herpetitors, Damien finally ran into his first supreme genius. It was a man with a robust body that contrasted his wolf ears and tail.

    The screens on the outside quickly zoomed into this confrontation. The rest of the supreme geniuses were avoiding each other. Seemingly saving their strength forter rounds of the event.

    The beast empress smiled as she watched them. ¡®The boy has evolved through many beasts, but the wolf still takes the forefront in his instinct. It¡¯s only natural that those two will feel rivalry immediately upon meeting.¡¯

    Truthfully, she was also a wolf-type beast. This wasn¡¯t a fact known to many, and her strength was too high for it to be pinpointed from her aura. This was also why she was interested in Zara. It wasn¡¯t that she wanted to consume Zara for her evolution, rather she was interested in taking her as a disciple.

    She also had the ice element after all, and she could sense the icy aura emanating from Zara, making her believe it might be fate for the two to meet.

    Noticing that Damien was an evolved human only made her want to take Zara as a disciple even more. Her invitation for Damien toe to the beast domain was so he could train with her husband while she took care of Zara. She felt a connection to the young wolf that felt almost familial, making her curious about the wolf¡¯s origins.

    Meanwhile, within the arena things were progressing as the beast empress expected. When Damien and the demihuman locked eyes, their instincts red. The person in front of them would give them an amazing fight. They both grinned at each other while ignoring everything around them.

    ¡°I¡¯m Ethan Wolfang. You?¡± The demihuman said.

    ¡°Damien Void. I seem to have a lot of fate with wolves.¡± Damien replied with a grin.

    The two didn¡¯t need any more words. They already understood each other¡¯s intent. Pure physical strength, no affinities. This was how they wouldpete.

    Damien stretched a bit. It had been a long time since he fought in such a primitive way, and he couldn¡¯t say he wasn¡¯t excited.

    The two men charged at each other. Punching forward, their fists connected, causing a shockwave that threw away anyone who was in their vicinity.

    ¡°We¡¯re equal.¡± They both thought before they continued their exchange.

    Fists connected with flesh and kicks pushed them back. The ground around them cracked from the many impacts it was forced to sustain. Neither of them blocked and neither backed down.

    Their fight grew in intensity until they were rushing all through the battlefield, acting like a tornado that would shred anything in its path.

    Boom!

    Their fists connected once more, but it seemed to carry some sort of resonance effect as the shockwave was amplified. Three unlucky individuals in their surroundings were caught off guard and directly knocked out.

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Damien roared withughter. ¡°This is it! I haven¡¯t had a fight like this in ages!¡±

    Ethan was simrly jubnt. He was always known for his monstrous physical strength, making him undefeated by most people within his ss range, but he¡¯d finally met his match.

    Once again, the two punched forward, directly connecting with each other¡¯s faces. Blood sshed and teeth were knocked out, but neither cared. In fact, Damien was suppressing his regeneration to the same level as Ethan¡¯s to allow the fight to continue.

    Boom! Boom!

    Everywhere they went they left havoc in their wake. Damien connected another kick to Ethan¡¯s ribs while thetternded an uppercut to Damien¡¯s chin. It didn¡¯t seem like their fight would end anytime soon.

    They continued like this for almost an hour. At some point, the announcer¡¯s voice had resounded, telling the participants to stop fighting. There were only 1,051 people left in the tournament. Whoever lost the current bout would be thest person eliminated.

    Knowing this, the rest of thepetitors backed away from the vicinity of the fight. They didn¡¯t want to be the next ones to be identally caught in the crossfire.

    Abruptly, the two fighters separated. Looking at the fire in each other¡¯s eyes, they knew what they wanted. One final sh to decide it all.

    ck lightning crackled around Damien¡¯s body, making him look like a devil, while fire erupted from Ethan¡¯s. But neither made any big moves. Instead, they focused their elemental mana in their fists and rushed towards each other.

    ¡°HAAA!¡±

    With a loud cry, Damien shot his fist forward to connect with Ethan¡¯s. An even bigger explosion came forth. The mix of fire and lightning was extremely destructive, charring the ground and creating a small crater beneath their feet.

    But neither of them moved. They kept pushing their fists together as if they didn¡¯t want the other to get even a single bit of leeway. Finally, they once again jumped back.

    While everyone was confused about what just happened, Damien spoke up. ¡°In the final 12?¡±

    Ethan nodded with a grin. ¡°In the final 12.¡±

    They both sat down and healed their injuries as Damien looked around him. Spotting a randompetitor, Damien teleported over and stole his bracelet without anyone noticing.

    It was only when the announcer¡¯s voice rang out that people realized what happened.

    ¡°A participant has been disqualified! The first round of our Nexus Event has finally concluded! Stay tuned for the next round, folks! It looks like we have plenty of blood-boiling action ahead of us!¡±

    The crowd let out a wave of cheers. Even though it was only the first event, it had already brought them so much excitement.

    They couldn¡¯t wait for the next round to start.

 Chapter 56

    The participants were once again covered in spatial light as they were teleported back to the main arena. Upon arrival, they were greeted with a cacophony of cheers, with various names being chanted over each other.

    Damien even heard his own name being chanted by certain sections of the crowd. Looking around, Damien saw the leaderboard and understood why. The top 50 were clearly outlined and he was at the top of that list. Surprisingly though, he wasn¡¯t in first.

    [1st ¨C Katherine Hart ¨C 75 points]

    Seeing the name, a grin formed on his face. ¡®Losing sucks but at least it was her I lost to.¡¯ Damien¡¯s name was in second with 66 points.

    The board was lined with names that would be famous after the event and surprisingly, only around half of them were supreme geniuses.

    While only around 15 of them were eliminated, many were schemed against and outwitted into losing many of the bracelets they collected.

    The 1,050 remaining participants were led off the stage and towards many back rooms for them to rest. They would be given a day to recuperate before the next event started.

    The announcergave them onest tip as they left. ¡°Pay attention to and make friends with the people around you,petitors! All I¡¯ll say is that the people you¡¯re sharing the private room with will be important in the next round!¡±

    While they walked, Damien felt a nudge from behind him. ¡°Weren¡¯t you going to wipe the floor with me? What happened to all your confidence?¡± A familiar voice said tauntingly.

    Damien smiled as his hand snaked back and pinched her waist. ¡°Yeah okay, this is just the first event. Let¡¯s see how you keep that energy after the next one.¡±

    Katherine pped his hand away with a red face as she increased her pace and walked by his side. ¡°That event was truly fun though. I got to test out a lot of things that I had only theorized in my training.¡±

    Damien nodded. ¡°For sure. I limited my spatial ability so I could have more fun and it was a great time, especially thatst fight.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what the next game will be, though. There are still so many participants left and only 2 more events before the final 12 tournament.¡±

    Damien nced around at the crowd of participants around them as he nodded. ¡°True. If they keep doing solo events like this it¡¯ll take forever to whittle down the numbers while keeping the crowd entertained.¡±

    As the two continued to discuss the event, they arrived at the private rooms arranged for them. Each room was meant to fit 3 people so there was ample space. This was to further the original goal of the event, which is to forge ties between the various nations and races.

    Damien and Katherine entered one of the private rooms and sat down on the couch as they continued talking.

    The room was around the size of a two-bedroom apartment and cameplete with a king-sized bed, full bathroom, and an assortment of various snacks. There was also a screen in the room that was a smaller version of those used to disy the events to the audience. These were like this world¡¯s adaptation of television.

    Damien wondered why there was only one bed when the room was meant for 3 people, but that question was soon answered. As he rxed on the couch, Katherine suddenly pulled a lever that caused them to end up on their backs. It seemed this world had couch beds as well.

    Katherine had pulled the lever to catch Damien off guard and see his startled expression, thinking it would be a fun prank. But clearly, she didn¡¯t think things through. They were a man and a woman now alone in a roomying on a rtively smaller bed together. Their bodies were practically touching already.

    ncing sideways, she ended up catching Damien looking at her too. Their faces were only inches apart. Seconds ticked away as the two stared into each other¡¯s eyes before they abruptly snapped out of their dazes. Katherine looked away hurriedly.

    Her face blushed red and she thought of ways to get out of her current predicament, but there was no need. Her guardian angel had shown up in the form of a giant ck wolf that squeezed herself into the spot between them, alleviating the awkwardness.

    Truthfully, Katherine wasn¡¯t the only one saved. Damien had just discovered that his bestial instinct also had a taste for¡­other kinds of battle.

    The second he turned his head and saw her face only inches away from him, his instinct red, and like a little devil on his shoulder, it tried its hardest to coerce him into losing control.

    Not knowing what to do in this situation, Damien went with his first idea, acting oblivious. He was a genuine weeb before he identally transmigrated, so he knew the ins and outs of this kind of situation.

    ¡®Japanese main characters are always dense as shit and that¡¯s the only reason the romance doesn¡¯t develop until thest episode of the entire anime! I¡¯m a genius!¡¯

    Zara hade out after feeling his panic and hearing the idiotic thoughts running through his head. She nced at him and rolled her eyes while sending various messages through their mental connection.

    If Damien had to trante, it woulde out as something like, ¡°why are you being such a wuss about it? She wants to mate with you too right? So just do it, weirdo.¡±

    He had the urge to facepalm continuously while rolling on the ground with shame. Where did his innocent Zara even learn things like that? Not to mention, this was his first time in such a precarious situation.

    He wondered why this instinct didn¡¯t re during his earlier interactions with her as well since this sort of closeness was only slightly rare at this point.

    Usually, neither of them would think much of it. They would just continue talking or messing around as if everything was normal. So why was his instinct acting up now? ¡®It can¡¯t be that I had that thought first right?¡¯

    The only exnation he could think of was that the instinct had just amplified thoughts that he already had, but he quickly shook off that idea.

    ¡®Let¡¯s continue ying the dense mc role. I don¡¯t have the mental capacity to deal with this right now.¡¯

    All this while, he was hugging Zara¡¯s body while ignoring the painful silence that filled the room.

    Katherine was having simr yetpletely different thoughts. ¡®What¡¯s happening to me? Since when did it be like that? Whatever it is, this can wait until the event ends. Focus on what¡¯s ahead of you!¡¯ She cheered herself on.

    Then, as if it was a message from God, the screen in the room turned on. The announcer¡¯s face popped up along with an alternating view of many different fields with different terrains.

    There was apletely t and rocky area, a small sea filled with inds, a huge mountain, and even a city.

    As the two¡¯s attention focused on the screen, the announcer started speaking.

    ¡°Greetings,petitors! I know you¡¯re all enjoying your rest so don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t take too much of your time. However, it¡¯s time for me to exin the next game!

    ¡°This game is called Monolith Capture. This is a team vs team game! Participants are grouped into teams of 3 and given 1 week to familiarize with each other and strategize.¡±

    The view on the screen changed to arge rectangr object that was made out of some type of smooth metal.

    ¡°Each team possesses a monolith that they are responsible for guarding. Just like the Survival Games, each yer has a bracelet artifact, but its use is very different.

    ¡°If you get within 10 meters of the opposing team¡¯s monolith, you can activate this bracelet to open it.¡±

    A man walked into the range of the rectangr monolith and injected mana into his bracelet. Suddenly, the monolith split in half top to bottom, and the back half fell to the floor. On the now opened inside of the monolith, there was a small screen.

    ¡°Inside the monolith is a code or phrase, a type of password. The goal is to type this password into your own team¡¯s monolith. The team that seeds first wins the round, and the team that wins two rounds first is the overall winner!

    ¡°Did you ever y capture the g as a kid? Well, this game is a more advanced version of that!

    ¡°There are 350 teams at the moment, and the game will continue until only 100 teams remain, aka 300 participants. As for your teammates, why do you think each private room holds 3 people?

    ¡°As I said before, you have 1 week to strategize, so get to it!¡±

    With that, the screen shut off. It was only after hearing the announcer¡¯s words that the two of them realized that there was supposed to be another person in the room.

    As they robotically stood up from the couch, an elf who looked in her twenties entered their view.

    ¡°H-hello. My name is Eva Lock. I-it¡¯ll be a pleasure working with you.¡± She was also on the leaderboard so she would usually have a more confident demeanor, but the two others in the room were currently staring at her with death res and billowing auras, so she couldn¡¯t help but shy away.

    Damien and Katherine looked at each other.

    ¡°Silence her?¡±

    ¡°Silence her.¡±

    The two dashed at Eva. ¡°W-wait! We can talk this out!¡± As she ran away from them, Eva desperately pleaded.

    Meanwhile, Zara sat in the corner enjoying the show. Embarrassment wasn¡¯t something she understood. Maybe it was just beast culture, but seeing Damien get all flustered confused her, but also amused her.

    It took several hours for the newly formed team to calm down. Eva had been thoroughly questioned and they made sure she saw nothing. As for the questioning method? It doesn¡¯t need to be mentioned¡­

    After they calmed down they had a chance to properly talk over the event. Katherine started the conversation.

    ¡°This game will heavily rely on strategy and teamwork. We can¡¯t just wantonly charge forward or the other team will easily be able to grab our code and win. To start, let¡¯s introduce ourselves. I¡¯m Katherine Hart, I have a wind and illusion affinity.¡±

    ¡°Damien Void. Spatial and Lightning affinity.¡±

    Finally, it was the neer¡¯s turn. ¡°Eva Lock. Nature affinity.¡±

    Damien raised his brow before grinning. ¡°Hoh?¡±

    ¡°It seems like this event might be even easier than the first.¡±

 Chapter 57

    The structure of the Monolith Capture event was simple. Just like the Survival games, the main event would alsost a week, with 25 matches urring every day. There would be 12 in the morning and 13 at night.

    It was truly convenient that the matches were recorded, so people could watch them even if they weren¡¯t present while it was happening live. This way, people could prioritize what they wanted to watch without missing any dark horses or interesting drama.

    For this reason. It was possible to hold many matches simultaneously. Within the private room, Damien, Katherine, and Eva were still discussing their ns.

    ¡°This guy over here is a brute through and through, so we should take care of the nning. Just make him follow whatever wee up with.¡± Katherine said while eyeing Damien.

    ¡°Oi!¡± He countered, but he couldn¡¯t say anything. She was telling the truth. His battle sense and power were both extremely high, but his talent in strategizing was either not present or hadn¡¯t bloomed.

    He had never needed to do too much strategizing. The dungeon was always filled with the most primal of battles and once he left it, he had felt a severeck of life or death situations.

    So, he let Katherine do the nning. If anything, this was what teamwork meant in the first ce. He couldn¡¯t do everything himself, so he needed people to rely on to cover his weaknesses.

    Damien suddenly had a thought. ¡°Hey Eva, can you expand a bit about what your nature affinity can do?¡±

    Eva looked hesitant but still decided to speak. ¡°It¡¯s mainly as it sounds. Within a certain area, any nature is within my control. Trees, nts, and even the earth are included within my ability.¡±

    Damien fell into thought. ¡®This will be a major benefit to us when the terrain is in our favor, but there were inds and cities within the terrains we saw on the screen. We need to figure out a strategy that prevents her from being a liability.¡¯

    Voicing his thoughts, Damien looked to Katherine for the decision. She thought for a moment before responding. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have a n.¡±

    The week passed by in a sh as the many different teams worked to synergize and coordinate their attack patterns. It wasn¡¯t enough time to be truly cohesive, but it was enough to learn how to work together.

    There would always be teams that couldn¡¯t work together, but that was their bad luck. In the first ce, the teams were randomized. Otherwise, Damien and Katherine, who were second and first ce in the first event, would have never been put on a team together.

    The event also had one other mechanic that was based on luck. By the end of the event, only 100 teams were allowed to move forward, but with the way it was structured, 175 teams would win by the end of the week.

    Due to this, another mechanism was added. 150 of those remaining teams would fight once again for their spot to continue, while 25 teams will be seeded directly to the third round.

    Since they didn¡¯t know how many times they¡¯d be fighting and also what terrain they¡¯d be in, every team had toe up with various strategies to win. Just one or two wouldn¡¯t cut it.

    Damien, Katherine, and Eva walked out of their private room. The first day of Monolith Capture had officially begun. Damien¡¯s luck was always good, but it seemed like it didn¡¯t want to help him anymore after putting him on the same team as Katherine. Their team was one of the first topete.

    This would naturally put them at a disadvantage as others would be able to read their teamposition and movements to n against them. But they weren¡¯t worried. They had nned for this very scenario long ago.

    They walked up to an attendant, who handed them cards with the number ¡®2¡¯ on them. This was their team number and the identifier that would be used for them throughout the event.

    Arriving on the stage, they came face to face with their enemies. It was a team made up of two humans and a demihuman. As the two teams stared each other down, an automated voice resounded.

    13 matches were going on simultaneously, so the support team for the event most likely prepared these recordings beforehand.

    ¡°Team 2 versus Team 43. Match Start.¡±

    When Damien opened his eyes, they were in a lush forest simr to the one he saw when he first arrived on the surface. ¡°Good,¡± he said, ¡°this works perfectly with our n.¡±

    Katherine continued his sentence. ¡°Eva, you guard the monolith, Damien you know what to do, meanwhile, I¡¯ll prepare my part.¡±

    The three nodded at each other before they split up. Damien headed straight for the other team while Katherine split to the left. The monolith was right behind them when they spawned, so Eva stayed in ce.

    On the other side, simr events were taking ce. ¡°Donald, you know what to do. No matter what we can¡¯t let them approach.¡± Said one of the humans to the other.

    Donald nodded. ¡°Same to you, rk. Two of those guys are supreme geniuses, so we need to stay on guard at all times.¡± The two of them then turned to the demihuman.

    ¡°Your physical strength surpasses both of us, Rex. Make sure you don¡¯t let anyone stop you. I¡¯ll distract their defense while you go straight for the monolith.¡±

    The three nodded at each other. It hadn¡¯t taken more than 5 minutes for them to sort everything out, so they thought they were safe. But they were very wrong.

    Boom!

    An explosion was heard throughout the forest as a ck stream maneuvered its way forward. The group had decided that it¡¯d be best to hide his spatial abilities for now, so he was purely basing his speed on lightning.

    Unlike the opposing group, theirs had finished nning instantly and split up. There was no need for more talk after all the discussions they had during the week of preparation.

    Damien zoomed through the forest without pause, seemingly wanting to brute strength his way through the round. Seeing this, rk¡¯s face twisted. ¡°Change of ns! Rex, hold him back! I¡¯ll head towards their monolith.¡±

    Rex, a lion demihuman, immediately rushed forward while rk split off from him. As he ran, the earth pushed him forward, enhancing his speed.

    Then, he collided with Damien, causing many trees to fall. The two started fighting without care.

    Earth spikes andrge levitating chunks of rock crashed towards Damien while bolts of lightning snaked towards Rex. They received each other¡¯s attacks and flew back.

    Regaining bnce, the two vigntly stared each other down before they started shing again.

    ***

    Outside the arena, many participants were watching the match. Damien had made quite the showing in the first round in his fight against Ethan, so many were wary of him.

    Ethan was also among those watching, as his match was scheduled for the evening portion of the day. ¡®He¡¯s holding back most of his power.¡¯ Ethan thought. ¡®His physical strength is on par with mine, so there¡¯s no way that lion would be able to fight on par with him. He¡¯s more flexible than I thought.¡¯

    In another area, the elf twins that came from Zenith Academy along with Damien were also watching the match.

    ¡°What do you think, Ara? He¡¯s been hiding his spatial affinity this whole time. Otherwise, he¡¯d be able to easily win against these weakerpetitors.¡± The male twin said.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± Ara responded, ¡°I don¡¯t think he has the brain toe up with any strategies, Eren. It must be either that Katherine girl or the elf that¡¯s with them. However, we should still be wary. They might be fooling the crowd to increase their unpredictability in theing rounds.¡±

    Eren nodded as he continued watching. Out of all the supreme geniuses he¡¯d met before the first round, Damien was still the one who gave him the most dangerous feeling. ¡®If we have to go against him and that Katherine girlbined, it¡¯ll probably be our hardest fight.¡¯

    ***

    Within the forest, Damien and Rex continued shing, leading each other away from their respective monoliths. Meanwhile, rk approached Eva¡¯s position.

    ¡®If the other two went ahead, she must be the weakest link. After all, she¡¯s not a supreme genius like them.¡¯

    rk snuck towards the monolith as he charged lightning into his hands. Unlike Damien¡¯s, this lightning retained its original purple color.

    When he got within range, he immediately infused his mana into his bracelet, causing the monolith to split and the code within to be revealed. He watched Eva panic within the concealment of the forest as he moved to peek at the code when his foot suddenly got stuck.

    ¡®This damn forest environment. These roots are everywhere. If I¡¯m not careful it¡¯ll limit my mobility and cost us the win.¡¯

    He ignored the problem and continued moving, only to find himself stuck once again. ¡°Dammit!¡± He cursed as he tried to free himself, but the moment he took his eyes off her, Eva¡¯s entire demeanor changed.

    She raised her hand before dropping it once again. Countless tendrils of wood and vines charged towards rk from all angles before entangling him within.

    Startled, he wantonly released electricity to burn the vines. But he was toote. An entire tree trunk was already heading his way, crashing into his head and knocking him unconscious. Eva smiled. ¡°Step 1plete.¡±

    On the other side, Donald was still guarding the monolith. He felt an ominous feeling around him, but there was nobody there. He increased his vignce in watching the surroundings.

    Unbeknownst to him, the back half of the monolith had already fallen long ago, and a certain princess was already on her way back to her base with the code. Only a few minutester did the illusion dispel, leaving a horrified Donald as the buzzer rang. The first round had been a clean win by team 2.

    The second round was even faster. Since Eva¡¯s nature affinity had already been revealed, there was no need to be sneaky. They left Damien, the strongest of them, to guard the monolith and knock out anyone that approached, while Eva entangled the defenders and Katherine stole the code.

    Even while knowing that illusions could be in y, the other team was unable to do anything. They simplycked the strength to retaliate. The only reason they had survived so long in the first round was that Damien¡¯s team had arger n that they became pawns in.

    And like that, their first battle in the second event ended in an overwhelming victory.

 Chapter 58

    After their match, Damien and Katherine rested for a few hours before returning to the arena to watch the other matches of the day.

    Ethan¡¯s match had the most obvious oue. His physical strength was almost unmatched, allowing him to brute force his way through his opponents. Since his team wasn¡¯t fighting supreme geniuses, there was no need for strategy.

    It was an age-old saying that no schemes or trickery matter in the face of absolute strength.

    It was unknown if the same strategy would be used against stronger opponents, but that didn¡¯t matter. The most shocking match was that of the twins.

    Damien never paid too much attention to the others that had joined from the academy, but it seemed he had to do so starting now. The twins were up against a team with two supreme geniuses just like them, but they outmaneuvered their opponents easily.

    While the male twin, Eren, was extremely adept at calction and prediction, the female twin, Ara, was like a battle goddess. When they two were put together, they were truly terrifying.

    The days passed quickly as many participants were eliminated. Out of the 50 supreme geniuses that were present at the start of the tournament, only half were remaining.

    Besides getting matched up against each other, there were also plenty of cases where their arrogance cost them the win. Being titled as a supreme genius only outlined one¡¯s talent and current strength.

    Using Evan, who Katherine demolished in the Survival Games, as an example, it was clear that intellect wasn¡¯t present in every genius.

    Team 2¡¯s next match took ce on the 4th day of the event. And just like Ethan did previously, they decided to brute strength their way through it. The terrain was a rocky nd, and with Damien¡¯s elemental affinities, he wasn¡¯t disadvantaged in the slightest.

    He charged through the opposing team and directly reached the monolith, cracking it open. Following this, Katherine used her propulsion technique to rapidly arrive at the code and memorize it before heading back to their monolith.

    Both rounds yed out the same way, leaving the opposing team with an irrefutable loss, but a weakness was finally discovered in team 2. With theck of nt life, Eva became a liability who couldn¡¯t help in the slightest during the round.

    None of the remaining participants were dumb enough to let this slight detail go. Team 2 was a variable and arguably one of the strongestpetitors for them. If they could find even the slightest misstep to use against them, they would.

    ¡°Nature affinity has always been something our kind has prided themselves on, but it has its obvious weak points,¡± Ara said as they watched team 2 exit the battle stage.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Eren responded. ¡°If we get the city terrain, it¡¯d be the most ideal setup for us. Even if Damien decided to use his spatial abilities, he would be severely limited by the environment. Our greatest threat would be the illusions.¡±

    The twins continued discussing. They had also won both of their matches and gained the right to proceed, but there was still the final 75 that needed to be eliminated before the next round started. There was no guarantee that any of them would be seeded, so they made ample preparations.

    Damien, Katherine, and Eva were holding a simr conversation. ¡°At this point, our greatest threat is the twins. The other teams are strong, but their intellect doesn¡¯t hold a candle to that Eren¡¯s.¡± Katherine said.

    Eva nodded. ¡°Even before they left the elven domain for the academy, they were alwaysuded as some of the most talented from our generation. If there¡¯s anyone we need to be careful of, it¡¯s them.¡±

    Damien was silent, but he still agreed with them. They needed to n out how to defeat the brain of those twins.

    Soon, the week ended and the seeded teams were chosen at random. The announcer went up on the stage and used the simplest method, pulling strips of paper out of a sealed box. There was no method to cheat with the mana technology that was iid into the box.

    As expected, neither team 2 nor the twins were seeded, however, Ethan¡¯s team got lucky enough to enter the pick. Damien was happy about this though. He had no interest in facing Ethan in this kind of strategy game.

    He wanted to have a rematch where they fight each other with their full strength without any motive other than knocking the other party out.

    Using the same format as the previous week, the matches continued for 3 days. It seemed like everyone else noticed the difference in strength between a certain two teams and the rest of the bunch, so they weren¡¯t picked to fight until the final day.

    It was the final fight of the second round. Damien and Katherine versus Eren and Ara. The terrain had already been announced as the city, so Eva was cast out of the picture.

    Besides her, nobody even remembered the name of the twins¡¯ third teammate. He had beenrgely useless anyway, just riding the coattails of his teammates. Even if he made it to the third round, he was destined to be eliminated at the start.

    The match between these two groups was especially intense.

    The first round went to the twins, who used insane strategies to win. Ara went straight for Damien and kept him upied with a riveting fight while Eren went for the monolith. His affinity was earth, but rather than using it conventionally, he created golems and simr constructs to act as a puppet master.

    This skill was something he hadn¡¯t brought out this far, catching the team off guard and allowing him to win the first round.

    The second round, however, went to team 2. Using a more intricate version of their first strategy, Damien and Katherine managed to trick the twins into making a slight mistake that cost them the win.

    The audience was in cheers the entire time. This match was by far the most entertaining of those that took ce, making it obvious why it was left forst. It was the final round of their match and everything was on the line. The team that lost would lose everything.

    Damien was currently in a meeting with his other two teammates.

    ¡°Alright. This is it, let¡¯s execute what we¡¯ve been working towards this whole time.¡±

    When the round began, Damien immediately teleported towards the enemy monolith. It wasn¡¯t time to hide his spatial affinity anymore. Halfway there, he met Ara once again, but she didn¡¯t attempt to stop him.

    Rather, they both kept rushing towards the other side¡¯s monolith. Thisst round wasn¡¯t one of strength nor strategy, it was purely reliant on speed. It was a race to see who could read and input the other¡¯s code faster.

    Damien rushed to the monolith and quickly opened it, memorizing the code. All that was left was to reach his home base. Since warping was too much of a cheat, he decided to normally teleport back.

    There was no excitement in taking the easy way out.

    As Damien made his way back, Ara also reached the monolith. She activated her bracelet and opened it, but didn¡¯t immediately go for the code. First, sheunched a plethora of attacks at its structure to make sure it was truth and not an illusion.

    This was all the confirmation she needed. Illusions were still made up of mana after all. If she let out a constant barrage on the boundary of the illusion, it¡¯d show at least the slightest fluctuation.

    As she went to read the code, she silently celebrated. There was one final hidden card that would easily win her this match. The truth was, she and her twin brother shared a telepathic connection.

    Their closeness had been a result of this. Ever since their birth they could hear and read each other¡¯s thoughts. As they grew up, they became two sides of the same coin. As long as Ara read the code, Eren could immediately input it into the monolith.

    Sharing her excitement, Eren waited patiently with his hands at the monolith, ready to input the code immediately. He failed to notice the small vines that started creeping out of the cracks in the floor.

    As both sides raced to the finish, everyone outside watched with bated breaths. This kind of showdown was far from what they expected to happen this round. One team had the smartest brain in the tournament, while the other had the strongest brawn.

    For it toe down to speed made the results of the match even more unpredictable. Even Ethan didn¡¯t know what to think as he watched.

    ¡®From the way things are going, it seems the twins are going to win, but with how confident Damien soundedst time we talked, there should be something I¡¯m missing, right?¡±

    After he had been seeded, he went and had a conversation with Damien. The two had already scheduled their match in the top 12, so it¡¯d be a shame if one of them didn¡¯t make it. Furthermore, the two ended up sparring to help each other improve.

    ¡®Well, he seems to be someone I could be great friends with, and none of my friends are average people. Let¡¯s see what he has up his sleeve.¡¯

    Ara had already reached the monolith. As she read the code, she saw Damien appear in the room. She couldn¡¯t help but grin. It was truly a tight match, but they were guaranteed to win now.

    Eren received the code through their link and immediately moved to type it in when his body abruptly stiffened. ¡®What¡¯s happening to me?¡¯ No matter how much he tried, he couldn¡¯t move. An affinity that controlled nature sounded like something peace-loving elves would have, but that wasn¡¯t necessarily true.

    Poison could also be made naturally. From within the shadows of the room, a figure emerged. This was Eva, who had been lying in wait all this time.

    ¡°You know,¡± she said, ¡°it¡¯s not good to underestimate your opponents.¡±

    On the other side of the city, Ara also stiffened for a second. But they weren¡¯t out of options yet. Even as Damien approached, she tried her best to convey the code to their third teammate in hopes of pulling off a game-winner, but her hope didn¡¯tst long.

    She suddenly found Damien in front of the monolith that was suddenly a few inches in front of its earlier position, and the code in its surface waspletely different.

    ¡°A backup n of a backup n,¡± Damien said. ¡°We could never be too careful when it came to someone with intellect on par with you two.¡±

    The reason the monolith could withstand her attacks without fluctuation was that at that time, it wasn¡¯t an illusion. It was only in the final moment before she arrived in front of it that Katherine slightly shifted its position and code to fool her.

    Before Ara¡¯s helpless eyes, Damien punched in the code of their monolith, effectively winning the game.

    The second round of the Nexus Event had ended just like that.

 Chapter 59

    After they were teleported back onto the stage, the twins approached Damien¡¯s group.

    ¡°Congrattions on your win,¡± Eren said. Although he was visibly disgruntled, he still acted like a good sport.

    ¡°Seriously! Thatst move was insane!¡± Ara continued. Her eyes were starry as she looked at Eva, not seeming bothered by the loss.

    Rather than being bothered, she was excited to see an elf around their age who could keep up with supreme geniuses like Damien and Katherine.

    ¡°T-thank you,¡± Eva responded meekly. Through their cooperation with her, Damien and Katherine had learned that her confidence only emerged when she was in battle, causing them endless amusement.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, did you n for that situation all along?¡± Eren asked, getting straight to the point. Everyone knew which situation he was talking about.

    Seeing that these twins were amiable people, Damien¡¯s group treated them the same. They slowly exined their game n to the twins.

    The n they had made was simple. Hiding Damien¡¯s spatial abilities would benefit them if they faced anyone who hadn¡¯t met them at the academy, so it was more of a precaution. Meanwhile, the crux of their strategy was to undermine Eva¡¯s value.

    Eva had a nature affinity, which showed its best potential in environments filled with lush greenery. No matter what this would be revealed when they ended up in a forest environment.

    And since the forest was their first terrain, they decided to capitalize on it. Eva went all out and incapacitated the opposing team members without any issue, showing her use. Now that most of the attention was focused on Eva, it was time for the next step of the n.

    Their next location was a rocky nd. During this round, Eva made sure to do nothing outstanding. Damien and Katherine carried the team as they plowed through the opposition. With Eva barely being useful, people started to make assumptions.

    They used the second round of this match to solidify those assumptions that Eva wasn¡¯t useful outside of a green terrain. It was important for her to be seen as the weak link of the group.

    And finally, theirst opponent game. When they realized it was the twins they were up against, they knew that hiding Damien¡¯s spatial ability was pointless, as they came from the same academy. This didn¡¯t discourage them, though.

    The first round was lost due to a surprise move on the twins¡¯ side, but they regained their footing in the second. All this time, they continued to y Eva as a weak link whose participation no longer mattered.

    And it all came to fruition during that final round. It was a round where speed took priority over strength and wits like the previous two rounds. In this round, any small distraction would cost the win, causing both teams to enter a hyper-focused state.

    In this state, the twins had failed to realize Eva¡¯s continued presence in their base. She had been warped there by Damien at the very start. After all, he already knew the base¡¯s location from the previous rounds.

    If he wanted, Damien could¡¯ve ended the Monolith Capture game in an instant. His power was simply a perfect counter for the game¡¯s mechanics. However, he didn¡¯t do it because he wanted to have fun. This is why the only time he used warp was to get Eva into position.

    While the two teams raced to each other¡¯s monoliths, she nted seeds within the cracks on the ground, and the vines that sprouted from them snaked their way to Eren.

    A nature affinity was special in this way. It was mainly used to nurture rather than fight, but when needed, this nurturing power could be turned against enemies. Eva¡¯s young age was the reason people assumed she couldn¡¯t capitalize on this and only used her power for crowd control.

    And the truth was, they were right. Eva indeed had no idea her power could be used this way until she met Damien and Katherine. The creativity of these two with elusive elements helped her break past a roadblock that she had been facing for many years regarding her attack power.

    And once she knew the direction, it didn¡¯t take her long to figure out the application. She had brought small poisonous nt seeds with her into the final round and had already achieved permission from the support staff of the event.

    Although her role seemed small, in that she only stunned Eren near the end, this small move was what won them the match. Even with the fail-safe they had made of Katherine using illusions on the monolith, it wasn¡¯t guaranteed that they won until Eren had been incapacitated.

    The n overall was a simple case of misdirection that had reaped immense benefits.

    As the twins listened, their eyes were filled with an understanding light. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder. The n focused on the innate arrogance that everyone carries. If it wasn¡¯t for this, there¡¯s no way we would have overlooked anyone even if they were the weakest participant.¡±

    Damien smiled and nodded.

    ¡°To be honest, even we would probably do the same in your situation. We were titled as supreme geniuses, and even if many with the same title have fallen, it doesn¡¯t discredit our achievement.

    ¡°It¡¯s natural for us to hold arrogance and look down on those normal participants, but it needs to be remembered that they¡¯re geniuses in their own right. After all, look at our little Eva here.¡± Damien said teasingly as he patted her head.

    Eva blushed slightly, causing Katherine¡¯s eyes to narrow as she went directly for Damien¡¯s waist, giving it a solid pinch.

    ¡°Ow! Ow! What¡¯s that for?¡± Damien cried as he acted exaggeratedly pained.

    ¡°Hmph! It doesn¡¯t matter what it was for, just know you deserved it!¡± Katherine replied as she turned her head away, hiding her slight smile.

    Eva also smiled helplessly as she watched the two. Even her first meeting with them had begun with her witnessing the subtle tension between them, how could she not understand what was going on? Only, she had no ns to interfere.

    She never even saw Damien romantically, only blushing due to the unexpected contact. She wasn¡¯t racist by any means, but to please her family she wanted to marry within the elven ns.

    The group continued talking about the various strategies they had made for the game as they went back to the private rooms assigned to them.

    Although the twins had been disqualified, they were supreme geniuses, so their amodations were covered until the end of the tournament. They were more than wee to stay and watch.

    When the group split up, Eva also followed the twins, as she had gotten friendly with Ara during their short time talking.

    Damien and Katherine smiled as they walked away.

    ¡°She was fun to hang out with during this past week. It¡¯s a little sad that we won¡¯t be able to see her again.¡±

    Damien shook his head as he responded. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you get to see her again? We live in the same world, and not all elves stay within the Helia Forest, so the possibility always exists.¡±

    Katherine nodded, trying to shake off her slight loneliness. Noticing this, Damien changed the subject.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost time for the final round, you know? While they allowed 300 participants to pass this round, it¡¯ll only be 12 from the next. And after that, we can finally fight like we¡¯ve been wanting to do since our first meeting.¡±

    Katherine¡¯s eyes brightened. With a battle maniac, talking about fighting was always the best medicine.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± She eximed, ¡± I can finally beat your ass and show you who¡¯s the best between us.¡±

    Damien grinned seeing her mood improve. ¡°Yup, it¡¯s finally time for us to figure that out. After that, we get to do some fun adventuring.¡±

    Damien was obviously referring to the secret realm. He still didn¡¯t have much information on it, but it being shrouded in mystery only made him more excited. Just like he felt back in the dungeon, he knew.

    Maybe it was something he inherently had or maybe it was a feature of his eyes, but something within him was screaming.

    A massive opportunity was waiting for him within that secret realm.

    Shoving down his bubbling excitement, Damien continued to chat with Katherine as he waited for the screen to turn on once again to show them the rules for the final round.

    It didn¡¯t take long, as the announcer¡¯s face popped into his view only two hourster.

    ¡°Good evening once again! As you all know, only 300 of you remain in the event, and we¡¯re reaching the final stretch! It¡¯s time for me to reveal ourst game!

    ¡°This game will be much more simple than the previous one. It¡¯s called King of the Hill. The rules are also not nearly asplicated. The first round was based on survival, the second based on intelligence, and now this third round is based on strength, though your wits will definitely help you.

    ¡°Competitors will be separated into groups of 25 and put in their respective arenas. Each arena has a single capture point. The goal of this round is to stay within the radius of the capture point as long as possible.

    The projection shifted to show 12 small mountains that were lined up adjacent to one another. At the peak of each mountain, there was a circr zone with a ck g in the middle.

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re in that radius you¡¯ll gain points with time. Only one person is allowed within the radius at one time. If two people are in there at the same time, no points will be awarded.

    ¡°This game will be unlike the previous two! It is a game of speed and fortune! The time limit will only be a single day, and the 12 people with the most points at the end will advance to the fighting tournament! Good luckpetitors!¡±

    With that, the screen went ck once again. Damien and Katherine looked at each other and grinned. Was it sheer coincidence or was it nned for the start? There were only 12 supreme geniuses left in thepetition after the twins were disqualified.

    It was obvious what this meant. Either the supreme geniuses would easily pass this game and fill the top 12, or a dark horse would bare its fangs and cause an upset.

    The closing act of the Nexus Event had begun.

 Chapter 60

    Damien had no ns to go easy during this round like he did in the previous two. He would be the only supreme genius within the 25petitors in his arena, so he¡¯d be a prime target.

    Not to mention, after this round came the top 12 tournament where he would truly fight the best of the best. He didn¡¯t want to waste any more time on those that couldn¡¯t cause his eyes to let off even the slightest hint of a warning bell.

    It wasn¡¯t even a matter of levels at this point, rather it once again came back to control and mana circuits. The former was something that could be improved with practice, but thetter was usually present only inrge families or ns.

    Time passed quickly as hype for the final game grew.

    ***

    In the penthouse that Damien¡¯s group entered when they first arrived at the venue, the leaders of the various powers were conversing.

    ¡°It¡¯s surprising how many of the supreme geniuses fell this year. Not only were they paired with each other quite often, but there were also many normalpetitors with tactical knowledge that surpassed them.¡± The Elf Queen stated as she observed thepetitors who were approaching the stage.

    ¡°Indeed. Not only that, even the disparity between supreme geniuses wasrge this year. There were three in particr that I¡¯ve had my eyes on.¡± Responded the Dwarf King.

    ¡°Well, one of them is of royal descent so that isn¡¯t too surprising. The other two boys have astonishing physical strength. I haven¡¯t seen that boy Ethan use much of his fire abilities, but that Damien kid has some powerful lightning.¡± The Stanton Emperor pointed out.

    Malcolm smiled at this. ¡®If you knew how weak his lightning is inparison to his other affinity, how would you react then?¡¯

    Suddenly, an unexpected voice rang out. ¡°That boy is still hiding the majority of his power. If I¡¯m not wrong, his main abilities should stem from his spatial affinity. The teleportation he showed in the previous rounds was just the tip of the iceberg.¡±

    Everyone turned to the pink-haired man who had spoken with surprise. He wasn¡¯t the talkative type, so it was rare to hear him praise someone. Most of them hadn¡¯t even heard him praise his own children, let alone an outsider.

    The Beast Empress giggled. ¡°My my, who would have expected you to praise that boy. That girl is the 2nd princess, no? It seems she¡¯s taken quite a liking to him. Maybe you¡¯ve already considered epting him into your family?¡±

    The fact that Katherine was one of the royal children didn¡¯t matter much to these leaders. There was no ban on their descendants participating in the tournament, it was just that most of them held too much arrogance topete with the masses in such a fashion.

    They didn¡¯t enjoy sheltering their children, as they knew that life or death battles and the pressure of real danger were the best way to temper their wills and abilities, but they couldn¡¯t do much about situations like this.

    This event was meant for enjoyment and building personal rtions. They didn¡¯t need to appear. Besides that, they didn¡¯t want to involve politics in an affair like this one, so they never pressured their children topete.

    The Adire Emperor spoke again, continuing the previous conversation. ¡°Hmph. The boy is an unknown. Until I find out where he came from and what his goals are, I won¡¯t give him the slightest chance.¡±

    The Lennon Emperor raised his brow. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that your 2nd daughter has an adventurous personality. Are you sure she¡¯d even ask your opinion before she makes that decision, James?¡±

    The Adire Emperor¡¯s brows twitched. Even he doubted this point. He was also a youth that yearned for freedom at one point. He had roamed the continent and carved a name for himself through various deeds, allowing him to maintain the position he had today.

    He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to sway her decision if she wanted something, and since she usually aimed to earn those things with her own strength, he wouldn¡¯t interfere. However, this matter was different.

    Regardless of his status and regardless of his indifferent demeanor, he was still her father. At the end of the day, all he wanted was to make sure she wasn¡¯t being conned or trapped by someone despicable.

    But he also knew that his worries were needless. Katherine¡¯s eyes never failed her when judging people¡¯s true intentions and personalities.

    This feature was why he always allowed her to venture rtively unapanied as long as she was disguised and used her fake name.

    ***

    While the Emperors conversed, thepetitors had been transported to the bottoms of their respective mountains.

    Out of the 300 remaining, only 12 would move forward. These odds lit fires of determination in each of thepetitors¡¯ eyes. Regardless of whether they won or lost, they¡¯d earn glory, but that didn¡¯t change anything. Nobody was content with quitting here.

    Damien looked up at the mountain in front of him and was genuinely unimpressed. It wasn¡¯t his fault though, he had spent 6 months training on one of thergest mountains in the human domain.

    Compared to that behemoth, this one looked like a mere hill, which was apt considering the game¡¯s name. The surface was mostly rocky with patches of forest here and there. It was clearly a terrain made for thepetition rather than something that would grow in nature.

    Damien then moved on to the other 24 participants around him. It seemed they¡¯de to an unsaid agreement, as all their eyes were focused on him. Damien couldn¡¯t suppress the predatory grin that formed on his face.

    ¡®Since you want to y like that, I¡¯ll get just a tad bit more serious. Let¡¯s see how you deal with me then.¡¯

    As the announcer¡¯s voice rang out, the final round finally began.

    Without wasting a single second, Damien had already teleported hundreds of meters up the mountain, startling both thepetitors and the audience outside.

    Thus far, he had only shown a range that spanned a few tens of meters, so the abrupt change was shocking.

    Not minding the dazed opposition, Damien continued making his way up the mountain. It was only when he reached the halfway point that the others realized their mistake.

    They didn¡¯t attack nor hinder each other as they all climbed the mountain. Their only goal was to defeat this supreme genius in front of them. Everything else cameter.

    When Damien reached the peak, a holographic screen appeared in front of him.

    [Participant: Damien Void]

    [Time Captured: 00:00:03]

    [Points Earned: 0]

    The announcer had never exined how much time needed to pass for one to earn points, so Damien kept a close eye on this screen as the otherpetitors closed the distance.

    Even after they arrived Damien didn¡¯t pay attention to them. They threw a plethora of elemental attacks at him from afar, hoping to cause him trouble before they could arrive, but it was wholly ineffective.

    It was unlike anything they¡¯d ever seen before. Every attack theyunched at him bounced back after reaching a certain distance from him. It was as if he waspletely impervious to their assault.

    [Time Captured: 00:05:14]

    [Points Earned: 5]

    Damien was still focused on the screen in front of him. It seemed that every minute he would earn a point, but he had arrived at the capture point too early, leaving him to wait 5 minutes before the tally even began.

    It made sense for the points to count at such a rapid pace. In usual situations, the person upying the capture point would constantly be changing, leading to ack of points being gained if it took too long to earn them.

    Besides, the points only mattered in this one round. They didn¡¯t count towards overall ranking, which would be decided by the single-elimination tournament. Those that were eliminated here would be ranked based on the overall points they gained through all the roundsbined, though.

    These people would make up the rest of the top 50 who would gain ess to the secret realm.

    Suddenly, the counter paused. ¡°Hm?¡± When Damien looked up, he saw that anotherpetitor had entered the circle with him. The circle wasrge but only enough to contain around 3 people if they were moving constantly during battle.

    For this reason, the otherpetitors decided to enter directbat one by one while the rest supported from the back.

    Damien still didn¡¯t pay attention to them. In this round, there were no early eliminations and everyone would be eliminated at the very end, so he couldn¡¯t be too hard on them when it came to injuries. Otherwise, the round would end too fast.

    He just lightly flicked lightning at the ones who entered the capture point, pushing them out of range, while casually blocking the ranged assault with his vector field.

    The audience was stunned by this overbearing performance. This wasn¡¯t how the tournament was supposed to go, right? Their doubts were easily confirmed when they looked at the screens that showed the other battles taking ce.

    It was a fiercepetition where even supreme geniuses were having trouble keeping the capture point locked for long periods.

    There were only 3 screens where the otherpetitors didn¡¯t stand a single chance.

    One was Damien, whose case didn¡¯t need to be exined further.

    The next was Ethan. He still wasn¡¯t utilizing his elemental abilities much, only using his fire to blockrger projectiles that were headed towards him. His main style was simply punchingpetitors out of his ring as they came, brute-forcing his way to the top.

    The final one was Katherine. Her case was more artistic to watch. She danced through iing projectiles as if she was putting on a show. Her movements were both graceful and precise, leaving a strong impression that won the hearts of many men in the audience.

    Besides that, she didn¡¯t need to face a singlepetitor in directbat. Any time one of them attempted to walk forward into the ring, they¡¯d end up moving in another random direction.

    Sometimes right, sometimes left, and sometimes even backward as they walked down the mountain. Somepetitors even tried walking in another direction from the start, hoping to trick the illusion, but they just ended up looking dumb.

    For these 3 geniuses, this round was a breeze.

    However, an interesting show was taking ce within one of the other arenas¡­

 Chapter 61

    Boom!

    The audience¡¯s attention was stolen by a massive explosion. On one of the screens in front of them, they saw a spectacr sight.

    Within the area of the capture point, massive tentacles made of pure darkness thrashed around, kicking up clouds of dust and stone.

    Constant small explosions rang out as thepetitors attempted to circumvent the tentacles, but their efforts didn¡¯t beget any gains.

    The caster of the massive tentacles obviously wouldn¡¯t have the mana capacity to uphold them for a long time, so he¡¯d cast them in bursts whenever he needed them.

    When they weren¡¯t active, he¡¯d send out spikes of darkness and explosive balls that corroded everything they touched.

    The darkness element was different from Zara¡¯s shadow element. Darkness element was best known for its ability to corrode, curse, and even summon undead if one had the talent. It was an element that was widely looked down upon due to its eerie nature and the vileness of some of its users.

    After all, necromancy was a branch of darkness, and desecrating the corpses of the fallen was something many people saw as wicked. But this wasn¡¯t everyone. Just like nature or the system, elements were never morally aligned. Their morality depended wholly on the user, leading many to choose against discriminating.

    On the opposite end of the spectrum was the light element, which specialized in healing, purification, speed, and burst attacks. The light element was the main reason beast meat became consumable by other species.

    Its purification qualities allowed the mana to be cleansed of harmful properties that cause mutation. Light element users usually became priest sses or something simr but it wasn¡¯t their only option.

    Take Elena for example. Although she did have the ability to heal, she chose a more offensive route for her abilities. She prioritized speed and endless stamina while her attack power was also great.

    Then came the shadow element. It was widely acknowledged as being a sort of mix between the prior two elements. The qualities of both could be seen within it, as it specialized in speed, corrosion, and its specialty, concealment.

    There was a theory that shadow ability users could potentially use both light and darkness elements if they became strong enough, but it was still not proven.

    Back to the battle, the one controlling the darkness tentacles wasn¡¯t any supreme genius, rather it was a dark horse that had finally appeared.

    It was unknown why he hid his darkness affinity, but perhaps it was due to the potential scorn he¡¯d receive from the audience.

    The boy looked like an elf, but his ears were distinctly shorter and his facial structure was entirely different. Judging by these qualities, it was clear he was a half-elf.

    As he kept using his darkness, it was clear that his body wasn¡¯t strong. He never entered direct confrontation with his attackers and opted to take range and focus on crowd control.

    Suddenly, a man shot out from the crowd of opponents with a sh, aiming to directly take out the half-elf even if it meant he¡¯d go down too. He had a sinister look in his eyes, evidently disying his disdain.

    ¡°You fiends who use darkness shouldn¡¯t be allowed to exist! Allow me to cleanse you!¡± The man shouted as mes burst from his body.

    But the half-elf didn¡¯t panic. He¡¯d been berated the same way many times throughout his life, so it no longer affected him.

    ¡°I have never once done anything evil in my life. If you wish to brand me as such simply due to the affinity I was born with, you are the true scourge.¡±

    Arge clump of darkness coalesced in his hand to form a longbow before another clump became an arrow. He pulled back the bowstring as he calcted the trajectory it should take. Then, calmly staring down his opponent, he released the string.

    The arrow ripped through the air before piercing into the man¡¯s shoulder. The shot had rung true.

    ¡°AGH!¡± The man screamed as his shoulder began to wither. Before he could make any more moves, he was pped by a tentacle and flew hundreds of meters down the mountain.

    The crowd cheered. This was an event attended by even 4th ss beings. They did not doubt the character of the participants. Just for this one event, even the ones with prejudice would throw away their cares to enjoy the fun.

    The King of the Hill event continued without a hitch for the rest of its duration before finallying to an end. The results didn¡¯t even need to be mentioned.

    Damien came in first, not being pushed out of his position on the capture point even once, while Katherine followed second and Ethan was third.

    The rest of the rounds were mostly won by the remaining supreme geniuses, but the half-elf dark horse managed to cement himself a spot in the final 12 as well.

    Thepetitors were once again teleported out. Damien didn¡¯t waste any time returning to the private room this time. Not even stopping to talk to Katherine. Entering the room, he sat down on the couch and covered his eyes with his hands.

    The final 12 was where he would get serious. He wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to stand in his way. Now that the time hade, he once again reminded himself of his goals.

    ¡®My mother is still in the hospital. It¡¯s been 3 years since I left earth already, and I have no idea what¡¯s going on there.¡¯

    While thinking of his mother, he also remembered another figure that he hadn¡¯t thought about since his early days in the dungeon.

    ¡®It¡¯s been so hectic that I even forgot about Elena. She was always a good friend of mine, and if I¡¯m being 100% honest with myself, there was a time where I felt much stronger feelings towards her.¡¯

    Suddenly, another figure shed into his mind, but he quickly shook that off. He didn¡¯t want to think about romance. Even saying those 3 words that people usually say to each other when they care for each other enough were words that he couldn¡¯t get out of his mouth.

    He didn¡¯t know why that was. Even saying those words to his mother was something he only remembered doing a few times. It wasn¡¯t just the feelings of cringe and embarrassment that held him back, there was something deeper.

    This deeper feeling became even more pronounced after his fall. No matter how much he socialized and no matter how much he bantered, he could never get rid of this gnawing feeling.

    ¡®What if they end up leaving me one day? What if they end up betraying me?¡¯

    He had made improvements due to Zara and Katherine, but he was still extremely underdeveloped emotionally. He spent his younger days getting bullied for various reasons. Not having a dad, his body that never changed from its stick-like figure, his awkward personality, and many more.

    And after the World Awakening, he was forced to spend his days with the sole purpose of making money to support himself and hisatose mother.

    ¡®Survival¡¯

    The word popped into Damien¡¯s mind again. As he reminisced on the past, he realized that his struggle for survival started even before it manifested in a literal sense. Maybe the fact that he was always struggling to survive in the unforgiving world was the reason he could so easily forge his will at the beginning of his journey.

    His only thought for so long had been survival. Taking care of his mother and himself, and then staying alive. Where was there time for him to mature emotionally? It was more apt to say that any strong emotions he had were suppressed.

    It was only in battle that he could fully express himself without care. Maybe this was the reason he became a battle maniac in the first ce.

    The freedom he felt when he put his life on the line and the excitement that pumped through his veins when he shed des with others, these feelings were euphoric and addictive to him.

    It was fun. It brought him joy. He could barely spare a moment for rest and joy for many many years, so finding joy in fighting was something he relished. He wished to hold onto that feeling as long as he could.

    Maybe once he won the tournament, once he explored the secret realm and obtained his 3rd ss, once he finally found a surefire method to return to earth, and once he finally had his mother back, he would be able to relish in feelings of happiness and maybe even think about romance.

    His thoughts came full circle as they got back on the right track. He had no idea why he suddenly became emotional, but he didn¡¯t mind.

    Being someone who didn¡¯t have the ability to feel intense emotion and sadness, he also relished this feeling. It meant that no matter what he had be, he could still confidently say that he was himself. He was a being that cared about the consequences of his actions.

    Uncovering his eyes, Damien noticed he wasn¡¯t alone anymore.

    Katherine had long since entered the practice room, but sensing the forlorn aura around Damien, she stayed silent and simply watched. Zara stood at her side and did the same. Although they both wanted tofort him, they felt that they didn¡¯t have the right to do so. Whatever was bothering him was out of their control.

    ¡®What is it that¡¯s making him act like this?¡¯ Katherine thought. During the many months they¡¯d known each other and even seen each other on a daily basis, she had never witnessed Damien hold this kind of aura or expression.

    However, before she could delve deeper into her thoughts, Damien stood up. Taking another look at him, he seemed back to normal. It¡¯d be impossible to tell that he was depressed or even sad in the slightest only a few seconds ago.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Katherine asked worriedly. She respected his privacy, but that didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t want to understand him.

    ¡°Yeah, I was just thinking about some things. It doesn¡¯t matter now, what¡¯s important is that we¡¯re going to decide a winner soon.¡± Damien smiled gently before patting her head.

    Walking past a stunned Katherine, Damien continued to talk.

    ¡°Better not stay dazed for too long, I¡¯ll be waiting for you at the top.¡±

 Chapter 62

    The structure of the final 12 tournament had been decided, and it seemed luck was on Damien¡¯s side. He and Katherine were on opposite sides of the bracket, making it so that if they fought, it would be in the finals.

    With the Nexus Event winding down, the tournament would onlyst 4 days. There would be 2 fights a day, with the final day being used only for the finals and the award ceremony that followed it.

    For the final 12 tournament, the use of artifacts would once again be allowed in thepetition. Now that only the strongest remained, it would give them the most entertainment this way.

    There were still regtions though. Thepetitors were required to use artifacts of the same grade when theypete. For instance, if one side had an SS rank artifact while the other only had an A rank, bothpetitors would have to use A rank artifacts.

    This was to further the inclusion of fairness. Since there was a dark horse this year, another rule was added. If the participant didn¡¯t have an artifact, they would be given one that either matched the grade of their opponent¡¯s or bothpetitors would be given artifacts of the same grade.

    Of course, this addition only applied to offensive artifacts and weapons. Defensive artifacts were still banned, as it would be too much of a hassle for the staff to regte their usage.

    Defensive artifacts came in many different forms, with some being armor and others being small rings or essories that could generate barriers.

    The variety was something they didn¡¯t want to control, as too many restrictions wouldn¡¯t them any benefit.

    Damien thought over these rules in his head. As he walked to the stage. he encountered Ethan who proceeded to start a conversation.

    ¡°Yo! It seems the tournament staff had kept our first fight in mind when they structured the bracket and made it so we would only face off in the semi-finals¡±

    Damien nodded. The dark horse and Katherine were also set up in such a way. The tournament staff definitely knew that the oues of the 1v1v1 fights were decided.

    Although the other supreme geniuses ended up winning their King of the Hill matches, they were extremely close games,pletely unlike those of the aforementioned 4, who dominated theirpetition.

    ¡°Of course they¡¯d do that,¡± Damien responded, ¡°our fight will be too amazing, how could they start the tournament like that?¡±

    Ethan broke into a fit of loudughter. ¡°You¡¯re right! But I saw your king of the hill match. I know I can¡¯t keep up with you if you use that crazy barrier, but I¡¯ll entertain to the best of my abilities.¡±

    Damien alsoughed. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be waiting for you in the semi-finals then.¡±

    They strongly shook hands before going their separate ways. It was time for them to sweep their first matches.

    And that¡¯s exactly how it went. Damien barely even had to try in his first match to destroy hispetition. It reinforced his belief that not all supreme geniuses were built the same.

    The two opponents had teamed up to deal with Damien before fighting amongst themselves, but this was a useless strategy. Damien didn¡¯t even activate his vector field, using only his basic distortion ability along with his lightning and sma beams to win.

    Even his sword was still unused. He tried to find enjoyment in every battle after his small bit of introspection earlier, but he couldn¡¯t do it against these weaker opponents. He was never the kind of guy who killed ants for fun.

    Due to this, he was filled with anticipation for his semifinal fight. Ethan had already proved that he could give Damien a blood-pumping fight, so he didn¡¯t have any worries. Now, he was curious about what Ethan used as an artifact.

    The impression he gave off was of someone who fought with their fists, but Damien doubted this. Ethan¡¯s status within the beast domain didn¡¯t seem to be very low, so he had to have an artifact or two.

    2 days passed and the other opening matches had ended. As expected, Katherine and the dark horse came out on top.

    Katherine had simply trapped the other two in an illusion until they eliminated each other, while the dark horse spent much more effort. He was forced to use many tricks and deceptions to gain a perfect opportunity to snipe his opponents with his darkness arrows.

    It was now the day of the semifinals and Damien and Ethan were standing on a cracked and barren desert as they faced each other. Both of them stood unarmed at the moment, but there was no doubt that they wouldn¡¯t continue that way for long.

    As the match was started, both of them kicked off at max speed and met each other with fists. It seemed they wanted to start the same way they did back in the first round.

    Neither of them made any moves to block as fists and kicksnded on their faces stomachs and ribs and both of them slowly drew blood from their opponent. It was an extremely primal fight. The ground caved slightly from impact and dust clouds sprang up from the force as the two continued this cycle.

    Then, a change urred. As if they had previously agreed, both of them infused their elements into their bodies. One was on fire while the other was covered in lightning as they once again charged.

    Their fight became much more destructive. Wild arcs of lightning bounced around the arid atmosphere as they met with tongues of me. These meetings led to explosions that would randomly destroy the surrounding scenery.

    No matter how much they continued, though, neither of them got the lead on the other. Damien had recently achieved the Master level of control with his lightning element and was focusing on its destructive properties, creating sma as his main use, but he didn¡¯t use this ability.

    This fight was a pure frontal assault, and he felt like attacking from range would signify his loss. Ethan shared this feeling, so they continued to duke it out. Finally, they both pulled out their artifacts.

    Damien¡¯s pitch ck sword with its intricate purple designs crackled with lightning as the space around it slightly bent and twisted. On the other side, Ethan wielded a massive dual-sided war hammer. It was a mixture of gold and red and emanated a regal aura. The two grinned before charging again. Damien didn¡¯t waste time.

    ¡®Void Sword Art First Step: deless.¡¯

    His de vanished as a huge gash was created in the ground, but Ethan was prepared. Sensing an invisible force headed towards him, he let out a resounding battle cry.

    ¡°HAA!¡±

    He swung his war hammer down with full force as it crashed into the ground. Shockwaves spread as a wave of fire met the spatial tear created by Damien. A battle of elements then began. Both sides pushed against each other but none could gain an advantage.

    Taking this chance, Damien transitioned into dance of the void as he charged towards Ethan. His movements became elusive and graceful as he vanished in and out of space. Ethan was put on the defensive. He was a brute through and through and had never tried to figure out such a patterned and structured movement like Damien¡¯s second step sword art.

    Their battle continued to rage on. Ethan had switched his approach as the fire surrounding his war hammer coagted. Every strike he sent was apanied by a massive explosion created by Ethan¡¯s use of fire¡¯sbustion properties. As time passed, his mana capacity began to dwindle. Noticing something, Damien paused his attack as the two made distance.

    ¡°Friend, it seems my mana can¡¯t keep up with you. I¡¯ve already lost, but let¡¯s end this with a bang. I¡¯ll be using my strongest attack, so I hope you¡¯ll join me in doing the same.¡±

    Damien nodded with a light of respect in his eyes. When it came to physical strength and battle sense, he¡¯d found an equal and a rival in Ethan. Showing him this type of respect in battle was a given. As they stared at each other, their mana raged. At its apex, they released their attacks.

    On Damien¡¯s side, it was his ssic third step, spatial copse. This was still and might forever be one of his strongest moves. On Ethan¡¯s side, a massive firestorm raged. A sea of fire filled with ming tornadoes charged forward to meet the copsed space Damien created.

    Its result wasn¡¯t an explosion, but rather a deafening silence. The ming sea was swallowed by the copsed space before a true battle began. The destructive properties of the fire tried their hardest to destroy the portion of space and almost seeded.

    A phenomenon Damien had never witnessed before took ce as small cracks formed on the outside of the portion of space he¡¯d copsed. It was a sign that the area would be broken soon. But it didn¡¯t happen. The ming sea slowly died down before it could escape the copsed space and continue its charge.

    Ethan began falling to the ground but was quickly caught by Damien, who put Ethan¡¯s arm around his shoulder.

    ¡°I may have won this time, but it was mainly due to my greater mana capacity. I expect an even grander fight from you next time.¡±

    Ethan grinned. ¡°That¡¯s right. Next time you won¡¯t even have a chance to beg for mercy, I can promise you that much.¡±

    The two had established a firm rtionship through battle and had officially titled each other as friends. With the results obvious, it didn¡¯t take long for them to be teleported out. They then witnessed another surprising scene.

    Katherine was standing there waiting for them while the dark horse was sprawled on the ground, looking like he had just seen something terrifying.

    Looking at Damien, Katherine shed a demonic smile that caused both men to shiver. ¡°I¡¯ll see you in the finals then, yeah?¡±

    As she walked off, Ethan turned to look at Damien. ¡®He¡¯s trying to tame that woman? A true man indeed.¡¯

 Chapter 63

    After Damien caught up the Katherine, the two began talking about their fights. While Damien¡¯s was a normal fight story, Katherine¡¯s was on another level.

    The fight had started normally, with the dark horse utilizing his darkness element to corrode the surrounding environment and trying to corrode her as well, while Katherine fought back with her wind. She created a field around her that the corrosion couldn¡¯t prate and attacked at range with her wind swords and bullets.

    She hadn¡¯t used her illusion affinity yet as she decided to train her wind duringbat. As the battle raged on, the dark horse became more confident and went on a fierce offensive. He used his darkness arrows to prate her field, allowing the corrosion to affect her.

    However, this was when something unexpected happened. When Katherine felt the corrosion affecting her body, she suddenly received an epiphany about her use of illusions. Her thoughts were simple.

    ¡®Can I use illusions to mimic sensations as well?¡¯

    Once it entered her head, she couldn¡¯t get it out. She stopped focusing on her wind and switched her strategy. From then on, it was a one-sided battle. Katherine used her illusions to amplify her attack power as she always did, but she added something new.

    With every attack that even slightly nicked the dark horse, he started to feel more pain than he should have. It didn¡¯t work very well at the beginning, but she had a whole fight to improve herself.

    At first, it was a slight change, turning a pinprick into a paper cut, but as time went on, her mastery over the concept intensified. Katherine¡¯s illusion control was already at the Master level, as she had started on a path to affect reality, so it wasn¡¯t like she was starting from scratch.

    Rather, what she had to do was figure out how to use the same concepts she had been constantly training on a more ethereal thing like sensations and pain. All the while, even as she bombarded the dark horse, she was also testing her abilities on herself.

    She made small cuts on her skin and attempted to amplify the pain. Her master had taught her something crucial regarding illusions, which was that they always tend to hold more power if the caster had more understanding towards what they want to portray.

    If Katherine wanted to create an average chair out of her illusions and sit on it, it¡¯d be possible. The chair would feel real even if it wasn¡¯t. But if she wanted to create a sun, it was impossible. It¡¯d only be a projection that didn¡¯t contain the power or properties of a star.

    When she thought like this, she realized something else. She had already been subconsciously affecting sensations by attempting to make her illusions feel real to the touch and the eyes. It wasn¡¯t a new concept at all, rather it was a simple change in direction.

    With this, she knew her path. Her advancement speed became rapid and the small cuts she created on her skin were hurting like deep gashes.

    By this point, around an hour and a half had passed since the fight started. When Katherine started utilizing illusions, the dark horse lost his chance to win. His attacks would reach Katherine, only for him to find that she wasn¡¯t there in the first ce.

    To make it worse, his whole body was aching. The small wounds he¡¯d built up throughout the fight were causing him more pain than he thought normal. Suddenly, a wind de sped past him as he narrowly dodged, escaping with only a flesh wound.

    But this was enough. The dark horse felt like his entire left side had been gouged with a massive w. Katherine didn¡¯t stop, relentlessly attacking him as the pain in his body was amplified past his limit. But she wasn¡¯t done. For her final experiment, she decided to test the corruption she had felt earlier.

    Although it didn¡¯t work on the same scale as the dark horse¡¯s attack, it was truly overkill. Added onto his previous pain, the slow spread of corruption and decay he felt within his body was the final straw. Without even the ability to speak, he passed out.

    It was only after being teleported back to the stage that he had woken up, feeling only slight pain in his body as it should have been. This was the reason for his terrified face. The fact that it seemed like it was all a dream, but he knew for a fact that it happened was terrifying.

    Even Damien was slightly terrified hearing this. Even though his eyes could cancel any physical illusions used on him, he had no idea if it¡¯d work on sensations. He casually asked Katherine to make him a chair, wanting to test his theory.

    Sitting on the illusionary chair, Damien felt all the small hairs on his body raise. Although his eyes did warn him that the feeling of touch he felt was an illusion, it didn¡¯t block the illusion itself.

    Now he knew. When he faced her, even if he knew his pain was an illusion, he¡¯d still feel all the pain.

    ¡®Well, I¡¯ll deal with it as ites.¡¯

    The day passed quickly as the finals approached. The talk of the whole continent revolved around the two geniusespeting for the top spot in the tournament.

    Themon popce was iparably excited. They had even given Damien and Katherine the nicknames of ¡®Spatial Lightning Prince¡¯ and ¡®Illusive Wind Fairy¡¯ respectively. It seemed that their naming sense was especially terrible.

    Most people were aware of the cringe that those nicknames held, so once they found out about Damien¡¯s adventurer days, they opted to continue calling him the ¡®Grim Reaper¡¯ instead, while Katherine¡¯s was just shortened to ¡®Illusive Fairy¡¯. Now that it was time for the finals, the betting houses were packed.

    ¡°100 gold on the Grim Reaper!¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about you idiot! Obviously, the winner will be our Illusive Fairy!¡±

    Suddenly a new voice rang out. ¡°1 white gold coin on the Grim Reaper!¡±

    All eyes turned to this voice to find a bulky wolf demihuman. He ignored all these gazes as he ced his bet and left the area. Ethan smiled lightly.

    ¡®Let¡¯s see what kind of battle you show me today.¡¯

    At this time, Damien and Katherine were already on the field. It was a lush forest this time, as opposed to the nds of the semifinals.

    The two possessed excited grins on their faces as they watched each other intently. It had been an entire year since they met and both of them were itching to battle ever since that first meeting. It was now that they¡¯d finally get the chance.

    And then, the battle began.

    Neither of them wasted any time. A sword appeared in Damien¡¯s hand while a scythe was in Katherine¡¯s. They took distance and began their fight.

    However, it looked more like a choreographed dance, a deadly one. Katherine danced gracefully as the environment around her became illusions. Countless wind des surged forward, attempting to cut Damien into pieces.

    Meanwhile, Damien¡¯s dance was more efficient and cruel. His figure flickered in and out of reality as every swing of his was apanied byrge gashes in the ground.

    This was the result of Damien¡¯s hard work on his sword art. He¡¯d finally obtained the ability to fuse and flow between his different sword arts.

    Wind des were met with spatial des as the area between the two turned into a minefield filled with explosions. Through that field, many small wind bullets whizzed by and rushed towards Damien.

    For the sake of the battle, Damien didn¡¯t have his vector field around him, but he found that his decision was the wrong one. The second those wind bullets hit his body, Damien felt like he was a mortal getting repeatedly smashed with a hammer.

    Knowing Damien¡¯s toughness, Katherine didn¡¯t hold back on the pain amplification.

    Damien grit his teeth and powered through it. He¡¯d already had his arm ripped off, his body structure forcefully changed at the cellr level, and his entire left side burnt to a crisp. If he couldn¡¯t handle this much, he should just give up his pursuit of power.

    Damien still didn¡¯t activate his vector field as he felt that an absolute defense within his power range was a cheat skill, so he endured the multiple doses of pain amplification that continuously berated him. All the while, Damien kept attacking. Shortly after, he added sma beams that were abination of his vector control and his lightning to the mix.

    After his training with Malcolm, these sma beams were much more powerful than they were when he first learned how to use them. They ripped through trees like butter and flew straight for Katherine. Sensing danger from those beams, Katherine raised multiple illusory earth walls as she used propulsion to st herself out of their trajectory. This was a good decision, as the beams pierced through those walls and continued into the expansive forest.

    Katherine gritted her teeth. ¡®My attack power isn¡¯t on par with his, I need to find another way to win.¡¯ She then thought back to the move she used in the first round to defeat Evan. ¡®That¡¯s it!¡¯

    She immediately implemented this strategy. Every wind attack she threw at Damien now contained the properties of sound, affecting his bnce and making him nauseous. He still gritted his teeth and endured, but judging by the blood that seeped out of his mouth and ears, it was clear that her strategy was effective.

    Although they had been tempered, Damien¡¯s internal organs weren¡¯t nearly as sturdy as his flesh, his muscles, and his bones. This was the first time someone had used that weakness against him.

    The battle continued, with both of them approaching their limits. Kathrine¡¯s mana was close to running dry, and her stamina wasn¡¯t great either. Meanwhile, Damien still had around a third of his mana, but his consciousness was fading in and out as he struggled to keep himself awake. Just as he had thought before, Katherine was the only one in his generation that could challenge him.

    Suddenly, Damien sensed immense danger. Looking over at Katherine through his blurry vision, he saw her taking a deep breath. He knew what this signified, as he had done it countless times before. She was charging up for a breath attack.

    Indeed, Katherine had gotten the idea from a fictional monster she had read about called a Banshee. Their screams were said to even cause the souls of their victims to be damaged. She focused on amplifying the sound within her voice, keeping any offensive properties of wind away from her internal body. In front of her mouth, a small tornado began to form.

    Then, when she felt it was enough, she let out a high-pitched screech. Apanying this was a massive horizontal tornado of wind that she strengthened with illusions.

    Not wanting to lose out, Damien let out a resounding roar. His dragon¡¯s breath was released, directly shing with Katherine¡¯s banshee scream.

    A massive explosion ensued. The trees in the surroundings were ripped to shreds by rampaging wind before they were burnt to cinders by wild lightning. The ground couldn¡¯t bear the pressure and directly caved in more than 10 meters deep. Both Damien and Katherine were flung away.

    Damien was barely conscious, but he held onto his reasoning while he endured the ringing in his ears. His training in the blood world back in the dungeon was the only reason he could do so.

    Teleporting over, he saw Katherine sitting on the floor, simrly teetering on the border between passing out and staying awake. He slowly regained his bearings before putting his hand on her shoulder.

    ¡°I win.¡± He dered with a weak grin.

    Although she wanted to refute, she couldn¡¯t. She was truly burnt out at this point. Damien helped her up as both of them used each other for support. Even though he had won, he wasn¡¯t any less exhausted than her.

    Outside, the crowd was roaring. Nobody could contain their excitement after seeing such a spectacle as those two breath attacks shing. Within that apuse, the announcer¡¯s voice rang out for a final time.

    ¡°The winner of the 100th-anniversary Nexus Event is¡­.Damien Void!¡±

 Chapter 64

    The Nexus Event had finally reached its end. Now, the only thing remaining was the award ceremony.

    A match was held earlier between Ethan and the dark horse to determine third ce, but its oue didn¡¯t need to be mentioned. Ethan¡¯s fire was fatal against the dark horse¡¯s darkness, not to mention his insane physical strength.

    The darkness arrows that had sessfully won many rounds were unable to perform well against such a powerful body, and by the time it could attempt to corrode, it was burned away by mes. Like this, Ethan had a rtively easy win for third ce.

    The Finals had been held around noon, so the ceremony would take ce in the nighttime. This was out of consideration for Damien and Katherine, who were in dire need of rest after such an intense fight.

    The two of them were teleported back to the main stage where they faced a rambunctious crowd whose cheers could drown out all other sounds in the vicinity. How could the crowd not be excited?

    The Nexus Event only urred every 10 years, and not every generation was guaranteed to produce insane geniuses. However, this generation produced not just one such genius, but four of them. Even the dark horse was included in this list since he lost only to Katherine.

    And the fact that Katherine was able to drive Damien, who wasrgely unimpeded in his path forward, to a point where he was close to fainting with exhaustion, elevated this status even more.

    As the two basked in glory, Damien held Katherine¡¯s hand before raising their arms in the air, taking a victory pose. The crowd went wild. Under the deafening cheers, the two finally left the stage and headed back to their private room.

    They thought of nothing but sleep at the moment, not even realizing that their hands were still interlocked. Reaching the king-sized bed, they simultaneously copsed and passed out. Damien still needed to heal his shaken internals, while Katherine needed to recover her dwindling mana capacity.

    As the two slept peacefully, many conversations were taking ce around the arena.

    ¡°Haha!¡± Laughed Ethan, ¡°I knew he hadn¡¯t shown me everything he has. Damn, I¡¯ll force it out of him next time.¡±

    The two elves in front of him nodded. ¡°Indeed, if he had used thatst ability during the earlier rounds, nobody would have stood a chance,¡± Arained.

    ¡°That might be true, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that he held back to match us and have proper battles. He¡¯s an admirable guy.¡± Responded Eren.

    The two siblings and Ethan were all extremely high-status individuals within their own domains, and with the beast and elven domains bordering each other, it was obvious that they¡¯d have a connection.

    Many others within the crowd were thinking along the same lines. However, the fact that Katherine could match Damien even when he released power that could squash thepetition was also a major point of discussion.

    Eva was also within the arena. Although she didn¡¯t say anything, there was a fierce light of determination shining in her eyes.

    Back in the penthouse, the various leaders were also conversing.

    ¡°That little girl of yours is really impressive. To use sound magic in such a way is very rare, not to mention that it would usually cause heavy injuries to the throat and internal organs.¡± The beast empress pointed out.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± the dwarf king said, ¡°Sound is a property of wind that not many choose to pursue. It¡¯s admirable of her to attempt such a thing, and even seed.¡±

    The Adire emperor¡¯s face remained unchanged, but if one looked closely, there was a concealed light of pride deep within his ruby eyes. However, his focus was on something else right now.

    ¡°That boy¡­¡±

    The beast emperor nodded. ¡°It¡¯s as you think. That was dragon¡¯s breath. The boy isn¡¯t dragonkin from what I sensed, so it doesn¡¯t make sense for him to have that.¡±

    The beast empress also chimed in. ¡°His beast aura is a mix between many different species, but its main properties are that if a wolf¡¯s. It would make more sense for him to obtain some Fenrir bloodline than for him to have dragons breath.¡±

    The emperors continued pondering for a while before making a decision.

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait until the award ceremony ends, then we can simply ask him about it. At the end of the day, he¡¯s 2 sses below us. He can¡¯t resist our will.¡± Proposed the Stanton Emperor. But this idea was immediately rejected.

    ¡°No, That boy is a spatial ability user, it wouldn¡¯t be far-fetched if he had multiple ways to escape when he feels threatened.¡± The Lennon Emperor chimed.

    The two had always had a rivalry, so the other leaders weren¡¯t surprised at their differing opinions. The two argued for many minutes before the Adire Emperor raised his hand.

    ¡°Enough. We will ask the boy about his power, but we won¡¯t push for an answer. Every expert has their fair share of secrets. What¡¯s more important is, has anyone been able to find his origins?¡±

    None of the leaders spoke for a while before the beast empress raised her voice. ¡°I¡¯ve been able to track down the first location he appeared in, but it doesn¡¯t solve the mystery of his origins in the slightest.¡±

    Seeing her peers looking at her impatiently, she chuckled before continuing. ¡°What¡¯s interesting is that I gained this information from a 2nd ss grey deer. Their species is known for their high intelligence, thus she was able to converse with me.

    ¡°It turned out that a year ago while she was grazing in a field on the outskirts of the Helia Forest, a human male and arge ck wolf emerged seemingly from nowhere. They simply appeared in the middle of the forest without prior notice.

    ¡°ording to her report, the human was covered in dirt and blood and wearing nothing but a torn rag on his legs, while the wolf was simrly dirty. It was only after they bathed in a nearby river that she saw their appearance.

    ¡°After this incident, the two exited the forest and took off running. This was thest she saw of them and she had almost forgotten about it entirely. If it was anyone besides me asking, I doubt she¡¯d have remembered this small meeting.¡±

    All of the emperors once again fell into thought. While most of them were still confused about what value this information held, there were three among them that formed a faint possibility in their heads.

    This was the Adire emperor, the beast empress herself, and Malcolm, who was silent for most of the conversation.

    ¡®Did he emerge from a dungeon somewhere in the area? If so, could he be¡­¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t a rare case for otherworlders to get trapped in the gates that form before dungeons were naturally created, but it was extremely rare for them to survive long enough to reach the surface.

    Even if they managed to reach the surface, they¡¯d be in an unknownnd and most likely be killed due to their naivety. But Damien seemed to possess knowledge of the world from the beginning, leading to their confusion.

    But in Malcolm¡¯s head, many pieces of the puzzle seemed to click together. He was the only one among them who¡¯d spent a significant amount of time with Damien, so he naturally knew better.

    While Damien had basic knowledge of the world, much of it was outdated, as if he¡¯d learned it all from an old book. He didn¡¯t know of the Nexus Event before he entered the academy, he didn¡¯t know about the Nox or the war before Malcolm exined it, and he didn¡¯t even know about mana circuits as a concept.

    ¡®He¡¯s from a beginner world?¡¯ Malcolm thought. ¡®But what kind of beginner world can birth such an insane talent?¡¯

    Many hours had passed while the leaders were having their discussions, and night had already fallen.

    Within the private room, Damien¡¯s consciousness stirred as he slowly began to wake up. His eyes still half-closed, Damien attempted to sit up, only to notice a weight on his right arm and side.

    Looking to his side, Damien was so shocked he almost instinctively teleported away. ¡®Why do I always end up in cliche anime scenarios with her??¡¯

    This situation was as cliche as it gets. By his side was a slumbering Katherine. Her head was rested on his arm while her arms were wrapped around his waist and her legs around his own.

    ¡®What am I? Her personal body pillow?¡¯ Damien shook his head, moving to take her off of him, but he ended up stopping halfway.

    Damien was still a man. The two pillowy mounds against his chest and the faint valley he could feel on his thigh forced him into a tough position.

    Looking at her now, Damien realized that Katherine did indeed have a spectacr body. Her figure was curvaceous, but not to the point that it was unnatural.

    Her chest was a solid C cup that he felt would fit perfectly within his hands and as for her butt, Damien only had to take a peek to know it was perfectly shapely. The slight jiggle when he moved also didn¡¯t escape his sharp eyes.

    Honestly speaking, it was a body figure that was perfectly within his tastes. At this point, he was back toying down as he subtly admired the sensations he was feeling. Suddenly, a wild thought entered his head.

    ¡®If she can enhance pain during battle, couldn¡¯t she also enhance pleasure during¡­¡¯

    Without warning, Damein fiercely bit his tongue, drawing blood and snapping out of his thoughts. He couldn¡¯t stop himself from sweating a little.

    Even previously when they ended up in a much less precarious situation, his bestial instinct attempted to drive him wild, but since there was no physical contact, it was easier to control.

    This time, he almost failed to control himself. He knew his thoughts and actions were out of character, but his mind subconsciously ignored that fact.

    ¡®This is insane. Lust is an aspect I never needed to focus on controlling until recently. At this point I either need to stay abstinent or relearn how to control this instinct.¡¯

    Before Damien could think further, he felt a slight movement on his side.

    Katherine¡¯s eyes slowly fluttered open. She was feeling great, as she had slept using an extremelyfortable pillow, so she grabbed it tighter, wondering what it was. When her vision became clear, the first thing that greeted her was a pair of swirling amethyst-red eyes staring back at her.

    ¡°Had enough?¡± Damien said with a teasing smile. It was only then that Katherine realized the awkward position the two of them were in.

    Scampering out of therge bed like a startled cat, Katherine took a second to collect her thoughts. Then, without another word, she sent a fierce re at Damien before fleeing the room with a face redder than any tomato that ever existed.

    Damien¡¯s smile turned wry. ¡®Doesn¡¯t she know that looking at me like that only makes her more attractive?¡¯

    Shaking his head, Damien also stepped out of the bed. As he exited the room, his thoughts shifted once again.

    ¡®It¡¯s finally time to get my Elixir.¡¯

 Chapter 65

    When Damien re-entered the arena, the scenery waspletely different. While the colosseum-style stands were still packed with hundreds of thousands of people, the actual floor was changed.

    Previously, it was arge space with only the single massive lifted tform in the middle that equated the stage. Now, it was filled with decoration.

    The stage itself now held 47 small elevated tforms dispersed around its perimeter, while the middle of the stage had 3 special tforms of different heights, though they were allrger than the other 47. The smallest of the three was bronze in color, the middle was silver, and the highest one was a pristine gold.

    These were obviously meant for the top 3. Besides these tforms, 9 regal thrones sat side by side, each of which was decorated differently. As the participants hadn¡¯t arrived yet, it was natural that the leaders wouldn¡¯t make their appearance either, leaving the thrones empty for now.

    The emptynd was filled with majestic carpet and decorations that highlighted the stage. The ambiance truly changed when it was time for the ceremony.

    Slowly, people started filing into the arena. Many tournament staff also entered, guiding each genius to their respective spot in ordance with their rank. The higher the rank, the closer to the middle of the stage they were situated.

    ncing around, Damien spotted Katherine looking at him in the distance. Just as he was about to wave and head over, he saw her harrumph and turn her head. Damien once again smiled wryly. ¡®You were the one clinging to me, so why am I the one receiving the harsh treatment?¡¯

    Even whileining, Damien didn¡¯t bother her. He figured she needed space after that awkward encounter and he respected that. Once again scanning the area, he found Ethan. This time, he wasn¡¯t rejected as he walked forward.

    The two greeted each other with a firm handshake and side hug before engaging in conversation.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be going to the secret realm after this, right? I honestly can¡¯t hold my anticipation.¡± Ethan said with an excited grin.

    Thinking about theing adventure, Damien couldn¡¯t suppress his grin either. ¡°I also can¡¯t wait. Adventuring the secret realm, adventuring the continent, and then adventuring the myriad worlds, just the thought makes my blood boil with excitement.¡±

    Ethan wasn¡¯t expecting Damien¡¯s ambition to be so grand, but thinking about the scenes Damien described, he had to agree. ¡°Well, when you end up exploring in other worlds, make sure to call me. I can¡¯t miss out on such a fun adventure.¡±

    Damien replied with a smile. ¡°How could I leave you behind? I need a personal punching bag for whenever I get bored.¡±

    ¡°You!¡± Ethan eximed. The two stared at each other as if they were about to fight before they randomly broke into a fit ofughter.

    ¡°Sure sure, let¡¯s see who bes who¡¯s punching bag at that point. If anything, you¡¯ll always be that Katherine girl¡¯s punching bag so I¡¯ll be able to have fun watching that show.¡±

    Damien rolled his eyes. ¡°Yeah? Even if it¡¯s like that at least I have her. Where is your girl at? Or can an ugly bastard like you never attract a woman to you?¡±

    The truth is, Ethan was a pretty handsome guy in his own right. It was only when he stood next to Damien that he only looked slightly above average. Even now there were plenty of girls of all races within the crowd who were sending heart eyes and screaming his name.

    Ethan scoffed. ¡°Hmph! All the girls love me, it¡¯s just that I¡¯ve already got a fianc¨¦e, so I turn them away!¡±

    ¡°Alright, when I meet that fianc¨¦e of yours, I¡¯ll make sure to tell her about how many women you always have trying to warm your bed. A good brother should always help his friend out.¡± Damien snickered.

    The two continued bickering for many minutes like a pair of children before the ceremony started. By this point, the emperors had already arrived and the ceremony had already begun, yet these two paid it no mind as they tried to one-up each other.

    It was lucky that they were seated rtively far away, so besides the leaders with their 4th ss senses, nobody could hear their bickering. Though, it was pretty obvious if one just looked at them.

    The beast empress smiled lightly and the beast emperor had a wild grin, thinking back to when he was the same age. The Adire emperor had a thoughtful look on his face as he watched this new side of Damien. It looked like he was performing some sort of evaluation.

    The ceremony for the other 48petitors was simple. Since there was no material reward for them, their name was simply stated along with their allegiance, if they possessed one. It was essentially a reward of exposure.

    The ceremony continued for about an hour before it was time for the top 3. It was at this time that Damien and Ethan finally stopped their bickering, though they still red at each other with battle-hungry grins.

    ¡°In 3rd ce, Ethan Wolfang from the Wolfang n in the Beast Domain! He will receive an SS rank artifact!¡±

    Ethan walked up to the 3rd ce podium as he stood proudly. As the audience cheered, the tournament staff approached him.

    ¡°Would you like a defensive or supportive artifact?¡±

    Ethan didn¡¯t even hesitate to choose the supportive one. The tournament staff pulled out a silver te with a shining golden bracelet on it before presenting it to Ethan. As he epted it, he grinned. It seemed he was satisfied with his artifact.

    ¡°In 2nd ce, Katherine Hart from the Hart n in the Adire Empire! She will also receive an artifact as well as a permanent stat boost potion! These potions can only be created by the most experienced and talented alchemists that exist currently!¡±

    Katherine repeated the same procedure as Ethan, standing on the silver tform with pride. When the staff approached her, she chose a defensive artifact.

    She was then handed a glimmering tinum-colored chest armor and a bottle of liquid. Smiling, she nced at Damien before pretending like she didn¡¯t do anything. Finally, it was Damien¡¯s turn.

    ¡°And finally, our winner for the 100th-anniversary Nexus Event, Damien Void! Although he is currently unaffiliated, he is a member of the adventurers guild as well as a resident of the Adire Empire! He will receive the previous two rewards as well as Elixir, the miraculous medicine that can heal all ailments and injuries!¡±

    Damien stood on the highest golden tform with pride. He received a supportive artifact that was graciously shaped the same as his cross-shaped earring and the same potion as Katherine. Along with these two came a glowing reddish-gold potion in a pristine ss container.

    This was the elixir that he had been chasing so desperately. He finally obtained the method to cure his mother. He immediately put his rewards away in his subspace to checkter.

    After a few closing words from the various leaders, the ceremony finally ended, finally closing the Nexus Event.

    Night quickly fell and various parties were taking ce in the vicinity of the massive arena. Crowds of people danced and celebrated without boundaries or misgivings as they threw their cares away.

    Damien watched all this happen from atop the arena roof. It wasn¡¯t normally essible, but he had no problems teleporting here. As he watched the masses below enjoy their time without responsibilities, he slowlyid down and gazed upon the stars.

    ¡®Responsibilities, huh. Although it feels like a massive weight has been lifted from my shoulders after obtaining the Elixir, it doesn¡¯t feel like my responsibilities decreased. It¡¯s the same feeling I had back before I fell into the dungeon and before I faced that wolf and mutated.¡¯

    Damien reached his hand out, attempting to grab the stars. ¡®Something is happening on earth. This intuition has never failed me, and the secret realm has been screaming opportunity, so this is the only possible scenario. But I don¡¯t have the power to rush back. I can only pray that nothing happens to my mother before I can arrive.¡¯

    Damien closed his eyes, attempting to clear his mind. It was then that he felt someone arrive next to him.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be celebrating? You were first ce in the Nexus Event, after all, everyone wants to party with you.¡±

    Smiling lightly, Damien responded. ¡°And aren¡¯t you supposed to be avoiding me? Who knew that our friendly neighborhood battle princess was the shy type.¡±

    Katherine blushed and looked away. ¡°About that, I¡¯m sorry I clung to you like that while I was asleep. It must have been ufortable.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that you were pretty heavy.¡± Damien teased.

    ¡°Y-y-you!¡± Katherine stuttered before pouncing on Damien, repeatedly banging on his chest.

    ¡°Okay okay, I was just kidding,¡± Damien relented. ¡°Besides, do you really think I was ufortable? I don¡¯t think I could name a single straight man who would be ufortable with a beauty using him as a pillow.¡±

    Katherine paused for a second as her face once again became a bright shade of red. Slugging lightly, she slowlyid down. Since she had just pounced on him, she ended upying on top of him with her head on his chest.

    Damien raised his brow. This was definitely crossing a line that they¡¯d both tried especially hard not to cross for the past few months, but he said nothing.

    Putting his hands around her waist, he continued staring at the night sky.

    A peaceful atmosphere permeated the air as the two stayed still in such a position. Neither spoke and neither could find words to even start a conversation. Both of them were too focused on their current position.

    Suddenly, the calm sky was lit up with bright colors. Fireworks shot through the sky like shooting stars as the night was illuminated with various shapes.

    Damien watched this scene as he spoke. ¡°You¡¯re missing quite the show, you know?¡±

    Katherine lightly nodded but didn¡¯t turn her head to watch. Instead, she buried herself deeper into Damien¡¯s chest.

    Katherine then mumbled something under her breath. No matter how Damien tried to decipher what she said, he couldn¡¯t, but he knew.

    Above the crowds of people emanating a pure aura of happiness and under the beautiful night sky lit with the color of the stars, Katherine had said something he would always wish he had heard, no matter how far in the future it¡¯d be.

 Chapter 66

    After that eventful night, an entire month passed without much drama.

    The hordes of people who crowded the arena slowly dwindled as everyone went back to their mundane lives.

    Only the top 50 remained within the arena, as it was more convenient to have them gathered before the secret realm opening. They would also be given ample information regarding what to expect.

    For this purpose, they received small jade slips that were apparently information storage artifacts. Unlike spatial rings, these jade slips couldn¡¯t store physical objects, but they could store memories and information that canter be viewed by others.

    Before checking his jade slip and gathering information, Damien took a quick look at the items he received as the reward from the tournament. Just like artifacts, potions of high enough rank would also be quantified by the system.

    [Earring of Concealment]

    [An earring forged by a master craftsman that holds the ability to conceal the user¡¯s presencepletely. No footstep will make a sound and the user will not be noticed unless they will it.]

    [Added effect- Increases mana capacity by 250]

    Damien felt the description was a bitckluster, but equipped the earring anyway. His previous one was simply for decoration, so it wouldn¡¯t hinder him either way. Only when he equipped it did he realize that the description was apt.

    His steps were lighter than any feather and he felt that his whole presence had been erased. He quickly walked up behind Ethan and grabbed his shoulder, terrifying him in the process. It seemed that unless he was standing directly in front of someone, they wouldn¡¯t be able to sense his presence at all.

    [Permanent Stat Boost Potion]

    [A potion created by a master alchemist. It has the ability to permanently raise a single physical stat by 25 points. Due to the effects of the potion, it may only be used once every 5 years. If taken before this cooldown, the potion will have no effect.]

    Damien thought for a second. His physical stats were already high enough, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have more. The only problem was that the potion would only raise a single stat. He decided to save it forter once he had time to properly think it over.

    Finally, he checked the Elixir. Unlike the other two item names that carried the same light blue color as the rest of the holographic system window, the Elixir was titled in shining purple.

    [Elixir]

    [A miraculous medicine that cannot be forged by anyone alive on the current in the present time. It has the effect of healing any ailment, disease, illness, or injury to arge extent. Even if one is on the brink of death, one can be brought to their peak by this potion. On mortals, this potion shows even more exaggerated effects.]

    Damien smiled. ¡®I don¡¯t know what it means by exaggerated effects, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s a good thing.¡¯ He let out a light chuckle as he imagined his mother waking up with super strength.

    After he was finished with that, he decided to get informed on the secret realm he would soon be entering.

    Damien learned a great deal about the Eternal Secret Realm through the jade slip. Though it was called a secret realm, it truly was its own world. It had various ecosystems and inhabitants that lived their own lives. 50 people was a negligible amountpared to the total poption of the secret realm.

    Most of this poption was made up of beasts, however, unlike on Apeiron, a majority of these beasts would be 3rd ss. 2nd ss and 4th ss beasts were also present in smaller numbers while 1st ss beasts weren¡¯t even counted. They were insignificant in the scheme of things.

    These beasts were scattered throughout this small world and would pose a great deal of danger to the participants, but that was the point. Without danger, there was no pressure to motivate growth.

    However, this didn¡¯t mean they were being sent to die. The jade slips contained information on the known locations of 4th ss beasts to avoid. Although the secret realm wasn¡¯t opened every 10 years with the Nexus Event, it was opened every 100 years as its own separate event.

    Another fact about the secret realm was that it didn¡¯t have the structural integrity to house demigods, making 4th ss the peak of strength.

    The information they were provided was gathered during the 10 openings since the Great War ended.

    Besides beasts, these were also intelligent species. There was a rumor that someone spotted a fairy race and various subspecies of other races such as moon elves. The most dangerous of these indigenous races were the barbarian race.

    The barbarian race prioritized strength over everything and held others in contempt due to their use of magic instead of physical might.

    Barbarians were especially hostile against outsiders and possessed an uncanny ability to differentiate those who entered the secret realm from its original inhabitants.

    Not much else had been documented about their race besides the fact that the participants should be wary of them.

    The environments of the small world were also filled with hazards. Massive poisonous swamps that could easily kill 2nd sses, active volcanic regions whose temperatures could melt flesh like nothing, and many more ces could be found.

    Though it was considered a small world due to its status as a secret realm andck of ess to the outside, its ecosystems were much more varied than the continent.

    The secret realm was home to countless treasures that matched or even outssed the number of dangers.

    It was said that many of the peak experts from all races on Apeiron gathered within the secret realm during the end of the Great War to leave legacies for worthy sessors of the future. They were aware that their deaths were approaching, perhaps looking to pass the mantle to someone else.

    This spection was created due to the discovery of structures titled ¡®Legacy Tombs¡¯. These structures took all different shapes and sizes but shared simr qualities. They¡¯d test those that entered them and judge their worthiness. If one could prove themself during this test, they¡¯d reap massive rewards.

    Reading about this fact made many puzzle pieces click together for Damien. This whole time, he was wondering why everyone said there were treasures everywhere, and the picture painted in his mind was quite silly.

    He imagined that he could randomly start digging and find an S rank artifact in the dirt or something.

    Knowing that there was more of a structure to the acquisition of treasure reassured him that his time in the secret realm wouldn¡¯t be spent doing stupid things.

    However, his dumb thoughts weren¡¯tpletely wrong. There were indeed some treasures that were randomly strewn about within the realm, as they were remnants of battles that took ce there in the past. Only, the number and quality of these were much lower.

    After gaining the knowledge he required, Damien continued his days of rest before his entrance to the small world. On one of these days, he was called forth by the emperors who wished to ask him about his breath ability, but he kept his mouth shut.

    After all, the only reason he could acquire traits from certain beasts he devoured was due to his Void Physique. He hadn¡¯t seen any mention of his physique in the records he had read, but he still thought it best to conceal its existence. The fact that its abilities still weren¡¯tpletely unlocked told him that it was a power he should save as a trump card.

    That meeting wasn¡¯t worth mentioning. Since the emperors had already agreed not to pressure or antagonize him, it ended swiftly after his refusal. The only hitch was the constant stare he was getting from the Adire Emperor.

    It wasn¡¯t ferocious or filled with killing intent like the stare he received when the two first met, but it was equally creepy. It felt like the emperor was staring into his soul, attempting to gauge all of his secrets.

    The emperors chose to remain in the arena as well since their strength was necessary to open the secret realm. They all had many forces left guarding their empires andmunication devices to receive news if something went wrong, so they weren¡¯t worried about their prolonged absence.

    In other news, Damien and Katherine¡¯s rtionship had made slight progress after the end of the Nexus Event.

    The two still maintained a line that they didn¡¯t want to cross yet, but their closeness had been taken to a new level. They were together at almost all times, even training within each other¡¯s vicinity.

    Not to mention, it wasn¡¯t rare to see them cuddling as if they were truly a couple.

    Sometimes they¡¯d end up falling asleep on the same bed as they did after their fight in the finals, with the only difference being a greatck of awkwardness. When they woke up, they¡¯d simply say their good mornings and continue with their days.

    The one who had the most headaches with this was Zara, who¡¯s as always stuck third-wheeling. Yet, whenever she brought up the topic, both of them would swiftly avoid it.

    Zara had been spending time with the beast empresstely, as she had asked Damien for his permission. She also felt a connection to the empress that she wanted to figure out.

    As everyone continued their peaceful daily lives, the month ended, and the time to open the secret realm dawned on them.

    It was the first day of the next month and all 50petitors who were granted ess to the secret realm gathered. In front of them was arge field that, although empty, radiated an ancient aura.

    The 9 leaders were standing in front of them. Without a word, magic power billowed as they channeled mana into the ground.

    Voom!

    A strange sound echoed through the air as the ground began to warp. Within half an hour, a massive hole had formed in the previously still grasnd.

    ¡°Alright,¡± said the Adire emperor, who had small beads of sweat trickling down his face. The amount of mana required to open the entrance was truly extravagant.

    ¡°To enter the secret realm, all you have to do is jump through this hole. The portal will lead you directly there. Keep in mind that you¡¯ll be separated when you enter and your locations will be random. Stay safe and stay cautious as you search for opportunities and gain power.¡±

    50 small tokens flew into the participants¡¯ hands. Then, with the permission of the leaders, they slowly walked forward until they reached the edge of the gaping hole.

    ¡°These tokens will directly teleport you out after 6 months. Remember, if you lose the token, you¡¯ll be stuck until the next time the secret realm opens, and if you die, the token will teleport your corpse out.¡±

    Ignoring thepetitors that were now showing slightly nervous expressions, he finished his speech.

    ¡°Now go on and explore. May fate bless you all with fortuitous encounters.¡±

    Damien smiled. It seemed that most of his speech was directed towards a specific someone, but he wasn¡¯t going toment on it. Turning to that someone, his smile grew wider.

    ¡°See you on the other side.¡±

    Then, he jumped.

 Chapter 67

    Following Damien¡¯s example, the rest of the geniuses followed suit, jumping into the abyss.

    The fall made Damien remember the beginning of his journey in the dungeon, except this time he wasn¡¯t in heart-wrenching pain as he fell. Surrounded by the gnawing darkness, Damien ended up reminiscing.

    After a short minute, he saw lighting from below him, outlining the exit to the tunnel. Within this light were expertly concealed spatial fluctuations. At the speed he was falling, it didn¡¯t take long for him to reach.

    Falling out of the tunnel, Damien was greeted with bright blue skies everywhere he looked. The wind caused his clothes to p wildly as he continued his descent. Looking down, he could only see ayer of clouds.

    At this point, Damien had already learned how to fly through the use of his vector control, but he decided to fall through the cloudyer before making any decisions. He didn¡¯t know how high he was or where he was, so he wanted a better overview.

    And when he finally broke through the cloudyer, the scenes presented to him truly left him in awe.

    Below him was a vast mountain range bigger than any he had seen before, stretching to the ends of his vision with some mountains that even touched the clouds. This was an impressive feat since the ground was so far away that Damien couldn¡¯t even see it from his current elevation. Instead, what he saw was a second cloudyer that was present around halfway up the tallest mountain he saw.

    Besides the mountains, multiple floating rocks took the shape of an asteroid belt, with some rocksrge enough to build cities on them. It reminded him of that one scene from a certain movie about tall blue people. If he had to imagine the immortal mountains he saw mentioned in cultivation novels on earth, this would probably be the scenery in his head.

    As he continued to freefall, Damien released his awareness and mana sense to get a feel for the dangers on the mountains he was close to. This gave him another dose of shock. He could only cover a minuscule portion of the mountain closest to him, but even in that portion, he saw countless 3rd ss beasts roaming freely.

    ¡®It would be best if I continue descending. I can return to this area once I¡¯ve raised my strength.¡¯

    Making this decision, he elerated his descent and quickly broke through the second cloudyer. Another majestic sight greeted his eyes.

    Vast ins filled with roaming beasts with various shapes, looking prehistoric, andrge bodies of water strewn around the area. If he had to name the environment, he¡¯d call it a marsnd, but it was too pristine and beautiful to be named as such.

    At this time, he could finally see the bottom of the mountains. With his current direction, he was headed straight into a deep gorge between two mountains, so he decided to stop and figure out his location before continuing.

    It was an easy task, he simply used his vector control to manipte the air molecules to keep him afloat. Any normal person would be crushed by the pressure of such an abrupt stop, but he didn¡¯t have that worry. Vector control was truly a very conventional power to have.

    Taking out his jade slip, Damien viewed the map that had been recorded within it.

    Although it wasn¡¯t detailed, as there were many areas of the secret realm that had yet to be explored, it had enough majorndmarks to gain a general idea of his location. Damien didn¡¯t doubt that these immortal mountains were one of suchndmarks. And it truly was easy.

    Looking at the mountain next to him, which seemed to be the tallest of them all, Damien pondered. ¡®This is the Godspark mountain, which means this area is the Heaven-Reaching Mountain Range.¡¯

    Though most of the mountain range was unexplored, there were many stories about it. Especially this Godspark Mountain. It was rumored that the peak of this mountain was the resting ce of a fallen god.

    ¡®A fallen god, huh.¡¯ Damien thought as he gazed upon the mountain that faded into the cloudyer.

    He felt an indescribable urge to climb to the peak and witness even a trace of a being at such a level, but he suppressed this. There was no way such an impressive peak didn¡¯t contain a 4th ss beast.

    ¡®Maybe once I reach 3rd ss¡­¡¯

    Shaking off his thoughts, Damien started descending. He knew there were countless different areas and ecosystems in the secret realm, but it would take many years to explore them all, not to mention just this one expansive mountain range.

    With the rumors about Godspark mountain, even if there wasn¡¯t a fallen god at its peak, there were sure to be many Legacy Tombs lining its slope.

    He was also only 25 levels away from 3rd ss. With the number of 2nd and 3rd ss beasts on this mountain and in its vicinity, he¡¯d be able to gather the exp he needed rtively quickly.

    ¡®I haven¡¯t evolved in a while either¡­¡¯ Damien wasn¡¯t a masochist in any way shape or form, but he had subconsciously equated intense pain to the feeling of gaining power. The traits he received after all that pain made him crave to feel it once again.

    However, he wanted to start small. Instead ofnding on the mountain itself, Damien descended into the gorge below it to start his grind.

    Just like his dungeon days, he was going to power level in the darkness of the gorge.

    Meanwhile, Katherine was going through her own thoughts and decisions. Damien wasn¡¯t the only person who was dropped at the Godspark mountain.

    When Katherine exited the abyss, she also found herself in the air, but unlike Damien, she stabilized immediately. Her location was just above the first cloudyer.

    Once she descended past thisyer, she saw the marsnds as well as the valley between the two adjacent mountains. With this, she also pulled out her jade slip to identify her location.

    Reaching the ground, Katherine nced around warily. She had sensed many strong auras in the vicinity and wasn¡¯t prone to moving carelessly.

    ¡®ording to father, the Godspark mountain is one of the best ces to gain fortuitous encounters. He also arrived here when he entered the secret realm when he was younger, and he outlined the locations of a few Legacy Tombs in the area for me.¡¯

    As the daughter of an emperor, Katherine had some natural advantages when it came to information. Although she wanted to share this information with Damien, her father strictly disallowed it. It was clear that he wanted Katherine to gain the most benefits during this trip.

    Suddenly, Katherine¡¯s ruby eyes began to change. They became a bright shade of gold as her pupils became countless glittering sparks, making her eyes look anime-like.

    Within Katherine¡¯s vision, many strings of different colors emerged from the air, connecting to unknown ces and people. Within these strings was a single one that was dyed with the color red. Tracing the location of this string, Katherine smiled. ¡®It looks like he¡¯s close by.¡¯

    However, she didn¡¯t immediately run to his location. Although she wanted to explore with him, they needed to gain strength first.

    ¡®I¡¯ll find him after I reach 3rd ss. Let¡¯s see how he bullies me then.¡¯ She thought with a mischievous grin. Without wasting another second, Katherine dashed into the dense forest that made up this region of the vast mountain in search of prey.

    Unlike these two, who shared enough fate to be transported close to each other, the rest of the geniuses were spread out across the vast realm.

    If taken sheerly by its size rather than poption density or advancements, the Eternal Secret Realm could be considered slightlyrger than the Apeiron Continent.

    One could genuinely spend the entire 6 months they had within the realm traveling from one end to the other, not evenpleting this journey before they were teleported out.

    In arge region filled with moltenva and erupting volcanos stood a lone wolf demihuman. He was surrounded by a forest of trees filled with crimson leaves that looked as if they were made of mes as he fought a massive lion-like beast with his bare hands.

    In another region of eerie forests stood a half-elf. He calmly watched the environment as the darkness around him thickened. The trees, grass, and even the creatures living in this ecosystem were corroded and skeletal, but it didn¡¯t seem to bother the half-elf. Rather, he seemed to be mostfortable in such an environment.

    It was theorized that the individual who created the secret realm had designed the gate in such a way that it ounted for the fate of those entering it, but this was always written off as heresy. After all, nobody wanted to believe that fate could dictate their actions.

    However, fate itself was an esoteric concept that none could fully fathom, leading to many believers in its machinations. Whether it was the work of fate or by sheer luck, these four geniuses had been transported to optimal locations for their training.

    It was unknown if this phenomenon was the same for the other 46 geniuses who entered along with them, but it wasn¡¯t important.

    Although they were all in separate locations, their present goals aligned. With their strength, they could explore many locations in the secret realm uninhibited, but this wasn¡¯t enough.

    Their aspirations might differ from each other, but each of these true geniuses held grand ambitions. They craved the pressure, they craved the danger, and they craved to be the first to explore some of the many danger zones present in the realm.

    For this goal, they spared no effort. Each and every one of them raced towards 3rd ss.

    At the top of the tallest peak in the entire realm, an aged figure watched all of this ur. Although it was clear that he existed, his figure was ethereal, almost as if he didn¡¯t possess a body of his own. Sighing lightly for the umpteenth time, the aged figure thought to himself.

    ¡®Let¡¯s see if this batch of younglings have what it takes.¡¯

 Chapter 68

    Although he was surrounded by darkness, Damien¡¯s vision wasn¡¯t inhibited in the slightest. His eyes truly made things convenient for him. It had already been an entire month since he entered the secret realm but he still hadn¡¯t left this area.

    Pulling his sword out of the snake-like beast in front of him. Damien looked around. There was no longer a single living being in his vicinity. Most of the beasts within the gorge had been at 2nd ss, and the only 3rd ss he found was the giant snake he had just in. The result was obviously a ughter.

    ¡®The beasts within the gorge will no longer contribute to my growth, and I haven¡¯t found any with special traits yet either.¡¯ Damien thought to himself.

    It was at times like these that he realized how special the dungeon he fell into truly was. Every floor boss gave him a new trait, even allowing him to acquire dragon¡¯s breath. Meanwhile, in the year he had spent in the outside world, he hadn¡¯t found a single beast with a unique trait he could devour.

    It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t find beasts with traits, as most beasts who had advanced their bloodlines enough had traits. He also devoured almost every beast he killed, so that wasn¡¯t the issue. Rather it was as if the traits weren¡¯t good enough for his body to absorb them.

    As he was in his thoughts, he heard footsteps approaching him. Of course, he had brought Zara into the secret realm. If he was going to a ce where he¡¯d grow so much in power, it was only natural to bring her as well.

    Besides, 6 months was too long for either of them to stay separated without the ability tomunicate.

    Since the two were rtively powerful, they rarely found the need to fight together anymore, instead opting to separately hunt so they could gains. Perhaps when they started facing higher level 3rd sses they¡¯dbine their power.

    ¡°Alright, since we¡¯ve cleared this gorge, it¡¯s time for us to start making our way up the mountain,¡± Damien said as he jumped onto Zara¡¯s back.

    She had grown so big over the past year that he wouldn¡¯t be able to casually hop onto her back if he didn¡¯t have his physical stats. Though she usually made herself smaller, there wasn¡¯t a need for that when they were hunting.

    Without further ado, the two flew out of the gorge. ¡°Head to a ce with more 3rd sses. It¡¯s the easiest way for us to level up.¡±

    Damien was already at level 81 after ughtering the beasts in the gorge, but he felt this speed wasn¡¯t enough. At this rate, he¡¯d only achieve 3rd ss near the end of his time in the secret realm.

    And although he didn¡¯t know how to exactly quantify Zara¡¯s progress, from her words it seemed she was also stuck at a bottleneck.

    He was aiming for them to hit 3rd ss or at least the peak of 2nd ss by the end of the next two months. With this thought in mind, the two of them directly skipped the first cloudyer and started on the middle section of the mountain.

    Katherine had also made ample progress in the past month. Unlike Damien, she started directly by climbing the mountain, leading to many more encounters with 3rd ss beasts. She had already achieved level 90 at this time.

    As she decapitated yet another beast, the red string she had been watching started to move. ¡®It seems he¡¯s started taking things more seriously. Well, you won¡¯t beat me to 3rd ss anyway.¡¯

    Katherine rushed up the mountain, also opting to fly instead of travel on foot as she had been doing up until this point. She was already at the level of the first cloudyer but hadn¡¯t crossed it yet. She waspetitive to the point where she waited until Damien exited the gorge to move past thisyer.

    Unlike the surface level, the middle portion of the mountain contained a healthy mix between 2nd and 3rd ss beasts. The number of encounters one would have was significantly increased.

    Besides the many legacy tombs one would find here, this was another reason why the Godspark mountain was one of the best ces in the secret realm to be transported. With the way its poption density was split, it was a perfect leveling zone.

    Another month swiftly passed by as the three of them continued their climb.

    At this time, Damien was in the middle of a fierce fight. In front of him was a massive flying hawk that looked like a Zapdos Pok¨¦mon. He already pulled his sword, but he was forced to rely more on ranged attacks. The fight had already been raging for around half an hour, but he wasn¡¯t able to take down the beast yet.

    The beast had a constantly deployed lightning field around it, and although Damien had a rtive immunity to lightning, he still sensed danger.

    shing the air, Damien created multiple spatial tears and send them towards the beast as if they were flying des. This was a new interpretation of ¡®deless¡¯ he had created to attack from range. Along with this, he was sending superheated beams of sma at the hawk.

    However, these attacks onlynded asionally. The lightning field tore apart the beams of sma and ignored the heat while the lightning hawk used its speed to evade the spatial tears. It wasn¡¯t all for naught, though.

    From the other side, projectiles of ice were constantly shot out, attempting to weaken the hawk.

    The ground was also frozen into permafrost as Zara turned the environment in her favor. The field of lightning slowly dwindled as the hawk took more damage. One of its legs had already been severed by a spatial tear while many small cuts existed on its body.

    Suddenly, tens of tendrils emerged from the hawk¡¯s shadow in an attempt to bind it. In its efforts tobat the tendrils, it was subjected to 5 sma beams that drilled through its body. As the hawk screeched in pain, the lightning field that protected it vanished.

    It was time for a pure offensive.

    From its left, Zara pounced, her whole body coated in icy armor. Her ws shed out, forcing the hawk to dodge before her teeth sunk into its wing, promptly ripping it off. After taking the hawk¡¯s ability to fly and disabling its mobility, the rest of the fight was smooth sailing.

    Another 5 minutester, Damien teleported directly in front of the hawk and let out the fatal strike.

    ¡®Void Sword Art 3rd Step: Spatial Copse¡¯

    Space bent and twisted, leaving only a mangled corpse in its wake. As the experience piled in, Damien quickly devoured the corpse. Although it didn¡¯t help him improve his physical stats, the essence went directly into a specific area in his body, leading him to gain new insights into the element.

    Although he still had no idea what this part of his body was, he had discovered it when he was trying to gain an in-depth understanding of his Void Physique. It was both ever-present and ethereal, and all he knew about it was that it was the ce his affinities stemmed from.

    Looking at his status, Damien had a satisfied grin on his face. In the past month, he and Zara had solely focused on confronting 3rd ss beasts, especially those with fiercer auras, leading to their immense improvement.

    Zara¡¯s ice was now strong enough to cause permafrost, as she did with the ground earlier, and while Damien didn¡¯t have any significant improvements, his level had risen to 95. He was aiming to reach 3rd ss within 2 months, but it seemed he wouldn¡¯t even need that long.

    Within another half a month at most, he¡¯d reach that level.

    ***

    On the other side of the mountain, Katherine was having even more significant improvements. In the past month, she had also been confronting only 3rd ss beasts, increasing herbat prowess byrge margins.

    Her pain amplification illusions had once again been improved and her level was already at 99, the peak of 2nd ss. She only needed to kill a few more beasts to reach her next ss change.

    Due to this, she had already started making her way towards Damien. It was imperative that the first thing she does when she achieves 3rd ss was to brag about it to his face.

    On her way, she spotted many beasts and slew them without much thought until something interesting caught her eye. One of the many strings she saw connecting to unknown ces was actually close by, and its color was bright gold.

    She knew what this color signified, as it was the color of Damien¡¯s string when they first met. It was a string that signified opportunity.

    Following the path the string showed her, Katherine ended up in the middle of arge clearing. In front of her, she saw arge dpidated stone b with writing on its surface.

    ¡°While my death may be certain, my will and tenacity will never fade. To the next generation who is fated to see this message, partake in my trial, test thy will, and receive my legacy.¡±

    Although it was her first time seeing one in person, it wasn¡¯t hard to guess what this b was. ¡®The entrance to a Legacy Tomb.¡¯

    She didn¡¯t think twice about entering, quickly moving forward, but she was forced to stop. Her eyes were throbbing, alerting her of hidden danger. Without another thought, she backed away.

    ¡®Whatever is inside of that tomb isn¡¯t something I can handle alone. I¡¯ll meet up with Damien and Zara before we try to do it together.¡¯

    Katherine didn¡¯t know why she was born with these eyes, but they had never led her astray. Whenever she followed the path they showed her, she¡¯d end up immensely benefitting or evading looming danger.

    This was the reason why Katherine had avoided the pursuit of the supremacist faction within the Adire empire while she was out adventuring alone, and also the reason why she decided to recruit Damien for the escort mission a year ago even though he was a total stranger.

    At that time, her only thought was to reap the benefits her eyes showed her, she¡¯d have never expected that she would develop such intimate feelings for him. Smiling at the thought, Katherine continued moving in Damien¡¯s direction.

    ¡®If that bastard doesn¡¯t man up and say something before we leave this realm, I swear on anything that I¡¯ll pounce on him.¡¯

 Chapter 69

    It didn¡¯t take long for Katherine to meet up with Damien and Zara. After finding the Legacy Tomb, she stopped hunting beasts altogether and zed her way directly towards them. The Legacy Tomb¡¯s rewards were the most important thing at the moment.

    Damien was immensely surprised feeling a human aura enter his detection range, this feeling intensifying when he saw it was Katherine. After all, what were the chances that the two of them would end up teleported close to each other in the vastness of the secret realm?

    But he didn¡¯t dwell too much on this fact. He was more than happy to travel with her. Zara was the same, abandoning Damien and rushing towards her friend the second she sensed her.

    Before he could say anything, Katherine spoke up. ¡°We can talk on the way. I found a Legacy Tomb nearby that I¡¯ll need your help clearing.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes brightened at the mention of a legacy tomb before he hopped onto Zara¡¯s back and beckoned Katherine to join him. ¡°Alright, Zara can fly fastest out of the three of us, so let¡¯s travel this way.¡±

    Nodding, Katherine joined him on Zara¡¯s back. After giving Zara the directions to the tomb, she started making conversation with Damien.

    ¡°So? What level are you at right now? Just so you know I¡¯m already at level 99.¡±

    Damien smirked. ¡°Oh, you haven¡¯t stepped into 3rd ss yet? And here I thought our little princess was faster than that.¡±

    Frowning slightly, Katherine softly punched his arm. ¡°Hmph, I bet I¡¯m still doing better than you, though. Stop stalling and tell me already.¡±

    Shaking his head lightly, Damien gave her what she wanted. ¡°I¡¯m at level 98 right now while Zara should be only a few beasts away from evolving.¡±

    Although she was shocked by his speed, Katherine kept up her slight facade. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll still be first to reach 3rd ss so it doesn¡¯t matter anyway.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t wrong. While Damien had just be level 98 while she was only two to three kills away from a ss change. After bantering for a little while longer, they moved on to the main topic.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s this about a Legacy Tomb?¡± Damien asked.

    Katherine nodded as she proceeded to exin her encounter. From the part where shended on the mountain, to the information she received from her father, and finally, her stumbling upon the stone b.

    At this point, Katherine didn¡¯t care to hide her identity. Although she still hadn¡¯t told Damien her real name, she figured he had some solid guesses at who she was. Mentioning her father wasn¡¯t a problem.

    ¡°A stone b, huh. There was no need to call us for this, right? It¡¯d be better if you raise your strength instead of prioritizing others.¡± Damien chimed.

    Katherine couldn¡¯t help but smile at his consideration. ¡°Of course I¡¯d do that, stupid. But when I got near the tomb, I felt an immense sense of danger. I felt that it¡¯d be best if we cleared it together.¡±

    ¡°So basically you¡¯re dragging me down with you,¡± Damien said with fake unhappiness in his tone.

    ¡°Yup! If I die, you¡¯reing with me!¡± Katherine proimed shamelessly.

    As the twoughed and chatted, they reached the entrance of the Legacy Tomb. Zaranded in front of the b before letting out a subtle growl.

    ¡°Hm? What is it?¡± Damien asked.

    From Zara¡¯s thoughts, it seemed that there was a mysterious force that wouldn¡¯t allow her to move forward. She tried to push against this force, but her resistance only served to strengthen its rejection.

    ¡°It must be a mechanism that was ced to make sure none of the beasts in the mountain got hold of the legacy. Perhaps only humans or other outside races can ess the tomb.¡±

    Thinking for a bit, Damien spoke once more. ¡°It¡¯s fine Zara. While we explore the tomb, you should prioritize yourself.¡±

    Zara whimpered inint, but after some convincing she relented.

    Smiling at her, Damien got an idea. ¡°Zara, I expect you to be 3rd ss by the time wee out. Don¡¯t you remember that once you achieve that level we¡¯ll finally be able to talk for real instead of transmitting thoughts?¡±

    Zara¡¯s eyes brightened. Indeed, no matter how coherent her thoughts were, the only person she could speak with was Damien. She had a good friend in front of her that she wished to talk to and also the beast empress that she had questions for.

    With her new goal in mind, Zara no longerined, instead pushing Damien to leave so she could start training.

    ¡°Alright alright, I¡¯ll see you when it¡¯s all over.¡± Damien looked over at Katherine as they nodded to each other. Then, they carefully walked forward and ced one hand each on the stone b, while their other hands were interlocked.

    They didn¡¯t know if the tomb would separate them, so they wanted to take some small precautions. And only a secondter, the two of them suddenly disappeared from the spot.

    Zara deeply stared at the area they were standing with a worried look in her eyes, but in the end, she chose to leave. She couldn¡¯t disappoint the expectations Damien had for her.

    ***

    When Damien opened his eyes, he was in arge cavern reminiscent of the dungeon, except this one wasn¡¯t straightforward. Instead, it was walled off and he could sense many twists and turns almost like abyrinth.

    Luckily, he was still with Katherine, so he didn¡¯t need to worry about that.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move forward carefully. We don¡¯t know what could be waiting for us here.¡± Damien stated.

    Katherine nodded. ¡°My father told me that some of the higher level tombs are guarded by 4th ss beasts. The only problem is that there¡¯s no way to tell the level of a tomb before you enter one.¡±

    The two walked vigntly through the winding road provided to them before they reached their first split. When Katherine looked forward, there were 5 paths in front of her, but something felt off.

    ¡°Which way should we go?¡±

    Damien nced at her, confused. ¡°What do you mean which way? There¡¯s only a single path here.¡±

    ¡°Eh? But there¡¯s clearly 5-¡± it was then that Katherine realized the source of her off-putting feeling. ¡°These are illusions.¡±

    Damien was surprised by her words but realized it made sense. He had never been able to see natural illusions or illusions created by arrays, rather he only saw the array itself. The only illusion he could see, even if it was just as a blurry silhouette, was Katherine¡¯s disguise.

    ¡®So when an illusion is being directly cast by someone, I can still see its shadow, but anything else simply doesn¡¯t register in my vision¡¯ Damien still didn¡¯t know exactly how his eyes worked, as he never sought to explore them. But he was slowly unraveling the various functions they contained.

    ¡°If it¡¯s illusions then let me guide the way. I know you¡¯ll be able to see through them if you utilize your affinity, but it¡¯s best to save mana right now.¡± He said as he held out his hand.

    Katherine nodded before grabbing his outstretched hand, leaving things to him. As they made their way through the twisting pathways of thebyrinth, Katherine was having mixed feelings.

    On one hand, she thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being protected and watching Damien¡¯s tall back as he fearlessly led her through thebyrinth, but on the other hand, she hated the feeling of leeching off of him and not contributing to their sess.

    She was the one who dragged him here, so she didn¡¯t want to hold him back.

    As if sensing herplicated emotions, Damien spoke. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. I have things I¡¯m good at while you have your own. Remember how great of a team we were during the monolith capture event?¡±

    Katherine nodded. ¡®In the first ce, I was never one to doubt my intentions. I knew these things already, so why was I stressing?¡¯

    She didn¡¯t get the time to think too much about it before they entered arge cave. Without a word, the two of them jumped in separate directions before taking out their weapons.

    A massive ming pir emerged in the spot they were just standing, and out of it came a massive creature. Calling it a beast didn¡¯t seem to be the right word. It was humanoid in its form, but its body was made purely of moltenva and rocks. It seemed to be some sort of golem.

    The golem¡¯s attack patterns were strangely simr to the first 3rd ss the two had ever faced together, the man named Adrian. Due to their experience fighting someone who wieldedva, they didn¡¯t have a hard time defeating it. Besides, they were much stronger than they were back then.

    Wind would only boost the fire, so Katherine didn¡¯t use it much, instead opting to confuse the golem with her illusions. Its intelligence wasn¡¯t high at all, making this a simple task. She masked their locations while making the golem believe it was in a winning position.

    Meanwhile, Damien took care of the offense. He shot beans of sma that worked surprisingly well against a golem made ofva while utilizing his sword art to deal heavy damage.

    Tens of spatial des shot out without pause, slowly severing each of the golems limbs before hended a fatal strike, decapitating it.

    The fight with the golem truly wasn¡¯t worth mentioning, ending in less than half an hour before the two gathered once more and continued past the cave they were currently in.

    The next area was arge empty space. Unlike the previous scenery which was mostly natural, this room showed clear signs of human interference. It resembled a throne hall, but much smaller than it should be as if the owner of this hall couldn¡¯t fathom truly titling himself an emperor.

    As the two walked forward, a strange force brushed past their bodies, making them vignt. A sudden irresistible sensation overcame them, causing them to feel unnaturally drowsy.

    The two of them quickly approached each other, thinking that they were going to be teleported somewhere, but they didn¡¯t have enough time. By the time their hands had sped together, everything had already faded to ckness.

 Chapter 70

    ¡°Damien? Damien wake up!¡±

    Within a small bedroom filled with various posters from his favorite anime and manga, a frail teenage boy opened his eyes.

    ¡®Huh? Where am I?¡¯ His thoughts were jumbled as he struggled to get his memories in order.

    Suddenly, the door to his room burst open. In walked a beautiful middle-aged woman with deep amethyst eyes. ¡°Damien Void! If you don¡¯t wake up and start getting ready in the next 5 minutes, just see how I deal with you!¡±.

    ¡°Y-yes, mom!¡± The boy hurriedly replied as he jumped out of bed, only to realize he was only in his underwear at the moment. Blushing slightly, he covered his body.

    Seeing his actions, his mother let out a small giggle. ¡°Little boy, if you keep acting so girlish, I¡¯ll have to make sure you truly are my son instead of my daughter.¡±

    ¡°M-mom!¡± Heined. ¡°Oh right! School!¡± In his embarrassment, he hadpletely forgotten why he got out of bed in the first ce. Today was Monday, August 27th, the first day of school.

    ¡®W-what should I wear?¡¯ He thought as he rummaged through his closet. It took him a whole 10 minutes to decide, but even then he still went with a normal short sleeve ck t-shirt and sweatpants.

    Grabbing his backpack, which had already been packed a few days ago, he rushed down the stairs.

    ¡°Woah, buddy!¡± A familiar man said as he raised his head from the TV in the living room. ¡°Be careful not to slip when you¡¯re running so fast!¡±

    Damien smiled as he ran over to the man. ¡°Dad!¡± Tears started flowing from his eyes.

    Surprised by the sudden outburst, Damien¡¯s father hugged him back. ¡°Alright alright, you¡¯re already in your first year of high school, you can¡¯t be crying like a little kid anymore.¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± Damien let out a light sound of acknowledgment as he continued to cry into his dad¡¯s chest. He didn¡¯t know why his emotions were ring up like this, but he remembered tidbits of the dream he hadst night.

    He was trapped in darkness, endlessly killing without a second of rest. No matter how much he called for help, none came. He didn¡¯t want to even think about those terrifying scenes again.

    Time passed slowly as his emotions calmed. At some point, even his mother had joined the group hug. Once again blushing, Damien backed away. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    His parents smiled and his father spoke as he lightly patted Damien¡¯s head. ¡°What is there to be sorry about? You know that we¡¯re here for you if you need anything. We¡¯re your parents, not some random strangers on the street.¡±

    Damien smiled as tears welled up in his eyes again, but not wanting to further make a fool out of himself, he held them back. The family made their way over to the dining table as they had a small breakfast.

    Throughout this time, Damien smiled as he felt nostalgic. ¡®Nostalgia? But I see them every day.¡¯ However, he didn¡¯t ponder on it too much.

    Damien took out his phone, checking the time. ¡°Ah! I¡¯m going to miss the bus!¡±

    Saying a quick goodbye to his parents, Damien rushed out of the house. Luckily, he was able to reach the bus stop on time and board without problems.

    ¡°Yo Damien!¡±

    ¡°How was your summer!¡±

    ¡°You yed the new Souls game yet?¡±

    Several greetings flooded him as he took his seat. Smiling lightly, he kindly responded to each and every one. He was really d that he had these friends of his, as they made his days at school worth it.

    The bus drove on its route, picking up many students on its way. The environment soon became rowdy until they reached a certain stop. Everyone quieted down, after all, this was the stop where the school¡¯s beauty queen joined them.

    Through the open doors of the bus, a cute girl with dark blue hair and eyes walked in. Her gaze panned the whole bus before she found a spot to sit.

    Damien was blushing profusely. This girl was Elena, and he had been crushing on her since they were in elementary school, yet she still didn¡¯t know about it. Rather, he doubted she even knew he existed.

    He just silently watched from his corner. Her smile brightened the environment around her and every move she made would make even the air dance with joy. It was as if she was a fairy descended onto the mortal world.

    ¡°Hehe Damien, if you like her so much why don¡¯t you just talk to her?¡± Damien¡¯s friend, Bryce said with a mischievous grin.

    ¡°Y-you know I can¡¯t. She¡¯s too good for me.¡± Damien had a slightly depressed look on his face. But he quickly hid it, changing the topic. ¡°Guys, you won¡¯t believe what I found in the game yesterday!¡±

    Middle school boys had the attention span of a fish, so they naturally followed his narration of the epic adventure he had in the game, forgetting all about the previous conversation.

    As the boys messed around, Elena slightly turned around, ncing at Damien before sighing. ¡®He¡¯s so cute, but he neveres to talk to me. Am I not good enough for him?¡±

    Time passed and the school day continued like every other day. Damien went to his math and science ss in the morning, and English and history in the afternoon.

    At lunch, he had a special meal prepared for him by his mother. That led to an embarrassing moment when he identally showed off the note stating ¡®I love you! From- Mom¡¯ to his whole friend group.

    Damien decided to stay after school and partake in some club activities before he went home, but he had forgotten that his parents were both busy today.

    ¡®I guess I¡¯ll just have to walk¡¯ he thought of himself.

    He didn¡¯t do it often, but he had walked home from school before, so he already knew the way. He put in his headphones and listened to his favorite music as he celebrated a sessful first day of school.

    Standing at an intersection, Damien waited for the walk light to turn green when he suddenly noticed something. There was a girl walking through the road with headphones in, seemingly unaware of the fact that it wasn¡¯t time to walk yet.

    A truck came swerving down the road, headed straight for the girl. ¡®She¡¯s going to get hit!¡¯

    Damien was always watching anime, so he knew that situations like this were never good. He disregarded everything and ran towards the girl. ¡°Watch out! Hey!¡± He yelled, but she couldn¡¯t hear him.

    Without another choice, he ran up to her and tackled her out of the way, narrowly dodging the oing truck that zoomed past them. Looking down at the girl, Damien questioned, ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡±

    The girl shifted her head to look at him, seemingly in shock. She had just seen the truck pass by and knew what would have happened if he didn¡¯t push her. ¡°Y-yes I¡¯m okay. Thank you so much for saving me.¡±

    It was only then that Damien got a good look at her face, and to his surprise, it was Elena, his crush and the school beauty queen.

    ¡°A-ah! It¡¯s no problem. I couldn¡¯t just stand by and watch someone get hurt.¡± Damien replied. The second he saw who he saved he immediately got too shy to speak coherently.

    Elena smiled. ¡®He really is cute, not to mention he¡¯s my hero.¡¯

    And like that, life continued. After that incident, Elena would approach Damien more often, striking up conversation. This also led to him bing less shy around her. By the time they finished their first year of high school, the two were best friends.

    And life kept going. By the end of the second year of high school, Damien and Elena were already dating. They would watch movies, go to parks, and she had even met his parents once, though that experience was too embarrassing for him to recount.

    And when he turned 16, a monumental event urred. Damien and Elena were in his room as usual, chatting andughing before she made a move. Without any notice, she kissed him. His face went bright red and he felt like he was dreaming, but he still tried to kiss her back. It was both of their first kisses, so it was pretty awkward.

    However, things didn¡¯t stop there. They continued kissing as their hands became wilder, and the following day, Damien woke up as a new man. ¡°I really did it, I did it with Elena!¡± He yelled as he jumped and celebrated in his room.

    Who would have thought that he would be so happy with the girl he once could only admire from afar? While he was jumping, a sudden headache hit him. Damien fell to his knees, unable to even scream in pain before he passed out.

    Scenes of carnage reyed in his head without pause. Gruesome monsters straight out of manga surrounded him as he killed them one by one. He wielded a sword in his right hand, but his left? His entire left arm had been ripped off at some point. He wanted to wake up. He wanted to go back to the peaceful life he had been living so far.

    Many hours passed and Damien¡¯s eyelids slowly began fluttering. When he opened them, there was a light that wasn¡¯t there previously. Deeply sighing, he stood up. ¡®It seems I can¡¯t continue living this facade anymore. In another few weeks of this, my ego will copse due to the nature of this trial.¡¯

    At the end of the day, this ce was an illusion. It couldn¡¯t fool Damien¡¯s eyes no matter how hard it tried. He had to admit that it took some time for him to realize it, but even after he did, he pretended to be oblivious. He wanted to revel in this peace for as long as he could.

    For this purpose, he had shut off his conscious thought and truly lived as the child version of himself. It was only due to the sudden headache and influx of memories that he woke up from his stasis.

    Shaking his head, he went downstairs to see his parents one more time. What greeted him was the familiar scenery of his father and mother enjoying themselves together, conversing as one made dinner while the otherzed around on the couch.

    Noticing Damien, they both smiled and greeted him. Damien tried to smile back, but it was clear how forced it was. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± His mother asked with a worried look.

    Before Damien could respond, his dad beat him to it. ¡°Ah, I think I know what¡¯s going on dear, let me talk to him alone, man to man.¡± Damien¡¯s father pulled him to a side room.

    Looking at the man in front of him, Damien could only feel a semnce of familiarity, but he wasrgely unknown. For this reason, Damien didn¡¯t know why he felt on the verge of tears just looking at his face.

    His father possessed a stern look on his face as he spoke. ¡°Is it time for you to go?¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened slightly, but noticing the time, it seemed he would leave for school soon. ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t bete for school.¡±

    However, his father didn¡¯t let him go. ¡°You know that¡¯s not what I meant.¡±

    Damien looked into his father¡¯s eyes. They were an abyssal ck that seemed like they could swallow anything.

    Slightly nodding, Damien responded. ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t stay here any longer.¡±

    His father sighed lightly. ¡°Although I¡¯m not truly your father, this ce simted me perfectly, so I possess his memories. I don¡¯t know where you are or what you¡¯re doing right now, but I know that the real me would be dying to see you.¡±

    Damien couldn¡¯t hold his anger. ¡°If you were dying to see me so much then why did you leave? Do you know what happened to mom when you were gone? How much stress she had to put herself through?¡±

    Damien wanted to vent more, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do so. He always knew the pain hidden in his father¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°I know you have questions and I know I wronged you, but it¡¯s not my ce to tell you the answers. I¡¯m not your true father after all. Find him, and then you can know the truth.¡±

 Chapter 71

    Damien sighed once again. He always figured there was something special about his father. There was no way a man with such a temperament could have been born into a mana-less society like earth. Yet, he had no clue where to get the answers.

    ¡®Well, thatester.¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯m d I got to see this version of the past, but it couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. If you want to force me to stay and break my will, it¡¯s impossible with just this much.¡± Damien spoke to nobody in particr.

    Yet the world still reacted to his words. Thefy house he lived in as a child, the streets outside, and even his father that was smiling at him sadly started to disappear into flecks of light.

    ¡°I pray you never falter in your journey.¡± With hisst words said, his father entirely disappeared. Damien was now alone in a world of white.

    Something akin to a projector screen appeared before him, showing his true past.

    It didn¡¯t even start during high school, as his middle school life was riddled with bullying and ridicule. His father had already disappeared by this time, and his mother was never home.

    His first year of high school was the peak of this cycle of bad luck, though. That bus ride was filled with silence other than the asional bullying he would face.

    Bryce was never his friend, rather he was a kid who did everything in his power to make Damien miserable.

    When Elena got on the bus, rather than encouraging him, Bryce had screamed out for everyone to hear that he had a crush on her. That was the incident that killed his thoughts of romance.

    His first year of high school was terrible. He never had friends, he flunked many of his sses, and he walked home not because of club activities, but because he could no longer stand the harassment.

    When he got home, his mother was never there. She was working 3 to 4 jobs at a time and never had the time for him. It had gotten so bad that he began to cut himself just to feel something other than depression.

    It was halfway through this period of depression that he had formally met Elena. It was a rather normal meeting at a bus stop rather than him heroically saving her.

    However, that single meeting changed his life. She filled his world with smiles and showed him a different perspective on life. He realized how much effort his mother had put into giving him a healthy life. And he stopped harming himself.

    Then, the world awakening came, leaving his mother in aa before he could ever thank her for all her work. His life changed once again as he had no time to think about anything other than making sure she and himself survived. And finally, a few yearster, he fell.

    Although Damien¡¯s backstory wasn¡¯t tragic and filled with death, it was something that could mentally traumatize any child on earth. Damien developed trust issues, he stopped having the ability to share his problems, and he never allowed himself to receive support.

    Only after seeing the ideal future presented to him by the trial did he notice how much those years affected him. He still carried those trust issues and the many other scars he received back then.

    Though his body wasn¡¯t scarred due to his regeneration, he could still feel the cold de he ran across his skin back then.

    The scenes on the projector ended, leaving Damien alone in the empty white room. He closed his eyes as he thought back to what he just experienced.

    It took him some time, but he managed to collect his thoughts. ¡®Looks like my strength isn¡¯t the only thing I need to improve.¡¯

    He actually appreciated this trial. It had shown him many ws in himself that he wasn¡¯t self-aware enough to notice. It also reminded him of a few memories that had been subconsciously suppressed.

    When Damien opened his eyes again, he was back within that miniature throne hall. Next to him was a passed-out Katherine, seemingly going through the same trial.

    And indeed, that was exactly what she was going through. Katherine had been seeing scenes of her childhood.

    Her father was an emperor, so it was only natural for him to have a harem. He had around 100 wives that he married for various reasons, whether it be love or benefit.

    In reality, this harem was toxic, constantly fighting and scheming for his attention, but in the world she was in, they were extremely harmonious.

    Katherine had a sister that she used to love dearly, but as time went on, this sister of hers drifted away. She became fake and took after her mother, plotting against her siblings for the throne.

    Seeing the ugliness that¡¯s birthed in people when they¡¯re ovee by greed for status was one of the main reasons Katherine left the pce to be an adventurer.

    However, none of that existed in this world. Her sister was her best friend, and rather than go alone, she would adventure together with her sister, enjoying the sights of the world as they grew older.

    And finally, her mother. Her mother dies mysteriously when Katherine was 12 years old, and nobody was ever able to find out the cause of her death, but Katherine knew. Her mother had been killed by one of the other harem members.

    Katherine¡¯s mother was widely known to be the emperor¡¯s favorite wife. He was also the first woman he ever married and did it purely out of love. This was also one of the main reasons the emperor favored Katherine so much.

    In this world, her dead mother was alive and well, able to be a true parent to her daughter.

    Even though Katherine possessed an illusion affinity, she didn¡¯t have an immunity like Damien. She was truly susceptible to losing her ego within this perfect world.

    And not just susceptible, it almost happened. She was drowned in the pleasure of the peaceful life she had where she didn¡¯t lose anyone or anything. She went on an adventure and met Damien, bing partners.

    They went on countless quests together and over many years, sprouted a budding romance. They got married in the imperial capital, with her mother standing witness and blessing the marriage.

    Katherine had everything she could ask for, but it couldn¡¯t stay that way. She had obligations in the real world, she had people she cared about that were waiting for her. Her pupils began throbbing.

    Although they weren¡¯t the same as Damien¡¯s, they had their own uniqueness that helped her break out of the situation. Rather than the calm approach Damien took, Katherine directly broke the illusion with force. She raged at the fact that she was shown something like this, she hated that she almost fell prey to this mundane life.

    She imposed her illusions onto the one she was stuck in, using the pressure to make quick advancements and insights, before the illusion cracked like ss.

    Just like Damien, she was left in the white room. She was shown her past where her mother died, where her father couldn¡¯t provide her with too much lest she be killed off as well, where her sister betrayed her in pursuit of power.

    She saw everything once again as tears began flowing from her eyes. She couldn¡¯t take it anymore, she needed to see someone she trusted, someone she cared for. She hadn¡¯t felt this vulnerable since the day her mom had died.

    When the white room faded, the first thing she saw was Damien. Without any words, she leapt into his arms and cried. She cried until she had no more tears left. Truthfully, Damien had also woken up with tears streaking down his face. The only reason he didn¡¯tpletely break down was that he had done so in front of his parents before he left his dream.

    Damien didn¡¯t me Katherine in the slightest for her behavior, patting her back as she calmed herself down.

    ¡°Are you okay, Katherine?¡± He said in a soft voice. He didn¡¯t want to startle her after she had just returned to normal.

    She raised her head to look at him with hazy eyes. Slowly, the fog of her disguise melted away, revealing her true face to Damien in all its glory. Although he had been looking at this face since the first time they met, there was something different about it when she chose to show him herself.

    Her lips parted as she spoke. ¡°No more Katherine Hart. My name is Rose. Rose Adire.¡±

    Then, she leaned her head forward as her lips connected with his.

 Chapter 72

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he tried to process what was going on. He knew they¡¯d eventually reach this point but he didn¡¯t expect it to happen so soon, not to mention the current circumstances.

    While every fiber of his being screamed at him to respond in kind and kiss her back, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do it.

    Regardless of her reasoning, with the way things yed out, he¡¯d feel like any progression in their rtionship that happened now would be taking advantage of her weakness.

    Damien grabbed her shoulders and gently pulled her away from his lips, though he still allowed her to lean on his body. The look of betrayal on her face truly made him feel like an asshole, but it had to be done.

    ¡°Y-you don¡¯t want me?¡± She asked in a weak voice.

    ¡°Kath- no, Rose. Of course I want you but look at yourself right now. Would you ever be the type of person to even ask if I wanted you before doing this kind of thing? Knowing you, you¡¯d pounce first and ask questionster.¡±

    Rose blushed at his words but couldn¡¯t deny it. After all, that was her n if he didn¡¯t confront her before they left the secret realm. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her forehead.

    ¡°Ow! What was that for?¡± She yelled at Damien, who had just flicked her.

    ¡°First, return to your normal self. If you can still act so bold at that time, I¡¯ll dly ept it.¡± Damien replied with a smirk.

    She knew he was right, and it only made her appreciate him more. Right now, she was still shaken from her experience in the trial. She craved some sort of intimacy and chose the first thing she thought of, which was Damien.

    Putting aside the fact that kissing Damien was the most prioritized form of intimacy in her mind, just the fact that she was craving such a thing for support made this a bad start to a proper rtionship.

    If they started things off like that, it would only lead to a future of toxicity and codependence. This type of rtionship would never be healthy, most likely leading to the emotional breakdown of one or both parties.

    Rose slightly nodded but she still refused to get off of him. She cuddled further into his chest and appreciated his warmth. Although Damien wanted to tell her they had more important things to do, he noticed that she had already fallen asleep.

    ¡®This silly woman. Does she seriously have so much trust in me?¡¯ He couldn¡¯t suppress the slight grin that began to form on his face.

    If he thought about it, that was technically his first kiss. With his social life on earth, it was obvious he didn¡¯t have a girlfriend, and ever since the world awakening, he hadn¡¯t had the slightest thought of romance.

    However, thinking about his first kiss brought up another memory. Although it wasn¡¯t real, his 16-year-old self had still kissed Elena. Thinking about that experience, Damien¡¯s expression turnedplicated.

    It¡¯d be a lie to say that he didn¡¯t have any feelings for Elena. He didn¡¯t know how it functioned, but the trial had perfectly replicated every person in his life.

    Even Elena was a carbon copy of her true self. Even if the memories themselves were fake, the experiences were fresh in his mind.

    Besides that, he couldn¡¯t confidently say he had no feelings for her true self back on earth. Before they had ever met, he had a crush on her. Although that crush had died, with them being so close for such a long time, it was impossible for him to feel no attraction.

    Only, time didn¡¯t wait for him to realize his feelings. Time didn¡¯t allow him to even consider the possibility of a rtionship back then. Thinking about the tsundere-like actions Elena would show sometimes, Damien truly felt the need to curse time itself.

    As his thoughts wandered in this direction, he once again looked at the princess that was sleeping on his chest. ¡®So basically, I have feelings for two women like some sort of creepy yboy.¡¯ He sighed at his own thoughts.

    He had no idea how he would handle this. Perhaps if he hadn¡¯t spent that year within the trial dating Elena, if he didn¡¯t pile up experiences of what could have been, he wouldn¡¯t be having this problem.

    He hadn¡¯t even seen her in 3 years, so he thought it¡¯d be impossible for anything to develop.

    Unbeknownst to him, a certain someone was watching his every action. Seeing theplicated light in his eyes, Rose thought of an old saying her mother used to tell her.

    ¡®Powerful and charismatic people will never end up with only a single partner. If you ever end up falling for one of these types, your best option is to secure the top position in his heart.¡¯

    At that time, Rose was more confused about why her mother said people instead of men, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to understand the nuance behind her words now that she was grown. The thought of having a reverse harem made her want tough, but she held it in so she could keep observing Damien.

    She knew she had put Damien in a tough spot with her sudden actions, but she didn¡¯t know he had another woman in his heart. Rather, she knew there wasn¡¯t another woman who could make him ponder like that until after the trial had ended.

    ¡®If he experienced the same thing I did, then maybe it was someone from his past?¡¯ If Damien knew how much Rose had deduced based simply off theplicated look in his eyes, he¡¯d probably be terrified.

    But Rose wasn¡¯t stuck on the ¡®who¡¯ or the ¡®why¡¯ of the situation. She was taking her mother¡¯s words to heart. She would sit in the number one spot among any women Damien would gain in the future. Not through scheming and deceit, but love and aid. This was the best way to earn her ce with him.

    Rose grew up within an imperial harem. She knew how vile things could get if too many women or the wrong type of women were introduced into a family. She wouldn¡¯t allow such a situation to happen.

    ¡®Let¡¯s limit him to 3¡­no maybe 5¡­hmph 8 at most. If he wants more than that he¡¯ll have to fight me for it.¡¯

    Clueless to the fact that his love life was being thoroughly nned out by the woman on his chest, Damien concluded his thoughts. ¡®When ites time to have the ¡®what are we¡¯ conversation, I¡¯ll just talk to Rose about it directly.¡¯

    Proud of his decision, Damien slightly floated inside his mind. ¡®Hehe, imagine me as an isekai protagonist with a huge harem, that¡¯d be pretty funny.¡¯

    Damien didn¡¯t even want a harem like that. He¡¯d seen how that worked, and it seemed like too much work and trouble to deal with. If he¡¯s having multiple women, he¡¯d make sure to keep the number small. ¡®Heart of ice, Damien. You must keep your will firm!¡¯

    Damien had spent a few hours in his thoughts after he finished up with the harem issue as he figured out his ns for the rest of the time they had within the secret realm. By his estimation, a month should have gone by in real-time while they were in the trial. That meant they only had 3 months left.

    ¡®3 months. For the next 3 months, we disregard everything and climb to the peak. If we can¡¯t make it by the end, we¡¯lle back to one of the Legacy Tombs we find along the way.¡¯

    Damien concluded his thoughts when he felt some movement on his chest.

    Rose slowly pretended to wake up before ncing around the room. With all the drama that was going on, she forgot they were in the middle of a trial.

    ¡°Rx,¡± Damien said as he noticed her vignce. ¡°That should have been thest trial. All that¡¯s left is for us to reap the rewards.¡±

    They stood up and walked towards the small throne at the end of the hall. Damien didn¡¯t miss the fact that Rose didn¡¯t let go of his hand, but he ignored it.

    When the two entered within 10 meters of the throne, a new stone b entered their vision.

    ¡°To thy who hathpleted my trial and proven thy worthiness, I bestow my techniques and treasures. Use them wisely and protect the world you were born into, as it shall always be somewhere you can consider home.¡±

    Damien realized that it wasn¡¯t just the beasts that were meant to be blocked from entering this tomb, rather it was everyone that wasn¡¯t born on the Apeiron continent as well. ¡®If so, why am I able to enter?¡¯ Damien couldn¡¯te up with a good answer.

    Pushing the question to the back of his mind, Damien went forward and put his hand on the b like he had done when they first entered the tomb, with Rose joining him soon after.

    The floor split into two parts as a massive storage space was revealed. Countless gold coins were strewn about randomly, but these were only the lowest tier of treasures.

    Besides them, there was a section of shelves lined with countless numbers of every type of potion Damien could imagine. Recovery potions for stamina and mana, healing potions, various tonics, and even a single bottle of Elixir.

    ¡®They must¡¯ve had a ton of this stuff back in the ancient eras.¡¯ Damien mused as he collected everything into his inventory.

    Meanwhile, Rose¡¯s focus was somewhere else. It was a shelf much smaller than the others, but the contents were insanely valuable to her. This shelf contained tomes of this expert¡¯s entire knowledge on illusions and their use.

    As the legacy of someone who could even create an illusion as realistic as the one in the final trial, it was sure to be priceless. Rose immediately pocketed the books. She knew Damien wouldn¡¯t be needing them anyway since his affinities didn¡¯t align.

    The final item in the room was an ancient broadsword with golden etchings on its surface. It was still in good condition, but it wasn¡¯t a type of weapon that either of them used, so Damien was just nning to pocket it.

    But the second he touched it, something within his inventory began vibrating intensely. It was his own sword. When he took it out, as if it had a mind of its own, it shot towards the ancient de. Without even his invocation, his devour skill activated as the billowing ck aura covered the old sword.

    Then, instead of retreating to his body like it usually did, it surrounded his sword. It was only then that Damien remembered the name of his sword.

    ¡®Devourer.¡¯

    The billowing ck cloud slowly got absorbed into the sword, which was still shaking as if it would shatter any second. Then, it stopped. There were no loud sounds or cool messages, the process ended silently. When Damien grabbed the sword, though, he could immediately feel the difference.

    [Devourer]

    [SSS Rank]

    [A sword made by a talented cksmith to embody the traits of its wielder. It is bestial and ferocious but carries its own brand of elegance. This sword was made for the sole purpose of devouring its enemies. During its creation, it birthed the special effect, [Amplification] to aid its owner.]

    [Through the devouring of a higher rank artifact, it has awakened its true form. Devoured essence needed for evolution- 39%]

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s new.¡±

 Chapter 73

    Once they had collected their rewards, the two of them immediately left the Legacy Tomb. While it was a safe environment for them to practice, their main goal had now reverted to reaching 3rd ss.

    Leaving was just as simple as entering, as the two of them ced their hands on another stone b that sat on the throne and were teleported out.

    At that point, no words needed to be said. They looked into each other¡¯s eyes and grinned before rushing off in different directions to reach their ss change.

    Rose was the first to reach that level. It didn¡¯t even take her much time at all, since after killing theva golem, she only needed a single kill to get there.

    She quickly found a 3rd ss beast called an obsidian panther and initiated battle.

    Though she hadn¡¯t assimted the knowledge of the expert who left the legacy tomb, her illusions had already made immense improvements through her destruction of the trial illusion.

    She led the panther by its nose, creating false earth spikes that stimted real pain, using illusions to impose fatigue onto the beast and using her wind affinity for attack power. When she finally killed the beast, a holographic window appeared before her.

    [Your achievements have reached the required threshold to change your ss. Choose a new ss from the list below.]

    [Choose a ss]

    [1. Scythe Spirit]

    [2. Mystic Diviner]

    [3. Sage]

    [4. Spectral Phantasm]

    Rose thoughtfully gazed at her options, but she wasn¡¯t an indecisive person, plus she always had her eyes that told her the right direction to move. Right now, they were pointing towards the 4th option.

    [You have be a Spectral Phantasm. Your illusions gain further abilities to manipte the very essence of reality, though truly doing such a thing is currently impossible. Your abilities have be capable of affecting arge scale, creating a pseudo-domain. Your existence bes more illusive, increasing your concealment abilities. Your legends have been enhanced.]

    [By bing a 3rd ss being, you have obtained the qualifications to choose a subss.]

    [Choose a subss]

    [1. Wind Archmage]

    [2. Enchantress]

    [3. cksmith]

    [4. Alchemist]

    [5. Beast Tamer]

    Rose received the influx of information about her main ss with a smile. She had heard about the concept of domains, they were something one could only form once they reached the Grandmaster level of control.

    Having a pseudo-domain simply from the power of her ss meant the ss itself held immense potential. Just like Damien, Rose didn¡¯t pay much attention to the subss, choosing the wind archmage ss as it would best suit her needs.

    Finally, she called out her status.

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Rose Adire]

    Human

    Female ¨C Age 22

    Level 100 ¨C [Spectral Phantasm], [Wind Archmage]

    Experience value: 0/150,000

    Title(s): [Child of Destiny]

    Affinities: Illusion, Wind

    Physique: N/A

    Magic Power: 12000

    STR: 290

    AGI: 320

    DEF: 335

    INT: 315

    DEX: 325

    Skills: [Wind Magic Level Max], [Phantasm Magic Level 1], [Mid-Level Regeneration Level 8], [Adire Scythe Art Level 5], [Fate Discernment Level 3], [Illusive Throne Level 1]

    Trait(s): [Eyes of Destiny]

    Rose nodded with a satisfied smile. She was excited to try out her new phantasm magic and the illusive throne skill, but she figured it could wait until she met up with Damien.

    Besides these two, there were no changes unless she counted her abnormally high defense stat, but she didn¡¯t. This was because she already knew the reason for it.

    After the tournament, where she ran into a problem with how weak her physical body was inparison to her magical ability, she decided to immediately invest her stat potion into defense.

    Rose sat down to fully digest her gains before she rendezvoused with Damien. ¡®I wonder how long it¡¯ll take him to catch up.¡¯

    Damien didn¡¯t take long to meet her expectations. He was still a level behind her, so it took him an extra week to catch up, but he eventually got there. Plus, since Rose wasn¡¯t continuously leveling up after her ss change, he didn¡¯t fall behind.

    As Damien pulled his sword out of a third ss mountain golem, a familiar system window popped up in front of his eyes.

    [Your achievements have reached the required threshold to change your ss. Choose a new ss from the list below.]

    [Choose a ss]

    [1. Sword Saint]

    [2. Beast Tamer]

    [3. Sage]

    [4. Celestial]

    [5. Emperor]

    Damien was surprised by the new list of sses he was given. Although it was clear which one catered to his spatial attribute, it sounded a bit too overpowered.

    Besides that, there was also ¡¯emperor¡¯ which he didn¡¯t know qualified as a ss. But thinking about how farmer was also a ss option, he stopped thinking about it and picked the obvious choice.

    [You have be a Celestial. The Records exist for that purpose, to record. At the base of all your achievements is a single wish, to travel the stars and to return to your origin. Through your achievements, your legends have resonated with this wish, allowing for it to present itself as a ss.]

    [A Celestial has the power to call upon the stars, and gains an intrinsic connection with them. They are not gods by birth nor are they immensely powerful without reason, but their potential is immense. Perhaps at the peak of power, a Celestial may even obtain the ability to forge stars and gxies with but a thought.]

    [By bing a 3rd ss being, you have obtained the qualifications to choose a subss.]

    [Choose a subss]

    [1. Lightning Archmage]

    [2. Priest]

    [3. cksmith]

    [4. Alchemist]

    [5. Beast Tamer]

    Damien once again chose the lightning subss. He still didn¡¯t understand their purpose much, but he assumed it was the reason he was able to progress fast with an element that wasn¡¯t his inherent affinity.

    Most of his attention was focused on his main ss. A familiar rush of information flooded his mind, but Damien didn¡¯t care for it. With there being no natural stars within the secret realm besides its moon and sun, he didn¡¯t feel the connection the system spoke of.

    What he focused on was the first system window that popped up once he had chosen his ss. ¡®My wish resonated with my legends?¡¯

    Damien tried to wrap his head around this concept. Up until this point, he had no idea what the system even meant when it said his legends were enhanced, but he may have just gained his first clue.

    ¡®My achievements make up my legend¡­¡¯Ob the topic of his achievements, he thought about what he had done since he surfaced on Apeiron. And after review, he realized that most of the actions he had taken were indeed for the purpose of returning home.

    While that was one of his priorities in the dungeon, it wasn¡¯t even close to being at the forefront. That was naturally his will to survive.

    With 3rd ss achieved, all that was left for Damien to do before meeting up with Rose and calling Zara back was to check his status.

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Half-Human/Half-Beast

    Male ¨C Age 20

    Level 100 ¨C [Celestial], [Lightning Archmage]

    Experience value: 0/150,000

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Space, Lightning

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 15000

    STR: 350

    AGI: 340

    DEF: 355

    INT: 345

    DEX: 340

    Skills: [Warp Level 10], [Dimensional Magic Level 1], [High-Level Regeneration Level Max], [Void Sword Art Level 3], [Mana Sense Level Max], [Devour Level 5], [Vector Control Level 8], [Lightning Magic Level Max], [Inventory]

    Trait(s): [Shock Absorption], [All-Seeing Eyes Level 4], [Dragon¡¯s Breath], [Ananta Matrix]

    There hadn¡¯t been many changes, but the ones that urred shocked him. First off, his mana capacity had increased by around 10,000 points, which was obscene to him.

    Although he had already sensed this type of number on the 3rd ss he fought before, it was still shocking for him to see it reflected in his own status.

    The next shock was that his spatial control had evolved into dimensional magic. He didn¡¯t know the extent to which dimensional magic could work, but its name alone sounded extremely overpowered.

    Damien shook his head. ¡®No, Malcolm told me that 3rd ss was the true start to cultivation, so it makes sense for the abilities to be this exaggerated. Besides, leveling this up will probably take way longer than any skill I¡¯ve had before.¡¯

    Thinking along those lines, Damien looked at his devour skill. Although his regeneration hadn¡¯t evolved, it was already at max level. Damien assumed that there were some criteria he had yet to meet for skill evolution.

    The devour skill, however, was still in its original state, with no skill evolutions, and had been stuck at level 5 since he devoured the wyvern in the dungeon. That was around a year and a half ago.

    ¡®It¡¯s probably due to its rtion with my Void Physique. Knowing how that thing works, it won¡¯t be easy to satiate this damn skill.¡¯

    Damien concluded his thoughts and decided to sift through the insights he had gained by his rank-up. Sitting in a meditative posture, Damien entered his mind.

    This was something he learned how to do subconsciously not long ago, in fact, he only learned it during thest trial of the legacy tomb.

    When he did this, Damien immediately felt the influx of knowledge. It wasn¡¯t just a connection to the stars he now had, he could also call upon their power.

    He didn¡¯t know the extent to which this ability worked quite yet, but he could feel the zing heat of the sun cascade onto him and blend with his magic power.

    Opening his hand, he willed a small me to rise. Although it was only the size of a lighter me, its heat was immense, causing scorch marks to form on the nearby ground.

    However, Damien couldn¡¯t keep this up for long. Just the single minute he had kept the me in his palm had cost him half of his mana. With such an immense mana capacity, it was clear to see how much of a burden using true sunfire would be.

    However, this caveat didn¡¯t lessen Damien¡¯s excitement in the slightest. If he could do this much with a small sun like the one present in the secret realm, what about the true sun? And what about the countless other stars that constantly illuminated the night sky?

    ¡®Ares considered stars too?¡¯ Damien couldn¡¯t wait to find out. But he didn¡¯t let himself get drunk on his current power level. Gazing into the sky, he watched the second cloudyer, trying to pierce through it and witness the scenes taking ce on the mountain peak.

    ¡®A fallen god. Even if it¡¯s a dead god, a god is still something that could kill me without even sparing a single thought. That¡¯s a 6th ss being. Considering the amount of power Malcolm has, destroying a city would be light work. So what about a god?¡¯

    Damien didn¡¯t want to wait any longer to find out for himself.

    He quickly went to meet up with the two girls so they could unravel the truth behind Godspark mountain and perhaps gain some immense benefits in the process.

 Chapter 74

    Damien and Rose were quick to meet, as they both headed to each other the second they finished assimting their gains. The only one left was Zara.

    ¡°You were pretty slow to reach 3rd ss, hm?¡± Rose teased in a condescending tone

    She might¡¯ve tried to sound bold, but she was inwardly shocked. The number of threads connecting to Damien had drastically increased, but none of them were connected to people.

    She could only see the location of two threads at the moment, but the most obvious one was connected to the sun itself. ¡®How can one have a karmic connection to the freaking sun?¡¯

    Still, she had no intention to back down.

    ¡°I might¡¯ve been slower but it doesn¡¯t mean you can beat me,¡± Damien replied with a smirk. The two kept walking towards each other without pause.

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know about that one. How about we test that assumption?¡± Rose replied, still closing the distance.

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s test that assumption. Let¡¯s see how you run from me this time.¡± Damien said. At this point, they were already directly in front of each other, with only mere inches separating their faces.

    Even as they stared into each other¡¯s eyes with bubbling fighting intent, the atmosphere retained its pink color. Suddenly, a cheerful voice filled with innocence resounded in the area.

    ¡°Damien!¡±

    The two of them snapped their heads in the direction of the sound. Although this new voice should have had them on alert, it didn¡¯t do such a thing in the slightest. In fact, Damien was grinning from ear to ear like a fool.

    Out of the woods came arge ck wolf whose appearance didn¡¯t match her voice in the slightest. Until she began to shrink, that is.

    Her towering body slowly became only around 3/4ths the size of Damien¡¯s body. Now, with her silky ck fur, beautiful angel-like wings, and innocent golden eyes, she truly did look cute.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally here, Zara. How is it? Are you enjoying the ability to speak?¡±

    Zara rushed forward and pounced on Damien, licking his face like a house pet.

    ¡°En! En!¡± She let out sounds of affirmation as she expressed her joy.

    Damienughed as well, petting herrge body as he attempted to calm her down. She only acted like this when she got too excited.

    ¡°Sigh, how could Zara forget about me already? I think I¡¯ll really cry,¡± said Rose with mock disappointment.

    It was only then that Zara remembered they had anotherpanion. ¡°Katherine!¡±

    Just like with Damien, Zara pounced on her, but Rose remained unfazed in her acting. ¡°Sob, you only remembered me after I said something. How could you?¡±

    ¡°No, Katherine! I¡¯m sorry!¡± Zara begged in an innocent voice.

    This surprised Damien. Her voice sounded like that of an 18-year-old girl, but her mannerisms and such were still very innocent.

    ¡®Well, it¡¯s not like she has any knowledge. But I figured that from staying with me for so long, she¡¯d have learned a thing or two. Maybe it¡¯s just a beast thing?¡¯ Damien didn¡¯t know.

    Rose wanted to tease Zara a bit more, but her ns were halted by a sudden flick on the forehead.

    ¡°Alright, look how sad you made her. Stop teasing her now.¡±

    Rose was a little disappointed but still quit her acting, leaving Zara confused.

    Damien sighed. ¡°Zara, who knew you¡¯d be so innocent. Well, just remember not to take anything Rose says too seriously.¡±

    Zara tilted her head. Rose? Who was that?

    This action made Damien realize that he had never exined Rose¡¯s situation to her. Taking a bit of time, the two of them sat Zara down and did some exining.

    To their dismay, this only ended with Zara saying, ¡°Katherine is Rose now!¡± And dropping the matter altogether.

    After conversing for a bit longer, Damien finally got the chance to inspect Zara¡¯s gains. Her size which had be even more massive was an obvious indication of her growth, and he wasn¡¯t disappointed by what he saw.

    The swirling blue and grey mana around her had thickened considerably, indicating both an increase in her power and mana capacity. Not only that, Zara¡¯s body seemed to be even tougher than his own currently.

    After he congratted her for this, Damien decided to tell the other two about his n. He reiterated the story of the fallen god¡¯s legacy, and also exined that he felt a sort of calling to the peak of the mountain.

    ¡°A calling, huh. To be honest, I¡¯ve been feeling something simr as well.¡± Rose suddenly said. It was true, even without the indication from her eyes, Rose could feel something at the peak of the mountain beckoning her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of beast we will have to face at the peak, but if it¡¯s a 4th ss, I don¡¯t think we currently stand a chance at defeating it,¡± Damien said. ¡°That being said, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for us to injure it if we work together.¡±

    Rose nodded. ¡°If we can hinder its mobility, it should be enough to allow us to enter whatever legacy tomb or structure resides at the peak. That¡¯s all we need at the moment.¡±

    Now that he had their affirmation, he didn¡¯t need to wait any longer.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go straight past the second cloudyer and test our newfound power a bit before we continue up the mountain. Zara, how about you show me how fast you¡¯ve gotten?¡±

    Zara nodded excitedly as she once again grew to her original height. ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m super fast now, don¡¯t worry!¡±

    Smiling, Damien grabbed Rose¡¯s hand and teleported onto Zara¡¯s back. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±

    Zara unfurled her wings and vigorously pped them. It only took a single p for them to zoom into the air. Damien even had to use his vector control to maintain his and Rose¡¯s ce on her back.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Damien roared withughter. Rose was the opposite, clinging to him like he was herst lifeline. The trio rushed up the mountainside and in only a few hours¡¯ time, they breached the second cloudyer.

    Even after Zara slowed down, Rose continued to cling to Damien. Whether she was doing this out of remnant fear or just using the excuse to hug him was unknown, but Damien didn¡¯t mind either way.

    He even wanted to see if he could get a reaction out of her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer. Rose jerked slightly at the sudden action but didn¡¯t evade him.

    Damien couldn¡¯t see her face, so he used his mana sense to cover her. It was then that he noticed she was blushing profusely. ¡®Definitely worth it.¡¯

    He wanted to tease her about it, but figuring that it would result in her pulling away from his embrace, he refrained from doing so.

    While this was happening, the trio traveled halfway up the mountain peak. Even if the thirdyer of the mountain was filled with only 3rd ss beasts, there was still a distinction between them.

    Everyone in the group could kill early 3rd ss beasts alone before they even reached this level, so for them to be challenged, they needed to head to an area with higher level beasts.

    Zaranded within the forest that made up the mountain slope and Damien and Rose dismounted. Damien looked at the now visible sky. It was still bright with daylight.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s meet back here when night falls. After that, we¡¯ll rest a bit and continue our climb.¡±

    The other two nodded and they parted ways.

    Damien rushed through the foliage, marveling at the new scenery on this part of the mountain.

    Various flowers bloomed and painted the forest in a vast array of colors, the sunlight shone through the foliage of the trees, turning the painting into a mosaic, and many beasts lurked around, giving the painting life. It was truly beautiful.

    The trees in thisyer were massive, probably to amodate the huge beasts that resided here. After all, most 3rd ss beasts wererger than a normal 2 story building, while Zara wasrger than even a 3 or 4 story building.

    It¡¯d be quite theical sight to watch these massive beasts attempt to hide within normally sized trees

    He didn¡¯t concentrate on this for too long though, as he found his perfect target. It was arge two-headed lion with a mane made of mes.

    ¡®Good, let¡¯s see how sunfire works against a fire affinity beast.¡¯ Beasts had stronger bodies than most humans, so it¡¯d be a good measure of his current prowess.

    Damien charged at the lion that had just noticed him, opting for a fully physical brawl before he began experimenting.

    Reaching the beast, he let out a straight punch with no added effects. The raw power contained within his muscles burst forth as it met the lion¡¯s paw.

    Boom!

    A small explosion rang out as dirt and grass flew everywhere. The exchange then continued.

    The lion was already nearing the limits of 3rd ss, so its intelligence was simr to a normal human. Seeing its opponent using solely physical power, its pride wouldn¡¯t allow it to fight with its elements.

    Fists met ws as the two continued exchanging blows, causing destruction in their wake with every step. The weird thing was, even though the lion¡¯s mane was made of fire, it didn¡¯t affect the environment in the slightest.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Damien sent an uppercut directly into the lion¡¯s right jaw, causing its two heads to part in a ¡°V¡± shape. He then evaded the lion¡¯s swipe before sending a full-powered punch directly into its chest.

    The lion flew back, unable to stabilize itself immediately. Although it didn¡¯t take much damage, the force of the punch was still present.

    Damien decided he¡¯d had enough ying around. He¡¯d already tested his physical might enough.

    Using the time the lion took to regain its bearings, Damien concentrated. He felt the ethereal thread that connected him to the sun. It was a thread that couldn¡¯t be severed by any means.

    Pouring his mana into this connection, Damien willed a me to form on his palm. And form it did. The only difference was that this me was the size of a fist.

    The lion immediately sensed the difference. Locking its eyes onto the me on Damien¡¯s palm, it felt true fear. If that thing hit him, it was sure death.

    The lion immediately let our fierce mes that billowed in every direction, before it turned and ran. But Damien wouldn¡¯t allow that to happen. He teleported directly in front of the lion and flicked the me onto its body.

    There was no scream, no explosion, nothing. The second the me touched the lion¡¯s body, it spread like wildfire and incinerated it. Within only a few seconds, all that was left was ash.

    Damien looked at the aftermath with his mouth agape. There was only a single word that came out of his mouth.

    ¡°Wow.¡±

 Chapter 75

    The results were much greater than his expectations, but he decided to think rationally about it. There¡¯s no way he was powerful enough to killte-stage 3rd ss beasts with a single hit.

    The first exnation was that the lion already had some hidden injuries in its body that Damien had aggravated in their physical fight, the second was that the sunfire used the lion¡¯s own mes as a base and devoured its body, and the third exnation was that it was simply due to the amount of magic power he had put into the ability this time.

    Each of these made sense in their own ways, so Damien assumed that it was most likely abination of all three that led to the lion getting instantly incinerated.

    ¡®It was supposed to be a simple test of strength, but I ended up using most of my mana in the first fight.¡¯

    But Damien didn¡¯t really have anything else to test. When it came to his new dimensional magic, it was still spatial magic at its base, so it wouldn¡¯t show its prowess until he figured out how to use it properly.

    ¡®Ah! I can do that!¡¯ Damien immediately sat down and concentrated. He had already checked the area around him and it was devoid of beasts, so he was free to do as he pleased.

    Damien was currently focusing on his sword art. It had been a long while since he created a new move for it, and this wasrgely due to the mana consumption and the fact that he was running out of ideas.

    He wanted to make something grander and more wide area, but he didn¡¯t know how to beat spatial copse in this area of focus.

    So until he had some sort of spark of insight or idea, he¡¯d try something else. He focused on the concept of space. How did he perceive space? What was it at its base? He didn¡¯t know the answer. His knowledge was too minuscule.

    But he had a faint feeling of what he thought space was. Space was a concept that was rted to the birth of everything, as almost everything exists within space. Without space to contain it, even life itself couldn¡¯t thrive.

    He thought back to the tip he had received from the system back when he conducted his very first ss change. ¡®In the beginning, there was nihility, then creation and destruction, then space and time.¡¯

    Space was something he saw as ¡®all-epassing¡¯. Space was like a massive domain. And a main concept within space was distance. Distance was determined by the space between two points.

    ¡®So what if I try to ignore the concept of distance? Isn¡¯t teleportation technically doing that already?¡¯

    He knew it was an oversimplified exnation of how he teleported, as he had already understood the base mechanisms of this ability, but teleportation was, at its base, something that ignored distance within a certain range.

    He thought of how this concept would look in a sword strike. He imagined facing an opponent at range, or an opponent who was fleeing. He simply shed his sword, and his enemy would fall.

    He could stay in ce and pierce forward, and his sword would pierce his opponent¡¯s heart even if they were kilometers away.

    Damien got excited just thinking about it. But he calmed himself down. ¡®Isn¡¯t that just an extraption of deless?¡¯

    deless was used by merging his sword with the spatialyers and directly attacking the space in which something existed.

    A byproduct of this action was the spatial tears created in the wake of his de and the banishment of anything that existed within that space.

    It was the concept that many people used to argue about on earth to outline the negative aspects of teleportation.

    ¡°If you teleport into a wall, wouldn¡¯t you fuse with the wall on a molecr level?¡± The molecules wouldn¡¯t be able to share the same points in space, causing this phenomenon.

    And this was a true downside to teleportation. The reason Damien never encountered this situation was simply that he always pinpointed where he wanted to teleport before he actually took action.

    Well, that was before he achieved 3rd ss. By this point, his vector control had reached a level where he could easily move molecules in a way where this type of situation was negligible.

    Besides, if he truly lost his arm this way, he could just regrow it. That small amount of pain didn¡¯t faze him anymore

    What he wanted to achieve now was based on the same concept, but it was an entirely different take. deless would destroy the space, resulting in any molecules existing within it being banished into the void.

    Meanwhile, this new attack would superimpose his sword into the points in space that his enemies were, causing the original molecules to be destroyed. This new move was much more direct.

    ¡®I was too focused on grand scale things that I never thought of this sooner. Once I seed in creating this move, I¡¯ll have to rearrange the order of my sword art.¡¯

    This move was fit to be the 2nd step of his sword art, not the 4th. Luckily, the art he used was self-created and wasn¡¯t a strict and patterned art. He had always put more focus on fluidity. Because of this, it wouldn¡¯t be hard for him to change the order his attacks took.

    By the time Damien finished thinking about these various issues and solutions, the sun had already begun setting. Although it sounded easy when describing it, it took many hours to form a concise idea of what his next step would be.

    And he still didn¡¯t have an idea on how he would carry out this next step. Distance wasn¡¯t a concept he¡¯d explored much, as he had mostly wanted pure destruction. This type of thinking was a new direction for him, but it opened up many possibilities.

    ¡®Distance, huh. If I start ying around with the concept of distance, can¡¯t I¡­¡¯ Damien¡¯s eyes shone like stars when he thought of a certain move he wanted to learn before he returned to earth.

    ¡®Wouldn¡¯t that be the perfect way to say hello to that bastard?¡¯ Damien cooked up a grand n for Jin, unaware that the arrogant young master had been turned into a eunuch by the girl he was recently realizing his feelings for.

    Standing up, Damien felt his mana capacity had been replenished enough. He had passively been gathering magic power while he was in his thoughts, so this was to be expected.

    Without any further dy, Damien made his way to the rendezvous point to meet with the girls.

    When he arrived, he saw the two chatting happily with satisfied smiles on their faces.

    ¡°It seems you two also achieved some good things, didn¡¯t you,¡± Damien said as he walked up to them.

    Rose nodded. ¡°Yeah, the new skill I got is amazing! It¡¯ll be a lot of fun showing you what I can do, though you¡¯re a blockhead who won¡¯t be able to appreciate it like I can.¡±

    She was referring to his ability to see through any illusions, but she felt like wording it that way was too much of apliment. She had to one-up Damien whenever she got the chance.

    Damien shook his head lightly. ¡°Alright, you can show me once we find a good opponent to fight. For now, let¡¯s reach the peak.¡±

    He once again got onto Zara¡¯s back with Rose as they flew the rest of the way. Even though they expected to get attacked, the beasts were surprisingly docile. Many of them had heard the sounds of battle, and knowing how quickly those battles ended, they had no interest in throwing their lives away for nothing.

    As for the others, they either didn¡¯t bother fighting without reason, or they held back their hostility for another unexined reason.

    Either way, the trio had a smooth ride to the peak. They figured that there would be an intense battle waiting for them when they arrived, so they were properly vignt, but they were bound to be disappointed.

    There was nothing on the peak of the mountain. Rather than fight a massive 4th ss beast, all they could do was marvel at the natural beauty around them.

    Flowed bloomed in a seemingly orderly fashion, with each color being separated into its own area, while a beautifulke was present in the center.

    Theke water was clear as if it had never been touched by human hands, and the entire meadow gave off a calming feeling. It was entrancing, giving the trio the feeling of wanting toy down and sleep without worry.

    But none of them were naive enough to believe that feeling. Damien and Rose directly bit their tongues, forcing themselves to stay awake, while Zara showed open hostility and growled at the empty area.

    It was then that the sun finally set and moonlight descended on the world. When the light shone onto the centralke, it glowed mysteriously, shimmering in and out of existence and blinding the trio for a split second.

    By the time the glow receded, theke was no more. In its ce was a massive temple that let out an aura more ancient and domineering than anything any of them had ever felt. They were subject to a force that gave them the inherent urge to kneel as if it was the most natural thing to do.

    Although they didn¡¯t sumb to this urge, they were forced to revolve their magic power to ease the burden that was ced on their shoulders. This was caused simply by the temple¡¯s appearance, nothing more.

    They all looked at each other for a moment before Damien made a confident deration.

    ¡°Let¡¯s enter.¡±

 Chapter 76

    If the aura the temple exuded to the outside could be considered domineering, the inside was a chaotic mix of bloodthirsty and tranquil. Damien couldn¡¯t fathom how a human could ever bnce such pr opposite emotions perfectly, let alone a construct like the temple.

    The first thing they saw upon entry was an expansive hall that seemed to continue for eternity. The walls of this hall were decorated withrge depictions of a massive battle.

    As they walked forward, the depictions became even more gruesome. In the start, there was a world filled with strife. Empires would fight for territory, people would sh at even the slightest grievance, andw and order were only present within the upper ss of society.

    They saw paintings of this society essentially leading itself on a path to ruin. However, something changed after a while. Deformed creatures darker than a starless sky suddenly appeared within the world. At first, it was only one, but as time went on, they propagated and multiplied.

    When the creatures first arrived, the various leaders of the world simply ignored them. They figured it was a new species of beast, and promptly yed every single one they saw. Noticing that the strength of these creatures was nothing, the leaders of the various races stopped paying attention to them.

    Even the members of the beast race shunned them, not iming them as their own. But with the tant discrimination and immense hatred that the beast race and humanoid races had against each other, these ims were widely ignored.

    Without anyone¡¯s notice, these deformed creatures continued spreading, kidnapping women from various races and creating progeny on the. They spent years in the dark, slowly waiting for their time to strike. As their progeny grew up, these creatures brainwashed them, making them faithful believers.

    And since the progeny had humanoid appearances, they were epted into society without question. These children spread through the continent, preaching their beliefs and infecting the minds of countless people from all races. These people were further brainwashed and then sent to act against the nations they resided in.

    This was how things started.

    At this point, the trio had reached the halfway point of the hall. They could see a door in the distance, but they were too focused on the paintings to care. Even Zara, whose innocence was extremely prominent, still had her focus on the scenes depicted in front of her.

    The deformed creatures performed sacrifices and rituals, unnaturally granting strength to those that followed them as they corrupted arge part of the poption. Even at this point, the higher-ups of the nations didn¡¯t take notice.

    They simply took the spread as a new faith that had been started. They disdained these people for praying and giving their lives to false gods.

    It was at this point that the deformed creatures decided it was time to act. They sent word to their homnd, depicted as a dark star within an infinite cosmos. It took 10 years for others from their race to arrive, and seeing the progress the frontrunners had made, they began to set up circr devices in various areas of the world.

    Then, after spending 20 years in hiding, they struck. Those circr devices widened into massive ck holes, and out of those holes came swarms of the deformed creatures. It was only now that the leaders of the nations began to fight back.

    They were strong, stronger than anything Damien had felt before. The residual aura of these beings was strong enough to leak even when it was just a painting of them.

    ¡®How do you even paint such a thing?¡¯ Damien only had a passing thought before he refocused on the paintings.

    The depiction was brutal. Denizens of the world were ughtered like pigs, whether they were warriors or innocents didn¡¯t matter. The deformed beings moved with the singr goal of wiping out all existence on the.

    Then, what Damien could only assume to be the 4th and 5th ss beings on the made their move. He was surprised by the sheer number, as there seemed to be tens of demigods and thousands of 4th sses.

    These beings went on a rampage, killing everyst one of those deformed creatures they could find. But they were toote in their efforts. They had been too conceited in their positions of power.

    Those who had been converted by the deformed beings made their move, crawling the streets of cities with the unnatural power they gained andmitting mass ughter,ughing while doing it. It took years to finally win the battle, but the losses were too heavy to even be considered a win.

    Almost half of the world¡¯s poption had been razed during these short few years.

    For the first time since their long rule had begun, these beings realized their idiocy. They got together and proposed a truce, a method to bring their people together, and a method to unite the world.

    And their method found sess.

    The denizens of the world, having experienced a massive cmity, came together in hatred for those deformed creatures. Their features were obvious even on their progeny, and anyone who possessed those features was killed on the streets regardless of their innocence. It took many years for the world to regain a semnce of peace.

    But those deformed creatures didn¡¯t allow it. They once again came to the world with the same purpose, but this time, they brought stronger forces. On the enemy¡¯s side as well, Damien felt the residual auras of what he assumed to be demigods.

    Tracing the length of the wall, Damien realized that the depiction was almost over, but he felt there was too much story to tell for it to end so soon. He decided to keep observing beforeing to any conclusions.

    As he watched, he saw another gruesome battle take ce, but this time, the denizens of the world were more prepared. The deformed race wasn¡¯t able to propagate as they could previously. However, this was made up for by the fact that their leaders had descended.

    Suddenly, the entire depiction became centered on a boy. The boy lost his family in the first cmity the world faced, but he still grew up and learned how to use his powers, he joined the war when those beings returned and he surpassed everyone around him.

    As the battles raged on, he grew from a boy into a young man, and from a young man into an old one.

    Even at the apex of the war, the denizens of the world were losing. ced in apromising position, the leaders of the world decided to own up to their mistakes.

    They trapped the leaders of the deformed race with their schemes and directly used their mana to implode. The paintings became entirely white, depicting the massive explosion that took ce.

    Only that single man was left alive, the one who had grown from a boy during these years of war. In front of him, countless of those deformed creatures stood, even 3 of their demigods remained. Yet, he was on hisst leg.

    Just like those before him, the man decided to sacrifice himself. But his effort was much greater than theirs. When he imploded, the space around him cracked and shattered, creating a massive ck hole, while countless meteors rained down from the sky.

    Two more demigods and most of the cannon fodder died in this apocalyptic explosion.

    In thest panel of the hall, the man¡¯s corpse had a smile on its face, while the final living demigod on the enemy side rushed to escape.

    The trio was silent. None of them could bring themselves to speak.

    The depiction was horrific cmity on a worldwide scale, but also the tale of various heroes.

    It was the tale of growth and development, but also destruction and devastation.

    Finally, after what seemed like many hours, the silence was broken, yet not by any of the three currently in the room.

    An aged voice echoed through the halls.

    ¡°Finally, someone has arrived to whom I can tell my story.¡±

 Chapter 77

    ¡°Show yourself!¡±

    The trio¡¯s vignce was once again raised, but the olden voice assured them of its intentions.

    ¡°Fear not, children. I am but a remnant soul left in this temple, waiting patiently for someone to receive this legacy.¡±

    Even with this, the three didn¡¯t let down their guard. Still, they gave the voice a chance to continue. The effect the depictions along the walls left on them was big enough for them to do so.

    The illusory form of an old man appeared out of thin air, its existence shaky and broken. When Damien looked at this old man¡¯s facial features, he immediately turned back to the painting. ¡°You are¡­!¡±

    The old man smiled. ¡°Yes, that is me at the end of that painting, or at least that was the real me. My name is Kurt Galloway, and I was once a leader of the human race.¡±

    Damien was shocked. Kurt Galloway was a name he had nearly forgotten but always stayed within the recesses of his memory. After all, if it wasn¡¯t for him, Damien would have long been dead within the dungeon.

    Although he couldn¡¯t be assured about the truthfulness of the old man¡¯s words, Damien did be slightly more respectful.

    ¡°Can you tell us why you appeared in front of us, senior?¡±

    Kurt smiled. ¡°It is quite simple really. I just wanted to tell you a bit more about these depictions and give you a small warning about what you will face when you enter through that door. Now tell me, did you notice anything off about the paintings?¡±

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    Damien nodded. ¡°I noticed that the creatures in the paintings, which I assume are the Nox, are deformed grotesquely, and that form wouldn¡¯t be effective in battle. Not only that, something feels off about these events, as if they were mixed together in a way they weren¡¯t meant to be.¡±

    Kurt¡¯s smile grew. ¡°Indeed, the depiction of the Nox in these paintings is subjective, but it¡¯s obvious that the artist was biased when drawing a race that wiped half of the world¡¯s poption not once, but multiple times.

    ¡°As for your second assumption, it also tied back to what I just mentioned. The Nox¡¯s invasion on this didn¡¯t simply start 1000 years ago, rather that was when it was finally ended. The very first invasion of Nox was almost 10,000 years ago.¡±

    This piece of information shocked Damien and Rose to their cores. What kind of a timespan was 10,000 years? They couldn¡¯t even fathom living for that long.

    ¡°I understand your doubt, but that is only a part of the lifespan a demigod is granted. The only ones who survived every era until 1000 years ago were them.

    ¡°Those first scenes you see with the chaotic world full of strife was society 10,000 years ago. The following panels until the first war ended took 2000 years to ur. I was born 3,000 years after that, and the war resumed 2,000 years after I was born.

    p? ?da n?v el ¡°My parents were of noble lineage, so they easily achieved 4th ss. During those 2,000 years, I gained strength normally, but when the Nox descended once more, they took everything I loved from me.¡±

    Kurt¡¯s face twisted in rage. ¡°My family, my wife, even my infant child wasn¡¯t spared. After that, I ceaselessly pursued revenge, ughtering the Nox until I managed to reach demigod level.

    ¡°It all culminated in that final panel you saw. Before the various demigods of the world hatched their schemes and sacrificed themselves, they put their power together to turn a small into a secret realm and I used my spatial abilities to transport that realm onto the continent.

    The trio was once again shocked. It was no wonder that life thrived in the realm and intelligent species existed, it was once its own true world.

    ¡°Since we knew we were going to die, we put our legacies into this world for theter generation. And to not make the general public suspicious, we allowed those 4th sses to do the same.

    ¡°And then, it all ended. When I sacrificed myself, I split this part of my soul to reside within the secret realm, only awakening when a new generation enters. Since I had managed to leave the Nox with only a single demigod, they retreated and haven¡¯t returned until they regain their forces.

    ¡°It was an borate n that made them assume we still had demigods alive within the world. And like that, it¡¯s been 1000 years.¡±

    Although Kurt had summarized the events that took ce, the pain in his voice was all too clear. They could feel his unwillingness, but also the relief he felt when the Nox retreated. However, Kurt wasn¡¯t done.

    ¡°It was only after my true body had died that I learned of this, but the Nox have been proliferating through the universe for thousands of years. Their purpose is unknown, and all they do when they dock on a new is driving its denizens to extinction.

    ¡°My only hope for the three of you that have made it to this temple sessfully is that you don¡¯t allow Apeiron to fall to those creatures. I¡¯m aware that asking you to eliminate the Nox is not a task you can handle, but I hope you can at least do this small amount.¡±

    Damien and Rose nodded immediately, and Zara followed after seeing their affirmation. For Damien, he owed his life to Kurt. Protecting a single world wasn¡¯t too much to ask, especially since he could escape if he was going to die.

    Rose was different. This world was her home, so she felt that it was only natural that she protects it. Everything she cared about was in this world.

    But Damien suddenly felt the need to raise a question. ¡°But, why me?¡±

    Kurt looked at him deeply, but he wasn¡¯t fazed by the vague question. Even if he was just a fragment of his old self, he still had enough of a connection to the secret realm to understand what Damien was asking.

    ¡°You see, all the legacies my true self left in the world were connected to each other,¡± Kurt said as a ring suddenly appeared floating in mid-air. With the appearance of this ring, Damien felt something in his inventory buzz.

    It was a simr-looking obsidian ck ring. Damien had taken it from the subspace in the dungeon assuming it was a treasure, but as time passed, he had forgotten its existence.

    ¡°Although you are not from this world, you are someone who can be considered my sessor. When ites to spatial affinity, I always had a quirk. It was impossible for me to not pick up those young kids and teach them about the paths to developing this esoteric affinity.

    ¡°Besides that, why shouldn¡¯t it be you? From the way I see it, you¡¯vee from a world close to Apeiron, and unwillingly at that. The Nox is a threat to us all, so it¡¯s natural I warn you about it.¡±

    Damien understood. In return for all the help he would receive from Kurt, he was to protect this world. It was like an exchange. Although it seemed selfish, Damien didn¡¯t mind it. It would be weirder if Kurt waspletely magnanimous.

    Rose, on the other hand, was baffled. ¡®Another world? Dungeon? He came unwillingly?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t make heads or tails out of the situation.

    Noticing this, Damien lightly grabbed her hand. ¡°I¡¯ll exin everything once this is over.¡±

    Rose nodded, as there was nothing else she could do at the moment.

    Suddenly, Kurt¡¯s form began to waver. ¡°It looks like my time is finally running out. Children, through that door there is a 3rd ss member of the Nox.

    ¡°I had trapped him when I was still in my prime and forced him into stasis until someone arrived here. Only after you kill him will you be able to reap your rewards. I hope you are able to stay true to your promises.¡±

    After giving them a few more tips, Kurt¡¯s shadow fadedpletely, leaving them alone in an empty hall.

    Before Damien could collect his thoughts, Rose grabbed his cor. ¡°You have some exining to do, bastard.¡±

    Damien smiled wryly. It seemed Rose was angry he hid his origins from her. Even Zara was curious, as she had met him within the dungeon, not knowing who he was before that.

    So, Damien went to a corner of the hall and sat, patting the ground next to him indicating Rose to join him. Except, she didn¡¯t. It was Zara that curled up on the spot next to him.

    Rose stormed up to him angrily and without another word, sat down directly on hisp. Putting her arms around his neck for bnce, she stared into his eyes, her entire aura screaming, ¡°go on, exin!¡±

    Damien¡¯s wry smile grew. Without wasting time, he recounted his story. From his childhood when his father disappeared to meeting Elena in high school, to the world awakening when his mother fell ill, and to the point when he was thrown into the dungeon to die.

    From there, he sped up the pacing of his story, attempting to gloss over everything that happened in the dungeon. He seeded for a bit, but when it got to the point where he met Zara, she intervened and told everything as it was.

    About running from the wyvern, training in the subspace, Damien¡¯s fight against the wyvern where he allowed half his body to be burnt to a crisp without flinching, and more.

    Zara seemed to find Damien¡¯s pain tolerance cool and heroic, so she talked about it in detail, but this made Rose realize how much Damien had downyed the events before he met Zara.

    Though she wanted to know what he went through, she didn¡¯t push him. If his tolerance had reached a point where he could take grievous injuries like they were nothing, she couldn¡¯t imagine the pain he endured.

    Zara talked about how he was missing an arm and how heter regrew it, how they escaped to the surface, and much more. And then the story reached where they met Rose.

    Rose was silent, taking time to collect her thoughts. She was slightly annoyed that he had hidden such important information from her but hearing his story, that feeling vanished.

    Meanwhile, Damien was getting increasingly anxious the more time it took for Rose to speak. He didn¡¯t know why, but the thought of her abandoning him due to his origins, even if it was irrational, made him extremely ufortable.

    After many minutes that felt like days to Damien, Rose looked back into his eyes. She could see the hint of anxiety he was trying to hide, and couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    ¡®Since we first met, I¡¯ve never seen him anxious, and this is what gets him there?¡¯

    Shaking her head slightly, Rose moved forward, once again connecting her lips with his.

    The difference this time was that it wasn¡¯t a kiss begging for intimacy or codependence, it was meant to assure Damien that her feelings hadn¡¯t changed.

    Damien could feel those emotions through her kiss. He understood what she wanted to convey. And with that, was there any other course of action? Of course not.

    Without even the slightest hint of hesitation, Damien kissed her back.

 Chapter 78

    The two stayed still for many minutes, reveling in the taste of each other¡¯s lips before Rose decided to pull away.

    Rose was first to speak. ¡°When are you going back?¡±

    ¡°Not long after we leave the secret realm. It¡¯s been my n since the beginning.¡± Damien replied.

    Rose stayed silent, falling into thought. It was only an entire 5 minutester that she spoke again. ¡°I¡¯ming with you.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± Damien was forced to do a double-take. She wasing with him? Their rtionship wasn¡¯t that deep yet right?

    But Rose didn¡¯t allow him to possess too many questions. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ming with you. I can see that you want to convince me otherwise, but you should know by now that it¡¯s impossible.¡±

    Damien stared into her eyes for a bit before shaking his head wryly.

    ¡°So, when we get outside I have to exin to the emperor that not only have I kissed his daughter twice, but I¡¯m also going to be taking her to a different world? Aren¡¯t you just asking for my head?¡±

    Rose shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll tell him with you, so it¡¯ll probably be fine. Besides, he knows my love for adventure, so he will most likely be supportive.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll take you with me. But you have to give me a clear exnation of why you want toe after we leave this ce.¡±

    Rose nodded. They had already been wasting time with their drama instead of proceeding forward, and they only had around 2 months left in the secret realm. It would be foolish to continue wasting time.

    As the two of them stood up, Zara suddenly chimed in, ¡°Damien, why were you guys biting each other?¡±

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    p? ?da n?v el ¡°Cough!¡± Damien almost choked on air when he heard this question.

    Zara had no problem randomly talking about ¡°mating¡± but her innocence always showed when on the topic of human customs like kissing. Even though Damien knew she was the same age as him, he had trouble treating her as anything but a child.

    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about it. That¡¯s just something humans do when they like each other a lot.¡± He responded, attempting to evade the question.

    But Zara didn¡¯t let him off easily. ¡°So when I lick your face, we are kissing too right?¡±

    At this point, Damien was only seconds away from rolling on the floor in awkwardness. ¡°Ehm, yes you can technically call that kissing, but it¡¯s different. Don¡¯t worry Zara, you won¡¯t have to know any of these things soon.¡±

    Zara was still confused why Damien was looking so fidgety when he was talking, but she ignored it. ¡®Humans are interesting!¡¯

    With their small drama over, the trio finally made their way over to the ancient door at the end of the hall. It was obsidian ck in color, matching Damien¡¯s ring, and contained countless intricate designs on its surface.

    Speaking of the ring, Damien had already put it on his right middle finger, next to his spatial ring that was on his index. It was the least he could do to show his respect for Kurt.

    Damien stopped in front of the door and turned towards the other two. ¡°I don¡¯t know if their strength has been hyped up or anything, but the one on the other side of that door is part of a race that used to easily wipe out humans on this.¡±

    Rose nodded solemnly as she continued his sentence. ¡°Right, it¡¯s better to be over-prepared than underprepared. Don¡¯t worry about us and open the door.¡±

    Damien nodded as well and followed her wish. All it took was a slight push and the ancient door swung open, revealing the scene inside.

    There was a massive cavern-like room filled with artistic sculptures and designs, looking like the main hall of some royal family. The only difference was, the room was mostly empty.

    Only two things stood within the room. At the very back center of the hall, stood a massive ck obelisk that pierced towards the heavens. Even though it had most likely been over 1000 years since its installment, it was still pristine as the day it was made.

    The other thing in the room stood in the very center of it all. It was arge creature, around 10 feet tall, with a humanoid body and massive wings. Its skin was darker than a starless sky, while its wings took the same color, looking slightly simr to Zara¡¯s.

    Its body was masculine and naked from the torso up, with what looked like torn pants from the waist down. It was packed with muscles more pronounced than even the most athletic men on earth.

    And finally, its face. Its face wasn¡¯t visible at first, but when the trio properly entered the room, the entire being¡¯s figure jerked.

    As if waking up from a previously eternal slumber, the being slowly raised its head. Its eyelid fluttered and slowly opened. Lid, not lids. The creature did not seem to possess a nose, instead having a massive cycloptic eye that took up a great portion of its face. The first thing it saw? Small humans that would be a great first meal.

    Its massive mouth twisted into a wide grin, which literally spanned from ear to ear, it¡¯s teeth sharper than any de. Even if it was more normal than any of the depictions from the previous hall, its head was alien enough to terrify any normal mortal.

    It was already in a standing position when it was put in stasis, so it stretched out its arms as if waking from a long nap. And then, it finally spoke. Its grating voice caused goosebumps to involuntarily form on Damien¡¯s arms.

    ¡°Good good good! Humans! I don¡¯t know who prepared this feast for me, but I shall partake in kind!¡±

    Then, it charged at the trio. Damien went left while Rose went right, with Zara melding into the shadows and disappearing. When the Nox finally attacked, it didn¡¯t manage to hit anyone.

    It wasn¡¯t disappointed, though. It had been many years since it had prey, so it was fine with ying the long game. As its eye scanned the surroundings, its two arms snapped. The joints where its elbows should be had inverted, and its forearms and hands had sharpened. Its arms now looked like two scythes.

    The first one it decided to target was Damien since he had already charged an attack. Damien grabbed his sword and got ready to parry the oing creature.

    Boom!

    A loud sound was produced by the sh, but the temple was too sturdy to even rumble on impact.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Damien and the Nox kept shing violently, both aiming for the kill, but Damien quickly found himself encountering a problem. When his de struck the Nox¡¯s scythe-like arms, the impact was hard, as it should normally be.

    But whenever Damien changed his target and attempted to inflict true damage to the creature, something mysterious would happen. The area of the Nox¡¯s body that he struck would change, bing ink-like in its texture. The inky substance would then stick to his de and attempt to swallow it into the Nox¡¯s body.

    ¡®Their main power must be their bodies. Let¡¯s try fighting with elements now.¡¯ Damien activated his vector field and immediately used his sword art. His body became illusory as he disappeared and reappeared in countless areas surrounding the Nox, sending massive spatial tears in its direction.

    The Nox let out a gratingugh. ¡°Kekekekeke!¡± And then it made another wild move. Its body was suddenly cut into multiple pieces, the unused parts sshing to the floor like water.

    The Nox was now riddled with holes as if it was on the verge of dying, but it was stillughing madly. Every single spatial tear Damien sent in its direction passed through it without doing damage, the areas of impact having been cut from the Nox by its own two hands.

    As the danger passed, the inky substance on the floor flowed back into the Nox¡¯s body, filling the holes that were previously there.

    The Nox watched Damien with anticipation. This scene usually made its prey feel despaired and helpless, but it was bound to be disappointed.

    Currently, Damien only had one thought in his head. ¡®What would happen if I devoured it?¡¯

    It was at this time that Rose and Zara made their move. Now that its power had been gaged, the trio decided to use their full prowess to defeat it. Any mistakes would lead to an early death, which none of them wanted.

    Appearing at the Nox¡¯s back without any warning, Rose grinned and raised her arm.

    ¡°Illusory Throne.¡±

    The entire room faded to ck, with the only things left being Damien, Rose, and the Nox. For the first time, the Nox became wary.

    A massive ethereal throne manifested behind Rose, and from it, hundreds if not thousands of des emerged, flying towards the Nox.

    BOOM!

    The impact was louder than any of its shes with Damien.

    ¡°KREEEEEE!¡±

    Oddly enough, there were no injuries on its body, but the Nox was forced to screech in pain. It attempted to charge at Rose, only to fall into the floor. It then jumped, attempting to return to its previous elevation, but it ended up moving to the right, into a small box-shaped room.

    Time continued to pass and the Nox was getting frustrated. Whenever it moved, it would end up in a different small room, and every direction it took was different than the one it intended. It hadpletely lost its bearings in the pitch-ck world.

    The Nox once again was forced into a small room, but this one was different. Biting cold filled the room and tried to infect the Nox. Projectiles of ice randomly shot out, wanting to pierce its body. The Nox once again separated parts of itself, but this was the wrong decision.

    The second the inky liquid touched the ground, it was frozen at a molecr level and briskly shattered. It was the first time since the fight started that the Nox had taken damage.

    This cycle continued, with Rose leading the Nox randomly and forcing it into a state of confusion and Zara slowly freezing its body, injuring it. Damien could only stand by and watch incredulously as this happened. It was the first time he was useless in a fight. But he knew he had a method to help.

    Using space as a medium, Damien forced the molecules in the area around him to vibrate intensely, generating a superheated sma. Then, he gathered all of this sma into one ce, preparing a final attack.

    If freezing it at a molecr level could break the Nox, burning it should have a simr effect.

    The Nox was on itsst leg, its body had thinned considerably and much of the substance making up its structure had been broken off. Finally, Zara was able to freeze its legs still.

    ¡°Now!¡± Rose shouted.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me twice!¡± Damien responded. Like a certain overpowered guy in a world where people were named after vegetables, Damien stuck his palms forward and unleashed the massive beam of sma he had been preparing.

    VOOM!

    Just the beam¡¯s movement was enough to cause the air to split. Nothing was allowed to exist within the same space as this sma. Seeing the beam heading in its direction, the Nox screeched once more, but it was unable to move.

    Zara had thoroughly trapped its legs and was freezing them even as the beam approached. Without any suspense, the attack hit its target.

    And with only a final harrowing screech, the Nox disintegrated into nothing but particles.

 Chapter 79

    The ckness slowly faded as therge room came back into view. Both Zara and Rose were exhausted, but Damien was still doing fine. He hadn¡¯t been able to contribute much to this fight.

    ¡°So this is the Nox, huh,¡± Damien said with a thoughtful look on his face.

    ¡°They¡¯re really strong, not to mention their insane regeneration. If Zara wasn¡¯t quick to use her ice, that battle would have been much worse,¡± Rose responded while patting Zara.

    ¡°Hehe,¡± Zara only giggled at the praise, not minding much about the battle itself.

    ¡°Still, we don¡¯t know how much uniqueness they have. Whether the weakness we found can be exploited or not remains to be seen.¡±

    Rose nodded. ¡°This one didn¡¯t seem to use mana externally at all. And the way he maneuvered his body seemed more like a trait than a skill or anything.¡±

    Only then did Damien notice. The Nox they had fought did not use skills in the slightest. This was definitely weird. Even if they were a race that only used their physical body, they¡¯d still develop skills.

    With the way the Nox acted, it could be assumed that their intelligence wasn¡¯t high, simr to magic beasts who grow more intelligent as they gain strength. But if the Nox was purposefully acting that way to mislead them, it painted a whole different picture.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not make any assumptions after only a single fight. If we aren¡¯t cautious against a massive force like this, we¡¯d lose our lives without even understanding how.¡± Damien said before he remembered something.

    ¡°Speaking of not understanding, what was that skill you used? That was badass.¡±

    Damien usually abhorred calling out attack names, as it sounded cringe to do so, but when Rose did it during the battle, he had to admit that it was cool.

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    He silently considered whether he should start calling out some of his more concisely named skills when he used them.

    Rose beamed at the mention of her abilities before answering, ¡°That¡¯s the new skill I got from my ss change! What I used was only a small portion of its full power, but it¡¯s all I can do right now. Hopefully, I learn to do some even crazier things with time.¡±

    Indeed, Rose¡¯s use of her Illusory Throne skill was rudimentary. It was a domain, a ce where she was essentially a god-like being if she used it right.

    Although the effects wouldn¡¯t work on those stronger than her, even hundreds of second sses together shouldn¡¯t be able to touch her if she was using it.

    This was the reason that those who reached Grandmaster level control were valued higher than others. Domains were truly terrifying powers. Yet, the number of people that had reached this level of control, besides the various leaders, could be counted on one hand.

    While Zara and Rose rested and regained their mana, Damien decided to explore the room. It was weird how such arge room remained wholly empty besides the obelisk and the Nox.

    The walls and floor were constructed using a type of material Damien had never seen before even on Apeiron. It reminded him of marble, yet its integrity was leagues above such a normal mineral. After all, it withstood the aftershocks of the entire battle without even a single scratch.

    Finding nothing particrly interesting about the rest of the room, Damien moved to the obelisk. It also looked normal no matter how much Damien observed it, but it gave him a mysterious feeling that he couldn¡¯t quite understand.

    Circling the obelisk, he found that there was writing on the side, which he proceeded to recite so the girls could hear it.

    ¡°For you who had in an enemy of this world, this obelisk serves as a reward. It isn¡¯t something created by us, rather it was something already present at the peak of this mountain before we turned this world into a secret realm.

    ¡°We have no idea its purpose, nor are we sure where it came from. All we know is that it can provide immense benefits to those it deems worthy. After all, it was due to this obelisk that I was able to rise to the ranks of demigods with ease.

    ¡°I leave your rewards in fate¡¯s hands. If you are here, it means that I have approved of you. Thus, I do not doubt that you will seed in obtaining something great. To receive what the obelisk wishes to give, all you need to do is ce your hand on its surface.¡±

    Damien looked back at the girls. ¡°Well, since you guys are still recuperating, I¡¯ll go first and test if this thing really works.¡±

    He stepped forward, only slightly vignt. After all, what could a stationary object without attack power due to hurt him?

    But Damien didn¡¯t realize the severity of this obelisk. Lightly touching his hand to its surface, Damien felt an irresistible force entering his body. This force did an entire round through his internal body, his Void Physique not being able to hinder it in the slightest.

    Then, it simply vanished. However, it didn¡¯t go alone. The second the force left his body, Damien disappeared from the room.

    Zara was the first to notice. Her eyes snapped open as she felt her connection with Damien cut off. ¡°Damien!¡± She yelled, but she didn¡¯t get any response.

    Rose wasn¡¯t doing any better. She had seen Damien suddenly vanish, but she still didn¡¯t know how it happened. With this sudden turn of events, her rational mind had long been pushed away, letting her emotions take control.

    Without even thinking of the consequences, Rose rushed to the obelisk and pushed her hand to its surface, attempting to reach Damien using the same method he did. And she as well felt the mysterious force. Without any suspense, Rose vanished as well.

    Zara tried her best to follow them, but it was futile. No matter how much she pressed on the obelisk, scratched at it, or even tried to destroy it altogether, nothing worked.

    Zara was thoroughly panicked. Ever since they had met in the dungeon, their mental connection had held firm. The only reason she was fine with separating from him to train was due to this mental connection.

    Feeling it cut off made Zara feel alone. She felt like the tragedy she suffered with her parents was happening all over again. She didn¡¯t want to lose anyone else, but shecked the power to help.

    In her chaotic emotional state, Zara¡¯s bloodline surged. It was as if it was feeding on her pain. Her internal body began to wreck itself, fighting her own bloodline. Zara thrashed around. Not only was she losing Damien, she even randomly ended up in mind-numbing pain.

    She couldn¡¯t handle the stress anymore, and directly passed out where she stood, her body slumping to the floor.

    ***

    When Damien opened his eyes, he could only see pure ckness. Calling it darkness wasn¡¯t enough to justify just how empty the space around him was. Actually, as he tried to use his affinity, he couldn¡¯t even feel the existence of ¡°space¡± around him.

    Not only was the concept of space absent, but he also couldn¡¯t feel his own body. It was as if his consciousness had been pulled into emptiness.

    It might have been seconds or it might have been years, but after a while, Damien realized that even the concept of time was missing. Damien¡¯s consciousness wandered without direction, being pulled along by waves of something he didn¡¯t understand.

    At some point, he even began to doubt his existence.

    ¡®Who am I?¡¯

    ¡®Where am I?¡¯

    It didn¡¯t take long for Damien to lose his reasoning. No matter how strong his will was, this type of situation wasn¡¯t something he could simply train himself to endure.

    But he didn¡¯t lose his memories. Instead, he trapped himself within them so he could maintain at least his sense of self.

    Time passed like this. Was it only a millisecond or did thousands of years pass? Damien didn¡¯t know. As he was carried by the current, something besides emptiness entered his vision.

    Damien was enthralled. Any change in his current environment was something he would wee. He didn¡¯t care about danger, or rather the concept of danger wasn¡¯t something he understood anymore.

    He didn¡¯t know what he was doing or how he was doing it, but Damien slowly made his way over to that source of light.

    What he saw was something he¡¯d never forget no matter how long he lived.

    A massive river. Larger thans andrger than gxies, this river spanned for eternity in both directions. If one attempted to find the ends of this river, they¡¯d most likely forfeit their egos in the process. The river was pristine blue, not in the color of water but in the color of stars.

    It was entirely made up of light, or was it energy? Damien had no idea. He just stared at this river unblinkingly, entranced by its flow.

    ¡®Damien Void. I am Damien Void.¡¯

    Something about the river helped him regain his sanity. It calmed his chaotic state and brought him to something simr to enlightenment. As if this was the cue it had been waiting for, the river swirled. Scenes began to y on its ethereal surface.

    A man stood in front of an army. Countless hundreds of thousands of existences stood in front of him, attempting to halt his movement. The man stared at them calmly from his spot within the air. He gazed down upon them like they were ants. Lightly raising his hand, the man said a single word.

    ¡°Copse.¡±

    All hell broke loose. The majority of the army was wiped out in that single move, with the residual shockwaves decimating the rest.

    In the next scene, the man no longer needed to move. Enemies still barred his path, though less in number, their strength was unfathomable. But the man simply looked at them.

    p? ?da n?v el ¡°Die.¡±

    That was all it took. An entire was razed with a single word from his mouth. The man then looked in a certain direction before smiling lightly. The people around the man were confused by his sudden behavior, but they had stood by his side for many years. Damien couldn¡¯t see their faces but he could feel their emotions They didn¡¯t doubt the man in the slightest.

    Although those around the man didn¡¯t know what he was looking at, Damien did. After all, the man was staring straight at Damien. He didn¡¯t know how he knew this, but he understood that it was true. This was a feeling that stemmed from the core of his being.

    The man¡¯s mouth moved, and Damien swore he could hear his voice.

    ¡°The space-time river, huh. Sure brings back memories.¡±

    That was thest thing Damien saw before everything started fading. He knew his time at the river was over, but he desperately wanted to stay.

    However; he no longer had control of his movement.

    As Damien was forced out of the emptiness, an inconspicuous part of the river detached from the rest, shooting into Damien¡¯s consciousness. The amount was smaller than even an atom, so Damien didn¡¯t even realize what happened.

    Even as he tried his hardest to return to the river, Damien¡¯s vision once again faded to ck.

 Chapter 80

    When Rose opened her eyes, she found herself in a space filled with the color white. Nothing else was present in her surroundings.

    However, she didn¡¯t pay any attention to this. She had only one purpose at the moment, which was to find Damien.

    ¡°Damien!¡± She yelled, attempting to get a reaction. But it was all for naught. After all, Damien wasn¡¯t even in the same space as her. Left with no other options, Rose attempted to move through the space and search.

    It was only then that she realized she had no conscious control over her movements. Her body was stuck in ce, seemingly being forced there by some force she couldn¡¯t understand.

    All of a sudden, the white expanse began to unfurl like a box. First came the space above her, then the three sides. The appearance of the box itself confused Rose since the same seemed that it expanded as far as her eye could see. Yet, only a few kilometers away from her, there were walls.

    With the disappearance of these walls, Rose was subject to the scenery outside. The sky was colored in rainbows. She couldn¡¯t find any other way to describe it, since most of the colors that constituted the sky couldn¡¯t be ced on the existing color spectrum.

    The walls of the box slowly deformed and merged with the sky, bing clouds that floated aimlessly. The scene was enough to entrance her, causing her to forget her original purpose. She was stuck trying toprehend the scenes around her.

    It was then that the floor finally began to move. Subconsciously, Rose attempted to use her mana to fly but found she was unable to do so. The fear of falling into the unknown gnawed at the back of her mind but wasn¡¯t able topletely snap her out of her trance.

    It did, however, make her look down at the floor that was folding in on itself like a piece of paper being folded over and over. Unlike paper, though, the floor continued to fold infinitely, bing a speck of dust that floated with the wind and joined the clouds.

    For some reason, Rose¡¯s entire perception was focused on this speck, rather than paying attention to what was below her.

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    This entire time, she was unable to formte a coherent thought.

    Her mind was jumbled, but the scenes of the walls bing clouds, of the infinite expanse bing a box, of the floor bing a speck of dust, and of the iprehensible skies resulted in an influx of insights entering her mind.

    In her current state, this only served to further confuse her. Finally, Rose ended up looking below her.

    Boom!

    It was as if an explosion went off in her mind. The chaotic thoughts cleared themselves as she gazed upon a mystical scene.

    There was no ground, as the area below her descended into a harrowing abyss, but she didn¡¯t focus on that. Rather, her focus was on the massive golden rivers that danced through the void.

    These swirling golden rivers all connected in the middle and formed an expansive sea that flowed to eternity. Waterfalls made of this gold were present everywhere, dying the atmosphere in their color.

    Rose¡¯s eyes throbbed intensely. She could see a river flowing behind her, connecting to her eyes like a karmic thread, yet it wasn¡¯t that. She truly didn¡¯t understand what was happening.

    Her eyes continued to throb. Gazing into the sea of gold, various scenes shed before Rose¡¯s eyes. A mother birthing a child, only for it to be stillborn, a homeless man begging on the street, being ignored by the many pedestrians that passed, and many more.

    Everything seemed random to her. She tried her best to find a connection or even a simrity between the scenes entering her mind, but she couldn¡¯t. At least, at first she couldn¡¯t.

    Slowly but surely, Rose began to piece the images together.

    The mother of that child framing an innocent man in a bid to steal his money and resorting to drugs to cope with her emotions, that homeless man betraying and killing a good friend to satisfy his vices and running away from his sins.

    Rose began to see scenes of people doing good and bad,mitting actions that fell within a grey area, and many more. However, they all sowed karma. Each action of these people resulted in a reaction further in their lives.

    She felt that if she wanted to, she could change a single action these people took and cause a butterfly effect that changed the course of their entire lives.

    The throbbing in her eyes grew to its peak, forcing her to shut them. The golden glow they shone with infused into their very being, forcing an evolution onto her.

    Her ruby eyes began to morph. Although they stayed mostly the same color, her trait imposed onto them, bing her true eyes. Before, she could switch between the two as she pleased, but it looked like that was no longer an option.

    Before she even understood what had just taken ce, Rose felt a mysterious force rejecting her from the dimension she was currently in. As she tried to take in every single detail of the realm onest time, Rose¡¯s vision faded to ck.

    ***

    The final month of the secret realm was almost over, with only a single day left until the participants returned to the continent. Knowing this, everyone was doing their best to maximize their gains.

    p? ?da n?v el Within that eerie forest, the dark horse of the tournament was riding a skeletal horse, looking at a new legion of undead he had built with a satisfied smile on his face.

    In another region, Ethan stood proudly among a group of 8-foot tall men whose bodies were covered in scars and tattoos. Under his foot was one of their kin, but none of the men seemed to mind. Instead, they roared withughter and excitement as they celebrated the warrior in front of them.

    Meanwhile, on Godspark Mountain, Zara was rampaging through the peakyer. She had woken up half a month after she fell into thea, but she was still drowning in sorrow.

    However, every fiber of her being refused to ept that something bad happened to Damien.

    There hadn¡¯t been a single time since they met that he met with a problem he didn¡¯t solve with confidence. Betting on this assumption, Zara prioritized strength. Her thoughts were stillrgely innocent, but there was a certain part of her that was forced into reality.

    ¡®I will never allow this type of thing to happen again.¡¯ This was the thought in her head. When her parents died, she was powerless, and now when something mysterious happened to Damien, she was powerless.

    She didn¡¯t care how long it took or what means she used to aplish it, all she desired was strength. And her bloodline reveled in this emotion. It fueled her determination even further and allowed her to return to her most basic bestial instinct. To kill, to eat, and to evolve.

    So this was what Zara had been doing. She was gaining strength in the most primitive way possible in hopes that she would never be useless again.

    And after an entire month of waiting, Zara¡¯s expectations paid off. In the middle of her hunt, she had sensed her mental connection with Damien return as if nothing had happened. Although he seemed to be disoriented, she could tell that he waspletely fine.

    Disregarding everything else, Zara charged directly up the mountain to reunite with him again.

    ***

    When Damien woke up, he had no idea where he was. His mind was a mess of jumbled memories. Slowly, he regained his bearings, only to distance himself from the monolith as fast as he could.

    He couldn¡¯t remember much of what happened, but the scenes he did remember terrified him. He recalled floating through emptiness for what felt like years, he remembered the struggle he had retaining his ego, but everything else was a blur.

    He had faint memories of the majestic river he saw. After all, how could he forget such a sight? Even with his hazy recollection, he still marveled at the scene.

    The final thing he remembered was just a sh, but he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that it was extremely important. It was the figure of a man. Although he couldn¡¯t make out the man¡¯s features, he heard the words he said. ¡®Space-time river.¡¯

    Next to Damien, Rose was going through a simr situation. She remembered the iprehensible scenery that surrounded her, and she remembered the seas of gold, but the visions she saw within that sea were hazy and mostly eluded her.

    When the two of them noticed each other, they immediately embraced. Rose clung to Damien as if he would die tomorrow, while Damien wasn¡¯t doing any better. Their experiences differed dramatically but were equally impactful to them. They soughtfort in each other¡¯s arms.

    At this time, a huge ck shadow arrived above them and tackled them to the ground. Zara almost strangled Damien with how tight she pinned him down while she continuously licked his face. If one looked closely, one could see the tears that stained her fur.

    The three of them stayed within the temple for the next few days, enjoying the fact that they were reunited. After all the twists and turns they¡¯d encountered since arriving, they were in dire need of rest.

    In this time, neither Damien nor Rose had checked their statuses to review any changes from their experiences, as they had made a prior agreement.

    What happened to them may have been confusing and slightly traumatic, but they both received an immense influx of insights andprehension when they returned to the temple. They knew there¡¯d be immense benefits waiting for them to explore.

    And since they decided to rest, checking their status would only be detrimental. Seeing the changes or revisions there would fuel their desire to train.

    And like that, the final days within the secret realm passed swiftly. The trio stood before the ancient temple that had provided them more benefits than anything else withplicated emotions.

    It was a mixture of gratitude and grudge, but in the end, they still bowed to show respect.

    The tokens they were given before their entrance began vibrating as the light of spatial fluctuations covered them, leading them back to the continent from which they came.

 Chapter 81 - Exiting [3]

    Voom!

    When Damien felt his feet once again touch the t ground, he wasn¡¯t excited nor was he wary. He was simply overwhelmed by the sensory input he was receiving.

    Through every pore in his skin, every nerve in his body, and even the veins of his mana circuit, Damien felt an influx of energy that he couldn¡¯t ce his finger on.

    His entire body was shining with blinding blue light as he was involuntarily lifted off the ground. And slowly, he felt what was truly happening.

    Starlight.

    This was the change he had missed within the secret realm due to itsck of stars. He only felt the burn of the sun and the freezing of the moon, but even those were faint since the celestial bodies weren¡¯tplete.

    Now that he was back in the real world, he felt a connection with every single star and celestial body in his general vicinity. He now understood why the ss was called celestial instead of Star Master or something.

    Even the he was currently in wasn¡¯t spared from this connection.

    As Damien was basking in the overflow of sensations he felt, a connection even stronger than the rest started forming. The tidal wave of energy this connection was attempting to give him almost pushed away that of all the other starsbined.

    After all, it was the celestial body he had the strongest ties to. It was Earth. After 3 and a half years away from home, he¡¯d finally received an unshakeable understanding of its position.

    Although on the cosmic scale, earth could be considered close to Apeiron, it wasn¡¯t anywhere near that in reality. Damien realized how little mana he had whenpared to the distance, berating himself for even entertaining the thought of teleporting home.

    But now, that wasn¡¯t a foolish thought anymore. Damien felt that if he used his connection to earth, the mana cost to return there would be severely cut. Without any further thought, Damien took out his Stat Boost Potion and consumed it.

    He moved its essence towards his intelligence stat. The intelligence stat wasn¡¯t simply there to increase reaction time and control over the body, nor was it simply a measure of increasedputing power.

    While these were auxiliary functions of the stat, it also affected how much mana one could hold in their body.

    Damien was slightly different since he had many other facets that increase his mana capacity, but this was still applicable to him. Even if the boost from the potion was small, it was still something useful for him.

    The starlight surrounding Damien slowly faded, making him conscious of his surroundings. Only then did he notice the countless stares headed in his direction.

    Rose and Zara were both next to him with their eyes wide and mouths slightly agape, but they had traveled with him long enough to know he was fine. He had told them about the contents of his ss change when he became a celestial.

    The other reactions were much more exaggerated. There were 38 people around them, with 9 seemingly either being stuck in the secret realm or dying. Most of them had either terror or a downcast look on their faces. After all, they were extremely arrogant about their gains before they returned to the real world, but the first thing they saw was others around them with the aura of a 3rd ss. And it wasn¡¯t just Damien. Rose next to him had this aura and two others did as well. Naturally, it was Ethan and the dark horse.

    Ignoring everyone else, these two headed in Damien¡¯s direction. ¡°Hahaha, it seems like you¡¯re still slightly ahead of me, friend,¡± Ethan said as he initiated a strong bear hug with Damien.

    Damien wasn¡¯t really a shy person, especially with friends, so he returned in kind. Except, he put a little extra strength into his hold. Feeling this, Ethan did the same, and before they could get into a full-onpetition, Rose pped Damien on his back.

    ¡°Wow, you two are so close! Ever considered getting even closer?¡±

    Looking at each other, Damien and Ethan shuddered. They knew what she meant, but they wished they didn¡¯t. Quickly pushing each other away, they ended their greeting with a handshake.

    The dark horse also greeted them, and it was only now that they learned his name. He was Matthew Eriel. However, due to his cold and distant demeanor, they weren¡¯t able to find out where he came from. The reason they associated was simply due to them all being simr levels of talent and rivals.

    They then started sharing the stories of what they found in the secret realm. Damien and Rose went first, speaking about Godspark mountain and the Legacy Tombs they found. They did, however, choose to leave out some details, especially of the ancient temple, which they described as a second legacy tomb.

    Ethan¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡°You guys made it almost all the way up Godspark Mountain? Nice!¡±

    Then he began recounting his own experience. Ethan remained in theva-filled environment for a good 3 months before he decided to leave. During that time, he simply trained and mastered his fire control. He hadn¡¯t put much focus on it before, but after fighting Damien, he changed his approach.

    After that, he decided to leave, but this was where his story got interesting. On his way, he was confronted by a group of massive men, who heter learned to be the barbarian race they were told to avoid.

    Being a muscle head, though, Ethan didn¡¯t care about this and simply saw them as opponents to face. He sparred with some of their members, beating them in a purely physical contest before they invited him to their vige.

    From there, he spent 3 months living as their ¡°brother¡±. He would hunt with them, celebrate with them, and even got a few of their signature tattoos in tribute to them, which he then showed off to Damien with a proud look on his face.

    They took him to a Legacy Tomb which they had enshrined as a ce for people to take their ¡°Ritet of Passage¡± as they called it, and allowed him to clear it. He used the rewards he gained along with the hunting he did to swiftly reach 3rd ss.

    Ethan¡¯s story was rtively calm, even with him bing friends with a random warring race that heldpletely different customs from those outside.

    Next was Matthew, but he didn¡¯t say much. He simply told them how hended in a dark eerie forest filled with undead creatures. He then told them he had found a Legacy Tomb and cleared it, obtaining an inheritance.

    The other three nodded. They could feel a slightly ghastly aura radiating from Matthew that he didn¡¯t possess before they entered, and they now had an exnation for it.

    As they spoke, they remained in the same ce, but all the other geniuses had already begun making their way back to their respective homes.

    The leaders of the various nations had already returned, and they were the only ones present in the vast in. And now, the four would have to go separate ways.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, bro. I¡¯ll being to the Beast domain at some point soon, so we¡¯ll meet again then. Let¡¯s properly brawl it out at that time.¡± Damien said as he gave Ethan a fist bump.

    Ethan didn¡¯t really know the concept of fist-bumping but went with it anyway. ¡°Alright. You don¡¯t have to rush, though. It¡¯d be embarrassing if you rushed over just to get your ass handed to you.¡±

    After a bit more banter, they parted ways. Matthew had also left to wherever he hade from. The only ones left in the in were Damien Rose and Zara.

    ¡°So, ready to go meet your father-inw?¡± Rose suddenly said.

    Damien¡¯s face went whiter than a sheet of paper as he robotically turned his head to face her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t think I heard you right. Can you repeat what you just said?¡±

    Rose smiled mischievously. ¡°Your father-inw of course. What? Did you think you could just have a casual rtionship with the princess of the Adire Empire?¡±

    ¡°Ha¡­Haha¡­¡± Damien forced out augh. And then, he ran. ¡°If you can¡¯t catch me I don¡¯t have to get married! Hahaha!¡±

    Rose¡¯s face burned red in annoyance. ¡®If you don¡¯t want to marry me so much why don¡¯t you just say it?¡¯ She then sprinted after him.

    Only Zara was left, confused at what just happened. But, with the thought that the two were ying around, Zara also got excited and ran after them. ¡°Wait for me!¡±

    Damien was in the front, still running at full speed, but unlike his outward appearance, his mind was calm. Truthfully, he already knew that agreeing to be with Rose was essentially guaranteeing they would get married.

    He had been in this world long enough to understand that dating culture wasn¡¯t as open-minded as earth, and most people would only have one partner in their entire lives unless, of course, they had a harem.

    At first, he hesitated at the thought of getting married. He was young and had his whole life ahead of him. But as time passed, his hesitation lessened. This was especially true after the legacy tomb trial when Damien started considering a harem.

    He realized that even if she was his wife, it was only a vow to stay together till the ends of time. There were no legal documents, taxes, or prenuptial agreements like earth. They would still only be dating currently, but he had to at least be her fianc¨¦e, simply to show his sincerity.

    Damien stopped running at full speed, allowing Rose to catch up. Then, before she could even speak, he beat her to it.

    ¡°So, aren¡¯t you going to tell me about my future father-inw? Or are you going to make your hubby go into this meeting blind?¡±

    Rose blushed, but still smiled widely. Even if he was being sarcastic in thetter parts of his sentence, she could tell that he had epted the rest.

    So, Rose gave him a not-so-brief overview of her father¡¯s personality as the trio made their way to Aurora.

 Chapter 82 - Meeting [1]

    It wouldn¡¯t take long for the trio to reach Aurora with their current speed. Actually, they could have reached faster if Damien just warped them there, but since their current conversation was important, they opted to just fly Zara¡¯s back.

    Rose gave Damien a proper exnation of not only her father¡¯s personality but also her own past.

    Damien listened intently, and after hearing the story of what happened to her mother, he doubted whether he could actually deal with multiple women or not. Since they had time right now, Damien decided to have this conversation with Rose as well as solidify their rtionship.

    After their second kiss, they had basically already gotten together, but they never said anything to confirm it. The first confirmation was the matter Rose said about her father.

    And the conversation wasn¡¯t really anything special. With how they had both already known each other¡¯s feelings for a long time, it ended as soon as it began. Its only purpose was to serve as verbal confirmation.

    While Damien was hesitating about how to bring up the other issue, Rose did it for him.

    ¡°Also, I don¡¯t mind if you have multiple women in the future. I know my mother died in the schemes thate from arge harem, so I¡¯ll make sure to limit yours so it doesn¡¯t get out of hand.¡±

    While Damien was staring at her with his eyes and mouth wide, Rose continued with a grin.

    ¡°I¡¯ll always be the first wife anyway. Plus, I already know you like that girl you told me about from earth. But don¡¯t expect me to just silently watch you get with her.¡±

    Damien didn¡¯t have any words, silently nodding to show his agreement before he began absentmindedly staring at nothing. It took a few hours for him to calm down, but he finally remembered that he had to check his status.

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Half-Human/Half-Beast

    Male ¨C Age 20

    Level 100 ¨C [Celestial]

    Experience value: 0/150,000

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Space, ???, ???

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 18000

    STR: 375

    AGI: 380

    DEF: 370

    INT: 400

    DEX: 380

    Skills: [Warp Level 10], [Dimensional Magic Level 1], [High-Level Regeneration Level Max], [Void Sword Art Level 3], [Mana Sense Level Max], [Devour Level 5], [Vector Control Level 8], [Lightning Magic Level Max], [Inventory]

    Trait(s): [Shock Absorption], [All-Seeing Eyes Level 4], [Dragon¡¯s Breath], [Ananta Matrix]

    Damien didn¡¯t really understand what was going on in his status window. The stat boost he received could be exined by the baptism of starlight he received, but his affinities section was iprehensible.

    Trying to send his senses into that area of his body where he figured his affinities were located, he felt much more there than his spatial affinity.

    For one, his lightning wasn¡¯t actually gone. He could still feel it and he could still wield lightning attribute power. However, he felt that something had changed about it. No, it was like his lightning attribute had be a part of something greater.

    Although it wasn¡¯t an exnation for the question marks that reced it, at least he had some sort of lead on what happened. It was the second set of question marks that left him baffled.

    The energy he associated with this question mark seemed to not exist at all, but he could still feel it within him. It felt familiar, but he was sure he¡¯d nevere in touch with it before.

    This wasn¡¯t something he could understand in a short amount of time. He instinctively knew that he would have to take a long period of gathering insights to understand what the new affinity was.

    While he was ruminating over the changes in his status, the trio had finally arrived at Aurora. Seeing the bustling capital city again reminded Damien of when he had first arrived in this world and be an adventurer.

    The difference between those two times was immense though. The short year and a half he had spent on Apeiron was filled with action. Last time, he could only cover at most half of the massive city with his awareness, but now the entire city was clearly portrayed before him with ease.

    He felt that if he wanted, he could destroy even half of this city if he tried hard enough, though he had no reason to do so.

    Reaching the city entrance, Zaranded on the ground and shrunk. With Rose already disguised before they even left the secret realm, the trio simply walked into the city like any normal group of people.

    The meeting with the emperor would be a pretty serious event, and neither of them knew what its oue would be, so they decided to spend some time enjoying the city before they went to the pce.

    They walked around peacefully and enjoyed the sights, having a miniature date as the sun began to set. When night fell, the trio went to Damien¡¯s old house and stayed there. He had never sold it when he left since he felt it was useful to have, so it was still in its regr condition.

    Damien went to his old room and took a quick shower before hopping into bed. ¡®Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Not just that, but I get the feeling that there is going to be a lot of long days in the future.¡¯

    ¡®My return is to earth is imminent. I can already feel that if I wanted, I could warp there right now. Though, warp doesn¡¯t seem like the right word.¡¯

    Damien felt that there was a subtle change in his warp skill. When he was teleporting to ces within a normal distance limit, it¡¯d stay the same, but if he wanted to go longer distances, he felt that his entrance would be much more extravagant.

    This was another reason why he chose not to warp to the capital. He knew that his dimensional magic take some time to get used to. Even if he didn¡¯t learn anything new, he at least had to understand the changes to his current move set.

    Damieny on the bed, rxing as he thought through his future ns when he noticed his room door open. Realizing the situation, he got the urge to sigh, but he simply closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

    Rose didn¡¯t know what she was doing or why she was doing it, but everything in her body screamed for her to enter Damien¡¯s room tonight. It wasn¡¯t even her eyes that did this, maybe it was just her emotions overwhelming her.

    Rose was wearing nothing but acy nightdress, making this venture even more risqu¨¦ than it previously would have been, but she hardened her will and powered through.

    Silently entering the room, Rose climbed into bed with Damien, attempting to gauge his reaction, but she was saddened when there wasn¡¯t any.

    Just as she thought to silently escape the room, she felt a strong pull and fell back to the bed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so hasty to leave. So why did our little princess decide to enter a single man¡¯s room in the middle of the night, hmm?¡± Damien teased in a low voice.

    Rose immediately blushed when her actions were called out. Even she herself was confused, so how could she exin it to him?

    But Damien was pretty clear on the reason. After all, it was a pretty normal thing. He brought her close and let hery down on his chest.

    ¡°Listen, I know you¡¯re nervous that I have to go meet your dad tomorrow, but there¡¯s no need for drastic actions. Didn¡¯t we already solidify our rtionship on the way here? Even if he doesn¡¯t ept, I¡¯ll do everything I can to make him change his mind.¡±

    Rose slightly calmed down as she listened to Damien¡¯s steady heartbeat and soothing words. Indeed, she was extremely nervous about letting Damien meet with her dad.

    Besides the fact that her dad was already strict about her rtionships, he didn¡¯t even know Damien¡¯s background. She figured that he would immediately condemn their rtionship. So, she came here to give Damien something that couldn¡¯t be taken back.

    If their rtionship had progressed to that level, the emperor would be more forced to ept them, but Damien didn¡¯t want to take her in this way. He had never fancied himself a romantic, but he kept taking actions that indicated otherwise.

    Maybe it was more due to the fact that he wanted to take their rtionship slow, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that these small actions of consideration made Rose fall deeper for him with every passing day.

    It had only been a year since they had been consistently interacting, so it wasn¡¯t clear whether the emotion was love quite yet, but it was infinitely close to reaching that point.

    As shey in the peaceful atmosphere with Damien lightly stroking her back, Rose ended up falling asleep. Her worries had been lifted enough to allow her to do so.

    Damien stayed up for a bit longer, deep in thought about various matters, but he soon followed. The duo slept peacefully until the next morning when it was finally time for the fateful meeting.

 Chapter 83 - Meeting [2]

    The imperial pce was situated on a massive hill directly in the middle of Aurora. And with its size, it was visible even from tens of kilometers away. Rose led Damien through the high-ss neighborhoods that made up the hill before arriving at the gates to the pce.

    ¡°Your Highness,¡± the guards immediately bowed when they saw her. When they got close enough to the pce, Rose had already taken off her disguise.

    She simply nodded at the guards and entered the pce with Damien at her side.

    The pce was designed simrly to the many smaller variants Damien had seen during his time on Apeiron. From the temple to the legacy tomb, they all had a simr structure.

    Upon entry, the first thing one would see was a massive hall leading to a singr set of pristine white double doors.

    The sides of this hall were decorated with various ornaments and aesthetics, and besides these, there were countless smaller doors leading elsewhere. These were the routes one could take to the inner pce.

    But at the moment, there was no need to use these doors. Rose was making a beeline for the throne hall without paying attention to anything else. She wanted to get the meeting with her father over as soon as possible so they could go back to minding their own business.

    When she knocked on the doors, she was met with silence before a deep voice rang out. ¡°Enter.¡±

    The doors swung open on their own and the scene inside was revealed. Simr to the previous hall, this one was also decorated majestically, but the carpets and decorations that lined its interior seemed to all focus on entuating a single location.

    That was, of course, the throne located at the end of the hall. There were seats lined up for ministers and others who would seek an audience for the emperor along the sides of the hall and two thrones at its end.

    Yet, only one of them was upied. The other one had stayed empty for around a decade now. It was the throne where Rose¡¯s mother used to sit.

    On the upied throne sat a lone man with short pink hair and piercing ruby eyes.

    If the storm of magic power that surrounded Malcolm could be considered a sea of blood, the one around the emperor was more like a raging tornado.

    His cold gaze scanned the two, warming slightly only when he looked at Rose.

    ¡°Father, I have returned,¡± Rose said with a curt bow.

    The emperor nodded as he looked at the only other person in the room. Yet, this person didn¡¯t seem to have any indication of lowering himself.

    If this was a normal meeting with the emperor, he might¡¯ve swallowed his pride and showed respect, but it wasn¡¯t. He needed to show his future father-inw that he wasn¡¯t someone to be looked down on.

    ¡°Good afternoon, senior.¡±

    The emperor continued to scan Damien with his indifferent gaze before once again looking over at Rose. It was at this point she realized he already knew what they came here for.

    ¡°Father, I-¡±

    ¡°Enough. Leave for now and let me speak with him alone.¡±

    Rose hesitated, but when Damien also lightly nodded at her, she reluctantly left the room.

    Damien and the emperor stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before one of them decided to speak.

    ¡°What did you do to my daughter.¡±

    ¡°Hm? If anything you should be asking what your daughter did to me.¡±

    The emperor¡¯s eyes became sharp as he disappeared from his throne. Damien also took out his sword. Fist met metal and a resounding p rang through the throne hall.

    The emperor stayed still, but Damien was thrown back towards the door. But he didn¡¯t allow himself to stay in such a vulnerable position.

    He teleported a few meters behind the emperor, carrying his velocity through the spatialyers and recycling the force from the emperor¡¯s previous punch to strike him.

    Molecules were forced into vibration and lightning crackled in the vicinity before tens of sma beams also shot towards the emperor

    And on top of it all,

    ¡®Void Sword Art 3rd Step: Spatial Copse¡¯

    Damien directly used his strongest move. He was painfully aware that he couldn¡¯t stack up to a 4th ss, so he decided to use everything he had in the first exchange.

    The emperor stood still and watched calmly as the barrage of different attacks headed his way. When the beams of sma and lightning neared him, he sliced his arm down at a speed Damien couldn¡¯t follow.

    The air around the emperor ripped in half, causing space to tear. Every single one of those beams was swallowed by the spatial crack that formed.

    It was then that space began to distort and twist, but how could someone who could rip apart space itself be trapped within its copse? The emperor used the same method to destroy the spatial copse.

    Damien immediately teleported away. His face was twisted into a frown. This was the first time he had ever faced someone who could affect space, leaving him at a disadvantage. His eyes shined as he learned about a weakness he wasn¡¯t aware of.

    If it was a couple of months ago, he would¡¯ve beenpletely helpless already, but he had gained an entirely new arsenal of moves recently. Concentrating on one of the many ethereal connections he had gained, he manifested a me on his palm.

    The emperor finally had a reaction when he saw the me on Damien¡¯s palm. His brow raised and he looked on with interest, seemingly curious about Damien¡¯s next move.

    Sadly, this was a power Damien only recently gained and didn¡¯t have time to experiment with yet, so he could only use it in its most rudimentary form, a fireball.

    He simply threw the fireball at the emperor, who captured it in a ball seemingly made entirely of the surrounding air and observed it.

    ¡°Hmm, this power is interesting. It seems toe from the sun itself, but it is also not technically borrowed power.¡± Looking back at Damien, the emperor nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s stop here for now.¡±

    Damien also nodded. He wasn¡¯t able to do even the slightest bit of damage, but this was expected. No matter how short it was, he was still d he got the opportunity to spar with someone this much stronger than him.

    He also got to see how different the various beings at 4th ss were. While Malcolm couldn¡¯t tear space like the emperor, the destruction he caused was more lethal. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder which of them would win in a fight.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get to the most important matter first. Tell me which world you came from and what purpose you arrived here to achieve. Keep in mind that trying to lie in front of me will result in instant death.¡±

    Damien nodded. He wasn¡¯t surprised by the question nor the fact that he wouldn¡¯t be able to lie. The ss difference was expansive to the point where even the smallest actions Damien took could be observed by the emperor precisely.

    So, Damien told the emperor about earth and how it had only recently been introduced to mana, how he ended up trapped in a dungeon, and how he arrived on the surface.

    The emperor listened with a passive expression, but inwardly he was feelingplicated. He saw no lies in Damien¡¯s words, but that made things more confusing. ¡®How can a beginner world produce a talent that can rival even my daughter?¡¯

    It had to be known that it had been tens of thousands of years since Apeiron was introduced to mana. Those born in this world would naturally have better talent than those in new worlds until a few generations passed.

    Not to mention the fact that the Adire royal family was the progeny of two demigods, which further elevated their talent.

    The emperor stayed silent. He had seen the close rtionship between the two kids long before they had actually gotten together, even back when they first met. He had been evaluating Damien ever since then.

    And no matter how he tried to look for faults, he couldn¡¯t find anything to warrant rejecting Damien¡¯s rtionship with his daughter. He was talented enough to not burden her, his character was outstanding and he never seemed to move based on his lust, and his decision-making was good enough to pass.

    Though Damien had plenty of ws, they were things that could be fixed with time. He was still young, after all.

    The emperor¡¯s only qualm was Damien¡¯s background, but even that didn¡¯t seem to be an issue. He was smarter than to be hostile to every otherworlder simply because of the Nox. Especially when the other world had the potential to birth talents like Damien even while it was in its infancy.

    ¡°Sigh¡­I will not stand in the way of your rtionship with my daughter, but there are certain things you must do in order to keep that rtionship. I will speak to you about that when she returns to the room.¡±

    Damien smiled brightly but realized there was another topic he had to bring up.

    ¡°Senior, we need to talk about the Nox.¡±

 Chapter 84 - Meeting [3]

    The emperor¡¯s eyes became serious as Damien narrated his and Rose¡¯s experience within the temple. Although he already knew the story from his ancestral teachings, he had never seen the Nox in person.

    He was born 500 years ago when the demigods of Apeiron had all died out. Hearing Damien¡¯s description of the Nox, he fell into thought.

    Damien had long decided to share this information with Rose¡¯s father. From her exnation yesterday, he gathered that although he was soft on her, he was a shrewd individual and a cunning old fox when it came to politics. He was also someone that genuinely cared for the well-being of his empire.

    Someone with this type of personality was someone Damien wanted to build a solid rtionship with. If he was mostcking in a single area, it would be politics. He hated all the tricks and schemes that came with it and the mental battles that were fought.

    He¡¯d much rather take to the frontlines and allow someone else to deal with political nonsense for him.

    But he knew he needed to be more cunning. He figured he¡¯d just learn as time passed, but maybe he could gather a few tricks from the emperor.

    The emperor slowly collected his thoughts before nodding. ¡°Let me worry about this for now. You and Rose are young, so you should gain strength in preparation for the inevitable war.¡±

    Damien agreed. As they wrapped up their conversation, the emperor called Rose back into the room.

    ¡°Father,¡± Rose said with anxiety evident on her face.

    Seeing her like this made the emperor slightly drop his indifferent facade. She was the type who always charged into danger without worry for the consequences, and now she was looking at him like a little girl again.

    He couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of fond memories from her childhood. Even though he didn¡¯t have much time to raise her properly, he did his best to be a good father.

    ¡°It¡¯s a rare asion to see you flustered like this,¡± he teased before getting a sudden idea. He made a quick signal to Damien before continuing.

    And Damien naturally understood what the emperor wanted to do, it was just surprising that he would suddenly have aplete switch in the serious persona he had been projecting this entire time.

    ¡°I will not approve of this rtionship. He is not worthy of you.¡± The emperor said, his indifference returning.

    When Rose looked over at Damien, she saw the pained look on his face. When he saw her watching him, he seemingly averted his eyes in shame.

    Rose began panicking. This wasn¡¯t how she imagined things to go. After all, the two of them had very simr personalities at the core. ¡®Did they fight? Was there a disagreement?¡¯

    Seeing her get so flustered made it impossible to stay in character. Basically at the same time, both the emperor and Damien broke out into raucousughter.

    Rose¡¯s gaze switched between the two of them as her confusion slowly turned into anger. ¡°Y-y-you!¡±

    Since she couldn¡¯t do anything about her father, she went straight for Damien. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for this!¡±

    Damien gave a light smile towards the emperor before running out of the throne hall, followed by an angry Rose.

    The emperor stared at their receding backs with a slight smile on his face. They truly reminded him of his rtionship with his first wife, Rose¡¯s mother.

    Thinking of her only brought pain and longing to his heart. He had long since killed the ones responsible for her death, and he had made sure to do it with his own hands, but he felt it wasn¡¯t enough to avenge her.

    The only reason he didn¡¯t continue his rampage and eradicate the families that were implicated was due to the nature of Rose¡¯s mother. She was a kind woman who didn¡¯t like to find fault in anyone. If she knew what he had done, she would never forgive him.

    Sighing, he disappeared from the room. When his figure reappeared, he was in a certain room in the castle. In front of him were a small bed, a tea table, and a garden that didn¡¯t lose its luster even in the 10 years since its owner had passed.

    He walked forward to the grave that was made in the middle of this room. It was where she had asked to be buried when she died, so he had followed her wish.

    ¡°Agata, sometimes it¡¯s surprising just how urate your predictions could be. Not only did our daughter grow powerful, but that person also arrived.

    ¡°He¡¯s just a young man that our daughter has fallen in love with, but his entrance into her life has already begun to change her destiny. Do you know that she¡¯s already a 3rd ss? And from her aura, she is much stronger than those at her level.

    ¡°Yet, that boy is even stronger than her.¡± The emperor let out a slight chuckle. ¡°He faced me fearlessly even with our level difference, and even Malcolm told me of how the boy did the same when he was only at 2nd ss.

    ¡°Although it still hurts to give our daughter away to that kid, I will follow her and your will. You never let me astray before and I refuse to believe you¡¯d do it now.¡±

    The main reason he didn¡¯t have a problem with Damien and Rose¡¯s rtionship was that he already knew it would happen before they even met. His first wife had predicted it all.

    After all, how could eyes like Rose¡¯s just randomly show up? She had inherited it from her mother, though she wasn¡¯t aware of this. The emperor stayed within this room for a bit longer before he once again vanished from his ce.

    Meanwhile, Damien and Rose had already finished their small game of tag and were happily chatting within the pce.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stay here for a few more months before we head back,¡± Damien said, ¡°I learned about many of my weaknesses earlier and I¡¯d like to take some time to fix them and experiment with my new power.¡±

    Rose nodded. She needed to get used to the gains she received from the obelisk as well. Although there weren¡¯t as many clear changes in her status as with Damien, there were more intrinsic changes that she felt she needed to tap into. Not to mention that she also had a set of question marks in the affinity section of her status.

    And so, the two of them began to train diligently. Damien focused mainly on his lightning, trying to get more use out of it than he previously could, while also experimenting with his new powers.

    The power of starlight was extremely unique, and Damien wanted to learn how to efficiently use it without draining all of his mana. Not only that, he wanted to be able to cast his skills and spells instantly, rather than needing to concentrate as he did previously. Every second wasted in battle could lead to his potential death.

    He had only tried to use sunfire so far, not experimenting with any other uses of starlight. So, he needed a good amount of time to learn.

    Rose was simr. She had gained many insights into both illusion and wind, but she focused more on her illusions. She had gained tomes containing years of research of the creator of the legacy tomb but had yet to dive into this knowledge.

    She spent her time assimting this new knowledge and turning it into her own, gaining insights on improving her illusions. Besides the tomes, she also spent time learning to properly use her new illusory throne skill.

    If she could raise her illusions to Grandmaster level control while already having an understanding of how to use her domain, she could empower this skill by leagues.

    Zara, who was feeling a bit like a third wheel to these two, had made her way to the Helia Forest to train within the beast domain.

    Although she was mostfortable by Damien¡¯s side, she knew her priorities. Not to mention that the two¡¯s mental connection would still be active, so she didn¡¯t need to be worried.

    Damien currently stood in the middle of an open field as he tested a move he¡¯d been wanting to create ever since he gained a spatial affinity. It was a badass move that he had always wanted to try.

    Closing his eyes and concentrating, Damien felt the makeup of the atmosphere and outer space that was past it. He felt therge number of celestial bodies that existed within that expansive darkness.

    And then, he pulled. He knew exactly what he was doing and did it with all his power. And the result? A massive crater tens of kilometers both wide and deep was formed. Damien smiled like a fool seeing this.

    The devastation was leagues above what he¡¯d been able to do with his previous power level, and he was extremely proud of himself. Damien quickly closed his eyes as he tried to do it once more. He needed to perfect this move before his return.

    And like that, 6 more months passed.

    Damien, Rose, and Zara stood in the middle of a massive clearing far away from any civilization. They had already talked with the emperor and gotten his consent for their ns, so they moved without pause.

    Staring at the expansive sky above him, Damien let out a heavy sigh. ¡°It¡¯s been 4 years. It¡¯s finally time to return home.¡±

    Feeling his emotions, Rose and Zara came close and showered him with warmth. Lightly smiling, he raised his hand. The ground in front of the trio twisted and warped.

    A massive portal was in the process of forming.

 Chapter 85 - Memories [1]

    Earth, 2055

    It had been 10 years since earth had awakened to mana and civilization had changed to the point where it would be unrecognizable by those of the previous era.

    Mana had led to the advent of many new technologies and products that both advanced everyday living and the race as a whole. The first 5 or so years were spent limating to the new world, but thetter 5 were filled with development.

    Humanity was a race that was always quick to learn and develop once they had gotten a grasp on their situation. Their biggest strength was to adapt. And adapt they did.

    Many futuristic things one would only imagine to be in sci-fi movies were normalized in the past 5 years. Even flying cars had been invented, though they were only avable for purchase to the highest echelon of society, being difficult to produce.

    Besides technology, society had also made massive developments, though whether these were good or bad were unknown. Earth had be one with its imagination. When 2nd ss started to be moremon, many organizations popped up with various purposes.

    But order needed to be maintained. Going with a concept they already knew, humanity split into a world filled with heroes and viins.

    3 years ago, a mysterious phenomenon urred. A bright light enveloped the entire, momentarily blinding its people. The source of this light and its implications were unknown at the time, but many strange individuals began appearing out of the woodworks.

    Although their numbers were only in the tens, these individuals possessed strength that surpassed those of anyone on the. These were the people who now ran the organizations in charge of heroes and viins.

    Their true purpose was unknown, but it was clear that there were two sides among these people. The ones who led the heroes had a righteous air, seemingly disdaining any lowly action, while the ones who led the viins always carried greed in their eyes, sumbing to their desires.

    The diametrically opposed individuals began gathering forces and humanity was split between them. It was unknown who they were or where they came from, but people didn¡¯t care.

    Themon popce wanted order, which the hero association, titled Asgard, was providing them. Meanwhile, those who desired chaos or desired sin drifted towards the viin society, Niflheim.

    Heroes and viins were at constant war with each other, but on the surface, the world remained peaceful. Gates continued to generate and heroes took care of them, earning the worship of the people.

    Meanwhile, viins either acted as petty criminals or attempted to make grand schemes. Power was obtained easily through massacre, and it got to people¡¯s heads. They proimed themselves gods and did as they pleased, at least until they were caught.

    But as mentioned before, leveling required death. There was no righteous message about how killing was bad or how viins should be captured. That would be pure idiocy.

    Any viin that was caught would be killed where they stood, and any hero unfortunate enough to meet someone more powerful than them would die a meaningless death.

    Even the previously standing Guild Association had been swallowed in this conflict, bing one with Asgard. Those that didn¡¯t agree with Asgard¡¯s ruling either quit entirely or joined Niflheim.

    It was currently August. The winds ushered in the fall season and leaves began to brown. A certain blue-haired girl walked through a park and admired the scenery.

    Elena had been spending most of her time in gates for thest 4 years, only seeing the changes of society when she took breaks like she was doing now.

    She had no idea how things progressed this way so suddenly, but she knew it was suspicious. However, she was no hero, nor was she a viin. She simply gained strength in secret while living an average life in public.

    If she ever saw someone acting up or killing civilians, she wouldn¡¯t stand by and do nothing, but she didn¡¯t make an active effort to save people.

    It had been 4 years since Damien was thrown into the dungeon and it had been 2 and a half since Elena had destroyed Jin¡¯s legacy. Ever since that day, he had left her alone.

    Rather, it was rare to see him enter the public eye for a few months. After that, Jin went and became a hero. He took a hero name, calling himself NightChaser, and fought viins and gates, gaining the love of the public.

    He was one of what people called the ¡°pirs of humanity¡±, some of the strongest people alive. These were the people who both did the most for the fight against viins and the closing of gates.

    Still, Elena didn¡¯t bother with him. As long as he didn¡¯t chase her, she didn¡¯t care what he did. She had already sentenced him to death. And that was because even after all these years, she still held hope that Damien would return.

    She had felt the existence of that faint ethereal thread, that feeling that connected them. It had been ever-present through the years and stood tall as her beacon of hope. Even she called herself irrational for thinking this way, but she couldn¡¯t help herself.

    She tried to forget, she tried to kill her emotions, she tried to move on, but as long as that ethereal string existed in her consciousness, she couldn¡¯t. She believed that he was on the other end of that string.

    So, she had spent thest 4 years taking care of his mother, unceasingly moving with the goal of staying on his level when he returned. This was also the reason she didn¡¯t bother with Jin. When Damien returned, wasn¡¯t Jin dated to die?

    And like that, she had reached level 90, infinitely close to bing 3rd ss.

    Elena sat on a park bench as all these thoughts came back to her. While she did asionally think about everything, there was a specific reason this time.

    It had been 7 years since high school had ended, and a reunion had been nned for those in her grade. It was an awkward number for a reunion, but since it was 10 years since the World Awakening, they decided to hold it anyway.

    She was only 21 this year, meaning she graduated high school at 14, but this was rtively normal. The standard of education had been raised worldwide in the 2030s and a steeper learning curve was implemented.

    Most people graduated high school at 15, but she and Damien were at the younger end of the spectrum, leading to them turning 15 only after graduation.

    Thinking about high school, Elena sighed. Those days were good memories for her, but at the same time, they were painful. Her first meeting with Damien was in high school, but she had to sit and watch him get bullied without the ability to help.

    Even if she tried to help, he would always reject, saying he didn¡¯t want to owe any favors. This was always his attitude, and it only became more pronounced after he awakened as someone weak. Even though the bullying became worse, he simply took it silently and continued his life.

    Elena admired this quality of him more than he could imagine. His will to survive through everything without batting an eye was something she wished she had, but at the same time, she thought it was a w he needed to fix.

    Not the fact that he could survive, rather the part where he tried to do it all alone.

    It was this quality that slowly started turning her tonic feelings into something more. She watched him power through everything and decided to do whatever she could to help. So, she did her best to make every moment they spent together a happy memory.

    And in this quest, she slowly fell for him. For his determination, for the kindness he had towards those who earned it, and for the dominant self that he showed only around her.

    Elena shook her head. She was supposed to be deciding whether to attend the high school reunion, but she ended up daydreaming about Damien again. She couldn¡¯t help it, since she associated her happy high school life with memories of his face.

    Thinking about the reunion, Elena couldn¡¯t Yelp but sigh again. It would be filled with people who used to bully Damien and try to peer pressure her into dropping him as her friend.

    It was filled with vile girls who used to spread rumors behind people¡¯s backs to ruin their lives and annoying boys who would always look at her lustfully and openly brag about trying to hook up with her.

    And the worst part was that with the advent of the new society, most of these people developed herplexes. They thought of themselves as defenders of justice and would probably use that standing to elevate their egos.

    But, she still decided to go in the end. She felt it was a moral obligation she had. Not to mention, there was a single person she wanted to see.

    It was a teacher that she had back in her sophomore year of high school named Alison rk. She was the only person who had stood up for her during those days.

    Elena had confided in her about what was happening with Damien, and it was this teacher who gave her the idea to make every moment she could into a happy memory.

    From that point, she began talking to Alison almost on a daily basis and treated her more like an older sister than a teacher. Sadly, they drifted apart after graduation since Elena joined the guild and was constantly busy doing work for them.

    For the sake of meeting the sole person other than Damien that she enjoyed talking to during high school, she would go to the reunion.

    And so, Elena stood up from the park bench where she sat and made her way over to the school.

 Chapter 86 - Memories [2]

    With her speed and stamina as a peak 2nd ss, it didn¡¯t take long for Elena to reach the school. Looking at therge two-story building once again made her reminisce, but she shook off her thoughts and headed inside.

    She was about an hourte to the reunion and hadn¡¯t bothered to dress up, wearing a simple shirt and jeans, but she still gathered a great deal of attention when she walked in.

    It was to be expected from someone who could objectively be titled as one of the most beautiful women on earth.

    Still, Elena didn¡¯t pay them any attention. She simply grabbed some food for herself and walked to a corner, silently looking out for the only person she came to meet.

    On her way, she heard the usual conversations about upations and how people¡¯s lives went after they graduated, but it was different from a normal reunion. After all, their main topics were sses and levels, and also their lives working for Asgard and other smaller organizations that were under it.

    But Elena could feel it in the air. None of these people truly cared about how the others were doing, they were just here to brag.

    While Elena attempted to mind her own business, it didn¡¯t quite work out for her. Slowly but surely, a group of people formed around her, most of them being men.

    ¡°Hey, did you know that I¡¯m in the top 100 of the hero ranking?¡±

    The guys tried to brag, but Elena disdained them all. The hero ranking was true to its name, it ranked all active heroes based on their power levels and contribution. But the true experts of society didn¡¯t care about these.

    Elena was one of them, so obviously she knew this.

    And it wasn¡¯t just the one guy trying to impress her, rather they were allpeting for who was the coolest among them, making them look like a group of fools.

    The gathering of people attracted others and the group became more diverse, with everyone speaking of their rankings or the current news about Niflheim until one man started making his way over.

    This man was leagues above the others in terms of appearance, and a single smile from him made most of the girls turn red.

    He walked to the front of the group with confidence as he shed a smile. ¡°How have you been, Elena?¡±

    ¡°Bryce,¡± Elena responded with a dull tone. She wasn¡¯t impressed in the slightest nor did she want to continue interacting with him. Bryce was one of the main culprits of Damien¡¯s bullying in the past, and he had never ceased trying to make moves on her.

    He was basically the seconding of Jin, and it was clear how that ended.

    ¡°How has your life been? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve been missing me since west talked,¡± Bryce said with a wink. The insinuation he was making made plenty of single women angry, but he didn¡¯t seem to notice.

    But Elena didn¡¯t care to y his games. ¡°We haven¡¯t even talked once since high school ended. Not to mention that even in high school you just followed me like a dog no matter how much I tried to get rid of you.¡±

    Bryce¡¯s face twitched, but he kept his smile. ¡°Come on, don¡¯t be like that. Don¡¯t you know that I¡¯m a top-ranking hero now? They call me Silversh. How could you not like me after all these years?¡±

    As if he got a sudden idea, Bryce¡¯s face lit up. ¡°Ah! Could it be that you¡¯re still caught up on that trash? He¡¯s dead now anyway, so why do you even care so much?¡±

    The mention of Damien made the whole crowd start whispering to each other. News of his ¡°death¡± had been published in many newspapers, but nobody seemed to care because of Jin¡¯s status. Naturally, these ssmates of his had seen those articles.

    ¡°Ah, thatme kid! I was wondering if he died off or something, and it turns out I was right!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, totally. Even seeing that trash breathe next to me was disgusting.¡±

    Elena was slightly stunned. She didn¡¯t know how the vileness of these ssmates was exposed simply at the mention of Damien. It¡¯s like they all dropped their facades and talked trash about him at any opportunity they could get.

    Bryce smiled at this. He was influential enough to spread rumors and information that people would take at face value, not bothering to investigate deeper. Out of sheer spite for that kid who had taken the attention of the woman he wanted, he spread some dirt on Damien¡¯s name.

    The ssmates continued to talk trash, unaware of the monster they were awakening. That is, until, a suffocating pressure exploded from Elena¡¯s body.

    Her deep blue eyes became midnight ck, devoid of any feeling. ¡°Talk like that about him one more time. I dare you.¡±

    Bryce, who was nearest to her, suffered the worst from the pressure. He had only recently be a 2nd ss, and his position in Asgard was not earned but bought. He coughed blood, struggling to keep his consciousness from copsing.

    He felt humiliated, and couldn¡¯t stop himself from trying to get thestugh. ¡°Cough¡­No matter what you do¡­it doesn¡¯t change the fact¡­that he¡¯s dead.¡±

    Heughed seeing the rage on Elena¡¯s face. He truly felt good putting her down like this. But his smile froze in the next instant.

    Swish!

    It took a moment to process, but by the time it did, the event was already over. Blood spurted wildly and a severed arm dropped to the floor.

    ¡°Let¡¯s call this arm aspensation. Never talk like you are above me again.¡±

    Potions strong enough to regrow limbs didn¡¯t exist on earth yet. The advent of hero society had brought potions enough to heal flesh wounds, but earth still needed time to develop anything moreplex.

    Without another word, Elena walked off. The crowd parted for her as she left, everyone seemingly in fear of what she¡¯d do next.

    As Elena walked away, she finally spotted Alison in the corner. Smiling lightly, she walked over to have a much-needed reunion.

    Back within the crowd, Bryce was furious. The pain helped him keep his head clear, but even in a clear-headed state, his thoughts were maddening. ¡®I¡¯ll make that bitch pay!¡¯

    Hours passed as Elena chatted with Alison, the other partygoers avoiding her like the gue. They talked about how their lives had been and their ns for the future, and many other things.

    When Damien was brought up, Alison learned about Elena¡¯s irrational belief that he was still alive, but she was powerless to do anything about it. All she could do was wish Elena well, hoping her mental state would recover.

    Suddenly, someone rushed into the venue with a panicked look on their face. ¡°Turn a TV on right now! It doesn¡¯t matter what channel, just do it now!¡±

    There was indeed a tv in the hall, but nobody had paid it much mind before. However, hearing the urgency in the man¡¯s voice, they did as he said.

    Every channel was showing the same news.

    ¡°Breaking news! In the skies above Los Angeles, a massive gate has appeared! Its rating has been determined as SSS rank! This is an emergency situation, and Asgard is calling for the evacuation of all civilians in the city! Heroes are being requested to rendezvous at the site no matter their rank!¡±

    A massive gate was shown on the screen. However, there was a major difference between it and any other gate that had appeared before. It was entirely purple on its edges, while the middle was an abyssal ck.

    Ba-dum! Ba-dum!

    Elena didn¡¯t know why, but her heart started racing. Her breathing quickened as she felt that ethereal string be slightly thicker than before.

    ¡®Is it him?¡¯

    Without another thought, she rushed to the scene. She was followed by all the other heroes within the ss, as an Asgard summon wasn¡¯t something they could reject. Even the now single-armed Bryce was making his way over.

    They were rtively close to the center of the city, and they could see the massive gate from where they stood. It was around the diameter of a ser stadium. The ominous portal floating in the air,bined with the sight of countless civilians fleeing for their lives truly painted an apocalyptic picture.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Elena reached the area near the gate. Since she wasn¡¯t part of Asgard, she could watch from nearby without being noticed.

    Countless heroes had gathered in the square. Elena could even see Jin standing at the forefront with a valiant look on his face. She snorted at this and turned her attention back to the gate.

    And slowly, she witnessed it open. Along with the other 500 or so heroes who had responded to Asgard¡¯s call, Elena saw something insane.

    A huge body taller than many 4 story buildings and with length to match, a pair of beautiful wings that eclipsed the sun, forcing those below into darkness, and a pair of piercing golden eyes that looked down upon them in disdain.

    It was the biggest beast any of them had ever seen, and its aura was just as suffocating as the leaders of Asgard and Niflheim. The massive wolf was the only thing that emerged from the gate; with it closing directly after the wolf descended.

    But this didn¡¯t bring any sce to those on the ground. They could feel that even alone, this beast could raze the city and kill them without batting an eye.

    In their fear of the beast, the mass of heroes failed to notice another detail. But Elena didn¡¯t. She was on high alert for the faint possibility that her dreams woulde true.

    And so she saw it. Standing atop the beast was a tall man thatpletely contrasted the figure she remembered so well. Yet, she knew without a shadow of a doubt.

    Damien had returned.

 Chapter 87 - Return [1]

    Damien could only smile wryly at Zara¡¯s love for big entrances. Knowing they were returning to Damien¡¯s home, she decided to go grand.

    When the portal opened, the sheer size had startled Damien and he decided to be lowkey, but his idea was immediately rejected.

    And so, the trio entered the portal with Zara in her true form. The sensation of a portal was vastly different from his usual warps. It was like they were traveling through a long dark passage that continued with no end. Zara simply flew forward with the current of mana until they reached the circr exit.

    And exiting was different too. They were forced to wait for a few hours before the ethereal film covering the portal disappeared. It made sense though. The portal was created using Damien¡¯s connection with earth as a medium, so it would naturally need time to form.

    It turned out to be more like a gate than a normal portal, but Damien still hadn¡¯t grasped exactly how gates functioned. And he couldn¡¯t really be med for this since he hadn¡¯t seen one in 4 years.

    And so, after a few hours of wait, they descended.

    The first thing that entered Damien¡¯s vision was the vast array of skyscrapers that yearned to touch the sky, various cars moving in every direction seemingly running away from the gate, and a crowd of people underneath him with their weapons prepared.

    Thinking about it, Damien realized that this was a normal response that they would have to a massive gate appearing, but he didn¡¯t care. Now that he was back, there were a few things he needed to aplish before he rxed and learned how earth had changed in his absence.

    And he saw one of those things at the very forefront of the crowd.

    Zara slowlynded on the ground as she looked down on those heroes before her. Compared to Damien, they were utter trash, and she couldn¡¯t understand how they were born from the same world that created him.

    Meanwhile, Rose was feeling something entirely different. She hadpletely disregarded the crowd as her eyes darted around at the technologicalndscape around her in fascination.

    She had heard of skyscrapers and cars from Damien, but seeing them in person was a different story. Just like any normal person, Rose had never left the world she was born in. She was experiencing a pretty severe case of culture shock.

    The heroes stared at the three in trepidation. At first, they were terrified of the massive beast that had descended from the gate, but now their fear had multiplied.

    They had finally noticed the two people standing atop such a beast and realized that they must be stronger than it to have the capability to tame it.

    Damien then jumped off of Zara¡¯s back, leaving Rose to admire the sights as he walked up to the heroes.

    ¡°You,e here.¡± He said as he pointed to a man in the front.

    Although his appearance had matured since thest time they met and he was wearing some sort of stupid costume at the moment, the blonde-haired green-eyed man was someone Damien would never forget.

    When Jin saw that he was being singled out from the crowd, he straightened his back haughtily. Even with his manhood gone, he still had his pride as a top expert of humanity.

    ¡°Hmph! You dare call me like that, fiend?!¡± Jin said, his words reeking a misced sense of justice.

    But Damien wasn¡¯t having it. ¡°Shut up ande here obediently before I force you to do so.¡±

    He wanted to humiliate Jin before killing him. This was the only reason he hadn¡¯t struck yet.

    Before anything else could happen, a suffocating pressure descended on the environment. ¡°What are you doing, boy?¡±

    Damien calmly turned his gaze up towards the old man who had just arrived on the scene. ¡°I¡¯m repaying old debts, old man. The better question is, why do you think you¡¯re qualified to know?¡±

    He was unfazed by the old man¡¯s pressure. He was at most at the middle stages of 3rd ss, but that meant nothing to Damien. Even if he couldn¡¯t touch a 4th ss, only those at the higher and peak stages of 3rd ss were his match.

    But the old man didn¡¯t seem to like his attitude. ¡°You dare speak to me like that?! Very well, let me educate you on how to respect your elders.¡±

    The old man struck his hand out, creating a palm phantom that charged towards Damien. It was entirely made of mana but contained traces of fire element within it.

    Damien sighed, but he figured the best way to showcase the difference in strength was to do nothing. The massive palm phantom arrived in front of him but was promptly reduced to nothingness by Damien¡¯s vector field.

    ¡°W-who are you?¡± The old man said as he witnessed this scene. He never thought he¡¯d meet someone stronger than him other than the ones he hade with.

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t matter to you. Either step aside or lose your life.¡±

    The old man was stuck in a dilemma. He didn¡¯t know if he couldst against Damien, but the one he was aiming for was too talented to let go. The old man decided to gain Damien¡¯s sympathy.

    ¡°Listen, boy. That young man you are targeting is one of the main hopes of the human race! Without him, plenty of chaos will ensue and innocents will die!

    ¡°The viins are getting brasher and brasher by the day, and we need every bit of manpower we can get. I cannot allow you to harm one of our most talented heroes!¡±

    The terms hero and viin were new to Damien, but he wasn¡¯t too surprised by the direction the world was taking. He had juste from a true fantasy world, so seeing the superhero society of earth didn¡¯t affect him much.

    Seeing that Damien was unfazed, the old man tried once more to persuade him. ¡°There are major threats iing that only a few people know about. Your actions could cause the deaths of millions of people if you don¡¯t act carefully! Choose righteousness and don¡¯t sumb to vile emotions!¡±

    Damien finally got ticked off. ¡°Old man, don¡¯t bullshit me with your talks of righteousness. Do you think I can¡¯t see your true ambitions? Those people are not my concern. You should be happy that I¡¯m sparing an outsider like you in the first ce.¡±

    Both the heroes in the vicinity and the general public watching through the news feed were shocked by his words. Millions of deaths were mentioned but he didn¡¯t care? They immediatelybeled him a viin.

    And while they didn¡¯t pay much attention to the word ¡°outsider¡±, it was what shocked the old man the most. He knew precisely what Damien was talking about.

    Probably the most shocked of them all was Elena, who was still watching from a distance. The previous Damien wouldn¡¯t throw away countless lives like that.

    ¡®He¡¯s changed.¡¯

    But she felt it was inevitable. She couldn¡¯t imagine what he had to go through after he was betrayed, and she felt he waspletely justified in seeking revenge. Plus, the loss of Jin wouldn¡¯t even mean that much as long as someone took his ce, and she could fulfill that role if she wished.

    Suddenly, the wind whooshed by her face and a beautiful girl appeared next to her. ¡°It¡¯s good that your opinion of him hasn¡¯t changed. I¡¯d be disappointed if it was that easy to sway you.¡±

    Elena looked at the girl with shock. The girl had shoulder-length pink hair and goldish ruby eyes, even matching her in beauty.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± She said with vignce, but all she got in return was a mischievous giggle.

    ¡°I¡¯m that guy¡¯s woman.¡±

    While the first meeting between two of the people Damien cared for most in this life was taking ce, the drama continued on his side.

    He proceeded to ignore the old man¡¯s ramblings as he looked back at Jin. ¡°Did you be a dumb bitch in the 4 years it¡¯s been since we¡¯ve seen each other? Or was bing dickless what pushed you over the edge.¡±

    This infuriated Jin, but he had seen how Damien dealt with the old man¡¯s attacks. He didn¡¯t dare move irrationally. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Well, that question seems to be pretty popr today. How sad that you don¡¯t remember me. After all, you pushed me into the dungeon with your own two hands. Did you sentence so many people to death that you forgot their faces?¡±

    These words shook Jin to his core. Although it was true that he had abandoned a rtivelyrge number of people in dungeons, only one came to mind when he looked into those indifferent eyes.

    ¡°Y-you! You are that trash?!¡±

    Damien shook his head with a sarcastic pained expression on his face. ¡°Trash? Sigh, it looks like I¡¯ll have to remind you of my name. I¡¯m done with this farce.¡±

    ¡°Remember me in your next life. My name is Damien Void.¡±

    This announcement caused waves of shock to ripple through the crowd, who had already retreated after the old man released his palm shadow. Many of them were part of the group of ssmates he had gone to high school with, after all. And they were just talking trash about how it was good that he died.

    Suddenly, Damien¡¯s voice resounded through the area.

    [Starfall]

    At first, there was no reaction. It was eerily silent as if the calm before the storm. But slowly, the temperature in the area began rising.

    Sensing danger, even the old man retreated to the crowd, protecting them with a barrier. Only Jin was left in ce, bound by Damien and unable to move.

    The temperature became unbearable as Damien spoke hisst words to Jin. ¡°It¡¯s your misfortune to have messed with me.¡±

    A shadow blotted out the sky. It wasn¡¯t a beast or anything simr, but a massive rock that was hurling towards their position.

    As the meteor passed through the atmosphere, it caught fire due to its sheer speed. Jin could only watch the scene with horror evident in his eyes.

    The heat prated his body. His skin began to melt, followed by his muscles and organs, but the superior regeneration he possessed forced him to stay alive. He couldn¡¯t even scream in pain due to the restrictions ced on him, but he truly wished he could. It was agonizing

    And then, under the horrified eyes of the millions of people who watched through their tv screens and the crowd that had gathered under the gate, the ming meteornded on Jin¡¯s position.

    BOOOM!

 Chapter 88 - Return [2]

    The fact that they were in the middle of a city only served to make the devastation more pronounced.

    Buildings crumbled into pieces and the ones closest to the impact sitepletely disintegrated. The ground caved and even the subway system underneath it was destroyed. As for Jin, not even a shred of his clothing remained intact.

    Damien would never take innocent lives with his own two hands. The only reason he was bold enough to act in such a way was that he had already confirmed that the vicinity was clear of civilians.

    As for the heroes who were watching from the distance, they were saved from the aftershocks by the old man¡¯s barrier. Well, all but one of them. The idiot named Bryce that had caused Damien so much trouble was inadvertently killed by the residual impact of his attack.

    It wasn¡¯t a matter of coincidence, rather it was Bryce¡¯s own idiocy that killed him. He had refused to hide behind the barrier after learning that the man in front of them was Damien. His denial of the truth caused him to die a meaningless death.

    Damien gazed at the destruction with a profound look on his face. He felt something within him dance with joy while the area around him was destroyed, but he couldn¡¯t pinpoint what it was.

    Damien was satisfied that he had finally received reparations for the events of the past, and the truth is, he had been waiting for this moment. If one thought back to the previous 4 years, Damien had never killed another human being.

    It could be argued that he killed the first 3rd ss he met back on Apeiron, but that man ultimately died by Zara¡¯s hands. It wasn¡¯t out of some misced sense of justice or due to a strong moralpass, it was much pettier than that.

    Damien wanted the first human he killed to be Jin. He saved that spot for the man who both caused him to endure immense suffering and gain equally immense benefits. Specifically for this purpose, Damien had refrained from making any enemies in the past 4 years.

    And he really didn¡¯t feel anything about the fact that he had killed another human. It was a bit toote for Damien to feel an existential crisis or question himself for something as small as this.

    How much had he ughtered over thest 4 years? How many lives had he taken? After growing close with Zara, he didn¡¯t view beasts as simple fodder anymore. This feeling increased when he met Ethan and the beast empress.

    They were all beasts or descended from beasts, but they were no different from humans. Beasts at 3rd ss even had matching or superior intellectpared to average humans, so why would he consider them as inferior beings?

    Damien¡¯s mentality wasrgely apathetic to others, especially his enemies. Killing was simply the way of the world. The beast half of him wholeheartedly believed this and his human half resonated with it as well.

    Whether or not his actions were the right choice, he didn¡¯t care. If what he did today came back to bite him as consequences in the future, he¡¯d deal with those consequences.

    He didn¡¯t care in the slightest for the lives of people who weren¡¯t close to him. Jin had to die. That was that. What was happening on earth was a separate matter

    Damien took a slight nce at the old man once more before speaking. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll meet again.¡±

    He called Zara, who had shrunken enough to not cause mayhem, and hopped on her back. However, he soon found that there was an extra passenger.

    When he turned around, he saw not one but two beautiful girls looking back at him. One of them had a sly smile on her face while the other was trying her best to hold back her tears.

    Gazing at the familiar blue-haired beauty in front of him, Damien had to admit that he missed her. He knew his feelings had intensified due to the legacy tomb trial, but even without that he still missed her.

    He had thought about it before they returned. He felt it was unfair to Elena that his feelings sprouted for a fake version of herself. No matter how realistic the illusion was, in the end, it was still an illusion. So, he spent some time getting rid of those intrusive feelings.

    But even without them, he still missed her. Only after seeing her in front of him once more did he realize how true this was.

    ¡°Long time no see,¡± he said with a smile, ¡°how have you been?¡±

    Damien¡¯s words were light, but it was enough to break Elena¡¯sst shred of resistance. She jumped forward and hugged him as tight as she could. Damien also reciprocated, d to see his friend after many years of separation.

    When Damien was taking care of Jin¡¯s matter, Elena had talked with Rose about the past 4 years. Although Rose left most of the details for Damien to exin himself, she did make sure to mention that they were together.

    And Elena immediately felt downcast about it. She had waited 4 years harboring her feelings for him, but he hade back with a woman by his side already.

    But she couldn¡¯t ept it. Even if she knew in her heart that it was the truth, she still couldn¡¯t ept it. And being the woman she is, herpetitive nature red.

    Even if Damien had a woman already, it didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t stay with him. Even if it wasn¡¯t a romantic rtionship, they were still best friends. She would do her best to keep that bond.

    And so, she hugged him with all her strength. She didn¡¯t want him to leave her again.

    Rose watched with a slight smile on her face as this happened. She felt like teasing her first love rival, so she didn¡¯t mention anything about the concept of harems simply to see what happened, and she wasn¡¯t disappointed.

    Elena had told her about her determination to stay at Damien¡¯s side as his best friend, and Rose had happily epted. ¡®Hmm, let¡¯s see how long she can suppress her feelings. I say it¡¯ll be 6 months at most.¡¯

    After a good 10 minutes that Elena spent silently crying into Damien¡¯s chest, the two of them separated as they began to talk.

    Damien naturally glossed over his time in the dungeon, and mostly exined his travels in Apeiron, while Elena told him of her dungeon adventures and the changes on earth.

    As they talked, Zara continued to fly until they finally reached the destination of Damien¡¯s second and most important matter on earth. It was something he didn¡¯t want to dy in the slightest.

    It was time to heal his mother.

    They arrived at the hospital silently, and Damien entered his mother¡¯s room through its window while the girls waited patiently for him outside.

    When he arrived, he ended up staring at the familiar face he hadn¡¯t seen in many years. It was a face he dearly missed. And since Elena had been consistently paying her hospital bills, she looked the exact same as thest time he¡¯d seen her.

    With tears in his eyes, Damien spoke. ¡°Mother, your son has finally returned.¡±

    He took one bottle of Elixir out of his inventory and carefully began pouring it into her mouth. There would usually be some sort of problem or responsibility that prevented him from curing her so fast, but Damien wasn¡¯t the type to care about any of that.

    He had moved with this main goal for the past 4 years, even if he had sidetracked slightly, so why would he dy it when he already had the opportunity? It would utterly stupid if he even considered prioritizing anything else, especially after the illusion trial.

    As he poured the Elixir down her throat, he gently injected his mana into her body to help her process its effects. She was still in aa, so she wouldn¡¯t even be able to swallow on her own. Thest thing Damien wanted was to identally kill her due to carelessness.

    He put his utmost concentration into maximizing the effects of the Elixir, losing track of everything else around him. Time passed quickly, and after 10 minutes, he was finally finished.

    He stepped back and watched carefully, awaiting the results. However, he was saddened to see no changes.

    His mother stilly on the bed as if peacefully sleeping.

    But if Damien was able to see the changes going on inside her body, his mouth would be gaping wide enough to fit a fist inside.

    Her organs were strengthened, followed by her bones, muscles, and flesh. Her body reached a level stronger than the average first ss.

    Mana bloomed within, filling every pore of her skin and rejuvenating her system, removing the deficiency that gued her.

    The system wasn¡¯t lying when it said the effects were more pronounced on mortals. Damien¡¯s mother even seemed to age backward, looking in herte 20s rather than the 50 years she had lived. It was clear to see why Elixir was considered a heavenly medicine.

    Damien had closed his eyes, silently waiting for a reaction. Even if he was someone who could kill without batting an eye or causerge-scale destruction on a whim, he was scared stiff at the thought of his mother not waking up.

    And luckily, his prayers were answered. The preliminary effects of the Elixir ended, and stillness returned to the room.

    In the next instant, her eyelids fluttered and slowly opened.

 Chapter 89 - Return [3]

    When ire opened her eyes, she saw herself in an unfamiliar room. The ceiling was tiled and the bed wasn¡¯t asfortable as the one she was used to. Not to mention the various tubes and equipment that were stuck to her body.

    She felt like she had just woken up from a long sleep, but the dreams she had weren¡¯t anything she could be happy about. She had dreamed of her son speaking to her, although she couldn¡¯t see his face, she could feel his distress.

    He told her about many things such as an energy called mana and a weird new world, and frankly, it all felt like her son had returned to his middle school delusions. But then one day, her son¡¯s voice disappeared.

    Even if it was a dream, it was a long one and she couldn¡¯t help but feel something bad had happened to him. But no matter how she tried to wake up, she couldn¡¯t.

    And then, another voice entered her dream. She knew this one since it was the voice of her son¡¯s childhood friend. But she seemed to be much older than thest time ire had spoken to her. She also told ire tales of this strange world, but she never mentioned Damien.

    She didn¡¯t know how long she had been dreaming, but she desperately wanted to wake up. And finally, when she was able to do so, she was greeted by what she could only assume was a hospital room.

    The strange thing was that she feltpletely fine. Or rather, she felt even better than she did at the peak of her life. ire slowly sat up and detached the equipment that was holding her down before looking around the room.

    It wasrgely empty except for a single person, but seeing this person almost made her faint in shock.

    ¡°Thomas?¡±

    Damien was shocked by the name that came out of her mouth, and only then did he realize he never knew his father¡¯s name. His mother always called him ¡°dear¡± or ¡°honey¡± like a movie couple, while Damien never had a reason to call him anything but dad.

    However, these thoughts were irrelevant. ¡°Wee back, mom.¡±

    Damien couldn¡¯t stop the tears from flowing. It had been 10 years since his mother had fallen into hera, and it was an even longer period of time that he had spent without many meaningful interactions with her.

    By the time he realized how much suffering she put herself through for his sake, she had already fallen into hera.

    The sight of a grown man crying was enough to make anyone ufortable, but ire only felt heart-wrenching pain at this moment. She looked at the one who had just called her ¡°mom¡± and tried topare his features to the boy she saw in her memories.

    The boy had shaggy ck hair that only went down to his eyebrows, but this man¡¯s hair contained streaks of silver and was slightly passed his shoulders.

    The boy had bright amethyst irises with ck pupils that pulled one¡¯s gaze like an abyss, but this man¡¯s eyes were a swirl of red and that previous amethyst. His cross-shaped pupils shone with starlight and firmness.

    The boy was short and scrawny, no matter how he tried to grow, he never could. But this man was tall and packed with muscle.

    She almost couldn¡¯t believe that the man in front of her was the same one she had seen before, but she knew it was. She just couldn¡¯t fathom the events that had changed her son into his current self.

    Without her discretion, her tears began to fall as well.

    Damien couldn¡¯t hold himself back anymore. He rushed to his mother and hugged her, making sure to limit his strength. His bodily strength alone could crush her if he wasn¡¯t careful.

    Like a child, he cried in his mother¡¯s embrace.

    And this only increased her pain. She desperately wanted to know what had happened while she was asleep, but it wasn¡¯t the time to question him. She could only slowly rub his back and console him as he cried into her bosom.

    ¡°There, there. Everything will be okay.¡±

    It took many minutes for Damien to calm down before he backed away awkwardly. Now that he had control of his emotions, he was extremely embarrassed by his previous actions.

    Taking a few deep breaths, Damien started talking. It was important to fill his mother in on how things had changed so her shock wouldn¡¯t be too severe when she left the hospital room.

    ¡°Mom, it¡¯s been 10 years since you fell into aa.¡±

    This sentence was like a bomb that went off in ire¡¯s head. 10 years, what kind of time period was that? But Damien¡¯s words weren¡¯t over.

    ¡°The world ispletely different from how it used to be. An energy called mana bloomed and a system appeared. Just call out the word ¡®system¡¯ in your head and you¡¯ll see. Remember how I used to embarrass myself in middle school? Well, I can actually do those things in real life now.¡±

    As he spoke, he raised his hand, causing lightning to crackle and pop in his vicinity. If ire was shocked by the disy of superpowers, she was bound to be in for more surprises when she followed her son¡¯s directions.

    ¡®System¡¯

    [Status]

    [ire Watson]

    Human

    Female ¨C Age 49

    Level 1 ¨C [ssless]

    Experience value: 0/100

    Title(s): [N/A]

    Affinities: Dream

    Physique: N/A

    Magic Power: 100

    STR: 40

    AGI: 40

    DEF: 40

    INT: 40

    DEX: 40

    Skills: [Telekinesis Level 1]

    Seeing the window in front of her, she was extremely confused. There were a plethora of numbers that she didn¡¯t understand, but they seemed to be rted to her.

    Seeing her confusion, Damien spent some time exining the World Awakening and the system to her. As she slowly understood what the numbers meant, she also realized they were only high due to her son¡¯s interference.

    He had told her that he fed her a miracle medicine to heal her and that it strengthened her to this point. She once again had to wonder what he went through to acquire something like that.

    But her shock for the day wasn¡¯t over. Damien looked through the window for a moment as if he was trying to find something, and suddenly 3 new figures appeared in the room.

    Two of them were beautiful women while the third was arge ck wolf.

    ¡°Mom, you already know Elena, so I don¡¯t need to introduce her. This cute one is named Zara, and one of my closest friends. You don¡¯t need to be scared since she¡¯s a lot more innocent than her looks. And finally, this beautiful girl with the pink hair is named Rose, and I guess you could say she¡¯s my girlfriend.¡±

    Damien¡¯s introduction was curt, but it got his point across.

    ¡°Nice to see you again, auntie!¡±

    ¡°Hello, Damien¡¯s mom!¡±

    ¡°H-hello auntie.¡±

    Three vastly different greetings followed.

    ire was bbergasted at this point. Elena was expected, but the talking wolf and the other beauty that her son called his girlfriend were totally random to her.

    In the first ce, a talking wolf?! She almost fainted just from the absurdity of it. But since her son had already warned her, she had a slightly easier time handling it.

    Trying to keep her calm, ire returned their greetings. ¡°Hello, girls. It¡¯s nice to meet the people my son cares about so much.¡±

    She extended her hand and carefully rubbed her fingers through Zara¡¯s fur, eliciting an innocent giggle from her.

    Zara¡¯s innocence truly was a heaven-sent gift, as it served as a great way to break the awkward tension that hung in the room.

    Without any further distraction, the group began talking about the various things that had happened in the past few years, with the topic mostly revolving around Damien. Elena told the story of his hard work before the fall, while Rose told the story of his deeds on Apeiron.

    The mention of another world was yet another shocking urrence for ire, but she decided to turn her brain off and listen to the stories.

    She also learned about the craziness that happened on earth and even learned about the Raisin Maniptor guy that Damien and Elena had jokingly told her about in her sleep.

    That was such a left-field fact that she remembered it even after waking up from her sleep.

    It waspletely unrted, but the raisin maniptor had died recently by choking on his own raisins. The death was so stupid that it was on news headlines for a solid week before it died down. Only after thisst act of idiocy did people learn that the raisin maniptor was named Ansh.

    The conversation continued as day turned into night, with everyone having smiles on their faces.

    Damien¡¯s fall into the dungeon and recent action of dropping a meteor in the middle of Los Angeles were left out of the story, but it¡¯d be fun to see ire¡¯s reaction when she learned of this.

    But not everyone was as happy as Damien¡¯s group. There were many moving in the shadows on earth for their own goals and purposes.

 Chapter 90 - Schemes [1]

    In the middle of Los Angeles, there was a massive skyscraper that eclipsed all else. Its build was more futuristic and even the materials used to create it were better than those surrounding it. And the most astounding fact was that this skyscraper was erected in a mere week.

    This was the headquarters of Asgard, where heroes gathered, and those who managed them worked.

    On the top floor of this building, 3 old men sat around a table. By the solemn atmosphere that surrounded them, it was clear that they were having an important discussion.

    ¡°Yin Jian, what exactly happened yesterday? You made a fool out of yourself!¡± One of the old men said. His target was a familiar old man that Damien had met not too long ago.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t my fault. I simply decided to step in and save a promising talent, but who knew that the one I would be facing is stronger than even me?¡±

    The other two old men had grave looks on their faces. They had seen the broadcast of the event that took ce, and they had seen the devastation that was caused.

    ¡°That boy was too strong. Perhaps only you could take him on, Xiao Zhen.¡±

    The two old men looked at the third among them. He was Xiao Zhen, the strongest of the 3.

    ¡°No, he is only at the early stages of Core Formation Realm, or what they call 3rd ss on this. It is simply that his Daoprehension is advanced enough to allow him to fight a small realm above his cultivation.¡±

    Yin Jian and the other old man looked at Xiao Zhen in shock. ¡®As expected, members of the big ns are a different breed.¡¯ Not only was he able to gauge the young man¡¯s cultivation level, but he had also been able to pinpoint the reason for his strength.

    ¡°This issue should be put on hold for now, as we have more important things to worry about. Qin Huo, how is the progress on the Mana Gathering Arrays proceeding?¡±

    The third old man replied hastily. ¡°The arrays have been set on the appropriate areas across the. It shouldn¡¯t take long for us to be able to activate the formation.¡±

    ¡°Good. The Jade Heavenly Pce is getting restless. Smaller organizations like our Burning Sun Sect are being forced to take the brunt of their emotions. We must hurry andplete our mission on this before those from Niflheim beat us to it.¡±

    Yin Jian suddenly spoke up. ¡°Have we figured out the origin world of those fiends?¡±

    Xiao Zhen could only shake his head. ¡°It is still unknown, but the school of study called Norse Mythology within this beginner world might be a clue. They took their name from this school immediately, and we only did the same out of convenience.¡±

    ¡°On that note, this world truly is strange,¡± chimed Qin Huo, ¡°they even have knowledge simr to our own world, yet it seems to be regarded as fiction by the mortal popce here.¡±

    The other two nodded. They found that earth had a variety of cultures and mythology, some of which were eerily simr to other worlds. Yet, they also found that the denizens of earth did not know about the universe besides their own world.

    ¡°This world truly is strange. Although I reported this to the Sect Master, he was unbothered. It seems that the pressure from the Central Continent is bing too overbearing.¡±

    Xiao Zhen looked out the window as he sighed. ¡®The mortals here are truly interesting. They don¡¯t have the mentality of cultivators, but they¡¯re still able to make such advancements.¡¯

    ¡®It¡¯s for this reason that I¡¯m d thoserge sects and major ns from the Central Continent have no ns to ruin this world entirely. It¡¯ll merely have a setback of a decade or so.¡¯

    However, that was only if they seeded. Those at Niflheim didn¡¯t seem to possess the same magnanimity. From what they¡¯d seen in the past 3 years, their ns were much more nefarious.

    Sighing once more, Xiao Zhen came out of his thoughts and looked back at his two colleagues. They were from smaller families, and as such weren¡¯t aware of the power structure in the grand scheme of things.

    Still, they were people he trusted and saw as brothers. Carrying this sentiment in his heart, Xiao Zhen opened his mouth once again. After all, there were still many subjects to discuss.

    ***

    Damien spent the next week in utter rxation. For the first time in 4 years, he didn¡¯t feel the need to constantly train and move towards a purpose.

    Although he was aware of the Nox threat, he knew it wasn¡¯t immediate enough to move ceaselessly without rest. And now that he had finally returned to earth and done everything he needed to do, he felt unburdened.

    In short, Damien didn¡¯t have anything to drive him anymore. Although he did have an ultimate goal to stand at the peak, it wasn¡¯t something that would force him to move.

    And when Damien realized theforts ofziness, he eased into it entirely. Currently, Damien was in his old room at his mother¡¯s house with the girls. This house wasn¡¯t the one he saw in his trial, as they had moved shortly after his dad¡¯s disappearance. Still, it was the house he had spent his high school years in, so it brought back memories.

    With the bodies they had forged through tireless training, everyone in the room had extremely high metabolisms. And the result of this could be seen in the chip bags and snack wrappers that littered the room.

    As for how they had been spending their days? Introducing Rose and Zara to anime, of course.

    With their daily lives filled with action, the girls especially weren¡¯t interested in shonen. Damien was displeased that he couldn¡¯t catch up on the new gens that were releasing when he left earth, but he relented.

    He was secretly a sucker for slice of life and romanticedies, so he ¡°begrudgingly¡± allowed them to watch these genres.

    Rose was by Damien¡¯s side, cuddling up to him while she watched the tv with fascination. Although they had projector screens in Apeiron, they didn¡¯t have a profession like acting or animation. The entertainment industry was severelycking.

    Meanwhile, Elena was using Zara as a pillow and simrly staring at the screen. These two had gotten surprisingly close in the week they had known each other. Zara even let Elena act as she pleased without needing Damien¡¯s consent, unlike when she first met Rose.

    The group dynamic was nice and didn¡¯t contain any awkwardness that Damien could feel, so he was happily enjoying his time, unaware of the silent war taking ce in his vicinity.

    After watching anime for a week, Rose had already understood the concept of Japanese harem anime, and since Elena was a native of earth and Damien¡¯s friend for so many years, she did too.

    The two of them had made a silent agreement that acting in such a chaotic way would be idiotic, to say the least. It might even distract Damien from his goals, which was something neither wanted.

    Elena had decided to give up on a rtionship with Damien ever since she heard he was already taken, after all, she didn¡¯t have any dreams of being a homewrecker. Yet, for some unknown reason, Rose always found a reason to mess with her.

    Even the way she cuddled with Damien at the moment, while seemingly innocent, was something she had done to tease Elena. She was truly enjoying the ¡°big sister¡± role that she wanted to take.

    Even though they wouldn¡¯t admit it when asked, and they were asked pretty often by ire, neither of them would admit they were actually forming a good rtionship. They were acting like friends who were so close they argued constantly.

    The two had been like this all week. They wouldpete about the smallest things while doing their best not to alert Damien and the one who for the front seat view of all this was naturally Zara.

    And she had to say that she was enjoying it. She didn¡¯t quite understand humans, but basing her assumptions and viewpoint on the anime she had watched in the past week, Zara was having a great time.

    She still didn¡¯t know why they fought like this, but she sensed no ill will between them, making her ignore that question. She even wanted to participate in their stunts sometimes, but sadly she still didn¡¯t have a human form.

    ¡®When I reach 4th ss and be like the beast empress, I¡¯ll fight with them too!¡¯

    If either Rose or Elena heard her thoughts, they¡¯d probably burst outughing, wondering how Zara would react if she knew why they were acting in such a way.

    ¡°Kids! Dinner¡¯s ready!¡± It wasn¡¯t only Damien¡¯s group that had seemingly regressed to their teenage years, ire had joined them as well.

    It mainly started after she realized how young she looked now, but she had been acting like the mother of young teens as if trying to make up for the 10 years she had been in hera.

    And like that, another 2 weeks passed.

    It was approaching a month since Damien had returned to earth, but he was ignoring everything else andzing around in his house.

 Chapter 91 - Schemes [2]

    Outside San Fransico, California, there was another base, yet this one looked more typical of a secret hideout. It was within a swampy region that appeared not long after the World Awakening.

    The geography of earth had gone through various changes, but the most prominent one was the different ecosystems that emerged. Mana had given the world plenty of possibilities for evolution, and it seemed earth wanted to be closer to nature.

    Within that swampy region stood a massive dome-like structure. It seemed impractical as a location to hold arge number of people, but that wasn¡¯t its purpose. It served to be as inconspicuous as possible.

    The reason the domecked volume was that this particr headquarters drilled deep into the ground, bing a bunker of sorts.

    And inside this bunker, there were countless viins. Those who had taken this path were all of various shapes and sizes. They used different methods for power, most of them opting for quick bursts even if they had negative effects in the long term.

    Some of them didn¡¯t even look human anymore, with protrusions exiting their bodies in various ces or skin features that made them look like aliens.

    And the ones who caused these transformations were the 3 men that sat in an isted conference room within the bunker.

    The men looked like regr humans at a nce, but this wouldn¡¯t be able to fool the stronger beings on earth. The grotesque features they hid behind those masks were clear to see.

    ¡°Isaiah, how is progress with those humans?¡± One of them said.

    ¡°Good, the peasants from this race are much less civilized than those from the Cloud ne. They fall into our temptations easily, so it wasn¡¯t a hassle at all.¡±

    The first man nodded. ¡°Good, it¡¯s almost time we continue with our main goal. How is progress on that, Weiss?¡±

    The third man in the room began talking.

    ¡°The core extraction process will take more time than initially expected. It seems to have made a connection with another being or object, making it difficult to bring it under us. Haldir, unless we find the source of the connection, we will not be able to proceed as nned.¡±

    Haldir nodded casually. They weren¡¯t pressed on time at all, so he didn¡¯t mind a small hindrance. ¡°How is the response of those on Asgard?¡±

    ¡°The copy here on earth is barely a hindrance. They seem keener on keeping the social bnce that stopping us, kekeke.¡± Said Weiss.

    ¡°But the true Asgard is increasing the amount of pressure they try to put on us. Their origin is moving closer, almost as if they are using it as a vessel for war.

    ¡°Niflheim doesn¡¯t currently have the forces nor the strength topete with them, especially since we¡¯ve been putting our minds to conquering that cloud ne.

    ¡°The great benefactors also haven¡¯t spoken in many years. They only said to prepare and conquer as many worlds as we could before they were ready to move.¡±

    Isaiah had a thought that he decided to voice out. ¡°If the great benefactors wanted us to conquers, why are we moving to destroy this one?¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Haldr snorted in disdain. ¡°What could this tiny ever hope to provide the great benefactors? We will use the core energy of this to enhance our own, while we conquer the middle worlds.

    ¡°First we must conquer the Cloud ne and Asgard, and then we will continue to even the fabled higher worlds with our grand conquest!¡±

    All three possessed fervent looks in their eyes at the mention of this. They had only heard stories about higher worlds, but the thought of putting them under their feet was intoxicating.

    ¡°I heard there¡¯s a new variable that popped up recently,¡± mentioned Haldr as he changed the topic.

    ¡°Indeed, something about a boy and a massive beast that arrived on the recently. Still, I have heard that he¡¯s weak. He will not hinder our ns, so we can simply ignore him.¡± Responded Isaiah.

    The other two nodded. Their world had advanced more technologically than Apeiron or the Cloud ne. When they arrived on earth and saw the limited technology and application, they felt repulsed. They even refused to touch these devices lest they stain their hands with filth.

    These 3 men were much different than those that came from the Cloud ne. Their designs for the world were also much more ruthless. Still, it was a n that they had properly concealed, making those heroes from Asgard disregard their strength.

    While the various organizations of the world opting to take their time and wait patiently, life on earth continued with a semnce of peace.

    It was the same with Damien. After the month passed, he still continued his daily lifezing around, but every once in a while he¡¯d get bored with the monotonous routine.

    It was truly a great change of pace to do nothing, but after working consistently for 4 years without stopping, he missed the feeling of being pushed and pressured by circumstance. He wanted a new goal.

    Yet, earth was still too weak to provide him that. Sure, he could go into the gates that opened and ughter every beast within them, but there was no fun in that anymore. He got tired of dungeons after spending 2 years of his life trapped inside one.

    To appease his boredom, sometimes he¡¯d ask Rose to disguise him with her illusions and he¡¯d go fight crime like a wannabe superhero. But even this was losing its spark. It all simmered down to the world being too weak.

    Damien thought back to the old man he met when he first arrived back on earth. ¡®That old man was a 3rd ss, but whatever world he was sent from was able to send him to a beginner world like earth without qualms.¡¯

    Damien knew what this meant. 3rd sses must be in abundance in that world. After exiting the temple, Damien had realized that in the grand scheme of things, Apeiron was weak as well. It wasn¡¯t their fault, rather they had hit a roadblock after the Nox invasion finally ended.

    Many families that carried talent were wiped out, and plenty of the demigods who died weren¡¯t able to have progeny. While themon popce could birth talents as well, the peace the world had settled into had blinded them.

    There weren¡¯t many who felt the drive to improve and stand above everything. Hell, even the geniuses that participated in the Nexus Event didn¡¯t feel that drive. Damien sensed this clearly, and it was the reason none of them were able to achieve much within the secret realm.

    Only he, Rose, Ethan, and Matthew had this drive. They all manifested it differently, but all of them desired to stand above the heavens and look down on all creation.

    Damien sighed. ¡®Maybe I should pay a visit to that old fogey and his friends to see what they¡¯re up to. If they¡¯re enemies, that¡¯s great, but if they¡¯re friends, I¡¯ll have to see what this whole Niflheim nonsense is about.¡¯

    Stretching his body, Damien stood up from the bed. ¡°Alright, you girls stay here for a bit while I go meet some new friends.¡±

    Although confused, the girls agreed. It wasn¡¯t like they had to apany Damien everywhere, and he was staying within LA anyway.

    Being too clingy was something even they found annoying. Just imagining Damien following them everywhere with puppy eyes made them shudder.

    Well, except for Elena. She had to suppress the sadistic side of her that would absolutely enjoy that.

    Damien said a quick goodbye to his mother before leaving the house. His destination was obvious, since the massive Asgard skyscraper was clear to see no matter where in the city you were.

    ¡®Hmm, let¡¯s just walk today. I haven¡¯t taken the time to admire the sights.¡¯

    Elena had already done a deeper overview of what had changed on earth while she was exining things to his mother, but he still hadn¡¯t seen it for himself, nor did he have the chance to appreciate it.

    He was faster than flying cars and could fly on his own, so there was no point in that. Also, he had graduated from materialistic vanity long ago. Not to mention he didn¡¯t have any money that would be epted on earth.

    Damien walked through the streets of LA calmly. The wind blew in his face and caused his hair to flutter, painting a beautiful picture for the passerbys.

    With earth being less developed, Damien¡¯s handsomeness ended up standing out more once he arrived. The people in this world weren¡¯t used to seeing people who reached his level, and the other 3rd sses were old men. They were appreciated more for their schrly aura than their looks.

    His walk was truly like a novel scene. Heads turned at every intersection and women swooned with hearts in their eyes. Even some men couldn¡¯t help but fall for him. The others simply cast him hateful and envious gazes, as even they couldn¡¯t help but admit Damien¡¯s attractiveness.

    And Damien thoroughly enjoyed this. It was a rare asion that he could simplye out like this and bask in glory. He was usually stopping himself from doing so in order to remain humble.

    As he thought about these things, Damien arrived at his destination. Sighing lightly at the fact that his ego trip had to end, he walked into the building.

    It was time to differentiate allies from enemies.

 Chapter 92 - Schemes [3]

    Upon entering the building, Damien was greeted by arge reception hall simr to a hotel. Various chairs and tables were set along its area and many heroes sat there to chat. There was even a small cafeteria area where restaurant chains had set up branches.

    Aligned with the back wall, there was an area where the reception desks stood, but instead of just a single receptionist, there were dozens of them lining the entire wall.

    Each of these receptionists had a queue lined up in front of them. This was to be expected, though, since Asgard wasn¡¯t just an American organization, but one that spanned the entire world.

    They only had a single headquarters where people woulde to get inducted as heroes and ranked, while many smaller branches of the organization spanned the globe to manage heroes in their selective countries.

    Still, this was a centralized organization, and to make sure that the power bnce within it wouldn¡¯t be disrupted, many official activities were carried out solely within the headquarters.

    Damien took a minute to admire the sights before joining one of the queues. He didn¡¯t consider himself a patient person, but he also wasn¡¯t problematic enough to cause a fuss over a little bit of waiting.

    It took about two hours for Damien¡¯s turn to finally arrive, but he wasn¡¯t bored in his waiting. Returning to earth also meant returning to technology, specifically cellphones.

    Damien had made it a priority to get himself a phone during the month he had been rxing, so he could spend idle time like this listening to music and scrolling through social media apps. Social media was another surprise Damien received.

    While it was obvious that social media would always be a popr facet on earth, he didn¡¯t expect it to blow so out of proportion. There were countless people who made a living through creative uses of their powers on social media, yet the term influencer didn¡¯t quite fit them anymore.

    The advent of a super-powered world made people¡¯s opinions much harder to sway since status was mainly built on strength nowadays.

    Anyway, Damien arrived at the desk, where thedy politely greeted him.

    ¡°Wee to Asgard headquarters! Are you here to be a hero today, or did you have any special inquiries?¡±

    Damien didn¡¯t know how to respond. He couldn¡¯t just begin the conversation with ¡°I want to speak to the leaders¡± or something without sounding like a criminal, but he didn¡¯t know how to lead into that topic either.

    ¡°Ehem, do you mind telling me what the structure of the higher floors is like? Ah, not like physical structure I mean the people who work there.¡±

    Thedy was a bit suspicious, but after Damien¡¯s rification she assumed he was thinking about working a desk job in the building, so she answered his questions.

    ¡°Right, the Asgard skyscraper is 200 stories tall, making it the tallest building in the world. And due to this height, there are various facilities avable for use.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the bottom 30 floors. These act as both a testing and training area for heroes. As you know, when a hero wants to join Asgard, they will be tested and assigned a rank that ranges from F to SSS. This rank determines their privileges and the level of activity they are allowed to engage in.

    ¡°The facilities used to test and determine these ranks are present on the first 10 floors. The next 20 floors are filled with various training areas for new or even veteran heroes to use. These were designed specifically by our founders, so their functionality is proven.

    ¡°After that, there are 30 floors that function as a sort of hotel or apartmentplex. The people who work in this building sometimes choose to live within it as well, since the entry and exit tend to get crowded on a daily basis.

    ¡°And from there, we get to the more work-rted floors. Everything from the 61st floor to the 196th floor is used for logistics and management. Since Asgard is a global organization, things can get hectic without proper order.

    ¡°As for the final 4 floors, I am not allowed to disclose that information, as they are strictly reserved for the founders and those allowed by them.¡±

    Damien listened to this exnation with slight surprise. The 200 stories seemed unnecessary and simply for vanity purposes, but it looked like they were all put to good use. After all, support staff for every country in the world was bound to take up a lot of space.

    Still, he didn¡¯t know how to feel since the exnation didn¡¯t really give him any help. Sighing, Damien decided there wasn¡¯t any way to alert them besides causing a scene.

    ¡°Looks like I have to do this the hard way. Miss, with your strength, you¡¯ll probably get hurt in what¡¯s about toe, so please back up to a safe distance.¡±

    Damien didn¡¯t have any interest in harming civilians, but he made sure to say his words in as strict a tone as he could muster. Feeling suffocated by the invisible pressure Damien was giving off, both the receptionist and those in line behind him backed off.

    Once they were at a distance Damien deemed safe enough, he fully released his aura as a 3rd ss.

    The entire hall descended into silence. The pressure gripped the hearts of many within the room and instilled fear into their very beings. Nobody knew what Damien wanted, but his actions made him seem like a viin who¡¯d arrived at the headquarters to cause harm.

    On the top floor of the building, Yin Jian also felt this pressure. Though it didn¡¯t suffocate him, he felt it was familiar. Yet, it wasn¡¯t the aura of any 3rd ss he knew. ¡®Unless¡­¡¯

    Thinking of the possibility, Yin Jian immediately flew off the balcony and descended to the pavement below. It was the easiest way to make it to the ground.

    Re-entering the building, he saw Damien standing in the middle of the room. ¡°Boy, I don¡¯t know why you¡¯vee, but I hope it isn¡¯t to cause trouble.¡±

    Damien turned to the sound of this voice and smiled before retracting his aura. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s my fault. I wanted to do things the civil way but I really couldn¡¯t think of another way to contact you.¡±

    The old man sighed helplessly. Indeed, they didn¡¯t know each other so this was the fastest way to elicit a response. He could only marvel at Damien¡¯s boldness against the assumptions people would make.

    ¡°Alright, if talking is all you came for,e with me to the top. It¡¯s inconvenient to stay here.¡±

    Yin Jian left and once again began flying to the balcony he came from, and Damien followed him with a light smile on his face.

    Although Yin Jian was a bit apprehensive, he felt that with his other twopanions together, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about Damien in the slightest.

    And this assumption was partially correct. Although Damien¡¯sbat prowess allowed him to fight high-level 3rd ss beings, this was only in 1v1 fights. In a group scenario, he¡¯d be extremely limited. Still, escaping would be easy so he had nothing to fear.

    Arriving at the penthouse, Yin Jian led Damien to the conference room where the three old men had met previously, before calling hispanions.

    ¡°Just wait a few moments for them to arrive, then we can begin any discussion.¡±

    Yin Jian watched as Damien sat with a leisurely look on his face. He was aware that Damien would be able to sense the other two existences within the penthouse, but seeing the rxed expression on his face, Yin Jian began having some doubts.

    ¡®It can¡¯t be that he thinks he can take all three of us at once, right?¡¯

    It didn¡¯t take long for Xiao Zhen and Qin Huo to arrive. Looking at the boy in front of them, both of them hid their surprise.

    ¡®Indeed, his talent might even be on par with those geniuses from the Central Continent.¡¯ Xiao Zhen thought.

    Still, he kept indifferent on the outside. ¡°What have youe to discuss with us?¡±

    Damien looked at this man with only a single thought. ¡®Strong.¡¯ Xiao Zhen was strong enough for Damien to be on alert, but he still responded in kind.

    ¡°Mm, my purpose today is simple. I¡¯m here to determine whether you lot are allies or enemies. As you already know, I¡¯m a native of this world, so I can¡¯t allow you to destroy it or impact it negatively.¡±

    The three men became serious.

    ¡°I assume that you¡¯re already aware that we came here for selfish intentions,¡± Yin Jian said, ¡°but we have no intention to do anything permanently harmful to this small world.¡±

    Damien nodded. He had guessed this much from the beginning. There¡¯s no way people from a much stronger world would descend here if they didn¡¯t have some sort of machinations or ns.

    ¡°Then? What exactly do you have nned?¡±

    This time, it was Xiao Zhen who spoke.

    ¡°We can discuss these more intricate thingster. Just know that rather than us, you should beware of whatever those fiends in Niflheim have nned.¡±

 Chapter 93

    ¡°Niflheim, huh.¡±

    Damien felt it was pretty cliche for the evil organization to be the one plotting nefariously, but he still listened to what the old men had to say.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t figured out what exactly Niflheim is nning, but we know that in the end, they will destroy the. They aren¡¯t only this¡¯s enemy, but also that of our Cloud ne. They¡¯ve been attempting invasion for many years.¡±

    Xiao Zhen continued. ¡°As for our own goal, it is to siphon a part of the natural mana already in this world¡¯s atmosphere. Although there are no negative effects in the long term, the denizens here will progress slower for at least a decade before the mana levels return to normal.¡±

    Hearing this objective, Damien fell into thought. Truthfully, he didn¡¯t care about earth at all after he had saved his mother. He already had ns to move her to Apeiron, where the mana density was thicker and society was at peace, so she could live a better life.

    After all, even in the 4 years he had been gone, earth had be a small battleground for the stronger worlds within the cosmos. The old man had mentioned the Cloud ne, and Damien already knew of its existence.

    It was one of the many worlds that were discovered through the gates that opened on earth. And the way the forces of both Niflheim and the Cloud ne received earth¡¯s location was most likely through citizens of earth who were swayed by wealth or power.

    It had already been mentioned that entry through gates back to the beginner world wasn¡¯t permitted to outsiders, so any other possibility could be immediately ruled out.

    ¡°And so? Why do you guys need the mana of earth?¡±

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    Yin Jian and Qin Huo looked toward Xiao Zhen. He was their representative and the one with the most power of the three, so decisions like revealing more about their world to Damien rested on his shoulders.

    Xiao Zhen took a moment to consider the pros and cons of such an information exchange. On one side, he could gain a valuable ally in this talented youth and also continue unobstructed in their ns with earth, while on the other, there was the risk of this youth going over to the enemy side and spilling their secrets.

    p ?? da n ?v el He never once considered the consequences of having Damien himself as an enemy. Even if Damien was powerful by their standards, against their entire world he was nothing.

    Hell, even against those major powers on the Central Continent he was but another young genius who had the potential to rise in power.

    Thinking this far, Xiao Zhen decided to answer Damien¡¯s question. ¡°The peak powers of our world have discovered new methods of gaining levels called cultivation.

    ¡°Cultivation is a simple process, as it involves absorbing and circting ambient mana in specific patterns to increase mana capacity and even level.

    ¡°It was a shocking discovery, but it made sense in the end. Experience points that contribute to leveling up are gained when one enhances or adds to their ¡®legend¡¯.

    ¡°This concept is one that the system constantly reminds us about when we makerge achievements, but it¡¯s never fully exined. We still don¡¯t know exactly what a legend is, but even years of hard work spent cultivating will earn you experience to level up.

    p??da n?vel

    ¡°While the process may be tens, or even thousands at the higher levels, of times slower than more conventional methods of leveling, it is still extremely beneficial.

    ¡°The only problem is that with the advent of cultivation, the mana levels of the world weren¡¯t able to keep up. This wouldn¡¯t have been a problem if it was discovered in the present time, but it¡¯s been amon practice in our world for tens of thousands of years.

    ¡°And in the recent times, we¡¯ve encountered a major threat to civilization.¡±

    Getting this far, Xiao Zhen¡¯s face became solemn. ¡°We haven¡¯t discovered exactly what they are, but there is a force behind Niflheim that is plotting their movements. We¡¯ve discovered that this force is much greater than we can fathom.

    ¡°In preparation for war that mighte when this force makes a move, the peak powers of our Cloud ne have decided on the strategy of stealing mana from lower worlds to supplement our own.

    ¡°This way people will be able to gain strength faster without having to worry about depleting the mana density of the world.¡±

    Damien listened to all this with rapt attention. These weren¡¯t conflicts on the country scale or even the continental scale, these were wars between worlds. Just thinking about such a grand battle made his blood boil.

    And he knew what the most likely backer for the forces of Niflheim was. It had to be the Nox. Ever since their invasion of Apeiron, they¡¯d apparently kept quiet, but it was obvious they were gathering forces to strike once more.

    And from what he was hearing, they weren¡¯t nning to strike Apeiron, but countless other worlds instead.

    ¡®Just what is their purpose? Is it just for domination, or is there something bigger?¡±

    Damien couldn¡¯t help but feel that there was some kind of grand scheme behind the scenes, but he shook off that thought. He didn¡¯t have the strength nor the ability to unravel such things.

    Rather, his thoughts were on something else. ¡®The Cloud ne seems to be much stronger than Apeiron, and if they¡¯re going to war with Niflheim¡­¡¯

    It¡¯d definitely be something he wanted to get involved in. Maybe he couldn¡¯t stop the war or act as a one-man army, but he could definitely deal some heavy blows if he nned his moves right.

    Still, that cameter. First, he had to deal with the troubles taking ce on earth. While he didn¡¯t care much about it, he knew his mother held attachments to this world. Even if it was just for her sake, he couldn¡¯t allow it to get destroyed.

    But putting it through a decade¡¯s worth of setbacks was nothing major. They would still be able to build themselves back up, and Damien assumed that with such a low quantity of mana, otherrger worlds wouldn¡¯t hold much interest in earth.

    ¡°Very well. I don¡¯t mind if you guys continue with your n concerning the mana gathering, but I expect full cooperation when ites to Niflheim. We can discuss other matters after that is taken care of.¡±

    The three old men nodded. Although Damien was still just a boy, there was something about his aura and demeanor that made them feel subservient. Even Xiao Zhen felt this. It wasn¡¯t a matter of strength nor wits, as together they surpassed Damien in both of these fields.

    Simply, they felt the natural aura of a leader. Not the kind that would sit in the shadows or lead an empire, but of a spiritual pir who could effortlessly unite people under his banner.

    ¡®The future of this boy will surely be bright.¡± Yin Jian thought to himself. He might have just been a spectator for most of this conversation, but he still had his own opinions on the proceedings.

    Damien and the three old men talked for a few more hours about various matters before he finally took his leave. He once again decided to walk home, as he had many things to think about.

    ¡®Those old men said that the so-called viins are being transformed and granted power beyond their own level. And those that receive this power mutate into alien-like beings. It sounds awfully simr to the story of the Nox on the temple walls.¡¯

    Back then, the Nox had converted people into puppets for their own use, and when the invasion happened, those followers went around murdering innocent civilians like madmen.

    The soul fragment of Kurt Galloway had mentioned that these people had abnormal strength, yet they didn¡¯t mutate into strange creatures.

    ¡®Well, the methods of ackey obviously won¡¯t be as refined as those of its master.¡¯

    Damiens¡¯s first priority was to move his mother and Elena off of earth. If there was even the slightest chance that earth would be a dangerous ce, he wouldn¡¯t allow them to stay here.

    ¡®There¡¯s also the matter of the Cloud ne.¡¯

    Truthfully, Damien wanted to go to the Cloud ne alone. He even wanted to leave Rose behind.

    It wasn¡¯t that their strength couldn¡¯t contribute to his goals or that he didn¡¯t want theirpany, rather, he felt that it would be more convenient if there were fewer outsiders suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

    His initial thought process wasn¡¯t like this, though. He had wanted to bring Rose along for this adventure as he had plenty of fun when they explored the secret realm together, but he had a hard time convincing those old fogeys about it.

    It took an hour to even convince them to allow him to apany them, so when he asked to bring others he was vehemently rejected.

    ¡®Well, I can deal with that problem when the timees. For now, let¡¯s deal with the matters on earth.¡¯

    He kept getting sidetracked thinking about the future, but he couldn¡¯t help himself. Although dealing with schemes on earth was necessary, it didn¡¯t spark his spirit of adventure like traveling to other worlds and participating inary battles did.

    Earth was simply a chore, while those other matters were going to be done out of his own volition

    ¡®Well, let¡¯s deal with Niflheim now.¡¯

 Chapter 94

    Well, even if he wanted to deal with Niflheim immediately, he didn¡¯t have the means to do so. After all, he didn¡¯t even know where they were located.

    Xiao Zhen had told him that they would be in the vicinity of LA, but that wasn¡¯t much to go on. He wondered if it was even possible to rule out the ocean, but he quickly scraped that thought.

    If the rest of earth was simply a yground for Damien, the only ce he had to be wary of was the ocean. Even before the World Awakening, more than 80% of the ocean was unmapped and unexplored. The world¡¯s terrain had changed since then, and nobody knew what had happened to the ocean.

    The only known fact was that it was dangerous. The cultivation of beasts was much simpler than that of humans in the sense that they didn¡¯t need to level up until they reached 4th ss. As long as they ate other beasts, they¡¯d gain power.

    And so, when the massive oceans of the world came into contact with mana, and the animals within it became beasts, one could only imagine the chaos that would ensue.

    In the past 3 or so years, sea travel became an entirely unviable option. Boats would immediately get attacked by rampaging beasts even near the shore, and the journey would only be more dangerous when they arrived further at sea.

    And it wasn¡¯t just the native beasts born on earth that would be a problem. Dungeons weren¡¯t around for the benefit of humans, rather they were there to support some sort of bnce within the universe, at least this is what the denizens of earth figured out from otherworlders they met in dungeons.

    And if gates didn¡¯t discriminate, then it was obvious that some would open within the ocean. These gates would go untouched and uncleared, and eventually, they would lead to dungeon breaks.

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    Beasts within those gates would flood the sea. Two possible situations would ur from that point forward.

    The first scenario was when the gate was aquatic in nature and new species of beasts with varied strength would enter the ocean¡¯s ecosystem, either propagating or ruling within the area.

    The second was when the gate wasn¡¯t aquatic in nature. In this scenario, the beasts that break through the gate would, in most situations, end up drowning or being crushed by the pressure of the deep seas.

    While this may seem to be a better oue, it wasn¡¯t. The corpses of these beasts would be feasted on by those already living in that ecosystem, providing greater strength to the already existing beasts.

    In the deepest areas of earth where humans could never reach, there were potentially an innumerable amount of 3rd ss beasts lying in wait.

    Damien wanted to visit the depths of the ocean one day and see if he could find anything interesting but now wasn¡¯t the time. Maybe once he was finished with the Niflheim business or after he finished his adventure in the Cloud ne he¡¯d return for this purpose.

    Taking his thoughts off the ocean, Damien decided to check thend areas surrounding the city. And he had to say that he was truly shocked by what he saw.

    p??da n?vel

    Before his fall, he¡¯d never left Los Angeles, and after the World Awakening, he didn¡¯t even have the mind to watch the news. Even Elena was the same. Due to this, their view on earth had remained rtively untarnished.

    p ?? da n ?v el But even when Damien simply flew around the other areas of California, he could see the vast differences in both geography and poption.

    Major cities like San Diego or San Francisco were rtively untouched, as theirrge poption meant they¡¯d always have heroes there to protect them from any major damages, but most smaller cities were in ruin.

    Damien had just been thinking about the evolution of normal animals into beasts that urred within the ocean, but he¡¯d made an oversight when considering the surface.

    Even if humans were the most dominant species, that didn¡¯t mean there was ack of animals by any means. Within the countless forests and even the smaller ecosystems that existed, there were many beasts. And with the way the instincts of a beast worked¡­

    Damien shuddered at the thought. How much of humanity had truly been decimated already? Even if the strongest and most popted areas maintained a sense of normalcy, what about the rest? How muchnd had been lost to beasts?

    Thinking about areas like the Amazon Rainforest that were dangerous to humans even before beasts existed on earth, Damien felt that the situation was much more concerning than he originally thought.

    Still, it wasn¡¯t like he could do anything about it. Even if he tried his hardest, it would probably take years to clean up even just the Amazon. He couldn¡¯t imagine shouldering the weight of the world and being a hero who saves everyone.

    Damien chuckled at the irony of his situation. In general, his worldview was already on aary scale. He was thinking about traveling different worlds and participating in massive battles.

    Yet, his view of earth was still so narrow-minded. Perhaps it was the effect of living in Apeiron for so many years, where peace reigned and order had been established.

    All the while, Damien was still flying around California searching for the Niflheim headquarters. It was one of thergest states in America, so he was essentially searching for a needle in a haystack. Plus, even if he could cover all of California in his search, it would by no means be instant.

    He had already spent an entire day flying at his fastest speeds and he¡¯d probably only covered 20% of the state. His power level was still at most enough to destroy a city.

    But Damien was long past the point of getting fatigued with only this much. Sleep was a luxury for him, not a necessity. Damien continued to search throughout the night and even into the next day without rest. He only stopped when his mana capacity was getting low so he could recharge.

    And his ceaseless effort finally paid off. Damien was getting bored, so he circled around Sacramento one more time before heading back to Los Angeles. However, he soon stumbled upon a swamp region that seemed to span until the San Fransisco area.

    Wanting to explore the strange terrain a bit, Damien slowed down his travels. It was then that he finally noticed the inconspicuous dome-like structure that existed within the swamp.

    It was extremely easy to miss, as even its color blended with the murky water, but Damien¡¯s perception was too high for such camouge to work. Ironically, he would have found the area easier if they had used some sort of illusion for concealment.

    Damienpletely hid his aura before carefully approaching the dome. Something about the structure just screamed ¡°evil viin base¡± to him. Maybe it was all thoseics he read as a kid.

    Damien didn¡¯t rashly enter the dome, since if he was correct about its origins, there were bound to be 3rd sses inside. He simply waited in the air, using his vector control to refract light and be invisible. Along with the earring artifact that hid his presence, his concealment was almost perfect.

    This wasn¡¯t a method he used often, since he had Rose, an illusion expert, by his side, but it was still convenient at times like this. Damien waited patiently for hours, watching for any movement on the outskirts of the dome.

    And finally, he found what he was looking for. A grotesque man with a globr body and antenna on his head emerged from the dome, flying to some unknown location.

    ¡®So this is what they meant by alien. Well, he definitely looked like something out of a crappy sci-fi movie.¡¯

    Damien continued to watch for the next day as many different people who used to be humans exited and entered the dome. It was enough proof for him that this location was indeed a base of Niflheim.

    Whether it was the main base or not was yet to be seen, but the old men from Asgard had mentioned that the leaders of Niflheim had situated their main base in California for convenience.

    All that was left was for Damien to go inform hispanions about what he found. He wanted to infiltrate the base and learn of the ns they had for earth before taking any offensive action or even informing the guys from the Cloud ne.

    Their rtionship, at best, could be called a partnership. There was no underlying trust that built a foundation for them, only respect for each other¡¯s strengths. Damien had to confirm whether the worlds of those old men were true before he made any drastic decisions.

    Using his naivety against him wasn¡¯t something Damien would allow, and if it happened it wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d take lightly.

    Though the old men didn¡¯t know it, Damien was still in the process of separating allies from enemies.

 Chapter 95

    After memorizing his location so he could warp backter, Damien flew away from the dome before teleporting back to the house.

    Arriving, he started telling the girls about what he found. He¡¯d already briefed them about the situation before he left on his search, so he only needed to tell them about the hideout.

    And since they were already on the subject, he told them about the conditions of the world outside the city.

    ¡°To be honest, it¡¯s stupid that we never considered the possibility before you said it,¡± Elena said. She was slightly downcast about the state of the world, but she was simr to Damien in the sense that she knew she couldn¡¯t do anything about it, so she didn¡¯t fret.

    However, unlike Damien, she held on to the possibility that once she became strong enough, she coulde back and make the world a more peaceful ce.

    After a slight interlude, Damien spoke about the dome-like structure he had found. He also described the mutated people he had seen exiting it.

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty obvious what the identity of that structure is, but I have no interest in charging in blindly. Rose, I want you toe with me so we can do a little infiltration mission.¡±

    Rose nodded. ¡°That¡¯s no problem. It¡¯s been getting a little boring sitting around and doing nothing anyway.¡±

    ¡°What about us?¡± Elena spoke, referring to herself and Zara. ¡°Rose has already shown that she can cast illusions on others that don¡¯t wear off as long as we have mana, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for us to join as well.¡±

    Well, she was talking more for herself than anything. Zara had her own concealment abilities, and they were one of her main strengths. She didn¡¯t need any help to hide from others¡¯ senses.

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    Damien fell into thought. It was true that Rose could use her illusions to hide Elena if she wanted, Damien¡¯s only problem was with safety. If more people infiltrated with him, they¡¯d have to split up, and Damien wouldn¡¯t be there to protect them.

    Rose, seemingly sensing Damien¡¯s worries, chimed in. ¡°Aren¡¯t you being a bit too paranoid? Or did you forget that we aren¡¯t some weaklings that are here to burden you?¡±

    Looking around the room, Damien started to feel like an idiot. It wasn¡¯t just Rose, but Elena and Zara as well who were all ring at him. It was definitely true that he had forgotten their strength.

    With Rose, although he knew she was strong, he had never seen her fight alone. But that reasoning was illogical. If she couldn¡¯t hold her own, how did she even reach him on Godspark Mountain? And wasn¡¯t she the one who did the most to kill the Nox within the ancient temple?

    Zara was the same. Damien had only fought together with her and had never seen her hunt alone, but that didn¡¯t mean she never did.

    When he was building his mana circuits and when he was within the legacy tomb, even during certain periods while climbing Godspark mountain Zara had evolved without Damien¡¯s watch.

    And the final one was Elena. His trust was a bit rockier when it came to her since he had never seen her fight since he came back to earth. On top of this, she was still at 2nd ss unlike the rest of them. Perhaps it was due to the conditions of earth, but it didn¡¯t change the facts.

    Hesitating a bit, Damien spoke once again while looking at Elena. ¡°Fine. Rose and Zara are good, but I¡¯ve never seen you fight. Spar against Rose and based on the oue we can vote on whether you cane or not.¡±

    Damien felt like he was being toomanding, but it was necessary. Whether he saw this as a serious venture or not didn¡¯t matter. To a second ss, walking into the den of 3rd sses was almost always suicide.

    p??da n?vel

    However, it would be a different story if Elena could prove that her prowess matched Damien and Rose¡¯s back when they were near the peak of 2nd ss.

    Elena nodded almost immediately. Not only would she be able to prove she wasn¡¯t a burden, but she¡¯d also get to fight Rose, which was something she¡¯d been wishing for since many weeks ago.

    Receiving her affirmation, Damien teleported the group to a more secluded area on the outskirts of the city. He didn¡¯t want to deal with his mother¡¯s wrath if they ended up destroying the backyard.

    Damien sat atop Zara in the distance while Rose and Elena faced each other within the grassy hills they were situated on. Looking at the two, Damien nodded his head.

    ¡°Start!¡±

    Elena rushed first. She pulled her sword out of the spatial ring Damien had gifted her and appeared directly in front of Rose, moving so fast she left afterimages in her wake.

    Although surprised, Rose was still able to react calmly. However, she didn¡¯t use any weapons since the strength gap was already big enough.

    She simply shaped the wind around her into a sickle shape and used it to block the oing sword.

    Swoosh!

    The impact didn¡¯t create an explosion, but the shockwave that erupted managed to raze the grass within their vicinity.

    Rose smirked at this sight. ¡°Is that all you can do?¡±

    Elena usually wouldn¡¯t fall for such light provocation, but against Rose, she always felt she couldn¡¯t control herself. She immediately resumed her offensive, continuously swinging her sword.

    She didn¡¯t stay in one ce, though. Elena¡¯s speed was insane as she almost teleported from one spot to another, circling Rose while shing with her sword.

    The sword itself was simr to a katana, but its quality wasn¡¯t the same as the weapons Damien and Rose had. Only while watching the fight did Damien realize the discrepancy. ¡®Looks like we need to get her a recement soon.¡¯

    Still, the weapon was enough for now. Elena continued to move around Rose as many afterimages started forming. Their movements became synced and it became almost impossible to tell which was the real Elena.

    Rose was definitely surprised by this move. She tried to use her wind to disrupt the images, but they didn¡¯t budge. It was almost as if they were being supported by something else.

    It was then that a change urred. The earth began rumbling as many holes were formed in its surface. Out of these holes, tens of thick tree roots shot towards Rose.

    Boom!

    Finally, an explosion was produced. Rose shot wind bullets at the roots, causing massive gashes in their surfaces before cutting them with her wind sword.

    All this while, Elena kept attacking in the forefront.

    The battle raged on for another half an hour but didn¡¯t seem like it would stop any time soon. With Elena¡¯s strategy of continuous heavy assault, any normal 2nd ss would have long since run out of stamina already. But this didn¡¯t apply to her.

    Elena¡¯s specialty was always her sustainability in battle. No matter what, she always refused to be the first one to tire out.

    At this point, Rose had decided it was enough. Elena had already proven herself capable, so she felt the battle didn¡¯t need to go on any longer. Wanting to teach Elena a little lesson, Rose made her move.

    [Illusory Throne]

    p ?? da n ?v el Along with her words, the environment was caped in darkness. Elena stopped her movement as her afterimages slowly disappeared. Instead of panicking, she warily looked at the surroundings, assessing her options.

    Figures started emerging from the darkness. Beasts, humans, and grotesquebinations between them charged at Elena. Besides this, many horrible scenes shed by her vision. Mass ughters and genocide were disyed before her eyes.

    Unwilling to sumb to this mental warfare, Elena closed her eyes and covered her body in greenish white mana. It looked simr to wind element, but everything about it other than its appearance was different.

    Elena felt a vigorous life aura seep into her body and mind, clearing anything she considered as impurity. When she reopened her eyes, she was back within the darkness.

    It wasn¡¯t that the illusions disappeared or stopped attacking her, rather Elena simply stopped seeing them. It was simr to the effects of Damien¡¯s eyes.

    Staring at the endless abyss that constituted the sky, Elena raised her arm.

    [Judgement]

    Blinding light emerged from the darkness, bathing everything in its warm glow. However contrary to the purity of its aura, the action itself was deadly. 10 massive golden swords formed in the air. Even Damien could see their light from outside the illusory throne domain.

    And then, Elena dropped her arm. The swords of light shot forward at blinding speeds, hitting their various targets. 3 swords impaled the ground, 3 impaled the ceiling, and the other 4 impacted the walls.

    Even though everything was constructed from illusions, the swords struck as if they were material objects. And then, another blinding sh urred as the swords imploded.

    A rain of light arrows showered the environment around Elena, seemingly unwilling to leave a single spot untouched.

    And slowly, cracks began forming in the illusory domain. Rose wasn¡¯t going to allow this. She summoned her throne and prepared to counter Elena, inadvertently giving up her position.

    Elena turned to her with the same attitude, ready to fight until one of them dropped. However, their battle was abruptly put to an end.

    Damien arrived in the middle of the domain and teleported them away from each other, using his vector control to prevent them from moving.

    ¡°Alright, Elena has already proven herself. You guys can continue this after we finish our missions.¡±

 Chapter 96

    The girls were visibly disappointed that their fight had been interrupted, but they didn¡¯tin. They had other priorities for now. Still, this didn¡¯t prevent them from ring daggers at each other.

    Damien decided to change the topic to defuse the tension a bit. ¡°Wow, I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d have grown so strong already. What was thatst move you did? And the one with the roots too.¡±

    Elena beamed as she proudly exined. ¡°About a year after you left, I gained a new life affinity. I didn¡¯t quite understand it, but its purpose is geared more towards healing. Still, it also epasses nature so I can do cool stuff like that.

    ¡°As for thatst move, it¡¯s a skill I created. Judgement is a light element skill and you could see its effects from the battle earlier. In the beginning, I could only form a single sword and have it strike an enemy, but now I can do more creative things like the arrow shower I used.¡±

    Damien was truly impressed. Not only was herbat prowess enough to join them on their mission, but it might also be better than Damien and Rose¡¯s ownbat prowess when they were at her level.

    They were both able to jum¨® levels within 3rd ss and fight stronger opponents, so for Elena to put up such a good fight against Rose was a true testament to her capabilities.

    ¡®Not to mention that her light element seems to be a direct counter for Rose¡¯s illusions.¡¯

    Though, Damien wouldn¡¯t mention this out loud. He didn¡¯t know what kind of bacsh he¡¯d suffer if he did.

    Zara soon joined the girls as they chatted for a few hours while recuperating their mana. Since things were already decided, there was no more need to hesitate. It was almost time to infiltrate Niflheim.

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    Damien took the time when the girls rested to think up a n. After all, at this point he was still nning on charging in head-on, even if he was doing it in a more concealed manner.

    He could easily ask Rose for he¡¯ll, since she had been the main nner in the Monolith Code event during the tournament, but Damien wanted to practice his skills in scheming a bit. It was something he¡¯d need to master in the future, so it was good to get an early start.

    ¡®Hmm, even if I want to practice, I have no guidelines to go off of. All I can think of is the fact that we need to infiltrate.¡¯

    Still, this wasn¡¯t an area Damien could excel at effortlessly as he did with more physical training. Even when it came toprehension his abilities were top tier, but for some reason, it seemed his brain wasn¡¯t geared towards long-term nning or scheming.

    ¡®I need at least a basic ability to scheme. If not to scheme myself, it will still be helpful to unravel the schemes of others.¡¯

    Damien continued to think about the n after infiltrating. He started basic, assigning the teamposition. That part was easy. He was able to act as a one-man army on the smaller scale of things, especially on earth. Thus, he only needed help with concealment.

    ¡®But I still haven¡¯t mastered my vector control. Using the light refraction technique would be a good way to practice sustainability.¡¯

    Even if he got caught, it would be light work for him to escape. He was sure there wouldn¡¯t be any formations or anything that could lock space, especially since there wasn¡¯t even an illusion formation to hide the location.

    p??da n?vel

    ¡®Then, I¡¯ll put Rose and Elena together since Elena doesn¡¯t have her own concealment methods. At least I think so.¡¯

    There was no way for him to know all of Elena¡¯s cards unless she told him, and he respected her privacy so he never asked. However, Elena had light element so she hypothetically should be able to use the same light refraction technique as him, even if it was implemented differently.

    ¡®Maybe she just hasn¡¯t thought of it?¡¯

    Either way, he decided to put the two girls on the same team. As for him and Zara, they would work mostly alone. They would still stay near each other though, so it could only technically be counted as moving solo.

    As for location, that wasn¡¯t something he could n yet. He did not know theyout or structure of the base, which would be a problem. But none of them possessed memory reading techniques so it would be hard to get a foolproof answer.

    p ?? da n ?v el ¡®I haven¡¯t tested the waters when ites to torture yet.¡¯

    This would be the easiest method for him to gain information. Plus, since the victims had virtually sold their souls for power, he didn¡¯t need to feel remorse for his actions.

    ¡®Good, let¡¯s do that. After I figure out the floor n, I¡¯ll put together a rough outline for the rest of the n.¡¯

    With that thought, Damien vanished from where he stood. The girls were startled at first, but Zara assured them that he was just doing some more preparation before they left.

    Knowing that he would be gone for a while, Rose and Elena once again fiercely red at each other.

    ¡°You¡¯re not bad for someone at your level,¡± Rose said in a slightly condescending tone.

    ¡°Yeah, and you¡¯re pretty weak for someone at yours.¡± Elena was quick with aeback.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that light was a natural counter, you wouldn¡¯t have done so well.¡±

    ¡°If you were really as good as you im to be, wouldn¡¯t a natural counter be too little to stop you?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just lucky I went easy on you!¡±

    The girls argued for hours on end. Zara got a kick out of watching this since their fight had king devolved into petty insults. Neither of them was willing to back down, but since they didn¡¯t see each other as enemies and just as rivals, they were limited on the insults they could actually use.

    When night finally fell, Damien reappeared in his previous position. The girls had already sensed the spatial fluctuations and stopped their argument.

    ¡°Alright then, here¡¯s the n.¡±

    Naturally, both Rose and Elena were dissatisfied that they had been paired up, but in the end, they said nothing. It was for the sess of the n, or at least that¡¯s what they told themselves.

    After splitting up the teams, Damien went on to the further details.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing much that needs to be said. The hideout is like a bunker that spans deep into the earth, but I don¡¯t know much else. However, the entire 3rd floor of the bunker is sealed off to all personnel, since it¡¯s where their leaders reside.¡±

    This was all the information Damien could get, even after using any torture method he was creative enough toe up with. The usage of the facilities from the 4th floor down were also outlined, but everything after the 65th floor was unknown even to the strongest of the viins he¡¯d captured.

    When Damien told this to the girls, they were able to connect the dots.

    ¡°That must be where the juicy stuff is.¡±

    ¡°Right, if we want to find anything besides run-of-the-mill viin stuff, we¡¯ll have to get into those floors.¡±

    Damien also agreed with this. He had already told them that the enemies were otherworlders rather than the viins of earth, so their opinions were formed with all information they currently had.

    ¡°Also, I learned that the security isn¡¯t that tight until you reach those deeper floors. They don¡¯t seem to have many branch locations, so there¡¯s a constant influx of viins going in and out.

    ¡°The personalities of these viins are also varied, with some of them being super entric. A lot of them are stuck in crazed delusions because they have power. As long as we aren¡¯t obvious, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem fitting in. All we need to do is figure out how to infiltrate the 65th floor.¡± Damien added.

    ¡°Well, we can each use our own methods to get past that hurdle. If we n too thoroughly, we won¡¯t be able to react with fluidity if things go south.¡± Rose exined.

    The other two also nodded. And from then on, there was no need for further talk. Damien warped them to the concealed location he had marked previously and Rose promptly put the three of them in disguise.

    Zara returned to her old spot within Damien¡¯s shadow, which had gone unused for the past many months.

    At least until they had made proper entry into the building, this type of move was necessary. Quickly, the three of them split into the predetermined teams.

    ¡°Be safe, and if you get caught, your first priorities are your lives,¡± Damien said as he looked at the two girls.

    They nodded back in affirmation before parting ways.

    Around half an hour after the girls left, Damien also made his way towards the entrance of therge dome.

    ¡®Now, Niflheim, let¡¯s see if you can show me something interesting.¡¯

 Chapter 97

    Beginning the infiltration was simple. All Damien had to do was walk into the dome-like structure as if he belonged there in the first ce. Nobody questioned him and nobody stopped him, there wasn¡¯t even any sort of identification point inside.

    Damien walked in a pompous manner as if he viewed himself as someone above everyone surrounding him, and this air alone made people avoid him. Nobody liked conversing with pretentious people.

    The area of the dome-like structure was mostly empty, with some training rooms that seemed to be there solely as cover for everything happening underneath. Scattered around the area were plenty of elevators, one of which Damien took.

    The numbers on the elevator were a quick indicator of how status worked. From 4 through 64, anyone could travel, but to go below floor 65, there was some sort of keycard identification necessary.

    Damien clicked the number 50 and quickly descended through the bunker. The entire frame of the elevator was made from ss, and only after the first 3 floors did Damien realize why.

    The darkness that enshrouded him quickly opened up as the scenery was revealed to him. It was quite a marvelous sight, reminding Damien of a movie he¡¯d watched once.

    The bunker was simr to a colosseum in that the central area was hollow and the floors were rings around it. When Damien tried to look to the bottom of the hollow area, all he saw was an abyss. Even if the entire middle section of the floors were cut, each floor wasn¡¯t small in the slightest.

    Damien could see the countless different people working within the floors, with plenty of them even resembling normal office workers.

    ¡®Not everyone in Niflheim is a viin, some of them just needed a way to make a living.¡¯

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    Being someone who¡¯d gone through many years holding a simr mindset, Damien understood them entirely. He didn¡¯t me these people for their decisions, nor did he have a desire to make them coteral damage. But if things escted to that point¡­

    ¡®People live and people die. Whether I sympathize or not doesn¡¯t change the fact that they work for a so-called viin organization. They must have been prepared to face the consequences.¡¯

    At least, this was how Damien tried to convince himself. He was simply trying to justify the actions he might take. He tended to be an overthinker, nning for situations that might never happen in the future. But knowing that didn¡¯t stop him from thinking about it.

    Damien soon reached the 50th floor. The reason he didn¡¯t descend directly to the floors in the 60s was not only to avoid suspicion but also to get a feel for the atmosphere in the bunker. As the elevator doors opened, Damien stepped out into the bustling space.

    ¡°Code 15 at Booth A!¡±

    ¡°Code 27 at Booth G!¡±

    Damien was immediately greeted with code words and phrases being thrown about. This floor was for both support and monitoring of outside activity.

    While viins tended to do what they want, there were plenty that used other methods to gain money, status, or even power. Trading was one of these ways and contribution points were another.

    p??da n?vel

    It was a system set up within Niflheim that most viins followed, and although there were plenty of material rewards to be gained through this system, there was one in particr that most people aimed for.

    [Mutation Center]

    The words were written on a holographic screen followed by various numbers for the different options one could choose from. The most expensive of these were full-body mutations, but there were less costly options to mutate only a single limb or even just the head.

    ¡®They must not have the capital to wantonly mutate everyone who wants it, so they set up this system to funnel out the useless ones.¡¯

    It was honestly a good system, and one that was used by plenty of people regardless of the worlds they came from. Damien watched on as the queue for this particr station continued to move.

    He was curious about how the mutation center worked, since the ¡®victims¡¯ of such mutation never seemed in pain nor were they unhappy, but he didn¡¯t have time to do so immediately.

    First, Damien focused on his objective. After wandering aimlessly for a while with the same pompous attitude, Damien entered the bathroom on the floor and cast his light refraction.

    He had already tested whether his spatial abilities would work when he was wandering the floor, so he knew light refraction would be easy. Damien had also taken the time to check the security set up on the floor.

    There were indeed cameras set up in various ces to monitor whether any mishaps were urring, and Damien knew where they were. Their positioning didn¡¯t leave many blind spots, so the rest of Damien¡¯s n would require a good amount of patience.

    He couldn¡¯t even open the bathroom door on his own to exit, as it would be weird to see the door randomly opening and closing on its own. He had to wait for someone else to open it before he slipped through the cracks.

    Since light refraction was anchored to his body rather than being a field-type power, he didn¡¯t need to worry about alerting people by ident.

    And Damien¡¯s opportunity came easily. Once he left the bathroom, he repeated the same process to enter the elevator and once again yed the waiting game. This time, it was much harder for him to achieve anything.

    At first, he had thought of using the Mutation Center as his method to descend, but since it was an unknown, he chose the longer yet safer method. He waited in the elevator until someone with a keycard entered as well.

    This wait took a few hours, and Damien had stopped consistently using his own mana to conceal himself.

    Since his physical presence was hidden by his earring artifact and he could hide his aura through his years of practice in the dungeon, all he needed to do was actually hide his body.

    p ?? da n ?v el And Zara was a perfect help for this. For the first time since they¡¯d met, Damien got to feel what it was like to join Zara in the shadows. She melded him into the long shadows in the elevator and the two of them simply sat together and waited.

    Hours went by, but their patience was rewarded. A woman with a badge entered the elevator. Except, instead of going to the 65th floor, she went directly down to floor 90. Considering the fact that there were only 100 floors the elevator could ess, she must¡¯ve been someone with high status.

    ¡®I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s a good thing or a bad thing that I¡¯m starting on the 90th floor, so let¡¯s just hope for the best.¡¯

    ***

    Meanwhile, Rose and Elena didn¡¯t have to y such an absurd waiting game to gain ess to the lowest floors.

    When they entered the bunker, they did it in a simr way as Damien, giving off unapproachable airs as they entered the elevator. They went directly down to the 64th floor from there, not wanting to dy in the slightest.

    Exiting the elevator, the two girls calmly walked up to the security gate blocking entry before a card appeared in Rose¡¯s hand. Swiping the card gained her instant ess to the floor.

    The card waspletely made of illusions, yet it seemed to exist on the physical ne. Through the knowledge she gained from the legacy tomb rewards, Rose was able to create solid constructs like this card.

    Even though the size was still limited to such a small scale, the insinuations of such an ability preached of limitless potential in the future.

    As for the design of the card, Elena had taken care of that. She had used her life magic to lock onto the life aura of a man they had entered the elevator with, manipting his body into pulling out his own identity card.

    They had gotten lucky enough to meet a researcher on entry.

    As for how Elena was able to do such a thing with life magic, even Rose was curious, but it wasn¡¯t the time to ask. She could seek answers once everything was over.

    Rose used the information Elena had pulled to replicate the card, allowing them easy ess to the lower floors.

    Considering how constantly the two girls fought, it was surprising how well they worked as a team when they got serious.

    Passing the bolted doors that had once prohibited their entry, the first thing that greeted the girls was rows of researchers inb coats.

    Each of them was hunched over their own workstations, focusing on nothing but the projects in front of them. Even while ncing at what they were doing, Rose and Elena kept their indifferent facades.

    But on the inside, they were genuinely disgusted. After all, it wasn¡¯t hard to figure out what the material these researchers were using was.

    Even if it was in small amounts, the aura of a human couldn¡¯t be mistaken.

    Even if it came from deformed lumps or pieces of skin on metal trays.

 Chapter 98

    What were the qualities that described a human?

    Some would argue that it was their nature while some would take a biological standpoint. Though there were many different ways people ssified humanity and humans, none of them would fit the scenes in front of Rose and Elena.

    p ?? da n ?v el Yet, it was undeniable that the materials used by the researchers were from humans.

    Elena¡¯s voice suddenly rang through Rose¡¯s head. ¡®Don¡¯t panic, this is a technique I learned using mana. Anyway, whatever those things that are giving off human aura truly are, some of them are giving off even more prevalent life aura.¡¯

    Rose¡¯s body slightly shook at this revtion. Whether they were human or not became less important with this information. After all, wasn¡¯t Elena telling her that some of these things were alive?

    Rose wanted to figure out how the lumps of flesh she was seeing could be alive, but it wasn¡¯t the right choice. She knew that they would find more answers if they continued traveling.

    While they walked through the halls, Rose taught herself to use the same technique Elena just did. It wasn¡¯t that hard, since it purely relied on mana. She simply created a thread of mana and shot it into Elena¡¯s head, using it to project her thoughts.

    She didn¡¯t know how this kind of method was undiscovered on Apeiron. Then again, it might be known but she just wasn¡¯t taught to use it. In the end, all that mattered was that she had learned it now.

    ¡®I think we should descend to the next floor rather than continue on this one. Judging by what¡¯s happening over there, that¡¯s where the supply of these thingses from.¡¯ Rose transmitted as she signaled towards a certain area of the hall.

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    When Elena looked over, she saw a tube-like object that was constantly producing these balls of flesh. Its source seemed to be further down in the bunker.

    Nodding toward Rose to show her affirmation, Elena began walking in the direction of the staircase she saw in the distance. Rose soon followed suit.

    The staircase was barely lit, causing the eeriness the two already felt from the previous scenes to multiply. However, it was nothingpared to what they felt when they reached the next floor.

    Rather than rows on rows of researchers, what filled this floor wererge ss tubes. Rose could only infer their function based on her surroundings, but Elena knew exactly what was going on. The only problem was, she never expected to see such a scene in real life.

    Each and every tube out of the hundreds that spanned the hall was filled with clear liquid, and within that liquid were living beings, seemingly in deep slumber.

    Not all of these beings were human, but most of them were. Yet, even the humans could barely be considered as such anymore.

    The deformities that besieged them ranged from smaller things like extra fingers or strange protrusions that jutted from their bodies to more gruesome things like two conjoined heads or extra arms that seemed to have been transnted onto them rather than natural.

    Only one trait was shared between every being in the tubes. Each and every one of them had thick ck lines running through their body like veins. Some of them were more prominent on the outside, resembling tattoos.

    p??da n?vel

    It was honestly disgusting. Each of these beings was rigged with countless different wires and machines monitoring their vitals and other biological data, and periodically, small razors emerged within the tubes to slice off parts of their bodies.

    No blood was spilled, and the cut parts were regenerated immediately. Not even a spike was seen in the heart rates of these beings as they were mutted. Either their minds were already lost, or they had be numb to pain due to all the torture.

    Neither Rose nor Elena wanted to find out. Even if this was the source of the matter being experimented with on the 65th floor, they didn¡¯t care. They wanted to move on. But both of them knew that if they continued, they¡¯d only find more gruesome scenes.

    Still, they steeled their hearts and descended to the next floor. But it was just the same as the one before it. Hundreds of beings in ss tubes that stood stationary as they were mutted and rebuilt.

    The girls ignored these scenes and continued down until they reached the 75th floor. And indeed, what they found was much worse than the previous floors.

    Rather than the finished products of the experiments, they found researchers in the process of creating them.

    ¡°Subject 1258 is primed for dosage,¡± one of the researchers said.

    ¡°Affirmative. Rolling video log to monitor changes.¡±

    Unlike the ones on the 65th floor, the researchers here were decked in full hazmat suits. Currently, the girls were only focusing on a single group, but there were countless others like them within the floor.

    This group surrounded a man who was naked and strapped to a metal table. His mouth was covered, but the terror in his eyes was clear as day.

    Rose and Elena watched as the leader of this particr group took syringes full of murky ck liquid and injected them into the subject¡¯s body.

    As the liquid entered his body, the man froze up. His eyes rolled back until only the whites were visible as his whole body jerked in ce.

    And then, it was mayhem.

    The man suddenly began thrashing around violently, ignoring the chains that strapped him down. The mechanisms that secured his head and blocked his mouth were destroyed, and the man¡¯s screams resounded through the area.

    ¡°AHHHHHHH¡±

    ck veins began forming on the man¡¯s chest before spreading through the rest of his body. When they reached his throat, even the man¡¯s voice was destroyed. The veins pulsated as they grew in number, soon covering his entire body. And then, an even more horrifying scene yed out.

    A giant hole appeared in the man¡¯s thigh as blood sprayed out like a fountain, showering the researchers in crimson. However, the blood rain didn¡¯tst long.

    Like thousands of worms crawling in his body, the man¡¯s skin wriggled around and began extending. Following this was the formation of new muscles and bones.

    It wasn¡¯t just his thighs. Where the man¡¯s heart should have been, another massive hole opened. One could even see the cold metal of the table from underneath this hole. An arm began forming, turning into two before the holepletely closed.

    The man¡¯s eyes had already lost the light of sanity, and it was clear he couldn¡¯t think. Like a crazed beast, he ground his teeth and growled at anything that got near him. The ck veins on his body became more pronounced, carving themselves into the very being of his existence.

    At that point, the lead researcher hit a button. A formless gas flooded the area, slowly putting the man into a forceda.

    ¡°Another failure. Put him with the rest to be studied by the ones above.¡±

    One of the researchers nodded and followed these instructions. The man was put into a simr ss tube to the ones the girls had witnessed previously and handed off to another member. It was clear where he was headed.

    The girls could only look at each other with shock evident in their eyes.

    ¡®What did we just witness?¡¯

    Elena was more shaken of the two. While Rose had seen the graphic depictions in the temple walls that showed the maniacal behavior of people and had also witnessed torture herself, Elena hadn¡¯t been exposed to this kind of thing in the slightest.

    Actually, it might be one of the first murders she¡¯d witnessed. She didn¡¯t count beasts, as she always saw them as a tool to gain experience, but it was different when it was humans. After all, this was her own species. She couldn¡¯t ovee the trauma so easily.

    Still, Elena tried her best to ignore the disgust and fear she was feeling. This wouldn¡¯t be thest time she saw harrowing scenes, and she knew she¡¯d have to kill humans at some point. On top of all this, it would jeopardize their current mission if she freaked out.

    Elena could only promise herself that she¡¯d destroy the organization conducting such terrible experiments with her own hands. It was the only method she had to quell her fear.

    ¡®I¡¯m getting a bad feeling about this,¡¯ transmitted Rose. ¡®That ck substance¡­the way it moves is eerily simr to the Nox being me and Damien met previously.¡¯

    She couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that there was some sort of massive plot behind these actions. Especially seeing how Niflheim was mutating viins and how the Nox mutated their followers from other races.

    Rose shook her head. ¡®For now, we just observe. We can think of a way to deal with this and also figure out more about what¡¯s happening when we meet up with Damien.¡¯

    While the girls were recovering from the brutal scene they¡¯d just witnessed, Damien was feeling something entirely different.

    Even with the trepidation that he felt from the very core of his being, Damien couldn¡¯t help but feel it.

    Awe.

    He could only describe the massive structure in front of him as awe-inspiring.

 Chapter 99

    When the elevator stopped on the 90th floor, Zara seamlessly attached her shadow to the researchers so they could enter the facility uninhibited.

    Zara¡¯s shadow worked simrly to a subspace in that it could both hold living beings and was concealed from most people¡¯s perception. This subspace used shadows as a base and like such couldtch to shadows and be carried by them.

    In such a dimly lit area like the underground bunker, Zara¡¯s ability was extremely useful.

    And so, Damien and Zara were carried by the researcher as she walked through the facility. Simr to the 60th floor, there were hundreds of different researchers at their workstations handling separate matters. The difference was the subject of experimentation.

    The 90th floor was much more technologically advanced, with holographic screens prevalent throughout its area that showcased manyrge numbers that Damien couldn¡¯t even hope to understand. Besides these, there were many machines he had never seen before, most likely not originating from earth.

    Damien was surprised by the sheer number of people that were working in this area and assuming that there were simr numbers on the 25 floors above it, it was truly obscene. But at the same time, not all these people had to be from earth.

    And even if they were all from earth, a poption of several billion still had the capability to support such arge group.

    Shaking off any useless thoughts, Damien continued to watch the proceedings around him as the researcher he was following met up with a few others.

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    ¡°Lynn, how is the progress on the extraction mission?¡± One of them asked the woman.

    ¡°It¡¯s proceeding as expected, however, we are still unable to find the source of the recently established connection. Its nature is too ethereal for us to study using the equipment provided for this lower world. Not to mention, the core itself rejects our presence.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been long theorized that the core of a world has the capability to gain sentience and form a will, but there¡¯s been no proof. Even if we fail our original goal, if we can prove the existence of a world¡¯s sentience, it would be amon-sense shattering discovery.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s already proven that nt life forms can gain sentience with prolonged absorption of mana. The carnivorous ones can even utilize the Records to level up. There have been a few cases on our own world where nt life-forms gained humanoid form after gaining enough power.¡±

    The researchers began discussing in a fervor. Whether it was their original task or not, they didn¡¯t care. They moved in the pursuit of science and truth, and any discovery that corrted with this would earn their blind devotion until they had solved its mysteries.

    But it didn¡¯t take long for them to be forced back to reality. Lynn, the researcher who Damien had been following, spoke up.

    ¡°Silence. Regardless of what we want to study, it isn¡¯t our choice this time. If we don¡¯tplete the mission that the higher-ups have given us, you know the consequences. Don¡¯t get toofortable with the atmosphere here. Niflheim is not a forgiving world, and even your families will suffer if you make a mistake.¡±

    p??da n?vel

    At the mention of family, a gloomy atmosphere descended on the researchers. It was true that none of them wanted to do what they were being tasked to. None of them were inhumane to the point where the loss of billions of lives wouldn¡¯t weigh on their shoulders.

    Still, for the sake of their love of science, well-being, and most importantly the well-being of those they cared for, they forged on.

    p ?? da n ?v el The group of scientists moved together as they passed the less important researchers that surrounded them and entered a structure that constituted the center of the floor. Unlike the abyss of the normal floors, there was no hole in the center of this one.

    Instead, it was another facility that was even more heavily guarded than the ones on the 65th floor. Damien watched from the shadows as the scientists went through 5 different bolted doors of varying density and performed tests to prove their identity.

    At the most basicyer, there was a retina scan and fingerprint scan, but as they progressed, things got moreplicated. Aside from a separate keycard needed for entry, they also went through an area that tested their mana signature, blood, and many more facets that made up one¡¯s identity.

    It was truly rigorous, and there was even a test to see if any foreign mana lingered on the scientists¡¯ bodies.

    Damien was slightly stressed during this one, as Zara¡¯s shadow was qualified as foreign mana, but they passed without a problem. It seemed the equipment here was meant to deal with a lower world, so none of it exceeded S rank in quality. Zara¡¯s concealment wouldn¡¯t be ousted by a mere S rank artifact.

    Once they entered the facility, Damien was greeted by pristine white walls and tens of researchers in hazmat suits. Compared to the outside, the amount in here was minuscule.

    Each of them was in front of a holographic screen as they tested numerous equations, trying to find the correct path toplete their tasks.

    Lynn ignored all of this and went to the center of the room, where arge circr tform was located. Stepping on this tform with her colleagues, she was promptly teleported to the very bottom of the bunker.

    Here, there were no signs of civilization nor were there other researchers. The only ones allowed ess to this area were the big bosses of the organization and this group of 5 researchers.

    It was a massive cavern filled with gnawing darkness. Not even a singlemp or even torch was used to light up the area. Still, the scientists paid this no mind and continued walking in a straight line.

    As they walked, Damien began to see a blueish glow emerge from the distance. At first, it was simply enough to illuminate the shadows within the cavern, but as they drew closer, the light became blinding.

    The scientists were already prepared for this and had the appropriate equipment to circumvent the problem, but Damien wasn¡¯t. The blinding light corroded any shadow present in the vicinity, forcing him and Zara out of their concealment.

    Luckily, the scientists were upied and the two made no noise. Damien was able to cast light refraction before any changes were noticed. And due to his earring artifact, no trace of his presence was left in the area.

    Still, something reacted to him. The source of the blinding light slightly thumped as if acknowledging his presence, but it was so slight that it went unnoticed by everyone in the area.

    The scientists continued to walk towards the bright light, and the entire cavern was filled with a wondrous blue color. When Damien followed them, he felt a sensation like none other. It was mystical and enchanting, yet grounded in reality.

    A sudden memory shed into his head. A river filled with starlight of a simr color. Even if its properties were entirely different, the image of the river wouldn¡¯t leave his head.

    Damien was forced to crouch down due to pain and clutch his head. Something within him was forcing that memory to ay dormant, trying to force him into forgetting it.

    When the memory resurged, whatever that thing was caused immense waves of pain to crash through his head until he stopped attempting to recall it.

    Damien truly wanted to know what it was that he saw and why it was so dangerous to remember it, but now wasn¡¯t the time.

    He caught back up to the scientists, who had reached the source of the glow. It was a massive empty space that looked simr to a quarry, but there was nothing inside.

    Well, almost nothing.

    In the middle of the empty space, floating with no support, was a huge ball of blue light. The ball was at least the size of the moon as a whole, maybe evenrger. Especially with its expansive diameter, it genuinely looked like a celestial body.

    Damien stared at this massive ball of light. He felt like if he really tried, he could reach out and touch it, but another part of him felt that he¡¯d be immediately incinerated if he did so.

    The strangest part was that the huge object didn¡¯t give off any aura or waves of power, even though the entire area around it was filled with that same mystical sensation Damien felt earlier. He was enthralled by the sight.

    ¡°The core of this small world called earth. It¡¯s a marvelous scene no matter how many times I see it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s confusing how a world recently introduced to mana could have such a magnificent core.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, the universe is filled with countless wonders. It¡¯s a shame that we are forced to rob one of them of its majesty.¡±

    ¡°Still, it must be done.¡±

    ¡°Commence trial 127 for project title: Core Extraction.¡±

 Chapter 100

    p ?? da n ?v el

    Rose and Elena finally made it past the experiment areas onto the 80th floor. The things they saw on the past 5 floors were so harrowing that the two were forced to take a break and collect themselves.

    Regardless of any torture Rose had witnessed or any brutality either of the girls hadmitted, the happenings in those experiments were truly enough to induce their gag reflex. The struggle to fight the urge to vomit was intense.

    Concealed by illusions, the two sat in an inconspicuous corner of the staircase to the 80th floor and rested. Currently, they were conversing via mental transmission.

    ¡®So, how are you doing? Are you sure you can continue?¡¯ Rose asked worriedly. Any teasing or mischievous attitude she held previously was entirely gone.

    ¡®I-I¡¯ll be fine.¡¯ Elena responded, though her voice was weak and shaking. Her entire body was shivering asionally as she recalled what she had witnessed.

    ¡®What kind of terrible people do you have to be to do such a thing? And why would they even do it in the first ce? I just don¡¯t understand¡­¡¯

    Rose sighed. Although she had an inkling of what the injections they saw were, it didn¡¯t make anything better. ¡®This is a scheme we won¡¯t be able to see through yet. Think about it, earth is such a small world. There¡¯s no way that this is the only where they¡¯re doing such inhumane things.¡¯

    Elena shivered even more. She was imagining how throughout the expansive universe countless beings were going through that excruciating pain with none being the wiser. Just the thought made her entire being dete.

    Elena, at the end of the day, was someone who wielded both the life and light elements. Her affinity was holy and pure, striving toward peace. Even if she was a frontliner, these characteristics still reflected on her.

    ?? ? ?? n ? ???

    It wasn¡¯t an odd thing in the slightest for one to be influenced by the affinities they were born with. They were intrinsically linked to the very core of one¡¯s being, so it was normal for them to influence one¡¯s character.

    As proof of this, Damien was always acting mysteriously, seeking to explore the vastness of the universe. He wanted everything to be within the palm of his hand.

    Not because he had some sort of ambition to rule, but rather it was simply a desire he had for no purpose. At most, it could be said to be a product of his overthinking and his wanting there to be no situation he couldn¡¯t react to.

    Zara was cute and innocent personality-wise, but she always remained with Damien. Her main goal in life was to be his shadow and to travel with him as one. Maybe it was because of the dependence she developed for him, but it was still partly influenced by her element.

    Not to mention her behavior towards outsiders. If anyone she didn¡¯t allow attempted to touch her, they¡¯d most likely lose an arm. She was cold as ice to those she didn¡¯t trust.

    And finally, there was Rose. Rose had grown up in an imperial household and always had the desire to be free. This stemmed from her life spent without leaving the castle, and it was empowered by her wind affinity.

    Not to mention, she was extremely mischievous. The way she liked to tease Elena simply because she saw her as a love rival, it was clear where the influence came from.

    Most of the time, the inherent parts of their personalities were amplified by their affinities, and sometimes there were only subtle clues to indicate them. Elena was always the caring type, it was just that this side of her was always reserved for Damien.

    p??da n?vel

    Just like how she had spent high school trying to brighten his days because she couldn¡¯t help with his bullying, and just like how she consistently took care of his mother after he fell, even if almost every part of her called herself crazy for clinging to hope.

    Even if Damien had truly died, Elena would have stayed taking care of his mother as long as she could, and she¡¯d have held onto her hope that he would return as long as she possibly could.

    She was truly kind-hearted at the end of the day, and even if she could ignore how ruthless Damien got because of his circumstances, she couldn¡¯t ignore the suffering of innocents. It made her sick to her stomach and it made her question what she was even fighting for.

    ¡®This is why we need strength.¡¯ Rose¡¯s voice sounded in her head. ¡®With absolute strength, nobody would dare slight you. With absolute strength, your will can be enforced by the many, and with absolute strength, nothing will stand in your way.¡¯

    Elena looked up into Rose¡¯s goldish ruby eyes.

    ¡®So continue to get stronger. Until nobody can act in a way you see as wrong again. Get strong to the point where you can enact your justice as you please.¡¯

    Elena¡¯s eyes began to tear up. It was unexpected that this advice woulde from Rose, but it was exactly what she needed to hear. Embracing Rose tightly, Elena silently cried until she couldn¡¯t cry anymore.

    And when she had sessfully vented her emotions and steeled her will to move forward, the duo entered the 80th floor.

    ***

    ¡°Commence trial 131 for project title: Core Extraction.¡±

    Many different machines had descended into the spacious cavern as the scientists continued their trials. At this point, it had already been close to a day since they started.

    Damien watched from the shadows as giant drills attempted to pierce earth¡¯s core as he gritted his teeth. To him, this issue became much more serious over the past day.

    As the scientists became more brutal and forceful in their experiments, Damien began to feel something through the ethereal connection he had to earth.

    In the first ce, this connection had always been more powerful than the rest. And the fact that he was directly next to the core only made it stronger.

    Within Damien¡¯s head, he could swear he heard screaming. It was a cry of pain from a child-like voice. And because their connection was intimate, he could tell that the voice was earth¡¯s.

    He had heard when the scientists talked about the theory of worlds gaining sentience, but he hadn¡¯t paid much attention to it. He had thought of it as the crazed ramblings of mad scientists. But now, he was having a hard time disregarding it.

    Even if the voice he could hear was mostly incoherent, even if it couldn¡¯t form a single true thought, its pain was still transmitted to him. Something was reaching out to him from the other side of his connection.

    When Damien allowed this attempt through, he immediately felt pain wracking his entire body. The location of the pain was eerily simr to the positioning of the drills attempting to pierce the core. It was impossible to deny it anymore, the earth itself was asking for his help.

    Damien bit his tongue until he drew blood. He had to wait patiently or he would lose any opportunity he would possibly have to stop things.

    He honestly didn¡¯t have a single idea of how to even begin. How was he supposed to stop such a massive operation without revealing himself, and even if he did reveal himself, what would he do afterward?

    There were still at least 3 3rd ss beings within this bunker, and he felt it was imperative to not alert them to his presence.

    As Damien pondered, another signal was sent from the other side of his connection. Rather than something like sharing pain, this time he felt that it was a message. Allowing the request to proceed, Damien¡¯s mind was flooded by thoughts.

    None of them were coherent, but the sheer power of the jumbled mess of thoughts was enough to almost cause his brain to cease functioning. Damien was forced to cut the connection to save himself.

    ¡®As expected of the itself. Even if it doesn¡¯t have any viable means to use its power, the sheer scale of the power it holds is immense.¡¯

    Even if it couldn¡¯t consciously mobilize mana, it still had enough mana to supply its entire body, which was earth itself. The consciousness of this being was vast even if it had only recently gained sentience.

    He wondered ifs could even gain strength, or if they could be humanoid, but that didn¡¯t matter.

    Once he was able to think properly, he was able to figure out the earth¡¯s intentions. ¡®It wants me to¡­bind it?¡¯

    Damien understood the concept, as he had seen it happen in many pieces of fictional literature, but he didn¡¯t expect it to happen in real life.

    ¡®It wants me to be a star master? Or¡­no, perhaps this is what it means to be a celestial.¡¯

    The title of celestial was overbearing, even if it only connected him to the stars. Until this point, Damien never found a way to truly advance his understanding of this ss.

    That is, until today.

    The only method Damien knew was the contract he had used with Zara, but that wouldn¡¯t work on a being without blood like the earth.

    ¡®Or perhaps?¡¯

    Damien poured every bit of mana he had stored within his body into his connection with earth, feeding it to the core. And in response, the core did the same.

    When the two different types of magic power connected¡­

    Swoosh!

 Chapter 101 - Core [3]

    Any thoughts Damien had were blown away and his mind became clear. The rity he felt was exhratingly pleasurable.

    He watched as the two unique types of magic power fused into one before infusing into the link that connected them. As more and more mana entered the link, it slowly solidified.

    Although the connection was still ethereal in its nature, Damien had the feeling that no matter where he went in the universe, no matter how far he went from earth, he¡¯d always be able to feel this connection.

    It wasn¡¯t just a link anymore, it was more apt to call it a bond.

    Damien was so caught up in the sensation that he didn¡¯t even notice that his concealment had been blown away. He was standing in in view of the scientists, who panicked about his presence.

    ¡°Who is he and how did he get here?!¡±

    ¡°Someone call backup!¡±

    Meanwhile Lynn looked at Damien with interest. ¡®They might have missed it, but I saw that burst of magic power. He must be the source of the connection.¡¯

    Lynn thought for a minute about what to do, before a sly smile crept onto her face.

    ¡°Everyone! Run away! He¡¯s trying to destroy the bunker!¡±

    After her words registered in everyone¡¯s heads, the scientists immediately bolted for the exit. They no longer cared about the experiment nor did they care to alert anyone. They just wanted to preserve their lives.

    Looking back at Damien onest time, a strange glint appeared in Lynn¡¯s eyes. And then, without another word, she left as well.

    At this time, Damien was still basking in the sensation of this new connection. He felt he could exert his will on this with ease and things would get aplished. The scale was unknown, but he felt that he could even create natural disasters if he so felt like it.

    [Congrattions. You have be a Star Master. You have taken the first step towards truly bing a Celestial.]

    [A Celestial cannot be titled as such if they simply gained a connection to celestial bodies. They receive this title due to their ability to bind and be the master of these celestial bodies. Each and every Celestial walks a path towards domination. Your legends have been enhanced.]

    Damien read through the system window with wide eyes. He knew that it would be important when he bound the earth, but he didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be anything this major. From the simple act of binding the world, he felt that his mana capacity had drastically increased.

    He wasn¡¯t aware of what other benefits he received, but that was something he¡¯d need to find out in the future. He was just a fledgling Celestial and the earth was just a fledgling world.

    In the first ce, the reason the earth¡¯s will requested to be bound was out of sheer instinct. As a world¡¯s will, the most important thing to it was survival. And something attracted it to Damien, telling it that he was the key.

    Damien also knew that he wouldn¡¯t get answers from the world¡¯s will, so he figured he needed to try something else.

    ¡®Would Apeiron¡¯s will ept this? And is it old enough to have proper sentience?¡¯

    Even if it wasn¡¯t, Damien wouldn¡¯t fret. There were countless worlds in the universe waiting for him to conquer them.

    ¡®I don¡¯t even want to be an emperor though. That¡¯s way too much responsibility. But since I have to conquer worlds anyway, can¡¯t I just leave all the political stuff to the people in those worlds who already know the political stuff?¡¯

    He liked that idea. What was the point in recing the emperors that already ruled those worlds? Damien had no interest in upsetting the power bnce due to his pursuit of power.

    Damien tried to summon his magic power, only to realize that he had used it all to bind the earth. However, this wasn¡¯t a problem. Now that he had be the star master of earth, he felt there were certain perks he could use.

    Raising hit hand, Damien made a cutting motion through the air. And following that motion, the atmospheric mana became a massive de and destroyed the equipment that was drilling into the earths core.

    He didn¡¯t even need his own mana reserves while he was on earth.

    ¡®Is this what it feels like to have infinite mana?¡¯

    But he quickly shook off this thought. His mana was nowhere near infinite, nor was it immeasurably vast. The privileges he had on earth would stay on earth, so he couldn¡¯t get too conceited. Not to mention, the earth still needed to grow.

    He couldn¡¯t go wantonly using its mana as if it would immediately regenerate it. A world¡¯s mana capacity might be leagues higher than any other existence, but since earth was still in its early stages of development, he needed to be more careful.

    Especially because those old fogeys from the Cloud ne were going to be stealing some of the atmospheric mana.

    At this time, another change began to ur. Within Damien¡¯s body, his mana heart began to thump wildly.

    Ba-dum! Ba-dum!

    Damien clutched his chest. Everyst bit of the mana surrounding him was absorbed into his body as if by a starving beast. And this mana was directly from the world core, containing the mystical properties Damien had sensed previously.

    He had a gut feeling that this mana wasn¡¯t supposed to be used by humans, lest they kill themselves.

    But his body wouldn¡¯t listen to him. The mana kept rushing towards him as if it had been waiting for this moment. The usually formless energy took shape and drilled into his mana circuits, injecting itself into his bloodstream.

    ¡°AGH!¡±

    Damien let out a strange grunt as he tried to hold himself back from screaming. The mana raged through his body like a wild beast, attempting to destroy him, but also rebuild him.

    And then, something that hadn¡¯t happened in ages happened once more. Damien¡¯s void physique acted, sucking in everyst bit of the mana within Damien¡¯s body.

    Damien heard an audible crunching sound from within his body that continued for a minute before the mana re-emerged. Rather than the gaseous energy or the solidified pieces the mana became earlier, it was now a stream of liquid.

    This liquid poured into Damien¡¯s mana heart before revolving through the circuits he had created. It was almost like he gained a second type of amethyst colored blood.

    Damien didn¡¯t know exactly what this meant, but when he summoned his raw magic power, it felt denser and heavier. He felt that the destruction he could cause with a simple mana infused punch was much greater than what it was before.

    [Your Mana Circuits have evolved.]

    A single line of text appeared in his line of sight. It was then that Damien finally remembered his specific goal when creating his mana circuits.

    ¡®They evolve when I evolve. It¡¯s a system I¡¯ll never need to rece.¡¯

    The evolving mana circuits he¡¯d created had even be a trait acknowledged by the system. It was just that since it didn¡¯t have any active uses, he had nearly forgotten about it. If he took this into consideration, it made sense for something like this to happen.

    The evolution of his mana circuits did indeed increase his power. It wasn¡¯t a boost, but more of a fundamental change. The density and purity of mana running through one¡¯s body had a direct corrtion to the damage output one could produce.

    Shaking off his thoughts, Damien used his power as a star master to locate Rose and Elena. They were currently on the 90th floor, pretty close to reaching him.

    ¡®I don¡¯t know if themotion I caused has alerted those 3rd sses yet. I guess I should summon those old men so we can properly destroy this ce.¡¯

    Damien directly teleported outside of the Niflheim headquarters and summoned Rose and Elena before also summoning the old men from the Cloud ne.

    This kind of teleportation wasn¡¯t too taxing for the world core, and Damien could even use his own magic power to perform it. He simply used the world core as a medium to expand his range to cover the area he needed.

    All 5 of those who were summoned wore confused expressions on their faces, but Damien didn¡¯t give them time to think.

    Even though the immediate threat to the world core had been removed, the entire thing wouldn¡¯t end until Niflheim was destroyed.

    Xiao Zhen was currently in an extremely wary state. He felt the spatial fluctuations surround him, but he was unable to resist them. He didn¡¯t know how it was possible, but he didn¡¯t like what it insinuated.

    The other two old men were the same. It was only when Damien¡¯s voice rung out that they were snapped back to reality.

    ¡°Alright, since everyone¡¯s here, let¡¯s talk about Niflheim. First, we¡¯ll discuss what we found inside, and then we can start the important part of the n. It¡¯s time to destroy this annoying pest of an organization.¡±

 Chapter 102 - Destruction [1]

    It didn¡¯t take long for the others to get swept up in Damien¡¯s momentum. His current attitudebined with the mysterious ability he had used to gather them was enough to lead the flow of conversation.

    Damien started first, describing the scenes of the 90th floor as well as the topics he heard the researchers discussing. He also mentioned their ns for the world core but left out information on its location and his newfound bond to it.

    Even if he had established that the old men from the Cloud ne were allies, it didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d ce his full trust in them. He¡¯d wait untilter to exin these things to hispanions.

    But theck of crucial information didn¡¯t make his discoveries any less shocking. To the girls, it was the sheer scale of the n and the madness of it all, but to the old men, it was something more.

    These were the enemies they were facing on their own as well, and seeing the depths of their schemes left a sense of foreboding within them.

    After Damien, the girls also shared their findings. Even though they had stayed within the bunker for the same amount of time, they had seen much more. It couldn¡¯t be helped since they descended almost 30 floors while Damien went directly to floor 90.

    They spoke about the lumps of flesh they saw being researched, the tubes filled with deformed beings, and the experiments that turned these beings into abominations.

    After that, they spoke about the 80th floor down to the 90th, which functioned as a prison area for those who would eventually be test subjects.

    Damien could sense how ufortable the girls were with what they witnessed, so he moved to cut them off, but he also noticed Rose hesitating as if she wanted to add something. He lightly grabbed her hand, hoping to give her some small form of assurance.

    Rose looked at him gratefully before opening her mouth to speak. ¡°Those syringes filled with that mysterious substance¡­it looked awfully simr to the body of the Nox.¡±

    A solemn atmosphere descended. Not only was Damien serious, but also the old men. The Nox was amon enemy that all of them had, they very well may be themon enemy of many worlds.

    Damien already had an inkling that the Nox would be involved, but even this slight confirmation was still incredibly serious.

    ¡°Looks like we need to move as soon as possible.¡±

    He looked at the 3 old men before continuing. ¡°I hope you three can help us fight against the three from Niflheim.¡±

    Xiao Zhen nodded, and with his approval, the other two didn¡¯t disagree.

    ¡°Alright, we don¡¯t need to destroy every single one of those viins in there, since that¡¯d be overkill. As long as we kill the 3rd sses, the rest is light work. After their deaths, I¡¯ll destroy the facility.¡±

    Everyone nodded once more. To be honest, this was enough nning. The fight may have been dyed a bit, but it was their inevitable victory.

    Without another word, all 7 of them, including Zara, released their full auras.

    Within the 3rd floor of the Niflheim bunker, Haldir and the other two were alerted by the sudden influx of aura from the peripherals of their base. Gathering, the three looked at each other solemnly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. The three of them don¡¯t have a chance against us anyway, and nothing can be allowed to stand in the way of our ns. Let¡¯s eradicate them before we finish this world.¡±

    The other two nodded before they all left the base, arriving before Damien¡¯s group.

    Looking at the new yers arriving, Damien¡¯s first feeling was disgust. Rather than the manly forms they showed outwardly, Damien was seeing their true bodies.

    They were grotesque ck goblin-like creatures with bat-like wings. Their pointy noses and beady eyes filled with greedy resolve served to send a chill down the back of anyone they made contact with. These were the dark imp race of Niflheim.

    Without any words, Damien drew his sword and charged.

    ¡®Void Sword Art First Step: deless¡¯

    The air was cut in two as a massive crack formed in earth¡¯s atmosphere, gushing with the deathly aura of the void.

    The three dark imps were forced to dodge hurriedly to avoid being cut. Damien charged directly for the one on the right, who went by the name of Isaiah.

    While the two began their battle, simr scenes took ce in the different areas of therge marshynd.

    Elena and Rose charged together towards the other weaker one named Weiss while the three old men from the Cloud ne ganged up on the leader.

    There was a reason for this. Although they weren¡¯t aware of it before, they were now. This man named Haldir was at the peak of 3rd ss. Even if they were powerful, none of them could take him individually.

    The three old men directly surrounded the dark imp and decided to hold nothing back. They had no desire to lose their lives in this battle.

    ¡°Sacred Eye Formation!¡±

    Lines of mana erupted and connected the three old men, forming a closed triangle around Haldir. However, the dark imp simply watched everything with a calm gaze. From within the triangr formation, tens of attacks wereunched. Wind from two sides, and mes from the other. The elementsbined into a massive fire tornado that threatened to swallow Haldir whole. Yet, he didn¡¯t move. Opening his mouth, he let out a guttural screech like a beast.

    ¡°KREEE!¡±

    The wind was sted apart and the me tornado was put in a disordered state. Haldir¡¯s fingers elongated into ws as he began his assault on his opponents.

    The other two battles were much more favorable to Damien¡¯s side. He and Zara worked together to easily overpower Isaiah, while Rose and Elena somehow had great teamwork that did the same with Weiss.

    The two dark imps were already on their final leg. From across the battlefield, the two locked eyes. It was clear that they had the same thoughts.

    ¡®We can¡¯t let anything get in the way of our mission!¡¯

    Simultaneously, the imps distanced themselves from their enemies. Before either team could catch up, they put their sharp ws up to their chests and ripped massive gashes in their skin.

    ¡°I offer my body as sacrifice to the Venerable One!¡±

    ¡°I offer my body as sacrifice to the Venerable One!¡±

    They said one after another. Immediately, ck beams of light left their bodies, encasing them in massive cocoons.

    *Crack!*

    It didn¡¯t take long for them to emerge. However, they were no longer the same as the ones who entered. Their previously 1-meter tall bodies had doubled in size and their eyes were hollow. If before they still attempted to maintain their human appearance, that was no longer the case.

    Their grotesque forms were in to see, but they had be much worse. The inky traits of the Nox were prevalent in their bodies now, and it didn¡¯t seem like they possessed conscious thought.

    Damien charged once more, hoping it was just a physical change, but how could that be the case. As he relentlessly shed and stabbed at the new Isaiah, he found that his body was eerily simr to the Nox they had met before. No matter how much he cut, the injuries would be ink and reattach to his body.

    But Damien wasn¡¯t the same as he was in the temple, and he also had the empowerment of the earth. Raising his arm, he spoke a single word.

    ¡°Incinerate.¡±

    A beam of light fell from the sky like a shooting star and pierced Isaiah¡¯s body. The dark imp roared with pride as if something like this couldn¡¯t hurt it, but that was just hubris. The second the beam made contact, the imp¡¯s entire body was turned to ash.

    ncing at the aftermath for a second, Damien turned to watch Elena and Rose¡¯s battle as well.

    The girls were doing great, and Elena¡¯s firstbat against a Nox seemed to be even better than his. Her light element was specialized in purification and speed, directly countering the Nox elements of Weiss¡¯ transformation.

    The light burned its body, simr to the beam Damien used, and slowly chipped away at its health. Meanwhile, Rose stayed at range, using her wind and illusions to keep it upied.

    She hasn¡¯t used her Illusory Throne yet, but Damien didn¡¯t think much about it. Perhaps she was just training for situations where it was unavable.

    The main problem was the three old men from the Cloud ne. Even with theirbined might, they were barely able to push Haldir back. The final dark imp was leagues stronger than the other two.

    He shot dark projectiles that corroded the old men¡¯s flesh and tissue while using his terrifying ws to aggravate the wounds. There seemed to be some sort of poison at work too.

    Yet, the old men still had the numbers advantage. Over the course of the past half hour, they had managed to corner the dark imp.

    Haldir was fed up. Gritting his teeth, he made the same move as his underlings.

    ¡°I offer my body as sacrifice to the Venerable One.¡±

 Chapter 103 - Destruction [2]

    Immediately, Haldir¡¯s body began its transformation. The dark imp shed his disguise and revealed the abomination he truly was, uncaring about the consequences.

    Even when the cocoon broke and revealed his figure, Haldir didn¡¯t move. Unlike the other two, it was clear that he retained his sense of self after gaining the unnatural power boost.

    Coldly ring at the three old men around him, Haldir raised his hand. A stream of ck energy coalesced and shot out like a beam. Yin Jian¡¯s face paled as he narrowly dodged. If he had gotten hit by that attack, he definitely would have been severely injured.

    Haldir¡¯s aura continued to rise. Even though it was clear his level was still at the peak of 3rd ss, his aura was far above that. It might have beenparable to some entry-level 4th ss beings.

    Damien¡¯s face turned solemn. The strength boost Haldir received was much more than that of the other two. Not to mention, Haldir seemed like he could perfectly adapt to his newfound power.

    Before his eyes, Haldir began to dominate the three old men from the Cloud ne. Just like they had done to him before, he backed them into a corner with them barely able to put up a defense.

    His ws were faster than their eyes could follow, ck beams of energy charged toward them with the goal of obliterating their existence, and even Haldir¡¯s bat-like wings seemed to have razor sharp edges that attempted to raze them.

    As Damien watched, Rose and Elena arrived at his side. They were stained with pitch-ck blood, but their enemy was nowhere in sight. Damien raised his eyebrow as if asking what happened, but he didn¡¯t get any proper response. The two only smiled at him before watching the ongoing battle.

    ¡°Heaven-Copsing Strike!¡±

    ¡°Wind Sunders the Sky!¡±

    ¡°me Emperor¡¯s dominion!¡±

    The three old men let out a barrage of attacks, not wanting to fall behind their enemy. Yet, they weren¡¯t able to do significant damage to the opponent whose body now contained properties of Nox.

    ¡°Should we help them?¡± Elena asked with a worried look on her face. She had already been told their identities as otherworld invaders, but she still didn¡¯t wish to see them die. At the end of the day, they still helped protect the human race through Asgard.

    Rose also looked at Damien. She had figured out by now that Damien had made some sort of deal with them, possibly involving him going to their world, but hadn¡¯t said anything about it. She didn¡¯t know why he did so, but she didn¡¯t question it. There would be time for thatter.

    Watching the battle, Damien slowly nodded his head. ¡°Alright, I just wanted to make sure that monster¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t too great for us. Let¡¯s go help out.¡±

    The first to charge was Elena, followed by Rose and Damien. They entered a small formation around the dark imp, not giving him a path for escape.

    Zara had concealed herself within the shadows. She was waiting for the perfect opportunity to freeze him to death.

    ¡®Girls, it¡¯s probably the wrong time to say this, but this guy will be great to give us battle experience. Let¡¯s not go all out for a while.¡¯

    A transmission entered their heads, causing the girls to smile. Even against an opponent that seemed disproportionately stronger than them, Damien still considered it as a training opportunity.

    Rose drew her scythe while Elena did the same with her sword. The girls then began attacking the dark imp relentlessly. From the front, Elena let out constant shes imbued with the purifying properties of light element, burning the dark imp¡¯s skin. She also used her superior speed to dodge the oing attacks.

    However, the dark imp was also extremely fast. Elena was barraged with razor-sharp ws at every turn, being forced to parry continuously. Yet, her light element was still able to seep into the dark imp¡¯s body.

    From range, Rose swung her scythe in a beautiful yet deadly dance. The winds around her kicked into the air before smashing into the dark imp¡¯s body. This attack was a new one she¡¯d created, but its main goal wasn¡¯t to damage.

    The wind moved rapidly and created a vortex of crushing pressure that crashed down onto the dark imp¡¯s body. He tried his best to subvert it, but his movements were slowed all the same. No matter which direction he moved, Rose would always umte and release her attacks to increase the pressure he was feeling.

    Within this pressure, Rose would asionally send sharp des of wind, chopping off small pieces of the imp¡¯s skin. Each time any slight damage was done, Zara would freeze that fallen area to inhibit the imp¡¯s regeneration.

    Damien watched this scene with pride. He didn¡¯t know how they had grown to work so well as a team, but he didn¡¯t care about that. He was just d that their teamwork was enough to fight on generally equal grounds with such a powerful existence.

    Still, they weren¡¯t able to make any serious wounds. Damien flicked his finger, causing a small burst of mes to gather at its tip. Then, he pulled his arm back as if aiming a bow.

    Lightning coalesced in the space between his arms, superheating and forming a line of sma that functioned as an arrow with that small me as the tip.

    Damien focused on the vectors that made up this arrow¡¯sposition. Its speed, velocity, eleration, direction, and even the force it would create on impact.

    Damien altered it all. Since he had first be a vector controller, this was probably the most effort he had put into controlling multiple factors at once.

    Once the arrow had been given the specs he wanted, Damien released it. Without needing to be told, the girls dodged out of the way and the arrow struck true in the dark imp¡¯s chest.

    If it was a human in his ce, they would have immediatelybusted, and if they didn¡¯t they would die from their heart being pierced, but these didn¡¯t apply to Haldir. His body structure waspletely different.

    Still, the arrow had its intended effect. Haldir was about to resume his attack when his internal body began to heat up. Scanning himself, he found a small almost imperceptible me within his chest, growing bigger with every second.

    His face turned serious. He tried to put the me out, but he didn¡¯t have the ability to do so. Perhaps if his elemental affinities were a better counter, he¡¯d be fine. But this wasn¡¯t the case.

    Haldir was well aware of what this meant. If he wasn¡¯t able to kill them before this me expanded, he¡¯d die a meaningless death.

    There was a famous saying that a cornered animal was the most dangerous, and Haldir proved it true.

    He disregarded everything else as he aimed solely to kill. His body was torn to shreds since he didn¡¯t care to block, but he kept going.

    His first target was the three old men from the Cloud ne. They were in the distance recuperating their mana and injuries, but they were suddenly barraged with tens of cksers.

    One of them drilled directly through Qin Huo¡¯s shoulder, with him being unable to evade it in time.

    ¡°AGH!¡±

    He let out a grunt of pain as he tried to revolve his mana and close the wound, but to his horror, he was unable to. The wound was charred ck as if he had been burnt, but it didn¡¯t have the same properties as a burn wound.

    Instead, it corroded his skin like darkness. The wound was steady in its proliferation, not leaving him the ability to deal with it. In the end, he chose to ignore it and continue fighting.

    With the 3 from the Cloud ne and the 4 on Damien¡¯s side working together, they were able to quickly deal with Haldir. Especially since he was already being burnt from the inside, the task wasn¡¯t difficult.

    But it didn¡¯te without a cost. Almost everyone was covered in bruises and bleeding profusely. Gashes covered their skin, ruining their powerful images.

    Damien was able to quickly heal through his regeneration, while Elena healed herself and the other two girls through life magic.

    As for the old men from the Cloud ne, they took out small round objects that looked simr to balls of bubble gum and swallowed them. Their wounds began healing directly after this.

    The only problem was Qin Huo. No matter what he did, he was unable to stop the spread of that vicious corrosion that started from his shoulder. At this point, his entire arm had already be withered and ck, no different from a corpse.

    Qin Huo had been inspecting his internal body this entire time. In reality, it wasn¡¯t just his arm that had been corroded. His organs were already starting to wither, and he felt the corrosion encroaching on his heart.

    Suddenly, a foreign mana shot from the ck mass of energy that was corroding him and entered his brain. Qin Huo¡¯s eyes widened, but he was unable to even scream in pain.

    His eyes glossed over, bing entirely ck in color, with no pupils or irises to be seen. He began to let out bestial growls as he ravenously eyed the rest of the people around him.

    And then, he fell to the ground, dead.

    Behind him, Damien stood with his arm outstretched, covered in Qin Huo¡¯s blood.

 Chapter 104 - Emotions [1]

    Damien¡¯s abrupt action shocked every single person there.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± Shouted Yin Jian. He and Qin Huo had a rtionship akin to brothers, and seeing him die without suspense like this threw his logical thinking out the window.

    ¡°A foreign mana invaded his mind. He was already gone before I killed him,¡± Damien replied indifferently.

    Just before Yin Jian could charge at Damien, Xiao Zhen stepped in. ¡°Stop. I would have made the same call.¡±

    ¡°But¡­!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything and think clearly. You saw his eyes and you heard the guttural sounds that came out of his mouth. It¡¯s clear that Qin Huo wasn¡¯t himself anymore.¡±

    ¡°But we could have saved him!¡±

    ¡°No. You are aware of the kind of enemy we are facing. And this isn¡¯t the first time this has happened. Recall thest time someone insisted on saving the person instead of killing them and then try to convince me.¡±

    Yin Jian was immediately silenced. He knew exactly what Xiao Zhen was referring to. In truth, this kind of incident had happened more than once in the past, but it was always dealt with before any substantial damage could ur.

    Besides a single instance. An instance where a benevolent person insisted on saving the person who had been infected by the Nox

    And the result? A massacre that still sends shivers down the spines of those who heard of it; even hundreds of years after it happened.

    Yin Jian couldn¡¯t find the words to rebuke Damien¡¯s decision. He knew that it was correct, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that he had just lost a brother. Without another word, he flew away from the area.

    Xiao Zhen watched him leave with aplicated look in his eyes before he sighed. ¡°I will be going after him. Let us meet again in a few days time to discuss things further.¡±

    Cupping his fist towards Damien in a show of respect, Xiao Zhen left as well. Now, all that was left in the area was Damien¡¯s group.

    Even the people within the Niflheim headquarters had fled in every direction. This had happened near the beginning of the fight.

    Even if they didn¡¯t cause muchrge-scale damage since most of the fight took ce in the air, the shockwaves from their sh alone could wipe out those weaker beings.

    Looking at the empty nearly empty headquarters in front of him, Damien made a decision. Those who stayed did so because they wanted to fight. Anyone innocent was already gone.

    Utilizing his new bond with the earth, Damien took drastic action. He sent his awareness deep into the ground and first raised the earth to fill any passage leading to the world¡¯s core. The most essential thing he could do was to make sure nobody could reach it.

    After finishing, Damien decided to raze the Niflheim bunker. At this thought, the ground began to rumble. Damien took to the sky and even the girls were forced to follow after him. There was no stability in the tens of kilometers surrounding them.

    The earthquake intensified, and Damien directly targeted the support beams holding the bunker in one piece. With them gone, it was simple to destroy things. The bunker copsed in on itself as the earth swallowed it back into itself.

    The dome-like structure above the ground cracked and shattered, while the floors of the bunker fell into each other. The abyss in the middle of the area was slowly filled with debris. Even the locked research areas were destroyedpletely.

    Damien made sure to be extra thorough with these, granting death to the ones who were unjustly kept alive and tortured in Niflheim¡¯s experiments.

    As for those who stayed to fight, they had either been crushed by the fallen pieces of the bunker or the earthquake that had just passed.

    The marshynd slowly regained its peace.

    ¡°So, what now?¡± Rose questioned. There wasn¡¯t anything left to do on earth now that Niflheim was no longer a threat.

    ¡°Hmm, how about we head back to Apeiron for a bit? I want to migrate my mother there and we can also get Elena a better weapon while we¡¯re at it¡±

    Elena¡¯s ears perked up at the mention. She had long noticed the disparity between the artifacts Damien and Rose usedpared to her own. Even in the battle they had just fought, her sword had cracked slightly and its edge had dulled.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if your mother will be okay with moving, though.¡± Elena suddenly said.

    Damien¡¯s brows furrowed slightly. It was true that the task of convincing his mother would be immense. She was basically still a normal human, not to mention that she actually cared about earth.

    Damien could specte that it had something to do with his father, but that was as far as he could get. No matter how he tried, there was no way for him to understand her thoughts on the matter.

    He could only shake his head and rid himself of those thoughts. It¡¯s not like his mother would ever tell him honestly. Ever since he was a child, she¡¯d avoided the topic of his father. Even after the woke up from hera she was the same.

    ¡®How does she remain loyal to someone who disappeared on her and left her alone as a single mother?¡¯

    He truly couldn¡¯t understand. Is that how love worked? It was scary to think about.

    While on the topic of love, Damien couldn¡¯t help but nce at Rose. He was still hesitant about their rtionship even if they had already confirmed it.

    Well, he wasn¡¯t hesitant about having a rtionship with Rose, rather he was hesitant about having such a bond with someone else. He didn¡¯t understand the concept of love and seeing the way his mother was, he didn¡¯t want to.

    He felt that love could truly blind someone. It could turn people into different beings entirely. He didn¡¯t want to be like this, but he didn¡¯t want to end his rtionship with Rose.

    The problem was with him entirely. They hadn¡¯t advanced past those small kisses they had shared, but just the slightest shows of intimacy when she cuddled into his chest or held his hand gave him endless satisfaction.

    And this was his problem. He felt like he could drown in that feeling. He felt that he could submerge himself into it and never leave. And he didn¡¯t like that one bit.

    He felt confused about his inner thoughts. After all, who would dislike the fact that they were happy? Even he found it absurd, but it wasn¡¯t something he could change.

    As they flew back to Damien¡¯s house, he stayed within his thoughts. He realized that it was worse than he originally expected. It only took some slight introspection to reach this conclusion.

    The thing that worried him was simple. It wasn¡¯t the old men rejecting him bringingpanions that made him want to go to the Cloud ne alone, it was himself. Maybe it was a defense mechanism, but he felt rejection towards this.

    He felt that if he stayed with Rose during every moment and every adventure, he¡¯d lose his capability to function without her by his side.

    He had to admit it. He was scared.

    He was someone who would show no fear even in the face of the strongest adversaries, but he was afraid of emotional intimacy.

    ¡®What a joke. I was entertaining thoughts of a harem but I¡¯m too scared to be intimate with the single girl I already care about.¡¯

    Maybe it was his inner weeb that drove his thoughts in the direction of a harem, or maybe it was his inherent desire for freedom. He didn¡¯t know.

    There was only one thing he was sure of. Whether it was a harem or only Rose, the key thing he needed to focus on wasmunication.

    He decided that he¡¯d sit down with Rose and have a proper talk about everything he was feeling right now.

    Watching Damien, Rose felt a rush ofplicated emotions. After spending years together as the best of friends and as the one he¡¯d crossed that boundary with, she was the one who could understand his emotional state the best.

    His hesitation in their rtionship was clear to her. He hadn¡¯t even tried toy a hand on her yet. It was a weird feeling for her to be the one prepared to take the next step while her man wasgging behind, but at the same time, it was refreshing.

    In the culture she had grown up in, women were always meant to submit to their men. They were supposed to support from behind, while some were just trophies.

    She never felt like this with Damien. When they interacted, he¡¯s always treated her as an equal, and even if she supported him, she did so by his side while he did the same for her.

    She liked this kind of thing better. She wondered if they would stay this way if he ever added more women to their rtionship, but she tried her best to suppress that thought.

    She had seen both harem life and monogamous life in her travels through Apeiron, and she didn¡¯t have a strong opinion towards either. In the first ce, she never expected to fall in love before meeting Damien.

    The unwittingly looked over at him to find him doing the same towards her. With both of them thinking about their rtionship, their gazes ended up melting as they stared into each other¡¯s eyes.

    Only Elena was left watching from the side, her thoughts known only to her.

 Chapter 105 - Emotions [2]

    The group reached Damien¡¯s house and separated into their own rooms, with Rose following Damien to his. It wasn¡¯t abnormal for this to happen, so nobody questioned it.

    Entering the room, Rose went directly to the bed, patting the spot next to her as if asking Damien to sit.

    He was a bit bbergasted by her actions but did as she said anyway. It was strange to him that she would act like this before he even said anything.

    ¡°So? It was pretty obvious on the way here, what did you want to talk about?¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened. He was sure he had kept his facial expressions as deadpan as possible so as to avoid dropping any hints, but it seemed he didn¡¯t do as well as he originally thoughts.

    Although he had built up the resolve tomunicate with Rose about what he was feeling, it was different when they actually got to the point. Damien was feeling incredibly nervous for no real reason.

    Thinking he shouldmunicate and actually bringing himself to do so were two different things entirely. When it came to introspection, he considered himself well versed. He could figure out his problems quickly if he just immersed himself in thought.

    But sharing them was something he had never done before. On earth, he hadn¡¯t shared with his mother about the bullying he endured at school because he didn¡¯t want to burden her. Even when he used to share with Elena, he would only vent and didn¡¯t take any of her advice seriously.

    He was simply too preupied at the time to listen to anyone else, even if it was his best friend. It was incredibly selfish of him, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that it was how he acted.

    Still, he collected his thoughts and steeled himself, telling Rose about his concerns. About how he felt constricted when he felt intimacy, about his fears when it came to rtionships, and everything else.

    Throughout the whole ordeal, Rose¡¯s face didn¡¯t change. She kept watching him with a warm smile as he poured out theplex feelings he had pent up since they had begun their rtionship, maybe even before.

    When he finally finished talking, an hour had passed and he felt truly relieved. Even if she hadn¡¯t said anything to him yet, he felt like just talking to her about it lifted a massive weight off of his shoulders.

    ¡®Why was I so scared to do this?¡¯

    Looking at Rose whose gaze was gentler than a calming spring, he wondered where his hesitation came from. He didn¡¯t know, but he was d he decided to take a step forward. And Rose didn¡¯t wait for him to get anxious for her answer.

    ¡°I already knew.¡± Her smile never faded as she answered. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not a psychic who can know everything, but I could clearly see your hesitation a long time ago.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened, but Rose didn¡¯t allow him to speak. Instead, she grabbed him and gently brought his head to herp.

    Damien was in a slight panic from her earlier words and didn¡¯t resist her at all. Before he knew it, he was using herp as a pillow as she calmly brushed her fingers through his hair. He had already frozen long ago, silently epting her actions.

    ¡°You know, I grew up in a generally awkward family situation. After all, my father has over 100 wives.¡±

    ¡°100?!¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes practically bulged at this. He wasn¡¯t even able to pay attention to her story anymore because of this ridiculous number.

    Rose lightly smacked his head, regaining his attention. ¡°Pay attention, silly. As I was saying, the sheer number of women in my father¡¯s harem made life confusing for me.

    ¡°As a child, I always wondered if I was truly loved by my parents, or if I should feel disgusted at the thought of 100 women sharing a single man. This thought was only amplified when I learned about the existence of monogamous families.

    ¡°At that time, my father was rarely able to spend time with me due to his duties as an emperor and some issues that were taking ce within the empire, so my doubts were even more exemplified.

    ¡°And so, I started bing scared. I was scared that one day I¡¯d end up in a situation where I found a husband and he ignored me like I saw my father doing with his wives. I was just like every other little girl, dreaming about a Prince Charming who would swoop me off my feet, but it felt like my dreams were being shattered.

    ¡°It got to the point where even when he came to visit me and my mother, I would hide from him, unable to look at his face.

    ¡°And then, my childhood was robbed from me. There was a small coup that was nned by some old ministers of the empire and due to their jealousy, some of my father¡¯s wives joined their cause.

    ¡°My mother was his favorite, his first wife, and one of the few he truly loved. That night, they poisoned her and killed her while she was sleeping.¡±

    Reaching this point, Rose¡¯s face became pained. Still, she endured her sadness and continued talking.

    ¡°After that night, I lost my ability to trust anyone. I secluded myself in my mother¡¯s room and cried myself to sleep every night. I wouldsh out at anyone who tried to get near me and cause trouble wherever I could.

    ¡°And you know the part that hurt the most? It was the fact that my mother was still smiling when she died. She smiled as if she knew this would happen, yet didn¡¯t move to stop it. And her final words? She told me to never me my father for what happened. But that didn¡¯t stop me. Who else was I supposed to me?

    ¡°I hated her for that for a few years of my life. I was disgusted by the fact that she loved such a man who caused her death. I abhorred the concept of a harem because if my father had stayed loyal to only my mother, she wouldn¡¯t have died.

    ¡°And the family situation at the time didn¡¯t help in the slightest. Even if the coup was stopped, its aftermath still lingered. One of my half-sisters thought that it would be the best time to get rid of me as well.

    ¡°Even at a young age, we were still aware of the fight for the throne. One day, this sister I thought was my biggest support pir took me to a secluded ce and attempted to have me killed by a beast. I didn¡¯t know at the time, but if not for a shadow guard that my father had assigned to protect me, I wouldn¡¯t be standing here today.

    ¡°Time passed like this but I never got better. I turned 15, the marriageable age in Apeiron, and countless sons of noble families came to court me. But that¡¯s also when I began seeing these threads and colors that connected every single being.

    ¡°I was able to clearly see their feelings. The fact that they were either there to increase the standing of their families or out of pure lust, I rarely saw one who truly loved or even liked me.

    ¡°And since I had been surrounded by filth, I even pushed away the ones that truly cared. I was never able to get rid of the nagging thought that they would someday betray me as those women did with my father and how my sister did to me.

    ¡°I ran away from the castle, wanting to get fresh air and escape my responsibilities, but even that was disallowed. Within a few hours time, my father found me and promptly took me back to the castle. It was that day when he first showed how much he truly cared.

    Rose began reminiscing. She remembered her father¡¯s words from that night clearly. Instead of taking her back to the castle, he had taken her to the highest peak on Apeiron to watch the stars.

    ¡°You know,¡± he said, ¡°Agata always had a knack for predicting the future. It was almost like she was performing divinations.¡±

    The emperor stared at the stars, his gaze mncholic and filled with pain. ¡°I felt there was something wrong in the weeks before her death, but regardless of any persuasion, she wouldn¡¯t tell me.

    ¡°I found out what was going on toote. She had already reached the point of no return. But she sent me one final mental transmission. Do you want to know what she said?¡±

    James looked at his daughter with a loving gaze, hiding his sadness. ¡°She simply told me to look after you. To make sure that the two of us never drift apart and to make sure we live our lives filled with love. I truly don¡¯t understand how such a caring woman ever fell for me.¡±

    Rose remembered looking at her father. She could feel his pain in his words, and through her eyes, she could see the endlessly red string that connected him to the ground. Even after her death, Rose¡¯s mother still retained her father¡¯s deepest affection.

    Rose looked at Damien, who was intently listening to her story, with a simr yet entirely different loving gaze.

    ¡°We talked for hours after that. About his love story with my mother, her countless quirks, and what made her the powerful woman she used to be. It was that day that I finally began to heal.¡±

 Chapter 106 - Emotions [3]

    Damien simplyy in herp as he listened to her story. It got to the point where he even forgot about his own problems while he immersed himself in hers.

    As it turns out, Rose had simr issues as him. The only difference was that she had been on the path to fixing them much longer than he was.

    Rose continued telling Damien about her past in the final 6 years before they met each other. It was definitely heartwarming.

    After their conversation on the mountain peak, James took his daughter back to the castle. The two of them became much closer after that. Rose wasn¡¯t able to immediately set aside her prejudices and doubts, but she was now open to the idea.

    Any arrangements for her marriage were canceled, much to the chagrin of those noble families, but James didn¡¯t care. He only thought of the well-being of his daughter in this matter.

    It was then that his favoritism for Rose started to show. She disdained most of her father¡¯s other women, who were simply there due to political marriage, so she started to explore thends of Apeiron.

    And in those explorations, she discovered her love for adventure. Rose began training as much as she could, quickly showing her talent and stunning those in the upper echelon of the empire.

    In just 6 years, she had reached 2nd ss. She had joined the adventurers guild and taken on quests, evaded many assassination and kidnapping attempts with her own prowess, and made achievements that set her apart from the crowd.

    She far surpassed her other siblings, but she held no desire for the throne. This left them to wallow in their jealousy without an outlet to remove it. In consequence, the battle for the throne became fiercer, but Rose didn¡¯t care about this.

    She ignored everything else and focused on what she wanted to do, only returning to the pce a few times a year to meet with her father. And on her most recent trip back, she met Damien. The rest was history.

    It was a trueing-of-age story that made Damien feel like Rose was the protagonist of some anime. She overcame trials both physically and emotionally until she could stand before him as her powerful and unbridled self today.

    Frankly, he was amazed. His respect for Rose was already high before this, but it felt like it had peaked after knowing her full story. He felt ashamed to face the same issues with much less strenuous circumstances.

    But who could me him? Even if trauma came into being on a mortal earth without the same strife as it had after mana was introduced, and even if the problems could now be considered mundane, that didn¡¯t mean it would suddenly fix everything.

    Mana was miraculous in every sense of the word, but it wasn¡¯t omnipotent and it wasn¡¯t biased. Even with such a drastic lifestyle change, it was impossible to just throw away old trauma.

    His father leaving him while he was still a child impacted him heavily even though he was in his twenties now.

    Regardless of the circumstances or how much Damien knew it was for his own good, the fact that he didn¡¯t feel any familial love from his mother due to her busy schedule also left a deep impact on him.

    The bullying he endured at school and the way people would lead him on simply to push him downter left him with trust issues. And these were only further amplified by the fact that he was betrayed and thrown into the dungeon to die.

    And those two years he lived as a beast messed with his mental psyche. No matter how fine he may seem at the moment, it was simply because he didn¡¯t have an outlet or a situation where he snapped.

    The closest thing to this would be when he basically bombed downtown LA because he couldn¡¯t hold back his thirst to kill Jin.

    Damien and Rose spent the whole night talking. Their intimacy had reached an entirely new level as they threw away their inhibitions and opened up to each other about everything. It was a cathartic feeling for the two of them.

    They ended up getting immersed in each other¡¯s warmth, sharing some physical intimacy as well before the night ended. And finally, they fell asleep hugging each other close. The wholesomeness of the time they spent let them enter their dreams with happiness and ease.

    ***

    In another part of the house, ire was sleeping in her bed alone. However, she wasn¡¯t able to maintain the same peace as the previous two.

    She hadn¡¯t told the kids yet because she didn¡¯t want to worry them, but every night when she fell asleep, she¡¯d have strange dreams.

    These dreams varied from simple life experiences of her own to fantastical scenes she could never even imagine. It took her an entire month to even have an inkling of what was going on.

    Tonight, she was having another strange dream. Yet, this one was leagues worse than the rest. She was in a ce filled with darkness, the only reason she could see was that she had adapted to this environment.

    She walked through a dense forest alone, but she could feel something following her.

    She arrived at an abyss and was confronted by a wolf. She tried to run, but it tore into her legs, preventing her movement.

    Luckily, this was a dream so she couldn¡¯t feel the pain. There was one thing that was clear to her, however, and that was fear.

    Pure, unadulterated fear.

    She looked down at her body, which was currently that of a boy¡¯s, and saw two swords in her hands. when she looked back up, she was already attempting to fight the wolf.

    But it was futile. The wolf was simply that much more powerful than her. It tore into her body, leaving her hanging on the precipice between life and death.

    And then, she charged once more. But this time it was more crazed, it was the move of an insane person. She watched as the body she upied tore into the wolf, and she watched as one of its arms was torn off and eaten in front of it.

    She watched as it climbed onto the wolf and used its single remaining arm to w and scrape, and she watched as it tore its jaws into the wolf¡¯s flesh.

    The battle reached its climax as the human won, but the wolf charged into the abyss and fell, dragging the human along with it.

    Within this abyss, ire saw a small bit of light that reflected off of the short sword still in her hand. It was then that she finally saw the appearance of the body she possessed.

    Short midnight ck hair caked in mud, a face covered in blood, and a pair of piercing amethyst eyes. She knew who¡¯s face this was.

    ¡°Damien!¡±

    ire woke up from her sleep in a panic, her back drenched in a cold sweat. Tears streamed down her face uncontrobly as she realized what she had just witnessed.

    ¡°My boy,¡± she sobbed, ¡°just what did you have to go through?¡±

    ***

    When Damien woke up, he couldn¡¯t hide the smile on his face. The soft sunlight that entered his room through his window, the chirping of birds, and the girl sleeping by his side all brought him immense joy.

    Seeing how Rose was using his arm as his pillow, Damien decided to stay in bed a bit longer. He simply enjoyed the scenery outside the house as he waited for her to wake up.

    He wanted to look at her face a bit more, but he had no idea if he could suppress the urge to kiss her if he did so.

    Unbeknownst to him though, she was already up, but thinking that his efforts to y it cool were cute, she pretended to be asleep. Within the hour, Rose finally opened her eyes. She simrly ended up smiling at the tranquil atmosphere that had enveloped them.

    There were a few more days that the two of them could spend calmly before they had to start moving again, so they nned to enjoy it.

    They left their room and headed downstairs to be greeted by ire Elena and Zara, who had stayed with Elena during the previous night. She knew Damien and Rose were having an important conversation, so she didn¡¯t want to bother them.

    The group had a cheerful dinner as they talked about mundane things. They turned on the news, only to see stories of Niflheim¡¯s destruction, but they paid it no mind.

    A week ended up passing idly while the group rxed. But there was no way to keep this atmosphere forever.

    Damien and the girls sat on one side of the couch while ire sat opposite them. The air around them seemed tense. Not being able to handle the tension, Damien finally spoke.

    ¡°Mom, please move to Apeiron.¡±

 Chapter 107 - Brief Return [1]

    ¡°Mom, please move to Apeiron.¡±

    The words were simple, but Damien still felt nervous saying them. It was an unknown sensation for him, but it was something akin to disobeying your parents as a child.

    ire looked into her son¡¯s earnest eyes as she pondered. After a few long minutes, she decided to speak.

    ¡°Why do you want me to move?¡±

    If she spoke simply from her emotions, she would have immediately rejected the idea, but things were different now. Thinking back to the dream she sawst night, she couldn¡¯t help but see things from a more logical perspective.

    The Damien she saw in her dream was still a boy, but the Damien in front of her now was a man. Either this meant that her dream was false or that it took ce at the beginning of his journey.

    She was more inclined to believe thetter. Especially with her system window saying her affinity was ¡®dream¡¯, she was sure it wasn¡¯t an illusion or anything.

    ¡®If that was just the beginning, then what did he go through after that?¡¯

    The single experience was harrowing to her. Not only was he left within an inch of his life, but he also watched his arm be torn off and eaten in front of him and he was cast into that gnawing abyss by the dying wolf.

    She had some mild trauma from the dream, and she hadn¡¯t even felt the pain that came with all those injuries. She had, however, felt the emotions.

    Fear, unwillingness, anxiety, and near the end, insanity.

    She felt it all and questioned how her son was able to sit in front of her with the demeanor of a normal person. She could onlymend his efforts, and out of respect for that, listen to his suggestions.

    Damien, on the other hand, was mildly shocked that his mother didn¡¯t immediately protest. He had originally expected this to be a long conversation filled with begging, but it seemed it would be much easier than that. Rxing a bit, he answered her question.

    ¡°I have a feeling that earth will be subjected to many catastrophes in the future. And if there is any risk of something bad happening, I don¡¯t want you to get caught up in it.¡±

    Although he knew she would have a hard time understanding, Damien proceeded to tell her about the happenings at Niflheim.

    He exined what Rose and Elena found and also what he had found about the world core. He also talked briefly about the battle with the dark imps and their abilities.

    While on this subject, he also had to mention the Nox, albeit only slightly, so she could get a better idea of the bigger picture.

    And finally, Damien told her about what happened between him and the world core. This was the first time he was telling the girls about it as well, so he gave more details on this particr matter.

    ¡°When I first achieved 3rd ss and became a Celestial, I received the ability to use starlight as an energy source or an element. An example of this is how I can harness the mes of the sun.¡±

    Damien flicked his finger, creating a small wisp of me. But the power of this tiny me was immense, letting the group understand his point.

    ¡°I thought this was it, with the rest of the ss being an extension on my spatial element, increasing the possibilities. But I was wrong.

    ¡°When I was there next to the earth¡¯s core, I ended up forming a bond with it. Well, I don¡¯t know if bond is the right word, but I essentially became the Star Master of earth.¡±

    Both Elena and ire were aware of the term Star Master. Damien was heavily into cultivation novels as a teen, so he had ranted to both of them about various concepts he found interesting.

    Rose was confused by the term, being from another world, but it was quickly exined to her by the rest. Since the concept was generally straightforward, she didn¡¯t take much time to catch on.

    ¡°Son, does that mean you are the master of earth or something?¡± ire asked curiously.

    But Damien shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that simple, and I also don¡¯t believe that I have the power to im myself to be the master of an entire world.

    ¡°But what I do know is that I have the potential to be one. And not just for earth, but for countless worlds. This is the path that has beenid out for me.¡±

    ire¡¯s eyes slightly widened in realization. Only now did she figure out that her son would be leaving on a journey soon.

    ¡°And why do you believe Apeiron is better than earth? Didn¡¯t they get invaded long before earth did?¡±

    This time, Rose was the one to answer her. ¡°Auntie, Apeiron is a world filled with peace. Even the beasts stay within their territories and don¡¯t rampage and ughter needlessly. My father is the emperor of thergest human empire on the continent, so your safety can be guaranteed.

    ¡°Not to mention, it¡¯s been 1000 years since the Nox invaded, and they haven¡¯t returned even once.¡±

    ¡°I have a theory about this.¡± Damien chimed in, ¡°The Nox faced heavy losses on Apeiron during theirst invasion attempt, to the point where they were forced to retreat and recuperate for hundreds of years before they could move again.

    ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, I believe the Nox will not attack Apeiron again until they havepleted the conquest of various other worlds. Perhaps it¡¯s a safety precaution, or maybe it¡¯s just instinct. But at least for now, Apeiron is safe.

    ¡°However, earth doesn¡¯t share the same security. It¡¯s a small and new world that anyone can use for their own machinations. Just like how Niflheim came, others will too.

    ¡°And if the force from the Cloud ne didn¡¯t arrive as well, earth would have fallen long ago.¡±

    ire was beginning to understand why Damien wanted her to leave. She was slightly distressed that he would be putting himself in danger again, but she couldn¡¯t do anything about that.

    She had been back in this changed world for long enough to gain a basic understanding of how things worked. Strength was king within this vast universe, and Damien needed to gain it.

    Even if Damien glossed over it, Elena made sure she knew how hard he worked for her sake. She wanted ire to be proud of her son¡¯s achievements. And indeed, she was proud. Yet, she was also aware of how much of a burden she was.

    She was saddened by the fact that she would be a burden to him even after she had woken up, but she couldn¡¯t do anything about it. She could only suppress her negative feelings andply.

    ¡®What would you do in this situation?¡¯

    She thought about the only man she had ever fallen in love with. A man who was as mysterious as the boundless cosmos and had more charisma than anyone else.

    ¡°ire, our son is destined for greatness,¡± he once said to her. ¡°No matter what, we must support him in his journey. We just raise him to be strong enough to fend off anything that could bar his path.¡±

    Sighing, ire slowly nodded her head. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll move to Apeiron. However, you muste visit me once in a while, or I¡¯ll find some way to leave ande spank you like I did when I was little!¡±

    Damien shivered a bit thinking about those childhood days. He knew what his mother was like when she was angry, and he didn¡¯t want to see that side of her again.

    Damien nodded hurriedly inpliance. Now that he had convinced her, he didn¡¯t have any more reservations to move forward on his path.

    The group stayed on earth for another day, with irecking her necessities as if she was going on vacation before they gathered in the backyard.

    Once again, Damien used the connection he felt with Apeiron to open a portal. The difference was, this time the portal was only big enough for their group to enter together.

    ¡®It seems like the portal size depends on us. So Zara¡¯s extravagance was the causest time.¡¯

    Damien smiled wryly at this. At least he could be discreet when he used the skill normally. He was a bit flusteredst time when they made such a grand entrance.

    The group stood in a line, while Zara stayed in Damien¡¯s shadow. Although their safety was guaranteed, they still made sure to hold each other so they didn¡¯t get separated.

    ire watched the portal in trepidation, but feeling the firm hands of her son and Elena, she steeled herself.

    ¡®I can¡¯t show them such a weak side, now can I?¡¯

    With one final look at the house she had spent so many years of her life in, and with onest reminiscence of the old days, ire stepped into the portal.

 Chapter 108 - Brief Return [2]

    After spending what felt like hours in the void, the group was finally able to exit the portal. Damien¡¯s mana capacity wasn¡¯tpletely dry, but this was only because he already had some connection to Apeiron.

    He didn¡¯t know when this connection began to strengthen, but it was second only to earth, much stronger than those he had with the random celestial bodies floating through the void.

    ire looked around with awe as she witnessed the sight of a new world. They had teleported directly into Damien¡¯s house within Aurora, so she was able to get a clear view of the city and the area beyond it.

    The bustling atmosphere that filled the city, and its sheer size were enough to amaze her, yet this was only the tip of the iceberg. When ire looked around, she was able to see the majestic castle that upied the center of the city, beingrger than some towns on earth.

    Her body seemed to rejoice at the mana density of the area, being at least ten times denser than that of earth. And with the enhanced eyesight of someone with her stats, she was able to make out the scenery in the distance past the city.

    The titanous mountains that stood tall in the background and the lush green ins helped her realize she was truly in another world.

    The entire experience calmed her, as a peaceful atmosphere pervaded the very air she breathed.

    ¡°Wee to Apeiron!¡± Rose said with a smile on her face.

    ire could only nod her head absentmindedly as she stayed dazed by the sights. It was only around 10 minutester that she snapped back to reality.

    ¡°This ce is breathtaking.¡± ire sighed with praise. She wondered if earth would be like this after a prolonged period of time, but she knew she wouldn¡¯t be alive to witness it. After all, that was tens of thousands of years!

    ¡°Mom, I¡¯ll give you some time to ustom yourself to this house and the surrounding city,¡± Damien said as he pulled out a spatial ring.

    ¡°This ring is filled with as much gold and silver as you¡¯ll ever need, and this house belongs solely to me. So you can do as you please. Also, this city is one of the safest ces you could possibly be, even considering how peaceful this world is.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take Elena somewhere to get a new sword, and after we return, we can go meet Rose¡¯s father.¡±

    ire nodded as she looked at the house. It was much bigger than the one she previously lived in, and she couldn¡¯t imagine living in it alone. Without another word, she went inside to explore.

    As she turned away, her expression hardened. The dreams she had seen even the day before they left earth had gotten much worse than what she saw previously.

    She had seen a maniacal scene of seas of blood and endless ughter.

    Walking through the house she would be living in for the foreseeable future, ire only had a single thought in her head.

    ¡®I must adapt to the new world and be strong. As long as I¡¯m strong, I won¡¯t be a burden to anyone for even a single second longer.¡¯

    She wasn¡¯t just thinking about Damien. The figure of a certain man popped into her head as she gazed at the bright blue sky.

    Meanwhile, Damien turned to Elena whose excitement had almost reached the point of manifesting physically.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we fly there so you can enjoy the sights of this world a bit?¡± Damien suggested.

    He was greeted with a quick refusal before Elena immediately nodded.

    ¡°So, which is it? Yes or no?¡± Damien teased.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Elena responded. She was admittedly filled with too much anticipation to even listen to what he was saying.

    Damien wryly shook his head as he called Zara out of his shadow. Then, the three of them mounted her and took off.

    ¡®Well, let¡¯s go visit an old friend then, shall we?¡¯

    It only took an hour for the group to reach Archdale with Zara¡¯s improved speed, and Damien looked at the city with a smile.

    ¡°It hasn¡¯t changed at all since thest time I came here.¡±

    It had only been 2 years since hest stepped into the city, so the line was a bit cliche, but he said it anyway. It brought a slight smile to Rose¡¯s face so he felt it was worth it.

    Zara returned to Damien¡¯s shadow, once again adopting her previous behavior now that they were back around crowds, and Damien led the group to a familiar old building that smelled like melting metals.

    Without suspense, they entered the shop. Elena¡¯s eyes were immediately drawn to the lines of weapons that upied it.

    There was still nobody at the desk, but sounds of metal nging could be heard from the back room. Damien simply stood as he watched Elena browse the weapons like a child in the toy section.

    It was the first time Elena had seen weapons so pristine. Not only their design and sharpness but also the aura they gave off. If she had topare her old sword, it was like trash in front of a pile of gold.

    As she looked through the sword section, Elena was surprised by the many different designs. There were spiral swords, broadswords, and even things that looked oddly simr to katanas.

    Some of the swords were shaped in ways she had never seen before, but that made sense since they were no longer on earth.

    ¡°Damien, I want this one!¡± Elena said as she tugged on his sleeve, pointing to a specific katana.

    He hadn¡¯t seen her drop all pretenses like this in a long time. It seemed her love for swords was on a whole different level.

    Looking at the sword she wanted, Damien saw a sleek katana whose de was almost translucent. But no matter how fragile it looked, its power couldn¡¯t be underestimated.

    Damien nodded his head, understanding her choice. As someone who specialized in the light element, her greatest strength was her speed. A heavy sword would only be detrimental to her.

    ¡°Alright, just give me a second,¡± Damien said as he hopped over the counter. He pushed open the thick metal door to the back room and directly entered.

    ¡°Yo, old man! You in here?¡± Damien¡¯s entire manner of speaking seemed to rx to a new level when he entered the backroom.

    ¡°Oi, who the hell isin¡¯ in ¡®ere without knockin¡¯?!¡± A grumpy voice shouted.

    Vormec grabbed his hammer and waddled to the door, wanting to pound the head of the fool who interrupted him. However, when he got there, he saw a familiar yet unfamiliar man.

    Although it had only been 2 years since theirst meeting, Damien had grown up a lot. The silver streaks in his hair had be more prevalent, his height had grown slightly, and his overall look had be more mature.

    Not to mention the expensive clothing he was wearing, aplete turn from the sweatpants and shirt he wore when they first met.

    ¡°Eh? What¡¯re ya doin¡¯ ¡®ere boy? Don¡¯t tell me ya already broke the sword I made ya!¡± Vormec chastised, yet the smile on his face wasn¡¯t hard to spot.

    Damien smiled as well, ¡°what, you won¡¯t believe me if I said I just missed you?¡±

    Vormec rolled his eyes but got straight to business. ¡°Alright alright, let me get a look at your sword and start fixin¡¯ it.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m actually not here for myself today. I brought a friend whose weapon I want you to craft.¡±

    Still, Damien pulled out his sword. ¡°But, you can consider this as your payment. Trust me, you¡¯ll be interested in what happened to it.¡±

    Vormec raised his brow in clear interest as he grabbed the sword. Just from a nce, it was clear how the sword had changed.

    Its de had elongated to be around 1 meter long, and its edge had considerably sharpened. Its entirely ck surface gained a more glossy finish and the purple lines that patterned it was now conjoined with a pristine gold.

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    It was only when he took a deeper look that he realized the significance of these changes.

    ¡°Boy, who reforged this sword for ya?¡± Vormec asked. It was sheer curiosity, not even caring that Damien broke their contract. Whoever reforged the sword was clearly better than him.

    ¡°Nobody did, old man. The sword did that to itself.¡±

    Damien then proceeded to exin the process where the sword devoured an SSS rank artifact in the legacy tomb and evolved to the same rank.

    Vormec¡¯s eyes widened, but as he continued inspecting he realized the truth in Damien¡¯s words. There were no signs of tampering as if the de had evolved rather than being reforged.

    And as Vormec did before, he saw every change within the de, using it to improve his own understanding of his profession. He saw the records of the countless battles the de had gone through, leaving him excited at the prospects.

    After around half an hour, Vormec finally spoke. ¡°Alright boy, this was definitely a great payment. Bring ya friend back ¡®ere so I can get the specs they want.¡±

 Chapter 109 - Brief Return [3]

    Damien promptly called Elena, who was still admiring the katanas in the front, and Rose to the back of the shop. When they entered, both of them wore simr expressions to Damien when he entered for the first time.

    Their noses scrunched up from the intense smell of smoke and metal, and they felt slightly ufortable due to the extreme heat.

    It wasn¡¯t the heat itself that was ufortable, since their bodies were long past being affected by drastic temperature changes, rather it was the atmosphere brought by the heat that irked them.

    Looking at the two girls that entered the shop, Vormec¡¯s eyes showed an understanding light. Nudging Damien slightly, he teased, ¡°you¡¯ve been busy thesest few years, haven¡¯t ya?¡±

    Inwardly, Vormec was genuinely surprised. The blue-haired beauty was one thing, but the other one had pink hair and ruby eyes, a trait that was possessed by only a single family within the entire human domain.

    ¡®Two years ago when we met, the boy was just another traveler in scrappy clothes. How did he end up seducin¡¯ a princess in that short time?¡¯

    Still, he was a professional so he didn¡¯t voice out his thoughts, just subtly teasing Damien about it instead.

    Looking at Elena, Vormec then asked the important question. ¡°So? What can I do for ya, youngdy?¡±

    Elena¡¯s eyes brightened as she nodded. ¡°Yes, sir. I¡¯d like a de simr to this one, but I want it to be lighter and slightly longer.¡±

    She pulled out the sword she took from the front room for Vormec to see. He only took a nce before nodding. ¡°Alright, I can do that for ya, but I¡¯mma need ya to show me somethin¡¯ first.¡±

    Turning to Damien, he continued. ¡°Boy, you remember what I had ya dost time, no? Take us to that field again.¡±

    Damien wryly shook his head at the fact that Vormec was using him as a taxi driver, but stillplied. The group was covered by Damien¡¯s spatial mana and taken to a familiar grassy in.

    Looking around, Damien was still able to see the scars and destruction he had made in this area when he was first practicing his sword art. Back then, he barely understood deless, and his dance of the void was in its rudimentary phases.

    He smiled thinking about how far he¡¯de

    ¡°Alright, youngdy. Take the sword ya took from the shop and show me some of ya moves.¡±

    Elena nodded withplete seriousness. Seeing the weapons in the shop that transcended her understanding had made her view Vormec as some sort of respectable elder. She made sure to be extra polite with him.

    And Vormec seemed to enjoy this feeling. Well, until he got a smack to the back of the head.

    ¡°Calm down, old man. If you keep that creepy grin on your face, people will think you¡¯re a perv.¡±

    ¡°Oi, you brat! Who you callin¡¯ a perv?! If you want a taste of my fists, I¡¯ll give it to ya!¡±

    ¡°Oh? And how are you nning to do that? Can you even reach my face if you get on your tiptoes?¡±

    ¡°Brat! Don¡¯t go too far!¡± Vormec was at best half of Damien¡¯s height, as it seemed he possessed some dwarves bloodline, and his height had always been a sore spot for him.

    Seeing the two argue as if they were quarreling siblings, Rose ended up having a goodugh, before Elena cut them off.

    ¡°Ehem!¡± She let out a clearly fake cough. Damien and Vormec quieted down shortly after as they watched her prepare. Not wanting to disappoint or underwhelm, Elena let out her strongest move.

    [Judgement]

    Judgment was a more versatile skill than Elena had previously shown. A blinding yellow light covered her sword de, letting off a suffocating pressure before Elena swung it with her full power.

    Swoosh! Bang!

    The light covering the sword became a massive beam that subsequently split into five parts that zoomed through the air. Even the wind was cut by their blinding speed.

    And then, each of the five impacted a separate area of the massive ins, creating arge explosion of dazzling light.

    A dust cloud was kicked up by the force of the explosions, and small craters were formed in the ground. Elena was only a 2nd ss, but the full power of her skill would be enough to contend against many early and mid-stage 3rd ss beings.

    Vormec approvingly nodded his head as he watched on. ¡®None of the people next to this kid will ever be normal.¡¯

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said, ¡°let me get a look at that sword.¡±

    Elena promptly handed it over and Vormec inspected it in full. Every once in a while he would not his head or mutter some sort of cksmith jargon that Damien couldn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Good, I can do this for ya, but it¡¯ll take more time than the other sword. The materials I¡¯mma need for this will take a bit of work to get.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, old man. I didn¡¯t tell you this yet, but I¡¯m pretty rich now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah yeah, I don¡¯t think you could court a princess of the biggest empire in the human domain if you were still the bum you were when we first met.¡±

    This time, Damien was the one who received the critical hit. The two resumed their earlier squabble as Damien teleported the group back to the workshop.

    After a few hours, the trio left Vormec to his work. The new sword cost Damien a few white gold coins, especially considering that its rank would be higher and the materials were rare, but Damien still got the feeling that Vormec had cheated him.

    But he just shrugged it off. It wasn¡¯t like he needed the money on Apeiron. If he ever ran out, he¡¯d just take a few SS rank quests to make some more.

    Since it would take around a month for the sword to beplete, Damien and Rose took Elena on a small tour of the Adire empire. Since ire was safe within Aurora, they spent 2 weeks flying around and looking at the various sceneries of the empire.

    From its expansive mountain ranges to the beautiful forests it contained, they saw it all. They also took a brief trip to the academy and spoke with Malcolm for a bit before visiting the seas.

    Overall, they had a nice rxing vacation before heading back to Aurora to meet with ire.

    ire had been living afortable life for the past 2 weeks, and she had been fitting in quite well among the denizens of the city.

    ire had always been a very sociable person, and most of the jobs she worked dealt with customer service. Even when she was working corporate jobs, she always handled interpersonal rtions.

    She would take weekly trips down to the shopping district and interacted with the locals, forming some connections and making friends.

    Even some of the nobles on the hill hade to greet her after seeing that she was living in the house belonging to Damien, who was widely known as the winner of the previous Nexus Event.

    There were originally some hups due to herck of strength, but once it was learned that she was Damien¡¯s mother, she didn¡¯t encounter many problems. Some even decided to curry favor with her.

    Though she didn¡¯t care much for their attempts, she was d to learn more about Damien¡¯s feats within this world. She was told dazzling stories about his domineering performance and how he had won a legendary medicine called Elixir.

    It was then that she finally understood the amount of effort he had put into healing her. She almost teared up on the spot but made sure to hold herself back. With the way everyone adored her son, she couldn¡¯t show her weakness. The only thing she showed was the pure unadulterated pride that she felt.

    And so, ire had been living nicely for two weeks before she heard a sudden knock on her door. Opening it, she was greeted by a man in full ted armor with a stern expression on his face.

    ¡°Miss, you have been invited to the pce as a guest. Please follow me.¡±

    ire was frozen in ce for a bit, processing the man¡¯s words, but when they clicked, her surprise ended up vanishing entirely.

    ¡®That¡¯s right! Little Rose is a princess in this world.¡¯

    With the emperor being her future inw, ire felt it was her obligation to meet him. It wouldn¡¯t be a talk between an emperor and his subject, but rather one between fellow parents.

    ire went back into the house and got dressed for the asion, wearing a beautiful ck dress that exuded formality, but not to the point that it was rigid. She then followed the guard to the pce.

    Entering the massive entrance hall, ire couldn¡¯t help but be fascinated. Even the castles on earth held noparison to this one. It was another dimension.

    As she marveled at the sight, she followed the guard to the massive set of double doors that stood at the end of the hall.

    ¡®I wonder what kind of demeanor a real-life emperor would have?¡¯

 Chapter 110 - Brief Return [4]

    When ire entered the throne room, she was further introduced to the extravagance of a true ruler of men. From the ornate decorations to the glimmering thrones, all of it seemed like something fantastical.

    Truthfully, ire had been slightly infected by Damien¡¯s interests when he was growing up, so she knew a thing or two about those novels and animes, but seeing it in person was very different than it¡¯s animated counterparts.

    ¡®I wonder how he felt when he first came here.¡¯ She smiled at the thought.

    Walking through the hall, her gazended on therge pink haired man on the throne. Although his eyes were serious, they contained a hint of strangeness she couldn¡¯t quite pinpoint.

    James had been able to sense her as she entered the castle, so he knew her measly strength. He had made sure to conceal his entire aura so as to not create any problems.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is James Adire, Rose¡¯s father.¡± His introduction was unbefitting of an emperor, but he still went forward with it without qualms.

    He was approaching ire as an equal, since in a sense of the word, they were. And ire responded in kind. She felt slightly suffocated by his presence, even if he wasn¡¯t exuding aura, but she powered through.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard so much about you. My name is ire Watson. I¡¯m sorry if my son has caused you any trouble.¡±

    ¡°None at all,¡± James smiled as he said, ¡°in fact, the boy has brought my daughter a joy she has been missing since her mothers passing. I can only say that you fostered a great child.¡±

    ire smiled at thepliment, but felt a little conflicted. After all, had she even done anything to raise him? Damien wasn¡¯t the only one who felt regretful about the way their family was in the past.

    James stood up from his throne and invited ire into a separate dining hall where they both took their seats. Since the formalities were already out of the way, they went straight to conversation.

    Being parents must bring some sort of change to peoples mentalities, since these two spent the majority of their time solely talking about their kids. ire also spoke about earth a bit while James introduced her to more of Apreiron.

    Only half an hour had passed before Damien¡¯s group arrived at the castle. They were a bit confused when they were led by the servants to the dining hall, only to see a puzzling sight.

    James was roaring withughter while ire was doing her best to stop her giggles, albeit unsessfully.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, he would always go into our yard and start yelling these crazy phrases even before we had mana on earth. You wouldn¡¯t believe the kinds of things the neighbors were saying!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, this doesn¡¯tpare at all to Rose, though. The way she used to run around the pce and cause mischief would always bring me loads ofints!¡±

    Damien and Rose could only stand their with their jaws agape while Elena tried her best to notugh audibly.

    The scene of the emperorughing so happily was a surprise in itself, but when the two realized the topic of conversation, they immediately rushed into the room.

    ¡°Mom!¡±

    ¡°Dad!¡±

    They yelled in union, causing the two to look over.

    ¡°Oh Damien, you¡¯ve arrived? We were just talking about the past a bit.¡±

    ¡°The past, my ass! Did you have to go revealing my ck history to others?!¡±

    On the other side, Rose was having a simr conversation with her father. Yet, both parents simply smiled at their children¡¯s antics.

    It took many minutes for the scene to be less chaotic before Damien¡¯s group also sat around the table.

    Food was quickly brought in and everyone ate andughed happily. Even Elena, who wasn¡¯t a part of the family, was included wholeheartedly.

    The group enjoyed their time like this until night fell and everyone retired to their respective rooms. Since they would be leaving soon, they opted to stay within the castle instead of returning to Damien¡¯s, or rather ire¡¯s, house.

    Within their room, Damien and Roseid in bed peacefully. Neither of them said a word, but it was clear that they were both awake.

    ¡°I¡¯ve haven¡¯t seen my dadugh so happily in a long time.¡± Rose said, breaking the silence.

    ¡°Mhm, it¡¯s the same with my mom. It seemed like arge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.¡±

    ¡°It was a good idea to bring auntie here. I feel like our parents will be much happier in each other¡¯spany.¡±

    Rose had another thought when she said this, but she didn¡¯t voice it. Truthfully, her father had never been the same with his harem ever since his mothers death. There were only a few left that he loved sincerely, but even they were pushed away.

    Now, she didn¡¯t expect her dad and Damien¡¯s mother to get together, or for Damien¡¯s mother to fill the void in her fathers heart, but she figured that a good friendship would help him regain his smile like what she saw today.

    Damien and Rose spoke for a bit more before they headed to sleep. It became something of a routine to get proper rest every night even if they didn¡¯t need it, since they had been living a mundane life for the past few months.

    And their mundane life continued for another week before it was time to leave Apeiron. Damien was happy to live peacefully for a bit, but his entire being craved excitement. He couldn¡¯t withhold that urge for much longer.

    And so, the second he received word that Vormec had finished Elena¡¯s de, he got prepared to leave.

    ¡°Boy, here¡¯s the sword for yady friend. Make sure she doesn¡¯t scratch it up too much, since I doubt it¡¯ll work out the same as the one I gave ya.¡±

    He was naturally referring to the evolving feature of Damien¡¯s sword. As it turns out, Vormec wasn¡¯t the one who added that feature, so he had no confidence in creating another de that could replicate Damien¡¯s.

    But, Elena was extremely satisfied with the sword she received. Simr to the one she picked from the front of the shop, the de was almost translucent, looking like it was made from ss.

    It¡¯s length was just short of a meter, and it was single edged like a katana. It¡¯s hilt was an intricately designed material that looked like wood, but had hardness far surpassing it. And it¡¯s guard was patterned like a flowing river.

    The sword weighed next to nothing, which Vormec exined was a quality of the material. It was a perfect supplement for Elena¡¯s speed based fighting style.

    And after that was finished, it was finally time to leave. Their first destination would be a brief return to earth, and then they would follow the old men to the Cloud ne.

    As for that matter, it had been mostly settled after Damien¡¯s talk with Rose on that fateful day after Niflheim¡¯s destruction. She knew his worries, but didn¡¯t want to separate for him, so she came up with a solution.

    They would all go to the Cloud ne together, but they¡¯d have their own separate adventures. Rose would take Elena while Damien and Zara would go together.

    As for Elena¡¯s part, it was her own decision to follow them. Just like Rose, she had also guessed that Damien would be leaving soon. Even ire had been able to reach this conclusion with her limited knowledge.

    And so, in the two weeks the group had been traveling Apeiron, Elena made it her personal goal to convince the two to allow her to apany them.

    It almost took the whole two weeks to do so. Unlike Damien and Rose, Elena didn¡¯t have experience living in a ce where powerful beings were prevalent. She was essentially a frog at the bottom of the well.

    The only way she would be allowed to apany them is if either Damien or Rose was by her side at all times. And for this situation, it would be Rose.

    Currently, Damien and the rest stood in front of ire, who could barely withhold the tears in her eyes.

    ¡°Damien, I know I don¡¯t have any right to say this since I left you alone for so long, but please be careful out there.¡±

    Damien smiled. ¡°Of course, mom. Do you think I have the nerve to die? If I don¡¯te back, wouldn¡¯t you drag my soul from the afterlife just to beat me up?¡±

    ire chuckled a little at his words. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly right. And I¡¯ll make sure to be strong while you¡¯re gone, so it¡¯ll be the fiercest beating you ever received.¡±

    There was a certain glint in her eyes as she spoke that almost made Damien shudder in fear. Still, her intent was well received.

    Damien strongly hugged his mother, inwardly grateful that he could be berated by her in such a manner, before opening a portal back to earth.

    It was finally time for his adventure to continue.

 Chapter 111 - Cloud Plane [1]

    When they arrived back on earth, Damien wasted no time. Their group immediately headed for the Asgard headquarters that stood tall in the middle of Los Angeles.

    ¡°The mana density of the atmosphere has dropped intensively,¡± Rosemented as they were on their way.

    Damien couldn¡¯t really feel the difference since the itself provided him mana as long as he was present on its surface, but when he actively attempted to tell the difference, he noticed that around 50% of the ambient mana in the world was gone.

    ¡®This must be the work of those old men, so they should be ready to leave.¡¯

    Whilemunicating with the world core, he was able to tell that it didn¡¯t really mind the drain of mana that urred. It could simply produce mana to make up for the difference, even if it took many years to do so.

    It was a, after all. Time that counted as lifetimes were humans could barely even be regarded as milliseconds to it. Not to mention that the world core had only recently gained sentience.

    It had no attachments to the beings who lived on its surface besides Damien. It only thought about its own survival and progression.

    Thinking about the world core, Damien remembered something important. ¡®Ah! In my rush to feel some more action, I forgot to check if I could bind Apeiron as well!¡¯

    He already confirmed that he had a stronger connection to the world than any other besides earth, so he wanted to try his hand at gaining power through it.

    He even had plenty of free time in the month he spent on the. His thoughts were so preupied with the future that he¡¯d overlooked such an important task.

    ¡®Well, I haven¡¯t even explored the full benefits of binding earth, so I guess it¡¯s fine. Plus, I can just go back to Apeiron at some point and see what I can do.¡¯

    Damien snapped out of his thoughts as the group arrived on the balcony of the Asgard skyscraper. They were greeted by the two old men that still remained.

    ¡°Come in,¡± Xiao Zhen said with a smile. ¡°Let me introduce you to our Cloud ne before we leave.¡±

    Yin Jian still looked like he held a slight grudge, but it wasn¡¯t anything major. He was aware of the necessity of Damien¡¯s actions, he just didn¡¯t agree with the speed at which he took them. There weren¡¯t any signs of hesitation in his eyes.

    But, their n had already been set in stone long ago. There was no need for any extra talking or negotiation.

    When everyone had taken their seats within the meeting room Damien had seen on his first visit, Xiao Zhen began his speech.

    ¡°Compared to what I¡¯ve seen on this, our Cloud ne is far more advanced and even our method of cultivation vastly differs.

    ¡°For starters, what you call ¡®sses¡¯ have different names in our world. 1st ss is called the Foundation Establishment realm, where one begins their journey to strength. 2nd ss is called the Elemental Comprehension realm, where one feels their uniqueness and decided on the direction of their future path.

    ¡°From here, it gets a bit more technical. The realm you call 3rd ss is actually two separate realms for us. There are the Core Formation and Core Expansion realms.

    ¡°To exin this step, I must exin a few other facets of our world. Our denizens are born with pathways within our bodies called meridian pathways, and we practice cultivation manuals that show us how to circte mana throughout our bodies.

    ¡°The meridians act as gates for mana and aid in the efficiency and potency of our mana output, and the cultivation manuals have varying efficiency as well.

    ¡°The lowest grade is Common grade, these are the ones possessed by themon popce who never end up reachingst the Foundation Establishment Realm.

    ¡°Nextes ck Grade, then Earth and Sky grade, and finally, Heaven and Divine grade. Each has increasing rarity, with Divine grade meridians signaling heaven-defying geniuses and Divine grade cultivation techniques able to turn someone withmon talent into a rtively powerful genius.

    ¡°The reason I mention this is because these are important for speaking about the Core Formation and Expansion realms. Although the meridians have the purpose of regting the flow of mana, they aren¡¯t always enough for the higher levels of power, especially if one doesn¡¯t have a higher grade set of meridians.

    ¡°And so, we form cores. The cement depends on the cultivator, but their core is essentially the center of their entire pathway. It helps with regtion, efficiency, potency, and even increases mana capacity.

    ¡°During the first 50 levels of what you call 3rd ss, we form and develop our cores to fit with the already existing system we have in ce, and during thetter half, as the name implies, we expand them.

    ¡°And finally, what you call 4th ss. This ss is split into two realms as well, but they are much moreplicated. They are the Law Connection and Law Sea realms. As for the processes of these realms, they don¡¯t need to be described as they are far away from any of us at the moment.

    The more Damien listened, the more he realized that the Cloud ne was a true cultivation world. From meridians to sects to the heavens, all of them were prevalent there. It was as if the concept came from a novel, or maybe the novels were inspired by ces like the Cloud ne.

    After talking some more about the realms, Xiao Zhen spoke about the power structure of the world. There were 5 continents, 4 in each cardinal direction, and one in the center.

    The strongest power of them all was the Jade Heavenly Pce; which ruled the central continent and even had some say in the other 4 continents, which had their own rulers.

    The Jade Heavenly Pce had tens of 4th ss beings in the Law Connection realm, and even a few who entered the Law Sea realm. Meanwhile, powers like the Burning Sun Sect that the old men originated from, which could be considered mid-sized powers, had only a single or a few Law Connection realm experts at best.

    3rd sses, on the other hand, were spread far and wide without rarity. The world was objectively tens of times stronger than Apeiron.

    There were also various major ns and organizations, and too many sects to name, so Damien cut Xiao Zhen off. After all, learning new things as they came was part of the excitement. He just needed a general overview so he wouldn¡¯t stick out like a sore thumb.

    ¡°To be honest, our Burning Sun Sect isn¡¯t suitable for any of you. You¡¯d already be considered at the level of an elder if you joined us. In my opinion, you should join a power in the Central Continent.¡±

    Damien picked up a detail from the tone of his voice. Unlike before, when Xiao Zhen had said only he could join them in the Cloud ne, he now included the girls as well. It seemed the power he disyed during theirst meeting had changed his mind.

    ¡°Alright, there¡¯s no need for more talking then. We already know the powers on the Central Continent, so we can choose which one to join when the timees. For now, let¡¯s go to the world.¡± Damien said.

    And Xiao Zhen agreed. They had alreadypleted their mission on earth, so there was no reason to stay. They only waited an extra few weeks for Damien.

    But Damien suddenly thought of something crucial. ¡°How did you guys even get here in the first ce?¡±

    He could move through space easily without any help, but that was only because he received Celestial as his 3rd ss. It wasn¡¯t extremelymon for people to have this ability, or it¡¯d be impossible for earth to have remained secluded for so many years without outside forces invading.

    Xiao Zhen smiled slightly before walking toward the balcony. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go somewhere secluded first.¡±

    The group flew to an empty in well outside of the city before Xiao Zhen made a motion to take something from his spatial ring.

    sh!

    In front of their eyes stood arge vehicle that was shaped like a mountainous sword. ¡°This is our flying treasure. Therger ones aren¡¯t verymon, but they¡¯ve been handed out by the Jade Heavenly pce to those of us who receive these kinds of missions.

    ¡°Although this treasure is only at the Sky grade, it can still take us to our world in the span of a few months.¡±

    ¡°Only sky grade?¡± Damien asked in confusion. Wasn¡¯t Sky grade the 3rd highest in their entire system?

    ¡°Yes, when ites to flying treasures that can traverse the boundless space, Sky grade is the minimum. Those Heaven grade and the few Divine grade ones in existence are much faster, have more defenses, and can even kill cultivators and the beasts that reside in the darkness with their specialized artillery.¡±

    Damien raised his brow but didn¡¯tment. He knew nothing so it wasn¡¯t his ce.

    Instead, he directly stepped into the massive sword treasure in front of him. It was time to see a new world.

 Chapter 112 - Cloud Plane [2]

    Endless.

    The sea of darkness filled with shining stars that surrounded them was truly endless. It was like looking into a boundless abyss that could swallow everything, yet it was filled with life.

    It had been a month since Damien¡¯s group had left earth en route to the Cloud ne, and they were finally able to see how different the observable universe was from the previous notions on earth.

    The Milky Way Gxy itself was no more. Instead, it had merged with the surrounding areas and created a massive starfield. Most of the gass that inhabited the gxy were nowhere to be seen, and even mars had all but disappeared into the void.

    When Xiao Zhen was asked about this phenomenon, his reply was simple.

    ¡°Not every has the ability to adapt to mana.¡±

    Thoses that didn¡¯t have as much corporeal mass or the ones that couldn¡¯t birth intelligent life weren¡¯t suitable for a universe introduced to mana.

    The world cores of theses weren¡¯t able to grow and facilitate this new energy, which led them to be either banished somewhere else within the infinite void or destroyed without a sound.

    Just thinking about these massive celestial bodies disappearing without a trace sent shivers down the spines of everyone present, but they quickly shook it off. They didn¡¯t have the power nor the ability toprehend suchrge-scale destruction.

    Instead, they focused on the new worlds that inhabited the space around earth. As it turns out, many discovered exs were still remaining in the area but hadn¡¯t developed as earth had.

    There were also countless new worlds radiating life. In the short month that they had been traveling, they had alreadye across 3 other worlds that were either beginner worlds like earth or middle worlds like the Cloud ne.

    These ssifications were also provided by Xiao Zhen. Apparently, they relied on both the mana density and purity and the strength and number of the beings residing in the world.

    Higher worlds, which none of them had ever seen, were said to contain tens of demigods and had ambient mana that would feel heavenly to people like them. But Damien didn¡¯t necessarily believe this.

    The mana purity aside, the fact that there were worlds with suchrge numbers of unascended demigods didn¡¯t sit right with him. Didn¡¯t they want to pursue more power? What would drive them to give up that path to stay within their worlds?

    Still, he tried his best to take his mind off the hypotheticals.

    The flying treasure itself was another marvel for Damien¡¯s group. It was simr to a luxury cruise ship, with many built-in facilities. There were halls filled with bedrooms that could contain a few hundred people if they shared 4 to a room, and training and dining halls as well.

    There was also a sort of recreational center meant for killing boredom. Although Damien didn¡¯t visit it yet, he was slightly curious about what it held. Recreational culture would also differ between worlds.

    However, there was one thing he was most excited about. The ship had its own gravitational field, allowing the people on board to use the balconies attached to their rooms and feel as if they were truly standing alone in the vast space.

    Why was Damien excited about this? Well, it wasn¡¯t simply to sightsee. Rather, it was for training. Damien has known for a while that he could traverse space with his bare body already, and he had been dying to try it.

    The only problem now was that the ship was moving leagues faster than he ever could. If he simply left its premises for a few minutes, he¡¯d get stranded. Although he could warp back on board, he had never tried this skill on an object without a fixed position, so he didn¡¯t want to risk it.

    As he told Rose about this, she reminded him of something crucial.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you just do that yourself through your vector maniption?¡±

    Damien smacked his forehead. His excitement had turned him into an idiot for not thinking of such an easy fix.

    Putting some thought into it, Damien realized that this was an even better option. If he got to control the gravity field, wouldn¡¯t he be able to train as he pleases? Still, vector control drained his mana, so he couldn¡¯t use it to form a continuous field as he had no idea how long he would stay training.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Damien to put his n into motion. The very next day, he left the protection of the flying sword and sat atop its hull. The gravity here was still present, but it didn¡¯t iste the ship as much as the areas on the balconies.

    This was probably due to the fact that the people who designed it didn¡¯t mean for there to be people sitting on this area of the ship.

    Still, this was the perfect environment for Damien. He hadn¡¯t even begun toprehend what dimensional magic could do, and being in outer space was the best ce to do so.

    As he entered a meditative state, Damien felt the presence of arger volume of spatial mana than he¡¯d ever felt before. Well, this was obvious since he was surrounded by the element.

    ¡®Is it even an element? This spatial mana seems to be much stronger and more profound than anything that could merely be called an element.¡¯

    He opened his eyes and tried to see the swirling ambient mana that always colored his vision, but he wasn¡¯t able to do so.

    ¡®Is it because the element is colored ck like the space around me? Or am I too weak to see it?¡¯

    He had the faint feeling it was thetter, but it didn¡¯t make sense to him. His eyes had never failed him before this, so they shouldn¡¯t do so now.

    ¡®No, being overly reliant on them is stupid.¡¯

    Damien shook off his stray thoughts and went back to focusing on his surroundings. The mana around him carried its own ebb and flow, but the space itself was incredibly still.

    He wanted topare the sensation he felt to peeling an onion, but that metaphor didn¡¯t do it justice. There were just too manyyers to call it as such.

    ¡®What is space?¡¯

    He thought he already had a good grasp of the concept, but this experience was proving him wrong.

    ¡®It¡¯s ever-expanding, but it also constricts upon itself. If it copsed, then the result would be chaos. Can time even flow without the presence of space?¡¯

    Time and space were two interconnected concepts. Without space, where would time flow? Time was sometimes said to be a concept only perceived by the mind, and it was something that was perceived differently by many beings.

    Could the difference in the processing speed of the brain contribute to how beings perceive time? Time continued flowing no matter what, it was like an immortal and unbiased river. It listened to no opinion and never slowed down.

    What changed was how people used their time, and how much time they had. Damien remembered the murals on the ancient temple in the Eternal Secret Realm. Those demigods on Apeiron lived for at least ten thousand years.

    How would they perceive time? The measly 21 years he had been alive would only be a drop in the ocean for them. They might even spend a longer period of time simply sitting in meditation as he was doing now.

    ¡®What would people do if they had the ability to stop or even reverse time?¡¯

    Revive the dead? Fix their mistakes? There were plenty of options, but would any of them lead to positive results?

    As he figured before, time was an unbiased concept. It was impossible for someone to manipte it in a single instance solely for their own benefit without affecting anything else. Time was a river, and swimming upstream in that river would inevitably cause massive ripples.

    ¡®But would I still choose to change the past, ignoring these ripples?¡¯

    For Damien, the answer was a resounding no. His fall, the bullying he suffered, and even his father¡¯s disappearance were all events that led him to where he was today as the person he was today.

    Without those events, he wouldn¡¯t have be strong. Without those events, he wouldn¡¯t have met the people he cared about. He might not even have been able to heal his mother.

    But for others? He knew that there were countless people in this ever-expanding universe that would do unspeakable things for the chance to change the past. To turn the wheel of time on a universal scale for such a selfish action was absurd, yet oddly rtable.

    ¡®But what about controlling time within a smaller area? Does this rte back to space?¡¯

    The two concepts went hand in hand. They showcased duality and a bnce in the universe.

    Without space, where would time flow? And without time, how could space expand?

    ¡®Why did I start thinking about time all of a sudden?¡¯

    His thought process had skewed so far from the original goal that he almost forgot he was meditating.

    However, unbeknownst to Damien, two different translucent types of mana began slightly stirring around his body.

 Chapter 113 - Cloud Plane [3]

    6 monthster.

    The massive flying treasure had trekked through tens of star systems and witnessed many amazing sights, varying from deste worlds that were gued with death to worlds made entirely of a single element.

    Stars like the sun were essentially massive balls of fire, but there were even some worlds that were wholly made of water or even lightning.

    Rose and Elena had their horizons broadened by a maddening degree. Both had only seen two worlds in their entire lifetimes, which could already be considered more than any normal person, but now they had been enlightened to the vastness of the universe.

    Currently, they were sitting together at a table in the recreational hall of the ship, trying to relieve their boredom in any way they could.

    They quarreled often, they trained often, and they even livedvishly like empresses for a bit, but their journey was too long for them to find any constant sources of entertainment.

    By now, the two weren¡¯t as opposed to each other as they were when they first met. Even fighting as they used to do could get boring nowadays.

    While space travel was fun in concept, it was always a prolonged endeavor. And the loneliness would have quickly be maddening if they didn¡¯t have each other to talk to.

    ¡°He still hasn¡¯t returned yet?¡± Elena asked with a sigh.

    ¡°Nope,¡± Rose responded, ¡°he used to visit every week or so to chat with us, but for thest 4 months, he hadn¡¯t left his position.¡±

    ¡°Are we sure he didn¡¯t get stranded somewhere on the way?¡±

    ¡°How could that be possible? If it really happened, wouldn¡¯t Zara be going crazy right now?¡± Rose said as she pet the silky fur of the wolf by her side.

    ¡°Hmph! I would be fine without him! He is just my best friend, that¡¯s all!¡± Zarained defiantly, causing both girls tough.

    They both knew that she could only talk like this if she felt his presence clearly.

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t said anything to me for a while, but I can still feel him in the same ce he wasst time.¡±

    The girls sighed as they attempted to peer through the ceiling of the ship.

    ¡®I wonder what he¡¯s up to.¡¯

    Meanwhile, the person in question sat like an ancient monk training his patience. As the girls said, he hadn¡¯t moved from his spot in many months.

    Of the two currents of mana that surrounded his body, one had be a raging torrent while the other had barely changed, in no hurry to make itself known.

    Its presence was negligible to the point where even when Damien paused or reentered his meditation; he never felt its existence.

    Opening his eyes once more, Damien let out a deep sigh.

    ¡®Dimensional magic is¡­insane.¡¯

    It had been 7 whole months since he immersed himself in his training, but he had barely made progress. Well, that wasn¡¯t quite true, but it¡¯s how he felt.

    On the small scale, he had made immense progress. His existing abilities were further developed and he was able to create the next form of his sword art.

    This was the new second form he had been thinking about for a long time. Its main concept was ¡®distance¡¯ and now to influence it through space. Its profundity was much higher than his previous iterations, but since it was a single target attack, he ced it as the new 2nd form of his sword art.

    Since he was creating the art from scratch, this kind of thing was easy. His art focused on fluidity, but not in a sense where the order of moves mattered. Switching from any step to another step needed fluidity, ignoring any barriers.

    The problem was, even with his improvements his dimensional magic skill was stuck at level 1. Even what he would have previously considered as major improvement turned out to not even scratch the surface of this new ability.

    Wondering the true extent of his power, Damien slowly stood up from his position. In the distance, he could see a massive that was slightlyrger than even Apeiron. And judging from the direction of the ship, it was their destination.

    They had finally reached the Cloud ne.

    Damien left his spot on the hull of the ship and joined the others inside. It wasn¡¯t just the girls, but Xiao Zhen and Yin Jian had also gathered.

    ¡°You¡¯ve finally arrived. I take it your training was a sess?¡±

    Damien nodded with a slight smile as he joined the group.

    ¡°Now that we¡¯re here, I have one more detail I need to confirm,¡± Damien said. ¡°Do we need to use fake names, or will we be fine as is?¡±

    Xiao Zhen pondered for a bit but shook his head in the end. ¡°It should be unnecessary. Although our names tend to bear simrities to the ones you call Chinese in your homeworld, it isn¡¯t umon for others to exist.

    ¡°There are a plethora of cultures in our world, some even sharing simrities with your own. And, since you will be headed for the central continent, you will find argely mixed poption. It¡¯s thergest and most advanced of the 5 continents, and it¡¯s a ce where many cultures converge.¡±

    Damien nodded, hiding the slightly disappointed look in his eyes. ¡®It would have been fun to be Tian Long or Yang Lintian or something.¡¯

    Cultivation was one of Damien¡¯s favorite genres back in the day, so he held a decent amount of excitement to act as they did in those novels, but he shook away these thoughts.

    ¡®If my name is normal in this world, I can still do all of those things. First on the bucket list, offend a young master. Second on the bucket list, procure a jade beauty!¡¯

    As he thought nonsensical things, the flying ship entered the atmosphere of the Cloud ne.

    Surprisingly, the mana density was a bit lower than that of Apeiron, but not by a noticeable amount. Damien could only tell since he was already connected to a world core. This connection made him more sensitive toward ambient mana.

    ¡®This must be due to cultivation. With arge amount of the popce spending prolonged periods simply absorbing ambient mana in ce of the usual method for gaining experience, the is bound to encounter setbacks.¡¯

    Damien nced at Xiao Zhen. ¡®Well, with conditions like this, I can understand the need to usurp mana from others. Luckily, this world has a strong divide between the righteous and wicked path, with the righteous sects being in control.¡¯

    The righteous and wicked path were terms Damien had learned of not too long ago. While both paths were viable to gain strength, their differencey mainly in morality.

    Wicked path cultivators weren¡¯t averse tomitting genocide and mass ughters for their own gains. They also practiced what was called ¡®vile techniques and manuals¡¯. These cultivation manuals would use various means to quickly increase strength, sacrificing foundation in the process.

    Some of these manuals even allowed people to steal experience from others, though they were rarely effective. The ones that could do this efficiently would most likely be considered as Divine Grade manuals, but the ones most people used obviously didn¡¯t reach this level.

    As such, they needed more victims to proceed in their path to strength, leading to the aforementioned vile acts.

    Damien didn¡¯t want to imagine what would have happened to earth if wicked path cultivators were more prevalent in this world.

    The righteous path could be considered as people with even the slightest bit of morality. Though, Damien didn¡¯t believe this. From what he had read and experienced, the righteous path was usually just filled with people who schemed in the shadows rather than in the open.

    Well, he didn¡¯t want to generalize, as he was aware that there would be plenty of truly righteous people within this ssification, while most of them would fall in the grey area like him. He also didn¡¯t mind people scheming in the dark. If anything, they¡¯d help him grow his political sense and logical thinking.

    At the peak of these people stood the Jade Heavenly Pce. Its name was grandiose enough, but its status was even bigger. If the Jade Heavenly Pce told people to go right, there were very few who would dare to go left.

    ¡®Should I aim to join them?¡¯

    He definitely considered it, but he had just arrived in the world. It would be stupid to make a decision purely based on hearsay.

    While he tried to think logically, the ship finallynded on the ground outside of a massive city. The city itself was surrounded by arge wall, presumably to keep out beasts, and its whole aesthetic screamed mes.

    ¡°Wee to our Burning Sun Sect.¡± Xiao Zhen said as the door to the flying treasure opened. Smiling lightly as the varied scenes of the area were revealed, he continued.

    ¡°And more importantly, wee to our Cloud ne.¡±

 Chapter 114 - Central Continent [1]

    Damien looked at his surroundings with clear curiosity.

    At the moment, Damien¡¯s group was on the western continent where the Burning Sun Sect was located, as this was where Xiao Zhen and Yin Jian were headed. And just from the sight of the city in front of them, Damien could tell how much eastern influence this world contained.

    Well, it couldn¡¯t necessarily be called influence since the two worlds were never rted, but to him who was raised on earth, the sight of pagodas and eastern style architecture felt that way.

    But he felt that something was off.

    It wasn¡¯t the scenery itself that was different, rather there was something about the vibe that set the Cloud ne apart from the other two worlds Damien had been to.

    He could feel it in the air he was breathing, it was like this world contained a spirituality that Apeiron didn¡¯t, let alone earth.

    Earth was new to mana and the new observable universe, so it didn¡¯t contain this type of uniqueness. As for Apeiron, he hadn¡¯t noticed the difference until he stepped into the Cloud ne.

    He had assumed it was just the increased quality of the ambient mana, but it wasn¡¯t just that. Apeiron¡¯s atmosphere gave a peaceful yet adventurous feeling that piqued Damien¡¯s interest. Meanwhile, the Cloud ne¡¯s atmosphere felt more ruthless and thirsting for strength.

    Something about this atmosphere enthralled Damien, making his blood boil. There was no way this entire world was in a constant state of violence, but he felt that the amount of conflict and pressure he could encounter would be leagues ahead of Apeiron.

    Currently, Damien¡¯s group had already separated from Xiao Zhen, as their cooperation finished when they arrived in the world.

    With Yin Jian holding a slight grudge against them and Xiao Zhen having responsibilities within the sect, they most likely wouldn¡¯t meet again for a while, if ever.

    ¡°So, does anyone have ideas for how we should proceed?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Hmm, judging from what we learned previously, we won¡¯t find any challenges on the 4 smaller continents, since we already qualify as elders in these mid-sized sects. It¡¯s best if we head straight to the central continent.¡± Rose responded.

    ¡°Yeah, I also think we should go straight there. I won¡¯t get the chance to improve myself unless I experience some serious pressure.¡± Elena chimed in with a resolute expression.

    Out of the three of them, Elena was the one least in her element. Everything that had happened in the past few months was simply surreal to her.

    Only during their extended trip to reach the Cloud ne did reality finally sink in.

    First, she met Damien again. When ites to him, she always tended to subconsciously avoid any issues. She had built a strong determination to meet him again that almost bordered on insanity, and driving this determination was her feelings for him.

    But when they met, he brought back a woman of his own. She was crushed but did her best to put up a strong front. She started avoiding her strong emotions for him as they slowly settled back into the rtionship they used to have.

    Yet, things weren¡¯t the same. Damien wasn¡¯t the same kid he was back then. He was always focused on something else, rarely ever having fun like he used to, and his entire personality seemed to shift towards something more indifferent.

    She missed the old Damien, but she didn¡¯t say anything about it. Did she even have the right to? She had no idea what he had experienced in the 4 years they had been apart, but she knew it was extreme.

    And so, she once again evaded the issue. She continued to live life like they did until the Niflheim infiltration. At that point, she felt both excitement and terror.

    She thoroughly enjoyed the new feeling that came with entering danger with allies, but she also got the chance to realize the vastness and cruelty of the universe.

    The scenes she saw that day still haunted her dreams sometimes, but she still ignored them.

    And after that, she traveled to a new world, saw its sights, was given a new sword, and even dined with a being whose strength seemed unfathomable.

    Throughout every ordeal, she just went with the flow. She decided not to think too deeply about things since she felt her brain would overheat if she tried.

    That is until she ended up on a spaceship to another world. She was given 7 months to herself, where her onlypany was Rose and Zara.

    During those 7 months, everything came crashing down on her. The reality she tried her hardest to evade finally caught up to her. As she looked out the massive windows of the ship and saw the glimmer of stars that surrounded it, she realized that in a simple 2 months, her life had flipped upside down.

    She wasn¡¯t okay with the fact that Damien was with someone that wasn¡¯t her, but could shein? Frankly, she liked Rose too, even if it was just as a friend, she finally got to experience what it was like to have a rival.

    Sometimes, she would wish that Rose was more arrogant and hateful so she could justify her intrusive thoughts, but she forcefully suppressed that emotion. She didn¡¯t want to be some stereotypical envious girl.

    She tried her hardest to revert to just being Damien¡¯s friend, to be someone he could rely on, but was it ever a simple task to do so? Her crush on him had sprouted when they were still children. One could imagine how much those feelings evolved when she harbored them for 10 years.

    She was also made painstakingly aware of her own weakness. Even though Damien and Rose never said anything about it, even including her when they could, their subtle actions made her understand the gap.

    The fact that they almost didn¡¯t allow her toe with them on this adventure was testament to this. She was weak, and still in 2nd ss while they were in 3rd.

    She saw their power when they fought the dark imps of Niflheim, and she also saw how unhesitant Damien was to kill. She knew that her current mindset wouldn¡¯t cut it in the future.

    She had only recently learned about mana circuits, and in a bid for strength, had created her own during the trip to the Cloud ne.

    While Elena was happy, she also hated her situation. And when she thought of how she could change it¡­

    ¡®Strength.¡¯

    This was the only thing that came to mind. If she was stronger, she could walk side by side with her friends, and if she was stronger, she could make her own decisions and be respected. Even if it was out of concern for her safety, Elena hated being patronized.

    And so, she made it her goal to both catch up and surpass at least Rose on this trip to the Cloud ne. She was aware that they¡¯d be separating from Damienter, but she wasn¡¯t worried. All this meant was that she had to grow enough to impress him when they reunited.

    And then maybe¡­

    She shook off the thought, thinking it nonsensical. In the end, nothing else mattered until she could contend with the others.

    Elena was firm in her resolve. Unlike their 4 years when she gained strength for Damien¡¯s sake, or to make sure she wouldn¡¯t end up in a simr situation again, this time she was doing it for herself.

    Sure, she wanted to be recognized, and sure she wanted to be praised, but this was all secondary. She wanted strength so she could achieve what she wanted when she wanted.

    It wasn¡¯t a grand goal, but it was a resolute one. It was a goal that she could follow until she reached the apex. And now that she finally had a direction, all that was left was to implement it.

    ¡°Elena, you there?¡±

    Elena was snapped out of her thoughts by arge hand that was continuously patting her face.

    ¡°I¡¯m here, I¡¯m here! Stop being a weirdo!¡± She said as she pped it away. The hand was naturally Damien¡¯s.

    ¡°Ah, sorry you were just spacing out for a while. It looks like we¡¯ve finally reached the sea.¡±

    Only then did Elena notice her surroundings. While she was in thought, their previous conversation had already ended. They made their way to the edge of the western continent to reach the sea before flying, but Elena was only following them subconsciously.

    Now that she was woken from her thoughts, she was finally able to appreciate her surroundings.

    The rolling waves of the massive body of water brushed against the sandy shore of the continent. This was the Cloud Sea of the Cloud ne. The body of water took up much more of the world than the continents, so it was named after the world itself.

    Crossing this vast sea, the group would reach the central continent, where their journey would begin. Watching the calming scene in front of her, Elena only had a single thought.

    ¡®I will surpass everything.¡¯

 Chapter 115 - Central Continent [2]

    The Cloud Sea was expansive to the point where many cultivators didn¡¯t have the ability to cross the whole thing, leaving them stuck on their own continents.

    In the first ce, the 4 peripheral continents of the Cloud ne were vast enough to where there wouldn¡¯t be a need to leave them if one didn¡¯t aspire to, so there weren¡¯t many that tried.

    But of those who tried, very few were able to seed. Besides the distance that could diminish the mana pool of anyone attempting to cross the whole thing in one go, there were also the dangers of the sea itself.

    It wasn¡¯t just earth where sea monsters ran rampant, if anything earth was a beginner example of this. For worlds as old as the Cloud ne, the sea was bound to be even more terrifying.

    However, there were ships that people used to ferry to the different continents, but they were extremely rare and meant for only those in the upper ss of society.

    Luckily, the sea monsters that resided near the surface were usually at the peak of 3rd ss at their strongest, so such a service was possible. But the risk of a much stronger sea monster rising from the depths was always present. Nobody could guarantee absolute safety within the Cloud Sea.

    Currently, Damien¡¯s group was experiencing these dangers firsthand. Zara was flying at a high altitude, causing the sea monsters to be unable to reach them, but it didn¡¯t stop them from trying.

    They would often see massive beasts, some resembling animals of earth while some werepletely mythological, jumping towards them, trying to swallow them whole.

    The sight was frankly amazing to watch. Especially since almost everyone in the group couldbat these monsters alone, they took the experience as a show.

    But they didn¡¯t drop their guard. Xiao Zhen had warned them about the Cloud Sea and the monsters residing within it, pointing out one beast in particr.

    ¡°If you ever see a storm charging towards you, always run in the opposite direction.¡± He had said. ¡°That is no natural storm, it is one of the massive sea dragons that will asionally surface to hunt prey.¡±

    The sea dragons were described more like huge snakesrger than most buildings, but they still fell into the category of eastern dragons.

    And while they were told to avoid them at all costs, Damien was anticipating the encounter, if it ever came. He had met a wyvern at the beginning of his journey, but he hadn¡¯t met anything that could be confidently called a dragon.

    And a dragon was something he desperately wanted to meet, and potentially devour.

    Not even mentioning his skill, Damien hadn¡¯t evolved his body in a very long time. There simply weren¡¯t any suitable beasts to do so. Besides, at the level they had reached now, beasts were intelligent lifeforms who wouldn¡¯t wantonly seek conflict.

    ¡®Well, if it¡¯s conflict I want, I should be able to find plenty in the central continent.¡¯

    The central continent¡¯s major forces were mainly split into the 5 sects and 4 major ns.

    These sects were the Azure Lotus Sect, the Divine Dragon Temple, the Supreme Fairy Paradise, the Celestial Star Pce, and finally, and the Jade Heavenly Pce.

    The 4 major ns of the Central Continent were the Wang, Shi, Xue, and Long ns.

    Unlike the 4 major ns, which were rtively equal in strength, the sects had a ranking for themselves that followed the aforementioned order fromst to first.

    They were based on the number and strength of disciples and the sects¡¯ cement in both the secret realm and regional tournament events.

    Sadly, the regional tournament was still 5 years away, so Damien most likely wouldn¡¯t get topete in it, but he wasn¡¯t aware of the date when the secret realm opened.

    He already had experience in a secret realm, so he was excited at the prospect of entering another one.

    There were tens of smaller sects within the continent as well, but they were rarely mentioned, as their disciples came mainly from those who failed to get epted into the top 5 sects.

    Besides them, there was also an alchemy guild, whose influence spanned all 5 continents, as well as other auxiliary forces. However, these forces didn¡¯t strictly require loyalty, as one could join them even while being in a sect.

    Damien had also heard about a Mercenary Guild that functioned simr to the adventurers guild on Apeiron, but its influence wasn¡¯t near asrge. It was counted among those previously mentioned auxiliary powers.

    Suddenly, Damien opened his inventory and took out a small piece of crystal that Xiao Zhen gave him.

    ¡®Who would¡¯ve thought that spirit stones actually exist.¡¯

    The currency of this cultivation world was actually spirit stones, however, they weren¡¯t exactly as they had been written in the countless cultivation novels he had read.

    They were made of crystallized mana, but they weren¡¯t rare in the slightest. It seems this world produced them from the very start when it was introduced to mana.

    Spirit stones couldn¡¯t be used to raise cultivation or mana capacity though, as the mana inside of them wasn¡¯t pure at all. It was contaminated with various other forms of energy that resulted in the clear crystals that became known as spirit stones.

    Even without exnation, Damien was able to figure this out. After all, he had personally crystallized pure mana and seen its appearance and ability. Those mana beads he made worked likepressed bombs rather than harmless currency.

    As Damien slowly took his attention away from the spirit stone in his hand, he noticed the shadow ofnd in the distance. While they weren¡¯t exactly close, they weren¡¯t far at all.

    Truthfully, he thought they¡¯d be in for another month of traveling, but Zara¡¯s speed made the trip much more convenient. It had only been a week, but he projected that they¡¯d reach their destination in another day¡¯s time.

    However, it was as if the heavens didn¡¯t want them to have a smooth journey. How could they cross the Cloud Sea peacefully when everyone else was forced to struggle?

    From the distance, a massive storm approached them. It looked like a hurricane, with swirling winds whose speed reached the level where they could shred any weaker being, raging lighting that evaporated the seawater it touched, and roaring waves whose height reached the level of tsunamis.

    It was a true natural disaster, yet there was nothing natural about it. In the middle of that storm, Damien could make out a massive shadow that silently swam through the air.

    ¡°The Cloud Sea¡¯s famous sea dragon, huh. They have the innate ability to control the weather, and their affinity lies in water and lightning. If one meets a sea dragon on their voyage, their only option is to pray for a quick death.¡±

    Elena and Rose looked at the iing storm in trepidation. Although they had some confidence that they could win the battle if they worked together, it didn¡¯t suppress the innate fear they felt as they watched the scene in front of them.

    ¡°Damien, it might be best if we speed up our journey so we don¡¯t encounter that thing. It looks like it¡¯ll be too close of a shave for us.¡±

    However, Damien¡¯s thoughts didn¡¯t align with this notion in the slightest. He suddenly felt a thirst that he hadn¡¯t felt in a while, maybe even since his days within the dungeon.

    His eyes began to change, with the blood-red color overtaking the amethyst that it usually calmly interacted with. His teeth elongated into fangs, and his fingers did the same into ws.

    His muscles tensed, and his throat felt hot. He felt the undeniable urge to roar into the heavens. His blood boiled as if there was something within him that refused to retreat from this encounter.

    And there was. The traits he had gained from the wyvern felt challenged by this beast that was also descended from dragons. It felt the need to establish dominance over the sea dragon.

    Damien¡¯s aura began to shift, its color mimicking the blood red of his eyes, as his bloodlust leaked, grabbing the attention of the sea dragon.

    Sensing its gaze, Damien¡¯s excitement grew as a certain feeling pricked at his intuition.

    It was a sense he had long forgotten due to its inactivity over the past few years.

    It was the sense that told him when he would benefit from devouring his prey.

    ¡®That power, I want it.¡¯

 Chapter 116 - Central Continent [3]

    Boom!

    It wasn¡¯t the sound of an explosion or impact, but the sound of the shockwave released when Damien catapulted himself towards the raging storm in the distance.

    He could no longer wait for the uingbat.

    Sensing the bloodthirsty aura approaching it, the sea dragon roared in fury.

    ¡°Human! You dare challenge me within my own domain?!¡±

    Damien responded with a wild grin as he reached the outer edge of the storm, thrusting himself into it without an ounce of hesitation.

    The entire sequence of events took ce in mere seconds, leaving the girls stunned without the ability to react.

    ¡°Hey, big guy, why don¡¯t you give me a good fight!¡± Damien yelled.

    ¡°Hmph! I¡¯ll show you what happens to those who dare challenge my authority!¡±

    The sea raged as the waves transformed into massive tornadoes that wildly moved through the storm. The lightning that had been randomly striking the sea began concentrating on Damien¡¯s location.

    Boom! Boom!

    Everywhere he went, he was greeted with another lightning bolt, but Damien didn¡¯t seem to care. His entire being radiated that blood-red color that craved destruction.

    ck lightning began crackling around his body. Unlike his previous lightning, this new iteration seemed much more threatening and wild.

    He didn¡¯t even try to aim, randomly discharging the lightning into the space around him to counter any attack thrown his way. At this point, he still hadn¡¯t seen the sea dragon¡¯s true appearance, only the faint shadow that presented itself within the storm.

    As Damien dodged another lightning bolt, a tornado of swirling water charged in his direction, enveloping him within it.

    Within the tornado, Damien was subjected to countless des of water that barraged him from every side. It was clear that the dragon¡¯s strength was above his, as the damage it could do to him was quite severe.

    Cuts began umting on his body, but Damienughed it off. He could feel his body regenerating, albeit slightly slower than the rate of injury.

    Realizing that if he simply charged out of the tornado he¡¯d get shredded, Damien summoned his sword before taking his stance.

    He widened his legs and bent his knees slightly, crouching in mid-air while his arm holding the sword pulled back, keeping the sword angled perfectly horizontal.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Second Step: Horizon Break¡¯

    Boom!

    Damien¡¯s sword flickered as he thrust his arm forward, causing a massive hole to be punched into the tornado. Damien rushed out of this opening, smiling at the potential of his new attack.

    However, he wasn¡¯t given a moment of rest. The second he left the tornado, he was barraged by a series of lightning bolts, as if the heavens wanted to smite him.

    Boooom!

    He avoided as many as he could, but some still hit their mark. Damien was flung back and his shirt was torn open, revealing the massive burn mark that had appeared on his chest.

    Still, Damien was grinning from ear to ear. He wasn¡¯t a masochist by any definition of the word, but he was finally in a fight that he wouldn¡¯t automatically win.

    Deciding that he had enough fun with the storm, Damien charged for the sea dragon. He abused his teleportation, spazzing from one area to another with seemingly no pattern.

    ¡°Human! Stop running and die for me!¡±

    The sea dragon was losing its temper, but before it could do anything, it felt imminent danger. It quickly twisted its massive body at an impossible angle, watching arge gash be torn in the haze where it had been residing.

    ¡®Void Sword Art First Step: deless¡¯

    Now that he had reached a new level of destructiveness, especially after his training in outer space, the possibilities for deless were immense. Yet, Damien used its most primal form, puttingrge amounts of mana into the strike to erge its target radius.

    With the haze removed, he finally got a good look at the sea dragon. Well, serpent was a better word to describe it. It wasrger than even Zara, with its length being around 100 meters, and its entire body was covered in shining green scales.

    It had no limbs, and its resemnce to dragons resided in its head. It looked like a knockoff version of a Chinese dragon, just massive and terrifying.

    ¡°You dare?!¡± It spoke once again. Not once had it met someone who could make it past the storm.

    But it wasn¡¯t weak without the storm. On the contrary, its abilities hadn¡¯t even been showcased yet.

    Now that he had a clear picture of his opponent, Damien went straight for its head. He wanted to slice it off in one go, but that was never an option.

    The sea dragon whipped its tail, causing a loud p as the air around it was pushed in on itself. Instead of teleporting away like he logically should, Damien met the tail head-on.

    He charged mana into his fist as quickly as he could, sending his mana circuits into overdrive as he punched out.

    When the two came in contact, another explosion resounded through the area. The tail was pushed back, cracks evident in its scales, while Damien was flung much further.

    His arm was dangling by his side, seemingly not functional anymore. His bones had been shattered in the collision, almost to the point of no recovery, but Damien was able to offset some of the damage at thest second.

    The sea dragon was surprised that the human in front of it had survived that collision, but it shook off its thoughts. It was already getting bored of this battle, so it wanted to end it as soon as possible.

    ¡°Human, let me show you what it means to face a dragon!¡±

    The sea dragon opened its mouth, gathering mana within it. A massive cerulean blue ball of water mana began forming within its jaws.

    ¡®It¡¯s going to use a breath attack.¡¯ Damien thought. ¡®Then, let¡¯spare that as well.¡¯

    He hadn¡¯t used his breath in a very long time, and he hadn¡¯t seen its capability after the change in his affinities, so he was anticipating the next sh.

    Just like the dragon, Damien began inhaling a massive breath. A translucent hey destructive mana gathered within his jaws as ck streaks crackled along its surface.

    The two remained stationary, staring at each other with ferocious eyes as their attacks charged. Maybe it was out of respect, challenge, or because neither could be bothered, but they didn¡¯t interrupt each other in the slightest. And then¡­

    Two resounding roars shook the Cloud Sea. A beam of striking blue energy that looked eerily simr to aser and a beam of translucent energy crackling with ck light collided with each other.

    BOOOM!

    An explosion like no other was produced at their collision, but neither seemed willing to back down. They continued pushing at each other, attempting to overpower the other before their energy diminished.

    The sheer heat generated by the collision was enough to damage both of them. The scales on the sea dragon¡¯s neck began to melt, while Damien¡¯s skin also started to blister. If one looked closely, one would be able to see the red muscles underneath.

    But he wasn¡¯t even close to done. Even while the collision of the energy beams was ongoing, Damien teleported onto the dragon¡¯s head. Finding a crack in the scales, he thrust his sword down.

    ¡®Void Sword Art 4th Step: Spatial Copse¡¯

    He initiated spatial copse within the dragon¡¯s skin. Instead of the atmosphere twisting, it was the dragon¡¯s body itself.

    ¡°ROOOAAARR!¡±

    The dragon released a roar of agony at this feeling. It couldn¡¯t allow this human to continue, or it might truly die.

    The sky began to rumble as thunderclouds formed above the two. Without suspense, tens of lightning bolts began raining down.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Unlike before, Damien didn¡¯t even try to dodge. He stood firm on the dragon¡¯s head, pouring more mana into the spatial copse as the lightning impacted his body.

    His head felt fuzzy, his skin was burned off, and even his muscles began to melt due to the heat. Yet, he stood strong.

    If he didn¡¯t have innate lightning resistance because of his own affinity, he¡¯d have been reduced to ashes already. But that was only a hypothetical scenario.

    ¡°AAARRRGH!¡±

    Damien roared in pain, but he didn¡¯t budge. Grasping his sword with both hands, he twisted it within the wound, causing it to expand.

    Not wanting to stay stationary and be bombarded, he used all his strength, even using some mana to enhance himself, and dragged his sword through the dragon¡¯s body, carving a massive gash into its flesh.

    When he met with scales, he used sheet power and heat to ze through them. He ignored everything else, only wanting to kill this damn beast.

    His body tried its best to regenerate, but it was piling damage too fast for it to work effectively. For the first time since the dungeon, Damien began umting scars.

    Pressurized jets of water shot towards him, drilling holes into his already breaking body, but he didn¡¯t care. He twisted his de once more, deepening the wound he was causing.

    The dragon no longer had the ability to roar. Its internal organs had already been ruptured by the spatial copse, and with the positioning of the sword, its brain was next. If it didn¡¯t do anything, it¡¯d die here.

    The storm¡¯s ferocity increased, leaving Damien¡¯s regeneration insignificant. Both opponents were fighting death.

    Damien¡¯s eyes were filled with a light of madness. Something was driving him to these insane lengths, but he was none the wiser. He felt the pain and he felt the threat of death, but it only made his blood boil with excitement.

    The battle seemed at a standstill, with both opponents knocking on death¡¯s door, but Damien still had a card up his sleeve. A bright me enveloped his de, its heat melting even the air around it. With this final push, Damien cut through the dragon¡¯s skull like butter.

    Crack!

    One final sound resounded in the area before everything went quiet. In the deafening silence that followed, only a single word could be heard.

    ¡°Devour.¡±

 Chapter 117 - Central Continent [4]

    The transition from the intense life-or-death battle to the point when everything ended was so drastic that the girls couldn¡¯t make heads or tails out of the whole situation.

    They only knew the intense fear they had felt from seeing Damien¡¯s condition. Even if it had been a while, Damien was still ustomed to the perilous situation that he had just gone through, so from his perspective, it was just an entertaining fight.

    To the girls who had only ever seen him dominate his opponents, though, the shock factor was intense. Realistically, he had almost died in that fight.

    His skin was torn off, his muscles were melting, and his regeneration ceased to function, but he took all the pain with a grin on his face. It was truly harrowing.

    ¡®What does someone have to experience to shoulder that kind of pain with a smile?¡¯

    The same thought was running through both Rose and Elena¡¯s minds. Rose especially was told the story of what happened to him in the dungeon, but hearing about it and seeing first hand was different.

    He was bestial and insane during the fight. His aura and entire personality had gone through an immense change. He was like a different person, a person none of them had seen before.

    The only one rtively unaffected by the situation was Zara. Since she had been with him during many of the intense fights he went through in the dungeon, this wasn¡¯t anything new to her.

    She had also seen him at his worst when his humanity had all but escaped him, so she saw this behavior as normal.

    Her emotional intelligence hadn¡¯t reached a level where she could tell that this change was concerning.

    Damien had been slowly improving. Either that, or he had sessfully suppressed his insanity after prolonged periods of human contact. But it wasn¡¯t something he could simply get rid of.

    Especially when he finally met an opponent that could challenge him and a beast that could grant him another trait, he lost himself.

    Even now, after the battle had ended, he stood atop the sea dragon¡¯s corpse with the same light in his eyes. The light of mania. His muscles and skin were already healing, but they didn¡¯t look as pristine as they once did.

    Due to the fact that his regeneration had failed, the scars and burns of the battle stayed with him. Albeit they weren¡¯t grotesque and were instead faded as if they were years old, they were still present.

    It was then that the girls heard Damien speak. In his voice which was still hoarse due to his vocal cords being slightly fried, he said that single word.

    ¡°Devour.¡±

    An abyssal ck fog materialized around him, wrapping around the sea dragon¡¯s head before expanding and covering its entire body. Slowly but surely, the corpse began to vaporize into motes of energy.

    As the energy entered his body, Damien once again went through a change. His organs, which had already been refined, were broken down and restructured to be more suitable forbat.

    A strong outer defense wasn¡¯t enough to get by. Even if the damage of an attack was negated, the force of its impact could still rattle the internals and kill a cultivator easily.

    Along with the hardening of his organs, the other areas of his body began to change as well. Unlike his previous evolutions that were mostly centered around one area to house the new trait he gained, this one was different. The storm trait of the sea dragon wasn¡¯t something that was concentrated on a single area of the body.

    But something interesting started to ur in his blood. Damien¡¯s beast bloodline was something he gained through his first mutation, and due to this it wasn¡¯tplete and evolved into something new every time he devoured a suitable beast.

    Thest time it experienced this kind of evolution was when he devoured the wyvern on the 40th floor and being the most powerful beast he evolved from until that point, its bloodline took priority.

    And now, Damien had devoured another subspecies of dragons. When the two bloodlines came into contact with each other, they immediately reacted negatively, seemingly fighting each other for dominance.

    Damien¡¯s blood literally boiled at the collision between the two prideful sources, causing his body to jerk and stiffen from pain. It wasn¡¯t an external impact this time, but his own body fighting itself.

    His veins bulged as he clenched his teeth, grinding them together hard enough to produce an audible sound. His body began to spasm as his blood burned. However, this collision wasn¡¯t allowed to continue for long.

    In some unknown location within him, Damien¡¯s Void Physique became active, sending its essence into his bloodstream. The second this essence met the two opposing bloodlines, they instantly calmed down.

    The effect was magical. The adverse reaction he was having stopped abruptly as his two dragon bloodlines began to calmly fuse under the guidance of this new essence.

    His eyes widened as his usual cross-shaped pupils continuously alternated to a more vertical and reptilian shape.

    Two bumps formed in Damien¡¯s skull, causing protrusions in his forehead that his skin couldn¡¯t contain. It quickly burst, letting two de-like horns erupt. However, they were quickly evaporated into essence and returned to his body.

    The same happened with his skin. It hardened and separated into shining ink-colored scales before returning to normal. Now that his beast bloodline had tipped towards bing a wholly dragon bloodline, the physical traits threatened to show themselves.

    Yet, his Void Physique continued to disallow it. Any external changes to his body were destroyed and turned into energy to supplement the strengthening of his physical body.

    As the evolution process came to an end, any liquid within his body began to churn. Logically, this should have caused more pain, but that didn¡¯t ur in the slightest.

    Instead, the churning seemingly empowered him. It felt simr to the sensation of extreme anticipation, making Damien want to roar into the heavens.

    And so, he did.

    The seas raged and storm clouds gathered in his vicinity. Thick ck streaks of lightning danced through the air. Whirlpools formed in the water below him and the waves once again peaked.

    No sea monster dared to go near the area. Even the ones who had nned to investigate after sensing the disappearance of the sea dragon¡¯s aura hesitated.

    The storm was much smaller than the previous one, but its intensity didn¡¯t lose out in the slightest. But after only 10 brief minutes, the entire thing subsided.

    Damien slowly opened his eyes feeling refreshed. He hadn¡¯t felt such excitement in a very long time, not even during his time infiltrating Niflheim. These kinds of head-on collisions were his favorite.

    With his battle finished, Damien flew back to the area where the girls were watching, not even aware of his changed state during battle. The blood-red aura had receded, and his eyes had returned to their usual yin-yang pattern of red and amethyst.

    He interpreted the extreme urge to kill that he had experienced as the thirst for battle he hadn¡¯t felt in so long, subconsciously avoiding the subject.

    Reaching the girls, Damien let out a light smile. ¡°Let¡¯s get to drynd now, shall we?¡±

    Rose and Elena had a mountain of questions they wanted to ask, but seeing that he was stable again, they didn¡¯t want to push it.

    ¡®I have no idea what triggered that state, and I don¡¯t want to bring it up and induce such a thing again.¡¯ Rose thought.

    She knew there was a problem, but she had no idea how to fix it. It was something that they¡¯d need to talk about at another time, but that wasn¡¯t now.

    Meanwhile, Zara was simply excited. ¡°That was awesome! Watch, I¡¯ll be able to do something cool like that, too!¡±

    Damien smiled as he patted her soft fur. ¡°I¡¯m sure you will.¡±

    Even after so long, he had no idea what her bloodline was, and this spoke volumes. An unknown yet powerful bloodline would surely grant her an overpowered trait. And the fact that she hadn¡¯t received one yet was testament to this fact.

    The group flew in rtive peace for the next day, everyone in their own thoughts as they reached their destination and set foot on drynd once more.

    ¡®Finally, the Central Continent.¡¯

 Chapter 118 - Separation [1]

    Unlike the sandy beaches of the Western Continent, the Central continent bordered the Cloud Sea with massive overarching cliffs. The waves of the sea crashed against these cliffs and created spiraling patterns on its surface.

    Landing on tnd, Damien and the girls took a moment to appreciate the air they were now surrounded with. It was odd that there wasn¡¯t a gradient that led to the change in atmosphere, but they didn¡¯t focus on this point.

    Instead, they focused on the cleanliness and elevating feeling the mana contained. It still contained that underlying message that the entire Cloud ne followed, but its vibe was much loftier.

    ¡°It¡¯s crazy to see how different the feeling of mana is in different ces,¡± Elenamented.

    Rose nodded. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s more obvious here since there are multiple continents unlike Apeiron, but it really makes you wonder if mana is just a random energy that simply exists.¡±

    ¡°Are you trying to say that mana might contain some sentience?¡± Damien asked, intrigued by the concept.

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not sure exactly, but doesn¡¯t the records have at least a basic level of sentience to urately manage every being in existence and cater to their individuality?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that makes sense. Still, I don¡¯t think any of us are qualified to ask such questions. There¡¯s that old saying about the truth being too dangerous for a reason.¡±

    The other two nodded in agreement. Sometimes, knowing things could hurt more than it helped. It could dete one¡¯s confidence and drive, and also drive them into despair depending on the truth they learned.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s not focus on such an ethereal concept at the moment. We need to figure out the direction we want to take from here.¡±

    At the mention of the future, Rose¡¯s expression became slightly pained. Although she was supportive of Damien, it didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t want to stay with him. She had much more fun adventuring together with him than when she was alone.

    Turning to Elena, she smiled lightly. ¡°Hmph, since you¡¯re going off on your own, I¡¯ll just have to settle with little Elena over here.¡±

    ¡°Who are you calling little?¡± Elena challenged as she puffed out her chest. She was slightly taller than Rose, so with this move, she was able to slightly look down on her.

    ¡°Just because you¡¯re taller doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t call you little!¡± Rose responded with her gaze focused on a certain area.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    As the two squabbled, Damien ended up looking in the other direction. Why did they have to bring up that kind of thing around him? If he inserted himself into the conversation, he would probably bebeled a pervert, but he felt that interrupting them would make him a buzz kill.

    ¡®Sigh, we probably should¡¯ve asked for a map or something before we left the western continent.¡¯

    They were in too much of a hurry to leave that they had disregarded some small conveniences like directions.

    ¡®Well, I guess I¡¯ll just let fate lead me or something.¡¯

    Damien already had a goal in mind once he heard about the power structure of the central continent. Rather than the Jade Heavenly Pce, he was more interested in the Celestial Star Pce. After all, just from its name alone, he felt it was more suited to him.

    ¡°Are you guys nning to join a sect?¡± He suddenly asked, curious about the girls¡¯ decision.

    Elena was the one to speak up first. ¡°Mhm, we talked about it and decided we will head to the Supreme Fairy Paradise.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Rose continued, ¡°the sect only epts females, so we won¡¯t have to worry about any annoying young master tropes that¡¯ll cause us more trouble in the long run.¡±

    Damien raised his brow. It turns out Rose had graduated from strictly watching anime and had read some novels in her time on earth as well.

    ¡°You should still be careful, though. Even if you can evade the young masters, you¡¯ll still be subject to plenty of jealousy with your talents. Both of you need to stay cautious even within the sect.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry. We can take care of ourselves, I thought we already proved that.¡±

    Damien smiled wryly. Even if he knew their strength, he was allowed to worry, right? Still, he was d they had confidence in themselves.

    ¡°If this world is anything like what we¡¯ve read, arrogance is a good quality to have as long as we don¡¯t try to challenge the heavens as ants. Keep your heads high and bow to nobody unless they have earned your respect.¡±

    There was definitely something mysterious about earth. If it was just some fantasy novels, he could ept the coincidence, but the various genres and various theologies around the world were resemnt to real worlds that existed in the observable universe.

    But earth wasn¡¯t in contact with mana before a decade ago, so it should¡¯ve been impossible for this to ur. But from Damien¡¯s experience in Apeiron, the fiction on earth was generally urate in its tellings of other worlds, at least when it came to power structure.

    But even as someone who bound the earth¡¯s world core, he didn¡¯t have the answers.

    ¡®Whatever, it¡¯s not important right now.¡¯

    Looking at the girls, Damien felt slightly unwilling to part. He was surprised by his own feelings, but he disregarded them. He wouldn¡¯t go back on his decisions now, and he didn¡¯t want the girls to forgo the ns they had made just because he changed his mind.

    ¡°Just be careful out there,¡± Damien said lightly.

    Rose smiled at his change in demeanor. ¡®This big idiot really hates being honest with himself.¡¯

    Disregarding Elena who was standing next to her, Rose embraced Damien tightly and stole a kiss. Unlike the chaste kisses they¡¯d shared before, Rose made sure she got some tongue this time.

    Damien¡¯s eyes were wide as they darted between Rose and Elena, but in the end, he just closed them and enjoyed the kiss. He wouldn¡¯t see her for a while, so he would relish this small moment they could share.

    After a full minute, Rose decided it was enough and pulled back with a slightly red face. ¡°If you forget about me before we meet again, I¡¯ll make sure to beat you up until you remember again.¡±

    Elena had been looking in the other direction, obviously not interested in watching their show of affection, but when she heard Rose talk again, she turned back around and took her chance to say farewells as well.

    Unlike Rose, she simply gave Damien a tight hug. Well, the hug wasn¡¯t too simple with how tight she was squeezing him.

    Damien was trying his best to ignore the feeling of her chest pressing into his when he heard her mouse-like voice. His hearing had advanced to the point where he could hear her clearly, even if Rose couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°We aren¡¯t the only ones who need to be safe, dummy. Don¡¯t do dangerous things as you did with the sea dragon. I don¡¯t want to lose you again.¡±

    Damien smiled lightly and replied in a voice only she could hear. ¡°I¡¯m d you feel that way and don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t put you through that again.¡±

    They hadn¡¯t really talked about their feelings when he initially fell, and he didn¡¯t know whether to be happy or sad that she had been affected so deeply. He was d she cared for him that much, but he felt that he burdened her for the 4 years it took him to return.

    He really owed her a lot more than he let on, but he realized he had been neglecting her for a while. There was a reason for this, he just didn¡¯t want to admit it.

    He didn¡¯t know how to feel about her. He liked her before his fall, and his feelings for her increased after the legacy tomb trial, but he felt that those increased feelings were fake.

    Regardless of how urate the representation was, that wasn¡¯t the real Elena. He didn¡¯t want his feelings for her to be based on an illusion.

    So, he had been subconsciously avoiding her to somehow rid himself of those false feelings. He didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d treat her when everything was over, but he persisted.

    Still, he didn¡¯t admit this. He justforted her slightly before they broke off their hug. With the farewells finished, the group slowly split up.

    Damien watched as Elena and Rose¡¯s figures faded into the distance with a slightly forlorn gaze before turning to Zara.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s just us again.¡± He said.

    ¡°Mhm!¡± Zara responded. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go!¡±

    She was also saddened by the separation, but she was excited to spend more time with Damien. Even if she really liked the girls, she still missed the days when it was just them.

    Smiling at her excitement, Damien climbed on Zara¡¯s back. ¡®Maybe I haven¡¯t been giving her enough attention recently.¡¯

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go. We have a whole new world awaiting us.¡±

 Chapter 119 - Separation [2]

    For the next 2 days, Damien and Zara simply flew through the blue skies of the central continent as they looked out for anyrge cities near them.

    Well, it wasn¡¯t too hard like it was in Apeiron. They managed to find a port city only a few tens of kilometers away from their starting location, but it wasn¡¯t what they were looking for.

    Instead, Damien just took a quick stop there and used the meager amount of spirit stones he had acquired from Xiao Zhen to buy a map. He learned how expensive life in this world would be.

    ¡®I¡¯m going to have to figure out some way to make money here.¡¯

    He had used all 10 of his spirit stones on a map that wasn¡¯t even detailed. However, it was enough for him. He only needed to know the location of the Celestial Star Pce, which, as the 2nd rank sect in the entire continent, was clearly outlined on the map.

    But that wouldn¡¯t suffice for his entire stay in this world. He had no ns for leaving anytime soon, so he needed a way to make money and sustain himself.

    ¡®It¡¯s going to be a pain in the ass.¡¯

    For now, he chose to ignore it and turned his focus back to the map in his hand.

    With no surprise, the sect was located near the center of the continent where the mana density was thickest. Although the Jade Heavenly Pce had the privilege of taking the exact center, the Celestial Star Pce wasn¡¯t too far from it.

    In fact, both sects had a long-standing rtionship as rivals. The Jade Heavenly Pce had a firm hold on its title as the top-ranked sect, but the Celestial Star Pce always stayed directly behind it, waiting for an opportunity to overtake it.

    Their rivalry wasn¡¯t something Damien knew the full extent of, but for them to be located within such a close range to each other, it had to run deep.

    Being new, Damien also didn¡¯t know the scale of the map, which corrted to the size of the entire central continent. He just assumed its size based on what he could see.

    But in the following days, the world proved him wrong. In fact, the central continent was many timesrger than he could have ever expected. Currently, he had spent an entire week traveling, and even at Zara¡¯s speeds, he was just beginning to see the outline of the central region in front of him.

    Thinking about it, this half of the continent was the same distance as the Cloud Sea that separated it from the western continent. He couldn¡¯t imagine how big the entire thing was.

    Damien thought to immerse himself in training to pass the time, but it was already toote for that. The mana density had been steadily increasing for the past day or so, and he felt it was reaching its peak soon.

    In the distance, he saw a coiling mountain range that corresponded to a picture on his map. It was the point of separation between the central region and the rest of the continent.

    Flying over these mountains, a new world was opened to Damien¡¯s eyes. Even though it was blurry due to distance, he saw massive cities that spannedrger distances than some small states in America.

    They were far from each other, but he was still able to see a few due to his current altitude. And even from this height, he could feel many strong auras radiating from these cities.

    ¡®So many 3rd sses! And even 4th sses are appearing asionally!¡¯

    If there was one thing he was supremely confident in, it was his aura-sensing abilities. They stemmed from his eyes, and with the kind of name they had, he was sure they wouldn¡¯t fail him.

    The vast difference in sheer manpower he sensed simply from this broad inspection was enough to shock him. After all, on Apeiron, there were very few 3rd sses and even fewer 4th sses.

    ¡®Then why is Apeiron also considered a middle world?¡¯

    Frankly, he couldn¡¯tpare the two in strength or mana density. The Cloud ne was leagues better. But Damien had seen the mural on the temple walls that showed Apeiron in its prime. He knew the conditions had to be different back then.

    ¡®Then, is it because of the war?¡¯

    He didn¡¯t know how the war could have such asting adverse effect on the, but he could only think of this reason for its stasis. It had been 1000 years since its end, but the world wasn¡¯t able to recover.

    ¡®However, the Nox who attacked it¡­¡¯

    He knew for certain they had recovered. Not only were they targeting the Cloud ne, but also earth and many other worlds by extension.

    They were his first thought when he heard about vile cultivators, but he had suppressed this thought. He didn¡¯t have enough faith in human nature to believe only Nox believers took such wicked cultivation paths.

    ¡®And some of them could even be hiding in in sight.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t trust the righteous path purely based on its name either. From what he knew, the righteous path was simply where people schemed in the dark rather than in the open.

    He didn¡¯t want to discount the efforts of those truly good people that existed, but his worldview was pessimistic, to say the least.

    He has never believed that people could act purely out of the good of their hearts. Everyone had selfish intentions, even the best of people. He despised people who acted innocent on the outside but were the worst monsters in reality.

    Noticing that his thoughts had skewed, Damien focused once again on the scenery around him. By this point, Zara had already taken him close to the general location of the Celestial Star Pce.

    ¡°Hmm, from what the map says, the next city should be the closest to the sect. Let¡¯s stop there and see if we can gather some information before we leave.¡± Damien said.

    Zaraplied happily. Whenever he wasn¡¯t in his thoughts over the past week of travel, he had given her all thepany she could ask for. Not only did they talk about various matters, but at one point they evennded and raced like they used to do in the past.

    When they reached the periphery of the city, Damien noticed that there was a long queue to enter. ¡°This reminds me ofst time.¡± He said as he reminisced on their entrance to Archdale.

    Unlike that time, though, the strength of the average person was muchrger. Damien wouldn¡¯t be able to trailze his way into the city. Even among thesemon people that he saw, there were plenty of 2nd sses.

    Zara shrank to the size of a normal carriage before entering the line. Tamed beasts were much moremon in this world, so there was no problem.

    Or at least, that¡¯s what Damien thought. As he calmly sat in meditation on Zara¡¯s back, amotion started taking ce behind him.

    ¡°Make way! Make way! My young master has no need to stand in line with filth like you!¡± A booming voice resounded.

    And the people did indeed make way. Seeing the symbol on the side of the cart, they didn¡¯t dare to even make a sound to express their grievances.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Wang n insignia.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, they are cemented in 3rd ce among the 4 Great ns.¡±

    ¡°I heard that they have the backing of the Jade Heavenly Pce.¡±

    ¡°I heard from my uncle that their young master is to be wedded to the Xue n young miss.¡±

    The carriage moved unimpeded through the hordes of people, unbothered by their murmurs before the driver spotted arge ck obstruction in the distance.

    ¡°Make way, or don¡¯t me this servant for trampling you!¡±

    However, the obstruction didn¡¯t move. Damien, who had just exited his meditation, sat calmly atop Zara¡¯s back, suppressing the smile that was threatening to form on his lips.

    ¡®Is this my first young master interaction?¡¯

    Zara had her own pride, so even without Damien¡¯s instruction, she didn¡¯t budge. As the carriage approached, the murmurs of the crowd became more prominent.

    ¡°Who is that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t recognize him, but his beast seems very powerful.¡±

    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s a secluded young master?¡±

    ¡°To have a beast like that, he must have some status.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s quite handsome. Maybe this big sister can climb the socialdder through him.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t dream,dy! If he has the guts to obstruct the Wang n carriage, why would he fall for an ugly hag like you?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯d you say?!¡±

    The carriage neared Zara, but as warned, it didn¡¯t stop in the slightest. In fact, the driver slightly sped up in a bid to cleanly dispose of the ones barring his path.

    The two lion-like beasts that were pulling the carriage ran at full speed with ferocious expressions, kicking uprge gusts of wind that pushed back any cultivator it came in contact with

    However, just as the beasts were going to collide with Zara, they stopped abruptly. It wasn¡¯t that they wanted to, but their paws had been frozen to the ground below them, almost fusing the two surfaces into one. If the beasts pulled a little too hard, their paws might cleanly separate from their bodies.

    From within the carriage, a massive thump was heard, followed by a billowing aura.

    ¡°Who dares stop this young master?!¡±

 Chapter 120 - Separation [3]

    ¡°Who dares stop this young master?!¡±

    A rtively young voice yelled from within the carriage. From the previous thump, it was clear that the owner of the voice had been flung into the wall or floor due to the abrupt stop.

    The carriage door opened and out stepped a young man with ck hair and eyes. His build was mostly slim, however, his most ring feature was his height.

    ¡®This guy is tiny!¡¯

    If Damien had to make a guess, he¡¯d say the man in front of him was 5 foot 2 inches maximum. He might even be shorter than that.

    ¡°Who gave you permission to stare at me?!¡± The man yelled angrily when his eyesnded on Damien.

    ¡®Is it a typical young master thing or does this guy have a Napoleon Complex?¡¯

    Still, Damien kept his mouth shut, choosing to observe before acting. He was still new to this world, so it was unwise to do anything stupid.

    ¡®Well, if I get some backing I should be fine.¡¯

    The young man quickly became further incensed by Damien¡¯sck of reaction, but his eyes suddenly lit up in ¡®realization¡¯.

    ¡°Oh, I get it. You must be some sort of country bumpkin! Hmph, my name is Wang Ming, now quickly kneel before me so I can go on with my day.¡±

    The whole situation was quiteical. Rather than a normal young master interaction like Damien was expecting, he had simply met a clown.

    ¡°Perhaps I really should kneel? Maybe only by doing this would we be able to see eye to eye.¡±

    Faint giggles began spreading through the crowd as people understood the meaning behind Damien¡¯s words. Unfortunately, Wang Ming seemed to becking in the brains department as well.

    ¡°Hmph, as expected of trash like you. It¡¯s good that you know when to kneel.¡±

    Recalling the conversations he heard in the crowd earlier, Damien began to feel sorry for the Xue n¡¯s young miss. Unless she was equally stupid, it¡¯d be a shame for anyone to have to marry this guy.

    Feeling disappointed by the interaction, Damien simplymunicated with Zara to leave.

    ¡°Kid, you¡¯re too much of an idiot for this to be any fun, so maybe next time you shoulde back with someone better.¡±

    However, Wang Ming naturally wasn¡¯t satisfied. ¡°Did I give you permission to leave?!¡±

    Without warning, he pulled his arm back and punched forward, sending arge dragon made of mes toward Damien.

    ¡®This kid is just a 2nd ss and still has the nerve to act like this. Is this what they call having eyes but can¡¯t see?¡¯ Damien wondered.

    Still, he wasn¡¯t someone to take insults lying down. Since Wang Ming wanted to be humiliated so badly, Damien would just oblige him.

    Disregarding the fire dragon that wouldn¡¯t be able to harm him even if he simply stood there and allowed it to hit him, Damien pointed his finger at Wang Ming.

    ¡®Let¡¯s just do this then.¡¯

    Dropping his finger slightly, Damien adjusted his aim before shooting off two concentrated beams of lightning.

    Without even waiting to see the results, he turned and continued into the city, leaving a slight nce at the carriage driver as he left. With the line already being parted due to Wang Ming¡¯s earlier actions, he didn¡¯t have any trouble.

    As he entered the city, Damien heard a shrill cry from behind him, followed by the muffledughter of the crowd.

    Any clothing below Wang Ming¡¯s waist had been burned to a crisp, bing ash and exposing his lower body. The inevitable showing of his tiny member was what caused the crowd tough.

    While Wang Ming continued beingedic relief, the driver of the carriage watched Damien¡¯s receding back in interest.

    ¡®The second young master needs to grow up, so interactions like this are necessary. However, the first young master will not be pleased when he learns of this.¡¯

    He had seen through Damien¡¯s intent even before the lightning had been released, yet he did nothing. Damien was also aware of this, as the old man¡¯s aura concealment couldn¡¯t fool his eyes.

    ¡®That young man¡¯s talents shouldn¡¯t be small. Maybe the first young master might even find a rival.¡¯

    Without speaking another word, the old driver used his mana to cover Wang Ming¡¯s exposed legs and led him back into the carriage.

    As they departed into the city, Wang Ming was seething.

    ¡°A random trash bastard dares to humiliate this young master?! I will find some way to punish him, I swear it!¡±

    As he partook in his rage-fueled monologue, he finally realized the meaning of Damien¡¯s earlier jab. ¡°Dammit!¡± He mmed his fist against the wall.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure first brother makes him pay!¡±

    Meanwhile, Damien was curiously looking through the city. The atmosphere was just as bustling as major cities in Apeiron like Aurora, but there was something inherently different that he couldn¡¯t ce his finger on.

    Still, this wasn¡¯t his focus. To his surprise, the talk of the town was perfectly in sync with his current goals.

    ¡°Quick, quick! Didn¡¯t you hear? The Celestial Star Pce is holding its disciple examination in 3 days!¡±

    ¡°Really? When I grow up and be a strong cultivator, I¡¯m going to join the sect!¡±

    ¡°Stop dreaming! The Celestial Star Pce is the second-best sect in the entire world! How could you get in?¡±

    ¡°Well, I want to get epted to the Jade Heavenly Pce! Second-ranked is too little for me!¡±

    As he listened to the various conversations, Damien couldn¡¯t help but be amazed at the impable timing of it all.

    ¡®Don¡¯t tell me fate is actually a real thing?¡¯

    It was only then he realized he hadn¡¯t even done proper research on the sect.

    ¡®Well, I have 3 days to do so. Plus, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard, right?¡¯

    What Damien had forgotten was that he was dirt poor in this world. He was so used to not caring about money that he forgot how necessary the resource truly was.

    For the next day, he didn¡¯t even take the time to enter a hotel or inn, simply spending all his time trying to gain information on the sect. And while he wasrgely unsessful, he was able to gain some general knowledge.

    As its name suggested, the Celestial Star Pce was highly focused on such concepts. Not only was it a martial sect that cared about offensive prowess, but it also had a unique specialization in divination.

    Now, Damien didn¡¯t necessarily believe in divination, but with mana anything was possible. He couldn¡¯t simply write it off as falsehood especially when such arge sect prioritized it.

    ¡®Not to mention, I don¡¯t really have anywhere else to go.¡¯

    Besides the fact that he was poor and had little knowledge of the Cloud ne in general, he also found that the sect was even considered righteous among the righteous path. With its reputation, he didn¡¯t see a harm in trying to join them.

    He didn¡¯t have any knowledge of divination, but it clearly had some corrtion to time. And from his previous meditations, he was already aware of how closely interlinked space and time were.

    The disciple examinations were open to anyone below the age of 60, which was still rtively young, especially in a world like this one. With therge number of 4th ss beings in the world, meeting people whose age surpassed 1000 wasn¡¯t too umon.

    The sect was still a few days of travel away, so after he gained this knowledge, he immediately set out.

    ¡®I can¡¯t miss this chance to get free housing¡­cough¡­I mean to expand my horizons.¡¯

 Chapter 121 - Disciple Examination [1]

    Built into the side of a magnificent mountain, there was arge city that could house tens of thousands of people.

    Its infrastructure was filled with pagodas of varying heights, all following a color scheme of blue and ck.

    Within the city, various people wearing matching clothing were going about their days, some leaving to adventure thends of the Cloud ne and some choosing to stay in their homes and cultivate.

    The city was just the base, though. Along the slope of the mountain leading all the way to its peak, there were lines of various facilities and houses, each of these belonging to one or many of the people in the city below.

    And at the peak of the mountain, there was a magisterial castle made of glossy ck material. From its color scheme, one would expect it to look dreary or haunted, but it didn¡¯t fit this vibe at all. Instead, it was mystical, invoking a sense of wonder in all those whoid eyes upon it.

    The entire mountain was seemingly cut in half by arge looming wall that was patrolled by these simr ck-robed people. And outside of this wall, thousands of cultivators stood in wait.

    This was the grand scene of the Celestial Star Sect. Its entire presence, even the mountain it inhabited, was ethereal. It gave onlookers the feeling of vast space and profundity.

    When Damien arrived at the sect, he was astonished by its grandiosity. Evenpared to the mostvish areas of Apeiron, it was still far greater. The mountain itself was only slightly smaller than the Godspark mountain Damien had visited in the secret realm.

    ¡®Even for one of the peak organizations in the entire world, isn¡¯t this too grand?¡¯

    Currently, Zara had returned to his shadow and Damien was waiting amongst the anticipant crowd. Their excitement could be felt in the air as even the mana buzzed due to the congregation of intense emotions.

    2 days had already passed while Damien traveled to the sect, and he had only arrived a few hours prior, but it seemed he wasn¡¯t thest. Even as he waited patiently, hundreds of cultivators arrived in various manners.

    ¡°This year¡¯s examination is going to be exciting.¡± One of the guards said to his friend.

    ¡°Indeed, many geniuses from therge ns have shown up this time. Did you see the Earth Dragon that the Long n¡¯s young master arrived on?¡±

    ¡°I did! That was Long Chen, rumored to be one of the greatest geniuses the Long n ever produced! But why would hee here instead of the Jade Heavenly Pce?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just him, though. Bai Ren from the Bai n and even Shi Ling and Shi Meng, the wonder twins of the Shi n are here!¡±

    ¡°This must be a truly fortuitous year for our Celestial Star Pce for so many geniuses to flock to us! Maybe we can finally take the spot of Top Sect from the Jade Heavenly Pce!¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s not count our chickens before they hatch. You never know what twists fate will bring to those who look down on it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right senior brother, I apologize for misspeaking.¡±

    Damien listened to their conversation with interest. ¡®Looks like there¡¯ll be plenty ofpetition for me within the sect.¡¯

    If there was one thing Damien feared about entering the sect, it was ack of action. The entire reason he decided to travel to this new world was for excitement and adventure, so he¡¯d be severely disappointed if he didn¡¯t receive it.

    Especially from thatst interaction with Wang Ming, his hopes had been dashed. Even if it wasn¡¯t true conflict, he at least wanted some challenge.

    ¡®Maybe I can even find a proper rival in this world.¡¯

    The thought brought back the memory of his friend from Apeiron, but he shook it off. Even if Ethan had the appropriate talent, Apeiron itself wasn¡¯t a proper ce to groom him. Maybe if he explored the vast universe, Ethan would be able to keep up.

    That thought got Damien wondering. ¡®Why is it that we didn¡¯t encounter other travelers in our 7-month journey to the Cloud ne?¡¯

    It was odd to him for there to be no one capable of traversing space. Or rather, it was downright impossible. Even if they couldn¡¯t freely walk through space with their bare bodies like him, there had to be many worlds that were technologically advanced enough to pull off simr feats.

    ¡®No, the Cloud ne has the ability to do it, so there are definitely other worlds that can too.¡¯

    The Cloud ne wasn¡¯t even a scientifically-driven society, and if they could discover space travel using flying treasures, others could too.

    ¡°Wee, young cultivators, to the Celestial Star Pce disciple examination!¡±

    A booming voice interrupted Damien¡¯s train of thought. Looking up, he saw a middle-aged man floating above the towering walls.

    ¡°My name is Mu Chen, but you can call me Elder Mu. I will be exining your examinationtoday!¡±

    The entire crowd, which now consisted of many thousands of people, stood silently, watching Mu Chen with rapt attention. Satisfied with their response, he continued.

    ¡°As you all know, our Celestial Star Pce is arge power, but that doesn¡¯t mean we simply ept everyone! Today, you will showcase your talent, your strength, and your wit to earn a spot among our ranks!

    ¡°Just like always, we will only be epting 1000 new disciples, so be aware of howpetitive this exam will be! And for your own safety, be aware that there are some dangers you may face. If you aren¡¯t careful, you may be seriously injured or even lose your life!

    ¡°This is the nature of the cultivation world! Strength is king. You speak with your fists! The winner is right and the loser must wallow in self-loathing! If any of you is afraid of this, you may leave now!¡±

    Mu Chen¡¯s voice boomed through the surroundings. However, even after hearing his words, nobody turned away. Nothing he said was new to them, in fact, it was the rules they abided by every day.

    For Damien, these words resounded in the very core of his being. It reminded him of his days in the dungeon. That was the most primal version of thew of the jungle.

    ¡®Strength is king.¡¯

    This phrase alone made his blood boil in excitement. His beast side wanted to run rampant, inspired by the majestic intent of Mu Chen¡¯s words. If Damien had his way, he would roar to the heavens right now to exert his will.

    But he held himself back. Now wasn¡¯t the time to make a scene. He simply stood with the rest, the excited glint in his eyes never fading.

    In fact, even the aura he radiated changed slightly, bing more unruly. The people crowded around him were forced to slightly make space, and the attention of many geniuses snapped to him for a brief second.

    Gazing upon the crowd, Mu Chen smiled. ¡°Good! You all have the spirit of true cultivators. Without danger, there can be no reward! Now, let me exin the many parts of the examination you will partake in today!¡±

 Chapter 122 - Disciple Examination [2]

    ¡°The disciple examination will be split into 3 parts!¡± Mu Chen said, continuing his previous speech.

    ¡°The first part will be a simple talent test. You will learn the specifics after you enter the specified area. The second part will test yourprehension ability. As for thest part, well you¡¯ll just have to find out if you reach that far.¡±

    When he spoke thest sentence, Mu Chen had a devious grin on his face that created an ominous feeling in the hearts of the young cultivators before him.

    ¡°Before anything else, take these tokens. They will be used as your identifiers during the exam.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t even a long process. Mu Chen simply threw arge mass of tokens into the air like candy, and seemingly without intervention, theynded in the hands of each participant.

    Damien looked at his number, which was 3416. ¡®Maybe it judges based on the order we arrived?¡¯

    ¡°Remember, this examination isn¡¯t simply to gain entry into the sect, but much more than that! If you are lucky enough, you may receive the favor of a sect elder and be their disciple!¡±

    Upon hearing this, the crowd broke out into hushed conversation.

    ¡°We will actually be disciples of the elders?!¡±

    ¡°The pressure to do well just increased by tenfold!¡±

    Damien looked around in slight confusion. Was being an elder¡¯s disciple that important? But he quickly berated himself for thinking such stupid things.

    The help he had gained from Malcolm after taking him as his teacher was immense to the point where it was almost unquantifiable. His lightning element had been supremely improved and he had gained insights into mana circuits.

    Without the Ananta System that was currently infused into his body, Damien didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be so well off in his cultivation path. Not only did it boost his mana regeneration rate and reaction speed, but it also multiplied his output enough to give him his current edge.

    It could be said to be half the reason he was still able to fight above his rank to such a degree even after bing 3rd ss. After all, the levels in this ss were much wider apart than those in the previous sses.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Mu Chen said. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve given you this exnation, it¡¯s time to begin the test! Let me say in advance, I wish prosperity among those of you that will be new outer disciples of our grand sect!¡±

    Right after his words fell, Mu Chen waved his hand, creating arge portal in front of the wall he was standing on.

    ¡°Enter through this portal and you shall be taken to the testing grounds! May fate shine upon you all!¡±

    The crowd of cultivators immediately rushed towards the gate, many of them wanting to be the first to get through. They didn¡¯t know if this was also a test for them.

    However, those true geniuses within their ranks waited patiently and walked calmly to the portal. They had no rush to prove themselves, as they had an inborn pride in their own achievements.

    Damien was among these geniuses. He simply walked forward as he admired the structure of the portal in front of him.

    ¡®Not just the structure, but the stability and functionality are leagues above what I can do.¡¯

    Damien had the eyes of someone trained in space element. He could clearly see the oceans of spatialyers that made up the world. He could also see the way they were distorted by the portal.

    ¡®There are so many pathways leading from this single portal.¡¯

    Just this single portal could lead to tens of different locations. Damien had no idea how it was done. He could only connect two points in space, and even in this regard, he was limited. Portals weren¡¯t something he was too familiar with, as he had only used them for world travel.

    ¡®Maybe I wasn¡¯t giving this sect enough credit before.¡¯

    He couldn¡¯t be med though. Judging on reputation alone wasn¡¯t something anyone would do, even if they used it as reference for their evaluation. Damien wasn¡¯t aware of the Celestial Star Pce¡¯s feats or achievements, so he was subconsciously looking down on them.

    ¡®Well, it¡¯s to be expected from a sect lead by tens or even more 4th ss beings.¡¯

    As he wrapped up his thoughts, Damien stepped through the massive portal in front of him.

    When his vision was returned to him, Damien found himself in a slightly expansive room filled with otherpetitors. However, the number was vastly reduced. Out of the thousands that he saw in front of the gate, only around 500 were here with him.

    The scenery of the room was simple, yet confusing. There was argeke filled with silver liquid, it¡¯s surface reflective and depth unknown. At end of theke, there was a small ind with a stone obelisk on it.

    After the entrance of a few more people, the portal to the room closed and a young woman appeared before them.

    ¡°Alright. Now that everyone¡¯s here, we can begin. This is the talent test, and it is rtively simple. All you have to do is walk across thiske as far as you can. Anyone who can take more than 45 steps will pass this portion of the exam.¡±

    The participants looked doubtful but didn¡¯t raise their voices. Every time the Celestial Star Pce held its disciple examinations, no word was leaked about the process. Even those who failed the exam would never speak about how they were tested.

    ¡°Number 2500,e forth!¡±

    Out of the crowd, a young woman stepped forward. She stood at the edge of theke with nervousness clearly written on her face.

    ¡°I just have to step in here and walk?¡± She questioned.

    ¡°Yes, just walk forward until you can¡¯t anymore.¡±

    Hearing the confirmation, the young woman stepped into theke. The water only reached her ankle and she didn¡¯t feel any change, so she continued forward.

    5 steps¡­15 steps¡­25 steps

    She was halfway through the passing requirement, and the young woman could already feel the purpose of this test.

    With every step she took, a minute amount of pressure bore down on her. And with each step further, the pressure would multiply. Now that she was at the 26th step, she felt like there was arge boulder ced on her back.

    35 steps¡­40 steps¡­44 steps

    She only had one step left until she passed, but she felt immense difficulty in taking it. With the pressure continuing to multiply, the previous boulder had been transformed into a small hill.

    However, with much difficulty, she managed to take thest step.

    Boom!

    The water in theke pulsated due to her momentum, but it wasn¡¯t totally moved. With sweat covering her entire body, the young woman turned back and returned to the shore.

    ¡°Good job. You may proceed to the next section.¡± Thedy in charge said.

    Another portal opened up in front of the young woman before she passed through it with a smile on her face.

    Disregarding this, thedy continued with the exam for the next few hours. Many people ended up passing, with some even going a few steps further than the goal, but the results were always the same.

    Before the 50th step, they¡¯d always be forced to retreat. With the hours passing, the number of people left in the room dwindled, and Damien¡¯s turn was fast approaching.

    But before him, there was another genius who had to go. Unlike the others who simply had their number called, this person was called by name.

    ¡°Long Chen, please step forward.¡±

 Chapter 123 - Disciple Examination [3]

    The man who stepped forward had flowing ck shoulder-length hair and eyes that looked like a deep abyss. The second he made his presence known, the attention of everyone in the room shifted to him.

    It wasn¡¯t just his looks, but his natural aura was noble and heroic,manding respect from those who gazed upon him. Looking at this man, Damien only felt one thing.

    ¡®Strong.¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t the same indomitable strength he had felt from those far above him, but a strength that matched his own even though they were at the same level.

    This was a genuine achievement, as there weren¡¯t many who could keep up with him. Those he usually fought on equal standing were far above him in terms of level.

    When Long Chen was called forward, he didn¡¯t hesitate like the rest. Instead, he calmly and indifferently entered theke and took his first steps.

    10 steps¡­30 steps¡­50 steps

    Even at the distance that limited everyone that came before him, Long Chen showed no signs of struggle. He kept walking with purpose.

    60 steps¡­70 steps¡­75 steps

    It was only when he reached three-quarters of the way to the small ind at the end of theke that Long Chen slowed down. Although his facial expression didn¡¯t change much, the beads of sweat that began trickling down his body showed his struggle.

    78 steps¡­80 steps

    Seeing him continue, various chatter broke out in the crowd.

    ¡°As expected of the scion of the Long n. None canpare with his talents.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s our bad luck to be put in the same testing room as him.¡±

    Damien¡¯s gaze was intense, to say the least. As Long Chen continued, he slowly released his aura to empower himself. The threat Damien felt was simr to what he felt from Ethan back during the Nexus Event.

    ¡®This guy¡­I want to fight him.¡¯

    85 steps¡­89 steps

    Upon reaching the 90th step, Long Chen finally met his limit. It was clear that no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn¡¯t be able to continue. But Long Chen wasn¡¯t the type of person to simply give up.

    ¡°Haaah!¡±

    With a loud cry, he released all his strength. The pressure that bore down on him had increased to the point where his skin began to crack, leaking blood into the pristine silver pool.

    ¡°Break for me!¡±

    With a loud bang, Long Chen stomped his foot back into the pool, sessfully breaching the 90th step.

    ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡±

    The entire room was silent, the only sound being Long Chen¡¯s rough breathing. And then, he turned around and walked back to the shore with a valiant look on his face.

    His firm expression even while covered in his own blood had its own appeal, making many of the women in the room swoon at the sight. However, Long Chen took no notice of this. Instead, his eyes were focused on a single spot.

    He sensed it. The concealed aura of a predator that had been locked onto him since he began his climb. At that time, he was too busy with the pressure to check who it was, but now he saw it clearly.

    At the back of the crowd, standing inconspicuously, he saw a man he had never seen before. The man¡¯s features looked foreign, unlike those he usually interacted with, but Long Chen didn¡¯t care.

    What he focused on was the feeling he was getting from that man. ¡®He¡¯s strong.¡¯

    He left the Long n in search of experience. He was someone who valued cultivation above all else. And seeing someone tantly provoking him, even if it was only evident to the two of them, made his blood boil.

    ¡®I want to fight him.¡¯

    ¡°Long Chen, you may now proceed to the next section of the test.¡± The examiner said.

    However, Long Chen shook his head. ¡°I will stay. There¡¯s something I need to see.¡±

    His gaze stayed on the man in the back. Damien had been returning that gaze this entire time, and seeing that Long Chen wanted topete, he would dly oblige.

    Grinning provocatively, Damien walked to the front of the crowd. ¡°I¡¯ll be going next.¡±

    His move was immediately met with criticism, the crowd being naturally unhappy that some no-name cut the line, but their dissent was never even considered by the involved parties.

    ¡°Right, he¡¯s going next.¡± Long Chen said to the examiner, who nodded her head. It didn¡¯t matter to her which order they went in, as long as they all did as they were supposed to.

    ¡°What¡¯s your badge number?¡± She asked. This was the only information she needed.

    ¡°3416.¡±

    Receiving a nod from the examiner, Damien didn¡¯t waste any more time. He directly entered theke and began walking.

    Just like Long Chen, Damien continued unimpeded through the entire walk. The 50th step that barred the path of many was nothing but a joke to him.

    The pressure that bore down on his body was great, but after all the pain he had gone through, it didn¡¯t even make him bat an eye.

    70th step¡­80th step¡­90th step

    Without suspense, Damien reached the same position where Long Chen had previously stopped. At this point, he finally felt the pressure was bing great.

    It felt like he was carrying a small mountain on his back, but he felt he could do more. No. He had to do more.

    When he took the 91st step, everything changed. The mountainous pressure on his back increased exponentially, forcing his knees to bend slightly, but he didn¡¯t stop.

    ¡°Who is this guy?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, he¡¯s not from any major family right?¡±

    ¡°Young master Long seemed to acknowledge him, maybe they know each other?¡±

    The crowd had long dropped their dissatisfaction and was now fervently discussing the scene in front of them. Meanwhile, Long Chen¡¯s gaze was heavy.

    ¡®Not only has he surpassed me, but he¡¯s done it with ease.¡¯

    But he wasn¡¯t envious. It wasn¡¯t in his character to feel such vile emotions. Instead. His fighting spirit was burning.

    For too long was he fostered like some sort of holy son, for too long he could never find someone he could match. He didn¡¯t feel envy, no, it was theplete opposite.

    Even the examiner was watching with rapt attention. For someone like Long Chen, she had no expectations, as his talent was widely known.

    If he did anything lower than the results he got, she would have been disappointed. Rather, seeing someone unknown overshadow the scion of arge n? That was something she had to see.

    Taking out amunication jade slip, the examiner slowly spoke.

    ¡°Sect Master, you have to see what¡¯s happening here.¡±

    As all this was going on, Damien continued his walk. Each step multiplied the pressure on his back exponentially, so thesest 10 steps were harder than the previous 90bined.

    Still, he persevered. When he reached the 95th step, his skin robes were slowly torn to shreds due to the pressure. With his muscr body revealed, his skin also began to crack.

    96th¡­97th¡­98th

    The blood that leaked from his body began to dye theke red, but he continued. His body regenerated as fast as it broke down, so he felt no threat to his life.

    ¡®Almost there.¡¯

    From the 90th step, Damien had been using his mana to support him, but now it was gushing out like a waterfall. The amethyst aura around him slowly began to turn red as he continued without pause.

    99th step¡­

    His aura red and he let out a massive roar, shaking the pristine surface of theke. With a final push, he stumbled forward onto the ind in front of him.

    The 100th step.

 Chapter 124 - Comprehension [1]

    Within therge pce that adorned the peak of the mountain on which the Celestial Star Pce resided, a meeting was being held.

    ¡°Sect Master, is it true that this year will be fortuitous for our pce?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, the prediction simply seems too grand to be entirely true.¡±

    At the head of the table sat a woman with unparalleled grace that contrasted the indifference in her expression. Simply the natural aura radiating from her body couldmand the attention of anyone in her vicinity.

    ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± The woman said. ¡°Not only did the divination speak of fortune for our sect, but it also spoke of cmity. Not just for us, but the entire world.

    ¡°However, thetter half of the prediction isn¡¯t set for the near future, so we only need to focus on the former.¡±

    The gathered elders knew the uracy of their Sect Master¡¯s divinations. They had personally bore witness to previous divinationse to fruition time and time again.

    ¡°We sincerely apologize, Sect Master. None of us dare doubt your divinations or ability, it is just a bit hard to process.¡± One of the elders said.

    ¡°Well, we have no reason to doubt the prediction, however, what makes this year so different?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Suddenly augh resounded through the area. When everyone turned their attention to the source, they saw an inconspicuous white-bearded old man. However, none of them dared to speak against him.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the reason we¡¯re watching the disciple examination this year?¡± Commented the old man. ¡°Let us be patient and find out with time.¡±

    The attention of all those present subsequently shifted to therge screens that decorated the hall. On these screens were thousands of young cultivators currently taking the talent test.

    ¡°The amount of geniuses present in this year¡¯s examination is already high, and some are even like that Long boy whose talent is one of the highest in the continent.¡±

    At that moment, the Sect Master felt a vibration within her spatial ring. Taking out a jade slip, she injected her mana only to hear a frantic message.

    ¡°Sect Master, you need to see this!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t hard for her to locate the source of the call, and when she did, she was forced to pay attention. Not only her but the rest of the elders who heard the message as well.

    On the screen in front of them, they saw an unknown young man powering his way through the final steps of the talent test.

    ¡°Impossible!¡± One of the elders shouted as he stood up in shock.

    ¡°Is he going to reach the obelisk?!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way, that kind of talent wouldn¡¯t remain unknown for so long.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, but he keeps pushing forward without pause!¡±

    While the other elders discussed the scene, the old man and the Sect Master silently looked at each other, interest evident in their eyes.

    As they watched, Damien made his way through the final steps and pushed himself onto the small ind at the end of theke.

    ¡°Hoh?¡± The old man said with a raised brow. ¡°I think this boy might be worth paying attention to.¡±

    ***

    Meanwhile, Damien was on his knees, roughly catching his breath while his body recovered from the injuries he had umted during his final push. Although they weren¡¯t deep, they were numerous.

    As he stood up to return to the shore, Damien felt a slight pull from behind him. Turning, he saw the small obelisk at the center of the ind letting off a slight glow.

    However, he didn¡¯t immediately walk toward it. He remembered thest time he randomly touched an obelisk, and he didn¡¯t want to relive that kind of experience.

    But the obelisk didn¡¯t seem to give him a choice. From its center, a beam of ck energy coagted before shooting forward. The whole process was so sudden that he had no means to react.

    Without any intervention, the energy entered his body and disappeared. There was no shy scene or great change, in fact, he couldn¡¯t even feel the energy¡¯s existence anymore.

    The beam was small enough to draw no attention from the others in the room, so he didn¡¯t cause any major reaction apart from himpleting the walk across theke. Calming his nerves, he slowly walked back to shore.

    The pressure seemed to only work one way, so his walk back was leisurely. He spent the time thinking about the ck light that he saw, but he couldn¡¯te to a conclusion.

    ¡®I¡¯ll just figure it outter.¡¯

    On the other hand, Long Chen¡¯s gaze was practically drilling holes into Damien. He could ept the fact that Damien beat him, but for the difference to be thisrge, he was slightly indignant.

    ¡®I have to train harder.¡¯

    He wasn¡¯t the type of person to have prejudice against those without massive backgrounds like him, but it was different with Damien.

    A genius of his caliber should be known, but for him toe out of the woodwork here and now without any prior achievement and crush Long Chen¡¯s score, was a blow to his pride.

    But he was still a cultivation fanatic. He made no ns or schemes to bring Damien down, instead, he decided to see if Damien was a new goal for him to surpass. Simply having the talent didn¡¯t qualify him as such, so a battle between them was necessary.

    And he could feel the same fighting spirit from Damien. He could feel Damien¡¯s will to be challenged and pressured to grow simply from his aura and demeanor alone.

    If Long Chen was forced to state what his feeling toward Damien was after this first meeting, it¡¯d be mainly admiration.

    With Damien¡¯s test done, there was no need for him to stay within the room anymore. And so, without dy, he entered the portal to the second exam.

    ¡®What an interesting guy.¡¯ Damien thought as he reached the shore. Ignoring the stares of everyone present, he followed Long Chen into the portal.

    ***

    What entered Damien¡¯s view was an isted space. Rather than arge room likest time, he found himself alone in darkness. While it felt like it expanded to infinity, it also gave off the feeling of a small enclosure.

    Since he was aware he was still within the disciple examination, Damien calmly walked forward to explore the room, but after only a few steps, he was forced to halt his movements.

    The space in front of him twisted and melded together before bing a jumbled mess of things he couldn¡¯t understand.

    Words in ancientnguages he couldn¡¯t read floated through the air, and various images shed by and disappeared in an instant. The entire thing seemed random but nned at the same time.

    The entire room was filled with contradictions, confusing Damien¡¯s senses, but his eyes were focused on the floating words in front of him.

    There was something profound about it, but he couldn¡¯t quite make out what. At some point, without his conscious thought, he had sat down on the floor and slipped into a meditative state.

    As he focused on the scene in front of him, threerge blocky words appeared in his field of view.

    ¡°Wall of Comprehension.¡±

 Chapter 125 - Comprehension [2]

    ¡°Wall of Comprehension.¡±

    Although there were only three words in front of him, the intent behind them was vast. Sitting in front of these words, Damien was immediately made aware of what he needed to do during this portion of the exam.

    ¡®The wall ofprehension contains countless martial skills dating back centuries or even millennia. As for what skill you willprehend from it, that is decided by fate. In 3 days¡¯ time, if you have not seeded inprehending 25% of the martial skill, you fail.¡¯

    The test seemed too simple at a nce, but he knew there had to be some twist to it. Still, he never doubted hisprehension ability, counting it as one of his strongest points. So Damien continued to stare at the words in hope of gleaning something from them.

    He was also curious about what a martial skill was exactly, as he had only heard about cultivation techniques, but there was no point in pondering about it. He¡¯d find out soon.

    After he understood the underlying intent

    behind the three words before him, they once again scattered into the sea of characters. Sometimes these characters woulde together as if forming something greater, but the second he focused on them, they¡¯d once again scatter.

    It was like the skills in the wall were purposefully evading him. But Damien had just arrived at the wall, so he wasn¡¯t too concerned. With a rxed attitude, he let himself sink into his meditative state as he stared daggers at the flowing wall.

    It only felt like minutes to him, but several hours had passed since Damien began meditation. Yet, he wasn¡¯t able to see anything of value.

    ¡®Wait¡­if there are thousands of years¡¯ worth of knowledge here, how is it supposed to just randomly give me a skill that¡¯ll reflect my prowess?¡¯

    He found the entire concept illogical. If he just sat there and stared at the wall, there was no way it could do anything. It was an inanimate object. Continuing down this line of reasoning, he made another assumption.

    ¡®I have to pick the branch of skill I want to learn?¡¯ Whether it was a skill for his spatial element, his lightning, or his martial arts, each was a different category. It wasn¡¯t an easy decision, though. He had to consciously understand his strengths and weaknesses and figure out what he needed to improve.

    Yet, being unbiased in such a situation was difficult for anyone. After some serious thought, he understood what he had to do.

    ¡®The thing I haven¡¯t focused on much is my sword. Although I¡¯ve been developing my sword art, all of those moves are centered around the space element. My raw sword aura hasn¡¯t been polished at all.¡¯

    In fact, he had almostpletely forgotten about sword aura. It was something that helped him immensely within the dungeon once he had begun grasping it, but once he reached the peak of sword mastery he didn¡¯t put any more attention into it.

    ¡®It¡¯s too conceited to say I¡¯ve gotten to the peak of the sword path. I¡¯ve probably barely scratched the surface.¡¯

    Just because the skill was max level didn¡¯t mean his attainments matched it. He had to refine his sword style more, or it would simply be a tool to disy his spatial prowess.

    ¡®I want to be like those sword cultivators in the manhwa I read. Those guys could shs in half with a single swing.¡¯

    Imagining such a scene made Damien¡¯s heart race in anticipation. It might¡¯ve been a bit childish to think that way, but he didn¡¯t care.

    Slowly but surely, he released his pure sword aura out of his body. Being something that hadn¡¯t improved since his dungeon days, this aura was different from most other powers he possessed.

    It hadn¡¯t been refined yet, and it hadn¡¯t been domesticated. It was an embodiment of the Damien who only knew the inside of a dungeon.

    The aura was colorless, but its undtion could still be seen and felt. If someone were to drop a sheet of paper within a 5-meter radius of Damien, it¡¯d get shredded to dust in an instant.

    The sword aura surrounding his body was wild, untamed, and uninhibited by such concepts as morality. Its sole drive was to kill, it¡¯s only motivation was survival.

    As he basked in this feeling once again, Damien felt reminiscent. Not traumatized or sad about the past, but reminiscent of his days in the dungeon. It wasn¡¯t so obvious externally, as even Damien had subconsciously avoided noticing the fact, but he was still broken.

    He never truly took the time to heal from the dungeon, and it was unknown whether he ever would. Something had snapped within him during those years, a core part of his being was convoluted.

    Even as he bathed in his own sword aura, momentarily forgetting about the test in front of him, he avoided realizing this fact.

    On the wall of characters in front of him, many pieces began clicking together like a puzzle, as if reacting to the aura that had been released upon them. Characters connected to form words, and lines of textyered to be a paragraph.

    But this paragraph didn¡¯tst long. The myriad ways outlined in the paragraph condensed upon themselves to create another set of words that contained boundless intent.

    There were no more floating characters and no more shes of scenery. In the empty void, there were only two things. One was Damien, and the other was the text facing him.

    When Damien opened his eyes once more, he was enraptured by the scene.

    ¡°Void Heart Sword Law.¡±

    The second the words left his mouth, Damien felt his entire world fade to ck.

    ***

    Back within the pce, anothermotion was taking ce.

    ¡°The young master of the Long n was chosen by 9 Dragons Roaring through the Heavens!¡±

    ¡°Yes! That technique belonged to an ancient dragon that once graced our sect, considering the Long n¡¯s connection to the dragons, it isn¡¯t surprising that he would receive such a skill!¡±

    ¡°Bai Ren has also received a powerful skill! I heard she is practiced in Soundw!¡±

    ¡°Both the Shi n twins managed to receive the same skill! How is such a thing possible?! I thought the wall¡¯s effects were unique based on the individual!¡±

    ¡°What about that boy from earlier?¡± An elder suddenly asked.

    ¡°Ah, he just got some random unknown technique. Sadly, hisprehension must not measure up to his talent.¡± Another elder responded.

    However, the old man from before had apletely different outlook. He had been watching Damien the entire time, and he saw the whole process that led to him receiving his technique.

    ¡®The Void Heart Sword Law. Such a skill should have never showed up here.¡¯ He thought to himself.

    That specific swordw had a harrowing past in the Cloud ne, but very few were aware of it. The historians had done everything they could to rid the world of its existence.

    ¡®Yet, it still showed up for that boy. His future¡­¡¯

    The old man didn¡¯t continue his thoughts, but he knew the fate of most who had previously practiced the swordw. With a hardened face that hid endless sorrow behind it, the old man made a decision.

    ¡®Never again. I must take him under my wing and ensure that such a tragedy is never repeated.¡¯

 Chapter 126 - Comprehension [3]

    Meanwhile, within the darkness, Damien was seated motionless, his eyes closed. All his senses were shut off from the outside world as his mind was transported elsewhere.

    When he opened his eyes, Damien was still within darkness, but something felt different about it. The darkness of the trial room was just that, dark. However, this darkness was much more abyssal.

    Damien didn¡¯t move. He had no idea where he was, and his mind was still focused on the sensation he got from the words earlier. Even within this abyssal space, he concentrated onprehending those words.

    ¡®Void Heart Sword Law¡¯

    He didn¡¯t know what it meant, but its name was overbearing enough to leave a great first impression. He did his best to delve into the mysteries of this swordw, but every insight he had was fleeting.

    The original sensation he received was disappearing quickly. When he tried to remember the feeling he got from those words, it¡¯d only vanish faster. Before long, he could barely remember it at all.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t doing it right.¡±

    A cold voice echoed through the void. No matter how Damien attempted to locate its source, it was futile.

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time trying to find me. I ceased to exist long ago.¡± The voice once again spoke. Despite the fact that it was talking about its own death, the voice remained emotionless.

    ¡°Then, what am I doing wrong?¡± Damien responded.

    ¡°Everything.¡±

    The casualness of the voice¡¯s response irked him, but he said nothing.

    ¡°When you hear the words Void Heart Sword Law, what do you think of?¡± The voice questioned.

    Damien thought for a moment. The name of the skill was unique, as it could be interpreted in many ways. The inflection of each word should clue him in on how to correctly interpret it, but the voice was so stoic and emotionless that such inflections were neglected.

    ¡®Void Heart Sword Law. What does it mean?¡¯

    From a first nce, he could only understand that it was a sword move, which was what he had already expected after releasing his sword aura. Still, he didn¡¯t think that¡¯s what the voice was referring to.

    ¡°You really are an idiot.¡± The voice continued. ¡°Do not focus on the sword yet, for you have not even met the basic requirements to learn it.¡±

    ¡®Do not focus on the sword.¡¯ Damien didn¡¯t quite understand what it meant, so he took it at face value. ¡®Void Heart. What is void heart?¡¯

    Damien had plenty of connections to the word ¡®void¡¯. Not to mention hisst name, even the physique that kept him alive at his weakest point was named void. But even with this, he didn¡¯t know much about the concept.

    ¡®I have my space element, but space doesn¡¯t seem to be the same thing as void.¡¯

    To Damien, space was an all-epassing concept. Everything existed within space and space existed within everything. Void, however¡­

    ¡®The void is all-consuming.¡¯

    It was either a part of space or space was a part of it, but Damien felt that their purpose waspletely different. When he imagined the void, he imagined emptiness or a ck hole that swallowed everything.

    ¡®If I put that concept with the word heart, does the meaning change?¡¯

    Heart wasn¡¯t as elusive as void, at least not in Damien¡¯s mind. It was either a biological aspect or an emotional one. And judging simply on instinct, Damien felt it was thetter.

    ¡®All-consuming and emotions. If I put those two together¡­¡¯

    There was a major clue in front of him the entire time, and when he got to this point in his thinking, he finally realized it.

    ¡®Emotionless.¡¯

    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± The voice said. ¡°Void Heart is emotionless, but that is simply the surface. A true void heart is free of anything. Desire, ambition, emotion, attachment, morality. It all bes irrelevant in front of a truly void heart.¡±

    The concept was terrifying. Someone who cared for nothing, someone who had nothing to lose, that was the scariest kind of opponent. That kind of person could do anything to achieve their goals, using even their own body as a tool.

    ¡°The Void Heart Sword Law is an embodiment of this concept. Your sword will be swung without hesitance. Free and unfettered from all restrictions. For you to arrive here means you have shownpatibility with this ideal.¡±

    Was hepatible though? Damien didn¡¯t think so. He had plenty of attachments and things he cared about that he couldn¡¯t just sacrifice.

    ¡®But this swordw could be a game-changer in battle.¡¯

    If he could shut out any distractions and focus solely on what needed to be done¡­

    The benefits were unimaginable. Plus, something was steering him towards epting.

    ¡°And how do I free myself of emotion?¡± He asked.

    ¡°I am not here to mentor you. Figure it out yourself. However, I shall show you what it means to practice this art.¡±

    The void was lit as the surroundings changed. Suddenly, Damien found himself on an expansive battlefield.

    On one side, a massive army adorned in all ck, and on the other, an evenrger army adorned in white. At first nce, they seemed like opposing forces.

    Yet, this wasn¡¯t the case. As he observed, Damien noticed that both armies were working in tandem against a third party.

    ¡®A single person?!¡¯

    At the forefront of the battlefield stood a single man. His long ck hair cascaded down his back like a midnight waterfall and his eyes were like a deep abyss that could steal one¡¯s soul.

    His body wasn¡¯trge, but it was clear he had experienced his own share of battles. The man held a single sword in his hand as he faced both armies.

    The man raised his sword and swung. Without warning, thousands of ck lines appeared on the battlefield, intersecting with each other countless times to create intricate patterns. As quickly as they came, they disappeared. But the effect they had was catastrophic.

    Anyone caught within those ck lines was shredded to pieces, thinly sliced chunks of their bodies thumping onto the ground. Just like that, thousands of soldiers died.

    ¡°Why must you do this to us?!¡±

    ¡°We have wives, children, people we love! Why must you force us into death?!¡±

    The armies couldn¡¯t take it anymore. A simr scene had yed out before them countless times, but they were never able to stop it. They pleaded and begged, hoping to be spared, but the man paid it no mind.

    ¡°You were in my way.¡± It was his only response to their cries before he shed out once more.

    The scene soon faded and Damien arrived back in the void, reflecting on what he had just seen.

    It was true ruthlessness. Uncaring about circumstance and uncaring about consequence.

    Although he was frightened at the prospect, it also somewhat excited him. That scene¡­there was something familiar about it.

    He thought back to a certain scene he had once witnessed. A man standing before an army, simply raising his hand to cause a mass ughter.

    That was the level of power he wished to achieve. And this Void Heart Sword Law could give him that power. After many minutes of silence, Damien finally spoke.

    ¡°This swordw, I want it.¡±

 Chapter 127 - Comprehension [4]

    2 days had passed since Damien witnessed the benefits of the Void Heart Sword Law. For the past two days, he had done nothing but sit in a meditative position with his eyes closed.

    After expressing his desire to practice the swordw, he was sent back to his real body from the void space he was transported to. The emotionless voice he had heard said nothing else to him.

    But it wasn¡¯t without benefit. When his mind returned to his body, he could feel an immense wave of information imprinting itself onto his consciousness.

    The Void Heart Sword Law actually wasn¡¯t very difficult to learn in theory. The main caveat of the art was the user¡¯s capability at emptying their mind of all emotion. Without passing this first step, it was impossible to practice the art.

    And even in these past 2 days, Damien wasn¡¯t able toplete this step.

    ¡®The first phase of the Void Heart Sword Law is called Mind Prison. The description seems easy enough, but damn is it hard to actually do.¡¯

    Mind Prison wasn¡¯t an attack at all. Instead, it was a method to cage the user¡¯s emotions so they could effectively perform their art.

    Mana, in most definitions, was considered a form of energy. It could power technology, cleanse the air, and allow beings in contact with it to perform mystical feats. Yet, not everyone believes energy was enough to term mana.

    It was something that could do anything. It was theorized that even true creation, creating something out of nothing, or even revival could be made possible through mana. And mere energy shouldn¡¯t be capable of such feats.

    Instead, some people theorized that mana was something akin to the fabric of the universe. It was something that created reality itself. And if that was the case, then mana could be used in a muchrger variety of ways.

    Mind Prison was a concept that capitalized on this theory, and in some sense, proved its truth. Thoughts, emotions, ambition, all of these things were conceptual. There was no way to give them true form, even when taking into ount the chemical responses of the brain.

    However, Mind Prison was designed to do exactly that. It used mana as a base to cage those illusory concepts like emotions into a specific area, contained until they were released once more by the user.

    However, the method to create a mind prison was never mentioned in the information imnted within Damien¡¯s mind. ording to it, each individual had different aspirations and created different mind prisons to cater to their goals.

    Damien couldn¡¯t even begin to understand how to cage emotions, as that didn¡¯t make any sense to him. So instead, he focused on designing a structure for his mind prison.

    At first, he tried to structure it like a jail cell, something he¡¯d actually seen before, but that didn¡¯t work well at all. The things he was trying to contain didn¡¯t have physical form, so bars weren¡¯t ideal.

    Next, he tried something simr to a white room. It was apletely solid box with no defining features. If a human was forced to live within such a construct for a prolonged period of time, they¡¯d go insane with 100% certainty.

    However, there was a problem with this structure as well. He found that if he used this white room, he¡¯d have a hard time releasing his emotions once again, regaining his full self.

    Damien¡¯s view of the Void Heart concept was like he was splitting himself in two. On one side was his rational mind, and the other was his emotional one. He didn¡¯t know what state he would be in once the two separated, and he didn¡¯t want to take any risks.

    What if his rational mind refused to release his emotions? What if his emotions, trapped within the white room, be chaotic and self-destructive? He didn¡¯t want to take any chances.

    He needed to make sure there was a way for both exit and entry from both sides. He viewed both sides of him once he activated the mind prison as conscious beings.

    And so, Damien began experimenting with other shapes. On the second ah, he finally settled for something akin to a ser ball. Connecting hexagonal panels that created a circr construct.

    With this structure, he could effectively seal his emotions, leaving no clear exits for them to seep through without permission, yet he could install a backdoor for emergency situations.

    He had learned long ago to be prepared for any situation, which is why he had rarely been surprised by the developments that took ce since he left the dungeon.

    With a structure in mind, Damien immediately wanted to get to work, but he was still clueless about where to start. Should he crystallize the mana and make a solid structure, or would it be more ethereal like mana circuits?

    He was charging forward without knowledge, and although he was aware of its dangers, he didn¡¯t stop. He had gotten so used to simply bulldozing his way through obstacles that it became second nature to him.

    Damien focused his awareness into his mind. He was trying to find something like a sea of consciousness that he could use to root the mind prison. But he only saw darkness. After searching tirelessly for what felt like days, he came to a realization.

    ¡®Wait, I¡¯m seeing darkness?¡¯

    Logically speaking, he shouldn¡¯t be ¡°seeing¡± anything. This was inside his mind, the only thing he had ever witnessed here was memories.

    But the fact that he was seeing darkness¡­

    ¡®Could this be my sea of consciousness?¡¯

    Rather than that, it was more like a mind space. There wasn¡¯t anything established within it yet, but its existence couldn¡¯t be denied. Damien called forth his mana and led it to the location his awareness was currently at, and it actually appeared in front of him.

    Staring at the shining amethyst energy before him, Damien smiled. ¡®I finally have a starting point.¡¯ Without dy, he started working. Since he had already thoroughly nned the structure beforehand, the actual creation process wasn¡¯t too difficult.

    But the process itself was enlightening to Damien. He was using mana to create an ethereal construct inside a space he didn¡¯t know truly existed. The process made Damien aware of how versatile mana truly was.

    Time passed in a sh as Damien continued this process. The single hexagonal panel he created at first multiplied a dozen-fold until it became 64 panels of equal size. Then, he carefully attached them together in a process simr to welding metals.

    When the spherical prism finally took root, Damien could feel a specific feeling in his mind that he couldn¡¯t quite ce. However, this feeling confirmed the existence of the Mind Prison he had just painstakingly created.

    Just this was enough to make him want to leap with joy. Just because he was working without pause didn¡¯t mean he held no doubts about his methods. The entire time, he wondered whether all his hard work would copse like an illusion once he wasn¡¯t concentrating on it.

    But it was there, a fully formed construct that embodied hispletion of the Void Heart Sword Law¡¯s first phase.

 Chapter 128 - Final Exam [1]

    Damien wanted to quickly move on to learning how to cage his emotions, but the opportunity was denied. His body was soon bathed in the warm sunlight as the darkness receded along with the wall ofprehension.

    Looking around, Damien noticed that he was in the middle of a vast field surrounded by thousands of people who he assumed were the other cultivators taking the disciple examination.

    Each of them was separated by around 10 meters of space, creating a semi-isted area around them.

    ¡®This must¡¯ve been the space that thest examination area took up.¡¯

    Within a few hours, the rest of the cultivators also woke up from their meditation and were made aware of their new location.

    But Damien didn¡¯t feel any joy about the fact that the test was over. He felt that he most likely failed it since he had barelypleted half the first phase of his new art. He was fully prepared to leave and try his luck at joining another sect.

    ¡°Young cultivators, wee back from the 2nd exam,¡± a familiar voice greeted. Looking up, they saw Mu Chen floating in the air above them.

    ¡°I understand that many of you are confused, so allow me to give a brief exnation. The Wall of Comprehension is a unique treasure, and the skills you were granted were done so by fate.

    ¡°Although not all of you have passed this test, you have all benefited from its contents. For this reason, I advise you not to share the process of our examination if you do not gain entry to our sect.

    ¡°You can try if you wish, but you should first question why news of the process has never been leaked to the outside.¡±

    Damien finally realized why the Celestial Star Pce was able to remain secretive. It wasn¡¯t simply due to respect but also fear and quick decision-making. Anyone who attempted to reveal their information was promptly dealt with.

    As for how they were able to track anyone who did so? Damien could only shudder at his own wild assumptions.

    ¡°Now, if the area below you lights up red, you may leave back to your homes, but if it is green, stay in ce as you have passed onto the final phase.¡±

    Damien looked down, fully expecting a red glow to emanate from the ground, but the result was theplete opposite. The lush grass below him shone in its own color, illuminating his square green.

    ¡®I passed?¡¯ He wondered. He felt that there was no way heprehender 25% of the entire Void Heart Sword Law in such a brief period.

    ¡°Young man,¡± an aged voice suddenly rang out in his head, ¡°do not question the results. If you can seed in this final segment, the answer shall be revealed to you.¡±

    For someone to send him a mana transmission that went undetected by those around him, they had to be extremely strong. So Damien simply nodded indiscreetly to show his affirmation before focusing his attention back on Mu Chen.

    All around him, cultivators were showing different reactions to their squares. Those who passed were jubnt, some even crying tears of joy while those with stature like Long Chen stayed indifferent.

    The reaction of those who failed was theplete opposite. Some simply left with downtrodden expressions, but others cried and begged, hoping to gain sympathy.

    Others simply didn¡¯t ept the results and tried to revolt, but they were shut down without hesitance.

    Anyone who overstayed their wee was forcefully removed from the area, and although no deaths were incurred, plenty of injuries were handed out.

    Although the scale was much smaller, their tragic scenes reminded him of what he saw in the vision about his swordw. Cries and pleas, unwillingness, and hope were all disregarded.

    ¡®That¡¯s right, this whole world revolves around such a principle. The Void Heart Sword Law is simply the peak of such a thought process.¡¯

    ¡°To those of you who passed, wee to the third phase. The rules of this phase are incredibly simple. All you have to do is survive for an entire week within the forest to your right.

    ¡°Anyone who doesn¡¯t arrive back at this area once the week ends will be disqualified or counted dead. Now, all of you may go forth, and may fate allow you to keep your lives.¡±

    Mu Chen immediately moved on to the next portion without sparing a nce at the failed cultivators. Hell, he didn¡¯t even pay attention to the states of those who passed.

    While the others stood confused, Damien didn¡¯t hesitate to move. Without even doing a rough sweep of the forest, he charged in. Long Chen, who saw him move, quickly did the same, followed by the rest.

    Only after entering the forest did Damien notice its strangeness. The towering trees and lush vegetation, although normal on the outside, contained too much life force to be simple.

    Not only that, he could feel the aura of countless beasts roaming the area.

    ¡®Everything living here can be considered an enemy.¡¯

    But Damien didn¡¯t care about any of it. ¡®I have a week of spare time I can use to finish the first phase of my swordw.¡¯

    He was still hung up on this. For some reason, he wasn¡¯t apprehensive at all about closing off his emotions. It wasn¡¯t even something new to him.

    For Damien, he lived his whole life burying and suppressing his emotions. The few years he spent with Rose were the only ones where he let himself roam free. But that alone wasn¡¯t enough to change his personality.

    He was still running from his problems. It was the reason he had separated from Rose and Elena in the first ce, and it was most likely the reason why the concept of void heart appealed to him so much.

    He hated the control his emotions could have over his life. While he loved the time he spent with Rose, Elena, Zara, and his mother, he felt that in other situations his emotions were usually a burden.

    They were something he reserved only for people he cared about, and he wanted a way to make them exclusive to those people.

    ¡®Why should others be allowed to sway me?¡¯

    He didn¡¯t want to be swayed by beauty, he didn¡¯t want to be swayed by pity, and he didn¡¯t want to be swayed by trust. Trusting people wasn¡¯t something Damien was ever willing to do.

    And while he was aware that running away from his emotions would never work as a long-term solution, he didn¡¯t care. He would rather call himself a hypocrite than solve his emotional problems.

    In this case, he was the opposite of his usual self. For someone who charged unhesitatingly in the face of danger to avoid it like this was a sight to behold, but it wasn¡¯t funny in the slightest.

    The trauma he developed on earth followed him everywhere. It haunted him even in his rtionship, forcing its development to halt.

    There was a reason he and Rose didn¡¯t act much different than they did in Apeiron when they were simply friends. It was entirely his fault.

    ¡®These emotions, I don¡¯t need them.¡¯

    Without his conscious effort, some ethereal concepts floating within the ckness of his mind-space migrated into his Mind Prison. And then¡­

    Click!

    It trapped them within.

 Chapter 129 - Final Exam [2]

    In the dense and eerie forest, a single man walked with rxed yet calcted steps. His eyes were entirely emotionless as if everything around him was irrelevant.

    Boom!

    The man waved his hand, causing arge explosion to ur. A few meters to his left, a massive crater was formed. Its shape was perfectly round as if someone cleanly removed that portion ofnd.

    And in fact, they had. The man kept walking forward and a few secondster, a massive chunk of rock fell from the sky and crashed into the ground.

    On that rock, there was arge nt, however, each of its petals was coated in razor-sharp des that looked like a mouth. Onnding, that creature was squashed into paste.

    Feeling the experience enter his body, the man continued walking. He had no purpose besides to find life forms and kill them so he could level up.

    ¡®The goal is to survive, but such a thing is too simple.¡¯ The man thought. Merely surviving wouldn¡¯t cut it. He wanted to gain something beneficial out of this time.

    However, he only cared about his goals. In order to gain experience at a faster rate, he made his way as far into the forest as possible. There was no rule about not harming other participants, and they were the closest source of exp in his vicinity, but he thought further.

    ¡®There will be problems in the future if Imit mass ughter without cause.¡¯

    But it didn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t do it. He just wouldn¡¯t go out of his way to do it, instead, he would kill anyone who was unfortunate enough to run into him.

    As the man continued to walk, he suddenly felt movement to his right. Twisting his body at an unnatural angle, he dodged an iing w.

    Behind him stood a massive panther, retreating after its attack failed.

    ¡°You made a grave mistake stepping into my territory, human.¡± The panther hissed while releasing its full aura. The beast was clearly at 3rd ss just like him, only it was somewhere in the mid-levels.

    However, Damien said nothing in response. He waved his hand, retrieving arge shining sword from thin air. In the next second, he swung it down.

    A massive sword wave was released when he struck, cleaving its way towards the panther. The ground rumbled as it was split in two, and even the air whistled as it was torn apart.

    Sensing danger, the panther quickly dodged to his right. However, even this was of no use. Just the simple move made the panther feel lightheaded.

    Wait¡­that wasn¡¯t right. He was a proper 3rd ss beast, there was no way for him to get exhausted from such a small movement. Upon making this realization, the panther looked down at his own body.

    To his shock and horror, there was a small hole within his chest, leading directly through his heart and out the other side of his body.

    Looking up at the human standing across from him, he only saw the man¡¯s hand on his sword hilt as he stared on with those cold emotionless eyes. With this scene, its consciousness faded to ck.

    ¡®Void Sword Art 2nd Step: Horizon Splitter¡¯

    The concept of distance became irrelevant with the use of this move. Without giving another nce at the beast, he continued walking.

    ¡®Next prey.¡¯

    ***

    Meanwhile, Long Chen was having a different experience from Damien.

    ¡°Long Chen, I dare you to move against us. Now that we¡¯re alone, I can finally take action against you.¡± A ck-haired young man said. From his facial structure alone, it was clear the two were rted.

    Looking at the crowd of people that had formed around him, Long Chen stayed calm. ¡°Long Bai, you should be aware that you gain nothing from this. Even without me, you won¡¯t receive the sessor position.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Long Bai screeched. ¡°With you out of my way, the rest are nothing but trash! Today is the day you meet your end.¡±

    Long Bai signaled with his arms, causing all 10 of the goons he had brought to charge as he watched from a distance.

    ¡°Young master, forgive us, but we are loyal to the Luo Branch!¡±

    ¡°Hmph.¡± Long Chen snorter. ¡°The Luo Branch is simply a bunch of trash wishing for death.¡±

    Reaching out in front of him, Long Chen withdrew his sword from his spatial ring. Unlike Damien¡¯s, it was arge broadsword. Its design was ornamental, its de shining in the sunlight that peaked through the foliage.

    The hilt was covered in golden designs on a white base. A long golden streak ran through the middle of the double-edged de, whose length was around 2 meters long. With such arge sword, one would expect equivalent weight, however Long Chen wielded the massive de with a single hand.

    ¡°Come, then. Allow me to show you the difference between us.¡±

    The surrounding cultivators also drew their weapons, simultaneously attacking Long Chen.

    ¡®Heavenly Cloud Steps.¡¯

    A small white fog materialized beneath Long Chen¡¯s feet. Slightly pushing against the ground, he shot through the crowd of cultivators.

    His movements were light as a feather, yet contained speed faster than the eye could see. He seemed to blend with the air with every step, randomly appearing in a different ce.

    His elusive movements alone were able to spread panic within the crowd. Soon enough, attacks were being thrown into empty space, none being able to touch his figure.

    Fire pirs rose from the ground, shards of ice and spikes of earth charged toward him. With such arge crowd, it was impossible to userge-scale destructive attacks, so they were stuck using smaller ones. Still, the power contained within them was nothing to scoff at.

    ¡®Heh, thest time it was recorded, Long Chen was only at the peak of 2nd ss. With this group of 2nd sses and my own strength, he has no chance.¡¯ Long Bai thought as he watched the battle.

    Even seeing Long Chen¡¯s mind-numbing skill, he had no fear. He was confident that Long Chen¡¯s mana reserves would run dry soon. But as time passed, he felt an ominous feeling rise in his chest.

    It had been half an hour, but Long Chen was still actively evading every attack thrown at him. Continuously using a powerful technique should have emptied his reserves already, but he wasn¡¯t even sweating.

    Suddenly, Long Chen spoke.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting bored already.¡±

    Making distance, he changed his stance into a more offensive one. ¡°Try taking my moves then.¡±

    ¡®9 dragons soar through the heavens!¡¯

    Grabbing his sword hilt with both hands, Long Chen swung it down with all his might. His muscles bulged at the pressure of his swing, bing visible through his loose-fitting robes.

    When the sword made impact against the ground, a massive earthquake erupted. The ground shook and cracked, segmenting into hundreds of different parts.

    From the space below 9 of the cultivators in the group, fear-inducing roars could be heard. The earth exploded, letting forth 9 holy white dragon phantoms. Their jaws opened wide, mping shut on the 9 victims before they continued soaring into the sky.

    Long Chen quickly appeared behind the final cultivator and cleanly severed his head from his body. Thest thing that cultivator saw was 9 dragons in the sky, opening their mouths to let out mighty roars into the heavens. And out of the mouths of those dragons, 9 lifeless bodies falling to the ground.

    Paying no mind to the falling corpses that were soon to be meat paste, Long Chen turned to Long Bai, who was attempting to slowly back away, with a twisted smile on his face.

 Chapter 130 - Final Exam [3]

    ¡°Did you think I, Long Chen, was some sort of easy target?¡± He said. Although his face stayed indifferent, the pride infused into his entire being was almost palpable.

    ¡°Did you think you could simply ambush me and seed? You truly are a fool, Long Bai.¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯te over here!¡± Long Bai stuttered with fear evident on his face. He wasn¡¯t the type to spend his time training, rather he would spend it scheming.

    How he reached his current level with such a mindset was inconceivable to Long Chen, but he knew that Long Bai had no actual skill besides raw strength. After all, for a 3rd ss to kill a 2nd ss, raw power was usually enough.

    But Long Bai had underestimated Long Chen. He didn¡¯t even spend time crosschecking his information to prove its truth. The second he saw that Long Chen was a 2nd ss, he assumed it would be an easy feat to stomp on him.

    But the current situation wasn¡¯t ying out how he expected. ¡°You know who my father is! Do you really want the Grand Elders to turn on your Yun Branch?¡±

    Long Chen paused briefly but continued walking as if his hesitation was never present. ¡°Your Luo Branch turned on our Long n the second you decided to fight the n rules. You simply don¡¯t know that you were dead a long time ago.¡±

    Long Chen reactivated his movement technique and appeared directly in front of Long Bai, causing thetter to fall on his butt in horror.

    ¡°Let me show you why I am titled as a peak genius of this generation. Let me show you what it means to be Young Master of the Long n. Let me show you what power is!¡±

    Just like before, Long Chen raised his sword into the air, taking a simr posture. But the way his mana moved was entirely different.

    ¡®Divine Dragon Roars to the Heavens.¡¯

    The sound of thunder tumbled through the area as thick dark clouds began to gather. Any living being, whether magical beast, nt life form, or other cultivators, all scrambled away from the vicinity.

    Ka-boom!

    Pirs of lightning descended faster than the eye could see and impacted the earth, causing massive craters in the surroundings. Trees were charred and then reduced to dust. The lush greenery on the ground had been incinerated, making way for a barren wastnd.

    A 20-kilometer radius around the duo was nothing but scorched earth, but no attack hadnded near them. It was clear the amount of control Long Chen possessed.

    Boom!

    Lightning descended once again, this time striking Long Chen¡¯s sword, which was still pointed skyward. A strange scene urred, the lightning was absorbed by the sword, causing it to glow ominously.

    Long Chen swung the sword, eliciting another massive roar from the sky. An eastern dragon made entirely of lightning emerged from the clouds. Its destination was directly on Long Bai¡¯s body.

    Following the path of Long Chen¡¯s sword, the dragon descended, piercing Long Bai through his chest before entering the ground. Seeing this scene, Long Chen flew into the air, where the thunderous clouds had begun to disperse.

    When the dragon entered the ground, it signified the end of this battle. A bright light shone inside the cracked earth, illuminating the already bright day. Following this light, many pirs shot out of the ground, before the entire thing erupted.

    Sound seemed to have been put at a loss for what to do, as the actual sound of the explosion only rang out minutes after it had already happened. The previous 20 kilometers¡¯ worth of scorchednd had been torn to shreds, creating arge sinkhole whose depth couldn¡¯t be seen through.

    Looking at the destruction he caused, Long Chen slightly shook his head. He attached no significance to the event. Instead, he lifted his gaze to survey thend around him.

    ¡®Now would be a good time to fight that man from earlier.¡¯ He thought. ¡®But first I should recover my mana.¡¯

    ***

    4 days had passed in the forest and currently, Damien could be seen seated on the massive branch of a tree. Within his mind, a careful process was taking ce.

    Damien sent his awareness into the ck area he had titled his Mind Space. He was currently watching a formless aura trapped within an ethereal cage.

    ¡®This is my emotions. It¡¯s time to revert to normal.¡¯

    There were no other thoughts in his head. He simply used the exit he created to open the Mind Prison. As soon as he did, that formless aura was released and it dispersed into his Mind Space.

    Damien felt a rush of emotions. Excitement, anger, intrigue, and many more wild feelings gued his mind, causing him to grab his head in pain.

    Luckily his feelings were mostly positive, or he couldn¡¯t imagine the side effects. It took an entire half-hour before Damien¡¯s raging headache calmed down, allowing him room to think.

    ¡®That was¡­intense.¡¯

    The feeling waspletely different from what he imagined. He didn¡¯t feel trapped in his own body as logical thought took over, rather he waspletely himself.

    It was surreal. He could act like apletely different being, and since his emotions were sealed, he felt no guilt or dilemma from doing so. He was left without room to even question himself.

    He had spent thest 4 days killing anything he came across, soliciting him an increase of 5 levels. This was barely anything, but it made sense. 3rd ss was always said to be much harder to cross than the previous two.

    ¡®This skill could be extremely dangerous if used incorrectly.¡¯

    The main problem he saw was that he had no ability to change his actions from the logical ones he took. If he felt he made a mistake, there was no turning back.

    And if, for instance, the emotionless version of him decided that abandoning those close to him was the most ideal scenario¡­

    ¡®I don¡¯t even want to think about what would happen.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t have a goal in mind while activating his Mind Prison, so the chosen goal was his deepest desire to grow in strength. After the 4-day killing spree, his rational mind decided that there was no need to use the Mind Prison to take such actions.

    Due to that, Damien ended up in his current position, finally regaining his true self. If he had to judge it, he felt that overall it was a positive experience. The only problem was that he still had no idea how he managed to seal his emotions in the first ce.

    ¡®All I was doing was suppressing them as hard as I could. There¡¯s no way it could be that easy.¡¯

    Yet, it might¡¯ve been exactly that. Damien wanted to test it out once more when he suddenly heard rustling from the tall grass on the ground. Whoever the neer was, they weren¡¯t trying to hide their presence.

    Damien spread his awareness to check who it was before a smile emerged on his face. ¡®Well well well, I didn¡¯t expect this to happen any time soon.¡¯

    The figure finally exited the grass, revealing its form. It was a familiar ck-haired man whose valiant and battle-hungry aura was on full disy.

 Chapter 131 - Power [1]

    ¡°You understand why I havee, don¡¯t you?¡± Long Chen said as he gazed at Damien. His eyes were as sharp as his sword, indicating that he wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer.

    ¡°I do. But are you sure you want to do it now?¡± Damien responded. He was also feeling the desire to fight, but he didn¡¯t want to do so now. He still had a few things he wanted to test after exiting his Void Heart form.

    But Long Chen didn¡¯t seem to care. ¡°Let¡¯s fight. I want to truly test my prowess, and you seem to be the only one here that might have the capability to do so.¡±

    ¡°Might?¡± Damien scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate me too much, or you won¡¯t know how you lost. How about this, on the final day of the exam, we meet back at this spot. That will be when we fight.¡±

    Long Chen thought for a moment. It was more convenient for him to fight on the final day as well since he still wasn¡¯t sure Long Bai was the only one out for his head. This way, the crowd they¡¯d attract wouldn¡¯t have time to make any sudden moves.

    If anyone wanted to strike them when they were tired, it¡¯d be impossible unless they wanted to fail the exam. Well, Long Chen didn¡¯t know about Zara so this was the security he felt.

    ¡°Very well, I will see you in 3 days.¡± He said. He had taken so long to find Damien that he got a little too excited and caught in the moment. It was a strange feeling that Long Chen hadn¡¯t experienced before.

    ¡®Perhaps my search for a rival has gone on for far too long.¡¯ It was the only reason he could think of for his recent actions. He didn¡¯t think or n, just acting on will alone.

    ¡®Then I will spend the next few days increasing my level and training before our confrontation.¡¯

    Damien and Long Chen weren¡¯t the only ones present in the vicinity. Many other participants and beasts had been attracted by the sh of their auras and hade to find the source of themotion. Due to this, news of their uing duel spread.

    ¡°Did you hear? The young master of the Long n is going to duel some random guy on the final day!¡±

    ¡°What? Why would I be interested in that? The other guy will obviously lose to Long Chen.¡±

    ¡°But you don¡¯t understand! I personally saw them sh in aura, and the other guy didn¡¯t lose out in the slightest!¡±

    ¡°What?! That¡¯s impossible!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true, if you want to see it, juste watch the duel!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll judge the truth with my own two eyes.¡±

    Many simr conversations took ce, everyone having their own goals. Some simply wanted to reach the gathering spot to kill off theirpetitors, some wanted to kill Long Chen, and some simply wanted to watch the show.

    Within a shadowy area of the forest, a ck-haired man was talking to a group of what seemed to be his followers.

    ¡°Long Chen will be tired out after this match. That idiot Long Bai and his group failed to kill him, so it¡¯s up to us. Don¡¯t fail me when the timees.¡±

    ¡°Yes, young master!¡±

    As all of this took ce, Damien flew around in search of an isted area within the forest. There was something he wanted to try. It was unrted to any training or technique he created, but still equally important.

    ¡°What does the full power of a 3rd ss look like?¡±

    The question was an interesting one, as Damien should be able to feel his exact power level. The problem was that he had never seenrge-scale destruction to use as a basis for what he could do.

    He had estimated his power back in Apeiron, but never had the chance to test it out.

    Reaching a lush area without too much wildlife, Damien began charging his attack.

    He wouldn¡¯t use any new techniques, but he wasn¡¯t simply going to use pure mana. He would use his most destructive attack for this test. The 4th form of his sword art, spatial copse.

    When he previously used this move, he always encapsted a few kilometers at best, but there was a reason for this. It was the amount of mana he poured into his attack.

    He usually did this instinctually, never thinking about the mechanics behind it. He didn¡¯t know whether it was a natural talent or a benefit of evolving, but he was always able to naturally tell how much mana he needed to put into an attack.

    Due to this, he never used his full power or overused mana even when he was going all out. Besides this fact, he also never had a reason to userge-scale destructive force.

    But today was different. He still had two and a half days before he needed to fight Long Chen, and that was more than enough time to recuperate his mana. Not to mention, he had Zara who could guard him while he was recovering.

    Damien took out his sword and began channeling mana into it. Since he was testing his all-out force, the amplification feature on his sword was a necessity.

    The colorless light of spatial mana coated the 1.5-meter-long de of the sword, causing it to shine iridescently. Damien slowly moved his arm, bringing it above his head. As his sword passed through the air, ripples urred in space.

    It wasn¡¯t quite strong enough to cause spatial cracks, especially with the resilient atmosphere on the Cloud ne, but its strength couldn¡¯t be denied. As Damien continued to pour his mana into the sword, the area of the spatial ripples spread, causing a phenomenon to appear in the air.

    Clouds became small boats floating on an ocean of space, the sky ebbing and flowing like waves. Just like before, many people witnessed it, but none dared to go forward.

    Damien¡¯s mana capacity at the moment was nearing 17,000, and although he didn¡¯t know the unit used to quantify it, he had more than 10x the mana he had at 2nd ss. He couldn¡¯t imagine the sheer power he could produce.

    It took around 5 minutes even at Damien¡¯s fastest speed for all his mana to enter the body of the sword, but once it was done, the sword itself looked like a second sun.

    ¡®Void Sword Art 4th Step: Spatial Copse¡¯

    He didn¡¯t hesitate any longer, swinging his sword down in the air. His target was space itself. Even though it only hit air, the sword made impact as if it was a solid surface. The sky beneath its de cracked and became a massive ck crevasse in the air.

    Within seconds, the crevasse expanded to cover a wide area, but other than that, there was only silence.

    Thousands of beings watched the crack in the sky with fear, not knowing its next move, but they weren¡¯t forced to wait long.

    BOOOOOM!

    It was chaos. The sky continued to crack, creating a massive ck hole that began to relentlessly pull its surroundings.

    The sky twisted into the ground and the ground became walls. Trees were uprooted and fused together as their molecules collided. This fusion phenomenon urred in the grass, the ground itself, and even a few unlucky beasts as well.

    The grassynd cracked and splintered, unable to resist the terrifying gravitational force of the ck hole.

    As theorized by scientists, even light was pulled into this gravity, creating a massive shining ring around the void that slowly became filled with rocks resembling meteors.

    Everything went to hell. The beasts that were remaining in the area were shredded to pieces by the opposing gravitational forces or pulled into the ck hole, never to be seen again.

    The ground no longer existed, leaving room for a massive abyssal chasm with no bottom. The world tried its best to repair the sky, but as long as the ck hole existed, it was impossible.

    The scene of devastation carried on for an entire 10 minutes uninhibited. And by the time it was over, nothing existed within the area. The ck hole slowly became smaller and smaller, turning into a pin-sized dot before disappearing into the air.

    Silence once again descended. Not only in the area Damien was in, but through the entire area of the massive forest that bore witness to the event. 1500 square kilometers worth ofnd was gone just like that.

    That number didn¡¯t mean much out of context, but it was a plot ofnd slightlyrger than Los Angeles. His full power was at the level where he could reduce an entire city to dust in a few minutes.

    Damien simply stood in the air basking in the sensation he felt. He needed to take time and understand why he had so much power, as none of his previous fights had been sorge scale. It almost didn¡¯t make sense for him to be this strong if he went all out.

    But other than that curiosity, he only felt one thing about this experience. The feeling of having this much power¡­

    It was enlightening.

 Chapter 132 - Power [2]

    The most prominent question at this moment was, why was Damien so powerful?

    With the way every fight of his had gone so far, one would expect the coteral damage to have reached city level, or at least something far more destructive than it had.

    However, the answer was simple. For starters, Damien needed an entire 10 minutes of charging his attack to reach the city level.

    It was a widely known fact that the difference between 2nd and 3rd ss could be considered the first true milestone in one¡¯s cultivation journey.

    Unlike the previous two sses, 3rd ss was an evolution of one¡¯s being. By the time onepleted their leveling and forged the legends necessary to ss change once more, they would gain more power over the naturalw.

    Damien didn¡¯t understand much about this ¡°naturalw¡± that was mentioned every time someone talked to him about 4th ss, but he was intrigued to figure it out.

    At the moment, his powers were at their weakest point, at least in the grand scheme. His elements were just that, elements. They had no power to manipte reality and perform truly grand feats.

    Just thinking about how the spatial mages of Apeiron were able to turn an entire world into a secret realm for the sake of their future generations, Damien could feel the massive power gap between sses.

    He had met a few 4th ss beings before, and none of them really gave him the same feeling as those he heard tales about from Kurt¡¯s remnant soul within the temple.

    After much thought, he understood the reason for this. Why would a 4th ss being be unable to conceal things from someone much weaker than them? It didn¡¯t make sense. Even if his eyes were extremely powerful, they weren¡¯t reality-breaking.

    What he saw from Malcolm or James in Apeiron was simply what they wished to show him. And the power he felt during their altercations wasn¡¯t even enough to be considered the tip of the iceberg.

    The after-effects of many 4th ss beings going to war on Apeiron was almost the total extinction of the world¡¯s poption. If that wasn¡¯t enough to showcase how much power they could truly possess, nothing was.

    His thoughts ran a little wild, considering that there might¡¯ve been other continents on Apeiron that were totally destroyed and sunk during the war, but that was just his own fantasy.

    Every time he had asked Malcolm about the reason for such a wide gap, he was told nothing. Even those elders from the Burning Sun Sect kept him in the dark about it.

    But that didn¡¯t curb his curiosity, instead making it burn with even brighter passion. Strength and power were things Damien loved, and learning about how they worked was something he had set his mind to. One way or another, he¡¯d figure out how it all worked.

    Other than that, he simply had no need to use such levels of power.

    Back when he was fighting the leaders of Niflheim, he had the elders of the Burning Sun Sect with him to offset a majority of the pressure he might¡¯ve faced, not to mention hispanions. If he had to fight those dark imps alone, he would have been forced to go all out, maybe even getting killed in the process.

    On Apeiron, he simply didn¡¯t have any major conflict. The fight with the Nox in the ancient temple might¡¯ve been much more destructive than any of his other fights, but he didn¡¯t have a major part in that one.

    With the sturdiness of the pce and Rose¡¯s mitigation of damage through the use of her Illusory Throne, the coteral of that fight became underwhelming.

    No matter how focused he was on his goal, or how strong his resolve to crush those in his path was, he needed true enemies for that to happen, and Damien had never been one to wantonly make enemies.

    The funny part was, the one time he actively sought enemies, he met theughing stock named Wang Ming. He didn¡¯t know whether he should praise his luck or curse it.

    His personality craved for battle, it craved for life or death situations, but he was leftrgely unfulfilled. If his two years in the dungeon were counted, he had more than enough life or death tost him many years, but it wasn¡¯t.

    The reason being that his time in the dungeon was what caused him to develop such a mentality. Since it developed that trait, it couldn¡¯t be considered as fulfilling its desires.

    However, he wasn¡¯t insane. Damien didn¡¯t just hop into situations that¡¯d lead to his death due to his urge to feel that riveting sensation of walking the line. If he was that dumb, he would be finding some Nox-infested and charging in headfirst.

    At the end of the day, what Damien wanted was more opportunities for destruction like this. He loved the feeling he got from causing it, and he loved the sight of it.

    He actually felt like heprehended something elusive just moments ago, but he couldn¡¯t recall it no matter how hard he tried. All he knew was that destruction was something closely rted to him, as the core of his being reveled in its sensation.

    He felt like the question marks in his affinities section were slowly revealing themselves, with one set being ringly obvious to him. He just didn¡¯t know how to proceed withprehending it enough to truly gain an affinity.

    While he thought of these things, Zara flew him to an isted area so he could recover. Truthfully, he had almost dropped out of the sky, unable to sustain himself due to the overuse of his mana.

    And directly after everything had ended, he fell deep into his own thoughts. His behavior could be seen as stupid and self-destructive, but in another vein, it could be said that he had immense trust in Zara.

    After finding an indiscreet cave, Zara quickly scared away the beasts living in it with her aura before taking Damien inside.

    ¡°Damien, how did you do that?¡± Zara asked, intrigue evident in her eyes. She had simrly never witnessed such a scene, and it made her faith in Damien almost turn to worship.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Damien chided. ¡°If you try your hardest, you can probably do something like that as well. After all, my Zara will be the strongest beast to ever exist.¡±

    ¡°Mm!¡± Zara nodded, happily prancing around the cave. Inwardly, she was swearing to not neglect training, wanting to do the same as Damien one day.

    Without much action, another 2 days passed. The sun rose over the horizon as the day of the duel dawned on those present. Everywhere within the general vicinity,rge movements could be seen.

    Crowds of surviving contestants all made their way over to the tree where the meeting spot was set. This was a duel involving a peak genius, so they had to witness it.

    When they arrived, they saw a ck-haired man floating in the air, his aura radiating serenity. It only took 10 minutes for his opponent to arrive, causing his eyes to snap open.

    ¡°Finally, let us see who is stronger.¡±

 Chapter 133 - Power [3]

    A 50-kilometer radius surrounding a massive tree was crowded by slightly more than a thousand people who made up arge crowd prepared to watch the uing battle.

    In the air above the tree stood a heroic man whose flowing ck hair and robes fluttered in the calm wind. His sword-like eyebrows were calmly set above his closed eyes. He didn¡¯t do anything special, but his presence captivated the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

    From the distance, another aura emerged, flying at high speeds towards their location. Most of the crowd was only able to see an amethyst light approaching them. When it finally arrived, the figure it encased was revealed.

    Another man whose aura was equally valiant, leaving no obvious discrepancies between him and his opponent. His hair was tied in a ponytail, the silver streaks within its deep ck looking like shooting stars in the night.

    His brows were equally sharp, drawing attention to his mesmerizing eyes. The two colors that made up his irises swirled hypnotically, causing his cross-shaped pupils to look like a small boat amongst a raging storm.

    His clothing was styled much differently from those people were used to, giving him a unique and mysterious vibe.

    Floating above the rich greenery of the forest, these two men looked like immortal cultivators peacefully gauging each other¡¯s strength. However, this aura changed the second they met eyes.

    Their auras red, starting their preliminarypetition. An amethyst aura met a gold one, each disying its own unique properties.

    Winds swirled around them as just the sh of their auras would have been enough to drop any 2nd ss cultivator to their knees.

    ¡°You showed up.¡± Long Chen said, excitement slowly emerging in his tone.

    ¡°Did you think I wouldn¡¯t?¡± Damien responded with an amused smile.

    But Long Chen shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t take you for someone without honor. I am simply excited to see whether I can finally find a challenge.¡±

    Among those who had witnessed the devastating scene that suddenly began in one portion of the forest a few days ago, Long Chen was one of them. Although most were unaware of the cause, he had a good guess.

    ¡°Is there any need for more hesitation? Let¡¯s fight.¡± He said.

    In terms of pure aura, they were almost equal, with neither of them being able to gain a true advantage. It was pointless for them to continue with these insignificant altercations.

    Long Chen chose not to draw his sword immediately, flying forward at speeds that caused small booms to resound through the environment as even the air was broken through.

    In a mere instant, he arrived in front of Damien, throwing a fierce punch directly at his face. But Damien wasn¡¯t perturbed. He slightly moved his body, allowing the fist to pass by him as he threw his own punch, his speed not slower than Long Chen¡¯s in the slightest.

    The two stayed in closebat for many minutes, maneuvering within the air as if it was solid ground. Still, neither of them had been able tond a proper hit.

    Separating for a moment, they once again charged, their fists connecting. Each connecting punch resulted in a sonic boom,

    As they were in the air, they didn¡¯t cause any damage to the surroundings, but their sh resulted in fierce winds that attempted to shred the branches of the trees below them. They moved around the 50-kilometer stage that had been prepared for them at a rapid pace, unperturbed by any damage they might cause.

    At this point, the only way they were using mana was to empower their fists, so they hadn¡¯t been able to damage each other. Still, they were having plenty of fun.

    Each time they connected a hit, grins would emerge on their faces. Both of them felt the refreshing feeling that came with talking with fists.

    However, they didn¡¯t have all the time in the world to y. At the end of the day, they still had to pass the disciple examination. After 15 minutes, they finally separated once more.

    ¡°It¡¯s impressive enough for you to match me blow to blow with fists, but let¡¯s see if you can do the same with your sword.¡± Long Chen said as he pulled out his massive greatsword.

    Damien grinned in response as he withdrew his own weapon. The difference in size between the two was ring, but the aura they gave off didn¡¯t lose to each other.

    Damien knew his sword itself wasn¡¯t as refined as it could be, but he had confidence in the arts he created. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±

    Gold and amethyst covered their des before they charged again. As their des made contact, a loud screech could be heard from the grinding of metal.

    As their exchange continued, Damien slowly lost ground. As he expected, Long Chen¡¯s sword mastery was leagues above his. However, he wasn¡¯t perturbed.

    ¡®Void Sword Art 3rd Step: Dance of the Void¡¯

    Damien¡¯s figure quickly became ethereal, shing in and out of existence, randomly appearing in different ces around Long Chen.

    His movements were patterned in such a way that soon, Long Chen was surrounded by tens of afterimages.

    With the addition of his spatial magic, Damien began gaining ground. Seeing himself get put at a disadvantage, Long Chen grinned. ¡®¡±Using techniques? Let me join you!¡±

    ¡®9 Dragons Soar through the Heavens!¡¯

    Just like before, the ground erupted, leaving way for 9 white dragon phantoms that charged toward Damien. Seeing the iing dragons, he grinned.

    Putting his palm out, Damien pushed down. Long Chen suddenly felt the air around him get heavy as his movements became sluggish. Even his dragons were slightly struggling against the pressure.

    ¡®Gravity!¡¯ He eximed within his head. ¡®This fight won¡¯t be as simple as I assumed.¡¯

    ¡®Heavenly Dragon Domain!¡¯

    A golden light expanded from Long Chen¡¯s body before epassing a 20-kilometer radius around him. Naturally, Damien was included in this.

    Within the domain, Damien felt that his lie movements were slowed to match Long Chen¡¯s under his gravity. Soon enough, those 9 dragons made their way to him, mping down their massive jaws.

    First blood had been drawn, and Damien was the loser. The dragon phantoms attempted to tear through his body, but he soon teleported out of their grasp. He no longer had the freedom to rx.

    ¡®Void Sword Art 2nd Step: Horizon Break¡¯

    Long Chen suddenly felt immense dangering from an unknown direction. He twisted his body at an impossible angle, but he was unable to fully dodge. A massive gash formed on his left side, along his ribs.

    Grinning at Long Chen, Damien smugly dered, ¡°Now we¡¯re even.¡±

    Ignoring the pain, Long Chen grinned back. Even though their fight hadn¡¯t be serious yet, he knew. He met an opponent he couldn¡¯t simply destroy if he didn¡¯t show some of his cards.

    But as if it was an unspoken agreement between the two, they didn¡¯t use their most powerful attacks. As their sh continued, they only used the moves they had already shown each other.

    Blood continued to spill, staining the green forest with blips of red, but neither fighter paused their movements.

    It was time for round two.

 Chapter 134 - Power [4]

    At the edge of the forest, a meeting of elders was taking ce. Not all the elders previously in the pce had assembled, but the ones willing to take disciples from the new batch of outer disciples were gathered.

    ¡°Have you heard the news?¡±

    ¡°Right, that Long boy is having a duel with the kid from the talent test.¡±

    ¡°Mm, I think it¡¯d be good if they could develop a healthy rivalry.¡±

    ¡°Right, the Long n might not have the same influence as us, but they are near the top of the 4 great ns. It won¡¯t be bad for us to make connections to them.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, if the Long boy finds a rival within the sect, their n will be much more favorable towards our disciples.¡±

    As these misceneous conversations took ce, someone raised a concern.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be monitoring their duel? We can¡¯t have either of them getting too injured, or even worse, crippled.¡±

    ¡°They are both top geniuses that will benefit our sect greatly, so naturally that can¡¯t be allowed. However, we don¡¯t need to worry. The Old Man is already taking care of it.¡±

    ¡°He moved personally? I wonder which of them caught his interest.¡±

    Even though they addressed him causally, respect and adoration could be felt in the tones of these sect elders as they spoke about the old man.

    Nheless, after learning that safety was already taken care of, the sect elders resumed their idle chatter.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the fight between Damien and Long Chen had escted intensely. Unlike their previous bouts, they both had serious expressions on their faces.

    The lush scenery of the 50-kilometer radius around them had already been destroyed. The ground was cracked, and many of the nts in the vicinity had been charred or incinerated.

    The crowd of onlookers was forced to scatter since the battle had escted past the point where they could stand close by and watch. Some decided to eliminate theirpetitors during this time, so many small skirmishes were taking ce in the area.

    ng!

    The sound of swords impacting each other was heard once again, but this time wasn¡¯t so simple. A wave of lightning crashed into Long Chen, obliterating everything in his vicinity, while the same urred with Damien.

    As it turns out, Long Chen also had a lightning affinity, so after many hours, they had decided topete on whose was better.

    Damien¡¯s crackling ck lightning contained properties of destruction, while Long Chen¡¯s gold lightning felt more pure and authoritative.

    When the two waves of lightning collided, a massive explosion engulfed the entire 50 kilometers around them, pushing both of them back.

    Turning his head to the side, Damien spit out a mouthful of blood. With their sh bing more vtile, there was no way to remain uninjured.

    ¡®Well, at least it isn¡¯t as bad as the Sea Dragon.¡¯ Thinking about it, Damien got an idea. He hadn¡¯t been able to test his new trait on any opponents recently.

    ¡°Long Chen, we¡¯ve already been fighting for hours without a clear winner. Let us end it in this next sh.¡±

    Long Chen was in a simr state as Damien, and while his injuries were also rapidly healing, his healing factor wasn¡¯t as pronounced as his opponents. ¡®Is there no way for me to win?¡¯

    Going into this fight, he had expected a challenge, but nothing like this. Whenparing raw strength, Damien was above him. However, he won in terms of technique.

    With each having their own specialty, their battle stayed at a standstill for this long. Every time Long Chen used his wits tond a critical hit on Damien, he would copse space or use his odd invisible sword strike to counterattack.

    ¡®Spatial cultivators are truly terrifying.¡¯

    He was aware that if this was a life or death battle, he¡¯d lose purely due to Damien¡¯s spatial element. After all, Damien had the ability to flee whenever he felt like it to recuperate, while Long Chen had nothing of the sort.

    Even if he used the life-saving talismans his family provided, they were a finite supply, unlike Damien who only needed mana.

    Looking at his opponent who was breathing heavily, but still looked in generally good shape, Long Chen checked his own condition.

    ¡®I can continue fighting for many more hours, and my mana capacity is still 3/4ths full, but we can¡¯t fight forever.¡¯

    ¡°Very well, the next move will be thest.¡±

    Since they were finishing it here, he might as well go all out. This was Long Chen¡¯s thought. And although he didn¡¯t want to use his trump card, he felt he had the perfect attack for this confrontation.

    Both fighters nodded at each other in mutual agreement before their auras red. They gushed out mana at an incredible pace, putting everything into their final attacks.

    ¡®Only leave enough mana to protect myself.¡¯ This was the thought running through both of their minds.

    Above Damien¡¯s head, the sky once again raged. Thunder boomed so loud that it could even be heard by the elders on the outskirts of the forest, and ck lightning crackled through the storm clouds that began to gather.

    It was like a heavenly tribtion, but much more destructive. But Damien wasn¡¯t done yet. If he was going all out, he¡¯d truly go all out. He slowly began inhaling as a small ck dot formed in his throat.

    On Long Chen¡¯s side, a simrly catastrophic scene was taking ce. Heaven and earth rumbled as pirs shot down from both, connecting in the middle with such force that small space cracks formed.

    These pirs were entirely gold, forming an illusory golden pce around Long Chen, with him sitting on a throne of swords. The earth cracked apart and gave way for the hotva within, which rose to create golems that guarded their king.

    The sky cleared and the sun shone through the dark clouds, illuminating Long Chen¡¯s figure like a heavenly immortal descended upon the mortal world.

    Damien¡¯s eyes slowly turned entirely red, while Long Chen¡¯s became vertical slits of a reptile. Looking at each other, they both yelled at the top of their lungs.

    ¡°Heavenly Dragon God¡¯s Descent!¡±

    ¡°Storm Dragon¡¯s Fury!¡±

    On Damien¡¯s side, a beam of destructive ck light thicker than any tree trunk shot out of his mouth and entered the storm clouds, empowering them with its strength.

    Soon after, the rumbling clouds became pitch ck, causing a massive hole to be opened in the space above the battleground. Through this hole, an evenrger beam with the thickness of a building shot forward towards Long Chen¡¯s throne.

    However, the beam was destined to be obstructed. The tens of magma golems protecting Long Chen fused, bing a massive dragon made entirely of molten rock.

    The gold beams creating the structure of the pce shifted their aim and entered the magma dragon¡¯s body, covering it in light. Finally, the shining sunlight converged to create a golden dragon hundreds of meters in length.

    The dragon opened its massive maw, shooting out a golden-white beam that didn¡¯t lose out to Damien¡¯s in the slightest.

    The scene of carnage could be viewed by anyone near the forest. One pitch ck and the other gold, the two beams collided looking like an epic sh between good and evil.

    But the destruction it caused had no morality. The world was bathed in light that swallowed everything in its path, including Damien and Long Chen.

    The light incinerated everything, even the 3rd sspetitors that were too close were immediately turned to ash. This was the result of abination of Damien and Long Chen¡¯s power.

    As for whether the two of them could survive it? It was entirely unknown.

 Chapter 135 - Celestial Star Palace [1]

    Many hours passed and the surviving cultivators made their way to the entrance of the forest. They rushed with whatever power they could muster, as there were more than the thousand that would be selected who survived.

    Due to this, the first ones to reach the meeting point would be chosen.

    But even while moving at such speeds, most of their minds were preupied with the massive explosion that urred a few hours prior.

    After the event, some had even chosen to go back to that area to witness the scene, but they found nothing. There was only a massive crater several thousands of kilometers in diameter, the bodies of neither Damien nor Long Chen being present.

    Looking at the cultivators who slowly showed up in front of him, Mu Chen smiled. He got to witness many interesting scenes today and found many talented youngsters for their sect. Observing the kind of power the new generation could hold was one of his favorite pastimes.

    ¡®Especially those two..¡¯

    His mind drifted to the two that could be considered as the peak geniuses of this ss of outer disciples. One had immense status while the other was entirely unknown, but neither failed to make a grand entrance.

    Taking his mind off of them, he once again gazed at those who had gathered.

    ¡°Alright! To the 998 of you that arrived first, wee to our Celestial Star Pce! Your badges should have lit up green by now, so you know who you are!

    ¡°You are allowed to return to your families and say your goodbyes if you¡¯d like, but remember to be back at the sect with your token in 3 days¡¯ time! As for those who didn¡¯t pass, you can always try again during the next exam.

    ¡°The cultivation path is endless, and there is always a peak above the peak. If you don¡¯t have the fortitude to cope with this loss, you do not deserve to be titled as a cultivator.¡±

    Some voiced their dissent, but in the end, they didn¡¯t do anything. At least, most of them didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Senior! I counted myself, and I was the 1000th person toe out of the forest! Why is my token red?!¡± A ck-haired man shouted. He was the same man who had plotted with Long Bai earlier in the exam.

    Indifferently ncing at him, Mu Chen spoke. ¡°I said clearly that the first 998 cultivators gained entrance, so why are youining?¡±

    ¡°But the exam was supposed to allow 1000 of us! Don¡¯t think my Long n will take this slight sitting down!¡±

    ¡°Long n?¡± Mu Chen said with a questioning tone. The man¡¯s face became smug.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I am Long Hao! I will be sure to inform my elders about what urred here!¡± He said. Long Hao clearly believed he had the upper hand, bing more arrogant with every word he spoke.

    But Mu Chen didn¡¯t care in the slightest. ¡°Why would your Long n lose face here? Your young master is already our sect disciple. Not to mention that your Long n cannot harm us even if they tried.¡±

    The humiliating words in thetter half of the sentence werepletely disregarded due to the shock of the former.

    ¡°L-Long Chen is still alive?! Impossible!¡±

    Long Hao was part of the group that had almost been incinerated in that massive explosion. He firmly believed that Long Chen was dead, which was why he had the guts to act so brazenly.

    ¡°Whether you believe it or not isn¡¯t my problem. If you don¡¯t leave the area right now, I¡¯ll have to force you to do so.¡± Mu Chen responded.

    Long Hao¡¯s face went red with rage, but he knew he didn¡¯t have the strength to do anything. ¡°I¡¯ll remember this.¡± He said as he reluctantly flew away.

    Just like that, the disciple examination was over, along with most of the drama it brought. Many of the cultivators returned to their homes to wish goodbyes to their families, as they were aware they wouldn¡¯t leave the sect often, while others directly entered its premises.

    Within a certain building within the expansive city that decorated the Star Mountain on which the sect resided, two men could be seen lying down in beds.

    Their bodies were riddled with scars, and even with their healing factors, it was taking them many hours to heal.

    Days passed as these meny motionless, and even after their bodies had returned to peak condition, they still hadn¡¯t awoken.

    Next to one of these beds, arge ck winged wolf was pacing nervously. She had been watching Damien for the past 3 days hoping for some change, but she saw nothing.

    During that explosion, she felt that they would definitely die, but she had no qualms about it. As long as she died with Damien by her side, she¡¯d be content.

    Yet, at thest moment, she saw a blurred figure race in. After that, her vision went ck. She didn¡¯t pass out, nor was she obstructed in any way. Her eyes simply couldn¡¯t process the speeds at which Damien¡¯s body was being carried.

    The next thing she knew, they were in this building.

    ¡°Fear not, little one,¡± came an aged voice from the entrance of the room, ¡°their minds are simply exhausted from all the effort they put into their duel. They should be waking up in a few hours.¡±

    Zara simply nodded and went back to watching over Damien. By now, she was aware of the old man¡¯s presence. He was the one who brought them to this building and fed them the healing pills they needed, and Zara felt no malice from him.

    As for how she¡¯d treat him, that depended on what happened when Damien woke up. And after waiting a few more hours, just like the old man said, both Damien and Long Chen began to stir from their slumbers.

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    Damien groaned. The second his consciousness returned, he was met with a splitting headache.

    ¡®How the hell am I still alive?¡¯

    He didn¡¯t expect the oue to happen as it had. At first, his only goal was to use his storm talent. Yet, seeing the grand pce that was built around Long Chen, hispetitive nature arose and he went harder than he should¡¯ve.

    Long Chen was having simr thoughts. He only nned to use his golden pce andva golems to attack, yet he ended up using one of his most powerful moves.

    The two reflected on their battle and in the end, neither could conclude who had won that exchange. They both would have died if it wasn¡¯t for that shadowy figure that swooped them up at thest second.

    ¡°Are you kids done with your reminiscing?¡± A voice resounded through the room. Even if they weren¡¯t in peak condition, they both immediately put their guard up.

    ¡°Oho, it¡¯s good to see that you have the energy to look at me like that.¡± In front of them stood an old man with flowing white hair and a simrly long beard. His look was the epitome of the ¡°old monster¡± stereotype.

    ¡°Well then, if you¡¯re doing good enough to be so vignt, I might as well begin my introduction.¡± He said. Shifting his gaze between the two geniuses, the old man once again spoke.

    ¡°Wee to the Celestial Star Pce, new outer court disciples.¡±

 Chapter 136 - Celestial Star Palace [2]

    ¡°Eh?!¡±

    A startled sound left the mouths of both Damien and Long Chen. They hadn¡¯t passed thest exam since they had fallen unconscious before leaving the forest, but they still gained entry into the sect?

    ¡°You thought we¡¯d allow talents such as yourself to fail?¡± The old man chuckled. ¡°Both of you had already passed the exam after the first test ended. The rest was simply for show.¡±

    Now that he was back to his senses, Damien noticed something he disregarded previously. ¡°You! You¡¯re that voice from before!¡±

    ¡°Finally recognized me?¡± The old man smirked. ¡°Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tian Yang, and I am the Grand Elder of this fine sect.¡±

    The two men were both stunned into silence once again. The Grand Elder? Such a figure had status only below the Sect Master, and he was here taking care of them?

    ¡°No need to look at me like that,¡± Tian Yang continued, ¡°I am merely an old man with status. I really have too much time on my hands, so I decided to have a bit of fun.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s ignore that for now as I introduce you to the sect.¡± Tian Yang waved his arm, causing two blueish-ck tokens to fly into Damien and Long Chen¡¯s hands.

    ¡°These are your disciple tokens. Not only will they indicate your status within the sect, they will also serve asmunication devices and locators for various establishments on the premises.

    ¡°Our sect¡¯s facilities span this entire top half of the Star Mountain, so navigating can be quite difficult without such a guide.¡±

    Damien and Long Chen nodded, paying close attention to Tian Yang¡¯s words.

    ¡°As for the structure of the sect, it¡¯s quite simple. Since you are new, you will immediately be outer court disciples. The resources you will be distributed will be minimal, and the conditions are harsh. It is the gathering ce for the majority of our sect¡¯s poption.

    ¡°Every 6 months, there is an examination to enter the Inner Court. As for the requirements to do so, you can find out at the Induction Hall. The Inner Court is where thepetition truly begins. Each disciplepetes with each other for their ce in the rankings, hoping to enter the Core Court.

    ¡°The both of you witnessed the pagodas lining the areas closer to the peak of the mountain, correct? Each of those is home to a core disciple or an elder.

    ¡°So far, our sect only has 10 core disciples. Considering how we have tens of thousands of disciples, you can imagine the difficulty and struggle it takes to reach such a level.¡±

    Pausing for a moment, Tian Yang¡¯s gaze drifted to Damien.

    ¡°As Elder Mu mentioned at the beginning of the disciple examination, this year the elders of the sect were looking to take disciples from the new entrants. Being the disciple of an elder will immensely raise your status, and even if you still need to work your way up thedder, you will have a much easier time doing so.

    ¡°Not to mention, with an elder¡¯s backing and teachings, your realm progression andprehension speeds will catapult.¡±

    ¡°Young man, although I have talked so much, I am still unaware of your name, do you mind telling me?¡±

    Even though Tian Yang¡¯s tone and phrasing was polite, like a gentle old man, it was clear that he wasn¡¯t simply asking.

    ¡°My name is Damien, senior. Damien Void.¡±

    His eyes shed slightly, trying to see through even a hint of Tian Yang¡¯s power, but he failed to do so. Facing such a person with immeasurable depths, Damien decided it was best to be polite.

    ¡°Damien, is it. A truly odd name. However, this isn¡¯t important. What I wish to ask you, Damien, is whether or not you¡¯d like to be my disciple. Although you aren¡¯t my only disciple, it doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t have the time to teach you.¡±

    This scene was familiar to Damien, as the same had happened with Malcolm in Apeiron. A peak expert was willing to teach him. Not only would he gain status to protect him if necessary, he¡¯d also be able to progress with breakneck speeds.

    It wasn¡¯t as if Damien blindly believed what Tian Yang had told him earlier, rather it was something he had felt personally. Even if he couldn¡¯t feel nor see any aura from Tian Yang, he could see the colorless mana that surrounded him.

    There were two types of such mana, and Damien felt familiar with both of them. He knew for sure that one was spatial mana, but the other¡­

    It was definitely one of the hidden affinities that appeared in his status sheet while he was in the ancient temple.

    Unlike the master-disciple rtionships people had in the Cloud ne, where it would be an insult to take another master, there was no such custom on Apeiron. Malcolm was a teacher at an academy, not a personal master.

    And although he trained Damien personally, it was mainly for the sake of the Nexus Event. They barely retained such a teacher-student rtionship after the fact, bing more like friends than elder and junior.

    When considering all these facts together, Damien felt no need to hesitate. Quickly bowing his head, he spoke.

    ¡°Damien greets Master.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Good! I like your decisiveness, young man. Such is a great skill to possess in such a world as ours.¡±

    Raising his head, Damien suddenly looked over at Long Chen, who was watching everything go down with a slightly sour look on his face.

    ¡°Senior, what about Long Chen?¡± He asked tentatively.

    ¡°What, you aren¡¯t calling me Master anymore?¡± Tian Yang teased, causing Damien to look away in embarrassment.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him,¡± he continued, turning to Long Chen. ¡°You are actually a hotmodity among the elders, young man. There are plenty of them who wish to take you as their disciple, and you can choose who to take as your master after you meet them.

    ¡°The only reason it was this simple with Damien was because it was me who wanted to take him as my disciple. As for where to find those elders, simply inject mana into your disciple token and it shall show you the way.¡±

    Long Chen nodded, his precious sour look gone. His face now contained a fierce determination. Standing up from his bed, he walked over to Damien.

    ¡°Damien, you are the first person I¡¯ve met within my age range who was able to force me into a stalemate. Therefore, I refuse to lose to you next time we fight.¡±

    ¡°As if I¡¯d let you win next time,¡± Damien smirked. ¡°I was going easy on youst time, so you got off lucky.¡±

    Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but smile back. ¡°Then, until next time we meet.¡±

    With his parting words, Long Chen swiftly left the building they were currently in.

    ¡°I guess I shall leave as well. Damien, I will have someone sort out your registration and introductions. Later on, I will summon you when it¡¯s time to train.¡±

    Without another word, Tian Yang vanished from the room. No trace of his existence remained, not even the residual mana from his teleportation.

    Left alone in the room, Damien wanted to take rest, but even that was disallowed to him. Instead, he was pounced on by arge ck wolf who he had once again worried to death.

 Chapter 137 - Celestial Star Palace [3]

    Once he finally cated Zara¡¯s anger a bit, Damien stepped out of bed. Flexing his muscles that had gone slightly sore from overuse, Damien went and threw on the robes that had been prepared for him.

    They were a simr color to the disciple token, and the same ones being worn by those guarding the wall when he first came to the sect.

    Their design was fully ck, looking like an endless night, but lines and swirls of deep blue that encapsted its surface made it look more like a starry abyss.

    After admiring himself in the mirror for a bit, Damien injected his mana into his disciple token to see where he should be headed.

    The second he did so, a small sheet of information appeared in his vision.

    [Disciple- Damien Void]

    Status- Outer Court Disciple

    Master- Grand Elder Tian

    Living Quarters- 17A

    [Tap to open map]

    He realized that the Cloud ne was more technologically advanced than he originally thought, they seemingly just preferred their old school customs.

    Clicking the map icon, he saw many locations highlighted in red, with one shining particrly bright.

    [Induction Hall 6]

    ¡®This must be where that old man wanted me to go.¡¯

    Even if he had epted Tian Yang as his master, he still hadn¡¯t witnessed the old man¡¯s capabilities. This led to him not recognizing him as his master any more than superficially.

    Still, Damien did as he was told and exited the building, walking towards the location that was outlined.

    Along the way, he saw many beautiful scenes. Disciplesughing and enjoying their daily lives, the lush greenery that lined the mountain and melded with the sect perfectly, and the sound of music that would asionally resound from somewhere within therge city.

    The mana in the atmosphere was especially calm and ethereal. It was like the soft hum of a luby but at the same time the lively music of a renaissance fair. The ambiance was, in his opinion, a very urate representation of the word celestial.

    It was otherworldly and uncaring for mundane affairs. It was something he truly appreciated. He felt that he should really explore this ce at some point once he had settled down.

    As he enjoyed its products, he ended up smiling. The battle he fought with Long Chen brought him the excitement he was searching for when he adventured to the Cloud ne. But he also realized he had plenty of ws.

    Thinking back to the battle, he realized that he really did have a lot of cards he didn¡¯t use very often. Since he was always focused on improving his sword art or fighting at close range, many of the abilities of his Vector Controller ss were collecting dust.

    Even his vector field, which had the capability to offset much of the damage he took during that final impact, was mostly unused. It wasn¡¯t that he had forgotten about it, he simply didn¡¯t like using it if he wasn¡¯t fighting with his life on the line.

    His fight against Long Chen was purely a friendly duel. Even if the two of them had gotten out of hand with their final confrontation, it didn¡¯t change their original purpose. And in the end, Damien felt like he had lost.

    Logically, the two of them had tied, but it didn¡¯t matter. The only thing Damien had at the moment was brute strength. If his raw power was equal to or inferior to Long Chen¡¯s, it was impossible for him to win.

    Realizing this made him think about all his previous fights. He couldn¡¯t think of a single one where he won based on strategy or technique.

    Even his most recent fight with the sea dragon was purely based on raw strength. They had bombarded each other with devastating attacks until only one of them remained standing.

    ¡®An I an idiot?¡¯

    His thought process always revolves around what was currently going on, never thinking about the future. Sometimes he would introspect and realize his ws, but even that only had him reevaluate his past.

    He realized that his journey so far was genuinely without purpose. At first, all he wished for was survival. He needed to stay alive so that his mother wouldn¡¯t die a lonely death without ever waking up from hera.

    But he had never truly believed that he wouldn¡¯t be able to save her. The only time when that thought could have possibly shown up was while he was in the dungeon, but back then he didn¡¯t have the time for idle thinking.

    ¡®Why do I even want to gain strength?¡¯

    It was the core of his being, the desire to be strong. The desire to dominate everything and be the most powerful. Yet, there was quite literally no reason for it.

    He wanted strength because he wanted strength. He wanted to travel worlds just for the adventure and new experiences. He had no grand goals, and he hadn¡¯t experienced any true tragedy to drive him.

    But he had no intention to lose anyone, so he didn¡¯t know whether it was a good or bad thing that his life¡¯s trajectory was going the way it was.

    ¡®A true goal. Motivation.¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t something simple to find. Life was easy on Damien. Perhaps it was fate or purely luck.

    ¡®Or maybe I just have some incredible plot armor.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t think so. He had worked hard to get where he was today. He spent years and years doing grueling work to achieve his current strength. But he knew it was naive to think it was all his own achievement.

    There were plenty of times when pure luck was the reason he could continue forth.

    Arriving here at the perfect time for the disciple examination, gaining a connection to earth¡¯s world core, meeting Rose, finding Kurt¡¯s subspace in the dungeon, and even seeding in his very first evolution after killing the 1st ss wolf. All of it could be considered as the machinations of fate or destiny.

    Everything was going so perfectly that he started doubting whether he was truly in control over his life or if some supreme being was steering him in a specific direction. But he shook off that thought.

    He wasn¡¯t nearly important enough for someone with the power to manipte things like that to care about him.

    He also realized that he might be ADHD or something because his thoughts had skewed so far from his original intention that they were almost unrecognizable.

    By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, he was already in front of the induction hall. Its structure wasn¡¯t anything special, but it was clear that it was meant forrge gatherings of people.

    When Damien opened the door, just like he expected, there were another hundred or so new disciples there as well. These were some of the others who passed the exam with him.

    However, when they turned back to see who had entered the hall with them, any and all conversation was hushed.

    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, when they said there were only 998 spots I thought of the possibility but¡­¡±

    ¡°He is a supreme genius on par with Long Chen.¡±

    Facing the countless stares and mutters about him, Damien indifferently walked up to the crowd.

 Chapter 138 - Celestial Star Palace [4]

    Only a few minutes after Damien¡¯s identally grand entrance, a beautiful woman entered the room. In fact, the word beautiful didn¡¯t do her justice in the slightest.

    Her skin was pale white and smoother than even the finest jade, her posture was akin to a swan in a crowd of ducklings. The grace she exudes captivated the entire crowd within the induction hall, forcing their attention onto her.

    Her long silver hair cascaded down her back like a river made of moonlight, contrasting her golden eyes that shone like two suns. Her face and body could make any man lose their sanity, but none would be stupid enough to approach her.

    If there was one thing that could be said to ruin her beauty, it would be the coldness of her gaze. She looked upon everything as if it was below her, not even bothering with the disciples that were going to be her junior brothers and sisters.

    However, even this added a sort of charm to her. A woman who had the strength to back such undaunted arrogance was someone who would inevitably be coveted by many powerful men, and in a world like this one, many of them were destined to be caught by at least one of them.

    But the purity she radiated and the fact that she was able to keep her disposition made it clear that she wasn¡¯t one to fall to such destiny. This fact made it so not only were the men infatuated with her beauty, the women were in worship of her tenacity.

    Her clothes were also different than the ones they wore. They had the same ck color as the base, but the lines outlining them were purple in color. It wasn¡¯t the same one as the elders, but it was clear that her position in the sect wasn¡¯t the same as theirs.

    Even Damien fell into a daze while watching her. Yet, his reasons were different than the rest.

    ¡®That mana¡­it¡¯s beautiful.¡¯

    What his eyes showed him was a sight he wanted to engrave into his memory forever. A cool silver mana with aura as cold and deste as an apocalyptic ice age, but security like a loving mother.

    Damien didn¡¯t understand how mana could give off such a human sensation, but it was one he had never experienced before. He was so enraptured by the mana that he barely took note of the woman¡¯s beauty or grace in the slightest.

    Rose¡¯s mana was deceptive as if it was never allowing one to know its next move, Elena¡¯s mana was holy, disallowing any impurity, Zara¡¯s mana was secretive as if it wanted to evade anyone¡¯s senses.

    As for Damien¡¯s own mana¡­it was brutal and ethereal. It existed at its own convenience, yet could be vicious at a moment¡¯s notice.

    The feeling each person¡¯s mana gave off was partially influenced by its user, but the elements themselves also yed arge part. It was why Damien¡¯s mana was ethereal even though he as a person was always direct.

    This woman¡¯s mana was contrasting itself, but not in a way that created contradiction. Even if the two emotions were vastly different, they interlinked and formed a synergy with each other.

    ¡®What kind of person and what kind of element can create such a scene?¡¯ Damien wondered, but he wasn¡¯t able to remain in his thoughts for long.

    He suddenly sensed an icy gaze on his body. His eyes lightly glowed as the two colors within them swirled. It was an automatic response that he had never had before. The trait simply acted on his own.

    But he didn¡¯t need an exnation of what it did. For a brief moment before his eyes reacted, he felt like he was naked, all his secrets being unraveled by that cold gaze thatnded on him.

    Looking up, he noticed that same woman staring at him with a well-hidden look of disdain on her face. Even if she tried to hide it, he could still read it in her eyes.

    ¡®What did I do to offend her?!¡¯ Damien cried inwardly. He didn¡¯t know what kind of status she had, but her noble aura wasn¡¯t something that could be cultivated by amoner.

    Her gaze didn¡¯t linger long, with the entire interaction only spanning a second at most before she continued to pan across the crowd. To anyone unaware, it didn¡¯t seem like anything special had happened.

    After a long silence, the woman began talking. ¡°You are now outer court disciples of our Celestial Star Sect, so listen carefully to what I am about to say.

    ¡°As outer court disciples, you are the lowest of the low within the sect. Even if you choose to unt your status when you are outside, within the Star Mountain you are nothing.

    ¡°There are tens of thousands of outer court disciples like you, yet there are only a few thousand of us in the inner court. You can imagine how rigorous the test to enter will be.

    ¡°Your life as outer court disciples won¡¯t be monitored nor policed. What you do is your own choice. However, there are a few requirements you must meet.

    ¡°Every year, you have a mission quota. This quota ensures that you will contribute to the sect instead of being useless wastes after joining. As for the specifics, you can go to the mission hall to learn them.

    ¡°As for the basic rules, they are simple. Don¡¯t be a trash person. Killing your fellow disciples is not allowed, but if you have unreconcble grudges, you may take the issue to the life or death arena to settle it once and for all.

    ¡°Also, if you try to force yourself on someone, you will be either expelled or killed. We do not allow filth within our ranks.

    ¡°You will have a monthly allowance of 100 spirit stones, with other resources being purchasable at the Star za. If you wish to higher this amount, you have to work for it.

    ¡°Just for reference, we inner court disciples get 5000 spirit stones a month, while the core disciples have an almost unlimited supply.

    ¡°I will neither lead you on a tour nor give you any more information. If you are worthy, you shall climb thedder and if you aren¡¯t, you shall rot within the outer court.

    ¡°As for where you will live, anyone who isn¡¯t an idiot among you should have already received such information from your disciple tokens.

    ¡°That is all. You are dismissed.¡±

    With those final words, the woman swiftly left without another nce at the stunned disciples she left in her wake.

    ¡®Well, that was certainly something.¡¯ Damien didn¡¯t think they were supposed to be left to do everything themselves, but he didn¡¯t care either way.

    The first impression that woman gave him couldn¡¯t be considered good, but he doubted they¡¯d ever interact again. With how much she seemed to disdain the outer court, he shouldn¡¯t be seeing her soon.

    ¡®I wonder what the food is like in this world.¡¯

    Ignoring the rest of the new disciples, he left the induction hall to go explore the sect.

    ***

    Within arge pagoda near the peak of the mountain, a woman was sitting obediently in front of an old man.

    ¡°Master, why did you force me to do that? It is a task usually designated to other outer court disciples, so there was no need for me to go.¡± The womanined.

    ¡°Hahaha, if you didn¡¯t have such poor social skills, I wouldn¡¯t need to do such a thing, now would I? So, how was it?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, it was stupid. I didn¡¯t gain anything from interacting with them, not even one of them could stand straight in front of me.¡±

    ¡°Oh? And what did you think about him?¡± The old man pressed.

    The woman slightly hesitated. ¡°He¡­I was only able to see through him for a second before I met interference, but I briefly witnessed a field of stars slowly being formed within his being. Still, it doesn¡¯t make him worthy in the slightest.¡±

    ¡°Hoh?¡± The old man uttered with an intrigued expression. Soon, he slightly smiled. ¡°What an interesting junior brother you¡¯ll soon have.¡±

 Chapter 139 - First Lesson [1]

    A week passed by in a sh.

    During this time, Damien did his best to explore every corner of the sect that he had ess to as an outer disciple, and it was much livelier than he expected.

    After that woman¡¯s exnation of the outer court, Damien¡¯s view of it changed, seeing it as a rat race to reach the better resources of the inner court, but he was sorely mistaken.

    Most people didn¡¯t mind staying at such a low tier. They were able to enjoy themselves and livefortably with just the 100 spirit stones a month they were given.

    He realized the reason for this, though. While the sect promotedpetition, they only wanted those who were worthy to thrive. By giving the outer court disciples afortable living environment, they could automatically weed out those without the drive to move forward.

    These people still had value to the sect. They¡¯d always fulfill their mission quotas to keep their status as a sect disciple, and they¡¯d take all the odd jobs necessary to keep the environment clean and friendly.

    These odd jobs also counted as missions, but they were more long-standing. Damien learned that even those disciples guarding the sect walls did so while earning spirit stones for their efforts.

    The buildings Damien found to be most useful for him were the Mission Hall, the Grand Library, and the Star za. While there were other facilities, the ones that would help him progress in cultivation all cost more spirit stones than he currently had.

    The Mission Hall was structured simr to the adventurers guild but without all the unnecessary parts. There was arge board spanning the entire back wall of the hall that was filled with different quests and missions.

    There were disciples who regted who could take which quests and a few elders that cataloged everyone who left the sect.

    There was also a disciplinary hall where thew enforcers of the sect gathered. However, selection for this position was harsh and only a few were able to maintain it. Being a part of the disciplinary hall was something that could gain one plenty of adoration from fellow disciples.

    As for the Star za, it covered arge part of the central area of the city. In the za, one could buy almost anything they¡¯d ever need. Resources, beastpanions, and even cultivation techniques were for sale at the various stalls that made up its area.

    The rest of the city was mainly housing and entertainment, functioning like any other city. The housing for outer disciples wasn¡¯t bad, but it couldn¡¯t be considered good either.

    Damien¡¯s room was about the size of a one-bedroom apartment. He didn¡¯t know if everyone was able to live alone or if it was a privilege granted to him because of his master, but he didn¡¯t mind either way. The living space was still nothing special.

    As for his favorite area, it was either the woond areas surrounding the city or the grand library.

    He enjoyed the atmosphere that both areas had, and with the forest, he could go hunting if he ever wanted to. It wasmon for disciples to hunt within the mountain, and they could even sell the beast corpses back to the Mission Hall for spirit stones.

    As for the grand library, it helped him learn many things that he didn¡¯t previously know. He learned about the holynds where every major sect was located. Star Mountain was one of them, and each was something akin to a mana hotspot. They were points in the world where the mana density peaked and ambient mana was drawn towards.

    He also learned much more about meridians and the cultivation system here. Based on his educated guess, meridians were actually another form of mana circuits. The difference was that people in the Cloud ne were born with them rather than having to create themter.

    It was an interesting concept, but since the knowledge was only regarding meridians and didn¡¯t touch on the systems of other worlds, he wasn¡¯t able to test the veracity of his conjecture.

    Since he was waiting for the first lesson from his new master, he chose not to research anything on his elements. He wanted to see what he could learn as a clean te when he went into that lesson.

    The Grand Library had 3 floors, and he only had ess to the first one, with the second and third floors being open to inner and core disciples respectively. Although it was located in the outer court, it was a location where disciples of all three ranks gather.

    If there was one more location Damien was particrly excited about, it was the Star Tower.

    The Star Tower, from what Damien had understood, was a massive treasure. He didn¡¯t know who owned it or who put it on Star Mountain, but it was said that it was there since the sect¡¯s beginning.

    The Star Tower was a ce where one could be challenged and in return receive great rewards. He didn¡¯t know much else about it, since he didn¡¯t try to do any in-depth research, but he definitely wanted to try it at some point.

    With his exploration of the sect finished, Damien didn¡¯t really have anything to do. He spent his time in his small dorm room in meditation, attempting toprehend more of that elusive new element he had been gaining small enlightenments about.

    At this point, he was very clear on its identity. It had begun after his long meditation during the trip through outer space, but he had been perceiving its flow in much more detail recently.

    It should have been obvious from the start what its identity was, considering how close of a rtionship it has to his space element, but he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d actually gain it. After all, having control over both of them was too op right?

    But his thought process was always logical when it came toprehension. He knew that the element would have many drawbacks if its power was vast, or there¡¯d be many limitations on what he could do with it.

    It was only natural, since disrupting its flow could potentially lead to dire consequences.

    But he still wanted toprehend it. He didn¡¯t leave meditation even for the smallest convenience, submerging himself entirely within his consciousness.

    And his perception was much stronger there. If space felt like a stable seafloor that made a home for everything to live, time was like the waves that allowed things to live and grow.

    With both of them working together, the universe would cease its function. Without time, even if things lived, they would be robotic, in total stasis. And without space, where would they live in the first ce?

    Damien based plenty of his knowledge on the books he had read on earth since he had already confirmed that they were based on truth. And if that truth extended to the truths of the universe¡­

    Even Nihility could exist. That nothingness that existed before even the concept of existence. If there was one ce that existed outside of space and time, it was that.

    Still, that wasn¡¯t his focus. After another entire week he spent focusing on meditation, Damien felt a vibration from his disciple token.

 Chapter 140 - First Lesson [2]

    ¡°Come to my residence. Your disciple token will lead the way.¡±

    The message was short, but it was all Damien needed. He had been anticipating the teachings he could get from his new master for an entire week.

    It wasn¡¯t simply due to his new master¡¯s strength or status, but the fact that someone with the same affinity as him was going to teach him.

    This was someone whoseprehension of space was undoubtedly leagues ahead of his, this much could be judged based even just on how Tian Yang teleported. Without wasting a second, Damien got dressed and left his residence.

    The distinction between the three versions of disciples was made prominent even by their position on the mountain. Outer court disciples didn¡¯t have their own ce. They lived within the Star City where many of the sect¡¯s other functions also existed.

    This was a way to show that they genuinely didn¡¯t have any position in the sect. Even if they made it in, they didn¡¯t work to climb the ranks. But if that was what they desired, so be it.

    The Star Mountain had a massive ancient staircase that spanned its entire length, from the very base to the peak. The staircase was made of polished stone and looked like something one would usually see at a shrine. As for its steps, there were thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of them.

    After all, Star Mountain was massive.

    The Inner court was slightly higher up the mountainpared to Star City, and the only way for outer court disciples to ess it was by climbing this staircase.

    There was an odd feature to it. Unless one¡¯s disciple token had a mark of authorization that allowed the disciple to climb the steps, they would feel a growing pressure with each step they took.

    It was rumored that by the time one reached the Sect Master¡¯s abode, the pressure could even crush any normal Law Connection realm expert.

    This both prevented outsiders from moving unabatedly within the sect and lower-status disciples from wandering where they weren¡¯t qualified to be. A part of the inner court examination was to climb these steps while bearing the pressure.

    However, none of this mattered to Damien. He had the authorization needed to climb uninhibited. Reaching the grand archway that indicated the entrance to the inner court, Damien was met by two powerful auras that locked onto his body.

    ¡°Halt! What business do you have in the Inner Court, outer court disciple?¡± A loud voice came from the gate.

    Although the pressure did weigh on him, it wasn¡¯t nearly strong enough to make Damien feel constricted. Raising his disciple token for the guards to see, he responded.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been called to my master¡¯s residence.¡±

    The pressure he felt reduced by arge margin and was reced by two waves of mana that scanned his token. Obviously, Damien wasn¡¯t the only one who could spread his awareness.

    The two gazes stayed on the badge for close to a minute before receding along with the remaining aura suppression. ¡°Alright, you may continue.¡±

    The gates to the inner court opened, allowing Damien to pass by. The scenery he saw was a massive improvementpared to the outer court.

    Large pagodas intermingled with the trees of the forest, walkways and fountains decorated the scene. Even if it still looked like a small town, it was much less cluttered than the outer court. Not to mention that the quality of the ambient mana had increased.

    But Damien didn¡¯t pay any attention to this. He just continued walking until he reached the staircase leading to the core court before repeating the same procedure.

    After another scan of his disciple token, he was allowed entry once more. However, the core court truly stunned him.

    There were only a few dozen residences within his immediate vision, but they were all grand enough to be the most expensive mansions on earth. The flora of the mountain was much more lively here as well, with the nts actually seeming to have gained sentience.

    Damien didn¡¯t know why the nts were so tame even after gaining a sense of self, but he assumed that the sect had cultivated them to be so.

    What took his attention, though, was once again the ambient mana. If the ambient mana at the inner court was a 10x increase in density and puritypared to the outer court, the core court was a 100x increase.

    The mana was insanely pure to the point where Damien could genuinely feel its weight on his shoulders as he walked. It was like wading through shallow water, except the entire atmosphere felt like that.

    Damien continued forward, looking around for the residence he was supposed to go to. In the distance, he could see the expansive pce where the Sect Master resided.

    Not too close yet not too far from it, he saw another residence that didn¡¯t quite fit the rest of the core court¡¯s ambiance. It was a small pagoda the size of a two-story house. It looked simple andfortable, like something an average family would live in.

    Yet, that was his destination. It was the residence of the Grand Elder of the Celestial Star Pce.

    ¡®As expected of that old monster¡¯ Damien thought as he reached the house. He felt that this setup would fit the ¡°ying pig to eat the tiger¡± saying very well if not for the old man¡¯s status within the sect.

    Without even needing Damien to announce his presence, the door to the residence swung open, revealing a in room with minimalistic decoration.

    ¡°Wee, Damien. This is where you will be spending most of your lessons with me, so get used to it. However, we will not start right away. We need to wait for your senior sister to arrive.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± Damien eximed. Senior sister? Well, he didn¡¯t know anyone here and hadn¡¯t made any enemies, so he calmly waited until she arrived.

    He didn¡¯t need to wait long, though. Within a few minutes, a crisp voice resounded through the room.

    ¡°Master, why did you call me here? You know I am trying to have a breakthrough in my Yin element.¡±

    Damien felt that the voice was somewhat familiar as if he¡¯d heard it before. Yet, the tone of the voice didn¡¯t nearly match what he had heardst time. Due to this, he didn¡¯t expect to see the person he saw when he turned around.

    The two of them locked eyes, and the woman¡¯s gaze immediately chilled. ¡°What¡¯re you looking at?¡±

    That was the tone he had expected. It was cold, arrogant, and held a slight tinge of disgust.

    ¡°Hm? Well, my master just told me I¡¯d be meeting my senior sister, so I turned to look at her.¡± Damien responded with a deadpan face.

    This girl might have been arrogant, but he didn¡¯t lose out in this department. It was just that he usually tried to push down his arrogance by keeping his eyes on the taller mountains.

    But he didn¡¯t like the way this woman always seemed disgusted by his presence. He literally did nothing to offend her, but he was receiving this treatment? He wouldn¡¯t take such a slight lying down.

    Damien¡¯s sarcastic answer clearly pissed the woman off more, and as the two red at each other, Tian Yang smiled in amusement.

    ¡°Damien, meet your senior sister, Xue Ruyue.¡±

 Chapter 141 - First Lesson [3]

    Xue Ruyue.

    It was truly a name that matched her beauty. Her presence was like the moon, and even her name reflected this fact. Actually, Damien had been so focused on her mana and personality that he hadn¡¯t taken the time to admire her beauty.

    Still, beauty wasn¡¯t enough to make him change his impression of her. Even if she had looks that even surpassed Rose, her personality didn¡¯t hold a candle.

    Taking his eyes off of his new senior sister, Damien turned back to Tian Yang. ¡°Master, now that the introductions are over, what are you going to teach me today?¡±

    Tian Yang smiled at Damien¡¯s impatience. ¡°Calm down. While I am prepared to teach you many things, some rifications need to be made first.¡±

    Beckoning Damien toe towards him, Tian Yang continued. ¡°For different types of meridians, there are different methods that need to be used during training. Some meridians don¡¯t hold the flexibility to cater some methods, while others are too flexible to treat roughly.¡±

    ¡°Nowe hold your arm out to me so I can check the structure of your meridians.¡±

    Damien walked in front of Tian Yang and held out his arm as he was asked. He was well aware of the fact that he didn¡¯t possess meridians, but he wanted to see what would happen.

    His Ananta system was built to evolve with him, so he was sure he could tweak it if he ever found a more practical method. He was also curious what the denizens of this world would think of his system.

    When Tian Yang grabbed Damien¡¯s hand, he let a gentle stream of mana enter his body. This mana didn¡¯t contain any malicious intent, instead, tracing along Damien¡¯s mana circuits and seeing their design.

    Oddly enough, Damien¡¯s Void Physique had no reaction to this new foreign mana.

    Tian Yang was almost forced to do a double-take when he saw the system running through Damien¡¯s body. Countless intricate amethyst veins lined his internal body, creating a second nervous system.

    Not only did they reach his extremities and all his organs, they even connected to his brain. When Tian Yang reached the center of this system, he saw arge pulsing crystal that looked like a second heart.

    This crystal continuously refined mana and sent it back through those veins connected to it, creating a feedback loop of refinement. Like this, as long as Damien continued improving, his mana would refine itself to a higher level.

    ¡®What is this?¡¯

    Tian Yang had never seen anything like it before. One thing he was sure of, however, was that they weren¡¯t meridians in the slightest.

    The smile on Tian Yang¡¯s face widened. ¡®I see. So that¡¯s how it is.¡¯

    By this point, Tian Yang had already lived for many centuries. It¡¯d be odd for him to not understand what was going on.

    ¡®This kid is more daring than I originally thought.¡¯

    Someone who could inherit the Void Heart Sword Law would never be a normal person, but this was a different degree of abnormal.

    Tian Yang was an adventurous spirit back in his prime before he realized his limits and settled down. He wasn¡¯t someone who would be content with sitting idly by while time passed around him.

    Not only that, but he was also someone with a spatial affinity. It would¡¯ve been impossible for him to reach his current level of attainment if he didn¡¯t explore the cosmos himself.

    He had left the Celestial Star Pce that he grew up in to explore other worlds. He adventured, he fought, and he grew in power to reach his current strength.

    By the time he returned to the Cloud ne, he was an entirely different person with a wealth of experience under his belt.

    At that time, he had already entered the Law Sea realm. Being at the peak of the world, he once again settled in at the sect he grew up in, supporting it and protecting it from his post as the Grand Elder.

    Now, in front of him, there was another boy simr to him. A boy whose adventurous spirit could be clearly felt in his aura who also had the same spatial affinity as him. And this boy was visiting the Cloud ne from some other star in the vast cosmos

    The difference was that this boy¡¯s potential was much higher than his. ¡®Even after being a part of this sect that excels at divination for so long, I¡¯ve always doubted fate. Yet, can this be considered anything else?¡¯

    Tian Yang removed his hand from Damien¡¯s wrist as his smile deepened. ¡°You¡¯re quite a bold child, aren¡¯t you?¡± He said teasingly.

    Damien knew exactly what he was talking about. From the start, he was aware he wouldn¡¯t be able to hide his origins from someone so much more powerful than him, so he decided it¡¯d be best to be upfront with it.

    With arge grin on his face, Damien decided to quip back. ¡°Hm? What could you possibly be talking about?¡±

    ¡®He has the spirit of a cultivator too. Daring to act smart even in the face of power he can¡¯tprehend.¡¯ Tian Yang thought.

    It was their first true interaction, not counting when Damien first woke up after the disciple examination, and it had a great start. The two of them took an immediate liking to each other.

    Xue Ruyue was watching the whole ordeal ur from across the room, and her eyes becameplicated seeing the smile on her master¡¯s face. Still, her thoughts were known only to her.

    There was an odd thing that could ur when two people with the same affinity met. There was a small chance that they would gravitate towards each other and develop a stronger bond than most.

    When the affinity was as elusive and esoteric as the space element, this kind of connection could be even stronger. These people could bounce ideas off of each other and progress much faster through gaining enlightenment.

    Even if Damien¡¯s strength didn¡¯t match up to Tian Yang¡¯s, his views and ideologies would be different. Through the intermingling of two perspectives and the exchange of their values, many newer and stronger ideas could be born.

    Tian Yang naturally was aware of this, and he couldn¡¯t help but be somewhat excited over the prospect. How many years had it been since he¡¯d made progress?

    ¡°Alright then. With this kind of meridians, you shouldn¡¯t have any problems with the training I will be putting you through. So, let¡¯s get started right away.¡±

    Slight undtions leaked from Tian Yang¡¯s body as he revolved his mana. Sensing this, even Xue Ruyue made distance.

    Without warning, a suffocating pressure burst out of the old man¡¯s body. The pressure alone caused space to ripple, forming slight cracks. However, the small residence remained undamaged.

    Unlike that of the guards, Tian Yang¡¯s pressure made Damien feel like an entire was being forced onto his back. He was doing everything in his power to hold himself back from kneeling.

    With his own aura ring to negate a portion of the pressure he was feeling, Damien raised his head and grinned maddeningly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s y then, old man.¡±

 Chapter 142 - First Lesson [4]

    Boom-!

    At the moment, two shes of light were connecting in various locations along the width of the room. Each of their shes resulted in an explosion that threatened to crack the sturdy floor they were fighting on.

    From an outsider¡¯s perspective, it would be hard to even tell what was taking ce to cause the bright shes.

    Damien raised his arm, punching forward with a light of spatial mana covering his fist. With each movement, he felt like he was shattering a piece of ss.

    But instead of ss, it was the spatialyers in his vicinity that broke. The current fight wasn¡¯t taking ce in the stability of the real ne but within its gaps.

    It was previously exined that when Damien teleported, he connected the spatialyers of two different points and stepped through them, but in this fight, he was skipping the essential steps.

    He stepped in between theseyers and tried his best to track his opponent, but he wasn¡¯t doing too well. After all, his opponent didn¡¯t leave a single trace when he moved.

    Boom-! Boom-!

    Damien continued to throw punches, trying to force Tian Yang out in the open, but none of his attacks connected. The old man was simply too skilled at maneuvering through the folds of space.

    Recently, Damien had almostpletely forgone the usage of teleportation whilst inbat, and there was a very simple reason for this. He was unable to control the fluctuations of space when he emerged from within its folds.

    At lower sses, this didn¡¯t matter much since people didn¡¯t have enough experience to deal with him even if they could sense the fluctuations, but that wasn¡¯t the same anymore.

    If he had used teleportation in his fight against Long Chen, he would have been forced into a corner much quicker. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to react quickly enough while Long Chen would easily be able to attack before Damien even emerged totally.

    This was a downside Damien had already epted, and it led him to stop using the very first skill he earned, his short-distance teleportation. But everything changed when he first met Tian Yang.

    The old man left no trace of himself after he disappeared. No physical clues, no lingering mana, and no fluctuations. This was something he truly admired, as he still hadn¡¯t figured out how to do it.

    While he tried to observe Tian Yang¡¯s usage of space element, Damien clenched his palm into a fist before rotating it. Space followed his movements, distorting and cracking within a small radius of him.

    With this, Tian Yang¡¯s figure was finally revealed. He was sitting leisurely in the air as if the entire fight was nothing to him. ¡°You¡¯re finally making some progress, boy. But if you brute force your way through this, you won¡¯t learn a thing.¡±

    Tian Yang stepped forward, melding into the folds of space and disappearing once again.

    Damien was feeling frustrated. He had already been at this for half an hour or more, but he wasn¡¯t able to learn anything. He knew that brute force wouldn¡¯t always be the answer, but he was letting his mind be clouded by his emotions.

    So, he made the logical choice. Trying to emte his moves from the forest earlier, Damien willed his emotions to enter the sphere of mana in his mind.

    ¡®Void Heart¡¯

    Entering this state, he only had one goal. Comprehend what Tian Yang was trying to teach him.

    Damien¡¯s eyes lost their luster and became entirely emotionless. He slowly rxed his posture, appearing entirely unbothered. Suddenly, he waved his arm to the right.

    Bang-!

    A projectile that was flying in his direction at untraceable speeds was flung away from his body. The vectors controlling its trajectory were entirely altered.

    Looking in the direction it came from, Damien vanished. When he reappeared, he was 29 meters away from his original spot, punching toward the empty space in front of him.

    Boom-!

    His fist was caught by a much more powerful hand. ¡°Although this method can be considered cheating, I apud you for using everything in your arsenal. Now, continue.¡±

    When Tian Yang vanished again, Damien calmly stood and watched with utmost concentration.

    ¡®His movements are light. He wastes no motion while teleporting, not even causing ripples in the spatialyers.¡¯

    Tian Yang moved like a fish in water, while Damien was more like a caveman. He figured that hisck of familiarity with movement in space somewhat contributed to his inability to conceal himself.

    ¡®Efficiency isn¡¯t the same for every person. I have different means than his.¡¯

    Gaining such familiarity would take years of diligent practice, and that wasn¡¯t what Damien was trying to do right now. He wanted an immediate solution to this problem.

    ¡®In my arsenal, the best choice would be vectors.¡¯

    Vectors existed within everything. Even space itself could be said to contain countless vectors that coordinated its movements. When Damien learned vector control, he used space as a medium to manipte vectors.

    This time, he wanted to manipte the vectors of the medium itself. If he could do this, negating the fluctuations shouldn¡¯t be a problem at all.

    The ability to control vectors gave Damien a wide range of options that he hadn¡¯tpletely explored yet. Among these was the ability to control magnitude.

    Magnitude quite literally referred to the size or extent of something. Although space was ethereal rather than physical, it was the concept he felt most familiar with.

    He didn¡¯t re-enter the real ne for his experiment, opting to stay within the folds of space. He also stopped minding the fact that Tian Yang was still asionally sending projectiles towards him to disrupt his concentration.

    He erected his vector field to passively reflect any attacks that flew in his direction. Raising his arm once more, Damien began lightly flicking the air like he was ying an invisible guitar.

    With each flick, ripples appeared in the space around him. He coated his fingers in spatial mana to create this effect. Slowly but surely, he tried to grasp the vectors that upheld the space in his vicinity.

    On the other side of the room, Tian Yang watched Damien work. For the first few minutes, he still sent attacks to try and challenge Damien¡¯s concentration, but they were all deflected effortlessly.

    Some of these attacks even reflected in Xue Ruyue¡¯s direction, forcing her to dodge and parry to the best of her ability. Since she wasn¡¯t able to see what was happening within the folds of space, she immediately became incensed, thinking it was being done on purpose.

    ¡®The powers this boy possesses are interesting, to say the least. This kind of force used to control trajectories and other forces rted to an object wasn¡¯t something I learned until veryte in my journey. Not to mention, his method ispletely different.¡¯ Tian Yang thought.

    He watched as Damien slowly lowered the strength of the ripples emanating from his finger, even though the amount of force and mana he used was the same.

    ¡®And his rate ofprehension is also nothing to scoff at. In only an hour he has grasped a method to emte my usage of spacews.¡¯

    While Tian Yang was deep in thought, he stopped paying attention to Damien, making him miss the time when Damien paused his experiments and looked in his direction.

    And while he continued to think, Damien vanished from his previous position, appearing silently in front of Tian Yang and punching out with all his strength.

    Bang-!

 Chapter 143 - First Lesson [5]

    Currently, Damien¡¯s figure could be seen sprawled on the floor, virtually painted ck and blue.

    ¡°Ugh¡­Master, was that really necessary?¡± He groaned, his pain evident in his expression.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who got cocky afternding a single hit. Did you think I wouldn¡¯t teach you a lesson?¡± Tian Yang responded with a smirk.

    After learning how to use magnitude maniption to offset and minimize the fluctuations that urred during teleportation, Damien immediately appeared in front of Tian Yang andnded a solid punch.

    Since Tian Yang was lost in thought, he didn¡¯t have time to block. His powerful body that was leagues ahead of Damien¡¯spletely absorbed the punch, but he definitely lost face during the exchange.

    And so, Tian Yang proceeded toy down thew on Damien in a manner that he wasn¡¯t even able to counter or block. Tian Yang would appear out of nowhere and disappear just as fast, beating Damien to a pulp.

    He didn¡¯t even use his raw strength as a Law Sea expert, only using 3rd ss power to totally dominate the battle. The final result was the current scene.

    While Damien waited for his body to regenerate, which felt like it was going much slower than it should, he caught sight of Xue Ruyue in the corner with a slight smirk on her face.

    ¡°What¡¯re youughing at?¡± He quipped, slowly sitting up.

    Noticing that she was caught, she reverted to her icy expression before responding cluelessly, ¡°what do you mean?¡±

    ¡®This bitch!¡¯ Damien thought. Still, he didn¡¯t focus on her for long. His thoughts shifted to the previous exchange.

    Not only did he learn how to teleport silently once again, which would be immensely useful in battle, but he also gained the realization that he had barely scratched the surface of what he could do with his vector control.

    There wasn¡¯t even a real lesson involved, rather it was a showcase of prowess that let Damien learn by feeling it himself. He definitely appreciated this method of teaching.

    Though, he didn¡¯t think that was all he would receive. At least, he hoped so. He wasn¡¯t a masochist to enjoy having this kind of lesson too often.

    While Damien was digesting his gains, Tian Yang suddenly spoke up. ¡°Do you know what the two main affinities necessary to practice our sect¡¯s divination arts are?¡±

    Damien looked up. ¡°Why would I know that? I just got here.¡±

    Not minding the sarcasm in his tone, Tian Yang continued. ¡°It¡¯s a rare thing for someone to appear in the world with control over the two elements naturally. Most of our elders who practice divination only gained small amounts of inheritedprehension from their predecessors.¡±

    Even Xue Ruyue began paying attention at this point. The divination techniques of the sect weren¡¯t made avable to disciples, so she was naturally curious about their workings.

    ¡°Divination is an odd profession. It allows one to see into the future, but never more than the heavens permit. It can even allow one to gaze into the past or gain a deeper understanding of the present.

    ¡°In summary, there is a reason why the term Seers is used when referring to those who practice this branch of arts. The main power of divination is to see through the fabric of reality.¡±

    Panning his gaze between his two disciples that were listening with rapt attention, Tian Yang spoke once again. ¡°As for the two main elements necessary for divination? They are space and time.¡±

    ¡°A Seer at the peak of their power is said to peer through space and locate anyone or anything they desire. They can also peer through time and decide which path would be best to achieve their goals.

    ¡°This kind of power is always frowned upon by others since it gives a seer nigh omnipotence in that aspect.

    ¡°At one point in time, people even banded together, attempting to eradicate all those who practiced divination techniques, but they were unsessful.

    ¡°Those seers also gathered, forming the beginning of what wouldter be our Celestial Star Pce.¡±

    Damien was intrigued by the topic and raised a question. ¡°So why is it Celestial Star Pce? What corrtion does that have to the Seers?¡±

    Tian Yang smiled and answered him patiently. ¡°It¡¯s simple. The legacy of those seers can only be inherited by a limited number of people, so an entire sect formed on their foundations was close to impossible.

    ¡°But they looked to divination for the answer, and ording to legend, they all saw the same prophecy. It was a scene that began and ended with stars. A massive cosmos formed by unknown means. However, before they could witness any more, they met with heaven¡¯s wrath.

    ¡°Looking too far into the secrets of the universe, or important events that will change the flow of fate and destiny causes immense bacsh for those who wish to know too much.

    ¡°Of those thousands of seers, around 80% of them immediately lost their eyesight, bing permanently blinded. Even the most valuable healing pills were unable to solve the problem. The rest who got off lucky were nearly crippled, unable to use divination techniques ever again.

    ¡°It was their punishment from the heavens.¡±

    ¡°And what is this concept of the heavens?¡± Damien pressed. He had heard the term many times since arriving on the Cloud ne, and even more in novels he previously read. Yet, none of them exined exactly what the heavens are.

    ¡°You don¡¯t even know that much¡± Xue Ruyue interjected with disdain. ¡°Even the smallest of children know about the mighty heavens. Where were you raised? In some filthy mountain by beasts?¡±

    However, before Damien could vent his rage back, Tian Yang began calmly exining. ¡°The heavens are¡­well the heavens are everything. They are naturalw, thew of the universe, the overseer of existence, and many more.

    ¡°The heavens manifest themselves in various ways that us mortals cannotprehend. The holographic window that appears before us at birth and quantifies our power is one of the heavens¡¯ many faces.

    ¡°Another is the Heavenly Tribtion that descends when one enters Law Connection realm.¡±

    ¡°Heavenly Tribtion?!¡± Damien eximed. He didn¡¯t need an exnation about those, but he had no idea they actually existed. The system had shown signs of sentience before, being aware of every individual¡¯s progress and recording their legends, but he didn¡¯t think it¡¯d manifest physically.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Upon entering 4th ss, there is an extremelyrge change that an individual will go through. To deem one worthy of such change, the heavens enact a tribtion for them to pass.

    ¡°If they fail the tribtion, they die. And if they pass, they are allowed to continue their path to strength.

    ¡°Not only that, but it is also fabled that upon entering the demigod realm, one experiences an even greater tribtion to shed their mortal body. It is the final step towards gaining divinity.¡±

    Damien was in awe at this information. He finally realized how fast the universe was. How much power people could hold. He felt ashamed of himself for being proud of his measly strength in the grand scheme.

    ¡®There is always a peak above the peak.¡¯ He felt that this old saying was truly apt.

    But he swore on everything he knew and loved. One day he would reach the highest peak. The one that looked down upon all creation in contempt.

 Chapter 144 - Mission [1]

    ¡°Master, do you mind doing me a favor?¡± Damien asked tentatively. He wanted to see something. Or rather, he wanted a reminder that he was still weak.

    Tian Yang raised his brow in intrigue. ¡°We won¡¯t know until you ask.¡±

    ¡°Then, can you release your full aura? I want to feel the true power of a Law Sea realm expert.¡±

    Tian Yang hesitated slightly but nodded his head nheless. ¡°Very well. If I released my entire aura, it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise for you to sustain critical injury or even die, so I will release just the amount that I feel you can handle.¡±

    He then turned to Xue Ruyue and beckoned her over. ¡°Youe too. It¡¯ll be a good learning experience.¡±

    Although she didn¡¯t understand why, she still walked over as she was told. With both of his disciples in front of him, Tian Yang¡¯s face became serious.

    ¡°When it feels like your body can¡¯t handle it, release your own aura. At that point, I will be able to gauge your upper limit.¡±

    Without another word, Tian Yang shifted his entire presence. Rather than the teacher and old man he was previously, he now gave off a domineering light like an emperor.

    Before either Damien or Xue Ruyue understood what was happening, everything in their vision became ck.

    The murky darkness filled the entire room, and it seemed to be emanating from a single spot, Tian Yang.

    As he exerted more and more of his aura, the ckness thickened, and the pressure the two felt increased steadily. It reached the point where neither of them were able to confidently stand on their feet anymore.

    Thump-!

    The sound of knees impacting the ground could be heard as the aura suppression continued to climb. Damien still wasn¡¯t using his aura to alleviate any of the burden, so his knees could no longer hold on.

    Space began to crack purely due to the weight of the aura. The sturdy interior of the house that didn¡¯t even show signs of damage when Damien and Tian Yang sparred earlier began creaking like it was rusty and decrepit.

    And then, the aura red.

    Damien felt something he hadn¡¯t felt in a long time. It was to the point where he almost forgot the feeling entirely. It filled his being, it froze his body, his mind went nk, and he began sweating profusely. It was the most basic instinct of a human

    It was a primal fear that prevailed when all hope was lost.

    ¡®What is this?¡¯ Damien could no longer think straight. The idea of using his aura to counter the suppression didn¡¯t even enter his mind. He was utterly terrified.

    Xue Ruyue wasn¡¯t any better. She was also on the ground, shivering as if her body was submerged in the coldest of temperatures.

    As a member of the Xue n, one of the 4 great ns, she was someone who was always surrounded by powerful people. She had seen more Law Connection and Law Sea realm beings than she could count on her hands.

    Yet, she had never seen them exert all their strength. There had never been an altercation that forced them to do so.

    There was a treaty in ce by the 4 great ns that she never understood until today. It only had one use.

    ¡°Law Sea realm experts are not to be mobilized unless a n is facing threat of extinction. Conflict between 4th ss members must take ce in an area secluded from civilization.¡±

    But she understood it now. If this kind of power was ever mobilized as an attack near a city¡­that city would be demolished in seconds.

    Watching his two disciples, Tian Yang began to slowly walk forward.

    ¡®Escape. I need to escape.¡¯ Damien¡¯s mind revolved trying to think of a way to escape the scenario, but his rational thinking was impaired. His skin began to crack and blood leaked out of his pores.

    Without his conscious thought, his aura began to release itself. But it wasn¡¯t the usual amethyst color. It was blood red like the time he fought the sea dragon.

    His irises began swirling, the two colors contained within them battling for supremacy. The scene was like ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail.

    But the red color was winning. His cross-shaped pupils spun wildly before elongating into a reptilian slit, his irises bingpletely blood red.

    His emotions were forced into the Mind Prison subconsciously, as he couldn¡¯t handle the strain they had on his brain anymore.

    All the while, the pressure kept increasing. Xue Ruyue had already tapped out, using thest of her sanity to forfeit, so all the pressure in the room was being directed towards Damien with pinpoint uracy.

    Xue Ruyue watched from the side with lingering fear evident in her eyes. Even if the pressure wasn¡¯t directed at her, she could still feel its immense might.

    Damien felt like an entire cosmos was dropped on his back. He felt like he was carrying the sky itself. But now that his emotions were locked away, his rational mind was able to regain control.

    Or at least, it should have been. But the blood-red aura around Damien indicated something different.

    His teeth and nails elongated into fangs and ws, the muscles in his legs pulsated with power, two protrusions were trying their best to make their way out of his skull, and the same was happening on his back. Pitch ck scales appeared and disappeared beneath his skin.

    Tian Yang was of the mind to stop releasing his aura a long time ago, but seeing the changes happening within Damien, he continued to press him. He wanted to see where this led.

    But fate had different ns.

    ¡°AARRGH!¡±

    Damien let out a howl of pain. His eyes began bleeding, and with the other changes taking ce in his body, it made him look like a demonic being.

    His muscles spasmed as his body continued attempting to change, but something was holding it back. If Damien was sane, he¡¯d immediately know what it was. His bloodline simply wasn¡¯tpleted yet.

    ¡®Interesting.¡¯ Tian Yang thought to himself. ¡®A beast that even the Void Heart Scriptures cannot contain. The boy has been cultivating it within him all this time.¡¯

    Feeling that it was enough, Tian Yang began lowering the pressure he exerted. This gave the bestial Damien a chance to rage.

    ¡°ROOOAAARRR!¡±

    With a guttural roar, he charged at Tian Yang. There was no use of elements nor techniques, just pure physical strength.

    However, just this was enough to cause spiderweb cracks to form in the ground beneath him.

    His speeds reached an entirely new height that almost rivaled teleportation, appearing in front of his opponent in a sh.

    But his opponent this time wasn¡¯t someone he could mess with.

    ¡°Sleep.¡±

    Tian Yang¡¯s hand looked like it only made a slight movement, but in the next instant, Damien was pounded into the floor.

    The motion was so abrupt that the velocity he gained from his charge contributed to the strength of his fall, breaking through the sturdy floors of the house and causing him to directly fall unconscious.

    Looking at Damien, whose figure was returning to normal now that he was asleep, Tian Yang let out a slight chuckle.

    ¡°I wonder what other secrets this boy is hiding.¡±

 Chapter 145 - Mission [2]

    When Damien opened his eyes, he found himself on yet another familiar bed. In the past few weeks, he had already been through this routine more times than he had since arriving at the Cloud ne.

    But this time, his memory wasn¡¯t as foggy. He was painfully aware of what caused him to enter such a state. ¡®First of all, damn that old man is powerful.¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t just the terrifying aura that made Damien say this, though that definitely contributed. The aura he felt wasn¡¯t what he expected at all.

    With his experience so far, he thought that a Law Sea realm aura might be enough to bring him to his knees, but he didn¡¯t expect it to be enough to instill such primal fear into the core of his being.

    ¡®And that was just the aura he could release without killing me¡­¡¯

    He remembered the old man¡¯s words before they even started, and he now wholeheartedly believed them. If the old man hadn¡¯t made his move with his disciples¡¯ safety in mind, they would have died without even knowing how.

    Damien realized that in his journey thus far, all the 4th ss beings he met were friendly. He now had another instance he could consider he survived purely based on luck.

    The other thing in Damien¡¯s mind was what happened to him under that intense suppression.

    ¡®That was like¡­beast mode?¡¯

    He couldn¡¯t think of a better word to describe it. It wasn¡¯t like his traits became more prominent, but the most prominent parts of his bloodline fought for supremacy while trying to emerge from his body.

    His horns, scales, eyes, and even the wings that almost came out were all evidently draconic, but his legs and fangs were part of his original wolf bloodline.

    He had no idea how the bloodline he first gained during his fall in the dungeon couldpete with that of a literal dragon, but he didn¡¯t question it. In the first ce, he didn¡¯t have enough knowledge of what was going on to question it.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re finally up.¡± A disdainful voice suddenly snapped Damien out of his thoughts. Though, he did notice that it contained less hostility than before.

    Standing up from the bed, Damien responded without looking over. ¡°How long has it been since I passed out?¡±

    ¡°3 hours.¡± Xue Ruyue said. However, her face soon turned bright red for a moment before she turned away. ¡°And put some clothes on, idiot.¡±

    Only then did Damien realize why he felt so breezy. He was only wearing his underwear, his other clothes getting torn to shreds in the previous events.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Damien didn¡¯t think much of it. If he could spend 2 years running around naked in a dungeon of beasts, this much was nothing.

    Putting on a new set of clothes, Damien turned to look at his senior sister who he didn¡¯t have a good impression of. Still, her decreased hostility did make him consider changing his mind.

    He would just reciprocate the attitude he received. It was that simple. ¡°Is there anything for me to do?¡±

    Xue Ruyue shook her head. ¡°Master had some things to take care of, so he left you here. Until he calls you again, you are free to do as you wish.¡±

    ¡°Alright, until next time then.¡± Without waiting for a response, Damien warped back to his living quarters in the outer court.

    Looking at the now empty space where he once stood, Xue Ruyue¡¯s eyes becameplicated. Still, she simply sighed before turning away and continuing her day.

    A few days passed since Damien¡¯s first lesson, and he had spent the time resting in his dorm. For a first time, he felt that he had benefitted immensely from his master¡¯s teachings.

    In thesest few days, Damien tried to imitate the partial transformation he incurred previously, but to no avail. He could feel a trigger within his body, but he couldn¡¯t activate it.

    He visited the Grand Library to try and understand this phenomenon, but he couldn¡¯t find much information. It wasn¡¯t that humans with beast transformations or beast bloodlines were too rare, but he didn¡¯t have ess to get the appropriate information.

    All he could figure out was that it was normal for humans with beast bloodlines to inherit their abilities. For instance, someone with dragon bloodline inheriting their me control or breath wasn¡¯t too rare.

    As for transformations, they were a higher level of this inheriting. But for Damien it was different. He didn¡¯t have the bloodline of an existing beast, rather he had a bloodline made by devouring those of other beasts continually.

    It was like he was forging a new path the way beasts did when they reached 4th ss. If he manages to heighten his bloodline to its peak, he might even be part divine beast.

    He mused that this was something anyone with the evolver title had the privilege of doing. The title was what granted him the ability to practice the evolution system of beasts along with the normal cultivation system of humans.

    But considering the fact that he never met another evolver, they must be somewhat rare.

    After his trip to the library, Damien was once again of the mind to be active. The hard truth of how weak he was on a grand scale made his drive to grow stronger burn all the more brightly. And with that in mind, made his way to the mission hall.

    Entering therge hall, he went straight to the mission board. There were 3 different branches of missions one could take.

    Minor, mid-level, and major missions.

    The minor missions were simple collection missions or errands for the sect. Long-term upations like guard duty were also included in these. Toplete the mission quota, one would need to upy guard duty for an entire year without pause.

    As for the mid-level missions, they were things like hunting beasts that were guing certain areas or killing some wicked cultivators who were terrorizing people. For missions in this level, one was required toplete 10 a year if they solely relied on them.

    As for the major missions, only 3 a year were necessary to fill out the mission quota. And naturally, their difficulty matched this small number.

    Major missions were alwaysplicated. Eradicating an entire wicked power, aiding kingdoms in overthrowing coupes, and other things like that.

    These requests always came from more high-profile people in society who wanted to get things done without moving personally.

    These missions were also the only ones that weren¡¯t limited to the Central Continent. The Central Continent was essentially the overseer of the entire Cloud ne, and the major sects had a duty of keeping peace and providing aid when necessary.

    These major missions were always shared between the 5 major sects, each having their own protocols and areas they managed.

    And with the scale being so big, these missions usually required a party toplete rather than a single person.

    But Damien still went straight for these missions. He wanted to participate in something big like this and was searching for something he could do alone.

    ===

    Help the Xiang Family eliminate their opposition and take the throne.

    Location: Southern Continent

    Strength required: Core Formation realm

    Reward: 2000 Spirit Stones

    ===

    Damien looked at this one, but he disregarded it quickly. He didn¡¯t want to get embroiled in political drama that coulde back to bite him.

    He continued scouring the wall, looking for something more straightforward, before his gazended on a certain sheet of paper.

    ===

    Eradicate the wicked power, Beguiled Devil Sect, who has been terrorizing the Shentian province.

    Location: Northern Continent

    Strength required: Core Foundation Realm

    Reward: 2500 Spirit Stones

    ===

 Chapter 146 - Mission [3]

    When Damien reached out to grab the mission, he was met with another hand. As it turns out, someone else wanted it as well.

    Turning to look at the owner of the hand, Damien was pleasantly surprised. ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought we¡¯d run into each other like this.¡±

    When he thought about it, it actually wasn¡¯t so surprising that they would end up in this situation. There were very few missions meant for Core Expansion realm since most that reached this level already made their way to the inner court.

    And even though neither Long Chen nor Damien was at the Core Expansion realm, theirbat prowess made it so missions meant for Core Formation realm cultivators wouldn¡¯t pressure them the same way.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± the ck-haired man responded, ¡°it seems fate continues to push us together.¡±

    Damien merely smiled at this. He still wasn¡¯t entirely convinced about the existence of such a thing as fate. ¡°So? What are we going to do about this?¡± Damien asked, gesturing towards the mission.

    ¡°Hmm, our duel ended in a tie, so it¡¯s no use fighting over it. At the end of the day, it was meant to be taken on in groups, so why don¡¯t we do it together?¡±

    In fact, Damien had the same idea. He just wanted to prod at Long Chen and see if he was of the same mind. He just hadn¡¯t expected Long Chen to be so forward with it.

    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ve been wanting some excitement, so this should be fun.¡±

    Damien grabbed the sheet of paper off the wall and the two of them headed towards the registration desk to see one of the elders.

    When the mission hall elder saw the mission the two of them nned to take, he looked at them like they were a bunch of fools.

    ¡°You know this mission is well above your puny levels, right? If you go, you will inevitably die.¡±

    ¡°It matters not.¡± Long Chen said. ¡°We chose this mission well aware of the risks. A warning now means nothing.¡±

    When the mission hall elder looked at Damien, he also nodded, expressing his agreement.

    Sighing, the elder took out a stamp and pressed it onto the paper. ¡°Alright then, I won¡¯t say anything else. The mission has been imed by you and will remain that way for the next 6 months. If you haven¡¯t returned by that time, you will be dered dead.¡±

    Damien and Long Chen nodded at the elder before leaving the hall. The rest of the information they¡¯d need would be directly transmitted to their disciple tokens.

    ¡°Oh, that reminds me. Did you end up finding a master?¡± Damien mentioned.

    ¡°Right. I did find myself a master. Her name is Elder Xiao Xun and she is a genius with the sword. I believe that under her guidance I will be able to learn much.¡±

    Damien nodded. Even from their first interaction, he could tell Long Chen¡¯s interest in the sword. Meanwhile, for him it was just a means to an end.

    He never chose to be a sword cultivator. If the first weapon he found in the dungeon was a spear, that would have been his path instead.

    But he didn¡¯t hate the sword. It had effective reach and also cutting power. It was basically the most bnced weapon. That¡¯s why it was also the mostmonly used.

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s meet back up tomorrow in the same spot. After that, we can make our way to the Northern Continent.¡±

    Long Chen nodded before splitting up from Damien. He clearly wasn¡¯t a man of many words, and Damien respected that.

    It wasn¡¯t like the two automatically became friends after a single duel. Both had their own pride and goals. It could be said that their rtionship was more one of mutual respect, which was why they took the mission together.

    After warping back to his dorm, Damien withdrew his disciple token to check the mission details.

    ===

    Eradicate the wicked power, Beguiled Devil Sect, who has been terrorizing the Shentian province.

    The Beguiled Devil Sect is a mid-sized power in the Western Region of the Northern continent. In recent months, they have been bing more active, using their vile means to terrorize the Shentian province.

    Their focus is devil arts, which consume the life force of others to grant them power. The art has a side effect of turning them into bloodthirsty beasts, struggling to retain their sanity if they do not consume life force.

    It is suspected that this struggle has be more severe recently, causing the disciples of this sect to wantonly kill innocent civilians at a much more frequent rate for their life force.

    The Shentian province is ruled by the Shen n, whose strength is almost on par with the Beguiled Devil Sect, but if they move, they will lose too many experts in the crossfire.

    The Shen n has hired help from the sects in the Central Continent to raid and demolish the wicked sect; putting an end to their deeds.

    ===

    After that, some more information about the general power structure and strength of the Beguiled Devil Sect was listed, along with more information they would need when the timees.

    From this, Damien could grasp one thing with certainty. This world was truly ruled by strength. It was mentioned that the rate the Beguiled Devil Sect disciples were consuming the life force of the innocent had increased, not that it had started.

    It was clear that the wicked sect had been plundering life force from themon popce of this region and others for quite some time, but the fact that they were generally indiscreet made it so the major powers didn¡¯t care much.

    Everyone was selfish, and that selfishness was even more pronounced in the Cloud ne. Now that the activities of the wicked power were brought to light, they were forced to deal with it. Otherwise, they¡¯d lose credibility in the eyes of their people.

    And in turn, this would make them lose face and power. These were the two most important concepts to cultivators, whose pride tended to be higher than the heavens.

    But Damien wasn¡¯t any better. Although he understood that these righteous powers were only representatives of good on the surface, that wasn¡¯t his business. He cared for strength, and he cared for those close to him.

    He was reminded of Rose at this moment. Ever since they separated, he hadn¡¯t been staying still at all. It was a part of his personality to constantly move, but perhaps he was also avoiding a certain feeling he recognized.

    It was loneliness. He had gotten so used to sharing a bed with Rose and seeing her in the morning when he woke up. He had gotten used to the idle conversation they would always have.

    Even if he had Zara, who he talked to and joked with frequently, it was different. Zara was closer to a little sister to him, while his bond with Rose was something more special.

    He knew that pushing her away was his own decision, but that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t regret it. He was running from his problems like he always did. That¡¯s all there was to it.

    Shaking his head, Damien got rid of those depressing thoughts. Starting tomorrow, he would be on a new adventure. He just needed to put his focus on that.

 Chapter 147 - Supreme Fairy Paradise [1]

    A few thousand kilometers away from the Celestial Star Pce, there was an area that looked like a natural heaven.

    There was no visible human interference in the area, and even beasts that were ever-present within nature were absent. It was a pure ecosystem of thriving nt life.

    The trees reached for the heavens, being tens of kilometers in height, their foliage blocking out almost all sunlight that tried to pass through.

    Yet even with theck of sunlight, the nt life below them thrived. Lush green grass taller than the average human covered the jungle-like terrain, vines swung from tree to tree, connecting the entire ecosystem, and beautiful flowers bloomed in every direction, painting the ground in a myriad of colors.

    Within this unblemished environment, many green and white motes of light could be seen. But if one was close enough to make out their features, they¡¯d find bodies that were oddly humanoid.

    The only difference was that these creatures had crystalline wings on their backs that fluttered with their every motion. They danced and frolicked in the air without a care in the world. And naturally, all these creatures were female.

    As they danced and yed, some of these creatures migrated through a certain area within the jungle, the air around them shimmering as they did so. It was as if they passed into another world.

    And indeed, the changing of the scenery around them attested to this fact. Rather than the continuation of the beautiful jungle that should have been there, they entered an area filled withrge fertile ins and beautiful architecture.

    These buildings spanned for many kilometers, painting the sight of a beautiful city that was even bigger than the Star City that resided in the Celestial Star Sect.

    The buildings in this city looked as if they were made of the most polished ss and marble, giving the illusion ofplete transparency. Yet, oddly enough, no matter how hard one tried they wouldn¡¯t be able to see into these buildings.

    And at the very end of this expansive city stood a pce that didn¡¯t lose out in the slightest to the one on Star Mountain. And while that pce gave off a mystical aura that enhanced its profundity, this one was more ethereal and lofty.

    Lining the streets of this city, one could see women of all different origins. They chatted happily and enjoyed the safety of their home while going about their daily lives. Just like the ranks of those fairy-like creatures, there were no men among them.

    This was the Supreme Fairy Paradise. It was a haven for women who wanted to be surrounded by their own, away from the struggles that gued a patriarchal society.

    This sect was actually one of the leading powers in abolishing that system, with women gaining great power that stands equal to those men at the top.

    The Supreme Fairy Paradise actually had a very cordial rtionship with the Celestial Star Pce, with both having a woman at their head and advocating for power to be given to those who earned it, regardless of gender.

    At this point in the Cloud ne¡¯s history, women didn¡¯t suffer as much when it came to this sort of problem, as many capable women have risen through the ranks and proven their qualifications, but in the grand scheme, there were still many problems to be solved.

    The number of fairies and jade beauties among the ranks of the Supreme Fairy Paradise wasn¡¯t small at all. After all, beauty didn¡¯te apanied by status.

    Those whose background couldn¡¯t protect them from those young masters ofrger ns always migrated towards ces like this sect, gaining them protection as well as a ce to gain strength for themselves.

    Personal strength always mattered more than background, and this was the main goal of most who joined this sect.

    Of course, being a major sect, not everyone within it was there for such noble reasons. Some were simply progressing their own selfish agendas, as was the norm in the Cloud ne.

    Within one of the beautiful crystalline buildings in the city, two women could be seen holding conversation.

    They both had looks that rivaled the top beauties in the sect, yet they had only recently joined. One had blue hair and matching eyes, while the other had pink hair and ruby eyes.

    Their features were defined through many years of training, and the muscle they had built throughbat only served to heighten their natural beauty.

    The disciple examination for the Supreme Fairy Paradise took ce in another random location, with those who passed being teleported to the sect afterward via artifact.

    Its contents weren¡¯t anything special, almost mirroring that of the Celestial Star Pce with only a few changes. It was natural considering the rtionship the two sects had.

    As for Rose and Elena, they were easily able to pass. Especially when they worked together, not many of the new cultivators entertaining the sect stood a chance.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been here for a few weeks already, but we haven¡¯t done anything eventful. I was really hoping I could advance to 3rd ss soon.¡± Elena said with a sigh.

    ¡°You can¡¯t be med for this, though. The sect elders have been using this time to observe the newest batch of disciples and choose who they wish to foster.¡± Roseforted.

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­I heard it¡¯s not just our sect that¡¯s doing this. There must be something biging around the horizon.¡±

    ¡°Right, there¡¯s also that secret realm entrance that is supposed to take ce. There must be some sort of event after that which requires a lot of talented people.¡±

    Unlike the Celestial Star Pce who kept their motives hidden, the Supreme Fairy Paradise was quite open with their disciples about the elders¡¯ decisions and discussions.

    Naturally, there was a reason for this. As the name implies, the sect was much more secluded from worldly affairspared to the other 4 great sects.

    The women in the sect rarely left its confines, and although there were certain rules in ce enforcing this, it was mainly due to their own decisions.

    ¡°How about we take a mission, then?¡± Rose suddenly suggested.

    Elena fell into thought. Missions here worked in a simr way to those in the Celestial Star Pce, and they were some of the only opportunities the women of the sect had to leave its premises.

    ¡°Yeah, a mission would be best right now. However, we know nothing about the world yet. Let¡¯s just take some mid-level missions for beast hunting so I can catch up to you guys.¡±

    Rose nodded. This was her goal as well. She had been viewing Elena as a rival since their first battle before infiltrating Niflheim, but they were never truly able topete.

    This was because Elena hadn¡¯t reached Rose¡¯s level yet. No matter how hard she tried, in a seriouspetition, she wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.

    It was simply the difference in league that a ss change brought. Although it wasn¡¯t too defined between 2nd and 3rd ss, it was still a qualitative change.

    Making this decision, the girls promptly left their residence and headed for the mission hall.

 Chapter 148 - Supreme Fairy Paradise [2]

    Walking down the streets of the sect, the girls took their time to enjoy the view. The peaceful atmosphere here was something they particrly liked, and due to the fact that they had only recently joined the sect, they didn¡¯t have to worry about any conflict.

    Not to mention, neither of them had epted a master yet. It wasn¡¯t that they were picky about it or that no elder was interested in them, it was just that the number of geniuses who joined the sect during this disciple examination was too great.

    This led the elders to take careful consideration of their choices of disciple. Thepetition was especially fierce. However, none of the girls fought each other during this vetting process. They didn¡¯t want to make a bad impression on their potential teachers.

    When the girls reached the mission hall, they went straight to the section indicating mid-level missions. Rose didn¡¯t particrly need to partake in anything like this yet, but she wanted to support Elena.

    The two had decided to stick together even when they were apart from Damien, who was the main connection point between them. They were stronger this way, and the bond they had forged in the almost full year they had known each other wasn¡¯t shallow.

    While looking over the missions, however, they couldn¡¯t find anything interesting enough to grab their attention.

    ===

    Kill a Tyrant Hawk and bring back its egg.

    Location: Xuan Mountain Range

    Strength required: Elemental Comprehension Realm

    Reward: 300 Spirit Stones.

    ===

    Kill a Venomous Eclipse Snake and bring back its poison sack.

    Location: Xuan Mountain Range

    Strength required: Core Formation Realm

    Reward: 600 Spirit Stones.

    ===

    The missions rting to beasts all had the same premise of killing the beast and bringing back a certain item or ingredient in its possession. While these were an easy source of spirit stones for them, it wasn¡¯t their goal.

    Elena was infinitely close to reaching 3rd ss, with her level being 95, but a single beast wouldn¡¯t do the job. Even if she could stay within the Xuan Mountain Range and hunt other beasts to reach her goal, she wanted to maximize the benefits.

    Feeling curious, Elena went over to the section for major missions. These were much more riveting and even captured her excitement.

    She saw some missions that had to do with overthrowing coupes and even saw the one Damien took in the Northern Continent to eliminate a wicked sect. However, these weren¡¯t the ones that caught her eye.

    ===

    Aid the Yulong province in repelling arge beast tide guing its citizens.

    Location: Yulong Province

    Strength required: Core Formation Realm

    Reward: 1000 Spirit Stones.

    ===

    ¡®A beast tide is perfect.¡¯ Elena thought. Not only would there be a plethora of experience for her to gain, but she would also get a muchrger amount of spirit stones than any mid-level mission would provide.

    Tearing the paper off the board, Elena met back up with Rose and showed it to her, who naturally had no reason to refuse.

    ¡°Alright, this mission will be taken by others as well, so we won¡¯t reserve it for you. However, your participation has been epted. A fairy will apany you as a guide, so be sure to meet her on your way out of the sect.

    After getting the stamp of approval from a Mission Hall Elder, the girls left the premises.

    The Supreme Fairy Paradise didn¡¯t just get its name from the all-women nature of the sect. It was also due to the fairies they shared their home with.

    These fairies tended to be yful and carefree within the jungle area, but they were apletely different beast outside.

    Their small stature and delicate appearance have fooled many a greedy cultivator who has tried to capture them, but their power wasn¡¯t a joke by any means.

    The fairy race was inherently close with nature, and mana is as natural as one could get. Due to this, even the weakest fairies were created at the Elemental Comprehension Realm.

    That¡¯s right, fairies weren¡¯t born, they were created. There was no way for a race that strictly bore females to conceive in the first ce. Instead, fairies were born through natural umtion of nature mana and nt life.

    For example, the fairies that shared their home with the Supreme Fairy Paradise were representatives of the towering trees that made up the jungle.

    Trees were odd beings even in a mana-filled world. Even nts could gain human form if they cultivated to the appropriate level, but it wasn¡¯t like that for trees.

    They could gain sentience, but due to their unusual natural life span, the process was extremely slow. Besides that, trees were stationary and without the ability to gain experience naturally.

    nts could be carnivorous, or take advantage of the symbiotic rtionship they had with animals and bugs to gain experience, however, trees didn¡¯t have this privilege.

    Still, they were able to maintain their standing among the poption of sentient flora due to their ability to project consciousness onto other beings. In this case, the fairy race became their representatives.

    As the fairies grew in cultivation, the trees would grow with them, and as the trees passively absorbed mana and converted sunlight into mana, the fairies¡¯ mana pools would increase.

    It was a true symbiotic rtionship.

    The Supreme Fairy Paradise also did what it could to protect the ecosystem that was cultivated in this jungle. It was the reason the entire cecked beasts, the only creatures besides their poption being regr animals.

    The fairies weren¡¯t ungrateful, so they also helped the sect. With the rtionship spanning since the origin of the sect, the bond these fairies had with the maidens of the sect was generally unbreakable.

    There was even precedence of a maiden and fairy bing close enough to form an equal contract like the one Damien and Zara had. In this way, they would be the closest one could be without sharing an intimate rtionship.

    Being guides and protectors for the disciples that left the sect was also something the fairies took upon themselves. The Core Formation and Expansion realm fairies tended to take this job, as the ones in the Law Connection and Law Sea stages actually had the option of gaining an elder or advisor position within the sect itself.

    ***

    A day quickly passed by as the girls made their way to the entrance of the sect. Once there, a shining light rushed in front of them.

    When the light died down a bit, the figure within was revealed. This small fairy had shining blonde hair and green eyes, almost looking like a miniaturized elf.

    ¡°Hello, girls! My name is Dia!¡± The fairy said while happily fluttering around them.

    ¡°The mana around you is so excited! You must be special people!¡±

    The girls couldn¡¯t help but smile, infected by her cheerful attitude.

    ¡°My name is Rose and this is Elena, we¡¯ll be happy to work with you on this mission.¡±

    D¨ªa smiled happily as they continued talking, leaving the premises of the sect. However, they didn¡¯t end up in the same jungle, instead being teleported to a random location.

    As the girls continued chatting with Dia, they made their way to the location of the beast tide.

 Chapter 149 - Coincidence? [1]

    The waves of the Cloud Sea ebbed and flowed peacefully, seemingly unperturbed by the countless struggles and fights taking ce under its surface. asionally, the scaly or smooth backs of the beasts that reside within it would peak out before once again submerging.

    However, the calm environment was soon broken by two streaks of light, one ck and the other red, speeding across the air above it. The powerful auras they emitted caused the waves to tumble tumultuously, but they were long gone by the time it happened.

    Currently, Damien and Long Chen had almost reached the shores of the Northern Continent, having traveled for many days without rest. This wasn¡¯t a problem for Zara, and apparently, Long Chen¡¯s beast felt the same.

    Damien had only found out about it on the day of their departure, but it should¡¯ve been obvious considering how his partner on this mission was the scion of one of the four great ns.

    He had a Draconic beast that looked like a fire-attribute variant of the sea dragon he met when he was first crossing the Cloud Sea. Its species name wasn¡¯t as presumptuous as the snake from before either.

    Ironically, its given name was Little me.

    As the two men and their beasts continued moving across the expansive sea, the outline of a massivendmass came into their view.

    The Western Continent Damien first appeared in was covered in vast ins and deserts with sandy shores, the Central Continent had cliffs and an array of different terrains, and as for this Northern Continent, it was covered in a nket of white.

    Snow as far as the eye could see, with the shore being more of an icecap than anything else. This was the first impression of the northern continent.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the two tond on the white ins and take a small break after their long journey.

    ¡°The Shentian province is much farther ind than this. ording to the map from our disciple tokens, it should take another 3 days travel at this pace to reach it.¡± Long Chen said as he surveyed the surroundings.

    As someone from the Central Continent, not to mention one of its top powers, he had never felt the need to leave its ground. This was the first time he had ever left, and the first time he had seen snow before. It was obvious that he would take a moment to admire it.

    ¡°3 more days isn¡¯t a problem for us. But we should hurry in case the raid already started. If we miss it, we might automatically fail this mission.¡± Damien mentioned.

    Along with the general details of the mission, they received information that the Shen n that ruled the Shentian province was executing a raid on the Beguiled Devil Sect soon, however, no specific date was mentioned.

    If the raid started before they arrived and the wicked sect extermination waspleted, they traveled all this way for nothing.

    ¡°Zara, can you continue?¡± Damien asked with concern. She had been flying for over a week without pause already, and he didn¡¯t want to push her too far. Not to mention, she might have to fight in the uing raid.

    However, Zara was quick to ease his concerns. ¡°Mm! I can even fly for weeks without getting tired!¡± She eximed while raising her head, trying to look tough.

    Damien chuckled a bit but nodded his head anyway. ¡°Alright, since the strongest wolf in the world can fly for so long, I don¡¯t need to be worried.¡±

    Seeing that Long Chen had also mounted his beast once more, Damien gave the okay and they once again set off flying.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Rose and Elena also arrived at their destination.

    The Yulong province was closer to the eastern coast of the Central Continent, under the jurisdiction of the Long n. However, the Long n controlled too much area to personally oversee every province, so they delegated the duty to their subordinate ns.

    As for this region, it was managed by the Wang n.

    The Yulong province itself was nothing special, with simr scenery to the other areas around it. The eastern region of the continent was mostly ins and forests, which was why it was gued by beast tides more often than others.

    The current tide was centered around Jia City, near the edges of the province. This city directly bordered one of the massive forests, which made it something akin to a first stronghold against the constant tides that would exit.

    As for the source of the tides, nobody was able to figure it out. Many 3rd ss beasts would partake in the stampede, making it obvious that those in the same ss would die if they tried to investigate.

    And this notion was further solidified by the fact that any 3rd ss individual who entered the forest always failed to return.

    As for 4th ss beings, they had bigger priorities than things like this. Beast tides were toomon and had a various number of factors that could trigger them, so it was pointless to investigate any specific area.

    Rose and Elena materialized outside the gates of Jia City with the help of their fairypanion, D¨ªa, and directly entered its walls.

    With their robes as Supreme Fairy Paradise disciples, no other identification was needed. After all, impersonating one of the 5 major sects was nothing more than courting death.

    Once they entered the city, however, the first thing that greeted them was the smell of blood. It was thicker and more pungent than anywhere else they¡¯d been but a single ce, the Niflheim research center.

    Actually, the feeling of familiarity between these two ces didn¡¯t end there. The cultivators that tended to their wounds on the sides of the roads had clear indications of corrosion on their skin, and the smell of blood slowly became infected with something else as well.

    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this,¡± Elena said as she warily nced around. This mission might have been ssified as a major one, but this sort of environment wasn¡¯t something the sect would usually send their disciples into without warning them first.

    In fact, even D¨ªa looked slightly perturbed. Her nose wrinkled at the smell in the atmosphere and disgust was evident on her face as she nced around.

    Luckily enough, she was small enough to go unnoticed by those around her.

    Rose narrowed her eyes as she observed the surroundings. Unlike the other two who simply had a faint feeling, it was different for her.

    A cultivator¡¯s intuition couldn¡¯t be ignored. With the heightening of their league with every rank up, even something like intuition always stemmed from a foundation of immense perception ability.

    But nothing was absolute without proof. Proof which presented itself in the form of ethereal strings in Rose¡¯s vision.

    Red strings were love, blue strings were trust, yellow strings were wariness, and grey strings were neutral. These were the main colors that Rose would see on a day-to-day basis.

    But in her vision right now, it was a field of ck. ck strings that connected to every wounded cultivator in the vicinity and led to an unknown ce.

    She hadn¡¯t seen these ck strings enough to be certain about their purpose, but she had a faint guess.

    These ck strings¡­they were death.

 Chapter 150 - Coincidence? [2]

    ¡°Wee to our Dalia City.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long after Damien and Long Chen arrived at the city for someone toe greet them. Unlike the situation on the girls¡¯ side, everything here was still tame.

    As the two men arrived further towards the center of the continent, the snowy ins gave way to a more mountainous region filled withrgendmarks of ice.

    These naturalndmarks were shaped in such unique formations that they truly seemed man-made, but it was clear that it wasn¡¯t the case.

    As for the cities in this region, most of them were built into the rough mountain terrain or within the safety of the deep valleys between them.

    The Northern Continent was subject to a perpetual winter as well as winds that further decreased the cold, making it difficult for mortals to live here.

    As for those that did, they came from tribes or lineages that evolved over time to be ustomed to cold. Due to this, the poption of this continent tended to have a more rugged and muscr build, regardless of age and gender.

    Even the woman in front of the two men at the moment was packed with muscle and boasted a height simr to theirs. Still, these features didn¡¯t ruin her beauty.

    After a small introduction, the woman led the two to arge building in the center of the city where the Lord of the province resided.

    When they arrived, they noticed that there was already arge crowd formed. These people had various different uniforms indicating the powers they came from, making it clear that help wasn¡¯t only requested from the Central continent.

    However, the two of them were the only people present from the 5 major sects. The others were from various smaller powers. Even the beasts that stayed next to them indicated this fact.

    From the front door of the residence, arge man walked out. He was essentially a giant, being roughly 7 feet tall with a body that would put those strongest men on earth to shame.

    He wore a cloak and pants that seemed to be made from the hide of some beast, but even these couldn¡¯t hide the massive muscles beneath them.

    This man was Shen Li, the patriarch of the Shen n.

    ¡°Good evening everyone. Let me start by saying, thank you for your willingness to help our Shentian province in its time of need.¡±

    His voice was booming, not even needing mana amplification to reach the ears of everyone present. He continued with light pleasantries for a few minutes before his face became serious.

    ¡°In recent times, the Beguiled Devil Sect has be more and more brazen. Not only that, their disciples seem to be crazed.

    ¡°It isn¡¯t a matter of sustenance nor greed that seems to drive them, but pure insanity and primal desire. Before, our Shen n did what we could to quell them but didn¡¯t exterminate the source, fearing the repercussions that woulde with such actions, but now we can no longer hesitate.¡±

    Beforeing, Damien already knew that the reason the Beguiled Devil Sect was allowed to exist was due to the selfishness of those who ruled the region, but it seemed he had slightly misjudged.

    Although conservation of forces and not wanting to lose power were indeed selfish reasons, Damien expected it to be some sort of scheme rather than a tant action.

    Shen Li¡¯s upfront eptance of these actions painted him in a new light not just to Damien, but to many others in the crowd as well.

    Schemes and ploys weremon in a world where strength is king. Greed for power and status was a natural thing. However, most would rather die than lose face by admitting to it.

    Shen Li seemed the opposite. He admitted it with confidence and still stood by his decisions, showing no ulterior motives in his admittance.

    The Northern Continent was the most separated from the other 4 when it came to cultures. It was the only one that had to deal with the harshness of perpetual freezing.

    The number of beasts here was much lower than any other continent, and those that did live in this harsh environment were much more powerful than those who didn¡¯t.

    Due to this, food supply wasn¡¯t something easy to have. Neither was raising an army of powerful warriors.

    Most conflicts in this continent were between humans for various reasons, but at the end of the day, they amounted mainly to power struggles and overpoption.

    Shen Li¡¯s decision was selfish, true, but his selfishness didn¡¯te from greed or personal benefit. Being a good leader in such an environment forced one to partake in such actions.

    Not many had the information toe to this conclusion, so only a minor amount of respect was earned, but for Damien and Long Chen who came from such a prestigious institution, how could they not know?

    Both of them have deep looks toward Shen Li, paying much closer attention as he continued his speech.

    ¡°The Beguiled Devil Sect is a mid-level power like ours, so it¡¯s sure to have at least one Law Connection realm expert at its head, maybe even more. Unfortunately, we¡¯ve never seen the Sect Master in person.

    ¡°However, it matters not. My people will join this raid with all of you, so it should be more than possible to finish it off.

    ¡°Causalities are all but guaranteed in an operation like this, but as long as we move with purpose, we should be able to minimize the damages.

    ¡°And since none of us know or trust each other well enough to have synergy, let us operate on one simple rule. Don¡¯t get in each other¡¯s way.

    ¡°The raid will take ce in 2 days¡¯ time, so make any preparations you need before then. After that, we meet again at the South Gate of the city. I will see you all then.¡±

    With his final words, Shen Li returned to his residence, leaving a crowd full of hushed whispers in his wake.

    ¡°I guess we have two days to kill. Any ns?¡± Damien asked as he turned to Long Chen.

    ¡°None,¡± he shook his head, ¡°none of these people are worthy to form rtionships with, so any talk is unneeded. I will take rest for the next two days as I wait.¡±

    Damien nodded, but a slight grin began to form on his face. ¡°Hmm, would you rather rest, or finish what we started during the disciple examination?¡±

    Long Chen¡¯s eyes shed as he recalled that fight. It didn¡¯t take long for his fighting spirit to start burning. ¡°Very well. However, we are on someone else¡¯s territory right now, so we hold back, unlike thest time.¡±

    Damien quickly agreed. He didn¡¯t want to pass out for another 3 days anyway. It was such a hassle to wake up after an incident like that.

    He had experienced it twice already since he arrived here, and he didn¡¯t n to experience it again:

    With them having made an agreement, they quickly left to the outskirts of the city to begin their rematch. This time, with a much lighter tone than before.

 Chapter 151 - Rank Up [1]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Thunderous footsteps and a fierce cacophony of roars shook the walls of the fortress as countless beasts charged out of the forest. Beasts of all types charged without discrimination, intense bloodlust leaking from their bodies.

    The eyes of these beasts contained a maddening light, some even showing a hint of unwillingness that would go unnoticed by everyone present. Still, they charged without care.

    They stampeded over each other, even killing fellow beasts in the process. Some even turned outright and began devouring their brethren as they charged the thick metal walls they were approaching.

    The scene was truly chaotic.

    From the top of the fortress walls, two women watched this scene y out.

    ¡°Do you think we can work safely within a tide like that?¡± The blue-haired woman asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s no problem. My illusions should be perfect for this kind of situation.¡± A pink-haired woman responded.

    After they entered Jia City, the girls were almost immediately thrust into action. Barely anyone paid attention to them, simply pointing them towards the location they should be situated and leaving them be.

    And only an hour or twoter, another beast ride approached.

    The process of events was rapid to the point where Rose wasn¡¯t able to examine the ck strings she saw on the cultivators, and Elena was also forced to suppress the nagging feeling in her heart.

    As the tide appeared closer to the city, a booming voice rang out, attracting the attention of every able fighter in the vicinity. ¡°Alright! No time for talk! Everyone charge!¡±

    A wave of elemental attacks flew into theing tide, with many cultivators equipped with a variety of weapons following close after. Among these were Rose and Elena.

    However, unlike the others, they didn¡¯t attack head-on. At speeds faster than sound, they arrived in the middle of the beast tide before descending rapidly.

    Boom!

    The impact of their descent crushed a few beasts below them and forced the others to scatter. But Rose wouldn¡¯t allow them to get away.

    ¡°Illusory Throne.¡±

    The world became grey and a massive dome trapped all beasts within a 100-meter radius within it. However, the beasts were none the wiser. Even the cultivators outside had no idea this was happening.

    ¡°Go wild. I should be able to hold this domain for many hours without rest.¡± Rose said, encouraging Elena.

    Elena gave her a deep look before charging into the crowd. Her body became a streak of light and in the next second, howls of pain could be heard from the beasts.

    Shiiing!

    The sound of a de being drawn resounded through the domain and following it, ten beasts were immediately bisected.

    Without hesitation, Elena moved to her next target. Taking one hand off of her katana, she waved it towards her back, causing golden-white ropes of light to bind a beast that was charging her.

    But she ignored it, continuing her forward charge. Behind her, those ropes tightened around the beast, the light it was created from burning through its body until it was eventually diced into mincemeat.

    A group of 10 more beasts suddenly pounced at her from every direction, while a flying beast dove down to ambush her. Facing this barrage, Elena stayed calm. Luckily enough, all the beasts she had fought so far were at 2nd ss, allowing her to ze through them.

    ¡°Yggdrasil.¡±

    Hundreds of thick tree roots exited the ground and surrounded her in a protective field, growing into a towering tree. The tree reached half a kilometer in height, which would have been a sight to behold if anyone else on the battlefield could see it.

    The attacks of those beastsnded on the trunk of the tree, causing only light scratches, and that flying beast was skewered by the tree as it formed.

    Once the trunk had branched out, Elena¡¯s voice resounded once more. Her words fell onto the ears of even those rampaging beasts, causing them to look in her direction. Her voice was like a melody that attracted them to its source.

    ¡°Call of Life.¡±

    Every beast within Rose¡¯s domain found a new target within the massive tree. Previously, they were attacking randomly, some not even having opponents. However now, they had a unified cause.

    Find whatever was in the center of that tree.

    It was truly a sight to behold. The sky was almost blotted out with the number of aerial beasts, the ground was a sea of darkness cast by the shadows of those running. And at the center of it all, a beautiful tree emanating a wondrous aura of life.

    As the battle continued without pause, Rose had been slightly increasing the size of her barrier, trapping more beasts. Like this, the number only increased instead of decreasing, providing Elena with a steady source of experience.

    As for the danger that woulde if Elena ran out of mana? There was none. Everything happening was within Rose¡¯s palm, and all the beasts so far were weak enough to be crushed by a single move from her.

    In earth terms, she had built an Exp farm for Elena¡¯s convenience. As for her, she simply sat back on the illusory throne that only she could see and watched the events in amusement.

    On Elena¡¯s side, the sea of beasts had finally reached her tree. The branches extended, bing akin to massive whips that maneuvered through the crowd below her and bisected everything in their path. As for the aerial beasts¡­

    ¡°Judgement.¡±

    A familiar skill was cast as a beam of light left Elena¡¯s body and shot into the sky. It transformed into tens of swords, showcasing her progress after her first fight with Rose, and charged into the crowd of beasts flying towards her.

    ¡°SKREE!¡±

    Screeches of pain rang out, but they were drowned by the cacophony forming below. The swords of light in the sky continued unhindered, slicing many birds and winged reptiles into shreds. And on the ground, those beasts were being crushed into meat paste.

    It was a symphony of death, with blood spilling wantonly and assorted body parts flying through the air. Oddly enough, though, not a single dropnded on Elena.

    Well, that part could be considered a small gift from Rose.

    Slowly but surely, the sounds of roaring and stampedes died down, leaving only a single tree standing within the grey world.

    The ground was painted red, the massive tree was green, and the sky itself was grey. It was truly a beautiful contrast. However, the silence was quickly interrupted.

    ¡°Grrrr¡±

    A low growl could be heard within the domain as a single beast walked forward proudly. It was a massive lion with two pristine wings on its back. Its mane was billowing even without a breeze as if it was blessed by the wind.

    ¡°Human, I cannot say I do not understand the reason for your actions, but you do not understand ours either. Regardless of wrong or right, you must die today.¡± A deep and hollow voice left the mouth of the lion. Its aura was released wildly, clearly outlining its strength.

    It was a mid-level 3rd ss beast, perhaps even higher level than Rose.

 Chapter 152 - Rank Up [2]

    Elena red at the beast with apprehension, unsure if she could take it on. She was able to fight Rose sessfully during their spar, but neither of them were aiming to kill that time.

    This time, her opponent was leaking bloodlust greater than any she had ever faced, assuring her that losing meant death.

    However, even with the presence and aura of a beast seemingly in the Core Expansion realm, the grey world around them didn¡¯t break.

    ¡®If that¡¯s the case, then Rose should have the situation under control.¡¯

    And just as she thought, a voice suddenly rang in her head.

    ¡°How far are you from your ss change?¡±

    Checking her status, Elena smiled. ¡°Not even 1000 exp. This kill should be more than enough.¡±

    From her position on her throne, Rose slightly nodded. With such a small amount of experience left, Elena only needed tond the fatal blow on the beast to level up.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take this one. When you see an opportunity, go for the kill.¡±

    Although she was slightly hesitant, Elena relented. Her main goal at the moment was just that, a rank up. The grey world made her forget, but the beast tide was still raging around them. After leveling up, she¡¯d be able to fight stronger beasts as she pleased.

    The massive tree Elena was standing on slowly receded back into the ground, it¡¯s vines and roots untangling. The swords of light around her turned into particles before merging with the surroundings.

    As for Elena herself, she jumped back and made a good amount of distance from the opposing beast.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± The lion was confused by her actions, but didn¡¯t think much of it. Making distance was a normal move, especially inbat with a much stronger opponent.

    However, he immediately became wary when the air in front of him coalesced into another figure who radiated an aura that was only slightly weaker than his own.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a little rude to pick on someone weaker than you? How about you get past me first.¡±

    Rose didn¡¯t speak anymore before initiatingbat. She raised her hand, causing tens of ded weapons to shoot up from the ground under the lion.

    Whoosh!

    The lion took to the air, narrowly dodging before opening its mouth and letting out a thunderous roar.

    Light green mana raged in the atmosphere before turning into multiple tornadoes that charged towards Rose.

    ¡°A wind affinity? Just like me.¡± She said as she formed her own tornadoes to match.

    The two sets of wind element attacks met and diffused each other, causing the ground beneath them to shred into dust particles.

    While the lion prepped for another attack, it suddenly felt pain in its side. ¡°Huh?¡± It uttered before realizing that one of its wings had been severed.

    ¡°H-how?!¡±

    He hadn¡¯t felt felt any movement of mana nor any threat before it happened, only realizing it after the action had already taken ce.

    Before he could think further, he felt the same pain on the adjacent side as his other wing fell to the ground.

    ¡°I guess you thought highly of yourself beforeing here. Well, I¡¯m a kind person so let me exin. You are in my domain. My word isw. Simple, right?¡±

    From the start, there was nopetition. Any being even close to Rose in strength waspletely subject to her will within her illusory throne domain. It was the reason why the concept of domains wasrgely feared.

    Unless one had their own domain to fight it, it was nigh impossible to win if the strength of both sides was even.

    ¡°Y-you!¡± The lion stuttered as fear began to overrun him. However, regardless of how he tried to flee, he found himself unable to move.

    ¡°Elena, the rest is up to you.¡± With those words, Rose once again vanished.

    Elena watched the scene in awe, realizing how vast the gap between them was. It wasn¡¯t raw power, rather it was a difference inprehension.

    Shaking her head, she rid herself of stray thoughts. Still, she felt a bitpetitive.

    ¡°Purify.¡±

    Mana gushed out of her body in droves, bing a wave of light that crashed through the surroundings, illuminating the grey world.

    The golden-white sea continued unimpeded before crashing into the lion and swallowing it whole.

    The light attribute mana seeped into the lion¡¯s body, infecting his being with its color. Slowly but surely, he was purified into the most prime form of essence. He wasn¡¯t even able to release a sound as he died.

    As she watched this scene, Elena saw a series of holographic screens cloud her vision.

    [Your achievements have reached the required threshold to change your ss. Choose a new ss from the list below.]

    [Choose a ss]

    [1. Sword Saint]

    [2. Prime Saintess]

    [3. Valkyrie]

    [4. Nymph]

    Elena took her attention away from the receding sea of light and contemted her options. The first two were immediately ruled out, as she had no interest in following either path. As for which of thest two to choose, she had to think further.

    Valkyries were geared towards war, and in the legends, they dominated battlefields and led deceased souls to the afterlife.

    As for Nymphs, they were something akin to the embodiment of nature. Although she was sure this path would grant her immense power, it wasn¡¯t one geared towards fighting, which was her strong suit.

    Making her decision, she picked her ss.

    [You have be a Valkyrie. Valkyries are warriors who paint battlefields red with the blood of their enemies. Though you walk a path of bloodshed, you strive to remain pure of heart.]

    [The souls of the deceased recognize your intentions, calling out to you. Your existence bes closer to death, increasing your battle prowess. Your legends have been enhanced.]

    [By bing a 3rd ss being, you have obtained the qualifications to choose a subss.]

    [Choose a subss]

    [1. Saintess]

    [2. Enchantress]

    [3. Alchemist]

    [4. cksmith]

    [5. Beast Tamer]

    Subsses were an odd concept as they didn¡¯t seem to aid much considering the power of main sses, but they did help keep and enhance some abilities that might be discarded with the change of ss.

    Due to this, she chose Saintess. Her healing capability was something she deemed necessary, especially if anything untoward happens to Damien or Rose.

    While she basked in the information that entered her mind and the elevation of her league, Elena opened her status.

    ¡®Status¡¯

    [Status]

    [Elena Pierce]

    Human

    Female ¨C Age 21

    Level 100 ¨C [Valkyrie]

    Experience value: 0/150,000

    Title(s): [N/A]

    Affinities: Light, Life

    Physique: None

    Magic Power: 14000

    STR: 300

    AGI: 315

    DEF: 290

    INT: 300

    DEX: 320

    Skills: [High-Level Recovery Level 2], [Holy Magic Level Max], [Life Magic Level Max], [Mid-Level Regeneration Level 8], [Sword Mastery Level 7], [Judgement Level Max], [Call of Life Level 7], [Souls of Valha Level 1]

    Elena smiled wholeheartedly. She had finally reached 3rd ss, bing an existence on the same level as Damien and Rose. Perhaps their levels were ahead of hers at the moment, but as long as she tried, it wouldn¡¯t be hard to catch up.

    Looking to her left, she noticed a figure appearing from the air.

    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Rose said cheerfully. She was also genuinely excited for Elena¡¯s progress.

    However, Elena merely smiled as she looked at the scene outside of the grey world for the first time. The battle between humans and beasts was bing more and more ferocious as time passed.

    ¡°Mm, this is definitely something to celebrate, but we can do thatter. For now, I¡¯m itching to test my new power.¡±

 Chapter 153 - Devil Worshippers [1]

    2 days passed in a sh for the outside forces staying in Dalia City and the sun slowly rose once more to signify the day of the raid.

    Currently, Damien and Long Chen stood in the midst of a crowd of cultivators as they waited at the South Gate of the city.

    Their wait didn¡¯tst long, however, as a massive flying beastnded at the front of their ranks. On its back stood the valiant figure of Shen Li draped in his usual beast hide cloak.

    ¡°The time of our raid starts now. When we reach the destination, question nothing and leave none alive. This is our only mission.¡±

    He had already given his extended speech two days ago, so there was nothing left to say. With these final words, his flying beast took off into the distance, followed by the crowd of cultivators.

    The journey wasn¡¯t long at all, taking only a day to carry out, and throughout the whole thing, no nervousness could be felt. It was almost like they weren¡¯t going into a battle where many of them would die.

    Instead, the atmosphere was filled with greed. The extinction of a sect didn¡¯t simply end there, instead, it was a gateway to more wealth. Usually, this wealth would be imed by the ruling power in the area, but since they were directly participating, they might have a chance to squander some of it.

    When Shen Li¡¯s beast came to a stop, it hovered over arge canyon in the midst of the snow-coverednd. The direct contrast of abyssal ck and pure white was truly a sight to see.

    Within that canyon stood a small city that was painted in a red aura. It was simr to any other city in the Northern Continent when it came to architecture. Well, that was only if one didn¡¯t factor in the massive bloody mansion in its center.

    Usually, the aura around the city would contain a clear and visceral scent of blood, as it was created by refining the blood of many beings, however, such a smell was faded.

    The air still reeked, but of something much more putrid. As Damien descended into the canyon with the rest of the cultivators on the raid, he was immediately able to identify this smell.

    ¡®It¡¯s them again.¡¯

    Before even leaving earth with the elders of the Burning Sun Sect, he was aware that the threat of the Nox was also looming over the Cloud ne. And though he wasn¡¯t surprised seeing something rted to them, he was still taken back by how obvious it was.

    It was as if they were making no attempts to hide their desire for conquest, tantly provoking the people on the who knew of them. Still, Damien found it strange that in such a situation, talk about war wasn¡¯t more prominent.

    And it wasn¡¯t even just that. The Beguiled Devil Sect itself was acting strange, as even with their obvious and unbidden descent into their territory, they didn¡¯t make a move.

    ¡®Something¡¯s not right.¡¯

    His intuition was screaming at him about the discontinuity between the currently calm atmosphere and the situation that should be taking ce.

    And he wasn¡¯t one to ignore his intuition.

    Zara also understood his intentions, quickly pulling forward and staying at the front of the crowd, and Long Chen also followed.

    Although he wasn¡¯t aware of Damien¡¯s reasoning, he had learned through their various spars that Damien wasn¡¯t someone to make stupid moves for no reason.

    And quickly, his choice was proven right. Assorted yells started ringing out from the back of the crowd, and a loud shout shifted the entire mood of the group.

    ¡°Charge as fast as you can! Those who stay in the air will die!¡±

    Shen Li sped up, leaving the group behind and bypassing the red aura that surrounded the sect. Damien and Long Chen followed without thought as behind them, the screams became more jarring.

    The red aura that covered the sect speedily approached the crowd of cultivators and entrapped them within. The red aura turned into a fog before entering the bodies of those it entrapped.

    Any aura emitting from them was removed as their cultivation was seemingly sealed. But even with this, they remained suspended in the air.

    Slowly, the fog that entered their bodies ate away at them from the inside, acting as a ck hole that consumed all of their blood.

    Those cultivators quickly became lifeless and mummified husks, dropping to the ground and crumbling into dust.

    They had all died.

    But Damien didn¡¯t have time to focus on that at the moment. As one of the few that made it through before the aura began its attack, he was able to witness the scene within the sect.

    Bloodstains painted the walls of the many buildings in the small city and assorted body parts littered the ground. However, even these weren¡¯t intact. The body parts had clearly been corroded, and traces of a ck ink-like substance could be seen on many of them.

    Hundreds of cultivators slowly showed up, seemingly having passed through without being harmed by the aura, but their original number in the thousands had been drastically cut down.

    ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± One of them wondered out loud.

    In the midst of the chilling silence that hade over the group, the man¡¯s voice was particrly loud, but nobody answered his question.

    In fact, they were all wondering the same thing.

    Their goal today was to exterminate a wicked sect, but it had already been done before they arrived.

    But that didn¡¯t mean they could rejoice. From the pungent smell in the air, it was clear that the massacre that took ce was extremely recent. Perhaps the one whomitted it was still within the sect.

    As Damien observed the surroundings, his eyes slightly shed and a ck mana entered his vision. If he had to describe it in one word, it would be death.

    But it wasn¡¯t an aura or threat of death, it was mana that emanated the feeling of death itself. As he traced its source, Damien found himself staring directly at the center of the city.

    The sound of low footsteps began ringing through the air before one pair became many, sounding more like a march of troops.

    And slowly revealing themselves from within the blood-red mansion in the middle of the city was a group of humanoid beings.

    They weren¡¯t necessarily Nox, aspared to the one Damien met in the temple their stature simply didn¡¯t match up, but they definitely weren¡¯t human.

    Their skin was the color of midnight, and a slimy ck substance dripped off of them with every movement.

    The whites of their eyes were blue while their pupils were the same ck as their skin. Many of them had mutations as well, ranging from extra limbs to demonic horns protruding from their bodies.

    Hundreds of these strange beings soon emerged from the mansion.

    At the forefront, there was arge man whose stature didn¡¯t lose out to Shen Li¡¯s in the slightest. He had cracked sses on his face and long firey red hair that reached his waist.

    Looking up at the crowd of cultivators in the sky, arge grin formed on his face.

    ¡°Well, well. It seems that the heavens have graced us with even more sustenance.¡±

 Chapter 154 - Devil Worshippers [2]

    The man¡¯s voice was just as disconcerting as the rest of his appearance. If it had to be described, it was a mixture of nails scraping against a chalkboard and tant pervertedness mixed into a single sound.

    It was disgusting to hear.

    ¡°Who are you.¡± Shen Li asked with a grim face. Regardless of whether these people ughtered the Beguiled Devil Sect or not, they didn¡¯t seem to be friendly.

    ¡°Us? We are nothing special. Simply lowly beings who desire to spread word of our gods, nothing more.¡± Therge man responded. ¡°As for me, you can call me Du Feng.¡±

    With the man¡¯s introduction, it became impossible to ssify him as someone who invaded from another world. Besides the grotesque look he had, he resembled a person from the Northern Continent to the tee.

    Shen Li¡¯s eyes narrowed as he thought of something. ¡°You must be one of those damn Devil Worshippers I¡¯ve been hearing so much about. From what I know, your sect is also a wicked power. For what reason do you move against others on your side?¡±

    ¡°On our side?¡± Du Fengughed in ridicule, ¡°our side is only those who are the same as us. The rest of you shall either submit to our gods or die a fool¡¯s death.¡±

    The crowd of 500 Devil Worshippers behind him released their auras, indicating that every single one of them was at Core Formation realm or above. As for Du Feng himself, he was at the peak of 3rd ss.

    ¡°There is no more need for words. If you wish to talk more, you shall be one of us.¡± Raising himself into the air, Du Feng shot at Shen Li like a speeding bullet.

    Along with this, the rest of the cultivators also erupted with battle intent. Even in this unexpected situation, they knew they no longer had the option to flee.

    The crimson fog stood behind them like a beast with its maw gaping and the battle in front of them seemed inevitable. If they let fear ovee them, they were bound to die.

    Damien looked at Long Chen and gave a slight nod before hopping off Zara¡¯s back and charging at the approaching Devil Worshippers.

    Boom-!

    He immediately drew his sword, mming it into the ground as he dropped. A huge shockwave erupted with him at its epicenter, catching many of the Devil Worshippers off guard.

    The other cultivators present weren¡¯t dumb at all, taking advantage of the slight distraction to make their moves. With that, a fierce battle began.

    With every being here at 3rd ss, Damien couldn¡¯t slice through them effortlessly, but he could definitely take a couple of them at a time.

    His sword became covered in crackling destructive lighting before vibrating fast enough to produce smoke. The lightning heated up andbined with the vibrating molecules to create a beam of sma that coated Damien¡¯s sword.

    Vanishing from his position, he appeared behind one of the Devil Worshippers closest to him and sliced his sword down.

    ¡°AGH!¡± The man let out a groan of pain noticing a deep gash on his arm but recovered quickly. ¡°Haaa!¡± With a loud battle cry, be charged at Damien.

    His nails elongated into small des and shed towards Damien¡¯s side, but were quickly parried by his sword. Even for a normal cultivator, the sma sword would be hard to take barehanded. Not to mention someone with Nox traits.

    Noticing his finger des melting, the man took his arm away quickly before circling around Damien, looking for an opening to strike.

    Noticing that the man was having trouble, 3 other Devil Worshippers came and surrounded Damien.

    However, this only caused him to grin. ¡°Gravity Lock.¡±

    The space around the 5 people solidified and formed a thick cage that none could bypass. When they tried, they felt their bodies being weighed down and borderline crushed by the pressure.

    By the time they realized they couldn¡¯t escape, the Grim Reaper¡¯s chilling voice entered their ears. ¡°Now that we¡¯re all here, how about we fight for real?¡±

    ***

    Boom! Boom!

    A few meters away, another fierce battle had erupted. 5 Devil Worshippers surrounded a single ck-haired man but even with theirbined might they couldn¡¯t do much harm to him.

    The ck slimy substance leaking from their pores was weaponized, bing sharp projectiles that bombarded their opponent.

    The shards were covered in that ck mana that clouded the environment, and any time they made contact, they tried to corrode their target from the inside.

    Many of the cultivators that were fighting the devil worshippers had already severed their own limbs to stop the spread of corruption.

    ¡®Nine Dragons soar through the heavens¡¯

    Pristine white mana coalesced below the feet of those devil worshippers and swept them away, consuming them whole. However, Long Chen found himself facing another barrage of attacks.

    ¡®Heavenly Cloud Steps¡¯

    He maneuvered through the crowds and used his refined sword skills to damage his enemies on his way. Whenever he saw an opportunity, he immediately went for the kill.

    As he moved through the massive battle, he noticed a particr area that was mostly devoid of devil worshippers. The ones around that space seemed to fear it, trying their best not to be trapped within.

    ¡°Hahaha! Come on, you idiots! Is that all you got?¡± Roaringughter thundered through the surroundings. Apanying it, 5 mangled and lifeless bodies of devil worshippers exited that space from before.

    Long Chen was well aware of who this voice belonged to, and it caused him to smile. He rushed in that direction, ignoring the apprehension of everyone else.

    ¡°Damien, I have yet to see what it¡¯s like when we fight together. How about we find out now?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± The shimmering space slowly dissolved to show Damien¡¯s amused face and a ground littered with corpses.

    ¡°Fighting together, huh. Alright! Sounds fun.¡±

    Damien stood side by side with Long Chen and gazed upon the ongoing battle. Blood was wantonly spraying in the air as well as a ck substance that imitated it.

    Cultivators and devil worshippers were falling lifelessly in every direction, and unbeknownst to anyone, something strange was happening with their blood.

    Those corpses that littered the ground slowly became husks as their blood was drained. For someone like Damien who could see the movement of mana as colors, he knew exactly where it was going.

    In the air, two massive men stood facing each other. Even with the massive battle going on underneath them, they had hardly moved.

    Yet, their sh had already begun. Their auras spread through the air wildly, meeting in the middle and causing visible sparks to form.

    On one side, Shen Li was slowly releasing his own aura, seemingly much more powerful than anyone could have guessed. It was to the point where Du Feng¡¯s earlier show of power seemed like a joke.

    But there were thin lines of blood that snaked through the air and entered his body in a concealed manner. Every time this blood came into contact with him, his aura and power were given a slight boost.

    Looking at these two men, Damien realized something. ¡®He was a member of the Beguiled Devil Sect.¡¯

    In fact, most of these devil worshippers were most likely the same. The extinction of the sect wasn¡¯t done by some outside force, but from within their ranks.

    Still, Damien didn¡¯t feel the need to think about it right now. Grinning at Long Chen, he made a proposal.

    ¡°Whoever gets the least kills had to call the winner ¡®Boss¡¯ for an entire month. Deal?¡±

    Long Chen¡¯s eyes shed as his fighting spirit zed. A wide grin slowly formed on his face. ¡°Deal.¡±

    And with that, an unstoppable force was created on the battlefield.

 Chapter 155 - Devil Worshippers [3]

    The battlefield on the north side of the canyon was enveloped in a whirlwind of destruction.

    Pirs of light burst forth from the ground, dragons made entirely of mana wreaked havoc among the devil worshippers, space distorted and swallowed those who couldn¡¯t avoid its grasp, and arcs of lightning incinerated those who were left behind.

    In the middle of it all, Damien and Long Chen stood only a few meters apart, circling each other and attacking relentlessly without interfering with each other¡¯s momentum.

    From the way they were fighting together, it would seem as if they had been doing so for years. Not one person would guess that this level of synergy was born from only a handful of spars against each other.

    Seeing how terrifying their prowess was, many more devil worshippers ram towards them to help their sufferingrades out of such a perilous situation, but to no avail.

    Any attack they threw would start rapidly losing speed when it entered a 10-meter radius of the duo and those that somehow made it passed that barrier were returned to their senders with even more force than they originally had.

    Slowly but surely, the number of 500 or so devil worshippers was cut down to a little over 300, with most of the work being the contribution of Damien and Long Chen.

    Noticing that they were on the final stretch, the duo looked at each other and grinned. Damien expanded his vector field to keep out any interference before inhaling mana into his throat.

    As for Long Chen, he thrust his sword into the ground, causing a golden dragonrger than any other he had produced thus far to appear.

    The duo stood back to back, and without another second of dy, released massive beams of dragon¡¯s breath using their own methods.

    They directed their attacks in half circles, causing the entire 360¡ã radius around them to be filled with beams of scorching light. One was bitch ck while the other was gold, but they worked in tandem to destroy amon foe.

    The number of devil worshippers who survived the massive attack was even less than before, making it much easier for the other cultivators who had joined the raid to kill their enemies.

    ***

    In the air above the raging battlefield, the two leaders stood opposite each other, watching the scene with indifference painting their expressions.

    ¡°Your people are dying. Do you not n to help them?¡± Shen Li inquired.

    ¡°If their deaths can further our cause, they should die happily. Otherwise, they are useless.¡± Du Feng responded.

    Shen Li red at this opponent that he couldn¡¯t read whatsoever, but soon gave up on having any sort of peaceful interaction.

    ¡°How about we take our battle out of this canyon. Its destruction doesn¡¯t mean anything good for either of us.¡± Shen Li proposed.

    Du Feng thought for a second before nodding. He didn¡¯t desire the needless sacrifice of his people, as they still had more use.

    The two leaders flew out of the canyon, uninhibited by the bloody fog that killed so many cultivators on their way in. Shortly after, massive earthquakes shook the entire region of the Northern Continent.

    ***

    It didn¡¯t take more than 2 hours after Damien and Long Chen¡¯sbined assault began for the raid group topletely wipe out the devil worshippers they were facing.

    The bottom of the canyon was filled with ck blood and slime from the lifeless corpses that littered the ground. Even the corpses of the cultivators had been corroded and corrupted by the liquids.

    As a light silence and an aura of relief swept the crowd, they finally felt the massive rumbles of the earth that had been drowned out by their own battle.

    Peering up at the sky above, they were able to notice bright shes of light and dispersing mana, clear signs that another intense fight was taking ce.

    As Damien tried to understand the course of the battle on the surface, Zara approached him from behind and stood next to him. She had also been fighting on her own throughout this battle, consuming her enemies to enhance her strength.

    ¡°Damien, something feels weird about those people.¡± She transmitted into his head. She didn¡¯t want to talk in front of such arge crowd, especially about things they didn¡¯t need to hear.

    It could be said that Zara was maturing on her own while Damien continued to ze his path forward. Even if she was still plenty innocent, it wasn¡¯t near as much as before.

    Damien ran his hand through her silky fur as he urged her to continue. ¡°What kind of weird?¡±

    ¡°They felt familiar somehow,¡± she answered, ¡°like I¡¯ve met them before somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± Damien pondered. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because of the Nox we met in Apeiron. Well, we can think about it deeplyter and figure it out.¡±

    Zara nodded lightly before returning back to his shadow. Inwardly, she was genuinely happy that he didn¡¯t discard the weird feeling she was having as some one-time urrence.

    Turning to Long Chen, a slight grin formed on Damien¡¯s face. ¡°How many?¡±

    ¡°Including the dragon¡¯s breath, my total is 112. And you?¡±

    Damien¡¯s grin widened even more. ¡°123.¡±

    Long Chen¡¯s face soured quickly hearing the number, and even after checking with Little me, who had been watching the entire fight, he couldn¡¯t find any discrepancies.

    ¡°Damn it.¡± He cursed. The mischievous grin on Damien¡¯s face didn¡¯t help his situation one but.

    ¡°Anyway, should we head up and see what¡¯s going on up there?¡± Long Chen mentioned, trying to change the subject.

    But Damien wouldn¡¯t let him off so easily. ¡°Hm? I feel like you just said something but for some reason, I didn¡¯t hear it. Mind repeating yourself?¡±

    Long Chen¡¯s face began to burn in shame. Not once had he, the scion of the Long n, been forced into a situation like this.

    ¡°Should we go check on the situation on the surface, B-b-boss.¡± He finally said through clenched teeth, stumbling a bit to get the words out of his mouth.

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Damien roared withughter. ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m your boss now!¡±

    When he noticed the strange looks they were getting from the other cultivators in the room, hisughter only became more rambunctious.

    Putting his arm around Long Chen¡¯s shoulder, he raised his voice so the others could hear him.

    ¡°Everyone! This right here is the scion of the Long n in the Central Continent, Long Chen! And as of today, I, Damien Void, am his boss! Hahahaha!¡±

    Long Chen wanted to push Damien away, but at this point, anything he did would be used against him.

    He red hatefully at Damien while vowing that one day he would repay this grievance. Not just in kind, but tenfold. He even began brainstorming the different punishments he could have Damien do.

    While they were joking around, the rest of the raid force also generally recuperated enough to leave their area. Not to mention, the rumbling and quaking of the earth around them had only be more pronounced as time passed.

    Those who had beasts mounted them while the rest flew to the skies with their own power. Just like with their leader, the bloody fog didn¡¯t impede their ascent.

    The most likely scenario was that it had to be activated manually.

    And as the group finally reached the precipice of the canyon, their eyes became focused on a scene of devastation.

 Chapter 156 - Coincidence? [3]

    On the northern coast of the central continent, there was a fortress bordering arge forest. For the past week, this fortress had been drowned in the sounds of roars and thunderous battle, but as of this moment, it had all died down.

    However, the end of the beast tide which would usually bring joy and celebration didn¡¯t do so. Instead, there was only stifling silence.

    The eyes of the cultivators present, which would usually be greedily eyeing the countless beast corpses littering the ground, were all glued on a single woman.

    Her shoulder-length blue hair flowed in the wind and her eyes had a sharpness that made it so nobody dared to approach her. However, this wasn¡¯t the only reason.

    Surrounding the woman were 8 figures draped in majestic white armor that radiated holiness, yet the eyes of these figures were hollow, filled with a burning white me that showcased their intelligence.

    The armored figures were all in pairs.

    Two with massive swords over 3 meters long, two with bows taller than the average human and shining quivers of arrows, two with heavy spears whose weight alone caused the earth to crack, and two whose figures were lean and carried short daggers that didn¡¯t lose out in majesty to the others.

    The sword and spear-wielding figures were mounted atop armored steeds that looked like a mix between horses and birds while the other 4 were standing on their own feet.

    However, the most ring fact was that each of these figures who were radiating the aura of a peak Core Formation realm expert were now kneeling in front of that very same blue-haired woman.

    Usually, a group of Core Formation realm experts such as this was not a sight to behold, and anyone would assume that the woman in question simply had a powerful background. But the cultivators present knew the truth.

    Halfway through the final wave, this woman suddenly appeared in the middle of the beast tide and called out three words that radiated power.

    ¡°Souls of Valha.¡±

    The area around her was painted in pristine white light as an ancient formation etched itself onto the ground. In the next instant, these 8 figures appeared.

    After that, it was a bloodbath. The massive weapons of the armored figures wreaked havoc upon the beasts, causing massive explosions and damage that was reminiscent of a minefield.

    They swept the battlefield with unprecedented synergy, moving without care for their lives. Whenever they were injured, they were bathed in green mana with a heavy life aura until they regained their peak state.

    And even while they were being healed, they continued to fight. The white mes that lit up their empty eye sockets burned brighter with every kill, reveling in the feeling of battle.

    The force of these 8 Core Formation experts was greater than that of the rest of the cultivatorsbined, and it was all due to that blue-haired girl they had seen.

    She stood in the rear, seemingly in awe at her own abilities, as she watched her summons ze through her enemies. And the tide itself ended only hours after their descent.

    Currently, Elena was observing the beings she called forth with her new skill. Their existence was contradictory, radiating an aura of both holiness and death, but their power was even greater than her own.

    When Elena chose to be a Valkyrie, she expected the ss to be an upgrade of her 2nd ss. She didn¡¯t expect that she¡¯d legitimately gain a connection to the ce called Valha.

    And she could tell that she truly did. These beings were, as the skill proimed, the souls of Valha. They were warriors of the past who lived and died on the battlefield. And now, they had be her personal army.

    She could only summon 8 of them at the moment, but she could firmly feel the connection she had with an unknown ne of existence.

    It was a connection through which she felt she could call upon many more warriors, perhaps even building her own legion once she was strong enough to do so.

    In the distance, Rose and D¨ªa, who had reappeared now that thebat had ended, were also watching in shock. Rose had been fully expecting Elena to receive massive boosts after her ss change, but this simply felt too exaggerated.

    With that kind ofbat power, she couldn¡¯t be sure if even she would win in a fight. And that was if she was going all out with her illusions. In a pure upfront confrontation? Rose was assured of her loss.

    But this wasn¡¯t discouraging for her. The threat she felt from Elena drove herpetitive spirit and gave her a new drive to improve. Her rival surpassing her simply wasn¡¯t something she would allow.

    As for D¨ªa, she could barely fathom the two monsters she had been tasked to protect. With this kind of prowess, was she even needed? It had to be known that the two of them were still concealed by Rose¡¯s illusions to the point where not even the strongest beings on the premises could sense them.

    ¡®I have to tell the Sect Master about these two asap.¡¯ She thought to herself. With the secret realm opening and massive changes on the horizon, two monstrous talents like them were imperative to the sect. Her only regret was that they had only recently joined.

    If their growth had been fostered since the beginning¡­Dia could only imagine the results. However, it was unknown what she would think when she realized that both of them had only been truly gaining power for less than a decade.

    As the crowd watched on, Elena¡¯s summons turned into streaks of white light before charging into her body. Two wing-shaped tattoos formed on each of her arms and two twisting serpents snaked up the sides of her neck.

    Elena¡¯s ocean blue eyes became tainted with a hint of ck, but it was barely noticeable if one didn¡¯t examine her thoroughly.

    Sighing lightly, Elena raised her gaze to look at the crowd watching her. Like clockwork, they immediately turned away from her and continued with their post-battle arrangements.

    At the back of the crowd, a man watched all of this happen with a profound look on his face. When the spectacle ended, he turned and walked away, every cultivator making way when they noticed his identity.

    When he came to this fortress, he had never expected to see such an interesting scene. In fact, he was currently patting himself on the back for making such a wise decision.

    The man held an imperceptible smile on his face as he thought back to the beast tide that had finally ended after many days of fighting. ¡®Everything is going ording to n. Still, I should tell father about those two girls.¡¯

    The man soon mounted avishly adorned flying beast and left the premises of the fortress.

    If Rose had been present to see this man, she would immediately feel something off about him.

    After all, his body was coated in a thick yet invisibleyer of a familiar ck mana oozing with the scent of death.

 Chapter 157 - Mission End [1]

    In one portion of the mountainous region that epassed the entirety of the central region of the Northern Continent, there was arge canyon that used to be surrounded by a snow-covered desert.

    The snow itself was many feet deep, considering the weather patterns of the central continent, but the ground had also beenpacted and contained a firmness to it after being tempered by such an atmosphere.

    However, the beautiful white tundra was no more. In its ce was a barren wastnd.

    A 3000-kilometer area surrounding the canyon was free of snow, with only the small rivers of water formed by its melting left in its ce. The water flowed towards the canyon and pooled within, causing a small waterfall to form.

    As for the ground itself, it was in even worse condition. After the many feet of snow had melted and most of the water formed from it had evaporated, the ground was cracked and sundered until even its firmness could no longer save it.

    There were hundreds of craters littering its surface, looking like a meteor shower had just impacted it. Not to mention the portions of rock that were melted into magma or covered in a thick red liquid reminiscent of blood.

    In the center of the apocalyptic scene was a sight that looked like it should have been immortalized in a painting.

    Arge man with ck hair and fierce blue eyes stood with his foot on another equallyrge man¡¯s chest.

    His clothes were ripped and torn, with the beast skin cloak that used to cover his body being a mere cape on his back. Trails of blood ran down his face and dried blood caked his bulging muscles.

    As for the man below him, he could barely be called a man anymore. His face was caved in with his skull evidently being broken, his arms were a mixture of red blood and ck slush, and his chest had a gaping hole in it that was filled by the other man¡¯s foot.

    Any signs of life within him had long been extinguished.

    This was the sight Damien and those cultivators saw when they exited the canyon. Due to the bloody fog, they had failed to notice the waterfall that had formed, but the obvious rumbling was enough to cue them in on the situation.

    When Shen Li felt the multiple gazes that had locked onto his position, he looked up at the cultivators, the fire in his eyes slightly dimming. Without a single word, Shen Li jumped onto the back of his flying beast and made his way back to Dalia City.

    And the cultivators soon followed.

    They didn¡¯t need to be told what had happened and no instructions on how to proceed were needed.

    The trip back was much more silent than the previous one. Not only had they just fought a perilous battle, but many of them had also lost people in its duration.

    In the back of the crowd, Damien and Long Chen were also silent. Although they were fine, they could read the room well enough to keep their mouths shut.

    However, Damien¡¯s thoughts were still as active as ever. ¡®The Nox invasion in this world is either going much more smoothly than anyone assumed or they are just pretending to be blind.¡¯

    To be honest, he hoped it was the former option. Thetter suggested treachery in the highest levels of society, which would not bode well for him.

    He was already thoroughly invested in the situation with the Nox since it didn¡¯t seem like they were intent on leaving the universe alone. He would be roped in at some point, he just felt like being proactive was better.

    This way, at least he chose to enter this war.

    ¡®Either way, I need to let Master know about what happened here. With his strength and status, he¡¯ll probably know what to do.¡¯

    It might have been odd for Damien to trust his master without knowing him much, but it was how things ended up.

    His master had helped him plenty even in the short time they had known each other, and even while knowing Damien was an otherworlder, he didn¡¯t make any trouble.

    It wasn¡¯t a level of trust that would allow him to reveal all his secrets, but it was enough for this. Especially since his master was a true resident of this world.

    At the end of the day, Damien had no real connection to the Cloud ne. He might have sympathy for its destruction or the tragedies that might take ce, but only the amount a normal outsider would have.

    It¡¯d be more urate to call it the shock of watching a society copse from the inside.

    It had only been a few months since he hade here, and he didn¡¯t have anyone like Rose to care for. It was only natural that he wouldn¡¯t feel the same as he would if Apeiron met the same fate.

    While Damien was considering all of this, the group arrived back at Dalia city. Shen Li dismounted his beast before turning to face the crowd of cultivators before him.

    ¡°Although there were some unforeseen circumstances, we still managed to seed in our task. I found this on that man I fought earlier, so there¡¯s no doubt about it.¡±

    A triangr token appeared in front of him, it was blood red in color and contained a strange 7-pointed star insignia.

    ¡°This is the Sect Master token of the Beguiled Devil Sect, so it¡¯s obvious who the leader of that force was. As for why theymitted a massacre of their own people, that isn¡¯t our concern.

    ¡°I will mark this mission as a sess and report to all the powers from whom we sought help. By the time you reach your respective sects, it will be done. So, you don¡¯t have to worry about the rewards.

    ¡°Until then, I have many things to take care of. Thank you all once again for your help in this endeavor, and may you have a safe trip back to your homes.¡±

    Leaving these words, Shen Li entered his city. Slowly but surely, the crowd of cultivators dispersed in every direction, following Shen Li¡¯s words.

    Likewise, Damien and Long Chen headed back to the Celestial Star Pce. It was a truly eventful trip for them, filled with riveting battles and many level increases, but at the same time, it alluded to a scourge existing within the shadows.

    ¡°Damien, what are your ns once we get back to the sect?¡± Long Chen inquired.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°B-boss.¡±

    ¡°Ah! So you were talking to me! Hmm, I don¡¯t really have anything nned. I¡¯ll probably go see my master first and tell him about our trip before I decided anything.¡±

    Long Chen nodded, having a simr idea, but didn¡¯t say anything else.

    Truthfully, he had a lot of fun on this mission. He wasn¡¯t the type to outwardly show his emotions, but having someone who could keep up with him and also beat him inpetition brought him genuine excitement,

    Due to this, he wanted to continue going on missions with Damien. He felt it was the best way for him to challenge himself.

    But thinking about how he would have to call the shameless idiot ¡°boss¡± made him reconsider.

    With the duo having their own thoughts, they calmly made their way back to the sect.

    And it wasn¡¯t just them. With the beast tide over, the girls were also on their way back to the Supreme Fairy Paradise. What they didn¡¯t know, however, was that Dia¡¯s call to the Sect Master led to an unexpected surprise waiting for them.

 Chapter 158 - Mission End [2]

    An entire weekter, Damien and Long Chen finally arrived back at the familiar mountain that they called home.

    It had only been around 2 months since they had left even though the mission was held for 6 months, causing the guards at the gate a good deal of surprise.

    As for what they did when they got back, they went straight to the mission hall to im their rewards.

    ¡°Alright, the sign ofpletion has been given by the one who issued the requests. Just give me your disciple tokens and I can mark it as done.¡± The mission hall elder said in a surprised tone.

    After all, an outer court disciple taking on a major mission was already surprising enough, let alone the speed at which they finished.

    When the process was finished, the elder handed each of them their spirit stones before sending them on their way.

    Damien didn¡¯t waste any time, making his way up the mountain to see his master. He had nothing better to do, plus he wanted to see if his master would teach him anything new.

    And before long, he arrived at the familiar pagoda. Knocking on the door, he patiently waited for someone to answer.

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re back from your mission.¡± A cold voice answered as the door opened, revealing a familiar beautiful face.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m back, did you miss me?¡± Damien replied.

    ¡°And why would I do that.¡± Xue Ruyue responded immediately.

    Damien wanted to tease this senior sister of his more since he still wasn¡¯t over the way she treated him, but it was clear she wouldn¡¯t be entertaining it:

    Rolling his eyes, he changed the topic. ¡°Is master here?¡±

    Ruyue averted her gaze into the pagoda before lightly nodding her head, stepping out of the way.

    Watching him enter the pagoda with a smile on his face, Ruyue¡¯s brow wrinkles slightly before she let out a soft sigh and followed him.

    Unfortunately for her, Tian Yang had explicitly stated that she had to be present for theing conversation.

    And of course, he had been aware of Damien¡¯s return from the second he stepped foot in the sect.

    Damien walked through the small hallway lined with ornate paintings before reaching the wooden sliding doors that led to the room he had previously been in. It was the same room where he had gone through that iplete transformation.

    ¡°Oho, looks like you¡¯ve leveled up a bit, haven¡¯t you.¡± An aged voice inquired as Damien slid open the doors.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing major. I still haven¡¯t been able to do anything about my skills yet.¡± Damien replied. It was probably the thing he was most concerned about at the moment.

    With spatial magic and even vector control, he was able to level them up significantly in short amounts of time. Even if he hadn¡¯tpletely grasped the more esoteric branches of the magics, he was still able to increase his proficiency.

    However, it wasn¡¯t the same anymore. Whether it be his dimensional magic, the question marks in his status, or even creating a domain, he was able to do none of them.

    He felt some sort of block in his psyche, something that was preventing him from making any more progress, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what it was.

    Even with the Void Heart Sword Law that he had only recently picked up, he hadn¡¯t been able to grasp its movements at all.

    Seeing the worry evident on Damien¡¯s face, Tian Yang slightly smiled. ¡°Is this the first roadblock you hit?¡±

    Damien nodded back with a difficult expression. He was made painfully aware of how smooth his journey thus far had been.

    ¡°Well, the 3rd great realm is like that for every cultivator. It¡¯s a realm where you aren¡¯t trying to increase your skills or simply level up, you¡¯re trying to increase your connection to the elements.¡±

    Damien looked up at the old man, evidently confused. Connect with the elements? What did that even mean?

    ¡°Don¡¯t be in such a rush, I¡¯ll obviously tell you now that I¡¯ve brought it up. Tell me, do you know what the difference between the 3rd and 4th realm is?¡±

    Damien once again shook his head. Any time he asked or even heard about 4th ss, everyone always shut him down and told him it was too early for him to learn about it.

    But he didn¡¯t think so. He felt that the best way for him to work towards the next realm was to know exactly what it contained and what he was hoping to achieve.

    ¡°The entry point to the 4th great realm is called Law Connection realm for a very good reason. It¡¯s because up until that point, you were using elements in their most primary form.

    ¡°Your affinities are simply the elements you are most in tune with and the ones you can be proficient in. You might even have some affinities that aren¡¯t listed in your status simply because you don¡¯t have enough talent in thempared to your main affinities.

    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t learn them. With years and years of practice, such a thing can be possible, unlocking new affinities in your status. However, this ain¡¯t the main point I¡¯m trying to make.¡±

    Noticing Ruyue standing in the back and listening, Tian Yang motioned her forward. Naturally, sheplied, arriving next to Damien who had taken a seat while listening to the lecture.

    Seeing his disciples paying rapt attention, he continued. ¡°Until the 3rd realm, you¡¯ve been using elements in their base form, in the way the mana is presented to you. But did you really think that¡¯s all there was?¡±

    Tian Yang waved his hand, causing spatial essence to fill the room. However, there was something intrinsically different about the mana, as if it was on a higher level.

    ¡°When you step into 4th ss, your being evolves and youe into contact with something called Laws. These are thews that govern the universe and grant it stability, these are the building blocks of everything we know.¡±

    The spatial essence continued to dance around the room, sometimes being formless but other times having pressure that weighed down on the two disciples like a mountain.

    ¡°A Law Connection realm expert has just recentlye into contact withws and has to gain an understanding of their function to enter the Law Sea realm. As for how this rtes back to your current problem? That¡¯s simple.¡±

    ¡°I have to understand my elements more so that they can evolve intows!¡± Damien suddenly interrupted.

    Tian Yang smiled and nodded, letting his disciplee to his own conclusion. He could almost see the gears spinning in Damien¡¯s head after reaching this point.

    What he needed to do now wasn¡¯t simply train his skills or gain levels. What he needed to do was gain a deeper understanding of elements and their mana itself.

    It wasn¡¯t aboutprehending space, and it wasn¡¯t about any of the destructive power he was always trying to learn. It was deeper than that.

    It was as if something clicked in his mind. What he wascking, what was stopping him from advancing, he understood it all.

    What Damien needed was a path forward. It was like he had been drifting aimlessly in a massive desert with no idea which direction was north. But now, he knew exactly where to go.

    Even if he didn¡¯t have a starting point right now, even if he still had plenty of things to do before he reached the point Tian Yang was speaking about, at least he knew it existed.

    Damien¡¯s spirit burned with fervor once again. His desire for strength blossomed. He knew exactly what he wanted to do.

 Chapter 159 - Second Lesson [1]

    Even if Tian Yang said nothing else today, Damien already got what he wanted. He had been drifting aimlessly for so long that he felt extremely fulfilled with just this small amount of knowledge.

    At first, he was confused as to why the 4th ss mattered at all to him right now, since he had just reached level 115, but it all made sense after Tian Yang exined.

    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Damien who had gained something from this teaching. Even Ruyue was absorbed in thought over what she had just learned.

    Being the little princess of the Xue family, she naturally had much more knowledge than Damien about such things. She knew aboutws long before she became a 3rd ss expert.

    Still, any exnation about the subject or about how to reach that point wasn¡¯t given to her. With her monstrous talent, it was expected of her to figure it out herself.

    And maybe she would have sessfully done so, but it wouldn¡¯t have been any time soon.

    When the duo returned their attention to Tian Yang, there was an extra hint of worship in their eyes.

    It was only natural for them to feel this way. Tian Yang didn¡¯t actually say much at all, but his inflection and the way he led their thoughts made them both reach a level of enlightenment about their cultivation.

    While it was new for Damien, Ruyue only felt adoration before today. After all, her master was also of the idea that she should figure most things out for herself.

    But ever since this junior brother of hers joined the fray, her master was much more open with his teachings. She didn¡¯t know whether to be jealous or thankful for this, so she just stopped thinking about it altogether.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve understood, allow me to go more in-depth about the concepts you both need to pay attention to. First of all, what exactly is mana?¡± Tian Yang questioned.

    ¡°It¡¯s the building blocks of everything,¡± Damien replied almost instantly. This was the basis of everything he knew.

    ¡°It is the energy that birthed the universe.¡± Ruyue followed up.

    Tian Yang only gave a slight nod at their answers. ¡°While you are both technically right, do you know why that is? Or rather, do you truly understand what you just told me?¡±

    The duo pondered once more. What was there to understand past these points? Why was it necessary to know that?

    Damien wondered what it truly meant for mana to be the building blocks of all things. For the sake of organizing his thoughts, he spoke out loud.

    ¡°Mana is present within everything. Animals, nts, or even just the air around us. But these things can exist without mana, right?s that haven¡¯t awakened their mana yet live like this for up to many eons without trouble.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only partially true,¡± Ruyue answered, doing the same as him. ¡°While unawakened worlds live without a constant influx of mana, it doesn¡¯t mean that mana isn¡¯t present within them. Mana is within everything from the start of its formation, even if it¡¯s a minuscule amount. Without mana, life can¡¯t sustain itself.¡±

    ¡°Well then, what about oxygen and nitrogen? What about the base elements and concepts such as physics? Mana breaks suchws simply with its presence, so how can they exist in a ce where mana resides within everything?¡±

    ¡°Those concepts are simply human designs tobel the unknown. Not understanding how things worked, they made such an exnation. And besides, mana itself doesn¡¯t break physics, it just bends the existingws. It¡¯s the use of mana through elements that can totally break the concept.¡±

    Damien thought about what she said and understood that it had logic behind it. The existence of mana alone doesn¡¯t break anyws. Mana is a neutral energy that doesn¡¯t actually do anything unless it¡¯s willed to do so.

    ¡°So, mana itself is tame, but its usage is anything but. Mana existed before thews of the universe were formed, thus being a higher form of power than them?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not sure.¡± Ruyue responded as her brows creased. ¡°If mana is a higher form thanws, then why can we only usews after entering the 4th great realm instead of manipting them from the start?¡±

    Damien also didn¡¯t know the answer to this, but there were plenty of theories swirling through his mind. As for the main one¡­

    ¡°What if¡­us lifeforms who exist in mana¡¯s sphere of influence don¡¯t have the capability to wield thews that make up the world simply from the start? What if the use of elements for the first 3 realms is a build-up or something like training wheels before we can usews?¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s eyes widened. The answer was so simple, yet they couldn¡¯t think of it! Ruyue almost leaped at the thought, grabbing Damien¡¯s shoulders in excitement.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Just like master said, we need to have a firm grasp on mana and the elements before we can usews! Without it, it¡¯s impossible for us to control something so esoteric and powerful that actually forms the universe! Laws are too high in power for any normal being to use if they don¡¯t gather the appropriate strength first!¡±

    Damien was a bit stunned by her move, snapping out of his tangent thoughts. He ended up staring into her bright golden eyes that were far too close forfort.

    Especially with the excitement she was showing at the moment, Ruyue was like a different person. Rather than the cold and distant senior sister he had gotten used to, she was just a normal and agreeable woman.

    Ruyue wasn¡¯t in any better condition. She hadn¡¯t noticed her state of mind until she had already gotten close enough to Damien where if he wanted to, he could take full advantage of her.

    Since when did they be close enough for her to act like this? The answer was that they hadn¡¯t. There was just something about Damien that made her drop her guard. Not to mention, their banter had been so smooth that she almost forgot he was essentially a stranger to her.

    As she gazed into those red and purple eyes, she felt something that she hadn¡¯t felt in a long time. It was like she met someone she could actually enjoy spending her time with, even if it was just as fellow disciples under the same master.

    ¡°Kuhum¡­¡± a sudden cough interrupted their thoughts. ¡°Now now, I don¡¯t mind if my disciples get closer, but I¡¯d prefer you not do it in front of this old man. Hahahaha!¡±

    The duo quickly separated, not daring to look at each other or Tian Yang at this moment. There wasn¡¯t even anything romantic about the interaction, so why were they acting like blushing children? It amused Tian Yang so much that he almost couldn¡¯t contain himself.

    Shaking his head, he returned to the previous topic. ¡°You¡¯re both on the right track. Although the things you said were just theories, they do contain some truth to them. As long as you continue digging deeper, you should be able to form a true hypothesis. At that time,e back to me for help.

    ¡°As for what to do from now on, well the synergy between you two is surprising even to me. When did you two be so simr? Last time I checked you were at each other¡¯s necks.¡±

    Tian Yang almost failed to hold back another fit ofughter but managed to continue.

    ¡°Because of this, it¡¯s probably best for you to work together from now on. I feel that the best way for you to get results is such. Not to mention, your affinitiesplement each other perfectly.¡±

    Although the two of them had some hesitation, they agreed that they wouldn¡¯t have been able to figure things out as fast if it wasn¡¯t for theirbined effort.

    Sighing in unison, they continued listening to the lecture.

 Chapter 160 - Second Lesson [2]

    Tian Yang¡¯s lecture continued into the night, teaching the duo many things and widening their horizons far past what they thought possible.

    ¡°That should do it for today. I can¡¯t give you all the answers at the start now can I?¡± He teased.

    ¡°Hmm, since there¡¯s nothing else to teach you for today, how about you spar each other? You two haven¡¯t really had much interaction before today, after all.¡±

    Damien and Ruyue looked at each other, their interest peaked. While Ruyue had seen a glimpse of Damien¡¯s power when he was learning about teleportation earlier, she didn¡¯t know his true capabilities.

    And for Damien, Ruyue was aplete mystery. She had two elements whose mana looked simr to ice, but neither of them were the same. He had Zara¡¯s ice element forparison so he was sure of this fact.

    The only thing he was sure of was the fact that she was at the mid-levels of 3rd ss, perhaps at the Core Expansion realm.

    And technically by Cloud ne standards, Damien was also at this realm even if his level didn¡¯t match up. He had formed his core long ago and expanding it wasn¡¯t something he had to do manually.

    It was one of the greatest benefits of his Ananta System.

    Seeing that both disciples expressed their willingness, Tian Yang released his spatial mana and teleported them out of the pagoda.

    Even if the pagoda had the strength to handle their power, it didn¡¯t mean that there was enough space for them to have a proper fight.

    When the two were able to see again, they found themselves in the middle of a grassy in. They could clearly see the Star Mountain in the distance, but they were far enough to where nobody from the sect would be alerted to their battle.

    Standing between the two, Tian Yang smiled. ¡°Alright, since this is just a friendly spar, I want you both to hold back a bit. Just enough so there are no serious injuries. I¡¯m looking at you, Damien. I don¡¯t want another incident like the one during the disciple examination.¡±

    Damien averted his gaze while whistling the tune to an old anime he used to watch. It¡¯s not like he would ever admit that his actions back then were a mistake.

    Ignoring Damien¡¯s amusing reaction, Tian Yang turned to Ruyue, who also nodded lightly. Seeing that they were both ready, he didn¡¯t waste any more time.

    Taking out a circr token, Tian Yang threw it in the air, making it flip around its own axis. ¡°The match will start when this token hits the ground.¡±

    It was like the token moved in slow motion. It flipped continuously until finally, itnded on the ground with a soft thud.

    But the sound was overrun by the sonic booms that came forth when both Damien and Ruyue charged at each other.

    Damien pulled out his sword while a shining white spear emerged in Ruyue¡¯s hands.

    ¡®Void Sword Art First Form: deless¡¯

    ¡®Moon Goddess¡¯s Spear First Form: Tide Formation¡¯

    A wave of spatial mana charged forward, wanting to tear the world asunder, but it was met by a firm yet gentle force from Ruyue¡¯s spear.

    The tide of mana was pushed and molded to her will,pletely dispersing before it was reced by her own.

    An iridescent white mana gushed out in waves as Ruyue swept her spear in a horizontal motion.

    Seeing the iing tide, Damien didn¡¯t move. Instead, he changed tactics.

    ¡®Magnitude and Direction¡¯

    The space around him bent as he tapped his fingers in the air. Swirling vortexes were formed before they charged towards the tide.

    And simr to what Ruyue did to him, Damien dispersed her tide. Its forward charge suddenly altered slightly to the left, missing him entirely, and by the time it even reached his position, it was barely at the level of a love tap.

    In their first altercation, they came out in a tie.

    Without wasting any time, they charged forward once more, knowing that such ranged tactics would only be futile.

    ¡®Void Sword Art 3rd form: Dance of the Void¡¯

    ¡®Moon Goddess¡¯s Spear 2nd Form: Moonlight Serenade¡¯

    Although the names of their attacks seemed to allude to a beautiful night filled with elegance and grace, their actual sh was anything but.

    Ruyue swung her spear, its weight bearing down on Damien¡¯s sword. Although he was moving in and out of the spatialyers and his body became elusive, she was still able to pinpoint his every motion.

    ng-!

    Once again their weapons connected, causing a massive shockwave to emanate from their location. Luckily, Tian Yang was there to minimize the damage.

    The scale of their sh became wider and wider, with both of them bing ethereal to the point where they were almost one with mana. The sparks flying from each of their shes being the only indication that they existed within reality.

    Looking into those fierce golden eyes that burned with fighting spirit, Damien grinned.

    ¡®Void Sword Art 4th Form: Spatial Copse¡¯

    He didn¡¯t overcharge the attack this time, so there was no gaping ck hole. Still, the results of the strike were devastating.

    Boom-!

    Everything around them crumbled, with the fabric of reality seemingly shattering like ss.

    The duo was within an entirely ck space where even light couldn¡¯t prate, but the nauseating swirl of the ckness made it clear that space was still copsing,

    Ruyue felt lightheaded and she could barely understand how time was passing. Everything seemed so muddled together as if things that weren¡¯t meant to collide were fusing. She knew that if she didn¡¯t get serious, she would fall.

    ¡®Blood Moon¡¯

    A seemingly impossible thing happened. Cracks started appearing in the ck space before one portion of it turned entirely red. It wasn¡¯t just a red light, though, it was an entire miniature celestial body.

    A true blood moon appeared within the ck space, illuminating it with its light. The ebbing tides of copse slowed to a halt as tranquility was brought back to the atmosphere. But before space could reconstruct itself, Ruyue made her move.

    ¡®Moon Goddess Descent¡¯

    Her pristine white hair began to glow with an almost holy aura, turning into a shining silver. Her bright golden eyes became dyed in silver. If anyone saw her right now, they would truly think she was the embodiment of the moon.

    Ruyue raised her hand lightly before gracefully waving it like she was conducting an orchestra. All this while, Damien could only stand in a stupor. It was as if he got charmed by her new appearance.

    But Ruyue didn¡¯t wait for him to return to himself. Her movements sped up, causing the tides of chaos to flow once more. This time, in reverse.

    The ckness that epassed them enveloped Damien like a cocoon, limiting his movements before beams of lunar energy tore through space towards his location.

    Bang-!

    Holes were pierced through the cocoon and although Ruyue couldn¡¯t see Damien¡¯s state at the moment, she was sure he had been injured. Although it may not have sounded like much, her lunar energy was as destructive as it was gentle.

    Not to mention, she added a little something else into it.

    However, if she could see Damien at the moment, she¡¯d be endlessly surprised. He was bleeding with several holes in his body, but a wide grin painted his face.

    He had just learned something new, after all.

    Damien looked up at Ruyue¡¯s beautiful form, his eyes piercing through the abyssal darkness of the cocoon. An iridescent light began to shine from his pupils as twomanding words left his mouth,

    ¡°Celestial Authority.¡±

 Chapter 161 - Second Lesson [3]

    ¡°Celestial Authority.¡±

    It seemed like matter itself froze. The reparation of space, the swirling cocoon entrapping Damien, the rays of lunar energy piercing through him, and even the blood moon itself.

    Everything stopped as an indomitable aura burst forth from Damien¡¯s body. Suddenly, the blood moon began spinning counterclockwise, its mana reversing and wrestling out of Ruyue¡¯s control.

    As for Ruyue, she could only stare in shock as the moon conjured by her stopped obeying her will, bing an independent existence.

    Or was it?

    Retracting the energy it shot towards Damien, the moon once again regained its full power before descending from the sky at a rapid pace.

    It¡¯s target? Ruyue herself.

    The moon barreled through the atmosphere, growingrger with each passing second before it eclipsed even the sun.

    Ruyue stared at the oing attack with a grim expression before firming herself. She didn¡¯t n on using this here, as she felt it¡¯d be cheating, but Damien¡¯s prowess didn¡¯t allow her to hold back much.

    ¡°Come.¡±

    She said only a single word, but it was apanied by an essence that radiated negative energy. The atmosphere froze over with something other than ice. In fact, the cold was worse than anything mere ice could produce.

    It was to the point where even Damien, who was still coated in that same indomitable aura, was unable to approach her.

    When the massive moon reached Ruyue¡¯s outstretched palm, it didn¡¯t result in the explosion that one would expect. Instead, it began to dpose into swirling motes of light before entering her body.

    Turning her attention back to Damien, her silver eyes shed.

    ¡°Erasure.¡±

    The ck space created by the copsing of space in their surroundings vanished, the cocoon entrapping Damien vanished, and the essence that achieved such feats charged directly towards him.

    But Damien wasn¡¯t helpless in this situation. Even if he couldn¡¯t approach, the new skill he had just discovered was enough to counter this apocalyptic essence.

    ¡°Come forth.¡±

    A massive portal opened above Damien¡¯s head before a burning star raced out, charging straight towards the essence of Ruyue¡¯s erasure. And when they met, a silent collision was incurred.

    Both forces eliminated each other, with neither having the remaining energy to continue forward.

    With this, the battlefield was once again encased in silence. Damien and Ruyue red at each other fiercely, amethyst aura shing with silver. Neither was sure if they could make a move that the other wouldn¡¯t be able to counter.

    Although they were powerful, their skill sets diametrically opposed each other, constantly leaving them at a stalemate. Still, neither wanted to lose.

    And Damien was still confident in his chances. The Celestial Authority had many more uses that he was still trying to figure out, he just had to learn them through battle.

    The star summoning he performed was only a basic application of his authority, the same was the case for wresting control of Ruyue¡¯s moon.

    After all, he was putting into practice the authority of a genuine Celestial. Any celestial body would be dominated by his control, bending to his will. That is, if the celestial body didn¡¯t possess a stronger will of its own.

    He had already tried to manipte the earth around him, but it was clear that the Cloud ne wouldn¡¯t allow him to do so. If it did, it would essentially be putting itself under him.

    Damien mused that this would only happen once he was able to sessfully bind the world.

    But it wasn¡¯t just Damien who had more cards to y. Ruyue had only just begun using her second element, which also happened to be her trump card. There was no way she only had two moves to use with it.

    But the problem was, her yin element wasn¡¯t suited for attacking. It was an element that mdenied impurity and denied positive force. It was best used for defense and diversion.

    Hesitating slightly, she made her decision. She still had one card she was willing to show. She simply didn¡¯t want to reveal everything she had in a spar like this.

    Raising both hands to the sky, she did something she never expected she would do today.

    ¡°Summon.¡±

    A dark red runic circle took form in the sky, etching itself into the atmosphere. Its size was so great that the sunlight shining down on them was dyed red.

    Once it was fully formed, it shined brightly, releasing austere rays of red light before something wed its way out of the center.

    It was massive, towering over 100 meters tall, and humanoid. It had two goat-like horns protruding from the forehead of its central head, while two other heads were also present on its shoulders, each with a pair of blood-red eyes. On its back were bat-like wings that spanned for hundreds of meters.

    By any definition of the word, it was clear that this being was a devil. But when this devil finally solidified in the world, it turned to Ruyue and descended onto one knee.

    However, to Ruyue, this was par for course. If the devil had done anything else, perhaps she would have been surprised.

    ¡°Go, rough him up a bit but don¡¯t kill him.¡±

    The devil nodded its heads before turning to Damien with a bloodthirsty grin on its face.

    Damien was immensely surprised by the sudden summoning, but to be honest, he weed it. It was just another challenge for him to ovee.

    His eyes flickered between that of a normal human and reptilian slits andrge clouds began to gather over his head.

    Streaks of ck lightning danced through the air as Damien¡¯s chest expanded. Draconic scales slowly covered his arms before disappearing and his teeth grew into fangs.

    Rumble!

    Thunder and lightning raged as massive tornadoes formed in the periphery. And in the center of it all, Damien floated while staring at the demon.

    Bothbatants were ready, and all that was left was to start the next round of their battle. However, before it happened, another person entered the fray.

    ¡°Alright; that¡¯s enough for now.¡±

    Tian Yang had been watching the proceedings from the sidelines while enjoying the show, but he felt that if they went any further, one of them would end up seriously injured.

    Ruyue hadn¡¯t summoned one of her higher ss devil servants so it was clear she was holding back, but Tian Yang was well aware of Damien¡¯s character.

    Especially the way he could lose himself when a fight got too intense.

    The flickering scales that appeared and receded into Damien¡¯s skin were clear proof that such a thing had already started urring.

    Standing in the middle of the battlefield, Tian Yang flicked his wrists. The bloodthirsty demon that had been waiting for battle was thrown back into the runic circle it came from while the storms around Damien quickly dispersed.

    Although he felt like he was cockblocked, he couldn¡¯t reallyin. After all, he knew that even a portion of his master¡¯s strength was enough to knock him out for weeks.

    ¡°You two sure had an interesting fight.¡± Tian Yangmented with a smile.

    Neither of them went all out and they didn¡¯t cause any major destruction like they could have, but he was certain that they both found ways to increase their current arsenal of attacks.

    Ruyue and Damien descended to the ground, their transformed states fading as they red at each other.

    Although this battle had ended in a tie, it was solely due to interruption. Both of them were dying to fight once again, theirpetitive spirits burning with passion.

 Chapter 162 - Second Lesson [4]

    Not long after the battle, Tian Yang teleported them back to his pagoda.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve seen each other¡¯s strengths? What do you think?¡± He questioned the two disciples who still looked sour from having their battle interrupted.

    ¡°Hmm, I feel like Senior Sister¡¯s elements are more focused on defense than attack.¡± Damien pointed out.

    It was the biggest thing he got from the fight. Ruyue was able to redirect or entirely block any attack he threw at her, even molding his spatial mana to fit her needs.

    It was something he wasn¡¯t used to, the feeling of beingpletely powerless even though he knew she wasn¡¯t that much stronger than him.

    Even with Rose, when they first met she was much stronger than him, the only thing was that her main element was illusions. And with his eyes, he was simply a perfect counter for her.

    As for Ruyue, she was feeling somewhat simr. ¡°His base attack power is greater than mine by miles, but he doesn¡¯t have the diversity to keep up with me.¡±

    Throughout their fight, Damien only used spatial element and even then he only used a few moves from it. Even his Celestial Authority, while possessing the potential to be something grand, wasn¡¯t at that level yet.

    ¡°He¡¯s a brute. He¡¯s too green when ites to trueplex battles. If I had to guess, he¡¯s made it this far on raw power and absurd mana capacity.¡±

    Although her words were harsh, they were true. Damien knew this as well, which is why he was doing his best to contain the annoyance bubbling inside of him.

    He really had gotten this far on brute strength alone. His sword mastery came from savagery and his spatialprehension was always on the basis of destruction. When it came to elegance and strategy, he was basically dumb.

    ¡°Basically, he¡¯s dumb.¡±

    ¡°Oi! You didn¡¯t have to say it out loud!¡±

    ¡°Hm? But I¡¯m right arent I? You¡¯re a dumb brute and that¡¯s that.¡±

    ¡°So? What does it say about you that you couldn¡¯t even defeat this dumb brute?¡±

    ¡°Nothing at all, it¡¯s just like you said. My prowess is mainly focused on defense not offense like you.¡±

    ¡°Those are just excuses. Imagine if I went and told the world that my Senior Sister, the one and only little princess of the Xue n, couldn¡¯t even defeat an idiot inbat.¡±

    Damien and Ruyue red at each other with fighting intent once again zing. Tian Yang could only watch their interaction with a wry smile stered on his face.

    ¡®If it keeps going like this, they might end up a little too close.¡¯

    While his purpose in organizing this spar was for the two of them to get closer, he didn¡¯t expect it to work so well. Looking at them bickering like childhood friends, he couldn¡¯t figure out what led to such a thing.

    It was only then that he realized something he had forgotten in the past few years. Although Ruyue liked to portray herself as a cold woman who stood above all, it was only suppressing some of her other most prominent personality traits.

    One of which was so important that it basically made her reputation when she was younger. Tian Yang had been her master for many years, but it had been a while since he reminisced on those old days.

    The Xue n¡¯s little demon. With how she had grown up bing colder and more distant, he almost forgot about how much she loved to bicker with others like this.

    It was like she had a knack for causing trouble and fully embraced it. Or perhaps, she was just a bit of a sadist.

    Either way, it was something that used to be a core of her personality, and it¡¯d be more surprising if it had vanished even after all these years. Perhaps she simply didn¡¯t have anyone she could be expressive to.

    No, he knew that was the case. Considering the situations she¡¯s been in as she grew up, there was no way it wasn¡¯t like that.

    Once more gazing at Ruyue who was now smiling triumphantly and Damien, whose veins were almost popping out of his head, Tian Yang¡¯s smile became heartening.

    ¡®I wonder what¡¯s so special about this boy to get such a reaction from her.¡¯

    He wanted to continue their lesson today, allowing the two to improve on the things they learned through battle, but he decided against it.

    It had been too long since Ruyue could have fun like this, and he didn¡¯t want to be the one to ruin it.

    Silently sitting back in his seat, he continued to watch the bickering duo in amusement.

    Meanwhile, the duo¡¯s argument had already gone past the previous battle and be slightly personal. And to be frank,rgely childish.

    ¡°You think you¡¯re so cool, I bet you don¡¯t even leave the sect that much.¡±

    ¡°I leave all the time? For missions and¡­missions, but that still counts!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, go touch grass.¡±

    ¡°As if you¡¯re any different! You probably lived in some secluded mountain all your life! Why are you talking like some expert?!¡±

    ¡°Because, of course, I am an expert,¡± Damien replied with a profound smirk, imitating a certain old man who liked to act all mysterious.

    ¡°Hmph, as if. Prove it then!¡±

    ¡°Proof? I don¡¯t need any proof.¡±

    ¡°Of course you do, otherwise you¡¯re just a liar and a cheat!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Both Damien and Ruyue paused at the strangeness of her words. Although they were both clearly aware of what she meant, it could be taken in apletely different way out of context.

    And of course, with Damien being Damien, there was no way he wouldn¡¯t capitalize on such a mistake

    ¡°Oho? A liar and a cheat huh? Could it be that little Senior Sister is jealous? Or maybe¡­¡± he trailed off, but his meaning was clear.

    Ruyue¡¯s face adopted a slightly red hue as she averted her gaze. It wasn¡¯t her first time being teased like this, and usually, she¡¯d have already sted the perpetrator into oblivion with her lunar energy, but this time was different.

    After all, she found herself enjoying it, along with the rest of the childish argument they were having.

    Still, there was something she was curious about. When Damien said he had traveled more than her, it was obvious he didn¡¯t just mean continents.

    She had also gone on missions to other continents, so that wouldn¡¯t be a solid argument. As for what he truly meant¡­

    ¡°During our fight, you summoned a star to counter my absolute erasure. How did you do that?¡± She couldn¡¯t hold back her curiosity.

    Damien smiled lightly, not minding the change of subject as he decided to brag a bit. ¡°It¡¯s because of my ss. Not only can I summon stars, but I can also borrow their power for my own use.¡±

    As he spoke, Damien flicked his finger, causing a zing sunfire to manifest on top of it. The wisp of me skyrocketed the temperatures in the room with its intense heat.

    But Damien¡¯s mana was also draining at a rapid rate. It was the reason he didn¡¯t use sunfire often.

    However, watching the sunfire dance around Damien¡¯s palm, Ruyue went entirely silent. She stared at the me of a celestial body as her body began to radiate an ethereal aura once again.

    Her eyes became silver and the faint illusory outline of a massive moon took form behind her.

    Suddenly, she lifted her hand as something began to manifest on top of it.

    It was¡­a wisp of blueish-white me.

 Chapter 163 - Second Mission [1]

    What are the qualities of the moon and why was it able to be ssified as its own affinity?

    In truth, thetter half of the question could remain unanswered for eons if nobody looked into it. The reason was simple, the sheer number of affinities and elements existing was toorge,

    Although most people are born with the average affinity towards one of multiple of the most basic elements, it wasn¡¯t that rare to see someone with a unique affinity.

    Something like Ruyue¡¯s moon affinity, however, was especially rare. It was because of how specific it was more than anything else.

    In fact, even with her yin affinity, Ruyue had the ability to manipte lunar energy. It was a facet of yin¡¯s connection to all things cold or negative.

    However, she was specifically born with an affinity toward the moon as well. It was something that should grant her a less streamlined set of abilities, but even now she hadn¡¯t been able to understand it.

    Why did she have an affinity with the moon and what could she truly do with it?

    That¡¯s what she had spent all these years trying to learn. She even halted her progress on the yin element to focus on this. Yet, she got nothing.

    At least, not until this moment.

    When she watched Damien summon mes from the sun, something seemed to click within her. She watched how he used the energy of celestial bodies and it seemed to make much more sense.

    And so, she became immersed in a meditative state as she stared at the me. And even after the me vanished she continued to stare at its position.

    Why was the element of the sun a fire? That much was obvious considering what the star was made of. But as Ruyue looked at the blueish-white me on her palm, she had to wonder.

    Why was the element of the moon a fire as well?

    The moon absolutely didn¡¯t align with the element of fire, which was yang attributed. It was too destructive. Meanwhile, what Ruyue had learned from the moon in all these years was how gentle it was.

    It didn¡¯t use much force, continuing along with the flow of things, but it still managed to assert its power. It still managed to cause tides to rise and fall.

    As Ruyue¡¯s gaze shifted to the me on her palm, she tried toprehend something from it. Oddly enough, the me felt cold to the touch, as if she was running her fingers along an ethereal form of ice.

    Pointing her palm towards the wall to her right, Ruyue mobilized this new me, causing a burst of mes to shoot forth like a methrower.

    And in those mes¡¯ wake, there was a path of what seemed like ice. Yet, Ruyue knew better. It wasn¡¯t necessarily ice but it wasn¡¯t fire either. It contained the properties of both.

    It burned hot enough to seem cold, but conversely was cold enough to cause burns. This kind of contradiction was something Ruyue simply couldn¡¯t fathom at the moment.

    Her glowing silver eyes slowly returned to gold as Ruyue was snapped out of herprehension state. There wasn¡¯t anything she could learn at this moment.

    All she knew was that she finally had a path forward. Looking at the man in front of her, she knew he was the cause. But the man himself seemed clueless. He was staring at the Icefire Ruyue had released with interest clearly written on his face.

    She hadn¡¯t really taken the time to look at him before today, but he was a really interesting guy. His eyes were strange even by this world¡¯s standards yet nobody seemed to have a problem with them.

    The two colors contained within them swirled as if they were alive and his cross-shaped pupils were like a small boat in the midst of a raging ocean. It was an oddly peaceful sight.

    His hair looked like a representation of space, especially once you got to know him and understand his affinities. As for the rest of him, it was always hidden underyers of ck clothing so she hadn¡¯t really seen it.

    ¡®Wait¡­why do I want to see that?¡¯ Ruyue wondered as she forcefully stopped her train of thought. Since when was she the kind of person to think about such things?

    Perhaps the strange atmosphere that had enveloped the room was affecting her. Yes, that had to be it. Either way, she couldn¡¯t keep her eyes off him.

    However, he soon turned back around and noticed her gaze. ¡°I know I¡¯m handsome but is there any need to stare?¡± He said with a teasing smile.

    And just like that, the atmosphere was shattered. ¡®That¡¯s right, this guy is so annoying, there¡¯s no way he could be as I was thinking.¡¯

    ¡°You? Handsome? I just found out that hearing those two words in the same sentence makes me want to gag.¡± She responded in annoyance.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°What do you think I meant?¡± Ruyue clutched her stomach while acting like she was sick, ¡°look what you did, I think I¡¯m going to be sick just by looking at you.¡±

    ¡°As if you can talk! It¡¯s not like you¡¯re any better than me.¡±

    ¡°And what¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±

    ¡°You know exactly what it¡¯s supposed to mean.¡± Damien quipped while imitating Ruyue¡¯s previous motion.

    ¡°You-!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Doesn¡¯t feel good being on the receiving end, does it?¡± Damienughed with a triumphant grin on his face.

    Tian Yang, whose presence in the room was somehow ignored by the two who were getting closer at a rate he thought was far too fast, decided it was time to step in.

    ¡°Are you two ever going to stop quibbling like little kids? Or did you just forget I was here and decide to flirt?¡±

    His interruption immediately shut them up as they diverted their gazes, refusing to look at him. Still, he didn¡¯t mind it much. Turning to Ruyue, he continued.

    ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve learned something new. Although I want to congratte you, I can see that you haven¡¯t fully grasped what this fire is. Until then, I can only guide you in practice.¡±

    Ruyue nodded in understanding. Her master was always like this, even though he¡¯d recently be more open. She would have to perfect her new ability much more before she would even get a semnce of praise from him.

    ¡°As for you,¡± he said to Damien, ¡°Ruyue was right in her assessment. Although you have an extraordinary amount of brute strength, you don¡¯t have a proper move set besides your sword art. You need to work on improving this.¡±

    Damien also ended up nodding, although reluctantly. He didn¡¯t want to ept it, but he really had no choice. There would inevitably be times when raw strength alone wouldn¡¯t cut it, or hisckingprehension would catch up to him.

    Especially with the fact that he¡¯d be improving his base understanding to reach 4th ss,prehension and variety were the things he needed most.

    ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen, youck a proper foundation. It¡¯s as if you¡¯ve learned everything you have through battle alone. Although I don¡¯t want to influence your path too much, I will help you solidify this.¡±

    For the first time in a few years, Damien would take the time to properly train.

 Chapter 164 - Second Mission [2]

    The days passed swiftly as Damien and Ruyue spent their time training diligently with Tian Yang.

    Unlike before, he was taking an active role in their training and giving them lessons much more often. It was clear that there would be some sort of event happening in the future that he was preparing them for.

    And just like that, 3 months passed.

    Damien had learned more than he would have ever expected in these 3 months. Even he was surprised by his own progress.

    First and foremost was his sword. He had been training the sword for so long that he expected to feel some kind of connection with it, but he really had none.

    With the way he found his fighting style evolving, he almost wanted to throw away the sword entirely, but he chose not to. His sword art was still one of his greatest strengths.

    With Tian Yang¡¯s help, Damien was able to build a more solid foundation for his sword that he previously didn¡¯t have. Until this point, he was sure of what his sword was meant for.

    It was a tool for ughter. For savageness, brutality, and killing. That was the only reason he ever picked up a sword. It was the resolve that was bred into his sword when he was still in the dungeon.

    But did he still need such a sword? The answer was a resounding no. He was long past the point where he would only move to kill, where he was cold enough to not spare a second thought at anything that didn¡¯t concern him.

    Well, it¡¯s not like he magically became a better person. He just knew that he didn¡¯t need to act so animalistic anymore.

    So Tian Yang taught him skill to add to his previously brutal sword, attempting to make it more concise and methodical.

    But that was only a minor improvement. Damien didn¡¯t actually have a great amount of talent for the sword at all. If anything, his talent was for the destruction he could cause.

    And for that, his best tool was his spatial element. And with Tian Yang also having the same element, it was only obvious Damien would make immense progress.

    His Celestial Authority had been properly fleshed out, and Damien had created a few different moves he could evoke with it. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say he was incredibly anticipating the use of them.

    His vector control also slightly improved, allowing him to affect a wider range around him. Damien tended not to use this power, since it would take all the fun out of battle, but it would be incredibly important when he truly got serious, so he never neglected it.

    But for the most part, he simply firmed his foundation like Tian Yang had told him before. He solidified his base knowledge andprehended more about space, making sure he would have the ability to back up his strength.

    Naturally, he also took the time to visit Long Chen every day of the first week for the pleasure of being called ¡°Boss¡± by the helpless young master.

    And Ruyue wasn¡¯t cking either. In fact, she worked even harder than Damien to not be surpassed by him. Even if she didn¡¯t look it, she wanted to maintain her position as senior sister and stay stronger than him if possible.

    Her main problem was with offense, and she had just gained a weapon that would grant her such ability. All the had to do was understand and refine her Iceme until she could properly use it inbat.

    So that¡¯s exactly what she did. Her first move was to enter aprehension state, forgoing physical training for a while,

    And in this state, she was able to understand a bit about the element that she couldn¡¯t before.

    Her main question until now had been, what does it have to do with the moon? And she found that it both had everything to do with the moon and nothing at all.

    In the depths of herprehension, she learned much more than she originally thought. In fact, herprehension left the ice me and returned to her moon affinity in general.

    In the first ce, what is a moon? A moon, in reality, is a natural sat¨¦lite that orbits a. Regardless of whether it opposes a sun or is simply an asteroid caught within a¡¯s orbit, they are all technically considered as moons.

    So, what was Ruyue¡¯s affinity? On her status sheet, it simply said ¡°moon¡±, making Ruyue, or anybody, assume that she had a connection to the lunar body that rose in the nighttime.

    But as she delved further into the concept, she realized that her perception was always wrong. Maniption of lunar energy? That was merely scratching the surface of what she could truly do.

    Her affinity¡­she learned that it was much closer to an affinity with celestial bodies as a whole than simply the moon itself.

    It was eerily simr to what Damien originally thought his Celestial ss was meant for, connecting to celestial bodies.

    The differences between the two were many, but in this specific ability, the main difference was the medium used to form connections.

    While Damien used space itself as a medium, having naturally formed ethereal connections to every celestial body in the vicinity, Ruyue had to work much harder to achieve the same result.

    The reason was simple. She didn¡¯t use any medium to form the connections she needed to form. They were direct connections to the celestial bodies, without any outside interference.

    But the difference in their performance would also reflect that. The reason Damien never truly used the plethora of connections that he constantly had was because he couldn¡¯t really get anything out of them.

    It wasn¡¯t the main purpose of his ss.

    For Damien to maximize the benefits of these connections, he had to bind the worlds and form rtionships with their World Cores. It was both due to the nature of the ss and the fact that it was a ss rather than an affinity.

    But for Ruyue, she was born with this ability. She didn¡¯t acquire it through legends and ss changes. So for her, the process naturally differed.

    And until she realized this fact, she wasn¡¯t able to truly bring out the potential of her element.

    She was only able to use the bare minimum through the single connection that had naturally formed between her and the closest celestial body, one which also leaned more towards yin and synchronized best with her.

    She was now able to understand what clicked when she saw Damien¡¯s sunfire. It wasn¡¯t a matter of elements nor was it something rted to the moon she was already connected to.

    She had subconsciously formed another connection. She was able to feel it now. It was a smaller satellite that orbited around a muchrger axis, making it the second-closest yin-centered celestial body.

    She was able to see it clearly now. It was a small world, around 1/3rd the size of the moon, but it was an elemental world.

    It was better ssified as a star than anything else, but it somehow still fell under her authority. Most likely, it was due to the synchronization between her yin and moon affinities.

    The small star was naturally uninhabitable, especially considering its atmosphere.

    It was covered, or rather,pletely made up of the iceme that Ruyue was now able to utilize.

 Chapter 165 - Second Mission [3]

    While Ruyue remained deep in her meditation state, Damien found time to visit his master for a serious talk.

    He had almost forgotten about it with the sudden insights and progression in the recent months, but he finally remembered it today.

    Reentering the main room of Tian Yang¡¯s residence where he had been staying for the past 3 months, Damien greeted his master.

    ¡°Good morning, Master.¡±

    ¡°Mm. Come sit.¡± Tian Yang responded while brewing a pot of tea.

    Damien took a seat in front of him and watched, unsure of how exactly to start the conversation.

    ¡°It seems you didn¡¯te for a lecture today, so feel free to speak your mind.¡±

    Tian Yang could very easily sense the tense atmosphere around Damien today, and he wasn¡¯t one to waste time on mindless drivel if there was something more important to talk about.

    Damien also appreciated this bluntness, going straight into the topic at hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s about the mission I went on a few months back. I encountered something I wanted to inform you about since something seemed off the entire time.¡±

    Damien proceeded to exin everything that happened during the mission. From the moment they entered the canyon and met the blood fog, to the strange physiques of the devil worshippers, the massive battle and the corruption of corpses, and finally, the devastation left in the wake of the battle between the two strongest beings present.

    He made sure he didn¡¯t leave out any details, allowing Tian Yang to gain a clear picture of the events. It was imperative that his master understood the severity of the situation.

    ¡°With your status, I¡¯m sure you are aware of the Nox and the threat they pose not just to this world, but many others as well. My concern is how they were able to easily infiltrate and corrupt people without anyone noticing.

    ¡°After all, the devil worshippers were working in broad daylight, not even attempting to hide the obvious connection they had to the Nox. Anyone who has seen one of those things would instantly recognize it.

    ¡°And while they are called devil worshippers, they really have nothing to do with devils at all. Another concern is whether they are being written off as just disciples of another wicked sect or not.¡±

    Tian Yang listened to everything without much change in expression, only slightly wrinkling his brows at the mention of the Nox.

    He stayed silent for a moment, leaving Damien anxiously waiting before he spoke his thoughts.

    ¡°Have you told anyone else about this?¡±

    Damien thought it was an odd question, but shook his head in denial either way.

    ¡°Good. It would not be good if panic began to spread to the public due to a slip-up. Now, allow me to exin. When ites to this matter, you are both correct and incorrect at the same time.¡±

    Damien raised his brow, not understanding, but Tian Yang didn¡¯t force him to remain confused.

    ¡°The peak experts of the world are all aware of the current situation with the Nox, and most of therge sects have also made countermeasures against infiltration. However, their presence in this world has been publicized as a sort of new cult that has emerged.

    ¡°Make no mistake, the wickedness of said cult has been openly spread, but knowledge of a possible invasion orary world isn¡¯t something avable to the public.

    ¡°However, that doesn¡¯t mean everything is safe. There are still suspicions that some powers are colluding with the Nox, it¡¯s simply not possible to eliminate them without evidence.

    ¡°We are righteous sects at the end of the day. If we move in such a domineering manner, the reputation of our powers would decrease by arge margin. Not to mention, the involved powers will most definitely spread false information to alert the public.

    ¡°Even if we can prove these ims true, the seed of doubt that will be nted cannot be erased easily. Such a situation is what we have been avoiding.

    ¡°Still, there are ns being formted to counterattack. Perhaps not the Nox themselves, as their homeworld is still undiscovered to this day, but they are not the ones moving against us with fervor at the moment.

    ¡°It is their subordinate power that we must be wary of. A world known is Niflheim.¡±

    As Tian Yang finished his speech, Damien was left in a slight shock. He never expected there to be so much happening in the shadows.

    There was a reason he never prided himself as a schemer.

    There was also the matter with Niflheim. He had no idea the world was close enough to the Cloud ne for there to be talk ofary warfare.

    ¡®Still,ary warfare, huh.¡¯ Just the thought of such arge scale and epic battle made his blood boil, but he suppressed it forcefully. Now wasn¡¯t the time to get battle-hungry.

    ¡°Is there anything for me to do, then?¡± He questioned. It seemed that the higher-ups of the world had everything nned out, but he still wanted to be involved in one way or another.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± Tian Yang pondered, looking at Damien with a profound smile on his face. ¡°There¡¯s really no reason for you to get involved, is there?¡±

    His tone was clearly teasing, causing Damien to frown a little. ¡°Master should know I have plenty of reasons. My homeworld is also being targeted by the Nox.¡±

    ¡°Well, if you told me that when we first met I might have believed you, but are you still going to pretend like that¡¯s true?¡±

    Tian Yang was well aware of Damien¡¯s personality. Especially in these past few months, he¡¯d been able to clearly see what kind of man Damien was. And with that information, Tian Yang was able to form a guess on his intentions that he was sure of.

    ¡®The boy simply wants to be part of such a thrilling adventure.¡¯

    The thought made Tian Yang smile, being reminded of himself in his younger days. And seeing how Damien was sheepishly smiling back at him, he knew he was right.

    ¡°If you already knew then you didn¡¯t have to ask me about it right?¡± Damienined. Although it might¡¯ve been wrong to put up a righteous front, he didn¡¯t care much.

    He knew how selfish his intentions truly were, and he didn¡¯t n to publicize them at all. Others would surelybel him as someone wicked if he did so.

    Tian Yang wryly shook his head, arriving at the same conclusion. But his expression turned teasing again in an instant.

    Flicking his finger, he sent an arrow of spatial mana towards the closed door to the room.

    ¡°Ah!¡± A startled shout followed by a soft thump rang out, attracting Damien¡¯s attention to the beautiful silver-haired figure that had just fallen to the floor.

    His eyes went wide, staring at Ruyue who had most likely been eavesdropping on the entire conversation before he turned back and red at Tian Yang.

    There was no way he wouldn¡¯t notice her presence if he hadn¡¯t covered it up. As for shooting the spatial mana, it was just for show.

    After smiling back at the annoyed Damien, Tian Yang turned his gaze back towards Ruyue.

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯re here. Come, I have something for the both of you.¡±

 Chapter 166 - Second Mission [4]

    Once Ruyue was seated next to Damien, Tian Yang continued.

    ¡°Ruyue, you heard everything, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Ruyue nodded. She had just finished a long period of meditation and came to meet Tian Yang before doing some physical training, but she ended up overhearing an interesting conversation instead.

    There were many things she was curious about. The Nox and the ns regarding them, the movements of the peak experts of the world, and most of all, the fact that Damien said his ¡°homeworld¡± was also being targeted.

    His homeworld? Ruyue wasn¡¯t stupid enough to not know what he meant by that, she was just too surprised to totally process the fact.

    She thought back to their small argument about being well-traveled and realized why he could act so much wiser than her. Still, before she could ponder on it further, she was abruptly pulled into the conversation.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re both aware of the Nox and the devil worshippers in the world, I have something I want you to take care of. Think of it as a mission.¡± Tian Yang said after receiving her confirmation.

    The duo¡¯s interest was piqued at the mention of this. Missions were always assigned by the mission hall. That is, unless they were too important to go through such a wide selection process.

    For specialized missions that came straight from an elder, especially a Grand Elder like Tian Yang, there had to be something much more important at stake.

    ¡°You both must be well aware of the Empyrean Dragon Realm opening in 9 months already. The event isn¡¯t too big of a deal in usual times, but with the probability of war on the horizon, this year¡¯s entrance holds much more significance.

    ¡°I will not go into details at the moment, but if you weren¡¯t already aware, the Empyrean Dragon Realm isn¡¯t a secret realm as much as it is a hidden world. The entire realm was actually the location of the Empyrean Dragon Pce that ruled the Cloud ne in ancient times.¡±

    This information was new to Damien, but he wasn¡¯t exactly surprised. Even in the current world, the Supreme Fairy Paradise was said to reside in a hidden realm. Although, a hidden world seemed to be a much greater version of such a concept.

    ¡°The reason I bring this up is simple. There are plenty of forces that are nning to send their youths into the hidden world this time, just like every year. The problem is, we don¡¯t know how many of them are in collusion with the Nox.

    ¡°If any devil worshippers were allowed to gain an inheritance or legacy from the ancient sect, who knows what could happen. And that¡¯s if we don¡¯t even mention the true inheritance of the sect.

    ¡°The inheritances found thus far have been good enough for the secret realm entrance to be widely anticipated every 5 years when it opens. And even with such consistency, merely 1/3rd of the world has been explored. And even within that 1/3rd, only half the treasures have been imed.

    ¡°What I want from you two is simple. I will give you the location where many wicked powers are said to have gathered, and you will investigate.

    ¡°As I said, only investigate, nothing more. If the information holds true, there will be many Law Connection powerhouses present. If you find anything of substance, leave immediately and report back.

    ¡°And if you get caught, crush these talismans and you¡¯ll be transported directly back to this pagoda.¡±

    Tian Yang pulled two slips of paper out of his spatial ring. They were both palm-sized and had a series of runic lines on them that seemed to be drawn in ink. Yet, the power of their aura clearly represented their might.

    Taking his talisman from Tian Yang, Damien raised a question. ¡°If it¡¯s as dangerous as you say, why do you need us to do this?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s even simpler,¡± Ruyue interjected, ¡°wouldn¡¯t they be much more on guard if a powerhouse suddenly showed up? Even if we are powerful, our cultivation levels don¡¯t reflect it as much.

    ¡°As long as we have Chaos rank artifacts to disguise ourselves, we are the best choice for this kind of mission.¡±

    Damien nodded in agreement once he heard her reasoning. Indeed, it was a stupid question of him to ask. But his attention was drawn to something else.

    ¡°Chaos rank artifacts?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Tian Yang said, ¡°for this mission, I¡¯ve prepared Chaos rank artifacts for the two of you. Luckily, we already had them in the sect treasury, or I would have been forced to call in a few favors.¡±

    The artifacts Tian Yang pulled out were shaped like bracelets with entirely ck surfaces. They truly had no defining features, looking as average as an essory could get.

    Looking at the first Chaos Rank artifact that he had ever seen, Damien was a bit disgruntled. He expected something more shy for a rank with such a domineering name. Not to mention how powerful they were supposed to be.

    Looking at his expression, Tian Yang let out a slight chuckle. ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by their mundane appearance. They are disguise artifacts, not weaponry, so naturally they are made to blend in. Their power is still as great as you imagine.¡±

    Damien nodded. He already knew it was like this, he was just slightly discontent. It was just him being an inconvenience more than anything else.

    Ignoring Damien¡¯s grievance, Tian Yang pulled out the next item he would give them. ¡°This is the final help I¡¯ll give you. It¡¯s a map of the location I mentioned previously and also the identities that you will be taking on. Furthermore, there is a list of all the potential powerhouses that might be present.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware that this mission is serious, but your safety takes priority. If worstes to pass, I will personally move to ensure that you both stay safe.¡±

    The duo nodded solemnly. If Tian Yang was giving this much assurance, there was really nothing for them to worry about.

    This kind of mission was a new thing to Damien. They had just been talking about how he always used brute strength to force his way forward, and now he was being put in a situation where he could no longer do so.

    He didn¡¯t know how he would fare on this mission, especially with its importance, but he wanted to do his best. Not only for thepletion of the mission, but also due to the sense of duty he felt.

    It was an odd thing, to say the least. He, who never cared for anything besides his own people, felt a sense of duty in the boiling conflict with the Nox.

    He was only half lying when he said it was for the sake of his homeworld. While he didn¡¯t care about the people residing on the, he cared about the world itself.

    It was bound to him. He didn¡¯t want to think about what would happen if it got destroyed or conquered by a race like the Nox. That connection was much deeper than the other ones he had to the random celestial bodies in the distance.

    He had a gut feeling that as he was now, if the earth was destroyed, he¡¯d inevitably die.

 Chapter 167 - Setting Out [1]

    Two days had passed since Tian Yang had given Damien and Ruyue their mission, and at the moment, they were busy trying to n as much as they could.

    For the most part, they¡¯d be going in blind, not knowing exactly what they were supposed to be doing. But, the goal of the mission was investigation and reconnaissance, so they couldn¡¯t do much about that.

    At most, they could flesh out their disguise personas and figure out who to avoid while they were there.

    Looking at the map in front of them, the two had grim expressions on their faces.

    ¡°This location¡­it¡¯s the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no doubt about it. In that kind of location, it¡¯d be a miracle if we survive without protection.¡±

    Even with the escape talismans Tian Yang had provided, it was still necessary to be safe. It was unknown what kind of dangers they¡¯d face over the course of their mission, not to mention the talismans were only SSS rank.

    Although they were powerful in their own right, if the duo was being pursued by a 4th ss expert, there was a chance they could be intercepted.

    And if the location of the meeting about to ensue was the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, they needed to be much more cautious than they were previously.

    Within the Central Region, there were many notable mountains that were immediately recognizable from a distance. However, even among these, there were some that stood at the top.

    The first few one would think of were the Jade Mountain and Star Mountain of the Jade Heavenly Pce and Celestial Star Pce respectively, but these were simply due to their status.

    With the vastness of the Central Region which was bigger than some continents back on earth, there were a variety of dangerous areas that caused the deaths of many cultivators.

    These danger zones ranged from poisonous swamps to grand canyons filled with spatial wind. And among the plethora of dangers within these zones, there were bound to be fortuitous opportunities as well.

    This high-risk high-reward environment was what drew cultivators to these locations, and it was what made their names famous and widespread.

    But when ites to danger, there was a mountain range that eclipsed almost all other danger zones.

    This was the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. The range itself didn¡¯t boast an incredible size, containing around 50 mountains in total, but that wasn¡¯t its main selling point.

    After all, it was in the name. When one heard the term ¡°3000 beasts¡± they wouldn¡¯t think much of it. Although it was arge number for any single cultivator to handle, it didn¡¯t mean anything in the greater scheme of things.

    3000 beasts could be found in any medium-sized forest, even if the level of these beasts was low. For a mountain range to contain this number would seem pathetic.

    But that wasn¡¯t what the name of the range referred to. In reality, it wasn¡¯t that there were only 3000 beasts within the mountain range. Rather, within those 50 towering mountains, there were 3000 beast kings.

    4th ss existences, some even being in the Law Sea realm.

    Naturally, each of these kings had their own army underneath them, causing this mountain range to be infested with a number of beasts that would be unforeseen anywhere else.

    Unfortunately, the exact number was never publicized. The 3000 Beast Mountain Range was concealed by a thick fog that nketed its perimeter, blocking any peering eyes trying to discern what was within it.

    The information that people already had about the mountain range was found over the period of many years and many cultivators spreading what they found.

    Still, the survival rate of those who entered the mountain range was abysmal. Rarely anyone was able to truly make it out of that hellish environment with their mind intact.

    And this was the kind of ce Damien and Ruyue would soon be charging into. Even if the meeting grounds were on the perimeter, within the fog on the outskirts, it was still incredibly dangerous to even be in the area.

    ¡°Seeing this once again makes me doubt why we are being sent on this mission instead of someone more qualified.¡± Damien sighed.

    He loved danger and he loved teetering the line between life and death, but a going to ce where thousands of 4th ss existences resided? He wasn¡¯t stupid enough to put that in the same category.

    ¡°But, is there truly anyone more qualified?¡± Ruyue argued.

    And she was correct to some extent. The more Damien thought about it, the fewer people he could think of that could take on the role they were taking.

    Within the sect, the only other person he could think of was Long Chen, but that guy was the same as him. He was the kind of person who would go in guns and fighting intent zing.

    He hadn¡¯t met any of the Core Disciples, but they were Law Connection realm experts so they were automatically disqualified.

    As for the inner court, with him being as strong as Ruyue and her being one of the strongest inner disciples, he didn¡¯t really put them in his eyes.

    And the Celestial Star Pce was 2nd in terms of power among the great sects. Damien hated that there truly wasn¡¯t anyone else that could take this task from them.

    ¡°Alright let¡¯s not dwell on the topic anymore. The next thing we need to figure out is disguises.¡±

    Perhaps Damien was a bit dumb, but it took him a while what it meant for Ruyue to be the little princess of the Xue n. Her status was immense in this world, even though he tantly disregarded it.

    If she walked around in public, heads would immediately turn. Let alone her status, her beauty was also enough to drive many men insane. There was no way she could be incognito the way she was.

    And Damien wasn¡¯t any different. Although he didn¡¯t have the same status as her, his looks were anything but ordinary. And even if his attractiveness could be attributed to his level, his strange eyes and hair would immediately give away his uniqueness.

    ¡°Hmm, we need a backstory, I guess. Not to mention, names. If I have to be honest, my naming sense is trash.¡± He replied, continuing the conversation.

    ¡°True. Spatial Copse? Could you seriously not think of something better than that?¡±

    ¡°Oi, I like that one! It¡¯s short and to the point without any uselessness. It¡¯s my minimalistic re.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ame name. You should learn from me when ites to this kind of thing.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay Miss Moon Goddess.¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s face turned red in embarrassment as she averted her gaze. ¡°T-that one isn¡¯t my fault. Its name came from my cultivation technique.¡±

    ¡°I totally believe you. Well then, oh great and holy Moon Goddess, how about youe up with some good names for us?¡±

    ¡°Fine, just watch. I¡¯ll create disguises so perfect that you won¡¯t even be able to recognize me after.¡± Ruyue responded with slightly puffed cheeks.

    Damien simply smiled in response. The only reason it had taken them 2 whole days already toe up with all their preparations was due to how often their conversations would devolve like this.

    Yet, oddly enough, he couldn¡¯t find it in himself to be bothered by it. After all¡­

    ¡®Her pouting expression is pretty damn cute.¡¯

 Chapter 168 - Setting Out [2]

    Their discussion continued for the next few hours before Damien returned to his residence. There was nothing else they could possibly n for, and as they had agreed earlier, Ruyue was in charge of the disguises.

    At this point, there was nothing Damien could do besides sit patiently and wait for the next day toe.

    He found himself lying on his bed alone for the first time in many months and honestly, he didn¡¯t know how to feel about it.

    Ever since arriving at the Cloud ne, he had been moving constantly either by training or going on missions,pletely absorbed in the activities he was partaking in.

    Perhaps it was a subconscious thing, but he never allowed himself to have time alone like this. He knew what would happen when it came. He would inevitably find himself drowning in his own thoughts.

    Well, recently it was mainly self-loathing.

    It was this self-loathing that kept him running away from his thoughts, trying his best to ignore his feelings and continue on with his happy everyday life.

    And he knew the reason for this. It wasn¡¯t that hard to figure out.

    ¡®I wronged her.¡¯

    Every time he was alone in bed like this, his thoughts would drift towards the woman who had silently supported him ever since they first met.

    Even when he made such an outrageous request to separate, even when he was clearly running away from his feelings, she didn¡¯t say anything. She continued to support him and wish the best for him from the side.

    And every time he thought of her, he would hate his guts for leaving her like that. He knew they were still together and that this was just a small period of separation, but that didn¡¯t diminish his guilt in the slightest.

    Why should Rose have to deal with his emotional insecurity? Why does he have to affect her with his mood swings? He hated the idea of it.

    He didn¡¯t want to run away from happiness anymore, but he couldn¡¯t find it in himself to embrace it.

    ¡®I¡¯m¡­pathetic.¡¯

    Pathetic. It was the only word he could use to describe the current him. He could charge into a valley of death or a sea of corpses with no hesitation, he could face the aura of a 4th ss existence and resist with all his might, so why was it that when it came to his love life he was so trash?

    Were his trust issues, his abandonment issues, this deeply engrained within his psyche? Was he that broken?

    The odd thing was that Damien had never had a romantic rtionship before he met Rose. He hadn¡¯t even had a fling with another woman. His situation on earth and his one-track mind wouldn¡¯t allow it.

    Not to mention, with how he would walk around like a homeless person most of the time after the world awakening, there was no girl who would look his way.

    He was new to the rtionship thing, and even more than that he was new to such dense affection like the one Rose would always show him.

    ¡®Think. Think about why it is that I¡¯m so scared to express my love for her.¡¯

    That was the thought that kept running through his head. Damien wasn¡¯t the type to leave his problems unsolved, especially if he could find the solution with a bit of thinking like so.

    He wanted to get to the crux of the problem as soon as possible so he might have hope of fixing himself or at least acknowledging what he needed to fix.

    And as his level increased and brought his league up together with it, his memory had be much sharper. He could vividly remember the happy childhood he used to have and the shitty days that came after that.

    ¡®That¡¯s right, it all began when Dad left.¡¯

    His mother was forced to work three times as hard, never having time to show him the motherly love he used to experience daily, he became aughingstock at school to those children who weren¡¯t aware of the concept of boundaries, and he slowly became more introverted.

    That was the day his downward spiral began. It was after that day that he subconsciously conditioned himself to run away from affection, knowing that it could disappear in the blink of an eye.

    It was after that day that he couldn¡¯t trust anyone, the ones he used to spend his days with turning their backs on him.

    In the end, the core of his trauma was his family.

    ¡®How stupid of me.¡¯

    Why was he letting such an old scar take such prevalence in his life now? This life of his was so much different from what it had been previously that it was such a negligible memory.

    But that was normal. Trauma wasn¡¯t something that would disappear just because you wanted it to, or just because your life turned around.

    Damien had never healed his trauma. He hadn¡¯t even taken steps towards such a goal. Instead, he did as he was doing now.

    ¡®I ran away from my problems.¡¯

    For how much he loved to talk big about not leaving problems unsolved, it seemed he had a rich history of running away from such things.

    Maybe that was the thing he needed to fix most. Maybe before he could go and meet Rose with utmost confidence, he had to learn to face himself seriously.

    When his thoughts came full circle back to Rose, his face slightly contorted into a grimace.

    Although what he had previously been thinking about was the main cause of his guilt towards her, it wasn¡¯t the only one.

    It had been almost 5 months since they separated, and only 4 of those months were spent at the sect. During that time, how much had he thought about her?

    How much had he missed her?

    He felt like he was belittling her position in his heart by avoiding even the subject of her like this.

    And there was another thing as well. He was beginning to¡­

    ¡®No. Let¡¯s not think about that.¡¯

    He immediately suppressed those feelings the second they appeared in his mind, trying to deny them with all his might.

    Even if he couldn¡¯t deny them, he at least had to suppress them so they wouldn¡¯t interfere with both his daily and romantic life.

    ¡°Agh, why does this shit have to be soplicated?¡±

    He covered his face with his hands, shaking his head furiously. Was love like this for everyone?

    ¡®I¡¯m tired.¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t physical exhaustion at all. He had just been forcing himself to think about too many things over the past few months. Not even including his personal problems, he had been forced to think about the Nox more than he would like.

    ¡°A damn alien invasion. It sounds awesome on paper but why does it have to bring me so much work?¡±

    If he could choose, he would just go to the secret realm and then explore another world. Maybe he would also check out a few danger zones before he did so.

    But no, it seemed the universe had other ns for him, seeing how the Nox would pop up in one way or another everywhere he went.

    ¡®It¡¯s not like I can do anything about it, they¡¯re literally aiming for universal conquest.¡¯

    Shaking his head once more, Damien started sumbing to his exhaustion. He needed to clear his mental fatigue before tomorrow since he couldn¡¯t screw up on this mission.

    ¡®Ugh. Life is so damnplicated.¡¯

    It was thest thought that streaked through his mind before he finally drifted into a deep slumber.

 Chapter 169 - Minor Delays [1]

    When Damien woke up the next day, he was feeling much more refreshed. It was as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

    Even as cultivators, whose need for mundane things like sleep would diminishrgely as they gained power, mental exhaustion was something they needed to keep track of.

    Not taking proper care of mental health could lead to manyplications, even hindering one¡¯s ability in battle.

    After stretching his body lightly, Damien got dressed and made his way over to Ruyue¡¯s residence, where they would make the final preparations and don their disguises before leaving.

    Standing in front of her house in the inner court, Damien knocked on the door before waiting patiently for her to answer. He could hear the sound of items ttering around inside before the door was opened.

    ¡°Did you wait long?¡± Ruyue asked as she stepped to the side, allowing Damien into her house.

    ¡°No, just got here.¡± He said while stealing nces at her appearance.

    At the moment, Ruyue wasn¡¯t wearing the normal sect robes that he was used to seeing her in, rather she was wearing a more casual set that one would wear forfortability.

    Her hair was slightly messy as well, making it evident that she had just woken up. Seeing the senior sister who always loved to appear perfect in such an appearance made Damien feel some type of way.

    Naturally, Ruyue noticed his gaze and realized why he was acting in such a way, causing a slight blush to appear on her cheeks due to embarrassment.

    ¡°Stop staring so much. I was just too busy working on our disguises to care about my appearance right now.¡±

    Damien smiled teasingly before averting his gaze. Now wasn¡¯t the time for them to y around.

    ¡°And so? What are the genius disguises that you promised me you¡¯ll make?¡±

    Ruyue nodded before taking out the two Chaos rank disguise artifacts, tossing one to Damien.

    ¡°Here, put this on.¡±

    Damien caught the artifact and did as he was told, feeling the effects right away. His height and even his body structure reduced a bit, his hair and eyes changing as well. It was almost like he truly became a different person.

    Looking over at Ruyue, he noticed the same happening to her. Her silver hair became painted ck and the gold in her eyes began to fade.

    ¡°For the duration of the mission, you will be Zhen Fang and I will be Xiao Li. We are rogue cultivators who were desperate in finding a sect to join, but to no avail.

    ¡°After many years, we decided that the unfairness of the cultivation world was too much, so we joined a wicked sect to cultivate quicker and more efficiently. Still, we held on to the small amount of morals we still had and made sure to stick together as much as we could.¡±

    ¡°Hm? The story makes sense, but why would we stick together everywhere? What is our connection?¡± Damien questioned.

    It wasmon for people to defect to wicked sects simply for the sake of gaining power faster. Not everyone within them was inherently evil.

    The cultivation world was one that favored the talented. And for those without talents, there weren¡¯t many paths they could take. Many of them would end up on a crueler path simply due to these reasons.

    But it was definitely rare for people to hold true rtionships when they go through experiences like that. Especially when their minds start being corrupted by their cultivation manuals.

    ¡°T-that¡­¡± Ruyue trailed off, unsure of how to answer his question.

    As Damien looked at her, pressing for an answer, she did her best to avert her gaze, not looking at his face.

    ¡°We are¡­¡± she trailed off, her voice bing fainter with every word until Damien could barely hear what she said at the end.

    But with his hearing ability, there was no way he would miss it. And once he knew what she said, his eyes widened in shock.

    ¡®We are lovers.¡¯

    The words reverberated in his mind, shocking him to his core. But he quickly regained his bearings, a sly smile creeping up on his face.

    ¡°Oh? What did you say? I didn¡¯t quite hear you at the end there.¡±

    ¡°S-shut up! I know you heard me!¡±

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t though? Oh well, I guess I will go into this mission unaware of such an important fact. What a shame, what a shame.¡± Damien groaned with a destitute expression on his face.

    He covered his eyes with his hands, continuing with hisints. Perhaps he was overacting, but he didn¡¯t care. This was incredibly fun.

    ¡°Ahh, when they ask me what my rtionship is with you, I won¡¯t be able to answer! What if they pull us apart for questioning and our stories don¡¯t line up! Oh, how the heavens have failed me! How could you-¡±

    Ruyue finally broke, unable to endure his acting anymore. ¡°F-fine! We are lovers! There, I said it! Happy?!¡±

    Damien grinned mischievously at the furiously blushing Ruyue. ¡°Oh, what is this? But I already have a woman, you know? What an atrocious act of infidelity this is!¡±

    A small st of lunar energy shot towards Damien, which he deftly dodged, his smile never fading.

    ¡°It¡¯s for the mission! Who wants to be your woman anyway!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Then why did you choose such a rtionship between us?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, isn¡¯t that obvious? There are so many lustful men out there who don¡¯t even care about a woman¡¯s appearance before they try to forcefully take her. I¡¯m using you as a meat shield, that¡¯s it.¡±

    ¡°A very handsome meat shield, of course.¡±

    ¡°No no, definitely not handsome at all. A meat shield that looks like a pig for sure.¡±

    Although he teased her for it, he agreed with her reasoning for such a disguise. The only thing that felt strange was how half-hearted she was when she said it, almost as if she was making it up on the spot.

    Either way, he didn¡¯t dwell on it much, opting to tease her as much as he could instead. This flustered side of her was something that only he could see.

    Such a fact made a strange feeling well up in his heart, but he chose to ignore that as well.

    And like this, their departure time ended up being dyed by a few more hours.

    ***

    The vast ins of the Central Region we¡¯re surrounded by a plethora of towering mountains that almost seemed to blot out the sky.

    And on these mountains and even throughout the ins themselves, there were plenty of towns and cities where themon popce of the Central Continent resided.

    Thergest of these cities had a surface area equal to some medium-sized states in America, spanning farther than any city the earth could ever produce.

    And outside of the borders of these cities was and filled with danger and opportunity, a wilnd where beasts and nature thrived.

    In a particr area of these wilnds, arge beast could be seen rushing through the tall grasses. Its paws made contact with the ground in such a manner that it barely made a sound.

    The beast looked like a panther, with sleek ck fur covering its entire body, a cat-like tail, and sharp blue eyes.

    Surprisingly, there were two people mounted atop this charging beast.

    ¡°Li¡¯er, how much time do you think it¡¯ll take for us to arrive at our destination?¡± The man among them said.

    His appearance was as in as one could get. He had short brown hair parted to the right and eyes of a simr color. He was around 6 feet tall, and it was evident he put work into training his body.

    The girl he was talking to blushed at his form of address, but still answered his question.

    ¡°It should take us another week on this beast. It¡¯s not nearly as fast as yours, Brother Fang.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t much shorter than the man she was talking to, being around 5 feet 9 inches tall, and her appearance was simrly average. She had long ck hair cascading down to the middle of her back and light green eyes.

    These were the disguises Damien and Ruyue had donned for their mission, and for the sake of getting used to their new dynamic, they opted to use themon terms of endearment used by couples in the Cloud ne.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re in a rush. Plus, Zara is too eye-catching to be riding her on a reconnaissance mission.¡±

    Ruyue nodded. The wolf in Damien¡¯s shadow had an appearance that practically screamed its rarity. Especially the multiple tails that grew in number every time she ranked up.

    Suddenly, Ruyue made a suggestion. ¡°Since we aren¡¯t in a rush, how about we do some hunting and leveling up on our way?¡±

    Damien smiled at the suggestion. His gaze became predatory as he looked at the pack of beasts that was trying to stealthily surround them.

    ¡°Sounds like a great idea to me.¡±

 Chapter 170 - Minor Delays [2]

    From what Damien could sense, none of these beasts were that special, all being around the same level as him, yet they still had the nerve to stalk him and Ruyue like prey.

    In fact, there wasn¡¯t even one among them with considerable strength to be called a leader.

    ¡®Maybe this is just a small part of the pack?¡¯

    In the end, it didn¡¯t really matter. The only thing these beasts were to him were levels.

    As if realizing that they had been spotted, the group of 15 beasts stopped hiding and showed themselves to the duo in full force. They were feline, simr to the panther they were mounted on, but their fur was a dark orange color.

    Damien looked at Ruyue, who nodded back at him before they both charged in opposite directions. They would split the beasts as such.

    The battle started immediately. Ruyue summoned a blue fire atop her palm before slicing in a horizontal fashion, causing a wide arc of light to sweep towards the 7 beasts she had taken.

    Meanwhile, Damien shed forward with streaks of ck lightning streaking across his body, making a simr motion.

    Boom!

    Two simultaneous explosions rang out along with the howls of the beasts. Although there were a few that wereced with pain, the rest were of rage.

    These beasts weren¡¯t weak by any means, so they were easily able to dodge.

    ring ferociously at the duo, the beasts charged forward, mes erupting from their orange fur. The ones at the forefront opened their mouths and shot breaths of me towards their opponents.

    Damien deftly dodged what he could, creating a barrier out of lightning to block the rest. He let the lightning course through his veins before entering his muscles and tendons, boosting his speed.

    He pressed his foot to the ground, causing cracks to appear as he shed away. When he reappeared, he was directly next to the beast in front of the rest.

    A ball of lightning was charged in his hand as he crashed it downwards, mming it onto the beast¡¯s head. Without suspense, it exploded, leaving a gaping hole in its wake.

    The light dimmed from the beast¡¯s eyes as it fell lifelessly to the floor, but before Damien could do anything else, two others pounced at him from both sides.

    He twisted his body, avoiding their jaws, but a third beast stealthily appeared behind him, shing its ming paw at his back.

    Even though his eyes had warned him about the sneak attack, he wasn¡¯t in any position to dodge. If he tried to speed in another direction, he might break his back due to the ufortable angle he was currently at.

    The w sunk into Damien¡¯s flesh, dragging scars along his back while sending zing heat into his body.

    ¡°Argh!¡± Without any other choice, he discharged a massive field of lightning in every direction, attempting to push the beasts away.

    The two at his sides were paralyzed for a moment, but the one who was still attached to his back received the worst impact. Its fur was singed and its eyes had rolled back, foaming out of its mouth.

    Finally having breathing room to move again, Damien grabbed the beast and ripped its ws out of his back, breaking its legs before throwing it towards the other four that were waiting for a chance to attack.

    As for the two paralyzed beasts on his sides, he directly stomped on their heads, crushing their skulls.

    Ruyue¡¯s battle was a bit different. Rather than a closebat sh like Damien¡¯s, hers was a battle of mes.

    Her blueish white icemes coursed through the surroundings, leaving a ming trail of freezing cold in their wake as they met with the orange mes of the beasts.

    She coalesced her new mes into spears, sending them towards the 7 beasts she was fighting with precise uracy.

    But the beasts didn¡¯t have such control over their mes. Unlike Ruyue, they couldn¡¯t form weapons or constructs using their elements.

    They tried tobat her flying spears with their me-coated paws and breath attacks, but they simply couldn¡¯tpare. After all, Ruyue¡¯s mes were much more concentrated than theirs.

    The spears pierced through their defenses, impacting the torsos and legs of the beasts. Almost all of her opponents were immobilized, but there were still a few who dodged.

    They surrounded Ruyue, growling in fury as they discharged waves of mes in her direction. With theming from every direction, Ruyue was trapped within a dome of fire.

    But her expression remained calm, the only emotion felt from her being the iciness of her gaze.

    A silvery essence leaked from her body,bining with the ice mes surrounding her before she let out a simr wave of mes, mimicking the 360-degree attack that Damien released a few moments prior.

    When the two me waves met, arge explosion resounded through the area. The biting cold of her mes and the heat of the beasts¡¯ met, causing the air tobust.

    The 4 beasts around her were sent flying by the winds that were released by thebustion while Ruyue held her ground, using the spear she pulled out of her spatial ring as an anchor.

    It wasn¡¯t the spear she used when fighting Damien, however, it was a silver spear that was of an obviously lower grade.

    The spear almost bent under pressure but managed to hold its ground. And when the dust cleared up, Ruyue walked towards the incapacitated beasts, ending their pathetic lives.

    With her battle finished, she looked over towards Damien who was simrly finishing up.

    Beams of lightning were being shot from his palm, urately piercing the heads of thest 4 beasts whose legs had already been broken while she was upied.

    Waves of experience entered their bodies as they smiled at each other. It was the first time they had fought together, and even though they didn¡¯t necessarily work as a team, they were able to fight efficiently without hindering each other.

    It was definitely a good start.

    As they regrouped and were about to mount the panther beast to continue their journey, a sudden scream stopped them in their tracks.

    ¡°Someone help, please!¡±

    It was a girl¡¯s voice, obviously immature. Damien spread his awareness in that direction, his mana sense being able to cover a massive area, and he was able to grasp the situation.

    ¡°There are about 40 more of these beasts over there, with one being even stronger than you. That must be where the rest of the pack is.¡±

    Ruyue nodded. ¡°And the scream?¡±

    ¡°The pack is surrounding a group of teenagers. There are 10 of them and none look over the age of 17. As for the scream, one of the girls is holding onto a wounded boy. Looks like he tried to fight.¡±

    If they were kids as Damien said, they obviously wouldn¡¯t have the strength to fight against an entire pack of 3rd ss beasts.

    ¡°Should we save them?¡± Ruyue asked.

    ¡°Do you want to?¡± Damien questioned back. He honestly didn¡¯t care whether they lived or died, but the beasts would be enough to push him into the level 120s, so he wouldn¡¯t mind fighting some more.

    Ruyue nodded once more. ¡°They are just children. Even if I couldn¡¯t care less if other people die, kids should be spared from such cruelties.¡±

    Damien averted his gaze. He wanted to pretend as if he didn¡¯t give those kids a death sentence in his mind only a second ago.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then let¡¯s go. Either way, it means we get some levels.¡±

    With the decision made, the two moved, intending to stop the soon-to-be massacre.

 Chapter 171 - Minor Delays [3]

    ¡°Please stop! Why must you do this to us?!¡± A little girl cried with tears streaking down her face.

    In her arms, there was a boy around the same age as her with a seared wound across the entirety of his chest.

    ¡°Our vige has lived in harmony with all of you for so many years! Why must you target us now?!¡± The little girl continued, her wails bing even louder.

    However, the beast in front of her showed no pity. Instead, a twisted smile crept up its face.

    ¡°Why, you ask? Well isn¡¯t that simple? It¡¯s because it¡¯s fun, of course! It¡¯s oh so very fun!¡±

    The girl¡¯s face contorted in anger, but her expression quickly crumpled. The situation was hopeless. She could only wait for death.

    The others around her were the same. In fact, they didn¡¯t even have the nerve to say anything in the first ce. They stood in shock as their legs threatened to give up.

    One of them even had a faint trickle of yellow liquid running down their leg, but none of the others would make fun of him for it. They were in the same situation.

    ¡°Yes! Yes! That¡¯s the look I want to see! Despair, humans! This is the natural order!¡± The beastughed maniacally.

    ¡°So what if that damn ruler of the forest says we must not harm you humans? You are nothing but livestock to us!!¡±

    The pack of beasts slowly closed their encirclement, taking their sweet time to kill the children. Even if only their leader was talking, they all shared the same enjoyment as him.

    ¡°Ling¡¯er, there¡¯s no use holding me. Please get up and run away. Maybe I can use thest of my life to distract them for a bit.¡± The boy in her arms said weakly.

    ¡°No! When we were kids, I promised I would stay by your side forever! I won¡¯t lose you, brother Cheng!¡± She cried, hugging him closer.

    But the beasts cared not for their drama. As the leader decided it was time to start killing them off, two streaks of light, one ck and one blue, exited the forest to their left.

    BOOM!

    The streaks of light charged into the pack of beasts and created thunderous explosions on impact, shocking not only the group of teens, but also the beasts themselves.

    ¡°Oi oi oi, isn¡¯t it a little pathetic to be picking on kids like this?¡± A voice rang out from within the billowing cloud of dust.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. these little beasts ought to be taught a lesson, don¡¯t they?¡± A woman¡¯s voice added from the second dust cloud.

    ¡°Of course. Arrogant little shits like them need to be put in their ce. Though, I don¡¯t think they¡¯d have a chance to repent after they be mincemeat.¡± The man responded.

    As the dust cleared up, two figures were revealed. Although their appearances were in enough to pass over at a nce, the terrifying auras they radiated couldn¡¯t be ignored.

    ¡°Now then,¡± the man continued, ck lightning crackling through his surroundings, ¡°how about we clean things up here?¡±

    ¡°With pleasure.¡±

    The teens could only stand frozen in shock and watch as the crowd of beasts that had been terrorizing them was turned into corpses littering the ground.

    The man used horrendous lightning, pummeling the beasts into the ground and crushing their bodies with his physical strength. His fighting style was so raw that he could almost be mistaken for a beast himself.

    Meanwhile, the woman fought with unparalleled elegance. The blue fire emitting from her caused the atmospheric temperature to drop many degrees as the beasts around her were reduced to cinders.

    It didn¡¯t take long at all for the 40 or so beasts around the group to reduce in number, with only the leader left standing.

    Although he should have helped his pack in getting rid of the neers, he wasn¡¯t in the correct mental state to do so.

    ¡°These two! Just where did theye from! That man said all the humans in this forest were weaklings!¡±

    He was practically shivering in fear, his eyes trembling as he slowly backed away. He was trying his best to flee before the duo noticed he was gone.

    His steps were as light as air, making no sound as he backtracked towards the bush behind him. But before he could enter it and run for his life¡­

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡±

    The voice colder than ice was like a devil whispering in his ear.

    ¡®Just one more step!¡¯

    He was right there. If he was just able to move slightly further, he would be able to escape before they finished killing off his minions. He even ignored the man¡¯s piercing voice that indicated he was already discovered.

    At that moment, a primal and horrifying killing intent locked onto him. It was so fierce that it was almost palpable.

    ¡®T-this!¡¯

    The leader couldn¡¯t move. Even if he had lived many tens of years, even he hadn¡¯t umted a killing intent as strong as this one.

    No matter how he tried to run, no matter how he tried to even move a single muscle, it was impossible.

    ¡®W-what is this?¡¯

    It was like the aura of a beast. An aura even fiercer than any beast he had ever met and more horrendous than even the man who made him submit.

    The pack leader raised his head with difficulty, trying to see what was going on in front of him, but he was met with only a pair of deep red eyes that made even his soul quake in fear.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me the first time?¡± The man said once again. ¡°Where. Do. You. Think. You¡¯re. Going.¡±

    It was no longer a question. He no longer felt he had a path to survival. The beast felt themand in those words.

    ¡®Stay right here until I tell you to move.¡¯

    Based on pure aura alone, the beast knew he was stronger than the man who was trying tomand him. Yet¡­ Yet!

    ¡®My body won¡¯t listen to me!¡¯

    He was forced to wait patiently and watch as his brethren were ughtered. Even if he didn¡¯t care about them that much, he knew that it was his fate next.

    And after thest one had died, the two who had caused this cmity to befall him looked in his direction.

    ¡°M-my lord, this is just a misunderstanding. Please spare me.¡±

    Damien and Ruyue looked at each other and smirked.

    ¡°Oh really? This is just a misunderstanding huh?¡±

    ¡°Y-yes! You see, we were just ying a joke on those kids! There is actually a rule in this forest that we must not attack the humans residing in the vige! I would never try to truly harm them!¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I guess it really was a misunderstanding then.¡±

    The beast smiled slightly. ¡®This is it! I might be able to live!¡¯

    ¡°But isn¡¯t this fun?¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry?¡±

    ¡°I said, isn¡¯t this fun? Seeing a beast like you despair. Seeing you cower in front of me. Isn¡¯t it fun?¡±

    The beast slowly became drenched in a cold sweat as the man approached it.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the natural order? You see, I¡¯m simr to you. I just love seeing filthy and arrogant beasts like you tremble in front of me.¡±

    The beast knew what was going to happen the second the man arrived in front of him. He knew, but he could do nothing about it. His aura, his mes, all of it seemed to be sealed in front of that bestialmand that was uttered previously.

    ¡°Well,¡± the man continued, ¡°there¡¯s no reason for me to exin myself to you since you¡¯ll be dead soon anyway.¡±

    The beast was trembling. It could do nothing in front of the massive illusive pair of glowing red eyes that bore down upon him.

    And suddenly¡­

    Its field of vision flipped 180 degrees. Thest thing it would ever see being the upside-down face of that terrifying man with a vicious smile stered across his face.

 Chapter 172 - Minor Delays [4]

    ¡°Phew¡­¡± Damien let out a light sigh as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

    He might¡¯ve made it seem easy killing the pack leader like that but to forcefully grab its head and twist its neck was a much harder task than he expected.

    First of all, he was weaker than the pack leader to begin with. It would be a miracle if he suddenly had the strength to pull such a move, and secondly, he was forced to slightly distort space to pull off his prior actions.

    Thetter was a bit troublesome since he was hiding his spatial affinity in case someone decided to dive into their backgrounds when they reached the meeting ground. Still, he believed that he had disguised it well enough to be unnoticeable.

    Not to mention, using his aura suppression in such a way was a bit mentally tiring. To be exact, it was using his killing intent alone.

    Usually, his killing intent was naturally incorporated into his aura whenever he released it, so he never bothered to iste it.

    But for the purpose of suppressing the pack leader with his most bestial aura, he had done so today. It wasn¡¯t a particrly strenuous process, but it took more effort than simply releasing his entire aura.

    In the end, though, it was worth it. His level had jumped all the way to 125, leaving him 1/4th of the way through 3rd ss.

    ¡°B-benefactors!¡±

    A trembling voice snapped Damien out of his thoughts. His gaze refocused on the little girl from before.

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Noticing his gaze, the girl couldn¡¯t help but feel fear. She had seen how he effortlessly killed a beast that was stronger than she could ever imagine, and she had heard the terrifyingly cold words he had uttered before he had done so.

    How could she not be scared? To her who grew up in such an isted environment where beasts and humans had a mutual agreement for peace, he was akin to a demon from hell.

    ¡°Did you have something to say?¡± A much gentler voice came from behind her. When she turned around, she saw the woman from before looking at her with encouraging eyes.

    With most of the attention during the previous fight being on Damien due to his domineering actions, Ruyue¡¯s visage was like an angel to them. And since the corpses around her had been reduced to ash rather than gruesomely pummeled, this image was further enhanced.

    ¡°M-my friend! Brother Cheng is dying! Please, I beg of you! Please save him!¡±

    Ruyue looked at the boy in the girl¡¯s arms whose body had already gone limp before sighing lightly.

    She took out a small pill from her spatial ring and threw it at the girl. ¡°Just give him this. It should at least heal the worst of the damage. The rest can be healed naturally.¡±

    ¡°Thank you! Thank you!¡± The girl cried as the caught the pill as gently as possible. She held onto it as if it was a divine treasure, afraid of harming it as she carefully ced it in the boy¡¯s mouth.

    Her cries only became louder as she noticed the bloody scar on the boy¡¯s chest begin to close.

    As the girl continued to watch over her friend, Ruyue approached Damien.

    ¡°Conceal your aura again, idiot. You¡¯re scaring the hell out of them.¡±

    Damien raised his brow before realizing that his killing intent was leaking. As he ended up in thought after killing the pack leader, he had totally forgotten about it.

    ¡°No wonder she was staring at me like some kind of monster.¡± He said as he reeled it in.

    ¡°As if that¡¯s the reason. Look at how brutally you killed those beasts in front of them. Obviously, they¡¯d be scared of a brute like you.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Damien replied, feigning ignorance, ¡°you should count yourself lucky they didn¡¯t see how you were killing those things.¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s methods, while outwardly elegant, were just as ruthless as his own. The piercing cold of her icemes would infect the beasts before the heat it also produced would melt them from the inside.

    Damien shuddered just thinking about it. ¡°These kids are lucky they¡¯re too level to know they¡¯re in the presence of a demoness.¡±

    ¡°Who are you calling a demoness, you damn fool!¡±

    ¡°You of course! Do you see anyone else around here so ruthless?¡± He replied while looking around in an exaggerated fashion.

    ¡°No, all I see around here is your ugly face. How sad that I have to spend so much time around it.¡±

    ¡°Hm? You¡¯re staring at my face that much? I know I¡¯m incredibly handsome but if you say it like that you¡¯ll make me blush.¡±

    As the two continued their normal squabbles, the boy who had just been fed a healing pill slowly opened his eyes.

    Groggily looking around, his eyes widened in shock. ¡°L-Ling¡¯er?¡±

    ¡°Brother Cheng!¡± The girl yelled as she hugged the boy tightly. ¡°I thought I¡¯d never see you again!¡±

    ¡°M-me too. I¡¯m¡­alive?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Those esteemed cultivators over there saved you!¡±

    Brother Cheng looked over at Damien and Ruyue who were still arguing before his gaze shifted to the beast corpses that littered the ground.

    ¡°T-they killed all of those beasts?!¡± He eximed.

    ¡°Shh! Don¡¯t bother the esteemed cultivators! They are our benefactors!¡±

    ¡°R-right.¡± Brother Cheng nodded as he tried to stand up, although he still needed help from Ling¡¯er to do so.

    Noticing their movement, Damien and Ruyue also looked over.

    ¡°It looks like you guys are fine now,¡± Damien said as he looked at the other teens in the group.

    ¡°Right, then I guess it¡¯s about time we take our leave.¡± Ruyue continued.

    But before they could move, Ling¡¯er spoke up. ¡°W-wait! If you don¡¯t mind, could you apany us to the vige so we can properly thank you?¡±

    Damien and Ruyue looked at each other questioningly. Truthfully, neither of them cared about any receiving thanks or pleasantries like that.

    Noticing that they were nning to reject, Brother Cheng also spoke up. ¡°Please, I haven¡¯t even had the chance to thank benefactors for saving my life. We would truly appreciate it if you came to our vige.¡±

    With the main two speaking their opinions, the other 8 also regained their ability to talk, expressing the same intention.

    And seeing the pleading look in their eyes, Ruyue slightly caved. ¡°I guess we do need a ce to rest tonight.¡±

    Damien was surprised by her willingness, but in the end, he just shrugged. Just like before when Ruyue chose to help the kids, he didn¡¯t really care what they did.

    ¡°Truly thank you.¡± The girl said before her eyes widened. ¡°That¡¯s right! We haven¡¯t even properly introduced ourselves yet! My name is Su Ling¡¯er and this is Yan Cheng.¡±

    The others also proceeded to introduce themselves.

    ¡°Mm. You can call me Xiao Li and this is my D-Daopanion, Zhen Fang.¡± Ruyue replied with a slight stutter.

    And with introductions out of the way, the group began to walk back to the vige they came from with Damien and Ruyue in tow, telling them about how they ended up in such a perilous situation.

 Chapter 173 - Village Problems [1]

    As it turns out, the group Damien and Ruyue were with at the moment was just one of many that had left the vige today.

    In fact, it was a normal thing for many groups to leave in search of herbs and nts to supply the vige with their food source.

    With them having a sort of non-aggression pact with the beasts in the forest, they had be ustomed to an entirely vegetarian diet.

    This particr fact, although seemingly mundane, was one that piqued Damien¡¯s interest. After all, he had to eat beasts to evolve and grow stronger, so he didn¡¯t realize it was even possible to live on such a diet.

    But his question was answered soon.

    ¡°The nts in the forest have also been affected by mana. They reproduce and grow using the ambient mana in the air in addition to the usual sunlight and water that they need. These nts are more than nutritious enough to sustain us.¡±

    That was right. With how little interaction he had with nt life forms, he had almost forgotten this fact.

    nts were also beings who could evolve and level up just like the rest of the being underneath the system. It was just that it usually took them hundreds of years to do what humans could do in a few decades.

    For this reason, Damien hadn¡¯t seen that many hostile nt lifeforms. Although, he did have a faint memory of cutting a few down when he was in the disciple examination. It was just that he was in his Void Heart mode at that time, so he didn¡¯t pay them much mind.

    As they continued to talk, the teens told Damien and Ruyue about how they were doing this job they did every day when suddenly they were surrounded by that pack of beasts.

    It shocked them immensely, being something they had never encountered with all beasts around them being civil, and that led to their situation when the duo arrived.

    ¡®Not only that, but they also have an abysmal level of strength.¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t like they were talentless and growing slowly, rather it was like they didn¡¯t grow at all. These kids were still at the very beginning stages of 1st ss, not even passing level 50 yet.

    As for how they managed to survive until Damien and Ruyue arrived? That was simple. The beasts had never seriously tried to kill them, choosing to y with their food instead.

    ¡®It¡¯s actually a prettymon trend I¡¯ve seen.¡¯ Damien mused. Whether he looked back to the sea dragon he had fought upon entry to the Cloud ne, or even further back to the very first wolf that allowed him to evolve, they each had chosen to toy with him before actually taking the fight seriously.

    And by that point, he was already at an advantage. He didn¡¯t understand exactly what it was within a beast that made it choose such a stupid action, but in the end, he could sort of rte.

    ¡®Don¡¯t I sometimes do the same?¡¯

    Perhaps it wasn¡¯t on the same scale since Damien didn¡¯t go around killing everything he saw, but even if he looked at the tournament back when he was still on Apeiron, didn¡¯t he have fun ying with hispetitors?

    If he wanted to, he could¡¯ve ended the entire thing from the very beginning if he just activated his vector field. The only limit to that skill was its inability to be used on those at the same level or stronger than him, but none of thosepetitors reached such a level.

    But he didn¡¯t get the chance to mull on it for too long. Ruyue pinched his side, bringing his attention back to reality where they had already reached the front of a small vige.

    Its size was nothing much, fitting 500-1000 people at most, and its structure was simr. There were only 4 dirt paths in a square shape with shacks and huts made primarily out of wood lining them.

    In the center of the vige, in the middle of the intersection of the 4 roads, there was a group of buildings that were built slightlyrger than the rest. Though, the difference wasn¡¯t anything major.

    The streets themselves were rtively empty, making it seem like a ghost town. Well, that was what it was like at first.

    ¡°Everyone! We¡¯re home!¡± Ling¡¯er yelled as they entered the small gate of the vige. Her voice rang through the surroundings, bouncing off the walls of the houses. And immediately, a mor rose up from within those seemingly empty houses.

    ¡°Did you hear?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re back!¡±

    ¡°Was that little Ling¡¯er?¡±

    ¡°It was! It was!¡±

    ¡°Then what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go greet her!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    The doors to all the houses in the vicinity opened up and people began to flood out of them.

    Whether old or young, sick or healthy, they all rushed towards the entrance to greet the group that had just returned.

    ¡°Ling¡¯er! It¡¯s really you!¡±

    ¡°How have you guys been? No problems this time?¡±

    ¡°Oh my! Little Cheng did you get hurt?!¡±

    ¡°What happened to Little Cheng??¡±

    The crowd immediately barraged the group with questions, bing even more frantic when they saw Yan Cheng¡¯s bloodied robe.

    Ling¡¯er was a bit flustered, but not by much. This was a generally normal scene to see in the vige. Even if they lived in harmony with the beasts, it was only due to the current Lord of this region¡¯smand.

    They could never help themselves from being concerned in case something truly happened.

    ¡°Guys! It¡¯s okay! We are just fine! But we have something we urgently need to talk to the vige elders about!¡± She yelled, grabbing everyone¡¯s attention.

    It was only once they calmed down that they finally noticed the two new faces in the back of the group.

    ¡°Ling¡¯er! Who are they?¡±

    ¡°They are our benefactors. Everyone, please give us some space first. We wille and let you all know what happened afterwards.¡±

    Seeing the serious expression on Ling¡¯er¡¯s face, the vigers reluctantly made a path towards the shack in the middle of the vige. All the while, their eyes were still focused on Damien and Ruyue.

    However, the duo was no stranger to many gazes being focused on them. Ruyue was an important figure of one of the 4 great ns and Damien was¡­well he always tended to show off and gather attention on himself.

    The duo simply smiled kindly towards the vigers they passed as they followed Ling¡¯er.

    Arriving at the foremost hut in the middle of the vige, Ling¡¯er knocked before asking in a much more polite tone than she used for the vigers.

    ¡°Head Elder, please allow us toe inside. We have very important matters to tell you of.¡±

    ¡°Come.¡±

    The response was instant. The aged voice of a woman answered Ling¡¯er¡¯s query as the door to the hut lightly swung open.

    Entering inside, Damien noticed that there was something odd in the air. Rather, there was something off about the mana within this enclosed space.

    The windows were all tightly sealed and even when the door opened it didn¡¯t seem like it had truly opened, as none of the mana trapped within this room was allowed out.

    And in the center of this odd atmosphere sat a wrinkled old woman with a gentle smile on her face.

 Chapter 174 - Village Problems [2]

    ¡°Wee, travelers to our humble vige. I hope we haven¡¯t bothered you too much.¡± The elderly woman said softly, inviting them to sit across from her.

    There was hardly any furniture in the room, with the small table in front of the woman being the centerpiece, but Damien had no problem with this. He went and sat on one of the cushions surrounding the table while Ruyue followed suit, sitting down next to him.

    Ling¡¯er and Yan Cheng did the same, sitting on the opposite side of them.

    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± Damien said, ¡°my name is Zhen Fang and this is my wife, Xiao Li.¡±

    The old woman nodded without much thought. ¡°No need for a reintroduction, as I have heard it the first time. As for me, you can simply call me Elder Baba.¡±

    Damien raised his brow questioningly, wondering how she could have heard it when they had introduced themselves far from the vige, but he suppressed his doubts. It was already evident that something strange was going on here.

    ¡°Oho, you seem to be a curious young man, aren¡¯t you.¡± Elder Baba said with a smile, noticing his expression.

    ¡°Ah, it can¡¯t be helped. After all, the mana in this room is too strange for me to not be curious.¡±

    This time, it was the elder¡¯s turn to be surprised. ¡°Your insights are much sharper than I¡¯d expected.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much.¡±

    The elder looked at him deeply before turning to Ling¡¯er once more. ¡°You said you had something to discuss with me?¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right!¡± She eximed.

    ¡°Elder! We were attacked by beasts on our gathering trip today! If it wasn¡¯t for esteemed cultivators, we would have surely died gruesome deaths!¡±

    Elder Baba raised her brow before looking back towards Damien, who simply shrugged his shoulders in response.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. We were just passing by.¡±

    Ruyue, who had been watching the whole interaction, was especially confused at this point. It was one thing to not want to receive thanks for their deeds, but it was another to adopt such an attitude.

    Damien at the moment was acting much more indifferent than should be logical in such a situation. His responses were so curt that they left no room for questioning.

    It was almost as if he was trying to draw a line that shouldn¡¯t be crossed, or he was trying to avoid staying here for too long.

    And to be honest, that was exactly what he was doing. The more time he spent in this room, the more his eyes shed danger signals in his mind.

    The mana in the room continuously tried to invade his body even without his active pull, as if it was trying to scour him or read him.

    It was the same strange feeling he had when he first entered the hut, but as time passed it became much more prevalent, allowing him to gain a slight understanding of what was happening to him.

    During his time at the Celestial Star Pce, he mainly focused on training himself in the areas he already specialized in. But, he didn¡¯t stop there.

    The sect had a specialty that was widely known throughout the world. It was a sect that raised Seers. Although he wasn¡¯t personally interested in embarking on that path, he didn¡¯t think it would hurt him to gain knowledge about it.

    Whether he would be able to use that knowledge to his advantageter, or it would allow him to counteract anyone who tried to use such techniques on him, it would still be useful.

    It was this research that he was remembering at this moment.

    Seers need a medium to foretell the future or destiny of the ones they are trying to read. If it¡¯s on arger scale, such as the fate of a world, such a medium would be the earth itself, but when it was rted to a single person or group, something more personal was needed.

    But if that person was sitting in front of you, and your mana could infiltrate their body, you¡¯d be able to tell everything about that person.

    Well, this wasn¡¯t an ability unique to seers, as anyone who could spread their awareness could achieve such a thing. But the results of such actions mean something entirely different to a seer.

    With such an in-depth understanding of a person¡¯s body, the seer would be able to use their mana as a medium to foretell that person¡¯s fate.

    And Damien was sure of it. He didn¡¯t understand why the mana in the room had such a foreign feeling, as if it was mixed with something it shouldn¡¯t, but he was sure about what this elder was trying to do.

    The only thing that confused him was why he was the only one being targeted.

    He could clearly see the movement of the murky mana in the room, and it was all centered around him. Even though Ruyue was sitting right next to him, it was as if the mana avoided her like the gue.

    He didn¡¯t know this old woman¡¯s intentions, but he didn¡¯t care. There was no way he¡¯d let some random stranger take a peek at even a single secret of his.

    Especially now that they were taking on other identities for their mission.

    ¡°Damien! Damien!¡±

    He was awoken from his thoughts by Ruyue shaking his shoulder. Apparently, the conversation had been continuing without him while he was ruminating over these things.

    And at the same time he was brought back to attention, the mana in the room returned to its static state, unmoving.

    ¡°Thank you for the information,¡± Ruyue said as she gave a slight bow to the elder, ¡°we will be leaving now, but we will make sure to take care of the problem before we continue our journey.¡±

    Without another word, she grabbed Damien and dragged him out of the hut, and then proceeded to walk him out of the vige entirely.

    ¡°What was that?!¡± She demanded after they had reached a far enough distance away.

    ¡°What was what?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Do you really not know? Or are you just pretending not to know?!¡±

    ¡°No, I seriously have no idea what¡¯s going on.¡±

    Ruyue sighed while massaging her forehead. ¡°The whole time we were there, you were staring at the elder with murder in your eyes. It looked like if I didn¡¯t take you out of there at that moment, you really would have killed her.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What are you talking about? I wasn¡¯t nning to kill her at all.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m serious. That whole time, I wasbatting that old hag¡¯s mana that kept trying to invade my body. There¡¯s no doubt about it.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? That woman didn¡¯t even have a cultivation base!!¡±

    ¡°Huh? Then what was that murky mana that was encapsting the entire hut? It was specifically targeting me, as well.¡±

    Ruyue frowned as she thought about it. She didn¡¯t sense anything like that while they were there, and the elderly woman didn¡¯t give off any suspicious impressions.

    Rather, it was Damien that seemed to make the mood in the room plummet.

    But she had been with him for many months now and had a pretty good grasp on his personality. First of all, he wouldn¡¯t lie about something so stupid, and second, he most definitely had something special that allowed him to perceive mana differently from others.

    Her frown deepened as she tried to rationalize things, but it was to no avail.

    ¡°Whatever, we can figure it outter. For now, let¡¯s get on with the task I epted from the elder.¡±

    ¡°Apparently something is going on in the forest recently, and beasts are bing wilder. I agreed to find the culprit and try to stop the problem for them.¡±

    Damien sighed, feeling like he was getting roped into a bunch of business that he had no part in, but only a secondter, his eyes lit up.

    ¡®Wait a second¡­isn¡¯t this basically a side quest?¡¯

 Chapter 175 - Side Quest [1]

    Side Quests were always fun to do, especially when they had a boring few days of just traveling ahead of them, but Damien knew they couldn¡¯t take too much time on this.

    Even if they had time before the event began, they still had to get there as soon as possible so they could urately blend in with the crowd and perhaps even gain some useful information.

    At the moment, even if their identities allowed them entry into the event, they wouldn¡¯t be able to gain anything substantial.

    They were just average sect disciples at the end of the day.

    For them to achieve something worthwhile during this mission, they needed to properly infiltrate and earn trust. They only had 9 months until the secret realm opening, and the conference was supposed tost 3 months at most.

    Their schedule for theing year or so was absolutely packed. Even a short excursion like this one would be problematic.

    He was sure Ruyue knew this as well since she seemed better at the whole nning thing than he was, but she still decided to do something like this.

    ¡°Say, do you perhaps have a soft spot for kids?¡± He suddenly mentioned, trying to find a reason for her actions.

    ¡°No, not particrly. Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°I mean, why are you going out of your way to help strangers like this when we have much more important tasks to fulfill?¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡­¡±

    ¡°Besides, aren¡¯t you the senior sister who¡¯s always cold and lofty towards everyone else? Is there something about this situation that¡¯s different?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s brow furrowed once more. Even if she was slightly offended by how he perceived her, she knew he was right. Even she found it odd that she was acting in such a way.

    And it wasn¡¯t just the vige situation. The first time her cold front had been derailed was by the man standing in front of her, though he didn¡¯t seem to realize it.

    Since that first day they had a lesson together, her world had be more colorful. It almost made her forget about the problems she had before he arrived.

    But every time she left his and her master¡¯s presence and went about her normal day, she was forced to remember it all by the people around her. She was forced back into that cold front that she always put up.

    The way they looked at her like a chess piece to be moved as they pleased, the way people tried to fawn on her so they could gain connection to her n, she hated it all.

    She never liked the spotlight, and if there was one thing she was thankful for, it was that she was born a woman and wouldn¡¯t be forced to inherit rulership over the n.

    If she was ced in that sort of position as well, she would have long since fled to somewhere unknown, perhaps even leaving the world entirely.

    That was just the kind of person she was. She despised the political schemes and society that she was born into.

    But it was different now. She was no longer Xue Ruyue, she no longer had status. She was simply Xiao Li, a rogue cultivator that nobody knew or cared for.

    Perhaps, her inner desires were taking precedence due to her change in identity. Maybe it was that she didn¡¯t want to be cold anymore.

    Seeing theplicated look in Ruyue¡¯s eyes that was coupled with a hint of yearning, Damien sighed lightly. It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t understand where she wasing from, especially after spending so much time with her, but he didn¡¯t see this change as something natural.

    He didn¡¯t want to ruin her mood nor did he want to sour their rtionship by being too blunt. And so, he decided that if things were truly the way he thought they were, he¡¯d just let her find out for herself.

    His only hope was that she didn¡¯t return to being an icy wall in the aftermath.

    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t really matter,¡± Damien said, snapping Ruyue out of her thoughts. ¡°In the end, we don¡¯t have much time toplete this little request you¡¯ve taken, so we should split up and search the forest.

    ¡°I remember the leader of that beast pack muttering to himself about some man that forced him to submit, so make sure to keep your eyes out for humans or humanoid races.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the Elder also mentioned something simr,¡± Ruyue added. ¡°Not just a lone man, but a suspicious group has been lurking around this forest recently.

    ¡°She was only able to find out through the scouts of the vige, but we should be fine; since our strengths far outweigh theirs.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t drop your guard either way.¡± Damien reminded her. ¡°No matter what, you can¡¯t just blindly trust the information you were given. Be sure to find something concrete before engaging inbat.

    ¡°Also, be sure to contact me when that happens so we can be safe.¡±

    Ruyue nodded her head, albeit reluctant that they had to rush, and ran off eastward. Watching her back fade into the distance, Damien once again sighed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just get this over with.¡±

    The forest they were currently in wasn¡¯t actually thatrge. At most, it was the size of a small state. For those vigers who hadn¡¯t taken the time to level up properly, perhaps this distance was immense, but to Damien, it was nothing.

    The more he leveled up, therger his scale of reach was. His destruction prowess had already reached the level where if he put all his mana into it, this whole forest could be razed to the ground.

    But that was both inefficient and unnecessary. The only reason he thought about it was so he could get a true grasp of how big his range was now.

    Still standing in the same spot he was before Ruyue left, Damien spread his awareness to its utmost.

    The entireyout of the forest became clear to him. From the spread of vegetation to the location of every beast pack, it was all within his eyes. And in a particr secluded cave in the forest, he found the human he was looking for.

    It was a man about 6 feet 5 inches in height with an incredibly burly build. He was like a tank in human skin. He sat within the cave and chewed on a stalk of grass with a wide grin on his face, seemingly celebrating something.

    And while Damien was prepared to teleport over there and deal with the problem immediately, he noticed he did not need to. The man¡¯s aura clearly indicated that he was still within the mid-levels of 3rd ss, probably at the Core Expansion realm.

    And Damien wasn¡¯t the only one who had found his location.

    Only a few kilometers away from the hidden cave, the lithe and graceful figure of Ruyue could be seen speeding in that direction.

    ¡®If she has that taken care of, I guess I can act on that hunch I¡¯ve been having since we got here.¡¯

    Taking onest nce at the Ruyue and the burly man, Damien turned and ran in the opposite direction.

 Chapter 176 - Side Quest [2]

    Meanwhile, Ruyue was running at full speed towards a hidden cave she had spotted in the distance.

    Although her range didn¡¯t match Damien¡¯s entirely, it wasn¡¯t that far behind. She was still ahead of him in terms of levels.

    As she felt the wind brush past her face and heard the trees rustling around her, Ruyue felt oddly at peace. It was a feeling like she didn¡¯t truly want to leave this forest and return back to her responsibilities.

    But she didn¡¯t allow such a feeling to break her mindset, regardless of what her emotions were telling her at the moment, she still had a duty to fulfill.

    She had her master who had taken her in and trained her, protecting her from the outside world as much as she could. He was the one who sent her on this mission, and she had no ns of betraying his trust.

    Not to mention¡­

    Ruyue shook her head as a slight rosy color emerged on her cheeks.

    ¡®What am I even thinking at this kind of time?¡¯

    It didn¡¯t take her long at all to reach the cave, with a few kilometers distance being nothing to her. The problem was, the location where she sensed the cave wasn¡¯t anything special. It was just another part of the forest that looked the exact same as the rest.

    But she wouldn¡¯t be fooled by something like this. Perhaps if her perception wasn¡¯t up to par, this kind of disguise would force her to doubt herself, but that wasn¡¯t the case.

    As she was about to enter, Ruyue hesitated slightly.

    ¡®Be sure to contact me when you find them just to be safe.¡¯

    Those were the words he said to her. ncing at the messaging talisman that was sitting in her spatial ring, Ruyue paused.

    She didn¡¯t know whether she actually wanted to call him or not. While it warmed her heart that he cared about her safety, she also didn¡¯t feel like it was necessary to have him here.

    There was only one person within the cave and his level wasn¡¯t that far apart from Hera, so she should be able to handle the situation without him.

    There were also supposedly more people hiding in the forest, so she thought it might be best if he continued searching for them.

    Spreading her awareness to cover the area of the forest she was in, Ruyue noticed that Damien wasn¡¯t anywhere nearby.

    ¡®It would take him too long toe, so there¡¯s no point. Besides, I don¡¯t need protection for something minor like this.¡¯

    She firmed her resolve, taking her attention away from the messaging talisman before walking forward without hesitation.

    Although from an outsider¡¯s perspective, it looked like she was simply walking through the forest like normal, it wasn¡¯t that simple.

    Every once in a while, she¡¯d slightly alter her direction, almost as if she was drunkenly staggering. And by the time she took her 20th step in this manner, the surroundings started to change.

    The forest was no more as she had already entered the cave. Her previous movements were to avoid the cues set up to misdirect people who happened to pass by.

    Staring into the gnawing darkness in front of her, Ruyue¡¯s eyes turned cold.

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of hiding? You already know I¡¯m aware of your position.¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha. It seems like I¡¯ve been caught. Though, I didn¡¯t expect it to be a beauty like you who did so.¡± A rough voice responded.

    Out of the darkness emerged the massive figure of the man Damien had seen previously, the stalk of grass still within his mouth.

    ¡°So? Did youe to y with me, or is there something else?¡± He continued, his gaze bing lewd as he scanned Ruyue¡¯s body.

    Even in her disguise, her proportions were still above average. It wasn¡¯t a surprise that a man like this, who was obviously in his barbaric tendencies, would immediately be lustful.

    ¡°Even a child would be smarter than you if you truly think that. I¡¯ll make sure that you can¡¯t speak such filthy words again once I¡¯m finished here.¡± Ruyue responded in disgust. The tips of her fingers began to glow as blue mes appeared on top of them.

    The man grinned widely, grabbing a massive battle axe strapped to his back. ¡°Good! I haven¡¯t had a proper battle in a while, so I hope you can entertain me.¡±

    The man immediately charged, his footsteps thundering and causing cracks to appear on the cave floor. Ruyue didn¡¯t follow suit, however, opting to keep her distance.

    She swung her arms upward, causing arcs of me to shoot in the man¡¯s direction.

    As if that wasn¡¯t enough, ten swords made of the same fire materialized in the air around her before following the previous arcs.

    The man halted his advance, his expression bing more serious as he heavily swung his battle axe.

    ¡°Haaa!¡±

    The de impacted the ground, causing a fissure to form and a pressurized de of wind to charge towards the arcs of me trying to consume him.

    When the two attacks collided, a small explosion rang out, causing dust to cloud Ruyue¡¯s vision. Still, her swords moved unhindered.

    They charged towards the man in a group, as Ruyue used her awareness to control them, surrounding the man and attempting to attack him from all sides.

    A red aura surrounded his body and his veins began to bulge. He swung his axe wildly, trying to mitigate as much damage as possible.

    But he wasn¡¯t entirely sessful. 3 of the ming swords managed to pierce the man¡¯s body, spreading icemes across his skin. The red aura around him tried tobat it, but it wasn¡¯t totally effective.

    While the man was distracted, Ruyue silently rushed along the edge of the dust cloud, concealing herself within the atmosphere.

    She calmly approached the man and when she got within 10 feet of him, she made her move.

    She put her wrists together and cupped her hands, allowing a beautiful me to bloom within them.

    The me continued to bud, bing a palm-sized lotus with 13 petals. But despite its small size, its power was immense enough to attract the man¡¯s attention.

    He sensed immediate danger in his surroundings, turning to look at Ruyue while ignoring the mes that were still slowly spreading through his body.

    The man once again attempted to charge, but Ruyue didn¡¯t allow him that opportunity. She lightly threw the ming lotus in her palm, causing it to flutter through the air.

    Its speed seemed as slow as a falling piece of paper, but it reached its target in an instant. And when it made contact¡­

    Boom!

    An explosion rocked the cave, causing the walls and ceiling toe crumbling down. Ruyue crossed her arms in front of her, creating a me shield to protect her from any coteral damage.

    The explosion continued for many seconds, and smaller consecutive explosions rang out from each petal she had made as part of the lotus. By the time it had all ended, Ruyue was sure the man was no more.

    ¡°What an idiot.¡± She muttered in scorn. That was barely even a battle, more like she just pummeled him into the ground without any effort.

    ¡®Wait¡­How could someone that stupid manage to cause a ruckus within the forest?¡¯

    By the time it dawned on her, the dust from the explosion had already cleared up. Standing in front of her was half the body of the man she had just been fighting.

    Yes, it was still standing even though it was only the upper half of the body. Rather, the body itself was slowly turning into particles of light.

    ¡®He wasn¡¯t real!¡¯ She eximed inwardly as she realized her mistake.

    She began to feel a sense of foreboding. Something was happening that she had been unaware of all this time.

    She wanted to rush towards the vige as fast as possible to make sure nothing had gone wrong, but at that time¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re already toote.¡±

    The grinning face of the burly man let out those final words before disappearing into particles.

 Chapter 177 - Side Quest [4]

    ¡°You¡¯re already toote¡±

    The words rang out in her mind continuously, disallowing her to think of anything else. Toote? Toote for what?

    The words made Ruyue painfully aware that she had screwed up at some point, but she couldn¡¯t figure out when exactly that was.

    ¡®What is happening to me?¡¯

    Ever since she arrived in this forest, she had felt like she wasn¡¯t being herself. Still, she went along with it because she enjoyed the way it made her feel.

    Free and unfettered.

    But she realized she was wrong.

    ¡®I have to get to the vige.¡¯

    It was the only solution she could think of. That was the ce she had chosen to protect in the first ce, so if there was any ce to be while trying to figure out what kind of trap she had fallen for, it was there.

    She ran towards the cave entrance but found it blocked by rubble from her previous attack. Luckily, she hadn¡¯t spent much energy during the previous fight and was able to st it apart with a smaller variant of the me lotus she used to kill the burly man.

    Immediately after the cave entrance was unsealed, she rushed out and was greeted by a calm moonlight

    ¡®What?¡¯

    She could have sworn that she was only in the cave for an hour at most, so how did it reach the point where the moon was so high in the sky? At most, the sun should have just recently set.

    The discrepancies continued to pile up even though it had only been minutes since she felt that sinking feeling in her chest. She was already starting to panic.

    ¡®Right, the messaging talisman.¡¯

    If the burly man was nothing but an illusion, the rest of the crew might be the same. Ruyue had to warn Damien, who was most likely chasing after them the same way she did with the man.

    She rushed through the lush ecosystem of the forest once more, but her heart was no longer peaceful. She was burning in trepidation, injecting her mana into the talisman to contact Damien.

    However¡­

    ¡®Why won¡¯t you pick up?¡¯

    Regardless of how many times she tried to call him, she received no response.

    ¡®You were the one who told me to keep in contact in case of danger, so how can you be silent at such a critical time?¡¯

    She felt slightly betrayed but pushed the feeling down. There had to be a reason he wasn¡¯t answering. He must be in trouble right now.

    She continued running in a linear path, making her way back to the vige, but the distance was too far to reach in a short period of time. She was many kilometers away.

    But still, she wasn¡¯t a 3rd ss existence for nothing. Let alone the power boost she received from the moon at nighttime due to her affinity, she also had the new mes she had just awakened.

    mes shot out of her feet like a jet engine and her speed increased manifold. She zoomed through the forest while leaving a trail of permafrost in her wake.

    And after 10 minutes of fierce sprinting without care for mana consumption, she finally saw light in the distance.

    ¡®It¡¯s there!¡¯

    She sped up once again, reaching the vige in half the time it would have taken her at her previous speed. But when she arrived, she noticed that it was oddly quiet.

    It shouldn¡¯t have felt odd considering how it waste at night at the moment, but there was an eerie atmosphere hanging in the air that she couldn¡¯t ignore.

    She slowed down her pace as she entered the wooden gates of the vige, heightening her senses and maintaining her wariness towards the surroundings.

    Looking side to side, she noticed that most of the houses were still filled with light, even though the silence indicated everywhere.

    Ruyue frowned at the sight but continued moving forward. Since the vige wasn¡¯trge at all, it didn¡¯t take her long to reach the center. But when she did, she almost regretteding back in the first ce.

    The dirt ground surrounding the central huts where the vige elder lived was stained in red. The pungent smell of blood invaded her nostrils as if wanting to force her to continue looking at the scene.

    Strewn across the ground were various pieces of bloodied flesh, thergest pieces resembling human limbs. Although such violence wasn¡¯t new to Ruyue, this particr scene made her want to vomit.

    However, she suppressed her feelings once again and continued forward. The chunks of flesh slowly gotrger, before entire upper bodies and heads entered her vision.

    ¡®T-those are¡­!¡¯

    She was staring at a particr set of bodies. Their arms were intertwined as if they were hugging, but their heads were both missing. In fact, they were present only a slight distance away.

    It was a young girl and boy, both with horror-stricken expressions. The tears that had streaked down their faces when they were still alive were still fresh.

    It was Ling¡¯er and Yan Chen that she and Damien had saved when they first arrived in the forest.

    It wasn¡¯t just them. Various members of the vige and even some of the other children that had been a part of that first group could be seen, lifelesslyying on the ground.

    Ruyue¡¯s steps faltered, tears threatening to appear in her eyes. Even if she had only met them for a brief period, their innocence was something she admired. She felt like she had gained some sort of connection with them.

    But she wasn¡¯t going to stop here. She had to figure out what it was that caused this tragedy. She felt a burning me ignite in her to avenge these innocent people who died today.

    ¡°Grrrrr¡­¡±

    Suddenly, she heard a muffled growling from the opposite side of the shack next to her. To her, who wasn¡¯t in the right state of mind at the moment, it sounded like the hungry growl of a beast.

    Slowly but surely, she made her way around the shack, trying to keep her footsteps as light as possible.

    She didn¡¯t want to alert whatever beast was lurking around the corner until she had verified its strength.

    But when she finally made it to the other side of the shack¡­

    Two figures could be seen. One standing tall while the other being only up the other¡¯s waist. The strange thing was, they were both humans.

    The tall figure had his hand wrapped around the smaller one¡¯s neck, evidently choking it.

    ¡°Grrr¡­¡±

    Once again, the growl rang out, and it was clear it came from the taller figure. Ruyue concentrated her gaze on them, but she couldn¡¯t see them in this darkness.

    And as if responding to her wish, the moonlight shifted gradually, shining light on the scene in front of her.

    Copious amounts of blood covered the figures of both individuals, to the point where it was obvious it wasn¡¯t entirely their own.

    The tall figure had elongated fingers that looked more like ws digging into the smaller one¡¯s neck. Even more blood was pouring out of wounds on both of their bodies, with the smaller one being more injured.

    With this level of gore, Ruyue could barely tell the identity of the two figures. That is, until the moonlight fully illuminated the area.

    In front of her eyes was a man with an unforgettable pair of amethyst-red eyes and cross-shaped pupils, in the process of killing the kind Elder Baba she had met only a day prior.

 Chapter 178 - Running Away [1]

    Ruyue stared in shock at the scene of her Junior brother strangling the kind Vige Elder she had agreed to help before they left the vige.

    She couldn¡¯t understand what was happening. Her emotions were in such turmoil that she could barely think straight.

    Blood everywhere, holding an innocent by her throat. The image that was painted in Ruyue¡¯s eyes was clear.

    ¡°Y-you¡­¡±

    She looked at Damien in disbelief, trying to get the words out. ¡®You killed them all?¡¯

    She wanted to say it, but the words got stuck in her throat. Rage began to bubble inside of her.

    She knew that Damien had a beast inside of him, something he couldn¡¯t control. She had seen it herself when they were subjected to Tian Yang¡¯s aura suppression.

    But, to think he would go so far.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Her rage reached its peak and she couldn¡¯t take it anymore. Blueish white mes burst forth from her hands and encased her whole body.

    ¡°Let¡­LET GO OF HER!¡±

    She screamed in fury, discharging a massive wave of me towards Damien. But she didn¡¯t stop there. me swords like the one she used before and explosive lotuses with all 13 petals were thrown at his location.

    But despite the flurry of attacks charging towards him, Damien didn¡¯t move. A strange power left his body, causing slight ripples in space.

    And then, when the plethora of ming attacks reached within 5 meters of his body¡­

    They disappeared.

    Well, not all of them. The massive wave of mes was gone entirely, but the rest of the attacks were still there.

    Only, they weren¡¯t moving forward in the slightest. No matter how Ruyue urged them or tried to increase her output, her attacks seemed to be stuck in a deadlock.

    Damien suddenly raised his arm that wasn¡¯t holding on to Elder Baba and flicked the air in front of him lightly. Following this movement, the barrage of mes shot forth once more.

    Except, they were flying towards the sky, no longer on the path Ruyue had set them towards.

    B-b-boom!

    A massive explosion rang out in the night sky, resembling fireworks. When Ruyue looked back at Damien, she was met with a pair of iparably cold eyes.

    However, his gaze didn¡¯t stay on her for long. Despite the anguish that was present on her face, the pain of betrayal she was currently feeling, he ignored her.

    Or at least, that¡¯s what it seemed like.

    When those ice-cold eyes returned back to meet the eyes of the figure in his grasp, two emotionless words left his mouth.

    ¡°Release her.¡±

    Emotionless? No, that wasn¡¯t the right word. Those two words contained an unbridled fury that surpassed even the fury Ruyue was feeling at the moment.

    Damien at the moment was like a volcano on the precipice of eruption.

    ¡°I-I have¡­no idea¡­what you¡¯re¡­talking about,¡± Elder Baba replied between strained breaths. ¡°P-please! Let go¡­of me!¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s anguish only heightened at the desperate cries of the elder, but before she could attack Damien once more, she felt a restrictive force encase her body, limiting her movement.

    ¡°Stay there for now.¡± Damien¡¯s words echoed in her ear. Unlike the biting cold that was contained in them when speaking to the elder, there was an untold gentleness when he addressed her.

    ¡°Stop ying mind games, bitch. Unless you want me to crush your skull right now, release her.¡±

    Elder Baba¡¯s eyes widened at his words before her panicked expression vanished as if it never existed. Instead, it was reced by a sickening smile.

    ¡°Kek¡­I never expected there to be a young man like you involved in all this.¡±

    The voice that left her mouth was no longer that of the kind elder Ruyue remembered meeting. The voice that was now being broadcasted was grating, like nails being scraped across a chalkboard.

    But Damien didn¡¯t care. He tightened his grip around her- no, the thing that was pretending to be her¡¯s throat and repeated the same line over again.

    ¡°Release. Her.¡±

    ¡°Tch.¡± The thing pretending to be Elder Baba clicked its tongue in dissatisfaction before its eyes glowed slightly, releasing a dull grey light.

    All of a sudden, Ruyue dropped to the ground as a splitting headache assaulted her.

    ¡®W-what is happening?¡¯

    All her previous animosity and anguish vanished like smoke as a change began to take ce in her mind.

    Her thoughts shed back to all the actions she had taken ever since visiting the vige.

    The way she volunteered to help, the way she charged forward without thinking, the way she disregarded help in a fit of arrogance, and the way she kept overreacting to every slight problem that had happened.

    Not to mention, the odd peaceful feeling she felt from the forest, the feeling that made her not want to leave.

    The second that dull grey light disappeared from Elder Baba¡¯s eyes, it was all gone. The splitting headache soon ended and Ruyue once again opened her eyes.

    Looking at the scene around her once more, she felt nothing. Not the slightest hint of sympathy. At most, she felt a slight regret that those two teenagers had died.

    She panned her gaze back towards Damien as aplicated light shed across her eyes. She didn¡¯t understand yet what was happening, but she could no longer find it in her to doubt his actions.

    ¡°Kek¡­now that I¡¯ve released your little lover, let me go! You said you would let me go!¡±

    That thing, it valued its life above all else. Even if it was caught in the end, at least it could live and scheme once more to get what it wanted.

    However¡­

    ¡°Who said you could live?¡±

    Damien ruthlessly grabbed Elder Baba¡¯s face and pulled as hard as he could. With the sound of fabric being torn from velcro, the entire face was ripped off.

    Damien threw the skin to the side and looked at the creature whose features were now revealed.

    It was a creature with a face ugly enough to scar children, causing legitimate trauma. Its eyes were hollow, with dull grey mes lighting up its sockets, its skin was a mix of green and brown like sewage water, and its nose and mouth were crooked as if someone had bent them out of position.

    Staring into those dull grey mes, Damien felt a pull on his consciousness, but in the end, nothing happened.

    ¡°So even at this point, you are trying to fool me.¡± He said to the creature, who still didn¡¯t show signs of fear.

    ¡°What else should I do? Bow down and beg for forgiveness? You¡¯re going to kill me anyway, aren¡¯t you?¡± It responded with disdain reeking from its tone.

    Damien lightly closed his eyes. ¡°I see.¡± And without another word, he tightened his grip around its neck, distorting it with his spatial mana until the creature¡¯s head was upside down simr to the pack leader that had died before.

    The mes in the creature¡¯s eye sockets dimmed before extinguishingpletely and the small human body of Elder Baba faded into the grass beneath them.

    Damien charged lightning into his hands and let it superheat before shooting it towards the already dead creature, incinerating its body. He wanted to be sure nothing else woulde of it.

    The coldness in Damien¡¯s gaze slowly faded as he turned to look at Ruyue, who had watched the entire ordeal take ce. Seeing the lost look on her face, he sighed lightly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

 Chapter 179 - Running Away [2]

    Ruyue¡¯s gaze went back and forth between Damien and the corpse on the ground, the lost look in her eyes never disappearing.

    ¡°D-did you know?¡± She managed to force the words out of her mouth.

    Damien looked at her with aplex gaze. But ultimately, he shook his head.

    ¡°I only had a hunch that something was wrong.¡±

    He was telling the truth. From the start, he had noticed something wrong with the whole situation, he just couldn¡¯t pinpoint it.

    It was for this reason why, after Ruyue left his side, he traveled through the forest and observed all therger beast packs within it, trying to gain some information.

    During this observation, he realized something odd. There was a familiar feeling about the murky mana that encased the Elder¡¯s room in the vige.

    He couldn¡¯t figure out the source of this familiarity, but as he continued his stay around the beasts and observed them with utmost concentration, he realized it.

    The familiarity was beast mana.

    Not only was it something he had spent 2 years surrounded by, but it was also something that had be a part of him.

    Although the beast mana was cleansed by his physique when it entered his system, it didn¡¯t change the fact that he absorbed it to grow. That familiar feeling stemmed from what he felt during his first evolution when rampant beast mana invaded his body for the first time.

    The instant he realized this, he rushed back to the vige. But he was already toote. By the time he arrived, the deed had already been done. The ground was already stained in blood.

    But he could still stop anything further from happening. He initiatedbat with the thing pretending to be Elder Baba and ultimately ended up winning.

    He had made sure not to go easy. He tortured that thing for information and even without too much pain, it told him everything.

    It seemed to revel in the feeling of being caught like this. It didn¡¯t seem the slightest bit afraid even when he tortured it.

    It was at that time that he learned how things went down. The feeling he had during their first meeting, the one that made him assume the olddy was a seer, was just a front.

    The beast, who somehow had knowledge of such upations, used the situation to its advantage and distracted Damien with it since it judged him as the strongest one in the room.

    And its strategy worked. Damien was too focused on the olddy¡¯s identity and warding off the foreign mana that was trying to invade his body that he lost track of everything else, not paying attention until Ruyue dragged him out of the vige.

    And in that time, it had the ability to do whatever it wanted to Ruyue. It manipted her emotions and her perception with its strange ability, forcing her to act out of character.

    But it felt natural to her.

    It led her to act ording to its n, fighting against the illusion it set up far away from the vige while Damien was dragged along as well.

    The only thing it couldn¡¯t predict was Damien¡¯s movement after everything was over with. It had expected him to go along with Ruyue, or at least it didn¡¯t expect him to return to the vige until it had left. But Damien was a variable it couldn¡¯t control.

    If it wasn¡¯t for his familiarity with beast mana, if it wasn¡¯t for his evolver title, perhaps the beast¡¯s n would have worked.

    And once this exchange had ended, Ruyue showed up.

    Damien was already furious after learning the prior information, and seeing how Ruyue attacked him without a second thought, he became enraged.

    He didn¡¯t even continue questioning the beast before killing it, sumbing to his desire for its death instead.

    Damien sighed once again as he finished recounting the series of events to Ruyue, whose eyes were no longer lost. Instead, they were colder than even his when he was looking at the beast.

    ¡®She closed herself off again.¡¯

    This was the oue Damien wanted least. He knew that after learning how she was manipted, she would be affected like this. He just didn¡¯t expect it to be so bad.

    Even when she looked at him, her gaze was freezing. There was none of the familiarity she held previously.

    And frankly, he couldn¡¯t bear to see her like that.

    Damien¡¯s gaze became determined. He walked forward, ignoring the unapproachable aura surrounding Ruyue and even her dead eyes as she gazed at him.

    Ruyue backed away as he approached, not wanting to speak to anyone at the moment. Her mind was tumultuous and her heart was in chaos.

    ¡®If it wasn¡¯t for my childish dreams. If it wasn¡¯t for my personality. If I had just listened to what he had told me¡­¡¯

    Inside her head, she kept ming herself for what happened. She wouldn¡¯t let herself be happy anymore if it meant she might get sucked into a situation like this again.

    She felt like she was willingly bing a caged bird, but she didn¡¯t mind. If that¡¯s what it took to solve her problems, so be it. She would kill that childish version of herself that wished for freedom.

    But as her thoughts reached an apex, she felt two strong hands grab her shoulders. Before she could even process what was happening, she was pulled forward.

    Her head lightlynded on Damien¡¯s chest as his arms wrapped around her shoulders, embracing her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think stupid things.¡± He said in a soft voice. Even if his words were berating, his tone was too gentle for her to get angry.

    Her body froze. It wasn¡¯t necessarily shock that she was feeling, but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to move.

    She feltfort in his arms.

    ¡®No. I¡¯m not allowed to befortable. This will only lead to another situation like the previous one.¡¯

    She tried to struggle free of his grasp, but he wouldn¡¯t let her go. She was forced to stay within thefort that she was trying to run from with all her might.

    ¡®Stop. Please stop. If you don¡¯t¡­¡¯

    His soothing voice once again entered her ears. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Everything will be okay. Running from those emotions won¡¯t solve anything, I promise. Just let it out. You have someone here who is willing to listen to it all.¡±

    ¡®Why?! Why are you being like this?! Why can¡¯t you just be the annoying asshole that you always are?!¡¯ She cried inwardly. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t actually say the words.

    It seemed like without even her own recognition, her arms had snaked around Damien¡¯s chest, hugging him tightly.

    It seemed like without even her own recognition, tears were streaming down her face, staining his shirt.

    And it seemed like without even her own recognition, Damien had teleported the two of them to a secluded spot away from the carnage of the vige. A spot where nobody would bother them as she cried.

    He moved one of his hands to her head, gently patting her head and brushing her hair.

    Every action he took made her want to dive deeper into this warmth, but her brain kept screaming at her that this wasn¡¯t the right path.

    She didn¡¯t know what to do. She couldn¡¯t fight her feelings, yet she wanted to do it so badly.

    In the end, she ended up crying in his arms, unable to decide on her next course of action.

 Chapter 180 - Running Away [3]

    Xue Ruyue, first and only daughter of Xue Yebai, Patriarch of the Xue n, the little princess of the Xue n.

    These were the identities that made up who Ruyue was in the eyes of others, and the traits that represented her.

    It was the person she was forced to be from the second she was born.

    Even at a young age, she wasn¡¯t shown the love a child should know. Be it her father, her mother, her older brother, or her extended family within the n, none of them thought much of her.

    The Xue n was once a matriarchy, being one of the very few within the cultivation world that could hold such a hierarchy sessfully, but that all changed many decades ago.

    The throne was usurped and the n was changed, bing patriarchal like almost every other power in the Cloud ne.

    But, the Xue n used to be a matriarchy for a reason. The women of the n were usually the ones who inherited the greatest talents, as the n was centralized around elements that were primarily yin in nature.

    Even Ruyue was the same. She was born with immense talents and rather than having a yin attributed element, she had an affinity to yin itself.

    It was a threat to the patriarchy. If Ruyue ever grew up to be powerful enough, she could very well usurp the throne once again and nobody would dare object.

    For this reason, she was always shunned. She was looked down upon and seen solely as a tool to further the goals of the Xue n. They figured that as long as they continued like this, she would never be a danger to them.

    She grew up never knowing love. She grew up without smiling. There were only two people she could truly show her smile towards, the guard and housemaid couple that took care of her as if she was their own daughter.

    Even when her parents abandoned her, they were there, caring for her needs and raising her properly. For this, she could never be more grateful.

    When she reached the age of 16, the visits started. From the other 4 great ns to people from the major sects, they all visited the Xue n for a chance to gain her hand in marriage.

    And with the way she was just a pawn to those higher-ups in her n, they naturally epted all these visits.

    She was forced to entertain those young masters and elders who looked at her body with lewd thoughts evident in their gazes. The yin essence of someone with an affinity for yin would be much stronger than that of a normal maiden.

    But even after all these years of her self-confidence being shattered by her n, Ruyue had still developed a sense of identity. This was due to those two that raised her with proper morals.

    She had no desire to be a tool for her n¡¯s growth. She despised the n itself.

    And with all these years going by, seeing how nobody actually cared about her and only cared for her materialistic value, she developed an ice-cold exterior.

    She pushed away everyone and everything and developed an unapproachable air. She became someone those young masters would fear trying to court.

    Doing so would only lead to their misery.

    She trained in secret and managed to reach 2nd ss at the age of 18, allowing her to be somewhat free from the constant marriage proposals that were thrown at her.

    But she ended up in a situation she couldn¡¯t control. Her parents had chosen to wed her off to an elder of the Jade Heavenly Pce. There was no way she could escape the situation the way she had been doing all these years.

    So she took drastic measures. She fled the Xue n and after many months, arrived at the Celestial Star Pce. She passed their disciple examination and climbed the ranks, catching the attention of Grand Elder Tian Yang in the process.

    At first, she wanted to reject, thinking he was just like the rest of those creeps who wanted her body. But she realized she needed backing within the sect to protect her from her n and the Jade Heavenly Pce.

    In the end, she epted his tutorship. And as time passed, she realized that he was nothing like what she had thought of him.

    He would rarely actually teach her things, giving her pointers to lead her in the right direction and then leaving the rest to her. Whenever he looked at her, she could only see the gaze of a master towards his disciple.

    She started warming up to him, seeing him as her true master. And with his guidance, she was able to achieve 3rd ss by the time she turned 20. It was an unprecedented growth speed.

    But trouble came seeking her. Her n and the Elder she was supposed to be wed to demanded her presence. She believed that there was no hope for her, even if she had backing.

    But within the next few months, all those demands and approaches died down. Why did that happen? At the time, she had no idea. But now, she knew that Tian Yang had acted.

    With his strength and position, there weren¡¯t many who could oppose him. Especially not someone with less strength than the 2nd greatest sect on the entire ne.

    She continued her training under Tian Yang without worries, slowly opening up to him. And then, someone else appeared.

    A new disciple that her master imed would be her Junior Brother. At first, she hated the thought of him. Not only was he a man, but he was also going to break the peaceful daily life that she treasured so much.

    But unexpectedly, she warmed up to him faster than she had with even Tian Yang. He was arrogant, he was asionally shameless, and he got on her nerves whenever he got the opportunity, but she couldn¡¯t find it in herself to hate him.

    Why was that? She couldn¡¯t figure it out at first. But slowly, she began to understand.

    From the beginning, he disregarded her status. Whether it be as his Senior Sister or as the little princess of the Xue n, he didn¡¯t care about it at all.

    When she acted haughty towards him, he would immediately do the same to her. It was an attitude and approach she had never experienced before.

    He¡­genuinely just saw her as another person.

    This kind of attitude inadvertently melted the icy wall she had erected around herself. The way she got annoyed and argued with him forced her to be more social.

    And she didn¡¯t hate the feeling at all. It made her feel like she was regaining the youth that was taken away from her.

    But with the situation that had just urred, she felt that such youth wasn¡¯t something she needed.

    She had gone on many missions already and she had witnessed her fair share of violence and carnage, but she never felt anything of it. Perhaps because she was as cold and indifferent as she was.

    But now, in this ce, she felt the pain that such emotions could bring. She felt how terrible the lows could be in contrast to how exhrating the highs were.

    And she hated that. She didn¡¯t want to feel such emptiness and such sorrow. She liked it better when she could just ignore everything around her and be indifferent.

    But as he embraced her and brushed his hands through her hair, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to do that.

    ¡°Why won¡¯t you let me do that?¡± She cried as she hugged him tightly. She thought that after hearing her story, he might allow her to do as she pleased.

    But Damien just smiled in response. ¡°You see, I tried the same thing, but in the end, it¡¯ll only bring you greater pain.¡±

    He thought about the guilt he felt for running away from his feelings for Rose. It was a terrible feeling.

    Perhaps he could shut out his emotions like Ruyue was trying to do, but would that solve anything? No. It was just another form of running away.

    ¡°You could say that we are simr in that regard.¡±

    He decided to share his experiences with her. He found that no matter how this senior sister of his liked to act high and mighty, at her core she was just as immature as he was.

    Watching her try to take the same method of escapism that he did, he realized how silly he was being. Is this what he was trying to do this entire time with Rose? He berated himself endlessly.

    Ruyue stood silently in his arms, listening to his story. It wasn¡¯t the first time she heard him talk about his woman, but it was the first time she heard it in depth.

    A strange suffocating feeling arose in her chest, but she didn¡¯t let it affect her. Instead, she hugged him tighter as she listened to his story.

    Under the silent moonlight, the duo relied on each other¡¯s warmth, attempting to sort out the troubles thaty within their hearts.

 Chapter 181 - Running Away [4]

    Running away

    Wasn¡¯t it something Damien was well ustomed to?

    It was only a few days ago that he finally made the decision to stop running away from his problems and his feelings.

    He was still in the process of making that change, and Ruyue ended up helping him a lot. She didn¡¯t even have to do anything, just the fact that there was someone here who could rte to his feelings was enough.

    It wasn¡¯t just his feelings for Rose that Damien ended up running away from. Rather, it was mainly himself.

    His emotions and his problems. These were the things he feared. What happened with Rose could be considered as coteral damage from his internal struggle.

    What was a person¡¯s identity? What was the thing that made them different from the rest?

    Although this was a world where everyone had their unique abilities and strengths, it didn¡¯t change the fact that everyone¡¯s strength was under the presence of the system.

    What truly made a person unique, what defines their ego, wasn¡¯t it their thoughts and emotions?

    The way someone felt and the decisions they made, the moral standards one creates for themselves as they continue living in this ruthless world, the rtionships they form through it all.

    These are the things that Damien ran from. Because if he actually ended up solving these problems, if he overcame such things, he was afraid he¡¯d be a different person.

    He was so used to having these issues within him. He felt that if he no longer had them, he¡¯d allow himself to be taken advantage of.

    But these thoughts were simply stupid. After all, oveing such things was the process of epting himself. This was what he realized as he listened to Ruyue tell her story.

    It was also the reason he decided to tell his. Firstly, he wanted her to feel what he felt, the camaraderie that he experienced when he met someone who could understand him.

    And secondly, he wanted her to gain something as well. Perhaps, if she could gain her own realizations from what he learned, she would benefit as well.

    And Ruyue was experiencing what he hoped. As she learned about the dungeon, Apeiron, and earth, she realized how small her worldview was. Not to mention, she realized that she was dealing with problems that were much smaller than his.

    If she had said that out loud, Damien would call her an idiot. After all, her problems had a much more definite reasoning than his.

    But it didn¡¯t matter since she didn¡¯t say anything. This form of thinking was just something she subconsciously used to help herself, so it was for the best.

    Ruyue thought back to those days in the n. She thought back to the struggles she had been through. Did she go through all those harsh experiences just to be a crybaby?

    No. She didn¡¯t. She didn¡¯t feel that the choice she made or the attitude she took was wrong. Rather, she felt that the reasoning for such an attitude was the problem.

    She was no longer a child. She was no longer weak. There was no reason for her to erect such a wall to scare people off. She could do so with her own strength.

    But she wouldn¡¯t change her personality. Because as she thought about it, she realized that she enjoyed the way she was. She liked herself. Imagining herself being kind or cheerful at all times ended up repulsing her.

    Because that wasn¡¯t her identity.

    Besides, it wasn¡¯t like she couldn¡¯t be kind or she couldn¡¯t be cheerful. She had people she trusted enough to show these emotions to. And that was enough for her.

    For what reason should she allow those scum to see her true self? That should be a right reserved for those she allowed it to.

    Her thoughts slowly became clear as she reaffirmed herself. She ended uping out of that state only to realize the position she was currently in.

    She was still clinging to Damien as hard as she could, even though her tears had run dry long ago. She slightly shifted her head to look up at him, only to see that he was still stuck in his thoughts.

    Not wanting to interrupt him, she decided to stay in her current position. Besides, it was warm here.

    ¡®Yes. I¡¯m staying in this position so he isn¡¯t interrupted. That¡¯s what this is.¡¯

    Meanwhile, Damien was still thinking about the same concept as before. He was thinking about why things felt so different with Ruyue. And it didn¡¯t take long to realize.

    Rose was someone who could act as his confidant at any time. And through thick and thin, she was always supportive. But there were bound to be some things she couldn¡¯t do.

    Her personality, which ended up being much bolder than Damien¡¯s, wasn¡¯t one that could fully sympathize with him. Her problemsy elsewhere, but she never refused to confront them.

    Rather, she confronted them as much as she could so that one day she could ovee them.

    So when Damien saw Ruyue, who was simr to him, he felt something different from when he confided in Rose. He felt like the simple fact that Ruyue was the same as him helped him ovee himself, albeit slightly.

    The process of change wasn¡¯t something immediate, in fact, it took a great deal of time toplete. But today, under the moonlight, that process was expedited slightly.

    However, no matter how refreshed Damien felt by this, there was no way he could feelpletely happy at the moment.

    The events prior to their conversation were still stuck in his mind. That creature pretending to be Elder Baba, it obviously had other ns.

    And he doubted that it was working alone. From how easily it epted death even though it couldn¡¯t achieve anything in the end, he felt that there was something more going on.

    But he wasn¡¯t in any position to stop it. He was on a deadline. He had to get to that convention andplete the mission his master had given him.

    If not for his master¡¯s sake, then it was for his own. It was a matter rted to his safety and the Nox who kept causing problems everywhere he went.

    ¡®Again, I end up running away.¡¯

    There wasn¡¯t just one vige within this vast forest. When Damien spread his awareness earlier, he spotted at least 3 others. And within all of them, there were traces of the same murky mana he felt in Elder Baba¡¯s hut.

    He knew there were more problems in the forest. He knew more people would end up getting hurt after they left, but there was nothing he could do.

    He wasn¡¯t some hero with a misced sense of justice that would go around helping anyone without any benefit. That simply wasn¡¯t his style. Still, he was from earth. He had a sense of values instilled in him since he was young.

    Even if he could ignore the suffering of others on arger scale, he wasn¡¯t someone who would ignore things going on right in front of him. At least, that¡¯s how it was usually.

    But this time, there was nothing he could do.

    ¡®Regardless of how powerful one gets, regardless if one can control the winds and rain with a snap of their fingers, time is an enemy that can¡¯t be ovee.¡¯

 Chapter 182 - Running Away [4]

    sh!

    Damien¡¯s eyes suddenly became clouded for a moment after he had the thought. It onlysted for a brief second, but when he came to he felt that he hadprehended something good.

    It was nothing but a spark of insight, but just from that he knew he was moving in the right direction.

    ¡®Soon. I¡¯ll have that power soon.¡¯

    Damien opened his eyes, unaware of when he had even closed them in the first ce, and slowly took in his surroundings.

    Although it was still nighttime, the moon was no longer high in the sky, already on its way to setting. Looking down, he noticed that Ruyue was still on his chest even after so long.

    ¡°Hey, I think it¡¯s time we leave now.¡± He said softly, but he got no response. After poking her cheeks a few times, he realized that she was probably asleep.

    ¡°Sigh, how troublesome.¡± Even while muttering it, he had a smile on her face. He lightly picked her up, using his space element to shift her body so she wouldn¡¯t feel ufortable, before princess carrying her out of the forest.

    The cool wind brushed through his hair and caressed his face as he ran, with the sounds of bushes and trees rustling acting as his background music. In this calm atmosphere, he finally made it out of the forest, where the panther beast had been waiting for them.

    It was a beast they had gotten from Tian Yang, so it was naturally tamed. They didn¡¯t have to worry about losing it while they went off and did other things.

    He mounted the beast as gently as he could before ordering it to set off, Ruyue still asleep in his arms.

    He couldn¡¯t me her though. She had experienced a good amount of emotional stress in the past day, making her this exhausted.

    With the story she had told him, Damien was aware that she had never truly confronted her problems like this, nor had they blown up in her face.

    It was a new experience for her, and the whole thing overloaded her. Truthfully, Damien would have been the same if he didn¡¯t have his personality.

    While he would run away from his problems just as much as she did, he would always find himself introspecting and trying to find ways tobat those problems before pushing them away again.

    It was an unhealthy cycle, but at least it prepared him for situations like this one, making it so he didn¡¯t end up with the same fatigue she did.

    But the past day was annoying for him too. Seeing innocent kids get ughtered¡­regardless of how cold his heart was, it wasn¡¯t something he could simply ept.

    It didn¡¯t matter how many adults died. That was something they decided for themselves. They made the decisions that led to that death.

    But it was different for kids. Damien made a vow to himself. A vow that no matter what he did, he would never intentionally harm a child.

    He closed his eyes andid down on the beast¡¯s wide back, intending to take a bit of rest before they reach their destination. He needed to clear his mind before they got into the truly serious stuff they were about to do.

    ***

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s eyelids fluttered open as bright rays of sunlight entered her vision, disallowing her from getting any more sleep.

    Though, she didn¡¯t realize she had fallen asleep until she looked around.

    There were bright and lush ins around her, with small viges and cities off in the distance. It was clear that they left the forest long ago.

    Not to mention the fact that she was moving atop the panther beast they had gotten from Tian Yang before leaving the sect.

    Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and attempted to get rid of the drowsiness she was feeling. ¡®I haven¡¯t had such good sleep in a long time.¡¯

    As the events before she passed out entered her memory, a furious blush crept up her face. ¡®Oh my god. What the hell was I doing?!¡¯

    She had both cried and fallen asleep on Damien¡¯s chest, making her utterly embarrassed. It wasn¡¯t something she had ever done before with another person, let alone a man.

    ¡®Is that why I felt like I was sleeping on the mostfortable pillow ever?¡¯

    Wait, but if his chest was thefortable pillow, then why did that sensation continue to the time even minutes before she woke up?

    Her head moved robotically as she looked down to see where she was sitting, and in fact, it was as she guessed.

    Underneath her, Damien was still fast asleep. Her hands were on his chest as she supported her weight and she was sitting on his stomach, just inches away from¡­

    ¡®Ah! What the hell am I thinking?!¡¯

    She wanted to stand up and move away, but there was no space to do so. The panther beast wasn¡¯t veryrge right now and Damien¡¯s body was taking up almost all the space on its back.

    Ruyue was still in a panic, but what she didn¡¯t know was that all her fidgeting had woken up a certain someone.

    ¡®Fuck! Why is she moving like that?!¡¯ Damien eximed inwardly as he tried to suppress himself, still pretending to be asleep.

    If she kept moving in such a way, he was afraid that another beast would be awoken, and he didn¡¯t want to deal with the shame that would follow that.

    Sighing lightly, he slowly opened his eyes. ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you stopped moving around so much, dear senior sister.¡± He said teasingly.

    Ruyue jumped slightly as her movements once again became robotic. She turned her head towards Damien with wide eyes as she witnessed the mischievous smile on his face.

    ¡°G-good morning¡­¡± she muttered, her voice low due to embarrassment.

    ¡°Mm, good morning,¡± Damien replied as he sat up.

    Yet, this movement resulted in another problem. Ruyue, who was sitting on his stomach, slid down and ended up on¡­another region.

    And as she was already facing him, when his upper body was raised, they ended up eye to eye, their faces only inches away from each other.

    This time, it was Damien¡¯s turn to be surprised. ¡®How did I even end up in this kind of anime situation?! Do things like this actually happen in real life?¡¯

    Meanwhile, Ruyue was frozen in both body and mind. All her senses were focused on a certain beast that had inadvertently awakened due to her sitting position.

    When Damien realized this, he averted his gaze, his face tinged with a slight redness.

    It had to be known that even with Rose, he had never been in this position. They had cuddled enough that he learned to easily suppress his urges.

    But with Ruyue¡­this kind of sense hadn¡¯t been developed in the slightest.

    When Ruyue saw Damien¡¯s red face, her attention waspletely shifted off what was happening with his lower body. She ended up smiling slyly as she watched him.

    ¡°I see, I see, so even my cold-hearted Junior brother can make such a face!¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Damien responded emotionlessly. But Ruyue, who had a clear view of his face, was able to see how the redness slightly increased.

    ¡®I think I¡¯m beginning to understand why he loves to do this to me.¡¯

    She continued teasing him,pletely forgetting the position they were in at the moment, as the two of them continued their journey.

    They were now only a single day away from their destination.

 Chapter 183 - Bloodstone River [1]

    The blistering heat covering thend slowly cooled down as the sun began to set over the horizon.

    The day had passed without much drama, and finally, Damien and Ruyue could see their destination approaching.

    In the distance, they could faintly make out the outline of an expansive mountain range whose height reached the clouds, however, its contents were veiled in secrecy.

    ¡°It¡¯s just as described in the reports from those who have been in this region,¡± Ruyue eximed in amazement as she gazed upon the majestic sight.

    Damien could only nod his head in response, as his thoughts were also transfixed on the sight in front of them.

    The outline of the mountain range they could truly see was only the tip of the iceberg, as the entirety of its structure was covered by a massive fog that looked almost ethereal.

    It was hazy, yet translucent at the same time. It covered the view of the mountain range like arge wall, preventing outsiders from understanding its contents.

    This fog was so notorious that it had received its own name, the myriad illusion veil. Tho e name wasn¡¯t grand for nothing, describing the experience one would have once they entered the dense veil.

    It was said that once one traveled far enough into the fog, they would lose their sense of direction, not knowing up from left, or down from straight. And not only that, there were even rumors that one could lose their entire identity to the horrifying yet mysterious fog.

    And by the time the sun finally set and night fell on the Central Continent, the duo reached the border of this fog.

    Luckily enough, there was a small city on the border, where plenty of mercenaries and cultivators would gather before setting off to test their luck within the 3000 beast mountain range.

    ¡°I think we should stay here for the night. Regardless if we know exactly where we¡¯re going, I don¡¯t want to risk getting lost in that fog when visibility is at its lowest.¡± Damien remarked warily.

    ¡°I agree. The fog¡¯s reputation is already bad enough. Though, I don¡¯t think our destination is far enough within for us to experience its true horrors.¡± Ruyue responded.

    Still, the two of them didn¡¯t take any chances and made their way into the city. They had already left the panther beast they used for transport, allowing it to return to its original owner.

    It was only apanying them to take them this far, as it would only be in danger if it continued with them. For their return trip, they already had the talismans that Tian Yang gave them, so it wasn¡¯t necessarily a problem.

    Entering the city, the two were immediately able to feel the gloomy atmosphere that encased it. Considering the location, it was only natural.

    Many of the cultivators currently residing in the city had already been through the fog, losing theirpanions on the way. Besides them, there were those who sternly prepared for expeditions. As for the residents of the city, there actually weren¡¯t that many,

    It would be crazy for someone to voluntarily be a permanent resident of a city such as this one which always stunk with the aura of death. The only ones that truly made this decision were the owners of the many inns and establishments that made up the city¡¯s area.

    These people were fearless in the face of profits.

    Anyway, Damien and Ruyue disregarded it all as they entered one of the inns and booked a room.

    Being infinitely close to the convention they were about to attend, it became much more important for them to keep up their roles, so they only purchased a single room.

    But both of them were adults. Even if they tended to bicker like children whenever they wanted to have fun, this wasn¡¯t the time for such things. Damien took his spot on the floor without saying a word while Ruyue took the bed.

    And like that, a peaceful night passed. When the sun once again rose, it was time for them to enter the tiger¡¯s den.

    Standing in front of the myriad illusion veil, the duo looked into each other¡¯s eyes as they firmed their resolve. Although they had always been aware of the importance of their mission, it was only settling in now.

    They were going to be surrounded by enemies on all sides, with some being far out of the scope of their abilities. If they made one wrong move, they¡¯d be crushed without even knowing how they died.

    But it was the life of a cultivator to take risks. And it was their responsibility to acquire good information and make it out safely. For the next 3 months, they would have to be on their highest alert.

    Nodding at each other silently, they rushed into the fog.

    ¡®This fog¡­ its reputation is well deserved.¡¯ Damien sighed inwardly as they made their way forward. They had only been running for a few minutes, but he could already feel the range of his awareness slowly decreasing.

    What used to be enough to cover an entire mid-sized state became only enough to cover small states, before gradually sinking to the level of a city. It was such a drastic decrease that Damien felt slightly ustrophobic.

    He was someone who loved to be in control. And the current feeling he was getting was theplete opposite. The fog was making him wary. He was now feeling much luckier for the escape talismans they had on them.

    If he was feeling this ufortable with just the outskirts of the fog, he had no desire to find out what it would feel like to go deeper within it, especially if he had to do so while fleeing.

    Luckily, he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with it for long as he saw their final destination up ahead.

    The location they had marked wasn¡¯t some majorly specific area on the outskirts of the mountain range, as the fog would never permit them to find such a ce.

    Rather, it was andmark that could be widely recognized. Tian Yang had gathered a truly concrete amount of information for them to make preparations from.

    Since the same problem with the fog would affect everyone, the wicked sects had set up checkpoints along the location where those attending the convention could be guided to the true location.

    As they made their way closer, he saw the glorious form of arge river that snaked through the myriad illusion veil, creating a border between the outskirts and the truly dangerous parts of the fog.

    The river wasn¡¯t enormously wide, with 3rd ss beings able to cross it with a single leap, but its depth couldn¡¯t be underestimated. However, this wasn¡¯t the river¡¯s main attraction.

    Rather, it was the blood-red color of the water that gave this river its name and fame.

    A river that was rumored to be formed by the blood of countless cultivators that had died within it. A river that used to just be a simple gorge on the outskirts of the 3000 beast mountain range.

    ¡°The Bloodstone River,¡± Damien muttered as he witnessed it with his own eyes.

 Chapter 184 - Bloodstone River [2]

    ¡°The Bloodstone River,¡± Damien muttered as he witnessed it with his own eyes.

    It truly deserved its name. He couldn¡¯t even tell the difference between this water and true blood. Even from this distance, its consistency didn¡¯t seem the same as pure water.

    Suddenly, a masked man appeared before them. His entire body was covered in a ck cloak as well, making him look overly suspicious.

    Yet, nobody would question him. It wasn¡¯t irregr for cultivators to hide their identities as such when they went out on adventures. Who knew what would happen?

    There were many cases where naive rogue cultivators identally offended powerful young masters or simr people and had their entire lineages eradicated. Such concealment became a regr practice for those without backing.

    Gazing at the suspicious man, the duo didn¡¯t feel any nervousness. They knew his purpose in approaching them.

    ¡°Would the two of you like assistance in crossing this river?¡± The man asked, motioning towards a small ferry that was positioned on the shore of the river. Coupled with the man¡¯s appearance, it was like a tant allusion to crossing the River Styx.

    However, the duo had no intention of crossing the river. ¡°No. Instead, we want to explore what¡¯s held in the deepest depths of this Bloodstone River.¡±

    Hearing Damien¡¯s words, the man¡¯s eyes shed for a second. But it wasn¡¯t something either of the two would miss. Slightly nodding his head, the man beckoned them forward.

    ¡°If that is your wish, then so be it. The deepest depths of the Bloodstone Rivery 5 kilometers east. There, you will meet a man who can guide you to your desires.¡±

    Damien nodded lightly towards the cloaked man before turning eastward.

    The words Damien had spoken were the keywords to announce participation in the event about to take ce. It wasn¡¯t that hard to figure out, but it was still enough to guarantee veracity.

    Damien and Ruyue once again took off running before reaching the location the man had pointed out. Soon, they met the guide the cloaked man had told them about.

    From there, the process of gaining entry was simple.

    The new cloaked individual took Damien and Ruyue towards arge tree in the vicinity and ced his hand on its bark. This action in turn opened up the tree trunk, revealing a passageway within.

    ¡°We hope you enjoy your stay.¡± The cloaked individual said as Damien and Ruyue entered the passage, the hidden entrance closing behind them.

    In truth, this event wasn¡¯t as secretive as one would expect. It wasn¡¯t actually a hidden event at all.

    Just like how the righteous sects held an annual tournament and gathering of sects, the wicked powers did the same.

    It was a showcase and a sort of festival.

    For this reason, they didn¡¯t need to care too much about spies infiltrating the event. They did the same for the righteous sect events, so why shouldn¡¯t they allow the same?

    In reality, the righteous sects were well aware of this convention, they just left it alone as there was nothing to gain from interrupting it.

    Even if they wanted to use the gathering to annihte the wicked powers, they would obviously fail miserably. And if they didn¡¯t, they¡¯d lose too much manpower in the raid for it to actually be a worthwhile investment.

    And with such a delicate bnce in ce, this was the perfect ce for many covert operations and ns to take ce. It was a simr concept to hiding in in sight.

    This was the reason Damien and Ruyue had to take so much effort to conceal themselves. Even if righteous sect spies weren¡¯t monitored within the main convention, they obviously wouldn¡¯t be able to gain entry to anywhere important.

    This was the same for those who came from other uninvolved wicked sects.

    As Damien and Ruyue made their way down the steep staircase that made up this hidden passageway, they came across a heavy iron door with a singletch on it.

    As if sensing their presence, thetch opened, giving way to a piercing set of eyes that scanned them up and down before the door slowly opened, revealing the scenery within.

    It was arge cavern that could almost be mistaken for an open-air city if not for the rocky ceiling above them.

    There were tens of pavilions and stalls set up around the area, forming a scene reminiscent of a state fair on earth.

    The makeshift streets were lined with cultivators of all shapes and sizes, the only thing they had inmon being the half masks that covered their faces.

    It was another measure of ensuring that no identities were revealed unless one chose to do so themselves. As for what happened if they did, well that was their own problem. The organizers of the event wouldn¡¯t clean up after the idiots who made their own messes.

    Damien and Ruyue had also donned these half masks, as they were given out by the cloaked individual that opened the passageway for them.

    The duo strolled the streets and took in the sights, in awe of how little the scene resembled what they had originally thought it¡¯d look like.

    ¡®This ce is a lot cleaner than I expected it to be.¡¯

    ¡®Yeah. From the way the wicked sects are usually portrayed, I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d abide by conventional standards like this.¡¯

    Damien and Ruyuemunicated through mana transmission.

    The perception Damien had formed of the wicked sects from the way those at the Celestial Star Pce talked about them was much more primitive, to say the least.

    He expected them to be killing each other wantonly,mitting debauchery on the side of the street, and many other less than civilized things.

    Yet, it wasn¡¯t like that at all.

    Perhaps there were some who had fallen so far into depravity that they didn¡¯t care about image or public decency in the slightest, but most had enough sense to not act so idiotic.

    And such rules were enforced in this ce. Well, to a certain extent.

    ¡°Hey, you! Didn¡¯t I tell you to stay the fuck away from me?!¡± A burly man yelled towards another man in front of him, evidently annoyed.

    ¡°Did you? I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t tend to remember the buzzing of flies around me.¡± The smaller man responded.

    ¡°The fuck did you just say to me?!¡± The burly man yelled furiously.

    ¡°Ohhh I remember you now. You¡¯re that idiot who I crippled a while back because you tried toy hands on my woman.¡±

    ¡°Your woman?! She was my woman from the start! Who gave you the right to call her that?!¡±

    ¡°Well, she didn¡¯t seem to think she was your woman when she was moaning my namest night.¡±

    The burly man¡¯s face had turned redder than a tomato at this point, and it was clear he could no longer hold himself back.

    ¡°That¡¯s it. If I deal with you, she¡¯ll be mine again. That¡¯s all it takes, right!¡± The aura of an entry-level 3rd ss surged from his body and the earth around him trembled.

    Suddenly, a massive spike protruded from the ground, aiming at the smaller man¡¯s stomach.

    ¡°This is the price of messing with me.¡±

    Yet, the smaller man made no move to dodge. Instead, he lightly waved his hand, causing the earth spike to crack and shatter into pieces.

    ¡°W-what did you just do?¡± The burly man asked in trepidation.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just hope you learn how to pick your opponents in your next life. Also, you shouldn¡¯t fall in love with sluts who lust after any man with even a bit of power.¡± The smaller man responded.

    Before the burly man could say another word, the smaller man vanished, appearing in front of him and pushing his palm towards his head.

    It was toote for the burly man to block, so he tried to use his aura for defense. But he was no match for his opponent. As the smaller man said, he had no idea how to pick his opponents.

    When the palm reached the burly man¡¯s head, the reaction was instant. The force of the palmpletely obliterated everything in its path, causing the man¡¯s head to explode like a watermelon, his skull fragments and brains painting the ground in their color.

    Lightly flicking the blood off of his hand, the smaller man looked at the falling corpse in disdain before walking off, pretending as if nothing had ever happened.

    And just like him, the rest of the witnesses of the event went on with their days as if the prior interaction never took ce.

    ¡®Due to a small quarrel like that, a man lost his life.¡¯

    Damien wasn¡¯t one to highly value the lives of others, but it was the first time he had seen someone get killed over something so minuscule. Shaking his head lightly, he made a mental note to himself not to end up in the same situation.

    ¡®The world truly is a much more ruthless ce than I thought.¡¯

 Chapter 185 - Convention [1]

    In a certain part of the underground space, there were 8 raised tforms where many battles were taking ce. On two of those, there were familiar figures taking part in the festivities.

    Damien and Ruyue had spent thest day browsing the convention and understanding the proceedings so far, and they were generally underwhelmed by what they found.

    The stalls lining the streets were like market vendors, selling everything from artifacts and herbs to cultivation techniques.

    Yet, at least one out of every ten stalls was full of scam treasures.

    However, the thing that stood out most was probably the cultivation manuals. They were the main reason why wicked powers were considered wicked in the first ce, and they were the main cause of the deteriorating humanity of those who join these sects.

    There were many different methods within these techniques, some even made to turn victims into cultivation cauldrons.

    It was an interesting experience seeing all these wicked techniques, as it opened Damien¡¯s mind to many methods he didn¡¯t think were possible.

    With the way the system functioned, killing was the most effective way to gain levels. With this kind of system, he didn¡¯t think that stealing cultivation was such a big deal.

    After all, experience gained through killing was essentially stolen from those that died. However, it was different with these manuals. Rather than a part of their experience, they would maximize the amount of experience gained from the victim.

    But there was a penalty for doing so. The system was an entity that prioritized bnce, leaving every action with a reaction. In return for gaining such immense benefits from killing, the user of these techniques would lose their sanity.

    Not only that, but some of these techniques also deteriorated the appearance of bodily function of the user. Damien passed many people who already looked like soulless husks as they perused the convention grounds.

    And after they made their way past these stalls, the duo found the dueling stage they were currently on. It was a ce for the younger generation to show their fangs andpete.

    Yet, from their observation before joining, it was evident how little they cared about magnanimity in the wicked powers. The winner of the duels was never thest one standing, rather it was thest one alive.

    It made him wonder what the wicked sects were doing since they were effectively killing off seedlings that could be important to their powers in the future, but Ruyue exined it to him well.

    It was a simr concept to what went on with the economy on earth. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer. Those who won would be fed all the resources that would have been distributed among many if it was a righteous power.

    Even if the righteous sects also poured more resources into the strongest and most talented, they never forsook those with less talent or strength.

    The wicked sects were clearly more prone to building elite forces with smaller numbers than the righteous sects.

    Boom!

    ck lightning coursed through the dueling stage as Damien unleashed his power.

    However, his opponent didn¡¯t do the same. A deep purple mist spread from her as her body began to move rhythmically.

    Her lithe and graceful movements entranced the audience watching her, making it so they couldn¡¯t take their eyes off of her.

    Even if they were watching from afar, the effects of her technique still affected them. A slight purple aura began to radiate from their eyes as their expressions began to dull.

    The woman smirked at the sight. This was the power she was proud of, the power to seduce any and every man to be her loyal ve.

    The Lustful Fairy Sect. It was a power diametrically opposed to the Supreme Fairy Paradise in principle, and the members of the sect fully embraced their traits, evident in the name of their power.

    The power of lust was something that could be incredibly dangerous when exploited. It was the foundation of their power and the reason they were highly regarded and despised by other powers.

    Yet, it had a fatal weakness. And the man that was her opponent at the moment happened to be one of those weaknesses.

    Before the woman could even understand what was going on, Damien was in front of her with her neck clutched in his iron grip.

    The power of lust? Damien knew it well. It had tried to control him before when his bestial instincts went out of control, but such experiences had led him to learn to control such feelings.

    But that wasn¡¯t the reason he stood on the stage unaffected at the moment. The power this woman was using wasn¡¯t necessarily lust itself, it was closer to charm.

    And this kind of fake charm was nothing more than an illusion. An illusion that he had absolute immunity towards.

    His cold eyes looked into her¡¯s and without remorse, he tightened his grip. He could clearly feel the disgusting feeling of bones cracking within his hand, but he didn¡¯t care.

    This was a gathering of scum. Even if he knew well that not everyone here was scum, he had to be scum to fit in. Not to mention, he felt that this woman very much deserved death for daring to attempt what she was doing.

    There were 3 things Damien hated most in the world, if spiders weren¡¯t counted. And being manipted was absolutely on that list.

    He wouldn¡¯t stand by as someone attempted to pull such a trick on him.

    The second the woman died, the purple mist that surrounded her dispersed and the audience slowly regained their senses. Naturally, many cheers followed this.

    Damien wasn¡¯t the only one who hated being manipted, after all.

    Seeing that the result was finalized, the one in charge of the match raised his voice.

    ¡°Winner! Zhen Fang from the Twilight Blood Sect!¡±

    Damien smiled lightly before looking over at the adjacent stage, where Ruyue had also finished her match.

    Naturally, the two hadn¡¯te to such arge event without backing.

    The Twilight Blood Sect.

    It was a reclusive power that had a powerful name within the wicked sectmunity. The power had a rich history of conflict with the righteous sects, making it an example that mana sects follow.

    The sect even umted a blood debt with the Jade Heavenly Pce,unching a campaign 100 years ago and sessfully assassinating the Young Pce Lord of the sect.

    Ever since that event, the two sects had been engaged in a silent war in the shadows. Many people on both sides had died in this conflict, but the power of the Twilight Blood Sect never seemed to diminish.

    However, the entire conflict was a facade. The Twilight Blood Sect was actually a power sponsored by the righteous sects, being their key into the wicked society.

    It was a fact that remained unknown to most, but due to the nature of this mission, Damien and Ruyue became privy to such information.

    And although it was a cover for the righteous sects, it didn¡¯t discredit the power at all. The Twilight Blood Sect was truly as vicious as it portrayed itself.

 Chapter 186 - Convention [2]

    The lives that were lost in the false war between the Twilight Blood Sect and the Jade Heavenly Pce were real. Those were sacrifices made in order to keep the wicked sect away from suspicion.

    Even the Young Pce Lord was sacrificed for this purpose, making it evident that the facade was more important to those in power than the lives of a few, regardless of their importance.

    And even besides the war, the Twilight Blood Sect hadmitted many wicked deeds. However, their cultivation technique remained unknown.

    The sect itself was known for being reclusive, and even the officials from other wicked powers had never seen its Sect Master. For asions like this one, a representative was always sent.

    There were rumors that the Sect Master had been injured in a conflict with the Jade Heavenly Pce, while others believed he was in the middle of cultivating towards a major breakthrough, but nothing was made official.

    Even the sect never confirmed nor denied the rumors, leaving most people puzzled. Yet, nobody could find out the truth. As previously mentioned, the Sect¡¯s power was always on an incline, and any spies that were nted within would be swiftly removed.

    When he learned all this information, Damien felt that the world was always forcing him to see how nothing could be described in terms of ck and white.

    Although he was never one to separate between two categories like this, it was still something pushed onto him. Righteous or wicked, good or evil, it didn¡¯t matter. He had long since learned to view the world in grey.

    And if he was to ask himself what he thought of the Twilight Blood Sect and the actions of the righteous sects? He couldn¡¯te up with a concrete answer.

    If he had to assign whether it was morally just or not, he¡¯d objectively say it was wrong. But did that mean he opposed it? What would he do if he was in the same position as them?

    Frankly, he wasn¡¯t adept enough at politics to answer such a question definitely, but if he had to weigh his opinion, he couldn¡¯t find fault with the righteous sects for their actions.

    Even if the method was unorthodox or vile, it did what it was intended to do. The sect¡¯s existence was the reason why Damien and Ruyue were able to infiltrate without any hindrances.

    It was properly living up to its purpose. And for this reason, Damien couldn¡¯tin about it, not that he would¡¯ve done so in the first ce.

    As he was immersed in his thoughts, he and Ruyue had already left the dueling stages and were once again traversing through the many pavilions within the underground space.

    They had already fought 5 battles each, which was the limit of what they were allowed to do per day of the convention. And it wasn¡¯t like they went up there for fun.

    ¡°He should be approaching us any time soon¡± Damien muttered as he quietly looked around.

    And as he expected, a man who looked to be in histe 20s arrived in front of them not even 10 minutester.

    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s good to see you again, Junior brother and Junior sister!¡± He eximed, drawing attention to himself with his loud attitude.

    But when the crowd noticed the insignia on his chest, they quickly turned their gazes away and minded their own business.

    It was a blood-red moon with three ravens flying diagonally in front of it, the symbol of the Twilight Blood Sect.

    ¡°Come,e! I know the two of you have been enjoying the festivities so far, but we have much to discuss!¡± The man continued with a wink.

    The duo nodded curtly before following after him, soon arriving in front of an inn that looked slightly fancier than the rest.

    Arriving within, the man led them up two flights of stairs before arriving at a room and entering it. The room itself was nothing special, having a single bed and a rtively decent amount of space, but its entirety was covered in a formation that revealed itself before Damien¡¯s eyes.

    Even without extensive knowledge of runes, he was able to figure out its purpose. It was a soundproofing formation, and a high-grade one at that.

    ¡°Now that we¡¯re here, I can speak freely,¡± the man said, ¡°my name is Xian Lin, and I am an Elder of the Jada Heavenly Pce. If I¡¯m not mistaken, you two are from the Celestial Star Pce, are you not?¡±

    Damien¡¯s gaze sharpened at the man¡¯s words. ¡°Why would you suspect us to be from a righteous sect when we are clearly from the same power? Elder Hua would be immensely displeased with you.¡±

    ¡°Well, no need to worry about that. Elder Hua is my beloved and revered grandfather, after all.¡±

    Hearing his words, Damien slightly rxed bud guard. It was nothing more than a code he needed to confirm before revealing his identity to anyone. In a ce where many important figures might gather, who knew what kind of tricks might be pulled?

    Nodding his head, Damien decided to continue the conversation. The man¡¯s identity had been verified, so even if he kept his guard up, there was no more reason to pretend.

    ¡°We are indeed the same as you, however, I won¡¯t reveal anything else. Anyway, that isn¡¯t the purpose of the meeting, is it? Let¡¯s get on to business.¡±

    Xian Lin nodded his head lightly. ¡°I simply wanted to confirm, since I saw you making a fuss on the battle stage. I am the representative of the sect for this year¡¯s convention.

    ¡°However, I¡¯m aware that your reason for attending is different from mine, as we all have been assigned separate positions. I met with you two today to both verify your affiliation to any prying eyes and give you a bit of intel that might be useful to you.¡±

    Speaking this far, Xian Lin¡¯s expression became more serious. ¡°In the past 2 days that I have been present here, I have discovered that there isn¡¯t just a single convention taking ce here.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Isn¡¯t this a gathering for wicked sects? What other powers would dare to hold an event in the same ce?¡± Ruyue questioned.

    ¡°Well, even I¡¯m not sure about that. From what I¡¯ve seen, it¡¯s a variety of people from different powers that are entering this convention. I haven¡¯t been able to find a link between them quite yet.

    ¡°However, if I had to make an educated guess, I would say they are all part of a separate organization that works within the wicked powers or uses it as a front. There¡¯s no way the leaders and Sect Masters are unaware of this hidden convention, so at least a few of them must be involved as well.¡±

    Hearing Xian Lin¡¯s conjecture, there was only a single group Damien could think to be responsible.

    ¡®Devil worshippers.¡¯

    Although his knowledge was shallow and he wasn¡¯t sure if there were other simr organizations, he firmly believed that his guess was right.

    Call it intuition, or call it jumping to conclusions, but he felt that this time there was no other possibility.

    And besides, wasn¡¯t their goal at this convention to monitor the devil worshippers? There were plenty of others like Xian Lin who could infiltrate the wicked sect convention.

    Thinking this far, Damien sent a transmission to Ruyue to get her approval. And it didn¡¯t take her much thought to arrive at a simr conclusion.

    Looking at Xian Lin, Damien felt no hesitation. He wanted to act fast, even if this mission itself was more of a long game.

    ¡°Very well. Take us to the hidden convention so we can investigate it further.¡±

 Chapter 187 - Hidden Convention [1]

    Xian Lin was a smart man, and seeing the attitude the two had towards him, he felt it better if he didn¡¯t dy.

    Although they were technically allies working towards the same goal, they obviously didn¡¯t treat him as such. And frankly, he felt that this was the proper attitude they should have.

    If this duo, who hadn¡¯t even told him their names, had been more open, he would¡¯ve doubted their credibility.

    After all, regardless of how many cautionary measures and codes they created, there was never a situation where they could be 100% sure of each other¡¯s identities.

    Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t dwell on the matter too much. The group stayed in the inn until what would¡¯ve been nightfall if they could see the sky before departing back through the convention.

    As they walked, Damien and Ruyue once again had time to admire the sights around them, but it didn¡¯t seem like that was all they were doing.

    If Damien had to be honest, ever since that night in the unnamed forest where Ruyue had cried on his chest, their rtionship had be awkward at best.

    Even with how they joked around on their way to the mountain range, he still noticed a wall she was trying to erect between them.

    But he couldn¡¯t really say anything about it. From what he could figure out, she was in the process of healing. Although the vige massacre hadn¡¯t been a big deal to him, it was different for her, who had ended up falling victim to the trap.

    If what she needed now was time toe out of her shell again, he could only give it to her. They weren¡¯t close enough for him to be of any more help.

    He chose to put the matter aside for now since they were currently on a mission. It¡¯d be weird if she acted too cheerful in the serious atmosphere they had around them since arriving.

    While the group was in their own thoughts, they arrived at an unassuming wall at the far end of the convention. This wall was the end of this massive cavern, meaning they could go no further.

    Or at least, that¡¯s how it should¡¯ve been.

    The main strength of Damien¡¯s eyes so far had been their ability to see through illusions, and once again they lived up to this purpose.

    Directly in front of them, there was an illusion around 3 meters in height resembling a door. Past this door, he could feel plenty of life auras as if there was another hidden meeting going on there.

    ¡°This wall is where I¡¯ve seen the people I mentioned disappearing into. I don¡¯t know exactly where they¡¯re going, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s somewhere around here.¡± Xian Lin said.

    ¡°Yeah, I see it as well. Thanks for your help so far, but we can take it from here. I¡¯m sure you have your own duties to attend to.¡± Damien responded curtly.

    Although it came off arrogant, Xian Lin was well aware that it was simply their wariness towards him that elicited such an attitude. Because of this, he could only wryly smile and bid his farewells.

    ¡°As you said, I am here as the Sect¡¯s representative, so I have many duties to attend to. I hope the two of you find what you are looking for.¡±

    After Xian Lin left, Damien and Ruyue didn¡¯t immediately enter the premises of the hidden convention, instead opting to watch out for other entrants beforehand.

    And it only took a single group for Damien to confirm his suspicions. As the group of individuals passed the illusion, he ended up finding something interesting.

    A familiar ck aura that smelled of death radiated from each and every one of them. He had seen it once before on the Northern Continent, but he didn¡¯t pay it much attention back then since the enemies had proudly dered themselves as devil worshippers.

    The curious thing was that the strength of these auras was abysmal. There was one among them that had slightly more aura than the rest, but it still didn¡¯t amount to much.

    Remembering the leader that the Shen n head had fought, he realized there must be ranks among even the devil worshippers.

    It might¡¯ve been stupid of him to think otherwise, but the fact of the matter was that he never necessarily considered it. They were all the same to him anyway, they were enemies.

    Still, since the fact that the hidden convention was for devil worshippers had been confirmed after he watched a few more groups enter, he and Ruyue decided to enter as well.

    The main preparations they had to make before embarking on this trip were all rted to identity. From their new names and rtionships to their affiliation with the Twilight Blood Sect, and finally¡­

    Damien looked down at his own body, which was radiating a simr ck aura to those he had watched previously.

    This was yet another reason for Damien to praise Tian Yang¡¯s seemingly endless capabilities. The two of them only had to take a simple pill, but now they were radiating the aura of a Nox follower.

    What was the secret behind this? Damien didn¡¯t bother to ask. Back then, there was a clear look in Tian Yang¡¯s eyes that forbid questioning. But he was sure that the top experts of the world had done some¡­not so righteous experiments to create such things.

    But there was no use inining. Such inventions were the reason he could sessfully infiltrate as he was doing today. It was the same case as what he felt with the Twilight Blood Sect.

    If it was anyone else, perhaps their opinions and view on the righteous sects would have been shattered, but for Damien and Ruyue it wasn¡¯t that big of a deal.

    While Damien was an outsider and had never really taken the ¡°righteous¡± title seriously, Ruyue was a core member of a major n regardless of how terribly they treated her. She was well aware that the powers that coined themselves as good were anything but.

    Maybe that was part of the reason the two of them had been given this mission. Besides the fact that they could keep their mouths shut, they weren¡¯t going to be disillusioned so there was no worry about defection or anything of the sort.

    Thinking these kinds of useless things, Damien led Ruyue through the illusory area of the rock wall that functioned as a door.

    There was no tedious procedure for them to prove themselves, but there was a guard radiating the aura of a peak 3rd ss existence waiting at the door.

    On his face were a pair of sses, and considering how nigh impossible it was to have bad vision as one¡¯s body evolved through ranking up, Damien was sure they were an artifact.

    Most likely, they were used to see the ck aura that surrounded Devil worshippers. Anyone who had such an aura would gain entry into the hidden convention.

    Yet, as Damien looked around the new area he had just entered, he no longer knew whether ¡°convention¡± was the proper word to describe it.

    No, rather than a convention, it was more abination of a trading post, an exchange fair, and an auction.

 Chapter 190 - Auction [2]

    Damien and Ruyue made their way past the crowds of people lining the stone roads of the underground cavern as they headed to the auction site.

    Unlike when they first arrived at this hidden convention, the site had been fully erected, and the pavilion could be seen from many meters away, even with the hubbub of people crowding the streets.

    When they arrived in front of the building, they were greeted by a line so long they couldn¡¯t see the end of it. Only then did they realize that the crowds they had waded past were all waiting in said line.

    However, they didn¡¯t have to pay attention to such details. Xian Lin had contacted them a day ago and had given them an invitation to the auction meant for the Twilight Blood Sect. Although they normally should have gotten only one of these, Xian Lin had pulled his weight to make sure the duo also got a spot.

    As such, they swiftly bypassed the line and found one of the many attendants on the first floor of the two-story building that had been built in this area.

    ¡°Hello, if you are nning to participate in the auction, you must wait in the line you saw on your way here.¡± The attendant said with a slight hint of contempt in his expression.

    Evidently, there were plenty of people who had tried to bypass the line and bribe their way in, and the attendant made it clear he believed Damien and Ruyue fell in this category.

    After all, their looks with their disguises on were generally average, perfectly middle of the pack. There was nothing in particr that stood out about the duo as even the aura of their elemental affinities was hidden.

    The only detail that could raise a brow was the logo of the Twilight Blood Sect that was patched onto their robes, but obviously, the attendant didn¡¯t care for any of these things.

    Or rather, he didn¡¯t even bother to check. His identity was that of a devil worshipper, regardless of the politeness he showed for the sake of the event. He had long since stopped caring about affiliations to sects that would be destroyed as soon as his Lords took control of the world.

    Damien was well acquainted with the so-called ¡°auction house¡± scenario, where plenty of trouble and unneeded attention could follow him, but he had no desire to partake in such annoyances.

    Rather than face p this attendant who was probably sick of the shit the many idiots wandering these halls had put him through, Damien chose to be civil.

    He silently withdrew a thin sheet of parchment from his spatial ring. It was coarse to the touch and had a sort of aura that no ordinary paper could contain. This material was specially constructed for the sake of this event so that nobody could force their way in with fake invitations.

    The attendant swiftly grabbed the paper that Damien handed to him and perused its contents before a slight smile crept up his face.

    ¡°Ah! I see the esteemed guests have been invited by our leaders to attend this auction. Forgive my insolence earlier, but it is necessary to stay on guard in case anyone tries anything funny. Anyway, ignore my pointless drivel, I¡¯ll show you to your private room.¡±

    Even the way the attendant addressed the duo had be more formal, but neither of them cared. Rather, Damien was focused on another detail.

    Yes, a private room. Each sect that was invited was given its own private room to use during the auction. It would both conceal their identities and show their standing to the average cultivators that took up the ten thousand normal seats in the pavilion.

    But to Damien, the former condition was most important. He didn¡¯t know exactly how much money he¡¯d spend today, but he guaranteed it¡¯d be in the millions of spirit stones.

    This kind of wealth was something even he wasn¡¯t used to carrying around, as even his total wealth in Apeiron only amounted to several hundred thousand.

    He didn¡¯t even trust himself to hold such wealth, which is why Ruyue had been in charge of the money during the trip.

    While he was shuddering at the thought of throwing away what was essentially millions or even billions of dors, the attendant had led the duo to their private room.

    ¡°If there is anything esteemed guests need, please be sure to press the button on the left side to call an attendant to the room. They will be sure to fulfill your requests. As for the button on the right, you may use it when you are ready to bid.¡±

    The attendant retreated while closing the door to the private room, and Damien and Ruyue were able to take a nce at the space they were given.

    Simr to the hotel room Xian Lin had taken them to a month ago, this room was also equipped with many formations.

    From what Damien could gather, there was one for soundproofing and another to conceal what was happening in the room. It seemed thetter formation would work in tandem with the ss he saw previously to totally iste the space.

    Now that he thought about it, Damien realized that he hadn¡¯t really put much thought into formations or runic arts at all. He hadn¡¯t encountered any during his stay in Apeiron, so he never bothered to learn.

    However, they seemed overly abundant on the Cloud ne. Damien had plenty of books collecting dust in his subspace inventory that he got way back when he was in the dungeon.

    When he left Kurt¡¯s subspace, he took almost everything with him. He was sure there were books about formations within the pile since even alchemy seemed to have a small section.

    Making up his mind to at least gain basic knowledge of runic arts, Damien made his way to the two-seated sofa in front of the ss looking down on the auction stage.

    Without saying a word, Ruyue joined him.

    The two of them watched in awkward silence as the guests continued to pile in, quickly filling out the seats of the action.

    Damien was feeling especially constricted in the weird atmosphere. Witnessing the kinds of activities the devil worshippers were partaking in seemed to take a hit on Ruyue¡¯s psyche.

    She had been mostly silent ever since they entered the convention; but her aura had be noticeably frosty over the past month.

    Truth be told, Damien would have been simr if it was his first time witnessing such things. But, they were doing the same thing on earth.

    Experimentation, human trafficking, killing of innocents, these kinds of sins were just a part of the tally Damien could make in his head.

    And the fact that they were happening on multiples was even worse. He didn¡¯t like it at all, but it wasn¡¯t his ce to say anything.

    He was a 3rd ss, in this world¡¯s terms a Core Formation realm expert. If he went to earth, he could dominate as a god. If he went to Apeiron, he could be a premier existence just under the level of an emperor.

    But here? Here he was merely a spec of dust. One of many.

    He hade to realize that not all beings were created equal, regardless of strength. He remembered his days on Apeiron when he was just a 2nd ss who hadn¡¯t even ascended to this level, but he could still kill mid-level 3rd sses:

    He remembered the old men from the Burning Sun Sect that he had met. Even if they were a cut above the rest, they weren¡¯t anything he couldn¡¯t handle with his level of strength.

    But here in the Central Continent, he would alwayse across beings that changed his perception. Long Chen, Ruyue, Tian Yang, even Xian Lin. Time and time again, he was forced to realize that his genius wasn¡¯t as insane as he originally thought it was.

    Perhaps he was indeed a genius worth celebrating. He was most definitely at the head of the pack, but it wasn¡¯t by much. He wasn¡¯t anything heaven-defying.

    In his observation, he realized how much environment could affect strength regardless of level. He realized that with the purity of mana on the Central Continent and the vast amount of fortuitous encounters one could have here, the 3rd ss existences of Apeiron wouldn¡¯t be able to match up.

    And as he thought this far, there was one question that took precedence above the rest.

    How were Rose and Elena able to match this level even though they hadn¡¯t had ess to the same benefits as the rest?

 Chapter 191 - Auction [3]

    Although the question about Rose and Elena¡¯s prowess, and even his own prowess, attempted to gue his mind, he decided not to linger on it for too long.

    This was the kind of mystery he knew he couldn¡¯t solve no matter how deep he thought about it. He simply didn¡¯t have the worldly knowledge to do so. Perhaps, all his questions could be answered as he climbed up the stages of power.

    Still, the difference in power between 3rd ss existences on the differents or even continents that he had been to had been duly noted in his mind. He had to make sure he didn¡¯t take his experiences in one world¡¯s power scale to define his universal power.

    Who knows, there might even be a world where their normal 3rd sses wereparable to the 4th ss existences he¡¯d met so far.

    Well, besides Tian Yang. The feeling of pressure and fear he felt from only a portion of Tian Yang¡¯s aura that day still haunted his mind. It was a clear wall he could see. A denominator between him and true power.

    But no matter how high the wall seemed, it didn¡¯t seem impossible. He was d he was given a goal to surpass.

    As Damien submerged himself in his thoughts, the seats of the pavilion werepletely filled and light whispers of conversation were spread throughout its area.

    At this time, the lights in the pavilion dimmed, highlighting the stage that was still brightly lit.

    A young woman entered the stage, her every step exuding grace with a slight touch of seduction. Her long blue hair flowed down her waist and her emerald green eyes were calm as a spring breeze. This sort of ethereal presence immediately captured the audience¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Fairy Lin?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, it has to be her. There is none other who can match her beauty.¡±

    ¡°What bullshit are you spouting? Fairy Tang is much more beautiful than her!¡±

    ¡°Hah? You dare insult my goddess?¡±

    All sorts of murmurs were spread through the crowd as this Fairy Lin sauntered up to the podium in the middle of the stage.

    Even Damien¡¯s eyes were attracted to her demeanor. Although it wasn¡¯t the same idolization the men from the crowd were feeling, he was still interested. He truly had tomend her ability tomand attention.

    Still, he made sure not to stare too hard and to make his honest intentions clear, since he could clearly feel the piercing cold gazeing from his side, sending waves of shivers down his spine.¡±

    ¡°Wee, esteemed guests, to this humble auction. Although this one cannot guarantee her experience as an auctioneer, she can guarantee the veracity and quality of items up for auction today.¡± Fairy Lin started, panning her gaze across the crowd.

    ¡°I hope the honored guests will enjoy the proceedings today. Without further ado, I shall present the first item.¡±

    Two female attendants entered the stage carrying a small tray covered in cloth. Damien sent his awareness towards it to see the item hidden underneath, only to find himself blocked.

    ¡®They truly have their guards raised high for this event.¡¯

    Even if it was merely this piece of cloth that concealed the item before it was revealed for bidding, it was enchanted with the ability to block anyone¡¯s senses trying to intrude. It was clear how much preparation was put into the auction.

    When the attendants finally reached Fairy Lin, they took the cloth off, revealing a sleek ck pair of throwing knives, shaped simrly to kunai.

    ¡°These throwing knives are called Shadow Edge. Make no mistake from their stature, these are peak SSS grade artifacts, capable of sneakily prating the defense of even an experienced Core Formation realm cultivator if they are caught off guard. The bidding will start at 10,000 spirit stones.¡±

    ¡°10,000 spirit stones!¡±

    ¡°12,000 spirit stones!¡±

    ¡°15,000!¡±

    The audience in the normal seats went crazy. There were many present who were at the early stages of 3rd ss, and even some still within the boundaries of 2nd ss. This kind of weapon was a huge boon for them.

    However, the bidding didn¡¯tst too long. Not many were interested in such an item, but were more intrigued about its significance to the auction. If the very first item was an SSS rank artifact, they could only imagine what wouldete.

    The bidding soon finished at 30,000 spirit stones before the auction continued. And as expected, Chaos rank artifacts began to show themselves after the 5th item.

    Damien didn¡¯t pay too much attention to the auction, knowing he had to save money for the final item. Instead, he immersed himself in thought about the discoveries they made in thest month.

    Besides the things he already knew, Damien actually didn¡¯t end up learning much. The actions of these devil worshippers almost marched the actions of the dark imps on earth to the T.

    The experiments weren¡¯t even that different, with the same ck substance being injected into victims and simr harrowing results in the end. Even after an entire month, Damien hadn¡¯t witnessed a single sessful injection.

    He was also able to learn that rather than a direct connection to the Nox like Niflheim had, these devil worshippers were even lower.

    They were subordinates of the subordinates. Most low-rank devil worshippers even assumed that those at Niflheim were the so-called Lords everyone kept praising.

    He could only disdain the foolishness of some of these people. Well, then being foolish was a given considering that they sumbed to their thirst for power and traded their home world in return.

    Still, to not even know the source of their power? To not even understand the murky and tumultuous waters they were willingly jumping into? Contempt and disdain were all Damien could feel no matter how much of an open mind he tried to keep.

    If there was one thing he gained during this time, it was knowledge of the item termed as the Death Seed.

    This seed¡­it wasn¡¯t necessarily correct to call it as such. Rather, its name had been altered to appeal to those who didn¡¯t know any better. Specifically, those who were now upying the private rooms.

    From what he gathered, this Death Seed was actually a living being. It was something that devil worshippers who gained Inheritor status would gain ess to, granting them a stronger connection to the Nox.

    However, he couldn¡¯t glean much else. The level of those attending this convention openly naturally wasn¡¯t high in the hierarchy. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t even have reason to be here.

    The reason he and Ruyue attended the auction was also for the Death Seed. Regardless of what it was, they couldn¡¯t allow it to fall into the hands of any of those Sect Masters of the wicked sects.

    Imagining a figure with such power and influence bing the dog of the Nox made Damien shudder. That kind of development would surely spell the downfall of the world.

    Anyway, the auction continued without a hitch, with rarer itemsing out one by one. Even Damien couldn¡¯tpletely hold himself back and decided to buy some things.

    They were 3 Chaos Rank artifacts. A shimmering crystalline bracelet, a pair of beautiful sapphire-esque earrings, and a jewel-encrusted ring with a magnificent ruby-colored stone adorning it.

 Chapter 192 - Auction [4]

    These three items, although they looked like essories worn for vanity¡¯s sake, were anything but. They were just as functional as they were beautiful.

    All three of these items were defensive treasures at the upper levels of Chaos Rank, meaning that they even had the potential to withstand blows from 4th ss existences.

    Well, their ability wasrgely subjective. There was a caveat to Chaos rank artifacts, a sort of drawback that made it so possessing them wouldn¡¯t make a lower-ss existence immune to the attacks of their greaters.

    In their base form, these artifacts had the ability to block a single attack from a 4th ss existence, however, that was under the condition that the 4th ss wasn¡¯t using all the strength in their body.

    Still, a rtively powerful blow could be blockedpletely, essentially giving the user a second life, or at least a chance to escape.

    The true power of these artifacts could only be shown when mana was injected into them. At that time, they could block many consecutive attacks and be used as more than just a protective treasure, but as a true piece of defensive equipment.

    The problem was, Chaos rank artifacts were meant for 4th ss existences. They were made as such. The mana drain to use the artifacts correctly was too great for any normal 3rd ss to find bearable. Even if they used all their mana, it would at mostst them a few minutes.

    For Damien, who now had ess to an even greater mana pool after binding earth, the mana drain was slightly less of a problem. Still, he could at most grant himself 15 minutes of continuous use if he was being bombarded.

    The boost he received in his mana capacity was additive. This meant that regardless of how much more powerful he got, the amount of extra mana he got from earth wouldn¡¯t increase.

    There woulde a time when the added mana capacity would be next to useless. That is, unless earth became a greater existence. If earth raised itself in power, Damien would also receive the benefits.

    Suppose earth at the moment gave him 2000 extra points of mana. If it reached the level of Apeiron, he¡¯d receive around 5000 points and if it reached the level of the Cloud ne, he¡¯d receive anywhere from 8000 to 10,000 points of extra mana capacity.

    These numbers were just approximations he made using his current bond with earth, but he felt they were more or less urate.

    However, the artifacts he bought at the auction weren¡¯t for him. Even if he had all the money in the world, he wouldn¡¯t use millions of spirit stones to buy himself armor.

    He could reach the point where these armors were useless to him through evolution. That was one of his main strengths. It was for this reason that besides the earring artifact he received as a prize in Apeiron and his sword, Damien never put much thought into buying artifacts.

    He already knew who these specific artifacts were meant for. He had bought them with those people in mind. A fine jade, sapphire, and ruby. Just from the color scheme alone, it was clear who the recipients would be.

    And although Ruyue was slightly irked that he was spending their money on artifacts instead of waiting for the final item, she didn¡¯t say anything. There was a faint hope budding in her heart that she did her best to suppress, but in the end, it got the best of her.

    She could only sigh lightly and let it go, refocusing her attention on the auction.

    Many hours had already passed by and countless rare materials, extraordinary pills, and Chaos rank artifacts had shown themselves. These items had mostly been snatched away by those in the crowd, but few of them managed to catch the attention of those in the private rooms as well.

    Still, these people were all simr to Damien and Ruyue. No matter how much the other items called to them, they made sure they wouldn¡¯t be spending too much. Their focusy elsewhere.

    And finally, after what seemed like an eternity of holding back their greed, those in the private rooms were given the show they came for.

    Fairy Lin, who had been standing on the stage with a light smile on her face the entire time, suddenly became grave.

    ¡°This next item is extremely important. For this reason, the bidding has only been opened to those who have been given the honor to sit in the private rooms during this auction.¡±

    Hushed murmurs spread through the crowd as people spected the identity of the final item. Even though many were annoyed that they were being excluded, there wasn¡¯t much they could do about it.

    They were well aware of how powerful those in the private rooms were. They were the people who lorded over the ones sitting in the normal seats. They had no right topete with those personages even if they wanted to. Such a move was simply courting death.

    Seeing that there weren¡¯t any fools who decided to act up after her deration, Fairy Lin continued.

    ¡°The item that is about to be presented was passed down by the Lords themselves. Those persons that we cannot even fathom have graced us with such a gift. And since us lowly beings are unable to properlyprehend the words of our Lords, we have given this item a more digestible name.¡±

    A single person came onto the stage as Fairy Lin talked. Unlike the previous attendants, this person radiated an aura of undeniable might. However, even with such power, the individual was acting extremely cautious towards the vial in his hand.

    ¡°The Death Seed. This is the name we have given this item. Even the vial that holds it was specially made to contain its power. The material of the vial alone is Star Jade.¡±

    Once again, the crowd burst in fervor. Star Jade, who didn¡¯t know the name of this material? It was one of the strongest, if not the strongest, materials existing on the Cloud ne.

    And such a rare and desirable material was used solely for the sake of containing the power of the Death Seed.

    As the man made his way to the center of the stage, he entered the spotlight that had been shining and those in the crowd could finally witness the appearance of this treasure.

    It was a small and circr item colored in an eerie darkness. With its shape and size, one could mistake it for a marble or a pill. However, nobody doubted its identity.

    The devil-worshippers may be full of various people with different goals and personalities, but there was one thing they had inmon. They never used their Lords¡¯ names in vain.

    If Fairy Lin said the Death Seed was given to them by the Lords, there was no need to further verify its legitimacy.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure all of you are curious about the effects of this treasure, so allow this humble one to exin. The Death Seed is a peerless treasure that can permanently raise one¡¯s stats.

    ¡°For 3rd ss brings, every stat will receive at least a 100 point boost and for 4th ss beings, their stats will gain at least 800 points each. And these are simply the base values. Depending on one¡¯spatibility with the Death Seed, these numbers could very well increase dramatically.¡±

    Fairy Lin continued to ramble about the greatness of the Lords and the treasure they provided, but Damien was no longer of the mind to listen.

    After all, Zara, who had been silently residing in his shadow during the journey and convention, was letting out a low and bestial growl that only he could hear.

    He could feel her emotions and he could see it in her eyes. Emotions she had rarely ever shown before.

    Hatred and Greed.

 194 Auction [6]

    194 Auction [6]

    Zara''s bloodline had been a mystery since their very first meeting. Just the fact that the Damien at that time had no desire to devour her was a miracle in itself:

    But even after all these years, Damien had found no clues regarding it. It''s not that he didn''t look, since he had actually done an ample amount of research while on Apeiron, it was just that he was legitimately unable to find any information regarding it.

    He had seen characteristics of all the wolf bloodlines the Adire Empire had documented during the 6 months he spent there before leaving to earth, but none of them matched Zara''s.

    He was of the mind to go visit the Beast Empress to maybe glean something off of her, since she showed some kind of understanding and even said she felt a connection to Zara when they first met, but the constraints of time never allowed that meeting to happen.

    It was all but guaranteed that he had to make a trip back to Apeiron at some point. There were many events lined up in the near future that prevented him from doing so immediately, but he swore he''d find the time.

    Plus, he still had to bind Apeiron''s world core. It was an imperative task that he had idiotically forgotten about. And by the time he realized it, he was too far away to do anything about it.

    Perhaps he could warp to Apeiron to do what he needed to do, but as he figured before, there was simply no time at the moment. He just had to remember the importance of doing so and hope there''d be an opening in the future.

    ''Sigh, I really need to learn how to not be led around by my emotions.''

    While he was in his thoughts, the bidding for the Death Seed had already begun. And it had to be said, the battle was much fiercer than any of the other items.

    It seemed the flowery words and emptypliments Fairy Lin had given it beforehand had truly spurred the crowd. Even with the base price of the treasure being five million spirit stones, there were very few who didn''t participate in the bidding.

    Even those in the normal seats pooled their money together to get their hands on the treasure. It was as if they no longer cared to give face to those powerhouses upying the private rooms.

    "10 million spirit stones from me!"

    "Old ghost, don''t try to steal away my treasures! 11 million!"

    "Hah? Wan Luo, do you think I wouldn''t recognize you? First, check if you have the qualifications topete with me! 15 million!"

    These two were upying adjacent private rooms, and seemed to have turned the bidding war into their own personal show. Everyone even stopped their objections just to watch it unfold.

    After all, they didn''t need to constantly bid to win the treasure. They could simply bide their time until these two finished their fiasco and then continue.

    "Old ghost, give me some face here. I''ll be sure topensate you handsomely. 16 million."

    "Wan Luo, you still have a world of potential in front of you. Don''t lead yourself to an early death. 17 million."

    "Are you threatening me?" Wan Luo growled.

    "Hmph, if you can''t even tell that much, then maybe you should give up your position as Head Elder."

    "Damn Old ghost!" Wan Luo cursed. It wasn''t that he didn''t have the money to continue, but he was well aware of the power difference between the two of them. He had lived for hundreds of years already. He had long since learned when to advance and retreat.

    "30 million."

    Suddenly, a deep voice pervaded the auction hall. Even if it came from one of the private rooms, it rang in the ears of everyone present as if the speaker was standing directly next to them.

    "Hey, isn''t that¡­"

    "Yeah, there''s no way we could mistake him for anyone else¡­"

    "That terrifying aura can truly only belong to him¡­"

    The attention of all present was directed towards the private room that sat in the middle of all the rest, the one with the best view in the entire house. Even if the person upying it hadn''t consciously released his aura, just the power in his words alone was enough to strike fear into the hearts of those who heard it.

    "Sigh, Fellow Daoist can take this one. There are plenty of other ways for me to gain strength. The Burning River Sect concedes."

    "It''s the same for me. Our sect has a firm foundation and plentiful resources. The loss of a single treasure isn''t that big of a deal. The Autumn Wind Abode concedes!"

    "Same to me, the Crimson Cathedral concedes."

    "The Lustful Fairy Sect concedes¡­"

    Many of the guests in the private room have up the auction one by one. They harbored endless grievances in their hearts, but there was no way they could voice them out. That was the level of influence the Eclipsing Shadow Sect Leader held.

    "The bid of 30 million spirit stoneses from the guest in private room #1! Is there anyone willing to raise the price?" Fairy Lin asked, though it was evident she expected the auction to end here.

    "Very well then, if there are no new bids, the Death Seed goes to¡ª"

    "40 million."

    A new voice came from one of the private rooms on the outer edge. Judging from the tone alone, it was clear that it was a youngster who had spoken.

    "What? Someone dares topete with something the Sect Master wants?"

    "That guy is simply courting death!"

    Damien naturally overheard all their voices, but he said nothing else. His attention was entirely focused in the direction of the first private room.

    "50 million." A reply came softly. Still, the slight hint of rage in the voice couldn''t be hidden.

    But Damien didn''t care at all. Without hesitation, he doubled the price.

    "100 million spirit stones."

    With the amount of money he received from Tian Yang, he could still double the price once more and have a good amount remaining, so he had no fear of losing here.

    "Youngd, are you sure you want to do this?" The opposing side questioned. The voice was contemptuous, and it was evident he was warning Damien.

    Yet, Damien once again paid it no mind. "This is an auction, isn''t it? If I want something, I will naturally bid on it."

    "¡­"

    "Very well. If that is the path you chose to take, so be it. You can me nobody but yourself for the consequences of your actions."

    The Eclipsing Shadow Sect Leader was a man who didn''t take any disrespect, let alone a tant p to his face such as this one.

    But he wasn''t an idiot. Who didn''t know that he was the most powerful person present here? Who didn''t know that he was someone who couldmit atrocities without batting an eye?

    This wasn''t the righteous path. Regardless of his status, regardless of his power level, he had no qualms with crushing an ant if it slighted him.

    And what need was there to waste money? If the other party wanted to grab the Death Seed, he''d allow them to take it. The only question was how long they could hold onto it before it inevitably fell into his hands.

    "T-then, that settles it! The Death Seed goes to esteemed guest in private room #16 for 100 million spirit stones!"

    There was no raucous apuse or excitement within the audience, only mockery towards the idiot who offended such a massive figure.

    Without suspense, an attendant entered Damien''s room with the vial holding the Death Seed in hand, and judging by Zara''s barely controlled reaction, he was sure it was authentic.

    "Honored guest, please submit your payment before I give you your item."

    Damien nodded and tossed over a spatial ring containing the entire 100 million spirit stones. The attendant quickly grabbed it and did a sweep with his consciousness, confirming the contents within.

    "Thank you for your patronage, esteemed guest. Please be careful with the item, as you can never be too sure about what will happen in the future." The attendant cast a meaningful look towards Damien, handing him the vial before exiting the room.

    "So this is the Death Seed, huh." He murmured. He was well aware of the connotation of the attendant''s words. Even the man he had offended hinted at what he would do, so only a dunce wouldn''t understand.

    Nevertheless, Damien was still fearless. It wasn''t groundless confidence, it wasn''t even confidence in himself. There was no way for Damien to resist even a normal 4th ss, so how would he resist the strongest one present?

    Damien''s confidence stemmed from his master, and the talismans he had given them before they set out. With them, he was assured of his escape.

    He was assured of his escape, so why was it that no matter how much mana he and Ruyue injected into the talismans, they wouldn''t activate?

 Chapter 195 - Fleeing [1]

    Damien stared at the talisman in his hand as a sense of trepidation entered his heart and took root. Every time he tried to inject it with mana, it would sh and spark, but show no result in the end.

    What was the cause of this? What was going on? There was no way Tian Yang would give him a faulty talisman, and even if he did, there¡¯s no way he¡¯d do the same with Ruyue.

    Panic had already begun to set in even though it had only been a few seconds since he first started fiddling with the talismans and a terrifying idea sprouted in his mind.

    There wasn¡¯t time, he had to test it. Grabbing Ruyue¡¯s arm, Damien spread his awareness until he could feel the surface and willed the mana around him to invoke teleportation.

    And soon, they disappeared from where they stood.

    And reappeared only 5 meters away, still within the confines of the private room. Damien gritted his teeth, a sh of worry shing through his eyes.

    ¡°Damien, what is happening?¡± Ruyue asked as she pulled her arm away. She was naturally perturbed by the talismans failing as well, but she didn¡¯t feel the same dread he did.

    Well, it wasn¡¯t her fault since she didn¡¯t have any insights on space. That was the exact reason Damien was panicking right now. The situation itself hadn¡¯t reached that level, but the implications were muchrger.

    Although he hadn¡¯t yet touched upon this particr aspect, he was well aware of the possibility. He had even been nning to incorporate it into his sword art soon.

    Grinding his teeth, Damien muttered an answer to Ruyue¡¯s question.

    ¡°Spatial Lock.¡±

    For all normal cultivators, a spatial lock was simple. It was a method used to prevent escape using escape talismans while at the same time limiting their movement. Thetter worked simrly to the concept of gravity, while the former was even more simple to exin.

    If the spatial lock that was cast was directed solely at Damien, he¡¯d know. He¡¯d just have to peer into theyers of space and he¡¯d find out. But even when he had done so, he found no indication of spatial nodes or outside interference.

    This could only mean one thing. The entire area was locked.

    And while whoever cast this lock had most likely done so to trap all those present in this convention, he was the one who was affected the worst.

    Spatial lock was a concept that was most useful against other practitioners using the space element. Damien was well aware from the fact that he could barely even teleport that the person who cast this lock was above him inprehension of the space element. This meant his abilities in battle would be supremely hindered.

    His Void Sword Art, Vector Control, and many other arts would bergely unusable with the other party locking down space. Especially vector control, which dealt with points in space, would be virtually useless in such a situation.

    Still, he wasn¡¯t out of options. Just as hisbat capabilities were restricted, his evasion capabilities could still be used. As long as he could properly wade through the spatialyers, escaping was still viable, even if it became infinitely harder to do so.

    Damien¡¯s gaze became grim as he exined all this to Ruyue, and her expression soon followed. They both knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before all hell broke loose.

    And as if answering their call, such events began immediately.

    BOOM!

    With none the wiser within the convention besides those 4th ss existences in the private rooms, a storm came crashing down.

    The ceiling of the massive cavern they were upying came crashing in,rge pieces of rubble fell everywhere and clouds of dust obscured everyone¡¯s vision.

    ¡°W-what?!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡±

    The light of day shone brightly in the cavern as a swarm of people descended from the sky. Each and every one of them was wearing uniforms of pure white and gold, with simrly colored masks adorning their faces.

    ¡°Hear my call, vile miscreants hiding in the shadows. Today is a day of inquisition! Today is a day of Judgement! None shall leave here alive! In the name of Justice!¡±

    ¡°¡±In the name of Justice!!!!¡±

    The figure at the head of the crowd started and all those behind him followed, chanting incessantly as they gazed upon those below them.

    They cared not for the hundreds of people that had been crushed by the rocky fragments of the cavern ceiling due to their domineering entrance, and they cared not for distinctions between man, woman, and child.

    There was only scorn in their eyes, and without wasting another breath, they charged. Those white-cloaked figures spread out within therge cavern and began a mass ughter, with no respect whatsoever.

    From their auras alone, it was clear these people were all high-level 3rd ss and even 4th ss beings, but they ughtered those 1st and 2nd ss beings like pigs.

    A rain of blood descended on the convention, apanied by ghastly screams filled with fear and unwillingness.

    Heads and limbs became scattered across the floor, not a single person being spared. Hell, even those innocent victims being sold in the ve market were cut down without being given the chance to resist.

    Damien watched it all happen. Oddly enough, those so-called inquisitors made no move on those within the private rooms. And throughout the entire ordeal, all he could feel was disgust.

    Who were these people to decide justice? They were just cowards who only knew how to bully the weak and fear the strong. If not, how was it that those in important positions were still safe while tens of 4th sses ughtered their juniors for no reason?

    And even worse still, he was well aware of this massive farce. Regardless of how angelic they dressed themselves and regardless of how many passionate speeches they made about ying the wicked, could they hide from him?

    No matter the words thate from one¡¯s mouth, their aura tells no lies. This was a lesson Damien had learned long ago.

    And the auras of these fools?

    ck and putrid. They held the same stench as those devil worshippers, only much stronger and to a much higher degree. There was no mistaking it, these people were those so-called Priests and Inheritors that the Nox appointed.

    Damien narrows his eyes as he shifted his gaze away from the atrocities beingmitted down below, his gaze centering on a certain private room.

    And even though he was sure that the ss partition was still doing its job to conceal him within it, he was almost certain he could feel a cold stare gazing directly back at him.

    ¡®There¡¯s no other choice. If anything, this is the only way we can escape with the talismans being ineffective.¡¯

    He felt like a hypocrite. Wasn¡¯t he the one who had said he wouldn¡¯t allow any injustice as long as it was happening in front of him? Wasn¡¯t he the one who said he couldn¡¯t bear the suffering of innocents inrge conflicts like this one?

    But it wasn¡¯t something he could change. When emperors fought, it was themon people that suffered.

    Damien took onest look at those white robes figured. He stared daggers into their angelic forms. Only their eyes were visible behind their masks, but even then he could clearly see their glee. They were feeling ecstasy while being soaked in the blood of those weaker.

    He seared their auras into his memory.

    ¡®These atrocities¡­I will remember them.¡¯

    And then, the space around him twisted once again, as he and Ruyue vanished from their prior position.

 Chapter 196 - Feeling [2]

    Within a separate private room, arge man sat calmly as his gaze panned across the chaos that had descended on the convention.

    Even with the pandemonium and festival of blood taking ce, his expression didn¡¯t change. Instead, he focused his gaze on a private room far removed from his current location.

    Even with his strength, he couldn¡¯t see through the ss wall, but that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t aware of the happenings within. There were 3 strong life auras that he had been keeping track of ever since the auction ended.

    Once again turning his attention to the ughter taking ce below, he let out a light snort.

    ¡®Those idiots. Did they truly think such gaudy tactics were enough to mask their identities?¡¯

    He knew very clearly who they were, but he said nothing. They had even approached him before beginning their act, so he had no reason to be surprised. Still, he didn¡¯t expect that there would be someone bold enough to oppose him previously.

    And with the start of the show he was forced to take part in, he had no time to retrieve his possessions with his own hands.

    As he was thinking, he noticed the life auras he had been tracking vanish, reappearing a few meters away.

    ¡®It seems he¡¯s trying to run.¡¯

    ¡°First shadow.¡± He called, seemingly speaking to empty air.

    The shadows on the walls behind him danced and transformed, coalescing into a hooded figure. ¡°You called, my Lord?¡±

    ¡°Mm. Tell the 5th through 12th shadow to move out. Their goal is to reim the treasure someone dared take from me.¡±

    ¡°As youmand, my Lord. Would you like that person to be brought back?¡±

    ¡°No need. Just kill him and be done with.¡±

    First Shadow voiced his confirmation before retreating once more. Without looking back, therge man stood up from his seat. It was time for him to put on a performance.

    He had received a hefty offer in return, so he figured he should y along. Besides, it was a good way to waste time before he inevitably got his hands on the Death Seed.

    The man¡¯s aura billowed, attracting the attention of the 4th ss beings among the inquisitors. And without further ado, he entered the stage.

    ***

    Damien spared no effort in fleeing. At the moment, he had no thoughts other than maneuvering through theplex maze of spatialyers in front of him.

    Ever since he was in the dungeon, he had been able to easily sense and even physically see the spatialyers, but he had never done such in-depthbing of them before today.

    For the most part, his moveset was based on wider-scale destruction. It was crude and with a singr motive. This kind of action was much more methodical and graceful than anything else he had put his mind to.

    He weaved through the fabric of space with his hand grabbing Ruyue¡¯s arm, pulling her along with him. There was nothing else he could do at this juncture, he couldn¡¯t even alert her of his n.

    His entire attention was focused on the task ahead of him. As such, he slowly forgot his surroundings. He waded through the intricately spacedyers like a snake, reveling in the feeling of spatial fluctuations around him. And by the time he snapped out of his trance, he had effectively dragged Ruyue to the cavern of the main convention.

    The scenes of ughter hadn¡¯t spread here, but he was still within range of the spatial lock. Due to this, he decided the best course of action was to make a run for it.

    There was a sinking feeling in his chest that he couldn¡¯t get rid of. It had been a long time since his danger sense and intuition had rung rm bells like this. This was the feeling of true life-threatening danger.

    In his hurry, he finally made it out of the main convention, using the same route he used to enter. And seeing the light of day and the thick fog that befuddled even his senses around him, he was hoping to feelfort.

    But even still, he was unable to do so. Abruptly, his facial expression changed. He grabbed Ruyue by her waist and twisted his body, narrowly evading a projectile that flew past.

    It impacted the trunk of a nearby tree, instantly corroding it until it became a withered husk. Ruyue¡¯s face paled at the sight, but she was quick to regain her bearings.

    The entire time so far, she had been too confused to act herself. She had just let herself be caught in the momentum. But seeing them be targeted in such a way, she was able toe back to her senses.

    What the hell was she doing? Perhaps it was the scenes of ughter from before that left her in such a state, but it was no excuse. Damien had gotten them this far with her only acting as a burden, so there was no more room for her to sit still.

    She made her way out of his grasp, vigntly scanning the surroundings for the perpetrator.

    Swoosh!

    A thin arc of blue fire left her fingertips, aimed at the air in front of her. And surprisingly, a set of needles was caught and melted.

    But was that the end? Multiple concealed attacks followed, barraging the duo from all sides. They evaded ceaselessly, but it was evident they were at a disadvantage.

    They had no opportunity to counterattack.

    des flew through the air and the smell of poison wafted into the atmosphere. The sheer amount of projectiles being dispatched was enough to terrify any normal cultivator.

    But just as suddenly as it had started, the onught slowed to a halt.

    From the murky atmosphere of the forest around them, eight figures emerged. Since the two targets obviously weren¡¯t susceptible to sneak attacks, a head-on approach was the best move.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Damien growled. He already had his spections and didn¡¯t really expect them to answer, but he needed to stall for time somehow.

    Their auras were entirely concealed, but they couldn¡¯t hide from his sight. Six of the eight figures were high-level 3rd ss beings, while the foremost two were at the peak of the ss, perhaps even on the cusp of ranking up. And from the density of the mana surrounding them, Damien was sure they weren¡¯t weaklings.

    Perhaps if he was on Apeiron, he had a slight chance against this number of opponents but it was different here. He had just recently realized the difference in strength between the two worlds, so he was in his utmost cautious state right now.

    He was sure he had no chance to beat them.

    ¡°Make no mistake. A dead person has no need to know too much. I shall only say one thing, it will be your eternal regret that you have offended our master.¡± An altered voice came from the cloaked figure in the middle.

    Damien was surprised that he had actually elicited a response, but there was nothing more. He had already made his decision on how to act.

    He looked over at Ruyue and noticed her gaze on him as well. He didn¡¯t need to do too much for her to understand his intentions.

    There was no hesitation in their actions. Turning swiftly, they dashed along the Bloodstone River, hoping to make distance from their opponents.

    Damien first thought to flee out of the forest, but it currently wasn¡¯t a liable option. If anything, the Myriad Illusion Veil was something that could help him in this situation.

    However, there wasn¡¯t much room to run. They could only follow the river in one direction or the other, since the distance between the river and the edge of the forest wasn¡¯trge enough.

    The 8 shadows nced at each other and smiled. Although their Lord had given them the order to kill, he hadn¡¯t made anyments on the speed at which they did so.

    And knowing their Lord, he was quite meticulous about even the smallest details. He would never leave out something that needed to be said.

    There was only one conclusion they drew at this point. Their Lord wanted the target to suffer. Watching the target turn and flee, they thought this was the perfect situation.

    With only a single nce, the shadows were able to hatch their n. Their figures turned into streaks of darkness and spread out, melding into the shadows and chasing their prey.

    The situation was eerily simr to Damien¡¯s encounter with a certain wolf many years back, however, this time the danger had multiplied by many times.

 Chapter 197 - Feeling [3]

    A sea of darkness.

    That was all Damien could see behind him and on both sides as he rushed through the maze of trees that lined the side of the Bloodstone River.

    Six ck-cloaked figures constantly trailed after him, expanding their influence on the surroundings.

    He could only grit his teeth and push forward, constantly making sure Ruyue was following his pace. And luckily for him, she didn¡¯t seem to becking in the speed department.

    He had no idea how long they had been running for, but regardless of time, they had been unable to escape the clutches of those hooded figures.

    The sea of darkness that was gradually encroaching on him was proof of that.

    ¡®Dammit!¡¯

    The spatial lock that had been ced on the surrounding area was still in effect. No matter how far he got from the original location of the convention, his main strength remained impeded.

    It was evident that this wasn¡¯t the work of a single person. Rather, a formation must¡¯ve been at y.

    But none of this mattered. The only point he could focus on was the fact that teleportation wasn¡¯t an option.

    Lightning cracked and trails of me decorated the path they left in their wake as Damien and Ruyue burst forward at full speed.

    The only indication they had of direction was the river adjacent to them.

    Thousands of ck tendrils emerged from the surrounding darkness, shooting towards the duo at speeds untraceable by the naked eye.

    The trees they touched were withered into dust, the ground was cracked on impact.

    Lightning burst forth from Damien¡¯s body as he continuously attempted to evade the tendrils charging at him. It burned everything in its surroundings, but he wasn¡¯t able to block them all.

    Luckily, he wasn¡¯t alone.

    zing blue mes ignited even the air it touched, driving back the encroaching shadows.

    In any other situation, the duo would have had no problem in escaping.

    However, this time, they were heavily outnumbered.

    For every tendril of darkness that was destroyed, ten more would emerge and charge at them. And for every ten, another hundred.

    Still, they pushed forward.

    If there was one thing Damien could be thankful for in this situation, it was the Myriad Illusion Veil that perpetually decorated the jungle.

    The veil heavily limited one¡¯s awareness and even slightly disturbed their thoughts, leaving the duo some slight leeway. Otherwise, their pursuers would have caught up to them long ago.

    However, slight leeway wasn¡¯t enough. The darkness soon caught up and passed them, painting the grassy ground ck.

    The tendrils of darkness multiplied exponentially, soon bing apanied by other constructs that attempted to corrode them.

    A rain of ck spheres showered the area around the duo, once again forcing them to go on the defensive.

    Their momentum was rapidly slowed until they could no longer move forward. Every route of escape was blocked.

    Damien¡¯s eyes narrowed as he tried his best to peer into his surroundings, hoping to glean even the slightest chance, but there was none.

    His eyes were powerful, but they were almost useless in this situation. He could see through illusions, but there were none at y.

    He was hoping to find traces of the enemy¡¯s aura within the encroaching shadows, but it was also futile. Every bit of the darkness was created from their own mana, and they had melded with it perfectly. It was virtually impossible to single them out.

    He might¡¯ve been able to pinpoint something if he was able to calmly analyze, but the enemy didn¡¯t give him the time.

    His attention was upied by the constant barrage of attacks that fell on him. Swords, spears, tendrils, bullets, and many other coalesced forms of darkness charged without pause.

    He took a quick nce to his side and realized Ruyue wasn¡¯t any better than him. Waves of blue me continuously surged from her person, shing with the waves of darkness that surrounded them.

    A blood-red moon had already manifested behind her back, empowering her mes and distributing lunar energy into the atmosphere.

    It was incredibly frustrating. No matter how much those cloaked figures attacked, they never used their full power. There¡¯s no way thebined power of 6 high-level 3rd ss beings only amounted to this much.

    ¡®They¡¯re toying with us.¡¯

    It was the only exnation he coulde up with.

    ¡®How the hell am I supposed to get out of this situation?!¡¯

    It had been too long since he had faced such a hopeless situation. Or was it better to say that it had never happened at all?

    He had be too conceited, wholeheartedly believing that he would always be able to escape danger as long as he had his spatial affinity.

    This was the kind of mindset that a skill like Warp had instilled in him. Yet, now that the skill and many of his other abilities were locked, he had be nothing more than amb waiting for ughter.

    It was uneptable.

    What had he been training for all this time if he was just going to be prey for someone else¡¯s convenience? What was the point of power if he was unable to use it?

    His fury burned so brightly that it was almost tangible.

    Was there no hope? No, as long as the enemy was underestimating them, they had a chance.

    He shed his sword wantonly, no longer caring for style or grace. The ck lightning coating his bodyshed out, constantly strengthening itself.

    He increased the intensity of his attack, superheating the lightning and causing massive beams of sma to impact the ground. He had to melt the shadows around him.

    ¡°ARGH!¡±

    A sudden cry of pain echoed through the silent jungle. Looking down at his own body, Damien realized that he had been pierced by a de without his knowledge.

    His danger sense didn¡¯t activate, nor did he sense movement around him.

    Before he could react, tens of shesnded on his body, causing his blood to spurt out in every direction.

    ¡®What the hell?¡¯

    If it was an ordinary de that had been harming him, he would have already healed with his regeneration. But strangely enough, it didn¡¯t activate.

    He did a quick sweep of his internals, and his face immediately paled. A foreign substance had entered his bloodstream and was corroding his system.

    That was when he realized. Six pursuers? That wasn¡¯t right. There were eight cloaked figures that he first saw when he exited the convention.

    Where had the other two gone?

    He hadn¡¯t had the time to think about it before. But being put in such a predicament, his mind slowly cleared.

    ¡®I let my guard down.¡¯

    Not only did he let his guard down, but he had also be too narrow-minded to realize how faulty his thought process was.

    Spatial lock? Sure it could hinder his abilities, but was hepletely cut off?

    The poison in his body burned. It felt like he was being branded from the inside. But this pain had cleared his muddled head.

    The Myriad Illusion Veil. Why was it called that? Its main purpose, the reason many people had lost their lives to a mere fog, wasn¡¯t it because of how it messed with their minds?

    ¡®I¡¯m an idiot.¡¯

    From the beginning of his journey to now, he had constantly improved himself. But he had always neglected training his mind. He figured that the will he forged so far was enough.

    But the events of the vige prior, and the events taking ce now, had shown him clearly that there was something hecked.

    He didn¡¯t have the wits to engage in a strategy. He didn¡¯t have the brain to quickly innovate. Instead, he had been backed into a corner and confused until he ended up in this situation.

    ¡®No more.¡¯

    He wouldn¡¯t allow himself to be beaten so one-sidedly any longer.

    He closed his eyes, ignoring everything around him. He called Zara out of his shadow to protect him.

    Up until this point, he had thought her shadow affinity would be suppressed by the enemies. He had thought she would only be a burden.

    But who was he kidding? That was the stupidest thought he could have had. If there was one advantage he possessed against these enemies, it was Zara.

    With her protection, he was able to properly concentrate. The burning feeling in his veins slowly faded. The only thing he could perceive was the light thumping of his own heartbeat.

    ¡°Celestial Authority.¡±

    His mind was flooded with feedback. mes danced, the ground froze over, lightning crackled and the winds roared. But this was nothing more than an illusion. Only Damien could see such scenes.

    He ended up grinning. When was thest time he had used this move? Even though he was so excited when he created it, he had almost forgotten about it until now.

    His eyes opened once more, zing with fighting spirit and killing intent. And without any suspense, he opened his mouth.

    [Starfall]

 Chapter 198 - Fleeing [4]

    The same move he had once used to ughter Jin had once again made itself known.

    However, it wasn¡¯t the same as it was before. This time, Damien had coupled the attack with his Celestial Authority, vastly boosting its prowess.

    Boom!

    Hundreds of kilometers above the ongoing battle, the atmosphere shattered like ss and caved in, leaving only an infinite void in its ce.

    And from that void, a massive meteor shot down toward the ground, its velocity not being impeded the slightest bit by the new environment.

    Even though the friction led mes to encase the meteor, it only served to increase the destructive power.

    The surroundings were subjected to the immense heat of the ming rock.

    Even though the Myriad Illusion Veil still hid the iing danger from their sight, any sane cultivator would be well aware that something wasn¡¯t right.

    And even the Myriad Illusion Veil couldn¡¯t stand the pressure of the oing meteor for very long.

    After all, they were still on the outskirts of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, where the strength of the veil wasn¡¯t up to par.

    The perpetual fog that nketed the jungle was burned into nothingness along with the air, giving way to a bright sun and the streak of light that was charging towards their location.

    The sun itself was a major weakness to any element dealing with shadow, as it encroached upon the area of influence that had beenid down.

    Those cloaked figures could no longer stay still. Their attention was refocused on the new danger, charging vtile spheres of darkness and shooting them towards the meteor.

    But even with all the power that attacked it and threatened to break it apart, the meteor held strong,

    It wasn¡¯t its inherent defensive capability or even Damien¡¯s work that did this. Instead, there was external help at y.

    ¡°Moon Goddess¡¯s Blessing.¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s murmur went unheard by those around her, but its effects still stood.

    The massive blood moon that stood at her back waspressed into heavy rivers of lunar energy that charged towards the meteor and merged with it.

    Its density was increased by arge margin, the mes surrounding its body were tinted blue, and it gained a defensive property that allowed it to withstand the assault of the cloaked figures.

    On the ground, Zara was continuously barraging the tendrils of darkness with her own shadow element, not allowing them to gain any ground. Meanwhile, she used ice to freeze the ground and prevent the enemy from setting a new domain.

    Damien didn¡¯t sit idly either. Now that his mind was clear, he was well prepared to make a counterattack.

    Sunfire zed on his palm and arced through the air, setting the vegetation aze. Heavy beams of sma prated any shadow that dared arrive near him, disallowing their encroachment.

    His sword art and vector control were still unusable, but he didn¡¯t mind it much. He had a vast arsenal that he had rarely taken the time to tap into, only ever disying the crudest methods he could.

    Hisprehension of space had reached a magnificent level. Otherwise, how could he possess such a thing as dimensional magic? It¡¯s just that his horizons were never broad enough to make full use of everything he learned.

    But he was in a rage right now. He was venting his frustrations by returning to the enemy a greater bombardment than they could have ever expected.

    His Celestial Aura encased his body, and his awareness spread unimpeded through the portion of jungle where the Myriad Illusion Veil was burned away.

    He exerted his will on the surrounding space, using his consciousness in an attempt to bothprehend the properties of Spatial Locking as well as impose his own authority unto the atmosphere.

    With all the interference taking ce, the enemies were no longer able to focus on their targets, this time being forced on the defensive.

    However, even through all this, Damien wasn¡¯t safe. The poison racking his body continued attempting to spread, but it was beingbatted by his regeneration.

    Still, it wasn¡¯t able topletely stop it, only suppressing it. And with his regeneration focused on defending his internal body, his external wounds were forced to fester.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    Gritting his teeth, he allowed his lightning to once again take form, using it to sear his wounds and artificially close them, temporarily solving the problem.

    The only obstacle left were two unseen opponents that were still hidden in the shadows. It had be evident how much greater their prowess was inparison to their peers.

    But Damien didn¡¯t need to focus on them right now. The opportunity to escape was directly in front of him.

    ¡°Zara!¡±

    The wolf could read his thoughts clear as day, so he didn¡¯t need to say more. Her body shifted positions, abruptly arriving under him and cing him on her back. In the next instant, Ruyue was transferred there as well.

    Seeing her condition pained Damien a bit. He was the one in possession of the Death Seed, so he was forced to bear the brunt of the force against them, but that didn¡¯t mean she was entirely out of harm¡¯s way.

    Numerous cuts and gashes covered her body, and many areas of her clothes had be ripped and bloodied.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯m fine. Focus on the battle ahead.¡± She said when she noticed Damien¡¯s gaze, but her pale and weary face betrayed the conviction in her eyes.

    Her condition only caused Damien¡¯s fury to burn forth ever brighter.

    Zara didn¡¯t dally after catching the two of them on her back. She immediately spread her wings and took off, speeding through the jungle.

    They were still in harm¡¯s way. Exiting the jungle through the sky was never a viable option, as the Myriad Illusion Veil was continuously attempting to repair itself.

    Zara streaked through the maze of trees like aet of darkness, dexterously evading all obstacles, she moved forward without destination, but there was no need for one.

    As long as they got far enough from their original position, they¡¯d eventually make it out of the Spatial Lock. And at that point, it¡¯d be smooth sailing.

    Boom!

    A loud explosion and dust cloud could be seen from behind them, as the meteor finallynded on their previous location. The prior events had happened too fast, leading to such ate reaction.

    They had already retreated far into the veil,

    Damien turned his head halfway, attempting to peer through the veil, ¡®I wonder if that did any damage¡­ Well, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡¯

    Regardless of their survival, he wouldn¡¯t forget the debt from today. This grudge would be paid back a hundred fold.

    ¡®The Eclipsing Shadow Sect. I vow here and now that one day, I will raze it to the ground.¡¯

    Surveilling the rapidly changing scenery, Damien suddenly noticed that the Bloodstone River was no longer in sight. And with the restrictions on his awareness, he had no way of telling how far from it they had gone.

    Luckily enough, he saw a glimmer of hope. Rather, it was a shimmering translucent wall that marked the edge of the barrier.

    This formation was meant exclusively for locking space. There was no way for it to have a multitude of effects if it was able to carry out a spatial lock on such a grand proportion and to such a frightening degree as well, so he was sure of it. This meant they would face no obstruction in leaving its area now that they had found its end.

    Zara streaked forward without hesitation when Damien gave her themand. The second they passed that wall, they would activate their escape talismans and transport directly back to the Celestial Star Pce.

    However, fate seemed to have other ns for them. Mere meters away from their destination, a powerful aura sprung out before a world of shadows once again descended.

    But there was something intrinsically different about it this time.

    ¡°This is a domain,¡± Ruyuemented as she wearily nced around.

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened at the revtion. To date, the only domain he had seen was Rose¡¯s Illusory Throne, but he was well aware of their power.

    But, the base concept for creating domain wasn¡¯t unfamiliar to him as they also manifested when the caster imposed their will upon space. But if the enemy was able to do this, didn¡¯t that mean¡­

    Damien grinned. He couldn¡¯t ask for a better feeling than what he felt right now.

    He ignored the festering wounds on his flesh and the poison seeping through his body.

    He ignored the sense of danger that hadn¡¯t left no matter how close he was to safety.

    ¡°Charge forward.¡± Hemanded. Zara didn¡¯t need to be told twice, furiously increasing her speed with reckless abandon.

    Damien raised his hand into the air, and as ifmanding an army, dropped it down once more.

    ¡°Spatial Copse.¡±

    He didn¡¯t spare any effort this time. He poured all his mana into the skill, and instead of creating a massive ck hole like thest time he overclocked it, he took a different approach.

    One, two, five, ten, a total of fifteen vortexes manifested in the shadow domain, throwing the ambient mana into chaos.

    The space twisted apart and shattered, leaving countless swirling entrances to the void that threatened to consume everything. Before the caster of the domain even had a chance to attack, his entire authority was thrown into oblivion.

    The domain shattered without suspense, and Zara triumphantly charged past the cloaked figure that had been revealed in its wake.

    Ruyue raised her arm and pointed it at the exposed figure with hatred in her eyes.

    ¡°Erase.¡±

    Yin was an interesting element. Darkness, cold, and any negatives were ssified as yin-natured forces. Due to this, the main strength of the Yin element, and its most prominent characteristic, was the ability to negate.

    Such an ability would usually be used to negate attacks or force, but Ruyue decided to try something she¡¯d never done before. Today, she was going to erase existence itself.

    The essence of erasure left her body and impacted the cloaked figure, who was still in a stunned state due to the destruction of his domain. And without even having the ability to scream, the figure vanished, his existence denied by the very person he was tasked to destroy.

    With no more obstacles in the way, the trio sessfully charged past the shimmering barrier. And soon enough, they were greeted by simmering and blinding rays of sunlight. Whether by coincidence or design, their escape from the formation was their escape from the Myriad Illusion Veil.

    But they were in no way pleased with this development. After all, directly in front of them was a beautiful mountain range that stretched as far as the eye could see.

    It was a mountain range that no human had ever been able to leave with their lives.

    They had somehow been thrust into the 3000 Beast Mountain Range itself.

 Chapter 199 - 3000 Beast Mountain Range [1]

    Towering mountains broke through the clouds and threatened to challenge even the heavens with their breadth. There were only 5 mountains out of the 50 total that could be seen at the moment, but any of these 5 could be considered unrivaled in the outside world.

    Each mountain seemed to carry its own habitat and ecosystem,pletely varying depending on the location. Some areas were scorching deserts, while others were raging tundras. It all seemed unpredictable, but had a certain bnce to it that could only be admired.

    Beautiful trees with trunks thicker than thebined width of several men stood proud among the evesting scenery, radiating an aura of ancientness and wisdom.

    The ground was covered in various flora, ranging from beautiful iridescent flowers to the mostmon of grasses, but for some reason, even these seemed to carry a weighty presence.

    An unruly jungle spanned as far as the eye could see, adding an air of untamed savagery to the ethereal environment.

    And encasing it all was a massive wall of fog that blotted out the sky, the Myriad Illusion Veil. Strangely enough, the veil didn¡¯t impede on the internal environment in the slightest, stopping at the edge of the surrounding jungle as if it was a defensive mechanism set up by the heavens themself.

    It was faint, but there was one final piece of notable scenery that Damien could see. On the horizon, there was a massive tree iparable to those in the immediate vicinity.

    Its branches alone spanned several kilometers, its canopy cast an unseen amount of space in perpetual shadow, and the aura of life it gave off could be felt even at the outskirts of the environment where Damien and Ruyue were currently standing.

    But none of these features could be called the crowning achievement of the tree. That award was reserved for its mountainous size. Indeed, mountainous was the only word that could be used to describe the breadth and height of the massive tree thatpeted with the surrounding mountains in their bid to challenge the heavens.

    ¡°So this is the 3000 Beast Mountain Range,¡± Damienmented in awe.

    Ruyue nodded her head absentmindedly, too focused on taking in the scenery to fully concentrate on his words.

    Even Zara, who usually didn¡¯t care much about such novelties, was stunned. This kind of scene wasn¡¯t something she had ever seen. Even though her travels with Damien had taken her far and wide, such pure natural beauty was still new.

    Her feelings now reminded her of a time back when she was still naive and unable to converse, when she first exited the dungeon with Damien. At that time, theynded in an ordinary forest, but it seemed to be an immortal spring to them.

    But this time, they were truly in a ce magnificent enough to be described as such.

    At least, the environment itself seemed to suggest it.

    But it didn¡¯t take long for Damien toe out of his reverie. The second he spread his awareness, a bucket of cold water was poured on his head.

    He shuddered at what he was seeing. His awareness, no matter howrge its reach had grown, could only cover a bare minimum of the surroundings.

    Hell, he couldn¡¯t even reach a single one of the nearby mountains, a testament to the sheer size of the area. But, he didn¡¯t need to do so to understand the true nature of the mountain range.

    He couldn¡¯tment on its entirety, since even now he could only see 1/10th of its total size, but it was enough to form a preliminary impression.

    Countless thousands of beats swarmed the ground level, filling in the unruly jungle with their presence. Among those thousands, there were hundreds, if not more, 3rd ss beasts. Evidently, they were quitemon in the mountain range.

    Though, it could be said that it was to be expected. The reputation of the mountain range stemmed from the 3000 Beast Kings that were rumored to reside within it. There was no way such a vast number of powerful entities could rise without this kind ofpetition.

    These beasts were at each other¡¯s throats at all times. Even now, there were numerous battles and skirmishes taking ce within the range of Damien¡¯s awareness.

    ¡®Beauty and savagery coexisting in harmony to create a stable ecosystem. It¡¯s like a natural embodiment of bnce or yin and yang.¡¯

    He could only count himself lucky that there were so many beasts present, as if the amount of activity was any smaller, such arge scan of the terrain would have been easily pinpointed and traced back to him.

    Neither he nor Ruyue was in any condition to battle these beasts. He still had to find time to deal with the poison inside his bloodstream, as well as recover the mana he used in his final attack. As for Ruyue, although her injuries weren¡¯t as severe, she didn¡¯t have his insane regeneration and needed time to inject healing pills and recuperate.

    The only one with proper strength at the moment was Zara, and although this kind of ce was perfect for her, it wasn¡¯t somewhere she could strut around without caution.

    The first thing the trio needed to do was find a safe spot to set up residence. Until then, they were out in the open andpletely susceptible to the hostile environment and raging beasts. Any one of the three would be great nutrition for a beast aiming for 4th ss.

    Zara immediately set off. She concealed their presence as best as she could, but refrained from using mana otherwise. Such a move would only attract attention. Instead, she used the natural power of her body and wings to silently propel them forward, streaking through the terrain.

    Damien and Ruyue remained silent throughout. There were plenty of things to discuss, from the prior battle to the Death Seed to a n for escape, but neither was in any condition to do so.

    With the immediate danger subverted, their adrenaline was slowly waning, allowing them to feel the true pain their injuries had brought.

    Luckily enough, it didn¡¯t take more than a few hours for Zara to find a secluded cave for them to set up camp. The cave itself was partially covered by dense vines and shrubbery, making it nigh invisible to the eye.

    It was only through other forms of detection that one would be able to locate it, but it was enough for a temporary solution.

    Arriving within the cave, Damien and Ruyue dismounted Zara¡¯s back and sat against the wall, using their own means to begin healing.

    Damien focused his attention within himself. The spread of the poison hadn¡¯t been too fast, but it had still happened since his regeneration was being curbed by outside factors.

    He sighed lightly at the scene. Until this point, any foreign invasion within his body had been swiftly taken care of by his Void Physique. This left him with the subconscious notion that his internal body would always be safe from this kind of attack.

    But he now knew that it was just wishful thinking. It wasn¡¯t actually hard to figure out the theory behind it. Every foreign invasion so far had been energy-based. Whether through evolution or even the foreign mana from Elder Baba¡¯s residence on the way to the convention.

    It was always a matter of mana.

    However, the poison in his body now was different. He could tell that much by scouring it with his awareness. This poison was entirely natural, created through herbs and nts in a simr vein to alchemy.

    Such a poison wouldn¡¯t alert his Void Physique at all, since it didn¡¯t use foreign mana to attack him.

    Since his regeneration had been passively fighting off the poison all this time, it had been stuck in a stalemate, unable to advance and unwilling to retreat. But with his conscious effort, it was rtively easy to expel.

    He had expert control over his body after all these years of evolution, so separating the poison from his bloodstream wasn¡¯t a problem. He guided it all to one point in his hand and coagted it.

    The next step was the simplest but most excruciating. Taking the coagted mass of liquid, he pushed it through his skin, attempting to excrete it through his pores.

    ¡°Shit.¡± He cursed, gritting his teeth in an attempt to stop himself from screaming.

    Perhaps his idea was stupid, but he was a reckless person to begin with. This was the quickest and most efficient method, so he would endure the pain and finish the job.

    Slowly but surely, the poison exited the skin on his palm. However, in the process, his skin, muscles, and even a bit of his bones ended up being corroded and melted by the vicious poison.

    But in the end, he seeded. He gently maneuvered the floating blob of liquid in his hand and stored it in a jade sk he had lying around in his subspace.

    ¡®This poison is truly vile. Still, it mighte in handy in the future.¡¯

    With that out of the way, the rest was smooth sailing. All he needed to do was recover his mana and allow his passive regeneration to do its job.

 Chapter 200 - 3000 Beast Mountain Range [2]

    Two hourster, Damien finally reopened his eyes. With the help of his mana circuits, he was able to rapidly refill his mana capacity, fueling his regeneration and recovering from his injuries.

    His skin had been scanned and burned by his own lightning previously in his quick bid to close his wounds, but the scars left behind in their wake were nothing major, so he didn¡¯t fret too much.

    In actuality, he didn¡¯t mind the scars. It reminded him of the old days when he was weak and helpless in the dungeon. Back then, his body was riddled with scars head to toe, and he was even missing an arm.

    Over time as his regeneration skill continuously evolved, his scars faded and left his skin pristine again, but it would¡¯ve been a lie to say he didn¡¯t miss them.

    Battle scars were mementos. They were proof of struggle. They held a slight bit of sentimental value in his heart.

    Shaking off useless thoughts, he surveilled the interior of the cave once more to check on Ruyue and Zara. The former was still in deep meditation, but the wounds on her body didn¡¯t seem bad anymore. She would be healed soon.

    As for Zara, she was dutifully watching the cave entrance for any potential threats. They hadn¡¯t been in this ecosystem for long, so it was unknown whether the cave had an owner.

    Damien decided to think about their future ns as he waited for Ruyue to heal. Taking the escape talisman out of his subspace, he injected a trace of mana into it to see if he could get a reaction.

    However, to his chagrin, it was still unsessful.

    ¡®Well, I guess I shouldn¡¯t have expected much. Even if we¡¯re out of the spatial locking formation, it doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re in a better situation.¡¯

    Logically speaking, it¡¯d be more of a surprise if the talisman was actually able to properly carry out its function. The 3000 Beast Mountain Range had been a danger zone for thousands of years, and in that time it was only natural that countless cultivators would have entered to try their luck.

    If such things as escape talismans were functioning within the mountain range, the stories and rumors surrounding it wouldn¡¯t be nearly as overblown. Cultivators were beings prone to danger, but they equally feared death.

    Nobody wanted to die a meaningless death before they were able to flesh out their potential.

    So it wasn¡¯t umon for a cultivator to carry around talismans or other escape treasures on their persons. The degree and quality of treasure would obviously differ, but it was impossible to think that nobody with a treasure able to teleport them back outside the mountain range would havee to the danger zone.

    ¡°The Myriad Illusion Veil must have some sort of property preventing long-distance spatial travel,¡± Ruyuemented. At some point while Damien was thinking, she must¡¯ve finished recuperating.

    And it wasn¡¯t difficult to guess his thoughts after seeing the talisman in his hand.

    ¡°Mm, that¡¯s the only exnation. Perhaps the spatial locking formation was only necessary on the outskirts of the jungle, where the veil isn¡¯t as powerful.¡±

    ¡°Most likely, we had already left the effects of the formation while fleeing, but we didn¡¯t notice it.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, the question remains as to what the ethereal wall we passed through before arriving in the mountain range was.¡±

    If they had already left the formation, then the wall they had assumed was the edge of the formation was an entirely different mechanism.

    Was it another formation? If so, it was of a terrifyinglyrge scale. Whatever that wall was, it was easy to infer that it was the reason the Myriad Illusion Veil didn¡¯t encroach upon the true 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    ¡°An easy way out was never viable, huh,¡± Damien muttered in resignation.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I, for one, refuse to spend the rest of my life secluded in this mountain range.¡± Ruyue responded. Her tone was firm, leaving no room for questioning.

    Damien nodded in agreement. ¡°No matter how beautiful this ce is, it isn¡¯t somewhere I¡¯m willing to spend the entirety of my life.¡±

    Damien was someone who yearned to explore the universe and see the myriad worlds it held. There was no way he¡¯d disagree with Ruyue.

    ¡°The convention was cut short after a month by those idiotic self-righteous inquisitors, so we have roughly 8 months left before the secret realm opens. Leaving aside 2 months for travel, we have 6 months to find a way to escape.¡±

    ¡°No, there¡¯s no need for that,¡± Ruyue interjected, ¡°the location of the secret realm ismon knowledge to those within the sects. And with your ability, you should be able to teleport us there as long as you know the location, right?¡±

    Noticing the hint of provocation in her tone, Damien grinned. ¡°Of course. There¡¯s no way something as easy as that is outside of my capabilities.¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled. Have you tried using the messaging talisman to contact Master yet?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Truthfully, Damien hadpletely forgotten about it. The escape talisman was the more valuable of the bunch, so he ced more importance on that one.

    Taking out the second talisman, Damien injected his mana. Surprisingly, he elicited a positive response.

    The talisman crackled and rmed as if it was having trouble operating, but in the end, a startled voice was projected through it, albeit slightly jarred by interference.

    ¡°Damien? I didn¡¯t expect you to contact me this early.¡±

    ¡°Master, the situation isn¡¯t good. I don¡¯t think this talisman willst long so allow me to speak before anything else.¡±

    Damien didn¡¯t waste any time. He immediately summarized the events leading up to this point, from the month they spent at the convention to the chase that left them stranded.

    ¡°What?! Those Eclipsing Shadow Sect bastards dared?! Alright, I¡¯ve heard your story. I¡¯ll arrive there in a few weeks and take you both out of that damn danger zone!¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    Damien looked at Ruyue in surprise. She had let him take the reins for so long that he didn¡¯t actually expect her to speak at this time. Still, he didn¡¯t really mind it, handing her the talisman and allowing her to say her piece.

    ¡°Ruyue?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Master. I know it might be presumptuous of me to ask, but please allow us time to figure things out for ourselves before you charge in here.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he looked at her, noticing her staring back at him. Her eyes were filled with a sort of conviction he¡¯d never seen from her before.

    ¡°Can I ask why?¡± Tian Yang replied. His voice was oddly calm, unlike what one would expect from someone who had just heard something so absurd.

    ¡°The reason is simple. As it is now, we are too weak.¡±

    Damien furrowed his brows at the overarching statement, but in the end, he couldn¡¯t help but agree. Indeed, they were far too weak in the grand scheme of things.

    If they had been besieged by those cloaked figures in any other circumstance, without the outside help from the veil and other natural factors, it was unknown whether they would have been able to escape rtively unharmed as they did.

    ¡°The 3000 Beast Mountain Range is an incredibly dangerous zone, I¡¯m aware of that, but such a zone is precisely what we need to foster our growth. This environment is perfect for practicalbat experience and continuous leveling.

    ¡°I may be cutting it close, but allow us 7 months to do as we please within the mountain range. If we haven¡¯t contacted you after the allotted time, you can take it as failure on our part ande save us.

    ¡°I have never asked for too much or been too willful since you started training me, but just this once I¡¯d like to truly experience the harshness and cruelty of reality. I want to temper myself in mes and be reborn as a being with true strength.¡±

    Tian Yang was silent for an entire minute before responding.

    ¡°Okay. I can sense your determination even through the talisman. I would be a fool of a master to refuse you. All who desire strength must test themselves in truebat, and it¡¯s the one thing I¡¯ve refrained from allowing you all these years.

    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s my old age getting to me, making me so overprotective. Since you¡¯ve spoken as such, I¡¯m sure that both of you are in agreement. Just remember, if I don¡¯t receive any update after 7 months, I will charge in there without hesitation and drag the two of you out, whether you like it or not.¡±

    The talisman erupted in sparks once again as it died out, leaving the conversation unfinished. Luckily, they had been able to convey what they wanted and get a positive response.

    Damien had been silently listening to the conversation between master and disciple. Although he also counted as Tian Yang¡¯s disciple, he never ced emphasis on such formalities. It could be said that the bond between the two was still rtively weak.

    However, it was different for Ruyue. She had been more or less raised by Tian Yang for many years, and their bond was clear as day. From Tian Yang¡¯s tone, he could even infer that their connection was borderline familial.

    He saw no reason to interject in such a rtionship or conversation. Besides, he agreed with everything she said. This was indeed a perfect environment for continuous leveling, and it might even grant him a new trait if he was lucky.

    Unlike her, he had already been tempered by countless battles, but he still had things he needed to improve. If not his strength, his mind needed heavy improvement.

    He has always been a brute. He epted that and truly had no way to deny it. He was the kind of person who charged with overwhelming force and achieved domineering victory.

    But recent times told him this wasn¡¯t enough. He needed to learn how to use his wits and be clever in battle. He needed to learn how to strategize.

    These 7 months, they would be his first step on that path.

 Chapter 201 - Death Seed [1]

    With the duo being able to sessfully establishmunication with Tian Yang, albeit only for a short period of time, they were able to put down their worries about the outside world and focus wholeheartedly on the task in front of them.

    However, there were still a few loose ends to be tied. The most important of them all¡­

    ¡°The Death Seed.¡±

    Damien stared at the vial in his hand and the peculiar specimen within it with an inquisitive gaze. He wanted to find out the truth behind this product that had sent Zara into a frenzy.

    Luckily for him, Zara was able to properly control herself after her original outburst, so although she still felt the overwhelming emotions from before, she didn¡¯t hinder him or try to pounce at the treasure in his hand.

    At first nce, nothing seemed out of the ordinary about the item. It still maintained its appearance as a small ck pill. In fact, it even bore a slight resemnce to some anti-toxin pills that already existed within the world.

    But anyone with a working brain would be able to tell that it was anything but simr. For that Fairy Lin character to hype it up so much, there had to be something special about it.

    Still, no amount of probing was able to elicit a response from the treasure. Damien¡¯s mana sense wasn¡¯t even able to prate the crystalline container it was kept in.

    Such was the miracle brought to life by Star Jade. It wouldn¡¯t deserve its reputation otherwise.

    ¡°Should I take it out and examine it?¡± Damien questioned. He was d he had someone to turn to for a second opinion at the moment.

    ¡°Hmm, taking it out would be the best way to inspect its characteristics and properties, but the risk that something could go wrong is also immense.¡± Ruyue pointed out.

    Indeed, that was Damien¡¯s worry as well. It was an unknown treasure passed down by the Nox. He had no intention to take it lightly.

    ¡°Does the risk outweigh the gain, though?¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t an inkling about what the treasure actually is, so I can¡¯t say for sure. However, I think we should do it. With the amount of trouble we went through to safely secure it, we at least deserve to know this much.¡±

    Truthfully, Damien wanted to open the vial and do a closer inspection from the beginning. His concern for Zara had already decided his answer. But he wasn¡¯t alone and he couldn¡¯t mindlessly make decisions at this point, so he decided to ask Ruyue.

    Nevertheless, with her agreement, he also firmed his decision. He revolves his mana and prepared to quickly react to any unforeseen circumstances, and without hesitation, he opened the vial.

    In that instance, he felt the threat of death encroaching upon him. It was as if countless skeletal arms were threatening to burst from the ground and consume him, dragging him down to hell with them.

    But oddly enough, his danger sense didn¡¯t activate. Damien trusted this skill a great deal. It had been properly honed through a myriad of life and death encounters, bing almost wless.

    The only time it didn¡¯t activate was when the threat was too strong for him to perceive, such as when he had been wounded and poisoned by the peak 3rd ss cloaked figure from before.

    But this time, he was sure it wasn¡¯t the same case. Regardless of the deathly feeling that washed over him, he could still properly gauge the aura of the treasure. It was illusory and vague, but it didn¡¯t seem to possess any attack power.

    Damien hardened his heart and channeled mana into his eyes. The world was soon enveloped in a vast rainbow of colors. The ambient mana around him swirled and danced like fairies among nature, but in the center of his vision was a patch of abyssal darkness.

    ¡®As I thought. It¡¯s not that death itself is approaching me, rather it was solely the aura of death that surrounded me.¡¯

    The Death Seed was no longer in his vision, at least not its physical form. It was reced by the coalescence of deathly mana that produced it, as well as the cloud of the same mana that had encircled him.

    This cloud of mana was the source of his feeling. It was giving him the illusion that he was soon to die, instilling a guttural fear in his heart. If not for his eyes that could witness its true form, he might¡¯ve ended up making a mistake.

    Ruyue was too far away to feel the same effects as Damien, but she too could sense the eeriness that had suddenly emerged in the atmosphere. The vial had only been opened, the treasure inside hadn¡¯t even been taken out yet, but the burst of aura alone was frightening.

    Just like Damien did previously, she revolved the mana within her body, putting up a resistance against the foreign feeling. Since it still didn¡¯t feel like enough, she brought out a trace of lunar energy and costed herself with it.

    The negative nature of yin would have been the best ward, but she didn¡¯t use it. Instead, she opted for the purifying effects that she was granted as a sub ability of her moon affinity.

    She had two moons under her dominion, with one supplying her icefire and the other being the main moon that decorated the Cloud ne¡¯s night sky. The purifying effect came from thetter, which seemed to have a few extra abilities besides the use of lunar energy.

    She was still slowly excavating them, but for now, she only needed this one. With the newyer of defense, she was able to properly view the situation without fear.

    ¡°This mana is likely of the death element,¡± Damienmented once he realized she had stabilized.

    ¡°The death element¡­I didn¡¯t think such an element existed, but I guess anything is possible in this world.¡±

    ¡°Mm, I have apanion who uses the Life element so I was never doubtful of its existence, I just didn¡¯t expect to see it here. Coupled with my previous observations, it¡¯s clear that the Nox mainly specialize in said element.¡±

    ¡°But how does the concentration of death mana have anything to do with the effects that were promised when consuming the treasure?¡± Ruyue questioned. The reasoning made no sense, and although it could be said that Fairy Lin had simply lied about its effects, it was more usible that she didn¡¯t.

    After all, there was no way she would be able to fool so many 4th ss beings and be so confident if not for such a firm belief that her words were truth.

    Damien also had this question, but there was still plenty they had to learn about the treasure. At this point, they couldn¡¯t even say they had a preliminary understanding of it.

    Knowing this, Damien decided to probe deeper. He expanded his awareness, focusing it within the vial and gently probing the spherical object within.

    At first, it didn¡¯t respond to his probing. At the Chaos Rank, treasures and artifacts would begin to gain a semnce of will, able to use mana tomunicate their intentions.

    For this reason, binding a Chaos rank artifact was much different than the process with its predecessors. One would have to establishmunication and make the treasure ept them before they could use it.

    There were many ways to go about this process, but the main two were bonding and domination.

    Just like with everything else in the world, strength could always act as a backdoor. Anything with sentience would value its life, and threatening a treasure with pure strength was an easy way to gain its submission.

    But many chose to bond with the treasures instead. If a treasure was willingly cooperating, much more strength could be drawn from it and the process would be much smoother.

    But Damien didn¡¯t need to do either at this moment. He had no intention of using a treasure that had Nox origins. But he still had to establish some sort ofmunication so he could sessfully probe.

    He continued sending his awareness towards the treasure, being careful of the amount of force he used, before finally getting a reaction.

    It was faint, but he felt something awaken within the seed. The small ck ball became active, shining with a light glow. And then, it began wriggling around within the confines of the vial.

 Chapter 202 - Death Seed [2]

    ¡°What the fuck¡­¡±

    Damien could only curse under his breath at the sight. Sure, a treasure moving on its own wouldn¡¯t necessarily be anything new to him, especially when said treasure was supposed to be quasi-sentient, but this was different.

    Even when a treasure moved, its status as an inanimate object would limit it. Its movements were destined to be rigid and unpracticed. But Damien could see none of that in the wriggling ck sphere.

    Instead, its movements were more like that of a caged worm trying to escape confinement. It moved as if it was alive.

    ¡®Wait a minute¡­¡¯

    Damien sent his awareness into the vial once again, but he no longer cared for gentleness. He forcefully pierced into the Death Seed and scoured its contents.

    ¡°What the actual fuck is this¡­¡±

    The death mana was expected, so were the various essences that seemed to be extracted from a variety of herbs. The thing that shocked him most was the presence of small, almost undetectable, signs of life.

    The life aura was weaker than that of a dying man, but it was present nheless. As Damien continued his search, he found that the Death Seed¡¯s form as a pill was anything but. Instead, it was like a curled-up creature disguising itself as a pill.

    As if sensing that its secrets were beingid bare, the creature unfurled itself, revealing its true form. It was simr to a ck centipede with a scaly and hard exoskeleton. It had countless squirming legs that pushed up against the side of the vial, attempting to gain traction.

    And then, it braced itself and rapidly lunged upwards in a bid to escape.

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    Damien hurriedly brought the cap down and sealed the vial, trapping it once more. The creature hissed and squirmed indignantly, smashing its body against the ss of the vial rabidly.

    Damien and Ruyue watched on in shock, while Zara¡¯s expression was more leaned towards curiosity and interest. Who would¡¯ve thought that this so-called treasure was actually nothing of the sort?

    ¡°What the hell are these bastards trying to do with this?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? We already assumed they were auctioning the Death Seed in an attempt to control the heads of the wicked path, we just didn¡¯t expect it to be in this form.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡± Damien could only agree. That spection was only geared in the sense that the devil worshippers wanted to gain the favor of the righteous path. But if this kind of creature was consumed¡­

    ¡°This has to be a parasite. The unsuspecting victim would consume it thinking of it as a pill, and it invades their mind. I don¡¯t know whether it turns them into a dog or a mindless ve, but either way, it¡¯s incredibly dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Mm, the only reason the creature showed itself is because it was being continuously probed without consumption. If it was given to a greedy individual or someone too prideful to believe any schemes could work on them, it¡¯d spell their demise.¡±

    ¡°We should destroy it here and now. I don¡¯t feelfortable keeping this kind of thing on me while I travel.¡±

    ¡°But what about master? We should at least wait until he inspects it before we make that decision.¡±

    ¡°Sure he can inspect it, but can hee up with anything other than what we¡¯ve already figured out? Even with further probing, we¡¯d only be able to figure out theposition of the creature, not its abilities. The only way to get true results is to have someone consume it. But obviously, that isn¡¯t a viable choice.¡±

    ¡°I can at least agree on that part, but I still believe it¡¯s better to let Master take a look at it.¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s stance was clear and her belief was firm. Seeing the look in her eyes, he knew she wouldn¡¯t bend no matter how hard he tried to convince her.

    Perhaps it was just paranoia speaking, but Damien felt it¡¯d be more dangerous to carry around such a thing. He even felt repulsed by the idea. And his subspace would be the best ce to keep it if they decided to do so, since it couldn¡¯t be prated by outside forces like a spatial ring.

    ¡°Sigh, fine. I¡¯ll listen to you this once since I know I can¡¯t change your decision. Master is much more powerful than us anyway, so he might find something that we couldn¡¯t see.¡±

    Damien begrudgingly agreed, moving to put the vial back in his subspace. However, he was met with unexpected interference.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Damien looked over at the speaker in surprise. ¡°What is it, Zara?¡±

    ¡°Can you¡­Can you let me consume it?¡± Zara asked hesitantly.

    ¡°What?!¡± Damien eximed. ¡°Absolutely not. I won¡¯t allow whatever parasite this is to invade your body.¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll do anything! Something in my bloodline is resonating with that creature! I believe that I will get much stronger if I just have the chance to consume it!¡±

    Once again, it was her bloodline. There was almost no reason to question it now, Zara¡¯s bloodline had a connection to the Nox.

    Usually, beasts with Godbeast bloodline like Zara would have long since awakened their inherited memories from their ancestors, even if it was a partial awakening or just a portion of memories.

    But no such thing took ce with Zara. No matter how strong she grew, she was never given a clue about her heritage. The first and only one they had found so far was made clear now.

    As for the rtion between Zara¡¯s bloodline and the Nox, that was still to be found, but for her bloodline to resonate with such strong feelings, it couldn¡¯t have been only a small rtion.

    Damien felt conflicted. With ess to her mind, he could clearly feel how desperate she was. Not only for the strength she was sure she¡¯d receive, but also to find any lead she could on this clue.

    Heritage was incredibly important to beasts, more so than Damien had ever imagined.

    Every beast had a trace of Godbeast bloodline, such was fact. However, for most beasts, this trace was so minuscule that it could barely even be counted.

    Of the countless number of beasts in existence, there weren¡¯t many that could actually awaken their slumbering bloodline. There were even fewer that had a potent enough bloodline to be considered as true inheritors.

    But Zara was one of them. Not only did she have the potent bloodline, but it had also been awakened within her from the moment she was born. Such was the uniqueness of the so-called First Dungeon, as the spatial grandmaster Kurt had named it.

    He had also written in passing about how the Godbeast bloodlines within the dungeon were much more potent, but Damien hadn¡¯t paid it much thought until now.

    On one hand, he didn¡¯t want any harm to befall Zara. Letting something as dangerous as the Death Seed enter her body was out of the question. But on the other hand, he found it difficult to turn down her earnest plea.

    ¡°Can I at least try and erase its consciousness before giving it to you?¡± He asked in defeat.

    But she wouldn¡¯t even give him this much. ¡°No. I want it as it is right now. Damien, you¡¯ve known me for so long, so you know I¡¯m not the weak little cub I once was. Please, just trust me this once.¡±

    Damienughed helplessly. He couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of the way Ruyue had pleaded to Tian Yang earlier.

    When did their rtionship be one where she had to beg him like this? He had never considered himself her master. His feelings stemmed from a different ce. To him, Zara had always been like an innocent and cheerful little sister.

    When did she grow up so much? When did she lose her naivety? He felt incredibly guilty that such things happened without his notice.

    In the end, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from obliging her. He had immense trust in her from the start, he was just incredibly afraid of seeing her get hurt.

    Turning to Ruyue, he gave her the same helpless look.

    Ruyue feltplicated seeing this. It wasn¡¯t his n nor was it hers, but just like how she had been previously, she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to convince him otherwise.

    ¡°Sigh, fine fine. I understand already. I won¡¯t say anything about the matter, and if she can sessfully consume it, we¡¯ll have another powerful ally by our side.¡±

    Damien beamed at her response. ¡°Truly thank you. I promise I¡¯ll repay you for this in the future.¡±

    Ruyue was a bit dazed by his smile, but she quickly snapped out of it. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for any repayment, you fool.¡± She muttered lightly, hiding the slight smile on her face.

    But Damien had already moved over to Zara, so he wasn¡¯t able to witness it.

    ¡°If you feel anything odd, immediately contact me. I will expel everything from your body whether you like it or not. Understand?¡±

    ¡°Mm!¡±

    Damien sighed lightly as he once again removed the lid from the vial. And as predicted, the Death Seed creature jumped out, attempting escape.

    But there was no way Zara would allow that to happen. In one fell swoop, she grabbed it in her mouth and devoured it whole.

 Chapter 203 - Death Seed [3]

    The cave was wrapped in silence as Damien and Ruyue intently watched Zara, trying to glean any changes that urred within her body after she ate the Death Seed.

    However, to their dismay, there was nothing. Zara simply stood still with her eyes closed and savored the taste of the creature she had just ingested.

    ¡°Hm? Shouldn¡¯t there be some sort of wild gust of mana or something right now?¡± Damien questioned.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about any of that, but I¡¯m certain there should at least be some changes.¡± Ruyue was also doubtful about theck of reaction. Even the rapid stat boost that Zara was supposed to be experiencing would have some sort of physical manifestation.

    The system ryed their physical abilities as stats, so that¡¯s how they were usually referred to. But they weren¡¯t simply status points in a game. Every time one received a boost in their stats, their body would experience a change, no matter how minute it was.

    That was half of the reason Damien always went through horrendous pain whenever he evolved. Not only was the essence he devoured being sent through his body to temper it, but the drastic rise in stats would also remold him at a cellr level.

    The system wasn¡¯t a simple thing at all, and neither was the quest and rise to power that all beings under its influence would partake in. They were always doing their best to raise their level, raise their skill, and in the end, raise their state of existence.

    The term ¡®league¡¯ that the system always used was referring to this. An individual¡¯s league was their state of existence. Every time it rose, said individual was essentially being reborn as a higher being. It was just that before 4th ss and 5th ss when one was preparing for and entering the realm of Godhood, these changes weren¡¯t as prominent.

    So they were more or less attributed to growth in stats.

    For Zara right now, such an immediate and inconsequential increase in stats should have been reflected in her body. Whether she would be in pain or grow in size, whatever it was it should have been something Damien and Ruyue could witness.

    So why was she acting like she had done nothing more than eat a sumptuous meal?

    As if to answer these questions, a sudden change emerged in Zara. Her previous pleasureful expression contorted into a grimace and her eyes shot open.

    Rather than the bright golden pupils that were usually contained within, there was only an endless amount of ckness. Even the whites of her eyes were dyed in ck.

    Her mouth opened, showcasing rows of de-like teeth as she began to growl seemingly at nothing. From Damien¡¯s connection with her, he could clearly feel her erratic emotional state.

    It was a mixture of pain, anguish, unwillingness, euphoria, and an indomitable fighting spirit. Such a mixture of emotions would have been confusing in any other situation, but Damien knew exactly what was going on.

    ¡®That thing is trying to possess her.¡¯

    Not just possess her, it was trying topletely eradicate her soul and be her. Within Zara¡¯s mind, a fierce battle was taking ce.

    On one side was a winged ck wolf, the original owner of the body, and on the other side was a ghastly ck dragon. With every second that passed in the outside world, the two traded hundreds of blows, but neither was able to gain the upper hand.

    But Zara knew she was losing this battle. With every second that passed, more and more of her memories were being eroded and devoured by the being facing her. The only way for her to regain them was to defeat it.

    Spreading her wings. She charged at the dragon like a cket, brandishing her ws and fangs. She reached her target in an instant, shing down while dodging the dragon¡¯s tail which whipped towards her like a mace.

    With her every movement, bone-chilling ice spread through the floor of the mental world. Although her ice was only a manifestation of her will, it wasn¡¯t entirely useless. Even if it couldn¡¯t injure the dragon, it was able to freeze the progress of memory erosion that was taking ce in the background.

    Such was the level of battle within a mental world. The only limit on ability was imagination, since there was no physical form to manifest and no real mana being consumed. If one had a conceptual understanding, anything was possible.

    Zara could freeze even time itself within this mental world if she wanted, but there was no point in doing so. The dragon would be able to escape just as easily.

    So while she used her ice to freeze the concept of erosion that the dragon was using to consume her memories and soul, she used her shadows to create a clone of herself.

    The clone was entirely ck with none of the features a living being would have, but that didn¡¯t matter, its physical strength was on par with hers.

    Together, the two circled the dragon, attacking its blind spots in perfect unison. The dragon thrashed around, using its tail and fangs as its main weapon as well.

    Just like Zara, it couldn¡¯t harm its opponent with elemental attacks. Only physical attacks within this ne would be effective, since they were essentially battling with their souls.

    As the battle within the mental world continued, Zara¡¯s body fell to the floor, convulsing. Her muscles were wriggling beneath her skin as if they were alive, causing awkward protrusions to asionally rise from her fur. Blood soon began to exit her orifices as she continuously growled into the air.

    Themotion she caused was significant, and her deathly howls attracted the attention of numerous beasts that had been wandering in the vicinity.

    From the tone of her howls alone, they were aware that whatever beast was making those sounds was in pain. And an injured opponent was the easiest prey.

    Damien and Ruyue¡¯s expressions were grave.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t good. We¡¯ve been surrounded.¡± Damien peered through the cave walls with his awareness and noticed an ever-increasing crowd of beasts eyeing the semi-hidden cave with greed.

    ¡°Those beasts are too ferocious. Regardless of whether or not we leave the cave, they will attack. We have no choice but to fight.¡±

    Damien gritted his teeth in frustration as he nced at Zara. He hated seeing her in this much pain, but the situation didn¡¯t allow him to help at all. If they didn¡¯t protect the cave, all three of them would be in trouble.

    ¡°I¡¯m trusting you this once. Don¡¯t let me down.¡± Whispering those words, he nodded towards Ruyue.

    The two of them soon exited the cave with their heads held high, refusing to be intimidated by the threatening convergence of auras they were subject to.

    Although the pressure was weighty, it was nothing to the two of them, who had endured Tian Yang¡¯s aura suppression with nothing but their bare bodies.

    ¡°So? Do we fight together or separate?¡±

    ¡°Together would be nice, but there¡¯s too many of them right now. How about you take the left and I take the right, and we meet up in the middle.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, a good n but let¡¯s make it more interesting. Whoever finishedst has to be the other person¡¯s servant for an entire week!¡±

    ¡°What? You¡¯re dreaming if you think I¡¯ll ever be your servant.¡±

    ¡°Wow, are you that certain you¡¯re going to lose? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re scared of a little bet like this.¡±

    ¡°Scared? As if. But these stakes are too dull. How about the winner gets a single favor from the loser, no matter what it is.¡±

    Looking at Ruyue¡¯s shining eyes, he got the sudden urge to tease her. His eyes unabashedly roamed her exquisite body and his mouth curled into a sly smile. ¡°Whatever it is, you say?¡±

    His tant gaze seared into her skin. She felt like even though she was fully clothed, she was naked in front of his gaze. A blush inadvertently crept up her face, but she quickly turned away.

    ¡°I said whatever, so I mean whatever! Are you really so confident that you think you¡¯ll get a taste of this princess?¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened both at her meaning and the way she addressed herself. The unexpected retort was too much for him. Unable to hold himself back, he broke into a boisterous fit ofughter.

    Wiping the slight tears that formed at the side of his eyes, he replied back. ¡°Fine fine, whatever you say, miss princess. These beasts don¡¯t look like they can wait much longer anyway, so shall we start our contest.¡±

    ¡°Hmph! Shake on it to seal the deal.¡±

    The two nced at each other and grinned, strongly shaking hands. Truthfully, a few bolder beasts had already charged forth during their conversation, but had been either burned to cinders or crushed to meatpaste in the process.

    The rest of the smarter beasts were eyeing them warily. They knew that with such arge congregation, most of them would end up dead trying to get to whichever beast was within the cave, whether by the hands of their fellow beasts or the two humans in front of them.

    But none of them ran away. The prospect of evolution was too enticing for them to do so, and the aura of the injured beast within the cave was powerful enough to guarantee their progression. Even if it meant risking death, they would take the chance.

    The two sides stared each other down, their auras shing in the air between them.

    And then, it was pandemonium.

 Chapter 204 - Death Seed [4]

    Arcs of ck lightning and blue fire streaked through the air,bining with various other elemental forces to create massive explosions. The sound of roars filled with killing intent and agony filled the surroundings.

    Damien raced through the battlefield surrounded by an amethyst aura dyed with red. His nails had long since elongated into ws, and his teeth into fangs.

    A hazy field surrounded him like the air during a heat wave, repelling any sort of elemental attack that shot towards him. Each of these attacks was returned directly to their casters, causing arger influx of anguished howls.

    There were no teams on the battlefield and no distinguishing between enemies and allies. Even while Damien and Ruyue fought valiantly among the beasts, the beasts fought each other as well.

    After all, there wasn¡¯t even one among them that would be willing to share their spoils with the rest. Only one would survive and consume the beast within the cave.

    Damien¡¯s figure was illusory, shing between existence and nonexistence. He would appear in one spot, pummeling the beasts around him before disappearing and reappearing in apletely different area.

    It had been a long time since he abused his teleportation, but in a chaotic battlefield like this, it was almost a cheat code. His awareness was spread within a 1-kilometer radius around him. Even though it was reigned in, he could see the proceedings much more clearly.

    Every time he saw a beast being overpowered, he would teleport over and crush it. The air was filled with spatial fluctuations and distortions, painting a canvas of bloody swirls.

    The beasts were frenzied in their fighting as well, perhaps even more so than Damien. None of them were weak, with even the weakest being at the peak of 2nd ss. Any that didn¡¯t reach this level had long since fled after seeing the number of powerful beings that had congregated.

    The only reason Damien was able to crush his enemies like they were ants was because he was aiming for the weakest among them, as well as those who were being weakened. He had no time to be held up by those stronger opponents.

    Suddenly, he jumped into the air and spread his arms, calling forth his mana. In the next instant, rumbling storm clouds gathered around him.

    The clouds thundered and boomed, the natural yellow lightning within them being dyed ck with Damien¡¯s signature style. Their aura was elevated immensely in this process, bearing down on those beneath like heavenly punishment.

    The crackling ck lightning was especially vicious today, carrying an unbridled killing intent. But no beast present would be intimidated by the bloody aura.

    Unlike the pack leader Damien had met previously, these beasts lived in an environment simr to the dungeon. Killing intent was engraved in their bones and battle was their life.

    Once the formation of the storm clouds wasplete, Damien once again dropped to the ground, using his vector control to increase the surrounding gravity and speed up his fall.

    Hisnding caused the earth to shatter and tens of beasts to be momentarily ttened, giving an opening to those who survived to quickly kill them off.

    But even they wouldn¡¯t survive long. The brewing storm clouds finally began to move, dropping bolts of lightning thicker than a man¡¯s arm onto the battlefield and causing widespread destruction.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether a beast was present in the strike zone or not, the lightning would still strike true. Craters upon cr¨¢tera began littering the packed dirt of the ground and many beasts were struck, bing paralyzed by the destructive electricity that entered their bodies.

    But the storm clouds werepletely under Damien¡¯s control. If this was all they could do, they would be much more worthless than his other traits.

    In Damien¡¯s hands, this trait could show off much more of its capabilities than a measly sea dragon could ever hope for.

    The lightning within the clouds began to coalesce, gathering theirbined heat to be something new, something deadlier.

    Soon enough, pirs of sma also began to shoot down from the sky. No matter how one saw it, it was a scene of judgement.

    As beasts continuously fell from thebined onught of his trait and their fellow beasts, Damien continued to sh around the battlefields, distorting and copsing space to reap as many lives as possible.

    The feeling was exhrating. He had almost forgotten what it felt like within the dungeon when he was no better than a mindless beast himself. He had almost forgotten the thrill of such heaven-shaking battles.

    This was his environment. This was where he thrived. This was what he needed. He had priorities, sure, but he knew that this was the kind of ce where he would grow the fastest.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that there was plenty to do in the outside world, as well as people he cared about, he would probably move back and forth between the danger zones of the world as he continuously fought such battles.

    But no matter. Such thoughts were nothing more than fleeting desire.

    Since he wasn¡¯t being actively targeted by anyrge groups of beasts, and with the general chaos of the battle itself, Damien felt like he had everything under control. And so, he took a second to nce over at Ruyue.

    ¡®Wow, she might be a natural at this.¡¯

    It was a surprising sight indeed. He thought he was in total control over his side of the battlefield, but she wasn¡¯t doing any worse.

    The sun was still high in the sky, but two massive moons were hanging over the battlefield, each being many kilometers in diameter.

    While one was rtively normal, the other was like a massive ball of blue fire. He didn¡¯t know why his mind automatically ssified it as a moon when it looked more like a star, but he didn¡¯t pay much attention to that.

    Ruyue¡¯s fight was much more graceful than his. Instead of getting into the thick of the battle like he did, she oversaw it from the sky like an immovable mountain, a battle-hardened general.

    The two moons nking her on each side were continuously pouring out their own unique energies, and a deep grey fog was spreading through the atmosphere.

    While Damien used his storm trait to rain down projectiles on the masses, Ruyue¡¯s two moons did the same. Blue beams that radiated both heat and cold shot down rapidly and burned through the beasts and waves of gentle essence followed suit, turning their bodies into ash.

    It was a smart strategy. Any beast that got its ws on the corpses would inevitably grow stronger in the midst of battle, so destroying them was the best move. Damien didn¡¯t do it because, well, he wanted to devour them himself.

    While the two moonsplemented each other, Ruyue stood between them, waving her hands like a conductor. Evidently, the eerie fog had originated from her.

    The elemental attacks that were being used by the beasts miraculously never aimed at her. Or rather, the beasts that aimed at her inadvertently shot their attacks in unintended directions.

    ¡®Mental attacks?¡¯

    If there was one thing that could be considered as the main weakness of beasts, it was their minds. Until they reached 4th ss, they would never prioritize mental defense, with their power system being focused on physical improvement.

    Until that point, any mental growth they had went towards sprouting consciousness and maturing.

    The system was fair. It maintained bnce in its own way. Beasts could grow and strengthen at speeds that humans could never even fathom as long as they were surrounded by their own kind.

    Kill, eat, evolve. Such a system would be far too broken if it was allowed to be just that. Perhaps that was why beasts were born mindless and grew into their wits.

    As for Ruyue¡¯s attack, even Damien didn¡¯t understand the exact nature of it.

    But Ruyue wasn¡¯t paying attention to him right now. The yin element in her body was more active than it had ever been, fusing into her mana and being guided by her graceful movements.

    With each swing of her hand, she released another wave of essence into the crowd of unsuspecting beasts. The essence melded into the fog and infected the minds of those it surrounded, causing utter mayhem within the ranks.

    As mentioned before, the yin element was structured on all things negative. Negative emotions were not excluded from such ssification. When she was a child, Ruyue had many times run into problems where she was unable to control her yin element, causing strife and conflict in her wake.

    She would unconsciously affect their emotions simply with her presence, amplifying the ugliness they hid behind conscientious exteriors and causing them to burst. When she started studying under Tian Yang, this was the first ability she had mastered.

    But she rarely ended up using it. It was a tool for incitement and a tool that could reveal a person¡¯s true colors, but she was never a fan of maniption. But against a crowd of beasts, or when her life was truly on the line, she would never hesitate to pull out all her cards.

    Sure, Damien¡¯s side had the most unbridled chaos with the myriad of shing abilities and bloody head-on battles painting its surface, but Ruyue¡¯s was much more gruesome in its own way.

    Suddenly, she felt a gaze on her. Gazing back fearlessly, she once again grinned at the man who was both her closest friend and opponent.

    Since they were in control of their own battlefields, all that was left was a race to the center.

 Chapter 205 - Next Movie [1]

    The anguished cries of beasts only became more and more prominent as time went on. Countless beams of various colored lights as well as waves of formless essence infiltrated their ranks and reaped their lives.

    The pristine scenery of the jungle in a 1,000-meter radius had be dyed in blood and estranged body parts. In fact, themotion had grownrge enough to attract even more beasts over, but seeing the proceedings they quickly left the area.

    Zara¡¯s agonizing howls had also ceased at some point during the battle, but neither the beasts nor Damien and Ruyue noticed this. There were simply too many thunderous sounds that collided against each other in the surroundings, drowning out the once-piercing cries.

    Damien once again looked at the destruction being wrought and smiled. He knew there were more methods he could use to handle the situation, but none seemed as feasible as the one he was using now.

    For instance, he had yet to use Starfall and rain hell in that way, but there was a reason for this. He simply didn¡¯t want to attract too much attention.

    While it may have sounded contradictory considering that the current situation was already calling plenty of attention towards them, his thoughts were on a different matter.

    Starfall required him to summon an astral body from space, and he most of the time chose random debris instead of any significant objects. But no matter what he called, its origin would be the same.

    Even if he used his Celestial Authority to influence the summoning, for it to do proper wife scale damage it had to gain a significant amount of momentum, meaning the actual summoning would take ce hundreds if not thousands of kilometers in the air.

    Such a scene would obviously be in in view even from the far reaches of the mountain range, and rather than the 3rd ss beasts that noticed themotion at this point, it¡¯d be the various experts who lived in the mountains who took note.

    And this was what Damien wanted to avoid.

    If it was 3rd ss beasts, even if he and Ruyue couldn¡¯t ughter them all, he at least had confidence to flee. But if any of those Beast Kings were attracted, it¡¯d be game over.

    His storm trait was different in this regard. Although it was simrly eye-catching, it would only raise interest of those within a 10,000-kilometer radius at best, and those experts on the mountains wouldn¡¯t sense it.

    Even if they did, he doubted they¡¯d take serious interest after seeing it. After all, it was a trait. Traits, while not entirelymon, aren¡¯t necessarily rare enough to stand out. Even if a Beast King noticed that the trait was in use, they most likely wouldn¡¯t care.

    His storm trait, while definitely being among the more destructive traits he¡¯s seen, wasn¡¯t unique enough to belong to only a single beast type.

    This particr iteration of it belonged to the sea dragon, but many other variations of it could exist in other beasts, especially in locations such as the 3000 Beast Mountain Range where talent was congregated.

    Plus, those Beast Kings weren¡¯t like Damien with his devour ability, so there was no way for them to take it for themselves. The only thing Damien was concerned about was whether those Beast Kings would be interested in recruiting the user of the trait as one of their own.

    It was impossible for factions not to exist within the mountain range, and through Damien¡¯s brief interactions with the Beast Emperor and Empress on Apeiron, he was well aware that those Beast Kings didn¡¯t distinguish between races of beast when it came to recruitment.

    Luckily, even for this kind of recruitment, the physical presence of a Beast King was too much. Instead, those who noticed would only send envoys.

    Still, even with all this he knew there was no guarantee ofplete safety, so he proposed a bet to motivate both himself and Ruyue to clean up shop as fast as possible.

    And now, that bet was slowlying to an end.

    Most of the crowd had already been dealt with, and the only thing left was the central area that they left untouched. At that ce, it was still only beast on beast battle taking ce.

    With the two of them working together, it wouldn¡¯t take long to wipe out these few hundred remaining beasts, but thepetition would end based on who arrived at that point first, not who was able to wipe the central area the fastest.

    And seeing the excited glint in Ruyue¡¯s eyes, Damien could only shake his head wryly.

    ¡®Ah, whatever. I can¡¯t dampen her mood when she¡¯s looking so excited, can I?¡¯

    He could¡¯ve teleported over immediately if he really wanted to, but he had long since developed a soft spot for this outwardly cold yet inwardly soft-hearted woman.

    The fact that he was able to see her cheerful and exuberant side while others were faced with a massive wall was enough satisfaction for him.

    Turning his attention away from her, he teleported over to thest few remaining beasts on his side, opting to fight them head-on instead of bombarding him as he did before. Though, he still left his storm trait active to keep up the image that he was trying his best.

    And only a few minutester, he saw Ruyue dashing towards the center at top speed.

    He quickly wrapped up the battle, grabbing and crushing thest beast¡¯s head with a spatial distortion before teleporting over.

    When he arrived, he saw a smug-looking Ruyue gazing at him in amusement.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you so confident that you were going to win? What happened to that?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, whatever. You were only a hair faster than me anyway, so why do you look so proud?¡±

    ¡°You can teleport, duh! I beat someone who can teleport in apetition of speed, why shouldn¡¯t I be happy?¡±

    ¡°Okay, you¡¯re definitely twisting the events now. Since when was this a foot race?¡±

    ¡°It is what I say it is! Don¡¯t you know? The winner gets to make the story while the loser can only sigh in despair.¡±

    Damien once again shook his head wryly. It seems he couldn¡¯t let her win too often, lest she be too arrogant for him to handle.

    As the two conversed, their respective area of effect moves migrated onto the crowd of beasts in front of them and brought judgement upon their enemies. Even without doing too much physical work themselves, they quickly razed the beasts until none remained.

    ¡°Alright, now that that¡¯s over, what did you want for your favor?¡± Damien asked with a slight smile on his face. He had developed enough trust in this senior sister of his that he knew she wouldn¡¯t cause him too much trouble. That was part of the reason why he didn¡¯t mind giving her the win.

    ¡°Hmm, I can¡¯t decide right now,¡± Ruyue said as she brought her finger up to her lip, seemingly deep in thought. ¡°I¡¯ll keep this favor on hold until I really know what I want.¡±

    Damien let out an exasperated sigh at her ¡°pretending to be mysterious¡± attitude that mirrored a certain senior he knew.

    ¡°Fine, keep that favor on hold then. But since we¡¯re done with this, I think it¡¯s better if we move.¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s expression became serious at his words as she nodded. ¡°Right, our position has been exposed. Even if the massacre will ward off beasts for a bit, it¡¯s not a permanent solution.¡±

    Damien turned his attention back to the cave as they spoke.

    He was only able to joke as he did since he hadn¡¯t felt anything notable from his mental connection with Zara, but he could tell that her mental state was slightly jumbled. It wasn¡¯t a problem, per se, but he wasn¡¯t able to feelfortable until he saw her condition for himself.

    Arriving back inside, he immediately went over to Zara¡¯s side. By the looks of it, she had copsed from exhaustion or something of the sort, but she was still fine and breathing. None of her previous painful expressions or bodily changes were present anymore.

    However, he noticed that her fur was much sleeker than it was before, and her wings had experienced a slight change too. Now, along with their massive wingspan and speed, he could see the feathers had taken on a razor-sharpponent. They were able to cut through his finger with ease when he ran it along their edges.

    He injected his mana into his eyes, trying to sense any abnormalities in her aura, but once again there was nothing out of the ordinary. Still, it was clear that she was experiencing some sort of evolutionary process, since her aura kept fluctuating and expanding.

    Signing lightly, he brought Zara into his shadow. The process she was going through seemed extremely gradual, and he couldn¡¯t be sure when she was going to wake up.

    Shaking off his concern, he turned to Ruyue. It was time for them to decide their next move.

    ¡°For our primary goals in the future, we have two options that seem most viable to me.¡±

 Chapter 206 - Next Move [2]

    ¡°For our primary goals in the future, we have two options that seem most viable to me.¡±

    ¡°Our goal here is strength. Regardless of whether ites from in and simple leveling orprehension and experience, in the end, we are pursuing strength.

    ¡°And to this end, our options be limited. We can either ascend a mountain or make our way to the massive tree in the center of the mountain range.¡±

    Ruyue had a pondering look on her face. Damien, who usually didn¡¯t seem that knowledgeable, had suddenly be an expert. Still, his words carried certainty and confidence that made it hard to doubt him.

    ¡°Why are these our only options? Can¡¯t we just stay within this ground-level jungle and gain levels through fights like we did just now?¡±

    But Damien shook his head in denial. ¡°That¡¯s not possible. There are two points we need to go over to exin the reason. For simplicity¡¯s sake, I¡¯ll start with the easier one. Have you opened your status since thest fight? Also, did you not notice anything while fighting those beasts?¡±

    Ruyue checked her status before abruptly falling into contemtion. It was as he said, something was strange. ¡°With the number of beasts we killed, I should have gained a significant amount of experience, but I¡¯ve barely advanced a single level.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the same for me. I can¡¯t say for certain what¡¯s causing this phenomenon, but I¡¯m sure of a few things. Experience in itself is another form of essence, it¡¯s just that we don¡¯t have the capabilities to truly witness its form or control it. If we continue down this line of thought, we can infer that something is either blocking that essence froming to us or sending it somewhere else for unknown purposes.¡±

    ¡°But why would it be like that?¡±

    Damien could only smile wryly at this question. Ruyue had obviously be caught up in his momentum and just asked whatever questions came to her without trying to find the answer for herself. But he didn¡¯t mind it much, so he let it be.

    ¡°We aren¡¯t qualified to know the answer to that question. Some truths aren¡¯t essible until we gain the power to find them out for ourselves. Anyway, let¡¯s move on: did you realize what I was talking about in my second question?¡±

    Ruyue once again fell into thought, ruminating on the previous battle. ¡°Ah! Isn¡¯t the power of a 3rd ss beast supposed to be much more robust than what we saw?¡±

    Damien nodded with a smile. ¡°Not only that, but their intelligence was also heavilycking. I mean, look at Zara. Even if her intelligence is cut above the rest, she¡¯s still a good example. Most 3rd ss beasts I have met until this point have learned to converse in the universalnguage, but these beasts don¡¯t seem to be capable of it.

    ¡°And besidesmunication, they also don¡¯t have the same mental capacity as the beasts we met outside. Justpare them to that pack leader from before and use it as an example.¡±

    Ruyue nodded in understanding. Indeed, even if the pack leader was barely strong enough to be considered a 3rd ss, its intelligence and thought process wereplex enough to rival a human adult. These beasts weren¡¯t even close to such capabilities, being consumed by primal instincts.

    ¡°This leads me to my second point. This one is a bit more involved, as it concerns beast society in general. Beasts are creatures who heavily prioritize two things, heritage and hierarchy.

    ¡°In this case, we are focusing on the hierarchy aspect. The beasts that live on this ground level are, to be blunt, the utter trash of this beast society. Their strength and intelligence are simply unable to match up, so they are forced to stay on the ground and attempt to evolve.

    ¡°However, it¡¯ll be different for those on the mountain. The higher we go on the mountain, the more powerful beasts we will encounter. Above ground, the higher one lives, the more status they have, while below ground, it¡¯s the opposite.

    ¡°Basically, if we climb the mountain we will face true opponents and beasts who are capable of thought that can rival our own. That is where we will find challenges.

    ¡°However, there are cons to this as well, the various Beast Kings that reside in this mountain range will inevitably be on those mountains. We have no means of knowing when or where we will run into them or the types of personalities they have.

    ¡°If they are on the more cordial side; we may be able to somehow scrape by with our lives intact, but if they aren¡¯t, we¡¯re essentially doomed.¡±

    Ruyue intently listened to his lecture, soaking up all the information he provided. Although she had been around the world a fair amount of times for sect missions and the like, she had never truly taken the time to understand beasts to such an extent.

    Even most of the missions she took had to do with human problems rather than beast hunting.

    ¡°Hmm, risk and reward truly go hand in hand,¡± shemented. At face value, the risk seemed to outweigh the rewards, but in reality, it was hard to say. They didn¡¯t know whether their experience gains would be hindered the same on the mountain, and they didn¡¯t know theyout of society there either.

    But if the experience block coincided with the hierarchy Damien had mentioned, they might make some truly splendid gains on the mountain. There was also the possibility of befriending a Beast King powerhouse, as well as gaining properbat experience.

    Aside from all that, there was another point that Damien didn¡¯t end up mentioning since it was too obvious. The mana here wasn¡¯t as simple as it was outside. While there was nothing out of the ordinary about the pure mana in the atmosphere, the concentration of elemental mana was much denser.

    And with how environmental factors usually affected mana density, the concentration of elemental mana as they climbed the mountain would increase exponentially.

    Neither Damien nor Ruyue practiced any ¡®normal¡¯ elements as their main fighting strength, but that wasn¡¯t a problem. Yin and Yang together are something akin to creation forces, so Ruyue could absorb any yin-natured elemental mana in lieu of pure yin mana and still be fine.

    In fact, this is what she usually did inprehension since actual yin element mana was rare to find in nature. If the elemental mana concentration spiked, she would naturally benefit.

    As for Damien, his case wasn¡¯t as special. Lightning mana was easy to find, and as for space, it was everywhere. Spatial mana was ever present, it was just hard to actually draw out. Only when one¡¯sprehension of spatial element reached a certain level would it be possible.

    But that wasn¡¯t a problem for Damien, and if the concentration of such mana was heightened, it¡¯d be even less burdensome.

    All in all, the n to climb the mountain didn¡¯t seem as bad as it sounded on the surface. But Ruyue suddenly remembered that Damien offered a second path they could take.

    ¡°And the second option?¡±

    ¡°Ah, to be honest, that one is more of a gamble,¡± Damien replied sheepishly.

    ¡°That tree obviously holds some sort of importance, even if we just judge by its size. The fact that it is the direct center of the mountain range also alludes to this fact. Something tells me that we¡¯ll meet an opportunity if we go there.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Ruyue hummed. This kind of intuition wasn¡¯t something that could be ignored once they reached the level they were at. Evidently, there was something special about the tree that was drawing Damien towards it.

    ¡°But, it¡¯s still too much of a risk to take right now. It¡¯s an unknown factor. Also, it is so far away that it¡¯ll take at least a month of constant travel for us to reach that point if we factor in all the beasts and whatnot that we¡¯ll have to deal with during our travels.¡±

    ¡°And the aura of that tree is immense. Even from so far away, its life aura seeps into the atmosphere and fosters the growth of the fauna. Such a tree is guaranteed to be conscious, and it might also be hostile. We can never be too careful.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. That¡¯s why I presented the previous option first. Still, I believe that we should at least check it out to see if there¡¯s anything special over there. I mean, if we actually gain some sort of heavenly treasure or opportunity, all the pain and travel would be worth it.¡±

    ¡°True. No matter how I want to y it safe, it doesn¡¯t seem like that¡¯s really an option right now considering our location. But the known danger is safer than the unknown, so I opt that we go to the mountain first. After we gain some strength, we can head towards the tree.¡±

    Damien nodded in agreement. This was the path that he wanted to take as well.

    As they talked, the two had traveled countless kilometers away from their previous cave. Even in these new surroundings, they hadn¡¯t been able to find another temporary residence to return to their peak state before they challenged the mountain.

    Damien had also tried to devour the beasts he had killed before they left, but due to the experience blockage that he had learned about earlier, he didn¡¯t gain as much as he hoped.

    It wasn¡¯t that his Void Physique¡¯s functions were being interfered with, but instead, the experience had already left the beast carcasses at the moment they died instead of being transferred to him, leaving them useless.

    And with those beasts being trashes among this society, they didn¡¯t even give him any noticeable changes in his physical stats.

    Sighing lightly at his predicament, he turned his attention back to the boundless mountains on the horizon.

    His blood was already boiling at the prospect of what they would find there.

 Chapter 207 - First Moutain [1]

    An entire week had passed by since the big battle, and Damien and Ruyue were making haste towards the mountains they saw in the distance.

    There were 50 mountains total in this mountain range, but from their starting point, they only had 5 they could choose from. With their time in this danger zone limited to 7 months maximum, it¡¯d be difficult to fully explore more than two of these behemoths, and that¡¯s if theypletely abandoned their ns to visit the massive tree in the center.

    At first, the two of them considered moving towards the central area and choosing a mountain among those there to climb, but they quickly discarded the thought. Just like human society, the central region would be where the most powerhouses were gathered.

    Although it was rumored that there were 3000 Beast Kings residing in the mountain range, their positions were never mentioned. While it would¡¯ve been nice if they were evenly spread out among the mountains, with 60 of them on each, that was nothing more than a dream.

    With these thoughts in mind, the two headed towards the farthest mountain within their perception range. The decision wasn¡¯t random though. They were able to at least get a baseline read on the terrain of each mountain from the ecosystems they could see at a nce.

    The 5th mountain happened to be covered in ice and snow, creating a beautiful scenery. Damien didn¡¯t have a strict elemental requirement for his training, while Ruyue would benefit immensely from the frosty atmosphere, so it ended up being the best choice.

    As they traveled, they were constantly besieged by beasts from all sides, though the battles never reached the scale of their very first one within the mountain range. Instead, it was mainly just small groups of beasts that saw them as easy prey and ended up being demolished.

    The duo did their best to use as little mana as possible as they fought, knowing that they had to constantly be wary. No matter how inferior these beasts were, they were still at 3rd ss. Even if the ones they had run into so far had been trash, there was no saying that every single beast would be the same.

    Their cautiousness didn¡¯t seem to be necessary though, as even by the time they finally reached the base of the mountain, they had met not a single worthy beast.

    Now, however, it¡¯d be different. The massive mountain in front of them was filled with icy trees that seemed to be made of ss and nts of the same nature. The flora seemed like it would shatter at a mere touch. But when Damien actually pushed his hand against it, he realized it was a facade.

    In reality, the trunks of these trees were incredibly dense, and the second his hand touched its surface, ayer of permafrost began to cover it. If he had been any weaker, he might¡¯ve been forced to amputate his entire hand from his careless action.

    ¡°Damn, even the environment is so ruthless,¡± Damienmented with a wary tone.

    ¡°Why are you speaking as if you¡¯re scared while smiling like an idiot? It¡¯s creepy.¡± Ruyue quipped back.

    ¡°Eh?¡± Damien brought his hand up to his face and touched his lips. He truly had been smiling.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t know? It¡¯s not just right now, you¡¯ve had a smile on your face since you found out that Zara was okay.¡±

    Damien furrowed his brows at her words. Why had he been smiling like that for no reason? ¡®Well, it¡¯s not like it really matters. If I smile, I smile. I have no worries so it¡¯s only natural, right?¡¯

    He tried to convince himself inwardly, but even he didn¡¯t believe such ame excuse. Truthfully, he just didn¡¯t want to admit to himself the reason.

    ¡®No. I have to stay true to myself. If I keep acting like a wuss and running away from my problems, I¡¯ll never change for the better.

    He knew the reason behind his smile. He had known ever since that massive battle what the reason for his giddiness was.

    He had lost his edge over the years. It had started on Apeiron, but became even more pronounced after he healed his mother sessfully. He had lost that certain feeling that made him the person he was.

    Whenever he thought back on the dungeon, he would always do so in the context of ¡°wow, that was a shitty timepared to now¡± and he reveled in the fact that he escaped.

    But it only took a single battle to bring him back to reality.

    This environment was a lot like the dungeon. It was more expansive and definitely more mysterious, but the atmosphere was entirely simr. This kind of ruthless killing environment where it was every man for himself, if he was beingpletely honest, he missed it.

    But many of his memories from the dungeon had been repressed. He knew of it, but didn¡¯t try to pry open that side of himself because he was mildly afraid of what would happen.

    It wasn¡¯t the personality he developed back then that left a spot, but rather the experience he had in the blood world.

    When he was trapped in his own consciousness while his body was being controlled by his bestial instinct, he was terrified. He was forced to mature in some ways, but remained the boy he was in others.

    This kind of change was extremely disconcerting for his mind, making him unable to properly establish a sense of self, so when he recovered from that state, the memories became blurry.

    That wasn¡¯t to say he didn¡¯t remember it, he remembered it clearly. Instead, it was as if the negativity tied to those memories had been dispersed and sealed away.

    And even now he feared his bestial instincts. But at the same time, he missed them. His metaphorical de had been dulled through his travels that weren¡¯t wrought with true danger. Even when he fought intense battles, they were usually against people who weren¡¯t enemies.

    But now, he was left in such a situation as he was in now. And he ended up smiling. Smiling at the prospect of regaining his former self, his true self. The self that had been untouched by the niceties of the outside world.

    He hoped he could regain some of those qualities, but he knew he couldn¡¯t keep all of them.

    After all, he didn¡¯t want to go back to being socially inept and pretending to be a cultivation novel main character. That was extremely embarrassing in hindsight. Also, he had true rtionships that he wanted to keep.

    It was for simr reasons that he had neglected the Void Heart Sword Law. His travels with Ruyue had helped him clear some emotional burdens that had been weighing down on him. Now, bing emotionless didn¡¯t have the same appeal as it did a few months ago.

    He had already decided to stop running away under the soft moonlight of that night in the forest, and he was nning to stick to that promise.

    His power would not be influenced by his instability. And it wasn¡¯t a prison that would aplish that, but his own efforts.

    Now that he had thought about all of this, he figured that having Ruyue here with him was a sort of blessing in disguise. Perhaps, her presence would mean he could gain an equilibrium in his shifty personality and be the person he truly wanted to be.

    His contemtion didn¡¯tst that long, as he and Ruyue were still at the base of the mountain, but it had been enough. It cleared away some doubts that he had been having and allowed his thoughts to once again roam free.

    Looking at Ruyue, his smile became a bit gentler. ¡°Shall we head up the mountain now?¡±

    Although she was surprised by his suddenness, she didn¡¯t pay it much thought. She was also itching to see what was in store for them.

 Chapter 208 - First Mountain [2]

    The trek up the mountain turned out to be a much more arduous task than what either of them had expected.

    Even if they weren¡¯t peak existences, they still had a great deal of strength, and their resistance was something they prided themselves on. This went especially for Ruyue, who had a natural resistance to any and all yin-natured elements.

    However, the mountain seemed to ignore any sort of resistance as it pummeled them with its natural forces. Biting cold seeped into their bones and forced them to revolve their mana in order to resist it, fierce blizzards wrapped around the entire mountain seemingly without end, not giving them a moment of respite.

    Until this point, they had yet to run into any beasts, but their fight against the environment was fiercer than any true battle they could have been fighting.

    ¡°How far up the mountain have wee?¡± Ruyue yelled. It was difficult to hear each other¡¯s voices even when they were standing so close.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t even made it a fourth of the way up the visible area! We have a ways to go before we can be considered to have made good progress!¡± Damien yelled back.

    If they turned around, they¡¯d clearly be able to see the base of the mountain from which they came, even with the tumultuous weather around them, which heavily lowered their visibility.

    Suddenly, Damien grabbed Ruyue¡¯s arm and yanked her back towards him. ¡°Watch your step!¡±

    There were no obvious signs that indicated towards Damien¡¯s sudden movements, but it didn¡¯t take long for that doubt to be cleared. Damien picked up a small rock on the ground next to him and lightly threw it in the area to their front.

    And from the light impact of that rock alone, the snow began to rumble. Slowly but surely, cracks began to spread on the ground, splintering and spreading until a massive web over 10 kilometers long was formed. And soon enough, that web began to shatter.

    The snow slowly crumbled and fell, creating a mini avnche. But instead of charging down the mountainside, it fell directly downward. The snow was already many feet deep, and with therge radius that had be unhinged, it looked like the sky was falling into the abyss below.

    It took an entire 10 minutes for the phenomenon to end, and at its end, there were no signs of the snow remaining. Only a deep darkness whose depth was unknown.

    ¡°What the¡­¡± Ruyue muttered. What kind of environment was this? There was no way for the snow to stay suspended over such a massive chasm withoutnd to support it, but from the way it copsed she was sure this was the truth.

    ¡°A danger zone is indeed a danger zone. These kinds of ces can¡¯t be exined with normal logic.¡± Damienmented under his breath. He had only been able to sense a discrepancy in the ground ahead, which he thought might be some sort of natural trap or hidden monster.

    Even he didn¡¯t expect such a scene to take ce in front of them.

    ¡°Hold on to me, let¡¯s teleport across.¡± Damien swiftly took hold of Ruyue¡¯s arm once again and entered the spatialyers, vanishing from his spot.

    ¡°Strange¡­¡± he muttered. He was being extremely careful. Instead of using the easy method of simply connecting the spatialyers and jumping across, he slowly waded through them.

    There was no way of knowing when another situation like this would pop up, especially when Damien barely sensed the first one. However, that wasn¡¯t what he found strange.

    As he navigated the spatialyers, he nced at the abyss down below and realized that there were faint traces of life aura within the darkness. But the feeling was simr to that of the massive tree, a life aura so massive that it was transmitted even at arge distance.

    Damien sped up his movements at the realization. Just being above such a thing wasn¡¯t something he wanted. In an instant, he arrived at the other end of the chasm with Ruyue.

    And at that moment, a deep groan was heard echoing through the chasm. The walls of the chasm and even the ground of the mountain rumbled violently as this ancient growl sounded out.

    In the distance, a chorus of simr groans resounded, as if multiple of these creatures decided to howl in tandem.

    Countless areas in the mountain witnessed rapidly dislodging areas of snow, which soon caused an evenrger avnche than the one the duo saw previously.

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    The cascading snow tumbled down the mountain and superimposed on itself, snowballing into a tide that eclipsed the sun.

    Realizing that there was no way to move forward, Damien gritted his teeth and once again entered the spatialyers. He spread his awareness as far as he could and connected the spatialyers, creating a tunnel that connected hundreds of kilometers away, out of the avnche¡¯s reach.

    Or at least, that¡¯s what should have happened.

    When Damien and Ruyue reappeared, they were only 10 kilometers to the left of their original position.

    ¡°My teleportation is being suppressed.¡± Damien realized, his face bing grave.

    Time slowed for no man, and the avnche would reach their position in only a few seconds.

    Damien continued teleporting, moving 10 kilometers at a time as he tried to take them as far away from the center of the wave as he could, but in the end, he couldn¡¯t do much.

    No matter how many tens of kilometers he moved, there was still a massive tide rolling down the mountainside.

    ¡°What kind of insane beast can cause this kind of natural disaster with a mere groan?!¡±

    Damien was aghast, his back drenched in a cold sweat that was even more pronounced in this chilly atmosphere. ¡®Am I really going to have to fight against a damn avnche?¡¯

    The only exit he saw was to carve a path forward with raw strength. Escape at this point seemed like an impossible dream.

    Suddenly, Ruyue struggled out of his grip. With a simrly grave expression, she stared at the oing tide ¡°Let me try something.¡±

    Ruyue closed her eyes and raised her arm towards the avnche, mana sting out of her figure. The air around them chilled even further, bing something Damien wasn¡¯t able to ignore.

    ¡°Split!¡±

    Her eyes shot open ferociously and mana gushed towards the avnche. A path of icy wind crashed forward and created a wave. Although it was unable to contend with the sheer size of the avnche, its presence was still mighty.

    Seeing her unreservedly pour out her mana reserves, Damien felt that he couldn¡¯t stay passive. Just like her, he gathered his mana and raised his arm, his sword soon appearing in his grasp.

    ¡®A sword without a de.¡¯ This was the essence of the first sword skill he created. To superimpose upon space and banish anything within it into the void.

    The majority of his mana reserves gushed into his de as he swiftly brought it down. And without suspense, a massive gash was torn in the mountain in front of him.

    The wave of snow was impacted heavily, dying down in the area ahead of them, and when Ruyue¡¯s attacknded as well, the wave split in two.

    Damien wasn¡¯t going to miss this opportunity. Once again grabbing Ruyue, he sped forward until he was within range and teleported through the split in the wave, appearing on the other side.

    No matter how he wanted to do so earlier, it was impossible without knowing the depths of the wave. If he teleported carelessly, they might¡¯ve ended up trapped within the massive walls of snow.

    But luckily, they had made it out. Turning around, he could see the wave crashing back down onto the mountain, once again causing it to rumble. And when he spread his awareness, he realized that the chasm they had previously opened was once again covered in snow.

    When Damien turned back around, the first thing he saw was Ruyue with a stiff expression on her face.

    He didn¡¯t want to acknowledge it, but as his head slowly and robotically turned to face the same direction as her, he saw tens of snow-white leopards charging towards them with their killing intent billowing.

 Chapter 209 - First Mountain [3]

    The approaching snow leopards red at the duo with apprehension, but their ranks were firm and their steps were without pause. Their strength was uniformly at the mid-levels of 3rd ss.

    At the front of the pack was a single snow leopard that was cut above the rest. Its fur and eyes blended with the color of the snow beneath their feet so well that it was almost difficult to tell them apart. As for its level, from what Damien could see it was at the peak of 3rd ss.

    His eyes hardened at this thought. If things were as he guessed them to be, this pack was full of genuine 3rd ss beings unlike those trashes on the ground level. And with the amount of mana that was expended when he and Ruyue were escaping the avnche, it would beughable to say they¡¯d win in a fight.

    The snow leopards soon approached the two of them and slowly surrounded them, creating a formation that made it impossible to escape. But neither Damien nor Ruyue was panicked by this revtion.

    When they werepletely encircled, the encirclement slightly parted and the snow leopard at the head of the pack approached them.

    ¡°Are you the ones who disturbed the sleep of the Heaven Swallowing Beasts?¡± A crisp female voice was transmitted into their ears.

    The duo¡¯s eyes narrowed. As they expected, things on the mountain weren¡¯t so simple.

    ¡°Heaven Swallowing Beasts?¡± Damien responded innocently.

    ¡°Yes, the Ancient Beasts that slumber beneath this mountain. They are the Protector Kings of our Endless Snow Mountain. There is no need to y dumb with me.¡±

    ¡°And if we were the ones to disturb them?¡± This time it was Ruyue who spoke.

    The eyes of that snow leopard sharpened. ¡°If so, then you muste with us. The rules of the mountain dere anyone who provoked the Ancient Ones to be sentenced to death with no mercy.¡±

    ¡°Say, isn¡¯t that a bit too harsh? It isn¡¯t that hard to tell that we are new here, so it¡¯s not as if we understood the rules.¡±

    ¡°Ignorance doesn¡¯t excuse your crimes. There is only one ending to this situation, however, I do not mind taking the more difficult route to reach that ending.¡±

    The auras of those snow leopards red, painting the surroundings in a haze of icy blue colors.

    The narrowed eyes of Damien and Ruyue sharpened as well, their auras being released with an equal amount of ferocity.

    Killing intent brewed in the atmosphere as both groups faced off against each other. Damien and Ruyue nced at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

    ¡®We don¡¯t have the ability to fight them head-on.¡¯

    ¡®It¡¯s not a problem. We just need to stall long enough for me to regain a bit of mana and then I can teleport us away. The main problem is the space suppression.¡¯

    An exchange of mana transmissions shed between them in an instant before their eyes hardened. Either way, they never nned to make their way up the mountain peacefully.

    The snow leopard stared at their auras with a tinge of shock. ¡°Humans?¡±

    ¡°What difference does it make?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps you are right, but it is truly rare for us to see humans. The few that have shown up¡­their fates do not need to be mentioned.¡±

    ¡°Well, human or beast it¡¯s not like there¡¯s much of a difference. Either way, you aren¡¯t nning to let us off easy, right.¡±

    ¡°Mm, at least you have some sense. Therefore, obedientlye with us to meet the chief. Perhaps you¡¯ll be able to keep your lives if you pledge yourselves as ves.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you truly know how to joke.¡±

    ves? Since when had Damien ever lowered himself in front of anyone? Even when he epted a teacher or a master in Dous and Tian Yang, he never lowered himself in front of them. Even calling Tian Yang as master somewhat revolted him.

    Damien¡¯s bestial aura surged forth. There was an inherent pride he developed within the dungeon. A pride that was built on the corpses of thousands of beasts.

    He would never kneel to anyone other than his mother. Even if the heavens themselves forced him to kneel, he¡¯d stand true.

    The bestial aura became more and more pronounced as Damien became slightly infuriated. The mere thought of him bing a ve to these beasts repulsed him.

    After Damien devoured the sea dragon, his bloodline had already begun to lean more towards dragons, and his aura and demeanor were also partially influenced.

    Even if it was slight, the sliver of draconic aura that escaped Damien caused the expressions of those snow leopards to shift.

    ¡°Human, what rtionship do you have to the dragon tribes?¡±

    A grin slowly crept up Damien¡¯s face. ¡°Dragons? Oh, we have a very deep rtionship. They attack me, and I devour them.¡±

    ¡°Devour?¡±

    The snow leopard secretly let out a sigh of relief. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then there¡¯s no more need for talk. Attack!¡±

    The encirclement of leopards pounced forward, razor-sharp teeth and w phantoms were aimed at Damien and Ruyue. From the edges of their ranks, tens of ice projectiles pierced towards them.

    But Damien and Ruyue simply grinned at the iing attacks.

    ¡°You done yet?¡±

    ¡°Ah, more than just done. I think I can even get us to the other side of the mountain if I felt like it.¡±

    A ck fog seeped out of the earth below their feet and gathered around Damien. Throughout the entire conversation, he had been devouring the mana of thend in order to satiate himself.

    ¡°Then, shall we go?¡±

    Grinning, Damien grabbed Ruyue¡¯s waist and responded. ¡°We shall.¡±

    And then, the flurry of attacksnded on their position, causing massive clouds of snow to burst into the air.

    ¡°Did they die just like that?¡± The snow leopard leader watched their position with doubt clouding her expression. Wasn¡¯t this too simple? Weren¡¯t they nning on fighting back?

    But when the snow finally cleared, there wasn¡¯t even a trace of them left in the area.

    The snow leopard¡¯s face turned ck at the sight. She wasn¡¯t stupid enough to think they were blown apart without even leaving a trace of their existence.

    ¡°Dammit! Spread out! The chief took interest in those humans, so we must bring them back!¡±

    The snow leopards roared in affirmation before speeding into the surroundings, their eyes zing with fervor. If the chief wanted something, he would get it. There was no other course of action.

    ***

    Far from the location Damien and Ruyue met the snow leopards, there was a massive citadel overlooking arge portion of the mountain. The massive structure that one would believe to be heavily popted actuallycked the liveliness that was present within densely packed areas.

    Instead, only the quiet footsteps of a few servants could be heard walking back and forth through the hallways.

    In the main square of this citadel, a man sat in meditation, unmoving like an old monk.

    The mana around him churned and rotated, forming a vortex above his head thatpressed upon itself continuously until small drops of blue liquid fell into his body and were absorbed.

    Suddenly, his eyes shed open, his gaze piercing through the walls of the structure and even the mountain itself.

    ¡°Was I mistaken?¡±

 Chapter 210 - First Mountain [4]

    The ecosystem of the mountain was extremely calm and serene, leaving one wishing it was immortalized in a painting.

    The verdant green grasses grew surprisingly well in the snow-covered ground, the various shrubbery swayed gently in the wind, and those crystal clear trees that looked as if they were a sculpted out of ice stood proudly amongst it all.

    Within this serene atmosphere, brief shes of light could asionally be seen. They would appear in one ce before reappearing almost 10 kilometers away, creating a mystical scene within the snow.

    After hundreds of kilometers, these shes finally paused and two figures were revealed in their midst. Naturally, they were Damien and Ruyue.

    ¡°Hmm, I think this should be far enough for now,¡± Damien said, his gaze on the new surroundings they had arrived in.

    ¡°Yeah, they shouldn¡¯t be able to catch up any time soon.¡±

    ¡°This mountain is seriously massive though. Even after hundreds of kilometers of teleporting, it only feels as if we¡¯ve moved a few meters.¡±

    Indeed, the new scenery wasn¡¯t actually all that different from what they had seen before. In fact, there was almost no way of noticing they had actually moved if not for the fact that they themselves had been the ones teleporting.

    It was a truly majestic mountain that Damien couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom. Even after so much traveling and seeing so many new things, the sheer magnitude of some of these locations still managed to surprise him.

    He had seen plenty of massive mountains of scale he couldn¡¯t even imagine, take Godspark Mountain in Apeiron for example, but he never truly had the chance to understand their gait.

    After all, he had a clear objective at that time. He had wasted no time actually exploring the mountain, using teleportation to directly climb to its peak and find the ancient temple.

    But now, his teleportation was suppressed. Or rather, the suppression was from space itself. He hadn¡¯t understood it at first, and since he was busy narrowly escaping danger he didn¡¯t put much thought into it, but now that he had taken the time to observe, he had realized the truth.

    It wasn¡¯t that his abilities were being actively suppressed, nor was there some sort of borate formation at y. Instead, space on this mountain was much thicker than it was outside.

    If he had topare, space elsewhere was like walking for him. It didn¡¯t take any effort and he felt no resistance during his movement. But space within the mountain was as if he was underwater. It was murky and viscous, forcing him to expend much more effort to aplish the same feats.

    But he didn¡¯t particrly mind. Actually, this kind of environment could be considered as a perfect training ground for him. Back on Apeiron, his rush to return to earth left him unable to properly make use of the sub spaces that the Spatial Grandmaster Kurt Galloway had left for his sessors.

    Hell, he didn¡¯t even end up using the spatial training ground at Zenith Academy even after receiving Malcolm¡¯s promise. There were probably plenty of ample training grounds for him on that peaceful, but he had wasted them all.

    Perhaps he would get a chance to return there in the future and make use of them, but he doubted they would be of any help at that point. Besides, the peace on that really wasn¡¯t good for him. It didn¡¯t promote growth the way this kind of ruthless killing environment did.

    So Damien was d this mountain ended up suppressing his abilities.

    It was a simr concept to wearing heavy weights constantly until one was able to go about day-to-day actions normally, and then taking them off to reap the benefits. One¡¯s speed and dexterity, as well as their strength, would naturally increase with this kind of intensive training.

    He expected simr improvements to transfer to his spatial abilities if he managed to adapt to this new atmosphere. The prospect was frankly incredibly exciting.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on his waist that forced him to cry out. Looking down, he noticed Ruyue ring at him while blushing furiously.

    ¡°When do you n on letting go?¡±

    It was only then that he realized that the hand he had ced on her waist during teleportation had yet to be removed. He had sunken into thought the moment they exited, so he ended up forgetting.

    ¡°Hm, what are you talking about?¡±

    Though he still decided to act ignorant. He was a man, after all, and the soft sensation on his hand and chest was naturally something he enjoyed.

    ¡°You¡­!¡± Ruyue eximed, her re intensifying. It was the first time she had ever been held by a man in such a manner, and the spot where his hand made contact with her body felt like it was burning. It was as if theyers of clothes separating them had disappeared.

    Also, Ruyue seemed to have forgotten about the fact that she quite literally fell asleep in his arms while hugging him a few months back, but Damien thickened his skin and didn¡¯t bring it up.

    ¡°Let me go¡­¡± Although she spoke words of resistance, she made no move to actually leave his embrace.

    Damien continued watching her in amusement. This was a side of her that would never get old. Thinking back to how they werepletely at odds during their first meeting, he couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    Wasn¡¯t the change in their rtionship too drastic?

    Sometimes even he wondered how such a cold and aloof woman ended up warming up to him so much in a short period of time. In fact, he suspected her change in attitude happened while he was gone on his mission with Long Chen.

    In that case, how did it evene to be? Did she magically remove the prejudice and pride she had built up over the years?

    It couldn¡¯t be true.

    But he had never inquired about it too much. asionally, aplicated light would sh through her eyes when she thought nobody was looking. But he had always seen it. Perhaps, she would tell him when she wasfortable enough.

    And that was enough for him. Even Rose still had some secrets she didn¡¯t tell him about, and he had some he kept from her, such as his Void Physique or his suspicions about his origins. These were things that would naturally be revealed with time, so there was no point getting too absorbed in them.

    Soon enough, Ruyue managed to wriggle her body out of his embrace, but even then she continued to re at him hatefully. This fellow truly knew how to take advantage of others.

    Even her body¡­!

    When she thought up to this point, the redness on her face increased to the point where it looked like she was on the verge of exploding. A trace of shyness shed in her eyes.

    Biting her lip gently, she sighed. ¡°Anyway, now that we have escaped from that encirclement, what do you n on doing?¡±

    Damien had been enjoying the constantly changing expressions on Ruyue¡¯s face, but he ended up grinning at her question.

    ¡°Is there any need to think about it? We needed prey once we arrived on this mountain, and it happened to deliver itself right onto our doorstep!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t mean¡­¡± Ruyue muttered with widened eyes, but a grin ended up creeping up her face as well.

    ¡°They wanted to take us as ves right? Well, let¡¯s make them understand that they can¡¯t bear the cost of such actions.¡±

 Chapter 211 - Blitzing

    In the lower areas of the Endless Snow Mountain, there was a variety of cave dwellings that housed the numerous beast packs and tribes that made their homes there.

    Here, there was no such thing as a n. Those tribes that stood at the peak of this level of the mountain were merely led by high-level 3rd ss beings. But they weren¡¯t to be underestimated even if this was the case.

    After all, if these tribes and packs gained enough strength, they¡¯d be eligible to gain the backing of a beast n that resided higher up the mountain. And if they were truly outstanding, they might even be noticed by a King n, the ns established or ruled by those Beast Kings.

    This sort of reward was highly enticing. It was the reason why the immortal beauty of the mountain was often wrought with blood and violence. Only this way would they be able to grow to that level they all looked up to.

    Naturally, these tribes had another duty as well. That duty was to monitor the slumbering Ancient Beasts below the mountain. They were the scouts that would allow those higher-rank ns to learn of the potential awakening of beasts they couldn¡¯t even fathom.

    These beasts, well even the Beast King title was too lowly for their esteemed selves.

    In one of these cave dwellings, a group of snow leopards had gathered together.

    ¡°Leader, the attacks on our tribe have not ceased even to this day. Every time the mysterious forces strike, they leave none alive. We have barely even been able to catch a whiff of their tail after this week.¡±

    The one addressed as ¡°Leader¡± frowned at the report. ¡°What do you mean? Are you saying that even we, the great Turbulent Blizzard Leopard tribe, are unable to track these attackers?¡±

    ¡°Sir, even we don¡¯t wish to admit it, but it¡¯s the undeniable truth. Every time we hear news of an attack, we rush over to the branch where it happened. But by the time we arrived, there was nothing left but destion.¡±

    ¡°Destion?¡±

    ¡°Destion. It¡¯s the only word that can urately describe the scenes. No corpses nor blood remained of our tribesmen, and thend where the branch was located would always be wrought with destion.¡±

    ¡°What kind of terrifying foe have we offended? Have any of you made contact with anything unusual before the attacks began?¡±

    The elders hesitated. They had also thought up to this point, but none of them could actually figure out what kind of being they had offended. Their tribe was rtively lowkey, and didn¡¯t go out of their way to make enemies. It was an unusual thing for them to be targeted at all.

    ¡°Could the younger generation have offended some great being?¡±

    ¡°No, I doubt our attackers are some massive enemy that we cannot defeat. Otherwise, they¡¯d have simply charged in without the need for these kinds of hit and run tactics.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, the enemy this time is incredibly cunning, and able to easily erase their traces. If we can just find their tail, we should be able to deal with the problem.¡±

    ¡°But how many more of our tribesmen do we have to lose before we do so?¡±

    The Tribe Leader listened to their conversations with a contemtive look on his face. Sighing lightly, he came to a decision. ¡°Next time they attack, I shall go take a look myself. However, we need to take countermeasures in case the enemy truly isn¡¯t someone we can afford to offend. Be prepared to send a messenger to the Great Incarnate Snow Leopard n. If we cannot deal with the problem ourselves, we shall submit ourselves to them in exchange for their help.¡±

    ¡°Leader!¡±

    ¡°We mustn¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°We have remained independent to this point, how can we rely on external help? Leader, you were nning to reach the Beast King stage and raise our tribe to glory! We must not submit!¡±

    ¡°Enough!¡± The leader roared furiously. He let out another sigh before softly replying to the other members of the meeting. ¡°What is the point of bing a Beast King to bring the tribe glory if there¡¯s no tribe left to bring glory to?¡±

    His voice was soft andced with helplessness, causing the other tribe members to reveal painful looks. In the end, they sighed as well. As the leader, he naturally had a greater burden to beat than the rest of them. And he was also naturally much more prideful than them. It was engraved in his bones.

    If such a leader was willing to put down his pride for the survival of the tribe, what more could they say? What more could they ask for in a leader?

    Even they knew that the n¡¯s situation was dire. Even if they spoke of grand ambition and even if they were ranked as a tribe, they weren¡¯t that much stronger than the smaller beast packs residing around them. They were only fortunate to have a high number of tribe members as well as a powerful leader. Their overall strength was still weak.

    And with the recent string of attacks, at least 50% of their tribe had already been exterminated. It went to show just how weak the majority of their members truly were.

    Their thoughts aligned and they came to a consensus. They would go all out in one final battle, and if they couldn¡¯t bear the consequences, they would submit as long as they could obtain revenge.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the ones who caused such suffering for the Turbulent Blizzard Leopard tribe were far away in an empty cave dwelling. Arge piece of meat could be seen roasting atop a campfire between them.

    ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought there was such an infrastructure that these beasts follow? Packs, tribes, ns, and even King ns. It¡¯s actually pretty simr to human society.¡±

    ¡°Mm, it is indeed much more intricate than I originally expected. But our attacks are also going much better than I originally thought.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that because of your freakish teleportation? With what Master taught you during your first true lesson, you no longer leave any trace of spatial fluctuation when you move. They must not have been able to track us even in the slightest.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯m the one who contributed most to our escape, but your attacks were even more badass. What the hell was that move you used?¡±

    Ruyue grinned at his question. That move was a new one she had only recently learned. It could be said that she gained a spark of insight from the avnche a week ago.

    Thend was in a constant cycle of life and destion. With her yin element giving her control over negative attributes, she was able to bring that destion into thend itself.

    She had used this new move to wreak havoc on those cave dwellings they found, erasing any thoughts of habitation for those who would stumble upon the areas in the future. Well, that was until thend reentered its cycle of life, once again giving birth to the beautiful greenery.

    The two of them had been rtively smooth sailing ever since they decided to attack the snow leopards. It used to be difficult to find these cave dwellings where the snow leopards resided, but after a while, they understood the pattern.

    There were always certain simrities between the areas inhabited by the snow leopard tribe. Whenever they found those clues, they¡¯d charge and fight. Of course, they asionally made mistakes and charged into the caves of different tribes, but it wasn¡¯t a problem with Damien¡¯s teleportation. Such mistakes were trivial.

    As for the feelings of those snow leopards they had been attacking, they didn¡¯t care much. There was an inherent principle that all those existing underneath the system would follow.

    The strong eat the weak.

    Perhaps their advent against the snow leopards had started due to a sort of grudge they had with the pack that came to trouble then after the avnche, but that grudge had long been dealt with. After all, that pack was the first they targeted and the first to die.

    They didn¡¯t even have time to understand how it happened. With their ranks scattered to search for Damien and Ruyue, they didn¡¯t have the sufficient strength to pose a threat to the duo.

    And with this, information about their encounter hadn¡¯t spread to the main tribe, which lead to the current situation.

    At the end of the day, the two of them were here forbat experience and levels. They just so happened to find a target with those snow leopards, so they capitalized on the opportunity.

    As night fell upon the Endless Snow Mountain, the duo peacefully sat within their cave and watched the flickering mes of the campfire, anticipating the next big move they were nning to make.

 Chapter 212 - Blitzing [2]

    The mellow light rays of sunlight nketed the Endless Snow Mountain as a new day dawned upon it. The illumination of these rays revealed a small cave-dwelling where two people were sitting idly.

    ¡°Is it time for us to make a move?¡±

    ¡°Mm, this should be thest one. Instead of attacking any one of their branches, we¡¯ll charge straight for their main dwelling.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be dangerous.¡±

    ¡°And? Danger is exactly what we want right now. We¡¯ve done the proper research before we even started this crusade of ours. Those snow leopards are too prideful to ept patronage from a King n, so we have no need to fear any interference.¡±

    ¡°Still, even without a Beast King joining the fray, we will still have to face a sea of 3rd ss beasts. It won¡¯t be an easy fight regardless.¡±

    ¡°True. We still don¡¯t have the strength to decimate their ranks like we did when we were on the ground level. Instead, I think it¡¯s better to keep blitzing.¡±

    Ruyue nodded her head. This so-called blitzing strategy that they had been using since the start was incredibly effective. Without it, she doubted whether they¡¯d have achieved such wash victories.

    And without the interference of a 4th ss, Damien¡¯s presence gave them the ability to attack and retreat at will, which ensured their safety.

    Since they didn¡¯t have much nning left to do, Damien wordlessly grabbed Ruyue¡¯s waist and began teleporting to the location of the Turbulent Blizzard Leopards¡¯ main branch.

    And it didn¡¯t take long for them to arrive. In fact, they had intentionally chosen a cave dwelling that wasn¡¯t too close or too far so they¡¯d be able to move with convenience.

    Once they arrived, they had no need to set any pretenses. Instead, they directly released their auras from outside the cave dwelling to lure out their opponents.

    ¡°Who?!¡±

    An enraged shout resounded from within the cave dwelling. A group of 10 snow leopards soon emerged and red at the duo.

    ¡°What do you two think you are doing?¡± A male voice came from the snow leopard at the front.

    ¡°What are we doing? We¡¯re naturally challenging your n.¡± Damien responded.

    ¡°Ha! With just the two of you? It seems you look down on the might of our n!¡± The snow leopards could clearly feel that these two were roughly the same level as them since their auras were in full burst.

    Were they stupid? There were arge number of individuals with simr strength within the tribe, and these two dared to charge in alone? However, Damien¡¯s next words wiped the disdainful smirks directly off their faces.

    ¡°We have destroyed so many of your branches without you even having the ability to see our tails. Is that not enough to show our qualifications?¡±

    ¡°Courting death!¡±

    The snow leopards were thoroughly enraged. Any number of provocations could have been thrown at them without them even having a change of expression, but Damien had directly gone for the throat.

    The Turbulent Blizzard Leopards were extremely tight-knit. Even if they lived separated and spread out, they all cared for their tribesmen. However, the rapid deaths of almost half of those who lived outside the tribe were a travesty that affected them all.

    And now that someone hade to their door iming to have caused such a travesty, how could they remain calm?

    The whites of their eyes were filled with red blood vessels as their rage made their blood boil. Without even caring to confirm the veracity of the statement, the group of 10 leopards shot towards Damien and Ruyue with ferocity.

    However, before they could even reach their targets, a booming voice rang in their ears like a p of thunder.

    ¡°Halt!¡±

    The snow leopards froze before turning towards the cave dwelling and kneeling in reverence. From within, a snow leopard muchrger than the rest walked out.

    Its fur was just as pristine and white as the rest, but numerous scars could be seen on its body, signifying the tough battles it had survived throughout its life. Most notable was the deep scar that ran across its eye and all the way down its face.

    This was the tribe leader of the Turbulent Blizzard Leopards.

    ¡°You two im to be the ones who have been massacring my tribesmen?¡± His deep voice was infused with mana, granting a sort of natural suppression to his atmosphere.

    ¡°And if we are?¡±

    ¡°Do you have any proof of your ims?¡±

    Although he understood the feelings of his tribesmen who wanted to directly attack, he couldn¡¯t be so rash. If they weren¡¯t the ones whomitted the crime, they could possibly have been sent to probe their tribe by other tribes.

    And if they were the ones who did it, he had to be cautious of their unknown means. No irrational person would charge into a tiger¡¯s den without a n, especially if they had just killed the tiger¡¯s cubs.

    Damien grinned at the question before flicking his gaze towards Ruyue. Rolling her eyes, she lifted her arm.

    ¡°Destion.¡±

    The word seemed to carry an ancient ripple that spread through the surroundings. The snow below Ruyue¡¯s feet showed signs of melting and the shrubbery and trees around them began to wilt.

    The spread of destion continued for only a second before Ruyue stopped, but it was enough. The tribe leader¡¯s eyes sharpened and his gaze be dark.

    He had heard the reports from his tribesmen, and he had even gone to the site of one of the attacks before. He was well aware of the destion that was left in their wake.

    And seeing it be performed in front of him, he wasn¡¯t stupid enough to not know what it meant.

    ¡°So it was truly you.¡±

    Damien didn¡¯t say a word, watching the tribe leader silently. An awkward stillness enveloped the area.

    However, the next event was unexpected by even the snow leopards in the surroundings.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    A hoarse voice exited the tribe leader¡¯s throat as he red at the duo hatefully.

    ¡°Why did you do this? Why has such misfortune fallen upon my n? At least grant me this one answer before everything devolves into chaos.¡± His eyes were already red from grief as he choked out his words.

    The surrounding snow leopards also had mournful expressions on their faces as they heard the crazed manner in which their tribe leader spoke.

    Damien and Ruyue watched this scene expressionlessly.

    ¡°Because you are weak.¡±

    ¡°Because you are weak you were preyed upon. Because you are weak, you were unable to retaliate. Because you are weak, we stand before you today without fear. Such is the price of being weak in this world.¡±

    The tribe leader silently listened to Damien speak, his eyes bing even redder. The sound of his teeth gritting together was almost audible.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the way the world has always worked? The weak are devoured while the strong be stronger. Even for those innocent souls who wish to see none of it, it is necessary to survive. Even if we don¡¯t wish to see that innocence tainted, it¡¯s the only way for them to stay alive. This is the lifelong battle all life forms face if they desire power.¡±

    Ruyue watched him intently as he spoke. Even if he didn¡¯t show any indication, she was well aware she was part of the innocent souls he had been speaking about.

    On that night in the forest, she had unintentionally poured her heart out to him. He had seen the struggles in her heart.

    Ruyue never wanted to be strong. She used to be content as long as she could live happily within her n. But the situation forced her to gain strength. It forced her to be a different person.

    Damien¡¯s words might have been cruel, and their actions towards the Turbulent Blizzard Leopards even crueler, but she had witnessed reality. His words resonated in her heart.

    And hearing how deeply he was seemingly moved by his own words, she couldn¡¯t imagine what he had been through. He was even younger than her by a year, but his grit and tenacity outstripped her by miles.

    Unknowing of Ruyue¡¯s thoughts, Damien continued his speech.

    ¡°The ruthlessness and decisiveness that one needs to have can only be birthed through various life or death experiences. And if one doesn¡¯t have it, they will die. In this regard, I must thank you. Because I had almost lost that ruthlessness that allowed me to survive and stand here today.¡±

    Damien spoke from his heart. He wasn¡¯t even answering the tribe leader¡¯s question anymore, he was simply venting his grievances. Perhaps, the tribe leader¡¯s question had sparked something within him.

    He was bing weak to the temptations of the outside world. To love, to happiness, to rxation, to adventure.

    Of course, he had no intention to stop. He loved Rose even more now that they had been separated for so long, he loved his mother who he had done so much to save, and he loved¡­

    Well, the rest wasn¡¯t necessary to state.

    Adventure was also something deep within his core. He thirsted to explore the myriad worlds within the universe and experience them like he was doing now. There was no way he¡¯d give that up.

    But he needed to maintain a healthy bnce. He couldn¡¯t forget the qualities that brought him to where he was today. He couldn¡¯t forget the person that had been forged in the world of blood that was the dungeon.

    These emotions flooded out of him as he spoke to no one in particr, but all those in the vicinity could feel them.

    Even those snow leopards. No matter how much they resented Damien and Ruyue, they couldn¡¯t find it in them to retort his words. Because his words were the most primal truth that everyone knew, even if they refused to admit it.

    Staring at the youth in front of him intently, the tribe leader sighed.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    His anger had subsided a bit due to the youth¡¯s emotions. Even he resonated with those emotions. But even if his anger had subsided, the blood debt incurred between Damien and his tribe wasn¡¯t something that could be solved with just a few words.

    Two men, one human and one beast, gazed at each other in mutual understanding and respect.

    And then, dense killing intent flowed into the atmosphere and soared through the heavens.

 Chapter 213 - Fight [1]

    Dense killing intent flowed through the atmosphere as Damien and the tribe leader red at each other.

    Taking a slight nce at Ruyue, he saw her nodding back at him. She understood his intentions clearly.

    ¡®I¡¯ll take the big boss, you finish off the goons.¡¯

    Panning her gaze across the scene in front of her, she saw ten 3rd ss snow leopards staring back at her. Seeing this, she pursed her lips.

    ¡®This guy is really making me do all the hard work.¡¯

    Still, she shook her head with a smile and prepared forbat.

    In the next instant, thunderous booms rang out in the surroundings as Damien and the tribe leader shot towards each other at full speed.

    Bang!

    The sharp ws of the tribe leader met Damien¡¯s outstretched fist, causing the ground around them to crack and splinter. Droves of mana poured out and shed along with their impact, causing both of them to fly back.

    It was only after taking tens of steps that they managed to stabilize themselves. In their first sh, neither was able to obtain an advantage.

    With a solemn gaze, Damien vanished from his position before arriving at the tribe leader¡¯s side, sending a punch towards his ribs.

    But the tribe leader wasn¡¯t a leopard known for speed for no reason. He swiftly maneuvered his body to turn at an impossible angle before swiping his w back towards Damien.

    Vanishing once again, Damien appeared at the opposite side of the tribe leader¡¯s body, grabbing the air in front of him and making a twisting motion.

    Space followed hismand, twisting and distorting around the tribe leader, causing a massive pressure tond on his shoulders.

    Roar!

    A furious roar left his throat. The deep snow underneath their feet shot upwards and formed a blizzard around the two, before the snow suddenly melted and sharpened into shards of ice that orbited the tribe leader. Damien watched those shards intently. Any one of them could cause severe damage if he let them hit his vitals.

    The second the blizzard covered Damien and the tribe leader¡¯s figures and isted their battle, the others in the area snapped out of their dazes.

    While the tribe leader takes care of the boy, they¡¯ll take care of the girl. With such thoughts in mind, they grouped together and pounced towards Ruyue.

    Simr blizzards to that of the tribe leader formed around them andpacted, turning into thick white armor that encased their figures. If one were to look at these leopards now, they¡¯d think they were sculptures rather than true living beings.

    Ruyue red into the massive blizzard when she saw this sight. This guy truly didn¡¯t let her off east, making her deal with the crowd. After all, even if he called them goons, they were genuine 3rd ss beings.

    A shining white spear appeared in her hands its aura coupling with her own and multiplying. Once again, dense killing intent filled the atmosphere.

    Although Ruyue couldn¡¯tpare with Damien, it had been almost 2 weeks since they had entered the 3000 Beast Mountain Range and she had her fair share of bloody battles during that time.

    Damien made it explicitly clear that he wouldn¡¯t be helping her brave all dangers, and she also agreed. The killing intent she had formed was proof of her hard work.

    Suddenly, the space behind her trembled and a massive moon appeared. Lunar energy coated the atmosphere, forming a dense fog.

    Ruyue charged, locating her first target. The fog in the atmosphere not only served to separate her enemies, but also confused their senses. When she appeared behind the snow leopard, it was a second toote in realizing the danger.

    She swung her spear in a sweeping motion, aiming for the leopard¡¯s legs. The moment it made contact, bloody gashes were formed in its wake.

    Roar!

    The leopard finally realized what was going on and turned to face her, immediately sending a st of icy wind in her direction. But Ruyue wasn¡¯t confused like it was. She immediately reacted, bursting to the right with trails of blue fire coating the ground below her.

    She once again appeared next to the leopard, stabbing into its side. Yin natured mana coated her spear tip as it thrust into the leopard.

    When the mana entered the leopard¡¯s body, it was as if it truly became a statue. Not every member of the Turbulent Blizzard Leopard tribe was able to form the snow armor, and this one happened to be one of those.

    Without its protection, Ruyue¡¯s mana thoroughly infiltrated its body and wreaked havoc within. The leopard convulsed with fear evident in its eyes before falling limp on the ground.

    Luckily, the remaining crowd was mostly made up of those at lower levels than her. There were only 3 that she had to stay wary of. So before those 3 were able to regroup, she had to finish off the rest.

    With a slight grin on her face, she located her next prey and stalked it.

    Meanwhile, the battle within the tribe leader¡¯s blizzard was bing more and more fierce. The space within some areas was twisted and bent, while others were rapidly mending. Two shes of light continuously shed and retreated without giving the other side any openings.

    Even until this point, neither side had used any massive attacks, instead opting to use physical strength topete. After all, although they had grudges, their battle had also allowed them to form a sort of respect.

    Due to this respect, they had no desire to humiliate or torture the other party.

    Fists shed against ws, kicks connected to ribs, fangs mped down on anything they could grab hold of. The battle was brutal yet simple.

    Boom!

    Once again, Damien¡¯s foot shot out like a whip and impacted the tribe leader¡¯s face, throwing him to the side. Damien immediately appeared before him and mmed his fist down.

    The tribe leader¡¯s head impacted the thickly condensed snow on the ground and caused a major indent. When he stood up again, he could no longer stand straight. A massive gash was present on his head, and even pieces of his skull could be seen.

    ¡°What is wrong with you?¡± Damien asked betweenbored breaths.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The tribe leader responded.

    ¡°You know damn well what I mean. This can¡¯t be the limits of your strength, and no matter how much you respect me, I refuse to believe you¡¯ve set aside your thoughts of vengeance for the sake of this battle.¡±

    A grin appeared on the tribe leader¡¯s face. With his current injuries, it looked terrifying. ¡°And why should I tell you that? The only thing you need to know is that I will perish with my n. Do not think of ending this battle before one of us is dead.¡±

    ¡°One of us? Did you be blind after thatst hit?¡±

    Damien¡¯s words might¡¯ve been harsh, but they contained undeniable truth. Unlike the tribe leader, Damien had a high-level regeneration skill. No matter how many injuries he had piled up during the fight, they had all been healed. And they would continue to heal as long as he had mana.

    Damien couldn¡¯t understand where the tribe leader got his confidence from. It was already clear who the winner of this fight was.

    But the tribe leader didn¡¯t stop grinning. ¡°Come, if you are so confident, then let¡¯s end this farce.¡±

 Chapter 214 - Fight [2]

    Sighing lightly, Damien decided not to think about it anymore. In any case, he had the capabilities to flee no matter what the tribe leader had nned, so he might as well just continue the fight.

    Without hesitating, he once again shed forward, and the resounding booms of their impacts continued to ring out in the blizzard.

    Outside the blizzard area, Ruyue had already finished off the majority of the snow leopards. The only ones she had remaining were the three mid-level 3rd ss leopards that she had been wary of since the start.

    However, a problem had urred. She simply wasn¡¯t fast enough, and she had underestimated the intelligence of these leopards.

    The level difference between her and them wasn¡¯t actually thatrge, and they had been able to regroup faster than she had anticipated. Although she had isted them diligently, her fog wasn¡¯t as effective on them.

    At the moment, she was standing head to head with all three of them as they circled around her with rage coating their expressions.

    Their dense killing intent that eclipsed hers was pressuring down on her, attempting to break her mind.

    These three could be considered elder-level figures in the tribe, and the deaths of their tribesmen weren¡¯t something they would stomach. Especially with such a perilous situation, they had no desire to let the offender off lightly.

    They wanted to make her feel the pain and despair of their tribesmen. They wanted her to be covered in blood before she sumbed to the throes of death.

    With this in mind, they had been trying to break her mind and fighting spirit before actually breaking her body, but they hadn¡¯t made progress.

    ¡°You are truly bold for charging into the tribe with just the two of you. Did you think your measly strength was enough to contend with us?¡±

    ¡°You should just give up and allow us to imprison you, maybe that way you can face a less severe punishment.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, a human woman is something many in our tribe would love to taste. You should think carefully about what will happen if you don¡¯t submit.¡±

    Listening to their constant jeers, Ruyue simply smirked. ¡°Did you think you were scary or something? Just a bunch of old kittens meowing won¡¯t be enough to make me shudder in fear.¡±

    The full moon was still hanging strong in the sky, and the pristine white spear was still clenched in her hands. Blue mes coated its de, making it look even more lethal.

    Truthfully, these elders were also wary. The fact that all the rest in the area had died without their notice was enough for them to no longer disdain their opponent. Even they didn¡¯t fully believe their mocking words.

    ¡°Where do you get your confidence from? Is it perhaps that little boyfriend of yours that¡¯s fighting the tribe leader?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, there¡¯s no way. If she was so confident in that kid, she¡¯d truly be an idiot.¡±

    ¡°We just need to wait for the tribe leader to emerge with that kid¡¯s head and we¡¯ll see how she breaks down.¡±

    A frown slowly appeared on Ruyue¡¯s face. She trusted Damien with her life, especially after all they had experienced together. And she wasn¡¯t dumb enough to judge him by his level.

    He had numerous tricks up his sleeve, as well as an esoteric affinity and an insane physical body. She didn¡¯t believe for one second that he¡¯d lose to a normal opponent.

    But it didn¡¯t stop her from worrying. Even if she knew he would win, she couldn¡¯t stop her heart from beating Easter until she could see it for herself.

    Suddenly, she sensed movement in the torrential blizzard that had been raging for the entire battle, covering up Damien and the tribe leader¡¯s battle.

    Slowly but surely, the snowy veil began to deteriorate and thin. Ruyue and the elders were able to vaguely see the outline of two figures standing upright within.

    The ground around them was cracked and suffered, with various indents many feet in depth surrounding them. The snow had been both melted and frozen to form a sheet of sleet that they stood on. The entire scene, while devastated, was much less serious than they expected.

    After all, a serious sh of powers would have left at least the entire ground below them in a state of mayhem.

    When the snow finally cleared, the vague scene was revealed in full. Damien stood tall in front of the tribe leader, staring at him intently.

    Blood covered his body and dripped onto the sleet below, but hisplexion was still rosy. He clearly didn¡¯t suffer too much in the long run.

    Meanwhile, the tribe leader was covered in bloody scars, and even his head was cracked open in multiple ces. His eyes were dim and fatigued, but still stared at Damien fearlessly.

    The entire scene was frozen. Everyone stared at that single spot without moving in the slightest.

    ¡°It looks like¡­I¡¯ve lost.¡± The tribe leader croaked. His hazy eyes slowly began to shut, disappointment evident within them.

    At that moment, the stillness of the atmosphere seemingly multiplied. Even the nts and trees stopped fluttering.

    Suddenly, a powerful pressure enveloped the area. The stillness was immediately broken as a thunderp-like voice boomed in the air.

    ¡°Who dares attack a tribe under my, Incarnate Snow Beast King¡¯s, protection?!¡±

    Hearing the roar, the disappointment in the tribe leader¡¯s eyes faded, reced by delight.

    ¡®Ah¡­with this, I can die in peace.¡¯

    The life force in his body withered away and he copsed on the ground, just as the owner of that pressure made his appearance.

    The man who arrived domineeringly wasn¡¯t as grand as his voice. He was actually quite skinny and looked a bit frail. His ck hair was rough and rugged, flowing down his back, and his eyes were like blue crystals of ice within their sockets.

    However, nobody would be fooled by the man¡¯s appearance. After all, the terrifying pressure emanating from his body was enough to show what kind of power his within that tiny frame.

    Damien looked up at the figure in the air gravely.

    ¡°So this is what you were aiming for, you old bastard.¡± He gnashed his teeth.

    From what they had learned, the Turbulent Blizzard Leopard tribe was too prideful to submit themselves to a Beast King. In fact, it was one of the main reasons why they chose to target the n in the first ce.

    But unexpected to all, in the face of exterminating danger, the tribe leader had actually lowered his head and pledged fealty.

    Otherwise, there was no way the current situation would be taking ce.

    ¡®I guess that¡¯s why I admired him in the first ce, but still¡­¡¯

    The respect Damien had for the tribe leader came from the fact that he was a leader who truly cared about the well-being of his people.

    Damien had seen so many corrupt old guys back on earth who only cared for their own self-interests that such a tribe leader was someone he felt he had to tip his hat to.

    But this final trump card that the tribe leader had thrust upon him before his death¡­

    ¡®Fuck, I guess you got thestugh.¡¯

    For the first time, Damien was facing a situation that he couldn¡¯t see a way out of.

 Chapter 215 - Beast King [1]

    ¡°Who dares attack a tribe under my, Incarnate Snow Beast King¡¯s, protection?!¡±

    The voice boomed in their ears like a p of thunder, forcing those present out of their daze from the previous circumstances.

    The elders and tribe members of the Turbulent Blizzard Leopard tribe had fallen into despair for a second. Their tribe leader had died in front of them, leaving them with no chance of survival.

    But the arrival of the Beast King put a glimmer of hope in their eyes. Perhaps they would have to submit themselves to a greater power, something they had always avoided before, but none of that mattered anymore.

    Their tribe leader was their hope and pir. With his death, they had no aspirations to be a King n anymore. And besides that, submitting didn¡¯t sound so bad if they could get revenge.

    Revenge that had evaded them with the death of their tribe leader.

    In direct contrast to the feelings of the Turbulent Blizzard Leopard tribe, Damien and Ruyue had ugly looks on their faces.

    This was a Beast King, a genuine 4th ss being. The pressure that was enveloping the atmosphere at the moment, although weaker than Tian Yang¡¯s, was more than anything they could hope to produce on their own.

    Looking at each other, they could feel the helplessness in their eyes. The difference between ranks was simply thatrge.

    Especially between 3rd and 4th ss, the difference was akin to a bottomless chasm. After all, 4th ss beings, no matter how weak they were, would all be individuals who had touched upon thews of the world.

    A simple affinity or element couldn¡¯tpare.

    Their eyesnded on the Beast King floating in the air once again. Running away from peak 3rd sses was possible no matter how many there were, but it was different for a 4th ss.

    Damien gritted his teeth. No matter what, this wouldn¡¯t be his grave. He had no ns of dying before he even got the chance to apologize to Rose.

    A trace of ruthlessness shed across his eyes.

    ¡®If it¡¯s like that, then all I can do is fight.¡¯

    While Damien and Ruyue were going through a myriad of emotions, the Beast King was calmly observing them as well.

    ¡®These two kids are the ones causing so much trouble?¡¯

    With his status, he didn¡¯t necessarily desire to have a massive number of ns and tribes under him, but it didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t enjoy it.

    Especially when those tribes were of the leopard species like him. He wanted to gather them all together and form a massive unrivaled force.

    Of these leopards, the Turbulent Blizzard Leopards were one branch that had a high growth potential, so he had been trying to coax them to his side for a while now.

    It could be imagined his surprise when they sent a notice of voluntary submission, with the only condition being his aid one time. And so, he rushed down to provide aid only to find two humans facing the entire leopard n.

    Not only that, but also the tribe leader dead on the ground.

    He furrowed his brows at the sight. It should be easier than walking to crush these two like ants, but for some reason, he had the feeling that things wouldn¡¯t go the way he wished.

    Still, that wasn¡¯t something to bother with right now. In the first ce, he had no grudge with these mysterious humans. Whether or not his interference actually bore fruit, he didn¡¯t care. As long as he made a move, the Turbulent Blizzard Leopard tribe would be submitted under him.

    Concluding his thoughts, he once again looked towards the two humans in front of him.

    ¡°Do you two understand the consequences of what you have done?¡± His tone was domineering, infused with the mana of a Beast King.

    Still, Damien didn¡¯t cower. Even with the massive pressure on his shoulders, his knees refused to buckle.

    ¡°Regardless of consequences, what¡¯s done is done.¡±

    Seeing his fearless attitude, the Beast King didn¡¯t know whether to praise his courage or disdain his idiocy. Still, from the short exchange, he was aware that words wouldn¡¯t be able to move this kid.

    ¡°Very well. If death is your wish. then I shall grant it to you.¡±

    The Beast King didn¡¯t move from his spot. Instead, he pushed his arm out and threw a simple punch.

    Boom!

    The air shattered at the point of contact and rushing winds billowed. Before Damien even understood what was happening, his body was flung backwards.

    ¡®What the hell?!¡¯

    He tried to stabilize himself in the air, but in the next instant, a shadow appeared before him and struck down.

    Boom!

    Another fierce impact rang out, and when the crowd looked over, they saw Damien¡¯s figure embedded in the snow.

    *Cough*

    A mouthful of blood unintentionally burst from his lips. When Damien clutched his chest, he could feel that it had slightly caved in.

    Before he was able to regain his bearings, the shadow once again appeared before him, this time swiftly kicking him straight in his jaw.

    The force of the impact snapped his head up, forcing his body to fly into the air. The shadow arrived in front of him and let out a flurry of punches.

    Damien¡¯s body was like a rag doll. He was thrown back and forth without the ability to resist, his blood staining the white snow beneath him. With every punch, his chest caved in, his ribs broke, his blood sshed, it was unbearable.

    But his high-level regeneration continuously repaired his broken body. This way, no matter how much he was beaten, he was never gravely injured to the point of no repair.

    It seemed as though the Beast King had already noticed his regeneration and was timing his attacks to amodate it. If that was truly the case¡­it was terrifying.

    But Damien had no time to think. Every time he was struck, he did his best to control his mana and counterattack, but his mana was diffused before it even left his body.

    It gave off a feeling of fear as if it was greeting a higher form of itself.

    The beating continued for many minutes as those below could only stand like statues and watch in awe.

    Even Ruyue, no matter how much she urged her body to move, was unable to do so. It wasn¡¯t a product of fear or cowardice, rather it was as if the air around her had been locked to imprison her.

    From the looks of it, the Beast King didn¡¯t n to allow them even the slightest chance of escape.

    Boom!

    Damien¡¯s body shot through the air like aet before crashing into the stone wall of the cave dwelling,pletely shattering the rock.

    It was at this time when the Beast King finally came to a halt. His frail body stood straight in the air like a spear, looking like it didn¡¯t even take a drop of sweat to give Damien such a beating.

    When the smoke cleared, Damien¡¯s miserable figure could be seen. Once again, he was covered head to toe in blood, but his face was pale as a sheet of paper and his wounded body was healing much slower.

    His chest was still slightly caved in and most of his ribs were broken. If one looked closely, one could even see the slight shine of his Mana Heart through his skin due to how severe his injuries were.

    Still, his eyes hadn¡¯t lost their luster. Even after all of this, he red at the Beast King without a shred of fear.

    This kind of behavior struck fear into the hearts of those watching him.

    What the hell was he doing? Obviously the Beast King was just toying with him earlier. Did he really want to provoke him?

 Chapter 216 - Beast King [2]

    The Incarnate Snow Beast King had originally nned to teach this boy a lesson. That was all he was doing through this beating.

    Perhaps it could be considered as courage to refuse to bow down to someone of his power level, but there were some situations where such courage was useless.

    It would only lead to an early death.

    And so, he wanted this boy to realize the consequences of bing too inted, of facing a Beast King like him and still assuming he could still wriggle his way out of the situation.

    But as time went on, he became a little annoyed and at the same time grew a slight admiration for the boy. Unlike the others, he could clearly see Damien¡¯s expression during the entire fight.

    Not once had he shown even an ounce of resignation. Every time he was hit, he would re at the Beast King without fear. This kind of attitude wasn¡¯t something just anyone could possess.

    This kind of attitude was something birthed through endlessly toeing the line with death.

    When he saw Damien ring at him even though he was embedded in a wall and his regeneration was slowing down, he didn¡¯t know what to do.

    Now, he didn¡¯t really feel like killing the boy. He was a seedling with too much potential to die over a small conflict like this.

    As the Beast King was wondering how to proceed, Damien¡¯s thoughts were filled with unbridled fury.

    When had he ever been in such a situation? He had never been forced into a corner like this even when facing the most hopeless battles in the past. There was never such a major gulf.

    Truth be told, he was humiliated. He had already been forced to run away and hide from those assassins at the auction, and now he was once again forced by the circumstances in such close proximity.

    It hadn¡¯t even been a month since thest encounter.

    Damien wasn¡¯t an idiot. He understood the concept of knowing when to attack and retreat, but even if he understood it didn¡¯t mean he enjoyed it.

    His pride wasn¡¯t obvious on the surface, but it festered and grew deep in his bones. Such pride disdained this situation. It disdained to be a cornered rat.

    Damien¡¯s fury grew as he thought about the humiliation. The purple in his eyes slowly became polluted with red.

    ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡±

    Each time he inhaled, small gusts of wind swirled around him, and when he exhaled, they were blown apart.

    ¡®I refuse. I refuse. I refuse.¡¯

    Faint cracking sounds were emitted from his body as his bones slowly restructured. Hisbored breaths became clear and unhurried.

    ¡®I refuse this. I, Damien Void, refuse to be reduced to a mere punching bag for a higher existence.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s internal body was going through a myriad of changes at the moment without his knowledge. The faint cracking sounds became more and more pronounced until even those bystanders could hear them clearly.

    Boom!

    Blood suddenly spurted out from his forehead as two protrusions grew from his skull. They were like spiked horns that curled and slowly wrapped around his head like a crown.

    His eyes flickered constantly, his cross-shaped pupils bing vertical slits of a reptile. His teeth and fingernails elongated into fangs and ws.

    Damien suddenly felt like millions of ants were crawling around beneath his skin. The sensation was extremely ufortable, causing him to grit his teeth in strain.

    Slowly but surely, his skin seemed to flip, revealing something akin to an inky ck carapace, or rather, scales.

    These scales inverted from his skin and covered his entire body, working their way up his neck and stopping at his chin, leaving his face uncovered.

    Crack!

    The cave wall he was embedded into began to crack and splinter, falling to the ground below.

    Boom!

    Blood once again sshed from Damien¡¯s body. This time, from his back. Once again, protrusions exited his scale-covered skin.

    They were a pair of wings made entirely of bone, with a thinyer of ck skin covering them. Their 10-foot wide wingspan caused the surrounding rocks to break away to make space to contain them.

    If one looked closely, they¡¯d be able to faintly feel a sense of ipleteness from these wings, as if they exited his body prematurely. In fact, even the crown-like bone horns adorning his head gave off the same feeling.

    Boom!

    The wings pped once, impacting the stone wall and causing it to copsepletely. However, Damien didn¡¯t move. He was suspended in the air by the pping of his massive wings.

    His blood-red draconic eyes red at the Beast King as killing intent thicker than anything he had shown before burst from his body.

    Seeing this, the Beast King frowned. ¡°Boy, do you understand what you¡¯re about to do? Even if I had some positive feelings towards you, I won¡¯t let you off if you willingly attack me.¡±

    But Damien didn¡¯t respond. He pped his wings and vanished, appearing directly in front of the Beast King.

    Raising his arm, he cocked it and threw a rapid punch, but before the punch evennded, he teleported to the Beast King¡¯s back. Carrying the momentum forward, his punch finallynded with an even greater impact.

    Boom!

    Not even waiting to check the Beast King¡¯s condition, he vanished and reappeared at the Beast King¡¯s side, throwing another heated punch.

    His fists became coated in mana that suddenly burst. On one side, there was a sh of ck lightning that oddly warped the space around it, and on the other, a crimson me that gave off immeasurable heat.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    A series of punches continuouslynded on the unmoving body of the Beast King. His seemingly indifferent attitude made one doubt the actual force behind the flurry of attacks, but the environment clearly showed its damage.

    The ground was sundered entirely. The snow that was originally present had melted and turned into a small river that soon evaporated under the heat of Damien¡¯s fists. The ground itself had been caved in by the aftershocks of the numerous impacts.

    Even the clouds in the sky weren¡¯t spared, being ripped to shreds by the tumultuous winds that were kicked up by Damien¡¯s sheer speed.

    Luckily, the battle was taking ce in the air, otherwise, things wouldn¡¯t have been so simple. Most likely, the entire area would have been annihted, leading to another massive avnche.

    Under Damien¡¯s constant attacks, the Beast King stood indifferently, not an ounce of expression on his face. But inwardly, he was extremely surprised.

    ¡®I¡¯m actually feeling¡­pain?¡¯

    Even if his body was outwardly frail, he was a beast. His body was naturally extremely strong, and it became even stronger through the tribtions by which he entered 4th ss. To feel pain from the attacks of a lower being was unheard of.

    Sure, Damien¡¯s attacks weren¡¯t actually damaging him, but he could feel the heat of those crimson mes very clearly within his body. He even got the faint feeling that his blood began boiling.

    ¡®I can¡¯t let this go on for much longer.¡¯

    Originally, he had nned to simply stay still and tank the attacks to crush Damien¡¯s fighting spirit, but if he let this go on for too long, signs of injury might begin showing on his skin.

    It wouldn¡¯t be dangerous, but for a Beast King to be injured by a lower being, that too a human, wouldn¡¯t he lose a great deal of face?

    Under this line of reasoning, he slowly raised his hand, intending to make a real move for the first time. When suddenly, he sensed something from the edge of his perception.

    Throwing out a semi-heavy kick to throw Damien away, he turned his head in that direction.

    ¡°Which one of you Beast Kings is hiding in the corner right now? Since when did people of our status need to do such things?¡±

 Chapter 217 - Beast King [3]

    ¡°Which one of you Beast Kings is hiding in the corner right now? Since when did people of our status need to do such things?¡±

    The words echoed through the surroundings for a few moments with no response, when suddenly, space began to ripple and a figure stepped out.

    ¡°Haha, it wasn¡¯t like I was hiding on purpose, I was just a bit curious about this boy.¡±

    A boisterous voice apanied the figure as he slowly became clear. His hair was like a glowing white mane, his body was robust and filled with explosive power, and his eyes were silvery reptilian slits.

    The Incarnate Snow Beast King¡¯s eyes narrowed at the sight of this man. ¡°White Dragon King.¡±

    ¡°Haha, it seems that I¡¯m still somewhat famous, huh. And here I thought my name would be forgotten while I was in seclusion.¡±

    ¡°How could that be? The White Dragon King has earned himself quite the reputation through his actions. Not only are you one of the strongest Kings on our mountain, but you also challenged the overlord and left unscathed. This kind of legend won¡¯t just be forgotten with time.¡±

    ¡°You humor me, I¡¯m not as great as you make it sound.¡± The White Dragon King smiled. Suddenly, his brows perked up in interest.

    Roar!

    A fearsome roar shook the surroundings, causing the attention of those present to finally leave the two Beast Kings in the sky. When they did, they noticed that a massive 10-kilometer-wide radius of the area had bepletely barren of snow and flora.

    In the air there stood a familiar man covered in ck scales with bone wings and a crown protruding from his body. His blood-red eyes were especially fierce, and even contained a hint of mania as they stared at the Incarnate Snow Beast King.

    Roar!

    With another roar, he raised his arm, drawing attention to the massive object floating above him. If there was one way to describe it, it would be a second sun.

    A mountainous ball of crimson gold mes hung in the air, melting even the air around it. The atmosphere that the ball of fire gave off was suffocating to all those that weren¡¯t Beast Kings.

    The billowing aura radiating from Damien intensified dramatically as with another roar, he threw his arm forward and released the ball of mes towards the Incarnate Snow Beast King.

    The Beast King¡¯s eyes narrowed at the sight. Suddenly, the snow around him began to bend and twist, channeling into rivers of white that surrounded him.

    ¡°Go.¡±

    Those white rivers quickly formed order and charged towards the huge sun. When the two made contact, heated steam filled the atmosphere with temperature enough to boil the skin of those 3rd ss beings if they hadn¡¯t used mana to protect themselves.

    Roar!

    The ferocious roars didn¡¯t end. While the collision between the sun and snow continued, Damien¡¯s figure shed and appeared behind the Beast King, pping his hands together loudly.

    Space began to distort, looking on the verge of shattering. If this was the outside world, perhaps it would have copsed entirely. But in this environment filled with spatial suppression, Damien¡¯s spatial copse wasn¡¯t able to achieve its intended effect.

    But he didn¡¯t need to mind that. Even if the original mechanism was faulty, he had ways around it. With space already distorting from his previous attack, Damien manipted the vectors in the area to further sow chaos.

    The chaotic movement of the vectors heightened and caused the air to tremble. And when coupled with Damien¡¯s previous attempt to copse space, finally achieved its purpose.

    A massive ck hole was formed, swallowing the Incarnate Snow Beast King whole. In that instant, the previous sun was also extinguished, causing silence to nket the atmosphere.

    But this silence didn¡¯tst long.

    ¡°Boy, don¡¯t go too far!¡±

    A furious roar was heard from within the ck hole as billowing waves of mana exited it. In the next instant, the ckness was directly shattered as if it was fragile ss. The Incarnate Snow Beast King appeared once again, looking clearly enraged by Damien¡¯s earlier move.

    ¡°Good good good! See how I deal with you now!¡±

    The air around Damien solidified, trapping him in ce just like with Ruyue. Even within this entrapment, his figure continuously writhed and thrashed around, looking like a wild beast.

    The White Dragon King watched this scene with interest before sighing.

    ¡®Sigh, it looks like I was right. Although his bloodline is mixed with many other things, it is still a dragon bloodline at the end of the day.¡¯

    Besides that, he also noticed that Damien was a human. Or rather, he used to be a human. This meant that his dragon bloodline wasn¡¯t something attained at birth, but earned through battle.

    Although dragons were prideful from birth, there was another quality about them that not many were aware of, due to their reclusive nature.

    They were true spirits of battle.

    All dragons were creatures who craved battle and worshipped the strong. Their pride also stemmed from this dichotomy.

    And so, when the dragon race came upon beings who acquired their bloodlines through battle, they didn¡¯t look down on them or form vendettas.

    Instead, they felt respect. But this respect was only given to those who proved themselves worthy of their bloodlines.

    The reason the White Dragon King arrived in the first ce was because he had sensed a weak dragon aura while he was cultivating. Ever since then, he had been quietly watching Damien to test whether he was to be killed or groomed.

    And from his observation, he chose thetter. Damien hadn¡¯t shown all his cards in this time, and he wascking a bit in the brains department, but his strength and will had impressed the White Dragon King.

    His killing intent and ruthlessness in battle were also something that an undeserving party wouldn¡¯t possess. As a dragon, while he understood the purpose of schemes and even used them himself sometimes, he still disdained them.

    For a person like Damien, it was evident just from a few days¡¯ observation that he held a simr viewpoint. So there was no way he had used foul means to acquire his bloodline.

    The White Dragon King was also clearly aware of what was happening with Damien right now. He was like a young dragon who had just been born, he didn¡¯t understand how to fully control his bloodline.

    With a dragon¡¯s pride, and perhaps coupled with Damien¡¯s own inherent pride, there was no way he could ept the humiliation of the Incarnate Snow Beast King. Such unwillingness led his bloodline to rage and send him into a frenzy.

    At this moment, the best way to describe Damien was as a berserker. There were most likely no thoughts behind those eyes.

    Sighing once again, the White Dragon King turned to the Incarnate Snow Beast King who was preparing to attack for real.

    ¡°Say, can you give me some face and let the boy off this time?¡±

    The Incarnate Snow Beast King furrowed his brows. To be honest, while he was angry he wasn¡¯t actually that mad.

    And the White Dragon King wasn¡¯t an existence he could offend with his power. Although he didn¡¯t have a massive force behind him, the White Dragon Elite Troop that he raised was feared by all.

    He felt that the matter would end a bit too quickly and quietly if he simply gave in at this moment, but there wasn¡¯t much else he could do. Besides, fighting a kid so much weaker than him would be a blow to his pride.

    ¡°Fine. Since the White Dragon King seems to have an interest in this boy, I¡¯ll let him off. However, he still caused harm to a tribe that hase under my banner, so I require at least some sort ofpensation.¡±

 Chapter 218 - Beast King [4]

    The White Dragon King¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡®This guy would¡¯ve been better off being born as a fox than a leopard.¡¯

    He knew very well that the Incarnate Snow Beast King didn¡¯t care about this small tribe at all, but he still asked for reparations.

    First off, he would be able to at least somewhat quell the tribe¡¯s fury and show that he is thinking about them, which would guarantee their loyalty, especially if he shared some of the wealth he gained with them.

    He would also be able to save face and avoid beating someone weaker than him, which would¡¯ve left a slight stain on his reputation.

    And most of all, he¡¯d be able to gain something from the White Dragon King. No matter how reclusive the king was, he was still one of the peak experts in the Endless Snow Mountain, so anything he had would be a treasure.

    But, the White Dragon King didn¡¯t mind much. This kind of mind was the reason the Incarnate Snow Beast King was able to survive and rule over a portion of the mountain even though he was only average among the Kings that reside here.

    ¡°Fine. Our White Dragon Grotto will make sure to send some gifts over to your Incarnate Snow Kingdom in the near future. I can assure you that you will be satisfied.¡±

    The Incarnate Snow Beast King beamed at his words. ¡°Hahaha, if the White Dragon King says so, then I can onlyply. If that¡¯s all, then I shall be heading back to my territory now.¡±

    Turning to the crowd of Turbulent Blizzard Leopards below, he once again spoke. ¡°Although the matter of today didn¡¯t end the way you hoped, one should always understand how to endure and grow. Perhaps, if you be strong enough, you¡¯ll one day be able to achieve revenge with your own hands.¡±

    Without any more superfluous words, he turned into a streak of light and flew off into the horizon.

    The White Dragon King clicked his tongue at the sight. This guy was truly scheming until the end. The promise of the tribe gaining revenge with their own hands would be enough to thoroughly motivate them. This kind of motivation would without a doubt lead them to contribute to his kingdom in return for rewards that could help them gain strength.

    Shaking his head lightly, the White Dragon King turned to Damien and Ruyue, who were still trapped in the suppression the Incarnate Snow Beast King put them in.

    Seeing how Damien was still furiously struggling, he clicked his tongue.

    ¡®Hmm, I guess I¡¯ll have to knock him unconscious first.¡¯

    A domineering aura left the White Dragon King¡¯s body, causing those below to shiver in fear. This wasn¡¯t his Beast King aura or even killing intent, but the pure aura suppression that originated from his bloodline.

    He was, after all, a true dragon. He may as well have been the first person Damien had met who had the qualifications to call themselves a true dragon, but unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t awake to realize it.

    When the bloodline suppression impacted Damien, he suddenly froze in ce. His transformation began to fluctuate before receding entirely back into his body. This kind of bloodline suppression was something he, as an individual withrgely impure dragon bloodline, was unable to resist.

    And with the White Dragon King continuously increasing the amount of pressure, Damien soon fell unconscious while frothing from the mouth.

    With that out of the way, the White Dragon King grabbed Damien and hoisted him over his shoulder like a bag of rice.

    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, you should be hispanion?¡± He turned to Ruyue and ask.

    Ruyue nodded but didn¡¯t say anything else. In fact, her attention had been focused elsewhere the entire time.

    Shortly after Damien¡¯s beating began, Ruyue was unable to endure watching him get thrown around like a rag doll. Instead, she had been pushing her negative mana in a bid to corrode the suppression around her.

    And she had achieved mild sess, merely, the suppression of a 4th ss wasn¡¯t something she could easily dispel.

    Now that the White Dragon King called out to her, she finally stopped her attempts. The whole ordeal was already over and whether they liked it or not, it seemed they would be going with this new Beast King.

    Seeing her response, the White Dragon King lightly waved his hand and dispelled the suppression around her before covering her in his mana. Like this, he carried Damien on his shoulder and Ruyue with his mana before turning into a streak of light and shooting off into the distance like the Incarnate Snow Beast King.

    The cave dwelling of the Turbulent Blizzard Leopard tribe finally regained peace once again. The silence in the air seemed almost palpable.

    Even those neighboring tribes who hade to watch the show after feeling the fluctuations didn¡¯t make a sound.

    A depressing atmosphere seemed to cover the leopard tribe at the moment. Each and every one of them wasmenting about how anticlimactic the previous events ended up being.

    Finally, after some time, the elders of the tribe let out a collective sigh. ¡°At the very least, we were able to see the bastard who killed the tribe leader be humiliated.¡±

    ¡°Right. More than that, it seemed the tribe leader had some respect for him. And his words from before weren¡¯t wrong. This all happened because we are weak.¡±

    ¡°We are weak. So we must take the opportunity we gained from Sir Incarnate Snow and be powerful. Powerful enough that nobody can ever step on our tribe again.¡±

    Hearing the elders talk, the rest of the tribe members slowly felt a sliver of hope returning.

    That¡¯s right. As long as they were still alive, they could be stronger. And if they became stronger, they would no longer have to rely on outside powers to get what they want.

    That way, even if such a situation urred again in the future, they could deal with it as they wished instead of having no say in the matters like today.

    While the tribe members slowly began to hopefully mor, the elders looked at each other sorrowfully. Even if the tribe members didn¡¯t know, they weren¡¯t stupid enough not to realize.

    That boy definitely had some sort of connection to the White Dragon King. That was an existence they¡¯d never be able to touch no matter how strong they became.

    And with the White Dragon King personally taking him in, perhaps the next time they met, none of them would hold a candle to him anymore.

    Wryly smiling at each other, the elders shook their heads. No matter what, this was a matter for another day. For now, they had to get the tribe in order and make sure that the outside forces eyeing them wouldn¡¯t gain any opportunities.

    This was their responsibility. No matter what their personal thoughts were, they couldn¡¯t act on them. At this kind of time, they started to admire the tribe leader even more.

    No matter what the circumstance, he always thought about the tribe first. If not for his foresight, perhaps they would¡¯ve been exterminated today due to silly pride.

    Once again sighing lightly, they returned to the cave dwelling with the rest of the tribe.

 Chapter 219 - Next Stop [1]

    The cool winds of the Endless Snow Mountain whipped through the air as the White Dragon King leisurely sped up the mountainside.

    Well, it might have been leisurely to him, but to Ruyue, it was nightmarish. This kind of speed was something she would barely be able to touch even if she was exerting all her effort and mana, but it was achieved by the White Dragon King like it was nothing.

    As they ascended the mountain, the winds became increasingly fierce, and while Ruyue was being protected by the White Dragon King¡¯s mana, Damien was being hit by them directly.

    ¡°Ngh¡­¡±

    The harsh cold and impact that continued to harass his face slowly roused Damien¡¯s consciousness. At that moment, his eyes began to flutter open.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    And they were shut just as soon as that happened. After all, the speed coupled with the ferocious wind was enough to almost injure his eyes in that slight instant.

    ¡®What the hell is going on?¡¯

    His memory was incredibly foggy after the fight with the Turbulent Blizzard Leopard tribe leader. Did he get captured? Was he being tortured? A myriad of questions swirled through his mind as he tried to understand the situation.

    When he attempted to move, he only became more confused. ¡®What the hell? Am I being pinned down by a log or something?¡¯

    He could feel something like a tree trunk bearing down on his waist. The only problem was, there didn¡¯t seem to be ground underneath him.

    Wanting to get to the bottom of the situation, Damien finally spread his awareness. And the first thing he saw was a massive face grinning at him from directly next to him.

    ¡°FUCK!¡±

    A slightly girlish scream inadvertently left his mouth.

    ¡°Pfffft!¡± From the side, the faint sounds of a woman¡¯s giggles also filled the air, apanied by the uproariousughter of the man whose face Damien had just seen.

    It didn¡¯t take an expert to realize it was Ruyue, though the identity of the man was still a mystery. Damien sighed in exasperation. Although he didn¡¯t understand the situation they were currently in, if Ruyue had the free time tough at his pathetic situation, then they shouldn¡¯t be in any danger.

    Once he confidently spread his awareness once more, he was able to properly see his embarrassing posture, being carried like a sack of rice, but obviously he couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    Besides the fact that they were in the air and his mana was nearly drained, he couldn¡¯t escape the iron grip of that mysterious man.

    With the knowledge that there was no immediate threat, Damien sunk into his consciousness and tried to sort out his blurred memories.

    ¡®Damn¡­I got curbstomped by that guy.¡¯

    The first thing that came back was the memory of getting ragdolled by the Incarnate Snow Beast King, and slowly but surely the rest came back to him.

    The utter humiliation and rage he felt, the sudden transformation his body went through, the way he barraged the Beast King and achieved no results, and how he had been suppressed by the man who was currently holding him with only a bit of pressure.

    Although the humiliation he felt was still present as he recalled these memories, the embarrassment and depression eclipsed it.

    ¡®I¡¯m still so weak.¡¯

    He had fought a few 4th sses before and even bore Tian Yang¡¯s pressure, but he knew very well that in none of those instances did those beings ever take the situation seriously.

    The first time was with Malcolm, and simrly to the situation now, he had cked out. Only, he still didn¡¯t know what had happened at that time. As for the second time, it was a small bout with Rose¡¯s father, James. That one was even less serious, as besides testing his capabilities, the Adire Emperor barely lifted a finger.

    Not once had he been in a situation where the 4th ss being was antagonistic towards him, at least, not until today.

    For the first time, he truly understood the gap between the two ranks. Sure, he had previously got a grasp of it through Tian Yang¡¯s aura suppression, but it was different today. He thought that at least he¡¯d have a chance to escape, at least he¡¯d get a few moves in or cause even the smallest scratch, but no.

    He had been manhandled, and even when his opponent stood still and allowed him to attack, he couldn¡¯t inflict even the slightest of damage. He had even been kicked away like a little kid.

    He couldn¡¯t help but sigh at his predicament, but it wasn¡¯t like it was his fault. How long had he been training? 4 years? 5 years? It was foolish topare himself to these old monsters and expect to easily match them.

    But that didn¡¯t mean he would never reach their level. People like him Ruyue and Long Chen were all considered as heavenly geniuses for having reached their current level at their age.

    And while the main roadblock for those attempting to ascend to 4th ss wasprehension and connection with the elements,prehension had always been a forte of his.

    Otherwise, there was no way his skills would rise in level so fast and evolve. It would be utterly inconceivable to other people if they ever found out about his rate of progression.

    ¡®That¡¯s right. Their main advantage is time. And time is something I have plenty of.¡¯

    In theing years, the universe would likely be enveloped in the mes of war, and before that, he needed to be much stronger than he was now. If not, he¡¯d just end up cannon fodder.

    But that was years away. If he could ascend so much in a few years¡¯ time, he didn¡¯t feel he¡¯d have a problem continuing with this speed as long as he truly worked for it.

    He just needed that drive if he wanted to gain that power.

    mes of determination sparked within Damien¡¯s eyes. ¡®One day, I¡¯ll go back to that guy and beat him senseless. Let¡¯s see how he cries at that time.¡¯

    When Damien came out of his thoughts, he realized that the ferocious winds had rtively calmed down. The speed at which they were moving had also slowed.

    Thinking it was safe, he finally decided to open his eyes once more.

    ¡°¡­Eh?¡±

    Only to find himself flying forward. Landing on the snowy ground once more, he realized that he had been thrown. And no matter how much he wanted to voice his dissatisfaction, in front of a man who could suppress him so easily, he couldn¡¯t get the words out of his mouth.

    This was another thing that Damien hadn¡¯t thought about paying attention to until this moment.

    Bloodline suppression.

    Previously, his bloodline was too mixed and muddled for any single species to suppress him. Their species would just never have the domination within his bloodline for suppression to even take effect.

    But now, it was different. From his transformation alone, he realized that the dominance of his dragon bloodline had far exceeded his expectations. And now, it waspletely possible for him to be turned into nothing by higher dragons with purer bloodlines.

    A booming voice that seemed loud even though it was spoken at normal volume snapped him out of his thoughts.

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived. Wee to my White Dragon Grotto.¡±

 Chapter 220 - Next Stop [2]

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived. Wee to my White Dragon Grotto.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Damien could only muster a surprised sound when he heard the man speak. After all, even if he had his memories, he could only remember them as he was.

    Basically, his memories were filled with an embarrassing rage-filled temper tantrum where everything was drowned out besides his desire to kill the Incarnate Snow Beast King. He was still entirely confused about the current situation.

    Without any other choice, he shot a helpless look towards Ruyue, who wryly smiled at his behavior. Then, she gave a brief rundown of everything she knew over mana transmission.

    ¡®I see, so this guy is the so-called White Dragon King¡­kind of pretentious to name this ce after him but I guess at the same time it isn¡¯t.¡¯

    Quickly standing up and brushing the snow off his clothes, Damien slightly bowed towards the White Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯ve embarrassed myself in front of Senior White Dragon.¡±

    But the White Dragon King was never one to care about such niceties. He lightly waved off Damien¡¯s apology and continued speaking. ¡°Brat, don¡¯t be mistaken in thinking that I saved you because I care or because I see value in you. It¡¯s nothing like that.¡±

    His gaze sharpened. ¡°My White Dragon Grotto is a gathering ce for all those with dragon bloodline, regardless of its purity. The only reason you were saved is because you happen to possess such a bloodline. Don¡¯t go thinking you¡¯re special or unique.¡±

    Damien sighed lightly. He couldn¡¯t say that he didn¡¯t think he was special, but he didn¡¯t refute the White Dragon King. In situations like this, it would be stupid to expect that he would always be saved by a higher power. Damien couldn¡¯t help but admit that his move earlier was as foolish as it could get.

    Seeing the slightly mncholic look on Damien¡¯s face, the White Dragon King smiled. ¡°Although you definitely shoulder the me for your actions, it wasn¡¯t entirely your fault. A part of it was due to the fact that you haven¡¯t fully tamed that bloodline of yours.¡±

    Spreading his arms, he smiled once more. ¡°And that is the purpose of this White Dragon Grotto. To bring those fledglings who, by luck or skill, obtained the legacy of dragons, and to raise them into beings that can proudly proim their race.¡±

    He waved his arm slightly, motioning Damien and Ruyue to follow him, before walking forward and disappearing into the side of the mountain that was in front of them.

    ncing at each other for a second, the duo nodded before following after him.

    In fact, the area they were standing at previously was only a barren area of the mountain that was simply a snowy wastnd. It was part of the reason for Damien¡¯s confusion when theynded.

    When the White Dragon King literally walked into the side of the mountain, he couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. After all, if the area was an illusion, he should¡¯ve seen through it. This could only mean that it was some sort of expertly crafted physical concealment.

    Neither Damien nor Ruyue was able to make heads or tails of how it was done.

    When they finally made their way through the wall, their ears were suddenly barraged by a myriad of ear-shattering and earth-shaking roarsing from all sides. None of them were directed at the duo, but the sheer collective sound of them all was enough to shatter the eardrums of those weaker.

    After taking a second to get used to the roars, as well as to marvel at the fact that the barrier in the mountainside made it so none of it was audible from the outside, they finally got the chance to look around.

    The area that should¡¯ve been a cavern was actually open air, clearly receiving the warmth of sunlight and the fresh air of the outside world through some unknown means. As for its size, it was simr to a massive city, only, the area was built with countless arenas and barely any living quarters.

    Each of these arenas was currently upied by a myriad of dragons and draconic species, with some even looking rtively humanoid.

    There were even a few that looked like genuine humans among the batches.

    All of them were either watching the ongoing fights or partaking in them, and the fights themselves were clearly life or death.

    Fatal wounds would pile up on the contestants until one of them inevitably died. And when death took them, their opponent would devour their body.

    ¡°This is the nature of White Dragon Grotto.¡± The voice of the White Dragon King snapped them out of their dazes.

    ¡°If you are expecting a quiet and peaceful nurturing ground, it¡¯s best if you let me extract the bloodline of dragons from you, for you are unworthy of it.

    ¡°This is a ce of death and cruelty. You fight and fight until you can¡¯t fight anymore. If you win, you can absorb the bloodline of others and enhance your own, and if you die, you be food for others¡¯ growth.

    ¡°Of course, we still keep the slightest bit of fairness to maintain order. Your opponents will be those in your same ss range. Anyone above or below you is off-limits. This way, there will be no cowards among us who prey on the weak and fear the strong.¡±

    Damien nodded as he followed the White Dragon King through the city. ¡°You are not trying to build some kind of massive empire or sect, instead, you are grooming an elite force that can topple 1000 with 10.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! I guess you could say it like that. Though, I¡¯m not really the leader type. I just felt a bit of pity for those of dragon lineage who aspired to ascend to the ranks of true dragons. Due to this, I created an opportunity for them.

    ¡°But as I said, I am no saint nor leader. In another sense, you could consider me a vile being. I brought all the dragonkin to one ce and forced them to fight for their stay.¡±

    But Damien shook his head in denial. ¡°As if. You say that like anyone here is reluctant to stay. Even just watching the atmosphere and thinking of the prospective rewards, my blood boils. And I have the most impure of dragon bloodlines. If these guys who have actually tasted the benefits of such an environment actually held thoughts of leaving, I¡¯d truly disdain them.¡±

    The White Dragon King grinned. ¡°Good! That¡¯s the kind of attitude you need to survive here at the White Dragon Grotto. Anyway, I¡¯ll bring someone to settle you guys in. After all, you can¡¯t have the king acting as an attendant, hahaha! Also, while you¡¯re a member of our grotto, just call me Senior Bai or Leader Bai. This whole White Dragon King nonsense is a bit much.¡±

    Damien nodded with a smile, shooting a look of slight admiration towards the White Dragon King. It seemed that he had a lot of good luck when it came to the seniors he met on his journey. Malcolm, Tian Yang, Senior Bai, they were all his kinds of people. He felt like they were some of the easiest to get along with.

    Once again shifting his gaze towards the various bloodbaths going on, he felt the excitement in the air, the fighting spirit that permeated the atmosphere, and the dragon aura that did the same.

    If he had to be honest, it was intoxicating.

 Chapter 221 - Next Stop [3]

    Not long after the White Dragon King left, a seemingly human woman walked up to Damien and Ruyue. The only feature defining her as nonhuman was the pair of dragon horns jutting out of her forehead.

    ¡°Hi! My name is Elisa and I¡¯ll be your guide today.¡±

    ¡®Elisa?¡¯

    It was the first non-Chinese name Damien had heard since he came to this world. Even the White Dragon King told him to address him as Senior Bai. But, he wasn¡¯t as surprised as he expected.

    The words of the Burning Sun Sect Elder popped up in his head. About how there was no need for him to take up a pseudonym since there were still people with non-Chinese names in the Cloud ne.

    It was just that the rarity of them far exceeded his expectations. Whether it was the Northern Continent or the Central Continent, he always felt like he stood out when it came to names.

    However, the fact that Ruyue and the rest didn¡¯t really raise an eyebrow at his name should¡¯ve been indication enough that such names still existed.

    This was especially so for Elisa. She was, after all, a member of White Dragon Grotto, a person who lived in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. There was no way they¡¯d bepletely closed off from outside culture since there have been plenty who became stranded in the mountain range before, but that didn¡¯t mean they¡¯d adhere to it.

    Up until this point, the only names he had learned since arriving were Senior Bai and Elisa herself.

    Anyway, while Damien was thinking stupid thoughts, Elisa was giving a brief rundown of the White Dragon Grotto¡¯s operation. Luckily, it wasn¡¯t anything they hadn¡¯t heard from Senior Bai beforehand, so Damien didn¡¯t miss much.

    Suddenly, Elisa took out a round copper medallion. ¡°We¡¯re going to be teleporting now, so be prepared.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like she was supposed to know that Damien was a spatial affinity user. Otherwise, there would be no need for a warning.

    When the light of spatial fluctuations faded, the three found themselves within¡­a shack.

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, but there¡¯s a reason to everything,¡± Elisa said with a smile. ¡°As you already know, the White Dragon Grotto is a ce that fully embodies thew of the jungle. The one with the bigger fist rules.

    ¡°Our entire philosophy and lifestyle revolve around this concept, so naturally, the living arrangements are the same. Since you two have only just arrived, you are in the smallest Worm level amodation.

    ¡°From the lowest level of Worm, you then have Snake, Wyvern, Dragon, and True Dragon level. The Worm level is usually reserved for those newbies that haven¡¯t gone into battle yet. Rarely anyone actually stays at this level. Butcency isn¡¯t something we allow.

    ¡°From the Worm level, one only needs to win a single fight to promote to the Snake level. If you don¡¯t promote within 1 month, you are clearly a coward. Those left behind in the Worm level after a month has passed will be forced to fight, and if they still refuse, they¡¯ll be killed and fed to others without hesitation.¡±

    Damien couldn¡¯t help but raise his brow at this. Although he had already realized it before, this ce was truly cruel. There was no concept of strategy or nning here. It was simply fight, fight, and fight some more.

    But Damien felt that there couldn¡¯t be a better environment than this one. He had felt it previously, even if he did so unconsciously. The dragon bloodline itself was like a living creature in some ways. It had its own desires and pride. It craved battle.

    And this ce was filled with that.

    Paying no heed to Damien¡¯s thoughts, Elisa continued her exnation. ¡°To promote from Snake level to Wyvern level, one must win 100 battles, and from the Wyvern Level to the Dragon Level is 1000 battles. Naturally, all these wins must be consecutive, because the only oue if you lose is death.¡±

    ¡°Hm? What about the True Dragon Level?¡± Damien asked.

    Elisa grinned. ¡°I¡¯m d you asked. The True Dragon Level isn¡¯t the same as the other levels. For those levels, no matter the purity of your bloodline, you can still attain them through battle. However, to enter the True Dragon Level, your bloodline must reach a level of purity that is epted by Lord White Dragon himself.¡±

    ¡°What makes the True Dragon Level special is precisely that. Regardless of your strength, you can enter it as long as you attain the desired amount of bloodline purity.¡±

    ¡°But if the amodations and treatment for the True Dragon Level are the highest of them all, why is it that even the weaklings can achieve it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s simple. Those that reach the True Dragon Level are personally trained by Leader Bai. It doesn¡¯t matter what your strength is when you enter the level. By the time you are deployed for the first time, you¡¯re guaranteed to be a peak expert!¡± A light of worship could be seen in Elisa¡¯s eyes as she spoke.

    ¡°The True Dragon Level is the goal of all of us. That¡¯s the reason why we fight constantly to purify our bloodlines. Leader Bai has made the perfect training environment for us, so any failure is our own doing.¡±

    ¡°In fact, even just staying within the White Dragon Grotto is a form of training. The air here is permeated by heavy Dragon Aura, which passively refines our bloodlines with no cost! It¡¯s because we are given such privileges that one must work exceedingly hard to earn their stay.¡±

    Damien listened intently to what Elisa was saying. Her exnation continued for a few hours before she finally handed over the copper medallion and went on her way.

    As it turns out, the copper medallion was the only way to enter and exit the residence. A new level of medallion would be given every time one ascended to a new level.

    As for the way all of those levels and experts were amodated, the White Dragon Grotto was actually much bigger than Damien expected.

    The arenas that Damien had seen when he first entered were only for those in the Snake level. Each time one ascended, they would move to the lower floors where those on their level would reside.

    The system by which the grotto operated was much moreplex than Damien originally thought, and the number of experts present was even greater.

    First, one would be divided based on their ss. Next, they would be further divided by their level.

    A 3rd ss at the Snake level would never be able to fight a 3rd ss at the Wyvern level. At least, under normal circumstances.

    When one reached the halfway point of the number of wins they needed to ascend to the next level, they would be granted the opportunity to challenge someone of their same ss at a higher level. If they won this challenge, they¡¯d take the other person¡¯s spot.

    For example, if Damien reached the Snake levels and achieved 50 wins, he¡¯d be able to challenge a 3rd ss being at the Wyvern level. If he won, he¡¯d be a Wyvern levelbatant and he¡¯d hold the same number of wins as the person he beat.

    This way, those whose power exceeded their current level wouldn¡¯t have to keep bullying those around them just to ascend.

    There were many more mechanics and novelties that Elisa had exined to him, but they were rtively easy to understand and didn¡¯t apply to him at the moment, so he didn¡¯t really think about them.

    Instead, he walked over to the small single bed that took up half of the shack space andid down. Looking over, he finally remembered something he had forgotten after getting absorbed in the atmosphere of the White Dragon Grotto.

    A certain white-haired goddess that was ring at him with a displeased expression stered on her face.

 Chapter 222 - Next Stop [4]

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    ¡°Ehm¡­¡±

    ¡°Did your brain be mush earlier?¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­¡±

    Damien truly couldn¡¯t find any words to say. Since the fight with the tribe leader, he had basically been neglecting Ruyue almost entirely. Thinking back, thest time he spoke to her was to ask her about the current situation. He didn¡¯t even think about her side of everything.

    And looking at Ruyue¡¯s displeased face, he was clear that he wouldn¡¯t get off so easily.

    And she was indeed pissed. First, he had gone and recklessly challenged a Beast King. After that, he came to this White Dragon Grotto andpletely ignored her, treating her like some random girl on the side of the street.

    It wasn¡¯t necessarily his actions that irked her, rather it was his recklessness and how he kept neglecting her that truly pissed her off.

    ¡®Why is it like this?¡¯

    She felt that she was being unreasonable. Why did he have to care about her so much? They hade here to train and that was exactly what he had been doing. His recklessness granted him the opportunity to enter such a perfect training ground for him.

    Of course he¡¯d be caught up in it. The series of events simply happened too fast. There was no way to not get caught up in such a momentum.

    She was well aware that her thoughts were selfish, but she couldn¡¯t get herself to stop thinking them. They gued her mind the entire time they were being carried over to this ce, and she had barely been paying attention to that dragon girl¡¯s exnation.

    She wanted to stop being like this and go along with the flow like he was, but when she recalled the way she had been neglected, an odd sort of rage bubbled up in her chest. And so, she just ended up ring at him hatefully, waiting for him to speak.

    Damien sighed inwardly. He realized just how selfish he was being. They hade here to train, yet he had taken all these opportunities without considering Ruyue.

    This White Dragon Grotto was perfect for him, but what about her? She didn¡¯t have any dragon bloodline to speak of, so this ce wouldn¡¯t be of any help to her. Instead, it¡¯d only hinder her training.

    But they couldn¡¯t separate. They had already met 2 Beast Kings in such a short span of time, and there were still plenty more possibly living on this Endless Snow Mountain. It was too dangerous to traverse alone in this kind of environment.

    But he truly didn¡¯t know how to appease her. How was he supposed to find a proper training environment for her? By begging Senior Bai? But what could he do?

    All these questions kept guing him, and when he looked up at Ruyue, his eyes caught her hateful re.

    ¡°Oh shit¡­¡± Damien muttered.

    ¡°What?¡± She snapped back.

    ¡°I think you just stole my soul.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± This time, it was Ruyue¡¯s turn to be stunned. Blood furiously rushed to her face as a healthy blush began to creep up.

    Even Damien was a bit shocked by his own words. Truthfully, he had spoken without thinking. Because that hateful re of hers was endlessly attractive.

    To be honest, that look of hers made him want to pounce on her immediately, but he hastily suppressed such thoughts.

    ¡°You¡­what kind of things are you saying right now?!¡±

    ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t really me me for this one. Any sane person would be mesmerized by that damn look. You should instead be praising me for being able to keep my wits about me.¡± Damien said with a cheeky smile.

    ¡°You¡­!¡±

    Ruyue didn¡¯t know what to say. Sure, he had been shameless before, but it had never reached this extent. It was to the point where it made her speechless.

    An ambiguous atmosphere surrounded the blushing Ruyue and cheekily smiling Damien for a bit, almost making her forget her displeasure.

    But it didn¡¯tst long. The scenes of Damien following that dragon girl whilepletely ignoring her presence suddenly appeared in her mind, causing her rage to once again peak.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± She turned her head away, refusing to acknowledge his presence.

    ¡®Eh? Wasn¡¯t she happy just now? What changed?¡¯

    Damien, who was still believing that Ruyue¡¯s displeasure originated from him neglecting her training, was utterly confused by her behavior.

    But noticing that his teasing had been a temporary solution to the problem, he suddenly remembered something.

    ¡°Ah!¡± He suddenly eximed, causing Ruyue to inadvertently turn her attention back to him.

    ¡°You know, I bought a few things back at the auction, but I had totally forgotten about them until just now. After all, our circumstances didn¡¯t really allow us to rest.¡±

    ¡°And why should I care what you bought from the auction?¡± Ruyue quipped back

    But Damien simply smiled. ¡®This will definitely do the trick.¡¯ He thought inwardly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it and close your eyes for a bit.¡± He said.

    ¡°Close my eyes? What do you want to do?¡± Ruyue asked with a slightly wary look.

    ¡°Eh? What kind of person do you think I am?¡± Damien asked aggrievedly.

    ¡°That¡¯s an easy question to answer. A dumb musclehead who thinks with his fists and forgets to pay attention to those around him.¡±

    Damien clutched his heart as if he was feeling pain. ¡°Aiyo, you really had to hit where it hurts, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    After joking around for a bit, Ruyue finally did as he asked and closed her eyes. Inadvertently, her heartbeat began to elerate.

    She had been right next to him during the auction, so she knew which items he had bought. And while she had a suspicion even back then, she never dared to think too much about it. She didn¡¯t want to be disappointed.

    Damien reached out his hand, causing it to sink into the space in front of him, before pulling something out.

    It was a beautiful crystalline bracelet. The band and stones on it were all almost translucent, but they had an odd glow whenever they were struck by light. The feeling the bracelet gave off was ethereal and elusive, making its status as a treasure evident.

    Damien walked over to Ruyue and gently grabbed her hand. Her whole body jerked at his touch, but in the end, she managed to keep her eyes closed.

    And then, he slowly slid the bracelet onto her wrist.

    When he was done, he stepped back as if admiring his work. The bracelet itself was rtively lowkey. It wasn¡¯t shy or gaudy, but its presence couldn¡¯t be denied.

    Looking at Ruyue standing peacefully with his eyes closed, he had to say that she really looked like a work of art.

    With her silvery-white hair flowing down her back, her smooth skin that was almost crystalline and shone like jade, her body that seemed to have been sculpted by the gods, with curves in all the right ces, the lowkey crystalline bracelet was perfect.

    It didn¡¯t take away from her beauty, and it didn¡¯t try to impose itself. Instead, it added a subtle charm to the perfection that she already embodied.

    ¡°Damien?¡± Ruyue called out, but he didn¡¯t answer. She subtly cracked her eyes open to check if anything was wrong, only to see him staring at her dumbly.

    Her already rapid heartbeat quickened once more, but oddly enough, she didn¡¯t move. She stayed still and pretended that she didn¡¯t know anything.

    It was only a long whileter when Damien finally snapped out of his trance. Seeing that Ruyue was still standing with her eyes closed, he felt a bit sheepish.

    He didn¡¯t know how long he had been staring at her so stupidly, but he knew it wasn¡¯t a short amount of time. A rare blush showed itself on his face as the thought.

    ¡®The fuck? I¡¯m blushing?¡¯ He quickly shook his head to get rid of any stray thoughts. When he finally managed to regain focus, he saw Ruyue looking at her wrist and then back up at him with a smile.

    That smile¡­that smile was so dazzlingly bright that he almost fell into another trance. Luckily, he managed to catch himself.

    ¡®Phew, crisis averted¡­I think.¡¯

 Chapter 223 - White Dragon Grotto [1]

    Although their talk had somehow devolved into a flirting session when Damien was trying to appear Ruyue, they still had to touch on the serious subjects.

    With Damien¡¯s gift somewhat alleviating the suffocating feeling in her chest, Ruyue also became more focused on pressing issues.

    Just as Damien had thought earlier, she had also realized the problem. If they stayed in this White Dragon Grotto for too long, her training would stagnate.

    ¡°Sigh, I really can¡¯t think of a solution. Maybe there¡¯s a dragon here that specializes in elements simr to yours?¡± Damien suddenly spoke up.

    But Ruyue only shook her head. ¡°Even if there was, it¡¯s not certain that they¡¯d be willing to help me. If they want us to pay them some sort of price for help, we don¡¯t actually have anything to give them.¡±

    They didn¡¯t know what kind of currency or valuables actually held worth within this mountain range. Even if there were some simrities, there were bound to be plenty of cultural differences that would impede them at moments like this.

    Luckily, the customs of this ce weren¡¯t too different from the outside world. In the way, they didn¡¯t run the risk of identally offending anyone due to their ignorance.

    ¡°Then, what can we do?¡± Damien asked.

    He felt wrong. There was no way he¡¯d be able to properly enjoy and use this training environment if he knew that Ruyue was being hindered by it.

    It¡¯d definitely form a knot in his heart that would also affect his own training.

    Ruyue sunk into thought. Although the White Dragon Grotto itself wasn¡¯t any help to her, this Endless Snow Mountain wasn¡¯t all that bad.

    She had felt it previously and the feeling became even more pronounced when they moved up the mountain, the amount of yin-natured mana here was actually rtively abundant.

    Perhaps it wasn¡¯t the perfect environment for her, but since when was there something like perfection? Even the Xue n, who had been giving birth to those with yin affinities for centuries, didn¡¯t have a training environment that they could truly call perfect.

    But there was something about Ruyue that made this obstacle nothing more than a minuscule problem.

    It was her level of affinity.

    When one came into contact with mana for the first time, their affinities would bloom within them. And the system would then record that affinity under the [Affinities] section.

    However, this wasn¡¯t a resolute measurement, but merely a record. This meant that there was no specification besides the actual nature of the affinity.

    Basically, affinities weren¡¯t as simple as you have it or you don¡¯t. There were levels to even them.

    For example, before Damien¡¯s status became a field of question marks, he had both a spatial affinity and a lightning affinity. But his progress in space was much faster than his progress in lightning.

    The reason was simple. His affinity for space was leagues above his affinity for lightning. In Damien¡¯s case, it was because his spatial affinity was inborn and his lightning affinity was acquiredter, but the example still stood.

    It was possible for affinities to have varying levels of strength.

    The Xue n was known for its production of yin affinity masters, but a case like Ruyue was exceedingly rare. Perhaps, she was the first ever to have such a grand degree of affinity.

    If one thought about it, there was no way for an average yin affinity to have the level of diversity and functionality that Ruyue had. If that was the case, then the affinity would be something that only one in a billion people ever awakened, if not rarer.

    But even in the Central Continent alone there was a whole n that constantly pumped out yin affinity cultivators.

    In most cases, a yin affinity would only epass its base properties. It¡¯d be an affinityrgely simr to ice, but with an enhanced ability for defense and deflection.

    But when Ruyue awakened, it was different. Her affinity went beyond such base concepts and embodied yin itself. The force that split along with yang and birthed all creation.

    When Damien achieved his first ss, he got a message from the system. First came Nihility, then Creation and Destruction, Space and Time, Life and Death, and finally the 5 elements and all else.

    The concepts of Yin and Yang, if their user was able to bring out their full potential like Ruyue, were forces on par with that of Creation and Destruction.

    Perhaps it was for this reason that Ruyue was so special. Her level of affinity was unique perhaps even on a universal scale.

    The reason this was important was that although the White Dragon Grotto was unsuitable for her, and even the Endless Snow Mountain wasn¡¯t entirely so; Ruyue was still able to achieve results here.

    Her massive talent and affinity meant that even in such an environment, as long as she was surrounded by elements and mana that were even slightly yin natured, she¡¯d be able to reap benefits, no matter how small they may be.

    Thinking this far, Ruyue paused her train of thought to look at Damien. As it turned out, he was also submerged in his thoughts.

    Every once in a while, his eyebrows would furrow and his forehead would wrinkle before he shook his head vehemently. Every once in a while, he would sneak a nce at Ruyue and fall deeper in thought.

    This behavior was honesty a little cute, and it brought warmth to her heart when she realized how much it troubled Damien that he was ¡°taking advantage of her.¡±

    But seeing how troubled he looked was enough for her. Ruyue never felt that she was taken advantage of, she only felt a bit of grievance as a woman when he ignored her. Now that that grievance had vanished, she didn¡¯t have any qualms.

    Seeing that he cared for her enough to even consider abandoning his ideal training environment was enough. After all, there were many people who would let their selfishness and greed take over at this point since a jump in power was all but guaranteed for him.

    With that, Ruyue came to a decision. And honestly, it wasn¡¯t that hard to make.

    ¡°Damien,¡± she called out, ¡°don¡¯t worry about me and go train in the arenas. I¡¯ll be fine here either way.¡±

    Her words pulled Damien out of his thoughts. ¡°Eh? This won¡¯t do at all. I can¡¯t take advantage of you this way and reap all the benefits myself. If you can¡¯t think of anything, don¡¯t worry. Just give me a bit of time and I¡¯ll work something out.¡±

    Ruyue smiled lightly. ¡°It¡¯s not that. Actually, while you were thinking just now I felt a sort of calling in my body. I¡¯m not sure what it is, but I think the aura in this ce will actually help meprehend something.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Damien eximed in surprise.

    Wasn¡¯t that perfect? Even if she didn¡¯t know what that feeling was, he didn¡¯t doubt her. After all, he had had moments in the past where he felt something simr, and it was always positive when he ended upprehending the feeling.

    A wave of relief rushed over him. With Ruyue saying this, all his doubts and guilt were alleviated. If she was able to gain something good, he could also go train without worry.

    ¡°Hahaha! Good! If it¡¯s like this, then we can truly be great during our stay here!¡±

    Ruyue smiled at his words. Just as she thought, he would now be able to focus on his own training without worry.

    Turning her head to the side, she noticed a faint blush on her cheeks. Luckily, Damien was too absorbed in his excitement to notice.

    ¡®It¡¯s just a small lie. It won¡¯t hurt anyone.¡¯ Ruyue smiled inwardly at the thought.

 Chapter 224 White Dragon Grotto[2]

    Chapter 224 White Dragon Grotto[2]

    Since Ruyue''s matter had been settled due to a sh of unexpected insight on her part, Damien was able to put his full focus into his new environment.

    He had already mentioned it countless times before, but it was truly perfect for him. Even the minute amount of dragon aura within this Worm sector felt like it was nourishing his bloodline.

    If it had to be said, Damien knew he was probably the least well off out of all those here. His dragon bloodline was a mixture of what he got from the Wyvern in the First Dungeon and the Sea Dragon from the Cloud Sea. These were the only two instances where he was able to devour dragon bloodlines.

    In any other person''s body, these two different dragon bloodlines would be fighting each other within their body, but Damien was the possessor of the Void Physique. This mysterious physique that he still didn''t have any information about tamed the two bloodlines within him and slowly merged them.

    This newly merged dragon bloodline was the one he currently possessed. And due to the domineering nature of dragons, the bloodline had set itself apart from the rest and be his primary blood, of course, aside from his original human blood.

    The problem was, no matter how domineering they were, they were still sharing space with the other bloodlines Damien possessed. An unknown wolf, spider, and even goblin bloodline were mashed together along with that of every other beast he had devoured.

    If there was one thing he was grateful for, it was that after a certain point in time, his Void Physique seemed to have be picky about the bloodlines it integrated into his body.

    Like this, the bloodlines of all those beasts from the massive battle he and Ruyue fought before, as well as of all the other beasts Damien devoured since entering the Cloud ne, hadn''t be a part of him.

    He didn''t pay it much attention at the time, but now he was truly grateful. From the beginning, he knew that the devour ability was mysterious. Its ability to optimize his evolution and growth, as well as choose the traits and parts of devoured beasts it integrated into him, was nigh-sentient.

    But he knew it wasn''t the case. Even if the physique always managed to elude his senses and never actually allowed him to figure out its true abilities, he was still intrinsically connected to it. It was a physique, after all, it was a part of his body.p????-?(0)???.???

    He doubted whether any other physique was as weird as his own, seemingly existing as a part of him but also within a separate and mysterious space, but he didn''t really care about that.

    What made him happy was that his dragon bloodline wasn''t any further tainted after he devoured the Sea Dragon, so continuous tempering through the ambient dragon aura as well as purification through battle should eventually be able to cleanse his blood.

    ''Though, it''s a bit sad that I have to throw away some of these older bloodlines.''

    The wolf bloodline was a connection he had to Zara, as well as the first bloodline he ever received. The goblin king bloodline symbolizes his triumph over his bestial instinct, allowing him to maintain his ego. Even that damn spider bloodline, no matter how much it disgusted him to carry the bloodline of those fiends, represented the conquering of his fear.

    There were a myriad of bloodlines within him, most without value, but some held a sentimental value he couldn''t bear to part with.

    ''But they won''tpletely disappear.''

    The change in his cell structure and muscle arrangement in his legs that he got from the wolf would never leave.

    The Absorption and Reflection trait he got from the Goblin King; although it had be useless already, would still represent his struggle at that time.

    And his All-Seeing Eyes, which seemed almost as hard to develop as his Devour ability, would remain one of his most useful supportive abilities.

    ''That''s right. I''m not abandoning those memories, but rebuilding them. Regardless of this useless sentimentality, strength is the most important thing in the world.''

    Without strength, would he be able to hold those sentiments of his? Without strength, would he be able to live leisurely? The answer was a resounding no.

    The strength he felt from his iplete draconic transformation was iparable. He felt that his physical strength had at least doubled and even his mana control had been heightened.

    If it had to be described, he felt much more attuned with his body, allowing him to use it at its full power, unlike what he would do normally.

    He craved the day when he would be able to feel such power while keeping his mind clear, and to do that, he needed to sessfully train at the White Dragon Grotto.

    As the mes of determination and fighting spirit zed within his eyes, Damien arrived at one of the many dueling arenas on the first floor.

    No matter how rowdy the area looked from the outside, there were still procedures to follow in order to fight. Otherwise, the ce would just descend into pure chaos.

    Damien headed over to one of the registration areas and gave his bronze medallion to the man at the desk.

    "Damien Void. Just arrived. Worm Level."?

    "Hm?" The man had originally taken the medallion without much thought, but hearing that Damien had decided to fight on his very first day, a twinge of interest shed across his eyes.

    "Haha, another newbie, huh. It seems Senior Bai has really been collecting seedlings like crazy these days. Ah, right, you should be a 3rd ss, right? Good, good."

    The man kept mumbling to himself, asionally asking Damien questions without giving him time to answer. A few minutes passed and the man handed Damien his medallion back.

    "Alright; you''ve been registered without a hitch. Go ahead and watch the fights for now. When it''s your turn, your medallion will vibrate to let you know. Newbie, remember not to underestimate your opponents in the arena. Everyone here is powerful. Alright, I''ve said enough. Good luck!"

    Damien smiled at the man and walked into the arena. Inwardly, though, his mood became serious. ''Even the reception people are at 3rd ss. What kind of level are those guys at the top?''

    For around 3 hours, Damien sat silently in the rowdy atmosphere and watched the ongoing fights. They were blood-curdling and vicious, truly using death as entertainment. The fact that at the end of every battle, the loser was eaten by the winner was especially vulgar.

    But Damien didn''t mind much. Although cannibalism wasn''t something he''d ever do, he didn''t see a problem with others doing it. In the dungeon, there were plenty of races that cannibalized their own kind for strength. That was simply normal.

    Finally, after a long wait, Damien felt the vibration of his medallion in his pocket. Without hesitation, he shed onto the stage.

    On the other end of the arena, a burly man with blood-red skin and eyes was staring back at him, bloodlust emanating from his body in waves.

    "Oooh, this kid is actually a Worm!"

    "Seriously? A Worm Level is actually so courageous?"

    "Sadly, he got pit against this Borte guy. He isn''t known as the Blood Dragon for nothing."

    "But the newbie is still cut above the rest. Even in the face of Borte''s bloodlust, he isn''t cowering."

    "True true."

    In the arena, Damien paid no heed to the drivel of the audience and put his whole focus on his opponent. Unknowingly, he smirked.

    "Kid, you dare show that kind of expression towards me?" Borte growled.

    Damien smiled in response. "Against you, there''s no need for me to cower."

    "Fine then. I''ll show you why newbies always fear the Blood Dragon." The bloodlusting from Borte suddenly doubled.

    Without giving them the opportunity for further banter, the light screens that separated them fell, signifying the start of the battle.

    Borte stomped the ground and leaped forward, causing minute cracks in the surface. A massive double-sided axe emerged in his hand and he swung towards Damien''s head violently.

    "Ah, this newbie is done for."

    "That Borte has a really short temper. It''s the newbie''s fault for being uninformed."

    "Still, this is too much. If things continue like this, there won''t be any newbie who makes it past the first battle."

    From what the audience knew, there was no way someone who was just introduced to the environment of the White Drago Grotto would be able to contend with Borte. He was someone who had been fighting for years already.

    Even if hisck of talent made it so he had stayed in the Snake level all these years, he still had leagues more experience than any fresh meat that just arrived.

    And as the audience was thinking such thoughts¡­

    sh!

    Boom!

    "Devour."

    Three distinct sounds presented themselves one after the other, instantly causing the formerly rowdy arena to go dead silent.

 Chapter 225 White Dragon Grotto [3]

    Chapter 225 White Dragon Grotto [3]

    A bright sh of light.

    A thundering explosion.

    And then, a single word.

    These three sounds utterly stunned the audience, who were unable to understand what they had just witnessed.

    "T-that¡­"

    "The Blood Dragon Borte just¡­"

    "My eyes are ying tricks on me, right?"

    They were all simr in strength, so even the weakest of them could somewhat understand what had just happened. It was just too inconceivable for them to ept it.

    In one instant, Borte, who was in the air pouncing towards the newbie, was smashed to the ground and decapitated. The newbie who they had thought was frozen in fear had arrived behind him before they could even process it.p????-?(0)???.???

    Damien smiled as the familiar ck smoke covered Borte''s body and consumed him. Unexpectedly, this guy was so weak!

    It wasn''t like he had be so strong that he could pummel everyone in the arena like it was nothing. It was just,pared to the battles he had been fighting recently and those involved in them, Borte was truly subpar.

    It had to be known that this Borte had spent many tens of years honing hisbat experience. Even if his strength stayed weak, it shouldn''t have been so easy to kill him.

    But Borte was too arrogant. He looked down on Damien for being a newbie and didn''t take the proper steps to gauge his strength before attacking, and even then he didn''t put his all into his attack.

    Damien felt that this was the stupidest thing he could''ve possibly done. Although he too had held back his strength and fought recklessly many times, this wasn''t the same as back then.

    This ce was filled with true life or death struggles, unlike the Nexus Event on Apeiron when he had fought while concealing his strength just so he could have more fun.

    In a situation like this, it was obvious that one should use their full strength no matter what. Even if the other party was an ant, it was better to be safe than sorry.

    But Damien didn''t spend much time thinking about Borte. Now that he had been killed in such a manner, there was no way anyone would make the same mistake against him in the future. But this was just as well.

    He wanted to earn his gains. Not only that, but he would also gain tons ofbat experience this way. He would be able to refine his strategic battle thinking, which was unlike thebat sense he developed back in the day.

    That was primal, this was refined. Bothbined together into one being would be unstoppable.

    As Damien thought about these things, he felt his Void Physique doing its job well, integrating the bloodline of Borte into his own.

    Oddly enough, there were nopatibility issues like when he devoured the Sea Dragon. This made the process smooth and easy, slightly strengthening his bloodline.

    But he was curious. Why was it that so many differing bloodlines could be fused and purified so easily, especially for those normal people who didn''t even have a physique like his? Not only that, but the fact that only the specific dragon bloodline of the other party would be devoured instead of their entire bloodline was also odd.

    After all, if one simply devoured without thought, they would also devour the impurities in the other side''s bloodline. This way, the entire practice method of the White Dragon Grotto would be counterproductive.

    When Damien walked out of the arena, he ignored the countless stares he received from the crowd and went straight to the reception area.

    His win would be catalogued automatically, so he could already be considered a Snake levelbatant. He also realized that the color of his medallion had slightly changed, bing a jade green color instead.?

    But even if the processes were automated, he wanted an answer to his previous question, so he still made his way to the reception.

    When Damien asked the people at the reception area, the response he got was actually rtively simple.

    "Ah, that? To be honest, not many have questioned that mechanic at all. Actually, it''s all thanks to our Leader Bai that we can enjoy such an easy practice method. Otherwise, none of this would be possible."

    In short, they praised the White Dragon King and his omnipotent power. Damien wasn''t able to get a straight answer.

    ''None of these guys actually know the answer, do they¡­"

    He realized that like the clerk said, nobody questioned the actual reasoning, instead opting to just enjoy the benefits without care.

    This was fine too, but he couldn''t shake his curiosity as easily as that. Sighing lightly, he pushed the question to the back of his mind.

    ''If I get the chance, I''ll ask Senior Bai about it personally.''

    ording to the rules, one was allowed to fight 10 times per day before they were forced to stop, but not many actually capitalized on this. If they won, they''d have to properly digest their gains before fighting once more.

    They also wouldn''t risk the danger of fighting when even slightly tired, since the consequence of failure was death.

    But Damien didn''t have the same problems. His Void Physique integrated his gained bloodline almost immediately while simultaneously using the rest of his opponent''s body as nutrients to refill his stamina.

    On his first day, he didn''t choose to fight again since he had just promoted to Snake Level, but that didn''t mean he''d follow the same form every time. It was inevitable for him to fight more rapidly than the rest due to his many advantages.

    In fact, he did exactly that. Although he didn''t fight 10 times a day, he would return to the arena daily and at least fight twice. While the fights were rtively hard, they honestly weren''t good enough to attract his attention.

    This was the problem with the Snake Level. It was the bottom rung, filled with those who couldn''t actually benefit him much even if they were devoured.

    When he realized this, Damien hastened his speed, wanting to reach the Wyvern ss as soon as possible. Perhaps there he would finally find some worthy opponents.

    His wins slowly racked up and the fear those Snake Levelbatants had towards him b¨¦fame leagues higher than what they had towards Borte. In only a week, he had already climbed past the 50 win mark.

    Sitting in his new residence which was at least more sanitary than the previous shack, Damien spoke to Ruyue.

    "Looks like we''ll finally have the chance to move into some good housing soon." He said.

    "Ah, are you going to challenge the Wyvern ss?" She asked back. Over the past week, although she hadn''t left their residence much, she had been paying attention to his progress. Or rather, he would alwayse brag to her about it.

    "Right. These guys don''t really contribute to my bloodline at all. It''s like adding a drop of water into ake and expecting the water level to rise."

    "Hmm, although I don''t know the difference between the Snake and Wyvern levels, the fact that there is such clear segregation must mean that the strength difference is generally noticeable. You can''t treat the battle as lightly as you have been doing recently."

    "Rx," Damien smiled, "I''ve been taking it seriously from the beginning. There''s no way I''ll die in some insignificant corner of the world like this."

    Finishing his small conversation with Ruyue, Damien once again made his way back to the arena. This time, to ascend to the next level.

 Chapter 226 White Dragon Grotto [4]

    Chapter 226 White Dragon Grotto [4]

    "Did you guys hear? There''s a challenge happening!"

    "Huh? It''s just a challenge, why are you so excited about it?"

    "This is not just any challenge, it''s an advancement challenge!"

    "What?! Someone is challenging the Wyvern Level?! Who has the balls?"

    "It''s that neer, Damien. Tsk tsk, he''s only been here for a week and he''s already stacked up enough wins for an advancement challenge."

    "He did it in a week? Damn, this might actually be something to pay attention to!"

    Multiple conversations were happening as news of Damien''s challenge spread through the Snake level. Besides those newbies who entered around a simr time as Damien, everyone was aware of the significance of such a challenge.

    In fact, it was rare for someone to have the courage to initiate an advancement challenge. Most would instead choose to wait and procure 100 wins before advancing naturally, since it was the safer option.

    After all, with their lives on the line, it was best to be cautious about such choices.

    So when Damien issued the challenge, practically the entire Snake level congregated towards the arena to watch.

    Meanwhile, Damien was standing patiently in the arena. ording to the receptionists, after his challenge had been issued, a Wyvern level disciple at his same ss range would have to answer it. If nobody answered it, then it would be randomly chosen. Either way, he would be fighting a Wyvern levelbatant today.

    It took an entire 5 hours of waiting before someone actually showed up. A powerful aura spread through the arena as a man suddenly appeared in the air above it.

    His hair was jet ck like his eyes, his face was chiseled to perfection, and his entire body was covered in a jade-colored scale armor.

    An air of arrogance surrounded him as he looked down upon the Snake levelbatants. "Which one of you actually dared to initiate an advancement challenge?"

    Damien looked up at the man in the sky and shed forward, appearing in front of him. "It was me."

    "You? The blood in your body doesn''t even have the qualifications to hold its head up in front of me, and you dare to challenge me? Do you understand what you''re getting into?"

    "If I didn''t understand, then would I have challenged you in the first ce? Stop talking ande fight me, bozo."

    The man''s eyebrow imperceptibly twitched. Although he didn''t know what bozo meant, it was clear from Damien''s tone that he was being provoked.

    "Fine, then. My name is Igor. If you wish to die so soon, I shall grant your wish."

    Boom!

    Igor kicked the air and arrived in front of Damien as if teleporting, but from the way the air around him was torn apart, it was clear that it was pure speed that achieved this feat.

    A swift fist charged towards Damien''s face. ''I can''t dodge this.''

    Although he could teleport, he was saving that card untilter. The element of surprise was always best.

    Damien crossed his arms in front of his face, receiving the punch head-on. The impact caused a small bang as he was pushed hundreds of feet backwards.

    "You can''t even stand this much?" Igor mocked. "If it''s truly the case, then I suggest you get off the stage right now."

    But Damien didn''t listen to his words. Just like Igor did previously, he kicked off the air and charged forward, his entire body bing coated in lighting.

    His fist shot towards Igor''s face, causing thetter to smirk. He also threw out a punch to meet Damien''s fist.

    But just as they were about to connect, Damien suddenly pulled back, drawing an arc of scolding hot electricity as he moved.

    Igor was unable to stop his forward momentum in then, crashing into the arc of sma at full speed.

    "Argh!"

    The scales on his armor began to melt, exposing the fair skin beneath. He hastily pulled back his fist.

    Damien grinned. "What now? You don''t have anything to say?"

    Igor gritted his teeth. ''This kid, he''s not simple. In the first exchange, I''m already at a disadvantage.''

    Igor realized that Damien wasn''t someone he could underestimate. At that thought, a jade green lightning began to cover his body.

    Whoosh!

    The two looked at each other solemnly before shing forward once again.

    Two streaks of light charged at each other, one ck and one green, before making impact. Fists connected endlessly and sparks of green and ck lighting flew wildly around the arena.

    Each time they connected, neither was able to gain an advantage. Igor was starting to feel the pressure. Although he was a Wyvern ssbatant, he was also a 3rd ss being.

    There was no such thing as holding an overwhelming advantage against someone like Damien, who was also extremely powerful at the same ss level.

    Igor gritted his teeth. "Green Dragon ws!"

    His hand opened and his fingers curled into a w, sharpening immensely into somethingparable to an SSS tier artifact.

    He shed down towards Damien, embedding his fingers into thetter''s shoulders and yanking downwards.

    "Argh!"

    A chunk of flesh was torn from Damien''s shoulder, causing blood to spurt onto Igor''s face. But Damien wasn''t one to take things lightly.

    As Igor''s hand entered his shoulder, his own hand became coated in a glove of lightning that then began to superheat. Damien silently used an ability he hadn''t touched in a while to cause the molecules around his hand to vibrate, creating an even denser coating of sma.

    Instead of dodging Igor''s attack, he took it with his body, using the time that Igor took to tear through his flesh to charge his own attack.

    And when his blood spurted out, momentarily obstructing Igor''s vision, his hand shot forward.

    But Igor wasn''t some newbie without experience. Sensing danger, his w shot towards Damien''s eyes.

    Scratch!

    A bloody hash was torn in his face, distracting Damien for a split second. But a split second meant many things in a battle like this.

    The pain in his eye forced him to divert his attention from the sma coating his hand. But this seemingly simple mistake was anything but.

    Not only was there supercharged lighting, but also rapidly vibrating molecules around his hand. The mixture of power wasrgely unstable and only gained stability under Damien''s control.

    Boom!

    The unstable sma around his hand exploded, sending Igor flying backward like a shooting star.

    "Cough¡­"

    He coughed blood continuously, his hand holding the gaping hole that was formed in his side. Damien''s attack and almost reached him by the time he reacted, so he had taken considerable damage even if he managed to subvert it slightly.

    But if Damien''s hand had gone unobstructed, Igor''s heart would''ve already been melted by that insane heat. A hole in his side was nothing inparison.

    The crowd watching the exchange was stunned. The battle hadn''t gone on for long, but the Wyvern levelbatant had already been injured to such a degree. In curiosity, some of them looked over at Damien as well.

    "Hisss¡­" The sight caused many people to suck in a breath of cold air.

    The unstable sma around Damien''s hand had exploded without his control, so obviously he would''ve suffered from it as well. Although he managed to quickly erect his Vector Field to offset most of the damage, he wasn''t able to save the hand that had been coated by that sma.

    In ce of that hand, there was now a mangled mess of flesh and bone shards that resembled ground beef more than it did a hand. This was a kind of injury that could be considered crippling unless one had the appropriate level of healer around to save them.

    Seeing the scene, Igorughed. "I admit that you''re good enough to be a Wyvern ssbatant with that kind of power, but with your hand like that, there''s no chance for you to make it far."

    He keptughing. It was funny, his injury was bad but still heble, especially with the amodations of Wyvern level. But Damien would be stuck in Snake level, where he would be crippled permanently.

    Igor had no ns of killing Damien today. In any case, his bloodline wouldn''t be of any help to his evolution. Smiling lightly, he shakily stood up, nning to end the battle once and for all.

    But when he lifted his head, fear took root in his heart. Damien had arrived before him in an instant. There was no sound produced by his movements, not even the air had been affected.

    Staring at Igor with cold eyes, he spoke. "Crippled? You consider this to be crippled?"

    He held up his hand, which had been a mangled mess a few minutes prior. But with the hand this close to him, Igor could clearly see those bones putting themselves back together and the muscles and flesh returning to their original position.

    Damien had already begun healing from that so-called crippling injury, and he looked like he didn''t care about it one bit.

    Without paying any heed to Igor''s reaction, Damien held out his other hand and grabbed his stunned opponent''s neck.

    "Distort."

    Crack!"

    Space twisted and bent, concentrating on Igor''s neck. Igor hastily tried to use his mana to protect himself, but it didn''t seem to listen to hismand.

    Damien had already used his Vector Control to seal Igor''s mana. This was a move that could only be used with prolonged contact, so Damien hadn''t used it much before. But in this situation; it was perfect.

    Without being able to use mana to fight back, Igor could only helplessly watch as space twisted around his neck and cracked it in two. In the next instant, his vision went ck.

    "Devour."

    The second his opponent''s life force faded, a ck fog left Damien''s hand and consumed him. That Igor who had once been a Wyvern levelbatant had died just like that.

    Damien lightly shook his left hand, which had finally reached thest stages in the healing process, before looking at his medallion.

    Its color was slowly changing from jade green to gold.

    ''Wyvern level, huh¡­perhaps that''s where the fight truly begins.''

 Chapter 227 White Dragon Grotto [5]

    Chapter 227 White Dragon Grotto [5]

    It had been a month and a half since Damien''s battle with Igor and his promotion to Wyvern level.

    This month and a half could be considered both eventful and uneventful at the same time. Damien simply didn''t know which category it fell into.

    On one side, he had been battling constantly with people at his own level. Unlike the Snake level, thebatants at the Wyvern level actually had some ability.

    Although it wasn''t able to push his limits, hisbat experience had indeed increased. Stupid mistakes like losing his hand due to the instability of elements like what happened during his fight with Igor would most likely not happen again.

    Though, the future couldn''t be predicted, so he couldn''t say for sure.

    At the Wyvern level, the number of people qualified to reach the Dragon level was much higher than those in the Snake level qualified to enter the Wyvern level.

    In general, the quality ofbatants was higher. Nobody who entered here could do so out of luck, and nobody let their fear overtake their desire for improvement.

    In this kind of environment, even after a month and a half, Damien wasn''t able to challenge the 10 times a day limit, at most challenging 6 or 7 times before returning home to rest.

    The house itself wasn''t very big, simr to a one-bedroom apartment, but it was much better than the tiny shack he had been given before.

    Not to mention, there was higher quality food and bedding inparison. Damien rarely used the bed, but he appreciated the upgraded room since Ruyue, who would rarely leave the house, would live morefortably.

    Ruyue''s life had been rtively dull since they arrived at White Dragon Grotto. She had made little improvement in any area, since there wasn''t a situation to foster her growth, but she was at least able to absorb the elemental essence of the Endless Snow Mountain and use it to attemptprehension towards her affinities.

    Progress was slow, but at least it was progress. It was enough for her to tell Damien that she was improving, lessening his worries.

    And he had plenty of worries. His expectations for the White Dragon Grotto had been high at the start, and they remained high, but he had recently encountered a major problem.

    The bodies of these normal individuals with dragon bloodline weren''t the same as his. For them, under the training environment created by Senior Bai, the constant consumption of other bloodlines would lead to the purification and growth of their own.

    This was the essence of the White Dragon Grotto.

    But Damien was different. He was the bearer of the Void Physique. The number of opponents he had killed and devoured over this month and a half numbered in the hundreds, so the level of dragon bloodline he had was substantially increased, but that was it.

    Whether it came to the purification aspect or the control aspect, neither was able to improve, even in the current conditions.

    From what he had theorized, his Void Physique was indeed the cause of this. Unlike others, he could achieve perfect integration and bnce. From the years he had been training, this was the function of the Void Physique he had long since discovered.

    But the problem was, the physique never purged anything, it only improved. His other bloodlines were terrible right now, and the amount of influence they had on him would be reduced due to the integration of more dragon bloodline, but they wouldn''t disappear.

    This meant that he could either go through a simr process as he was doing with his dragon bloodline with his other bloodlines, strengthening them and having his Void Physique bnce them and turning him into a chimera, or he could leave them be.

    But he wanted neither. He wanted to purify his bloodline until only dragon bloodline remained. At that point, rather than his status saying "Half-Human/Half-Beast," it''d say "Half-Human/Half-Dragon".

    That human part of him would never leave unless he chanced upon some miraculous circumstances, with his integrated bloodlines having to share the other half, but he didn''t mind this.

    Still, that wasn''t the point. Currently, the only purification he could receive was from the ambient dragon aura that provided passive purification.

    But that was extremely slow. If he had to quantify it, his bloodline had been purified around 1% in his entire stay. With this rate of purification, it''d take him close to 9 years topletely purify his bloodline of any outside influence.

    For others, this could be considered as an average rate of purification. Some of thebatants had even stayed within this grotto for tens of years and hadn''t achieved a pure bloodline.

    Especially when considering the fact that Damien could only receive passive purification, this rate of improvement could be considered insane.

    But it wasn''t nearly enough for him. In the first ce, he only had 7 more months within the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, and he didn''t n on staying in the Endless Snow Mountain the entire time.

    Obviously, exploring the entire area was impossible, but he at least wanted to visit that massive tree in the center.

    At the moment, his dragon bloodline had be strong enough for him to achieve aplete transformation. Although he couldn''t totally control it, he at least was able to maintain a sliver of reasoning.

    In the end, he had benefitted from this environment. It was just that such benefit wasn''t enough. It didn''t live up to his expectations.

    Damien sighed lightly.

    "Do you want to leave this ce?" Ruyue''s voice suddenly woke him from his thoughts.

    "Sigh, I''m not sure. I''ll be able to strengthen my bloodline more if I reach the Dragon level, but that won''t really matter. I won''t be able to bring out the strength of my bloodline unless I can find a way to purify it, which seems impossible in this ce."

    Ruyue looked at his helpless expression and shook her head. "This type of opportunity is rare as is. It''s almost impossible for us to find something that''ll immediately get the results you want. If we stay, at least you know what you''re getting into, but if we leave, it''s unknown. It might be fruitful, but it also might be useless."

    Damien fell into thought. Although Ruyue''s words sounded like they were trying to make him dispirited, he knew that she was only speaking the truth. This was exactly what he needed to hear.

    Bullshit that would just feed his ego or give him false hope was, after all, bullshit. He didn''t need that.

    Ruyue had be a lot more thoughtful since they entered the mountain range, either that or she had be gentler.

    And Damien was the same. The consideration she had for him ever since they had gotten into this situation made his attitude a lot gentler. The bickering they used to do was a much rarer sight nowadays.

    "Ahh, I don''t know what to do." Damien sighed in exasperation, falling limply to the side.

    Due to the position they were sitting in, with Ruyue on the bed and Damien on the floor next to her, his head ended up on herp.

    But neither of them moved to remedy it. Damien was enjoying the feeling of Ruyue''s thighs while she was feeling an unknown emotion that stopped her.

    After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Damien finally spoke once more. "Let''s leave."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yeah, I''m sure. I''d rather cling to the possibility of gaining something than continue on this path that I know won''t give me anything. Even if we end up wasting time in the end, it''ll just be the consequences of my own decisions."

    Damien slowly stood up, stretching his body.

    "Plus, don''t think I didn''t notice. You didn''t actually gain a spark of insight, did you?"

    "Ah¡­" Ruyue opened her mouth, but no words came out.

    "Rx. You don''t need to feel bad about being the reason for us leaving, since I was nning to leave anyway. But I can no longer force you to endure while I reap all the benefits. We came here so both of us can get stronger. It''s not right for me to be selfish."

    Ruyue smiled lightly. Indeed, she would''ve felt extremely guilty if she had been the reason for him leaving. But his words had slightly calmed her heart.

    The two of them spoke for a little longer, trying to hatch ns for how they were going to move after departing, when suddenly, Damien''s golden medallion shone with splendor.

    "Eh? What is this?" Damien took the medallion out and looked at it.

    A projection of Senior Bai suddenly showed up. "Hahaha, kid, I heard you want to leave."

    "Ah¡­" This time, it was Damien''s turn to be speechless.

    Seeing his expression, Senior Bai broke out into a fit ofughter. "Don''t worry, kid, I wasn''t spying on your love nest. There just happens to be a feature involved in your medallion that allows me to know when the topic of leaving the grotto is spoken about.

    "It''s not to pry or anything, but I can''t let those ungrateful fellows who want to take without gratitude and then disappear off easy, right?

    "Anyway, I know you aren''t like them. I''ve been watching your progress recently, since your rise was pretty meteoric evenpared to some of the top talents here. I noticed that your bloodline hasn''t been purified at all, regardless of how much you strengthen it.

    "To be honest, I''ve never seen a case like yours before. This environment was made specifically for people like you, yet it seems to be hindering you.

    "And so, I have an opportunity for you. Well, it''s both an opportunity for you and a mission that you can do for me as thanks for saving your life back then."

 Chapter 228 - Heaven-Sent Oppurtunity [1]

    ¡°And so, I have an opportunity for you. Well, it¡¯s both an opportunity for you and a mission that you can do for me as thanks for saving your life back then.¡±

    ¡°Eh? An opportunity?¡±

    Although it usually wouldn¡¯t be so easy to pique Damien¡¯s interest, this was an offer from a genuine 4th ss Beast King. There was no way it¡¯d be simple.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. An opportunity.¡±

    ¡°Please speak, Senior Bai.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, this isn¡¯t something I¡¯d like to talk about in such a distant manner. Hold your girl close and don¡¯t resist the mana of your medallion.

    Damien raised his brow in curiosity, but still followed instructions. He grabbed Ruyue¡¯s waist and allowed the mana, which he soon discovered was spatial mana, to envelop him.

    In the next instant, the two were within apletely new space. It was an unadorned cave that didn¡¯t stand out too much, but the mana density was off the charts.

    ¡®A ce like this actually exists?!¡¯

    Ruyue was stunned by the sight. Even she, who came from such a major power herself, and was also the disciple of the Great Elder of the 2nd greatest sect in the entire world for many years, had never seen such a rich mana environment.

    ¡®This ce can be considered as a cultivator¡¯s heaven!¡¯

    p! p!

    Two resounding ps snapped the duo out of their daze, their attention focusing on the white-haired man sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat in the middle of the cave.

    ¡°Come sit, then we can talk about the good stuff.¡±

    The duo quickly followed his instructions, not daring to take too long. Even Damien reined in his ego in front of this being who would have no qualms with killing them if he was offended. This wasn¡¯t a situation like Tian Yang. Damien could be willful around thetter because of their master-disciple rtionship, as well as the fact that he knew thetter¡¯s personality.

    But with the White Dragon King, it was different. Regardless of how Damien respected the former¡¯s mentality and ways, he didn¡¯t have a good grasp on his personality. It wasn¡¯t the time to be rash.

    When the two had made themselvesfortable, the White Dragon King finally began to speak.

    ¡°Have you two ever heard the legend of the Primordial Undying Tree?¡±

    ¡°Primordial Undying Tree?¡± The two were instantly captivated.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Primordial Undying Tree is a legendary tree that can be ssified as a Heavenly Treasure. Its roots can be used to craft pills that can revive one like a Phoenix from near death, its sap can extend one¡¯s lifespan by hundreds of years, and its leaves have a defense that can even block the attack of a Beast King.¡±

    Damien and Ruyue¡¯s eyes widened. A treasure like this would cause upheaval if it was introduced into the outside world. Its effects were simply too inconceivable.

    ¡°But that¡¯s not all,¡± the White Dragon King continued. ¡°The most crucial part of the Primordial Undying Tree is its fruits. Every 100 years, it bears 10 red fruits, every 1000, it bears 5 green fruits, and every 10,000, it bears a single purple fruit.¡±

    ¡°Each of these fruits could be considered a peak treasure, but they obviously don¡¯t have the same level of effect. The red fruits will strengthen the body once and green fruits are said to strengthen the body 10 times. As for the level of strengthening, that varies depending on the person.

    ¡°The purple fruit, however, is vastly greater than the other two. The purple fruit is said to transform the body! The body will be reconstructed from the root, granting intense strengthening as well as purification of all impurities! This kind of fruit is a heaven-sent gift for all!¡±

    Damien let out an audible gasp. In fact, he almost shot up in shock. This kind of treasure¡­wasn¡¯t it exactly what he needed? Forget about all the other effects, purification of all impurities, wouldn¡¯t that rid his body of the unnecessary bloodlines he had been fretting over just recently?

    But, why would the White Dragon King tell them about this?

    As if reading their thoughts, the White Dragon King smiled wryly.

    ¡°Truth be told, no matter how amazing these treasures are, the fruits of the Primordial Undying Tree have no effect on Beast Kings. Only those below this level can reap the rewards.¡±

    He shook his head in disappointment as he spoke. ¡°There is no easy path on the road to strength. For us, who have reached the pinnacle beneath Divinity, the only treasures that can ease our path are those that appear rarely even within the wider universe.¡±

    The way the White Dragon King spoke was as if he had personally experienced such things before. There was a trace of reminiscence and nostalgia in his gaze, but it quickly vanished.

    ¡°The reason I¡¯m telling you this is because the Primordial Undying Tree has once again revealed itself after 10,000 years! 10 red fruits! 5 green fruits! And a single purple fruit! Each and every one of them will be up for grabs.

    ¡°As for the location, the Primordial Undying Tree is actually located within the World Tree that adorns the center of our beautiful mountain range.¡±

    The White Dragon King¡¯s gaze sharpened. ¡°I want the two of you to participate in the uing event to obtain the fruits of the Primordial Undying Tree.¡±

    The direction of the conversation had pretty obviously been heading in that direction, but Damien was shocked nheless. This offer was extremely attractive, to the point where he was almost salivating at the thought. The only thing that concerned him was¡­

    ¡®Why is he asking me?¡¯

    In the first ce, the White Dragon King and Damien could be said to have no rtionship whatsoever. From the very start, the White Dragon King made it clear that he held no interest in Damien.

    He had only done what he did because Damien had dragon bloodline. Due to the nature of the grotto he was in charge of, saving Damien was only a matter of course.

    Sure, Damien was abnormally talented, enough to even reach Dragon level if he stayed long enough, but that didn¡¯t matter.

    Because the White Dragon King knew.

    Damien was a human, and so was Ruyue. Even if Damien was, at this point, half beast, he was originally human and his aura remained dominated by his human side.

    Were there any natural-born humans in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range? Sure, but the number would only be in the tens at most. The number of humans that had sessfully survived in this hellish environment wasn¡¯t high, after all.

    But being a Beast King, how could the White Dragon King not be able to differentiate? He knew Damien and Ruyue¡¯s origins from the moment heid eyes on them, he just wasn¡¯t bothered to care.

    But at a time like this, such origins actually worked in his favor.

    The White Dragon King let out a forlorn sigh. ¡°I have a son. A single son that was born after countless years of effort. After my son was born, my wife perished from the strain of childbirth.¡±

    The duo was startled. The gloomy atmosphere that suddenly covered the White Dragon King came from nowhere.

    ¡°At that time, I was simply known as Bai Longxuan. I was a young man on a perilous and riveting journey through the myriad worlds. Through some circumstances, I ended up on this Cloud ne and fell in love with myte wife.

    ¡°However, there is arge gap in my memory. By some unknown means, I ended up in this 3000 Beast Mountain Range with no way to leave. I¡¯ve tried for thousands of years to do so, but to no avail.

    ¡°But you are different. You aren¡¯t like me. You were chosen by this ce and allowed to enter; which means at some point, you¡¯ll be allowed to leave. Be it one year or a thousand, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you will be able to leave.¡±

    ¡°¡­Chosen?¡±

    The White Dragon King ignored the doubt-filled question and continued speaking.

    ¡°I want you to acquire a green fruit from the Primordial Undying Tree, as well as some of its sap. When you leave, I want you to deliver it to my son. Although I do not know how much time passed before I arrived in this mountain range, I¡¯m sure my son will still be on this.¡±

    Taking out a pristine white pendant, the White Dragon King sighed once more. ¡°I can sense his presence through this pendant, but I can¡¯t reach him! I can¡¯t! No matter how I try, no matter how close he is, I can¡¯t see his face!¡±

    There was evident agony in his voice. Damien and Ruyue couldn¡¯t help but sympathize. Thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of years of waiting and watching the pendant, hoping his son was alive, hoping he¡¯d get to see him again, but with no results or hope. It sounded like torture.

    ¡°If you grasp this opportunity, I want you to swear a Heavenly Oath! An oath that you will find my son and deliver the fruit and sap to him, along with a spatial ring filled with items I have prepared. If you take them selfishly for yourself, or go against your word, may the Heavens reim your strength!¡±

    ¡°A Heavenly Oath?¡± This was the first time Damien heard of such a concept. The system never intervened and always stayed in the background, silently recording progress. Was it possible for it to have such a mechanism?

    ¡°That¡¯s right. A Heavenly Oath. If you refuse it, you can forget about everything we talked about. I won¡¯t allow you to grasp the opportunity, no matter how hard you try.¡±

    Damien furrowed his brows. There was a guarantee that the White Dragon King¡¯s son was both alive and on the Cloud ne, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem to deliver him the goods. And the only people Damien had enmity with was the Eclipsing Shadow Sect.

    But this wasn¡¯t a decision he could make by himself. There was no way the Primordial Undying Tree would just open its leaves and allow its fruit to be plucked.

    A tree like this that has lived for countless millennia would have the sentience to set trials and conditions for earning its fruit.

    This excursion would most likely be leagues more dangerous than any secret realm. It¡¯d be a ce where they¡¯d bepeting with hundreds or thousands of others for the sake of a mere 16 fruits. The possibility of death was extremely high.

    Damien looked at Ruyue, his intent clear. If he was going to agree, he¡¯d only do it with her consent.

    Ruyue had been listening to the whole conversation as well. Unlike the White Dragon Grotto, this experience would benefit her training as well. Walking the line between life and death for the sake of bountiful reward¡­

    Ruyue couldn¡¯t help but feel the cold blood in her body begin to boil. Regardless of anything, she was a cultivator. She had been fostered and raised in stable environments her whole life, but she was still a cultivator.

    This kind of life and death experience, this kind of rich reward, this kind of adventure, deep within her core, she craved it.

    Perhaps she would be afraid if she was doing it alone, perhaps if she was still the Xue Ruyue from the months before Damien showed up, she would have preferred her sheltered lifestyle and refused. But she wasn¡¯t that same little girl anymore.

    With the help of a certain man, she had shed her precious insecurity and immaturity. The trip they had taken so far had helped her immensely.

    She was no longer afraid of the outside world, afraid of her feelings, and afraid of death. Besides, even if she truly were to die, she¡¯d die with the one she¡­

    Shaking off useless thoughts, a cold fire bloomed within her eyes. Looking straight into Damien¡¯s eyes, she nodded her head firmly.

    With a bright smile, Damien finally spoke up. ¡°Good! Senior White Dragon, we shall take you up on this opportunity.¡±

 Chapter 229 - Heaven-Sent Oppurtunity [2]

    ¡°Good! Senior White Dragon, we shall take you up on this opportunity.¡±

    Hearing the positive response, the White Dragon King smiled. In fact, he didn¡¯t expect anything less. This wasn¡¯t the kind of thing that just anyone could reject.

    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m d it¡¯s so. Now, there are many more details that I refrained from telling you yet, but before we get into those, I want the two of you to swear the Heavenly Oath.¡±

    ¡°Senior, how does a Heavenly Oath work?¡± Damien questioned. He had obviously seen the concept before considering his cultivation novel obsession, but this wasn¡¯t the same as that.

    In those words, the ruling entity known as the Heavens was basically an impartial authority, punishing cultivators for going against heaven¡¯s will through tribtions and bearing witness to their oaths.

    Heavenly Oaths, for this reason, were sacred and unchallengeable. The only way to get around it was to leave loopholes in the path that was sworn.

    But in real life, there wasn¡¯t such a ruling authority. The system was definitely something simr, but intrinsically, their purposes were different. The system also impartially watched all creation, but it did so from more of a bystander perspective than an authority.

    It simply recorded all events that took ce and catalogued what needed to be catalogued. It¡¯d grant titles for immense achievements, but even that was of the same perspective.

    Besides that, the system was much more interactive. The status sheet that all beings that trained under it gained was an example, as were the aforementioned titles. Such concepts as Heavenly Oaths didn¡¯t seem to make sense in context.

    But the White Dragon King wasn¡¯t privy to Damien¡¯s doubts. He simply took the matter in stride and continued exining. ¡°Heavenly Oaths are incredibly simple. You just have to swear an oath to the Records, and if you renege, let it reim your strength!¡±

    ¡°Reim our strength?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Although it is possible to make oaths where death is the punishment, that is not my goal. Our strength, while it is indeed our own,es from mana. And the Heavens somewhat embody mana. Even I am not of an appropriate level to urately ascertain how it does so, but I¡¯ve seen it happen before. The Heavens can indeed take the mana from our bodies and leave us crippled, never able to gain strength again.¡±

    Damien almost couldn¡¯t contain his shock. There was such a measure? If it was possible, didn¡¯t it mean that the system could turn anyone into a cripple as long as it deemed fit?

    ¡°Haha, boy, I can see what you¡¯re thinking. But you don¡¯t have to worry so much. The Heavens don¡¯t have true sentience, they don¡¯t have such things as thought and emotion. Unless there is a matter such as a Heavenly Oath thatpels it to act, it won¡¯t do so.¡±

    Damien sighed in relief. So it was like that. The word ¡°system¡± was really apt to describe it. It was something akin to a machine with limited artificial intelligence.

    With that concern out of the way, Damien decided to swear his oath without hesitation. They were already this far in, there was no point in dilly-dallying.

    ¡°I, Damien Void, swear upon the Records to deliver Senior Bai¡¯s spatial ring to his son without touching the contents within. I will also do my utmost to obtain a green fruit and sap from the Primordial Undying Tree for the same purpose. If I renege on this oath, may the Records reim my strength!¡±

    For the first time in many years, a system window popped up in front of Damien¡¯s eyes.

    [You have sworn a Deliverance Oath. The conditions have been set. If the contents of the oath are vited, the Records will reim all mana within your body.]

    [You are the first person from the beginner world [Earth] to discover the Deliverance Oath. Your Legend has been advanced.]

    A feeling of binding wrapped around the core of his being. It was an awkward constricting feeling, but it soon vanished. But this feeling was enough for Damien to know that the severity of the oath was real.

    The familiar system windows made Damien feel a sense of nostalgia. When was thest time he even checked his status? With everything going on, he usually didn¡¯t bother with it.

    Not only that, but his way to strength had been different recently. Rather than gaining new things or trying to further progress, he was consolidating the array of moves he already had as well as trying to bring out the full potential of his body.

    Like this, his status never saw any major changes. Perhaps his physical stats were much different than they were back then, but his skills most likely hadn¡¯t changed much.

    And on a more personal note, he felt it was more fun this way. It would be exciting to see the vastly different status he¡¯d have after not checking it for so long.

    ¡®I¡¯ll check it again after thising event. Especially if I can get my hands on a purple fruit and consume it, I wonder what my stats would look like at that time¡­¡¯

    While Damien was in his thoughts, Ruyue also swore her oath, and seeing that the necessary processes were over, the White Dragon King finally began speaking about the contents of theing event.

    ¡°Obviously for such a massive event, there needs to be limits on the number of participants. Otherwise, it¡¯d be utter chaos. Last time the Primordial Undying Tree showed itself to the world, this chaos had almost ensued, so we Beast Kings came together with the people who inhabit the World Tree to create a standard.

    ¡°20 people from each mountain, and 20 people from the tree dwellers. In total, 1,020 people will be participating. Each and every one of them will be a genius in their own right. However, the fact that all participating parties are geniuses doesn¡¯t discount the risk.

    ¡°Of those 1,020 people who participated 10,000 years ago, only 300 made it out alive. And even then, many were killed afterwards in disputes over the rewards.¡±

    ¡°Hisss¡­¡± Damien and Ruyue sucked in a cold breath at the statistics.

    Only around 30% were able to survive. That was an insanely low rate. Only now were they realizing how dangerous this excursion would truly be.

    ¡°The Primordial Undying Tree is many millennia old, perhaps even older than this entire mountain range. Its sentience isn¡¯t something that can be underestimated. Every time it opens, it creates a small realm filled with trials and tribtions to properly judge the people who get its fruit.

    ¡°As a tree species, it isn¡¯t necessarily greedy to keep its own fruit, but it is highly aware of its status. There¡¯s no way any ordinary person would be allowed near it. These trials are the main reason why people die within the so-called Primordial Undying Realm, while the other reason is their fellowpetitors.

    ¡°Within that realm, you can be said to have the Primordial Undying Tree¡¯s absolute protection. Though it won¡¯t interfere with conflict that happens within the realm, there will be no outside influence allowed.

    ¡°Therefore, even if you die, I cannot help you at all, and it¡¯s the same for the rest of thepetitors. Even artifacts and such from Beast Kings will not function within that realm. There¡¯s no way to use background to scare people off, only true strength can speak.¡±

 Chapter 230 - 230 Heaven-Sent Oppurtunity [3]

    ¡°Since the contents of the Primordial Undying Realm change every time it opens, I can¡¯t brief you on what you can expect to encounter. All I can say is, never lower your guard.¡±

    The duo nodded. Even without his warning, there was no way they¡¯d take it lightly. Just the 70% death rate was enough to bring them to a state of utmost solemnity.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve given you an overview of the event, and I¡¯ve also gotten your oaths. From my White Dragon Grotto, only the two of you are participating, so remember, don¡¯t lose face! I know you don¡¯t have any connection here and perhaps don¡¯t care about such things, but since this is an endeavor that benefits both of us, I¡¯ll naturally reward you for your help.

    ¡°As for what the rewards will be, that depends on whether or not you can make it out of the Primordial Undying Realm alone, for now, I can at most give you Chaos rank armor or weapons to help you.

    The White Dragon King then took out a book that he handed to Damien. ¡°And finally, there¡¯s this. This is the 3000 Beast Record. It is a record of all the top geniuses within the mountain range, as well as their backgrounds and general information. It is ranked based on power and achievements, so make sure to focus more on those at the top of the list.

    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve given you this, there is truly nothing more I can do for you. We leave for the World Tree in 10 days, so prepare as best as you can before then.¡±

    With his final words said, the White Dragon King waved his hand, causing Damien¡¯s medallion to once again emit spatial light. Realizing what was happening, Damien quickly grabbed Ruyue before once again finding himself back within their residence.

    ¡®Damn! What an interesting turn of events!¡¯

    Now that they were out of the White Dragon King¡¯s vicinity, Damien felt his body rx. He didn¡¯t even realize he was tense until this moment.

    ¡®What an opportunity¡­¡¯

    Wasn¡¯t it perfect? Almost all of the problems that were troubling him were directly solved.

    ¡®Well, they¡¯ll only be solved if I can properly get my hands on that purple fruit.¡¯

    But there was no way he¡¯d allow someone else to get it. Peak genius? He had seen plenty of those before. He had beat even more. There was no way he would let one of them im what¡¯s his.

    ¡®And it doesn¡¯t just solve my problems, it also deals with the so-called World Tree.¡¯

    That was the second destination Damien and Ruyue wanted to visit while they were in the mountain range, and it happened to be where they were going now. It was all incredibly perfect, if one didn¡¯t consider the extremely high chance of death that the whole ordeal brought.

    ¡¯10 days isn¡¯t a lot of time, but it also isn¡¯t too much time. I guess I should start by looking through that book that Senior White Dragon gave us.

    It was at that moment that Damien felt a piercing pain in his side.

    ¡°Ah! What is it with you and pinching?!¡± He yelled as he was snapped out of his thoughts.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Ruyue snorted.

    Why was she mad? He was right, after all, she seemed to pinch him much more often than he¡¯d expect to be pinched.

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re holding?¡± Ruyue said while ring at him hatefully.

    ¡°Eh? What do you mean? I grabbed your waist didn¡¯t I?¡±

    It was stupid. In his defense, Damien was still partially out of sorts and hadn¡¯t taken the time to look over at her yet. Also, Ruyue wasn¡¯t that much shorter than him, so looking into her eyes meant that the rest of her body wasn¡¯t in his direct periphery.

    But when she mentioned it, Damien finally focused on his hand.

    ¡®This¡­¡¯

    Was it coincidence or did he do it subconsciously because of his desire? His hand was filled with a soft and mellow feeling that was almost heavenly.

    He was so tempted to squeeze at that moment, but seeing the look on Ruyue¡¯s face, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t end up in any good situation if he did so.

    In his speechless state, Damien has frozen, not removing his hand from her breast. And with the strength of his grip, Ruyue couldn¡¯t necessarily escape.

    As time went on, her face became so red that it looked like she would almost explode. It was at that point that Damien finally moved his hand.

    ¡®Holy shit! This kind of thing actually happens outside of anime!¡¯

    His thoughts were erratic. The moment prior, his excitement for the uing event was at its peak, but now, such thoughts had beenpletely thrown out of his head.

    That feeling¡­! It was amazing. Ruyue was bigger than Rose in that area, and the way they felt naturally varied. While Rose¡¯s fit perfectly in his hand, Ruyue¡¯s had too much surface area for that. As for which one was better¡­

    ¡®Wait wait wait, I can¡¯t goparing like that. As the saying goes, all titties matter.¡¯ Damien thought seriously. If Rose ever found out he wasparing her breasts to another woman¡¯s¡­

    He shuddered just thinking about it.

    Meanwhile, Ruyue was also in a state of shock. She already knew her feelings, and frankly, if he wanted to touch her like that, she wouldn¡¯t necessarily mind, but it was simply too sudden¡­

    ¡®I wouldn¡¯t mind? What am I thinking?!¡¯

    She was startled by her own thoughts. Her embarrassment from the previous contact had made her thoughts run wild. Right, that was the reason.

    She shot a nce at Damien, only to see him with a ¡®savoring the aftertaste¡¯ look on his face, which only made her blush more pronounced.

    In this kind of atmosphere, it took the two a long time before they could rein in their individual thoughts and focus on the task at hand.

    Damien sighed lightly. ¡®Should I just¡­?¡¯

    He had known how he felt about her from even before they left the sect, but at that time, he wasn¡¯t sure if she reciprocated his feelings.

    Seeing how she was acting now, it was most likely the case. If such a situation happened back then, she probably would¡¯ve reverted to being ice cold.

    But now? Well, it was clear to see. With her pronounced blush and the way she kept stealing nces, he would be an idiot if he didn¡¯t notice her feelings. Even Rose showed fewer signs before he noticed.

    But the problem was, he still wasn¡¯t sure how Rose felt about him having multiple women. And more than that, he still hadn¡¯t apologized to her for running away like that.

    Before he thought about starting a second rtionship, he needed to get his first one in order. Only after that would he even consider it.

    But being honest, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to throw Ruyue away even if Rose refused. He was already trying to think of ways to appease her anger.

    But now wasn¡¯t the time for such thoughts. He knew that, merely, the situation forced his thoughts to divert in such a direction.

    Once again heaving a light sigh, Damien took out the 3000 Beast Record that the White Dragon King had given him.

    ¡®Now, let me see for myself the quality of geniuses here in this mountain range.¡¯

 Chapter 231 - 231 Journey [1]

    ¡°Liu Bai, Ranked 10th in the 3000 Beast Record, estimated level in the 130s, his White Tiger transformation ability is said to boost his physical strength, allowing him to fight those above his level. Once, he defeated 2batants with estimated levels in the 140s at the same time.¡±

    ¡°Alekzi Michael, Ranked 8th in the 3000 Beast Record, estimated level in the 140s, his Golden Crow mes are said to be as scorching as the sun. ording to reports, he is incredibly shameless and rich, using his money to buy connections and resources. Due to this, he has never publicly fought, making his fighting prowess undetermined.¡±

    ¡°Entrails JI, Ranked 7th in the 3000 Beast Record, estimated level in the 140s, his real name is unknown, but his nickname was given due to his Tribtion Vulture bloodline, which grants him untold prowess with lightning. He has a simr personality to the 8th rank genius, Alekzi, and they are reported to constantly be at odds with each other. He has used simr means to the 8th rank genius to avoid publicly fighting, wantonly spending his riches, but it is said that the two engage in constant bouts of verbal sparring.¡±

    ¡°Qing Tan, Ranked 5th in the 3000 Beast Record, estimated level unknown, her shadow maniption abilities make her unpredictable and untraceable. Once escaped the encirclement of multiple peak mid-level 3rd ss beasts unharmed, leaving her opponents crippled or dead. If not for her secrecy, it is said that she would be ranked even higher on the list.¡±

    Damien read through the top 10 on the 3000 Beast Record with rapt attention. These were the types of geniuses he¡¯d be up against during theing event.

    But the information didn¡¯t seem as helpful as he originally expected. Although to normal people, this kind of information was enough to make a baseline assumption of the individuals¡¯ fighting prowess and danger, to him, it was nothing.

    Even the 5th rank genius was only said to have crippled and killed an encirclement of 3rd ss beings. Although this was an impressive feat, he didn¡¯t think it was something extremely hard to aplish.

    ¡®Then again, I have spatial element so I guess it¡¯s a bit of a cheat.¡¯

    But with shadows, something simr to teleportation could still be achieved. He¡¯d seen Zara do it plenty of times. The main thing he understood while reading through this list was that most of the higher-ranked geniuses were constantly hiding their true power.

    Those ranked below roughly the top 20 had much more detailed information regarding them. Obviously, they did their best to unt their power to show contention for higher ranks.

    At the lower ranks, it was a true battle, where one¡¯s rank could be snatched from them at any given time. In this kind of scenario, it was only natural that they didn¡¯t have the freedom to conceal themselves as deeply.

    But Damien didn¡¯t focus on them. A rough skim of the ranks below the top 15 was enough to tell him that none of them would be a problem even if he took them on alone and without using his spatial abilities.

    But he had Ruyue with him and there was no way he¡¯d hold back, so only those ranked at the very top could interest him.

    With this line of thought, he soon turned his focus to those ranked at the peak, the top 3 geniuses within the entire 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    ¡°me Queen Feng Qing¡¯er, Ranked 3rd in the 3000 Beast Record, estimated level in the 170s, a true descendant of the Fire Phoenix, her Phoenix mes have been openly shown to dominate almost all mes existing in the mountain range. Her fighting prowess is said to be at the peak of 3rd ss, but the truth of the statement is unknown.¡±

    ¡°Ice Queen Lunaria Snow, Ranked 2nd in the 3000 Beast Record, estimated level in the 170s, a true descendant of the Ice Phoenix, her Phoenix mes diametrically oppose those of the 3rd ranked me Queen. The two have always been at odds, and rumors of their battles have spread, with neither of them apparently being able to gain the edge over the other. However, none have been able to personally witness these battles, so the veracity of the rumors remains uncertain.¡±

    Damien raised his brow. Two Phoenix descendants actually took two of the top 3 spots in the genius ranking. And not only that, but they were also from opposing branches. From the information; it seemed that the ranking between the two would constantly fluctuate based on rumors of their battles, but their movesets remained unknown due to their secrecy.

    Finally, Damien turned his eyes towards the ring golden letters that shone at the top of the page.

    ¡°Spirit King, Hun Fang, Ranked 1st in the 3000 Beast Record, estimated level in the 170s. His origins, as well as fighting prowess, remain unknown, but his ranking has never been challenged even by the two Queens below him. ording to reports, all those who challenged him wereter found as soulless husks. Their bodies were alive, but seemed to contain no life at the same time.¡±

    ¡°Hisss¡­¡±

    Even for the others at the top, there was at least a small amount of information. For the information on the first-ranked genius to be so little, Damien couldn¡¯t imagine how mysterious the man¡¯s means were.

    His eyes sharpened. These three were genuine threats to him. From the looks of it, their fighting prowess was rtively simr, but none of them actually fought to prove the information true or false.

    Along with the descriptions of the three, there was also a line of text that remained the same for all of them.

    ¡°Possesses the ability to flee from an entry-level Beast King unharmed.¡±

    This was the line that truly made Damien take them seriously. He had firsthand experience of the true might of a Beast King. Although the entry-level ones were obviously going to be much weaker than the Incarnate Snow Beast King or the White Dragon King, it didn¡¯t change the fact that they were true 4th ss existences.

    To be able to flee from them unharmed, perhaps he could do it because of his spatial abilities, and perhaps he could do it with ease if not for the spatial suppression on the mountains, but they didn¡¯t matter.

    From the looks of it, none of the three had spatial affinities. To achieve such a feat without such a cheat element for fleeing, it was truly admirable.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡± sighing lightly, Damien closed the 3000 Beast Record and stored it in his subspace.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± He asked Ruyue. He had been reading the entire thing out loud for her, as well as giving his opinions about it. But she hadn¡¯t spoken yet.

    ¡°Hmm¡­it¡¯s truly hard toe to any conclusions right now. Evidently, they are all powerful, and their levels vastly outstrip yours. Although I am at level 161, my ability to fight above my level isn¡¯t as pronounced as yours or theirs.

    ¡°At most, perhaps I could contend against those at the 180s or if I fight with the intention to die together, the early 190s, but to flee from an entry-level Beast King unharmed? Such a thing is impossible for me.¡±

    ¡°However, you are different.¡±

 Chapter 232 - Journey [2]

    Chapter 232 - Journey [2]

    ¡°Your ability to fight above your level is frankly insane.¡± Ruyue continued.

    ¡°What¡¯s your level right now? 130? 140? After all the killing you¡¯ve done in the past month, it should¡¯ve increased significantly. Still, that doesn¡¯t really matter.

    ¡°Even when you were still in the 120s, you were able to fight against people at the mid or high levels of 3rd ss. It isn¡¯t a simple jump in levels, it¡¯s closer to a jump in rank.

    ¡°Whether it¡¯s due to yourprehension of your elements or your insane physical body, or maybe abination of both, the fact that your ability is higher than theirs is still obvious from the information we¡¯ve received

    ¡°The only problem is, your level is too low. You haven¡¯t had the chance to level up as rapidly or fight as constantly as them since you lived in the outside world instead of this kind of environment.

    ¡°In the end, whether you or them, I can¡¯t decide who¡¯s stronger until you actually fight. But even without experiencing their power, I have trust in your abilities. You should be able to defeat those two Phoenix Queens, even if it¡¯d expend a lot of effort.

    ¡°As for the first rank¡­we don¡¯t know anything about him and that¡¯s the main problem. A known danger isn¡¯t as threatening as an unknown danger, after all. Not only that, but even his title is in a different league than the rest.

    ¡°Spirit King, what could this mean? Combining this title with the corpses of his victims, I can at least infer that his ability is more spiritual and ethereal than a base element. Just like my yin affinity, he must also have some sort of rare affinity.¡±

    Ruyue gave a lengthy exnation of her thoughts to Damien. He was a bit embarrassed by the massive amount of trust she seemingly had in him, but her words were true.

    He also felt that he would be able to take the two Phoenix Queens one on one. In a group scenario, he couldn¡¯t say for certain.

    But what she said about the first rank was what concerned him the most. He was someone with a decent amount of creativity, so he could slightly infer what the Spirit King¡¯s affinity was, but none of his guesses seemed probable.

    They were simply too wild.

    Shaking his head lightly, he spoke up. ¡°Well, there¡¯s no point in worrying too much about them. We will be able to get a more proper read on their abilities when we see them in person.¡±

    Damien had trust in his eyes. Against someone in the same ss as him, he was certain he¡¯d be able to read their mana. With this, he should be able to gauge both their true power level as well as their affinities.

    ¡°The Primordial Undying Realm and the Primordial Undying Tree within¡­¡±

    He had to say, each and every new piece of information he received about theing event made his blood boil with excitement.

    ***

    The entire 3000 Beast Mountain Range was in a state of upheaval over a piece of news that recently made itself known.

    The opening of the Primordial Undying Realm.

    It was a once-in-a-lifetime event for most people since a lifespan of tens of thousands of years wasn¡¯t achievable to them through ordinary means.

    The only ones who were alive at that time were the Beast Kings who ruled over them.

    Countless people made their way to the World Tree for this event. After all, such a massivepetition was something everyone wanted to witness.

    But they had all heard the rumors. They wouldn¡¯t be able to actually see what happened within the realm, they¡¯d only be able to see the final victors once they emerged.

    Yet, the fact didn¡¯t hinder them from making their journeys. The opening of the Primordial Undying Realm was simply too big of an event to miss. Not to mention, there would be plenty of festivities that would surround the World Tree within the event¡¯s duration, keeping them upied and excited until the final victor emerged before them.

    ***

    Within a massive mountain that was bathed in constant blistering heat that could even melt a regr 2nd ss beings, there was a mighty and grandiose pce that overlooked it all.

    The pce was made of an elegant red metal that was covered in mes from dusk till dawn.

    Those that lived within this pce all exudes an air of majesty and elegance, their heads held high in pride.

    Not to mention, each and every one of them was a soul-stirringly beautiful woman.

    ¡°Qing¡¯er, this time, you must obtain one of the fruits of the Primordial Undying Tree. It is imperative for your evolution. Perhaps, if you can truly seed, our n will rise to be the peak power within the entire mountain range.

    A beautiful mature woman with flowing red hair and simrly colored eyes spoke. Her expression that was usually covered in frosty indifference was now incredibly doting. This woman was the Matriarch of the Fire Phoenix n.

    ¡°Yes, mother. I promise. Me and Luna already promised to work together this time to secure ourselves the green fruits. As for the purple one, we¡¯ll take it and fight for who gets it after we return back to the ns.¡±

    The beautiful girl that replied to her looked almost exactly the same as her, besides the fact that her hair was a glimmering blonde color.

    ¡°Sheesh, you and that Lunass, aren¡¯t you a little too close? If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d think you were nning to tie our two Phoenix ns together through marriage.¡± The Fire Phoenix Matriarch teased.

    ¡°Mother!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er cried out with a healthy blush covering her face. ¡°You know that we¡¯re not like that, don¡¯t tease me!¡±

    Her rtionship with the girl from the Ice Phoenix n who shared the same social position with her was indeed considered by some a little too close. It made the two¡¯s mothers endlessly sigh at the fortune of their ns.

    These two ns that were constantly at odds seemed to have been pulled together as friends by their next-generation heirs.

    ¡°Haha, Mother is just ying with you. With how many times you¡¯ve had to rify yourself to our nsmen, how could I not know how you feel?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er blushed further. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this anymore, Mother. With me and Luna working together, even that Hun Fang bastard won¡¯t be able to stop us. This time, we¡¯ll truly dethrone him from his number one spot.¡±

    ¡°Mm, Mother believes in you.¡± The Fire Phoenix Matriarch replied. Though, she couldn¡¯t stop the sh of worry from streaking through her eyes.

    ***

    The Endless Snow and Endless me mountains were pr opposites of each other. One contained the heat of the sun while the other contained the chill of the night.

    In an area of the Endless Snow Mountain far away from the areas Damien was near, there was an ice pce that, oddly enough, mirrored the ming pce on the Endless me Mountain.

    Even the inhabitants of this pce were simr, all of them being jaw-dropping beauties that could destroy continents with their looks.

    However, if there was one difference, it was the temperaments between the two. In the Endless me Mountain¡¯s pce, those beauties all held ming pride, showcasing it for all to see. Their behavior was tant, as if daring others to challenge their majesty.

    Whereas the beauties in this ice pce were different. They were cold and aloof, their pride also evident, but seemingly reserved at the same time. With such opposing temperaments and positions, it was clear why the two powers had been at odds for many millennia.

    ¡°Luna, this time is imperative. I understand the agreement you have with that Qing¡¯erss, but I still feel the need to warn you. Don¡¯t let anything get in your way.¡±

    The woman speaking carried an inexplicable mature charm, with a temperament simr to the Fire Phoenix Matriarch. Naturally, she was the Ice Phoenix Matriarch.

    These two had a close rtionship as well, though not as close as that of their daughters, merely, they were already old and experienced. They put their ns above personal feelings and maintained the age-old grudge between them.

    They always counted themselves lucky to have such daughters, as with them, they were finally able to find an excuse toy down all pretenses and hostility.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware of the circumstances, Mother, there¡¯s no need for all these warnings.¡±

    The beautiful girl with light blue hair and eyes spoke to her mother lightly. There was no change in the expression on her face, remaining cold and aloof, but her mother could clearly feel the warmth in her words. As the person who raised her, how could she not understand how to read this daughter of hers?

    ¡°Confidence is good, but don¡¯t let it breed arrogance. In fact, I heard a rumor that the White Dragon King is sending two new talents this time instead of someone from the True Dragon Troops. Although their strength hasn¡¯t been verified, to earn the favor of that old monster isn¡¯t easy. Maintain your caution around them.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mother.¡± A hint of curiosity swirled through Lunaria Snow¡¯s eyes for an instant before disappearing entirely. Her gaze then shifted to the towering tree that could be faintly seen in the distance.

    ¡®It looks like this year, thepetition between geniuses will be much more fierce.¡¯

    ***

    Simr conversations took ce in many corners of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range as geniuses began to leave the safety of their residences to embark towards the grand World Tree.

    Among them were Damien and Ruyue, who were currently speeding towards the World Tree while wrapped in the White Dragon King¡¯s mana.

    ¡®Finally, it¡¯s almost time to begin.¡¯

 Chapter 233 - Taesi [1]

    Chapter 233 - Taesi [1]

    The distance between the Endless Snow Mountain and the World Tree was truly massive.

    After all, the Endless Snow Mountain was still considered to be around the periphery of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range while the World Tree was the direct center.

    But its distance from the center by no means meant that it was weak. The hierarchy between the mountains was much moreplicated than that.

    With powers like the White Dragon Grotto and the Ice Phoenix Pce situated on the Endless Snow Mountain, the mountain itself could be ranked among the peak powers between mountains.

    But the way powers took root within the mountains had nothing to do with camaraderie. It was usually because the environment was best suited for their own practice that they chose specific mountains to set up their homes.

    Due to this, there was never a true ranking of power between the mountains. Since the forces within them weren¡¯t actually allied, there was no real point in having something like that.

    Individual power was always more valued, and this rule stayed true for the powers in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. Rather than allying with outside powers to be stronger, they¡¯d ratherpete for the hierarchy among individual powers.

    Anyway, with the distance between the mountain and the World Tree being sorge, even with the White Dragon King¡¯s insane speed, they had already been traveling for a week without arriving.

    Although Damien wanted to look at the passing scenery and the other mountains within the mountain range as they flew, the White Dragon King was no longer taking his time to fly like the first time they had done so.

    Instead, he was using his full speed as a true Beast King, reaching a level where Damien couldn¡¯t even infer what the scenery outside was due to the sheer speed at which they moved.

    All he saw was a mash of colors that sped by in a sh. This kind of speed was insane. Even amongst 3rd ss beings, Damien¡¯s eyes were special. For him to be in such a predicament was testament to this fact.

    But since Damien and Ruyue were covered in the White Dragon King¡¯s mana, they didn¡¯t have to worry about the dangers thate with them traveling so fast without the proper strength.

    In this kind of situation, a second week passed before the White Dragon King finally decided to slow down. It was then that Damien was finally able to witness the world once more.

    ¡°¡­Woah.¡±

    It was the only sound he could make out when he saw the scene in front of him. Ruyue wasn¡¯t much better.

    If the vitality they felt from the World Tree when they first entered the 3000 Beast Mountain Range could be considered a 5, then what they felt now was a 100.

    That was the sheer level of difference between the two. The billowing vitality rushed into their bodies, refreshing and nourishing them passively by just being in its presence.

    The World Tree was towering from the outskirts, but only now was its true size visible.

    Five massive mountains encircled it in a star-shaped formation, piercing the clouds above and seemingly even reaching into space.

    But even these mountains were dwarfed under the size of the World Tree. Perhaps it didn¡¯t have their girth, but it wasn¡¯t losing out by much.

    The tree trunk was so massive that it could probably cover the entirety of some smaller countries on Earth with room left to spare. Its height, ifid down on its side, could most likely connect the Americas to Europe with ease, spanning the entire Antic Ocean.

    They were still thousands of kilometers away from the trunk of the tree, but the sun wasn¡¯t visible even at this distance. Instead, there was a wide and all-epassing canopy of branches and leaves that painted a beautiful mosaic.

    The density was such that proper sunlight couldn¡¯t travel through, but the few rays that made their way served to add even more ethereal presence to the atmosphere.

    It was like a fairy garden.

    It took many minutes for the duo to snap out of their reverie, and by the time they did, the White Dragon King had alreadynded on the ground.

    They weren¡¯t much closer to the trunk of the World Tree, but in front of them, there was a massive city that was situated there. It spanned those thousands of kilometers that connected their current location to the tree trunk.

    ¡°What the hell? People actually live here?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I know it seems inconceivable, but yes, there are truly people living here. This environment can be considered one of the best within the entire mountain range, but this group of people has actually managed to monopolize it.¡±

    As they spoke, they started walking towards the city. The darkness brought by theck of sunlight was slowly illuminated by a green glow, and when Damien looked up into the air, he noticed many floating green specks of light that decorated the atmosphere.

    ¡°These things are something akin to fairies, but they don¡¯t have the intelligence that the fairy race possesses. They just wander and float, bringing light to the darkness as well as nourishing the environment. The tree dwellers seem to love them, though.¡± The White Dragon King said.

    As they arrived closer to the city, Damien was finally able to make out the silhouettes of people walking around and going about their daily lives.

    They were oddly humanoid, but the auras they radiated obviously weren¡¯t at the 4th ss. They aren¡¯t beasts? Damien was immensely confused.

    But as he continued observing them, he noticed a curious detail that almost sent him into a state of shock.

    ¡°Those are¡­!¡±

    ¡°Haha, they aren¡¯t humans, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking.¡± The White Dragon King said, misunderstanding the reason for Damien¡¯s shock.

    But no, he never thought they were human. After all; there was a distinctive feature that set them apart from the human race.

    They had long pointy ears that Damien was incredibly familiar with due to his time on Apeiron.

    ¡®Elves! There are actually elves here! What the fuck, isn¡¯t this supposed to be an Eastern Fantasy setting?!¡¯

    That¡¯s right. The citizens of the city that the White Dragon King had been calling ¡°tree dwellers¡± were actually elves. And it wasn¡¯t just a small group of them, there were millions of them that made up the poption of the city.

    ¡®How can this be?¡¯

    Damien was bbergasted. Even if he knew it was stupid to think of the real world as something he could gauge using fictional knowledge, he knew that there were still some truths behind it.

    The fiction on earth was definitely motivated by true world travel, and the settings depicted were only slightly tweaked. Adding elves to a cultivation world, though, that was a total mixing of genres.

    He began to have doubts. Although elves weren¡¯t a rare race in the wider universe, they were still extremely particr about the type of world they lived in.

    Perhaps, this group of elves was attracted to the World Tree and decided to migrate? But with the restrictions ced around the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, this seemed impossible.

    Yet, this was and of beasts. There was no way for elves to be naturally born or even for an elf-esque species to naturally evolve from the poption present here.

    The entire matter made Damien¡¯s brain hurt.

 Chapter 234 - Taesi [2]

    Chapter 234 - Taesi [2]

    Whoosh!

    While Damien was still enamored by the fact that there were elves in this world, the winds in the area kicked up and several figures suddenly emerged from thin air.

    ¡°Fire Phoenix n, Ice Phoenix n, Tribtion Vulture n, Golden Crow n¡­¡±

    A myriad of top ns arrived at the same time,nding in the area near the White Dragon King. Seeing these fellow Beast Kings, he smiled.

    ¡°It seems you guys couldn¡¯t miss out on this event either, huh.¡±

    ¡°Of course not! What kind of idiot would choose to skip the opening of the Primordial Undying Realm?!¡± A hook-nosed old man sneered.

    ¡°Ha! Aren¡¯t you that kind of idiot, Old Vulture? When the realm opened 10,000 years ago, you were nowhere to be found!¡± An old man with crimson gold hair jeered back.

    ¡°What do you know?! I was in the middle of a serious cultivation bottleneck at the time. Don¡¯t fart without knowing anything, Old Crow.¡±

    The two old men red at each other in contempt.

    ¡°Those two are just as lively as always, aren¡¯t they?¡± A crimson-haired woman wryly smiled.

    ¡°Indeed. Those two will never give up the opportunity to jab at each other.¡± A woman with light blue hair responded.

    These were naturally the Tribtion Vulture and Golden Crow Patriarchs as well as the two Phoenix Matriarchs.

    ¡°Old Bai, I trust you¡¯ve been well?¡± A white-haired man greeted.

    ¡°Haha, Brother White Tiger, I¡¯ve naturally been well. As for you, it looks like you¡¯ve be an old man already.¡±

    ¡°As if. Between us, you know it¡¯s you who¡¯ll lose every time.¡±

    ¡°Oh? I¡¯d like to test that theory.¡±

    ¡°Right here, right now? You know I¡¯m always ready for a bout.¡±

    ¡°Kuhum.¡± The Ice Phoenix Matriarch let out a light cough. ¡°What happened to your roles as dignified elders? Did you forget that the juniors are still around?¡±

    The four men suddenly came back to their senses, awkwardly coughing. While the Tribtion Vulture and Golden Crow ns were always at each other¡¯s necks for unknown reasons, the White Dragon King and White Tiger King were different.

    Their rtionship was more of a healthy rivalry, something fueled by their bloodlines. Dragons were the kings of the sea while tigers were kings of the mountains. Although neither of them had truly reached the level of their ancestral beasts, the rivalry of their bloodlines was still plentiful.

    Whenever they met, they tended to get lost in their desire to fight one another.

    ¡°Old Bai, I heard you brought two new kids as your representatives this time, but I didn¡¯t expect for them to be humans!¡± The Fire Phoenix Matriarch suddenly pointed out, looking inquisitively at Damien and Ruyue.

    Her gaze was scorching as if trying to burn away theyers and find the truth. Frankly, Damien was feeling extremely awkward under her gaze.

    ¡®I mean, can I really be med in this sort of situation?¡¯

    The Fire Phoenix Matriarch may have been over 10,000 years old, but her face and body didn¡¯t look a day older than 30. Damien couldn¡¯t help but think of a certain 4 letter word from earth that starts with an m when he saw her.

    But he didn¡¯t let her beauty affect him too much. In the next second, he turned his gaze towards the woman to his side and sighed in satisfaction.

    Those sharp golden eyes and flowing white hair, coupled with her voluptuous body, Ruyue didn¡¯t lose out to those phoenixes at all. Besides, he could look at her as long as he wanted, unlike with them.

    ¡®Ah, I¡¯ve been cleansed.¡¯

    Ruyue, who sensed his scorching gaze that was not one bit weaker than the Fire Phoenix Matriarch¡¯s, wanted to pinch him, but a secondyer, she managed to understand the situation and stopped herself.

    She even unconsciously pushed her chest out in pride. ¡®That¡¯s right, no matter how beautiful you are, he still chose to look at me!¡¯

    It was a sense of triumph that she suppressed as soon as she discovered it, but Damien was watching her intently, so he didn¡¯t miss her slight actions.

    Realizing once again how cute she could be sometimes, he turned his gaze back towards the crowd in front of him. Rather than focusing on those Beast Kings, who had already moved in with their conversation, he turned his gaze towards the younger generation behind them.

    Two heavenly maidens on the same level as Ruyue, two men who smelled like richness, and another man who was constantly emanating fighting spirit.

    ¡®What an interesting crowd.¡¯ Damien thought inwardly. He quickly poured mana into his eyes, his true purpose from the beginning.

    In that instant, a myriad of colors showed themselves to him, as well as tangible auras that seemed to demonstrate many things.

    For a second, Damien was shocked. He was receiving much more information from his eyes than he usually did when he put mana into them. Although he wanted to check his status and see if there were any changes, he still decided to wait untilter. The more important task was to glean as much as he could before the others noticed the power of his gaze.

    But it wasn¡¯t like he had much time. In only a few seconds, Feng Qing¡¯er, Lunaria Snow, and the rest snapped their heads in his direction.

    When they saw those swirling amethyst red pupils, their eyes sharpened and their mana revolved, creating screens that disallowed Damien from seeing as much as he wished.

    Although they couldn¡¯tpletely block his eyes, he didn¡¯t feel the need to let them know that. Besides, a few seconds was more than enough time to figure out what he needed.

    His pupils stopped their unnatural swirling and returned to their original calm. At that moment, he lightly smiled at those other geniuses.

    ¡°Oho, it seems your candidates this time are truly interesting.¡± The White Tiger Kingmented. These Beast Kings had naturally seen through the smallmotion taking ce behind them.

    ¡°Hahaha, aren¡¯t they? I have high hopes for what these two can aplish.¡± The White Dragon King grinned back.

    ¡°Old Bai, didn¡¯t you teach your disciples that it isn¡¯t good to peek on others without their consent?¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course I would teach them suchmon manners, however, as they say, all is fair in love and war.¡±

    ¡°Tch.¡±

    The group continued towards the city as if nothing happened,pletely ignoring the tension that wasing from the atmosphere behind them.

    ¡®Damien, what did you see?¡¯ Ruyue asked curiously through mental transmission.

    Damien thought for a second before answering. He had truly seen much more than he expected. Rather than just their mana and a rough gauge of their aura, he instead saw¡­

    It was faint, extremely faint, but he was sure of it. Within his gaze, there was a small holographic screen in front of each and every person he looked at. A screen that he was very familiar with.

    It was their status sheets.

    Sadly, he wasn¡¯t able to clearly see them nor the information written on them, but he was sure that the evolution of his eyes would grant him an extremely useful ability.

    Shaking his head, he decided to reply to Ruyue.

    ¡®They¡¯re strong, very strong, and it doesn¡¯t seem like everything on the 3000 Beast Record is as truthful as we thought. However, with the two of us together, it should be doable.¡¯

    Imperceptible nodding her head, Ruyue continued walking as if nothing happened. And in no time, their small yet attention-grabbing group had entered the elven city under the World Tree.

 Chapter 235 - Taesi [3]

    Chapter 235 - Taesi [3]

    The elven city of Taesi wasn¡¯t extremely technologically advanced, but regardless of its massive size, it had a homely feeling that one usually wouldn¡¯t find within the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    The citizens were rtively friendly to outsiders as long as their rules were respected, and the atmosphere granted by the rich vitality emitting from the World Tree had everyone feeling a constant feeling of rxation.

    Obviously, the sharpness that those who arrived here honed through many years of training wouldn¡¯t diminish just due to the atmosphere, but it did indeedpel them to take a few days¡¯ rest, especially the younger generation who knew they¡¯d be fighting with their lives on the line in only a week¡¯s time.

    Within an inn in the city, two heaven-toppling beauties sat on the bed and conversed.

    ¡°Argh! I can¡¯t believe that guy! He actually dared to probe us so openly! Does he even know who we are?! Did Senior White Dragon choose an idiot to represent him this time?!¡± A fiery red-haired beauty shouted. She was so angry that even her fair white skin was tinged with a shade of red.

    The small group that had arrived together at Taesi had split up not long after they entered the city, with each going their own way to prepare for the uing event.

    ¡°Calm down. We already knew everyone here would be an opponent from the second we met. It¡¯s only natural that a new face would want to judge our capabilities.¡± A blue-haired beauty next to her responded. Still, there was a trace of displeasure in her eyes.

    ¡°Y-yeah, but still! Hmph! If we meet in the Primordial Undying Realm, I¡¯ll be sure to teach him a lesson! Luna, you have to help me too!¡±

    ¡°You want to gang up on him with our strength? Qing¡¯er, we have a clear goal this time and we cannot spare time to y around. The fate of our ns depends on this.¡±

    ¡°I-I know, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll just take this offenseying down. I don¡¯t want people to see me as a pushover.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er pouted.

    ¡°Oh? And since when were you someone to care about face? Or rather, even if the same situation happened at any other time, you¡¯d have directly pummeled the person who tried something. For you to be acting like this¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s face became solemn. ¡°He¡¯s an outlier that we don¡¯t have any information on. There¡¯s no point thinking that he¡¯ll be weak, especially since it was Senior White Dragon who chose him as his representative. No matter how much I want to punch him in the face, I¡¯ll act with caution. I also know how mother our mothers are depending on us.¡±

    ¡°Mm, this is the correct choice. However, do not discount the girl at his side either. There was something about her aura that made my Ice Phoenix mes feel challenged. These neers truly aren¡¯t simple.

    ¡°Oh, that girl?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er fell into thought as she recalled Ruyue. ¡°Ah! That girl! She reminded me of you a little bit now that I think about it!¡±

    ¡°You! What are you saying!¡± Lunaria Snow said, pinching her ear.

    ¡°Ow ow ow! Okay Luna I¡¯m sorry! Forgive me!¡±

    As these two girls conversed in their room, the rest of the participants of theing event slowly arrived.

    Currently, Damien and Ruyue had already separated from the White Dragon King, touring the city that they had just arrived in.

    ¡°This atmosphere is really nice. It seems like a good ce to settle down in.¡± Ruyuemented as she looked at the floating green specs in the air.

    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re already thinking about settling down?¡± Damien asked with a smile.

    ¡°Hmm, settling down does sound nice, but even if we did so, I feel it¡¯d get boring very soon. I still want to explore the wider universe like you did.¡±

    Damien¡¯s smile became wry. ¡°Don¡¯t give me too much credit. Including this world and my homeworld, I¡¯ve only been to 3. Compared to the boundless cosmos, this is nothing.¡±

    ¡°But it only seems like nothing to you, who has at least done this much. Meanwhile, I was bing haughty even though I had rarely ever left the Celestial Star Pce, let alone the Central Continent as a whole.¡±

    ¡°Sigh, the universe is simply too insanelyrge. Did you know? Even before my homeworld was introduced to mana, the portion of the universe that became observable due to our technological advancements was insane. It was to the point that even if a human was sent into space to travel for several thousands of years, they wouldn¡¯t even be close to exploring it.

    ¡°It truly makes me wonder how things actually work. Beginner worlds, middle worlds, higher worlds, the distance between them, what is it like? It took 7 months to travel from my homeworld to this one even on a Heaven Grade flying sword, but even that seems short inparison. How many worlds are there that we will have the chance to truly explore? How long will that take? Ah, just thinking about it makes my blood boil.¡±

    Ruyue smiled lightly as she listened to Damien¡¯s tangent. Her eyes held a slightly distant look to them. Indeed, how long would it take to explore the boundless cosmos? The sheer amount of time could probably drive one insane if they were to go about it alone.

    But what if they were with the people they cared most about in the world? Wouldn¡¯t such a vast period of time adventuring be exhrating?

    A trace of an idea took root in Ruyue¡¯s mind, but she didn¡¯t entertain it for long. These future events shouldn¡¯t be thought about in a crucial time like this.

    The duo spent until nighttime perusing the various amenities of the city before finally returning to their in. Damien had a refreshed smile on his face the entire time. It had been a while since he had been on a calming date like this one.

    It made him miss Rose even more, but he pushed those thoughts down. Just like Ruyue, he chose to focus on theing event for now. At this moment, even reaching Rose was impossible, so those sorts of missing sentiments would only serve to pain his heart

    There was nothing much for the two of them to do while they waited. Even if they wanted to probe the other geniuses more, they were all keeping low profiles.

    Even the ones who made their way into the city like Damien and Ruyue would constantly have their guards up. Since they were no longer in the presence of their respective Beast Kings, thepetition had basically already started.

    The undercurrents within the city of Taesi were churning. Even the usually calm and peaceful ordinary citizens were beginning to get excited.

    7 days. There were only 7 days left before the festivities began. Who woulde out on top? That person would undoubtedly be a prominent figure among the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. Which of these geniuses would rise and fall?

    Such thoughts gued the minds of all that were present. But they knew that only time would tell in the end. And so, they patiently waited for that day toe.

 Chapter 236 - Taesi [4]

    Chapter 236 - Taesi [4]

    The atmosphere of the city of Taesi was benevolent and kind, but it was a location within the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, after all. It was impossible for it to maintain such peace at all times and in all ces.

    The city was simply toorge for it to do so, and there wasn¡¯t a genuine Law Enforcement group that would keep order, at least, not on the surface. But without a group like that, even the outwardly peaceful atmosphere would be impossible to maintain.

    There were many shadowy corners and alleyways within Taesi, especially due to theck of sunlight. Usually, these corners would remain unpopted, but at the moment, they seemed to be brimming with activity.

    ¡°Commander, the outsiders haven¡¯t been stirring up too much trouble yet, but this is only temporary. The ones who have arrived so far are all from peak forces and will act in ordance with ourws to maintain face.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, once themon popce begins to arrive for theing festivities, our jobs will be much harder. Sigh, it¡¯s quite annoying, but it¡¯s necessary.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. To protect the peaceful lives of our people, anything is fair game. I refuse to cower in a situation likest time.¡±

    ¡°You! Don¡¯t you dare mention that! If you make the same mistake, your head will roll.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I made a mistake, Commander.¡±

    ¡°Haa¡­it¡¯s fine, but you¡¯re lucky only the two of us are here. As you know, not everyone shares your sentiments. There are cowards in our midst.¡± Themander growled.

    His subordinate could only stand silently to the side, not knowing what to say. Most of their people hadn¡¯t been alive at that time. It was many millennia ago, after all. But they were elves, their lifespans were extremely long. Many of their upper echelons and older men were present at that time, and the sentiments were split.

    There were cowards and there were warriors. As for which side was more prevalent, nobody could say.

    While these two had their silent conversation, the rest of their squad also moved out, ensuring that their city would stay peaceful. For the lives of their people, they would do anything.

    ***

    ¡°Do you understand what you are meant to do?¡± A hoarse voice rang out in an unknown location within the city of Taesi. However, if one looked for the source of the voice, they would only be searching in vain.

    ¡°I understand, Master.¡± The one who responded was a young man with coarse grey hair and red eyes. His body emitted a gloomy and sinister aura that made all those who gazed at him shiver in fear.

    ¡°Good. If the rest of us were able to easily manifest, things would be much simpler. But we only have you as our anchor point. If you don¡¯t aplish what you were tasked with, you should know the consequences, right?¡±

    ¡°I understand, Master.¡± The young man¡¯s monotone voice quivered slightly, but soon regained its calm. He once again uttered the same three words.

    ¡°Good. The time has finallye. 10,000 years of nning and hiding, 10,000 years of enduring. It is finally time for us to strike. That damn Primordial Undying Tree, does it truly think we have not discovered its machinations? Make it understand that our kind will not be fooled so easily.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand, Master.¡±

    The sinister aura emanating from the young man¡¯s body slightly lessened, and the second presence in the room seemed to have vanished.

    The young man gritted his teeth, his eyes shing with anger. His hands were clenched so hard that the armrests of his chair were reduced to dust.

    Many momentster, he let out a quiet sigh. His hand moved to a locket that hung on a chain around his neck. It was a sword encircled by a miniature fox.

    ¡°Tan¡¯er, I know you can¡¯t hear me, and I know you probably hate me already for all that I have done. But I promise, I swear to the heavens, nothing will be able to harm you. Even if the world is engulfed in the mes of purgatory, I shall ensure that you remain happy.¡±

    His eyes became distant and slightly watery as he thought of the past. Those were the days when he did not have to be like this, the days when he wasn¡¯t a mere puppet acting on the will of others.

    ¡°Vengeance¡­is impossible. So I shall do what I can do. This is my only option.¡± The tears that were forming in his eyes vanished without a trace, and any signs of weariness on his face were hidden with perfection.

    3 days. In 3 days, he would enter that realm. And 6 monthster¡­

    ¡®I¡¯m sorry, Tan¡¯er, but this is all I can do.¡¯

    With a sharp gaze and a familiarly sinister aura, he closed his eyes and entered meditation.

    Everything he did, he did it for her safety. This thought was the only thing allowing him to maintain his sanity.

    ***

    Time flowed quickly in the fervent atmosphere that covered the city of Taesi, and the original poption of millions had multiplied.

    Many people, humanoid and beast, had gathered in this location, eagerly awaiting theing event. And today, it was finally time for it to begin.

    The area hundreds of kilometers around the World Tree were sectioned off and restricted to everyone, even the elves who lived their lives in the city, but today, the space in front of the restricted area was crowded with people.

    Within that area, there were precisely 1,050 youths, all with human forms.

    To his embarrassment, it took a few days for him to realize that the geniuses he had met before entering the city were all in human form, but once he realized it, he naturally got curious.

    Asking the White Dragon King, he learned of such a thing as the Beast Transformation Art. It was an art that had circted through the 3000 Beast Mountain Range at an unknown time, and it allowed those under the Beast King rank to achieve their human forms.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t the same. When a Beast King gained a human form, it was due to the baptism of the universe, allowing them to freelypact their power into a humanoid form.

    This kind of transformation would explosivelypress their strength and make their output exponentially greater.

    Besides that, the true body of a beast that achieved its 4th ss would be massive, to say the least. It was simply inconvenient to stay in such a body when they had the option not to.

    However, the Beast Transformation Art didn¡¯t have such benefits. It didn¡¯t have any side effects or cons either, but it was a rtively simple art.

    It was just a matter of convenience. They would gain human forms that were only for appearance-sake. Their power levels would remain the same whether they were in beast form or not.

    When such an art was learned, the Beast form would be a trump card that they would only use when the situation became incredibly dire.

    It was an interesting fact, and Damien wondered what would happen if he gave Zara the art. He even asked the White Dragon King for it, but he said he¡¯d only give it to them after they had seeded within the Primordial Undying Realm.

    Still, Damien was fine with this. Zara was still slumbering in his shadow to this day, showing no signs of waking up any time soon. He would¡¯ve been worried by this, but since over a month had already passed, he had been able to feel the subtle strengthening of her aura.

    If her slumber was due to a rapid increase in strength, or if it was a manner of training, there¡¯s no way he¡¯d selfishly interrupt it.

    Anyway, Damien stood within the crowd of 1,050 geniuses and looked around, noticing a few familiar faces and many unfamiliar ones. But most of them were present on the 3000 Beast Record, so he was able to roughly understand who was who.

    He even noticed the unconcealed re of the woman named Feng Qing¡¯er, but he only returned a slight smile before looking away.

    There were more important things to see right now than any jade beauties.

    After all, on a tform in front of their group, tens of Beast Kings lined up along with a beautiful jade-haired elf with solemn auras surrounding them.

    Without wasting any time, the elven woman spoke in a crystal clear voice.

    ¡°Young Geniuses of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, the time has finallye for you to enter the fabled Primordial Undying Realm.¡±

 Chapter 237 - Primordial Undying Realm [1]

    Chapter 237 - Primordial Undying Realm [1]

    The day had finallye, the Primordial Undying Realm would be opening at any moment.

    From all across the vast city of Taesi, young geniuses, as well as ordinary citizens, congregated towards the base of the World Tree.

    None of them had lived long enough to have seen the first opening of the Primordial Undying Realm, so everything they knew about it was from legends and folk tales. This kind of thing only served to heighten the excitement and anticipation they felt for being able to witness it in person.

    When themon popce finally congregated, they were able to see the vast crowd of geniuses that had already arrived in front of the World Tree.

    ¡°Wow, the twin Phoenix Queens are even more heavenly than I expected!¡±

    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve seen them in person, I can die happy!¡±

    ¡°Kyaaa! Isn¡¯t that Alekzi?! He looks so humble and modest!¡±

    ¡°Oh god, he¡¯s so handsome, that Entrails guy whopetes with him is nothing inparison!¡±

    ¡°What do you know?! Entrails is valiant and brave! Unlike that Alekzi guy, he is nothing but a shameless femboy!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a femboy?¡±

    ¡°Ow! Honey, I¡¯m sorry, I won¡¯t ask about femboys again, forgive me!¡±

    The conversations of the spectating crowd hadpletely skimmed over most of the 1,050 geniuses lined up in the square, instead choosing to focus on the 10 geniuses that stood at the very forefront.

    ¡°Hey, who is that guy?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never seen him before. Whatqualifications does he have to stand next to our top 10 geniuses?!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear? That¡¯s the genius Senior White Dragon King chose as his representative this time!¡±

    ¡°The beauty by his side isn¡¯t bad either! I heard that their prowess isn¡¯t any weaker than the top 10!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, what do you know. They¡¯re just newbies, there¡¯s no way those bloated rumors are true.¡±

    Damien and Ruyue were particrly eye-catching. Not only were they a handsome and beautiful man and woman, they were also wild cards without any reputation. Yet, they still dared to stand in the forefront of the crowd of geniuses.

    The main point that people focused on was this. Not just anyone could obtain such a ce. In fact, if any random person tried, they¡¯d be put in their ce by the other geniuses present. The odd thing was, not a single genius stepped forward to contest Damien and Ruyue¡¯s positions in the front of the crowd.

    As a matter of fact, some of them even looked at the duo in fear. How could they not? Naturally, some attention-seeking geniuses had sought trouble with the duo during the few days prior, but not a single one had even managed to gauge their strength.

    Damien had used pure physical strength to deal with most of them, while Ruyue flicked her finger and caused their limbs to fall limply to the floor. This kind of prowess was terrifying for those under the top 20, while those in the top 20 were smarter than to reveal themselves before such an important event.

    The element of surprise was important, especially in a setting where a portion of their abilities was alreadymon knowledge due to the 3000 Beast Record. Even if they wanted to probe the new and mysterious duo, they could only do so by sending lower-ranked geniuses to do it for them.

    But the results of that were obvious. Some of the geniuses who came from weaker ns still had missing hands or fingers, or broken bones. They weren¡¯t able to find high enough tier healing in time for the opening of the realm.

    And this was fatal. They were essentially half crippled before even entering the glorified death trap of the Primordial Undying Realm. Their fates were already sealed, causing some of the other simrly ranked geniuses to sigh in pity and relief. Luckily, it wasn¡¯t them that had been chosen to prove that monstrous duo.

    In the front of the crowd, the 12 geniuses that stood at the peak were silently eyeing each other and conversing.

    ¡°Hey, Alekzi. Your money won¡¯t be able to get you out of this situation! Why don¡¯t you bark and be my dog and maybe I¡¯ll lend you a helping hand in the secret realm.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, Entrails you¡¯ve gotten bold over these past few months. Who was it that was begging to lick my feet for a few more spirit stones not too long ago?¡±

    ¡°You?! How shameless can you be? As expected of you, nobody canpete with the God of Shamelessness.¡±

    ¡°The God of Shamelessness is obviously you! Don¡¯t go staining my humble and modest name with your filthy tongue.¡±

    The loudest of them were Alekzi and Entrails, the two who constantly were at each other¡¯s throats just like their n Leaders.

    Damien watched the show in amusement, thinking about how the two actually seemed to be great friends when he noticed two beauties approaching him.

    ¡°Hey, guy! You better hope that we don¡¯t meet in the secret realm if you want to keep all your hair!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er growled.

    ¡°Hm? What hair are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°All of it! I¡¯ll burn it all and leave you crying like a bald monkey!¡±

    ¡°Ah! You can¡¯t! My little brother doesn¡¯t deserve to be harassed like this!¡±

    ¡°Who is your little brother?! The only one being harassed is you!¡±

    ¡°Ah?!¡±

    Suddenly, Feng Qing¡¯er felt Lunaria Snow pinch her side. ¡°Qing¡¯er, stop. You¡¯re embarrassing yourself.¡±

    When Feng Qing¡¯er tried to rebut, she tightened her grip on her. Looking coldly at Damien, she spoke. ¡°You have a big mouth, but I hope your power can back up your words.¡±

    Without saying anything else, she firmly grabbed Feng Qing¡¯er and dragged her away.

    ¡°Luna, I don¡¯t get it. Why did he suddenly mention his younger brother? Was he trying to make me pity him?¡±

    Lunaria Snow looked at her with a hint of exasperation on her cold face. ¡°Qing¡¯er, no matter how bold you are, you are still so innocent inside.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Luna, now I¡¯m curious! Tell me what it means! Tell me!¡±

    Lunaria Snow stared at her and then back at Damien. For an instant, a mischievous light shone in her eyes. ¡°Alright, fine. I¡¯ll tell you.¡±

    While they were walking away, Damien went back to surveilling the geniuses around him. He was also silently pretending as if he couldn¡¯t see Ruyue¡¯s fierce re prating his skin from his side.

    ¡°Did you have to make such crude jokes? Oh, I get it. You just couldn¡¯t resist teasing a beauty.¡±

    ¡°Hm? I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. What beauty? The only beauty I see here is you.¡± He responded with a smile.

    ¡°Tch. Shameless!¡±

    ¡°No, no, you must be mistaken. The shameless ones are those two birds over there. Why are you so mad? Don¡¯t tell me, ar r you jealous?¡±

    Ruyue¡¯s face heated up slightly. ¡°Who is jealous of you? Merely, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise to be getting too close to your enemies.¡± She had a slight pout on her face, but she turned her head away so he wouldn¡¯t notice.

    Damien smiled at her cute actions. No matter if she was cold enough to chop off limbs because a genius decided to provoke her, she would always be like this around him. It was gratifying, even though he didn¡¯t want to admit it.

    While teasing Ruyue, he didn¡¯t stop checking out the geniuses around the area. Rather; there was a single genius he was paying more attention to. It was a hooded man with a ck half mask covering his face. Even his eyes were covered, making one wonder how he was able to see.

    ¡°He must be Han Fang, Rank One on the 3000 Beast Record.¡±

    Although there were plenty of hooded figures within the crowd, Damien was able to clearly see through their shabby concealment. Most of those hooded figures were beautiful elves, one of which stood out in particr, but he didn¡¯t pay them any mind.

    They were strong, especially that one girl, she was probably strong enough to rival the two Phoenix Queens. But even this was nothingpared to the man he had his attention on.

    Even in the sociable atmosphere that had enveloped the area, not a single person dared to get within a 5-meter radius of him. Even the ones outside of that range were ncing at him asionally in wariness and fear.

    Damien smirked. ¡®Truly deserving of his reputation.¡¯

    Even when he used his All-Seeing Eyes, Han Fang didn¡¯t even spare him a nce. It was as if he hadplete confidence he wouldn¡¯t be seen through, or that even if he was seen through it wouldn¡¯t matter.

    This kind of attitude was interesting. Damien felt his blood boil as the urge to fight a strong opponent once again made itself known within his body.

    But before he could take any action, a stifling pressure descended on the area, silencing the lively atmosphere in an instant.

    When he looked up, he saw the familiar faces of the White Dragon King and the two Phoenix Matriarchs, as well as a plethora of other Beast Kings. And in front of them all was a jade-haired blue-eyed woman and who¡¯s beauty transcended even the two Phoenix Matriarchs.

    As everyone¡¯s attention focused on her, a crystal clear voice left her mouth. It was cold yet gentle, elegant yet fierce, it was entrancing.

    ¡°Young Geniuses of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, the time has finallye for you to enter the fabled Primordial Undying Realm.¡±

 Chapter 238 - Primordial Undying Realm [2]

    Chapter 238 - Primordial Undying Realm [2]

    Hearing the Elf Queen''s words, the fervent atmosphere immediately returned, but it was naturally much quieter than before in respect for her authority.

    Seeing this, she smiled lightly and continued. Though, that smile was enough to make it so some young men and even women had a hard time concentrating on her words.

    "As you all know, the opening of the Primordial Undying Realm is a once every 10,000-year opportunity. It isn''t something just anyone can be a part of. But, I am obligated to warn you that the risks are just as bountiful as the rewards.

    "It is almost a guarantee that most of you will die in this realm, but the ones who survive will obtain the potential to surpass even us peak existences within the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. I''m warning you all now, if you can''t bear the risks, this is the time to retreat."

    She stood silently and watched the crowd of geniuses, but as expected, not a single one moved. Which of them hadn''t been aware of the risks when they signed up for this? Which of them was a coward who''d let such things bar their path forward? None! That was the answer!

    The Elf Queen let out another light smile. "As expected, this isn''t enough to stop any of you. Very well, I shall admire your courage as true geniuses, even if you fall in this excursion, know that you have proven yourselves.

    "The Primordial Undying Realm is and of trials. The fruits of the Primordial Undying Tree aren''t the only rewards that you can obtain within, so do not be disheartened if you cannot obtain one in the end.

    "Although I do not wish to see any promising seedlings die, I am unable to stop you from entering. Remember, the cmities that maye in the future will require your strength, so be courageous and push forth, no matter the obstacle."

    Damien''s eyes sharpened at her words. Coming cmity? There was only one that was ofrge enough scale that he could think of. It was the same one that had been following him around no matter where he went.

    But how could the Elf Queen know about it? Wasn''t she trapped within the 3000 Beast Mountain Range? Even the White Dragon King, who had been from the outside world, hadn''t mentioned anything of the sort.

    ''As I thought, the presence of the elves in this world is unnatural.''

    His eyes gained a hint of solemnity. He had no way to ascertain whether the cmity the Elf Queen mentioned was indeed the Nox, but his instincts were telling him that his guess was on the mark.

    And when had his instincts failed him? When he was pushed into the dungeon; when he met Zara, when he discovered the Ancient Temple on Godspark Mountain, each and every time his instincts had led him on the correct path. It would be stupid to start doubting them now.

    ''I need to find some way to get into contact with the Elf Queen once I exit the secret realm. If she actually has information about the Nox, it is imperative that I get my hands on it.''

    Suddenly, the elven participants in the trial seemed a lot more interesting to Damien.

    ''They are the key. Perhaps, if I can forge a connection with them, I''ll be able to gain an audience with the Queen.''

    Shaking his head, he refocused his attention. First, he needed to survive theing dangers. Only then would such ns be able to be set forth into motion.

    While he was in thought, the Elf Queen had already finished her speech. At this moment, she had her back facing the crowd, her attention focused on the World Tree in front of her.

    Raising her hands, a jade green mana that matched the tone of her hair began emanating from her body.

    ''Life element. Or rather, Life Laws.''

    It was familiar. After all, Elena possessed the same element.

    Paying no heed to the speechless crowd behind her, the Elf Queen began to chant in a low voice.

    "By the Grace of the Almighty Protector, with the Authority bestowed upon me by the seeds of Yggdrasil, I call upon the World Tree. Open the gates between Heaven and Hell. The Primordial Spirit of Immortality, hear my call. The future beckons your release once again."

    With every word she said, the jade green mana surrounding her became even denser. At some point, the heaven-piercing World Tree in front of her began to glow with the same light.

    Its seemingly indestructible trunk began to crack lightly, creating a spiderweb that spanned several miles. The Primordial Spirit of Immortality heard her call, causing a juxtaposing ck and white aura to leak from the cracks in the World Tree''s trunk.

    And then, that portion of the World Tree turned into motes of light that floated into the all-epassing canopy and were absorbed.

    In their ce, there was a swirling mass of ck and white that looked like a yin-yang symbol. Its light was beckoning, almost entrancing the geniuses present and making them move towards it without their volition.

    Crack! Boom!

    The ground beneath the 1,050 geniuses was torn apart as countless roots exited it. These roots then went on to wrap those geniuses within them. Pulling them towards the swirling mass in the center of the World Tree.

    Naturally, the geniuses that came together were separated by this sudden change.

    "Ruyue!" Damien yelled as he noticed her getting pulled apart from him.

    Gritting his teeth, he reached out and tried to grab her hand. But the roots seemed to dislike his action, pulling them apart even further.

    ncing around, Ruyue noticed that everyone else was going through the same predicament. Even those two Phoenix Queens who seemed inseparable made no move to reach out to each other.

    Ruyue gently bit her lip and sighed. "We will meet within the Primordial Undying Realm! If you die before that time, I swear, I will find a way to revive you and kill you myself!"

    Gritting her teeth in pain, she used a technique she never thought she''d ever have use for. From her body, a blue light shot out and entered Damien''s forehead.

    "Wha-?" Although Damien didn''t know what had just happened, seeing Ruyue''s watery gaze, he shut his mouth.

    "From now on, we are forever connected. If you die, then I shall be crippled near death as well. So don''t die! Unless you want me to suffer a fate worse than death!"

    It was as if the roots had been waiting for them to finish their interaction. The second Ruyue finished her words, she was dragged into that ck and white portal and flung into the secret realm.

    "That girl¡­" Damien smiled gently. "Well, I guess dying isn''t an option anymore."

    With that thought, he entered the portal as well.

    Damien had never been the hoarder type. He never even saw much value in artifacts and treasures, since he had an array of skills that could always match or outss them.

    But at this moment, there was a certain feeling bubbling in his chest.

    The boons of the Primordial Undying Tree, the myriad treasures he could obtain, the fruits and sap that were his main goal¡­

    He would get his hands on them all. What belonged to him, not a single person would be able to take it from his grasp.

 Chapter 239 - Primordial Undying Realm [3]

    Chapter 239 - Primordial Undying Realm [3]

    There was and of waste where no life could grow. The ground was cracked and dry and painted red but the sun didn''t shine in the sky.

    No matter which direction one gazed in, they would only see this exact same nd scenery continuing endlessly.

    This was thend Damien saw around him at this moment.

    ''Wasn''t I supposed to be in the Primordial Undying Realm?''

    For a secret realm that was managed by the so-called "Primordial Spirit of Immortality", it seemed a little too¡­mortal.

    Thend was, by all intents and purposes, dead. There were no signs of vitalitying from it at all.

    ''Is this one of those trials?''

    He had heard plenty of times that there''d be trials in the secret realm to judge the worthiness of those entering, but he never really visualized what that''d be like.

    Perhaps it would be like the Legacy Tombs he found in the Eternal Secret Realm on Apeiron, or perhaps it would be something else. Either way, when he imagined secret realms, he always thought of expansive worlds filled with treasure.

    It was a misconception that was born from experience. Not every secret realm would be like the one on Apeiron, where an entire small world was literallypressed into a realm for future use.

    While Damien was questioning his surroundings, the ground began to rumble.

    What seemed like an earthquake shook the earth and sunless sky for many moments, but with his abilities, Damien wasn''t fazed at all. Instead, he watched with interest.

    Suddenly¡­

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Explosive sounds thundered from the ground as it was split open and sted to pieces. Torrents of red liquid shot out from beneath like bloody geysers.

    ''This is¡­magma?''

    Regr magma wouldn''t be able to hurt Damien anymore. This was the benefit of coating his body with the mana of a 3rd ss being.

    And this is exactly what he tried to do as he backed away from the torrents of magma that began to fill thend.

    "¡­huh?"

    But soon enough, he realized it was impossible. His feet wouldn''t budge from their position as if he was glued to the ground and his mana wouldn''t respond to his call. Even the space around him seemed to thicken at that moment.

    "Not good."

    His facial expression became ugly. He could probably survive the magma with his physical body and regeneration if it was only for a small period of time, but the magma filling the area at the moment didn''t seem to be the kind that would onlyst for a moment.

    Boom! Boom!

    Two more torrents of magma shot out from behind him, flowing into the previous streams and enclosing Damien''s location. Now, unless he teleported or flew, there was no way to escape.

    But how could he do either with his body trapped and his mana sealed?

    Oddly enough, the magma didn''t spread outwards, instead forming a cage around Damien. As more and moreva flew from underground, it filled that cage until its height reached an unimaginable point.

    And then, it began to flow inwards.

    "Fuck!" Damien shouted. He desperately tried to control his muscles and tendons to move, even by a little, but it was futile. Soon enough, the magma reached the center of the cube it had formed and made contact with the soles of Damien''s feet.

    Tsss!

    It was a sound simr to pouring cold water into a heated pan. A low hiss that signified the burning of the shoes on his feet.

    Somehow, the second the magma touched him, its flow seemed to rapidly increase. Damien could only watch helplessly in those first few minutes as the cage was formed around him, but now it seemed that he''d bepletely enveloped in magma within the next minute.

    "Argh!"

    Even if his physical body was powerful, even if he''d heal from the wounds he received until his mana was drained, he could still vividly feel the pain of his flesh melting.

    It didn''t take long for a minute to pass, but it felt like an eternity to Damien. And finally¡­?

    Ssh!

    Thest of the magma had covered his body and the original free-flowing geysers had paused. It was as if time in the outside world hade to a standstill to allow Damien to suffer for as long as possible.

    The way things were now, there was no way he''d be able to escape torment any time soon.

    "Aggg!"

    His body instinctively tried to scream, but all that did was allow the magma into his throat, burning it to cinders.

    Luckily, he was regenerating. But Damien, who was still conscious, was sure that this wasn''t the work of his own regeneration.

    Why? Obviously because if it was his own skill, he would''ve regenerated much faster. But no. Instead of immediately healing the damages to his body, he was regenerating slow enough to perfectly match the speed at which he burned.

    Once again, a mechanism seemed to activate to keep him burning for as long as possible.

    His skin melted first, leaving ayer of muscle and skeletal tissue. But those melted soon after. His mana heart and true heart, as well as his rib cage and bones, came into view.

    If it wasn''t for the strange force that was keeping him alive right now, he''d have undoubtedly died. He was just a normal person who was thrown intova at this time.

    Damien felt like he was going insane. His body was in constant pain even when his pain receptors had been melted into nothingness whenever his muscles bones and skin were burnt to theirst shred, they were healed back to peak condition.

    But even this healing only brought pain instead of pleasure.

    ''AHHHH!''

    He had learned from his first ident not to scream out loud. His screams reverberated in his brain as he endured the suffering he was put through.

    But he couldn''t die. He couldn''t lose his sanity. He wouldn''t allow that to happen.

    Within the dark mindscape that he had discovered when he created his Mind Prison, Damien could see two things.

    One was the aforementioned Mind Prison, but he felt nothing towards it. After resolving himself to face his problems head-on, he had never used it again.

    What his mind focused on was the other object. It was faintly shining with a blue hue and took the shape of a feminine humanoid.

    When Damien moved closer to inspect it, he realized why he felt a sense of familiarity towards it.

    ''Ruyue.''

    Before they were separated, he saw a blue light shoot out from her body and into his forehead. It had just happened after all, so it was still extremely vivid in his mind.

    The faint blush that flushed her cheeks in a rosy color, the way she softly bit her bottom lip, the emotion in those piercing golden eyes when she looked at him. The utterly embarrassing words that flowed so smoothly from her lips.

    ''From now on, we are forever connected. If you die, then I shall be crippled near death as well. So don''t die! Unless you want me to suffer a fate worse than death!''

    Although his eyes were the first thing to be melted after he was submerged in magma, if they were still present, they''d be burning in determination.

    ''Right. With this small amount of pain, I was going crazy? I''ve seriously gone soft over the years.''

    Remember those days. Those days in the dungeon. When not a single thing mattered besides survival.

    Endure. Endure. Endure.

    Survive. Survive. Survive.

    ''Remember. When you stood in front of that wyvern that was so terrifying back then. When you allowed its breath to burn half your body to cinders just for the fun of it. Remember. When you were enveloped in a world of blood, sustaining and surviving in a state of constant injury.''

    ''Remember. That feeling when fighting the very first wolf. A wolf that could now be erased at a flick of your finger. Back then, remember that burning and insane will to survive. Even if it cost an arm, even if it cost everything, as long as you brought down that wolf, it was worth it.''

    When Damien''s thoughts flew through his time in the dungeon, when he remembered his insanity back then, the feeling of being burned alive like this¡­

    It was oddly disappointing.

    ''I was being put into such a miserable situation by just this much?''

    How much had he endured so far? How much had he survived? Something like this¡­

    Something like this wasn''t nearly enough to break him.

 Chapter 240 Primordial Undying Realm[4]

    Chapter 240 Primordial Undying Realm[4]

    It was as if the surrounding magma was waiting for his change in mindset.

    The second he reaffirmed his determination, a change took ce in the surrounding magma sea.

    The still magma that had been simply burning him constantly for the past unknown amount of time was now actively surging towards his body.

    But strangely enough, the impact brought no pain. Or rather, this particr sensation of pain no longer registered as pain in his mind.

    It was actually slightly pleasurable instead.

    The magma once again burned away his skin, but this time it didn''t regenerate. Instead, the magma charged into his bones and was absorbed by it.

    With every passing second, more and more magma entered his skeleton, causing his bones themselves to turn the same red as the ground.

    "Nngh!"

    A slight groan of pain echoed in the surroundings, even though Damien had no vocal cords to groan with at the moment. It was another odd phenomenon.

    His red bones showed signs of melting as the amount of magma contained in them reached the peak, but they didn''t melt. Theypacted and grew at the same time, maintaining their shape but bing much denser than they were previously.

    The magma within his bones churned and whistled, turning into solid matter that substituted the extra material his bones needed to continue their transformation.

    After all, there was no way to maintain their shape while bing denser if there was no material to use to do so. The magma was acting as a stand-in for such material, and bing his bones themselves.

    This processsted for what felt like hours before all the magma had solidified, bing one with him. But the quantity of magma encasing his body was stillrge. Evidently, this was a multiple-step strengthening process.

    Damien smiled when he realized this. It was a horrifying smile made by a skeleton with only two hearts and a brain other than its burning red bones.

    ''So there were rewards for the suffering I was put through, huh. In that case, it can be considered worth it.''.

    Soon enough, his muscles, tendons, and ligaments were reformed. Along with this, his internal organs once again took their rightful ces within his body.

    And after the partial regeneration wasplete, another surging of magma entered his body. His internal organs had previously been strengthened by the devouring of the Sea Dragon, but that was iparable to the current progress.

    It was like the rebirth ability of a Phoenix, but for his physical body only. This level of strengthening was a true boon.

    ''If it''s this good from just the first trial alone, how good is the true strengthening of the fruits of the Primordial Undying Tree?''

    It was exciting to think about. The level of power he might reach within this realm¡­ it was truly something to look forward to.

    But Damien''s thoughts hardened at that moment. ''There''s no way it''s only me being strengthened here.''

    Simr things were most likely happening to all the others who entered. Or at least, those that were able to maintain their sanity within the burning magma.

    As for the rest, there was no doubt in his mind that there wasn''t even a corpse left of them.

    He suddenly felt extremely worried for Ruyue. She was still an innocent girl in his eyes, no matter what kind of cold front she put up.

    He remembered the way she cried for those vigers months ago, and he remembered the way she exined her determination to Tian Yang when they first entered the mountain range.

    The difference between the girl he knew at both times was vast, but she was still the same person. He was afraid that she didn''t have enough time to be someone who could handle a trial like this.

    Luckily, Ruyue had pulled such a stupid yet sweet move before they were dropped into the secret realm. Whatever this thing within his mindscape was, it was his assurance that she was still alive and well.

    When Damien''s muscles and internal organs finished their strengthening, his skin soon followed. A fully intact Damien was now seated in an egg made from crystallized magma.

    With nothing to worry about, Damien happily sat and received the baptism of magma that he was currently drowned in.

    ***

    All throughout the secret realm, simr scenes to what Damien experienced were taking ce. But naturally, not all of them went through the same thing.

    A portion of them were drowned in magma like him, some were stuck in a flood and drowned in water the same way, some were trapped in unending blizzards or sandstorms.

    No matter where the geniusesnded, they were always within some sort of disaster that tested their will.

    And obviously, not all of them could survive. Damien wasn''t truly oriented towards a particr element, so there wasn''t an environment that would truly be of benefit or detriment to him.

    But this wasn''t the case for others. Those who were specialized in mes but were unfortunate enough tond in a flooded atmosphere were naturally at a disadvantage. The same with other examples.

    Although their mana and abilities couldn''t be used, the affinity of their body would still stay the same. It would be extra difficult for them to pass the trials they were given, and even if they passed, they wouldn''t be able to maximize the benefits due to opposing natures.

    As for others, they were simply too weak. No matter what the atmosphere of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range was like, all these geniuses had been fostered by their respective powers.

    Some had naturally been pampered or raised differently. Even if they were harshly trained in preparation for the Primordial Undying Realm, the level of pain tolerance they had simply couldn''t keep up with what they were being forced to endure.

    Ruyue was almost part of thetter group. She had never experienced such extreme pain before in her life. That wasn''t the environment she was raised in.

    Even though she was dropped into a sub-zero blizzard that wouldn''t be detrimental to her, she still almost gave up due to the intensity of pain.

    But somehow, she had managed to survive. She thought of the man she had given her soul to, and the adventures she could have with him around the myriad worlds of the universe.

    Such a prospect wasn''t something she was willing to let go of so easily. Her determination wasn''t like Damien''s. It hadn''t been forged in the depths of hell.

    It could be said that her will was currently in the process of being formed. Through her adventures with Damien and the plethora of things they had experienced, a firm determination had been growing within her.

    The current trial, the trial that tested that budding determination, it served as a grindstone for her. A way for her topletely and wholeheartedlymit to that determination and make the conscious decision to never waver.

    As such, she passed with flying colors and received the baptism of ice the same way Damien did with magma.

    But it was a truly hard thing to do. It was easy to describe for those like Damien and Ruyue, but not everyone was a monster.

    During this trial alone, 250 geniuses had died.

 Chapter 241 Primordial Undying Realm [5]

    Chapter 241 Primordial Undying Realm [5]

    A ming red crystal cocoon sat silently within a wastnd where even the cracked ground was the same color.

    The crystal was semi-transparent, but even if one looked inside, one would only see a murky ck fog.

    Crack!

    Soon enough, cracks began to form on the crystal before ballooning and covering the entire surface.

    Boom!

    A glistening white hand reached out of thergest crack and grabbed onto the side of the crystal. Soon enough, a second hand followed. Once they had gotten a firm grip on the hard crystalyer, they pulled apart, causing the already fragile material to shatter.

    The murky ck fog that filled the crystal parted before suddenly gathering towards a central point, as if being attracted by a suction force. And in the next instant, it disappeared.

    What was left was the naked body of a man who stood at 1.9 meters tall. His skin was like a wless jade and as smooth as a baby''s bottom. His eyes were a swirling yin yang of amethyst and red, and his hair was midnight ck with streaks of silver like shooting stars.

    This hair, which had once only been shoulder length, had grown to the point where it cascades down the man''s back, almost touching his buttocks.

    "Ahhh¡­" A refreshed sound left the man''s mouth as he regained his bearings, his sparkling eyes gazing around in wonder.

    ''I feel like I''ve been reborn.''

    The man, who was naturally Damien, felt like ages had passed since he had entered the Primordial Undying Realm that he was currently within.

    After the first round of strengthening he received from the strange magma that flowed from the ground beneath him, he had entered a strange state of meditation where he couldn''t feel the passing of time. His only focus was the constant changes in his body.

    ''Damn, my internal body clock feels out of wack.''

    It could''ve been days or it could''ve been months, he honestly didn''t know how much time he had spent. But he was extremely happy with his gains regardless.

    Swoosh!

    He waved his hand in the air. There was no mana imbued into the action and he didn''t even try to put strength into it, but this small movement caused the winds around him to whistle.

    ''The space here is incredibly sturdy, even sturdier than it is in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. But the power of my motions right now¡­if I was on earth it wouldn''t be difficult to crack space with just this much.''

    It was amazing. Not only did the strengthening improve his physical strength and defense, but it also affected more elusive things. His throat which had been strengthened to breathe the breath of a dragon and even his eyes which he received from a spider, even these received a portion of strengthening.

    ''But if I walk around with this much power, I might identally break shit.''

    Cracking his neck, Damien took a stance and began practicing basic fist movements and steps. His feet danced around the cracked ground and his hands waved through the air as if it was an interpretive dance.

    In the beginning, each and every step he took caused the ground to crack and each movement of his hands caused the winds to rage, but as time passed, the effects he had on the environment slowly lessened.

    What felt like days passed like this, with Damien unceasingly absorbed in consolidating his new strength, and finally, he was able to move normally with steps light enough to not even leave footprints in sand.

    When that point was reached, Damien opened his eyes once again, but the first thing he realized was that he was no longer in the same ce he was when he started his movements.

    ''This is¡­''

    Surrounding him, there were roughly 100 crystals that bore striking resemnce to the one he had broken out of only a few days prior.

    ''Are these the other geniuses that entered with me? Why is there so little?''

    But it didn''t take long for him to reach the answer. A being like the Primordial Undying Tree, for it, there wouldn''t be much difficulty in creating multiple spaces for simr trials to take ce.

    These must be the survivors from his group alone.

    ''But why am I out while they''re still going through it? Did I not reap the benefits properly?''

    But that wasn''t it. He was the bearer of the Void Physique. If there was one thing he was confident in, it was reaping all possible benefits of a reward like this one.

    ''Ah right, that''s what it was.''

    His Void Physique. It could make the absorption of a treasure that would usually take years to absorb easily reduce to only a few weeks of time.

    Like this, it was only natural that he finished before them. It was also natural that he would receive much more strength than them.

    ''What an overpowered physique.''

    To date, he had only discovered the one main function and a few branches of the same function of the physique. He didn''t know if there were more benefits for having it, but even if the known function was the only one, he''d be content.

    It was an ultimate supportive ability. It would prevent any foreign mana or energy from invading his body, which would counter most poisons as well as more elusive things like possession.

    It would also help him safely absorb any kind of treasure as long as it was energy based. As long as the treasure didn''t outss him by too much, he''d be fine.

    It was overpowered, but it wasn''t broken. But that was perfect. Damien loved training and he loved gaining strength that he earned himself. Even a reward like this one was only granted due to his endurance.

    He''d be disappointed if his path to strength was as easy as just absorbing insane Godly Treasures until he reached the peak in one leap.

    While Damien was thinking, he sat down in meditation, waiting for the others to wake from their slumbers. It had already been a few hours since he arrived in this area, but he hadn''t seen any way to leave it.

    Obviously, the next stage or trial or whatever would be something that the entire group would participate in.

    Damien''s mind drifted away from the current circumstances and began to meld with the space around him.

    The boundless wastnd he was in started to feel not so boundless after all. It was just a trick of perception, with space mirroring itself and appearing endless when instead the true area was only a small portion of what it seemed.

    Damien felt theyers of space and sent his awareness through them one by one. If the outside world of the Cloud ne had spatialyers that felt like fabric, the 3000 Beast Mountain Range hadyers that felt like viscous water.

    As for the space within this secret realm, eachyer was like an opaque wall that he had to put genuine effort into passing through.

    ''Teleportation within this realm will be extremely difficult.''

    No, it was almost impossible. His current understanding of space hadn''t reached a level even close to being able to freely manipte the space in this realm.

    ''As for my offensive abilities¡­''

    He waved his hand lightly, causing space to ripple slightly before distorting into a small ck hole on his palm.

    ''Strange. It''s as if there isn''t a singlew for the space here. It''s malleable when it wishes and firm when it wants. It does as it pleases. As long as I''m not attempting to teleport, it doesn''t limit my usage of spatial abilities.''

    Damien couldn''t help but marvel at the abilities of the Primordial Undying Tree. That old monster of a tree was even capable of doing something as unfathomable as this. It was insane.

    Crack!

    While he was testing his abilities, he heard a light cracking sound from the distance. This sound was soon followed by many others to the point where it seemed like an orchestral crescendo of cracking.

    And soon enough, the 99 crystals surrounding Damien were shattered into pieces.

 Chapter 242 Primordial Undying Realm [6]

    Chapter 242 Primordial Undying Realm [6]

    "Bastard! Come let this Big Sister hit you!"

    mes danced wildly in the atmosphere as they rushed forth and seemed to chase a single man who was drifting around with a smile on his face.

    "Ah! How can you bully a poor man like me? What am I supposed to do now?" Amused words left the man''s mouth. Although the mes that surged towards him seemed to have the intent to kill, he knew that wasn''t the case.

    "You! You dare tease me?! Let me show you who''s boss around here!" A woman yelled towards the man who was dodging her blows without a care in the world. Her face was flushed from the anger that was evident in her words.

    But all she was met with was lightughter from the man who her anger was directed at.

    Damien smiled in amusement as he thought about how the situation ended up like this.

    A few minutes ago, the crystals that decorated the area around him had shattered and the geniuses within them had left their confines.

    Unlike Damien, they were somehow able to keep their clothes on their bodies when they left their crystals. Or maybe, they had put clothes on before breaking out. Either way, there weren''t any awkward situations that arose from such a problem.

    Instead, once the geniuses regained their bearings, they gazed at each other warily, taking note of the people who had been able to survive the hellish trial they had just gone through.

    And of the 100 people in the area, one was a strikingly beautiful girl with ming red hair and eyes. She looked down upon the others like a proud swan, not caring about their various gazes.

    That is¡­until she saw a certain man among them. That man, although they had only met twice, had taken advantage of her both times in different ways.

    When she saw his face, her mind drifted back to the words her best friend and sister had told her before they entered this realm. The meaning of the term ''little brother'' that the man in front of her had used at that time.

    And when she remembered that meaning, her face became bright red. In the next instant, she attacked.

    And that was how the current situation came about. One chasing and the other fleeing in what looked like aedic skit due to Damien''s actions but was actually a somewhat fierce confrontation.

    Or to be more urate, a probe.

    ''This man isn''t simple at all. Luna was correct as always.'' Feng Qing''er marveled inwardly as she watched the fleeting movements of the man named Damien.

    Lunaria Snow had already told her that the man was a strong contender even for them, but she hadn''t been able to believe it. She was the Fire Phoenix Queen, ranked top 3 on the 3000 Beast Record. There was no way for her to easily ept that a random stranger was able to match her prowess.

    But the scene in front of her forced her to see reality. She wasn''t going all out, she wasn''t even near the peak of her abilities, especially with the previous strengthening she had received. But still, even the level of strength she was currently using was enough to easily deal with anyone below the top 5 on the rankings.

    That was the difference between them and the rest. That was the chasm that caused a reality where the top 5 positions rarely ever changed from the ones who upied them.

    Heaving a light sigh, she decided to stop her actions. There was no point in the ongoing situation anyway. The fierce reddish-orange mes that danced through the surroundings slowly withdrew back into Feng Qing''er''s body.

    Damien stopped fleeing as well. From start to finish he hadn''t made a move to attack. He figured that the best way to deal with this probe was to not show anything at all, while also making it clear that he couldn''t be easily messed with.

    Even if his teleportation was suppressed, he could still move freely within a 1-meter radius. And coupled with his lighting, speed wasn''t something just anyone couldpete with him in.

    ''This girl truly deserves her spot in the rankings.''

    Although it was just a sea of mes like he had witnessed many times before, Damien wasn''t an ordinary person. He could see clearly the amount of fine control Feng Qing''er had over her mana, as well as the purity of the mana itself.

    Her mana was as dense as a mountain. The sheer physical force of her mes was enough to crush some of the weaker geniuses who entered the Primordial Undying Realm with them, not to mention the heat.

    And with her being a Fire Phoenix, her mes couldn''t be as simple as just that much. He knew how many cards she must''ve been hiding. That was also part of the reason he didn''t pay much attention to her attacks and chose to have fun with it instead.

    Well, that was like 20% of the reason. As for the rest¡­

    ''Teasing people with personalities like hers has always been oddly satisfying.''

    Damien smiled lightly at the thought. He really couldn''t help himself. He knew that his actions could be considered flirting by others, but he didn''t care.

    In a ce like the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, he could act as he pleased. There was no such thing as makingsting rtionships like love in this ce, since he would be leaving at some point and the people here didn''t have that ability.

    So, he teased and enjoyed to his heart''s content. Especially with a woman like Feng Qing''er, he knew he didn''t have to worry about any burdensome feelings. Her rtionship with that Lunaria Snow seemed to be proof of that.

    ''What am I thinking about at such a time?''

    The suddenness of the situation ended up slightly lowering his sense of urgency, but he came back to his senses soon enough.

    Ignoring the geniuses who were looking at him with a slight bit of fear now, he surveilled the surroundings.

    ''Hmm, nothing seems to have changed on the surface, but space isn''t the same as it used to be.''

    "Oi, rank 3, did you feel it?" Damien asked.

    "Are you talking to me?" Feng Qing''er responded in displeasure.

    "Duh, is there anyone else here that''s ranked 3rd?"

    "Hmph! I don''t like your tone at all."

    "And do you think you have the ability to fix it?" Damien replied with a grin.

    Feng Qing''er gritted her teeth. ''If it wasn''t for mother''s suggestion, I would''ve burned you to ashes already!''

    But outwardly, she just snorted once more. "I''ve felt it clearly. The mes that swirl through the underground have already cooled, and they seem to be flowing more naturally towards the west. If I''m not mistaken, the exit to this area should be there."

    Damien raised his brow. He hade to the same conclusion, but her method seemed to be much more interesting than his.

    "Right. But with the way we''ve all been gathered here, I''m sure everyone needs to pass through for the next trial to start. So, rank 3, why don''t you rally up the small fry and bring them with us?"

    "Hmph, you don''t have to tell me. I was already nning on doing that."

    Luckily, the other geniuses weren''t able to hear their conversation, as they were generally farther away. Otherwise, there might''ve been amotion at Damien''s way of addressing them.

    Soon enough, the crowd of 100 moved towards the west and arrived at the point of space Damien had noticed earlier.

    Just like his previous assessment, space here was flexible. Unlike the solid space that had infested the rest of the area, the point in front of them was malleable, almost as if it was urging them to walk through it.

    And walk through it they did. There was no hesitation in the steps of even the weakest among them.

    The light of spatial fluctuations covered the group, and when they opened their eyes once more, they were in apletely new environment.

    Gone was the barren wastnd and blistering heat of before. It was reced by mountains and ins in an area that seemed far toorge to fit inside the world tree.

    "The Primordial Undying Tree is truly magnificent."

    A plethora of amazed gasps rang out. The area surrounding them spanned farther than the eye could see. And unlike the trick of perception that made the previous area seem endless, this one was truly so.

    "It seems like this next trial will be something big," Damienmented with a serious expression.

    There was no way the trial would be simple if they were given so much space. Especially if they took the precious trial as precedent.

    "Right. If thest trial was a test of will you weed out the ones who don''t even deserve to step foot into this realm, this will be the first true trial that we have to surpass." Feng Qing''er added.

    With such arge area, it was impossible for the trial to just begin without them being informed of its contents. But, the one administering the trials was a tree. How would it even inform them?

    But they weren''t left guessing for long.

    In front of each and every one of the geniuses, a light blue holographic window emerged from the air.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree is gazing at those who entered its realm.]

 Chapter 243 Trial World [1]

    Chapter 243 Trial World [1]

    "The Primordial Undying Tree is gazing at those who entered its realm.]

    A wave of shivers rushed through the group of geniuses when they received the prompt. A good portion of them even took the time to warily nce around, trying to spot the tree that was apparently watching them.

    But it was a futile effort. Damien knew this well. If the tree was anywhere in the general vicinity, there was no reason for the message to pop up in a system window. And if the tree didn''t want to make its gaze known, there was no way they''d ever know they were being watched.

    "How insanely powerful¡­" a soft mutter left his lips.

    Even Feng Qing''er subconsciously nodded at his words. This kind of power wasn''t something they could imagine. They doubted even the Beast Kings had the ability to send messages through the system.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree watches the outsiders.]

    [The Primordial Undying Tree shakes its branches]

    [The Primordial Undying Tree decides to speak.]

    Damien''s eyes sharpened.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree administers a trial.]

    A new form of text appeared in the eyes of the geniuses.

    [Trial of Stars]

    [Although there are a myriad of ways for the Primordial Undying Tree to test those who enter its realm, and a myriad of ways for their worthiness to be proven, there is one thing that trumps all else.

    Strength.

    In this world, there is nothing more important than strength, and for the first elimination round, the Primordial Undying Tree will be testing just that.]

    Suddenly, 100 bright shes of light appeared in the sky like stars. After showing their splendor for a second, they began to fall.

    "What?!"

    "They''re aiming for us!"

    While some of the geniuses panicked at the rapidly approaching stars, Damien and Feng Qing''er simply stood and watched them descend.

    When those 100 stars reached a point near the geniuses, they split into formation and shot into the foreheads of all those present.

    100 stars. 100 geniuses. It was obviously preordained.

    The foreheads of those geniuses shone with starlight before the scene settled down. Now, there were dull silver star tattoos on each of their foreheads.

    [100 stars representing 100 contestants. Within thends of the small realm, there are a plethora of different beasts and species. Every time one kills another within the realm, their star will grow. The rate of growth depends on the strength of the opponent.

    If a contestant kills another contestant, they will be able to absorb half of the light of thetter contestant''s star. The star colors are ranked as follows: Silver, Gold, Purple, ck, White.

    Only those with ck Stars by the end of the given time period will be able to move on to the next trial.

    Trial Duration: 1 year.]

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. ''As expected, it''s an elimination round.'' When he looked at the geniuses around him, he noticed that each and every one of them was eyeing the others with concealed greed.

    He shook his head. ''These idiots.''

    Naturally, the fact that killing another genius would allow them to absorb half of their starlight was too enticing of an offer for them to refuse, but the fact that they were so obviously showcasing their greed over just this much was pathetic in his eyes.

    They didn''t even have starlight at the moment, so what was the point of all this tension they were creating? It was counterintuitive to the max.

    But Damien wasn''t of the mind to care about this. ''A year?! This trial alone will take a year?! Shit!''

    He wanted to leave the forest in 7 months at thetest. No, he had to. The Empyrean Dragon Realm opening was at that time, and no matter what, he needed to show up there.

    With all the benefits he was gaining from this trip to the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, he no longer cared much for the treasures of that realm, but that wasn''t why it was important.

    ''Rose¡­''

    She would be there. For the first time in a year, he would be able to see his beloved. He had no idea how long the Empyrean Dragon Realm would stay open and he also had no idea what would happen after it ended. Either way, there was no way in hell he was going to miss the opportunity to see the woman he had been missing with all his heart.

    He gritted his teeth in frustration. ''What can I do?'' This was a realm made by a tree that vastly outstripped him in power. From the start, it was made clear that the only way to leave this realm was when it closed or through death.

    ''Fuck!''

    Damienmented his fate. An entire year in this trial, and even more time in the rest of the trials. By the time he edited this realm, the outside world would''ve changed already.

    The war on the horizon, the movements of the Nox, Devil worshippers, and Wicked Sects, they were all things that would be increasingly prevalent in theing times.

    Not to mention, if they didn''t contact Tian Yang around the time they were supposed to exit the mountain range, he''d likely charge into the fray to save them. And if that happened, the outside world would lose a powerhouse because of them.

    ''I can''t let that happen.''

    Damien racked his brain for a solution. ''Right, that could work.'' He turned his gaze to the other geniuses.

    ''If they die, if the number gets reduced to a point where the entire purpose of the trial bes futile, perhaps it will allow us forward earlier.''

    A dense bloodlust began to slowly radiate from his body. It was so palpable that the air around him seemed to be dyed red.

    ''Good. This n will work. It has to work.''

    Inky ck dragon scales showed signs of protruding from his flesh. His eyes were almost engulfed in that blood-red color.

    But at that moment, he sensed something else.

    ''Eh?''

    It was weak and so ethereal that not a single other person was able to sense it, but he felt it clearly. It was so jarring to him that it snapped him out of his bloodlust.

    The other weaker geniuses felt a cold sweat run down their backs. They didn''t know where the feeling wasing from, but they felt for a second that they were being stared down by a horror-inducing beast. It was a visceral feeling that made them think death was on the horizon.

    Many geniuses raised their guard when that feeling suddenly vanished. Evidently, this trial would be anything but simple. The beasts here must be incredibly powerful.

    The crowd slowly dispersed from the area they were in. The trial had already started, after all. Every second from this point forth would count.

    Feng Qing''er cast a strange look towards Damien before turning and departing as well. As expected, she had been aware of where the previous feeling originated from.

    A hooded figure watched themotion from the back of the crowd. Inconspicuously, a smile formed on their face. "Hehe, how interesting." Soon after, that figure disappeared as well.

    A few momentster, only Damien was left in ce, so deep in thought that he hadn''t even realized that he was now alone.

 Chapter 244 Trial world [2]

    Chapter 244 Trial world [2]

    "Did I feel wrong?''

    Damien wondered. That feeling was so fleeting that he almost questioned whether it was an illusion felt due to his insanity for a second.

    But no. It couldn''t be. That was a feeling that he had only felt a few times before, but he knew it clearly. It had been ingrained in his body.

    ''That essence is¡­''

    Without wasting a second, he sat down on the ground and entered a meditative state. His awareness slowly spread from his body and covered the area 10 meters around him.

    His forehead wrinkled. ''Why can''t I sense it anymore?''

    He could feel the extremely solid space and even the myriad of elemental essences in the surroundings, but that specific essence was no longer present.

    ''No, it''s there. I just don''t know how to look for it.''

    It was something he had tried to grasp for so long, yet even now he barely had an inkling of the path forward.

    It was an essence equally as esoteric as space, yet pertaining to apletely different concept.

    Time.

    For a brief instant, Damien had felt the essence of time swirling through the surroundings.

    Although time, like space, would always have its essence permeated through the surroundings, maintaining the order of the universe, what Damien had felt was different.

    He had not yet reached the level where he could freely feel the essence of time. If he had done so, his status panel wouldn''t be filled with question marks. The affinity for time would be clearly documented.

    For his affinity to not yet have bloomed, it showed just how elusive the element itself was.

    And for Damien to be able to feel its essence even for a second, there had to be an influx of it.

    ''Right, I have to be right! If it''s like that, then I no longer have to worry.''

    He put all his focus into trying to once again feel that essence. Although he had a guess as to why there was arge amount of it in the atmosphere, he didn''t want to gain constion from a mere guess.

    His awareness weighed down on the atmosphere like a mountain. He no longer gently allowed it to interact with the surrounding essences, instead bearing down on them and forcing them out of the way, trying to clear the area.

    It was a grueling process. These elemental manas weren''t things he could just randomly interact with, since he didn''t have any affinity towards them. He had to use his affinity for space to try and bend and distort the spatial mana in the atmosphere to actively push away all other outside influences.

    And with the sturdiness of the space in this realm, it was an incredibly hard task.

    It took almost an entire day for him to seed in this endeavor, but he wasn''t discouraged by this measly speed. He had an entire year in this realm, and he had confidence in his ability to seed in this trial. Brute strength was, after all, the thing he was best at.

    Damien sat still like an old monk, his entire attention on the ethereal essences that made up the air. He didn''t even put an ounce of his focus towards the outside world. If someone were to sneak up on him at the moment, he''d bepletely vulnerable to their attack.

    Well, that was if his eyes and Danger Sense from long ago weren''t always passively activated.

    A day passed, then two, then three, until finally, an entire week went by with no movements from Damien.

    And at that time, his body slightly jerked.

    Within Damien''s mind, the image of a formless and colorless essence was attempting to form. It swirled around the atmosphere calmly and unhurried, not making its presence known in the slightest.

    But still, it was there. It was there and extremely important. Even if others weren''t able to sense it ore into contact with it, they would always subconsciously be aware of its presence.

    Damien had finally glimpsed the essence of time.

    But hisprehension hadn''t increased at all in this week. He hadn''t even bothered to try. Instead, he had brute forced his way through the process just so he could feel the essence itself.

    His goal at the moment wasn''tprehension and he wasn''t trying to awaken the affinity. Instead, all he was trying to do was confirm something.

    And seeing the essence swirling in front of him, Damien felt his entire body slightly rx.

    "Hahaha!" Heughed. It was an uproarious and joyousugh that one wouldn''t expect from someone who had simply been sitting still for an entire week.

    "I was right! I was right! Hahahaha!" He almost jumped around like a little kid.

    There was only one thing Damien cared about right now. It was the fact that he''d have to spend a year within this realm and that he''d miss his chance to see Rose again.

    But when he sensed the essence of time, he felt a faint glimmer of hope. Now that he had properly investigated, that glimmer of hope had fully bloomed.

    "Hahahaha! The time flow here has been altered! So it''s like that, it''s like that!"

    The time flow within this realm was different from the outside world. It wasn''t just a simply 1:2 ratio either, it was muchrger than that.

    Since Damien wasn''t an expert or even a novice in the time element, he wasn''t able toe to a proper conclusion on the exact conversion ratio, but he was still someone with a blooming affinity towards the element.

    Not to mention, space and time were always mentioned in the same breath. There would rarely ever be one without the other. Due to this, he had a sort of instinct that he couldn''t quite exin.

    Although he didn''t know how much time would pass in the outside world while a year passed here, he knew that it wouldn''t be long at all. He knew that he''d still have plenty of time before the predetermined date of his departure from the mountain range.

    And if it was like this, he no longer had any worries.

    ''I can go crazy.''

    In an environment with no 4th ss existences who could stop him, where killing meant moving forward in the trials, where time was sped up, he didn''t have any worries.

    He could go crazy. He could relieve some of the stress that had been unknowingly built up over time since he hade to the Cloud ne.

    Even he wasn''t aware that he had built up stress until this moment. Only when his worries about Rose were cleared, he felt the massive weight that had been burdening his shoulders.

    Such was the result of him being constantly embroiled in things that a normal 3rd ss existence shouldn''t be getting involved with.

    But none of that mattered. Looking at the rolling ins and forests, as well as the towering mountains in the distance, Damien felt a smile bloom on his face.

    Crack!

    The ground cracked under the pressure of his feet. ck lightning raged across his body. And in the next second, he disappeared.

    Boom!

    A dust cloud rose from his movements and followed him as he rushed towards the scent of beast mana in the atmosphere.

    Perhaps, it was time to go on another killing spree.

 Chapter 245 Trial World [3]

    Chapter 245 Trial World [3]

    When Damien made it down the small hill where the group of geniuses originally arrived at, the first thing he was met with was a vast and seemingly endless forest. From within the forest, the cries and howls of beasts could be heard.

    Ignoring any unnecessary thoughts, he continued to charge forward, his speed enhanced by lightning and a hint of space.

    This was something Damien only learned how to apply recently, but had been pondering over for a long time. It was a new movement technique that specialized in short linear bursts rather than free movement like teleportation.

    The reason he had never prioritized its development was simply because with the freedom of teleportation, why should he? His teleport skill was incredibly versatile, and it was able to carry over momentum when he moved through space, so there was no need for a technique like this.

    But he still put some spare time into developing it. After all, it wasn''t the concept of the technique that mattered, but what it represented.

    Right now, every time Damien moved, a sh of lightning would slightly swirl and mix with his restricted spatial mana, creating a new illusory form of lightning. This lightning would then burst, causing him to essentially teleport forward close to 5 meters at a time.

    But unlike normal teleportation, this effect was mainly brought about by pure speed.

    And the reason it was important? Damien had reached a preliminary understanding on how to fuse his different elemental manas as one. Although his foundation and knowledge on the principle werecking, he was totally fine with taking things one step at a time. He would eventually reach the proper answer as long as he kept trying.

    Damien shed forward speedily, ignoring all the low-rank beasts that littered the surroundings. In the first ce, most of them had already been killed by the other geniuses. But even if they weren''t, Damien wouldn''t care.

    He was familiar with this kind of setup. It was more efficient to hunt a smaller number of stronger beasts than arge number of weak ones. It''d probably reap him better rewards as well.

    Damien''s steps didn''t halt even when he came to the edge of the forest, instead, speeding up. He didn''t have a target location, but he at least wanted to get somewhat farther into the small realm.

    "A trial of simply strength and hunting. Although I would prefer it if it was something so simple, I highly doubt a venerable old monster like the Primordial Undying Tree wouldn''t have a few tricks up its sleeve."

    Damien had a lot of spare time as he moved since there weren''t any beasts in the area that could threaten him, so he decided to ponder on the nature of the trial.

    "Not only that, but the trial window also didn''t mention any treasures or rewards for the winner. The only reward is moving forward to the next trial.

    "But the Elf Queen had clearly stated that there would be rewards in every trial. Sometimes, the treasures we could gain wouldn''t be frompletion but instead from participation.

    "A secret realm within a small realm in a secret realm? Haha, imagine. But still, there has to be something."

    Damien recalled the trial window once more, trying to find ws in the wording. It would always be some sort of loophole or suggestion within the original text that would contain hints at times like this.

    "Hmm, ording to the trial window, it isn''t just beasts and contestants within this realm. Another lifeform? Maybe an indigenous poption?"

    Damien''s thoughts raced. ''If there''s an indigenous poption of sentient beings living here, the trial probably won''t be simple. Although we outsiders can start a war here without worries since we won''t be staying for long, I doubt the Primordial Undying Tree would appreciate usmitting genocide of people it chose to house in its realm.''

    The line of thought came out of nowhere, but Damien couldn''t stop thinking of it. After all, he needed to n for unexpected situations.

    Unbeknownst to him, the answer to his questions was only a few tens of kilometers away from him.

    Within a murky swamp, a little girl had fallen into the muddy ground in front of her, her legs unable to move anymore. Still, she did her best to move. Her immature hands wed at the ground in a bid to inch her body forward.

    "Huuu¡­Huuuuman¡­" a low growl was emitted from the space behind her.

    "Human¡­kill¡­"

    "Kill¡­kill¡­"

    It was soon apanied by tens, maybe even hundreds of other simr growls. The atmosphere of the swamp was dark and gloomy, making it hard for the sun to show its color, but the faint outlines of the groaning creatures could still be seen.

    Their bodies varied in size and girth, some being 3-meter tall giants while others were merely 1-meter tall like dwarves. Their bodies also ranged from fit to lean to fat without any sort of rhyme or reason. But they all had simr features otherwise.

    The creatures stood on two legs and had humanoid shapes. Their heads and bodies were riddled with holes and wounds and their gait was awkward and unnatural.

    But the most striking feature was their eyes. The eyes of these creatures were hollow and caved in. Their eyeballs were entirely ckened as if they had been corrupted by poison.

    These creatures seemed to move with one will. The will to kill and devour the human they sensed in front of them.

    And the little girl knew this. She knew this, but she didn''t want to die. Glistening tears streaked down her face as she continued to w at the ground. If only her legs worked, she might''ve had a chance to escape. If only the ground was more solid, movement might''ve been easier.

    But unfortunately, none of those were the case. As the little girl tried her best to move forward, she was soon blocked by one of the many massive boulders that littered thend.

    "Ah¡­" a slight murmur was all she could get out of her mouth. She had been running and running for days on end. Her eyes were muddled and her throat was dry, but she couldn''t stop running.

    ''Somebody¡­somebody please¡­!'' The words she wished to say couldn''t make it out of her throat. She knew she no longer had hope of surviving.

    For the first time, the little girl decided to turn back and take a look at her approaching murderers.

    The crowd of humanoid abominations hadn''t stopped moving, uncaring of her pleas. By this point, they had already arrived near her.

    The little girl closed her eyes. ''Remember! Remember to never let them get you! No matter what, you have to remember!''

    A mournful voice rang out in her head. The little girl gritted her teeth before reaching under her torn shirt and grabbing the final measure of protection she had been left with.

    The dagger in her hand was rusted and already broken in half, but the rest of the de was enough to do what she needed to do.

    The memories of what happened to her vige, to her mother and father, were still fresh in her head. Without a hint of hesitation, the little girl pointed the dagger towards herself and plunged it forward.

    But¡­the pain never came.

    "Eh?"

    When she opened her eyes, she saw arge hand in the space between the dagger and her neck. No matter how much she used her small strength to push forward, she wasn''t even able to leave a scratch on that hand.

    The little girl looked up with her watery eyes and saw a face filled with warmth and pity looking back at her.

    It was the first time she had seen eyes as mystical as the ones in front of her.

 Chapter 246 Trial World [4]

    Sensing warmth for the first time in many days, the little girl felt the firm will that she had just built up grumble in an instant. Her watery eyes once again began to pour with tears as she clutched the hand of the man in front of her.

    She didn¡¯t know where he came from and she had been told many times not to trust strangers. But she didn¡¯t care. Seeing someone other than these horrifying creatures and seeing someone who was looking at her with such warmth had pushed her over the edge.

    Sorrowful and cracked wails left the dry throat of that little girl. She wanted to climb up and hug the man for more warmth, but her frail and broken legs didn¡¯t allow her suchfort.

    But seeing how hard she was clutching into his robes, the man seemed to understand her desire. Gently grabbing her, he picked her up and carried her, hugging her lightly and patting her back.

    ¡°Alright. There, there. No need to cry anymore.¡±

    The little girl¡¯s wails only became louder. Her face was buried in his neck as she desperately absorbed as much warmth as she could.

    Luckily, she was too immersed in this warmth to feel the dense killing intent radiating from the man. Or perhaps, he just wasn¡¯t allowing her to feel it.

    Killing intent. No matter how severe the word sounded, Damien didn¡¯t think it was enough to describe what he was feeling right now.<sub>.</sub>

    The pure and unbridled rage he was feeling, the conscious desire to murder that was greater than any he had ever felt before. Was mere killing intent enough to describe it?

    The surroundings no longer held any simrity to the murky swamp they originally were. The bloody red aura emanating from Damien¡¯s body had begun to twist reality, creating an illusion of seas of blood and a mountain of corpses.

    Damien wasn¡¯t a soft-hearted person. There was no way he, who hadn¡¯t even batted an eye at the ughter of so many, could be considered as such. But children? Children were a red zone for him.

    For adults, even for teens, innocence could be considered a sin. It was something that was useless unless one had the power to back up such innocence. But for kids? Innocence was the thing only they could retain in this cruel world where everyone else was a murderer of some sort.

    To see this little girl who didn¡¯t look a day older than five point a rusted knife at her throat, to see her plunge it towards her body without hesitation, it sent Damien over the edge.

    The pressure from his reality warping killing desire was like a decree of death. The second any of those humanoid abominations got within range of it, they were crushed into pulp that dyed the muddy ground in a dense ck color.

    Smelling the scent of another human, a stronger human, those creatures charged forward without fear or care. Even when they saw the others being crushed without effort( they didn¡¯t stop. But Damien didn¡¯t focus on any of this.<sub></sub>

    His focus was entirely on the little girl in his embrace. It was probably one of the first times in his life that hemented not having the ability to share his regeneration.

    It could only be counted as luck that Ruyue had forced him to take some of her healing pills with him just in case. After all, she had witnessed Damien being unable to heal due tock of mana before, and she wasn¡¯t one to take chances.

    The warmth of Damien¡¯s embrace seemed to be overwhelming for this little girl who had been running on pure adrenaline and will for the past few days. After only a few minutes of despairing sobs, she directly fell asleep.

    Damien gently pried open her mouth and fed her a healing pill, using his hand on her back to inject mana into her body and gently guide the healing essence to do its job.

    ¡®This girl¡­she doesn¡¯t even have an ounce of mana.¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t something like running out of mana, no, this was a girl who had never in another in her life, never gained experience. Although it could be considered as normal for a 5-year-old to be as such, Damien had long grown ustomed to the twisted standards of the new world.

    5 years old, even if it was incredibly young, it wasn¡¯t rare at all for people to force children of this age to kill. This was so that they could get limated to the true environment of the world.<sub></sub>

    While many would just use pills or regr cultivation to boost a child¡¯s growth and give them a few levels, the former method wasn¡¯t rare at all.

    Damien felt immense pity for this little girl. How long had she been struggling with her weak body and pathetic strength? But at the same time, he couldn¡¯t help but admire her tenacity.

    In some ways, she even reminded him of himself. Before he had be the Damien Void of today, before he had mutated and gained a path towards strength. Back when he was just a kid who was pushed into a dungeon, when he had strength so puny that everyone felt he was guaranteed to die.

    ¡®Actually,paring the two of us is an insult to her.¡¯

    It had taken him so long to build up the will to survive, and even then, that will was weak. It could be said that the battle with the wolf and his descent into insanity thereafter was like a cheat for him to steel himself easier.

    But this little girl didn¡¯t have any of that. Her strength, her age, it was all below what he had at that time, yet she had done so much better than him in the face of adversity.

    It felt like tears would start gathering in his eyes if he continued thinking about it, so he stopped. Turning his attention to the hundreds of abominations that still littered the surroundings, his eyes turned cold.

    ¡°Oi, you little shits. You probably can¡¯t understand me with your Jin¡¯s-dick-sized brains, but listen anyway. I¡¯m going to murder all of you to vent my frustrations, so just wait patiently to die, okay?¡±

    ck lightning viciously crackled in the air, snapping forth like whips of darkness and rending even the wind around him. Ayer of spatial mana covered the little girl in bud embrace so she wouldn¡¯t be harmed.

    Since he made sure that even sound couldn¡¯t pass through the barrier heid around her, he had no need to hold back on using some of his more destructive attacks.

    ¡®Besides, too much movement might wake her up.¡¯

    Damien raised his free hand towards the sky, his cold and emotionless eyes never leaving the abominations that still attempted to charge him. Opening his mouth, he spoke 3 words that he had only spoken once before.

    ¡°Storm Dragon¡¯s Fury.¡±

    The murky skies became even murkier as dense clouds filled with the weight of thousands of strands of ck lightning encased them.

    Booming thunder rumbled, causing the ground to quake in fear.

    The ck lightning within the clouds migrated towards a central point andbined into a massive ball,pressing endlessly until it was too small to see with the naked eye.

    And in the next second, it descended.

    Unlike the previous time he used it, Damien now had confidence in protecting himself from the aftermath. Not only that, but he was also genuinely aiming to kill.

    A small beam with the width of an arm quietly struck the ground. And all hell broke loose.

    The destruction caused by that small beam couldn¡¯t even be described. A ck light simr to a ck hole swallowed everything in a 10-kilometer radius without pause.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    A small mutter was heard from Damien¡¯s chest. When he nced down, he noticed that little girl watching the ongoing mayhem with eyes that shone like stars.

    Damien smiled wryly at the sight. Even though he had just killed hundreds with the flick of his finger, and even though he was still technically within the st radius of the attack, his thoughts were elsewhere.

    ¡®Fuck. In the end, I still woke her up.¡¯

 Chapter 247 Trial World [5]

    LThe thundering clouds that filled the sky soon faded away and melded into the air. A cool wind blew through the atmosphere that was once a murky swamp and cleared away the massive cloud of debris that was in its ce.

    When the smoke cleared, the only thing left in the area was arge pit that was slowly being filled by the brownish water of the swamp, and two people who silently stood in the middle of that pit.

    ¡®Damn, I think I overdid it a bit.¡¯

    If Ruyue were here, she¡¯d probably chide him about his definition of ¡®a bit¡¯ but that was besides the point. The enemies this time were all small fries who had at most hit the peak of 2nd ss of the very beginning of 3rd ss. An attack like his Storm Dragon¡¯s Fury that could even kill a heavenly genius like Long Chen if he was unprepared was most definitely too much effort.

    But his rage ended up getting the better of him, leading to him causing such amotion.

    ¡°Woooaaah!¡±

    Although the little girl he held in his bosom still found it hard pressed to speak actual words, sounds of amazement and wonder continuously left her mouth, and the shining gaze she directed at him made Damien slightly embarrassed.

    ¡°Kuhum, let¡¯s go somewhere morefortable first and get you some tasty food and drinks. How does that sound?¡±

    The little girl eagerly nodded, only then realizing the hunger she had been suppressing for many days.<sub>.</sub>

    Damien smiled. It seemed his presence had alleviated some of the burdens this little girl had been carrying. And if his otherwise stupid move earlier had aplished that, then he no longer felt bad about using it.

    Spreading his awareness, Damien noticed that the surroundings were no longer as quiet as they once were. Many beasts and even a few humans and abominations were headed in this direction, attracted to themotion he had caused.

    Once again looking at the little girl, Damien grinned. ¡°Hold on tight, little one. This big brother will show you the meaning of speed!¡±

    Two people, one big and one small, shared the same shining gaze for a moment before flickering away, their speed so fast that it didn¡¯t even leave impact on the air until many momentster.

    Boom!

    As the rush of wind from Damien¡¯s departure filled the atmosphere, a fiery red figure arrived in that ce as well. She looked at the now destroyed environment with a frown on her face.

    ¡°What happened here?¡±

    It had already been a week since the geniuses that came to this realm had spread out in search of prey to enhance their stars, but Feng Qing¡¯er was different.<sub></sub>

    Although she had taken simr actions at first, she had soon run into the remains of what seemed like it used to be a vige.

    Signs of infrastructure were evident, but anything that was built had been razed to the ground. The ground was littered with nks of wood and dirt, sometimes even rubble of stone. Dpidated portions of buildings that seemed to have aged and eroded considerably decorated the sides of what used to be a street.

    But that wasn¡¯t even close to the worst part.

    The dead bodies that littered the ground took the crown.

    ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± a rare curse left Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s mouth as she looked at the scene. Perhaps if it was just ordinary ughter she wouldn¡¯t have batted an eye, but this was different.

    These bodies looked like they had been tortured and mutted before death. And even after death it looked like they had be a feast for something else. There was rarely an entire intact body among the mass, and even the ones that were close were corroded by a ck inky substance that Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s Fire Phoenix mes seemed to abhor.

    Although she was a beast, it didn¡¯t mean she had no sense of decorum. Therger beast ns like hers rarely even took their beast forms unless it was necessary. Perhaps it was due to the environment she was raised in, but such a disgusting sight almost made her vomit.

    Feng Qing¡¯er spread her awareness to cover the vige, but sadly, she found no signs of life. ¡®What kind of creature wouldmit such a heartless massacre?¡¯<sub></sub>

    The Phoenixes in general were a graceful race in both bearing and temperament. They weren¡¯t afraid of violence at all, but they would never needlesslymit such massacres. Especially when¡­

    ¡®There¡¯s no mana in the atmosphere.¡¯

    Yes, ambient mana was ever present, but Feng Qing¡¯er was thinking of a different phenomenon. When a person died, their mana would dissipate into the atmosphere. This wasmon knowledge.

    And even though the atrocity in front of her looked like it had beenmitted long ago, she had checked with her awareness, and by the state of the bodies, she knew it had only taken ce a few days ago at most.

    For there to be none of that dissipated mana in the atmosphere, especially when hundreds of people had died at the same time, it could only mean one thing.

    ¡®They had no cultivation to speak of.¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er trembled in rage. She wanted to find the ones responsible and tear them to pieces. But just at that moment, bright shes of lightning lit up the air. By the time Feng Qing¡¯er looked over, arge portion ofnd had been covered in a sphere of crackling ck light.

    ¡®Is it them?¡¯

    ming wings manifested on her back as she zed forward, reaching the location of themotion only a few minutes after it died down.

    But by the time she arrived, there was nothing left besides a deep crater and traces of unbelievably dense killing intent.

    ***

    ¡°Woooow! Big brother is amazing!¡±

    A youthful voice cried out in wonder within a discreet cave hundreds of kilometers away from the previous swamp.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t I? This big brother is what you would call a master-level chef!¡± An older voice responded.

    In front of him, a burning me that originated from the sun was being used to¡­cook a pile of beast meat he had pulled out from his subspace.

    Damien grinned. Although he hadn¡¯t dabbled much in cooking, his skills were still anything but average. He had gotten used to dealing with beast meat within the dungeon, even if he had eaten it all raw, and he had learned the more refined cooking methods from Rose.

    The current meat was from a beast that looked like a massive chicken. Damien had spotted and killed a few of them on their way over. As for seasoning, he had plenty in his subspace.

    ¡®Damn. Some of the useless stuff that mom gave me is actuallying in handy.¡¯

    His mom had left him a plethora of random household items when he left her on Apeiron. Although she also must¡¯ve known he wouldn¡¯t need them, she still felt the need to provide at least something as his mother.

    And Damien happily epted her feelings. In front of the mother that he had worked so hard to save and bring back, he would never be anything more than a little boy.

    Anyway, Damien had been cooking and feeding that little girl the beast meat for a while now, but her appetite seemed insatiable. Damien was beginning to wonder if she was actually a Heaven-Swallowing beast in disguise.

    And after drinking what seemed like a gallon of water, the little girl had also regained her ability to talk. But Damien didn¡¯t push her to say much. He wanted to let her have a moment of peace after the travesty that she had obviously been to.

    After that peace ended, perhaps he¡¯d get the answers to a few questions that had been on his mind¡­

 Chapter 248 Trial Wworld [6]

    After cooking a portion of beast meat that would usually be enough to feed a family, Damien quietly sat and watched the little girl eat away.

    However; his thoughts were elsewhere.

    ¡®This realm is nowhere near as simple as I thought it was. Trial World? Secret realm? What a joke. If that was all this ce was, then the existence of those creatures would be impossible.¡¯

    Although he had been driven by his rage, he had obviously retained his rity when he saved the little girl earlier. Even if he didn¡¯t, the passive abilities of his eyes would always be active whether he liked it or not.

    Eventually, he would¡¯ve noticed what he had already noticed. Still, he wanted to ask the little girl about her story before he came up with any true conclusions.

    But he was hesitant. ¡®She just got out of such a perilous situation, and for a little girl with no cultivation like her to have even ended up like that, there must¡¯ve been some kind of tragedy beforehand. There¡¯s no way hundreds of those things would chase one person otherwise.¡¯

    Was it a wise idea to directly ask her about something that would obviously be her trauma? Damien knew how hung up he was on his own trauma, so he was a bit sensitive about the topic.

    Just as he was pondering how to move forward, the little girl moved from her spot at the little table Damien had made her and sat on hisp.

    ¡°Daddy and Mommy said to run, so Xue¡¯er ran.¡±<sub>.</sub>

    Damien was surprised by her sudden shift in attitude, but he didn¡¯t say anything. He focused his gaze on her and quietly listened.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er¡¯s vige was nice and small. All the little kids like Xue¡¯er were always happy and ying. But Daddy and Mommy always told Xue¡¯er about the scary ghosts that live in the world.¡±

    The little girl, whose name Damien now knew was Xue¡¯er, slightly shivered as she spoke.

    ¡°Daddy and Mommy said that the ghosts were bad people who listened to the Devil and that Xue¡¯er should be careful to never leave the vige alone. But they also said that Xue¡¯er would be safe as long as she was with the adults.

    ¡°But Daddy and Mommy were wrong. And now, Xue¡¯er is alone.¡±

    Xue¡¯er¡¯s light shivers had be uncontroble. Tears had once again begun to spill from her eyes. Damien sighed and turned her around, once again hugging her into his bosom and lightly brushing her midnight ck hair.

    It seemed that his actions were able to slightly calm her down because not long after, Xue¡¯er continued to speak.

    ¡°The bad ghosts came to Xue¡¯er¡¯s vige and did bad things. They took everyone Xue¡¯er loves away. But Daddy and Mommy didn¡¯t say anything. They only told Xue¡¯er to run away.¡±<sub></sub>

    And so that¡¯s what she did. While the people of her vige were being ughtered, Xue¡¯er ran as fast as she could into the nearby forest.

    But those things were insatiable. After taking everything they could from the people of the vige, they chased Xue¡¯er down as well. They were fast, faster than a little girl with no cultivation could run.

    Xue¡¯er could only be counted lucky. She had run for 3 days straight before those things even caught her scent and began chasing. As for what they did during those 3 days, Feng Qing¡¯er would probably have the best idea.

    ¡°The ghosts covered Xue¡¯er¡¯s friends in ck ink, and then Xue¡¯er¡¯s friends disappeared. Will-will Xue¡¯er disappear like them too? Xue¡¯er doesn¡¯t want to die!¡±

    Damien couldn¡¯t help but sigh once more. It was truly tragic, to the point where Xue¡¯er probably wouldn¡¯t realize the full extent of the tragedy until she was much older.

    Hundreds of vigers had been reduced to nothing, even the women and children weren¡¯t spared.

    Damien hugged her tightly and continued to brush her hair. He gently injected warm mana into her body to lessen her shivering.

    ¡°No. Xue¡¯er won¡¯t die. Didn¡¯t Big brother already say? Big brother is very powerful, and he won¡¯t let anything bad happen to you.¡±<sub></sub>

    Xue¡¯er lightly nodded her head, but the tears didn¡¯t stop falling. Although Damien couldn¡¯t see her eyes, he could guess what she was thinking.

    ¡®She¡¯s a lot smarter than I gave her credit for.¡¯

    Most likely, Xue¡¯er knew. She knew that she was alone in this world now, and that her parents and friends had been ughtered. A little girl with the determination to kill herself before being caught would naturally have this small amount of maturity.

    It was just¡­regardless of how much she had been forced to mature in the past few days, she was a child. A child who, before this, had never been through those kinds of hardships. Perhaps Damien¡¯s presence was the only reason she was able to truly vent her feelings and act like a child again.

    ¡®This level of trauma¡­I don¡¯t know if she can ever truly recover. No, I can¡¯t let that happen. There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll let such an innocent little girl be an empty shell of her former self.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s will seemed to ignite. He didn¡¯t know why, but he felt a connection to Xue¡¯er. He truly admired the grit of this little girl, and her current condition reminded him too much of his previous self.

    But his feelings aside, Xue¡¯er¡¯s story ended up confirming what Damien had spected.

    ¡®That inky ck substance she was talking aboutbined with the mana I saw around those abominations, there¡¯s no mistaking it.¡¯

    Once again, the Nox had made their appearance. He had suspected their involvement with the elves in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, but how could their influence even spread into this secret realm that was controlled by a mythical existence like the Primordial Undying Tree?

    As he thought previously, things became much moreplicated.

    Truthfully speaking, Damien had no reason to get involved. He could always ignore the problems happening with the Nox here and simply go on a killing spree until his star was ck.

    But, could he really?

    For one, anything rted to the Nox was directly or indirectly tied to the fate of the entire universe.

    Secondly, Damien was feeling rage in Xue¡¯er¡¯s ce. The feeling of this little girl cut into his heart, and he couldn¡¯t find it in himself to simply ignore her and continue on.

    Andstly, there had always been something nagging at Damien¡¯s mind. Back when he was in that little forest with Ruyue, when he killed the thing disguised as Elder Baba, he had been forced by the situation.

    He had run away from an obvious conspiracy that he most likely had the power to stop, all because he simply didn¡¯t have the time to get involved.

    It had always been nagging at the back of his mind. It was a subconscious thing. He felt like, on that day, he had done something that went against his moral principles.

    But this situation was different. He had an entire year in this realm. Even if he couldn¡¯t solve the problem in its entirety, he could at least somewhat help alleviate the burden.

    Damien didn¡¯t want to run into another situation like the forest. He wanted to always be certain that no matter what actions he chose to take, he¡¯d always do so of his own volition, instead of being forced by the circumstances.

    His principles were incredibly important to him. Even if he lost everything else, he at least wanted to be true to himself until the end.

    There was only one situation where he¡¯d allow himself to fall into madness. Only a single situation that would justify him betraying himself. And that was if his women or someone he cared for equally was killed.

    As Damien firmed his resolve, he ended up smiling. ¡®I really have a habit of getting involved with bullshit, don¡¯t I?¡¯

    But he quickly changed his outlook. His smile became a lot less stiff. ¡®If I have to kill to strengthen my star, then aren¡¯t those rted to the Nox the perfect targets?¡¯

 Chapter 249 Sanctuary [1]

    Soon after she finished telling her story to Damien, Xue¡¯ersoon fell asleep in hisp once again. Damien could only sigh lightly while gently adjusting her into a morefortable posture.

    ¡®It seems the stress of the past few days is simply too much for her.¡¯

    No matter how much she wanted to stay awake, now that she was out of danger and felt safety, her mind could no longer handle the fatigue. Especially now that she had eaten and drank to her heart¡¯s content.

    While he patted her head, Damien once again fell into thought.

    ¡®I already know I¡¯m going to target the Nox, but that can barely even be considered as progress. In the first ce, I have no idea where they¡¯re located. Besides that¡­¡¯

    Where was he going to leave little Xue¡¯er? No matter what, he refused to bring a small child into the battlefield with him. Especially when it was apletely unknown terrain.

    The problem was, he also knew he couldn¡¯t leave her behind. Little Xue¡¯er was obviously suffering from intense trauma due to the loss of her vige and her parents, as well as the subsequent days of fleeing and survival.

    It wasn¡¯t something a little girl like her should have to handle, but fate was cruel. With no regard for anything, it thrust her into such a situation.<sub>.</sub>

    He could still feel her lightly shivering in his arms as she slept. He had no choice but to constantly feed gentle streams of mana into her small body to somewhat soothe her pain. But it wasn¡¯t physical pain, it was emotional stress, making it incredibly hard to deal with.

    Even his current measures were temporary at best. He was only doing it so that she could get a decent sleep for the first time in days.

    ¡®I can¡¯t take her with me.¡¯

    Damien was firm about this. There was no way he¡¯d change his decision. He had never considered himself good with kids, and he was pretty sure that he¡¯d be a shitty father if he had his own right now, but he at least had the basic amount of decency as a human being.

    ¡°Daddy¡­Mommy¡­don¡¯t leave¡­¡±

    Damien shuddered lightly. Every shiver of her body, every mutter that came out of her mouth, it all made it more clear to him that he couldn¡¯t just leave her somewhere to take care of his business.

    If he did so, he didn¡¯t know whether or not she would break. She was barely holding on to a sense of stability as it was now.<sub></sub>

    ¡®So, what am I supposed to do in this situation?¡¯

    Can¡¯t take her, but can¡¯t leave her. He was too conflicted to make a proper decision. In the worst-case scenario, he would just have to leave her in his shadow.

    It was an ability that he and Zara shared due to their mental connection, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t put anyone else in the shadow. Zara¡¯s presence had already affirmed that it could carry life.

    But the problem with that was the same as before. Even if he put her in his shadow, she¡¯d be able to clearly see what was happening inside. He also didn¡¯t think it was a good idea to have her in the same ce as a sleeping Zara.

    While Zara¡¯s bubbly personality would be enough to put her at ease in usual times, right now, hera disallowed such a thing. Like this, her presence would most likely terrify Xue¡¯er, bringing the opposite of the intended effect.

    ¡®In that case, should I just do that?¡¯

    Truthfully, Damien had always been studying the nature of his shadow. Ever since he first gained the ability, he had been curious about how an ethereal thing like a shadow could be used as a container. And even further, how it could support life.<sub></sub>

    The reason for this was obvious. He had a subspace Inventory that was constantly expanding as his mana capacity increased. How much better would it be if he could structure it like Kurt¡¯s?

    At that time, his subspace would be closer to an inner world, a sanctuary. It would be a perfect ce to escape in dire situations, and he would also be able to bring his people with him when he needed to travel discreetly.

    Up until now, he had gotten a decent understanding of what he had to do to convert his subspace into an area capable of sustaining life, but he had never gotten around to putting his theory into practice. Things had simply been too hectic.

    But now, for the sake of giving little Xue¡¯er a safe haven while he traveled, actually putting his ideas into motion was perfect.

    ¡®I have a year¡¯s worth of time. And I¡¯m not like the rest of them. They have to conserve stamina while they hunt, and they most likely won¡¯t be hunting intelligent species. Besides that, there¡¯s going to be a lot of them hunting each other.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s Void Physique was perfect for long drawn-outrge-scale battles. He could kill and then devour his enemies, replenishing his stamina so he could kill some more. It was a great way to imitate Elena¡¯s infinite stamina style with his own methods.

    If he spent many months straight doing battle with this kind of warfare style, he felt he could easily catch up with or surpass hispetitors.

    And so, he didn¡¯t feel bad about spending time to experiment with his spatial abilities.

    Grabbing a small nket from his subspace, he gentlyid it on the cave ground and wrapped Xue¡¯er within. Although she grumbled in her sleep after losing his warmth, she didn¡¯t end up waking up, leaving Damien sighing in relief.

    Without any obstruction, he went straight into construction.

    The structure of his shadow was quite odd now. He had realized that the way Zara used her shadow affinity actually held properties of space within it, and his shadow mirrored this.

    Through the analysis of this use of space, as well as the properties of the shadow affinity itself, Damien hade to a basic conclusion. At most, it could be considered a hypothesis.

    Actually, the way it sustained life was pretty simple in theory, butplicated in practice.

    It all had to do with mana.

    Mana was the fabric of all things, it was an energy that was even more fundamental than something like atoms. To be frank, mana alone was enough to sustain life in any environment.

    That was the reason why cultivators lost their necessity for food and hygiene. Mana alone was enough to maintain them. But for mortals, it didn¡¯t work the same.

    That¡¯s because ambient mana had no properties and had no direction. Only when a cultivator had their own mana circting within them would these effects slowly be prevalent.

    But for Damien¡¯s idea, he couldn¡¯t simply bank on the basic properties of ambient mana to sustain life within his subspace. No, he wanted it to function as its own small world. A world that could sustain even a mortal like Xue¡¯er without burden.

    For this, he¡¯d have to dive far further into the depths of magic theory than he had ever gone before.

    ¡®But first things first, I need to clean everything out of my subspace before I can start.¡¯

 Chapter 250 Sanctuary [2]

    The reason Damien had to clear his subspace was equally as simple as everything else. Theing processes would be rtively dangerous.

    Not for any of the people involved, but for his items. If he made a mistake, there was a high chance that they¡¯d be thrust into the void and consumed by its nothingness.

    Soon enough, various beast carcasses, weapons, pills, and random items that would probably have use at some point spilled out onto the cave floor.

    Even Damien¡¯s sword, Devourer, which he hadn¡¯t been using much was within the pile.

    Once he was done, he quietly sat down in a meditative posture and focused on the space around him.

    There, tethered to him was a small pocket that would go unnoticed by the untrained eye. It wasn¡¯t big at all, perhaps the size of a quarter at most, but the space inside was expansive. This was the nature of a subspace.

    ¡®Good. That was probably the only easy part of this whole ordeal.¡¯

    Mana was the building blocks of all things, and mana was exactly what would solidify his n. But that was only a part of it.

    What Damien wanted to do was essentially create another dimension.

    Damien¡¯s subspace was an ethereal concept, and it was heavily tied to the concept of space, but the thing about it was that it would always be tethered to the three-dimensional space that made up the universe.<sub>.</sub>

    This was one of the main things that prevented it from sustaining life. With its reliance on outside forces to maintain its structure, there was no way it had any potential for evolution.

    What Damien wanted to do was create a fourth dimension. It didn¡¯t have to be big enough to actually contribute to the universe as a whole, but what he would be doing was creating his own ne.

    Rather than being tethered to the space that already existed, it would be entirely its own space. The only tether it would have would be Damien himself.

    This was an idea he derived from his Void Physique. After all, didn¡¯t it operate on a simr concept? It was part of him, yet it seemed to be located elsewhere.

    The Damien of before would never be able to do such a thing as create a dimension, and even the current Damien didn¡¯t possess this ability, but he had one thing that would work as a sort of cheat code.

    His dimensional magic.

    He had gained a great deal of enlightenment on this new and upgraded form of spatial magic over the year or so that he had possessed it, but he had never actually been able to raise its skill level by much.

    Why was that? Obviously, it was because he never truly delved into the essence of dimensional magic.

    But now, he was doing just that. Although his current experiment was only a portion of the capabilities that dimensional magic had, it still mattered.<sub></sub>

    With his attention focused on the subspace, Damien soon coated that small piece of bloated space in his mana.

    And then, he activated his dimensional magic.

    The full scenery of the cave was soon lit by starlight. shing motes of blue and ck light littered the air like stars.

    The subspace that was coated in Damien¡¯s mana began to expand. It expanded continuously until it reached the point where its true size was visible.

    Luckily, it existed between the spatialyers, or else the entire cave would have been copsed. His subspace was already the size of a massive city, perhaps evenrger.

    Once it had been erged, Damien knew the first step had beenpleted. It was no longer tethered to the space around it. Its integrity at this time was being wholly maintained by Damien¡¯s mana alone.

    The glistening starlight in the air swirled through the atmosphere like a cyclone, centering around Damien. His utmost focus was on maintaining the space of the subspace and making sure it didn¡¯t copse and rejoin the surrounding space.

    Now that it was untethered, the next step was to remove it from three-dimensional space entirely.

    In simpler words, he was removing the subspace from reality.<sub></sub>

    There was only one reason this was possible. Damien hadn¡¯t realized it much before, but he felt stupid for not noticing.

    The void. The void was so elusive that it even trumped space in that aspect. Even though it was technically a concept of space, it was entirely different.

    Space was all-epassing, while the void was all-consuming.

    But this all-consuming entity was the exact reason Damien had confidence in separating his subspace from the existing reality, something he wasn¡¯t sure was possible otherwise.

    Of course, he had the option to forgo this entire troublesome process and just setws and restrictions, creating something simr to a secret realm that he carried around with him, but that wasn¡¯t what he wanted.

    His ambitions went far beyond a mere secret realm.

    There was an image in his mind. An image where one day, when his power was so vast that the current him couldn¡¯t fathom it, he would take this rudimentary design he created now and blossom it into something else entirely.

    ¡®A world¡­no, a universe¡­no, an entirely new reality.¡¯

    Crack!

    Cracks began to form between the spatialyers as the weight of Damien¡¯s subspace bore down on them.

    These weren¡¯t the normal spatial cracks that Damien would create, they were dare more dangerous. The integrity of the space within space was cracking.

    In simpler words, this was a minuscule example of a crack in reality.

    It wasn¡¯t something Damien would ever be able to do on his own. If it wasn¡¯t for the sheer weight of his subspace as well as the dimensional magic that permeated through space, he doubted whether it was possible to create such an crack.

    But the thing was, the amount of mana Damien was continuously pouring out could have already charged an attack far worse than the massive ck hole he created in the Celestiak Star Sect Disciple Examination.

    If he wasn¡¯t actively using his Void Physique to greedily absorb every ounce of ambient mana around him, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to sustain it.

    Yet, such a massive amount of mana expenditure could only form a crack the size of a fingernail at best.

    Suddenly, another essence started leaking from the crack.

    It was pitch ck and illusory. It wasn¡¯t like the inky ck mana that the Nox used, it was much darker.

    This essence leaked from the cracks in the spatialyers and made its debut in the Real ne. And when it did, it immediately started to devour.

    It devoured everything. Space, time, all creation. It seemingly wanted to revert the universe to nihility.

    It was lucky that there was such a small and finite amount, or else nobody would be able to predict what this essence would do.

    But this essence was currently trapped between spatialyers. Slowly, Damien exerted his will. He focused his awareness on that pitch-ck essence and attempted to dominate it.

    A ck fog began to emanate from his body, simr to when he used his devour skill. The second the fog met the pitch ck essence, the essence immediately became docile.

    Damien smiled at the sight. ¡®As expected. There¡¯s no way it¡¯d be called the Void Physique for nothing.¡¯

    With the newly termed Void Essence under his control, Damien knew that the next step would be easy. That is, as long as he concentrated his everything on performing it.

    The pitch-ck Void Essence was directed to gently cover the subspace in a simr way to what Damien¡¯s mana was already doing. In fact, the two forms of essence melded together in the process, heavily increasing Damien¡¯s control.

    Damien exerted his will once again, calling out to the Void Essence. The wild essence that heeded nomand, the essence that devoured everything. The rate it spilled out of the spatial cracks increased drastically.

    Slowly but surely, the gathering Void Essence concentrated on the subspace. From an outsider¡¯s perspective, it looked like the subspace was being devoured.

    But Damien knew that wasn¡¯t true. The spatial mana he used to create the subspace in the first ce was being corrupted.

    It was bing one with the void itself.

 Chapter 251 Sanctuary [3]

    The Void Essence was soundless and ethereal. If it wasn¡¯t for the pitch ck color and the slight suction force that wanted to consume everything, one wouldn¡¯t even notice its presence.

    This essence was wrapped around the massive clump of space that used to be Damien¡¯s subspace and essentially consuming it.

    There was no longer any semnce of structure. It was just a mass that seemed to have bloated and taken the ce of many spatialyers that were desperately trying to mend themselves back to normal.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree is expressing interest.]

    [The Primordial Undying Tree allows the current situation to proceed.]

    Damien saw shes of blue light in front of his eyes that denoted system messages, but he was of no mind to pay attention to them. If he took his attention off the ongoing situation, he knew that all his efforts would copse.

    Not only would he have to rebuild his subspace from the ground up and provide it enough mana to grow to the proper size, but he¡¯d also have to replicate the feats he was currently performing, which he doubted he could do.

    But all of a sudden, the load seemed to be much more bearable. It was as if the space around him was actively helping himplete his task.

    And this release of burden was actually extremely helpful.<sub>.</sub>

    Despite it being Damien¡¯s first timeing into contact with Void Essence, it felt so familiar and natural to manipte that he did so without even batting an eye. His main problem was the suppression being enforced by the actual space around it.

    After all, he was fighting against space itself, and on a broader scale, reality. It might¡¯ve been a stretch to go so far as to say Damien had reached a level where he could manipte reality, but with many factorsing together, he achieved a simr feat.

    But it wasn¡¯t him doing it. Rather, it was the Void Essence that did all the actual work, while he just guided it and gave it instructions. His own power wasn¡¯t close to enough for anything near simr.

    Luckily, this kind of process led to a drop in his mana drain, but unfortunately, his mental power was being drained exceedingly fast.

    Damien was feeling incredibly fatigued to the point where he could barely stand anymore. He didn¡¯t pay attention to the passing of time nor did he pay attention to his own condition at all. If he did so, perhaps it would be the straw that led to his copse.

    Under his extreme control, the pitch ck Void Essence melted into the subspace and infused itself within. Every inch of the area slowly became one with the void.

    Now, the subspace no longer existed. As the bloated area of space was consumed, the area it once took up reduced from a massive city all the way down to the quarter it once was. And finally, it disappeared entirely.

    The situation in the cave seemed to quiet down. The sparkling starlight of dimensional magic drifted through the air like fairies and space began to mend itself.<sub></sub>

    ¡®Did I seed?¡¯

    Damien didn¡¯t know. His mind was too tired from the aforementioned processes and his body was strained by the amount of mana he had drained and absorbed together.

    ¡®If it wasn¡¯t for the strengthening I received earlier from the magma, my body probably would¡¯ve broken. Well, obviously such an overpowered absorption speed would have its own drawbacks.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s body was drenched in sweat and his eyelids were already starting to be heavy. He didn¡¯t know how much longer he could keep himself awake.

    ¡®No¡­I have to check if I seeded or not¡­it¡¯s too important¡­¡¯

    He roughly bit his tongue, causing blood to flow in his mouth. Although in normal situations this would¡¯ve helped him regain some rity, it was impossible this time. He was so fatigued that he could barely even feel the pain from his actions.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree expresses its surprise.]

    ¡®Ah, fuck.¡¯<sub></sub>

    He felt like his body and mind were disconnected, as if he was watching everything that was happening through a tv screen. And with that sensation engraved in his psyche, he copsed to the floor and passed out.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree smiles at you.]

    ¡®Did I¡­seed?¡¯

    ***

    A week had quickly passed during Damien¡¯s attempt to reform his subspace. Even he wasn¡¯t aware that he had been focusing for so long.

    Little Xue¡¯er had long since woken up from her sleep, but not wanting to disturb him, she sat quietly in the corner and watched the glistening starlight of his dimensional magic.

    To her, the only thing that was visible was a concentrating Damien and these little blue and ck fairies in the cave. There was no way she could¡¯ve seen the chaotic scene between the spatialyers.

    Luckily enough, the food within Damien¡¯s subspace was littered across the floor of the cave, so little Xue¡¯er had plenty of sustenance. It would¡¯ve been dangerous for her otherwise.

    She spent her time ying with the beautiful atmosphere Damien had unintentionally created. If it wasn¡¯t for that, who knows what she would¡¯ve done to alleviate her boredom?

    One day, when she woke up from a good night¡¯s rest, she found that those little fairies were gone and that Damien was copsed on the cave floor.

    ¡°Big brother?!¡± She rushed over to his body quickly, shaking him violently in hopes of a response.

    ¡°Big brother! Don¡¯t leave Xue¡¯er alone! Big brother!¡±

    She immediately went into a panic. This big brother that she had just met might not have been extremely close to her, but to Xue¡¯er who had lost everything, he was now all she had.

    To see him copsed, to lose him, her little mind couldn¡¯t handle it. She began sobbing uncontrobly, the memories of her vige¡¯s demise flooding into her mind.

    ¡°Big brother¡­don¡¯t go¡­¡± her voice was softer than a mosquito¡¯s, but it held a strong will. A will to never lose anyone again. She didn¡¯t want to suffer anymore, she didn¡¯t want to fall into despair.

    So she couldn¡¯t let Damien die. She continued shaking him, doing her best to ignore the tears that were blurring her vision. Even though her body still wasn¡¯t fully recovered from its previous stress, she didn¡¯t care. She wouldn¡¯t eat or sleep until he woke up.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    She sat by Damien¡¯s side desperately shaking him for an entire day. By this point, it was more like a light pat than anything else due to her fatigue, but she didn¡¯t let up. And luckily, she received a response.

    It wasn¡¯t him waking up like she hoped, he didn¡¯t even seem to be close to opening his eyes again. But that slight mutter she heard¡­it brought a light of hope back into her eyes.

    ¡°Big brother!¡±

    Xue¡¯er cried happily. She threw herself into the bosom of the sleeping Damien and cried once more. But this time, her tears were of joy.

    He was alive. Even if he was asleep, at least he was alive. Realizing this, Xue¡¯er¡¯s mind rxed, sending her into a deep slumber on his chest.

    Her little body would finally be getting the rest it needed after another day of struggling.

 Chapter 252 Sanctuary [4]

    Bright rays of sunlight shone through the concealed entrance of the cave. Although not much light was able to make it through, it was enough to illuminate the hazy atmosphere within.

    Damien was lying on the cave floor, his body unmoving and his mindpletely empty. Even if he wanted to formte a thought, it was impossible.

    3 days had passed since he passed out, and he had yet to wake up. The current problem wasn¡¯t such an easy thing to heal from with just his regeneration abilities.

    But 3 days of sleep was ample time. His mental stress had time to relieve itself and his body was no longer under any strain.

    ¡°Mmm¡­¡±

    Damiens eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing to him the scenery of the cave. The second his groggy mind cleared up, his upper body shot up into a sitting position.

    ¡°Xue¡¯er!¡±

    Damien felt terrible. He didn¡¯t know how much time had passed, but it didn¡¯t matter. He was clear on what kind of effect his copse would¡¯ve had on her unstable psyche.

    Hurriedly ncing around the cave, he panicked. ¡®Where is she?!¡¯

    ¡°Mm¡­Big brother¡­don¡¯t leave¡­¡±

    A small mutter resounded through the area. When Damien looked down, he noticed little Xue¡¯er sleeping peacefully in hisp.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡®Ah, shit.¡¯

    With a light sigh, he brushed her hair, injecting a gentle stream of mana into her body. A light smile surfaced on the sleeping little girl¡¯s face.

    Damien wrinkled his brow as he looked at her. ¡®I need to get her to a bath.¡¯

    Although he didn¡¯t like it, he was nowhere close to civilization right now. The little girl had been caked in mud and dust when he saw her, and the amount only grew during their time living in the cave.

    ¡®Damn, I almost forgot what it¡¯s like living as a mortal.¡¯

    The constant need for baths and hygiene when mana couldn¡¯t take care of all those problems easily, looking back at it now, it seemed like a hassle.

    Even when Damien first came out of the dungeon when he was caked in blood and grime, he could¡¯ve easily cleansed himself with mana. The only reason he didn¡¯t was because he missed the feeling of fresh water on his skin.

    And no doubt, Xue¡¯er was probably feeling the same.

    But he couldn¡¯t help it right now. Although his mana capacity was full again and he could very easily clean her, he still needed all his current mana.

    His task wasn¡¯t even close to done yet, after all. And that task was for long-term benefit, not for a short-term solution.<sub></sub>

    Damien realized that he had a bright smile on his face. He didn¡¯t even notice it before, but he knew exactly why it was there.

    He could feel a connection far more esoteric than the connections he had to the stars.

    It was a connection that spanned past the real ne and into the ethereal, yet it was so close at hand that he felt no difficulty manipting it.

    ¡®Sess!¡¯

    This was the goal he was hoping for. No matter how he untethered the subspace from the surrounding three dimensions, he never touched the intrinsic connection it had to his being.

    It was almost a like part of him.

    His whole n banked on this intrinsic connection. If he couldn¡¯t feel it, he failed. But since he could, he knew it was time to move on to the next step.

    The void was a concept that Damien had no information on. It was something so far away that even though he could manipte its essence, he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to actually apply it to much.

    He couldn¡¯t even naturally call it forth. He didn¡¯t have a method besides opening another crack in reality, but how much work had it taken him to create the one he just did?

    ¡®But that¡¯s good for me. Rather than trying to immediately gain control over such a high-tier essence, I can practice with the diluted version within me before moving on to the greater ones.¡¯<sub></sub>

    ¡®Looks like I have yet another thing or study.¡¯

    Despite the increase in work, Damien was extremely happy. After all, besides the sess in his experiment, he also became slightly closer to his Void Physique.

    Yet another function was unlocked to him. Yet another aspect of the physique he had most likely possessed since birth had been revealed.

    And this particr function, the connection to the void itself that he had only had the opportunity of feeling after creating a small crack in reality, seemed to be a true main function of the physique.

    ¡®Damn, how long would it have taken me to figure it out if I had taken things slowly like I¡¯ve been doing? How much more powerful would I have needed to get before I could tear open a crack in reality and form a connection to the void?¡¯

    He was extremely lucky this time. But this was naturally still a matter to be celebrated.

    But that all cameter. The reason he had infused his subspace with Void Essence and changed its fine properties was because nothing could survive in the void.

    Anything sent there would be consumed and devoured. This was a base concept that even tranted into an ability of his physique. To affirm that his subspace could survive without being subjected to such devouring, he essentially made it part of the void.

    It could be called a trick more than anything. The void itself would recognize his subspace as a part of it and ignore the pocket of space that was being kept within it.

    The problem that arose now was, what was the next step.

    Right now, his subspace was just that. Sure, it became something that nobody would be able to ess besides him, regardless of their strength, but that was it.

    The next step was to turn it into a livable environment.

    There was an interesting thing Damien learned about the void by interacting with its essence for an entire week without pause.

    Void Essence, while being an embodiment of nothingness, was also an embodiment of everything.

    Damien¡¯s devour ability was an extremely diluted version of its power. There was a reason he could perfectly incorporate the traits of the things he devoured. There was a reason the ability was so optimized.

    The void, the Void Essence within it, shared this ability but to a greater scale. It wasn¡¯t limited to devouring mere beasts or living things. It wasn¡¯t even limited to devouring matter. Such a thing was beneath it.

    The void could devourws, it could devour the fabric of the universe itself. That was the reason why it was so esoteric that not a single person could grasp a method to use it.

    But Damien¡¯s physique was exactly this method.

    Although he couldn¡¯t abuse it or even properly control it, giving it suggestions wasn¡¯t a problem. If he wanted to incorporate the properties of life and mana within his subspace, it was entirely possible.

    Elements weren¡¯t nearly enough for the current task. Butws,ws would work perfectly. At Damien¡¯smand, thews within the Void slowly infused into the subspace that had been incorporated into it.

    ¡®What an awkward feeling.¡¯ Damien thought inwardly. Although he could understand what was happening, he couldn¡¯t actually see or feel it. It was strange, as if he was reading about the events that transpired instead of actually directing and being a part of them.

    But regardless of the strange feeling, and regardless of his limited understanding of what he was actually doing, the void itself seemed to help him.

    It read his mind and understood his intentions. It acted like it had sentience of its own, but that wasn¡¯t too surprising to him since his Void Physique had also shown such signs before.

    Soon enough, Damien felt a flood of different essences that he had never felt before entering and infusing into his subspace.

    ¡®Life, death, space, time, creation, destruction, these are all the elements I saw in my system window back then!¡¯

    They were thews that the system had told him created the universe. And now, they were bing a part of his subspace.

    ¡®Damn! If I could gain authority over this power, would I be able to learn all of these? Would I be able to actually feel them instead of just being told that they are what is being infused into by subspace? Would I be able to actively control this kind of process?¡¯

    The things that were happening right now were by his design, but out of his control. It was frustrating and enlightening at the same time, making Damien¡¯s eyes burn with motivation.

    As the process continued, the 5 elements and many other essences were added to his subspace. The incorporeal space within began to transform. Half of it becamend, the other half became skies. There were even pools of water that might one day be oceans.

    Damien could only watch and admire the majesty of it all. The Void Essence, no, the void itself had turned his original idea into something much grander.

    He wasn¡¯t expecting there to be truend or skies. How could he predict that at all? He only expected a massive construct like Kurt¡¯s subspace, which was a simple library and study.

    But not even in his wildest dreams would he have imagined the current scene.

    Damien was currently the only person who could witness such a thing.

    It was the birth of a world outside of reality.

 Chapter 253 Sanctuary [5]

    Within Damien¡¯s mindspace, there was a mental map of what he assumed was his subspace. This was the only way he could understand the changes going on within it.

    After all, it currently resided in the void, and regardless of whether he had discovered his mysterious connection with it or not, he still had no way of controlling or even entering it.

    By this point, he had already been watching the activities in the void for many weeks. Even from the beginning, when it began to inject his subspace with its essence, he had lost control over the process.

    So there was no longer anything he could do besides watch. And in this time, he had learned a few things.

    For one, the level of Void Essence that was taking part in the reconstruction of his subspace was far above the level of essence that had leaked from the crack of reality.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the mental map that had formed in his mind when the void took control over the creation process, he wouldn¡¯t have even realized anything was changing.

    If he were to be attacked by that level of void essence, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to tell how he died. No, perhaps his existence itself would be erased from the records of the universe.

    Even the low-level Void Essence he had seen earlier already far outstripped the essence of his own devour skill, making him realize just how far he was from the goal he had just recently set.

    If he had to quantify it, he most likely hadn¡¯t even grasped a single percent of the void¡¯s power.<sub>.</sub>

    The second thing he noticed was that, contrary to his earlier conjectures, the subspace was nowhere close to bing a true world.

    It didn¡¯t have a World Core, which he had long since known was the main essence of a world, and it also didn¡¯t have the other functioning structures of one either.

    Even though the essence of the 5 elements as well as the other creation forces had already entered and infused into his subspace, he could instinctually feel that they were in a sort of dormant state.

    For now, it would be an unchanging area, simr to the library and study that Kurt had created, but much moreplex.

    There would be no changes in weather, he didn¡¯t even know if there would be day and night. But in the end, this didn¡¯t matter.

    His goal had been achieved a long time ago, and as of now, he was just reaping the extra benefit that came with it.

    The process of forming the new structure of the subspace didn¡¯t seem like it would be a short one at all. Even after a month passed, it didn¡¯t lookplete. But Damien could tell. It was almost there.

    During this month, since he had nothing better to do while he waited, he spent plenty of quality time with little Xue¡¯er in a bid to appease her after scaring her by copsing.<sub></sub>

    The little girl had even spent a few days giving him the silent treatment before he was able to crack her shell again, making him endlessly wear a wry smile.

    While he wasn¡¯t ying around with Xue¡¯er, he would leave the cave they had made into their home and hunt the various beasts that lived in the jungle they were currently in.

    These beasts were never too strong, with the strongest being at the early stages of 3rd ss, but they still somewhat helped in nourishing his star. The dullness of the silver was slowly bing brighter with every passing day.

    But there was no way Damien would spend too much time on these weak beasts. His main priority during the month was to learn more about the abominations he had met and how they were connected to the Nox.

    As for the results of his search, he could only say that it wasn¡¯t a disappointment, though it wasn¡¯t anything special either.

    For the first week and a half, he had stayed within a 500-kilometer radius of the cave, since he didn¡¯t want to leave little Xue¡¯er alone for too long. 500 Kilometers, while being a massive distance, wasn¡¯t actually that far for him anymore.

    Even with his teleportation limited as it was, he could traverse in a straight line for 500 kilometers in a few hours, half a day at most.

    But within that 500-kilometer radius, he still hadn¡¯t run into more humans. It wasn¡¯t that there was no civilization, it was just that all signs of viges or towns he found were nothing more than dpidated ruins.<sub></sub>

    The only sign that there were people living in them at some point was the corpses that littered the ground. But even these seemed too few in numbers.

    It was at that point when Damien realized why little Xue¡¯er¡¯s parents had told her to kill herself before being bit by those abominations.

    They were something simr to zombies. Even if it wasn¡¯t a high chance, there was still a chance that the corpse of someone they consumed would be just like them.

    It was hard to stay unperturbed in the face of such genocide, but Damien did his best to keep his thoughts clear.

    ¡®With this much wide-scale activity in the area, it¡¯s likely that there¡¯s a base of them somewhere near.¡¯

    With that thought, he spent the rest of the month searching for said base. But even until this point, his search hade up empty.

    Thinking about the results, Damien sighed to himself. ¡®Such a harsh limiter on teleportation is really troublesome.¡¯

    His teleportation was directly linked to the spatialyers, and the spatialyers made up space itself. Naturally, his connection to theseyers had been suppressed as well.

    ¡®If only it was like it was back then, things would be so much easier.¡¯

    The second he separated his subspace from reality, the spatial suppression had reinstated itself. It was as if the world was telling him that it would only help him that much.

    Without his connection to the spatialyers, the amount of detail he could make out when he spread his awareness to the limit had decreased significantly. And since he had to shorten his range to get a clearer picture, his search was taking much longer than it should have.

    Suddenly, Damien felt like a bomb exploded in his mind. It wasn¡¯t a revtion of any sort of enlightenment. In fact, it had abruptly paused his thought process in such a way that he almost failed to regain his bearings.

    But when he did, his eyes shed with iparable excitement.

    ¡°Hahaha! Finally! After a whole month, it¡¯s finally done!¡±

    Wanting to express his joy, he picked up little Xue¡¯er, who was watching him curiously from the side, and lifted her into the air, spinning in circles before hugging her tightly.

    The little girl¡¯s bell-likeughter rang out in the cave, almost causing the surroundings to genuinely illuminate. The youthful vigor in little Xue¡¯er¡¯s eyes had slowly begun to show itself once more

    .

    ¡°Big brother, what happened? Did you find good food!¡± She asked innocently. The only time she had seen this new big brother of hers smile so widely was when he was eating amazing meat.

    But Damien only shook his head with a smile. ¡°Little Xue, didn¡¯t your big brother tell you he was working on something great? What do you think, isn¡¯t it about time we left this dull little cave for a while?¡±

    Little Xue¡¯er¡¯s eyes brightened at the prospect. She was truly bing too bored with the monotony of the surrounding rock walls. Nodding excitedly, she looked at Damien with anticipation.

    ¡°Mm!¡±

    Damienughed once more. ¡°Very well! Then, little Xue, this big brother will show you why he is the most powerful man in the universe!¡±

    The second his words ended, the two people were covered in a sh of formless light before vanishing from the spot where they once stood.

 Chapter 254 Sanctuary [6]

    In an unknown location, there was a realm filled with endless ckness. No light or sound permeated its reach, and not even a single movement disrupted the calm and somber air within it.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡±

    All of a sudden, an aged sigh rang out. The sigh was filled with a weariness of countless years, and the emotions it carried seemed to resonate with the ckness of the atmosphere, making it even more somber.

    The winds lightly whistled by as the owner of the aged voice directed its eyes to the distance, seemingly able to pierce the veil of the ckness around it.

    ¡°After so many years, has the time finallye again? However, even if it hase, was there ever a real point?¡±

    The voice rumbled forth, carrying vast power that contradicted its tired tone.

    ¡°To be able to see everything but to possess no power to interfere, what is the point of living like this? But, no matter how much I question myself, I¡¯m not left with much of a choice, am I?¡±

    The old voice mocked its own powerlessness.

    ¡°My race¡­no, they cannot be called as such anymore. But they are still my people. I swear, if any harmes to them, I¡¯ll tear you to shreds. Even if I have to burn my life away to do so, I swear I will not hesitate.¡±

    The aimless voice suddenly gained direction. It spoke into the ckness with a domineering ferocity that it didn¡¯t hold even a single second ago.

    But the one the voice was seemingly addressing didn¡¯t seem to be in a hurry to respond.

    But when it did, the ckness shook. A harrowing malevolence oozed from its every word, causing streaks of crimson light to surface in the ckness.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°Kikikiki¡­Old Fool, over the countless millennia that we have spent together in this damned ce, this must be the most I¡¯ve ever heard you talk. What, did you find someone promising again?¡±

    ¡°You really should¡¯ve learned how to keep your thoughts in check by now. Ahh, what a shame. Yet another genius with boundless destiny will fall within your realm. And all while you can only sit and watch it happen. Isn¡¯t it such a great feeling? I, for one, revel in seeing the look on your face whenever it happens.¡±

    ¡°Damn thing. If you n to mock me, at least say something that will actually do damage. By this point, you should already understand that you cannot faze me with such petty words. As for my emotions, as long as we are within this despicable ckness they areid bare to you. What¡¯s the point of trying to hide them?¡± The aged voice responded. But regardless of his words, a trace of anger could faintly be heard in his tone.

    ¡°How many tens of thousands of years had it been since we¡¯ve been stuck in this never-ending stalemate? How many worlds have we reached and subsequently left during that time? Even if you prohibit me from looking into the outside world, I¡¯ll never mistake the vor of foreign delicacies. You know you can¡¯t hide it from me.¡±

    ¡°Hiding it or not, none of it matters. So long as you are stuck here with me, there is not much you can do. So sit patiently and watch. One day someone will arrive who can survive your nonsense and reach this point once and for all.

    ¡°The same way you have left your troops there, I have left my main body. Even if you can stop the many, the few that can survive will inevitably be stronger. And when they do, they will grow into a force that will exterminate your kind.¡±

    ¡°Kikiki, an Old Fool like you really loves to talk big. But, can¡¯t you feel it? Can¡¯t you see it? You don¡¯t have much longer, while I am constantly encroaching on your power. Old Fool, this never-ending stalemate of ours will end much sooner than you think.¡±

    The aged voice sighed, not bothering to respond to thetter¡¯s provocation any longer. His reality-piercing gaze once again drifted to the sight he was previously watching.

    ¡®A storm is on the horizon, and I doubt whether or not my people can make it out alive. Boy, I do not know how you came in contact with that power, but since you did, it means you are someone I can put my hopes in. Survive the trials ahead of you, forge your own path, and perhaps, I can truly entrust you with my will.¡¯

    The old voice¡¯s mana raged for a mere instant, causing the ckness to be filled with white and green light. And after that, everything once again became still.

    ***<sub></sub>

    When Damien and little Xue reappeared, the scenery they witnessed was nothing even close to the dreariness of the cave they stayed in.

    Whoosh!

    A light wind brushed passed their faces. Tall grasses that covered little Xue¡¯s whole lower body brushed against their skin. In the distance, they could see a single towering mountain that made the surrounding t in a little less nd.

    The sky was clear and bright, with no clouds in sight. And even though it was lit as if there was a sun, they couldn¡¯t find one no matter how hard they looked.

    Little Xue¡¯s eyes shined like stars as she saw the scene in front of her.

    Damien smiled. ¡°Little Xue, what do you think? This is where you¡¯ll be living from now on. There are no bad monsters or people, and Big brother cane see you whenever you want. This entire ce is your own personal yground.¡±

    ¡°Woooaaaah!!!¡±

    An excited shriek left little Xue¡¯s mouth. She hurriedly jumped out of Damien¡¯s arms and began freely running through the tall grass.

    ¡°Hehehe!¡±

    The bell-like and youthful giggles rang out through the surroundings once again, brightening the sky and causing the elements to sing in joy.

    Damien couldn¡¯t stop the bright smile that decorated his face. Seeing her like this made him feel that his decision to forge forward on this path was entirely worth it. Even disregarding the countless future benefits, this much was enough.<sub></sub>

    Ssh!

    The sound of water sshing reached Damien¡¯s ears, causing him to turn in that direction. As it turned out, little Xue had directly dove into one of the semi-shallowkes that decorated the t in.

    ¡°Ah! You only have one set of clothes!¡± Damien eximed as he remembered. But seeing how the little girl didn¡¯t even seem to register his words, he could only massage his forehead.

    ¡®What am I supposed to do? Use sunmes as a hair dryer?¡¯

    He shed forward, reaching the banks of theke in an instant. ¡®Well, whatever. The clothes problem is pretty easy to solve. As long as she¡¯s happy, it¡¯s fine.¡¯

    Coating himself in mana so he didn¡¯t get wet, Damien also entered theke and swam towards little Xue. When he got there, he immediately moved his hands to her face and began cleaning it.

    ¡°Ah! Ah! Stop it tickles!¡± Little Xue eximed.

    ¡°Who told you to be so dirty? Sit patiently and let big brother clean you up.¡± Damien chimed.

    It seemed she didn¡¯t even realize how dirty she was until she heard Damien¡¯s words. At that point, she stopped making a fuss and let him take care of her.

    Damien gently cleaned her face with the clear water of theke before moving on to her hair, gently infusing mana into theke water to hell untangle the knots she had built up much quicker.

    As for the rest, Damien didn¡¯t need to do any work since she was already submerged in water. He simply infused mana into it once again to allow the caked mud and dirt on her skin to fall off much easier. Even her dress was bing cleaner by the second.

    Little Xue patiently waited with her eyes closed, a light smile decorating her face. The warmth she was feeling from being taken care of like this, it was something she would do everything she could to savor. Luckily for her, the water on her face concealed the happy tears that were falling from her eyes.

    When Damien was finished with her hair, he moved in front of her to look at his handiwork.

    Xue¡¯s face was cute enough to make any random passerby want to smother her with love. Her big green eyes shone with a light of innocence that was slightly tainted by the maturity that she was forced to gain in recent times. Her ck hair was long and silky, like a glistening midnight waterfall that cascaded down to her waist.

    ¡°Mm. Little Xue is the prettiest in the world. As expected of my little sister.¡± Damien said matter of factly.

    Xue smiled brightly at his words, her innocent giggles once again ringing through the surroundings as she went back to ying in the water.

    Seeing this, Damien exited theke and fell into thought. He didn¡¯t know if he was ready to have a child enter his life, especially with the kind of jumping into danger at all times lifestyle he lived, but he also knew that this was a responsibility he had brought upon himself the second he decided to save her life.

    This little girl was filled with trauma. Her little mind was only stable because she had him as a pir of support now. If he decided to leave her, he knew that she would break. He could see the attachment she had gained to him in the past month

    No, even in the first week she had be attached enough to starve herself when she noticed he was copsed. If he didn¡¯t take responsibility, he¡¯d be worse than a devil.

    So, he earnestly decided to be a big brother that she could rely on. He decided that he¡¯d make sure she would live a stable and happy life without worries. This was the decision he made from the beginning.

    ¡®But¡­it¡¯s really not that bad.¡¯

    Having a little sibling like Xue¡¯er brought a different kind of joy into his life. It was a wholesomeness that seemed to wash away his stress simply by being in her presence.

    Ssh!

    Another ssh of water appeared, this timending on Damien and drenching him, who was still in thought.

    Looking over, he saw little Xue¡¯er smiling at him with a mischievous look in her eyes. Putting away his thoughts, a grin appeared on his face.

    ¡°Ah! You traitor! You dare to ssh your Big brother?!¡± He yelled in mock anger.

    ¡°I dare! I dare! Big brother can¡¯t catch me!¡± Xue¡¯er responded with a giggle.

    Damien grinned. His body shed forward, cannonballing into theke.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    The water went everywhere, causing little Xue¡¯er to be even more soaked.

    ¡°Watch how Big brother teaches you a lesson! Didn¡¯t you know? If your big brother ims to be second in sshing battles, then nobody would dare to im they¡¯re first!¡±

    With a domineering deration, Damien dove towards little Xue¡¯er. Sshes of water and joyfulughter filled the subspace. It was like a paradise where no problems in the world could reach.

    Damien smiled at the thought. Yes, it was a paradise. The names ¡°subspace¡± or ¡°inventory¡± no longer fit this ce.

    ¡®That¡¯s right. From now on, this is my personal Sanctuary.¡¯

 Chapter 255 Base [1]

    Time passed quickly within the Primordial Undying Realm andpetition became fiercer with every passing day.

    ughters were taking ce everywhere, and while most of the victims were beasts, the contestants themselves weren¡¯t safe either.

    It was a strange thing that happened when there was an entire year for thepetition to rage on. People began to gravitate towards each other, unable to fend for themselves without a safety to catch them when they needed it.

    Like this, after 3 months passed in the secret realm, there were already a few factions that had been formed.

    The first, which wasn¡¯t much of a surprise, was the Fire Phoenix Faction. It was a faction of people, mostly women, who gathered under Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s banner. Although they didn¡¯t do much to help each other hunt most of the time, they had a strict policy that prevented infighting, which gave themfort and security.

    The location of Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s faction was actually a rtively bustling city. Unlike Damien, she had managed to reach a far enough location where the genocide hadn¡¯t spread yet.

    At first, the locals had been wary, rightfully so with all the rumors that had been flying around recently, but as time passed, they had already wholly epted the faction¡¯s presence.

    After all, most of these citizens were mere mortals. That was the problem that led to the genocide where Damien was located.

    In a regr environment, mortals would usually be able to hunt weaker beasts to gain power before moving on. But in this realm, they didn¡¯t have that option. 2nd ss beings were everywhere, making it hell to leave a city.<sub>.</sub>

    As Feng Qing¡¯er strolled through the city, she quietly listened to the various conversations taking ce between the locals.

    ¡°I heard that yet another city fell yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Which one was it this time?¡±

    ¡°It was Relia.¡±

    ¡°Relia?! That¡¯s only a few kilometers to the south!¡±

    ¡°I know. The gue must be reaching us soon. Luckily, we have acquired the protection of some very powerful people.¡±

    ¡°Right, but they aren¡¯t locals. Are we sure they won¡¯t abandon us when things get rough?¡±

    ¡°Trust me, I had the same doubt when they first came. But they have been very diligent in safekeeping the city. Didn¡¯t you find it odd? Not a single beast tide has hit us since they came.¡±<sub></sub>

    ¡°Eh? You¡¯re right! How is that possible? Even when all the able-bodied people in the city fight together, we can only barely stave off the beast tide with the barrier left by the ancestors.¡±

    ¡°Right, the barrier used to be our only hope. But now, we can count on their protection.¡±

    The barrier they spoke about was one of the main reasons Feng Qing¡¯er chose this city as her base. In fact, it wasn¡¯t even the only barrier she had seen.

    Every major city she had passed had a simr barrier, but from her observations, their strength increased as one moved further into the secret realm.

    It was strange. The only people here were mortals, yet their ancestors had been powerful enough to create barriers that could withstand the attacks of 3rd ss beings? How was that possible?

    But Feng Qing¡¯er hadn¡¯t been able to get a proper answer about this. At most, the stories these people told about their ancestors were like those of legends. The amount of factual information within them seemed to becking.

    ¡®However, I don¡¯t think these barriers were meant for beasts.¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er remembered the scene she saw 3 months ago when she first entered the secret realm. A scene of carnage where even the corpses left behind were desecrated. Every time that image popped into her mind, she clenched her fists in anger.<sub></sub>

    ¡®I still have yet to find out the cause of that scene, but it must be rted to the gue they were talking about. In that case, it¡¯ll be reaching our city soon.¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er furrowed her brows. At first, she thought this secret realm trial would be a piece of cake, but it was turning out to be anything but.

    Even with all the killing she had done so far, the star on her forehead was still a shining golden color. It was better than what everyone else in the city had, but it wasn¡¯t enough for her.

    ¡®How would Luna deal with this situation? Ah, I miss having her with me.¡¯

    Lunaria Snow was the brain while she was the brawn. That¡¯s how they had always been, and that¡¯s how they had maintained their position at the top of the ranking so easily.

    But now, she was alone to do both jobs herself. She also had plenty of people counting on her leadership.

    ¡®But at least this is good practice. When mother passes down the Matriarch position to me, it¡¯ll be much worse than just this much.¡¯

    Her thoughts drifted to the outside world. Unlike Damien, she wasn¡¯t aware of the time dtion. She wondered what would have changed once many years passed and they finally exited this realm.

    Shaking off her thoughts, she entered the building where her faction headquarters were.

    ¡®I don¡¯t want to stay in the dark any longer. Let me see for myself what the source of this gue is.¡¯

    As if waiting for her thoughts to reach this point, the thundering rings of a bell sounded throughout the city.

    ng! ng!

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s eyes darted in that direction. The first thing she saw was the sheer panic on the faces of the locals.

    They were cowering, literally cowering in the middle of the streets,pletely unable to move. Even when it was time for a beast tide, this specific bell was never rung.

    No, this bell had a special meaning. They had passed off this meaning as a mere folktale as time passed with no strange action taking ce, but now that it was being rung, a deeply ingrained fear surfaced in their hearts.

    ¡°It¡¯s them! They¡¯re here! We¡¯re all doomed!¡±

    ¡°The Devil has finally sent his armies. Our city will be one of the many that have fallen to his hands.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er ignored themotion and flew into the air, scanning the ins outside of the city to find the source of themotion.

    And it didn¡¯t take her long at all.

    From every side of the city, a rolling ck mass was approaching. There were hundreds, no, thousands of beings slowly charging towards their location.

    ¡®What are those?¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er injected mana into her eyes. A me seemed to light inside her pupils as her vision expanded far past what she could usually see.

    ¡®Those are¡­wait!¡¯

    The abominations approaching the vige looked humanoid, but they were anything but human. Their sizes and shapes differed, but their dull ck eyes projected a bloodthirst that she could feel even from a distance.

    At the back of the tide were 4 massive elephantine beasts that seemed to be carrying something simr to a pnquin. The mana emanating from the beings within the closed drapes of said pnquins was obviously much greater than that of any singr being within the tide.

    ¡®That must be where the boss of these guys are. But what are they?¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s attention soon left the pnquins to focus on something else. It was something familiar to her. The ckness of the tide didn¡¯t juste from their appearances. No, it was like a coat of mana that wanted to bring darkness onto everything.

    This dark and inky mana, she had seen it once before. It was the exact same mana that was corroding and destroying the corpses of those in the very first vige she had found in this realm.

 Chapter 256 Base[2]

    It had been 2 months since the secret realm opening, and to be honest, Damien wasn¡¯t very happy with his progress. But overall, he didn¡¯t mind it much.

    After all, most of the time during these 3 months had been spent in the Sanctuary with little Xue¡¯er. He couldn¡¯t just let her sleep in the grass without any shelter.

    And so, he had taken it upon himself to build her a house.

    Well, treehouse was a more apt name.

    Damien couldn¡¯t necessarily call himself good at woodworking or craftsmanship, but he at least had basic knowledge. Even he as a kid had built himself a treehouse. It was only a difference in scale that he was working on now.

    Due to hisck of skill, the construction process took an entire month to finish. But at the end of the month, there was a truly fine treehouse built at the side of theke little Xue¡¯er had foundst time.

    Damien looked at his craftsmanship with pride. ¡®Not too bad, if I do say so myself.¡¯

    It was a simple design, but the size was truly big. If he wanted, he could probably fit another 10 or 20 kids in this same treehouse without a problem.

    And in case little Xue¡¯er got bored, he also added a small yground on the side, equipped with swings, a slide, and many other novelties that kids from earth enjoyed.

    ¡®Mm, if I can get any better at this construction stuff, I¡¯ll build her a whole amusement park. Let¡¯s see how she thanks her Big brother at that time.¡¯

    Damien was still holding a slight grudge. This little girl seemed to get bolder by the day, and apparently she had made teasing him her new hobby. Whenever he failed during the past month of construction, he¡¯d receive an earful from her.

    But, he let it slide. Kids would be kids after all, and for her to be opening up so much, he could only be thankful that her trauma was being buried.<sub>.</sub>

    But soon, Damien¡¯s expression hardened. ¡®With all the preparations for little Xue¡¯er done, I think it¡¯s about time I attack.¡¯

    A few days ago, while he was out hunting for their food, he hade across a suspicious area. It was simr to his own cave, an extremely concealed system that he wouldn¡¯t have noticed if not for his eyes.

    But the reason he was suspicious of it was naturally due to the inky ck mana that slightly leaked from it. A mana that he was all too familiar with.

    ¡®I¡¯m embarrassed that it took me so long to find it. Seriously, even though it was hidden quite well, it was still much closer than expected.¡¯

    He had started his search at the edges of the 500-kilometer radius and worked his way inward. If it wasn¡¯t for this, he probably would¡¯ve found the base location a month ago easily.

    But none of this mattered. Damien looked towards the treehouse where little Xue¡¯er was staying and sighed.

    ¡°I know you can hear me! Big brother has to go out for a while, okay?¡±

    He was met with silence.

    Sighing lightly, he climbed up to the treehouse and knocked on the door. ¡°Hello? Is anyone there?¡±

    ¡°No, nobody is here. You should stay and wait for the owner toe back.¡± A small voice responded from within.

    ¡°Ah, but if the owner isn¡¯t here, then I can only leave ande backter. Sorry for the intrusion!¡± Damien knocked on the wood next to him at varying degrees of strength, making it sound like he had walked down the staircase connecting to the door.<sub></sub>

    Immediately, a rush of footsteps came from inside before the door was pulled open

    ¡°You tricked me!¡± Xue¡¯er said with a pout when she noticed Damien standing in front of her.

    But Damien only grinned. Walking into the treehouse, he picked up little Xue¡¯er and gave her a soft hug

    ¡°Big brother has to go this time. You also know it¡¯s important.¡± He said softly.

    ¡°Mm. But Xue¡¯er doesn¡¯t want Big brother to get hurt. Big brother is going to meet the bad ghosts today, right?¡± Xue¡¯er responded, hugging him tightly.

    Damien sighed. As he thought, this little girl was far too perceptive for her own good. Perhaps from the beginning she knew that he was trying to hunt those Nox beings.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Big brother is going to hunt the bad ghosts. But didn¡¯t you see when we first met? Those evil ghosts can¡¯t even touch a hair on your big brother¡¯s head.¡±

    Xue¡¯er nodded, but she didn¡¯t leave his embrace. In fact, she embraced him tighter. ¡°Big brother has to be safe. If big brother doesn¡¯te back, Xue¡¯er will also go to where big brother is to find him.¡±

    Damien gave a soft smile in response. ¡°Mm, if big brother is in trouble, then of course little Xue needs toe save the day. Xue is a superhero after all!¡±

    After spending a few more minutes coaxing the little girl, Damien finally exited the Sanctuary.

    The process of exiting and entering was so simple that it made Damien marvel. He simply needed to think it, and he¡¯d appear where he wanted to be. And the mana cost was so negligible that he would¡¯ve been able to cover it even before he fell into the dungeon and mutated.<sub></sub>

    When he appeared in the outside world, he was in the exact same ce that he entered the Sanctuary from, the location directly outside of where he found the base earlier.

    Without wasting any time, he charged in. He wasn¡¯t lying when he told little Xue¡¯er that he¡¯d be back soon. In fact, he had no fear or wariness at all. He already knew that this area was rtively weak.

    Most likely, there wouldn¡¯t even be abominations above 2nd ss here. The only reason he was going to this base instead of finding a more worthy one was so he could maybe understand more about what exactly the creatures were.

    Entering the cave, he found that it actually wasn¡¯t aplicated structure at all.

    ¡®Now that I¡¯m seeing it, it¡¯s pathetic to even call it a base.¡¯

    It was simply a massive cave with thousands of those abominations littered across the floor standing as if they were in stasis. At the end of the cave, there was a single house that seemed to be the location of their boss.

    Damien grinned. ¡®Large-scale destruction is my forte, and with these weak enemies, I don¡¯t even need to try that hard. Actually, isn¡¯t this the perfect time to test that move?¡¯

    Damien proudly walked into the open, zing his aura for all to see. Immediately, those abominations left their stasis and directed their attention at him.

    ¡°Huuu¡­¡±

    ¡°Huumaan¡­¡±

    Countless groans filled the cave in a cacophony of sound. The abominations immediately began running towards Damien in a frenzied state, making one wonder if they were really standing so still only a moment ago.

    ¡®It¡¯s human aura that attracts them, huh. It seems the beasts in the area don¡¯t matter much to them.¡¯

    Seeing the massive wave of ck that was charging towards him, Damien grinned.

    To be honest, he had been wanting to do this for a long time. It was something he had wanted to realize ever since he was in the dungeon.

    Specifically, when he cleared the 40th floor. Back then, his attacks and even his personality were mainly based on anime he had watched on earth. By now, he no longer needed to use such coping mechanisms.

    But still, the feeling of wanting to emte the signature move of a certain fire-breathing dragon yer had stuck with him ever since he acquired dragon¡¯s breath.

    When he got his hands on the sunmes, this feeling only became more pronounced. But, his body simply couldn¡¯t handle it.

    The only mes he had in his arsenal were so hot that if he tried to incorporate them into Bai dragon¡¯s breath, he¡¯d quite literally melt his throat from the inside out and kill himself.

    But things were different now. The tempering he had received from the magma earlier had specifically focused mainly on his evolved areas. Now, if he really wanted to¡­

    Damien¡¯s throat expanded as mes from the sun manifested within it. These mes were then coated in spatial mana before expanding violently.

    Damien took a deep breath, deeper than any breath he had taken before. His lungs expanded, his cheeks puffed out, and he was finally able to execute a certain attack that he loved so much.

    ¡°ROOOAAAAR!¡±

    A massive roar left his mouth, causing a methrower-like beam of reddish-orange to be exhaled. The sea of mes soon went to cover the entire cave setting even the air aze.

    The massive hoard of abominations was easily swallowed by this me. Even as he continued roaring, Damien¡¯s eyes were smiling wide.

    ¡®Fire dragon roar!¡¯

    Finding novelty in the situation, he continued spewing mes even after he felt that the horde was probably dead already.

    And even when he finally finished roaring, the mes in the atmosphere continued to ze.

    There were no cries of anguish or even sounds or smell of death. It was all swallowed by the sunmes that had been incorporated into his dragon¡¯s breath.

    By the time the mes died down, all that was left was an empty and charred cave. Even the house at the end of the cave had been burnt to ashes.

    But when Damien¡¯s gazended on the location where that house once stood, he found something that actually ended up piquing his interest.

    It was the half-burned body of a man. His features were humanoid just like the abomination, but his eyes held a myriad of emotions.

    Rage, confusion, panic.

    It was obvious that this Nox being was much different from the rest that he had seen so far.

 Chapter 257 Base [3]

    Looking at the man who was desperately attempting to crawl away, Damien¡¯s eyes shone with a light of curiosity. In the next instant, he had already arrived in front of him.

    ¡°D-don¡¯te closer!¡± The man screeched in terror.

    He had been living in leisure, taking care of his post as he had been ordered to before he was suddenly engulfed in a sea of nigh inextinguishable mes. If he hadn¡¯t hastily erected a barrier at thest second, he didn¡¯t doubt he would be dead by now.

    ¡°Oh? You can actually speak cohesively, huh. I somewhat expected it, but it¡¯s still good to know.¡± Damienmented. He had no sympathy for this man at all.

    The man continued trying to crawl back, but his house was already at the bad end of the cave. It didn¡¯t take long for his body to hit the wall. Shivers ran down his spine as he realized there was really no escaping the monster in front of him.

    ¡°P-please! I¡¯ll tell you anything if you let me live!¡±

    ¡°Wow, I didn¡¯t even have to do the torturing before you gave up. That certainly makes things easier.¡± Damien said, his shoulders slightly rxing as if he had let go of some tension.

    The man smiled inwardly. As he thought, a brat like the one in front of him wouldn¡¯t be experienced enough in the real world.<sub>.</sub>

    The man¡¯s burnt arm slumped to the floor as if he had lost strength, but in reality, he was reaching towards his pocket. Even if he died here, he needed to inform the others that he had beenpromised.

    As if not noticing the man¡¯s movements, Damien stared into his eyes and began questioning him. ¡°So? Let¡¯s start with the simple stuff. Who do you work for? What is your purpose? What are those things I just killed?¡±

    The man seemed to hesitate slightly before his eyes dimmed. Answers started rolling out of his mouth. ¡°I-I can¡¯t say who I work for. I really don¡¯t know. They simply tell me what to do, and I follow. My body moves on its own. Even my purpose is something I don¡¯t know. The only thing I know is that they want me to kill every human I see.

    ¡°As for those, they are simply monsters we have subdued and corrupted, nothing more. I swear this is the truth.¡±

    The man¡¯s hand quickly reached his pocket. While he continued spouting nonsense, he retrieved a silver bell and tried to mp his hand down on it. However¡­

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Regardless of what he tried, his hand wouldn¡¯t move as hemanded it to. When he darted his eyes towards his right side, he saw a fine ck line on the area connecting his shoulder to the rest of his body.<sub></sub>

    Thump.

    His arm cleanly fell off, causing ck blood to spurt out of his shoulder.

    ¡°Ahhh!¡±

    The man screamed on instinct, but there was no pain. Perhaps the fact that he couldn¡¯t feel what had happened even now was even more terrifying than if he had actually felt the pain.

    ¡°Hahaha! I didn¡¯t think you would actually be stupid enough to pull something, but I guess for those assholes to assign you to a post so far out in this realm, you couldn¡¯t have actually been someone worth fostering.¡±

    Damien grinned. This ce was like the backwoods of the secret realm, where even the barriers that Feng Qing¡¯er had found weren¡¯t present. There was no way they¡¯d send anyone of note to facilitate this ce.

    But that didn¡¯t mean the man in front of him was entirely useless. Damien looked towards the man¡¯s pocket, shing his arm and causing the man¡¯s entire leg to be severed from his body and fly into Damien¡¯s grasp.<sub></sub>

    Quickly using lightning to sear the wound shut so the man didn¡¯t bleed out, Damien took a silver bell out of the pocket of the severed leg and fiddled with it curiously.

    ¡°This is what you were banking your hopes on? I assume it¡¯s some sort ofmunication device? No, it¡¯d be better for me if there was a tracker installed as well.¡±

    The man shivered slightly at Damien¡¯s words.

    ¡°No way? There¡¯s actually a tracker? What would you guys even need a tracker for? The only function it¡¯d have is to help your enemies.¡±

    Although Damien had been taking the whole situation lightly, it wasn¡¯t the same for the man in front of him. Not only his arm, but even his leg had beenpletely severed. Not to mention the searing lightning that burned his wounds shut.

    The man was doing everything he could to stop himself from convulsing from the pain. His will had already been shattered the second Damien took the que from him. This time, he was truly acting so that he could maybe have a chance to live.

    ¡°P-please spare my life, senior¡­I will tell you everything. There is indeed a tracking device that lets us locate each other within the que. The reason being that we need it when we coordinate our armies forrger excursions.

    ¡°As for your previous questions, I truly don¡¯t know the identities of those in charge. I only know that they want human blood to be spilled unto thends. That is themand I received. Those creatures you killed are simply inferior versions of us. They hold no real value or sentience.¡±

    Damien nodded. Pretty much everything he said was within his expectations. The only thing he was wondering about was themand the man had received.

    ¡®To spill human blood unto thends¡­although I don¡¯t put the Nox above random ughter like that, it doesn¡¯t strike me as their motive this time. If it was, then there¡¯d be no need for structure within the ranks of those they send.¡¯

    If the Nox just wanted ughter, they could just send a few of these 3rd ss beings in every direction and easily achieve their goals. There was no reason to even create or use these inferior abominations.

    ¡®The 3rd sses never moved. There was simply no need for them to. But there must be a purpose for their presence.¡¯

    Damien looked at the silver que in his hand. This would most likely be his best bet at answers. As for the man in front of him, he had be entirely useless.

    Suddenly, Damien thought of a point. ¡°Oi, what happens if I inject untainted mana into this?¡±

    He had seen them before, artifacts that adhered to certain mana signatures. He didn¡¯t want to risk having all his enemies flee or be aware of his interference due to a simple mistake.

    The man¡¯s eyes widened for a second before he tried to rein in his expressions, but he had realized it was already toote. Sighing, he ended up bitterly answering Damien¡¯s question again.

    ¡°The que will alert others that I have beenpromised. The only way to truly use it is by injecting our holy mana into it.¡±

    The only saving grace he had was that if Damien needed his mana to use the que, his life was guaranteed. And as long as he lived, nothing else mattered.

    But unlike what he thought, Damien simply nodded before shing his arm out again. Before the man could even process what was happening, he found his view of the world flipped 180 degrees before his consciousness faded into nonexistence.

    ¡°Devour.¡±

 Chapter 258 Base[4]

    Damien¡¯s low-level Void Essence leaked from his body and surrounded that of the man in front of him. He had acted quick, as his prior experience had already told him what¡¯d happen if he failed to devour a Nox on time.

    Even the devil worshippers would turn into inky liquid when they died. Damien had already formted a theory on the reason for this.

    It was due to the unnatural mana within their bodies.

    The Nox were a strange species. Although Damien had already qualified the mana they used as Death mana, it wasn¡¯t pure death mana. Or rather, it was a breed of death mana that was unnatural.

    But the Nox were born to handle such unnatural mana. As a trade-off, their intelligence was low like beasts and they lost the ability to use any other forms of mana.

    It was the same concept of bnce that the whole universe functioned on.

    Damien guessed that this unnatural mana¡¯s ipatibility with the ambient mana of the world was the reason why Nox corpses couldn¡¯t be sustained. Though, he wasn¡¯tpletely sure of this hypothesis.

    This was the best he could do with the information he had.<sub>.</sub>

    But none of that mattered at the moment. Due to Damien¡¯s timely intervention, he was able to devour the corpse before the liquefaction process even began.

    Although he was curious about how the Nox mana would affect his body if he devoured it in the conventional sense, now wasn¡¯t the time for it. Damien had different ns for the essence that he had just acquired.

    Now that he had obtained a slight amount of control over the Void Essence, he had more maneuverability when it came to its uses. For one, he didn¡¯t necessarily have to allow the essence he devoured into his body.

    He could instead use it as a sort of limited fuel supply, as he was doing now. A blob of inky ck substance surfaced on Damien¡¯s hand. While a part of it went into the que, the rest made its way into his subspace.

    Damien¡¯s original subspace had be his Sanctuary, but he had made sure to set aside a portion of said Sanctuary to act as a subspace like before. After all, he still wanted item storage capability and he didn¡¯t want his items to simply be littered across the ground of the Sanctuary.

    The reason he didn¡¯t just make a second subspace with just the normal capabilities of one was simple. The connection to the Sanctuary, while on the surface much moreplicated and ethereal, was actually a lot firmer than the connection he had with his previous subspace.

    The amount of dy between him sending his thoughts through the connection and receiving a response was almost negligible.<sub></sub>

    The effects of this were simple. He could easily store and withdraw things without even a single second of dy. Even if he wanted to use his subspace in battle, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about losing momentum.

    When the inky ck essence made its way into the silver que in Damien¡¯s hand, it began to shudder slightly before transforming. A light blue diagram formed on its surface, depicting the area around him in the center of the que.

    Surrounding the center, there were 5 shining dots in various directions. Even an idiot would be able to tell what they signified.

    ¡°Well, I guess I have 5 more tries to get some valuable information. Let¡¯s just hope that they¡¯re more useful than the idiot that I just met.¡±

    With those words, Damien immediately left the cave and shed towards the closest location on the map.

    ***

    mes raged through the surrounding atmosphere, a massive storm brewed in the skies and furious ck lightning struck down at the ground below.<sub></sub>

    Within this chaotic atmosphere, 3 men stood facing each other in the air, while countless abominations stood on the ground.

    But none of these abominations were given the opportunity to do anything. They were unable to even move before they were either burned or fried to ash by the thundering lightning or raging mes that surrounded them.

    Of the three men in the air, two of them were already broken. Their arms were twisted in unnatural shapes and their legs were bleeding profusely. Their bodies were riddled with holes in various ces, leaking endless amounts of ck blood.

    Their terrified eyes stared at the monster in front of them. They had heard of his deeds already. In fact, the reason they had teamed up was because they had heard of his deeds. And yet, even together they couldn¡¯t cause anysting damage to him.

    Just like the two of them, the man was riddled with injuries. There were deep gashes in his chest and back from theirbined attack, and even one of his arms was dangling limply at his side. But they knew.

    These same harrowing injuries had been much worse only minutes before. Even the man¡¯s arm was half torn to the point where it¡¯d have to be regrown if he ever wanted to use it again.

    But under their incredulous eyes, he had done just that. The space around him had twisted and distorted, making it so none of their attacks could reach him. And within that distorted space, the man leisurely regrew his arm before once again engaging in battle with them.

    Looking at the two pitch-ck-skinned men in front of him, the man smiled. ¡°It¡¯s simple really. All I asked is which direction it is to Astoria City. How can you treat a humble traveler like myself with such hostility?¡±

    The men got the urge to cough blood at his words. Humble traveler? You were the one who barged into our hideout and started raining hell!

    But the words were stuck in their throats. Their abominations had already been wiped out and they were on death¡¯s door. They knew that the man didn¡¯t even need information from them, he was just toying with them before killing them.

    This only made their rage bubble further. Without hesitation, they once again charged at the man.

    The inky ck mana that surrounded their bodies raged violently, being fueled by everything they had. Even their remaining life force was being transmitted into their final attack.

    Their goal was simple. If they were going to die anyway, they¡¯d at least take him with them.

    Seeing their attempt, the man¡¯s smile deepened. ¡°If you were going to act like that, why didn¡¯t you just say so?¡±

    Putting his hand out, the man clenched the space in front of him as if it was tangible. Then, he tore it open.

    Space copsed, causing heaven and earth to be one. A pitch ck essence much more terrifying than their own leaked out of the space and consumed them.

    They could feel their very existence being torn to shreds. The life force they injected into their attacks was as flimsy as paper in front of this essence.

    ¡°If you thought that you actually had a chance because I let you injure me, well, never mind. What¡¯s the use of talking to dead people, right?¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long for their lives to be reaped. The raging battlefield soon regained its calm.

    Looking at the scene in front of him, Damien¡¯s eyes hardened. None of the sarcastic demeanor he showed to those two Nox beings was present any longer.

    ¡°4 generals. That¡¯s not something that can be handled by a mere barrier. I need to hurry over before things take a turn for the worse.¡±

    Muttering those iprehensible words, his body shed and disappeared as if it never existed in the space around him at all.

 Chapter 259 Base [5]

    It had taken an entire month for Damien to wipe out the 5 bases he saw on the que, though most of that time was spent traveling.

    And honestly, the ones he met were nothing worth mentioning. He only got two pieces of useful information.

    The first was that these 6 that he had killed were near the bottom rung of soldiers within the enemies.

    The division was rtively simple. There were the regr soldiers, which were usually the abominations that Damien had seen earlier. He found out that there were even abominations stronger than the canon fodder he saw, but they simply weren¡¯t necessary for this region.

    Next came the Captains, who would usually takemand over the abominations. After them, there were the generals whomanded the captains, themanders who ordered the generals, and finally, there were 4 kings that had absolute control over all the rest.

    The number of captains that even the 6 Damien had run into knew was in the hundreds, as for generals, there were still tens of them. There were exactly 10manders who directly reported to the 4 kings. It was rumored that there was an even higher rank, but none of these normal soldiers would know any tangible information about it.

    The only reason they even knew this much of the structure was because these Nox beings, who called themselves Demons actually had a rtively streamlined structure, as well as a main base where most of the important personnel stayed.

    One of the captains had worked as a runner for a general before he was given his current station, which was the only reason Damien was able to get the information he currently had. The rest were useless, and the two he fought at the end were unlike the others. They would rather die than give up information.

    It was from the same captain that Damien learned the second piece of information. This one far more crucial.

    4 generals, 50 captains, and thousands of mindless abominations were currently charging a single city.<sub>.</sub>

    Said captain was also supposed to join the charge, but he had been unfortunate enough to meet Damien before he could actually make his way over.

    Damien didn¡¯t know why such a force was necessary to take over a single city filled with mortals, but he felt there had to be a good reason.

    And most likely, that reason was the geniuses who entered the secret realm with him.

    He already knew that the demons wanted blood to soak thend. Although he had originally thought it was only human blood they wanted, he realized that the blood of those who came from the outside world was probably much more valuable.

    The differences between the beasts from the outside world and those born within this realm, Damien hadn¡¯t figured this out yet. But he never expected to find all the answers from simple foot soldiers. No, he would naturally kill his way up the hierarchy until he knew everything that he needed to know.

    ¡®Demon Generals are supposedly around the mid-levels of 3rd ss while themanders are at the peak of this realm. But the strength of the kings was obviously unknown to those weaklings.¡¯

    Damien didn¡¯t know what the strength of the kings would be. The restrictions on this realm obviously made it so only 3rd ss beings could enter, which was why the Beast Kings sent their geniuses in instead of going themselves, but judging from the strength differences between each level of the demon army, Damien could only assume that the Kings were at 4th ss.

    ¡®I don¡¯t have the capabilities to deal with a 4th ss being yet. Even the weakest of them received baptism from the universe, which makes them untouchable to the lower ranks.¡¯

    However, he had a trump card that might be able to ovee that boundary. The problem was that the Void Essence he could control wasn¡¯t at the level where it could do so.<sub></sub>

    ¡®If I can tap into the same power I had while building the Sanctuary, killing the Kings should be possible if I use concealment. As for a head-on battle, that isn¡¯t within my capabilities.¡¯

    It was the first time Damien had ever considered assassination as a tactic, but it was only out of necessity. Plus, he didn¡¯t even know if his conjectures were right.

    ¡®But, nning for the worst-case scenario is best. I can¡¯t bex in the face of 4th ss beings.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s thoughts raced as he rushed towards the city named Astoria. He only knew its general location, but with his awareness and the fact that it would be surrounded by an army soon, he didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be too hard to find.

    ¡®Well, considering that the people defending the city also received strengthening from that magma, I doubt they¡¯d need too much help dealing with the army. Especially if there¡¯s a good number of them. But, that doesn¡¯t mean I can let them steal my kills, can I?¡¯

    Damien grinned. The dull golden star on his forehead shone as if it was craving to see the blood of demons.

    ***

    ¡°Fire Phoenix Faction members, gather!¡±

    A piercing cry rang through the city of Astoria, even overshadowing the ominously ringing bell that signaled the iing danger.<sub></sub>

    Immediately, 25 people shot into the sky and rushed towards the direction of the cry.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the group to gather. Standing in front of them was a fiery red woman looking into the distance with a hawk-like gaze.

    Feeling the 25 presences behind her, she slowly turned around.

    ¡°Heed mymand. There are thousands of enemies marching towards our city as we speak. With their current speed, they should arrive in 2 days.¡±

    The 25 geniuses felt their gazes be serious. Thousands of enemies, and only 25 of them. This wasn¡¯t a battle that seemed easy to win.

    But Feng Qing¡¯er didn¡¯t allow them to breed fear for too long. In a battle like this one, morale was crucial.

    ¡°Do not worry. For the most part, their troops seem to be 2nd ss beings. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard for us to deal with them. But there are still many lower 3rd ss beings littered within their ranks.¡±

    ¡°Although this battle seems to be one we are fated to lose, I believe otherwise! We are the peak geniuses within the entirety of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range! How big is our mountain range? How many younger generation members live within it? Yet, all of us ced within the top 1000 of that gargantuan number.¡±

    mes were slowly lit in the dim eyes of those 25 geniuses.

    ¡°If you cower now, how can you call yourself a genius? Plus, did you forget? We need to kill in order to pass on to the next trial. If we do not pass on, it means death. So, kill to your heart¡¯s content! Set your emotions aze and fight!¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡±

    A unified cry rang out from those 25. Remembering their goal in this secret realm, their morale was immediately revitalized. Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s words obviously had some effect, but the prospect of the Primordial Undying Fruits had even more. In the face of such a treasure, fear became an unknown concept.

    After seeing to it that her subordinates were given the proper positions for theing battle, Feng Qing¡¯er focused her gaze into the distance once again.

    ¡®Those 4 in the pnquins seem to be the hardest to deal with. From their auras alone, I should be able to take them. However, I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re hiding their strength.¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er was only wary of those 4, as well as the beasts they were riding. As for the rest, most of them could be wiped out with a single flick of her wrist if she so wished.

    ¡®Luckily for us, we don¡¯t need to divert too much focus to defending the city. As long as the barrier stays active, we can wholeheartedly focus on battle.¡¯

    Sending her awareness into the star on her forehead, Feng Qing¡¯er smiled. After this battle, a purple star was guaranteed. And if she was lucky, she wouldn¡¯t be too far from a ck star as well.

    She had supreme confidence in her abilities. Even if it was her against the entire army, she¡¯d still have confidence. That was simply the type of person she was.

    Her pride might be great enough to pierce the heavens, but she had always had the ability to back it up. When had she, Feng Qing¡¯er, ever been forced to suffer a loss?

    When she thought this far, she suddenly remembered a certain human that she had recently met, but she quickly shook her head.

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t count. That bastard only knows how to flee. Hmph, let¡¯s see how he runs next time I see him.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Thinking so hard about a man is a rare sight from the little Miss isn¡¯t it?¡± A yful voice rang out from behind her.

    Without even turning around, she responded. ¡°And why would I need to spend time thinking about a man? Rather, isn¡¯t it you who has been showing an unnatural amount of interest?¡±

    Looking at the girl behind her, Feng Qing¡¯er smirked slightly. ¡°I almost feel bad for him. To enter your radar has never been a good thing.¡±

    The girl¡¯s beautiful ck eyes twinkled at her words. ¡°Who knows? Maybe I truly am interested in him. I wonder what kind of fun things he can show me.¡±

    With a slight smile on her face, she turned around and left. Feng Qing¡¯er could only watch the receding back with a helpless expression on her face.

    ¡®Ah, why did it have to be me that got stuck with her?¡¯

    Shaking her head at her predicament, she also left the area. Now, it was time to prepare for battle.

 Chapter 260 Base [6]

    A day quickly passed as Feng Qing¡¯er and her faction members prepared for theing assault. At the moment, they were spread evenly in front of the gates of the city, creating a defense on all sides.

    Rumble!

    The ground rumbled and quaked from the impact of thousands of footsteps striking it at once. However, there was no uniformity among them.

    Looking at the sea of ck that was approaching from all sides, the 25 geniuses who were trying to defend the city together felt a shiver run down their spines.

    Were they really supposed to take all of these enemies alone? Even with the constion from Feng Qing¡¯er that most of them were weak, the sheer number was enough to cause their morale to plummet.

    Seeing them like this, Feng Qing¡¯er sighed. Even she couldn¡¯t do anything at this point. She was also feeling some apprehension looking at the iing tide.

    No matter how much battle experience she had gained within the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, a situation like this was naturally not a part of it. When would any normal person find themselves facing an army alone?

    But Feng Qing¡¯er didn¡¯t spend too much time thinking about these things. Regardless, she was already in this situation. It was kill or be killed. If she cowered, if she showed even an ounce of fear, those under her would feel their own morale plummet even further.

    Steeling herself, she bravely walked ahead of the defensive line they had formed, leaving the protection of the barrier.

    ¡°Geniuses of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, it is time for us to show these demons why we are titled as such!¡±<sub>.</sub>

    For what reason should she allow the enemy to gain an advantage? She, Feng Qing¡¯er would be the first to strike.

    Wings of me burst from her back, pping powerfully and shooting her into the air. By the time she reached her intended height, the me projection had already be more corporeal.

    Her sharp gaze scanned the iing army, and immediately, her wings pped once again.

    Hundreds of fiery red feathers detached themselves and shot forth like needles, charging into the crowd of abominations.

    Boom!

    A me lit within the ranks. With every feather that shot forth, an abomination wasbusted. Small explosions rang through the battlefield.

    But even with the death of hundreds of abominations, the numbers didn¡¯t seem to shrink at all. In fact, the hole that was left was immediately filled in by other abominations.

    ¡°RAAAAAH!¡±

    A loud cry rang out, followed by many more. The rumbling footsteps that shook the earth became even more pronounced as the abominations began their charge.<sub></sub>

    Boom! sh!

    A fierce battle began. Seeing how Feng Qing¡¯er fearlessly charged forward, the other geniuses didn¡¯t want to get left behind.

    They rushed out into the battlefield, mana costing their bodies to enhance their speed. Massive waves of elemental attacks continuously struck the oing tide of abominations, fiercely dwindling their numbers.

    Or at least, that was what they expected. But the geniuses realized they had severely underestimated how big the difference in numbers was.

    They were expecting thousands. Even if it took a while, they could deal with thousands of 2nd ss beings. But they found that even with hundreds of abominations dying every minute, their battle didn¡¯t seem to end.

    Seeing their plight, Feng Qing¡¯er decided she needed to make a bigger move. From the sky where she stood, rings of heat began to emanate.

    Burn!

    The sky itself burned. And from the ashes rose a ming Phoenix projection. Its massive wings pped, a screech resounded through the air.

    It charged into the crowd of abominations, causing them to burst into mes with ease. By the time the Phoenix projection faded, thousands of abominations had already died.<sub></sub>

    The geniuses were invigorated by her disy of power. Tsunami-like tides formed in the air, powerful tornados joining them to create a hurricane of untold proportions.

    In other areas, the ground itself ruptured and began to swallow hoards of abominations, pirs of magma shooting out and devouring the rest.

    The geniuses no longer cared about taking things slow. They felt inferior to the girl in front of them, who was fighting much harder than any of them. And so, they let out everything they had.

    Their attacks, fueled by the frustration of the endless onught they had been facing for many minutes already, charged into the tides of abominations and razed everything they touched.

    But even with this, the true battle had yet to begin.

    On the outskirts of the battle, a curious scene was taking ce. Light winds breezed through the charging crowd of abominations as if their furious charge was nothing special.

    However, everywhere these light winds passed, the heads of abominations would mysteriously be separated from their bodies.

    It wasn¡¯t a matter of one or two at a time, but hundreds at once. The mindless beasts didn¡¯t even have the chance to reach the main battlefield before dying.

    ck ink covered the ground, painting the grass ck. And out of this ckness emerged a girl.

    ¡°Hmm, these guys are no fun. Where are the stronger ones?¡± Her tone didn¡¯t seem to match the surrounding atmosphere at all, but the girl didn¡¯t seem like she noticed.

    Suddenly, her gaze pointed towards a certain direction. There, a congregation of 10 demons who looked much more humanoid than the abominations were gathered.

    ¡°Maybe those guys?¡± Tilting her head cutely, the girl once again melted into the darkness of the ground.

    When her figure reappeared, she was already in front of the Demon Captains.

    ¡°So, would you like to y a game with me?¡±

    A bright smile decorated the girl¡¯s face as she spoke. But to the demon captains who hadn¡¯t even been able to sense her approach, it was the smile of a devil even greater than them.

    ***

    Countless battles raged on outside the city of Astoria. shing lights of various colors, as well as elemental phenomenons, decorated the atmosphere in a myriad of colors.

    Concealed within the spatialyers, Damien watched it all unfold.

    ¡°I guess they aren¡¯t called geniuses for nothing.¡±

    Although the performance of those 25 geniuses could be considered spectacr, to Damien who had already killed thousands of abominations, they were merely rookie numbers.

    His focus was mainly on two girls who were dominating the battlefield.

    In the front, there was Feng Qing¡¯er. Her mes seemed just as powerful as his sunmes, melting abominations with a mere touch. Phoenix projections flew across the sky and feathers rained down from the heavens. She didn¡¯t even move a single step from her spot in the sky, making it evident that she wasn¡¯t even trying yet.

    Abruptly, 20 ck streaks shot into the sky, encircling Feng Qing¡¯er. Her gaze turned on them, a ming pride in her eyes. It was clear that even in front of such an obstruction, she remained unfazed.

    As for the other girl, her battle drew much less attention. Surrounded by demon captains, she had a bright smile on her face. Cuts and gashes randomly appeared on the bodies of those around her faster than they could react, and even their own shadows seemed to be fighting against them.

    Although it didn¡¯t look grand or incredibly destructive, how could Damien¡¯s eyes be wrong? He could clearly see the raging sea of mana she was hiding in her small body.

    ¡°Not bad, not bad. But if I let you hog the spotlight any longer, there won¡¯t be anything left for me.¡±

    Above the gradually heating battlefield, thundering clouds began to form and gather.

 Chapter ?261 Generals [1]

    Chapter ?261 Generals [1]

    The sudden change in weather naturally drew attention from those on the battlefield, and feeling the frightening destructive power contained within those clouds made even the strongest among them wary.

    But not many had the leisure to watch the clouds for too long. Those normal geniuses were far too preupied with the mindless hoard that continued charging them without paying any heed to distractions.

    As for Feng Qing''er and that mysterious girl, they weren''t focused on the clouds either, rather, they were trying to find the source of the weather change.

    The obvious scent of mana that riddled the storm made it clear that it wasn''t formed naturally, and the color of the lightning even more so. They wanted to determine whether the attack was from friend or foe, but they didn''t even have time to think before massive beams of ck light fell to the ground.

    With each beam, hundreds of abominations were annihted. With tens of them striking down at the same time, the hoard of abominations was cut down to a frightening degree.

    The captains surrounding Feng Qing''er and the mysterious girl were momentarily dazed. In that moment, bright orange mes lit up the otherwise dark atmosphere, descending upon the dazed captains.

    Before they even had a chance to recover their wits, those 20 captains were bathed in a sea of mes. As if that wasn''t enough damage already, Feng Qing''er never stopped sending out Phoenix phantoms and glimmering me des into the midst.

    Even though these captains were bonafide 3rd ss existences, how could they even show their faces in front of her? She was the me Queen, ranked 3rd in the entire 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    If bugs like them were qualified to even look at her feet, then she had done her reputation dirty.

    The mysterious ck-haired girl didn''t miss the opportunity either. Sensing that the time to y around had finished, she sighed in dejection

    "But I wanted 5 more minutes!" She said in an exasperated voice.

    Much to the confusion of the captains who surrounded her, she lowered her des and took a rxed posture as if she was done fighting.

    The captains moved as one, wanting to take their revenge on the girl who had been toying with them all this time, but as they moved, they felt a strange sense of incongruity with their bodies

    They had moved forward, yet they didn''t feel the impact of their feet hitting the ground. Looking down, they saw an odd yet terrifying sight.

    Their bodies had indeed moved forward as they intended, it was just that their legs were still remaining where they once stood.

    Thump!

    A series of thumps soon followed as the upload bodies of those captains hit the ground. Only then did they finally realize they had been cut in half. But it was far toote to notice.

    Just like that, 30 of the 50 captains present on the battlefield had been ruthlessly in, and with the continuous effort of those geniuses as well as the support of the storm clouds above, the number of abominations had be negligible.

    The once crowded battlefield had be surprisingly empty, and the atmosphere descended into silence. The citizens of Astoria could barely even fathom what was happening in front of their eyes.

    All of a sudden, the trumpeting of elephants sted away the silent atmosphere, causing everyone''s attention to be drawn to the 4 pnquins that had remained silent even while their forces were being ughtered. They were in formation, with one in the forefront and three others behind it.

    From the foremost pnquin, a soft white hand brushed past the curtains, moving them to the side and revealing the scene within. And truly, it was breathtaking

    A beautiful woman of seemingly Asian descent, her ck hair flowing down her waist and her green eyes shining lightly. Her sitting position was rxed andzy, giving her a seductive air.

    Her half-closed eyes brushed past the geniuses in front of her, stopping briefly on Feng Qing''er and that mysterious girl before once again returning to surveilling the surroundings. Yet, after a minute passed her face showed a disappointed expression.

    "Hey~ such a beautiful woman is earnestly seeking you, yet you remain hidden? How uncourteous!"

    Her voice was smooth and ethereal, causing some of those with weaker minds to fall into a daze. Feng Qing''er noticed this and made no move to hide the disgust evident on her face as she looked at them.

    "Hahaha," a sudden bout ofughter rang out from the void. "Although I''ve never counted myself as someone who would reject the invitation of such a beautifuldy, I''m not a fan of picking thorny roses."

    But despite his words, the man in question stepped out of the void and revealed himself to the world. His glistening ck hair, those silver streaks within it, his shapely face and mystical eyes. His presence wasn''t the slightest bit less stunning than the woman he was responding to.

    But his eyes weren''t looking at the woman as a person. No, any observant individual could see the sharp glint that was shing through then.

    "Oh my~ oh my~! I never expected you to be so handsome! Say, how about youe spend a night with this big sister?"

    Uncaring of his demeanor, the woman continued flirtatiously.

    The man smiled in response. "Indeed, spending a night with you sounds like a great idea. I have many questions that need answering, you see."

    The woman''s eyes suddenly lost a bit of their yfulness as he continued speaking.

    "And what kind of questions might those be?"

    "Ah, well I ran into some bugs on the way here and learned a few interesting facts. But as you know, bugs will be bugs. It might not be by much, but you''re at least somewhat better than a bug, right? So I don''t think it''d be a waste to ask you instead."

    "What did you just say?" A cold killing intent unfitting of the personality the woman had previously been showing leaked from her body.

    "Hm? Did I speak any lies? Bugs will be bugs regardless. And aren''t you one of them? What is the use of putting up such pretenses anyway? You know as well as I do that today will be your death date."

    A fierce grin crept up Damien''s face. He had felt the urge to entertain this woman simply because of how different she was from any other Nox being he had met before.

    They were all grotesque, and even though the captains were rtively humanoid, their features were still somewhat morphed. This woman, however, was truly a beauty. And he could tell very easily that it wasn''t just some illusion.

    But he didn''t care about her beauty at all. Even when he met Ruyue for the first time, he hadn''t been enthralled by her stunning beauty. Hell, he hadn''t even noticed it until he consciously checked her outter.

    And besides the aspect of beauty, there was no way Damien would be attracted to someone who had sold their soul to the Nox. The raging inky ck mana around her was enough for him to confirm that.

    And to him, a Nox was a Nox regardless of the form it took. From the start, he never saw a woman in front of him. The only thing he saw was a target.

    A target that he wanted to interrogate properly before killing.

 Chapter 262 Generals [2]

    Chapter 262 Generals [2]

    Perhaps it was the words he spoke or perhaps the woman had seen the look in his eyes, but her facade immediately crumpled. The barely concealed killing intent from before suddenly bloomed to the point where even the elephantine mount she was riding was shivering in fear.

    Fierce winds rushed from within the other three pnquins as their riders felt the woman''s killing intent. Three equally handsome men with the exact same facial features were suddenly standing around her in a triangr formation.

    "Do you understand who exactly you''re messing with?" The woman''s eery voice rang out. The killing intent around her had multiplied even further with the addition of the other three Generals, causing an intimidating air to permeate further into the atmosphere.

    Feeling the pressureing from the four Generals, the 25 geniuses who had been diligently fighting back the remains of the abomination army suddenly froze in fear.

    Their bodies shuddered to the point where they couldn''t even lift their heads. Any fighting spirit they had broke. If it wasn''t for that mysterious girl''s timely help, there was no doubt they would''ve been killed off without worry.

    Even the elephantine beasts copsed to the ground helplessly, signs of foaming from their mouths.

    "And is there any reason I shouldn''t know?" Damien replied with a cocky grin. "Why should I give a shit about scum who sold themselves for a meager amount of power?"

    "You¡­!" An enraged shout came from the woman. She no longer maintained her sitting posture, standing at her full height which was almost as tall as Damien and ring at him heavily.

    The thundering clouds above seemed to rage. Swirling winds and thick ck lightning danced through the air. It was clear that a fight was on the cusp of breaking out.

    Feng Qing''er watched the whole interaction from start to finish without even properly having the chance to speak. Whether it was the man who had just arrived or the ones within the pnquins, they all ignored the presence of all others.

    But regardless of how much she paid attention to the conversation, she was still confused about its contents. She really couldn''t figure out what was going on, but she understood that it was something greater than what she originally thought.

    She couldn''t be med though. Knowledge of the Nox wasn''t amon thing in the first ce, with only the stronger experts in the world knowing about it. Even at Damien''s level, he wouldn''t have been qualified to know this information if he was born and raised in the Cloud ne.

    But through a series of coincidences and fortuitous encounters, he had be deeply entrenched in the Nox conflict far before he had the qualifications to even utter their names.

    Even then, he basically knew nothing. He knew of their existence, he had seen some of the activities of their followers, but he had onlye into contact with the race itself one time.

    And even that one time was in a controlled environment where the Nox was severely weakened.

    Even disregarding the taboo-ish nature of the subject, with the 3000 Beast Mountain Range being a sealed area without contact with the outside world, how could they have any information at all?

    The only ones Damien suspected had this kind of knowledge were the elves who resided under the World Tree, and perhaps the White Dragon King who was once a traveler from the outside world. But evidently, they had followed the same procedures in not sharing this information with those too weak to know it.

    Feng Qing''er, who was clueless to all of this, probably wouldn''t have cared either way. Her pride red at the way she was being treated.

    "Hey! Who do you think you are to ignore me?!" She yelled in fury. Her ming gazended on Damien, who she still hadn''t settled her score with.

    A soft giggle rang out as another figure shed into the air, appearing next to her. "Now, now. A fun thing is happening in front of you, why don''t you just sit back and enjoy it?"

    Looking at the two women, one known and the other a mystery, Damien smiled lightly. "Well, the short version is that they are scum. If you really want to know, think of them as a stronger variation of those abominations you fought earlier."

    "Eh?" The unexpected answer took them by surprise. Feng Qing''er''s gaze became strange when she looked towards the woman and three men standing on the enemy side.

    But she didn''t let any thoughts linger for too long. "Hmph! I''ll ept it for now, but when this is over you have to tell me everything! If you don''t, watch how I tear you to shreds!"

    .

    The mysterious girl simply giggled once more, but from the way her aura red, her position was obvious.

    Three on one side and four on the other. Seeing how no more talk was necessary, Damien cracked his neck.

    "I''ll take on that woman. The other three shouldn''t be too hard for the two of you, right?"

    "Are you looking down on me?!" Feng Qing''er fumed.

    Damien smiled, but his eyes were still as cold as ever. Looking at the woman once more, he spoke one final time.

    "Joining hands with those scum and bing one of their dogs is simply¡­COURTING DEATH!"

    Giving himself a heartyugh, he shot forward with intense speed, immediately crossing the distance between him and the Demon Generals.

    Without hesitation, he shot his fist forward at the female demon general''s face.

    Boom!

    The demon general raised her arm to block, but the force of the punch still managed to push her back. Still, she remained uninjured.

    "You¡­you actually attacked me¡­" she muttered in disbelief. Suddenly, her arms shot up once again as another punch shot towards her face. But it was soon followed by a low uppercut to her stomach.

    Bang!

    The woman shot into the air, still dazed by the fact that she was being attacked. When was thest time she had been disrespected like this? When was thest time she had been hit?

    Despite the fact that she was only a Demon General at the moment, even the Commanders didn''t dare disrespect her too much. Her position within their ranks was already guaranteed as long as she had the chance to grow.

    But now¡­now, some random guy wanted to abuse her like this? She suddenly broke out into a fit ofughter. It was a maniacalughter that truly didn''t fit her fairy-like appearance.

    "Good! Good good good! Hahahaha!"

    Raging ck mana exploded forth from her body and transformed into thick tendrils of what looked like ck me.

    "Let me show you the consequences of daring to attack me!"

    Her body shed forward like a cket towards Damien''s location. Her empty hand was now holding an inky ck sickle made of the same mana that emanated from her body.

    Damien raised his fist that crackling with ck lightning and slightly distorting the surrounding space and punched out, meeting the sickle head-on. A ring-like shockwave rippled through the air and caused the winds to rip around.

    Their sh seemed to signal the start of a massive battle of even greater proportion than when thousands had charged forth.

    Feng Qing''er and the mysterious girl arrived before their targets as well. And even though they had beenrgely ignored so far, the other geniuses also acted.

    Theirbat power might not have been enough to participate in the battle in the sky, but there were still 20 odd demon captains on the ground with them. Not wanting to be dead weight, and wishing to make up for their humiliating cowering from before, they fervently attacked those captains.

    The sky which had already started to dim with the setting sun was once again lit up by a series of explosions and colorful mana.

 Chapter ?263 Generals [3]

    Chapter ?263 Generals [3]

    Feng Qing''er arrived before her targets immediately, mes dancing at the soles of her feet and on the wings that sprouted from her back.

    "Listen here. I''m not in a very good mood since those assholes want to treat me like I don''t exist, so don''t me me if you get a little hurt, okay?"

    With a brilliant smile that looked especially dangerous in the current situation, she shot forward.

    A longsword had entered her hand at some point, making a smooth arc in the air as it chased the neck of one of the generals. As for the other, a simr sword made entirely of mes was flying at him as if it had a mind of its own.

    Swish!

    With the sound of air getting cut, the sword made impact. But Feng Qing''er wasn''t able to feel the satisfying feeling of flesh being torn. Instead, a sh of metal was heard.

    A ck rapier blocked her sword easily, sliding down its de and parrying it before thrusting towards her throat. With a p of her wings, she shifted her body to the side and narrowly dodged.

    "Ha!"

    A spirited shout left her mouth as she swung her sword once more. Every time she struck, her blows were infused with unbridled power that seemed to want to crush a mountain.

    But without suspense, her blows were parried. The rapier in the Demon General''s hand moved with elegance and speed, eventually forcing Feng Qing''er to go on the defensive.

    The cold and stoic face of the Demon General shed imperceptibly before his speed increased.

    By the time Feng Qing''er adapted to the change of pace, a sense of danger enveloped her.

    "Shit!"

    Her wings pped and a burst of mes came from her soles. Her body shot up into the air, causing the massive axe that was trying to sever her from behind to impact nothing but air.

    The two demon generals shot up in pursuit. The rapier and axe in their hands followed her movements precisely, making sure not to leave her any room to breathe.

    Feng Qing''er swung her sword diligently. Her powerful strikes made it seem more like she was using a hammer than a sword.

    She moved in spontaneous bursts, not allowing the two enemies to encircle her. With her mes supporting her on the side, she kept both targets in front of her, allowing her to maneuver the 2v1 situation with more ease.

    But as time went on, Feng Qing''er realized her disadvantage. While her skill may have been slightly above theirs, they had more raw physical power than her.

    But it couldn''t be helped. Even if she followed the path of brute strength, her Phoenix n wasn''t known for its powerful body, but its mana instead. For this reason, the Primordial Undying Fruits that could grant her the physics body she desired were all the more valuable.

    ''If we continue like this, the battle will stay stalemated for too long.''

    Spreading her awareness, she nced at the other two battles and frowned. ''It''d be too embarrassing to finish after they do.''

    mes sprouted once again and propelled her backwards.

    "Aiya, how could the two of you team up against a poordy like me? Simply too shameless!"

    Despite her words, there was a mocking expression on her face.

    The stoic faces of the demon generals contorted for the first time as they sensed a foreboding feeling from below.

    The earth cracked open and two pirs of blistering mes rushed into the air.

    But her opponents weren''t idiots either. In the split second it took for the mes to reach them, they had already erected inky ck barriers around their bodies.

    Skree!

    The cry of a Phoenix resounded through the atmosphere. A phantom iparable to the ones she had thrown at the abomination horde materialized in the air.

    Its wings pped gently as if painting a picture of elegance, but every time theypleted the motion, a hail of feathers fell from the sky.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The barriers of the Demon Generals were barraged incessantly by the ming feathers. Each one seemed to carry the force of a cannon ball.

    Explosions continuously rang out, causing the barriers to quake. Light cracks began to form on their surfaces as the attack continued.

    It was at that time when a murky aura covered the area the barriers had surrounded. Out of nowhere; the attacking force of the feathers seemed to have drastically dwindled.

    ''No, they''re being corroded.'' Feng Qing''er realized. Even her awareness was corroded when she tried to send it into the area.

    The corrosion force spread through the air, bing inky ck tendrils that shot forward and wrapped around the Phoenix phantom.

    Skree!

    A pained cry left its beak as it fiercely resisted, but in the end, it wasn''t a living entity. It had no intelligence, and could only be helplessly corroded by the chains surrounding it.

    As Feng Qing''er''s attacks were being dissolved, the barriers also retraced, revealing the unharmed forms of the Demon Generals.

    Feng Qing''er frowned. This wasn''t how she expected things to go. Truthfully, she had thought they would''ve been defeated with the Phoenix phantom''s barrage.

    ''They are simr to me.''

    She realized that it was naive to think they would be simple mid-level 3rd ss beings if they were given the power to act as generals over such an army. Even if Damien had called them insignificant, she knew that their power couldn''t be considered as such.

    But still, she wasn''t the 3rd ranked on the 3000 Beast Record for nothing. If she couldn''t take care of two people at her same level, how could she have earned her reputation?

    Thinking this far, she decided to take the battle a bit more seriously.

    Her hands came together and formed a mysterious seal. In response to her motion, the air around her began to vibrate.

    "Ahh, I hate using this skill. Why did it have to take the form of those damn lizards!"

    With an iprehensible shout, her hand seal changed. The vibrating air burst into mes, dying the atmosphere red.

    Space seemed to distort at that moment as a massive head reared itself from within.

    The Demon Generals'' faces hardened. Raging mana erupted from their bodies and the tendrils of corrosion force joined together

    Behind their figures, a phantom shaped like a massive Kraken with an infinite amount of tentacles formed.

    .

    Not waiting for Feng Qing''er to finish what she was doing, the tentacles descended on her body like an ocean. They iled wildly and dripped with an aura emanating wrath.

    BOOM!

    A horrifying collision resounded. From an outside perspective, it seemed like Feng Qing''er had been directly crushed by the fierce attack.

    But contrary to that belief, an indomitable wall seemed to have formed in front of her. It was made of pure darkness, almost indistinguishable from the color of the Kraken.

    Feng Qing''er cracked a grin. "Damn! Although it''s annoying, I guess I''ll have to ept the help for now."

    Hundreds of tentacles shot towards her from all directions, but that wall of darkness seemed imprable. With the time it bought her, she was able to properly form the image that was coalescing behind her.

    It was like a second sun lit up the cool night that had enveloped the trial world. The residents of Astoria could only describe it as such.

    The light it was giving off was so blinding that they couldn''t make out its figure, and the heatwaves it was radiating raised the temperature to almost unbearable degrees even within the barrier around the city.

    Suddenly, the eyes of the image opened. Two reptilian slits gazed down upon the world. It opened its gaping maw wide and¡­

    It roared.

 Chapter 264 Generals [4]

    Chapter 264 Generals [4]

    Boom!

    Damien''s fist impacted the sickle covered in ck mes yet again. Their exchange had been going on like this from the start of the battle.

    From what he could see, this Demon woman was far too prideful to use any other kinds of attacks against him even after seeing the power he used to decimate the legion shemanded, but he didn''t really care.

    In fact, it worked out better for him this way. After all, his n was to thoroughly break her so he didn''t have to trouble himself too much when it came time for interrogation.

    The de of the woman''s sickle was far more thin and sharp than an ordinary weapon could achieve, but from what he could tell, it stillnded within the realm of SSS rank.

    And it would take a peak SSS rank that was better ssified as a half-step Chaos rank artifact to pierce through his bodily defenses.

    If she continued like this, he knew she wouldn''t be able to scratch him at all, but that ck me was another matter altogether.

    It contained a malice unlike anything he had felt from an element before. Whenever they made contact, it tried to crawl up his body as if it was sentient.

    But yet again, it met its match. If his Void Physique that had now properly gained a connection with Void Essence couldn''t expel this tiny amount of me, it truly wouldn''t live up to the domineering attitude it had shown before.

    Damien smirked. It seemed he had met someone he could easily counter. Actually, this didn''t seem to be a strange sight when he encountered the Nox.

    From what he could tell, corruption and corrosion were their strong points, and those were the things he feared the least.

    Still, he didn''t let it get to his head. Knowing full well the taste of defeat after being beat senseless by the Incarnate Snow Beast King and being forced to flee by the members of the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, he was well aware that he wasn''t someone considered unrivaled.

    His idle thought didn''t continue for long, as the ck mes dancing along the woman''s sickle became fiercer and fiercer with every exchange.

    They seemed hellbent on burning through his defenses as if its pride had been damaged by his resistance.

    The Demon General also had an annoyed expression on her face. She poured a greater amount of mana into the me with an unwilling look while unrelentingly attacking.

    Damien suddenly shed away from his position, appearing one meter behind her and throwing an electricity-coated punch.

    Even though they weren''t close enough for his fist to hit her, the wind pressure from his attack did so on its own. And hidden within that wind pressure, a distortion of space.

    Before she knew it, the woman was sent flying back, a portion of the cloth on her chest burned to shreds. Even her wless skin had been slightly charred.

    "What?"

    She didn''t understand how it happened, but that only made her rage boil even further. The fact that the first one injured in this fight was her, it was uneptable.

    Boom!

    It seemed she could no longer handle the humiliation. The ck mes burst from her body and covered her entirely, her piercing eyes became dyed red.

    "Bastard!"

    She shouted in anger. A beam of ck light shot from her hands and arrived in front of Damien at insane speeds.

    But Damien simply smirked in derision. When the beam reached a point one meter away from him, it suddenly switched course and made a sharp turn to the right.

    But the woman was too frenzied to notice. She continued shooting beam after beam of concentrated ck mes, her scarlet eyes burning with madness.

    Damien watched the scene curiously behind the protection of his vector shield.

    ''Why is she so pent up over a single injury? Ah, well I guess it kind of makes sense.''

    He doubted she had ever tasted the vor of defeat before. In a realm like this one where demons were the supreme race, there was no situation for her to.

    And with her inherently haughty and arrogant attitude, this kind of always winning would inevitably lead her to becent.

    But Damien didn''t feel like this was all there was to it. Her response to provocation could be exined with this much, but the amount of wrath she was showcasing wasn''t at a level that he could simply call the result of arrogance.

    No, she seemed to be influenced by outside forces.

    ''That ck me sure is interesting.''

    Damien wanted to get his hands on that me to see what was going on, but he figured he could do so after the battle ended.

    Boom!

    Leisurely watching the other battles taking ce, Damien had a fun idea. Doing some slight calctions, he shifted the trajectory and magnitude forces of his vector field in slightly different directions.

    The incessantly pouring ck beams that were randomly striking the surrounding environment seemed to have gained a purpose. They moved in a targeted fashion, heading towards an unsuspecting demon general that was entirely tied up by the mysterious girl from before.

    In all honesty, her battle was both the most and least interesting at the same time. The ckness that came from her shadow dominated the one the demon general tried to use, forcing him to fight with physical strength alone.

    But the girl''s movements were fleeting and nimble. She dodged his attacks like a loach. Every time he thought she was in a situation where she could no longer escape, she would somehow twist her body unnaturally and do exactly that.

    He was frustrated. The stoic expression he held at the beginning couldn''t maintain itself. He could feel it. Just like the captains from before, he was being toyed with.

    Every once in a while, cuts and gashes would randomly appear on his skin, but even as he watched the girl with utmost focus, he couldn''t tell when she moved. A primal fear was taking root in his heart.

    He felt like prey that was standing in front of its natural predator.

    His eyes soon became dyed scarlet. The girl''s eyes also changed, showing a hint of interest. But before anything could happen, tens of ck beams suddenly shot in their direction and hit the demon general squarely in the back.

    His body shivered. He knew immediately what had hit him. In fact, he had been whipped by the same mes countless times before. Such had been his fate for so many years that he no longer felt any shame from it.

    But now, those same mes had hit him in a much more visceral fashion. With every new beam that impacted his body, the burning hole in his back grew wider and more pronounced.

    By the time the demon woman finally stopped firing after realizing something was wrong, he already had a massive hole in his chest.

    The demon general''s expression was aggrieved to say the least. Why did he have to die like this? Even if he died, why couldn''t it be in a more justified way?

    And just as his life force was about to fade away, the mysterious girl dropped what was apparently the final nail in the coffin.

    "A~ Kill stealing is no fair!"

    Those were the final words he heard before he dropped dead.

    Hearing the girl''s words, Damien broke into a fit ofughter unbefitting of the situation. "Alright, I see your point. But what was I supposed to do with these annoying beams?"

    "Hmm~ Annoying? But that woman didn''t seem to be ying around?" The girl responded, feigning innocence.

    Damien smirked in response. "Please, a beam attack isn''t supposed to be weak shit like that."

    "Oh? Then what is a beam attack supposed to look like?"

    While the girl spoke, she nced at Feng Qing''er and suddenly waved her hands. A massive ck barrier surrounded her, causing the endless stream of tentacles assaulting her to be held back.

    .

    Once her task was finished, the girl focused her attention back on Damien.

    "Is that a provocation?" He asked with a smile.

    "Why can''t it just be a girl trying to satisfy her curiosity?" She quipped back.

    "Fine, fine," Damien responded. "I guess I''ll just have to show you then. Watch carefully."

    Damien refocused his gaze on the demon general who was still fuming and covered in ck mes. Her scarlet eyes hadn''t reverted to their original ck color yet, and she still seemed to be attacking madly.

    Although his vector shield couldn''t block physical attacks, she didn''t seem to have realized it yet, as she was still throwing out a barrage of mana-based attacks.

    "Sigh, how am I going to interrogate her if she''s in this state? Welp, I guess a healthy dose of dragon''s breath should snap her out of it."

    Damien breathed in, his throat expanded to its limit. Sunmes coalesced within, as well as destructive ck lightning. The two forces immediately tried to fight each other, but a strand of Void Essence entered the mix and quelled them.

    It only took a second for all of this to happen. And when it finished, Damien opened his mouth wide. A fearsome roar left his mouth, apanied by a massive beam of ck and red light.

    And at the same time, another dragon roar rang out from a separate part of the battlefield.

 Chapter 265 Generals [5]

    The two simultaneous dragon roars filled the world with color iparable to anything before. A wave of red and ck light covered the battlefield and coalesced, swallowing the demon generals that could only helplessly watch its progression.

    The Kraken phantom they had erected melted away due to the extreme mana and heat, and even the barriers they tried to erect were burned away without problem.

    It was especially troubling for the female demon general, who managed to regain a semnce of reason in the face of a fatal threat. But it was all toote.

    Boooom!

    The raging torrent of mana didn¡¯t stop its movements for many minutes, causing even the normal geniuses on the ground below to retreat in apprehension. The demon captains they had been facing were directly incinerated without even knowing how they died.

    After many minutes of such pandemonium, the brilliant light finally faded, giving way to the now scorchednd outside of Astoria city.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    An enthusiastic yelp was the first sound that was made after the passing of the storm. That mysterious ck-haired girl was staring at the aftermath with shining eyes, scanning for traces of the demon generals.

    Damien grinned lightly at her response before spreading his awareness to do the same. And it didn¡¯t take him long to find what he was looking for.

    Hundreds of meters away, the charred body of the female demon general was slumped on the ground. Although he could sense lifeforce from her, it was obvious that she had been knocked unconscious.

    Teleporting a few times to reach her body, Damien did a deeper scan. ¡°Wow, it looks like the heat did most of the damage on her, huh.¡±<sub>.</sub>

    Despite saying something so obvious, Damien had a surprised expression on his face. His dragon¡¯s breath was blisteringly hot, sure, but the heat didn¡¯tpare to the prative power and sheer destruction that was provided by the ck lightning.

    But, he had to acquiesce. The sunmes seemed to be exhibiting more and more power as he learned how to use them. And perhaps one day when he had enough mana to sustain them, they¡¯d be an integral part of his arsenal.

    Snapping out of his thoughts, he grabbed the body of the female demon general and slung it over his shoulder. He debated whether or not to put it in the Sanctuary, but there was no way he¡¯d do so with little Xue¡¯er happily exploring it.

    ¡®I should make a private area so I can move with more freedom in there.¡¯

    A wry smile decorated his face as he realized how troubling it was to keep a little kid around him, but he quickly shook it off. He was the one who made the decision, so he¡¯d see it through to the end.

    His gaze soon traveled to the rest of the battlefield. The corpses of the two other demon generals weren¡¯t too far away, but it was evident that they hadn¡¯t been as lucky as the female. Their bodies didn¡¯t even resemble humans anymore, being more simr to lumps of charred meat.

    ¡°So? How was it? I helped right?¡±

    ¡°You know I could¡¯ve done it on my own either way, it was your choice to step in.¡±

    ¡°Still still! I helped didn¡¯t I!¡±

    ¡°Aghh, fine! You helped! Are you happy now?!¡±<sub></sub>

    ¡°Hehehe, miss me Queen herself is praising me, how can I not be happy?¡±

    ¡°Tch!¡±

    The mysterious girl and Feng Qing¡¯er happily bickered, acting as though the battle from before hadn¡¯t happened in the first ce.

    And on further observation, Damien could see that this was basically the case. The mana in their bodies was as rigorous as ever, and he couldn¡¯t see any signs of exhaustion on their faces.

    Even if they had to fight another ten generals, these two would probably still have the stamina to continue fighting.

    Silently admiring the physical body of beasts, Damien did a light stretch. And then, while everyone was busy, he quietly teleported away.

    Or at least, he tried to.

    ¡°Oi! Where do you think you¡¯re going?!¡± A loud yell came his way.

    Turning his head slightly, he saw Feng Qing¡¯er and that mysterious girl approaching him.

    With a wry smile, he responded. ¡°Yo, rank 3! Haven¡¯t seen you in a while!¡±<sub></sub>

    ¡°Why do you insist on calling me rank 3, huh? I have a name, you know.¡±

    ¡°Eh? It¡¯s too long and I¡¯m toozy. Rank 3 is a lot more fitting.¡±

    ¡°Bastard!¡±

    When it looked like Feng Qing¡¯er was ready to pounce on him again, another voice chimed into their conversation.

    ¡°My, my! Mr.beam attack seems to get along well with the princess!¡±

    Damien looked over to see that mysterious girl smiling slyly.

    ¡°Ah, right right I guess I should introduce myself.¡± With a cordial curtsy mimicking princess even though the girl was wearingbat clothes, she continued. ¡°My name is Qing Tan, or I guess in your mind I¡¯m rank 5.¡±

    ¡°Ohh, so that¡¯s you. Mm, makes sense why you were on par with rank 3 over there.¡± Damien nodded his head matter-of-factly.

    ¡°On par? You jest! How could I darepare myself to the princess?¡±

    ¡°Grrr!¡± What sounded like growling interrupted them. ¡°You bastards dare to keep ignoring me?! You¡¯re asking for a beating!¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er charged at Qing Tan, smacking her forehead continuously.

    ¡°Ah! Big sister spare me!¡±Qing Tan screamed. If Damien wasn¡¯t standing right next to them, he would¡¯ve thought she was being severely beaten from how painful she made her screams sound.

    Damien chuckled. ¡®These two seem awfully close. Or is it just this Qing Tan¡¯s personality? She gives off that wild and carefree vibe.¡¯

    While the two girls yed around, Damien nced at the body that was slung across his shoulder. ¡®I shouldn¡¯t dy this.¡¯

    Thinking so, he cleared his throat. ¡°Alright, I know you probably have some questions and I have some answers as well, but let me go interrogate this woman real quick before I answer.¡±

    ¡°And how do I know you aren¡¯t going to run away?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er frowned.

    ¡°Ah? When did I ever run away? You should know that I, Damien Void, have never run from anything in my life!¡±

    ¡°Damien Void, is that your real name? Did you think a stupidst name like that would fool us? Besides, didn¡¯t you run like a headless chicken when we met after the magma trial?¡±

    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s so stupid about myst name?!¡± Damien swiftly ignored thest question she asked.

    ¡°Please, as if any normal person would carry the family name Void. Obviously you¡¯re ying another prank.¡±

    Damien wanted to refute, but truthfully, even he had cringed at hisst name multiple times in the past.

    ¡®Fuck, I really don¡¯t want to agree with her.¡¯

    Now that he thought about it, Damien Void, Void Physique, Void Essence, he cringed once more at the repetitiveness of Void in his body.

    ¡®Damn that old man! Did he know about my physique and purposefully name me Void to spite me?¡¯

    Considering his conjectures about his father, the reasoning behind his random thoughts didn¡¯t actually seem that illogical. Thinking that he found one more reason to beat his dad up, Damien refocused on the main issue.

    ¡°Okay, enough jokes. I need to get as much information as I can out of her before these shitty demons make another move.¡±

    With that, he shed away, teleporting until he reached a secluded area where even beasts weren¡¯t present.

    Thump!

    Damien threw the woman¡¯s body on the ground without any semnce of decency. Then, grabbing one of the chairs he made with Xue¡¯er out of the Sanctuary, he sat down in front of her.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get to work.¡±

 Chapter 266 Generals [6]

    ¡°Cough¡­¡±

    Bright light shone on Elitra¡¯s eyes, forcing her consciousness toe back from its shut-down state. The first thing she did was let out a series of dry coughs.

    ¡®What happened?¡¯

    Her memory was a mess, something she was used to by now. So, she immediately went to work trying to remember what happened before she fainted.

    ¡°Agh!¡±

    A sudden wave of pain shook her body. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and even her insides seemed to have been shaken out of ce.

    ¡®What the hell?¡¯

    It was never like this before. The mes had taken over before, and she¡¯d definitely found herself simrly unconscious, but her body had never been damaged in the process.

    Her eyelids fluttered as she tried her best to open them. She wanted to quickly take in her surroundings and make sure she was safe. But at that moment¡­

    ¡°Looks like you finally decided to wake up.¡±

    The unfamiliar voice of a man entered her ears.

    ¡°Oi, don¡¯t think about pretending to be unconscious. Open your eyes already.¡±

    Although she was unwilling, she still ended up cooperating. With her head in a mess, there wasn¡¯t much else she could do.<sub>.</sub>

    The first thing she saw was a mystical pair of eyes staring back at her. Seeing them, she felt a jolt in her mind.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    It all began to flow back. The invasion on Astoria, and the fight she had with this man. Or at least, until he had injured her. After that, everything was just ming darkness.

    ¡°Hello? Can you hear me?¡± The man waved his hand in front of her face with an annoyed expression.

    Elitra red at him. This man was obviously an enemy, and from the way he looked perfectly fine sitting on a poorly made wooden chair in front of her, she had clearly lost the battle.

    It was only then that she realized her own position.

    She was tied to a tree, her arms spread in a t like she was crucified. Immediately, she raised her mana to tear away the ropes that were binding her.

    But the man¡¯s handnded on her shoulder faster. Just like he had done back in the White Dragon Grotto, he seized control of the personal vectors within her body and sealed her mana.

    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t be hasty. I¡¯m not a bad guy, you see, I just have a few questions I want to ask you.¡±

    Elitra¡¯s gaze hardened. It didn¡¯t take an idiot to know what kind of questions he was going to ask.

    ¡°Hah! As if I¡¯d ever tell you shit!¡± She spat.

    ¡°Oho? Your attitude seems to have changed significantly from the prim and seductivedy you were pretending to be before.¡± He smirked.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Tch, what do you know.¡± She grumbled. Suddenly, she began to chuckle. It was such a sudden change that even Damien was caught off guard.

    ¡°Something funny?¡± He asked with furrowed brows.

    ¡°Mm, mm, very funny. I was just thinking about what¡¯ll happen to you once they find out I¡¯m kidnapped.¡±

    ¡°Oh? You must be important then.¡±

    ¡°Important? As if merely important is enough to describe me. Just know that as long as you are within this realm, you¡¯re already dead in my eyes.¡±

    Damien frowned. The fact that she had confidence in this situation made her words more believable. For her status to be high enough that she¡¯s so assured¡­

    ¡®Daughter of a Commander? In the worst case, it¡¯s a king, but I doubt it.¡¯

    ¡°Well, since you think I¡¯m dead meat, you might as well tell me what I want to know, right?¡±

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m an idiot? I already said I won¡¯t tell you shit, so stop trying.¡±

    Damien sighed. ¡°You know, I¡¯m asking nicely right now, but you don¡¯t know how long that¡¯llst. Are you sure you want to risk it?¡±

    ¡°Threatening me with pain, huh? To be honest, that¡¯s the worst move you could make. Do you really think you can stimte pain worse than being burned alive every single day?¡± She sneered.

    Damien was startled by her words. ¡®This girl might actually be an idiot the way she keeps giving me info.¡¯<sub></sub>

    Damien didn¡¯t need information on rankings or anything like that, so he had been avoiding questions about the demons. Still, he was able to find that she had a certain level of status as well as something about the ck me so easily.

    But Damien wasn¡¯t shaken by her resolution. ¡°Worse than being burned alive, huh. It should be doable.¡±

    Nodding his head, he looked at her one more time. ¡°Well, just don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What are you-¡°

    Her words were quickly cut off by Damien¡¯s hand covering her mouth. When it came to torture techniques, he obviously didn¡¯t have many since he had no use for them.

    But ever since he awakened on that fateful day almost 11 years ago on earth, he had been wondering about something. It was a curiosity he could never satiate since he wasn¡¯t daring enough to try it on his own body.

    But thinking about it, using that experiment as a torture technique would be great for testing.

    Damien concentrated on the spatialyers around him. He had never tried to teleport someone by themselves before, but he didn¡¯t think it was too hard, especially when he wasn¡¯t trying to do it right in the first ce.

    Soon enough, he roused his mana and initiated a teleportation.

    In the next instant, an ear-piercing shriek came from the woman in front of him.

    ¡°AHHHHHH!¡±

    Her crucified body was now positioned a few feet lower than it was before. The only problem was, the area from her knees down wasn¡¯t visible.

    Damien watched the woman in front of him scream and plead. It was much worse than he originally thought, to the point where he almost felt bad for her.

    What had happened to her was simple. He had teleported her into an area that intersected. Just like theory stated, two sets of molecules couldn¡¯t exist in the same space and superimpose. It was against thews of physics.

    And what happened to the two sets of molecules in such a case? Well, in a normal situation, both superimposed objects would explode. The rejection of naturalws would force it to happen.

    But Damien had directly interfered with the spatialyers to carry out such an action. Rather than simply superimposing, the molecules of the two structures had been forcefully fused into one.

    The pain that came with such a process and the aftermath was what Elitra was being forced to feel right now.

    Damien looked away. This was his first time ever torturing someone, and even if he didn¡¯t have to truly get his hands dirty, he didn¡¯t like the feeling at all.

    His earthling mentality that barely held a shred of identity in his heart had bore its head. After all, even when he killed, he never did something so gruesome.

    ¡®This is enough. There¡¯s no need to go farther.¡¯

    Thinking so, he grabbed her shoulder and teleported her once again, moving her back to her original position.

    But even he didn¡¯t have the power to unfuse those molecules that had already be one. When Elitra was disconnected from the ground, she no longer had legs below her knees.

    And the most disturbing part of it was the fact that even though she suffered such a severe wound, there were no signs that it was artificial. The stumps in her legs looked as if they were like that since birth.

    The pain immediately subsided when Elitra was disconnected from the ground. All that was left was the sound of her silent sobbing in the otherwise quiet atmosphere.

    Damien sighed. He felt like a sinner. But remembering her identity, he steeled his heart.

    Right. There was never any good or bad in this world. There was only strength. He had said it to the tribe leader of the Turbulent Blizzard Leopards back then, and he had once againe into contact with it today.

    ¡®Why do I feel like I¡¯ve be the viin since entering this mountain range?¡¯

    He didn¡¯t like it at all. But in the end, everything was for benefits. And today¡¯s actions, they were for the sake of the universe.

    In order to get rid of a race that threatened all others with extinction. He could no longer view the Nox or anyone affiliated with them as ¡°people¡±.

    His eyes turned cold. Finally settling his gaze back on Elitra, he decided to get this over with as soon as possible.

    ¡°Are you finally willing to speak up now, or do I need to help you understand again?¡±

    Within Damien¡¯s body, in a location that even he couldn¡¯t feel yet, there were two formless and colorless essences swirling about.

    The first was strong and made its presence known, while the second seemed to still be in its infancy.

    Next to these two essences, there was something that looked like a small ck marble. The marble asionally flickered with dancing ck lighting.

    And at that moment, a small flicker of red and ck light came to life. The marble shined ck and red, causing even the dancing lightning to shrink back in fear.

    And in the next instant, the light vanished, causing peace to return to that space.

 Chapter 267 Demons [1]

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the simple stuff. Name, age, the likes.¡± Damien said expressionlessly.

    The woman couldn¡¯t answer him right away, though. Her entire body was shaking in fear, and the silent tears never stopped flowing from her eyes.

    What he had just forced her to experience was beyond her capacity of understanding. Even now, she couldn¡¯tprehend what had happened, and that feeling of disorientation only worsened the mental damage she had.

    It wasn¡¯t as if her legs had simply been dug into the earth. No, they had fused with the earth itself. Essentially, her legs became the ground.

    The forceful changing of her molecr structure, as well as the suddenness at which it happened, brought unimaginable pain. Whenpared to being burned alive every day, it was still leagues worse.

    Damien understood this, and he knew that if he pressed her before she could regain her wits, he would only get incoherent drivel from her mouth. And so, he quietly waited.

    Until an entire 30 minutester. ¡°Elitra, 20, Demon.¡±

    It was curt, or rather, dull, but perhaps because she was still in shock. Damien simply nodded his head and continued.

    ¡°You said you were a rtively important person, right? So, who¡¯s your backer?¡±<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°Father, Demon King Lucius.¡±

    Another brief reply, but one with much worse connotations. Damien¡¯s face contorted when he realized the implications of what he just heard.

    ¡°Demon King Lucius? How does hepare to the other 3 Demon Kings?¡±

    ¡°Stronger than Demon King Granheim, weaker than Eden and Eliza.¡±

    ¡®Granheim, Lucius, Eden, Eliza.¡¯

    Damien noted down their names in his mind. He also sighed a breath of relief. Even if he was going against a Demon King with his actions, he was d it wasn¡¯t the strongest of them.

    But he didn¡¯t let his guard down because of this. He knew very well that anyone who could gain the title of Demon King would by no means be weak.

    ¡°What is the strength level of the Demon Kings? Also, if you¡¯re the daughter of the Demon King, why did he send you out on a mission like this?¡±<sub></sub>

    Elitra¡¯s dull voice once again rang out. ¡°Demon Kings are 4th ss existences. Only the mighty Demon God can stand above them.¡±

    ¡°Father sent me on a mission to gain experience. The Nihility me would consume me if I didn¡¯t learn how to control it soon.¡±

    Damien was worried about this Demon God character, but he focused on the second part of her answer first.

    ¡°Nihility me? The ck mes that made you go crazy during our fight? What¡¯s so special about them?¡±

    ¡°Nihility me, ranked 23rd on the Heavenly me Index. It¡¯s a me with the ability to devour to grow stronger, but it is semi-sentient and unwilling to submit, so it will do everything it can to devour its master.

    ¡°It is the me that originally belonged to the Demon God, but after he was sealed, he passed it on to the Demon Kings. Of the Demon King descendants, I am the only one who inherited this power.¡±

    Damien nodded his head in understanding. The me was too powerful for her body to bear, and it didn¡¯t ept her as its master. Due to this, she was being burned alive every day as it attempted to consume her. And when she lost her cool during battle, it took the opportunity to hasten its consumption.

    It wasn¡¯t that Elitra went insane, per se, it was that she was fighting the Nihility me while it randomly controlled her body. Although the target was set to Damien, there was no conscious mind delineating the body¡¯s actions, leading to her constant use of beam attacks and long-range mana bursts.<sub></sub>

    Thinking back to the way it tried to get into his body and corrupt him, it all made sense now. Rather than corruption, it was devouring. Unfortunately for the me, Damien¡¯s body had a far stronger devouring force within it.

    Damien also had to remember that the me in her possession wasn¡¯t a fully formed Nihility me. It was growing alongside her, as it had been birthed with her, otherwise she would have long been consumed by it.

    Not only that, but there was also the so-called Heavenly me Index. For a me so unique and powerful as the Nihility me to only be ranked 23rd, what kind of monstrous mes were above it?

    In any case, the reason she was sent out to head the mission made some sense to him now. For her Nihility me to grow and ept her, she had to feed it. And what better way to to do so than to ughter those humans living within the realm? Since they also needed to kill the humans for their other goals, it was a perfect opportunity.

    But Damien suddenly had a thought. ¡°Did the Demon King know that people from the outside world would be here? If so, did he not think of the possibility that you would be harmed?¡±

    ¡°Father naturally knew of the outsiders. He didn¡¯t think they would be able tobat the Nihility me.¡±

    Thinking about it now, it was true. Damien had an ultimate anti-devouring trump card body, but others didn¡¯t. Facing the invasion of the Nihility me, he didn¡¯t know how they wouldst.

    ¡°Also, if I die or face a life-threatening situation, father can manifest and help me.¡±

    Damien felt a cold sweat running down his back. ¡®Thank god I decided to use her for information gathering. If I had thought to kill her¡­¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t like he had no thoughts of going against the Demon Kings, in fact, he was exactly nning to do that. But only after proper preparations had been made. He was in no condition to face one now.

    Damien cast a strange look at Elitra, whose gaze hadn¡¯t left the ground since she started talking.

    ¡®I can¡¯t kill her now, but I can¡¯t simply leave her here. Her spirit is crushed at the moment, so she isn¡¯t a danger, but I can¡¯t speak about the future. It¡¯s better to be safe than sorry.¡¯

    He obviously had a way out of this situation, but he was hesitant to use it. There was no way he¡¯d let this demon woman anywhere near little Xue¡¯er.

    But, thinking about how he could section off portions of the Sanctuary like he did when he separated space for his inventory, he figured that it was the best choice.

    Perhaps, he would be able to lure a Demon King away from the rest of the Demons¡¯ forces. If he could do that¡­

    A certain n he had been cooking up could be set into motion.

    ¡®All four Demon Kings have a Nihility me in their body. If I can just devour them¡­¡¯

    Another goal sprouted in his mind. Others might have been wary of a me that would try to consume them. Others might have been wary about the fact that it would corrupt their mind. But for him? None of these problems mattered.

    The mes would be docile the second they came in contact with the Void Essence that always helped him out. As for the mental corrosion, didn¡¯t he have a Mind Prison to entrap any unwanted thoughts?

    The Void Heart Sword Law was something that should have been used to turn him into an emotionless killing machine, but Damien had now decided to repurpose it.

    He would use it as a convenient method to entrap and extinguish all of the negative thoughts transmitted by the me.

    Of course, all of this was simply counting his eggs before they hatched. For any of his ns to work, he first needed to kill a Demon King.

    Taking a deep breath, Damien moved on to his next line of questioning.

    ¡°Tell me more about this so-called Demon God.¡±

 Chapter 268 Demons [2]

    ¡°Lord Demon God is the reason that we demons are allowed to exist. We are merely servants that follow his will.¡±

    All of a sudden, Elitra¡¯s tone became respectful, but nothing else about her changed. It was a disconcerting incongruence that Damien didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°ording to my Father, Lord Demon God is the true body that the four Demon Kings were birthed from. He separated portions of himself and gave them life. When they gained consciousness, they became the Demon Kings.

    ¡°Whenever Lord Demon God gives an order, the entire demon race will follow without hesitation. Even if he asks for us to Jill ourselves, we will do so.¡±

    Damien looked up and noticed a hint of a sour expression on Elitra¡¯s face. She looked as if even she didn¡¯t agree with the words she was saying.

    ¡°How do you feel about the Demon God?¡±

    Damien asked. Originally, he wasn¡¯t nning to do it at all. But, something inside of him was telling him to do so.

    ¡°I¡­I, of course, am extremely grateful for Lord Demon God, as he is the progenitor and the sole reason for my existence. I would willingly follow anymand that Lord Demon God sends me.¡±<sub>.</sub>

    The look on her face became sourer, and the words she said were basically the words she said prior, just rephrased.

    It was then that Damien realized where the incongruity came from.

    ¡®She¡­she is being forced?¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t as if someone was consciously forcing her to speak certain words; rather it was more like amand was being carried out by a robot.

    It was as if, when speaking about the Demon God, Elitra had no control over what she said or did. There was a set amount of things she was allowed to say.

    Seeing her sending slight nces at him, Damien realized that she had used the same words again to cue him in on this.

    ¡®But why?¡¯<sub></sub>

    He didn¡¯t understand. She had been dull and seemingly broken until this point, but after his questioning, she seemed to have changed her stance.

    ¡®Is she insane?¡¯

    What other reason could there be for her trying to help him gain information? She was a demon too, wasn¡¯t she? And wasn¡¯t she bragging about her father earlier? It didn¡¯t seem like she wanted to defect.

    Damien decided to rey their conversation so far in his head. From start to finish, and even before when they first met, she had shown a variety of different personalities.

    Seductive and carefree, spiteful and foul-mouthed, dull and dispirited, and now, despondent and reigned.

    It seemed like a natural progression after being captured and tortured, but the way things happened made it seem different.

    ¡®Which one is her true face?¡¯ Damien couldn¡¯t figure it out.<sub></sub>

    He wanted to know more about the Demon God, but that line of questioning wouldn¡¯t get him anywhere. And so, he decided to put aside his confusion and figure out something more practical.

    ¡°Where is you demons¡¯ base? And what are the movements that¡¯ll be taking ce soon?¡±

    ¡°Base¡­I cannot speak of the location, as I will immediately die if I try. As for the movements, there will be a few more city attacks like this one, mainly on therger cities such as Darknorth and Ecatra. The forces will be at the same or simr levels as our force today.¡±

    The way she gave out information so willingly was suspicious, but Damien had been concentrating his awareness on the surroundings the entire time they had been here, and he didn¡¯t notice any oddities.

    His main concern, though, was the Demon Kings. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to feel their presence if they decided to snoop. But he also assumed that they weren¡¯t close enough to the location to do so.

    After all, if they were, there was no way they¡¯d sit still and allow him to do what he had done to Elitra. He wasn¡¯t stupid. She wasn¡¯t just the Demon King Lucius¡¯s daughter, she was also the sole inheritor of the Nihility me. Her value to the demons inevitably would be high.

    Damien sighed. He had a rough idea of how he wanted to move in the future, but he couldn¡¯t count for unknown variables. At the end of the day, he was genuinely stepping into something he didn¡¯t have the strength to step into yet.

    After getting the information on theing raid locations from Elitra, he took an hour to section off a part of the Sanctuary for him to leave her. And then, he disappeared from his spot.

    There was plenty more he needed to ask her, but now wasn¡¯t the time. He had more pressing matters to take care of.

    It was only a minute or soter when Damien reappeared again, but this time, he was alone. Elitra had already been transferred to the Sanctuary. ncing around the area once more, he shed back in the direction he had left Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan.

    ¡®Should I have just killed her?¡¯

    The thought raced through Damien¡¯s head. He doubted whether a Demon King could manifest considering the difference between the Sanctuary and the Real ne. He also knew that finding the location of the Sanctuary would be impossible for a mere 4th ss.

    But he still hesitated. It wasn¡¯t due to some danger or even the threat of Demon Kings. No, it was something even Damien himself never expected to happen.

    The All-Seeing eyes. The ability he stole from the spider back in the First Dungeon. It could see through any illusion, he could read the mana surrounding people, it had a sort of danger sense ability, and most recently, he had been able to see the hazy outline of other people¡¯s status windows.

    But there was another ability that he had long forgotten. It was an ability that had shown itself countless times during his time in the dungeon, but rarely manifested after he left.

    It was the ability that allowed him to sense opportunity. The same ability that allowed him to meet Zara, who had been a loyalpanion ever since that day.

    And now, that ability was ringing bells in his head again. It didn¡¯t happen initially, but the second he truly considered killing Elitra, the intuition-like ability urged him not to.

    He couldn¡¯t figure it out. Hadn¡¯t he just resolved to never see the Nox or anyone rted as people anymore? What would be the problem with killing Elitra after her father had died?

    He didn¡¯t understand at all. His entire being screamed for him to kill her, but the ability directly contradicted it.

    Damien was stuck in an awkward ce, but he didn¡¯t have to think too much before making a decision.

    That ability had saved him from dying multiple times. It had led him to meet a trustworthy beastpanion that he would willingly risk his life for.

    If that ability was telling him that keeping Elitra alive within the Sanctuary would give birth to an opportunity, he wasn¡¯t going to turn it down.

    With a faint anticipation about what was toe, Damien¡¯s figure breezed through the Trial World beforeing to an abrupt halt.

    In front of him, there were two kingdom-toppling beauties who were still bickering as if nothing happened.

    Damien grinned. ¡°Yo! did you miss me?¡±

 Chapter 269 Demons [3]

    Hearing Damien¡¯s voice, Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s face immediately showed her annoyance.

    ¡°Oh? You actually cared toe back? I thought for sure that you¡¯d run away this time as well.¡±

    Damien coughed lightly and averted his eyes. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not like you could¡¯ve beat me back then even if I had stayed still and fought.¡¯ But he didn¡¯t say those words out loud. Only god knew what kind of beating he¡¯d receive if he did so.

    ¡°Hehe, so? Did you get the information you wanted? Where¡¯s that demon girl? Tell us everything!¡± Qing Tan didn¡¯t even wait for him to answer, firing off several questions in a row.

    Damien smiled wryly. It seemed he would have to tell them at least the general information.

    He¡¯d thought about it on the way back, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t really go and tell them everything he knew about the Nox and the outside world, as it wasn¡¯t something that could be revealed carelessly.

    Not only that, but he also felt that it wasn¡¯t in their capacity to know, just like it technically shouldn¡¯t be in his. Those 4th ss existences, regardless of which world they were in, seemed to have a tacit understanding not to spill information about the Nox.<sub>-?(0??)?.</sub>

    Although he didn¡¯t know the reason they were like this, he couldn¡¯t simply ignore it. Sure, when it came to the general public, their reasoning could be to not incite mass hysteria, but it was different when even their personal disciples were in the dark.

    If even those closest to them weren¡¯t qualified to receive information from them, then he, as an outsider and a 3rd ss existence, didn¡¯t have the right. He¡¯d have to ask the White Dragon King or Tian Yang before speaking rashly.

    ¡°Kuhum, listen carefully. While we may be in this Trial World for the sake of the Primordial Undying Tree and its tests, the residents here view it as their homeworld. Essentially, the thousands of years when this realm isn¡¯t open aren¡¯t simply spent in stasis¡­¡±

    ¡°Why are you suddenly bringing this up?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er asked. She wasn¡¯t in the mood for a random history lesson she didn¡¯t need.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be impatient. Anyway, as I was saying, there are things going on within this realm that are far greater than merely a trial for us outsiders. And the main thing we need to focus on is the Demons.¡±

    Damien went on to introduce the demons and their hierarchy as he had known it so far. He also told them about the elusive ns they had for spilling blood on thend in order for some goal they wanted to achieve.<sub></sub>

    He decided to leave out matters concerning the Nihility me and his own ns, since the sole inheritor was in his possession and the rest of the possessors were Demon Kings, but other than that and the matters pertaining to their rtionship with the Nox, he didn¡¯t leave our anything. Even the so-called Demon God was mentioned.

    By the end of his story, both girls had solemn looks on their faces. Damien didn¡¯t know enough about their schemes since even Elitra wasn¡¯t told anything of relevance, but even with the basic information he had told them, they knew that something big was going on.

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s great and all, but do we really need to get involved? I mean, we¡¯ll be leaving this ce in 9 months anyway.¡± Qing Tan suddenly spoke up.

    Damien shook his head. ¡°I guess we don¡¯t necessarily need to get involved, but it¡¯s for the best that we do. The matters within this world will end up affecting our lives in the outside world if we don¡¯t at least quell them to a manageable level.¡±

    Seeing that she wasn¡¯t convinced, Damien added a cherry on top. ¡°Besides, if you look at the proportion of beings in this world, the Demons are undoubtedly the most prevalent race. And since there¡¯s so many small fries and Generals among them, wouldn¡¯t you be able to acquire a muchrger amount of points than thepetition?¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s eyes lit up at the mention of benefits. Damien inwardly clicked his tongue at this, but he didn¡¯t say much. After all, even he was somewhat simr. If it wasn¡¯t for his knowledge of the overall situation, he¡¯d probably be the same.<sub></sub>

    Feng Qing¡¯er, on the other hand, seemed to be deep in thought. A fiery aura had coated her body before anyone noticed.

    ¡°Those damn bastards¡­they dare to harm innocent mortals?! For their own petty gain?!¡±

    ? Furious mutters left her mouth. Her mind kept remembering the scenes of the destroyed viges she had seen on her way to Astoria, the cold corpses that littered the ground. Even infants hadn¡¯t been spared from the ughter.

    The whole thing made her furious, but she hadn¡¯t had anywhere to vent her fury. That is, until now.

    ¡°Demons¡­demons¡­demons¡­¡± her head suddenly shot up, her Phoenix eyes ring at Damien.

    ¡°Tell me where they are. I¡¯m going to rip them all to shreds!¡±

    Damien watched her in amusement, trying his best to suppress the chuckle that threatened to leak out of his mouth. ¡®Truly a heroic spirit, ah.¡¯

    ¡°Rx, you¡¯ll get your chance to kill. However, rushing into their base isn¡¯t something any of us can do carelessly. Actually, even if we thoroughly n it still isn¡¯t something we should do. There are 4 4th ss existences staying there. Even in the case that we can evade their radars, even the smallest mistake will mean death.

    ¡°For now, we should focus on the cities that demon woman told me about. The best thing we can do is stop the assault and ughter more Demon Generals. When the timees, we can move on to Commanders.

    ¡°Unlike the Generals, who number in the hundreds, there are only 10manders. Not only will we rake in contributions for our stars when we kill them, but we can also leave a significant dent in their forces.¡±

    As Damien spoke, Feng Qing¡¯er seemed to calm down slightly. Though, the air around her was still burning.

    Qing Tan, on the other hand, seemed much more practical. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a good n, but is there any assurance that the Commanders will actuallye out? If we show too much power, wouldn¡¯t they be wary instead?¡±

    ¡°Right, that¡¯s how it usually would be. And we definitely need to keep an eye out for such a situation. But, the Demon Kings severely underestimate us.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not right to say they underestimate us. Rather, their estimations are based on those ordinary geniuses. We can be considered outliers that they haven¡¯t nned for. If my guess is right, they¡¯ll send a few Commanders out without much thought when they first hear about us. We only need to worry about what happens after we kill those Commanders.¡±

    Qing Tan nodded in agreement. A bright smile emerged on her face as she spoke. ¡°Mm! It looks like things are starting to get a lot more fun! Let¡¯s go then!¡±

    Damien smiled wryly. Where did this girl get all her energy? Did she really have to be so peppy all the time? But it wasn¡¯t so bad. She reminded him of an older and more scary version of little Xue.

    Shaking off his thoughts, Damien returned to the main point. ¡°Now the question is, should we stick together or spread out to cover more cities in a shorter amount of time?¡±

 Chapter 270 Demons [4]

    ¡°Darknorth, Ecatra, Scheherazade, and Relia. These are the four cities that will be suffering attacks in theing days.¡±

    ¡°Even if we split up, we won¡¯t be able to cover them all. And all four will have the same lineup as we faced today. If we split up, we¡¯ll have to face four Demon Generals each.¡±

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem though. It¡¯s not like we had difficulties dealing with the ones from earlier. Well, I can¡¯t say the same for Miss Queen over here, can I?¡±

    ¡°Hey! I could¡¯ve finished them off easily if I was actually trying. Plus, I fought two while you each only fought one. It can¡¯t even bepared.¡±

    The trio began discussing their ns forward, and in the end, they decided to split up. Damien would go to Scheherazade, Feng Qing¡¯er to Ecatra, and Qing Tan to Relia. Luckily enough, Darknorth seemed to have been upied by another faction of geniuses who came to the secret realm.

    Feng Qing¡¯er had assured him that it¡¯d be fine, but frankly, he didn¡¯t trust those normal geniuses. Although Qing Tan¡¯s presence surprised him, he knew for certain that there weren¡¯t any other outliers like the three of them present.

    And against Demon Generals, those normal geniuses would have to give their all. To do so while protecting a city? He didn¡¯t think they were up to the task.<sub>-?(0??)?.</sub>

    Not to mention, they most likely wouldn¡¯t care enough to stick around and protect the city. Once things started looking bad, their desire to live would ovee their greed for contributions and they would flee immediately.

    As such, Damien chose to go to Scheherazade, since the distance between it and Darknorth could be covered in a few hours if he abused teleportation and moved at full speed.

    ¡°Hmph! Just because you¡¯re closer to Darknorth, don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to hog all those points to yourself! I¡¯ll be the first to get a White Star!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er harrumphed.

    Qing Tan giggled at her provocation. ¡°If the Queen says so, then it must be true, but how about you leave a few points to this retainer?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t even work for me, why would I leave anything for you?¡±

    ¡°Oho, then please do not fault me if I identally reach Darknorth before you.¡±<sub></sub>

    p??(?)? ?o??? Damien watched their quarrel with a light smile before turning to look in another direction. There, far in the distance past where his eyes could see, was Scheherazade.

    Bidding farewell to the bickering girls, Damien parted ways, immediately rushing in that direction.

    ¡®There should still be plenty of time before the armies reach Scheherazade, but I don¡¯t want to risk it. If I can intercept them before they get close to the city, it¡¯s even better.¡¯

    Damien had a wry look on his face. Thinking of the massive wave of enemies he¡¯d have to face, he began to miss Zara.

    After all, even if it was a horde of 2nd ss beings, they¡¯d still waste his mana. If Zara was with him, they¡¯d be able to sweep a situation like this much faster and without problems.

    Sending his awareness into his shadow, he was once again met with her sleeping figure. Even after so many months, she hadn¡¯t moved in the slightest.<sub></sub>

    But he definitely noticed the changes in her body. Her coat had be much silkier and full, her wings had be more expansive, and even her tail seemed to possess a sort of whipping power it didn¡¯t have before.

    The most striking change was probably the silver fur that began to grow on her forehead like a marking. It gave her a mystical feeling she didn¡¯t possess before.

    ¡®Will she still be the same Zara when she wakes up?¡¯ The aura she gave off had gone through so many changes that he almost doubted it, but he decided not to dwell on it.

    Whatever she was when she returned to his side, she would still be his Zara. That wasn¡¯t something that¡¯d change regardless.

    Damien spread his awareness to the far reaches of his limits, observing carefully to find traces of the Demon army that was approaching.

    And as he got closer and closer to Scheherazade, the traces of activity and slight hints of mana in the surroundings only got more prevalent.

    ¡®I¡¯m getting closer, but from Elitra¡¯s information, Scheherazade should still be a few days away. Good, I should be able to intercept them before they can surround the city.¡¯

    It was much more beneficial to him if he could do so. Spreading his attacks to cover the radius of the entire city and beyond wasn¡¯t difficult per se, but as always, being able to concentrate his strength in one direction would yield much better results.

    Swoosh!

    The whistling winds became fiercer as Damien suddenly increased his speed. Even the sky began to crackle with signs of a storm.

    ***

    The Trial World in the Primordial Undying realm looked massive if one stood at ground level, but if they managed to make it to the peak of the tallest mountain, they¡¯d realize that the size was somewhat of an illusion.

    While the size of the realm was indeedrge, it wasn¡¯t to the point that it¡¯d warrant marvel. After all, in its totality, it was only the size of a portion of the country of America. Compared to the grandiosity of other locations Damien had visited in the past, it wasn¡¯t much.

    But it could only be considered normal. In the end, this trial world was only one of many. There were 8 more trial worlds of simr size that operated semi-independently where the rest of the hundreds of geniuses were undergoing their own trials.

    That was why, although the location of the Demon City stayed hidden to Damien and hispanions, it wasn¡¯t actually far beyond their reach.

    Located on a mountain a few hundred kilometers away from the city of Astoria, a sprawling city stood tall. It wasparable to the cities Damien saw in the outside world, taking up almost the entire slope of the mountain. And inparison to the cities below, it was a true behemoth.

    Thousands of seemingly human creatures lived within this city. The only thing differentiating them was the asional non-human traits they carried, such as horns and tails.

    The city¡¯s architectural style couldn¡¯t be considered as anything special, but the ambiance was indeed somewhat odd. Despite the jovial and calm atmosphere surrounding the people who lived within it, the aura the city gave off was dark and gloomy.

    And near the peak of the mountain where the city was located, there were 4 towering castles carrying a simr ck theme to them.

    Perhaps when one saw these castles, they¡¯d immediately be led to believe that they were the most important part of the city, the thing that the people in the city would worship most.

    But that assumption would be proved wrong the second one gazed upon the peak. At that peak, there was a massive pantheon that outstripped the castles in grandiosity by leagues.

    The dark aura congregated in this pantheon was far greater than anything the city or even the castles could produce, but the scenes beyond its walls were something that normal citizens wouldn¡¯t be able to witness even if they offered their very lives in exchange.

 Chapter 271 Demons [5]

    ¡°Was there a mishap?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know for certain. We have lost contact with the forces that were sent to Astoria.¡±

    ¡°Just lost contact? Didn¡¯t the inheritor go with them? We all know what her personality is like.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, she has a tendency to be willful. We can¡¯t make any conclusions yet, but does it even matter if their fail?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Even if they were sacrificed in this mission, it doesn¡¯t affect the grand n at all. In fact, it could even have benefits.¡±

    ¡°Getting rid of the inheritor isn¡¯t a bad trade-off for a portion of the n going off rails.¡±

    Within the pantheon, hushed voices rang out, discussing matters that seemed to contain an importance that normal people couldn¡¯t fathom.

    ¡°Have we received any new orders from the Lord yet?¡±

    ¡°None. It seems the Lord wants us to continue with how things are going.¡±

    ¡°Yes, if it¡¯s the Lord¡¯s n, we do not need to question anything. What seems like failure to us might have been his goal all along.¡±<sub></sub>

    ¡°Has anyone heard news about the outsiders?¡±

    A new question was brought up, attracting the attention of those present.

    ¡°The outsiders? Aren¡¯t they just kids that were sent in? Why should we care about them?¡±

    ¡°They may be kids, but that doesn¡¯t mean they don¡¯t pose a threat. Have we learned about the level of their strength?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, other than Astoria, the outsiders found in other cities have been subpar. Even against mere Generals, they were forced to struggle. If even a single one of us moved, it¡¯d be over for them.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why the Lord would ce any importance on them. They aren¡¯t worth the attention of someone as great as him.¡±

    ¡°Enough. We don¡¯t question the Lord¡¯s decisions, we only follow them. He has raised us from birth for this purpose.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to mention it. We all know, and we all agree.¡±

    ? The beings within the pantheon nodded their heads. They only had one purpose for existence, and that was to serve the Lord. Power? Fame? Pleasure? None of it mattered to them as much as a single word from him.<sub></sub>

    ¡°In any case, we have nothing to do besides follow what he says. There¡¯s no reason for us to personally act.¡±

    ¡°Have the Demon Kings shown any strange movement?¡±

    ¡°None. They rarely leave their castles in the first ce, so the spies we ced are enough to surveil them thoroughly.¡±

    ¡°Do not becent. Those four are different from the rest of us, and they are much more powerful. Although they serve the Lord, they all have their own agendas.¡±

    A solemn atmosphere covered the group.

    ¡°We must be certain that they don¡¯t prioritize their own goals. We need to control them and keep them on a tight leash.¡±

    ¡°If only it weren¡¯t for this damn restriction we could-!¡±

    They gnashed their teeth. If it wasn¡¯t for the restriction ced by the cursed deity, they¡¯d have surpassed the Demon Kings in strength long ago. But they couldn¡¯t do anything about it. They were forced to stay within the levels of 3rd ss, and they couldn¡¯t even deepen theirprehension any further than they already had.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to discuss this matter any further. Make sure to keep a good watch on our forces and prepare for the Lord¡¯s orders at any time. Until then, we can only wait.<sub></sub>

    A series of affirmations followed the statement. An eerie silence once again filled the pantheon.

    ***

    Within one of the fourrge castles located not far from the pantheon, a man sat in his study with a gloomy aura surrounding him.

    His gaze was focused on the papers in front of him, his long blonde hair brushing against the desk. From the crease on his forehead and the beads of sweat that trickled down his brow, it was evident that he was under a great deal of stress.

    Crack!

    The pen in his hand snapped in half. The man¡¯s hand had clenched hard enough to turn the remains of the pen into dust.

    ¡°Get rid of her? You think you can get rid of her? You think I¡¯ll allow it?¡±

    The man gnashed his teeth as he muttered. His frightening red eyes looked especially bloodshot.

    ¡°Dammit!¡±

    His fist shattered the desk in front of him, he crazily began destroying everything around him. Lamps were thrown, bookshelves were toppled. He looked as if he had gone crazy.

    ¡°If she had died, I¡¯d know by now. There isn¡¯t a single person in this world who can ovee my soul technique. So why? Why can¡¯t I reach her?¡±

    He wanted to roar. He wanted to vent his frustration. He wanted to kill. But he knew that most of the servants attending to him within his castles were nted there. Any signs of agitation he showed would only be used against him.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡±

    The man took a deep breath to calm himself down. His bloodshot eyes slowly became as tranquil as an undisturbedke. Any emotion on his face was wiped clean.

    In this state, he slowly walked to the window that overlooked the mountainside.

    His gaze brieflynded on the demons in the city below him, but soon went past it. With his level of existence, he could even faintly see Astoria in the distance.

    But the city was calm. There was no army invading it, and there wasn¡¯t even a trace of destruction anymore due to the workings of the Trial World.

    However, he had seen it previously. He had felt that foreboding sense and watched carefully at the location where the battle had been.

    Seas of mes, flickering shadows. With just this much, there wouldn¡¯t have been enough danger. What he was truly wary of were the thunderclouds that appearedter.

    After those thunderclouds appeared, the battle soon halted, and he lost the connection he once had.

    ¡°What the hell happened? Was there a mishap? Did the mes go out of control?¡±

    Rather than the individuals who had wiped out the army of insects that had been sent out, he was more worried about the me. If that me took over, it would end everything. What would he have worked so hard for at that point?

    ¡°The other three should have been watching as well. What are they up to? Are they rejoicing at my misfortune?¡±

    His barely concealed fury almost erupted again, but he managed to calm himself down.

    ¡°If the mes had taken over, I should have at least felt something. And even if they took over, the connection should still be maintained. Her mes don¡¯t have a fully formed will yet, so there¡¯s no way it¡¯d be able to consciously cut me off.¡±

    In the end, the man could only sigh in desperation and move away from his spot at the window. This study was his only safe ce. It was the only ce he could drop his facade and be himself.

    The eyes within his pce couldn¡¯t prate it, since he had put years of effort into making it what it was.

    And because of this, he had no reason to stop the single tear that fell from his eye.

    ¡°My daughter¡­I hope you are still alive. Even if you are in pain, I hope you can endure. You are all I have left in this world. If you die¡­I will make sure that the world dies with you, even if I have to sell my soul to do so.¡±

 Chapter 272 Demons [6]

    10,000 years. Was that a period of time that could be grasped by a human? Was that a period of time that any normal existence would be able to look at and understand?

    It wasn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t something he would¡¯ve been able to grasp if he hadn¡¯t experienced it himself.

    It had been 10,322 years since his race first arrived in this realm. He knew because he had counted every day of it.

    The Primordial Undying Tree. The rumors about the heavenly treasure superseded it. He had heard of it long before its realm opened to the world.

    Back then, there were no restrictions like the one he was subjected to now. There was nothing limiting the strength of those who entered.

    He remembered that day as if it had happened only yesterday. Their race that once boasted millions was reduced to only ten thousand. Oh that day, every single one of them decided to take the risk.

    After all, there were benefits within the realm, and there was only extinction outside of it.

    But never in their wildest imagination did they think that their only path was extinction. Was it fate? He asked himself countless times.

    No, it wasn¡¯t fate, it was simply the whims of a being far more powerful than they could have fathomed.

    Their race, which had been reduced to ten thousand, has been further reduced to only a few thousand. Even of those few thousand, only four remained who had power.<sub></sub>

    But even the four of them ended up corrupted.

    Those who remembered the true purpose and origin of their race had already died. The rest had been brainwashed since birth.

    Now, even his own race was nothing more than enemies like the rest. Even the other three who remembered were nothing more than enemies.

    In this world; he alone bore the grudge and resentment of ten thousand. He alone had the courage and grit to act upon that grudge.

    He had once met a woman simr to him. A woman that questioned the reason why their race was in such a situation, where they were nothing more than glorified ves.

    What interested him most about her, though, was that she was born so long after the original cmity that the circumstances should only be normal for,

    Was she blessed to have a brain like hers, or was she cursed? At first, he thought it was the former. He was happy to have met her. The time he spent with her made him realize that his efforts weren¡¯t totally in vain. He even had a child with her after some time passed.

    But that woman, perhaps she was fated to live a short life. Or perhaps, the gods above wanted his thirst for vengeance to rear its ugly head again.

    They didn¡¯t even try to make her death seem like an ident. They boasted about it, parading her corpse around his castle as if it was some kind of trophy.<sub></sub>

    And he couldn¡¯t do anything about it no matter how much he wanted to. Such were the effects of the corruption he had been forced to undergo.

    The only things he had left in this world were his vengeance and his daughter. But now, even she had disappeared.

    ¡°You have to¡­¡±

    Stay alive.

    Please.

    Stay alive.

    He transmitted his earnest desires into his mana. He knew there were two gods in this realm, and only one of them had the capacity to help him.

    He knew that god at least had some amount of conscience. He knew that god was opposing the vile being he resented with all his heart. If it wasn¡¯t for that, then the restriction that prevented his enemies from getting stronger wouldn¡¯t be in ce as it was now.

    And so he pleaded. He pleaded with everything he had to that god in hopes that it would hear him and grant a miracle.<sub></sub>

    And time passed. It was only a few tens of minutes, but it felt like eons to him.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree has heard your wish.]

    Until a notification that he had seen only once before showed itself in front of him again.

    ***

    Furious clouds of thunder and lightning raged through the air. With every strike that lightning bore down, tens and hundreds of abominations were turned to ash.

    ¡¢ Even the Demon Captains, who saw themselves far above the abominations, we¡¯re met with the same fate,

    They looked into the sky at the terrifying being that was causing such a cmity to befall them. Even though they were the demons, they felt that the moniker suited him far better.

    Boom!

    Another roar of thunder sounded out, and another peel of lightning struck the ground. The remaining Demon Captains were torn asunder as if they were rag dolls.

    As for the man whomanded the lightning? He stood in the sky with a broad grin on his face.

    ¡°Is this enough? Or would you like some more? Well, don¡¯t get too full on appetizers or you might not be able to handle the main course!¡±

    There were no Demon Captains left to listen to his words, or they might¡¯ve coughed blood and died on the spot. This was an appetizer? What about the pandemonium he was causing looked like an appetizer to him?

    But the man¡¯s gaze was focused on the four pnquins that stood proud at the back of the army, at a point where the destruction didn¡¯t reach.

    ¡°Man; what¡¯s with you generals and your love of this gaudy setup? Pnquins on elephants, sure it looks noble from the outside, but if there¡¯s only trash inside, doesn¡¯t that ruin the whole image?¡±

    Provoking words continuously left his mouth as lighting wantonly raged around him. Enough time had passed already that the army that used to stand before him had been reduced to dust.

    The star on his forehead suddenly shone with a bright purple light.

    ¡°Eh? Already? But this is only army number two! By the time I finish the Demon Kings, won¡¯t this thing go past the White and ck stars?¡±

    He really had to wonder. Well, he already knew that this realm wasn¡¯t necessarily designed for someone like him tomit mass ughter of abominations and Demon Captains. No normal genius would even think about taking on this kind of army by themselves.

    ¡°I wonder how those two are doing. Their stars are probably white already, considering how they were already far past me when we first met.¡±

    Well, I guess I¡¯ll have to clean up soon and sweep Darknorth as well. He thought. Such a thought made his grin turn ferocious.

    He no longer waited for those Demon Generals to respond to his provocation. His body bent like a bow, using space itself as a foothold to shoot himself forward.

    Boom!

    The air exploded as he passed by, and in an instant, he had arrived before the four pnquins.

    Reddish orangebined with pitch ck lightning and coated his arms in a dreary color. Without pausing his steps, he crashed into the first pnquin at full speed, his fist shooting forth to impact the being within.

    Boom!

    A massive explosion rang out as the elephantine beast exploded into chunks of meat due to the force of the collision. A ck streak flew from within the explosion, stabilizing itself a few hundred meters away.

    The Demon General had a massive scythe in his hand, but its de seemed to have a small crack on it.

    ¡°Keuk¡­!¡±

    A trail of blood left his lips as he red at the man standing in the middle of the explosion.

    And Damien shed a bright smile back at him.

    ¡°If you get this injured just by my greeting, how will you be able to withstand my farewell?¡±

 Chapter 273 Demons [7]

    Swoosh!

    The winds were whipped into a frenzy as three figures shot backwards at the same time, leaving their pnquins and making distance from Damien.

    They only stopped their retreat after regrouping with theirrade, who had been blown away during the previous impact.

    ¡°Oho! The four of you are acting together, huh? Very shameless of you, if I do say so myself.¡± Damien mocked with a grin.

    ¡°Hmph. If you think such vulgar provocation can incite us, then you must not have a brain. Didn¡¯t you already realize that strategy wouldn¡¯t work when you were cleaning up the ants earlier?¡± One of the Demon Generals scoffed.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t call them ants! Ants have feelings too!¡±

    But all he got in response was more mocking words. Feint signs of a vein popping from his forehead emerged on his face.

    ¡°Enough. Jeriah, Trom, Dorte, the three of you go around and surround him. I¡¯ll take the lead. Make sure he doesn¡¯t get any advantage on us.¡±

    The three Demon Generals nodded before spreading out. Damien simply watched them and let them do as they pleased.

    Since the dust cloud from his explosive entrance had finally cleared up, he was able to take a good look at the Demon Generals that he was facing this time.

    All four were male, and just like those from before, they were generally handsome. They shared the same ck hair and eyes, but their other features were all varied.

    Their main differences were the locations of their non-human body parts. The leading Demon General, who hadn¡¯t announced his name yet, had a pair of twisting goat horns protruding from his forehead. The one names Jeriah had a demonic tail, Trom was covered in scales from head to toe, and Dorte had a pair of bat wings spanning from his shoulder des.<sub></sub>

    ¡®See, these guys look more like demons. What¡¯s up with Elitra and her human appearance? Even the All-Seeing eyes didn¡¯t see through her, so it wasn¡¯t an illusion.¡¯

    Perhaps a transformation? Damien imagined Elitra with demonic features for a second before shaking his head. Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be in battle right now? He really needed to learn how to control his stray thoughts.

    While Damien was rxedly thinking about random things, the Demon Generals finally got in formation. They warily watched the man standing in the center of them, waiting for him to make a move.

    But since when was Damien someone who would meet his enemies¡¯ expectations? He simply stood there with a finger in his ear as if the current situation had nothing to do with him.

    ¡°Now!¡±

    The leading Demon General shouted, and the three others charged at once.

    From Damien¡¯s back, a twisting tail shot forward aiming to pierce him. From his two sides, the other two Demon Generals rushed forward with fists outstretched.

    The three attacks that seemed to want to crush Damien where he stood soon reached their target with a boom.

    But Damien was no longer there. His body shed at the moment of impact, appearing behind Jeriah and clenching his tail in his hands. Using it like a chain, Damien swung Jeriah¡¯s body into the area where he was standing a second before.

    Boom!

    Two punchesnded on the body of theirrade, causing him to cough up blood as he tried to retreat, but Damien didn¡¯t let go of his firm hold on his tail.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Keuk!¡±

    ¡°Be careful! He can teleport!¡± The leading Demon General shouted.

    ¡°Ohhh, thanks for the heads up, Captain Obvious! Now they know that I can teleport! What great information to have!¡±

    Damien yanked the tail in his hand, causing Jeriah to swing in his direction. Jeriah¡¯s eyes widened due to the pain, but in that split second, he steeled himself. Using the momentum of Damien¡¯s tug, he shot towards his opponent.

    Boom!

    He threw a punch forward the second he reached Damien, not wanting to give his opponent an opportunity to teleport. At the same time, Dorte pped his wings roughly and appeared behind Damien.

    For the second time, two punches shot towards his body. The only difference was, this time there was ck mana coating the two fists.

    Damien grinned. His right hand was outstretched backwards, positioned to catch the fist behind him, while his left shot towards Jeriah to meet him head-on.

    zing mes shot forth from his fist, meeting the ck mana and causing a small tug of war to begin between the two manas. Sunmes raged towards the inky death aura while the Nox mana tried to corrode it.

    Boom!

    At that time, a second impact rang out as Damien¡¯s hand caught Dorte¡¯s fist.<sub></sub>

    But Dorte couldn¡¯t be happy with his sess. An odd current of mana encircled his body, causing his movements to gradually slow down to the point where his fist didn¡¯t carry any force by the time it hit.

    ,??m Even when he tried to move or use his mana to block the force, he was unable to do anything to it.

    ¡°So? How¡¯s thebo attack going? Actually, there¡¯s only two of you attacking right now, what happened to the other two? Scared? Or maybe they¡¯re too weak to join in?¡±

    Damien casually chatted while holding off the two assaultsing towards him. Feeling enraged by his casualness, Jeriah threw his other fist forward, trying to throw a hook into Damien¡¯s stomach.

    Bang!

    ¡°Keuk!¡±

    A swift kicknded on his chest before his arm could reach Damien at all.

    ¡°Now, now. Stay obedient and don¡¯t try to be an overachiever. Don¡¯t you know that it¡¯ll only get you killed faster?¡±

    Damien spoke lightly while twisting his body to the right.

    Swoosh!

    A ck beam shot passed his head as he did so.

    ¡°Oh! So the leader is a rangedbatant. What about thest guy, what about him?¡±

    Damien¡¯s fist, which was still connected to Jeriah¡¯s as their manas shed, swiftly changed positions to grab his wrist. His mana gushed into his hands, causing space to distort around the two fists in his grip.

    ¡°¡±Argh!¡±¡±

    Two pained shouts rang out along with the sound of bones cracking. Damien then let go of their hands and shed away again.

    The frenzied attack of the finalbatant, Trom, reached his position at the same time.

    ¡°You should¡¯ve sat patiently and watched. Didn¡¯t I tell you that you¡¯d get hurt otherwise?¡±

    Damien¡¯s voice was like the devil¡¯s whisper, ringing into Trom¡¯s ear as if he was right behind him.

    Trom quickly twisted his body and threw a heavy kick backwards, but he only impacted air.

    ¡°I can teleport, remember? Even your leader already told you about it! How can you be so dumb?¡±

    ¡®Is the level of Demon General actually not that great?¡¯ Damien wondered. He was genuinely surprised by how stupid they were.

    Elitra¡¯s case could be excused, since she was fighting an internal battle rather than fighting him. And although the three that were with her were strong, they weren¡¯t anything special besides the fact that they hadbat prowess above their level.

    ¡®Is it a matter of practical experience?¡¯ Damien thought as he saw the Demon Generals iling around at his provocations. He was just teleporting around while throwing out random statements to rile them up, but they hadn¡¯t been able to follow his teleportation at all.

    This was the effect of Tian Yang¡¯s teachings to mask the spatial ripples, but even that could only be useful against opponents below his level and perhaps those around the same level as him.

    ¡®Ah.¡¯

    That¡¯s when he realized it. Was it that they were too weak, or that he was too strong? Even when he went all out in the past, he always had more moves that he decided not to use or didn¡¯t have the need to use.

    It could be said that the versatility of his destructive power basically made him into a bag of trump cards.

    But this fact made Damien slightly disappointed. He liked being strong, and he liked the fact that opponents like these couldn¡¯t cause him trouble, but¡­

    ¡®Will I ever face a situation where I have to go all out without facing an opponent that I never had a chance to beat in the first ce?¡¯

    He didn¡¯t want to get conceited, but he couldn¡¯t help it. His defeats were always either in the face of arge group of opponents more powerful than him, or an opponent that vastly outstripped his power level to the point where the fact that he was even fighting became a joke.

    ¡®Well, I¡¯ll find them someday. Until then, I guess I should just take care of the problem in front of me.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s body reappeared several meters away from the group of demon generals. He was no longer in the mood to y around.

 Chapter 274 Demons [8]

    The city of Ecatra was usually a rtively calm ce. Especially considering that beasts usually didn¡¯t roam around this area, the citizens led their daily lives in peace.

    However, today, the area outside of the city was wreathed in mes. The ground and even air were scorched to the point where no life could prosper within.

    But the citizens didn¡¯t mind it. After all, those mes were the only reason they weren¡¯t being barraged by an army of abominations at the moment. That army which brought despair to their hearts for a brief instant was burned to cinders by the fairy that arrived in front of them.

    Feng Qing¡¯er looked at her handiwork and nodded in satisfaction. Since she couldn¡¯t teleport like Damien, she wasn¡¯t able to intercept the army before it reached the city, but she was at least able to arrive before the attack had actually begun.

    And she immediately went to work. She didn¡¯t try to use any fancy techniques or coordination. Since she didn¡¯t have to bring the morale of other people up, she simply went wave after wave of Phoenix mes into the massive crowd of abominations until their numbers had dwindled to zero.

    Now, the only thing left in front of her were those 4 Demon Generals who had hid within their pnquins until they were the only ones left.

    ¡°Are you going toe out now, or should Ie to you?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er growled as she gazed upon their location.

    Tufts of me shot from the ground after her words, impacting the elephantine creatures and burning holes into their bodies.

    ¡¢ ¡°Haa¡­¡±<sub></sub>

    A light sigh could be heard from within the main pnquin. Slowly, the veil blocking it from the outside world was lifted and a man stepped out.

    ¡®A man?¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er almost doubted her mind for ssifying the being in front of her as a man. After all, he could be considered beautiful more than he was handsome.

    Long flowing hair and a feminine face that would cause even the straightest of men to swoon. The incongruity between his features made Feng Qing¡¯er feel an unknown disgust.

    After him, three other Demon Generals stepped out of their pnquins. Feng Qing¡¯er didn¡¯t know whether or not to be surprised by the fact that they were all women.

    ¡°Beauty, what¡¯s the point of needlessly fighting like this? Why don¡¯t youe join me instead?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s eyes widened. What was this guy even talking about?

    ¡°And why would I do that? This young miss has no interest in scum.¡± She scoffed.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Ahhh, don¡¯t be like that. Just one night, and I promise you¡¯ll change your mind.¡±

    ¡°One night, huh? Is that an entire night I get to spend burning you to a crisp? You know, that sounds interesting.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha! A feisty one, I see. But worry not, with the pleasure you¡¯ll feel with me, your temper will vanish on its own.¡±

    The man waved his hand, causing an invisible mana to emanate forth. The mana carried a scent that seemed to beckon Feng Qing¡¯er towards him.

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s eyes dulled slightly as she smelled that scent. Her body began to feel hot, and moved on its own to reach his location.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Beauty, there¡¯s no better ce for you to be than by my side.¡±

    The man opened his arms wide to ept the woman who was slowly flying into his grasp. To be honest, he had been attracted to her since the moment heid eyes on her.

    A body that was curvaceous in all the right ces, and a fiery temperament that was begging to be tamed under him. He almost couldn¡¯t stop the lustful expression from surfacing on his face.<sub></sub>

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body floated forward until she was right in front of him. Her dull eyes seemed to be looking straight at him, but at the same time were focused in the distance.

    The man leaned forward, his face getting closer to hers. ¡°Just one more step, and you¡¯ll experience a new world that you¡¯ll never want to leave.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s foot went forward. Seeing this, the three women behind the man smirked.

    She views herself so high above them just because she eliminated an army of ants? Now, she would be one of them, and they could truly teach her how to behave.

    In that instant, with all four Demon Generals focused on Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s face, a crackle of red shed in her hand.

    Swoosh!

    Her hand shot forward faster than anyone could react. The distance between her and the Demon General had already been closed to the point where it was impossible to dodge without teleportation.

    Boom!

    A bolt of fire zapped between her fingers as sheid her hand on the man¡¯s chest. And in the next instant, they entered his body and exploded.

    ¡°AAAAH!¡±

    A pitiful shriek left his mouth. His body shot backwards like a bullet due to the impact force. If one looked carefully, they¡¯d be able to see a fist-sized hole in his stomach.

    The three women behind him were still dazed at the sudden turn of events.

    A pair of blistering hot me wings emerged from Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s back and pped powerfully, sending her to the man who was still flying backwards in an instant.

    ¡°You dare try to seduce me?! Do you know who I am?!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er let out an enraged shout.

    Her hand grabbed the man¡¯s face, causing him to suddenly halt. His previous momentum gathered into the area he was being held from and caused the bones in his neck to shatter.

    But due to the demons¡¯ frightening tenacity, he survived. Unfortunately for him.

    The small crackle of mes within Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s hand grew until it covered her palm. From there, it transferred into the man¡¯s seven orifices and began to burn.

    ¡°AGGGGGGG!¡±

    He tried to scream, but due to the miniature explosions that continuously shook his throat, his scream was turned into iprehensible bber.

    It wasn¡¯t just his throat though. His eyes were melting, his eardrums had been popped with extreme force, the bones of his nose and skull were cracked into pieces. It was a horrifying torture.

    Although she didn¡¯t feel satisfied, she knew that she couldn¡¯t do much else, since the three women who came with the man were charging at her furiously.

    But seeing them, she smiled beautifully. ¡°He was right! I truly felt pleasure like I¡¯ve never felt before!¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er put on a pondering look. ¡°Ah! Do you think I can feel that pleasure again if I do the same thing to you guys?¡±

    She tossed the corpse of the man to the side. His face was no longer beautiful, it could barely even be registered as a face anymore. His hollowed eyes, nose, and mouth were still filled with the various liquids that had been produced due to Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s¡­treatment.

    His body was still convulsing even though he didn¡¯t have any life force left, and that only served to enrage the three Demon Generals even further.

    But without care for their feelings, Feng Qing¡¯er expanded her wings to their full span and pped them viciously. Tens, if not hundreds, of burning feathers coated in crackling mes shot forth, dying the heavens red.

    And in the next instant, it felt like the world exploded.

 Chapter 275 Demons [9]

    Chapter 275 Demons [9]

    "Ahh~ how sad. No matter how much I want to y with you, time doesn''t seem to be on my side."

    The words that seemed yful out of context were like the whispers of the devil to the demons who heard them.

    "What to do, what to do. I could tear you apart with my own hands, but I don''t want to get my clothes dirty. Hmm, what if you all kill each other? Oooh, that sounds fun! Let''s do that!"

    The demons shook. Their bodies wouldn''t move no matter how much they tried to will them to.

    "Ehhh~ you don''t want to? But I was getting really excited! Okay~ how about I let whoever can stay alive until the end live! The rest will die either way."

    "Fuck this! I''m leaving!"

    A Demon General couldn''t bear the psychological torture anymore. He dropped everything he had on him and ran blindly.

    He wanted to know which direction he was moving in, but it was impossible. The world was filled with an endless darkness that even the mana within his body feared.

    So he ran. He ran without thinking of anything else. Perhaps due to the fact that he couldn''t see in the first ce, he didn''t notice when his sight was taken from him.

    So he continued to run. Perhaps due to the silence that had enveloped them ever since that demonic woman showed up, he didn''t realize when his hearing was taken from him.

    His smell left next. It was at this point when he noticed. The stench of blood that had been guing him until now, where did it go?

    "W-what did you do to me!"

    It was what he thought he said, but he couldn''t hear his own voice, so he wasn''t sure. No, it wasn''t even that, he couldn''t even feel his mouth moving.

    ''M-my body?''

    He knew he still had his body, otherwise, there was no way he''d be able to think. But where was it? Why couldn''t he feel it? Where was the ground beneath his feet? No, where were his feet in the first ce?

    Humans, or rather, any creature that didn''t live in the sky wouldn''t realize the safety they felt on thend until it was taken from them. It wasn''t until they were in the sky that they''d realize the security they had taken for granted.

    The Demon General, whose senses were slowly returned to him, btedly realized the situation. He 23:04

    could even see the rest of the demons'' forces only a few meters away from him.

    The Demon General watched the Demon Captains ramble off any excuse they coulde up with. But he could see it. Their eyes were filled with only the single-minded greed to live.

    In that moment, he couldn''t do anything besidesugh. Laugh at his own powerlessness that got him into such a situation.

    "Hahaha¡­I see. Good! So this is the true nature of our race that loves to act above all! Hahahaha! She''s right! She was always right! We are nothing more than scum that deserves to die!"

    The Demon General''s eyes wereced with madness as he spoke.

    "And since it''s like that, why should it only be me? Why am I the one who has to die here? Hahahaha! How about you all join me on my trip to hell!"

    With no regard for his body, the Demon General shot forward at full power, rousing all the mana he had left in his body.

    No, it wasn''t just his mana. Even his life force was burning to grant him more power.

    In an instant( he arrived in front of the group of Demon Captains. With the power difference between the two, how could they even predict his actions?

    Before the Demon Captains realized what was happening, the Demon General''s body began to swell. It continued to swell until it looked like his vessel could no longer hold all the energy he had gathered within.

    "See you all in hell, fuckers!"

    BOOOOM!

    An explosion so massive it caused cracks in the surrounding darkness sted forth, consuming the Demon Captains within. Mana raged in the environment for many minutes afterwards before the scene finally calmed down.

    The Demon General felt like he was in an endless abyss. There was nothing in existence besides his mind.

    And time passed. For the Demon General, it was eons. Thousands upon thousands of years spent in darkness. His mind had been corroded past the point where anything close to sanity even existed anymore.

    "AHHHHHHH!"

    The first thing he had heard in ages was the mad shrieking from his own mouth. But he no longer had the capacity to care.

    After all, even without his conscious urging, his hands had already pierced his chest and ripped out his own heart.

    The Demon General, whose senses were slowly returned to him, btedly realized the situation. He could even see the rest of the demons'' forces only a few meters away from him.

    Perhaps, he should have felt despair. Maybe that was what was intended to happen. But he couldn''t force himself to do so. Those around him could clearly see the bright relieved smile on his face as his body crumpled to the floor.

    "Mm! That was fun! Actually, I change my mind. Let''s have all of you do the same thing as him!"

    The Demon Captains, the remaining three Demon Generals, and even the mindless abominations that the woman hadn''t bothered to kill off earlier were shaking in fear.

    Unlike the Demon General who died, they had all witnessed it. The Demon General ran in circles like a madman. He wed his own face until it was hardly recognizable, his arms broke due to the force with which he was hitting the ground.

    In the end, he banged his head on the ground while shrieking madly. It was only then that he wed his heart out with his own hands.

    Five minutes.

    That was all the time it took for everything to happen from start to finish. It only took five minutes for her to drive a Demon General insane enough to kill himself for the sake of peace.

    And the instant they realized that this devil woman wanted them to experience the same thing, pandemonium broke loose.

    The mindless abominations acted on instinct, ripping off pieces of each other''s flesh with their teeth and ws. The Demon Captains turned to each other and began a reckless brawl.

    As for the Demon Generals, they fought the hardest. They had no intention of dying here.

    Inky ck mana filled the space of darkness, unseen but still extremely powerful. Massive explosions rocked the air and caused hordes of abominations to crumble.

    The mayhemsted for an hour before finallying to a close. To the woman''s surprise, the final contenders were a single Demon General and ten Demon Captains.

    The Demon General was oozing ck blood from several gashes along his skin. His body was fraught with so many injuries that he looked like he would die with a single push.

    And against him, 10 Demon Captains who didn''t actually fight each other at all.

    "You! You lot dare to go against me?!"

    The Demon General screamed in rage.

    "W-we have no choice!"

    "If you want to me someone, me that woman!"

    "T-that''s right! I just want to live!"

    The woman, no, Qing Tan looked down at the scene she had caused with a bewitching smile on her face.

    "Mmm~ that was even more fun than I imagined!"

    She waved her hand, causing the massive dome of darkness that had enveloped the 50-kilometer radius around her to retract and enter her body.

    Her body, which was floating in the air, slowly lowered to the ground. Her footsteps were light and without worries.

    Her gaze turned north, to the location of the ce where she would meet up with her other twopanions.

    "I wonder if they finished yet? Did that interesting guy show up before me? Well, I guess I''ll just have to find out!"

    And she skipped into the distance like a little girl who was just given her favorite treat.

 Chapter 276 Demons [10]

    A single round of sunme dragon¡¯s breath was enough for all four Demon Generals to meet their end. Damien didn¡¯t even get the time to collect the efforts of all his provocation after he became disillusioned by their weakness.

    Of course, they weren¡¯t idiots who would simply stand still and allow him to hit them, but using vector control and spatial maniption to increase gravity around them and lower their mobility was more than enough to solve this problem.

    Thinking about it though, this was the first time Damien actually moved his head when he used dragon¡¯s breath, causing the beam to cover a wider area. It was a good find that he didn¡¯t have to be stationary while using the attack, but it wasn¡¯t anything he hadn¡¯t figured out already.

    After finishing, Damien started moving northwest in the direction of Darknorth. The entire time, he never even set foot near Scheherazade, which he was supposed to be protecting.

    It¡¯s not like he needed the gratitude of those natives, and he didn¡¯t need to take a break before moving on either, so it was pointless to go there.

    Damien¡¯s figure shed in and out of existence as he made his way over to Darknorth. Although the 1-meter limit on teleportation got annoying when he needed to travel fast like this, it at least allowed him to train his fine control more than he had in the past.

    Also, since he was using lightning to boost his speed as well, it allowed him to practice the elemental fusion he had been trying to achieve recently.

    Like this, Damien traveled to Darknorth, arriving at the city 5 hours of constant teleporting.

    ¡°So this is Darknorth, huh.¡± He muttered to himself as he looked at the small city in front of him. It truly did possess a somewhat dark aura around it, which was probably its namesake.

    ¡°Those guys haven¡¯t arrived here yet. The demon army is still pretty far away too.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t sense the demons even when he spread his awareness to its far reaches, but he didn¡¯t think it¡¯d take them too long to arrive.

    The only reason he made it so early was because the entire confrontation between him and the Demon Generals didn¡¯tst more than five minutes.

    ¡°Darknorth is the farthest of the three cities from Astoria, and considering how the army hadn¡¯t reached Scheherazade yet when I caught up to them, the demon city is also probably somewhere in that same area.¡±

    It was a logical deduction. Thinking that he had to go back to Astoria and look for the demon cityter, Damien sat down where he stood.

    ¡°Not like I¡¯m in a hurry. 5 hours of constant teleporting can get annoying.¡±

    He still had around half his mana pool left, but he decided to fill it up to the brim while he waited for Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan. With his future ns, he¡¯d have no problems reaching the White Star, let alone a ck Star that was needed to pass. His star was already bright purple and on the verge of spilling over, so the contribution points didn¡¯t interest him.

    Since Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan were farther away, it¡¯d take them longer to arrive. As for the Demon army, he didn¡¯t care if they got here first. He¡¯d just stall them or use them to practice spatial lock until the other two arrived.

    Thinking thus far, Damien began meditating, revolving the Void Essence in his body to hasten his absorption speed tenfold.

    And time passed like this.

    ¡°A~ I thought I¡¯d be first!¡±

    A yful voice woke him from his meditation. When he opened his eyes, he saw Qing Tan standing in front of him with a smile on her face.

    ¡°You were fast.¡± He replied ndly, causing her to slightly frown.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the attitude? Did something hurt your feelings?¡± She joked.

    ¡°Yeah, it did.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    She wasn¡¯t expecting such a straight answer from him. She didn¡¯t even know how to respond. That is, until he spoke again.

    ¡°Sigh, I just realized how weak the Demon Generals are. I want a good fight, but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll get one. If I use this same standard to judge the Commanders, I¡¯m sure to not get one at all.¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s eyes widened. That¡¯s what was bothering him?

    ¡°Pfft¡­!¡±

    A short giggle left her mouth, which she quickly suppressed, but in the end, she couldn¡¯t control it. Qing Tan was almost rolling on the floor withughter at such an answer.

    ¡®He¡¯s not so different from me.¡¯ She thought inwardly. A thrillseeker, someone who acted because they wanted to have fun. This kind of person was the most interesting.

    While the two were chatting, Feng Qing¡¯er also reached their location.

    ¡°Dammit! I finished them off so quickly, so why did you two make it here before me?¡± She muttered with a frown.

    ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t it a distance thing? You were the farthest away from Darknorth. Besides, he can teleport and I can also do something simr, so our movement speeds outstrip yours.¡±

    ¡°Tch.¡±

    Hearing such a logical answer, Feng Qing¡¯er couldn¡¯t find anything to fault. In the end, she could only turn her head to the side and pout.

    Naturally, this caused Qing Tan to burst into another fit ofughter.

    But Damien couldn¡¯t bring himself tough with her, despite the fact that he also found Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s behavior amusing.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t they here yet?¡±

    By all intents and purposes, the Demon army headed for Darknorth should have arrived already. Not even recently, but long ago.

    Damien frowned. Even without his danger sense, it was clear that something was wrong with the current situation.

    He spread his awareness to its limit once again, and what he saw made his expression turn ugly.

    ¡°Shit¡­¡±

    The Demon army hade. There was no doubt about it. The problem was, there were no abominations within that army.

    What he saw on the horizon was an amalgamation of inky ck aura that clouded the heaven and earth. Thousands of Captains, tens of Generals, and three beings that radiated a stronger aura than all of the previous forcesbined.

    ¡°So the Commanders have finally decided to show themselves.¡± Qing Tan muttered. It seemed her awareness had also been spread.

    ¡°So what if they¡¯re Commanders? Even if they¡¯re stronger than the Generals, they aren¡¯t anything we can¡¯t handle alone.¡±

    But Damien shook his head at her statement. ¡°Sure, if it was only Commanders it¡¯d be an easy fight. But with tens of Generals who will, without a doubt, go out of their way to annoy us during the battle, it gets much trickier.¡±

    ¡°Then can¡¯t we just ask for help from the geniuses within the city?¡± Qing Tan asked.

    Feng Qing¡¯er scoffed. ¡°You saw how useless they were during the battle at Astoria. They were struggling while dealing with 10 Captains, so how do you expect them to deal with Generals?¡±

    ¡°Hm? But these aren¡¯t the same low-rate geniuses that were in Astoria. I mean, sure they won¡¯tpare to the three of us, but the fact that they didn¡¯t cling to your, Miss Queen¡¯s, golden thigh proves that they should have some grit right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, well it¡¯s not like we have a choice either way. From the way they have their auras zing before they even got here, and also the fact that they sent exactly 3 Commanders, it¡¯s obvious that we¡¯re their targets. We won¡¯t have time to deal with the small fries.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do what we can. That¡¯s all I can say. If things are looking bad, we run.¡±

    ,?-?m ¡°There¡¯s a famous schr by the name of 21 Savage who said these beautiful words: I¡¯d rather be broke in jail than be dead and rich. We can get all the contribution points we want as long as we¡¯re alive.¡±

    ¡°That schr¡¯s words are wise. We have a simr saying, it¡¯s better to be a living dog than a dead lion. In any case, let¡¯s grab the geniuses within the city. It¡¯s time to prepare for this fight.¡±

    Damien gazed at the horizon with a gleam in his eyes. He had a feeling. A feeling that the fight he was craving was on that horizon, beckoning him.

    Damien¡¯s pupils shed in a blood-red light. His fangs and ws elongated. His battle lust hade out full force in anticipation.

 Chapter 277 Racing [1]

    It didn¡¯t take long for the forces within Darknorth to congregate at the gates with Damien, Feng Qing¡¯er, and Qing Tan.

    Of course, they vehemently opposed at first when they were told about the forces they were up against and their number, but it didn¡¯t take long to change their mind.

    Darknorth was in an odd geographical position, situated in a zone where beasts rarely, if ever, roamed, so the surroundings were naturally deste of contribution points. The geniuses were evenpletely unaware of the existence of Demons until they were informed of the iing force.

    So these geniuses still had stars that shone bright silver or with a dull yellow hue that indicated they had just recently reached the Golden Star level.

    For them, it would take tons of extraneous effort for them to find even a single beast, let alone enough for them to level up their stars. So something like a war, it was a perfect opportunity for them.

    None of them wanted to be ejected from the Primordial Undying Realm so early. They would lose out on any sort of treasure at all if they were. As such, their minds were changed in that instant.

    Damien didn¡¯t know whether to be disgusted at their ability to easily change their faces in the presence of benefits or admiring of the fact that they had the courage to participate in such arge-scale battle at all.

    Like this, their original three ballooned until they had a little over fifty geniuses gathered together to face the iing army.

    -.??m That was around half of the geniuses that had entered the Trial World together. Combined with those that stayed in Astoria, Damien had met 3/4ths of the total number.

    As for the remaining 1/4th, they were most likely dead or living in the wilderness while hunting for beasts.

    Either way, he didn¡¯t really care. Even as his gaze scanned the crowd of geniuses, his face remained passive and indifferent.

    He could clearly sense and see the mana emitting from their bodies, and frankly, he wasn¡¯t impressed at all.

    ¡®These are the ones that are called geniuses?¡¯

    He couldn¡¯t understand. They were totally average in his eyes, and that was apliment.

    But they couldn¡¯t be faulted for appearing like this. Especially since they were beingpared with figures like Long Chen, Ruyue, Feng Qing¡¯er, and Qing Tan.

    Perhaps it was Damien¡¯s mistake due to the type of people he usually associated with, but that didn¡¯t change his outlook on the situation. In his mind, he was only being realistic.

    ¡®With their levels, they at least shouldn¡¯t have a problem with the horde of Demon Captains. If we¡¯re lucky, they¡¯ll get the chance to team up and hold back the Demon Generals.¡¯

    Holding them back. This was the entirety of Damien¡¯s expectations for the geniuses in front of him.

    Sighing lightly, he briefly looked at Feng Qing¡¯er, who was stronglymanding the geniuses and giving them orders, and Qing Tan, who was happily watching from the side.

    When she sensed his gaze, she smiled at him and waved.

    ¡®That girl¡­truly no sense of propriety.¡¯ He shook his head wryly.

    His gaze soon left his own camp and looked towards the Demon army that was speedily approaching. There was only an hour until their sh would begin.

    ***

    About half a day ago, when Damien, Feng Qing¡¯er, and Qing Tan had just finished defeating their respective Demon armies, a second convening took ce within the pantheon at the demon city.

    ¡°It was truly a good idea to put the record crystals on those Generals before they moved. We were able to catch an interesting sight.¡±

    ¡°You call that interesting? It¡¯s just a minor matter.¡±

    ¡°Well, I can at least say that there are a few worthy ones among this batch of outsiders.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Worthy? They aren¡¯t even worthy enough to lick our Lord¡¯s feet. You dare consider them as such?¡±

    ¡°Even we are not worthy of such an action, but our Lord has still allowed us the opportunity. Anyway, enough of that. We did not gather to drown in our own arrogance.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. It seems we must take care of this problem before it bes a true hindrance for us.¡±

    ¡°A hindrance? How low have you fallen to consider mere kids who can¡¯t see Mount Tai a hindrance?¡±

    The man at the head of the meeting watched hisrades arguing with a passive look on his face. In the end, he decided to speak.

    ¡°Sigh, you lot still have a habit of looking down on everything and everyone. Being the absolute beings within this realm for so long had turned youcent.¡±

    ¡°It isn¡¯tcency and you know it. We are beings at the peak of 3rd ss. Even if we wanted to, there is no more area for us to improve without undergoing Universe Baptism. And due to the restriction, we have been disallowed from doing that.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Their power cannotpare to us in the slightest. Rather than us underestimating them, I think that you are underestimating us.¡±

    ¡°Enough. Will you take responsibility if they end up bing a hindrance to our Lord¡¯s n? Will you dare to speak the same words at that time? We will take care of them now. My words are final.¡±

    ¡°Hah, since when did you get to make that decision? They are just brats. Send arge number of Generals at them and they¡¯ll easily die.¡±

    ¡°You are talking in circles due to your arrogance. If you don¡¯t want to go, then simply don¡¯t. Only three of us need to move.¡±

    ¡°Any volunteers?¡±

    The beings at the table nced at each other, hesitant to raise their voices. None of them wanted to take on a task that they deigned beneath them. But in the end, three still volunteered.

    ¡°Sigh, I¡¯ll go.¡±

    ¡°Me as well.¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s nobody else, then I¡¯ll go as well.¡±

    The man at the head of the table nodded his head. ¡°Good. Kroa, Winthrop, and Polius will take on the task this time. Gather forces and head out immediately. Also, make sure to take the record crystals with you in case of emergency.¡±

    ¡°Emergency? Do you truly think anything like that will happen this time? Even the three of us are too much to deal with those brats, so gathering a force is also useless.¡±

    ¡°Right. We¡¯ll take care of it ande back with haste.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Didn¡¯t I say it before? We need to prepare for anything. If you all are forgetting, the Lord told us that there was another entity of equal strength to him in this realm. Or did you all forget such a major detail?¡±

    Indeed. When they were reminded of the fact, their arrogance faltered. If their Lord could lend them his power, who was to say that that entity wouldn¡¯t do the same to their enemies?

    Other than the fact that it set barriers around the human cities to prevent an easy ughter, that entity had been silent this whole time, but if they thought about it, it could be due to the fact that the only beings it could support within this realm were mortals without cultivation. Now that powerful individuals had entered, what reason did that entity have to remain passive?

    Although they didn¡¯t want to admit it, they were no match for such an entity. The three beings begrudgingly took the record crystals they were given and left the great hall.

    In another hour, they had already gathered thousands to follow them. And with such a force, they immediately set out towards Darknorth.

    Considering that there were only four human cities in this entire region and three had already been attacked, it was too easy to know where their enemy would be.

    ***

    ¡°Lord! Lord! Something big is happening!¡±

    A panicked voice rang through the study as a maid barged through the door. Judging from her disheveled look, it was clear she rushed in a hurry.

    ¡°Oh? Something interesting? Calm down and speak, Trishia.¡±

    Although he maintained his indifference, a trace of interest could be seen from within his eyes.

    Of the hundreds of servants that upied his castle along with him, Trishia was one that he knew he could trust.

    He had raised her from birth, after all. Even though she wasn¡¯t his daughter by blood, his love for her was only slightly below what he had for his own daughter.

    But he was a man who learned from his mistakes. Outwardly, he didn¡¯t show a hint of emotion towards her, whether it be love or hate.

    ¡°Lord, the Apostles have made a move. Three of them are currently gathering arge number of Captains and Generals for unknown purposes. But from the looks of it, they are preparing for war.¡±

 Chapter 278 Racing [2]

    ¡°War?¡±

    What could possibly cause the Apostles to move for war? The humane within the realm couldn¡¯t cultivate, so they didn¡¯t have an opponent that wasn¡¯t the Demon Kings themselves.

    ¡®No, the outsiders are here as well.¡¯

    But it still didn¡¯t entirely make sense to him.

    The Apostles were special existences. They could control him due to the corruption that had been forced upon him by their bastard Lord, but their power couldn¡¯t match a true 4th ss existence in a real fight.

    But against a 3rd ss? They were nigh invincible. They had reached a level where normal 3rd ss existences had not a single chance against them.

    So why were they moving? What caused them to do so? Demon King Lucius¡¯s mind suddenly moved towards the scene he had witnessed a few days prior.

    A storm that had eclipsed the entire Demon army it faced.

    ¡®That Stormbringer¡­if it¡¯s them, then it makes more sense for an Apostle to move.¡¯

    But even then, there should only be a single Apostle acting. For three to move was begging overkill even for someone as powerful as that Stormbringer.

    ¡®Then, are there more than have simr power to him?¡¯

    If it was like that, then things started to make more sense. Still, three Apostles, this seemed like a chance unlike any he had gotten in many thousands of years.

    ¡®My daughter¡­¡¯

    Worry coated his face once more as he thought of her. Although he still wasn¡¯t able to re-establish the mark he had ced on her, he knew she was alive. His intuition was telling him so.

    And the intuition of a 4th ss existence wasn¡¯t something that could be thrown away as a mere feeling or spection.

    ¡®If she¡¯s alive, then she has to be in the hands of that Stormbringer.¡¯

    It was the only logical conclusion. The Stormbringer was the most powerful of the outsiders that had been present at the battle his daughter had taken part in, so her being in his possession wasn¡¯t a far-reaching thought.

    If it was him in that situation, he would¡¯ve taken the most powerful of the enemy forces and tortured them for information. Was there any other course of action more fitting?

    The thought of his daughter being tortured brought him endless pain, but he knew he couldn¡¯t direct his anger at the Stormbringer. As he was in the same situation at one point in time, he couldn¡¯t fault the other party¡¯s actions.

    If it was him, he¡¯d have long since killed the enemy after they lost their use.

    And the Stormbringer seemed to be someone who could be a valuable ally to him. Since his daughter was alive, he could at least be grateful for this much and put down his personal grudge for the sake of long-term benefits.

    He could only hope that she wasn¡¯t too distraught or damaged.

    ¡®Forgive me, my daughter. I hope you can understand that I¡¯m doing this for the sake of our future.¡¯

    Demon King Lucius organized his thoughts before turning his attention back to Trishia.

    ¡°Gather our personal forces and send a group of Generals to aid the Apostles¡¯ expedition. Pass my orders down. A storm can be a valuable ally if one can navigate it properly.¡±

    Trishia bowed to the Demon King once again and hurriedly left his office.

    Not even ten minutes, she returned to report thepletion of her task.

    Demon King Lucius watched the army that was leaving the demon city from the window in his study. His expression remained unreadable even then.

    ***

    There was only half an hour until the enhanced Demon army was projected to reach their location, but Damien had suddenly vanished from sight.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he had already told Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan that he was leaving to prepare something, panic would have spread through their camp.

    After all, he was expected to deal with one of the three most powerful arriving beings along with the two women, so his presence was incredibly important to theiring battle.

    As the Demon Army continued to get closer to them, Damien began to feel a sense of foreboding that wasn¡¯t present before. He felt that something out of his control would happen, and this feeling quickly quelled the reckless battle lust that was threatening to consume him.

    Due to this foreboding feeling, Damien decided to grab a final card that he wasn¡¯t nning to take yet. He wanted toplete the process at ater date.

    But now, he was back in the Sanctuary, looking at the haggard figure of a woman on the ground.

    She hadn¡¯t been fed anything for the past day that she had been confined here, so it was only natural for her condition to deteriorate. And although Damien knew it was cruel, this was the best treatment he could offer to an enemy.

    At least he hadn¡¯t killed her.

    Elitra¡¯s eyes were still dull, as if she had already ended her life, but Damien could still feel the life force within her body.

    ¡®Her battle with the Nihility me probably worsened.¡¯

    It was only natural considering her condition. The me was probably much closer to winning and consuming her than it ever had been before.

    But that wouldn¡¯tst much longer. The final card Damien wanted was this me itself.

    Ranked 23rd on the Heavenly me Index. In his hands, he knew this me could be an extremely powerful tool.

    He wanted to steal it from the Demon Kings, since their Nihility mes were bound to be more powerful, but for now, he¡¯d settle for hers. He could always consume more in the future.

    Without talking to Elitra at all or even acknowledging her, Damien put his hand on her shoulder and inserted his low-level Void Essence into her body.

    Quickly circting it, he found the Nihility mes raging throughout as if it was a wolf and untameable bull.

    ¡®It seems she wasn¡¯t lying about burning alive every day.¡¯

    Feeling some pity for her, he used his Void Essence to wrap around the rampaging mes and congeal them at a single point.

    Although they tried to resist, what was the point? Even the most powerful of manas were nothing in front of the Void.

    The raging me quickly became docile and formed a ball at Elitra¡¯s chest before shooting up her throat and out of her mouth.

    ¡°Kuk¡­kuk!¡±

    A fit of coughs left her mouth as the clump of ck mes exited. Soon after, they obediently entered Damien¡¯s body.

    The Nihility me spread through his body the same way it did with Elitra, the only difference being its attitude. The me fused with his muscles and bones, empowering them. It mingled with his ck lighting as if they were close friends

    .

    Even under the fear of Void Essence, it was acting cozier than he expected. But he didn¡¯t have time to question it.

    Sensing the disappearance of the constant pain that had been racking her body for as long as she could remember, some light entered Elitra¡¯s eyes again.

    Her weary gazended on Damien, who was curiously ying with the obedient Nihility me between his fingers.

    The light in Elitra¡¯s eyes brightened once more at the sight. Something in her mind seemed to click.

    ¡°L-Lord.¡±

    Her voice was hoarse, but she still managed to force it out.

    ¡°What?¡± Damien looked at her in shock.

    ¡°Lord.¡±

    She said it with much more confidence the second time.

    ¡°Why the hell am I your Lord?¡±

    ¡°You who has tamed the Nihility me. The one who saved me from endless torment. Only you are worthy of being my Lord.¡±

    As she spoke, her eyes seemed to shine. The restriction that stopped her from speaking certain words had been entirely lifted in the mysterious space she was now in.

    It only made her want to worship Damien as her Lord even more. The fact that he was only a 3rd ss like her, yet was able to aplish something that even her father couldn¡¯t do. It made her body feel a tingling sensation she had never felt before.

    ¡°You¡¯re aware that I tortured you like a day ago right? Isn¡¯t your attitude change too sudden?¡±

    Damien was baffled. He couldn¡¯t understand her at all. He even thought she was trying to make a ploy for revenge. But her eyes were so clear and her emotions so thick that he couldn¡¯t immediately say she was fooling him.

    Elitra didn¡¯t seem to register his words at all, though. She lowered her body until she was in a kowtow position and ced her head on the ground.

    ¡°If my Lord wishes to punish me, this lowly servant doesn¡¯t dare to resist. Please ept me, Lord.¡±

    ¡®What the hell?¡¯

    Damien wanted to understand what was happening, but he once again realized how limited his time was.

    ¡°Sigh, I¡¯ll deal with youter. Obediently stay here and wait.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord!¡±

    Bothered by her enthusiasm, Damien ended up leaving a pile of food and water in the confinement area so her condition would slightly improve.

    Her mana was still sealed and she no longer had legs, so he didn¡¯t have any reason to deem her a threat anyway.

    ¡°Do you truly expect us to wait for another ant to show up? Did you think you would be granted privileges or something?¡±

    When Damien reappeared in the Trial World, he was greeted by the scene of the Demon army already in confrontation with the assembled geniuses.

    The Commander at the forefront of the force stood in the air with a high and mighty look on her face, mocking the geniuses.

    ¡°Ha? Special treatment? As if you deserve to say something like that. Ugly bitch,e let this big sister teach you a lesson!¡±

    And Feng Qing¡¯er was standing in front of her with a simrly proud look on her face. The atmosphere was already heated on the verge of exploding.

    Damien smiled wryly at the scene.

    ¡®Well, at least I¡¯m not toote, I guess.¡¯

 Chapter 279 Racing [3]

    The chosen location of the battle was actually rtively far from Darknorth. With the sh of so many forces with a much greater average power level than the ones from previous battles, it was obvious that the coteral damage would be far greater.

    Feng Qing¡¯er didn¡¯t want to take any risks. Even though she was aware of the barrier that protected Darknorth and the rest of the cities, she didn¡¯t want to put her trust into something she couldn¡¯t control.

    That¡¯s why she had the geniuses travel away from the city to meet the iing army halfway.

    Of course, Damien had already left for the Sanctuary by the time the procession began, but for some reason, he hadnded in the midst of the crowd of geniuses when he arrived back in the Primordial Undying Realm.

    He was confused by the fact, sure, but judging by the current situation, he didn¡¯t have any time to dwell on it. Battle was already on the verge of erupting.

    At this close proximity, the difference in scale between the two sides became even more obvious. In front of the thousand-strong army, the coalition of geniuses looked like nothing more than an ant in front of an elephant.

    But the sh of auras was entirely different. Although the geniuses were still on the losing side, the difference wasn¡¯t as drastic as the sheer numbers difference made it seem.

    If Damien released his full aura in addition to the tide of aura that was already being supported by Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan¡¯s massive presences, he didn¡¯t think they¡¯d be losing out by much.

    This scene made Damien a bit more hopeful for the soon-to-start battle.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t there supposed to be three of you at the head? That handsome man I saw on the record crystal, where did he go? Don¡¯t tell me he ran away after seeing our numbers?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, what do you know? Why would anyone run away from this army of ants? Did you never stop to consider the fact that he simply doesn¡¯t think you¡¯re worthy enough for him to show up all punctual?¡±

    Damien raised his brow at her words. This Feng Qing¡¯er who always tried her best to pick a fight with him was actually making him seem so lofty in front of the enemy? He thought he might have to change his opinion of her.

    Judging that it¡¯d be a fun time to pour fuel on the fire, Damien began to push his way through the crowd.

    ¡°Ah, excuse me, excuse me,ing through! Hey, which one of you assholes is touching my ass? I don¡¯t swing that way!¡±

    A smallmotion erupted as he roughly made his way towards the front of the crowd. He intentionally roughed his hair up a bit to make himself look sleazier than he usually did.

    ¡¢ When he reached the front, he ignored the stares of the Demon army and the Commanders and made his way into the air next to Feng Qing¡¯er.

    ¡°Yo! Something interesting happening?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er smirked when she realized what he was doing. ¡°No, nothing much. Just an ugly bitch and her entourage trying to act high and mighty. Anyway, where have you been?¡±

    ¡°Eh? I just woke up from a nap. The amodations in Darknorth are actually really nice. The ambiance is lovely as well.¡± Damien spoke while yawning and stretching his body.

    ¡°Oho? I¡¯ll have to go check it out after we clean up here. Because of a certain pest, I wasn¡¯t able to even get a good look at the city.¡±

    Swoosh!

    Both of them suddenly moved their bodies to the side slightly as a ck bullet shot past them.

    ¡°You dare ignore me?!¡± The female Demon Commander growled with annoyance stered on her face.

    ¡°Who¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you just now? She¡¯s an ugly bitch.¡±

    Damien fondled his chin with the face of a wise sage as he scanned the Demon Commander from head to toe.

    ¡°Face, 3. Body, a solid 5. Her personality seems to be a 1 though. Overall, a hard pass.¡±

    ¡°Pfft!¡±

    Even the geniuses behind him almost failed to hold back theirughter. She wasn¡¯t that bad, was she? Even though she¡¯s an enemy, did you really have to stomp her dignity like that?

    The Demon Commander was truly on the average side whenpared to beauties like Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan, but if she was put in the middle of a crowd of normal women, she still had looks that were bound to stand out.

    The female Demon Commander¡¯s face quickly became cold when she heard his words. Truth be told, her appearance had always been a sore spot for her.

    Due to the continuous infusion of mana as they leveled up, cultivators would be more and more beautiful. Natural-born beauties like Ruyue would be heaven toppling with time, to the point where even Gods would fawn over them.

    But Kroa, the Demon Commander, wasn¡¯t blessed with natural beauty. Even after bing so powerful and leveling up to such a point, she was only slightly above average. Seeing beautiful women like Elitra always made her feel inferior, regardless of her status among demons.

    ¡°Enough talk. It¡¯s better if we get our job done and head back.¡±

    Kroa didn¡¯t continue with her arrogant show. Funnily enough, instead of targeting Damien; who had touched her sore spot, her attention was focused on Feng Qing¡¯er herself. Intense envy and murderous intent filled her gaze.

    Suddenly, two new figures appeared at her side.

    ¡°Sigh, this is why it¡¯s a bad thing to provoke Kroa. Don¡¯t they know that touching her reverse scale leads to a fate worse than death?¡±

    ¡°And how were they supposed to know that? Well, they were fated to die anyway, it¡¯s just a shame that their deaths won¡¯t be quick any longer.¡±

    The two men casually chatted as they sized up Damien and Qing Tan respectively.

    ¡°Which one do you want?¡±

    ¡°Does that matter? You take left and I take right.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure.¡±

    The man who headed left was the one named Winthrop, his gaze lecherously scanning Qing Tan¡¯s body. As for the man named Polius, he casually stood before Damien.

    Throughout the whole interaction, the geniuses behind them kept silent. Even whileughing at Damien¡¯s jokes, they were already aware of the gravity of the situation.

    Some of them even thought to turn back and flee at that moment, but it was already toote. If they fled now, their deaths would only be hastened.

    Even Damien, Feng Qing¡¯er, and Qing Tan were aware that they were fighting an uphill battle. But this fact only served to heighten their fighting intent.

    After all, they had all already experienced the might of the Generals. It had given them a certain amount of confidence when facing the Commanders.

    The three leaders of each side stood in the air facing each other, and the lower forces were doing the same on the ground.

    In such a situation, one would expect a certain trigger to be the start of the fierce battle. Perhaps it¡¯d be one side falling to provocation, or some other situation that slowly caused things to escte.

    But none of that was present.

    The second the booming sound of rapid movement filled the sky, the troops on the ground moved as well.

    The atmosphere soon became filled with the sound of shing des.

 Chapter 280 Racing [4]

    Boom!

    Damien¡¯s figure became a blur as he shot through the air and arrived in front of Polius. His fist carried the speed of a bullet and the force of a cannon as it drove towards thetter.

    Polius shifted his body, causing the punch to brush past his face as his palm shot forward to impact Damien¡¯s left hand, which had already begun his follow-up.

    Swoosh!

    A fierce kick sliced through the air towards Damien¡¯s ribs, forcing him to twist his body to dodge. Instead of trying to attack again from his awkward position, Damien used the twist to build momentum, doing a full 360 andunching his own kick forward.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The sounds of impactsyered over each other as both Damien and Polius dodged and counterattacked each other¡¯s blows. Within a single second, tens, if not hundreds, of exchanges had already taken ce:

    ¡°Not bad. Unrefined, but still not bad.¡±

    Polius casuallymented while offsetting the force of another mana-infused punch. But Damien wasn¡¯t bothered by his demeanor.

    After all, the two of them hadn¡¯t really started fighting yet. He knew very well that they were just probing strength at the moment.

    And Damien had already realized by now how wrong he had been in his previous assumptions. With the level of the Demon Generals, even the brief probing exchange that had already taken ce would have been enough to injure them.

    But Polius was just as casual as Damien. In fact, he might¡¯ve been even more casual considering how he hadn¡¯t even tried to take the initiative yet.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve tasted enough of your punches. Try some of mine now.¡±

    Polius¡¯s aura became aggressive in that moment. His eyes turned sharp as they hadn¡¯t been before.

    Boom!

    He kicked forward, his foot impacting the arms Damien had raised to block. But he didn¡¯t pull away. He put more force into his foot, infusing it with mana and blowing Damien back.

    Damien¡¯s body shot back like aet. Even though he hadn¡¯t taken damage, he still had to mitigate the momentum of the kick. Damiens mana immediately spread into the atmosphere, harnessing the surrounding vectors to abruptly stop his body without taking much damage.

    And he was just in time to see a fist in front of his face.

    Boom!

    Damien wasn¡¯t able to block the punch, but since he was already controlling the surrounding vectors, he was able to slow its movement slightly. With that gained time, he slightly turned his head so the punch hit his cheek instead of his nose.

    His neck snapped to the side. rm bells rang in his head. In that instant, he decided to stop ying around.

    His figure shed, appearing a meter away right as a heavy axe kick loaded with inky ck mana passed through his previous position.

    It looked like Polius also wasn¡¯t messing around anymore.

    Their first round was closebat without the use of skills or equipment, and Damien hade out with a loss.

    He could me it on the fact that he had spent most of his time on sword training instead of hand-to-handbat, but he had no interest in excuses.

    Since he had decided to abandon the sword, it was his fault and his fault alone that his skills weren¡¯t enough to match up to Polius.

    Damien¡¯s arm flickered out of existence, bing ethereal for a second as he used a move he had neglected for a while.

    ¡®Void Sword Art First Form: deless¡¯

    For the first time, Polius felt a slight rm bell in his head. He poured mana into his legs and hurriedly kicked to the side, narrowly avoiding a massive spatial fissure that appeared out of nowhere.

    When he looked at Damien, he realized that the young man had a sword in his hand that wasn¡¯t there prior. His legs were bent and his arm was pulled back as if he was holding a bow.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break¡¯

    Boom¡¯

    A hole was punctured in the space that Polius upied, trying to force its way past the boundaries of distance and pierce his heart.

    Not even waiting to see whether his attack had bore results, Damien¡¯s figure shed and became ethereal. Dozens of phantom clones of himself appeared in the air and shimmered as if they were made of dewdrops.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Third Form: Dance of the Void¡¯

    The myriad phantoms of Damien¡¯s figure surrounded Polius and let out a string of attacks, fluidly switching between deless, Horizon Break, and normal sword intent infused shes that colored the atmosphere.

    The air was filled with space cracks and punctures as if it was a sheet of paper that had been bullied by a small child. And within that space was Polius.

    He moved swiftly, his mana acting like a living entity and pulling him out of the way of every attack Damien threw.

    His eyes darted around looking for an opening to counter, but Damien had no intention of giving him one. Since this opponent was someone he couldn¡¯t defeat by simply abusing the power difference, he was going to abuse his mana capacity and speed instead.

    Boom! Boom!

    Two Phantom Damien¡¯s shed their swords at the same time, causing two massive fissures from deless to cut off Polius¡¯s escape routes to his sides.

    At the same time, two more phantoms appeared in front and behind him, stabbing their swords like rapiers and unleashing Horizon Break to puncture their opponent¡¯s heart.

    In that instant, the true Damien took the opportunity he had been looking for. He infused a greater portion of mana into his sword than he did previously and used the vectors in the atmosphere to increase the gravity surrounding him.

    With all the built-up momentum, he heavily smashed his sword down, causing a massive boom to ring out in the surroundings.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse¡¯

    Crack!

    The encirclement of spatial fissures and punctures suddenly burst as the space they epassed cracked like ss.

    The scenes of shards of space itself falling to the ground like flower petals caused an odd sense of incongruity that served to confuse people who couldn¡¯t fathom the phenomenon, but it wasn¡¯t even worthy of being an appetizer for what was toe.

    As space continued to crack, heaven and earth twisted madly as if they were being toyed with by a god. The sky and ground became one entity with no separation, and all creation within began to fuse and rupture simultaneously.

    The dichotomy of phenomena in the atmosphere around him put immense pressure on Polius¡¯s body, threatening to rupture and fuse him into its being.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Fifth Form¡¯

    It was at that moment when Polius began to madly push his mana to resist the pressuring of the atmosphere that Damien decided to use something he hadn¡¯t even tested practically before.

    The sword in his hand started to vibrate at extreme speeds, causing the air around it to screech. Even though the weapon had devoured an Ancient Sword from Apeiron and reached the peak of SSS rank, cracks began to emerge on its surface.

    Crackle!

    Ferocious ck lightning shot out of Damien¡¯s arm and infused into the de, putting further strain on the weapon. Without any care for its state, bright golden sunmes also shot out and wreathed the de¡¯s surface.

    Space began to distort around the weapon andpress, causing the wildly dancing mes and lightning to bepacted into the de as if they were mere coatings of paint.

    Damien¡¯s will extended into the environment and forcefully took control of the surrounding vectors. This time, he was using their abilities for amplification. Coupled with the innate amplification effect of the sword itself, a truly frightening aura of death began to emit from it.

    And as if to put the cherry on top, Damien poured a sliver of low-level Void Essence into the mixture.

    That was it. The sword could no longer bear the weight of everything Damien stacked on top of it.

    As the foundation of the weapon began to crumble, Damien swung it for the final time.

    It was a clean arc, beautiful to the point where everything froze as of the universe was holding its breath as it watched Damien¡¯s movements.

    It must¡¯ve been the most beautiful sword move he had ever performed to date. The skillful execution that allowed the de to stay intact even as it had already started to crumble. This single sh was the epitome of what Damien had achieved during those years that he unceasingly trained his sword.

    And as that vertical sh finished its path, as the sword in Damien¡¯s had scattered into ash, a thin ck line cut the entire world in half.

    The surrounding light was sucked into the sh, making it seem like everything else was unimportant under its luster.

    And before even an instant could pass, it reached its destination.

    ¡®Dimensional Severance¡¯

 Chapter 281 Racing [5]

    There was no massive explosion, no remarkable sign that his sh had even caused damage. There was only the darkness left behind once all light was consumed by that thin ck line.

    The world was silent. When light once again flooded the area, Damien was finally able to see the effects of his new art.

    The ground had been cleaved in two even though the sh didn¡¯t extend that far. Although the girth of the new chasm wasn¡¯t anything major, the depth and length were indeterminable.

    Other than that single far-reaching line, nothing else remained in front of him.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡±

    The distant sounds of battle finally returned as everything went back to normal. It was only then that Damien realized how far he and Polius had moved from the original battlefield.

    Each of their blows carried the power to wipe out tens of Captains at once, so it was only natural that they wouldn¡¯t be confined to a small area while making their exchange.

    As Damien caught his breath, his mind became focused on the sword sh he had just released. To him, it was more than just a mere skill. He had obtained a surprising amount of insight while he performed it.

    Dimensional Severance. It was something he had been cooking up for a long time, but he never found the proper catalyst to turn it into reality.

    A sword that could cut through even the dimension itself. This was a move that would be possible to use purely with his dimensional magic, but he hadn¡¯t reached a high enough level of understanding to do so.

    As such, he needed something to fill in the gaps. Now that he had unlocked his low-level Void Essence, he had finally found that something.

    As for the ck lightning, golden sunmes, and other additions he made before he cast, they weren¡¯t necessary unless he wanted to increase the power output. As for why he did it, it was more instinctual than anything.

    In that moment when he finally grasped Dimensional Severance for the first time, he simply allowed his mind and body to harmonize without trying to force his will into the process too much. And the results spoke for themselves. Damien had been able to eliminate the Commander without much problem.

    Boom!

    A sudden explosive sound filled Damien¡¯s ears, which promptly began ringing as if he had just survived a nuke. His thoughts immediately scattered, his vision bing blurry due to the abrupt impact.

    Damien¡¯s body had flown away before he even realized what happened, but after being in life or death situations so many times, he was rtively quick to regain his bearings.

    When he focused his attention on where he was previously standing, he saw the body of a man wreathed in an inky ck substance.

    ¡°Hahaha, that attack of yours sure was something! Whew, I really would have died if I was hit by it.¡±

    The man talked in a casual tone, but his words wereced with an unseen rage.

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened in shock. Who else could the man be besides Polius?

    ¡°Impossible¡­¡±

    Damien couldn¡¯t help but mutter the word. It was truly impossible. With the restriction and pressure of Spatial Copse blocking his retreat, it should¡¯ve been impossible for him to dodge the iing Dimensional Severance.

    Damien was well aware of the power of the attack he had released. Even if it was him in Polius¡¯s ce, as long as he didn¡¯t have the spatial element, he was guaranteed death.

    ¡°I can see that you¡¯re curious about why I¡¯m still standing in front of you. Since you¡¯ve proved yourself as someone worthy for me to use the power bestowed upon me, so allow me to exin. Well, the best way to learn is by doing, isn¡¯t it? So let me just show you instead.¡±

    Polius¡¯s figure disappeared, arriving in front of Damien before he could react. A massive hammer made entirely of inky ck substance crashed down towards Damien¡¯s head.

    Bang!

    Damien raised his arms in an attempt to block, pouring his mana into them to heighten his defense. But for some reason, it didn¡¯t seem to have much effect.

    Crack!

    The sound of his bones breaking seemed especially loud in that moment. But Polius didn¡¯t seem to hear it. His foot whipped forth like a scorpion¡¯s tail and hit Damien square in the chest.

    Damien shot back like a bullet once again, but the only ck hammer followed his path. The hammer in the air morphed its shape and became a towering sword that stabbed towards Damien¡¯s chest once more.

    Damien¡¯s body shed backwards to dodge the sh, but in that moment, Polius grabbed the hilt of the sword and unleashed a wave of ck sword intent that followed Damien¡¯s movements. In the next instant, hundreds of simr waves joined it in its pursuit.

    Damien¡¯s face hardened at the sight. His body became wreathed in lightning as spatial essence coated him. Due to the restrictions of the Trial World, he could only teleport a single meter away from his position, but the sword waves were blotting out the sky, making one meter an even tinier distance than it already was.

    With no other option, Damien was forced to block instead of dodge. He was so sure of hisst attack that he put everything into it, and now he didn¡¯t even have a weapon to fight back with.

    His body twisted at unnatural angles, narrowly dodging each sword wave as they congregated on his position. But no matter how dexterous he was, he¡¯d only be able to properly dodge if there was an opening to capitalize on.

    ¡°Keuk!¡±

    In the end, tens of sword waves still managed to impact his body, riddling him with cuts and gashes. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he was able to divert the majority of the force using vector control, he¡¯d have been cleanly sliced in half.

    By the time the sword waves ended, Polius had already arrived in front of Damien once again. The inky ck substance on his body split into three, creating two clones of Polius to his left and right.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Three consecutive impacts rang out as the three Poliuses punched Damien at the same time. What followed was a bloody beat down with no mercy.

    Damien was thrown around like a rag doll and continuously chased by the main body or the clones. Each time they attacked him, their fists made sure tond on a spot where he had already been gouged by the sword waves.

    Damien had expended a great deal of mana and mental strength to execute the Dimensional Severance earlier, so he didn¡¯t have much of a choice besides enduring the beating

    .

    His regeneration had already kicked in a while back, but with the rate at which he was being injured, it simply couldn¡¯t keep up.

    Polius shed in front of Damien once again. The inky substance coating his body reached forward and attached to him, forcefully tugging him to the ground.

    Bang!

    Cracks spread through the earth from the force of impact. Damien felt something in his chest shatter, causing copious amounts of blood to flow from his mouth.

    Without giving him time to rest, the inky ck substance crawled up his body like a slime that was attempting to consume him. Damien instinctually let out a wisp of Void Essence when he felt the devouring force, causing the substance to reel back in fear.

    Although his vision had be slightly cloudy from all the impact force he had to endure, Damien¡¯s mind was still working clearly. From this distance, he could observe Polius more clearly.

    It was then that he realized where the sense of incongruity he had been feeling came from. Rather than Polius controlling the ck substance, it seemed like it was the other way around instead.

    The substance was simply using Polius as a medium to execute its will. It reminded Damien of a certain symbiote with the way it acted.

    ¡®Ah, Those dark imps did something simr, didn¡¯t they?¡¯

    It had been so long that the memory didn¡¯t surface until now. Perhaps it was because he didn¡¯t truly regard the dark imps seriously at that time that he had forgotten.

    The followers of the Nox had a trump card. For those dark imps, they exchanged life force in exchange for power.

    But this Polius clearly had more status than those canon fodder that were sent to earth. His life force didn¡¯t seem to be depleting as he used this power at all.

    ¡°Aha, it seems you realized something. Are you curious about how I¡¯m able to ess strength above my level like this? The answer is obvious. This is the benefit you gain from being an apostle of our Lord.¡±

    ¡°Keuk¡­that bastard Lord of yours really seems to love the color ck. What, is this what happens when an edgelord evolves into a demigod?¡± Damien¡¯s broken body shuddered as if he was disgusted by the thought.

    ¡°You still have the nerve to be arrogant at this time? Even with this kind of beating, you still haven¡¯t clearly understood the situation you¡¯re in, have you?¡±

    Polius gazed at Damien, who was still stered to the ground, in disdain.

    ¡°Say, I¡¯ll give you a final out. How about you join us? It seems my Lord has taken interest in the power you used at that final moment. You¡¯ve already seen it, the boundless power that can even dwarf the power you used at that time. If you gain this power, can you imagine how powerful you¡¯d be? If you aren¡¯t an idiot, take the opportunity you¡¯re being given.¡±

 Chapter 282 Racing [6]

    Damien immediately scoffed.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit too shameless to ask me that after you beat me to a pulp? Have some conscience, would you?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Conscience, huh. What use is that in the face of power?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. The same old viin speech I¡¯ve heard a hundred times over. No need to finish your words, I don¡¯t want to hear it.¡±

    With the lull in their fight, Damien¡¯s regeneration was finally able to show its worth. The injuries in his body were closing at a rapid rate, but since he was covered in blood, Polius didn¡¯t seem to notice.

    Damien stood up, making sure that he emphasized his difficulty in doing it so he could keep Polius¡¯s guard lowered. But even with this, his fighting intent was still raging.

    ¡°You still want to continue in your condition? Are you a masochist or something?¡± Polius truly couldn¡¯t understand Damien.

    What was the point in standing up again? What was the point of this fight at all? Honestly, Polius never once regarded it as a critical fight even when he felt the threat of death.

    After all, with his Lord¡¯s protection, he didn¡¯t see any chance of losing.

    ¡°Say, why are you somitted to your Lord? You should be smart enough to know that you¡¯re nothing but a ve right? What¡¯s the point in living like that? Besides, weren¡¯t you born in this realm? It¡¯s not like you even need power to live here anyway.¡±

    Damien was truly curious about it. To him, it all seemed illogical. Luckily for him, Polius seemed to be in a talkative mood.

    ¡°Is there a need for any reason? The Lord is the one who raised me from birth. The Lord is the one who provided me with the life and the status I have now. The Lord is the one who will free us from this realm one day! At that time, who will be able to stand in front of us?! We will rule over everything!¡±

    Damien quietly listened to his rant. In his opinion, no matter how strong this Demon Commander was, he was too naive.

    The Demon Commanders grew up within the Primordial Undying Realm. And with the atmosphere of this realm, it was honestly impossible to cultivate to the level they had reached.

    It was obviously by design. Why were humans unable to cultivate? Why were the beasts within the realm so weak? Even the trial, which required the geniuses to constantly kill, was rtively easy if one just ughtered all the weak beasts around for an entire year.

    The strongest non-demonic beings in this realm were at the peak of second ss. If one wanted to truly excel in the trial, or if they wanted to gain actual benefits within the Trial World besides the right to gain entry to the next trial, they would be forced to face the demons.

    Everything was clicking into ce in Damien¡¯s head as he continued to think about it.

    The Demon God, the Lord Polius was trying to convince him to serve, was obviously a Nox. And judging from all the presented facts, he was a Nox so powerful that Damien couldn¡¯t even fathom it.

    If the Primordial Undying Realm wasn¡¯t actually built as a secret realm, but to contain that Nox, wouldn¡¯t everything else make sense?

    The environment stunted growth, so the Nox¡¯sckeys wouldn¡¯t be able to grow. Their only option was to feed on the Nox¡¯s power for strength, and that would in turn keep the Nox in check without allowing him too much freedom to interfere with the proceedings in the realm.

    The Demons would also be weaker than those at the same level since their power and even theirprehension were borrowed from the Nox. With the restriction that limited people to 3rd ss, it would be entirely possible for the Demons to be defeated.

    So, when geniuses entered the realm, the Primordial Undying Tree would be able to borrow their strength to strike a critical blow to the Demons, which would then cause the Nox to lose a portion of its power.

    The only thing that didn¡¯t fit Damien¡¯s calctions was the Demons¡¯ overall strength. Although Damien was able to fight somewhat evenly against Polius, he didn¡¯t think others would be the same.

    He was even worried for Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan, as he had no assurance that they¡¯d survive if they were assaulted in the same way he just was.

    The chances of heaven-defying geniuses like the three of them appearing in the realm didn¡¯t seem that high, especially when the realm only opened every 10,000 years. He could only chalk it up to the Primordial Undying Tree making a mistake.

    Still, realizing that the Demons used outside power to reach their current heights took a weight off Damien¡¯s shoulders. If it was like that, then even if it took some work, he was confident he had a chance at winning this fight.

    Small ck wisps continued to radiate from Damien¡¯s body as he thought through everything. Due to the fact that the inky ck substance around Polius still had some lingering fear of the essence, he was able to stand uninterrupted during the process.

    But of course, the Void Essence wasn¡¯t just there for show. It had only been around a minute since Polius¡¯s rant, but Damien could already feel that he had replenished around half his mana capacity.

    If that¡¯s all he had, it was still fine. It just meant that he had to end this fight fast. Looking back up at Polius, he slowly wiped the blood off his eyelids.

    ¡°Now then,¡± he grinned. ¡°Should we start round 2?¡±

    ***

    Damien and Polius had already moved many kilometers away from the main battlefield, but those fighting on it had hardly noticed.

    Those fifty geniuses were constantly letting out waves upon waves of massive elemental attacks that impacted the Demon army, while the Demon Captains counterattacked with their own skills.

    As for the Demon Generals, a few squads had been put together to keep them upied until the three aces of their group became free to help them.

    As Damien had expected, the most these geniuses could do was hold back the Demon Generals. But for some reason, they didn¡¯t seem to be facing as much strain as they should have expected.

    There was definitely something odd happening on the battlefield, but unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t a single person who had the time to even realize it.

    ***

    Skree!

    A piercing cry rang through the air a few kilometers away from the main battlefield. A shimmering reddish orange Phoenix pped its wings domineeringly as it continuously shot out waves of feathers and Phoenix phantoms towards its opponent.

    But the inky ck substance covering her opponent seemed to ward her mes away with ease.

    In fact, the Phoenix herself was already riddled with wounds. She wasn¡¯t even able to maintain her human transformation anymore, using her true form to fight instead.

    That¡¯s right. This Phoenix was none other than Feng Qing¡¯er. As Damien had expected, she was having a far more difficult time with her opponent than she originally expected.

    Skree!

    Another fierce cry rang out as the clouds in the sky were dyed red. Hundreds of ming balls and swords fell from the clouds likeets, heading straight for Kroa.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The inky substance moved with its own will, extending and contracting to dodge and parry any mes that got close to it.

    But she already knew this would happen. Feng Qing¡¯er pped her wings powerfully and shot forward, body mming into Kroa.

    Boom!

    The impact force sent her flying backwards. Feng Qing¡¯er chased after her with zeal, countless ming feathers heading her charge and blotting out the sky above.

    Kroa was no longer able to distinguish between the ming feathers and the Phoenix hiding within them.

    Crack!

    The ground cracked as dozens of ming pirs shot up and encased Kroa¡¯s body within. These pirs didn¡¯t seem to have any goal besides restricting her movements.

    Bang!

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body shot through the me curtain and impacted Kroa once again, but this time, she was prepared.

    The ck substancetched onto Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body and swung her around. Using her as a shield, it charged through the mes and escaped the imprisonment of the me columns.

    Boom!

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body was mmed into the ground. The mes burning around her had dimmed considerably.

    ¡°How¡¯s that, you damn bird bitch! Who¡¯s the ugly one now?!¡±

    Kroaughed madly as the ck substance began spreading over Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s injured body. Just like it tried to do with Damien, it was attempting to devour her alive.

    But unlike Damien, Feng Qing¡¯er didn¡¯t have Void Essence to ward it off.

 Chapter 283 Racing [7]

    The inky ck substance crawled up Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body, adhering to her skin and refusing to be defeated no matter how hard Feng Qing¡¯er pushed her mes.

    That inky ck substance was, after all, something that was given to the Commanders, or rather, the Apostles, by the Nox itself. There was no way something mediocre would be able topete with it.

    The Void Essence, even when it was as low level as Damien¡¯s, was something invible especially when it came to devouring. It was impossible for the inky substance topete with it.

    But Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s mes didn¡¯t carry the same danger. Perhaps if she had reached her mother¡¯s level and blossomed into a true Fire Phoenix, it¡¯d be a different case, but she was still in what could be considered her Adolescence Phase.

    Feng Qing¡¯er still fiercely resisted even while knowing this. She could feel that the inky ck substance wanted to consume her, but she had no ns of allowing it to do so. She had even tuned out Kroa¡¯s obnoxious voice as all her effort was focused on the task in front of her.

    Rains of me descended from the sky and impacted her position, forcing Kroa to jump away and hastily dodge. Since the inky substance had already started to consume Feng Qing¡¯er, it wasn¡¯t paying any attention to Kroa¡¯s situation anymore.

    It only needed her alive so it could manifest. It didn¡¯t care what her condition was. And as Damien had learned only a few moments prior, the Apostles weren¡¯t actually that hard to deal with as long as they didn¡¯t have the protection of the Nox.

    ¡°Ahhh!¡±

    A harrowing shriek rang out as Kroa was hit with Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s mes for the first time. Even that single impact had melted her flesh and caused blisters to rapidly form on her body. She didn¡¯t even realize how much she had been underestimating her opponent until that point:

    The reason Feng Qing¡¯er couldn¡¯t win was due to the inky ck substance alone. Unlike Polius, Kroa didn¡¯t actually have the technique necessary to properly utilize the strength she was granted. She was extremely useless without the substance.

    Hearing her shriek revitalized Feng Qing¡¯er a bit. She smirked even while on the verge of death, pouring more and more mana into the neverending rain of hellfire that fell upon Kroa¡¯s position.

    But she still needed to divert a majority of her focus towards the substance that was on her body.

    Feng Qing¡¯er rapidly revolved her mana, strengthening her feathers and making them razor sharp. She hoped that with the addition of superheated mes onto the innate sharpness of her feathers, she¡¯d have a chance to break through.

    But the substance coating her body wasn¡¯t simple at all. Even when she managed to make a tear in its surface, the surrounding substance would expand and immediately fill up the gap. The slime-like ability that made it nigh-invincible was probably the most troublesome part of the entire ordeal.

    Feng Qing¡¯er was utterly out of ideas already. As the substance expanded and took up more space on her body, her mana was given less and less freedom to move. Now that her whole upper body was almost encased in it, she could no longer affect the ambient air.

    The ming rain died down due to this, and even though Kroa had been severely burned to the point where her face was hardly recognizable, she was still alive. Her life force was still more than enough to support the substance until it had fully consumed Feng Qing¡¯er.

    Feng Qing¡¯er could only imbue mana into her own body to counterattack the substance, but she had already seen from her previous tries that this method wouldn¡¯t bear any fruit.

    The substance rapidly expanded, reaching all the way to her tail and wrapping around itself, encasing Feng Qing¡¯er inside of a ck cocoon that she was unable to escape from. Her mana had less and less control as time went on, to the point where even the previous minor amount of imbuement she could do became limited.

    ¡°Kh!¡±

    Immediately after the cocoon waspleted, the speed of devouring increased by arge margin. Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s wings were the first to deteriorate, bing specks of every that fed into the cocoon and strengthened it.

    The light in her eyes had dimmed considerably as she began to lose hope. But even then, she was of the will to go down fighting. There was no way she¡¯d allow this thing to have an easy time consuming her.

    But as if fate was toying with her, the second she forged the resolve to die with re, her mind nked.

    ***

    When Feng Qing¡¯er opened her eyes, she was no longer trapped within the ck cocoon. She was actually standing in the middle of an entirely different battlefield surrounded by many people and races she¡¯d never seen before.

    A plethora of skills sted forth chaotically. There was barely even a method to differentiate between enemy and ally. From the skies to the ground and even the seas to the side, battles were raging between multiple forces.

    Suddenly, a fierce wave of mes descended from the sky and immediately incinerated thousands that were fighting on the ground. When Feng Qing¡¯er directed her gaze at the source, she was astonished to see a massive Phoenix unlike any she had ever seen before.

    It was a Phoenix so regal and domineering that even her mother couldn¡¯t match up to it. She thought that the demeanor of the Phoenix she was watching fit a dragon more, but for some reason, the Phoenix didn¡¯t seem out of ce at all.

    The Phoenix¡¯s body twirled as it shot into the air. An array of ming feathers shot into the surroundings like light reflected off of a spinning chandelier.

    But as a Phoenix herself, Feng Qing¡¯er easily noticed the difference between these feathers and her own.

    They were imbued with something she had never seen before. It was a strange energy that influenced mana and relied on mana, but wasn¡¯t quite mana itself.

    Even though she had no clue what she was watching, the term shed into her mind as if she had known it since birth.

    [Runic me Embodiment]

    The ming runes that took the shape of feathers crashed into the ground and soared through the sky. Unlike the small explosions Feng Qing¡¯er could produce, each rune exploded with the force of a nuke.

    Feng Qing¡¯er felt like she was watching the end of the world when the runes exploded, but when the mes brushed past her skin, she noticed yet another difference.

    These mes weren¡¯t simply destructive. They were imbued with the properties of reincarnation that a Fire Phoenix embodied, as well as the effects of the unique elemental path that this specific Phoenix followed.

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s bloodline began to rage and tumble. It rapidly moved as if a charging bull, tearing apart everything in its way.

    Fire Phoenixes and Fire Dragons were oftenpared due to the long-standing rivalry between the two species and the simrities between their constitutions.

    Dragons were well known for their tyranny and domineering behavior, while Phoenixes were said to be more gentle and elegant. Although both could bring damage, their methods and the things they embodied differed greatly.

    But who was to say that a Phoenix couldn¡¯t be domineering? Who decided that they had to be gentle and epting? Feng Qing¡¯er, for one, was never the type to adhere to this stereotype.

    She was as domineering and hot-tempered as a dragon.

    Reincarnation mes were the crowning ability of Fire Phoenixes, something they wouldn¡¯t unlock until they received their first Universe Baptism and became true 4th ss existences.

    And the concept of reincarnation was most often regarded as closer to life than death. It was regarded as the life after death. But for reincarnation to exist, one must experience death first.

    Perhaps that¡¯s the reason why most Fire Phoenixes never awakened their mes until after the Universe Baptism. Even in the most life-threatening of situations, the reincarnation mes would simply regard death as the beginning of a new life.

    But Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s current situation was different. As she watched the insane war of proportions she could never fathom, she was surrounded by death on all sides. And in the outdid world, she was wrapped in a cocoon made of an unprecedented pure death mana.

    A Phoenix could be domineering too. They had no reason to be gentle or stick to stereotypes when they were in battle. It was just that the domineering of a Phoenix was far different than that of a Dragon.

    It wasn¡¯t direct and tyrannical to the point where those around them forced to acknowledge it. No. For a Phoenix, what it meant to be domineering was something else.

    They were kind. They were gentle. They embodied life, death, and the cycle of reincarnation.

    But the second they decided to show their true colors, the second they decided to be domineering¡­

    The foundation of the universe would shake from their wrath.

 Chapter 284 Racing [8]

    In the outside world, Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body had begun burning up intensely. The heat of the mes was iparable to what she was outputting before, and she wasn¡¯t even doing it consciously.

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body had decayed to the point where she no longer had extremities. Her tail and wings had be nothing, and even her torso had begun to decay as well. But the second those mes burst from her body, the inky substance was forced to retreat.

    It was incinerated the second it even touched the mes.

    The mes were wild and uncontrolled. They didn¡¯t even seem to listen to Feng Qing¡¯er. Rather, she seemed to be their target.

    The mes enveloped her even faster than the cocoon did, and immediately went to work. The corrupted areas on Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body were burned first, a sacred white light shone from the mes and purified the corruption before burning away the areas entirely.

    From her torso to her heart and her head, all of it was burned until not even ashes of Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body existed anymore.

    Sensing the situation, the ck substance unwillingly retreated back onto the burnt body of the Apostle Kroa. After all. If there was no body for it to consume and corrupt, there was no point in continuing what it was doing.

    When the substance gathered around Kroa¡¯s body and began retreating from where Feng Qing¡¯er once was, a wisp of sacred orange mes shed into being.

    It was minuscule at first, being no more than the size of a coin. But it rapidly expanded. As it grew in size, it seemed to take shape as well, it was no longer untamable and wild as it was when the cocoon was encasing it.

    A massive pair of me wings were formed, and a majestic tail and the head of a bird followed after. A Phoenix made entirely of mes that was tens of meters long soon epassed the empty space.

    But as if that wasn¡¯t enough, new changes sprouted forth after the initial construct was formed. Bones, blood vessels and nerves, muscles, organs, skin, and feathers.

    The makeup of a true Phoenix started to form. Life was being born from fire.

    Thump!

    A ming heart solidified its position in the newly created Phoenix¡¯s body. It thumped with so much vigor that the sound attracted the attention of the receding Apostle.

    Kroa was feeling both fulfilled and unfulfilled at the same time as she was forced to leave the area. While she was extremely happy that Feng Qing¡¯er had died, she was also aghast when she realized her own condition.

    Her face was scarred and ugly. She had tried to heal it already, but the scars refused to leave. From now on, her already below-average features were even more tainted.

    She was horrified, but by the time she registered the situation, Feng Qing¡¯er had already been consumed by her dark material.

    Thump!

    It was then that she heard a noise that sounded like the beating of a heart.

    Thump!

    The noise sounded again, causing her to turn and face the direction she had just left from. And unexpectedly, she was able to witness the finalyer of feathers covering Feng Qing¡¯er exposed skin.

    In the ce where nothing but emptynd stood a second ago, there was a majestic Phoenix with its eyes closed peacefully. Its reddish-orange feathers were pristine and beautiful, giving off a regal aura as if the Phoenix was the Queen of everything.

    The wingspan of the Phoenix was truly massive, and it seemed to want to blot out the sun. Compared to Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s true body, this Phoenix was obviously a level higher.

    Thump! Thump!

    The beating sounds became louder and louder. It seemed like every beat of the heart caused the ground to quake and the sky to tremble.

    And then, it stopped. Everything turned silent. Even Kroa held her breath as she fixedly stared at the beautiful Phoenix in front of her.

    Its eyes slowly opened. Although they were hazy at first, they quickly regained focus. The first thing those eyes saw was Kroa staring back at them.

    BOOM!

    A raging torrent of mes burst from the Phoenix¡¯s body. The shockwave that followed caused Kroa to be pushed back hundreds of meters even with the support of her dark material.

    When Kroa raised her head, her mind nked. The sky was carpeted in runic scripture that she couldn¡¯t understand. Those ming runes danced through the air like little sprites, gleeful that they were finally acknowledged.

    It was then that the Phoenix finally spoke. With its full attention on Kroa, its mouth curved into a gloating smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s only been a few minutes since I was trapped in that shitty cocoon, and you actually managed to get even uglier! Congrattions! Your appearance has officially reached the level where it makes me want to vomit just looking at you!¡±

    Kroa¡¯s nk expression was immediately twisted in rage. That bitch! How the hell was she still alive?!

    ¡°YOU BITCH! I¡¯LL FUCKING KILL YOU!¡±

    Bang!

    The dark material twisted through the air and shed in forth of Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s new Phoenix form, capitalizing on Kroa¡¯s rage to fuel itself even further.

    It wrapped around Kroa¡¯s fist and maximized the power output of the wild punch she threw to its peak. It was to the point where Kroa¡¯s arm was destined to tear out of its socket due to excess force.

    But due to her furious state, Kroa could care less. As long as she could kill Feng Qing¡¯er, nothing else mattered.

    Seeing the iing attack, Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s smirk only widened. ¡®Seriously? I lost to this?¡¯ She inwardly sneered in derision.

    Her wings pped lightly, pushing her back a few inches. But she had never meant to use the maneuver to dodge. Instead, it was a signal. A signal to the runes that were dancing through the air.

    Tens, if not hundreds, of runes fell from the sky like shooting stars. Their forms twisted and morphed into the shape of feathers and swords before lining themselves up in a formation and charging at Kroa like a group of torpedos.

    The air screeched as the concentrated power of the runes passed through it. If it wasn¡¯t for the speed at which the runes traveled exceeding the speed the air broke, the runes would¡¯ve easily torn through space in an instant.

    Before long, Kroa was surrounded by runes that seemed to have a mind of their own. They circled around her and attacked her blind spots, and whenever she was able to catch them, they exploded in her face.

    ¡°AHHHH!¡±

    Kroa screamed to vent her frustration. Her body kept flying from one side of the circle to the next. The runes were tossing her around like they were ying monkey in the middle and she was the ball.

    But she was powerless to stop it. The dark material that was once able to easily ignore Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s mes now had to put arge majority of its attention on blocking the mes and making sure it wasn¡¯t injured.

    As a result( Kroa was forced to personally head all the impact force that passed through the dark material andnded on her body. Her ribs shattered multiple times over and blood constantly poured out of her mouth.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing?! Protect me you useless piece of shit!¡±

    Kroa madly wed at the dark material as if ming it for her inadequacy. But perhaps the stupidest move she could make was to anger the being that had been hard carrying her throughout the entire fight.

    Annoyed by her insolence, the dark material slightly let up on its defense, allowing a portion of the mes¡¯ heat to pass through and hit Kroa¡¯s body.

    ¡°AHHHHHH! I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry! Please forgive me, your excellence!¡±

    Kroa¡¯s tone shifted immediately. She begged the dark material for mercy with every fiber of her being. But the voice that came out was nothing more than a croak.

    She was probably the most clueless about the situation out of the three that were present. If Feng Qing¡¯er had barraged her with fire rain with the mes she currently possessed, Kroa would have died merely because she was in the vicinity of the heatwave.

    Even being directly impacted by the mes was too much for her. A minor portion of the heat had caused her body to cken and char. Her eyeballs almost melted due to the insane temperature of the heatwave.

    Slowly but surely, pieces of the dark material were incinerated. Even as it hurriedly patched itself up as it did before, it was continuously incinerated. The battle soon became a matter of speed.

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s smile blossomed. ¡°Now then, little thing. Which do you think will happen first? Will you be able to patch yourself up, or will my mes burn you to ashes? ce your bets!¡±

    It was Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s first taste of Reincarnation mes, and frankly, she was loving every second of it.

 Chapter 285 Racing [9]

    The sky was filled in a ck and gold hue that blotted out even the artificial sun that lit the Trial World. Underneath such a sky, a fierce battle was still raging.

    Damien¡¯s fists were coated in a mixture of golden mes and ck lightning, constantly barraging Polius, whose dark material was forming the shape of a plethora of weapons to counter.

    A massive greatsword sprung forth from the earth, threatening to impale Damien, but it was a step too slow. He had already teleported a meter to the left and evaded it.

    Damien¡¯s me-lightning fists struck again, taking the moment between when the dark material could form a different weapon to collide with Polius¡¯s face with extreme power.

    The ground below the two cracked into pieces as they shot into the distance. Polius had been thrown by the force of the punch, while Damien was chasing him like a homing missile.

    Crackle!

    The ck-gold sky was trembling with hidden power, following the duo¡¯s movements and casting a formless pressure onto Polius¡¯s shoulders.

    The two had already been fighting for a good amount of time, so the Demon Commander was well aware of the frightening power that was brewing above him.

    It was because he was aware that he made sure to constantly move, never staying in one ce long enough for that frightening mass to lock onto him.

    Bang!

    A pir of mes rose from the ground below Polius¡¯s feet just as he managed to stabilize himself. Although the dark material had protected him, his bnce was still disrupted.

    As if waiting for the opportunity, a crackle of ck lightningced with shimmering golden mes struck down from the heavens, sting Polius to the ground.

    ¡°Keuk¡­!¡±

    To say he was frustrated was an understatement. Ever since Damien had begun his counterattack, he¡¯d been at a disadvantage. Regardless of how skilled he was, it didn¡¯t matter if he wasn¡¯t given the opportunity to showcase his skill.

    His dark material was granting him a powerful defense that had yet to be prated, but that was it. Its attacking capabilities were dwindling by the second as it was forced to bear the full brunt of Damien¡¯s assault.

    It was the first time he realized the w in his own power. No, it wasn¡¯t his own power, and that¡¯s where the w came from.

    He had refined his technique to its limit and be an extremely skilled fighter, but the mana he had in his body was granted to him by an external force. Due to this, he was never able to unleash the full potential of his martial arts.

    But over the course of this battle, he could feel the dark material slowly giving him a bit of control over it. He wasn¡¯t like Kroa who had gone mad at the slightest of provocation, he was a calm man who could analyze the situation rationally.

    So he bid his time and took the beating. The second the me-lightning strike fell from the heavens, he knew it was his opportunity.

    Polius gathered his dark material around his body and circted his mana in a strange pattern. The dark material began to swirl, its consciousness realizing the intentions of its host.

    The dark material soon began to follow the same path as the mana Polius was circting. It split into two halves and rotated, forming something akin to a yin-yang symbol in front of Polius¡¯s chest.

    When the symbol fully formed, it further split and moved to its user¡¯s arms and fists. The whole process happened in an instant, before the me-lightning even struck the ground.

    Boom!

    The bolt finally struck true, ripping the earth asunder and forming a crater the size of argeke. Damien warily watched the crater for any signs of life, when suddenly, his danger sense started ringing crazily.

    ¡°Yin-Yang Coiling Dragons.¡±

    A soft mutter rang out from behind him. Damien¡¯s body immediately twisted to avoid the trajectory of the unknown attack:

    When his eyes nced back, he saw twin dragons, one white and one ck, coiling around each other and shooting towards him. Even though he had twisted his body to avoid their paths, it didn¡¯t seem like they would miss.

    Rather, it seemed like no matter how Damien dodged, they¡¯d strike true on their target. Realizing this, Damien could only choose to block.

    His vector field immediately formed in the space around him, taking control over the surroundings and trying to dilute the attacks, but Damien soon realized that even this was impossible.

    ¡®What the hell?¡¯

    An attack that wouldn¡¯t be altered by vectors didn¡¯t seem possible to him. Anything that traveled through space would be affected by it, so how was it possible for them to ignore it?

    Damien¡¯s question went unanswered, though, as the twin dragons soon crashed into his body after ignoring his defense.

    ¡°ARGH!¡±

    A pained cry was released from his mouth. Even he was surprised by the fact.

    The ck dragon struck his stomach, tearing through his flesh and leaving a gaping hole in his body. However, that amount of pain wasn¡¯t something Damien couldn¡¯t bear.

    The white dragon hadpletely ignored his physical body, entering inside of him while the ck dragon ravaged his body. At first, Damien didn¡¯t pay it much attention. Anything that entered his body was bound to be devoured by his Void Essence.

    But surprisingly enough, the white dragon vanished when it entered his body. When Damien felt its presence again, he could only feel the immense sense of danger it brought with it.

    The white dragon was somewhere within him. That much he was sure of. But the area it had intruded upon was something he had never touched before.

    The white dragon exploded. That explosion was what caused Damien to undergo a pain he had never felt before.

    It was like his soul was being torn to shreds. No, that might¡¯ve actually been the case.

    His Void Physique was, after all, a physique. It didn¡¯t handle soul protection. Rather, the concept of a soul wasn¡¯t something Damien had encountered at all in his travels so far.

    While he never doubted its existence, he also didn¡¯t think it was as important as people usually made it out to be since nobody he met had attacks rted to the soul.

    But as he felt the unbearable pain of his soul being damaged, he realized how naive he had been. It wasn¡¯t because it didn¡¯t exist, it was just that the worlds he had been to so far were too low level to have anything of the sort.

    He hadn¡¯t had many conflicts in the Cloud ne since he arrived. If he had stumbled upon someone who could use soul attacks before, he might¡¯ve suffered an even worse fate.

    Luckily, his opponent was a pseudo-cultivator using borrowed power. Damien¡¯s vision was hazy and his mind was in shambles, but he could somewhat make out his surroundings still.

    Polius didn¡¯t seem to be any better than he was. His face was pale and blood was constantly leaking from his seven orifices. It was clear that Polius had made a hefty sacrifice to injure Damien¡¯s soul.

    ¡®Fuck this.¡¯ Damien cursed inwardly. He was surprised that he could even think straight while enduring the pain, but that didn¡¯t matter much right now. If he could think straight, then he could attack as well.

    And the moment when Polius had his guard down after a massive attack was the perfect timing.

    Damien urged his feet to move. He stumbled forward like a staggering drunk, walking slowly towards Polius.

    And Polius could only watch it happen. But he wasn¡¯t worried. Suffering from a soul injury was far worse than any physical injury could be. Even if Damien could recover, it wasn¡¯t something he could do any time soon.

    As Damien stumbled forward, his fist began to glow. A soft light akin to moonlight gently enveloped it and grew ever brighter.

    By the time Damien reached Polius, it had grown so bright that it easily hid the light of the seven orbs that encircled it.

    Damien raised his arm and pulled it back as if he was drawing a bow. His opponent couldn¡¯t move, but the dark material was still incredibly strong. He had to go all out if he wanted to puncture its defense.

    The vectors around his arm responded to his mana, doubling the momentum and eleration of the fist. Space warped as well, helping the fist reach its target faster.

    The fist that originally moved slow enough that even a child could track it sped up to the point where it didn¡¯t even look like it was moving anymore.

    And that was when Damien¡¯s voice let out a mutter.

    ¡°Seven Stars Encircling The Moon.¡±

 Chapter 286 Racing [10]

    Three pitch ck stars that were crackling with deathly lightning. Three shining golden stars that were aze with sunmes. A single star in between them that fused the properties of both elements as if they were yin and yang.

    And those seven stars encircled a moon that fluctuated with the light of spatial mana, being so densely packed that even the usually colorless mana gained a hazy glow.

    Damien¡¯s fist looked like the revolving orbit ofary masses around a sun. It was a truly mesmerizing sight.

    But to Polius, it was hell. He couldn¡¯t see the beauty in the attack. He could only feel the palpable waves of destruction that spread from its surface.

    His dark material sprung into action, bing a densely packed shield in front of him that bore the impact of Damien¡¯s fist.

    But this attack wasn¡¯t simple enough to be blocked by a mere shield.

    A soul injury like what Damien had just sustained would leave most people incapacitated for unknown periods of time. Even if they were able to function, it was impossible for them to fight with their full power.

    That was what both Polius and the dark material thought as they saw the attack flying towards them. By the time they sensed the destructive waves, it was already toote.

    A massive explosion iparable to any of those before shook the world.

    The seven stars were already unstable due to the vtile elements that formed them, especially the seventh star that fused both elements.

    The only thing that was keeping them in check was the silvery spatial moon that epassed Damien¡¯s fist.

    But when the moon imploded, the stars around it began to collide with each other. With each collision, the explosive force that rocked the atmosphere grew exponentially stronger.

    The ground rolled like it was made of liquid, forming tsunamis of earth that bore down on the surrounding few kilometers. Space cracked into pieces and tried its best to repair itself, but every time a new star collided with the rest, the cracks were only blown open wider.

    Polius was forced to stand in the middle of the scene of cmity. He still couldn¡¯t move his body. Truth be told, he had injured his own soul to strike Damien¡¯s. Otherwise, there was no way he could create a force that could surpass the physical ne and impact the soul.

    That was the naked truth. It was also part of the reason Damien never encountered soul-based techniques before.

    A mortal was never meant to sense or make use of their soul. Their soul was still in its growth phase, unable to fully blossom without the feedback from a Universe Baptism.

    Since Polius abused the fact that the dark material was formed from a portion of a higher being to cast a soul attack, he naturally had to make a sacrifice. And that sacrifice was a piece of his soul.

    Unfortunately, he was more normal inparison to Damien. He was still bearing the brunt of the soul-rending pain. He knew that even if he escaped this battle alive, he¡¯d have to recuperate for many weeks before he could function normally again.

    And so, he could only rely on the dark material to bear the destruction he was being forced into. Wave after wave of destructive force impacted his body, bypassing even the dark materials protection. Combined with the pain from his soul, he was enduring the cruelest torture imaginable.

    But if it wasn¡¯t for the dark material, his body would have already be ashes.

    Finally, the colliding stars met with the seventh star, and the implosion of the spatial moonpleted.

    Wap!

    It was an awkward sound to say the least. The deafening sounds of explosions were more domineering, but this unusual sound seemed to trump them even though it was much softer.

    Polius was already disoriented, but his mind became nk when that sound entered his ears. In the next second, a suction force erupted in front of him and threatened to drag him in.

    A small ck dot had formed at the point of collision, and it was that dot that emitted the suction force. Even Damien felt like he was being pulled into it.

    He hastily revolved his mana and constantly teleported until he was a safe distance away. He was lucky he reacted in time, because not even a secondter the suction force seemed to multiply a hundredfold.

    The rolling tides of earth were pulled back to their original position before vanishing into the ck dot. Even though it was kilometers worth of rock and debris, the dot swallowed it like it was nothing.

    The space that was almost repaired no longer had the chance to do so, as even space itself was being consumed by that ck dot.

    From the effects on the environment, one could infer how abysmal Polius¡¯s situation was.

    The dark material wed at the ground as it tried to gain footing, but it was no use. The ground that ittched onto was easily consumed by the dot.

    It desperately moved back and tried to retreat, but it had missed the opportunity Damien had taken. Retreat was no longer an option.

    So, it decided to fight. The dark material billowed out to a scale it had never reached before. The ckness in it was much much darker.

    Polius¡¯s body couldn¡¯t contain a dark material with this much power. It was no longer restricting itself to the strength of its host.

    The only thing the dark material cared for at the moment was survival.

    The raging dark material covered the ck dot with its ckness, attempting to stop its suction with sheer force.

    Crack!

    A small crack appeared on the ck dot as the dark material continued to pressure it.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Massive impacts rang out. The dark material had been reinvigorated by the crack on the ck dot and became even more vtile in its attacks.

    The cracks on the dot began to spread and the suction force began to weaken with time. As things stood, it looked like the dark material would win out.

    However, there was one factor that forced that oue to change.

    The dark material was a parasitic entity. Without a host, it couldn¡¯t survive.

    And what would happen if the dark material overexerted itself while ignoring its host¡¯s limits?

    The force the dark material had used tobat the ck dot¡¯s suction had already entered the realm of 4th ss. Although it could¡¯ve used 3rd ss force to achieve the same thing, it didn¡¯t have the time to do so if it didn¡¯t want to be consumed.

    That was the consequence of being in such close proximity to what was essentially a miniature ck hole.

    While the difference between the two was only a single ss, there was a vast difference between someone who had undergone Universe Baptism and someone who hadn¡¯t.

    When Damien¡¯s gazended on Polius¡¯s body, he was shocked to say the least.

    The man was incredibly robust before. As someone who had practiced martial arts diligently for a long period of time, it was only natural.

    Polius had a body that most professional bodybuilders wouldmit genocide to have.

    But now, he was nothing more than a husk. His body had be as thin as a sheet of paper, where even a slight gust of wind would have him flying through the air.

    His tanned skin had be an odd greyish-ck color akin to a wilted corpse, and his eyes had sunken to the point where they looked hollow.

    If it wasn¡¯t for the slight hint of life force Damien sensed, he would think the other man was already dead.

    Well, he wasn¡¯t far away from it.

    Polius was only seconds away from death due to the overexertion of the dark material. The dark material, no matter how strong its original power was, needed to use Polius¡¯s power to exhibit its strength.

    And so, it had leeched his lifeforce to save itself from being consumed by the miniature ck hole.

    The dark material began to wither as it lost its source of energy, but the miniature ck hole also began to disappear. In the end, it had barely managed to survive.

    Or at least, that¡¯s what it thought.

    As Polius¡¯s withered body copsed to the floor, the dark material detached itself and began moving in a separate direction.

    It was being summoned back to the being it originated from.

    But before it could answer that summon, it found its path blocked by another body.

    The body of the man who had put it in such a pitiful state.

    And before it could react, Damien reached his hand out and grabbed it.

    ¡°Devour.¡±

 Chapter 287 Betrayal [1]

    Damien didn¡¯t even have the energy to stand up straight as his Void Essence wrapped around the dark material and turned it into essence for him to digest.

    The second he finished casting the devour skill, his body copsed to the floor. He didn¡¯t even bother to check what kind of benefits he received from the dark material. He didn¡¯t even think of the consequences that¡¯de with the fact that he devoured a portion of a higher existence.

    He had been holding on due to his sheer willpower and some unknown force that allowed him to keep his rationality after the soul attack, but he was still human. There was no way he¡¯d be free from the side effects.

    As the adrenaline rush wore off, a blood-curdling pain began to wreck his body. It was a level of pain he¡¯d never experienced before. And when Damien was the person in question, it could be inferred how severe the pain was.

    When pain came from his physical body, it was easy to endure. He knew that at some point, it¡¯d end under thefort of his regeneration skill. However, this new pain wasn¡¯t something regeneration could heal.

    His head felt like it was being split in half by a cleaver. Vertigo began to set in, causing the world around him to spin as if it was a Beyde. Along with this disorienting and nauseating feeling, there was a searing pain that spread throughout every part of his body, even though his body itself was rtively uninjured.

    There had been a hole in his stomach at one point due to the ck dragon that attacked along with the white dragon, but it had already healed.

    Damien had the urge to shut his eyes and call it a day, but he was well aware that his battle was just one of many. He couldn¡¯t allow himself to stay incapacitated for long.

    But in the end, he couldn¡¯t defeat that urge. Soul injuries were truly much more frightening than physical injuries.

    Luckily, he still had his wits about him. Damien vanished from his position and appeared within a hidden corner of the Sanctuary before he sumbed to his fatigue. There was no way he¡¯d allow himself to be vulnerable as unsafe as a chaotic battlefield, even if he was many kilometers away from it.

    ¡®Just 5 minutes wouldn¡¯t hurt anyone¡­¡¯

    Even as his body shut down and his mind hit zero, Damien could clearly feel it. His heart was racing.

    ***

    The main battlefield was just as chaotic as it had always been. Elemental spells flew threw the air and des constantly shed against each other, filling the area with a cacophony of sound.

    ¡°me burst!¡±

    ¡°Watch out behind you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll cover it! Wind Curtain!¡±

    The shouts of the geniuses of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range were drowned out by the sheer amount of noise, but they somehow still managed tomunicate.

    Outperforming everyone¡¯s expectations, 40 of the original 50 geniuses had managed to stay alive until this point. As for the Demon army, many of the Captains had died either at the hands of geniuses or by stray attacks that wandered the battlefield.

    But the loss of a few Captians in no way affected the overall strength of the Demons. After all, their Generals were all still living. And the number of generals alone was 50, rivaling the original number of geniuses.

    ¡°Demonic Judgement!¡±

    Dozens of pitch-ck swords formed in the sky before charging into the crowd. As expected of a Demonic Judgement, there was no distinction between allies and enemies. The swords cut through the crowded battlefield and yed anything that stood in their path.

    ¡°Light Barrier!¡±

    ¡°Water Curtain!¡±

    A plethora of defensive skills and barriers wereyered on top of each other, managing to narrowly block the charging swords. In response, the geniuses turned their gaze to the Demon General who released the swords.

    He didn¡¯t even try to hide his presence, looking down upon the humans as if they were ants. But his arrogance wasn¡¯t unjustified. Even if he alone would perish to their numbers, they didn¡¯t lose out in that department at all.

    A group of five geniuses split apart from the main group and rushed the Demon General, surrounding him and caging him into one location.

    ¡°Spear Rain!¡±

    A rain of light spears appeared in the sky and fell onto the Demon General. The General deftly moved his body as if he was dancing, dodging every spear that fell.

    ¡°Thundering Wave!¡±

    A dense mist formed around the group before coagting into many droplets of water. The water joined together into a wave rens of feet tall, crashing towards the agile Demon General.

    The Demon General¡¯s eyes moved towards the attack, his hands following soon after.

    ¡°Chaotic Outburst.¡±

    Inky ck mana coated his hands before pulsing outwards like a shockwave. Although the attack didn¡¯t seem special, when the shockwave collided with the wave, it easily sted it apart before it ever reached the General¡¯s position.

    The Demon General turned to the man who released the spear rain and charged, his mana enhancing his agility and allowing him to reach his target in an instant.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    The General¡¯s nails elongated into ws and swept towards the man¡¯s throat. The man, however, had put too much focus into controlling his spear rain, leaving him unable to dodge.

    ¡°James!¡±

    ¡°Protect him!¡±

    ¡°Entangling Vines!¡±

    The ground below the Demon General¡¯s feet burst apart as vines with the thickness of human arms emerged and twisted around the Demon General¡¯s feet.

    Although the Demon General was easily able to deal with the vines, they had sessfully confined him for a second, which gave the spear rain genius a chance to escape.

    The genius touched his neck slightly, noticing the small trail of blood was leaking from it. If hisrades were even a bitter¡­

    But he didn¡¯t have time to think about it for too long before a soft light covered him. His wounds began healing at a rapid pace. He cast a grateful look at the woman who had healed him before turning his attention back to the battle at hand.

    ¡°Tch!¡±

    Seeing this scene, Demon General clicked his tongue. Individually, he far outssed every single one of his opponents. But the synergy they showed in battle had allowed them to tie him down even with their disadvantages.

    There were five of them and one of him, and with them being spread out so far, it was impossible for him to target them all at once. He was abatant mainly focused on speed and assassination. Although he had moves like the Demonic Judgement, it would take him time to conjure them. And he didn¡¯t have time at all.

    With the spear rain genius escaping the General¡¯s grasp, the group was able to once again start their assault. They had one strategy and one strategy only. To wear down their opponent until he was a pig on the chopping block.

    ¡°Spear Rain!¡±

    Another rain of spears soon fell onto the battlefield. The surroundings were filled with multiple scenes simr to this one.

    Groups of three to five geniuses broke apart from the main group periodically to barrage the Demon Generals, while the main group focused on razing the Captains to the ground so there wouldn¡¯t be any distractionster in the battle.

    It wasn¡¯t a bad strategy, but they were far outnumbered. If any of the unupied Demon Generals decided to step forth, their momentum would easily be disrupted.

    After all, there were only 40 of them. With the small groups continuously splitting off, only about 10 of the demon generals were being held at bay. The other 40 were simply watching the battle in amusement.

    They had no reason to interfere. It would just waste their energy for nothing. They would at most send the asional skill into the crowd to kill a few geniuses, but that was it.

    The battle was grim. The geniuses were well aware of that. But they didn¡¯t back away. They weren¡¯t courageous and they weren¡¯t righteous. The reason they stayed was simple.

    Their stars; which had originally been stuck at the lowest Silver level for many months, had already broken through to the Gold level and were on their way to turning Purple. Was there any other motivation needed for them to continue?

    The fates of those who died were none of their concern. All that they needed to be concerned with was their own safety!

    With this kind of mentality, the morale of the geniuses didn¡¯t lower no matter how many they lost. The battle was able to continue raging at full force for many minutes.

    However, their mana reserves were far from limitless. In fact, many of the geniuses in the main group were already reaching their limits¡­

 Chapter 288 Betrayal [2]

    The geniuses and even the Demons were so focused on the ongoing fight that they weren¡¯t able to notice the changes to the overall environment around them.

    The battle had started in the middle of the day, so the sun was still high in the sky, casting plenty of light upon the ground. But at some point, the light of the sun had begun to dim.

    A ckness overtook it, causing dusk to descend upon the brightly lit battlefield. Shadows quietly spread through the earth below them, and before long, the entire area was epassed.

    In a mere instant, it became night. For the first time since the chaotic battle began, the Demon Generals lousing around in the back had grim looks on their faces.

    ¡°Swamp of Darkness.¡±

    A crisp voice flowed through the air like a melody. The small scuffles and major waves taking ce on the battlefield came to a half, as if everyone present was mesmerized by the voice.

    ¡°Arise.¡±

    The Swamp of Darkness had already spread its reach, but it wasn¡¯t an offensive ability. Rather, it was just setting the stage for what was toe.

    When the single word was spoken, the darkness began to move in strange patterns as if it was alive. From within it, tens of figures began to rise as if they were waking up from a prolonged slumber.

    ¡°W-what is¡­¡±

    ¡°Those are¡­!¡±

    Both the geniuses and the Demon Generals were stumped when they saw the beings that rose from the darkness. For the geniuses, they were merely surprised at the power that they had never seen before, and wary about which side it belonged to.

    As for the Demon Generals, they felt a much more visceral fear. After all, the figures rising from the depths were Demon Generals just like them!

    However, these Demon Generals barely bore any resemnce to their own race anymore. They had be one with the darkness they emerged from, bing ves to its will.

    ¡°Go.¡±

    The melodious yet sinister voice rang out again. On itsmand, the Shadow Generals shed into the crowd and began to wantonly ughter the Demon Captains within.

    But that wasn¡¯t the terrifying part. Each time a Demon Captain fell, their bodies would sink into the Swamp of Darkness. And secondster, a shadowy counterpart would emerge and join the ongoing ughter.

    With the Shadow Captains joining their ranks, the Shadow Generals no longer focused on the small fries. They turned into fleeting shadows and arrived in front of the Demon Generals on the backlines, immediately engaging inbat.

    des of darkness and constructs made of the same mana flew threw the air, slicing at the Demon Generals. They, who had been unprepared for the sudden change of events, failed to react in time.

    Heads flew into the air.

    Just like that, 5 Demon Generals had died.

    ¡°H-how is this¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way¡­¡±

    The geniuses were shocked beyond belief. Those Demon Generals that they had to form groups to fight, the ones that they desperately resisted. They had been ughtered like they were mere abominations.

    It was only when those Generals reappeared as shadows that the geniuses regained their wits.

    ¡°They¡¯re on our side!¡±

    Someone shouted. This shout set off a chain reaction. When everyone realized that they didn¡¯t need to fear the shadows or the domain they¡¯d been encased in, they began to fight again with renewed vigor.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let those shadows steal our contribution points!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The darkness was once again filled with the light of elemental mana. The forces of the Demon army slowly began to dwindle.

    ***

    Somewhere within the domain of darkness, ten Demon Generals stood together and watched the proceedings. These ten had never participated in the fight since the beginning. In fact, the geniuses didn¡¯t even know that there were actually 60 Demon Generals instead of 50!

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think the situation would be like this.¡± One of them pointed out. Astonishment was clear in his tone.

    ¡°Right. When the King gave us our orders, I was sure this was a suicide mission. But it no longer seems to be the case.¡±

    ¡°Those shadows seem to be unforgiving, though. How can we be sure that they won¡¯t target us?¡±

    ¡°Our location has most likely already been exposed since we are within the caster¡¯s domain. There¡¯s no other choice. We must take action.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t mean¡­¡±

    A series of gasps rang out as the others realized what the Demon General was implying.

    ¡°We can¡¯t! You know just as well as we do what will happen to us if we do!¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯ll only be punished if someone finds out about it. Only the Apostles had record crystals with them, so the proceedings on the main battlefield are still unknown to the rest of the Apostles at the base.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­true. But still. If we do it, there¡¯s no going back. The stench of traitors is something that can¡¯t be washed away. The second we return to the city, we will be charged.¡±

    ¡°Was returning ever an option? Returning would only implicate the King. And are we so ungrateful that we would cause trouble for him? Even after everything he¡¯s done for us?¡±

    ¡°No. Don¡¯t even suggest it.¡±

    ¡°Sigh. I never thought things would turn out this way. But, it has always been our fate. The King took us in because we share his ideologies. None of us want to continue being ves for a being that isn¡¯t even one of us. The regime needs to end at some point.¡±

    ¡°Ha! You talk as if we¡¯re actually rebelling! But that had never been what we are doing. Rather than rebelling, we are just taking back what¡¯s ours.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, enough of this. Judging by the amount of power the owner of this domain possesses, at least one of the Commanders has already died.¡±

    ¡°The power of outsiders has truly been underestimated.¡±

    ¡°But this one isn¡¯t the Stormbringer. The King mentioned that the Stormbringer was a man, but the owner of the voice earlier was clearly a woman.¡±

    ¡°She must be one of his associates. If we can manage to earn her trust, then she will be able to introduce us to the Stormbringer.¡±

    ¡°Right. There¡¯s no need for any more talk. Let us move.¡±

    The group of Demon Generals turned into shes of light before appearing on the battlefield. It had already be a mess while they were discussing, with the Demons dying left and right.

    The Shadow army now had over twenty Demon Generals within it, but nobody doubted the fact that there could¡¯ve been more if the shadows decided to be aggressive. It was clear that the owner of the domain was allowing the normal geniuses to grab their contribution points.

    ¡°You guys! What are you doing standing still?! Come help me fend this thing off!¡±

    An enraged shout entered the ears of the group. When they turned their attention, they saw a group of 5 Demon Generals fiercely resisting shadows that used to be theirrades.

    The Demon Generals looked at each other and nodded. In the next second, they arrived next to the group that was being attacked.

    ¡°Good that you¡¯re here! Now, let¡¯s work together and¡ª¡±

    The Demon General¡¯s eyes widened while he was speaking. His words cut off as blood rushed up his throat. When he looked down, he saw a ck dagger pierced through his heart.

    ¡°You¡­!¡±

    He couldn¡¯t say anything else before he copsed to the ground. His expression was twisted with a sense of betrayal even after death.

    Soon, four more thudding sounds rang out as the rest of the Demon Generals were in. Each of the Generals from the defecting group had a slightly ufortable expression on their face, but they had already hardened their hearts.

    Seeing that the Shadow Generals in the vicinity weren¡¯t attacking them, the Defecting Generals nodded at each other and set their sights on another group.

    Even if they weren¡¯t necessary for this battle to end, they would still do their best. After all, they had no way of knowing if the domain owner would kill them if they were half-hearted.

    Soon enough, cries of betrayal and anguish filled the domain, surpassing the sounds of even the rest of the mayhem that was taking ce within.

    Outside the ck dome that had epassed the area, Qing Tan watched in with a smile.

    ¡°King¡­Stormbringer¡­Apostles¡­how interesting!¡±

    A charming smile decorated her face as she watched the carnage she had induced. Not to mention, it looked like her Shadow army was set for another big expansion!

 Chapter 289 Demon King [1]

    ck blood sshed on the ground and contributed to the sea of blood that had already formed. But since the environment itself was ck, it would¡¯ve been barely noticeable if the individuals within couldn¡¯t feel the viscous liquid around their ankles.

    The result was inconceivable. Given time, regardless of what strategies the geniuses decided to use, they would¡¯ve been overwhelmed by the numbers and power of the Demon army.

    But unfortunately, reality was cruel. At thest moment, they had received a helping hand from a genius that far outstripped them in power.

    In fact, it wasn¡¯t even fair to call it a single genius anymore. Even though she was one person, she was a walking army on her own.

    The battle within the darkness domain raged on as the geniuses became more invigorated with every drop of ck blood that fell to the ground. They didn¡¯t even notice that the number of Generals had been dropping steadily from some time ago even without their interference.

    But the Demon Generals weren¡¯t just going to allow themselves to get ughtered. When they realized they had no hope of survival, their resistance only became fiercer.

    They charged at the geniuses like crazed beasts, capitalizing on their powerful physical bodies to tear into their flesh. Inky ck mana formed massive torrents that shed against the walls of the domain.

    ¡°Blood Sea!¡±

    ¡°Demon Torture Seal!¡±

    The sea of blood that was forming on the ground rose up as if it was alive, pouncing towards the crowd of geniuses. Whenever a drop of blood managed tond on their bodies, it would sear into their flesh and burrow into their sensitive organs.

    That was when the second skill took root. The demon blood that entered the geniuses¡¯ bodies began to burn. The small drops of ck blood turned into miniature spiders that proliferated through the victims¡¯ bodies.

    Each movement the spiders made would cause untold pain to the ones inflicted by their curse. Their bodies were soon turned into soulless husks that still had twisted expressions of fear and agony on their dried-up faces.

    The attack was extremely powerful. It was thebined force of multiple Demon Generals together, making it something the geniuses couldn¡¯t resist at all.

    But it wasn¡¯t as if the Generals didn¡¯t pay a price to do so. They contributed their own blood and lifeforce to the raging blood sea, leaving them in a crippled state after the attack ended.

    They already knew they would die today. If they were going to do so, they¡¯d at least take a portion of these unworthy freeloaders together with them!

    If it wasn¡¯t for the hidden protection of the 10 Defected Demon Generals, almost all of the geniuses would¡¯ve been wiped out in that single attack.

    It was only natural that the Generals thought of them as freeloaders. Even with all the power they put into the attack, the domain they were trapped in didn¡¯t budge. Compared to that person, these geniuses were nothing.

    But the geniuses didn¡¯t know this. Or rather, they chose to avoid this truth so their pride wouldn¡¯t be hurt. Instead, they vented their hidden frustrations by ying the crippled Demon Generals and moving on to their next targets.

    While the battle slowly reached its end, a trail of zing mes streaked across the horizon and quickly reached the outskirts of the darkness domain.

    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re finally here!¡± Qing Tan happily greeted when she saw Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s face.

    Feng Qing¡¯er nodded absentmindedly while gazing at the darkness domain. As someone with simr strength to Qing Tan, she was clearly able to see what was happening inside. And the sight baffled her.

    Qing Tan¡¯s affinity being darkness was a widely known fact. It didn¡¯t surprise her that Qing Tan was able to set up such a massive domain. However, the Shadow army was a different story.

    Necromancy was already an umon ability to see, but a vein of necromancy like Qing Tan¡¯s was even more. From the looks of it, she was only using the shadows she collecting from the Demons, but Feng Qing¡¯er knew that there had to be others she had killed and added to her army in the outside world.

    Not to mention, if Qing Tan was here, then the Commander that she was facing was¡­

    ¡®This girl is far stronger than we ever gave her credit for.¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er realized that it was a bted conclusion, but she couldn¡¯t help it. Qing Tan had been extremely careful about concealing her strength. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she was openly showing some of her cards at the moment, there was no way Feng Qing¡¯er would have ever known.

    ¡®But, I¡¯m not so bad myself.¡¯

    If it was before the recent battle, she wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance against Qing Tan. The mes she relied on wouldn¡¯t have held a candle to Qing Tan¡¯s darkness.

    But now? She couldn¡¯t be sure. The Reincarnation mes were the bane of dark energies. They specialized in mediating Life and Death, as well as cleansing evil presences. These mes gave her a certain amount of confidence against opponents like Qing Tan.

    Turning her attention back to the smiling girl, she shook off her thoughts. She didn¡¯t think there¡¯de a day where they had to fight to the death, so there was no need to dwell on it.

    ¡°That guy hadn¡¯te back yet?¡± She asked as she noticed theck of a certain obnoxious man in the area.

    ¡°Nope! Speaking of, where do you think he went?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s probably still caught up with the Commander. As expected, he was weaker than me!¡±

    Qing Tan giggled. She was sure that even Feng Qing¡¯er wasn¡¯t arrogant enough to believe her own words, but she didn¡¯t point it out. There was no need to embarrass her.

    ¡°Oh right, what¡¯s that in your hand?¡± Qing Tan asked, changing the subject. But she was indeed curious. She didn¡¯t notice it before, but there was an odd lump in Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Oh this? Remember that ugly bitch from before?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er smirked as she threw the lump on the ground. When Qing Tan observed it with her awareness, she was able to see a slight resemnce to the physique of a demon within the lump.

    But it was far too disfigured to distinguish the actual demon it was. It barely even qualified as a lump of flesh anymore. The fact that Feng Qing¡¯er had turned that Demon Commander into such a thing clearly showed how annoyed she had been at the woman¡¯s constant provocations.

    ¡°She was so obsessed with her beauty that even at the end of her life she was screaming about how she would steal my face for herself. I figured that the best way to get rid of the problem was to make it so she no longer had to worry about the concept of beauty at all!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er exined cheerfully.

    Indeed, an unknown object wouldn¡¯t have to worry about beauty at all. Qing Tan couldn¡¯t argue with the logic even if it was evidently convoluted.

    The two girls descended into silence as they watched the ongoing battle within the darkness domain. Not long after, the final Demon General met his end.

    When the darkness domain receded, only 20 out of the 50 geniuses that were present at the beginning were alive. And every single one of them had a shining purple star, perhaps even close to reaching the ck Star level.

 Chapter 290 Demon King [2]

    The two girls didn¡¯t care about those geniuses at all. By the time the darkness domain disappeared, they had already vanished from the area.

    Far away, they reappeared. In front of them, there were 10 Demon Generals who hadn¡¯t died during the war. Each one of them was currently on their knees, not daring to look up at the two girls.

    ¡°So? Who¡¯s your king? What¡¯s the Stormbringer? What about the Apostles? Tell me! Tell me!¡±

    Qing Tan fired off a series of questions. The previous battle wasn¡¯t very exciting to her until these ten Demon Generals defected, so her curiosity towards them was great.

    ¡°Miss, we will tell you everything. However, we must first speak to the Stormbringer. We are not allowed to disobey orders from our King.¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s eyes became cold. ¡°You won¡¯t tell me?¡±

    A gloomy aura erupted from her body, immediately suppressing the Demon Generals until their bodies were imnted into the ground below. But none of them spoke a word.

    Were they afraid of Qing Tan? That was guaranteed. They had seen her power first hand. They didn¡¯t even know when or how they were transported out of the battlefield and to this secluded location.

    But would they go against their King¡¯s orders because of their fear? The answer was a resounding no. They would rather die than do anything against their King¡¯s will.

    Qing Tan¡¯s eyes gradually became indifferent. ¡°Fine. I just need to bring you to him, right? That¡¯s easy enough. But if you dare misbehave¡­¡±

    A grin surfaced on her face, causing the Demon Generals to involuntarily shudder. They nodded their heads like pecking chicks while sweating profusely. As long as it wasn¡¯t against their King¡¯s orders, they wouldn¡¯t even dare to think about acting up in front of the Devil in front of them.

    As Qing Tan proceeded to ignore the Demon Generals, Feng Qing¡¯er raised a question.

    ¡°So? What¡¯s the story here?¡±

    She hadn¡¯t been present until the end of the battle within the darkness domain, and by that point, Qing Tan had already removed the Demon Generals from the area. She was definitely curious about how they ended up like this and why they were being so respectful.

    And after hearing about what happened from Qing Tan; her curiosity grew even more. She was beginning to understand Qing Tan¡¯s actions a little.

    ¡°The Stormbringer must be that guy, right?¡±

    ¡°Yup! You saw how he took care of the abominations when we first met. It¡¯s pretty obvious they¡¯re referring to him.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. If it¡¯s that guy, then it makes some sense. He seems to know a lot more than we do about the overall situation.¡±

    ¡°Oh, by the way, why do you keep calling him ¡®that guy¡¯ instead of saying his name?¡±

    Qing Tan smiled mischievously.

    ¡°W-what are you saying all of a sudden?! It doesn¡¯t mean anything at all!¡±

    ¡°I never said it meant anything though~?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er blushed at her teasing. She wasn¡¯t even lying when she said it didn¡¯t mean anything. She just ended up referring to him as such for so long that it became a habit.

    But she was weak to teasing from someone who would shamelessly push things like Qing Tan, so she ended up only making herself look more suspicious.

    ¡°Oh, right. You guys, what¡¯s with that ck substance the Demon Commanders were using during the battle? You can at least tell us that much, no?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er managed to divert the conversation to something else. She had been wondering about it for a while now, since she had almost been consumed by it. It didn¡¯t feel like something natural.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±

    The Demon Generals hesitated. But the second Qing Tan shot them a cold re, they began to stammer out words.

    ¡°W-we can¡¯t talk about it. It¡¯s impossible. Please forgive us!¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s eyes sharpened as she noticed something.

    ¡°Can¡¯t or won¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t.¡± The Demon General responded firmly.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er fell into thought. That entity obviously wasn¡¯t Kroa¡¯s power. This much she knew. Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t able to stop it from fleeing after she killed Kroa, so she couldn¡¯t figure out much else.

    Unlike Damien, these two hadn¡¯t taken the time to interrogate or gain information from the Demons at all. Until this point, the only contact they had with the race was through battle. Due to this, they didn¡¯t have the necessary information to infer about higher-level truths.

    The girls ignored the topic since it couldn¡¯t be helped and began asking the Demon Generals more misceneous questions for information. Like this, they were able to gather simr information to what Damien learned through Elitra.

    After they finished, they began moving towards the location where Damien had been battling Polius many minutes prior.

    ***

    ¡°Haa¡­¡±

    Within the Sanctuary, Damien was lying on the soft grass, his breathing gentle and his eyes closed.

    He had woken up not long ago, but he still hadn¡¯t opened his eyes. The waves of fatigue had calmed down to the point where it was bearable, but he still wasn¡¯tpletely fine.

    ¡®I¡¯ll probably see a drop in mybat power until I can get this healed¡­but my assassination strategy should still work. It¡¯s a shame though.¡¯

    If only he had been more knowledgeable about the soul, he would¡¯ve been able to prepare or even counter the attack. But what¡¯s done was done. There was no use regretting it.

    Now that he was in a safer environment, he sent his awareness into his body to check his condition. He wanted to see if he could scour his soul or at least find its location.

    His awareness spread through his body, highlighting every single cell for Damien to observe as he pleased. Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a ¡®soul gate¡¯ that connected his physical body to his soul as he hoped.

    ¡®Or maybe I¡¯m just not strong enough yet.¡¯

    In the end, it still came down to strength. Damien sighed as he sat up and stretched his body. He spread his senses through the Sanctuary to see what was happening in the other areas.

    He was currently in a separated space he created as a training ground for himself to use so he could be destructive without running the risk of harming Little Xue, but since the Sanctuary shared a bond with him, he was able to peruse its entire area without problems.

    The total size of the Sanctuary wasn¡¯t huge, but it wasn¡¯t small either. If it came down to it, there was enough space for a civilization of hundreds of thousands of people to bloom within.

    But Damien hadn¡¯t made use of most of the Sanctuary¡¯s space yet. He mainly used the miniature pocket spaces he had created for various purposes.

    When he spread his senses, a smile immediately surfaced on his face. The first scene he saw was Little Xue happily running through the tall grass fields around her treehouse and ying with some of the elemental spirits that had been born in the realm.

    Her bell-likeughter and cheerful aura were enough to soothe his fatigued mind greatly.

    As for the elemental spirits, even Damien wasn¡¯t sure how they came into existence. He was sure they weren¡¯t there when the Sanctuary was first established, but at some point, they had just shown up.

    Perhaps it was due to the high concentration of elemental essence within the Sanctuary due to its connection with the Void. That was the best guess Damien could make.

    But the spirits weren¡¯t harmful, so he didn¡¯t mind them. They also kept Little Xuepany while he inevitably had to move from battlefield to battlefield.

    In fact, they seemed to be particrly fond of her.

    ¡®She must have some kind of talent.¡¯

    If she started cultivating, he knew she¡¯d bebeled a genius and carefully nurtured regardless of the force she entered. But he had no ns to force her into it.

    She was still far too young. Until she was at least 10, he would bar her from partaking in it. But after that point, if she really wanted to cultivate, he wouldn¡¯t spare any expense to help her be powerful.

    As he watched the elemental spirits dance through the air, an odd thought came to mind.

    ¡®Sigh, when am I going to get a Little Ancestor Spirit that guides me in cultivation and has all the answers to my questions? Tsk, what a shame!¡¯

    It was a thought that¡¯d make millions of people vomit blood. This guy who already had so many benefits wanted a walking encyclopedia as well?! Could he be any more shameless?!

    Luckily, those people weren¡¯t present.

    Damien soon shed away from his location, arriving at the field where Xue¡¯er was ying.

 Chapter 291 Demon King [3]

    ¡°Big Brother!¡±

    Not even a second after he appeared, he heard a spirited exmation before btedly noticing a sh of ck shooting towards him.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    Damien hurriedly reached out his hands and expertly redirected the force of Little Xue¡¯s impact with vector control as she entered his arms so she wouldn¡¯t get hurt.

    ¡°What the hell?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but mutter. This girl charged at him with the speed of a car! How the hell was she able to move so fast?!

    It was then that he noticed the bundles of green spirits circling around them in the air while giggling to themselves.

    ¡®She hasn¡¯t even trained at all, yet she¡¯s able to use the wind spirits to boost her speed?!¡¯

    It didn¡¯t make sense. It made more sense to say that the wind spirits had voluntarily helped her without her having to do anything.

    Damien smiled wryly. This was talent!

    Looking down at the little girl who was happily smiling while rubbing her face against his chest, he wasn¡¯t even able to get mad at her.

    ¡°Are you liking your new home?¡± Damien asked softly.

    ¡°Mm! It¡¯s great! And I have lots of friends here, see!¡±

    Little Xue waved her hands at the elemental spirits, urging them toe closer, but they maintained their distance with auras emanating their hesitance.

    ¡°A! Why are you being shy? Big brother isn¡¯t a bad person!¡±

    The spirits shook their little heads in protest.

    ¡°Master? What does that mean? Big brother, they said they don¡¯t want to be disrespectful to the master!¡±

    Damien became even more bewildered. For one, Xue¡¯er was fluentlymunicating with spirits that could only re their auras to disy their intentions. Secondly, the spirits regarded him as the ¡®master¡¯.

    Although he couldn¡¯t understand them, he knew that they didn¡¯t mean it in the same way Elitra did when she called him Lord.

    Elitra was referring to him as her Lord. She had devoted her mind, body, and spirit to him for some unknown reason.

    As for the spirits, they meant it in a way that more urately ced him as the master of the world itself, not their master exclusively.

    He didn¡¯t know how the spirits developed suchplex thought processes, but he let it be. It was another one of those things he wouldn¡¯t be able to exin with the limited amount of knowledge he possessed.

    But the line of thought suddenly reminded him of Elitra, who had been calmly living in the containment area he set up for her.

    Now that he thought about it, the Nihility mes he stole from her were never properly used. Actually, an odd phenomenon had taken ce instead.

    His reddish orange sunmes had suddenly taken on a golden hue. Evidently, there was some reaction between the two mes in his body.

    He realized there were a lot of gains he made from the previous battle that he still had to go over, including the results of devouring the dark material. But that could wait.

    Damien yed with little Xue for some time to recharge his mental battery with wholesomeness before leaving her alone with the spirits again. His next destination was the containment area.

    ¡°Lord!¡±

    The second Elitra saw him, she bent her body ny degrees into a bowing posture on the ground. Since she didn¡¯t have legs, it was even more awkward.

    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s talk about this in detail now. Why are you calling me Lord?¡±

    Elitra obediently raised her head at his instruction and began speaking.

    ¡°As I told you before, Lord, I¡¯ve been tortured by the Nihility me since young. There wasn¡¯t a single day that I didn¡¯t writhe in agony wishing that my life woulde to an end.

    ¡°And within Demon society, such things as loyalty are scarce nowadays. The only people who truly showed me care were my father and his confidants. Due to those people, I decided to grit my teeth and endure the pain so I wouldn¡¯t disappoint them.

    ¡°But as you saw, the Nihility me isn¡¯t under my control. Every time I grew strong enough to control it, it would leech my strength to be stronger than me again. Due to this struggle, I would often lose control over myself and go on rampages.

    ¡°Luckily, the Nihility me in my body was merely a seedling. Its intelligence hadn¡¯t developed, so whenever I lost control, it was easy to stop me since the Nihility me only knew how to throw random attacks at anyone and anything.

    ¡°But it was only easy for those more powerful than me. It wasn¡¯t umon for some of the weaker people close to me to be burned as sustenance for the Nihility me while I could do nothing but watch¡­¡±

    Damien listened to her story quietly. Frankly, it reminded him of himself a bit. Just like how he had to fiercely fight his bestial instinct to regain control over his body back in the day, she had to do something simr.

    However, his instinct was never another entity. It was always a part of himself. On the downside, this meant that when he was taken over, he was still able to use his skills perfectly. But on the plus side, conquering and merging with the instinct was much easier.

    He was lucky enough to go through the struggle within the dungeon. Thousands of beasts had be food for his bestial instinct back then. He couldn¡¯t imagine what it would¡¯ve been like if something simr took ce while he was surrounded by people he cared for.

    ¡°Eventually, the number of people who earnestly cared for me dwindled until only my father was left, and the number who despised me vastly increased. In fact, most demons should be celebrating the fact that I never returned to the city.

    ¡°But, then I met the Lord. Although Lord had indeed treated me poorly, it was only necessary since I was an enemy who had information you desired. Considering the hazy and slightly crazed state I was in after the Nihility me possession ended, I can also understand why the Lord had to use extreme measures against me.

    ¡°But even with all that, the Lord still brought me to this mystical ce and got rid of the curse that had been tormenting me for so long. If that isn¡¯t enough to make you worthy to be my Lord, what is?¡±

    Damien nodded, but his brows were still furrowed. Indeed, her reasoning made sense. But he felt that there was more to it than just that.

    If it was just this much, his intuition wouldn¡¯t have rung rm bells signaling opportunity. Whether he gained a little maid or not, it wouldn¡¯t have much effect on the future.

    There had to be more. And Damien didn¡¯t intend to let Elitra hide it.

    ¡°If you truly wish for me to ept you as my maid, isn¡¯t it normal that you tell me everything? I have no interest in a maid that hides things from her Master. It¡¯s either full transparency or nothing.¡±

    Elitra looked into his eyes as if she was trying to pry into all of his secrets. Slowly, the hesitation on her face began to vanish.

    ¡°Right, as Master suspected, there was another reason.¡±

    ¡°Master?¡±

    ¡°Ah, well, Master just called me your maid and yourself Master, so I assumed you were into this kind of thing.¡±

    ¡°Kuhum, you must¡¯ve heard wrong. I have no clue what you¡¯re talking about. Continue with what you were saying.¡±

    Damien spotted a hint of teasing in Elitra¡¯s eyes as she spoke, but he didn¡¯t mind it. He¡¯d rather have a maid with personality than a robot.

    ¡®Damn, I¡¯m really getting into this whole having a maid thing. I should control myself.¡¯

    I¡¯m already pursuing two women, so there¡¯s no need to have an illicit rtionship with my maid! Thinking such righteous thoughts, Damien refocused on the conversation.

    ¡°Right. As I was saying, Master. The other reason is far moreplex than the first. To preface, I must tell a story my father told me many times as I was growing up.¡±

 Chapter 292 Demon King [4]

    Elitra proceeded to tell a story that Demon King Lucius had been reminiscing about only a few days prior.

    10,000 years trapped within a secret realm as a tool for the machinations of a higher existence.

    The series of unfortunate events that seemed to follow the Demon race as they lived, the vengeance that the Demon King Lucius had been hiding within his heart, and the way the other Demon Kings had indulged themselves in the pleasures provided by the absolute protection of said higher existence.

    The more Damien listened, the sterner his expression became. As Elitra had said, the second reason was much more serious than the first.

    It was yet another product of the first Great War that the Nox had raged against the universe.

    Originally; Damien had thought Apeiron was the first world they had invaded, and that the Nox had been sessfully fended off at the sacrifice of Apeiron¡¯s most powerful experts. But it seemed he was mistaken.

    Many worlds had been invaded or destroyed before the Nox reached Apeiron. The world the Demons lived in was just one of them. And if he thought about the elves in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, their world must¡¯ve faced a simr fate.

    It wasn¡¯t just a matter of universe domination either. From what he was hearing, the Nox were destroying more than they were conquering.

    But they had done an excellent job at silencing the victims. Only four demons, five including Elitra, still lived with the knowledge. And they were all ves to the Nox. As for the elves in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, they were confined to a location they had no hope of ever leaving.

    There was no way either of these two groups would¡¯ve been able to tell anyone the secrets they carried with them when they escaped extinction. That is, unless something like the Sanctuary existed.

    The Sanctuary didn¡¯t exist in the Real ne. That was the main benefit Damien focused on as he created it.

    Since the Sanctuary existed within the Void, any connections or restrictions ced in the Real ne would be lifted when one set foot inside. Thews they would have to follow would instead be decided wholly by Damien.

    This was the reason Elitra was able to speak freely about the things her father had told her in the form of stories, as well as the reason she could acknowledge him as her Master.

    As for the reason Demon King Lucius was able to tell Elitra about everything, he assumed it was because he was a 4th ss. Even if he was just at the beginning of 4th ss, he had still obtained acknowledgment from the universe, which allowed him a certain degree of freedom as long as the Nox wasn¡¯t directly enforcing its will to stop him.

    Damien¡¯s brows remained furrowed. The conspiracies rted to the Nox were deeply connected to the history of the universe. It was like the Nox were specifically created as an adversary its inhabitants needed to ovee.

    Damien¡¯s head hurt as he thought about it, but he soon reorganized his thoughts. He needed to think of what he could do in the current moment rather than trying to unravel the entire bigger picture without sufficient strength and information.

    ¡®To start, I need to take out the Demon Commanders, or rather the Apostles, as well as the other three Demon Kings. I also need to find a way to bring Demon King Lucius into the Sanctuary so he can be free from his restriction and tell me more about what I need to know.¡¯

    There was plenty he needed to do, but he still had roughly 7 months left in the Trial World before he needed to leave. But obviously, the demons weren¡¯t his only priority.

    ¡®I can invest at most 3 months into the Demons. The rest of the time I need to focus on both healing my soul injury and making use of the Trial World to deepen myprehension of Time.¡¯

    It had been so long since he learned of his blossoming Time affinity, but even after so long it hadn¡¯t bloomed. He had received minor sparks of insight every once in a while, but the environment of the Trial World had presented him with a perfect opportunity.

    This world was quite literally the first example Damien had seen of Time Laws in action. Even if he couldn¡¯t totally awaken his affinity, he¡¯d still make enough progress to where awakening it wouldn¡¯t be too far in the future.

    He¡¯d have to be an idiot to not capitalize on the opportunity.

    ¡®Okay. 3 months to kill 7 others with simr strength to Polius as well as 3 genuine 4th ss existences. That¡¯s doable, right?¡¯

    Truth be told, he wasn¡¯t too worried about the Apostles. Their power was borrowed. In a frontal sh, he¡¯d have to take a great deal of time and effort to deal with every single one of them, but he wasn¡¯t nning to use a frontal attack.

    Using assassination tactics and careful nning, it shouldn¡¯t be hard for him to kill the Apostles. Especially since he already knew that their dark material was afraid of Void Essence.

    He could capitalize on the moment the dark material froze in fear and kill the Apostles before immediately devouring the dark material so the so-called Demon God wouldn¡¯t be able to predict his movements.

    It was a solid n, so much so that Damien was proud of himself foring up with it. He had never been a schemer and he had never been a tactical thinker. But now, he had finally made use of his intelligence stat that had steadily increased with the rest of his stats.

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Finally, he spoke again. Looking down at Elitra¡¯s disabled body on the floor, he sighed.

    A vial filled with colorless liquid appears in his hand, which he then promptly tossed to Elitra.

    ¡°First, drink this. We can do everything elseter.¡±

    Elitra caught the vial that was flying through the air and drank it without hesitation. Even Damien was surprised.

    She just kept proving howmitted she actually was to her words. Every small action made Damien further believe she wasn¡¯t trying to fool him.

    Soon after Elitra finished drinking the liquid in the vial, a strange soothing sensation spread through her body before concentrating on the stumps where her legs used to be.

    The essence from the liquid coagted and began working its magic. The stumps were opened once more, and kneecaps began to form. After them, the rest of Elitra¡¯s bones and flesh followed. She soon had a new pair of legs that were as unblemished as they were before Damien had severed them.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    Elitra¡¯s eyes glowed with silent tears when she realized what had happened. She immediately jumped to her feet. But due to the fact that it was still a new pair of legs, she stumbled.

    ¡°Oof.¡±

    Damien gently caught her before she could fall to the floor. Elitra wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed her head against his chest without even stopping to think.

    ¡°Master! Master!¡±

    ¡®It seems like this was her intention from the beginning.¡¯ Damien thought as his wry smile resurfaced.

    Elitra wouldn¡¯t leave his embrace no matter how much he tried to tell her to. She still had her mana sealed, so she was no different than a mortal, but Damien couldn¡¯t bring himself to push her away.

    He knew the glee that came with regaining a lost body part, so he let her vent it before removing himself from her.

    Though, he ended up having to back away early when he saw the ravenous look in her eyes. He felt that if he stayed, he would end up losing something he was saving for his reunion with Rose.

    When Damien left Elitra¡¯s area, he finally decided to go back to the outside world. His sleep had onlysted half an hour at most, and the following visits to Little Xue and Elitra took another hour. The battle should¡¯ve ended by now.

    But when he left the Sanctuary and arrived back at the location where he fought Polius, he was greeted with an unexpected sight.

 Chapter 293 Demon King [5]

    Damien¡¯s battle with Polius wasn¡¯t anywhere close to contained. With each impact, they had razed the surroundings and moved tens of kilometers through space.

    A massive area had been affected by their battle, with massive craters and riffs forming in the earth and the structures that used to stand being demolished. This kind of damage made it difficult for Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan to actually pinpoint where the battle had ended.

    ¡°Wow! This guy seems to have been a lot stronger than the Commanders the two of us fought!¡± Qing Tan eximed as she scanned the area.

    ¡°Right. Even though Kroa was doing all that posturing, she wasn¡¯t actually that strong without the dark material. It seems this one was different.¡±

    They continued to fly across the battleground with the ten Demon Generals silently following them, evening across the traces of Damien¡¯s Dimensional Severance. But they still didn¡¯t manage to locate the man himself.

    ¡°Where did that guy run off to? Judging from the fact that the mana in the air hasn¡¯t evenpletely dispersed, the battle didn¡¯t end that long ago.¡±

    ¡°He can teleport, though. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he was halfway across the realm by now.¡±

    ¡°Pfft! You know he isn¡¯t that powerful. There¡¯s no way anyone of our strength can ovee the powerful suppression in the atmosphere.¡±

    ¡°Well, none of that really matters now. What are we going to do with them?¡±

    Qing Tan nced at the Demon Generals. They hade solely to speak to Damien, so there was nothing the girls could do with them. It was impossible to fish more information out of them even with torture.

    And judging from the poor state the Demon Generals were in, it was obvious that they had already tested it.

    ¡°You guys! Entertain me until hees back!¡±

    Qing Tan pped her hands together and proimed, causing the Demon Generals to burst into a cold sweat.

    ¡°H-how can we do that, Mdy?¡±

    Even the form of address they used had be more respectful after everything they had been forced to endure.

    They were Demon Generals. Of course they had pride that befitted their position. But this pride had long been broken by the absurd strength of the two girls in front of them.

    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know! You decide!¡±

    The Demon Generalsmented their fates as they began racking their brains for ideas. In the end, they went through a variety of different ideas to keep the two girls entertained.

    When Damien finally returned to the Trial World, this scene was the first thing he saw. Ten Demon Generals dancing and performing tricks while two beauties watched with amused expressions.

    ¡°You two, what the hell did you get up to while I was gone.¡±

    Qing Tan turned around when she heard the voice and smiled brightly.

    ¡°You¡¯re back!¡±

    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m back but what¡¯s with the enthusiasm?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t I just be excited to see you?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve talked like three times in total. Why would you be excited to see me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re no fun!¡±

    Qing Tan pouted at his nd responses. Seeing this, Feng Qing¡¯er sighed and came forward, exining the situation to Damien.

    ¡®Damn, Stormbringer? Not a bad title if I do say so myself.¡¯

    Damien nodded in satisfaction. The people of Apeiron were trash at giving titles. Lightning prince? And even worse, Spatial Lightning prince? He cringed every time he heard someone call him by those addresses.

    Even Grim Reaper was bad.Though he didn¡¯t want to admit it, he was a bit chuuni back then since he was still in the process of coping with society. Due to that, he may or may not have enjoyed such a title. But thinking back to it only made him feel immense shame.

    Shaking off his ck history, Damien turned to the Demon Generals.

    ¡°You wanted to speak to me?¡±

    ¡°No, sir. More urately, our King wishes to speak to you.¡±

    ¡°Which King?¡±

    ¡°Demon King Lucius.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Damien rubbed his chin. Elitra¡¯s father had taken initiative to contact him. If it was before, he might¡¯ve been on guard hearing such a fact, but now, he didn¡¯t feel the same.

    He had heard the story from Elitra. He didn¡¯t feel anything towards Demon King Lucius besides pity. But the man was strong, and he was the ess point Damien had been looking for.

    Hadn¡¯t he just been wondering where to start in his quest to assassinate all of the Demons¡¯ upper echelon? Hadn¡¯t he just been wondering how to get Demon King Lucius into the Sanctuary so they could speak freely?

    Now that he had a point of contact, things would flow much smoother.

    ¡°How does your King n to speak to me? I doubt he can freely leave the demon city as he pleases.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Our King does not have the ability to meet you in person, but he can still speak to you in other ways.¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    That¡¯s right. Elitra had mentioned once that the Demon King Lucius could manifest a projection to protect her if she was ever on the verge of death. Who said the same method couldn¡¯t be used formunication?

    ¡°Very well. Let me meet your King then.¡±

    The Demon Generals nodded and joined hands. They began to channel their mana and circte it amongst themselves in a strange way.

    Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan stood at the side and watched as everything took ce.

    ¡°He knows something, right?¡±

    ¡°He definitely knows something.¡±

    ¡°Also, could you sense it when he showed up behind us? Even though I had my awareness spread, I didn¡¯t notice him until he spoke.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the same for me. It¡¯s like he was always there to begin with, rather than him showing up at that time.¡±

    ¡°What a weird guy.¡±

    Qing Tan nodded. He was truly an interesting guy. Much more interesting than the people she frequently talked to in the 3000 Beast Mountain range.

    He spoke freely like he was an open book, but anybody with a brain could tell he was hiding plenty of secrets. It was a strange kind of mystery that didn¡¯te from posturing.

    The first-ranked genius Hun Fang was also mysterious, but in a gloomy and unapproachable way. Qing Tan was interested in both of them, but she preferred Damien since he was more fun to talk to.

    ¡°Oh, right. Why are we so calm when those guys are literally summoning a Demon King? Shouldn¡¯t we be on guard or something?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er eximed.

    ¡°We should! But look at him, he¡¯s acting so calm and unbothered that we also subconsciously did the same! Wow, what a cool guy!¡±

    ¡°What the hell are you saying?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er looked at the snickering Qing Tan with a dead fish gaze. Having seen the side of her that tortured people with a smile on her face, Feng Qing¡¯er could no longer take Qing Tan seriously when she acted like a cheery fangirl.

    As the two girls conversed, the Demon Generals¡¯ mana finally reached its peak. In front of them, a figure slowly began to form in the air.

    He was tall, around 6 feet and 7 inches, and his straight blonde hair flowed down to his waist. His face was handsome and refined like an immortal cultivator, and his stoic expression onlyplimented his aura and vibe.

    ¡°Demon King Lucius,¡± Damien muttered.

    Looking at him closely, he did indeed share some features with Elitra. While Elitra¡¯s hair was pitch ck, she had the same blood-red eyes and facial shape as her father.

    Demon King Lucius¡¯s projection scanned the surroundings slowly as if he was getting oriented with the change of scenery before his eyesnded on Damien.

    ¡°So you must be the infamous Stormbringer. Tell me, why do I sense my daughter¡¯s aura on you?!¡±

    A fearsome pressure fell onto Damien¡¯s shoulders all of a sudden, but he could only smile wryly.

    ¡®Why does it feel more like I¡¯m meeting my father-inw than a notorious Demon King?¡¯

 Chapter 294 Demon King [6]

    Damien was confused at first. For Elitra¡¯s scent to be on him would make sense since she had been hugging him and rubbing her body all over him only a few moments ago, but aura was different.

    Every being possessed their own unique aura, which essentially embodied everything they embodied. But for another person¡¯s aura to mix into one¡¯s own, it meant that the two had a much more intimate rtionship.

    Only through dual practice could someone else¡¯s aura be imprinted onto one¡¯s own, and when Damien realized what Demon King Lucius had assumed when he first saw him, the panic started to set in.

    ¡°Senior, calm down! It¡¯s not what it looks like!¡±

    ¡°Not what it looks like? Are you saying this King is mistaken? You bastard actually dared toy a hand on my daughter!¡±

    ¡°Senior! Calm down! Impulsive is devil! I didn¡¯t do what you¡¯re thinking, I just took something from her that had been bothering her for a while!¡±

    ¡°You what?!¡±

    Damien had only worded it in such a way because he didn¡¯t know if he should mention the Nihility me in front of so many people, but he immediately regretted it. An overprotective father was truly unreasonable.

    The pressure on Damien¡¯s shoulders had already reached an extreme level. Left with no other choice, Damien reached out his hand and let out a wisp of the mes within his body.

    A dense golden me flickered at the tip of his finger. Since Damien hadn¡¯t explored his mes since the change, he wasn¡¯t able to separate the Nihility mes from his new golden me, but he knew it didn¡¯t matter when he felt the pressure on his body start to lessen.

    ¡°You¡­where did you get this me?¡±

    The Demon King calmed down after seeing the me. He wasn¡¯t stupid, and he wasn¡¯t a 4th ss for nothing. He could clearly feel the aura of Nihility mes from the golden me in Damien¡¯s hand. His own Nihility mes were reacting as if to verify what he sensed.

    Damien¡¯s words started to make more sense to the Demon King now that he¡¯d seen it. Since Elitra had been born with the Nihility me Seedling in her body, her natural aura carried an extremely simr property to the mes themselves.

    Demon King Lucius already knew the feeling of Elitra¡¯s me aura like the back of his hand since he was the one who raised her. Since Damien had her mes instead, it would make sense why he had mistakenly thought Damien had forced himself on his daughter.

    ¡°Boy, you should learn how to express yourself properly. Otherwise you¡¯ll die one day due to the misunderstandings you cause.¡±

    Although the Demon King also understood why Damien had chosen not to say it outright, he was an old monster. There was no way he¡¯d lose face by admitting his mistake.

    ¡®Thick-skinned is an understatement for this kind of person.¡¯ Damien sighed inwardly as he finally rxed.

    ¡°Senior should already know where I got this me from. But there¡¯s no need to worry. I received it with consent and without harming the original owner.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    The Demon King Lucius also sighed. He hade to speak about important topics, but things had devolved into such a trivial dispute.

    But there was no way he¡¯d trust the words of a stranger so easily.

    ¡°If it is as you say, then it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for me to see her, no?¡±

    ¡°This¡­it¡¯s a bit difficult.¡±

    Damien hesitated. He didn¡¯t want to reveal the existence of the Sanctuary so easily.

    The Demon King seemed to understand that there was some sort of secret involved, so he immediately signaled the Demon Generals to retreat. Now that his projection had been formed, he only needed them to continue supplying mana. It didn¡¯t matter if they left his position while they did so.

    Seeing this, Qing Tan also dragged the unwilling Feng Qing¡¯er away. No matter how curious and yful she was, she knew her limits. Even as a projection, a 4th ss existence could cause them great harm with his aura alone. Now wasn¡¯t the time to be willful.

    She would just pester Damien until he spilled everything after the conversation ended.

    After everyone had left, Damien did a quick sweep of the area with his awareness before summoning Elitra from the Sanctuary.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    Just like before, she called out excitedly before pouncing into his embrace.

    Damien froze. He felt a frighteningly cold rend on him immediately.

    ¡®Fuck me!¡¯

    He was so caught up in proving his innocence that he had forgotten about a ring fact.

    The girl in his embrace was happily calling him master while ignoring her father who was standing right in front of her. Damien felt a massive headacheing on.

    ¡°Ehem, Elitra, why don¡¯t you take a look around before acting.¡± He said wryly.

    It was only after he mentioned it that she scanned the surroundings. When she finally noticed the man she had been ignoring, her eyes went wide as saucers.

    ¡°F-father! Since when were you here?¡±

    ¡°Since the beginning.¡±

    ¡°I-I see! W-well then¡­bye!¡±

    Elitra took off running with her face more crimson than her eyes. She wanted to dig a hole and hide in shame.

    Damien quickly teleported over and grabbed her before bringing her back. The girl seemed to have forgotten that her mana was still sealed.

    Demon King Lucius sighed lightly. ¡°You¡¯re still the same as always.¡±

    He seemed relieved. Ignoring the whole ¡®Master¡¯ thing, if Elitra was still able to act so willful and cheery, it was obvious she hadn¡¯t been mistreated.

    ¡°Thank you for taking care of my daughter.¡±

    He sincerely thanked Damien. Meanwhile, Damien was sweating buckets.

    ¡®Let¡¯s make sure he never figures out that she was legless until about 5 minutes ago. That¡¯s probably for the best.¡¯

    ¡°It¡¯s no problem. How can I mistreat the daughter of a 4th ss existence? It¡¯s simply impossible.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. But you somehow got the daughter of a 4th ss existence to happily call you Master. You must be feeling proud of yourself.¡±

    ¡°Okay let¡¯s not twist the facts here. She called me Master first and I begrudgingly epted it.¡±

    ¡°I called you Lord first, though! I¡¯m calling you Master now because you seemed to like it better!¡± Elitra chimed in.

    ¡°Ha¡­Haha¡­¡±

    It was Damien¡¯s turn to feel like running away. This girl seemed hell-bent on bringing trouble to him.

    ¡®I think I¡¯m starting to regret taking her as my maid, cough, I mean servant. Yeah, servant.¡¯

    Seeing the interaction between the two made Demon King Lucius smile inadvertently. Truth be told, it had been a long time since Elitra could behave so freely.

    Her Nihility mes had been a burden that she was never able to properly carry. Now that the burden had been lifted from her shoulders, she seemed to have reverted to her previous self.

    And while he wanted to give his daughter more time to act joyful, as well as figure out the whole thing about her calling the man in front of him Master, he knew he didn¡¯t have much time as a projection. Those matters could be taken care of once they met in person.

    ¡°Very well. Now that I¡¯ve seen my daughter safe and sound, I¡¯d like to get to the topic I originally came to speak to you about.¡±

    Damien also became serious when he heard the words.

    ¡°How do you feel about forming an alliance with me?¡±

 Chapter 295 Demon King [7]

    ¡°An alliance? Why should I form an alliance with a Demon King?¡± Damien inquired.

    ¡°Well, if I needed to spell things out with you, it¡¯d be quite annoying. For you to be acting so calmly after meeting me, my daughter should¡¯ve told you everything already, no?¡±

    ¡°Tch.¡±

    Indeed, since Elitra had already told him about Demon King Lucius¡¯s story and the Demons¡¯ original plight, there was no need for theatrics.

    ¡°An alliance doesn¡¯t sound too bad. The only thing is, how are you going to contribute? Besides the information you can provide me, as long as you are within this realm, you are powerless.¡±

    Demon King Lucius¡¯s brows furrowed. ¡°Powerless is pushing it a bit. While my freedom is indeed restricted, it¡¯s not to the point where it¡¯s impossible to move. Otherwise, how would I have been able to meet you here?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s certainly true. I¡¯m assuming we don¡¯t have much time to discuss things in depth while you are in projection form, so we can hash out details after we meet. For now, tell me what you came here to tell me.¡±

    Demon King Lucius nodded. ¡°If I was a 3rd ss, I would¡¯ve been no better than a ve. But since I¡¯m a genuine 4th ss that has received a Universe Baptism, I have a certain degree of control. In essence, unless that bastard Demon God concentrates his focus on limiting me, I can do as I please while abusing the loopholes in the terms he set.

    ¡°Anyway, enough of that. The first thing you should know is about the Apostles. While the ones you fought were certainly among them, they were far from the strongest of them. You must make sure not to underestimate their strength based on what you have seen so far.

    ¡°Along with that, the Apostles you fought in the previous battle all had record crystals embedded in their dark material. As long as the dark material exists, they will be able to gain plenty of information about you by watching your fight.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. I was never nning to underestimate them, especially after seeing how formidable that dark material is. But I¡¯m assuming that you mean there will be some amongst them that don¡¯t have to rely on their dark material for strength. I¡¯ll be wary of it.

    ¡°As for the record crystal, it should¡¯ve been crushed when I devoured the dark material. Is it a live feedback situation, or do I have some leeway?¡±

    ¡°No, while the record crystals can project live feed, with the amount of atmospheric mana disturbance that takes ce during battle, their signals will be interrupted. I¡¯d say that you have around a minute after the battle ends to destroy the record crystal if you don¡¯t wish for the recording to be transmitted to the source.¡±

    Damien sighed a breath of relief. Let alone a minute, he had devoured the dark material immediately after things had ended.

    At the time, he had also been thinking something simr. Since the dark material was being summoned back to its original owner, it¡¯d be able to transmit information about him to said owner. But even he didn¡¯t know that the transmission would¡¯ve taken ce far sooner than he expected!

    ¡®I need to ask Qing Tan and Feng Qing¡¯er about their side as well.¡¯

    Although he wasn¡¯t nning to include them in his assassination n, he still needed to see what kind of information the Apostles had on hand. Even if they didn¡¯t know his strength, he didn¡¯t want them to be able to roughly gauge it through the strength of his peers.

    ¡°The next thing is Acier, the demon city. If you are nning to receive me, you need to have an in-depth understanding of its structure.¡±

    The Demon King continued speaking, telling Damien a great deal of insider information on Acier. With this information, it¡¯d be much easier for him to infiltrate and meet the Demon King in person.

    Other than these two points, Damien still wanted to know the specific strengths and weaknesses of the Apostles, as well as some more information about the Nox and the Primordial Undying Realm, but he could already see signs of the Demon King¡¯s projection fading.

    ¡°Boy, I hope I¡¯ll be able to see you in person soon. At that time, see how I greet you for turning my daughter into your ve.¡±

    ¡°Listen here, old man. She isn¡¯t my ve, but my maid. As a man yourself, you should understand the Grand Dao of Maid Appreciation.¡±

    ¡°Cough, whether I understand or not is a different story. This is my daughter we¡¯re talking about. It¡¯s not the same.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the so-called ¡®a pot calling the kettle ck¡¯? Old man be honest with me, how many maids do you have in that Demon King Castle of yours?¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t concern you. In the end, a maid is simply another servant.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so? I see, I see.¡±

    Damien nodded in a sagely way, causing the Demon King¡¯s face to turn ck. But honestly, he couldn¡¯t find a way to refute. He was a man himself, after all. He had a far deeperprehension of the Grand Dao of Maid Appreciation than Damien did.

    Seeing Damien¡¯s re on him, Demon King Lucius chuckled inadvertently. He knew that they were just making small talk until his projection faded since there wasn¡¯t much else they could discuss until they met in person, but he found the young man in front of him quite refreshing.

    It had been so many years since he was locked in his castle without any hope of making progress, but now that he had found such an outlet, he was quite satisfied to say the least. Just like his daughter, his burdens were slowly being lifted.

    ¡®Well, let¡¯s see how you perform in theseing days. I¡¯ll judge from that whether you are worthy of being my daughter¡¯s master or not.¡¯

    Leaving his thoughts unsaid, Demon King Lucius slowly faded away, the mana of the projection dissipating into the atmosphere.

    Not long after, the Demon Generals and the girls returned to the area.

    ¡°So? How was the conversation?¡±

    ¡°Hmph. That old man doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s good for him. Let¡¯s see how I teach him a lesson when we meet in person.¡±

    ¡°You dare talk about our King so casually?!¡±

    The Demon Generals immediately got up in arms, but were shot down by a single re from Qing Tan. Damien couldn¡¯t help but find them pitiful.

    Elitra had already been sent back to the Sanctuary, so these Demon Generals obviously had no way of knowing whether the Demon King had a positive or negative rtionship with Damien, but it couldn¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°Tell me what you talked about! Tell me!¡±

    Qing Tan rushed up to Damien and grabbed onto his arm, shaking it back and forth like a spoiled little sister.

    ¡°And why should I tell you?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­because you should!¡±

    Qing Tan couldn¡¯t find a good reason, but she was still unresigned. She didn¡¯t want to miss out on the fun, but this damn bastard always seemed intent on hiding things from her!

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll tell you some stuffter. For now, let¡¯s send these poor Generals on their way.¡±

    ¡°¡±Thank you Milord!¡±¡±

    The Demon Generals barely even waited for Damien to finish his sentence. They were crying tears of joy at the fact that they could finally escape from Qing Tan¡¯s clutches.

    They didn¡¯t even care that they had nowhere else to go. They could just hide in one of the vast forests in the secret realm until the storm died down. Anything was better than the physical and psychological torture they had been enduring for the past day.

    ¡°Then, we shall take our leave.¡±

    Without waiting any longer, the 10 Demon Generals bowed to Damien before rushing away.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the n from now on?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er inquired.

    ¡°n? Why do you think I have one?¡± Damien smirked as he questioned back.

    ¡°Please, even if it hasn¡¯t been long since we¡¯ve known each other, I can see clearly that you have something up your sleeve.¡±

    ¡°Well, I do have some ns. I¡¯m going to continue going after the Demons. And you?¡±

    ¡°Hmph! I¡¯ll figure that outter. Why can¡¯t I also go after the demons, hm?¡±

    ¡°I mean, you already reached the White Star level by killing the Commanders, both of you. There¡¯s no need for you to continue apanying me.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er red at Damien as if he said something extremely idiotic. ¡°Do you really think so lowly of me? I pursued the demons because of justice! I want to soothe the souls of the innocent who died at their hands! There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll leave the job half finished.¡±

    ¡°And you?¡± Damien asked Qing Tan.

    ¡°Hmm~ I¡¯ll stay with the two of you because it¡¯s fun! There¡¯s nothing better to do for the rest of the time we¡¯re in the Trial World anyway.¡±

    Well, she wasn¡¯t wrong about that. Damien wanted to nitpick, but he couldn¡¯t find a good reason to do so.

    ¡°Sigh, fine. You can do as you please, but I¡¯ll separate from you here. I have other matters to take care of.¡±

 Chapter 296 Demon King [8]

    Damien suddenly remembered what the Demon King had told him a few moments prior.

    ¡°Right, what happened to the dark material of the Apostles the two of you fought?¡± He asked.

    Although the girls were irked by his obvious move to change the subject, they still answered after seeing the serious look in his eyes.

    ¡°Mine¡¯s gone! I killed it!¡± Qing Tan angered excitedly.

    ¡°You managed to kill yours? Mine managed to escape by a hair because I was too focused on burning that bitch. I managed to tag it with my mes though.¡±

    ¡°Tag it?¡± Damien asked curiously.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er responded with a proud look on her face. ¡°My mes now have an even more profound connection with me, so I can locate them no matter how far away they are! Even after they stop burning, they¡¯ll leave a me scar that¡¯ll respond to my mes if I activate it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a nice ability, but it doesn¡¯t help with our current situation.¡±

    Damien sighed. Although it wasn¡¯t as bad as he expected, a dark material had still managed to get away.

    Damien proceeded to exin what the Demon King had told him about the record crystals. Hearing it, Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s face went red with shame.

    ¡°Dammit! If I had just been more focused¡­!¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t really me you. That bitch was seriously annoying.¡±

    ¡°Right? She kept going on and on about who was more beautiful. Like, who gives a shit?! We¡¯re supposed to be battling to the death, why the hell are you still caring about your looks?¡±

    ¡°Ehh~ but you still manage to keep your haughty and arrogant demeanor while you fight. Didn¡¯t you see how many of those geniuses became infatuated at Astoria?¡± Qing Tan teased.

    ¡°Who gives a shit about them?! They can¡¯t even match up to a single feather on my body, let alone have the qualifications to conquer me. Hmph! Let¡¯s see if I ever find a man who can actually do so.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t there one right in front of you~?¡±

    ¡°Him? Ha! Don¡¯t make meugh. This son of a bitch could never conquer me!¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true though~?¡±

    ¡°Ehem, girls. Can we talk about the serious things instead?¡±

    Damien massaged his forehead. Before saying I couldn¡¯t conquer you, can¡¯t you consider whether I actually want to conquer you at all first? But he didn¡¯t voice his thoughts since it¡¯d inevitably lead to Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯ incessant rambling.

    ¡°In any case, the enemy will know your abilities now, so it¡¯s even less of a good idea to bring you along with me.¡±

    ¡°So what am I supposed to do? Although I don¡¯t like agreeing with Qing Tan, it¡¯s true that there¡¯s nothing else to do around here for the next half a year besides fight with demons.¡±

    ¡°I mean, I never said you can¡¯t fight with demons. I just said you won¡¯t be doing it with me. I have my own ns, and you have yours. So let¡¯s just leave it at that. Me telling you about the record crystals was just a friendly reminder, so keep it in mind before you act from now on.¡±

    After exchanging a few more words with them, Damien decisively turned around and left. He was nning to rest up a bit before starting his infiltration and assassinations.

    It was one of the drawbacks of his soul injury. Unlike the past when he could go many weeks on end without sleep, he now needed to take proper rest to alleviate his fatigue. It was annoying, but necessary.

    Damien found a secluded location before entering the Sanctuary, entering his private area and lying down on the grass.

    With his eyes closed, he began thinking about the previous conversation.

    Although he was well aware of Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan¡¯s strengths after fighting so many battles with them, Damien didn¡¯t want to drag these two along with him.

    It wasn¡¯t a matter of ipatibility or even the fact that Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s strength had be known to the enemy. He just felt that he would work better alone.

    Especially with his current goals, every single one of them required discretion and secrecy. It was the type of thing that¡¯d function much better if one didn¡¯t work in a team.

    The only way he could make this a team effort was if he had people he wholeheartedly trusted with him. For instance, Rose, Ruyue, and Elena.

    ¡®Speaking of them, I wonder how they¡¯re doing.¡¯

    He could feel Ruyue¡¯s soul strand in his mindspace was still filled with vitality, so he wasn¡¯t worried about her, but the other two girls were out of his reach in unknown ces.

    He didn¡¯t know what kind of dangers they¡¯d braved or what kind of strength they had at this point. He didn¡¯t know if they were being pestered by young masters due to their world ss beauty or bullied by the seniors in their sect.

    He once again began to regret parting with them. How much more fun would the 3000 Beast Mountain Range have been with the two of them present?

    ¡®Then again, there¡¯s plenty of stuff that wouldn¡¯t have happened if we were all together.¡¯

    The most important of those things being his budding rtionship with Ruyue. Judging from Rose¡¯s upbringing and the negative effects her father¡¯s harem had on her, he didn¡¯t know how she would take to him having other women.

    But he couldn¡¯t change his feelings for Ruyue, and after so long, he had no intention of leaving Ruyue¡¯s feelings unanswered.

    ¡®Speaking of unanswered feelings¡­¡¯

    He had truly done Elena dirty. He knew it, but he didn¡¯t know how to deal with it. His rtionship with Elena was different than what he had with Rose and Ruyue. They had known each other for far longer, so he felt much more awkward breaching the barrier of friendship and trying to be something more.

    ¡®Well, let¡¯s not think about it. Rose still doesn¡¯t even know about Ruyue, so how could I even consider adding a third? Let¡¯s see how she reacts before deciding.¡¯

    If he knew that Rose had already made ns for how to manage his harem, how would he have reacted?

    Unfortunately, she hadn¡¯t taken the initiative to tell him. After all, Rose had been expecting Elena to be his second harem member, she didn¡¯t expect apetitor like Ruyue to appear.

    And because Rose had been waiting for Damien to develop with Elena before talking to him about it, they had never truly ended up discussing a future where Damien had multiple women, leading to his current indecisiveness.

    Damien sighed. His thoughts had gone on a tangent thinking about women again. His rtionship problems honestly scared him more than the Demon God he was currently facing.

    But he was still somewhat proud of himself. He knew that he¡¯d grown a great deal since he first decided to split up with Rose and Elena when they entered the Cloud ne.

    He was now able to properly confront his feelings for his women without hesitating due to his insecurity or misgivings. The only thing holding him back was the fact that he hadn¡¯tmunicated with Rose yet, and he felt that this was an entirely justified reason to hold back.

    After all, having thoughts about other women and actively pursuing them was already unfaithful of him. The fact that he wanted to build a harem was even more.

    He had decided already that if he was going to do this, he¡¯d do it with sincerity. There was no way he¡¯d slight Rose any more than he already was.

    He soon threw away all of the muddled thoughts in his head. Along with resting, there was another task that he had to take care of.

    And it was something that he was much more excited about than anything else at the moment.

    It was finally time to tabte the gains he made in the previous days.

 Chapter 297 Gains [1]

    There were two main things that Damien knew he had to focus on when it came to the gains he made. The first was his golden mes, and the second was the dark material he devoured.

    As far as he was concerned, there weren¡¯t any other gains he made, but he had to check on his own body to be certain. He didn¡¯t end up devouring Polius after he died either.

    There was a simple reason for this. In that final moment when the dark material was desperately resisting his Seven Stars Encircle The Moon attack, it had sucked Polius dry of all his vitality and experience, making his corpsepletely useless even if devoured.

    The first thing Damien did when he sent his awareness into his body was attempt to locate his mes.

    When he summoned lightning, he usually just transmuted his pure mana into lightning mana to produce his ck lightning. After all, besides its color, there wasn¡¯t anything special about it.

    It was definitely more destructive than normal lightning, but that was all it had in terms of unique properties. Along with that, it was never an external force even though he received the affinity after his first ever devouring.

    It was the same with spatial mana. He didn¡¯t have a container in his body to store the essence of space specifically, but since he always had an intrinsic connection with space even before the awakening of mana on earth, he never had to concern himself with it.

    His mes, on the other hand, were different. From the start, his sunmes originated from his power as a Celestial. At first, he had simply used the connection he had with the stars in the crudest possible way to draw mes for him to use.

    They were entirely external.

    But as time went on and his control over both his Celestial Authority and his sunmes increased, he began to refine the sunmes into a me that was incorporated into his body.

    The sunmes then became something he could call upon and use at will without using an absurd amount of mana to draw them directly from the sun.

    Of course, this also meant that the intensity of the sunmes didn¡¯t nearly match up to when he drew them directly, but the difference wasn¡¯t much.

    The Nihility me was an even better example. He had drawn the Nihility me Seed from Elitra¡¯s body and directly swallowed it, allowing his Void Physique to manage it in his stead while he went and joined the battle that was about to ur.

    Due to his focus being elsewhere, he hadn¡¯t noticed anything. Even during the battle he had no time to question the change in his mes¡¯ color.

    Now that he had specifically gone to look for it, his awareness urately pinpointed a small me seed resting within his Mana Heart.

    Simr to the color of the mes he had seen previously, it was mainly gold. However, it also contained wisps of ck that he didn¡¯t notice before.

    ¡®Rather than a positive reaction between the two mes in my body, it seems as if they were forcefully melded together and fused into something entirely new.¡¯

    His sunmes didn¡¯t possess a me seed due to their nature. It looked like the Void Physique had taken his sunme source, which was essentially just a ball of fire, and merged it with the Nihility me Seed.

    ¡®This result is probably the best I could¡¯ve hoped for. Although I¡¯ve lost the ability to use Sunmes and the Nihility me separately, thebined product isn¡¯t just a matter of simple addition.¡¯

    As he continued observing the me, the more surprises he found. Indeed, the power of the me seemed to have exponentially increased after the two mesbined.

    ¡®Their properties merged too¡­¡¯

    The sunmes were, at the end of the day, mes that came from a star. They were also very closely tied to his power as a Celestial. Due to this, the sunmes had always carried slight properties of starlight within them. Only, these properties had been far too muted to show any worth.

    But now, they were out in full force. Damien could clearly feel the ster energy that the me contained.

    ¡®As for the Nihility me, it seems its consciousness was preserved, and its devouring abilities have been enhanced by Void Essence.¡¯

    Damien didn¡¯t think this was unnatural. After all, the Void Essence was the king of any devour-type abilities. Now, along with the fact that his mes could devour other mes to gain strength, they could also absorb the properties of those mes simr to what happened when the sunmes and Nihility me fused.

    ¡®What kind of me would this be? If I can find the 22 mes that trumped the Nihility me on the Heavenly me Index and devour them, what kind of monster would I create?¡¯

    Damien grew excited at the prospect. A mebining the properties of all the most powerful mes in existence¡­he had the urge to go out and try his luck immediately. But he quickly calmed himself down.

    How could it be so easy to find a me on the Heavenly me Index? There were only 100 ranked mes, and of them, he had only seen one even in the close to 6 years that he had been practicing.

    It was best to take such a matter slowly and let fate take its course.

    As for the fact that his mes had a budding consciousness, this was even better. While controlling his mes on his own was natural and didn¡¯t have much dy, he still had to put attention on shaping and guiding his mana.

    This was normal for any practitioner to do.

    But a conscious me would be able to perform those processes for him, making his efficiency and output reach their greatest potential.

    ¡®I must nurture this me spirit well. Perhaps it¡¯ll be one of my most trusted allies in the future.¡¯

    Damien soon withdrew his awareness from his body and stood up, summoning his golden-ck mes on the tips of his fingers.

    The best way to learn the true limits of its abilities was to test it practically. Although he didn¡¯t have anyone to fight at the moment, he had a spacious training area that he could destroy as he pleased.

    Damien flicked his fingers, causing a me arrow to shoot towards a nearby tree. Before it even reached a foot away from the trunk, the entire tree had been incinerated.

    ¡®Not bad at all.¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t just a matter of heat, nor was it the devouring properties of the Nihility me. It was also a result of the ster energy residing in the me.

    Properties of gravity, nuclear radiation, and even cosmic force were slightly represented in the mes.

    Ster energy was something Damien hadn¡¯t totally explored yet. That and starlight were the defining features of a Celestial, but he had entirely neglected them.

    He felt embarrassed about it, but there was nothing he could do. He had so many skills and so many energies to focus on that he was always diverting his focus during training to choose whichever path would be most beneficial in the short term.

    Perhaps this realization was the biggest gain he had made from the battle.

    Damien was someone who always prided himself on his versatility. Unlike others, he was always gaining new paths and new methods that he could use instead of being stuck with only the affinities and talent he had from birth.

    Of course, neither his affinities nor talent were bad. They could even be considered as heavenly. But he had always been ready to give himself more choices.

    However, he had realized that his outlook wasn¡¯t entirely correct.

    During the previous battle, instead of simply abusing his mana capacity and being freeform with his elements, he had mainly stuck to physicalbat and the use of skills he had created.

    And frankly, he felt that this structured battle style reaped him much more advantage than the untamed battle style he usually used.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t managed to kill Polius using Dimensional Severance due to the interferences of the dark material, he hadpletely suppressed his opponent to the point where he had no other paths to turn to.

    If it had been anyone else, they were guaranteed to die by Dimensional Severance, and that was if they managed to survive the onught that came before that.

    As for Seven Stars Encircling The Moon, it was an ultimate attack that didn¡¯t lose out to Dimensional Severance in the slightest.

    Damien knew that his versatility was indeed a good thing. It wasn¡¯t something he should ever take for granted. But he now knew that too much versatility could also be harmful.

    The saying was ¡®jack of all trades, master of none¡¯ for a reason. If he wanted to reach a pinnacle, he needed to be more single-focused than he had been before.

    But that didn¡¯t mean he needed to totally throw away his versatility either.

 Chapter 298 Gains [2]

    What he needed to do now was find a bnce. A halfway point where his versatility could still shine, but also be constrained in a format where he could master everything he already had control over.

    It was inevitable that he¡¯d continue gaining more sources of power since his main form of leveling and strengthening was devourment, but he didn¡¯t n to be burdened by that.

    He was sure that awakening his Time affinity was only a matter of time at this point, especially since he was nning to spend a few months meditating on the temporal distortion in the Trial World after dealing with the demons.

    Before that awakening took ce, he needed to clean up shop.

    But this was something that¡¯d take time and effort to work. He needed to condense his various powers into a skillset that he could fluidly maneuver through without difficulty. For now, it wasn¡¯t possible.

    Damien yed around with the golden-ck mes for a while before a sudden thought came to mind.

    ¡®These aren¡¯t sunmes anymore, nor are they Nihility mes. If so, what should I call them?¡¯

    It was an important matter. Such an imperious me; especially one that¡¯d develop consciousness at some point, required an even more imperious name.

    ¡®The Emperor me! No no, that doesn¡¯t work. Even if it became exponentially more powerful after my two mesbined, there¡¯s no way it¡¯d be more than 20th on the Heavenly me Index. It doesn¡¯t deserve such a name yet.¡¯

    Damien thought long and hard. His naming sense had always been simple and minimalistic. He never aimed for anything shy just for the sake of being shy.

    ¡®Well, Seven Stars Encircle The Moon exists¡­¡¯

    But even that one was simply named after the way it looked. It was literally seven stars encircling a bright moon that formed around his fist. Was there a more direct way to name it?

    ¡®Nihility Sun mes is a bit too straightforward¡­damn, and my dragon mes will also be incorporated into it once my bloodline improves and I awaken them. Hmm¡­¡¯

    His thoughts shifted in another direction.

    ¡®What if I just follow the theme?¡¯

    It was a genius idea. He was Damien Void! He possessed the Void Physique! He had recently gained ess to Void Essence! And so, why not just call them Void mes?

    ¡®Actually, it makes some sense now that I think about it¡­!¡¯

    The Void he hade into contact with was both nothingness and everything at the same time. While nothingness was easy to exin, the everything part was moreplicated.

    Every essence in existence, even the ones that had never been discovered before, were incorporated into the Void. Even though he couldn¡¯t perceive their existence or even verify his conjecture, he was sure of it due to the intrinsic connection he had with the Void due to his physique.

    It was simr to how when every color was mixed together, it¡¯d form a brown color that was infinitely close to ck.

    As for how it rted to the me, wouldn¡¯t his me also grow to incorporate every me that existed? Wouldn¡¯t it be simr to the void in that sense?

    As for the nothingness of the void, of course the devouring properties of the me would serve to embody it. Void Essence itself had enhanced said properties, so it wasn¡¯t wrong to interpret it as such.

    ¡®Perfect! Even though it¡¯s a golden me right now which doesn¡¯t really fit the color scheme of the void, its properties are more than enough to make it deserving of the name!¡¯

    Damien directed his awareness towards the budding consciousness of the me as he attempted to convey his will to it.

    ¡®From now until the end of time, you will be called the Void me. A me that epasses all others, and drives its enemies into nothingness! Your name is as imperious as the hopes I have for you. Do not disappoint me!¡¯

    The Void me Seed in his Mana Heart flickered excitedly as if it understood his words. With a smile, Damien finally took his attention off the mes.

    There was a second thing he needed to pay attention to. It was the dark material.

    Honestly, after the realization he just had, he was hoping that the dark material didn¡¯t give him too much more freedom. He was especially hoping that he wouldn¡¯t suddenly gain an affinity towards Death mana. Luckily, it seemed his worries were pointless.

    The dark material didn¡¯t turn into essence and enhance him in a simr way to the rest of the things he had devoured so far. However, it did have one simrity.

    It had be a ck substance that dispersed into his bloodstream, joining his bloodlines and taking a spot for itself among their ranks.

    If he had to put it into context, his bloodline now contained roughly 30% dragon bloodline, 20% of whatever the dark material had turned into, and 10% of the various lesser bloodlines that he still needed to purify.

    Suddenly, Damien felt his blood boil as the dark bloodline began to pulse. It was as if it had been waiting for him to acknowledge its presence.

    Damien hesitantly poked at it with his awareness, and surprisingly enough, two words came to his mind as he did so.

    ¡°Demon Transformation.¡¯

    The pulsing in his blood became furious. As Damien stood silently, changes began to ur in his body.

    His height grew drastically until he was close to 7 feet tall. Thick ck runic patterns surfaced on his skin and curled around his body like winding snakes.

    His skin itself had paled until he looked as if he had no blood left in him. His hair quickly changed from its original midnight ck color into a pure white like snow. His sclera turned entirely ck which enhanced how ringly unique his eyes were.

    His whole body felt like it was brimming with power. He felt that he could crush a mountain in a single punch. Along with this boost in physical strength, a thick ck mist surrounded him that seemed to corrode anything that came too close.

    ¡®Holy shit!¡¯

    Damien couldn¡¯t help but exim inwardly when he saw his current appearance. He didn¡¯t even look like himself anymore. The white hair he now had especially irked him.

    ¡®Damn, thank god my height and physique became more robust. Otherwise, I¡¯d just look like some random chuuni bastard on the side of the street. All I need now is an eyepatch and a metal arm and I¡¯d be no different than that guy from that one anime.¡¯

    Damien sighed in remorse. The power and uses of his transformation definitely pleased him, but the changes in his appearance were a bit too much.

    Thinking about changes in appearance, Damien had another genius idea.

    ¡®What if I¡­¡¯

    ¡°Dragon Transformation.¡±

    Pain immediately racked his entire body. It was like millions of needles had pierced into him at once. His innards w started to contort and inte, his body brimming with so much energy that it was on the verge of exploding.

    Still, the transformation he intended happened.

    He knew it would be like this. Two equally domineering bloodlines would naturallypete if they were given the opportunity. It was simply that the Void Essence had quelled them and turned them docile.

    Now that such a sudden change had urred, he was feeling what would¡¯ve be of his body if he tried to do the same thing without the assistance of Void Essence.

    But once the Void Essence was given enough time to do its job, the pain in his body naturally subsided and the rampaging energy calmed down.

    Two pitch-ck horns jutted out of Damien¡¯s forehead and wrapped around his head like a crown. His scales were already close to ck in color, but now, blood-red runic patterns were drawn along their surface.

    Massive wings sprouted from his shoulder des, and a draconic tail elongated from his lower spine. His teeth and nails became fangs and ws.

    His sclera had been changed by his Demon Transformation, and now his pupils became vertical slits due to his Dragon Transformation.

    ¡®This power¡­¡¯

    It was insane. Damien didn¡¯t think his body could properly house the amount of power he was brimming with at the moment. With a single p of his wings, he was able to move hundreds of kilometers.

    ¡°Argh¡­!¡±

    But it didn¡¯tst long. After a mere minute, his transformations slowly became undone, leaving a shirtless Damien copsed on the floor gasping for breath.

    The powers of his bloodlines werergely exempt from the consumption of mana due to their nature, but in return, they consumed vitality and stamina.

    Or course, since his body was his own, he didn¡¯t need to worry about being sucked dry like Polius. And due to his regeneration, vitality could be restored.

    But that restoration took time. After only a mere thirty seconds, his Demonic Dragon Transformation had consumed all of his reserves, leaving him in a severely weakened state.

    ¡®This form can obviously only be used as a final resort.¡¯

    But just because it wasn¡¯t too practical didn¡¯t mean Damien wasn¡¯t happy with it.

    After all, every second mattered in the midst of battle, let alone thirty of them. And when that minute was consumed by a form that¡¯d even let him fight on par with some weaker 4th ss existences head-on¡­

    There was no reason for him not to be satisfied with it.

 Chapter 299 Gains [3]

    The Demon Dragon Transformation and Void mes were the two main gains Damien had made in the past battle. Although he didn¡¯t pay much attention to levels, he noticed that he had passed the level 150 mark, making him halfway to the level requirement for 4th ss.¡¯

    But even after he had tabted the gains so far, there was still much left to test.

    The Demon Dragon Transformation was a final form. It was something Damien couldn¡¯t use unless he was sure of victory or if he had no other options. But the two transformations that created that ultimate form were things he could use as he saw fit.

    Evidently, both the Demon Transformation and Dragon Transformation bloodline skills drastically advanced his physical strength, but he had to see what other benefits they had. If they only amounted to this much, then what was the difference between a dragon and a demon?

    What Damien knew about dragons was scarce. Even though he stayed in White Dragon Grotto, he had never reached an appropriate status to gain the information he needed to fully understand his bloodline. But he at least knew some of the basic facts.

    For one, dragons were a race with a strange dichotomy. They were both a warring race and a race of schrs, with most dragons choosing between these two paths.

    Dragons were known as the domineering rulers of the sky. Their breath could burn the heavens and their ws could split the world into six. This kind of dragon was what Damien was most familiar with, as it matched his own belligerent personality.

    However, there was also another title the dragon race had acquired over the years. That was their identity as rulers of mana. Dragons could summon the winds and rain at will, maneuvering mana as if it was an extension of their body and performing miraculous feats that others couldn¡¯t even fathom.

    In fact, these dragons were responsible for many of the advancements in mana control and development that the universe had seen to this day. Even Damien had received the benefits of the knowledge they passed down.

    For instance, Mana Circuits. Or rather, the concept of using a medium to optimize and increase the efficiency of mana cirction and output.

    This was knowledge that was publicized on a universal scale eons before Damien¡¯s time, and over the years many different variations of the concept emerged.

    Apeiron¡¯s method of creating one¡¯s own Mana Circuits, the Cloud ne¡¯s method that allowed their people to possess inborn Mana Circuits, and even Damien¡¯s own Ananta Matrix were all examples of these variations.

    But at their core was knowledge publicized by dragons who took the path of the schr, bing sages that contributedrgely to the development and prosperity of society as a whole.

    Damien himself had only learned this through the White Dragon King when they conversed on their way to Taesi. Although he took the battle path, he held heavy admiration and pride for the aplishments of his extremely distant ancestors.

    Worlds like Apeiron had long forgotten the origin of their methods. And while Damien hadn¡¯t explored the Cloud ne enough to know for certain, he figured that only the ancient records of some ancient sects would still possess such knowledge.

    The reason Damien¡¯s thoughts moved in this direction was because he was sure his Dragon Transformation didn¡¯t simply lean towards one path or another.

    While his physical strength would receive arge boost, it was only a result of his body acquiring draconic traits. If he truly mastered his transformation and gained the ability to use his bloodline abilities in tandem with it, he was certain he could elicit much greater results.

    Like this, his Dragon Transformation could heighten his mana control to unprecedented levels and allow his mana capacity to temporarily increase as well. With his vessel gaining the appropriate strength to contain such energy, he could be a true master of mana.

    ¡®In short, I¡¯ll be able to spam my strongest moves and harass people like mad!¡¯

    It was only theory, but Damien was more than a little excited to turn it into reality. There was no way he¡¯d simply sit still and let his two transformed physiques take such a boring path of just increasing physical strength.

    As for his Demon Transformation, it was a different story. For one, the word Demon was something he used out of convenience. He didn¡¯t actually know the origin of the bloodline he gained from the dark material.

    Damien sat on the ground in a meditative posture as he examined the bloodline. Soon, a blob of inky ck liquid appeared in his hand.

    ¡®It¡¯s not the same.¡¯

    This was the conclusion he made. The blob in his hand was naturally the bloodline he had acquired from the various Demon Captains and Generals he had devoured during his crusade.

    He didn¡¯t want to associate with the Nox, so he never allowed their bloodline to merge with them. He expected the same thing to happen when he devoured the dark material, but he was entirely wrong.

    The amount and purity of Nox blood within these corrupted Demons was minimal, but with the refinement of Void Essence and the coagtion of blood from hundreds of their species, Damien was able to get a decent sample of what the blood of a purebred Nox would be.

    But whenparing it to the Demon blood in his body now, he was certain they were different things.

    Damien furrowed his brows as he fell into thought.

    ¡®It¡¯s impossible for that Demon God to be anything but a pure born Nox. I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes, and the evidence from my encounters with the Demons confirms it. If so, then why is the bloodline I received from a piece of that Nox something entirely different?¡¯

    He couldn¡¯t understand it. Even with the existence of mana, creating something out of nothing was near impossible.

    ¡®The refinement of Void Essence is definitely a variable that could¡¯ve caused this change, but in the end, that¡¯s still refinement. It isn¡¯t able to intrinsically change the bloodline into something else.¡¯

    Damien barely had anyprehension towards his Void Essence, so he couldn¡¯t be entirely certain if what he thought was the truth, but he still assumed it was so. If Void Essence was actually so broken even at the lowest level that he possessed, then what was the point of there being higher levels of the essence?

    In the end, he couldn¡¯t figure it out. The only thing he knew was that the bloodline he possessed was from a far higher race than the Nox could ever be, and the Demon Transformation he had gained was barely even scratching the surface of its abilities.

    But it was still so powerful.

    Damien shuddered when he thought about the implications of this new ability. Perhaps, he had inadvertently gotten involved in something even those 4th ss experts were too weak to understand.

    ¡®Sigh, I never want to meddle with these crazy things, but I always end up getting involved in one way or another. Well, whatever. Until the time when problems actually begin to arise, this bloodline will be something that I rely on heavily. If so, then there¡¯s no need to fear it.¡¯

    As Damien meditated, he slowly regained the lost stamina and vitality from when he used his Demon Dragon Transformation and waited patiently.

    Only after this process was finished would he be able to properly experiment on his Demon Transformation.

 Chapter 300 Gains [4]

    ¡®Thirty minutes of rest to recuperate from thirty seconds of usage. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a good or a bad thing.¡¯

    Damien rolled his arms as he mused. Although he was d that the recuperation time wasn¡¯t in the days or even weeks, thirty minutes was still a considerably long time.

    As he grew more powerful, the length of his fights became shorter and shorter. It wasn¡¯t that things became easier or that a lower number of shes urred, it was just that the speed of movement and perception grew as he grew in strength.

    For instance, back when he decimated those Demon Generals, it had taken him five minutes. And that was only because he spent most of that time ying around.

    When he fought with Polius, the entire duration of the fight was only around half an hour even though they exchanged thousands of moves.

    Damien had often heard about powerful cultivators fighting for years on end without stopping, but he didn¡¯t see the practicality in such a situation. In the end, even a fight on equal terms boiled down to stamina.

    The person whose mana was exhausted first would lose. If they were exhausted at the same time, it came down to who was willing to sacrifice more.

    If two people remained fighting for years on end, it meant they were taking constant breaks to replenish their stamina and mana. If so, it also meant those two weren¡¯t fighting to the death.

    Damien needed half an hour to return to peak shape from thirty seconds in his Demon Dragon form. Even if it wasn¡¯t a long period of time, it was enough for him to die thousands of times over.

    The main problem was how sluggish he became during that recovery period. It took a great deal of effort for him to even move from being copsed on the ground to entering a meditative posture, so fleeing the area after his transformation ended wasn¡¯t feasible.

    That meant he had to enter a safe space while the transformation was ongoing. Luckily, he had the Sanctuary to make up for this disadvantage, but he couldn¡¯t abuse the Sanctuary if he didn¡¯t want others to find out about its existence.

    And so, in most situations, his transformation would realistically only bebat effective for twenty seconds.

    ¡®Hmm, it¡¯s not bad but it¡¯s not great. But the power I felt from just standing around was insane. If I mobilized that power inbat, it¡¯d be even fiercer. Such a power would be too broken if it didn¡¯t have such drawbacks.¡¯

    The universe seemed intent on keeping bnce. Whether it was bnce ofws, power, or anything else, the concept of bnce was extremely important.

    Damien still remembered how otherworlders weren¡¯t able to ess earth through the gates that formed in their dungeons due to earth being a beginner world. When earthlings had asked about the reason, the response they got at that time was also due to bnce.

    Of course, bnce went both ways. When otherworlders discovered earth¡¯s coordinates and traveled there naturally, there was no mechanism to forbid their invasion. The Cloud ne and Niflheim forces that were on earth when Damien first returned were living proof of this.

    Damien soon stopped his thoughts and initiated his Demon Transformation again. His height grew, his hair turned white, and those pitch-ck runes formed on his skin once again.

    ¡®I still don¡¯t understand why my hair turns white¡­¡¯

    His white hair, ck sclera, and pale skin weren¡¯t rted to power at all. His height change was topensate for the vast physical force in his body and the runes were obviously something special as well, but the other features were strictly for appearance.

    ¡®Well, no matter how useless they are, It¡¯s still a clue.¡¯

    Now that he had examined the new bloodline and understood its differences from the Nox bloodline, he was more willing to ept his appearance changes.

    After all, these changes were simr to how his pupils became vertical firing Dragon Transformation. He adopted the physical traits of the race whose bloodline he possessed, so if he ever met someone who possessed simr traits in the future, he¡¯d be able to easily identify the rtion between the two.

    That way, he¡¯d have a much easier time understanding the roots of this new bloodline.

    ¡®Good. If I use this form alone, the stamina and vitality drain can bepensated easily by regeneration. I can stably use this form for extended periods of time without worry of repercussions.¡¯

    Damien hadn¡¯t been solely focused on his appearance. He had been more so testing whether his time limit existed in this form as well. With the assurance that it didn¡¯t, he could now patiently observe the benefits he received without feeling hurried.

    ¡®These runic lines are probably the mainstay of this form. I don¡¯t know the qualities of this race, so I can¡¯t form a deeper understanding and development path like I did for Dragon Transformation, but I can at least understand the surface-level things that are already presented to me.¡¯

    Damien circted his mana and poured it into those runic lines, watching how they lit up with a faint ck hue. As mana continued to insert into them, they squirmed and wriggled around his body like little snakes on his skin.

    ¡®Attack.¡¯

    With hismand, the randomly squirming runic lines moved in order and formed geometric tattoos on his body.

    The second these patterns formed, Damien felt the physical force contained in his body increase exponentially.

    He was even scared to throw a punch at the moment since he wasn¡¯t sure if he would cause spatial instability in this secluded realm.

    ¡®Defense.¡¯

    The runic patterns swiftly changed shape again before settling down. The gathered physical force in his body didn¡¯t disperse, rather it melded into his physique and made his body extremely sturdy.

    This force was now in a form where it couldn¡¯t be outputted, but he felt that even if he stood still and took a head-on attack from Demon King Lucius, he¡¯d still be able to survive, even if he was heavily injured in the process.

    ¡®Speed.¡¯

    A simr process took ce. Damien¡¯s body became increasingly agile to the point where he felt like he was teleporting through the spatialyers. But it was an effect brought forth by physical power alone.

    Continuing from the three most basic configurations he could figure out, Damien experimented continuously with his new power, asionally taking breaks so he didn¡¯t exhaust all his stamina and vitality.

    He had already lost track of time, and when the artificial sun of the Sanctuary rose once more after numerous days, he finally stopped his experiments.

    If he needed to describe the runic patterns in one word, it would be enhancement. Almost any singr force could be enhanced by the runic lines.

    Of course, he could mediate the enhancement to multiple facets as well, but the degree of enhancement would decrease based on how thinly he spread it.

    It was like stat points. If he had 10, he could only distribute 10 total to all of his statsbined. He couldn¡¯t magically raise all his stats by 10 points.

    The only thing that couldn¡¯t be enhanced was soul-rted concepts.

    But Damien wasn¡¯t put off by this. He had somewhat expected it even. After all, the soul wasn¡¯t something his vessel was allowed to touch upon yet, even when he was boosted by his transformation.

    Once he was finished, he also took some time to study the ster energy within his Void mes so he would be able to properly wield them.

    Time passed quickly like this until a month went by. It was time for him to focus on his main objectives again.

    Damien smiled while clenching his fists.

    ¡®First goal: infiltrate the demon city and kidnap a Demon King!¡¯

 Chapter 301 Kidnapping [1]

    Saying it was easy, but actually putting it into action was much more difficult.

    Damien had received an in-depth exnation on the inner workings andyout of the demon city Acier from Demon King Lucius, but this information wasn¡¯t enough to guarantee his sess.

    There were many factors blocking his path forward.

    The main one, and the factor that was the most out of his control, was the massive restriction on his teleportation ability.

    If he was as he was in the outside world, it would¡¯ve been a simple matter to teleport into the Demon King¡¯s Castle, grab the Demon King, and teleport out, entering the Sanctuary before anyone could regain their senses.

    Honestly, thinking about how easy the mission would¡¯ve been in such a scenario made Damien¡¯s head hurt, so he decided to stop thinking about it altogether. What mattered was that such ease was impossible.

    As he continued to use teleportation for movement within the Trial World, he had begun to slowlyprehend the restricted space around him, making it easier to move.

    But as it was a restriction stemming from theprehension of a true Demigod, even with Damien¡¯s understanding he wasn¡¯t able to increase the distance he could freely move by much.

    But, he had managed to increase from his original one-meter teleportation to around three meters, which wasn¡¯t too bad.

    Whether this change would actually help him at all in theing operation was yet to be known.

    In Damien¡¯s opinion, infiltrating was the easiest part. With the societal structure of the Trial World, the Demon race was incredibly arrogant, thinking that no human would dare enter their territory.

    As such, even if Damien walked through the streets with his head held high, he didn¡¯t think anyone would question it.

    That is, as long as he possessed the aura of a Demon, which he could easily replicate by slightly stimting his new Demonic Bloodline.

    From what the Demon King Lucius had said, it seemed news of the concurrent losses of the Demon forces in recent days was also suppressed, most likely due to the Apostles¡¯ pride.

    There was no way they¡¯d allow the lower Demons, who viewed them as gods amongst men, to understand that they had suffered multiple crushing defeats to outside forces. It was a heavy loss of face that they couldn¡¯t endure.

    This only served to make infiltration easier.

    And Damien didn¡¯t take much time to decide to act on his assumptions.

    Since the Apostles had seen him through the record crystal nted on the Demon Generals he had fought before the battle with the Commanders¡¯ army, he first took the chance to change his form.

    Due to his newfound familiarity with his bloodlines, Damien had much better control over how he facilitated them. He was now able to take specific parts of his bloodline abilities and use them at will instead of being forced to draw out all their power at once.

    For instance, he could now call out his wings alone and use them for simple movement purposes without having to call forth his full Dragon Transformation.

    It was a development that made the utility of his bloodlines much more effective, so they didn¡¯t only work as improvedbat forms.

    So, when Damien exited the Sanctuary, he looked like apletely different person.

    His height remained the same, but he now had long flowing white hair and pale snow-like skin. His most defining feature was his eyes, but even they had changed. His sclera were entirely ck from his Demonic Bloodline, while his pupils were now vertical slits.

    Although he still appeared incredibly unique, it was hard to draw a connection between his current self and the Damien people had seen before unless they were aware of his bloodline abilities.

    ¡®Good. Due to the fact that I¡¯m only merging the appearances from both bloodlines instead of their power, there¡¯s no consumption of vitality and stamina. If I really wanted to, I could stay in this appearance indefinitely.¡¯

    Damien smiled wryly at the thought. He could clearly imagine the scene of Rose beating his ass and forcing him to change back to normal even if he did make such a decision.

    ¡®It¡¯s time to move.¡¯

    Damien was still closest to Darknorth, while demon city Acier was close to Astoria. The travel time alone would take many hours.

    Two pitch-ck wings appeared from Damien¡¯s back the second he had this thought. With a single p, he had already moved hundreds of meters.

    Like this, the many hours of travel werergely cut down. It didn¡¯t take long for Damien to reach the vicinity of the mountain where Acier was located.

    Withdrawing his wings, Damien calmly walked to the mountain and circled it until he found a rtively hidden walkway. This was the true entrance to the city that only demons were aware of.

    And as he expected, he didn¡¯t meet any resistance. The demons patrolling the path simply cast him odd or envious looks as he brushed past them, but sensing his aura, they didn¡¯t dare get close.

    ¡°Who is this gigolo?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a bastard like him before.¡±

    ¡°Shh! Don¡¯t talk too loud. Didn¡¯t you sense his aura? He has to at least be a General!¡±

    ¡°Brother, I owe you my life! From this moment on, I will never betray you!¡±

    ¡°So you would¡¯ve betrayed me earlier?!¡±

    ¡°Hehe!¡±

    Damien smiled at their hushed conversations as he observed the scenery around him. While the mountain did indeed have a gloomy and cold aura, the actual environment was nice.

    There was beautiful foliage lining the mountain path that climbed towards the city, showing unique nts and flowers that were suited to growing in these gloomy conditions.

    Even when he entered Acier, he retained his surprise. Unlike the demon city he was imagining on his way here, the actual thing wasn¡¯t anything special.

    ¡®This ce is just a regr city, except the residents are demons¡­¡¯

    Damien suddenly remembered how even in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, the beasts had formed ns and alliances, building cities and living rtively proper lives.

    Unless they were on the ground level or they hadn¡¯t yet developed their sentience, most of the beasts actually preferred a neater lifestyle.

    If so, why couldn¡¯t demons be the same?

    Up to this point, Damien had only met theirmanding officers and their army. Those were the Demons who had been totally indoctrinated and corrupted by their power and ideologies.

    But these regr demons? They were no different than the human mortals who lived in the cities down below. They lived their lives like normal people, mostly unaware of the overall situation.

    ¡®I¡¯ve been too biased against them because of their connection with the Nox.¡¯

    The entire Demon race had been forcefully corrupted 10,000 years ago, and their descendants were born into this corruption. They worshipped the Nox as the Demon God without even the slightest knowledge of the truth.

    Could they be med for this? Damien suddenly felt a headacheing on.

    Ignorance was a sin. He knew that, but did that mean he could calmly call for the execution of innocents because of their unwitting association?

    He wasn¡¯t a good man, but he wouldn¡¯t go out of his way to do evil either.

    He didn¡¯t need to concern himself with thesemonfolk. His job was to wipe clean the Captains, Generals, Commanders, and Kings among them. As for what happened to the rest of them; that wasn¡¯t his problem.

    Sighing lightly, he continued his leisurely stroll down the street, his sight set on the mountain peak where the Demon King Castles stood.

 Chapter 302 Kidnapping [2]

    In his talk with the Demon King Lucius, Damien had learned a great deal about the Demons¡¯ current situation.

    Basically, these mortal Demons were sheep to be herded and separated based on how much they could provide.

    Although these Demons were born with the Nox corruption within them, not every Demon had the qualifications to receive the power of the Demon God.

    The way it worked was simple. Every 10 years, the Demons above the age of 16 and below the age of 26 were to gather together for a sort of right of passage.

    During that right, the present demons would be bathed in the Demon God¡¯s power. It was from this point where things changed.

    For some, that power would simply flow through them and disappear back into the earth. These demons would then have their memories wiped before they were sent back to Acier to continue their normal lives.

    As for the rest, there were a few paths they could take. The strength a demon received from the Demon God¡¯s baptism was dependent on their affinity with the Demon God¡¯s strength.

    Essentially, there was no concept of leveling for their race. The lucky ones would straight promote to the Demon General level of strength; while the rest would be Captains.

    And depending on how much of the Baptism they could actually absorb, even within these ssifications there were differences in strength.

    But the ones who actually adapted to this process and promoted ranks were the lucky ones.

    90% of the Demons remaining would enter a strange realm between eptance and rejection. Their bodies didn¡¯tpletely reject the power like those who remained mortal, but they didn¡¯t ept the power and allow those demons to straight promote.

    This tug of war taking ce in the body of someone who had no strength at all naturally led to adverse consequences, birthing the abominations that Damien hade into contact with so many times.

    But because every demon who survived the right of passage had their memory wiped, news of the creation process for abominations never spread. The demons simply believed that the right of passage was a trial of strength, and those who didn¡¯t return had died with honor.

    In Damien¡¯s opinion, this was an extremely reckless and self-sacrificing method to do things, but he understood why it was so. The Nox never cared about the lives of the demons it controlled. They were merely tools it needed to interfere with the Primordial Undying Tree¡¯s ns.

    And with the high fertility rate that mortal demons had, there was no need for the Nox to ever worry about running out of specimens.

    And due to this method of herding, the structure of Acier was simr to a ss system, with 5 levels representing the status one held.

    The firstyer was by far thergest, containing the thousands of mortal Demons that existed within the city. The rest of theyers followed theyout of the army.

    Thousands of Captains in the 4thyer, hundreds of Generals in the 3rd, the 4 Demon Kings in the 2nd, and the Apostles living within the pantheon in the 1styer.

    It was a system that clearly indicated the hierarchy. Even though the Demon Kings were the Demons¡¯ strongest force, they merely resided in the secondyer.

    With Damien¡¯s strength, he didn¡¯t even need to worry about the first threeyers. The only Demons that could pose a threat to him were at the very top of the pyramid.

    So he continued thinking about the oddities of this pitiful Demon race as he strolled through their ranks.

    After leaving the 5thyer, Damien had used vector control to refract the light around him and be invisible. He didn¡¯t think the Apostles would be monitoring the area, but he decided to be safe.

    And without suspense, whether it be Demon Captain or Demon General, none of them were able to even sense that something was wrong.

    Soon enough, Damien arrived near the peak of the mountain. At this juncture, he switched his approach.

    While vector control manipted natural forces, it still used mana to do so. Damien didn¡¯t have the confidence to say that traces of said mana wouldn¡¯t be discovered as he moved from this point on.

    Instead, Damien turned to his Demonic Bloodline. It was a bloodline that contained a rich energy of darkness. He hadn¡¯t grasped many of the mysteries of this bloodline, but since it was rted to darkness, the concealment aspects were the easiest to grasp.

    Since he already had experience from being spiritually connected to Zara, Damien was able to maneuver around this bloodline ability with ease.

    His body was shrouded in ayer of darkness before melding into the environment. Simr to a spatial ability, it was like Damien was currently present in a separate ne from the real world.

    Damien cautiously approached the 4 parallel castles that stood imposingly in front of him before directing his gaze at the one on the far right. Slowly creeping towards it, he came to a sudden halt.

    ¡®Something isn¡¯t right¡­¡¯

    Damien furrowed his brows. His danger sense was telling him that taking a single step further would result in heavy consequences.

    Being careful not to let the scent of mana leave his body, Damien slowly guided his mana into his eyes.

    And that was when he saw it.

    A massive shimmering golden dome that epassed the entire periphery of the castle. It was barely an inch away from Damien¡¯s body, making him break into a cold sweat.

    ¡®Damn, not only would I have been discovered, but I probably would¡¯ve also been targeted by the barrier¡¯s defensive mechanisms. That¡¯s literally the worst-case scenario.¡¯

    He knew he couldn¡¯t continue forward without alerting all four Demon Kings as well as the Apostles¡¯ spies located within their castles. But he still needed to somehow make contact with Demon King Lucius.

    ¡®It¡¯s been smooth sailing so far, to the point where me being wary of these Demons feels embarrassing. But of course, nothing will gopletely perfect.¡¯

    Damien pondered. He didn¡¯t have a method to contact the Demon King, and when they met, there was no way to receive one.

    After all, the Demon King had been a mere projection at the time. And since he didn¡¯t want news of their motives leaking, he hadn¡¯t even told his Generals what his purpose was. They only knew to set up the meeting between the Demon King and Damien.

    ¡®Ah, right! I can just ask her!¡¯

    He had a nice little maid waiting for him within the Sanctuary, who just so happened to be the daughter of the Demon King.

    ¡®That sounds like the plot of an isekai¡­¡¯

    Thinking something nonsensical, Damien vanished into the Sanctuary. As expected, Elitra had plenty of methods to contact her father on hand. When Damien returned to his former position, there was a paper talisman in his grasp.

    ¡®Mm, I knew it. Having a maid is far better than not having one!¡¯

    Damien grinned, pouring some mana into the talisman.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    A solemn voice soon responded from the paper. Damien¡¯s grin widened when he heard it.

    ¡°Father-inw, your son-inw hase to pay his respects!¡±

 Chapter 303 Kidnapping [3]

    ¡°Little brat, don¡¯t joke with me. You moved so early? I thought it¡¯d take far longer before you built up the courage toe.¡±

    The Demon King¡¯s voice sounded especially annoyed by the words ¡®father-inw¡¯, bringing Damien endless amusement.

    ¡°Haha, what can I say? Junior was far too excited to gain father-inw¡¯s approval, so I couldn¡¯t help myself.¡±

    ¡°Sigh, still in the mood to joke? Well, it matters not. Tell me, where are you right now?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m outside your house, though there¡¯s this big shiny wall in my way!¡±

    ¡°Can you take the situation seriously at all? Don¡¯t you understand the implications of what you are doing right now? Also, how can you use mana so freely tomunicate when you¡¯re in the presence of so many higher beings? Those old farts have probably already sensed you.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I mean is it so necessary to take the situation seriously? In my opinion, things will work out pretty smoothly. Even if they don¡¯t, escaping is something I pride myself in. As for those other Demon Kings, I don¡¯t think we have to worry about them right now. While my concealment can¡¯t be considered heaven-defying, it should at least keep my mana from leaking and being sensed.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine. It¡¯s not like my life is about to be in your hands or anything. It¡¯s not like I need some kind of assurance to trust a stranger I only met for a few minutes a month ago. Bastard, if something happens I swear on my name that I¡¯ll be the first to kill you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Anyway, how am I supposed to get in? Even if the others haven¡¯t noticed me yet, they will the instant I step through this barrier.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll make an opening for you, so grasp it as you see fit.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll see you in a bit.¡±

    ¡°Stop acting so familiar with me.¡±

    Damien put away themunication talisman after he finished speaking. Although he only showed yfulness to the Demon King, his face was incredibly serious.

    He had used themunication talisman because he really had no other way to proceed forward from where he was, but he wasn¡¯t assured at all about whether or not he had been discovered.

    As he had said, he had no confidence in his concealment. He wasn¡¯t using vector control or any of the abilities he had confidence in. His Demonic Bloodline was new and he was essentially using the situation as an experiment to test its capabilities.

    Damien patiently waited without moving an inch, scanning the surroundings like a hawk trying to notice the opening the Demon King was preparing for him.

    Many minutester, he noticed a young woman in a maid uniform hastily leaving the castle.

    ¡®As expected, this guy is a true maid appreciator.¡¯

    Since this little maid was the only one around, Damien kept his focus on her movements. As he watched, she scampered off to the side where arge garden was located. Incidentally, this garden was in line with the barrier around the mansion.

    Damien narrowed his eyes. It was too much of a coincidence when considering both her timing and location. Thinking so, he made his way to the area she had reached.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the maid started happily plucking some flowers and carefully cing them in a few vases she brought with her. From an outsider¡¯s perspective, she was so focused on her task that she lost track of her surroundings.

    As she moved, she finally reached the edge of the medicine garden, and in that instant, her body brushed past the barrier, leaving her half inside and half outside the barrier¡¯s width.

    ¡°Who goes there?!¡±

    An rmed shout came from the side of the castle. Near a dozen fully armored guards surrounded the area in an instant, blocking off any potential trespassers. Their auras red out and covered the surroundings, putting a heavy pressure on the poor maid caught in its center.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    The maid eximed when she saw the situation. Sweat began to trickle down her brows.

    ¡°E-esteemed sirs! I live in this castle! I am not a trespasser!¡±

    ¡°Girl, what are you doing alerting the barrier? If you truly live within the castle, you should know that no residents are allowed to leave the castle grounds unless ordered!¡±

    ¡°Esteemed sirs, this little one made no move to leave the castle grounds! This is all a misunderstanding!¡±

    ¡°And what could we possibly be misunderstanding?! Us being alerted clearly means that you attempted to breach the barrier. There is no other reason needed!¡±

    The guards began to move forward, drawing their weapons and pointing them at the maid.

    ¡°Sir! It was but an ident! I simply came to the flower garden to pick some of these Moon¡¯s Glimmer Lillies, but my body must have identally passed through the barrier! I was too focused and didn¡¯t notice, this humble one is incredibly sorry!¡±

    The maid¡¯s knees hit the ground as she began to prostrate, not daring to raise her forehead up off the ground.

    The head of the guards red at the maid suspiciously, but seeing how tears were starting to well up in her eyes, his brows furrowed.

    Looking around, the guard noticed tens of vases filled with Moon¡¯s Glimmer Lillies neatly arranged on the side, and even the maid¡¯s body was covered in dirt and the scent of flowers.

    Thinking carefully, there was no reason for a simple maid to try and sneak out of the castle. The guards knew that even if it was them who tried to do so, the only oue would be death.

    As for the maids and servants, they were specifically picked or groomed to have no attachments to the outside world. Most of them were orphaned due to their parents not surviving the Demon God¡¯s Baptism.

    The guard finally relented, admonishing the maid before calling for a retreat. Once the troop was finally out of sight, the maid heaved a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Scary! Too scary! Next time, I can¡¯te to this flower garden anymore.¡±

    The maid crouched down and hugged her knees. A few silent tears dripped from her eyes. She was only a mortal, and the pressure those guards had exuded made her body feel like it was going to be crushed in an instant.

    It was only many minutester when she finally managed topose herself.

    ¡°I can¡¯t let the Lord see me like this. But I wonder if he will like my gift?¡±

    Smiling to herself, the maid wiped the residue of tears off her face and gathered up the lilies she had plucked. Finally, she walked back to the castle and entered inside.

    ¡°Hmph. It looks like she was telling the truth.¡±

    Not far away, the guard captain hid in the shadows and watched the maid¡¯s actions. There was no way he¡¯d loosen his suspicion simply based on her ims.

    But after observing her actions once the danger had passed, the guard captain was finally convinced. There was no way a mortal could act well enough to fool his senses.

    Thinking about how his time was wasted on a false rm, the guard captain harrumphed once more before leaving the area. He needed to go find some servants who he could vent his frustrations on.

    Unfortunately for the guard captain, however, he had failed to notice the slight squirming of the maid¡¯s shadow as she had entered the castle.

 Chapter 304 Kidnapping [4]

    Damien entered the castle without hups. Honestly speaking, all the credit belonged to this maid.

    Although Damien had to time his entrance into the barrier to perfectly match the maid¡¯s movements when she brushed it, that wasn¡¯t actually a hard task for him.

    To his eyes, the unhurried movements of a mortal could be watched by the microsecond. It was like he was watching the scene in super slow motion, so he didn¡¯t have a difficult time at all.

    After he entered the barrier, he mimicked the technique Zara used to stay within his shadow. However, because he wasn¡¯t proficient, it wasn¡¯t nearly as smooth.

    For one, he couldn¡¯t expand the shadow into a massive subspace as Zara could, so he was forced to squeeze into the already existing space within the shadow, causing it to move awkwardly.

    At this point, Damien felt it wouldn¡¯t be long before he was discovered by the hawkish gazes of the guards. But the maid had suddenly prostrated herself, covering his movements as all attention became focused on her.

    With the way the situation had been unfolding, her movements felt natural, but Damien knew there couldn¡¯t be such a convenient coincidence.

    He almost wanted to use his All-Seeing Eyes to pry into the secrets of this seemingly harmless maid, but the situation didn¡¯t allow him to do so. Plus, the fact that she was able to sense his movements meant she was strong. He didn¡¯t want to risk offending someone who could p him to death with a single palm if they got pissed off.

    After entering the castle, Damien stayed within the maid¡¯s shadow without moving needlessly. Although he didn¡¯t know where she was headed, considering what he had deduced so far, he felt it was best to stick with her.

    And as he thought, the maid slowly reached a single room that stood alone on the top floor of the mansion. Once she reached the door, she hesitantly knocked.

    ¡°Lord, I¡¯ve brought a gift for you.¡±

    A faint blush colored her face as she spoke. When Damien looked around, he noticed a few other maids in the hallway ncing at her in disdain.

    ¡°Enter.¡±

    A deep voice came from within the study. The maid opened the door at his instruction and quickly entered, closing the door behind her.

    When she entered, the first thing she saw was an imposing man sitting quietly at his desk, gazing at the soft moonlight that entered the study through the single window.

    Her breath stopped short as she tried to immortalize the scene within her memory. Damien almost felt like he had to leave before she pounced on the Demon King.

    He had no interest in voyeurism.

    But after a few moments, the maid finally managed to raise her voice and speak.

    ¡°Lord! I picked some Moon¡¯s Glimmer Lillies for you! I know they are your favorite!¡±

    ¡°Mm, you may leave them here. Thank you for your hard work.¡±

    ¡°Anything for you, my Lord.¡±

    The maid gently ced the lilies down on a nearby table before excusing herself from the room. After serving him for so many years, she knew that her Lord was currently too preupied to focus on other things.

    Once she left, Demon King Lucius slowly raised his gaze towards a certain spot in the room.

    ¡°This ce is isted from prying eyes. Why are you still trying to act mysterious around me, O son-inw of mine?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, as expected of my dear father-inw. Perceptive as always!¡± Damienughed lightly as he came out from the shadows.

    Demon King Lucius rolled his eyes before suddenly snickering. ¡°Brat, your appearance right now is truly¡­special.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, don¡¯t talk about it. It¡¯s all for a just cause, so the embarrassment can be endured!¡± Damien proimed righteously as he massaged his forehead.

    ¡°Alright. Now that you¡¯re here, what¡¯s your n? Escaping won¡¯t be nearly as easy as infiltrating.¡± The Demon King immediately went into serious matters after his bit of teasing.

    ¡°I¡¯m also aware of that, but I can manage. Don¡¯t worry about that. Oh right, before we leave, is there anyone you want to bring with you? For example, a certain maid that seems to be head over heels for you.¡±

    ¡°Boy, don¡¯t go too far. I raised that little girl from birth. She¡¯s nothing more than a daughter to me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯d be distraught if she ever heard that.¡±

    ¡°Leave my personal matters alone. Why are you asking about others? It¡¯d be hard enough to get a single person out of here, let alone a group.¡±

    ¡°I have my methods. As for my reason, you should clearly understand it.¡±

    Demon King Lucius sighed. Once he disappeared from his castle, hell would break loose. The servants and guards who resided here would inevitably be ughtered in the aftermath.

    Of course he understood, but he didn¡¯t actually think there was any proper solution. He was already bearing so much pain in his heart, so he simply epted that bearing more pain was a necessity.

    ¡°If you truly considered that little maid like a daughter, then you shouldn¡¯t be so hasty in leaving her as a sacrifice. If I say I have a method, I naturally have one. I understand you can¡¯t trust me, but this is for my sake as much as it is for yours.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°I mean, if I can make her father happy and bring the people she cares about to safety, won¡¯t my little maid be even more obedient in the future? It¡¯s the perfect n!¡±

    ¡°Tch!¡±

    The Demon King couldn¡¯t help but scoff. The worst part was, he was right! Lucius knew damn well that if Damien could actually aplish what he said, Elitra¡¯s gratefulness and worship towards him would skyrocket.

    ¡°Whatever. Even I¡¯ll be forced to owe you a favor if you can truly do such a thing. Very well, I shall gather everyone in one ce.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long at all for a group of close to 50 people to gather near Demon King Lucius¡¯s study. These people all had curious expressions on their faces as they looked at him.

    But he could clearly see the reverence they had towards Lucius. It was so great that it would be impossible to fake.

    ¡°Sigh. It seems I can do nothing now but resign myself to fate. Boy, I leave us all in your care.¡±

    For the first time, Damien put on a solemn expression.

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    Without even exining to the gathered individuals what was happening, Damien spread his mana to cover the crowd. Since Lucius wasn¡¯t resisting, these servants didn¡¯t resist either.

    As the mana around them began to fill with the essence of space, the area around them started distorting. Soon, they began disappearing from the hall in groups of 10.

    In a few seconds, only Demon King Lucius and the maid from before were left.

    ¡°Stop resisting my mana, you freaks. When you are both teleported to that ce, things will truly start to get fun. I¡¯ll project a live feed so you can watch what¡¯s happening here from safety. Also, your strength will be sealed in that ce until I arrive there with you, so bear with it. Maybe try resisting it as well? I want to see whether my World Principles or your 4th ss strength is stronger.¡±

    With one final grin, Damien teleported Demon King Lucius and that maid to the Sanctuary.

    Taking a deep breath, he gazed around to assess the current situation.

    The remaining hundreds of guards and servants in the pce were already charging at him with fiendish looks in their eyes.

    rms were ring everywhere.

    Powerful auras began to converge on his location.

    ¡®Things will start for real now.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s thoughts raced as he shed away from his position as if he never existed there in the first ce.

 Chapter 305 Converging [1]

    In the city of Astoria, not far from the demon city Acier, arge congregation of people had been arriving over the past few days.

    Even the ordinary mortals living within the city walls could clearly feel the storm brewing on the horizon, only, they had no idea why such a storm suddenly arrived.

    But they didn¡¯t question it. Firstly, the individuals in question were far too powerful for these mortals to dare speak up, but it was more due to a second reason.

    After all, at the head of the congregation of individuals was a woman who they hadplete faith in. It was due to her efforts that the city had survived the siege of abominations it faced close to a month ago.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t made much progress in the past month, but at least we now know the location of the demons¡¯ base. Dammit! It was so close! How did we miss it for so long?!¡±

    A fiery red beautyined as she gazed into the horizon with an annoyed look. Her eyes were focused on a mountain a few tens of kilometers away.

    ¡°Hmm~ it¡¯s not like the residents of the Trial World have any information. They are too weak! Those idiot demons also didn¡¯t seem to be able to speak, that¡¯s why it took so much effort for us to finally learn something. This month has been so boring~!¡±

    A second beauty driveled exaggeratedly. Qing tan was genuinely frustrated, though. She had only met and traveled with Damien for a few days, but the amount of fun she was able to have in those few days trumped the entire rest of her time in the Trial World.

    ¡°I¡¯ll find that bastard and beat him up! Beat him! Let¡¯s see how he excludes me next time!¡±

    ¡°What next time? After the Trial World ends, I doubt you¡¯ll get to see him very often.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er scoffed.

    ¡°Who cares~? If he hides from me, I¡¯ll just have to find him! That¡¯s easy!¡±

    ¡°If it was so easy, then why haven¡¯t you found him yet? Don¡¯t try to pretend like you haven¡¯t been searching for him since we separated.¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er rolled her eyes, not wanting to deal with Qing Tan¡¯s antics anymore. They had now been traveling together for enough time that Feng Qing¡¯er had a general grasp on how to deal with her.

    ¡°We should finally be able to move soon. It looks like almost everyone has shown up.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s gaze shifted to a square within Astoria. Within it, there were around 40 geniuses gathered together.

    It was all of the geniuses Feng Qing¡¯er had contact with from their group. Around twenty from Astoria and 20 from Darknorth. The rest had either died or were in unknown ces.

    For the past month, Feng Qing¡¯er had been tirelessly moving for the sake of finding Acier and bringing these geniuses together. And now, it was finally time.

    ¡°But still~ a full frontal assault is a bit much, no? Do you really think they can hold up?¡± Qing Tan asked curiously,

    Even more than Feng Qing¡¯er, she was well aware of the standard of these geniuses. They could deal with Captains just fine, but they had to group up to fight Generals, let alone Commanders who could easily wipe them out if they used their dark material.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I never expected much from them anyway. But, we need more people if we¡¯re going to take out a bulk of the demons¡¯ numbers.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I guess it works? I didn¡¯t know Miss Queen was fond of using others as meat shields!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit harsh? They should be honored to take part in a raid like this one. Besides, meat shield isn¡¯t the proper word. The enemies we¡¯ll be facing are far worse than the ones they will after all.¡±

    ¡°I guess so~.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er sighed. She didn¡¯t know what Damien was nning to do, but she figured that he also had some business in Acier, especially since he had decided to separate from them after meeting with the Demon King.

    For some reason, thinking about him facing dangers alone made her feel stifled. She knew Damien wasn¡¯t a righteous person, but he was still doing so much. Meanwhile, all she could do was carry her righteous sentiments without being able to act on them.

    It was this sense of falling behind that drove her to act so brazenly. Well, that was a part of it. There was another reason as well.

    After she achieved Nirvana and was reborn with Reincarnation mes, something within her had been triggered. She felt a strange sense of repulsion and disgust whenever she saw those demons.

    It was like her bloodline was rejecting their existence. It seethed with hatred and vengeance. But she didn¡¯t know how demons who had been trapped in this Primordial Undying Realm for thousands of years could stimte the blood of her ancestors.

    Feng Qing¡¯er wanted to get to the bottom of why she was feeling such things. And the only way to do so was to go to Acier.

    ¡®Actually, he might know something about it.¡¯

    Her thoughtsnded on Damien again. He didn¡¯t even try to deny the fact that he was still hiding some of his knowledge about the demons¡¯ situation from them. She felt that whatever the information he was hiding was, it was also the key to why her ancestors bore such hatred for the demons.

    ¡®Next time I see him, I¡¯ll milk that information out of him no matter what.¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er had a confident grin on her face as she thought of it. That fellow had taken advantage of her so many times when they first met, yet he barely paid her any mind once they entered the Trial World. She would let him see how she¡¯d deal with him when all of this was over.

    A woman¡¯s mind was a strange thing. Although Feng Qing¡¯er wanted to ignore him and just st him to shreds like she would do with any other man who dared to act presumptuous around her, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to do so.

    His shamelessness and annoying personality aside, his strength was indeed the real deal. And when he got serious, she had personally seen how he discarded his previous attitude.

    In the end, her interactions with her had made her more curious about him than she was angry at his prior actions, and this fact only served to make her even angrier.

    ¡®Damn! Focus on the task ahead, Qing¡¯er! Hmph! I¡¯ll tell Luna about everything that¡¯s happened here once we meet again. Even if he can take me, let¡¯s see how he takes us sisters when we work together!¡¯

    Smiling lightly, she once again focused on the mountain in the distance.

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s eyes sharpened.Turning to Qing Tan, she gave her orders. ¡°It looks like everyone¡¯s here. Gather them and tell them to get ready. We¡¯ll leave as soon as they are.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er stood up from her position and moved to the city walls.

    Later today, she would lead this group to siege the demon city Acier and let the blood of demons flow through thend.

 Chapter 306 Converging [2]

    ¡°Alright, listen here! Since I¡¯ve told you the reason I gathered you before asking you toe here, I don¡¯t think I need to reiterate myself.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er stood on a tform and looked down on the gathered geniuses. They would soon set out for Acier.

    ¡°We have one goal and one goal only: Kill! I know many of you have your own reasons for joining this mission, but that hardly matters to me. As long as you properly do what you¡¯ve been told to do, everything else is up to you!

    ¡°Let me set some ground rules. I won¡¯t give you many orders and I won¡¯t force you to act against your will, but greater benefits will go to those who contribute more! You can stay at the lowest levels if you so please, all I need is for you to kill until you can¡¯t kill anymore!

    ¡°It should bemon sense, but no mortals should be harmed during the siege. Even if you kill them, you won¡¯t get any benefits or contribution points anyway, so there¡¯s no point even if you don¡¯t have the basic decency to allow mortals to live.

    ¡°That¡¯s it! Now, let¡¯s march!¡±

    ¡°¡±March!¡±¡±

    The geniuses¡¯ cries reverberated through the outskirts of Astoria. Although Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s speech wasn¡¯t morale-boosting or encouraging at all, it was enough to get their blood boiling.

    Kill!

    It was a simple order, but one that awakened the most primal instincts of these geniuses. They had been raised in proper environments and they had been fostered well, sure, but in the end, there was no denying the core truth behind their existence.

    They were beasts!

    Until they developed intelligence, their instincts were as such.

    Kill! Eat! Evolve!

    Hearing Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s speech made them recall those days before they could even properly learn the Beast Transformation Art. When they were ruled by their instincts and relied on wanton ughter to grow.

    The march to Acier wasn¡¯t long since they were already in Astoria, and a few hours wasn¡¯t enough to quench their fighting spirit. Once they arrived, Feng Qing¡¯er led them to a familiar path that Damien had walked only a few hours prior.

    Night had fallen, and the mountainside was quiet. The citizens in the firstyer of Acier had mostly gone to sleep already.

    ¡°Keuk¡­!¡±

    A muffled scream rang out before it was immediately quelled. Concentrated fire needles shot from Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s fingers and silenced every guard they came across.

    ¡°I¡¯ve scanned with my awareness just now. It seems like everyone residing here is without cultivation. For our battle, we must climb higher.¡±

    The geniuses nodded in unison while secretly marveling at Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s expert me control. From what they had heard in the outside world, this woman was brazen and bold, never making moves silently. Every time she acted, she would set the world aze.

    But seeing her now, it was like she was apletely different person from the one whose reputation they¡¯d heard. She was quiet and concise, leaving no room for error.

    It seemed she had grown immensely over the past few months.

    The group slowly made their way past the firstyer and continued climbing the mountain. Not long after, they reached the nextyer.

    ¡°This ce seems to be structured like a barracks. Although it isn¡¯t strong, there is definitely the aura of mana seeping through the area. For those who want to pick off Captains, this is where you stop.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er urately understood the distinction betweenyers as she felt the mana in the atmosphere and gave her orders. Soon, a group of twenty geniuses split off from the main group.

    These were the geniuses who had stayed in Astoria while Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan continued forward with Damien. Having seen the Generals fight, they had no confidence in going against them. They were scared.

    As for the rest, they came mainly from Darknorth. Although Darknorth had suffered plenty of losses due to the Generals and Captains who attacked, these geniuses had already fought them before, and didn¡¯t hold the same fear in their hearts as the others.

    They had confidence that this time, they¡¯d be able to perform even better than they did back then.

    Qing Tan snickered on the side. Were they stupid? Even until now, they didn¡¯t acknowledge that the reason they didn¡¯t suffer a total and crushing defeat was because of outside help.

    She was ny-nine percent certain that all of these geniuses would die here today due to their overconfidence, but it was whatever. If they chose to submerge themselves in ignorance, that had nothing to do with her.

    ¡°You can stay here, but don¡¯t make any moves until we¡¯ve reached our destinations. We don¡¯t need our positions being exposed so early. Plus, if you act before the higher forces are upied, they¡¯re certain toe down here and kill you.¡±

    The geniuses staying behind hurriedly nodded their heads.

    Feng Qing¡¯er paid them no attention as she once again continued up the mountain. She wasn¡¯t stupid enough to think those geniuses would listen to her just because she was speaking facts.

    There were plenty who would be offered a path to heaven, but willingly chose to go to hell instead. Since that was the case, she didn¡¯t mind using their fear to keep them in check.

    Even if some of them decided to ignore that fear, their peers would do the job in its ce. If one went down, they all did. That was the mentality she instilled in them.

    Without suspense, Feng Qing¡¯er and her group reached the thirdyer. Those other 20 geniuses split up from Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan.

    But unlike when they visited the secondyer, their presence was immediately discovered.

    ¡°Who goes there?!¡±

    ¡°Is that the scent of humans? No, it¡¯s a bit different.¡±

    ¡°Haha, who cares! It still smells tasty all the same!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! I can¡¯t disagree with you there!¡±

    Many voices ovepped as many powerful auras converged on the location of the geniuses. Perhaps in that moment, they had been forced to realize the mistake they had made ining here.

    But by the time they realized it, Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan had already disappeared further up the mountain, and the owners of those auras had already reached their location.

    Now, their only option was to fight or die.

    The sounds of screams and explosions filled the atmosphere of the thirdyer. And soon after, the secondyer followed as well. The geniuses¡¯ fight against the demons had begun.

    Meanwhile, Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan reached the fourthyer, but when they did, they were shocked by what they saw.

    ¡°Hahahaha! Is this what they call the elite forces of the demons?! Comee! You can¡¯t even catch me, so how are you supposed to kill me? Hahahahaha!¡±

    Rambunctiousughter and jeering shouts rang through the fourthyer as countless demons furiously chased a single man. He expertly weaved through their ranks, disappearing every time the demons thought they had finally caught him.

    ¡°Little bastard! You dare y games with this Queen?!¡±

    ¡°And what if I do?! For a mighty Demon King, you sure are weak as to not be able to kill a pitiful 3rd ss like myself! Hahaha!¡±

    A proud woman with an extremely seductive figure stood at the forefront of those demons. Her face held an extremely enraged expression, as if killing the man who was taunting her was the only thing that mattered in the world.

    ¡°Bastard! Taking advantage of this Queen and trying to flee?! You are courting death!¡±

    ¡°Why the hell would I want to take advantage of an old hag like you?! It¡¯s you who was trying to sully a young and innocent soul like me!¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan looked at each other awkwardly. Although they couldn¡¯t clearly see the figure of the man who was attracting the ire of every demon present, it wasn¡¯t hard for them to figure out his identity.

    With this kind of shameless taunting in the middle of battle, as well as the ability to easily enrage his opponents to this extent, only a single person came to their minds.

    However, taking advantage? Sullying his pure body? They had thought he would be embroiled in some serious life-threatening circumstances, but what the hell had he actually been up to during this time?!

 Chapter 307 Escape [1]

    Damien shed away from the Demon King¡¯s Castle the instant he had taken Lucius and his trusted subordinates into the Sanctuary. He was of the mind to escape as soon as possible.

    Although he was expecting the inevitable bacsh that¡¯de with kidnapping the Demon King, he didn¡¯t think that the consequences would be so ring.

    After all, there were literal rms ring through the fourthyer constantly, attracting the attention of even those who had been cultivating in seclusion. Even if Damien wanted to be silent now, he didn¡¯t have the chance.

    When Damien reappeared from the void, he was already outside of the castle, and soon he disappeared again and arrived in front of the barrier that was guarding it. He needed to leave it before the defensive functions it contained activated.

    ¡°Little boy, you are quite the clever one!¡±

    However, just as he was about to step out of its reach, an alluring voice rang out from behind him, causing his body to involuntarily stop in its tracks.

    ¡®Fuck.¡¯

    Damien didn¡¯t even need to turn around to understand what had happened. There was only a single level of existence present who could force Damien¡¯s body to stop against his will;

    ¡°Sigh, which mighty Demon King hase to cause trouble for this Young Master?¡±

    ¡°Mm, it seems you have some sense to know this Queen¡¯s identity so early, but what qualifications do you have to know my name?¡±

    ¡°I mean, to be fair, I probably already know your name. I just need to attach that name to a face now.¡±

    ¡°You still care to act rampantly in my presence? You¡¯re quite the bold one aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Even until this point, Damien hadn¡¯t turned around. He was still gritting his teeth and helplessly watching the shimmering golden barrier as it became more and more corporeal.

    ¡®What to do, what to do¡­¡¯

    Damien¡¯s thoughts raced. Escaping from a Demon King would be difficult, but not impossible. However, he first needed to exit the barrier.

    He roused his mana rapidly and threw a heavy punch towards the golden film.

    Pang!

    A dull sound emerged from the collision, but aside from a few ripples, there was no real pact.

    ¡°Boy, it¡¯s futile to try breaking the barrier with your little strength. It was built to contain us, so how could someone like you have the qualifications to break it?¡±

    ¡°Whether I have the qualifications or not, that¡¯s for me to decide.¡±

    A fit of charming giggles came from behind him. The sound was heavenly, making Damien want to turn around and witness the face of one who could produce such a chime.

    Suddenly, an alluring scent wafted past his nose. It was the scent of cherry blossoms mixed with roses, a simr scent to Rose¡¯s natural body fragrance. In that instant, Damien felt his mind be entranced.

    ¡°Turn around.¡±

    The words flowed like an inviblemand, and Damien¡¯s body willingly followed it. When he turned around, he was finally able to see the person he had been talking to all this time.

    She was tall for a woman, reaching Damien¡¯s nose in height. Her clothes were risqu¨¦, causing arge portion of her sensual body to be revealed to him.

    Those slender legs and soft thighs made him want to dive at her and relish in their feel. Her bust was insane, and Damien knew very well there was no way for them to be fake. He could almost feel the feeling of those soft mounds being molded by his hands.

    As for her face, it was a personification of the term ¡®jade beauty¡¯. She was like a carving that a master created when he was enlightened on the meaning of perfection.

    That was what Damien thought when he firstid eyes on this woman.

    ¡°Mm, as I thought you are quite bold. You aren¡¯t even bothering to hide your gaze on this Queen.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes were drawn to her lips as she spoke. With every movement, his desire to dominate this woman grew even fiercer.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Every man is weak to such a beauty.¡±

    Before he even realized it, words began to spill out of his mouth.

    ¡°You might say you are weak, but you look quite vigorous to me!¡± The Demon Queen responded.

    Damien grinned. ¡°Ah, pardon my little brother. He gets excited when he meets new people, you see.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, I can see clearly. However, he looks a bit shy hiding behind so many walls. Why don¡¯t you let me meet him face to face?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be honored. Should we change locations then?¡±

    The Demon Queen smiled seductively, her gaze never leaving Damien¡¯s lower body. She had to admit that he was definitely well endowed.

    As they spoke, more and more demons arrived in the area, surrounding Damien and the Demon Queen on all sides. However, they didn¡¯t dare to approach.

    Instead, they stood back and watched the show with disdainful grins on their faces. They almost felt bad for the poor guy, falling into that seductress¡¯s clutches.

    It would¡¯ve been much easier for him if he had just obediently chosen to die by their hands.

    ¡°I¡¯m curious though, why is it that you came so early? I wasn¡¯t expecting to meet interference from the three of you until muchter.¡±

    Damien suddenly raised a question. The Demon Queen¡¯s gaze hardened for a second, but soon returned to its former yfulness.

    ¡°It seems you still maintained a shred of sanity. Well, it¡¯s not that I mind. The more you struggle, the better it is for me. I¡¯ll answer your question as a final goodwill. I had already sensed you when you first arrived, so I couldn¡¯t help but be curious. What kind of person would be so audacious as to trespass here? Now that I¡¯ve seen you up close, I can say that I¡¯m not disappointed in the slightest.¡±

    By this point, the Demon Queen had long approached him. Her body was pressed against his, her bodacious assets pressed firmly against his chest.

    As his hazy eyes gazed down, he could feel her soft breaths tickling the skin near his lips. It was as if any second now, she would pounce on him and steal his lips.

    Damien¡¯s breath became ragged the longer they stayed in this position. Even as she spoke to him, the Demon Queen didn¡¯t stop teasing him, rubbing her lower body against his.

    ¡°Ahhh~¡±

    Suddenly, a heavenly moan left her mouth as his raging dragon managed to slip into the space between her thighs.

    ¡°Naughty boy!¡± She quipped lightly. But she made no moves to adjust her position.

    The mes in Damien¡¯s eyes became increasingly hot.

    ¡®There¡¯s no need to hold any pretenses, right? She¡¯s practically begging for it.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s thoughts ran wild. Damien¡¯s ears were filled with the pleasure-filled moans of the Demon Queen as her lower body rubbed back and forth against his raging dragon. His senses were filled with the feeling of that hidden valley and the clear liquid that continued to leak out of it.

    He felt hisst string of restraint threatening to break at any second. His dragon blood raged, telling him to embrace itsscivious nature. His demon blood reveled in the desire to conquer.

    As the pleasure he felt continued to heighten, his consciousness became fuzzy.

    ¡®What else do I need in this world? This pleasure is more than enough. Yes, pleasure is all I need in life.¡¯

    When the thought passed through his head, multiple shes went through his mind. Rose, Ruyue, and even Elena. Their faces and voices began to fade from his memory, being reced by the feeling he was currently experiencing.

    In that moment, a burst of mana erupted from a certain location in his mindspace. This mana continued to spread, creating a suction force that drew the incorporeal concepts within his mind into it.

    Click!

    The sound of a lock clicking resounded through his mind, and in an instant, his thoughts became clear.

    Even as the Demon Queen arrived closer and closer to climax on his heated rod, Damien no longer felt any pleasure, nor did he feel the encroaching temptation that had been threatening to consume him only moments prior.

    The Mind Prison he had created and neglected for so long had finally shown its fangs, ridding Damien of the mental corruption he had been forced under.

    Damien felt a cold sweat run down his back, but he didn¡¯t show any signs on his face. His eyes remained hazy and he continued to act as he did moments prior.

    ¡®Fuck! It truly is a whole different world!¡¯

    Damien prided himself on the mental fortitude he built during his years of torture in the dungeon, but that mental fortitude had been torn to shreds like a piece of paper by the mana of this Demon Queen.

    A 4th ss was truly an existence that couldn¡¯t be defied by those lower than him. If it wasn¡¯t for the Mind Prison subconsciously activating due to the crisis he was in, he wouldn¡¯t have even been able to resist.

    Rose, Ruyue, and all his emotional attachments would¡¯ve been erased from his thoughts as he became a tool for this Demon Queen. He didn¡¯t doubt that he would die in her embrace after being used as her cauldron for a while.

    Suddenly, an intense rage bubbled forth from the recesses of his mind. Back during the convention of wicked sects, he had also met a temptress who tried to use charm arts on him. Back then, he had made it clear how much he hated his thoughts and emotions being controlled by others.

    Yet, here he was in a simr situation, but he was almost unable to resist.

    His rage only became fiercer when his thoughts arrived at this point. He wanted nothing more than to tear the woman in front of him to shreds.

    But he didn¡¯t have the power to do so.

    ¡®If so, there¡¯s only one other option left.¡¯

    A wicked grin surfaced on his face. If he couldn¡¯t kill ruthlessly, then the only option left was to humiliate!

 Chapter 308 Escape [2]

    Suddenly, Damien, who had been in a passive position as the Demon Queen harassed his body, became fierce.

    His waist began to move, matching the Demon Queen¡¯s movements before elerating further. His idle hands moved to her waist before traveling further down, tightly dripping her pliant cheeks.

    ¡°Ahh~! What are you doing~?¡±

    The Demon Queen moaned in surprise, but it was toote for her to stop any further developments. Inevitably, her body had be weak as she was so close to climaxing.

    Damien kept one hand on her dumplings while his other hand traveled up her body and grasped her equally pliant peaks, molding them into different shapes as he pleased.

    His movements were by no means gentle. He roughly handled her body like it was nothing more than a toy.

    ¡°You! Don¡¯t go too far~!¡± The Demon Queen suddenly yelled, slightlying to her senses.

    But Damien had no ns to listen to her. He continued his movements, moving his waist even faster and bing even rougher with his hands.

    ¡°I said stop!¡±

    The Demon Queen finally realized something was wrong. By this point, he should¡¯ve already been under her total control.

    The way he suddenly started moving on his own was a perfect indication that he had sumbed to her pleasure, but as he got rougher and rougher, the Demon Queen could no longer ignore him.

    Pah!

    A crisp p rang out. The surrounding demons could only watch the rippling of the Demon Queen¡¯s lower cheeks in awe.

    The show they were receiving was simply too stimting. While the Demon Queen was well known to be a seductress who used men as she pleased, they had never personally witnessed it as it was always done behind closed doors

    .

    But even then, they feared her reputation. Especially the men amongst them. Any man that fell into her grasp was guaranteed to die a dog¡¯s death after being humiliated, so almost all of them were spiteful. Yet, they didn¡¯t dare show their displeasure in fear of being her next prey.

    But now, in front of their eyes, that terrifying Demon Queen was being yed with like amon slut, and she had even been ruthlessly pped! How could they not feel stimted? It was to the point where they no longer had any thoughts of moving to help, instead being enraptured watching the scene in front of them.

    In fact, even the women amongst them didn¡¯t move. After all, no small number of husbands and lovers had been stolen by the Demon Queen for her personal pleasure.

    When the Demon Queen felt the sudden burning sensation on her rear and heard the sound of the p, the sense of shame that she had been feeling after being handled so roughly multiplied manyfold.

    She wanted to immediately rouse her mana and kill the man in front of her, but every time she tried to do so, the man would expertly hit her sensitive spots and disrupt her concentration.

    Pah! Pah! Pah!

    Three more crisp ps rang out.

    ¡°Obediently sit and ept your punishment like the slut you are. So what if you¡¯re a Demon Queen? You know in your heart what your true desire is.¡±

    The Demon Queen¡¯s resistance wavered for a second. It was true that the pleasure she felt had been vastly heightened as the shame she felt increased. However, this only served to make her even more incensed.

    Her face was boiling red in both anger and shame. Under such situations, she suddenly felt her soul leave her body.

    A heavenly sensation of pleasure, unlike anything she felt when she simply sucked her previous men dry, assaulted her. Like a broken dam, streams of water continuously left her hidden valley.

    The Demon Queen twitched in ce as her body became limp. At that moment, Damien¡¯s figure shed and appeared 10 feet away from where he previously was.

    To bepletely honest, he had been pent up for far too long. Since he had left the dungeon, he had always been in thepany of world-ss beauties, but he never actually acted on his desires.

    But that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t have them. With the countless sensual situations he had been in with both Rose and Ruyue, how could he not have thoughts on them? But he had always held himself back for one reason or another.

    Now that the mes of desire had been forcefully stimted by the Demon Queen¡¯s antics, they had burst in full force, leading to the current situation.

    ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡±

    Damien¡¯s breathing was still rough, but he took the time while the Demon Queen was reveling in her climax to calm down. He knew that the battle he just fought was just one of many he would have to fight before he finally escaped this mountain.

    And he also knew that dealing with the rest of the Demon Kings and Apostles wouldn¡¯t be nearly the same as what he had just done. Especially considering that they were mostly men¡­

    ¡®Wow, suddenly I don¡¯t feel that lustful anymore¡­¡¯

    By the time he managed to calm down, the Demon Queen had also slowly started to return to her senses.

    The rest of the demons were the same. Cold sweat collectively rushed down their backs. A proverbial sea of cold sweat had drenched the fourthyer.

    After all, wasn¡¯t their death guaranteed once the Demon Queen came to her senses? At that time, wouldn¡¯t they be punished for standing by and watching as she was humiliated?

    A gloomy aura pervaded the fourthyer. The Demon Queen¡¯s face alternated between red and white continuously as she silently stood amongst the crowd around her.

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    A single word escaped her mouth. It was quiet, but in the silence that currently enveloped the area, it was extremely clear in everyone¡¯s ears.

    ¡°You actually dared¡­you actually¡­haha¡­hahahaha¡­¡±

    An eerieughter escaped her lips. Her gaze finally raised off the ground. It was so cold that the surrounding demons felt their blood freeze when she panned her eyes across them.

    When her gaze finallynded on Damien, he smiled back.

    ¡°What? Are you so eager for round 2 that you can¡¯t wait for the crowd to disperse? If so, this Young Master will have to disappoint you. You see, I¡¯m not particrly interested in slutty old bitches.¡±

    The demons around Damien immediately backed away when they heard his words. Was this guy¡¯s will made of steel? He dared to continue provoking the Demon Queen even at this juncture?

    The Demon Queen¡¯s cold eyes suddenly lit ame. A slut? She had been called it so many times that she didn¡¯t care anymore. After all, it was the truth. She embraced that identity. So what if she reveled in pleasure? She knew all those who shamed her were secretly jealous of the lifestyle she lived.

    However¡­

    ¡°What did you just call me?¡± Her chilling voice pervaded the air. The aura of a true 4th ss existence red and caused the surrounding air to be heavy. The pressure was so great that the demons closest to her were instantly crushed into meat paste.

    ¡°You¡¯re talking to me?¡± However, Damien was unperturbed. ¡°Of course, I called you a slutty old hag. Am I wrong? You¡¯re at least 10,000 years old, aren¡¯t you? Meanwhile, I¡¯m like 22! If we use the phrase ¡®a toad lusting after swan meat¡¯ here, then wouldn¡¯t I be the swan while you¡¯re the toad?¡±

    ¡°Old hag¡­he called me an old hag¡­hahahaha¡­¡±

    The Demon Queen stopped listening to him after she heard those two words. It was as if she has gone crazy, mumbling the same few words over and over again.

    And looking at the mes in her eyes, it was clear that she was thoroughly enraged. It was to the point where none in the area could escape her anger.

    ¡°Little¡­.LITTLE BASTARD! IF I DON¡¯T KILL YOU TODAY, LET THE HEAVENS REDUCE ME TO ASH!¡±

    Her aura red even greater, causing the sky to tremble.

    ¡°Heed mymand! The first person to catch him for me will be pardoned of the sins they umted today! As for the rest, a fate worse than death!¡±

    The demons who heard her words immediately released their auras and charged at Damien. There was no way they¡¯d let the slight glimmer of hope they were presented go.

    Damien grinned widely at the scene.

    ¡°Good! Let¡¯s see if any of you can even touch a single hair on my head!¡±

    Damien shed away continuously, avoiding the pursuit of the surrounding demons. All the while, he kept a part of his focus on the golden barrier separating him from escape.

    He was happy that chaos was spreading. This was exactly what he needed. Now that things had reached this point, it was only a matter of time until he could find a way to break free.

    Damien kept harassing the demons chasing him, taunting them endlessly and invoking their ire.

    At some point, even the Demon Queen could no longer stand it, joining the chase.

    And it wasn¡¯t long after she joined the fun when two familiar figures suddenly showed up at the edge of the barrier.

 Chapter 309 Escape [3]

    For mortals, 3 meters wasn¡¯t too short of a distance, but it wasn¡¯t too long either. Being able to teleport that far instantaneously would be incredibly convenient, if nothing else.

    However, at Damien¡¯s level, it was different. For people like them, 3 meters was a distance that could be crossed in half a step. Due to this, his current limiter on teleportation was incredibly strenuous.

    But that didn¡¯t mean it didn¡¯t have benefits. If it didn¡¯t, then Damien wouldn¡¯t have been abusing it all this time, opting to simply run instead.

    Firstly, he was able to spam teleport much faster than he was able to take two steps. The reaction of his body when it came to teleporting was much more fluid for some reason.

    Secondly, his maneuverability. Momentum was always something that needed to be taken into consideration when in battle. If Damien wanted to abruptly switch directions, he had to divert the force he had umted if he didn¡¯t want to snap his body.

    Of course, vector control could be used to offset some of the momentum and make him far more agile than the normal person, but even then it was a conscious process he had to consider and calcte. It took precious time to do so.

    But with teleportation, he didn¡¯t have the same issue.

    He could change both direction, orientation, and position at willbined with the fact that his momentum could be carried over when he did so instead of halting like it would if he moved normally, it made him far more versatile on the battlefield.

    It was also the main reason he could perfectly escape the Demon Queen¡¯s chase in this confined space.

    She didn¡¯t have the same ability, but she was fast. Even if her abilities weren¡¯t geared towards speed, her natural ability due to her ss level was far greater than anything Damien could achieve even with the stat boosts he had received from all the devouring he had done.

    When Damien teleported away, she was able to reach him before he even finished materializing in the real world again. If it wasn¡¯t for his maneuverability, he felt her ws would¡¯ve pierced his chest numerous times already.

    As for the other demons who were chasing him, he didn¡¯t even put them in his eyes. Both he and the Demon Queen were moving too fast for them to even have a chance to catch up.

    ¡®I can¡¯t keep going like this.¡¯

    Damien thought as his eyes darted around. His awareness was spread to its limits for the sake of his teleportation, while his eyes were constantly scanning the surrounding barrier to try and find an opening.

    Although he had plenty of mana capacity and mental strength, he knew he couldn¡¯t dy here for too long. There were two other Demon Kings as well as a legion of Apostles not far from his location, and he needed to be out of the mountain before they could converge.

    If things reached that point, he¡¯d have no choice but to hide in the Sanctuary without leaving enemy territory. And he didn¡¯t want to take that risk.

    Boom!

    Waves of demonic mana were emanating through the fourthyer as the hundreds of demons chasing Damien channeled their skills and spells and shot them at him full force.

    The Demon Queen also wasn¡¯t sitting still while chasing him. Although he had managed to escape her charm, her mental strength was obviously far greater than his.

    As she pursued him relentlessly and barraged him with physical attacks, waves of elusive mana impacted his mind, trying to foil his concentration.

    Damien didn¡¯t allow any of this to get to him. His vector field was fully erected and in use, actively repelling all energy-based attacks that arrived in his vicinity. The magnitude and power of these attacks had been greatly increased when they returned to their original senders, causingrge explosions to ring out through the fourthyer.

    He couldn¡¯t block the mental attack, so he allowed his Mind Prison to do the work for him, offsetting a majority of its impact.

    Still, a portion of it would always make it through his defenses. Although it wasn¡¯t much one at a time, he knew it¡¯d have a dangerous impact on him once it umted.

    Swathes of demons were dying left and right, but their numbers didn¡¯t seem to decrease at all. In fact, more and more demons poured into the area as time passed.

    Suddenly, two familiar auras entered his detection range. When he concentrated his awareness, he noticed Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan dazedly watching his antics as he fled from the pursuit of the surrounding demons.

    He suddenly had an idea.

    ¡°You two! It¡¯s been so long! How have you been?¡±

    Bang!

    The Demon Queen¡¯s axe kicknded where his head was, but he was already 3 meters behind her.

    ¡°Damien~!¡± Qing Tan responded smilingly. ¡°You seem to be having a lot of fun!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! I guess you could call it that. Anyway, Qing Tan, Qing¡¯er, I need a favor!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me so familiarly!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er shouted.

    ¡°Oi! Your name is three sybles long! That¡¯s too long to shout in a situation like this! It¡¯s for convenience sake, okay?¡±

    ¡°Hmph!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯d you need help with?¡± Qing Tan butted in before Feng Qing¡¯er could continue.

    Boom!

    A burst of demonic mana covered arge area around Damien, making it so that even if he teleported, he wouldn¡¯t reach safety.

    Arge number of demons were caught up in the st, instantly shriveling up into dry corpses. Damien immediately mobilized his vector field and warded off the foreign mana, manipting the directional force to shoot it back into the surroundings to kill more demons.

    ¡°Hmm, what¡¯s the best way to put this? Ah, I got it! Qing Tan, raise hell!¡±

    Qing Tan smiled cheerfully and pped her hands. ¡°This is why I like you so much! You know how to have fun!¡±

    Qing Tan walked into the barrier unimpeded and spread her aura, causing the darkness beneath her feet to crawl through the ground like or was a wave of water.

    ¡°Rise!¡±

    Tens of Shadow Generals and hundreds of Captains rose from her shadow at hermand, emitting a strong bloodthirst that permeated the atmosphere.

    ¡°Put on a good show for me, please~!¡±

    After Qing Tan¡¯s words fell, the shadow army charged at the demons chasing after Damien, causing even further chaos than what he had already instilled.

    And this was exactly what Damien wanted.

    ¡®Although I don¡¯t know much about barriers, I at least know the basics. For this barrier to independently sustain itself, it needs to have at least one barrier core. And even if it has multiple, as long as I can break one I can destabilize its foundation and find a way out.¡¯

    The easiest way to find the barrier cores was to just destroy everything and reveal them, but Damien didn¡¯t have the luxury to do so while he was being chased by a Demon King. He could only rely on this roundabout strategy to achieve simr results.

    As he had seen when Qing Tan walked into the barrier, it didn¡¯t have aplete istion effect. Those outside could enter, but those within couldn¡¯t leave.

    This way, no matter how many demons died, more could arrive to supplement their numbers. Damien needed the chaos within the fourthyer to intensify as much as it could so that the ws within the barrier would be more obvious.

    He had already seen some results. The previous translucent barrier that he could only see when he poured mana into his All-Seeing Eyes was now shining bright gold. With this, he could clearly delineate its boundaries, which would help him narrow his search area.

    Now that Qing Tan had joined the fray, and Feng Qing¡¯er would soon join as well, he felt that it wouldn¡¯t be long before he¡¯d be able to find the most critical ws around.

 Chapter 310 Escape [4]

    The cracks in the earth caused by the raging battle expanded greatly with the addition of Qing Tan¡¯s shadow army. Large portions of rock constantly jumped from the ground and created showers of rubble that crushed some surrounding demons.

    Soon after Qing Tan joined, Feng Qing¡¯er did the same. She was able to understand Damien¡¯s purpose after taking a closer look at the situation.

    Instead of targeting the demons, she flew into the air and spread her mana through the atmosphere, dying the sky red. Massive balls of me and Phoenix phantoms rampaged through the fourthyer and caused mass destruction everywhere they went, tearing heaven and earth asunder.

    The foundations of the Demon King Castle had already begun to crumble, and therge structure that used to stand imposingly atop the mountain peak imploded, causing clouds of dust and debris to cloud the area.

    Damien¡¯s awareness suddenly found a spot of interest. While in normal circumstances, nobody would pay it any mind. It was just a slight gathering of mana that wasn¡¯t much different than the phenomenon a normal manamp would produce.

    But once the environment was in shambles like it was now, such a gathering of mana was ringly obvious. When Damien peered into the ground at that location using his All-Seeing Eyes, he was almost blinded by the brightness of the massive light ball that was present there.

    ¡®It¡¯s no wonder I never found the barrier core. It was being concealed by the numerous formations within the castle this entire time. Not only me, even the Demon Kings wouldn¡¯t have sensed it with the power of those formations.¡¯

    He had to wonder how those formations even came into existence for them to have the ability to trick 4th ss existences. Perhaps that was what Lucius was referring to when he said that the Demon God could only restrict him if he was directly taking action.

    ¡®No matter, I need to target that area. Perhaps there are other barrier cores as well, but judging from the size of this one, it should have a significant impact on the structural integrity of the barrier if I break it.¡¯

    With a goal in mind, Damien focused his efforts on teleporting over to the barrier core, covertly leading the Demon Queen to its location as well.

    ¡®With the physical power of a 4th ss, it should be much easier to break this thing.¡¯

    ¡°Come,e! Miss Demon Queen, how can you be so weak?!¡±

    Damien repeatedly provoked the Demon Queen as he moved. Without suspense, her attacks became even fiercer.

    It wasn¡¯t even due to the fact that he was provoking her. With how long she had lived, how could she fall for such childish provocations? It was the situation more than the words themselves that provoked her anger.

    She was an exalted 4th ss existence. She was a true master who had sessfully endured her Universe Baptism and obtained acknowledgment.

    The fact that a mere 3rd ss ant was able to both constantly escape from her grasp, as well as have the energy and mind to provoke her and freely chat with hisrades as he did so, that was what provoked her ire.

    It was the greatest shame she had ever felt. Even when she was forcefully corrupted by the Demon God, she didn¡¯t feel so much shame. After all, the Demon God was an exalted Demigod. To be enved by him was an honor, especially when he simply allowed her to live her indulgent lifestyle without interference.

    But this time, it was different. The man in front of her was nothing more than a kid to her. Neither his status nor power was greater than here. He was inferior in every way. Yet, he had yed with her body and then humiliated her inbat as well.

    Her mana raged furiously as she put her all into attacking him. Her physical strength skyrocketed, causing her every step to cause miniature earthquakes through the ground.

    But even then, he evaded her attacks like a loach.

    ¡®If it wasn¡¯t for this damn restriction¡­!¡¯

    It was the only thing she hated about her overall situation. Due to the restriction, her power had been capped at the extreme early stages of 4th ss. If it wasn¡¯t for that, how could he evade her so well?

    While the Universe Baptism made a 3rd ss iparable to a 4th ss, it wasn¡¯t some miraculous thing that¡¯d make someone all-powerful. The number of benefits one could digest depended wholly on their aptitude and ability.

    Unfortunately, her gains didn¡¯t help her in this situation.

    The Demon Queen¡¯s specialization was Charm Laws, so most of the benefits she gained went towards her mana and mental strength. But today, she had met a bastard who had perfectly countered thews she was best at.

    When it came to energy-based attacks, she had forgone everything to maximize theprehension she had towards her primaryw, so the only thing she could use was physical strength tobat Damien.

    But with his loach-like movements and cockroach vitality, how could she easily kill him?

    ¡®Those damn bastards! Why aren¡¯t they interfering?!¡¯

    She didn¡¯t care one bit about those so-called Apostles. They weren¡¯t worth shit. What infuriated her was that the other two Demon Kings still hadn¡¯t made a move yet even after seeing her get humiliated to such an extent.

    ¡®No, I guess I should expect this from them. As a matter of fact, those two bastards are probably enjoying the show!¡¯

    She gritted her teeth in anger, but she couldn¡¯t do anything against those two. Because of this, she directed all of her anger and grievance towards Damien.

    ¡°Little bastard! Obediently die by this Queen¡¯s hand!¡±

    With a furious shout, the Demon Queen poured all her mana into her fist and struck out. She didn¡¯t target Damien but instead created a massive shockwave impact that left no area around her unscathed.

    She had seen how he deflected the force of impact whenever it was near him, and she had seen how he evaded if she got too close. This method was the best way to deal with him.

    ¡°Keuk!¡±

    As she expected, Damien couldn¡¯t dodge in time. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and shot back, heavily impacting the opaque barrier. Another mouthful of blood left his mouth due to the force of the second impact.

    The Demon Queen was feeling pleased with herself for finallynding a substantial hit on that bastard, but when she looked at his face, he still had the same roguish grin he had when he was ying with her earlier.

    ¡°What?¡± Her eyes widened at the realization.

    Crack!

    But before she could do anything else, a small cracking sound rang through the surroundings. It wasn¡¯t loud at all, but it seemed like every being within the barrier heard it clearly.

    Crack! Crack!

    The cracking sound spread and multiplied as if countless ss tes were shattering at the same time. When the Demon Queen finally located the source of the sound, she couldn¡¯t hide her shock.

    ¡°Barrier core! It¡¯s actually the barrier core!¡±

    She finally realized why Damien was smiling like that. He had intentionally provoked her into using a full-strength attack when she was directly above the barrier core, then used his strange ability to divert the force towards the core instead of using it to defend.

    It was only because of this that he had suffered from the impact. But even that was nned, as he had used the force to propel himself to the barrier.

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t n for everything. Did you seriously think just this was enough to shatter the barrier core?! It was created to keep us from escaping, so it will obviously hold up against our strength!¡±

    The Demon Queen mockingly sneered at Damien.

    Damien tilted his head in a confused manner. ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? I mean, even if the core was well hidden, there had to be precautions in case one of you actually found it. Let me ask you, if you were the one who created the barrier, what mechanism would you add for a situation where the mana of the one you were trying to restrain heavily impacted the barrier core?¡±

    The Demon Queen¡¯s eyes widened once again. The answer was obvious. If the prisoner showed signs of trying to escape the prison, they should naturally be punished.

    A wave of fear swept over the Demon Queen in that instant. She was overwhelmed by the urge to flee.

    ¡°Of course, since you guys have been corrupted the barrier is mainly just for show. I doubt such a failsafe actually exists. Not like matters though. Thanks for getting distracted!¡±

    Damien cheerfully continued talking as he extended his hand towards the barrier core. In the next instant, he clenched his fist.

    ¡°Copse.¡±

    Space shattered, causing the cracks on the core to widen and deepen. The internal structure of the core seemed to take arge blow.

    ¡°Qing¡¯er! Qing Tan!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me!¡±

    ¡°Coming~!¡±

    With two vastly different responses, a Phoenix phantom and multiple Shadow Generals attacked the core at once, breaking its finalyer of resistance.

    Under the eyes of everyone present, the barrier core broke into countless fragments. The opaque golden light film waned greatly until it looked extremely flimsy.

    Damien grinned. His finger swept through the air and drew a straight vertical line.

    ¡°Dimensional Severance.¡±

    The thin ck sword line of Dimensional Severance silently sliced through the barrier like butter, causing arge gap to open on its surface.

    Qing Tan and Feng Qing¡¯er rushed over to Damien¡¯s side as this happened.

    Looking at the astonished Demon Queen in the distance, Damien shed a bright smile.

    ¡°Well then, see youter!¡±

    And then, he disappeared through the crack.

 Chapter 311 Voice [1]

    Although Damien wanted to celebrate his sessful escape, he was well aware that leaving the barrier didn¡¯t guarantee his safety.

    As if to prove his assessment, two divine senses swept over his position before the gap in the barrier could fully close.

    ¡°Boy, don¡¯t think that we are your most powerful enemy here. Your true enemy is waiting for you out there.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to be able to see such a fun show in this lifetime. Since you¡¯ve given us some quality entertainment for the first time in 10,000 years, me and Old Eden here didn¡¯t interfere when you fought that witch. However, next time we meet we¡¯ll likely be enemies. Let¡¯s see if you can show me another good thing at that time.¡±

    The first voice was effeminate yet not womanly, making Damien unsure of the individual¡¯s gender. As for the second, it was the husky voice of a man.

    ¡®Demon Kings Granheim and Eden.¡¯

    Damien was sure of their identities, leaving the Demon Queen he had just escaped from as Demon King Eliza. ording to what he learned from Elitra, she was more powerful than both Granheim and Lucius, while being less powerful than Eden, but Damien didn¡¯t think so.

    ¡®Her mental magic is truly fierce. If it wasn¡¯t for the Mind Prison, no matter how much willpower I have, I wouldn¡¯t be able to resist. What about others?¡¯

    Damien realized why the assessment was such. Her mental magic was indeed powerful. Damien also realized that Eliza might not have used the full potential of her mental magic in their bout just now.

    ¡®Luckily I riled her up a ton before the fight actually started. If she was thinking straight, I don¡¯t know how I would¡¯ve been able to continue casting with ease.¡¯

    Her mental state was already a mess after he brought her to climax through humiliation, and it became even more messed as she faced even more humiliation from not being able to catch him.

    The best way to deal with someone who used mental attacks was to disrupt their mind. Damien had figured this out at the moment.

    ¡®But those two divine senses¡­¡¯

    They were far more powerful than Damien could fathom. If they had chosen to interfere in today¡¯s matter, he might not have been able to escape as he had done.

    While he was thinking, Damien never stopped moving forward, rushing through the outskirts of the mountain¡¯s fourthyer to escape. Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan were on his right and left, following not far behind him.

    ¡°There are probably going to be Apostles blocking our exit. Be prepared to fight.¡± Damien mentioned to the other two.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? Don¡¯t get in the habit of telling me what to do.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er scoffed.

    ¡°More fun~!¡± Meanwhile, Qing Tan was just excited to be taking part in the current chaos.

    The three ran for a few more minutes before they met with the inevitable obstruction. Rather than just sending three Apostles as they had done before, all 7 of the remaining Apostles were blocking the path ahead.

    Damien abruptly halted in his steps. ¡°Damn, you guys really went all out this time.¡±

    His gaze was focused on the old man that stood in the middle. Even disregarding his position, the way the other Apostles showed subconscious deference to him made his position obvious.

    ¡°Little brat, you¡¯ve truly gone out of your way to make our lives hard in these past few months, haven¡¯t you?¡± The old man said, ignoring Damien¡¯s previousment.

    ¡°Hm? What could you possibly be talking about?¡± Damien responded.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like it matters. Our ns aren¡¯t something a measly child like you can interfere with. Perhaps soon you¡¯ll understand how futile your efforts have been, and at that time, maybe you¡¯ll regret not bing a part of such a grand revolution.¡±

    Damien¡¯s brow twitched when the old man kept talking while ignoring him. Even his eyes were foggy as if he wasn¡¯t actually looking at Damien at all.

    ¡°Sigh, enough of all this talking. You came to fight us, so let¡¯s fight. Look, those six behind you look like they¡¯re itching to be taught a lesson.¡±

    As Damien said, the other six Apostles were ring daggers at the group of three as if their families had just been ughtered in front of them.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the hatred~? I¡¯ve never met any of you before.¡± Qing Tan asked lightly. Even Damien and Feng Qing¡¯er were curious about this point.

    The Apostles continued silently ring while the old man smiled. ¡°Forgive them. You see, the ten of them share a connection simr to siblings considering our positions and inheritance. If three of your siblings were killed, wouldn¡¯t you also bear intense hatred for their killers?¡±

    ¡°But you, old man, don¡¯t seem to bear any hatred at all. Could it be that you¡¯re the type to backstab friends and family for profit? To be honest, it¡¯s not surprising at all.¡±

    The old man continued smiling as if Damien¡¯s words didn¡¯t affect him at all. ¡°You don¡¯t have to try and sow discord between us. They can understand my motives just as clearly as I can understand theirs. Nothing is hidden between us.¡±

    ¡°Tch.¡±

    Damien¡¯s sharp gaze panned the surroundings as his awareness stayed spread through the area.

    ¡®There¡¯s no way the three of us can fight the seven of them on equal footing.¡¯

    Since they had encountered the group of Apostles, Damien¡¯s goal had always been to escape. He never once entertained the thought of fighting. But there was definitely a certain thought hovering in his mind.

    ¡®Looking at how they all defer to that old man, if I can just take him out, then their morale will take a huge hit.¡¯

    Damien had been wondering how to attract the Apostles for his assassination n for a while, but he couldn¡¯t find a way to provoke them into moving. He didn¡¯t know enough about them to do so.

    Previously, they hade because he was interfering with their ns too much, but after three of them had been killed, it would be much harder to use the same method to draw them out. They were undoubtedly wary, proven by the fact that they mobilized together instead of sending a small number.

    ¡®But, even with numbers, they can¡¯tbat Void Essence.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s awareness became focused as he sent a mental message to Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan.

    ¡®Can the two of you hold them off for a while?¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er furrowed her brows. ¡®Do you have a n?¡¯

    ¡®I do, but I need absolute concentration to pull it off. If any of them manage to interrupt me, it won¡¯t work.¡¯

    ¡®Hmm, there¡¯s seven of them and two of us. It¡¯s almost impossible for us to win this battle.¡¯ Qing Tan added.

    ¡®Right, I don¡¯t n to kill them all. Just buy me five minutes, and then escape with everything you have. Even if I don¡¯t act after five minutes, you should still escape.¡¯

    ¡®Understood. Five minutes, right? Even if you wanted five hours, I could easily buy that much time!¡¯ Feng Qing¡¯er proudly thumped her chest and proimed.

    Damien grinned at her confidence. ¡®Good! As expected of the future Matriarch of the Fire Phoenix n! Well then, let¡¯s begin!¡¯

    On his cue, a sea of ming runic patterns and a swamp of darkness filled the surrounding area. Soon enough, a massive battle abruptly began.

 Chapter 312 Voice [2]

    Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan shot forward like two bullets, moving faster than the eye could see. Behind Feng Qing¡¯er, many runic patterns formed and dispersed in the air to create something greater while behind Qing Tan, an ever-expanding swamp of darkness consumed thend.

    Shadow Generals and Captains were useless in this battle, so they weren¡¯t summoned to act arbitrarily. Even as distractions they didn¡¯t have much use. Instead, Qing Tan directly summoned three beings that hadn¡¯t seen the light of day yet.

    One was a man who stood 6 feet in height and had an imposing demeanor. His facial features were masked in shadows and he was wearing a pitch ck armor set that covered his body. However, his aura still remained simr to the one he had when he was alive.

    ¡°Winthrop!¡±

    ¡°You conniving bitch!¡±

    Surprised exmations came from the Apostles who had remained silent thus far. They couldn¡¯t maintain the same demeanor when they saw the shadow of their fallenrade return to oppose them.

    ¡°Ohh~ that¡¯s right! You know this guy! Mm, he¡¯s a new addition so he hadn¡¯t seen muchbat yet. Treat him well, okay?¡± Qing Tan said teasingly as she continued forward.

    Behind the fallen Demon Commander, there were two massive beasts, one in the form of a strange bird and the other simr to a rhino. Both had simr levels of power to the Demon Commander.

    The three Shadow Commanders closely followed Qing Tan¡¯s movements like loyal guards, separating only when they arrived in front of the enemy. Each of them upied an Apostle while Qing Tan stayed in the rear and observed the overall situation.

    On Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s side, there were no helpers or summons. Instead, the swirling me runes in the sky seemed to have gained life of their own as they danced around the Apostles.

    ¡°Little girl, I¡¯ve seen you before. Do you think these paltry tricks will work on us?¡± One of the Apostles sneered.

    She moved her arms in a specific pattern, causing the dark material surrounding her to swirl and take shape as runes of its own. When these runes impacted the ming patterns, both sides immediately dispersed.

    The remaining Apostles that Feng Qing¡¯er made simr maneuvers, easily dispelling the runic patterns around them. However, the second they did, they found another wave of runes eclipsing them again.

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s just like he said, you guys gained a ton of information because of my mistake. Well, did you think I waited a month to attack because I was scared? Naturally, I¡¯ve made sure that things will be incredibly difficult for you regardless.¡±

    As Feng Qing¡¯er spoke, her fingers danced like the hands of a conductor, drawing out more and more runes with her mana. The sky had already been filled with thousands of ming patterns that resembled the gait of a Phoenix.

    ¡°This time, all I have to do is hold you back. Do you think I won¡¯t be able to?¡± With a mocking grin, Feng Qing¡¯er charged into the fray, followed by an array of runes and Phoenix phantoms.

    ***

    While the two battles raged, Damien teleported far away from themotion and closed his eyes. His body soon became ethereal and merged with the space around him.

    He wasn¡¯t using mana to do so, no, his natural affinity with space made it so that he could perfectly incorporate it with concentration alone. The caveat was that if he made any movement or broke his concentration, he would immediately rematerialize.

    With his eyes closed, Damien¡¯s consciousness entered a whole new world. Even when he wasn¡¯t focusing, his unique breadth of vision as a spatial expert allowed him to view the world through spatialyers, but in his current state, he had surpassed that.

    The spatialyers he usually saw were likeyers of film or cloth that were endlessly stacked on top of each other, flowing like waves while being sturdy as diamond. It was an interesting perspective on the world that¡¯d make any normal person¡¯s brain split just by viewing it.

    But for a spatial expert, this was just normal. But rather than this normal, what Damien currently saw with his awareness was a world of endless darkness that seemed to consume everything.

    There was a saying that said where there was light, there would inevitably be darkness. The rtionship between space and the void was simr.

    In fact, in certain veins of thought, the void could be considered a sub-concept of space. But this void was different than the one that gave Damien¡¯s physique its namesake.

    While it carried simr properties, it was at an even lower level than Damien¡¯s Low-Level Void Essence. It was like a snake while the Void was a dragon.

    But regardless, a snake was still a descendant of dragons. It had the potential to be a dragon if it had the aptitude and willpower to work for it.

    When Damien¡¯s consciousness sunk into the void, he directly used it as a medium tomunicate with the true Void, seeping his Low-Level Void Essence into it and creating a channel.

    This method was far more roundabout than what he did when he first created his Sanctuary, but this method also had a far greater chance of sess.

    During the creation of the Sanctuary, it was the massive country-sized portion of ovepped space that caused the foundation of the area to shake and open a thumb-sized crack into the Void, but Damien couldn¡¯t easily replicate such a situation. It could be said that his first encounter with the Void was due to pure luck.

    So, when Damien worked to establish a true stable connection this time, he did it differently. Damien sat within the void and meditated on that connection like an old monk, silently drawing power from it and trying to manifest it into the real world.

    He didn¡¯t need much. Even a thumb-sized portion of High-Level Void Essence would be enough to quickly and quietly assassinate a Demon King, let alone an Apostle. He at least needed Mid-Level Void Essence to aplish his current task.

    But as he continued attempting to draw Void Essence above hisprehension level into his body, he soon realized that it was impossible.

    Borrowing the power of Mid-Level Void Essence was something he could do, but his body simply couldn¡¯t bear the strain of such a task yet. Perhaps even his Half-Dragon body couldn¡¯t bear the weight.

    But there was an easy solution to this.

    ¡®Demon Dragon Transformation.¡¯

    He called out the chant in his head, and his bloodlines answered immediately. His body went through heavy changes, taking on his Demonic Dragon Form.

    At that moment, he finally obtained the capital to contain some Mid-Level Void Essence in his vessel. But he still didn¡¯t have theprehension level to do so permanently. Even as the Mid-Level Void Essence entered his body, he felt that it would only stay there for a few seconds before it started to disperse.

    ¡®Well, my body can only remain like this for half a minute, anyway, so a few seconds is solid.¡¯

    Damien opened his eyes to be greeted by a chaotic battlefield of mes and darkness. Dark material red through the area andbatted thebined forces of Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Damien to grasp the situation.

    ¡®If Qing Tan didn¡¯t have those shadows, they would¡¯ve been done in already.¡¯

    But there were no what-ifs in this world. What mattered was that Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan had sessfully bought him the time he needed.

    Damien didn¡¯t let his thoughts simmer for too long. He moved his mana to keep him assimted into the space around him while also using vector control to make sure the spatial fluctuations didn¡¯t spread into the surroundings.

    He rapidly crossed the chaotic battlefield without being noticed by anyone and finally caught sight of his target.

    The old man was still standing in his previous spot, watching the ongoing battle with a light smile on his face. Even as he saw his so-called brothers and sisters get injured, he didn¡¯t seem in a hurry to make a move.

    Damien felt there was something off about this old man¡¯s demeanor. He had felt the same ufortable sensation since the moment heid eyes on him. But he didn¡¯t have time to dwell on it. His Demon Dragon Form wouldn¡¯tst long enough.

    20 seconds.

    Damien arrived in the old man¡¯s vicinity, slowing his pace and steadying his breathing.

    15 seconds.

    Damien had be invisible. Not only his bodily functions, even his life aura and mana fluctuations had diminished until they were unnoticeable even if he came out of the void.

    10 seconds.

    Damien arrived behind the old man who still didn¡¯t move an inch. Seeing that smile up close, the ufortable feeling in Damien¡¯s chest grew even fiercer.

    8 seconds.

    The Mid-Level Void Essence he had been temporarily housing appeared on the tips of his fingers, causing the surrounding space to crack. He could no longer remain concealed as he had before.

    7 seconds.

    Damien¡¯s hand shot forward and plunged into the old man¡¯s chest without resistance. The Void Essence on his palm spread through the old man¡¯s body, causing it to rot and be nonexistent.

    6 seconds.

    The old man finally turned his head to look at Damien. Even as his body crumbled into nothingness, the smile on his face never faded. When Damien met the old man¡¯s eyes, he noticed that they were like hollow ck holes, seemingly not containing any consciousness behind them.

    5 seconds.

    The old man¡¯s body no longer existed, his head floated in space as his neck slowly faded. Suddenly, that eerie smile widened into a wicked grin. Damien froze. He felt a chill like nothing he had ever felt before.

    4 seconds.

    Damien couldn¡¯t move. He couldn¡¯t think. His mind waspletely upied with the deranged grin of the old man in front of him. His mana became sluggish, his life aura waned. It was like Damien had suddenly begun dying.

    3 seconds.

    The old man¡¯s head had already started being banished into nothingness. The Void Essence that wreaked havoc in his body was also starting to disappear.

    2 seconds.

    Damien was at the end of his rope. Originally, he didn¡¯t n to stay for so long. He wanted to retreat immediately after striking his blow, but now, he was stuck here, unable to move. Time seemed toe to a halt, with only Damien and the disappearing remains of the old man left in the world.

    1 second.

    ¡°? ????? ????????? ??????¡±

    The old man finally spoke. The old man didn¡¯t have a mouth nor a throat to create sound from, and Damien couldn¡¯t even make out the words the old man said, but for some reason, he could understand them clearly.

    The voice he heard was unfathomable and malevolent, causing Damien to experience a visceral fear that he had never experienced before. Just by listening to it, Damien felt his life force wither until it reached the point where his natural lifespan was only a few months long.

    0 seconds.

    Damien¡¯s Demon Dragon Transformation ended, time sped up until it was flowing normally again, the old man¡¯s figurepletely vanished from existence.

    Damien immediately copsed to the ground. His body was wracked with insane pain that he couldn¡¯t understand and his mind was in shambles. Mouthfuls of blood continuously flowed from his mouth without pause.

    Damien¡¯s chaotic mind raced, but he was unable to form a single thought. He couldn¡¯t even consciously register the pain that he was supposed to be experiencing.

    He had no idea what the surrounding situation was. He had no idea where his body was or what was happening to it. He was trapped inside his mind space with a single image ying on rey over and over again.

    It was the image of that malevolent smile and the sound of that unfathomable voice. Under the stimtion of these two factors, Damien was slowly losing his mind, unable to stop it from crumbing to dust.

 Chapter 313 Deathâ€™s Door [1]

    ¡°Old Ghost, you dare?!¡±

    A furious bellow rang out within an unknown location filled with darkness. The voice was hoarse and weary, but the domineering intent behind its words was unquestionable.

    ¡°Kekeke, so what if I do? Old Fool, it¡¯s your fault for not managing him properly. Did you think I didn¡¯t know anything?¡±

    A malevolent voice responded in kind, not shirking at all in the face of the intense pressure the first voice gave off. In fact, the second voice seemed to fully enjoy the first¡¯s rage.

    ¡°Old Ghost, it seems I¡¯ve been too lenient with you over these past few millennia. You seem to think you can do as you please here. Very well, if you think that you can interfere without consequence, then allow me to remind you of your ce.¡±

    The endless darkness trembled in fear. A massive aura spread from an unknown location within, causing cracks to appear within the mysterious realm that the two voices inhabited.

    ¡°Old Fool, are you crazy?!¡±

    ¡°Do you have the right to call anyone crazy? It is your actions that forced me to do this. As for the consequences, hehehe, I¡¯ll kindly allow you to bear them along with me.¡±

    ¡°Tch! This is why I call you an Old Fool! Don¡¯t you know? Regardless of what you were in the past, you are only a husk of your former self. If you truly think you can harm me like this, then you need to face reality!¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha! Old Ghost, you are too naive! Well then, allow me to show you reality!¡±

    As the massive aura continued to spread, greenish-white motes of light began to pollute the endless darkness. As these droplets of light fell to the incorporeal ground, they rapidly spread and consumed it.

    The endless darkness took on a new look, with arge portion of it now being the same greenish-white color. In the ce where this light shed with the darkness, massive ruptures of space the size of continents formed and dissipated constantly, causing severe instability in the realm.

    ¡°So you were still hiding this much power from me. Old Fool, it seems you want to end things here! Then, this King shall apany you!¡±

    Another massive aura billowed in the mysterious realm, spurring the endless darkness into action.

    The two beings fought only with their auras, but the damage they were causing had already reached a continental scale. They knew that if they moved to truly fight, they¡¯d end up consumed by the void once the mysterious realm copsed.

    Suddenly, a rain of greenish-white light motes rushed into a newly opened space crack before it closed.

    ¡°So this was your n all along!¡±

    The one called Old Ghost eximed in frustration. He had been too rash, wanting to get rid of his old rival once and for all. He had forgotten what the original cause of their current dispute was.

    ¡°What? If you can interfere, why can¡¯t I? Isn¡¯t it only fair?¡±

    The one called Old Fool mocked his enemy. Soon after, both auras gradually diminished as peace once again returned to the mysterious realm.

    The greenish-whitend that had been formed didn¡¯t disappear, though. It stood strong like a sole Holy Land that could weather the winds and rain within hell.

    ¡°Old Fool, you best pray that this one can survive a bit longer than the rest. Although you may have stopped this King¡¯s advances in your first trial, the second one is something you cannot interfere with any more than you already have. Kekeke, even if he has the mental strength to resist that little girl, it won¡¯t mean anything in the face of his own demons.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Whether or not he can survive is up to him. If he truly falls, then he simply wasn¡¯t worthy enough. No matter how long it takes, I¡¯ll always wait until the right onees around. At that time, regardless of what interference you pull, nothing will stop their rise.¡±

    ¡°Kekeke! Old Fool, you don¡¯t have to talk in circles with me. Just as you know certain things, I naturally know them as well. This time¡­¡±

    ¡°Enough!¡±

    Old Fool didn¡¯t let Old Ghost finish speaking. He was well aware of the current situation, but if he allowed the hope in his heart to diminish, he¡¯d truly have nothing left.

    His gaze seemed to pierce through the veil of reality for a moment as he looked at the figure of a certain man and sighed.

    ¡®Even if it¡¯s from a Demigod, a True Voice isn¡¯t something a mere mortal can endure, regardless of how heaven-defying and lucky they are. Brat, this old man will help you this time, but you must hold on until my assistance can reach you.¡¯

    ***

    In the ce where the one called Old Fool was gazing, a once raging battlefield had be enveloped in silence.

    Thebatants were all gazing in a certain direction silently, their minds chaotic and their thoughts unsaid. Although none of them had witnessed what had happened, they had all heard that malevolent voice.

    ¡°Keuk¡­!¡±

    ¡°Ahhh!¡±

    ¡°Blergh¡­!¡±

    Without warning, every single individual in the vicinity broke down and copsed to the ground.

    Blood flowed from their seven orifices and their eyes rolled back into their heads. Some were foaming at the mouth, while others directly vomited. However, regardless of their reaction, the pain they felt was real.

    The True Voice that had rung out a moment ago had reached them all. It could only be said that they were lucky enough to not be directly targeted by it.

    Although they couldn¡¯t understand what the voice had said, nor could they totally understand what the voice even was, they got to keep their lives in return.

    The mana in the atmosphere immediately dispersed as the True Voice spoke. Qing Tan¡¯s shadow army and Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s Runic Scriptures disappeared into thin air. Even the dark material of the Apostles seemed to have be silent.

    As everyone attempted to regain their bearings, Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s eyes suddenlynded on the only other ally she had in the vicinity.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help but yelp in shock at what she saw. When Qing Tan turned to look in the same direction, her expression became grave.

    ¡°We have to go.¡±

    She squeezed out the words with everything she had in her. Her body shakily rose from the ground, stumbling over to Damien¡¯s position.

    The bird-like Commander-level shadow that Qing Tan had summoned earlier reappeared underneath Feng Qing¡¯er, lifting her off the ground and gliding to Qing Tan¡¯s position.

    Soon, it had put Qing Tan and Damien on its back too. Without the slightest hint of hesitation, it pped its massive wings and shot into the distance.

    The Apostles didn¡¯t even care to pursue. Unlike the three outsiders, they had an inkling of what had just happened.

    Their figures were prostrated on the ground unmoving, their eyes filled with tears. Whether they were tears of sadness or joy, even the Apostles didn¡¯t know.

    On one hand, the old man had died. He was their leader and their main support pir. Without him, nothing would ever be the same again.

    It was a truly mournful event, making their blood boil with thoughts of vengeance.

    However, on the other hand, they were graced with something truly magnificent.

    Their Lord had descended personally.

    They had been allowed to hear his voice.

    Uncaring of the fact that such a descent had caused them unending pain, they were honored and jubted to have been able to hear that heavenly chime.

    Even as the night passed and the sun slowly rose on the horizon, the Apostles didn¡¯t move from their prostrated position.

 Chapter 314 Deathâ€™s Door [2]

    When Damien¡¯s body copsed to the ground, he seemed to have gone through a myriad of changes. His hair became grey, his skin became wrinkled. He had aged hundreds of years in the span of a few seconds.

    It wasn¡¯t just that his vitality was overdrawn or depleted. If that was enough to cause such a scene, then every person would rapidly age right before their death.

    Damien¡¯s situation was different.

    He had just experienced the insurmountable gap between a mortal and someone who had stepped into the realm of godhood.

    The gap between 3rd and 4th ss was big, sure, but it was nothing in the face of this gap. At the end of the day, both 3rd and 4th ss existences existed within the realm of mortals. Even with the Universe Baptism, this fact didn¡¯t change.

    This was why, as long as he could use external help, Damien still had the potential to kill entry-level 4th ss existences.

    However, even if one was at the very peak of 4th ss only seconds away from ascending to Godhood, there wasn¡¯t even the slightest hint of hope for them to defeat a Demigod, regardless of their methods.

    That was the kind of concept Godhood was. The fact that Damien was even alive after being directly targeted by a Demigod¡¯s True Voice while he was just a 3rd ss was a miracle. Or rather, it was a testament to the achievements and legend he had built up until now.

    Within Damien¡¯s mind, multiple disasters seemed to have struck at the same time. A raging tsunami topped with a massive hurricane, an earthquake and an erupting volcano. As all of these disasters urred, a tide of beasts rampaged wantonly and caused destruction while burning their life force for power.

    Even with all of that, it wasn¡¯t enough to describe the chaos in Damien¡¯s mind.

    His Mind Prison stood in the middle of the cracked and crumbling mindspace like a sole bastion of hope. Damien¡¯s ego took shelter within the construct as it attempted to withstand the winds and rain.

    Even if he wanted to try and think of a solution to the problem, he wasn¡¯t able to. Any attempt to form conscious thought would only cause the damage in his mindspace to worsen.

    As for Damien¡¯s body, it could be said to be in a better position than his mind, but that wasn¡¯t saying much. Besides the fact that he had rapidly aged into a decrepit old man, his mana was raging out of control within his body, attacking his internal organs and structures with no regard for its own safety.

    Voom!

    Damien¡¯s mana circuit suddenly roared into action. The artificial nervous system he had created was emitting a powerful suction force as if it was using a devour ability.

    The Void mes spread through Damien¡¯s extremities and used its powerful influence to try and suppress the rampaging mana, Damien¡¯s dragon bloodline roared with vitality as it attempted to put his body back together.

    All of these parts that Damien had made with the intention of allowing them to act as a self-repairing and functioning machine were doing their best to counter the damage he had sustained, but at best they could only slow the process so his body didn¡¯t die immediately.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Although his real heartbeat was incredibly weak, his Mana Heart was beating at full force, regting all the repair processes that were currently ongoing.

    With the power of the suction force increasing due to the interference of the Mana Heart,rge portions of ambient mana suddenly entered Damien¡¯s body after being stolen from the outside world.

    But the cirction of this mana would only lead to more damage. Instead, the ambient mana all went straight into Damien¡¯s Mana Circuit and fused with it. The artificial nervous system slowly became thicker and stronger, while also attaining a level of flexibility it previously didn¡¯t have.

    The Ananta Matrix was evolving under pressure to cope with the current situation, but Damien couldn¡¯t enjoy it at all.

    Even if the situation within his body was holding onto a delicate bnce, the situation in his mind was very close to ending in defeat.

    ***

    In the outside world, Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan worriedly watched Damien¡¯s body for any changes.

    After escaping Acier on the back of Qing Tan¡¯s Commander-level bird shadow, they had rushed to Darknorth to rest and recuperate.

    The reason they chose it was simple. It was the farthest city from Acier, which meant that if the Apostles decided to pursue themter, they¡¯d have more time to prepare.

    But a week had already passed and no new problems seemed to arise.

    During this week, the two of them were able to fully heal from the injuries they sustained after the True Voice descended, and they spent most of their time looking after Damien.

    He had taken the brunt of that attack. Even seeing the changes that had happened in his physical appearance, they couldn¡¯t imagine the kind of pain he was going through.

    ¡°Is there anything we can do?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er asked anxiously.

    ¡°Sigh, you¡¯ve already asked this question tens of times over the past week, but nothing had changed. In the end, we are too powerless to do anything.¡± Qing Tan responded wearily.

    With the state of affairs as it was now, she had dropped her previously yful attitude.

    She was a thrillseeker and she was someone who would act on a whim without care for others, but she wasn¡¯t heartless.

    In fact, once she made a friend she was far more loyal than ordinary people would be. And over the course of the past few months, she had trulye to regard both Damien and Feng Qing¡¯er as her friends.

    Seeing Damien¡¯s condition, Qing Tan had tried many things to help him, but she wasn¡¯t able to find a single probable solution.

    ¡°The main problem is that I can¡¯t even get a full understanding of what¡¯s going on. If I try to send my mana or awareness into his body, it either gets devoured or repulsed. All we can do is make sure we guard him and provide what we can.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er nodded powerlessly. She was even more distraught than Qing Tan. She was a straightforward and blunt person. She didn¡¯t know much about decorum even though she held such high status. Brazen and bold, heroic and valiant, this was how other people tended to describe her.

    But inside, she was still an innocent girl who was sheltered from birth. She grew up surrounded by only women and her closest friend was a block of ice. Even when Lunaria Snow showed emotion, it was the kind of thing where one would only realize it if they were close enough to her to understand her nature.

    Spending time with Damien was a breath of fresh air. She loved Luna as her closest sister, but both Damien and Qing Tan were outgoing and fun people whose personalities were simr to hers.

    She didn¡¯t want Damien to die. Feeling the emptiness that she was feeling now when death was only a possibility, she didn¡¯t want to know what it felt like to truly lose someone she cared about.

    But even the Reincarnation mes were unable to help Damien¡¯s situation. Instead, they had been devoured just like Qing Tan¡¯s mana and awareness when they entered his body.

    Although Feng Qing¡¯er was curious about the little golden me that had shown itself to devour her Reincarnation mes, she suppressed her curiosity and put her utmost focus on observing the situation.

    And like this, another week passed.

    Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan had fallen asleep while caring for Damien, unable to withstand the fatigue they had umted from hearing the True Voice.

    They had been so concerned with Damien that they had only treated their bodies without paying attention to their minds.

    While the three remained unconscious within the small room they stayed in, a miniature space crack abruptly opened in the void above Damien¡¯s head.

    And from that space crack, a mysterious greenish white essence flowed into Damien¡¯s mouth like water from the most refreshing spring in existence.

 Chapter 315 Deathâ€™s Door [3]

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    A dim blue light shone through Damien¡¯s eyelids and forced his consciousness awake. Slowly but surely, his eyes managed to glitter open.

    ¡°Where am I?¡±

    Thest thing he remembered was trying to escape Acier with Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan, but now he was in a mysterious space that didn¡¯t even look like it was part of the Trial World at all.

    He was currently inside of a shimmering blue harrier shaped like a ser ball. The space around him waspletely dark, like a sea of emptiness. In the distance, he could see many floating inds that looked like broken chunks of earth floating in the void.

    ¡®Did I die?¡¯

    It was the first thought that came to his head. He clearly remembered how his vitality left his body and how his mind was on the verge of copse. It wouldn¡¯t be too surprising if he had died.

    ¡®No, that¡¯s impossible. I refuse to ept it.¡¯

    His thoughts were still incredibly muddled, and he felt a splitting headache that wouldn¡¯t go away ever since he woke up. The fact that he was in such bad condition made him feel that he had survived.

    ¡®But that leads back to my first question, where the hell am I?¡¯

    Damien moved towards the edge of the barrier and reached out his hand to touch it. At that moment, he realized something odd about the current situation.

    His entire body was incorporeal like a ghost, and it was shining in a simr blue light to that of the barrier around him. But despite his incorporeal state, when he touched the barrier, he could clearly feel the sensation of his hand touching a sturdy wall.

    Damien furrowed his brows. ¡®It seems my physical body isn¡¯t in this strange world, but then what is this? My consciousness, a soul form? If it¡¯s either of those two then it gives me a better grasp on where I might be right now.¡¯

    And once he slightly understood his location, he also understood the nature of the barrier currently surrounding him.

    ¡®The Mind Prison.¡¯

    In his desperation to survive, his ego had taken shelter within the Mind Prison to wear the storms that were raging through his consciousness after he received the blow from the True Voice. He only had a vague recollection of that event, but after that, everything was nk.

    ¡®Looking at the current situation, things seemed to have calmed down a bit.¡¯

    Although he didn¡¯t know much about his mindspace, he knew it shouldn¡¯t look like this. All those floating inds scattered through the void made him feel a sense of trepidation.

    ¡®Sigh, if that¡¯s a physical representation of my mind, then I¡¯m screwed big time.¡¯

    From what he could see in his immediate line of sight, there were at least hundreds of inds. If he took into consideration the fact that he didn¡¯t know the actual size of the space he was currently in, there could very well be thousands or even more.

    His mind was truly shattered. Considering how many pieces it had been split into, it was a miracle he was even able to form conscious thought.

    ¡®Something must be facilitating my recovery.¡¯

    As he slowly adapted to his current state, the hazy memories of his suffering the past few weeks came back to him in fragments. From what he could surmise about the state he was in before hepletely lost consciousness, it was impossible for him to heal through his own efforts.

    ¡®Sigh, if I could see my status window right now, things would be so much easier.¡¯

    Although the status window didn¡¯t outline his condition, there were bound to be changes he could use to figure out some information. Also, he could see the backlog of system messages that could possibly alert him of what happened.

    Perhaps his legend was enhanced, or the Primordial Undying Tree sent a message. Either way, there would be something for him to see.

    Without understanding the situation, Damien didn¡¯t want to rashly act. If he made some mistake by ident, it could very well spell his death.

    With this thought in mind, he returned to the middle of the Mind Prison and sat down, adjusting his mental state and concentrating on the situation outside.

    Time passed slowly.

    ¡®I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been, but at least I¡¯ve managed to gain some information.¡¯

    Firstly, the many inds that were scattered around the area were slowly moving. Their directions weren¡¯t set, but after a long period of observation, Damien could understand that they were being drawn to each other.

    If his guess as to what those inds represented was correct, then the fact that they were trying to reconnect symbolized the healing of his mind.

    ¡®But it¡¯s way too slow.¡¯

    There was no way for Damien to feel the flow of time in this space, but from a rough estimate, he felt that it¡¯d take at least half a year for his mind to recuperate at its current speed. And that was even with the external help that he was being provided.

    ¡®How do I make this process faster?¡¯

    He had many things to do in the outside world once he woke up. He couldn¡¯t afford to beatose until the Trial World finally closed.

    The Apostle he had killed using Void Essence wasn¡¯t simple at all. With what he experienced, he was sure that the old man was something akin to an Avatar.

    Which meant that the voice that was able to harm him merely because he heard it belonged to the Demon God.

    ¡®Things have be much moreplicated.¡¯

    His original n was to slowly assassinate the Apostles and then move on to the Demon Kings,pletely cleaning up the Trial World before it came time to leave. But it seemed he was no longer able to do that.

    The Demon God had started cing attention on him. If it was a 4th ss that had done so, it would¡¯ve been difficult but not impossible for him to continue his ns, but a Demigod was different.

    If even his voice alone was able to cause such devastating damage, then a real move from him would wipe Damien out before he could even understand what happened.

    Going to Acier again had be impossible, so targeting the Demon Kings was out of the question. But to lure the Apostles out of hiding should be somewhat simpler.

    ¡®No matter. First I need to heal and wake up. Only after that will I be able to put anything into motion.¡¯

    Damien closed his eyes and began meditating. Since he was currently inside his own mindspace, he had an inexplicable connection to the surrounding environment.

    Connecting with it should¡¯ve been easy, but as he attempted to spread his awareness, he was met with a splitting headache.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    He groaned in pain, and soon noticed that the progress the floating inds were making towards reconnecting had been set back by a small margin.

    ¡®I can¡¯t act on therge scale right now. Trying to control my entire mind when it¡¯s in pieces like this is like putting the cart before the horse.¡¯

    Realizing this, Damien changed his approach. Instead of spreading his awareness, he focused it into a single point and tried to connect to the floating ind that was closest to him.

    Whoosh!

    A minor feeling of refreshment washed over his body. As the link slowly took shape, Damien felt that formting his thoughts became much easier.

    Finding the path forward seemed to have taken a short amount of time, but Damien knew better. He had to carefully word every thought of his and take time so that it didn¡¯t exhaust the small amount of mental power he had.

    Now that he had formed a connection with the ind, the amount of mental power he had slightly increased, making it so he could focus on the task in front of him for longer periods of time.

    But he knew he wasn¡¯t anywhere close to finishing. His gaze soon moved to the second closest ind to him.

    His mental power activated and circted like it was mana, and with hismand, the ind he was connected to slowly started moving in that direction.

 Chapter 316 Deathâ€™s Door [4]

    Another week quickly passed in the outside world, and massive changes had taken ce in Damien¡¯s situation.

    His body, which had shown no signs of recovery for so long, was now encased in a strange greenish white cocoon. Inside the slightly transparent cocoon, Damien peacefully slept.

    ¡°Has anything changed since this thing showed up?¡± A woman¡¯s voice spoke from the side.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell. No matter what I try, I can¡¯t spy on what¡¯s happening inside that cocoon. But, from what it looks like on the outside, his vitality seems to be slowly regenerating.¡± Another woman responded.

    As she said, Damien no longer looked like a decrepit old man. His body inside the cocoon had gained a bit of vitality, and although he still looked aged, his skin had a certain luster to it that it didn¡¯t have before.

    ¡°Agh! I can¡¯t keep sitting around like this! If he¡¯s healing, then it¡¯s good, but we¡¯ve been sitting here doing nothing for way too long. When he wakes up, this bastard betterpensate us well!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er grumbled.

    ¡°And how do you want him topensate you? Perhaps¡­with his body?¡± Qing Tan responded with a sly smile.

    ¡°You¡­how can you speak such nonsense with a straight face? Do you not have any shame?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er yelled as she blushed furiously.

    ¡°And why should I be ashamed? I¡¯m obviously joking. Or don¡¯t tell me¡­were you actually considering it? Ahh~ what will the outside world think if they learned that miss high and mighty, the Fire Phoenix Queen herself; had fallen in love with a boy! It would be an uproar!¡±

    ¡°Who has fallen for that bastard?! If anything, wouldn¡¯t the aloof and mysterious Qing Tan diligently caring for a man for weeks on end cause even more ripples? Mm, that¡¯s right! Since when has that free and unfettered woman ever taken the time to care for someone like this? All of your fans would go crazy!¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Wow, you can actually tease someone like this? You¡¯ve really grown!¡±

    ¡°Hmph! Who do you think I learned it from?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er puffed out her chest in pride.

    ¡°Well, going back to the main point I have to agree with you. Now that we know he isn¡¯t in much danger, I think we should go out and get some fresh air.¡±

    ¡°Exactly! But, I¡¯m still a bit worried about this cocoon thing. Where did ite from? Howe it¡¯s so powerful? There are too many questions that we don¡¯t have answers to.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er frowned as she spoke. The feeling she got from the greenish-white cocoon bothered her immensely. A power that surpassed any she had seen before. Considering the fact that her mother was a 4th ss existence more powerful than even the Demon Kings, it was natural that this feeling irked her.

    ¡°Answering those questions is something I want to do as well, but the best we can do is wait for this guy to wake up and ask him. You should¡¯ve felt it too. Whether it be the voice from before or this cocoon, they are powers far beyond our scope of understanding. Carelessly messing with them will only be detrimental to us.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, but I can¡¯t help it. I¡¯m just too curious. Fine! When he wakes up, you tie him down and I¡¯ll force him to tell us everything he knows!¡±

    ¡°My, my! How kinky!¡±

    ¡°You shut up!¡±

    After bickering for a bit, the two went on to discussing serious matters again. As they had said, it was about time they started moving again.

    After they had passed out a week prior, they had stayed asleep for 3 days straight. Over the course of those 3 days, their minds and bodies were relieved of any excess fatigue they had been enduring.

    But when they woke up, they had found a strange light film wrapping around Damien. They had tried their best tobat it, but nothing they tried worked. Eventually, that light film grew until it was the cocoon they currently saw.

    They then spent the next few days watching in concern that something terrible would happen, but in the end; the cocoon was a blessing rather than a curse.

    ¡°Hey, wasn¡¯t this bastard nning to do some assassinations before he ended up like this?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er suddenly questioned.

    He hadn¡¯t intentionally revealed it to them, but Feng Qing¡¯er had managed to learn it at thest moment when they were escaping Acier together.

    It was just a guess at first, but when coupled with the way he took out the old man Apostle, she was sure she was correct.

    Qing Tan pped her hands together in realization. ¡°That¡¯s right! Even if he wasn¡¯t nning it, that¡¯s a great idea. Assassinating the Apostles is far less work than trying to confront them head-on or at the same time. It¡¯s the most effective way to kill them.¡±

    ¡°Exactly! Plus, we still have to get revenge on them for what happened on the mountain.¡±

    ¡°The question is, how do we lure them out of Acier?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er had the same doubt. Although they had been stationary for the past few weeks, they had gotten plenty of information from the geniuses outside.

    During the raid on Acier, almost half of their numbers had been killed, so the rest of them stuck together in a big group to avoid dying early. Those who had followed Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s faction in Astoria would sometimes visit Darknorth and ry some information to her due to their gratitude for her sheltering them back then.

    ording to those geniuses, there hadn¡¯t been anyrge movements from Acier recently. Even the abomination raids had temporarily halted.

    It could be exined if one considered the demons¡¯ losses when Acier was raided. When it came to Demon Generals, only a few tens of them were killed, but most of the Captains had been massacred.

    They had also lost an Apostle and a Demon King. These two losses were worth more than any othersbined.

    But even with this, Feng Qing¡¯er didn¡¯t think the silence was so simple. And she trusted her intuition.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be difficult to move them. We need to find a way to incentivize them.¡± Qing Tan suggested.

    ¡°Right. We can use revenge as an incentive to draw out the stupider ones among them. There should at least be one or two that decide to recklessly pursue. After that, though, we need something more substantial that¡¯s guaranteed to make them move.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er replied.

    ¡°Ah, I got it! It¡¯s a bit simple, but sometimes simple is best. Haven¡¯t you heard the saying? Men die for wealth and birds die for food. Do we have any treasures that could incite their greed?¡±

    ¡°Treasures, huh¡­¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er fell into thought. It was really a simple yet efficient idea. After all, the Primordial Undying Realm attracted so many geniuses due to the prospect of treasure. It was only after they entered that they realized the realm waspletely different from expectations.

    But the problem was, she couldn¡¯t think of a treasure that¡¯d incite those Apostles to move without care for their safety.

    The two girls fell into thought for a while before Qing Tan¡¯s eyes abruptly lit up.

    ¡°I got it! A treasure that¡¯d make the Apostles ovee with greed!¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s sparkling eyes fell on a certain location, and Feng Qing¡¯er soon followed. When she saw what Qing Tab was referring to, she couldn¡¯t help but exim.

    A grin soon surfaced on her face.

    ¡°Indeed. If it¡¯s that, let alone the Apostles, even the Demon Kings wouldn¡¯t be able to hold themselves back!¡±

    Qing Tan nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Good! Since we¡¯ve figured this out, let¡¯s start nning for real.¡±

    Assassinating Apostles¡­Qing Tan felt that another wave of exciting adventures was about to be upon them. And frankly, she couldn¡¯t wait.

 Chapter 317 Assassination [1]

    The demon city of Acier was enveloped in a gloomy atmosphere ever since the raid that had taken ce a few weeks back.

    Although regr mortal citizens hadn¡¯t been harmed due to both the separation of cityyers and the consideration of the invading forces, arge portion of the demons¡¯bat power had been destroyed by the battle.

    And with the excitement of the outside forces as they left the city, news that even an Apostle and Demon King had fallen in the battle couldn¡¯t be suppressed. The faith the demons had in their Apostles had begun to falter slightly.

    In this atmosphere, the once lively firstyer had lost its original charm, but the citizens continued their day-to-day lives. There was nothing else they could do.

    ¡°Sigh, how did it be like this? Since when were we ever on the losing side?¡±

    A guard who was patrolling the entrance to the mountain sighed to himself. In recent days, his job had be much more grueling.

    Not only had the number of guards patrolling the base of the mountain been increased, their strength had also been increased. Now, there were hundreds of Demon Captains and even a few generals patrolling the area.

    ¡°It¡¯s all those damn outsiders¡¯ fault! If it weren¡¯t for them, who could challenge our mighty rule? Argh, I want to tear them apart!¡±

    Another guard muttered in frustration when he heard hisrade¡¯s words. The few guards around them also grit their teeth in shame and anger.

    Everything had changed when the outsiders attacked. There wasn¡¯t a single demon among them that didn¡¯t want revenge. But at the same time, they knew they didn¡¯t have the strength to do anything.

    Even the weakest outsiders could y Captain-level demons, and the strongest ones could even kill Apostles. From the bottom of their hearts, they were extremely fearful of the position they were in now. After all, as the ones guarding the base of the mountain, they¡¯d be the first to die if another attack took ce.

    ¡°Sigh, whatever. Let¡¯s just continue our duty and pray that they don¡¯t attack again. Hopefully, the Demon God can give us his blessing and allow us toe out on top of this tribtion.¡±

    When the guards were about to return to their usual patrols, a faint rustling sound came from the nearby foliage.

    ¡°Who goes there?!¡±

    They raised their weapons, but nothing came out to greet them. Carefully, they approached the bushes while getting into formation.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    ng!

    A swift spear shot forth and pierced the bush, erupting with mana and blowing it to shreds. However, there was still no response. Unexpectedly, the tip of the spear had hit the side of a thick metal case.

    ¡°What is this?¡± One of the guards questioned.

    The guards crowded around the case and tried to pry it open, but no matter what they did, it wouldn¡¯t budge.

    ¡°It seems to be locked. Forget it, we¡¯re too low-level to deal with this bullshit. Let¡¯s take it to Sir General and let him deal with it.¡±

    With this thought in mind, the guards immediately reported back to the Demon General who was overseeing their area. Soon? The General arrived before them.

    ¡°Sir, this case seems to have appeared out of nowhere, but we have no idea what the contents are. However, there are no mana fluctuationsing from it so we have assumed that it isn¡¯t a bomb.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, you may leave this matter to me. Continue with your patrols and report any other discrepancies you find.¡± The General responded.

    ¡°Yes sir!¡±

    After the guards left, the Demon General took his time to inspect the box. However to his surprise, it opened with the injection of just a small amount of his mana.

    ¡°Those wastes couldn¡¯t even figure this much out?¡± He muttered.

    His hands quickly went towards the lid to open it. But when he saw the contents within, he almost fainted on the spot.

    ¡°T-this is¡­!¡±

    He immediately closed the lid and grabbed the chest, rushing up the mountain without thinking of anything else.

    ¡®I must report this to the Lord Apostles. This isn¡¯t something I can handle!¡¯

    He ran with all his might, even infusing mana into his legs to increase his speed. He didn¡¯t even stop after reaching the fourthyer, ignoring everyone who tried to stop him as he rushed to the pantheon at the mountain peak.

    ¡°Lords! Something major has happened! This is an emergency!¡±

    He yelled at the top of his lungs when he reached the base of the pantheon. Soon after, a burly man exited its doors and stood in front of him.

    ¡°Bastard, you better have a good reason for disturbing this King. If not, don¡¯t expect to leave here alive.¡± The Apostle red his aura as he spoke, exerting a heavy pressure on the General.

    In normal times, he wouldn¡¯t even be bothered to deal with something like this. The Apostles would receive news from the servants stationed outside the pantheon instead of personallying out. But times had changed.

    For a Demon General to be so bold as to openly shout in front of the pantheon, the news must¡¯ve been rted to the outsiders who had been getting in their way at every turn.

    With this in mind, the Apostle couldn¡¯t sit still. Even the old man had died because of the outsiders. Although the Demon God had intervened and dealt them a heavy blow, it didn¡¯t help to quell the rage in his heart.

    The Demon General could clearly feel the irritated mood of the Apostle, so he didn¡¯t dy at all.

    ¡°Sir, when my men were patrolling the base of the mountain earlier, they came across this chest. This lowly one felt that this matter isn¡¯t something he could handle alone, so he came directly to report.¡±

    The General quickly handed the chest to the Apostle, who looked at it with a deadpan face.

    ¡°Why should I care about this? Is it some treasure? Just keep it for yourself. I doubt it can pique this King¡¯s interest anyway.¡±

    ¡°No, sir. Please open the chest and see for yourself.¡±

    Feeling curious, the Apostle soon did as the General suggested.

    Thud!

    The sound of something heavy hitting the floor rang through the silent fifthyer. The Apostle¡¯s face was colored in shock, changing from red to white constantly.

    ¡°This¡­¡±

    Boom!

    The Apostle¡¯s aura raged. The surrounding space trembled and cracked under its pressure.

    ¡°WHO DARES?!¡±

    His furious roar rang through all of Acier. Some mortals even fell directly unconscious when they heard it.

    ¡°What happened?!¡±

    ¡°Proto, why are you screaming out here?!¡±

    ¡°Who dares attack us?! Come out, you bastards!¡±

    Feeling the surging aura, multiple other Apostles exited the pantheon to try and figure out the situation. At first, they assumed that another attack had beenunched on their city.

    But when they reached the outside of the pantheon, they all fell silent. Their gazes had been attracted to the strange smell and auraing from the chest that was on the ground.

    As Porto¡¯s aura continued wildly surging, the chest could no longer handle the pressure and cracked into pieces. From its rubble, two spherical objects and a letter fell to the floor.

    When the rest of the Apostles saw the sight, they couldn¡¯t help but feel their chaotic emotions rise as well.

    After all, rolling on the ground in front of them were the heads of Granheim and Kroa, two of their fellow Apostles that had been in by the outsiders.

    One of the Apostles shakily bent down and grabbed the letter that apanied those two heads and opened it.

    Along with a location, there were four simple words written on the parchment in ck blood.

    But these words only served to heighten the Apostles¡¯ fury even more.

    ¡°Come if you dare.¡±

 Chapter 318 Assassination [2]

    Within the pantheon, the six remaining Apostles sat around a now much more empty table as they fumed with rage.

    ¡°They actually dare to provoke us! Do they really think they¡¯re so great after just a few victories?!¡±

    ¡°Calm down. This is obviously a trap. Otherwise, how could they be so confident? We must silently endure and wait for the Lord¡¯s instructions.¡±

    ¡°Wait?! And let them believe we are cowards that have submitted to them?! Absolutely not!¡±

    ¡°So what are you going to do? They¡¯ve already proven multiple times that they can defeat us, so how do you n to get the vengeance you speak of.¡±

    Many opinions circted as the Apostles expressed their views on the situation. In fact, the number that wanted to immediately charge to the given location and fight it out hadrgely outnumbered those who wanted to wait and endure.

    Proto sneered when he heard the cautiousments of hisrades.

    ¡°Please, if it weren¡¯t for that brat from before, how could they have the power to challenge us? Now that he¡¯s been dealt with by the Lord, those two little girls can¡¯t harm us at all.¡±

    ¡°And who decided that? Haven¡¯t you seen the recording of that Phoenix girl¡¯s battle with Kroa?¡±

    ¡°Ha! And how can Kroapare to me?! In the end, they¡¯re all just women. When faced with a true man like me, they have no choice but to submit and kneel at my feet.¡±

    ¡°Proto, don¡¯t go too far. Do you believe I won¡¯t kill you here and now?¡±

    Of the six remaining Apostles, only two were women, but they both were ring at Proto with surging killing intent as he spoke. When it came to physical power, it was guaranteed that he was above them, but in terms of mana, he didn¡¯te close to them at all.

    If they fought for real, it was undecided who would win.

    ¡°Tch. As if the two of you count. Your poweres from the same source as mine! You are subordinates of the Lord, so naturally you aren¡¯t considered the same.¡±

    The two women furrowed their brows but said nothing in the end. Although they wanted to refuse his indirect jab, they couldn¡¯t. After all, it was true that they were borrowing power from their Lord. They didn¡¯t have the capital to argue that women were on the same standing as him.

    But Porto¡¯s attitude had always been like this, and frankly, they were sick of it. Perhaps, in the bottom of their hearts, they were secretly waiting for him to go challenge those two girls and die by their hands. That would be the greatest proof of their point.

    ¡°Whatever. I will stand by my statement that we should wait and see. Regardless of your personal beliefs, our numbers have already dwindled to this extent. We can¡¯t lose more due to foolishness.¡± Another Apostle sighed.

    The rest silently agreed after looking around the table. It was hard not to notice how much emptier it was now than it was a few months ago.

    ¡°Tch! You can do whatever you want! I¡¯m leaving!¡±

    Proto harrumphed loudly and stormed out of the hall. Looking at his retreating figure, the rest of the Apostles sighed.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way to stop him. Even if we tried to convince him otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t listen. And the origin of our power prohibits us from using force on each other.¡±

    ¡°What should we do then? It¡¯s clear that he¡¯ll die if he charges in there alone.¡±

    ¡°Someone has to go with him. Although he isn¡¯t the strongest, the power of his fist can¡¯t be underestimated. If he is allowed to fight the enemy one-on-one, he mighte out victorious.¡±

    ¡°So who will go?¡±

    When the question was raised, three hands shot up at the same time. The three Apostles red at each other, not willing to back down.

    ¡°All three of you can¡¯t go. Let¡¯s decide this fairly and draw lots.¡±

    The drawing was soonpleted, and another burly Apostle was chosen to apany Proto. The other two sighed in defeat, but epted their loss.

    In usual times, they¡¯d fight for the position. But the number of Apostles was already so low, they couldn¡¯t act arbitrarily. It wasn¡¯t up to them anymore.

    ¡°Nali, I guess it¡¯s you. Don¡¯t let us down and bring us back the heads of those wenches.¡±

    ¡°If you die out there, I¡¯ll make sure to recover your corpse and humiliate you even after death.¡±

    The Apostle named Nali nodded firmly. He had no ns to be defeated. Taking onest look at the four remaining Apostles, he left the pantheon and chased after Proto.

    ¡°Sigh, this is the most we can do. We need to conserve our numbers in case any unexpected situations arise.¡±

    ¡°If those two don¡¯t return¡­¡±

    The Apostles were silent. They didn¡¯t want to imagine it, but if the scenario came true then¡­

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing else to say. We¡¯ve been ced in a disadvantageous position for the first time in our lives and things have developed negatively ever since. We have to learn from our loss and make sure we move precisely and decisively from here on out.¡±

    The four of them nodded in determination. They were the only ones left to serve their Lord and carry out his ns for now. They no longer had room for mistakes.

    ***

    There was arge forest not far from Astoria that spanned for many kilometers on end. It was one of the many simr forests that constituted arge portion of the Trial World¡¯s space.

    This forest, however, was special, as it was the chosen location that was mentioned in the letter that was sent to the Apostles a few days back.

    ¡°Do you think they¡¯lle?¡±

    A soundless transmission traveled through the air andnded in Qing Tan¡¯s head. Her awareness was spread to its limit, surveying any movement in the area.

    ¡°They¡¯lle. I noted them when we were fighting in Acier. At least one of them is guaranteed enough to fall for our provocation even if he knows it¡¯s a trap.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Who is he?¡±

    ¡°How am I supposed to know his name? All I know is that he¡¯s unnecessarily muscled and grotesque looking. I remember him well because of the annoying look he had on his face.¡± Qing Tan¡¯s expression was cold as she recalled the face of a certain Apostle.

    ¡°I wanted to kill him at that time, but then that unexpected situation happened and I couldn¡¯t do anything. This time, I¡¯ll be sure to end it.¡±

    ¡°Oho? Someone actually annoyed you to this extent? That¡¯s unexpected.¡±

    ¡°Tch. It can¡¯t be helped. Even though I¡¯m like this, I¡¯m still a woman too. That bastard kept going on and on about how women are weak and all this bullshit. If he really shows up as I expect him to, then I¡¯ll make sure I treat him very nicely.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er shivered at Qing Tan¡¯s tone. Thest time she heard this tone, 10 Demon Generals had been tortured gruesomely.

    With nothing else to say, she turned her attention back to the forest and spread her awareness as well.

    ¡®This time, we¡¯re doing an assassination. They¡¯ll be expecting a frontal battle because of the way we lured them here, so we need to entertain them somehow.¡¯

    Qing Tan spread her shadow and called her three Shadow Generals, letting them roam into the forest and take position at three different points.

    As the two girls waited patiently, they finally sensed some movement on the outskirts of the forest.

    Qing Tan shed a chilling smile. Like a silent predator stalking its prey, she melded into the shadows, disappearing from the perception of even Feng Qing¡¯er, who was right beside her.

    ¡°Finally, they¡¯re here. And it looks like that bastard really decided to show up.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er nodded heavily and moved as well. They had already nned everything for this day. Now, all they needed to do was carry it out.

 Chapter ?319 Assassination [3]

    Chapter ?319 Assassination [3]

    "Is this the ce?"

    A burly man stared at therge forest in front of him with a murderous gaze. His eyes scanned from left to right, trying to find any signs of life within the vicinity.

    "Why are you asking such a stupid question? You should be able to see it too, right?" Another man responded.

    "I see it, but I can''t believe it. These women sure have balls, openly inviting us like this."

    Proto gnashed his teeth as he spoke. He was already someone who hated the feeling of being looked down upon, but being looked down on by a woman was even worse.

    "Tch. Let''s just go. Regardless of what they have up their sleeves, they can''t do shit to me."

    Proto puffed out his chest and red his aura. Without hesitation, he walked into the forest while brazenly showing off his position.

    Nali sighed before following him in. ''Something doesn''t feel right about this.'' He thought inwardly, but there wasn''t anything he could do at this juncture.

    He wanted revenge as much as the next person, but he was more careful in how he went about it. He didn''t like how brazen Proto as being.

    But the die had already been cast.

    Nali walked through the forest carefully, spreading his awareness outside his body to prepare for any sudden attacks. Unfortunately, his mind was rtively underdeveloped, so his awareness could only spread a few hundred meters away. But this was still enough space to allow him time to react.

    Shiver!

    As he walked further, he felt an inexplicable chill run down his body. The forest around him suddenly dimmed, as if the moonlight had been blocked by the dense foliage above.

    ''No, it''s not that.''

    His eyes hardened as he began circting mana through his body. His eyes darted vigntly from side to side, and his awareness became concentrated to the extreme.

    Rustle!

    "Who?!"

    Nali swiftly turned around, throwing a fierce punch in the direction of the sound. With a bang, the trees and bushes in the direction of his fist were reduced to dust.

    ''There''s nobody?'' His eyes furrowed when he realized this. ''Have I be too paranoid?''

    Swoosh!

    As he had the thought, something sped into the range of his awareness, reaching his position before he could even register what it was.

    "Fuck!"

    He twisted his body unnaturally, narrowly dodging the attack that had been aimed at him. Using the momentum of his spin, he threw a punch at the fleeing predator.

    ''Damn. That thing is fast.'' He thought, noticing his blow had failed tond. But even though he didn''t gain a substantial advantage, he at least knew that he was truly being targeted.

    Since it wasn''t paranoia, he maintained his extremely vignt state, walking forward and continuing deeper into the forest.

    ***

    Concealed within the clouds above the forest, Feng Qing''er watched this sequence of events take ce.

    From the beginning, she was aware that assassination wasn''t her forte. Her personality and affinity were perfectly matched, being specialized in frontalbat and explosive power.

    But for this mission, they had specifically chosen to assassinate their targets.

    Feng Qing''er knew that such a scheme wasn''t necessary. There were only two Apostles present and they had already been separated. Feng Qing''er had the strength to fight an Apostle one on one and obtain victory.

    ''But this is a perfect opportunity to train.''

    She didn''t have any major hopes of bing extremely cunning. She knew herself better than anyone, and as such, she was aware that it was impossible for her to develop in such a direction. Instead, she just wanted to expand her repertoire a bit.

    Feng Qing''er had risen to the sky using her physical wings, so she emitted no obvious mana fluctuations. Combined with the fact that she was currently concealed by both the natural clouds and her own technique, it would be difficult for someone to spot her even if they knew where to look.

    From this position, she watched as Nali made his way through the forest, cautiously attacking anything that made even a hint of sound.

    ''Now.''

    Suddenly, she gave amand. A ck blur swept down from the clouds next to her and entered the forest, extending its ws and attempting to pierce through the Apostle''s skin.

    "Bastard!"

    Nali dodged just as easily as he had done the first time, suffering no damage. But Feng Qing''er wasn''t perturbed by this.

    The ck blur soon returned to her side, and its form was revealed. It was Qing Tan''s Commander-level Shadow Bird.

    ''Good, let''s continue this for a bit more.''

    Time passed slowly, and Feng Qing''er continued with the same strategy. She allowed Nali''s paranoia to grow as the shadow bird swept down and attacked at random intervals.

    At this point, he had already stopped moving forward and was situated in a single location, quietly trying to anticipate the shadow bird''s next attack.

    His eyes were closed and his senses were heightened to the max. Each rusting of tree branches and movement of the wind was clearly reflected in his mind.

    ''It should being at any second now.''

    He knew that the enemy wasn''t one of the two girls he had originallye to find, but killing it would allow him to find them. After all, he had personally seen this bird when they fought in the fourthyer of Acier a few weeks back.

    ''That one is more dangerous than the fiery one. She''s too cunning to be left to that musclebrained Proto.''

    If Proto was given to Qing Tan, his death was already guaranteed. He needed to kill the shadow bird to attract her attention before it happened.

    ''Now!''

    The mana circting through his body burst through his fist. His eyes shot wide open and his body pivoted to the left. A furious punch flew forward and impacted a ck blur that had dived down from the clouds to attack him.

    Skree!

    A pained cry rang out as the bird shot back and impacted a nearby tree with a thump. Maki chases after the bird, raising his leg into the air and shooting a swift kick at its wings.

    Bang!

    The bird''s eyes shone with panic as it tried to escape from its predicament, but Nali had acted too fast.

    Crack!

    The bird''s wings, which were mid-p, bent at an unnatural angle as a cracking sound rang through the surroundings. Another pained screech soon followed as the bird copsed to the ground.

    Nali didn''t waste any time. He grabbed the bird by its throat and began to squeeze with all his strength.

    "Why don''t you call for your master? If you don''t, then you''re guaranteed to die here."

    His grip became tighter, and the bird''s cries soon lost their vigor. Truthfully, he didn''t care if the bird called its master or not. Since the two were bound to have a spiritual link, he was sure that killing the bird would alert the master.

    ''Wait, something''s wrong.''

    He abruptly frowned. The sensation in his hand wasn''t like that of flesh anymore. It was like he was squeezing a wet towel soaked in ink.

    When he looked down at the shadow bird, he noticed that it was melting into the shadows around him. In its eyes, there was a light of disdain that couldn''t be hidden.

    Nali abruptly realized his mistake. He tried to turn around to see if there was another presence in the vicinity, but his head soon became muddled.

    "It''s already toote."

    A silvery voice rang out from behind him. Although he wanted to turn around and look at the one who spoke, he found that he wasn''t able to.

    A sensation of heat began to spread from his nape and consume his body. His muddled head became even worse as the heat spread.

    "You¡­!"

    Fwip!

    As he roused his mana in a bid to clear his head, a flicking sound spread from behind him. In the next instant, he found a dull orange needle embedded in his throat.

    "This isn''t something I''ve masteredpletely, so its effects are a bit slow. But it seems to be doing its job properly."

    Feng Qing''er smiled as she watched the incapacitated Apostle. Although he could only feel the single needle in his nape, she could see his true situation.

    The back of the Apostle''s body was littered with hundreds of needles. During the time that Feng Qing''er had been probing him using the shadow bird, she had condensed each and every one of them with care.

    These needles were condensed with the essence of Reincarnation mes. Since the dark material and Nox mana that ran through Nali''s body were qualified as evil presences, the me''s effects were amplified.

    Nali''s body was being purified from the inside out. But since Feng Qing''er had used such condensed essence, there wasn''t any shy stimulus to apany it.

    Without much suspense, the Apostle''s body crumbled to dust, with only a single reddish-orange me remaining in the ce where he once stood.

 Chapter 320 Assassination [4]

    Chapter 320 Assassination [4]

    ''Sess!''

    Feng Qing''er silently celebrated her victory. Although it didn''t go exactly how she wanted it to, it was still an overall sess.

    The main factor that allowed her to kill the Apostle with such ease, though, was the shadow bird.

    Firstly, it had created a paranoia that turned the Apostle''s entire focus onto it. This way, Feng Qing''er''s existence had beenpletely disregarded. Because of this, she was able to silently prepare all of her fire needles without any interruption.

    Secondly, it had focused the Apostle''s attention on Qing Tan. When it was caught in the end, the Apostle was thinking only of how to lure Qing Tan to his location, which gave Feng Qing''er the opening she needed to strike.

    But her own achievements couldn''t be ignored. Her Reincarnation me needles had simr power to the Phoenix phantoms she usually used in battle when they were just condensed. But on top of that, Feng Qing''er had used her me runes to exponentially increase their power output.

    Although her attack looked simple on the outside, it contained enough force to raze an unprotected mountain to the ground within minutes.

    And because she had the element of surprise on her side, she was able to interrupt the opponent''s mana flow with her own raging me mana as the force was transferred into his body.

    It was only natural for the Apostle to die when such force was concentrated in his unprotected body.

    ''Nevertheless, I can''t do something like assassination on my own yet.''

    If the shadow bird wasn''t present, Feng Qing''er wouldn''t have been able to prepare such an attack and use it precisely. Nor would she have been able tounch her attack sessfully.

    Sighing lightly, shemented how unsuitable she was for this kind of job. But still, the thrill and intent of being at the forefront of a true battle were much more suited for her. She didn''t mind being untalented in assassination.

    Shaking off her thoughts, she directed her gaze at another part of the forest. Most likely, Qing Tan was having a st torturing the other Apostle that had arrived.

    ***

    "Finally. That''s ten connected inds."

    A tired sigh rang out within an endless void. Damien looked at the fruits of his strenuous effort over this unknown period of time.

    "How long has it been in the outside world? I hope it''s not the same as it is in here."

    He couldn''t tell the time very well in the mind space, but it felt like months had gone by. The worst part was, even within this time he had only connected 10 inds together.

    "Each time I can connect a spiritual string to an ind and pull it to connect to the next one, my mental power increases by a slight margin. Whenever the inds are actually connected to each other, I experience an exponential increase in mental rity. Although the process gets faster with every ind that I connect; the increase isn''t worth mentioning at this juncture."

    Damien signed again. With his tireless effort, he learned much more about his situation. As he had expected before, these inds were something of a manifestation of his broken mind space. If he wanted to heal his mind and return to thend of the living, he had to connect them into one fused ne again.

    "This is too slow. Even if I''m experiencing some sort of time dtion or illusion, I can''t keep doing this for years on end. Even if my mind is repaired after I finish, I''ll probably lose my grip on reality when I wake up. I can only try to speed up."

    With this thought in mind, Damien didn''t hesitate any longer. Now that he had more mental power avable for use, he could achieve more with less effort.

    His eyes closed as he entered meditation once again. From his forehead, ten shimmering blue strings emerged and shot into the void ahead.

    They expanded for what seemed like tens of kilometers before reaching their destinations. Unlike before, Damien was directly trying to build spiritual links with 10 inds at once.

    "Argh!"

    The connection was hazily established as he expected, but his mind felt like it was tearing apart when it happened. The fused spiritualnd that Damien had created up until this point began to tremble as if its foundation was being rocked.

    "Fuck! I can''t let it crumble. If it crumbles, everything I''ve worked for will copse along with it. I need to¡­speed up!"

    Damien poured out waves of mental power into the spiritual strings he had created. His connection with the ten floating inds slowly became firmer.

    Boom!

    A loud explosion rang out from the fused spiritualnd. Pieces of rock drifted away into the void as a portion of it copsed.

    "Dammit! Condense!"

    Damien furiously roared into the void. He handled the ten floating inds without care, forcefully dragging them to the location of the fused spiritualnd.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    As the floating inds drew closer, they scraped against each other and created small explosions. Pieces of rock and debris fell into the void from the point of collision, but at the same time, the floating inds began to fuse into one.

    "Condense! Condense! Condense!"

    Damien roared madly without pause. His mental power wrapped around the fused spiritualnd and pushed it towards the ten floating inds.

    Now, the two sides were moving towards each other at a rapid pace.

    "AHHHHH!"

    Damien screamed out. His incorporeal body started burning with blue mes. His lower body was already starting to disappear.

    The overuse of his mental power came with severe consequences. At this point, he was also just a condensed bundle of mental power that housed his consciousness. If he burned too much of it, his ego would be erased.

    "DAMNIT! LISTEN TO ME!"

    With another furious roar, he pushed even harder. Now, it was all or nothing. If he could fuse the fused spiritualnd with the ten floating inds before his spiritual avatar burned away, his mental power would be replenished and even heightened. But if he failed, the only path left for him was death.

    The blue mes burning on his body became fiercer,pletely enveloping his lower body and turning it to nothingness. Even the Mind Prison couldn''t protect him from damage he was purposefully inflicting on himself.

    The space between the ten floating inds and the fused spiritualnd continued to shorten; but as it did, more and more chunks of rock and debris fell into the void.

    "You think I''ll die here? This is my own mind, dammit! All of you shitty inds belong to me! So, obey me you little shits!"

    From the start of his journey, he had forged a will of steel. A will to remain unafraid even under the threat of death. In the current situation where he was within his own mind space, this kind of will became even more important.

    It seemed as if the floating inds had been dominated by his call. The speed they moved towards each other rapidly increased until finally¡­

    BOOM!

    A huge explosion resounded through the void as the fused spiritualnd came into contact with the ten floating inds. The fused spiritualnd soon began devouring those inds into itself, rapidly expanding in size until it was the size of a small city.

    The blue mes on Damien''s body had already grown into a raging inferno. His upper body was nearlypletely consumed, leaving only his head wholly intact. But he didn''t seem fazed by this at all.

    "Hahahaha! Hahahahahaha! I fucking won you bastard!"

    He yelled like a crazy person, letting the mes sweep over his body. The difference was, he now feltfort within these mes instead of pain.

    The fused spiritualnd soon finished devouring the ten floating continents and consolidated its power. Waves of mental energy burst through Damien''s body, solidifying his avatar and returning it to its peak state.

    "I did it! Now that the fused spiritualnd has doubled in size, doing the same thing again won''t consume all my mental power. Taking ten inds at a time instead of one, now my progress will naturally speed up!"

    Damien excitedly muttered to himself. His eyes were closed as he reveled in the sensation of his mind slowly healing.

    Perhaps, that was the reason why he didn''t notice the sh of greenish-white light that was flickering in a certain area of the void.

 Chapter ?321 Assassination [5]

    Chapter ?321 Assassination [5]

    "Ahh~ this is supposed to be an assassination mission, but I really can''t bring myself to finish it so quickly."

    A soundless mutter exited the mouth of a beautiful ck-haired woman who was perched on arge tree within the forest. In her line of sight, a burly demon angrily marched forward, trying to find traces of her existence.

    "Dammit! Get down here and fight me, woman!" He roared into the night sky.

    Proto was already thoroughly enraged. It had been many minutes since he entered the forest, but he had yet to make contact with anyone else. Even Nali was no longer by his side.

    If it was just that, he wouldn''t have been so enraged. The problem was that every few minutes, he''d sense mana fluctuations not far away from him, signaling that someone was nearby. Every time he reaches the point where the fluctuations originated from, though, he''d be met with empty air.

    ''Dammit! This bitch really thinks she can y with me! I''ll see how she begs me to release her when I finally conquer her. Keke, let''s see how you run from me.''

    Proto vividly remembered the appearance of those two girls. One was fiery and bold, while the other was cold and yful. Their personalities differed, but they both perfectly fit the type of woman he most loved to conquer.

    ''Plus, that kind of beauty can''t be found just anywhere. Tsk tsk, if only I could find where those two sluts came from, I''d be able to have as many beauties as I want.''

    As Proto fantasized about what he would do after he caught his prey, his expression twisted into a perverted grin. Seeing this, Qing Tan had the urge to throw away all pretenses and simply kill him right then and there.

    ''No no no. Calm down, Qing Tan. What''s more fun when you see scum like this? A quick death? Or when they plead for mercy under your feet? That''s right, be patient.''

    When the scene of her torturing Proto appeared in her mind, Qing Tan was quickly able to curb her desire to kill.

    As time passed with Qing Tan further angering Proto with various tricks, the night became darker. The moon in the sky above reached its peak and began to descend once again.

    But the darkness in the forest only continued to spread.

    Proto finally sensed substantial movement in the surroundings. Pushing mana into his legs, he rushed over. When he reached the location, he found a familiar figure quietly standing in the dark.

    "Winthrop." He muttered. Seeing the fallen figure of his formerrade, he couldn''t find any emotion in his heart besides disgust.

    "Not only did you lose and shame our name as Apostles, but you also lost to an outsider, a woman at that. You were supposed to be a man! Your job is to dominate! What can a woman do in front of you besides grovel and beg for your meat?! How could you lose to such a pathetic creature?"

    Every word that left his mouth wasced with coke ferocity. His mana slowly circted through his body before increasing its pace.

    "Don''t worry. This shame might be a stain for you, but I, as a fellow brother, will wipe it clean by erasing you from the face of the earth."

    He charged at his formerrade, his fists moving like lightning to pierce the opponent''s flesh.

    Bang!

    Arge explosion rang out as the air around Proto''s fists imploded. The force of his punch far exceeded what it looked like on the surface, causing the ground to concave into a massive pit.

    The Shadow Commander Winthrop calmly watched the iing fist. His face was obscured by a ck fog, so his expression was unreadable. But his body didn''t move at all from its position.

    When the fist impacted the Shadow Commander, it caused his entire body to scatter as if he had been blown to bits. However, true to its nature, the body quickly coagted once more before solidifying.

    "Tch. Petty tricks. How many times do you think I need to punch before your body can no longer reform? Heh, let''s find out."

    Proto started throwing a barrage of punches without pause. Even after the Shadow Commander''s body was blown to pieces, he didn''t stop, disallowing his opponent from reforming his body.

    While the rain of fists continued, small pieces of the Shadow Commander''s body separated and began totch onto Proto. Strangely enough, his dark material didn''t move to stop them at all.

    Over time, the pieces of shadow umted to the point where the Shadow Commander''s body no longer existed. It was only when he saw that his opponent was no longer returning that Proto stopped punching out.

    "Hmph. To think you were turned into something as weak as this. You can rest In peace now knowing that I''ll be taking care of that slut for you."

    "Oho? And how are you nning to take care of me?"

    Unexpectedly, a reply came from the surroundings. However, it seemed to being from every direction instead of a single point.

    "You must be the ck-haired bitch. Good, I like your type more. Stop with the pathetic games ande face me like a man."

    "But I''m not a man, though? Actually, why is it that you''re so obsessed with men? Could it be that you''re¡­" Qing Tan didn''t finish her sentence, but started giggling as if she discovered a big secret.

    "Could it be that I''m what?" Proto responded in frustration. He could tell that the woman was teasing him, he just didn''t know what she meant.

    "Huh? Don''t tell me you''re actually this dumb? Well, you have to becking brains if you actually thoughting here was a good idea. Not only you, but even the rest of yourrades. Only 2 of you? We''ve already proven that we can kill you guys in small numbers, so why send only 2? The effects of a copsed leadership are really harsh!"

    Qing Tan rambled aimlessly. But she was indeed telling the truth. Even the Apostles who had said they were willing to endure until they received further instruction from the Demon God were brimming in hatred and a thirst for vengeance.

    Only, they didn''t have the guts to openly ept the challenge they had been presented with.

    It was why they epted Porto''s willful actions instead of trying to stop him, while using the excuse that they couldn''t act against each other to justify their cowardice.

    The old man who previously led the Apostles was the type to remain level-headed in every situation. It was why they didn''t make such foolish mistakes under his leadership. Now that he was gone, they no longer had such a figure to keep them in check.

    But most of the Apostles would never acknowledge this. The ones who did acknowledge were too powerless to do anything about it.

    "Woman, what''s with all this talk? Are you stalling so your friend cane help you? Come out and fight me already!" Proto yelled.

    He didn''t care about the internal structure and politics of the demons. He only cared about his own morals and values. Hearing Qing Tan''s rambling just irked him more, since it meant she was too scared to show herself to him.

    "Fight?" Qing Tan muttered in response. "Since when was there a need to fight?"

    "Hahaha! So you are nning to surrender yourself to me willingly? As expected, you are just a coward who was hiding behind that man from before."

    "Wow, you can still talk like this? Even after so much time you haven''t realized it?" Qing Tan could barely contain herughter.

    The more idiotic this guy was, the better it was for her. His dark material had been corroded to the point where it was almost useless already, and her shadows had taken full control of his body, but he was still talking about fighting.

    Proto frowned. "Don''t y mind games with me. Juste out and fight!"

    "Fine, fine. It can''t be helped. I''ll just help you learn it with your body then."

    Qing Tan jumped down from her perch andnded in front of Proto with a smile.

    "Now then, shall we get started?"

 Chapter 322 Assassination [6]

    Chapter 322 Assassination [6]

    Immediately after her words fell, Proto realized that there was something wrong with his body.

    He felt weakened; as if the power he used to carry had beenrgely diminished. If he threw a punch now, perhaps he wouldn''t even be able to harm his opponent.

    "You¡­what did you to do me?" He questioned with a wary look on his face.

    "Oh, you finally noticed? It''s just a bit of preparation for what''s toe, of course."

    "What''s toe? Whatever, shut up and fight me properly, slut."

    "That''s what you want? Then okay! Come at me! I''ll let you have the first move."

    Qing Tan cheerfully epted his challenge. The gleam in her eyes was full of mischief as she waited to see how he would embarrass himself.

    Proto still felt that there was something wrong, but he didn''t pay it much mind. He hade here to fight, and the slut he was looking for was standing in front of him. There was nothing else to think about besides victory.

    He charged once again at the enemy, pushing his mana to increase his speed. However, it seemed like no matter how far or how fast he moved, he wasn''t getting any closer to the woman in front of him.

    "What''s this?"

    It was like his feet were submerged in quicksand, dragging him down the more he tried to struggle. When he looked up at Qing Tan, he finally noticed the smirk on her face.

    "You see," she said as she started to walk forward, "there was never any fight that was going to happen here. From the second you stepped into the forest, the only oue was death. What gave you the courage to charge in here after seeing the deaths of yourrades? Did you think you were special?"

    Qing Tan wasn''t even trying to provoke him at this point. She was genuinely curious how someone with so much power could be such a dunce.

    "Of course I''m special! Those trashes lost to a slut like you, so they''re nothing! However, do you think you can hold me down with just this little trick?! Think again!"

    Proto roared a battle cry and pulled his body up. His muscles flexed and struggled, and even his veins started to surface on his skin.

    "Haaaaa!"

    With a spirited shout, he leapt into the air and escaped the quicksand-like ground. Or at least, that''s what was supposed to happen. Regardless of how he struggled, Proto couldn''t leave the confines of the marsh. In fact, his body had already been submerged up to his knees.

    "Are you done yet?" Qing Tan smiled as she reached the edge of the marsh.

    "Well, I don''t care either way. I''m really itching to start the treatment!"

    "What treatment?" Proto growled. Even now he hadn''t stopped struggling to get out of his predicament.

    "Of course, it''s attitude adjustment! I, the kind and gracious Qing Tan, will be your instructor for today''s course! Using my handy dandy attitude adjuster, I''ll turn you into an upstanding citizen!"

    Qing Tan formed arge knife out of shadows as she spoke. It was the attitude adjuster she had been speaking about.

    After she formed the knife, she walked forward once more. Her body easily walked across the dark quicksand as if it didn''t exist at all and arrived in front of Proto.

    "Are you ready to start the course?"

    "Shut up bitch!" Proto roared. This overconfident slut had entered his strike range of her own free will. Although his legs were tied, his arms werepletely free.

    An extremely fast and ruthless punch cut through the air, aiming to blow off Qing Tan''s head in one blow.

    "No, no! Bad boy! Using fists to solve your problem isn''t good! Time for an attitude adjustment!" Qing Tan muttered.

    Her finger glided through the air and tapped, causing Porto''s fierce punch to immediately halt. The bundles of shadows that had already corroded Porto''s dark material clung to his arm and didn''t allow it to move forward even a single inch.

    Crack!

    The bones in his arm shattered from the sudden shift in momentum.

    "Ugh¡­" Proto let out a mutter of pain, but Qing Tan wasn''t even close to done yet.

    Swish!

    The winds whipped lightly as Qing Tan''s knife slid through the air. In the next instant, both of Proto''s arms fell to the ground and sunk into the marsh.

    "First lesson! Solving problems with violence is wrong! Since you use your fists to talk, the solution is to make sure you don''t have fists anymore!"

    "You¡ª"

    Proto was about to yell again, but a bundle of shadows crawled up his face and wrapped around his mouth, preventing him from saying anything.

    "Save your questions until the end, please! Say, I have a question for you! Why are you so high and mighty about the fact that you''re a man? Could it be that you''re hiding some sort of insecurity?"

    Qing Tan slyly grinned as her knife moved again. Proto suddenly felt that his lower body had be slightly lighter.

    "As I thought! There really is nothing there!" Qing Tan snickered.

    Proto''s face went red in shame as he realized what she meant, but the tight binding around his mouth didn''t allow him to rebut.

    "Anyway, this thing doesn''t matter much. Even if I wanted to cut it off, there''s nothing much to cut. Instead, let''s move on to lesson two! Treat women with respect! Since you love to molest women with your eyes, your kind and merciful teacher has decided to help you!"

    Qing Tan''s knife went to work again. The surrounding forest was soon filled with the muffled cries of a man, but there was nobody around to hear them. Even Feng Qing''er was too far away to notice.

    When Qing Tan was done, there were two eyeballs coated in mana floating in the air. Tears of blood were streaming down Porto''s face endlessly from his now empty eye sockets.

    "You know, I thought I''d be satisfied with just this much, but it turns out it isn''t enough at all. Hmm, let''s have a spontaneous third lesson! Since your mouth loves to use such vulgar words like ''slut'' and ''bitch'', why don''t I let it experience something new?"

    A small hole appeared in the middle of the bindings around Proto''s mouth, but he still couldn''t talk since his lips were sealed. If he still had eyes, though, he''d be gazing at the current scene in horror.

    Qing Tan looked at the two floating eyeballs with an eerie smile. In the next instant, the two balls shot through the hole in Proto''s bindings. The hole closed soon after.

    "Now, chew."

    Qing Tan''s hands wrapped around Proto''s chin and forcefully moved it. His mana had already been locked and his dark material had been corroded. With his legs trapped and his arms cut, Proto could do nothing besides weakly resist like a child who didn''t want to eat his vegetables.

    But how could a childpare to an adult? Soon, gruesome crunching sounds echoed through the forest just like those muffled screams had only a few moments prior.

    Qing Tan watched the whole process with a wide smile. It was a smile that hadn''t faded ever since she had first started her attitude adjustment course.

    Unfortunately for Proto, the night was still young.

    And until the hazy light of dawn broke the cold of night, muffled screams and other gruesome sounds could faintly be heard from a certain forest within the Trial World.

 Chapter 323 Search [1]

    As dawn arrived in the Trial World, Qing Tan stood up from the tree that she was leaning on and lightly stretched her body.

    ¡°Ahh~ what a refreshing night!¡±

    She smiled happily as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. After that, she spread her awareness to find Feng Qing¡¯er, soon skipping away to meet her.

    In her wake, there was a puddle of sludge left on the ground of the forest. Surrounding it was countless stains of ck blood littered around, staining the ground, trees, and anything else found in the vicinity. This was the only thing remaining of the Apostle once known as Proto.

    ¡°It¡¯s been so long, Qing¡¯er should be waiting for me already, right? Why didn¡¯t shee find me?¡± Qing Tan muttered to herself.

    Her body soon melted into a shadow that darted through the forest. Around half an hourter, she finally found what she was looking for.

    In this part of the forest, there was a small hill from which trickled a waterfall leading into a naturally formed hot spring. The water was clear and without impurities, looking incredibly enticing to any who gazed upon it.

    But currently, the dazzling scene looked muted in front of the beauty who was in the center of it all.

    Flowing red hair draped down her back like a river ofva, her skin was pale as snow but contained a red hue from the heat of the water. Her snowy skin and fiery hair came together to form a picture that made it hard to pull one¡¯s attention away.

    Her arms were raised above her head as she basked in the soothing water of the hot spring, entuating those proudly standing twin peaks on her chest that glistened as droplets of water ran down their surface.

    In the current atmosphere, the bright pink cherries that decorated those peaks stood out even more.

    Qing Tan¡¯s gaze moved downwards, passing the woman¡¯s slim waist and looking towards her hips and the hidden valley contained between her thighs, but unfortunately, the water slightly distorted her view, making it hard to get a clear picture.

    ¡°Hehe~¡±

    Qing Tan giggled lecherously as if she was a man peeking at his crush in the bath. Her eyes carried a mischievous glint that¡¯d make anyone nervous about what she was nning to do next.

    Soon, she quietly stripped off her own clothes, revealing a figure that didn¡¯t lose out to Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s in the slightest.

    Qing Tan usually wore a deep ck cloak that hid her figure from the eyes of the public. With her affinity and fighting style, this was the best type of clothing for her. Those who had seen her figure in all its glory didn¡¯t even number past two, and even Damien wasn¡¯t a part of this group.

    It was a shame for all humanity that there was nobody else around to witness the scene of her undressing, as every one of her movements seemed to carry a natural and unintentional air of seduction. Even women might have been forced to endure nosebleeds if they witnessed it.

    Once she had finished stripping, she put her clothes into her spatial ring and quietly snuck up behind Feng Qing¡¯er. The entire time, she had remained concealed using her darkness affinity so Feng Qing¡¯er couldn¡¯t notice her.

    And when she saw the perfect opportunity, she pounced.

    ¡°Kekekeke! I finally got a hold of you!¡± She cackled manically. Her hands wrapped around Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s chest and began to grope wantonly, molding those melons into all different kinds of shapes.

    ¡°Ahh~ you¡­what are you doing?!¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er let out an unexpected moan at the sudden feeling of pleasure before turning red in shame. She tried to rouse her mana, but Qing Tan was far faster.

    ¡°Kekeke! Beauty, let¡¯s see how you escape my grasp!¡±

    Qing Tan moved like an experienced old pervert. She expertly evaded the mes that shot towards her and kept her hands on Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body. Slowly, her hand crept past those twin peaks and invaded Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s legs, creeping towards the valley that hid between them.

    ¡°Oho~ so smooth! Looks like you¡¯ve been preparing yourself for this!¡± Qing Tan muttered slyly. Her fingers soon reached their goal and curled inward.

    ¡°Ahh~¡±

    Another heavenly moan left Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s mouth. She had never even touched herself in such a way, let alone having another person touch her like this.

    Even though the other party was hiding their identity through a veil of fog and a modified voice, Feng Qing¡¯er knew from the beginning that it was Qing Tan. Otherwise, she would¡¯ve killed the offender already.

    Knowing Qing Tan¡¯s personality, she had tried to stop her without too much force, but feeling the pleasure and heating from her lower body, she could no longer bear it.

    ¡°Enough!¡±

    A massive burst of mes appeared around Feng Qing¡¯er, forcing Qing Tan away.

    ¡°You little bitch! See how this Young Miss deals with you today!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er yelled furiously. In the next instant, she pounced on Qing Tan.

    ¡®Oops! I think I went a bit too far¡­¡¯

    Hearing the rage in Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s voice, Qing Tan was ready to ept a light beating as punishment. Even she had to admit that going as far as targeting her sacred garden was a bit too much.

    And so, she sat still and patiently waited for Feng Qing¡¯er to strike. But the attack she received was too unexpected, causing her to let out a yelp of surprise.

    ¡°Ah! You¡­!¡±

    Qing Tan soon felt two hands on her body the same way she had just treated Feng Qing¡¯er. Her proud peaks were ravaged and her sacred garden was invaded by snake-like fingers.

    ¡°Ahhh~ stop! I was wrong, I apologize!¡±

    Qing Tan quickly tried to retreat, but a warm me suddenly encased her body and halted her movement. Unexpectedly, instead of harming her, the me actually increased the pleasure she was feeling.

    ¡°You know, the Reincarnation mes are pretty great. Not only do they have fierce offensive power, they also have a healing and cleansing effect that doesn¡¯t necessarily lose out to someone with wood or life element. Who knew it could be used this way?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er cackled.

    Her hands became bolder and bolder with time, not leaving Qing Tan any room to talk back. Suddenly, her left hand moved quickly and pinched one of those pink cherries, while her right hand curled in a certain manner within the sacred garden.

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    ¡°Ahh~¡±

    Qing Tan was forced to let out another moan of pleasure. Even though she loved to fool around, this was the first time she was tasting retribution for her actions. In reality, she was just as innocent about such matters as Feng Qing¡¯er.

    Soon enough, though, Feng Qing¡¯er eased up on her assault, allowing Qing Tan the opportunity to escape.

    The two girls moved to opposite ends of the natural hot spring, both of them breathing heavily and trying to collect themselves.

    Once they finally caught their breaths and regained calm, they sat awkwardly in silence.

    ¡°That was¡­¡± Feng Qing¡¯er tried to speak, but she didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°Uhm¡­how about we just¡­never talk about what just happened again¡­¡± Qing Tan responded.

    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s never talk about this. Especially in our current circumstances¡­if that bastard found out¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, even I¡¯m not prepared for what that shameless guy would say if he knew. Anyway, did everything go well on your end?¡± Qing Tan diverted the topic.

    ¡°All good. Thanks to your shadow bird, I was able to do things cleanly. What about you? I assume that asshole didn¡¯t have a good end?¡±

    ¡°Kekeke! You could put it that way¡­¡± Qing Tan¡¯s expression looked a little perverted when she thought back to the events of the previous night, causing Feng Qing¡¯er to shrink back.

    ¡°Well, now that this is over with, there¡¯s only four Apostles left. To take care of them, we¡¯ll need to be much more serious than we were this time.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er said with a thoughtful look on her face.

    Although they did some minor nning for the assassination mission, it wasn¡¯t much. They knew that all variables could be controlled by them.

    But their second n wasn¡¯t something that could be pulled off so easily¡­

 Chapter 324 Search [2]

    ¡°I¡¯m confident that we can seed if we use that thing as bait, but is it necessary? If I could choose, I¡¯d prefer to not do that.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er muttered.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Regardless, that thing is an important asset. Having it with us will guarantee us far more safety than if we have to ce it elsewhere for bait.¡± Qing Tan agreed.

    That item wasn¡¯t something they could handle so casually. Since it was readily avable when they were first thinking of the n, it was naturally what they first thought of using as bait. But with time, they realized they had been rash.

    To use that thing as bait, they needed to ce it in a position where they couldn¡¯t easily ess it. They had to make it look as if it was a natural treasure instead of something they arranged. If they did it like that, then it would be difficult for them to use it if the situation became dire like it did back in Acier.

    ¡°Do you have something else in mind?¡± Qing Tan asked. With the way Feng Qing¡¯er brought it up; it seemed like she had an idea.

    ¡°Right. While I was waiting for you to return, I suddenly remembered something my mother told me before I entered this realm.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er responded.

    ¡°Not only her, but even the Elf Queen had told us that there would be treasures and opportunities within the Primordial Undying Realm besides the tree itself. In fact, my mother was one of the participants in the previous opening 10,000 years ago.

    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t tell me much about the realm no matter how much I pestered her, but I at least got a bit of information out of her. That is, within this realm, there are other inheritances besides that of the Primordial Undying Tree.¡±

    ¡°Other inheritances?¡± Qing Tan¡¯s interest was piqued. Originally, she had thought that the promise of other benefits was a ruse to attract more people to the realm. Hearing that it was true made her curious.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Although I don¡¯t know the level of those inheritances, I know that my mother found one back then and it greatly helped her in improving her strength.

    ¡°Right now, we still have a little less than half a year within this realm. The timeframe of an entire year seems to be far too long when you consider how things have been until this point, but if you put those inheritances into consideration, it makes more sense.

    ¡°We have plenty of time left, so we should split up and put our focus into finding an inheritance site. Not only will we be able to gain benefits if we can get our hands on the treasures within, we can also create a natural opportunity to get rid of our enemies. Plus, we won¡¯t have to do all the work ourselves. We can borrow a knife to kill them.¡±

    Qing Tan fell into thought. ¡°Using an inheritance site this way is truly much better than our original n. Plus, if they die within the inheritance we¡¯ll be able to preserve our strength for theing trials instead of risking so much. It¡¯s a much better idea than our first one.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s give ourselves 2 months. Obviously these inheritances are well hidden or else we¡¯d have stumbled upon one already with how much we¡¯ve been traveling around the realm, but there¡¯s still plenty left unexplored. 2 months gives us plenty of time to explore, but also leaves us 3 months in case the inheritance site is more difficult than expected.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, those few geniuses that remained missing until now might¡¯ve already received their own opportunities.

    ¡°If we can¡¯t find an inheritance site within 2 months, we¡¯ll build our own fake inheritance and use that thing to draw people. If we can find one, then we can spread the information and end our time within the Trial World with a bang!¡±

    Qing Tan pumped her fist in the air excitedly as she finished her words. The only benefit she¡¯d gotten with all the dangerous stuff they¡¯d been through so far was the advancement of her star. She wasn¡¯t like Damien with his devour ability.

    But since she¡¯d already reached the White Star level, this didn¡¯t matter much to her anymore.

    Now that the prospect of treasure had been reintroduced into the conversation, it was like killing two birds with one stone. It was only natural for her to get excited.

    The two girls talked over a few more points before exiting the natural hot spring and getting dressed.

    ¡°Good, then let¡¯s meet back up in Darknorth in 2 months. At that time, we can decide how we want to move forward.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll see you then.¡±

    With one final nod, the two girls took off in opposite directions, each with their own thoughts and ns in mind.

    ***

    Within the infinite void, Damien calmly sat in his Mind Prison and observed the fruits of hisbor.

    ¡°Finally, I¡¯ve made substantial progress.¡±

    After his first attempt at merging ten floating inds at once, Damien had used the same method until he fused 100 of them into his fused spiritualnd. After that, he had increased the number he merged to 50 at once.

    Learning from his past experience, he no longer dared to challenge the upper limit, lest he end up killing himself by exerting more than he was capable of.

    ¡°Still, now that I¡¯ve gotten to this point, another problem has arisen.¡±

    Looking into the distance, Damien¡¯s eyesnded on a flickering greenish-white light. Underneath that light¡¯s glow, there was actually a second fused spiritualnd!

    ¡°That thing must be what helped me retain my life after I encountered the Demon God. But why does it seem like it¡¯s opposing me instead of cooperating?¡±

    Damien¡¯s fused spiritualnd had long surpassed the size of a city and was simr to the size of a country already.

    With the second fused spiritualnd having a simr size, there weren¡¯t many floating inds left within the infinite void.

    In fact, Damien could clearly feel that the repairs made under that greenish-white light would also contribute to the regaining of his mental power, only, to a lesser degree than when he did it himself.

    The problem stemmed from the fact that there seemed to be an invisible game of tug of war between him and the light, as if he had to battle it for control over his mindspace.

    But at the same time, he could feel that the light held no hostility towards him. Instead, it emanated a kind of encouraging feeling.

    ¡°Sigh, things keep getting more and moreplicated. Next thing I know, I won¡¯t be able to leave my mindspace even after I fully merge all the floating inds into aplete fused spiritualnd.¡±

    The tug of war was fine if it was just for floating inds. It didn¡¯t have muchsting effect. But if it happened between two fused spiritualnds¡­

    Damien didn¡¯t want to imagine the kind of damage his mind would suffer during the process.

    ¡°All in due time.¡±

    But he didn¡¯t find himself troubled by this. He had been concentrating on the task in front of him for what seemed like years on end, and his mind had gained a certain tranquility that it didn¡¯t possess before.

    Even facing such a situation, he didn¡¯t desire to act rashly and he didn¡¯t try toe up with any crazy solutions to immediately solve the problem. Instead, he simply sat back down and closed his eyes, extending his control to the remaining floating continents and continuing his task.

 Chapter 325 Refining [1]

    Time continued to pass and at some point, Damien realized that there were no longer any stray floating inds remaining in the void. Instead, there were two massive fused spiritualnds whosebined size would reach that of a continent.

    ¡°Most of the work ispleted now,¡± Damien muttered.

    Essentially, his mind was almostplete. Once the two halves reconnected, he was generally certain he¡¯d be able to exit his mindspace.

    ¡°The pull of that light has gotten much stronger in thesest few days. If I wasn¡¯t consciously controlling my territory, it probably would¡¯ve been drawn over by now.¡±

    Damien nced at the light with a hint of trepidation in his eyes. No matter how much he knew it didn¡¯t have hostility towards him, in the end, it was still a foreign entity within his mind space. He didn¡¯t know what its goal was or even what its identity was.

    ¡°Logically speaking, I could just let go of my control and allow my fused spiritualnd to connect with the rest, but I can¡¯t do that. I won¡¯t feel secure unless I take care of it myself.¡±

    The only reason this game of tug of war continued was because of Damien¡¯s insistence onpleting the task himself. If not, he probably would¡¯ve woken up already.

    But something in the back of his mind kept telling him not to give that light control. It was telling him that he¡¯d regret not fighting for his position.

    And so, he continued this grueling task.

    While putting his mind back together hadn¡¯t been too hard of a task once he had gotten used to the process, the main obstacle was the sheer amount of time and willpower it took to do so.

    How long had it been since he entered this strange state? Damien didn¡¯t have any way of knowing. What felt like years within this realm may as well have been only a few hours in the outside world. But regardless, to him, it had been years.

    Besides the time factor, the second most challenging part of the situation was the loneliness of it all. There was quite literally nothing within this space, which was why Damien had been calling it a void.

    Besides the mind prison and the fused spiritualnds, it was just an unending ckness. In this kind of environment with nopany besides one¡¯s own thoughts for years on end, it wouldn¡¯t be far-fetched to say that most would go insane.

    ¡®But for me, coping wasn¡¯t that hard.¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t the first time. That was what made it easier for him.

    The first time he had been in a simr situation, it was at the very start of his journey. Back then, he was weak in both mind and body. The only sliver of will he had came from the fleeting words of his deadbeat father and his motivation to save his mother from her predicament.

    In such circumstances, he had prevailed and came out stronger than ever. He had reformed himself into the person he was today, someone with the qualifications to roam the myriad worlds and experience the adventures he was currently experiencing.

    The will he had now was iparable to what he had back then, so how could he be fazed by this loneliness? If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he had things to do both here and in the outside world, he would¡¯ve capitalized on this solitude to sort out some of the problems he had been facing recently.

    ¡°But none of that matters right now. I should focus on trying to usurp control from that light.¡±

    Damien stood up and floated towards the wall of the mind prison. When he reached out to touch the transparent walls again, he noticed how much more corporeal his body had be.

    ¡°En. In this time, I never dared to leave the confines of the Mind Prison in fear of my ego scattering. But with my current mental power, that should no longer be a problem.¡±

    When he first woke up, his mind space was in a chaotic state. Along with the fact that his spiritualnd was severed into thousands of floating inds, the chaotic void itself was a danger.

    He would asionally encounterrge storms of mental power that tried to tear the floating continents asunder. If his avatar had been caught in one of those storms, it would¡¯ve been like a wisp of me within a hurricane.

    It was due to these storms that he first discovered the existence of that light. It had shone brightly and bathed his mindspace in its aura, immediately quelling the whipping winds.

    But those were all problems of the past.

    His current mindspace was no longer gued by spiritual storms, and his avatar was no longer on the verge of copse.

    Thinking such, he slowly pushed his hand forward.

    Click!

    The faint clicking of a lock resounded through the void, and Damien felt the corporeal walls of the Mind Prison be illusory. His hand soon passed through and entered the void, followed by the rest of his body.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but let out a gasp of admiration. This feeling waspletely different than what it was like inside the Mind Prison.

    ¡°Is this my true mindspace? It feels simr to what it was like to drift through the starry sky on my way to the Cloud ne. Actually, I should go back there when I have the time. Outer space is an extremely beneficial environment for me to cultivate in.¡±

    Throwing away his stray thoughts, Damien once again turned his attention back to the greenish-white light in the distance.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel any risk in approaching it. In the first ce, there¡¯s no safety precaution I could possibly take against it.¡±

    His thought process was simple. So far, it had been a war between underlings, where the kings watched over and directed their forces from the back lines.

    But the war was reaching its close. In the final phase, it was time for a battle between kings. If Damien could defeat that light or gain control over it, it would be much easier to subsequently control the second fused spiritualnd.

    Damien willed his avatar to move through the void. It was a simr feeling to traveling between spatialyers. Soon enough, he arrived in front of the light that he had beenbatting for all this time.

    ¡°As it turns out, it was actually a flower¡­¡±

    In the middle of that greenish-white light stood a small flower with twenty-three petals. Its surface seemed to go through a myriad of changes every second, never once maintaining the same shape.

    ¡°What a mysterious thing. But then, how do Ibat a flower?¡±

    It was different if it was a nt that had gained intelligence and cultivated, but this flower waspletely spiritual and didn¡¯t seem to have any attack power.

    ¡°Ah! Maybe I should refine it?¡±

    Refining treasures to enhance the body was something Damien had heard mentioned many times, but because of his devour skill, he had never felt the need to try it. Instead, he had already directly refined his physical body plenty of times.

    But now, the situation was slightly different. He was a spiritual avatar and the treasure in front of him was a spiritual flower. He didn¡¯t know if things worked the same in such a situation, but he still felt like it was the best course of action.

    ¡°In the worst case, I fail and have to think of another way toplete my spiritualnd. In the best case, this flower benefits me and makes me stronger, while I also gain the former advantage as well. Since there aren¡¯t any terrible repercussions to acting right now, then I might as well try it.¡±

    If the flower had offensive ability or the intention to harm him, it would¡¯ve done so already. It was present when he was at his weakest point, and it could¡¯ve acted then if it really wanted to.

    Since it didn¡¯t, Damien had some minor confidence about the stakes of his current gamble.

    And since there wasn¡¯t any need for more hesitation, Damien directly dove into the cloud of greenish-white light and extended his hand towards the flower within.

 Chapter 326 Refining [2]

    Strangely enough, the resistance he expected from the flower never came. When his hand wrapped around it, it turned into a gentle stream of energy that flowed into his avatar.

    Damien closed his eyes and began meditating. Greenish white streams of essence continuously nourished his avatar, causing it to slowly be more and more corporeal.

    Damien felt strange. It was like he was cultivating in his physical body, but he didn¡¯t have a mana circuit or any of the normal pathways he¡¯d normally use for cirction.

    He was relying solely on instinct to guide the energy where it needed to go. And in reality, that ce wasn¡¯t his avatar at all.

    A spiritual avatar was just that. Although it might¡¯ve technically been an embodiment of Damien¡¯s spiritual world, it wasn¡¯t his mind itself. It was only a vessel for him to traverse his mind space more easily.

    But the main benefit of an avatar was its connection to the main body. And that was also the reason why Damien was circting the energy of the flower through his avatar before sending it into his mindspace.

    Damien couldn¡¯t feel the connection to his main body at all, but he knew it was present. Using this, he went through the normal processes he used to call upon his Void Essence, hoping that his conjecture was true.

    And in fact, he soon found that it was. A wisp of pitch ck essence soon broke through the void and circled around his avatar. The essence then shot into his spiritual body and enveloped the greenish-white essence that was filling it up.

    A refreshing feeling followed soon after. Regardless of how mysterious the greenish-white light was, how could itpare to Void Essence?

    For the energy of the flower to safely reside in his body, it had to be at a level that a 3rd ss like him could bear. When that Demigod lent him its energy, he had to consider this fact.

    After all, the True Essence of a Demigod would cause the body of a mortal to explode in an instant. What that Demigod had given to Damien was an extremely diluted portion of this essence. But due to its origins, even this diluted portion was enough to help him recover.

    Perhaps, if it was that Demigod¡¯s undiluted essence, Damien¡¯s currentprehension of Void Essence wouldn¡¯t have been enough to control or refine it. But since it wasn¡¯t, he was able to do exactly that.

    The Void Essence epassed the gentle energy of the flower and began doing its work. Under its coercion, the already refined energy became even purer.

    After going through the Void Essence¡¯s refinement, the energy flowed out of Damien¡¯s spiritual avatar and began to nourish his mindspace. Slowly but surely, the once empty void was filled with color once more.

    ***

    Currently, Damien wasn¡¯t able topletely focus on the refinement process. Instead, he was being forced to witness a set of strange images.

    There was once a world among the endless cosmos where nature triumphed all. The lush greenery seemed to cover the entirety of the world, filling it with life force unlike any other.

    The inhabitants of this world were peaceful races. Being influenced by the nature of the world itself, they put down trivial things like racial barriers and infighting and lived a utopian lifestyle.

    Trade flourished, empires and kingdoms bloomed, and technological advancement was in full force. It seemed like every era these races went through was a golden era.

    Damien looked at these shing images in awe. Was it possible for such a ce to exist? Especially in the environment that was created under the system¡¯s influence.

    The past few years had been filled with blood and adventure. Seeing such a world made Damien feel as if it was simply impossible.

    But he couldn¡¯t deny its existence.

    The scene changed. The world Damien had just seen was nowhere in sight. Instead, it was reced by ruins.

    The world he currently saw was barren, to say the least. Thends were dyed in blood and darkness. Life force was corroded whenever it tried to appear, making it impossible for any greenery to grow.

    Even living beings were affected. This world had a death rate that surpassed the rate at which the living beings within gave birth, causing the poption to continuously decline.

    The cities were ravaged. Due to the fact that the atmosphere was slowly bing uninhabitable, food shortage became a major problem. Children born into this world were more often than not malnourished, dying before they could reach adulthood.

    The scent of death lingered in the air. Damien wasn¡¯t even physically present in the world, but even he could feel the withering atmosphere that epassed it.

    Compared to the previous world, this one was a hellscape. Damien couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the rtionship between those two worlds was, since they were shown to him in quick session.

    But before he could question it further, the scene changed once more.

    Damien didn¡¯t know which world he was watching anymore. The current world looked like both of the previous ones, but at the same time resembled neither. The main difference was, it was embroiled in war.

    The denizens of the world had joined together and taken up arms against an invading race that Damien was all too familiar with.

    Their appearances varied, with some looking like grotesque monsters and raging beasts while others were far more humanoid. But they all shared the same inky ck mana and sinister countenance.

    What Damien was looking at seemed to be the final stages of the war. The allied forces of the indigenous races were close to being totally wiped out. But none of them had lost the mes of hope in their eyes. Regardless of the situation, they continued to fight.

    When the scene changed next, Damien found himself inside a dpidated city. The inhabitants of the city were having hushed conversations as they directed their attention towards a raised tform in the middle.

    There, a man was giving a speech with a solemn look. Unfortunately, Damien couldn¡¯t hear what he was saying. But by reading his lips, he was able to get a minor grasp of the main topic.

    Fleeing.

    Abandoning the world and fleeing, finding a new world to inhabit and grow stronger. Enduring until they were one day strong enough to get revenge.

    Damien unintentionally realized that this was a familiar situation to him. The Demon King Lucius had told him a simr story not long ago.

    But instead of fleeing to a secret realm like the demons, these people risked feeling into space. Damien wasn¡¯t sure which one was actually the safer option.

    From the looks on the inhabitants¡¯ faces, Damien could easily tell they were unwilling. But somehow, the man on the tform eventually managed to convince them.

    The inhabitants of the city boarded a starship along with many others from other cities. While those on the frontlines died in battle to protect their homnd, they left like cowards.

    The next thing Damien saw was the ruins of a starship strewn across the starry sky. There were no signs of life in the vicinity, but traces of battle were present everywhere.

    When Damien looked off into the distance, he spotted a familiar scene. It looked like the starship had almost arrived at another world before it faced destruction. Damien had seen this world from the starry sky once before, but it looked a little different in the visions now.

    It was the Cloud ne.

    And soon after Damien came to this realization, the visions faded, leaving him back within his own mind space once again.

 Chapter 327 Refining [3]

    ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡±

    Damien¡¯s breathing was heavy as he tried to organize all the information that had entered his head. Even after witnessing it, he could onlyprehend a general overview of the situation that he saw.

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have time to think it over. Once his mind returned to his mindspace, he immediately felt the rush of energy that had built up within his spiritual avatar.

    He had naturally neglected the task he was supposed to be focusing on when he was submerged in the visions, and without his guidance, the spiritual energy within the flower had no direction.

    It was only due to the Void Essence¡¯s suppression that the energy didn¡¯t leak and run wild, bing wasted in the process.

    ¡®Forget it¡­¡¯

    Damien cleared his mind of all stray thoughts and wholeheartedly focused on refining the twenty-three petaled flower again. The spiritual energy that had been stored in his avatar slowly began to permeate his mindspace, filling it with a light greenish white hue.

    Slowly but surely, therge flower shrunk until it became the size of a palm. As this happened, the fused spiritualnd under its control slowly moved towards Damien¡¯s and began the process of merging.

    Everything seemed to be going smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that Damien felt there must be some hidden danger lurking within the current process. He refused to believe there was such a thing as a free meal in this world.

    ¡®Even if I can refine this flower without drawbacks, there are surely strings attached by whatever or whoever gave it to me to help me recover. Once I return to the outside world, I need to make sure to stay on my guard.¡¯

    Damien was able to free his mind of his total focus state now that the refinement had reached its final moments. There wasn¡¯t much energy left within the flower, so he didn¡¯t need to put as much effort into making sure everything was stable.

    ¡®The scenes I saw earlier¡­are they rted to the flower? Or rather, the one who gave me the flower? Why did they show them to me? If they wanted to guide my thoughts in a certain way or even imply something, then they should¡¯ve shown me moreplete images. Maybe it was unintentional?¡¯

    Damien felt that it must¡¯ve been thetter. It was the most logical conclusion. If some expert wanted to show him something important, they would have chosen better images for him.

    For instance, thest thing he saw was the shattered starship, as well as a glimpse of the Cloud ne. It was too vague to have a specific purpose to it.

    If there was a purpose, they should¡¯ve shown him the reason the starship ended up shattered, or something that¡¯d actually give context to the story.

    ¡®Hell, they didn¡¯t even show me the faces of those inhabitants in that world. What is it with visions and blurred faces?¡¯

    Damienmented. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d been shown mysterious images. When he entered the space-time river back then, he had also seen something extremely vague and domineering. But thinking back, those images seemed far more rted to him than the ones he had seen just now.

    Themon point was that the faces of everyone in those scenes were always blurred, making it so Damien couldn¡¯t even gleam the slightest detail that¡¯d be beneficial in helping him decipher the scenes.

    ¡®But at least there¡¯s one thing I understand. Once again, I¡¯ve be further entangled with those bastards.¡¯

    Another world that had been destroyed by the Nox. In his travels alone, Damien hade to learn about a total of three worlds that had been heavily impacted or destroyed by the Nox.

    Although three wasn¡¯t arge number, it was different when put into perspective. The object of destruction was worlds. Every time a world was destroyed, billions of lives would be lost in the aftermath. Plus, even the total number of worlds Damien had visited so far was three, if earth was included.

    ¡®Did those survivors end up reaching the Cloud ne in the end? Or did they die in the starry sky?¡¯

    Of the questions he had, this one was the most pressing. If those survivors were on the Cloud ne, he needed to make contact with them.

    ¡®Actually, the flower should have some connection with them, since it showed me scenes of them. And for it to appear here, they should be rtively close. If it¡¯s like that, then it should be them, right?¡¯

    The elves.

    Elves in a cultivation world. When Damien saw them, he wondered why such a thing existed. Although the knowledge he gained from novels on earth wasn¡¯t 100% urate, it at least held some truth to it.

    Earth was a strange ce. Damien had long since understood that earth itself was part of somerger conspiracy. Earthen mythology and fantasy being based off of what heter learned was actually reality was the best proof of this.

    From what Damien had seen, the most urate part of that fantasy was the racial distribution between world types. In Apeiron, there were elves, demihumans, and dwarves, while in the Cloud ne, there were mainly humans and mythical beasts.

    If the elves were truly the survivors he had seen in the visions, he had even more reason to build a connection with them.

    ¡®At this point, I can no longer pretend like I only want to join the war for the sake of battle and fun. I¡¯ve be too entangled with the Nox for it to be so simple.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t bear any major personal grudge against the Nox, nor was he a person who would say that he wanted to go to war with them for the sake of justice or righteousness. He had been ughtering them without second thought just like they had been doing to others, so he had no right.

    But he wasn¡¯t an immature kid anymore. He wasn¡¯t someone who just acted on desire like he did back when he was firsting to the Cloud ne.

    It was time for him to get serious about theing war. It was time for him to start thinking realistically.

    ¡®I need allies beside me. People I can entrust my life to.¡¯

    The connections he made in Apeiron, the Celestial Star Pce, White Dragon Grotto, Fire Phoenix n, and many more. He had already found people who fit these qualifications.

    But his rtionships hadn¡¯t been strengthened to the point of unbreakable trust because of his flippant attitude in the past. That was something he now needed to change.

    ¡®Ah, I need to deal with the Xue n for Ruyue¡¯s sake, so maybe I can make them submit. Also there¡¯s that brat Long Chen. I wonder what he¡¯s been up to with his protagonist ass.¡¯

    Damien smiled. There was no longer any point in deluding himself and avoiding the issue with the Nox. He was now extremely clear about his attitude.

    ¡®Your existence threatens the safety of the people I care about. Your ns threaten the future peace and happiness I hope to achieve after everything is over. Therefore, you must be exterminated.¡¯

    That was all there was to it.

 Chapter 328 Refining [4]

    As his thoughts reached a close, Damien felt a refreshing sensation wash over his entire mindspace. The flower in his hands had been reduced to nothing, with all its energy having been refined by him.

    Finally, his mind space began to show signs of recovery. The infinite void was gradually being filled with an aura of life.

    The greenish-white essence that had permeated his mindspace slowly integrated with it and disappeared. Once the integration finished, the two fused spiritualnds merged and became one.

    Voom!

    It was like an engine being kickstarted. All of a sudden, the infinite void split open, causing light to shine down on the massive spiritualnd that represented his consciousness.

    The barrennd was fertilized under the light, bing filled with green grasses as if it was a massive in. When the light finally died down, peace once again returned to Damien¡¯s mindspace.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    Damien marveled at the sight. His mindspace now looked like the starry sky. Countless shining dots littered the once empty space, filling it with color.

    Damien felt that he could now traverse past the amount of space he previously thought was present. And he immediately did so. His spiritual avatar left the spiritualnd he was situated on and flew into the starry sky.

    ¡°This is¡­¡±

    The starry sky was indistinct. All of the so-called stars didn¡¯t have substance, being mere flickers of light and nothing more. Or at least, that¡¯s what Damien originally thought.

    But within those many unsubstantial lights, there were a few that stood out. One was a zing red sun, one was the hazy outline of a familiar world, and thest was a solid. The sun was obvious, it was the source of his sun mes that had be an integral part of his strength. As for the two worlds¡­

    ¡®Apeiron and Earth.¡¯

    One was his starting point. If it wasn¡¯t for the dungeon on Apeiron, he wouldn¡¯t have reached his current heights. It was only obvious for him to have an inexplicable connection to it.

    The second was his birthce. The ce he had called home for so many years of his life. And more importantly, it was the first and only world he had bound as a Celestial. On earth, he was a Star Master.

    With the status of these two worlds taken into consideration, the levels at which they manifested also made sense. After all, his connection with earth was far stronger than what he had with Apeiron.

    ¡®But for them to appear in my mindspace¡­it seems like there are still many things I have yet to explore about my Celestial ss.¡¯

    Damien was excited by his future prospects, but now wasn¡¯t the time to think about it. With his spiritual world blooming into fruition like this, he felt like it was finally time for him to awaken.

    The space he was in right now was his mind, so it wasn¡¯t that difficult to find the connection he had with his main body. The only reason he couldn¡¯t get any feedback from it before was due to the horrendous state his mind was once in.

    Comparing the scene he saw when he first woke up in his mindspace to what he was seeing right now, Damien was finally able to get a true grasp on how bad his situation had been.

    ¡®In fact, that flower was really a lifesaver. Looking at the current scene, it would¡¯ve taken far longer for me topletely heal my spiritual world if I had done all the work on my own. Perhaps even several years.¡¯

    Damien once again marveled at the power of a Demigod before concentrating his attention back on his link to his body. Soon, Damien felt a sensation as if he was traveling through a wormhole before his vision suddenly went ck.

    Thump! Thump!

    His heart was beating, his mama was beating along with it. The warm and refreshing sensation of mana coursing through his body made Damien involuntarily smile.

    Roar!

    His bloodlines raged as if to wee him back. His six senses were also unnaturally active.

    ¡®Ahhh, it¡¯s good to be back.¡¯

    This was the feeling of a living, breathing body. It was iparable to the spiritual form he had spent the past few years in.

    ¡®But¡­what is this situation?¡¯

    Damien soon realized he couldn¡¯t move or open his eyes. When he sent his awareness out, he noticed he was trapped within a strange cocoon.

    ¡®Greenish white, huh. It¡¯s obviously rted.¡¯

    Damien shook off his thoughts. He gently circted his mana to allow his body to get used to it once again before pushing it forward in waves.

    Crack!

    Faint cracks appeared on the cocoon. Just like he had done back when he first entered the Primordial Undying Realm, Damien broke out of its shell and slowly stood up.

    ¡°Nngh¡­my body feels like it just woke up from aa, but my mind is even more active than it was previously. It¡¯s going to take a while to get used to it.¡±

    Damien stretched his body, which emitted a series of cracking and popping sounds. It hadn¡¯t moved for so many months, so it was only natural.

    ¡°Wait, shit. Didn¡¯t my life force get forcefully depleted back then? Don¡¯t tell me¡­I¡¯m an old man now?!¡± Damien panicked.

    ¡°Fuck! I¡¯m still a virgin! How is my wife going to agree to have sex with me if I look like a 60-year-old?! Fuck you, Demon God!¡±

    Damien roared in rage as he rushed into the bathroom connected to the room he was in. He quickly arrived in front of a mirror to inspect his looks.

    ¡°Shi- wait, huh?¡±

    What Damien saw in the mirror was in fact not the decrepit old face of a 60-year-old. Instead, he looked almost identical to before he had fallen.

    Actually, he even looked slightly younger. Since Damien was approaching 23 years old with his time in the Trial World, his face had already started to carry a mature air, but now, he had regained some of the youthfulness he had when he was still around 20.

    It wasn¡¯t a big difference, but it was a difference nheless.

    ¡°That cocoon must¡¯ve had a simr effect to the flower I refined. Both my mind and body have returned to peak condition, so I should actually be able to get back into action right away.¡± Damien mused. But in the end, he decided against it.

    ¡°I still have to get used to being awake again. Moving around in my actual body isn¡¯t anything like moving in my spiritual avatar after all. I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been out here, but in my perception, it¡¯s been years since I¡¯vest walked normally. I should familiarize myself with my body again before doing anything big.¡±

    With this thought in mind, Damien spread his awareness and finally got a look at where he was.

    ¡°This should be¡­Darknorth? Quite the distance away from Acier. Must¡¯ve been the handiwork of those two girls.¡±

    Damien smiled. How thoughtful of them to move him so far away. It clearly showed their consideration in taking care of him.

    ¡°Actually, speaking of them, where have they run off to?¡± Damien muttered to himself. Shaking his head, he left Darknorth and began the process of familiarizing himself with his body.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the two girls he was thinking about were currently standing in front of a massive temple that had remained buried underground for untold centuries.

 Chapter 329 Readjusting [1]

    ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought that there was actually an inheritance here¡­¡± Feng Qing¡¯er muttered to herself as she gazed up at the temple.

    ¡°Agreed. Plus, we definitely wouldn¡¯t have even noticed this one by ourselves.¡± Qing Tan added.

    It had been a total of three months since Damien entered hisatose state, and the deadline for Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan to find an inheritance site had long approached.

    Unfortunately, two months wasn¡¯t nearly enough time to scour the entire realm from top to bottom. Even after tirelessly searching, neither of them made substantial progress.

    ¡°At most, I was able to find the ruins of already imed inheritances from the previous openings.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er continued in vexation.

    It would¡¯ve been fine if she hadn¡¯t found anything at all, but finding ruins and suspected inheritance sites only for them to already be imed was far worse. She was annoyed to no end.

    Even Qing Tan was the same. She had found clues pointing to more than a few inheritance sites, but she didn¡¯t have the time to actually pinpoint their locations.

    And when the two month deadline approached, the two of them dejectedly headed back to Darknorth.

    But who would¡¯ve thought that on their way back, they¡¯d run into each other? Not only that, when they regrouped, they found yet another clue to an inheritance site.

    Following said clue, they arrived at the spot that was currently upied by a great temple. Only, it used to be tnd. If it wasn¡¯t for a mysterious greenish-white speck of light that briefly shed from the ground, they wouldn¡¯t have noticed any abnormalities.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like this feeling of being led by a string.¡± Qing Tan said. Only an idiot would chalk up the earlier series of events as a mere coincidence. Especially when it was these two girls who had seen that greenish-white light before.

    ¡°I can¡¯t argue with that. But still, the source of that light has always been helping us rather than trying to cause harm. First, it healed that bastard¡¯s body, and now it has helped us achieve our goal. At this point, we can only ept this help.¡± Fang Qing¡¯er sighed.

    ¡°Still, though!¡± Qing Tan huffed. ¡°Forget it. Now that we have this location, what do we do?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we publicize it. Isn¡¯t that the only way to continue our n from here?¡±

    ¡°True, but it¡¯s a shame to share this cake with others when we can swallow it ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think like that. We don¡¯t know what¡¯s inside this temple, so how can we say that we can digest it alone? It¡¯s better to be safe, especially with what happened to that guy.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡± Feng Qing¡¯er took onest look at the temple before flying into the air.

    ¡°Stay here and guard the ce. We don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll disappear once we leave. I¡¯ll start spreading the information.¡±

    Leaving those words, she vanished into the distance. Qing Tan watched her receding figure as a small smile crept up her lips.

    ¡°Things are getting interesting now¡­I wonder if that guy has woken up already? This is the final event, after all! How can we proceed without our main character?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine~. After all, the hero always arrivedst, right?¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s eyes became unfocused as she stared into the sky.

    ¡°But, I wonder how you¡¯ll act now? Nothing has gone your way ever since that guy decided to intervene. Even after you personally acted, he still remained alive. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re feeling extra pissed off right now¡­ahh, if only I could see that expression, I could die happily.¡±

    As the smile on her face grew, Qing Tan¡¯s eyes became focused again. Soon after, she sat down in ce and began cultivating. Now, she needed to pass the time until the involved parties all arrived.

    ***

    A shocking piece of news soon spread through the Trial World. It was the emergence of an inheritance of unknown value. The only reliable information was the fact that it definitely belonged to an expert.

    Everyone was riled up, even the mortals who resided in the Trial World all their lives knew the significance of an inheritance appearing. Only, they couldn¡¯t do anything butment at their own powerlessness.

    The Trial World¡¯s environment simply didn¡¯t give them the ability to be powerful.

    However, it was a different story for others.

    ¡°Are you going?¡±

    ¡°Going where?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t y dumb with me! Hmph, I¡¯m setting off right now! I don¡¯t care if youe along!¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait! I¡¯ming! How can I miss something so big?!¡±

    Various simr conversations happened around the Trial World as the news spread. Many questioned its veracity, but upon learning that the news originated from Feng Qing¡¯er, their doubts were immediately settled.

    The Fire Phoenix n was well known throughout the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. Simply by relying on their name, they could get others to trust them. But the Phoenix ns were unique in that their sincerity and generosity were highlighted on many asions.

    As the Young Miss of the Fire Phoenix n, Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s words carried weight. She knew this, and it was the reason why she decided to spread the news instead of leaving it to Qing Tan, who was known to be cunning and untrustworthy.

    The news spread like wildfire, proliferating through the 5 human cities and even reaching the ears of the geniuses who had secluded themselves in the wilderness to hunt. In this kind of situation, the demons in Acier naturally heard the news as well.

    ***

    Within the pantheon in the fifthyer of Acier, the four remaining Apostles conversed about the news they just received.

    ¡°It could very well be another trap, but judging from the reaction of those outsiders, the news shouldn¡¯t be false.¡±

    The speaker was anky man whose body looked like it¡¯d be swayed by the slightest of wind, but anyone who knew him was aware of the frightening power he hid in his small frame.

    ¡°Proto and Nali are dead as we expected. Getting rid of Proto was a good choice since he would inevitably ruin any ns we had in the future with his brashness, but losing Nali as well is a shame. Now that there¡¯s only four of us left, we need to take extra care with any moves we make.¡±

    A woman responded. She had a long cat-like tail and vertical slits for pupils. Everything about her screamed the word cunning.

    ¡°Regardless, we still must go. Most of us weren¡¯t alive when the previous batch of outsiders arrived in our domain, but we¡¯ve seen the records from our predecessors. Any inheritance that has been found so far has been a great boost in the strength of the inheritor. If we let those outsiders get their hands on it, we are basically asking for death.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. This is a matter that concerns the survival of our race and the continuation of our Lord¡¯s ns. We cannot fail this time no matter what.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± The final of the four spoke after listening to the rest¡¯s conversation. His voice was low, like the growl of a beast.

    ¡°We¡¯re going all out this time. Gather all of our remaining forces.¡±

    The other three looked at him with widened eyes.

    ¡°All of them? Doesn¡¯t that include¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to question it. I said what I said. Haven¡¯t you all realized it already? Every time we decide to preserve our forces, we end up eating a loss. Even if those Captains and Generals can¡¯t help us inbat, they are perfect meat shields and sacrifices to help us continue forward without wasting our energy. As forbat power¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t need to finish his sentence. They all understood his intent.

    This time, they were mobilizing the Demon Kings.

 Chapter 330 Readjusting [2]

    ¡°Phew, finally back to normal.¡±

    In a quiet field located far away from any civilization, Damien let out a sigh of relief. After many days of continuous effort, he had readapted to his body.

    Truthfully, it wasn¡¯t as hard as he originally expected, though he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised considering how he had bolted to the mirror right after he woke up without any trouble.

    In terms of readjustment, it only took a few hours for him toplete it. The rest of the past few days were used to familiarize him with the improvements he¡¯d made during hisa.

    ¡°When ites to my physical body, it doesn¡¯t seem like there have been many changes besides the fact that I gained a bit more vitality than I had previously. Instead of losing years, I actually seem to have made a gain in lifespan through this experience.¡±

    Although there were some minor benefits to his physical body, it wasn¡¯t anything special. It was only the natural strengthening that was gained when his body was broken down and reconstructed.

    But since it wasn¡¯t a targeted reconstruction for growth and was instead entirely focused on healing, unlike the magma bath he took when he first entered the secret realm, there wasn¡¯t much benefit.

    The true benefit was to his spiritual cultivation, something he didn¡¯t even know existed until recently.

    The work he put into repairing his broken spiritual world, as well as the refinement of the twenty-three-petaled flower, had greatly boosted his mental power.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I can only do some basic stuff with all this power. Especially with the fine control I gained through my years of effort, it¡¯d be a great trump card if I could use it properly. Looks like I¡¯ll need to consult some people and learn some mental skills after I get out of this ce.¡±

    Currently, the only mental skill he had was his Mind Prison. This skill was meant to be used to put him into an emotionless state so he could perfectly practice the Void Heart Sword Law, but Damien had found that such a usage was a waste of the construct¡¯s potential.

    From helping him regain his mind when he was up against the Demon Queen¡¯s seduction to helping him preserve his ego when his mind was on the verge of breakdown, the Mind Prison was such a versatile skill that Damien felt the need to punch its creator for using it so inefficiently.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I should probably start looking into the actual Sword Law part of Void Heart Sword Law. Even if I don¡¯t agree with the whole emotionless thing, it¡¯ll probably still be helpful. I might be able to integrate it into my Void Sword Art to enhance it.¡±

    Damien thought back to when he first obtained the Void Heart Sword Law and couldn¡¯t stop himself from chuckling.

    ¡°Man, I was really on something back then. I¡¯ll have to give Ruyue some love when we reunite as thanks for helping mee out of that self-destructing state. If it wasn¡¯t for her, who knows what kind of terrible mistakes I would¡¯vemitted.¡±

    Damien smiled as his hand went to his chest. There, he felt the faint rhythmic thumping of a heartbeat that wasn¡¯t his.

    ¡°I wonder how you¡¯re doing right now? I truly hope your Trial World doesn¡¯t have the same demon troubles I¡¯m having right now. Still, at least I know you¡¯re safe¡­no, since your heartbeat is so calm, you¡¯re probably thriving. As expected of my woman.¡±

    Before his mind was shattered, he could only vaguely feel Ruyue¡¯s physical condition through the piece of her soul that she had given him, but during the process of copse, a strange mutation took ce in the imprint she had ced on him.

    As if acting to preserve itself, that portion of Ruyue¡¯s soul had escaped his mind space and taken root in his heart instead.

    At that time, his body was being reconstructed inside the greenish white cocoon, and that portion of soul had ended up fused with his heart.

    Through such a strange set of coincidences, Damien and Ruyue¡¯s hearts had be interconnected. He didn¡¯t know what kind of effects such a mutation would have, but he could only slowly find out once he reunited with the woman herself.

    ¡°Damn, it¡¯s tough being a sentimental guy like me. What a shame¡­¡± As he spoke, Damien started feeling like he was forgetting something. Going through his memory of what happened before hisa, he suddenly remembered.

    ¡°Ah! I put a whole bunch of people inside of the Sanctuary and then basically died! I should probably go check on them¡­¡±

    Luckily, he had remembered before it became toote. Those guys were probably incredibly confused about what had happened in Acier and during the months afterwards, since he had been broadcasting the situation.

    Thinking about how he had bragged to Demon King Lucius before everything went downhill, Damien suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.

    ¡°Forget it. Thick skin is something every man needs to have. Nearly dying? Hmph, look at how I¡¯ve improved over this period of time. Of course everything was ording to n. How could I predict a Demigod descending? Naturally, I¡¯m just built different.¡±

    Damien puffed out his chest and entered the Sanctuary with confidence. Before he went to visit the ones residing within, he stood in the air and observed theyout of the ce.

    ¡°Now that I look at it from a bird¡¯s eye view, this ce is seriously cluttered. I just keep sectioning off space every time I need something new, so it¡¯s be a hassle now. Let me fix this before I go meet them.¡±

    Damien focused his mental power and began restructuring the space in the Sanctuary. Currently, there were many clumps of random space that he had used for various one-time purposes, but he didn¡¯t need that.

    Instead, he merged all those spaces together and turned them into something new. At the same time, he restructured the existing spaces to make them more organized and fluid.

    The Sanctuary soon experienced tremendous changes. Now, there was simply one massive continent that looked like its own ne, with little Xue¡¯s space being merged with all the rest.

    The only separated spaces now were one for prisoners and one for him personally.

    The prison was straightforward, especially since he didn¡¯t have the talent to erect constructs within it. It was a barren in where not even grass could grow. But that was just for the sake of atmosphere. After all, psychological warfare was its own game.

    The main thing that differed was what Damien termed as World Principles. The World Principles were thews that governed the space. Many things could be regted by tweaking them.

    For instance, within the Prison Realm, he mainly utilized Principles of suppression. Those within would find their strength taken from them while a constant aura suppression would weigh on their minds and bodies.

    Other than that, Damien added a few more things that could be used for both psychological and physical torture, but those Principles weren¡¯t active at all times, they were like settings he could turn on and off as he desired.

    As for little Xue¡¯s realm, or rather, the Main Realm, the World Principles didn¡¯t differ much from that of an existing normal world. It would be hard to differentiate purely based on the aura and feel of the realm itself.

    The third realm was the same, with no major differences in World Principles from the outside world. It was Damien¡¯s personal realm for training and rxing, and there was also a portion sectioned off for the sake of storage.

    ¡°Main Realm, Prison Realm, Personal Realm¡­I really need to change these names. Well, thetter two are fine but the main realm is basically a world of its own, so it needs a good name. Maybe I¡¯ll consult some people about itter.¡±

    Damien nodded in satisfaction. Now, all the people within the Sanctuary were in the Main Realm together. But Damien wasn¡¯t worried about the demons harming little Xue. Even if the World Principles were naturally untouched, he could still manipte them to suppress those he didn¡¯t trust.

    As an example of this, all the demons were basically no different from mortals at the moment, even the Demon King Lucius.

    Damien pped his hands in satisfaction. ¡°Everyone must be confused at the sudden change, so this benevolent Young Master should go exin it to them!¡±

    With a carefree smile on his face, Damien shed away and appeared in the Main Realm, not far away from where the demons were situated.

 Chapter 331 Readjusting [3]

    ¡°This¡­where are we?¡±

    Mutters of confusion were the most prominent symptoms among the demons at the moment as they looked at their surroundings. Until now, they had been confined within a strange space that even the Demon King couldn¡¯t escape, but now, it was like they were transported to a new world.

    Tall grasses grew and spread as far as the eye could see, to the west there was arge forest where the faint outline of a shabby treehouse could be seen. To the east, there was arge body of water reminiscent of an ocean, and to the north was a mountain that overshadowed the entire continent.

    Comparatively, the space was generally small, but it was stillrge enough to house several hundreds of thousands of peoplefortably without clutter.

    ¡°That brat must¡¯ve done something¡­¡± Lucius muttered as he surveyed the realm. Sadly, his realm was still suppressed so he could only do so with his eyes.

    ¡°I forgot how annoying life is as a mortal.¡± He sneered.

    His maid stood by his side quietly with a curious glint in her eyes. As for Elitra, she was marveling at the astonishing methods of her Master. Aside from these three, the rest were showing varying degrees of panic.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    Suddenly, a loud shout woke them up from their frenzy. The voice was filled with youthful exuberance and spirit. Apanying it, a ck blur shot through the air andnded in front of them.

    ¡°Who are you guys?¡±

    A little girl no more than five years old stood before them with her hands on her hips. Her attitude was pompous, butbined with her stature it was simply too cute.

    Elitra smiled sweetly when she saw this. ¡°Little girl, why are you in this ce? Are you Master¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡°Master? Who¡¯s that?¡± Xue¡¯er responded in confusion.

    ¡°Ah! His name is Damien, but he likes to be called Master, so I call him that!¡± Elites happily answered.

    ¡°Big brother¡¯s friend? Big brother likes to be called master? I¡¯ll try it too!¡±

    Xue¡¯er happily spoke as the spirits around herughed uncontrobly. Their intelligence seemed to have been heightened in recent days, as they couldpletely understand and respond to the ongoing conversation.

    ¡°Girl, where are we?¡± Lucius interrupted their conversation and asked. Even in front of this little girl, he kept up his stern appearance.

    Xue¡¯er red at him for a while before suddenly eximing. ¡°Bad man!¡±

    ¡°Bad man? Me? Hmph, a little girl who can¡¯t see Mt. Tai.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t hear you! You¡¯re a bad man! Xue¡¯er will fight you so you don¡¯t disturb Big brother!¡±

    Xue¡¯er put her fists up and red at Lucius. Lucius¡¯s maid and Elitra giggled on the side as they watched the interaction.

    ¡°Hoh? A little girl like you wants to fight me? Aren¡¯t you afraid I¡¯ll beat you up?¡±

    ¡°Hmph! Hmph! If you beat up Xue¡¯er, big brother will beat you up too!¡±

    She proudly dered it as if it was only right. Additionally, she seemed to havee to a liking of using ¡®hmph¡¯ as the Demon King had done before.

    ¡°What can your big brother do to me?¡± Lucius sneered back. ¡°Even if there were hundreds of him, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to touch a hair on my body.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t insult big brother!¡± Xue¡¯er shouted. Enraged, she shot forward with astonishing speed for a girl her age and threw a punch at Lucius.

    ¡®This little girl isn¡¯t simple.¡¯ He thought inwardly as he put his hand out. Even if her speed was great, she was still a mortal. Lucius wasn¡¯t afraid of her attack at all.

    But when her fist impacted his hand, he felt an overwhelming force transfer into his body, causing him to get pushed back 10 steps.

    ¡°You¡­¡± His eyes widened in shock. This girl was only a child. Even with his strength suppressed, there was no way for her to overwhelm him, right?

    The surrounding demons also watched the scene in shock. Their all-powerful Lord was being suppressed? By a five-year-old?

    And of course, Elitra and the maid were still giggling to the side.

    ¡°Does he not realize how goofy he looks right now?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s too caught up in the momentum. He hasn¡¯t even realized he¡¯s been arguing with a five-year-old for so long.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, Master has really annoyed him so much that he even does something like this! It¡¯s truly admirable.¡±

    ¡°Keke, littless, taking someone who could push the Lord to this extent with mere words as your Master might not be a bad decision after all.¡±

    As they conversed, the Demon King¡¯s face became increasingly ck. His eyebrows were twitching uncontrobly.

    ¡°Brat! I know you¡¯re there! Come out and face this King!¡± He suddenly shouted into the air.

    Damien, who was watching the whole fiasco while concealed, wondered whether he should actually listen. After all, if he didn¡¯te out, wouldn¡¯t that embarrass the Demon King even more?

    ¡®Kek, the urge to tease him is too strong. It¡¯s his fault for always acting so stern.¡¯

    But in the end, he decided against it. Too much antagonizing wasn¡¯t a good thing. He soon appeared on the scene not far from Little Xue.

    ¡°Hahahaha! Lord Father-inw, how could Ie out and ruin your grand performance? How did you like the beating my little sister gave you?¡±

    ¡°Big brother!¡±

    When Xue¡¯er saw him, she immediately wanted to dash into his arms as she didst time, but unfortunately, the distance between them wasn¡¯t far enough for her to gain speed. Instead, she had to settle for entering his arms normally.

    But since she received the hug she wanted either way, she didn¡¯t mind much.

    ¡°Master~!¡±

    Another endearing call rang out as Elitra tried to do the same. But when she got close enough to hug Damien, a little hand reached out and blocked her way.

    ¡°Hmph! Big brother is mine! You can¡¯t have him!¡±

    Elitra suddenly felt irked. ¡®This little girl¡­is she scheming against me?¡¯

    Soon, a silent ring contest ensued between the two girls, causing sparks to fly in the air.

    ¡°Brat, you¡¯re finally willing toe see us?¡± Demon King Lucius once again interrupted.

    ¡°Father-inw, why must you speak like this? If someone was unaware of the context, they would mistake you for an indignant concubine!¡±

    ¡°Stop calling me Father-inw! Also, who the hell is an indignant concubine?! Don¡¯t go too far!¡± Demon King Lucius exploded.

    ¡°Calm down, calm down! Don¡¯t take your anger out on me just because you got beat up by my little sister!¡±

    ¡°Argh! Let me out of this realm so I can set you straight! Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know it was you pulling strings behind the scenes!¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Damien burst outughing when he saw Lucius¡¯ fuming look. Little Xue soon joined him.

    Every time a peel ofughter came out of their mouths, the Demon King¡¯s face turned a different shade of red as he tried to contain his anger. Unfortunately, this only made themugh even harder.

    ¡°Lord, perhaps you should restrain your anger? Your behavior is very unlike your usual character.¡± His maid suddenly whispered from the side.

    It was only after her urging that he finally managed to calm down. He knew he wasn¡¯t usually like this, but there was just something about this brat that always managed to rip away his calmness and aloofness and forced him to act out.

    ¡®And he keeps calling me father-inw! Who the hell is his father-inw? How can my daughter be so subservient to a little brat like him?!¡¯ Lucius inwardlymented. He closed his eyes and started adjusting his breathing.

    It took a few minutes for him to finally calm down, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw Damien ying with little Xue as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°Big brother! That big sister said that you like being called Master! Should Xue¡¯er call you Master too?¡± Little Xue asked curiously.

    Damien¡¯s face immediately paled. ¡°Never! Don¡¯t even think about it! Listen, little Xue, this big sister is a bad girl who will teach you bad things! Don¡¯t listen to her, okay?¡±

    As he spoke, he sent a silent re at Elitra, who responded with an aggrieved look. But the sly smile she was concealing couldn¡¯t be hidden from him.

    ¡®I¡¯ll have to thoroughly punish herter.¡¯ Damien noted inwardly.

    He soon turned his gaze away and noticed that Lucius had managed to calm himself. Seeing this, he nodded to himself.

    ¡°Little Xue, these people will be living here with you from now on, so why don¡¯t you give them a tour of the ce? Big brother is going to have a chat with that bad man over there.¡±

    ¡°Mm!¡±

    Xue¡¯er might¡¯ve liked to act willful, but she had already greatly matured due to her experiences before Damien saved her. She knew when to give him space.

    Lucius¡¯ veins seemed ready to pop out when he heard Damien refer to him as a ¡®bad man¡¯ in front of the child, but he held it in and stayed silent as little Xue led the rest of the demons to explore the Main Realm. Soon, only Damien and Lucius were left in the area.

    ¡°Sigh. Alright, it¡¯s just us now. Brat, tell me what happened in Acier.¡±

 Chapter 332 Readjusting [4]

    Damien nodded before briefly exining what had transpired in the past few months. He didn¡¯t leave out any details, including the Demon God¡¯s descent and True Voice.

    But he only skimmed over what happened within his mental world, only mentioning that some external force helped him recover.

    ¡°So it was like that¡­¡± Lucius nodded. To be frank, he was surprised by how a young man like Damien could get himself involved in such convoluted things.

    Back when he was the same age, he was still training in his hometown, trying to level up by killing the monsters in nearby ces. He hadn¡¯t even thought about adventuring like Damien was doing, and bing so strong in so little time.

    Whenparing himself to Damien when they were simr in age, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit embarrassed. But he didn¡¯t let this embarrassment stay for long.

    ¡°That foreign race actually descended personally to deal with you. It definitely isn¡¯t as simple as it looks on the surface. For someone of that power level who has lived for untold millennia, it¡¯s impossible for such a small hitch in his ns to provoke him to move personally.

    ¡°And logically speaking, you should¡¯ve died at that time. The one who helped you is at a simr level of existence. In my understanding over these 10,000 or more years, there are only two beings of such strength within this realm. One is that being of the race you call the Nox, while the other is the Primordial Undying Tree itself.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened at the revtion. Although he had some guesses based on the limitless vitality contained within the greenish-white essence that helped him, hearing it confirmed was a different story altogether.

    ¡°So it¡¯s really like that¡­¡± Damien muttered. ¡°But if that essence came from the Primordial Undying Tree, then why¡­?¡±

    Why did the visions he saw not include a tree? It wouldn¡¯t be too surprising for those survivors to have taken a Sacred Object like the Primordial Undying Tree with them when they fled, but he didn¡¯t see anything like that in the visions. There were only humanoid beings in the starship.

    ¡®No, it could¡¯ve been omitted. But, if the visions were truly unintentionally shown to me, then there¡¯s no way for something so important to be omitted.¡¯

    The faces being blurred could be exined. He didn¡¯t know how long ago the events of that vision took ce, but it wouldn¡¯t be surprising for the faces of people to be hazy with the passing of time.

    Besides his own family, Damien didn¡¯t even remember the faces of most of those he used to interact with on earth, regardless of how long they had stayed together.

    ¡®If that essence came from the Primordial Undying Tree, when coupled with those visions things have be much moreplicated.¡¯ While he thought inwardly, Damien continued conversing with Lucius.

    ¡°We can¡¯t say anything about what existences like those two are thinking. We simply don¡¯t have the qualifications. Originally, I brought you out of Acier because I wanted your help in eliminating the rest of the Demon race¡¯s forces, but it looks like there has to be a change of ns.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why do you say so?¡± Lucius questioned.

    ¡°I can¡¯t take risks now that the Demon God has acted personally. Although I¡¯ll still work towards eliminating them, it¡¯ll have to be done much more slowly than I originally nned. For now, you should just stay in the Sanctuary and get used to it. This will be your new home from now on.¡±

    ¡°Brat, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re thinking of¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course I am! Why wouldn¡¯t I? For one, Elitra is my little maid and you¡¯re her father. Secondly, you¡¯re a genuine 4th ss existence. Barring personal sentiments, as long as I can take you out of this realm, won¡¯t you be a great asset to me when you aren¡¯t suppressed.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Although I can¡¯t say I enjoy being thought of as an asset, I can¡¯t fault your mindset.¡± Lucius begrudgingly agreed.

    But inwardly, he couldn¡¯t stop his heart from racing. He had been trapped for so many years, the thought of freedom was something he didn¡¯t dare to entertain. Now that hope had been ced in front of him again, how could he not be excited?

    ¡°Alright. I have to go check on the situation in the outside world now since I¡¯ve beenatose for months. I¡¯ll let you know how things are after I find out.¡±

    ¡°Good. Proceed carefully. No matter how much I dislike you, I can¡¯t have you dying here.¡±

    Damien smiled. ¡°Take care of little Xue while I¡¯m gone. Although she¡¯s a bit mischievous, she¡¯s a good kid. Also, don¡¯t let Elitra teach her anything bad. Sheesh, that girl is a little demoness. I have to wonder how you raised her.¡±

    ¡°Sigh, even I don¡¯t know how she became like that. She used to be such a well-behaved kid, but now she¡¯s going around calling strangers Master and acting all rebellious.¡±

    Demon King Lucius shed a silent tear as he thought about the days when his daughter used to be obedient. Damien almost had the urge to tease him again when he saw it, but he shook it off.

    After exchanging a few more words with the Demon King, Damien once again exited the Sanctuary.

    ¡°Good. Let¡¯s get back to the city and see if anything new has happened.¡± Damien stretched a bit before he set off.

    His figure shed away, appearing ten meters from where he was originally. It was another great benefit he had received after he woke up. Yet again, it was something that was made possible by his new fine control and level of mental power.

    ¡°Risk and reward reallye in pairs.¡± He said as he thought about what he had to endure for him to taste this benefit. ¡°But ten meters, huh¡­reminds me of the old days. Except, I can actually use my power properly this time.¡±

    Without dying anymore, Damien made his way back to Darknorth.

    It didn¡¯t take long to arrive back in the city with his current teleportation range and speed. When he arrived, he noticed that the atmosphere was far more bustling than when he left.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on here? Why is it so lively?¡± Damien asked a random passerby.

    ¡°Huh? Do you live under a rock or something? How can you not know about the fact that an inheritance was found recently?¡±

    ¡°Inheritance? Those exist here?¡±

    ¡°Of course they do! Are you seriously some kind of hermit? Listen here, kid. Even my ancestors have passed down legendary tales about the Inheritances thaty dormant in our world! It¡¯s said that each and every one of them contains untold power that could turn us into gods! Haiz, if it wasn¡¯t for my own powerlessness, I¡¯d already be at the site!¡±

    Damien widened his eyes. Although he knew the tales were obviously embellished, the fact that there was an inheritance site opening was still good news nheless.

    ¡°When did this information spread?¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s already been a few days. All of those esteemed people have already made their way over. You know what the worst part is? The site is only a few kilometers to the west of our city! If I had power, I could¡¯ve already entered before anyone else! The heavens have truly forsaken me! Hey, kid, are you even listening?¡±

    The man noticed that he wasn¡¯t getting any response from the person he wasining to. Looking up, he realized that he waspletely alone. The passerbys on the street were looking at him like he was a crazy person.

    His face instantly paled. ¡°D-don¡¯t tell me¡­I was pouring out my grievances to a ghost?!¡±

    The man immediately took off running. He needed to prepare to sacrifice some of his provisions and pray to his nine-generation ancestors so he wouldn¡¯t get cursed.

    How could hein about such minor things to a ghost? How could his troubles be any worse than literally being dead? Hemented his big mouth as he ran, not even noticing the fact that his pockets were a little heavier than they were beforehand.

    Meanwhile, Damien had long since left Darknorth. He was naturally headed west towards the location the man had pointed out.

    His expression was incredibly ugly as he bolted at high speeds.

    ¡°Dammit! How could I miss such an important event?!¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be long before he joined the fray, but unfortunately, others had already gained a head start on him.

    ¡®The true final event of this Trial World is here! 9 months have passed already, and there are still three left. But regardless, everything will be decided here and now.¡¯

    Damien also realized this when he heard the news. Since Feng Qing¡¯er was the one who spread it, the goal must¡¯ve been elimination of the demons.

    ¡®Well, the hero always arrivesst, right?¡¯

    He tried to console himself as he approached the location.

    A few kilometers away from him, an ancient temple stood silently among the trees. Its aura pervaded the atmosphere around it, giving off a feeling of destion.

    Within this temple, countless scuffles and life-or-death battles took ce every minute as those who entered its grounds battled for the inheritance it held.

 Chapter 333 Inheritance [1]

    After the news of the Inheritance site spread through the Trial World, many powerful people began to congregate at its location.

    Outside the ancient temple, tens of geniuses and even a few beasts who had gained intelligence were lined up in wait. They would have already charged in if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the temple was still sealed.

    Qing Tan sat quietly at the side and watched as these forces all continued to pile in, her gaze indifferent.

    ¡®They still aren¡¯t here yet¡­they should be preparing something big then.¡¯

    A small smile decorated her face as she thought of it. If the demons really decided to go all out, it was perfect for them.

    As Qing Tan was getting ready to close her eyes and begin meditating again, a lithe figure appeared next to her.

    ¡°How is it?¡± The woman asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s good so far. Actually, even more people than we expected showed up.¡± She responded.

    ¡°Mm, even I didn¡¯t include these beasts into my calctions. We haven¡¯t had much contact with them, so I was expecting them to be more like the beasts in the groundyer of our 3000 Beast Mountain Range.¡±

    Qing Tan nodded in agreement. ¡°Right, most of them are like that. They just mindlessly ughter and eat with no real goal. The ones who have appeared here are probably those cream of the crop among the beasts in this realm, as well as those who have been living in seclusion for a while.¡±

    ¡°The Inheritance site really draws all sorts of characters to it. We definitely underestimated its star power.¡±

    Qing Tan shrugged. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. We aren¡¯t natives here so we don¡¯t understand the appeal of an Inheritance as much as they do. Also, this thing probably doesn¡¯t mean as much to us as it does to them.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er furrowed her brows beforeing to a realization. ¡°Right, I almost forgot.¡±

    For them, the Inheritance was a boost in power, sure, but that was it. It was something they would look at in greed more than anything else. However, it was different for the natives of the secret realm.

    They had a power cap at the peak of 3rd ss, being unable to progress further. Even more than that, they lived within the confines of a realm that would seem smaller and smaller as one gained more power.

    For the humans, this kind of thing didn¡¯t matter since they were destined to live as mortals or near mortals for their entire lives. However, the lifestyle of a beast promoted evolution and growth at the lower levels. Only after they gained intelligence would they hold the capacity to becent.

    But by that point, the pursuit of power was already ingrained in their bones, and the feeling of gaining it would be a kind of pleasure. To realize that there was no hope to continue this pursuit and that they were essentially trapped in a cage for their whole lives, wasn¡¯t it only natural that they would feel disillusioned?

    Something like an Inheritance site was hope for them. These Inheritances were the best way for them to gain massive boosts in power and ability. And considering the kinds of rumors about the Inheritances that spread through the Trial World, perhaps they even saw it as a hope of freedom.

    Only, finding an Inheritance was already an extremely rare thing. And when one found an Inheritance, they¡¯d usually do everything they could to keep it to themselves. Since the Inheritance sites didn¡¯t raise massive spectacles when they opened, it was even rarer for one to steal an Inheritance found by someone else unless that person failed and died within.

    For an Inheritance site to be publicized like this, of course all parties converged as soon as they could.

    As Qing Tan and Feng Qing¡¯er conversed about these things, more and more people arrived. Soon, the number had already crossed the hundreds.

    There weren¡¯t many outside geniuses when they first entered the Trial World in the first ce. In theter battles, more than half had met their end. The majority of those who hade for the Inheritance opening were natives of the Trial World, bringing immense surprise to those geniuses who didn¡¯t realize there were so many experts in hiding.

    Suddenly, a gloomy aura pervaded the atmosphere. The sky turned dark as it was blotted out by hundreds of ck specks.

    ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er muttered as she peered into the sky.

    ¡°Mm.¡± Qing Tan let out a sound of agreement.

    The auras blotting out the sky soon began to descend. Those standing beneath them unwittingly made space, pressured by their intimidation.

    As they descended, their forms finally became visible.

    ¡°Hisss¡­¡± Qing Tan breathed in a cold breath.

    Hundreds of Demon Captains and Generals lined the ground like organized soldiers. Each and every one of them was emanating a bloodthirsty aura. Their hands were all gripped on heavy chains that seemed toorge to be realistic.

    Attached to those chains were the abominations that had lost their purpose due to the power of those the demons had been facing recently. But with the current circumstance, even these were brought out.

    Each chain held tens or hundreds of abominations that wed and bit at anything they could find. They were extremely rabid, and even with their low strength, their behavior alone was enough to heighten the intimidation factor.

    But even thebined aura of these thousands of abominations and hundreds of Generals and Captains couldn¡¯t hold a candle to the auras of those who stood at their helm.

    Four Apostles, two men and two women, with sharp gazes that pierced the surroundings. Since they were in the outside world, they had assumed their hierarchal position as Commanders.

    In front of them, there were three figures that stood out the most.

    One was a curvaceous woman who caused the hearts of men to swoon even as she stood and did nothing. Some were already foaming at the mouth because they couldn¡¯t handle her beauty.

    ¡°Demon Queen Eliza.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er muttered. She and Qing Tan naturally recognized the woman, as they had met personally only a few months back.

    Next to her was a burly man with a gargantuan stature. He was at least 10 feet tall, with muscles that seemed to be carved out of pure steel. His face wasn¡¯t handsome, but contained a rugged air that had its own charm.

    ¡°He must be Granheim.¡± Qing Tan said. Although they had never seen him before, they had heard from Damien in Acier about the Demon Kings¡¯ mental transmissions. The voice Damien described could only fit this man.

    ¡°As for Eden, that bastard said he couldn¡¯t even identify their gender through their voice. I wonder what they look like?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er pondered out loud. But she didn¡¯t have to wait long for her answer.

    Descending at the forefront of the entire demon army was a being who couldn¡¯t be described as anything other than androgynous.

    His face had the structure of a man¡¯s, but the features of a woman¡¯s. His body was lithe and graceful, but wasn¡¯t curvaceous. His skin was pale white, matching the long wheat-colored hair that descended to his waist.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­a man, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­maybe?¡±

    Many hushed conversations took ce in the surroundings as people witnessed the Demon Army¡¯s grand entrance. But soon, their attention shifted back to the ancient temple.

    Even if the opposition had brought an army, it didn¡¯t matter much. Within the Inheritance site, it was every man for themselves.

    Qing Tan and Feng Qing¡¯er nodded to each other before hopping off the tree branch they were situated on. Now, it was time to imitate the manner of a certain hateful man they knew.

    ¡°Yo~ Demon Queen! It¡¯s been so long since west met! Did you miss us?¡±

 Chapter 334 Inheritance [2]

    Hearing the rude manner in which she was addressed, Eliza instinctually turned around to punish the one who dared, but when she saw the two girls, she noticed that they looked a bit familiar.

    ¡°You two¡­¡± Eliza furrowed her brows and muttered. Her expression soon became mocking.

    ¡°Right, you¡¯re the twopanions of that brat. How is he by the way? I heard he got done in by the Demon God.¡±

    ¡°Ahh, you don¡¯t have to worry about him. Haven¡¯t you heard the saying? Good people die early but a scourge willst a thousand years. As if some fake god can kill him off.¡±

    Qing Tan returned her words with a smile of derision. ¡°But, talking about him so soon after we met, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re¡­missing him?¡±

    As Qing Tan spoke, her gaze traveled down to a certain part of the Demon Queen¡¯s body.

    Eliza gnashed her teeth. ¡°Why the hell would I miss some random trash?! Don¡¯t talk bullshit.¡±

    Qing Tan smiled knowingly when she saw Eliza getting defensive. Truth be told, she hadn¡¯t been there when Damien had humiliated the Demon Queen. Just based on the words Eliza was yelling while chasing after Damien, she had made a guess.

    And it seemed she was right.

    Eliza was feeling especially heated. She didn¡¯t want to admit it, but the feeling of that bastard¡¯s hands on her body still remained with her even now. She could vaguely feel a burning sensation on her skin whenever she thought about that day.

    No matter how much she tried to go back to her previous habits, she wasn¡¯t able to derive the same satisfaction she had beforehand. After all, she had discovered her kink, but it was too shameful for her to actually exercise it.

    For being the one that taught her what her body craved, she wanted to tear Damien to shreds. If it wasn¡¯t for him, she wouldn¡¯t have ended up in such a pitiful state.

    ¡°Enough.¡±

    Just as she was about to counter again, a gruff voice interrupted. To the side, Demon King Granheim was looking over indifferently.

    ¡°Don¡¯t embarrass us. It¡¯s been so long since we¡¯ve shown our faces, people will look at your performance and think we¡¯re nothing much.¡±

    ¡°Tch.¡±

    Eliza turned away indignantly. Meanwhile, Granheim turned his attention back to Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan.

    ¡°It was the two of you that gathered everyone today, was it not? I assume your n is to eliminate our forces. While it¡¯s not a bad idea to borrow a knife to kill, do you really believe that you can stop us?¡±

    Qing Tan red at the Demon King. Although he seemed like he was talking about the demon race in general, she was well aware that thest ¡®us¡¯ was exclusively referring to the Demon Kings.

    ¡°Whether we can stop you or not, you¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er responded with a humph.

    ¡°Say, where¡¯s that guy from before, though? Don¡¯t tell me he actually died?¡± Granheim suddenly said.

    He was also interested in Damien. How could he not be? Regardless of the reason behind it, he had still forced the Demon God to act personally in order to deal with him.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I already say?¡± Qing Tan responded. ¡°He¡¯s alive and kicking. If you¡¯re lucky enough, maybe you¡¯ll be able to meet him inside.¡±

    Granheim grinned. ¡°Good! I¡¯ve been wanting to see what¡¯s so special about that brat. If I can have the chance to fight him, I¡¯ll be satisfied.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er nced at the final Demon King among them, who had stood silently throughout the whole interaction. Eden had a light, almost carefree, smile on his face as he observed the ancient temple. It was almost as if nothing else in the world concerned him.

    When he noticed Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s gaze, he briefly looked back at her and gave her a slight nod of acknowledgment before turning back to the temple.

    ¡®Of the three of them, I¡¯m most worried about him¡­¡¯ She thought to herself. The other two had rtively easy personalities to see through, but it wasn¡¯t the same for Eden.

    Eliza was the most easily provoked, so dealing with her was the simplest. Even though Granheim wasn¡¯t the same in this regard, from what she could tell, he was a battle maniac. This kind of person was rtively straightforward in their ways.

    Eden hadn¡¯t spoken yet. In fact, he had done nothing besides stare at the ancient temple since they arrived. But something about his presence screamed danger. His very existence made her want to run and never look back.

    ¡®Can this n really deal with them?¡¯

    The two of them hadn¡¯t really ounted for the Demon Kings. They were wild cards in this n.

    From what they had learned over their stay in the Trial World, the rtionship between the demon race and the Demon Kings wasn¡¯t as harmonious as it looked on the outside. They weren¡¯t sure about how the Demon Kings would move in the event that their n was sessful.

    But more than that, they had learned from Damien that the Demon Kings could be forcefully controlled by the Apostles. In the event that they ran into an Apostle who had a Demon King by their side, everything would be for naught.

    ¡®We can only hope they get separated upon entry. If not, we have to find a way to separate them.¡¯

    Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan had never truly made a concrete n, since the actual Inheritance site itself was out of their control.

    Instead, they created the spine of the Ol¨¢n while granting themselves the flexibility to change things on the spot if necessary. At the moment, they were discussing said changes.

    Just as the tension between the Demon Kings and the two girls seemed to have subsided, the ancient temple began rumbling.

    A heavy aura soon pervaded the atmosphere and filled the space with a feeling of destion. As this feeling grew, the flora in the surroundings began to wither and rot.

    Even the experts gathered could feel a subtle pull on their bodies that tried to return them to dust.

    Everyone¡¯s expressions hardened. They understood what was happening. It was finally time for the Inheritance site to open.

    ¡°Did you find anything?¡± Granheim sent a mental transmission to Eden.

    ¡°Nothing. None of the records on Inheritance sites that I¡¯ve collected match with the characteristics of this one. What happens inside will remain a mystery.¡± Eden replied.

    ¡°Are we still going through with what we originally nned?¡± There was a hint of hesitation in Granheim¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Why not? Doesn¡¯t it seem more interesting to do things this way?¡± Eden sent back with a smile.

    ¡°Interesting¡­your personality will never change, will it. Fine, I¡¯ll follow your n. But if I die, I¡¯ll torment your soul for eternity.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I understand.¡±

    As the Demon Kings conversed, the spread of destion seemed to reach its end. The ancient aura in the atmosphere strengthened to untold degrees.

    And then¡­

    Bang!

    The massive doors of the ancient temple swung open with a bang. An endless corridor was revealed within.

    ¡°It¡¯s open!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t push me!¡±

    The gathered experts rushed in with all their might. Oddly enough, there didn¡¯t seem to be any traps on the entrance.

    The Demon Army soon rushed in as well. With the abominations in front and the Demon Kings in the back, they entered the temple unhindered.

    Seeing themotion, Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan looked at each other.

    ¡°No matter what, let¡¯s meet up first.¡±

    ¡°Right. Be careful not to die in there.¡±

    ¡°Please. Die? If that bastard is a scourge thatsts a thousand years, then I¡¯m one thatsts ten thousand.¡±

    ¡°Ha! Well said!¡±

    Throwing around some casual banter, the two of them also entered the temple.

 Chapter 335 Inheritance [3]

    ¡°What a domineering temple,¡± Damien muttered as he observed the Inheritance site in front of him.

    The temple didn¡¯t look big from the outside, with a stature befitting any normal temple one would see in the outside world. The material used to build it couldn¡¯t be identified, but it had clearly been worn down with time. It didn¡¯t have any shine or luster like it should have.

    The temple overall looked dpidated, but those two massive stone doors that signified its entrance were still as majestic as ever. On those doors, there were carvings in anguage Damien didn¡¯t understand, but they seemed to contain a profound aura that couldn¡¯t be hidden.

    ¡°But even with those characters, if it wasn¡¯t for the aura this temple is radiating, I probably wouldn¡¯t even consider it as an inheritance site.¡±

    The aura of ancientness and destion had already corroded a 10-kilometer radius around the temple, and it was still continuing to spread.

    ¡°With this kind ofmotion, it¡¯d be a miracle if nobody noticed it. Weren¡¯t inheritance sites supposed to be discreet?¡±

    Although he wondered about it, he knew he didn¡¯t have much time to dally. He was already many days behind the rest of thepetitors that entered the temple grounds. And within these days, some people might have already reached the most central area of the temple.

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Damien¡¯s attention sharply turned to the ancient characters on the door. His eyes narrowed as he red at a certain spot.

    ¡®Am I mistaken? I could¡¯ve sworn I felt a gaze observing me just then.¡¯

    Damien furrowed his brows, but in the end, he ignored the feeling.

    Well, no time to think it over. I should stop dying and head inside.¡¯

    The stone doors were still swung open as if the temple hadn¡¯t finished epting guests yet. Damien poured mana into his eyes and scanned the entrance for traps, but after finding nothing, he immediately shot forward.

    When he entered, he found himself inside of a seemingly endless corridor with hundreds of doors lining both sides of the hallway.

    Each door had a different set of inscriptions or patterns on them, but with Damien¡¯sck of knowledge on the history of the Trial World, he had no way of discerning them.

    ¡®Let¡¯s continue walking for now instead of rashly picking the door. Either way, something tells me that I¡¯ll have to pick at randomter on anyway.¡¯

    Damien continued down the corridor while observing the surroundings. The experience reminded him of the ancient temple back on Apeiron where he had first learned about and met the Nox.

    ¡®That guy was way different than the ones I¡¯ve met recently. Where does the inconsistencye from, though?¡¯

    In reality, the only pure-blooded Nox Damien had met since that day was the Demon God overseeing the Primordial Undying Realm. Everyone else was simply corrupted by them to be used asckeys.

    The thing Damien didn¡¯t understand, though, was more rted to intelligence.

    ¡®The fact that he had been sealed for thousands of years can be used to somewhat justify his feral state, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that simple. He was in stasis, so his mind shouldn¡¯t have been worn down too much. But if the Nox were really so unintelligent, how could they scheme so much and corrupt these high-level people that I¡¯ve met?¡¯

    Combined with the fact that the Demon God didn¡¯t seem to be unintelligent at all, Damien couldn¡¯t understand why he felt such a discrepancy. By all rights, with the information he currently held, it should be easy to conclude that the Nox he met in the ancient temple was an outlier. But his instincts told him otherwise.

    ¡®I seriously need to be more informed about them. Fighting an unknown enemy is damn annoying.¡¯

    As he thought, Damien had traveled a few hundred meters down the endless corridor, but the doors on each side didn¡¯t lessen at all. Even the patterns on each door were still unique, never once ovepping.

    ¡°Haa¡­if I continue being indecisive, I¡¯ll just end up walking down this corridor forever. Let¡¯s speed up and see if there¡¯s any door that feels special. If not, I¡¯ll just choose a random one.¡±

    Damien increased his speed, using lightning to boost his movement. He kept his awareness concentrated on a 30-meter radius around him to watch out for traps.

    He wanted to teleport instead, but thinking that he might miss something important if he was skipping space, he decided against it.

    He kept up his pace for another half an hour without pause, using his spread awareness to inspect the doors as he passed. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t find anything special among them even with the amount of time that passed.

    ¡°Fuck it, we ball.¡±

    Damien took a sharp turn to the left and charged into the nearest door. He had no interest in staying within the corridor until someone else imed the inheritance.

    He pushed open the door and proceeded to enter the room behind it. When he scanned the area, his jaw almost dropped.

    The walls were lined with treasures of various kinds. SSS rank and Chaos rank artifacts weren¡¯t even rare. In one corner, there was a bookshelf filled with hundreds of pill bottles.

    ¡®If I was an appraiser, I¡¯d be able to find something of true worth within this room, but I can¡¯t, so I¡¯ll just take it all!¡¯

    As Damien moved to collect all the treasures in the room, he felt a ringing sensation in the back of his mind.

    ¡°This is¡­¡±

    During the past three months while heidatose, the only thing he did was improve his mental power drastically. Because of this, his perception was far greater than it was in the past.

    In fact, even his All-Seeing Eyes had seen a jump in quality due to his improvement. When he felt the ringing sensation, he didn¡¯t hesitate to pour mana into his eyes to scan the room once again.

    ¡°No wonder I felt like that. This whole setup is a trap.¡±

    The room Damien saw now didn¡¯t contain any treasures along the walls, nor were there pills or other valuables. The room was empty besides a single book that sat in the center of an indiscreet wooden box.

    ¡°If I had chosen any of the treasures on the wall, I probably would¡¯ve been transported out or killed. Regardless of what would¡¯ve happened, I would¡¯ve gained nothing and instead missed out on the true treasure in the room.¡±

    Damien walked towards that indiscreet wooden box that was hidden amongst the illusion he once saw and picked up the book that sat on its surface.

    ¡°What is this, though? It¡¯s so worn down and doesn¡¯t even have a title¡­¡±

    Damien opened the book and flipped through its pages, disheartened to see that they were also empty.

    He tried many different methods to see if words would show up on the pages, including infusing mana into the book, but it was all for naught.

    ¡°Whatever. Even if I can¡¯t activate it, it¡¯s still a treasure. Maybe I just don¡¯t have an affinity with whatever this book is for.¡±

    Thinking so, he stored the book away in his subspace and nced around the room again.

    ¡°Ah, there it is.¡±

    Finding a hidden mechanism on the wall, he quickly went over and pulled the lever. In the next instant, the floor below his feet disappeared, leaving room for a dark abyss that didn¡¯t seem to have a bottom.

    ¡°Welp. Guess I¡¯ll just fall then.¡± Damien muttered.

    His body soon fell prey to thews of gravity as he plummeted into the abyss.

 Chapter 336 Inheritance [4]

    ¡°I don¡¯t really care if you cry~ On the real you should¡¯ve never lied~¡±

    Darkness was present on all sides and only silence reigned within the abyss. The only thing giving it life was the singing of a certain man who was currently falling through it.

    ¡®Damn, I¡¯m so bored.¡¯

    Damien had already been falling for what he assumed was at least an hour, but he had yet to reach even something close to the bottom of the abyss.

    It wasn¡¯t even that he simply sat still and fell, he actually tried multiple times to elerate his fall to no avail. He extended his awareness as far down as it could go, only for it to be met with darkness.

    He constantly teleported downwards at his full 10-meter range, but as time passed, the speed of his fall had exceeded the distance he could travel with teleportation, making it a futile task.

    In the end, Damien had sumbed to boredom and began singing random old songs he had heard in his childhood. He didn¡¯t really listen to music that came out in his own era, but instead listened to the old ssics his father and mother would always listen to.

    ¡®2016 was really the golden era of music. The shit they made before I left earth was trash inparison.¡¯

    Damienmented the fate of the entertainment industry in his time as he fell. When another hour passed, he got bored of even this.

    Realizing that his fall wouldn¡¯t end anytime soon, Damien put away all his stray thoughts and assumed a meditative posture in the air.

    He didn¡¯t even need to tune out his surroundings for concentration since the abyss was void of noise and light, but he slightly numbed his physical senses so he wouldn¡¯t be too conscientious about the ever-increasing speed at which he fell.

    Once he had adjusted his state properly, Damien closed his eyes and began to meditate.

    It had been a long time since he sat still and focused onprehension. Although he wanted to focus on awakening his time affinity, there weren¡¯t enough noticeable time essence fluctuations in the atmosphere for him to do so.

    He didn¡¯t have theprehension level on time to simply use the ever-present essence for his cultivation.

    Since it was like that, he decided to go back to his roots and focus on space.

    ¡®I¡¯ve been practicing andprehending space for so long, but can I truly call myself an expert? Even though I¡¯m only a 3rd ss, I feel that myprehension is still rtively exceptional at my level. Still, it isn¡¯t enough.¡¯

    Whenever Damienprehended space, he always focused on a certain concept so that he could create a new technique. He used the ideas he already had in his head to guide hisprehension.

    So far, there were a few different concepts he hadprehended. Spatial destruction was the vein he usually focused on, with Spatial Copse, deless, and even Dimensional Severance being heavily influenced by it.

    Another concept he had decentprehension on was distance. Horizon Break, which ignored distance, and Starfall, which shortened distance to call forth celestial bodies for him to use as hammers, were both influenced by this concept.

    Other than these two, there were many misceneous concepts that he had some understanding on, but he hadn¡¯t truly expanded on them much.

    ¡®My current level is titled as Dimensional Magic. Distance is a concept that can be rted to dimensions, so is transport, but other than that I haven¡¯t really taken the time to study what makes Dimensional Magic different from the Spatial Magic I had before. I haven¡¯t delved deep enough into the concepts rted to it, which is why its skill level hasn¡¯t risen much since I obtained it.¡¯

    The closest thing he had to true Dimensional Magic were the abilities he gained and used as a Celestial, but those abilities came to him almost instinctually. They didn¡¯t count towards hisprehension progress.

    ¡®4th ss has a close connection toprehension, and even 3rd ss has some reliance on it. I should take more time to cultivate diligently along with leveling up. This way, I can exert a higher degree of power. Currently, my physical body and devour skill are the main reasons I can fight above my level.¡¯

    As Damien analyzed his current state, he never stopped absorbing andprehending the essence of space that constantly surrounded him.

    As time passed, his body began flickering in and out of existence as if he was merging with space itself.

    ¡®Dimensional Magic isn¡¯t simple. It rtes to crossing, destroying, and even melding with dimensions. Perhaps it even has connections to three-dimensional space.¡¯

    Damien was used to thinking about power on a grander scale. He would always think about the biggest and most destructive uses of his power first. As he had always considered what Dimensional Magic would look like at its peak, he never stopped to think about what he could do with it at his current level.

    ¡®Instead of focusing on dimensions, plural, I should put my focus on the dimension itself. It¡¯s not that different from what I¡¯ve been doing with space since the beginning, it¡¯s just a far more profound andplex application.¡¯

    As Damien delved deeper into the secrets of Dimensional Magic and understood how he couldprehend it with his current power level, his body became more and more incorporeal. Spatial essence rushed into his figure to nourish him even without his conscious call, flowing through his physical body and attempting to transform it.

    ¡®If it¡¯s like that, then¡­¡¯

    Many hours passed and Damien suddenly felt like he was on the cusp of gaining serious insight. But at that moment, hisprehensive state was interrupted by arge number of growls and roars that came from the surroundings.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The ground shook due to the impact of countless heavy footsteps. The tremors spread like shockwaves, abruptly waking Damien up.

    ¡®Damn! I almost had it! Wait, hm?¡¯

    He suddenly noticed that he was no longer falling through the abyss. At some point, he hadnded on the ground. But there was no impact.

    ¡®Wait, I¡¯m not even on the ground right now. Holy shit!¡¯

    He realized that he was actually in a rtively precarious position. His body had bergely incorporeal while he was merging with space during hisprehension, so he hadn¡¯t impacted the ground at all, even though he continued to fall.

    Instead, when he reached the ground he had sunk into it. At the moment, he was upying the same space as the ground itself.

    ¡®This is the same thing I used to amputate Elitra¡¯s legs back then. Luckily I¡¯m still incorporeal, or I would¡¯ve been sted to meat paste immediately.¡¯

    Damien carefully observed the surroundings and spread his awareness.

    ¡®I¡¯m not too deep underground. I should be able to reach the surface with rtive ease.¡¯

    Damien carefully glided through space. He was like a fish in water, or rather, he was the water itself. It was as if he was one with space, having no physical form to speak of.

    As he waded through space, he reached the surface and popped out of the ground. Only at that moment did his concentration break, allowing him to materialize into the physical ne once again.

    ¡®That state must¡¯ve been a residual effect of myprehension. If I had just been able to gain that spark of insight I felt, I probably could enter and exit that stage consciously. Fuck! Someone just had toe begging for death.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s eyes held a bloodthirsty glint. He was truly pissed that his training had been interrupted.

    He red into the darkness around him and felt the approaching beast tide through the tremors of the ground.

    ¡°You lot¡­allow this Young Master to teach you why you shouldn¡¯t go around courting death!¡±

 Chapter 337 Inheritance [5]

    Damien shot forward without care and began wildly throwing punches into the iing horde of beasts.

    He had already checked their strength level with his awareness, and none of them were strong enough to cause him concern. The main problem was, their numbers seemed endless.

    ¡®My awareness range is around 10,000 kilometers right now, yet I still can¡¯t see an end to this beast tide. What kind of ce is this to contain such a massive number of beasts?¡¯

    He had obviously fallen into this abyss from the ancient temple, so logically speaking this space should be the underground of the Trial World. But how could there be such a vast underground abyss that nobody had discovered yet?

    Damien didn¡¯t spend too much time thinking about it. Instead, he focused his attention on ughtering beasts.

    Although there were plenty of faster ways to go about it than his current method, he actually wanted to use this opportunity to test some things.

    ¡®It¡¯s been so long since you were born, but I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to properly use you yet. Go wild! Show me what you can do!¡¯

    Damien transmitted his thoughts to the Void me, which flicked its tongues in excitement. He spread his arms wide and summoned forth the me that was unique to him.

    In this abyss, the me was almost invisible. Small flickers of golden light were the only indication that it existed in the first ce.

    With Damien¡¯s motion, the mes spread forth like a tsunami, consuming everything in their path. The shrieks of beasts soon rang out through the abyss.

    But the Void me wasn¡¯t a simple me. In the first ce, the reason Damien named it such was due to its main characteristic which matched the ability of his Void Essence.

    As burnt beast corpses piled up, they began to turn into pure essence that was absorbed by the me. With each beast that died, the me seemed to rage on stronger.

    The tsunami became wilder and fiercer, spreading until hundreds of meters were covered in a sea of mes. In the next instant, that sea became a typhoon.

    The mes burned through the air in the abyss, climbing into the air as if it was adder. With the way the mes whipped and whirled around, multiple tornados of me had soon taken shape.

    Damien watched in awe as the beasts within a certain radius of himself were all burnt to ash the second they stepped into the mes. The radius kept expanding, eclipsing multiple kilometers in only a few minutes and still growing.

    ¡®Couldn¡¯t I just stand here and watch this beast tide be reduced to nothing?¡¯ Damien wondered as he watched the me.

    Although he did need to give it a significant amount of mana at the start, the mana cost had rapidly declined as the me grew. It was because the me used the essence of the beasts it devoured to sustain itself instead of wasting Damien¡¯s own mana.

    ¡®A self-sustaining me that burns brighter the more it kills. It¡¯s pretty much perfect.¡¯

    Damien nodded in satisfaction. But he was never one to stand still and let others do the work for him. Even if the mes were growing rapidly, they could only expand around a kilometer every five minutes. With this kind of speed, it¡¯d take a few days to clear out all the beasts within the abyss.

    Instead of waiting for that to happen, Damien rose to the sky and rapidly flew past the 10,000-kilometer range that his awareness could detect. Since he could still feel his connection to the Void mes, he wasn¡¯t worried about the beasts he left behind.

    ¡®Even after spreading my awareness from this point, the beast tide still seems endless. There¡¯s no way this space is beneath the Trial World, and there¡¯s no way these beasts are naturally acting like this. There must be something afoot. But I can try to figure that outter. For now, I should properly make use of this beautiful exp farm that¡¯s been provided to me!¡¯

    Damien let go of the mana he was using to fly and let gravity take him down to the ground. In fact, he even used vector control to increase the momentum of his fall.

    Boom!

    His impact caused a crater tens of kilometers wide to form in the ground of the abyss. The beasts within that area were all smashed to a pulp by the following shockwave.

    ¡®Let¡¯s get to work!¡¯

    Damien¡¯s nails sharpened into ws and his teeth into fangs. He charges into the beast ride and wildly ripped apart any beast he came across.

    Hours passed.

    Limbs and guts of beasts flew through the air and blood began to form rivers on the ground. Damien was still charging through the beast tide without even a hint of exhaustion on his face.

    This kind of battle, he was utterly suited for. He was emitting torrents of mana like it was nothing, not even caring about consumption during a long and drawn-out battle against multiple enemies.

    After all, why would he?

    ¡°Devour.¡±

    With his call, Void Essence gushed out of his body like a gue and eclipsed the area tens of kilometers around him. Every beast corpse in the specified range was efficiently turned into nutrients that quelled Damien¡¯s exhaustion and replenished his mana.

    Every time he felt even a hint of exhaustion, he¡¯d repeat the same move and return to peak shape. Against arge number of weaker enemies? No matter how many of them came, Damien would kill.

    Hours passed once again.

    By this point, Damien¡¯s kill count had already reached the tens of thousands. All of these beasts were at 3rd ss, but they couldn¡¯tpare to the likes of the Apostles and those who could actually give Damien trouble.

    And those tens of thousands were just the beasts Damien had killed with his own hands. He erected his vector shield to passively block the beasts around him and turned to look into the distance.

    Even though he had traveled thousands of kilometers away in his killing spree, he could still see the flickers of gold on the horizon. What once looked like a little candle wisp was now the size of a raging storm.

    One had to remember that the majority of the Void me was ck. The gold was only a small portion of it. And if that small portion was zing like a sun at the moment, how big was the ckness?

    ¡®Looks like it¡¯s be so big that it can no longer support itself solely with the essence it gains from devouring.¡¯

    Damien thought as he watched the me. From a while ago, he had noticed that his mana consumption had be preposterous.

    A ck hole slightly bigger than Damien¡¯s body was rotating behind him and rapidly sucking in the ambient mana in the atmosphere to cope with this loss. Even Damien himself had to continuously devour beasts for the same purpose.

    ¡®It¡¯s convenient until a certain point. Well, it¡¯s only natural that a me of that size would be inconvenient to sustain. Once I be powerful enough, though, even this much won¡¯t be a problem.¡¯

    Although the Void me could indeed grow and be self-sustaining with the essence it devoured from its enemies, the amount of essence it needed would grow along with the me.

    Now that the me itself was an ocean ten thousand kilometers in size, the beasts in the vicinity couldn¡¯t quench its thirst anymore.

    If it wanted to maintain its current size over a long period of time, it¡¯s need to consume tens of thousands of beasts every minute. Even with the massive size of the beast tide Damien was currently facing, this kind of consumption was impossible to sustain.

    ¡®Come back.¡¯

    Damien transmitted his message to the Void me. Although it transmitted back its unwillingness, it stillplied with his order. Soon, that massive sea of mes disappeared from the horizon and a small hand-sized ball of mes returned to Damien¡¯s palm.

    Seeing how the tongues of me emitting from its body seemed to be drooping sadly, Damien smiled.

    ¡®This me is surprisingly cute.¡¯

    ¡°Did you think we were done?¡± He said out loud. The me made a motion as if it was peeking its ears up.

    Damien¡¯s smile grew wider. ¡°Look at how many beasts are left here. How can we possibly be done? Go ahead and start again. I won¡¯t stop you until you reach the same size asst time.¡±

    The me danced joyfully and rushed back into the ever-increasing crowd of beasts. Once again, it started its journey to grow from a ball to a limitless ocean.

 Chapter 338 Inheritance [6]

    An entire day soon passed within the abyss and Damien had stopped fighting entirely. Although it was fun to let off some steam, monotonously fighting for such a long time became boring after a while.

    Instead, he simply allowed the Void mes to flourish as he reveled in the feeling of experience pouring into his body. It had been a long time since he simply sat back and felt it.

    His level had been increasing steadily for a while now, so he didn¡¯t really notice, but now that he was killing tens of thousands of 3rd ss beasts, he had seen a significant increase in his level.

    The feeling of his league being heightened was wonderful. It was strange butfortable.

    ¡°My league and my legend. Even until now I still haven¡¯t truly gotten an exnation on what either of these things is. But for my league, I have a rough guess. State of existence. That should be it.¡±

    Although he hadn¡¯t touched on godhood yet, he was no longer a mortal. It was due to the continuous heightening of his league every time he leveled up. Levels themselves seemed to just be a numerical representation of this increase.

    As for ss changes, they were much more significant.

    ¡°ss changes most likely have to do with the legend just as much as they do with league. That¡¯s why there¡¯s such a massive leap in both power and state of existence with every rank up. But in the end, what is a legend?¡±

    From the definition on earth. Legends were grand tales of aplishment and adventure. They were heroic stories of people and beings who did things so wondrous that their names resounded across thends.

    But how could something like a storypare to the legend the system spoke of, something that could impose itself on reality and cause changes?

    ¡°It¡¯s still too early to learn about it, huh¡­well, not like I need the information now anyway.¡±

    Damien sighed and went back to regting the Void mes. He had long since stopped keeping track of his kill count.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    He suddenly noticed an oddity. Within the ckness of the abyss, there was a small flicker of light far in the distance from where he stood. That flicker was pure white,pletely unlike the light of the Void me.

    He had already wasted too much time in the abyss. Since there was a new development after so long, he naturally chased it.

    Recalling the Void mes, he rushed over to that flicker of light. As he drew closer, the size of the light also expanded.

    When he arrived, he was standing in front of a massive gate coated in shining white light.

    ¡°Is this the exit? Have I finally passed whatever trial I was supposed to be taking just now?¡±

    Damien wondered out loud as he approached the gate. Now that he had been in the abyss for so long, he had a rough idea of what the trial was.

    It was a simple trial of attrition, but such a trial could be used to judge many things. Battle awareness, mana control, willpower, and more could be seen when one was forced to fight a horde like the one in the abyss.

    Only, Damien was an outlier who would gain more stamina as long as he had more enemies to devour. But that too was a type of strength. It could be said that he passed the trial with flying colors.

    As Damien walked through the gate, he was enveloped by that shining white light. He felt its aura infiltrating his body and soothing him.

    ¡°For normal people, this would probably be a heavenly pleasure. It¡¯s healing even the hidden injuries I didn¡¯t know about and washing away any fatigue I might¡¯ve had.¡±

    Aftering out of a battle such as the precious one, any other genius would probably fall in love with the feeling of this light. Unfortunately, Damien had already recovered his fatigue by himself, and his regeneration took care of most of his injuries.

    ¡®Well, I¡¯ll still be thankful that it healed those hidden injuries.¡¯ He thought as he exited the light.

    He soon found himself inside of arge dining hall.

    ¡®¡­dining hall? That¡¯s not right, is it?¡¯

    He rubbed his eyes to check whether he was seeing it right, but it was indeed a dining hall. There was a long and ornate table that was lined with rows of chairs where guests would be seated, and the smell of delicious food being cooked permeated the atmosphere.

    Damien tried to walk forward, but found that he was bound by an invisible force. Although he could still move, his movements were limited to the direction in which the force guided him.

    Without another choice, he followed the direction he was given and arrived at a seat along the long table.

    ¡®This is¡­I¡¯m seated next to the head of the table, huh. The Inheritance site must¡¯ve been satisfied with my performance.¡¯

    As Damien took his seat, he noticed multiple doors lining the halls of therge dining room opening at the same time.

    ¡°This is¡­¡±

    ¡°Where are we?¡±

    ¡°Smells good¡­¡±

    Various reactions could be heard as those individuals found themselves in the same situation as Damien. And just like him, they were guided to their own seats at the table.

    ¡°Hey, who¡¯s that guy?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never seen him before.¡±

    A few of them also noticed Damien and his particrly shy seat at the table and whispered about him, but he ignored it. Soon, he spotted a few familiar figures.

    ¡°Yo!¡±

    He shouted across the room, attracting the attention of those two who had just walked in.

    When they saw him, their eyes widened in shock and delight.

    ¡°Damien!¡±

    ¡°Bastard, you finally decided to wake up.¡±

    Qing Tan and Feng Qing¡¯er smiled and waved back as they followed the path to their seats. Damien smiled when he noticed that they weren¡¯t far from him at all. In fact, Feng Qing¡¯er was seated right beside him while Qing Tan was seated across from her.

    ¡°Wait, if you guys are here, then who takes the seat across from me?¡± Damien wondered out loud.

    ¡°Ehem, that would be me.¡±

    A new voice entered at that moment. This effeminate yet not womanly voice, Damien recognized it well.

    When he looked over, he saw the figure of a tall androgynous man gracefully taking his seat across from him.

    ¡°Femboy Demon King!¡±

    ¡°I do not know what that means, but I¡¯ll assume it was apliment. However, I¡¯d prefer if you called me by my name.¡±

    Demon King Eden slightly furrowed his brows as he responded, noticing that the four nearest spots to the head of the table had already been filled.

    ¡°It seems as if the two of you outperformed my colleagues. I give you my sincerest congrattions, as it isn¡¯t a small feat at all to overtake a Demon King.¡±

    ¡°Hmph! Those two haven¡¯t even arrived yet. Who knows if they¡¯ve been killed by the Inheritance Trials already.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er scoffed.

    ¡°No wonder I felt like a fly was buzzing by my ear. It turns out there was a bitch talking about me behind my back.¡±

    A female voice coldly interrupted from behind them. The Demon Queen, who had just arrived, soon sat down next to Qing Tan.

    ¡°Hahaha! It seems everyone is present! Brat, even you came! Let¡¯s fight properly this time!¡±

    Another boorish voice came as well as Demon King Granheim entered the fray. As expected, his spot was next to Feng Qing¡¯er.

    Damien watched their arrival in amusement.

    ¡°Looks like everyone¡¯s here! Masochist Demon King and Slutty Demon Queen, wee to the party!¡±

    He expertly hid the sly smile on his face as he spoke.

    But when the two Demon Kings were about to speak up to counter, a loud bang resounded through the dining hall.

    All the seats at the table had been filled with tens of individuals who entered the Inheritance site. And with all parties present, it was time for the dinner party to begin.

 Chapter 339 Dinner Party [1]

    When therge doors leading to the dining room mmed shut, the enticing scent of food became even stronger.

    Soon enough, tens of maidservants appeared from a certain door carrying hundreds of tters of food. There were only around 65 people in the dining room, but the food was enough to serve even three times that amount.

    ¡°Look at those maidservants. Who would¡¯ve thought there were people living in here?¡± Demon King Granheimmented while drooling. It wasn¡¯t certain whether he was drooling due to the food or the women.

    ¡°That¡¯s wrong.¡± Eliza immediately interjected. She was the only Demon King who specialized in mental power. Inparison to others, she could see much more.

    ¡°These maidservants are nothing more than soulless husks. They are merelypleting tasks that were assigned to them by a master, with no will or consciousness of their own.¡±

    Damien quietly nodded when he heard her assessment. After hisa, his mental power had also grown tremendously. Although the bodies of the maidservants carried a life aura no different from a living person, their spiritual intent wasn¡¯t present.

    Spiritual intent was an odd thing. From what Damien could garner, it was just like life aura for the soul. But for people who trained their mental power, spiritual intent could be used to attack and defend as well.

    All living beings had spiritual intent. It signified that a soul inhabited their body. For a mental realm master, seeing someone¡¯s spiritual intent was normal. For these maids to have none. It meant they were quite literally soulless puppets.

    Damien didn¡¯t concentrate on the maids for long. After they ced the hundreds of tters onto the long dining table, they left without taking any more action. After that, the dining hall was once again enveloped in silence.

    Damien looked around curiously at the others before shrugging his shoulders. ¡°Welp, If nobody else is willing then I¡¯ll dig in first.¡±

    He dragged a few tters over to himself and opened them up. The delicate scent of delicious meat strongly wafted into his nose.

    ¡°Nice!¡±

    Without hesitation, Damien dug in. He didn¡¯t even have themon decorum of a person when eating. He simply grabbed and stuffed whatever he wanted into his mouth without care.

    ¡°Gaha!¡±

    He took a swig of the unknown liquor that had been presented along with the food and let out a satisfied sound. It was only then that he looked up again.

    ¡°Hm? Why is everyone staring at me?¡±

    He noticed that all eyes were on him. It wasn¡¯t even just the few people around him that were gawking at him, but everyone at the table.

    Feng Qing¡¯er was stunned when she saw his roguish behavior. ¡°Are you stupid?! Don¡¯t you know what kind of ce you¡¯re in? How do you know the food isn¡¯t poisoned?¡± She yelled in exasperation.

    ¡°Mm! Mm!¡±

    Sounds of agreement came from the crowd.

    ¡°So what if it¡¯s poisoned? Why should I care? Do you know how annoying it is to eat raw beast meat for days on end to satiate myself? I need some of this good stuff forpensation!¡±

    Although devouring wasn¡¯t technically eating, it was basically the same thing. Although he couldn¡¯t ¡°taste¡± the things he devoured with his skill, he could still technically taste them. It was just that he was tasting quality of essence rather than actual vor.

    As for the beasts he had been devouring over the past few days, they tasted like shit.

    ¡°Anyway, enough about me. What have you guys been doing over the¡ª¡±

    ng!

    Damien¡¯s words suddenly paused. His body jerked forward and his head mmed down onto the table in front of him, causing the tters around him to tter.

    ¡°Damien?! You fucking idiot! This is why I told you to stop!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er screamed. She rushed to grab his body and use her Reincarnation mes to cleanse him of the poison, but all of a sudden, he shot back up.

    ¡°Boo!¡±

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er let out a surprised shriek at his sudden action.

    ¡°Hahahaha! Miss High and Mighty screaming like a little girl! I never thought I¡¯d get to see it!¡±

    Damien boisterouslyughed. On the other hand, Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s face turned red in fury.

    This bastard was actually tricking her? Did he have a death wish? But recalling that he was too strong for her to beat, her face flushed with even more anger.

    ¡°Hmph!¡±

    In the end, she huffed and turned away with indignation.

    ¡°So~ the food isn¡¯t poisoned?¡± Qing Tan asked curiously with amusement in her eyes.

    Seeing that Damien was fine, a few others had already put some food in their mouths to satiate the fatigue they¡¯d built up while they were in the Inheritance site.

    ¡°Nope. The food is definitely poisoned.¡±

    ¡°Kah!¡±

    ¡°Blegh!¡±

    A few coughed up their food when they heard his words. As for the others, they copsed on the spot while foaming at the mouth.

    ¡°See, I told you.¡± Damien nodded matter-of-factly.

    ¡°What an interesting kid¡­¡± Demon King Eden muttered on the side.

    Meanwhile, the rest sat in silence once again. Due to Damien¡¯s stunt, around 5 people had died from the poison. But whenpared to the total number of them, it wasn¡¯t much.

    ¡®My poison resistance has significantly increased, hasn¡¯t it? Void Essence can purify energy-based poisons, and from what I just found out, the Void mes can purify physical poisons. It¡¯s good that that weakness has been taken care of.¡¯

    When he had started consuming the food, he had almost stopped right away. He felt the poison entering his bloodstream and immediately trying to corrode him from the inside out. It was extremely quick and lethal.

    However, his Void mes had responded in kind. They devoured the poison and turned it into essence to feed on, bing slightly bigger in the process. It was only after seeing this that Damien started to eat.

    ¡®Disregarding that, it seems I¡¯ve been ced with the rest even though I arrived wayter¡­was my performance so satisfactory? Or is there another reason I got to skip the line?¡¯

    It was something Damien had been curious about ever since he noticed the people who entered the dining room. These 60 should be the only ones left in the Inheritance site. If not, then they were the 60 most qualified to receive the inheritance.

    If it was like that, then why was he able to join them? If the illusion within the small room was counted, Damien had only been through two trials. And both of those trials were rtively easy.

    He felt that something was wrong, but he couldn¡¯t ce his finger on what.

    ¡®I¡¯ll have to keep it in the back of my mind and stay wary. I can¡¯t be letting things devolve like they did in Acier anymore.¡¯

    ¡°Anyway, as I was saying before, what have you guys been up to since you got here?¡±

    Damien continued the previous conversation as if nothing happened. The poison was an easy-to-see-through trick, so there¡¯s no way it¡¯d be the true purpose of the dinner party. What was toe would naturally be much more trying.

    Damien stuck a chicken leg into his mouth and savored the taste. His attention then focused on the girls as he waited for them to tell their story.

    ¡°I¡¯ll start!¡± Qing Tan volunteered. ¡°So basically, it went like this¡­¡±

    And then, she began telling Damien everything they¡¯d experienced in the few days he wasn¡¯t with them.

 Chapter 340 Dinner Party [2]

    The story wasn¡¯t actually very convoluted.

    When Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan entered the ancient temple, they arrived in the same long corridor as Damien did, along with everyone else. And just like him, they had walked pretty far before they chose a door to enter.

    The demons and the rest of the participants had also split up and entered the various doors in the corridor. As for their fate? Perhaps nobody knew besides the one controlling those maidservants.

    When the two girls entered the room they chose, they were immediately stunned into a stupor. There were two paintings on the wall in front of them, and no matter how hard they tried to look away, they found it impossible.

    It was as if their souls were being sucked into the painting.

    Feng Qing¡¯er was the first to escape her predicament. Her Reincarnation mes worked simrly to Damien¡¯s Void Essence in its ability to cleanse outside influences. Since it was especially effective on evil presences, she was snapped out of her daze quickly before her soul was stolen.

    After that, she was able to take Qing Tan out of her dazed state as well. When the two regained their senses, the floor dropped out from below them.

    But unlike Damien, they didn¡¯t end up in the abyss. They were instead transported to a true treasure room filled with various pills and artifacts that they had taken for themselves.

    After escaping the treasure room, their next destination was an arena. There, they had to fight for their lives and survive 10 battles before they were allowed to leave.

    Their opponents weren¡¯t those who entered the ancient temple with them, though. They were soulless puppets like those maidservants with strength that was near that of the Apostles. Only, those puppets could fight much better than the Apostles, who spent most of their liveszing around.

    And when they escaped the arena, they ended up in the dining hall. That¡¯s all there was to it.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that seem a bit too¡­easy?¡± Damien asked while taking another sip of the liquor in front of him.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s exactly what we were thinking. Even though the arena fights were genuinely difficult, it wasn¡¯t to the point of being able to take us to the final stage of the inheritance trials, which I assume is what this dinner party is.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er spoke in agreement.

    ¡°Not only that, but the timing is also off. We didn¡¯t spend more than two days at the most doing all of that, but for you to arrive here as well, how long were you within the ancient temple?¡± Qing Tan asked.

    ¡°Around two days. And when I entered, the people outside said that the temple had already been open for a few days already. Looks like there¡¯s something wrong with the time in this temple as well¡­¡± Damien muttered.

    ¡®But why couldn¡¯t I sense it?¡¯

    He could sense the time dtion in the Trial World, but not within the ancient temple. In fact, he had actuallymented about it while falling through the abyss before.

    ¡®Wait¡­I only spent 2 days here, and they said they spent 2 days as well. If so, I wasn¡¯t experiencing a time dtion but they were?¡¯

    It would make sense if it was like that. If time was sped up for them so that their activities only took two days for them while being four in the outside world, everything would add up.

    Damien took another swig from his ss of liquor. This was already his fourth ss, and every time he finished the ss it would magically fill up again.

    ¡°What an odd realm¡­besides the time dtion, the trials are also too easy. I wonder what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er chugged down her fifth ss of liquor as she responded.

    ¡°Not all Inheritance sites are created equal. Perhaps we just had bad luck and encountered something average.¡±

    But Damien shook his head in denial. ¡°You said that hundreds of people entered, didn¡¯t you? For only 60 of us to remain, it naturally wasn¡¯t an easy trial.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right. Either we got extremely lucky with our door picks, or we¡¯re being guided by someone more powerful than us.¡±

    Damien furrowed his brows. He didn¡¯t like the idea of being led on a string, but it seemed to be to their benefit this time.

    ¡®Could it be¡­?¡¯

    He questioned whether it was the doing of the Primordial Undying Tree, but he had nothing to prove his conjecture. And before he noticed it, he had downed his tenth ss of liquor.

    ng!

    The ttering of tters rang out through the silent dining hall. Since Damien and the girls¡¯ conversation happened through sound transmission, even their voices were unheard.

    When they turned to look over, a man at the end of the table had copsed. There was no longer any life auraing from his body.

    Hey, what¡¯s¡ªglug¡­¡± Feng Qing¡¯er tried to talk, but her arm picked up her liquor ss and forced her to drink it.

    Damien found himself in a simr situation. Without even realizing it, he had been continuously downing the liquor ever since the feast started.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t right. It seems the second trial has already started.¡± He sent another transmission to the girls as he downed his 12th ss of liquor.

    ¡°We¡¯re being forced to drink? What kind of test is this?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er huffed.

    ¡°It isn¡¯t that simple.¡± Qing Tan replied. ¡°We might not be feeling anything, but look over at the rest of the people here.¡±

    Following her words, Damien and Feng Qing¡¯er nced at the other participants of the dinner party. Just as Qing Tan said, they didn¡¯t lookid back at all.

    A few of them were choking on the liquor in their mouths, but the invisible will that forced them to remain in their seats didn¡¯t allow them to spit it out. After they swallowed the liquor, another ss went straight to their mouths.

    ng!

    25 sses of liquor had been drunk. At this point, another 10 people had already copsed.

    ng! ng! ng!

    50 more sses of liquorter, 20 more people copsed.

    ng! ng! ng!

    Once 100 sses were drunk, Damien and the girls started feeling the effects as well. They were drowsy and unable to properly rouse their mana. But their mana still moved instinctively to purge the toxic substance from their body.

    Under the influence of their mana, they were able to return to normal condition.

    But not everyone was the same. Once 200 sses of liquor had been drunk, 40 people had fallen. Now, there were only 20 left.

    ¡°We¡¯re being forced to drink until we die. Truly avid for a dinner party.¡± Damienmented.

    ¡°Ugh¡­don¡¯t talk. I feel like my head is going to explode.¡± Qing Tan replied back.

    Of the three of them, she was the one with the least resistance to toxins. But since she still had her insane darkness affinity, she had better resistance than most.

    The drinking game continued. 300 sses were drunk, then 400, then 500. It didn¡¯t seem like the game would stop until everyone died.

    After 900 sses, only seven people were left. Damien, Qing Tan, Feng Qing¡¯er, the three Demon Kings, and one other beast who had yet to achieve his human form.

    As expected, the 6 at the head of the table survived until the end. That beast was the most surprising one. He was seated close to the middle, suggesting that he shouldn¡¯t be anything more than average. Yet, he had managed tost until it was only him and the best among the best.

    925 sses were drunk.

    The beast began to growl furiously. His eyes turned bloodshot.

    950 sses were drunk.

    His aura billowed as he resisted the effects of the liquor. It didn¡¯t seem like he would be able to hold out much longer.

    975 sses were drunk.

    Somehow, that beast managed to live. At this point, Demon Queen Eliza, Demon King Granheim, and Qing Tan all were reaching their limits. They knew they wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on much longer.

    But seeing how that beast was infinitely close to death, they held on with everything they had. At the very least, they wouldn¡¯t be the next to die.

    999 sses were drunk.

    That beast could no longer hold on. His body copsed to the ground and he was foaming at the mouth. His bloodshot eyes shone with unwillingness, but due to the restrictive force that prevented their bodies from doing anything besides drinking, he wasn¡¯t even Anel to voice his indignation.

    And when the beast finally fell, the 1000th ss was filled with liquor.

    Qing Tan, Granheim, and Eliza all watched their sses with fear in their hearts. They were all aware. Based on the current condition of their bodies, this ss could make or break them. They might die if they couldn¡¯t resist it.

    Their arms moved without their permission and grabbed the sses. Damien and Feng Qing¡¯er looked at Qing Tan worriedly, while Eden still sat with the same indifferent face.

    And as everyone¡¯s emotions reached their peak, that 1000th ss of liquor was forced down their throats.

    Gulp!

 Chapter 341 Dinner Party [3]

    The dining hall was littered with the copsed bodies of those who had entered it only a few hours prior. Silence enveloped it as the sound of liquor pouring down the throat of the 6 left standing passed.

    Qing Tan was feeling incredibly nauseous. Her mana was no longer listening to her and her body felt like it was shutting down. It was a feeling simr to what she felt when she stared at the painting. It was like her soul was being sucked out.

    ¡®I¡¯m done for¡­¡¯

    Shemented as the 1000th ss of liquor was raised to her lips. She was barely even conscious enough to think anymore, and she could vaguely feel an unknown force trying to take something away from her.

    But if that thing was taken, she¡¯d surely die. This much she was aware of.

    But there wasn¡¯t anything she could do. That invible force pushed the ss of liquor to her mouth and forced it down her throat.

    ¡®Ahh¡­it was fun while itsted¡­at least with this I¡¯ll be¡­¡¯

    Just as she was epting her death, her thoughts came to a halt. Slowly but surely, she felt her mental faculties returning to her.

    ¡®This is¡­!¡¯

    Unexpectedly, the 1000th ss of liquor wasn¡¯t the same as the ones before. It was cool and refreshing. She had already gotten tired of the previous liquor¡¯s taste after having so much of it.

    The mana-infused alcohol poured through her body and infused itself into her very being. With every drop that was absorbed, her state of mind saw a slight improvement.

    The waning life auras of the three who were about to sumb had gradually been restored and their vitality was even slightly increasingly

    ¡°Ha! Looks like it¡¯s over!¡± Damien excitedly shouted.

    And the sound came from his throat. He didn¡¯t have to send a mental transmission to speak. His arms were now free of control as well, and the restriction keeping him on his seat was removed.

    Damien stood up and stretched his body. Walking over to the other side of the table, he strongly patted Qing Tan on her back.

    ¡°Damn! That was nerve-wracking! Why¡¯d you have to worry us so much?¡± He spoke in a cheerful tone.

    Qing Tan was still in a daze. After epting her death, thest thing she expected to happen was for her to be healed and even given some benefits.

    Damien¡¯s ps were hard, and woke her up from that daze. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t hit so hard! Can¡¯t you show some consideration for ady?¡±

    ¡°Who is thedy? All I see is my friend who needed a pat on the back!¡±

    ¡°Hmph! So you don¡¯t even see me as a woman? I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not offended.¡± Qing Tan pouted.

    Damien quirked his brow at her unusual behavior. Unlike what she was like normally, she seemed a bit fragile. She was showing a side of her that she had never shown to Feng Qing¡¯er and him even after all this time in the Trial World.

    Damien smiled. In this state, he would finally be able to tease Qing Tan!

    This girl always had a strong wall around her. Even if she was always acting yful and naughty, she was actually the most guarded person that Damien knew. Naturally, she must¡¯ve had a lot of secrets for her to erect such a wall, but Damien didn¡¯t care about them.

    His friend is was his friend. If she wanted to share then she could, but if she didn¡¯t then that was that.

    But with her looking so delicate right now, Damien couldn¡¯t resist the urge to tease her. Even if he didn¡¯t care about her secrets, he wanted to get a reaction out of her, which he had never seeded in doing to date.

    Damien strongly put his hand down on the table and leaned forward, his face only a few inches away from Qing Tan¡¯s. At this distance, he could feel her breathing on his face.

    Staring straight into her starry ck eyes, he spoke in a low voice. ¡°So? What would you do if I decided to see you as a woman?¡±

    Qing Tan stared into his mysterious pupils as well. Her breathing quickened and her face became rosy. She was thanking the heavens that his eyes were so unique, otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t be able to hold herself back from looking at his lips.

    ¡°H-hmph! That¡¯s enough of that. If you want to tease someone, go tease Qing¡¯er. She¡¯s the most fun one to tease anyway.¡±

    Qing Tan weakly pushed him away as she spoke.

    But Damien was relentless in his pursuit. ¡°But I want to tease you, though?¡±

    He didn¡¯t budge at all, instead moving closer to her. Their noses were already touching.

    Qing Tan¡¯s half-closed eyes looked at him limpidly. Her lips parted and closed over and over again as she tried to find something to say.

    Qing Tan was a rare beauty to begin with. Her face was perfectly proportioned and her eyes seemed to suck in the soul of anyone who gazed into them for too long. The rosy blush that had covered her face at the moment only served to entuate that beauty. Evenpared to the most beautiful women Damien had seen in his life, Qing Tan was definitely amongst the top.

    Damien was pretty numb to beauty after spending so much time around the likes of Rose, Elena, and Ruyue, but seeing that blush on Qing Tan¡¯s face, he couldn¡¯t help but be conscious of her. If he just moved forward a little bit more he could¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡±

    At that moment, Feng Qing¡¯er came to the rescue! She grabbed Qing Tan¡¯s arm and pulled her away from the devil¡¯s clutches before anything could happen. After that, she hugged Qing Tan into her bosom like a mother protecting her chick.

    ¡°Hmph! You rascal! Don¡¯t think you can do anything to her while I¡¯m around! Besides, don¡¯t you already have a woman?! Greedy bastard!¡±

    ¡°Tch!¡±

    Damien clicked his tongue at his fun being ruined, but inwardly, he was smiling brilliantly.

    ¡®Hahaha! Not only did I get to see Qing¡¯er screaming like a little girl, but I also got to see Qing Tan blushing! What a good day it is!¡¯

    Qing Tan, that Qing Tan whose expression never showed her weakness to anyone, the one who would never eat a loss in a game of teasing. He had made her blush! And not just blush, he felt that if he truly decided to make a move at that moment, she wouldn¡¯t have resisted.

    ¡®Another win for this Young Master.¡¯

    Damien grinned in satisfaction. But soon after, he circted his Void Essence and got rid of the residual effects of the 1000 sses of alcohol he had just drunk.

    ¡®Phew! I was only a bit tipsy just now, but I became damn horny! If Qing¡¯er didn¡¯t interfere, I really might¡¯ve¡­¡¯

    He shuddered slightly. Although he was still proud of himself for getting a reaction out of Qing Tan, he noted that he needed to be more careful about getting drunk in the future.

    If he was this horny from just being tipsy, then what would happen if he got drunk?

    ¡®Damn¡­¡¯ Damien sighed inwardly. ¡®I really need to getid.¡¯

 Chapter 342 Dinner Party [4]

    Not long after Damien, the rest of the 6 also removed the alcohol¡¯s effects from their systems. Qing Tan returned to her previous indifferent face, but she still wouldn¡¯t look him in the eye.

    ¡®Did I go overboard?¡¯

    Damien wondered as he thought about the awkward atmosphere between them. But in the end, he shook off the thought. What was done was done. If he needed to apologize he¡¯d do it when they were in a more appropriate setting.

    ¡°It looks like the number has been cut down to a tenth of what it originally was.¡± He muttered.

    From the start, this must¡¯ve been the goal. What made Damien sigh was the fact that the six who survived were the ones at the head of the table.

    With how things wereid out, it didn¡¯t seem like much of a surprise that the six of them would be thest ones standing.

    Three of them were 4th ss existences, so even if they were at a disadvantage in every other field they could still use the sheer amount of mana they had to brute force their way to sess.

    As for the other three, Damien and Feng Qing¡¯er had extremely powerful purification forces in their bodies. As for Qing Tan, her affinity towards anything rted to darkness was so great that it was scary. Resisting the effects of toxic substances wouldn¡¯t be as hard for her as it was for others.

    ¡®Haa¡­if it was preordained for us to be thest ones standing at the end, what was the point of going through all the trouble to kill everyone?¡¯

    Why were the other 55 even brought to this dining hall besides to die? Damien didn¡¯t know. The inheritance site simply seemed to thirst for blood.

    As Damien was lost in thought, the scenery of the dining hall slowly began to change.

    The long dining table and all the seats disappeared, except for the seat at the head of the table. All the doors vanished off the walls and the room became a sealed space.

    Abruptly, Damien felt his body be covered in spatial fluctuations. Although he wasn¡¯t transported very far, he was still in a different portion of the dining hall.

    With his perception, he could see the difference clearly. The dining hall had been split into six sections, one for each remaining contestant. Each section was a separate space, hence the spatial fluctuations he had sensed.

    ¡®Looks like the final trial is also an individual one.¡¯ He thought inwardly as he examined his space. Unfortunately, there was nothing special at all.

    Damien sat down in meditation and cooled down his mind. The prior events had been too stimting, and he needed to get back to a focused state.

    As he did so, yet another change urred. The ground split open and a long coffin was erected from below.

    Damien stood up and inspected it. ¡®There¡¯s nothing out of the ordinary about it, but this coffin doesn¡¯t have a lid. It¡¯s sealed shut.¡¯

    Damien wondered what he was supposed to do, but went with the most practical option. He put his hand on the top of the coffin and infused his mana into it.

    Click!

    As if to prove he made the right choice, the lid of the coffin slightly separated from the body, giving him room to pry it open.

    Voom!

    A powerful aura suddenly filled the space around Damien.

    ¡®Even though the coffin is still closed, the aura of whoever is within is still so fierce! What kind of figure could it be?¡¯

    Damien was starting to get curious. Considering that he was in an inheritance site, there was no way the owner of the coffin was a simple person.

    Without waiting any longer, he pried open the lid.

    Boom!

    The aura became exponentially powerful once the coffin lid was removed. Damien felt like he was hit by a truck due to the sheer pressure of the aura.

    Swoosh!

    Something emerged from the coffin and sted towards Damien¡¯s face.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    He immediately teleported away, but the unknown item chased after him just as fast.

    Swish! Swish! Swish!

    The air around him was cut open as the unknown object pursued him. He didn¡¯t know what it was, but he knew that if it hit him, he¡¯d be easily injured.

    ¡®It¡¯s not so easy to cut through my skin¡­what is this thing?¡¯

    Damien melded into the spatialyers and tried to observe the attacking object. But when he tried to do so¡­

    Whoosh!

    ¡°What the hell?!¡±

    The object chased him into the spatialyers. Unless one was a space practitioner, it should be impossible to even perceive the spatialyers. Regardless of how powerful one was, this fact remained true.

    Even if powerful experts could perceive the existence of the spatialyers, and could perceive people who traveled through them, they couldn¡¯t enter or perceive the spatialyers themselves.

    But Damien was currently experiencing a situation where even the spatialyers weren¡¯t safe. The unknown object darted after him no matter how much he teleported. It entered and exited the spatialyers freely as if it was a fish in water.

    ¡°I can¡¯t run!¡±

    Damien coated his fist in Void mes and punched out.

    Boom!

    The object pierced through the space between his knuckles and cleaved his hand in two.

    ¡°Fuck!¡±

    Damien¡¯s hand rapidly healed, but he had already been caught off guard. Before he was even able to throw another fist forward, the object had impossibly changed its trajectory and arrived directly in front of his chest.

    The object continued forward trying to run him through, but Damien instantly activated his dragon bloodline and transformed.

    ng!

    A dull sound rang out as the object impacted his scales. Although it was still able to pierce through, it took a great deal of effort.

    And in that moment that it slowed down, Damien was finally able to see its appearance.

    It was clear, almost transparent. It looked like it had been carved out of ss. But unlike delicate ss, its body was sturdy enough to sh with Damien¡¯s dragon scales and even ovee them.

    It was roughly 1.5 meters long from head to toe. The guard was shaped like a dragon soaring through the sky, and it had a single-edged de that was shaped much more uniquely than the des Damien had seen in the past.

    It was truly a beautiful sword that made Damien covet it, but he wasn¡¯t given much time to admire it as he pleased.

    After all, the sword was earnestly trying to kill him at the moment.

    ¡®I see. Is this the trial? To tame such a ferocious sword¡­what great timing!¡¯

    His sword had broken only recently in his battle against Polius. The most shameful part was that it had broken under the stress of his own attack.

    It was his own fault. He had a de that could grow as long as it devoured other swords, but he had never properly fed it.

    Looking at the de in front of him, Damien felt an undeniable urge to obtain it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll conquer you soon. And unlike what I did with thest one, I¡¯ll treat you right. So, quiet down and obediently be mine!¡±

 Chapter 343 Dominate [1]

    ng! ng! ng!

    The sound of metal shing against metal rang out within the sealed space Damien was currently inside of as he butted heads with the translucent sword.

    After he dragonized, the fight became much more even. The sword now needed to actually put in effort to get through his defenses.

    Damien dashed through the spatialyers like an assassin, chasing the sword¡¯s tail as it fled from him. He reached out his hand to grab it, but it teleported away.

    sh!

    He teleported right after it, but the sword was ready for him. It abruptly turned and shed through the air, aiming to slice through his neck in a single blow.

    Damien leaned his body to the side and narrowly avoided the sh, using that moment when the sword was in front of him to reach out and grab its hilt.

    Skree!

    The air screeched as the sword was forced to halt from Damien¡¯s grasp. But it didn¡¯t stay idle. It moved rampantly to try to escape him and loosen his grasp.

    ¡°Ha! As if I¡¯m going to let you get away!¡±

    Seeing the sword¡¯s efforts, Damien strengthened his grasp. But the sword, just like him, could easily move through space. One second he was holding it, and in the next, it had already vanished.

    But Damien wasn¡¯t surprised by the situation. They had been ying this cat and mouse game for over an hour already, where they would take turns attacking and defending. Due to the fact that both could proficiently make use of space element, neither was able to get the upper hand.

    ¡®If I could read its spatial movements, things would be much easier, but I¡¯m always just a second toote.¡¯

    The sword wasn¡¯t a human, after all. The spatial fluctuations emitting from it registered as if they happened at a different frequency. Damien needed prolonged contact with the sword to understand that frequency and read it, but the sword didn¡¯t allow him the time.

    The sword, however, could perfectly read Damien¡¯s movements. It had clearly apanied a human spatial practitioner as its owner before, so it was long ustomed to the way humans used space.

    Damien shook off his thoughts and gave chase again. The only way to capture the sword was to continue this until he could get a hold of it.

    The situation was too odd, the sword had a limited moveset since it was an object, but its sharpness, durability, and spatial ability were enough to supplement that.

    And while the sword was trying to kill him, he was trying to subdue it. Due to this, Damien was always in a passive position.

    When he caught up to the sword again, the same situation repeated itself. The nging of impact rang out as the sword attacked him, and Damien¡¯s hands moved rapidly to grab at its hilt.

    ¡®If I could grab the de, things would be much easier. But that thing is too sharp. Even my dragon scales will be cut through if it exerts enough force. Dragon scales are good enough for passive defense, but they can¡¯t help me subdue the sword. I need to switch things up.¡¯

    Damien recalled his Dragon Transformation and stimted his second bloodline. The sword immediately saw the opening and charged towards the space between his eyebrows.

    Damien¡¯s visage quickly changed again. His hair turned white and pitch ck runes formed on his skin.

    ¡®I don¡¯t need to multiply my attack power, so let¡¯s focus all the runes on defense. Congregate most of the strength towards my arms and my vital points. The other areas can be healed fine with regeneration.¡¯

    The runes moved to hismand and centered around the points he mentioned. At that same time, the sword reached its target. It was just centimeters away from piercing through Damien¡¯s forehead, however¡­

    ng!

    A set of pitch ck runes gathered at the point of contact, causing the de to fail its pration. But this situation had happened before. Instead of giving up, the de continued to push, looking to break through Damien¡¯s defense.

    ¡°Not this time.¡±

    Damien grinned. He raised his arms and directly grabbed onto the sword¡¯s de.

    Screeech!

    The sword screeched loudly as it tried to wriggle free of his grip, but with the exponential enhancement on Damien¡¯s defense caused by the runes, it couldn¡¯t prate his skin anymore.

    Damien closed his eyes and focused. Without caring for the sword¡¯s will, he endlessly poured his mana into it.

    Voom!

    He and the sword were already extremelypatible. It was probably the reason he got paired with it in the first ce. So when he poured his mana into it, an astounding resonance urred.

    ¡°Haha! I see, I see. What an interesting way to teleport. However, now that I understand it, don¡¯t think you can run anymore.¡±

    The sword was still struggling earnestly, but Damien had locked the space around it. This time, he had no ns of letting it escape. The resonance he had just had with the sword allowed him to understand a bit more about it, so he could urately pinpoint the ¡°frequency¡± it used for spatial movement.

    The sword no longer had a path of retreat. Damien quickly moved one of his hands and firmly grabbed its hilt.

    The sword let out a frightening aura. It was the same aura he had felt when he first opened the coffin. Damien¡¯s muscles bulged as he tried hard to contain it.

    ¡°Obey me!¡±

    He roared as he continuously poured mana into the sword. Even though its will was rejecting him, its body was much more honest.

    Damien was by far the most suitable candidate to wield it that the sword had ever seen. This much was a fact. However, it was a being who had achieved sentience. It wasn¡¯t just going to hand itself over to him because of his affinity.

    If he didn¡¯t have the strength to control it, the ability to weird it properly, the character to bepatible with it, and the potential to lead it to greater heights, why would it choose him as its master? It was wholly illogical.

    So the will of the sword resisted to the bitter end even though its sword body happily epted his mana. As more and more mana entered the sword, its resistance began to weaken.

    Whoosh!

    The winds in the secluded space whipped and whirled as the resonance between Damien and the sword increased. With every passing second, their auras seemed to merge and be one.

    ¡®My sword aura¡­¡¯

    From the beginning, Damien never used sword aura by itself. He had been infusing it with his spatial mana and creating skills rted to space from the start. And with time, his sword aura had been influenced by this fusion and had incorporated spatial properties within it.

    When this sword aura met with a sword that had simr properties, it saw a massive increase in its purity. Now, even Damien was feeling the same affinity with the sword that it felt towards him.

    Their game of cat and mouse had ended. The sword in Damien¡¯s hand was now silent as it basked in the feeling of resonance as he did.

    And when the winds died down, the only thing left was Damien standing quietly in the secluded space.

 Chapter 344 Dominate [2]

    ¡°Hm? Where¡¯s the sword?¡±

    When Damien opened his eyes, he noticed that the sword wasn¡¯t in his hand anymore.

    ¡®Did it try to escape again?¡¯

    But he knew that wasn¡¯t right. Unlike before, he could feel a clear connection to the sword. The problem was, the connection told him that the sword was still in his hand.

    Damien gripped his fist and noticed that there was indeed something in his hand, but his eyes couldn¡¯t perceive it at all.

    ¡°Oho?¡±

    There was an easy solution, though. He poured mana into his eyes and let their abilities get enhanced. Soon, he was able to see what he couldn¡¯t before.

    ¡°You¡¯re an interesting guy, aren¡¯t you¡­don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re shy?¡±

    Damien spoke teasingly to the sword in his hand. The sword was actually doing something that looked to him like it was hiding. It hid itself within the spatialyers, and its body became entirely transparent. Due to the fact that the spatialyers were also rtively transparent, Damien hadn¡¯t seen it.

    Vroom!

    The sword vibrated slightly and transmitted an indignant feeling to him, causing Damien to smile.

    ¡®Didn¡¯t something simr happen a bit back? Why are all the semi-sentient things I have always acting indignant? And why is it always so cute?¡¯

    As if realizing that Damien was thinking about it, the Void me popped into the air without his prompting and wrapped around the sword.

    The tongues of me flicked wildly as if excited to meet a newpanion.

    ¡°You¡¯re my sword now, so you should act with pride. Why are you cowering like a little girl? No, wait, even the little girl I know is brave enough to fight a Demon King. Do you really want to be less manly than a little girl?¡±

    Damien egged the sword, and with his constant teasing, it finally revealed itself again.

    ¡®All jokes aside, it truly is a beautiful sword. And it¡¯s just as deadly.¡¯

    Damien was proud of his new possession. Especially considering that it also had spatial properties, he had to thank the inheritance site for giving him such a treasure.

    ¡®Well, now it¡¯s confirmed that the one controlling the inheritance site is sentient. Otherwise, there¡¯s no way it¡¯d choose this speed to test me.¡¯

    Damien stopped thinking about the inheritance site and looked at the sword again.

    ¡°Do you have a name?¡±

    Whir¡­

    ¡°No? What kind of owner doesn¡¯t name his sword?¡±

    Whir¡­

    ¡°Why do you look so sad? If you want a name then I¡¯ll give you one. My first sword was named Devourer, so how about Devourer 2?¡±

    Vroom!

    A frightening aura came out of the sword as it tried to struggle free of Damien¡¯s grip and attack him.

    ¡°I¡¯m kidding, I¡¯m kidding. Hmm, with your translucent body, I would want to name you deless, but that name is taken.¡±

    Whir?

    ¡°Wanna see? Alright, let me show you the tricks of the master you¡¯ll be spending the rest of your life with.¡±

    Damien prepped himself and poured his mana into the sword. He precisely executed deless, causing a massive chunk of the secluded space to disappear into the void.

    Whirrr!

    The sword made an excited sound, causing Damien to puff out his chest.

    ¡°I know, I¡¯m amazing as fuck. Anyway, let¡¯s get back to the naming thing. How about Phantasm?¡±

    Whir¡­

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s too long. Then¡­Mirror¡¯s Edge?¡±

    Boom!

    Damien almost got pped in the face by the de when he said it. Even he had to admit that it was a pretty cringe name.

    ¡°Fine, fine. I thought my naming sense was pretty good though¡­I mean, my skill names are all badass.¡±

    The de vibrated again as if telling him to hurry up. Damien fell into thought as he tried toe up with a domineering enough name for the sword to like.

    ¡®I could take the easy way out and call it the Void Sword¡­but once it finds out about the Void mes, the Void Physique, my Void Essence, myst name¡­fuck there¡¯s too many things named Void¡­anyway, once it finds out about all those things it¡¯ll probably try to sever our connection immediately. If so¡­¡¯

    ¡°How about Mirage?¡±

    Whirrr!

    The sword vibrated to show its excitement. Evidently, it liked the name.

    ¡°Sigh, I didn¡¯t want to use Mirage since that name is already taken, but there¡¯s nothing wrong with paying homage, right?¡±

    Whir?

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t get it. Well, anyway, now that you have a name, it seems our business here is settled.¡±

    Damien nodded and looked around the space. Even though he had finished taming the sword, there weren¡¯t any changes.

    With nothing else to do, he went to check the coffin and see if there was anything else in there. The de had attacked him the second the lid opened, so he didn¡¯t have time to inspect it.

    ¡®This must be its previous owner. As expected of a man who could tame such a sword. Even in death, he gives off such a fierce aura.¡¯

    The coffin did indeed have a corpse in it. It was well preserved and even the skin hadn¡¯t rotted yet. The corpse was of a man who looked in his mid-30s with long silver hair and a rtively handsome face.

    Even though he was dead, his body was emanating killing intent. It was extremely powerful, but it wasn¡¯t enough to affect Damien.

    After all, Damien¡¯s own killing intent was equally massive. It was built on the corpses of tens of thousands of beasts.

    ¡®Besides his body, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything else here¡­¡¯

    ¡°Since you are the previous owner of this de that I¡¯ve imed, I¡¯ll show you respect as my senior. I hope your soul has found peace in reincarnation.¡±

    Damien lightly bowed to the corpse and sent his Void mes out, cremating it within seconds. But he had a basic amount of respect. He didn¡¯t let his mes consume the corpse¡¯s essence.

    Whir¡­

    Mirage seemed forlorn as it watched its previous master fade away, but Damien didn¡¯t say anything. He might¡¯ve tamed the sword, but he wasn¡¯t familiar enough with it to interfere in these kinds of matters.

    He had no idea how long the sword and its previous owner were together, but judging by the deste aura surrounding it, he could tell that their rtionship wasn¡¯t simple.

    He could only give the sword space so it could mourn. It was a sentient being, unlike his previous sword. He had to treat it as such.

    Leaving the sword alone, Damien wandered around the secluded space and curiously looked at the spatial istion barrier that was separating him from the others.

    ¡®Surprisingly, it isn¡¯t that different from the spatial lock I experienced back in the Myriad Illusion Veil. Except, this one doesn¡¯t prevent me from teleporting inside of it, only from teleporting out.¡¯

    Sighing, Damien realized that there was nothing he could do besides wait. Although he had the strength to break past the barrier with his ownprehension, the restrictive will of the inheritance site obviously wouldn¡¯t allow that.

    And so, he sat quietly and yed with the Void me to pass the time, waiting for the others to finish their trials.

    ***

    In a hidden part of the inheritance site, a lone will watched the proceedings.

    ¡°Ohoho¡­unexpectedly that boy was the one to finish first. Between him and that effeminate one, which is the better choice?¡±

    It lightly spoke to itself and pondered. Soon, it would be time for it to make a move.

    ¡°Finally, after so many years I can taste freedom¡­¡±

    The will smiled wickedly as it faded into the background.

 Chapter 345 Dominate [3]

    The secluded spaces within the empty dining hall were all filled with different scenery.

    While Damien sat silently and meditated in wait, the others continued trying to subdue their weapons.

    Currently, Feng Qing¡¯er was within a space filled with mes. But in front of her own Reincarnation mes, they couldn¡¯t do any damage at all.

    The massive greatsword in front of her was standing like an obedient pet, not daring to get closer. It was the effect of something simr to bloodline suppression.

    ¡°Good girl. From now on, you and I will be partners, okay?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er spoke softly.

    She had fallen in love with the sword as soon as she saw it, and the sword seemed to feel the same, judging by how docile it was acting.

    The problem was, she had to coax the sword endlessly to allow her to form a connection with it. Even though it wanted to be with her, or was quite loyal to its previous master.

    This was the reason why Damien managed to finish subduing his sword first.

    ¡°Come,e. Don¡¯t be scared. We¡¯ll go see your Master together and ask for permission, okay?¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er was feeling incredibly awkward. It was like she was luring an innocent little girl into a wolf¡¯s den. But she couldn¡¯t find any better words to use.

    Slowly but surely, she was able to gain the sword¡¯s trust. And after a few more hours of coaxing, she was finally able to form a connection.

    ¡°Haha! My little girl, Big Sister promises she¡¯ll treat you well!¡±

    She cuddled the sword as if it was her long-lost lover. Compared to the struggles others were going through, she basically took a walk in the park.

    In a separate secluded space, Demon Queen Eliza was in an awkward predicament. Her hands and feet were bound, and her movements were restrained.

    Pah!

    ¡°Argh! You damn weapon! Release me this instant!¡±

    She roared furiously. Behind her back, there was a long whip. It was the same whip that bound her.

    But the whip had an odd ability to split into multiple tentacle-like branches. While six of those branches sealed her movements, the others were smacking her relentlessly.

    Pah! Pah! Pah!

    ¡°I¡¯m an exalted Demon King, dammit! Why am I always being humiliated?!¡±

    She pushed her mana and tried to escape the binding, but she couldn¡¯t move no matter how hard she tried. The weapon was a Chaos rank artifact after all, and it wasn¡¯t at the bottom of the spectrum. Its power wasn¡¯t too much inferior to a 4th ss, especially when it wasn¡¯t being wielded by a lower ss being.

    Eliza was being humiliated by her weapon constantly, but her enraged bellows couldn¡¯t reach the ears of the others in the area. They were all busy with their own tasks.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Massive explosions rang out one after another. An axerger than the average human man curved through the air and made heavy impact on the fist that chased after it.

    ¡°Hahaha! Good good good! Give me more!¡±

    Demon King Granheim had blood staining his fists, but the grin on his face never changed. In fact, it grew wilder the more he got hit.

    ¡°Hahaha! Hit me, fool! Let¡¯s see which one of us is stronger!¡±

    Boom!

    The axe furiously swung again, impacting Granheim¡¯s arms with so much force that the floor beneath him shattered to pieces.

    It had already epted this man as its master, but they didn¡¯t form a contract yet. They were the same type. Instead of following the normal procedure, they fought and fought just for the sake of fighting.

    The secluded space had already been ruined by them, and the coffin of the axe¡¯s previous owner had been smashed to bits.

    But the axe didn¡¯t seem to care. Unlike the other weapons, the only things it cared for were blood and battle. Since it found another owner who could provide it with such, why would it care about thest?

    Every weapon that had been presented to the 6 remaining participants was different, whether it be in type or personality. And each one matched their master well.

    Of them, Qing Tan was having the most unique experience.

    A pair of twin daggers was clinging to her like a desperate boyfriend that just heard they were about to break up.

    ¡°Listen~ my fighting style doesn¡¯t really rely on weapons. How am I supposed to use you properly?¡±

    The daggers dropped sadly, but they refused to let go of her. It had been like this since the beginning.

    Qing Tan sighed. Although she used to use daggers, she was recently finding that her fighting style was better fit to stand in the back lines andmand troops.

    Her Shadow army catered to this, as did her domain. Neither were attacks that required her to fight up front.

    If that was it, though, she would¡¯ve rejected the weapons more firmly. Even she had to admit she was tempted by Chaos rank artifacts.

    Thinking back to when she was fighting Demon Captains when they first entered the Trial World, or when she was giving free lessons to Proto, she suddenly realized something.

    ¡®Cutting flesh feels kind of good¡­doesn¡¯t it?¡¯

    It was extremely satisfying to cut apart her opponents. And for the sake of when she needed to give free lessons to others in the future, a pair of daggers would indeed prove useful.

    ¡°Hmm¡­okay, then. I¡¯ll ept you. But you better have the right qualifications to be my weapons.¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s gaze became bitingly cold. The temperature in the surrounding area seemed to drop below freezing. The dark aura that oozed out of her body would traumatize any normal existence below her level, breaking their minds in an instant.

    But the daggers didn¡¯t show any signs of fear. They were trembling, sure, but it didn¡¯t seem like horror was the right emotion to describe what they were emitting.

    No, it was more like pleasure. The daggers greedily absorbed Qing Tan¡¯s frightening aura, giving off a wicked light that lost in no way.

    Qing Tan raised her brow in interest. ¡°Oh? With how pathetic you were acting, I seemed to have gotten the wrong opinion about you guys. It seems you are my kind of weapon.¡±

    The daggers excitedly whirred before entering Qing Tan¡¯s grasp. They sucked her mana until full and finally formed the connection they had been hoping for since the beginning.

    ¡°Good.¡± Qing Tan smiled. ¡°A good teacher needs to have the appropriate tools for the job.¡±

    The will observing the inheritance site took in all these scenes at once. It also included the scene of Demon King Eden. He stood silently in the midst of a quiet secluded space. The sleek saber in his hand was trembling in fear. Rather than taming it, it was more urate to say that he forcefully dominated.

    ¡°Neither of them is a bad option, but that one seems too dangerous¡­¡± the will muttered to itself.

    ¡°There¡¯s a higher power in his body. If I act recklessly, I might be the one who gets harmed in the end. It¡¯s better to choose the boy. He is younger and has more future potential as well.¡±

    The will nodded to itself aftering to a decision. In the next instant, it vanished from its spot and soundlessly appeared above Damien.

    With none the wiser, the formless will crept towards Damien¡¯s meditating body and shot into the space between his eyebrows.

    The secluded space remained quiet throughout, with no signs that anything out of the ordinary had happened at all.

 Chapter 346 Dominate [4]

    The will soon arrived in Damien¡¯s spiritual world. It was situated on arge floatingndmass.

    ¡°Not bad. Not bad. His spiritual continent is already this big at his strength level. This is truly a good body.¡±

    The will grinned to itself and shot into thendmass, sinking into the ground. It spread its spiritual intent and began coloring thendmass in its aura.

    ¡°He should have noticed by now. Let¡¯s see if he can do anything to stop me. Hahahaha!¡±

    As the will expected, a spiritual avatar of Damien soon arrived in the area.

    ¡°Who is it? Come out for this Young Master!¡± He shouted into the void.

    ¡°Boy, you¡¯re quite arrogant, aren¡¯t you? To dare talk in such a tone in front of me, you must be eager to die.¡± The will responded.

    Damien frowned. ¡°And who the hell are you? Don¡¯t you know where we are? In this space, I am the master!¡±

    ¡°HAHAHAHA! You? Master? Kid, are you even aware of what¡¯s happening right now? Do you even understand the situation you¡¯re in? The younger generation is so foolish that it¡¯s almost sad.¡±

    Damien¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you inform me? What¡¯s the situation right now?¡±

    The will sneered. ¡°Kid, even if you knew, there¡¯s nothing you can do to stop it. Well, it¡¯s no harm in telling you since you won¡¯t be around much longer. This body¡­I¡¯m taking it as my own!¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Possession?!¡±

    ¡°Right! It¡¯s already toote for you to do anything! With such a minor spiritual continent, how can you oppose me?!¡±

    The will began tough madly. Its aura had already permeated to the deepest depths of the spiritual continent, and it wouldn¡¯t be long until it took it overpletely.¡±

    ¡°Kid, allow me to tell you a story. There was once a man who yearned for adventure. He was a man who loved to indulge himself in following his desires. But what did others do? They shunned him. They disliked the fact that someone could live the unrestrained life that they all wanted but couldn¡¯t achieve.

    ¡°But the man didn¡¯t care about their scorn. He continued to live as he wanted and he did what he wished. He bedded the finest women and had all the riches he could ever imagine! What a life that man lived! But one day, he decided to enter a secret realm to explore. He wanted to obtain the secrets to immortality so his beautiful life wouldn¡¯t be cut short by anyone.

    ¡°That secret realm wasn¡¯t what it was advertised to be. It was full of monsters leagues more powerful than the man. What could he do? He could only serve those monsters like a dog so he wouldn¡¯t get killed off with the rest.¡±

    Damien listened to the intruder¡¯s story quietly. He could feel his spiritual avatar bing more and more transparent with the passing of time.

    He spread his spiritual intent and tried tobat the mysterious force that had begun to pervade his spiritual continent, but it was all for naught. That force was far more powerful than the spiritual intent he could produce.

    Meanwhile, the will continued its story.

    ¡°That man worked like a ve for years on end. He didn¡¯t have any choice other than to endure. For him, who was so used to living freely in the small world he came from, this kind of life was uneptable.

    ¡°So, one day he decided to revolt. But against those monsters, he was truly nothing. He died pointlessly and was forced to leave his life in the secret realm. But he was unresigned!

    ¡°His soul wandered the secret realm, unable to find peace. Soon, he stumbled upon an ancient temple that had been uninhabited for ages.

    ¡°He stayed in the temple and made it his home. After many many years, the temple epted him and he became the one in charge of arbitrating its trials.

    ¡°But that also meant he lost his freedom once again. His soul became rooted to the temple, unable to escape the duty that had been forced on him. This temple was far stronger than the monsters he fought before, so he truly couldn¡¯t escape.

    ¡°But he did his best to enact revenge. Any time new people entered the temple hoping to gain its inheritance, he would kill off as many as possible. Until this day, the temple remained uncleared for this reason.¡±

    Damien could tell which direction the story would go. In the end, that remnant soul was degraded until it reached its current state, and now it was trying to possess a body so it could escape.

    ¡°Why me? There are more powerful people in the inheritance site right now, so why am I the one you¡¯re possessing?¡± He asked while sighing in resignation. Even until now, nothing he did could get rid of the remnant soul trying to possess him.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? If I try to take one of those demons, I¡¯ll just be forced back into very. As for the other two girls, they can¡¯tpare to you. I only chose the best option!¡±

    Damien sighed once again. ¡°Can I at least see the true face of the one about to take over my body before I die? Otherwise, I don¡¯t think I can go in peace.¡±

    The remnant will found it an odd request, but it spread its spiritual intent and couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with the surroundings. Therefore, it decided toply.

    ¡°Very well! Feast your eyes on this King!¡± The will showed Damien its true body. It was a semi-transparent body of an old man. Seeing Damien¡¯s almost faded spiritual avatar, it wasn¡¯t worried at all about anything going wrong.

    However¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    Damien¡¯s voice rang out again. This time, it didn¡¯te from the fading avatar.

    ¡°What?¡± The remnant will voiced its confusion, but soon found that its body was bound. ¡°What the hell is this?!¡±

    Damien¡¯s body soon emerged from the darkness. ¡°I have to say¡­I¡¯m truly disappointed.¡±

    Unlike the other spiritual avatar that looked on the verge of breaking, this one was extremely solid, not much different from a physical body.¡±

    ¡°You¡­!¡±

    ¡°I put up such a high level of defense just for the remnant will of some old fogey? Seriously, I¡¯m a little pissed.

    ¡°When I first thought about it, body possession seemed to be the most likely end. After all, the trials were too easy and the inheritance was too rewarding. The thing is, I was expecting the soul of the inheritance site, or at least some old master that was extremely powerful.

    ¡°But it¡¯s you? Not even a remnant soul, but a will? Your soul has been degraded to such a point but it doesn¡¯t even seem like you realize it. It¡¯s truly a shame. And here I thought I¡¯d get some good nourishment for my spiritual world. Your spiritual intent is only enough to devour this tiny floating ind? Seriously?¡±

    Damien signed in exasperation. ¡°Let me show you who you messed with before you die.¡±

    Whoosh!

    The veil of darkness around the floatingndmass vanished. The starry sky above with those three stars shining brightly, the massive spiritual continent off to the side, and the light blue barrier of the Mind Prison they were currently inside of.

    ¡°This is¡­impossible! How can a brat like you have such a profound spiritual world?! I don¡¯t believe it! Hahaha! You think this level of illusion can fool me?! Now that I¡¯ve controlled your spiritual continent, you still dare pull tricks?! That¡¯s it, brat. Kneel before me and die!¡±

    The old man¡¯s remnant will maddeningly shouted and mobilized all of his spiritual intent. However, he was only met with silence.

    ¡°Haa¡­I thought I¡¯d gain something from this but it¡¯s just some idiot. Whatever, I¡¯m done talking. Just die.¡±

    The sun that shone far away in the starry sky lit up with splendor, and a ray of light soon shot down. The entrance to the Mind Prison cracked open and the ray entered, incinerating the small floating ind inside.

    The remnant will¡¯s hysterical screeches faded into the background as it was turned into pure spiritual intent for Damien to absorb. However, this much wasn¡¯t even enough to fit between his teeth.

    Damien sighed for the umpteenth time today and shook his head.

    ¡°What a waste of time.¡±

    Leaving those words, he exited his spiritual world and arrived back in reality.

 Chapter 347 3 Months [1]

    When Damien exited his spiritual world, he immediately entered meditation to refine the remnant spiritual energy left by the old man¡¯s will.

    ¡®I had hypothesized that something like this was possible, but I never thought I could actually put it into reality.¡¯

    When he thought about it, he figured that this must be a rtively unique circumstance. That old man¡¯s soul had been degraded to the point where it wasn¡¯t even a soul anymore. It was just a remnant will.

    And as a will, it was basically a bundle of spiritual energy that held a sliver of consciousness. What he had done was just eliminate that consciousness and take control of the ownerless spiritual energy.

    If the old man still had a remnant soul remaining, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to do the same thing. After all, a soul was far moreplicated than anything he could fathom at the moment. Even his own soul injury had yet to heal.

    Putting away his thoughts, Damien continued refining the spiritual energy and merging it with his own spiritual world, slightly increasing his mental power in the process.

    ¡®But in the end, that old man wasn¡¯t anything special. In the past, he may have been a peak 3rd ss at most, and the ones who enved him were probably at 4th ss¡­hm? What is this?¡¯

    Damien suddenly noticed a foreign energy signature within the old man¡¯s spiritual energy. When he investigated, he found a circr seal with mysterious patterns on its surface.

    ¡®It looks a little familiar¡­but not really.¡¯

    Damien pondered where he had seen a simr pattern before. He hadn¡¯t seen many seals in his life, since they weren¡¯tmonly used in Apeiron and he didn¡¯t do much research in the Cloud ne. It didn¡¯t take long for him to find the memory.

    ¡®That¡¯s right! The seal me and Zara used to form our contract was somewhat simr. However, this one seems more ominous for some reason. If I follow that line of reason, shouldn¡¯t it be a ve seal?¡¯

    It made sense the more he thought about it. The old man had said he was bound to the temple, unable to leave. If there was a ve seal nted on his consciousness, it was only natural that he would be trapped within the temple.

    ¡®But now that I¡¯ve refined his spiritual energy, am I going to be the next target of this seal?¡¯

    Damien hurriedly sectioned off the ve seal and ced it inside his Mind Prison. Although it wasn¡¯t a guarantee, he at least had a stopgap in case what he thought of actually came to be.

    ¡®I should save refining this energy forter. I don¡¯t know if the ve seal will act up when all of it is gone. Also, studying this should be beneficial for me in the long run.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t like the concept of owning ves, but a ve seal didn¡¯t have to be malicious if one didn¡¯t use it in such a way. For him, it was a preventative measure.

    There were many people he now carried that he couldn¡¯t trust. Mainly the Demon forces within the Sanctuary. They were suppressed in that world, but if he ever wanted to make use of them, he would need to bring them into the real ne.

    And if that was the case, he needed assurance.

    ¡®Especially for Elitra. That girl actually has a ton of talent that was suppressed by the Nihility me¡¯s antics. If I can use the ve seal to guarantee her loyalty and then bring her out to grow, she can be a strong ally in the future.¡¯

    As for the other demon forces, he wasn¡¯t sure since he hadn¡¯t interacted with them much.

    ¡®It¡¯s a shame that my strength is too low. I can¡¯t use this on the Demon King because he can easily break a seal I ce on him as soon as the Sanctuary¡¯s restrictions are lifted. It¡¯s the same with his maid, who is most likely more powerful than me.¡¯

    For him to put them into use, he needed to observe them closely and get a good grasp on their personalities first. But Elitra was a good go-between.

    The Demon King obviously cared for his daughter heavily. If he learned that Damien ced a ve seal on her, he¡¯d probably go berserk.

    But if need be, Damien could use that information to threaten Lucius.

    ¡®It all depends on the situation. I hope for sessful cooperation, though, so let¡¯s hope I never have to reveal it to him.¡¯

    These were all future ns, though, so Damien didn¡¯t dwell on them much. He soon opened his eyes and stood up.

    ¡®With that old geezer gone, the Inheritance Site should start functioning properly again. Then again, is that something I want?¡¯

    The only reason the journey was so smooth so far was because that old man wanted to bring the most suitable host candidates to one ce while also venting his frustration on the rest.

    If the inheritance site went back to its proper goal of finding an inheritor, things might be much moreplicated.

    Damien sighed. But just as he was doing so, he felt the surrounding space begin to liquefy.

    ¡®Oho? Looks like the dining hall space is returning to normal.¡¯

    Just as he thought, he soon caught view of the other five who were in the hall with him. Each one was holding a different weapon in their hands.

    ¡°Demon Queen~ you look a little worse for wear! Do you want this Young Master to give you a massage?¡± Damien spoke with a grin.

    Of the group, the Demon Queen was in the worst shape. She had bruises all over her body and her clothes were nearly shredded to pieces. Even now, the whip in her hand kept trying to slither up her dress into her forbidden area.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± The Demon Queen snapped. She wasn¡¯t even in the mood to argue.

    ¡°A lustful woman met with a lustful weapon. Is this perhaps fate?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er said slyly.

    The three non-Demon Kings in the room all snickered at Eliza¡¯s plight.

    Damien was honestly starting to feel bad for the Demon Queen. She obviously had exalted status and power up until now, but after meeting Damien she seemed to have be pitiful.

    But he didn¡¯t care much for the pitiful Demon Queen. He turned his attention away from her to look at the one man who had always caused danger bells to ring in his head ever since they first met.

    ¡°Demon King Eden, it seems you¡¯ve acquired something good. Should I be the first to congratte you?¡±

    Eden smiled indifferently. ¡°No need. It looks like you¡¯ve obtained nothing, but I¡¯d be a fool if I believed my eyes, no?¡±

    ¡°The Demon King sure is wise. So? Now that the six of us are gathered here, what do you n to do?¡± Damien¡¯s eyes sharpened. He released his full aura all at once. Qing Tan and Feng Qing¡¯er did the same.

    Demon King Eden nced at them for a moment before diverting his gaze. He looked up at the ceiling with a forlorn expression, as if his gaze could pierce through it and see the sky above.

    ¡°Haa¡­indeed. What do we do now?¡±

 Chapter 348 3 Months [2]

    Eden returned his gaze to the room, looking specifically at Damien.

    ¡°In truth, we never nned to fight you from the beginning.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened in shock. Of all the things he expected the Demon King to say, this was thest.

    ¡°From the start, my n was to stay passive. The three of us are unlike Lucius. He¡¯s probably already told you, but we¡¯ve given up hope of ever escaping the clutches of that Demon God.¡±

    ¡°Is it okay for you to speak like that?¡± Damien questioned.

    ¡°Worry not. The influence of those two cannot interfere in the Inheritance sites. It is the greatest benefit thates with them, especially for us.

    ¡°As I was saying before, we¡¯ve given up hope. We have no ns of leaving this realm, or even fighting at all for that matter. After all, even if we can leave, what¡¯s the point? For the past ten thousand years, those two Divinities have been trapped in a stalemate that doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯ll end any time soon.

    ¡°If we make any move to leave the seclusion we usually keep ourselves in, we¡¯ll inevitably be tools used in the conflict of those Divinities. The safest option for us is to stay stagnant. In fact, even ouring to this temple was due to the orders of the Apostles.

    ¡°However, they all died within this inheritance. It was to be expected with the arrogance they have bred over the years that they became careless, but not only did they die a dog¡¯s death, they also brought the entire remaining force of the Demon Army down to hell with them.

    ¡°Surely, the Demon God felt the loss of so much power at once. If we leave this temple, we are basically walking into our deaths.¡±

    Damien listened quietly as he spoke. He instinctively activated his All-Seeing Eyes for a reason even he didn¡¯t know. But after he did, he felt a strong sensation that the Demon King wasn¡¯t lying to him.

    ¡°If that¡¯s how it is, then what do you n to do now? Killing us would probably get you on the Demon God¡¯s good side, and staying in the temple is even more restricting than staying in Acier. No matter how I look at it, your thoughts don¡¯t make sense.¡±

    The Demon King smiled. ¡°You are a smart one. Indeed my n might not make sense to you, but that is only because you aren¡¯t from this realm. Didn¡¯t I say it before? The influence of those two Divinities doesn¡¯t permeate the Inheritance Sites.¡±

    Damien frowned and thought about those words. ¡®The influence of the Divinities¡­influence¡­could it be?¡¯ He suddenly thought of something terrifying.

    ¡°It seems you¡¯ve realized it,¡± Eden affirmed. ¡°The restriction keeping us stuck at the entry-level of 4th ss isn¡¯t present here. Didn¡¯t you see the restrictive force that could even force us to follow its will? That force isn¡¯t on the level of a 4th ss existence.¡±

    Damien nodded. He didn¡¯t know the power difference between the different levels of 4th ss, but that restrictive force did indeed feel invible. From his perspective, being able to force even three 4th ss existences to follow its will without struggling at all wasn¡¯t something any ordinary power could do. Even if it didn¡¯t reach the ranks of Divinity, it must¡¯ve been infinitely close.

    ¡°What, then? You¡¯re nning to stay here and build power? Until you be a Divinity yourself? Do you think it¡¯s so simple to achieve Godhood?¡± Damien still didn¡¯t entirely believe it.

    What kind of concept was Godhood? Would mere time and opportunity be enough to enter such a realm? He didn¡¯t think so. There must be special circumstances involved.

    ¡®Regardless of whether I can achieve Godhood or not, doesn¡¯t staying in a ce where I¡¯m not a ve to the whims of others sound better than staying in a ce where I am? If I can achieve a level of power that allows me tobat the Demon God and regain total freedom, that¡¯s just an added benefit.

    ¡°Enduring for 10,000 years¡­only Lucius had the determination to do so. For the rest of us, it¡¯s too much. After living the secluded lifestyle for so long, I¡¯d rather continue it than return to being ambitious.¡±

    ¡°And the rest? Eliza can¡¯t live without a dick inside of her every day, and it seems Granheim is the same but with battle. Do they support your decision?¡±

    Eden looked at the other two Demon Kings,pletely ignoring Damien¡¯s insults. With the contents of the conversation, even Eliza ignored the jab.

    ¡°They will follow my decision. As for whether or not they truly wish to do so, even I do not know. Nevertheless, I didn¡¯t force them. They chose on their own.¡±

    Once again, Damien felt the sensation that the Demon King wasn¡¯t lying to him. It was extremely awkward to keep antagonizing him while feeling it, but Damien couldn¡¯t let his guard down.

    ¡®From the start, Eden has given me the feeling of a schemer. He doesn¡¯t seem like someone who would be content with sitting back and watching things passively. Instead, he seems like the type that would guide everything to fall into ce behind the scenes.¡¯

    The dangerous aura Eden gave off didn¡¯te from his power. It felt like a snake was slowly coiling around its prey, luring it into a trap that had been set long ago.

    ¡®I assume that this feelinges from the All-Seeing Eyes. This lie detector function must be new. But still, there are plenty of ways to fool a lie detector. There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll believe it 100% when I haven¡¯t even experimented with it properly.¡¯

    But at the moment, Damien didn¡¯t have any reason to doubt Eden. Even if Eden had ns, they didn¡¯t involve him. As the man himself had said, if he left the temple, the Demon God would either kill him outright or use him as a pawn.

    With the prideful nature of the Demon Kings, there¡¯s no way they¡¯d ept that. So at least the part about them staying within the ancient temple should be true.

    ¡®He¡¯s a scheming person, but that isn¡¯t always a bad thing. What matters is who he¡¯s scheming against. As long as it isn¡¯t me or mypanions, I shouldn¡¯t care. No, I should actually encourage it¡­¡¯

    For all he knew, Eden¡¯s schemes had yed a part in making it so easy to destroy the Demons¡¯ forces. In just 9 months, the fully functioning army had been reduced to nothing.

    And arge portion of it had been done by the Apostles¡¯ hands. Damien¡¯s interference might¡¯ve just been the spark that led to Eden¡¯s nsing to fruition.

    ¡®What a terrifying guy.¡¯

    It was the only way Damien could describe the man. Even if his conjectures were all proven wrong, just the fact that Eden could lead him to suspect such things was scary enough.

    ¡°Regardless of what you¡¯re nning, it seems our interactions end here. Since you guys are nning to stay here, the three of us will leave. We¡¯ve already achieved our goal and gotten some benefits as well, so there¡¯s no point in staying.¡±

    ¡°And the treasures of the inheritance?¡± Eden questioned.

    Damien grinned. ¡°Keep them. Think of it as a peace offering from me. This time, we¡¯ve managed to avoid bing enemies. So let¡¯s keep the trend next time as well.¡±

    Eden smiled as well. ¡°You¡¯re quite the interesting kid. Very well. If fate permits it, let¡¯s not meet again. However, if we do, let us do so as allies.¡±

    Damien and Eden strongly shook hands and turned away from each other. Damien looked over to the end of the dining hall where arge gate had appeared at an unknown time.

    It was strikingly simr to the gate they entered through when they first arrived at the temple. Even the runes on the doors were the same.

    Although the view on the other side of the door was blocked by blinding light, Damien could see it clearly due to his All-Seeing Eyes being fully activated.

    As he expected, it was a familiar forest that he had seen only a few days prior. Without another word, he walked through the exit and left the ancient temple, not even taking a second look at the Demon Kings.

    Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan didn¡¯t say anything the entire time. They merely followed Damien out of the Ancient Temple as he left.

    The dining hall regained its silence as three Demon Kings quietly watched them leave.

 Chapter 349 3 Months [3]

    ¡°Was it a good idea to just let them go like that?¡±

    Demon Queen Eliza¡¯s voice broke the silence that enveloped the dining hall.

    ¡°Why? Didn¡¯t you hear what I said?¡± Eden responded with a smile.

    ¡°Tch. It¡¯s been so many years, don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know your true nature by now. Just tell it to me straight instead of speaking in riddles.¡±

    The Demon King¡¯s smile became odd. ¡°It¡¯s fine to let them go. In the end, their use has already passed. In theing days, their interference will only be an unreliable variable instead of something helpful. As for what we do now, I didn¡¯t lie to the boy.

    ¡°There are only three months left until they leave this realm. Until that time, we wait patiently and grow our strength. Don¡¯t you know the nature of this realm? The Divinities will focus their gazes away from our world as those kids move on to further trials. Without His constant surveince, we can perform the Ancestral Ritual without interference.¡±

    ¡°The Ancestral Ritual¡­¡± Eliza shuddered just thinking about it.

    A forbidden skill that even the peak powerhouses of the Demon Race didn¡¯t dare to carelessly use back when they were still in their homnd. A skill that would cause seas of blood to flow freely.

    ¡°Is it the only option? Without sufficient strength, even we will die during the summoning process¡­¡± It was Eliza¡¯s main worry. The reason she was still hesitant about Eden¡¯s n.

    But Eden simply maintained his indifferent smile. ¡°Whether we die or not, it is too early to decide. We have yet to prepare a sufficient number of sacrifices, but with the work of those outsiders, we¡¯vee far closer to the desired amount. After thousands of years of preparation, why think about backing out now?¡±

    Eliza sighed. Indeed, they had been nning it for too long to stop now. It was a shame that she couldn¡¯t get revenge on that little bastard who had wronged her so many times, but it couldn¡¯t be helped.

    Her pride wasn¡¯t anywhere near as important as freedom. If she had toy low and endure for only a bit longer until those brats left the Trial World, she would do so.

    ¡°Still, it seems that boy has some tact. To give up on the allure of an inheritance site so easily, it isn¡¯t something just anyone can do. And from the way he spoke, it¡¯s almost as if he has a way to deal with us if the situation took a turn for the worse.¡±

    Demon King Eden¡¯s eyes sparkled with interest. ¡°What a shame. If times were different, perhaps he would¡¯ve been the best sustenance. But in the end, it¡¯s not something I can afford. Come, let us seize the true treasures of this inheritance and begin our preparation. Time waits for no man.¡±

    Eliza nodded and followed Eden further into the inheritance site. As for Granheim, he just followed them without a word. Of the things the two had been speaking about, he barely understood one, and that was the Ancestral Ritual that all demons learned about from childhood.

    ¡®Well, whatever. Following that sneaky guy means I can escape. Escape means I can fight a lot of strong people. Mm, that¡¯s good.¡¯

    Demon King Granheim smiled in satisfaction at his genius before hurriedly leaving to catch up to the other two.

    ***

    ¡°So? What just happened? Exin it clearly.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er chirped after leaving the inheritance site.

    ¡°We left behind so much good stuff! Since it¡¯s you who made the decision, I didn¡¯t say anything, but I still want an exnation!¡±

    Damien smiled wryly. ¡°Didn¡¯t you get something good already? It¡¯s not good to be too greedy.¡±

    ¡°Oh, please. Look who¡¯s talking. I don¡¯t want to hear anything from you, Mister ¡®Got Too Greedy and Ended Up in a Coma for 3 Months.''¡±

    ¡°Kuhum¡­I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. The reason I passed out was because my spine had been severely injured and the injury kept worsening as months passed.¡±

    ¡°What?! Since when did you have a spine injury?!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er yelped.

    ¡°From the beginning!¡± Damien spoke seriously. ¡°It hurts like hell. My spine was shattered into pieces from carrying this team on my back.¡±

    ¡°Bastard!¡±

    Qing Tan giggled to the side while watching the two before interjecting. ¡°That¡¯s nice and all, but are you going to keep diverting the subject?¡±

    Damien coughed lightly again. ¡°Fine, fine. Essentially, we and the Demon King have formed a temporary ceasefire.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a bit more than that but that¡¯s the essence of it. What matters is that we have the next 3 months free of interference from Demons. We achieved White Stars from such a long time ago, so these 3 months are basically free days for us.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right! Even those Apostles died and I didn¡¯t even realize it. n: Sess!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er pumped her fist in the air in celebration.

    ¡°Does it even count as a n?¡± Damien quipped back. ¡°From what you told me, you guys just coincidentally found an inheritance site and used a borrowed knife to kill.¡±

    ¡°H-hmph! All ording to n. You are just too much of a caveman to understand our genius.¡±

    Damien shook his head with a smile. Indeed, being around these two was much more fun than spending his time isted in his spiritual world. He missed the warm atmosphere that he had beencking in those years he spent alone.

    ¡®Has my mental age increased? Am I an old man now? Or is it just that my perception of time became wack in a space without time? I¡¯ll just think of it as thetter¡­it¡¯s more convenient that way.¡¯

    ¡°So what are you girls nning to spend the next few months doing?¡± He asked out loud.

    ¡°Hmm~ rxing? Teasing Qing¡¯er? All kinds of things!¡± Qing Tan smiled happily. She voraciously gazed at Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s breasts as she spoke.

    Feng Qing¡¯er instinctively covered her chest and shuddered. ¡°I¡¯m going to practice. I¡¯ll single-mindedly focus on practicing in seclusion with nobody else around! Don¡¯te here!¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er flicked her wrist and a ming greatsword appeared in her grasp.

    ¡®I see. Familiarizing herself with her new weapon is a good use of the remaining time we have. I need to do the same if I can find some time in my schedule.¡¯

    ¡°What about you, bastard?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er spoke up.

    ¡°Why are you calling me a bastard?¡± Damien asked with a raised brow.

    Feng Qing¡¯er quirked her head cutely. ¡°Um, I got used to it?¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯ve been calling me a bastard so often that it stuck?¡± Damien said in a deadpan voice.

    ¡°Yup!¡±

    ¡°Should I be honored that you think of me so much or should I smack you for thinking of me as a bastard?¡±

    ¡°Shut up and answer the question!¡±

    ¡°Which one should I do? Shut up or answer the question?¡±

    ¡°Argh! You infuriating bastard!¡±

    Damien smiled and looked at the sky. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll probably just sit around and do nothing.¡±

    He was excited for theing days. Although there were some twists and turns along the way, everything had lined up as he had hoped in the end.

    ¡®The time element¡­how long have I been wishing to unlock it?¡¯

    He finally had his first real chance toprehend time, and he sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to waste it.

    When Damien looked back at the girls, he found them staring at him with dead fish eyes.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s kind of embarrassing to see you trying to act mysterious all of a sudden, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Keuk¡­!¡±

    Even though the demons had been wiped out, it seemed Damien still had to watch out for sneak attacks on all sides.

 Chapter 350 3 Months [4]

    Shimmering beams of artificial sunlight cascaded down through the clouds and bathed thend of the Trial World.

    The chirping of birds and the low growls of beasts rang out intermittently as the world came alive.

    On a certain mountain peak overlooking the world, Damien slowly opened his eyes.

    ¡®Two months worth of progress¡­I can¡¯t say whether it was good or bad.¡¯

    Two months had passed since the events of the Inheritance site, and after parting from Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan, Damien didn¡¯t move at all from the spot where he sat.

    He was immersed in hisprehension at almost all times, but whenpared to the effort he put into it, the results were negligible.

    Time. It was such an elusive concept. Even though it was put in the same vein as space, Damien found an iparable wall between the two.

    Comprehending space came so naturally that it was almost too easy. It was a smooth flow that Damien just had to feel and be guided by. Even if he just immersed himself in the feeling of the space around him, after enough time he¡¯d walk away with someprehension.

    It just went to show how much talent he possessed in that field. For others, space as a concept was something they couldn¡¯t grasp even if they spent a lifetime of effort on it.

    Feeling the space around them? What did that even mean? For one who didn¡¯t have an affinity for space, they wouldn¡¯t be able to feel any difference between space and the air around them.

    But for spatial cultivators, it was a vast world. Even among them, Damien was at the peak of potential.

    He only realized the struggles of others when he dipped his toes into the concept known as time.

    It wasn¡¯t simple at all. His meditation had yielded him some results, but even still it wasn¡¯t enough to grant him the affinity he wished to unlock.

    Every step he took inprehending space would take a hundred, or even a thousand steps whenprehending time.

    A journey of a few days became a journey thatsted years on end.

    ¡®Time is rtive. I¡¯ve experienced it myself both in this Trial World and when I was trapped in my spiritual world. Only, what can Iprehend from rtivity?¡¯

    Rtivity was the concept he found himself immersed in most of the time. It resonated with him on a level deeper than anything else, as it was the thing he had experienced most.

    He thought back to that night in the forest with Ruyue. At that time, he had a simr thought.

    Time, for him back then, he didn¡¯t have enough time to deal with the troubles in his immediate surroundings. He was forced to rush to the hidden convention of wicked path sects for his mission.

    But what did that time mean for those he had left behind? For them, every second must¡¯ve felt like an eternity. They were being stalked and hunted as prey by unknown beings, they were being herded like livestock.

    While time was short for him, it was incredibly long for them. While he wished to get to his destination as soon as possible, they wished that time would slow and give them enough time to escape their predicament.

    And what about the Trial World? Unlike a vague example like the previous one, the Trial World was subject to a literal distortion in time.

    The time he spent within would be 3 times longer than the time outside. If a year and a half was spent inside, only 6 months would pass in the real world.

    It was a truly bizarre concept. How could one affect time itself? This ever-present essence that ruled the world along with space. The difference between the two was in perception.

    If space was a canyon, time was the river that flowed through it.

    Finally, Damien thought of his time in the spiritual world. How long was it that he spent there? It was at least 5 years that he spent arduously bringing the thousands of floating continents together to reform his spiritualnd.

    But when he woke up, only three months had passed. Even whenpared to the time dtion in the Trial World, this kind of difference was insane.

    It was so disconcerting when Damien woke up that he almost couldn¡¯t believe how fast he adjusted. No, if it wasn¡¯t for the essence of the Primordial Undying Tree, it probably would¡¯ve taken at least a month to get back on his feet.

    The time he spent in his spiritual world actually aided hisprehension far more than he originally expected it would. Spending so many years in a space where the flow of time became nill, it helped him be more aware of the essence that flowed around him.

    Whenbined with the atmosphere of the Trial World, where the essence of time was more prevalent than it was in the outside world, Damien was truly able to feel and experiment with that essence.

    Only, he was never able to grasp that fundamental truth. He pondered and pondered, but he could never understand the link that made him keep thinking of these three instances over and over again.

    ¡®I¡¯m almost there. I can feel it. This is a bottleneck that I won¡¯t be able to pass by just sitting and immersing myself inprehension. A single spark. That¡¯s all I need to finally unlock that affinity.¡¯

    The final wall separating him from his time affinity wasn¡¯t something he could rush to break, otherwise, it might lead to a setback instead.

    ¡®Patience. In the end, isn¡¯t patience a concept rted to time as well? Who knows, in the end it might help me out with finding that final spark of inspiration.¡¯

    He consoled himself lightly as he stood up. Without him even realizing it, another 15 days had passed.

    ¡®Now that I¡¯ve gotten into this mindset, I keep noticing the oddities and rtivity of time around me at every corner. These little details that I wouldn¡¯t have noticed before are like ring beams of light for me now.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s gaze panned over the mountainside below him. A soft wind drifted through the air and gently brushed across his face. A feeling of absolute peace and serenity suddenly enveloped him.

    Damien found himself entering a profound state of mind.

    The rapidly beating wings of bees that zipped through the air, the stretching body of a lion-like beast that had just awoken from its slumber.

    The swaying of tree branches in the wind, the petals of a flower opening and closing as it sensed a threat approaching.

    Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down.

    The wings of that bee were beating at a pace that even a mortal could easily follow. That lion beast seemed to be paused in ce as if it was posing for a portrait.

    The branches of that tree seemed to halt, but its leaves were lightly trembling and fluttering even at this pace. The petals of that flower slowly unfurled as if mirroring the day when it first bloomed.

    Standing atop the mountain peak, Damien took in all these scenes with a light smile dancing on his face. The rays of sunlight that illuminated the world seemed extra warm today.

    ¡®Just a single step away.¡¯

    He lifted his foot and stepped forward. It was high time to leave this Trial World and face the trials of the Primordial Undying Realm once again.

 Chapter 351 Unseen Memories [1]

    ¡°Finally here?¡±

    The crisp voice of a woman was the first thing that greeted Damien when he arrived in Astoria. When he looked over, he saw a fiery red figure walking towards him with a smile on her face.

    ¡°Mm. I don¡¯t get why we had to meet up here before heading to the rendezvous point, but it¡¯s whatever.¡± He smiled back.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a bother. It¡¯s been an entire year since we came to this ce, so isn¡¯t it normal to feel a bit sentimental?¡±

    Damien let out a chuckle. He thought back to all the experiences that he had since entering the Trial World.

    From meeting little Xue to establishing the Sanctuary, battling Demons on countless asions and recruiting Elitra, getting struck by a Demigod¡¯s True Voice and taming Mirage in the Ancient Temple, and even fusing the Void mes and conquering a Demon King.

    It was truly a time filled to the brim with adventures. If he looked back on it now, he might¡¯ve struggled more than he initially expected. As for sentimentality?

    ¡°Well, I guess you could say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time here.¡±

    He had reaped so many benefits in just this first trial that it almost felt unfair. He was extremely pleased with the progress he had made.

    Not even just with the items he hade into possession of, but his own skills as well. Even his space element had improved by leaps and bounds. To have been able to increase his teleportation range to 10 meters in here, where the spatial suppression was leagues worse than it was in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, he couldn¡¯t wait to see what it was like when he returned back outside.

    ¡°But if we have to talk about who had the biggest improvement, wouldn¡¯t it be you?¡± He quipped as he nced at Feng Qing¡¯er.

    In the year since they had arrived, she seemed to have be more beautiful. A slight air of maturity had begun to mix with her original rebelliousness.

    Feng Qing¡¯er turned her head away with a smile. Even if she wanted to refute, she couldn¡¯t. Unlocking Reincarnation mes before going through Universe Baptism was extremely rare, and for her to be able to do it was a huge boon.

    After she became ustomed to her Reincarnation mes, her progress in most other things also increased rapidly. Not to mention, the levels of her skills had skyrocketed.

    ¡°Enough about me. Where the hell is Qing Tan? We can¡¯t wait for her forever.¡±

    The day of the one-year deadline wasn¡¯t far away, and if they wanted to reach the rendezvous point in time, they had to leave Astoria today. As if waiting for her cue, though, Qing Tan¡¯s voice suddenly rang out from behind them.

    ¡°Oho~ I heard that someone was missing me to the point of tears around here, so I came as fast as I could. Don¡¯t tell me¡­it was you?¡±

    Qing Tan smiled and jumped on Feng Qing¡¯er, hugging her from behind.

    ¡°Hmph! We don¡¯t have time for your games today. Now that you¡¯re here, we can finally set off.¡±

    Qing Tan looked downcast as she was forced to pull her hands away from Feng Qing¡¯er, but in the end, she epted.

    ying around was fun, but not at the cost of being stuck in the Trial World forever. She was dying to leave this ce and experience more of the blood-boiling trials toe.

    With the three of them gathered, they soon set out for the rendezvous point, which was the hill where they first arrived in the Trial World.

    ¡°Say, what do you think the next trial will be?¡± Qing Tan suddenly asked.

    It was a question that had been on both Damien and Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s minds ever since they became conscious of the fact that their time in the Trial World was ending.

    The first Trial was something fairly straightforward, but ended in then having prolonged conflict with the Demons. They had also found out many truths that they didn¡¯t expect to be present in a simple secret realm.

    If just the first trial was like that, what would the rest be like? Damien inwardly hoped that it wouldn¡¯t be anything soplicated.

    Although he didn¡¯t mind the Trial World¡¯s plot twist that much, he would definitely mind if he kept getting used as a tool in the fight between two Divinities. It wasn¡¯t his purpose in the Primordial Undying Realm, nor was it something he had any interest in.

    But at the same time, it was an issue concerning the Nox, so a certain part of his brain always urged him to get involved even deeper.

    ¡°The easiest kind of trial would probably be something dealing withprehension or purebat like this one, but I doubt they¡¯d reuse that idea again. Comprehension would be nice, but it feels too straightforward for this secret realm that always likes to do the unexpected. I really can¡¯t predict what the next trial will be like.¡± Damien muttered, half in thought.

    Feng Qing¡¯er nodded her head in agreement. ¡°How nice would it be if the trial was simr to what happened at the end of the Ancient Temple?¡±

    ¡°Hoh? But I don¡¯t think Qing Tan would like that at all.¡± Damien smirked.

    Qing Tan shot him a pointed re before turning her head away with a pout. She still hadn¡¯t forgotten what this bastard had done while she was still intoxicated.

    ¡°Ahh, what a shame that I didn¡¯t have a record crystal on hand. Tsk tsk, the blushing face of the Shadow Devil Qing Tan¡­it would¡¯ve sold for millions!¡±

    ¡°What Shadow Devil? Quit making up nicknames on your own.¡± Qing Tan grumbled.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er replied. ¡°You haven¡¯t heard it? Ever since the first battle we had with the Apostles when you used your Domain to kill all those demons, the other geniuses here have been calling you the Shadow Devil. They were even saying it in Astoria before we left.¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Seriously? And I didn¡¯t even notice something like that?¡±

    ¡°Do you ever pay attention to anyone you don¡¯t care about?¡± Damien said wryly.

    ¡°Fair point.¡± Qing Tan immediately agreed. It would indeed have been weirder for her to notice the drivel of insignificant flies.

    ¡°How many do you think survived?¡± Damien suddenly posed a question of his own.

    He had seen with his own eyes as countless geniuses died in battle. He didn¡¯t know exactly how many there were, but the number wasn¡¯t small at all.

    Originally, there were around 100 of them that entered the realm together. Damien was 100% sure that at least half of them had died.

    ¡°Half? That¡¯s thinking too optimistically. If I had to guess, there¡¯ll be a maximum of 20 people at the rendezvous point, including us.¡± Qing Tan scoffed.

    ¡°Even 20 is pushing it. Every time there was a battle with demons, arge number of them would die. And in the Ancient Temple, even more had died. I don¡¯t even think there¡¯ll be 10 left.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er pointed out objectively.

    ¡°Right. I forgot that there were other geniuses that entered the Ancient Temple. Pretty much everyone died before I got there.¡± Damien replied in realization.

    He really had to wonder how the forces of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range would react to the loss of so many geniuses. It was also curious whether or not such high death rates were prevalent in every Trial World or just theirs.

    ¡®Well, I guess I¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡¯

    The trio soon arrived at the rendezvous point, and as Qing Tan had predicted, roughly 20 people had gathered.

    ¡°We took our sweet time reaching here, so it shouldn¡¯t be long until the notification pops up¡­¡± Damien muttered to himself.

    And as he expected, a blue holographic window soon appeared in front of his eyes.

    [The Trial of Stars has beenpleted.]

 Chapter 352 Unseen Memories [2]

    [The Trial of Stars has beenpleted]

    [Total Number of Survivors: 18]

    [Star Distribution: 15 ck, 3 White]

    [Those who achieved the White Star Level will be given a benefit duringter trials.]

    The four notifications came in quick session, mostly outlining information that was already known. The main thing people focused on was thest notification.

    The gazes of all those who gathered on the hill congregated on the Damien trio¡¯s location. The greed in their eyes was obvious, but they didn¡¯t dare to move.

    For one, the trial had already ended so there was no point even if they were able to steal thetter party¡¯s starlight. But the main reason was the fact that they weren¡¯t sure of the other party¡¯s strength. To be able to achieve a White Star, they obviously weren¡¯t simple. And on their way to the rendezvous point, they had heard a great many rumors.

    It wasn¡¯t worth the risk even if only a sliver of those rumors turned out to be truth. If all of those rumors were true, the strength of these three was truly unfathomable. In this tense atmosphere, another set of notifications rang out.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree pans its gaze over the participants.]

    Damien felt the gaze that the notification spoke of. In fact, it was intensive as if the gaze was specifically focused on him.

    Within that gaze, he felt an odd sensation. ¡®Is it¡­warning me about something?¡¯ He had no way to be sure.

    [The second trial will be administered individually. When the participants are ready to begin, they may dere their readiness to be transported to the location of the next trial.]

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no exnation?¡±

    ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    Various hushed murmurs rang out. After all, the first trial came with a sufficient description on both the contents and clear conditions that were attached to it. For the second, however, they were just being thrust into unknown territory.

    But there was nobody to question. The Primordial Undying Tree only spoke to them in notifications, so how were they supposed to question it? In the end, the geniuses steeled themselves and began dering their readiness one by one.

    As the number of people standing on the hill decreased, Damien looked at Feng Qing¡¯er and Qing Tan with a smile.

    ¡°I have to say, I had a lot of fun working with the two of you. If we have a chance to meet again after this trial ends, I hope we can continue being allies instead of enemies.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er rolled her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s with the formal tone all of a sudden? After all of the life-or-death struggles we¡¯ve been through together, are you doubting our character? Hmph, even if I beat you upter, I¡¯ll do it fair and square. Don¡¯t worry about that. Anyway, I¡¯ll see the two of you on the other side!¡±

    With a cheerful deration, Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s body became illusory and disappeared from the Trial World.

    Now, only Damien and Qing Tan remained. A small silence enveloped them for a while.

    ¡°Do you know what I want to ask?¡± Damien asked lightly. His gaze was on the horizon in front of him.

    ¡°¡­Mm.¡±

    Qing Tan looked over with wide eyes. After hesitating for a bit, she let out a sound of affirmation.

    ¡°I don¡¯t expect you to answer it right away, but I hope you can do so before anything happens. Those words I said before, you should understand who they were meant for.¡±

    Qing Tan turned her gaze to the horizon as well. She had aplicated look in her eye. In the end, she couldn¡¯t do anything besides sigh in resignation. Immediately afterwards, she changed into motes of light as she left the Trial World.

    The sun was already starting to set. With the threat of demonspletely eliminated for now, the Trial World seemed to have entered a time of peace. An aura of tranquility permeated the air.

    Damien stood in this atmosphere with his eyes closed, taking in the feeling. It was only many minutester that he opened his eyes again.

    ¡®Haa¡­I really hope things aren¡¯t as they seem¡­¡¯

    The Primordial Undying Tree, the Nox Demigod known as the Demon God, the power struggle going on within the Primordial Undying Realm¡­he didn¡¯t want to add anything else on top of that.

    But there was nothing he could do besides continue forward. After steeling himself and circting his mana in preparation for the next trial, he dered his readiness.

    The feeling of spatial mana enveloping his body soon overwhelmed his senses, leaving nothing else but darkness on all sides.

    ***

    Darkness.

    On all sides, there was only darkness.

    The walls, the ceiling, the ground, they were all enveloped in darkness.

    Even after his eyes adjusted, it didn¡¯t seem to get any better.

    The uniformity of it all made him ufortable. It wasn¡¯t something he was used to.

    ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡±

    The sound of his heavy breathing was the only thing he could hear. But he preferred it that way.

    It was much better than what he was forced to listen to at other times.

    ¡°W-what do I do?¡±

    When his voice left his mouth, it was cracked and barely sounded human.

    He didn¡¯t recognize himself anymore.

    Who was he? Why was he alive? Why was he here?

    He didn¡¯t want to think anymore. Thinking would only lead to further harm.

    ¡°I-it¡¯s all a dream. A nightmare. T-this isn¡¯t happening.¡±

    He was feeble. He was weak. He already knew this. They told him about it so often that it had been ingrained in his mind.

    For him to be thrown into such a situation, it had to be a dream.

    He stumbled through the darkness.

    His steps didn¡¯t carry a hint of strength.

    He weakly copsed on the floor.

    ¡°I-I can¡¯t do this. It¡¯s too much¡­it¡¯s too much¡­if I just sleep¡­it¡¯ll be over, right?¡±

    To wake up, what did he need to do?

    He had never lucid dreamed before. Why did his first experience have to be so traumatic?

    They say that escaping a lucid dreaming state was easy, but he didn¡¯t think so.

    They said that it was impossible to feel pain in a lucid dream, but he didn¡¯t think so.

    ¡°Sleep¡­sleep¡­if I do that, then I can escape right?¡±

    His body had already copsed.

    He tried to ignore how vividly he could feel the cold ground against his back. How realistic the jagged edges of those rocks felt as they pierced his skin.

    He closed his eyes.

    ¡°M-mom¡­I miss you¡­¡±

    The face of his mother. It was good that he could remember it. Didn¡¯t that mean he¡¯d wake up soon?

    He closed his eyes.

    He tried to divert his attention from the current situation.

    ¡°There¡¯s¡­too much noise¡­¡±

    He couldn¡¯t sleep.

    The noise wouldn¡¯t let him.

    ¡°I want to go home¡­I want to wake up¡­¡±

    It was an earnest wish.

    He was pleading to anyone who could hear him, but unfortunately, there were none.

    He opened his eyes.

    The uniformity of the ce made him ufortable. He couldn¡¯t get used to it.

    The walls, the ceiling, the ground, it was all rock. Even if the rocks looked different in some ces, and had different textures when they came into contact with his skin, it was all still rock.

    ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t do this¡­¡±

    He wanted to go home.

    He wanted to go home.

    He wanted to go home.

    ¡°Survive¡­? Is there even a point?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t ept it. He wanted to wake up.

    But no matter how many times he tried to escape this nightmare, he couldn¡¯t.

    Today marked the second day.

    The second day that he was trapped in this dungeon.

 Chapter 353 Unseen Memories [3]

    Darkness.

    No matter what else changed with the hours, the darkness present in the surroundings was the only thing that stayed consistent.

    In the distance, the roars of beasts could be heard intermittently ringing out. The mana fluctuations of battles between them emanated.

    In a dark cave somewhere on the floor, a boy sat curled up in a ball.

    It was all too much.

    Just yesterday, he had been living a solid life.

    It wasn¡¯t a life he wanted, nor was it a life he was proud of, but at least it was a life.

    Sure, he had been in dungeons before. He had even killed a few beasts. But was that ever through the use of his own strength?

    Every kill he got was achieved by stealing from others.

    A dungeon was a dangerous ce. Even 6 years after the World Awakening, they weren¡¯t ces people could just go without preparation.

    To raid a dungeon, arge team was required. Not only for attacking, but also for healing and collection.

    To enter a dungeon alone? It was unheard of.

    But, it wasn¡¯t like he entered by choice.

    ¡°¡­why?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t understand why he ended up in this situation.

    He just couldn¡¯t ept reality.

    The fact that he was friends with a girl that happened to be a bit more beautiful than the rest.

    Was that justification to put him to death?

    He resented it, but it was thew of the world. With strength, nothing was impossible.

    Whether it be strength or backing, the one who pushed him into the dungeon had both. Meanwhile, he had none.

    He was angry. He was furious at thew of the world and he was furious at the fact that he was put into such a situation.

    But even greater than that fury was his fear. A fear which tranted into hatred for everything that caused him to feel it.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for him¡­¡±

    Jin Horten.

    Even if he was destined to die in this dungeon, he would carve that name into his heart and never forget it.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for her¡­¡±

    Elena Pierce. His best friend since childhood. Even if he wasn¡¯t thinking straight, he knew it was stupid to resent her. She didn¡¯t bear any me for the current situation.

    In fact, she might¡¯ve even prevented such a situation from happening to him countless times in the past without his knowledge.

    If it wasn¡¯t for her serious injury this time, perhaps it would¡¯ve been the same.

    But his mind wasn¡¯t stable. He couldn¡¯t control his emotions.

    Regardless of what logic told him, he couldn¡¯t help but resent her.

    Resent her for what? For being pretty? For being loyal? It was resentment without reason, but the fact that he couldn¡¯t find a reason for it only made his resentment grow fiercer.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­hungry¡­¡±

    He couldn¡¯t eat, though. Eating meant mutating into a horrendous beast. Even if he had to die, he wouldn¡¯t do it in such a way.

    ¡°I have to level up¡­¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a thought born out of strength.

    When one¡¯s level increased, their stamina would also recover a bit. Even if it wasn¡¯t much, it was still something.

    Since he couldn¡¯t eat, he had to level up. That way, he wouldn¡¯t be hungry anymore.

    ¡°I have to survive¡­¡±

    It had only been a day since he made an oath to survive, since he forged a will to do so. But, saying he would do it and putting it into motion were two different things entirely.

    He desperately wanted to hold to his oath, but every time those bestial roars rang out, his body would freeze in fear.

    He didn¡¯t have a choice, though.

    He was a coward, sure. He was weak, sure. But he had survived on earth for so long on his own.

    He desperately clung to life. He worked any odd job he could get. If it was necessary, he slept on the street to lower the amount of money he spent on himself.

    All the while supporting his mother and paying her hospital bills so that she could survive as well.

    He had built up a certain pride after surviving for so long in a hopeless situation. It was a dog¡¯s pride, sure, but it was pride nheless.

    He wouldn¡¯t allow himself to die if he didn¡¯t at least try to survive first.

    His trembling hands reached out to the floor next to him and grabbed the hilts of the two rusted short swords he had found yesterday.

    He slowly stood up and walked out of the cave.

    But there was no way it would be easy to just hunt.

    Wolves, tigers, bears, all the beasts he ran into were massive and ferocious. He didn¡¯t have the strength nor the courage to fight against them.

    He hid behind boulders and crawled along the dungeon floor, avoiding the beasts he saw but couldn¡¯t fight.

    He barely had any mana in his body, so even if these beasts noticed him, they ignored him since it wasn¡¯t even beneficial to devour him.

    Kill, eat, evolve.

    This was the entire life of a beast without intelligence. Since he couldn¡¯t benefit their evolution, they instinctively cast him aside.

    Even in and of beasts, he was treated like trash.

    He wanted tough at the bleak oue, but he couldn¡¯t even force it out of his throat.

    Instead, he kept crawling.

    And after hours of such actions, he finally stumbled upon something that looked doable.

    A group of small rabbit-like beasts that were moving through the dungeon. As he watched, he noticed that one of the rabbits had fallen away from the rest.

    ¡°A chance¡­¡±

    If it was a rabbit, he should be able to do it. All he had to do was run up and stab it with his des before it ran away. That way, he¡¯d get at least a little experience.

    After the main group of rabbits had escaped his line of sight, he made his move.

    He ran forward with everything he had and ambushed the rabbit from behind.

    His short swords plunged downward without aim. As long as they stabbed into the rabbit, it was fine.

    But at that moment that the short swords were about to pierce through, the rabbit hopped forward.

    The efforts of his reckless charge were all for null.

    Before he could even understand that he had failed, the rabbit turned a full 180 degrees and hopped towards him.

    In that single hop, it had already arrived at his position.

    Its little arms looked so innocent at that moment, but in the next, frightening ws elongated from within.

    They shed forward.

    Blood spurted into the air.

    His face paled.

    He couldn¡¯t even scream.

    While he was still in shock, he backed away.

    He couldn¡¯t feel his left leg.

    But that didn¡¯t matter. That terrifying rabbit wasing towards him again.

    He continued to back away. He turned around and ran.

    But he only had one fully functional leg. He limped at the fastest pace he could to escape.

    But that pace wasn¡¯t fast at all.

    The rabbit caught up without difficulty and shed again.

    His left leg spurted more blood.

    He almost copsed right away.

    But the pain didn¡¯te immediately. His mind was too shocked to register it.

    His vision went dark and a feeling of dizziness. Even as he tried to limp away, he couldn¡¯t tell which direction he was moving in.

    He didn¡¯t know how he escaped.

    Or maybe he didn¡¯t escape at all.

    It was just, at some point, that rabbit stopped chasing him.

    He limped and he limped. He was too far away from his original cave. His consciousness was already fading.

    He found a nearby rock that was close to the dungeon wall. The space between the two was barely enough to fit his skinny body into.

    He crawled into that space and hid.

    And then, the pain finally hit him.

 Chapter 354 Unseen Memories [4]

    [Trigger warning. The following chap has some stuff about self-harm and suicide so just be mindful]

    ¡°AHH¡ª!¡±

    A piercing screech tried to leave his mouth. But he quickly bit his tongue to stop it.

    Even if he was an idiot, even he knew that making so much sound would only attract more beasts to his location.

    ¡°Mmph¡­agh¡­¡±

    Muffled noises intermittently left his mouth as he tried to cope with the paining from his left leg.

    It was burning but also cold. With his body stuck in such a tight space, his leg kept bumping against the rocks, making the pain even worse.

    ¡°Haa¡­agh¡­¡±

    Before he even realized it, tears began to spill from his eyes.

    ¡®It hurts. It hurts so much. Why¡­why is this happening¡­I just want to live¡­why¡­¡¯

    His thoughts were incoherent. The dizziness in his head was only getting worse as his blood loss intensified.

    He remembered scenes from a few movies he watched.

    Looking at his shirt, he moved his arms and tore off the sleeves. Then, he wrapped them around the wounded area and tied them up.

    ¡°Blegh¡­!¡±

    It was his first time seeing the wound. It was horrifying. There were three massive gashes running down from his knee to his ankle. Whenever a space opened up in the blood leaking from them, he could clearly see the white bone inside.

    The fact that his own leg could look so mangled¡­he almost vomited on the spot.

    But he swallowed back the vomit that forced its way into his mouth. He was already hungry, he couldn¡¯t let any food out of his grasp.

    ¡°Hsss¡­¡±

    The pain only became worse. He didn¡¯t even know if the shirt pieces would help. But he didn¡¯t want to look at the wound again.

    Even if he wanted to, he couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    His consciousness was fading.

    With tears still streaming down his cheek and blood still spilling from his leg, he passed out.

    It was his luck that he survived.

    He had a regeneration skill from the moment the system awakened.

    It was a slow process, but the muscles in his leg were being pulled back together and healed.

    By the time he woke up, the bleeding had already stopped.

    The gashes were still there, though. He couldn¡¯t walk without limping anymore.

    He wanted to stay in this spot forever. He didn¡¯t want to go back outside and risk suffering so much again.

    But just like before, he didn¡¯t have a choice.

    If he didn¡¯t go out and level, he would starve. If he starved, he¡¯d die an even worse death.

    He didn¡¯t have resolve. He only had a basic human craving for survival.

    That was the only thing pushing him forward.

    But it was enough.

    He was able to get up and return to that rabbit from before.

    But he decided to do things differently.

    To kill it in one strike, that¡¯s what he had to do if he wanted to be sessful.

    Of course, he had the capability to do it, but it was a double-edged sword. But he didn¡¯t have any other choice.

    He used his skill. A skill that would¡¯ve been enough to make him a top hunter on Earth if he had a body that could handle it.

    He hid behind a rock and watched the rabbit. When he saw an opening, he teleported.

    His des pierced the rabbit before it could react. Then, he teleported back to his original spot.

    ¡°Kak¡­!¡±

    He coughed up a mouthful of blood. His insides were churning from just that much teleportation.

    How was he supposed to keep doing this?

    But even while thinking so, he still did it.

    He waited for his injuries to be lighter and used the same strategy to hunt.

    And as he did so, he gained a level.

    At that moment, he felt some of his hunger alleviating. At the same time, he felt his injuries be somewhat better.

    It was reinvigorating.

    Capitalizing on his current adrenaline rush, he kept going.

    He made sure that the feeling of adrenaline washing away his fear never left his body.

    Instead of facing reality, he forced himself to ignore it.

    But it worked.

    And he found that the more he leveled up, the more he could teleport without facing injury.

    And so, he continued. In the back of his mind, he hoped that the situation where his adrenaline wore off would nevere.

    ***

    ¡®I can¡¯t sleep.¡¯

    Time passed. He hunted often and slowly got used to the feeling. But because of the fact that he kept himself in an adrenaline-crazed state at all times, he couldn¡¯t sleep at all.

    ¡®Sleep? There¡¯s an easy way to sleep.¡¯

    He picked up his shortsword and ced the de on his neck.

    ¡®This way, I can sleep in peace, right? Haha, who am I kidding¡­¡¯

    Despite his thoughts, the shortsword didn¡¯t leave his neck. The de pushed into his skin, drawing a line of blood.

    ¡®If I just¡­¡¯

    He had somewhat adapted to the dungeon, but it hadn¡¯t even been two full days yet.

    There was always a voice in the back of his mind.

    Why not just end it?

    What¡¯s the point of suffering?

    It¡¯s easier to just end it all.

    Nobody will miss me anyway.

    It¡¯s not like I had a good life to return to even if I survive.

    Why should I survive?

    It¡¯s all pointless.

    Just end it.

    The de pushed into his neck even further. His breathing felt restricted by its weight.

    End it.

    End it.

    End it.

    It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d considered it. In the past day and a half, he¡¯d considered it multiple times.

    But he was a coward. He didn¡¯t even have the courage to kill himself.

    But he felt that in this moment, if he kept pushing the de forward, he wouldn¡¯t be lucid enough to stop himself.

    If he wanted, he could really end it all.

    Drops of blood trickled down the side of his neck and softlynded on the cold ground below.

    He stayed in this position for a while. The de didn¡¯t move forward, but he didn¡¯t pull it away either.

    The drops soon umted into a small puddle.

    I should just¡­

    ¡®Stop!¡¯

    He violently threw the de to the side. It fell to the ground and the cracks on its surface became slightly bigger.

    ¡®Stop! Stop! Stop!¡¯

    He clutched his head. The voice within wouldn¡¯t go away.

    ¡®I won¡¯t! I won¡¯t end it! I won¡¯t!¡¯

    He vehemently shook his head.

    Die.

    End it.

    Everything is pointless.

    Even if I level up, my body is still too weak.

    I won¡¯t ever be able to escape.

    This dungeon is my grave.

    So I should just end it all myself.

    It¡¯s better than being eaten by beasts.

    Why be stubborn?

    ¡®Stop! Stop! Stop! Get out of my head!¡¯

    He staggered over to a nearby wall.

    What¡¯s the point of revenge?

    Jin Horten isn¡¯t a person someone like me can touch.

    Elena probably moved on already.

    Mom was doomed from the second I fell into the dungeon.

    There¡¯s no hope left.

    So why struggle?

    ¡°GET OUT OF MY HEAD!¡±

    He screamed it out loud.

    His body moved forward.

    Bang!

    His head heavily collided with the wall in front of him.

    ¡°Get out! Get out! Get out!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The impacts were loud. Dull sounds rang out with every one. Blood oozed from his forehead.

    ¡°Just¡­FUCKING LEAVE!¡±

    Crack!

    His skull cracked slightly.

    His consciousness could no longer hold on.

    He slumped to the ground, the light in his eyes gone.

    It was now the third day since he was trapped in this dungeon.

 Chapter 355 Unseen Memories [5]

    A new day began.

    Or at least, he woke up and began moving again.

    It was hard to tell the time in a ce where the sky never changed. The air always flowed in one direction and the beasts always acted the same.

    It was hard to tell the time.

    Maybe it had been the number of days he assumed it to be. Maybe it had been less.

    He didn¡¯t know.

    He was slowly starting to forget about how time used to flow.

    It was the fourth day by his books. He didn¡¯t know how much he slept, but it wasn¡¯t enough to cleanse his fatigue.

    But he could do nothing but get up and hunt.

    If there was one thing he could be excited about, it was the fact that his hunts had been getting better with the passing of time.

    He was learning how to fight. A faint hope of survival welled up in his heart.

    He looked at the wolf corpses on the floor below him. A smile inadvertently crept up his face.

    Battle was a good distraction. When he was in battle, he didn¡¯t have to think about the troubles that gued him.

    He was starting to fall in love with that feeling.

    His gaze panned upward, and he saw something glint in the corner of his eye.

    ¡®That is¡­¡¯

    He ran.

    He ran with all his might.

    If there was even a slight chance that things were as he saw them to be, it was worth expending all of his stamina.

    So he ran.

    And when he finally reached that spot, he almost jumped in joy.

    His eyes weren¡¯t fooling him.

    nts. Green nts. Green nts with assorted colors spread along their surface.

    ¡®Food!¡¯

    It didn¡¯t matter what the nts actually were, but if they were nts, it meant he could eat.

    Even if it was the slightest sustenance, it was fine.

    He was hungry.

    So hungry that every time he saw a corpse on the ground, he wanted to dig his teeth into it and devour it.

    But he couldn¡¯t.

    Because if he did, he¡¯d turn into a mutated being that was neither beast nor human.

    He had some ideas, some insane ideas that he didn¡¯t want to entertain, but the situation wasn¡¯t dire enough for him to put those ideas into motion.

    That¡¯s right.

    Even as he thought of his current situation, the pain he had been going through, he still thought the situation wasn¡¯t dire enough.

    It was simply how deranged his ideas were.

    Staying down here, his thoughts were bing more bestial.

    And it had only been a few days.

    He put aside his thoughts and reached out to the nts in front of him.

    His hands were skinnier than he remembered them to be. He could clearly see the outline of his bones through his skin.

    He picked a nt from the ground. He didn¡¯t hesitate to shove it into his mouth.

    He was voracious.

    He didn¡¯t stop with just one nt. He grabbed every single one in the vicinity and devoured them.

    ¡°Ah¡­ah¡­ah¡­¡±

    He could only make iprehensible noises. The nts didn¡¯t taste good at all.

    They were muddy. They had grown in a musty dungeon, and the water source that fed them wasn¡¯t anywhere close.

    They had been trampled by beasts before. They carried a slight taste of the wastage those beasts left behind.

    But at the same time, they tasted heavenly.

    They were food. That was all that matters. To a body that had been on the verge of starvation, anything that could be ssified as food would automatically taste amazing.

    There was such a great food source here, so why would the beasts ignore it?

    He couldn¡¯t figure it out.

    ¡°Ah¡­ack¡­!¡±

    He wanted to keep eating, but his body suddenly revolted.

    He couldn¡¯t move a muscle. He was paralyzed.

    His insides were churning. His consciousness became weak.

    A disgusting feeling spread through his body. Like a thick sludge was entering his bloodstream.

    ¡°Blegh¡­!¡±

    He inadvertently vomited. He hadn¡¯t eaten in three days, though, so it was mainly just stomach acids.

    And blood.

    Mouthful after mouthful of blood that were vomited from his mouth.

    It was so violent that his body began to cramp. But he was paralyzed. He couldn¡¯t even hunker down or scream in pain.

    His eyes rolled back into his head. He began foaming at the mouth.

    Bloody tears left his eyes. And soon after, trails of blood began leaking from the rest of his seven orifices.

    He was seizing up.

    ¡°Blergh¡­!¡±

    This time, chunks of meat were mixed in with his vomit.

    But he hadn¡¯t eaten anything in three days. That meat was pieces of his internal organs that were forced out of his body.

    The sludge in his blood made his body feel disgusting. It was a feeling that somehow managed to stand out even in the pain he was going through.

    It didn¡¯t just spread, though.

    Steam rose from his skin. His body started to heat up uncontrobly.

    Sweating was good. It meant that his body was trying to expel the poison from his pores.

    But the reason he was sweating was different.

    His blood¡­it was boiling.

    It was burning. Evaporating away and bing steam that left his body through his pores.

    The boiling blood was circted through his body along with the disgusting sludge. It only amplified the horror of his current situation.

    He had been reckless.

    He had been too starved for any sort of sustenance.

    The adrenaline rush helped him ignore the feeling. The thick mana in the atmosphere did the same.

    But in the end, when he saw hope right in front of his eyes, he couldn¡¯t resist.

    He was desperate.

    He was going to pass out again.

    He couldn¡¯t believe it.

    How many times had he passed out from pain since he became stranded here?

    It was embarrassing.

    But his pride was slowly being whittled away.

    After all, the poison he ingested just now was vile. His mouth wasn¡¯t the only exit to his body that was being utilized to try and extract it. His intestines were also being affected by its spread.

    He could feel a disgusting substance leaking through his pants.

    He wasn¡¯t at a level where he could ignore the urges of his body.

    He just hadn¡¯t eaten anything in three days, so his body had nothing to digest.

    But now, everything he had digested even before he was stranded in the dungeon was being forced out of his body.

    After this event, he would no longer be able to simply ignore his carnal desire for sustenance by ignoring it.

    He wanted to stop such a situation from urring at all costs.

    But he was paralyzed. His blood was evaporating, leaving him even weaker. His body functions were in the process of shutting down.

    He could only endure the humiliation he brought upon himself.

    While also enduring the searing pain that wracked his body.

    His consciousness was forced to hold on by the intense pain. Even if he wanted to pass out, he couldn¡¯t.

    But eventually, his mind wasn¡¯t able to bear the torture anymore. It shut down.

    And he passed out again. In a puddle of his own blood and excrement.

 Chapter 356 Unseen Memories [6]

    How did he survive?

    Once again, by some miracle, he survived.

    The poison was gone from his body when he woke up, but the aftereffects remained.

    If he didn¡¯t eat soon, he would really die.

    For a human to die of starvation, it would normally take roughly 2 months.

    For a human to die of thirst, it would normally take 2-4 days.

    With the introduction of mana, these limits were somewhat surpassed, but the level depended on the amount of mana one had.

    For him, starvation and thirst were still things that could kill him in a week.

    That was if there were no extraneous circumstances.

    Even without mentioning the poison, he had been running around and umting fatigue for days on end.

    Not to mention how often he got injured and had to cope with the blood loss.

    It was only normal for those time limits to be rapidly shortened.

    He had to eat.

    And so when the fifth day in the dungeon dawned, he became fiercer in his hunting.

    And he ended up in a situation he couldn¡¯t cope with.

    He almost died. No, he surely would¡¯ve died. Why did he survive? Once again it could only be attributed to luck.

    He was just lucky.

    It wasn¡¯t fair to say everything was due to luck. Since the day he was stranded, he had indeed grown a lot.

    However, even taking this growth into ount, he should¡¯ve died five times over at least.

    It was strange.

    He loved toin about how his luck was terrible, but that was just avoidance.

    In reality, his luck was amazing. What was terrible was the consequences of his own actions.

    The only time he was truly unlucky was when he was thrown into the dungeon.

    Ever since then, luck had kept him alive.

    When he was almost killed by the rabbit, when he was almost killed by the poison, when he was almost killed by hisck of basic human necessities, he himself didn¡¯t do anything that could help him survive.

    Instead, he only worsened the situation.

    It could be argued that his reckless actions were forced by the situation, but even that was just an excuse.

    It was his fault.

    And on his fifth day in the dungeon, the culmination of consequences of his reckless actions befell him.

    His fatigue caught up to him, a beast too powerful for him to kill targeted him, and his luck could no longer protect him.

    As he watched his arm get torn off of his body by the jaws of that beast, he realized this.

    And he snapped.

    He didn¡¯t care anymore.

    If he was meant to die, he¡¯d die while killing this beast.

    He stabbed into its flesh, tore into its body with his fingers and teeth.

    Even after his de broke, he jammed the jagged stump into the beast¡¯s eye to cause any degree of damage he could.

    Perhaps because he had finally been able to put his life on the line, he was able to kill that beast.

    And he devoured it.

    He didn¡¯t care anymore.

    So he tore into its body with his teeth. He feasted on its best and drank its blood.

    It didn¡¯t taste good.

    But it was the mark of his survival.

    So he ate and drank without pause.

    But it wasn¡¯t like that beast died immediately.

    In its death throes, it decided to perish together with him.

    He survived once again due to luck. Or maybe this time, it could be attributed to his own efforts.

    Falling was one thing, but what came after was another.

    A trial by blood.

    Forced maturity.

    He stood inside a blood world of his own making, facing an endless horde of beasts that wanted to eat his flesh and drink his blood.

    But his own stamina was infinite as well.

    He killed.

    He killed and killed and killed.

    He started to enjoy the feeling of killing.

    He started to crave the feeling of blood sshing onto his body.

    So he killed and killed and killed.

    His mindset began to change.

    He was pathetic.

    When he looked at how he had been behaving for the past few days, he wanted to kill.

    He wanted to go back and kill that pathetic version of himself.

    If he wanted to get stronger, all he had to do was kill.

    How long was it before the horde of beasts finally came to an end?

    By the time it was over, the man who exited the blood world was no longer the same man who had entered it.

    It was forced maturity.

    He killed so he wouldn¡¯t be killed. He did so until killing and bing stronger became the only thought that upied his mind.

    Revenge? It could wait. He needed strength to get revenge.

    His mother? She could wait. He needed strength to cure her of her illness.

    Everything could wait. Strength was above all.

    He regained consciousness at some point. He seized his body and took control over his bestial instinct.

    Or did he?

    Maybe he just merged with it.

    After all, he wasn¡¯t much different from the version of him that was possessed by that instinct.

    The only difference was that he was capable of conscious thought.

    An indomitable will forged in fire.

    That was what he liked to delude himself into thinking he had built.

    But he was wrong. It was all just the delusion of a man who was falling into the depths of insanity.

    The only thing he had built was bloodlust. Bloodlust that trumped his fear and allowed him to continue forward without it.

    But at least he wasn¡¯t pathetic anymore.

    He wasn¡¯t sniveling like a bitch on the floor after every battle.

    He wasn¡¯t coughing up buckets of blood every time he teleported.

    He had achieved his first ss. He had achieved a perfect mutation.

    He now had the qualifications to grow stronger.

    Who cares how he got it?

    So what if he didn¡¯t earn it himself?

    What was the point in being hung up on pointless matters like that?

    He moved through the dungeon. He cleared it floor by floor.

    He killed and he killed. He devoured and he evolved.

    He loved the taste of blood on his tongue. The feeling it gave him when it sshed on his body.

    He loved the pain.

    The pain of evolution meant he was growing stronger.

    The pain of injuries was just proof that he deserved to be stronger.

    But it wasn¡¯t easy to maintain his insanity. Every once in a while, he would have moments of lucidity.

    ¡°I¡¯m lonely.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m tired.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to do this anymore.¡±

    The thoughts would flood his head.

    It was hard to get rid of them. They were his true feelings after all. The feelings that he hid within a sea of blood and a mountain of corpses.

    ¡°I want to go home.¡±

    ¡°But where is home?¡±

    Earth wasn¡¯t a home anymore. He had been cast aside by earthlings long ago.

    He only realized it after he was stranded here how little he cared about earth.

    The only thing left for him there was his mother.

    And his revenge.

    And just like that, his bloodlust resurged. Malice clouded his mind.

    The feeling of blood, the taste of blood, the pain and the thrill of battle.

    Those were the only things that could quell his insanity.

 Chapter 357 Unseen Memories [7]

    Life in the dungeon continued.

    Compared to how it was in those first few days, it had gotten considerably better.

    But it was lonely.

    Incredibly lonely.

    The only sce he had was during battle. Whenever his battles ended, he would be forced to face his loneliness once more.

    He found himself in a state where he sought constant stimtion. Without it, he would truly go mad.

    When it wasn¡¯t battle, it was training, when it wasn¡¯t training, it was anything else he could think of.

    Even after so long, his fear didn¡¯tpletely go away.

    And even though it had been quelled for the most part, he still needed to cope with his current situation.

    It had reached a point where he forgot about everything other than the dungeon.

    His life was the dungeon and the dungeon was his life.

    Was there a way to stave off the insanity that threatened to consume him?

    He found himself reminiscing.

    Not about people nor about events from his past. Instead, he reminisced on characters he used to read about.

    People who would end up in simr situations as he was now.

    But they weren¡¯t the same as him.

    They weren¡¯t pathetic trash on the inside.

    They braved every danger with pride and cool indifference. They challenged the heavens as if it was the most natural thing to do.

    He wanted to be like them.

    He wanted to be them.

    Who was he?

    What was his identity?

    A sense of identity was incredibly important. Without it, he would be no different than any other beast in the dungeon.

    He had already somewhat be one of them.

    He had his own territory on the 20th floor.

    No beast dared to challenge him.

    Even if he descended, there were still many beasts that didn¡¯t daree close after sensing his aura.

    But at the same time, there were beasts that wanted to contend with his hegemony.

    Naturally, he fought these beasts. And he indiscriminately ughtered every other beast on the floor afterward.

    If he had to give a reason?

    For strength.

    To kill. To eat. To evolve. This was his life.

    So without a sense of identity, without anything to keep him human, what would he be?

    His end goal was still to leave.

    To escape. To go home. To get revenge. To cure his mother.

    How long had it been since he was stranded in the dungeon?

    Enough time had passed that the flimsy will he had originally built up had blossomed slightly. He was at least able to clearly delineate his goals.

    But if he wanted to return to society, could he?

    In his current state?

    It was impossible.

    He needed to be human again.

    He needed to be those characters he would fervently read about in the past.

    His days changed.

    When he needed stimtion, he went and ughtered hundreds and thousands of beasts.

    When there were no beasts left on a floor, he would return to training.

    And when he wasn¡¯t training, he acted.

    He stood in front of a massive beast that was crawling on the floor.

    Blood stained his skin and leaked from that beast¡¯s body.

    ¡°This Young Master has shown leniency. Take it as a grace from one above you.¡±

    His words were arrogant.

    He didn¡¯t feel like himself when he spoke them.

    No, he didn¡¯t feel like himself when he spoke.

    He was alone.

    When was thest time he spoke at all?

    His voice was hoarse even as he tried to put up an arrogant front.

    ¡°This is the fate of those who have eyes but can¡¯t see.¡±

    The phrase was one he had seen many times before. It had be something of a joke on earth.

    But he spoke it with utmost seriousness.

    This was a character.

    He needed to y it well.

    Until he could be that character.

    And regain his humanity.

    What was humanity?

    It was a question he asked himself plenty of times. He had been seeking his humanity ever since he came to the realization that he had lost it.

    What defined him as a person?

    What used to define him as a person?

    He could answer the second question easily.

    Struggle, weakness, the inability to grow stronger.

    But that old version of him had perseverance. It was one of the only admirable traits he used to have.

    But that perseverance disappeared when he was stranded in the dungeon.

    He had be a weeping mess.

    Heined about everything he couldin about.

    He resented people who didn¡¯t deserve to be resented.

    He pushed the me onto others so he could avoid his own weakness.

    But the dungeon didn¡¯t allow him to avoid it.

    Itid his weakness bare in front of him.

    It forced him to acknowledge the fact that he was pathetic.

    And it almost killed him multiple times in the process.

    And so, what was he now?

    He had strength. That was what he had been chasing after for so long. That was the ultimate goal he had ever since the World Awakening.

    Why, then, did it feel so empty?

    Why did it feel like his strength didn¡¯t matter at all?

    What was he missing?

    That missing piece, he had judged it to be his humanity.

    He had be no different than a mindless beast.

    He killed, he ate, he evolved.

    What else did his life constitute? What did he look forward to every day? What did he work towards?

    His overarching goal didn¡¯t matter. He didn¡¯t have a method to escape. He didn¡¯t think he would find one any time soon.

    How long would he be trapped in this dungeon?

    Perhaps, by the time he exited, his mother would¡¯ve long sumbed to her illness without his support.

    Perhaps, the target of his revenge would¡¯ve be a figure that even with his newfound strength, he couldn¡¯t touch.

    He felt like his thoughts should drive him to work harder, to try harder to find an exit to the dungeon.

    But it didn¡¯t work like that.

    For such determination to be born, the prerequisite was hope.

    Hope that the chance of sess existed.

    He didn¡¯t have that hope.

    He didn¡¯t have humanity either.

    The only thing he had was the dungeon.

    To kill, to eat, to evolve.

    He didn¡¯t have any other thoughts in his head.

    Well, there was one.

    Blood.

    He had be addicted to it.

    Sometimes, he found himself unable to sit still if he didn¡¯t feel the blood of beasts on his skin for too long.

    He didn¡¯t question this feeling. He just went out and hunted to quench his thirst for blood.

    It was then that he realized something was wrong. Something inside of him told him that he should be questioning his sanity.

    But why question it?

    If there was nothing else to do besides killing, shouldn¡¯t it be a good thing that he enjoys it?

    At least that way, he wouldn¡¯t get bored of the monotony of his life.

    But he still ended up questioning it.

    He wanted to regain a semnce of sanity.

    Perhaps that wish alone meant that he was on the right track.

    He hoped so.

    He hoped.

    It was a good thing that the concept of hope hade back into his life.

    He was bing more like those characters he emted.

    But he hadn¡¯t be them yet.

    If he had done his job properly, he wouldn¡¯t be questioning himself anymore.

    He would act as he saw fit, and he would do so with confidence.

    It was still ufortable. To speak, to act, to show consideration for those around him, it didn¡¯t feel like he was himself when he did it.

    But he would continue without fail.

    Until it wasn¡¯t ufortable anymore.

    Until he became what he was pretending to be.

 Chapter 358 Unseen Memories [8]

    Constant practice over an extended period of time made that ufortable feeling vanish slowly.

    He began to embody what he wanted to embody.

    Instead of feeling like he wasn¡¯t himself, he started feeling like he was bing someone new.

    It wasn¡¯t a bad feeling.

    And finding references to different shows and novels he used to love in his everyday life brought some vor to his monotonous life.

    Things were looking up.

    And then, something new happened.

    He felt a strange sensation when he looked at a certain beast.

    Something that he felt would help him regain his humanity even more.

    That was the only reason he saved it.

    Because he was curious about this new stimtion he was receiving.

    But that was enough of a reason.

    New stimtion was always wee.

    So he saved that beast.

    He killed hordes and hordes of beasts that chased it while doing so.

    He missed the feeling of being drowned in the blood of his enemies.

    It had been a good amount of time since thest time he was able to feel it.

    After he did so, he grabbed that beast and ran.

    It was exciting.

    His blood was boiling, but in a good way this time.

    He was being chased.

    It was a real dragon. An existence he had only seen in fiction until now.

    And on top of that, it was an entity at a level of strength that he couldn¡¯t even hope to win against.

    He felt like he was back to being the same pathetic person he was when he first arrived in this hellish ce.

    That pathetic weakling had returned.

    Except, this feeling only excited him more.

    It was the feeling of death encroaching on him.

    It was intoxicating.

    He almost stopped running to face that beast. He almost couldn¡¯t control his desire to feel death.

    Wasn¡¯t it so exciting?

    The boundary between life and death. Walking a thin like that could lead to his demise at any misstep.

    Wasn¡¯t it riveting?

    The feeling of being crushed by an opponent and still managing to regain the upper hand. The feeling of blood intertwining as both sides piled up injuries.

    He almost stopped in ce.

    He wanted to die while feeling that feeling.

    It was exhrating. It was a drug that he couldn¡¯t curb his addiction to.

    He wanted to die at that beast¡¯s hands, but he also wanted to live.

    As he found himself stuck in a conundrum, he felt a new stimtion.

    A new sensation.

    His attention was quickly grabbed. He went to find the source of that sensation.

    And he found himself in a man-made construct. The first one he had seen in a long long time.

    As expected, following the new stimtions he received would always lead him to something fun.

    Having fun was the best. It was the only thing he lived for. Even if he escaped the dungeon, he wanted to keep having fun and finding new stimtion like this.

    It led to a life that was worth living.

    He sat in a chair. It was a good chair. He loved the feeling it gave him.

    He looked at the beast he saved.

    Should I kill it?

    He wanted to kill it.

    His body craved its death. His eyes only saw red.

    But there was a sensation. A stimtion that he wanted to follow.

    That was telling him to keep it alive.

    So what should I do?

    He stood up and walked over to that beast. It was small. His single hand was easily enough to crush its neck.

    If he squeezed a little harder, its bones would snap like twigs.

    What a satisfying sound that was.

    What a satisfying feeling that was.

    There was no blood, but it was still a greatly cathartic feeling.

    But he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do it.

    His curiosity was too strong.

    A new stimtion. What would it bring him?

    He realized that he only had a single arm.

    It had been too long since he lost it. He had gotten used to the feeling of imbnce.

    But it had almost led to his death a few times in the beginning.

    Not that he minded much.

    Death was something he loved to feel.

    There were books all along the walls.

    Could he still read?

    He didn¡¯t remember.

    But he still went and picked up the books.

    Another stimtion.

    Information about a world he didn¡¯t know, about many things he didn¡¯t know.

    He became intoxicated with reading. It turned out he could still do it.

    He didn¡¯t know how much time passed. At some point, that beast woke up.

    He had gotten an idea from a book he read.

    Apanion.

    It was an unfamiliar concept.

    To have someone else with him. Someone who he could speak to. Someone who he could y with to relieve his boredom.

    Apanion.

    It sounded nice.

    It was much better than killing the beast.

    Because killing it was only temporary stimtion.

    But if he took it as apanion, it could entertain him for years toe.

    It was a great idea.

    He praised himself for thinking of something so genius.

    He spoke to that beast. He was surprised that it could understand him.

    There hadn¡¯t been many beasts that could do so until now.

    He knew from experience.

    He talked to the beasts often.

    He held conversations with them while they fought.

    Or at least, he tried to.

    But those beasts were stupid. They couldn¡¯t understand his words. A few could, though, but it was a shame that they all died by his hands not long after.

    Now there was a beast that could understand him. And he wasn¡¯t going to kill this beast.

    It was exciting. Especially when the pact was formed.

    He could feel the beast¡¯s thoughts. It was like he could finally hold a conversation.

    He didn¡¯t just have to talk one-sidedly.

    It was nice.

    He became friends with the beast soon enough. They became teammates who hunted together.

    He fought the dragon. It was a good fight.

    The dragon let out its breath.

    Dragon¡¯s breath felt good on his skin.

    The pain was amazing. He almost forgot to defend.

    His left side was burned to an unrecognizable state. The feeling of burning was new. Not many beasts could use fire in the dungeon.

    It was searing hot, but also extremely cold. How could those two feelings exist at the same time? It was interesting to feel it personally.

    The dragon was eventually defeated though. He couldn¡¯t help it.

    He loved death. He wanted to feel it all the time. He wanted to embrace it lightly. But he never wanted to actually fall into its clutches.

    So he had to kill the dragon. It turned out to be a Wyvern instead of an actual dragon, but it was close enough.

    Now what?

    He had be a 2nd ss. He had be more powerful.

    But now what?

    Continue to descend?

    It was getting boring. He wanted something new.

    But descending was good.

    He saw it in the subspace.

    He could escape as long as he kept descending.

    Escape.

    It was something he had been craving for so long, but why did it feel so empty? He almost didn¡¯t want it. He liked his life in the dungeon. He could have fun and follow his desires without any consequences.

    The outside world was difficult. Humans were difficult. He didn¡¯t want to associate with them and get caught up in their problems.

    But wasn¡¯t he human as well?

    He didn¡¯t think of himself as one.

    His thoughts were chaotic. He didn¡¯t want to leave. The dungeon wasfortable. He knew what would happen every day. There were no surprises.

    The outside world was hard. It was new. He would have difficulty adapting.

    But what about his mother and his revenge?

    It was tedious.

    No, he had to do it.

    He had to do it.

    He was reverting to how he was before.

    He was bing no different than a beast again.

    He had worked so hard to fix that. He had worked so hard to be human again even in the slightest.

    What was the point of those efforts if he refused to leave the dungeon?

    In the end, he descended.

    He went against his desire forfort.

    Because the outside world had more stimtion.

    It had more fun things that he didn¡¯t know.

    Even if it was cumbersome, it was still better than his current monotony.

    So he descended.

    And he finally left the dungeon.

 Chapter 359 Unseen Memories [9]

    Tears.

    He copsed to the ground. An unending stream of tears was the only thing he could see.

    When he felt the air around him, air that wasn¡¯t tainted with the smell of blood. It was awkward, but at the same time, it was refreshing.

    When he felt the mana in the atmosphere. It wasn¡¯tced with brutality, but rather tranquil as a drifting stream. He felt his mental state clear up just by breathing it in.

    There were trees in the surroundings. Green trees and nts. Beautiful nts that weren¡¯tced with poison.

    He could only cry.

    He couldn¡¯t stop himself.

    The tears flowed without his permission. It was only after his tear ducts ran dry that he finally stopped.

    He stood up.

    Now that the tears were gone, he could take the scenery in with fresh eyes.

    He walked. He could teleport, but he walked. Teleporting would only lessen the time he could spend admiring the scenery.

    It was quiet. The roars of beasts didn¡¯t permeate the air at every point in time.

    There was a sun in the sky.

    No, just the fact that there was a sky was enough.

    The dull scenery of the dungeon was gone.

    Being surrounded by darkness on all sides was gone.

    He had escaped that dungeon.

    After 2 years.

    2 grueling years of his life that would¡¯ve otherwise been spent toiling away endlessly on earth.

    He felt proud of his achievement.

    Though, it also felt a little empty.

    Was it just him, or were some parts of his memory hazy?

    It felt like he couldn¡¯t remember something important.

    No, it was many important things.

    Something that defined the current him, he had lost it. But what was it?

    He didn¡¯t remember.

    The scenery quickly stole his attention again.

    It had been a few hours since he started walking, yet the peaceful feeling was unchanging.

    It was awkward, ufortable even.

    His hands were itching.

    Why were his hands itching?

    There was something he wanted to do.

    What was it?

    He didn¡¯t know. He just knew that there was something he wanted to do. But the current environment didn¡¯t allow it.

    His heart was beating rapidly.

    His body began to feel weird. Like millions of ants were crawling inside his skin.

    Why?

    What did he want to do so bad that it caused such a terrible level of difort?

    He didn¡¯t know.

    He wanted to know.

    His hands were itching. They wanted to move.

    He kept walking. Maybe he would find a clue if he did.

    In the distance, he saw a beast. It was a lone deer that was grazing in a peaceful meadow.

    Suddenly, he snapped.

    Ah, that¡¯s right.

    He knew what he wanted to do.

    He disappeared.

    Blood spurted into the air.

    That deer¡¯s heart was in his hand.

    It was still pumping as if it didn¡¯t even realize that it had been removed yet.

    His eyes were red. The amethyst color that usually shared his irises was gone.

    He looked at the beating heart in his hand.

    Blood kept flowing from it and dripping onto his body.

    He licked his lips. It looked too appetizing.

    His teeth had already grown into fangs.

    He bit into the heart.

    He tore into it.

    Voraciously, he devoured.

    The taste of blood on his tongue, it helped calm that itching feeling that had been irking him.

    But it wasn¡¯t enough.

    His attention soon turned to the corpse of that deer.

    It met the same fate as its heart.

    But it wasn¡¯t enough.

    He wanted more.

    Blood.

    He couldn¡¯t go a few hours without seeing it.

    His awareness spread.

    He found another beast.

    He continued his hunt. He devoured everything.

    His gluttony was insatiable.

    The beasts in the surroundings had already felt the presence of a predator.

    They began to flee with all their might.

    He wanted to pursue.

    But suddenly, he felt impact on the back of his head.

    It was hispanion. That beast he had picked up in the dungeon.

    The impact helped hime back to his senses.

    He looked down at his hands.

    They were covered in blood. His body was soaked in it too.

    He felt a cold chill run down his spine.

    Was this him?

    Didn¡¯t he get better? Didn¡¯t he ovee his bestial instinct?

    It seemed he had overestimated himself.

    He didn¡¯t tame the bestial instinct, he just merged with it.

    It was still there, baring its fangs in full force.

    He only realized it now.

    His heart was cold. He couldn¡¯t go on like this.

    Maybe he shouldn¡¯t return to society.

    Humanity probably wouldn¡¯t ept him.

    What if he started craving the blood of humans? What if he ended up devouring their hearts as well?

    Maybe they¡¯d hunt him to the ends of the earth.

    He found a stream.

    He bathed in it. He cleansed himself of the blood and grime that covered his body.

    He looked into the water and saw his reflection.

    He looked¡­human.

    He didn¡¯t look like a beast.

    He looked human, but he wasn¡¯t human.

    But maybe, just maybe, he still had the chance to be one.

    Or at least, to be more like one.

    He put away his thoughts. He re-entered his character.

    No, it wasn¡¯t a character anymore. It was just him.

    He didn¡¯t want to stay in the forest any longer.

    It made him crave the blood of beasts even more.

    So he left.

    He raced at full speed to anywhere that had civilization.

    This way, he could take his mind off of his predicament.

    He didn¡¯t even realize he was avoiding the problem.

    He soon forgot about it entirely.

    When he felt the clean air around him, when he felt the serene mana in the atmosphere, when he felt the lush grass brushing against his feet as he ran¡­

    It helped him forget all those things he no longer wanted to remember.

    But things didn¡¯t always go the way he wished them to go.

    The memories all came flooding back together.

    The memories of the dungeon and the memories of the actions he had just taken.

    The memories of his weakness and the memories of his insanity.

    But that wasn¡¯t it.

    Memories he didn¡¯t have beforehand. Memories of things that would happen in the future.

    They all came rushing back to him at once.

    His name¡­he had seen it on the status screen many times in the dungeon.

    He had even yelled it out while fighting against beasts.

    So why couldn¡¯t he remember it?

    His name¡­

    What was his name?

    It felt like something important was happening.

    He stopped in his tracks. Hispanion stopped with him.

    They were in the middle of a vast open in. There were mountains in the distance, and even signs of human activity.

    But he didn¡¯t pay it any mind.

    He stared into empty space.

    The space in front of him.

    There was something there.

    Something important.

    Something he hadn¡¯t grasped yet, but something he desperately needed to grasp.

    But no matter how hard he looked, there was nothing there.

    This time, he couldn¡¯t just ignore it and continue on.

    There was something there.

    His name.

    Was it there?

    He needed to know it. He couldn¡¯t live if he didn¡¯t know it. He tried to check his status window, but there was no name there.

    He could¡¯ve sworn he saw it before.

    What was it?

    He needed to grasp it.

    Whatever was in that space in front of him.

    He reached out his hands.

    He tried to grasp it.

    Whatever it was.

    He needed to grasp it.

 Chapter 360 Trauma [1]

    A pair of eyes watched him from the void. They had been watching ever since the start.

    The owner of those eyes desperately wanted to look away. He wished he didn¡¯t have to view the scenes he was viewing.

    But he couldn¡¯t. No, he wouldn¡¯t.

    He knew it in his heart. These scenes were something he needed to witness. If he turned away now, he would be no different than the pathetic man that tried to kill himself after only a few days of hardship.

    No, he couldn¡¯t think of it like that. That was part of the problem.

    The man who had entered the dungeon was no different than a normal person. For him to not go insane and not die in those days before his mutation was an incredible achievement, even with all the luck that went into helping him do so.

    Discounting that achievement was something he would no longer do.

    He didn¡¯t remember.

    The scenes he was being shown, he didn¡¯t remember them.

    The way he remembered things was nothing like what he was watching.

    It was humiliating seeing this new version of events.

    But he knew. This version of events was the truth behind what happened. What he didn¡¯t remember, it was suppressed by his own subconscious.

    The man who forgot his name, the one who stood in the ins of Apeiron, he reached out to the void. He called out to the man who was watching him.

    So the man in the void sighed. He exited his hiding ce and appeared before the one calling out to him.

    The one who forgot his name was in shock. Seeing the thing he was reaching out for, seeing the answer to the questions he had, he didn¡¯t know what to say.

    So the man in the void spoke instead. He spoke with a detached smile on his face.

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. Yes, you are me, but I am not you. In a sense, we are two different people.¡±

    The man from the void didn¡¯t wait for his counterpart¡¯s response. He spoke as if he alone was in this world.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t remember it at all. When I think back to those days, the scenes I see are extremely different. Some stuff is the same, the blood world, meeting Zara, I remember all those things. But it¡¯s the thought process, the inner workings of my mind at the time that I had forgotten.

    ¡°Perhaps I subconsciously suppressed those memories. It¡¯s the same for the memories of those first 5 days¡­that pathetic version of myself, and even the version of myself that had descended into madness, I locked them all away.

    ¡°It was a coping mechanism. If I allowed those memories to stay, what would I have be? It seems my brain decided that it was too much. For the sake of returning my humanity, everything I didn¡¯t want to remember was thrown away.

    ¡°But what did that do to me? I have to admit that due to that, I was indeed able to return to society, but I can¡¯t say it was all for the best. Those memories, the trauma associated with them, caused many problems that I still to this day am working to solve.

    ¡°At least I know that my insanity was quelled for the most part. That thirst for blood that you have right now¡­it doesn¡¯t act up very often. It¡¯s shown itself a few times in the past few years, but it¡¯s insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

    ¡°But even without that insanity, I feared myself. I subconsciously feared the side of me that had forsaken humanity, the side of me that would¡¯ve devoured a human if it meant tasting new stimtion.

    ¡°And while fearing that side of me, I was also incredibly ashamed of the pathetic side of me that was showcased in those first 5 days. Because in the deep recesses of my heart, maybe I believed that I was still that pathetic person.¡±

    The man from the void looked at the sky. He didn¡¯t realize that the man who forgot his name was slowly fading.

    ¡°Due to my insecurities and my fear, I mainly caused problems for myself. But Rose also bore a great deal of that insecurity. Even though I boldly took her as my woman, I never treated her as such. But that¡¯s something I¡¯ve been regretting for a long time now.

    ¡°It was only now, after seeing my old memories again, that I realized I had wronged somebody else even more.¡±

    Elena.

    Before he was stranded in the dungeon, he held feelings for her that he repressed due to their social situation and his own family situation.

    However, upon being forced to endure the psychological torture that the dungeon¡¯s atmosphere had on an ordinary person, his mindset became chaotic.

    He resented her.

    Even in the memories he was shown, his resentment wasn¡¯t portrayed as much as it should¡¯ve been.

    Most likely because it had been suppressed even at that time, only existing in the deep recesses of his mind.

    But it still existed. It didn¡¯t go away just because he didn¡¯t think about it.

    In fact, every time he thought of his hatred for Jin back then, his hatred for Elena grew as well.

    It wasn¡¯t even a conscious thing. If he had control over it, he would¡¯ve put a stop to it immediately.

    But he didn¡¯t, so it kept growing.

    That immature part of him that wanted to push all the me onto someone else, it chose Elena as the receiver of his misguided grudge.

    He hates himself for doing that. But it was all in the past. He didn¡¯t have the ability to change it.

    When he entered the Eternal Secret Realm and went through that illusion trial on Godspark Mountain, he was able to experience a timeline where the world didn¡¯t change, where he and Elena could grow their childhood love into something real.

    It was only at that time that his subconscious hatred was assuaged slightly.

    So when he met her again on earth, he was able to talk to her like he did before. He was able to treat her as a friend.

    But because of his subconscious grudge, he wasn¡¯t able to feel the same love for her that he once did.

    He was reminded of it during that illusion trial, but he couldn¡¯t feel it himself. The only ¡°love¡± he felt towards Elena was towards the version of her in that trial.

    So he neglected her.

    He ignored her feelings and continued acting as her best friend.

    It was a cruel thing to do.

    He thought it was because he was still sorting out his feelings for her, but he only now knew the real reason.

    It was the immense guilt and regret he felt because of how he used to think of her in the dungeon. That subconscious hatred for her and the hatred for himself because he thought of her like that.

    He couldn¡¯t fix it though.

    Because he simply didn¡¯t know.

    He could go and say that it wasn¡¯t his fault because of this. He could find a number of excuses to justify his actions towards her.

    But he wasn¡¯t going to do that.

    He epted it fully.

    He was a scumbag. A scumbag who had walked over his best friend¡¯s feelings and treated them like they were worthless.

    Maybe he didn¡¯t even deserve Elena anymore.

    But he didn¡¯t care.

    There was only one way he could make it up to her. He resolved himself the second he came to the realization.

    Elena was his woman. Regardless of what others said, regardless of anything else, she would be his woman. And he would right his wrongs by giving her the world.

    No, even the world was too small.

    If she so wished it, he would conquer this entire universe and gift it to her on a silver tter.

    Just to prove his sincerity.

 Chapter 361 Trauma [2]

    His attention soon turned back to the other version of himself. He was nowhere near done. Elena was merely one of the problems he had to address.

    ¡°Forced maturity. It was really the best way to describe what happened to me. The drastic change that my personality underwent, the change that pushed me from one extreme to the other.

    ¡°The time in the blood world was beneficial. It made it so that the pathetic me who could barely even raise his eyes to meet those of a beast could now boldly move forward in my descending of the dungeon. For that, I¡¯m grateful.

    ¡°But while I was given courage and the will of a practitioner, the circumstances never gave me the chance to mature emotionally. Even though I came out of the dungeon at 19 years old, I still had the mind of a 17-year-old.

    ¡°No, I might¡¯ve even mentally regressed a little. I pointed out anime references in everything I could just for the sake of grounding my situation in something I knew, but it was yet another coping mechanism. My personality wasn¡¯t even my own. It was just me pretending to be other people for the sake of keeping my mental state intact.

    ¡°How old am I now? 23? 24? It¡¯s something around there. I don¡¯t think I properly developed into my own person until after I left Apeiron. And now, at this age, I¡¯m finally able to stand here and say that I¡¯ve aplished it.

    ¡°But the fact that it took so many years just for me to act my age, it¡¯s frustrating to think about. It¡¯s why I have a slight grievance against the blood world.

    ¡°It drove me into insanity. That insanity was what I needed to survive the dungeon. But to reintegrate into society, even being my previous pathetic self would¡¯ve been better.

    ¡°In all honesty, I can¡¯t even say whether the dungeon was a good thing or a bad thing for me. Because of it, I was finally given the qualifications to be stronger. Because of it, I am who I am now. And I can say proudly that I like who I am now.

    ¡°But at the same time, it brought me so many problems that it took this many years to solve. Hell, if it wasn¡¯t for this kind of unique circumstance, it would¡¯ve taken even longer. The trauma that the dungeon gave me is equal to the level of strength I received from it. Perhaps it¡¯s just another form of bnce.

    ¡°But, regardless of whether it was good or bad, I am d for that experience. Just as I am happy I was able to have this one.¡±

    He sighed lightly. He had already said plenty, but there was still too much more he needed to say. But, as long as he knew it in his heart, there was no need to say it all out loud.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the drastic increase in my mental strength because of the Primordial Undying Tree¡¯s essence and those 5 plus years I spent fixing my spiritual world, having to experience that torture again most likely would¡¯ve broken my mind.

    ¡°That was the objective of this trial, right? To dig up my worst trauma and present it to me in full force. To break my mind and trap me in this trauma for eternity. Even at my current level of mental strength, I almost gave into my desire to look away and ignore it.

    ¡°But instead, it¡¯s been a huge boon to me. For that, I have to thank the Primordial Undying Tree.

    ¡°I feel like¡­having everythingid bare to me had helped me a lot. It helped me realize a great deal of problems that I didn¡¯t even realize I had. Problems that probably would¡¯ve only shown up again to hinder me when I go through my Universe Baptism in the future.

    ¡°Witnessing these problems, bing aware of them, and even solving some of them¡­it¡¯s just the beginning. It¡¯s a new beginning, the start of a path where I can be theplete version of myself. I won¡¯t waste it. I won¡¯tmit the same mistakes again. I won¡¯t hide away from my problems and trauma.¡±

    I¡¯m thankful.

    He said a lot of words, but that was the key point of his message.

    He closed his eyes.

    ¡°Son of ire Watson, the future husband of Rose Adire, Elena Pierce, and Xue Ruyue, the bearer of the Void Physique, the enemy of the Nox, the strongest human from Earth¡­there are so many different things that can be used to describe me.¡±

    But what was my name? The name that this version of me wanted to know so badly. The name that I can confidently dere in front of anyone and everyone. The name of the man who would shake the universe by its very foundation in the future¡­.

    ¡°I am Damien Void. Whether it be the past, the present, or the future, I am, and always will be, Damien Void. A mere trial like this isn¡¯t enough to shake my will. And by the wills of others, I will never forget who I am and what I represent. Now, Primordial Undying Tree, you should have your answer, no?¡±

    The scenery of Apeiron began to fade. The version of himself from the past faded with it. He had a light smile on his face as he did so. His purpose had been achieved, and at the end, he received the answer he wanted.

    Damien found himself inside yet another infinite void.

    A blue holographic notification appeared in front of his eyes.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree smiles.]

    [The Primordial Undying Tree states that this was indeed the oue it was hoping for.]

    [The Primordial Undying Tree tells you that there is only a single trial left. In that trial, it hopes that you can be the one who ims its fruit.]

    Damien smiled in response.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯ll be me. Come on, you¡¯ve been watching this entire time, do you really think anyone in here can beat me?¡±

    Another notification immediately popped up.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree warns you not to get too conceited.]

    ¡°Bah, I can¡¯t even joke with you? So stiff. Trust me, I know I still have people to look out for. That Hun Fang guy is particrly mysterious, not to mention¡­ah forget it.

    ¡°Oi Demon God, you¡¯re there too, right? How¡¯s it feel to be trapped in this by an old ass tree? You know, I can¡¯t speak for a Demigod, but if it were me¡­?

    ¡°Me personally, I wouldn¡¯t take that if I were you.¡±

    [The Primordial Undying Tree bursts intoughter. It says it hasn¡¯t had such a goodugh in many millennia.]

    [A frightening aura pervades the realm. The Demon God is furious at your taunting. He is wondering why a mere mortal dares to spheme him.]

    [The Primordial Undying Tree tells him to shut up. It says that the Demon God must be seething with embarrassment because he¡¯s being restricted by a mere tree.]

    Damienughed out loud. The back and forth between these two monsters was more entertaining than he expected it to be.

    With a bright smile on his face, he stretched his tired body. He had been living as the version of himself from the dungeon for so long, after all. He had experienced those 2 years without any time discement. It all happened in real-time.

    ¡®I¡¯ve yet again be mentally older than my actual age. At this point, I¡¯ll be an old monster before in 30¡­¡¯ Damienmented inwardly.

    But outwardly, he was feeling incredibly refreshed. The benefits of this experience were far better than the ones he got from the Trial World, even if the results weren¡¯t as tangible.

    He felt like he was reborn.

    The trauma trial he had just passed was the second trial, and ording to the Primordial Undying Tree, he would be able to acquire its fruits in the next and final trial.

    He was motivated, and his mood was far better than it had ever been ever since the World Awakening first happened all those years ago.

    ¡°Yo, Primordial Undying Tree, send me off to the next trial!¡±

 Chapter 362 Final Trial [1]

    ¡°Yo, Primordial Undying Tree, send me off to the next trial!¡±

    The second the words left his mouth, Damien felt space distort around him. Almost all of the notifications that hovered in front of his face disappeared, leaving only a single one.

    [You have passed the Trial of Self.]

    Trial of Self. It was a really good way to describe the previous trial.

    Although in those final moments, he had been watching everything from the void, it wasn¡¯t like that the entire time.

    Unlike the one who set up the illusion trial in the Eternal Secret Realm, the Primordial Undying Tree was a being that had reached Godhood.

    Damien¡¯s All-Seeing Eyes had been thoroughly suppressed.

    When he was crying in the corner on his second day in the dungeon. When he tried to kill himself on the third, when he humiliated himself on the fourth, when he went insane on the fifth, he had been there.

    He had experienced it all again firsthand.

    Not as an outsider looking in, but as the one going through those situations himself.

    But even with his All-Seeing Eyes suppressed, he didn¡¯t suddenly lose everything he had worked for over the years.

    The spiritual intent that he had refined tirelessly while he wasatose was still fully present. And due to the strong mind he had now, he was able to watch those scenes without breaking.

    But those two years were truly grueling.

    It wasn¡¯t an entirely good thing that Damien had unlocked his repressed memories. In the first ce, those memories had been subconsciously suppressed to protect him.

    From the moment he awakened his ego, he could feel a level of bloodlust he hadn¡¯t felt in years churning inside of him.

    But even then, he was d to feel this bloodlust.

    Because he had never controlled it properly before. It had been hidden in the recesses of his mind with the rest of his experiences in the dungeon.

    Now that it was back, he could use his current strength to properly control and make it a part of himself.

    He never wanted to abandon his bestial side entirely.

    He never wanted to abandon his experiences in the dungeon.

    Those experiences, that bestial instinct, it was all a core part of his personality. Abandoning them was actually more harmful to his sense of identity than it was good.

    So controlling and integrating was the best course of action. To take his current self and evolve into something better. Wasn¡¯t that the path he had walked so far?

    There was no hesitation in his thoughts. In fact, they moved so fast that he had already finished pondering by the time his body finished transporting to the next area.

    And when he felt the cool sensation of earth under his feet again, he immediately spread his awareness.

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    He heavily stomped the ground, infusing vector control into his movements to increase the gravity around him. The earth cracked with a bang.

    A pool of blood leaked from below. Although the beast never had a chance to surface, Damien had already seen its appearance.

    It was a massive groundworm several kilometers in length. Its mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth, and opened like the petals of a flower.

    Now, its head had been thoroughly crushed under the pressure of Damien¡¯s stomp. It was killed before it even had the opportunity to do anything.

    ¡°What else is around here?¡±

    Damien ignored the groundworm and refocused his attention on the surroundings. All around him were sand dunes of varying sizes.

    ¡°A desert, huh. Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t really been in a desert before.¡±

    It was odd considering the number of different ces he¡¯d visited, but he really hadn¡¯t seen a desert before in person. Most of the locations he visited were filled with lush greenery and vitality.

    ¡°Enough of that. What am I supposed to do here? There¡¯s no trial description yet again¡­¡±

    Actually, was that urate? The Primordial Undying Tree had already told him what he had to do.

    Reach the Primordial Undying Tree and im its fruit. That was the objective of this trial.

    ¡°Haha, so rather than a trial, it¡¯s more like this is the finale. If it¡¯s like that, then I should be able to meet up with them soon, right?¡±

    Instead of focusing on the outside, he sent his attention into his own body. There, within his heart, he could feel a second heartbeat that wasn¡¯t his.

    ¡°I can¡¯t feel her location¡­and with her heartbeat so chaotic, she should still be in the Trial of Self.¡±

    Although Ruyue¡¯s trauma wasn¡¯t the same as his, she was still a person with aplicated past of her own.

    But he wasn¡¯t worried. Just like him, she had grown immensely ever since their first meeting. The trauma that would¡¯ve broken her a few months ago wouldn¡¯t be able to do the same now.

    ¡°Instead of worrying about her, I should figure out where to go from here. Even if I don¡¯t find her now, she¡¯ll definitely find me once she gets here.¡±

    Thinking such, he began moving.

    Even within his massive awareness range, he wasn¡¯t able to sense anything besides the ever-expanding desert. The beasts within also weren¡¯t worth much of his attention.

    As he began to move, he noticed that the restrictions on his teleportation had beenrgely lifted. He could now freely move anywhere within a 100-kilometer range.

    ¡°How nice¡­though it¡¯s nothingpared to my full range, it¡¯s ten times more than even the distance I was able to teleport within the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.¡±

    With such a speed, he shouldn¡¯t take long to find a new environment. In his opinion, there was no way for the Primordial Undying Tree to be anywhere close to his current location.

    Even if it was a Divine Tree that could live endlessly, he figured that it would still prefer an environment filled with vitality. And considering that this was a realm it designed personally, there was no way it¡¯d just ignore those preferences.

    But to find an oasis within the desert, that too the specific oasis that the Primordial Undying Tree was in, it was even more tiring that trying to find a needle in a haystack.

    ¡°If there was any change to the scenery at all, it¡¯d be nice. Even if it wasn¡¯t rted to the oasis I¡¯m looking for, at least it¡¯d be rted to something.¡±

    His awareness was still fully spread. His vector shield was erected and constantly enforcing a gravity domain around him.

    The earthworms that tunneled through the sand below had no chance of even getting near him.

    He traveled like this for hours on end. In that time, he managed to find a single oasis, but it wasn¡¯t anything special. There wasn¡¯t even any treasure within.

    And so, hours passed once more. He teleported through the seemingly endless desert without pause. Even when his mana ran low, he devoured the ambient mana to quickly replenish it.

    And finally, he noticed an oddity.

    ¡°Hm? Isn¡¯t that¡­?¡±

    In the distance, his awareness locked onto a life aura. Although it wasn¡¯t totally familiar, there were some traits he recognized.

    He immediately shed away in that direction. And upon arrival, he noticed a familiar face.

    A cold beauty with light blue hair and eyes. The area around her was freezing even though the temperature in the atmosphere was the opposite.

    ¡°Lunaria Snow. I guess I have some fate with phoenixes.¡± Damienmented lightly.

    Since she was someone with such a close rtionship with Feng Qing¡¯er, he had no reason not to trust her.

    Therefore, he boldly revealed his presence.

    ¡°Miss Snow, fancy meeting you here!¡±

 Chapter 363 Final Trial [2]

    ¡°Miss Snow, fancy meeting you here!¡±

    When his voice rang out, Lunaria Snow¡¯s head snapped in his direction, her aura ring. But when she saw who it was, her momentum waned.

    ¡°Hm? You are¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, I guess we¡¯ve only met once before. My name is Damien Void.¡±

    Lunaria shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m well aware of your identity. Thatss Ruyue spoke very highly of you.¡±

    Damien¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You know Ruyue? Were the two of you in the same trial world?¡±

    ¡°Trial World? Mm, an apt name. Indeed, she was in the same space as I was. We spent the year traveling together. It¡¯s a shame we were separated afterward.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s just how the rest of the trials are. She hasn¡¯t arrived here yet. Have you met anyone else?¡±

    Lunaria shook her head. ¡°You are the first person I¡¯ve seen. This desert is too expansive. Even if there are others, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if we never meet.¡±

    Damien nodded his head. For him to meet someone he was somewhat familiar with, even if it was many hours after his first entry into the desert, it must¡¯ve been the Primordial Undying Tree pulling the strings.

    ¡®That old tree really favors me¡­¡¯ he thought inwardly. ¡®I wonder what he wants from me. There¡¯s no way he¡¯s just letting me have a free lunch.¡¯

    It was a little troubling to owe so many favors to a Demigod-level existence, but he couldn¡¯t help it anymore. The old tree had already given him a life-saving grace. If he didn¡¯t pay back that gratitude, he¡¯d be no different than scum.

    He quickly turned his attention back to Lunaria. ¡°How about we travel together? We can be considered mutual acquaintances, since you¡¯re close to Ruyue and I¡¯ve be friends with Feng Qing¡¯er. I think it¡¯s better to stick together.¡±

    Lunaria mulled over his proposal for a bit before agreeing. ¡°Very well. I still do not know much about this ce, so having a helping hand wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡±

    With that, the two of them soon began traveling together. Though, not much changed from before. They wandered the endless desert aimlessly and looked for anything special, but most of the time they ended up striking out.

    Damien was feeling a little troubled. Not just by the situation, but also by Lunaria Snow herself. Compared to Feng Qing¡¯er, it was a lot harder to get along with her.

    Whenever he tried to strike up a conversation, he was always met with the ttest and most blunt responses. He felt that there was no way he could get closer to her.

    Therefore, he also shut his mouth and stopped embarrassing himself. Unless it was necessary, he didn¡¯t try to talk to her.

    Their situation continued for hours on end, but they still had yet to find anything special.

    Damienmented in his heart. ¡®This is going to be an arduous journey indeed.¡¯

    ***

    With the passing of time, day and night interchanged. The sun gave way to the moon, cooling the zing heat that enveloped the desert.

    With an entire day being used fruitlessly searching for something new, the Damien and Lunaria duo were tired of moving.

    And so, they decided to set up camp and wait out the night, resting for a bit before continuing their journey.

    Currently, the two sat around a small campfire. Well, campfire was one way to describe it. But since there was no wood in the surroundings, it was really just Damien¡¯s Void mes burning on the sand between them, granting them a bit of light in the night.

    ¡°How is Qing¡¯er?¡±

    Damien was surprised to see Lunaria taking the initiative to speak. After all, she hadn¡¯t done so even once in the past day.

    But he ended up smiling. The information about them in the 3000 Beast Record was apparently theplete opposite of their actual rtionship. This indifferent woman was actually deeply worried about her friend.

    ¡°She was doing great thest time I saw her. It¡¯s surprising to see someone who can be so lively without end.¡±

    ¡°Mm. That¡¯s what she¡¯s been like since young. A fiery personality even for a Fire Phoenix. She gave her mother no small amount of trouble.¡±

    Lunaria had a soft smile on her face. It was so small it was barely perceptible, but it was a smile nheless.

    Seeing this, Damien couldn¡¯t help himself. He ended up telling her all the stories of what happened in the Trial World. Of course, mainly those that involved Feng Qing¡¯er.

    For the first time, Damien was able to show off his abilities as a storyteller. His recollections were so vivid that it almost felt like one was transported into those scenes themselves, experiencing them firsthand.

    And Lunaria listened intently as he spoke. When she heard about Feng Qing¡¯er unlocking the Reincarnation mes, she was shocked to the point where even her ice-cold exterior cracked.

    When he finally finished his stories, Lunaria sighed. ¡°As expected, she is thriving in an environment like this. Her love of adventure has always propelled her forward, so this is just another situation like that.¡±

    Damien also nodded. That love of adventure wasn¡¯t really something he had seen, but he could definitely feel that Feng Qing¡¯er was someone who grew stronger through hardship.

    Suddenly, he became curious about what happened in the other Trial Worlds.

    They had demons in theirs, and plots that seemed greater than mere trials. Was that something unique to his Trial World, or something happening everywhere?

    ording to Lunaria, it was thetter. They too had to deal with something simr.

    Except, instead of demons, it was a Nether Spirit Tribe.

    A tribe of beings that came from a Nether Realm, beings that were heavily rted to yin. In a Trial World of blizzards and endless snow, they were thriving.

    But Ruyue and Lunaria Snow were both extremely suitable for that environment. Evenpared to the Nether Spirit Tribe, they were thriving.

    And unlike Damien, who had two helpers with him, Ruyue and Lunaria were the only ones capable enough to fight the Nether Spirit Tribe within their Trial World.

    ¡®Haa¡­so in the end it¡¯s like that. That Demon God fellow enved multiple races under hismand for whatever purpose he¡¯s trying to achieve. To just expand the Nox¡¯s influence? I doubt it¡¯s so simple. Escape would be an even simpler goal, but is that really it?¡¯

    He deeply pondered it, but he couldn¡¯t figure anything out. Of the avable conclusions he could make, escape seemed like the most likely.

    But for the sake of escaping, what was the use of those other races? And why were they set up in such a way? He stillcked too much general knowledge to even make an educated guess.

    ¡®But, at least it looks like Ruyue reaped some benefits.¡¯

    ording to what Lunaria had said, Ruyue¡¯s control over yin had increased by arge margin. She was able to absorb those yin spirits and refine them to increase her own power andprehension. In a realm like her Trial World, she truly had no opponents.

    ¡®It¡¯s a shame she couldn¡¯t get a yin elemental spirit or something like the Void mes, though. I guess Nether Spirits harbor too much resentment to be tamed.¡¯

    As he spoke to Lunaria about the various plots and hidden dangers in the Primordial Undying Realm, his thoughts kept drifting to Ruyue.

    He trusted her and he was confident in her ability to survive, but he couldn¡¯t help but be worried.

    ¡®Sigh, I just hope you¡¯re okay.¡¯

    Soon, daylight once again flooded the desert. It was time for them to start moving again.

 Chapter 364 Final Trial [3]

    As soon as dawn arrived in the desert, the duo once again set off on their journey. And as expected, it was another day filled with fruitless travel.

    ¡°To have such an expansive desert that serves no purpose at all¡­are we looking at things the wrong way?¡±

    Damien muttered to himself. He had begun feeling like he was doing something wrong after that night they took rest. When he started looking at things from a fresh perspective, the fact that such a desert existed without any direction was odd in the first ce.

    ording to what he had gathered so far, the Primordial Undying Tree wasn¡¯t one to act without reason. For the setting of this trial to be a desert, it must mean something.

    The only thing left to figure out was ¡°what¡±.

    Suddenly, Damien had a thought. ¡®The beasts we¡¯ve encountered so far have been one of two types. Either they attack from the sky or beneath the ground. Isn¡¯t it strange that there are no beasts living above ground at all? There isn¡¯t even a single sign of vitality.¡¯

    When he started following this thought process, he found it more and more strange. He had been looking for an oasis in the desert where the Primordial Undying Tree might be growing, but what if it wasn¡¯t like that at all?

    He didn¡¯t have much experience with underground caves, if the dungeon wasn¡¯t counted, but he was well aware that the environment below the surface could also nurture flourishing vitality for different species of flora.

    As for the sky, it was a bit different. He had personally seen floating mountains before in the Eternal Secret Realm. Who was to say that there couldn¡¯t be any here?

    When his thoughts reached this point, he voiced them out to Lunaria to hear her opinion as well.

    ¡°Mm.¡± Lunaria immediately nodded her head in understanding. ¡°My thinking has been too shallow. It is indeed very possible that what you¡¯ve guessed is the truth. The question is, to go up or to go down?¡±

    Searching both would be ideal, but both the sky and the underground were vast areas that would take years on end to fully explore. It was impossible to not choose between them.

    ¡°Logically speaking, I feel that the sky is the better choice. The Primordial Undying Tree is known for its vitality, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be underground. But we can¡¯t rule out that possibility either. After all, we don¡¯t have enough information on the tree itself besides the things that could benefit us.¡± Damien pondered out loud.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s do this. One of us takes the sky and the other goes underground. We¡¯ll meet back up at this spot when 24 hours have passed. Whichever one of us has found more notable things, we¡¯ll go in that direction.¡±

    Even if it wasn¡¯t the Primordial Undying Tree, finding anything at all was better than their current predicament. As such, they should explore any notable locations theye across.

    Maybe basing which direction they took on this kind of thing was heavily reliant on luck as well, but they didn¡¯t have any other choice. Unless they wanted to keep wandering aimlessly, this was the best course of action.

    Lunaria agreed as well after mulling over it for a bit. ¡°Very well. If it is so, then I shall take the sky. In 24 hours, I wille back to this spot and await your discoveries.¡±

    With that, she immediately took off into the air. Damien smiled wryly at her attitude.

    ¡®Not even giving me a chance to say anything and just deciding on your own¡­isn¡¯t it a bit too cruel?¡¯

    But he didn¡¯t really mind it. Of the two choices, he was much more familiar with being underground.

    But first and foremost, he had to actually check whether the underground space he was imagining actually existed.

    When he sent his awareness into the ground, the only thing he found was sand and the tunnels formed by the groundworms. With this alone, it seemed like there actually wasn¡¯t any underground ecosystem.

    But he didn¡¯t believe it so easily.

    Damien¡¯s awareness soon caught sight of a portion of the groundworms¡¯ funnelwork. Arriving at the location of that connection point, he used his spatial mana to carve aside the sand and tunnel down.

    He dropped quickly. Since he was separating space itself to move the sand, it didn¡¯t pile back into the hole he created either.

    ¡®Maybe I should take up a career as a miner.¡¯

    The sand soon became harder and thicker. It was evidence that he was getting closer to his destination. And not long after, he finally fell into a 10-foot-tall tunnel.

    There were tens of connecting tunnels going in every direction. There were even a few that led down deeper into the underground.

    ¡®I should probably take one of those. This is still rtively close to the surface, so I doubt I¡¯ll find anything substantial if I keep traveling at this level.¡¯

    With that thought, he immediately chose a tunnel. By following its path, he could feel his altitude gradually decreasing as he headed deeper underground.

    ¡®Strange. I can feel the slight tremors of movement, but there are no life auras in the surroundings. Where is iting from?¡¯

    As he moved deeper and deeper underground, the tremors only became more prevalent. But he still couldn¡¯t feel any life aura.

    It was as if there was a constant earthquake taking ce somewhere nearby.

    ¡®The temperature has been constantly dropping as well. It¡¯s getting hard to think of this ce as a desert at this point.¡¯

    Instead of following the tunnel, Damien started tracking the source of the tremor instead. His instincts were telling him that he¡¯d find something good there.

    His path soon diverged from what was already dug out. He had to use his own mana to pave a new path to walk. However, he wasn¡¯t able to maintain the structural stability of a tunnel below so much sand.

    Due to this, he could only disce space a little so that the sand wouldn¡¯t actually concave on him. Instead, the existing sand filled the gap he made back in after he passed through. Essentially, he was creating a path he couldn¡¯t return through.

    ¡®This better be worth it. It¡¯s harder to spread my awareness through solid ground like this without interference, especially when there are so many granules of sand in the way. If I want to leave, my only option is to go back to the surface or find a new path.¡¯

    Even as heined, he kept moving forward. The tremors were getting even fiercer as he grew closer. It was to the point where the sand around him was in a constant state of vibration.

    ¡®Almost there.¡¯

    He pushed through thest barrier, and finally found himself in an open cavern.

    ¡°This is¡­!¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but exim out loud. When he was moving this way, he expected to find some sort of natural treasure or powerful beast. But the sight in front of him was neither.

    Instead, he found a man-made construct. It was a set of ruins that was constantly sending out pulses of mana, causing the tremors he felt earlier.

    Countless life auras of beasts were present within the ruins. Although he couldn¡¯t see them, he could estimate that all of them were at the peak of 3rd ss.

    And perhaps the most surprising fact of all was the temperature. Calling it cold was an understatement.

    It was like a subzero blizzard. This cavern alone was filled with snow and icepletely unlike everything around it. Even with his resistance and powerful body, Damien could feel a biting chill enveloping him.

    ¡®This can¡¯t be natural. Something in that ruin is influencing the environment like this. But it isn¡¯t a living being since the mana signatureing from this blizzard doesn¡¯t match any of the beast auras I sense. If so¡­what is it?¡¯

    He was curious to find out. He wanted to dive into the ruin right away.

    But he had apanion to meet up withter today. Not to mention, thatpanion would be a great help in an environment like this one.

    Damien let his mana loose and allowed his unique spatial mana to imprint on the surroundings. This way, he¡¯d be able to find this ce even if he left far away and had toe back.

    ¡®I have many hours left before I have to meet up with Lunaria. Until then, I¡¯ll keep exploring. But after we meet, we definitely have toe back here first.¡¯

    Although he knew there was nothing here that could benefit him, he had realized as soon as he entered that there was something he could give Ruyue.

    ¡®Good. Let¡¯s see how she likes my present when we finally meet up. Ah, right. I wonder if she¡¯s cleared the Trial of Self yet? I guess I¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡¯

    With that thought, Damien left the icy cavern and continued exploring the underground.

 Chapter 365 Ruyue [1]

    Her face never changed.

    Regardless of what they said to her, her face never changed.

    She stood unmoving like a block of ice. Her behavior made them even more furious than they already were.

    ¡°Filth. That¡¯s all you are. How selfish can you be?¡±

    ¡°You were born for the sake of the n, so you should live for its sake as well. How dare you act so willfully?¡±

    ¡°Look at this pathetic bitch. Is she even the Patriarch¡¯s daughter? She should just die so that she doesn¡¯t hum¨ªte the n more.¡±

    ¡°Idiot! Why should she die? If we sell her body to an elder of some great force, we can get even more benefits!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right!¡±

    It was how they thought of her. She knew it from the start, and there was no way it¡¯d change now.

    But regardless of what they said, she never let it get to her. She was indifferent to it all.

    Scum.

    What do the words of scum have to do with her?

    Why should she let it affect her?

    That¡¯s how she wanted to think. That¡¯s the ideal she was looking for.

    But she was never that cold and indifferent person. She could fool others, but she couldn¡¯t fool herself.

    They told her that even if she was getting raped in a back alley, it would be better than what she was doing now.

    They told her that if she killed herself, they¡¯d let her corpse get desecrated by orcs.

    She was only 16.

    How was she supposed to remain cold and indifferent?

    It was impossible.

    She cried. Even as they jeered at her, she cried. But she couldn¡¯t let them see her tears or else their attitudes would only be even worse.

    So when those tears threatened to spill out of her eyes, she froze them. She froze them and shattered them into specks of frost so minuscule that the others couldn¡¯t even perceive them.

    ¡°The only way to make them shut their mouths is with strength. Yue¡¯er, you must never let them believe they¡¯ve won against you.¡±

    The n didn¡¯t care for her. She was given an ill maid and a guard who was just as weak as she was. But those two were her family. The words they said held meaning in her heart.

    That guard had told her this. To gain strength. Otherwise, she would never have any say in what others thought. She would never have any control over her own fate.

    Her maid berated him for speaking such cruel words, but she didn¡¯t mind. He told her a fundamental truth that she needed to understand. For that, she was grateful.

    And he wasn¡¯t wrong.

    From that day onward, she began to sneak out of the n Manor. She went into nearby forests with a shabby steel spear and killed anything that moved.

    And slowly, she gained strength.

    The n that didn¡¯t pay attention to her, the members who prayed on her downfall, they began to look at her with a hint of fear in their gazes.

    At least, they did at first.

    Soon, a piece of news traveled through the n.

    The Third Elder of the Jade Heavenly Pce was to take Xue Ruyue as his 347th concubine.

    347th.

    That prized gem of the Xue n wasn¡¯t even given the status of an official wife or even an important concubine. She was to be reduced to a position no greater than a dog¡¯s.

    But in return for acquiring the Young Miss of the Xue n as his sex ve, the Third Elder of the Jade Heavenly Pce would grant the Xue n unprecedented status.

    Status that would allow them to outshine the other three great ns.

    She was horrified upon hearing the news. She felt like the hope she¡¯d built up over the years had crumbled in an instant.

    She wanted to run. She wanted to leave and never look back. However¡­

    ¡°Tonight, the Third Elder will being to see you. If you can¡¯t serve him well, don¡¯t expect that pathetic maid of yours to live.¡±

    Those were the words she was given. Rather than threatening her life, they threatened the lives of some of the only people she cared about.

    So she resigned herself to fate.

    That night, sheid on the bed defenseless. She was prepared to offer no resistance. Her heart had frozen over.

    But fate had other ns in store for her.

    That guard broke into her room before the Third Elder arrived at the n.

    He forcefully dragged her away.

    Even though his strength was now nothing in front of her, she couldn¡¯t bear to hurt even a strand of hair on the head of the person who had raised her with care since she was young.

    So she allowed herself to be pulled away.

    On that silent night, the Xue n was sent into an uproar.

    Two mere servants had rebelled.

    Using an unknown poison, they killed dozens of guards that were monitoring the little princess.

    And they sent her out of the n.

    On that night, Xue Ruyue ran with all her might.

    She didn¡¯t look back. She didn¡¯t hesitate. Because she knew that if she did, she wouldn¡¯t be able to control herself. She wouldn¡¯t be able to leave her parents in such a terrible situation.

    On that night, the guard and the housemaid, the two who had raised Xue Ruyue like their own child,mitted suicide in front of the n gates.

    Their fates would¡¯ve only been worse if they didn¡¯t.

    The housemaid would¡¯ve been raped and humiliated until she was a shell of her former self.

    The guard would¡¯ve been tortured brutally until he was unrecognizable.

    They knew this.

    So they acted decisively.

    Xue Ruyue only found outter what had happened to them.

    When she did, she swore revenge. She would tear down the Xue n even if it took her hundreds of years to do so.

    Meanwhile, the Xue n was in an uproar. Not only did they have nobody to punish for the events that urred that night, they had also incurred the ire of the Third Elder.

    By the time they caught wind of their little princess again, she had gained the backing of the Grand Elder of the Celestial Star Pce.

    They could no longer touch her.

    But Xue Ruyue wasn¡¯t in the slightest bit proud of her achievement.

    In the end, the people she cared about died because of her weakness.

    The n she hated most was still standing strong.

    Under their influence, news of the incident never leaked. In the eyes of the public, the Xue n was honorable and just.

    They were incredibly shameless too.

    Even with Xue Ruyue abandoning the n, they acted like she was still their property.

    Even after the deal with the Third Elder was snuffed, they engaged her in another marriage agreement.

    Not even with a force that was greater than them, but with the Wang n, which was a mere subsidiary n.

    She was infuriated.

    But there was nothing she could do.

    It was the fate of the weak.

    She was born to be a tool for the Xue n, and even after she escaped, this fate still tried to follow her.

    Ruyue woke up with a start.

    The rage she felt, the humiliation, it was all fresh in her mind.

    But she wasn¡¯t the same helpless and sheltered princess anymore.

    The feelings and struggles of her past self couldn¡¯t bog her down.

    She was different from Damien. From start to finish, she never repressed her memories.

    She made sure those memories burned bright in her head. She made sure she¡¯d never forget what had transpired.

    It was her motivation. It was the reason she became strong.

    So that one day, she could put the Xue n under her foot.

    And then exterminate it for what it did to her and her family.

 Chapter 366 Ruyue [2]

    For Ruyue, passing the Trial of Self didn¡¯t hold the same meaning as it did for Damien.

    Instead, it served to reaffirm her determination.

    Back then, the Xue n was a behemoth she couldn¡¯t hope to resist. She was simply a sheep waiting to be hunted.

    But looking back at it now, it didn¡¯t feel the same at all. She thought about the Xue n from her current perspective, and it didn¡¯t look like a mountain.

    It was within reach.

    All she had to do was continue walking her path as she did. Continue working hard. And one day not so far in the future, she¡¯d be able to achieve her goal.

    She smiled when she thought about it.

    If someone had told her things would end up like this, her past self wouldn¡¯t believe it.

    But fate was a strange thing.

    She, who had been neglected and stepped on for so long, had gained people who treated her with value. People who genuinely cared about her.

    She had friends and allies, even someone she was willing to die for. She had people who would help her in revenge.

    She was no longer alone and pathetic.

    Ruyue stood in the infinite void. Her Trial of Self had already been passed.

    In fact, she could¡¯ve chosen to break out from the beginning, but she didn¡¯t. She endured those years of suffering for a second time. Because she wanted to see those scenes again. She wanted the mes of vengeance in her heart to burn bright again.

    The sins of the Xue n were unforgivable.

    And she had always been taught to pay back any grievance tenfold.

    Ruyue looked up into the nothingness around her. Her gaze was hazy and unfocused.

    ¡°Do you see it? Father, Mother, do you see me now? I won¡¯t let those scum who caused your death live freely. That old dog Xue Yebai¡­I¡¯ll allow him to feel the same pain he forced you to feel.¡±

    Xue Yebai, her biological father. He didn¡¯t deserve such a position. He was a dog and nothing more.

    Ruyue clenched her fists. She could feel the ice-cold yin power coursing through her veins.

    ¡°It isn¡¯t enough yet. If it¡¯s him, he¡¯s probably already surpassed me by miles. If I can¡¯t even match him, how can I think of revenge?¡±

    Her thoughts were on a certain man. A man who she had been yearning for for over a year now.

    He was both the target of her affection and the target of her rivalry. He was the most talented genius she had ever met.

    To match his pace wasn¡¯t an easy feat. For most, it was utterly impossible. Thinking about his growth rate would only cause them to doubt themselves.

    But that was exactly what made him so special. That was exactly what made him the perfect goal to look up to.

    Ruyue knew. If she could even follow his growth rate at a pace where she could see his back, it wouldn¡¯t take more than a few years for her to get her revenge.

    If she could match him? The Xue n¡¯s doom was already a guarantee.

    She smiled. It was a smile filled with tender love and affection.

    ¡°You bastard¡­even when I want to think of my revenge, you still manage to appear in my thoughts. You made me like this, so how are you going to take responsibility?¡±

    She was speaking to herself, but her hand was resting over her heart. There, she could feel a heartbeat that wasn¡¯t hers.

    It was calm and steady, beating with power and vitality. Every time she felt it, she felt an unknown sense offort wash over her.

    She had given him her soul. Not even in a metaphorical sense, but a literal fragment of her soul.

    She had suffered injury for doing so, but she didn¡¯t regret it.

    Even if he already had a woman, she had seen his attitude. She knew that she already had a ce in his heart.

    If it was like that, then why hesitate? Ever since she decided to stop running away from her problems, it had already been decided.

    Her mind, her body, her soul¡­everything would belong to him.

    And in return, she wanted his everything too.

    Whether he was prepared to give it to her or not, she couldn¡¯t control. But she would do everything she could to im it.

    She smiled once again.

    How did her thoughts reach this point?

    It turned out that he had be just as important to her as her revenge.

    It was a mind-boggling thing to discover, but she didn¡¯t mind. It was nice to have some warmth tobat the icy ferocity she held in her heart.

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m thinking too much again. The trial is already over, so I should be transported to the next one now, right?¡±

    Although she said the words, she didn¡¯t feel the nauseating feeling of spatial transportation enveloping her. Instead, a string of blue holographic text appeared in front of her eyes.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree watches you with interest.]

    [The Primordial Undying Tree says it notices a strange connection between you and that person.]

    [The Primordial Undying Tree is expecting great things from that person, so it decides to give you a small gift.]

    [The Primordial Undying Tree tells you to assist him well.]

    A crack opened within the infinite void. From within it, a greenish-white essence exuding a divine aura leaked out.

    Soon, it shot forward and flowed into Ruyue¡¯s mouth. It tasted like a clear and refreshing spring filled with heavenly dew water.

    Ruyue was forced to shut her eyes and concentrate on the powerful mana flooding into her body, but her thoughts were still active.

    ¡®That person? From the words I saw, it can only be a single person. The great Primordial Undying Tree is personally helping me for his sake? Geez, what the hell has he been up to?¡¯

    A small smile decorated her face. A feeling of pride welled up inside of her. How could she not be proud? The man she chose was being acknowledged by a Demigod-level existence. It was an utmost honor for those at their meager level of strength.

    A translucent green cocoon enveloped her not long after the essence entered her body. At this point, her thoughts were cut off. She had to focus internally rather than think of unnecessary things.

    A gentle stream of energy seemed to be purifying her from within. Her meridians, her flesh and bones, and even her internal organs were purged of anything that could be considered as impurity.

    Her mana capacity expanded rapidly. As it turned out, even her mana was getting purified.

    Ruyue was focused on the feeling of this mana as it moved through her body. It worked on its own, with her not needing to control the process, but she still didn¡¯t take her attention off of it.

    After all, she could never know whether there would be mishaps or not. This was a mana on a level that far exceeded her own.

    She was being transformed.

    Within the infinite void, a solitary green cocoon floated aimlessly. How long it would take for the cocoon to shatter? That was unknown.

 Chapter 367 Ruins [1]

    24 hours soon passed within the endless desert of the final trial. Damien broke through the sand and arrived on the surface once more, quickly moving towards the rendezvous point.

    ¡®The underground is far more expansive than I originally expected. Even after I found that ruin, there were still so many interesting things down there.¡¯

    Damien looked into his subspace with a smile. There, he saw a collection of assorted herbs and fruits that radiated unique mana signatures.

    These were some of his finds during his time in the underground. Along with plenty of subterranean beasts, there were areas that were filled with vitality and unique nts just as he had expected.

    But none of these areas were anywhere near as dangerous as the ruins he found first. That ce, even if he could clear it alone, it would take a few days to do so.

    It was part of the reason he wanted to meet up with Lunaria before exploring. A few days wasn¡¯t a long time, but when he was racing against others to find the Primordial Undying Tree, it was time he couldn¡¯t afford to waste.

    Therefore, meeting up with Lunaria and clearing it together within a few hours or at most a day was the most solid option.

    As for the fruits and herbs in his subspace, even he didn¡¯t have the necessary knowledge to say what they did yet. All he knew was that they all had interesting mana radiating from them, so he picked them up.

    While he sorted his gains, he arrived at the point of rendezvous, where Lunaria was already waiting.

    ¡°Found anything?¡± He asked curiously.

    Although the underground was packed with interesting stuff, it didn¡¯t mean the sky would be void of it. He wanted to know just how much treasure was packed into this endless desert realm.

    Lunaria looked at him with a hint of annoyance in her gaze. After all, he had arrived an hourter than the promised time. However, she still answered his question.

    ¡°Nothing of note. While I did find some traces of floating constructs, there was nothing special on them. Either they had already been looted at some point, or they were barren from the start.¡±

    Damien¡¯s attention was piqued. ¡°So the possibility of there being good stuff in the sky isn¡¯t nil. As for the location of the Primordial Undying Tree, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s there.¡±

    There was another discovery Damien had made when he was in the underground. He felt like something was calling to him from below.

    At first, he didn¡¯t know where this feeling originated from, but as time passed, a conjecture began to form in his mind.

    Of the things he had rtion to within the Primordial Undying Realm as a whole, there were only two that could give him such a calling.

    The Void mes and the Primordial Undying Tree itself.

    But the difference was in the source. If the Void mes had found a me it wanted to devour, it would fall out from within him. He would feel it within his body.

    But the Primordial Undying Tree wasn¡¯t the same. He had refined its Essence, but the main body was still separate. Therefore, the calling would be external.

    He surmised that this was the most likely situation. Unless it was somethingpletely out of his thought process, the Primordial Undying Tree should be within the subterranean world.

    Except, it was so incredibly deep that it would probably take at least a week to reach it.

    Damien shook off his thoughts. First, he told Lunaria about the things he had discovered in the subterranean world.

    ¡°Besides the ruins, there were various pockets with different treasures within. Most of them are natural treasures that have grown and flourished over time like fruits and herbs, but there are also some rare ores and even man-made constructs.¡±

    As he continued exining, even Lunaria couldn¡¯t hide her interest. Unexpectedly, he had found so much within the span of a day.

    But it couldn¡¯t be helped. Damien could follow the tunnels and pathways already present in the underground from the movement of beasts that lived there. That way, he could maneuver much faster and with a clearer purpose.

    Lunaria¡¯s situation was different. The sky was just as vast and expansive, but there was no way to leave a specific pathway in the sky unless one used mana or built sky-reaching constructs.

    Since the flying beasts didn¡¯t need mana pathways to maneuver the sky, those didn¡¯t exist. And nothing needed to be said about the constructs.

    In the end, all Lunaria could do was fly aimlessly in hopes of finding something. The fact that she had found anything at all, even if it was something useless, could be considered good luck.

    But she stopped thinking about such trivial things quickly. Her attention was drawn to the icy ruins that Damien had mentioned.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you excavate the ruins yourself?¡± She asked. It was what any sane person would do.

    Damien thought about answering with some benevolent bullshit, but he decided against it. He and Lunaria didn¡¯t know each other at all, and they still needed to build trust before he could act like his usual self. Otherwise, he¡¯d just strain their already fragile rtionship.

    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of time.¡± He answered her honestly. ¡°Clearing it with you means that I can finish faster, which in turn means I have more time to look for my main purpose ofing here.¡±

    Lunaria nodded. Although the treasures that littered the subterranean world were interesting, they couldn¡¯tpare to the Primordial Undying Fruits at all.

    ¡°Very well. Since it¡¯s like that, I shall help clear the ruins. However, I also want some of the treasures within.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Damien immediately agreed. ¡°As long as you let me have the main treasure, you can have everything else.¡±

    He had already felt it before. Perhaps because of the strange connection he had with Ruyue, he could instinctively feel that whatever the main treasure of that ruins was would be massively beneficial to her.

    As for everything else? Even if they had extreme value, he was never a material person.

    And perhaps him being like that was the reason he had avoided so many useless conflicts. After all, treasures make an innocent man guilty.

    After mulling it over, Lunaria epted his proposition. Despite the fact that she was curious about what kind of treasure the crowning treasure of the ruins was, she wasn¡¯t the type to be too greedy.

    Since she was being given so much in return, it was only natural for her to agree.

    The two soon departed and began traveling to the area Damien had found before. However, instead of taking the tedious path underground, Damien followed the trace of his space imprint to find the same area by traveling on the surface.

    This way, he could easily and rapidly fly across the desert and reach that position within an hour instead of wasting more time digging.

    When they reached the location, Damien used the same method to part the sand using space. And without dy, they dropped into the frozen cavern that he had found earlier.

    ¡°This¡­!¡±

    Sensing the heavy frost aura, Lunaria lightlymented in surprise. She could now understand why Damien wanted her help to clear the ruins.

    Meanwhile, Damien was frowning. ¡®The number of life auras I sensed has rapidly increased. It seems it won¡¯t be simple to get our hands on this cake.¡¯

    But it was still something he had to do. Turning to Lunaria, he nodded his head.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 368 Ruins [2]

    Lunaria hesitated slightly. Wouldn¡¯t it be best to go into an unknown location like this with a n? She wanted to ask, but by the time she tried to do so, Damien had already rushed into the entrance of the ruins.

    ¡°You¡­sigh.¡±

    In the end, she could only follow. Seeing his seemingly reckless behavior, she began to understand how he became good friends with Qing¡¯er.

    The entrance to the ruins was arge broken Japanese-style gate. Walking through it, the two were met with a spread ofnd covered in ice and snow.

    Damien spread his awareness with a frown. ¡®That¡¯s odd. I could¡¯ve sworn there were dozens of life auras in this ce, so why is it empty now?¡¯

    Since his awareness couldn¡¯t find anything off, he immediately put mana into his eyes to check as well. And as he expected, the scenery in front of him changed.

    Theyout of the area was still the same, but there had been certain things hidden inside what seemed to be a bewildering formation.

    ¡®These are¡­¡¯ Damien muttered in surprise. He had found the source of the life auras he sensed, but their state wasn¡¯t anything like he expected.

    Each and every beast he saw was frozen in a coffin of ice. From the looks of it, a single touch could shatter their bodies. But their life auras were still filled with vitality, so he knew they hadn¡¯t been injured.

    ¡®Not injured but frozen so thoroughly that they can¡¯t escape¡­this ice isn¡¯t simple.¡¯

    He looked over at Lunaria. If she could see the beasts trapped in ice, it would be much simpler to identify it. She was an Ice Phoenix after all.

    But truth be told, Ice Phoenixes were much closer to Life than they were to yin. Their ice mes would evolve into Life mes just like how Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s mes evolved into Reincarnation mes.

    But that didn¡¯t mean they were helpless. In the end, they were still Ice Phoenixes.

    Thinking this far, Damien began looking further into the bewildering formation. He wanted to find the formation core and break it as he did in Acier.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Lunaria asked. He had been looking around and walking aimlessly ever since they entered, but she was still clueless as to what was happening.

    Damien exined to her about the bewildering formation and the strange ice that he had found. Hearing it, Lunaria¡¯s brows furrowed.

    ¡°Taking care of the formation shouldn¡¯t be too hard. Allow me to try.¡±

    Lunaria manifested her mes. They were ice blue in color and gave off an aura of cold that didn¡¯t match their status as mes at all. Soon after, she began molding her mes into specific patterns

    ¡®Isn¡¯t this the same as how Qing¡¯er was using her mes after they evolved? No, it¡¯s slightly different.¡¯

    Although the runic patterns were simr, they didn¡¯t seem to carry the same purpose or aura.

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s me runes were filled with an air of domineering and power, but Lunaria¡¯s were reserved and silent. Not to mention, the runic patterns werepletely different.

    After the runes were created, Lunaria spread her arms, causing them to float into the surroundings. They spread out evenly like a.

    ¡°There.¡±

    Lunaria only spoke a single word, and the runes all congregated on a single location. They congealed together and formed a massive ice needle that pierced into the ground.

    Crack!

    A distinct crack was heard, and the bewildering formation crumbled entirely. The true scenery of the area was revealed.

    ¡°Impressive,¡± Damienmented.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing at all. This is but a basic use of Ice Phoenix Patterns.¡± Lunaria replied nonchntly.

    She wasn¡¯t lying. Ice Phoenix Patterns were geared towards support capability. To find a formation core was extremely basic in her book.

    Damien just shrugged it off. He really didn¡¯t have enough knowledge about the Phoenix race to say anything else.

    Instead, he moved towards the ice statues.

    ¡°As I thought, this ice isn¡¯t anything simple. Even by standing near it, I can feel danger.¡±

    It was as if one touch would turn him into an ice statue like the rest of these beasts. With this feeling enveloping him, it was obvious his surprise when he saw Lunaria casually touch the ice.

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°Hm? I¡¯m touching the ice.¡±

    ¡°Yeah I know you¡¯re¡ª wait, you¡¯re fine?¡±

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± Lunaria tilted her head as if his concern confused her.

    Seeing this, Damien felt a headacheing on. Of course he could exin what he felt from the ice, but would that even change anything?

    With him closing his mouth, Lunaria turned her attention back to the ice. She injected her mana into it, circting it through the ice and testing it.

    ¡°This ice indeed carries some unique properties. Not only can it leave someone in a state of suspended animation, it can also shatter and control their life at will. But this doesn¡¯t seem to be an effect caused by a single attack¡­it¡¯s more like the work of a domain.¡±

    ¡°A domain!¡±

    It was a word Damien hadn¡¯t heard in a while. The only two people he had met who utilized domains were Rose and Qing Tan.

    On Apeiron, it was said that reaching a certain level of control would allow one to form a domain, but as Damien traveled, he felt like this theory was wrong.

    There was no way the number of people who had reached such control would be so little. After all, to properly reach 4th ss, one needed extremeprehension and control of their element so they could harnessws upon ranking up.

    So logically speaking, every peak 3rd ss existence he had met should¡¯ve been able to use a domain.

    But they couldn¡¯t.

    Perhaps control was one factor, but there were definitely other things needed to achieve the feat. Talent was definitely one of them.

    As for Damien, he could definitely form a domain with his space element if he wanted, but he was waiting to unlock his time element first to form a dual-element domain instead.

    The strange thing was for a domain to appear in a ce like this. Even if a remnant soul was in charge of this ruin, they wouldn¡¯t be able to make use of a domain without a physical body to control mana with.

    Which means, this domain was the ability of something else.

    Damien suddenly became excited.

    He had read a lot of records on Apeiron. Although their information was limited due to the aftereffects of the war with the Nox, they still had a great deal of knowledge within their libraries.

    And there was one thing that came to mind when he thought of the current situation.

    A ruin, a mysterious domain, and an object that controlled and erected it. With these three facts alone, he could pretty much guess what the crowning treasure of this ruin was.

    It was only a legend on Apeiron, but who was to say it was the same everywhere else?

    It was an extremely rare sentient treasure. Formed from the amalgamation of attributed mana over tens of thousands of years and eventually developing a will due to the sheer amount of both time and mana, it was the kind of treasure every practitioner would kill to get their hands on.

    An elemental seed.

 Chapter 369 Ruins [3]

    An Elemental Seed, also known as an Elemental Spirit

    They were extremely rare. No, even calling it like that was an understatement. For an elemental seed to form, it wasn¡¯t just a matter of time and effort. There was a good amount of luck involved as well.

    After all, even with so much time and condensed mana, gaining sentience wasn¡¯t something logically possible. Elemental seeds weren¡¯t living beings.

    Their sentience could be considered simr to an artifact spirit¡¯s. As for the reason they formed? It was still unknown.

    They were wonders of nature. To see one now, Damien was incredibly pleased.

    ¡®It¡¯s a shame that it isn¡¯t apatible attribute for me. I could use a lightning elemental seed to raise my lightning to the same level as my Void mes.¡¯

    But even then, it was an elemental seed that¡¯d benefit Ruyue, so it wasn¡¯t much of a loss. He already had so much, after all.

    ¡®But is it just an ice elemental seed or is it full-blown yin? Maybe something in between? I can only find out once I see it with my own eyes.¡¯

    Damien soon snapped out of his thoughts, only to see that Lunaria was still observing the ice coffins. Looking at her, he hesitated.

    Morally speaking, telling her would be the best thing to do. Especially since he was trying to build trust between them.

    But he couldn¡¯t do it.

    Lunaria may be a rtively upright person, but anyone would get greedy in the face of an elemental seed. Not to mention an elemental seed that aligned with their affinities.

    It was best to hold the information back for the small possibility that Lunaria would go back on their agreement.

    ¡°So? What should we do now?¡± He asked. From what he could see, there was nothing in this area besides these ice coffins. He couldn¡¯t even see an exit.

    Lunaria thought for a second before responding. ¡°Although I¡¯ve been studying it, I¡¯m not sure about the full capabilities of this ice yet. Whether or not it can freeze mana is still up in the air. And even if I want to try it, it¡¯s too risky to do so.¡±

    Damien nodded. But it was important for them to know whether it could or couldn¡¯t. It would hurt them immenselyter on if they were caught by surprise.

    Damien moved further away from Lunaria and found an ice coffin. Then, without hesitation, he poured a wisp of mana into the ice.

    Crackle!

    It was a strange sound to hear. But as soon as it happened, Damien jolted back and withdrew his mana. Small blue snowkes drifted down to the floor in front of him.

    ¡°This¡­it looks like you were right. Ice that can even freeze mana¡­how terrifying.¡±

    Damien sighed. Since it was like that, it would be impossible for him to kill and devour these beasts. He didn¡¯t think Void Essence would be frozen by the ice, but that wasn¡¯t something he could casually reveal to others.

    Lunaria¡¯s eyes shone with a glint of curiosity. ¡°Indeed. Since there isn¡¯t anything else we can do here, we should move on. This is just the entrance, after all.¡±

    Damien made a sound of affirmation and began walking towards the other end of the icy area. Although he couldn¡¯t see the end, he felt it was the best way to go.

    And as he expected, there was another gate present there. Or rather, there were two.

    ¡°Split up or go together?¡± He asked Lunaria.

    ¡°I should be fine alone, but I can¡¯t say the same for you. You can¡¯t use physical force nor mana against this ice?¡± She responded.

    ¡°Worried about me?¡± He asked with perked eyebrows.

    Lunaria shook her head. ¡°You are a friend of Qing¡¯er¡¯s. If you die, she will most likely be sad, and that is something I cannot allow.¡±

    Damien smiled wryly. This girl was too blunt. He couldn¡¯t even joke properly with her.

    ¡°If it¡¯s my survival that concerns you, you don¡¯t need to worry about it. I¡¯m confident I can stay alive at least. And if necessary, I can easily escape.¡±

    Lunaria looked at him closely as if she was trying to find any lies in his statement. Soon after, she shook her head.

    ¡°If you think you can survive, then that is your choice. I will not interfere. Which door will you choose?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Damien fell into thought.

    He used his awareness to check both doors, but there was nothing special about either. Even when he poured mana into his eyes, he couldn¡¯te to a decision.

    His expression became wry. ¡®It seems I¡¯m not fated with this treasure at all. I can only rely on luck and hope I find it first.¡¯

    Thinking such, he randomly picked the door on the right.

    Lunaria nodded. ¡°Good. I was going to choose the left door anyway. Well then, I will see you when we exit the ruin.¡±

    After she spoke, she immediately rushed into the left door. Damien frowned at how hastily she departed.

    ¡®Did I make the wrong choice? With her affinity, she should have a better feeling for this ce than I do. Well, nothing I can do about it.¡¯

    He soon entered the right door as well. Truthfully, he was d they separated.

    Staying with Lunaria was too awkward for him. Having to restrain his personality so much to just stay cordial with someone was a new experience for him.

    But it wasn¡¯t only that.

    ¡°Now that I¡¯m alone, I can finally use it¡­¡± he muttered.

    A pitch ck essence surfaced on his palm. When it appeared, even the cold aura in the surroundings retreated in fear.

    ¡°Hmph. Even if you¡¯re an elemental spirit, you¡¯re nothing in front of Void Essence. Now, let¡¯s see how you hide from me.¡±

    He shot forward. Whenever he came across a frozen coffin, he engulfed it in his Void Essence, causing it to quickly dissolve into nothingness.

    Beyond the right door, the scenery didn¡¯t change much. It was still an icy tundra-like nd. But there were a few signs of dpidated buildings that had existed in the past.

    ¡®This ruin is much vaster than it looks from the outside. But even then, these buildings are too worn down. I doubt anything within them could survive.¡¯

    He checked with his awareness just to make sure, but as he expected most of the buildings were empty.

    In some, though, he could see extremely ancient traces of human activity. Rusted weapons and torn pages from books that no longer existed, even tea cups and other kitchenware that had been eroded with time.

    ¡®Was this a city? Underground? Wait, that¡¯s beside the point. There were people living here?¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t the same as the situation with the demons. He had heard their story and their origin. In the end, they were still outsiders who entered the Trial World a long time ago.

    But the endless desert was different. It was the ce where the Primordial Undying Tree¡¯s main body was situated. There was no way such a being would allow those corrupted by the Demon God so close to it.

    If so, who were the ones that once lived here? And what happened to them? They must¡¯ve been extremely adept at using ice element, or else they couldn¡¯t have survived in this environment.

    If it was like that, then the desert environment would¡¯ve been hard-pressed to kill them. Starvation and thirst weren¡¯t problems they would¡¯ve had to deal with.

    So what killed them?

 Chapter 370 Ruins [4]

    It was pointless to think about it.

    To chalk it up to the Nox would be the easiest and most direct solution, and judging by their track rate, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising either, but he couldn¡¯t just make that conclusion without any evidence.

    Besides, the reason for these peoples¡¯ extinction didn¡¯t matter to him. The only thing he cared about was the elemental seed.

    ¡®Did Lunaria find something simr on her side? I should ask her once we meet again.¡¯

    Thinking so, he continued teleporting through the ruin. The difficulty wasn¡¯t anything like what he imagined it would be. From start to finish, he didn¡¯t get attacked at all.

    Until finally, he arrived at a building that had held itself in pristine condition unlike any of the rest.

    It was something that looked like a shrine, with hundreds of steps leading up to the actual floor of the building. The steps were lined with torches in a strange pattern. Every time he climbed another step, a corresponding torch would be lit ame.

    But the mes were ice blue in color just like Lunaria¡¯s Ice Phoenix mes. Only, theycked the same gentleness.

    ck! ck! ck!

    Each step he took created a resounding sound that seemed to echo through the area. With each torch that was lit, the temperature dropped significantly.

    It was already extremely cold. The domain conjured by the elemental seed had submerged the entire ruin in an ice age. When the temperature continued to drop on top of that, it reached a point where even Damien couldn¡¯t simply bear it.

    ck! ck! ck!

    He soon climbed up 100 steps. His Void me encased his body like a fiery robe that expelled the cold mana from his system and prevented it froming close.

    But the Void me was still in its growth phase. There was no way it would be able to hold up entirely. By the time he hit 150 steps, the me¡¯s protection began to wane.

    ck! ck! ck!

    The torches that hovered in the air began emitting a strange resonance as more and more were lit up. However, Damien didn¡¯t have the time to pay attention to them. The cold had prated his Void mes and entered his body.

    He immediately moved his Void Essence into action, which prevented his internals from being immediately frozen over, but his exterior condition couldn¡¯t be helped. And the cold mana kept invading his system without pause, making it so he couldn¡¯t use his Void Essence for any other purpose besides defending his internal body.

    ck!

    His steps began to slow. Frost gathered on his hair and eyebrows, painting them white. His skin began to take on a blueish hue as well.

    He had reached 300 steps up the shrine, but there were still 200 to go. Judging by his current pace, he wouldn¡¯t be able to make it.

    ¡®I could just teleport¡­no. I can¡¯t do that.¡¯

    He wanted to teleport, but his instincts were adamantly telling him not to. It was as if he would fail the ongoing trial if he did.

    So, he kept climbing. Putting one foot in front of the other over and over again. His mind was slowly emptied of all thoughts other than continuing the climb, because thinking of anything else felt like he was expending too much energy.

    Fshhh!

    It was a sound like boiling water meeting ice. As the sound got louder, Damien¡¯s thought process began to slow. Even thinking about climbing became a chore.

    If he had the spare energy to look inside his spiritual world, he¡¯d be able to see ayer of frost spreading within. His spiritual continent was being frozen over by this frost, limiting his mental power a great deal.

    ck! ck!

    He kept climbing. He eventually reached the 400th step. But when he tried to continue, he found that his legs would no longer move.

    Krrrr!

    He dragged his legs forward, causing them to scrape against the rock-hard floor. He strained his neck to look down, only to realize how poor of a state his body was in.

    He was freezing. Literally freezing into a block of ice like those beasts from before. And the worst part was, he didn¡¯t even realize what was happening until his legs had already be chunks of ice.

    ¡®N-no¡­I can¡¯t let this happen.¡¯

    Even his thoughts were chattering while being affected by cold. It was insane to even think about. He tried to think of a solution, but his current prowess and circumstance didn¡¯t allow any easy way out.

    He had the ability to spatially disce the ice, but the problem was that the ice was bing one with his body. Discing it meant ripping himself apart.

    ¡®N-no¡­if I do it now¡­i-it should be possible¡­¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t toote yet. Things hadn¡¯t be irreversible. His mana was sluggish, but still responded to hismand.

    He wrapped his mana around his body like a thick coat. The process that should¡¯ve been instant took many minutes toplete. The freezing had already gotten worse.

    But his bone structure and muscles still hadn¡¯t been totally affected yet.

    Realizing what he was about to do, he cringed. He really didn¡¯t want to take this route, but since teleportation seemed to be illegal, he could only move forward with what he nned.

    ¡®F-fuck¡­this is¡­really going to hurt¡­¡¯

    It was hisst thought of hesitation. Immediately after, he circted his mana in a rage. Spatial mana coated his frozen legs and freezing upper body like a veil. It infused into the ice and deep into his skin and muscle.

    And then, he disced everything his mana had encased.

    Rrrrip!

    ¡°ARGH!¡±

    He screamed in pain. Laying on the ground a few meters away from him was a lump of flesh and skin.

    All of the skin and a part of the muscles on his legs had been yed from his body. Luckily, only the skin of his upper body had been affected, or else the pain would¡¯ve been multiple times worse.

    Copious amounts of blood spilled to the ground from his body. From the neck down, his muscles were entirely exposed to the outside world, looking like the models he used to study in health ss.

    ¡°AHHH!¡±

    The pain was unbearable. ying of skin was amonly used torture method, but he never thought he¡¯d be the first one to do it to himself.

    But just as rapidly as his skin and muscles were torn from his body, new skin and muscles began to grow. His High-Level Regeneration worked its full effect, slowly bringing his body back to peak condition.

    High-Level Regeneration was a good skill. He was incredibly thankful to have it. As long as he didn¡¯t lose any limbs and as long as he had enough mana, it could heal him entirely.

    But the pain didn¡¯t go away. Along with the pain brought by the forceful healing of so much of his body, the phantom pain of him ripping off all his skin continued to impact him.

    His legs were first to heal. His regeneration had been focused there first before moving on to his torso.

    But as he focused on regting his body while healing, he failed to notice the odd movements of the blood that had spilled to the floor.

 Chapter 371 Ruins [5]

    As Damien¡¯s body slowly healed on the 400th step, the blood that had pooled on the floor began behaving strangely.

    It didn¡¯t freeze over in the cold. Instead, it wriggled around on the floor like it was alive. Slowly, it seeped into the cracks between the bricks in the floor and snaked through the ground, splitting into various strands and arriving under the floating torches lining the steps.

    Whether it be the 400 torches that were already lit, or the 100 that had yet to be, they all had a drop of blood hovering below them.

    Soon enough, Damien finished healing his torso as well and looked around. But by that time, the blood had already merged with the torches and disappeared.

    ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ He frowned inwardly. He¡¯d be an idiot not to notice that the pool of blood below his feet was gone, but he couldn¡¯t tell where it went. Even his All-Seeing Eyes could only feel that something dangerous had happened.

    ¡®I have to stay on my guard.¡¯

    The cold mana had already started invading his new skin and muscles again. And considering that he was on the 400th step already, it was much worse than it was in the beginning.

    It was disadvantageous to waste time on a single step. Before anything, though, he quickly moved his Void Essence and expelled the frost that had invaded his spiritual world as well.

    With his thought process and body back to normal, he rushed up the stairs with reckless abandon.

    He didn¡¯t think about the freezing nor the consequences of expending energy in this environment, he just wanted to reach the top and get rid of this invading mana as soon as possible.

    425¡­450¡­475¡­

    He climbed up the steps rapidly. With his current pace, he was moving in equilibrium with the rate at which he froze.

    480¡­490¡­498¡­

    With only two steps left, the level of cold mana had exponentially increased. It felt like he was being barraged by a subzero blizzard on all sides. It wasn¡¯t just gradual freezing anymore, but brutal and violent gusts of mana that attempted to kill him instantly.

    ¡®But that won¡¯t work a second time.¡¯

    He already knew this trick. From the start, he had been prepared for it.

    Boom!

    A torrent of Void Essence burst forth from his body, forming a miniature tornado around him. The pitch ck tornado sucked the cold mana into it and devoured it, turning it into pure essence for Damien¡¯s benefit.

    499¡­500!

    With the Void Essence fending off the cold, he was finally able to climb all the steps. And at that moment, all 500 torches erupted in splendor.

    Voom!

    Bloody red light mixed with icy blue mana formed clouds atop the shrine. It all coagted into a mass of energy that Damien felt immense danger from.

    ¡®That¡¯s¡­my blood?!¡¯

    He immediately felt the connection to his blood, but the fact that it was his didn¡¯t change anything. The blood and mana continued to coalesce to form a massive construct that was hidden in a blizzard veil.

    A frightening aura began to radiate.

    It was bloodthirsty and mad, while also being cool and indifferent. This strange aura permeated the entire shrine as if trying to spheme the presence within.

    ¡°The hell is that?¡± Damien muttered. But just as he nned to spread his awareness, he felt a piercing gaze scan his body.

    Shiver!

    It was an uncontroble reaction. Blood reacting to blood, and danger causing his hair to stand up on end.

    Boom. Boom. Boom.

    Curt rumbling footsteps rang out. The being that had been formed inside that blizzard veil began moving. And of course, it was heading towards Damien.

    But sensing what was about toe, Damien only grinned. ¡°Good! It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve had a good fight. Let¡¯s see what this thing can do.¡±

    His eyes gleamed with blood-red light. His aura red wildly.

    Something had changed within him after the Trial of Self. It wasn¡¯t a huge change, but it was noticeable enough for people who knew him well.

    His fighting spirit which had calmed as he matured was raging again. But it was different from before.

    It was just as valiant and direct as before, but also contained an air of cautiousness within. He was no longer the kid who was fighting just for the sake of stimtion.

    Without even waiting for the unknown being to arrive, Damien shot into the air like a rocket and charged into the blizzard veil. Unexpectedly, there was no obstruction from the veil itself.

    He was soon able to see the form of the beast. It was a 20-meter tall giant made entirely of ice. It looked like a suit of armor, but was a translucent red in color.

    ¡°Taking my blood to make a golem. How vile of you.¡± Damien muttered.

    His charge didn¡¯t stop. mes erupted from the balms of his feet and propelled him with heightened speed.

    The concept of distance was twisted by his spatial mana. Within a single second, he had traveled hundreds of meters.

    Boom!

    His fist shot forward and heavily impacted the helmet of the golem. Its massive body was forced to rock back from the immense force contained in the punch.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    But he didn¡¯t stop there. Nor did he give the golem any opportunity to retaliate. He teleported from ce to ce, striking every inch of the golem with a flurry of fists. Although it wasn¡¯t injured, its bnce was heavily disrupted, forcing it on the defensive.

    But Damien¡¯s goal had never been to injure it in the first ce.

    ¡°Come. Let¡¯s see if you¡¯re worthy of the name you¡¯ve been given. Mirage!¡±

    An almost transparent sword appeared in his hand, vibrating in excitement for its first battle. If it wasn¡¯t for the bending of light after it passed through the sword, it would¡¯ve been invisible.

    ¡°Hahaha! I see you¡¯re excited. Well, you see that big punching bag over there? I¡¯ll use it as a dummy to let you witness your master¡¯s greatness.¡±

    Damien grinned wildly and shot forward again.

    ¡®Void Sword Art First Step: deless¡¯

    It wasn¡¯t just a single iteration of deless. Tens of massive gashes were formed in space, taking chunks of the golem into the void while also forcing its movements to be limited to a specific area.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Second Step: Dance Of The Void¡¯

    His figure shed into the array of space cracks and flickered in and out of existence. Even whenpared to normal teleportation, his movements were faster.

    The golem didn¡¯t have of its own, but bloody gashes still began appearing on its surface. The blood it stole from Damien was being forced out of its body by the spatial light of Damien¡¯s sword dance. With every sh, spatial mana invaded the golem¡¯s body. wreaking havoc within.

    Damien shed away, appearing a hundred meters away from the golem.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Third Step: Horizon Break¡¯

    It was a killing move. His body bent like a bow and his sword was angled parallel to the ground. The kic energy he built up was transferred into the de along with torrents of mana.

    He struck out. Slow and smooth, but faster than the eye could see.

    BOOM!

    The impact wasn¡¯t in front of him. Even the air in his surroundings was untouched by the momentum of the de.

    Instead, that momentum ignored distance and arrived in the middle of the golem¡¯s forehead. A massive explosion rang out as even the extremely thick ice the golem was made from wasn¡¯t able to sustain itself.

    A massive hole opened in the golem¡¯s forehead. Within the span of a few seconds, it had been barraged so much that its body looked no different from a heap of ice.

    Crash!

    The ice slowly began to copse.

    As an earthling, Damien was well aware of the weakness of most golems. That is, their forehead. Of course, this wasn¡¯t an end-all-be-all weakness, but it was something to try regardless.

    In reality, a golem¡¯s weakness was the same as a formation¡¯s. Their core. They weren¡¯t living beings, after all. They needed a source of energy to draw from.

    It was just that the forehead or the center of the chest were the best ces to put the core for equal energy distribution throughout the golem¡¯s body.

    As Damien watched the ice copse, he still didn¡¯t feel right. It would be too stupid for the weakness of a golem to be its forehead even when that weakness was widespread knowledge even on an underdeveloped world like Earth.

    ¡®There must be a trick. A second form or something. Even if there isn¡¯t, it¡¯s better to be safe.¡¯

    With a wide grin on his face, Damien primed Mirage above his head. Gravity increased dozenfold through vector control, spatial mana raged in the atmosphere and caused small space cracks to fill the air.

    ¡°Watch this one. This is your master¡¯s crowning achievement.¡± Damien said lightly.

    And in the next instant, he concentrated all the power in his body on his sword and swung down.

    ¡®Void Sword Art Fourth Step: Spatial Copse¡¯

 Chapter 372 Ruins [6]

    Destruction rang free.

    Space itself was crushed under the pressure of his sword and copsed in on itself, causing a massive ck hole to manifest. It furiously rotated, creating a suction force that dragged in everything in the vicinity.

    The ck hole went beyond what Damien usually created through Spatial Copse. His previous sword only amplified his attack power, but Mirage was on a whole different level. It was equivalent to a spatial practitioner on its own.

    So when its spatial maniption was paired with Damien and harmonized, it created a ck hole of untold proportions and power.

    Naturally, the icy remains of the golem, which had just started repairing itself, sumbed to the irresistible force.

    Roar!

    Mirage let out a joyful cry that sounded like a roar. It was extremely pleased with the destruction it was able to cause.

    Damien smiled lightly and descended from the air. As he watched on, the ck hole slowly shrunk into a small point and disappeared as space repaired itself.

    Rumble!

    But before he had time to catch his breath, the entire shrine began to tremble. The debris on the ground vibrated and jumped around as the ground itself roared in fury.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    ¡°Fuck! What is it this time?!¡± Damien mumbled. The situation was extremely simr to the golden summoning, except the intense rumbling seemed toe from the shrine itself this time.

    Cracks spread through the ground. And soon enough, the entire area of the shrine imploded, copsing in on itself.

    Damien fell into the abyss that was left in its wake.

    ¡°Has¡­not this again¡­¡±

    He thought he was going to be falling endlessly like he did within the Ancient Temple, but luckily the situation was different this time.

    It was only a short drop of a few hundred meters. Of course, he could¡¯ve flown out, but he didn¡¯t think it was necessary.

    For there to be such arge underground space beneath the shrine, there must¡¯ve been something important there.

    Damien cut away the debris around him and spread his awareness through the dark space. At first, he thought it was a vast empty area, but he felt a prickling sensation in his awareness whenever it spread through the darkness.

    ¡°Is this¡­?¡±

    He waved his arm in front of him randomly, and found that the sensation he felt was true. The darkness was tangible. It wasn¡¯t merely caused by theck of light in the area.

    ¡®This thing can control darkness too? Is it a dual element seed?¡¯

    He manifested his Void mes to test the waters, letting them do as they pleased once they emerged in reality.

    The Void mes flickered curiously, seemingly looking around at the surrounding space. And then, they hopped away from Damien¡¯s body and began burning madly.

    The darkness in his vicinity began to clear up. The Void mes were actually devouring it.

    ¡®Devouring darkness? Or is it just devouring mana? If it¡¯s thetter, then things be much simpler.¡¯

    Damien tried using his own devour ability as well, since devouring mana was something he could do, but he found that it was ineffective.

    ¡®Hmm¡­I don¡¯t think the Void mes are capable of devouring something conceptual like darkness. But it isn¡¯t just pure mana either. There must be something else that I¡¯m missing.¡¯

    Without being able to understand the surrounding darkness, Damien didn¡¯t want to move recklessly and get himself in trouble. But at the same time, he felt like moving forward was the only way to solve the current problem.

    ¡®Fuck it. It doesn¡¯t look like my teleportation is being blocked, so in the worst case I can still warp out and be safe.¡¯

    Thinking such, he immediately began moving. As he ran through the darkness, the prickling sensation on his skin increased.

    ¡®What is it trying to do?¡¯

    Curious, he made a bold decision. Since the darkness was tangible, he wanted to see what effects it had on his body. And without thinking, he opened his mouth and swallowed a portion of it.

    A corrosive aura immediately spread through his esophagus and tried to melt through his neck. He mobilized his Void Essence instantly to neutralize it.

    ¡®Phew¡­that was a stupid decision¡­but at least I know what¡¯s happening now.¡¯

    The prickling sensation on his skin must¡¯ve been the corrosive force that he just felt. Only, it wasn¡¯t able to prate his body.

    ¡®Has my body be so strong? If so, why was the cold aura able to prate my defenses?¡¯

    Perhaps the elemental seed was more proficient in its ice element than its darkness. Or maybe the darkness wasn¡¯t even an ability of the elemental seed in the first ce. Regardless, it was still reality that the darkness couldn¡¯t affect him.

    The fact that he felt the same prickling sensation on his awareness, though, was his main concern.

    ¡®The frost aura also affected my mind. It was actually able to slow my thought process to the point where it took 400 steps for me to realize my body was being frozen. I can¡¯t make the same mistake this time and ignore this sensation.¡¯

    Even if it didn¡¯t feel dangerous, he wasn¡¯t nning to take the same risk again. Whenparing his mind and body, the former was far weaker.

    Even with the strengthening he got from refining the Primordial Undying Tree¡¯s essence, his mind still didn¡¯t match up to his body which had been refined over and over again over the course of many years.

    He withdrew his awareness. With his eyes, he didn¡¯t need to use it to see. But his bodily senses weren¡¯t as prone to danger, so he upped his cautiousness to the max.

    Like this, he continued walking through the darkness. Behind him, the Void me continued devouring it as he moved.

    He suddenly got an idea. Instead of moving in a single direction, he altered his path and walked in a zig-zag pattern for a bit. All the while, he kept a part of his attention on the movement of the Void me.

    And as he expected, when he turned once more, the Void me¡¯s excitement spiked.

    ¡®I see. So the source must be over there somewhere.¡¯

    If there was one thing the Void me would want to devour more than the darkness, it¡¯d be the source of the darkness. This was the logic he used to determine his direction.

    And once he figured it out, he increased his speed and bolted towards the source.

    The corrosive effect of the darkness became fiercer as he moved. No, it was more like it was actively targeting him.

    Waves upon waves of corrosive darkness fell onto his position like tsunamis. It got to the point where he had to erect his vector field and use a barrier of Void Essence to ward it off.

    And as he drew closer to the source, a feral growling sound began permeating through the atmosphere.

    But it was odd.

    It was like two voices stacked on top of each other. One was bestial, while the other seemed extremely young.

    ¡®Something isn¡¯t right about this.¡¯

    Damien wreathed his body in lightning and shot forward with even faster speed, and not even ten minutester, he reached the source of the growling sound.

    His eyes widened in shock.

    On the floor was a small child no older than ten years old. She was crouched in a fetal position with her hands covering her ears.

    And behind her, a massive ck mass with thousands of closed eyes that nketed the darkness like an aura.

    As if responding to the sound of Damien¡¯s approach, the girl raised her head. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

    And in that same instant, the eyes in the darkness opened as well.

 Chapter 373 Spirit [1]

    ¡°This¡­what is this?¡± Damien muttered in shock.

    Shining silver hair that draped down to the floor, crystalline skin like ss, and a white dress that seemed to entuate her innocence. That was the girl¡¯s appearance.

    At least, on the right side of her body.

    The left side of her body was a horror to look at. Rotting red skin that oozed puss and what looked like blue blood that stained her dress, inky ck hair, and a face covered in scar marks and horrendous holes.

    Even her mana was split into two parts. One side was the same as the domain and ice mana Damien had been assailed with since he entered the ruins, while the other was connected to the ck aura filled with countless eyes that floated behind her.

    ¡°What the hell is this? Is it them again?¡±

    Damien¡¯s first instinct upon seeing the ck mana was to connect it to the Nox, but he didn¡¯t hastily make that judgement.

    ¡®Even if it looks simr to their mana, it¡¯s something entirely different.¡¯

    He realized it after observing closer. The ck mana reeked with the scent of death, but it wasn¡¯t the same inky and impure substance that the Nox used. It seemed to be derived from a different source.

    ¡®What happened to this girl? Why is she down here below the shrine? No, why is she here in this ruin at all?¡¯

    The questions kept piling up. And as Damien observed the girl, she did the same to him.

    ¡°W-who are you?¡±

    Her voice was feeble but filled with malice. Her eyes were locked on his face, but he could feel her awareness darting around and constantly checking the surroundings.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Damien didn¡¯t really know how to answer the question. He couldn¡¯t just say he was a tomb raider that came here for treasures. In the end, he just decided to introduce himself normally.

    ¡°My name is Damien. What about you?¡± He tried to speak gently, but even he couldn¡¯t keep his voice from trembling when he saw the left side of her face.

    ¡°You¡­not from here¡­hiding things¡­everybody is hiding things¡­¡± The girl muttered to herself.

    Out of nowhere, a malevolent aura burst from her body and tried totch onto Damien. Sheshed out, jumping into the air as if pouncing on him.

    ng!

    But her movements stopped short. It was only then that Damien noticed the thick metal chains that bound the girl to a ce deeper into the darkness.

    ng! Crash!

    The girl whipped her limbs furiously as the chains dragged her back to where she once was. She tried to break them with all her might, even pouring frightening amounts of mana into them, but nothing seemed to work.

    ¡°You¡­do you want me to let you out?¡± Damien asked lightly.

    It didn¡¯t seem like a good idea to do so. There must¡¯ve been a reason she was sealed under the shrine, but he still offered. He needed to understand more about the situation.

    Especially since this little girl might be the elemental spirit he had been looking for since the beginning.

    ¡°Grrr¡­!¡± The girl snarled at him. As her malice became directed at him, the thousands of asura-like eyes behind her also focused their gaze there.

    Roar!

    An incoherent roar left her mouth. As soon as it happened, the aura of those eyes congregated and sted a reddish-ck beam of energy at Damien.

    ¡®Dodge!¡¯

    He immediately attempted to teleport, but found that he wasn¡¯t able to do so. It wasn¡¯t a problem with space, rather it was his mana that didn¡¯t obey him.

    It moved sluggishly, and whenever it left his body it froze into crystalline snowkes that fell to the ground and shattered.

    ¡®Damn! She¡¯s using the domain!¡¯

    Using his spatial affinity became meaningless the second it happened. In fact, any mana-based attack lost its value. In thest moment before the beam hit him, Damien rolled to the side, using his Void mes to propel him away.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    Even though he saved his vitals, his arm was still caught in the st. Within seconds, it turned into a corroded mass simr to the left side of the girl¡¯s body.

    ¡®Damn! I can¡¯t endure that darkness power with my body alone. Luckily, the Void mes still work.¡¯

    But even that was limited. The Void mes could still be used since they drew mana directly from his Mana Heart and didn¡¯t need externally deployed mana to function, but at the same time, they grew and flourished by devouring mana.

    Their full potential would be limited when mana itself was a resource that he couldn¡¯t use.

    Roar!

    Another roar rang out. The thousand eyes glowed red, and in response, the darkness around Damien began to move.

    Tendrils were formed out of thin air, attacking him from all sides. Meanwhile, the cold aura of the elemental domain invaded his body and tried to force him to halt.

    ¡®Dammit!¡¯

    It was a situation that seemed hopeless, but he was lucky to still have his main trump card.

    Pitch ck Void Essence burst from his body and formed a barrier around him, shredding those darkness tendrils into nothingness. Using the time he had gained, he immediately roused his Demonic bloodline, undergoing transformation.

    ¡®Attack!¡¯

    The runes on his body moved into formation, making his power rise exponentially. He heavily stomped the ground, sting forward with his entire bodily strength to reach the girl.

    ¡®I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s the elemental seed or whatever, but as things are now, she needs to die.¡¯

    This frightening power that could both freeze mana and corrode flesh as powerful as him was too dangerous. And this was while the girl was still sealed. He couldn¡¯t even imagine how much more powerful she¡¯d be if she was given free rein.

    Tendrils and beams of darkness tried to stop his charge, but he tore them to pieces using Void Essence.

    The darkness around him umted above his head and formed a massive palm that struck down with astonishing speed, but Damien wouldn¡¯t allow it to hit him.

    ¡®Speed!¡¯

    He changed the configuration of his body runes to prioritize his speed. His body vanished and reappeared many meters away in an instant, narrowly escaping the surface area of that palm.

    And after that, he reached her body within seconds. Void Essence coagted around his hand as it shot forward like a de aimed at her throat.

    ¡°The same as the rest¡­want to kill me¡­but why¡­? What did I do¡­?!¡±

    ¡°Keuk¡­¡±

    Damien¡¯s nails abruptly stopped right before piercing her neck. The aftershock of halting his momentum caused a few bones in his arm to break, but they healed soon enough.

    It wasn¡¯t like her words were enough to stop him. He wasn¡¯t as merciful as that. It was just¡­

    It was the first time that he was able to see her eyes. Those crystal clear eyes that still held a tinge of innocencepletely contradicted the malice he felt from her aura and actions.

    ¡®But why did I stop?¡¯

    That shouldn¡¯t have been enough. Even if it was like that, she was still trying to kill him.

    She was, right?

    But as Damien continued to look into those eyes, he didn¡¯t feel killing intent nor malice. There was only a single thing that tranted to him bright as day.

    A call for help.

    The girl in front of him was desperately begging him for help even while actively trying to kill him.

 Chapter 374 Spirit [2]

    Damien stood in front of the girl with only a few inches separating them. From here, he could clearly see the sheer contradiction that existed within her.

    Everything about her contradicted. Whether it be her aura, her actions and feelings, or her appearance, from the start it was a strange thing.

    But with the abruptness of the following battle, Damien didn¡¯t take too much time to think about it. He couldn¡¯t just say that something was wrong because of appearance alone.

    But now, he had looked deeply into her with his All-Seeing Eyes at a distance where any slight movement of hers would be caught in his sight. And now, he could confidently say that something was wrong.

    The girl¡¯s mouth suddenly opened unnaturally wide, spitting out a torrent of acid. Damien hurriedly retreated back to a distance where her chains wouldn¡¯t let her reach.

    He needed a second to think and figure out what was going on.

    The first thing he thought of was body possession, but the girl¡¯s spiritual intent was still fully intact when he checked it. Even if she had been possessed, it wouldn¡¯t lead to this kind of iplete look.

    As for the second thought¡­he really didn¡¯t know. All he knew was that the girl wanted his help with something. And that something seemed to be dealing with the force that was attacking him at the moment.

    If he considered that this girl was truly the owner of the elemental domain that eclipsed the entire ruin, he could make some guesses.

    In the first ce, for him to find this shrine instead of Lunaria was strange. She was the one with a close affinity towards ice and the one who would likely be chosen as the master of the elemental seed if it met her.

    But instead, it led him here instead.

    If the ruins were truly under this girl¡¯s control, there was no other exnation for how he found the area that only had the shrine and nothing else, while Lunaria was sent somewhere else.

    If so, then why? Why would it be him instead of the one more deserving? What set him apart?

    There were a few things. The first that came to mind was his spatial affinity, but that thought was immediately crossed out. Anything he had that needed external mana to function wouldn¡¯t be the deciding factor.

    It so, there was really only one option left. And it was the most special thing about him.

    Void Essence.

    The trace of Void Essence he had left when touching the frozen coffins was sensed by this girl, and due to that, he was chosen.

    ¡®I see. It was never a matter of inheriting her power or bing her new master. It was never because of my talent or charisma that I was chosen over Lunaria. It was simply because only I possess the means to fight this thing.¡¯

    This girl wanted to be saved. Saved from whatever had consumed the left side of her body and produced the aura that stayed behind her.

    And she had judged that only his Void Essence would be able to do so.

    ¡®If it really is how I¡¯m thinking of it to be, then my approach is all wrong. From the start, I shouldn¡¯t have been fighting like this.¡¯

    He had an idea of what he had to do, but it was just a concept based on his understanding of Void Essence. He didn¡¯t even know if it was possible in reality or not.

    ¡®But it can¡¯t hurt to try it, right?¡¯

    If he continued fighting, those chains that restrained her would eventually break and lead to an even fiercer battle. He needed to end this quickly and efficiently.

    ¡®Let¡¯s go then. In the worst case, she dies. In the best case, I get an elemental spirit. The odds are pretty good, aren¡¯t they?¡¯

    Even as he inwardly joked, he was shooting back towards the girl¡¯s body. The thousand eyes behind her stared at him furiously, emitting strange fluctuations.

    ¡®This is¡­!¡¯

    He hurriedly mobilized his spiritual intent to create another barrier. One as thick as he could make.

    Crrrack!

    A wave of spiritual pressure impacted his barrier in the next second, causing it to make unnatural crunching sounds. He wasn¡¯t nearly powerful enough topletely block the spiritual pressure of those eyes.

    But he gritted his teeth and kept moving. He had to preserve his Void Essence now so that he could use it when he reached the girl, so he poured copious amounts of spiritual energy into his barrier just to barely sustain it without copsing.

    ¡°Urgh¡­¡¯

    The strain on his mind caused blood to leak from his seven orifices, but the damage wasn¡¯t as bad as it looked on the outside.

    Especially since he had reached the girl by the time he took enough damage for it to matter.

    ¡°Listen here. I don¡¯t know if you can hear or understand me, but don¡¯t resist what I¡¯m going to do next or else you¡¯ll just hurt yourself. No matter what happens, fight that thing and make sure I don¡¯t get distracted. If you can do that, I can save you.¡±

    Damien thought he saw the girl¡¯s eyes widen as he spoke, but he had no time to focus on that. He closed his eyes and grabbed the top of the girl¡¯s head, injecting his Void Essence into her body without reservation.

    ¡°KYAAA!¡±

    A horrific screech rang out. Apanying it, though, was a barrier of frost energy that coated his body and protected him.

    Damien smiled to himself. ¡®I see. So it was really like that.¡¯

    Damien¡¯s attention refocused inside the girl¡¯s body. As his Void Essence spread, he could clearly feel two differentiating elements and auras constantly shing at every juncture.

    ¡®It¡¯s not just that her aura is contradicting. It¡¯s like there are two people inside her body fighting for dominance. But¡­her spiritual intent is whole, so how is that possible?¡¯

    He didn¡¯t have time to ponder too much. As the girl actively resisted the reddish-ck death mana and the thousand eyes, her body was being forced into a terrible condition.

    Each sh would rupture her organs, break her bones, and cause untold pain that a child should never be forced to endure. But she endured it without a word as she waited for him to save her.

    ¡®How can you have so much trust in someone you only just met, you foolish girl?¡¯ Damien berated inwardly. ¡®But then again, I have no intention of betraying that trust.¡¯

    Damien separated his Void Essence into multiple strands. Some went into her internal body and helped her fend off against the rampaging mana, while the other cracked a hole in her mind space and entered inside.

    When that happened, Damien was able to manifest in her mind space as a spiritual avatar.

    ¡®Holy shit. This is so much worse than I imagined.¡¯

    The girl had apleted spiritual continent that was even greater in size than his own, but it was split into two parts.

    A blizzard-filled tundra upied around 20% of the space, while the other 80% had been usurped by a scene that looked like hell incarnate.

    And on both sides stood a different version of the girl. One was a demon, while the other was pure and untainted.

    Damien watched from the side as the battle between these two continued.

    ¡°Why?! Why can¡¯t we just live how we used to?! We are one person!¡± The girl in white cried. She begged the other version of herself to cease this madness.

    ¡°Kakakaka! Why would I want to share a body with someone as vile as you?! The heavens gave us one body and two spirits, so obviously they wanted us to fight!¡±

    Two different outlooks that matched their appearances and auras. Damien slowly got an understanding of what was happening as he listened to more of their conversation.

    ¡®Two spirits but one body. This wasn¡¯t due to outside interference, she was just born this way. And as those two spirits headed in different paths, their personalities began to differ and sh as well. Only, why is it so bad?¡¯

    They were one body but two minds. Even if they shed harshly, the power they drew on came from the same source.

    ¡®Unless¡­¡¯

    Unless they were like Ruyue.

    Yin was a vastw. It embodied gentleness and cold, while also embodying darkness and evil.

    Ruyue only had a single spirit, so a situation like this never urred. As long as she couldprehend the connected concept, she could control the attribute of yin that she desired.

    But this girl was different. In the separation and differentiation between these two spirits, her yin element got affected too.

    The gentleness, coldness, and flexibility of yin were embodied in the pure version of the girl. And the vile, evil, darkness of yin was embodied in the demon.

    Due to the fact that both of them were only half of a whole spirit, they were influenced by their elements far more than the average person.

    And the situation became like this.

    A pure, gentle girl who wanted to return to peace and a vile demon who wanted to destroy and subjugate fighting each other endlessly while sealed under the shrine.

 Chapter ?375 Spirit [3]

    Chapter ?375 Spirit [3]

    "Why won''t it end?! Why must we live like this?!"

    "Because fate is cruel. And this cruel fate is one I should destroy with my own hands. So give up your futile resistance and hand our body over to me!"

    "I don''t want to die! I don''t want to die!"

    "Shut up!"

    It was a little pathetic. That was what Damien thought as he watched them continue to struggle against each other with both words and fists.

    In the end, the girl was just a child. Even when she was being influenced by her element like this, her motivations and outlook were still incredibly childish. So when Damien watched it happen in real time, it looked more like a quarrel between children than a life-or-death struggle.

    It might''ve seemed like a strong person was bullying a weak one, but it wasn''t like that at all. The two of them were equal in every way.

    The only reason the evil version was winning was because the pure version didn''t resist. If she resisted, they''d maintain a constant state of equilibrium as it was meant to be.

    He hadn''t been in her spiritual world for long, but Damien was already able to figure out this much about the girl and her two personas.

    Their path was one of mutual destruction. Maybe they themselves couldn''t see it because they were too embroiled in their conflict, but as an outsider, Damien could see it clearly.

    From the start, they were one being. Whether it be the pure version or the evil version, they were two sides of the same coin. If one of them was destroyed, the other wouldn''t be able tost long either.

    Even if they tried to absorb each other, their conflicting natures would still collide and make it impossible. Once he realized this, Damien understood that his original approach wouldn''t work at all.

    He couldn''t destroy the evil version. That wouldn''t save the little girl but instead, kill her. He needed to help them regain equilibrium.

    But with their personalities, he didn''t think it would be easy to do that. No, he could probably do it but he would have to keep the girl on a tight leash so that she wouldn''t fall back into this kind of circumstance again.

    ''But that''s only until I find Ruyue. If Ruyue, who can properly control the dual nature of yin, was able to bond with or contract with this girl, she would be able to permanently solve her problem unlike me.''

    It was really a convenient thing for him, since he didn''t want to have to deal with a vtile bomb like this little girl. And since he always nned to give the elemental seed to Ruyue, it was even better.

    ''But the approach has to change. She''s not an elemental seed, but a full-blown spirit. Since it''s like this, forcing a contract or treating her like an object is no longer an option. I guess Ruyue is also going to end up adopting a little sister in this secret realm.''

    Damien grinned at his own thoughts before moving into action.

    First, he exited the girl''s spiritual world and turned his focus to her body.

    He then changed the intent of the Void Essence within the girl''s body. Instead of trying to destroy the reddish-ck mana, it moved to tame it.

    With Void Essence being what it was, the reddish-ck mana was quickly tamed. But as Damien was about to start fusing the two different energies, a problem arose.

    The mana struggled against the control of the Void Essence. And even as it did, new strains of reddish-ck mana emerged and tried to battle the second energy in the girl''s body.

    ''This won''t do.'' He thought inwardly. ''It''ll take too much time toplete this process. My arrival seems to have elerated the rate at which she destroyed herself, and if I continue like this, her body will totally break down before I finish.''

    ''Even if I temporarily solve the situation in her body, it''ll never stoppletely until her mind has been settled. For now, I should just confine the two energies in their own parts of her body.''

    He changed his intention again. He used Void Essence to draw a clear divide within the girl''s body, splitting it vertically. Any nonconforming energy on either side was swiftly tamed and dragged to its true home.

    As he did this, the action of those thousand eyes also became less violent. They were never a separate entity, but a manifestation of power. With his Void Essence trying to tame the reddish-ck mana, the eyes were also influenced.

    ''Haa¡­alright. Since that''s more or less dealt with, I can focus on the task at hand.''

    It was a stopgap measure, but it was enough. He swiftly returned to the girl''s spiritual world, only to find two pairs of eyes staring at him when he did.

    "Um¡­hi?" He greeted awkwardly.

    The two versions of the girl continued staring at him like he was some kind of strange specimen.

    ''Ah, it must''ve been too long since they''ve seen another person.''

    Damien smiled lightly. He then split his spiritual avatar into two and sent one towards each girl.

    Splitting his consciousness was something he learned to do proficiently when he was reconnecting the floating continents in his mindspace, but this was the first time he actually put that ability into use.

    ''But to think it was for something like this¡­'' he smiled wryly.

    Once his two avatars reached the two girls, he waved his hands in front of their faces.

    "Hello? Is there something on my face?"

    ""Ah!""

    They both yelped and retreated. It seemed like his appearance had put a temporary stop to their power struggle.

    "You¡­you are the man from outside¡­" the pure version was the first to speak. As she was the one who called him here, she naturally recognized him first.

    "Mm. That''s me. I guess I''m here to save you." He responded.

    "Are¡­are you going to kill her?" The girl looked at her other self who was warily staring at the two Damiens. Being inside her spiritual world, Damien could feel her unwillingness incredibly clearly.

    But he just shook his head in response. "No. How could I kill you? If I''m not wrong, aren''t the two of you the same person?"

    The two versions of the girl looked away as if not epting his words, but at the same time, they didn''t refute.

    "Haa¡­you two. Why are you fighting like this? You should know better than anyone else the state of your body right now."

    "Hmph! Why else should we fight?! It''s for control! I want this body, and she can''t have it! I¡ª ow!"

    Damien flicked the evil version''s head as she spoke. "You stupid. Why would killing her even solve your problem? Did you even take a second to think things over before you acted? How can you be so reckless!"

    The evil version held her forehead with tears forming in her eyes. It was too unfair. Why was she the only one getting hit when both of them were fighting?

    But Damien wasn''t done berating the two of them. They might have been children, but their idiocy really ticked him off. Especially seeing how their circumstance hadn''t helped them mature at all.

    "Don''t think you''re safe either," Damien said to the pure version. "How can you sit here and cower? Don''t you know that your behavior is only spurring her to keep acting out? How can you let your other self be like that without even trying to help? You keep saying things about not wanting to fight, but have you ever actually tried to have a constructive conversation with her about things?"

    The pure version of the girl turned her head away in shame. Meanwhile, the evil version smirked in satisfaction. That is, until Damien shot her a pointed re.

    "Haa¡­that''s it. If I don''t teach the two of you today, then my name isn''t Damien Void!"

    And as he said, his berating session continued.

 Chapter 376 Spirit [4]

    Chapter 376 Spirit [4]

    It was strange for a quarrel between children to be something so life-threatening, but such was the reality of a world where power was so essible.

    Damien had never expected for the situation to take this kind of turn. He came into this girl''s spiritual world with every intention to kill. But here he was.

    Two different versions of the same girl sat on their knees in front of him with their heads hanging low while he endlessly berated them about how idiotic they were.

    Even when the evil version''s destructive nature acted up, Damien simply shed a hint of his Void Essence and it immediately calmed down.

    "Sigh¡­at least tell me your circumstances so I can help you solve this problem." He tiredly said.

    "Yes¡­" the girl responded. She then began telling her story.

    The Ice Spirit Tribe. They were a tribe that was originally formed by an elemental seed that evolved into a spirit, but over time bloomed into a full-blown spirit tribe.

    By the time they reached the girl''s generation, they were closer to faeries than they were to elemental seeds, even though their origins were different.

    As for how they ended up living underground in the secret realm, the girl wasn''t privy to that kind of information. All she knew was that they had been living in peace.

    Until she was born.

    She was an outlier within the tribe. With her ruined appearance and asional outbursts, there were many that became wary of her.

    From the moment she was born, there were two of her. It was something they called the Twin Spirit Body. Under normal circumstances, this kind of constitution would be a heavenly gift, but her case was different.

    It was because of theplexity of her element. Under the influence of the Twin Spirit Body, her yin element was also segregated into two parts. And after that, things went generally simr to what Damien had already guessed.

    The two grew up differently and never acknowledged each other as the same person. At the same time, they fought to control their body.

    And with how destructive their battles got, the Ice Spirit Tribe was eventually caught as coteral damage.

    It made sense why Damien hadn''t seen any traces of life. That tribe had been identally exterminated by one of their own, not an outside influence. And as a final struggle, the tribe sealed this girl under the shrine so that she could no longer hurt anyone else.

    But her istion didn''t leave any adverse effect on her. She spent most of her time in her spiritual world without paying attention to what was happening outside, and since the two of them could keep each otherpany, they never felt the terrible effects that istion could have on their mental state.

    There was no way this girl was the same age as her body and mind implied. Damien could at least tell this much from her story. But he couldn''t exin why her physical state never changed.

    It didn''t matter either.

    It was a tragic story, sure, but Damien didn''t think that even this little girl understood the actual results of her actions.

    She didn''t understand that she had destroyed the Ice Spirit Tribe with her own hands.

    But he didn''t think she''d care either.

    From the way she told it, it seemed like she was isted and seen as a monster by them, who emphasized purity. Their destruction could partially be attributed to how poorly they treated the girl without trying to actually save her.

    But Damien didn''t really sympathize. Looking at how lively this girl was, he didn''t think there was a need to. And judging by the stability of her spiritual world, he didn''t think her attitude was the result of some mental damage or regression.

    ''But the Twin Spirit Body is really an interesting thing. It basically grants double theprehension speed and thinking power, as well as the ability to dual-wield elements without any strain. Not to mention all the other benefits thate with having parallel minds.''

    If the two spirits could attain harmony, the synergistic effect would be immeasurable. In fact, Damien was excited to see it.

    But subduing this little girl came much easier than he expected. Or maybe it was just because he had been so strict in his lecturing.

    ''Did she just want attention and affection? Or is it something else? Either way, a kid will be a kid regardless, huh. With the two of them being so cooperative, solving their problem will be much easier."

    "Oh, right. I don''t even know your name yet. How should I call you?"

    "I''m Crystal!"

    "And I''m Kuro!"

    "¡­"

    Damien stared at them nkly.

    "Ow!"

    "Ow!"

    Two strong flicksnded on their foreheads.

    "Seriously? What''s with your naming sense? Crystal because your body is crystalline? And you, Kuro? Because of what? Your mana? Really? Wait, isn''t that Japanese? How the hell do you know Japanese?"

    Damien exploded. He understood that these girls never had someone name or take care of them, but this was too much!

    Crystal! Kuro! Ignoring the extremely suspicious fact that they somehow came up with a Japanese name, their naming sense was so bad that it was even worse than his own!

    "I can''t ept this. I refuse to ept this. How about I give you new names?"

    "You will?"

    "New ones?"

    The two girls'' reactions were surprisingly positive. But when he thought about it, it somewhat made sense. They had only chosen their names because nobody else had bothered giving them proper ones.

    He was already saving them and showing them care, so it seemed they had grown somewhat attached. Being named by him wasn''t something they rejected at all.

    Damien thought hard about it. ''There''s no way I''ll let my poor naming sense leak here! I can''t lose face in front of them after everything I''ve said!''

    "Alright, I got it. From now on, you will be Lily and Mei."

    Short and sweet, and he also followed their naming scheme. It was perfect! Damien grinned in satisfaction.

    "Lily!"

    "Mei!"

    The girls also seemed happy with their new names, as they kept repeating them over and over again. Although they were simple names, they were names given to them by someone they cared about. That''s what mattered most to them.

    Damien smiled wryly. These kids were at each other''s throats only a few minutes ago, yet now they were happily celebrating their new names together.

    ''I''ll have to help them increase their attention span too.'' Damien thought wryly.

    But that was a future matter. Now that these two had been properly disciplined, it was time for him to help them control their spiritual world. After that, they''d finally be able to regain stability and achieve the full potential of what their Twin Spirit Body could offer.

    "Alright. If the two of you work together, then achieving equilibrium won''t be hard. Mei, stop trying to devour Lily''s territory. And Lily, expand your territory until it takes up half the space along with Mei''s."

    The two girls obediently listened to his instructions and began working. Although their personalities were that of children, their actual control over their power far exceeded their age.

    The process soon started. The pure whitend of snow and ice expanded to take up exactly half of the spiritual world. Meanwhile, the hellscape retreated to amodate it.

    "The two of you are sisters who share the same body. Even if you fight, you can''t harm yourselves. If I see you doing it, then I''ll punish you. Okay?" Damien said strictly as he watched over the process.

    The two girls nodded in response. After the first scolding they got, as well as the harrowing feeling that Void Essence gave them, they had no thoughts of being disobedient.

    Even the raging emotions brought by their elemental influence had been quelled.

    Void Essence ruled over all other forms of mana, so it wasn''t a surprise. Only, Damien never expected for things to be so easy.

    But he wasn''tining. Although the two girls hadn''tpletely made up yet and they hadn''t actually begun seeing each other as sisters, he had nted the seed in their head.

    Now, all they needed was proper time and nurturing to be a powerful existence under his and Ruyue''s care.

    As the process began to reach its end, Damien nodded his head in satisfaction.

    ''It seems like my help isn''t needed here anymore. Let''s exit the spiritual world and wait for them outside.''

    And with that, the unexpected situation had finally reached a temporary close.

 Chapter ?377 Arrival [1]

    Chapter ?377 Arrival [1]

    While Damien was within Lily and Mei''s spiritual world, the situation on the outside had also calmed down.

    Since the girls weren''t fighting, their mana also stopped responding. That''s how it should''ve been since the beginning.

    And as they worked together to bnce their spiritual world, Damien put in the work to help them bnce their body.

    His Void Essence wall split into countless threads that went forth and enveloped all the mana within Lily and Mei''s body. Considering how much vaster his capacity waspared to hers, it wasn''t too hard.

    And then, he used a property of Void Essence that he had never used on someone other than himself. He brought the two different forms of mana together and used Void Essence as a bridge to fuse them.

    The reddish-ck and blueish-white mana wrapped around either other like a yin-yang symbol, but there was still a wall of Void Essence in between.

    After all, trying to act too fast might be detrimental to the girls'' growth.

    Damien carefully concentrated his awareness on the process and took utmost care in slowly merging parts of the energy together. With his pace, he would finishpletely within the day.

    Hours passed like this. The process was going smoothly since Lily and Mei were so cooperative, and next to the sphere of dual-energy types, there was a separate sphere of grey mana.

    ''This mana looks impure simply in appearance, but it''s actually insanely pure and dense. The power within also can''t be underestimated.''

    Damien nodded in satisfaction. Not only was this powerful mana something the girls would be able to use proficiently, they would also be able to separate it into its two different parts and harmonize it for an exponential increase in power.

    ''Actually, maybe I should let them meet Xue''er? Hmm, thatss will definitely help them recover with her magical charisma and charm, but it isn''t the time yet. I have to make sure that Mei learns to control her destructive urges first.''

    VOOM!

    As Damien was thinking, he suddenly felt a massive wave of power emanate from a ce far deeper in the subterranean world.

    VOOM!

    Once the first wave passed, a second came. And after the second, a third. It was like the ringing of a bell when the clock struck midnight.

    As the waves passed through the atmosphere, an air of vitality spread through the realm uncontrobly.

    Even in the dark space under the shrine where Damien was, countless flowers and trees bloomed out of nowhere, filling the space with the air of nature.

    ''That old tree¡­it''s announcing its presence!'' Damien realized in shock.

    "Dammit! So what was the point of all that shit you said in the Trial of Self?! This damn old tree is ying with me!"

    [The Primordial Undying Tree smirks.]

    "Damn old man! Don''t just randomly send notifications ande fight me!"

    [The Primordial Undying Tree asks if you have time to fight a ''damn old tree'' like him when the geniuses are already congregating at his location.]

    "Fuck! See how I deal with you after I get those fruits!"

    Damien hurriedly turned back to Lily and Mei. The process of fixing their body was already nearing its end. But now that such a situation had appeared, he had to speed up.

    But it wasn''t a problem. With the intense waves of vitality that had just rushed through the space, arge portion of the girls'' internal damage had been healed, granting Damien the freedom to move with more force.

    Within an hour, Damien hadpletely fixed her physical body, and the two girls had also sorted out their spiritual world.

    Their appearance suddenly began to change. Mei''s side of the body began to crack and splinter. Pieces of her skin fell to the floor, and underneath, a newyer of skin was revealed.

    Her skin was still red in color, contrasting Lily''s blue, but it had taken on other properties. It was no longer scarred and horrendous. Mei''s skin had also be crystalline and pure like Lily''s.

    The two sides of her body had an odd dichotomy that seemed to work perfectly together. But only a momentter, the red skin symbolizing Mei vanished entirely.

    She finally opened her eyes. When she saw Damien standing in front of her, a bright smile appeared on her face.

    "Big brother!"

    She leaped into his arms and rubbed her head against his chest with reckless abandon, as if trying to soak up all of his warmth.

    "Eh?!"

    Damien gasped in surprise. Big brother? Again? It wasn''t supposed to go like this, though?

    "Um¡­Lily? Why am I big brother?"

    "Hmm..because you saved me!"

    "Eh? That''s enough?"

    "Yep! Mei said yes too!"

    Damien furrowed his brows. This was going to be a problem.

    He knew Xue''er''s personality best. Although she was always a happy-go-lucky kid, she was also incredibly possessive.

    Whenever he entered the Sanctuary, she would immediately find him and cling onto him. He didn''t even know how many times Elitra had been blocked by Little Xue when they werepeting for affection.

    If he showed up with another little sister¡­no, two of them¡­he shuddered thinking about what that girl''s reaction would be.

    ''But I can''t just tell them I can''t be their big brother. Especially since they''re going to be Ruyue''s in the future, I''ll technically still be their big brother, just inw¡­''

    He decided to leave it as is. He could figure out how to appease Little Xue''s anger once these three girls actually met each other.

    ''But that''s not important right now. I have to move, and fast.''

    "Okay. For now, big brother will take you to a safe ce, okay? I need to do something dangerous now so I can''t take you with me."

    Lily frowned. Her skin soon turned red, and a pouting Mei appeared as well.

    The two girls red at him using the same face, causing him to sweat a bit. But it couldn''t be helped.

    "Don''t worry. You won''t be bored in there since there are a lot of friends for you. Also, big brother wille there as well in a little bit."

    Damien patted their head and brushed his fingers through their hair. The girls'' face showed a contented smile as he did so, and their anger seemed to be slightly dealt with.

    In the end, Damien finally managed to get them to enter the Sanctuary after a great deal of convincing.

    ''If they meet Little Xue it''s going to cause a headache¡­damn that old tree! It''s all his fault!''

    As he cursed the Primordial Undying Tree, Damien shed away from the space. With Lily''s disappearance, the ice domain that froze his mana had also been released.

    He soon arrived at the entrance, where Lunaria was also waiting for him.

    "Did you feel that mana wave?" She asked.

    "I did. And we need to find it as soon as possible. The others are already congregating there. The final struggle for the Primordial Undying Fruit is about to begin. Oh, also, I apologize in advance."

    "Wha¡ª!"

    Damien didn''t even stop to hear her answer. He grabbed her shoulder and teleported, causing the two of them to appear ten kilometers below their original position, in another underground tunnel.

    "You¡­!"

    Lunaria wasn''t even given a chance to gather her breath before he teleported again.

    The Primordial Undying Tree had called. There was no time for anything else.

 Chapter 378 Arrival [2]

    Chapter 378 Arrival [2]

    Damien dragged Lunaria through the underground as fast as he could, but it wasn''t an easy thing.

    In the first ce, the tunnel system was far tooplicated. Even if he wanted to just teleport straight down continuously, it was impossible.

    His awareness was concentrated below him as far as he could reach, scanning the area. If he could, he would directly teleport to a tunnel in that area. But most of the time, there simply wasn''t one there.

    He had to rush through the tunnel system on foot and search for viable locations to teleport to, while also keeping the location of the Primordial Undying Tree in mind so he didn''t stray too far away.

    He couldn''t even use the maximum range of his teleportation, since long-distance spatial travel would negatively impact those without an affinity for it. He needed Lunaria to stay in peak shape for the uing struggle.

    ''Even if everyone is an enemy, that''s only once we reach the fruits. Around 20 survived from our Trial World, and even if I cut that number by half because of the Trial of Self, I still don''t know the total amount of Trial Worlds there were, so I can''t urately gauge how muchpetition we''ll have. At the very least, I expect a few hundred to be there.''

    In a ce where hundreds of people werepeting for a total of 16 fruits, he couldn''t burn the bridges he had already crossed. At least, not until they had eliminated the rest of theirpetition.

    ''That old tree had told me not to get too conceited, and he probably wasn''t just telling me to be wary of all the people I''ve already met. There must be solidpetition among those that have survived.''

    In particr, Damien was curious about the first-ranked genius, Hun Fang. He had only seen the man once, but that guy was simply too mysterious, even evading the probing of his All-Seeing Eyes.

    ''I''ve gained so much from this realm alreadypared to everyone else I''ve met so far, I''ve definitely reaped the most benefits. But still, I can''t expect that to stay true with so many variables around.''

    Damien was wary of a few people, but that wasn''t important yet. He and Lunaria had already traveled hundreds of kilometers through the vastwork of tunnels in the subterranean world, but they weren''t even halfway to the location of the tree yet.

    ''That damn bastard¡­how the hell are the others going to reach his body if he hides so deep underground? Wait¡­don''t tell me¡­''

    If, perhaps, the others were given easy ess to the location in one way or another¡­wasn''t it possible that the battle for the fruits had already begun without including him?

    ''No, I would''ve felt the fluctuations if that was the case. But it doesn''t mean that others haven''t reached the location yet. I need to speed up.''

    Without warning, he increased his teleportation distance to 20 kilometers. With this much, it shouldn''t be a burden to Lunaria yet.

    As he went deeper and deeper underground, the number of tunnels andplexities within the subterranean world decreased as well. And it soon reached a point where Damien could actually see the patterns within those tunnels.

    They snaked about and connected to various different locations, but in the end, they all congregated in a single ce. That ce was too far down for him to see, but he didn''t need to see it to know what it was.

    ''Almost there¡­''

    He increased his speed once again in excitement. It was finally time to get the treasure he had been lusting over for so long.

    ***

    While Damien was busy rampantly teleporting to reach the Primordial Undying Tree, more and more people began to appear in the desert above the tree''s location.

    "Was it here?"

    "I felt an extremely strong fluctuation from this location, so why is it empty?"

    "Hmm, so this must be everyone that survived. I can''t believe our numbers were cut down so much."

    There were at least 200 people congregated in the area, and among them were a few familiar faces.

    "Qing''er, didn''t you say that he passed the trial with you guys? Why haven''t I seen him yet?"

    A beauty with white hair and golden eyes asked worriedly. Even amongst thisrge crowd, she stood out like a glimmering moon in the midst of the night sky.

    Next to her, another fiery beauty stood with her arms crossed, scanning the area. "Hmph! That bastard won''t die so easily. If I had to guess, he''s probably a lot farther along than we are."

    "Hmm¡­" Ruyue hesitated, but ended up nodding in agreement. The Damien she knew wouldn''t be left behind by anyone. If anything, he would be the one leaving people behind.

    "But¡­where did that girl Qing Tan go? I could''ve sworn I saw her, but she disappeared as soon as I tried to greet her. What happened to camaraderie?" Feng Qing''er muttered to herself.

    It was true that she had seen Qing Tan a few moments after she had been sent to this desert realm, but that girl disappeared like the wind upon seeing her.

    If Feng Qing''er didn''t know any better, she''d think that Qing Tan was purposefully avoiding her.

    "Ah, you are talking about the girl that was with you and Damien in your Trial World? If you want to ask about her, then shouldn''t you ask about your dear sister as well? I haven''t seen Luna ever since entering this realm either." Ruyue teased.

    "That''s right!"

    Feng Qing''er gasped in shame. She had been too focused on the fact that Qing Tan ignored her, she had almost forgotten about her very own sister.

    Now that she thought about it, many powerful people were missing from this ce. Whether it be Hun Fang, Qing Tan, Lunaria, or others in the top 10 of the 3000 Beast Record.

    "But they should be fine. In fact, them not being here should worry us for another reason. If they perhaps got a head start¡­"

    Ruyue furrowed her brows. At this juncture, time was of the essence. They needed to reach the location of that fluctuation as soon as possible, but instead, they were simply dallying around.

    ''I know we need to go, but for this many people to be summoned here couldn''t be a coincidence. My instincts are telling me that waiting would be more beneficial.''

    As Ruyue was thinking about what to do, a trio of men sauntered in her direction.

    "Beauty! I have been enamored with your grace and elegance since the moment Iid eyes on you! Please ept my greetings!"

    The one who led the three lowered his head and tried to gently grab Ruyue''s hand.

    ''Is that¡­spatial fluctuations? It doesn''t have Damien''s mana signature, so something else must be happening. Hm, what is this?''

    As she was in thought, Ruyue felt an irritating presence in front of her and halfheartedly swatted her hand.

    But a halfhearted swat from Ruyue wasn''t something that could be taken lightly anymore. The blessing of the Primordial Undying Tree wasn''t just for show, after all.

    Swoosh!

    Her hand sliced through the air, only feeling a slight resistance. Feeling that she had gotten rid of a bug near her, Ruyue nodded in satisfaction before continuing with her thinking.

    "Ahhhhh!"

    That is, until she heard the piercing shriek that sounded near her. When she looked over, she saw a man whose arm had been freshly severed rolling across the ground.

    "Hm?"

    Her senses became alert. For someone to be crippled without anyone noticing, there must''ve been a powerful enemy in the vicinity.

    She spread her awareness and circted her mana in preparation for battle. Only then did she notice that most of the gazes were congregated on her rather than the poor man on the floor.

    "Huh?" She tilted her head curiously. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

 Chapter 379 Arrival [3]

    ¡°Pfft¡­!¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er let out a crisp peel ofughter upon seeing Ruyue¡¯s confusion. To think that she hadn¡¯t even noticed the man who she had crippled before doing so, it wasedic to think about.

    But before she could say anything else, strong spatial fluctuations eclipsed the area they were standing in, enveloping all the geniuses that had gathered.

    ¡°What is this?!¡±

    ¡°Again?!¡±

    Some panicked, while others simply watched how things progressed. But the thing they all had inmon was that they knew something important was happening.

    The spatial fluctuations soon became extremely strong, and people began vanishing one by one.

    Ruyue narrowed her eyes as this happened, directing her gaze towards the ground. ¡®They are being teleported¡­down there?¡¯

    She didn¡¯t know when it started, but her perception towards space had be incredibly keen. Of course, it could neverpare to an actual spatial practitioner, but it was still far above what others could do.

    This could be seen by how she noticed the faint spatial fluctuations long before the rest had done the same.

    Although she couldn¡¯t gauge the exact location to which they were being teleported, she could at least understand the direction. And seeing that they were being taken underground, there was only one thing she could think of.

    ¡®I see. As expected, we were summoned here. To think that we¡¯d be teleported down to the location of the Tree Senior without having to go through any more trials¡­it feels a bit strange.¡¯

    But it wasn¡¯t like she could do anything about it, and it wasn¡¯t like she preferred being hindered at every step.

    The light of spatial transmission soon reached Ruyue and turned her surroundings ck. When she opened her eyes again, she was in an expansive underground space.

    The ceiling of this space was so high above her head that Ruyue almost doubted whether the space could actually sustain itself without copsing.

    In fact, the only reason she could even see the ceiling was because of the small floating motes of light that inhabited the space.

    Unlike what one would expect from an underground area, the ce was extremely rich in vitality.

    Various flora gathered and flourished throughout the space, with towering trees and uniquely patterned flowers beingmon. And the nts weren¡¯t normal at all. Besides the immense aura of vitality they gave off, they also had other special fluctuations.

    ¡®All of these are valuable herbs and materials¡­¡¯ Ruyue realized as she nced around.

    This ce was like a heaven filled with treasures. Even a random stalk of grass one picked up off the floor would have astonishing regenerative properties.

    ¡®But for a ce like this to have no lifeforms is too strange.¡¯

    Ruyue began walking forward while ignoring the crowd around her. The expansiveness of the space didn¡¯t just constitute of its high ceilings, the distance it covered horizontally was also immense.

    As Ruyue moved, the others also regained their senses. The smell of greed clouded the atmosphere.

    ¡°Hahaha! It¡¯s all mine! This trip was totally worth it!¡±

    ¡°Fuck off! I got my hands on it first!¡±

    ¡°Hmph! Let¡¯s see if you have the power to keep it.¡±

    Tens of geniuses ran wantonly about the cave trying to get to the treasure herbs that surrounded them. shes of weapons and the light of mana filled the air as they fought over the goods.

    Ruyue sighed in disdain. ¡®They¡¯re so focused on what¡¯s in front of them that they can¡¯t see anything else¡­how did people like this even pass the previous trials?¡¯

    But then again, even she was feeling greed upon seeing so much treasure in one ce. Could she really fault them? It was the nature of man to die for treasure.

    But she quickly suppressed her greed. Rather than aiming for the small things, shouldn¡¯t she go for the big fish?

    She could clearly feel a massive aura of vitality emanating from a ce she assumed was the center of the realm. There, she was sure she¡¯d find the treasure she had been looking for since the beginning.

    And not just that¡­

    ¡®He should also be there. Damn, I hate how much I miss his stupid face¡­¡¯

    Ruyue shook her head and rushed forward, ignoring themotion around her.

    ¡°Hey! Wait for me!¡±

    A crisp voice rang out from behind. Feng Qing¡¯er soon caught up to Ruyue and moved alongside her.

    ¡°Haa¡­it¡¯s such a shame! I¡¯m so tempted to go after these treasures, but thanks to you I was able to regain my senses.¡±

    Ruyue nced at the sighing Feng Qing¡¯er. She could definitely understand the other girl¡¯s feelings.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. There¡¯s no way we are the only group to arrive here. We can¡¯t say whether or not others have reached the Primordial Undying Tree yet.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°It¡¯s really here?! You¡¯re sure, right?¡±

    Ruyue looked in the direction she felt that aura from and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s here. I¡¯m sure of it.¡±

    She, like Damien, had received the baptism of the Primordial Undying Tree, although to a lesser extent. Just as he could feel its calling, she could as well.

    ¡°Tch! If it¡¯s really like that, then I¡¯ll just follow along with you. You don¡¯t mind, right? I promise I won¡¯t leech.¡±

    ¡°When did I ever say you would be a leech? If Damien has befriended you, then you are definitely a strong person. That guy¡­only geniuses congregate around him.¡±

    ¡°H-hmph! Although I don¡¯t really like that bastard, I¡¯ll take thepliment. Anyway, why haven¡¯t we been attacked yet? Should the race to the Primordial Undying Tree be so simple?¡±

    Ruyue furrowed her brows. She was thinking the same thing. The fact that there weren¡¯t any beasts in this area was strange enough. For there to not be any traps either¡­

    Ruyue opened her eyes wide, causing them to shine in resplendent gold. As she looked around, she suddenly shuddered in fear.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry. Also, no matter what happens, do not step on or aggregate any of the nts growing here.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by¡ª¡±

    ¡°Ahhh!¡±

    ¡°Fuck! What¡¯s happening!¡±

    ¡°Go away, vile demons!¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s words were suddenly interrupted by a series of cries. Naturally, they came from the geniuses they left behind.

    As Feng Qing¡¯er turned to see what was happening, Ruyue immediately stopped her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look back, and don¡¯t pay attention to them. I promise you, the only thing you¡¯ll feel is regret if you do so.¡±

    Feng Qing¡¯er shuddered at the seriousness in her tone. In that second, it seemed that Ruyue¡¯s entire aura went through a change.

    And it had. She was no longer taking things lightly. To think that she had been inside of a tiger¡¯s mouth without even noticing it¡­she couldn¡¯t rx anymore.

    Her eyes were a secret that even her family never knew. After all, she hadn¡¯t awakened them until after she had left. Perhaps, if they knew about this feature of hers, they would¡¯ve never allowed her to live peacefully in the Celestial Star Pce.

    There was only a single person who knew her power, and that was Tian Yang.

    ¡®No, Damien must¡¯ve found out on our first meeting as well.¡¯

    He had blocked her probe before she could even get any valuable information. His eyes were most likely special as well.

    ¡®Wait¡­I¡¯m pretty sure anyone who¡¯s seen his eyes would be able to tell that they¡¯re special. What an unfortunate guy¡­¡¯

    She smirked a bit. But she soon cleared her thoughts again. Her awareness was spread within a closed area around her, monitoring all movement, and her steps were careful and thought out.

    She couldn¡¯t get distracted. If she got distracted, she¡¯d end up dead.

 Chapter 380 Arrival [4]

    In the area where Ruyue and Feng Qing¡¯er had just left, a massacre was taking ce.

    Thousands of massive vines thicker than an average human body twisted andshed through the air, smashing anyone they touched into blood mist.

    A murky fog rapidly spread through the atmosphere, spreading poisonous spores that infected the geniuses¡¯ bodies. Those that were infected became mindless ves that attacked the others around them.

    Even the grass at the geniuses¡¯ feet was moving to hinder them, binding their legs at the split second before they dodged to make sure the attacks of the other nts hit true.

    It was an uphill battle to say the least.

    The poisonous mist could be dealt with using mana as a barrier, but the vines were a real problem.

    They weren¡¯t too hard to cut through normally. The problem was that tree roots and branches would spread and reinforce the vines as they moved, creating an interwoven defense.

    Andbined with the speed at which ten vines moved, the defense became even more effective.

    All the while, carnivorous nts moved in silence and devoured the dead, using their energy to empower the other nts around them.

    They were like cogs in a machine. Every single one of them reinforced the others, creating a system that a group of 3rd sses could never escape from. Hell, even a 4th ss might have trouble doing so.

    The shrieks of those geniuses sounded of free cave walls and echoed throughout as they faced their inevitable deaths, painting the entire area in an eerie vibe.

    Feng Qing¡¯er fought her curiosity to look back. She wanted to see what was causing such gruesome screams, but at the same time, she didn¡¯t.

    It was due to Ruyue¡¯s warning that she held herself back and kept rushing forward.

    Inwardly, she scoffed at herself. ¡®Of course things weren¡¯t so simple. Since when has anything in this secret realm been as it seems? It was stupid to let my guard down because of the peaceful appearance of this ce.¡¯

    Just the fact that there were no beasts inhabiting such a vast jungle was enough to cause her to be wary.

    What beast would logically pass up a treasure trove like this? It was basically a quick stop to getting powerful for them, who devour to grow stronger.

    Even her own bestial instincts were craving the treasure herbs in the surroundings, so how would those unintelligent beasts resist?

    Unless, of course, they could sense the danger of this ce.

    ¡®This ce must be stained with the blood of countless beasts. Because of the precedent that had been set already, other beasts don¡¯t daree close. How could I not realize it?¡¯

    Perhaps she was too caught up in her greed, or perhaps it was something else. But she didn¡¯t make any excuses to cover her inadequacy.

    Instead, she focused her attention on Ruyue and carefully followed her steps. She had no desire to end up like the others.

    ¡®Come to think of it, whether it was the spatial fluctuations from before or the dangers here, she noticed first. It¡¯s as she said, nobody close to that bastard is simple.¡¯

    Considering how much Ruyue consciously and subconsciously spoke about Damien, Feng Qing¡¯er knew that the rtionship between the two wasn¡¯t simple.

    But she actually didn¡¯t care much. What she was more worried about was Qing Tan.

    ¡®The atmosphere between her and Damien was awkward before we left the Trial World. Did something happen? But I was with them the entire time, how could something have happened that I wasn¡¯t aware of?¡¯

    She didn¡¯t see nor sense anything wrong until that final moment. Of course, she had no way of knowing whether it was just hidden until then or not.

    ¡®Haa¡­forget it. If something happens, it happens. Since I don¡¯t know the context of the situation, I can¡¯t intervene at all.¡¯

    She simply continued following Ruyue, since it was all she could do. Remaining focused on the prize in front of her eyes was the best decision she could make.

    With the pace Ruyue and Feng Qing¡¯er were moving at, they cleared the jungle extremely fast. Within the hour, they reached a point where the sheer amount of vitality in the atmosphere caused the air itself to contain a greenish hue.

    Just breathing it in made them feel like closing their eyes and rxing. Their drowsiness wasn¡¯t a bad feeling at all. Even if they had rested enough, it was good to be in peak condition before charging the Primordial Undying Tree.

    The two of them immediately circted their mana and shocked themselves awake.

    ¡°That was dangerous,¡± Ruyue muttered.

    Feng Qing¡¯er nodded in response.

    That was all they said. They ceased conversation and focused on circting their mana as they moved to stay unaffected by the atmosphere.

    And soon, they arrived at a clearing. Within this vast expansive jungle where there was no empty space at all, this was the only clearing where no nts dared to grow.

    Except one.

    The tree wasn¡¯t massive in size or domineering in appearance at all. If one simply looked at it with the eyes of a mortal, they¡¯d think it was the same as any other tree on the side of the road. At least, until they looked up.

    Its trunk was around 6 feet tall. It wasn¡¯t short, necessarily, butpared to the trees around it, it might as well have been a dwarf.

    But its crown was a real treat for the eyes.

    Extending from the trunk were tens of thousands of branches that intertwined into a massive crown that vastly outstripped the size of the tree¡¯s trunk.

    The branches were thick and sturdy, more than enough for battle to take ce on them without them taking damage.

    The leaves of the tree weren¡¯t green all the way through. They interchanged between three different colors.

    In the lower levels were shades of red, which then formed a gradient into a greenyer. And finally, at the very peak of the tree¡¯s crown was a small, almost imperceptible,yer of purple.

    Ruyue and Feng Qing¡¯er held their breaths as they looked at it.

    16 fruits. 10 red, 5 green, and a single purple. They were shaped like apples and looked incredibly sulent. An irresistible urge to im them and immediately devour them almost enved the two girls.

    Those fruits that they had only heard about before today were hanging from the branches of the tree in front of them.

    There was no doubt about it.

    This tree was the Primordial Undying Tree. The legendary tree that had reached Godhood and formed this entire secret realm.

    ¡°We¡¯re finally here,¡± Ruyue muttered under her breath.

    ¡°Indeed we are.¡±

    The voice that replied wasn¡¯t Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s. It was hoarse and manly, giving off a gloomy feeling.

    When the two girls looked over, they saw a cloaked figure standing not far from them. His attention was fully focused on the tree as well.

    But soon, he turned his eyes to them. Two piercing red eyes that shone through the darkness of his hood.

    ¡°It is unexpected that I wasn¡¯t the first to arrive. Then again, even if I was the first, it seems it wouldn¡¯t have mattered much.¡±

    As his words fell, the jungle around them rustled. Multiple figures emerged from within.

    Liu Bai, the tenth-ranked genius on the 3000 Beast Record, the Shameless Duo that was ranked 7th and 8th, and even Qing Tan. The peak geniuses who has entered the secret realm, besides Damien and Lunaria, had all gathered.

    Including the cloaked man who had spoken to Ruyue earlier.

    First-ranked genius Hun Fang.

    And after them, many more came as well. While the group that had entered with Ruyue and Feng Qing¡¯er had sumbed to greed and been annihted at the start, not everyone was the same.

    Still, from the total thousand geniuses who had entered the realm, only around 100 had made it this far and congregated.

    The final struggle was on the cusp of beginning.

 Chapter 381 Struggle [1]

    ¡°Holy¡­¡±

    ¡°Haa¡­to think I¡¯d live to see it with my own eyes¡­¡±

    Various expressions of shock filled the air as the geniuses congregated at the location of the Primordial Undying Tree. And their shock was truly warranted.

    Even discounting the fact that their end goal was finally before their eyes, the fact that they had lived through the trials that took ce to reach here was enough of a miracle.

    Whenpared to what they had heard before they entered the realm, the actual experience was far worse. In fact, most of them would¡¯ve chosen not to enter if they had known it¡¯d be like this.

    ¡®What now?¡¯

    Ruyue wondered as she watched those geniuses regain their bearings. Everyone had gathered, sure, but were they just supposed to start fighting out of nowhere?

    The tree was standing right in front of them with seemingly no protection. In this situation, the first to move would be the loser.

    Ruyue¡¯s gaze moved to the very peak of the tree. There, a single purple fruit sat like a king on its throne.

    ¡®Although the tree isn¡¯t too big, it still won¡¯t be easy to reach that ce. The branches are like a maze, so moving through the tree¡¯s crown is disadvantageous. But at the same time, openly aiming for it will earn thebined attack of everyone else present¡­¡¯

    There was also the fact that they had no idea whether the tree was truly as unguarded as it looked. To ount for hidden dangers was also necessary.

    ¡®How troublesome¡­¡¯

    If Damien was here, she knew he would just charge for the top without regard for anyone else. But that was the kind of thing only he could do.

    His spatial affinity, insane regeneration, and many other factors allowed him to move rtively unhindered regardless of where he was.

    But Ruyue wasn¡¯t the same. Even if she was powerful, that was it. She didn¡¯t have the same versatility that he did when it came to this kind of thing.

    ¡®For now, I¡¯ll just observe.¡¯

    Ruyue wasn¡¯t the only one thinking like this. Anyone with a brain had a simr thought process. Leading the charge wasn¡¯t a role any of them were willing to take.

    And it led to a stalemate where those congregated around the tree didn¡¯t dare move any closer.

    ¡°Ahh, I hate this!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er muttered under her breath.

    ¡°If you hate it then why don¡¯t you charge into the fray?¡± Another woman responded.

    She had emerald green hair and feathers coating different parts of her body. It wasn¡¯t that the woman¡¯s Beast Transformation Art was iplete, rather, she simply took pride in her feathers.

    ¡°Peng Xiaoyan.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er said unenthusiastically. ¡°You¡¯re as annoying as ever, I see.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. And you¡¯re just as uncouth as I remember you to be. Though, it seems you¡¯ve grown a fledgling of a brain since then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. I¡¯m surprised a shit-for-brains bitch like you actually made it this far. I wonder who you sold your body to this time to protect your lousy ass?¡±

    ¡°You¡­!¡±

    Ruyue watched them argue with an intrigued look on her face. ¡®Peng Xiaoyan, so she must be the 6th rank genius on the beast record. I didn¡¯t know she had a feud with Feng Qing¡¯er.¡¯

    But she quickly shook her head and refocused her attention elsewhere.

    ¡®I didn¡¯t notice his presence until he spoke up earlier. He isn¡¯t ranked first for nothing. If there¡¯s anyone to be wary of, it¡¯s him. And also¡­¡¯

    Her gaze shifted to a ck-haired beauty who was standing to the side without drawing anyone¡¯s attention. No, it was almost like her presence was erased from the world.

    ¡®Qing Tan. ording to Feng Qing¡¯er, she and Damien were pretty close in the Trial World. The problem is what happened when they left.¡¯

    From what Ruyue had heard from Feng Qing¡¯er, Qing Tan¡¯s attitude had taken a total turn when they met in the desert. She had been ignored by someone she considered a friend.

    But if that was the case, then something must have happened. Ruyue wasn¡¯t sure if she could fully trust Qing Tan.

    It was the same with the rest. As she observed the crowd, she realized how alone she was in this struggle.

    ¡®If only Luna was here, the two of us could dominate most of these geniuses if we worked together.¡¯

    ¡°Did you think I wouldn¡¯t notice?¡±

    A gruff voice suddenly silenced all themotion taking ce around them. When Ruyue looked over, she saw Hun Fang staring at the sky a few hundred meters away from the top of the Primordial Undying Tree with narrowed eyes.

    But his words were met with no response.

    ¡°Noting out? Very well, it seems I just have to force you.¡±

    Hun Fang extended his hand and emitted a murky grey mana. The mana formed a bullet that shot through the air, causing faint ripples as it did so.

    And when it reached its destination, it burst into a puff of smoke, causing space to shatter like ss.

    ¡°Aiya¡­! And here I was wanting to make a grand entrance. How could you be so cruel?¡±

    A yful voice came from the shattered space. Ruyue narrowed her eyes. ¡®This voice¡­!¡¯

    ¡°You guys are so boring! The grand prize is right in front of you, yet you sit here trying to y mind games with each other. Isn¡¯t it a little too cowardly?¡±

    The sarcastic tone of that voice continued as the man¡¯s body was slowly revealed.

    Long ck hair with silver streaks, and a pair of eyes that Ruyue would never forget.

    ¡°Damien!¡± She inadvertently cried in excitement.

    ¡°Hm? Ah, Ruyue! Did you miss me?¡± He smiled softly and sent her a yful wink.

    ¡°Hmph! Who is missing you? I¡¯m just d that we can finally drop all these pretenses and actually do what we came to do.¡± Ruyue huffed back.

    But inwardly, she was smiling. He may have been speaking in the same casual tone that he always used, but she could clearly feel his heart through the soul connection they had.

    His yearning feelings, she could understand them clearly, and it made her all the happier to see him again.

    But it wasn¡¯t the time for a teary-eyed reunion. She wasn¡¯t lying when she spoke to him.

    Upon his entrance, he had immediately secured himself a spot far closer to the Primordial Undying Tree than the rest of them. If they continued to stand still, he¡¯d reap all the benefits instead of them.

    ¡°Fuck! Don¡¯t let him get to the fruits!¡±

    It was unknown who spoke, but those words acted as a trigger.

    Those hundred geniuses who made it to the Primordial Undying Tree all charged forth. Intense mana fluctuations enveloped the atmosphere as they pushed their speed to the max.

    Bang!

    The ground erupted. Massive vines simr to the ones Ruyue had seen previously shot into the air and attacked the iing geniuses.

    And attacks began to fly.

    Whether it was fighting against the vines or each other, battle had finally broken out.

    Damien grinned. ¡°Yeah, this is what it¡¯s supposed to look like.¡±

    His gaze moved to Hun Fang, who was staring back at him ferociously.

    ¡°What? Did you have something up your sleeve? Sorry, but I¡¯m the direct type. These pansy schemes aren¡¯t to my taste at all.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then you should have the strength to back up your confidence. Whether or not your presence is worthy of copsing the schemes of others, it isn¡¯t up to you.¡± Hun Fang growled back.

    ¡°Oh? Well then, whether or not my strength is enough, would you like to try it for yourself?¡±

    These two were different from the rest. When it came topetition, they didn¡¯t hold anyone in their eyes besides each other.

    That purple fruit at the top of the tree, it would go to one of the two of them. And their battle would decide who.

    ¡°You¡¯re bold. I don¡¯t think anyone has been brash enough to challenge me so openly in many years. Come, then. Let us see whether it is shameless boasting or true confidence.¡± Hun Fang said as he readied his mana.

    But Damien shook his head with a sly smile. ¡°Come to you? Don¡¯t make meugh. If you truly want to fight, then you first have to catch me!¡±

    ¡°You¡­!¡±

    Hun Fang rapidly shot a wave of gray mana at Damien¡¯s position. But by the time it reached, thetter had already disappeared into the intertwining branches of the Primordial Undying Tree.

    Hun Fang¡¯s brow twitched when he saw it. ¡®Fine. If you want to y games then I shall apany you. I¡¯ll dly show you how I earned the title of Spirit King.¡¯

 Chapter 382 Struggle [2]

    Variousrge and small battles had erupted around the crown of the Primordial Undying Tree.

    Bang!

    A genius who flew into the air in a bid to rapidly reach the peak of the tree burst into blood mist as thebined attacks of many around himnded on his body.

    One thing was certain. Regardless of who they were battling, every genius was doing their best to keep an eye on one another, and every single one of them was aiming to enter the maze of branches that constituted the Primordial Undying Tree¡¯s crown.

    Skree!

    The cry of a phoenix rang out as a swift phantom made of mes dived towards its target. But considering who it was aimed at, it was almost natural that it missed.

    ¡°Tch! You lot from the Peng n are only good for fleeing. Let¡¯s see how long a rat like you canst.¡± Feng Qing¡¯er scoffed as she watched it happen.

    ¡°Ha! Speak after you actuallynd an attack on me, you slow-witted bitch. Oh wait, you¡¯ve never managed to do that unless you teamed up with your counterpart, have you?

    Penh Xiaoyan shed through the air with speeds that matched teleportation. Regardless of what Feng Qing¡¯er did, her attacks wouldn¡¯t hit.

    Peng Xiaoyan spread her arms as she moved, shing them downwards in a crossed pattern. Light green mana raged and formed an x-shaped de that spun towards Feng Qing¡¯er.

    But Feng Qing¡¯er was never afraid of Peng Xiaoyan¡¯s attack power. When it came to power, she was Queen.

    A string of me runes appeared before her as she drew in the air, forming a sword that seemed almost corporeal. As the sword shot forward, it split into thousands of pieces that clouded the atmosphere and formed an inescapable.

    ¡°You¡¯ve learned some new tricks, huh. But you aren¡¯t the only one!¡± Peng Xiaoyan sneered.

    Her body arched like a bow and exploded forth with extreme speed. She reached Feng Qing¡¯er¡¯s position in an instant. A set of twin daggers appeared in her hands and stabbed downward, being coated with wind mana in the process.

    ¡°Good! Thanks for delivering yourself to me!¡± Feng Qing¡¯er grinned.

    Being surprised at Peng Xiaoyan¡¯s speed was one thing, but being unprepared was another. In fact, Feng Qing¡¯er was extremely d that the former had decided to engage her in closebat.

    A fiery red greatsword that emanated zing heat manifested in the air. Feng Qing¡¯er grabbed its hilt without hesitation, swinging without even looking for a target.

    After all, her opponent was moving too fast. She couldn¡¯t track her even if she wanted to.

    Sssss!

    A sizzling sound was emitted from the spot of collision. Under Peng Xiaoyan¡¯s shocked gaze, her daggers were directly melted by the de.

    ¡°A few tricks?¡± Feng Qing¡¯er scoffed. ¡°Bitch, I¡¯ve been reborn.¡±

    Reincarnation mes raged. Using the wind mana as a conduit, they billowed into a massive me tornado that enveloped the two women.

    Boom!

    The me tornado caused arge shockwave that pushed back any that were in the vicinity, but upon reaching a certain location, the heat was directly suppressed.

    A winter storm seemed to have formed unnaturally within the underground space. Thend had been frozen into ice, and even mana moved sluggishly.

    Standing in the middle of this space was Lunaria Snow, who Damien had dropped off long before his confrontation with Hun Fang had started.

    ¡°To think things escted so quickly. But, it isn¡¯t unexpected. The most surprising thing is Qing¡¯er¡¯s growth. Even if I heard about it beforehand, it¡¯s still shocking to see.¡±

    Lunaria murmured to herself as she casually blocked a strike aimed for her head. She flicked her finger, causing a crystalline ice shard to shoot through that genius¡¯ head, instantly killing him.

    ¡°While Qing¡¯er is having such a riveting battle, I¡¯m stuck dealing with bugs. What a shame.¡±

    Lunaria moved without pause. She soon reached the crown of the Primordial Undying Tree and began climbing its branches.

    ¡°Another one.¡±

    She clutched her hand into a fist. Following her movement, a frozen statue of a hidden genius fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

    Her blood had been frozen from within.

    ¡°I was unable to urately judge the prowess of Qing¡¯er¡¯s friend during our time together, but if Hun Fang considers him a threat, then I shouldn¡¯t push my luck. For the goals of our Ice Phoenix n, only a green fruit is necessary.¡±

    Truthfully, she wasn¡¯t too interested in the purple fruit. While its effects were astronomically greater than the other two kinds, she knew her limits.

    And more than that, the Ice Phoenixes were already existences that symbolized purity. To take a treasure that purified their bodies even more was like a stain on their pride.

    ¡°But pride is just pride. In the end, I will still end up taking such a treasure.¡±

    As she moved, she nced in a certain direction.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame. With power so simr to mine, I wanted to see which of us was superior. But it seems now isn¡¯t the time.¡±

    In the direction she was looking, another tundra had formed. But this one was intrinsically divergent from hers.

    The source it came from differed.

    The mana was whiteish blue, and within that tundra, hints of another blue me could be seen along with unknown patches of ck.

    Inside, Ruyue stared dully at a man who stood across from her.

    ¡°The 3000 Beast Record is really just a gauge of strength, huh. 4th rank genius Regis Tiriad, in terms of personality, you¡¯re probably the shittiest one here.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! A beauty that struggles is the most fun to tame! Comee! Insult me more!¡±

    The man named Regis licked his lips in glee. His tongue was forked like a snake¡¯s.

    Ever since he saw the woman in front of him, he has been resolved to make her his.

    But he didn¡¯t have his n¡¯s power to use at the moment, so he had to do the dirty work himself.

    ¡®But that¡¯s fine with me! The chase is the most fun part!¡¯

    His bewitching poison did nothing to this woman, and aphrodisiacs were the same. The easy tactics had already been thrown out the window.

    ¡®So instead of poisoning her mind, I just have to poison her body! If she desires the antidote, then she¡¯s mine. Even if she doesn¡¯t, she¡¯ll still be immobilized so she¡¯s mine nheless!¡¯

    He felt orgasmic as he imagined the scene of this woman pinned under him. A poisonous aura leaked from his body and spread through the realm she had created.

    ¡°No matter what, ice is still ice. It¡¯ll melt eventually.¡±

    Ruyue sighed and shook her head. ¡°I think I understand how he feels a little now. These geniuses that used to be dangerous for me¡­they¡¯re just so weak.¡±

    There was no time. While Damien secured the purple fruit, she needed to grab the green ones for both herself and for the White Dragon King so they could fulfill their promise.

    ¡°What a hassle. He probably forgot all about that deal we made. I¡¯ll make sure hepensates me properly for this.¡±

    ck mana intertwined with the blue mana Ruyue was normally emitting. Her ice suddenly gave off an ominous aura it didn¡¯t have before.

    ¡°Destion¡­I¡¯ve always been concerned about using it on people, but if it¡¯s you, then I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll stain my conscience too much.¡±

    The mana shot forward, piercing the fog of poison that Regis had put up previously.

    ¡°W-what?! My Thousand Death! How can you pierce it so easily?!¡±

    Before he could put up any semnce of defense, the ckish-blue mana infiltrated his body.

    It spread rapidly, more rapidly than any poison. And in an instant, it sucked away all the mana in his body. But it didn¡¯t seem satiated at all.

    ¡°Vitality is an interesting thing,¡± Ruyue muttered to herself. ¡°Thanks to the Tree Senior, I was able to understand more about it than I ever thought I would.¡±

    Regis¡¯ body began to shrivel. The mana within him was stealing everything he had, including his life force.

    He tried mobilizing his own mana to counter, but soon realized that it had been devoured long ago. The only option left was the poison that ran through his blood.

    But when that was stolen from him.

    Destion. That¡¯s what happened.

    Everything that he had was taken. The poison in his body just served to feed that ckish-blue mana even faster.

    And soon, he became an empty husk on the floor. In his ce, there was a blob of corrupted mana.

    ¡°Tch. I don¡¯t even want this. Hmm, I¡¯ll just throw it over there.¡±

    Ruyue flicked her finger and discarded the blob of mana. In the ce where it fell, a massive explosion filled with poisonous gas erupted, ughtering 10 geniuses at once.

    ¡°Alright. Now that that¡¯s over, back to the task at hand.¡±

    Ruyue soon arrived at the crown of the tree, and just like Lunaria had a few moments prior, she began her hunt for the green fruits.

 Chapter 383 Struggle [3]

    Chapter 383 Struggle [3]

    Saying that there were thousands or even tens of thousands of intertwining branches within the crown of the Primordial Undying Tree wasn¡¯t an exaggeration at all.

    From the outside, it did indeed look like the canopy of a tree, with the only special thing about it being it¡¯s size and color, but when inside, one would no longer even believe they were on a tree anymore.

    Tens of thousands of branches that tangled and snaked in unnatural directions, they formed a naturalbyrinth that was hidden by the leaves and flowers that decorated the outside of the crown.

    Swoosh!

    As Damien rushed through thisbyrinth, he was once again forced to realize the grandiosity of such a tree.

    He would run in a straight line across a single branch, but would somehow find himself on a separate branch many meters away without even realizing how he got there.

    And it wasn¡¯t even an illusion, it was just a miracle of sheerplexity.

    ¡®If it¡¯s like this, even reaching the purple fruit will be a problem, let alone stealing it from Hun Fang. Speaking of, where is that guy?¡¯

    He was sure the first ranked genius had chased him into the tree, but at some point, he could no longer sense thetter¡¯s presence.

    ¡®Did he stop chasing me? No, it¡¯s more likely that he was led somewhere else by this convolutedbyrinth¡­but our end goal is the same ce.¡¯

    Even if the sh was dyed, it was inevitable. Until then, though, Damien had to find his way through thebyrinth.

    There were no walls or ceilings, only branches in every direction. It was a four-dimensionalbyrinth where he was always free to switch paths, but he would never know where he was going.

    ¡®But I should still be able to feel if I¡¯m headed upward, right?¡¯

    With his awareness spread and his All-Seeing Eyes operating at full capacity, he took the path he felt was best. Now that he had reached this juncture, he could only rely on his own skill.

    The calling he felt earlier had be useless.

    ¡®Damn old tree, always making things difficult for me.¡¯

    Suddenly, Damien¡¯s eyes picked up a presence standing in the path before him. But it wasn¡¯t anything humanoid, nor was it one of the geniuses who had entered the secret realm.

    His eyes hardened. ¡®That beast¡­it¡¯s the most powerful being I¡¯ve seen in this secret realm besides those two Demigods¡­¡¯

    And that was including the Demon Kings.

    But he didn¡¯t stop moving. If there was such a beast blocking his path, it meant he was going in the right direction.

    He soon arrived in front of it. It was a massive serpent whose body was curled around hundreds of branches. Its head was already twice Damien¡¯s height.

    Its eyes were closed and its breathing was steady, indicating that it was asleep.

    Damien came to a stop a few hundred meters away and hid his presence. He didn¡¯t know if such tactics would work against a beast so much more powerful than him, but it was the best he could do.

    ¡®Damn¡­going around doesn¡¯t seem possible, but there¡¯s no way I can defeat it.¡¯

    He crept up the branch he was standing on, trying to find a path forward, but he couldn¡¯t think of one.

    ¡®These hundreds of branches that the snake is curled around are all interconnected far deeper than the rest. It feels like they¡¯re reaching a point where they¡¯ll convene into a single branch soon.¡¯

    If that was the case, then he must be reaching the topyer of the tree. Unfortunately, he was too far away from the outeryer to confirm using the color of the leaves.

    But what he did know was that this snake wasn¡¯t here by coincidence. Its position was perfectly in the way of his goal.

    Snap!

    He was too focused on the snake. He didn¡¯t watch his step properly because of the frightening pressure that he was feeling from it. And under such a situation, he made a stupid mistake.

    A small twig under his foot snapped, creating an obnoxiously loud sound within the stillness of the current atmosphere.

    The snake¡¯s massive eyes opened. Damien immediately merged with the space around him and hid himself.

    But that snake¡¯s gaze was still focused on him.

    ¡®Fuck!¡¯

    Without hesitation, he ran. He teleported furiously, but instead of running away, he ran straight towards the snake.

    ¡®I have to get through!¡¯

    Even seeing his movements, the snake didn¡¯t move much. Its tail slowly uncurled from around the branches and became free.

    Thwap!

    That tail moved abruptly and with speed that surpassed Damien¡¯s imagination. He didn¡¯t even realize when it appeared behind him.

    Boom!

    ¡°Kak!¡±

    The impact stirred his internal organs, causing him to cough up blood, but he didn¡¯t stop moving.

    The snake chased him with its tail, unwrapping it further with every movement he made. It was swift to the point where it was mind-boggling that arge portion of it was still tangled in the branches.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Damien desperately teleported away, but the tail always managed to find him.

    ¡°Agh!¡±

    He barely avoided thest strike, but the sharp edge of the snake¡¯s skin swept across his shins andcerated his tendons.

    Without a choice, he surrounded himself in a cocoon of Void Essence to buy himself time to heal.

    ¡®This thing is far too great for me. With my current strength, and even my current Void Essence, it¡¯s impossible to kill it. If I can withdraw High-Level Void Essence from that space I saw before, I might be able to cut its tail off, but containing that level of essence will undoubtedly break my body.¡¯

    His thoughts raced. If it was just this battle alone, then the strategy of using power beyond his capabilities was fine, but the current situation wasn¡¯t like that.

    He would need to fight Hun Fang for the purple fruit and also escape from this area so he could consume it. To do all that, he needed to be in peak shape.

    ¡®Buting out of this unhindered doesn¡¯t seem possible. That snake is definitely going easy on me, but I¡¯m still injured to such an extent with only a few strikes.¡¯

    The gap between 3rd and 4th ss was too wide, especially when it was past the entry-level. But still, he needed to try.

    ¡®Fine. No risk, no reward, right?¡¯

    Within a few seconds, his thoughts had wrapped up. His injuries hadn¡¯t healedpletely, but it was enough.

    The cocoon of Void Essence faded, and Damien instantly erected his vector field and teleported away.

    As expected, the snake was hot on his trail.

    Bang! Bang!

    The tail whipped back and forth, smashing into the branches around him and causing splinters to rain onto his body, causing a great deal of minor injuries.

    But those injuries healed in an instant. And with the snake suddenly targeting the surroundings instead of his actual body, he got what he wanted.

    What Damien wanted was just a small amount of time. A few seconds was enough. In that few seconds when the shrapnel was raining down on him, his body went through a massive change.

    ck scales covered him from his neck down to his toes, two horns grew on his forehead and wrapped around his head like a crown, wings jutted out from his shoulder des.

    Blood-red runes etched themselves into his scales, his sclera turned ck while his irises matched the color of his runes.

    ¡®Demon Dragon Transformation!¡¯

    Once he was in his most powerful form, he formed a connection to the space he termed the Void ne.

    Within a second, he repeated the process he used when he was facing the Head Apostle in the Trial World.

    Mid-Level Void Essence emerged from a crack in space and covered his body.

    He had 27 seconds left in his transformation, but he had no ns to use up all that time again.

    When the processes he needed toplete finished, he immediately charged at the snake¡¯s head.

 Chapter 384 Struggle [4]

    Chapter 384 Struggle [4]

    A single p of his wings had the same effect as teleportation. He reached the snake¡¯s head in an instant.

    Red runes congregated on his arms and coalesced into strange patterns, exponentially increasing his strength.

    And before the snake could react, his arm shot forward and punctured its eye:

    Kyaaaak!

    A screech was emitted from the snake¡¯s mouth. If previously, it was simply toying with him, it was now genuinely angry.

    With its mouth already gaping from its scream, a st of murky green liquid sprayed from its throat and covered Damien, who was too close to dodge.

    The liquid corroded his scales and tried to get through his defenses, but the runes on his body changed shape and caused his scales to be harder than diamonds.

    Damien pped his wings again. When he reappeared, he was inside the snake¡¯s mouth. The poison that sprayed from it covered him like gel as he stood directly in its trajectory, and as it piled up, it was starting to corrode even his heightened defense.

    But he didn¡¯t care. He came for a single purpose only. He reached up and grabbed one of the two domineering fangs within the snake¡¯s mouth.

    Then, he ripped it out with all his strength. When it didn¡¯t budge with physical strength alone, he distorted space around it and crushed the snake¡¯s jaws to help him.

    SKREEE!

    The snake screamed in pain. Gaseous red mana mixed into the poison that covered Damien¡¯s body.

    BOOM!

    The red mana mixed with the poison and exploded. As more red mana stuck to Damien¡¯s body, a chain of explosions rang out.

    But even with this, Damien didn¡¯t let go of the tooth.

    Roar!

    A dragon roar left his mouth. His scales cracked under the pressure of the explosions and the poison made its way into his body. But he didn¡¯t loosen his grip.

    Space distorted to the point of copse. The snake¡¯s gums were being fused and bound in awkward patterns as this happened, and its grip on the tooth lessened.

    And suddenly¡­

    BOOM!

    Another explosion rang out as more red mana influenced the poisonous liquid, but this time, Damien¡¯s body was propelled out of the snake¡¯s mouth by the shockwave.

    Along with something else.

    Arge snake fang was in his grasp. Looking at his war trophy, he grinned.

    ¡°Damn snake! Try and chase me now!¡±

    There was a reason he aimed for the snake¡¯s fang. When it was dislodged, copious amounts of blood spilled into the snake¡¯s mouth and flooded its throat, blocking the poisonous liquid from spewing.

    Of course, his main reason is want just this. It was extremely faint, to the point where he only noticed it once he entered the snake¡¯s mouth, but there were definitely spatial fluctuations leaking from the fang.

    If this wasn¡¯t a hint, he didn¡¯t know what was. And besides gaining something that¡¯d most likely help him reach the peak, he had also gained time while the snake coped with the injury he caused.

    It had been 10 seconds since he transformed.

    He merged with space and pped his wings, doubling his speed. With two ps, he had already passed the snake.

    And he didn¡¯t look back.

    He continued along the path the snake was blocking until he could no longer sense it with his physical senses.

    And once another 5 seconds had passed, he undid his transformation.

    ¡°AGH!¡±

    Immediately, searing pain spread through his body. Although he only used it for half of the total time limit, his stamina was still plenty exhausted.

    And as his scales and body runes faded, the poison that had leaked into his body began acting far more furiously than it had before.

    His regeneration worked overtime to heal his internal injuries. His organs were a mess because of his recklessness.

    While that was happening, he clenched his teeth and endured the pain, mobilizing his Void Essence to cleanse the poison in his body.

    Previously, Void Essence couldn¡¯t cleanse physical poisons. But that was when it was being used passively by the Void Physique.

    Now, he had gotten much closer to his Void Physique. He could personally influence the actions of the Void Essence it gave him ess to.

    So, cleansing physical poisons also became possible to an extent.

    ¡®Is it not chasing me?¡¯

    Damien concentrated his awareness on the direction he just fled from, but unexpectedly, he didn¡¯t see the snake at all.

    At first, he panicked thinking it followed him, but as he carefully sensed his surroundings, he realized that it wasn¡¯t anywhere nearby at all.

    ¡®Did it leave? Well, whatever. Doesn¡¯t matter to me anyway.¡¯

    He inwardly smiled as he thought about the fang he stole from it. Besides it¡¯s practical use, he is as also keeping it as a memento of his achievement.

    The fight was short and could barely even be called a fight. He simply acted recklessly to buy himself a chance at escape.

    And it didn¡¯t even seem like the snake was fighting back at full power either.

    But nheless, he had achieved victory over a foe far stronger than him, and he¡¯d happily take pride in that.

    His wounds slowly healed and the poison inside his body was also extracted with time. He took out a jade bottle and stored the poison in his subspace alongside the poison he had gotten from those Eclipsing Shadow Sect assassins a year ago.

    And many hourster, he had returned to peak condition. Without hesitation, he took out the snake fang and injected his mana into it.

    ¡®Back to work. I have no time to waste.¡¯

    ***

    Far away from where Damien was, a man emerged from the shadows. He had jet-ck hair and red eyes, his face holding a devilish sense of handsomeness.

    Suddenly, the man grinned. One of his canines was missing.

    ¡°I know you said that someone interesting hade, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be so much of an understatement!¡±

    He rubbed the space where his missing tooth used to be. A small trail of blood was still there.

    ¡°Tsk, tsk. To think he even stole a fang of mine. He could¡¯ve activated the spatial formation by just pouring his mana into it. Tch, if that old fogey didn¡¯t prohibit me from killing anyone, he¡¯d be dead 10 times over by now.¡±

    The man spoke sarcastically to himself, his smile never fading.

    ¡°Even if I went easy on him, that wasn¡¯t the kind of power that someone at his level could ovee within a few seconds. That form of his¡­truly impressive! Oi, old bastard! Are you going to make me talk to myself like this forever?!¡±

    [The Primordial Undying Tree smirks. It says that you were already a crazy person to begin with, so this isn¡¯t anything new.]

    ¡°Tch. Damn old guy, only talking through transmissions like this. When are you going toe out of your hole?¡±

    [The Primordial Undying Tree sighs. It says that the time hasn¡¯te yet.]

    ¡°And when the timees? It¡¯ll be toote by then.¡±

    [The Primordial Undying Tree says it can only ce its hope in the younger generation.]

    ¡°And if the younger generation can¡¯t make it that far?¡±

    [¡­]

    ¡°Haa¡­I get it, I get it. You have it tough, old friend.¡±

    The ck-haired man cracked his neck. Gaseous red mana coagted in his mouth, soon forming into a tooth that reced the one he was missing.

    ¡°In any case, my job ends here. As for what happens after, it¡¯s none of my business.¡±

    The man¡¯s form changed. His human body disappeared, reced by that of a massive ck snake.

    Within a clearing somewhere in the Primordial Undying Realm, that snake closed his eyes and entered a long slumber. One that he expected tost for another 10,000 years.

 Chapter ?385 Struggle [5]

    Chapter ?385 Struggle [5]

    In the hours it took Damien to climb to the point he reached, the battles around the Primordial Undying Tree never stopped.

    Corpses of geniuses that were once hailed as the supremes in the younger generation littered the ground around the tree, while those who survived stood within its crown.

    The final victors had already been decided.

    When Ruyue killed the 4th-ranked genius, none dared to oppose her anymore, and she was able to quickly get her hands on a green fruit.

    The problem stemmed from when she attempted to take a second one for herself. She naturally met fierce resistance for attempting to hoard the treasures, but none of those who tried to stop her had the ability to do so.

    After all, Lunaria had acquired the fruit she came for easily, and Feng Qing''er had done the same after stepping over the corpse of the 6th-rank genius, Peng Xiaoyan.

    At some point without anyone''s recognition, the 5th green fruit had been stolen by Qing Tan.

    Looking at the results, Ruyue figured it was expected. Since these people were all close to, or at least on friendly terms with, Damien, she knew that they wouldn''t oppose her.

    ''But that Qing Tan¡­she''s far more dangerous than I originally gave her credit for.''

    Granted, in this chaotic environment, it was easy to lose sight of someone. But for Qing Tan to have reached the green fruit without a single person''s detection was still an amazing feat.

    She had even avoided Ruyue''s eyes, which had been activated and scanning the area the entire time.

    Now, four geniuses stood in four cardinal directions on the middle area of the Primordial Undying Tree''s crown, each having imed their ce.

    The rest of the geniuses looked at them in both awe and greed, but there was nothing they could do. Instead of focusing on the fruits that had already been taken, it was best to try and get their hands on a red fruit that those peak geniuses didn''t even give a second look to.

    Unlike some, most of them knew their limits. Aside from Ruyue, who was a wild card, the ones in the middle area of the tree were already ranked in the top 5 before they even entered the secret realm.

    With the kind of opportunities they must''ve received within, the strong had only gotten stronger.

    So the fight for red fruits became far fiercer than the previous fights. Even if there were 10 fruits, there were still almost 100 geniuses.

    And of those 10 fruits, 4 of them had disappeared at some point, imed while others had been fighting for the green ones.

    Ruyue soon ignored themotion below and directed her gaze to the purpleyer of the tree''s crown with furrowed brows.

    ''After so long, there hasn''t been any movement at all. It''s strange.''

    The fighting here had almoste to a close, yet there was nothing at all from the peak where the two most talented geniuses were supposed to be fighting.

    In fact, everyone was directing a portion of their attention to the peak in hopes of witnessing that fight, but they were only left with disappointment.

    Suddenly¡­

    BOOM!

    A massive explosion rang out. Shrapnel frombusted tree branches rained down onto the ground, and ming purple leaves drifted through the air.

    There was only a single branch left from the purpleyer of the Primordial Undying Tree. That single branch that housed the purple fruit that all geniuses dreamed about.

    In the sky, two figures suddenly emerged.

    One was the familiar figure of Damien, and as for the other, it was a grey-haired, red-eyed man with an eerie aura.

    ''It''s finally begun.''

    Feng Qing''er and Lunaria watched on in interest, eager to see the result of the fight. Qing Tan stared at the two figures in the sky with aplicated gaze.

    Ruyue tightly clutched the ne that hung around her neck. This fight would be the most important one since the start of the secret realm.

    ***

    When Damien re-emerged after using the spatial transference formation etched on the snake''s dang, he found himself in a wide-open area.

    The ground beneath him was made of countless branches that intertwined to create a sturdy floor, and the walls were filled with purple leaves.

    In the center of the room, a double-stranded branch snakes up from the rest, and in that branch''s grasp was a beautiful purple fruit.

    Rather than beingpletely purple, the fruit was crystalline like jade, but emitted a purple luster.

    It looked more like an ore than a fruit, but still provoked one''s desire to feast on it. It was an odd feeling.

    As Damien observed the fruit, he suddenly felt another presence appear in the room.

    The man across from him was no longer wearing a hood. Judging from how his clothes were tattered in some ces, he must''ve lost it in a fight simr to the one Damien had just had.

    "Is it just coincidence that we arrived at the same time, or was it premeditated to be like this?" He asked casually.

    Hun Fang looked at him without a change in expression. "Regardless of which one it was, we were bound to fight. I highly doubt you would let me peacefully leave with the fruit even if I acquired it first."

    "It''s the same for you."

    "¡­"

    "So? The mysterious Spirit King of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, you''re different from what I expected. To be honest, I don''t like you at all."

    "Am I supposed to care about that?"

    "I suppose not¡­the scent of your mana, it''s disgusting."

    As soon as Damien said those words, Hun Fang''s gaze sharpened. "The scent?"

    "Ah, don''t worry about it. I was just talking to myself. In any case, only one of us will be leaving this ce alive, and I have no intention of dying."

    "You and I have no enmity or grudge between us. Is there a reason for you to take things so far?" Hun Fang asked inquisitively.

    Damien smirked in response. "Didn''t I already tell you? The scent of your mana, it''s disgusting."

    Without warning, Damien vanished, reappearing behind Hun Fang. His fist shot out with the speed of a bullet, throwing a punch that was set in motion before he had even finished teleporting.

    Voom!

    Hun Fang''s grey mana emanated from his body and formed a shield. When Damien''s fist impacted, it felt like he was punching cotton.

    A sense of danger enveloped his body. He teleported away the second he felt it. But as he did so, space around him shattered, thrusting him back into the Real ne.

    A bolt of grey mana followed his movements through the spatialyers as if it was alive. As it approached him, Damien charged his Void mes and shot a bolt to meet it.

    Bzzt!

    The two bolts of mana collided in the air and destroyed each other.

    "Teleportation. It''s a good skill, but it will not work against me." Hun Fangmented indifferently.

    "Whether or not it''ll work, that''s not up to you to decide." Damien quipped back.

    He merged with space, achieving a far deeper level of synchronization than when he normally teleported.

    In this state, it was impossible to track his movements even if one could peer into the spatialyers.

    Another bold of grey mana shot into the void, this one containing far more power than thest.

    Boom!

    Space shattered once more, and without suspense, Damien''s figure was revealed.

    A frown decorated his face. ''This fight¡­is going to be much harder than I thought it was.''

 Chapter 386 Struggle [6]

    Chapter 386 Struggle [6]

    It wasn''t that Hun Fang''s attacks were too powerful. In the first ce, those attacks were never meant to harm Damien.

    It was more like a warning. A warning that spatial movement would be useless regardless of how it was done.

    ''The problem is, I have no idea how he''s tracking me. At first, I thought he was just seeing through the spatialyers, but now I know that isn''t the case.''

    The only thing Damien knew was that Hun Fang had some insane method of tracking that could see him even if his presence was totally erased. Perhaps the only method to avoid this tracking was to enter apletely separated ne like the Sanctuary.

    ''But that doesn''t matter. Although not being able to teleport will hinder me, I''ve long since stopped relying on teleportation for movement in battle.''

    His thoughts didn''tst long. After he reached this point, he covered his fists in Void mes and stomped the ground, propelling himself forward.

    He reached Hun Fang in an instant, his fists throwing a barrage of punches in every direction.

    Hun Fang moved just as swiftly. A palm-sized ck g appeared in his hand. Every time he waved it, gusts of grey mana swept through the air and mitigated the damage of Damien''s punches.

    But in that instant, Hun Fang''s figure vanished into a veil of fog and reappeared many meters away.

    "I don''t have time for this. Enough probing, let''s finish this quickly."

    Hun Fang waved the g in his hand. The grey mana that swirled around it began to morph into a fog filled with countless faces.

    Some were screaming, some were crying, while others still had expressions of shock on their faces that never vanished. The one thing that they shared was the fact that all of them expressed some form of horror.

    Damien narrowed his eyes. "Those¡­souls? Or spirits?"

    Hun Fang grinned wickedly. "Did you think the Spirit King title was for show? Although I hate the way they ssify me, I have to admit that the ones who made that deplorable record have a solid informationwork."

    OOOOOH!

    The cluster of ghastly spirits soon expanded into a swirling tornado of screams that surrounded Hun Fang. Within a second, that tornado had already charged towards Damien.

    Damien furrowed his brows. Soul and spirit attacks were what he hated the most, since he had no real counter to them. But he still had to fight it somehow.

    Mirage manifested in his hand. He quickly took his stance and thrust his de forward.

    ''Void Sword Art Third Form: Horizon Break''

    Bang!

    A hole was sted in the tornado of souls, but it soon closed up. But Damien wasn''t disheartened by the sight. Within the tornado, he could see the flickering wisp of Void me that he had added into his strike.

    Damien kicked to the side and avoided the tornado''s trajectory before readjusting his foot and kicking off the floor, closing the distance between him and Hun Fang.

    ''Void Sword Art First Form: deless''

    A gash appeared in space, rapidly expanding towards Hun Fang and threatening to swallow him into the void. Hun Fang''s body turned into smoke once more, but Damien had already predicted it.

    Damien''s sword shed through the air, creating tens of gashes with deless that blocked off Hun Fang''s retreat.

    But Hun Fang wasn''t just standing still while Damien dealt with the tornado. The grey souls that exited his g had already permeated through the area and formed a ghastly domain.

    They clustered together in front of him as the spatial rend reached his position. Like a horde of zombies, those souls bit into the spatial rend as if it was a physical object, shattering it like ss.

    "What a nasty technique," Damien muttered. He jumped into the air, wings jutting out of his back. With a p, he appeared above Hun Fang and swung his sword down.

    ng!

    The g in Hun Fang''s hand grew into a staff that collided with Mirage. As the two shed against each other, Damien utilized vector control to increase the weight of his strike.

    Boom!

    The floor caved in below them, but Hun Fang didn''t lose his bnce. His staff grazed against the edge of Damien''s sword and parried it before swinging through and shooting towards Damien''s chest.

    Bang!

    As the staff hit Damien''s chest, his foot stomped on the ground to offset the impact. At the same time, his hand that wasn''t holding Mirage curled into a fist and shot forward, sending a hook towards Hun Fang''s jaw.

    ''Void Sword Art Second Form: Dance of the Void''

    Damien''s figure flickered out of existence, turning into multiple phantoms that circled Hun Fang''s position.

    Even if spatial movement wouldn''t work on his opponent, Dance of the Void was different. When he first created it, the move was simply a sword dancebined with deless, but over time, it had been refined into something different.

    Even if Hun Fang could track his position, it wouldn''t change anything.

    Mirage moved like a ghost, leaving tens of cuts on Hun Fang''s skin.

    Hun Fang frowned as he looked at the dozens of Damiens that were surrounding him. Hepletely ignored the damage he was taking.

    "So be it."

    His hands pped together and formed an ancient seal. His mana raged as he did so. Even as blood began to pour from his body, he didn''t stop.

    "Heed my call and appear before me, Velzagard."

    The grey mana around him formed a whirlpool, making it so Damien''s strikes could no longer reach him. Seeing this, Damien teleported out of range.

    ''He''s definitely preparing something big. Although I would love to stop the process halfway, it doesn''t seem like I can do that.''

    In all honesty, Damien was vexed. Hisbat style that leaned towards frontal confrontation and short-distance attacks seemed to be perfectly countered by Hun Fang''s attributes, whatever they were.

    ''If I want to have an effective battle against him, it has to be one like mages. Long-rangedbat seems like it''d be more effective. The problem is, spatial abilities don''t seem to work well against him.''

    He had grown a lot in the secret realm, but he had also lost a great deal. For instance, his lightning had slowly be useless as he acquired more special abilities.

    Not only that, Sunmes were no longer avable to him either since they had fused into the Void me, and since the Void me was still in its growth phase, it wasn''t as effective as he hoped it''d be.

    These two had been a pivotal part of hisbat force prior to entering the secret realm, but now, he was almost wholly relying on his spatial element.

    But the abilities he most frequently used had been countered already by his opponent.

    ''A match like this is new. An opponent that isn''t insanely stronger than me or just weaker than me¡­it''s annoying.''

    But he wasn''t hopeless. The spark of Void me that had been left within the soul tornado previously had already consumed all the mana within it, and was proceeding to devour the mana of the pseudo-domain Hun Fang had set up.

    ''It''s almost strong enough for me to use inbat. But until then, I need to manage with other abilities.''

    It had been a long time since he used his spatial abilities for long-rangebat, but wasn''t that an easy thing? Him using space in short-rangebat so often should''ve been the more odd oue.

    ''I guess I''ll just have to innovate¡­I guess it''s true when they saypetition is the best driving force for improvement.''

    As Damien nned for the rest of the battle, Hun Fang''s preparation also came to an end.

    They had been fighting for some time already, but neither was able to get the upper hand. And neither of them had used their most destructive abilities in fear of harming the fruit they hade this far to acquire.

    But that kind of cautiousness, it seemed that it would no longer be present. Their true battle would only be starting now.

 Chapter ?387 Struggle [7]

    Chapter ?387 Struggle [7]

    "Heed my call and appear before me, Velzagard."

    The incantation left Hun Fang''s lips and within seconds, the mana whirlpool that formed around his body expanded to an astonishing degree. From within it, the form of something otherworldly appeared.

    Its skin was just as grey as the mana used to summon it, and its form was simr to a massive Minotaur with striking red eyes. Puffs of me exited its nostrils every time it took a breath, and an aura of unbridled power emanated from its entire body.

    "Merge."

    Hun Fang indifferently called out. The Minotaur''s physical body seemed to morph and shrink, bing incorporeal and hovering like a phantom behind Hun Fang.

    In response, Hun Fang''s entire aura changed as well, bing a mixture between the ghastly aura he had before and the aura of the Minotaur that had fused with him.

    As the process took ce, Damien had no intention of waiting silently. His body also began to change, undergoing Demon Transformation.

    The two stared at each other from across the room. They had both chosen forms that heightened their physical power, but their battle from now on wouldn''t be at close range.

    But they were well aware that they needed to heighten their defenses for what was toe.

    Damien''s eyes sharpened. His vector field was erected in an instant and his hand flicked through the air.

    Multiple spatial cracks appeared wherever his arm traveled and shot toward Hun Fang in a frenzied manner.

    Ziu! Ziu! Ziu!

    They sipped through the air and arrived at his position, attempting to cut him as the Dance of the Void had done before, but Hun Fang was quicker. A wall of souls formed and absorbed the impact before they could reach his body.

    But Damien was just starting. Tens, dozens, hundreds of space des shot forward with every passing moment. His vector control was put into full use as well, altering the trajectory of the des so they attacked from unpredictable angles.

    The soul wall that Hun Fang mobilized continued to block the damage. But as it did so, chunks of it were also banished into the void.

    All of a sudden, a lone space de separates itself from the masses, traveling far faster than the rest.

    Zip!

    It rushed through a crack in the soul wall''s defense and when it arrived in front of Hun Fang''s face, it tore apart and expanded as if someone was opening the zipper of a suitcase.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Hun Fang coughed blood and shot backward due to the force of impact, but as he did so, he rapidly waved his g in a strange pattern.

    Ding~!

    A formless wave of mana spread like a shockwave, apanied by the crisp sound of a bell. Damien immediately put his vector field to work to divert the attack, but the formless wave kept moving regardless.

    "Agh!"

    When it passed through his body, Damien felt his internals churning. He didn''t know how a mere sound could do such damage, but he knew he had to be careful of it.

    Ding~! Ding~! Ding~!

    The sound waves kept spreading, and as they bounced off of the walls around them, they impacted each other and multiplied.

    As the sound continued to pass through Damien''s body, he felt his mind bing numb. A shadow appeared behind him while he attempted to reorient himself.

    Bang!

    The heavy force of a staff infused with intense physical strength impacted the back of Damien''s head. His body leaned forward, and with the disorientation he was already feeling, he lost his bnce.

    ''Fuck!''

    Without hesitation, he spread Void Essence through his inner body and used it to protect his vitals. At the same time, he used mana to seal his sense of hearing so the sound waves would lose their effect.

    He regained rity in the middle of his fall. Instead of stopping his momentum, he nted his arms on the ground, pushed with all his strength, and twisted his wrists.

    He infused his lower body with pure mana as he spun, emitting a wave of energy that pushed Hun Fang back before he could continue on his attack.

    Damien shed away. Behind his body, ck and white balls began to form. He used spatial mana to form the exterior, trapping his vtile mana within the balls andpressing it. In an instant, he shot them out all over the room.

    BOOM!

    A massive chain of explosions rang out. Although the bombs had no real target, they had at least stopped the spread of the sound waves that had been continuously multiplying the entire time. At the same time, they created a veil that obscured Hun Fang''s vision.

    Damien''s All-Seeing Eyes swirled in full force, allowing him to pierce through the veil he created.

    His mana concentrated inside his throat. Pure spatial mana and blistering Void mesbined together and amplified each other''s effects. And in the next second, he roared.

    Roar!

    A beam of dragon''s breath spewed from his mouth and charged towards Hun Fang, defying the concept of distance and reaching him instantaneously. Hun Fang''s eyes widened as he suddenly sensed the fluctuation, but it was toote.

    BOOOM!

    The resulting explosion sted apart the thick branches of the Primordial Undying Tree that made up the floor and ceiling of the strange room. Meanwhile, dozens of branches shot up and protected the purple fruit from any damage.

    Seeing this, Damien grinned slightly. With the blood that leaked from his mouth due to the internal damage he had taken, he looked especially devilish.

    ''Good! I can go all out without worry!''

    Even though they had begun fighting with more vigor, both he and Hun Fang had always been worried about damaging the fruit that stood in the middle of the room.

    But it seemed their concerns were unwarranted.

    "Hoo¡­" Damien breathed out deeply. He closed his eyes briefly before opening them once more, but they now contained a different glint within.

    "Come."

    Rumble!

    Storm clouds began to brew within the confines of the room. Due to Damien''s will, they didn''t spread outside, but rather concentrated in one ce.

    ck lightning raged through the clouds. Evenpared to any other time he had utilized his storm talent, it was much fiercer.

    It was to the point where he couldn''t control it.

    Bzzt!

    BOOM!

    A massive bolt of lightning struck the ground wildly without hismand. Following it, tens of lightning bolts did the same.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Each one was deafeningly loud. It was like the lightning was roaring.

    No, the lightning was truly roaring.

    Those massive ck bolts of lightning were like pirs. They were furiously striking the ground as if venting their frustration.

    An unbridled aura of fury filled the room.

    ''You dare¡­ignore me?!''

    Damien could''ve sworn he heard those words, but he knew it was just in his mind. But seeing the lightning''s fury firsthand, he could understand what it was trying to convey.

    The lightning''s aura began to influence him as well.

    Belligerence and destruction, these were the things that lightning was supposed to represent. But what had it be? It had be a useless part of Damien''s power that he neglected even before he acquired the Void mes.

    The only time his lightning was used was when his Storm trait was used. The lightning itself was never given any importance ever since he had gained those mysterious affinities in his status.

    Yet, that neglected lighting affinity, no, that mysterious affinity that Damien still didn''t understand was furiously baring its fangs.

    Whether or not Damien wanted it, it didn''t care.

    Damien''s eyes were already red due to his Demon Transformation, but they began to give off a particrly bloody light.

    His aura changed. A bestial desire emerged in his mind.

    But he didn''t lose his sanity. Not this time.

    Damien clearly felt the changes in his body brought about by that third affinity of his. But he didn''t try to stop them. No, he embraced them.

    Because this whole situation gave off the scent of opportunity.

 Chapter 388 Struggle [8]

    Chapter 388 Struggle [8]

    Before Hun Fang could evenpletely recover from the beam of vtile energy that bore a hole through his stomach, he found another problem arising.

    Terrifying ck lightning burst apart the room they were in. He felt that if he was struck by that lightning, the damage he''d take was far more severe than a mere hole that he could heal within a minute.

    He gritted his teeth in frustration. ''It isn''t supposed to be like this. It can''t be like this. I can''t allow this fight to continue for much longer.''

    There were things he needed to do. Things that had to be done as soon as possible. The longer this fight drew out, the more disadvantageous it was for him.

    ''Dammit! Since the beginning, I was never a frontalbatant. Why should an assassin engage in head-onbat?''

    He truly wanted to do things the way that was mostfortable for him, but it was impossible. His opponent was a spatial cultivator, and not only that, a spatial cultivator with eyes that were far greater than his own.

    He already had some information about Damien. It was the reason he was able to counter Damien''s teleportation and other moves so efficiently.

    But in the same way he could efficiently counter Damien, Damien could do the same to him. That is, if he used his originalbat style.

    ''Forcing him into long-rangebat bought me some leeway. Velzegard also gave me the physical resistance I need to stand against his frightening bodily strength, but I don''t have any proper offensive counters.''

    His affinity was special. It was probably one of the most special affinities out there.

    An affinity for souls and spirits.

    This kind of affinity gave him an unprecedented amount of auxiliary skills that could save his life, but it also meant that he didn''t have a great deal of individualbat power.

    The reason was simple. The soul wasn''t something a mortal could touch.

    For his affinity to truly bloom, he needed to at least be a half step into Godhood. It was a troubling burden that he had carried ever since he started his path to power.

    And so, his main fighting style naturally became stealth-based. A single sure-fire attack that''d kill without making a sound, that was what he was known for.

    Of course, he had other means as well.

    ''But my summons won''t be able to hold up to that man at all. He is a beast on apletely different level.''

    Summoning spirits and beasts from a different ne to fight for him, or to merge with him and lend him their strength. This was his mainbat style when he had to fight directly.

    The problem was, he had to merge with Velzegard to acquire the defense he needed. And with those terrifying lightning bolts littering the area, he didn''t have the option to switch summons.

    Before he could finish up his thoughts, he suddenly felt a wild aura engulf him from behind.

    Bang!

    He quickly turned around and raised his arms to block. But the force of impact was far greater than he expected.

    Crack!

    The bones in his arms broke in two. ''Even with Velzegard''s reinforcement¡­!''

    He hurriedly backed away, but the beast was relentless in its chase. Wild ck lightning crackled through the air and caused miniature explosions with its every movement. That lightning wrapped around a shockingly fast fist that was currently flying towards his chest.

    Boom!

    Hun Fang grabbed his staff and poured his mana into it. An array of souls flew out and coated the shaft in the second before it was hit by that fist.

    OOOOOOH!

    Harrowing shrieks rang out. The lighting dashed through the souls that coated the staff and burned them into oblivion. With every move the lightning made, Hun Fang could feel the soul collection he spent so much time building lose its force.

    "Dammit!" Hun Fang gritted his teeth. A trail of blood leaked from his lip.

    But even as he did so, the beast in front of him twisted his body at an unnatural angle and let out a kick that whipped through the air.

    Hun Fang rapidly evaded the kick, turning into a trail of smoke that escaped to the other side of the room.

    ''He''s using too much force. At this rate, Velzegard won''t be enough. I should be able to counter him but¡­my body won''t hold up.''

    He made a split-second decision. Multiple thoughts shed through his head, leading his decision to be obvious.

    "Heed my call. Come forth, Behemoth."

    The Minotaur phantom disappeared from his back. Hun Fang felt a sudden emptiness as he lost the strength of his summon, but that emptiness was soon filled.

    No, it was more than filled.

    Crack!

    His bone structure was altered as his body became farrger than it ever was before. The aura of power emanating from him caused space to quake.

    But at the same time, cracks formed on his skin. He wouldn''t be able to hold this form for long.

    ''I have 10 minutes at most before my body fails me. I must end it within that time.''

    Damien appeared before Hun Fang like a shadow while he was in the middle of transforming, but Hun Fang didn''t panic like he didst time.

    He calmly held out his hand, grabbing Damien''s leg. And then, he clutched his fist.

    CRACK!

    The bones in Damien''s leg shattered into paste. The leg itself became flimsy without support.

    Hun Fang''s fist shot forward at the same time. It was slow and steady, but the power behind it was no joke.

    Damien''s eyes widened. This power was far greater than what was shown before. His gaze hardened as Mirage appeared in his hand once more.

    The de sliced downward with all of Damien''s strength behind it. At the same time, vector control increased gravity around the sword, as well as the sword''s velocity and momentum.

    Spatial mana raged, creating multiple tiny space cracks that created a minor suction force. These space cracks collided with each other and formed a massive gash in space within an instant.

    But that was only a side effect of what Damien was doing. He poured heaping amounts of mana into the de. It was to the point where he almost exhausted his entire mana reserve.

    But it was necessary. Hun Fang''s fist was simply that powerful.

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse''

    The sword and the fist finally met. And as a result¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    An explosion far greater than any other.

    The massive ck hole formed through spatial copse met a pure physical force great enough to shatter space like ss. The suction of the ck hole couldn''t cope with the sheer amount of energy contained in that punch, but Hun Fang''s fist also couldn''t get past the swirling ck hole.

    The energy waves of the collision ripped apart the room that the two were fighting in. Shrapnel from the Primordial Undying Tree''s branches rained down on the rest of the realm around them.

    The Void me immediately stopped devouring the souls Hun Fang had sent out at the beginning of the battle. They shot towards Damien and wrapped around his body, solidifying into a ck-gold me armor that protected him from the st.

    The two geniuses were thrown backwards by the force of the explosion, readjusting their bnce in the air.

    It was only because they were within the Primordial Undying Tree, this extremely powerful tree, that their collision didn''t cause more damage.

    In reality, that force would''ve been enough to decimate every other genius in the secret realm with them with ease.

    But it didn''t.

    Now, the two were standing in the sky opposite from each other, sparks flying in the air between them.

    This was the second time they had ended in a stalemate, and neither of them was going to allow a third.

 Chapter ?389 Struggle [9]

    Chapter ?389 Struggle [9]

    The mana of the Primordial Undying Realm swirled and seemed to gather around a single point. At that ce, two figures stood in the air opposite of each other.

    The two men stared at each other with gazes filled with hostility. With every breath they took, mana raged and stormed.

    The area surrounding the Primordial Undying Tree was wrapped in stillness. Those geniuses that had been furiously fighting only moments prior were all directing their gazes at the battle in the sky.

    Just by feeling the mana emanating from those two figures, they were made painfully aware of the gap between them. Interfering in such a fight, or even being in the same area as it, would definitely cause their deaths.

    Damien shook his hands as he watched Hun Fang. The force of their previous collision was no joke. If it wasn''t for the Blood Runes from his demon form, he would''ve taken heavy damage from being in the same area.

    And he was sure Hun Fang was the same. That form that gave him frightening physical strength was the only reason he could still stand there unharmed.

    "Haa¡­" Damien took a deep breath. Now that they were in the sky, things would be different. The environmental constraints ofbat within arge room would be gone, and the scale of their attacks would get bigger.

    His gaze panned down to the purple fruit that was being protected by an array of branches.

    ''Neither of us has been able to reach the fruit yet because of the other''s assault, but when we have this much breathing room, it might be different. Instead of prolonging the battle between us, I should try to keep him upied while I snatch the fruit.''

    It was the best thing to do since he couldn''t win against Hun Fang easily. But his cards had mostly been put on the table already.

    ''I haven''t found a suitablebat application for Void Essence yet besides the basics, but such meager use of it won''t be of any help in this battle. There''s really only one more thing I can do to increase mybat power. If even that doesn''t work, then I have to resort to the Demon Dragon form again.''

    Damien closed his eyes and concentrated. Ever since entering the secret realm, a portion of his abilities had been limited.

    Of course, the most prominent was his teleportation range. That was something that hindered him from the Trial World all the way until this moment. But it was nowhere near the most restricted ability.

    "Celestial Authority."

    A formless aura filled with starlight surrounded Damien. It was the will of a Celestial, a ruler of stars.

    Being a Celestial was amazing. It granted him many different ways to use his spatial abilities as well as an intrinsic connection to the universe that no other ss could grant him.

    But a ss that had limitless potential like this one had a ring weakness.

    In isted spaces like secret realms, there were no stars to draw power from. Even the sun and moon that hung in the sky were artificial.

    Arge portion of his power would be locked because of this. What was a Celestial without the stars under hismand? He was just another spatial practitioner.

    But he had realized something in the three months he spent diligentlyprehending space and time.

    What did it mean to have an intrinsic connection?

    Because he couldn''t "feel" the connection he had with the stars, did it disappear?

    No. It didn''t. Regardless of where he was, regardless of whether or not his connection with the stars was interrupted by outside forces, it would still be present within his body.

    That was the true Celestial Authority. The authority to rule over stars, and the authority to draw that power regardless of any circumstances.

    Starlight bathed Damien''s body as he stood in the air. He looked like a human torch. Rays of starlight pierced through the boundaries of space and time to answer the call of their ruler.

    It was a sensation of utmost bliss, but Damien didn''t have time to concentrate on it. Hun Fang rapidly approached him as he weed the starlight. A fist wrapped in hundreds of souls charged towards his body.

    An aura of resentment enveloped him. The cries of those tortured souls tried to break his mind. But in response, the sun in his spiritual world let off heated rays of light that burned any invading forces.

    Damien pulled his arm back, utilizing vector control to enhance the momentum of his actions, and then punched forward at a speed that far surpassed his physical capabilities.

    BOOOM!

    Pure white and blue starlight collided with those grey resentful souls, creating an explosion of light in the sky. A shockwave spread from the point of impact, uprooting and destroying all the trees surrounding the clearing.

    The geniuses on the ground were pushed back by the furious winds brought about by their fists. Only those within the Primordial Undying Tree''s protection were safe from the st.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    But it wasn''t over. Starlight scattered and purified the resentful souls, while the souls also attempted to eat away at the starlight. In the middle of the bright sun-like light that wrapped around the battle location, Damien and Hun Fang traded hundreds of blows.

    Damien''s fist grazed across Hun Fang''s face, his starlight burning the matter''s cheek. At the same time, Hun Fang turned his body and shot a kick at Damien''s chest.

    Damien twisted his body to dodge and teleported behind Hun Fang, charging starlight into his fist and throwing another punch.

    Ziu!

    A beam of light left his fist as he punched forward, reaching Hun Fang in an instant. Due to the short distance between them, it was nigh impossible to dodge.

    The Behemoth summon didn''t give Hun Fang any bonuses in speed and dexterity. In fact, it lessened those aspects. But in return, he was given an imprable defense and unstoppable attack.

    So he didn''t even try to dodge the starlight that was shooting towards him like a missile. He turned his body halfway, flinging his fist horizontally at where Damien was standing.

    Spatial mana wrapped around Damien as he prepared to teleport, but a bullet of grey mana appeared in front of him and shattered that attempt. With no other option, Damien crossed his arms in front of his chest to block.

    Bang! Ziu!

    Hun Fang''s fist impacted Damien''s arms at the same time the starlight prated his body.

    "Keuk!"

    "Kah!"

    Damien shot backward tens of meters due to the force. The bones in his arms had been directly shattered even with the defensive runes he was using.

    And although Hun Fang wasn''t pushed back, a small coin-sized hole had been opened in his sides. The starlight had prated his body underneath his armpit on the left and exited from the right, creating a clean wound.

    "Tch!" Damien clicked his tongue. It was annoying to lose to someone else in physical strength. But he knew that he hadn''t taken the most damage in this exchange.

    ''My bones should heal within a few seconds, and while I don''t know his regenerative capabilities, he should''ve sustained internal injuries from that attack.''

    Although his arms were currently out ofmission, Damien didn''t want Hun Fang to recover while he waited to heal. He shed away, appearing in front of his opponent with starlight radiating from his legs.

    Bang! Bang!

    He twisted his body, sending a fierce double kick at Hun Fang''s chest. When thetter raised his arms to block, Damien turned his head and opened his mouth wide.

    There, a ball of vtile mana was waiting to be fired.

    Roar!

    There was no room to dodge. In that instant, while he was blocking the starlight that tried to invade his body, Hun Fang was swallowed in a torrent of dragon''s breath.

 Chapter 390 Struggle [10]

    Chapter 390 Struggle [10]

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    Damien rapidly teleported away. He didn''t know how Hun Fang was doing after his attack, but he certainly wasn''t in good condition.

    With two broken arms and a leg that was still in the process of healing after turning into meatpaste moments prior, he wasn''t in good shape at all. His internal injuries from Hun Fang''s sound attack had been healed already, but his organs had been considerably shaken up by the following physicalbat. In short¡­

    "It hurts like hell."

    But he wasn''t going to leave any loose ends. Void mes sprouted from the air in front of him. Due to all the souls it had consumed while they were still inside the room, it had grown considerably.

    "Go."

    At hismand, the Void me shot into the collision area where Hun Fang was swallowed by the dragon''s breath and lit even the sky itself on fire.

    The space was already filled with light because of Damien''s starlight and the brightness of the energy beam he had shot just now, but now that it had also been wrapped in mes, it truly looked like a sun.

    ''Now''s my chance.''

    He moved rapidly. The runes on his body changed to enhance his speed, and spatial mana raged around him. He disappeared from his position instantly, appearing in front of the purple fruit that he had been coveting. At that moment, an unexpected problem arose.

    ''Tch! How am I supposed to grab this?''

    The fruit was still being protected by an array of branches. If he wanted to im it, he needed to move or destroy them. But he still needed a few seconds to heal the bones in his arms, so they were currently unusable.

    As he was trying to figure it out, the air behind him exploded.

    "NOT¡­SO¡­FAST¡­!"

    Hun Fang''s ragged figure appeared without warning.

    Crack!

    Damien felt a sudden impact on the back of his head. His skull had cracked slightly.

    ''What the hell!''

    It felt like he was smashed in the head with a hammer. His vision was getting blurry from the sheer force. When he turned around to see what hit him, he finally saw Hun Fang''s condition.

    If Damien thought he was in bad shape, he had to change his mind when he saw his opponent. Hun Fang looked on the verge of death.

    His skin was charred ck and falling off in kes. Some portions of his muscle were already visible. His face looked simr to a certain DC viin, with one side no longer containing any skin. His arms and legs were dangling as if they were boneless.

    Blood leaked from his body in insane proportions. It looked like it''d form a river below. Damien was surprised that he was even standing.

    ''Did he just¡­headbutt me?''

    It was an insane tenacity. His arms and legs were incapable of moving and from the looks of it, he was running out of mana as well. In that situation, wouldn''t it be better to give up?

    Even Damien would do so if it wasn''t for his insane regeneration speed. But this guy in front of him was still fighting. Damien was sure that if his skull cracked, Hun Fang would still find another way to continue fighting.

    ''What''s driving him so far?''

    Damien couldn''t help but wonder. The Primordial Undying Fruit was indeed a Heavenly Treasure, but it wasn''t worth dying for. Hun Fang''s motivation couldn''t be so simple.

    But now wasn''t the time to be thinking of it. Although he had sustained yet another injury, the time it took for Hun Fang to attack him was enough for his arms to heal enough to be usable again.

    He appeared in front of Hun Fang in an instant. His leg whipped around like a whip and impacted him in the center of his chest.

    "Urgh!"

    Even as he was thrown away, Hun Fang didn''t yell in pain, only letting out a muffled groan.

    Hun Fang didn''t have any strength left. Even thest attack was just one of desperation. After being pushed away, there was nothing else he could do to stop Damien''s advance.

    ''DAMMIT!'' He furiously yelled inwardly. ''I can''t lose like this! If I do¡ª!''

    "I don''t understand your resolve, but I can respect you as an opponent. Therefore, I thank you for the battle. It''s been a good lesson for me."

    Damien spoke seriously. He had learned too much from the battle against Hun Fang. From the weaknesses he still had to the things he had be overly reliant on without realizing it, there was too much he had to think over once he had the time to do so.

    He bowed in sincerity. At the same time, his body shed away. Hun Fang could only watch powerlessly as he did so.

    Damien''s arms didn''t have any strength left in them, but he used spatial distortion to make up for theck of strength. Within seconds, the branches keeping the purple fruit safe had been ripped apart.

    That crystalline purple fruit was finally revealed before his eyes. But as he looked at it, he felt a wild and powerful aura spread from behind him.

    ''Again?!''

    He grabbed the fruit hurriedly and teleported away from where he stood. In the same second, the remaining branches of the Primordial Undying Tree''s peak were sted to shreds.

    "I. CAN''T. LOSE."

    Hun Fang roared. His mouth didn''t move. He had to use mana to move his vocal cords for him.

    "COME FORTH, IRA. LEND ME YOUR¡ª"

    Damien knew what Ira was. It was the Sin of Wrath itself. He had been preparing to do everything he could against the final being Hun Fang was preparing to summon, but his preparation was in vain.

    A shadow appeared behind Hun Fang without warning. A swift chop hit his neck, knocking him unconscious. He was already at the end of his rope, so it wasn''t a difficult task for the shadow at all.

    That shadow enveloped the unconscious Hun Fang. A pair of eyes within stared at Damien.

    And Damien stared back. Soon, though, he shook his head with a sigh. ''It can''t be helped.''

    He turned away from the shadow that was taking Hun Fang away and looked at the fruit in his hand.

    ''It would be best to look for a better environment before consuming this. Let me save it for now.''

    [The Primordial Undying Tree tells you that it''s best if you consume it now. It says it will be able to help you digest its power if you do so.]

    Damien raised his brow with interest. Although it didn''t seem like an ideal situation, having help from a Demigod would definitely help him reap the most benefits.

    His gaze turned to the ground below him. There, he finally saw the aftereffects of the battle he had just been in.

    Within a hundred kilometers, all the existing flora had been torn asunder and strewn about. Within the debris were also the corpses of geniuses who couldn''t escape the st radius.

    But aside from the purpleyer of leaves, the rest of the Primordial Undying Tree was standing tall, and the geniuses within it were also fine under its protection.

    Among them, Damien''s gaze focused on a single one. Seeing her face now, he unconsciously smiled.

    ''Just a little longer¡­''

    As if she had heard his thoughts, Ruyue nodded at him with a smile. Seeing this, Damien only felt more guilty.

    ''She''s been so understanding this entire time, but I haven''t done anything to reciprocate her trust. Looks like I have a lot of work to do when we leave this realm.''

    Suddenly, his smile turned into a mischievous grin. Looking at Ruyue, he brought his hand to his mouth and blew a kiss.

    And leaving a final wink while feeling the satisfaction of seeing Ruyue''s blushing face again for the first time in a year, he threw the purple Primordial Undying Fruit in his mouth and bit down.

 Chapter 391 Summoning [1]

    Chapter 391 Summoning [1]

    A sweet and refreshing taste filled Damien¡¯s mouth as soon as he bit into the fruit, but he didn¡¯t have any time to focus on it.

    Along with that taste, a torrent of mana mixed with another mysterious essence entered his body and flooded his Mana Circuit. He closed his eyes and instinctually entered a meditative position to begin digesting the energy.

    When Damien sat down, the still Primordial Undying Realm seemed to gain movement again. Dozens of covetous eyesnded on his unprotected body.

    But even before their thoughts finished formting, the stray branches of the Primordial Undying Tree moved with one mind. They formed a barrier around Damien¡¯s body and pulled him down into the base of the tree.

    It was as if he merged with the tree itself.

    Now, if one looked carefully enough, one could see a faint shadow of Damien¡¯s body engraved in the tree¡¯s trunk.

    Bang!

    A brave soulunched an attack at the trunk. The greed in his eyes was overwhelming. But before the attack could evennd, the Primordial Undying Tree¡¯s branches moved into action. The attack was swiftly blocked, and at the same time, a group of branches rapidly moved out and pierced that man¡¯s body.

    It was a clear warning. If they wanted to reach Damien and try to steal the essence currently circting through his body, they¡¯d need to get through the tree itself first.

    Seeing this, Ruyue breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally, things wereing to an end.

    ¡®It doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s anything else I need to do for now. Until he exits seclusion and the secret realm allows our exit, I guess I can just rx here.¡¯

    Ruyue looked around one more time. Feng Qing¡¯er and Lunaria were still on the east and south direction of the tree, and the geniuses below them had resumed the fight for the red fruits.

    ¡®Hmm? But where¡¯s that Qing Tan person?¡¯ Ruyue wondered inwardly, but she soon let go of that thought. Other people¡¯s business had nothing to do with her.

    For now, she would just enjoy these moments of peace before things picked up again when they left the realm.

    ***

    Although hundreds of kilometers of the jungle around the Primordial Undying Tree had been razed, there was still a great deal of flora left untouched outside that range.

    Inside the wild area that was there, a shadow emerged from the darkness.

    Thump!

    A dead body emerged from that shadow, followed by the person who carried it here.

    ¡°Goddamnit. What the hell did I do to get stuck with such an idiot brother?¡±

    The woman who came out of the shadowined while rubbing her forehead. The ring on her hand shed and a small pill appeared in her hand.

    Walking up to the dead body, she shoved the pill in his mouth. ¡°I know you¡¯re still awake, bastard. Eat this and recuperate already. We still have work to do.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± A groan left the man on the floor¡¯s mouth. Apparently, he wasn¡¯t dead at all. But considering the condition of his body, he might as well have been.

    ¡°Fuck. Fine, I¡¯ll help you circte it. But I swear to god the next time I see you pull some bullshit like that I¡¯ll kill you with my own hands. How dare you try to summon Ira?!¡±

    ¡°Mmgh¡­no¡­choice¡­¡± Hun Fang squeezed out. His voice was still hoarse, but as the pill¡¯s healing properties circted through his body, he was slowly gaining the ability to speak.

    ¡°What do you mean, no choice?! You had the choice to just leave things be! Even if you¡¯repetitive, this is too much!¡± The woman yelled furiously.

    ¡°Notpetitive¡­need¡­mission¡­¡± Hun Fang replied shakily.

    ¡°Ugh¡­mission this, mission that! I know it¡¯s important, but not as important as your life! Did you ever think of the consequences of what you were doing?! What would happen to me if you died?!¡±

    Hun Fang¡¯s body jolted when he heard her cries. He could feel her warm tears dripping onto his skin.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­sorry¡­¡±

    He couldn¡¯t think of anything better to say. Because everything she had said was right. It was just, things were tooplicated for him to think like she did.

    If he failed here, even if he lived, he was destined to die. And if he died, she¡¯d die as well. But if he died in battle while attempting to clear the mission, she might have a chance to live.

    When Behemoth¡¯s physical strength couldn¡¯t crush Damien, he already knew he would lose the battle. Behemoth was already one of his most powerful summons, one that could kill most people at his level in a few punches.

    But he kept fighting. Not for the purple fruit, but for her sake. Because he couldn¡¯t even imagine the consequences if he returned back empty-handed.

    ¡®But I can¡¯t tell her that. I¡¯m sure she already understands it all, but saying it out loud is just forcing us to ept reality.¡¯

    They were tools. That was their whole role in the grand scheme of things. They were tools that would be thrown away if they couldn¡¯t fulfill their purpose.

    As he thought about it, hemented the fact that someone as strong as Damien appeared. When they left this realm, both he and his sister were fated for death.

    Hot tears began to stream down the side of his face. He gritted his teeth in unwillingness.

    ¡°Idiot brother¡­¡± Her words came with a green lump that appeared in his vision. ¡°I got a green fruit, and I stole a few red fruits on my way over here. Even if it isn¡¯t as effective as the purple one, it should be enough right?¡±

    Hun Fang looked at Qing Tan, who was looking at him with a sad smile on her face. In the end, he also found himself smiling.

    ¡°Enough. It¡¯s enough.¡± The words came out much more fluidly. The hideous burn wounds on his body had already healed a great deal. All that was left was to take care of the internal injuries.

    ¡®I was able to regain some mana in the healing process¡­.it should be enough.¡¯

    ¡°Heed my call. Come forth, Alice.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a domineering name like the other summons he had called forth recently. From the space in front of him, a small fairy surrounded by a green halo appeared.

    Kyu!

    When she saw his body condition, she let out a squeal of fright and immediately entered his body. A green aura soon enveloped him and began mending all his hidden injuries.

    Within minutes, Hun Fang was able to sit upright again without pain.

    ¡°Haha, no matter how many times I see it, I can¡¯t get used to Alice¡¯s insane healing capabilities.¡± He chuckled.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a shame it can¡¯t be used in battle though.¡± Qing Tan quipped in response, thinking of a certain monster.

    She sighed to herself. Things were going to getplicated soon. Soplicated that she didn¡¯t know what their next meeting would look like.

    She looked into the sky with mncholy stered on her face.

    ¡®I¡¯m d I was able to meet someone like you in this life. You, even if you don¡¯t realize it, are an ideal for what I want to live my life like. If one day we are able to meet again after we leave this ce, I hope we do so as friends instead of enemies.¡¯

    Sighing to herself, she handed the fruits over to Hun Fang. There was still plenty of work for them to do.

 Chapter 392 Summoning [2]

    Chapter 392 Summoning [2]

    Within the infinite ckness where two Demigods had been trapped for countless years, an uproariousughter could be heard.

    ¡°KAKAKAKA! Finally, finally, it hase time. Old Fool, how long have we been idling here chatting and ying these games with each other? Finally, it hase time to end it all.¡±

    The malevolent voice seemed especially excited today. He had been waiting for the day toe for too long, to the point where he almost believed it would never happen.

    ¡°You Old Ghost, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re too excited? Do you truly think things will go as you wish them to? For 100,000 years I have been keeping you in check. It¡¯s more than enough time for me to understand you fully. You cannot hide your nervousness from me.¡±

    ¡°Nervousness? You must¡¯ve gone blind from all these years in the ckness. While you have been forced to use your power to seal me here, I have had the freedom to interfere with things as I please. Where does your confidencee from? Is it because, after all these thousands of years, you finally managed to find a genius who could meet your expectations?¡±

    ¡°Meet? That boy far surpassed my expectations. But that matters not. Old Ghost, we have known each other for far too long for you to think so lowly of me.¡±

    ¡°Tch! You¡¯ve always been like this. You¡¯ve always hoped for something to go your way even after everything I¡¯ve done. Did you forget? Did you forget how you obtained your power? Did you forget the events that took ce before you were able to seal me? Just because you made some small sess, you shouldn¡¯t believe everything is over.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the same to you. Regardless of what you¡¯ve done, it is but a small sess in my eyes. Even if you truly manage to escape this seal, you will die by my hands.¡±

    ¡°Kekeke! It seems you¡¯ve gone senile with age. All this time, you¡¯ve been wasting power, not gaining it. Especially with you using your Divine Essence as fuel to create fruits for those kids. Meanwhile, I¡¯ve done nothing but grow more powerful. The second I escape from your seal, you are destined for death.¡±

    The Old Fool sighed. It was no use trying to talk to this arrogant demon. After all, in the span of 100,000 years, they had already repeated this conversation multiple times.

    ¡®But nothing ever came out of it.¡¯

    Whether it was him or the Old Ghost, neither of them was able to get the upper hand over the other one. Their stalemate wasn¡¯t anywhere near as simple as it seemed.

    ¡®But this time is different. If it¡¯s that boy¡­no, even without him things are different. However, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s true that I cannot contain that demon for much longer.¡¯

    The Old Fool looked at the vast empty space around him mncholically.

    ¡®How can it be? After so many years, it seems I¡¯ve grown attached to this empty scenery.¡¯

    The Old Fool sighed once more. His mana began to move.

    ¡®I guess I should make some preparations. Things will get loud soon. Child, I hope you can digest my gift properly before it¡¯s toote.¡¯

    ***

    Inside a certain Trial World, an Ancient Temple stood by its lonesome in the middle of a forest. Out of that temple¡¯s gates, three figures emerged.

    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±

    The one leading them muttered under his breath. It had been a total of 6 months since they had entered the temple. In that time, their auras had be far more powerful than they were before.

    ¡°Haa¡­I really don¡¯t want to do this. Why does my life have to end in such a pitiful way?¡± The woman among them sighed.

    ¡°Haha! I feel the same! My utmost wish was to die in battle, die with honor, but it seems that such a dream is impossible.¡± The third man said.

    Eden sighed as he listened to them. 6 months ago, they believed there was a chance to perform the ritual without sacrificing themselves. But, as they came closer to the promised time, they realized how naive their thoughts were.

    ¡°It must be done. It may be different from the freedom we wished for, but it is freedom nheless. Besides, even if we aren¡¯t alive to see it, our revenge will still take ce.¡±

    The other two nodded. There was one thing Lucius got wrong about them.

    He had believed that the other 3 Demon Kings were content with their lives, that they had submitted under the rule of the Demon God.

    But not once was that the case.

    The three of them were selfish. They weren¡¯t like Lucius, who desired to take vengeance for his race. But regardless, they still desired vengeance.

    For themselves, for the lives they could¡¯ve had but were robbed from them due to the Demon God. They wanted vengeance.

    The three Demon Kings flew through the Trial World and arrived at the direct center of the realm. The area was an empty in where no life was present.

    ¡°We have long resolved ourselves for what is toe, so I doubt any extra words need to be said,¡± Eden said. His gaze was as cid as ever even though his life was on the line.

    Eliza harrumphed and turned her head. A slight tear formed on the side of her eyes. But the resolve within them didn¡¯t shake. Meanwhile, Granheim was still grinning as usual. If it wasn¡¯t for the shaking of his hands, one wouldn¡¯t even realize his fear.

    The three Demon Kings spread out in a triangr formation. With onest nod, they began pouring out their mana.

    Torrents of inky ck mana mixed together, forming a triangr formation on the ground. As if responding to the formation, Heaven and Earth were dyed red.

    Blood. Seas of blood formed from the thousands upon thousands of people who had died within this Trial World over the tens of thousands of years that it had been present. All that blood congregated and formed clouds in the sky surrounding the formation.

    ¡°Now,¡± Eden said firmly. One of his hands moved, piercing his own chest.

    Poof!

    A spray of blood mist exited his body and mouth, entering the eye of the formation. Eliza and Granheim mirrored his actions, causing the size of the phenomenon to increase.

    The bloody clouds in the sky began to churn, forming a funnel that touched down in the center of the formation.

    ¡°¡±With Heaven and Earth as witness, Our Blood as the foundation, and the Blood of All as tribute, We humbly call upon the Ancestor¡¯s presence.¡±¡±

    VOOM!

    The three Demon Kings chanted together, causing a powerful reaction from the tri-pointed formation. The bloody funnel continued to pour into the formation¡¯s eye, causing the clouds in the sky to slowly clear.

    The blood within the bodies of the three Demon Kings reacted as well, constantly pouring out of their wounds and entering the formation. Their life force dwindled at an astonishing rate.

    The formation shined with splendor. A domineering roar came from within.

    The Demon Kings smiled. Finally, their revenge would bepleted. Finally, they¡¯d gain freedom after 10,000 years in very.

    As more and more blood entered the formation, and the energy under Heaven and Earth did the same, the furious roarsing from within began to gain rity.

    And finally, those roars turned into a voice.

    [My Children, you¡¯ve yed your parts well.]

 Chapter 393 Summoning [3]

    Chapter 393 Summoning [3]

    [My Children, you¡¯ve yed your parts well.]

    It was an odd choice of words. This was Eden¡¯s first thought when he heard them. But at the same time, he couldn¡¯t confidently im to fathom the thought process of an old ancestor that had been dead for untold millennia.

    ¡°¡±Your unworthy descendants greet you, Ancestor.¡±¡±

    The three Demon Kings fell to their knees instinctively upon feeling the terrifying pressure that apanied that voice. Their blood boiled in excitement at their sess.

    [Mm. It has been too long since I¡¯ve smelled the scent of the world. But the work has yet to bepleted¡­]

    Eden furrowed his brows. He could feel it. Something was wrong. Something was out of ce about this whole situation.

    In the first ce, even with all their preparations, they had never expected the ritual to be a sess so easily.

    The essence of the ritual was simple. To sacrifice the blood and souls of those who had died within the Trial World to summon the soul of their Ancestor. It was a ritual that had been engraved in their minds since long ago.

    But regardless of how many thousands had died, even if that number was in the tens or hundreds of thousands, could the blood of ten thousand mortals bepared to a single drop of a God¡¯s blood?

    Eden didn¡¯t think so. After being confined by the Demon God, who was only a Demigod, for so long, he knew that the power of a True God would be something far beyond his imagination.

    So why had the ritual been so sessful? And why was their Ancestor so dismissive of their presence?

    Eden could feel it. His life force had begun fading at a far more rapid pace after the voice from the formation fell onto his ears.

    He knew that chances of survival after performing the ritual were rare, but when was he ever one to give up?

    ¡®My life above all things. Isn¡¯t this the principle I¡¯ve lived by until this day? Isn¡¯t this the reason why I chose to be subjugated instead of killed? Why am I so eager to throw my life away now?¡¯

    As he continued thinking, he found that his mind was far more muddled than he knew. With every hint of rity he achieved, he would find ten times more the amount of fog.

    ¡®The Ancestral Ritual¡­when did I learn it?¡¯

    The thought was sudden. Almost to the point where Eden doubted it came from his own mind.

    ¡®The thought of revenge, since when did I hold such desires?¡¯

    He was a logical man. Revenge against a Demigod? He would never even dream of it. Unless an even stronger being came into the picture, he would live content with what he had.

    ¡®What is happening to me?¡¯

    He couldn¡¯t understand it. His sudden contemtive state came out of nowhere as well. His Ancestor had just been summoned, so shouldn¡¯t he be speaking to him?

    ¡®Ancestor? Did our small Demon Race ever produce a God?¡¯

    Their Demon Race wasn¡¯t small in the past, sure, but it wasn¡¯t massive either. It was a regr-sized n where only a single Demigod had ever been produced. They had never heard tales of a true Demon God born from their midst.

    ¡®Then, who was I trying to summon?¡¯

    Eden suddenly began doubting himself. He doubted the thoughts that had been in his head all this time. He doubted the reason why he chose his current course of action.

    ¡®Wait¡­¡¯

    He had a terrifying thought. He didn¡¯t dare to entertain such a thought, but was forced to face reality.

    ¡®Why does the Ancestor¡¯s voice¡­sound familiar?¡¯

    [You have always been a clever one, dear Eden.]

    The voice from the formation spread once more, shocking Eden out of his thoughts. The contents of that voice¡¯s words, though, were even more shocking.

    ¡®He knew?!¡¯

    [Of course I knew. Why else did you decide to summon me? Think, for how long have you been nning such actions? How long have you been collecting the blood of those within the Trial World?]

    Without a choice, Eden fell into thought again. How long had he been nning his actions? For close to the 10,000 years that he had been trapped here. It was the same for the second question.

    [Think, when did you learn about the Ancestral Ritual.]

    Well, that was an easier question. Of course¡­

    ¡®¡­Huh?¡¯

    When did he learn about the Ancestral Ritual? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn¡¯t find a clear time. In fact, he instinctually felt that he learned about it as a child, but for what reason would such a cruel and heartless ritual be taught to children?

    Despite being a race of Demons, they were by no means heartless. Although they tended to be belligerent at times, they still cared for their young and wished to preserve their innocence for as long as possible.

    ¡®Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡¯

    Eden realized it. The fear he had been avoiding could very likely be the truth.

    ¡®It was all¡­meaningless.¡¯

    Eden¡¯s heart sank. His expression became dull. Everything he had worked for until this point was meaningless.

    No, it had meaning. The problem was that it had no meaning to him.

    This path, it wasn¡¯t chosen by his own hands.

    [Kakaka! Eden, my child, you¡¯ve always been a smart one. Those other two may have power, but theyck the decisiveness of a leader. That was something that only you and Lucius possessed. But Lucius, that fool, was too noble. Regardless of my power, I couldn¡¯t imprint a suggestion in his head without him noticing. And if he noticed, then what was the point?]

    Eden¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡®Lucius¡­¡¯

    Out of all the Demon Kings, Lucius was the only one Eden was envious of.

    ¡®You had a wife you loved and a daughter that symbolized that love. You had subordinates that followed you with loyalty born of respect and admiration. You had the drive to find a way to leave this wretched ce. Those things¡­even if I didn¡¯t desire them, I was envious that you were able to have them.¡¯

    That was Lucius¡¯ ¡°power¡±. It was a power that Eden couldn¡¯t gain, no matter how hard he tried. It was because his temperament didn¡¯t allow for such things. He was too indifferent to value people in any way other than as tools.

    He knew this. He didn¡¯t mind this aspect of himself. In fact, he found it preferable. But it blocked his path towards gaining some of the things he wanted to gain.

    In the end, it was those aspects that Lucius held that allowed him to find a path of escape in the end, even if it took 10,000 years. Meanwhile, Eden was¡­

    ¡®I¡¯m being used as a pawn. From the start, I was being used as a pawn. Everything I¡¯ve done from the start, it was not of my own will, even if I thought it so.¡¯

    [So you¡¯ve realized?]

    The voice from the formation held a tinge of mockery as it spoke.

    [That old fogey would have noticed immediately if I had acted more brazenly, so I was left with only this method. Besides, if I had been forceful, a smart child like you might have had thoughts of rebellion. And we can¡¯t have that, can we?]

    He couldn¡¯t deny it anymore. Eden¡¯s dull eyes had lost any hope of living, but a me sprouted in his heart. A true me of vengeance that he had never felt before.

    But it was meaningless. Even throughout the conversation, his life force had been draining at an incredible rate. He was already on the verge of death.

    ¡®No, that was the point of this conversation in the first ce. He forced me to submerge myself in thought so that I couldn¡¯t deactivate the formation before it was toote.¡¯

    Eden looked up. The two other Demon Kings were already husks on the floor, their manapletely drained.

    ¡®Dead. Everyone except for me is dead.¡¯

    Eden closed his eyes. The life he has clung onto so desperately for all these years was vanishing in vain.

    ¡®Lucius¡­I hope you can avenge us.¡¯

    Eden¡¯s life force dwindled down to thest drop, and his life finally ended. In that final moment, there was only one thought in his head.

    ¡®Demon God, I pray you will one day feel my pain.¡¯

 Chapter 394 Summoning [4]

    Chapter 394 Summoning [4]

    The Primordial Undying Realm was shaped in a circr formation.

    8 Trial Worlds sat in the 4 cardinal and 4 ordinal directions surrounding the main realm where the Primordial Undying Tree stood. Anchoring these 8 small realms to the main realm were extremely thick chains of mana.

    If one looked at the order of the trials, one would notice that it followed this pattern. The void in which the Trial of Self was conducted was within that mana anchor, which was also used to transport the geniuses to the main realm.

    It was a truly efficient system.

    Within all 8 of these Trial Worlds, simr scenes were taking ce.

    The Nether Spirit Tribe elders that Ruyue and Lunaria had faced previously sat in a circle around an ancient formation that stood in the deepest ruins of the tribalnd.

    The me Tyrant n, a n of giant beings made entirely of molten rock who inhabited another Trial World stood in a strange pattern around an active volcano.

    The Dark Elf n who inhabited yet another Trial World were performing simr actions as the other two.

    In all 8 Trial Worlds, the races who had been corrupted by Nox mana were making their own preparations, following the will of their leaders to enact a certain ritual.

    They each had their own unique locations and actions, each having a ritual specific to their ns, but there was a single thing that each and every one of them shared.

    ¡°¡±With Heaven and Earth as witness, Our Blood as the foundation, and the Blood of All as tribute, We humbly call upon the Ancestor¡¯s presence.¡±¡±

    Those words were shared among them. Not only the words, but also the timing.

    As if they had nned it beforehand, the timing of each and every ritual was the exact same, and those words were said in unison across the boundaries of space.

    If one stood in the void and watched the events taking ce, perhaps they¡¯d be able to hear that unified chant pierce the heavens.

    ***

    Surrounded by an unruly jungle on all sides, Hun Fang opened his eyes.

    ¡°Mmngh¡­finally healed.¡±

    Although the pills Qing Tan had fed him had healed him to a certain extent, they were still supplements at the end of the day. He needed to take time and rest before achieving peak condition.

    His mana also needed to be regenerated.

    But after an entire 3 days of effort, he had finally finished recuperating from his injuries.

    ¡°Tch! 3 days, huh. That Damien fellow is really something.¡±

    Three days was far more time than it usually took him to heal after a battle, even when he was facing his most fearsome opponents.

    His abilities had never been so thoroughly countered before.

    ¡®Actually, if it wasn¡¯t for the pills that Tan¡¯er fed me, it would¡¯ve taken far longer. I was on the brink of death this time.¡¯

    He wanted toment his weakness, but he really had no time for idle thoughts. Feeling a weight on hisp, he directed his attention downwards.

    There, he saw a peacefully sleeping Qing Tan. He inadvertently smiled before noticing the faint trails of tears that still coated her face. His smile soon turned into a sad one.

    ¡®Damn girl¡­if your big brother wasn¡¯t so weak, perhaps you wouldn¡¯t have to struggle like this.¡¯

    How desperately he wanted to make a world where she could live peacefully, how nice would it be if he could do so? But he was weak. He had been weak from the start, and he was weak now. The only thing he could do was keep her alive.

    ¡®That¡¯s right. Keep living. Keep living and struggling, and perhaps one day, we¡¯ll find our way out of this mess.¡¯

    But now wasn¡¯t the time for that. Even if that time came, it was far far away.

    Hun Fang¡¯s eyes hardened. A green fruit and three red fruits appeared in the air in front of him.

    ¡°Haa¡­I just have to say the words and my job here is done, right? Damn, I¡¯ve gotten used to chanting because of my summons, but it¡¯s still embarrassing no matter how many times I do it.¡±

    Hun Fang closed his eyes. Murky grey mana emanated from his mana and filled the atmosphere, forming arge incorporeal formation around him.

    At the same time, he gently moved Qing Tan¡¯s sleeping body out of the formation¡¯s range.

    ¡°Tan¡¯er, don¡¯t pretend to be asleep even now. Do you think you can fool this brother of yours? If I see you peeking, you know what¡¯ll happen.¡±

    Qing Tan¡¯s closed eyes opened. Her face was clearly pouting. ¡°I¡¯m already an adult! Why can¡¯t I see the shit those bastards are making you do?!¡±

    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re an adult? An adult woman who still needsp pillows from her big brother to sleep, I¡¯ve never seen one of those before!¡±

    ¡°You¡­! Hmph! I¡¯m not talking to you anymore!¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey! How can you be so cruel?! Our Tan¡¯er is truly a big girl now, isn¡¯t she? I saw how you were acting during the struggle earlier. So mature!¡± Hun Fang quipped. A sly smile formed on his face.

    ¡°Oya~ I can¡¯t believe my little sister has grown up into a woman already! I even saw her gazing at a man with forlorn eyes earlier! As a big brother, how can I not be hurt?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tease me!¡± Qing Tan yelled. A prominent blush crept up her cheeks. However, Hun Fang ignored her words and kept pestering.

    In the end, Qing Tan stormed away, annoyed.

    Hun Fang smiled lightly. ¡®Well, no matter how old you get, you¡¯re still my baby sister.¡¯

    He was d. d that even after all they¡¯d been through, she was still able to act like a spoiled little girl in front of him.

    Honestly, seeing how cold and indifferent she could be when she was serious, he had be a little scared that the environment around her was affecting her negatively.

    In fact, even her yfulness had been disappearing recently.

    Hun Fang¡¯s gaze turned towards the Primordial Undying Tree. Although he couldn¡¯t see it with his own eyes, he felt like the person he was looking for would be able to feel his gaze.

    ¡®Although we are enemies by fate, I thank you for allowing my little Tan¡¯er to regain a part of herself. For that, I am indebted to you.¡¯

    After lightly bowing in that direction, his attention turned back to the formation that had beenpleted during the time he had wasted.

    ¡°Haa¡­let¡¯s get to work then.¡±

    The 5 fruits around Hun Fang floated into the air, revolving around the core of the formation. The grey mana that permeated the atmosphere began to gather and solidify.

    Dark clouds covered the Primordial Undying Realm as greenish-white essence leaked from the fruits. Although the amount was far less than what woulde if he used the purple fruit, it was enough to substitute what was needed.

    Looking at the formation that was nearingpletion, Hun Fang nodded solemnly.

    ¡®To all those who will end up feeling the consequences of my actions today, I apologize in advance. My sister¡¯s life is worth far more than yours could ever be.¡¯

    ¡°With Heaven and Earth as witness, the Fruits of the Primordial Undying Tree as the foundation, and the world itself as tribute, I humbly invite His Eminence to thisnd.¡±

 Chapter ?395 Sacrifice [1]

    Chapter ?395 Sacrifice [1]

    As soon as Damien''s body merged with the Primordial Undying Tree, the torrent of energy flooding into him became ferocious.

    It charged through his Mana Circuits like a horde of raging bulls, threatening to destroy his internals with its sheer quantity and density.

    Damien gritted his teeth and endured. He had expected the amount of energy in the purple fruit to be immense, but this kind of vtile movement waspletely out of his expectations.

    After all, the essence he had gained from the Primordial Undying Tree previously was incredibly gentle.

    But none of that mattered now. From his Mana Circuits, the energy found its way into his Mana Heart and even entered the Void me that was resting within. It perforated through his body, soon exiting his circuits and merging with his physical body as well.

    ''Devour.''

    Damien mobilized his most useful skill. Although he had now gained a degree of control over Void Essence, the properties of Devour weren''t something he could emte.

    Not only did Devour steal traits from others and make them his own, but it also optimized his growth to perfectly suit his needs. No matter how much control and ability he has, this kind of precision was impossible because of human error.

    But the Void Physique didn''t have that same risk of human error. It couldplete these tasks incredibly easily. As he became further in tune with Void Essence, he slowly realized how insane his Void Physique actually was.

    The energy from the Primordial Undying Fruit continued to perforate through his body, eventually merging with every part of him. Even the parts of himself that he couldn''t see personally, like the area where his mana was stored.

    It was at this time that a second essence infiltrated his body. Since he had been warned beforehand, he didn''t panic when he saw it. It was simply the Primordial Undying Tree helping him digest its essence.

    As if feeling the essence''s intent, the Void Essence used through devour surrounded it and merged into it. These two essences began working together to perfectly mold Damien''s body with the energy of the purple fruit.

    ''Ha! It''s like the process became automated. At this rate, I just have to sit back and watch as it takes ce.'' Damien inwardly marveled.

    But unlike what he expected, he wasn''t given the opportunity to bezy.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree wishes to tell you a story.]

    The notification was abrupt, both in appearance and content. Damien didn''t know what kind of story this old tree wanted to show him. But he didn''t think such a being would do anything without meaning, so he quietly epted.

    His vision turned ck.

    When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he felt was that his body wasn''t his own. It wasrger and more robust, while being rugged and scarred from battle.

    ''This is..:''

    [The Primordial Undying Tree urges you to watch.]

    Damien stopped thinking and focused on the scene around him. His eyes widened in shock the second he did so.

    He didn''t even realize how he was able to calmly think without realizing what was happening in his surroundings. It was a battle of untold proportions.

    Divine spirits and Godbeasts flew through the air regrly,pletely unlike their almost extinct status today. On the ground. Countless races stood side by side facing an enemy.

    As for the enemy, it was just as he expected it to be. The Nox. ck dragons corrupted by Nox mana fought against the Divine Dragons on the resistance side, humans turned their backs on each other for easy power, it was a conglomeration of betrayals.

    And in the center of it were the Nox themselves. Mindless beings stained in the color of ink zipped through the battlefield and imed thousands of lives in an instant. Their desire seemed to be for nothing other than blood.

    The body Damien was currently inhabiting was that of an elf. A 4th ss elf who, although he might''ve been a figure of power in his own world, was nothing more than another soldier on this battlefield.

    His arms moved on their own. A in-looking arrow was knocked on an articte bow made of wood that still emitted vitality. The bowstring was pulled back as mana raged from his body. In the next instant, he fired.

    BOOM!

    The arrow flew straight and steady without any deviation from its original path. Within a few seconds, it had already flown hundreds of kilometers into the enemy camp, piercing the ground with heavy impact and causing a massive explosion.

    Blots of ink spread in the air as the bodies of Nox soldiers and Devil Worshippers were blown to shreds. Before the explosion even died down, another arrow had been fired.

    Sweat trickled down the elf''s brow.

    ''I can only give so much support. Luckily for me, they are only sending their soldiers at 3rd ss or below. But the fact that I, as a 4th ss, must be deployed to deal with them is shameful to our alliance.''

    Despite his thoughts, he kept firing arrows. He didn''t stop until he couldn''t see any more enemies in front of him.

    ''This wave is finished, but how many has it been already? My mana will be depleted soon.''

    As Damien looked around through the eyes of that elf, he noticed the sheer scale of the battle. The number of corpses littering the ground numbered far greater than he could count.

    ''Is this number in the hundreds of thousands? Maybe even the millions? That''s fucking insane.''

    He had lived a life surrounded by blood, but seeing this many corpses piled up in a single ce still shook him.

    ''What kind of ce is this?''

    He had seen records of the battle with the Nox 10,000 years ago, but something like this wasn''t included in that at all.

    This wasn''t a war, it was more like a final struggle against an unbeatable opponent.

    The looks on the faces of those who lived were dull. They clung to survival, but didn''t have any hope of living to see the next day. Even the elf warrior that Damien was inhabiting was the same.

    ''The second they mobilize 4th ss existences, the people here will be massacred''

    It didn''t take long for him to realize it. Including the elf warrior, 10 4th sses had been mobilized on the alliance side, while none had been seen from the Nox.

    It was due to the sheer difference in numbers.

    Some of the elf''s memories entered Damien''s mind as he shared the man''s body.

    The alliance was made up of millions of troops from various different races. But whenpared to the Nox, even these numbers were minuscule.

    Because even in this battle alone, the Nox were able to mobilize troops numbering in the millions. And due to the fact that a great deal of those troops were other races who were corrupted by their own greed, the Nox were able to conserve their own forces.

    In a drawn-out war, they had the absolute advantage. It wasn''t even fair to consider it a close fight.

    ''We''ve held on until now, but how long will itst?''

    The elf''s thoughts were negative, but the mes in his eyes never vanished. He had people to protect, an entire race worth of them. But in the bottom of his heart, he knew it.

    ''I''m¡­tired.''

 Chapter 396 Sacrifice [2]

    Chapter 396 Sacrifice [2]

    Time passed quickly. After that first battle ended, Damien followed that elf into countless other battlefields.

    In what seemed like an instant, 10 years had passed.

    "This is getting out of hand! We''ve been doing everything we can to resist all these years, but their forces never seem to die out! It''s hopeless!" An elder of the alliance shouted in rage and helplessness.

    And those around him couldn''t help but agree. Currently, they were in a meeting to strategize for a pivotal battle, one that could determine their fates, but none of them had hope.

    "It doesn''t matter. Even if it''s a battle of futility, we still have to fight. What, are you nning to die a dog''s death? Or maybe you are thinking of turning yourself over to those scum who have murdered our families and people?! Even if I''m fated to die, I''ll take a thousand of those Nox with me to the underworld!"

    The elf shouted in response. His eyes were burning, an almost palpable pressure radiating from them.

    "Haa¡­it''s not that we don''t share the sentiment, but what does it matter? Haven''t you heard the news? This time, they even n to mobilize a Demigod."

    Over the past ten years, the scale of the battles had increased. It was no longer just the mindless 3rd ss Nox that were being sent to war. The 4th ss beings of their race were also fighting.

    "I don''t understand how there can be such a difference. Whether it be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd ss, those Nox are simply mindless beasts who act on their desire to kill. How is it that, after achieving 4th ss, they can gain such a degree of intelligence?! It isn''t possible for such rapid growth to happen naturally." Another elder sighed.

    It was a strange thing. Every 4th ss Nox they had met had spiritual intelligence on par with or even greater than their own. And it wasn''t as if it was a gradual process by which they gained intelligence like beast races, it was instant.

    Even after decades of war, they had yet to understand fully what the Nox actually were, or how their species functioned. It was said that information was the greatest weapon in warfare, but the information they had was scarce.

    On the other hand, the Nox could gain as much information as they wanted through the defectors that were constantly joining their side.

    "I don''t care. This kind of talk is useless. We''re only lowering our own morale and making it easier for those bastards to ughter us! So what if they send a Demigod?! If you are all too afraid to confront him, then I''ll do it myself!" The elf proimed brazenly.

    "Nonsense!"

    "What the hell are you saying?!"

    "Do you even understand the implications of a Demigod?!"

    "And so what if I understand it?! Does that mean I should just sit still and ept my death?! Hmph! You are all pathetic! You don''t deserve to be called leaders of this alliance."

    "You¡­!"

    "Enough!"

    A new voice entered the fray. It was the voice of an old man who sat quietly in the corner of the room. His eyes were focused on the elf, unwavering and stern.

    "Do you mean what you said?" He asked solemnly. "I know you. I''ve heard of your feats on the battlefield. You are infinitely close to entering the realm of Godhood yourself, so if it''s you, you might be able to stall that Demigod for a period of time. So I ask again, are you confident in carrying out your words?"

    The elf stared back at the old man with the same unwavering eyes.

    "I am."

    "You might die. No, you will surely die. Can you still say for sure that you will carry out your duty without fail?"

    "I can."

    The old man looked into the elf''s eyes as if trying to peer into his soul. In the end, he sighed.

    "Very well. I''ll leave the task to you."

    "Elder!"

    "That''s a Demigod, for god''s sake! Even if he is almost at that realm himself, the difference isn''t something that can be ovee without Divinity!"

    "Do you think I don''t know that?!" The elder growled back. The fury in his voice silenced all opposition.

    "The Nox aren''t the only ones with Demigods on their side. Our Demigods have been stuck in the Ancient Battlefield staving off the main forces of the Nox this entire time. It was the only reason we were able to survive this long.

    "However, upon hearing that the Nox have mobilized one of their own, they have sent us aid as well. As long as we can hold out until that Demigod arrives, we can survive this ordeal!"

    The elder''s words brought some light back into the eyes of those alliance leaders.

    "Right, if we have a Demigod on our side¡­!"

    "It might be possible!"

    The elf''s eyes were also wide when he heard the news. Inwardly, he let out a sigh of relief.

    The meeting soon ended, and all the gathered forces went their separate ways to prepare for the battle that was on the horizon.

    Night fell upon the alliance camp. On the roof of a small building, the elf sat and stared at the two moons that decorated the night sky.

    Countless memories shed through his mind. Children ying happily with the spirits that gravitated towards them, families smiling and enjoying their days, they were scenes he saw constantly in his homnd before the start of the war.

    But there was one scene that yed on repeat, standing out even amongst the vast array of memories in his mind.

    A beautiful woman with light blonde hair, her presence seemed to be one with nature. She stood in front of the World Tree with a warm smile on her face.

    "Come back safely."

    Those were thest words he had heard from her. After that, his life had been a constant hell.

    "Elvira¡­I wonder how you are doing now? Perhaps you''ve already moved on and found another love¡­"

    My life is destined to end in tragedy, so I truly hope you have. He wanted to say those words, but he couldn''t get them out of his throat.

    He clutched the jade pendant that had hung around his neck from the start of the war until now. Just like those two moons in the sky, they were so close yet infinitely far apart.

    ''You told me not to be a hero, but in the end, I couldn''t stop myself¡­'' He sighed lightly.

    Being only a few hours away from guaranteed death, he oddly didn''t feel dissatisfied at all.

    He had lived a good life, all things considered. The first few hundred years were filled with happiness and joy.

    And even though he had spent almost 25 years on the battlefield now, he didn''t regret his decision to join the war.

    Because those happy smiles that he used to see on a daily basis, those families that would cherish each other and live in peace, that woman who shouldered the responsibility of all elves with a smile on her face¡­

    As long as he was here, their smiles could never be taken from them by the cruelty he had witnessed from the enemy.

    He stood up and stretched his tired body. His ambition was far greater than he had let on at the meeting.

    Even if he was fated to die today, he would make sure to save as many lives as he could before he did so.

    And maybe he could take down a Demigod while he was at it.

 Chapter ?397 Sacrifice [3]

    Chapter ?397 Sacrifice [3]

    Battle was raging in full force.

    Being a pivotal battle that had the potential to be a turning point in this futile war, the alliance had brought out many of its hidden cards.

    And the scale of the battle could no longer be contained on ground.

    Multiple massive explosions rang out from all sides. Thousands of 4th-ss existences fought with their lives on the line. In that atmosphere, it was impossible for the terrain to stay undamaged.

    It started small, with craters and cracks littering the ground. But as damage piled up over days and days of fighting, it couldn''t stay so simple.

    BOOOOOM!

    Unable to bear the force of the battle, the world it was taking ce on cracked in half. The World Core copsed without its outer shell, causing a massive explosion that sent shockwaves through the starry sky.

    Hundreds of 4th sses and 3rd sses numbering even greater perished with the world. Only those who were able to use spatial transmission equipment to leave the st range were able to keep their lives.

    It was a truly hellish battle. Even after the world exploded, it didn''t end. The setting was simply changed to a battle within the starry sky, where such environmental damage wouldn''t be a problem.

    But there was a single part of the battlefield that all eyes watched. Regardless of which side won the battle, the results there would decide it all.

    A single elf with an ornate bow in hand stood tall. His proud back seemed to carry the weight of the world. His aura radiated determination and power. But considering the opponent in front of him, his momentum wasn''t able to go far.

    It was another man, his skin ck like ink. His stature was massive, being 10 meters tall with equally broad shoulders. He didn''t radiate aura or have powerful momentum. One would simply think he was a giant who never even leveled up once. That is, if they didn''t know his status.

    A true Demigod, a man who had attained Divinity. He wasn''t the type of man that mortals like them could fathom.

    But that elf stood in front of him without any fear on his face.

    "You could have ascended after shedding your mortality, so why did you decide to stay?" He asked.

    The Demigod looked at the ant in front of him curiously. "Is that thest thing you desire to know before death?"

    "Well, if you don''t wish to answer any other questions, then it''d be thest thing you answer before death as well. Choose wisely."

    "Hahahaha! What a bold child. With you standing in front of me like this, you clearly understand your situation. Yet, you still have the nerve to talk about killing me? How interesting!"

    "Yes, I understand my situation clearly. But it seems you aren''t the same. I wonder if anyone will miss you when you''re gone?"

    The Demigod frowned. Taking the words of an ant seriously wasn''t something he would ever do, but being looked down on by someone so much weaker than him wasn''t something he would tolerate.

    "A single p. That is all it will take to kill you. Allow me to enlighten you on the difference between one who has achieved Divinity and one who hasn''t."

    The Demigod raised his hand lightly and waved it. There wasn''t a trace of mana in his movements, but it still gave off an aura of Godhood that the elf couldn''tprehend.

    Whoosh! BOOOOOOM!

    The whipping of spatial wind due to the force of his hand was the first sound to be heard. In the next instant, a continent-sized crater was indented in a nearby.

    Shock.

    Although they had expected the difference between mortals and Gods to be vast, not a single person expected it to be to such a degree. After all, Demigods never had a reason to show their true strength.

    It wasn''t just the fact that he could cause continental destruction from such distance that shocked them. It was the fact that he could do it seemingly without even mobilizing a hint of mana.

    The elf gripped his bow until blood leaked from his palms. This situation¡­he didn''t know if it would go at all how they had nned it.

    But at the same time, it was a somewhat expected oue. That was a Divinity in front of him. He expected nothing less.

    ''I wanted to at least preserve my life for a little while before finishing things, but it seems that won''t be possible.''

    The elf resolved himself once again. Soon, the blood and mana in his body began burning. He drew his bow and knocked an arrow even as his life force depleted at an astonishing rate.

    Blood-red essence mixed in with his naturally green mana as the arrow fired. Even whenpared to his full power, this arrow was far greater.

    BANG!

    It reached the Demigod before an instant could pass, exploding on his chest and knocking him back.

    But the elf didn''t stop firing. He chased the Demigod''s body and continuously shot arrows using his blood vitality to increase his power.

    But he could see it.

    Those arrows weren''t actually doing any damage to the Demigod''s body. And if it wasn''t for thetter''s arrogance, they wouldn''t have even been able to reach him.

    But that didn''t stop the elf.

    His original goal was never to kill. All he was doing was stalling for time.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Even though space itself was a void where sound couldn''t travel, mana was different. Sound could easily travel through the vtile mana that resided in the starry sky.

    And perhaps because of its vtile nature, the sound of those impacts was especially ring.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Arrows kept firing and impacting the Demigod''s body. Meanwhile, the Demigod himself watched on with interest.

    It wasn''t like he cared for the task he was assigned. In fact, it was below him to even be sent to a battlefield like this one. But there was such an entertaining ant in front of him, he wanted to see how far his opponent would go before realizing the futility of his actions.

    It was a simple curiosity towards a lesser being.

    BOOOM!

    The Demigod''s rocket-like body fell into the atmosphere of a nearby. Within seconds, it impacted the ground, sending a shockwave into the earth that caused mountains to rise and seas to dry.

    But oddly enough, a single organism managed to survive the impact.

    It was a tree thousands of kilometers away. A massive tree that emanated rich vitality and had a gait that pierced the heavens.

    BANG!

    An arrow pierced the world''s atmosphere like a bloody shooting star, urately pinpointing the fallen body of the Demigod and attempting to pierce it.

    But just like every other attempt, it ended in futility.

    The elf soon appeared in the air. Blood leaked from his pores like rivers, his skin was dried and cracked and his eyes were so bloodshot that they looked as if they were on the verge of exploding.

    The Demigod smiled when he saw it. Standing up, he patted himself down to get rid of the debris that had covered him during the altercation.

    "You don''t look so good." Hemented casually, observing the surrounding environment.

    The elf didn''t respond. Or rather, he couldn''t. His body was in no condition for him to make extraneous movements.

    Instead, he simply knocked another arrow.

 Chapter 398 Sacrifice [4]

    Chapter 398 Sacrifice [4]

    Had he stalled long enough?

    That was the only thought going through the elf''s head. It was like his own body condition hadn''t registered in his mind at all.

    It had only been a few minutes, but a few minutes meant a great deal with the speed of battle that beings at their level could reach.

    He didn''t know the location of the Ancient Battlefield where the alliance Demigods were, but he didn''t think it was so far away that a Divinity couldn''t reach here by now.

    But the fact that nobody hade to stop him meant that something had gone wrong. It meant that, perhaps, they wouldn''t be getting the reinforcement they had ced all their hopes in.

    ''Which means it''s up to me.''

    His body condition was terrible. Even the outward appearance didn''t do it justice. Actually, if it wasn''t for his astonishing vitality as an elf, he''d have already sumbed to his wounds.

    ''I don''t have much blood vitality left to sacrifice. If I do any more, I won''t have the strength to fire another arrow.''

    Looking at the causal gait of the Demigod in front of him, it was only natural for him to lose hope. But he refused to do so. That simply wasn''t his style.

    As he gazed upon the surrounding hundreds of kilometers of destruction, his eyesnded on the single tree that had withstood the impact of their battle.

    The aura that tree was radiating, it was at a simr level to that of the man he was facing.

    ''If I could acquire the aid of that tree, I might be able to solve this problem.''

    His figure shed away. He was taking a gamble. While the Demigod was still distracted by his curiosity, he would find a way to end things.

    His remaining blood vitality was used to boost his speed. When he arrived at the trunk of that tree, he ced his hand on it and sent his awareness within, attempting tomunicate.

    But all he got in response were incoherent feelings of curiosity and anguish.

    ''Its spiritual intelligence hasn''t matured yet. At most, it is on par with a three or four-year-old child.''

    What kind of miraculous tree could enter Godhood without developing its intelligence at all? Or maybe it was due to the rapid pace at which it achieved Divinity that the Heavens limited its consciousness. Whatever it was, it didn''t matter to him.

    ''DAMMIT!''

    His gamble ended in failure. He didn''t have the time to coax the tree into following his will, and he couldn''t negotiate with it since it couldn''t even understand his words.

    ''I must find a way.''

    He couldn''t give up here. He thought of everything he was trying to protect, the memories of his life shed before his eyes.

    He was already a dead man. His body copsed against the trunk of the tree. And as he did so, there was one regret that trumped all others.

    It wasn''t that he couldn''t be a hero, it wasn''t that he couldn''t protect everyone. If that was all, then he needed not to regret. To hold off a Demigod for as long as he did was already a heaven-defying feat that had been achieved through both sacrifice and luck.

    The thing he regretted most was dying in vain. Even with all the effort he put in, he died a dog''s death.

    ''If one day I am able to reincarnate, I hope I won''t live the same kind of life I did this time.''

    He drew hisst breath. His feelings of futility and anguish resonated with the will of the great tree he died leaning on.

    And a miraculous phenomenon took ce.

    But was it right to call it a miracle?

    That tree that had barely developed spiritual intelligence felt sympathy for the first time in its life. And perhaps it was due to an elf''s inherent affinity towards nature, but the brave elf warrior''s spirit seemed to merge into the tree.

    His soul wasn''t allowed to dissipate on death. It was sucked into the tree, resonating deeper and deeper with the tree''s own spiritual intelligence, until they became one and the same.

    He opened his eyes again. Or rather, he was once again able to see.

    But things were different. He felt an unbridled level of power running through his body, but he wasn''t able to properly mobilize it.

    ''W-what is happening¡­?''

    He clearly remembered dying. But the scenery he could "see" around him was the same as what he saw upon death. No, he could even see his own dead body being covered in roots and vines and dragged into the ground.

    ''This is¡­!''

    The second he sent his awareness through his body, he was able to grasp the situation.

    ''Ha¡­hahaha¡­to think it would end up like this¡­''

    He had¡­be the tree that he was trying to seek aid from only moments ago. Not too far away, that Demigod was looking at him with interest.

    ''But perhaps he doesn''t know what happened here. This situation is too strange for one to grasp so easily.''

    He waited patiently as the Demigod made his way over to the tree and looked at the corpse that was being dragged into it.

    "You were quite the interesting man. Not giving up hope even in the final moments of your life, I must give you my respect for that."

    He spoke indifferently. The elf hated that casual indifference that didn''t seem to put anything in its eyes.

    ''But if it''s now¡­''

    He couldn''t kill the Demigod. He didn''t have enough control over his new body''s strength to do that. Not to mention, his soul hadn''tpletely settled and been epted by this body yet.

    ''But¡­if it''s that, then it might be possible.''

    It was a secret technique that all 4th sses in the alliance were forced to learn. It was so that, when they died, their legacies would still be left for future generations to continue the war.

    It was a technique created by a genius spatial master, one that allowed one to create a small world to store their legacies.

    But he would use it for a different purpose.

    The vitality of the great tree suddenly red. Waves of spatial essence and pure mana flooded the atmosphere to the point when it was palpable.

    The Demigod''s eyes widened in shock, but it was toote for him to act.

    After all, this power was on the same level as his. He didn''t have the absolute advantage anymore.

    A hole opened in the trunk of the tree, radiating pure white light that aimed to eradicate all evil. And in the next instant, that Demigod was sucked in.

    ''Hahaha¡­let your own arrogance be your downfall, scum bastard.''

    The realm he was forming had yet to bepleted, but the rampant spatial tears and molding that contained traces of Divinity within them were able to tear apart the Nox Demigod''s body.

    The fact that he had been forced into an incorporeal space also helped a lot in the process.

    And due to the fact that both beings were now on simr levels, their souls were stuck in a stalemate.

    ''The fact that the process is automated after it has been started is probably the most groundbreaking part of the technique. It''s the reason why even non-spatial practitioners like me can use it, and the reason why I can hold out against this scum bastard without diverting my attention.''

    Due to their current circumstances, no words could be exchanged between them. It was likely that the Nox Demigod was still unaware that his opponent was the elf who he had been ying with until recently.

    And so their stalemate continued.

    Until the secret realm within the tree finished forming.

    And a separate space was formed to confine their battle.

 Chapter 399 Sacrifice [5]

    Chapter 399 Sacrifice [5]

    "¡­"

    Damien was speechless. The events he had witnessed were simply too shocking.

    The war was already enough information to overload his brain, especially after spending 10 years in the body of a person who was fighting in it.

    ''But to think that the Primordial Undying Tree was actually an elf at one point.''

    It was a riveting story that ended in a noble sacrifice. It was a war from 100,000 years ago that was left out of history.

    ''I thought the threat that the Nox pose now was already immense, but who would''ve thought that it was so much worse in the past¡­?''

    He couldn''t even imagine it. If the forces that the Nox possessed 100,000 years ago descended on the current universe¡­

    It was guaranteed annihtion.

    After the scene in which the elf senior sealed the Nox Demigod, the yback didn''t end. Damien was shown what the elf senior saw through his awareness afterwards.

    With the awareness of a Demigod, it wasn''t hard to see the results of the battle that had been taking ce when he died. In the end, the alliance''s Demigod never appeared, but it wasn''t their loss either.

    Because the Nox race''s Demigod never returned to the battlefield, their morale began to drop, which allowed the alliance to pull ahead.

    The battle ended in their victory even though they had sustained many losses. It served as a turning point in the war, one which brought hope to the despairing alliance.

    Unfortunately, when the alliance heads tried to find traces of the elf warrior, they were unable to find anything. His body had been absorbed into the great tree, and the traces of battle between him and the Nox Demigod were only present hundreds of kilometers away.

    ''How¡­how did that war end?'' Damien wondered. Although the result was obvious since the universe was still not within the Nox''s control, he wanted to know it in more detail.

    More specifically, he wanted to know why records of that war had been lost to time.

    100,000 years was a vast amount of time that he couldn''t understand at all, but with the methods of people at the power levels of the alliance heads, and even the Demigods on the alliance side, storing records that could withstand the tests of time was extremely usible.

    But in the end, there was nobody who could answer his question. Even the elf senior had been stuck on the Cloud ne, unable to see what happened outside of its vicinity.

    ''Senior¡­your name. What''s your name?''

    Damien couldn''t help but ask. From the very depths of his being, he could feel a bubbling respect for the man.

    The man who had sacrificed himself for his noble cause, and had even kept fighting after his death.

    [The Primordial Undying Tree sighs. It says that after so many years, its name has been long forgotten.]

    ''Whether or not it is forgotten doesn''t matter. As long as I''m alive, I will carry your legacy with me. I will make sure you are not forgotten by history as you are now. This much I can promise you.''

    [¡­]

    [ric. ric Alfheim was my name.]

    Damien''s eyes widened. It wasn''t a message delivered by a system window that he saw. It was the voice of the man whose story he had just witnessed.

    The Primordial Undying Tree, no, ric Alfheim had just spoken to him for the first time.

    ''Senior, rest assured I will remember it well.''

    [¡­]

    ric didn''t respond. Even as they spoke the memories he was showing Damien didn''t end.

    When ric merged with the great tree, it wasn''t the Primordial Undying Tree yet. Hell, it wasn''t even a World Tree.

    It was simply a great tree of immense size and enormous vitality that had managed to reach the Demigod realm over time.

    But that enormous vitality obviously wasn''t normal. It was the characteristic that allowed the great tree to be something even greater. And with ric''s consciousness guiding its evolution, the process was greatly sped up.

    10,000 years after he became the great tree, it had spread its wings even further and be a World Tree.

    The enormous vitality leaking from it brought prosperity to thend, reviving the deste atmosphere left by the battle that had taken ce there many millennia ago.

    Within another 5,000 years, mountains rose and rovers split. The groundwork of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range was formed.

    And due to the heavenly conditions of the area, many beasts gravitated towards it.

    Finally, an entire 20,000 years after the battle with the Nox Demigod, the World Tree evolved further and became the Primordial Undying Tree that was known today.

    He created a subtree within the secret realm he had formed to seal the Nox Demigod, and he used this subtree as a hope to nurture future generations.

    It was how the first Primordial Undying Realm opened.

    ric used his vast consciousness to open the entrance on a different world every time. As long as the world was rtively close by, such a feat was within his means.

    But it wasn''t easy. Due to the effort he had to put in, the secret realm could only be opened every 10,000 years.

    The problem was, he wasn''t the only one inhabiting the secret realm. Every time the realm opened, the Nox Demigod would use the geniuses who entered as chess pieces to fight him.

    In the end, many races were forcefully or willingly corrupted by him, bing the ones that were known today.

    Damien watched it all happen. Although the memories were yed speedily and with gaps so that his mind could handle the stress of such a vast time period, he could still feel the essence of 90,000 years that had passed.

    It was only 90,000 because not long before the 8th opening of the Primordial Undying Realm, something interesting happened.

    The war with the Nox began anew. Worlds were ravaged and countless corpses littered the universe. In this hectic atmosphere, a certain group of elves fled from their world.

    ''This is¡­the memory I sawst time when I absorbed the lotus in my spiritual world.'' Damien realized.

    Of course the faces of those people would be blurred. He realized now that the reason wasn''t that something was being hidden from him, it was just that because it was being watched from such a vast distance, those faces weren''t clear to ric in the first ce.

    But he knew that they were elves. And he could clearly feel the connection he had with them even though his body had been discarded for a new one.

    The scene of those elves being chased into the starry sky yed out in front of Damien again, but this time, he was able to see how it ended.

    In that moment, right before their inevitable deaths before they could reach the Cloud ne, a massive portal appeared and sucked them in.

    When they reappeared, they were already in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    Those elves, seeing that a World Tree had saved them, began worshipping ric and decided to set up their home at the base of his trunk.

    And they named it Taesi, so that they would never forget their origins.

    Taesi, meaning defector in thenguage of the elves.

 Chapter 400 Sacrifice [6]

    Chapter 400 Sacrifice [6]

    Within 10 years of the elves'' arrival in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, ric erected the Myriad Illusion Veil to protect them from outside forces and the ongoing war.

    And due to his protection, the elven race was able to gain footing in the mountain range without being killed off by the beasts around them.

    Over time, their poption boomed and they experienced prosperity. Those who remembered the origin of their city became few and far between.

    The final 10,000 years yed out in front of Damien''s eyes, but he was hardly paying attention. His mind waspletely focused elsewhere.

    Just now, due to ric manipting the memories for Damien to safely digest, he was able to experience 100,000 years without actually experiencing 100,000 years.

    Countless beings were born and died during that time. Landscape changed and became entirely different from what it once was. Even ric and the Nox Demigod changed immensely over such a vast period of time.

    And within that atmosphere of change and chaos, only time and space remained constant, unchanging.

    Damien''s perception expanded. His mind became clear as a familiar yet unfamiliar essence flooded his senses.

    ''100,000 years passed in an instant. 100,000 years to some, but to me, a mere speck in the grand scheme of my life¡­''

    His thoughts were incoherent and jumbled. He started many tangents without ever finishing them. But with every new insight he gained, his perception of that familiar essence became more and moreplete.

    He had learned too much in a short span of time. ric had taught him all the mysteries of the mountain range and secret realm that he had been dying to know.

    Although he had many old questions that were left unanswered, and many new questions that sprouted from the information now held, he didn''t concentrate on that right now.

    He had plenty of time to figure it out after the current events ended.

    Damien''s mind was being rapidly epassed by an ancient and deste aura. It was the feeling that came withprehending the essence of time.

    And while it happened, his body also went through a myriad of changes.

    His bones became denser and more flexible, his muscles werepacted, his internal organs were fortified dozens of times over.

    His Mana Circuit wasn''t left alone either. An extreme amount of pure essence flooded through them as the process of evolution continued. It was essence that even contained a trace of Divine Aura within it.

    And due to it, his Mana Veins expanded and his Mana Heart became far more refined. The Ananta Matrix went through yet another evolution, even though it had only just evolved within the Trial World as well.

    His body was being remolded into something entirely new. With thebination of Void Essence and ric''s own Divine Essence, he was being perfected as if he was an art piece.

    Waves of unbridled power emanated from his body. Even his level rose rapidly.

    But he didn''t even notice the change.

    ''Time¡­time¡­what an amazing concept.''

    His understanding, whenpared to something like space, was still minuscule, but he had received an opportunity that hardly anyone would ever be able to receive.

    He already had immense talent inprehension, and with the experience of 100,000 years, hisprehension of time increased at an extremely rapid rate.

    Not to mention, he was able to gain insights while watching ric form the secret realm and put a time distortion on it.

    The essence of time swirled around his body. When it met with the essence of space that constantly enveloped him, it seemed to dance and merge with it as if they were always one and the same.

    ''Right, on earth they would always say that space and time were one and the same. Although it''s somewhat different with the introduction of mana, the scientific view of it still had some merit.''

    Under Damien''s control, the two essences mingled even closer. The formless essence around him began to churn, forming a separated space around Damien.

    ''With this¡­it should be possible.''

    It was a sudden thought, but he acted on it instinctively.

    Space and time flowed together to create a small stream around Damien''s body. It flowed like water, but had the color of shimmering blue starlight.

    ''I can''t do it yet with my current power andprehension, but I can set a foundation so that I can easily aplish it in the future.''

    But a foundation to him wasn''t the same as it was for others. If it wasn''t for the fact that he was merged with the Primordial Undying Tree''s trunk and within a separated space, the scenery around him would be total chaos.

    The small stream in his hands caused a distortion of the surrounding kilometer of the area around him. Everything shattered, leaving only an empty void behind.

    Within this void, chaotic flows of space and time ran rampant. But suddenly, it all came to a halt.

    ''I can''t go any further. I have no control over this power yet, so even I could potentially be influenced by the chaotic space-time within this domain. Until I can iste myself from its effects, I can''t use it carelessly.'' As he thought so, he slowly exited the trance he was in and sensed the state of his body.

    ''Haa¡­it seems like things areing to an end.''

    His evolution was almost finished. But the gifts provided by ric hadn''t ended yet.

    In that moment when he regained peace in both body and mind, his senses expanded and merged with those of the Primordial Undying Tree itself.

    He could see it. Whether it was the 8 subrealms where the subjugated races were performing their rituals, the main realm where Hun Fang and Qing Tan were speaking to each other, or even the outside world where the elves were living their lives in peace.

    He could see it all.

    ''What¡­the hell? Senior, I feel like you''re helping me a bit too much.''

    [Don''t mind it. It has been a long time since I met a genius that I felt I could put my hopes in. Think of it as an investment.]

    Damien nodded. ''I won''t be so impolite as to refuse a gift that I desire so much. Instead, I will earnestly promise to live up to your expectations.''

    Information, it was the thing he wascking most. Yet, ric had provided him with just that.

    ''Qing Tan¡­Hun Fang¡­so it was like that.''

    He wasn''t mad about their betrayal. Even an idiot could understand their circumstances if he was allowed to witness their conversations. He only felt pity for the sibling duo in his heart.

    ''Never mind that. Senior, don''t you think you have more important things to do than to be helping me?''

    From the looks of it, the Nox Demigod was infinitely close to breaking out of his seal. Instead of putting a stop to that chaos, why was the senior focusing on him?

    [No need. His breaking out of the seal isn''t something I can prevent any longer. I''ve known this day wasing for thousands of years. What is more important is saving as many people as I can before he manages to do so. And you are my hope for that.]

    Damien felt a searing pain on the back of his hand. There, a light green seal was being etched into his skin.

    [With this seal, the elves out there will regard your words asw. Most likely, they''ll subordinate themselves to you. I wish for you to take them into that space you created when you first entered this realm. Please take care of them in my stead.]

    ''Senior, what are you¡­?''

    [Allow me to finish. I can at most buy you 30 minutes before battle breaks out with him. In that 30 minutes, you must save as many people as possible. Remember, do not be even a secondte. Evacuate everyone to your Sanctuary before 30 minutes pass.]

    ''This¡­''

    Damien''s eyes hardened. He understood the implications of the senior''s words. A battle between Demigods¡­it had the potential to destroy the entire Cloud ne within a few hours.

    ''The Senior is trying to contain the battle within the Myriad Illusion Veil, but that means everyone here will inevitably die. The Sanctuary is apletely separated world from the Real ne, so it is the only ce that won''t be affected by the battle.''

    A heavy burden of responsibility had just been ced on his shoulders. Within 30 minutes, he has to save not only the elven race, but all those he could within the mountain range.

    ''With the distance I''ll have to cover, even saving the ns of those I''ve allied with in the secret realm will take longer than 30 minutes. It seems I have to get a bit creative.''

    Damien wasn''t a saint nor a hero. In normal cases, he would bepletely content with only taking the people he cared for and escaping theing cmity.

    But this time, he had no intention of denying the responsibility he was given, regardless of how burdening it might be.

    Because the senior who had given him such a responsibility had borne and was continuing to bear a burden that was far greater than anything he could fathom.

 Chapter 401 30 Minutes [1]

    Chapter 401 30 Minutes [1]

    "Hoo¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath. He could feel the evolution of his body finalizing. It meant that within a few minutes, his 30-minute timer would begin.

    [Are you prepared?]

    ''Is there any way for me to prepare for a situation like this?'' Damien smiled wryly.

    [Nevertheless, you do not look nervous. Your disposition is admirable.]

    ''Well, I just have to stop thinking about the negatives and I''m fine. I''m an expert at running away from my problems.''

    [¡­]

    ''I''m kidding¡­well, partially kidding. I do have a n, but I don''t know how feasible it is until I try it. How long will I have before being sent out of the secret realm?''

    [Will you collect the geniuses here? They are too preupied with their greed to care for your help.]

    ''Hmm, I don''t care about the rest of them, but those three who took the green fruits are myrades, so I''ll take them out. As for the rest, sending them out normally is fine. Whether or not they survive is their fate.''

    [I do not know whether to call you apathetic or mindful of the bigger picture. Regardless, I will not tell you how to live your life. All I ask is that youplete the favor I''ve asked for.]

    ''Senior, you don''t need to worry about that. I''m not such an ungrateful person that I''d take all the gifts you''ve given me without repaying anything. Besides, I owe you a life-saving grace, don''t I?''

    Damien felt like he could see ric''s smirk as he spoke.

    [Your evolution has beenpleted. The blood rituals are also reaching their end. I wish you good luck in your future journeys. And please, get rid of the scourge that has gued our universe once and for all.]

    Damien nodded heavily. ''I''ll listen to your words.''

    In the next second, he found himself back in the Primordial Undying Realm. Even though three days had passed, skirmishes for the red fruits were still taking ce. It seemed like it would continue until only enough geniuses to match the number of fruits were left alive.

    But Damien didn''t care about that. The instant he appeared in the real world once more. He teleported onto the greenyer of the Primordial Undying Tree in front of Feng Qing''er.

    "I have no time to exin, but I apologize in advance."

    He put his hand on her shoulder and forced her into the Sanctuary. After his evolution from eating the purple fruit, the power difference between the two was toorge for her to resist.

    After finishing up with Feng Qing''er, he moved over to Lunaria and did the same. Finally, he appeared before Ruyue.

    "Although I wish we could have a tearful and happy reunion, the circumstances seem to be hellbent on preventing it." He said wryly.

    Ruyue looked into his eyes seriously. "You''ve matured since thest time we saw each other. I feel a little sad that I couldn''t be there with you, but it can''t be helped. As for the joyous reunion, we can have it once everything is over."

    Damien smiled and nodded. Without any prior notice, he wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her to his chest, pressing his lips against hers,

    "Until then, I can only leave you with this. Don''t miss me too much while I''m gone."

    Ruyue was too shocked to answer, but before she could regain her senses, she had been sent into the Sanctuary.

    "Haa...that concludes things in here. Hun Fang and Qing Tan¡­it isn''t the right time for me to take those two under me."

    He could clearly see how discontent they were with their circumstances when he watched them through ric''s eyes. But, it was more beneficial to him if they returned to the Nox for now.

    "They''re probably being monitored, so I can''t act rashly. Next time we meet, let''s see if I can properly save you from your fates."

    Not even a minute had passed, but this was better for him. 30 minutes. The Primordial Undying Realm was an incredibly vast area that was asrge as, if notrger than, the United States. To travel across that area multiple times within 30 minutes, he needed as much time as he could get.

    He smirked to himself as he had the thought. ''Didn''t I just acquire the perfect means to gain more time?''

    A portal opened up in front of his body. Without hesitation, he stepped through it.

    The fresh scent and vitality that filled the 3000 Beast Mountain Range filled his nostrils. The bustling streets of Taesi colored his eyes. He was finally back.

    ''I have no time to enjoy the scenery though. What a shame.''

    His awareness spread to cover the entire city. Within moments, he was able to find the location of the Elf Queen.

    Well, considering that her residence stood out from the rest, it wasn''t too hard to do so.

    ''Won''t they make a scene if I barge in? I guess Senior''s seal will hell with that when the timees.''

    His figure vanished from the air, appearing in front of the Elf Queen''s abode. Although he wanted to teleport directly inside, there was a powerful barrier stopping him from doing so.

    He put his hand out and touched it. When he did, the seal reacted and shined with emerald green light. A gap was formed in the barrier, allowing his passage.

    ''Thank god. Going through the formal processes alone would''ve taken up at least a third of my time.''

    He teleported once again, appearing in the location where he sensed the Elf Queen''s presence.

    When he reappeared, a de was pressed against his neck.

    "Who are you?" The Elf Queen red at him. A powerful pressure enveloped his body.

    "I have no time to exin." He responded. He held his hand up and shed the seal on it. "What does this mean to you?"

    The Elf Queen''s de wavered. At the same time, a formless domain enveloped the duo.

    "This is¡­time distortion?" The Elf Queen muttered in shock.

    "Ah, I''m on a time crunch, so it''s necessary. But even with this, I''ve only extended my time limit to an hour so I can''t chat much. So tell me, what does this seal mean to you?"

    The Elf Queen put away her de. Without hesitation, she got down on her knees and bowed before Damien.

    "Byw, the bearer of the Ancestral Seal can be considered the Lord and Master of our Southern Elf n and all other Elf ns of the same origin. It holds the same power as a Progenitor of our race."

    Damien marveled at the seal on his hand. ''Senior is really putting too much trust in me. What if I was a terrible person? Actually, I know for sure that I''d be a shitty ruler.''

    But the "why" no longer mattered since the seal was already in his hands. It was just a matter of how he chose to use his newfound status.

    "Gather as many as you can from your race within 10 minutes. Anyone who can''t gather in that time will die."

    "W-what are you?" The Elf Queen stuttered. If it wasn''t for the seal on Damien''s hand, she would''ve killed him instantly.

    But the seal wasn''t a mere representation of status. Damien just didn''t know its power yet. In fact, because Damien possessed the Ancestral Seal, hismands could be forced onto the Elven Race. Even the Queen, a 4th ss existence, would be forced to obey.

    Not to mention, she wasn''t allowed to take any hostile action against him. Such was the power of the seal.

    But Damien was still in the dark about this. He didn''t even pay attention to the Elf Queen''s confusion. He was scanning Taesi to see if the rest of the n Heads who hade were still present.

    ''Tch. It seems like I''m forced to do some leg work¡­''

    "L-Lord¡­" The Elf Queen hesitantly said. It still felt awkward for her to call someone else so formally, not to mention a boy that was far weaker and younger than her. "What exactly did you mean when you said all who don''t gather will die?"

    Damien pped his hands. "Ah, right, I guess that''s something that needs exnation. Hmm, what''s the easiest way to say this¡­"

    "In 30 minutes, the 3000 Beast Mountain Range will be razed to the ground."

 Chapter 402 30 Minutes [2]

    Chapter 402 30 Minutes [2]

    After leaving the Elf Queen with that frightening revtion, he was in no mood to continue exining. After saying a few more words and getting her guarantee that she would follow his order, he shed away, appearing outside of Taesi.

    ''White Dragon Grotto, Fire Phoenix n, and Ice Phoenix n. These are the three forces I need to save first. Senior Bai''s forces and the Ice Phoenixes are both in Endless Snow Mountain so I''ll go there first. Then, I''ll go to Endless me Mountain where Qing''er''s n lives and circle back to Taesi. I don''t know if I can do any more than that.''

    If he was going to save anyone else, it''d be people he met on his way back to Taesi, if he had the free time to do so. At least with these three forces, he could guarantee they were trustworthy enough to take under his wing.

    His figure was almost wholly incorporeal. The movements of everything around him had been halved in speed as if they were living in slow motion.

    It was the effects of the pseudo-domain that surrounded him. At his current level, he could only double the flow of time around him, which in turn made the outside world flow at half his own speed.

    When apanied by his rapid movements through the folds of space, his speed was incredible, to the point where only an experienced 4th ss like the Elf Queen would be able to follow it.

    Taesi stood at the direct center of the mountain range, while the Endless Snow Mountain was close to the outskirts. Even with the White Dragon King''s top speed, it''d take at least an hour to travel between them.

    ''But, I have a pretty convenient skill for this asion, don''t I?''

    [Warp]

    Space shattered in front of Damien as a portal formed. When he stepped through it, he could see the familiar scenery of the White Dragon Grotto''s Snake Level around him.

    His awareness spread to epass the Grotto. In the same way that he found the Elf Queen, he located the White Dragon King.

    His figure shed away, appearing in an unadorned stone cave that he had been to once before.

    "Senior." He called out to the white-haired man that sat in the center of the cave.

    The White Dragon King looked up in surprise. "Kid, it seems you''ve grown a lot since thest time I saw you. In more ways than one."

    "Although I appreciate thepliments, now isn''t the time for idle talk. Senior, didn''t you say that your son was living in the outside world? Don''t you want to go meet him?"

    The White Dragon King''s eyes narrowed. "Brat, exin yourself."

    "I can''t exin everything, but I can tell you this much. The mountain range will be destroyed soon and the Myriad Illusion Veil will fall along with it. Even your power isn''t enough to survive theing cmity. So Senior, please gather your forces within the next 10 minutes."

    The White Dragon King stared into Damien''s eyes. Seeing the seriousness they carried, he couldn''t treat thetter''s words as the ramblings of a child.

    "How certain are you?"

    "Of the destruction? 100%. As for escaping, as long as you can entrust the lives of you and your people to me, that''s also 100%."

    "Can you swear it on the Heavens?"

    "I can."

    Without hesitation, Damien swore an oath to the system. With this kind of guarantee, there was no way the White Dragon King could continue to doubt him.

    "10 minutes, right? Very well. All of my forces shall be gathered within that time. Since we were never arge n to begin with, it should be rtively easy."

    "Many thanks, Senior. Can you point me in the direction of the Ice Phoenix n? I must visit them next."

    The White Dragon King nodded without asking questions and gave Damien the location he needed. After giving one final thanks, Damien vanished again.

    ''Using my Time element without pause is really putting a strain on my body¡­I need to get used to this power before I can abuse it the same way I do with space.''

    He could already feel the fatigue setting in from keeping his pseudo-domain active. And that wasn''t even counting the rapid drain on his mana.

    ''But my mana capacity has grown so much that I can''t even feel its end right now. I should check my status soon and see it quantified to get a better understanding.''

    But just like everything else, now wasn''t the time.

    Although he had somewhat ovee the spatial restrictions within the mountain range, he still wasn''tpletely free from its effects. Only because of this did it take 10 minutes for him to reach the Ice Phoenix n''s pce.

    But he was a little d for the time he gained, since he was able to use that time tomunicate the current situation to both Feng Qing''er and Lunaria.

    Without their help, convincing their respective ns would take far too long.

    With Damien''s current ability, he was able to intrude upon the Ice Phoenix Pce without being detected by anyone except the Matriarch.

    And the second he stepped into the pce, he summoned Lunaria from the Sanctuary.

    The Ice Phoenix Matriarch appeared not even a second after he had done so.

    "Luna? Why are you here? And so suddenly¡­"

    "Mother, time is of the essence. Please trust my words as your daughter and the future Matriarch of our n. Gather all personnel within 10 minutes."

    "Very well. However, you must exin the situation while I do so."

    The Matriarch nced at Damien. Lunaria turned to him as well.

    "I will stay with my mother and exin the situation. When you return, everything will be prepared."

    Damien nodded solemnly. "Then, I''ll head to the Endless me Mountain now. Do you know the location of the Fire Phoenix n?"

    "I do, but for me to exin is arbitrary. You have Qing''er with you, don''t you? Just ask her to guide you once you reach the mountain."

    Damien almost smacked himself. It was truly idiotic of him to not think of it. But, he didn''t waste time on being embarrassed. After giving a short greeting to the Ice Phoenix Matriarch, he once again began his teleporting frenzy.

    ''My affairs in Taesi and the Endless Snow Mountain have been wrapped up. As long as I can keep the pseudo-domain running, I should have another 45 minutes. But traveling to the Endless me Mountain and convincing the Fire Phoenix n will take around half an hour¡­''

    If he didn''t have the Warp skill to move between locations, it''d be impossible for him toplete things in 30 minutes. But since he did, things were simpler.

    ''Taking everyone into the Sanctuary at once¡­the elves'' numbers will be in the millions, but I don''t know about the two ns of the Endless Snow Mountain Range. Although it''ll exhaust my mental power at a terrible rate, it should still be possible.''

    Teleporting millions of people was impossible for him, but if it was teleporting them into the Sanctuary, it was many degrees easier. That is, if he was fine with leaving himself on the verge of death by the time he was finished.

    ''Haa¡­this is why I don''t like burdensome things.''

    Even as heined, he made his way over to the Endless me Mountain.

    He had 20 minutes remaining before everything would end.

 Chapter 403 30 Minutes [3]

    Chapter 403 30 Minutes [3]

    Damien felt extremely thankful for the rtionship of absolute trust shared by the Phoenix n Matriarchs and their daughters. If it wasn''t for this, it would''ve taken far too long for him to gain their trust.

    But Feng Qing''er and Lunaria were generally smart people. With Damien''s exnation, along with his pulling them into the Sanctuary, they were able to understand the severity of the situation easily.

    After all, something like the Sanctuary was a card that Damien would never show to people he didn''t have absolute trust in, and no matter how much Feng Qing''er didn''t want to admit it, she knew she wasn''t included in that group.

    With Feng Qing''er by his side, Damien was able to gain the Fire Phoenix n''s cooperation within no time just like how he had done with the Ice Phoenix n. Messengers and guides were dispatched in an instant to gather all their forces into the pce.

    And while it happened, Damien used Warp to return to the White Dragon Grotto''s Worm Level. After arriving, he immediately left the grotto. To gather all the forces it held in one ce, the only option was to leave and utilize the space of the mountain it resides on.

    And the scene in front of him was just that. Tens of thousands of dragonkin and a few hundred True Dragons lined up in an orderly fashion with the White Dragon King at their head.

    "Are all the preparations done?" He asked as he arrived next to the White Dragon King.

    "Yes. Everyone has been gathered and everything we needed to take has been stored in space rings. Now, show me how you n to get us all out of the mountain range."

    Damien nodded. "Senior, they probably won''t listen to my words so I''d like you to tell them not to resist my mana."

    The White Dragon King agreed. Using mana to amplify his voice, he passed the order down to all his subordinates.

    Damien closed his eyes and concentrated. It was his first time transporting such arge number of people, but with his current capabilities, it should be possible.

    ''This is the smallest force among the four I''m taking in, so it''ll be the best practice for when I have to do the same for the rest.''

    His mana spread like a nket and slowly moved through the crowd. Space distorted as arge amount of spatial essence congregated on the location.

    Due to the rapid mana drain he was experiencing, Damien was forced to cancel his time pseudo-domain. It couldn''t be helped, but it only made him rush even more.

    His mana soon reached the very ends of the crowd, encapsting the whole of the White Dragon Grotto''s poption within it. In that instant, Damien''s eyes shot open.

    Bang!

    The sheer weight of his mana caused space to crack. Starting from the ones nearest to him, the dragonkin and dragons of the grotto began disappearing in the hundreds.

    A stream of mana leaked from Damien and specially took care of the White Dragon King, sending him ahead of the rest so he could organize them once they were inside the Sanctuary.

    At the same time, Damien sent a mental message to Lucius, using him to familiarize the new residents with the old ones.

    From hundreds to thousands, thousands to tens of thousands, the residents of the White Dragon Grotto vanished in droves until finally, Damien was the only one left standing in the cold air of the Endless Snow Mountain.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­how¡­annoying¡­"

    He was short of breath from just this, so how was he going to deal with the other two? It seemed he needed to make more preparations.

    His awareness spread down the mountain and he shes away, appearing in a cave where a rtivelyrge beast tribe resided.

    "Although I want to apologize since you guys will die so suddenly like this, you were going to meet the same fate anyway so it is what it is."

    He began a ughter. The beast tribe couldn''t evenst a few minutes against his newfound strength before being devoured to replenish his stamina.

    "Ahh, much better. Now all that''s left is¡­"

    Bang!

    Arge swirling ck hole appeared behind his back, sucking in all the ambient mana in the vicinity. And once his mana was also brought back to its peak capacity, he used Warp and arrived at the Ice Phoenix Pce.

    He didn''t waste too many words. Since Lunaria had already been to the Sanctuary, albeit for a brief amount of time, she had roughly exined it to her mother.

    The same process repeated once more, but this time, the number of people had increased to over a hundred thousand.

    Although the amount of pure-blooded phoenixes wasn''trger than a few thousand, the lesser phoenix variants were of a far greater number.

    The Phoenix ns were prideful, but they were also benevolent to a fault. They didn''t look down on those lesser Phoenix variants but instead took them under their wings.

    Because their pride also epassed giving a home to those who had been born of their blood and lineage.

    By the time Damien was finished transporting the Ice Phoenix n and their subsidiaries into the Sanctuary, he was far more worn out than he was when he did the same with the White Dragon Grotto.

    If it wasn''t for him replenishing his mana and stamina to their full capacity beforehand, it would''ve been impossible.

    And just like before, he found a beast tribe to ughter for his nutrition. But the size and number were great enough to be called a n at this point.

    ''And just like that, I''ve exterminated whole ns like it''s nothing¡­I''m really bing a monster.''

    But for the sake of his goal, it was necessary. And when he considered that these ns would all be naturally exterminated as coteral of the battle toe, he no longer felt any remorse for his actions.

    Instead, he focused on recovering himself and returned to the Fire Phoenix n''s pce.

    It was taking too long.

    To transport the two ns of the Endless Snow Mountain and recuperate from his fatigue, it had taken around 10 minutes.

    Including the time he had spent already, he only had around 10 minutes left until his deadline.

    ''I''ll be cutting it close¡­no, I might not make it in time¡­''

    He couldn''t focus on it. He could only rush with everything he had toplete his task. If he focused on the deadline, the situation would feel too hopeless for him to stay as motivated as he was now.

    So he repeated the process.

    He transported the Fire Phoenix n to the Sanctuary and ughtered another beast n to sustain himself.

    But it wasn''t enough. He traveled around the Endless me Mountain for as long as he could within his time crunch and ughtered multiple beast ns, using his Void Physique to stock the excess energy he gained instead of immediately using it to replenish himself.

    After all, from here on was where it got serious.

    The three ns he had taken in so far wererge enough to be prominent even in the entire 3000 Beast Mountain Range, but whenpared to the poption of elves present under the World Tree, they were nothing.

    After all, while the numbers he had transported so far totaled around 300,000, the number of elves was well into the millions.

 Chapter 404 30 Minutes [4]

    Chapter 404 30 Minutes [4]

    Warp was truly a lifesaver of a skill. It was the skill that allowed him to return home after his years of suffering in the dungeon all those years ago, and it was the skill that was currently allowing him to ovee his predicament.

    He arrived at Taesi with only 5 minutes remaining of his time limit. And he knew for certain that he wasn¡¯t going to get any extension. There was a reason why ric told him to leave when 30 minutes struck exactly.

    But the Elf n was simpler to handle because of his seal. The Queen, although unwillingly, had already subordinated herself to him. Therefore, he could expect smooth sailing when it came to their transport.

    When he arrived at the Queen¡¯s vi, the sight of millions of elves crowded into the packed space appeared in front of his eyes. It was the first time he had seen such an unfathomable number of people in one ce.

    But instead of adoring such grandiosity, his eyes went to the trunk of the massive World Tree that towered over them. Signs of spatial fluctuation and cracking had already begun spreading on it.

    ¡°Queen, there are already others in the ce I¡¯m sending you to. They¡¯ll exin the situation. Judging by the size of Taesi, there should be more than enough space to amodate everyone, but I still need you to keep order among them and make sure things don¡¯t go wrong.¡±

    Although the Queen didn¡¯t understand much of what was happening, she had no choice but to nod. While to Damien, having the Ancestral Seal was extremely convenient, it was an unfortunate day for the elves.

    Because, unlike the others, they were given no exnation and no time. Their treatment wasparatively worse, even though their status as his subordinates was technically higher than that of the other three ns.

    Without any words, he transported the Elf Queen, her personal guard, and her family into the Sanctuary. After that, he began with the rest of the elves.

    4 minutes remained.

    Thousands of elves disappeared every second, but whenpared to the total number, it was nothing.

    Damien pushed his mana to its limits. Even with all the evolutions his Ananta Matrix had gone through, it was being overloaded by his struggle.

    Devour activated subconsciously, forming a massive ck hole behind his head that sucked the ambient mana and even vitality of the World Tree into his body. At the same time, the essence he had saved in the Void Physique slowly permeated his body and healed it.

    His skin cracked and blood flowed out. His eyes went bloodshot, but he still gritted his teeth and continued.

    3 minutes remained.

    Thousands became tens of thousands. Within the minute, a third of the total elves in the area had been evacuated to the Sanctuary.

    ¡®It isn¡¯t enough. I need to do more. If not, they¡¯ll die here, and I¡¯ll die with them. If I die, everyone in the Sanctuary will be stranded without a way out, and they¡¯ll eventually die as well.¡¯

    The burden of responsibility on his shoulders felt especially heavy, but it was that same burden that allowed him to continue without care for his own condition.

    The blood leaking from his body pooled on the floor and formed a stream that ran through the streets of Taesi.

    And at the same time, the blood in his body began boiling.

    ¡®Since I¡¯m inadvertently pulling vitality from the World Tree, I should be able to do this much¡­right?¡¯

    His blood vitality began burning at an astonishing rate to help cope with the burden he was carrying. When that happened, the numbers he could transport also vastly increased.

    2 minutes remained.

    Hundreds of thousands of elves were vanishing as the seconds passed. With the rate things were going now, it seemed he wouldplete his task on time.

    1 minute remained.

    The millions that had once upied the square had been whittled down until their number was countable. And finally, they all vanished into the Sanctuary. With them gathered in a ce where he was essentially God, he was finally able to understand their sheer number.

    8 million. That was how many elves he had transported into the Sanctuary over the span of 4 minutes.

    But in return, he was quite literally on the verge of death.

    It was worse than any near-death experience he had before this. And funnily enough, he had reached this state by his own hands.

    His skin was cracked like shattered ss and the blood pool beneath his feet had risen to the level where it submerged his ankles. His blood vitality was nearly exhausted. It was vitality that couldn¡¯t be replenished through normal means. In essence, he had sacrificed his own lifespan to finish his task.

    When he calcted it, he let out a dry chuckle.

    ¡®5 years¡­my natural lifespan ends in 5 years¡­what a cruel fate.¡¯

    But he had prepared for it from the start. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the purest source of vitality existed in front of his eyes, he never said would¡¯ve done such a thing.

    His figure shed away, appearing at the trunk of the World Tree. He put his hand on that trunk and said a single word.

    ¡°Devour.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t mana nor essence that he gained from the World Tree. It was pure unbridled vitality. The vitality that had allowed this tree to live for over a hundred thousand years, the vitality that allowed it to survive a sh between Demigods.

    That pure vitality spread through his body and invigorated his cells. The blood vitality he had lost previously was replenished slowly.

    30 seconds remained until his time limit ended. From his calctions, he had only gained back about half the lifespan he had sacrificed.

    But even that added up to a few thousand years. Compared to other 3rd ss existences, his vitality was far more substantial.

    15 seconds remained. He leeched as much vitality as he could as time ran out, even using his pseudo-domain to extend that minute past its capabilities.

    ording to the mission he was given, he should be using this time to save more lives, but he wasn¡¯t so noble as to do that.

    He was nothing like ric, who had sacrificed his everything for the greater good.

    But perhaps it was due to their conflicting natures that he had so much respect for the senior. For a man who was able to be a hero, something he could never be.

    ¡®But a hero isn¡¯t the only thing that¡¯s needed in these trying times. Heroes will rise up to save the people, sure, but I won¡¯t be one of them. Instead, I¡¯ll be an executioner that ughters everything in sight so that those heroes can do their jobs properly.¡¯

    5 seconds remained of his deadline.

    He looked up at the World Tree that was already manifesting signs of a portal. He looked at the 3000 Beast Mountain Range that held the most beautiful scenery he had seen in all his years of life.

    And he sighed.

    ¡®To all those souls who will be lost in theing cataclysm, I hope you can find peace. And I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t able to provide you with safety.¡¯

    With a final bow towards the World Tree and the mountain range that had provided him with so much, Damien vanished into the Sanctuary.

    OOOOOOOOOOOH!

    And thest thing he heard as he did so was the terror-inducing bellows of an unimaginable beast.

 Chapter 405 Heaven-Shaking [1]

    Chapter 405 Heaven-Shaking [1]

    The ambiance of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range broke in an instant.

    A hole was shattered in the trunk of the World Tree, and in its ce stood a portal shining with ck and white light.

    OOOOOOOOOOOH!

    As if responding to the appearance of the portal, thunderous bellows rang out from a select few mountains. But even though the number of bellows was small, their volume was enough to shake the entire mountain range.

    BOOOOOOM!

    At that moment, the Endless Snow and Endless me Mountains burst into rubble. From their peaks all the way down to the foundation that rooted them to the ground, ck tentacles sprung out and destroyed thend.

    The screams of those who lived on those mountains were drowned out by the sound of their destruction.

    Millions of tentacles sprung forth from the rubble of the mountains, clutching onto the ground around them and hoisting the body they were attached to out of the abyss that stood below.

    4 massive ck masses appeared not long after. Each one had hundreds of thousands of tentacles. Their appearances were grotesque, like a slime that was chimera¡¯d together with the body parts of various random beasts.

    They were the Heaven Swallowing Beasts that resided under the mountains, the ones Damien ran into when he first entered the Endless Snow Mountain, and the ones thought to be the protectors of the mountain range.

    But their current actions were totally opposite of that role.

    Within the Primordial Undying Realm, the various ritual sacrifices met their end, leading to the deaths of all remaining powers inside. And within the main realm, Hun Fang and Qing Tan stood in front of a portal.

    Their gazes were filled with pity towards the geniuses left in the realm. But in the end, they simply shook their heads and walked through the portal. They had no other choice.

    Qing Tan sighed inwardly. ¡®Even though the chance of it happening is negligible, I hope you can survive through this catastrophe.¡¯

    While they disappeared, the foundations of the Primordial Undying Realm began to crumble.

    [KAKAKAKAKAKAKA!]

    The Nox Demigod¡¯s uproariousughter rang throughout. And the void in which he and ric had resided for a hundred thousand years was shattered.

    A wisp of ck light exited through the portal in the World Tree. It zipped through the 3000 Beast Mountain Range in an instant, arriving in front of the Heaven Swallowing Beasts and submerging within one of them.

    It was the Nox Demigod¡¯s soul.

    After a hundred thousand years, his body had already been destroyed and refined into the secret realm. Just like ric, he was forced to take drastic measures.

    And what better measure was there than massive beasts who had power matching the caliber of his soul?

    If it wasn¡¯t for them, then the n for his escape would¡¯ve never been possible. After all, the body of a mortal could never house the soul of a Demigod.

    ric watched it happen and sighed. Even if he had been preparing for this day toe, seeing so many beings sacrificed with only the slightest movements was still paining his heart.

    But 100,000 years was enough to wear down his chivalrous spirit. He saw the birth and death of so many beings, and his view on life and death as a whole had shifted.

    And so, he quickly removed the Primordial Undying Tree from the secret realm and merged it back into his main body before the secret realm copsed.

    The endless vitality of the World Tree, or rather, the true Primordial Undying Tree, seemed to have multiplied exponentially.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Thend around the World Tree was ripped asunder as roots thicker than airnes emerged from the ground. The endless crown of the World Tree also extended, those tens of thousands of branches elongating and bing prepared for action.

    And as ric prepared, the Nox Demigod wasn¡¯t staying still either. The four Heaven Swallowing Beasts¡¯ tentaclestched onto each other, merging into one. Their main bodies soon did the same.

    A creature that towered above even mountains appeared within a short amount of time, its grandiosity not in the least bit losing out to the World Tree.

    On two sides of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, two different colossuses radiating opposing auras stood facing each other. The sight could be seen regardless of where one was within the mountain range.

    Panic spread through the beings who were caught between these two beings. Chaos reigned as they attempted to flee for their lives.

    But where could they go? The 3000 Beast Mountain Range was sealed off from the outside world, which also took away any hope they could¡¯ve had for surviving.

    [This sh¡­I have been waiting for it for too many years.]

    The Nox Demigod¡¯s voice pervaded the world. Just hearing it caused hundreds of thousands of weaker beasts to burst into blood mist.

    [Indeed. However, this time, I have the capital to battle you on equal grounds.]

    ric responded. Although he was also using his True Voice to speak, the damage to the surroundings had been consciously minimized by him as he spoke. As such, there were no unnecessary casualties.

    It was the most he could do for those poor mortals who were forced into extermination by his negligence.

    [You¡­]

    He spoke once more.

    [Even after all these years, I still have not heard your name.]

    Even though it didn¡¯t have a face, the form of the Heaven Swallowing Beast seemed to change to resemble something akin to a smirk.

    [Those of our race who have reached my level have a rule. Our true names are only ever told to those who we share blood with, and those who we have sworn to kill.]

    [And I do not meet thetter requirement?]

    [Perhaps at one point, I resented you. However, Old Fool, haven¡¯t these years changed our perspectives? This fight may be inevitable, but my grudge against you has faded with the flow of time.]

    ric inwardly gritted his teeth.

    [Whether your grudge has faded or not, mine still remains. If it weren¡¯t for you¡­perhaps I would have been able to return to my family, perhaps I would have been able to live my life in an era where I was wee¡­]

    [However, now I live in a world where I don¡¯t belong. A world where everyone I once knew would have died many generations ago. I did not bear this grudge when we firstnded in our predicament, but it grew with time. It seems our perceptions of the time we spent trapped differ greatly.]

    [Kakakaka! This is why you lowly beings are looked down upon by our great race. To have such concern and attachment is nothing more than a burden. As long as you have power, nothing else matters. Old Fool, you should understand my mind by now, am I wrong?]

    [I have heard your pointless ramblings thousands of times already, but I will never understand the thought process of scum like you. Enough talking. Even if I die today, I will bring you down with me.]

    [Kakaka! I am looking forward to how you n to do so!]

    And the instant those words fell, it happened.

    A world-shattering sh that almost destroyed the mountain range in a single instant.

 Chapter 406 Heaven-Shaking [2]

    Chapter 406 Heaven-Shaking [2]

    The roots of the World Tree, which had been standing in ce for over 100,000 years, had already spread throughout the entire 3000 Beast Mountain Range. Their true number was uncountable.

    And these exact roots had burst forth from the ground, swinging rapidly towards the millions of tentacles of the Heaven Swallowing Beast.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    20 mountains were razed in the sh. Most beasts living on the ground level of the mountain range had already been turned to ash.

    The shsted no more than an instant, not even enough time to be called a second, yet it still caused so much damage.

    But the battle wouldn''t end in a single sh, nor were the two Demigods willing to waste any more time talking.

    Millions of roots from all directions sprung into the air, painting the sky in a greenish-brown color. The aura of the World Tree swelled as if it was about to burst, casting a great shadow on the world below.

    ''Undying Spirit.''

    After adapting to his new body, ric hadn''t been wasting his time idly. He had created many techniques to match his new form and mana, since his old ones were almost all useless at this point.

    When he activated the Undying Spirit, the vitality spread across the 3000 Beast Mountain Range was withdrawn into the World Tree. Instead of radiating freely, it epasses the branches and roots that were used for attacks, bing a strong armor that couldn''t be prated by normal means.

    Those millions of roots covered the Heavens as they plunged towards the Heaven Swallowing Beast.

    The Nox Demigod covered his tentacles in inky ck mana. Control and adaptation to his new body was the one disadvantage he had against ric, but in turn, he had a far greater mana supply due to having bided his time and power until this moment to strike.

    BAAAAAAANG!

    The fortified roots shed with the mana-d tentacles once again. Pieces of both materials were ripped apart and crashed into the ground below, creating massive craters.

    With every second that passed, thousands of shes were exchanged between the two. Since their battle was taking ce under so many constraints, they both were trying to end it as quickly as possible.

    The ambient mana in the environment was starting to get influenced by the sh between Divinities. The environment itself seemed to match the disposition of these two beings.

    Perhaps it was only due to the fact that their current forms restricted them so much. They didn''t have much movement capability, if any at all. If it wasn''t for that, the battle wouldn''t have been contained so well within the mountain range like this.

    The Nox Demigod was truly annoyed by his circumstance. If it wasn''t for being unable to fully control his new body, he would''ve already won this battle.

    But there was one thing he could use with confidence.

    ''Swallow¡­the Heavens.''

    It was the bloodline talent of the Heaven Swallowing Beast, as well as its namesake.

    The grotesque slimy mass began swirling like a ck hole. A powerful suction force emanated, tearing apart mountains and the World Tree''s roots as it swallowed everything in sight.

    ''Tch!'' ric scoffed inwardly. Heaven Swallowing Beasts, they weren''t exactly a species, but an overarching term for beasts that possessed the Heaven Swallowing Talent.

    And such a talent, it was one of the best even when the entire universe was taken into consideration.

    ''I cannot hold back and allow this battle to draw out. I will be at a disadvantage the more it does, not to mention, the Myriad Illusion Veil will not be able to handle the stress.''

    ''Primeval Life Gate.''

    The trunk of the World Tree split in two. From within the massive chasm that formed, a massive pearly white gate emerged. It was as if ric was inviting the Nox Demigod to Heaven.

    But it was more apt topare the move itself to hell.

    When the gates opened, a sea of essence raged forth. Like a tsunami, that pure greenish-white Divine Essence flooded into the mountain range and epassed everything.

    The vitality within was no longer something refreshing and pure as it was once before. The way it was being used now, it was a poison.

    The Nox Demigod immediately stopped using his Heaven Swallowing trait. Letting such vitality into his body was asking for a slow and painful death.

    Instead, his mana bathed half the 3000 Beast Mountain Range in ckness.

    ''Return to Origin.''

    Wap!

    Whether it was the sea of essence, the World Tree''s roots, or the denizens remaining in the half of the mountain range around the Nox Demigod, everything was banished to oblivion.

    As if they never existed in the first ce.

    But the areas protected by ric''s vitality and Life Essence were not affected by such erasure. Although a part of his Corrupted Vitality Sea remained, it had been reduced to a point where the Nox Demigod could deal with it.

    But the pearly white gates didn''t vanish. Instead of corrupted vitality, they began to spew out something else entirely.

    Shining white beams of light emerged and stormed into the atmosphere like nuclear bombs. They rained down on the Nox Demigod''s ckness like divine judgement.

    SKREEEEEEEE!

    The Heaven Swallowing Beast let out an inadvertent screech of pain. It was the first attack that hadnded since their sh started.

    Those odd beams of light ignored allmon sense. Even when they randomly impacted a portion of the ckness, the damage they wrought was transferred onto the body of the Heaven Swallowing Beast.

    [YOU BASTARD!]

    The Nox Demigod roared. If it was any other attack, he wouldn''t have been furious. But he recognized this one. This essence, it was infinitely simr to the essence that coated the arrows ric had struck him with all those years ago.

    No matter how much he spoke about not having attachments and being indifferent, those 100,000 years he spent sealed weren''t something he enjoyed at all.

    The resentment he had burrowed in his heart so that he could proceed calmly with his n of escape, it began bubbling up once more as ric provoked those old memories.

    [Ha! It seems that even scum like you can make such an expression.]

    ric scoffed. As he did so, he mobilized the roots of the World Tree. Coating them in that same shining white essence, he ceaselessly let off attacks.

    And due to the unnatural property of that essence, he no longer had to aim for the Nox Demigod''s main body.

    The attacksnded anywhere. Even in areas behind the World Tree that weren''t anywhere close to the area ofbat. But without fail, the damage caused by that white essence burned into the Heaven Swallowing Beast, causing its size to decrease drastically.

    [You¡­! You are already burning your lifespan to attack me!]

    The Nox Demigod shouted as he realized it. It was a truly reckless move, something he never expected that his old enemy would pull. After all, with his current power, it wasn''t necessary to do so as it was in the past.

    But ric didn''t mind the fact that his opponent figured out his trick. He was never nning to hide it in the first ce.

    [Did I not say it from the start? Even if I have to die today, I will make sure that you die with me.]

 Chapter 407 Heaven-Shaking [3]

    Chapter 407 Heaven-Shaking [3]

    ric''s resolve wasn''t anything new. It was the same resolve he had formed 100,000 years ago before his first sh with the Nox Demigod.

    If anything, rather than fade with time, his determination grew as it festered for 100,000 years.

    In truth, his desire to live had weakened too much. At this point, death was his wish. Whenever he thought about living in this world where generations had passed and the era had changed, he couldn''t find it in himself to live on.

    He knew nobody, he knew nothing. Although he was aware that another war with the Nox was on the horizon, he wanted to be selfish just this once. After living a life where he constantly sacrificed himself for others, he wanted to be allowed at least this much.

    So without hesitation, he burned his life and turned it into essence to promote his attacks to a whole new level. Whenpared to when a 4th ss did the same thing, a Demigod burning their life essence had a totally different meaning.

    After all, Divinity wasn''t just a status symbol or an increase in power. It was something far more profound and qualitative than that. To burn his life meant to burn his Divinity, his Laws, everything that made up the being that was ric Alfheim.

    Those shining white beams continued to rain down from the heavens. The pearly white gates summoned through the trunk of the World Tree rose into the sky and flew at the Heaven Swallowing Beast, bing an attack of his own.

    Before the Nox Demigod could start burning his own life essence topete, he had to end the fight. That was what ric was thinking as he moved with fervor.

    ''Soul Banishment.''

    A new property was added into the light beams that were raining from the sky. With every sessful hit, the Nox Demigod''s Divine Soul was directly scorched.

    OOOOOOOOOOH!

    The bellows of the Heaven Swallowing beasts became even more ferocious. Half of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range was turned into a massive chasm that led thousands of kilometers into the ground by the sheer amount of mana radiating from his voice.

    But with the current assault, the Nox Demigod couldn''t do anything else to fight back.

    He had been too disadvantaged from the start. And there was a reason for it.

    These hundred thousand years, ric had been constantly using his power to maintain the Primordial Undying Realm and feed the subtree within it. At the same time, he had to use another portion of his power to reinforce the seal that kept the Nox Demigod trapped.

    With this much wastage of Divine Power, it wasn''t an uninformed guess on the Nox Demigod''s part that ric was weakening with time.

    But there was one thing he miscalcted.

    Due to the events that led to his sealing, the Nox Demigod had never be aware of ric''s true body. That is, he didn''t know that his opponent had be one with the World Tree.

    He assumed that ric was still in soul form just like he was, and that the subtree was something he created using his Divine Essence as a medium.

    He had no way of guessing that the subtree was a legitimate portion of ric''s body. ric had taken special care to make sure the Nox Demigod couldn''t peer too much into the outside world for that exact purpose.

    So while ric had indeed spent a hundred thousand years wasting his power, he had also been cultivating with his main body without the Nox Demigod''s knowledge. And with the body of a World Tree that had evolved past its limits as a World Tree, ric had actually gained more than he had lost.

    In the end, the Nox Demigod''s oversight had led to the current situation.

    And of course, it was always something ric had been nning for.

    He was the one who kept the Nox Demigod on a leash all these years. He was the one who watched the 3000 Beast Mountain Range from around his body. He was the one who chose whether or not the Nox Demigod could peer into the outside world.

    If it wasn''t for his consent, how could his enemy ever learn about the Heaven Swallowing Beasts he could use as a body?

    ric''s kind heart had been tainted by the years, leading him to see the sacrifices of those who would die in this sh as a speck of dust in the vaster universe. But his original chivalrous spirit never disappeared.

    Or at least, that was what he liked to tell himself. Perhaps, the reality of the situation was that he just wanted revenge on the man who has left him in such a sorry state, revenge on the one who had caused him to die a dog''s death the first time.

    But regardless of what his true motive ended up being, the task he had toplete remained the same.

    The World Tree''s crown shattered. The hundreds of thousands of branches and millions of leaves that made it up flew into the air as if they had wills of their own. Soon, those shining white beams of light impacted them heavily.

    BOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion rang out, ripping a gash in space that was thousands of kilometers wide. But instead of being harmed, the aura of those branches became ferocious.

    ''Time flows on like an unending dream.''

    Apanying his inward chant, a formless essence wrapped around the branches, causing them to go through myriad changes in an instant.

    The youngest branches became more robust and reached their prime, while the older and more withered ones regressed to the same state.

    It was a truly masterful showing of Time Laws that Damien would''ve killed to see.

    After his preparations were done, ric moved the flying branches to form a massive chain seal in the sky. It exudes an aura of ancient profundity, as if it was something the mortal world didn''t deserve to witness.

    ''Burn my Divinity, burn my soul. For the price of my life, eliminate the one I recognize as my greatest enemy.''

    The chain seal spun rapidly. The vitality emanating from the World Tree started to dwindle at a shocking pace.

    [W-What is that?!]

    The Nox Demigod panicked. He had never seen something like the seal in the sky before. And from it, he could sense an aura of inescapable death.

    [This¡­this is the ultimate technique of our Elf n. Regardless of where in the universe the elves are located, they will all learn this technique as they ascend to Divinity. I shall allow you to witness¡­the wrath of the World Tree.]

    The spinning chain seal moved so fast that even with a Demigod''s vision, it looked like it wasn''t moving at all. Space ruptured around it and formed an ever-increasing void. The winds whipped and whistled, and a shining white light began to cover everything in the 3000 Beast Mountain range.

    [Bastard! How dare you use such a cheap trick to kill me?! I refuse to ept it!]

    The Nox Demigod furiously yelled. Using the time when ric was focused on enacting his seal, he put everything he had into burning his divinity.

    The Heaven Swallowing Talent activated, sucking in all the mana andw essence in the atmosphere and creating a void space around him. The only mana left in the area was what was already inside his body.

    And after hepleted that, the Nox Demigod began to forcefully change the shape of the Heaven Swallowing Beast''s body. The form of a colossus began to take shape. Humanoid arms and legs formed at a rapid pace.

    Even before the appendages could fully form, the Nox Demigod pushed his Divine Power into them andunched desperate attacks at ric.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Those attacks ignored the concept of distance and punctured through the coagtion of essence that was taking ce around the World Tree. Theynded on the World Tree itself in an instant, rupturing its trunk and causing massive splinters to shower the environment.

    But ric paid it no attention. He was already in the process of sacrificing his life, so what did it matter if his body was being destroyed? The remaining vitality of the World Tree was moved to protect ric''s soul as he worked instead.

    The trunk of the World Tree was shredded down within seconds, bing nothing like the grandiose appearance it once held. If it was any other time, the Nox Demigod''s win would have been imminent.

    However¡­

    [It is already toote.]

    ric''s voice came from the void. He spoke through the mana in the air, as the only form he had left was his soul.

    The light that was gathering through the chain seal spread to cover everything.

    Whether it was the remains of the Endless Snow Mountain in the north, or the Deste Mountain in the south, it was all covered by the shining light.

    To the point where the massive gash in space that eclipsed the entire mountain range was hidden within.

    [OLD FOOL! EVEN IF I DIE LIKE THIS, THE UNIVERSE WILL BELONG TO OUR GLORIOUS RACE! KAKAKAKA!]

    The Nox Demigod roared madly. Seeing the light that had already covered and started burning his body and soul, he readily epted his death.

    He wanted to say something grander, about how he would take ric to death with him, but since ric had been aiming for that since the start, he had no way to save face in this situation.

    But he wasn''t angry. He wanted to witness the day when the Nox ruled over everything, but he knew that day wasn''t something he could ever see.

    So he dreamed it instead. He put his desires into his voice and projected them into the Heavens.

    And then, the second all things were covered in that holy light, it vanished without a trace.

    Along with everything that was present within.

    Cold and silent, like the endless fury of the elf who had cast it.

 Chapter 408 Settling Down [1]

    408 Settling Down [1]

    Unlike the scene in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, the Sanctuary was enveloped in apletely different kind of chaos.

    "Order! Order! Everyone make space!"

    "Don''t clutter around together! There''s plenty of space for all of you, so spread out and getfortable!"

    The shouts of those who were trying to maintain some sense of decorum rang out loudly, but the chaos didn''t cease with just that.

    Millions of elves, hundreds of thousands of phoenixes, and tens of thousands of dragonkin now popted an area that used to have only a few tens of people within it at most.

    And even though they weren''t getting violent, it was only natural for them to be filled with unease after being transported to apletely different world with no knowledge of what was happening at all.

    The Elf Queen sighed as she watched the ensuing chaos. Next to her was the White Dragon King and the two Phoenix Matriarchs.

    "So what you''re saying is, the entire mountain range is currently being destroyed in a sh between Divinities, and that boy somehow became the sole savior of all four of our races¡­"

    Even as the words came out of her mouth, she couldn''t fathom them at all. But seeing the scene around her, she couldn''t help but admit that the boy who had be her Lord was more than just a little capable.

    "Although we''ve been told the same information as you, none of us have seen with our own eyes what is happening, nor do we know the story behind it." The White Dragon King responded.

    "Indeed. Even our daughters have only been informed of the situation by that boy. But it seems Qing''er trusts him with her life, so I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of his words. It''s just that¡­they are children, after all. Saying the entire mountain range will be exterminated must be an exaggeration." The Fire Phoenix Matriarch added.

    "Exaggeration?" A new voice joined their conversation. Behind them, a haggard Damien appeared from thin air.

    "Even what I''ve said must be an understatement. Although I can''t understand the power of Demigods at all, I at least know that they far eclipse the likes of you and me. Plus, neither of those two will be affected by the mountain range''s natural suppression. I can only imagine the destruction they''ve wrought."

    Although he was speaking to the four leaders, he was mainly talking to himself. He was truly worried about the situation outside.

    A single swipe of that Nox Demigod''s hand had been able to obliterate an area the size of America in the past.

    He knew from ric that the Demigod would have at most 50% of his power upon escaping, but even that was enough to wreak havoc on the Cloud ne.

    ''Can the Myriad Illusion Veil hold out? If it doesn''t¡­''

    He didn''t want to imagine the possibility.

    ''I need to find a way to view the outside world from in here. Otherwise, situations like this where the dangers of the outside world are unknown will repeat themselves.''

    Damien was the sole tether of the Sanctuary to the Real ne. This had many benefits, but it came with just as many drawbacks.

    For instance, his death meant that everyone within the Sanctuary would be stranded here forever, unable to leave regardless of their power level. And in the same vein, they could only leave the Sanctuary if he left first and opened the way for them.

    This was the main problem now that he had so many people living in his personal realm. His life now carried far more value than it ever had before.

    "How can you be so certain about what you''ve told us?" The Elf Queen questioned. Of the four, she was the most doubtful.

    But it couldn''t be helped. She was also the only one of them that had no prior rtionship or connection with Damien at all.

    Damien looked at her for a moment, scanning her from head to toe. Although her aura was gentle, her demeanor wasn''t the same at all.

    ''But then again, this is the kind of demeanor a ruler should have. I have appeared out of nowhere and be the highest authority of the elven race, a position that she used to hold. It''d be weirder if she automatically submitted like Elitra did.''

    "I understand. Although my authority is absolute, ruling through force has never been a good long-term solution."

    "What are you¡ª?" The Elf Queen started. But Damien didn''t let her finish.

    "Words are useless at this point so there''s no need for more conversation. It''s best if I show you, only then will you believe me fully. Perhaps you are still thinking of leaving the Sanctuary and repopting the mountain range once things settle down, but I guarantee that possibility doesn''t exist.

    "Anyway, let us first calm the people and settle them in their temporary lodgings. After that, we can go see the situation on the outside"

    Damien was using his own fights as a measurement. Usually, the fights would onlyst for a couple of minutes before they ended, with the maximum time being around half an hour. Of course, this was only in rtion to when he was fighting a single opponent.

    ''A battle between Demigods should be far faster than anything I can do, but it''s better to be safe. I''ll give it half an hour before I go out.''

    Damien teleported away to one of his secluded spaces. Out of curiosity, he opened a small crack to the outside world.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The secluded space was instantly shattered. A wisp of Divine Essence had entered through the crack he made, copsing the structure of the space at its very root.

    ''Shit!''

    Damien immediately teleported into a different subspace. If it wasn''t for his literal instant movement within the Sanctuary, he would''ve died in that explosion as well.

    ''Fucking hell! Demigods are Divinities after all¡­I can''t believe that even after all the overestimating I tried to do, I was still underestimating them.''

    Luckily, he had chosen an empty subspace that wasn''t connected to the main realm to do his experiment, otherwise, he might''ve identally killed everyone he had tried so hard to save.

    ''Right, half an hour should be fine¡­no let''s wait a whole hour¡­a day. An entire day should be more than enough time to guarantee our safety.''

    Damien sighed and returned to the main realm. There, the four leaders were giving a joint speech to quell the unrest within their people.

    He nodded lightly. ''The Sanctuary has always been massive. Not to mention a few million, even a few tens or maybe even a hundred million could fit here. The four ns should live in harmony from now on¡­unless the fire nation attacks.''

    Damien snorted inwardly before quickly looking around and sighing in relief. It was a good thing that nobody was around to see his mildly embarrassing disy.

    ''Anyway, building residences needs materials, and I need livestock as well for food. I know damn well these dragons have no ns of being vegetarians¡­but the Sanctuary can''t create life, so I''ll have to outsource. How burdensome.''

    Damien rubbed his forehead. The more he thought about it, the more tasks he found that needed to be done in order to properly amodate such a vast poption of people.

    ''I can leave the authoritative tasks to the leaders that already exist, and Lucius can help with the more troublesome things. I just need them to give me a list of things I, as the one who will be living in the outside world, am specifically needed for.''

    Damien nodded to himself. There was no need to do all the bothersome tasks himself when he had so many capable people around who could help him with them. Instead, he had another n.

    One that, in his opinion, took precedence over all else.

    ''Now, I finally have time for a touching reunion with my Ruyue.''

 Chapter 409 Settling Down [2]

    409 Settling Down [2]

    Whoosh!

    A light breeze flowed through the air, causing the field of grass that grew below to rustle and fill the otherwise silent atmosphere. It was cold, but not to the point where it was freezing. In fact, this level of cold only made the night sky above feel even more beautiful.

    A glistening moon hung in the sky, surrounded by a field of stars. An assortment of various colors decorated those stars as well as they swirled around and formed constetions and the shape of gxies.

    In the middle of the calm and breathtaking scenery stood a man. His hair was so ck that it almost blended with the night sky, streaks of silver running through it and being highlighted by the light of the moon. His face was sharp, but as his eyes gazed upon that very sky, his aura calmed and merged with the space around him.

    Such was the scene that Ruyue suddenly found herself transported into.

    ''It''s too unfair¡­'' Shemented inwardly. When such a man and such a scene werebined and presented in front of her like this, how was it possible for her heart to stay still? She found herself in a trance watching his back.

    They stayed like this for a few minutes before Damien turned around as if he had only just noticed her presence.

    "How is it?" He asked softly. His gentle eyes seemed to pierce directly into her heart.

    Ruyue smiled. "Although you made me wait too long for this day, I''ll forgive you because of this."

    "Ah, how can this be? After all this work, I won''t get rewarded at all?" Damien replied, walking towards Ruyue.

    Ruyue nced at him sideways. "And how did you want to be rewarded?"

    "How? Aren''t you the one rewarding me? It would feel much more sincere if you decided for yourself."

    Ruyue rubbed her chin as if she was deep in thought. "Hmm, you see, I am just the shunned daughter of a major n. The only thing I can give you is a load of problems."

    "Problems? A mere major n, how can theypare to me?"

    "Can you back up those words?"

    "Of course I can. What, you don''t believe me?"

    Ruyue shook her head. "Believe! Of course I believe you. However, the problems of such a n can hardly be considered a reward, don''t you think?"

    Damien nodded as well. "You''re right. If so many problems are going to be put on my te, don''t you think I should get an even greater reward?"

    He arrived in front of her. Ruyue was tall for a woman, so even at such a close distance, Damien didn''t have to look down too far to meet her eyes.

    Looking into those mystical eyes that were only inches away from her, Ruyue''s breath quickened. "My money is borrowed from my Master, my status has been revoked, and I don''t have treasures to give at all. What kind of great reward are you expecting from me?"

    Damien furrowed his brows and spoke seriously. "Hmm, since you can''t provide me an adequate reward, I guess I''ll have to keep you by my side until you can properlypensate me."

    "And if that day neveres?"

    "Then it can''t be helped. I guess I''ll just have to keep you by my side for eternity."

    "If it''s like that, then I''ll have to make sure that my debt to you is never paid off." Ruyue muttered under her breath.

    "Is that so?" Damien smiled. He couldn''t help but find their conversation a little tacky.

    Between the two of them, there was no need to confirm their feelings or their rtionship. The boundary between friends, or the boundary between senior sister and junior brother, they had all been crossed by the two long ago.

    This conversation, he couldn''t see it as anything other than them teasing each other. But it was still nice in its own way. Besides, seeing the rising blush on Ruyue''s face, and the way her breath quickened when he leaned in closer to her, they were scenes he couldn''t get enough of.

    "Now that I look so closely, you really are a beauty, Senior Sister," Damien said slyly.

    "Hmph! And you didn''t notice before? Silly Junior Brother, don''t you know how many men are pursuing this Senior Sister of yours?" Ruyue replied haughtily.

    "Ah, what pitiful men. I must offer them my condolences when I see them." Damien sighed.

    "And why is that?" Ruyue said softly.

    Damien leaned in closer. His nose brushed against hers. "Of course, it''s because I''ve already imed this Senior Sister of mine as my own."

    He closed the final gap between them, pressing his lips against hers. Ruyue didn''t reject at all, snaking her hands around his neck and pulling him closer.

    Their tongues intertwined and their breaths became one. Their lips didn''t part until they were both short of breath.

    Damien wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned backward, gently falling into the bed of flowers that they were standing on. And in the same motion, Ruyue fell cleanly on his chest.

    Under the light of the brilliant moon and stars, the two embraced each other tightly, refusing to let go. The missing sentiments of a year of parting were poured out in whole.

    "Ruyue¡­" Damien said between breaths. He was trying hard to control his urges. This moment, it was better to keep it romantic, instead of polluting the current blissful atmosphere with desire.

    "Mm¡­" Ruyue responded lightly. Her eyes were half open as she leaned on his chest. Being embraced like this, being surrounded by Damien''s unique scent, if it was up to her, she would choose to stay like this until the ends of time.

    "Isn''t it funny?" Damien continued. "When we first met, we were always at each other''s throats. I never would have thought things would end up like this."

    His eyes zed over as he thought of those memories from when he first arrived at the Cloud ne.

    Ruyue smiled as well. "Indeed, I would have never expected things to be like this. Did you know how annoyed I was, Junior Brother? When you appeared out of nowhere and ruined my peaceful life, I truly wanted to skin you alive."

    She giggled lightly when she thought of how immature she used to be. In but a year and a half, she had changed far more than she had in the years she had lived before that. And it wasrgely in part to the man in front of her. She once again found herself feeling incredibly thankful for his presence.

    "Ruined?" Damien said in a pitiful voice. "How could you be so harsh!"

    "Hehe, if you want me to stop, then stop me!"

    "And how do you think I should stop you?"

    "That answer¡­don''t you know it yourself?"

    Ruyue lifted her head off his chest and once again nted her lips onto his. Actually, it was the first time in her life that she had ever initiated a kiss.

    Well, considering that her first-ever kiss was when Damien first took her into the Sanctuary, that much was obvious.

    But despite being inexperienced, Ruyue was like a student eager to learn everything she could. So until the proud moon in the sky set and was reced by the burning sunlight, she made sure to have Damien tutor her until her inexperience faded altogether.

 Chapter 410 Settling Down [3]

    410 Settling Down [3]

    Damien opened his eyes groggily. Unexpectedly, he had fallen asleep after he and Ruyue and finished pouring out their longing for each other.

    But it couldn''t be helped. Even if he had used Devour to replenish himself, endlessly using warp and his iplete time pseudo-domain while also teleporting millions of people into the Sanctuary, all within a time limit of 30 minutes, just thinking about it made his head hurt. Of course the fatigue he umted would be unimaginable.

    As he came back to his senses, he noticed a weight on his chest. There, he saw the picture of a peacefully sleeping Ruyue.

    "If this isn''t a true representation of the phrase ''sleeping beauty'', then I don''t know what is." He muttered to himself as he gently brushed his hand through her hair.

    "Mm¡­" Ruyue mumbled in her sleep. Her arms embraced him even tighter as she dug her face into his neck.

    Damien almost failed to suppress hisughter. ''Ah, what a deep sleeper. What to do, what to do¡­although I have a great deal of things to do today, I guess letting this Senior Sister of mine get her beauty restes first.''

    He rxed his body and stared into the sky. The feeling of his hand moving through her hair,bined with the peace he felt now, it was especiallyforting.

    ''The battle outside has most likely ended already. I need to take the n Leaders out to view the situation. On top of that, I should introduce Ruyue to Lily and Mei, and also get a general understanding of the situation that the four ns are in after settling down.''

    The mundane tasks he had to do made him feel like he had be some kind of leader. He didn''t want that position at all.

    The responsibility that came with being a leader, although he was confident in handling it, he had no desire to do so. From the start, his goal had been to be free and unfettered. It was the lifestyle he strived to live.

    At most, he was willing to be a spiritual pir for people he was affiliated with, but even that was a role he couldn''t fulfill. After all, spiritual pirs were heroes who would pull off miracles whenever times of trouble descended. And he was never someone who could do that.

    Even this time in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, he had just been a side character in the struggles that had been taking ce before he ever arrived.

    With the way Qing Tan and Hun Fang had established themselves in the 3000 Beast Record, it was clear that the Nox had been nning to rescue their Demigod from the Primordial Undying Realm for many years. Many corrupted forces were probably created for the Nox to use while they waited.

    But even without Damien, ric would''ve foiled these ns on his own. His own ns ran far deeper than the Nox''s did, even if his motive wasn''t as grand.

    In the grand scheme of things, Damien''s presence only served to save a few more people who would''ve died in the sh. That was it.

    But on a more personal level, he had gained so much that he felt his trip to the 3000 Beast Mountain Range was the most fortuitous opportunity he had ever received. He almost felt like thanking the assassins from the Eclipsing Shadow Sect for forcing him into such a situation.

    ''Damn, with everything going on, I almost forgot about those bastards. I should take some time to once again familiarize myself with what was happening in the outside world before I came here.''

    Damien sunk into his thoughts. The Eclipsing Shadow Sect, the Void Heart Sword Law, Celestial Star Pce, and most of all¡­

    ''The Empyrean Dragon Realm¡­I totally forgot about that. Haa¡­how troublesome.''

    As he was now, he had no desire to go on another secret realm expedition. The one he had juste out of was more than enough, and he didn''t reallyck anything at the moment either.

    The treasures of a true Demigod like the Primordial Undying Tree were far more appealing than those of a dead sect.

    ''But, I still have to go. Rose and Elena should be heading there. That''s really the only reason to go, albeit an important one. Oh right, I remember Tian Yang saying that the Empyrean Dragon Sect was at the direct center of the Cloud ne as a whole¡­that could be useful.''

    When it came to his adventures on the Cloud ne, there was one more thing he needed to do. And that was, of course, to bind this world and make it his own.

    Being in the direct center of the world would definitely give him a higher chance of contacting the World Core. He couldn''t simply mine to where the Core itself resided like what happened on earth.

    ''Would the World Core ept me? A world with as much history as the Cloud ne will definitely have a sentient World Core with far more intelligence than Earth''s. Nah, it should be fine. With the current state of the universe, being bound to me is in the World Core''s best interests.''

    Damien sighed in exasperation. ''Still, I hope the Empyrean Dragon Realm isn''t open for as long as the Primordial Undying Realm was. I have no interest in wasting a year of my life in a ce where I can''t gain anything.''

    In the end, he shook his head. ''If worstes to worst, Warp can even transport me across worlds, so leaving a mere secret realm shouldn''t be impossible. As long as Rose and Elena gain what they need first, I cane and go as I please.''

    As he thought of them more, his heart couldn''t help but get excited. He had grown so much as a person from the time when they separated to now. He couldn''t wait to proudly embrace the two of them and show them that he was now a man deserving of their love.

    And realizing that the moment when he could do that wasn''t out of reach now, a smile bloomed on his face.

    "Mm¡­" a soft mutter reverberated through his neck. He could feel Ruyue''s lips pressing against him and climbing up his neck to meet his own.

    "You''re awake?" He asked gently.

    "Mm¡­.just woke." She replied groggily. She finally reached her destination, giving him a short good morning kiss.

    "For someone who only learned how to kiss properlyst night, you sure are in love with the act of doing it." Damien teased.

    Ruyue gently banged her fist against his chest. "How can I help it when the first thing I see in the morning is the handsome face of my, Xue Ruyue''s, man? You''re practically begging for it."

    Damien chuckled. "Alright, alright. It''s my fault for making my dear Ruyue crave me so much. But right now, it''s time to wake up. After all, I have a present for you."

    "A present?" Ruyue''s ears perked up. But in the next second, she couldn''t help feeling ashamed. "But I didn''t prepare anything in return."

    Damien flicked her forehead lightly. "Stupid, how would it be a present if I asked you for something in return? Now, wake up properly ande with me. I guarantee you''ll be satisfied."

    He stood up and held Ruyue in a princess carry. In the next second, the two vanished, leaving only the peaceful scenery of a bed of flowers beneath the shining sun in their wake.

 Chapter 411 Settling Down [4]

    411 Settling Down [4]

    "Waaaaaaah!"

    "Let''s gooooooo!"

    When Damien and Ruyue reappeared, they were met with the excited screams of two children.

    ''What is¡­?''

    And immediately after that, the reason for those screams entered their eyes. Damien could hardly believe what he was seeing.

    In the portion of the Sanctuary that was sectioned off for little Xue to use, the amount of free space remaining had been reduced to nothing.

    That entire space was now filled with what could only be called the greatest slide a child could ever imagine.

    It was made of ice so crystalline that it looked like it would shatter with a single touch, winding in loops and other patterns that would normally spell out instant death for anyone who rid the slide.

    But such a situation didn''t ur at all.

    "Waaaaaaaaaah!"

    Another scream rang out. When Damien looked over, he saw Xue''er upside down, halfway through a loop in the slide. Around her, an assortment of giggling spirits were manipting the wind so that she wouldn''t fall off the slide.

    Not far from her, the same situation was taking ce for Lily and Mei, who had split their body and were manifested together at the same time.

    "What kind of madman put the idea for this thing inside those kids'' heads?" Damien wondered out loud.

    He didn''t know whether tough or cry. The scene of these girls arguing and fighting didn''t appear in front of his eyes as he expected it to, which was a good thing. But at the same time, what they were doing was way too dangerous for him to condone.

    But when he moved to bring them down and give them a good scolding, Ruyue held his arm and stopped them.

    "Idiot, can''t you see how much fun they''re having? Let them be."

    "Eh? Even if they''re having fun, I can''t allow them to think that being this reckless is something good."

    "Of course you should teach them that, but isn''t it fine? From what I can see, their safety is guaranteed." Ruyue pointed towards a separate direction, where two people were watching the girls y.

    It was Elitra and the maid that usually stayed by the Demon King Lucius'' side.

    Damien sighed. ''Well, if they have a 4th ss watching over them, I guess I can''tin much. Still, though. This kind of thing¡­''

    It was unbelievable. Putting aside his concern for their safety, just the fact that the three girls had made something like this was insane.

    The structure of the slide was so intricately made that it didn''t seem like the work of a 10-year-old. But considering that Lily and Mei were Ice Spirits, and that their true age was far greater than just a mere ten years old, he could somewhat ept their masterful usage of their abilities.

    But Xue''er was another matter altogether. That girl had no training to speak of, only the wild imagination of a child. Yet, the little spirits around her were listening to her like docile puppies and executing whatever her imagination could think of.

    ''Did I¡­identally pick up a gem?''

    He should have realized it when she was using elemental spirits to boost her speed to jump at him months ago. Even that much was insane considering her circumstances. But such a grand showing really cemented the idea in his mind.

    Damien opened his eyes wide.

    [All-Seeing Eyes have been activated.]

    An unexpected system message appeared. And along with it¡­

    [Status]

    [Xue''er]

    Human

    Female - Age 7

    Level 1 - [ssless]

    Title(s): [Friend of Spirits]

    Affinities: Spirit

    His eyes widened in shock. Although he had somewhat glimpsed this ability before he entered the secret realm, he never thought he''d unlock it so fast.

    ''Her experience value is missing, and I can''t see her stats, skills, or traits, but considering that most people can''t see anything at all, this is insane.''

    But ignoring that, the fact that Xue''er had a unique affinity and had also gained a title at such a young age was just as insane.

    ''Damn, seeing this makes me want to train her. She would be an unprecedented genius if I did¡­but, that can wait. There''s no need to thrust a 7-year-old child into a world of blood.''

    Damien shook his head. Seeing the improvement in his All-Seeing Eyes had made him curious about his own status as well. And he just so happened to have some time while he waited for the girls to finish ying.

    ''It''s been so long since I''ve seen it, I can''t help but get excited.''

    ''Status.''

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Human/Dragon/????

    Male - Age 24

    Level 183 - [Celestial]

    Experience value: 230,000/275,000

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Space, Time, ????

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 50000

    STR: 1500

    AGI: 1450

    DEF: 1470

    INT: 1400

    DEX: 1450

    Skills: [Dimensional Magic Level 4], [Time Magic Level 1], [Transcendent Regeneration Level 1], [Void Art Level 6], [Devour Level 6], [Awareness], [Celestial Authority]

    Trait(s): [All-Seeing Eyes Level 6], [Dragon''s Breath], [Ananta Matrix], [Storm], [Void Essence], [Void mes], [Dragon Transformation], [Demon Transformation], [Heal]

    ''¡­Wow.''

    His stats had increased by more than 1000 points since thest time he had seen them. His mana capacity was even more blown out of proportion. They were numbers that he could hardly believe.

    ''It must be the boost from the Primordial Undying Fruit. There''s no way that such an increase is natural, though a portion of it definitely is. Come to think of it, without this much mana it would have been impossible for me to transport everyone into the Sanctuary even if I sacrificed my blood vitality to do so, so I guess it makes sense.''

    Other than his stats, his skills had also changed a great deal. All his existing skills had leveled up, and there were a few new ones as well. Not to mention, some of his old skills were missing.

    ''Or rather, they''ve been absorbed into my existing skills. It''s like my skill list has been cleaned up.''

    Warp getting absorbed into Dimensional Magic seemed natural, since the nature of Dimensional Magic also epassed something like warp. Since he could still use that skill, he knew that it hadn''t disappeared. The rest must''ve been the same.

    ''The trait from the Goblin King is also missing. That one¡­I don''t think it''s the same situation as my skills.''

    The Goblin King''s absorption and reflection trait. Although it was useful, that was only if he was fighting enemies weaker than himself. In his hands, it had never gotten a chance to shine.

    How it disappeared wasn''t something he understood, but if he had to guess, then it must''ve had something to do with his Void Essence and ric''s Divine Power restructuring his body.

    The main function of the Primordial Undying Fruit that he had been looking forward to was purification. His body had been purified of any unnecessary or wasteful parts, and that trait was most likely a part of it.

    ''My bloodlines have also beenpletely purified. The Demon Bloodline is also shown on my status, albeit as question marks. Which means that it definitely isn''t a bloodline from the Nox.''

    Damien sighed. The purification of his bloodlines was obviously something that benefited him immensely. It was just¡­

    ''I''ll miss my wolf bloodline.''

    It was his roots. The very first mutation he had undergone was by a wolf, and it was his wolf bloodline that allowed him and Zara to get along so easily when they first met. Feeling, or rather, not feeling its presence in his body made him feel somewhat empty.

    But change was a good thing, and it wasn''t something he''d find fault in. It was just him getting sentimental for no reason.

    Other than what he had already gone over, there were two more new things in his status that interested him, and they both seemed to have the same origin.

    Transcendent Regeneration and Heal.

 Chapter 412 Settling Down [5]

    412 Settling Down [5]

    After telling Ruyue that he''d be back soon, Damien left the area. He wanted to try something that he couldn''t show to others lest he caused them to panic.

    Transcendent Regeneration.

    He had an idea of what it could do. It was an evolution that he had been waiting for eagerly for a very long time. His regeneration had been stuck at High-Level without evolving ever since his days in the dungeon.

    When Damien got to his personal practice area, he didn''t waste any time. First, he turned his finger into a w using Dragon Transformation and made a slit on his wrist.

    It healed instantly.

    By the time his w went from one side of his wrist to the other, the wound had already closed.

    ''Damn! That''s amazing!''

    He took his experiment further. His first sess had truly emboldened him. From cutting his wrist, his next move was to cut off an entire finger.

    And as he expected, a new finger regenerated in its ce within thirty seconds.

    ''Good! Good! This is how it should be! Now then, should I move into the real test?''

    Damien''s eyes shone with a light of mania. Mana coated his hand and turned into a spatial de.

    Shing!

    Thump!

    It cut cleanly through his flesh. His left arm fell to the floor as it was severed from his body.

    ''Hissss¡­.'' Damien sharply inhaled as he dealt with the pain. But even as he did so, his regeneration kicked in.

    The clean wound he created made it even easier to heal. Starting from the bone, his arm began to regenerate until half an hourter, apletely new arm was formed in ce of the one that was severed.

    "Hahahaha!" Damienughed victoriously. He was slowly bing an unkible zombie that could regenerate from even a single drop of blood.

    It was perfect. Devour was an ability that could take care of his stamina, and Transcendent Regeneration would make it so that his wounds would never umte.

    If Damien was ever put into a battle where he was one against many, he was guaranteed to be an unstoppable killing machine.

    It almost made him look forward to war. But when he recalled the harrowing 10 years he had lived in ric''s body during the first war, his excitement died down.

    ''Alright. Transcendent Regeneration is a truly life-saving skill. Now, all I need to test is Heal.''

    Heal was the most unexpected thing in his status. From the start, gaining a trait from the Primordial Undying Tree never crossed his mind.

    ''But¡­Heal seems to be something that I can use on others rather than myself, since Transcendent Regeneration takes care of my own healing. Does it have any other effects besides just being a regr healing skill?''

    Calling a healing skill passed to him by a tree with heavenly vitality regr was a huge understatement, but Damien never took healers seriously since he had always been able to do so without outside help.

    But he could see the uses of a healing skill. Diseases, injuries, if hisrades ever suffered, he would be able to take care of them.

    But he had Elena whose elemental affinities were for Life and Light. She was a born healer even though her preference was being a fighter.

    His Heal trait would only be necessary when she wasn''t around.

    But he activated it anyway. Since it was, after all, a gift from ric that he definitely wouldn''t have gained without ric''s intention, it had to be something good.

    A green aura filled with vitality surrounded Damien. Just like the World Tree in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, his vitality spread into the environment and nourished everything around him.

    "Ohhh, I see how it is," Damien muttered. This skill was far greater than he gave it credit for.

    Damien''s blood began to boil. His mana raged with more strength than he could handle as he sacrificed his blood vitality to strengthen it.

    But at the same rate as it was being sacrificed, it was replenished by the Heal trait that Damien currently had active.

    ''This is broken. Too broken.'' Damien shook his head inwardly. ric was too generous to him as always.

    ''With this much help from you, it''s impossible for me to shirk the responsibility you gave me no matter how much I want to. Very well, so be it.''

    Damien stopped burning his vitality and canceled the Heal trait. For now, his preliminary understanding of it was enough to get by. When he had more time in the future, he could properly explore it.

    But now wasn''t the time for that. He teleported back to Ruyue and the girls.

    "Hm? It seems things were settled when I was gone." Hemented. The first thing he saw when he arrived was Lily and Mei in Ruyue''s arms.

    "Big brother, I want it too!"

    And the second thing he saw was a small ck object hurling towards him at light speed. Using vector control to slow her down, he scooped Xue''er into his arms as well.

    "Hmph! See, big brother likes me better!" Xue''er snorted while hugging him. Her gaze was locked on Lily and Mei.

    "No fair! You cheated!" Mei yelled back.

    "That''s right! We were already with big sister, so it doesn''t count!" Lily agreed.

    "Hmph! Hmph!" Xue''er responded haughtily. Damien could''ve sworn he saw sparks fly in the air between the girls as they argued.

    Ruyue looked at him helplessly, causing him to smile.

    "Little Xue, have you been introduced to everyone yet?" He asked.

    Xue''er nodded excitedly. "Lily and Mei are weird, but also fun! Also, there''s a beautiful big sister! Big brother, where did you meet her?"

    "Little Xue, if she is your big sister, then who do you think she is to your big brother?" He teased.

    Xue''er tilted her head. "Hmm, your wife?"

    "That''s right!" Damien grinned. "Our Little Xue is the smartest!"

    "Hehe!"

    After appeasing Xue''er, Damien sent a sound transmission to Ruyue.

    ''So? What do you think of them?''

    Ruyue looked at Lily and Mei. ''It''s interesting. Even though we''re meeting for the first time, it feels like I''m meeting my own kin.''

    Damien nodded. ''It''s only natural. Although they were born into the Ice Spirit Tribe, it''s more apt to call them a Yin Elemental Spirit.''

    ''Elemental Spirit?!'' Ruyue''s eyes widened in shock. ''So when you said you had a gift for me, you meant¡­''

    ''Of course, I got you two cute little sisters!'' Damien joked.

    Ruyue giggled. ''Well, to say I''m not satisfied would be a lie. They are indeed cute little sisters that I want to dote on all day. But, why are they like that?''

    Ruyue was obviously talking about the fact that there were two of them residing in the same body. It was natural for anyone to be curious when they met the girls. Even Xue''er was curious about their abnormality.

    ''Hmm, the story is a bitplicated so I''ll exin it all to youter. For now, just know that they have a special body constitution.''

    Ruyue nodded. It was the most logical reason why such a thing would happen. As for the story behind it, although she was curious, she knew how much Damien had to do at the moment. If she really wanted to know, she could hear it directly from Lily and Mei when the girls were ready to share.

    Damien also nodded in satisfaction. Since Ruyue and the girls'' got along so well that Lily and Mei didn''t want to leave her arms, it meant that having them form a contract wouldn''t be difficult at all.

    So now, all they had to do was go through the process.

 Chapter 413 Settling Down [6]

    413 Settling Down [6]

    The process of forming a contract was rtively simple. It was simr to how Damien and Zara had formed their contract back in the dungeon.

    And since Ruyue and the Lily/Mei duo were both more than willing to form said contract, it was even easier. Only a few minutes after Damien proposed the idea to them, they had sessfullypleted the process.

    Lily and Mei''s body became incorporeal and shot into the space between Ruyue''s eyebrows.

    "Wow, to think there was such a thing!" Ruyue eximed. She could clearly feel the girls'' presence in her mindspace.

    "Mm, even I didn''t know things would turn out like that. It must be something specific to spirit contracts." Damienmented. As he thought about it, his mind drifted towards Zara.

    That girl had been slumbering in his shadow ever since she ate the Death Seed over a year ago. He was already worried about her, but he couldn''t act on that worry since all signs pointed to her being fine.

    It was just a matter of when she would wake up, and that wasn''t something he could interfere with regardless of how worried he was.

    ''Haa¡­let''s stop thinking about it. It should be about time to go and see for ourselves the state of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.''

    After giving his goodbyes to Ruyue and the girls, Damien shed away, appearing in front of the four n leaders, who had been in the middle of a discussion.

    "Are you all ready?" He asked. He didn''t have any interest in what they were talking about. If it concerned him, he trusted they would tell him about it.

    The n leaders'' eyes hardened when they heard his question. They nodded their heads in unison and stood up.

    "It is time to verify the absurd things you''ve told us thus far." The Elf Queen replied.

    Damien nodded. He didn''t mind her aloof attitude. In fact, it made him feel better that he had to earn her trust and loyalty rather than just having it from the start.

    Without any more words, he opened a portal back to the Real ne.

    "Woah!"

    Winds whipped around Damien the second he walked through the portal. Unexpectedly, he was falling through the air.

    His mana swirled around him and stabilized him, vector control adjusting his gravity so he could float. As he did so, the four n leaders also appeared and used their various means to hold themselves in the air.

    "Where are we? Didn''t you say we were going to see the mountain range?" The Fire Phoenix Matriarch questioned.

    Even Damien had the same question. For a second, he doubted whether his understanding of the Sanctuary waspletely wrong. But it didn''t take long for him to shake off that thought.

    But the realization that came along with it was so jarring that he couldn''t speak for a while. Only a full minuteter was he able to push the words out of his mouth.

    "No¡­this is the 3000 Beast Mountain Range¡­or at least, what''s left of it."

    A chasm. A massive chasm with no bottom, better to be termed an abyss. Over half the area around them was engulfed in this chasm, and they were at its far end.

    "When I entered the Sanctuary, I was standing directly next to the World Tree, so that''s where we should be right now¡­" Damien muttered.

    But there was no World Tree in sight. As a matter of fact, there was no mountain range at all.

    All 50 mountains that made up the 3000 Beast Mountain Range had vanished. Not even rubble that signifies they once existed remained. The endless abyss they were floating above stretched for thousands of kilometers in front of them.

    As for the area behind them, it was wrought with even more havoc. The fact that signs of battle could be seen from it actually made it look worse than the abyss.

    Millions of gashes littered the ground, each having a depth simr to the abyss in front of them. Millions upon millions of corpses were strewn about, and those were only the ones who had managed to escape the destruction of the mountains that used to house them.

    All the vitality of thatnd had been sucked dry, leaving it as a barren wastnd where even mana couldn''t intrude. It was a harrowing sight.

    "This¡­"

    The four n leaders looked at the scene in horror. Only now did it sink in for them the level of cmity they had been able to avoid thanks to Damien.

    "What happened here¡­?" The Elf Queen muttered under her breath. It was hard to even breathe in such a suffocatingly bleak atmosphere.

    Damien sighed. "Didn''t I already tell you? A battle between Demigods. When taking their power into ount, even this much atrocity is nothing. If the Senior didn''t contain the destruction to the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, the entire Central Continent would''ve most likely been destroyed."

    The Elf Queen stared into Damien''s eyes. The expression in her eyes wasn''t something he had ever expected to see from her when facing him.

    It was fear. Fear and wariness.

    "You¡­how can you remain so indifferent after seeing this kind of terrible thing?!" Her voice shook as she questioned him.

    But Damien stared back at her without breaking away. He also knew it was a horrible thing to not show any sympathy or mercy during a time like this, but he couldn''t help it.

    "I''ve seen worse."

    It was all he could say, and it was all he needed to say. The 10 years he had lived in ric''s body during the war before his death, they weren''t cut together like the 100,000 years that followed.

    He experienced them in full.

    And how many people had died during those 10 years?

    Even numbers in the tens of billions were putting it nicely. The alliance that had been made during that war was created by the forces of the entire universe together.

    The number ofbatants they had dispatched for a single battle would trump the number of corpses that could be seen here.

    Yet, not to mention a single battle, Damien had lived through hundreds. He had personally felt the hopelessness and helplessness of that war.

    So even if he did feel it was a pity that this many people had been sacrificed, he couldn''t help but feel that it was necessary.

    Because if the battle hadn''t been contained as it had, the number of casualties wouldn''t have ended at a mere millions or hundreds of millions.

    But unlike the inevitability that he felt, the four n leaders who had lived their lives without experiencing such a tragic war were different.

    Mainly the two Phoenix Matriarchs, who had never left the 3000 Beast Mountain Range in their lives. The shock they received from this scene was too great for their minds to bear.

    The Elf Queen and White Dragon King were different. They hade from the outside world and had participated in wars of their own. The White Dragon King especially was someone who fully believed in thew of the jungle.

    The shock he experienced came from the scale of battle itself, rather than the people who had died.

    As for the Elf Queen, after her initial shock, she realized something. Her thoughts churned and she began understanding the reason for the cmity of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    All her feelings vanished. The only thing left was an unbridled fury.

 Chapter ?414 Settling Down[7]

    ?414 Settling Down[7]

    "Those scum bastards¡­!"

    It wasn''t a conclusion that just anyone would reach. ming every cmity that took ce in the vast universe on the Nox was nothing more than escapism.

    But for the Elf Queen, seeing through this matter was simple. Because she had personally experienced it.

    10,000 years ago during the second war, she had been there when the Nox invaded, and she had seen as her home world was slowly corrupted and destroyed.

    Anger and resentment that had been buried in the deepest recesses of her heart began to boil forth once again. 10,000 years of repressed feelings came back to haunt her.

    She looked to Damien for confirmation, and he could do nothing but silently nod. He was never nning on keeping it from her.

    Taesi, meaning defector in thenguage of the elves. Even if everyone else forgot, the Elf Queen, who had named the elven city after the shame of their past, would never do so.

    The mes in her eyes burned heavily. "If I follow you, what are my chances of getting revenge on those scum bastards?"

    She asked it seriously. Even though the boy was only a 3rd ss, she could no longer look at him as just another weaker being. Clearly, he was far more embroiled in the conflict with the Nox than she was, and he was someone who would have a major stake in theing war.

    She thought she was safe. The sacrifices of so many people had allowed her and a few million of her nsmen to escape the hellish war, and after that, they had lived many years in peace.

    ''I''ve been toocent.''

    She realized it instantly. She had be soft-hearted and weak-willed. She had be used to living in safety and prosperity due to the blessing of the World Tree.

    But in the blink of an eye, the World Tree was gone, her new home was gone, and everything she cherished was gone as well. If it wasn''t for the boy in front of her, even her people would have been victims to the cmity that had ensued.

    A boy that her Ancestor trusted enough to impart the Ancestral Seal onto, a boy who was unfathomable even while being so weak that she could crush him within seconds. She was willing to stake it all on him.

    Damien stared into her eyes. Her thoughts were written on her face. A desire for vengeance was something many people learned to repress, but in the heat of the moment, it would burst with splendor and refuse to be suppressed any longer.

    The Elf Queen was currently experiencing that. Her rationality was being overwhelmed by that desire.

    But that wasn''t such a bad thing for him.

    ''I needed to gain her loyalty anyway, and this is a perfect opportunity. And since she has such a heavy grudge against the Nox, she should be a great help in the war.''

    Damien thought it over. He didn''t want to give any false hope or meaningless numbers. If she was gambling on him, he would give her the chance to gamble properly.

    "Whether or not you can get revenge isn''t something for me to decide. It depends wholly on your own determination and ability." Damien finally said.

    "However," he continued. "If it is an opportunity for you to get your revenge, I can set the stage for you and allow you to reap the benefits. I need allies for theing war and beyond. If you are willing to swear true fealty to me, I can promise that I will do everything in my power to help you."

    It wasn''t empty words. Damien spoke with sincerity to reciprocate her sincerity.

    And the Elf Queen could feel it as well. Slowly, she calmed herself down. The fire in her eyes dimmed, bing a raging inferno that hid beneath a calm exterior.

    "Very well." She finally made her decision. She got down on one knee and lowered her head. "From this point forth, I, Elvira Moonwind, and all those rted to and under me, swear total fealty to the Lord. If this promise is broken, may the Heavens bring down their wrath upon us."

    Damien''s eyes widened. Not only at the oath she had made, but also at her name. He let out a wry chuckle.

    ''Fate truly is a strange thing.''

    Elvira Moonwind. The name held no particr meaning to him, but it did to someone else. Someone who he unwittingly got to know very well.

    ''Senior, are you seeing this? The woman you loved so much that you were willing to sacrifice yourself for her safety, a woman with the same name and position is standing in front of me today and burning with the desire for revenge on your killers. If this isn''t a working of fate, then what is?''

    He smiled and turned to the other three n leaders. The conversation between him and the Elf Queen wasn''t hidden at all, so they had heard everything the two discussed.

    "What about you three? What are your ns from now on?"

    The White Dragon King snorted. "Kid, didn''t we already make this promise? As long as you take me to the outside world and help me find my son, I''m willing to swear the same oath that she swore just now."

    Damien nodded. "Don''t worry. I never nned to go back on that promise from the start. The Sanctuary is probably the safest ce in the universe right now, so even if you want to spend the rest of your days peacefully with your son after we find him, that can be arranged. As long as you help when you''re truly needed, that''s enough."

    The White Dragon King nodded as well and extended his hand. Damien reached forth and grabbed it, shaking it strongly.

    After the two men had made their agreement, he turned to the final two. Their decision was much moreplicated, but at the same time far simpler than the other two.

    Damien knew their concern.

    ''Where can we even go now?''

    That was probably the thought going through the two Matriarchs'' heads at the moment. They had lived their entire lives in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, and knew nothing other than it.

    Even if they were powerful 4th ss existences, the fear of the unknown wasn''t something they were safe from.

    "The outside world is a cruel ce, but it is wondrous and beautiful at the same time. Phoenixes are true descendants of Godbeasts, so if you go out unting your true forms, it is undoubted that you will be hunted. However, with your power, living while mixing amongst humans is also possible.

    "I can vouch for myself and the Sanctuary as much as I want, but in the end, it is simply my desire to keep your two ns that will motivate my words. So think carefully and decide for yourselves what you wish to do from now on. Don''t let the rest of us interfere with that decision."

    Damien hated being led along by the whims of others, and he didn''t want to be the very thing he hated so much. Especially since he had some rtionship with Feng Qing''er, he wanted to give the Phoenix ns the ability to make a free decision.

    But as he hoped, the two Phoenix Matriarchs shook their heads.

    "We may be powerful, but our nsmen aren''t all the same. The safest option for them is to remain within the strange world you created and grow their strength along with the dragons and elves." The Ice Phoenix Queen said.

    "Right. If the dayes when we can confidently dere that we will set off and establish ourselves, we will do just that. But until then, it''s better for us to rely on your protection." The Fire Phoenix Matriarch continued.

    She felt a bit embarrassed by it, asking a mere child for protection, but it couldn''t be helped. His capabilities allowed him to receive such a request.

    Damien smiled. "Of course. And if I have the capital to help you establish yourselves when that dayes, you can be assured that I will aid you in any way I can."

    After a few more talks, the negotiation between Damien and the four n leaders came to an end.

    The fealty of these four ns, even if some of them were temporary, was something Damien was delighted to have.

    His preparations had just started. Now that he understood the true cmity that a war with the Nox could bring, he needed to move with more fervor than ever before.

    So that he could build a foundation that was sturdy and stable enough to keep everything he held dear safe.

 Chapter 415 Them [1]

    415 Them [1]

    The Central Continent of the Cloud ne.

    It was a continent with a variety of different environments. If one looked at the Cloud ne as a whole, the Central Continent looked like a representation of the other four continentsbined.

    It was surprising that this vast piece ofnd had such a small number of ruling powers, but this was simply a testament to the strength of those powers. However, currently, all those powers were paying attention to the same ce.

    After many years, it was finally time. The Empyrean Dragon Realm would once again be open to the world. And depending on what these powers were able to gain from it, their standings in the rankings may very well be affected.

    The once-ruling Empyrean Dragon Sect was just that powerful, to the point where even if they were revived today, the current 5 Great Sects wouldn''t be able to stand against them.

    ***

    In a hidden area whose true location was only known to a select few individuals, a bevy of beauties had gathered together.

    In front of them stood an elderly woman who was far past her prime, but the aura she emitted seemed to convince people that she could still hold the title of "fairy".

    "The Empyrean Dragon Realm has finally opened." She opened her mouth and spoke to the beauties lined up in front of her. "For this opening, each of the five sects have gained 20 quotas. As for the four ns, they will each get 10."

    As she gazed upon the beauties, her eyes paused on two girls before continuing to pan across. "The strength of our Supreme Fairy Paradise has been hidden from the public since time immemorial. Even now, we are ranked towards the bottom of the Five Great Sects ranking.

    "But we have never been bothered by this standing. Even with our low ranking, not a single person would dare act uncouth towards our girls. However, times have changed."

    She paused. Her aura and momentum grew, causing the blood in those beauties'' bodies to boil.

    "The Age of War is once again going to dawn upon us, and our Supreme Fairy Paradise will never shirk its duties. Now is the time for us to reveal our strength, for us to be a pir that can hold up the sky. And this Empyrean Dragon Realm opening, it is our first opportunity to prove ourselves."

    ""Yes, Sect Master!""

    The beauties roared in unison. Each and every one of them had powerful mes burning in their eyes.

    The Sect Master of Supreme Fairy Paradise smiled. "Good! To others, we are called fairies because each and every one of you is an unrivaled beauty. They believe that our sect recruits by looks instead of talent. But no longer will they look down on you! Prove it with strength! The Supreme Fairy Paradise is no weaker than the likes of the Celestial Star Pce and the Jade Heavenly Pce!"

    ""Yes, Sect Master!""

    The twenty who were representing the sect in the secret realm expedition had already been decided through tournament, so all that was left to do was prepare to depart. And so, once the Sect Master''s speech waspleted, the 20 women who were selected went to do just that.

    However, not all of them could enjoy such an easy situation.

    A group of ten women stopped two of the participants. The one in front of that group was an above-average woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

    She looked at the two women in contempt. "You two,e with us for a second."

    The two women looked at each other and sighed. "And why should we listen to you, Senior Sister?"

    The golden-haired woman snorted. "You call me Senior Sister, but it seems you don''t respect our hierarchy at all. Since your Senior Sister has ordered you toe, then you should just be obedient ande."

    The two women had differing reactions to her words. The one on the left sighed in exasperation, while the one on the right had a yful smile on her face the whole time.

    "Very well, Senior Sister. I''d very much like to see what you have nned for these humble juniors of yours."

    The group soon left the area, moving to a more secluded spot. As they went, murmurs spread through the crowd.

    "Isn''t that Senior Sister Lan? What is she doing with the two of them?"

    "Shh! Don''t you know Senior Sister Lan''s personality? It''s better to not get involved."

    "You''re right. But I feel bad for the two of them. Senior Sister Lan''s family has close ties with the Long n, so offending her isn''t something just anyone can do."

    Another girl looked at the one who just spoke and scoffed. "What good is Senior Sister Lan? Didn''t you see who she messed with this time?"

    "No, they were hidden inside of Senior Sister''s group so I didn''t get a good look. Who was it?"

    "Ha! No wonder you said such a thing. This time, Senior Sister Lan has chosen to offend the wrong people."

    A third girl chimed into the conversation. "Hm? But aren''t those two just girls without backgrounds? How could theypare with Senior Sister Lan?"

    "Hah, it seems you''re new here so you haven''t heard the rumors. Those two are legends within the sect at this point. They have even been rewarded the title of the two Heavenly Fairies."

    The surrounding crowd let out a series of gasps. "Those two Heavenly Fairies? Are you sure it''s them?"

    "I couldn''t mistake them even with my eyes closed! A year ago when they first joined the sect, they were given the title of Cotton Candy Fairies to mock them because of their hair colors, but do you know what happened to everyone who tried to test them?"

    "What happened?"

    "They either ended up braindead and bedridden, unable to even eat by themselves. The strangest part is, no matter how hard even the top doctors in the sect looked, they couldn''t find any injuries on the girls'' bodies or minds."

    ""Hissss!""

    The crowd drew a sharp breath. Some of the more knowledgeable among them began to remember rumors that had spread starting a year ago. At that time, they had only regarded them as mere rumors and brushed them off, but it seemed they were wrong.

    The two Heavenly Fairies. Anyone who had been in the sect for enough time knew their titles.

    The ones who had crushed their opposition regardless of status and rose to the position of Sect Master''s disciples, the ones who had monopolized all the benefits from the sect''s exclusive Fairy Pond and Misty Cloud Secret Realm.

    And those were only their achievements within the sect. They had fended off tens of beast tides with just the two of them, helped the Shi n uproot a rebellion, and many other feats. It seemed every time they took a mission outside of the sect, they would aplish something unimaginable.

    Those were the two Heavenly Fairies. Their titles were justly earned. But not everyone believed the rumors. After all, the two fairies had never publicly taken action within the sect, so some of the sisters who didn''t go to the outside world often refused to ept the feats those two girls had aplished.

    "Poor Senior Sister Lan¡­"

    "She kicked an iron wall this time."

    "Hopefully the Long n won''t get offended by her misfortune."

    The crowd''s sentiment changed immediately. Anyone with half a brain, or anyone who has left the sect in the past year, knew very clearly the veracity of those rumors.

    After all, the two Heavenly Fairies were widely renowned throughout the entire Central Continent. It was impossible for such renown toe from faked aplishment.

    The crowd of beauties looked towards the direction the previous group had left in pity. Now, all that was left was to see whether Lan Ruxue would return in one piece or not.

 Chapter 416 Them [2]

    416 Them [2]

    ¡®Tch! These two bitches. How dare they show up out of nowhere and steal my quotas!¡¯

    Lan Ruxue was fuming internally, but her face outside contained the same cold contempt it held whenever she looked at the two girls In front of her.

    ¡®Heavenly Fairies? That¡¯s bullshit. Just because they achieved a few minor things, they suddenly get so much attention. I could do the same just as easily as they can.¡¯

    The girls in the sect seemed to hold these two in high regard, but whenever Lan Ruxue looked at them, she couldn¡¯t understand why.

    Just because they were somewhat prettier than the average? Or somewhat stronger? She was certain that if they fought, the two so-called Heavenly Fairies would be begging at her feet in no time.

    ¡®After all these years, I¡¯ve finally reached the peak of mid-stage 3rd ss. These little girls who haven¡¯t even stopped sucking their mommy¡¯s milk yet, there¡¯s no way they can be more powerful than me.¡¯

    As she monologues internally, her group finally reached a secluded space along with the two girls they were escorting. The second they did, they formed a circle around them.

    ¡°Finally, I got you two fake bitches alone. I don¡¯t like useless talk, so I¡¯ll be forward. Give me the quotas you stole from me and I won¡¯t cripple you.¡± Lan Ruxue sneered.

    But the two Heavenly Fairies didn¡¯t even look at her. Instead, they were ncing at each other.

    Standing next to each other, one with pink hair and ruby eyes, the other having dark blue in both, the contrast between them really entuated the unique points of both beauties.

    Coupled with their opposing temperaments, many people were confused about how they got along so well. Yet, the two Heavenly Fairies didn¡¯t seem to care about the logic imposed upon them by others. They acted as if the entire world meant nothing to them.

    Whether it be temperament, looks, or status, Lan Ruxue knew in her heart that she didn¡¯t match up to the fairies in any of them. It was part of the reason why she hated them so much.

    ¡®The Young Masters of the Long n always eye me with lust. Even the men of my own family can¡¯t keep their eyes off me. How dare you look better than me?¡¯

    Lan Ruxue grit her teeth. Even as she thought it, she remembered the rumors about the two Heavenly Fairies that she had heard.

    The pink-haired one had a yful temperament, and the blue-haired one was more indifferent. Both of them gave men a strong desire of wanting to conquer.

    It started with the first young master of the Wang n, who had spotted them during their first mission. After that, young masters and even a few elders from the Long n, Xue n, and even the Jade Heavenly Pce had tried to court the two.

    But without suspense, they had all been rejected. A few had even gone home with their little brothers and other important appendages missing, while some who still couldn¡¯t get the hint had ended up dead entirely.

    Over the course of the past year, the two Heavenly Fairies had formed grudges against countless powers, yet, the Sect Master was still hell-bent on protecting them.

    ¡®Tch! Even if they go to the Empyrean Dragon Realm opening, they¡¯ll just cause trouble for the sect. In fact, the Sect Master and the Elders should thank me for putting them in their ce.¡¯

    She was jealous. She could at least admit that much to herself, but she didn¡¯t care. What right did these two women with no background or power have to be the object of affection for men that she could only ever dream of? The fact that she was being ignored by the two only made her anger boil further.

    ¡°You dare ignore me?!¡± She waved her hand, causing an arc of golden mana to rush at the two girls.

    Although it was a light attack, it was still something that could cause injury if it wasn¡¯t evaded or blocked properly. Lan Ruxue took special care in controlling her strength so she would only humiliate them instead of harming them.

    But unlike what she expected, the pink-haired beauty simply waved her hand, causing the golden arc to disperse as if it never existed.

    ¡°Do you want to take this one, or should I?¡± She asked the woman who stood beside her.

    The blue-haired girl nced around with indifference. ¡°I don¡¯t mind either way. It¡¯s not like it¡¯ll take long regardless of who does it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but still! Don¡¯t you want to have a little fun? How can my little sister be such a wuss?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think calling me a wuss is right in this context. Also, when did I be your little sister?¡±

    ¡°Ehehehe! You know just as well as I do why you¡¯re my little sister. Even if he doesn¡¯t ept it, I just have to make him!¡±

    ¡°Tch. You¡¯re talking nonsense again. Whatever, if it¡¯ll shut you up, I guess I¡¯ll take care of it this time. But drinks are on you tonight, and not the cheap shit. I want the premium quality Dew Wine that the Sect Master gave you as a reward.¡±

    ¡°Gasp! How could you target my precious Dew Wine?! You¡¯re too cruel!¡±

    As the two girls continued to converse, Lan Ruxue felt like she was getting repeatedly pped in the face. But at the same time, an uneasy feeling crept into her heart.

    ¡®How could my attack be blocked so easily? No, it must be because I didn¡¯t put any strength into it. Do these girls think they¡¯re so good just because I went easy on them?¡¯

    But before her thoughts could reach a conclusion, a sword appeared in the blue-haired beauty¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Remember this, I don¡¯t want to be known by some cringe title like Heavenly Fairy. The name of the one who crippled you is Elena Pierce. Don¡¯t forget it.¡±

    She vanished from her position, appearing next to one of the girls in the encirclement.

    Swoosh!

    In an instant, 4 streaks of Sword Aura appeared in the air, severing the girl¡¯s extremities. Before the limbs could even fall to the floor, Elena moved to her next target.

    A faint white light covered her body as she moved. It enhanced her speed to the point where even Rose had a hard time following it.

    Within seconds, nine of the ten girls wereying on the ground leaking blood. Not a single one of them had limbs attached to their bodies anymore.

    ¡°Oh, my bad. I didn¡¯t think you would be so weak. Let me help you.¡± Elena spoke tly. A greenish-white mist emanated from her body.

    The mana moved and ced the girls¡¯ limbs back where they were supposed to go, and when the greenish-white light passed by, it slowly reattached those limbs to the body.

    All of it happened in an instant. Lan Ruxue couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing. Her face was pale in horror.

    ¡®What¡­what just happened?¡¯

    She couldn¡¯t see it at all. By the time she understood what was going on, all of herckeys were on the floor, limbless. And before she could even process that information, their limbs were being reattached.

    ¡®Run¡­I have to run.¡¯

    She understood it. She had barked up the wrong tree this time. She turned around and prepared to flee, but she suddenly couldn¡¯t feel her legs under her anymore.

    Thump!

    Her body fell to the floor. Blood spurted from her thighs.

    ¡°AHHHH! SOMEONE HELP!¡±

    She screamed. If someone saw the atrocity that these girls weremitting, they would surely be expelled from the sect. It was herst hope at salvation.

    She screamed and screamed. For minutes on end she screamed, but nobody appeared to save her.

    Rose giggled at her attempts. ¡°Confused? Don¡¯t worry. This is only the start of the show. I like to be a little more lowkey when I act. Elena, on the other hand, can¡¯t hold herself back when she gets excited like this.¡±

    Before Lan Ruxue could ponder on Rose¡¯s words, her body was forced into an upright position.

    A chair appeared under her as if it had always existed there, supporting her body. Chains wrapped around her soon after to prevent her escape, and a mechanism that held her head in ce and her eyes open materialized as the finishing touch of the contraption.

    ¡°Alright! The audience is in ce, the main actors are all ready! So, let the show begin!¡±

    As Lan Ruxue watched, the nine girls she had brought with her were dismembered countless times. Every time they reached a point where they¡¯d die of blood loss soon, they were healed into peak condition again. The process only repeated after healing.

    Ten times, twenty times, it went on like a never-ending cycle. By the fifteenth time, the girls¡¯ eyes had be nk and dull. They were foaming at the mouth and unable to form proper sentences anymore.

    Lan Ruxue finally understood. She understood why those girls had been mentally crippled without any physical injury.

    And she also understood that these two Heavenly Fairies weren¡¯t fairies at all. No, they were demonspawn and reapers.

    ¡°Phew, that was satisfying,¡± Elenamented lightly before turning towards Lan Ruxue. ¡°She¡¯s the main perpetrator, right?¡±

    ¡°Yup!¡± Rose responded happily while munching on popcorn.

    ¡°To use illusions to eat without gaining weight. The fact that you can even replicate taste makes it even more of a cheat. You don¡¯t even understand how envious I am.¡±

    ¡°Tch. I can¡¯t use this method to fill my stomach though, so it¡¯s only good for situations like this.¡± Rose quipped back. ¡°Anyway! Continue, continue, I¡¯m enjoying the show!¡±

    Elena shook her head. ¡°You¡­um, I don¡¯t know your name, so I¡¯ll just call you ¡°dog¡±. Bark if you don¡¯t want to die.¡±

    ¡°Woof Woof!¡± Lan Ruxue barked without hesitation. After the scene she had just witnessed, she was no longer in the proper state of mind. An opportunity to live, that was all she could see at the moment. Pride meant nothing anymore.

    Elena nodded matter-of-factly. ¡°Very well. Since you¡¯re being such a good dog, I¡¯ll make sure to treat you right. Now, allow me to give you a little massage as a reward.¡±

    Elena appeared behind Lan Ruxue. Her hands were ced on thetter¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°Enjoy.¡±

    It was thest word Lan Ruxue heard before she was plunged into hell.

    In a space where sound could never escape, the sounds of bones cracking and incoherent screaming rang out for many hours on end.

 Chapter 417 Them [3]

    417 Them [3]

    With the arrival of dawn, the women of the Supreme Fairy Paradise began to awaken from meditation or training and start their days. Within this crowd were Rose and Elena, however, Senior Sister Lan and her group werepletely missing.

    The hushed voices of the crowd all revolved around the duo. It wasn¡¯t surprising. After all, just yesterday they had been seen surrounded by a group of their seniors, but here they were in perfect condition, perusing the streets as if nothing big happened.

    Those seniors, on the other hand, had been found in a secluded area. Not a single one of them was left with their minds intact. It was only natural that the women of the sect would talk about it.

    But Rose and Elena paid these women no mind. From start to finish, they didn¡¯t feel much attachment to the sect.

    These women prided themselves on being fairies, but a vast majority of them were snakes wearing human skin. They would spread falsities to ruin theirpetition, backstab at any given opportunity, it was the definition of conniving.

    But this kind of atmosphere had been perfect for the two of them to foster their growth. With trouble waiting for them at every step, they had an ample number of stepping stones to cause leaps of improvement in their own prowess.

    If there was one thing in the sect that they cared about¡­

    ¡°Sect Master.¡± The two girls greeted together when they arrived in front of the elderly woman who had given the speech the day before.

    Their waists were bowed to show proper respect, and their tones were also extremely amodating. Compared to the arrogant and indifferent image that they showed to the rest of the sect, their actions now were like heaven and earth.

    ¡°You two little brats, didn¡¯t I say to call me Master? It seems you still haven¡¯t epted me after all this time.¡± The Sect Master smiled wryly.

    ¡°Master that isn¡¯t¡ª¡±

    ¡°Enough. I am already aware of your circumstances, so I never nned to bind you to the sect anyway. If only I could tie you down, I¡¯d have chosen to do so without hesitation. But, you two already have somewhere to return to, don¡¯t you?¡±

    It was troubling. Neither of the two could respond, they could only hold their guilt within their hearts. It was true. Regardless of what the Sect Master did for them, their paths were never fated to stay together for too long.

    They had somewhere to return to, or rather, someone.

    Elena sighed. The Sect Master and Rose were the only two people she cared about in this massive sect. Due to their reputation, the other women either feared or disdained them, so they couldn¡¯t make friends.

    It wasn¡¯t like she cared about the rabble at all, it was just a shame that things had to be this way.

    But before she could make any excuses, the Sect Master spoke up once again.

    ¡°So? Who is he?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± Elena snapped out of her thoughts. Her eyes widened at the sudden question. ¡°W-who are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice. Any time I even alluded to keeping you in the sect, you would have a faraway look in your eyes. My cold and indifferent Elena, to think you were so deeply infatuated with a man! I almost couldn¡¯t believe it.¡±

    Despite her age, the Sect Master of the Supreme Fairy Paradise¡¯s demeanor tended to have this youthful side that only those close to her were aware of. It often made the Elders of the sect suffer plenty of headaches, but for her disciples, it served to bring smiles to their faces.

    Elena¡¯s face blushed red. ¡°Infatuated is a strong word¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but it probably isn¡¯t strong enough in this situation.¡± Rose suddenly interjected. She was trying her hardest to suppress the giggle that was threatening to leave her mouth.

    ¡°You¡­!¡± Elena protested, but her defensiveness only made the other twough harder.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think I forgot about you.¡± The Sect Master suddenly said to Rose. ¡°Even if you can hide it better, you aren¡¯t much better than her.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Rose replied proudly. ¡°Unlike her, I can boldly tell you about my handsome, powerful, and overall perfect man.¡±

    Rose thumped her chest and began to tell stories about Damien as if to brag to her grandparent.

    ¡°He¡¯s a crazy guy. Back when we were in my home world, he actually thrashed all the top geniuses there even while restricting arge majority of his power. And that¡¯s not all¡­¡±

    Rose began to tell stories about her time with Damien. Although the time they had spent together was rtively short, it had been filled to the brim with adventure and wonder.

    Damien had opened up a whole new world to Rose. He showed her a path that she never thought she¡¯d be able to take, a path she loved far more than her constricting life on Apeiron.

    So perhaps, Rose¡¯s evaluation of Damien was more than a bit biased. She easily glossed over his bad points as if they didn¡¯t exist at all. Especially when she spoke about their more romantic moments, it sounded more like she was writing a novel than speaking about real-life events.

    As Rose spoke, Elena tried to imagine the gentlemanly version of Damien that she was describing. In a full suit, on one knee in front of her, his mouth moving to¡­

    ¡®Stop! Stop! Stop!¡¯ She hurriedly wiped away her fantasy. As soon as she did, the actual image of Damien she had after he returned appeared in her mind.

    A shameless rogue, a ferocious wolf, a heartless fellow, these were all great words to describe him. He was far from gentlemanly, that much was for sure. But his free-spirited and untamable self, that ferocious yet gentle demeanor, everything about him held a fatal attraction for her that she couldn¡¯t seem to pull away from.

    Even before he had be such a man, back when he was still pathetic and weak-willed, she had fallen too deep to ever even think about escaping.

    Elena sighed. Her thoughts becameplicated. She had practically begged Damien to take her on this trip. It was her first time leaving Earth in her life.

    And seeing the vast universe, albeit the tiniest portion of it, aroused a kind of ambition in her heart.

    ¡®I want to see it.¡¯

    She wanted to see it all. To go exploring on different worlds and uncover more mystical ces like the Fairy Pond or the Misty Cloud Secret Realm.

    But that could only be considered as a secondary objective. Her main goal was elsewhere.

    It happened after she ranked up, after she became a Valkyrie and obtained a connection to Valha.

    Her fighting style had changed, along with the root of her power. And along with it, she received something simr to a calling.

    There was a ce somewhere out in the universe that appeared in her dreams as often as she slept.

    It was a mystical ce where her abilities would rapidly improve and her power would truly bloom.

    She didn¡¯t know where that ce was, but she knew the general direction to get there.

    Only, she had an instinctual understanding of what kind of ce it was. It was something akin to a secret realm, only, the restriction in ce was so that only she could enter.

    ¡®I want to know why. Why there is such a ce and why only I have the qualifications to enter. However¡­¡¯

    She would have to choose.

    Of the two things she held dearest in her heart, two passions that she could never let go of. She needed to choose between them.

    And it was eating her up inside.

 Chapter ?418 Them [4]

    ?418 Them [4]

    While Elena was struggling with herplicated inner thoughts, Rose finished telling the Sect Master everything about Damien.

    "What a man. You aren''t thinking about eloping without introducing him to me, are you?"

    "Ehh? Why would I do that? I know you won''t believe me until I properly show him off to you."

    "Okay, okay. What about you then, little Elena? What''s your man like?" The Sect Master shifted her attention.

    "He¡ª"

    "Didn''t I just describe him?" Rose interrupted. She knew Elena''s personality very well by now. Until Damien told her outright, she would continue to act as if the two of them didn''t have any rtionship at all.

    But Rose wouldn''t allow that. She had taken a liking to Elena when they had first met, and the past year they spent together only made them closer. She wouldn''t ept a future where Elena wasn''t her little sister.

    This time, it was the Sect Master''s turn to be surprised. "You''re saying¡­"

    Rose nodded her head in affirmation, causing Elena''s blush to deepen.

    "Haa¡­" the Sect Master sighed in exasperation. "To think that the two Heavenly Fairies of my sect actually belong to the same man! Now, I must meet him. I need to see whether he''s truly worthy of such fortune."

    The two girls and the Sect Master chatted a bit longer before separating. Tomorrow, they would set off for the Empyrean Dragon Realm opening.

    And there, they''d finally meet the person they had been thinking about so much.

    "Tch." Rose snorted. "That damn bastard. Now that the day of our reunion is so close, I can''t think of anything other than his face. How am I supposed to train like this?!"

    Rose fell backward onto her bed and covered her face with a pillow. As darkness encroached upon her vision, an illusion spawned in front of her.

    It was just an old memory of hers, nothing special. Just another time when she and Damien would sleep together while cuddling. It was such amon urrence back then, she felt a bit sad that she had grown used to having a whole bed to herself.

    She allowed the illusion to continue ying, putting herself in the position of her past self. She stimted touch using the same method, but it just didn''t feel the same.

    It was so close. After a year of parting, it was finally time for the subsequent reunion. She had thought the same phrase multiple times over, but her head couldn''t think of anything else.

    ''I''m obsessed.''

    She realized it extremelyte. She was well aware of how in line she was with him. She had fallen in love with him on that fateful day on Godspark Mountain. However, it took a year of separation for her to be obsessed.

    His scent, the scent that used to be so familiar to her, she couldn''t remember it anymore. She wondered how his face had changed, how much more powerful he had be, if he would bring another woman back¡­

    ''That guy goes around seducing beauties everywhere he goes. If he doesn''t bring a beauty back with him, I''m willing to abandon all my cultivation.'' She joked to herself.

    Slowly but surely, the thoughts in her head vanished one by one, leaving only her desire to reach the Empyrean Dragon Realm as soon as possible in her head.

    ***

    At the arrival of a new day, the twenty women who filled the quota of the Supreme Fairy Paradise, the Sect Master, and a group of elders boarded a flying boat artifact.

    It wasn''t just them. The opening would happen sometime in theing week, although the exact date was unspecified, and to be there as soon as that moment arrived, all powers would congregate as soon as possible.

    ***

    Within the Celestial Star Pce, another group boarded a flying boat. Along with the Sect Master, Tian Yang and a few other elders were also present. As for the disciples, naturally, Long Chen had earned himself a spot.

    "Xun''er, why worry so much? You areing with me, are you not?" He spoke to a woman in front of him.

    She had beauty that only fell short of those on Ruyue''s level. Her body proportions were perfect, and the sword on her hip only served to add a valiant and charming air to her overall look.

    "Still, little Chen, I can''t go with you into the secret realm. How can I be sure you''ll be safe? If only it wasn''t for my status¡­"

    The woman sighed. Never would she have expected that she, who spent her whole life married to the sword, would feel such a way for a boy so many years younger than her.

    Even she had gone through such training experiences in her life, yet even while knowing Long Chen''s strength, and the fact that the experience was necessary for his growth, she couldn''t help but feel hesitant.

    Looking at the rtionship between the two, it was obvious that they weren''t just simple acquaintances. What was even more unexpected, though, was the fact that the woman Long Chen was calling "Xun''er" so endearingly was actually an elder of the sect, and the one who had taken him as her disciple.

    The way their rtionship progressed wasn''t something either expected, nor was it something they had ns to publicize. Whether it be elder and sect disciple, or master and personal disciple, romantic feelings between the two were heavily taboo.

    Long Chen sighed as he saw people approaching them. "Rx. I''m confident enough that nobody in the younger generation can harm me anymore."

    ''Unless it''s¡­''

    Long Chen suddenly thought about the brat who he was forced to call Boss for a week and clenched his teeth. His blood boiled at the thought of theirst sh.

    ''This time¡­let''s see how I make you lose face when we fight.'' A beastly grin lit up his face.

    The treasures of the secret realm? Sure they were great, but the resources of the Long n and the Celestial Star Pce had been heavily focused on him recently, so he wasn''t particrly interested.

    As for hispetitors, he had heard of their feats before. Other than those on the level of the two Heavenly Fairies from the Supreme Fairy Paradise, the rest didn''t have enough strength to interest him.

    But there was one guy, a guy who had already won against him twice. That guy had gone missing on a mission for the past half a year or so, and there had been no news of him. Whenever he asked the Grand Elder about it, the only response he got was that they''d meet again at the Empyrean Dragon Realm.

    So Long Chen was extremely excited.

    To fight someone who was the same age as him, yet far more talented, to ovee that hurdle that stopped him from being the best in his generation.

    That was the goal he had in mind as he boarded the flying ship.

    ***

    While the outside world was busy moring over the Empyrean Dragon Realm, the people in the Sanctuary finally found some semnce of peace.

    Although it wasn''t much, everyone at least had a residence now. And with all the beast corpses that were left over from the massacre earlier, they had enough food tost a while.

    Damien exited the Sanctuary and looked off into the distance. ''Judging by the time, he should be calling soon¡­''

    A transmission talisman appeared in his hand as he patiently waited. While he did so, he touched upon the formless essence in his surroundings and worked on perfecting his domain.

    It wasn''t a process he was anywhere close topleting. He didn''t just want a space domain or a time domain, he wanted tobine them into an absolute area where he dominated space-time. Such a task wasn''t simple at all.

    Even the beginning stages of creation that he was in now granted him massive power, so he couldn''t even imagine what it''d be like when he reached perfection.

    A few hours passed with Damien meditating and forming his domain. And finally, the transmission talisman lit up like a beacon.

    Damien opened his eyes and poured his mana into it.

    "Yo, old man. It''s been a while, hasn''t it?"

 Chapter 419 Reddish-Black [1]

    419 Reddish-ck [1]

    "Yo, old man. It''s been a while, hasn''t it?"

    Damien spoke in a light tone with a rxed smile decorating his face. He was thoroughly satisfied with the improvement he had made in the past week or so, and it had left him in a good mood.

    A mildly annoyed yet cheerful voice responded to his words. "Brat! Since you were able to answer my call, it seems you''ve found a way out of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range!"

    On the Celestial Star Pce''s flying boat, Tian Yang sat in one of the rooms with a bright smile on his face.

    He truly didn''t think his disciples would be able to do it. The 3000 Beast Mountain Range had been enveloped in the mystical Myriad Illusion Veil ever since the previous Great War, and in that time countless cultivators had gone to try their luck, thinking themselves better than the rest.

    But of all those cultivators, not a single one managed to make it out of the mountain range alive. To think that his disciples would be the first ones to do so, how could he not be excited?

    That is, until he heard Damien''s next words.

    "Rather than saying we escaped the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, it''s better to say that the 3000 Beast Mountain Range no longer exists."

    Damien thought about it before Tian Yang called, and he decided it''d be best to let the old man know about what had happened here.

    Damien''s vision was far wider than it was before he entered the mountain range. Things he didn''t understand before clicked into ce much easier whenever he thought about them. Of those things, was the fact that Tian Yang definitely wasn''t as simple as he made himself out to be.

    The White Dragon King, Fire and Ice Phoenix Matriarchs, Elvira, and Lucius, these were all 4th ss beings under hismand now. And besides Lucius being entry-level, the rest were all experienced veterans of the ss.

    But even whenpared to them, Tian Yang''s aura was far vaster. Either the old man was nearing the peak of 4th ss or¡­

    Whichever one of the two it was, the thing that mattered was that Tian Yang''s voice was definitely loud enough to impact the fate of the entire Cloud ne. Him knowing about the First War and the ns of the Nox would be anything but detrimental.

    As Damien spoke about his and Ruyue''s adventures in the mountain range, Tian Yang''s face went through a range of expressions. From curiosity, to excitement, shock, and even a bit of horror. The tales he heard were something he never imagined woulde out of his disciple''s mouth.

    ''To think the Forbidden Zone was holding such a secret within¡­even the mission I assigned him led to something far greater than expected. The Death Seed, Primordial Undying Realm, an ancient war, a battle between Demigods¡­what kind of insane disciple would get involved with such events besides mine?''

    Tian Yang didn''t know whether tough or cry. On one hand, both of his disciples had be far more powerful than their peers could hope to match. Damien had even unlocked a Time affinity, which was necessary to practice the sect''s staple Divination Techniques.

    On top of that, somehow this kid had managed to gain not one, not two or three, but six whole 4th ss subordinates! Not to mention the million-strong of lower-ss subordinates he had, Damien had wantonly built a force that was on the same level of power as a mid-sized sect, maybe even arge one!

    Tian Yang sighed. "Brat, I''m almost jealous of your luck. Although I understand that you had to put in a great deal of work before gaining what you have, it''s still something unimaginable to most people! Anyway, where''s little Yue? Let her see me as well."

    Damien nodded and brought Ruyue out of the Sanctuary. Once he did, he handed her the transmission talisman and let master and disciple talk as they pleased.

    The following conversation wouldn''t involve him much, since he had already said his part. He still had a few more things to check up on within the area before he finally made his way over to the Empyrean Dragon Realm.

    ''Food supplies have been covered for now. The elves brought in a great deal of produce and seeds, and with their natural affinities, growing crops will be a breeze, especially with the fertility of the Sanctuary''snd. However, the current housing situation isn''t ideal. If it wasn''t for the people being satisfied with the high mana density in the Sanctuary, they would probably rather revolt than live there.''

    He needed materials. Wood was a given, but civilization was too advanced to just build in wood houses and be content. His gaze traveled to the massive abyss that was left in wake of the Heaven Shaking battle that had urred.

    ''That leads¡­well, I guess I''ll see how far down it goes once I travel down there. But now isn''t the time for exploring. I need to grab an insane amount of metal and ore and bring it into the Sanctuary.

    He shed above the abyss and began traveling down. His All-Seeing Eyes were activated to help him actually have vision in this endless darkness.

    ''Hmm, no notification. I guess it only shows up when I read peoples'' statuses.''

    Damien didn''t travel in the center of the abyss. He stuck to one of the walls and transported any useful metals and minerals he could find into the Sanctuary.

    ''If I knew something about the materials of this world, I could probably sort out what''s useful from what isn''t, but it can''t be helped. At least the All-Seeing Eyes allow me to somewhat differentiate.''

    He traveled down further and further, exploring a few naturally formed caves and tunnels where more useful ores were present. There were plenty of signs of subterranean beasts in the area, but he assumed most of them had gone extinct due to the Divine Mana that had invaded the area.

    ''I got everything I can up here. Maybe I should go down to the bottom? I heard that if I reach negative thirteen on the y-axis, I can find diamonds.''

    He continued to descend, but the abyss didn''t seem to have an end to it at all. He couldn''t understand how such a massive hole had been formed in the sh unless the two Demigods had purposefully dug down as they attacked.

    ''Or maybe¡­it was already here to begin with? The sh above only served to expand the abyss and create an entrance from the surface¡­the Heaven Swallowing Beasts were living far below the Endless Snow Mountain, to the point where a single bellow from them could shake its foundation evenly.''

    There were definitely more mysteries to this abyss than what it looked like on the surface. The Heaven Swallowing Beasts were already enough indication of this, since the existence of their race alone was something extremely rare within the wider universe.

    ''But I can''t check it out right now. Perhaps I''lle back in the future¡­if I don''t forget because of all the bullshit that seems to follow me everywhere I go.''

    Even as he descended, he had been continuously picking up ores and minerals from the walls of the abyss. And he did so in quantities far surpassing what would be necessary to build basic infrastructure for everyone in the Sanctuary to live peacefully.

    After recklessly moving millions of people into the Sanctuaryst time, his control over warping space and transportation increased significantly. Moving a few hundred thousand kilograms of weight at a time didn''t seem impossible to him anymore.

    Of course, when they were living beings, the situation changed a bit. It was far harder to transport living beings than it was to do the same with inanimate objects. It was why when he first awakened teleportation, he couldn''t take anyone along with him unless he wanted to turn them into a flesh ball.

    ''Wait, then how did I manage to save Elena from the dungeon back then?''

    He suddenly realized an inconsistency in his memories that he didn''t even see in the Trial of Self not long ago. Well, since the Trial of Self started after he was already trapped in the dungeon, it was more like he was never shown.

    ''Something is off. Not only Elena, but Zara as well. When I was still too weak to carry another person with me during teleportation, I somehow still managed to save both of them by doing just that¡­''

    From his memories, it almost seemed like a plot armor moment where he simply was able to do it because he needed to be able to do it.

    But plot armor didn''t exist in real life, nor would space confine itsws to abide by his wants and needs.

    If things went as they should have, Elena would''ve been trapped in the dungeon with him as well. Zara would''ve most likely died in the hands of that Wyvern.

    Sadly, Damien didn''t have enough information. To this day, he still didn''t know about the odd spatial phenomenon that had urred when he first forged his resolve in the dungeon.

    There was only one thing he could currently deduce.

    This situation¡­wasn''t so simple at all.

 Chapter ?420 Reddish-Black [2]

    ?420 Reddish-ck [2]

    Damien wanted to shake off his thoughts, but they stuck in his mind like a tongue on an icy pole. As he delved deeper into the matter, he realized there were far more inconsistencies in his life than just those few.

    ''What the hell is going on?''

    Rather than apprehension, the feeling bubbling in his chest at the moment was a surging rage that he could barely control.

    There were many things he hated in this world, and at the very peak of that list was being controlled by others.

    Being used as a tool for their machinations, living his life like a puppet on strings, he hated not being in control of his own decisions. And the fact that he was being made to doubt that very fact, it made him furious.

    Sensing his rage, his dragon blood roared to life, along with a certain reddish-ck seed that Damien still wasn''t aware of. His body was soon coated in a mixture of ck-red mes and lightning.

    BOOM!

    Space shattered around him, falling into the abyss like shards of ss. The wall next to him imploded and crumbled, causing the abyss to widen ever so slightly.

    The Void mes emerged from his body and tried to swallow those reddish-ck mes, but retreated in fear as soon as they touched them. It was by no means powerful enough to devour such a me yet.

    But even while all this was happening on his body, Damien didn''t notice at all. He had retreated to his spiritual world, watching his memories on repeat as if they were a film.

    ''Too many, there are too many coincidences. It''s like everywhere I go, I''m perfectly embroiled in the grand-scale events of the universe. Is someone truly guiding my path? Or is there something greater at y?''

    The worst part was, he couldn''t necessarily trust his memories. He learned it in the Trial of Self. The memories in his mind didn''t urately represent the situation that had urred back then. There were plenty of falsities and misconceptions that had been subconsciously formed, altering the way he viewed the past.

    ''If I had an indelible memory, this kind of perusing and analyzing might be useful, but I don''t. It''s useless to be swayed by my recollections when I can''t tell truth from falsehood.''

    "DAMMIT!" He roared inadvertently. His aura red. The destruction taking ce around him only seemed to heighten as it did. Even the darkness of the abyss was being burned and sundered away by the me-lightning around his body.

    He didn''t know why he was so infuriated. He understood why he had be furious in the first ce, but without any substantial evidence or indication that his conjecture was anywhere close to the truth, he didn''t know why he was getting more and more infuriated as time passed.

    The reddish-ck seed hidden in his body pulsed with fervor. The more his rage grew, the more fuel it fueled its growth. The reddish-ck me-lightning conjured by it grew at the same time.

    If Damien wasn''t so deep in the abyss at the moment, he would''ve caused a second, albeit far smaller, catastrophe in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    Thousands of kilometers of space around him was shattered. It looked like hundreds and thousands of crystalline mirrors were surrounding his body. Above his head, an incorporeal stream began to form.

    It was colored in blueish starlight, with shimmering star-like motes floating through it. As the stream grew in size, the mirrored space around him became more and more chaotic.

    The concept of direction became meaningless, the concept of distance was the same. Walking a single step forward might cause one to move thousands of kilometers downward. It was a disorienting effect that would cause weaker-willed people to directly lose their minds.

    But more than that, everything seemed to slow to a crawl within this space. A falling leaf took hours on end to go from the top of Damien''s head to his feet.

    "Kahak!"

    Damien keeled over, copious amounts of blood leaking from his lips. It was only then that he finally became conscious of his surroundings.

    The reddish-ck seed in his body stopped pulsating. The indescribable rage he was feeling disappeared along with it. Even the me-lightening surrounding his body was retracted as if nothing happened. Damien didn''t notice its existence from start to end.

    However, the domain around him was still in effect. His eyes widened when he saw it.

    ''Space-Time River.''

    That insane ckness that almost caused his ego to disperse, the shimmering river of starlight that brought it back and showed him glimpses of the future¡­

    Even if his memory of that time had been fogged over and almost wipedpletely, the impact that river had on his subconscious wasn''t small at all.

    It was so much so that when it came time for him to finally form his domain, he had used that river as inspiration for the concept.

    To see a version of it in front of his eyes, no matter how much smaller, less powerful, or less profound it was than the original, it still brought a smile to his face.

    Even with blood still dripping down his chin, even with more blood threatening to spill out of his body the longer he kept the domain active, he wanted to keep looking at it for just a little while longer.

    ''My goal¡­my aspiration¡­''

    It was a construct that man couldn''t dip their hands into, something that could erase the ego and peer into the fate of even someone who had achieved True Godhood.

    An inviblew.

    That was what the Space-Time River represented to him.

    Finally, after a few seconds that felt like an eternityter, Damien canceled his domain. Even with his mana capacity exploding to 50000 points, the Space-Time River, even a cheap imitation of it, wasn''t something that he could sustain properly.

    ''Tch! I can''t reach for the skies when I haven''t even managed to climb to the top of the well yet. The Mirror Domain is enough for now. As for the Space-Time River, I''ll achieve it in due time.''

    As the Space-Time River Domain had been canceled already, his Transcendent Regeneration immediately went to work and healed his internal injuries within minutes.

    The fact that it wasn''t done in seconds was testament to the level of concept he had tried to grasp far before he had the qualifications to.

    And as soon as he was healed, he wiped the blood off his face and changed into a fresh set of clothes that wasn''t stained in it, teleporting out of the abyss and returning to Ruyue''s side. Hisst task for the immediate necessity of the Sanctuary had beenpleted.

    Everything else could be done as it was required to be.

    "What did the old man say?" Damien asked lightly. The transmission talisman in Ruyue''s hand was already dim, indicating that the call with Tian Yang had ended.

    "Nothing much. Just that he''s eagerly waiting for our return, and that I should punish my rebellious Junior Brother if he tries to do anything funny."

    "Oh my! How could I ever dare to try anything funny on my Senior Sister? I''m an innocent and pure man, don''t you know?"

    "Yes, yes. Innocent and pure. Just as pure as that bitch Eliza that you were talking about earlier."

    "Kuhum¡­!" Damien obnoxiously cleared his throat and looked away. It seems Ruyue was still holding a grudge over that.

    A few days ago as they were sharing their Trial World experiences with each other, he may or may not have let it slip how he yed with a certain Slutty Demon Queen. Since then, Ruyue had been constantly giving him the cold shoulder, forcing him to give her the Queen Treatment so that she would forgive him.

    ''Damn my big mouth¡­don''t talk about other women in front of the one you''re currently attending to, isn''t that the main rule for not losing your life as a man with a harem?''

    Of course, Demon Queen Eliza, that most likely dead man-eating witch, was never even close to a harem candidate, but the rule applied nheless.

    Damien shook his head wryly. It looks like he''d need a few more days of coaxing before he could get back on Ruyue''s good side. For now, he needed to change the topic.

    "Anyway, are you ready to leave?" He asked smoothly. That was a lie. He cringed at how poorly veiled his attempt was.

    Ruyue rolled her eyes at his obvious behavior. "Since we have other things to do, I''ll forgive you for now. But don''t think I''m appeased."

    "Yes, yes. If my Queen demands it, it shall be done!"

    Ruyue nodded triumphantly. "Good! Then, send me back into the Sanctuary. Let us go to the Empyrean Dragon Realm where I can meet my first and third sisters."

    Damien''s wry smile grew. That was definitely another jab at him, but at least this time it was light-hearted. Ruyue often actively came to him to hear stories about Rose and Elena, and he had caught her once trying to think up the best way to introduce herself to them when they met.

    He knew that she had already epted the two of them in her heart, so he didn''t mind these kinds of light-hearted remarks. Besides, he was technically being unfaithful to all of them, while also being faithful to them all at the same time. In this kind of situation, maybe he deserved to be teased a bit.

    But he wasn''t going to just let her off easy. He was Damien Void! A man who repaid even the slightest grievance a hundredfold! He would make sure she understood the consequences of teasing her husband.

    His arms wrapped around her waist.

    "Go? Who allowed you to go?" He moved his lips to her ear, nibbling on her earlobe before he whispered, "yourscivious husband demands yourpany on this trip."

    And without allowing her to respond, he teleported away, leaving the rubble of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range behind to start a new journey.

 Chapter 421 Finally [1]

    421 Finally [1]

    Damien was currently experiencing heaven.

    Nevermind Ruyue''s soft body being tightly pressed against his own, nevermind the feeling of strength he felt from his improvements recently, just existing in the space around him felt so heavenly it was almost orgasmic.

    He didn''t have a chance to appreciate it before, since he was continuously busy with other things. Even while moving around the rubble of the mountain range, he had subconsciously ignored the feeling.

    Yet, when he shed away with Ruyue, appearing thousands of kilometers away in an instant, he almost couldn''t control himself.

    It had been over a year and a half since Damien had been able to properly utilize his teleportation. Whether it be the Myriad Illusion Veil, 3000 Beast Mountain Range, or Primordial Undying Realm, they all had some sort of spatial suppression that didn''t allow him to use his ability to its full potential.

    But since all three were connected through ric, it wasn''t surprising for them to share simr restrictions.

    Now, though¡­Damien''s perception expanded insanely. His awareness covered tens of thousands of kilometers ofnd. And until a few thousand kilometers away, his awareness was much sharper than it used to be.

    He felt like it had be a spiderweb. The tactile sensation he felt, allowing him to "feel" everything around him firsthand instead of simply "seeing," it made his usage of spatial transportation far more fluid.

    It was to the point where he could continuously jump thousands of kilometers without making Ruyue feel nauseous or disoriented at all.

    He smiled beside himself. The amount of time he has spent consciously training his space element in this time didn''t amount to much, but the passive training he was forced to do by the spatial suppression had boosted his abilities more than he could''ve ever hoped for.

    ''If it''s like this, it shouldn''t even take a day to reach the Empyrean Dragon Realm.''

    With Ruyue as his trustypass and travel partner and the beautiful folds of space as his vehicle, the journey he was on now was sure to be an enjoyable one.

    ***

    The location of the Empyrean Dragon Realm was arge empty in to the east of the Central Continent, a few thousand kilometers away from the Jade Heavenly Pce.

    Due to the movements of the tectonic tes under the continent, as well as a myriad of more fantastical phenomena that had happened in the thousands of years since the fall of the ancient sect, the center of the continent had been shifted so much.

    But regardless, the true center of the Cloud ne as a whole was never changing.

    On this in, a vast amount of people had gathered. The 100 geniuses who filled the quotas of the 5 Great Sects, the 40 from the 4 Great ns, and a huge number of others as well.

    The Empyrean Dragon Realm opening was, after all, a central event on the level of the Nexus Event in Apeiron. It wasn''t something that the Great Sects and ns could monopolize, lest they lose public sentiment.

    Therefore, arge number of mid-sized and small ns along the continent were granted 5 spots for their geniuses. Even major powers from other continents, such as the Shen Estate of the Southern Continent that Damien and Long Chen had assisted on their first mission, had gathered as well.

    But these numbers only made up the minority. If the amount that came from major powers numbered in the hundreds, the number of rogue cultivators who had arrived was well into the thousands.

    These rogue cultivators would often flock to secret realm openings and forbidden zone expeditions like moths, looking for the fortuitous encounters that could possibly turn them into major powerhouses of their own. It was the hope and dream of every practitioner under Heaven to be an unmatched expert.

    But of course, the Great Sects wouldn''t simply allow others to clog the secret realm and take away opportunities that could fall into the hands of their disciples. The rogue cultivators that were here would have to go through a strict process upon exiting of the secret realm.

    A portion of their gains within would be confiscated by the major powers, most of the time including their rarest treasures. It was for this reason that every rogue cultivator present was fidgeting restlessly. Even if it was bound to happen, they would try to fool the eyes of these experts nheless.

    Nobody wanted to be robbed of what was rightfully theirs, but the secret realm was simply too precious to pass up just because of these restrictions.

    Situations like these were the reason Damien had originally joined the Celestial Star Pce. Individual strength wasn''t always enough to keep one afloat within this chaotic world. Having a strong backer was equally important.

    Apart from the rogue cultivators, segregating themselves as if they didn''t want to associate with the former group at all, were the geniuses from major powers who had gathered.

    The scions of the Four Great ns and many other mid-sized ns were grouped together, idly chattering while waiting for the secret realm to open. Those from the Five Great Sects, however, were different.

    Indeed, the five ruling sects didn''t always shirk politics. The internal battles among them would get especially fierce during times ofpetition like this. But they had an image to maintain.

    Unlike the Four Great ns who were always veiled in internal and external strife, vying for as much power as they could get, the five sects put themselves above worldly matters. This kind of political power was something they easily trumped with strength alone, so the word games and petty tricks that the scions of those ns were partaking in didn''t interest their disciples at all.

    Among the group from the Supreme Fairy Paradise stood a pair of women, one blue and one pink. Just the dichotomy of their appearances was enough to draw attention to them.

    Their titles, however, did so even more.

    One stood with a yful smile on her face that never seemed to fade. The other was cool and indifferent. Yet, neither was able to fully conceal the hidden excitement behind their facades.

    Rose looked around eagerly. Rather than searching by appearance, she was observing the colored strings of karma that tied so many of these people to each other.

    However, the red string tied to her that she was looking for was too far away for her eyes to locate properly.

    ''These people are so interesting.'' Rosemented inwardly. Even though she was a bit disappointed by the absence of the one she was looking for, observing these important and evenmon people was always a hobby of hers.

    After all, she could see what others couldn''t.

    The red strings that tied together people who were pretending to be at each other''s throats, the blue strings that tied together supposed friends. Human rtionships were so interesting, especially when she had the ability to see through their true nature while simultaneously watching the shows that were put on for the public.

    ''Oho! The sixth young master of the Shi n is actually together with the 4th young master of the Xue n! If the public found out, there''d probably be outrage!''

    Rose smiled slyly. This world definitely wasn''t one that epted such rtionships. It seems she would be gaining a great amount of dirt on the powers she had offended in the past year. Just this was enough to makeing here worth it.

    ''This Xue n is truly something. Not only the Shi n, but the Wang n, Han n, Peng Family¡­it''s like they''re selling their geniuses off as prostitutes.''

    Rose thought about it more. Of the ns she had dealings with, the Xue n was definitely one of the most convoluted. Their patriarch''s greed for power had reached a point where it''d be more apt to say he was destroying the n than helping it grow.

    ''Now that I think about it, wasn''t the little princess of the Xue n an abandoned young miss who fled to the Celestial Star Pce? With her talent, she should be among the geniuses they brought¡­''

    She turned her attention to the Celestial Star Pce, but couldn''t spot anyone with the signature white hair that all those in the Xue n possessed.

    ''Wait, there''s only eighteen of them. Don''t tell me¡­''

    She smiled slyly. ''That has to be it. Although I''m reaching this conclusion in the most illogical manner possible, if it''s that husband of mine, then I don''t doubt it in the slightest.''

    Rose almost grinned outright, but she stopped herself. Her smile was too powerful, and it''d be annoying if the young masters who saw that smile came over to bother her while she was busy thinking.

    But, the world didn''t revolve around her wishes. Even without her doing anything at all, the situation she wanted to happen least appeared without suspense.

    "Mydy, you are looking especially beautiful today." A soothing voice came from her left. There stood a handsome man with ck hair and eyes.

    They were eyes that made a great deal of thedies around her swoon, but to Rose, they looked like the eyes of the snake.

    "Wang bastard, we meet again. Though, I would''ve preferred it if you had died in a ditch somewhere in the time we hadn''t seen each other."

    Her tone was as cold as it could get, but the first young master of the Wang n, Wang Tianhe, didn''t seem to care at all.

    "Mydy''s words are as cruel as always. What to do? I don''t think my heart can take it anymore. Perhaps if you allowed me to treat you to dinner, my pain would be alleviated slightly."

    Rose almost gagged. "For what? With your disgusting personality, you''re probably scheming to drop an aphrodisiac in my food and then rape me, aren''t you? It seems your younger brother''s lesson didn''t trante for you. If you want to end up like him so badly, I don''t mind making it happen."

    Wang Tianhe''s face twitched. Remembering the state his younger brother was in due to the woman in front of him, he almost lost hisposure.

    That trash didn''t deserve to be someone from the Wang n. Not only had he embarrassed himself by trying to pull a simr trick to what Rose had just used him of scheming, but he had also failed miserably and suffered horrible consequences for it.

    The shame that was brought to the Wang n after that event was something they couldn''t ignore. In fact, most of the people in his n wanted nothing more than to kill Rose where she stood.

    ''But what''s the use in that? If she died, I''d lose out on such a good toy, and one that I''ve been chasing for so long too. I can''t let my efforts go to waste now, can I?''

    Wang Tianhe quickly regained hisposure and tried to approach Rose, but she backed away with every step he took.

    "Don''t even dare get within 500 feet of me. ording to my dear husband, that''s how far people like you should stay away from school zones, whatever that means."

    Rose chortled inwardly, thinking of the joke Damien had made back then. But it was truly apt when using such a phrase describing Wang Tianhe.

    He was a disgusting individual. The type of person Rose absolutely abhorred. If it wasn''t for not wanting to trouble her sect bypletely falling out with the Wang Family, or more specifically, the Great ns that backed it, she would''ve killed him long ago.

    But it wasn''t simply his character or misdeeds. When Rose looked at Wang Tianhe, she couldn''t see the handsome appearance that others saw at all.

    What she saw was a bundle of pitch-ck karmic strings, tainted by the disgusting scent of death. And behind those karmic strings were those snake-like eyes that couldn''t hide their feelings from her at all.

    ''Not only is he scum, but he''s also a traitor of humanity. If only I had enough power, I''d wipe the entire Wang n off the face of the earth.''

 Chapter ?422 Finally [2]

    ?422 Finally [2]

    Wang Tianhe flinched. Truthfully, he didn''t even register the disgust on Rose''s face, or maybe he would''ve understood how far she''d seen through him. The second he heard the words "dear husband"e out of her mouth, his brain short-circuited.

    It wasn''t just him. Plenty of people who had chased Rose in the past had simr reactions. Hidden killing intent sprouted in their hearts towards the man who had taken the beauty they had their eyes on.

    They had been chasing a married woman all this time? It was a tremendous loss of face. Although stealing someone''s bride because they were weaker than you was amon urrence in the martial world, it wasn''t something done openly.

    The act of doing so was collectively looked down upon by society. If one did so tantly, they''d definitely lose their standing in the hearts and minds of those around them, bing trash amongst trash like Wang Ming, the second young master of the Wang n.

    Those men quickly shifted their attention to Elena. But as soon as they did, Rose pulled Elena close to her.

    "My dear second sister, how can you allow me to deal with this trash on my own? As sisters who share a husband, we should unite against external pressure!"

    Elena rolled her eyes. Although she was thankful for Rose''s help, she was worried about the pressure Damien would face when he arrived.

    Unlike Rose, she didn''t have the same blind faith in Damien. She simply didn''t get the opportunity to see how far Damien''s prowess always towered over his peers, so it couldn''t be helped.

    "Husband, you say? And where is this husband of yours? I''d truly love to meet him." Wang Tianhe spoke with an imperceptible smile. Once again, he was quick to recover from the blows Rose kept throwing at him.

    "You don''t have to worry about that. You''ll definitely see him soon. Actually, there''s a 10/10 chance that you''ll be killed by him as well. I''m truly looking forward to it."

    "Hahaha. I as well can''t help but be excited to meet the glorious husband of mydy. After all, someone who could steal the hearts of the two Heavenly Fairies of the Supreme Fairy Paradise can''t be a normal person. How embarrassing would it be if he couldn''t match up to my expectations? Though, I doubt that''d happen, right?"

    Rose snorted. "Your expectations don''t matter for shit. Why would my husband be bothered by the words of some trash on the side of the street?"

    "Hahahahaha!"

    A sudden uproariousughter filled the air. The surprising thing was, it didn''te from anyone present. Rather, it descended from the sky like heavy rain.

    "This is the kind of demeanor a wife of mine should have! Why should she care about the barking of some neighborhood dog who doesn''t know the existence of wolves?"

    In the sky above the crowd, two individuals materialized. A mystical young man and a white-haired beauty, their appearances alone being enough to cause waves in the crowd below.

    Ba-dum!

    Rose''s heartbeat was almost palpable. The second she heard the voice she could only dream about for so many days on end, she wholly stopped caring about the situation around her. When she looked up into the sky, she couldn''t help but swoon.

    ''How the hell¡­how the hell could this man be even more handsome?!''

    Damien and Ruyue might not have realized it, since they had been together the whole time and surrounded by people who didn''t care about their physical appearances, but they had grown far more attractive during their time in the secret realm.

    Damien especially, had gotten the supreme treatment of the Primordial Undying Tree, having his body reconstructed by its essence.

    His hair shone with a soft luster as it reflected the sunlight, the silver streaks within twinkling like stars. His eyes, after their evolution, gave off a profound aura that seemed to suck one''s soul deeper into that swirling pattern of amethyst and red.

    His skin had be fairer and far smoother, emanating a rich vitality that seemed to calm one down with a single whiff.

    His chiseled face had be more defined, his featured being perfected. Even under the ck Celestial Star Pce robes he was wearing, the faint outline of his muscles was enough to cause many young women in the crowd to have their noses bleed.

    Rose no longer cared for Wang Tianhe''s provocation at all. In fact, she totally forgot his existence. Her body rose into the sky and flew towards Damien''s descending figure at maddening speeds.

    Damien wasn''t in a much better state. The second he saw that single speck of pink among the crowd, his eyes zoomed in and focused wholly on her position. Seeing the pink mass that was about to collide with his body at full speed, he smiled apologetically at Ruyue.

    But Ruyue didn''t mind at all. In fact, she heavily sympathized with what Rose was feeling. She was also forced to endure a year of separation. Even if that year was filled with excitement that made her forget her longing, the second she saw the man she was longing for, it all poured out like a tsunami.

    So she quickly separated herself from Damien and hovered in the air a few feet away, allowing space for the couple to enjoy their reunion.

    Bang!

    The impact finally happened. Rose barreled into Damien''s arms, wrapping herself around his body like a ko. She dug her face into his neck and took a deep whiff of his scent, as if wanting to firmly engrave it into her memory, never to be forgotten again.

    And Damien was the same. He spread his arms and caught her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and hugging her deeply. He hurried his face in her hair and closed his eyes.

    Finally. It had been so long. So long since thest time they saw each other.

    Back then, he had left her so unjustly. Due to his own insecurities, he had left her alone in this strange new world without thinking about her safety or how his decisions affected her at all.

    Finally. Finally, he would be able to right his wrongs from back then. Finally, he would be able to spend time with her as he should. Finally, he would be able to treat her as his wife with his whole heart, never to let her suffer again.

    "My dear Rose¡­"

    He had so much he wanted to say to her. In the day or so it took for him to teleport from the 3000 Beast Mountain Range to here, he had ruminated over the love-filled words he could say tomemorate their reunion so many times that even Ruyue started to get tired of his sappy speeches.

    But now that the moment was upon him, he couldn''t get any of those words out of his throat. None of them seemed to be enough to express what he wanted to express. These kinds of feelings, words alone weren''t enough to describe them.

    So he packed all his feelings into those three words, hoping that she would understand his intent.

    And Rose, who was she? The Child of Destiny who could see the inner thoughts of those around her as clear as day, even if Damien could block her ability with his own eyes just as easily, why would he do such a thing to his own wife?

    The tone of his words made many in the crowd below inadvertently look at the two with warm eyes. The sentiments he conveyed were clear even to them. But for Rose, it was even clearer. She understood exactly what he was conveying, even more so than he truly conveyed with his words.

    She couldn''t stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.

    Indeed, she was an understanding wife. Back then, Damien had his own problems to deal with. The fact that he hade to speak to her about those problems alone was enough for her.

    The Damien she had met back then, the one she had fallen in love with, he was broken. Even though he always put up a strong front, even with the power he had that surpassed all of his peers, he was broken and iplete. He was always gued by his inner thoughts, unable to fully enjoy his life.

    As his wife, as the woman he loved and the one who loved him just as much, how could she be okay knowing that he was suffering so much inside?

    The fact that she couldn''t help him at all, the fact that even though he was able to tell her about his problems, he wasn''t able to rely on her help to solve them, it truly hurt.

    Because she wanted to be the person that could help him bear his burdens, the same way he helped her.

    The words he spoke, even if he was simply endearingly calling her name, she could feel his emotion. How apologetic he was, how much he wanted to make it up to her, how much he had been thinking of her during their time apart, how much his love for her was overflowing at this moment of reunion.

    She could feel it all. And it was gratifying. It felt like finally, finally, she had earned her ce in his heart. Finally, she could be someone he trusted and relied on with his everything. Finally, she had been acknowledged.

    And so, she couldn''t stop her tears from flowing, no matter how much she wanted to.

    Elena watched them with a smile. It was a mix between a sad smile and one filled with joy. She couldn''t decide which emotion she felt more strongly.

    ''When he''s done with her, it''ll be your turn. Hide that sadness in your smile. He''s been missing you too, and he has a lot he''s been wanting to say to you. Trust me, I had to bear with him when he was stressing over how to break the subject to you.''

    When Elena looked up, she saw the white-haired beauty that had arrived with Damien looking at her with a warm smile. Seeing that smile, a faint hope appeared in Elena''s heart.

    Ruyue nodded in the air as if to confirm her thoughts, forcing the hope in Elena''s heart to grow without her permission. She didn''t know whether tough or cry.

    They were just words from a stranger. They shouldn''t mean much, right? So why was she feeling so giddy?

    ''By the way, in the future I''ll be your second sister, since technically I came first. So don''t forget it, dear little sister of mine.''

    Elena''s eyes widened. Seeing the yful yet slightlypetitive expression on Ruyue''s face, she almost couldn''t stop herself from bursting into a fit of giggles.

    The atmosphere that had been filled with tense excitement for the opening of the secret realm had suddenly been painted pink by the arrival of one man.

    The focus of the crowd became fixed on the enamoring romance between this man and woman in the sky, a variety of emotions and thoughts shing through their minds.

    But even those who hated seeing the current reunion, the ones who wanted Damien dead so he would no longer be a wall in the path of their conquest, even they decided to keep quiet in the face of such heartfelt emotions.

    But not everyone had the same kind of tact.

    Wang Tianhe growled through gritted teeth. "So you''re the so-called husband? Now that I''ve seen you in person, I guess you aren''t much."

 Chapter ?423 Dogs [1]

    ?423 Dogs [1]

    "So you''re the so-called husband? Now that I''ve seen you in person, I guess you aren''t much."

    Damien''s eyes turned cold. In an instant, he appeared before Wang Tianhe, thetter''s neck in his grasp.

    "Why do you think yourself to be important enough to interrupt my reunion with my lovely wife? I left you traitors in the crowd alone because I wanted to spend some time with Rose before getting my hands dirty, but it seems you didn''t savor the opportunity I gave you."

    Damien grabbed Wang Tianhe''s wrist and pulled. It wasn''t a morous motion, in fact, it was slow enough that even a mortal would be able to follow it, yet, along with his pull, Wang Tianhe''s entire arm was ripped from his body.

    "Argh!"

    Wang Tianhe gritted his teeth in pain he tried to rouse his mana to escape, but he suddenly found that his mana didn''t respond to him.

    "Pathetic. Your own mana has been abandoned by you long ago, so why would it listen to yourmand? It''s a shame that it''s been forced to stay inside your body with that trash you''ve injected yourself with. Allow me to free it from its shackles.

    Pitch-ck essence leaked from Damien''s fingertips and entered Wang Tianhe''s body. It snakes through his meridians, wrapping around the pure mana within and guiding it toward his heart.

    "Devour."

    A ck hole was formed in Wang Tianhe''s heart. Its suction forced pulled in all the pure mana that had been gathered, leaving only the corrupted Nox mana remaining inside the man''s meridians.

    "Disgusting. You actually dared to pursue my wife with this kind of pathetic strength? Even if I wasn''t here to put you in your ce. A single p from her would be enough to kill you. Do you think yourself worthy of my queen?!"

    The only option Wang Tianhe had left in retaliation was to use his corrupted mana, but with so many 4th ss existences present, such a move would be the death of the Wang n.

    "Boy, you dare?!" A booming voice rang out. A massive aura epassed the area, causing a suffocating pressure to descend on all those present.

    Damien snorted. "Finally someone of note has arrived. A dog son would definitely be raised by a dog father, so it isn''t too surprising that you''re the same as him."

    The middle-aged man who was standing in the air ferociously red at Damien. "Since his arm can be reattached, I can forgive this single transgression. As my son was pursuing your wife, I can understand why you''d need to vent your fury. However, don''t go too far. Young men should learn when to advance and retreat."

    Damien cidly looked at the middle-aged man. When it came to his aura, he was undoubtedly a 4th ss, but Damien couldn''t feel any of the awe or majesty 4th ss existences used to carry anymore.

    ''The gap¡­has decreased this much.''

    He turned his attention back to Wang Tianhe, only to catch thetter smirking at him. What will you do now? Even if you''re more powerful than me, you''ll still be humiliated by the power of the Wang n. That was what his gaze seemed to say.

    "I don''t know where you got your confidence from to look at the man who has your life in his hands like that, but from the looks of it, it seems you haven''t understood a thing."

    Since his left hand was upied holding Wang Tianhe by the throat, he had to settle for thetter''s right leg instead of going for another arm.

    Rrriiip!

    A disgusting ripping sound rang out as the leg was sloppily ripped from the body, apanied by Wang Tianhe''s pained screech.

    Hissss!

    The crowd collectively sucked in a cold breath. Whether it be the action itself or the connotations behind it, both were equally insane.

    The fact of the matter was, Damien didn''t use any mana at all. To rip apart the body of a top genius of the Central Continent, he had only used physical strength. And he did so while beingpletely unaffected by the aura or psychological pressure of a 4th ss being bearing down on him, uncaring of the consequences of his actions.

    How domineering!

    But Wang Chen didn''t seem to think so. "You brat that doesn''t know how high the heavens are! Allow me to teach you a lesson today!"

    Wang Chen''s body blurred, appearing behind Damien in an instant. A fierce palm strike careened toward his back.

    But by the time the attacknded, Damien and Wang Tianhe had vanished.

    "Spatial cultivator!" Wang Chen realized through gritted teeth. Even if he hadn''t used his full strength, he had used enough strength to cripple someone even on Long Chen''s level. Yet, Damien had wlessly escaped his attack.

    "Old fart, you think too highly of yourself. Even amongst 4th ss existences, you aren''t much. In fact, I have an entry-level 4th-ss subordinate that''s far more powerful than you. Anyway, that doesn''t matter. If losing face is what you''re so afraid of, I''ll allow you to lose even more."

    Damien turned his attention to Wang Tianhe. "This is going to hurt a bit, but try to keep your screams down. Last time I did this to someone, my eardrums almost burst."

    "Wha¡ª AHHHHHHH!"

    Before Wang Tianhe could even question what was happening, his body disappeared, reappearing a few feet below its original position.

    But considering that they were on the ground, a few feet drop had far more substantial meaning.

    Wang Tianhe''s lower body was forced to upy the same space that the molecules of the earth were already upying. The pain of his very molecr structure being altered and fused with the earth almost drove Wang Tianhe insane.

    But that wasn''t all that happened. Logically speaking, it was impossible for two sets of molecules to inhabit the same space, superimposing upon each other. While in Elitra''s case, her legs fused with the ground entirely, Wang Tianhe wasn''t so lucky.

    Bang!

    The ground below exploded, sending streaks of blood and chunks of flesh flying into the air. If the molecules that were forced to superimpose on each other couldn''t fuse, the structures they made up would simply explode, ridding the problem entirely.

    "AHHHHHHHHH! FATHER, HELP ME!" Wang Tianhe cried pitifully. From the waist down, his body no longer existed. His intestines leaked from the hole in his waist like snakes jumping out of a can.

    "BRAT, YOU DARE?!"

    Wang Chen didn''t hold anything back. This time, he charged with the true power of a 4th ss existence.

    Damien still gazed at his iing figure cidly. ''I can see him.''

    Although it was blurry, he could still read his opponent''s movements. He could read the movement of a genuine 4th ss existence. If he wanted to, he could even dodge the iing strike with rtive ease, but there was no need to show all his cards at the moment.

    After all, he had no way of knowing whether these traitors could contact the enemy, making them aware of his strength. Damien didn''t have any desire to die early because the Nox became aware of the threat he would pose to them in the future.

    "Old man, haven''t you watched long enough? Do you n on letting me die here?"

    "Ohoho!" An intriguedughter responded to his words. Wang Chen''s momentum was immediately slowed. "How could I not enjoy the show? A certain rebellious disciple of mine was showing me how much he''d grown while he was gone. I couldn''t just interrupt him, could I"

    Pah!

    Tian Yang''s sagely form appeared in the air before Wang Chen. A light pnded on thetter''s head, forcing his body into the ground.

    "Now, now. A fight between juniors is urring, us old folk should just sit back and watch, shouldn''t we?"

    Wang Chen gritted his teeth. Out of all people, it had to be Tian Yang who stopped him. Whether in terms of status or power, he wasn''t even close to matching up.

    "Senior, your disciple is killing my son. How could this be called a mere spar?!" He still protested pitifully. He didn''t care about face anymore.

    Wang Tianhe was the hope of the Wang n. For their ns to proceed smoothly, he was integral.

    Yet, he was about to die a dog''s death.

    Damien sneered. "Old fart, listen well. This is the fate of those who dare target my women."

    Damien was done toying with his prey. Thest demonstration should''ve been enough to warn those watching.

    Bang!

    Wang Tianhe''s head exploded. All it took was a single p.

    "AHHHHHHH! MY SON!"

    Wang Chen roared. Out of nowhere, 5 4th ss existences appeared behind his back.

    "Even if it''s you, you will not be able to stop me today! That brat must die!" Wang Chen growled at Tian Yang.

    Tian Yang smiled. "Brat, it seems you''ve angered him. What will you do now?"

    Damien snorted. "Old man, you have eyes too, even if they aren''t as good as mine. For these kinds of traitors, there is no mercy at all."

    And just like with Wang Chen, 5 4th ss existences appeared behind Damien''s back.

 Chapter 424 Dogs [2]

    424 Dogs [2]

    There were two things Damien learned through his altercation with Wang Chen.

    Firstly, even someone at the 4th ss who had received a power boost from the Nox wasn''t able to perceive the Void Essence he had quietly injected into Wang Tianhe''s body.

    This meant that although he still had to hide his Void Physique publicly, using its abilities in a veiled manner was still viable unless he was facing a genuine Demigod.

    Secondly, if a 4th ss appeared out of thin air, nobody would question it even if they couldn''t sense the mana fluctuations, even the more powerful 4th ss existences around.

    Firstly, this meant reaching 4th ss allowed some kind of great maneuverability or power that Damien didn''t know about yet. Something that could allow all 4th sses to move unseen. Secondly, it meant he could summon his 4th ss helpers from the Sanctuary without fear of revealing its existence.

    ''Even if I reveal the fact that they''re serving me here and now, it won''t affect my future ns. After all, nobody would expect these exhaled 4th-ss existences to be following me around endlessly. And even if they did, they wouldn''t expect something like the Sanctuary to exist. Most likely, they''ll plot while using some means to block the method by which Wang Chen''s helpers arrived, which won''t hinder me at all.''

    Still, he might have to whip up a scheme or two to make it seem like his 4th ss helpers had left his side in the future. Being underestimated made his life far easier, after all.

    Damien''s five subordinates looked around curiously.

    "So this is the world outside the mountain range? It feels far easier to move around, and my power seems more fluid and easy to exert. However, the mana density is a bit¡­" the Fire Phoenix Matriarchmented lightly.

    "Right. The mana density is poor to say the least. And the vitality of the earth iscking as well. The only benefit is that the natural suppression of the mountain range is gone." The Ice Phoenix Matriarch agreed.

    "Kid, you didn''t just summon me for nothing, did you? I was busy teaching this old demon here a lesson." The White Dragon King spoke annoyedly.

    Lucius scoffed. "Please. As if a mere lizard could harm me. You should be thanking him for saving your ass."

    Thestment especially caused Damien to raise an eyebrow. "Father-in-Law, I didn''t know you knew how to speak so crassly."

    "Brat, my daughter isn''t even your woman so why do you keep insisting on calling me father-inw?!"

    "Well, isn''t it because it pisses you off so much? Your reactions are quite fun to watch, you know."

    "Pfft! I know right! This old geezer is hrious when he''s angry!" The White Dragon Kingughed rambunctiously.

    Damien shook his head with a smile. "Anyway, you were right that I didn''t call you out for nothing. Some old fart brought out 4th ss existences to bully me. As my subordinates, how can you just stand still and watch?"

    "Hmph! Since when we''re we subordinates?" The Fire Phoenix Matriarch scoffed.

    "Are you not?" Dameon quipped back.

    "That''s beside the point." The Fire Phoenix Matriarch coughed and looked away.

    The White Dragon King rolled his eyes. "What we are doesn''t matter. I finally have the chance to test the strength of those in the outside world, so why would I falter here? Brat, where are they?"

    "Over there." Damien pointed at where Wang Chen and Tian Yang were standing.

    "Ooooh! I call the old man!"

    "That old man is my master. He''d probably beat your ass in seconds so I''d rmend not touching him."

    "Tch. You''re no fun. Fine then, it''s those five weaklings standing behind the other weakling right? I don''t know why you summoned all five of us. Just me is enough."

    "No." A new voice entered the fray. It was Elvira, who had remained quiet until then. "Young Lord, please allow me to take care of them."

    Damien raised his brow. "I can''t say I don''t understand your reasoning, but are you sure?"

    Elvira cracked her knuckles. "Despite how I look, I''m not that much weaker than the White Dragon King. If we fought in physical strength alone, he''d only have a 20% chance of winning."

    Damien''s eyes widened. He looked at the White Dragon King for confirmation, only to see thetter turn his head away awkwardly.

    "Brat, I''ll warn you now. Even if she looks dainty and frail, don''t let her fool you. This woman is a gori."

    Elvira scoffed. "Since I have more important matters to take care of, I''ll let it slide this time. When we get back, though, let''s see how you run from me."

    She vanished from her spot, reappearing behind one of Wang Chen''s 4th ss helpers. She grabbed the man by the top of his head and squeezed.

    The other four sprung into action, but as if she was waiting for that moment, Elvira flicked her wrist. The earth was torn apart, giving way to massive vines that mirrored the ones Ruyue and Feng Qing''er had encountered in the Primordial Undying Realm.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The vines thrashed the four men, forcing them to go on the defensive. Elvira turned her attention back to the man in her grasp.

    "Now, let''s y, shall we?"

    Boom!

    A ferocious punchnded on his stomach, shooting him hundreds of meters into the air. Elvira''s form flickered, leaving an afterimage as it appeared above him.

    Bang!

    Gripping her hands together as if she was going to hit a volleyball, Elvira mmed downward, causing the man''s body to fold like an omelette as it shot down to the ground.

    But just like before, Elvira didn''t allow him to regain his bearings as he fell. She appeared next to him again, catching his neck and yanking him back, abruptly shifting his momentum and forcing his bones to copse.

    After that, what could only be called a one-sided beating urred. Damien was able to truly understand how much of a gori woman Elvira was.

    ''How does she even hide such frightening strength in that tiny body?!'' Damien wondered inwardly. But looking around, he realized something.

    ''Right, this is supposed to be a secret realm opening. My bad.''

    "Hey, I know she can handle things alone, but I''d prefer if we could finish up as quickly as possible. I have to go attend to my wives, you know? I can''t waste time on petty squabbles with these old geezers."

    The White Dragon King grinned while Lucius rolled his eyes. The two Phoenix Matriarchs looked at the four men who were fending off Elvira''s vines indifferently.

    "Good!" The White Dragon King eximed. "I''ve been itching for a good fight!"

    The four sprang into action. mes and ice intertwined. Instead of repulsing each other, they actually mixed together to form an even deadlier attack.

    The two men, even while being 4th sses, couldn''t resist the onught of the two Phoenix Matriarchs working in tandem. Within ten minutes, only their charred and frozen corpses remained.

    As for the White Dragon King, he went the pure physical strength route like Elvira. It seemed her disy had invoked hispetitive spirit. It was aedic situation to Damien, but to his opponent, it was hell.

    That 4th ss was destined for death regardless, but somehow his death had be just as pitiful as the man Elvira was manhandling. The two of them didn''t even haveplete bodies by the time they died.

    As for Lucius, his methods were far more elusive. Damien didn''t understand exactly what he had done, but the corpse of the enemy he had taken on didn''t have a single scratch on it.

    ''Even if he''s at the entry-level of 4th ss, that''s only because his progress was stalled by the restrictions of the Primordial Undying Realm. It''s obvious that the revenge-driven Lucius wouldn''t allow such a setback to prevent him from getting stronger.'' Damien realized.

    ''It seems I should stop looking down on him for being the weakest.''

    What was supposed to be a riveting fight turned into a one-sided ughter because of Damien''s helpers. Those watching almost didn''t believe their eyes, one could only imagine the shock Wang Chen received.

    "Old fart, traitors like you have only a single fate waiting for you. Death without mercy. Whether it''s you, your sons, the old ancestors of your n, it doesn''t matter. They''ll all be wiped out the same way."

    Wang Chen fell to the floor. Even until now, only his people and Damien knew what he meant when he kept calling them traitors. Damien didn''t care to exin to insignificant people, so he never expanded on the topic.

    But if he didn''t use the power granted to him by the Nox, Wang Chen was well aware that he would die the same way his subordinates and son had.

    ''I don''t want to die. Fuck the Wang n, fuck those so-called Lords who didn''t even care to help me in such a dire situation. All that matters is that I live.''

    To live even if it cost the lives of all he cared for. That was Wang Chen''s resolve.

    And as soon as he formed it, his body was coated in murky ck mana.

 Chapter ?425 Empyrean Dragon Realm [1]

    ?425 Empyrean Dragon Realm [1]

    They often say that a tiger father doesn''t raise a dog son, but there''s another side to that saying. To raise a dog son, there must also be a dog father.

    As inky ck mana red out and overtook Wang Chen''s aura, this was the only thought that came to Damien''s mind. To do such a thing was probably the stupidest course of action there was.

    After all, they weren''t in an isted space, nor were the people involved in the current scuffles even close to the only ones around. For Wang Chen to openly unt his traitor status was worse than stupid.

    The second that inky ck mana appeared in the air, the expressions of those 4th ss existences that were gathered simultaneously changed. Cold gazes congregated on Wang Chen.

    And before he could even finish prepping whatever attack he was nning to pull, a horde of all-epassing auras pressed down on his back and forced his knees to the ground.

    "When the matter was a personal grudge, we had no right nor desire to intervene. However, Wang Chen, you have made a huge mistake this time."

    A man who looked in histe 20s stepped into the air. His hair was so blonde it was closer to gold in color, and his eyes were a ruby red simr to Rose''s. When Damien saw him, his instincts screamed danger.

    ''That is the Pce Master of the Jade Heavenly Pce. The current strongest active expert on the Cloud ne.''

    Tian Yang''s mental transmission entered Damien''s mind, causing his eyes to widen. He knew it was wrong to be fooled by looks after meeting people like Elvira and the Phoenix Matriarchs, these tens of thousands of year-old women who were still heaven-shaking beauties, but he still ended up making that mistake.

    The Pce Master of the Jade Heavenly Pce. The first-ranked expert in the entirety of the Cloud ne. He truly had an imposing air that matched those titles.

    ''Hm? Wait a second¡­didn''t he say active experts?''

    Damien noticed the discrepancy in Tian Yang''s words, ring at thetter suspiciously.

    ''And do you count as an active expert or not?''

    Tian Yang smirked. ''This old man has long retired from the scene. If not, how could an insolent brat like you manage to be my disciple?''

    ''Tch. Pretentious old man, don''t think I don''t know how much you wanted to teach me. You can pretend all you want, but you''ll never fool me.''

    ''Whatever you say.'' Tian Yang rolled his eyes.

    While the two were conversing, the Pce Master of the Jade Heavenly Pce arrived before Wang Chen.

    Wang Chen felt a cold sweat pouring down his back.

    "You, as a reputable leader of our Central Continent, have sold your soul to the enemy. You have be a traitor to all humanity. Do you understand the consequences of what you''ve done?" The Pce Master spoke slowly.

    Wang Chen gritted his teeth, but didn''t respond. He was trying hard to rouse his mana and flee, but it wasn''t just the Pce Master who was pressuring him. He was facing the joint pressure of tens of existences that surpassed his level. Even his mana was moving sluggishly.

    The Pce Master gave him a sideways nce. "It seems you have no intention to speak. Very well, I also do not have a habit of negotiating with traitors."

    "I, Shangguan Yu, as the Pce Master of the Jade Heavenly Pce, shall execute the authority brought about by my position. Today, I shall sentence this traitor and everyone rted to him to death! Do not leave a single one behind, whether it be a dog or a chicken, kill them all!"

    ""Yes, Pce Master!""

    An array of shouts rang out. A ughter began. No matter where they tried to run, those geniuses and elders of the Wang n were exterminated rapidly under the mass of assants that followed the Pce Master''s orders.

    Shangguan Yu swiped his hand down casually, severing Wang Chen''s head like he was killing a bug. It was effortless.

    "Send word back to the sect. A force shall be created for the sake of wiping this scourge off of our Cloud ne. The main family, branch families, anyone with even a drop of Wang blood inside their bodies, ughter them all."

    "Yes, Pce Master." The disciple next to him responded promptly and carried out his orders. Damien watched the whole show y out from the sidelines.

    This was the truth of the world. Even though he felt it was a bit much to annihte any and everyone rted to the Wang Family, he could also understand why it was done.

    It was just as he said. There was no mercy for traitors.

    Damien nced at the Pce Master.

    [All-Seeing Eyes have been activated.]

    [Status]

    Shangguan Yu

    ''Hm?''

    That was all he could say. But it wasn''t like the Pce Master''s name was helpful information at all, since thetter had already dered it only a few moments prior.

    "What an interesting boy."

    Damien looked up in shock, only to find those ruby-red eyes and that golden hair only inches away from his face.

    His eyes hardened as he backed away. ''His reputation isn''t groundless at all. This kind of power isn''t something I can hope to see through at my level. He''s apletely different breedpared to Wang Chen.''

    "Now, now. How can you run away at a time like this? If you want to invade someone else''s privacy, shouldn''t you be prepared to have the same done to you?"

    Damien clicked his tongue. "Yeah, my bad. But still, what''s the harm in wanting to see how high the wall I need to climb is?"

    "Oho? Tian Yang, you''ve truly found yourself an interesting disciple."

    "Hahahaha! Isn''t he? This brat has quite the annoying personality, but his talent is still amazing nheless." Tian Yang replied.

    Damien rolled his eyes and teleported away, arriving next to Rose once more. He wanted nothing to do with Shangguan Yu.

    That guy was an old fox on the level of Tian Yang. He didn''t like the feeling of having to constantly have his guard up about what he did or said, lest it be used against him at ater time.

    ''I get the feeling that he''s scheming something. Not something rted to me or this event at all, just the fact that he''s scheming something.''

    It wasn''t even a danger sense. Shangguan Yu just felt like someone whose every word was meant to lure you deeper into a trap, so that one day you''d be unable to escape his grasp.

    It was a terrifying kind of person to have as an enemy, but an incredibly useful kind as an ally. Though, even as an ally, you''d always be forced to have your guard up.

    ''I can''t see through him at all, whether it be his status or mana. Let''s just hope he''s an ally. If worstes to worst, I''m not the one who has to deal with him. I don''t have the power to meddle in that level of affairs.''

    Damien shook off his thoughts. Since Tian Yang was upying Shangguan Yu, he didn''t have to worry about interacting with that old fox. It meant he could go back to focusing on what he actually came here for.

    "My lovely wife, how was it? Your husband is way better than you expected, isn''t he?" Damien stuck out his chest with pride.

    Rose giggled. "Indeed, my dear husband has be an even greater man than he once was. How can I not be proud to be his wife?"

    Shetched into his arm with a smile. Even though their romantic moment had been interrupted, this kind of casual interaction was just as good. She simply wanted to savor the fact that they were back together.

    But she suddenly remembered something. "Ah, how rude of me! I was so immersed in you that I forgot to greet the one you came with. So, is she my new sister?"

    "Cough¡­perhaps¡­" Damien averted his eyes.

    "Hm, hm¡­" Rose hummed contemtively. "If it''s her body, then she definitely meets the standard. As for her personality, I''ll need to experience it to see for myself. Dear husband, how about you leave us alone for a bit so I can get to know my new sister better?"

    Damien felt cold sweat leaking down his back. He felt that he was probably in a scarier situation than Wang Chen was before he got executed a bit ago.

    But he couldn''t do anything besides wish Ruyue and leave. Getting involved in this matter would just be asking for his death.

    Instead, he turned his attention elsewhere. There was one more reunion he had been wanting to have.

    Looking at the blue-haired beauty among the sea of fairies from the Supreme Fairy Paradise, he smiled.

    But at that moment, a sudden disturbance took ce in the mana in the atmosphere.

    Nobody knew who said it, but as soon as the words came out, the previous tense and excited atmosphere returned in an instant. The matters of Damien and the Wang n left their minds entirely.

    "The Empyrean Dragon Realm is opening!"

 Chapter 426 Empyrean Dragon Realm [2]

    426 Empyrean Dragon Realm [2]

    Damien sighed at the unfortunate timing, but he figured it''d be weirder if the Empyrean Dragon Realm didn''t open at a time like this.

    After all, with how much rampant mana had been spread into the atmosphere during the previous matter with the Wang n, it was only natural that a mana-reactive gate like a secret realm entrance would be aroused.

    Wild spatial fluctuations started to spread from the middle of the crowd. But since most people weren''t skilled enough to feel those fluctuations, they weren''t able to move away in time.

    Although the geniuses from major powers were warned by their elders and hence left the area, many rogue cultivators were directly sucked into the forming spatial rift that had spawned.

    Damien nced at them through the folds of space. A few hundred had been sucked in, but only tens of them survived and sessfully entered the secret realm. The others were either torn apart and killed by the unstable space or teleported randomly across the Central Continent.

    ''Haa, I guess I can consider myself lucky to be a spatial cultivator. Even if a situation like this urs, nothing will happen to me.''

    Soon, the spatial rift stabilized. The entrance to the secret realm truly opened, and had be safe enough for those who hade for it to flood into it.

    Damien looked around, spotting Long Chen in the crowd. When he did, he couldn''t help but grin.

    ''Little brat, it seems you''ve been busy while I was away. Look at you moving around with a beauty in each arm. And isn''t that your master? I can''t believe you had the gall to bag a Sect Elder.''

    Damien''s mental transmission entered Long Chen''s head, almost causing him to stumble.

    ''I see you are just as crass as always. Hypocritical, too. Why didn''t you tell me that the two Heavenly Fairies of the Supreme Fairy Paradise were your women? Not to mention the little princess of the Xue n. I thought I had a knack for making enemies, but now that I see you I don''t dare to say I''m the best at it.''

    ''Enemies or stepping stones, it hasn''t yet been decided what their position will be. Anyway, get in there and be more powerful. Next time we fight, the punishment will be calling me Boss for the rest of your life.''

    Long Chen grinned wolfishly. ''Tch. Someone like Wang Tianhe doesn''t represent my fighting prowess. If you think you can manhandle me like you did to him, then you''re in for a great surprise when you taste my de.''

    Damien returned the same ferocious smile. ''Good! That''s the kind of confidence any subordinate of mine should have. Very well then, I look forward to our meeting in the secret realm. Let''s try not to kill each other this time though, okay?''

    Long Chen gave one final nod before jumping into the secret realm entrance with the beauty by his side. Damien didn''t know who she was, but considering how the other scions looked at her, she must''ve been someone with high status.

    As for Xiao Xun, as an Elder of the Celestial Star Pce, let alone entering the secret realm, she couldn''t even publicly show too much affection for Long Chen. If they didn''t have something like Damien''s trained eye, or Rose''s insane ability, nobody would be able to tell the true nature of their rtionship.

    After his greeting to Long Chen, Damien''s gaze turned towards a certain group of individuals with snow-white hair. Looking at them, he could only feel disdain in his heart.

    ''Isn''t this a great way to start Ruyue''s revenge against the Xue n? The fact that her most earnest wish is to kill the man who ims to be her father, what kind of hellish treatment did they put her through? Let''s see how many of your geniuses cane out of this expedition alive.''

    Finally, his gaze turned back to Elena. Although their reunion and the talk they needed to have couldn''t happen because of the secret realm opening, it was simply dyed instead of cancelled. He had no ns of letting go of this opportunity.

    He turned to Rose and Ruyue, who both nodded to him with smiles on their faces. It seemed the two of them were nning to explore the secret realm together as well.

    Conveniently, or should he say, purposefully, giving him an opportunity to be alone with Elena.

    He was truly grateful to have such understanding women. He once again resolved himself to reciprocate their trust in him a hundredfold and shed away, appearing next to Elena.

    He held his hand out in an exaggerated manner. "Now then, shall we go?"

    Elena looked at him up and down. Even though he''s changed so much in the time they were apart, both when he was pushed into the dungeon and on their time in the Cloud ne, the Damien she knew and the one she had fallen so head over heels for was still present somewhere in there.

    Just the fact that he had finallye to her earnestly like this was enough to affirm her of this fact.

    She grabbed his outstretched hand gracefully. "With such an amazing guide leading me, how could I refuse?"

    The two of them shed away. Damien entered the chaotic space of the spatial rift with Elena''s hand in his.

    ''Interesting¡­my control over Dimensional Magic has improved to such a point.''

    Since the previous spatial rift he entered was conjured by a Demigod, he didn''t notice it. But now, his improvement was basically shoving itself in his face to see.

    Within the chaotic space, he could see the outline of the entire Empyrean Dragon Sect. The spatial transmission formation had beenid out to cover the entire sect and transport them in randomly, but he didn''t have to rely on such chance.

    He felt how easy it was to wade through normal space when he left the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. With this kind of ability, choosing where the spatial transmission formation would spit them out was a piece of cake.

    ''Even then, I can''t really tell which areas will be more beneficialpared to others. Since this time, I''m focusing on Elena''s improvement rather than my own, I should just drop us somewhere near the main sect and allow fate to do the rest.''

    He imprinted the map of the Empyrean Dragon Sect that he was seeing into his head. It would be usefulter when he had to go to the sect''s center to contact the World Core. After he was finished, he chose a rtively inconspicuous area and allowed the spatial transmission formation to do the rest.

    The duo soon appeared in the middle of a small forest. It was just a normal forest, with average-sized trees and no beasts inhabiting it. But it was quite a refreshing sight to Damien, who had be so used to trees that were multiple kilometers in height.

    Although the process of choosing a destination and memorizing the map took a decent amount of time, to Elena, it was just an instant. In the chaotic space, she couldn''t feel the flow of time, nor could she understand what was happening. In the eyes of someone without a spatial affinity, the chaotic space was just an expanse of ckness, no different from flowing one''s eyes.

    But now that they touched ground again, she opened her eyes and spread her awareness, immediately putting up her guard.

    Damien smiled. ''Alright. This is her adventure after all. I''ll just take the back seat and act only when I''m needed. Other than that, simply enjoying herpany is enough.''

    The Empyrean Dragon Realm opening that had once caused him to feel so much excitement, to think that only a yearter it''d be something he considered a walk in the park. His rate of improvement was shocking to say the least.

    But he didn''t mind it. ''If it''s date locations we''re talking about, what could be better than this?''

    He grabbed Elena''s hand once again and shed away. If this was their first date, he''d make sure it was one she''d remember for the rest of their lives.

 Chapter 433 Sword [1]

    Two people walked through a grassy in in the Empyrean Dragon Realm.

    "Come on~ why does this ce have to be so far away?" The woman among themined.

    "Considering the size of the Empyrean Dragon Realm, the fact that we can even walk there means we were lucky to be dropped close by." The man beside her answered.

    The duo looked almost identical to each other even though they had no direct blood ties. From their piercing blue eyes to the silvery white hair that decorated their heads. If it wasn''t for the height and gender differences, nobody would''ve been able to tell them apart.

    "Still, though! My legs hurt, so carry me!" The girl continued.

    "You''re heavy." The man replied ndly.

    "Hey! Did your parents never teach you that you should never talk to a woman about her weight?"

    "You''re right. They didn''t teach me."

    "You''re no fun~!" The girl pouted.

    "You''re just annoying."

    However, the man''s response wasn''t any less in than it was any other time she spoke to him. Considering how badly their personalities meshed, it was a strange sight to see the two together. But oddly enough, their conversations always carried an unknown synchronicity that made it difficult for anyone to disrupt their flow.

    "Hey~ aren''t we supposed to be trying to kill big sister now? Why aren''t we doing that?"

    "Xue Yue, do you really want to kill that woman?"

    "Why wouldn''t I~? From the moment I was born, I was always trapped in her shadow. They didn''t even try to hide it, naming me Xue Yue as if I wouldn''t notice that it''s only a single character difference from her name. It''s annoying to have a shadow looming over you all the time that you can never get rid of, you know?"

    Xue Feng looked over at her for the first time since they started moving.

    "Your mouth speaks these words but it''s never reflected in your eyes. It''s the most terrifying thing about you."

    "Hmm~?" Xue Yue tilted her head curiously as he spoke. But just as he said, her eyes were as indifferent as ever.

    It was as if they were detached from the rest of her face, never matching the expressions she made, and forever unchanging.

    "You know it wasn''t my choice, right~? Still, isn''t it fine? I like it better like this!"

    Xue Feng turned back around and walked. He was no longer in the mood to converse with her.

    ''Xue Ruyue¡­that woman must be strong.''

    If she was able to escape the pursuit of the Xue n and stay alive for so many years, there was no way she''d be a weak person. Xue Feng felt like immediately turning around and searching for her so they could duel.

    But he held himself back. Considering the woman''s personality listed in the records the Xue n gave them, she should be holding quite a grudge. Even if they didn''t go to her, she''d go to them.

    And if that was the case, there was no reason to pursue her. Instead, it would be better to gain the benefits of the secret realm instead of wasting time.<sub> </sub>

    ''Besides that, I don''t know why I always end up traveling with this woman.''

    He nced sideways at Xue Yue. He could never figure out whether to trust her or be wary of her. And with how much they usually interacted, he felt a bit of both.

    ''Is she strong or not? She has always hidden herself behind those eyes. Maybe I should fight her?''

    As if the Heavens were set on making herpete with her elder half-sister, they made her almost a carbon copy of thetter. Even the points that the Xue n didn''t know about were the same.

    Just as Xue Ruyue was born with a set of special pupils, Xue Yue was as well. Even the functions of their pupils were simr.

    The only thing she didn''t gain was Xue Ruyue''s insane talent towards yin. Although she was talented in her own right, it wasn''t to a level that would make the Xue n obsessed with her.

    Nheless, her pupils alone were enough to put her amongst the top geniuses of the Xue n. With her unknown level of strength as well, nobody knew where she truly ranked. However, all but one were too wary of her to speak.

    ''What a good guy¡­I wonder how long it''ll take to make him mine? Xue Yue thought inwardly.

    If there was one thing she inherited from the Xue n, it was her extreme mental illness. Ever since she had met Xue Feng when they were little, she had been unhealthily obsessed with him.

    ''But this bastard only ever thinks about getting stronger. No matter how much I try to seduce him, it never works. He doesn''t even listen to the elders'' orders unless it''s an order that will increase his strength. How did he even be like this?''

    It was quite funny. Although they were so different, they were brought together by the fact that neither of them really cared for the hierarchy of the Xue n. They were the two most rebellious geniuses the n had produced, if one didn''t count Ruyue.

    The pair continued their walk to the location that was marked on their map. There, something that was more than worthy enough to take Xue Feng''s attention off of battle with Xue Ruyue was resting.

    ''The Empyrean Dragon Sword, the Ancient Sect''s crowning artifact. I heard a rumor that it might be a Demigod-ranked artifact.'' Xue Feng thought.

    His hands itched as he thought about it. He wasn''t a naturally greedy person, but he was a believer that treasures go to the strong. The location of the Empyrean Dragon sword would then have a double benefit for him.

    Firstly, he would get the opportunity to duel with the most talented young prodigies of the major ns. These were the kinds of people who could know the location of such a ce. As for rogue cultivators, the ones who could actually make it to the location itself were all worthy to enter his eyes.

    Secondly, was the Empyrean Dragon Sword itself. He didn''t lust after the borrowed power of an artifact, he wanted to climb from the bottom with his own strength. However, to Xue Feng, reaching the peak of 4th ss or even the Demigod Level was a given.

    He believed in his talent and determination.

    And when that day came when he reached a point where Chaos-ranked artifacts were asmon as drifting clouds, when he needed an artifact that could truly hold his strength, the Empyrean Dragon Sword was a perfect choice.

    ''I wonder if there is anyone who can truly match up to me? Or maybe it''ll be just as boring as before. However, if that man is here¡­''

    Xue Feng thought back to a scene he had witnessed not long ago. Of a single man crushing Wang Tianhe and Wang Chen, and then borrowing the Jade Heavenly Pce''s knife to exterminate the Wang Family entirely.

    He had never seen a genius like that before. All the nobledies and young masters he had been forced to befriend were nothingpared to him. Xue Feng''s hands itched even more. If he could beat that man, he would truly be worthy of the title of number one genius on the Cloud ne.

    However, when he arrived he didn''t see a single trace of that man. Instead, there was someone else he had always wanted to meet.

    ''Aha, it looks like this time will be fun after all.''

 Chapter 436 World [2]

    The formless starlight that marked Damien''s ss as a Celestial spread from his body. As it did so, his awareness pierced through the ground under him and dove as deep as it could go.

    Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen.

    When his awareness impacted the ground, it suddenly rampaged out of his control. His senses were forced to spread along the profound patterns on the floor beneath him.

    ''What is¡­''

    Before he could question what was happening, an ancient and deste aura began to emanate from the formation, mingling with his Celestial Aura as if they were close pals.

    No matter how much Damien tried to break out of his meditation state and stop the ongoing process, it wouldn''t work.

    But just as soon as he started struggling, he stopped altogether. He allowed his awareness and aura to flow as they pleased.

    It was because he could sense something in his spiritual world. It wasn''t an intruder, nor was it something special at all. It was far more profound than anything like that.

    As the ancient aura covered his body and merged with his own aura, its formless essence rushed into his body. The Void Physique immediately went to work to counter it.

    But Damien still didn''t move. Instead, he spoke out with his mind''s voice. It wasn''t a vocal or mental projection using mana, he was simply thinking as if he was speaking to someone else.

    ''I know you''re here. How long do you n to observe me before making contact?''

    He was met with silence. The presence he was speaking to didn''t act, nor did it reveal its location. But he knew it was there somewhere.

    ''We have urgent matters to talk about. I''m not sure what you''re nning to do with this formation, but I''m sure it isn''t trying to harm me. If you''re doing something like this, then you should be open to negotiation, right?''

    Another silence.

    Damien didn''t fret. He knew from the beginning that this being wasn''t something he could just carelessly make contact with. And he knew that actually hearing its voice was something that very few, if any, were given the right to do.

    And so, he continued his prodding for what felt like hours on end.

    ''With the way times are changing, you will not be safe from theing catastrophe. Considering your status, you should already understand this much. Partnering with me is your best chance at survival, and perhaps something far greater than just that.''

    Damien finally felt a response. Although it wasn''t vocal, he could feel thoughts of intrigue filling his spiritual world.

    ''This is just how that little onemunicated, but considering your age, you shouldn''t be limited to just this. I understand that you might have a great deal of pride, but don''t let pride be the reason you forfeit your life.''

    [The concept of pride is not something that applies to us.]

    Damien smiled inwardly. Finally, he had provoked a response.

    ''And why is that?'' He questioned on.

    [This thing called pride was invented by the living. It is something solely possessed by those with will. However, we are not beings with will.]

    ''If you were not beings with will, then you wouldn''t bemunicating with me right now, would you?''

    [¡­]

    [Human reasoning is strange. We make contact with you not because of our will, but for our survival.]

    ''I''m honored that you think I can y a part in that.''

    [It is a logical judgement based on the actions you have shown since your arrival.]

    ''Logical, huh. The logical choice would probably be totch onto someone far more powerful and aplished than me. Why would you choose me then?''<sub> </sub>

    [Others do not possess your ability.]

    Damien flinched. Right, evenmunicating like this wasn''t something thetter could do with just anyone. Most likely, this being hadn''t spoken to a human in eons.

    [State your proposal.]

    The voice was cold and detached. It almost didn''t sound like a single voice at all. It was like the amalgamation of the voices of everything that lived and breathed. Genderless and formless, being defined only by its own standards.

    ''I want to bind you. My duty as a Celestial is to do so. It is to my own benefit, and also yours if you allow me to proceed.''

    [How will we benefit?]

    ''Simple. As I stated before, your survival is hinged on the lives of those living within you, as well as the status of the Core that allowed you to attain consciousness. If either of these is greatly threatened, you will also be in danger.''

    Damien wasn''t sure if his words were truth. It was mere conjecture he made about worlds through his own experience with them, as well as his insights on Dimensional Magic. However, it didn''t seem like his conjecture was too far-fetched.

    [Your words are not the truth, yet, they are equally truthful. The overarching purpose of your words, however, is without falsity.]

    ''Then there''s no need to talk in circles. I believe that by granting me your power, you shall see benefits as well. Even disregarding the survival aspect, I believe that through our connection, I can stimte your growth.''

    It was a bold proposition. To stimte the growth of an entire world, what kind of person could dare say they could aplish it with confidence? Yet, Damien was sure he could do it.

    ''There is a precedent.'' Damien continued before the World Core could speak. ''I don''t know how much you can see from me, but I have already formed a connection with another world. That world is my home world, and through our connection, I can sense the changes taking ce there.''

    It hadn''t even been 5 years since those elders from the Burning Sun Sect had drained earth of all its mana, yet, the world was growing at a rate where that lost mana had already been regained and even exceeded.

    He couldn''t feel it before because he hadn''t formed his spiritual world yet. His connection was still too vague for him to directly interact with it. Even within the Primordial Undying Realm, he wasn''t able to feel the changes due to being disconnected from the outside world.

    But once he was given time to rx and consolidate his gains from that trip, he finally felt the drastic changes Earth was going through.

    It was still vague. It wasn''t like he could feel the presence of every person on Earth, or see what was happening on the. But he could intuitively feel the changes.

    Whether it be the insane topographical changes of the world, the vast amount of mana that Earth possessed, which might''ve even been on par with Apeiron already, or the general strength level of the poption, which had grown so explosively that Damien almost couldn''t believe it.

    Earth was no longer the same that Damien once knew. It was no longer a tiny world that would be fazed by a small number of 3rd ss invaders.

    He couldn''t attribute this change to himself alone, he wasn''t conceited enough to think he had so much sway, but he knew one thing for certain.

    Earth''s fate had changed when he bound it to himself.

    The World Core read his thoughts clearly. He didn''t have to speak directly for it to do so, as they were in a state where their consciousnesses were connected.

    [¡­]

    [That child called Earth can be called a precedent. But that child has not gained the qualifications to bepared to us. In rtivity, our growth will be far more arduous.]

    Damien grinned inwardly. Even though the World Core said it was indifferent to human emotions, he didn''t think that was entirely the case.

    There were two things that every entity would crave, regardless of their nature.

    The first was survival.

    As for the second, it was strength.

    And right now, Damien was offering both to the World Core.

 Chapter 437 World [3]

    The World Core was silent for many minutes after Damien finished his proposal. Although there was plenty more he could say, and plenty more that needed to be said, he was only trying to arouse the World Core''s interest, so those things could be saved for another time.

    [We cannot ept this proposal.]

    However, the World Core''s response wasn''t something he expected at all. Even with its survival on the line, it could still refuse?

    ''Wait, that''s not right. Even its demise isn''t guaranteed, and my being able to guarantee its survival also isn''t something that it canpletely trust with just my words. If I want to bind this World Core, it seems I''ll have to wait and make more contributions to prove myself first. Otherwise¡ª''

    His thoughts were interrupted by the World Core''s voice.

    [Damien Void has sufficiently proven his qualifications in the location known as the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. Our reason for refusal is unrted.]

    Damien furrowed his brows. ''Unrted? Is it some kind of unavoidable circumstance?''

    [Affirmative. Our situation does not allow for us to contract with you.]

    Damien''s thoughts becameplicated. A World Core was an enigmatic existence that he wasn''t even close to fully understanding. But to him, they were like miniaturized versions of the Universal Will, which was also called the Heavens by many.

    An unbiased entity that observes without interfering, yet possesses the power to exterminate everything if it truly decided to interfere.

    Of course, having this kind of power limited their intelligence. The Universal Will didn''t even have an ego of its own, while the egos present in World Cores were extremely iplete whenpared to a truly intelligent being like a human or a 4th ss beast.

    But regardless of their limited sentience, they were still existences that couldn''t be trifled with. Let alone having circumstances, a World Core having personal problems unrted to survival seemed nigh impossible.

    ''Wait, survival? Could it be¡­?''

    Damien projected his thoughts. ''Can you show me your main body?''

    [¡­]

    [Affirmative.]

    With the World Core''s agreement, Damien''s consciousness was untethered from the formation, traveling deep into the earth below until he reached a spacious cave like the one he had seen on Earth.

    ''My awareness can''t spread this far with my own strength. The World Core must''ve guided me.'' Damien thought. But soon enough, he was forced to stop thinking about useless things.

    ''This¡­!''

    A shimmering ster blue mass of energy simr to Earth''s World Core stood before him. However, it was farrger than its younger counterpart. The mystical scene never ceased to mesmerize him even if he had seen it before.

    But, being mesmerized wasn''t something he was allowed to do at the moment.

    Because an infinitely small portion of that World Core, an area close to 100 meters in diameter, waspletely drenched in an inky ck color.

    ''Nox mana.''

    [Affirmative. This mana originates from the foreign species termed as the Nox. It has been corrupting our energy center for approximately 8,000 years.]

    ''Invading your energy center? What are the consequences?''

    [With the current corruption percentage, we are unable to differentiate between foreign invaders and indigenous species. The foreign mana also allows the invading species more freedom in rtion to controlling the world''s forces.]

    Damien frowned. He didn''t know much about what thetter sentence meant, but even though it didn''t seem like much, it was a great feat to fool a World Core into thinking that invaders were true inhabitants.

    Although World Cores couldn''t interfere in what happened in their worlds, they could introduce restrictions and other indirect measures to inhabit those that were unwee.<sub> </sub>

    p For instance, blocking ess into a forbidden zone like the 3000 Beast Mountain Range would''ve been possible if the World Core was aware of the Nox''s presence.</anda>

    It could''ve also given ric an indirect blessing that would''ve allowed him to ovee the Nox Demigod without dying, which would''ve been infinitely beneficial for not only the Cloud ne, but the universe as a whole.

    These were just smaller examples, since Damien didn''t know the exact kind of authority an unbound World Core held, but even these examples were enough to make him understand the depths of the problem.

    Luckily, a World Core wasn''t a construct that could be easily corrupted. Even after thousands of years, they could only do so much damage.

    [If a contract is created at the moment, the foreign mana might lead to unknown consequences. This risk will not be taken.]

    Damien shook his head. The prospect of corrupting a World Core was what worried him. As for the corruption itself, he didn''t think much of it.

    ''This isn''t a problem I can''t solve. Allow my physical body to appear here, and I can take care of this for you. All you have to do is promise to contract with me afterward.''

    [¡­]

    [Understood. If Damien Void possesses the ability to reverse corruption, we shall consent to forming the contract.]

    Damien nodded. At least this was going as he expected. Even if the World Core didn''t know much about his power, he knew it should at least have an inkling about what the Void Physique was capable of.

    It was an entity that could otherwise be called the soul of the world, after all. It definitely had the capability to review what he had been doing ever since he arrived here.

    Soon after the World Core gave its acknowledgment, Damien felt the ambient mana around him churn and convert into spatial mana. At the same time, it wrapped around his body, transporting him away.

    When he reappeared, he was back in the location he was just viewing with his awareness.

    "Alright. There''s no need to dy with useless talk anymore since we''ve already made a deal. I''ll get to work immediately."

    Damien''s figure appeared in front of the corrupted area. Whenpared to his size, it dwarfed him by many times. But still, at the end of the day, it was just mana.

    Compared to the profound and unattainable mana that the World Core itself was made out of, this Nox mana was something he could fathom with rtive ease.

    He had devoured enough Nox for it to be like that.

    He put his hand into the cloud of incorporeal mana and activated his Void Physique.

    ''Devour.''

    He had never used Devour this way, but it was a perfect application of the ability. The Void Physique excelled at cleansing foreign substances.

    ''Phew. If it wasn''t for the World Core helping me, I wouldn''t even be able to stand here without turning into ash.''

    Damien leisurely thought to himself as he devoured the foreign mana within the World Core.

    This massive construct wasn''t something a 3rd ss like him should be able to stand in front of. Even with his ss as a Celestial, doing so without sufficient power was suicide.

    The mana that made up World Cores waspletely different than the mana that living beings used. Even inparison to the Divine Power used by Divinities, it was a different breed.

    It was another reason why Damien felt that World Cores were the closest beings to the Universal Will that existed.

    But none of that mattered at the moment. Damien closed his eyes and rxed as more and more Nox mana entered his body through devour, only to be purified by his Void Physique an instantter.

    This process, it might take far longer than he was originally expecting it to.

 Chapter 438 World [4]

    The fifth day soon dawned on the secret realm. Within the central area, Elena was currently immersed in the myriad of books lining the walls.

    Since Damien had told her about his circumstances before suddenly disappearing, she didn''t waste any time worrying about him. As things stood, it looked like he was going to get stronger once again through whatever he was doing.

    ''But it''s not like I''m not the same.'' She thought as she closed the book in her hands.

    This library was truly something else. Rather than calling it a library, it was more apt to say that this was the main record storage of the Empyrean Dragon Sect.

    Whether it be history books, cultivation manuals and martial skills, or even records of the Great War, they were all present within this library.

    ''Haa¡­it''s a shame. Half of these books are written in the ancientnguage of the Cloud ne instead of the universalnguage. It''s a shame that the system doesn''t give us an automatic trantion skill, but I guess it can''t be helped.''

    Putting the entire universe under a singlenguage to preventnguage barriers was enough to maintain bnce. The system wasn''t obligated to do any more than that.

    Actually, just the fact that a universalnguage was created and implemented was insane enough.

    But Elena didn''t mind the small details. She was simplymenting over the fact that some of the most important books she found weren''t written in anguage she could read.

    ''Whatever, I''ll just take what I can get. It''s not like my gains here have been small.''

    "Martial skills" was a term used by those on the Cloud ne, but the concept of transferable skills wasn''t something unique to them.

    Skill books, skill cards, these kinds of constructs existed even on Earth. But the quality of skill that could be transferred didn''t add up at all.

    After all, transferable skills still had to first be created and trained by the one who created them. They also needed to have enoughprehension of the skill to streamline the process of learning it for others. Just describing the process of creating the skill wasn''t enough to make it transferable.

    As for the one learning the skill, they of course needed to put in effort to do so. Even a beginner-level skill needed to be trained before it was earned.

    This was why transferable skills on Earth only amounted to useless skills like a Cooking skill or basic swordsmanship.

    But here on the Cloud ne, a world with countless years of experience that had produced an innumerable amount of powerhouses, things were different.

    From defensive techniques, attack techniques, and even more enigmatic supportive techniques that Elena had never heard of, this library had them all.

    ''If I could loot this entire ce, I definitely would, but these skills don''t all match with me so it won''t matter. My affinities are Light and Life, so I should prioritize skills rted to those two elements.''

    Elena skimmed through the skillbooks on the shelves. The main problem for her at the moment was that her fighting style heavily differed from others who had the same elemental affinities as her.

    For one, most Life or Light element users chose the supportive path rather than the offensive one. Bing a skilled healer or support was far more useful and made better use of their elemental properties.

    But Elena was never one to stay on the back lines of a battle. Plus, with her advancement into 3rd ss, her fighting style had gone through another drastic change.

    Souls of Valha, her main skill as a Valkyrie, was a summoning skill. The more she used the skill and leveled it, the greater the number of warriors she could summon to fight for her.

    It was as if the system was subtly judging her that fighting on the frontlines wasn''t the role that suited her the best, even if being at the forefront of battle was still her role.

    ''I can summon around 20 of those warriors now. As for the skill itself, it seems to be connected to my Light element rather than Life, so I should prioritize that element for offensive purposes.''<sub> </sub>

    As for Life element, she didn''t actually have many skills or spells rted to it. Other than the most standard healing skills, her main skill was Yggdrasil.

    ''Looks like I''m deeply connected to Norse mythology. I wonder why that is¡­''

    Elena suddenly thought back to her past. The days before the World Awakening, even before she had met Damien in high school.

    When she was a child no more than five years old, when both of her parents had died due to unknown causes.

    She had been left in an orphanage that day. Even though she went from foster home to foster home for a while, that orphanage was her true home for many years.

    As for her parents, she didn''t even remember their faces.

    But she never minded it. For her parents to have died so early in her life, she didn''t feel much connection to them at all.

    But after the world changed, she began to doubt some things.

    ''Damien''s father is¡­quite obviously not someone from our world. The surname Void was enough to key me into that fact after the world changed, but with the kinds of things he''s told me, apparently it''s all but confirmed at this point.''

    So if his father could be someone amazing, couldn''t her parents be the same? This was the kind of nonsensical thinking that went through her head asionally.

    But she couldn''t shake off the sensation that she might be right.

    There were many clues. For one, her talent. Damien was an insane talent that couldn''t be categorized like others. His growth being so rapid didn''t affect her at all, it was only natural.

    But Rose and Ruyue, these two women that had be her sisters, they had both begun their path to strength far before she had.

    Not only that, but Rose was also at a far higher level than her when they first met.

    But now, the two of them were rtively equal in power. Her growth wasn''t something that logically made sense.

    If she was a trueblooded Earthling, she should have talent that matched that of a beginner world, not one that matched the geniuses at the peak of a middle world.

    Coupled with the mysterious calling she felt from a world only she could enter, it was hard for her to not doubt her origins. Thinking she was a simple character was just idiotic at this point.

    ''I don''t know why I care so much about something like background. Even if my parents are still alive, it''s not like they did anything good for me. Even if I have some profound and unimaginable background, as long as it doesn''t interfere with my life, I don''t care for it.''

    Status came from power. Background was its own form of power, but it was one that she despised. Especially after interacting with so many incorrigible young masters and misses during the past year, she looked down on people who were unnecessarily prideful of their background.

    Elena shook off her thoughts. ''Forget it, I shouldn''t be thinking of these kinds of things right now. I need to take as many of these skillbooks and other useful books as I can before we get ejected from the secret realm.''

    With her thoughts back in order, Elena returned to the task at hand.

    However, perhaps her focus was why she didn''t notice the flickering holographic emblem that appeared behind her as she did so.

 Chapter 439 Sword [3]

    The sixth day dawned on the secret realm, but those within hardly noticed.

    In the central tower, Elena was immersed in studying therge number of texts present within. Every few minutes, she would enter the empty central area of the tower and practice the skills she had been learning.

    Although she wasn''t able to master them enough for them to show up on her status window quite yet, she was rapidly approaching that level. Perhaps, it would only take a few days or weeks after she left the secret realm to achieve mastery.

    As for Damien, he was immersed in devouring the Nox mana guing the World Core. The previously massive stain of mana had been devoured at an extreme pace, reaching a size that wasn''t much bigger than Damien himself.

    And it wasn''t just the two of them that were working hard.

    Within the Empyrean Dragon Sword Inheritance, the fierce battles were finallying to a close.

    Dozens of geniuses had been killed, while others were evicted from the stele area. Those remaining within were only the best of the best.

    Long Chen''s wolf-like gaze scanned the room. ''Huo Lingtian, the Xue siblings, Ling''er, and that rogue cultivator. Besides thest fellow, everyone who came this far is as expected.''

    There was something interesting that they had found while they were fighting for the right to inherit the Empyrean Dragon Sword. In fact, the inheritance residing in this area was a double inheritance, rather than just the sword itself.

    Now that there were six people left, four more had to be eliminated before the inheritance could finally be imed.

    But even then, it wasn''t so simple.

    The previousyers of this inheritance site were filled with traps and puzzles, forcing them to use a variety of abilities to make their way through. Whether it be awareness, mana control, or stamina, their fundamentals were tested to the point of breaking.

    Now, they had finally reached a stage where only battle could determine the winner. There was only a single problem remaining.

    This inheritance site was widely known among the major powers, to the point where even rogue cultivators had heard rumors about it. Considering the many years that the Ancient Sect''s realm had been open, along with the difficulty of the trials, it was impossible for nobody to have arrived at this juncture before them.

    The reason why the Empyrean Dragon Sword was stillying dormant in this realm was simple.

    As a rumored Demigod-ranked sword, it wouldn''t live up to its reputation if it wasn''t picky about its owner.

    The final trial of this inheritance site wasn''t toe out victorious in the trial bybat, it was to gain the eptance of the sword.

    Long Chen shook his head and turned his attention toward one person.

    "Brother Xue, isn''t it about time for us to cross swords?"

    Xue Feng looked at him cidly. However, his tight grip on his sword handle betrayed his otherwise stoic demeanor.

    "Brother Long, I would be honored to exchange pointers with you."

    The two of them separated from the rest. As for the others, they didn''t interfere with the battle. After all, even if they wanted to, the secret realm wouldn''t allow them. An exchange between sword cultivators was sacred.

    Huo Lingtian nced sideways at the two. ''These two from the lowly great families are actually ignoring my presence. Master has told me countless times to rid myself of arrogance, but I don''t think he would fault me for getting irked when I lose face like this.''

    He didn''t know how to properly enunciate how he was feeling. It wasn''t a boiling rage or a desire to kill like he usually had when someone pped him in the face, rather, he felt disappointment.

    But it couldn''t be helped. The two men he considered his rivals had ignored him and gone straight to fighting each other. He wasn''t pleased with the way they treated him.

    In the end, Huo Lingtian sighed. ''Sword cultivators are sword cultivators to the end. The wills of others don''t matter in front of that of the de.''

    After shaking his head once more, he turned his attention to the remaining three in the room.

    "Forgive me, but I am not a man who can act crassly in front of ady, even if she is taken by another man. You two can fight each other, I will y with this gentleman over here."

    He walked in front of the rogue cultivator and cupped his fist. "I am called Huo Lingtian of the Jade Heavenly Pce."

    "Dong Hai, no affiliation." The voice that responded didn''t match the man''s body at all.<sub> </sub>

    He was an average figure without too much or too little muscle. From his face down to his toes, everything about him screamed average. However, his gruff voice seemed like it would better belong to an abnormally muscled man with massive stature.

    "Then, Brother Dong, shall we begin our match."

    "If you want to fight, then let''s fight. No need for all this sophistry."

    Huo Lingtian''s brown twitched. "As you wish."

    While the two of them began their sh, Xue Yue and Su Ling''er arrived next to each other. They moved their hands at the same time, bringing items out of their spatial rings.

    Unexpectedly, though, these items were elegant chairs for them to sit on. Soon after, an assortment of snacks and tea decorated a table that also appeared out of nowhere.

    "I''ll bet 500 spirit stones on Brother Chen." Ling''er proimed haughtily.

    "Oooh, we''re betting? My Feng Feng will definitely win, though~"

    "If that''s what you think, then why don''t you match my bet?"

    "Okay! I bet 500 spirit stones as well that my cute and handsome big brother will beat up your husband!" Xue Yue said with a mischievous smile.

    "H-he isn''t my husband¡­yet¡­" Ling''er responded with a blush.

    "Oho~?"

    "Kuhum!" Xue Feng loudly cleared his throat as he tried to ignore the two women who were clearly talking loud enough so the two of them could hear.

    In truth, hearing Xue Yue call him "Feng Feng" almost made him fall to the floor coughing blood, but he managed to hold himself back.

    "Your sister is¡­" Long Chen started.

    "Don''t say it. Just pretend like it never happened." Xue Feng cut him off.

    Long Chen gave him a sympathetic look. "I understand your pain, brother. Being handsome sure is tough."

    "Tsk tsk, tell me about it."

    The two men sighed in unison before grinning wildly.

    ? "Shall we get started then?"

    "I couldn''t ask for anything more!"

    Their figures turned into streaks of light, meeting within seconds with their des swinging.

    ng!

    There was no mana infused in the sh of two des, but the impact still caused the winds to rage. The grins on the two men''s faces widened immensely.

    ''This is it!''

    It was hard to find a true sword cultivator, even in a ce like the Cloud ne. Bing a sword cultivator meant forsaking one''s elemental affinity for the de. Even if elemental properties could be reintroduced into fightingter, until they achieved the level of Sword Aura, or the greater Sword Will, they would have topletely forgo elemental training.

    Due to this restriction, which many people considered a huge weakness, not many had the resolve to follow the path of the sword religiously.

    So when two sword cultivators met each other, it was an event they''d make sure to prolong as much as possible.

 Chapter 440 Sword [4]

    ng! ng! ng!

    Two swords shed fiercely over and over again. One was a massive longsword, and the other was a more slim saber variant.

    Even though the duo was only using physical strength and sword techniques in their sh, the pressure of their battle still causedrge cracks and gashes to form in the earth below them.

    A formless yet sharp sword aura enveloped their battleground as if protecting the sanctity of their duel.

    Long Chen swung his sword heavily, impacting Xue Feng''s saber with all his strength. However, Xue Feng wasn''t just sitting still. His saber slid along the longsword''s de, smoothly parrying it before moving to strike once more.

    Long Chen twisted his body to narrowly avoid the de. However, he had lost his momentum when Xue Feng parried his earlier strike. Instead of trying to make another sweeping attack, he turned his sword around and swiftly stabbed Xue Feng''s sr plexus with the hilt of the sword.

    "Keuk¡­! I didn''t expect you to use such a dirty trick!"

    "Hahaha! Even if it is the hilt, it is still part of my sword. Who said I couldn''t attack with it?"

    "That''s why I wasn''t insulting you, I was just admiring your craftiness!"

    Xue Feng stomped on the ground and propelled himself forward. He let out a flurry of attacks, forcing Long Chen to go on the defensive.

    His saber moved like a snake, wriggling its way into even the smallest opening Long Chen left. As the fight continued on, Long Chen was forced to find a way to correct the weaknesses that even he didn''t know about before Xue Feng showed him.

    ? But it wasn''t like he was alone in this. Xue Feng was also benefitting immensely from this duel. Long Chen''s attacks were honest, yet filled with unbridled power. Even though the sword paths were predictable, it didn''t make them any easier to block.

    And once in a while, Long Chen wouldpletely abandon his honest sword and sneak in an attack that one would never expect from seeing his previous swordy. It was this kind of craftiness in the midst of predictability that made him a tough opponent to face.

    This kind of exchange had happened hundreds of times already in the past few minutes. Although the main attacker and defender changed rapidly, the fact of the matter was that neither of them couldnd a hit on the other.

    Instead of fighting for the Empyrean Dragon Sword, it was better to say that these two were using each other to perfect their own swordsmanship. But neither of them would have it any other way.

    Bang!

    Another flurry of exchanges took ce. Without them even realizing it, their swords had been coated in colored Sword Aura.

    "Isn''t it¡­about time we start¡­showing off¡­our sword arts?" Long Chen said between breaths. His mana rose to cover his body, ridding the sweat that was covering him.

    "Haha¡­I don''t think¡­you''ll be able to keep standing¡­if we do that¡­" Xue Feng replied, equally short of breath.

    Mana brought sustainability. Even if one''s stamina ran dry, one could use mana topensate or boost it to the next level. However, fighting with pure body and technique like the two of them had been doing was extremely tiring for them, especially when facing an opponent with an equal level of skill.

    But they were sincerely enjoying their fight, so neither of them noticed at all. Instead, after their short break, they immediately took their stances again.

    "Watch out for this one. Nine Dragons Soar Into The Heavens!" Long Chen''s voice crescendoed into a shout. His sword, wrapped in golden aura, made a swift upward sh that wasn''t necessarily aimed at anything.

    Rumble! Boom!

    The ground began to rumble and cave in. From within, nine golden dragons made of Sword Aura fiercely shot out and surrounded Xue Feng.

    "As expected of the Long n. Even your sword technique mirrors dragons." Xue Feng smirked. He raised his saber into the air, creating a clean and slow cut that even a mortal could follow.

    "Limitless Sword Strike."

    The nine dragons around his body charged in without hesitation. Their jaws were opened wide, rows of horrendous teeth shining in the cave light as they tried to rip Xue Feng to shreds.<sub> </sub>

    But Xue Feng''s swordpleted its movement before they could. As if they had been trapped in a gtinous substance, the movement of those dragons slowed until it was almost halted.

    The clean blue line of Sword Aura passed through the dragon bodies one by one, unhurried and unrestrained, as if it was taking a casual stroll in the park.

    Long Chen''s eyes widened as he witnessed it. "Amazing. To think that you imbued your Sword Aura with such a spectacr concept."

    It wasn''t empty praise. Long Chen could clearly sense the profound intent behind the sh, even though he couldn''tpletely understand it.

    "Very well, I shall not restrain myself to the Golden Dragon Sword Arts of our Long n. Instead, I will show you what I''ve achieved through my personal insight into the sword."

    Long Chen''s figure turned into a sh of gold, rushing towards Xue Feng before his sword could finish shing the nine dragons in the air.

    Right as he appeared before his opponent, Long Chen disappeared, reappearing ten meters in the air above.

    "This is a sword inspired by a man who almost pushed me to the brink of death, despite having trashy sword techniques himself. Therefore, I decided to call it the Void Sword."

    Long Chen''s arms turned into countless mirages as he swung them faster than themon eye could track. His sword formed an extremely intricate pattern in the air as he did so, but as the pattern became more profound, it also became smaller and smaller.

    "Return the world to origin, Void Sword!"

    The massive pattern coagted and became a single paper-thin line of Sword Aura that covered Long Chen''s Sword.

    "Haa¡­" Long Chen took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Although this sword wasn''tpleted, it was the pinnacle of his ability at the moment.

    "Release!"

    His eyes shot open, his sword moved at a snail''s pace, but reached the end of its swing in an instant.

    Xue Feng''s eyes widened in shock. A sudden sense of encroaching death overwhelmed him. The odd part was, he couldn''t even see the sword that Long Chen had released.

    His mind turned rapidly. In the face of guaranteed death, his thoughts moved at a pace counted in microseconds. And in that time, he steeled his resolve.

    "Just as you have created something so magnificent on your own, as have I. Allow me to show you the sword I created when I was trapped in the deepest pits of desperation."

    Xue Feng closed his eyes and ignored the iing de. He shut out all sensations except for the feeling of his sword in his hand.

    Time seemed toe to a halt, color faded from the world. It was a grey world that only Xue Feng could see.

    And in this state, he could finally see the sword Long Chen had released.

    It was formless, soundless, a representation of nothingness that someone existed in the physical ne. Seeing it, Xue Feng sighed in admiration.

    "We are both pursuing impossibilities with our swords. Therefore, you are the person I admire the most in this world. If even this final sword cannot sh you, I shall follow you as my big brother for the rest of my life."

    Xue Feng''s sword shed diagonally from top to bottom. In that instant, the grey and motionless world was split in two.

    Long Chen and Xue Feng, these two were the only ones remaining in the world. Only they could see the sh between swords that was taking ce between them. Everything else had been frozen in time.

    Except for a single pair of cold and emotionless striking blue pupils, who stared at the two of them without a hint of expression at all.

 Chapter 441 Binding [1]

    A soundless sh in a timeless world.

    This was the result of the two sword techniques meeting for the first time.

    Long Chen''s formless Void Sword emanated profound intent, making even Xue Feng feel like there was a sword pressed against his neck. As for Xue Feng''s Limitless de, it was equally formless, splitting the world in two without a sound.

    The grey world crumbled upon impact, sliced into thousands of pieces. Even though it was an ethereal construct, those swords still managed to cut it.

    Time began moving again. The frozen and colorless bodies of the remaining individuals in the room gained life once more, however they stood still as if they were still in stasis.

    The sh that took ce while they were in stasis took ce inside something simr to an Ethereal Dimension. Even though it mirrored the physical ne, it wasn''t actually located there.

    But the Sword Aura from the sh leaked through even the barriers of that dimension, filling the room with a chilling de light. That profound aura was what caused all those present to direct their gazes onto the swordmaster duo. Even Huo Lingtian and Ding Hai paused their fight to do so.

    "Haa¡­Haa¡­"

    Xue Feng crumbled to his knees, stabbing his sword into the ground and leaning on it so he didn''t keel over.

    Long Chen''s figure staggered down from the sky above. However, the man managed to stay on his feet.

    The duo red into each other''s eyes. Their expressions were frozen and indifferent. And as they did so¡­

    Spurt!

    A fountain of blood leaked from Xue Feng''s side. There, a massive gash opened within seconds, exposing his rib cage to the world.

    But despite his injuries, Xue Feng didn''t fallpletely. Instead, he looked up at Long Chen and grinned.

    Seeing this, Long Chen grinned back. His teeth were bloodied as if he was bitterly struggling to hold himself back from coughing blood.

    "Keuk¡­! Even though my sword managed to reach you, its power was cut down by so much." Xue Feng spoke with a wry smile.

    Long Chen shook his head. "If you could see the state of my internal organs right now, you wouldn''t be looking down on your de so much. To cut the Void Sword is not a feat to be ashamed of."

    Xue Feng nodded. "Same to you. However, it seems I havee out on the losing end of this sh. My internals have been badly injured as well¡­well, you can see their state if you just look through this massive hole."

    Long Chen''s gaze inadvertently followed Xue Feng''s eyes,nding on the gash in Xue Feng''s side.

    "Pfft¡­hahahaha!"

    Long Chen let out a boisterousugh. "Even in this state, you''re still in the mood to joke. It looks like the rumors about you being a block-headed training maniac were wrong."

    "It''s not that they''re wrong, I''m only this happy whenever I''m training."

    "Oh? You''re regarding our match as training?"

    Xue Feng''s grin widened. "Yeah, training to defeat that sword of yours. Although through this loss, we have be sworn brothers, your position as the older brother isn''t safe, you know?"

    "Hahahahaha! I see, so that''s what this was about! Very well then, little brother of mine. If you think you have what it takes to snatch my position, try as hard as you can to do so. Just know I won''t go easy on you."

    p Long Chen held out his hand. Xue Feng looked at it for a second and grinned wildly. "As expected of an older brother I''ve acknowledged. If you went easy on me, I''d be the first to kill you."<sub> </sub></anda>

    He grabbed Long Chen''s hand strongly and pulled himself off the floor. At the same time, he waved his hand and took out a pile of healing pills to ingest.

    "Tch. In the end, I wasn''t able to grab the Empyrean Dragon Sword for myself." Xue Feng sighed inment. However, he was inwardly smiling.

    ''This trip¡­was not wasted. I can already think of hundreds of ways to improve my sword after a single sh. The position of older brother will be mine sooner orter.''

    As Xue Feng''s injuries slowly healed, the sh between Huo Lingtian and Ding Hai also ended. However, the two of them were severely injured.

    Even though everyone was focused on the battle between Long Chen and Xue Feng, it wasn''t like the other fight happening in the room was any less fierce.

    It was just that a battle between sword cultivators was like a dance of des. Regardless of how inexperienced one was, to witness a sh with such pure battle intent and Sword Aura was a spectacr disy for any bystander who could actually follow the flow of the fight.

    Huo Lingtian nced sideways at Long Chen. Even though he said he was injured, hisplexion and aura were still valiant as if nothing had happened to him. Seeing his condition, Huo Lingtian began to hesitate.

    ''As it is now, I will need an entire day to heal, even with the assistance of healing pills. However, there isn''t enough time left in the secret realm for me to do so. To fight that monster when I''m not in peak condition¡­''

    The Jade Heavenly Pce and Celestial Star Pce weren''t on bad terms, but their rivalry was extremely strong. These two sects had almost equal power, so the spot of number one was always in fierce contention between the two.

    But they didn''t have any blood feuds. Huo Lingtian was sure that Long Chen wouldn''t kill him even if he lost, but his own negligence might lead to his downfall.

    With such a damaged body, his meridians might not be able to sustain themselves if he overdrove his mana.

    Huo Lingtian sighed. Despite how much he lusted after the Empyrean Dragon Sword, it wasn''t worth crippling himself over.

    "This is as far as I go." He finally said. "However, just because you have obtained the right to the Empyrean Dragon Sword, do not get conceited. Taming it is a far more challenging task."

    Long Chen cupped just fists toward Huo Lingtian. Even though they didn''t have any grudges, it wasn''t often that someone would encourage their rivals. Long Chen respected the man''s upright character.

    ''This is how a disciple of Jade Heavenly Pce should be. Those bastards that usually make acquaintance with our Great ns are just scum who don''t amount to anything.''

    Long Chen inwardly sneered, and then turned his attention to thest two people in the room.

    "What are you looking at me for? I''ll always support Brother Chen!" Ling''er smiled gently. From the beginning, she was only here to cheer him on. She had no desire for a bulky sword like the Empyrean Dragon Sword.

    As for Xue Yue, she simply shrugged her shoulders and looked away. She was no longer interested in what happened.

    Seeing how everyone in the room had consented to his session, Long Chen turned around and walked up the set of stairs at the end of the room.

    Long Chen soon made his way up the stairs, arriving in a small room with only a single ss coffin in the middle.

    ''Empyrean Dragon Sword¡­''

    Unexpectedly, there was no sword in the coffin. Instead, there was only the hilt of what looked like a sword that had been long shattered in battle:

    But Long Chen wasn''t fazed by it. Instead, he smiled with pride.

    ''Finally. You, who once belonged to my ancestor, will return to our Long n''s hands. No, you will return to I, Long Chen''s, hand.''

    He lifted the coffin''s lid and grabbed the broken sword handle. And in the next instant, his world was dyed golden.

 Chapter 445 Grievance [1]

    The Empyrean Dragon Realm expedition had finallye to an end. Some had prospered while some gained nothing at all, but with a time limit of only a single week, it wasn''t surprising that many weren''t able to encounter the fortune they were hoping for.

    Even the likes of Xue Feng and Huo Lingtian came out with nothing in the end, but their wills didn''t diminish. Even if they didn''t make any material gain, the experience was worth its weight in gold.

    It was always good to know how high the heavens were. Too much conceit might''ve blinded them to their true standing, making them arrogant beyond their means.

    The temporary abodes outside the Empyrean Dragon Realm were engulfed in a lively atmosphere. At least, most of them were.

    Considering the nature of this expedition, not many major powers suffered serious damage to their forces. Even if disciples died, there weren''t enough dead for it to matter at all. As for those peak geniuses, it was impossible for them to be in in such a ce.

    The Xue n, however, carried a chilling atmosphere that dropped the surrounding temperature by multiple degrees.

    The n elders gritted their teeth in frustration.

    It wasn''t just a simple matter of their disciples dying in the secret realm, it was the fact that all but two were exterminated. It was quite obvious that someone was targeting their n.

    ''It must be that bitch princess.'' The Second Elder growled inwardly. Even if the n Head didn''t put her strength in his eyes, it wasn''t the same for the rest of the elders.

    The n Head had a tendency to be biased against women due to the nature of the Xue n before his reign. Not only that, he had an even stronger bias toward his firstborn daughter, who abandoned the n for her own benefit.

    This bias had blinded him to reality. The little princess was a disciple of one of the most powerful experts in the Cloud ne, Tian Yang. Even though Shangguan Yu was acknowledged as the strongest, that was only because the two of them had never actually fought before.

    The disciple of such a man would never be weak. One just had to look at the show that man''s second disciple put on when he first showed himself to the world.

    ''The second she exits the secret realm, kill without mercy! Don''t allow Tian Yang to act before us!'' The Second Elder sent a sound transmission to the rest.

    Multiple nods of affirmation followed his order. Besides the First Elder, all the rest were going to join him in this.

    And just as they finished speaking about it, the familiar uneasy feeling of spatial fluctuations started emanating from the clearing ahead.

    Voom!

    The gate to the Empyrean Dragon Realm opened without suspense, teleporting dozens of disciples and rogue cultivators out at the same time. Since it was forceful teleportation, there was no rhyme or reason to the order they came out in.

    And once around 200 people had been ejected, a ck-haired man appeared in the crowd.

    Long Chen opened his eyes and rubbed his temples. ''Teleportation will always be a pain. It is at times like these when I envy spatial cultivators the most.''

    His gaze turned to the sky where the Celestial Star Pce''s floating castle stood proudly. At the same time, his awareness spread through the crowd to find Ling''er and Xue Feng.

    ''Hmm, it looks like they have yet to arrive. I''ll wait for them before I go. Besides, I think I''ll get to witness a fun show if I stay here.''

    Long Chen smirked. Even from so many meters away, he could clearly feel the Xue n''s bloodlust as if they were standing right next to him.

    ''Is this another ability of my eyes? Or maybe ites from Empyrea itself. From what I can tell, nobody else can feel it, even though it''s so obvious.''

    Long Chen shook his head and moved off to the side. ''That woman is truly an ice princess. There''s nobody else who would dare ughter the Xue n''s geniuses so easily. I wonder, how many did she manage to kill?''

    Xue Feng and Xue Yue soon appeared within Long Chen''s awareness, however, Long Chen didn''t go over to them immediately.

    ''Brother Xue, I think it''s best youe over here for now and watch the show. I have a feeling that your Xue n won''tst much longer.''

    A mental transmission entered Xue Feng''s head. Hearing it, his eyes hardened.

    p ''Brother Long, even if I''m not fond of the n, they are still my family. Please don''t make such distasteful jokes.''</anda>

    ''I''m not joking, though? It seems your little princess has caused quite a scene in the secret realm, though I don''t know how big exactly it is.''<sub> </sub>

    Xue Feng furrowed his brows. With everything that happened with the Empyrean Dragon Sword, he had already forgotten about the task assigned to him by the Xue n.

    ''Mm, since Xue Yue and I weren''t involved, it is usible that she has killed every other n member that came with us. How troublesome¡­''

    Xue Feng was stuck between a rock and a hard ce. On one hand, was the man he acknowledged as his own brother, and on the other was the n who raised him since birth.

    Even if he hated the inner workings and politics of the n, he still had a sense of filial piety. If it wasn''t for this, his decision would''vee much easier.

    But he knew Long Chen''s personality by now. If Long Chen was saying it''d be dangerous to return to the Xue n at the moment, it meant that the n was probably facing catastrophe.

    A catastrophe they brought upon themselves, at that.

    ''Father is still in the n, and no matter what, I cannot abandon him. However, with his loyalty, I''m sure he would follow the Xue n in life and death.''

    Without thinking further, Xue Feng pulled out amunication jade slip, simr to the transmission talisman that Tian Yang had given Damien and Ruyue. As for who he was calling, of course, it was the First Elder.

    ''Father, are you there?''

    An aged voice came from the other side. ''My son, it''s good that you came out safely. Now, this one time, be obedient and listen to your father. Flee from here and never look back. No matter what you see or hear, never turn back.''

    Xue Feng''s heart skipped a beat. ''Father!''

    ''Don''t say anything. Even if you know, don''t say anything.''

    ''Father, is it worth it to be like this towards a n that never cared for you at all?!''

    ''What do you mean by that? Of course the n has taken great care of me. It''s just¡­the era of the previous Matriarch and our indomitable rule is over. Haa, if only we could return to that era, how great would that be?''

    Xue Feng''s eyes were bloodshot. Even though the words they said didn''t amount to much, the emotions behind them were bing too much for him to handle. He was practically roaring into themunication jade slip already.

    ''Father! The previous Matriarch is already dead! Even if you wish to repay her grace, you shouldn''t do so in a n that has been so far corrupted! The way to repay her grace is by living on and building a proper Xue n from the rubble of the one that will fall!''

    ''¡­''

    The First Elder didn''t reply. Within the Ice Pce of the Xue n, he sat silently and stared at the ceiling.

    ''How funny. In this situation, it is supposed to be our Xue n that stands tall and demands revenge for being offended, yet, I am already admitting defeat.''

    It wasn''t the little princess he was afraid of. Even if she was more powerful than everyone in their younger generation, how could shepare to experienced 4th ss beings like the elders?

    The one he was wary of was the man she arrived with. That man had casually deployed five existences that were greater than most of the elders of the n. Only the First Elder and the n Head had the power to stand alone against even one of them.

    If the five of them were to siege the Xue n, it was guaranteed that most of their older generation would die. The Xue n would be finished from that moment on.

    ''Ahh, it''s an unavoidable fate. When Yebai overthrew the previous Matriarch, I was powerless to do anything. She forced me to live on and umte strength as I did so. That stupid woman, did she know that this day woulde eventually?''

    He thought back to the words his son had spoken just moments prior. To live past the catastrophe the Xue n would face and to rebuild it anew once it was over.

    That offer¡­sounded incredibly enticing.

    ''Shan''er, perhaps this is why you wanted me to live? Ah, but I have be an old man by now, so I''m sure you wouldn''t want to hear me calling you so endearingly. I still remember how the n Elders back then were beaten by you for being overly frivolous.''

    The First Elder smiled. It was a smile filled with sorrow and longing.

    And as soon as that smile vanished from his face, he vanished as well, disappearing from the Xue n''s ice abode as if he was never there in the first ce.

 Chapter 447 Grievance [3]

    "Kill!"

    It was instant. The second that flowing white hair appeared among the crowd, the elders of the Xue n zipped forward to smite her.

    Altogether, there were 12 4th ss elders, excluding the First Elder, and they were all taking part in the charge.

    However, they weren''t the only ones waiting for this moment.

    Damien''s figure shed away, appearing in the Xue n elders'' path. His five 4th ss subordinates appeared behind him at the same time.

    "You know the deal, right?" He spoke jokingly.

    The White Dragon King rolled his eyes. "Kill, kill, and kill some more, is it?"

    Damien grinned. "You know me best."

    The six of them split up. Each of Damien''s helpers took two of the Xue n Elders and dragged them intobat.

    It wasn''t a matter of whether the elders wanted to engage them or not, it was a matter of survival. After all, the beasts of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range and the Demons of the Primordial Undying Realm were innately stronger than humans at the same level.

    The problem was, there were still two elders left who slipped through the cracks and continued their charge.

    But, of course, it wasn''t by mistake that they were able to do so.

    Damien grinned to himself. ''These guys are really tactful. They entangled the stronger elders, and left the two weakest ones to me. Are they perhaps testing my power? Very well, it''s not like I''m afraid to show them.''

    But just as Damien was about to charge at the two iing elders, Ruyue appeared by his side.

    "Well, I have a rough idea of what''s happening. But this is my revenge, so don''t you think I should participate as well? You take the left, I''ll take the right."

    Damien smirked at her words. As expected of his woman. He put his hands together and cracked his knuckles, doing the same with his neck right after.

    "Deal."

    With a single word, he vanished from his position and appeared mere centimeters away from the 11th Elder.

    "Hi there!"

    The 11th Elder''s eyes widened in shock. He hurriedly raised his arms to block.

    Bang!

    Damien''s fistnded only an instantter, causing the 11th Elder''s bones to emit a guttural snapping sound.

    "I''ll be ying with you today, so don''t disappoint me too much, ''kay?" Damien grinned mockingly.

    He was incredibly excited. After all, this was his first fight since all the power boosts he gained from the Primordial Undying Fruit. And having an entry-level 4th ss as his opponent was perfect.

    This kind of strength¡­he no longer feared it.

    Space twisted into an illusory de in Damien''s grasp. His figure once again disappeared, reappearing before the 11th Elder could regain his bearings.

    ''Let''s test my cutting power first.''

    ''Void Sword Art First Form: deless''

    Ziu! BOOM!

    A thin ck line formed in space, shooting out like a bullet until it covered several kilometers of the sky. And the second it finished extending, it explosively expanded into a massive gash that swallowed the 11th Elder.

    Damien shot into that gash after him. Finding the 11th Elder''s figure in the shattered space, he took his stance once more.

    ''Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break''

    His sword was parallel to the ground, his arm pulled back like he was priming a bow. Mana gathered and coalesced around the de as it sped forward.

    Bang!

    As if air was forced topress and expand, arge bang sounded through the shattered space. What followed was¡­

    "ARGH!"

    A roar of pain. The 11th Elder was suddenly assaulted by blinding pain in his shoulder, but when he looked down, he noticed that he no longer had one.

    ''The power of horizon break has risen satisfactorily.'' Damien nodded with a smile.

    Looking at this man, who was supposed to have an entire ss'' worth of advantage on him, unable to fight back, Damien couldn''t help but praise his own improvement.<sub> </sub>

    But his eyes hardened in the next second. His body twisted at an unnatural angle, almost causing his bones to shatter.

    An ice arrow grazed his cheek. If he was only a single secondte, it would''ve pierced his skull without any resistance.

    ''Tch. A 4th ss is still a 4th ss after all. I have enough attack power to harm him, but my defense isn''t enough to stay unharmed. I can''t give him any more opportunities.''

    ''Void Sword Art Third Form: Dance of the Void''

    Damien''s figure turned illusory, multiplying endlessly. Tens, hundreds, thousands of phantom projections filled the shattered space.

    The 11th Elder smirked. "Haha, brat. You think a mere illusion technique could fool me?!"

    A thousand Damiens shook their heads in response. "No wonder you didn''t talk before. The only thing thates out of your mouth is bullshit."

    The illusory phantoms danced through the shattered space. Their movements seemed random, but had an unpredictable and ever-changing flow within them.

    Small des of space continuously cut the 11th Elder''s body as their dance continued. Thousands of Damiens attacked him at the same time from every direction, not even giving him a second to pinpoint the position of the main body.

    This was the glory of Dance of the Void. The phantom illusions weren''t just afterimages produced by his speed, they were spatial phenomena caused by his rapid movement through and maniption of the spatialyers.

    It could be said that none of them were real at all, or that all of them were the real Damien at the same time.

    Calling the technique a mere illusion technique? It was at that moment when Damien realized that the 11th Elder wasn''t a standard for 4th ss beings.

    Frankly, he was subpar.

    Damien shook his head and continued his assault. This fake 4th ss wasn''t worth his time. If he couldn''t even stand against the 3rd form of his sword art, then a single Dimensional Severance would be enough to end him.

    And so, that''s exactly what Damien chose to do.

    His de pointed to the Heavens, as if trying to gather the power of all things. Pitch-ck Void Essence covered the de, concealed by a heavy coating of spatial mana thaty on top of it.

    However, that was nothing. Even after these ingredients had beenyered on top of the de, the attack seemed to get more and more powerful without new additions.

    Dimensional Severance wasn''t a simple vertical shbined with Void Essence. If it was just that much, it wouldn''t have the right to its name.

    When Damien said Dimensional Severance was the epitome of hisprehension of space, it wasn''t a joke. Because that was exactly what he used to fuel his de.

    "Distance," "Destruction," "Vectors," "Expansion," "Compression," and many more conceptual fragments that made up the foundation of the concept of space itself, all of hisprehension of these concepts was poured into his de.

    It was a truly ethereal feeling to do so. Even Damien didn''t quite understand how he was able to. After all, Dimensional Severance was created in a bout of enlightenment, and he was still riding that enlightenment every time he used it.

    If he ever managed to understand the foundation and workings of the attack itself, its power would far outstrip what he could show today.

    But even what he had now was enough to split Heaven and Earth in two.

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance''

    A thin ck like, no bigger than the width of a piece of paper, traveled through space at a snail''s pace. The 11th Elder had a mocking grin on his face as he saw it, causally moving to the side to avoid the sh.

    But, strangely enough, no matter how he moved, that vertical sh was always directly in front of him, approaching to split him into two halves.

    The 12th Elder frowned. This kind of trick, was it enough to cause his death? He was a 4th ss! No matter how much effort a 3rd ss put into their attack, it didn''t change the fact that they couldn''t connect with thews of the world yet.

    With a mocking look in his eyes, the 11th Elder pushed his mana.

    ''I''ll show you what it means to enter the 4th ss.''

    An icy chill spread through the air. No, the chill spread through space itself. The shattered space that was just beginning to fix itself was frozen into ice crystals that fell to the ground.

    But those crystals didn''t shatter. No, they impacted the ground and turned the area a few hundred kilometers around the duo into an icy desert.

    "Utilizingws isn''t something mere elements canpete against. Freezing space, freezing time, I can do it all! What, do you think this tiny attack can faze me?!"

    The 11th Elder held out his hand, causing the icy blue mana to rush toward Damien''s Dimensional Severance. Even though it was an attack, it looked like the 11th Elder was building a construct, since space froze around the mana whenever it came into contact.

    But none of that mattered. It only took an instant for the icy mana to collide with the sh of Dimensional Severance.

    As it did so, Damien smirked. "Laws? I can use those too."

    And as if to prove his words, the thin ck line of Dimensional Severance cut through the icy blue mana like paper. Contrasting its snail''s pace from before, it reached the 11th Elder before he could evenprehend what had happened.

    And then, it split him in two.

 Chapter 449 Grievance [5]

    A wall of ice sprung up from the ground around Ruyue the second she finished her small conversation with Damien.

    From the second she decided to kill the geniuses of the Xue n in the secret realm, she was prepared for this moment.

    And once Damien took the 11th Elder into the shattered space to fight, Ruyue immediately engaged the 12th Elder on her own.

    Her figure shed through the air, trials of blue mes following her path as she did so. She was moving so fast that she was almost illusory, but the 12th Elder''s attacks still managed to reach her without any trouble at all.

    The 12th Elder smirked. "Little slut, even after selling yourself to that trash, you still only have this much power. Frankly, I''m ashamed to say that you were ever part of our Xue n."

    Ruyue rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Dumb bitches sure know how to talk. With that bastard Xue Yebai''s personality, I assume the only reason a woman like you was able to be an Elder was by getting a train ran on you by all the other Elders of the n. Am I right or am I right?"

    The 12th Elder''s face turned ck. "Staying with lowborn scum like that man had really ruined your mouth. Slut, I won''t let you die easy!"

    "I can''t argue that staying with a shameless rogue like him has changed my demeanor. But, your mouth was ruined too, was it not? Swallowing the kids of so many different people at once must have some kind of negative effect, not that I would know."

    The 12th Elder almost coughed blood at Ruyue''s provocations. The worst part was, she hadn''t said anything false at all.

    The 12th Elder was no longer in the mood for a battle of words. At first, she wanted to crush Ruyue mentally before killing her, but her npletely backfired.

    Instead, she roused her mana, causing the air around her to freeze. Blue runic patterns began to form in the air around her, dancing in the sky and turning even the wind into sparkling frozen dew drops.

    "Ice Phoenix Divine Patterns!" The 12th Elder shouted. The runes immediately mobilized, surrounding Ruyue and trapping her in a frozen coffin.

    Ruyue looked around indifferently. ''It''s like a downgraded version of Luna''s runes. Instead of carrying the Life properties of a true Ice Phoenix, this is purely ice. It''s just a cheap copy using the same name.''

    She had spent a year with Lunaria Snow, a true Ice Phoenix. In that time, she had learned plenty about Ice Phoenix Patterns. As such, dealing with a minor trick like this wasn''t a problem for her.

    Blue mes lit up Ruyue''s palm as she imitated the 12th Elder''s previous trick. Except, instead of runic patterns, Ruyue drew beastly figures in the sky with her icemes.

    Phoenixes, Dragons, even moremon feline beasts like leopards appeared around her. As soon as she finished drawing them, they roared to life.

    Roar!

    The Iceme Dragon let out a frightening roar filled with the aura of yin. It charged into the side of the coffin encasing Ruyue and exploded itself.

    Boom!

    Icy mes devoured the runic patterns creating the coffin. In that instant, Ruyue flicked her wrist. The remaining iceme beasts around her charged into the opening created by the dragon and pried open the coffin, causing it to shatter and fall to the floor.

    But escape didn''t mean safety. The 12th Elder stood in the sky with arrogance. Behind her, thousands of ice runes danced around, forming the shape of cannons.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    As soon as Ruyue saw the light of day, she was forced to take on another barrage. Ice walls and beasts made of iceme emerged continuously to protect her from the attack, but each construct she created could only block a single attack before being obliterated.

    ''If it goes on like this, I''m sure to lose. There''s no way my mana capacity canpare to a 4th ss. If it''s like that¡­''

    Ruyue spread her arms, emitting a lunar white essence that made her look like a holy saintess descended from heaven.

    ''Blood Moon.''<sub> </sub>

    But the object that appeared behind her made her feel like more of a demon. A bloody red moon, not losing out in any way to the actual moon in the sky, radiated a chilling aura that repelled the attacks that were aimed at it.

    ''Empower.''

    A beam of light left the moon and showered Ruyue''s body. When the light faded, she was covered in a set of Valkyrie-esque armor, a shining white spear in hand.

    Her figure appeared in front of the barrage of ice spears, confronting theing onught head-on. Her two hands tightened around the spear shaft, making arge sweeping motion through the air in front of her.

    ''Moon Goddess Spear Arts First Form: Tide Formation''

    An iridescent white mana covered the de of her spear. Ruyue''s movements suddenly became extremely fluid, as if she was following the flow of the world.

    ng! ng! ng!

    Even though the strength of the 12th Elder''s attack far outstripped what Ruyue could directly fend off against, her spear seemed to think otherwise:

    With the sound of shing metal, Ruyue swam through the sky, sweeping her spear and expertly deflecting every shard of ice that entered her vicinity.

    With every movement she made, her spear became more powerful. The ebb and flow of her movements became more defined. The force that was deflected through her graceful dance was coagted and stored in the tip of her spear.

    As Ruyue danced, she slowly inched closer to the 12th Elder, who was still in shock from what she was seeing. The fact that Ruyue was evading her onught so effortlessly made her endlessly aggrieved.

    And so, she pushed her mana, fusing herprehension of Ice Laws into her spears as they were shot.

    But her movements were a second toote. Ruyue appeared before her, eyes closed and hands tightly gripped on her spear. Using the momentum she had built through her dance until this point, she swept her spear upward toward the 12th Elder''s chin.

    WHOOOSH!

    It wasn''t a simple matter of releasing the stored energy at the tip of her spear. Using the Blood Moon as an anchor, Ruyue drew the power of the moon itself, causing the earth below to be fluid.

    A tsunami of earth rose with the motion of her spear, threatening to engulf the 12th Elder. As the name of her spear technique suggested, the first movement formed an unstoppable tide.

    The 12th Elder gritted her teeth. "There''s no way a brat like you can be so powerful!"

    She spread her arms and gathered her mana, pushing it to the center of her chest. As soon as she did, a strong pulse spread with her as the epicenter.

    "Absolute Zero!"

    Voom!

    Ruyue''s tsunami was frozen in ce in an instant. Even the raging mana gathered at the tip of her spear froze, falling to the ground like snowkes.

    "Keuk¡­!" Ruyue coughed a mouthful of blood and shot backward. Although the pulse of the 12th Elder''s Absolute Zero didn''t damage her much, the bacsh of being unable to release the stored energy in her spear hit her hard.

    But Ruyue didn''t let out a single mutter of pain. She wiped the blood on the side of her mouth and took her stance once more.

    "If a 4th ss couldn''t even do this much, I''d be immensely disappointed. Now,e. Prove to me that your body isn''t the only reason you were promoted."

 Chapter 450 Grievance [6]

    ''Moon Goddess Spear Art Second Form: Moonlight Serenade''",

    The second her words fell, Ruyue swept back into action. Moonlight Serenade was a dance simr to Damien''s Dance of the Void. In fact, the two were so simr it was strange.

    Ruyue''s figure turned illusory. Instead of blending with space, she blended in with the sky itself. Her spear became a shadow that looked like the de of the reaper.

    She appeared next to the 12th Elder in an instant, heavily swinging her spear to sh her opponent. However, the 12th Elder was no longer treating her as a casual opponent.

    A small hexagon made of ice appeared where Ruyue''s spear was going to strike, immediately offsetting all the force that she mobilized. At the same time, another small shard of ice shot toward Ruyue''s stomach and pierced through.

    Puff!

    A spray of blood mist left the wound on Ruyue''s stomach, freezing into crystallized blood shards the second it did. However, the 12th Elder wasn''t showing any mercy. As the blood shards formed, their direction changed, following the previous ice shard and piercing through Ruyue''s abdomen.

    Spurt!

    A fountain of blood threatened to spurt from the wound, but there was no way Ruyue would give the 12th Elder more ammo. She directly pped her own stomach, forcing it to freeze over using her mana.

    ''My mobility will be limited with a wound like this. Looks like I can''t use my spear anymore.''

    Ruyue sighed to herself. She wanted topete using ice and lunar techniques only. Perhaps it was a lingering desire to prove her worth that made her do so.

    But a 4th ss was a 4th ss after all. Ruyue didn''t have the freedom to hold onto such petty thoughts.

    ''Burst.''

    Ruyue appeared back in front of the Blood Moon as if she teleported, but her spear remained in the air where she was once standing. A familiar lunar white glow emanated from its body as it hovered.

    ''Mei, can you help me out?'' Ruyue spoke inwardly.

    ''Mm! Finally, I can show big sister how powerful I am!'' An enthusiastic response greeted her, making her smile despite her current situation.

    ''Good, then. Let''s show them the power we have when we fight together.''

    A frightening ck mana suddenly epassed Ruyue''s body and spear. Mixing with the lunar white mana of her Moon Affinity, she looked like a being who represented Yin and Yang.

    ''Death Goddess'' Descent''

    It was a variation of her original Moon Goddess'' Descent that she created after bonding with Lily and Mei. Ruyue''s shining white hair turned ck, her irises and sclera followed the same pattern.

    Deathly mana surrounded her body and turned into a rain of spears, joining Ruyue''s main weapon on the frontlines.

    ''Moon Goddess Spear Art Third Form: Drifting Moon''

    The hundreds of spears in the air began vibrating rapidly. A horrific screeching noise was emitted from their movements.

    The 12th Elder frowned. Even she could feel a slight tinge of nausea formed by the sound impacting her eardrums. But before she couldin about it, the spears suddenly shot out like shooting stars.

    They streaked through the sky, creating countlessplex patterns as they did so. Without suspense, the 12th Elder was surrounded by Ruyue''s barrage of spears.

    Ziu! Ziu! Ziu!

    The spears shed through the air as if they had minds of their own. In response, hundreds of small hexagonal ice shards appeared around the 12th Elder to counter.

    But the spear rain was nothing more than a diversion.

    ''Strike!''

    Oh Ruyue''smand, her main spear shot out of the crowd unnoticed. A beam of red moonlight shot from the Blood Moon behind her, covering its movements as it did so.

    Bang!

    The spear rapidly prated the 12th Elder''s shoulder, finally drawing blood. But Ruyue wasn''t content because of this.<sub> </sub>

    ''I aimed for the head. In that split second, she managed to dodge. Is oveing the ss barrier really something I can''t do?''

    Ruyue furrowed her brows. Although she was confident in winning this fight, she didn''t think she could do so in a short amount of time. But as if the heavens were answering her worries¡­

    "Yo! You look like you could use some help." A cheerful voice resounded from behind her. Hearing it, Ruyue''s body subconsciously rxed.

    "Your speaking tone mirrors his so much that I almost mistook you for him. If you don''t work on that, I might identally pounce on you one day." She joked.

    Rose smirked at her words. "If you think you can take this big sister of yours, then feel free to try. But¡­I think you''ll be the one that''s defeated."

    Ruyue shook her head wryly. In the week she spent with Rose, the thing she noticed that stood out the most was thetter''s shamelessness. It almost trumped the most shameless person she knew, which was saying something.

    "Forget about that for now. Let''s take this bitch down together so we don''t waste too much time. There''s plenty left to do after this."

    Rose raised her brow. "Hm? Aren''t the others dealing with the more powerful ones? I don''t think we have more work to do once she dies."

    Ruyue shook her head in response. "No, that bastard of a n Head, Xue Yebai, still hasn''t appeared yet. Even if I can''t deal with him personally, I want to be there to see him fall."

    "Understandable. Well then, we just have to kill this bitch quick, right?"

    "Right."

    Rose cracked her knuckles and grinned. "Good. I''ll take support while you attack. Now that your big sister is here, you don''t need to worry about dodging anymore."

    Ruyue rolled her eyes. Rose''s obsession with being the "big sister" really shone through in moments like this.

    But that didn''t matter. After all, Rose was indeed as reliable and understanding as a big sister should be. Knowing this, Ruyue clenched her fists and roused her mana.

    "Let''s get to it then."

    ''Drifting Moon Second Phase: Rotate''

    Ruyue''s spear pulled back and began rotating in the air. It soon turned into a blinding white disc that seemed like it could cut through anything.

    The 12th Elder scoffed. Her fingers spread and tapped in the air. The icy mana around her coagted into a small lotus flower that stood on her palm.

    "Ice Lotus."

    The ice lotus drifted through the air unhurried as if it wasn''t an attack at all, but the effects it had on the surroundings told a different story.

    The winds were frozen into a tunnel of ice, ambient mana turned into a raging blizzard that surrounded the lotus. The movements of Ruyue''s spear were bing slower and slower, forced toe to a halt by the raging Ice Laws contained in the lotus.

    But at that time, Rose finally made her move. She waved her arm casually, but that casual movement carried a frightening amount of mana.

    "Shoo."

    With a single word, Rose released her mana. It dispersed into the atmosphere, creating a rtively anticlimactic effect. But before anyone could question her actions, the ice lotus became hazy.

    "W-what did you do?!" The 12th Elder stammered, finally acknowledging the existence of her second opponent.

    The ice lotus soon turned ethereal. The effects it had on the environment faded, and Ruyue''s spear was able to move freely once more.

    Seeing this, Rose grinned lightly. "Hehehe, don''t worry about me. My second sister is the one who wants to y with you."

    And confirming her words¡­

    BOOOOOM!

    Ruyue''s spear made a zing trail straight toward the 12th Elder''s bbergasted face.

 Chapter 451 Grievance [7]

    Ruyue''s spear cut through the air like paper, creating a harsh screeching noise as it burst toward the 12th Elder''s face.

    Although the 12th Elder was still bbergasted at what Rose had done to her Ice Lotus, the encroaching sense of death emanating from the iing spear managed to wake her up.

    She hurriedly waved her hand, creating arge ice wall made up of countless hexagonal pieces. Of course, this wall was infused with the power of Ice Laws, so even though it was clumsily put together, its strength couldn''t be underestimated.

    SCREEEEEEEEEECH!

    Ruyue''s spear rotated on its own axis as it moved, and what impacted the wall was a rapidly spinning disc emanating white and ck light, when the two forces came into contact, an array of sparks rained down on the ground below.

    Out of nowhere, arge fire started. Seeing this, Rose flicked her wrist, utilizing her illusion affinity to banish it before it could spread and cause too much coteral damage.

    They were still outside the Empyrean Dragon Realm, after all. Even if they had retreated far away, there was still a chance that the present uninvolved parties could be implicated if they fought recklessly.

    Perhaps it was this thought in the back of everyone''s minds that made sure the scale of this battle didn''t reach a level they couldn''te back from. Even if they were fighting in life or death, they didn''t userge-scale area attacks very often.

    Rose shook her head and returned her attention to the fight at hand. She couldn''t get distracted while supporting her dear little sister.

    The sh between the spear and ice wall didn''t just create sparks. The heat generated by the spear''s motion interacted with the chill of the ice wall, creating a cloud of steam that impaired both Ruyue and the 12th Elder''s vision.

    But could Ruyue be held back by mere steam? Her eyes glowed golden, allowing her to see the outlines of those in her surroundings.

    The 12th Elder, her spear, the ice wall, even Rose, who left for a second to talk to Damien, they were all clear in her eyes.

    "Watch¡­!" Ruyue almost yelled out, but stopped herself.

    A massive boulder had appeared above Rose''s head while she was distracted. Surprisingly, it wasn''t even an attack from the 12th Elder. Rather, it was coteral damage from one of the other fights taking ce.

    But before she could even be worried, Rose had already dealt with the danger in front of her. Ruyue smiled wryly and returned her focus to her own battle.

    ''Now, while she''s distracted.'' Ruyue''s figure shed away. The Blood Moon in the sky behind her rotated, sending out beams of light that showered her body and empowered her.

    Within a second, she was behind the 12th Elder, her aura hidden as far as she could do so.

    But the 12th Elder wasn''t a fool either. Listening to her instincts, she turned around and shed her arm at Ruyue, threatening to cut thetter in two.

    But she was already toote. Ruyue held her hand out, causing a formless essence that radiated an aura of extinction to shoot out from her fingertips.

    ''Erasure.''

    The attack was never meant to be aimed at the 12th Elder. The second she cast Erasure, Ruyue backed away, using Icemes to propel her and evade the 12th Elder''s attack.

    At the same time, a flurry of lunar energy beams and icemes barraged the 12th Elder. And it was at that moment that Erasure found its target.

    The negative aspect of Yin, and most likely its most powerful effect, the ability to erase anything from existence. It was a move that Ruyue created long ago, but needed stringent conditions to use.

    Plus, even when used, there wasn''t a high chance of sess. After all, it was far too powerful of a concept for her to be using wantonly at her power level. It was only her monstrous talent that allowed her to discover it so early.

    But this time, when Erasure impacted the ice wall, its effect rang true. Within seconds, the entire ice wall was banished from existence. Even though it was powered by Ice Laws, it couldn''t resist the strong persuasion of such disastrous yin.

    BANG!<sub> </sub>

    Ruyue''s spear charged through the now-empty space like a raging bull. The effects of Drifting Moon turned it into a deadly weapon with far more cutting power than it would have normally.

    And while the 12th Elder was busy fending off the barrage of beam attacks Ruyue sent out earlier¡­

    Spurt!

    The rotating spear cleanly cut through her shoulder and returned to Ruyue''s hands. A fountain of blood sprayed from the wound as the 12th Elder''s arm fell to the floor.

    Whoosh!

    A sudden wind picked up out of nowhere. It gathered around the severed arm and sliced it into pieces. A few tens of meters away from Ruyue and the 12th Elder, Rose smiled mischievously.

    ''Can''t let that arm get reattached now, can we?''

    Seeing her expression, Ruyue smiled too. She truly was a trusty support. However, before she could exchange words with Rose, she was forced to twist her body as an overwhelming sense of danger encroached on her.

    "Y-YOU SLUT! HOW DARE YOU?!"

    A sword of ice appeared above the 12th Elder''s palm and shot at Ruyue. Despite her grand words, the size of the sword wasn''trge at all.

    But perhaps that''s what made it even more frightening. Due to its small size and rapid movement, Ruyue couldn''t track it with her senses at all.

    Although she managed to dodge in instinct, the sword still managed to graze her side, leaving a cold blueish-purple gash that didn''t seem like it would heal any time soon.

    "Keuk¡­" Ruyue gritted her teeth in pain. This attack wasn''t like her previous injury at all. She could clearly feel the foreign mana invading her body and trying to freeze her from the inside.

    ''I need to end this quick.''

    She gripped her spear tightly and moved. Rose appeared behind her, green and colorless manas raging around her as she prepared to handle any unforeseen circumstances.

    Ruyue charged without worry. She lifted her spear and unknowingly entered a state of extreme concentration. Unconsciously, she approached the 12th Elder with awkward and unpredictable movements.

    Seeing her rush in even though she was being obviously corroded from the inside, the 12th Elder''s face turned green.

    Why was this bitch so powerful at such a low level?! Why was her beauty so much greater than my own?! Why was she able to escape the horrible fate of a woman from the Xue n, while I was forced to embrace it for the sake of power?!

    The 12th Elder''s fury and envy melded into a flurry of emotions that could no longer be held back. Her mouth opened and she let out something akin to a roar.

    "YOU ARE COURTING DEATH!"

    "Ooooh! She said it! She said the thing!"

    With Ruyue in a state of extreme concentration and the 12th Elder consumed by her negative emotions, only Rose was still in a mental state to notice Damien''s excited interruption, but even she wasn''t in a position to respond.

    Ruyue''s eyes were nk. Her golden irises seemed to have disappeared in a sea of white. Inside her mind, a spear movement was repeating over and over again in an endless cycle.

    As she approached the 12th Elder in the real world, her mouth opened subconsciously.

    "Moon Goddess Spear Art Sixth Form: Distorted Moonlight."

 Chapter 452 Grievance [8]

    sh!

    Whether it be Damien, Rose, or the 12th Elder, not a single one of them understood what just happened.

    The ck and white light around Ruyue''s spear was distorted and melded together into a disgusting yet oddly pleasing grey color that stunned the senses. Her spear moved like a snake, her wrists seemingly bing boneless and more flexible than the limits of the human body allowed.

    Her figure zipped by the 12th Elder''s side while performing these strange movements. She didn''t even look like she struck the 12th Elder when she did so.

    But the results spoke for themselves.

    A thin red line appeared on the 12th Elder''s torso. It spread until it made a full circle around her body and reconnected with its origin.

    The 12th Elder''s face turned pale. Her voice came out as more of a whimper than anything else.

    "H-how¡­?"

    She didn''t even feel herself being struck. By all logic, there was no way for Ruyue''s attack to hit her, considering the direction and power put into it.

    But, she couldn''t deny the thin red line on her body that was leaking a small trace of blood. The wound didn''t look like much, but she knew¡­that this would be her final thought.

    "Haa¡­" Ruyue let out a cold breath. As if waiting for this moment, the 12th Elder''s body horizontally split into two pieces.

    Ruyue''s irises returned to her eyes, those weary golden orbs looking at the scene she had just caused.

    A relieved smile formed on her lips. "I¡­did it."

    Her body fell from the air, unable to sustain itself any longer. All her mana had been used up in that attack.

    Damien''s figure shed away from the chair he was sitting in, deftly catching Ruyue before she could fall too far. Of course, he made sure to utilize vector control so that he wouldn''t aggravate her body condition when he did so.

    "Tch¡­so stupid." He gritted his teeth so hard that he drew blood as he looked at Ruyue''s current state. Even saying that she was on death''s door wasn''t an over-exaggeration.

    His worry turned into fury as he thought about it. If he had just intervened in her battle, she would''ve never turned out like this. It was the same for Rose.

    But he wasn''t going to take his rage out on Rose, nor was he going to me himself. He wasn''t a child anymore.

    This battle was imperative to Ruyue''s growth. It was the reason why he didn''t interfere at all, and even while watching her get injured, he tried to keep his attitude light-hearted so he wouldn''t distract her.

    Because he knew it. If he or Rose had done anything too extra in aiding her, Ruyue never would have discovered the spear technique she used to kill the 12th Elder.

    Pah!

    Damien pped himself in the face. It was a crisp p that woke him up from the dark thoughts that kept guing his mind.

    He knew it from the start. This was the nature of the world. For him to reach his current level of power, he was forced to fight death countless times and endure untold amounts of torture.

    Was he so special that only he would be forced to go through such trials to be stronger? Was he going to force his wives to just be trophies for him while he went and did all the dirty work?

    No. The answer to both questions was no.

    "[Heal.]"

    Damien activated the [Heal] trait he received from the Primordial Undying Tree. A greenish-white cocoon formed around Ruyue''s injured body.

    In the future, there would be plenty of times when he was separated from his women. Even if he wanted to keep them by his side, he knew it wasn''t possible to tie them down like that.

    He was their man, not their owner. It was his job to support them in achieving their dreams while standing by their side to experience both despair and happiness together.

    It was for this reason why he never pressed Elena about the dilemma guing her mind. Perhaps even she didn''t know how clearly he could see her feelings, considering how he spent most of their lives together pretending to be dense.

    ''I need to have a proper talk with her. I won''t allow our new rtionship to be built on a foundation of sex.''

    He looked over at Rose. Her remark during the previous battle, no matter how light-hearted it had been, was an obvious show of her anger at his actions.<sub> </sub>

    He was really not doing a good job of being a proper husband to them.

    But it couldn''t be helped. It was his first time in such a situation. How was he supposed to know how to perfectly handle it?

    Rose was his first ever experience with a rtionship, but before they could properly progress, he fell in love with Ruyue as well. And then, out of nowhere, he had sex with Elena.

    The thought of being unrestrained, having permission from his women to form a harem, made him toocent with his situation.

    Even if he was allowed to have multiple women, it was still necessary for him to make sure he didn''t bite off more than he could chew.

    And at the moment, for an inexperienced guy like him, he had already done so with the three women he already had.

    But he had no thoughts of running away or putting a hold on his rtionship with any of them. Now that they had alle together for the first time, it was time for him to make reparations and build the rtionship that the four of them shared until it was sturdy and without problems.

    ''Haa¡­at first I was just worried about Ruyue getting hurt, but I ended up thinking way too deeply about it.''

    It wasn''t like the two issues werepletely unrted, but it was still irresponsible of him to think of such things while in the situation they were currently in.

    ''Perhaps I''ve be desensitized to this kind of thing.''

    It was a problem he never expected to appear. After all, nobody could prepare him for it.

    Even though it hurt him to see Ruyue get injured, he wanted it to hurt him more. Frankly, it just stung a little, nothing more than that.

    Because he had been through far worse to gain power. He had his arm severed, he had his entire left half burned to cinders by dragon''s breath, he had jumped into a pit of moltenva for the sake of tempering his body, he had been impacted by a God''s True Voice and came out more powerful.

    The injuries on Ruyue''s body might''ve seemed heavy, but they weren''t something he couldn''t heal through his newfound Trait.

    So, subconsciously, he wasn''t as worried as he felt he should''ve been when he saw his woman get fatally injured in battle.

    ''My emotions¡­haven''t returned to humanity quite yet. Perhaps they never will. Do I learn to cope with it, or do I find a way to fix it?''

    He didn''t know which was the better option. For now, at least, he didn''t have time to worry about it. Maybe this would be another situation where he only realized the severity of the problem after he personally felt the consequences.

    But before he could delve deeper into his thoughts, the cocoon that encased Ruyue''s body cracked open.

    Ruyue''s sleeping figure emerged from within, her eyes fluttering open. Seeing Damien''s worried eyes looking down at her the second she woke up, she smiled.

    "How''d I do?"

    And her casual words seemed to clear some of Damien''s confusion as well.

    ''That''s right. No matter how much my emotions are dulled, it doesn''t change the depth of my love for her.''

    With a bright smile on his face, he replied in an equally casual tone. "It was great! Sigh, if only I had some popcorn, it would''ve been way better."

    Ruyue scoffed. "I''ve heard of this popcorn stuff from Rose. When we get some time, you need to let me try it."

    "No problem. I''ll even take you to meet my mom while we''re at it. Actually¡ª"

    Damien''s words were suddenly cut off.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion rang out. The Xue n''s pce abode was turned into fine dust particles floating in the air.

    What remained in its ce was a frightening aura that far outstripped that of any elder that fought only a moment prior.

    Xue Yebai was finally making his move.

 Chapter 453 Fall [1]

    Short, pristine white hair that signified his status as a member of the Xue n, eyes like shining golden orbs that looked down on everything in contempt, and a body like a steel mountain. Everything about the man''s appearance practically screamed the word "imposing."

    Coupled with the massive aura that was being released from his body, Xue Yebai truly gave a first impression that dominated one''s mind.

    "Who is it?" His voice came out just as cold as the air around him, sending shivers down the spines of all who heard it. Even if their bodies wanted to drip cold sweat, it was impossible, as that sweat would freeze the second it was formed.

    "Who is it that dares to provoke my Xue n?"

    His piercing golden eyes scanned the scene in front of him. The corpses of the 12 Elders who were pirs of the Xue n until this day were the first thing that entered his vision.

    And after them were the faces of those who killed them.

    But Xue Yebai''s eyes remained passive. He didn''t show a hint of rage or sorrow at the deaths of his n members. In fact, the only emotion in his eyes was a trace of disdain.

    "Just you? Has our n fallen to the point where even ants have be brave enough to challenge us?"

    Xue Yebaipletely ignored Damien''s 4th ss subordinates. His eyes were trained on the body of Ruyue in Damien''s arms.

    "After all the years I spent raising you, this is how you choose to repay me. What a pathetic daughter."

    Ruyue''s body shivered uncontrobly. Seeing Xue Yebai''s face again after so many years, she was overwhelmed by the lingering emotions she thought she had buried.

    Sadness, anger, hatred, vengeance¡­the thoughts in her heart were colored in a ghastly ck. Yet, Xue Yebai''s presence alone was enough to cause her to freeze.

    It wasn''t a matter of power. She had always been aware that Xue Yebai had reached a level she couldn''t even see with her current strength. Rather, it was about his identity in general.

    Ruyue''s mind was in chaos. She wanted to face him, she wanted to stand up and look at him in disdain like the frog he was, but she wasn''t able to even move her fingers under his gaze.

    She thought she overcame her trauma in the Trial of Self, but it seemed that her trauma ran far deeper than she thought it did. Perhaps, this scar in her heart wouldn''t vanish until Xue Yebai was dead in front of her.

    Damien''s eyes hardened as he saw Ruyue''s mental state. The fury he had been containing until this moment threatened to burst forth once again. And for someone like Xue Yebai, he didn''t have any intention of keeping said fury hidden.

    Damien''s gaze was equally indifferent as he matched Xue Yebai''s. "Hmm, I always imagined you as a pathetic dog with nothing to show for himself. It seems my mental image was on point."

    Xue Yebai''s eyes turned to Damien. "You are the one who led my daughter on this futile path? I have yet to decide whether to praise your courage or mock your foolishness."

    "It''s funny to me that you still have the nerve to call her your daughter after all the bullshit you''ve pulled. Or is thick skin just a gic trait of the Xue n? I haven''t decided whether you should die here today or if I should have you tortured endlessly for your sins."

    "Sins? A mere child like you dares tobel my actions as sin? In this world, power is everything. And because I have power, I have no sin."

    Traceless mana coagted in Xue Yebai''s gaze and shot toward Damien at immeasurable speeds. As for Damien, he wasn''t even aware that a deadly threat was currently approaching him.

    "Then that means, if I kill you right now, it''ll be because you were weak, right?"

    A new voice interrupted their conversation. Tian Yang''s figure appeared in the air between Damien and Xue Yebai, casually blocking the formless attack that had just been fired.<sub> </sub>

    Damien suddenly whipped to attention. The stench of death had filled his senses for a brief instant when Tian Yang appeared in front of him, but it was already toote for him to block it.

    Only after Tian Yang had done it for him did he realize how close he was to dying in that moment.

    Damien''s gaze hardened. ''This level of power¡­isn''t something I can match up to yet. Even acting cheeky in front of a man like him is courting death.''

    Damien gritted his teeth in frustration. No matter how fast he grew, there would always be someone with the power to kill him with a single look. Even if he didn''t run into these people often, he engraved this fact into his bones so that he would never forget it.

    Tian Yang looked at Damien with a smile. ''This kid has grown far more than I expected him to in this short amount of time. Then, as his master, shouldn''t I give him a small present?''

    He turned his attention back to Xue Yebai. "Xue Yebai, are you aware of the crimes you havemitted?"

    Xue Yebai red at Tian Yang. For the first time since his appearance, he showed true emotion.

    Hatred.

    If it wasn''t for Tian Yang''s timely appearance, would Ruyue''s fate have been subverted as it was? If it wasn''t for him, would Xue Yebai''s ns for his first daughter have been so thoroughly ruined?

    From the start, Xue Yebai had always been looking for an opportunity to kill Tian Yang. But that opportunity never came. The backing of the Celestial Star Pce wasn''t something his Xue n could handle alone, and Tian Yang had never been one to show off his power.

    With so many unknown variables, Xue Yebai was forced to take a step back and let his hatred fester and grow.

    Until today.

    Today, Tian Yang stood in front of him alone. And with the current state of the Xue n, it would only be able to rise again if Tian Yang was defeated by his hands.

    ''Destroying the n and rebuilding it from its roots has always been the final goal. Since my precious little treasure has taken care of the dismantling for me, I only have to prove our strength and start rebuilding. Ah, wouldn''t she feel honored to be my Queen when that timees?''

    Xue Yebai smiled at his thoughts and finally decided to reply to Tian Yang''s words. "Sin? What sin have Imitted for the honorable Grand Elder of the Celestial Star Pce to personallye for me?"

    Tian Yang''s brown twitched. Even if he wasn''t one to fall for such cheap provocation, hearing someone as disgusting as Xue Yebai mocking him still felt unpleasant.

    But that was beside the point. Tian Yang''s aura slowly billowed out like a formless fog, his words bing colder and colder as he spoke.

    "Xue Yebai, for the sin of colluding with traitors to cause the fall of our glorious ne, the punishment¡­is death!"

    Tian Yang''s aura suddenly surged into a massive tide, shing with and dispersing the domineering aura that Xue Yebai had been unting all this time.

    Hearing his death deration, though, Xue Yebai''s lips curved into a cold smile.

    "Good. Since you have found a reason to act against me, any more talk is unnecessary. Come, allow me to show you the true power of the Xue n."

 Chapter 454 Fall [2]

    In the time it took for Tian Yang and Xue Yebai to converse before they battled, all those present had already retreated thousands of kilometers away, including Damien and hispanions.

    Because they all knew. The scale of thest fight wasn''t going to be even close toparable to this one. If they were careless and didn''t retreat, they would die without even knowing how.

    The instant the sh of their auras subsided, Xue Yebai immediately moved into action. Massive constructs of ice filled his vicinity, creating a scene far more majestic than the pce that once stood there.

    "Our Xue n is at the pinnacle of ice techniques. Even if you''re a spatial cultivator, your only advantage over me is speed. Allow me to take that away from you."

    The air around his body froze. No, space itself was frozen and crystallized. Such a move was tantamount to crippling someone who used space as their main element.

    But Tian Yang wasn''t fazed by it. In fact, he scoffed at Xue Yebai''s naive actions.

    "Is this how people who have never faced a spatial cultivator think? Did you really think it''d be so easy?"

    Tian Yang''s figure shed away, appearing behind Xue Yebai. The crystallized space around them shattered the instant Tian Yang''s body reappeared.

    "Space is far too profound for you who does not cultivate it to understand. Freeze space? This kind of superficial freezing means nothing in front of me."

    Tian Yang flicked his finger. Following his motion, the space in front of him bent into a bullet and shot at Xue Yebai.

    Xue Yebai casually dodged the attack. The ice pirs he formed previously circled around him, creating a sort of airtight defense.

    "You can talk as much as you want, but only in battle will your abilities prove themselves. Tian Yang, stop spouting nonsense ande at me."

    Xue Yebai''s ice pirs opened like doors. From within, arge array of different weaponry appeared.

    "Space might be profound, but the attack power of a spatial cultivator has always been their weak point. Even if you can defend against me, can you kill me?"

    An ice sword flew into the air and bolted at Tian Yang with immense speed. It was to the point where Damien couldn''t even follow it with his eyes.

    But Tian Yang simply tapped the air again. In that instant, the ice sword vanished, reappearing behind Xue Yebai''s head while carrying the same forward momentum.

    Bang!

    It heavily impacted the ice pir that moved to protect Xue Yebai, shattering it in an instant. As for the man himself, Xue Yebai waved his arm and recollected all the shattered ice shards, recreating the ice pir without difficulty.

    At the same time, countless weapons followed the previous sword''s movements. Thousands upon thousands of ice constructs charged at Tian Yang as if they had minds of their own.

    They circled his body and attacked randomly. With their current pattern, there wasn''t even a single area for Tian Yang to retreat to even if he wanted to.

    Although Tian Yang was a spatial cultivator and could easily escape the encirclement by teleporting, he didn''t do so.

    After all, weren''t his disciples watching him? If he was going to fight, he was going to do it like a badass.

    Tian Yang''s arms waved through the air as if he was conducting a symphony. With every movement he made, tens of ice constructs vanished from the air and reappeared around Xue Yebai, attacking him.

    But if this was the entire show Tian Yang was nning to put on, he''d be disappointed in his own abilities.

    As if on cue, every weapon around Tian Yang came to a halt at the same time.

    No, rather than halting, it was more urate to say that they were moving at an infinitesimally slow speed.

    "Hahaha! How fun! I haven''t had the chance to y around with mybat abilities in hundreds of years. Xue Yebai, I hope you can entertain me more than this!"

    Boom!

    There was no sudden pressure or any outside stimtion. The weapons around Tian Yang shattered into snowkes seemingly on their own.

    At the same time, Tian Yang teleported away. Appearing in front of Xue Yebai, he grinned in a way unbefitting of the sage-like image he usually gave off.

    "Boom."

    Space exploded. Without prior warning or any sort of fluctuation, space around Xue Yebai caved in, throwing him into the void.<sub> </sub>

    Tian Yang followed him in without hesitation. He waved his hands through the air, sending countless spatial des at Xue Yebai every second.

    And while barraging him like so, he kept calling out.

    "Boom."

    The void itself exploded. Infinite ckness caved in on itself and created a heavy suppression that bore down on Xue Yebai''s body.

    Every movement he made was slowed by this pressure. But as if that wasn''t enough, Tian Yang proceeded to cast the same ability he had on the weapons before.

    Xue Yebai felt like he was moving through muddied water. No matter how many steps he took forward, he was unable to move an inch from his spot.

    "Tian. YANG!"

    He roared in frustration. Waves of icy mana emanated from his body, immediately repelling the spatial des that were barraging him.

    "BREAK!"

    Space shattered with his words. Even though he wasn''t a spatial cultivator, he was able to pull off such a move with sheer power.

    Xue Yebai let out another roar. His mana raged, and an icy hell formed within the void. Behind Xue Yebai''s back, a mirage of an Ice Pce slowly took shape.

    "So you''re finally taking this seriously, are you? Couldn''t afford to hold back anymore? It''s a shame that a mere spatial cultivator without much attacking capability was able to push you to this point."

    Tian Yang''s mocking words didn''t end. While he spoke, he threw a heavy punch into thin air.

    Bang!

    Xue Yebai felt like his internal organs were rearranged with a single hit. The steel body he had trained so hard was no use against Tian Yang. His attacks ignored all barriers and physical defense to hit their desired target.

    His face turned red with rage. The Ice Pce finally finished taking shape. With this, Xue Yebai was ready to make his counterattack.

    ***

    Outside of the Empyrean Dragon Realm, thousands of kilometers away from the ongoing battle, the crowd attempted to watch in a stupor.

    After all, one could easily gain life-changing insights from witnessing a sh between Laws at such a level.

    Unfortunately, their sh had moved to a location where themon eye could never see. When they fought in the void, only the asional sparks and copsing space in the area remained as proof of their battle.

    But Damien was different. Even without straining his eyes, he could clearly see into the void. Only, their movements were far too fast.

    Nevertheless, he still kept his eyes trained on the figures of those two men. He didn''t even dare to blink, remembering the words that Tian Yang told him before the fight began.

    ''Brat, watch closely. I''ll show you how a true spatial practitioner fights.''

    That sound transmission had obviously piqued Damien''s interest. From the start, he could tell that Tian Yang''sprehension of Spatial Laws was unfathomable.

    But seeing it in front of his eyes waspletely different than just hearing or feeling it.

    Redirecting attacks back to their sender, mere spatial des with the same amount of attack power as Damien''s most heavy-hitting moves, the strange ability to manipte distance and ignore barriers, there was so much for Damien to learn that his brain felt like it was on the verge of exploding.

    But at the same time, his insights on space principles skyrocketed at a blinding pace.

    Even if Damien had to choose between witnessing the battle between Demigods in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range and this one, he''d choose this one without hesitation.

    An admiration that he had never felt before rose in his heart as he continued to watch Tian Yang barrage Xue Yebai.

    ''Old man, your mouth is far dirtier than you let on. You''re just like me for real.''

    Such a thought¡­perhaps it led to Damien finally and truly recognizing Tian Yang as his master.

 Chapter 455 Fall [3]

    The fight between Tian Yang and Xue Yebai continued to rage on.

    As soon as Xue Yebai''s ice pce finished forming, he let out a guttural roar. The mana imbued in his voice scattered the ambient mana around him, repelling most of Tian Yang''s attacks.

    At the same time, a wave of power emanated from the ice pce.

    Voom!

    ? Thousands of kilometers of the area around the two men were frozen solid. It wasn''t just ayer of frost covering it, no, the molecr structure of the material that was frozen was changed into the purest of ice itself.

    Pirs rose from the earth, a crystalline ceiling formed above their heads, and jagged stctites dripped down from above as well.

    Xue Yebai established his territory. All mana other than pure ice elemental essence was driven out. In this kind of situation, any practitioner that didn''t use ice as their main form of attack would be severely disadvantaged.

    After all, they could no longer replenish mana, and they could no longermand ambient mana to do their bidding. This kind of move was essentially crippling all opponents caught in its grasp.

    Xue Yebai raised his arm into the air as his face twisted into a cold smile. "Tian Yang, I''d like to see how you escape this time."

    His arm fell rapidly. On hismand, the ice surrounding the two men came to life.

    Frightening tides formed on both sides and entrenched Tian Yang, forcing him to defend against them. The stctites on the ceiling fell in quick session to prevent him from escaping into the sky. As for the ground, it was frozen so solid that even someone at Tian Yang''s level would have to put in genuine effort to break it.

    From what it seemed, Tian Yang was left with no option other than to hopelessly defend. Seeing this, Xue Yebai''s cold smile became wider.

    A shimmering crystalline sword mirroring Damien''s Mirage appeared in his hand. Except, this one was entirely made of ice.

    "Tian Yang, the ice I have curated over all my years of life, my Hallowed Emperor Ice, is ranked at the very peak of ice elements. Even if you try to attack it, you will not be able to damage it as you please."

    Xue Yebai took his stance and probed his sword. His mana agglomerated around the de, forming something akin to a sheath of ice.

    "Since it is you that I''m dealing with, I shall give it my all. Taste my pinnacle sword art. Absolute Ice Art: Ice Coffin."

    His sword shed diagonally through the air, leaving a clean line in space that could be seen with the naked eye. The sh of Sword Intent took form into a massive ice coffin that swallowed Tian Yang, entrapping him within.

    "Hahahahaha! The space around you has long been frozen by my Territory! Let''s see how you escape this time!"

    The attacksing from all sides finally converged. Even ayman could see that if Tian Yang truly couldn''t defend, he''d be gravely injured, if not killed.

    Tian Yang''s voice suddenly rang out from within the ice coffin. Even with all the madness raging around him, it could be clearly heard as if he was roaring at the top of his lungs.

    But his tone was oddly calm.

    "Xue Yebai, even after so many years that you''ve spent bitterly preparing to kill me, this is all you amount to? If so, you should''ve just fallen into the temptation of those traitors."

    He waved his hand lightly. In that instant, the ice coffin around his body vanished as if it never existed in the first ce.

    "There''s a reason spatial cultivators are so feared in society, and a reason why the Heavens rarely grant talent in Spatial Laws unto the beings residing under it. Puny tricks like these¡­are meaningless in front of me."

    BOOM!

    Tian Yang spread his arms to his sides. The two tsunamis of ice that were about to crush him t were caught in his grasp.

    "Shoo."

    An abnormal pulsation urred in space. The sound of cracks spreading through ss overtook all other sounds around the battlefield.

    And then, space shattered once more.

    Theyers of ice that Xue Yebai used to freeze the spatialyers were cracked in an instant. As for space itself, it coiled in on itself like a spring under Tian Yang''smand.

    Voom!

    The spring burst. The ice tsunamis, the falling stctites, every attack Xue Yebai had thrown at Tian Yang¡­they all began moving in reverse.<sub> </sub>

    It was a strange effect. It didn''t look like they were being pushed back, rather, it looked like time had rewound. But Tian Yang didn''t use any time elemental essence at all. He had achieved a seemingly impossible feat using Spatial Laws alone.

    "Elemental essence?" Tian Yang scoffed. "Perhaps for others, this kind of substance is of utmost importance. But for us spatial cultivators, why should we rely on it?"

    He flicked his finger, causing thousands of spatial des to appear in the air and revolve around his body like a protective halo.

    "Space is omnipresent. Even if you wish to dere your Territory, there must be a space for you to upy. You see, the concept of space is far vaster than you could ever imagine with your puny brain."

    The spatial des around Tian Yang shot out. They teleported all over the ce without any sort of predetermined pattern,ying waste to everything Xue Yebai had put effort into building to fight Tian Yang.

    Once again, the two of them were back to square one. At least, when it came to their environmental advantages.

    Tian Yang looked at Xue Yebai cidly and spoke. "So let me ask again, why should I care about theck of spatial essence around me when I could just bend space itself to follow my will instead?"

    BOOOM!

    Space shattered into countless mirror fragments floating in the air. Xue Yebai was inevitably sucked into this new spatial phenomenon with no time to react.

    "Tian Yang, you bastard!" Xue Yebai roared. Like a mad beast, he charged recklessly while pushing his mana to the limit.

    Tian Yang sighed. "It seems you still don''t understand. Very well, I shall allow you to experience it with your body so you can no longer find a reason to question it."

    Xue Yebai ignored Tian Yang''s words and kept charging. But, the fact that he still hadn''t reached his desired location after so much effort suddenly began to nag at the back of his mind.

    ''Where?!''

    Xue Yebai felt a sudden threat and stopped abruptly. When he looked around, he found himself in apletely random location, standing in front of a spatial rift that would''ve sliced his body into countless pieces if he had been even a single step toote in stopping.

    He spread his awareness rapidly in confusion. Only then did he realize something strange.

    When he started his charge, he was in a direct line to Tian Yang. However, now, he was thousands of kilometers to the right of him, standing in the sky.

    ''How¡­?!''

    Xue Yebai gritted his teeth in denial and tried again. He put up a barrier of mana around his body to stop himself from being influenced by the surroundings, charging at Tian Yang.

    But Tian Yang didn''t even acknowledge his efforts. He simply stood there and watched Xue Yebai make a fool of himself with a condescending look in his eyes.

    Xue Yebai continued to madly charge. He would move through spaceterally and longitudinally at random, ending up inpletely unpredictable locations every time he forced himself to stop.

    If it was only this, it''d just be shame that he experienced. The problemy in the fact that countless spatial rifts littered the Territory Tian Yang had set up, each having the power to kill him if he ran into them.

    Xue Yebai was vexed to say the least. No matter what he tried, it would only end in him losing face without any gain. He even thought about turning traitor in that moment and embracing the Nox to escape, but he realized that such a choice wasn''t avable to him.

    "Haa¡­Xue Yebai, your filthy personality has always been something I abhorred, but I allowed you to live because we humans need to preserve as much strength as possible for theing war. But, you have crossed the line."

    Tian Yang raised his hand into the air. For the first time since the fight started, his killing intent leaked from his body.

    "Today, I dere your death. Live better in your next life if you don''t wish to die so fruitlessly."

    Tian Yang dropped his arm. The space in his Territory began to shrink and fold in on itself like a nket. And within the folds of that nket was the helplessly iling Xue Yebai.

    "TIAN YANG! EVEN IF YOU KILL ME TODAY, I WILL HAUNT YOU FOR ETERNITY! DO NOT THINK THIS IS THE END!"

    He roared like a madman. His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth gashing maddeningly as he spoke.

    But his roars held no substance. They were the final wails of a dying man. As space continued topress with him inside of it, his body was slowly crushed along with it until he became nothing more than arge meatball.

    Just like that, Xue Yebai, Head of the Xue n, had perished.

 Chapter 456 Fall [4]

    Tian Yang sighed and cracked his neck. His fingers danced in the air in front of him. As he did so, space was rapidly repaired until it returned to its normal stability.

    He looked around at the destruction that was caused. Although thousands of kilometers had been razed by the two of them, it was surprisingly less damage than expected.

    But that was a given. Minimizing environmental damage was another benefit of being a spatial cultivator, since they had the ability to shatter space and bring their battles into the void.

    Damien also used this strategy often. Though, he never cared about environmental damage, he just did it because arge majority of his destructive spells constituted shattering space.

    Tian Yang patted his hands clean and shed away, appearing in front of Damien and Ruyue, who were still looking at the battlefield in awe.

    "So? What''d you think? Your master is a badass, isn''t he?"

    Damien snapped out of his trance in an instant and rolled his eyes. "You would''ve been more badass if you had kept your mouth shut in the end."

    Tian Yang''s brow twitched. He grabbed Damien''s ear and pinched hard. "Is that how you should wee back your master who just fought a hard battle for your sake? What an ungrateful disciple!"

    Damien winced in pain and tried to teleport away, but Tian Yang locked space and forced him to stay, pulling his ear even harder as punishment.

    Damien raged. "Dammit, you old bastard! Let go of me! If you want to make me believe you struggled then at least y the part! Look at you,pletely uninjured and spreading your aura wantonly like you have mana for days! Anyone in their right mind wouldn''t believe a word you say!"

    Tian Yang looked around and noticed the crowd around him sweating profusely. It was only after Damien''s words that he realized how he was still ring his aura.

    He coughed awkwardly and let go of Damien''s ear. "I''ll forgive you this time."

    "Tch." Damien clicked his tongue. Whether in terms of strength or shamelessness, hepletely lost to the old man. In this situation, it was better to just back down.

    "Ruyue, you need to help me get back at this old man in the future. I must have my revenge!" Damien spoke indignantly, but Ruyue wasn''t paying any attention at all.

    Her eyes were still glued to the battlefield. Everything else around her faded away.

    Just a few moments ago, she was stunned into a stupor. Even though she couldn''t watch the entire fight clearly, she could at least somewhat understand what was happening by using the abilities of her eyes.

    But the reality of it all didn''t set in until she saw the crumpled pile of meat that used to be Xue Yebaiying on the cracked ground.

    Silent tears threatened to fall from her eyes. A feeling of relief spread through her cold boy, giving her an unprecedented sense offort.

    How many years had she been waiting for this day toe? How many years was her hatred forced to seethe and marinate because she didn''t have the strength to fight back?

    She had been dreaming of the day when Xue Yebai died for so long, but when it finally appeared before her, it was too surreal for her to ept right away.

    Her revenge¡­waspleted. The Xue n would be removed from the 4 Great ns from this day forth. Even though she didn''t achieve revenge with her own hands, it felt like she had done exactly that.

    After all, it wasn''t a stranger that killed Xue Yebai. It wasn''t a stranger that helped her get rid of all the Elders.

    Those were the master that had taken her in and provided her safety and warmth at her lowest point, and the man who taught her how to feel again. They were the two most important people in her life.

    So even though the majority of the work was done by them and those affiliated with them, Ruyue didn''t feel the slightest sense of loss at not having contributed enough.

    The tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes could no longer be controlled.

    Seeing her state, Damien and Tian Yang stopped their argument. As if they had agreed on it beforehand, they teleported away to a secluded location.

    And Ruyue burst out crying. She cried like a little girl for the second time in the span of the past few years, which was more than she had ever done prior.

    Damien and Tian Yang smiled warmly as they watched her. Because they knew. These were tears of joy, tears of fulfillment. They couldn''t be happier seeing that Ruyue was finally able to release the tears she had been holding back for twenty-something years.<sub> </sub>

    ''Old man, you finally did something good.'' Damien sent a sound transmission so as to not disturb Ruyue.

    Tian Yang rolled his eyes. ''Brat, I''ve been taking care of her for way longer than you have. If anything, you''re the one that finally did something good.''

    ''Just because you looked after her for longer doesn''t mean you''re better than me. In fact, I dare say she likes me more than you.''

    ''Ha! I''ve always treated her like my own granddaughter! There''s no way she''d be so unfilial as to forget me after falling in love for such a short time!''

    ''You''re just saying that because you''re a lonely old man without a wife of your own. She was so cold when I first met her, it was only after meeting me that her shell finally cracked. Admit it, I''m simply better than you.''

    ''Tch! As if I''d ever admit it! Brat, since little Yue''er is like my own granddaughter, that makes you my grandson-inw. If you can''t get my blessing, don''t think about marrying her.''

    ''Hah?! You''re saying this now?! You damn salty old man!''

    ''If I''m a salty old man, then you''re a pretentious brat!''

    ''Hah?!''

    ''What? Want to fight?''

    ''Tch. A little victory over a bitch like Xue Yebai must''ve made you conceited. If it''s a fight you want, then I''ll entertain you whenever!''

    ''Brat, you speak as if you aren''t leagues weaker than me. If this isn''t asking for death, I don''t know what is.''

    ''Oho? But you wouldn''t dare to hurt your precious granddaughter''s husband, would you? Imagine how distraught she would be!''

    ''Keuk¡­!''

    The two might''ve been arguing soundlessly, but the way they were postured begged to differ. Their auras silently shed in the air between them, their fiery gazes locked as if battle would break out any second.

    That is, until Ruyue''s voice cleanly cut through the atmosphere they created.

    "What are you two doing?" She asked naively. One second she had been crying immersed in old memories, the next, she felt fierce battle intent filling the air around her. She really had no clue what had happened in the past few minutes for there to be a drastic change.

    As if on cue, Damien and Tian Yang turned in different directions and coughed awkwardly.

    <o>,m "W-what are you talking about? We''re just having a casual conversation between master and disciple."</o>

    "Y-yeah, little Yue''er, no need to be mad. I would never beat up your future husband."

    "I never said anything about that though?" Ruyue tilted her head, ring at Tian Yang in suspicion.

    "Cough! Cough! Wow, I seem to have got something stuck in my throat!" Tian Yang replied hurriedly. His figure shed, disappearing from the empty meadow where they stood.

    Damien''s brow twitched in annoyance. "Damn old man! How dare you snitch and then abandon me! I''ming for your ass!"

    Damien''s figure disappeared as well. The two of them shed around the meadow, reappearing asionally in variousedic poses as they fought like children without mana.

    Watching their antics, Ruyue burst into a fit of giggles. Soon, her giggles turned into a full-on bout of uncontrobleughter.

    That''s right. From now on, she would be able to experience warmth like this unhindered. This fact alone was enough to keep her content for eternity.

 Chapter 457 Break [1]

    With the death of Xue Yebai, the Empyrean Dragon Realm expedition and all the unexpected events that took ce around it finally came to a conclusion.

    The event wasn''t private by any means. Countless major powers and rogue cultivators from all over the Cloud ne hade to participate in it. As such, news about what happened couldn''t be hidden for long.

    The Xue n and the Wang n were both annihted, traitors of the human race had appeared on the Cloud ne, and new geniuses emerged in waves as if in response to the tumultuous times ahead.

    Of course, news about Damien didn''t escape this effect.

    Whether it be the Central Continent where he resided or any of the four surrounding continents, the name Damien Void became a heated subject for all those in the Cloud ne.

    His feats in the secret realm weren''t mentioned anywhere, as nobody had seen him within, but that didn''t matter much in the grand scheme of things. After all, he made his grand entrance on the scene by destroying a major n before entering the secret realm, and as if that wasn''t enough, he did it once more after he exited.

    Nobody could tell whether the advent of such a genius was a signal for prosperity or cmity. But anyone with a little bit of strength could tell. A storm was brewing not only in the Cloud ne, but in the universe as a whole.

    And just like that, a week passed swiftly.

    The Celestial Star Pce had been in an uproar for the past week. An unknown genius in their sect had be a rising star in an instant, while the more famous Long Chen became the inheritor of the Empyrean Dragon Sword. From the looks of it, their sect would surpass the Jade Heavenly Pce with just a bit more time and effort.

    Actually, many people were rushing around the Celestial Star Pce in hopes of catching a glimpse of the renowned geniuses of their sect, but both of them seemed to have vanished into thin air after returning from the secret realm.

    The frenzied disciples even bombarded Elder Xiao Xun, Long Chen''s master, to the point where she was forced to move from her residence to a higher location on Celestial Mountain which normal disciples couldn''t easily reach.

    The pandemonium continued on, but with theck of response from the people in question, themotion soon died down, allowing those involved to finally find a bit of peace.

    ***

    In a certain courtyard near Tian Yang''s residence at the peak of the Celestial Mountain, two men sat across from each other at a table.

    "Fuck, this is why I always try to keep a low profile. Being famous is such a difficult thing for a poor man like me to handle." A man in ck robesmented. But betraying his tone of voice, his eyes carried a barely hidden twinkle of pleasure.

    "You? Low profile? If a shameless bastard like you can be called low profile, then I might as well be a Demigod in disguise." The man across from him rolled his eyes and replied.

    Naturally, these two were Damien and Long Chen. With the fame they had within the sect at the moment, hiding in Tian Yang''s residence was the only course of action they could take.

    Not that either of them minded. With how much they had been through in recent times, it was nice to take a short break before delving into the chaos once more.

    "Say, what happened with Xiao Xun? I heard she was forced to move?"

    "Don''t mention it. Xun''er has been pestering me to move in here with us for a while now, but due to her status, that kind of thing has be impossible." Long Chen sighed. Having a so-called forbidden rtionship like this one was truly troublesome.

    Damien scoffed at his words. "How sad for you. If only you didn''t seduce a Sect Elder, how easy would life be?"

    "Shut up." Long Chen growled in annoyance. "Do you think I was actively trying to seduce her? How was I supposed to know that my Master would be so cute?"

    Damien rolled his eyes. "Stop bragging. If you want to see cuteness, I can bring Ruyue over here and show you what real cuteness is."

    "Tch, the Xue n princess? I heard that she''s a block of ice, how can you call that cute?"

    "Oi, don''t be insulting my Ruyue. Let me give you some sage advice as a man with far more experience than you. The fact that she''s a block of ice to others makes her cute moments infinitely cuter when they happen."

    Long Chen squinted his eyes in suspicion. "Since when did you have more experience than me? Last I checked, you only lost your innocence¡ª"

    Long Chen''s words were suddenly cut off as he was forced to abruptly dodge to the right. A boulder appeared in the space above where he was seated, crushing his chair to bits.

    "Brat, don''t get cheeky with me. If you really wish for it, I''ll beat some sense into you again." Damien growled, hiding his reddened cheeks.

    In fact, Long Chen had "be a man" far earlier than Damien had. In the romantic department, at least, Long Chen had a clear advantage.<sub> </sub>

    Long Chen shuddered lightly at Damien''s threat. Remembering their spar from a few days ago, he shut his mouth instead of trying to provoke thetter further.

    Even if his mind didn''t want to admit defeat, his body remembered the pain. The fact that he was forced to call this bastard "Boss" from now on was still too infuriating.

    Seeing Long Chen''s frustrated expression, Damien grinned. He took a new chair out of his subspace and ced it down for Long Chen to sit.

    "Well, it''s whatever. As for that Xiao Xun, if you want to bring her just do it. It''s not like the old man doesn''t know about your rtionship already."

    "Hm?!" Long Chen''s eyes widened in surprise.

    Damien looked at him with a dumb expression on his face. "Don''t tell me you actually thought you were hiding it well? Bro, the old man is probably at the peak of 4th ss and uses Divination Techniques frequently. If he couldn''t even guess your rtionship with his qualifications, I''d be too disappointed in him to call him my master."

    "You don''t call him your master even now, though."

    "Shut up. You get the point."

    Long Chen smiled. The peaceful days had indeed been a good stress relief for him, but he always felt something was missing. If his Xun''er was allowed to apany him in his retreat, there''d be nothing better in the world.

    "Thank you, Boss." Long Chen said sincerely. Even if it annoyed him that Damien got to be the oldest brother, he was still grateful to have a considerate friend like him.

    It wasn''t something Long Chen was used to, being a child from a major n where betrayal was the norm.

    But when he looked up, he saw Damien looking at him with disgust.

    Long Chen''s brow twitched endlessly. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

    Damien didn''t answer. Instead, he red at Long Chen suspiciously for many moments before speaking.

    "You know, it''s kind of gross when you act so sincere. Since when were you like that?"

    Long Chen''s face turned red with shame. "Fuck! I was going to be nice just this once, but a bastard like you doesn''t deserve my gratitude."

    "Yeah, yeah. You''re Long Chen, the ssic cultivation novel protagonist! You clearly delineate gratitude and grudge! Hearing words of sincerity from you should be my utmost honor!" Damien replied sarcastically.

    Long Chen gritted his teeth. "This isn''t the first time you''ve said something about these cultivation novels. Although I don''t know what they are, I feel like you''re insulting me."

    "Very much so."

    "At least pretend like you aren''t!"

    Long Chen stood up and red his aura. "Come to the training area right now. I want a rematch."

    Damien raised his brow. "Oho? Are you sure you want to do that? Aren''t you afraid of getting beaten¡­little Chen Chen?"

    "Fuck! I don''t care anymore!"

    Long Chen thrust his hand to the side, the Empyrean Dragon Sword manifested in his grasp.

    As he did so, Damien stood up as well. Mirage appeared as if responding to Long Chen''s provocation.

    But just as it looked like a fight would break out, a man appeared between them.

    "You two, do you ever stop fighting? Put the swords down for now. Brother Damien, your master is calling for you."

 Chapter 458 Break [2]

    The man who appeared had striking white hair and blue eyes. Unexpectedly, Xue Feng was residing in the Celestial Star Pce.

    Since the Xue n was no more, both he and Xue Yue, who had received Ruyue''s mercy, were allowed to stay in the sect until they found somewhere better. Though, it didn''t look like the duo had any ns of leaving.

    "Xue Feng, tell that old man I''lleter. Let me discipline this brat first." Damien said.

    "Brother Xue, don''t mind his crass speech. I''ll finish him off quickly and send him to Senior Tian with haste." Long Chen said almost immediately after.

    Xue Feng rubbed his temples in frustration. "Why are the two of you like this every time you get together? Brother Long, I don''t wish to be the one to tell you, but you''re not a match for him right now. As for you, Brother Damien, Senior Tian said that if you do not show up within 5 minutes, he''d personallye to teach you a lesson."

    Thepetitive atmosphere immediately deted. Long Chenmented inwardly at the truth of Xue Feng''s words. As for Damien, he shed away the instant he heard thest sentence.

    "Haa¡­I can''t stand this bastard''s arrogance, but I guess I can let him go this time." Long Chen sighed.

    Xue Feng smiled lightly. "Thank you for your consideration, Brother Long. However, if you are still in the mood topete, how about giving me a chance?"

    Long Chen looked up and grinned. "Good. Let''s see how much you''ve improved since ourst spar."

    Xue Feng took out his sword and did the same. "That''s what I was going to say to you!"

    Bang!

    The sound of their collision was so loud that even Damien heard it from many kilometers away. When he did, he gritted his teeth in frustration.

    "Damn old man, can''t even let me have my fun. I wonder what he wants this time?"

    He took out his disciple token and poured mana into it. A small holographic disy appeared, showing him the location where Tian Yang had summoned him.

    "Tch, and he''s not even home right now. Where the hell is he making me go?"

    As Damien moved closer and closer to the very peak of Celestial Mountain, he thought back to the events of the past week.

    Even though he was outwardly rxing, he had been extremely busy.

    For one, there was a need to eradicate the remaining forces of the Wang n and the Xue n. Although his help wasn''t needed in the battles, his ability to distinguish Devil Worshippers from normal people was necessary at times, so he was forced to move back and forth through the Central Continent many times to provide his help.

    Fortunately, his teleportation was no longer restrained. As such, the hassle was minimized to a manageable level.

    As for his personal affairs, thest week had been spent stabilizing the situation in the Sanctuary.

    In reality, although he had taken in those millions of people from the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, he only really interacted with their leaders.

    Subordinating entire races through just this much was impossible. While the elves had undying loyalty towards him due to the Ancestral Seal, it wasn''t the same for the Dragons and Phoenixes.

    So, within the Sanctuary, there were two main things he was focused on. Firstly, helping with the creation of infrastructure and providing food, and secondly, battle.

    That''s right. He had been earnestly battling with the Dragon Troop from the White Dragon Grotto for the past week to gain their submission. Considering how the White Dragon King raised them, this method was the natural course of action.

    As for the phoenixes, they were far more difficult to deal with. In fact, he had no idea how he was going to tame them.

    But for now, it wasn''t necessary. He could worry about it after dealing with the White Dragon Grotto.

    Other than those kinds of troublesome tasks, the rest of his time had been solely dedicated to little Xue''er and the Lily/Mei duo. Since those kids had been bugging him for a while about how negligent he was, he was forced to entertain them for hours on end.

    In short, he was busy to the point where he couldn''t even have his talks with Rose and Elena, who had also returned to the Celestial Star Pce with him.<sub> </sub>

    ''Haa¡­thankfully they''re understanding people.'' Damien sighed inwardly. After wrapping up the ordeals of the Empyrean Dragon Realm, the first thing he did was make sure to make his intentions clear to the two of them.

    The fact that he wanted to have serious conversations with them had been privately conveyed to both for a while now, but he never got the time to actually carry out on his promise.

    But neither Rose nor Elenained. Instead, they told him they were willing to wait until he had the time. For this, he was endlessly grateful.

    ''Today is a good day. Since I''ve caught up with Long Chen already, after I talk to the old man, I''ll pay my visits to them.''

    Damien finally arrived at the location specified on his disciple token. Unexpectedly, he found himself in front of a massive ck pce.

    ''Isn''t this¡­?''

    Damien''s eyes widened. ''Why the hell would the old man bring me to the Sect Master''s residence?''

    But before he could think about it for too long, Tian Yang''s voice rang out in his ear.

    "Brat, you''ve finally arrived. Come around to the back. We''re all waiting for you."

    Damien raised his brow and spread his awareness, finding the courtyard behind the pce. Without waiting any longer, he teleported over.

    When his figure reappeared, he was immediately assaulted with a wave of suffocating aura. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the line-up in front of him.

    Tian Yang sat nearest to where he was, at the foot of a long table. Other than him, there were only two figures present.

    One was Shangguan Yu, the Sect Master of the Jade Heavenly Pce, and the other¡­

    A beautiful woman with a razor-sharp presence. The cold and detached look in her eyes made it clear that she wasn''t someone who could be trifled with. As for her identity, she was Bai Xieren, the Sect Master of the Celestial Star Pce.

    Even though the three of them weren''t consciously releasing their auras, just their passive presences alonebined into a fierce force that would cause most people to bow their heads in submission.

    But Damien refused to do so. Ignoring the other two, he looked at Tian Yang defiantly and spoke as he usually did.

    "Old man, you should know how busy I am. Quickly stop with the posturing and tell me what''s up."

    Tian Yang grinned, Shangguan Yu smiled imperceptibly, and Bai Xieren''s eyes narrowed.

    Tian Yang spoke first. "Brat, even in the presence of your own Sect Master, you still dare to act like this?"

    Damien nced over at Bai Xieren before turning his attention back to Tian Yang and rolling his eyes.

    "Knowing you, these two have already been informed about my personality before I got here. Although I would pay my respects to the Sect Master during a public asion, this is a private meeting of big shots so I doubt something like that matters. Plus, there are probably more important matters at hand, am I wrong?"

    Tian Yang''s grin widened. "Looks like you finally learned how to use that brain of yours in the past year. Indeed, formalities don''t mean anything at the moment. Considering what you''ve achieved, during this meeting, you will be considered as our equal."

    Damien raised his brow in interest. Although it was true that he was being arrogant because of his nature, he was also testing the waters a bit. He wanted to know how much leeway his status as Star Master would grant him in front of these experts.

    But to be regarded as their equal? That kind of thing far surpassed his expectations.

    Tian Yang didn''t give him much time to be shocked, though. After the useless talk was out of the way, he cut straight to the point.

    "Alright. It''s time for you to tell us about your conversation with the World Core."

 Chapter 459 Break [3]

    "Alright. It''s time for you to tell us about your conversation with the World Core."

    Damien''s gaze sharpened. He knew this day woulde, but he didn''t expect it toe so soon.

    He sighed inwardly. ''I was hoping that the peaceful days would continue for a bit longer, but I guess this is it.''

    Regardless of hismentation, he still did as Tian Yang said and gave a rough description of what happened between him and the World Core.

    Of course, the fact that the World Core had sentience was enough to shock both Shangguan Yu and Bai Xieren. After all, this wasn''t a fact that was so easily known.

    But the main point of conversation naturally revolved around what happened after. From the Nox corruption on the World Core to the number of traitors that were residing in the Cloud ne, Damien didn''t leave out even a speck of information about it.

    Shangguan Yu furrowed his brows. "Even if I somewhat expected it, it''s still a shock when it''s verified. Ten million traitors¡­it seems we have our work cut out for us in theing days."

    Bai Xieren nodded in agreement. "We must begin our extermination n as soon as possible. Luckily, we still have the ability to move secretly."

    Damien agreed with her inwardly. Although the Wang n and Xue n were both implicated and ughtered under the premise of betraying humanity, the fact that their side had information about the traitors was still not known to the enemy.

    Since Wang Chen and Xue Yebai were both in in public without getting taken in for interrogation, the other traitors in the Central Continent wouldn''t suspect that they had been revealed quite yet. It was even more for those on the other continents, since the leaders of the two major ns might not have even known their identities to begin with.

    ''With our current upper hand, it is indeed best to move secretly. That way, we can cut the grass and pull the roots without alerting the remaining traitors. Though, even if they decide to go into hiding, there isn''t a single ce in the Cloud ne that can escape my gaze anymore.''

    Damien grinned. There was no need to worry about the sess or failure of the extermination n with his ability. For those who betrayed humanity, the only option was death.

    As Damien was thinking, the three experts around him continued their conversation and devised strategies for how to move. However, he soon noticed a w.

    "Oh, right. Since there are so many names, I totally forgot to give you guys the full list of traitors. Luckily enough, I had Yunpile the information in a more digestible format."

    Damien took out a storage ring filled with jade slips and emptied it onto the table. As he spoke, he began organizing the jade slips into separate sections.

    "Here''s urate information on both the identities and strengths of the traitors. It''s currently organized by sects and families, from most powerful to least. As for rogue cultivators, they are included on their own separate jade slip, though there aren''t many of them since the Nox Worshippers have a tendency to gather together."

    Damien finished arranging the jade slips and looked up, immediately being confronted by the shocked gazes of the three experts.

    "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

    Tian Yang shook his head wryly. "It''s nothing. It looks like you''ve prepared thoroughly for theing operation even though you didn''t have knowledge of it beforehand."

    Damien shrugged nonchntly. "I mean, ever since I told you what I knew before we confronted the Xue n, I was expecting this day toe. What, did you think I was such an idiot that I wouldn''t understand even this much?"<sub> </sub>

    "Yes. Yes, I did." Tian Yang replied matter-of-factly, earning him a death re from Damien.

    Tian Yang coughed awkwardly and picked up a random jade slip to read from. The second he did so, his shock heightened to another level.

    "Oho, this is far worse than what I was expecting. To think I would happen upon the Jade Heavenly Pce''s information first."

    Shangguan Yu''s eyes hardened when he heard Tian Yang''s words. Although he was itching to see the jade slip himself, he knew he would get his turn eventually. Instead, he turned his attention to the other slips on the table.

    "The Peng Family, Yu Family, Twisted Mountain Sect, even the Empire''s religion has been influenced by these demons¡­" Shangguan Yu gritted his teeth in anger.

    "To think they dare to act out while knowing full well about our power. Or do they think we won''t do anything just because of our status? It seems our Jade Heavenly Pce needs to show our strength to the public once more so that they lose any thoughts of rebellion."

    His tone was extremely cold, but nobody could me him for his anger. After all, they were all feeling the same.

    Especially Bai Xieren. The second she saw the list of names from the Celestial Star Pce, she wanted to move and ughter them all. But for the sake of the greater n, she forced herself to calm down.

    Damien''s tone became abnormally serious as he began speaking once more. "Even though this number might look drastic, it''s actually the Cloud ne''s good fate that there are so few traitors. Whenpared to the total poption of the world, a mere ten million is nothing.

    "There are worlds out there in the universe that have beenpletely corrupted. Worlds where billions upon billions of Nox Worshippers lie in wait for the day of war toe. Although I''m aware that all three of you have lived far longer than I have and have experienced far more, I feel the need to inform you of this.

    "Never underestimate the temptation that the Nox bring to ordinary people. No matter how humble any of us try to be, the fact that we have the power to sit here and decide the fates of others so easily is because we have both talent and strength. Look at the elders of the Xue n, for example. Even though they had some strength, they werecking in talent and were killed off by someone on a far lower level than them.

    "The universe is fair if you look at it from above, but as someone living within it, its unfairness is as clear as day. For those who have toiled away endlessly but were never able to see the boundary of 4th ss due to theircking talent, the devil''s whispers of the Nox are like words of god. It''s even more so for those who have tasted the bitterness and unfairness of life.

    "Although I''ve spoken so much, my meaning remains simple. The rallying power that the Nox possess is insane. In theing war, rather than facing a horde of Nox, we should expect to face our own people until our spirits be dull from betrayal. This is our fate for opposing their regime."

    The courtyard was enveloped in a cold silence after Damien''s words finished. Even though everyone present was already aware of this fact, hearing it said so explicitly still forced reality to sink in.

    But none of the four were weak-willed people. Three of them had faced themselves and even the Universe itself to achieve acknowledgment. It was impossible for them to falter here.

    Damien nodded in satisfaction after seeing their response.

    "Although I am far weaker than you at the moment, I have no doubt that I''ll reach your level if I''m given time. Therefore, I hope you can forgive me for being presumptuous. On the battlefield, we will all berades, so I have no ns of being tied down to unimportant things like status.

    "Even if you are the Sect Masters of the most powerful sects in the Cloud ne, in the future, you will just be part of the many 4th ss existences that participate in the war.

    "So from now on, please include me in future meetings about these kinds of important topics. I have no desire to take a backseat in this war while being pushed around at the whims of others."

 Chapter 460 Break [4]

    Tian Yang grinned in satisfaction. Damien''s final words and overall attitude were extremely arrogant considering who he was facing, but with his current position, this kind of arrogance was necessary if he didn''t want to be a tool in the future.

    Belief in his own strength and potential, problem-solving ability that wasn''t perfect, but growing at a steady pace, and a cool head that could view the situation objectively, Damien was slowly beginning to embody the traits that an expert should have.

    ''His cheeky attitude will probably never disappear though.'' Tian Yang thought to himself.

    "Brat, your final demand might sound reasonable, but words don''t mean anything if there''s no substance behind them. Although I can acknowledge you like this, for others, you must prove your value through strength.

    "Your contributions thus far cannot be spread, because if the fact that you are a Star Master were to be public knowledge, you''d be walking with a target on your back at all times. Therefore, even if the three of us agree with you, we can only support you secretly."

    Damien nodded. He expected this much. He didn''t want to use a meeting like this, where more important matters were being discussed, to secure personal benefit, but he didn''t have a choice. It wasn''t amon thing for him to be in the presence of so many world leaders.

    Until now, his journey had been incredibly smooth because he was never on the Nox''s radar. After all, he was far too weak for them to take notice of him. However, it was mainly because he hadn''t encountered many true-blooded Nox before. The two that he had met were both dead, therefore his information wouldn''t spread.

    ''It would be terrible if they had some sort of mental link skill that allowed them to glean information from their fallen soldiers, but even then I should be fine. Since 3rd ss Nox have limited sentience, the one I killed shouldn''t apply to that kind of skill. As for the Demigod, I wasn''t present during his death, and ric died along with him, so there should be nothing from that encounter as well.''

    Damien''s thoughts suddenly drifted towards a certain sibling duo.

    ''Although I''m aware that they aren''t working for the Nox out of their own free will, that''s what makes it more dangerous. There''s no way a conniving race like the Nox would only use hostages to guarantee the submission of those they use. If there''s some sort of technique to forcefully extract information from the two¡­''

    He might''ve already be a target unknowingly. Even if he didn''t y a pivotal role in what happened in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, his role was still an important one.

    ''On the Cloud ne, I''m safe. But I don''t know what kind of dangers await me in the wider universe. From now on, I can no longer move with the goal of adventuring. But I can no longer stay on the Cloud ne either.''

    Damien furrowed his brows as he fell into thought. But before he could think too deeply, he was interrupted by Tian Yang''s voice.

    "With the extermination ning into effect, it seems the other n must be put on hold for a bit. We can''t afford to divert our attention from either matter."

    Bai Xieren nodded. "6 months should be enough to finish off the traitors without alerting too much suspicion. What matters is how we deal with the situation once we finish. There''s no way the Nox won''t be alerted after so many of their forces are wiped."

    "ording to the information, there are two 4th ss Nox beings currently residing here. One is on the Central Continent while the other is on the Western Continent. Both of these Nox must be eliminated simultaneously in case they share some sort of connection that will alert them." Shangguan Yu continued.

    "Even then, killing them might alert the Nox that we are aware of their ns. Will we still be able to carry out the attack n under this kind of suspicion?" Bai Xieren questioned.

    Tian Yang shook his head. "Even if it is so, we don''t have another choice. Interference from their side is bing more and more frequent. Therge number of Nox Worshippers in the world is most likely due to their involvement as well. Destroying them down to the roots will y a pivotal part in theing war."<sub> </sub>

    Shangguan Yu rubbed his chin in thought. "How have ourmunications with other worlds been? An alliance needs to be formed soon if we want to properly fight against the Nox."

    "There have been both positive and negative responses. From what we''ve gathered so far, it doesn''t look like a conclusion will be reached any time soon. An assembly will be called sometime within the next 2 years for all of our powers to meet in person and speak of these important matters. Until then, we must work on our own."

    Damien felt like his brain would melt from all the information he was second-handedly receiving. As it turned out, his extended help was unnecessary.

    He smiled wryly. ''Perhaps I was looking down on them too much. After all, they are the leaders of the Cloud ne as a whole, along with being prominent sect masters. It seems that ns for the war have already been in formation for a while now.''

    The fact that an alliance was forming interested him the most. He had already experienced the alliance of races during the Forgotten War, so he was somewhat aware of their structure.

    From what he gathered based on the tidbits of information that seeped through the conversation of the other three, talks of the alliance were most likely being stalled due to politics between these world leaders.

    Damien sighed inwardly. ''Politics and personal gain¡­human greed is really a disgusting thing.''

    He shook his head. There was a reason he stayed away from leadership positions and political matters. He abhorred the whole idea of it, even though he knew it was necessary.

    Because politics without corruption was such a rare concept that it wasn''t even ironic anymore.

    ''Still, I must attend the assembly they were speaking about. Being present for the donation of the alliance is of incredible importance. Since the next 6 months will be spent on the extermination n, I''ll need to n my steps for what to do after that.''

    Damien shifted his attention away from the alliance after having this thought. He had at least the next 6 months to secure himself a spot in that assembly. For now, he should focus on the more pressing matters.

    And after he finished thinking about the alliance, his attention shifted to the other matter that the three experts were speaking about.

    "Old man, what is this attack n you mentioned?" He questioned. Since they were on equal standing at the moment, there was no reason for information to be hidden from him.

    And as he expected, Tian Yang readily answered his question. "Oh? You''re curious, are you? Well, since you were to be included in the mission anyway, there''s no harm in telling you."

    Tian Yang looked toward the other two leaders for confirmation. Only after receiving their consent did he continue.

    "Brat, how much do you know about the force called Niflheim?"

 Chapter 461 Break [5]

    "Brat, how much do you know about the force called Niflheim?"

    Hearing Tian Yang''s sudden question, Damien''s eyes widened. Niflheim, with everything that had happened in the past few years, he almost forgot about them. Hearing them brought up now was an immense surprise.

    "Hmm, an organization that called itself Niflheim was attempting something with the World Core of my homeworld a few years ago. I remember they shed with forces dispatched from this world, but I''m not sure if it''s the same Niflheim you''re talking about." Damien answered.

    Tian Yang shook his head. "No, it is most likely the same force. In fact, Niflheim has been in conflict with our Cloud ne for a few decades already. As for the reason, it is because they are the Nox''s main subsidiary force in our sector of the universe."

    Damien''s eyes hardened. Although he didn''t know much about Niflheim, he understood the significance of their position. Basically, Niflheim was a cornerstone of the Nox''s ns.

    But Damien decided to ask a different question first. For him to better understand the big picture, he couldn''t be ignorant about information that others consideredmon knowledge. "Sectors? Can you exin more about them?"

    "Well, it''s not very difficult to understand. With how vast the universe is, it''s only natural for it to be split into sectors. As for the total number of known sectors, there are nine.

    "Each sector is home to hundreds or thousands of worlds. However, most of these are simple beginner worlds like the Earth that you have mentioned before. For a world to promote its level is not a simple task. Middle worlds like our Cloud ne only number in the thousands even when considering the universe as a whole.

    "The nine sectors were never given specified names, and even if they were, there is too little contact between sectors for it to matter. For convenience, we tend to call the sectors simply by the numbers 1-9 based on their ranking.

    "Each sector has a different ruling race that is more prominent than other races in the same area. As for us, we are Sector 3, the Human Domain."

    Damien furrowed his brow. The information Tian Yang gave was indeed simple, but it once again drilled into Damien''s mind the true vastness of the universe.

    "Apart from the 9 sectors you mentioned, what about the rest of the universe? There must be a reason why you specified that they are the nine "known" sectors."

    Tian Yang smiled. "The universe is infinitely expanding. How can we mere creations dare im we know the true depths of it? Even Demigods might not be able toprehend that much. The universe outside of the 9 Sectors is often called the void, the abyss, or many other names along the same lines.

    "It''s a dangerous ce where time doesn''t flow linearly like we are used to, where dead zones filled with destroyed stars and rampant energy aremon. The reason why the 9 Sectors are considered the "known" universe is because these 9 Sectors are the only ces where true "order" exists.

    "The time flow within the 9 Sectors is consistent, and they are widely inhabitable by living beings. The vast starry sky beyond the sectors is a ce where not many dare to traverse."

    Damien''s eyes were slowly filled with hunger as he continued listening to Tian Yang''s information. His love of adventure was sparked ame once more.

    But he quelled his excitement soon enough. As he thought more about what Tian Yang said, he became a little worried.

    "How about the Nox? Hasn''t their Main World gone undiscovered even to this day? Doesn''t that mean it exists within the Abyss? And doesn''t that mean the Nox can traverse the Abyss safely? If so, haven''t they conquered far more of the universe than we''re aware of?"

    Tian Yang epted Damien''s barrage of questions withoutint. After all, it waspletely normal for him to question these things that all before him had questioned as well.<sub> </sub>

    Tian Yang let out a tired sigh. "Are you beginning to understand the true danger that the Nox bring? Of course, many have had the same thoughts as you, but that wasn''t able to change anything. No matter how much we desire to confirm our suspicions or delve into the Abyss, we are still unable to do so, whether through artifacts or human resources."

    Damien pursed his lips. He was most definitely underestimating the danger of the Abyss since he had never personally witnessed it. But that didn''t change his thought process at all.

    ''I want to go there. No, I need to go there.''

    The Abyss was a sea of horrors for others, this much he understood. But, as a Star Master, as a Celestial, wasn''t the starry sky his territory? Would something like chaotic space really be able to stop him?

    Smack!

    A sudden smack to his head cleared Damien''s mind.

    "Idiot disciple, don''t think I''m unaware of your thoughts. Even I can traverse the chaotic space without worry, but that doesn''t mean I am able to safely traverse the Abyss. The scariest part of the Abyss isn''t the chaotic space, or even the terrifying cosmic beasts that reside within. The scariest part has to be time.

    "Time within the Abyss isn''t constant. In some ces, it could flow extremely fast, while sometimes it crawls to a snail''s pace. Dead Zones are ces where all essence, including mana itself, are void. In those spaces, time doesn''t flow at all. A single day''s journey could suddenlyst for a million years. And once you enter that terrifying cycle, it is almost impossible to remove yourself.

    "The reason why the Abyss is unexplored even with therge number of powerful practitioners in the 9 Sectors is because nobody has been able to escape this vortex of time with their sanity intact. It''s the same even for those who specialize in Time Laws. No, it might be even worse for them."

    Damien fell into thought once more. Indeed, the gnawing loneliness and silence of the vacuum weren''t things that ordinary people could endure. When the timespan was increased to years numbering in the thousands, even 4th ss existences would fold.

    But even knowing this, Damien''s resolve to one day visit that ce didn''t waver. There were multiple reasons for this.

    For one, the Nox. Their Main World was most likely deep in the Abyss. Therefore, to root out the threat, going there was necessary.

    Secondly, his ss as a Celestial. The whole universe was his to conquer. Perhaps it was an arrogant way to think, but Damien was sure that this was his path as a Celestial. If he couldn''t even be this arrogant, he had no right to pursue such a wild dream.

    Andstly, it was to satisfy his curiosity. He felt a strange pull to the Abyss, something like a calling. He couldn''t pinpoint exactly where this feeling came from, since it was different from the intuition that allowed him to meet Zara, but he wanted to pursue it and find out.

    Regardless of the reason, going to the Abyss became one of Damien''s top priorities.

    But the war still came first.

    "Alright, since I''ve gotten a better grasp on the scale of things, let''s get back to the main point. Tell me more about Niflheim."

 Chapter 462 Break [6]

    Tian Yang nodded and continued his previous topic.

    "As you''ve mentioned, the Nox''s Main World is not located within our 9 Sectors. We''ve been searching for the past 10,000 years and more, ever since thest war, but we haven''t found a single trace.

    "What we have found, however, are the 9 subsidiary forces that carry out the Nox''s will within our universe. Within our sector, this is Niflheim.

    "If it was simply a matter of traitors alone, there wouldn''t be any problem with eradicating these forces outright. The problem is, each subsidiary is overseen by a Nox Demigod. Tens or hundreds of 4th ss Nox are also present under that Demigod as supervisors. Only after these true-blooded Nox can we mention the countless traitors that serve them.

    "Our goal this time is to finally eradicate Niflheim to its roots, securing our sector''s safety during theing war."

    Silence enveloped the courtyard as Tian Yang''s overview finished. The two sect masters quietly sipped their tea as they waited for Damien to process the information he was given.

    ''Eradicate? If it was so easy, wouldn''t it have been done already? Not to mention, there''s a genuine Demigod at the head of that organization. I don''t know if the old man and the others are unaware or overconfident, but the power of a Demigod definitely isn''t something a 4th ss can match with just numbers.''

    Damien rubbed his temples. If there wasn''t a Demigod involved, he wouldn''t doubt the chances of this n''s sess.

    But he had personally witnessed it in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. The presence of a Demigod changed everything.

    He immediately voiced his concerns. Tian Yang said that he would be included in this operation, but if there were no contingencies made against that Demigod, Damien had no ns of joining them in their suicide mission.

    Tian Yang smiled wryly. "Calling it a suicide mission is a bit¡­well, it''s just like you to say that. However, you are worrying needlessly. Did you really think that I, your master, was such a conceited person? Naturally, I''m aware, the only way tobat a Demigod is with another Demigod."

    Damien''s eyes widened. "You''re saying¡­"

    "Correct! Our Ancestor of the Jade Heavenly Pce is participating in this mission. There is no need to be worried about a puny Nox Demigod." Shangguan Yu butted in.

    "The Jade Heavenly Pce¡­has a Demigod Ancestor?!" Damien eximed in shock.

    Shangguan Yu shrugged as if this was apletely normal thing. "Of course we do. As a matter of fact, doesn''t your Celestial Star Pce also have one? Even the Supreme Fairy Paradise and Divine Dragon Temple have a Demigod Ancestor. Why else do you think we are able to maintain our positions as the 5 Great Sects?"

    Damien''s mind went nk. It was truly a Shangguan Yu-like thing to do, dropping this kind of important information casually.

    ''To think the Cloud ne was a ce with so many Demigods¡­if the 5 Great Sects truly went to war with each other, the would be razed. No wonder the rtionships between them are oddly harmonious.''

    It wasn''t that there weren''t power-hungry people among them, it was just that the threat of a Demigod wasn''t something that could be ovee.

    Damien was still a bit worried after hearing that the Jade Heavenly Pce''s Ancestor would be joining them, but hearing that there were other Demigods present to guard the world, Damien''s worry dissipated.

    ''Even if that Ancestor dies, the Cloud ne itself will still be protected. Wait¡­I can just ask Yun for minor details like this. Why did I never think to do that?''

    Damien sunk into his spiritual world as Shangguan Yu began bragging about the Jade Heavenly Pce Ancestor. Using the time he gained while thetter spoke about useless things, Damien connected his consciousness with Yun''s.

    [Greetings, Master.]

    ''Yeah, what''s up. Anyway, there''s no time for formalities. Quickly tell me about the Demigods living in the Cloud ne.''

    [Affirmative. Commencing search. Searchpleted. There are currently 5 Demigods residing in the world.]

    ''5?!'' Damien gasped. ording to what Shangguan Yu said earlier, the Red Lotus Sect''s Ancestor already perished in thest war. Considering this, there should only be 4 Demigods in the Cloud ne.

    [Affirmative. You are already in possession of information about 4 of the aforementioned beings. Transmitting the location of the fifth.]

    A stream of information flowed into Damien''s spiritual world. He closed his eyes and concentrated on it.

    His vision expanded suddenly. He found himself floating in the sky above the Central Continent.

    ''This is¡­!''

    His eyes widened into saucers at what he saw. Hidden in the never-ending cloudyer above the continent, there was a medium-sized floating ind.

    His vision zoomed in on that ind. But, unexpectedly, there was nothing of note to see.

    It was just a normal ind. Lush green grasses and flower beds strewn about, a small forest to one side, and ake in the middle. The only real special factor of the ind was the fact that it was airborne.

    ''Hm?''

    Damien''s attention was suddenly pulled to theke. Reflecting off its surface, he saw the outline of something man-made. His vision zoomed again, arriving at theke.

    ''I wasn''t hallucinating. What is a cabin doing on this floating ind?''

    The strangeness of the situation seemed to have impacted Damien, as he all but forgot the reason why his consciousness was pulled to this ind.

    As he stared at the cabin, he tried to will his consciousness forward to enter it, but he found himself blocked. <sub> </sub>

    ''Someone who can interfere with my power as the Star Master?''

    Ssh!

    The sound of water sshing resounded from theke behind Damien, giving him a light scare. And following his natural human instinct, he turned around¡­

    And almost immediately got a nosebleed.

    There, in the water, was a woman whose midnight ck hair flowed down her snow-white back, creating a sparking contrast that immediately drew Damien''s eyes.

    He traced her figure upward, especially focusing on the outline of her curves that reflected off the water. Unfortunately, the woman had her back to him, so he wasn''t able to see anything more than that outline.

    But it was enough to leave a deep impression in his mind.

    "Hmph!"

    A sudden snort rang out from behind him. Damien felt a fierce impact on the back of his head.

    "Brat, have you seen enough?"

    The voice was that of a woman, and a young one at that. Hearing it, Damien turned once again.

    "You¡­you can see me?" He questioned in surprise.

    "Of course I can. You actually dared toe to my ind without knowing who I am?" The woman responded coldly.

    Damien abruptly remembered his original purpose foring here. "So it''s you! The mysterious fifth Demigod!"

    The woman snorted. "Yeah, and it''s you, the newly crowned Star Master. I was nning oning down to the secr world to see what kind of person you are for myself, but it turns out that you''re just another pervert."

    Damien hastily waved his hands. "Senior, don''t be mistaken. I came here because I was curious about you, a Demigod who even Shangguan Yu is clueless about. You can''t me me for being distracted. It was basic human instinct to turn around when I heard a sound."

    As he spoke, he tried to quietly withdraw his consciousness and flee the ind. The first impression he left on this unknown Demigod was too shabby, so it was better to try to make contact againter.

    But the woman rolled her eyes and waved her hand. Immediately, Damien was pulled back, unable to leave the ind. And as if nothing happened, she continued on her previous words.

    "Oh? So it was just basic human instinct? Are you telling me that you weren''t taken with my cute disciple just now? I can practically see the drool dripping from your mouth."

    "Hey, hey, hey! I''m a married man, you know? Granted, I''m married to many, but I''m still a loyal person! How can I fall in love with just any girl I see?"

    "So you really did fall in love with her! Ha, stupid brat! Don''t try to fool me!"

    Damien didn''t know whether tough or cry. Didn''t he just say theplete opposite of that? Why did this Demigod have such an entric personality?

    "Hm? You''re thinking something nasty, aren''t you? Very well, I shall reveal your presence to my cute disciple and let her decide how to deal with you."

    "Hold on, don''t be hasty, we can talk this out. Anyway, peeping on your disciple was aplete ident. It''s your fault for not letting me enter the cabin."

    "So you''re saying that I wanted you to peep on my disciple? You''re saying that since my disciple has been living here in seclusion her whole life, it would be good for her to meet new people and grow more? You''re saying you''ll take responsibility for her?"

    Now, Damien truly wanted to cry. "Aren''t you the one saying those things, though? Come on, I''m in the middle of an important meeting, please let me go!"

    The woman raised her brow contemptuously. "Hmph. It seems that I, an Exalted Demigod, am worth less than a few bugs. I guess leaving my disciple to you would be a mistake."

    ''Good!'' Damien eximed inwardly. Even if the woman in theke had an extraordinary figure, he didn''t want to have to deal with yet another woman when he hadn''t consolidated his current rtionships yet.

    "Senior, how about this? When I finish my business, I wille here with my main body and we can speak in depth about many things. Until then, allow me to return."

    The woman narrowed her eyes. "And how can I be so certain you''lle back? Mortals are untrustworthy after all. Besides, who said I wanted you toe back at all? Don''t decide on your own!"

    Damien almost screamed in frustration. He really couldn''t deal with this woman at all. She just implied that she wanted him to return, but in the next sentence contradicted herself so naturally. No matter how he answered, he''d lose.

    ''I''m just going to leave. Let''s put off recruiting this Demigod until I''m mentally sane enough to cope.''

    Damien retracted his consciousness from his spiritual world, and his vision of the sky ind vanished at the same time.

    He sighed in relief. ''Good thing she didn''t pill be back this time. Haa¡­why are all the old people I meet so entric?!''

    Damien shook his head wryly. ''Well, that took up more time than I wished for it to. Let''s get back onto the topic of Niflheim.''

 Chapter 463 Conversations [1]

    ''Haa¡­what an exhausting day.'' Damien sighed to himself as he left the courtyard where the three experts were staying at the moment.

    After his run-in with the ''5th Demigod'' whom he still didn''t know the name of, he returned to his body and conversed with them a bit longer about their ns for Niflheim. Unfortunately, there wasn''t much they could tell him.

    As they said before, the overarching goal was to destroy Niflheim to the point where it could never resurge. As for information, they didn''t know much besides the strength of the true-blooded Nox in the organization.

    But there were a few interesting points Damien learned from them.

    For one, Niflheim was not the name of a world, but only an organization. This went against what he originally thought of them, but after understanding their purpose in residing in Sector 3, it was easier to rationalize.

    Secondly, Niflheim hadn''t managed topletely take control of the world they resided in quite yet. This was the reason why the forces of the Cloud ne still had a chance to take them down.

    There was a resistance in that unnamed world that, whether by coincidence or not, took up the name Asgard and opposed the Nox''s reign.

    As for how they were able to rebel at all against the strength of the Nox, the reasoning was simple. So simple that Damien almost wanted to facepalm when he heard it.

    It was a simple matter of arrogance.

    The Nox were beings that looked down on all other races as inferior. The attitude of w of the jungle'' was far more prevalent in their race than any other. In the same vein, the resistance forces of a few humans didn''t catch the eye of those Nox.

    Instead, they just made their vassals do the work for them and fight. As such, the fight in that unnamed world had be one of human against human.

    Luckily, this allowed the resistance to survive and build strength. Under the noses of those arrogant Nox, Asgard had be extremely powerful, possessing numerous 4th-ss existences and even more 3rd-ss and below.

    ''They are our key to infiltrating that world, and they are the key to fighting against Niflheim. Without them, things will get much more troublesome.''

    Unfortunately,munication between worlds wasn''t yet something that could be done on a regr basis. This was also why Asgard wasn''t able to provide sufficient information to the Cloud ne forces yet. The 6 months gained due to the extermination n would actually be majorly beneficial in the Niflheim n as well.

    ''Well, that''s that. Sadly, they won''t tell me any of the crucial details until it''s time for us to embark on the mission. I guess information control is this strict because of the nature of the mission. It can''t be helped.''

    Even though Damien was heavily confident in the fact that nobody under the Demigod level would be able to pry information out of him forcefully due to his Void Physique, that wasn''t something he could just tell people. Therefore, he epted their secrecy without much of a fuss.

    ''Starting next week is the purge. I''ll have to go along with them too, so that I can identify Devil Worshippers for them. But, that''s not a bad thing at all. Even though it''s been so long, there isn''t a chance in hell that I would forget¡­''

    The Eclipsing Shadow Sect that humiliated him and Ruyue in the past, forcing them to flee into the 3000 Beast Mountain Range¡­as a force that waspeting for the Death Seed back then, it was natural that they found their way onto the kill list.

    Damien clenched his fists, a ferocious grin spreading across his face. ''Just you wait, you shadow bastards. I''ll ughter you all.''

    His killing intent red with so much force that it caved in the ground below him. Seeing the damage he unconsciously caused, Damien quickly recalled his aura.

    ''Phew, since I have Yun''s help, there''s nobody in the Cloud ne that can hide from me. What a convenient assistant he is.''

    Damien was feeling conflicted about arbitrarily giving the World Core a gender, but since it made it more convenient for him when referring to it, he just went with it.

    Instead of focusing on nonsensical things like that, he turned his attention elsewhere.

    ''Although I need to participate in the purge, it shouldn''t take up all my time. Soon, I''ll warp back to Apeiron and bind the World Core over there as well. Then, I need to simultaneously purge both worlds.''

    Earth was still there as well, but Damien didn''t know if a full-scale purge was necessary there. Last time he visited, he already exterminated the Nox''s forces and the Worshippers they created. However¡­

    ''You can never be too careful. Those Nox bastards proliferate too fast for me to getcent. To stay on the safe side, I should purge earth as well.''

    Damien rubbed his temples. He seemed to have developed a habit of doing so recently. It couldn''t be helped, though, since his te kept getting filled with more and more tasks ever since he left the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    ''Tch. Forget it. For now, I''ll drop everything else. Let me go meet the two women I feel most apologetic to in this world.''<sub> </sub>

    Damien''s figure shed away. As for his destination? It was the residence of a certain pink-haired beauty who he still held unreconciled longing for.

    ***

    Where there were seas, there wasnd. Where there were mountains, there were valleys, and where there was light, there was darkness.

    If the 3000 Beast Mountain Range was the "mountain" of the Central Continent''s 5 Forbidden Zones, the Shadowless Forest was the valley.

    It was and of darkness where no living being could reside peacefully. It was a ce filled with the stench of death and insanity. Even the beasts that resided in this ce could hardly be called living.

    Instead, they weremonly of the undead and spirit variety, races with low sentience who didn''t need the light to survive.

    Deep within the Shadowless Forest, there was an unassuming cave mansion. However, if one entered inside, they would hardly be able to call it unassuming.

    A vast throne room, many auxiliary areas, and more, it was the typical setup that a medium-sized sect would have.

    But even though the number of personnel made them seem like a medium-sized sect, their average strength didn''t lose out to many high-ranking ns and sects.

    Within the throne room of this cave mansion, a man sat cidly on the throne. His eyes were closed as if there was a difference between having them open or closed within the Shadowless Forest.

    Whoosh!

    "Reporting to the Lord."

    A shadow conglomerated on the floor in front of him, forming into the figure of a man prostrating himself.

    "First Shadow? It is rare for you to report something yourself. Speak."

    First Shadow bowed his head deeper. "Yes, my Lord. Although it is not confirmed, it looks like the man who stole the Death Seed has returned from the 3000 Beast Mountain Range alive:"

    The "Lord" opened his eyes and looked down at First Shadow. Even though he didn''t speak, the formless pressureing from his presence was enough to cause a cold sweat to run down First Shadow''s back.

    Seeing that the "Lord" didn''t speak, First Shadow hurriedly continued. "A man and woman pair made their debut at the Empyrean Dragon Realm opening one week ago. Based on their descriptions, they are the ones we chased into the mountain range after the auction."

    The Eclipsing Shadow Sect Master indifferently gazed at First Shadow. "Why are you telling me this?"

    "M-my apologies, Lord. 5th through 12th Shadow have already been dispatched to confirm the information and assassinate the target. I merely felt that moving without the Lord''s acknowledgment was uneptable, so I havee to report."

    "Mm¡­" The Eclipsing Shadow Sect Master made a sound of acknowledgment. Hearing it, First Shadow''s figure melted away from the room, leaving the Sect Master alone with his thoughts once more.

    ''The Death Seed¡­a brat who managed to escape my clutches. Maybe I should personally deal with him.''

    "First Shadow." The Sect Master called out, suddenly remembering something.

    As First Shadow''s figure reappeared, the Sect Master posed his question. "How?"

    First Shadow furrowed his brows in confusion, but soon understood his Lord''s question. How did they manage to escape the 3000 Beast Mountain Range that nobody has ever escaped before?

    The sweat trailing down First Shadow''s back intensified. As he thought of the outrageous scene he witnessed while gathering information, he felt intuitively that it would''ve been better to not pry at all.

    But his Lord''s words were absolute, so he couldn''t stop himself from answering.

    "T-the 3000 Beast Mountain Range no longer exists. The entire area has¡­been razed to the ground."

 Chapter 464 Conversations [2]

    ''Haa¡­I''ve been sighing too muchtely.''

    Damien closed his eyes and relished in the warmth he was currently feeling. With his body sprawled out on the soft bed with Rose pressed closely against him, this kind of nostalgic feeling really calmed his mind.

    Although he came here to have a serious conversation with her, he didn''t end up doing so immediately. His mind was too clouded with other thoughts for him to properly convey what he wanted to convey.

    It was his fate as someone heavily invested in theing war. Even though it didn''t seem like it, every day since he left the 3000 Beast Mountain Range was part of the gradual countdown to war.

    He realized it after everything he went through in the Primordial Undying Realm. The rest and rxation he could experience now might be thest for a very long time.

    So, he closed his eyes. He desperately wanted to drift off to sleep and clear his fatigue, but he wouldn''t allow himself to do so. At least, not until he finished what he came here to do.

    With his eyes still closed, he sunk his consciousness into his spiritual world. As he did so, he reyed the memories he built with Rose over the short few years they had known each other.

    ''She took a sidekick role for me because of my inability. By all rights, Rose is a genius who should be the main character of her own story, not someone who just sits idly by and supports me.''

    It was her unwavering attitude that made him unsure about how to proceed. Because even if she was mad at him, she would still unconditionally support him.

    It was a great trait to have, and Damien truly appreciated that side of her, but it also made it harder for him toe out and problem-solve with her.

    ''Fuck that. Am I going to give in to my fear and return to being who I was before? There''s no way in hell I''ll be so pathetic ever again.''

    Damien steeled his heart. He still didn''t know what he was going to say, but he would start talking anyway. If he couldn''t even manage to start the conversation, why would it matter if he didn''t know what to say?

    "Rose¡­" His voice was quiet. Perhaps it was because of his fatigue or perhaps it was his indecision leaking through, he sounded especially powerless at the moment.

    But Rose didn''t point it out. She stayed silent and waited for him to continue speaking.

    And so he did.

    "Back when you met me, I was at arguably the worst point in my life, at least mentally. Somehow, you managed to befriend that mentally unstable me and bring a dose of humanity into my life. I''ve always been thankful for that. Because back then, I didn''t need anything like love or affection. No, even if I received those, I probably would''ve shunned them immediately.

    "What I needed was humanity. Your normal lively and yful self that ignored my personal boundaries and forced your way into my life¡ªow, don''t pinch me while I''m being sentimental¡­anyway, the you from back then was the perfect vor I needed to be a "human" again.

    "The problem was that along with my humanity, the scars in my heart returned as well. Those were scars that I didn''t have the emotional capacity to deal with. Even that day when I told you my worries upfront, I still wasn''t ready to deal with them.

    "In fact, if you had decided to give me advice back then, I probably would''ve ignored it. Luckily for me, you were quite understanding. You even told me your own story tofort me.

    "When I think back to how I left you and Elena when we first stepped on the Central Continent, it makes me want to die. We were both heading toward the same area, so why did I need to leave you so early? What would''ve happened if you were injured or worse after we separated in this unknownnd? Those kinds of thoughts didn''t sh through my head at all.<sub> </sub>

    "I was just selfishly thinking about running away and being alone again so I could befortable. It was the worst thing I could''ve possibly done to you, who showed unconditional love and support to a bastard like me."

    Damien paused to organize his thoughts. His words were flowing like a river, he didn''t even know what he was saying. He just talked for the sake of talking.

    "Saying I''m not good with rtionships is an understatement. This kind of sincerely apologizing andying my feelings bare isn''t something I can do properly, so I hope you can forgive me if I sound stupid and talk pointlessly right now.

    "To be honest, I''ve been feeling guilty ever since I entered the Celestial Star Pce and had a chance to think about what I''d done. Perhaps this apology is also a selfish attempt at assuaging that guilt. Regardless of the reason, it''s true that I''ve been waiting for the day of our reunion for years.

    "But, just like you''d expect from me, I even fucked that up."

    Damien sighed. He began to tell Rose about what he experienced in the Primordial Undying Realm. Specifically, the Trial of Self.

    "Ever since I realized why I had been neglecting Elena like I was, the guilt I felt toward her took over my emotions. It was like a wave of guilt that was previously hidden in my subconscious came flooding out. But, that isn''t an excuse.

    "I don''t really know how things turned out the way they did. From the start, I was practicing abstinence for your sake. It was something I stuck to with conviction. As for how my conviction crumbled so easily? Even I don''t know."

    Damien shook his head. The more he continued talking, the more he found himself trying to make excuses to justify his actions. It was an ugly habit that he didn''t want to appear during this conversation.

    So he stopped talking superfluously. There was really only one thing he was trying to say.

    "I''m sorry. I''m sorry for breaking your trust in me, I''m sorry for making you feel abandoned, I''m sorry for making you feel like I don''t trust you¡­ there are probably a million other things I need to apologize for, but I don''t have the mental capacity to list them all out. So, all I can really say is that I''m sorry¡­"

    Damien couldn''t help but cringe. It was really a shitty apology. But he did what he could. Even if the words themselves were dogshit, he poured his emotions into them in hopes that they would be properly conveyed.

    Damien sat in silence. Rose did the same, not moving from her position once during his monologue. And Damien didn''t dare spread his awareness to see what kind of expression she was making right now.

    He was terrified of seeing indifference on her face.

    But as if to mock his fear, a hot and wet feeling dripped onto his torso. Unfortunately, it took him a while to understand what that feeling was.

    Tears.

    He didn''t know whether they were happy tears or sad tears, but it was a fact that Rose was crying. Damien looked down at her hesitantly. And slowly, she lifted her head to meet his gaze.

    The silence in the room felt especially ring when their gazes met. The only sce they could find was in the heat of their bodies pressed against each other.

    And as Damien waited anxiously, Rose opened her mouth and spoke for the first time.

 Chapter 465 Conversations [3]

    Truth be told, from the moment Damien came to visit her, Rose was ted. It''d been so long since the two of them were able to spend quality time together.

    But when he started talking, her joyful feeling slowly faded. She already knew he wasing to have a serious talk with her, she just didn''t know that it woulde so suddenly.

    And as he continued talking, Rose was slowly forced to remember the feelings she was trying to bury.

    Was she angry? Yes. Did she know why she was angry? Very clearly.

    The problem was, a great deal of her anger cleared up the second Damien brought himself to apologize. Because knowing him, doing so andying his feelings bare was probably one of the greatest challenges he could face.

    His decision to break that barrier for her was extremely endearing.

    But at the same time, she couldn''t just ept his apology as it was.

    It was strange. Rose didn''t really know how to feel at all. There were two sides of her furiously struggling within.

    On one side was her "understanding" and "unconditionally supportive" personality. The part of her that wanted her to ept his apology immediately and embrace him.

    This side of her wasn''t driven as much by emotions. Rather, it was a side she developed after Damien told her about Elena.

    She had a thought. She was the first wife, so she should uphold the dignity of the first wife position. From then on, she began doing many things for Damien''s sake, prioritizing his well-being over her own feelings.

    The "understanding first wife" within her wanted to drop this whole matter and return to being lovey-dovey, but Rose understood that doing so would just be avoiding the problem. Letting her inner heart seethe in turmoil without being addressed wouldn''t bring even a single good result.

    And then, there was the other side of her. At the end of the day, Rose was still a woman. The first wife persona that she tried to enforce upon herself couldn''t suppress the feelings she felt due to Damien''s negligence.

    The resentment and sorrow in her heart refused to be quelled with something so simple as a verbal apology. Even when knowing that hearing this kind of apology from someone like Damien was a rare thing in and of itself.

    Damien was right. She really did feel abandoned when he left her alone on the Central Continent. And even though Elena was there to apany her, there was arge rift between them back then due to their shared feelings for Damien.

    That rift, of course, closed with time, bringing her closer to Elena than she was to her own sisters. But that didn''t change the fact that she felt abandoned and lonely constantly.

    Forcing herself to cultivate nonstop, take missions whenever she could, and overall keep so busy that she couldn''t think about anything else was the only way she could get rid of her negative emotions at the beginning.

    It hurt. And because it hurt so much, she felt even more unresigned at the fact that it took Damien so much effort to squeeze out a simple apology.

    But she could feel the feelings behind that apology, feelings far deeper than his words conveyed. Perhaps it was a benefit of mana, or perhaps it was due to her special eyes. Regardless of the reason, she could clearly feel it.

    The worst part of it all was that neither side of her was necessarily correct. She just couldn''t find the middle ground where she could settle herself.

    And so, she was incredibly conflicted on how to act and what to say.

    Without her realizing it, tears began to trickle down her face. When she raised her head and looked into that strange pair of pupils, her mouth opened on its own.

    "I can''t forgive you so easily."<sub> </sub>

    She couldn''te to a decision, so she decided not to bother about it. Just like Damien had done, she chose to speak whatever came to her mind, while hoping to convey her earnest emotions as she spoke.

    "I-I don''t quite understand how I''m feeling at all, and I don''t know how to respond to your apology. On one hand, I don''t think there''s anything for you to apologize for, and on the other, I feel like a simple apology doesn''t mean anything in this situation.

    "It''s not like my feelings for you have changed. Perhaps it''s because of how deeply my feelings have rooted themselves in my heart that I feel so conflicted about what to do now. Because I love you, I can support you unconditionally, but because I love you, I cannot forgive you."

    It wasn''t just about what happened back then. As Damien said before, he ruined their reunion by going and sleeping with Elena behind her back.

    Rose felt a feeling she didn''t think she would ever feel. It was the feeling that she created her "first wife" persona to avoid.

    Jealousy.

    Ugly and deceitful jealousy that tried to take control of her heart. Even she didn''t realize how possessive she was until this incident.

    "We are both too new to being in rtionships, and we both have scars rted to trusting people and putting our feelings on the table. With this kind of setup, it''s only natural that a problem like this would arise at some point.

    "Right now, I can''t decide which opinion of mine is right. I think the best thing for us to do is just continue like we usually are. Maybe through spending time together, I can slowly forgive you and settle my internal struggle."

    Rose sat up and looked down at Damien. "Still, even though the emotional problems can be settled over time, not everything is the same."

    Rose shifted her position, turning her body and mounting Damien like a horse. Looking down at him from above, Rose shed a sly grin.

    "Elena is my precious little sister. I can''t lose to her like this now, can I?"

    Damien''s eyes widened. Only when he felt Rose''s hands snaking across his abs and lifting his shirt did he realize what was happening.

    ''Wasn''t this supposed to be an emotional moment?!'' He fretted inwardly. Although he did want to do it with Rose soon, he didn''t think now was the opportune time.

    "H-hey, calm down now. What ever happened to romance? You know, setting the mood and everything."

    Rose raised her brow. "What mood? I didn''t think that of the two of us, you''d be the one moring about romance."

    Damien cringed. "Ugh,e on. I''m serious about this. I don''t think we''re in the right atmosphere to do something like this."

    Rose rolled her eyes. No matter how domineering he was on the battlefield, as expected, her man was still so indecisive about the important things.

    Seeing his hesitation, she shrugged and got off of his stomach. "Fine then."

    But just as Damien was about to sigh in relief, Rose stood up in front of him and started slowly undoing her top.

    Her arm moved gracefully across her body, reaching the opposite shoulder and sliding down the cloth covering it.

    Rose smiled sensually. "If it''s the mood that''s the problem, then I just need to create the right mood, right?"

 Chapter 466 Conversations [4]

    "Goddamn¡­" Damien sighed in praise as he watched the scene in front of him.

    Rose''s robe slowly dropped from her shoulder,tching at her elbow and exposing arge portion of skin, including a peak at the wondrous cleavage hidden within.

    And as if to apany the gorgeous view that she was slowly revealing, the look in Rose''s eyespletely changed.

    From the normal yful Rose that he always knew to a fox hunting her prey, her expression practically devoured Damien whole.

    But this was just the start of her tease.

    The other side of her robe dropped, her top only being held from fallingpletely by her arms crossed in front of her chest. But just as her spring scenery was going to be revealed, she turned around, hiding the view.

    "Tch." Damien clicked his tongue inadvertently, causing Rose to giggle.

    "Bad man, what happened to acting as if you didn''t want anything?" She teased lightly.

    Her arms dropped to her sides, letting her robe drop with them. She then moved on to the next step, sensually ying with the clip of her bra as if struggling to get it undone.

    Click!

    And by the time that fated clicking sound rang out, Damien was practically drooling. If her goal was to make him impatient to ravage her, she hadpleted it to perfection.

    Truthfully, it waspletely and utterly wrong to say that Damien didn''t want to do it. His and Rose''s physical intimacy levels had always been high, and he had felt her assets rubbing against him over his clothes so many times.

    It was to the point where he could practically envision the shape of her body if he tried hard enough.

    But imagining it and seeing it in person were two different scenes. Even though he knew her body so well, he had never truly seen it, which added anotheryer of burning desire to the lust he was already feeling.

    ? As things stood, Damien was ready to pounce. The only thing stopping him was his desire to see more of the show that was being put on for him.

    Seeing the expression on his face, Rose''s smile deepened. With her back facing him and her arm covering her breasts, she slowly undid the rest of her robe, letting it fall to the floor.

    The view of her pliant cheeks covered by panties assaulted Damien''s eyes. But before he could even recover from that stimtion, Rose turned around.

    "Hissss¡­" Damien drew in a cold breath to calm himself down. Then, he took an extra second to admire her breasts.

    Size-wise, they were simr to Elena''s. But their shape was totally different. If he had to say, Rose''s were much perkier.

    Rose slowly walked to the bed where Damien sat. Her grip on her breasts loosened, allowing Damien to see the slight jiggle they produced with her steps.

    Suddenly, formless mana covered her body and she vanished.

    ''This¡­'' Damien''s eyes widened in curiosity. He, naturally, could choose to see through her illusion if he felt like it, but why would he want to do so? It was obvious that Rose was nning something fun.

    As he contemted, he suddenly felt a sensation on his back, as if two soft mounds were firmly pressed against him. At the same time, invisible hands started to snake across his body, feeling every nook and cranny he had to offer.

    ''What a strange feeling¡­''

    He knew Rose was there, but he couldn''t see her. He could feel her touch, but he didn''t know if she was actually touching him or just using illusions.

    After all, there were far too many hands on his body at the moment for all of them toe from Rose.

    This feeling of being blindfolded even though his vision was clear was oddly exciting. The desire to catch the real Rose and pin her down grew at a rapid pace. <sub> </sub>

    Damien closed his eyes and enjoyed her treatment, especially focusing on the pair of hands that snuck into his pants and took hold of his member.

    "I didn''t expect you to be so proactive." He said with a smile.

    "What can I do? My husband is so passive, I have no choice." A response came from the void.

    Damien grinned. "Passive? Are you sure that''s the right way to describe it?"

    "What else could it be? How could you force an innocent woman like me to make the first move?"

    "I see how it is. Very well, if you wish for me to be active, I''ll show you what it means to be active."

    Damien released a few strings of mana and had them circle his body, amplifying the feeling of touch he got from the hands that were feeling him up.

    Within seconds, he reached out and grabbed the air. Unexpectedly, though, his hand didn''t clenchpletely as if something was caught in his grasp.

    "Found you." He grinned slyly. He immediately flipped his body, grabbing the other hand in the pair and switching their position. In that instant, he activated his All-Seeing Eyes.

    "Keuk¡­! If you make that kind of expression right now, I''ll really die." He said through heavy breaths as he looked down at Rose''s face.

    The heavy blush on her cheeks that matched the color of her hair, the way her eyes kept darting around without knowing where to look, it was so cute he could die.

    "So this is your true face. I guess the vixen thing from before was just an act, hm? Well, not that I mind. I like this expression a lot more."

    "D-don''t tease me¡­using your eyes is cheating!" Rose muttered shyly. She desperately wanted to cover her face with her hands so he couldn''t see her, but since they were pinned by Damien, she couldn''t do so.

    Damien grinned at her words. "Cheating? Why shouldn''t I be able to see the beautiful figure of my wife when she''s standing right in front of me?"

    Damien lowered his head, stopping mere inches in front of Rose''s breasts. Now that her hands were out of the way, he could finally see them clearly.

    "Now that I think about it, I haven''t eaten in a couple of years. If you ce such delectable cherries like these in front of me, how do you expect me to resist?"

    He took the final plunge, burying his face in her breasts. As he yed with her breasts, he let go of her hands and began running his hands along her body.

    Rose wanted to die from embarrassment as he did so. If it wasn''t for the immense pleasure she felt as he yed with her, and the joy she felt from finally being able to fulfill this dream of hers, she would''ve run away because of the sheer shame she felt.

    But at the same time, it wasn''t shameful at all. The more he touched her, the more she desired his touch.

    And as his hand crawled into her sacred cave¡­

    "I can''t¡­take this¡­anymore," Rose muttered through ragged breaths. "You''re moving¡­too slow!"

    Her body turned into mist and reappeared above Damien, flipping him around and pushing him down onto the bed.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­from now on¡­we go fast."

    Without a hint of hesitation, Rose dropped her head and nted a furious kiss on Damien''s lips. At the same time, her hand reached down into his pants and her panties vanished from her body without a trace.

    It was at that moment that Damien knew¡­

    He was in for a much wilder ride than he was expecting.

 Chapter 467 Conversations [5]

    Dawn arrived to usher in a new day, but the sunlight was unable to find its way through the dense cloudyer and shine upon the earth below.

    Unexpectedly, it was raining heavily in the area around the Celestial Star Pce. Although the sect was covered in a protective formation that could easily block the rain, it wasn''t used for such a purpose.

    After all, rain wasn''t a bad thing. Considering how the weather in the Central Continent was usually steady, experiencing rain was something weed rather than shunned.

    Currently, Damien sat on the roof of Rose''s residence and looked up into the clouds above, not minding the fact that he was getting soaked in the process.

    It''d been years since hest experienced rain. Through some miracle, he''d avoided anything other than normal sunny weather ever since he fell into the dungeon. But he was always an enjoyer of rainy days.

    The naturally gloomy atmosphere brought about by rain, the quiet pitter-patter of water impacting the ground, and the chill of raindrops hitting his skin, it all created an ambiance that truly allowed him to sort out his thoughts more peacefully.

    Rumble!

    Damien closed his eyes as thunder rang out above. With his entire body rxed, hey down on the roof and focused his senses on the rain falling on his skin.

    ''I can''t tell whether Rose is a vixen or a shy maiden¡­but whatever it is, her split personality in bed sure is interesting.'' Damien thought with a smirk.

    Last night was indeed a wild ride he wasn''t expecting. From the second Rose took control of the situation, their pace rapidly changed.

    Gone was the copious amount of time spent on forey, the only thing remaining being hot passion as their bodies intertwined. Rose was far more active in this regard than Elena was.

    But at the same time, her shy look couldn''t be faked. Even though her desires were bold and ambitious, she didn''t have the confidence to carry them out so brazenly. It was only after Damien helped her along that her talent in the art of seduction truly showed itself.

    Damien smiled wryly. ''But I didn''t expect her to suck me dry in a single night. Even after so many days with Elena, I didn''t feel this tired.''

    After all, his first time with Elena was as vani as it could be. They switched positions many times, but they weren''t overly ambitious since they were well aware of their own inexperience.

    But Rose had no such reservation. In fact, her mana was in full use the entire night. Damien was able to personally witness the wonders of illusions.

    ''This time, she only stimted my sense of touch¡­but with her capabilities wouldn''t it be possible to have multiple Roses at the same time doing¡­''

    He shook his head as if that would shake off his stray thoughts. Having bedded two of his wives within a week of each other, his suppressed libido seemed to be acting up.

    He was even of the mind to go find Ruyue and do her too, but as Rose had learnedst night, Damien was oddly a stickler for old rules. He wanted his first time with every wife to be a special moment for the two of them. He didn''t want sex to be meaningless.

    It wasn''t a bad thing, but it did mean that he was usually more passive than he would like to be. But that was something to be improved at ater date. For now¡­

    ''After so much thinking, I''ve finally realized how rough the next six months will be.''<sub> </sub>

    If it was just the Cloud ne, he wouldn''tin. But realizing that he needed to purge both Apeiron and Earth as well in the same span of time made him feel like his hair was actively graying by the second.

    ''Haa¡­logically speaking, I should have enough forces to purge Earth and Apeiron without worry. If I team up with Malcolm and the Adire Emperor, it''ll be much easier. The problem is, those two worlds are low in strength.''

    If the enemies in those worlds were at the same level as the ones in the Cloud ne, taking care of them with just the forces avable in those worlds would be problematic.

    Of course, he could easily use the strength of the 4th sses under him to wipe out all the enemies, but he didn''t want to do that. Just like the old saying went, teaching a man how to fish was far better than simply giving him a fish.

    Both Apeiron and Earth were problems bigger than the Cloud ne for different reasons.

    For one, Earth''s World Core hadn''t lived long enough to gain sentience. As such, easily getting a list of traitors to execute like he did from Yun wasn''t an applicable solution.

    He''d have to personally scour the to root out the traitors.

    Apeiron''s problem was different. Even if the number was incredibly low, they at least had a few 4th ss existences. And considering how there might be hidden experts that Damien wasn''t aware of, the number could berger than he expected it to be.

    The problem with Apeiron was something Damien only hypothesized about. And that was, its World Core.

    The history of Apeiron was far more brutal than that of the Cloud ne, even though thetter was a more brutal ce. The poption of Apeiron was almost driven to extinction during the previous war.

    And due to that, Damien began to have a suspicion. What if Apeiron''s World Core was in a situation simr to Yun''s? What if it had also been corroded by Nox mana over a long period of time?

    Considering the damage Apeiron took in the previous Great War, it was best to assume that the degree of corruption was far worse than Yun''s. In the worst case, the World Core was already fully corrupted.

    ''I''m itching to go as soon as possible, but I at least have to stay here until the purge officially starts. Only after that can I take my mind off the Cloud ne for a bit.''

    ording to the n, the purge would begin with the other four continents, since thergest congregation of Devil Worshippers was actually in the Central Continent.

    Damien just needed to return by the time the purge reached its final month so he could personally pay a visit to the Eclipsing Shadow Sect.

    ''Hmm, although the immediate problems seem to be somewhat solved, I feel like I haven''t sorted everything out yet¡­was I overwhelmed by my previous conversation with Tian Yang and the rest?''

    It was a usible exnation. After all, he finally learned about the grand scale of the universe and acquired a calling to the Abyss. It was natural for the sheer level of information to overwhelm him.

    But Damien shook his head. He wasn''t one to obsess about things like that. When the time came for him to step into a bigger stage, he''d do so naturally. Besides, his strength was already enough for him to im himself the peak of the younger generation, or at least, close to it.

    Therefore, his worries must''vee from somewhere else. And that ce could only be Niflheim.

 Chapter 468 Conversations [6]

    The totalck of information about Niflheim bothered him, and although the reasoning was justified, Asgard''s limited cooperation did the same.

    He found it difficult to believe that a resistance force could survive under the tyrannical regime of the Nox without being snubbed out, even if the Nox''s arrogance took hold of them.

    Still, as an outsider, these weren''t matters he could carelessly specte about. His worries would only be quelled once he stepped foot in that world himself.

    ''Actually, this is a perfect opportunity, now that I think about it. If the world was taken over by Nox, the World Core must''ve beenpletely corrupted. If so, wouldn''t it be the perfect subject to test the limits of Devour?''

    Damien grinned at his own wild imagination. Even if it was just the core, it wasn''t a stretch to say he was thinking of devouring an entire world.

    But, that was yet another factor that would depend on the situation.

    Damien opened his eyes, immediately being forced to shield them with mana as the rain tried tond in them. He stood up quickly and pretended as if he didn''t just embarrass himself, jumping off the rooftop.

    ''Phew, the past few days have been spent in peace, but it''s almost time to start working again.''

    There was only one thing left on the agenda, and that was to have another serious emotional conversation. Thinking about it, Damien almost wanted to run away again.

    Pouring out his feelings to Rose was incredibly embarrassing, especially since it didn''t achieve the desired effect.

    Perhaps it was too naive of him to expect forgiveness right away. Due to Rose''s nature, he was somewhat expecting her to be incredibly lenient with him.

    But that was a misconception. Even if she was understanding, even if she wanted to support him unconditionally, that wasn''t something for her to do while ignoring her own feelings.

    If that was the case, then she wasn''t his wife any longer, she was just a ve obeying her master''s orders. So, even though he was a bit depressed about the fact that he wasn''t forgiven, he was also happy.

    The fact that Rose was able to earnestly admit that she didn''t know how to feel was a sign of growth.

    Damien sighed. He knew from the start that Rose''s upbringing would lead to problems rting to how she viewed the world. No matter how fine she seemed on the outside, she was also a person with heavy emotional scars.

    It was only today that Damien found about about Rose''s contrasting personalities. Or rather, about the false personality she created while believing it to be in his best interest.

    ''The toxic environment of the Adire Emperor''s imperial harem gave her a severe misconception about her duties and the importance of her position as the ''first wife.'' That environment was both a blessing and a curse for her, though mainly a curse.''

    It was a blessing in the sense that it allowed her to form her own personality and sense of freedom due to the sheer amount of oppression she faced. It also gave her a prime example of what a rtionship shouldn''t be, so she could actively work towards avoiding a future like that one.

    But conversely, the effects that environment had on her morals weren''t all for the better. Even though Rose knew what to avoid, it seemed like she was overcorrecting in order to avoid it at all costs. The worst part was, her trauma ran so deep that she didn''t even notice.

    Damien began walking aimlessly as he sunk into his thoughts. ''I can''t help her this time. Any intervention from me would just fuel her false personality instead of helping her form her own views about how to act. This is something Rose needs to figure out on her own, or perhaps with the help of the other girls.''

    Just as he had undone his heart knots through his own willpower, Rose needed to do the same. Even if self-realization was far slower, it was also the method that brought the most results.

    Damien cleared his mind of all thoughts. The fact that he was useless in helping Rose''s growth irked him to no end, but it wasn''t something he could change. Since he had experienced something simr himself, he couldn''t find any justifiable excuse to butt into the matter.

    His eyes closed on their own as he focused on the rhythm of his steps. Nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!<sub> </sub>

    The sound of his feet hitting the ground began to meld with that of the rain. That light pitter-patter crescendoed exponentially until the clouds above were producing a torrential downpour.

    Crackle!

    Lightning danced through the clouds, apanied by the rumbles of thunder. As the sound entered Damien''s ears, his steps began to mimic it.

    Rapid like the crackle of lightning and powerful like the roaring thunder, he moved without direction through the mountain path before him. At some point, his feet stepped into the air as he continued his walk.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    His every step created a rumble as airbusted below his feet. He moved hundreds of kilometers with each push of his heel as if he was an immortal descended onto the secr world.

    And as he did so, the storm raged even more violently.

    Damien entered a trance-like state. He danced through the air while bing the storm itself. At some point, it was no longer him mirroring the storm. No, it was the storm mirroring him.

    As his steps became fiercer, the storm raged even more furiously. It got to the point where the sect''s defensive formation activated on its own to protect the disciples from stray lightning.

    But Damien was already too far in the sky for such detail to bother him. He was practically submerged in the cloudyer.

    As he walked, his steps soon took him away from the Celestial Star Pce, the storm following after him with ease.

    Finally, the disciples were able to regain a semnce of peace.

    Confusion spread through the sect. What was that storm? Why did it suddenly be so strong? Any random bolt of lightning held the power to incinerate a normal 3rd ss disciple. For such a storm to appear naturally was incredibly rare.

    But there were a few within the crowd of disciples that realized there was no way for that sudden increase in strength to be natural.

    Someone caused the storm to rage, but who exactly was it?

    The answer was unknown to all but a few, but even those few who knew the truth of the matter still didn''t understand what was going on.

    Tian Yang looked up at the sky with aplicated expression on his face. His gaze followed the retreating storm that was headed in the direction of the Jade Heavenly Pce.

    ''Haa¡­what a troublesome disciple. I wonder what he suddenly gained insight on to cause such a scene.''

    Tian Yang shook his head in regret. ''Even though the storm is powerful, it can''t rage on forever. I hope youe to realize that someday, preferably before it''s toote.''

    Without another word, Tian Yang turned around and returned to his small pagoda at the peak of the mountain.

    This avenue of Damien''s growth wasn''t something he could meddle in. If his disciple figured things out, it would be great, but if he couldn''t do so¡­

    Tian Yang was forced to resolve himself to take responsibility for the aftermath.

 Chapter 469 Purge [1]

    Even as curiosity surrounding the spontaneous thunderstorm exploded, Damien continued moving without a single thought in his mind.

    In his current state, it was impossible for him to even consider thinking in the first ce.

    A strange thing urred.

    While Damien immersed himself in his thoughts, drifting aimlessly in the rain, he was submerging himself deeper and deeper into the atmosphere,

    In the gloom and peace that a rainy day brought, his feelings began to mirror the weather around him. He melded with the season.

    And as he started erasing thoughts from his mind and temporarily letting go of his worries, his immersion only deepened.

    His steps mirrored the raindrops, his body bing lightning. He and the atmosphere slowly became one.

    As he rose to the air and subconsciously walked through the sky, the raging thunderstorm around him began to change.

    Damien was the storm, therefore, the storm was Damien. His attributes were being mirrored by the Heavens themselves. And at the same time, Damien mirrored the storm.

    The lightning of the sky became the lightning of his body, the thunder bing the howls of his footsteps. ck lightning crackled through the sky,ced with golden ck flickers of me.

    The phenomenon slowly grew in size as the parallel between the two thinned. By the time their paths became one, thousands of kilometers had been submerged into the darkness of the storm.

    Boom!

    A crackle of ck lightning fell from the sky, impacting the ground in an instant and creating a crater tens of kilometers in diameter. Traces of reddish-ck mana lingered in the air where the collision took ce. But there wasn''t just a single bolt of lightning. No, the area in Damien''s immediate surroundings was transforming into a lightning storm.

    But only a few stray bolts actually crashed to the ground. The target of these lightning bolts wasn''t the earth at all.

    No, it was Damien himself.

    As the disaster around him grew more terrifying, heavier and denser bolts of lighting crashed against Damien''s skin.

    BOOM!

    The color of the lightning was no longer the regr ck that his lightning usually was. At the moment, this lightning had a striking white color. And every time another bolt struck him, that color became closer and closer to silver.

    Meanwhile, Damien was barely conscious to even register the pain in his body. His senses were inadvertently spread to the surroundings, taking in the sensation of the surrounding storm.

    Damien''s mind was bing clearer and clearer. The more he observed the storm, the impact its ferocity had on the environment below, the interactions between elements as the storm raged on, he felt infinitely close to realizing something new.

    BANG!

    A pure silver bolt of lightning finally descended from the clouds above. The second it made contact with Damien''s body, his skin was seared off entirely.

    His muscles began to char, suffocating him and causing immense pain, but Transcendent Regeneration kicked in immediately to offset the damage.

    Waves upon waves of lightning mana entered his body, trying to crush him from the inside, but his Void Physique sprung into action and devoured everything that came.

    Unknowingly and ironically, a heavily offensivebatant like Damien who rarely prioritized defense developed something akin to an absolute defense before his attacking capabilities could catch up.

    But due to this defense protecting his body, the silver lighting that should''ve been deadly wasn''t able to wound him enough for it to matter. Therefore, Damien''s consciousness was never disturbed from its trance-like state.

    As Damien continued to subconsciously observe the scenes around him, the lightning striking his body slowly changed from silver to gold. The damage he was taking was bing extreme, to the point where it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say he had died and returned multiple times already.<sub> </sub>

    And although Transcendent Regeneration was able to help him survive until now, it was still a skill that relied on mana. With the amount of work his regeneration was being forced to do, it was only natural for his mana capacity to run dry rapidly.

    After all, it wasn''t any normal lighting that he was being struck with.

    Unfortunately, Damien couldn''t sense the condition of his body at all. Even as he inched closer to death, his mind was enamored by the new sensation he was feeling.

    And unknowingly, he traveled thousands of kilometers away from the Celestial Star Pce, heading towards the very center of the continent.

    But that journey was cut short before it could bepleted.

    The figure of a woman appeared beside Damien without a single hint of how it got there. The woman looked at the scene around her and scoffed.

    "This kid¡­I can''t tell whether he''s an idiot or a genius."

    The woman rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "Well, since it''s you, I guess I can help just this once."

    Her finger curled gently, and before a single instant could pass, Damien''s eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.

    The woman waved her hand, catching Damien''s limp body with her mana before he could fall out of the sky. At the same time, her other hand waved toward the sky.

    "Oi! He''s already passed out, so there''s no more need for you to be here. Scram!"

    And as if heeding her words, the thunderclouds that were wreaking terrible destruction only moments prior vanished into thin air without a trace.

    The woman clicked her tongue and looked back over at Damien. "Tch, I can''t let him go in this state. Kid, you should thank thisdy for being benevolent."

    The woman''s figure disappeared from the sky, taking Damien''s figure with her. The seemingly apocalyptic storm that those in the Central Continent were forced to experience finally came to an end.

    And unknowingly, Damien created another legend within the Cloud ne. Rumors of that storm, of the insane damage it caused, spread rapidly. Tens of thousands of kilometers were scorched and destroyed, left borderline uninhabitable for many years toe.

    And as rumors continued to spread, cultivators flocked to the scene to confirm the news with their own eyes. And once they did, another shocking revtion spread through the world.

    This storm wasn''t a natural disaster, it was something caused by a passing expert.

    It was at that moment when people went wild. They no longer cared for the destruction and tragedy of the event. After all, this world worshipped the strong.

    The fact that a hidden master appeared in the secr world again spoke to major changes. It meant that maybe some heaven-shaking battles would take ce, battles that many were dying to see happen.

    A trend started taking shape as excitement grew. Whether it be themon man or an experienced cultivator, everyone with even an ounce of determination began pushing their limits to be stronger.

    It was a sensation so immense that it was curious how it originated from a single storm.

    But it was naive to think it was just that. The denizens of the Cloud ne, no matter how much decorum they possessed, were a warmongering people. Battle was their way of life.

    Perhaps the storm wasn''t actually an event that should''ve held as much importance as it did, but it appeared at an opportune time. A time when the proverbial pot was already on the verge of boiling over.

    And as for the mysterious man who caused the pot to finally tip? Even though his strength was unknown, his actions granted him a title among the people.

    Heaven''s Wrath.

    And like that, an entire month went by.

 Chapter 470 Purge [2]

    Even after an entire month, there was no news of Damien''s whereabouts. It was as if he vanished along with the storm that he wrought.

    But even without him, people were forced to continue moving. Since Damien already provided the list of all traitors on the Cloud ne, the purge began only a week after his disappearance, starting from the Southern Continent.

    And at the forefront of that purge were three women whose level didn''t match their true strength at all. Naturally, they were Rose, Ruyue, and Elena.

    Currently, the trio was in the Sacred Mountain Province of the Southern Continent. As its grand name suggested, it was the central province of the continent, and the home of the ruling Ye n.

    But that n was no more. For their sin of colluding with the Nox, they and many other big and small ns all along the continent had been exterminated. The Ye n was the final target on the Southern Continent.

    But surprisingly, no news of the Southern Continent''s events spread to the other four continents. The purge took ce in secrecy, just as nned.

    All spies and informants were killed, in fact, anyone who tried to leave the Southern Continent was killed without mercy. Even when sect after sect was extinguished, there wasn''t even a hint ofmunication with the outside.

    It was, of course, the work of Shangguan Yu. It wasn''t by coincidence that he was known as a Formation Emperor. As long as he was present, he could turn any area into an inescapable death trap.

    With his formations and Tian Yang''s seemingly omnipresent eyes, it was impossible for anyone to escape their wrath.

    The number of deaths piled up until close to two million traitors were put to death. And at the same time, thousands of cultivators who fought against them died as well.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena stood at the forefront of the forces fighting against the traitors. Of those millions who were executed, at least ten thousand met their deaths to this trio alone. Their fighting power was astonishing, especially when they worked together. There were even some pseudo-4th ss experts simr to the 11th Elder of the Xue n who fell by their hands.

    Now that the small war was over, the three were taking the time to rx in a house that was designated just for them.

    "Phew¡­" Rose wiped the sweat off her brow with a towel and sat down on the sofa behind her. "The Southern Continent sucks when youpare it to the Central Continent. The weather here is way too hot."

    Ruyue walked out of the nearby bathroom with a towel covering her body. Perhaps the only curious things about her current appearance were the ice crystals floating around her at all times.

    "You''re at least lucky to practice more neutral elements. I''mpletely yin-natured, and my body mirrors that. I feel like I''m going to die every second of every day."

    Elena shook her head from the side. "I don''t get it. It''s not even that hot here. Back in my home city, it would get this hot every single day."

    Ruyue shot Elena a re. "This heat is being stimted and exponentially increased by the ambient mana of the continent. It''s impossible for your home city to reach the same temperatures."

    Rose nodded in agreement. "The heat is really sweltering. If a normal person from earth was dropped here, they''d most likely melt on the spot. Even themon people of the Southern Continent are born with monstrous levels of heat resistance to cope. Little Elena, are you sure it''s not just you that''s abnormal?"

    Elena turned her head away with a blush. Well, considering how she had affinities for Light and Life, Elena''s natural body functions far exceeded that of any other person at her level. Regting her body temperature to somethingfortable could almost be done passively.

    If Elena said this out loud, there was no doubt that Ruyue and Rose would call her a monster. Fortunately or unfortunately, she couldn''t be bothered to do so.

    "The Ye n was really something, wasn''t it?" Rose suddenly mentioned.

    Elena nodded heavily. "Their geniuses were surprisingly good. It''s a shame they didn''te to the Empyrean Dragon Realm."

    Ruyue scoffed in response. "What would it change if they went? It''s not like you would''ve seen them considering how¡­busy¡­you were."<sub> </sub>

    Elena blushed fiercely at Ruyue''s jab and replied quietly. "S-still, I could''ve met them afterwards¡­"

    Rose and Ruyue burst into giggles at Elena''s poor attempt to make excuses. The atmosphere between the three became extremely harmonious as they spent time fighting side by side.

    But just as the three of them rxed after such a long conquest, Ruyue suddenly asked the one question that could immediately dampen their mood.

    "Do you think he''s safe?" She muttered under her breath.

    Until this moment, talking about it was something none of them wanted to do, lest their concentration be disrupted because of their worry.

    But now that they had a few weeks to rest before moving to the next continent, Ruyue could no longer hold back the question.

    Rose sighed. "Of course, he''s okay. Aren''t you the one who knows best? What is your soul connection telling you?"

    Ruyue looked down at the floor. The answer was the same as every other time she had been asked the question. His vitals were stable, as if he was peacefully sleeping.

    But it was that stability that worried Ruyue. If he was doing anything, his vitals would at least show some fluctuation. For him to have such a steady pulse after so long¡­she was afraid for the worst.

    But even though the three of them knew there was a problem, there was nothing they could do to help. Even Tian Yang, as powerful as he is, couldn''t divine Damien''s location.

    So the only thing they could do was wait. Wait and use the blood of traitors to assuage their negative emotions.

    And pray for his safety.

    Elena sighed to herself. The current situation was the one she hated the most. Just like it was back then, when Damien was pushed into the dungeon, she was powerless to help him in any way.

    They were forced to separate just as their rtionship was being repaired, and Elena med herself for not being strong enough.

    Resolve grew in her eyes. She didn''t want to be weak anymore. Even though she was arguably at the peak of the younger generation in the Cloud ne, that wasn''t enough.

    Because Damien already surpassed that peak. He was already stepping into the ranks of experts. If she wanted to stand by his side, she needed to throw away her current perception of the word "genius."

    She needed to start seeing those heavenly geniuses as average stepping stones in her path. She needed to set her goal as the peak genius in her heart, the one who would always surpass those around him.

    And she needed the strength to do so with dignity.

    She could no longer stay hesitant about leaving. Due to this situation, her decision was made.

    ''After this purge is finished, I will leave. I will leave and thene back stronger than ever before. At that time, I will stand by your side with confidence. Just¡­I hope I can see you at least once before I go.''

    Her thoughts were only known to her, but her sentiments seemed to catch the sympathy of the surrounding mana.

    Her strong emotions¡­perhaps they would truly be able to reach the one they were intended for.

 Chapter 471 Partial [1]

    On a small ind submerged within a sea of clouds, there stood a small cabin with humble origins. And within that cabin, a man sat cross-legged, submerged in deep concentration.

    ''This isn''t right¡­where is that feeling¡­''

    His thoughts raced constantly, unable to slow down for even a second. That feeling used to be so vague, but after a month of tireless effort, he was getting closer and closer to realizing it.

    "Haa¡­" The man''s eyes slowly opened, revealing a mix of amethyst and red as he sighed in frustration.

    ''Failed this time as well¡­but I''m close. If I just stumble upon a single spark to guide my way, I''ll get there in an instant.''

    He shook off his thoughts and stood up, exiting the cabin and going to sit at the shore of the smallke outside. As he did so, he stared past the trees blocking his vision into the cloudyer outside.

    ''Phew¡­to think it''s been an entire month. That olddy still won''t let me leave.''

    Damien sighed again. Truthfully, he woke up not even a full day after the catastrophe he caused. After all, the reason he fainted was only that that Demigod woman knocked him out. The problem stemmed from the woman in question. No matter what he tried, she wouldn''t let him leave the ind. Instead, she woulde back every day to ask him the same question.

    "How did you do that?"

    The water in front of him twisted into the face of a woman and spoke. However, at this point, Damien wasn''t even scared anymore. This woman would always pop up in the most random ways, so he had long gotten used to it.

    Damien rolled his eyes in response to the question. "I don''t understand why you''re so obsessed with this. I already told you I just got a little spark of insight."

    The woman scoffed. "A little spark of insight? Do you even understand how arrogant you sound?! Even if you''re the Star Master, it''s wholly illogical for you to grasp even an entry-level understanding about Laws!"

    "Ah, so that''s what it was. Why did it take you a whole month to finally fess up?" Damien questioned back.

    The woman looked at him with a deadpan look in her eyes. "Kid, if you didn''t realize what you''d done even after having a Heavenly Tribtion summoned to smite you, you''d be too much of an idiot to be the Star Master."

    Damien smirked at her words. It wasn''t like she was wrong, he always had an inkling about what he did. But getting confirmation from a Demigod was the best way to affirm his thoughts.

    "So that lightning was a Heavenly Tribtion, huh. I guess the universe didn''t like that I was overstepping my bounds? Sheesh, if you''re going to behave like that, then don''t create a genius with such heaven-defying talent like me."

    Damien flicked his fingers, summoning a ck and white streak of lightning. The instant it appeared in the world, space copsed and Damien''s hand was burnt to ashes.

    As Transcendent Regeneration did its job growing his hand back, Damien turned his attention back to the shocked face of the female Demigod.

    "What? Surprised?" He said gloatingly.

    The female Demigod didn''t reply immediately. She stared at his regrowing hand and stammered to get her words out.

    "You¡­you¡­ARE YOU CRAZY?!" She finally managed to roar, the panic in her voice evident.

    "Not only were you sphemous enough to try and control Laws using your own power as a 3rd ss, you even stole the Tribtion Lightning that came to kill you?! Wait, in the first ce, how did you manage to steal lightning belonging to the Heavens?! This is preposterous!"

    Damien looked away, bored. Although he hasn''t heard this speech before, he had been anticipating it for a long while already. The second he realized the identity of the lightning residing in his Mana Heart next to his Void mes, he knew this moment woulde.

    ''It''s not like I even wanted that lightning or anything. It just kept charging into my body and feeding itself to the Void Physique. Isn''t that basically just giving me a free lunch?''

    Well, considering the pain he had to go through to acquire the lightning, it wouldn''t be apt to call it a "free lunch." But at the same time, since he was too focused to even register that pain, it was wholly apt to do so.

    Still, he didn''t voice his thoughts out loud. If the woman in front of him knew what he was thinking, he was guaranteed a beating.

    Damien shook his head wryly. "Lady, when do you n to release me from here? I have duties to attend to on the surface, you know."<sub> </sub>

    The female Demigod crossed her arms defiantly. "And why should I let you go? I''ve never seen a human as interesting as you before. Also, I have a name, so call me by it."

    This time, it was Damien''s turn to stare at her with a deadpan expression. From her demeanor, not a single person would assume that she was a being with insurmountable power. Also¡­

    "How am I supposed to call you by your name if you haven''t even told me that name yet?"

    She was quite the airhead sometimes. He didn''t know whether it was an act or not, but if it was an act, she was an Oscar-level actor.

    The female Demigod quirked her head to the side and widened her eyes. A literal lightbulb made of mana appeared on top of her head.

    "Ah! How could I forget?" She straightened her posture and did a slight curtsy. "This one is called Tang Lingzi, but you can just call me Sister Lingzi since I like you!"

    "Is this how a Demigod is supposed to behave?" Damien questioned suspiciously as he watched her. "Aren''t you supposed to be all high and mighty?"

    Tang Lingzi''s expression abruptly changed at his words. Her eyes became piercing and cold, her precious demeanor vanishingpletely. As she looked down on him from above, it truly looked like she considered him an ant she could crush without even a hint of effort.

    "Then, do you like this attitude better?"

    Even the way she spoke changed. It wasn''t necessarily her tone, but the power behind her words that changed. Every word impacted Damien with almost physical force, nearly causing his ears to bleed.

    Damien shook his head and dispelled the pressure he was feeling. Naturally, it was only possible because of his Star Master status.

    "No, the other version is easier to talk to. I didn''t think you could make that kind of face."

    "Right? As expected of me. Making humans cower is nothing."

    Tang Lingzi''s demeanor reverted to how it previously was in an instant, making Damien roll his eyes yet another time.

    His gaze panned the ind once more. In the past month, he''d gotten incredibly used to this peaceful scenery. As he stared into theke below, he suddenly remembered something.

    "Right, where''s that so-called "cute disciple" of yours?"

    Tang Lingzi smiled slyly. "Oho? Ohoho? You''re calling my disciple cute? Did you really fall for her at first sight?"

    Damien looked back at her cidly. "I was clearly mocking the way you call her. How do you expect me to fall in love with someone I haven''t even seen or talked to yet?"

    Tang Lingzi''s sly smile widened. "Oho? You haven''t seen or talked to her? Are you sure about that?"

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. "What''s that supposed to mean? How can I interact with someone whose been on this hidden ind their whole life? Who is she anyway?"

    "Hmm¡­not telling! She''s away running some errands right now, so you''ll never get the chance to take her heart!" Tang Lingzi said with a wink.

    Damien''s brow twitched incessantly. If she wasn''t going to tell him anything, why bring it up in the first ce?! Besides, why did she immediately assume that he wanted to do her disciple? He didn''t know how much longer he could stand this constant teasing of hers.

    "I really do need to leave, though. I only have 5 months left before I start for a new journey, so I need to wrap up all my loose ends before then."

    Hearing him change the topic, Tang Lingzi''s eyes became serious. No matter how powerful or entric he was, he was still a country bumpkin in the end.

    "You think you can leave? It seems you don''t understand the state that your body is in right now."

 Chapter 472 Partial [2]

    "You think you can leave? It seems you don''t understand the state that your body is in right now."

    Her words sounded ominous, leaving Damien tilting his head in confusion. Tang Lingzi sighed and rubbed her forehead.

    "Alright, if it''s just for a little while, I think you can handle it. Come, follow me."

    Without another word, she wrapped Damien in her mana and rapidly arrived at the edge of the floating ind. Only then did she stop.

    "This is the exit to the ind. You wanted to leave, didn''t you? Go ahead."

    Damien stared at her suspiciously. Her previous wordsbined with the way she forced him into confinement for the past month really hinted at something suspicious, but he had no way of finding out what that was if he didn''t do as she said.

    So, he carefully left the protection of Tang Lingzi''s mana and walked outside the boundary of the floating ind.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A thick golden bolt of lightning appeared out of thin air and struck Damien square in the chest. The pure white clouds in the surroundings rapidly changed into a murky greyish-ck color, and the ambient mana of the world created a vortex surrounding his body.

    As things were going, another natural disaster would ur because Damien was simply standing outside the ind barrier. And only after seeing this did Damien realize what Tang Lingzi was saying.

    ''Is this because of my ipleteprehension?'' Damien wondered as he signaled Tang Lingzi to let him back inside the ind.

    Once she opened the barrier, he immediately teleported inside. And as if it never existed in the first ce, the forming disaster dispersed.

    "Do you see what I''m talking about now?" Tang Lingzi mocked haughtily.

    Damien nodded sheepishly. If he knew from the start how troublesome his presence had be, he wouldn''t haveined.

    "But¡­why is it like that?" He asked. Even if he had his own conjectures, Tang Lingzi most likely knew the whole truth. It was easier to ask her than to ponder on it for ages, and he didn''t have much time at the moment.

    Tang Lingzi sighed. "Somehow, you''ve integrated yourself with the world far more than even a 4th ss would b able to. Naturally, this is due to your abilities as a Star Master.

    "In normal cases, this wouldn''t mean anything. Even if you''ve integrated yourself with the world, you''d only be able to use some more of its power when fighting on its surface. But your case is different."

    Tang Lingzi paused and took a deep breath before continuing.

    "I don''t think you understand the significance of your achievement at all. To put it into perspective, I''ve never heard of a 3rd ss who was able to grasp and even utilize even a small portion of Law power.

    "Anyway, the fact that you''ve done so exponentially increases your synchronization with the world. Now, even stepping into that world normally would mean having the world embody you. Your lightning, your mes, and that terrifying power that hides in your body, all of it starts to pervade the world as the new Law.

    "But even if you''ve grasped a portion of Laws, you aren''t able to control it because of yourcking strength and qualifications. If you try to use Law power outside the Cloud ne, you''d immediately die from the bacsh, though I can''t say whether or not your illogical healing skill can fix that damage or not.

    "Essentially, what you need to do now is consolidate andpress. Fullyprehend the small insight you''ve gained and suppress it so that it obeys you. Only then will you be able to walk through the world normally."

    Damien earnestly listened to her speech. As he expected, she took what he already guessed and expanded upon it. From the start, he realized that this incident had to do with his power as a Star Master.

    Because he felt like he could control the world''s force at will unlike before. His authority as the Star Master increased by a dozen fold. Or rather¡­

    ''I''ve been thinking of the title Star Master all wrong.''<sub> </sub>

    He finally realized it. His thoughts were so constrained inside the realm ofmon sense that he didn''t even think to expand upon his capabilities as a Star Master.

    But that was wrong. His power, his qualifications, they didn''t matter at all. As his title suggested, he was the Master of this world.

    On the Cloud ne, he was akin to a god.

    The small ind rumbled as if an earthquake was taking ce, a formless essence invaded Tang Lingzi''s barrier and rushed into Damien''s body, inadvertently causing it to float into the air.

    Seeing the changes, Damien realized he was on the right path. If he continued like this¡­

    ''The second I was able to givemands to a being like Yun without a hint of trouble, I was able to utilize everything the Cloud ne has to offer. That is what it means for a world to be contractually bound to a Celestial. The only reason I''ve been limited in my utilization is because of the constraints I subconsciously imposed on myself while thinking realistically.''

    It was quite the ironic situation. The reason why he was unable to draw out the World Force with ease was because he constantly stopped himself from getting conceited.

    In a circumstance like this one, the only way to realize his full potential was to let his arrogance out in full bloom.

    And it wasn''t like Damien didn''t have any arrogance. He was a man who talked to Demigods as if they were normal old fogeys. If that wasn''t a tant disy of arrogance, nothing was.

    But since Damien had met so many enemies who fell because of their arrogance, he always kept his in check. Especially when it came to his power level, since even he could see how rapidly he improvedpared to the rest.

    The ones he usuallypared himself to, those like Long Chen and Xue Feng, they were definitely heaven-sent geniuses that were rarely seen.

    But it was an unfairparison from the start¡­

    For them.

    It had to be said that these geniuses trained diligently from a young age. Those like Long Chen usually hit 1st ss before the age of 10. Due to the difficulty in leveling and the need to face life-or-death situations to do so properly, their progress would inevitably stall in the 3rd ss range and increase at a slower rate.

    This was why they were still at 3rd ss over a decade after they hit 1st ss. In fact, since they were infinitely close to reaching 4th ss already, they were considered as one in ten thousand geniuses.

    But what about Damien?

    First ss? He only achieved that in the dungeon. Compared to the 15 or more years that those geniuses spent to reach their level, Damien had only spent a little over 5.

    With this kind of speed, how could he not be arrogant?

    And even if he was arrogant, he wholly deserved to be.

    Damien''s eyes opened with a sh. A heavy pressure descended on the floating ind, causing cracks to spread wildly. From the looks of it, the ind would copse soon.

    World Force descended from the Heavens in droves, covering Damien''s body and allowing him to bask in the essence of Laws and Natural Forces. It wouldn''t take long for him to gain control over his power.

    Looking at his figure floating in the air, Tang Lingzi''s expression was truly a sight to see. Her mind was in utter chaos as a single thought took control over her.

    ''Is this kid¡­receiving a Baptism?!''

 Chapter 473 Partial [3]

    World Force continued pouring into the small ind in droves, nearly shattering it to pieces. If it wasn''t for Tang Lingzi''s Divine Power, the ce would''ve already fallen to the surface.

    Damien stood in the air, his body being invaded by the World Force in an extremely chaotic manner. If it wasn''t for his Void Physique regting the iing energy and making it morepatible with him, Damien''s body would''ve long exploded.

    And because the Void Physique made Damien''s intake limit nigh-infinite, the World Force vortex swirling around him only continued to increase in size.

    ''Hoo¡­this is¡­''

    Even though he looked unconscious, Damien''s mind was still working at full power. Along with the World Force, he was receiving countless insights about various things.

    That''s right. There was no need for Damien to remain clueless about everything anymore. Since he was connected with Yun, a World Core that had been alive for tens of thousands of years, he had ess to a massive library of knowledge.

    If he were to remain ignorant even after having ess to this level of information, it would be his own fault for being too stupid to understand his abilities.

    And because he was finally able to realize his idiocy, the first thing Damien did was enter that library and begin taking in all the relevant information it held.

    Disregarding most history-rted facts and things that would only affect the Cloud ne, Damien absorbed everything from information on the previous Great War to battles of experts which he could watch to gain insight. Most of all, though, he focused on general knowledge about the wider universe.

    His knowledge of the Sectors, the Abyss, even the Heavenly World that was only mentioned in rumors, all of it increased exponentially. And at the same time¡­

    [Your Legend has been greatly advanced.]

    [Your Legend has been greatly advanced.]

    [You have acquired the title, [Heaven''s Wrath] through spreading your Legend.]

    [You have received Partial Acknowledgment.]

    A flurry of system notifications shed across his vision. Although Damien was still unaware of what a Legend signified, he could understand thetter two notifications.

    He could feel the power coursing through his body after receiving the Heaven''s Wrath title. His lightning had been strengthened by manyfold. As for the final notification¡­

    The World Force vortex encasing Damien''s body slowly diminished until no trace of it remained in the atmosphere. Damien''s floating body also descended to the ground.

    "Phew¡­" Tang Lingzi sighed in relief. Luckily, her little paradise didn''t get destroyed. But, the circumstance she just witnessed was far too odd to just let go.

    "What have you done?" She questioned in a small voice. It seemed like all her dignity and yfulness vanished. Neither of the personalities she had previously shown Damien were in front of him right now.

    Instead, Tang Lingzi waspletely subservient.

    Damien looked at this new version of her curiously. He couldn''t understand why this Demigod would act anywhere close to subservient to him, who was far weaker than her.

    He looked into Tang Lingzi''s eyes and finally noticed something off. Her gaze wasn''t necessarily focused on him, it was more like she was enamored with just his presence.

    The thought suddenly clicked in Damien''s mind.

    World Force was a strange energy that wasn''t mana at all, but at the same time was like the purest kind of mana. Even though it differed from Divine Power, it was an energy on a simr or even greater level.

    And just now he had been baptized in that energy. His overflowing aura wasn''t something anyone could resist, at least not while they were on the Cloud ne.

    ''But that doesn''t mean I''m invincible.'' Damien thought as he retracted his aura. ''It shouldn''t be hard for Tang Lingzi to break out of this state if she tries, no matter how much World Force I can utilize, my control will still be reflective of my own abilities. Subduing a Demigod is still far away.''<sub> </sub>

    But unlike what he expected, Tang Lingzi didn''t immediately break out of her dazed state. Instead, she stared at him with a hungry look in her eyes. Out of nowhere, two fox ears and nine tails appeared on her body.

    Damien raised his brow in confusion. "What was that for?"

    He already knew Tang Lingzi wasn''t human, since she often referred to humans by their species name, but he didn''t know why she suddenly showed her ears and tail. There was no point to it.

    Tang Lingzi''s eyes finally cleared up after hearing his question. "Hm? Oh, this? It''s just something that happens when I get too excited. Don''t mind it."

    Tang Lingzi returned her attention to Damien''s body and slowly crept forward. "Not only were you able to receive a Partial Baptism with such weak strength, you were able to ovee it and take 100% of what it had to offer. This body is incredibly special¡­"

    Her words trailed off, a hint of drool dripping down her chin and falling in between her voluptuous breasts. Although the sight would''ve been seductive in any other situation, Damien couldn''t feel the slightest bit of arousal.

    ''She will devour me.'' He thought instantly. And he wasn''t talking sexually at all. No, Tang Lingzi''s eyes looked like she was going to cut him open and devour all his secrets. That wasn''t the expression of a woman, but that of a mad scientist.

    ''I need to leave expeditiously.''

    Damien backed away from the voracious Tang Lingzi slowly, spreading his awareness as he did so. The second he did, he smiled widely.

    "Well then, Sister Lingzi, I hope to see you againter!"

    His body began to disappear. Due to the World Force Baptism from earlier, the defenses that trapped him on the ind had weakened considerably.

    Seeing his movements, Tang Lingzi''s eyes cleared up. "Wait! Where are you going?!"

    Damien rolled his eyes. "Didn''t I already tell you? I''m a busy man making big moves. I don''t have time to sit here idly. Anyway, I''ll be going now. Tell your cute disciple I said hi!"

    As his final word fell, Damien''s bodypletely vanished from the floating ind. Left alone, Tang Lingzi nkly stared into space.

    And out of nowhere, she broke out into a fit of giggles.

    "This kid¡­is quite interesting." She spoke to herself with a mysterious smile. "And he dares tease me? How audacious."

    Even though she sounded offended, her smile never left her face. And with that same smile, she turned around and continued talking.

    "My cute disciple, did you hear him? Why didn''t you respond to his greetings?"

    The bushes rustled in response to her words. The shadows they cast on the ground coagted and formed the figure of a woman.

    "Master¡­how can I face him like this? I''m afraid he won''t see me the same way anymore."

    Tang Lingzi rolled her eyes. "You always say the same thing, but have you reallymitted any crime against him? Haa¡­you are far too stubborn."

    The ck-haired woman shook her head. "Even so, I cannot face him right now. Perhaps one day¡­"

    Her gaze shifted to the horizon, looking in the direction that Damien most likely teleported.

    As for her thoughts as she did so? They were only known to her.

 Chapter 474 Partial [4]

    Whoosh!

    Damien''s figure reappeared in the sky above the Cloud ne. His location was the Southern Continent, the Sacred Mountain Province that was once ruled by the Ye n. His gaze panned the area, his awareness spreading in full.

    Within an instant, the entire Southern Continent was present in Damien''s gaze.

    ''Hmm, looks like they finished everything over here.'' He nodded to himself. ''This level of power is great too.''

    Although it was limited to the Cloud ne, the power he felt as he teleported untold kilometers with barely any mana consumption and spread his awareness to cover an entire continent was especially pleasurable.

    ''Then, if I do this¡­?''

    Damien sent World Force into his heart and pressed it into the area where he felt his mysterious connection with Ruyue. In that instant, the view in front of his eyes changedpletely.

    In a battlefield engulfed in mes, three women valiantly cut down their enemies. As if they were the central position of the battle taking ce, the movements of both enemies and allies revolved around them.

    Damien sighed to himself. ''In the end, the three of them still joined the purge. Their determination to get stronger is really admirable.''

    Although Damien and the experts of the Cloud ne always referred to the purge as if it was something easily aplished, the truth was different.

    It was a war on the traitors. Because the aforementioned group was always paying attention to war on a universal scale, their perception of the ongoing operation was naturally skewed.

    Damien shook his head. ''This is good experience. I''ve already experienced both Great Wars through various encounters, so I at least have a basic grasp of how it works. As forrge-scale battles, I''ve been used to those since the beginning.''

    The dungeon was a ce where it was him against the world. Large-scale battles had always been his specialty, it was just that he rarely got to experience them.

    ''Haa, even if I want to join in, I have to go to Apeiron and solve the matters over there. Should I leave them or take them with me?''

    He didn''t ponder it for long. Instead of deciding for them, it''d be easiest to simply meet them and ask.

    As he had the thought, Damien''s figure vanished from the skies of the Southern Continent, unnoticed from start to end. When he reappeared once more, he was on the Eastern Continent, hovering above the battlefield he just witnessed.

    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

    "Glory to the Wushuang Sect!"

    "Brothers, take down those filthy traitors and be true warriors!"

    Various exmations and battle cries traveled through the battlefield. The sound of weapons shing against each other created a horrid cacophony of sound as it entered Damien''s ears. Combined with the heavy stench of blood, it wasn''t a pleasant ce to be.

    Damien''s nose wrinkled in disgust. ''Even if I''ve experienced it before, war is never a sight you want to see. Yet, it''s inevitable.''

    War was both a blessing and a curse for those living in this universe. It was a horrid time period filled with death and destruction, where countless people would lose their lives and livelihoods.

    When it was a universal war, wholes were destroyed frequently,

    But at the same time, war was an opportunity.

    In this universe where killing meant leveling up, where bloodshed was synonymous with strength, war was something many people looked forward to.

    Because even if one had the worst talent imaginable, the amount of killing one could do on a battlefield was bound to allow one to level. Due to this, "fear" of war didn''t exist. Even though the risk was evident, there would never be ack of soldiers signing up to join the armies during war times.

    Damien cleared his thoughts. It''d be hypocritical to look down on those who courted death in this way since he shared their excitement for battle and leveling. Instead of dwelling on it any longer, he spread his awareness and found his women on the battlefield.

    ''There you are.''

    His figure vanished and reappeared in the center of the battlefield, where arge empty area had been formed.

    As the enemies continued to circle around the perimeter of this area, Damien soon came to understand that they were avoiding the range of Rose''s Illusory Throne skill.

    ''Smart, but not smart enough.''

    Just as he thought it, hundreds of tree roots burst from the ground and entangled the surrounding enemies. Arge tree emitting strong vitality rose from the ground behind Elena at the same time.

    Ruyue''s hand moved through the air gracefully, drawing a trail of icemes and death mana that covered the tree roots, instantly killing those that had been captured.

    And to put the icing on the cake, Rose spread her illusions to those further away, drawing them into the death trap with them being none the wiser.

    ''What a deadlybination.'' Damien thought proudly as he watched them. He never expected their teamwork to be so good, but it was only natural considering how they spent the past month or so fighting side by side.

    As more and more enemies died and were reced by others, Damien became tired of just watching.

    ''Hmm, they''ll have plenty of chancester, so a little kill stealing now won''t hurt, right?''

    His eyes shed, the amethyst and red within swirling and creating various strange patterns.

    A formless pulse left his body, spreading into the surroundings. And the second it did¡­<sub> </sub>

    St!

    The disgusting sound of bodies being smushed resounded. Tens of thousands of surrounding enemies were reduced to meatpaste.

    As it happened, Damien descended from the sky and met his three beauties.

    "Yo! Missed me?" He smirked. But his expression vanished as soon as he saw the cold res he was receiving from the three.

    "I-I''m sorry?" He stuttered, not knowing what to do. This wasn''t the reunion he was imagining at all.

    "Hmph!" Rose snorted and turned her head away. As if on cue, the other two followed suit.

    Damien smiled wryly. "Well, I understand why it''s like this but I can only exin my circumstancester. For now, how do the three of you feel about visiting Apeiron?"

    Rose''s eyes widened unintentionally. Before she could even start giving Damien the cold shoulder, she was forced to stop.

    "R-really? We''re going back?" Rose questioned suspiciously.

    "Mm." Damien nodded. "Now that the allied forces are cleaning up the Cloud ne, there''s no reason for us to stay as well. We need to clean up Apeiron and Earth before they finish up here."

    This time, it was Elena''s turn to be surprised. "We''re going back to Earth as well?"

    Damien nodded once again. "Of course! These are two worlds that are or will be bound to me. Isn''t it natural that the Star Master keeps the world safe?"

    Hearing his words, the girls slowly came to understand his purpose as well. But since they didn''t know about the Niflheim raid that would ur in 5 months, it was normal for them to be confused.

    But the main hesitation that the three of them shared was the fact that they''d have to leave the battlefield. Since their power was showing noticeable improvements already, they wanted to continue.

    And Damien solved that hesitation before they were even able to voice it. Cleaning up the two worlds meant they''d still get to constantly battle. And since the forces of those worlds were weaker, they''d have more prey for themselves.

    "Good!" Rose eximed with a smile. "We can show little Ruyue around our home worlds while power leveling at the same time! It''s the perfect n!"

    Damien grinned. "Right? Not to brag, but your husband has be a genius in this past month."

    "Oho? A genius, you say? I''ll be needing proof of thatter." Rose retorted.

    Damien nodded. "Later, then. For now, I''ll send you guys back to the sect so you can prepare to leave."

    Rose and Ruyue nodded in agreement. And since they agreed, Damien immediately teleported them to the Celestial Star Pce.

    As for Elena¡­

    "Damien, I¡­" She struggled to get the words out of her throat. The firm decision she made only a few days prior was crumbling now that she''d seen his face.

    Damien observed her seriously. Her hesitation and desire, he could see it all. And knowing her personality, he knew she would fold if he didn''t say anything.

    "Go." He said lightly. It was only a single word, but its meaning was infinitely deeper.

    Elena''s eyes widened. "You¡­!"

    Damien smiled. "I''ve known for a while, though I don''t know the details. If it''s something you wish to do, then go. Don''t worry about me."

    Elena frowned. "But¡­"

    "How about you spend the next few months with me? We''ll y enemies and enjoy ourselves to the fullest. Only after we''ve made enough good memories are you allowed to leave me."

    Elena looked at Damien seriously, trying to force the tears forming in her eyes to disappear.

    Damien gently wiped those tears off her face. "I know we have a lot to talk about, but let''s put it off for now and enjoy ourselves. When it''s time to get serious, we can truly spill everything in our hearts and start our rtionship anew. Until then, you are mine and I am yours. What else is there to talk about, right?"

    Elena smiled gently and nodded. "Mm. As long as you are mine and I am yours, there''s nothing else in the world that matters¡­ow!"

    Her sentimental words were ruined by a light flick on her forehead. "Idiot, don''t you have a goal? Never stop pursuing your goal because of me. Just trust me to have your back as you chase it."

    Damien snapped his fingers with a smile. "Anyway, no need to get teary-eyes yet. These next 5 months¡­I''ll make sure topletely defeat those tears."

    And as his words ended, Elena''s body also disappeared from the battlefield, returning to the Celestial Star Pce.

    Left alone, Damien looked around cidly. "As I thought, war is annoying. Let me get rid of this scourge before I leave."

    His hand waved through the air, a mysterious force pervading it along with his movements.

    And with that single motion, every enemy that was at the 3rd ss or below¡­

    Died in an instant.

 Chapter 475 Third Return [1]

    At the peak of the Celestial Mountain, a small group of people were gathered.

    Among them was a certain old man, whose sagely aura had been reced by battle intent due to the recent environment.

    Tian Yang stood with his two disciples, separated from the others that joined them on the peak.

    "The two of you¡­you grew your wings long ago, and have been exercising them constantly. Although I have plenty that I still wish to teach you, I think that your paths will flow better if you discovered the rest for yourselves."

    His eyes were sentimental as he spoke. Unknowingly, he had gotten far more attached to these disciples of his than he ever thought he would.

    "Brat, you''ve only been here for a year, and most of that time was spent on your own. I''m hardly qualified to call myself your master." He said to Damien:

    But Damien shook his head in denial. "Even if the time I spent with you was short, the benefits I gained were still tremendous. Not only my spatial abilities, but even myprehension of my other facets improved due to your teachings. Plus, my mental development is something you contributed to a lot. Don''t think I didn''t realize what you did back then."

    Tian Yang smirked. "Right, who would''ve thought the little brat from back then was finally able to grow into a man? However, you still aren''t worthy of my little Yue''er. Beat me first, and then I''ll consider letting you marry her."

    "Master!" Ruyue shouted in embarrassment.

    Tian Yangughed uproariously. "Yue''er, you''ve been my disciple for many years, to the point where our bond has truly be familial. But even then, I wasn''t able to break the wall you put up around your heart. The fact that you were forced to carry that burden alone was one of my biggest regrets.

    "Luckily enough, this brat was able to do my job for me. Seeing the you that stands in front of me now, I am immensely proud of how far you''vee."

    Tears formed in Ruyue''s eyes. "Master¡­"

    Tian Yang shook his head. "Don''t say anything. Although I wish I could watch over your progress forever, it''s fine as long as you just visit me once in a while. Don''t leave this old man in the dark, will you?"

    Damien nodded heavily. Although their departure from the Cloud ne didn''t seem like it''d mean much, since they would be returning in 5 months, it was far moreplicated than that.

    In 5 months time, when the extermination n begins, Damien most likely wouldn''t have much contact with Tian Yang anymore. Hell, he might not even have contact with Ruyue and Rose.

    In essence, it was a military operation. No matter how much Damien hated being tied down, he would need to obey his superior while the operation is ongoing, lest he messes up the carefully crafted n that they would follow.

    So even if, by some miracle, he ended up on the same team as Rose and Ruyue, he wouldn''t be able to chat or joke with them as he usually did.

    As for Tian Yang, he was one of the most influential people in the entirety of the Cloud ne. His position would be far too high for someone like Damien to visit frequently.

    The peaceful days would end in 5 months. The days of freedom and carefree life would vanish along with them. And so, Tian Yang gave his disciples an earnest farewell.

    After speaking with Tian Yang for a little while longer, Damien and Ruyue returned to the main group, where the Supreme Fairy Paradise Master was saying goodbye to Rose and Elena.

    When Damien arrived, the Paradise Master immediately turned her attention to him.

    "Hm hm, S-ss body, S-ss face, I don''t know about his personality, but it looks like you''ve scored yourself quite the treasure, eh?" The Paradise Master said toward Rose and Elena, whose faces immediately turned red.

    "Boy, what do you think? How about leaving my disciples alone and ying with this littledy instead?"

    Damien smiled wryly, but inwardly, he was vomiting everything he''d ever eaten. The feeling of being flirted with by an olddy¡­as not pleasant. As expected, none of the old people he met were normal.

    But before he could say anything in response, Tian Yang appeared before him. "Old hag, leave my disciple alone. He isn''t a man who''d fall for your petty charm."<sub> </sub>

    "Petty charm?" The Paradise Master scoffed mockingly. "I remember a certain someone fell for this so-called petty charm so deeply that he pursued me for dozens of years before finally giving up. What was that man''s name again¡­?"

    The Paradise Master pretended to go deep in thought, causing Tian Yang endless embarrassment. But on the surface, he kept his cool. He couldn''t show his weak side when he was supposed to be looking cool in front of his disciples.

    "That man must''ve been a lunatic to pursue you. Instead of talking about lunatics so much, how about we properly send our disciples off? They seem quite busy."

    Tian Yang gestured toward Damien, who rolled his eyes and stepped forward. The old man was way too obvious in changing the subject, but he decided not to mention it.

    Instead, he turned around and faced the three girls.

    "Ready?" He asked with a smile.

    "Of course!"

    "Mm."

    "Y-yes."

    With three different sounds of acknowledgement, thest and shakiest being Ruyue''s, since she was still nervous about leaving the Cloud ne for the first time, Damien faced forward and put his hand out into space.

    "Warp."

    Heeding hismand, the space in front of him shattered into an oval shape. The chaotic void within slowly swirled until it perfectly moved in a clockwise motion, stably rotating.

    Damien smiled to himself. ''The process of creating a portal is far less cumbersome now. Considering the distance between this world and Apeiron, the mana consumption has also decreased heavily.''

    As he thought, the three girls turned around and gave one final bow to their masters. Damien observed the portal for a little longer before turning around as well.

    "Old man, don''t die to the trash infesting this world. Next time I see you, I expect you to be so powerful that I can''t even see the wall anymore."

    Tian Yang grinned in response. "It''s arrogant for you to think you can see the wall even now, but very well brat. I''ll ept your challenge."

    "Good, then if I win, you let me marry Ruyue."

    "Ha! You really think 5 months is enough time to catch up to me?"

    "Definitely not," Damien replied firmly. His lips soon curved into a sly smile. "To catch up won''t be possible, but I don''t believe I can''t beat you."

    Tian Yang''s grin widened. "Brat, you''ve be more arrogant since thest time I saw you. Though, it''s not like I don''t like this change. Now, get going already. The more time you waste, the less chance you have at defeating me."

    "Tch." Damien clicked his tongue. ''5 months, right? In 5 months, see how I make you lose face in front of Ruyue.''

    Tossing Tian Yang one final battle intent-filled nce, Damien stepped through the portal. And the girls followed soon after.

    After so many years away, they were finally returning to Apeiron.

 Chapter 476 Third Return [2]

    Cloud-free skies where the sun could freely spread its glory, a refreshing breeze, perfect temperature, and an overall peaceful atmosphere that couldn''t be replicated.

    Damien closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It''d be a lie to say he didn''t miss this environment. Truthfully, the second his feet touched the ground, he felt like a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

    But that was simply reality.

    The Cloud ne was a ce where even the ambient mana wasced with a trace of battle intent. Even when one wasn''t on guard, they''d subconsciously stay vignt because the ambient mana forced them to do so. Like this, every second staying in the Cloud ne could bebeled training.

    But it was a kind of subtle training that would only show results in the long run.

    Experiencing Apeiron''s calm atmosphere was actually the first time Damien even realized the constant tense state his body was previously in.

    But currently, that didn''t matter much.

    Damien had a single goal ining it Apeiron. Perhaps he''d visit some old acquaintances and sightseeter, but his first priority would never change.

    Damien spread his awareness, easily covering tens of thousands of kilometers. He soon found an inconspicuous mountain a few hundred kilometers to the north.

    "I''ll go over there and try to connect to the World Core. My rtionship with Apeiron is already far deeper than what I had with the Cloud ne, so it shouldn''t take long. This world is pretty much 100% safe for 3rd ss beings, so you guys can wander freely without worry. I''lle find you when I''m done."

    After receiving nods from the girls, Damien immediately teleported to the mountain. No matter how much he wanted to just spend time with them and rx, he couldn''t allow himself to do so.

    As long as the work was finished, he''d have plenty of time to rx. But for now, he needed focus.

    When he arrived on the mountain, he found himself an inconspicuous cave to meditate in. And once he sat down, he immediately submerged his consciousness into the earth.

    This waspletely different from how he contacted the other two World Cores, but for some reason, his instinct as a Celestial told him this much was more than enough to catch Apeiron''s attention.

    And his instinct was soon proven correct.

    His consciousness was dragged away from his body, appearing like a hologram in a massive cave where the World Core presumably resided.

    [You have finallye.]

    Damien''s eyes widened. He didn''t expect the World Core to immediately speak to him.

    [We have been waiting for you for many years. You achieved your ss as a Celestial within us, so we assumed you would bind us immediately.]

    Damien rubbed his head sheepishly. ''I was an idiot back then and didn''t know how to properly wield my power. In fact, I only recently learned what my authority entails. I apologize for making you wait.''

    [You are forgiven. As you are the fated one, we shall follow you wholeheartedly. Please bind us with your authority.]

    Damien''s widened eyes grew even wider. This World Core¡­was far different from the World Cores he had met so far.

    Earth was like a child, so nothing needed to be said there. As for the Cloud ne, it was cold and calctive like a machine. It didn''t care about its people, it only cared about survival.

    But Apeiron was like neither. With the way it was practically begging him to bind it, he could infer that it had far more emotion than Yun did. Perhaps it even held endearing feelings for the inhabitants on its surface.

    [You are correct. There was once a man who couldmunicate with us. Although the level ofmunication cannotpare to a Celestial such as yourself, he was able to freely speak to us and hear our voice.]

    It instantly clicked in Damien''s head. ''Kurt Galloway. That guy did something amazing again.''<sub> </sub>

    Damien sighed. Kurt wasn''t a Celestial, he was a normal Spatial Grandmaster. It would''ve been different if he couldmunicate with the World Core after forming his Divinity, but it was unprecedented for him to do the same beforehand.

    Kurt''s talent was astonishing even to Damien.

    ''So, because of the time you spent with that man, you were able to develop emotions?'' He asked curiously,

    [We believe it is so. That man was the only outside influence we have experienced before meeting you.]

    ? Damien furrowed his brow. It should''ve been obvious that the conditions in which they spent their lives would influence their personalities, since that was apletely normal thing for humans, but the ones Damien was thinking about were World Cores. He didn''t think the rules of mere creations could be imposed on them.

    But maybe that was just another naive thought. If nts could be sentient and even gain human form, who was to say that World Cores couldn''t have emotion?

    Although he enjoyed having Yun as an assistant, he couldn''t talk to Yun casually¡­ignoring the asional snarkyment that thetter sometimes made.

    Damien smiled. It looked like his journey as a Celestial would never be boring. If World Cores really had differing personalities, he wanted to see how many of them he could experience.

    ''Well, then. There''s nothing more for us to talk about. Let''s form the contract.''

    [That is currently impossible. As you have guessed before arriving, we have been heavily corrupted by foreign mana. You must remove this mana first.]

    Damien grinned. ''Nice. My mana capacity will increase yet again.''

    After voicing his agreement to the World Core, Damien experienced the familiar feeling of his body being transported to the location of his consciousness. And just like that, he found himself physically standing before the starlight-blue World Core:

    Well, at least a portion of it was the original starlight-blue color. Around 50% of the World Core was made up of disgusting inky ck mana instead.

    Damien wanted to whistle at the sheer scale of corruption, but unfortunately, he didn''t know how to. Due to this, he was forced to settle for sucking in a cold breath instead.

    "Damn¡­" he spoke out loud. "Last time, it only took around a day. This time, I guess I''ll need a week or more."

    Damien clicked his tongue in annoyance. ''These damn Nox messing up my timetable. See how I deal with you after I find out where you stay at from the World Core.''

    Snorting once more, Damien put his hand into the inky ck mass and activated Devour.

    And he kept devouring for a week straight without rest. His body actually felt more invigorated by the time he was done, considering how his mana capacity surpassed the 100,000 mark by 15,000 units.

    Two threads of mana, one from Damien and the other from the World Core, met in the middle and entangled with each other. An eternal bond was formed between them in that moment.

    [It is our honor to serve you, Master. We look forward to seeing what you will achieve.]

    Damien cracked his neck to the side. ''You want results? That''s easy enough. Just direct me where to go, and I''ll kill every Nox bastard and traitor that dares to step foot in this world.''

    [That is our wish as well. Whatever assistance you require, we will provide it to the best of our abilities.]

    Damien grinned in response. As information poured into his mind through his connection with Apeiron, he only had one thought running through his head.

    It was time to go hunting.

 Chapter 477 9[1]

    On an unknown, so far away from the Cloud ne that those residing there wouldn''t even know of its existence, two men stood amongst arge pile of rubble.

    "Is the job finally done?" One of them asked, wiping the sweat off his brow.

    "Not sure yet. We need to check for any stragglers before we go, or else the boss will kill us." The other replied.

    "Tch. That damn boss. If he''s going to act like a tyrant, at least do it properly."

    "It can''t be helped. You know that''s a Pseudo-Divinity we''re working under. Even if he has no leadership skills, his power alone is enough to keep his subordinates in line."

    The two men shook their heads in unison and stepped out of the rubble. As they did so, the scenery around them slowly came into view.

    Calling it a wastnd would be far too generous. The scene around them was closer to purgatory than anything else.

    The ground was charred and cracked as far as the eye could see. Small mes still raged as an aftereffect of the fire that had burned down all of this''s flora. The sky was covered in ck clouds made up of the ash from that me, clouds that carried an insane amount of mana.

    That mana turned the sky into a hell worse than thend. Mysterious phenomena and bursts of random elemental essences filled the sky. If anyone dared to fly into a sky like that, they''d be killed instantly.

    And the most gruesome part of the image, the piles upon piles of corpses that littered the ground as far as the eye could see. The entire poption of the world¡­was eliminated.

    "This ce has really be a hellhole. It''s surprising that it only took a month to do it."

    "Tch, don''t mention it anymore. It still makes me feel disgusting."

    "Paul, you''re too sensitive." The other man spoke seriously. "We didn''t choose our line of work, we were forced into it. It''s either they die, or we die. This isn''t a ce where you can show sympathy."

    Paul sighed. "I know, I know. But I can''t change my nature so easily. You should know that best, Talias."

    Talias grinned, his massive body tensing at his friend''s words. "Right, you''ve always been a crazy bastard."

    Their conversation was cut short by a strange sounding from a point not far away. Curious, the two moved in that direction.

    "He¡­!"

    "Help! Somebody help!"

    As they drew closer, the cries formed into words. The two looked at each other in surprise.

    "A survivor! Who knew somebody would actually be able to stay alive through all that?" Paul sighed in admiration.

    Talias shook his head. "Poor girl." He muttered under his breath. "You should''ve just stayed quiet."

    The two soon arrived at the location of the cry. When they did so, they witnessed a small girl, no older than 16, trapped under a metal beam. Although her lower body was crushed, she held onto her vitality like a cockroach, not sumbing to death in the slightest.

    When she saw Paul and Talias, her determined eyes were filled with rays of hope.

    "Please help me! I will reward you handsomely if you do!"

    Paul stepped forward. "Of course, littledy. Since we''ve found you, it''s our duty to save you."

    Tears formed in the girl''s eyes when she heard his kind words. And as he drew closer and closer to her, her excitement became palpable.

    Paul smiled when he saw her state. His hand went to the hilt of the sword on his hip. "Little girl, stay still. I will save you now."

    A singr ck line was drawn through the air, following the sword''s path. When it reached its end, the air was filled with red.

    "Now, you have been saved. This is the best escape from those nasty bastards. Your will to fight will only burden you further. I pray that you will live peacefully in your next life."

    The girl''s head dropped to the floor a few feet away from her body. As her blood dyed the charred ground red, Paul''s lips slowly curved into a smile. But he suppressed it quickly.

    Turning to Talias, he spoke in his usual tone. "Let''s get moving. We need to see if there are any more survivors for us to save."

    Talias shook his head, but still followed along. "Damn crazy bastard."

    The two continued their journey, finding those who survived the catastrophe that shook this world and sending them off. But it wasn''t as if they were alone in their search.<sub> </sub>

    The world was covered with people who were doing the same as them. And it wasn''t just this world.

    If one was able to observe the wider universe surrounding this world, one''d be able to see the true scale of the catastrophe.

    Not just a single world somewhere in the universe, but hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of them¡­

    All met simr fates to the small world that was still standing, the final one of its kind.

    ***

    Somewhere not far away from that small world, floating in the endless void, there was arge starship that was armed heavily for battle. Its sleek ck design almost let it blend in with the surrounding ckness, making it a stealthy yet deadly weapon.

    And considering its size as a vessel that could easily house hundreds of thousands of people, this camouge ability wasn''t something to be looked down upon.

    "This ce is no longer habitable. The mission is nearingpletion."

    In the control room of that starship, a man in a white suit spoke to the ship''s captain, who sat at his desk cidly.

    "Is the information confirmed? This isn''t a small operation. There can be no mistakes."

    The man in the suit shook his head and waved his hand, dozens of holographic screens appeared in the air, depicting different scenes.

    But those scenes all shared a singlemonality. They were scenes marred with destruction and gore.

    "Of a total of 100 billions, we have discovered 132,627 worlds that were suitable for life. Of the 132,627 worlds, 63,385 have been conquered, 69,241 destroyed, and 1 remaining. Although the result isn''tpletely satisfactory, it is better than the expected estimate."

    The ship captain furrowed his brows in thought. "Hmm, it is indeed desirable, but I''m afraid the higher-ups will push for more. What is the level of destruction for the worlds that weren''t conquered?"

    The man in the suit swiped his hand and changed the images on his holographic screens. Although the theme of the new images remained the same, they were now apanied by statistics and analytic reports.

    "The sustained damage to the worlds is substantial. This sector has been converted into a Dark Zone by the rampant mana from the destruction. However, there is a small number among them that are salvageable."

    The captain skimmed through the data and nodded heavily. "Good. With these worlds, we should exceed the quota enough to satisfy those old geezers. And what about the final bastion?"

    "It is the home of the ruling family. It has been left forst, as per the Commander''s orders."

    The Commander nodded. "Then that is all. No need to worry about the ruling family. I will l mobilize Exadrion and take care of it myself."

    The man in the suit''s eyes widened in shock, but he didn''t speak a word. Meddling in the Commander''s decisions would only cause his death.

    Getting rid of the holographic screens around him, the Commander stood up. His arms moved, his hands cupping into the shape of a diamond in front of his torso.

    "Executor Bak, heed mymand. Direct all personnel to do a final sweep of the area. After that, convene at the mothership for further instructions."

    Executor Bak returned the same hand sign. "Understood, Commander. Per the Lord''s Decree."

    "Per the Lord''s Decree." The Commander repeated sternly.

    As Executor Bak left his study, the Commander looked out the window at the destroyed universe around him and sighed.

    "This campaign will be a long one. I wonder how long they''ll manage to resist this time?"

    With that, he returned to his desk and sat down. His hand pressed down on the pristine wooden desk, causing a slight indent to form in its surface.

    "Command: Activate Battle Mode. Destination: Inputted coordinates."

    On hismand, the study-like atmosphere of the control roompletely changed. The wooden desk and floors retracted into the ground and were reced by a spotless white interior.

    The desk now contained a myriad of controls and holographic disys that showed the state of the starship. The walls also retracted into the ground, giving way to clear ss that showed a panoramic view of the starry sky outside.

    The mechanisms of the ship roared to life, albeit quietly. Mana spread to cover the ship''s exterior as it started to move.

    It''s destination? A world called Aurora.

 Chapter 478 9[2]

    "Mother! This isn''t the time to keep acting like a Queen! We must flee!"

    The anguished voice of a young girl echoed through the calls of the throne room as she begged. She sat on her knees, banging her head against the floor to show her sincerity.

    "Everyone else is dead! Aurora is the only bastion of hope remaining for our people, and you wish to flee?!" The Queen responded furiously, ignoring the girl''s pitiful state.

    "Bastion or not, none of it matters anymore. Don''t you understand by now?! There is no way for us to win against them!"

    The Queen mmed her fist down on her armrest, causing a fierce shockwave to spread and push the girl back several meters.

    "Enough! If I knew I was raising such a cowardly daughter, I wouldn''t have put as much care into you as I did! To think you wish to abandon your people in times of crisis! Abominable!"

    The Queen''s roars filled the pce halls, causing the various servants and knights in the pce to feel both warmth and despair at the same time. It wasn''t a small number of them that shed tears.

    Among them, an old servant who had served many past generations of Queens and even the one currently ruling. An old high elf by the name of Sebastian.

    He stood at the Queen''s side, looking at the pitiful princess as she begged. He couldn''t help but feel conflicted.

    On one hand was a daughter who was desperate to save her mother, and on the other hand was a mother who could only stubbornly fulfill her duty as Queen. In this situation, neither of them would win.

    ''Haa¡­why did such a catastrophe have to fall on us?''

    Sebastian thought back to the past few years. It hadn''t even been a decade since the invasion started, but it was already their loss. The elven forces and those under them couldn''t stand a single chance against the invaders.

    ''And here I thought we were powerful. Those bastards¡­they''ve nned well for this day!''

    Sebastian''s fists clenched so hard they drew blood as he thought of the invaders. It wasn''t his first time seeing them, but it was his first time feeling so hopeless in front of them.

    ''During the previous war, they were only equal to us. How were they able to grow so much in the short span of 10,000 years?''

    But it wasn''t just their strength, it was their numbers.

    ''There aren''t as many of those disgusting barbarian ones as there were in the past, but they have corrupted leagues more people within our ranks! Rather than losing a war, we fell to internal strife. How embarrassing!''

    Even Sebastian, the most loyal subordinate of the Royal Elven Family, considered fleeing at one point, but his loyalty prevented him to do so.

    ''But now isn''t the time for my Queen to be arguing¡­if she doesn''t gather our forces to at least put up a final fight, then soon¡­!''

    His thoughts were cut off by a massive shadow that covered the Heavens. Because the throne room of the pce had an open roof that embraced nature, they were able to witness it even from within.

    Sebastian''s face paled. It wasn''t just him, but those of every warrior present on Aurora. No matter where on the they were, they could see the massive shadow that hung in the sky.

    "People of Aurora, hear me. Your trial begins now. For daring to rebel against the will of the Lords, your punishment is death."

    The Queen bit her lip hard as she looked into the sky. Although her face still showed fighting spirit, her hope was quickly draining internally.

    ''Why¡­what chance do we even have?''

    Although she always said she was nning to fight with her people, her words weren''t necessarily true. From the start, her only n was to die with her people so that she would at least be somewhat absolved of her sins.

    ''I couldn''t save any of you. I''m so sorry.''

    The Queen shed a silent tear, her eyes quickly filling with mes thereafter. "It is time."

    Her figure shed, appearing beside the princess and grabbing her with a thread of mana. Without another word, the Queen dashed through the throne room until she reached an inconspicuous area of the wall behind her throne.

    "M-mother! What are you doing?!" The Elven Princess screamed. But the Queen didn''t listen at all.

    She tapped on the wall randomly with varying amounts of strength, using fine mana control to deliver bursts of mana into its surface.

    And as she did so, the shadow in the sky began to shift.

    Large cannons appeared along the sides of the starship, a massive ball of light gathering at its front.

    Without warning, three of the side cannons shot bursts of crystalline blue light that descended upon Aurora.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The massive explosion rocked the. A crater hundreds of thousands of kilometers in diameter formed in the surface of the world, killing billions in the process.

    "Witness your fate before you meet it." The voice from the starship rang out again. "This is the only end for those who oppose Their regime."

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Six more cannons fired at the same time, turning half of Aurora into a charred wastnd in an instant.

    But the Queen ignored it all. With tears of blood streaking down her face, she used her body to endure the shockwaves that kept impacting her, shielding the Elf Princess in the process.

    And all the while, she continued randomly tapping on the wall like a madwoman. It was to the point where even the Elf Princess questioned her sanity.

    ''So that is your decision, Your Majesty.'' Sebastian thought to himself.

    Without another word, he sighed and floated into the air. Feeling his movement, the Elf Queen turned to face him, giving him a final stern nod.

    Sebastian smiled lightly. ''Until the end, I couldn''t get rid of this sense of duty. Ah, what a stupid man I am.''<sub> </sub>

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Six cannons fired again, but as they impacted the surface, Sebastian''s aura red, creating arge shield that protected the imperial pce. But even still, the shockwaves from the explosions incessantly threatened to crack the barrier.

    BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM!

    The explosions that were randomly impacting the surface of Aurora started toe together, crashing against the barrier of the castle.

    Without them realizing it, Aurora had already been destroyed. The only ce left where life could persevere was the imperial pce.

    BOOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOM!

    "Keuk¡­!" Sebastian coughed out a mouthful of blood, cracks spreading across his barrier. But just as he was about to give up, he felt a pair of rough hands on his back. Mana poured into his body in droves, allowing him to maintain his protection of the castle.

    "S-Sir Mica." Sebastian greeted while wiping the blood off his lips.

    The knight named Mica shook his head in response. "Do not speak. Focus on maintaining the barrier. The Knight Order and the refugees from the Magic Forest will aid you as long as we can."

    As Sebastian turned his gaze to the ground below, his vision was filled to the brim with elves. Magicians, knights, evenmon maids. They all stood watching him protect them, sending their mana into the sky so that he would never run out of steam.

    Seeing them, Sebastian''s bloody lips curved into a warm smile.

    "Very well. If you are all putting your hopes into me, then I can only do my best to live up to them."

    The strength of the barrier increased manyfold as Sebastian utilized the mana of those supporting him. The explosions outside were barely able to even rock the new defense.

    And during the few minutes she received from the new barrier, the Queen finally finished inputting themands necessary for activating the mechanism in the wall.

    Voom!

    It wasn''t one sound, but two. One came from the throne room, where the wall in front of the Elf Queen and Princess began shining with blue light. As for the other¡­

    The ball of light that had been gathering at the front of the starship finally took shape. It revved with such grandiosity that it caused a small earthquake on the surface of Aurora.

    The Commander''s voice nketed the area soon after. "I must praise you for holding out until now. It isn''t a lie when people praise your kind for your immense talent in mana. However, it all ends here. As a reward for surviving, I shall allow you to witness Exadrion''s most powerful weapon, the World Destroyer."

    The elves'' faces paled instantly. The massive waves of mana emanating from that light ball were enough to crush weaker practitioners in an instant. Yet, that was only the mana leaking from the attack.

    The actual attack¡­was aimed at them. Any hope they had of survival vanished in an instant.

    "W-where is the Queen?" Mica stammered to Sebastian.

    Sebastian looked down at the pce in defeat. "The Queen¡­is preserving hope for our race."

    "Then that means¡­!" Mica''s eyes widened.

    Sebastian smiled bleakly. "We can only hope that she gets revenge for us in the future."

    Mica gritted his teeth in anger. But before he could even speak, a womanly voice rang out from behind them.

    "Who exactly are you wishing to get revenge for you?"

    ""My Queen!""

    A group exmation took ce as those present voiced their surprise. In response, the queen simply shrugged.

    "The Cross-Sector Teleportation Array is a relic from our ancestors. It''s so beat up by now, there''s no way it could carry the weight of two people. In fact, I wasn''t even able to properly input the coordinates. I have no idea where she''ll end up, I only know she''ll be safe."

    The Elf Queen looked back at the throne room and sighed. "It''s a shame. I couldn''t take my focus off activating the array, and after I was finished, I could only send her off immediately lest the array broke. She must be lost and afraid¡­I hope you can forgive your mother."

    The poor Elf Princess who had been sheltered since childhood was now thrust into the vaster universe without even an ounce of protection. There was no way for the queen to not be worried.

    Unfortunately, there was no time for her to worry at all. By the time her thoughts finished, the sky was covered in bright white light.

    "Ah¡­"

    A short gasp was the only sound the Elf Queen before that bright lightpletely enveloped her.

    It was painless. Because the scale of the attack was so big, for the few tens of thousands that were still alive to experience it, it was painless.

    But that didn''t discount the amount of destruction it did.

    A shining white beam of light pierced the world called Aurora, like a sword through the body of a man.

    A hole was created through the center of the world as the beam faded. Cracks spread through the remaining two halves of the that desperately tried to stay together.

    And then, they shattered altogether.

    Aurora had beenpletely destroyed, all life on it exterminated along with it.

    From the control room of the starship, the Commander indifferently gazed at the destruction he caused.

    "With this, it is finished. Sector 9 has beenpletely annihted."

 Chapter 479 9[3]

    The 9 Sectors that made up the observable universe were each home to a different dominant race, just like how Sector 3 was the domain of humans.

    Sector 1 belonged to the Angels, Sector 2 to the Demons, Sector 4 to the Beasts, Sector 5 to the Dwarves, Sector 6 to the Giants, Sector 7 to the Spirits, Sector 8 to the nt Races, and finally, Sector 9 to the Elves.

    Currently, within the Sky Castle Luxurion, the main neutral zone in Sector 1 that was used for only the most important meetings and gatherings, a fierce discussion was taking ce.

    "Sector 9 is gone entirely. The area has been turned into a Dark Zone. ording to the scouts we sent out, it''s aplete Dark Zone, meaning it will never be inhabitable for living creatures ever again. Even if we were the ones to enter, we''d die within weeks." A golden-haired man spoke seriously.

    He was joined at a round table by 15 other executives who represented major forces in Sector 1, but even though their affiliations differed, they all shared one characteristic.

    The pure white wings on their backs that signified their status as Angels.

    "This isn''t good." Another man stated. "The Nox are making their move already, but we have no way to keep up with their movements. How is it possible that they annihted an entire Sector within a single month?!"

    "Don''t specte so much, Parsiel. How certain are you that this is the work of the Nox and not some catastrophic natural phenomenon?" A third man questioned.

    The angel names Parsiel scoffed in bemusement. "Are you even listening to yourself? That is the most idiotic reasoning imaginable. Do not evade the issue just because you''re a coward. Their mana has been identified at the scene, so it is guaranteed that this was their doing."

    The first angel that spoke nodded in agreement. "They made no attempt to hide their tracks. It was almost as if they were mocking us."

    "Tch!" The third man scoffed and turned away, not speaking any longer. But his silence didn''t matter in the grand scheme of things, since the important conversations continued with those more willing to participate.

    "Sector 9''s destruction isn''t something that should be hidden. We mustmunicate with the other Sectors and warn them ahead of time in case something like this happens again."

    "Why can''t we just order them to strengthen their defenses?"

    "Even if our Sector is numbered first, we do not rule over the others. We cannot order them to do anything. Besides, not all the Sectors have the manpower to guard the entire periphery of their territory. And even if they did, there are many selfish individuals who wouldn''t listen to us."

    "What''s the use of being selfish? Even if they are selfish now, they''ll fall with the rest of us if we lose this war. What a bastardly mentality to have." Parsiel sneered. Even though he didn''t say it to anyone specifically, the third man who spoke felt like he was stabbed with a knife.

    Luciel, the first angel that spoke, opened his mouth once again. "We cannot make any drastic moves at the moment, for we have no information to go off of. The best we can do is warn the others and pray for the best. We aren''t yet ready to engage in a full-scale war."

    "What about the Assembly?" Another angel asked.

    Luciel furrowed his brows in thought. "Although I wish to bring it forward, it won''t be possible. The Assembly was already organized at the earliest possible dates. Because of the movements of the other Sectors'' forces, things will inevitably be dyed until then."

    "Tch. It must be those useless humans in Sector 3 again. Were they even able to receive word of the Assembly with their backwards technologies?" The third man scorned.<sub> </sub>

    Luciel shook his head. "They are aware of the Assembly date, but I''m afraid they won''t receive the message if we decide to change it. Unfortunately, Sector 3 was hit the hardest in the previous war. Their societal standard regressed heavily. Still, do not shame the humans. Even though their people had the most traitors among them, they also fought the hardest for the safety of our universe."

    Parsiel nodded in agreement. "Although I have never been there myself, I have heard many rumors. Sector 3 is and of geniuses despite their low level of technical achievement. It isn''t a ce to look down on. Haa, if only they could fix their Cross-Sector Teleportation Array, things would be much simpler."

    "But we cannot rely on "ifs" at a time like this. Since Sector 9 and Sector 3 are rtively distant from each other, there is no need to inform the Human Domain about what happened. They wille to know the truth at the time of the Assembly anyway." Luciel said.

    The other angels all voiced their agreement. Even if the Human Domain was a reliable asset, that was only if they could rejoin the wider universe again. Compared to the wider universe, Sector 3 was and of country bumpkins.

    Whether it be in terms of spacecraft and mobile suit technology, teleportation arrays, or just general connection between Sectors, Sector 3 was the mostcking.

    And the thing that isted them the most was the fact that Sector 3 could no longer ess the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    ''The Dimensional Leaderboard might seem simple, but it''s the connecting point between Sectors and the main avenue that fosters cooperation between them. One''s ranking on the Dimensional Leaderboard wouldn''t just represent them, but their whole Sector. And if one managed to get into the top 10, their Sector would immediately be elevated to a powerhouse none would dare to offend.'' Parsiel thought to himself.

    ''But it isn''t just that. Even those who have no interest in the reputation of their Sector will still participate because of the rewards. The Contribution Points granted by the Dimensional Leaderboard can be used to exchange for a variety of things. And since the leaderboard is managed by the Universal Will itself, it is impossible to question it.''

    Parsiel kept pondering to himself. The Dimensional Leaderboard and the system around it were the main ways those in the 8 connected Sectors grew stronger. It was a practical solution to the universal system''s rule that one must kill to gain experience, making leveling far safer and more essible.

    But even though this method allowed for the mass production of talents, it dulled people''s fighting spirits. Those who threw themselves into danger constantly weren''t asmon as they used to be.

    And Parsiel was one of these people. As someone who experienced countless trials and tribtions to reach his level of strength while ignoring the temptation of the Dimensional Leaderboard, he particrly understood the necessity of these experiences.

    And Sector 3 was and where the Dimensional Leaderboard didn''t exist. It was filled with practitioners who grew up in that brutal killing environment. If that was so¡­

    ''Then those in Sector 3 might be our most important fighting strength for theing war. The rest of the angels look down on them. Even Luciel subconsciously does the same. However, I cannot allow hubris to cloud my mind.''

    Nobody knew what the people of Sector 3 were doing, but that didn''t mean they didn''t deserve to know the events taking ce in the wider universe. And if nobody else wanted to take the job of informing them¡­

    ''Then I''ll do it myself.''

    Parsiel left the Sky Castle Luxurion after the meeting ended and immediately took flight, arriving at the nearest long-distance teleportation array.

    He didn''t know how long his journey to Sector 3 would take, but he had a gut feeling.

    A feeling that being on good terms with Sector 3 would be one of the best decisions he ever made in his life.

 Chapter 480 9[4]

    The skies of Apeiron were still peaceful on the surface, but if one gazed deep enough, they''d be able to see the storm taking ce beneath. In various locations on Apeiron, massacres were taking ce.

    Within the hideout of a certain secret organization, Rose, Ruyue, and Elena stood together.

    Shing!

    A white crescent moved through the air as Elena rapidly swung her sword. With each movement she made, another enemy fell lifelessly to the ground. Behind her, Rose and Ruyue calmly walked through the musty halls of the hideout.

    Rose spoke with a smile. "Want to know a fun fact? Actually, this organization has been trying to kill me for a very long time. They even coerced a portion of the nobles in the Adire Empire to rebel against Father. But since they didn''t have any 4th ss experts, their ns were never carried out."

    Rose swiped her hand through the air, causing a wall to the side to disappear. The three women walked through the newly revealed corridor behind the wall and began a new battle. This time, Ruyue stepped up.

    Icemes rapidly covered the hall and suffocated those within. The burning chill of the mesbined with the powerful yin-attributed mana Ruyue gained through her contract with Lily truly turned the area into a freezing hell.

    But the three girls walked through that hell unaffected. It was as if the suffering that the hundreds of enemies around them were experiencing wasn''t real at all.

    "I feel like I should be thankful to these people, though. If it wasn''t for them, I wouldn''t have needed to hide my identity while traveling, and I would''ve never met Damien on that escort mission. Fate is a weird thing sometimes, isn''t it?"

    Elena rolled her eyes. "This is supposed to be a serious operation, yet you can''t stop yourself from recounting old memories? I mean, I know the difficulty level is basically 0, but you still have to show these guys some respect, right? At this rate, they''ll cough blood and die of anger before we could even kill them, and that''d be a waste of experience points."

    Rose shrugged without a care in the world. "Come on, don''t these bastards at least deserve a little humiliation? My life was so annoying because of them!"

    "You can humiliate them all you want if you just cast a few illusions. I remember you used to have some¡­interesting¡­hobbies back in the day."

    Rose gave Elena a sideways nce and smiled sarcastically. "Is it really okay for you to talk, though? I remember you prepared a eunuch for Damien when he returned to Earth back then."

    Elena blushed in embarrassment. "T-that was then and this is now!"

    Ruyue''s grin widened. "No, no. That''s something I should be saying. I''ve already kicked my bad habits, but you don''t seem to have made any progress at all."

    Her gaze shifted to the hallway they just came from. Even though the cuts on the corpses were clean, there was no reason for Elena to sh more than once to take care of any of their current enemies.

    The stray arms and legs strewn across the floor were simply the result of Elena ying with her food.

    Elena turned away in avoidance, pretending she didn''t see anything. And soon after, the trio finally made it to the end of the hallway.

    "This should be it." Ruyue sighed. "It was annoying taking care of all the small fries until this point, so I hope that at least the boss is somewhat presentable."

    Elena nodded in agreement. "Come to think of it, why did the three of use together? Only one would be necessary to take care of this ce."

    Ruyue giggled lightly. "Well, a certain somebody heard that this ce was the force that kept chasing her during her childhood and immediately dragged us along before even hearing Damien''s exnation about their strength and numbers."

    This time, it was Rose''s turn to blush in embarrassment. Well, it was true that she got a little overexcited, but it couldn''t be helped. Just being back in her homeworld for the first time in so long made her feel giddy.

    Rose hurriedly walked to the front of the trio and pushed open therge stone doors in front of them. The only way to avoid her current shame was topletely divert attention.<sub> </sub>

    And this boss man was the perfect opportunity to do so.

    Because the organization''s hideout was created inside an excavated old dungeon, theyout mirrored that structure. They had already passed through all the mobs present in the other rooms, and now, in the most cliche manner possible, they entered the boss room.

    On the throne centered against the back wall of the boss room, an imposing man sat cidly.

    "You¡­Adire Princess, it seems you''ve finallye."

    Rose nced at the man with indifference even greater than his own. She looked him up and down with such a fierce gaze that it felt like she pierced his body and directly examined his soul.

    "Disappointing," Rose muttered under her breath.

    "You¡­! What the hell did you just call me?!" The man on the throne boomed.

    Rose rolled her eyes and raised her voice. "I called you a fucking disappointment, deaf bastard. I can''t believe someone as weak as you actually had the audacity to plot against me and my father."

    "Bitch, you vanished for a few years and came back far too arrogant for your own good. Let me show you¡ª!"

    "What''s with old people and their insistence on trying to prove their power to me? It''s so damn pointless." Rose cut him off before his speech could crescendo.

    "If you want to make a cool viin speech, then at least have the power to do so. Anyway, I have no time to waste on you. After you die, I can finally go see father again. So, goodbye!"

    Rose clenched her fist. Space distorted around the throned man, crushing him into meat paste in an instant.

    "Wow!" Ruyue whistled. "I knew you were head over heels, but to think you''d even imitate his attacks."

    Elena nodded furiously in agreement. "Mm. I think we need to hold an intervention for our big sister. If things go on like this, she''ll lose all her creativity. Her naming sense might even be as bad as Damien''s."

    "Gasp!" Ruyue gasped exaggeratedly. "Anything but that! It''s been a while since you two have seen him fight, so you wouldn''t know, but do you even understand how many different attacks and abilities he''s named with the word ''void''? I think it''s better if we name his abilities for him from now on."

    Rose''s eyes widened in realization. "It''s not just the Void Physique, the Void Sword Art, and hisst name anymore? When it was just three, it was eptable, but more than that¡­"

    Rose''s eyes hardened as she spoke. "Alright, I ept your intervention. There''s no way I''ll allow my naming sense to deteriorate so much!"

    Elena and Ruyue nodded in solidarity with her. As the three of them continued to talk and joke, they exited the now-destroyed hideout of the nameless organization.

    "Hmm, we finished one, so Damien should''ve finished at least five by now, I think? Looking at the time, it''s around time for us to meet at the pce." Elena said.

    Rose nodded with an excited smile. "Good, good! Little sister Ruyue, it''s finally time for you to meet both my father and Damien''s mother! Let''s go!"

    Ruyue smiled in nervousness and excitement. While she fretted over how to act in front of Damien''s mother, the three flew into the sky and began moving toward the capital of the Adire Empire.

    With the destruction of the hideout they just raided, 1,322 traitors had been exterminated. And ording to the estimate made by Damien, close to 250,000 remained.

 Chapter 481 Empress [1]

    Achoo!

    Damien turned to the side and sneezed suddenly. Rubbing his head, he sighed to himself. "Which bastard is badmouthing me? Tch."

    He shook his head and continued walking at a steady pace. With every step he took, a pulse of World Force emanated from his body, ttening all the mobs crowding around him.

    And without suspense, Damien arrived at the location of the strongest practitioner in the area. But, this was Apeiron, not the Cloud ne. Strongest practitioner? Even he was just another dreg at the lower end of 3rd ss.

    To crush him, Damien didn''t even need to move. A single look turned him into meatpaste.

    Looking at the gory scene he caused, Damien nodded in satisfaction. "Mm, this is the fifth. Since the girls are taking care of that guy''s hideout, it counts as 6. Haa, but there are still another 200,000ish traitors left. It''ll be too annoying to do it alone."

    Although Damien had only destroyed 5 locations, the numbers per gathering ce differed greatly. Sometimes there would only be a few hundred in one area, while other times, thousands or tens of thousands of traitors came together. If it wasn''t for the World Core''s guidance, it would''ve been a pain choosing which ces to prioritize.

    But now wasn''t the time to continue hunting. The current activities were just a warmup for him and the girls. Only after getting aid from the various empires of Apeiron would they truly begin.

    ''Hmm, speaking of empires¡­well, I''ll let Father-inw take care of that. For now, shall I pay a visit to the Beast Empress?''

    Damien smiled lightly. Although they made an appointment to meet after the Nexus Event, he ended uppletely forgetting it until just now.

    ''Well, I''m going to see her now so it should be fine, right?'' He tried tofort himself. But at the same time, he didn''t know if the Beast Empress would treat him with the same familiarity when they met again.

    The Beast Empress was a wolf. Damien didn''t know which species she was exactly, but she was a pure-bred wolf with Royal level bloodline. And back then, even if he was the most impure variety, he was still essentially a wolf beastman.

    But now, his wolf bloodline, along with all the other random impurities in his body, had long been purged. His current bloodline was¡­

    ''I have dragon blood running in my veins, but I don''t feel like a dragon. Then there''s the mysterious Demonic bloodline of unknown origins¡­well, the point is that I no longer have any rtionship with the wolf species besides Zara. I might be weed with hostility.''

    Regardless, he still needed to visit the Beast Empress. Steeling himself, Damien turned into a sh of light, disappearing and reappearing in a certain part of Helia Forest.

    ''Interesting¡­I didn''t expect it to be so¡­modern.''

    As Damien picked a location close to the Beast Empress when he teleported, he found himself in the midst of a bustling city filled with joyful cries.

    Beastmen who walked on two legs, beasts that walked on four, even those who flew through the air, they perused the streets and lived with a level of society that one wouldn''t expect from a beast.

    But since Damien had been to the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, he wasn''t too surprised. Instead, he took his time and walked the streets of the city.

    ''I don''t know anything here. Even with the Universal Language, I can barely understand what they''re saying.''

    It wasn''t that he didn''t understand their words, it was just that the terminology used wasn''t what he was used to. But as he walked the streets for a few hours, he slowly became limated to the environment.

    "Old man, give me a few kebabs." He called out to a nearby shop vendor. He still had plenty of gold left to rot in his subspace, so money wasn''t an issue at all.

    Taking the kebab from the old man and paying with an entire gold coin, almost giving the old man a heart attack, Damien continued his casual walk down the street.

    Little beastmen and beast children scurried through the streets ying games, the adults worked diligently in their establishments, creating such a harmonious atmosphere that it made Damien feel ufortable.

    "Unexpected, isn''t it? When one thinks of beasts, one usually believes us to be savage and uncouth. Seeing this type of scene, has your opinion changed?" A silvery voice rang out from behind him, immediately capturing his attention.

    Damien smiled without turning around and replied. "Perhaps for anyone else, this scene would bring an immense amount of culture shock. But you''d be surprised at how normal this is for me now."

    "Really, now? You truly know how to make me curious about you. What, don''t tell me you''re nning to court me?"

    Damien''s brow piqued in interest. "Do I look like the kind of man to chase after a married woman? Please don''t devalue me like that, Mdy Beast Empress."

    Damien turned around and faced the stunning beauty that had been following him around for a while.

    Her long silver hair flowed down her back and framed her face, her piercing red eyes looked incredibly alluring. When it came to bust and hip size, the Beast Empress was really second to none.

    Combined with that mature charm she emanated with every movement, her appearance was truly enough to kill a man.

    But even with how stunning she looked, only Damien took note of her presence. Or rather, he was the only one with the ability to do so.

    The Beast Empress smiled slyly at his words. "Oho? But shouldn''t you already know by now, Mr.Star Master? This little girl is pure and unsullied."

    Damien rolled his eyes. "Even so, I don''t think the Beast Emperor particrly enjoys green hats. Wouldn''t his pride be damaged regardless of whether your marriage is fake or real?"

    The Beast Empress shrugged. "Why should I care what that geezer thinks? My life is my own. The only reason I became the Empress is because my bloodline purity is far higher than even his."

    "Haa, dear Empress, do you really feel so much satisfaction in teasing me? It seems you''ve strayed the topic so far away from where it was originally that it''ll be hard to get back." Damien sighed and shook his head.

    "Hmph, can''t this little girl have a bit of fun? ying the Empress role all day is so boring!"

    "But, are we acquainted enough for you to act so causally around me? Last I checked, we''ve only met once, and that was an official setting where I was far too weak for us to converse properly."

    "Mm, and in the short few years that you were away, you''ve be a man that has the qualifications topete for my heart. Don''t you feel it? The pull of our bloodlines, I mean."

    Damien''s gaze sharpened. He didn''t know why, but he was indeed feeling a strange pull ever since he met the Beast Empress. It was as if something within him desperately wanted to get close to her.

    "But it''s quite strange, don''t you think?" He muttered just loud enough for the Beast Empress to hear.

    "This so-called bloodline pull¡­how is it affecting me even though I no longer have any wolf bloodline within me?"

    Damien stared at the Beast Empress with cold eyes. His aura red, causing a mountain of pressure to descend upon the Beast Empress.

    If it wasn''t for her strength as a 4th ss being, she would''ve fallen to her knees in an instant.

    "I learned quite an interesting thing from Old Bai a while back. Dragon Pressure isn''t something that can be avoided through strength alone. Say, how does it feel?"

    The Beast Empress looked up into Damien''s eyes and spoke through ragged breaths. "It¡­feels¡­amazing¡­!"

    Her face flushed red, her breathing bing more and more shallow. Seeing her expression shifting further into ecstasy with every second he kept his Dragon Pressure active, Damien immediately canceled the ability.

    The Beast Empress plopped down onto the floor and caught her breath, a trail of clear liquid leaking from the space between her legs. She didn''t even try to hide the evident disappointment in her eyes.

    "Silly boy, how can you be so naive? To others, Dragon Pressure is a terrifying thing that strikes fear into the depths of their souls. However, to members of the opposite sex who possess even an ounce of Dragon Bloodline, it is an extremely powerful aphrodisiac." The Beast Empress licked her lips seductively as she spoke.

    Damien cringed at her words. ''No wonder¡­that old bastard was smiling so evilly when he taught me how to use Dragon Pressure¡­so it was because of this!''

    But even though he now knew, he couldn''t take back his actions. Besides, it was his own fault for not realizing something so obvious.

    Just like how peacocks strutted their feathers to attract a mate, dragons could entice female members of the species through their pressure. Dragon Pressure was a symbol of a dragon''s pride.

    And now, Damien had effectively subdued the Beast Empress using this pride. Looking at the wet and panting woman on the floor in front of him, Damien really couldn''t tell whether it was a good or bad thing.

    ''Damn, my troubles have increased yet again.''

 Chapter 482 Empress [2]

    "Whatever, let''s just end this here and pretend it never happened. Get up off the floor so we can start talking about important matters."

    Damien held his hand out to the Beast Empress, who stared at it in suspicion. Momentster, she furiously shook her head.

    "Do you think I''m in any state to walk at the moment? If you didn''t know, you cut this Empress off at the edge of a climax, and my legs no longer wish to listen to mymands."

    Damien sighed in exasperation. "Then, what do you want me to do?"

    "Carry me!"

    The Beast Empress'' response was instant. Her eyes gleamed with a child-like enthusiasm. Damien rubbed his forehead, not sure about what to do in this situation.

    ''If I indulge her, things are bound to be more troublesome in the future. Yet, if I don''t carry her, I''ll never get my work done.''

    Realizing that he didn''t have another choice, Damien turned around and squatted. "Get on my back. This is the most I''ll do for you."

    The Beast Empress smiled happily and mounted him, slinging her arms around his neck and curling her legs around his waist. As she did so, Damien grabbed hold of her luscious thighs to support her weight.

    "Ah~!" The Beast Empress let out a moan of surprise. Hearing it, Damien''s brow began to twitch.

    "Don''t make needless sounds or I''ll drop you on the side of the street and leave." He dered coldly.

    The Beast Empress simply smiled and shut her mouth, resting her chin on his shoulder and enjoying the new experience she was having.

    "So anyway," Damien started. "The reason I came here today was to request your help. War is fast approaching, and we need to eliminate the roots the Nox have nted in our Sector before it''s toote. But the number of enemies is far too many for me to handle alone. I hope the Beast Domain willply with my request."

    The Beast Empress turned to look at Damien''s face, finding her lips brushing against his cheek as she did so.

    But she hid the blush that crept up her cheeks. Their current conversation was one she needed to have as the Empress, rather than as a woman.

    "Naturally, when ites to the Nox, the Beast Domain has no problems lending its power. But the decision doesn''t lie only with me. You''ll need to convince that old geezer as well."

    Damien shook his head with a grin. "No, I only need permission from you. I guess I forgot to mention it, but starting tomorrow, the Beast Domain will only have an Empress."

    The Beast Empress'' eyes widened in shock. "You don''t mean¡­"

    "It''s probably what you''re thinking. I''m not sure how that old bastard got into contact with them, but it doesn''t change the fact that he did."

    "Haa, that old thing has always been greedy for power, so it doesn''t surprise me. It''s a shame though. He was quite a good ruler, discounting his betrayal."

    Damien smiled wryly. If he betrayed his people, was he still a good ruler? But as he walked through the streets, he couldn''t deny the Beast Empress'' words.

    The people living under the Emperor''s rule were happy. None the wiser to his deal with the devil, they lived in peace and prosperity. Perhaps the Emperor was greedy for power, but he wasn''t one to mistreat those under his rule.

    ''What a troublesome grey area. But, it isn''t my job to fret over those things. I kill who needs to be killed and leave the rest forter. That''s always been my style.''

    Yet, despite his thoughts, Damien found himself wavering. He was still going to kill the Beast Emperor, there was no doubt about that, but he felt guilty for the citizens who would mourn his death.

    "Let''s walk around for a bit longer. I still have around a day before I need to go to the Adire Empire."

    The Beast Empress smiled softly. "Mm, let''s do that, then. Also, while we''re alone, call me Alea. Beast Empress is too rigid."

    "Your name is Alea?" Damien asked stupidly.

    "Why? Is it that strange?" Ales retorted.

    Damien shook his head with a smile. "No, it''s just far more normal than I expected it to be. Well then, Miss Alea, would you like to go on a date with me?"

    Alea smiled happily and gave him a light peck on the cheek. "What a bold little boy you are. Nobody has ever dared to ask this Empress on something like a date before."

    "If you want to tell me this is your first date ever, you don''t have to talk in circles. Fine, then. I''ll give you a great date tomemorate our friendship, so be prepared."

    Alea frowned slightly at the word "friendship," but didn''t say anything. Instead, she focused on the date that Damien was taking her on.

    Sadly, he didn''t know much about the Beast Domain. He was forced to improvise when it came to locations.

    But who was better at scouting locations than a spatial expert?

    Whether it be the sandy beaches of the continent, the beautiful view from the highest peak in the world, or even the view of the world itself from the starry sky above, Damien allowed Alea to witness it all.

    Their datested until the sun set as the two adventured through Apeiron. They spent the day like a pair of young lovers who knew nothing but each other.

    But like all good things, their day had toe to an end at some point.

    Damien and Alea sat on an indiscreet hilltop in Helia Forest and gazed at the sky above quietly. And ignoring Damien''s constant refusal, Alea cuddled up to him as they sat, disallowing him from escaping her grasp.

    At this point, Damien already gave up on convincing her. It was better for him to simply turn his brain off and enjoy the little adventure they went on.

    "So, now that it''s over, are you satisfied?" He asked lightly.

    Alea looked over at him carefully. "Satisfied? I can''t say I''mpletely satisfied. But somehow, I am over the moon with joy. It''s such a strange feeling."

    "Why aren''t you satisfied, then? Did you not get everything you wished for?"

    "Even receiving the universe as a whole seems more possible than getting what I truly want," Alea responded, her gaze carrying a hint of sadness.

    Damien looked down at her curiously. "I don''t understand, though. Why? How can you be so certain about what you desire?"

    "Does there need to be a particr reason? Did you have a reason when you and that princess fell in love?"

    Damien didn''t answer. Or rather, he couldn''t. His love for Rose came naturally after spending a great deal of time with her, but was there any reason behind it?

    There wasn''t. He somehow fell in love without even realizing it.

    So how could he discount what Alea was feeling without understanding her?

    "But even then, I''m afraid it isn''t possible at the moment. I can''t afford to be distracted."

    Alea cringed. Although she expected rejection from the beginning, she didn''t expect it to be so harsh. But even then, she couldn''t stop herself from smiling.

    "It''s situational, then? That means I''ll have plenty of chances in the future."

    Damien once again withheld his response. He truly didn''t know what to say to this woman, nor did he understand how they ended up like this.

    He couldn''t help but feel suspicious of the Beast Empress. The impression she gave off was far different from the one he got when he first met her. But from her spiritual intent, Damien could clearly see that she wasn''t possessed.

    Whether there was an ulterior motive behind her actions or if she was just a fool, Damien didn''t know. His curiosity nudged him to find out, but his rationality wholeheartedly disagreed.

    ''What a strange situation.'' Damien sighed inwardly. But no matter how he tried to convince himself, he couldn''t change his own mind.

    Now wasn''t the time for this kind of thing. He had yet to settle matters with Elena, he had yet to finish preparing for war, there was no time for him at all.

    Even if it was harsh, and even if his meaning was misinterpreted, he wasn''t lying when he said he couldn''t afford any distractions.

    And with that thought in mind, Damien parted ways from the Beast Empress. He didn''t dare look back. He feared the expression he might see on her face would be one that would make him waver.

    That night, quietly within the Imperial Pce of the Beast Domain, the Beast Emperor met his end.

    No matter how hard those under his rule investigated, they couldn''t find any trace of the murderer. The only clue they had was the faint Dragon Pressure that lingered in the air.

    As for the Beast Empress, she vanished without a trace on the same night. The only thing she left was a note to her vassals, crowning a new Empress for the Beast Domain.

    It was an unconscious change. Damien would''ve never thought him satisfying his own vanity by taking the Beast Empress on a date would have such a profound impact on the world.

    But that was a story for another time.

    For now, Damien made his way to the Adeliare Empire to finally reunite with his only remaining family in this world.

 Chapter 483 Visits [1]

    The Adire Empire was thrown into a festive mood with no prior warning at all. The hidden organizations that threatened the empire''s peace disappeared one after another, the Emperor began moving against the corrupt nobles, andst but certainly not least, their beloved princess finally returned.

    For 3 days and 3 nights, a mighty celebration took ce. The streets of every town in the Empire were lined with people, slinging decorations and enjoying themselves at street stalls.

    Even the Empire''s soldiers were mobilized to maintain peace in the entire empire and allow all its citizens to celebrate. Some doubted whether the Emperor was bing senile in old age, throwing such a grand celebration, but even they were soon caught up in the jovial atmosphere, joining the bustling crowds.

    ***

    Within the Imperial Pce, a scenepletely different from the festivities outside was taking ce.

    The Adire Emperor dodged rapidly as he was attacked, fear and panic evident on his face. But even as his body moved, the endless barrage of attacks never seemed to stray too far away from him.

    "Calm down! Why must you attack me like this?!" He questioned indignantly as he dodged a projectile that flew past his face.

    A pink-haired beauty stood across the room from him and seethed in embarrassment. Without answering his question, she picked up another pillow and heavily threw it at the Emperor.

    "You¡­did you really have to embarrass me like that?!" Rose finally screamed. Her face was bright red, to the point where she looked like she would explode at any second.

    She didn''t expect to be weed back to the Empire with such cringe-worthy grandeur. She was just nning to show Ruyue around the Empire when she was swarmed by a crowd ofmon people praising and weing her.

    And it wasn''t just a single town. Regardless of where she went, the reaction was the same. It was only after beating up a few Imperial Knights that she received her answer.

    Feeling the fluctuations from Damien''s Warp Gate, the Emperor immediately moved his people into action.

    And when she learned the truth, she rushed to the Imperial Pce, causing the scene that was currently taking ce.

    Sitting to the side and watching the antics of the father-daughter pair was a woman who looked no older than 25, but the wise light in her eyes and her general bearing seemed to suggest otherwise.

    When Rose noticed her, she rushed into her arms and pouted. "Auntie! Tell father he went too far!"

    ire looked down at her daughter-inw with a soft smile. Even though her behavior was extremely childish at the moment, ire couldn''t really me her. In this kind of situation, who wouldn''t throw a tantrum?

    ire brushed her hands through Rose''s hair as she spoke. "Now, now. Can''t you tell how much your father missed you? Though, I have to agree that he went a bit overboard this time."

    "Keuk¡­! You too, ire?!" The Adire Emperor eximed, gripping his heart in mock pain.

    "Not only my daughter, but my close friend as well¡­I''ve been betrayed by everyone!"

    Rose rolled her eyes. "Stupid dad, since when did you act like this? Where''s the cold and indifferent Adire Emperor I know?"

    ire giggled at the question. "The truth is, once you left he finally noticed how much he missed you. Ever since then, he became aplete daughter''s fool."

    Rose''s eyes widened in shock. And conveniently, Elena and Ruyue entered the room at the very same moment.

    A collection of giggles andughter rang out from the group of women. Suddenly, the Adire Emperor felt a bit left out.

    "Sheesh, where did my son-inw disappear to at a time like this? It''s too ufortable being alone in this scary ce¡­"

    ''Not to mention, I have to beat that bastard''s ass. How dare he form a harem when he already has my daughter?! Hmph, brat, you better not show your face here."

    While the Adire Emperor seethed, Ruyue knelt on the floor in front of ire, lowering her head to the floor in a kowtow.

    "This unworthy daughter-inw greets mother." She said with utmost seriousness. Her whole body was practically shivering in nervousness.

    ire looked down at the kowtowing Ruyue curiously. Truth be told, she knew her son wouldn''t stay monogamous from the second she woke up and saw him with both Rose and Elena. But seeing Ruyue here was even more of a shock to her.

    How long had it been since he left? One or two years? In that time, not only did he finally ept Elena''s feelings, he alsopletely conquered the heart of another young woman?

    Unknowingly, ire''s lips curled up into a smirk. An unknown feeling of pride bubbled up in her heart.

    ''My son sure is a capable man now.'' She thought to herself. At the same time, she bent down and lifted Ruyue off the floor.

    "Why are you being so stiff?" She asked gently, grabbing hold of Ruyue''s hands. "From now on, we are family. There''s no need for such things between family, right?"

    Ruyue''s eyes widened. She didn''t know how to respond. After all, the family she knew was nothing like that. That family was a toxic ce full of hate and jealousy. Let alone love, there wasn''t even camaraderie between family members.

    Perhaps that was the reason why the Xue n fell so easily.

    Ruyue nodded her head lightly. She didn''t want to remember the Xue n as her family any longer.

    This new family would be her one and only, and she would cherish it with everything she had.

    ***

    On the border of the Adire Empire, a man appeared in the air. From his gait alone one could tell he was an expert.

    His gaze drifted across the horizon, taking note of the cities he saw below him. In the end, his eyesnded on a single ce.

    A medium-sized city by the name of Archdale.

    A small smile spread on his lips. His figure shed, appearing in Archdalepletely unnoticed.

    He perused the streets quietly, embracing the joyous atmosphere that enveloped them. And imagining the look of embarrassment on Rose''s face when she saw what was happening, his smile inadvertently grew wider.

    As he aimlessly drifted through the city, he found himself in front of an old decrepit building. But despite the immense heat leaking from within, the building didn''t seem stressed at all.

    Damien walked through the door of the shop, taking a moment to admire the weapons on the walls before directly jumping over the counter and walking into the back room.

    ng! ng! ng!

    The sound of a hammer shing against metal immediately filled his ears. A familiar heat enveloped his body. Despite the fact that he had only been here a few times, it felt oddly homey.

    He walked through the halls of the forge, quickly arriving at the main furnace where a certain cksmith was hard at work.

    And then, he simply observed.

    The minute movements the cksmith made while hammering the metal, the precision and uracy of each swing in both the position and amount of power put into every swing.

    The way the mes danced as they melted metals and formed alloys, the way ck smoke rose from the furnace to create a dreary cloud above, it all melded together like a piece of art.

    Despite how rough the scene itself was, it somehow gave off an air of grace.

    With neither of them realizing the flow of time, the forging waspleted, arge and domineering hammer appearing as the final product.

    The cksmith finally turned around to acknowledge the new visitor in his shop. "Aye, business ain''t boomin'' like it used to these days! So, customer, what can I get for ya?"

    Vormec shed a toothy, seemingly professional grin, and turned around. When he saw who was behind him, his eyes widened in shock.

 Chapter 484 Visits[2]

    "Old ghost, it seems every time I visit you I see this same reaction. At some point, you have to stop being shocked, right?"

    Vormec reined in his shock and grunted. "Tch, it''s just you. I thought I was gonna wee some big shot customer, but it''s just a brat who came to leech."

    Damien rolled his eyes. "It''s toote for this kind of act. What, did you miss me so much you couldn''t express yourself properly? I''m sorry, but I''m a married man. I can''t ept your feelings." He said with mock sympathy coloring his face.

    Damien dodged to the left, avoiding the hammer that was just forged. "Tsk tsk, even if you''re angry that I rejected you, you can''t just mistreat precious artifacts like this. Old ghost, I''m heartbroken seeing how low you''ve fallen."

    Vormec''s face went red in anger, but he couldn''t retort at all. Seeing this, Damien grinned.

    Vormec was terrible with word games, andst time they met, Damien was too. But after spending so much time with those Cloud ne cultivators who loved to spout bullshit even in the middle of life-or-death battles, he picked up a few tricks.

    "Little demon, you nevere around these parts if you don''t want something from me. Come on, spit it out. How badly did you fuck the sword I made this time?"

    Damien found a nearby chair and sat down. Straightening his posture, he intertwined his fingers and stared at Vormec seriously.

    "W-what? It can''t be that bad!" Vormec stuttered seeing Damien''s change of pace.

    Damien continued to stare at Vormec with utmost seriousness. His gaze was so hard it could break bricks like butter.

    "It''s gone."

    "Gone?"

    "Shattered."

    "Shattered?"

    "Destroyedpletely. Not even scraps are left of it."

    "You¡­"

    "And I did it to myself. The sword couldn''t handle my power and broke."

    Vormec almost passed out on the spot.

    Damien grinned sheepishly. "Well, I got a better sword not long after so¡­no harm no foul?"

    Something snapped in Vornec''s head. He rushed over to Damien and tightly gripped his shoulders, heavily shaking him back and forth.

    "Better sword?! No harm no foul? Brat, that was my life''s greatest achievement! And you broke it just like that?! That precious sword?! It was a growth-type artifact! A GROWTH-TYPE ARTIFACT! Even when you be a Demigod, you''ll still be able to use it perfectly! Yet¡­not only did you break it, but you did it with YOUR OWN ATTACK?!" Vormec yelled in frustration.

    "I got a better sword, though." Damien smiled sheepishly and muttered under his breath.

    Vormec''s head was about to legitimately explode from rage. In the end, he was forced to leave the room to calm himself down.

    "AGGGHHH, YOU BASTARD! WHEN I SEE YOUR FACE I WANNA BEAT YOU, BUT I AIN''T GOT ANY COMBAT SKILLS! BASTARDDD!" A muffled roar came from beyond the door of the side room.

    A few minutes after the roar, Vormec returned as if nothing happened. "Brat, since you''re already here, lemme see that new sword of yours."

    Damien rolled his eyes at the shameless old man. After all, he knew this would happen. It was the reason he mentioned the new sword at all.

    Because the second Vormec''s brain registered those two words, all his anger would vanish, reced by his unending curiosity as a cksmith.

    ''My genius n seeds!'' Damien praised himself inwardly as he swiped his hand through the air.

    "This sword is called Mirage. He''s be a good partner of mine."

    Mirage appeared in the air, vibrating excitedly. It flew in circles around Damien''s head like a pet that missed its owner.

    Damien grabbed the sword hilt with a smile. "Did you really miss me that much?"

    Bzzz!

    Mirage shook rapidly. Damien felt like he could practically hear the sword''s cries of affirmation. And when he did, his smile widened. He clutched the sword hilt tighter.

    "Tsk tsk, what a bothersome sword."

    Meanwhile, Vormec stared at Mirage hungrily, like a greedy lion staring down its prey.

    Mirage shook in fear when it sensed his gaze. Damien also looked over in disgust.

    "Old ghost, get your dirty gaze off my baby. I''ll kill you for real."

    Vormec snapped out of his trance and rubbed his head sheepishly. "The usual thing?" He asked hopefully.

    Damien nodded in response. This old man was a benefactor of his, so he didn''t mind entertaining him.

    The two were soon transported to the same old in where Damien had been countless times before. However, in the past few years, the battle scars that umted here were slowly beginning to fade away.

    ''Well, it''s not toote to add a new one.''

    Damien took his stance with Mirage in hand. He concentrated on the de, pouring everything into it. And then, he let loose a vertical sh.

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance.''

    The thin ck line of Dimensional Severance razed the in ahead. With Damien''s spatial abilitiesbined with Mirage''s spatial amplification, the attack was truly terrifying.

    And seeing it, Vormec sighed in stupefaction as well. He shook his head in remorse.

    "It''s a shame. My skill only works on swords I crafted myself. If I could get a look at that sword, my skills would improve by leaps and bounds!"

    Damien smiled wryly as well. He knew from the beginning that there was no point ining out here. The two of them were just reminiscing on old memories.

    And they did so for many hours toe. It was only when night fell that Damien finally left Vormec''s workshop.

    ''I didn''t really have any connections at the Adventurer''s Guild, so there''s no need to visit there¡­should I just go straight to the pce?''

    There were a few more ces he wanted to visit. Namely, the Zenith Academy where Malcolm was, and the Beast Domain once again.

    Actually, Damien''s first visit to the Beast Domain was immensely shortened. His original n was to visit Ethan during that time, and discuss the purge n with the rulers of the area, but his sudden meeting with the Beast Empress totally derailed his ns.

    In the end, he had the White Dragon King and Elvira quickly kill the Beast Emperor and then he ran away. He didn''t want to stay with Alea any longer, lest he got further attracted to her.

    ''Troublesome matters are everywhere. Right, let''s ignore everything and focus on my reunion with mom now. Everything else can be solved in due time.''

    Damien''s figure shed away from Archdale, appearing in Aurora in the next instant. The second he did¡­

    Waves of people congregated at his location. Rabid screams and yells filled the vicinity, threatening to make Damien''s ears bleed.

    As for what the rabid crowd was screaming¡­?

    "Son-inw!"

    "It''s the Emperor''s son-inw!"

    "Princess Rose''s husband! He''s really here!"

    "Kyaaa~! He''s so handsome!"

    "Son-inw! If you ever feel bored of the princess, you can take me any time!"

    "Hey! Who said that? The princess'' husband belongs to me!"

    "No me!"

    "Guys, he''s too amazing for us to monopolize him! We should form his great worldwide harem!"

    ""Yeahhh!""

    Damien stood frozen in shock. The women were the loudest, but there were a great deal of men within their ranks as well. And hearing the asional sausage within the field of flowers didn''t sit right with Damien at all.

    His expression went cold. Formless World Force spread from his body in the form of Awareness, urately pinpointing James Adire''s location.

    And once he locked on, Damien''s figure disappeared instantaneously.

    ''Damn Father-inw! If I don''t beat you today, I''m not a man!"

 Chapter 485 Visits [3]

    "You¡­damn¡­FATHER-IN-LAW!"

    Damien''s figure crashed through the wall of the Imperial Pce, barreling towards the Adire Empire with Mirage already mid-swing.

    The second his body entered the room, Damien let off a crescent moon-shaped space de.

    The Adire Emperor looked up at Damien''s falling figure and grinned. "Good! I''ve been wanting to beat your ass too!"

    He waved his hand, easily dispersing Damien''s space de. At the same time, his figure was wrapped in light green mana.

    Whoosh!

    The Emperor narrowed the distance so fast it looked like he teleported. His fist flew forward with turbulent mana coating it.

    Damien gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on Mirage, bringing it forward and using it to block the punch.

    SCREEEEECH!

    As the fist ground against the sword de in a bid for territory, a screeching howl rang out from the collision. But more surprising than the sound was the fact that Damien was able to hold out against the Emperor''s momentum.

    "If there''s one thing I can be confident in¡­it''s my physical stats!"

    Damien''s arms bulged as he pushed as much power as he could. Mana furiously swirled around his limbs and enhanced them.

    Vector control subtly activated in the background, exponentially multiplying the weight of Damien''s sword.

    And as the push of strength slowly whittled away at the Emperor''s resistance, Damien added a final touch of spatial mana to the equation.

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse''

    Mirage broke through the Emperor''s defenses, but was unable to cut its target, the Emperor narrowly dodged before it could. However, there was no way for him to dodge the following attack.

    Space shattered around Damien and the Emperor, folding in on itself and fusing into strange patterns. Damien and the Emperor were pulled into the void beyond the space crack.

    "Hahaha! Kid, you''ve improved drastically since thest time we fought!" The Adire Emperorughed rambunctiously.

    Damien rolled his eyes. "This is nothing. Watch how I beat your ass now that we''ve entered my home territory."

    ''Mirror Domain''

    The void shattered into countless ss fragments that floated through the air. The concepts of distance and position seemed to disappear entirely,

    And because Damien activated his domain in the void space that was filled with ckness that already dulled the senses, its effects were exponentially increased.

    The Emperor frowned as he looked around him. For some reason, he felt like he couldn''t move a single step even though his movements hadn''t been physically constrained.

    "What''d you do?" He asked curiously. His awareness spread through the area as he tried to understand the situation.

    But even that was a daunting task. The ss-like shards of space that floated through the domain were all small ruptures of their own. The second the Emperor''s awareness entered that rupture, it''d be disced and destroyed in an instant.

    The only way to navigate through the thousands upon thousands of mirror fragments was to take a decent amount of time and concentration to weave awareness through the space and understand it.

    But mid-battle, was that an option?

    Damien''s figure shed from ce to ce within the boundaries of the mirror realm multiple times every second. His movement waspletely unrestrained.

    And at a certain point, mirage phantoms of Damien began appearing in space.

    "This?" Damien finally responded to the Emperor''s question. "This is just a little iplete trick of mine."

    He waved his hand, the phantom Damiens following his motion. Space was thrown intoplete chaos.

    The floating mirror fragments shot forward like ice shards as they targeted the Emperor. Countless spatial des and attacks from deless followed suit.

    The Emperor waspletely surrounded before he even had the opportunity to fight. Although none of these attacks would kill him, it didn''t change the fact that he''d be the first injured.

    "Haa, fine! I lose." He dered sullenly.

    Damien grinned and waved his arm, canceling the wave of attacks. The Mirror Domain vanished soon after. And once the domain that was preventing space from repairing itself vanished, space melded back together as well, dropping Damien and the Emperor back in the room where the girls were waiting.

    "What''d you think, father-inw? Pretty good, right?" Damien bragged shamelessly.

    The Adire Emperor clicked his tongue. "It was luck this time. Plus, even if the attacknded, it wouldn''t have hurt me."

    "Tsk tsk," Damien replied scornfully. "Who knew the Adire Emperor was such a sore loser."

    "Who are you calling a sore loser? I simply went easy on you because you are my daughter''s precious husband. What, you didn''t like the gift I prepared?"

    "Tch, we aren''t even near the sea, yet you somehow still manage to be so damn salty."

    "Damn brat!"

    "Stupid old geezer!"

    The two turned their heads away at the same time, causing the women in the room to burst into a fit of giggles. Hearing them, Damien finally turned his attention away from the Emperor.

    A genuine smile formed on his face.

    "Mom." He called out. Walking over to the woman standing at the side, he gave her a warm hug."

    "I''m d you''re doing well," ire responded with an equally warm smile. A shadow of tears formed in the corner of her eye.

    She wasn''t just greeting Damien casually. She truly meant her words with all her heart.

    The dreams never stopped.

    Whenever she worried about Damien''s safety, she''d have another terrifying dream. Even though she didn''t know exactly what he went through, she knew enough.

    And she hated that her son lived a lifestyle which could kill him at any moment.

    But she didn''t have the right to stop him. Due to beingatose from Mana Sickness during the most important years of Damien''s life, she lost the right to scold him and influence his path.

    The only thing she could do for her son was stay safe. Stay safe and keep afortable home ready for him whenever he was in the need of a ce to stay.

    That was her duty as a parent.

    And it was also the reason why she was doing so poorly at trying to control her tears. They flowed freely like a river, staining Damien''s robes in the process.

    Damien smiled wryly. "What are you crying about, mom? Isn''t this a happy asion?"

    ire nodded and wiped her tears. "You''re right. Of course this is a happy asion. Don''t you know how to tell tears of joy apart from those of sadness?"

    ire flicked Damien''s forehead jokingly as she spoke, lightening up the atmosphere that was just beginning to stall.

    "Come," she proimed. "Let''s head to the main hall. The servants have prepared a great feast for us!"

    The group changed locations,ughing and chattering the entire way. Once they arrived, they were truly treated to a feast for kings. There was an unimaginable amount of food, but more unimaginable was the speed at which Damien consumed it.

    The night was spent warmly as Damien and the girls shared their stories about the Cloud ne. The exciting stories filled with impossible sights held an unspeakable allure to both ire and James.

    And by the time the festivities ended, the 3-day duration of the grand celebration came to an end as well. Dawn arrived on a new day in Apeiron, with everyone finally returning to their daily lives.

    As for Damien, he was currently in the throne room of the Imperial Pce, having a private meeting with the Adire Emperor.

 Chapter 486 Visits [4]

    "So as I''ve said, this is how I n to proceed from here. Although 5 months doesn''t seem like a considerable amount of time, with thebined effort of everyone, it might even be ax deadline."

    Damien gave the Adire Emperor the same spiel he gave to the Beast Empress and everyone else he asked for help. As he did so, he outlined the situation on the Cloud ne and the information he held on the wider universe, catching the Emperor''s attention.

    "I don''t think anyone would have a reason to refuse your proposal. Even if most who live in this era didn''t experience the previous war, the stories of that tragedy are engraved in their bones. I have no doubt that our knights will be willing to assist you."

    Damien nodded in agreement. "I figured the same. Since that''s settled, the biggest issues are out of the way. Now onto the more troublesome matters¡­"

    Damien pulled out a pile of paper and used his mana to engrave writing onto each page. Once he was finished, he passed the stack over to the emperor.

    "This is the list of names and their exact locations. If there are any major changes, the World Core will update me so I can ry the information to you. As for that matter¡­I''ll let you deal with it at your own discretion. What''s truly troublesome, though, is¡­"

    "This location." The Adire Emperor muttered.

    "Right. Deep within the Endless Sea, there is another civilization. Half of the traitors on Apeirone from that continent. I will go there personally to deal with it, since there isn''t anyone else who can travel that distance easily."

    The Adire Emperor nodded his head sternly. "Then, we shall move as you say. I will contact the other two emperors and the Elf Queen in your stead. By the time you return from your trip overseas, the matters of our continent will be solved."

    Damien voiced his acknowledgment. This was exactly how he wanted things to go. At this speed, he could easily finish up on Apeiron and head to Earth far sooner than he expected.

    His meeting with the Adire Empire soon adjourned. Without much thought, he returned to his room.

    "You¡­what the hell are you three doing?"

    His eyes widened in shock when he stepped through the door. His three women wereying on the bed, waiting for him to arrive.

    "Hm? What''s wrong? You''ve never seen wives greet their husband when he returns home?" Rose questioned slyly.

    Ruyue joined in with the same evil look on her face. "That''s right, that''s right. Especially when our husband is such a phnderer, us poor lonely wives must work extra hard to get his attention."

    Elena nodded without a change of expression. "I agree too."

    Damien rolled his eyes and smiled wryly. He really didn''t know what to say to them. Instead, he simply epted the situation as is.

    "Fine, since my wives worked so hard to get my attention, it''s only natural that I reward them, right?"

    His clothes besides his underwear disappeared into his subspace as he jumped onto the bed. His arms spread wide, catching all three women in his grasp.

    With Rose and Elena on his left and Ruyue on his right, Damien submerged himself into the pillowy warmth of their bodies and the bed below.

    "Ahh, this is the life." He muttered in satisfaction. His hands carelessly moved across the soft bodies in his grasp, enjoying the feel of their skin on his.

    Unfortunately, none of hisdies were in the mood to share him, so he wasn''t able to take it further than that. But he was satisfied nheless. He could do far more damage with his hands than the girls ever expected.

    And by the time the sun rose on the horizon, all three were red and panting, unable to move from the bed or endure the shame of what transpired the previous night.

    As for Damien, he exited the room with a foolish grin on his face. He almost couldn''t stop himself from yelling in triumph.

    ''What a night, what a night. Although harems are filled with troubles, they''re also filled with heavenly bliss. Mm, I''ve been enlightened today. Amitabha.''

    He achieved Sainthood through his hand techniques. The heavenly moans that still resounded in his head were like church bells praising his ascension.

    ''Let''s deal with that troublesome continent while I''m in a good mood. I feel like my work efficiency will double with the amount of energy I have now.''

    Thinking such useless thoughts, Damien finally ended his walk through the pce.

    Since all the important parties had already been notified of his departure, he didn''t need to stop anywhere before he left for the unexplored continent.

    ''Let''s see if you can hold your promises. I''m excited to see how much the three of you will grow while I''m away.''

    And with that final thought, he vanished from the pce halls.

    ***

    Tens of thousands of kilometers away from the main continent of Apeiron, there was anothernd undiscovered by those on the maind. It was a strangend divided into two sections, one green and the other ck.

    When Damien reappeared, he was standing at the dividing point between these two sections. Below him, a fierce battle was taking ce.

    "Prea! How dare you betray our race?! How dare you follow the scum who forced us into this terrible istion?!" A woman with ashen-grey skin shouted at another woman who she was fighting. The twin daggers in her hands swept through the air, shing the one called Prea''s face.

    "Ack!" Prea groaned in pain. Spitting out the blood in her mouth, she responded in an equally furious tone.

    "Betray?! This is to save our people! There is no way for us to escape this continent if we do not follow their will!"

    "That is just an excuse! You know they will only betray you when your use runs out! Stop deluding yourself!"

    The two women fought furiously on the battlefield. The two sides of the conflict were divided just as colorfully as the continent itself.

    On one side, a tribe of Dark Elves, and on the other, the moremon race of Forest Elves.

    Damien raised his brow as he watched them. ''From the color scheme alone, you''d think that the Dark Elves are the traitors. Reality like the universe is screaming about how stupid that is.''

    The Forest Elves usually had pristine white skin without blemishes, but this particr group was different. Their faces and bodies were marred with gruesome ck scars, evidently bacsh from intaking Nox mana.

    ''Forest Elves are inherently close to nature and life. It''s only natural that they face repercussions when they try to internalize mana of the directly opposing nature.''

    Damien shook his head at their stupidity. ''In hopes of leaving this continent, they made deals with the devil. All they had to do was grow their own power until they could leave by themselves, but they took the easy way out.''

    As the Star Master, Damien could naturally feel the suppressive force in the sky that prevented those under it from flying too high, but the level of this suppression wasn''t at a level that a 4th ss couldn''t break.

    Perhaps it was imprable in the past, but ten thousand years was enough time to wear down any construct, especially if it wasn''t properly maintained like the sky suppression.

    ''This conflict has most likely been going on for generations. So absorbed in their infighting, they didn''t even notice the changes in the sky suppression. Disgusting.''

    Damien didn''t need to think anymore. The entire Forest Elf race of this continent was corrupted, he could clearly see it through the information the World Core provided.

    ''First, let me transport all the Dark Elves back to their territory. After that, I can just wipe the Forest Elves entirely.''

    It was only possible because he had no need to aim. If Damien was in the midst of arge battle withrades like what would take ce on the maind, he wouldn''t be able to achieve the same feat.

    But on this unnamed continent, the conditions were fulfilled.

    It didn''t take long for him to forcefully teleport all the Dark Elves back to their territory. Only 3rd ss warriors were deployed, so it wasn''t difficult at all.

    And once he did, he stood in the sky above the Forest Elf territory and extended his hand to the Heavens.

    "To the sinners residing below, I shall allow Heavenly Judgement to cleanse your sins and set you free."

    Thunderclouds rumbled and grew, covering half the continent in an instant.

    And then, a lightning hell broke loose.

    A curtain of lightning, no, a tsunami of it fell to the ground and enveloped the entire Forest Elf territory. As lightning strikes continuously barraged the ground, there wasn''t a single square meter ofnd that remained safe.

    And under the merciless barrage, the roughly hundred thousand Forest Elves that conspired with the Nox were wiped out together.

    Only their leader, a 4th ss being, survived the smiting. But even he died to Damien''s de soon after.

    Damien nodded indifferently once he finished. ''Good. This is faster than my original schedule. It''s time to move on to the next phase.''

 Chapter 487 Clean-Ups [1]

    September 20XX, Sector 8

    As the home of the nt Races, Sector 8 was widely regarded as the weakest of the 9 Sectors. The only reason Sector 9 was ranked below it was due to the fact that Sector 9 was only about half the size of the other Sectors, contributing to its weakerbat power.

    Currently, the executives of Sector 8 were in turmoil, unable to decide their next move. Starting a few days back, small skirmishes and disappearances began spreading through their territory.

    In normal times, these events wouldn''t even reach the ears of the top experts in the Sector, but these weren''t normal times.

    News arrived from Sector 1. Sector 9 was annihted by the Nox.

    Knowing this, the higher-ups in Sector 8 were especially paranoid about the events in their territory. Even they were aware of their weaknesspared to the other dominant races.

    Each race that was able to rise to the status of dominant race had its own special characteristics that allowed them to do so.

    For instance, the giants had extreme physical strength, while dwarves were naturally blessed by fire and metal. Humans were an outlier who didn''t have any particr specialty, but their terrifying adaptability and reproduction rates weren''t things to be looked down upon.

    But what about the nt Races? Why were they able to be and stay the dominant races of Sector 8?

    It was simply because of numbers.

    Sector 8 was never a ce that indulged in the same barbaric atmosphere as the rest of the universe. While the system promoted ughter in exchange for power, most of those residing in Sector 8 didn''t follow the same rules.

    They used different methods to grow strength, things like long-time umtion of energy and natural treasures. Although these methods are just as viable as others, they took far more time to bear fruit.

    Because of this, Sector 8 had plenty of potential, but wascking in the number of experts possessed.

    Their mentalities made them weak.

    And now, their weakness wasing back to bite them.

    A frail-looking woman stood on the crown of a massive tree that overlooked the world she lived in. Her skin was a pale green color, while her hair was a deeper emerald. Even her eyes had hues of green and yellow within.

    "It is only the start, yet the elders are already moring in panic and calling it war. Although they aren''t necessarily wrong, it''s still pathetic." She sighed to herself.

    "So far, there have only been small skirmishes at most. If it wasn''t for the abhorrent mana lingering after those shes, we wouldn''t have even been notified. With the way they are moving currently, it''ll take a few more months before theyunch a full-scale invasion."

    The woman walked into the crown of the tree, disappearing into the foliage. Somehow, her body arrived inside a small cabin hidden within the branches.

    "It would be meaningless to hope for support from the other Sectors. They likely think of our races as burdens for theing war. But with even the central pirs of our Sector submerged in despair so early, I''m afraid our chances of survival are nil."

    The woman shook her head. "Nevertheless, we must fight. I have been preparing so long for this day, and even if my preparations aren''t enough, I can at least buy us time. For now, however, it is best to wait and see. The current scale of the battle isn''t enough for me to make a move."

    Sector 9 was destroyed in a month with all others being none the wiser. However, the current movements of the Nox didn''t suggest they''d take the same approach with Sector 8.

    The woman didn''t want to bank on this assumption, but it was the only hope she had. If the Nox decided to directlyunch a full-scale invasion at the moment, even the forces she tirelessly built wouldn''t be able to resist for long.

    "Haa, fate is quite the cruel mistress." The woman sighed to herself once more.

    She closed her eyes, her human body vanishing. Her consciousness descended into the tree she was standing on, her main body.

    ''Until the timees when I must move, I can only observe. How long will it be until our noble Sector is brought to ruin? Despite how nihilistic it feels, it still makes me quite curious.''

    With that, the womanpleted her thoughts, returning to the routine she spent her usual days within.

    ***

    ''Hmm, what should I do with these people?'' Damien wondered to himself.

    Currently, he was being troubled by countless gazesing from the Dark Elves below. He didn''t need to speak to them to understand what these gazes meant.

    Respect, fear, reverence. Their feelings practically took physical form as they stared at him.

    ''Although they''ve been trapped in this continent for generations, they''ve still managed to grow considerably powerful. If the Forest Elves didn''t rely on the Nox''s blessing, they would''ve lost the war. Should I take them into the Sanctuary?''

    Truthfully, Damien didn''t expect there to be this kind of conflict when he arrived. He was actually expecting to wipe all life on this continent and move on, assuming that there were only around a hundred thousand inhabitants on the continent.

    But the number, in reality, turned out to be doubled. Now, he had a rtivelyrge tribe of Dark Elves to deal with.

    Putting them into the Sanctuary was fine, but he didn''t trust them at all, nor did he believe in their capabilities. He had no reason to take a random group of strangers as his subordinates.

    But he couldn''t simply leave them here. Something in the core of his being told him that ignoring them entirely would reflect poorly on his growth.

    ''Hmm, I''m not sure if it''s possible, but I can try to do that¡­using Apeiron''s mana reserves instead of mine should be able to aplish it.''

    Damien cracked his neck. It really was too much fun being able to pull off nonsensical feats due to his power as a Star Master.

    If he wasn''t careful, he might even identally develop a God Complex.

    ''Nah, there''s no way I''d be that cringe. I''m a grown-ass man now. Let''s just get on with it and be on my way.''

    "Citizens of this unknownnd, you who have resisted the temptation of devils even in the darkest of your days, I shall grant you an opportunity.

    "Starting today, your continent will be connected to the maind of this world. Whether your race dies out or adapts and bes a powerhouse will only be up to your own determination. Persevere to the end if you desire to survive. I wish you good fortune in youring endeavors."

    It was a concise speech, but Damien made sure to gain a great deal of face with his attitude. At the same time, his mind connected with Apeiron''s World Core.

    [You are our master, so using our mana reserves as you please is a basic right. Even if you wish for us to form a corporeal body for your pleasure, we wouldply. Please do not look down on our devotion to you.]

    Damien scratched his cheek awkwardly. ''I''ve gotten so used to Yun''s mannerisms that it feels weird talking to a World Core who has feelings. Still, don''t make jokes like that again or my wives will kill me.''

    [We spoke with utmost seriousness. If the master wishes to copte with us, we will do our best to satisfy your wishes. Also, the three mistresses are not able to hear our voice, so there is no problem there.]

    Damien rubbed his forehead. ''Alright, alright. Quit teasing me and lend me your mana.''

    [Yes, master.]

    Without warning, the ambient mana in the atmosphere began swirling around Damien''s body. This mana that belonged to no one was nowpletely under his control.

    Damien concentrated his senses, spreading his awareness to cover the entire small continent. His spiritual energy wrapped around the continent''s borders like a w.

    "Warp."

    The ambient mana above the continent pressed down on it heavily. Within seconds, the entirendmass disappeared from Damien''s sight.

    As he watched the seas churn in an attempt to fill the space left by the disappeared continent, he spoke to the World Core once more.

    ''Has everything been settled properly?''

    [The subcontinent has been docked on the shore of the maind. No environmental problems were detected. The continent''s presence has been detected by the powerful existences of the maind. They are moving to investigate as we speak.]

    Damien nodded. ''Good. As long as the world''s ecosystem hasn''t been damaged by my actions, it''s fine. As for those Dark Elves, everything from here on out depends on them.''

    Spreading his control over the ambient mana again, Damien quickly stopped a forming tsunami. It was his fault that it formed, anyway, since the ocean only became so chaotic because he disced the unknown continent.

    ''I thought you said there were no environmental problems?'' He asked.

    [There are now no environmental problems.]

    Damien rolled his eyes. ''Alright, I get it. Anyway, my work here is done.''

 Chapter 488 Clean-Ups [2]

    From the start, Damien never nned to take more than a few days to deal with this unknown continent. There was another reason why he aligned his timetable with thepletion of Apeiron''s purge.

    Earth.

    It was a world that he had no connection to, yet was deeply connected to at the same time.

    Actually, Damien wanted to abandon Earth after his mother moved to Apeiron. The world was simply too underdeveloped to be of use to him, and there was nothing motivating him to protect it.

    Sure, it was his homeworld, but the good memories he had there were already by his side, so did he need to be sentimental about it?

    Regardless of his feelings, however, Earth was a world bound to him and the first world he became the Star Master of. He couldn''t just abandon it.

    Now that he couldmunicate with that child, it was no longer a possibility.

    ''Luckily, Earth isn''t the same as Apeiron and the Cloud ne. It wasn''t involved in the previous war at all. Although there''ll still be traitors, I doubt the number and strength of them will be anything to care about.''

    There wasn''t a single person who would set their sights on a world like Earth, so he could cleanse it cleanly and return to Apeiron. These were Damien''s thoughts as he entered the Warp Gate to Earth.

    But when he arrived on the, he was almost forced to doubt his own thoughts.

    ''I knew it improved drastically, but this is too much to even be called drastic. Is this¡­even Earth anymore?''

    His location was the sky above Los Angeles, California, his hometown. But, this city was no longer known as Los Angeles.

    Heaven''s Sanctuary, the home of the 12 Gods.

    The massive holographic billboard outside the city made it seem like a den of scammers, but considering how the people looked at the words in reverence, Damien didn''t think it was so simple.

    ''12 Gods? There are actually humans in this world who dare proim themselves Gods? Are they tired of life?''

    Damien wasn''t a stickler for rules, but seeing something as conceited as this made him furious.

    In truth, Damien looked down on Earth. Considering how he''d already met more than one Demigod and experienced Divinity firsthand, it was only natural.

    But it wasn''t like his view was wrong.

    Even Apeiron could crush Earth''s forces like nothing. Damien didn''t know the exact strength of Earth now, but he had a rough estimate. Even if they had insane growth rates, they were still incredibly weak.

    But they dared call themselves gods? They dared to be content with the little power they had?

    ''Tch. I have some flies to discipline. Since I''m technically responsible for this world, I''ll allow you to witness what true power looks like.''

    His figure vanished from the sky, appearing in the middle of a massive uninhabited desert somewhere in the middle of what used to be the United States.

    And then, his aura red wildly.

    ***

    Due to his mind beingpletely clouded by anger, Damien ended up disregarding the other changes to Earthen society during his absence, but the changes were truly drastic.

    The skyscrapers that created the city skyline were no longer in and dull. They were made out of precious materials and built in shapes that ordinary construction couldn''t achieve.

    When it came to transportation technology, the advent of flying cars already became too much of a trend, clogging up the airways. Most passenger vehicles had returned to thend, not that they regressed in any way.

    The scene was almost straight out of a science fiction movie with all the wondrous technological advancements made through Mana Engineering and Science. The entire heroes and viins theme that earthlings embraced a few years back seemed to have calmed down as well.

    Instead, Earth entered an era of exploration. Star Warriors were those who led this era, fighting off mysterious beasts and exploring deep space for the prosperity of mankind.

    And the 12 greatest Star Warriors who had the power to level cities with a single attack, they were the 12 Gods worshipped by all.

    In Los Angeles, at the Headquarters of the Star Association, those very same 12 Gods were currently gathered for an emergency meeting.

    "What?! The mana signature is above SSS-Rank?! Are you sure the reader didn''t malfunction?!" A lithe woman with fiery red hair eximed.

    "Y-yes, Madame. We are sure the reading is entirely urate. In the middle of the Santara Desert, there is a presence above SSS-Rank." An attendant replied.

    "What is the movement of the presence? Has it done anything suspicious?" An old man with a sword on his hip questioned.

    "No, it is stationary. But its aura has been red nonstop ever since its discovery. We aren''t certain whether it will make a move soon or not." A bespectacled man replied.

    "Hmm, it is best if we take care of this danger before it bes a problem. Although the 12 of us are SSS-Rank, if we work together we should be able to stop it." The old man said.

    "Ha? Are you joking, old fart? Do you really want me to risk my life against something like that? No way!" A teen in a hoodie scoffed.

    "It is our duty as the hope of humanity to help! Regardless of whether we live or die, we must kill that being!" An armor-d warrior shouted.

    "Hmph. What hope? You''re just a bunch of pathetic people drunk on power. If it wasn''t for you lot forcing me, I would have never joined this bullshit organization." A brte woman harrumphed.

    The 12 Gods might''ve been portrayed as transcendental beings to the masses, but reality was far from that expectation.

    They were simply humans with power. Even their beliefs differed vastly. Getting the 12 of them to work together wasn''t an easy task at all.

    But, the 12 Gods weren''t newly crowned to their positions. By this point, the governments of the world already knew how to deal with them.

    "A reward of 50 billion dors has been ced on the ones who can subjugate that monster, but nobody has moved. The world is expecting the great Gods to save them once again." The attendant voiced.

    And immediately, the atmosphere of the room switched.

    Some of them truly fought for justice, some for other reasons, but a great deal of them were moved by personal power and status.

    If there was a majority vote, the rest could onlyply. And now that money was added to the equation, 8 of the 12 Gods readily agreed.

    "Haa, whatever. You bastards can go die for all I care. I''ll just watch from the back." The teen rolled his eyes and spat.

    The group soon moved out, donning the special Magic Armor Suits that were made for them before they did so.

    And soon enough, they arrived at the Santara Desert.

    "Sheesh¡­even from all the way out here, I can feel that thing''s aura. What is with this bloodlust?" A blonde-haired womanmented.

    "Stop talking needlessly and prepare for battle. It''sing." The old swordmaster responded.

    And just as he predicted, the source of the aura rapidly approached their location.

    A voice suddenly appeared from behind them. It wasn''t the voice of anyone they knew. And because not a single one of them could sense the presence of that voice''s owner, cold terror slowly gripped at their hearts.

    "Yo, so these are the rumored 12 Gods, huh. Even if I was expecting you to be a disappointment, this is far worse than I imagined."

 Chapter 489 Clean-Ups [3]

    "Who goes there?!"

    A blonde man covered in heavy armor shouted. He was Paul Ashburn, 6th among the 12 Gods, and titled the Shield God.

    When he turned around and saw the strange man who stood at his back, his aura red. "Hmph! You must be the beast releasing that fowl aura! I shall defeat you today! For humanity!"

    Paul held his shield in front of his body and charged at the strange man. His earthy golden mana raged around his shield as he did so.

    Looking at the man currently attacking him, Damien rolled his eyes. When Paul approached close enough¡­

    Pah!

    A crisp p across his face left him barreling into the desert below, his life or death unknown.

    Damien sighed. To deal with these brats, a single p would be enough. But he knew how earthlings worked. They wouldn''t be able to ept their defeat if he didn''t take the "bigger is better" approach.

    ''I have to be careful not to break Earth. Although my attack force isn''t at aary level yet, the atmosphere here is weak. If I cause too muchmotion, I''ll practically set the world up for extinction.''

    Damien shook his head in remorse. It was a shame having to limit himself, but it wasn''t like it would make any difference either way.

    Rumble!

    Fierce thunderclouds gathered in the sky before the 11 remaining Gods could even process the fate of their fallenrade.

    The clouds swirled chaotically, forming a massive natural disaster that covered the entirety of the desert,

    Boom!

    A thick bolt of ck lightning struck the ground, causing hundreds of meters of the desert below to explode. And as if that one attack wasn''t enough, countless bolts of lightning snaked through the chaotic clouds, waiting for their chance to strike.

    The 11 remaining gods fell out of the sky one by one. The terrifying pressure of the storm wasn''t something they could handle, regardless of how firm their will was.

    Damien descended calmly along with them, watching their struggle in scorn.

    "W-who are you?" The old man questioned through gritted teeth.

    Damien raised his brow. "Oh? You actually have the balls to talk right now? It looks like at least one of you has some potential."

    The 10 remaining gods gritted their teeth in indignation, but they couldn''t say anything back. Quite literally.

    "You know, I came back here after so many years without much expectation for Earth''s growth. I have to say that this world has exceeded my expectations by andslide." Damien spoke.

    "But what of it? The twelve of you actually dare call yourself gods? With the little power you have? Even a 4th ss could squash the lot of you with a single finger, let alone a god.

    "Considering how the people of this world have embraced space exploration, I''m sure the twelve of you are already aware that there are higher and better worlds out there, filled with strong opponents and fortuitous encounters to help you grow stronger. Yet, you actually ignored that opportunity and gotfy on Earth instead? Pathetic."

    Damien spit to the side to emphasize his point, but it wasn''t needed at all. The unadulterated scorn and disdain in his gaze were enough to cause them endless humiliation.

    "Tch, I wasted time satisfying my anger. Listen up, you dipshits. I don''t think I''ll be back here for a while once I finish my business, so I need some good ves to run the shop for me while I''m gone."

    Damien''s mouth curved into a devilish grin. His words sent a shudder down the collective spines of the 11 gods.

    "You interested?"

    ***

    A week passed since Damien''s scuffle with the 12 Gods. However, the 12 Gods were no more.

    They were now termed the 12 Zodiacs for convenience''s sake. And because he was a defensive expert to begin with, the Zodiac named Paul didn''t end up dying from Damien''s strike, leaving the number a perfect fit.

    Even though it was only a week, it was an extremely busy week. Not only for Damien, but for everyone who was participating in the purge operations he started.

    On Earth, Damien stood at the peak of Mount Everest, thousands of bodies lining his climb. He looked down on the world from above and spoke.

    "Only a few tens of thousands left. I''m lucky that this is so small."

    Compared to the sizes of Apeiron and the Cloud ne, Earth was a baby. Damien''s awareness had be so powerful already that covering ten thousand miles in his detection range wasn''t a problem anymore.

    And with the size of Earth? His awareness covered close to half of the world''s surface if he stretched it.

    Due to this, findingrge dens of traitors wasn''t hard at all. The problem was finding individuals within the mass of information he received when he spread his awareness so thinly.

    ''It''ll take a while just tracking them all down, but killing them is easy. I should be able to finish in time.''

    With that thought, Damien disappeared, heading to the next snake den to continue his ughter.

    The situation on Apeiron was different. Although they weren''t struggling per se, they were having a far harder time than Damien.

    Whether it be number of traitors or power level, it was all greater on Apeiron.

    At the forefront of the battle stood Damien''s three wives. Compared to what they originally expected, they were gaining far more from Apeiron.

    The number of 3rd ss traitors far outstripped the number of 3rd ss members of the subjugation force. Because of that, the three women were able to practically monopolize the experience from those powerful enemies.

    Their levels were rising far faster than they expected, andpletion of Apeiron''s purge didn''t seem like it''d take more than 2 more months at most.

    And when it was finished, they could return to the Cloud ne and grind even more levels, bing as powerful as they could before the Niflheim operation.

    However, if one wanted to know which situation was the most chaotic, it was undoubtedly the Cloud ne''s.

    It simply wasn''t possible to keep all information about the purge under wraps for long. It was toorge scale of an operation.

    And once rumors spread, Tian Yang and Shangguan Yu were forced to withdraw from the battlefield to deal with the public. This did a number on the subjugation force''s efficiency during battle.

    Even though they still had enough battle power to ughter the enemy, Shangguan Yu''s formations and Tian Yang''s spatial awareness were key to their rapid movement.

    Now that it was gone, clearing the remaining continents would take far longer, perhaps even until the end of the deadline that had been set.

    Sector 3 was in a state of preparation. Whether it be the Cloud ne and the other worlds Damien already visited, or the powerful worlds in Sector 3 that he didn''t know of yet, all of them were aware of the rapidly changing times.

    The forces of the Cloud ne already sounded the horn. With 5 months remaining until arge-scale war broke out to decide the fate of the Sector, there was no time toze around.

    And in this fervent atmosphere, another 2 months quickly passed.

 Chapter 490 Clean-Ups [4]

    Damien stepped out of the Warp Gate with a sigh. ''Finally finished up with Earth. Tch, humans are seriously rats sometimes. How did those little shits even manage to think of such hiding ces?''

    Damien scowled thinking about the odd ces he ended up finding the traitors. It seemed news about his advent spread quickly after he started, and his time on Earth slowly transformed into a game of hide and seek.

    But those traitors were truly desperate for life. They climbed inside the stomachs and¡­other holes of beasts to fool his senses, they dug until they were near the Earth''s Core, nearly burning themselves to death in the process, if there was one good thing Damien had to say about them, it was that they sure were creative.

    But after 2 whole months of such annoyingness, he finally finished his activities on Earth and returned to Apeiron.

    ''Hmm, so? What''s changed?'' Damien asked the World Core.

    [Wee back, master. We have missed your presence.]

    Damien rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I''m already annoyed from all the rat chasing I had to do recently, so just get to the point.''

    [Understood, master. The changes are as follows¡­]

    The World Core gave Damien a rundown on the subjugation efforts until now, and the progress satisfied him greatly.

    ''Hmm, so they should finish up in around a month or less. I have that much time to kill, huh.''

    He did have a few more errands to run and a few more people to meet. Also, he hasn''t spent nearly enough time with his mother after so long apart. It was pointless for him to help in the subjugation anyway.

    The armies needed experience. Apeiron''s forces had dulled considerably since the previous war, their swords no longer holding meaning. For them to build their bloodlust again, they needed battle.

    ''Basically, I''m useless right now. Come to think of it, I haven''t spent a long period of time training in a while. Maybe I should consider it.''

    "What are you thinking so deeply about?"

    As he was thinking, a silvery voice came from behind him. And he knew exactly who it was.

    "Alea. How did you find me so quickly?"

    Alea smiled slyly. "Didn''t I already tell you? Our bloodlines resonate. We must be destined by fate!"

    ? "And why would fate care enough to specifically tell us about our destinies together?" Damien questioned with a smile.

    "Why, isn''t that obvious? It''s because our union will cause auspicious tidings to cover the entire universe, giving us great luck in theing war."

    Damien rolled his eyes. Alea''s ability to spout bullshit wasn''t to be underestimated.

    "You''re not participating in the subjugation?" Damien asked to change the subject.

    Alea shook her head. "Why should I? There are no 4th ss masters for me to kill, so there''s no point in participating. Besides, did you forget that I''m a beast?" Alea reminded, her gaze pointing to the fluffy white fox tails materializing above her rear.

    Damien fell into thought. It was true that beasts leveled up differently, but that was only until achieving their human forms. When that happened, they would also be granted ess to the system and its leveling function.

    ''But, a beast will always be a beast. She most likely prefers evolving her bloodline over leveling through the system. Well, since I devour everything I can devour, I can''t really fault her.''

    With the topic of beasts on his mind, Damien suddenly remembered where he was.

    ''That''s right¡­this is Apeiron¡­''

    An old memory resurged in his mind. Moments of pain that forged the person he was today.

    Apeiron¡­was the location of the First Dungeon.

    ''Didn''t I just say I wanted to train?''

    Damien looked up at Alea, pondering for a second. In the end, he went with his gut. "Say, are you busy for the next few months?"

    Alea''s brow quirked curiously. "Hm? I shouldn''t have anything scheduled until the subjugation ends. I don''t know if you know this yet, but I resigned from my position as Empress!"

    "You what?!" Damien eximed in shock.

    "Hehe~!" Ales giggled. "It''s not like the position matters right now anyway. We''ll just be one of many in the army soon enough."

    Damien shrugged. "Not like it matters much to me what your position is."

    "Right, you''ll love me even if I''m a little peasant girl. That''s why I can''t stop thinking about you."

    "Or maybe you''re just desperate for affection after spending thousands of years in a loveless and sexless marriage?" Damien quipped back.

    Alea grabbed his ear and pulled, dragging him into her grasp. Her lips brushed against his ear as she spoke and he could feel her pillowy breasts against his chest, but Damien couldn''t feel any arousal from the situation.

    After all, Alea''s ws were infinitely close to his neck.

    "Didn''t your parents ever teach you not to ask a woman about her age?" Alea said indifferently.

    Damien looked away in exasperation. She caused a scene for that? Yet again, he realized he would never understand women.

    "Kuhum, anyway, since you''re free, do you want toe with me?" Damien coughed awkwardly.

    "Hm? Are you asking me out on a date right now?" Alea teased.

    Damien smirked evilly. "Sure, if you want to consider it a date then you''re free to do so."

    "Great!" Alea smiled. "Then, let''s go already!"

    "Right now?" Damien asked.

    "I can''t wait any longer. If I get private time with you, doesn''t that mean I can inch closer to wife status?"

    Damien''s evil grin widened. "Hmm, you can try¡­if you have enough time to do so."

    "W-wha¡ª?"

    Before Alea could question his words, Damien immediately used Warp. Since he was already in her grasp, there was no need for additional contact.

    When the two appeared again, they were surrounded on all sides by rock. Around them, a in stone room with light amounts of flora strewn about. Under their feet stood a teleportation array that had only ever been activated once.

    "I''m back," Damien muttered, running his hand across the wall.

    This ce used to be filled with bad memories for him. It was the root of a great deal of his trauma. But now¡­?

    He didn''t feel anything.

    "Damien? Where might we be right now?" Alea asked suspiciously.

    "My, dear sweet Alea, this benevolent one heard through the grapevine that you were struggling to find 4th-ss opponents to fight. So, I''ve brought you to a ce where you can find them in droves!"

    "H-hm? Ah, right I said that¡­yeah, that was definitely the reason why I wasn''t leveling¡­ha¡­haha¡­"

    Damien raised his brow. "Alea, dear, don''t tell me you''ve bezy? Oh my, this won''t do! Allow me to help you solve that problem!"

    "There''s no need for that! I''ll level plenty during the war, so until then I should help with the subjugation!"

    Damien''s eyes curved into crescents. He walked forward and gripped Alea''s shoulders tightly.

    "What kind of nonsense are you speaking? You are the mighty Empress of the Beast Domain! How can you allow yourself to be weak? Just rx and leave the rest to me. You''ll be a total powerhouse in no time!"

    "Hey! Wai¡ª!"

    Before Alea couldin, Damien used his connection with the World Core to scan the dungeon and send her 20 floors lower.

    At that level, 4th ss beings would begin to spawn.

    Damien grinned. ''I''ve helped another lost soul on the right path. My good karma is rising steadily. Amitabha.''

    After leaving Alea to do whatever she wanted, Damien began thinking about his own situation.

    ''I can''t level right now.''

    It was the cold hard truth. If he continued leveling, he''d breach the barrier to 4th ss with rtive ease. But he had no desire to do that.

    ''I want to consolidate my current power until I can''t get any stronger without leveling. Dimensional Magic, my new Time affinity, my forgotten lighting, the Void mes¡­there are too many aspects that need improvement.''

    The reason he came to the First Dungeon wasn''t to level. He came because this dungeon was a literal treasure trove.

    Even the mostmon beast held Godbeast bloodline in their veins, even if it was a minuscule amount. This kind of treasure dungeon was the perfect ce for him to find attribute sources to enhance his fire and lightning.

    And the environment here would make it easier to practice his space and time elements, since the level of elemental essence in the air was far higher than on the surface.

    Not to mention, he''d also get to see Alea suffering through her training while he improved, which would always be a fun sight.

    As for the main reason he came, however¡­

    ''I heard there was a Demigod living in this dungeon. I wonder if it''s true¡­?''

 Chapter 491 Dungeon [1]

    A week passed steadily.

    As the various purges continued, Damien and Alea put their all into conquering the First Dungeon. And since Damien''s abilities now allowed him to maneuver the dungeon as he pleased, they were able to level extremely efficiently.

    Currently, the duo was on the 74th floor. They finally finished clearing the most dangerous beasts living on this floor, and it was finally time to enter the final fourth of the dungeon.

    Damien furrowed his brows in thought. Although it should''ve been a moment for celebration, he couldn''t say he was happy.

    ''I still can''t sense it.''

    He tried to justify it as his owncking abilities not being able to view the entire dungeon, he even tried to rationalize by saying that the dungeon''s floor count was wrong, but he knew from the start these reasons were stupid.

    The reason he couldn''t sense the 100th floor was that there was an existence residing there that could interfere with his awareness, even when it was enhanced with World Force.

    ''The rumors must be true. Even if I can''t kill them, high-level 4th-ss beings shouldn''t be able to obstruct my awareness when I''m using World Force. But¡­I don''t know if we can make it down 25 floors of 4th-ss beasts. Even if we can, it''ll take too long.''

    They only had until the subjugation ended to train. After that, it was time to move on to grander things.

    ''There''s no need to think about this now. In the first ce, it was never possible for me to visit a Demigod if they didn''t want to see me. If we''re fated to meet, I''ll be called down eventually.''

    Damien slowly opened his eyes, teleporting back a few feet the second he did so. ring at Alea, he spoke. "Didn''t I tell you not to get too close? Never heard of personal space?"

    Alea smiled and shook her head. "Nope! Not at all!"

    "Keuk¡­!" Damien choked on his words. Ales was, at the end of the day, a wolf. Wolves were, in fact, pack animals who didn''t know the concept of personal space.

    "Tch, well you can learn it now. Just think about the night I rejected you and be angry at me instead."

    Alea pouted to the side. "That hardly counts as a rejection. I could even say you''re leading me on."

    "You know what leading someone on means but you don''t know about personal space?"

    "Hm? Did you say something? Ah, I apologize, I think I heard a sound from the staircase to the 75th floor."

    Alea quickly scurried away, leaving Damien shaking his head helplessly. He spent another week unintentionally getting close to this woman.

    It had to be said, Damien was doing everything he could to fight this pull. Whether it be t-out rejections as he had given Alea plenty of times already or even spletely avoiding her, none of the things he tried seemed to work.

    The strange pull between them continued to affect him.

    ''Luckily, we''re in the dungeon. If she wasn''t busy hunting and I wasn''t busy training¡­I just have to hold out until the Niflheim operation begins. At that time, I''ll be so far away that this damn pull can''t affect me anymore.''

    Damien cleared his thoughts and followed after Alea, heading down to the 75th floor. Even though he didn''t actively level up with her, he still followed Alea down the floors so he could witness the scenes of the dungeon that he didn''t get to seest time.

    Besides, the beast corpses in this dungeon were filled with Godbeast bloodline. For the Void me, these bloodlines were food for growth, especially fire-attributed ones.

    Compared to its previous strength, it was already noticeably stronger. Sadly, Damien didn''t find any attribute sources as they descended, so his lightning was stillgging behind.

    On a more positive note, his space and time abilities were steadily increasing. Unlike his mes, which were birthed from external sources, and his lighting, which he acquired from the first wolf he killed, these two affinities were naturally a part of him since birth.

    If they didn''t progress more smoothly than his mes and lightning, it''d be more of a problem.

    As he thought about what he should train next, Damien finished descending the stairs to the 75th floor.

    And a whole new world opened up to him.

    It wasn''t much, but there was genuine flora in this space. Small lush trees, grasses and weeds grew through the cave floor, it waspletely different from the previous floors. However, the most surprising part was¡­

    "Is that a house?!" Alea''s exmation voiced Damien''s thoughts.

    Shoddy cottages that were made of the tree wood on the floor, dirt streets that separated different sections of the small town, even though it was only enough for roughly 10 people to live, it was more than one would expect from the lower floors of a hell dungeon.

    Damien''s gaze sharpened. It was obvious that things would be more morallyplicated once 4th ss beasts came into y. Unless they attacked first, killing them was like killing a civilian.

    Alea''s bloodlust surged as she looked at the houses. Her aura surged along with it, alerting the residents of the town.

    "This is Zabragor''s territory! Who dares show hostility?!"

    A booming gruff voice responded. Along with the earthquake-like thumping of footsteps, the figure of a massive man appeared from the town entrance.

    Yet, calling him a man wasn''t quite urate.

    He stood at a good 10 feet, his body just as wide as it was tall. His body and even his head were that of a giant pig who started acting like a human.

    ''Partial transformation¡­''

    Damien understood what was happening instantly. He learned quite a bit about beasts from the White Dragon King and the Phoenix Matriarchs.

    Partial transformation was a state simr to the 11th and 12th Elder of the Xue n, except for beasts. It meant that although these beasts were 4th ss on paper, their strength didn''t match their title.

    And it seemed Alea knew it as well. Before the pig who called himself Zabragor could even finish speaking, she pounced. Her nails extended into ws, she reached Zabragor''s neck in an instant, and arrived behind him only a momentter.

    In that single movement, Alea sent Zabragor''s head flying into the cave ceiling.

    "Hmph. Even if it''s disappointing, it''s the best prey I''ve had in years." Alea muttered to herself.

    ? And her body moved soon after, invading the vige and causing a rain of blood.

    Apparently, the morality issue was solved quite easily. Alea simply didn''t care about it at all.

    Damien shrugged. ''Well, it''s not like I''m the one hunting. She''s one scary woman, though. I should pat myself on the back for deciding to stay away from her.''

    He nodded to himself in satisfaction. There was no more need for him to stay here. While Alea went on another killing spree until she reached the 80th floor, he''d return to his training.

    ''My previous enlightenment taught me more about Laws than I ever expected. Although I can''t use them yet, I can still infuse myprehension into my attacks and exponentially increase their power.''

    The current Damien was imbnced. Hisprehension was far above what even an entry-level 4th ss could have, but his power didn''t allow him to use the abilities he created through thisprehension.

    Yet, he still couldn''t level up. Thisprehension boost was only in regard to space. His time element was still severelycking.

    Once the time element also reached the pinnacle of what he could make it through his current power level, it''d finally be time to take thest step.

    Damien grinned. This kind of training, he missed the feeling of it.

    And as he submerged himself in that long-lost feeling, the month flew by.

 Chapter 492 Dungeon[2]

    Unlike what Damien originally expected, the pseudo-4th ss beastssted until the 85tu floor. Only on the 86th floor did genuine 4th ss beasts appear.

    But it wasn''t like there were no changes. The level of civilization slowly grew until the 86th floor was a genuine city. Plenty of 4th ss beings roamed the floor, and even lower-ss beasts moved idly. This floor didn''t have any of the ferocity that beasts usually held. It was practically a smaller version of the Beast Domain.

    It was at this point when Alea finally started to show signs of being ufortable. Instead of killing anything she saw, she explored the floor calmly while blending in with the civilians.

    As for Damien, he concealed himself in the corner and watched. He was curious about what she would do.

    Alea''s expression became further troubled as she interacted with the citizens. The conflict within her was obvious.

    Power or morality. She had to choose one.

    And depending on her choice, her every decision going forward would be affected.

    Damien continued to watch curiously. With Alea''s nature, he never expected her to hold out for so long. She didn''t seem like the kind of person to care aboutpassion or anything simr.

    Abruptly, Alea''s bloodlust red. The crowd around her backed away in fear, the weaker ones falling to the floor, unable to move.

    Her mouth moved to form words, but Damien couldn''t hear what she was saying. Even if he wanted to, his situation experienced an abrupt change that disallowed it.

    Strong spatial fluctuations rose around his body without warning. The person teleporting him didn''t seem to care whether he agreed or not. But since he''d been expecting this moment for the past month, he didn''t resist.

    "So you finally called me." He spoke when his body materialized again.

    "Even knowing my identity, you still dare to speak so crassly. As expected, you are a man raised by this dungeon."

    Damien raised his brow. "What significance does that have?"

    The figure cloaked in darkness replied, seemingly while smiling. "I know a few others who act simr to you. It is quite the odd shared trait of the powerful people in this dungeon."

    "And you''re one of them?"

    "Why, I''m the best of them."

    "Quite arrogant for someone who hides behind a veil."

    "Quite arrogant for a brat I could kill with a single finger."

    "Tch. Touch¨¦."

    Damien looked up and down at the figure in front of him, but he couldn''t make out a single detail of their appearance. Judging by their voice, they were female, but even that didn''t give him much information.

    The size, race, age, power level, anything besides that voice of his opponent was masked in a veil of darkness.

    "So? You finally called me here, but you''re wasting time acting mysterious? You''re just like a certain old man I''ve been meaning to visit. Quickly get on with it and stop wasting my time."

    The figure snorted. "Do you think I won''t kill you for acting out of line? You''re so pathetically weak, where does your confidencee from?"

    Damien rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Lady, with your strength, you likely saw every single second I spent in this dungeon. Not only did you see me at my worst, but you probably also bore witness to every single secret I tried to hide after leaving the dungeon. Not to mention, I had a nasty habit of talking to myself back then, so you probably know even the stuff you haven''t seen personally."

    Damien''s tone suddenly shifted. He threw his hands across his body as if protecting himself from a pervert. "Besides, you''ve even met my little brother. How are you going to take responsibility for me?"

    "Pfft¡­!" A crisp peel ofughter came from beyond the veil, surprising even Damien. "I apologize, but I haven''t had augh in many millennia. The people here are extremely boring, only knowing how to fight, sleep, and breed."

    "Heh heh, I see, if you want help taking care of the¡­other¡­things you haven''t done in a while, this little one doesn''t mind giving a few lessons." Damien grinned evilly.

    A fist of shadows appeared above his head, giving him a fierce knock. "It seems you have a bad habit of flirting with every woman you meet. Brat, how do you know I''m not a man in disguise? Ever thought about that?"

    Damien smirked. "If you were a man in disguise, you probably wouldn''t have stopped at just knocking my head."

    "And what if I swing that way?"

    Damien''s face paled. He backed away slowly. "Hm? It looks like Alea is in danger! I have to go now!"

    Damien activated teleportation, but as expected, he failed miserably. He could practically feel the woman behind the veil sighing in exasperation.

    "Fine, I can''t win against you in words. I''ve spent too long confined down here to be good at wordy."

    "Confined?" Damien''s attention was piqued.

    "Of course. Who would willingly stay in a damp ce like this after ascending to my level? Do you think dungeons are normally built to withstand Divinity?"

    ? Damien shook his head. Perhaps if it was the rumored Heavenly World, it''d be possible, but not in this universe. The materials needed to suppress a Demigod didn''t exist here.

    After all, even Demigods weren''t supposed to exist here. Only those who resisted their "ascension" remained, though ascension might not be the best word to describe it.

    So for a dungeon to exist which could aplish that impossible feat¡­

    "This dungeon was artificially created?" Damien realized.

    It made more sense the more he thought about it. The dungeon was far too unique to be spawned naturally.

    Kurt''s hypothesis was that this was the first dungeon to be born into Apeiron, which is why he termed it the First Dungeon. However, even then, the sheer level of treasure within the dungeon made no sense.

    Godbeast bloodlines weren''t simple. They possessed traits unlike normal beasts for a reason.

    The shadowy woman nodded, the darkness around her bobbing up and down with her movements. "This dungeon is a prison created to house me. The cycle of beast evolution is used to provide a continuous stream of mana and energy to the dungeon so it can maintain the seal. Even if it doesn''t seem like much, the excess energy from 100 floors worth of ughter reaches an insane level."

    Damien squinted his eyes as he stared into the shadow. "Then, for you to be sealed so tightly, you must be¡­"

    The woman seemed to smile. The murky shadow that surrounded her body slowly disappeared into the air, revealing the figure hidden beneath.

    Pale greyish-white skin, ash-grey hair, and striking red eyes. Her figure was just as voluptuous as Alea''s, but she was far taller, standing at the same height as Damien.

    From her features alone, she looked like a Dark Elf.

    But Damien knew. It wasn''t an instinctual feeling, but something she was willingly allowing him to sense.

    From within the murky darkness she controlled, the scent of ink perforated Damien''s nostrils.

    His bloodlust red out of his control. He red at the woman coldly.

    Standing in front of him as if nothing in the world concerned her¡­

    Was a genuine Nox Demigod.

 Chapter 493 Dungeon [3]

    "Why is it that you called me here?" Damien asked. His voice was cold, any previous joking tone he held vanishing entirely.

    But naturally, the Nox Demigod didn''t feel any pressure from his change. She only watched him with a curious and entertained smile on her face.

    "My, you don''t want me anymore? And here I thought my form would be incredibly appealing to you." She responded.

    "Why did you call me here?" Damien repeated. He didn''t care about any of her bullshit.

    The Nox Demigod rolled her eyes. "Can''t you be a little more fun? You''re the first person who has seen me in my true form in tens of millennia."

    "Tell me why you called me here," Damien repeated himself a third time. He didn''t n to say it again.

    "Tch. Kid, you''re starting to annoy me. Fix your attitude before I kill you on the spot."

    "Kill me then," Damien replied without hesitation.

    "What?" The Nox Demigod questioned in surprise.

    "Kill me then." Damien shrugged casually. "If you didn''t kill me earlier, you won''t kill me now. Am I wrong?"

    Although Damien was indeed flirting with her because of his habit to flirt all the time, he wasn''t the same brainless fool he used to be. His words weren''t without meaning.

    Just like when he acted brazenly with the Sect Leaders of the Cloud ne, he needed to understand how lenient this Demigod would be with him, regardless of what her race was.

    Because people of power cared immensely for face. If he could act sleazily to her face and live, it meant she probably needed him for something.

    Not that it was hard to figure out what that something was.

    "I won''t help you escape this seal if that''s what you n to ask. If that''s all, then either kill me or let me go."

    The Demigod red at Damien with killing intent in her gaze, causing his mental defenses to crumble. If it wasn''t for his Void Physique negating a portion of her pressure, he would''ve been turned into an idiot with a single gaze.

    "Khh¡­that''s not a very nice way to treat your guests."

    ? "Didn''t you just tell me to kill you? Are you scared now that death is finally upon you?"

    "Ha! If this is death being upon me, then the spat my mom used to beat me as a kid was a God-ranked artifact. Don''t joke with me."

    The Demigod clicked her tongue. "It''s true that I wish for you to release my seal, but it is not without benefit for you. Tell me what you want, and I can easily grant your wish."

    "I want the extermination of every member of the Nox species in existence." Damien quickly replied.

    The Demigod red at him again. "I will only ept requests that are within my power."

    "And if I ask you to annihte as many Nox as your power allows?"

    "I shall do it without hesitation."

    It was Damien''s turn to be suspicious. Obviously, this woman held no feelings toward her race. But if she was really an ally, why would the previous generations seal her in the dungeon?

    ''Yet, the reward is tempting.''

    If she was willing to exterminate her race with her own hands for freedom, it meant she was willing to give everything. If he could capitalize on that¡­

    ''I might be able to get myself a Demigod maid.''

    Damien grinned to himself at the thought, but he knew it wasn''t possible with his current strength. He couldn''t even sense the mechanisms sealing the woman, let alone break them.

    "I am not asking for your immediate cooperation. I am asking for your consideration and help in the future when you be powerful enough."

    "How do you know I won''t die before then?"

    "You will not die." The woman''s answer came without hesitation. As she looked at him, a trace of respect surfaced in her eyes.

    "I have witnessed your beginning, and I wish to be there to witness your end. Until I allow it, you are not allowed to die."

    The woman flicked her finger, causing a portion of the darkness behind her to separate and shoot at Damien''s body.

    "H-hey!" Damien eximed in shock while attempting to dodge, but he never had a chance.

    The piece of shadow submerged into his body, but no matter how he scoured himself, he couldn''t find traces of it.

    "What did you do to me?" Damien growled. His killing intent red even greater than it did when he found out she was a Nox.

    "Rx." The Demigod replied nomittally. "It''s just a wisp of my Divine Power. If you''re ever in life-threatening danger, it will protect you once. Even a Demigod won''t be able to harm you while it is activated."

    Damien calmed down slightly hearing her words, but he couldn''t let his guard down. It was still highly likely that this woman was lying to him.

    But for now, he couldn''t do anything about it.

    "Haa, fine. I''ll consider your offer. Since the war is starting soon, I''ll be able to witness for myself whether or not unsealing you is worth the effort. But¡­what happens if I refuse?"

    The woman smirked in response. "Do you think you can still refuse me? Even if it''s just a trace, Divine Power is still Divine Power. If I really wanted to, I could just¡­"

    The woman curled her finger. Responding to her motion, Damien''s body instantly began to experience great pain simr to that of evolution.

    But this pain didn''te with any benefit.

    "Khh¡­" Damien gritted his teeth and endured without saying a word. He refused to lose to this woman.

    Looking at him writing in defiance, a smile unknowingly crept up on the woman''s face. ''This boy¡­is quite fun to y with.''

    Even if he didn''t know her thoughts, Damien instinctively felt danger. If he broke here, his life would be anything but fun.

    The pain continued for close to 10 minutes before the woman finally got bored of hisck of reaction and stopped. Finally, Damien was given a moment of respite.

    ''Haa¡­haa¡­this bitch¡­'' He sneered inwardly. ''Just wait until I reach your level. I''ll turn you into a spitting image of Elitra.''

    As he formted in his mind, he finally regained his bearing. And even though he was internally raging, he pretended as if nothing happened on the outside.

    "I have one final question." He said in between breaths. Looking at the woman seriously, he asked, "Why me?"

    "Hoh? Are you curious? However, your curiosity might cost you more than you ever thought. Are you really willing to lose¡ª"

    "Oh wait, I''m literally the only one you know." Damien interrupted.

    "Die."

    Damien deftly dodged the shadows that sprouted under his feet to stab him. "Lady, don''t be so harsh. How can you treat your only friend and future benefactor like this?"

    "Who cares about that? I want you to die, so die."

    "Tsk tsk, what a pitiful Demigod. An over 10,000-year-old virgin NEET with no friends. Such a shame."

    "Die."

    The attacking shadows became fiercer. Seeing this, Damien grinned. "Alright, since you''re kicking me out on your own, I''ll leave. Don''t kiss me too much when I''m gone, ''kay?"

    Damien''s figure shed away from the 100th floor in an instant. This time, the woman didn''t block his escape.

    Once again left alone on the 100th floor, the woman sighed helplessly. ''Tch¡­if only I knew even a single other person, I''d choose them over you without hesitation. Stupid brat.''

 Chapter 494 Dungeon [4]

    ''My name is Tiamat. Do not forget our promise during youring adventures.''

    Damien smirked as he received the mental transmission. ''Bitch, you''re more desperate than I thought.''

    He had no good feelings for the Nox Demigod named Tiamat. From the second she decided to torture him needlessly, his grudge became something she couldn''t escape.

    ''Just wait. I''ll definitelye free you. On that day, you''ll start maid training under Elitra.''

    In fact, Elitra was already receiving maid training in the Sanctuary, learning to control herself somewhat. The quarrels between her and little Xue for his attention were far less frequent than they used to be.

    ''Speaking of the Sanctuary, I wonder how that n ising along?''

    Damien''s figure disappeared from the First Dungeon. When he appeared in the Sanctuary, he immediately spread his awareness to a certain area to the west of therge mountain in the middle.

    ''Hmm, looks like training has started, but they aren''t anywhere near where I want them to be. Maybe I should push them¡­''

    Where his gaze was directed stood arge dormitory where a group of 10 men and women stayed. They were the beginning of an elite squad Damien was in the process of forming.

    There were 3 Phoenixes, 4 Elves, and 3 Dragons. They were also chosen so that their specialtiesplemented each other. However¡­

    ''Currently, they aren''t even united. Their loyaltiesy in the leaders they follow instead of me. While this isn''t bad for themon popce, I can''t have it for a team that''ll be my strength in the future.''

    To build this team would need time and effort. For now, it wasn''t even worth mentioning.

    ''By the time we finish up in Niflheim, I''ll have thembat-ready.''

    Thinking such thoughts, Damien exited the Sanctuary. This time, his visit was only to check on them.

    ''The Sanctuary really is strange, though¡­''

    Damien didn''t know what his role in the Sanctuary was supposed to be. The dynamic he was setting made it ambiguous.

    He owned the Sanctuary and he was its creator, but he didn''t take an active role in its development. Instead, he quietly watched over them unless he needed something.

    He didn''t know how hisx attitude towards the society growing in the Sanctuary would impact him in the future, but he didn''t mind it much.

    The Sanctuary was its own world, and the people who lived in it would have their own lifestyles and governments. In the end, it was already a requirement for every 4th ss in the Sanctuary to submit to him through a System Oath, which was invible.

    He didn''t need to worry about betrayal.

    Returning his senses to what was happening in the real ne, Damien spread his awareness in search of Alea.

    ''So this is your decision.'' Hemented inwardly. As he watched, Alea conversed happily with the residents around her, experiencing their culture with a smile on her face.

    Though he didn''t care which decision she made in the end, he had to say that his impression of her improved somewhat when he saw her choice.

    It wasn''t easy to forgo power for morality, it was a choice not many would make. Especially in a ce like this where there was nobody around to judge that decision, making it was admirable.

    Damien shook his head. ''She''s the leader of the Beast Domain. It''d be stranger if she didn''t feel something after seeing a second Beast Domain in the dungeon. But since she won''t be training anymore¡­''

    It was time for them to leave. The subjugation on the surface would soon reach its conclusion as well.

    ***

    "You look like you enjoyed yourself," Damienmented to Alea.

    The day already ended and the two left the city on the 86th floor. Currently, Damien was apanying Alea as she cleaned out the higher floors before they left.

    "To be honest, I had more fun than I was expecting. My hubby really knows how to pick a good date spot." Alea smiled and responded.

    "Try calling me that around my wives and see how fast you die."

    "They aren''t powerful enough to kill me, though~?"

    "You''d be surprised," Damien remarked with a grin. "Those three have an unexpected level of synergy. Even I might struggle if they work together."

    "Are you implying that you''re stronger than me?"

    Damien quirked his brow. "Am I not?"

    Dragon Pressure leaked from his body, immediately causing Alea to lose strength in her legs.

    "Ahh~! This doesn''t count~!" Alea protested while squirming in pleasure.

    "Really? You won''t admit defeat?"

    "Never!" Alea eximed defiantly.

    "Okay." Damien shrugged. He retracted his Dragon Pressure easily, leaving Alea stuck trying to catch her breath.

    "Wait¡­I change my mind¡­you''re stronger than me, I admit it, so use your pressure again." She panted.

    Damien nced at her in disdain. "I bet nobody in the Beast Domain would''ve expected their Empress to be a hopeless pervert. The Beast Emperor really starved you, huh."

    Alea shuddered. With the state she was currently in, even Damien''s look of disdain was giving her endless pleasure.

    "Stop¡­no more¡­I can''t take it~" Alea moaned.

    Damien sighed helplessly. For just a single second, Dragon Pressure emitted from his body once more.

    But that single second was enough to send Alea over the edge. While she experienced orgasmic bliss, Damien left her alone and returned to the 20th floor of the dungeon.

    Looking at the small shack where he spent his days between training and killing, a warm smile unknowingly crept up his face.

    ''It''s still a work in progress, but I''ve really grown. It''s hard not to be proud of myself when I remember the old days.''

    Damien spent a few moments in reminiscence as he looked at the house. But, reminiscence was just that. To leave things in the past and move forward¡­

    Now that he saw this ce again with his own eyes, he was finally ready to do it.

    After spending some more time retracing his steps from years ago, Damien returned to Alea.

    "Ready to leave now?" He asked, ignoring the puddle of clear liquid she was sitting in.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­not ready¡­can''t walk¡­too much pleasure¡­" Alea responded.

    "Alright. I''ll leave you here and return alone. I''lle back for you in a few days."

    "W-wait! I suddenly feel better now!" Alea eximed, jumping up off the floor and patting herself down.

    Damien looked away. No matter how indifferent he tried to act, Alea really made it too hard on him.

    The way her breasts bounced with her movements, the trail of liquid between her thighs that she clearly let him see on purpose, her seduction tactics were impossible to ignore.

    But Damien persevered. ''Just a little longer. Just a little longer and I''ll be safe.''

    Praying that he didn''t make a mistake, he grabbed Alea and teleported them back to the surface.

    "You do whatever you want now. I''m leaving."

    Once they reached the surface, Damien was quick to leave Alea behind. The woman was too dangerous for him to stay around unless he was prepared to take another wife.

    So instead of focusing on her, Damien returned to the three women he already called his own.

    In specific, he went to the location of a certain blue-haired Valkyrie.

    He had been stalling for too long. Even though he knew what he wanted to say, telling Elena to her face was harder than he expected.

    Theing conversation would be far more difficult than the one he had with Rose. That was why he waited so long to have it.

    But after spending so much time with Alea, he missed his wives. He didn''t want to have trivial problems with any of them anymore.

    So it was finally time.

    Time for him to settle old grievances and start anew.

 Chapter 495 Talk [1]

    Two people sat on arge bed, leaning against the headboard and staring at the opposite wall. Even though they were on the same bed, there was a clear separation between them, neither willing to bridge the gap.

    The reason for their posture was simple. They couldn''t bear to face each other while saying the things they wanted to say.

    Elena fidgeted restlessly. When Damien said he wanted to have this conversation over a month ago, she was already nervous. She knew as well as he did how twisted their rtionship had be.

    They started off as simple childhood friends. They had a bond that not even the strongest God could break. When Elena thought about this bond¡­

    She wondered whether falling in love with Damien was ever the right decision.

    Maybe it was because of her love that their rtionship became so twisted. If she never desired progress in their rtionship after Damien already had Rose, she wouldn''t be feeling the ugly feelings in her heart right now.

    It was hard to suppress these thoughts. And because of theck of contact from Damien, her thoughts only became wilder with every passing day.

    "¡­I hated you." Damien finally opened his mouth and spoke. His voice was so low it was almost inaudible.

    But the words he said made Elena''s heart jump. An indescribable pain filled her heart, almost disallowing her from hearing the rest of his words.

    But Damien didn''t leave her waiting for long. He knew his words could be easily misinterpreted, and he wanted no more misunderstandings between them.

    "It was an unreasonable hatred, and it was concealed so deep I didn''t even notice it until a few months ago. From the start, the reason our rtionship became so twisted is my fault."

    Damien''s gaze never left the wall, but he could practically feel Elena''s nervousness. Yet, he didn''t look over. He didn''t know if he could say what he wanted to say if he looked over.

    "Before I fell, I ignored your feelings. It wasn''t that I didn''t know how you felt, it was that I thought of your feelings as another burden for me to carry." Damien sighed.

    "I''ve tried to justify my thought process from back then many times. I''ve tried to say it was inevitable for me to act like that since I had so much on my te. I tried to say that I was simply prioritizing survival over anything else.

    "¡­but that was always just me trying to absolve myself of me."

    The room was quiet. Even the sounds of crickets chirping in the nighttime outside were muted. But the cool moonlight still illuminated the area, giving something for Damien''s eyes to follow as he spoke the words he hid in his heart for so long.

    "I didn''t love you back then. I won''t lie to you and say that I did. Before my fall, I never thought of you as anything more than a childhood friend. And because I was afraid of our rtionship crumbling if I ever acknowledged your feelings, I ignored them.

    "I was simply being selfish. I didn''t want to lose the only support pir I had remaining in my dreary life. To the me back then, you became an object of dependence rather than a human being. It was a really cruel way to treat you, and the only thing I can do about it now is apologize.

    "However, I don''t think it''s something I should be forgiven for. The attitude I held back then was the beginning of our twisted rtionship."

    Damien closed his eyes. These were feelings of long ago and feelings that didn''t affect him much in the present. Whenpared to the other things he needed to say, this was the easiest.

    Yet, he was still having so much trouble.

    Elena, on the other hand, was trying her best to not break out into tears. To describe her current emotions in one word, she was heartbroken.

    It was hard. How was she supposed to simply take in Damien''s past perspective without feeling anything? Even if emotions of the past didn''t have any say in their current rtionship, did that mean it wouldn''t hurt?

    It wasn''t just the rejection that hurt. Damien practically said that he used to view her as a "tool" he could use to keep himself supported. Would any sane person be able to ept that?

    She felt betrayed.

    ? But she held on and continued listening. Even if his words hurt, they were words she needed to hear. It was a side of the story she needed to know if their current rtionship was to progress at all.

    Damien knew this too, and that was why he poured out all the negative feelings he hid without reservation.

    "Perhaps it was because of how I used to view you that hatred was born in my heart. When I was thrown into the dungeon, the target of my unreasonable me was you.

    "The little immature shit I used to be felt betrayed by his support pir. The fact that he was left alone in an unknown world whittled away at his sanity, further fueling that hatred. Since he had to put his everything into surviving, he slowly forgot about this hatred.

    "But it didn''t disappear."

    Damien sighed again. He couldn''t stop himself from sighing during this conversation. In the end, he told Elena about everything he saw in the Trial of Self.

    The raw emotions of a broken Damien, the result of his insanity, the irrationality of everything he did, he let Elena know it all.

    Not for forgiveness, not for pity, not for justification. He told her only so she could understand another root of the problem.

    "¡­after that, I met Rose. Rose was the one who pulled me out of the trench of insanity, she was the one who saved me from the personal hell I forged for myself. That might be the reason why I fell in love with her in the first ce. Another case of pathetic dependence.

    "It''s a miracle that my rtionship with Rose didn''t turn out to be toxic as well, but that''s most likely because I put conscious effort into preventing that development. Since Rose was beside me all the time, I was able to do that.

    "But it was different for you. Because most of the development between us happened when we were apart, I allowed our rtionship to continue twisting without even realizing it was happening."

    For the first time, Damien looked over at Elena. Her face was already stained with tears, but her expression was cold. He didn''t like the disconnect, but he couldn''t do anything about it.

    It was his fault.

    "Have I ever told you about the illusion trial I went through in Apeiron?" He suddenly asked.

    Not waiting for an answer, he continued speaking. He talked about the life he saw, the "what if" that would nevere to be.

    "In that life, our rtionship was able to develop without all theplications we experienced in reality. It was really a heartwarming scene. And it was that scene that dispelled the built-up hatred I had and nted a seed of interest in my heart.

    "This is where we get to the second change."

    "Stop." Elena interrupted before Damien could continue to speak.

    Looking at him coldly, she finally began voicing her thoughts.

 Chapter 496 Talk[2]

    "Knowing you, I can roughly guess how things y out from here. Let''s see, you met me again but avoided me because you thought your feelings were fake and produced by an illusion, then you let your insecurity take hold andpletely abandoned both me and Rose when we arrived at the Cloud ne."

    Elena sneered unintentionally. "I''m not as forgiving as Rose. She might''ve brushed this matter off, but I have no desire to do so."

    Elena wiped the tears from her face and looked directly at Damien. Maybe when this conversation first began, she was afraid of facing him, but it wasn''t the same now.

    With his words, her bottled-up emotions were set ame. She couldn''t control herself anymore.

    "What, did you think that this conversation would fix anything? Did you think telling me the reason behind your actions would matter? Sure, things are justified if you look at it from your perspective, but what about me?"

    "I spent YEARS waiting for you to look at me when we were still on Earth. Do you know how much that hurt? Even when you were doing your best to survive, was I not doing the same?"

    "I was one of the most talented people after the World Awakening, and at the same time, I was one of the most powerful. For me to love someone who the world considered trash, do you know how much bullshit I had to go through?"

    "Political power was still a strong force on Earth back then. Reputation meant everything. And it''s not like I hid my love at all. The blindest of people could understand my feelings. Think for a second. I had beauty and talent yet the only man in my eyes was trash. How do you think others reacted?"

    Elena took a few deep breaths to calm herself before continuing.

    "Attempts on your life, attempts on your mother''s life, nasty rumors that tried to destroy you, do you know how much I protected you back then? And you''re saying you only viewed me as a pir?! As a support you could use whenever you were feeling down?!"

    Elena''s voice crescendoed into a roar. And hearing what she had to say, Damien felt ashamed to the core.

    It was true that he never considered it. He looked down on Earth too much, thinking that there was no way weaklings in the 2nd ss could do anything major.

    But he forgot that back then, he was a ssless weakling without even the physical stats of an average human.

    It was obvious when he thought about it. It was impossible for the incident with Jin to have been a one-of-a-kind thing.

    His body shuddered.

    How many dungeons did he go into back then? How many times was he almost killed while being none the wiser? And how many times was his mother targeted with Elena cing him under her protection?

    The guilt he felt was multiplied manyfold in a single instant.

    But Elena wasn''t done.

    "And that was just before you fell. But, I can''t be too harsh about the time when you were in the dungeon since you were going through something far worse than me. I can at least understand the sentiment you held at that time.

    "But just because I understand it doesn''t mean I''ll discount my own efforts. Did you ever acknowledge it? The fact that I, someone from Earth, someone with far worse conditions, was able to keep up with you even a little when you returned, did you ever even say a word of praise?"

    "I''m not saying that I desired your praise so desperately, but I at least wanted my efforts to be seen. For the sole goal of staying by your side when you returned, I worked tirelessly. I was in dungeons every day. I never stopped killing, never stopped bathing myself in blood for this one purpose. The number of times I almost died is uncountable at this point.

    "But when you came back, you had another woman by your side. Can you even imagine how torn I felt at that moment?"

    Elena paused, sighing helplessly. "Again, I can''t me you here. How can I me you for falling in love with Rose? During the time I''ve spent with Rose, I''vee to wholly understand why you fell for her, and I support it as well.

    "Still, try putting yourself in my shoes. If Rose never epted your feelings, if you returned to Earth alone and upon visiting Apeironter learned that Rose found another husband, how would that feel?"

    Damien didn''t have to answer her question. The bubbling rage he felt from just a mention of the scenario was enough. If it actually happened¡­

    "You wouldn''t be able to stand it right?" Elena voiced his thoughts.

    "Yet, I withstood it. I stayed beside you even while knowing I had no chance, I buried my feelings and epted my role as your childhood friend¡­all so I could stand by your side."

    "And what did you give in return for my devotion? You abandoned me. You left me with the woman who stole my love and went to y around on your own. What kind of horribly dense person do you have to be to make that decision? Or were you too selfish to even consider the damage you caused?"

    Elena shook her head lightly. "Everything turned out fine, though. Unlike you, Rose understood my struggle and supported me. If it weren''t for her help, maybe I would''ve already abandoned my love for you. And if that had happened, it would''ve been nobody''s fault but yours."

    Damien gritted his teeth. He felt humiliated. It wasn''t Elena''s words, but his past actions that caused this feeling. Without Elena''s rant, he would''ve never known.

    He was too selfish. He never considered it for even a second. Even now, when he came to have this conversation with Elena, he never considered how deep her grievance would be.

    Instead of feeling closer to her, he felt like their rift was widening.

    Elena sighed to herself. She knew just as well as Damien that her rant wasn''t having any positive effects on their rtionship. But it had a positive effect on her. She was finally able to release the weight on her chest.

    And if Damien was allowed to be selfish for so long, she was allowed to do the same.

    "I don''t want these feelings to interfere with the current us," Elena muttered. "From the day you epted my feelings, I also epted you, whether it be the good or the bad. I slept with you knowing that my grudge would have to vanish.

    "But I still feel that you need to know about it. Know that I am not saying all of this to demoralize you or hurt you, I''m saying it so you can realize your mistakes. Knowing you, you didn''t know any of this before now, right?"

    Damien nodded slowly. He couldn''t refute her.

    "I only want you to grow. I want you to be a person who doesn''t make these kinds of mistakes anymore. I want our rtionship tost an eternity, and for that, we can''t ignore the problems of the past."

    Elena reached out. Her cold hand covered Damien''s, intertwining her fingers with his.

    "By being open and honest with each other, we''ve finally set the foundation. All that''s left is to build ourselves into different people and grow. And for that¡­"

    "I''ll be leaving to focus on myself for a while."

 Chapter 497 Parting [1]

    Raindrops fell quietly and met the earth below, but theirbined might turned their whispers into the roars of beasts, covering the entirety of the Central Continent in the sound of their pitter-pattering.

    On a nondescript mountain peak somewhere along the way, Damien sat on the roof of an old cabin, staring into the clouds with a lost expression.

    It had been a week. A week since the day Elena poured out her grievances in full, and a week since the day she left his side.

    It was a quiet week. A lonely one spent atop this unknown mountain peak.

    The rain painted Damien in its color, but he didn''t move. He closed his eyes and relished in the gloomy atmosphere that was created around him.

    It felt like the rain appeared whenever he needed it, whenever he needed the time alone to quietly submerge himself in peace and sadness.

    But it wasn''t strange. Ever since the incident when he received a Partial Baptism, his synchronicity with the world skyrocketed. His extreme emotions would be reflected in nature.

    And today, just like every other day of the past week, the Central Continent was covered in rain.

    Someone said parting was a sweet sorrow, but he couldn''t feel anything sweet about it. The only thing Damien tasted was bitterness.

    The situation made him think of another quote instead. A quote that said parting made one think. About what was once possessed, what was lost, and what was taken for granted.

    Damien was submerged in himself, unable to move forward. Elena''s words kept repeating in his ears without pause.

    "I''ll be leaving. There is somewhere I want to go, somewhere far away. It''s not a ce where I can take others, but it''s a ce where I can be reborn. Now, before the situation bes too chaotic, I wish to visit that ce." She had said.

    "You aren''t the only reason that I''m leaving, so don''t worry yourself about it needlessly. However, I do believe that some time apart will be best for us. Once we have be the best versions of ourselves, we will meet again. At that time, we will truly be husband and wife, inseparable by even Heaven''s decree."

    He could still see her expression when she spoke. The coldness in her gaze. Although the missing sentiments were present as well, they werergely hidden.

    ''I''ve fucked up.''

    It was the only thought Damien had. Hepletely screwed his rtionship with Elena. But if it didn''t happen now, it would''ve happened in the future.

    And at that time, it would''ve been far worse.

    ''She wasn''t wrong.'' He thought to himself. ''Our current dynamic is just toxic, hatred and love intertwining to create a strange and twisted rtionship. That was never what I wanted, nor what she wanted. Perhaps¡­''

    Perhaps her decision was the right one. Even if he knew what he wanted to think, he refused to manifest the words.

    It hurt. It hurt a lot. It hurt even worse knowing it was only his own inability that caused it.

    But what could he do?

    It had already been a week. Elena was probably long gone.

    Their talk didn''t end after Elena''s rant. The words she spewed were filled with emotion, and even she knew they were skewed by her perception.

    Elena acknowledged her mistakes and carelessness in the past. She knew that her affection was the reason Damien was targeted in the first ce.

    And so she found herself apologizing to him as well. Her brazen and childish attitude back then did indeed cause many problems.

    But what could they do? At that time, they really were just children. And even with what cameter, they couldn''t find it in themselves to me each other.

    Their rtionship simply wasn''t blessed by fate. Things went wrong due to idents and negligence, and then naivety towards those mistakes blew them out of proportion.

    So, taking a step back was the logical conclusion. Starting over anew when their old feelings subsided was truly best for them.

    But he couldn''t get it out of his head.

    Damien''s figure vanished, appearing in the Sanctuary. Without hesitation, he went to the territory of the Demons.

    "Lucius, let me borrow your maid." He spoke when he met the former Demon King.

    Lucius raised his brow in surprise. "No father-inw today? It feels a bit weird now that I''ve gotten used to it."

    Damien shook his head. "I''m not in the mood right now, I apologize. Allow me to borrow your maid and I''ll be eternally grateful."

    Lucius dropped his joking attitude. "How long do you need her?"

    "I''m not sure."

    "You aren''t sure? Then what do you need her for?"

    Damien hesitated for a moment. "I need her to protect someone."

    Lucius rubbed his chin curiously. "I see, so it''s something like that. You could''ve gone to any of the other 4th sses here, but you specifically chose her, which means you need her stealth¡­are you sure you just want her to protect?"

    Damien nodded. "Yes. I only wish for her to protect."

    Lucius carefully examined Damien''s face and nodded. "Fine. Just this once, but you''ll owe me a favor. Latia,e here for a moment."

    The maid appeared next to Lucius in a blur, kneeling on the ground. "Yes, Master."

    "From now until he tells you toe back, you''ll be following young Damien''s orders. He has a task for you."

    "Yes, Master," Latia replied concisely. She stood up and turned to face Damien, bowing to him in courtesy.

    Damien waved his hand dismissively. "No need for formalities. This is the woman you''ll be protecting."

    Damien used his mana to shape Elena''s face. Along with it, he used his Star Master abilities to secure her mana signature so Latia wouldn''t get confused.

    "You don''t need to go overboard. Let her do whatever she wants. But if there is an instant where you judge she can''t escape the situation on her own, act. Unless that momentes, do not move even if she looks on the verge of death."

    Latia bowed again. "Yes, sir."

    Damien nodded and took her out of the Sanctuary. "She headed off to the south. With your speed, you should be able to catch up in a few days."

    "Yes, sir." The maid turned around to leave after receiving instructions, but Damien grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

    When she looked back at him, her body froze instinctively.

    Bloodlust.

    An insane amount of bloodlust.

    Damien''s killing intent was released in full force. It was something he usually didn''t do. As for the reason why¡­

    Blood red killing intent filled the air for tens of kilometers. It almost formed a domain with how palpable it was.

    It reeked. The blood stench flooded into Latia''s nostrils, making her want to gag. She had seen many people before, ruthless ones that''d kill at the most casual slight.

    But none of them had killing intent like this.

    World Force pulsated from Damien''s body, further heightening his killing intent to the point where it began to warp reality.

    Blood red clouds in the sky, a blood sea forming around them, mountains of corpses manifested, stacking up to the Heavens.

    Latia was frozen in fear. Even if she wanted to move, her body refused to obey hermand.

    Damien gazed into her eyes coldly. He looked like a reaper trying to steal her soul. His mouth opened and he spoke slowly, annunciating every syble.

    "I will say it one time and one time only. If she dies, regardless of the circumstance, it isn''t just your life on the line. Your master, everyone around him, anyone you''ve ever cared about will die under my hand. Even if you can''t return, you better make sure she does."

    Boom!

    Blood-red lightning fell from the sky, incinerating the mountain on which the two stood.

    And then, everything vanished.

    Damien let go of Latia''s arm and walked away, his figure flying into the sky to find a new mountain to reside on.

    As for Latia, she stood in ce for many minutes without moving. It seemed¡­this job was the most important mission she''d ever been assigned.

 Chapter 498 Parting [2]

    Why did he do it? Even he didn''t know. Did he not trust Elena? That wasn''t the reason. He just wanted her to be safe. He wanted a guarantee.

    So rather than providing her a bodyguard, he was providing her a human shield. A one-time-use item that could protect her from death.

    Considering her attitude before she left, if he tried to give her anything more, it''d be a mistake.

    But just giving her one more safety measure didn''t improve Damien''s mood at all. The rain encapsting the Central Continent was endless.

    ''Have I not been growing?'' Damien questioned. He didn''t even realize how much he had left to learn until Elena said it to his face. If he couldn''t even recognize his faults, didn''t that mean he was still stuck? Was all his talk of growing just for show?

    ''No.'' He realized it instantly. He had definitely grown from the person he used to be. ''But my starting line wasn''t the same as everyone else''s.''

    He regressed emotionally and became a beast in the dungeon. From there, he had to regain his humanity before anything else. Only after that was he able to focus on solving his own trauma. In that time, he didn''t have any chance to consider anyone else.

    After all, personal mental health was more important than anything else. Sacrificing one''s own mental health for someone else was just as, if not more, toxic than their rtionship had been so far.

    It could be said that he was absolving himself of me again, but it was simply the truth. How could a Damien who was running away from himself amodate others?

    When hepleted the Trial of Self, he broke even. He was finally on the starting line.

    But everyone else was already manyps ahead.

    Time didn''t wait for him to grow. The knots of his rtionships didn''t stop getting further tangled just because he wanted them to.

    He was already toote by the time he was ready.

    It was a situation where everyone was a victim, but Elena definitely took the brunt of the pain. Damien at least had Rose by his side, while Elena was alone. Damien''s other struggles kept his mind away from these kinds of problems, but Elena was submerged in them for years.

    There wasn''t a right or wrong in this matter, and that was why Damien couldn''t get mad at her and couldn''t deny her words at all.

    ''To meet again when we''re the best versions of ourselves, huh¡­but, I don''t think I''ll be able to achieve that at the same time you do.''

    Damien sighed heavily. The rain became fiercer. He didn''t know what to do.

    But he had to move forward.

    Elena was gone, but she wasn''t gone forever. If he wanted to be together with her when she returned, he needed to improve himself.

    ''Strength is important, but the mind is as well. Perfect bnce between the body and mind, this is the peak state that I wish to reach.''

    Maybe it wasn''t possible before Elena returned, he could ept that. But he couldn''t ept not making any progress in the time he had.

    Now that he knew his mistakes, all that was left was to fix them. And then, he could prove that he was worthy of Elena''s devotion, the very same devotion he neglected until it was no longer by his side.

    About what he had, what he lost, and what he took for granted. His parting with Elena truly made him reflect on it.

    Perhaps the skies wished to remain filled with rain. It was a seasonal change that the Central Continent rarely got to see.

    But it was enough. The skies had cried until their tears ran dry. The Central Continent thoroughly understood its sorrows.

    So, the rain would have to give way to the sun''s rays at some point.

    And time would drift on regardless.

    Damien stood up, his mind free of extraneous thought. His body flickered like a candle wisp and faded from existence.

    2 dayster, the rain finally stopped.

    And 3 months after that, the Cloud ne''s purge ended as well.

    ***

    Somewhere in the starry sky, thousands of kilometers away from the Cloud ne, a woman sat atop a flight artifact that drifted through space.

    But her pace was slow. She couldn''t seem to take her eyes off the direction of the world she was leaving.

    She sighed to herself. She made the decision to leave after a great deal of thought. Even though her timing in announcing it made it seem like it was directly rted to her issue with Damien, that simply wasn''t true.

    Regardless of how their conversation went, she was still going to leave.

    And that was why it hurt so much.

    ''I wonder how long it''ll be until our next meeting¡­?'' She wondered inwardly.

    If she was being honest, she wasn''t as mad at Damien as she made it seem when they talked. She was plenty aware that she also yed arge part in their twisted rtionship.

    But her bottled-up emotions influenced her in the moment and caused her outburst.

    And although those emotions were plenty real, they weren''t how she was feeling anymore. The knots in her heart loosened greatly after she finally voiced her inner negativity.

    But perhaps, it was best that way. With the way she parted from him, they were both filled with determination to move forward.

    And that was all she could hope for.

    ''Haa¡­the goodbyes are all done, but I still haven''t left. Won''t it be embarrassing if they see me?'' Elena joked, trying to cheer herself up.

    But there was nobody there to answer her. Her mood became somewhat downcast.

    Everything in the world represented duality. Within the good there was bad, and within the bad there was good. Regardless of her words, Elena''s memories of the time she spent with Damien and his party were mostly memories she cherished.

    The issues in her heart didn''t stop her from thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere created within the small group.

    But, now that they were gone, now that she had to continue onward alone for a nondescript period of time, she regretted acting hastily.

    ''No, this is a necessary step. If I want to keep up with those geniuses and stand by their side, I must train constantly and get stronger. Just like I''ve always done.''

    She spent nearly 24 hours a day in the dungeon after Damien fell. She ate in the dungeon, slept in the dungeon, and hunted in the dungeon.

    Although her situation was far better than Damien''s since she had the option to leave the dungeons, along with ess to anything Earth had to offer, it wouldn''t be a mistake to say she spent 2 years trapped in the dungeon as well.

    All she needed to do was channel that spirit, remember her drive from back then¡­

    And then capitalize on that drive to gain power.

    So she remembered.

    She remembered how hungry she was back then, how she devoured all the experience the dungeons provided her¡­

    Elena''s eyes shot open. They glowed in sapphire-white light as her purpose was reaffirmed.

    With onest look at the Cloud ne, she turned her flight artifact around and shot off into the distance, her destination unknown even to her.

 Chapter 499 Departing [1]

    Uponpletion of the purge, news spread throughout the Cloud ne describing the events that took ce under the surface.

    The purge, the traitors, all of it reached the ears of even the mostmon people.

    There were 3 women that took the forefront of even this news, but unfortunately, from a certain point onward, only two of them remained.

    But their fame wasn''t light at all. It rivaled even the recently created legend of Heaven''s Wrath.

    While the people of the Cloud ne were in an uproar, a meeting took ce in a secret location hidden amongst the clouds. It was a floating ind simr to the one Tang Lingzi resided on.

    "Our goal is simple." Shangguan Yu spoke seriously at the front of the crowd. "We will exterminate Niflheim entirely."

    The crowd wasn''t filled with arge number of people. There were at most a few thousand. On an operation where they were facing millions or even billions of enemies, this number was nothing.

    But each and every existence present was a powerhouse, an elite chosen specifically for this mission.

    "We will split into four teams. The Sun Squadron will be under my leadership. We will stay in Asgard territory andmand the entire mission. We are the main connecting point between every other team and the ones who ry information between them. Not only that, we''ll also be keeping track of the Niflheim executives'' movements and dying them if need be."

    Shangguan Yu held up a jade slip, which turned into a few hundred specks of light that hovered over the same number of individuals in the crowd.

    "Those of you who have been marked,e over to the Sun Pagoda. I will give you a more specific briefing of your missions."

    As Shangguan Yu led his group away, Bai Xieren took the floor. "The Moon Squadron will be under me. We will be in charge of reconnaissance and infiltration. Follow me to the Moon Pavilion if you are marked."

    A few hundred more specs of light flew out, and unexpectedly, one of them arrived atop Damien''s head.

    Damien''s eyes widened. ''Infiltration again? Aren''t I more suited for a main attack force?!''

    Hemented inwardly, but he couldn''t do anything about it. This mission was too big for him to bring personal preference into.

    He could only wish his wives goodbye and follow Bai Xieren to the Moon Pavilion.

    Tian Yang grinned seeing his disciple''s downcast expression and sent a mental transmission.

    ''Brat, don''t worry too much. I''m sure you''ll love the task that''s been assigned to you.''

    Damien shot a re at Tian Yang as he walked away. ''Hmph. It better be good. I swear I''ll beat your ass if it isn''t.''

    Tian Yang rolled his eyes. ''Yeah, yeah. By the way, I know you''re probably worried, but little Yue''er and your Rose are both in my attack force because of their performance during the purge. You don''t have to worry about their safety.''

    Damien didn''t respond, but he couldn''t hide the relieved smile on his face as he walked away.

    As long as he had Tian Yang''s promise, he really didn''t need to worry about Ruyue or Rose. His master would protect them from anything they couldn''t handle.

    And after his worry was cleared, curiosity immediately got the better of him.

    When he walked into the Moon Pavilion, he was greeted by a familiar face among a group of strangers.

    A certain ck-haired sword cultivator stood amongst the ranks with a downtrodden expression on his face. Seeing him, Damien grinned.

    He shed next to Long Chen and gave him a hard p on the back. "My good brother! It seems we''re fated to work together once again."

    Long Chen''s head shakily turned to the side, his movements like a robot''s. And seeing the face he expected but didn''t want to see, a defeater sigh leaked from his mouth.

    "Fuck."

    Damien''s grin widened immediately. His arm moved, giving Long Chen a few more heavy pats. "Ah? Don''t be like that! Aren''t you excited?"

    Long Chen rolled his eyes. "I''d be more excited watching a dog shitting."

    Damien''s face wrinkled in disgust. He backed away slowly. "Damn, you''re into that kind of thing? I might have to reconsider our brotherhood."

    "Into what kind of¡­you little bastard. Don''t let me catch you alone. I won''t let you off the hook."

    Damien jumped back exaggeratedly. "I-I appreciate your feelings, but I''m sorry. I''m straight."

    Long Chen''s forehead twitched unceasingly. His face was practically tomato colored. Instead of speaking again, he turned around and refocused on the happenings of the Moon Pavilion.

    Damien smiled in satisfaction. Annoying Long Chen was always a great way to get rid of his worries.

    "Good, it seems everyone is here."

    Bai Xieren''s voice rang out from the front of the crowd, where a small elevated stage was located.

    "The Moon Squadron, as I said before, will be in charge of mainly reconnaissance and information gathering. We will create awork that reaches the top of Niflheim''s management and coordinate with the Sun Squadron to create chaos within their ranks and create opportunities for the Star and Celestial Squadrons to attack.

    Bai Xieren paused, panning her gaze over the crowd slowly.

    "However, we will aplish all of this within 6 months."

    The crowd immediately went into an uproar. Although 6 months was a long time, it was nothing when the opponent was a foe the size of Niflheim.

    "I will not hear yourints. If we do notplete our mission properly, the entire n will be derailed. Instead ofining, take the time to understand the roles you will be assigned. The Moon Pavilion is fully equipped with all supplies you could possibly need for your tasks. Visit the attendants if you wish to know more."

    After giving a few more words of rundown on the overarching situation, Bai Xieren turned around and left. However, as she did so¡­

    ''If you are hearing this message, split off from the main group and meet me in the rear courtyard. If you are able to arrive unnoticed, I shall reward you. However, if you are discovered, you will lose your qualifications to participate in this raid.''

    Damien heard the sudden sound transmission clear as day. And from the look on Long Chen''s face, he heard it as well.

    Damien grinned wildly. "It looks like the old man wasn''t lying. Something fun is going to happen.''

    But of course, Damien was a benevolent and kind saint. He believed in fairness and justice.

    Therefore, he chose not to use his Star Master abilities in the challenge Bai Xieren gave out.

    Instead, he just spread his awareness normally and found the rear courtyard, used vector control to mask his spatial fluctuations, and teleported directly to the specified location.

    He stepped out of the void with a casual smile on his face, facing Bai Xieren with pride.

    "I was almost worried when I was put on some bullshit spy squad, but it seems your ambitions are far grander than that. Mm, this is a satisfactory job. I''ll be looking forward to it."

    He walked confidently and took his seat in one of the 5 chairs spread around the table Bai Xieren was sitting at.

    "So? How about a rundown, Sect Master?"

 Chapter 500 Departing [2]

    Bai Xieren rolled her eyes indifferently. "Wait until the rest arrive."

    Damien shrugged and spread his awareness to cover the floating ind. He watched as four others, including Long Chen, made their way to the courtyard using various methods.

    To the East was a woman submerged in shadows. Her body moved from shadow to shadow indiscreetly, slowly making her way to the room. It was a method Damien had used before by borrowing Zara''s power.

    To the North was a man with anky build, almost to the point of looking malnourished. As Damien watched, his body disappeared, leaving only his clothes to fall to the floor.

    On the ground below, a small green snake slithered unnoticed through the crowd, its destination the same as the previous woman''s.

    To the Northwest, another woman, but her following actions made Damien unsure of her gender. Her physical form shifted and morphed constantly, taking the visage of other members of the Moon Squadron and using their appearances to slip through the crowd without raising eyebrows.

    And finally, to the southeast where Damien just came from was Long Chen, the least graceful of the four. Yet, his performance was the one Damien was most curious about.

    Ever since Damien knew him, he knew Long Chen as a sword cultivator. The mana he used was always attributeless and imbued into his Sword Aura.

    But, would his sword skills help him with stealth? Damien really had to wonder how he was going to manage.

    As Damien watched, Long Chen stood motionlessly among the crowd, seemingly pondering on how to move.

    His eyes closed lightly as he did so, his awareness spread to the brim.

    ''This is a stealth mission. Why would I be chosen for a stealth mission? My strong suits aren''t geared toward stealth at all¡­''

    He was utterly confused. He''d been in this state since the moment he was chosen for the Moon Squadron instead of Tian Yang''s Celestial Squadron.

    But, he didn''t have a choice in this matter. Besides, there was no way those powerful Sect Master-level personages didn''t understand his strengths and weaknesses. His cement must''ve held some meaning.

    For him to understand that meaning, however, he needed to firstplete Bai Xieren''s challenge.

    Long Chen hesitated. ''I''m confident in my speed, but there are high-level 4th-ss beings present. I am not fast enough to avoid their detection. Do I really have no choice but to¡­?''

    Long Chen''s face wrinkled in frustration. To be honest, he truly hated his elemental affinity. There was a reason hepletely forwent it to be a swordmaster.

    But this was a situation he didn''t think he could get through without using it.

    Long Chen clicked his tongue in resignation. ''How did they even find out? I''ve only practiced it intermittently, and that was inplete privacy¡­''

    In the end, he shook his head. There was no point in trying to justify the actions of people he didn''t understand.

    ''Fine. If that is what you wish, then I''ll apany you to y.''

    Elemental affinities were strange. Most of the time, they perfectly matched the personality and ideology of the individual who possessed them. There was a reason the individual had an "affinity" toward a specific element.

    But sometimes, this rule didn''t hold steady. Some people were born with affinities thatpletely shed with them, and these were the people who pioneered fields like Sword Laws or Formations.

    So when Long Chen''s body became hazy, and a colorless, formless poison spread from his skin to infect the people around him, it became clear that he was thetter case.

    ''Tch. Even the strongest poison in my body will only neutralize a 4th ss being for a few seconds. I must hurry.''

    The poison spread rapidly and infected everyone within several meters. One by one, their gazes be cloudy and their minds confused.

    ''Now.''

    At the most opportune moment, Long Chen''s body bent like a bow and released like an arrow, zooming through the dazed crowd and arriving at the rear courtyard within an instant.

    His speed was nothing to scoff at. And because of his strange clearing method, he actually arrived in the room second to Damien, who was sitting and watching him with an entertained grin on his face.

    "Who would''ve thought you''d be born with a poison affinity? Haha, the Heavens must''ve been jealous of your sword talent." Damien joked.

    Long Chen smiled wryly in response. "I must be quite talented then, since they gave me a special poison physique along with this affinity."

    "What?! A physique too?" Damien''s brow quirked in curiosity.

    "That''s right, I have the Heart of Poison. My blood is capable of storing and assimting poisons that I canter dilute and excrete through my skin or use directly through blood. What, are you scared now?" Long Chen bragged.

    Damien scoffed in return. "Scared? Why would I be? If there''s one person your poison will never affect, then it''s me."

    "Do you want to test that?" Long Chen grinned evilly.

    Damien matched his grin. "Oh? If you want to test me, you''ll have to be willing to lose something."

    "If you win, I''ll submit and let you be the big brother."

    "I''m already the big brother though?"

    "Tch, minor details."

    As the two continued to converse, the other three participants slowly made their way to the room.

    First to arrive was the woman with the transformation ability, followed by the snake man and then the shadow woman. Once they all sessfullypleted the trial, Bai Xieren nodded in satisfaction.

    "Good. This team should do for now, but it''ll need to be expanded in the future."

    As she stood indifferently, the snake man hesitantly raised his hand to ask a question.

    "What?" Bai Xieren asked off-handedly, "speak if you have something to say."

    "I-I apologize f-for my brazenness, b-but¡­w-what are we being g-gathered for?" He asked, barely stuttering his way through the question.

    "Hm?" Bai Xieren looked up at the group. "Ah, I see you have not yet been told what your task is. Very well, I shall give a short exnation."

    Standing up from her seat, Bai Xieren towered over the five seated individuals that had been called for this mission.

    "Starting tomorrow, until the day this mission ends, you will no longer be known by your names. Everything that signifies your unique identity as an individual will be erased, and you will be ced under a Mana Oath to prevent information leaks.

    "And once that process is finished, you will be assigned new identities as the Hidden Dragon Group."

    "H-hidden Dragon Group?" The snake man repeated, confused.

    The shadow woman narrowed her eyes instead. "I see, so these people must have simr skill sets to me. I didn''t think the grand experts of our world would use such petty tactics."

    "Petty tactics?" The transformation woman scoffed, "this is war, littless. There is no such thing as a petty tactic."

    Damien nodded his head in agreement, while Long Chen looked slightly ufortable with the words. As for the snake man, he was still utterly confused about what was happening.

    "C-can somebody p-please exin to m-me?!" He said, practically spilling tears.

    The shadow woman looked over at him in derision. "You still don''t get it?"

    Her gaze panned across the room, seemingly gauging the individuals around her.

    "This ragtag group, ahem sorry, the Hidden Dragon Group we''ll be forming¡­"

    Her gaze returned to Bai Xieren, who sat indifferently as if nothing concerned her. The shadow woman was forced to ignore her and continue her thought.

    "We are the assassin division hidden within the Moon Pavilion, and what might very well be its main purpose."

 Chapter 501 Departing [3]

    The meeting between Bai Xieren and the founding five members of the Hidden Dragon Group ended quickly. There wasn''t much for them to speak about.

    For the earlier stages of the operation, these members would be acting along with the rest of the Moon Squadron to infiltrate Niflheim. Only after preliminary preparations were finished would the assassinations begin.

    But due to the nature of the operation, where prolonged contact between team members wasn''t allowed, the formation of the group had to be done before they left the Cloud ne.

    When the meeting ended, Bai Xieren left the five members in the room to familiarize themselves with each other.

    Damien looked around with a curious expression on his face. ''What a strange way to build synergy. Or are you saying that hierarchy is more important than synergy in this operation?''

    His thoughts were on the words Bai Xieren left for them. ording to her, the five of them would have codenames determined in order of strongest to weakest.

    As for how they decided the order, that was up to them.

    The shadow woman spoke first. "Since we will be working together from now on, an introduction is necessary. I am called Li Xiu. I am an expert in Darkness Laws."

    Following her introduction, the transformation woman spoke as well. The rxed smile on her face never once left even as she spoke. "Aiya, if you are being so upfront, how can I deny you? This little one is called Jiang Hualing. Well met."

    "And your specialty?" Li Xiu asked.

    Jiang Hualing gave her a sideways nce, smiling slyly. "My, my. Wouldn''t you like to know?"

    "You¡­!"

    Before the two could quarrel, the snake man stood up abruptly and opened his mouth.

    "H-hello, everyone! Y-you can just call me Hebi."

    He stuttered the words out, but his mouth didn''t seem to want to continue after his initial introduction. He shamefully took his seat again, looking to thest two present for help.

    Damien smiled helplessly when he saw the man. He was really an unfortunate existence. Thinking so, Damien gave his own introduction to offset the awkwardness.

    "I''m Damien Void. You can regard me as a spatial expert. Oh, but I''m still a 3rd ss."

    His second sentence caused many eyebrows to be raised, but hisst sentence caused them to go down immediately after.

    Even if he was a rare spatial expert, a 3rd ss didn''t hold much weight at all. It just went to show how highly Laws were regarded.

    Seeing their reactions, though, Long Chen sighed and gave a simr introduction. "Long Chen. I''m a sword cultivator with some experience using poison. I''m also a 3rd ss."

    Li Xiu looked them over in contempt. She truly had to wonder what the experts were thinking, putting two weaklings on their elite team.

    But she quickly ignored them. It just meant she had lesspetition to worry about.

    "From worst to best, there is ck Dragon, White Dragon, Green Dragon, Violet Dragon, and Golden Dragon. We can easily put the two weaklings in the bottom spots, and that coward can have the Green Dragon position."

    Li Xiu took three of the medallions Bai Xieren left for them and tossed them to the three men in the group. Damien was given the ck Dragon Medallion.

    Looking at thest two medallions in her hand, Li Xiu finished her words. "As for me, I think I''m most fit to be the leader of our group. What say you?"

    Her ending question was naturally directed at the only person in the room whom she acknowledged. But Jiang Hualing continued paying Li Xiu no mind. Instead, her gaze was focused on Damien.

    "Interesting little boy, how about bing the Golden Dragon?" She suddenly asked.

    Damien raised his brow in surprise. "And why would you want me in that position?"

    "Hmm¡­because you seem more fun than this sorry little girl?" Jiang Hualing quirked her head and said.

    Damien looked at the Golden Dragon Medallion in Li Xiu''s hand. It''d be a lie to say he wasn''t tempted.

    Even disregarding the fact that Damien was nigh invincible in the Cloud ne, he could still defeat everyone in this room.

    After all, the three 4th ss existences on the team all focused on assassination. Especially against Li Xiu, who mainly specialized in stealth, Damien''s spatial awareness and Void Physique made him practically impervious.

    ''But¡­what''s the point?''

    Damien smiled lightly. He clutched the ck Dragon Medallion in his hand and shook his head. "No, I''m okay with the position I have now. If you guys want to fight amongst yourselves, you can, but I''ll be leaving now. I need to tell my wives goodbye, after all."

    Damien''s smile was real. As he shed away from the meeting room without any prior warning, his smile remained.

    The Golden Dragon Medallion was indeed tempting, but it wasn''t what Damien wanted.

    What did the Golden Dragon Medallion mean? It was the mark of the leader and the strongest team member.

    ? It was a position filled with responsibility, and the one who filled that position would be given the most challenging assignments.

    Then¡­what about the ck Dragon?

    Of course, the ck Dragon position was more like a substitute for the team than a team member. Although they''d still be given missions, they weren''t needed most of the time.

    Essentially, they had an incredible amount of freedom.

    Damien''s grin widened. ''The old man is still looking out for me even at this juncture. I have to give him something in return one of these days.''

    Damien understood the message he was given. He was never meant to be the Golden Dragon in the first ce.

    No, even the Hidden Dragon Group was merely a cover built for him. Long Chen was added to that group so he''d have someone trustworthy to both connect him to the main headquarters and aid him in his movements.

    Damien''s job was assassination. There was no doubt he''d be assigned to carry out this task plenty of times, especially since Bai Xieren knew his true worth.

    But in the times when he wasn''t needed, Tian Yang was allowing him to move on his own and explore. His master was trusting his ability to aid this operation.

    As Damien went to visit Rose and Ruyue onest time, Tian Yang smiled lightly in another area of the floating ind.

    ''That''s right. When we get to Niflheim, run wild. I shall cover your rear and take care of the aftermath.''

    Tian Yang could see it. He could see the quality within Damien that not many people had. He could see what would best be termed as "the Universe''s favor" for Damien.

    Even though Damien always ended up a small yer, he was always a part of the grand flow of the universe.

    Wherever the most pressing issues were, Damien was guaranteed to stumble there as well.

    The 3000 Beast Mountain Range was a perfect example of this conjecture.

    And Tian Yang knew. With each world-changing event that Damien experienced, he yed a bigger role than thest.

    With him roaming free in Niflheim and having his own adventure away from the constraints of the military¡­

    Tian Yang could only suppress his excitement and wait to see what surprises his disciple would bring him this time.

 Chapter 502 Departing [4]

    Preparations for the Niflheim operation were done mostly in secret. The onlyrge meeting was the first one where those participating were split into their respective squadrons.

    After that, at most only individual squadrons met. There was no need for further discussion as arge group since everything was being coordinated by the leaders.

    After one more week passed, it was time for the Moon Squadron to set off.

    Damien stood in front of Rose and Ruyue. The air between the three was filled with sorrow for parting.

    Due to the nature of their job, the Sun and Moon Squadrons would arrive in Niflheim first. Only after the 6 month period given to the Moon Squadron to secure themselves would the Star and Celestial Squadrons arrive in the new world.

    It was a ploy to not attract too much attention, as well as a move for efficiency.

    Sadly, this meant Damien would have to spend another 6 months away from his wives.

    "It seems like every time we get together, we''re separated immediately after." Damien sighed sadly.

    But there was nothing he could do about it.

    Rose shook her head. "Don''t talk nonsense. Separations like these are only so that we can build a future where we will never part, right?"

    She looked at Damien endearingly as she spoke, and he understood her hidden meaning. Returning her smile, Damien echoed herst word. "Right."

    He turned to look at Ruyue, who immediately turned her head away.

    "Are you angry?" He asked softly. Ruyue shook her head furiously.

    "I-How could I be angry?" Ruyue muttered. "It''s just that you''re so crazy when you''re alone, how can I trust you to keep yourself safe?"

    Rose nodded her head in agreement. "You''re right. My only worry is that he''ll do something masochistic again for the sake of his goal."

    Ruyue''s back straightened as she received Rose''s support. She became bolder with her words. "B-besides, who knows how you''ll go around chasing flowers and spring scenery when we are not with you? Even when we are together with you, you still manage to attract more women!"

    Rose''s nodding became vehement. "I know, right?! He''s even seducing beauties without doing anything recently. It''s really troublesome."

    Rose''s words brought back memories the trio had of a certain Empress in Apeiron. The way she would pester Damien in the time before they left the world, both Rose and Ruyue were irked by the fact that she was too strong for them to handle alone.

    If Elena was still here, they''d stand a chance, but¡­

    Rose shook her head. There was no need to be sad over Elena''s departure since they''d inevitably meet again in the future.

    Since Elena was leaving to get stronger, Rose needed to focus as well. If there was one person she refused to lose to, it was Elena.

    The trio of husband and wives continued their conversation deep into the night, along with satisfying some of their physical cravings for each other.

    But Damien still wasn''t able to take the final step with Ruyue. When he tried, she put her finger over his mouth and whispered into his ear.

    "Come back safe this time as well, and I''ll let you do whatever you want to me."

    It went without saying that Damien''s lust was piqued by her words. The night the three shared after that was especially exciting.

    But the sun and moon had to interchange at some point. The continuation of natural order wouldn''t pause for the missing sentiments of three people.

    And when the sun rose across the horizon of the Cloud ne, Damien found himself standing atop arge flight-type artifact that could house the 650 members of the Moon Squadron.

    ''This artifact is surprisingly modern. The design is simr to an aircraft carrier, except it''s a spade vessel. How curious.'' Damienmented to himself.

    The atmosphere inside the ship waspletely different from the Cloud ne. If Damien had to exin it, he''d say that the genre changed from Eastern Fantasy to Sci-fi.

    ''This bodes well for theing trip. Taking the advanced equipment those scientists on Earth had, I''m assuming this Niflheim dabbled into mana engineering and science far more than those of the Cloud ne did.''

    Was it a difference in cultures? Were they influenced somehow? It all made Damien curious.

    Especially when he remembered an old question he harbored. After spending so much time in the Cloud ne, it''dpletely slipped his mind.

    ''Mana Circuits of Apeiron, In-borne Meridians of the Cloud ne, Earth seems to be developing a system of Mana Circles and Veins¡­will Niflheim show me something different as well?''

    Worlds were so curious. Damien remembered the reason his spark of adventure shone so brightly. He utterly loved discovering all these small things.

    Although the mana utilization methods of each ce being different didn''t affect their battle prowess much, it told to how their civilization developed.

    The way they utilized mana would change based on their environment. In a world of heavy technological advents like Niflheim, how did they develop?

    Besides curiosity, there was also desire. The Ananta Matrix was built with situations like these in mind.

    If the Niflheim method of mana utilization was useful and could be incorporated into the ever-changing Ananta Matrix¡­

    Damien would be far more powerful without the need to face his Baptism early.

    ''Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate. It sounds some, it sounds like an excuse to run away from my tribtion. But¡­'' Damien grinned to himself.

    There''s no way he''d be afraid of his Universe Baptism. He''d already gone through something simr already.

    The reason for his sudden change in focus to consolidating his current power was different. Actually, the causey in Yun.

    [4th-ss is a power level that heavily relies onprehension. The weight of one''s Legend bes increasingly important as well. If the Master wishes to firm his foundation for Godhood, it is best to reach the peak of your current power before attempting to attain the Universe''s acknowledgement.]

    It came suddenly one day after he received his Partial Baptism. At that point, he felt extreme confidence to break through immediately.

    But before he could ride his high and make a decision he''d regret in the future, Yun spoke up.

    But¡­there was much that Damien didn''t understand about Yun''s words. But he understood the gist.

    "Focus on raisingprehension instead of leveling."

    Damien smiled. ''It''s not bad. It''s actually quite fun to suppress myself and improve myself at the same time. The challenge is truly motivating.''

    His current location was within the small room he was given as amodation. His gaze was directed outside the ss-like window that decorated the side of the room.

    He watched as the flight artifact slowly rose from the ground, the mana around it raging and allowing it to hover in the air.

    On the ground below, he saw two dots of pink and white standing and watching the ship''s departure.

    He waved them goodbye, even though he knew they couldn''t see him.

    And his sights were set on the future, clearing his mind of anything other than it.

    A new adventure was finally starting, and the war that had been looming over the horizon for so long was finally within reach.

    Damien''s entire body tingled in excitement as he thought about it.

    ***

    Sector 3 was located near the observable universe''s periphery. In fact, it was possible for one to enter the Abyss through Sector 3.

    But it was still bordered on two sides by other Sectors. Sector 4 of the Giants and Sector 2 of the Demons.

    Currently, in the center of Demon Territory, amotion was taking ce.

    "Lord! An Angel has visited the pce!" An rmed voice cried out as it entered the throne room.

    Lucifer, the current Monarch of Demon Territory, indifferently gazed upon the messenger.

    But since he didn''t speak any words, the messenger knew he was being told to continue.

    "Lord, the High Angel Parsiel is requesting an audience with you. He doesn''t seem to be visiting with hostile intentions."

    Lucifer''s eyes left the attendant and switched to the throne room doors. However, it was clear that his eyes easily pierced through such a flimsy physical barrier.

    It didn''t take long to find his target. The High Angel Parsiel, the very same angel who participated in the emergency meeting only a few months ago, was pacing impatiently in the reception hall.

    Lucifer''s cid gaze watched Parsiel for a few moments before he tiredly opened his mouth.

    "Let him in. I wish to see him as well."

 Chapter 503 Travel [1]

    A month passed quickly after the departure of the Sun and Moon Squadrons, marking thepletion of a third of their voyage.

    In this time, Damien obviously didn''t stay in his small cabin. His figure could be seen atop the flight artifact''s surface, basking in the feeling of outer space around him.

    He didn''t think he''d ever get tired of this feeling. The feeling of spatial essence nketing everything and dering its dominion was fascinating.

    Not to mention, hisprehension always felt a major boost whenever he went into the starry sky. Since it was the purest and mostplex spatial essence in the entire universe, this was only natural.

    ''The essence is so thick andplex that most people would be shredded on contact. I used to think that any 3rd ss could traverse the starry sky, but I was dead wrong.''

    Even a 3rd ss would need to be equipped with special artifacts to be safe in space. It was only after passing the Universe Baptism that one would be free of this restriction.

    And as if to prove his thoughts, Bai Xieren''s figure surfaced on the hull, walking towards him with casual steps.

    "You are training even now. If there''s one thing I''llmend you for, it''s your spirit." Shemented while observing the surrounding space.

    "I didn''t know Sect Masters could be so harsh to their precious disciples. Don''t you care about my feelings?" Damien retorted sarcastically.

    "Why should I? You no longer possess the power of a Star Master, so do you truly hold the same worth?"

    Damien raised his brow at her obvious provocation. "Do you even believe your own words? Even if I can''t defeat you without my Star Master abilities, do you think I won''t be able to escape?"

    Bai Xieren shook her head. "It isn''t about escaping, it''s about battle prowess. Regardless, you no longer hold the qualifications to speak casually to me."

    "I''d say our current environment is where my qualifications are the highest, though? I might be even more empowered here than within the Cloud ne since I haven''tpletely grasped World Force yet."

    "If you wish to believe so, then that is up to you." Bai Xieren shrugged. "Nevertheless, I did note here to squabble with you."

    She extended her arm and flicked a jade slip through space. Damien also reached his arm out, and the jade slip appeared in his palm without problem.

    "This is?" He asked curiously.

    "Your new identity. Do you think your¡­appearance¡­makes it easy for you to stay concealed? If anything, you stand out most within a crowd."

    Damien frowned at her words, but couldn''t really say anything back. On one hand, they could be considered apliment, but he surely didn''t take it as one.

    His fingers moved through the streaks of silver hair among his otherwise midnight ck. If he had to be honest, he wanted to get rid of them too.

    As he grew older, he started liking the shy appearance he currently had less and less. Whether it be his eyes or his hair, they no longer seemed as desirable as they were when he was 19.

    But, he couldn''t do anything about it.

    "Haa, I understand. So I just have to be this guy, right?" He acquiesced.

    "Yes." Bai Xieren confirmed. "As long as you can emte the individual described in the jade slip, you will be set. We have a master among us who can aid with your appearance."

    Damien thought of Jiang Hualing, the transformation woman, and nodded. "Fine, but don''t make me some kind of ugly bastard."

    "So that your ability to pick up women won''t be affected?"

    "Hm?" Damien''s eyes widened at her sudden words.

    "Your wives talk about you often." Bai Xieren cracked a small smile as she walked away. Waving lightly, she gave her goodbyes.

    "Practice well until we arrive. It is unknown when you''ll be able to extricate yourself from this operation, so mentally steel yourself as well."

    Damien rolled his eyes and nodded, switching his attention to the jade slip as Bai Xieren returned inside the flight artifact.

    ''This guy, let''s see¡­his name is Damien Grey? 24 years old, male, it seems they didn''t stray much from my original person¡­''

    As he continued to read through, his face became ck.

    ''Head Researcher of Evotech Industries? Academy-certified professor? All around genius in the mana science field? What the fuck?''

    Although he had to respect the fake identity that had been made for him, he doubted how much of it would actually work.

    Frankly, he was too stupid to y this role.

    It was then that he noticed something else among the contents of the jade slip. It was a small mechanical chip, no bigger than a grain of rice.

    ''This is¡­!''

    ording to the jade slip, it was something the Cloud ne forces acquired through trading with Asgard.

    Its identity was the most updated model of an artificial assistant program that had been in development for a very long time. With its help, ying the role of a genius wouldn''t be difficult for Damien at all.

    However¡­

    ''This technology isn''t something I''m familiar with at all. If someone within Asgard is able to control it remotely¡­things could get dangerous.''

    It was a risk, an extreme one. Although it was also an immense benefit, it was like potentially handing over control of his life.

    But would that stop Damien?

    ''Ha! Let''s see how they try to control me.''

    Damien took the chip into his mouth and swallowed it. Unexpectedly, it melted on the top of his tongue and turned into countless nanomachines that attempted to spread through his body.

    Damien''s eyes hardened. He immediately set up a barrier of Void Essence so that the nanomachines couldn''t spread.

    He was taking a gamble.

    ''The Void Physique has always acted as if it has a mind of its own. It let''s beneficial energies stay within my body, while anything remotely harmful is devoured and converted. The only question is whether or not it''ll work in this situation.''

    It was already known fact that the Void Physique only worked on anything energy-based. Physical constructs wouldn''t be subjected to its scrutiny. It was for this reason why the Eclipsing Shadow Sect members were able to poison him all those months ago.

    ''The Eclipsing Shadow Sect¡­''

    It was truly a strange twist of fate. Yet another urrence that took ce without Damien''s presence.

    It was also the reason why Damien never ended up joining the purge.

    As it turns out, the Eclipsing Shadow Sect sent assassins after him after news of his performance in the Empyrean Dragon Realm spread. But when the assassins arrived, Damien was already on Tang Lingzi''s floating ind,atose after his tribtion.

    Tian Yang took care of those assassins easily, only informing Damien about it after he returned to the Cloud ne.

    And along with the failure of the assassins, the entire Eclipsing Shadow Sect vanished into thin air.

    ''Did they flee? To Niflheim?'' Damien wondered. If they wanted to flee, it was their only safe haven.

    After all, forces like the Eclipsing Shadow Sect were under Niflheim''s direct control. They didn''t have any contact with the Nox''s main forces.

    ''If you truly fled to Niflheim, it''s good for me. I''ll be able to exterminate you with my own hands.''

    Damien clenched his fist as he thought about it. The humiliation from that day, he''d never forget it as long as he lived.

    It was the first time since the dungeon that he was forced to flee so miserably, and it was the first time "humans" were able to push him into dire straits.

    It wasn''t that Damien looked down on humanity, but he understood how powerful beasts of the same level could be.

    So to be pushed back by a group of humans, especially ones in the same ss as him¡­

    He abhorred the thought.

    As Damien''s tangent came to an end, the gamble he made within his body finally bore fruit.

    The nanomachines were a mix of physical construction and foreign energy, so he really was unsure whether things would work out as he expected.

    But, there were no problems.

    The Void Physique moved into action the second the nanomachines came in contact with his Void Essence.

    Almost every single one of them was broken down into energy and devoured. The only cluster that remained intact was the one headed to his brain.

    ''Strange¡­the control chip wasn''t harmful, but the devices attached to it were. This must also be how they fooled the Cloud ne forces.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed inadvertently. ''Now¡­is this just a crude safety measure, or are we surrounded by enemies on all sides?''

    As soon as the thought entered his mind, Damien realized he needed to take action.

    ''Things will be interesting from now on.''

 Chapter 504 Travel [2]

    [Initializing¡­]

    The green holographic text box appeared in front of Damien''s eyes. Or rather, it appeared in his mind. He could see it, but it didn''t project into reality like the main system window.

    [Core Processor activated.]

    [Checking diagnostics¡­]

    [Diagnostics unavable.]

    [Sending report to mainframe¡­]

    [Connection failed.]

    [Connection failed.]

    [Connection failed.]

    [Halting attempts.]

    [Rebooting¡­]

    The voice in his head went silent for a second before reappearing. After Initializing one more time, itpletely changed its tone.

    [Greetings! I am the Artificial Core assigned to aid you in your adventures! Please enter your name.]

    "Damien Void," Damien said curiously.

    [Registering Damien Void¡­]

    [Searching database¡­]

    [Host identified! Damien Void has been recognized as the Host. Due to interference with the Core''s systems, Damien Void will be assigned as the Administrator.]

    Damien''s brow finally raised. The interference messages didn''t surprise him, since he was actively holding the control center within a barrier of Void Essence, but this new procedure did just that.

    ''This Administrator setting must not show up for anyone else since the Administrator is automatically set during initialization. It''s a good thing that I saved myself, but I''m not sure if I should do the same for the rest.''

    It could be dangerous. Damien''s chip not appearing in the main system could be written off as a bug, but if the same thing happened multiple times, suspicion would grow and impede his ns.

    It was much better to have an enemy who moved as one predicted rather than one who plotted in the dark.

    ''Alright, now that the setup process is over, tell me what you can do.'' He thought to himself, but the chip in his head seemed to understand his intent.

    [Artificial Core Processor No. 1738, codenamed Eve, is ready to assist! I can improve the host''s processing power, reaction speed, and much more! Please read through the instruction manual for details.]

    The green holographic window changed to show the very instruction manual that the AI just mentioned. Damien did a quick skim over it to understand its functions.

    ''Essentially, it''s a literal virtual assistant. It can handle plenty of menial tasks, and with its ability to enhance my memory and processing power, it makes it easy for me to y my role. Not to mention¡­''

    With another thought, the screen disappeared from Damien''s vision. What reced it was a flood of code entering his brain.

    But strangely enough, this code was registered in Damien''s mind as memory. He was truly being given the memories of the individual named Damien Grey.

    It was a real cheat. Damien was instantly turned into a Mana Research genius.

    ''Well, it''s not right to say that since I''m not truly a scientist. Pretending to be one should be extremely easy now, though.''

    Damien shook his head and yed with the artificial intelligence for a while longer, familiarizing himself with it in the process.

    ''This¡­this can be included into the Ananta Matrix.'' He realized at some point. With the idea rooted in his head, Damien''s thoughts became wilder and wilder.

    But he held himself back.

    Although he already absolved himself of the hidden dangers, he still needed to be cautious until Asgard''s intentions and schemes were revealed.

    Until then, he''d use the AI as it was intended, as a mere memory support and acting aid.

    ***

    A month passed without suspense after Bai Xieren''s visit. Damien spent this month intermittently switching between practicing and learning more about Damien Grey who he would soon have to embody.

    As it turned out, Damien Grey wasn''t too different from him at all. Overall, it could be said that the man was just a muted version of normal Damien.

    But, he was far more serious than thetter. Damien would have to quell his urge to mess around all the time until this mission ended.

    ''His family died in a car ident. It seems those are prevalent no matter where you go. Hm? I have a wife and kids?!''

    The setting was done quite well. After all, having no rtives in the slightest would be more suspicious than anything. Setting him up with a family made total sense.

    But having to be a family man all of a sudden¡­

    ''No, this is good too. I could use some practice for when¡­never mind. Xue''er has been moody recently too. I need experience dealing with kids.''

    Even his home life would be training! With this somewhat depressing thought in mind, Damien continued his routine.

    But not everyone was as rxed as him. The atmosphere within the starship was bing tenser with every passing second.

    "What role do you have?" A woman asked her friend, but she was met with immediate rejection.

    "Shh! That''s confidential information!"

    "Ah, who cares. It''s not like they''ll do anything to us if we share."

    "R-really?"

    "Of course!"

    "O-okay, I actually wanted to talk about it to someone. My role is¡ª"

    The woman''s voice was cut off as her head detached from her body. Bai Xieren stood behind her coldly, her hand dripping with blood.

    A second head went flying soon after, giving a strong warning to those on board.

    This operation wasn''t a joke. Military discipline would be followed to the tee. If a rule was broken, punishment of the same severity would be dealt out.

    And the punishment for leaking or attempting to leak confidential information?

    Death without mercy. Regardless of who the ones giving and receiving were.

    Long Chen sat to one side of therge recreational area with a troubled look on his face.

    To say that he was ufortable didn''t do justice to his current feeling. And the only friend he had on board the ship was busy training in an environment he couldn''t reach.

    ''Show me my information again.'' He muttered inwardly.

    [Affirmative. The Host''s chosen identity is Long Aotian, a research assistant under Researcher Damien Grey, a prominent member of the Mana Science and Engineeringmunities within Niflheim.]

    Long Chen scrunched his nose. Both the overly domineering name he was given and the eerie feeling he got from having to serve under someone named Damien irked him unendingly.

    As he wallowed in this feeling, a woman appeared at his feet. Or rather, she appeared from his shadow.

    "What is it this time?" He sighed. He couldn''t count the number of times this woman had done the same thing since they boarded the ship.

    "Spar with me." And her question was always the same.

    They sparred once near the beginning of their journey. Although Long Chen wasn''t able to defeat Li Xiu, he was able to push her back somewhat by relying on his sword and poison together.

    With Li Xiu being an entry-level 4th ss, Even this much was considered a loss. Ever since that day, she would constantly pester Long Chen to spar with her again.

    While he epted some and denied some, her challenges weren''t the only burdensome thing about her. Long Chen didn''t like the look in her eyes at all.

    ''What is this sticky feeling¡­don''t tell me she¡­?'' He didn''t want to ept it, but he understood that it was a possibility.

    As hemented over his strange fate, Long Chen proceeded to ignore Li Xiu and direct his gaze out into the starry sky beyond the ss.

    ''It must be nice¡­''

    He couldn''t help but be jealous of his closest friend. That annoying guy was able to experience the wonders of that atmosphere with his bare body.

    But Long Chen was able to quickly dispel his negativity. Damien had his path, while Long Chen had his. While Damien desired to control space, Long Chen desired to sever it so it could never be repaired.

    With them moving in practically opposite directions¡­

    Long Chen was more than just a little excited for the battles they''d have in the future.

 Chapter 505 Niflheim [1]

    As the final month of the voyage to Niflheim passed, a meeting between a certain Demon Emperor and High Angel came to a conclusion as well.

    Parsiel left the main pce with a relieved sigh. ''It is good that the demons are still holding strong. Lucifer has been ruling them properly.''

    It had to be known that the Demon Race and Angel Race were diametrically opposed upon birth. When the universe wasn''t experiencing extraneous circumstances, it wasn''t strange to find them at each other''s necks.

    But an inborn hatred couldn''t always determine one''s fate. The peak experts of the two races were actually on rtively good terms, being the leaders of the two strongest forces in the universe.

    The meetings that took ce on and off for the past month were held on these good terms. When Parsiel left, he didn''t have anything negative to say about the Demon Race at all.

    The overall situation, however, was a different story.

    ''It seems a punitive force has begun working in Sector 8. Considering the passive nature of most nt Race experts, they won''t be able to hold on for long¡­is Luciel still bent on waiting for the opportune moment?''

    He left the Land of Heaven, what Angels termed their sector, without warning Luciel at all. The reason was exactly the Angel Race Leader''s inaction in the face of catastrophe.

    ''How many more people have to die before you decide to move? ¡­or are these deaths what you desire? Regardless, I cannot follow your ideology.''

    His thoughts hadn''t reached the point of insubordination quite yet, but he was questioning his leader easily. Although Angels had a habit of not questioning their authorities, Parsiel was always different.

    It was the reason why he never rose to the true highest circle of ss. His viewpoint just didn''t align with theirs.

    Parsiel almost felt ashamed by how well he got along with the Demons instead. Even if they were brutal and cunning, they at least had their priorities straight.

    ''Despite everything I say, neither the Angel nor Demon race is who my gut is telling me to rely on. It truly makes me curious¡­what kind of trump card have the humanse up with in the past 10,000 years? Why does my intuition favor them so heavily?''

    The only way for him to find out was to head to the Human Domain himself. It would take another 6 months at least for his travel toe to a close, but Parsiel didn''t mind.

    To an old monster like him who had lived tens of thousands of years, what did a mere 6 months matter?

    With this thought in mind, he continued his trek. Although he was dyed asionally due to various matters along the way, he always faithfully returned to the mission he assigned himself.

    And as that happened, a month went by. The various machinations of those throughout the Human Domain began to converge.

    ***

    "Listen well. Although we, the Cloud ne forces, are at the head of this operation, we are not the only ones participating."

    Bai Xieren''s indifferent voice traveled through the starship as she gave a few final words before they arrived at their destination.

    "Within the Human Domain, there were nine worlds that stood united at the forefront of battle. Bloond, Hatia, Asgard, Apeiron, the Cloud ne, Mirrorbloom, Rihevan, Phiroah, and Ataraxia.

    "Of these, Rihevan and Hatia fell in thest war, the remnants of Asgard have be a mere rebellion within Niflheim, and Apeiron has vanished without contact."

    Bai Xieren''s indifference faded slightly as a hint of fury colored her face.

    "We, the Human Domain, have always been at the forefront of any war, protecting our universe without fail. Yet, we have now been weakened so, and the other races don''t pay us as much attention, nor do they offer aid in our trying times.

    "We only have each other to rely on, so infighting between forces of the Human Domain is forbidden. Anyone caught breaking thisw will be punished with death.

    "As I was saying before, forces from Mirrorbloom, Phiroah, and Ataraxia will be aiding us in this mission. Although you most likely will not encounter them, I am giving you fair warning just in case.

    "Cooperate without conflict if they are with us, and kill without mercy if they are against. As for which side they fall into, such a thing can be left to personal judgement. Everyone here has been hand-picked by our experts, so there is no need to worry about trust."

    It wasn''t just that all the gathered forces were hand-picked by experts, they were also screened by Damien using his Star Master powers, and again screened by Tang Lingxi who offered him this small bit of help when he asked for it.

    In essence, the Cloud ne forces were clean. Nothing like what happened with the Wang and Xue ns would happen during this expedition.

    "We will arrive in Niflheim within the day. When we do, we willnd the ship peacefully. With our numbers, it is impossible for our presence to be hidden, but we can at least keep our intentions a secret.

    "After all, to the rest of the universe, Asgard is simply a separate country within this world. Information on the true struggles taking ce here has beenrgely blocked."

    "How can we be sure that Niflheim won''t question our entry?" An old man questioned. His eyes shone with a light of wisdom and curiosity unbefitting his age. But, they didn''t look out of ce on his person at all.

    Bai Xieren nodded in acknowledgment. "Good question. Actually, Asgard''s forces were once forced to take a Mana Oath to never reveal their situation to outsiders. Naturally, it was an Oath made after all loopholes were extinguished."

    "Then¡­"

    Bai Xieren smiled for the first time. Even if it was a cold smile that reeked of killing intent, it still looked immensely beautiful on her face.

    "The Oath even covered whether or not information was leaked after death, forbidding this action. But¡­what if information never leaked? What if the information was found by a third party without Asgard''s knowledge?

    "What if the person who found the information was a Niflheim native since birth, but wasn''t a part of Asgard?"

    "What you''re saying is¡­there is an insider that is helping us?"

    Bai Xieren''s smile became mysterious. "Whether it is an insider or someone from our own ranks doesn''t matter. What matters is that we are guaranteed safety at least until we havended on the surface. After that, it is up to us to survive."

    Bai Xieren continued her speech, going over the ins and outs of the operation and the various ways the web of information would interconnect, but Damien had already withdrawn his awareness by this point.

    He was only "technically" a member of the operation while he was actually using it as a front to move alone. Due to this, he didn''t need to know details that exceeded his station.

    His gaze moved to the horizon, or whatever the equivalent term was when one was floating through space, and locked onto a certain drifting in the distance.

    ''Mm, I believe now would be the best time to separate.''

    He held to the n he created over a month ago. Because of Eve, the AI chip in his head, he was able to understand the general position of where his role was supposed to be.

    After arriving there, things would progress naturally.

    And ording to the main n, he was only supposed to arrive at this ce after leaving Asgard secretly.

    But Damien didn''t want to associate too much with those inside the starship. His existence, to this day, was only known to the Hidden Dragon Group and Bai Xieren. How could the others notice him when he was merged into the folds of outer space for the majority of the trip?

    Since his identity was covered well and the opportune moment was upon him, the only thing left to do was act.

    His figure shed away, appearing within the cabin of a certain swordmaster. Without warning, he grabbed thetter''s shoulder and shed away again.

    "No time to exin. This is going to be a bumpy ride, so make sure to enjoy it!"

    Those were thest words Long Chen heard before his vision became blurred with a flurry of colors.

 Chapter 506 Niflheim [2]

    The rushing winds were so loud that even calling them roars didn''t do them justice. As two men plummeted to the surface of an unnamed world, their bodies were almost ripped to shreds by the wind alone.

    But why did it seem like they enjoyed it?

    "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

    "WOOOOOOOOO!"

    Two vastly different screams were lost in the wind. It wouldn''t be long before the two were set ame by their velocity.

    As for how they arrived in such a strange situation, it was really simple.

    Damien''s teleportation range spanned around ten thousand kilometers at its full potential, but at that distance, he couldn''t quite pinpoint where he''dnd when he appeared.

    Not to mention, Niflheim was still far more than just a mere 10,000 kilometers away when he grabbed Long Chen and left the starship.

    With Long Chen unable to wear the chaotic space with his body alone, Damien was forced to hastily teleport them before the negative effects could impact them.

    Essentially, a hasty and not-carefully-nned teleportation trip ended with them falling into Niflheim''s atmosphere and dropping to the ground with its gravity.

    Gravity that Damien realized was a few times that of the Cloud ne.

    "LET''S GOOOOOOOOO!"

    Damien''s excited shout didn''t make it very far. Even Long Chen didn''t hear it. But it perfectly summarized his current excitement.

    Excitement from the new adventure in front of him and the insane circumstance that started it, when he arrived on the surface he wouldn''t be able to disy these emotions, so he let them out in full while they fell.

    It was exhrating. Even while knowing he could use mana to stabilize himself or teleport to safety, it was still exhrating.

    It was the raw human emotion that one would feel when they fell through the sky unbarred by anything and everything.

    On the other hand, Long Chen was experiencing sheer terror. It was one thing to fly in the sky, it was another to fall through it.

    In his shock, he even forgot that mana was a viable option to stop himself, so he continued his descent with Damien.

    As they fell, Damien checked over his body with his awareness. His hair was pitch ck without a single stain, and his eyes had reverted to their original amethyst color. Compared to his usual appearance, he looked exceedingly normal if one ignored his attractiveness.

    ''Now that it''s gone, I kind of miss it. Then again, it''s nice looking like a normal human again.''

    Withplicated feelings in mind, he grabbed Long Chen and roused his mana, teleporting them closer to the ground while avoiding the hassle of bing living meteors.

    However¡­

    ''Ah, right. Teleportation carries momentum.''

    Instead of saving them, he actually elerated their fall. Tongues of me were starting to appear on their clothing.

    But even this wasn''t a concern. Damien enjoyed the adrenaline rush from his first time sky-diving for a while longer at their new speed¡­

    ¡­all while ignoring Long Chen, who became quite theedic sight when he could no longer hold back any food he''d ingested prior to this experience.

    When the two finally reached the ground, though, Damien used vector control to absolve their momentum, leading to an anticlimactic end to their exciting escapade.

    And along with their feet touching the ground¡­

    A sword bursting with Sword Aura swung at Damien''s head apanied by the roars of a dragon. The Empyrean Dragon Sword was itching for blood.

    But Mirage appeared in its path at the worst possible moment, shing with it and causing sparks to fly.

    "Hey! How could you attack your teammate?!" Damien shouted in mock indignation.

    "You¡­! How dare you call yourself a teammate!" Long Chen yelled back. He could still feel the terror that ran through his bones. It was hard for him to even swing his sword with how shaky his legs currently were.

    Damien smiled wryly and shook his head. Perhaps he had gone a bit too far this time, but how was he supposed to know that Long Chen had an irrational fear of heights?

    "It''s not a fear of heights, it''s a fear of being dropped to death from the chaotic space above! How are you going to call that irrational?!" Long Chenmented.

    "Ah, don''t sweat the small stuff," Damien responded causally. His gaze changed immediately after. "We are in enemy territory now. We must act with prudence."

    Long Chen''s face went through the same motion, hardening when he realized the situation. The Empyrean Dragon Sword vanished into his body, a pair of sses surfaced on his face, and he became stoic.

    "Yes. I am Long Aotian, assistant of Researcher Damien Grey. And you?" King Chen asked seriously.

    Damien almost couldn''t stop the smirk forming on his face. Those old fogeys at the top were really amodating this time around.

    A pair of sses appeared on Damien''s face as well, framing his shining purple eyes quite nicely. Strangely enough, his original eye color looked far more mystical than his unique one.

    Damien changed his clothes at the same time as he put his sses on. Wearing ab coat over a ck turtleneck and equally dark pants, he looked like the typical picture of a young researcher with a bit of style.

    "I am Professor Damien Grey. It is a pleasure to meet you, my assistant." He finally replied to Long Chen.

    Long Chen''s face was a sight to behold. He looked like an orc/ogre hybrid with how his face scrunched and frowned.

    "H-hello, sir," He finally squeezed out, "I look forward to working with you."

    Damien smiled in return. "Haha, what are you talking about? Xiao Aotian, haven''t we beenrades for years? There''s no need for this ttery talk between us."

    Damien looked around to identify their current surroundings. It wasn''t by luck that theynded in such a barren and deste ce far away from civilization.

    "Hmm, this is strange. The Mysterious Fire Fruit was stated to be in this area, but I can''t find any traces of it. Could we have been mistaken?" He muttered to himself.

    "No, sir. This is the location we were given. Perhaps it is underground?" Long Chen responded.

    "Mm, Aotian, you are experienced in matters rted to the subterranean world. Aid me in exploring for a moment. We can return to Evotech tomorrow if need be."

    Long Chen nodded and obediently followed hismand. Their switch into the characters they were ying happened rapidly and wlessly.

    If one didn''t see them appear out of thin air moments prior, one would have no idea that they were different people.

    And such was the case for the eyes watching the duo as they dug through the ground.

    "It is as the information stated." A lone voice spoke through amunication device on their hip.

    "Professor Damien Grey and his assistant Long Aotian are within the Outer Wilds as I speak. From the disarray of their clothing and the tracks left behind, I can confirm that they have been in the area for many days already."

    The tracks the voice was referring to were naturally prepared for when Damien and Long Chen arrived at this location a few dayster, but due to Damien''s decision, they''d arrived far earlier than they were supposed to.

    And perhaps this decision was the one that saved their lives.

    "Affirmative. Professor Damien Grey and Long Aotian will be registered as verified persons. Notify the rest of the force that they are no longer suspicious."

    The voice gave a sound of acknowledgement to the one who replied to their report. Even though they''d personally verified what they needed, they couldn''t help but feel suspicious about the whole thing.

    The timing at which the two appeared in front of their vision was simply too convenient.

    But then again, it wasn''t their job to worry about the small things. Now that the report was submitted, there was no need for them to stay within this deste wastnd.

    ''It is about time. That ship should bending in Asgard territory within a few days. I must regroup with the Phantom Squad and head there to observe.''

    With thisst thought, the individual vanished from the Outer Wilds, using a teleportation device to return to the nearest city.

    And at the same time, Damien and Long Chen''s gazes met, with them heaving a collective sigh of relief.

    Their time in Niflheim had begun with an extremely close encounter.

 Chapter 507 Niflheim[3]

    "What was that?"

    Long Chen immediately began questioning Damien after they felt the earlier gaze disappear. Naturally, he was careful enough to do so through mental transmission.

    "Hmm, it looks like my guess had at least a little bit of merit. To think there''d be people waiting for us here." Damien muttered to himself.

    Looking at the confused Long Chen, he began roughly exining the situation.

    "So essentially, there might be people within Asgard working against us?" Long Chen asked with furrowed brows.

    "Whether or not it''s that, we can''t say without evidence. All I know is that there''s something going on behind the scenes of this operation. Even if our enemies don''t havepletely urate information, they at least have clues of our identities."

    The two continued speaking about the problem, but they couldn''te to any solid conclusions. They simply had too little information.

    Instead, they reviewed information on Niflheim and their current surroundings.

    "Currently, we''re in the Outer Wilds, a wastnd that surrounds the Hub City of Evalion. This Outer Wilds is a ce wrought with Nox corruption, so life can''t persist within. However, some rare flora and minerals thrive in these conditions.

    "Not to mention, signs of the previous war still persist in the Outer Wilds. This is and wrought with the treasures and legacies of the fallen, so many scavengers venture them to try their luck."

    Long Chen nodded. "My information is the same. The Mysterious Fire Fruit our aliases were searching for is especially important in our current research."

    "Mm." Damien acknowledged. "It''s a little insane. This guy was researching duplication of matter, specifically treasures. If he seeded, elixirs and the likes could be mass-produced with little to no material cost."

    "While I don''t quite understand what it all means, I at least know it''s groundbreaking research." Long Chen finished off.

    Their alternate identities were oddly well-built. It was almost as if¡­

    Damien shook his head.

    Regardless of whether Damien Grey truly lived or not, it didn''t change the fact that Damien was now in his ce. His fate was an inconsequential matterpared to the safety of Sector 3, Damien''s home.

    "Evalion is a hub city, one of 16 hubs present within the Outer Wilds that span the entirety of the rest of the world. Asgard''s territory is around the size of 3 of these hubs at most." Damien moved on to the next topic.

    After all, Evalion was going to be their home for the foreseeable future. Not to mention, it held immense strategic importance.

    Evotech, the leading conglomerate in the fields of research and science, it was a ce where dreams were made reality, where the impossible was turned possible.

    But in reality, it was precisely the Nox''s most important asset in Niflheim. The research done by Evotech was most likely the main reason a Demigod was sent to oversee the world.

    Sector 3 was already down on its luck. Without something so important, the Nox would have no need to send a crucial part of their battle prowess, a Demigod.

    Although there was no way for Damien to know how those outside the sector viewed it, he at least had an inkling that there had to be something important within Evotech.

    Otherwise, why would the Nox bother with it at all?

    "But before we can pry into that, we have to find the Mysterious Fire Fruit."

    Damien and Long Chen spent far longer in the Outer Wilds than they originally expected. The Mysterious Fire Fruit held the word "mysterious" in its name for a reason.

    In the end, they found it 60 feet underground submerged by a pool of bubblingva.

    It was only after this small task was finished did the two finally rx.

    "Should we return?" Long Chen asked tentatively. Even though they''d thoroughly rehearsed their new roles, it didn''t stop his nerves.

    He was never a man built to do these kinds of covert jobs.

    Damien cracked his neck and resounded with a smile. "Yeah, let''s go have some fun."

    He, unlike Long Chen, had no reservations. Judging from the previous Damien Grey''s memories that Eve kept feeding him, Evalion was actually quite the ce.

    A circr emblem appeared in Damien''s hand when he willed for it. The same happened with Long Chen.

    The two poured their mana into the devices without hesitation, aiming for a certain marking within the device''s systems.

    And when their mana mingled with that marking¡­

    Their bodies disappeared from the Outer Wilds without leaving a trace.

    ***

    Considering how there were only 16 Hub Cities in total, each one held a frightening poption of people.

    Evalion, among them, was the most crowded, being the home of Evotech and many other prominent businesses. Its poption was well into the hundreds of millions, its size being just as massive to house all these people.

    But despite how crowded the massive number made it seem, Evalion was fairly orderly.

    The streets and alleys of the city formed an interconnected web that made it so one could reach anywhere in the city from anywhere else if one wished to.

    Interactive holographic technology allowed for the denizens of this world to carry personal devices that far exceeded the technological capabilities of mana, allowing them to maneuver theseplicated routes with ease.

    And when mana was added into the equation, the simplicity of living became truly wondrous.

    In one vein, one could say that Niflheim was an Elysium for people. But on the other hand, it could be considered a fancy cage.

    People leaned towards both opinions, and there were some people who thoughtpletely differently, but regardless of their thoughts, they lived day to day within the imprable barriers of Evalion.

    Within a certain research center, located underground near the center of the city, two individuals materialized on a tform designated specifically for their arrival.

    ''This is interesting. It''s more simr to my Warp skill than a teleportation formation, but the method they used to create it ispletely different.''

    While Damien admired their mastery of teleportation, an attendant arrived in the area and walked up to him.

    "Greetings, Professor Damien! Please pardon me while I take care of the usual procedures."

    A cylindrical device appeared in her hand, and after she pressed a button on its side, it projected a strange light that scanned Damien and Long Chen from head to toe.

    The duo stood silent and let the device probe them. They''d been ready for this since the beginning.

    But even then, they couldn''t calm their nervous hearts.

    Their disguises might''ve seemed weak, but Jiang Hualing''s reputation would definitely suggest otherwise. Still, the duo hadn''t been acquainted with her long enough to hold such blind trust in her abilities.

    It was a thorough scan. Fingerprints, irises, even gic matching, it was more than thorough, it was extreme.

    To the level where Damien didn''t know whether a technique from the Cloud ne could counter it.

    But he was underestimating the denizens of the Cloud ne too much. Although their aesthetic made it feel as if they were living in the past, their skills certainly matched up to the current era.

    They hadn''t spent all those years idling.

    Damien marveled inwardly as the scan came to a close. He didn''t know how mana was used to fool the device, but it was truly a show of insane technical skill.

    "Great! The data matches perfectly as always! Thank you for your time, Professor!"

    With the attendant''s words, Damien and Long Chen were immediately cleared of any suspicion on them for a considerable time period.

    "Mm." Damien gave a sound of acknowledgement and walked through the doors of the reception room, entering the main building.

    ''Good.'' He thought, inwardly smiling. ''The first step has been taken care of. Now, all that''s left is to run wild.''

 Chapter 508 Niflheim[4]

    The headquarters of Evotech Industries wasn''t actually a single building. It was more simr to aplex of buildings interconnected through translucent bridges.

    But this configuration wasn''t strange at all. Evotech wasn''t home to just a few hundred or few thousand researchers and scientists. It was a massive conglomerate that controlled the technical advancement of all 16 Hub Cities. Evotech''s shadow could be seen looming over every positive change that has taken ce in Niflheim over the years.

    Of course, there was an equal amount of poison in that shadow, but even those who knew of this poison didn''t move to stop its spread. After all, who would dare go against Evotech?

    The reception room wasn''t connected to any of the surrounding structures in the massiveplex that made up Evotech Headquarters. It was instead located in the direct center, blocked off from the world through the use of various technologies and skills.

    Only after onepleted the verification process would the rest of the world open up to them.

    A series of portals would appear in front of the verified researcher. And due to the system that interconnected everything within Evotech, the artificial intelligence systems were able to urately open portals that strictly rte to the researcher in question.

    It was yet another disy of arrogance by Evotech, and a deration that they were indomitable.

    Currently, Damien was facing this very array of portals. There were many of them, considering his status within thepany, but there were five in particr that he kept in mind.

    First was theb where Matter Duplication research was taking ce. After that came the general area where the researchers would stay if they needed second opinions on their work or simply to take a break, and third was the home of Damien Grey, which was also within Evotech.

    As for the fourth and fifth portals, they werebs used for other research, more personal use than the mainb. These would naturally be usefulter on, but for now, Damien didn''t need them.

    "Aotian, have you had dinner?" He asked lightly.

    Long Chen, who was dutifully standing behind him like a servant, shook his head. "No, sir. I have been with you this entire time."

    "Hahaha! You''re right! Then, how abouting over to my ce?"

    Long Chen scratched his head. "Ah, however, I may have some business to attend to at home."

    Damien looked meaningfully at Long Chen. Clearly, this brat was leaving him to deal with his new wife and kid on his own. Long Chen''s role, Long Aotian, was actually an orphan!

    Damien''s brow twitched, but he couldn''t do anything about it. He was no longer Damien Void. Instead, he was forced to give Long Chen a pat on the shoulder and send him off.

    "I understand. If things get difficult, you can always let me know!"

    Long Chen forced a smile and left Damien behind, walking into his own set of portals, which were limited in number to just two, and leaving.

    Damien grinned to himself. From Long Curb''s smile, he knew his move was sessful.

    ''Haha, you brat. You''re a million years too early to mess with this big brother.''

    It was just a harmless prank. He just used a little bit of Dragon Pressure on his dear friend. Although it wouldn''t be enough to harm him at all, it would make him feel incredibly ufortable for a good few hours.

    Trying as hard as he could to suppress his grin, Damien vanished through the portal to his new home.

    ***

    The Evotech Headquarters wasn''t just made of researchbs and meeting rooms, it had a variety of different areas with contrasting purposes.

    A cafeteria that served world-ss food, a recreational area for exercise or simple rxation, and even a residential area.

    But perhaps the first two of the aforementioned amenities only existed due to thest one.

    Ecotech was heavily insistent on secrecy. Even Mana Oaths weren''t enough to guarantee their trust. Therefore, they built the various facilities in the South Wing of the building to amodate the families of their researchers.

    Even institutes had been built within theplex so children of these researchers wouldn''t be inhibited by their situations.

    But, many people viewed this ce as a prison of ves. Once one entered, they couldn''t leave. The only ones who were allowed leave were researchers who submitted requests and gained approval from the executive board.

    Essentially, only someone on Damien Grey''s level was allowed this bit of vanity.

    Within one of the houses in the residential area, a beautiful woman in her mid-20s stood in a kitchen, happily cooking away.

    Her hair was jet ck in color, and her eyes amon brown. Still, her moremon features didn''t diminish her beauty.

    When Damien stepped through the portal, this woman was the first thing he saw. And his first impression¡­

    ''She''s strange.''

    Her body was average, and her face was average as well, but something about her screamed that she was a beauty.

    It was like a passive charm that infected everything around it. But since the Void Physique and All-Seeing Eyes didn''t react, he knew it wasn''t charm at all.

    [All-Seeing Eyes have been activated.]

    [Status]

    [Aishia Grey]

    Valkyrie

    Female - Age 10,023

    Level 298 - [Heavenly Maiden]

    Title(s): [Final Valkyrie, Daughter of Heaven, Lightbearer]

    Affinities: Light, Spirit

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock. Under the guise of a dutiful wife in the kitchen was a battle angel that he had no chance of defeating without World Force.

    "Honey! You''re finally home!"

    When she saw him standing in the doorway, she left the kitchen immediately, jumping into his arms and nting a firm kiss on his lips.

    Damien was stunned. He was sure he was just kissed, but why did it feel so cold? It felt like if he lingered on that feeling, someone would¡­

    "Yes, I''m home, honey. Thanks as always for the delectable greeting."

    In natural Damien fashion, he ignored the warning bells and decided to tease her anyway. They were husband and wife, right? This much should be allowed.

    Aishia forced a smile coy onto her face, but it was clear it was her first time trying to do so. Frankly, the way her features were scrunched was not appealing at all.

    "Hehe~! How can I disappoint my amazing husband?" She replied shyly.

    To an outside observer, there was nothing wrong with their conversation. But with Aishia''s acute senses as a mid-level 4th ss being and Damien''s All-Seeing Eyes, they could clearly see each other''s micro-movements, the very source of their current awkwardness.

    ''Fuck, she probably knows I peeked on her!''

    ''Shit, how did he discover my identity?!''

    The duo''s thinking followed the same path, but they didn''t express it out loud. They continued their husband and wife act as they entered further into the house, sitting down on the living room sofa and rxing in each other''s arms.

    "Honey, didn''t you say you had to go out? When did you arrive?" Aisha asked curiously, traces of seriousnesscing her words.

    Damien smiled. "Ah, you know how it is. Due to some unexpected circumstances, I was able toe home early. With Aotian''s help, getting the Mysterious Fire Fruit was a piece of cake."

    Aishia narrowed her eyes. "If you got the Mysterious Fire Fruit then what went wrong?"

    "Naturally, it was the scavengers. Just before we found the Mysterious Fire Fruit, we ran into a strange one and had to scurry away."

    Aishia''s eyes hardened. Although she hates talking in riddles, these riddles were the reason why she understood Damien''s sudden entrance.

    It had to be known that his arrival was supposed to still be a few days away.

    But now that he was here, nothing else could be done. The normal husband and wife conversation that hid an exchange of information continued on for a long while, stopping only when the sun rose over the horizon.

 Chapter 509 Assassinate [1]

    As it turned out, Aishia was truly thest surviving member of the Valkyrie race, an original member of Asgard.

    She was born shortly before the Great War began, and she didn''t have nearly enough time to grow her strength before the mes of war encapsted the universe. As the youngest, she was hidden and protected by the entire race, ensuring her survival over the corpses of her brethren.

    Aishia never left this unnamed world since then. She grew her strength by battling against the Nox on the surface and became a true powerhouse who could hold a say in the most important matters.

    The decision to have her y his wife was actually her own. In truth, she was a close friend of Bai Xieren, who filled her in on Damien''s role.

    It wasn''t just curiosity that drove her to his side, it was her duty and her hatred. She was here because this was the job she''d been wanting to do for a very long time, but with Asgard''s conservative movements, it was always impossible.

    And Damien didn''t mind her presence. Although her elemental affinities weren''t specialized in stealth, her power alone was enough to make her useful.

    The spirit element would be a great help as well. Damien had slight familiarity with this field due to Xue''er''s matter, so he was sure he could put this woman to good use.

    His thoughts concluded as he stepped through a portal that appeared before him. Leaving behind Aishia and his "child" that he didn''t even meet yet, he arrived at the mainb used for Treasure Duplication research.

    Evotech''s headquarters actually didn''t have many spaces whererge groups worked together. Every location where something like that was necessary was situated off-sight in one of the other 16 Hub Cities.

    As for Evotech headquarters, only researchers working on extremely important and confidential projects were granted personalboratories. The rest of thebs were used mainly for production and storage, while asionallyrge groups of researchers would cooperate on especiallyrge breakthroughs.

    Regardless, theb belonging to Damien Grey was his personal property. There were only three people who had ever stepped foot in thisb. The first was him, the second was Long Aotian, and the third¡­

    Stepping out of the same portal as him was the very same Aishia Grey that was ying his wife. In reality, she was a researcher who worked side by side with her husband. The couple was fairly well known for their incredible synergy while working.

    As the two stepped into theb, Long Chen did the same through his own portal. When he looked over and saw Damien, he put on a smile full of ttery and walked over.

    "Sir, you came in early today! I wasn''t even able to tidy up theb yet!" He said jokingly as he passed over a cup of coffee.

    Damien epted it gratefully. "Mm, you know how it is. The wife was hit with some inspirationst night, so she wanted toe in early."

    Long Chen shed an oily grin. "Hehe, I understand sir, I totally understand. I''m sure you were given plenty of ''inspiration'' as well."

    Damien rolled his eyes and smacked the back of Long Chen''s head. "Aotian, we need to get you married soon. Alright, enough of that for now. Let''s head inside."

    Damien finished his coffee and put it to the side, walking through the heavy mechanical doors that stood between him and theb.

    Naturally, the portal didn''t teleport directly inside theb. The sanitation issues from such a move were too plentiful. Instead, it sent them to a reception area connected to theb where they could prepare themselves before entering.

    With theb door opening, Damien''s trio walked through individually, being scanned and wiped clean of any impurity before they could enter.

    And once theypleted the procedure, the small yet grand scene of theb greeted them.

    "I don''t understand why we came here. Is the Treasure Duplication research that important?" Long Chen asked through sound transmission.

    Damien shook his head. "It isn''t that. We just arrived, and although we''ve cleared most of the suspicions on us, we still have to be careful. For at least the next week, we''ll go business as usual andpletely immerse ourselves in these roles."

    Long Chen nodded hesitantly. In the end, he also realized that he was sent here to support Damien. Even without his role, just the fact that Damien took him along meant he already knew this fact.

    And if so, Long Chen would simply follow. He always heard of this bastard''s exploits, but never got to experience his greatness himself.

    This curiosity was the only thing allowing Long Chen to ignore the sinking feeling he got whenever he thought about following Damien''s orders.

    ***

    A week quickly passed. Just as Damien said, the trio acted in their roles without the slightest deviation. From theb to the house and back and forth, Damien''s routine was steady.

    During this time, he was also able to meet his "daughter," Reva. She was a small girl around 8 or 9 years old with a cheerful personality.

    Aishia refused to tell him her origins so Damien could only remain curious, but the girl''s status window was truly bizarre.

    [Status]

    [Reva]

    ???

    Female - Age 10

    Level - 152 - [???]

    Title(s): [???, Child of the Abyss, ???]

    Affinities: ???

    It was strange. It had to be known, Damien''s eyes didn''t create a new status window from the information it discovered. It gained the ability to see through someone and peer into the personal status window that only they could see.

    In essence, Reva''s status window was naturally like that, filled with question marks even to her own eyes.

    Damien was aware of the possibility, since he still had a few question marks in his status window even after unlocking his Time Affinity, but the sheer number of them was preposterous.

    Obviously this child''s background wasn''t simple. And if her titles said anything¡­

    Damien realized he''d have to talk to this child about it at some point, but now wasn''t even close to the right time.

    After all, now that a week passed, those of the Sun and Moon Squadrons had already arrived on the.

    And of course, Bai Xieren, with her monstrous perception, already knew Damien left the starship. As if punishing him for moving without informing her, she sent an assassination mission over the second they touched ground.

    Damien clicked his tongue as he looked at the information being projected into his head by Eve. Apparently, the AI Cores also had this kind of ability.

    It was no wonder they were aiming to create an informationwork. With this kind of connection, traces of an assembly line would never be found.

    Regardless, Damien continued to look over the information he was given.

    His target was a woman named Audrey Price. She was a researcher in charge of Chimera experiments.

    These chimeras were simr creatures to the abominations Damien met in the Trial World. As expected, those under the Nox were always the same kind.

    Abominations were a great part of the Nox''s strength. Along with Devil Worshippers, they were the meat shields sent out to wear down the Sectors'' forces so that the true Nox didn''t have to do any work.

    In fact, Damien even suspected that the Nox were quite low in numbers, otherwise, they wouldn''t need to rely on such strategies. But that was beside the point.

    Aubrey Price worked in the North Wing, her mainboratory being Lab 1622. His job was a clean and simple assassination. Naturally, he had to leave no evidence.

    Damien clicked his tongue once again. As he got ready to swipe away the information, Eve left him with yet another surprise.

    ''There''s more?!''

 Chapter 510 Assassinate [2]

    In total, Bai Xieren gave him 5 assassination targets.

    Along with Aubrey Price, they were named Eli Rodgers, Joe Bernard, Elizabeth Oscar, and Lynn Carter. Each of them headed a separate branch of research, and none of them were easy targets.

    Wasn''t this a bit too much?! Why was Bai Xieren punishing him like a jealous wife?! Damienmented about the workload he gained when he just finally guaranteed his safety.

    ''It won''t even be close to easy. These people don''t have high strength since they focused on research, but they are constantly surrounded by guards and eyes. It''ll be impossible to just kill them whenever.''

    Actually, even Damien Grey had an entourage of guards that would usually stick around him, but hisboratory and home were strictly off-limits. The guards could only stay outside.

    But theb was practically imprable through force, and the perimeter of guards around his home guaranteed its safety.

    But that was just how Damien Grey did things. He didn''t know the personal preferences of those other researchers. If they clung to their lives dearly, perhaps their guards would maintain close proximity for 24 hours a day.

    ''Hm? Lynn Carter?''

    Damien''s attention was suddenly focused on thest name on the list. The name sounded oddly familiar, which didn''t fit with the fact that it was his first time in this world.

    Where could he possibly have¡­?

    It didn''t take long for him to recall the memory. His Spiritual World was far more enhanced than someone at his level should''ve been. Indelible memory was a perk of that.

    Well, calling it indelible was a stretch, but Damien knew he''d get there eventually.

    The memory he recalled this time, however, was actually from Earth.

    A group of researchers in an undergroundboratory, all headed towards the same ce. A voice rang out from among them filled withplex emotions.

    "Commence trial 127 for project title: Core Extraction."

    Damien''s eyes immediately hardened. Right, the woman named Lynn Carter was there on Earth. She and the scientists under her were in charge of a project with an exceedingly ferocious name.

    Core Extraction,

    To rob a world of its core, what did this mean? It wasn''t just the destruction of the world, it was the destruction of all life existing on the.

    And aside from that, if the process wasn''tpleted properly, the vacuum created by the World Core''s absence could lead to the formation of a Dead Zone.

    And in Dead Zones, even time became inconsequential. It was a true hell of ckness.

    ''Is this it? Have I stumbled upon something great so easily?'' Damien questioned himself.

    Naturally, the information he had on Lynn Carter didn''t mention the Core Extraction project at all. It instead listed her as a key figure in Chimera research along with Audrey Price.

    Did it mean that even those who gathered information on her didn''t learn about the project, or did it mean they were intentionally hiding it?

    Damien didn''t know, and he had no intention of informing Aishia about it. While on the surface, she was a hero of justice and a woman filled with vengeance, Damien''s trust in Asgard was waning.

    Not that he had trust in the organization in the first ce, but their actions only continued to build suspicion in his heart.

    He needed to find a moment to sneak out. He could tell Aishia about the other assassinations, but he would keep Lynn Carter a secret.

    In that way, he would have a convenient alibi.

    ''Should I inform Long Chen?'' He shook the thought off immediately. Long Chen''s involvement would most likely lead to Aishia''s suspicion.

    As they said, to fool one''s enemy, one must first fool one''s friends.

    Damien locked this n in his mind.

    ''To think I would find something big so quick. Core Extraction¡­not only should I destroy this research, but I should also learn from it. It will be very useful in the future.''

    The duty of a Celestial was to rule over celestial bodies. To rule meant to bring prosperity. And for prosperity, any bad seeds needed to be pulled out before they could contaminate the rest.

    If he had to destroy a world for such reasons, he''d do it without hesitation.

    Currently, Niflheim was in question.

    He hadn''t seen the World Core yet, and he hadn''t even explored the world. Still, he had the vague feeling that he was surrounded by enemies, and he didn''t want to let this feeling persist.

    ''First, let''splete Bai Xieren''s task. I''ve always thought an assassin with spatial powers would be overpowered.''

    An assassin who had no limits but their own imagination. An individual who could appear anywhere as long as the ever-present folds of space epted his entry.

    Even if spatial locks existed, and spatial fluctuations left traces, Damien had the means to deal with both of them.

    And he also possessed the ultimate weapon for killing silently.

    Wisps of pitch-ck essence snaked around his fingertips so covertly that not a single soul noticed its presence. A ruthless grin threatened to spread across his face.

    Once again, it was time to go hunting.

    ***

    In the dark of night, somewhere in the South Wing, a womany silent in bed, getting ample rest during the night so she could return to her research when day came.

    Her breathing was even, her chest rising and falling steadily. Unfortunately, she was alone in the bed.

    But to her, this was quite fortunate indeed. Research mattered far more than any mere human rtionship.

    As for the woman''s identity? Naturally, she was Aubrey Price.

    As she slept, guards moved around the perimeter of her house. There was even a burly man blocking the entrance to her room, and another in front of the window.

    When it came to security, although Aubrey wasn''t the most uptight, she also wasn''tx.

    But tonight, she''d learn that it wouldn''t have mattered either way.

    A shadow appeared on a roof roughly a kilometer away. Its cold eyes easily gazing the distance and set its target.

    Vector control moved into action, any momentum his spatial fluctuations left being muted to the extreme. At this level, it could only be considered a regr movement of the spatialyers.

    sh!

    The shadow disappeared. When its figure became visible again, it was hovering over the sleeping figure of Aubrey Price.

    Pitch-ck essence covered the shadow''s hand. In his mind, he said a small prayer.

    ''May you be tortured for eternity in the depths of hell, your soul never being allowed into the cycle of reincarnation.''

    His hand covered her face. In that instant, the ever-present yet nonexistent essence on his hand snaked into her body, rapidly spreading.

    The shadow didn''t even wait to see if his work was finished. Without a sound or even a single trace, he vanished from the area, reappearing on the same rooftop as before.

    As he watched from safety, Aubrey''s body slowly turned pitch-ck, scattering into a fog that merged with the Void Essence in the room and dispersed into the atmosphere.

    And with the qualities of Void Essence, there would never be a single trace of it left.

    Even if those who investigated found traces, they''d only find spatial mana. In this case, they''d assume she was kidnapped rather than killed.

    Damien smiled at his handiwork. Assassination was far easier than expected. Twirling the ess card in his hand, he shed away, none being the wiser about what went down that night.

    As for Damien''s destination? It was the location the card in his hand granted ess to. It was a privilege belonging to theb''s owner alone, a way to bypass the troublesome procedures that scanned even one''s gic makeup.

    ''It''s time to raid herb. If I don''t like what I see¡­I don''t mind letting it go up in mes.''

 Chapter 511 Scent [1]

    Damien''s figure appeared on a rooftop far away from Audrey Price''sb. Despite the fact that he had the key, he still had to be cautious.

    Surveince was strictly forbidden within thebs for various reasons, but any areas attached to theb would be heavily surveilled. It was almost impossible to sneak inside without being noticed.

    And although Damien didn''t have to worry about this problem as much due to his skill set, it didn''t mean he waspletely free from it.

    His spatial abilities, at least in terms of travel, depended heavily on awareness.

    His awareness was a medium by which the spatialyers could connect to him. His body became part of a circuit through which he could move with the utmost ease. Naturally, as his awareness spread further and his perception weakened, his uracy in moving would also decrease.

    This synergy with the spatialyers was the reason why Damien''s awareness could span such a vast range when his strength and mental power hadn''t yet reached that level.

    But this method was also somewhat wed. Because of the heavy security in the walls surrounding theb, his awareness couldn''t directly prate inside.

    There was a reason why Evotech was so assured of its security.

    ''It''s still possible, but I''ll have to get in close to do so.''

    Damien furrowed his brows and surveyed the area carefully, taking note of the positioning of every nearby camera. His goal was to find blind spots.

    But of course, a massive corporation like Evotech wouldn''t leave such an easy way out. Damien clicked his tongue when he realized it. ''Looks like I''ll have to do this the hard way.''

    His figure shed away, his body swimming through the spatialyers with ease. All of a sudden, his finger moved, flickering with ck lightning. Under his fine control, the lightning split into four strands that each moved in separate directions, still submerged in the spatialyers. Until¡­

    Bzzt!

    Damien removed his control, letting the lightning enter the Real ne once more. The second it did, the four strands flew into four nearby cameras, sending a shock through them and temporarily stalling their circuits.

    ''It''s convenient. They use abination of electricity and mana, essentially being a far more evolved variant of earth. Because of this, old tricks stille in handy.''

    As Damien thought, he exited the spatialyers directly outside theb''s wall. His body was only in view of four security cameras that had already been stalled. Knowing this, Damien put his hand up to the wall and concentrated.

    What he was trying to do wasn''t as rted to spatial movement as his usual skills, but it was still somewhat rted. The main yer in this case, however, was vector control.

    Damien connected himself to a new circuit. He sensed around him for the vectors rting to the wall. His senses went inward and located his personal vectors as well.

    His goal? Vibration.

    Through precision control of the surrounding vectors, Damien heavily vibrated the molecules in the wall, doing the same for his body as well. When their frequencies finally aligned, he plunged straight into the wall, rapidly swimming through it anding out the other side.

    "Fwah!" Damien let out the breath he''d been holding. The stunt he just attempted was far too terrifying even for him.

    Though, once he was around halfway through the wall, his awareness was able to prate the rest, so he was guaranteed safety regardless.

    After taking a few moments to steady his breathing and heart rate, Damien finally looked around theb.

    ''As expected, there''s nothing on the surface.''

    Damien already expected it. That was half the reason he grabbed the ess card after killing Aubrey Price.

    As for the other half¡­

    A red light coated theb. An artificial voice began speaking nonsense about procedures. Before things could escte, Damien swiped the ess card through a nearby scanner,pletely halting the ongoing emergency procedures.

    Even if he hid his traces, he couldn''t yet hide his presencepletely. As long as he was physically present, a specialized system like this could notice him.

    But that didn''t matter anymore. As Damien scanned the ess card, the floor of theb opened horizontally, giving way to a descending staircase that looked ominous at just a single nce.

    Without hesitation, Damien descended it. Regardless of the eerie atmosphere, this was exactly what he came to see.

    ***

    "As expected, it''s disgusting."

    When Damien finally reached his intended destination, those were the first words out of his mouth.

    It had to be known, after descending the staircase, he had to maneuver himself through what seemed to be an array of sewer tunnels before he could arrive at therge underground space that constituted the hiddenb.

    If it wasn''t for his All-Seeing Eyes'' ability to see through all illusions, he''d have gotten lost in that sewer maze for eternity.

    But now that he was here, frankly, he was underwhelmed. Because what he saw was exactly what he expected.

    Countless rows and columns of 10-foot tall tubes filled with viscous liquid. Within that liquid were specimens of the experiment.

    Some still retained some humanoid form, and some lost it entirely, bing monsters. As for others, they were stitose, yet to be used as experimental subjects.

    "AHHHHHHHH! PLEASE STOP!"

    A distant scream of terror and pain rang out. Damien''s gaze followed it, locking onto a sturdy metal door at the end of the hallway.

    Most likely, past there was where the actual experimentation was done.

    Damien pondered on it. The only concealment skill he knew was the one he borrowed from Zara, but this ce was filled with bright light despite its dreary appearance, to traverse shadows to enter that room was impossible.

    But it wasn''t like he didn''t have any other means. It was just that he didn''t want to deploy these means at all, or even consider them means in the first ce.

    Yet, in the current moment, he had no choice. He needed to understand what was happening in that room.

    Damien sighed and connected his consciousness to the Sanctuary, forcefully teleporting out a few specific beings.

    Kyu?!

    Kyu! Kyu!

    Kyuu~

    A small group of flickering green lights appeared in front of Damien. Naturally, these were some of the wind elemental spirits that formed along with the Sanctuary.

    Kyu?

    They looked at Damien as a collective, curiously circling around him.

    But even as they did, Damien was sweating.

    These elemental spirits were incredibly obedient. They viewed him as their creator, and would even directly kill themselves if he desired.

    However, that didn''t mean anything. There was a hidden danger in utilizing the elemental spirits in dangerous situations.

    Even now, perfectly prepared to give them the order, Damien couldn''t help but hesitate.

    Could he face the consequences if one of them died? It was his neck on the line if they were injured in any way!

    The problem was quite simple, yet infinitelyplicated at the same time.

    After all, these elemental spirits were little Xue''er''s children. If one of them was so much as slightly injured, he''d surely meet his doom to her wrath.

    Because Xue''er''s wrath¡­was truly terrifying.

 Chapter 512 Scent [2]

    In the end, Damien still decided to use the elemental spirits. They were too important to his current goal.

    The spirits created awork through which they could project the scene from within the room directly to Damien. This was the specific reason Damien chose the wind spirits.

    But these particr spirits were better termed Air Spirits. Their capabilities far surpassed the wind.

    The wind carried sound, and the air was a medium through which all else traveled. The only medium greater than it was space.

    Therefore, these spirits could utilize their control to project both sight and hearing to Damien.

    "Experiment #3758, failure."

    These were the first words Damien heard. Apanying them was a small screen in front of his eyes depicting an aged man and a young girl standing around a contraption meant to chain down test subjects during experimentation.

    On that device was a naked man. Half his skin was gone, the other half turning inky ck in color. His face was morphed into an eternal expression of terror that held even after he fainted.

    "But he didn''t die yet." The little girl inadvertently finished Damien''s thought.

    "It''s true that he didn''t die, but this rate of infection isn''t nearly enough. Besides, look at his body. We cannot call this even a portion of the "perfect soldier" we are trying to create."

    The little girl looked at the man''s body and harrumphed. "Even if it looks deplorable, don''t insult my creations like that. If it wasn''t for thest step, would things have gone so wrong? We created artificial superhumans, we just can''t conform them to the Lords'' species properly."

    The old man clicked his tongue and nodded. In reality, although this man''s body was perfectly shaped like a human, he was abination of various different beasts.

    The arms of an ape, the legs of a cheetah, each section of his body was portioned off as such. But still, even with all the power they stuffed into him, he couldn''tst the transfusion of Nox bloodline.

    While the two researchers werementing, Damien was reeling in shock.

    He wasn''t surprised by the experiments, nor by the cruel scene of torture within the room. He wasn''t surprised by the substance that was simr to the Death Seed Zara ate, nor was he surprised by the Nox''s "perfect being" n.

    What surprised him was¡­

    ''Aren''t they trying to create¡­me?''

    Evolving by incorporating the strengths of beasts into his body, this was one of the core functions of his Void Physique. Being able to assimte Nox bloodline without any injury was the same.

    Oddly enough, Damien found that their so-called "perfect being" resembled not him, but¡­

    ''The Void Physique. They are trying to imitate the effects of the Void Physique.''

    The second he realized it, his mind felt like bursting.

    Until now, there wasn''t a single person who knew about his physique. It was an utter mystery and no matter how much he searched, he couldn''t find answers.

    The only answers he had were the ones given to him by the physique itself.

    This odd "being" that was like his other half, this physique that was his bane at the beginning, but his greatest helper from then on¡­

    To think the first ones who held a clue about it were actually his fated enemies!

    Damien almost wanted to curse his luck, but he knew his luck was far too good for him to resort to that.

    ''What do I do with this information? For one, I need to work even harder to hide the Void Physique. I can''t be the Nox''s number one target before I grow into my strength.''

    ''And after I finally have the strength I need¡­I can charge straight into their main world and ask them myself. At that time, who could possibly stop me?''

    Damien recalled the wind spirits soon after. He had no need for their help anymore. The old man and little girl''s conversation didn''t take any interesting turns after that.

    And so, Damien took his leave. Before the sun rose, he had four more assassinations toplete. He had no interest in dying them and ruining his chances.

    Evotech wasn''t stupid. If all four vanished at once, they would investigate fiercely under the assumption that they were kidnapped.

    However, if they vanished over a period of time, Evotech would be given the opportunity to retaliate. Each assassination would be harder than thest, and Damien might not be able to hide the fact that the researchers were being killed by someone on the inside.

    Therefore, tonight was the night to strike. Afterward, he would focus on his own n.

    ***

    After Damien left the undergroundboratory, the old man looked down at the little girl, and then back to the door that separates them from the containment area.

    "Is he finally gone?" The old man asked. His tone was actually far more servile than it had been moments prior.

    "Mm." The little girl responded coldly. "Though I still don''t understand why we have to do this."

    The old man smiled wryly. "You should already know, Young Miss. Although he hasn''t made anyrge mistakes yet, he is slowly losing cautiousness. Would you rather he experience tragedy before learning his lesson?"

    The little girl harrumphed and turned her head to the side. "Still, why me? Second brother or sixth sister would''ve been better for this job. Don''t I look too out of ce?"

    "Pfft¡­!" The old man let out a chuckle. His young miss was still a child, after all. Only these small antics of hers would remind someone of this fact, considering her usually cold and uncaring personality.

    "Did you forget? Currently, you are the only one able to reach this ce. If the second young master could rece you, he would never have allowed you toe out alone."

    "But you''re here too, grandpa!"

    "Aiii, am I truly here? Even I wonder about it sometimes." The old man chuckled mysteriously, causing the little girl to mock gag.

    After this small stunt, the little girl returned to venting. At the same time, she walked up to the experiment subject and ced her small hand on his chest.

    Greenish-white light sprung up from their point of contact. The heart-wrenching pain the test subject was feeling calmed quite a bit.

    Once she was finished with some light healing, she immediately plunged her hand into his chest, piercing his heart.

    But in the end, this was her way of showing goodwill.

    The test subject couldn''t move the muscles on his face, but the emotion in his eyes clearly revealed how relieved he felt to be dying.

    While this took ce, the old man gazed into the steel door. His gaze seemed to pierce reality itself as it searched for its target.

    The old man sighed to himself. ''Mm. Such is the flow of all things. If fate permits, we shall meet again. Until then, grow steadily and do not disappoint me.''

    With this thought, the old man vanished, leaving the little girl alone. Although she pouted, she seemed to have already known this would happen, so she didn''t look too surprised.

    As the little girl went back to casually ying on her personal device and Damien continued moving through his assassination missions, there seemed to be a small fact that they had forgotten.

    In a quiet house that was empty despite being infested by guards, there was a bed where an individual once slept.

    However, in their ce, there only remained a small trace in the air.

    A trace that only few could feel, and even fewer could pinpoint.

    It was the infinitely small, yet still present, scent of the Void.

 Chapter 513 Nodes [1]

    In the deepest depths of the unnamed world on which Niflheim was built, the world that was once known as Asgard, a fierce wind blew.

    It was a truly terrifying wind, a wind that could shred a peak 4th-ss existence to pieces the instant it touched them. This powerful wind was blowing and creatingrge cave formations near the heart of the world.

    But the movements were truly odd.

    For many breaths, it would flow in one direction. And once that reached its peak, the wind would suddenly reverse, rushing just as fiercely in the opposite direction.

    This cycle continued on and on, and if one observed it for long enough, they''d notice that it somewhat resembled¡­

    Breathing!

    The being whose mere breaths could kill peak experts awoke from its endless slumber. Even though its breath was traveling, no visage of a nose or mouth could be seen anywhere, nor could the being''s eyes be spotted.

    Regardless, it stood true that this being finally awoke. Its thoughts slowly adjusted to its new condition, its monstrous awareness spreading soon after.

    But not a single being sensed its gaze.

    ''Hmm, has the seed that You nted finally blossomed?''

    The being''s gaze traveled to a certain bedroom. While those in Evotech would never notice anything wrong with this room, this being was naturally different.

    ''Hmm, it hasn''t quite blossomed, but it is in partial bloom. No matter. This King has been slumbering for untold millennia, waiting a mere few months or years means nothing.''

    The being couldn''t help but smile. Somewhere on the world''s surface, a mountain range imploded and turned into a valley.

    ''I have been awaiting you for so long, my little seedling. Keke, bloom to your full potential and spread your wings. Only then will you be ripe for my enjoyment.''

    Thebored breaths of that being slowly became restrained, the fierce winds calming down.

    The being returned to its rest, eagerly waiting for its precious seedling to blossom.

    ***

    Within Evotech Headquarters, the North and East Wings were meant for research-rted buildings. Whether that bebs, workshops, forges, or anything else the researchers needed, it could all be found in these two wings.

    As for the South Wing, naturally, it was the residential area.

    The final wing was the West Wing, which was solely used for business and management-rted jobs.

    However, it was also the main office of Evotech''s CEO and his closest aides. Whenever something came up that needed his attention, he could arrive in an instant.

    Currently, such a situation was taking ce.

    It was the immediate next day after Damien''s advent, and all four scientists had been found missing. Following this, Evotech Headquarters went onplete lockdown.

    Massive barriers covered the entire headquarters. And it had to be known, the headquarters was a massiveplex.

    It housed hundreds of thousands of people at least. For this, the size needed to be at least that of a small city.

    But this entire area, including the sky above it, was secluded from the outside world by a massive metallic dome.

    Naturally, this wasn''t merely a mechanical device. Mana coated every inch of the metal, both bolstering its defense and giving it the properties of lightning so any who attempted escape would be directly incinerated.

    A fierce investigation was going to be performed from this moment on. There wasn''t a single member safe from this. And for this asion, the president himself was called in.

    A man slowly appeared within the penthouse office of the main building. His hair was slicked back and jet ck, his eyes a frightening shade of red.

    "What''s the situation?" He asked indifferently, not bothering with anything around him.

    The secretary who was awaiting his arrival quickly gave him the rundown, to which he nodded without care.

    "Very well. Carry on as you please. If you truly require my assistance, I shall aid you."

    The president turned away from the secretary and sat at his desk. His eyes closed as if he was deep in thought.

    Seeing him in this state, the secretary quietly sighed and left. When the president got like this, he would only return to reality when he desired to.

    Instead of relying on his help, the secretary began putting together an investigation unit. Every member of the security force was immediately queued in to the situation as well.

    While Evotech entered lockdown due to his actions, the man himself was pretending as if nothing happened.

    After all, it was impossible to trace it back to him.

    Damien Grey didn''t have a spatial affinity, and Damien himself had an alibi for what he was doing that night.

    As for what the alibi was¡­that was a story for another time.

    Currently, Damien was sitting on the master bed with Aishia, his hands gently running across her wrists and fingers.

    Despite the seemingly intimate actions, neither party looked aroused in the slightest.

    In fact, while Aishia was trying to suppress her surprise, Damien''s expression was that of utmost focus.

    Small wisps of mana flickered from his fingertips and submerged into Aishia''s skin. As Damien''s hand moved across hers, he felt a strange sort of reverberation.

    ''What is this?''

    When he asked Aishia if he could probe her mana utilization method, she had been more than just a little confused. But, Damien didn''t quite know how to exin it without revealing everything about himself.

    But, he did tell her about the Cloud ne''s meridians system. After all, this much wasmon knowledge.

    And Aishia naturally didn''t have meridians. She also confirmed that her method of mana utilization was indeed a more advanced version of what everyone in this world practiced, including those in Niflheim. Even if the structure was moreplex, the base concept was the same.

    Since the concept of meridians interested her, Aishia started to understand what Damien wanted to see from her. So in exchange for Damien allowing Aishia to probe his own Mana Circuit, he was given the opportunity to probe hers.

    And to Damien¡­this was the best deal possible.

    He hid his grin as he pushed more mana into Aishia''s body. ''The Ananta Matrix is far more sophisticated than it was when I first met Master. Not only that, but the power difference between me and Aishia isn''t nearly as great. If it''s her, it shouldn''t be a problem.''

    Damien smiled slyly. He couldn''t wait for her to probe him so he could try it out. But until then, he focused on what his senses were showing him.

    "Strange!" Damien couldn''t help butment.

    Meridians of the Cloud ne, Mana Circuits of Apeiron, Mana Circles and Veins of Earth, and finally¡­

    Nodes of Niflheim.

    Aishia''s circuit was best described as nodal. In actuality, there were no more than 12 ces in Aishia''s body where mana was concentrated.

    Starting from her two ankles, next was both her knees. Her arms followed the same configuration, with a node on each wrist and elbow joint. Lastly, three nodes represented the three sections of her spine, and a final one sat at her nape.

    "Could you move your mana for me?" Damien asked, far more politely than he had ever spoken before.

    What he was doing was practically prying into her secrets, and while Aishia herself didn''t seem to know, Damien would have a guilty conscience if he didn''t at least show some courtesy.

    Not understanding hisplex emotion, Aishia simply followed what he said, mobilizing mana into her wrist.

    Bzzt!

    Blue flickering sparks of mana popped out of her wrist like firecrackers, but Damien didn''t pay attention to their spectacle.

    He was too fascinated by what he''d just seen.

 Chapter 514 Nodes [2]

    ''It''s so¡­unnatural!''

    Damien didn''t know how to exin it clearly. More than anything, the process looked iplete.

    Damien had to admit, the speed at which mana flowed into Aishia''s wrist node was mind-boggling. Her mana was like streaking lightning the second it was mobilized, rushing through her body.

    But she didn''t actually have defined circuits to connect her body. Her nodes were strung together flimsily by small currents of mana.

    Then, how did they achieve such an effect?

    It took more time examining the node itself for Damien to understand the answer.

    ''This is a massive hub purely for amplification and casting speed. It''s like a smaller, less refined version of my Mana Heart that''s been granted offensive capability.

    The idea was simple. Though the currents through which mana ran from one node to another were small, they were incredibly sturdy. The mana that traveled through it would be forcefullypressed by its size.

    After that, thepressed mana would enter the node, and within an instant, it would be amplified and materialized, making that small current of mana into arge st.

    However, it didn''t seem like Aishia had the capability to maintain this st.

    Damien very much wanted to ask her to attack him, but when he remembered the current situation, he realized that wasn''t possible.

    ''For now, I''m just waiting for my turn. I should be in for at least a few rounds of torture, so it''ll be best to mentally prepare myself.''

    Even if Damien had a reasonable alibi, that didn''t matter if his interrogators weren''t reasonable in the first ce.

    Judging by the kind of research Evotech was doing, Damien didn''t think they''d use any civil means for interrogation.

    And frankly, even with his alibi, Damien was suspicious.

    He just returned from the outside world, so if anyone had contact with a kidnapper or an assassin, it''d be him. It was likely Long Chen would be tortured as well.

    Naturally, Damien already warned his friend about this, but Long Chen was just as resolute as him.

    It might''ve seemed needless, but this interrogation and torture session meant a lot for their ns.

    It was no small amount of information Aishia gave, and she was also a genuinely smart person. With Damien''s judgement and hersbined, drafting up a rough n in a few hours wasn''t too hard.

    ''I need to gain their trust with this. If I can act as if I''ve been hiding my strength¡­''

    Aishia had only the first goal in mind, but Damien was aiming for something else entirely.

    After all, his main goal was still known only to him.

    ***

    The time passed quickly, and when house lights finally began turning off for the night, Damien''s guards sent three thundering knocks through his front door.

    "Professor Damien Grey, pleasee with us." The one at the front said. He was arge dark-skinned man with a permanent scowl on his face. There was arge scar that ran from the top of his forehead down past his eyes and mouth, only stopping near his chin.

    Damien "awoke" from his sleep with a confused expression on his face. "D-David? Can I help you?" He muttered with half-lidded eyes.

    The man named David repeated himself. "Pleasee with us, Professor. There are many people who wish to speak with you."

    "Sote? What time is it?"

    "The time isn''t important, sir. These are very important individuals and they cannot be dyed."

    After a bit more prodding, Damien finally seemed convinced. He quietly left the bed, so as to not wake Aishia, and equipped his clothing through his personal device.

    Tidying up his hair and putting on his sses, he followed the men out of the house, all the while hiding the traces of derision and mockery in his eyes.

    It was only after a great deal of walking that they finally arrived at what looked like anotherb. But after they entered, they descended down a staircase simr to the one in Aubrey Price''sboratory.

    The underground space was connected to the same sewer system as before. It seemed to run below the entire headquarters. The room they arrived at after traversing thebyrinth, however, wasn''t the same as the chimera researchb.

    It was a small room that could at most fit ten people, but the inside was lined with torture tools of all kinds. In the middle of the room was an upright table on which the suspect would be chained.

    "W-what is all this?" Damien questioned hesitantly. He didn''t like what he was seeing at all. These didn''t look like the tools of an important executive.

    David shook his head. "This is where we part, Professor. I wish you good luck in your meeting."

    "W-wait!"

    Damien tried to stop David, but he and the other guards had already stepped out of the room. When the door closed behind them, it was immediately sealed and airlocked.

    "My, my, you are quite the handsome one." An eerie voice came from behind him.

    When he turned around, his eyesnded on an old woman around 50 or 60 years in appearance. Her wrinkled and saggy face was curled into a smile as she looked at him.

    "What a shame, what a shame. To rip you apart would be a shame. Don''t worry, dearest. When Big Sister is done with you, I''ll put you back together and give you a sumptuous meal."

    The old woman moved her body in what seemed to be a sensual manner, but the only thing of Damien''s that rose was all the food he ate in the past rising up his throat!

    But he was forced to hold down his vomit. It wasn''t a good idea to anger the woman who''d be torturing him.

    "M-ma''am, w-what am I doing here?" Damien asked timidly.

    "Ah!"

    The woman eximed as if she just remembered his presence. "To think I''d make such a simple mistake! Don''t worry about a thing, dearest. Big sister will make sure you sleep nicely, and when you wake up, you''ll be in wondend."

    The woman twirled in ce, her body emitting a strange pink fog that dulled the senses. And as a natural reaction to foreign invasion, Damien''s Void Physique moved into action.

    But he instantly suppressed it.

    At least while he was in Niflheim, he needed to suppress the Void Physique as much as possible. He didn''t think he was slick enough to conceal himself from a Demigod.

    With his Void Physique suppressed, Damien began sumbing to the numbing gas around him. His vision became hazy, his body became sluggish, and he copsed onto the floor, thest thing he saw being the old woman''s lustful smile.

    ***

    sh!

    In the main building of the West Wing, a pair of striking red eyes shed open. The man''s head whipped to the side, peering through all physical things to see his target.

    Unfortunately, the object he was seeking hid itself too fast. He wasn''t able topletely pinpoint its location.

    But at least he knew it was here.

    ''It''s no fluke. The "seed" has finally arrived. However, will I be food for its growth, or will I be able to conquer it and make it mine? Haha, what an interesting game.''

    The man''s red eyes gleamed with the color of blood. Just the slightest bit of his bloodthirst was released, but that alone was enough to crumble the structures in his office.

    ''Hahaha, let us see. How will this seed grow, and how will I be pulled into it? Finally, I see a match worth gambling on.''

    The man''s eyes closed once more. For now, the seed could maintain its peace. It wasn''t quite time for him to make his move yet.

 Chapter 515 Witch [1]

    By now, a little over 10 days had passed since Damiennded in Niflheim. At the same time, it had been roughly 8 days since the rest of the Sun and Moon Squadrons touched down.

    During these 8 days, they had been thoroughly integrating themselves into Asgard. The Sun Squadron directly went to meet with Asgard''s executives, taking their operations to the main headquarters of the organization.

    As for the Moon Squadron, they had no interest in being so open. They settled down in a covert warehouse near the edge of Asgard territory.

    Naturally, it would take more than a mere 8 days topletely set up operations, but with convenience artifacts like spatial rings, the task became much easier.

    Within a certain office within the Moon Squadron Headquarters, Bai Xieren sat alone, pondering hard on something.

    Bai Xieren wasn''t going to lie to herself. When shended, the first thing she did was assign Damien an absurd mission. Frankly, she was being a little petty. Even she recognized this, which was why she never specified a "time limit" for the mission.

    By her expectation, Damien should have waited and patiently taken care of the targets over a period of time, engaging with utmost caution.

    But this just went to show how little Bai Xieren actually knew about Damien. Her only impression of him was that he was extremely talented and cheeky.

    This kind of character who sought to be free and unrestrained at all times was sure to go far in their path to strength, and this caused Bai Xieren to possess a somewhat good impression of Damien.

    Yet, there was one thing she''d forgotten. The reason why she hated associating with these geniuses was precisely because they always had strange temperaments, not a single one of them being the same as thest.

    Essentially, they were uncontroble.

    It wasn''t even long after she gave the mission, a week at most when everything fell into chaos.

    Evotech Headquarters suddenly entered high alert,pletely isting itself from the outside world. ording to the frantic reports of spies that were sent through beforemunication was cut off, a number of important researchers had vanished overnight!

    Naturally, even these spies had no idea what this news was about. Within the Sun and Moon Squadrons, only Bai Xieren was aware.

    ''That brat! Just what kind of trouble could he be causing?'' Bai Xieren wondered inwardly.

    When Tian Yang suggested she let Damien run wild in Niflheim, she epted easily. She thought it would be nothing more than giving Damien a greater degree of investigative freedom.

    How was she supposed to guess that Tian Yang was speaking literally?!

    Bai Xieren felt a massive headacheing on. It had only been a week since they arrived in this world. They were barely through setting up base in Asgard, how could they have had time to send their spies out to infiltrate?

    Now, Evotech waspletely blocked off. The older spies that remained in thepany didn''t have ess to the new AI technology, so contact with them was cut off.

    The only allies they had on the inside were Damien, Long Chen, and some woman from Asgard that the executives brushed over.

    But in the end, Damien was merely a 3rd ss practitioner! No matter what kind of heaven-defying stunts he could pull, that didn''t mean he had the ability toplete such arge task alone!

    Bai Xieren was truly stumped, but her only option was to sit back and wait for Evotech Headquarters to open back up, hoping that Damien and Long Chen would maintain contact during that time.

    ***

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien let out a light breath as his consciousness returned to him. Immediately, a putrid stench assaulted his nostrils.

    ''How troublesome.'' Damienmented inwardly. As he attempted to spread his awareness, he could clearly sense the shackles ced on him.

    To an ordinary 3rd ss, this level of constriction wouldpletely limit their awareness. However, with Damien''s mutated awareness, he could still see a rtivelyrge area.

    And indeed, he wasn''t in the same torture room he was in when he passed out. Considering the old witch''s twisted personality, it was probably only there to induce fear.

    But Damien knew. The current almost empty torture room was far more terrifying.

    "Kekeke~! You''re finally awake, dearest?" The scratchy voice of the old witch entered his ears. Obviously, she''d been eagerly awaiting his awakening.

    "Mm?" Damien rubbed his eyes, confused. When he noticed his almost naked body chained to a strange vertical table, his eyes widened in shock and fear. "W-where am I?!"

    "Ehehehe!" The old witchughed. Her face scrunched up in arousal. "Mm, mm! Keep doing that!"

    "M-ma''am?" Damien hesitantly said.

    The old witch''s expression immediately became cold. "Little boy, didn''t your big sister say that she would y with you? Why must you make it so difficult?"

    The old witch flicked her finger, causing a small green beam to shoot into Damien''s chest. Immediately, Damien felt the strange sticky substance submerging into his body.

    But both the Void Physique and Transcendent Regeneration acted at once to rid the harmful substance from his body.

    ''No!'' Damien instantly suppressed them. He couldn''t show off this quickly, or things wouldn''t go the way he wished them to.

    The green substance continued to sink into Damien''s body as he lowered his defenses. A terrible burning sensation spread the second it entered his system.

    "AHHHHHHHHH!"

    Damien screamed incredibly loud. To a researcher like Damien Grey, even this small level of pain was insanity-inducing. The only reason he and those like him were able to reach 3rd ss was because Evotech forcefully raised them to that level.

    "PLEASE STOP!!! AHHHHHHH!"

    Damien continued to scream, bringing the old witch incredible pleasure. Her finger went to her lips as she tried her hardest to hold herself back.

    But in the end, she wasn''t able to do so. Her body jumped forward and arrived in front of Damien, her finger touching his refined abs and running down his body.

    Along with her touch, the burning sensation became far worse. Damien''s skin began to turn a strange shade of ckish-purple in the line her finger drew.

    "AGGHHHHH!" Damien''s breath became stuck in his throat, turning his screams into something akin to pained gurgles.

    The old witch shivered uncontrobly. "Ahhh~ little boy, you are just how this big sister likes!"

    ? The old witch had done her research. She was hired to do genuine work, after all. This Damien Grey, even while being a researcher, was genuine about keeping his body in shape.

    Even though his muscles didn''t pack the unbridled power a true 3rd ss should possess, they were still refined and beautiful after so many stacked hours of practice.

    The old witch continued to run her wrinkly hands along his body, spreading poison and other strange substances through his system. Although Damien couldn''t identify them all, he could definitely sense the scent of an aphrodisiac in the mixture.

    ''This old bitch couldn''t be thinking of¡­''

    Damien almost vomited at that moment. If it weren''t for the fact that he was squealing like a pig to keep up his facade, he truly would''ve done so.

    But even if he held back his vomit this time, the old witch surely wasn''t nning on letting him continue.

    Her fun had only just begun.

 Chapter 516 Witch [2]

    The old witch''s "fun" continued for many tens of minutes. By the end of it, Damien has already vomited multiple times.

    But unexpectedly, the psychological torture that the old witch''s lust inflicted on Damien felt far worse than the physical torture.

    Considering how many unknown substances were rampaging in Damien''s body at the moment, burning and melting his skin and muscles, the fact that he stood by his statement was a testament to how terrified Damien was of being raped by the old witch.

    If the situation fell upon him, he''d no longer be able to keep up his facade. He''d immediately kill her before anything happened.

    But luckily, it seemed the old witch was still somewhat aware of her priorities. After a particrly violent round of shivering pleasure, she let out a long sigh.

    "Ahh, what a shame, dearest. I have to do my damn job, and I''m not allowed to break you. Be nice and answer my questions, will you?"

    With a naturally twisted smile on her face, she injected another substance into his body.

    "Dearest, this is a small truth serum I''ve invented. Can you tell me your name so I can see if it works?"

    "Damien v-Grey."

    Damien panicked for a second. By the time heprehended her words, the old witch had already asked a question. If he hadn''t immediately expelled the truth serum using his Void Physique, he would''ve slipped up.

    But he acted quick enough. Although the first letter of his truest name began to leak, with how fast he switched, it sounded like a natural slip caused by how puffed up his face was at the moment.

    After all, he was still being affected by tens of non-lethal poisons.

    As expected, the old witch didn''t notice his fumble at all. "Mm, mm. Can you tell me what you were doingst night?"

    "I was having personal time with my wife."

    "Tell me in detail what you did."

    "First, I held her hand. I looked into her eyes and told her I loved her. After kissing her deeply, my hands moved up her waist to grab her¡­"

    "Stop! Stop! Stop! How dare you mention that slut in front of your big sister?!"

    The old witch directly cut him off by plunging her arm into his stomach, causing Damien to cough out a mouthful of blood.

    "Ah! How careless of me! Forgive your big sister, okay? I was just a little jealous."

    The old witch fed him a circr pill that quickly healed his stomach. Noticing how quickly she went about something, Damien realized something.

    ''No matter how cruel she is, she''s terrified of the one giving her orders. That''s why she''s being so strict about ''not breaking me'' and using truth serum instead of torture.''

    Although it irked Damien that all the torture he endured was merely for the old witch''s pleasure, it also relieved him that this interrogation would be finished off without a hitch.

    From that point on, the old witch acted rtively professionally, asking him many more questions before concluding the interrogation.

    From beginning to end, Damien answered wlessly. His alibi and every other piece of information he could possibly need was being provided directly to his mind by Eve. His responses were just imperfect enough to seem normal.

    Damien expected the same to be happening for Long Chen and possibly even Aishia. The only thing he was worried about was that truth serum would force their ns to go awry.

    Until he met the two again, he could only wait. And in the meantime¡­

    Damien released a portion of the shackles he ced on Transcendent Regeneration. Even then, his healing factor was substantial.

    The odd discoloration of his skin began to fade, his swelling lessening. Through the many pores lining his body, thick and gunky liquid was excreted. This was the mixture of poisons injected into his body prior.

    When the old witch noticed the ongoing process, she was stunned. Yet, when she looked at Damien, she found him unconscious from shock.

    ''This boy¡­has some hidden potential?''

    The old witch immediately changed her attitude. With an iparably serious impression, she sent a message to her direct superior, the Head of all military forces in Evotech.

    ''Sir, we have a situation. I might have found a useful seedling.''

    ***

    At the same time, in another chamber, Long Chen was strapped to a vertical table not so different from Damien.

    However, contrasting Damien, his body was covered in scars and gruesome wounds. His skin was yed in ces, his fingernails were entirely missing, and even a whole finger had been removed from his body.

    His state was anything but healthy, but his eyes were resolute. With indignation coloring his tone, he squealed like a dying pig.

    "Sir! Sir! You must release me! I have not a clue what you want from me! I''m innocent!"

    "Tell me where you were and what you were doingst night." The interrogator said coldly. He was a burly man, the perfect image of a medieval executioner.

    "I already told you, sir! I was within my Evo Genesis 360! I have no idea what you want!"

    The executioner man frowned. By the information collected on Long Aotian, he did indeed have two Evo Genesis 360 gaming systems in his home.

    These were thetest iteration of Evotech''s virtual reality gaming console. Within the console, one would be entirely immersed in the game world.

    Of course, harsher settings like pain and hunger could be toggled on and off, but if one wished, one could achieve a totally immersive virtual reality experience.

    ording to the information, this was exactly what Long Aotian was doing. Even the variety of surveince around his home verified the same.

    Yet, he still had to be questioned. He was rted to Damien Grey and had apanied him outside the facility. Until they confirmed the two hadn''t contacted anyone untoward while they were outside, they couldn''t let them go.

    Damien had already wlessly answered this question, and now it was Long Chen''s turn.

    Unfortunately, Long Chen was being mutted regardless of what answer he gave.

    But he only gritted his teeth and continued his act.

    Even if he didn''t have Damien''s pain tolerance or regeneration, Long Chen was a formidable man in his own right.

    Even though his status was that of the First Young Master of the Long n, he was by no means a sheltered young master. Long Chen always actively sought danger that would help him grow in strength.

    He had already offended arge number of families, ns, and sects while on his escapades, but not a single person made a move against him.

    Why? Was it because of his family background? Sure, that was part of the reason, but it was also his own strength.

    Long Chen was a formidable sword cultivator. Even before obtaining the Empyrean Dragon Sword and awakening a portion of his Dragon Bloodline, he wasn''t a character that could be easily touched.

    The second he single-handedly stopped the Long n''s internal conflict and rose to the position of Young Lord, all hostile gazes vanished from his body.

    And as if karma was backing his righteous character, arge amount of the people he offended were killed in the Cloud ne''s purge.

    Regardless of the past, the truth was that Long Chen wasn''t the kind of person to bend to torture or force. Even if he was left a cripple without his four limbs, he could still heal himself with the pills provided by Bai Xieren before they left the Cloud ne.

    Therefore, Long Chen continued to endure brutal torture, his body bing a mangled mess in the process.

    It was only many hours left when he was finally bandaged up and sent back to his home.

    In total, he lost 6 fingers, 17 teeth,rge patches of skin, and much more. Yet, his gaze remained as steadfast and powerful as before.

    His part in this n¡­he''dpleted it without fail.

 Chapter 517 Summons [1]

    When Damien "woke up" after "passing out from shock," he found himself in his own bed, Aishia''s body stered to his side as if she was truly a worried wife.

    ''Hmm, judging from the route they took to get me here¡­I was in the West Wing?'' He thought inwardly.

    Although the location of the torture chamber itself wasn''t important, a location like that one would be in a ce where many secrets were kept, so he kept a mental note of it.

    Damien''s awareness left his body and scanned over Aishia. ''She doesn''t look harmed at all. Even if she was taken in for questioning, I doubt it was as severe as mine.''

    In the first ce, Aishia was mostly free from doubt. The only reason she needed to be questioned at all was because she was Damien''s wife.

    But since she didn''t apany him to the outside world, her direct involvement wasn''t suspected at all. Instead, they must''ve hoped that Damien told his wife some secrets.

    Yet, the researcher Damien Grey was clean. Even under truth serum, his story didn''t seem out of ce at all.

    If theybined this with Aishia and Long Chen''s testimonies, Damien''s group would bepletely freed of suspicion. Granted, as long as Aishia and Long Chen didn''t encounter any problems.

    If the ideal situation took ce, he''d instead gain the interest of someone higher up in the socialdder. Damien was quite excited to see who this person would be.

    ''Finally, I''ll get a chance to glimpse Niflheim''s strength. I doubt anyone irreceable to Evotech wouldn''t be part of their main circle.''

    "Mm¡­"

    As Damien lost himself in thought, Aishia''s body began to squirm, rubbing against Damien''s. To this, he could only smile wryly.

    Even if it didn''t look like much had changed, the "couple" was under constant surveince in recent days. Because of this circumstance, they could no longer pretend during the day and rx at night.

    The bed that Aishia used alone while Damien meditated on the floor was now being shared by the two as if they were truly lovers.

    But since there were no feelings behind her embrace, Damien didn''t feel too bothered by it. After dealing with Alea for months, he had be immune to this kind of idental seduction.

    ''I need to go check on Long Chen. If the truth serum was used on him, I''m afraid things will go awry.''

    Regardless, it was deep into the nighttime by this point. Anything Damien wanted to do had to wait until the next day.

    So, Damien remained within his thoughts. Sleep was something only done for pleasure at his level of strength, so he would only do so after sorting out all his thoughts.

    Most likely, Aishia wasn''t asleep either. It was impossible for her to entrust Damien with her body when she was unconscious. They simply didn''t have that kind of bond.

    ''That witch¡­why did she feel so different from Aishia?''

    Damien was naturally referring to mana. Compared to the witch, Aishia''s mana flow felt¡­iplete.

    ''If she was able to reach 4th ss and survive this hellish environment, it means she knows what she''s doing. Otherwise, the Universe would never acknowledge her during Baptism.''

    If so, there was only one valid reason remaining. Aishia was truly iplete.

    Regardless of the Mana Utilization Method, the circuits within one''s body would always function like a machine. If a cog in that machine was removed, the efficiency of its workflow would be reduced.

    But what was the metaphorical "cog" in Aishia''s machine? What was different between her and the witch?

    To answer these questions, Damien could only wait to either see Aishia inbat or witness other denizens of this world doing the same. Until then, he needed to be patient.

    Patience. This was the main thing he needed during this mission. Even if he ran wild, his ns wouldn''t be able to unfold immediately. It was the caveat of a Demigod''s shadow.

    Nevertheless, Damien could easily practice patience. He closed his eyes and entered a deep slumber, resting his mind and body that became weary after enduring so much torture.

    As he drifted into unconsciousness, Aishia''s eyes fluttered open. She looked at him with aplicated expression.

    ''How can you sleep so soundly?!'' She wondered inwardly.

    Not only was she a stranger, but she was also a stranger far more powerful than him. If he let down his guard, it wouldn''t be hard at all for her to kill him.

    Yet, he dared to sleep?

    Aishia was confused in her heart. These past few days spending time with him, she came to realize that she couldn''t understand Damien at all.

    She was a person who did things step by step. She would carefully calcte her every movement so that there would be no mistakes. This way, her ns would always have high sess rates.

    But contrasting that was the man she metst week. A man who brazenly did whatever he wanted, but still firmly moved to reach the proper conclusion.

    But how was he able to have confidence in himself to do so when he introduced so many variables into his ns?

    How did he maintain control in such chaos?

    While Aishia''s original goal in joining Damien''s side was to enter Niflheim and at least somewhat hinder their operations, she found herself rapidly changing her mind.

    She wanted to see the end of Damien''s path in this world. She wanted to see how he managed to reach the conclusion he desired while moving so recklessly.

    And most of all, she had a feeling¡­

    She realized that Damien didn''t even think to set a small goal like "hindering" Niflheim through Evotech. He didn''t care about the small things.

    Those were all eventualities that would happen regardless of how he moved. If he was going to mess with them regardless, why n for it?

    Instead, his n was far grander. Judging by the grand entrance he made within mere days of beginning his mission, Aishia began to see a shadow¡­

    The shadow of a man who could truly destroy this corrupt organization.

    When her thoughts reached this point, Aishia found herself violently shaking her head. ''What am I thinking? How can I ce such hopes in a small 3rd ss brat?''

    But even as she tried to convince herself, she couldn''t. Looking at the sleeping face of the handsome man next to her, she sighed.

    ''Just who are you, and why are you able to affect me so much?''

    It was another question Aishia asked herself many times. But it was also another question she couldn''t answer. She found that curiosity was truly a poison to the mind.

    But in the end, she was able to shake off all her stray thoughts. Regardless of her personal desires and beliefs, her mission came first.

    And if her heart felt like trusting this man would allow her toplete it¡­

    She didn''t mind offering him anything. If her life was enough to guarantee the destruction of Niflheim, she''d personally put her head on a stake and offer it.

    Aishia closed her eyes and followed Damien''s example. Instead of thinking about things that hurt her brain, she''d rather just sleep and follow the flow.

    It waspletely different from the path she usually took. She felt like she was just beingzy in carrying out her duty.

    But at the same time, it was a strangely nice feeling that she didn''t hate at all.

 Chapter 518 Summons [2]

    When morning dawned, the first thing Damien did was go directly to Long Chen''s residence to check up on him.

    Research operations were temporarily ceased during investigation, so Damien didn''t have any work to do anyway.

    But this ceasing was most likely just on the surface. It only applied to ordinary researchers like Damien who "didn''t know" about Evotech''s dark side.

    As for projects like the Chimera research or Core Extraction, they were likely still in development.

    Regardless, when Damien stepped through the portal, he found himself in a rtivelyrge studio apartment.

    Damien was currently in therge living room. Connected to this room was the kitchen, with the front door of the apartment also being essible.

    Directly in front of him, there was a hallway where Long Chen''s bedroom, bathrooms, and guest bedroom were located.

    And on the left was an entire wall made of windows that overlooked the skyline of Evotech headquarters. If it wasn''t for the other buildings polluting the view, it would''ve been truly beautiful.

    As for the reason why Long Chen lived in an apartment building, it was simple. He was single, had no family, and worked as an assistant.

    There were many like him even among the researchers, people who didn''t have lovers or family to bring with them. For these people, did Evotech need to waste preciousnd providing individual housing? They didn''t need that kind of space.

    Instead, they builtrge apartment buildings for these people to live in, creating a city-like aesthetic that didn''t match the suburban aesthetic of the location where Damien lived at all.

    ''Then again, Aubrey Price also lived in a house, but she was single with no family. Perhaps her status granted her special privileges.''

    As Damien thought random thoughts, his feet led him through the apartment naturally as if he''d walked through the ce dozens of times already. Reaching the bedroom at the end of the hall, Damien loudly banged on the door.

    "Wake up, Aotian! What''s taking you so long?"

    Even while acting in a seemingly rude manner, Damien still spoke politely. This was merely his respect for his friend shining through. At least between Damien Grey and Long Aotian, there was no need for pretenses.

    But unlike what he expected, he didn''t hear any response to his antics. Even when Damien hit the door hard enough to alert the neighbors, Long Chen didn''t open it.

    With furrowed brows, Damien kicked open the door, breaking it off its hinges. And when he did¡­

    ''Those little fuckers actually¡­''

    He felt a smoldering rage building in his chest. In front of his eyesid a broken Long Chen, his body wrapped in bandages and missing many parts.

    They didn''t even bother to heal him the same way they healed Damien. It was clear how little Evotech valued the lives of research assistants.

    But Damien didn''t care about any of that. When he saw Long Chen''s state, he could hardly stop himself from destroying everything immediately.

    "Aotian!" He eximed in shock, rushing to the bedside. His hands gripped Long Chen''s shoulders as he attempted to wake him.

    "Aotian, wake up! Answer me!"

    Damien kept yelling for many minutes before Long Chen finally groggily opened his eyes. It turned out that he was merely knocked out by anesthetics.

    "Aotian! What happened to you?!" Damien asked worriedly after Long Chen adjusted to his current circumstance. At the same time, he sent a mental transmission with apletely different tone.

    ''Who did this to you?''

    The question was still the same, but Damien''s voice was iparably cold.

    No matter how much Damien dogged on Long Chen and bullied him, no matter how much pleasure he derived from annoying him, that didn''t change the fact that Long Chen was his sworn brother.

    Damien was just terrible at expressing his emotions properly. And at the same time, with their battle-hardened friendship, he didn''t have to worry about Long Chen misunderstanding his intent.

    This kind of brotherhood was far purer and lessplicated than a romantic rtionship.

    Long Chen was one of the few people Damien viewed as apanion. Even though they hadn''t actually fought side by side many times, Damien knew he''d have no problem leaving his back to Long Chen.

    Because that was the kind of person Long Chen was.

    Trustworthy, stalwart, and loyal. No matter how much Damien seemed to annoy him on the surface, Long Chen would always stand by his side even in the most trying times.

    This much could be seen even from the current circumstances alone.

    Hearing the chill in Damien''s voice, though, actually warmed Long Chen''s heart. Feeling the barely suppressed killing intent emanating from Damien''s body made him feel validated.

    ''Indeed, brothers will fight and quarrel, but at the end of the day, they are still brothers. This bond is a promise of lifetime friendship and loyalty.''

    Knowing this, Long Chen sighed and came clean about what happened during his interrogation. He didn''t n to hide it from Damien anyway.

    And hearing how Long Chen was mercilessly tortured only furthered Damien''s fury. With his hands still gripping Long Chen''s shoulders, Damien covertly poured green-colored essence into his friend''s body.

    [Heal]

    The trait activated, but with nowhere near the same strength it had when Damien first used it. For the sake of secrecy, he could only be slow and steady in the process.

    "Rest up. With the life essence I''ve left in your body, healing to peak condition won''t be a problem. However, it will take some time. I can''t heal you immediately lest they get suspicious."

    Long Chen nodded in agreement. He also knew the n they thought up. At the moment, Damien Grey was a man who didn''t know his own talents. His healing factor was something that''d only blossomter.

    Along with it, Long Chen''s battle talent would also be revealed.

    This way, Long Chen would infiltrate the military while Damien would get further engrossed in the research side, perhaps even bing a test subject for some important experiments himself.

    And with this, their range of motion would broaden considerably.

    However, all of this wouldeter. Now came a time of rest and recuperation while Evotech continued to interrogate its employees.

    Thinking about how many people would endure inhumanity during this juncture made Damien shiver. It was his fault after all. But at the same time, he could only ept this.

    He was essentially sacrificing the less for the many. As long as the "less" didn''t include people he cared about, Damien had no reservations about doing this.

    As if waiting for Damien''s thoughts to reach this point, a portal appeared in Long Chen''s living room. From it arrived a man with an incredibly imposing demeanor.

    His skin was dark, his hair trimmed into a buzz cut. He stood at a whopping 8 feet in height, vastly outssing both Damien and Long Chen.

    The man scanned the apartment building before locating the two. When he did, he opened his mouth.

    Without bothering to actuallye face to face with the two, he roared with vigor.

    "Professor Damien Grey and Long Aotian, by the decree of General Strohman Weiss, you have been summoned to the Armament Hall!"

 Chapter 519 Summons [3]

    Damien''s eyes widened in curiosity. Although he was expecting a summons, he didn''t expect it to be to the Armament Hall!

    The Armament Hall was a facility located in the North Wing of Evotech Headquarters. In fact, most military facilities were located in this wing even though it was mainly used for research buildings.

    Of these military facilities, the Armament Hall''s purpose was the simplest. It was the storage for Evotech''s weaponry and the ce where soldiers went to get equipped

    Still, even with its simple function, it wasn''t a ce just anyone could enter. Even for the exemry soldiers of Evotech, the Armament Hall was a dreand.

    The weapons they usually used were stock weapons that were mass-produced, but the weapons in the Armament Hall were unique and leagues more powerful than anything they could hope to get.

    But the only way to enter it was to stack up military achievements.

    However, Damien and Long Chen were currently being summoned to this illustrious hall without doing anything to prove their worth.

    And the only reason one went to the Armament Hall was for weapons.

    ''Strange. Even if they became aware of our "potential" during the interrogations, they shouldn''t let us into the Armament Hall. We haven''t built any trust yet.''

    But even while thinking like this, Damien couldn''t justify the reasoning behind the summons. Instead, he picked up Long Chen and put him in a nearby wheelchair, rolling him out to the living room to meet the man enacting the summons.

    "Sir, as you can see, my assistant is severely injured. As for me, I am a mere researcher. How could I dare enter the Armament Hall?"

    These were the first words Damien said. It had to be known, Damien Grey had quite the contrasting personality.

    He was strong-headed yet weak-willed. If his research was involved, he''d fight to thest man, but otherwise, he was the greatest coward.

    Showing hesitation like this was the best course of action. This way, they''d keep him in research and not abuse his regeneration on the battlefield.

    After all, just as Damien''s regeneration would make him a good test subject, it''d also make him a great meat shield.

    Damien smiled wryly at his own thoughts. ''This n is quite masochistic. How annoying.''

    The big man finally spoke up, ignoring Damien''s previous question entirely. "Hmph! You do not have the qualifications to question the General''s summons. Follow me or ept punishment!"

    "Y-yes!" Damien replied timidly, quickly rolling Long Chen and following the big man through the portal.

    Just like that, they arrived in front of the Armament Hall.

    It wasn''t arge building by any means. It was a simple one-story building with an all-white aesthetic, a pair of sliding doors serving as its entrance.

    But to enter, one needed a level of authority that very few within Evotech possessed.

    Ding!

    As if sensing their arrival, the doors opened without a hitch, letting Damien''s group inside. At the same time, the big man turned around and left.

    Damien hesitantly walked into the Armament Hall, but all he found was an empty room. The only thing present was a single man.

    "Are you Professor Damien Grey?" He asked coldly.

    His gait wasn''t nearly asrge as the big man from before, but his imposing momentum was far greater. Whether it be his face, arms, or any other exposed part of his skin, it was all covered in gruesome scars that highlighted the many battles he''d gone through.

    "Y-yes, General! This one is called Damien Grey, and the one in front of me is my assistant Long Aotian."

    The general nodded nomittally. "Mm, follow me."

    He turned around and began walking without another word, forcing Damien to follow him. Like this, the trio walked aimlessly for many minutes through a winding hallway that didn''t seem to fit the size of the building at all.

    Finally, after many minutes, they arrived in a small connected room. As the general began fiddling with a nearby keyboard, he finally spoke to Damien.

    "Professor Grey, I will be honest with you. You don''t possess even a hint of the qualifications necessary toe here. The only reason you''ve been allowed to do so is because of a certain individual''s suggestion."

    Damien''s brow raised curiously. Someone rmended him? If he looked at it from the most obvious standpoint, there was an Asgardian spy among Evotech''s executive board, but would things be so simple?

    If this was Asgard''s work, they were being far too tant. Giving him ess to the Armament Hall was practically proiming him a spy.

    But if it wasn''t Asgard, who else would want Damien to be equipped with weaponry? And what was their goal in armoring him?

    Damien''s brows furrowed. His goal was the rapid destruction of Niflheim, but the rtionships between forces, and even the forces themselves, of this world were far too twisted.

    Damien knew that if he did things normally, not just a mere 6 months or year, it''d take many years to unravel the situation.

    ''I don''t have that kind of time¡­should I be reckless?''

    Being reckless and direct was Damien''s strong point. Even though he''d begun to n his movements more carefully, he couldn''t change the core of his personality.

    But before he could decide, the general finished inputting what he needed and turned around.

    "The reason for your entrance into the Armament Hall is simple. From now on, you will need methods of self-protection in case anything untoward happens. However, usage of your chosen weapon will be strictly monitored by Evotech, so don''t even think about trying anything funny."

    As the general spoke, the floor below them began to sink, taking them down with it. Its pace was slow, acting as a sort of elevator.

    The trio descended for many minutes before finally, the floor stopped sinking. The four walls that surrounded them during the entire descent sunk into the floor, revealing the scenery that was once hidden.

    ''This¡­!''

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock. In front of him was an array of weapons more massive than anything he''d seen before. And not only that, the types of weapons were alsopletely new.

    Even ordinary swords and spears were equipped with technology, having des that shimmered with blue holographic light. But even with this enhancement, these weapons were far toomonce to shock Damien.

    What shocked him¡­were the guns.

    Rifles, pistols, snipers, machine guns, whatever it may be, it was present. The weapon that was present in the greatest quantity was the gun.

    ''How does one use a gun when mana allows one to destroy cities ands with a single thought? What is the benefit?''

    Damien was itching with curiosity. Seeing this kind of familiar modern weapon after so long filled him with a strange sense of nostalgia.

    "You may pick any single weapon from the storage. Once you have decided, return back to me to be assigned your tasks."

    The man named Strohman was one of few words. After saying his piece, he moved off to the side and closed his eyes, no longer paying attention to the Damien and Long Chen duo.

    As for the duo, naturally, they were excited. While Damien wanted to test out how the guns worked, Long Chen, this avid sword fanatic, wanted to dive into the sword racks and kiss every masterpiece he saw.

    Unfortunately, he was currently wheelchair-bound. He could only restrain himself and wait for Damien to take him to the swords.

    But since when was Damien such a kind person?

    Without giving a single thought to Long Chen, he rushed over to the gun racks.

 Chapter 520 Summons [4]

    Damien''s eyes panned over therge assortment of armaments in front of him. He couldn''t help but marvel at the aesthetic choices of these weapons'' makers.

    Each firearm was domineering in its own right. The sniper rifles and otherrger weapons looked as if they could easily take chunks out of the earth.

    They were extremely tempting. Especially considering the fact that Damien was using Earth standards to judge them, he couldn''t even imagine how powerful they truly were.

    Unfortunately, these weapons didn''t suit him. He was a close and mid-rangedbatant, so long-range weapons like snipers wouldn''t work for him.

    At the same time, he was a person who focused more on destructive power than speed. Because he could easily teleport, speed was never his concern.

    And because he would constantly teleport, a weapon that specializes in rapid-fire capabilities wouldn''t suit him either.

    But that didn''t mean rapid-firing capabilities weren''t useful to him. If he could, he''d prefer a weapon that could do both rapid-fire and burst attacks.

    His requirements must''ve been far too steep, however, since he couldn''t find anything that suited him. Luckily, he didn''t take too much time since each weapon came with a holographic window that roughly outlined its pros and cons.

    Damien walked to the end of the shelf. At this point, the weapons in front of him were mainly pistols and other smaller guns.

    ''Haa, pistols are small and sleek enough to fit my requirements, but can they match up to what I''m envisioning?''

    Truthfully, he thought they could. But he didn''t have any knowledge on this type of weapon. His thoughts were all hypotheticals made with his information-less mind.

    Still, it didn''t look like General Strohm was going to help him. And on top of that, he couldn''t keep Long Chen away from the sword rack for too long.

    He could clearly see the other party practically salivating in his wheelchair.

    ''I''ll have to pick the one that matches closest to what I''m thinking of¡­but will he let me?''

    Damien''s eyes moved to a location free of any other firearms. It was a ss case with two pistols inside.

    One was a sleek metallic ck while the other was a contrasting silver. Underneath the case, there was a que stating the weapons'' names.

    Twin Moons.

    Named after the twin moons that hung in the world''s sky, the ck pistol was Hel and the silver was Freya.

    ''Asgardian mythos has a significant impact on this world. I originally thought Niflheim simply copied Asgard, but I might be wrong.''

    Although the names he had heard so far didn''t have any connection with the actual myths, their influence was still strong.

    After all, his "wife" was a Valkyrie.

    He had to wonder where these legends came from, to be able to spread across manys like this. He also had to wonder about Earth''s origins once again. How could a mere beginner world be so influenced by the wider universe?

    Damien shook his head. The mystery of Earth was something he realized long ago, but as he traversed the universe, he came to understand that the answers he sought weren''t there.

    At least, not in Sector 3.

    Instead of thinking about questions he''d answer far in the future, Damien removed the ss casing and took the twin pistols into his hands.

    ''Ah, what a nice feeling.'' He couldn''t help but inwardlyment. It felt like the grips were adjusting to his hands perfectly.

    Only when Damien picked up the Twin Moons did General Strohm open his eyes again. But after only ncing for a few moments, he returned to his original posture.

    Seeing this, Damien sighed in relief and put the Twin Moons away in his spatial ring. After that, he apanied Long Chen to the sword racks.

    While Long Chen experienced the orgasmic bliss of otherworldly swords, General Strohm was submerged in inner thoughts thatpletely betrayed his outward appearance.

    ''The Twin Moons?! They actually allowed a mere professor to wield them?!''

    His thoughts were truly chaotic. It had to be known, weapons of the Twin Moons'' level of quality had almost all been imed already. If an exemry soldier appeared who was deserving of such high-ss weaponry, it would be forged directly for him.

    But the Twin Moons were different. General Strohm vividly recalled the old folktale that had been passed on through generations of soldiers.

    Originally a pair of manaless weapons that existed before the Mana Advent, the pistols were abandoned by their master and left in an unknown corner of the world.

    Years passed. The dual weapons sat unnoticed for ages. By all means, these ordinary weapons should''ve rusted and deteriorated hundreds of years ago, but the esoteric concept of miracles exists for a reason. No matter how much time passed, the pistols remained in pristine condition.

    And at some point, they began absorbing mana. The pistols'' color changed, turning from a more camo-like color to an iridescent blue that mirrored the mana it absorbed.

    But when this change wasn''t allowed tost for long. One fateful day, tens of thousands of years ago, the single moon in the sky split into two halves.

    A dark moon that was almostpletely ck, melding into the night sky. If it wasn''t for the stars behind it that cast a shadow of its silhouette onto the world, even the denizens wouldn''t have known of its existence.

    As for the other, it was a glistening silver. It shone with light rivaling the sun using its own power, granting the night sky a strong power of yin.

    Perhaps, the moon splitting told of a new era. The world was bathed in two contrasting auras for three days and three nights after the event.

    And during that baptism, the pair of dual pistols absorbed the energy of the two moons, mirroring their images and gaining sentience.

    The Twin Moons had only been found by Evotech with pure luck. But after finding such a good weapon, how could they not try to take advantage of it?

    Truthfully, many masters had attempted to control the Twin Moons, but the weapons simply wouldn''t listen.

    They were already at the pinnacle of Chaos Rank weapons, so when they resisted, it was impossible for anyone to conquer them by force.

    Therefore, they had been ced in the Armament Hall for chosen soldiers to try their luck. It became a sort of ritual to attempt to conquer the Twin Moons before choosing a true weapon.

    But now, in front of the general''s eyes, a small researcher with a timid personality easily picked up the Twin Moons without even a shred of resistance.

    Judging from the man''s expression, he didn''t even know the significance of what he just did.

    General Strohm''s curiosity was piqued. If he was picked as the Twin Moons'' master, he wouldn''t be a simple character at all. Perhaps¡­

    General Strohm shook his head. Even if he had some kind of amazing talent, there was no way he was a hidden powerhouse. Infiltrating Evotech''s system wasn''t easy at all.

    But still, General Strohm was forced to make a mental note.

    About the future achievements of this currently nameless researcher, he was both a little excited and a little fearful.

    All he knew for certain was that times were changing, and the raging storm on the horizon was infinitely close to enveloping them all.

 Chapter 521 Twin Moons [1]

    After Damien picked up the Twin Moons, he and Long Chen didn''t stay in the Armament Hall for long. After Long Chen received his sword as well, the two quickly left.

    But before they left, they received their new assignments from the General. And it was just as they expected.

    Long Aotian''s unbending self that was hidden behind a cowardly exterior, and Damien Grey''s special body, they had both been properly recognized by the executive board. Once again, the duo would be separated.

    Long Chen would be sent to train with the military, and as for Damien¡­

    ''It''s exactly what I wanted but who knew it''de so soon.'' Damien grinned to himself. Looking at the holographic briefing sheet, he was overjoyed.

    [Damien Grey - Transfer]

    [Division - Biochemical Engineering]

    [Guarantor - Lynn Carter]

    There was far more information on the sheet, but just this much was enough. But when Damien thought about it, this was a natural course of events.

    Damien had shown off his regeneration specifically. If there was a department that could make full use of his regeneration abilities, wouldn''t it be the one that made Chimeras?

    However, Aubrey Price was now dead, leaving only Lynn Carter at the head of the Chimera Research¡­

    While also being an important member of the Core Extraction research as well.

    ''I don''t know why she went to Earth, but I''m assuming it was to test their theories on a more insignificant world before using it on their target. Regardless¡­''

    He didn''t know how many worlds had been destroyed through their actions, and he had no desire to find out.

    Currently, there was only one thing Damien wanted to know about.

    Bzzt!

    The Twin Moons in his hands vibrated fiercely as his mana entered their bodies. With Hel on the left and Freya on the right, Damien stood stationary and continued the process.

    He stood in an isted area of the Sanctuary as he did so. Although slipping away was far harder with the current circumstances, it wasn''t entirely impossible for Damien.

    It just took an excessive amount of work.

    But for the sake of Damien''s curiosity, this level of work was nothing.

    Voom!

    As the Twin Moons absorbed more and more mana, they began to shine with iridescent light. The rays of light spread, bouncing off any nearby surface as if it was a mirror and forming a sort of prism.

    At the same time, two clear gems separated from the pistols'' bodies, gently floating over Damien''s wrist.

    And then, they plunged downward and submerged into his skin, searing themselves into his body and bing a part of him. Despite the process, it didn''t actually cause Damien any pain.

    Bzzt!

    The two clear gems were slim ovals only 2 or 3 inches long, shaped somewhat simrly to eyes. They were submerged with half their bodies burrowed in Damien''s wrists. The two points of the oval were facing Damien''s wrist and elbow, aligning the ovals parallel to Damien''s arms.

    But after burrowing there, they began emitting sparks of electricity. When Damien felt the mana entering the Twin Moons, he noticed that there was arge dy in between the time of him feeding the mana and the Twin Moons digesting it.

    It was almost as if¡­

    ''Something is blocking the flow.''

    Damien realized it immediately. Since he''d been pondering on the question for many days, the answer came naturally to him.

    Damien''s awareness entered his body and traveled to his wrists. There, he saw two marble-sized "meridians" that were built into Damien''s Ananta Matrix. And partially fused to these meridians were¡­

    The very same gems that just burrowed themselves into Damien''s body.

    He understood now. He understood why Aishia felt iplete while the witch was different. He understood why the entire concept of Nodes didn''t match his expectations.

    Because Nodes were truly iplete. The Nodal Mana System wasn''t created to use mana the way everyone else used it. No, it was meant to be used with an external medium.

    Damien curiously yed with the two meridians in his wrist, as well as the ones present in other Nodal Points. With a single thought, he drew all his mana into these 12 points,pletely changing the structures of his meridians and integrating the concept of "Nodes" into his Ananta Matrix.

    The process took many hours toplete, but it was less time than Damien expected. Compared to the past, he was now far more adept at precision mana control. This kind of task wasn''t nearly as tiring as it used to be.

    Naturally, that was only because of the Ananta Matrix. If not for its unique property to evolve, making even minor adjustments to the Mana Circuit''s path would be a task fraught with danger.

    Nevertheless, Damien was able toplete the modification sessfully, and when the oval gems met with his newly improved "Nodes," they went wild.

    The mana from his body was wildly sucked into the gems, while at the same time, ambient mana rushed into his body to make up the difference. Still, Damien didn''t panic.

    He understood what this process was. "Nodal Linking" was exactly the process in which denizens of this world pleted" their mana systems.

    The color of those clear gems slowly turned to that of ink, and then an even darker ckness. This ckness was dark to the point of rity, causing the gems to take on a clear ck ss look.

    Damien frowned. ording to what Eve told him, the gems would change color ording to his mana. This ck was either representing Space or his Void Essence, but regardless it was no good.

    After all, if either was revealed it''d be dangerous for him.

    But now that the gems had changed color, there was nothing he could do. The Nodal Link had beenpleted, the Twin Moons being bound to him for eternity.

    For denizens of this world, their weapon was quite literally a part of their body. Some even valued their weapons more than their own wives and children.

    But weapons and people hadpatibility. Even when a weapon had no sentience, itspatibility with its wielder was still important. This was one of the drawbacks of the Nodal Linking System.

    If one linked with the incorrect weapon, one would be hard-pressed to be a true powerhouse. Although Unlinking was also an avable option, it was far too expensive for themon person.

    Because of this, most of Niflheim and Asgard''s armies were made up of weak soldiers who couldn''t reach a desired synchronization rate. As for someone like Damien¡­

    Voom!

    His weapon chose him, so how could the synchronization rate be low? As Damien felt his mana smoothly circte between his body and the twin pistols, he felt iparably calm. This kind of perfectly melded feeling was blissful and addicting.

    But an even more addicting feeling was what followed. Damien had no idea how to use the guns in his hand, but he simply went for it. Aiming it at some nondescript corner of the room, he pulled the trigger.

    Xiu!

    There was a sound of something whizzing through the air, and in the next instant, a plot ofnd roughly ten meters across entirely disappeared from the world.

    On the other hand, Damien looked shocked. Although the damage he did wasn''t much, that was because he barely put any mana into his shot.

    What shocked him was¡­

 Chapter 522 Twin Moons[2]

    It was almost like teleportation.

    When Damien pulled the trigger, it all happened in an instant, far too fast for such an intensive process.

    The trigger being pulled was a catalyst. The ck gems in Damien''s wrists lit up, sucking in Damien''s mana like a vortex. This mana was then circted through the gem itself, beingpressed and concentrated multiple times over.

    Only when this process ended would the mana enter the gun. As for the process, even Damien couldn''t quite understand how the mana went from the gems to the guns. The only thing he could sense was that there was some sort of connection between the four objects simr to Damien''s Celestial Mana Threads.

    Regardless, the "bullet" was transported into the gun''s chamber and propelled forth using mana conceptually mirroring a ray gun.

    Essentially, the bullet itself was heavilypressed spatial mana that would cause both ssh damage and direct damage. It was a marvelous wonder of science and magicbined into one.

    Damien pondered over it for a bit, and then decided to send off a few more shots. He wanted to test if there was something special about the Twin Moons that left it separated from the main weapon racks.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t seem to find the difference. Either that, or the weapon itself didn''t want him to find it. Whatever the reason, Damien''s search was futile.

    However, as weapons, the Twin Moons were spectacr. The immediatepression and amplification of mana through the Nodal Gems were phenomenal, much faster than if the process was attempted by human hands.

    Not to mention, the Nodes themselves were integral in allowing the firearms to show their true power. The simple and inelegant shape and positioning of the Nodes allowed an extremely rapid system to be created.

    Mana would bounce between his Wrist Nodes and the Central Node on his nape, hastening with each revolution until its momentum was enough to tear everything to shreds.

    Though, using the Twin Moons only created a feedback loop through three nodes. Damien understood that there were many more ways the denizens of this world utilized their strange mana system than simply firing weapons.

    Nevertheless, Damien soon left the Sanctuary and covertly re-entered his home, nodding in greeting to Aishia entering his study.

    He sat down on his fanciful chair and fell into thought, continuing what he couldn''t finish at the Armament Hall.

    The question was simple.

    ''Should I be reckless?'' Damien didn''t know. He was having a hard time deciding on it.

    His hesitation came from one main thing, the fact that everyone else who came on this mission with him would be endangered. If he couldn''t finish within 6 months, even Rose and Ruyue would be caught up in the aftershocks.

    But if he could finish within 6 months¡­

    Damien peered through the wall at his "wife," his eyes indifferent.

    ''This woman wants Niflheim to be brought down. Although her desire is just, it isn''t enough. I''m afraid Asgard has been corrupted since long ago.''

    The longer he stayed in this world, the easier it was to realize. Especially as he heard about the world''s past through Aishia, it was easy to see. It was also easy to see how Aishia herself had been indoctrinated.

    Asgard was not an ally. Damien had no proof of this, but he was sure of it. But he also knew that if he never discovered the harmful nanomachines that entered his body along with the AI Core Processor, he never would''ve realized the small details he could now see with ease.

    ''Destroying Niflheim isn''t enough. If ites down to it, I''ll have to destroy the entire world.''

    Thinking about all the innocent lives that''d be lost irked him, but he couldn''t do anything about it. He simply didn''t have the power to save them.

    With this in mind, Damien returned to his mundane daily routine. That day, he came to a decision that would heavily impact his future.

    As for what that decision was¡­?

    That was a story for another time.

    ***

    3 days passed quickly, and soon enough, it was time for Damien to return to work. With his reassignment, he was no longer allowed to casually rest.

    Although Damien wanted to know about what was going to happen to the Treasure Duplication research, he realized that the big men who always led him around would never answer his questions when he needed them to.

    Instead, he found himself in a differentb. It had an overall neat appearance, with not nearly as many random objects and machines strewn around as Damien''sb.

    In a quiet corner, a blonde woman cked away on the holographic keyboard in front of her, seemingly inputting the results of some test.

    As for Damien, he was forced to stand in another corner of the room and watch this happen. He had already been present for half an hour, yet Lynn Carter hadn''t acknowledged his existence.

    Frankly, Damien was getting a bit annoyed. Although he didn''t have a problem waiting, that only applied to things he cared about. For someone as trivial as Lynn Carter, Damien had no patience.

    "Kuhum, excuse me," Damien spoke. The only response he got was silence. Even the cking of a keyboard didn''t break this awkward silence because the keyboard itself was holographic. It was the first time Damien cursed technological advancement.

    "Excuse me!"

    This time, he wasn''t so kind. He sent a trace of mana into his voice, his volume causing nearby beakers to rattle.

    "What do you want?" Lynn Carter finally turned to him and coldly asked.

    Frankly, she had no interest in the researcher that had been brought in as her assistant. No, not even an assistant, he was put in a simr position to Aubrey Price.

    But it was merely a puppet position. Someone like Damien Grey who didn''t even know about Evotech''s shadow would never be given such an important role.

    Even his position on the Treasure Duplication project was only provided to him because his wife was overlooking it. As for his wife, wasn''t she one of the most important members of the executive board?

    Last time Lynn Carter saw the woman named Aishia, she didn''t even have close to enough status to interact with her. She could only watch from afar.

    But that Aishia woman was incredibly arrogant and domineering, suppressing those who didn''t follow her will exactly. Perhaps this was the reason why Lynn developed a grudge against Damien, despite his innocence in the matter.

    Naturally, Damien didn''t know any of this backstory. He was forced to endure the undeserved grudge in silence.

    "Um¡­aren''t I here to assist you in your research? I don''t think having me stand here pointlessly will help with that at all."

    Lynn looked back at him with derision. "What help could you possibly provide? The only reason you got this far was because of your wife."

    Damien''s temper red. His research and his wife, these were the two things Damien Grey didn''t ept any bullshit on. But not only did Lynn insult his research, but she''d also insulted his wife''s honor!

    Damien was truly riled up. Without thinking about the consequences, he let off a slew of curses, sternly lecturing Lynn Carter.

    "¡­do you understand?! Even if you''ve been valued by Evotech, you are merely one of many! Do not look down on other people''s efforts like pathetic scum!"

    Damien''s rant ended quickly, and only then did he realize what he''d done. He began sweating profusely as he watched Lynn Carter''s frosty expression.

    But unexpectedly, she broke into a slight smile. "Right, we''re all just one of many here. There is no significance in anything we do regardless of how great it is. I apologize for my rudeness, Professor."

    "Hm?"

    Damien numbly epted Lynn''s handshake, not knowing what to do next. This wasn''t the reaction he expected from her.

    The Evotech employees he''d met so far were prideful. Even when they attempted to hide it, it was far too easy to feel their ingrained pride as employees of Evotech, of thepany that ruled the world.

    Yet, Damien didn''t see any of that in Lynn. If anything, her spirit seemed deted and unwilling.

    A wild thought appeared in Damien''s mind when he saw her current appearance. Although it was their first meeting, he had a sudden good feeling.

    ''This woman¡­would it be possible to convince her to rebel?''

 Chapter 523 Garden [1]

    Life became especially nd for two months.

    After Damien''s first encounter with Lynn Carter, their rtionship didn''t improve at all. Instead, they remained fire and ice. No matter how much Damien tried to melt the ice cube, it wouldn''t budge.

    Due to this, any cooperation the pair could''ve done was taken off the table. Damien''s job was demoted to assistant, at least between the two of them.

    And frankly, Damien had no problem with this arrangement. Eve provided him information, but didn''t help himprehend that information. Even though he could talk for ages, he couldn''t actually provide insights or aid in a field he had no experience in.

    But if there was someone giving him detailed instructions about everything, he''d have no problem at all. The assistant role was perfect for the current Damien.

    A byproduct of constantly working together was constantly being together. During this time, Damien was able to get a basic grasp of Lynn Carter''s character.

    Lynn Carter wasn''t cold nor was she warm. In terms of personality, there wasn''t much special about her. At least on the surface, she came off as an average researcher with an above-average brain.

    But Damien could see something hidden beneath that. asionally, she would make remarks that didn''t fit her usual personality at all. And without fail, these remarks were said whenining about Evotech.

    Despite her casual exterior, Damien''s perception wasn''t so weak. He understood the fox that hid within her body.

    In fact, converting her didn''t seem to be necessary. It was more apt to say Damien needed to form a connection and cooperate with her.

    As for the pair''s research, it was rted to the Outer Wilds. Specifically, they were researching ways for humans to explore the deste wastnd without being corroded by the ambient mana and air.

    Once again, Damien found a project that was pivotal in the survival of mankind. Yet, it was being done by apany that destroyss at their whims. This kind of parallel made Damien feel ufortable.

    When faced with the world, he never had to consider right or wrong. Firstly, he was a firm believer in the "strength is king" dynamic. And secondly, he hadplete belief in his own moral code.

    But in the same vein, he wasn''t ever put in a situation that was truly grey. In the eyes of this world''s denizens, perhaps he''d be a viin. Yet, in the eyes of the rest of humanity, he''d be a hero.

    Damien found himself hesitating. He found himself constantly asking himself a question he''d already answered in the past.

    ''What kind of person do I want to be?''

    The meaning of this question changed in wartime. Ever since Damien left the Primordial Undying Realm, the war had been the main priority in Damien''s mind.

    Ever since he viewed ric''s memories and witnessed the brutality of war firsthand, he''d never been able to rid himself of that sight.

    ? Millions, billions, an uncountable number of existences died like nothing. While Damien''s morality didn''t sway at these deaths, something else inside him did.

    It was this so-called concept of "humanity."

    As he reintegrated with society, Damien returned to being a "human." However, his moral code was created in the time when he was trapped in the dungeon, the time when he was a "beast."

    Although his views changed over time, the core of his belief had never been tampered with. Everything else was simply built upon it.

    If there was one thing he knew, it was that he didn''t want to be a hero.

    Heroes were pathetic. They were people whose spirit was built on the will of others. This kind of person was fated to carry an immense and fragile burden. If they made one misstep, the entire public would turn against them, and their spirit would directly copse.

    A true hero wasn''t a hero at all. True heroes were the ones Damien saw on the battlefield during the 10 years he spent there.

    The old dwarf, Indomitable. It wasn''t his given name, but the nickname he was given within the alliance. Although it was domineering, he didn''t fail to live up to it in the slightest.

    Old Man Indomitable was already tens of thousands of years old by then. His craft had been honed to the utmost, and he had reached the Demigod realm through forging alone.

    And the weapons he made for the soldiers, those weapons that would never fail them even in the direst of situations, they saved innumerable lives. Old Man Indomitable was a true hero, but his name was never passed down to the following generations, his legacy going uninherited and unknown.

    There were countless others like him that ric met on the battlefield.

    Swift Flower, a woman who burned her own soul to save herrades from the pursuit of a Demigod, As, a Giant who used physical strength alone to hold a world together and prevent its copse, staying stationary in this position for hundreds of years before reinforcements arrived¡­and even ric himself.

    These people were unsung heroes. If it wasn''t for their contribution, the final result of the ancient war wouldn''t have been nearly as optimistic as it was.

    But in the end, they all died.

    Damien didn''t know how many sacrificed themselves or how many died with the passage of time, but it was true that at least ric died after giving everything he had for what he believed in.

    Could Damien do that?

    If he thought about it rationally, the answer was no. When his strength grew enough, he could expand the Sanctuary so much that he could fit any and everyone into it. Perhaps, he could even send entire worlds to merge with it.

    Although that strength sounded far away, Damien knew that it wasn''t. He knew how massive the difference between 3rd and 4th ss was.

    And if Damien was ever in a situation where everything he cared about was safely tucked away in the Sanctuary, he would no longer have any reason to fight.

    This was the reality of his situation.

    However, no matter how unrighteous Damien''s mind was, his heart always adored heroes.

    What young boy wouldn''t? Especially to someone like Damien who submerged himself in fantasy before his life changed, being the hero who saved everyone and took the spotlight was incredibly appealing. It was the kind of domineering appearance he''d always wanted.

    But Damien already grew out of those childish fantasies. The only thing left was a subconscious knot that he only realized when the issue presented itself.

    Damien smiled wryly. In the end, he couldn''t decide at all what kind of person he''d be. Nevertheless, he was always a simple person.

    In a situation where he couldn''t predict or n for the future, the only thing left to do was act however he felt was right in the moment.

    Quietly, Damien stood up. It didn''t feel like anything changed about him, but at the same time, he didn''t feel the same as before.

    His thoughts had been insignificant, it was simply a random tangent he suddenly had. Yet, the effect this tangent had wasn''t simple.

    His mind felt calmer.

    The threat of the war, the threat of dying so meaninglessly after expending so much effort, it terrified him. It was impossible for someone like him who hadn''t experienced anything to easily ept such wide-scale death and destruction.

    But he was slowly amodating it. He was attempting to grow into the clothes that were forced onto him. This way, perhaps he''d at least be somewhat prepared for what was toe.

    And it seemed¡­he''d made a small bit of progress in the growth spurt he desperately hoped for.

 Chapter 524 Garden [2]

    Damien walked through the white hallways of Evotech. He decided to walk home today instead of using the teleportation devices.

    After all, something fun was going to happen.

    Thest 2 months weren''t spent idly. Long Chen slowly healed back to peak condition using both the boost of Damien''s [Heal] trait and a healing serum that General Strohman injected into his body. After that, he slowly limated to military life and began rapidly rising in position.

    Long Chen''s sword talent was simply marvelous. Even when he entered a state of forgetfulness and began training from the beginning, his progress was rapid, using 2 months to reach a level many soldiers only dreamed of.

    With how the two of them were slowly gaining trust and reputation, Damien understood that it wouldn''t take long for them to be introduced to Evotech''s reality.

    As for Aishia, he didn''t quite know what she was doing. That woman always acted perfectly in her role, so it would be assumed that she always stayed home, but Damien wasn''t sure about that.

    Something about Aishia was off, and that was the main reason why he didn''t include her into many of his ns.

    And the biggest variable in his n was also the most unexpected one. The little girl masquerading as his daughter, Reva.

    Truthfully, she didn''t do anything suspicious. But Damien''s instinct was raging. It wasn''t just a gut feeling, it was the same strange intuition that led him to find Zara and warned him before his fall.

    This intuition was ringing rm bells constantly. As long as Reva was around, Damien''s senses would subconsciously go on high alert.

    This little girl was too strange. The look in her eyes was dull and clear as if there wasn''t a single thing that escaped her breadth. However, as long as she wasn''t doing anything, Damien couldn''t do anything either.

    Reva never talked to him in the first ce. The only time she would act somewhat close to familial was when there were gazes on them.

    Regardless, none of that mattered at the moment. Damien was simply thinking idly as he waited for the event to start.

    His steps led him to a clear bridge roughly 15 feet off the ground. This was one of the connection points between different buildings in theplex.

    As he walked through it, he hummed lightly. Life had been good recently. Although he was tortured, he waspensated with an amazing promotion and pay raise. Even his wife was given a better position.

    How could he not be happy? The past 2 months were like proof that all the effort he put into his research was worth something. Even if that Lynn Carter didn''t acknowledge him, Evotech Headquarters had!

    As he reached the middle point of the bridge, four shadows appeared around him, concealed in the darkness of night.

    Their gazes switched between each other as they held a silent conversation. But, considering their current target, there was no need for excessive nning.

    "White Shadow, there is no need for us to think so far. Even if Evotech knows our movements, they won''t care for a small researcher like him. Even if he has a little regeneration talent, that only makes him slightly more important."

    The voice that sent the mental transmission was young, roughly 13-14 years old. However, this person was currently partaking in such a dangerous mission without any qualms.

    The one called White Shadow was their leader. Her reputation was spread far and wide, known even to those outside of their organization. She was one of the highest-level members, which was especially surprising since the current mission was so simple.

    White Shadow shook her head. "Fine. I also agree with you, but I have to approach the situation as a leader. I cannot recklessly act and endanger the lives of my subordinates."

    Her thoughts were true to her words. She didn''t understand why she was sent on this mission, but since the executives believed it was worthy of her attention, she''d approach it with caution.

    The four shadows had already followed her cautious approach for many weeks. They''d been quietly observing their target and understanding his routines.

    And they found that every week on the sixth day, the researcher would take a specific path to the cafeteria. While this path was the most scenic route, it was also the most wed. In particr, there was a newly constructed bridge that didn''t have working surveince yet.

    They surrounded their target the instant he stepped onto this bridge. After White Shadow gave a few more reminders to prioritize safety, they moved.

    One went for the head, covering Damien''s mouth with a dark substance and silencing him. The little girl approached from the back, wrapping her arms around Damien''s and tightly constraining them.

    Four people were too many for such a simple task. While the three under her worked, White Shadow stood back and watched for any unforeseen changes.

    As her eyes panned the area, they suddenlynded on the man who was being restrained. His expression looked a bit¡­off?

    White Shadow''s eyes narrowed. Was this man actually¡­smiling?

    She concentrated her awareness and pierced the material covering his face. When she saw his entire visage, she realized that he had an amused smile on his face as he watched the three around him.

    His eyes moved. They locked directly with hers. He smiled brightly at her, his eyes turning into crescents. White Shadow felt her heart skip a beat.

    He knew. From the moment they arrived, he knew. The reason he walked this route was so that they could easily capture him.

    But why?

    Did he understand the situation? But that was impossible! There wasn''t a single person on the inside who''d leak their information. They''d made especially sure of this.

    But if he didn''t know, why was he confident? Was it simple confidence in his strength?

    As White Shadow pondered, she noticed the man''s lips began moving. As she carefully traced his words¡­

    ''Don''t mind me and just keep doing what you''re doing.''

    His voice arrived in her ear casually. She couldn''t even sense his mana approaching, clearly delineating their difference.

    White Shadow shook her head furiously. She was an early 4th ss existence. Even within this rank, she was one of the strongest. Yet, she was being threatened by a mere 3rd ss researcher?

    While her pride hurt, she knew her senses didn''t deceive her. She''d been through too many life-or-death situations to console herself with nonsense.

    Instead, she stopped worrying about things that were above her caliber.

    ''Even if he can defeat us, that''s only because we''re in the younger generation. When he meets Master and the other elders, he won''t be able to make a single move out of line. I''ll just let Master handle this.''

    The squad that had been sent this time was still in training. Even White Shadow, who had peerless strength and talent, was only 20. She hadn''t graduated to bing a true member of their organization yet.

    Regardless, the fact that their mission waspleted sessfully was true. The only order White Shadow received was to bring him back to their headquarters:

    The three juniors under hermand wrapped up their work soon enough since Damien didn''t try to resist at all.

    With him bound, the four melded into the shadows around them, disappearing from reality as they silently moved back to their rendezvous point.

 Chapter 525 Garden [3]

    To Damien, getting kidnapped was a really novel experience. After all, kidnapping a spatial expert was a joke. To even consider doing so, an insane amount of nning was needed. The timing, precision, and even equipment needed to restrict a spatial expert to were exorbitant.

    That was why Damien spent an entire 2 months letting them observe him. If they wanted to grab him properly, they should''ve at least set up a spatial lock.

    But he realized that the ones kidnapping him didn''t know his identity at all. From the information they were given, he was just a normal researcher.

    ''Haa, you y too many games.'' He sighed to himself. Still, he was enjoying the chauffeur service these shadows turned into.

    White Shadow in particr was annoyed with his behavior, being the only one who noticed it. Nevertheless, she ignored him and simply did the mission she was assigned.

    It didn''t take long for the group to reach a secluded area within Evotech Headquarters. After doing so, each of the shadows pulled out a ne with a small blue pendant, injecting mana into it.

    Voom!

    Four miniature spatial arrays formed under their feet. The one under White Shadow epassed Damien as well. And then, the group disappeared.

    Evotech''s rm system finally went off. With this, another researcher had been kidnapped. And once again, the only trace left was that of spatial mana.

    Looking at it this way, these assassins were quite smart. Using the same methods would hint at the same culprit, but this culprit was still unknown.

    It had to be said, during the two months that passed, Evotech didn''t release their high-security state. Even if their technique in kidnapping him was shoddy, Damien knew these shadows were extremely skilled to be able to walk freely in Evotech without fear.

    Regardless, Damien was no longer at Evotech. When the spatial fluctuations around him cleared up, he found himself in arge open space surrounded by flora and fauna.

    Whenpared to the Hub Cities and Outer Wilds of the unnamed world, the current location was like apletely different realm.

    There were lush green grasses lining the entire ground, foliage and beasts all over, and clear natural springs and rivers as well.

    "Hmm¡­" Damien hummed as he looked around. It was an impressive sight inparison, but in reality, it was quite modest and homey.

    "Even after sensing our presences, you still don''t greet us? You are quite the daring boy." An elderly voice came from behind him.

    Damien shrugged nomittally. "You brought me to such a fun ce, you should at least let me enjoy it a bit first, no?"

    "Hahahaha! It''s really as she said! This boy is cheeky enough to make your nerves itch. But does he have the strength to back up his attitude?"

    "Shut up, Albeus. We don''t have time to y your games."

    "Boy, turn around and face us. We have called you here for a reason."

    The three voices who spoke were different from the first. It wasn''t surprising, though, as Damien already sensed the six elders behind his back.

    They were sitting on such gaudy thrones that he almost didn''t want to turn around and look at them with his eyes, but he didn''t really have a choice.

    As he turned around, the aura of Divinity shed against his body in waves. Not just one or two, but three of these elders were Demigods.

    As for the other three, they were essentially Quasi-Demigods, beings at the extreme peak of 4th ss.

    "Ah, yes. It is my honor to meet your exalted selves. This humble one is Damien Void, and here is some unnecessary sophistry to wet your egos before we talk. Merry Christmas."

    "Boy, you¡­!" The first voice fumed. He was a small old man seemingly of an imp or goblin-like race. His nose was crooked and he had arge pair of sses on his eyes that erged them by many times.

    As for the other six, they were two more men and three women, causing an even split. The Albeus who spoke earlier was arge middle-aged man with an unholy amount of muscles. As for the two that rebuked him, they were a pair of twins on the female side.

    In reality, Albeus was one of the three Demigods among them, with the other two being the remaining man and woman who hadn''t spoken yet. However, his personality was the simplest.

    The two twins were kids he viewed as nieces or daughters, and with them simrly seeing them as their uncle, they had no fear of rebuking him like a normal old man.

    As Damien appraised the dynamic between these six, the feeling he got was far more¡­real whenpared to the atmospheres he felt from both Niflheim and Asgard.

    It was something akin to their "flow," but Damien didn''t understand it well enough to urately describe it yet.

    Whatever the case may be, he felt morefortable around these six than he did with others. This was a natural feeling, and also the reason why he greeted them so rudely.

    Because he decided to be reckless.

    He used his own body in a gamble to test the waters. If he lost, he''d get punished by a Demigod, but if he won, he''d be able to pause the character he''d been ying recently.

    Damien was tired of Damien Grey. That guy was too much of a coward, too indecisive when it wasn''t rted to research.

    And he was too much of a ve to his research. Even if he was demoted to being a true ve, he wouldn''t care as long as his hands were able to remain on a project.

    This kind of character went against Damien''s characterpletely. Now that he was in a position where he could drop it, he''d dly do so.

    "How long did you know?" A voice separate from the six spoke up. Walking out from a nearby section of foliage was the very woman who arranged his kidnapping.

    "Wasn''t it obvious from the beginning? Though, it took you around a week, and that was with all my constant prodding. I didn''t imagine a researcher could be so dense."

    "Did you forget that you''re disguised right now? Even if you look simr, there''s some strange magic that messes with my perception."

    "Is that your way of telling me you''re blind?"

    "Shut up."

    Right, the woman in front of Damien was none other than Lynn Carter herself. She was the main reason why this organization set its sights on him.

    Not on Damien Grey, but Damien Void.

    As for the secondary reason¡­that was something that cameter.

    For now, Damien turned his attention to Lynn and the six experts.

    "I''m sure you''ve already been introduced to me by her, but my name is Damien Void. At the moment, my goal is the destruction of the two societies that are ruling this world. And you?"

    Albeus smiled. "Perfect! I love straightforward people the most. My name is Albeus, this kooky old man is Reynold, these twins are Alex and Alice, and the stuck-up pair over there is Oberon and Crystal. Our long-standing goal is the exact same one you''ve just mentioned. The destruction of Niflheim and Asgard."

 Chapter 526 Garden [4]

    Damien nodded. This wasn''t anything out of his expectation. After all, was there any other reason for a third group to exist if not to oppose the other two?

    After Damien''s suspicion of Asgard started growing, he also started to assume about the existence of this group. However, he didn''t have any methods to confirm his thoughts.

    When he met Lynn, he came to realize that she wasn''t some normal researcher. She was clearly someone who was involved in the rapidly changing undercurrents of this world. But this wasn''t enough for Damien to suspect her.

    That only happened when he first sensed the group of shadows that came after him.

    Lynn was his only new interaction, and although his status was precarious enough for those shadows to be sent for anyone, reality was different.

    Asgard still had confidence in Eve, the AI imnted in his head. Meanwhile, Niflheim had confidence in themselves. As he was a researcher at Evotech, he was already in their grasp.

    The only one who didn''t have a connection point to contact him through was this organization.

    As for why they contacted him? In reality, his face hadn''t been changed too much from his original appearance. Besides his hair and eyes turning back to their original color, his facial structure was only somewhat yed with.

    It was enough to fool anyone who''d never interacted with Damien before. It was also enough to fool those who''d only seen him once or twice.

    However, it didn''t fool Lynn Carter. Damien realized this not long after he understood Lynn''s position.

    If his memory wasn''t wrong, he''d remained concealed the entire time he first saw Lynn. But during the confusion of that time, she must''ve seen him at least once.

    Though, it was still strange for her to remember his face or even consider his use. If she saw him randomly, she wouldn''t put any value in him.

    "The moment I first saw you was when you were interacting with the World Core."

    The first sentence out of her mouth cleared all of Damien''s suspicions. If it was that moment, then of course the image would be too startling for anyone to forget.

    A human actually interacting with a World Core. This was the kind of thing Niflheim dreamed of aplishing, yet some unknown brat had beaten them to it.

    "I want you to join me in the Core Extraction project, and Niflheim has agreed after seeing your dedication these past few months. But before I take you there, I have to first understand your position."

    ''Are you siding with us, or are you siding with them?''

    This was the question Lynn asked Damien. He had to pick a side.

    Niflheim didn''t need to be mentioned. As for Asgard, its corruption originated from Niflheim as well.

    "¡­but our Shadow Garden is different. We were born from those on both sides, created from those who betrayed their original affiliations in the name of justice."

    Damien looked around. Currently, only the six experts and Lynn were present. Even White Shadow and her team had disappeared at some point.

    But from these seven people alone, Damien could see the truth in Lynn''s words.

    Lynn was originally a normal citizen in Niflheim territory. If what Damien remembered wasn''t wrong, then she had family being kept captive by Niflheim.

    As for the short old man, he was also a member of Niflheim. Many of his body parts weren''t human but from beasts. He was evidently someone who suffered from Chimera experimentation.

    As for the rest¡­

    The twin women Alex and Alice were actually members of the Giant race. Although their forms were human-sized, not being taller than 5 feet 8 inches, this wasn''t strange for Giants.

    The Giant Race''s name might''ve made it seem as if their entire race was filled with massive people, but that wasn''t true. In reality, the smaller a giant was, the stronger they were.

    Giants were a race who were widely known for their physical strength. Even a 3rd ss giant could crush mountains with a single punch.

    And because of how massive their physical strength was, they tended to have massive bodies.

    For a giant to have a smaller body meant they were adept enough at controlling andpressing their strength to lower their size. This wasn''t a matter of shame, but one of pride.

    Naturally, not all giants sought to grow smaller. There were some who drew pride from their original size. These two factions of giants were both prevalent, but they didn''t fight amongst themselves.

    Giants were, in Damien''s opinion, the best race in existence.

    They were extremely strong and domineering, but they were simple as well. Giants didn''t fight other giants. Infighting was something they despised from their cores.

    Not only that, but in general, giants were the most benevolent race. To those who treat them right and those who act righteously, they were the most trustworthyrades. Against scum and viins, they were devils from the deepest depths of hell.

    One only needed to look at the giant named As for proof of this fact. In the ancient war, he spent tens or even hundreds of years holding a world together without moving even a single inch.

    This world was just some random world that got caught as coteral damage. Even though it didn''t have any personal value for As, he still sacrificed himself to save it.

    Truthfully, the second he checked their status and realized that these two twins were Giants, he trusted Shadow Garden.

    If it was before, he''d have to walk on eggshells with them until he came to know their true goals.

    But the instinct of a Giant couldn''t be fooled by even a Demigod. It was as if the universe loved them too much to let them suffer.

    Giants were the greatest assurance of the character of those around them.

    Regardless, after Damien learned of these six people''s identities, he also learned much about the organization named Shadow Garden.

    Except for him, all of its members were traitors from either Asgard or Niflheim. Not only that, but they were also all people who bound themselves to the organization through Mana Oaths.

    By the time their conversation ended, Damien had a solid grasp on the type of organization this was.

    It had all the motivation to achieve its goal, but it didn''t have the means. It didn''t have a pir that could lead it forward.

    The six experts of Shadow Garden couldn''t move unless they wanted to provoke the peak experts of the other two organizations. The three acted and kept each other in check through this kind of checks and bnces system.

    And what Shadow Garden needed right now was someone who looked weak but was actually strong, someone who could act freely and empower their troops, granting both hope and opportunity to the organization.

    And they wanted Damien to be this figurehead.

    Damien smiled wryly when he realized this. What they were telling him to do was act as usual, but with an entire organization backing him.

    But if he needed to think about the interests of an organization as he moved, could it truly be considered "as usual?"

    Damien sighed. For now, he didn''t ept or reject their proposal. Instead, he put it to the side.

    Before he decided anything so important, first he''d experience Shadow Garden for himself.

 Chapter 527 Garden [5]

    If Damien had to use one word to describe Shadow Garden, he''d most likely call it contradictory.

    Because despite its ominous name, the atmosphere within was quite warm.

    It had to be remembered, Shadow Garden was essentially a safe space created for refugees. Only the experts among them knew of their rebellious thoughts. The others were simply happy to have escaped their previous hells.

    And there were plenty of others.

    As Damien enjoyed the scenic view of the lush ind he seemed to be on, these nonbatants were the first people his eyesnded on.

    He ended up conversing with a few of them out of curiosity.

    Why they joined Shadow Garden, how life had been for them, the conversation wasn''t intimidating, it just seemed like a local teaching a foreigner about their customs.

    And that was truly all it was. Perhaps the reason Damien was treated so well by the refugees might''ve been because his attitude was pure curiosity with no hidden intentions.

    Through these conversations, Damien learned that the refugees present were not only from Asgard and Niflheim, but also stragglers who were forced to survive in the Outer Wilds and those who escaped the chaotic environment of the Hub Cities.

    More than anything else, Shadow Garden was a ce to foster these people. Damien understood this truth.

    ''It''s strange.'' He thought to himself. ''If I continue to desperately look for a reason why these people shouldn''t be trusted, I''ll be the one marked crazy.''

    There was no longer any reason for him to suspect Shadow Garden to be like the other two forces. They were extremely open with him, allowing him to move freely as if he was already a member of their organization.

    Damien didn''t understand how they could trust him so much within their territory, but he realized they might simply be assured of their own strength.

    As day and night interchanged, Damien spent more than just a few days in this vacation-like routine. He talked to the locals, explored the small ind, and experienced the culture.

    He was also made aware that this patch of greenery was truly an ind. Or rather, it was better to be called an Oasis. This patch ofnd was a separate space located in the Outer Wilds. If one didn''t have the strength to brave the dangers to arrive here, they''d never know it existed.

    Even from outside perception, it was invisible. For the location of a refugee camp, it was hidden enough.

    Damien''s steps took him around. It was his fourth day in Shadow Garden, and today, he found himself somewhere closer to the central area.

    This ce was usually blocked off from the public, it was where the experts of the organization took residence. But even then, Damien was allowed to peruse it.

    The guards at the entrance to this section of the ind only told him that he was restricted from entering anyone''s property without permission, but this was simply basic human decency. He had no ns to intrude on anyone.

    As he walked through this area, he admired the way the foliage andndscape had been altered to fit all the residences and facilities. At the same time, the arrangement of the buildings mirrored the records of a few ancient arrays Damien had seen in the past.

    Ting~!

    His admiration of thendscape was cut short by a crisp sound. It was a clear melodic note that seemed to descend from the heavens, painting the core residences with splendor.

    Ting~! Ting~! Ting~!

    Damien''s steps halted. He began walking in the direction of the music notes as if he was entranced. In this zombie-like state, his mind entered his spiritual world and could only watch his body move.

    But there was a strange profundity to this detachment. Damien felt like if he truly wanted to, he could sluggishly control his body, though his movements wouldn''t be altered from their current path.

    He soon reached a covert hut that stood atop an overarching hill. Compared to the other residences, it was incredibly shabby, but the homey feeling from it was far more weing.

    Ting~! Ting~!

    Ting~!

    The sound of music filled the air, causing the surrounding elements to dance in joy. Damien''s body stood among these dancing elements, quietly appreciating the music.

    Ting~!

    Ting~! Ting~! Ting~!

    It sounded like a string instrument that had far too manyyers to be an ordinary string instrument. The sounds it produced had Asian influence, but Western patterns as well, making it hard to decipher its origins.

    But naturally, this wasn''t a piece of music that originated from Earth. Perhaps whatpelled Damien to find its source was how strange and novel it waspared to the music he was used to.

    With his body standing among the natural elements like so, Damien found himself regaining control. But he didn''t move or walk away. Instead, he waved his hands in the air like a madman.

    His bodily movements became more fluid, his feet taking tentative steps without any specific pattern. His arms cut through the air roughly at first, but their movements also became far more graceful.

    Without realizing it, Damien began dancing across the flow of mana. His body followed the world''s natural flow, the dancing elements in the atmosphere following his steps.

    The scene became even more beautiful. The elements were dancing previously, this much was true, but they were doing so without direction. Now that they had such a skilled guide showing them the way, things were no longer so simple.

    A vortex formed in front of the small hut. The sky above darkened, but this darkness wasn''t ominous. Instead, it gave an inviting feel like what a mother''s womb would feel like to a baby.

    The lightning that crackled through these clouds didn''t give off the frightening stench of death, but instead, thefortable scent of life.

    There was once a rumor that creation began with a lightning strike. Naturally, thews surrounding the element weren''t so simple and single-focused.

    But this didn''t matter. This wasn''t lightning called by Damien, but lightning naturally formed as the elements excitedly danced through the air.

    There wererge mes streaking across the sky, waterfalls descending from the heavens, astral winds, and even rising earth monuments. Out of nowhere, this grand showing of natural elemental formation and destruction appeared for all to see, providing no small number of insights to the numerous experts in the surroundings.

    As for the causes of this phenomenon?

    Damien continued to mindlessly follow the world''s flow. The elements followed him without missing a single step. And from the small hut, the strange music continued to y, exciting the world into action.

    Damien didn''t know how he felt right now. He followed his instinct and the path it showed him, and somehow, he felt like he touched upon World Force without needing to use his Celestial status as a crutch.

    But that was all for another time.

    The music slowly faded away with time. It had already been ying for many hours already. Along with the music, Damien''s actions in the field also halted, bringing the elements down from their high and allowing them to settle into the atmosphere once more.

    As the scene calmed, the door to the small hut opened, giving way to the jade-like figure of a certain girl¡­

 Chapter 528 Garden [6]

    Damien stared at this girl nkly, but before he was even able to get a proper impression of her, multiple auras converged on their location.

    "rice!"

    "Little Risa!"

    "What happened here?! Who is the rat intruding upon our sanctuary?!"

    A slew of exmations followed those auras, loud voices filled with mana attempting to break Damien''s will before the bodies of these experts could arrive.

    But Damien simply stood and waited for them. These mere threats wouldn''t make him budge at all. The mana contained in those voices brushes over him like a warm spring breeze.

    Whoosh!

    Over the figures arrived within seconds, the group being a random collection of men and women. But without even acknowledging Damien''s existence, this group rushed over to the girl''s side and began hounding her.

    "rice, are you okay?"

    "Lady rice, please tell us if you encounter any problems."

    "Risa, what was all that energy? Don''t tell me you went berserk again?!"

    The voices of concern were a mixture of those speaking for benefit and those speaking from the heart, but regardless of their reasoning, it was clear how much these experts valued the girl named rice.

    And as soon as they judged that she was fine, their attention turned on him.

    "Boy, you actually dare to peep on our Risa? Do you have a death wish?!"

    A woman in front of the rest spoke menacingly. The aura of an early 4th ss existence weighed on Damien''s shoulders, attempting to force him to kneel.

    Void Essence circted through his body and removed the invading aura. At the same time, Damien''s bending back returned to its upright position, his eyes staring straight into the woman''s eyes without fear.

    This showing naturally filled the woman with rage. With her status and strength, there wasn''t a single person who dared to disrespect her. And now this brat was easily resisting her coercion? This was an immense p to the face!

    She was initially going easy on him, but she no longer had the desire to do so. The strength of the aura weighing on Damien''s body increased exponentially.

    Although this showing irked Damien, he didn''t say anything or show anger. This woman''s strength was already a step below him. Why should he needlessly fight with her?

    It was at this time that the girl named rice finally spoke up. "Big sister, he didn''t interrupt me at all. Why are you trying to hurt him?"

    Her voice was clear and soft like the sound jingling of morning bells transmitted through dew drops. It had a soothing effect that would calm one''s soul without one even realizing it.

    Naturally, the woman was affected by this strange power. Her spirit was soothed and her aura melted away, freeing Damien from his not-so-confining confinement.

    After doing so, rice ignored her "big sister" and turned her eyes to Damien. Her eyes wererge like an anime character, her pupils a tranquil ck color that seemed capable of sucking one''s soul.

    "May I be so rude as to ask this sir''s name? As sir is aware, this lowly one is named rice." Her tone was extremely humble, like a mortal talking to a supreme master.

    Damien felt strange hearing this kind of tone directed at him, but he responded naturally, giving her his name.

    "Damien Void."

    "Damien¡­what an interesting name."

    Damien cringed. If not anything else, the fact that she didn''t repeat hisst name embarrassed him. He didn''t know whether or not it was on purpose, but it was a low blow nheless.

    "Sir Damien, would you perhaps be interested in having a chat with me over some tea?" rice asked suddenly, much to the chagrin of the surrounding experts.

    But Damien was too quick in agreeing. Before these experts could evenprehend the situation, the two young ones had already entered the hut together, closing the door.

    The group had a mixture of expressions on their faces, but they were mostly wry smiles. As always, their Risa did whatever she wanted.

    ''Let it be. Even I''m curious to see what bes of thisbination.''

    It was only after this sound transmission arrived that the experts finally calmed down. Looking at the hut onest time, they retreated back to their own residences. As for the sound transmission they received, even Damien didn''t notice its mana fluctuations.

    Currently, he was seated on the floor in front of a small table, rice sitting opposite from him.

    "Why did you call me here?" Damien asked curiously.

    His semi-conscious movements earlier were extremely beneficial to hisprehension of World Force, and since this little girl was the one who allowed such a thing to happen, Damien naturally had a positive opinion of her.

    "Mm, I was simply curious?" rice responded, tilting her head. It seemed like even she didn''t know why she invited him.

    But Damien didn''t think so. Even if her aura was innocent and pure, Damien refused to believe anyone in this universe could maintain such purity as they grew.

    Even the most innocent person would have to walk a bloody path for strength. This was the singrw that governed the universe.

    People who radiated such innocent auras usually fell into two categories.

    There were the snakes who used their aura and atmosphere to lure in prey, and there were saints who had benevolent hearts and only killed in the name of justice.

    Regardless of the reasoning, it was true that a pure aura almost never truly meant "purity."

    But there was an outlier¡­

    Damien shook off the thought. Even if what he assumed was the truth, it didn''t have anything to do with him.

    "Sir Damien, if it isn''t too presumptuous to ask¡­how did you do that?"

    rice got to the main point rtively fast. She didn''t spend too much time trying to lead Damien around.

    And when Damien heard her question, he realized it. Right, this girl had been trying to use her music to move the elements into action before he even arrived.

    At that point, the only thing she could do was cause them to materialize and dance through the skies like an Aurora Borealis. But Damien was different.

    The instant Damien began his strange movements, the elements followed him and multiplied as if he was showing them their natural path.

    This wasn''t something a human should''ve been able to do. As a matter of fact, even Elves and Spirits who were loved by nature might not be able to pull off what Damien did.

    But the problem was¡­

    ''How am I supposed to answer a question even I don''t know the answer to?'' Damien smiled wryly as he thought.

    His movements were entirely instinctual. While he realized that he was following the "flow" of the world, he also had no idea what this meant. It was terminology that appeared in his head as if he''d always known it.

    This phenomenon was quite normal for people who experienced natural enlightenment. The will of the universe itself would bestow names and terminology that could be used, ingraining them in practitioners'' minds before they exited their ethereal state.

    Nevertheless, Damien had no way of answering rice''s question. First, he needed to find that answer for himself.

    But before their conversation could continue¡­

    BOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion rocked the Shadow Garden''s very foundation.

 Chapter 529 Egg [1]

    BOOOOOOM!

    It didn''t end with a single explosion. Multiple massive sts rang out from all sides. When thergest explosion rang out from above, cracks appeared in the sky.

    Like a virtual game glitching out, the sky jittered and bugged. Slowly but surely, the sky itself shattered into pieces and disappeared. The image of peace and tranquility that the Shadow Garden held disappearedpletely.

    When the sky finally stopped functioning, what was revealed to everyone''s eyes was the deste atmosphere of the Outer Wilds. With the artificial sky gone, the Shadow Garden really did look like an oasis in hell.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The explosions didn''t stop after the sky caved. Large sts rang out across the surface of the spatial walls isting Shadow Garden from the Outer Wilds. But just looking at these sts wasn''t enough for Damien to determine how they were created.

    "The Vicious Beasts are back at it again. Sir Damien, please rest here. We can continue our conversation at ater time." rice stood up gracefully and did something simr to a curtsy. Afterwards, she directly left the cabin, taking her instrument and flying into the air.

    Damien watched her go in silence. His attention was currently elsewhere. Turning his attention to the spatial walls, his figure shed away, appearing on their periphery.

    ''This is¡­'' His thoughts moved slowly. Before, when he was touring the organization, he didn''t see any signs of these spatial walls, nor did he perceive them. It was only due to the strange quality of the surrounding space that he could determine it was isted.

    But now, these spatial walls were brought into reality by the explosions going on. How could Damien not be attracted to it?

    After training in the chaotic space on the journey to Niflheim, Damien slowly began to understand what "Dimensional Magic" actually meant. His uses of it until this point had been far too superficial.

    But at the same time, he was missing a single thing that would allow him to bring out the full potential of hisprehension ability.

    The power of Laws.

    When one entered 4th ss, the most qualitative change one would undergo was in their mana. With the universe acknowledging one''s qualifications and allowing one to manipte its foundational elements, it wasn''t something as simple as a mere power or purity boost.

    The mana in one''s body would be an existence of a higher level. With this kind of mana along with the ability to deal with space on a much deeper level, Damien might finally be able to use Dimensional Magic as true Dimensional Magic.

    His thoughts followed this path as he gazed at the spatial wall. An application like it was something even he could do, and it could only be considered a basic prerequisite to using Dimensional Magic.

    "Superimposing." This was the concept he focused on.

    Damien shed outside the boundaries of the Shadow Garden, appearing in the midst of the chaotic Outer Wilds. Just a few kilometers away, he could see massive beasts lining the horizon.

    BOOOOM!

    A beast opened its mouth and shot arge ball of ck fire into the spatial wall above Damien''s head. The fire spread rapidly, swallowing Damien''s figure whole.

    ''Hm? This fire can corrode mana. Is this the product of these beasts evolving in the Outer Wilds?''

    Damien revolved his Void Essence and purged the corroding mes in his body. As he thought about it more, this was a natural effect.

    His body turned into a blur and appeared among the crowd of beasts. An invisible ripple spread in all directions, causing space to shatter into countless pieces.

    The Mirror Domain had been activated. With the limited intelligence of these beasts, the disorienting effect of the domain alone was enough to drive them mad. Once they began to stampede and ran into the numerous spatial tears littering the air, they would simply kill themselves.

    Damien watched this happen passively. Although these beasts gained a corrosion attribute, their minds weren''t able to survive their evolution. After all, they evolved in an environment destroyed by Nox mana.

    They did their best to adapt, but adaptation was never an option. Nox mana in particr was a breed of mana created so that no life could survive its advent.

    In essence, these beasts were like puppets. Their strength was superficial, their minds were hardly there, and they spent their lives wandering and randomly attacking anything they saw.

    Damien clicked his tongue. Feeling the experience from all the beasts he killed rushing into his body, he suddenly had an idea.

    ''Ah!''

    Void Essence revolved rapidly, capturing the formless and traceless essence known as experience without letting it merge into his body. While he did so, he sent a part of his consciousness into the Sanctuary and pulled out a few people.

    Little Xue''er, Elitra, Feng Qing''er, and Lunaria Snow. The people in the Sanctuary that he had true rtionships with.

    Although he also thought to call a few other people, he realized that what he was currently doing wouldn''t benefit them, so he left them alone.

    Instead, he focused on the four girls in front of him. "Alright! You''re going to feel something entering your bodies, but don''t resist!"

    Damien cringed at his own words. Considering Feng Qing''er''s usual behavior, she would''ve teased him for it, but she didn''t say anything.

    She was too shocked by the scene around her at the moment. Beasts lining the entire horizon, stampeding and killing each other within Damien''s strange domain. It wasn''t a scene one could simply adapt to.

    But Damien didn''t give them any time to adapt. They didn''t need to, after all.

    He gave them a few more warnings, making sure everyone was paying attention. Surprisingly, little Xue''er was the one who adapted the fastest.

    Regardless, once they were all on the same page, Damien moved his Void Essence. The entrapped formless essence within was dispersed and evenly spread among the 4 girls. Once it entered their bodies, it merged into their very being,pletely assimting without any problems.

    "Ah!"

    Lunaria was the first to cry out. Feeling as if she grew stronger, she took an off-handed look at her own status, and when she did¡­

    "I''ve already gained 3 levels?!"

    Hearing her exmation, Feng Qing''er and Elitra checked their statuses as well, seeing simr results. As for little Xue''er, she didn''t care about any of that.

    Her body turned into a miniatureet, rushing into Damien''s embrace and wrapping around his torso like a ko.

    Damien smiled wryly and patted her on the head. For the other three, he simply brought them to increase their strength so they could be of use in the future, but it was different for Xue''er.

    Damien didn''t think Xue''er would ever meet a day where she''d have to use her strength for something gruesome. He didn''t want that day toe.

    But if that day truly dide¡­he at least wanted her to be prepared to save herself.

    Nevertheless, those present were ignorant to his thoughts. Seeing their excitement, Damien continued to direct his experience into their bodies to power-level them.

    A wide grin spread on his lips. As expected, things went smoothly.

 Chapter 530 Egg [2]

    The methodology was simple, really.

    There was one advantage Damien always had over his peers, his Void Physique. The only "skill" that formed from the Void Physique''s abilities was Devour.

    The Devour ability essentially took over the system''s function. It converted the fallen enemy''s corpse into experience and used that essence to modify Damien''s body until it slowly became closer and closer to perfection.

    From this, Damien was also able to understand what kind of concept experience was. But, that wasn''t his main concern.

    What he realized was that his Devour ability was able to directly motivate his growth because it took over the system''s task.

    Whenever the average person killed another, the experience from the corpse would be converted by the system and added to the experience bar. Damien couldpletely subvert this process.

    It was why he didn''t level up when he devoured. Only his stats would increase or sometimes he''d gain a trait.

    And so, if he could control what happened to the experience after he captured it with Devour, couldn''t he chest the system and power level his friends and family?

    It was only a thought until he put it into action. Seeing it work now made him smile wide.

    But regardless, this kind of process wasn''t entirely healthy. Being force-fed experience would never have the same effect as personally earning it.

    Even if Damien raised troops this way, they''d be far worse than practitioners at the same level. They would barely be qualified as canon fodder.

    But if it was just a few levels asionally? Damien could naturally make that work.

    After the power leveling session came to an end, Damien conversed a bit more with the threedies and Xue''er before sending them back into the Sanctuary.

    BOOOM!

    The battle was still ongoing. On all sides of Damien where his Mirror Domain didn''t cover, Shadow Garden''s forces were fiercely battling against the beast horde. Considering how organized and calm they were, this wasn''t their first time in a simr situation.

    ''Living in the Outer Wilds must be a struggle.'' Damien thought to himself as he watched them.

    The battle continued on for many minutes, and while Damien was watching it y out, he suddenly noticed something in the corner of his eye.

    ''Hm?''

    His figure disappeared, reappearing at the far edges of the beast horde. By this point, he was more than just a few tens of kilometers away from the Shadow Garden.

    ''This beast horde is farrger than I expected. I don''t think those Shadow Garden experts are prepared for a horde of this scale.''

    With the way they were wantonly wasting mana onrger attacks as they fought, Damien knew they were just trying to get things done as fast as possible.

    But the number of beasts he counted was at least a few hundred thousand. Even a 4th ss expert would run out of mana trying to kill hundreds of thousands of 2nd sses.

    But what caught Damien''s attention wasn''t the size of the horde. When a certain tentacled beast moved over a certain piece ofnd, its suction cups kicked up the dirt and exposed a shine unbefitting of the Outer Wilds'' normal standards.

    What Damien teleported over to see was the source of that shine.

    His arms waved through the air, using spatial mana to cut through the ground. Slowly but surely, a glossy rainbow-colored rock around the size of a dinosaur egg appeared in his view.

    ''This¡­''

    ? Damien didn''t know what the device did, but it was exactly for situations like this that Eve existed. A string of information drifted into his head when he needed it.

    ''Let''s see¡­Beast Incense Distribution Device?''

    It was a bizarre name, but it was extremely direct. Damien didn''t even need to nce at the rest of the information to know what it did.

    The BIDD series of weapons were created for the military to use during beast tides and other simr events. Its function was to release a pheromone that''d attract beasts to its location. This way, the defending force could make a more concentrated assault and bring the beasts'' attention where they wanted it.

    In wartime, it wasn''t used the same way. It was only natural for a device that attracted beasts to be used nefariously.

    In this case, Damien was facing a BIDD-E, the E standing for egg in this case. There was also the BIDD-T tank, an airborne version, and many more other members of the BIDD series.

    Seeing the list go on and on, Damien breathed a sigh of relief that he only had to deal with eggs. These were the simplest version and the easiest to destroy.

    There weren''t any trap functions to prevent its destruction.

    Damien clutched his hand into a fist, distorting space and directly crushing the BIDD-E. His awareness spread and permeated the ground as he searched for more.

    The beast incense eggs couldn''t be used to affectrger areas. This was why other variants were created in the first ce. If the people who incited this beast tide only had ess to eggs, they''d surely use plenty of them to attract so many beasts.

    And Damien was sure that the tide was unnatural.

    After all, Shadow Garden was located in a pocket space.

    With the way the spatial walls were clear as day while the beasts attacked, one would assume that they acted as a physical defense.

    But that wasn''t true.

    If its existence was known, it existed. If it wasn''t, it didn''t. This was the most basic principle.

    If there wasn''t someone directing the beasts to attack specific locations along the spatial wall, even if the beasts walked through the space upied by Shadow Garden, they wouldn''t intermingle.

    This was the kind of "superimposition" that Damien wanted to learn. This was the path he found into Dimensional Magic.

    But everything was wed. Now that the beasts were targeting the spatial walls perfectly, the superimposition effect lost all meaning.

    Damien rapidly shed through the battlefield every time he found the location of a new BIDD-E. By the time he was done, he''d already destroyed over twenty of them.

    But at the same time, the beast tide that went on for hours on end also came to an end. Shadow Garden luckily had plenty of personnel, so when those original elders used up all their mana, they were able to switch out.

    This carousel style allowed the elders to resist the beast tide until Damien finished up with the BIDD-Es and returned to help them.

    Nevertheless, the small interlude presented by the beast tide slowly came to an end. Damien was left in the Outer Wilds with his awareness spread, searching for an indication about who was targeting Shadow Garden.

    Even the fact that its existence was exposed was a danger. The fact that the force behind that knowledge was also unknown¡­

    Damien''s eyes turned a myriad of colors as the yin-yang symbols within them began to revolve. The world''s mana became naked to his gaze.

    ''There it is.''

    A trace of residual mana within the pit of the final BIDD-E he found. It wasn''t a great deal of mana, nor was it enough to actually constitute a clue.

    But to Damien, this was enough.

    After all, the scent this mana gave off was incredibly familiar to him.

 Chapter 531 Shadow [1]

    Damien''s body shook as the familiar scent entered his senses. This mana¡­he knew exactly where it was from.

    ''The Eclipsing Shadow Sect¡­''

    A memory was vividly recalled in his mind. At that time, he was young and just beginning the process of maturing. Back then, even the smallest loss was something he''d hold dearly in his heart while hoping for revenge.

    When Damien was forced into the 3000 Beast Mountain Range after being chased by the assassins from the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, it was the first major loss he was ever forced to endure.

    Even if his spatial abilities were suppressed, it wasn''t to the degree where he should''ve lost. At the same time, he wasn''t someone limited to just the space element. What was reallycking back then was his mind and his will.

    Because of that, he''d been fooled by the Myriad Illusion Veil into believing his abilities were further suppressed, causing him to eat a massive loss to the assassins.

    Perhaps this single loss wasn''t arge enough altercation for Damien to hold a death grudge against the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, but that waspletely wrong.

    To someone like Damien, his will and spirit were formed on two desires. One was the desire for survival, and the other was the desire for freedom. If he ever acted in a way that went against his conscience, it''d negatively impact his training.

    This was a concept Damien anyways referred to as "Heart Demons," but in reality, heart demons were simply traumas.

    His first major loss took a big hit on Damien''s juvenile psyche, so naturally it engraved itself as something that would turn into a trauma that hindered his path if he didn''t take care of it.

    And in this situation, to take care of it meant to destroy it.

    Damien''s body shed into the protection of Shadow Garden''s isted space. Without hesitation, he moved back to where he met the six experts of the organization.

    When he arrived, the only one he found was Albeus. Still, this was more than enough for him.

    "I''d like to borrow a peak 4th ss Elder and a few of your disciples." He spoke bluntly, not bothering to hide his intentions.

    Albeus quirked his brows in curiosity. Although this request could be considered absurd, as if breaking into someone''s home and asking to borrow their kids, Albeus somewhat understood Damien''s personality after seeing how he carried himself these past few days.

    Damien could be said to have a trustable personality, especially inparison to the others in this world. In this case, if his goals were agreeable, there was no reason for Shadow Garden to not lend help.

    "What do you need our troops for?" Albeus asked.

    Damien nodded and quickly exined his encounter with the beast incense eggs. At the same time, he spoke about his connection to the Eclipsing Shadow Sect and their origin.

    "I see," Albeusmented after listening to it all. "So this force is subordinated under Niflheim. If the tide is truly their doing, helping you is helping ourselves as well. Very well, I shall have them put together a team for you to use."

    Albeus took out his personal device and began sending some messages. While he did so, Damien excused himself from the area.

    The reason he came back to Shadow Garden first was so that troops would be ready to dispatch as soon as he returned. While the small unit was being put together, it was Damien''s job to actually find the Eclipsing Shadow Sect.

    But if there was one thing Damien wasn''t nervous about, it was tracking.

    Tracking was yet another function of his spatial abilities that Damien rarely used. It wasn''t that he couldn''t use it, he simply didn''t have the opportunity to. After all, if he was searching for something, it usually meant he had no indication of it.

    To have a trace of residual mana was an incredible helper.

    Damien''s senses linked with the surrounding space. His awareness remembered the scent of the residual mana from before, using it as a sort of filter as it spread tens of thousands of kilometers in every direction.

    ''Found it.''

    It truly didn''t take long. Judging from the appearance of the area he found, it was only a temporary residence, but it was still another trace.

    Damien''s figure faded away, appearing a few tens of kilometers away from his desired target. It couldn''t be helped. When he reached the edge of his teleportation range, his aim became much hazier.

    But that was fine. He could move the extra distance within an instant. And after doing exactly that, Damien used the same method to search once more.

    This routine continued for half an hour. Every time Damien found a new trace, it would lead him to yet another location. Judging from this alone, the Eclipsing Shadow Sect had been quite busy.

    It was only after that entire half an hour of searching passed that Damien finally reached the end of the rat trail. There, what he saw was a secluded space not much different from Shadow Garden''s.

    ''Well it makes sense why they went unnoticed until now. Even if Shadow Garden had experts, they don''t have anyone skilled enough in spatial abilities to see through dimensional walls with ease. Not to mention the distance¡­''

    Damien shook his head. He still hadn''t confirmed whether the ones inside were truly from the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, but if the traces led here, it meant the group inside was at least rted.

    The problem was that although Damien could pass through the Dimensional Walls, he couldn''t do so covertly. If so, there was only one option left.

    ''It always ends up being brute force. Why do I even bother trying to use my head anymore?'' Damien mocked himself.

    Using Warp, he returned to Shadow Garden and met the team put together for him. The one in charge was a beautiful middle-ageddy with a motherly aura,

    "Mm, it''s a pleasure to meet you. You can call me Elder Trinity." She said upon seeing Damien.

    Damien nodded and cupped his fists in response. Shaking hands was an earthly tradition, so he became ustomed to a greeting without bodily contact. It wouldn''t be good to identally offend anyone.

    Regardless, Elder Trinity was an amiable woman. Despite Damien''s status as an outsider, she didn''t look down on him or attempt to establish dominance. Since she was under hismand during this time, she would act ordingly.

    Damien nodded after a small talk with Elder Trinity. During this time, he filled her in on the strength of the Eclipsing Shadow Sect.

    Her job in this raid was to kill the Eclipsing Shadow Sect Leader. Everything else would be handled by Damien.

    Normally, people would wish to aplish their revenge with their own hands. This was a kind of cathartic release that would free one''s soul from the shackles of their trauma.

    But Damien wasn''t the same. If there was a problem, he''d take care of it as soon as he found a solution.

    Even if he couldn''t kill the Eclipsing Shadow Lord with his own power, he was the reason thetter died. This fact was enough for him.

    Nevertheless, the first thing he needed to do was invade the isted space. Everything else came after.

 Chapter 532 Shadow [2]

    Within the isted space, an emergency meeting was rapidly arranged.

    "There was movement outside the dimensional walls today. This alone isn''t anything to warrant concern, but this movement was apanied by spatial fluctuations. Unless it was a strange natural phenomenon, our location had been discovered."

    The man who spoke wasrge and built like a tank. The auraing from his body was at the peak of early 4th ss.

    This man was Luo Sheng, the Vice Master of the Eclipsing Shadow Sect.

    As he spoke, his attention remained at the head of the meeting table where a cold and gloomy man sat. He was Luo Tian, Luo Sheng''s elder brother and the Eclipsing Shadow Lord himself.

    "Have you determined which force is after us?" Luo Tian asked.

    "No, sir. However, earlier today, weunched an offensive against Shadow Garden as per Niflheim''s orders. The timing is too coincidental."

    Despite Luo Sheng and Luo Tian being blood brothers, there was no such love between them. Luo Tian was cold-hearted and indifferent even as a child. Ever since Luo Sheng was born, he''d considered himself more as Luo Tian''s subordinate than his brother.

    But this mindset was also what made Luo Sheng into Luo Tian''s most loyal subordinate and the one he bestowed the position of Vice Master when he established the sect.

    And this status held even more weight at this time.

    The Eclipsing Shadow Sect was falling. Even if the duo wanted to prevent it, doing so was nigh impossible.

    To take the sect and flee to Niflheim was easy to say, but not easy at all to aplish. Because Luo Tian never acquired a Chaos Rank flight artifact, he didn''t have a vessel capable of sustaining itself in space for long periods of time.

    This led to many deaths. Any sect disciple under 3rd ss was directly shredded by the chaotic space. As for the 3rd ss disciples and 4th ss elders, arge number of even them were killed during the journey by various dangers.

    Whether it be space beasts, the chaotic space itself, spatial storms, spatial lightning, Vortex Spaces, the dangers of the chaotic space were numerous.

    Those remaining in the Eclipsing Shadow Sect were those who survived those dangers. Although their sect was much smaller, its power was also concentrated.

    And now, after spending close to half a year receiving benefits from the Nox while acting like their dogs, their strength had been further consolidated.

    The current Eclipsing Shadow Sect was a dog with only half its teeth. In the first ce, the fact that they were told to attack Shadow Garden was Niflheim proiming their deaths.

    Even if it would''ve taken longer without Damien''s abilities, Shadow Garden finding the Eclipsing Shadow Sect remains was inevitable. At that time, the sect would be destroyed regardless.

    But Luo Tian and his group weren''t aware of Shadow Garden''s scale or power. They''d been settled in the Outer Wilds as soon as they entered the unnamed world, and they''d never been allowed outside of it.

    The Eclipsing Shadow Sect was nothing more than a shell of its previous self. Even Luo Tian knew this.

    But who could he me for this fate? Damien who initiated the purge? There was no way for Luo Tian toprehend this connection. Then, could he only me himself for being tempted by the Nox?

    It had to be known, the other wicked path sects that didn''t side with the Nox weren''t annihted. The wicked path was simply another facet of cultivation, but siding with the Nox was betraying Existence itself.

    Luo Tian''s thoughts were chaotic even though his face was stoic. Hearing that a force woulde to attack them, he realized that the battle wouldn''t be favorable to them at all.

    But that was all.

    Even if the conditions were unfavorable, even in a situation where death was inevitable, he, Luo Tian, would never back down.

    To fight even after hisst breath left his lips. This was the resolve that Luo Tian built in his thousands of years of life.

    ***

    The most bothersome part of a raid like this would usually be travel rather than the actual battle. The trek to merely arrive at the intended location would whittle away at mental strength and drop one''s guard.

    But with Damien, this troublesome process was directly skipped. Using Warp, he could easily transport arge group of people.

    Therefore, the group arrived in front of the isted space in a mere instant. Their senses remained heightened to the max. Each and every one of them knew that their current mission wasn''t a joking matter.

    People like Damien and Albeus could look at something like this causally, but for these normal disciples, raiding a group that was headed by a peak 4th ss being was immensely dangerous.

    They didn''t have the opportunity to take things simply.

    Before the normal disciples could get in their heads too much about the uing raid, Damien walked up to the dimensional wall ahead of them and ced his hand on it.

    ''Passing through it isn''t a problem, but I can''t shatter it yet. What a shame.''

    Rather, Damien could shatter the dimensional wall if he had a few days to slowly do so, but that wasn''t an option in a truebat situation.

    All he could do was resign himself and wrap his mana around his squad members. Afterward, he flew directly into the spatial wall and passed through it. The spatial mana surrounding the squad pulled them through the wall as well.

    And when the group arrived on the other side¡­

    "Halt! Who dares intrude in my Eclipsing Shadow Sect''s territory?!"

    A booming voice resounded through the entire isted world. Standing in the sky was Luo Sheng with his twin daggers already in his hands. On the ground below him, all of the Eclipsing Shadow Sect''s remaining disciples stood armed and ready for battle as well.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed when he looked at this group. Although there were only a few hundred of them, they were allte or peak 3rd ss beings. There were even a few early 4th sses among them.

    Naturally, the strongest one was Luo Sheng.

    While Damien faced this crowd, Elder Trinity spread her awareness past them. To her, this group was just a bunch of headless chickens running around wildly without knowing the meaning of death. She deigned to deal with them.

    Instead, her awareness concentrated on a certain location. Her body turned into a streak of light and arrived there in an instant, seemingly confronting Luo Tian.

    Damien let her do her thing. His attention remained focused on the battle ahead. Looking at the disciples behind him, he realized that none of them had cultivation in the 4th ss.

    ''Since they''re all at thete or peak 3rd ss themselves, those at the same level will be practice partners and stepping stones for them. Instead of taking out the small fries, I should¡­''

    Damien flicked his wrist and clenched his fist. "Seal."

    When the word came out of his mouth, spacepressed until it physically manifested. Within the crowd of enemies, the seven early 4th ss beings were each confined in their own small isted space.

    This space was constantlypressing, taking them along with it. And with their strength, there was no way for them to break out of it.

    This technique was like a miniaturized version of his domain. Damien learned it exactly through attempting to shrink and expand his domain.

    It was essentially a pocket space that he could alter at will, and more than that, it was his first true step into manipting dimensions.

    With hisprehension reaching such a level,bined with his monstrous stats after exiting the Primordial Undying Realm and binding both Apeiron and the Cloud ne, a small early 4th ss being couldn''t hold a candle to him.

    As for his current strength? Even Damien was curious to find out. And to help him with this task¡­

    Damien''s attention fell on Luo Sheng.

    Right, that guy would be the perfect practice dummy.

 Chapter 533 Shadow [3]

    "So you are Luo Sheng?" Damienmented as he flew up into the sky to meet his opponent.

    The question was rhetorical, of course. Ever since the list of purge targets waspiled, Damien had done a fair amount of research on the Eclipsing Shadow Sect. Whether it be their strength, numbers, or even secrets known to none but themselves, Damien knew it all.

    It couldn''t be helped. He had a genuine World Core providing him information, so in what world would he be uneducated?

    Luo Sheng and Luo Tian. Damien had long been aware of this duo, but seeing Luo Sheng in person, he was once again forced to realize that the 4th ss barrier wasn''t something tough at.

    Even if he couldpete with Luo Sheng, it wouldn''t be an easy battle.

    "And you are?" Luo Sheng questioned in response to Damien''s rhetoric.

    "What, you don''t remember me?" Damien quipped back.

    Luo Sheng furrowed his brows. In the first ce, entertaining a small 3rd ss boy who dared to face him was a joke, but Luo Sheng couldn''t stop himself from subconsciously taking Damien seriously.

    After all, thetter was easily withstanding his aura suppression. Not to mention, he''d clearly seen how Damien entrapped the remaining early 4th ss existences without giving them a chance to escape.

    But Luo Sheng truly didn''t know who Damien was. In the time when the Death Seed struggle took ce, he remained at the Main Sect to take care of matters while Luo Tian was gone.

    As such, he could only shake his head in response. "I do not know you, nor do I care what your story is. If you havee to eliminate us, the only option left for us is to fight!"

    Luo Sheng moved without waiting for Damien''s answer. Arriving in front of his opponent, he charged mana into his twin daggers and sprung forth with two diagonal shes that crossed into an "X" shape.

    Damien ducked down to avoid the strike. Although Luo Sheng was moving at incredible speeds, it was still a level Damien could keep up with.

    Whoosh!

    The twin daggers crossed above his head, letting out a dagger light that sliced apart the air. At the same time that this impact urred, Damien sprung up, his fist flying perpendicr to the ground as he sent a fierce uppercut into Luo Sheng''s jaw.

    Bang!

    The fist rang true. Luo Sheng''s body was flung back. Seeing an opportunity arise so early in the game, Damien naturally didn''t wish to waste it. His body shed, appearing next to Luo Sheng. His hand chopped down at his opponent''s neck, aiming to fell him in a single blow.

    Boom!

    But the results weren''t as expected. When Damien''s hand hit Luo Sheng''s skin, it felt like he hit a block of iron. A dull throb appeared in his hand at the impact point while Luo Sheng was able to use Damien''s momentum as a counterbnce to steady himself.

    The two separated rapidly and stared at each other from afar. The previous exchange didn''t utilize a great deal of mana, but they were able to realize that they were up against formidable opponents.

    Ayman who couldn''t read their auras would assume they were at the same level.

    Damien had no ns to miss the initiative again. Since Luo Sheng was able to take the first hit, he''d make sure he took first blood. His arm moved through the air as if he was a conductor, space itself acting as his orchestra.

    His body flew through the air following the guidance of the wind, always remaining somewhat incorporeal and elusive. At the same time, space twisted and bent ording to his movements, encroaching upon Luo Sheng.

    Luo Sheng''s face turned serious for the first time. He knew his opponent had spatial powers from the beginning, but facing them head-on was different from simply witnessing them.

    Space around him twisted strangely, the concept of distance losing meaning. These distortions attempted to twist both his perception and physical body into oblivion.

    But Luo Sheng was an exalted 4th ss existence. How could he let himself be beaten so easily?

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Tens of space des appeared from thin air and rapidly shot at Luo Sheng. These crescent-shaped spatial tears held the ability to tear the world itself asunder.

    Luo Sheng realized the danger these space des possessed, but he also saw his chance. When the tens of des converged on his location, his body turned into a shadow and slipped away.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. Although his vision was blocked by therge amount of mana and spatial distortions around Luo Sheng, his perception was just fine. Losing track of Luo Sheng meant thetter either escaped or died.

    And Damien wasn''t stupid enough to believe the first option.

    Whoosh!

    He teleported away rapidly, appearing 10 meters away. Behind where he once stood, Luo Sheng''s figure emerged from the void, his twin daggers mid-swing.

    Luo Sheng already knew he''d miss when he started the attack, so he wasn''t put off by Damien''s teleportation. In fact, this was exactly what he wanted.

    "Eclipsing Shadow Domain!"

    One of the main inheritances of the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, the Eclipsing Shadow Domain was a truly terrifying entity. When Luo Sheng summoned it, tens of kilometers of space were immediately colored in ckness.

    As Damien moved through this space, he realized that heavy restrictions were being cast onto his body. His movements were sluggish, his perception range was restrained, and there was even a spatial lock somewhat hindering his elemental ability.

    ''This fellow was quite prepared.'' Damienmented inwardly as he felt his way through the domain.

    Bang!

    All of a sudden, a dagger appeared at Damien''s side and pierced him through! Blood spurted from the gash that opened, but before this blood could even permeate, Damien was stabbed again, this time in his chest area!

    The shadow daggers quite literally appeared out of nowhere. Damien wasn''t able to sense or perceive them at all. And they didn''t stop after a mere two. The daggers stabbing into his body grew in number with time.

    The worst part was that the strikes were always random without pattern. Damien had no way of discovering where the next attack would be. Therefore, he was forced to endure the pain and wait for Transcendent Regeneration to get him out of his predicament.

    In the meantime, he spread his awareness to its restricted limits so that at least he wouldn''t get attacked by Luo Sheng''s main body.

    Even if these daggers popped out consistently, they couldn''t do real damage to Damien. Luo Sheng, however, was a different story altogether.

    Damien''s eyes hardened. Mirage appeared in his hand. If it wasn''t for the sheen the de gave off aftering in contact with mana, it would''ve beenpletely invisible in the darkness.

    ''Void Sword Art 4th Form: Spatial Copse''

    His de swung down with an unholy amount of gravity and momentum pulling it towards the earth. The second Spatial Copse was enacted, Damien was sure this domain would shatter.

    And if Damien was aware of it, Luo Sheng was aware as well. Knowing that he was facing hisst opportunity to hold an absolute advantage over Damien and deal some damage, Luo Sheng moved with untold precision.

    His body melded into the ckness. His twin daggers were covered in an inky light that seemed to corrupt everything around them. Once he got within 10 meters of Damien, the mana concentration around him jumped exponentially.

    ''Eclipsing Shadow Art: Twilight Moon!''

    His right hand moved down in a vertical sh while his left hand snaked and moved in a more unpredictable pattern. The inky coating on the des intermingled and reacted to his mana, bingrge projections that shot out at Damien, who was currently mid-swing.

    The Eclipsing Shadow Sect wasn''t named as such just for the sake of being domineering. Their sect was built on an ancient inheritance that the Luo brothers stumbled upon when they were still in their first 100 years of life.

    And this inheritance wasn''t a joke.

    It was an inheritance to a darkness that encapsted everything. Even light wasn''t safe from this darkness.

    And Twilight Moon¡­was a technique that mirrored this desire for darkness to epass the heavens.

 Chapter 534 Shadow [4]

    Because they were currently within the Eclipsing Shadow Domain, Damien wasn''t able to see the grandeur of Twilight Moon. He could only feel the terrifying energy approaching his back as his sword swung downward.

    But for those outside the domain, their entire worlds had just flipped upside down. The sun in the sky was covered in a ck veil in an instant. Dark clouds blotted out the skies and shadow crows flew wantonly through the air.

    The ground within many kilometers was directly corroded and melted, creating a pit that enveloped the surrounding practitioners and even directly killed a few.

    As for those who died, they could only me themselves for treading too close to a battle between people with 4th ss power levels.

    The scene within the Eclipsing Shadow Domain wasn''t nearly as grandiose as the one outside of it, but the concentration of all the rampant mana that caused the environmental changes outside was currently striking towards Damien''s back.

    At the same time, Damien''s own de carried a terrifying collision force that could raze the surrounding tens or even hundreds of kilometers with ease.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Both of these strikes struck true at the same time. Damien''s de created a massive crater in the ground with impact force alone, and those two daggers urately dug into his back and wed into his body.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Damien coughed out a mouthful and flew forward. Behind him, a massive ck hole formed in the air, cracking the Eclipsing Shadow Domain and consuming it whole.

    Because the domain was connected to Luo Sheng, the man was injured by its destruction. He could feel his blood rolling in his body, threatening to make its way up his throat.

    But he wasn''t nearly as injured as Damien. The effects of Twilight Moon weren''t simple at all.

    The first dagger was straight and honest. The gash it left ran parallel to Damien''s spine, shattering his bones and slicing apart his muscles. This strike alone was enough to inhibit his movement ability.

    But the true killer was the second dagger. This dagger snaked through the air fiendishly. When it found its target in Damien''s back, it didn''t simply aim to sh him apart.

    Three fierce jabs were let out first. These jabs were aimed straight at the three Nodes that rested along the spinal cord. The dagger went on to cause a few more flesh wounds and gashes after these stabs, but they weren''t nearly as harmful.

    What Luo Sheng aimed to do was directly cripple Damien. And if Damien was a resident of this unnamed world, he truly would''ve been finished with that single move.

    Unfortunately, Luo Sheng was an Eclipsing Shadow Sect member who didn''t know Damien. If he did, he would''ve aimed to cause far more substantial damage.

    But the damage he caused wasn''t light. Even if Damien''s Ananta Matrix was still functioning properly, his body was a different story. Until Transcendent Regeneration fixed his mangled spine, he wouldn''t be able to move properly.

    Thus, using Mirage became impossible.

    ''Good thing I picked these up. I guess it''ll also be my first time trying them inbat.''

    Damien ignored his injuries. Even if they were serious, they could still be healed. Besides, his nerves were cleanly cut so he couldn''t even properly register the pain.

    The Twin Moons appeared in his hand upon his summoning. Along with this, two ck gems surfaced on his wrists, shining as they recognized the weapon they connected to.

    Damien grinned. ''This is our first battle together, so you better not disappoint me!''

    Bang!

    Freya let loose a bolt of silver spatial mana. When it appeared near Luo Sheng, who was already midway through beginning his next attack, it directly exploded.

    Apressed burst of spatial mana wasn''t a joke. The explosion tore space asunder, almost forcing Luo Sheng into the chaotic void.

    His mana revolved rapidly as he prevented this oue. But inevitably, he was distracted by his life-or-death predicament.

    Hel fired this time. Matching the ck gun, a ck ball of mana shot from the barrel, its trajectory to the left of Luo Sheng''s head.

    "Fuck!" Luo Sheng eximed when he noticed the iing attack, but he couldn''t move at all. If he stopped resisting the pull of the chaotic void, he''d be shredded without even bones remaining.

    This was the true terror in fighting a spatial practitioner. Even if they didn''t personally possess enough ability, if their talent was good enough, they could borrow space itself as a knife to kill their enemies.

    After all, there were varying levels of space. The Chaotic Void that appeared when Damien shattered space was the third level, but even this was enough to kill an early 4th ss like Luo Sheng.

    Perhaps only a middle 4th ss being could directly resist the chaotic void.

    Nevertheless, Luo Sheng''s fierce mana revolution was able to prevent him from being consumed. Yet, he''d used up far more mana than he should''ve at this juncture.

    And it was exactly at that moment that the ck ball of mana arrived near his body.

    Luo Sheng gritted his teeth and shot a bolt of shadow mana into Damien''s attack. Even if he couldn''t dodge, Luo Sheng wouldn''t let a convoluted mass ofpressed spatial mana explode next to his head. That was simply asking for death!

    BOOM!

    The ck bullet imploded, causing space to wobble and ripple. It was like a single-target version of the massive ck hole Damien conjured earlier.

    Once again, the chaotic void was torn open. Once again, Luo Sheng was forced to deplete his mana to resist it, giving Damien a massive upper hand. And once again, Damien fired a slew of bullets from Hel and Freya, forcing Luo Sheng into a corner.

    From the start of this battle, Luo Sheng had been dominated. Even when he was able to give Damien fatal injuries, it didn''t matter. In the time Damien spent harassing him with the Twin Moons, his spinal injury had already begun its healing process.

    ''Damn unkible zombie!'' Luo Sheng spat inwardly. He was truly perplexed to have this kind of opponent. The man in front of him didn''t even look 30; how could such a genius exist in this world?

    They hadn''t fought for long, but at their level, drawn-out fights weren''t necessary anymore. A true drawn-out fight would only take ce if the opponents were truly matched.

    But Damien and Luo Sheng? Even Luo Sheng wasn''t shameless enough to say he was Damien''s match.

    After all, even if their power levels were the same, his actual level was far above Damien''s!

    Still, Luo Sheng was someone who grew up following his older brother around like a ve. To him, the memories of their lives when they were young and adventurous were his most precious.

    Luo Tian''s resolve was simple. To fight on even after drawing hisst breath. And as his staunchest supporter and most loyal subordinate, Luo Sheng naturally imitated this ideology.

    Even if Damien was a genius, even if he held an advantage in elements, even if he held every advantage in the world, Luo Sheng wouldn''t run away from the battle.

    Besides, his opponent seemed to have a grudge against the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, so even if he ran, he wouldn''t necessarily be sage.

    Ptui!

    Luo Sheng spat out a bullet of bad blood. At the same time, the blood remaining in his body began to stir and boil.

    His blood essence had beenbusted. To defeat Damien, he used his own life as coteral.

    Luo Sheng''s daggers shed as he returned to his stance. His eyes became serene, the rampant emotions clouding his thoughts clearing all at once.

    From this point on, he''d make no more mistakes.

    ''Eclipsing Shadow Art: Entwining Shadows.''

 Chapter 535 Shadow [5]

    The attack titled Entwining Shadows held many simrities to Damien''s Dance of the Void. When Luo Sheng''s mana moved to execute the movement, his body turned into a flurry of afterimages as he went into a fierce offensive.

    Hundreds of moves were exchanged every second. Space around the duo was being forced to the extremes as the duo passed through it, razing everything around them to the ground.

    If they weren''t tens of kilometers in the air at the moment, the battle of 3rd sses taking ce below them would''ve turned into a graveyard.

    The Twin Moons had already been returned to Damien''s subspace. With the current range ofbat, they wouldn''t be able to show their full power. At this distance, it was Mirage''s turn to shine.

    But Damien actually didn''t choose this option. Instead, his arms moved rapidly and parried every strike Luo Sheng put out.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The impacts weren''t anything simple. Every time the pair of twin daggers shed against Damien''s forearms, he felt his entire skeleton vibrate. Obviously, his current method wasn''t sustainable at all.

    But he didn''t choose this route without reason. The Ananta Matrix raced at full power, circting and amplifying Damien''s mana to its fullest potential. The built-up mana was directly transferred into his arms to increase their defense.

    Voom!

    Damien''s body went through an immense change. His height grew, his skin paled, his hair turned white, his sclera turned ck, and his irises were like glimmering red blood diamonds. Across his skin, mysterious runic tattoos surfaced and began to squirm.

    ''Strength!''

    Damien didn''t waste any time. Hemanded the enhancement runes, causing them to swirl into specific patterns. Damien felt his striking power increase exponentially.

    When Luo Sheng''s daggers met his arms again, he no longer felt the pain of his bones rattling. His arm swept to the side with unknown vigor, forcing Luo Sheng''s des away. At the same time, his other arm swung at his opponent''s head, aiming to cleave it off.

    Luo Sheng''s eyes widened in rm. He forcibly canceled his momentum and pushed his mana to backpedal away. This way, he was able to avoid the harrowing w of death that was hurling towards him.

    Haa¡­haa¡­

    The sound of rough breathing filled the sky. The two opponents upying it found themselves in sync as they attempted to recuperate as much as they could before shing.

    Unknowingly, a crowd had formed below them to watch their battle. Both sides put down their arms to watch theirmanders fight.

    But this didn''t cause many issues. After all, the scuffles of these small 3rd ss characters wouldn''t change the tide of the overall battle. Instead, it was the fierce life-or-death match in the air that would determine their fates.

    Therefore, they ceased fighting in order to watch.

    And currently, the overarching emotion coloring these disciples was awe. Awe and reverence for these powerful figures who they could only look up to. And more than that, awe and reverence towards Damien himself.

    Luo Sheng''s situation didn''t need to be mentioned. He was many thousands of years old already but his power level was capped at the peak of early 4th ss. This kind of character might''ve been rare in a world like Apeiron, but in Niflheim or even the Cloud ne, Luo Sheng was just a single drop of water in a vast ocean.

    But Damien was different. Although nothing could be said about his age since even someone of Luo Sheng''s age still looked in his mid-30s, if his aura was any indication, he was still plenty young.

    And not only that, but he was also a 3rd ss fighter just like them. There were many among the disciples on the ground who had been stuck at the peak of 3rd ss for tens or hundreds of years, but even with all the umtion they did in that time, they couldn''t even reach Damien''s toes.

    The main barrier to entry for 4th ss was exactlyprehension. For many, even after reaching level 199 and filling their experience bar to the maximum, theircking talent or ability made it so they could never receive their Baptism.

    In the end, Baptisms were rituals bestowed by the universe. If it deemed someone unfit to even attempt to cross its trial, there was nothing else they could do.

    If anything, they could bitterly struggle in order to obtain the universe''s approval, but not many were willing to put in the necessary effort.

    Damien''s case was exactly opposite of the majority. Hisprehension far surpassed the requirements, but he was intentionally suppressing his level to the peak of 3rd ss.

    Even when he received experience from his kills, he''d use the Devour ability to either redistribute this essence to his close ones or return it to the atmosphere.

    Nevertheless, it was this veryprehension ability, his abnormal physical stats umted through Devour, and the fact that he continuously consolidated and firmed his power that he was able to achieve feats that these smaller practitioners could never imagine.

    Naturally, those on the ground would never know these facts. They could only assume that the next era of geniuses was truly filled with those blessed by the heavens while they wallowed in mediocrity.

    In the sky, Damien and Luo Sheng watched each other vigntly as they fought a silent war. Instead ofbat, this duel was more spiritual.

    They were both taking time to heal. As people who had no good feelings towards each other, this chance naturally wasn''t something they wished to allow each other.

    But at the moment, it couldn''t be helped. For Damien to fight effectively, he needed to heal the holes in his back and spine. As for Luo Sheng, even afterbusting his blood essence, he wasn''t able to match up to Damien.

    The aftereffects of his sacrifice were slowly beginning to surface. His mana was rapidly being drained due to him spending it so wantonly. And this wasn''t even mentioning his injuries.

    If one had to decide who was warier at the moment, it was without a doubt Luo Sheng. He didn''t have nearly enough time. Before he knew it, Damien would¡­

    A figure appeared in front of him like a ghost, but to Luo Sheng, this figure was practically the devil. With Transcendent Regeneration, Damien finally reached a point where he could fight normally again. If so, he wouldn''t waste this opening.

    When his body appeared in front of Luo Sheng, there was no weapon in his hand, however, the mana coating his fist was a terror in itself.

    Damien''s fist sat alit like a shining moon. Surrounding it were seven stars created from vtile lightning and fire.

    ''Seven Stars Encircling the Moon!''

    Luo Sheng only managed to move his body back a few inches before the fist reached him. Although he avoided a direct collision, his fate wasn''t great regardless.

    BOOOOOOM!

    The seven stars crashed into each other and created a vtile chain reaction of mana. When this reaction multiplied to its peak and interacted with the moon around Damien''s fist, a heaven-shaking explosion rang out.

    Space shattered, giving way to the Chaotic Void. Reality twisted as ster beams of light rained down upon the ground, turning many random plots ofnd and straybatants into ash.

    And from the center of this explosion, a charred body shot out at insane speeds. This was naturally the body of Luo Sheng.

    Damien stood and cidly watched Luo Sheng as he was thrown away. For a second, he thought about letting out a sigh of relief and then leaving to observe Elder Trinity''s battle.

    But before he could even think about it. A thin, nearly two-dimensional, needle of shadow appeared directly in front of his forehead.

    Damien''s eyes widened alertly. Vector control was spurred into action, canceling the shadow needle''s momentum and velocity, forcing it to halt mere millimeters before it pierced Damien''s forehead.

    Standing nearly ten kilometers away, his body charred and disgusting, was Luo Sheng.

    His eyes burned in fury and hate. His mouth widened as he let out a guttural roar. His fingers traced his spatial ring, withdrawing a¡­

 Chapter 536 Shadow [6]

    ''This is¡­!''

    In front of Damien''s eyes, Luo Sheng pulled a strange object out of his spatial ring. It looked simr to a whip, but at the same time looked like a rope with a sack attached to the end. Overall, it was a strange weapon.

    But even more curious was Luo Sheng who whipped his wrist, causing the line to revolve around him.

    "Most likely, you are thest opponent I will face before my death. If it is so, then I shall use every card I possess!"

    Mana raged like a mad hurricane flooding into the strange weapon. Luo Sheng''s arm waved through the air strongly, and his body heavily whipped to the side!

    BANG!

    A massive bang rang out as space directly copsed. The soundwave alone was enough to kill the weaker practitioners nearby.

    But more than that¡­

    "Keuk!"

    Damien vomited a mouthful of blood. His awareness immediately spread to his side. There, he found that arge chunk of his body was no longer present.

    Luckily, the damage stopped at his ribs. If the impact was just slightly fiercer, Damien would''ve directly died.

    His mind went into high alert. The threat of death that he hadn''t felt in so long, he felt it from that strange weapon.

    BANG!

    Luo Sheng''s body furiously whipped to the side once more, and space shattered with the momentum of his weapon. The bulbous end of the weapon moved as if it was teleporting, arriving at Damien''s chest wanting to pierce directly through.

    Damien''s eyes widened in focus. This time, since he specifically looked for it, he was able to somewhat track its movements.

    His body moved to the side, disappearing as he melded into the spatialyers. When the sack whipped to impact, it was met with empty air.

    But Damien wasn''t going to let things go so easily. Before anything else, he needed to make sure Luo Sheng could no longer use that strange weapon. Even if he understood how it worked, he couldn''t afford to concentrate his attention on such a small object in the midst of arge battle.

    If Luo Sheng sneak attacked him while his focus was elsewhere, it''d be fatal, especially in the few minutes before Transcendent Regeneration healed his side.

    He appeared back in his original position in an instant. His arm whipped forward and grabbed the head of the strange weapon before Luo Sheng could recall it.

    Mana twisted around his hand violently as he clutched his fist, attempting to directly crush the weapon.

    But this didn''t work at all. No matter how much force Damien put into his grip, the seemingly weak body of the weapon turned into something on par with the most heavenly metals.

    "Hahaha!" Luo Shengughed at his attempts. "My Phantom Mace Vine is a treasure birthed by the heavens themselves! A weak child like you doesn''t have the right to put your hands on it!"

    ''Right.'' Damien thought to himself. He had almost forgotten the existence of heavenly treasures.

    These agglomerations of mana and miracle created by the universe itself. In actuality, Damien had nevere across a true supreme treasure.

    The Primordial Undying Tree was assumed to be exactly that by the White Dragon King and the other sovereigns of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, but in fact, they were dead wrong.

    The Primordial Undying Tree was a natural evolution of the World Tree after ric began actively interfering in its development. Its existence can be wholly attributed to him, though a great amount of luck was no doubt involved in the process.

    Regardless, the point still stood. Damien knew that the universe could birth treasures on its own, but he''d never seen an example in reality.

    But now, one was right in front of his eyes. Although it was most likely the trashiest of trash whenpared to other supreme treasures, the fact that this treasure was a weapon alone was enough to give it immense value.

    ''Is the universe being influenced by human hands? Or were these inventions thought to be human ingenuity actually bestowed upon us by the universe itself?''

    It was a curious thing he could ponder in his free time, but that wasn''t now. Damien ignored Luo Sheng''s earlier shout and continued to pour more mana into his grip.

    Though, he wasn''t stupid enough to assume he could still destroy the treasure. His goal had changedpletely.

    ''In terms of defense, he trumps me, but if it''s physical strength¡­''

    Damien grinned. His muscles bulged as if they would burst, thick veins pulsating under his skin. His mana red out with such vigor that it somewhat distorted reality with its presence.

    Within his body, Void Essence circted fiercely. Damien was using the Devour ability in a far less showy fashion, activating it internally rather than manifesting it.

    But its effects weren''t diminished. Droves of mana rushed into Damien''s body, attracted by Devour''s suction force. Even as he wantonly used his mana, his reserves weren''t anywhere near running low.

    As for where his mana was going? From his fists, his mana transferred into the so-called Phantom Mace Vine. There were two effects he intended with this action.

    The first was to attempt to overload or disorient the mana flowing inside the treasure. This way, Luo Sheng''s control would copse or at least weaken.

    As for the second reason, it was more of a stretch. Despite the fact that he didn''t believe it was possible, Damien still attempted to im ownership of the treasure by having it ept his mana.

    Treasures of this level were often sentient and able to choose their owners. The possibility of the treasure choosing him was minuscule, but still present.

    Nheless, only a portion of Damien''s mana was being directed into this task. Luo Sheng naturally wouldn''t stand by and allow Damien to act as he pleased.

    While the two yed a game of life-or-death tug-of-war on one side, they constantly barraged each other with attacks on the other.

    Shadow manifestations rushed at Damien with speed like spatial transportation. The mana protection covering Damien''s body was pierced multiple times, riddling him with injuries.

    His grievous side injury hadn''t even been fully healed yet, so this kind of umtion wasn''t something he could easily take.

    But Luo Sheng wasn''t in better shape at all. All the while, he had also been attempting to defend against Damien''s attacks. Random spatial copses andpressions, distance being tampered with on a whim, although Damien''s attacks were less direct, they caused far more damage.

    The pairpletely forwent defense in this moment. Their goals aligned in that all they wished for at the moment was to kill their enemy.

    Bang!

    A sudden muffled explosion rang out in the space between the pair. Without warning, the Phantom Mace Vine burst from the control of both Damien and Luo Sheng, borrowing their colliding mana tounch itself away.

    The two watched silently.

    Their battle seemed to pause as they attempted toprehend what just happened.

    Off in the distance, the visage of a strange-looking whip flying through the air could be seen.

    BOOOOM!

    Explosions from the battlefield below covered the scene. At the same time, it returned Damien and Luo Sheng to their current situation.

    For now, neither of them had the capacity to chase after the Phantom Mace Vine. Besides, even if they caught it, they were sure it wouldn''t have any use.

    Since the sentient treasure decided to flee from them, it meant it wouldn''t obey them. It would take a long process of wearing it down and associating with it before they could draw out its strength.

    If so, there was a far more important matter for them to attend to.

    Mirage appeared in Damien''s hand once more. Luo Sheng''s twin daggers appeared to apany it for a dance.

    This time, they would truly decide life or death between them.

 Chapter 537 Shadow [7]

    Damien''s arm moved in a clean vertical sh. Mirage cleaved through the air, but with its nigh-translucent appearance, it almost looked as if Damien was attempting to sever Luo Sheng with his bare hand.

    However, Mirage''s delicate appearance said nothing of its strength.

    When the sword came down, Luo Sheng moved rapidly to parry, crossing his daggers into an "X" to prevent Mirage from escaping their cage. His body twisted, his right hand sliding Mirage away while his left shot a quick stab into Damien''s face.

    Damien ducked immediately and pivoted his waist. His arm switched positions as if ignoring thews of physics, escaping Luo Sheng''s grasp and sending Mirage shing diagonally across Luo Sheng''s chest.

    Haaaah!

    Luo Sheng let out a war cry and gritted his teeth, pushing out both of his daggers to block. This was the only way he could offset Damien''s fierce momentum.

    His eyes shifted rapidly as he observed the scene. Before the collision of des even urred, Luo Sheng''s foot lifted off the ground and snapped at Damien''s ribcage.

    ''I need to end this quick!'' He thought in panic. He couldn''t afford to waste any more mana.

    Knowing his enemy''s situation, Damien grinned and followed through on his strike. Along with the sound of shing metal, arge boom rang out from Luo Sheng''s mana-infused kick impacting Damien''s side.

    But the result wasn''t as he hoped at all. Luo Sheng felt pain like bolts of electricity traveling up his leg from the point of impact. Just from the wild reaction of his nerves alone, he knew that the bones in his leg were shattered.

    ''Is this guy made of steel?!'' He panicked inwardly. His condition already wasn''t good. Seven Stars Encircling the Moon left his body charred and king, and now that his leg was also shattered, his mobility had fiercely dropped. Even a singlepse in concentration would cost him his life.

    The battle didn''t pause to give Luo Sheng time to think. The entire time he did so, he was forced to fend off Damien''s fierce barrage of sword strikes.

    It was truly odd to have an enemy like this. Although his sword was brutish andcking any sort of fundamentals or order, it was still a sword that struck true.

    When it came to swordy, this was Damien''s advantage. His sword style was solely created for survival, and even after he left the dungeon, he never bothered to truly work on the fundamentals of his swordy or its style.

    The only thing he improved upon was the Void Sword Art, but this was an entirely different concept. If the Void Sword Art was subtracted from the equation, Damien would be left with scraps.

    But these scraps were what he worked so hard in the dungeon to w up. Even after reaching his current level, these scraps earned him many victories.

    Damien''s sword began to vibrate. While Luo Sheng attempted to recover from his barrage, he angled his sword parallel to the ground and stabbed out.

    Luo Sheng''s eyes widened as he sensed danger. His gaze hurriedly moved to see Damien preparing to unleash a skill. In that split second of time, he could no longer dodge.

    The only thing he could do was rapidly push his mana to move his body, hoping he could change the attack trajectory to something less fatal.

    ''Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break''

    Bang!

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Luo Sheng coughed out a mouthful of blood. A hole roughly the size of a tennis ball appeared in his stomach.

    "Tch." Damien clicked his tongue. Although he aimed for the heart, Luo Sheng barely realized what he was doing and moved his body. Otherwise, he would''ve directly won.

    "Phew¡­" Damien let out a heavy breath, putting away Mirage. "It''d be nice if I could take your Sect Master, but I don''t have that kind of power yet. A Vice Master''s head should be enough to sate my hunger."

    The battle thus far was truly intense. Although he didn''t have to use his full strength, Damien certainly was pushed to the edge quite a few times. But even though Luo Sheng was at the peak of early 4th ss, he wasn''t at a level that could kill Damien.

    It might not have been obvious, but the further Damien went to consolidate his strength, the more of his power he could truly utilize.

    Even though what he used was just the regr Horizon Break that he''d long gotten used to, its power was enough to directly pierce a hole through the powerful body of a true 4th ss.

    This was far different than piercing through a pseudo-4th ss like the 11th Elder of the Xue n.

    While the Void Sword Art merely got strengthened because Damien''sprehension of space was further consolidated, space hadn''t even been his main priority in these past months.

    He''d already reached the peak of what he could do with space at his current power level. After he established his domain and understood the concepts rted to it, he approached this step.

    Of course, there was still plenty Damien didn''t know about space. If he truly wanted to, he could go on and attempt toprehend dozens or even hundreds of other concepts.

    But that would make him simr to a jack of all trades, master of none. As he went further down the path of specialization, this kind of variety would be a hindrance rather than an asset.

    Therefore, Damien only focused on the spatial concepts he was best at and the ones pertaining to Dimensional Magic. In this vein, the only way for him to continue was to pass his Baptism and gain ess to the power of Laws.

    Luckily for him, though, the starry sky wasn''t just a chaotic void of spacews. There was anotherw that was just as prominent, being two sides of the same coin with space.

    And this was where his time was mainly spent.

    "Freeze."

    The world obeyed hismand. Within a 10-meter area that epassed both Damien and Luo Sheng, everything froze.

    The carnivorous nts growing out of the soil of the Outer Wilds were frozen mid-movement, one could even make out air currents that were forced to freeze by Damien''s mana.

    The only things that moved in this space were Damien and Luo Sheng.

    Although Damien''s skill in utilizing his Time Affinity was growing, it wasn''t quite all-powerful yet. With Luo Sheng being a 4th ss existence, he could still use brute force to move in the frozen space.

    But that didn''t mean his movements weren''t hindered. Compared to when they fought in the Real ne, Luo Sheng''s speed was reduced by roughly 30%.

    "Y-you¡­!" He strained to move his mouth. "What..is this madness?!"

    If there was ever a time in his life when Luo Sheng was truly frightened, it''d have to be this very moment. His previous injuries already spelled out his death, but now he''d been shackled further?!

    Even as he tried to be hopeful, he realized that the only path he had remaining was death.

    The worst part was, he didn''t even know his opponent. He didn''t know what kind of existence Luo Tian had managed to offend.

    Over the years, the pair of brothers had their fair share of adventures. Offending others was par for course when onepeted for resources and lucky chances. But from all these perilous situations, the brothers rose and became stronger than they were before.

    Never did Luo Sheng think¡­that his tenacious life would one day be taken by a mere brat!

 Chapter 538 Shadow [8]

    Luo Sheng''s eyes hardened, his sclera turning red from madness. ''Fine! If you wish to kill me, I''ll bring you down along with me!''

    All of his mana returned to his body and condensed at his very core. Because he was only a 4th ss, he didn''t have any clear connection to his soul, but he could at least sense its presence.

    If his purpose was self-destruction, this was enough.

    His mana condensed rapidly into a revolving core near his soul. The core expanded andpressed chaotically as it hovered on the verge of implosion.

    A force containing the power of over 150,000 units of mana was on the verge of materializing, but at that moment, Damien moved.

    "elerate."

    His body glitched. Slowly, it melded into the air and faded away. Behind Luo Sheng, he rematerialized.

    "Y-you¡­w-what¡­?"

    Luo Sheng struggled to get the words out, but his voice no longer worked. As his eyes widened incredulously, his body dropped to the floor.

    A secondter, his head fell along with it, his consciousness exterminated.

    With nobody to guide the mana in Luo Sheng''s body, the core that almost began imploding directly dispersed. The mana had been primed, but since it wasn''t activated, there was no risk of it chaotically exploding even after Luo Sheng died.

    Damien breathed out a sigh and withdrew his mana, allowing the surrounding time to return to its normal flow.

    Although it was short, this was the first fight where Damien properly used his Time element. He smiled knowing his efforts weren''t in vain.

    Hisprehension was increasing by the day, and his imagination was limitless. The only thing he hadn''t done was put his thoughts into reality.

    ''The main advantage my time element has now is that it''s unknown and unexpected. Even if spatial practitioners can be seen asionally, it isn''t the same for time. Even people like Tian Yang who have time affinities usually use it supportively. It''s simply too hard toprehend.''

    The only reason Damien was able toprehend time so rapidly, aside from his natural talent, was due to the fact that he experienced those 100,000 years that ric showed him.

    After 10 years spent in real-time, the speed at which events moved exponentially increased every few decades. But even then, Damien was able to perfectly understand what took ce during that time.

    This kind of impossible miracle could only be aplished by a Divinity, and even including the Primordial Undying Fruit and the Sanctuary, these 100,000 years were most likely Damien''s biggest boon from his time in the Primordial Undying Realm.

    With this kind of once-in-a-lifetime experience, how could Damien''s perception of time be low? If he couldn''t achieve outstanding aplishments in his usage of time, he''d be disappointing his own potential.

    Regardless, Damien was aware of this point and thus put his utmost intoprehending time and learning how to apply it. Although thisprehension couldn''tpare to his spatialprehension at all, it was still substantial.

    Damien turned his attention to the surroundings. The ongoing battle was fierce, but the Eclipsing Shadow Sect never had a chance from the beginning.

    The Shadow Garden''s forces were simply too fierce, and the Eclipsing Shadow Sect had already faced massive losses in fleeing to Niflheim.

    The early 4th ss existences that Damien trapped earlier had already been killed by him. Along with them, plenty of the Eclipsing Shadow Sect''s forces were turned to ash as coteral in Damien and Luo Sheng''s collision. As for the leftovers, they were being cleaned up by the few disciples that were brought along. Now, the only important battle was¡­

    BOOM!

    A heaven-shaking explosion rang out in the sky. Half the world was painted red, while the other half was pitch ck.

    Damien couldn''t hide his awe as he watched the scene. This level of power was far beyond his current capabilities. Perhaps he could barely match it using the Cloud ne''s World Force, but even then he''d be hard-pressed.

    As he watched, Damien noticed that the attacks these powerhouses used weren''t shy at all. Whether it be the Eclipsing Shadow Lord or Elder Trinity from Shadow Garden, their moves were somewhat crude andcking ir.

    But this was only to the average observer. To someone like Damien who''d glimpsed uponws and received a Partial Awakening, the scene in the sky was an eye-opener.

    Each attack, no, each movement that these two powerhouses made was infused with the power ofws. At their level, rather than borrowing the power ofws, they were embodying it.

    "Amazing¡­" Damien couldn''t help but mutter. He never thought that it would be at this stage in his life when he first witnessed a fight between powerhouses that truly amazed him.

    Sure, he''d seen plenty of harrowing battles while he lived ric''s 100,000 years, but that wasn''t the same. No matter how real the experience was, it would never be the same as witnessing something with his own eyes.

    Besides, these shes ofws couldn''t be seen through a projection. ric could only show Damienws that he personally had an understanding of.

    Firews on one side and Darknessws on the other, these two forces that opposed each other like yin and yang decorated the sky as the experts who wielded them fought. The impact of their sh made it feel like the world was going to explode.

    And that wasn''t much of an exaggeration. With the fierceness of the sh ever-increasing, the environment was no longer able to stand the rampant mana. Despite the fact that the two were battling tens or even hundreds of kilometers in the air, the shockwaves still sted apart the earth like it was paper.

    Large craters formed every second. The ground rumbled and quaked so much that it directly killed some weakerbatants.

    This mayhem was taking ce so far away, so what was it like at the center of that collision? Even though the two experts weren''t using shy moves, thews imbued in their existences alone caused such intense grandeur.

    So then¡­what would happen if these two fought with techniques?

    Perhaps they were aware of how apocalyptic that scene would be, and that was why they chose to fight in such a way. After all, if they alerted or disturbed a Demigod, both of them would die.

    Regardless, just because they weren''t fighting at full strength didn''t mean they weren''t fighting a battle of life and death. The two experts were covered in wounds caused by the other party.

    Whether it be the mes ever burning on the Eclipsing Shadow Lord''s skin or the darkness ever-corroding Elder Trinity''s body, the wounds weren''t light at all.

    ''This battle will end soon.'' Damien thought to himself as he looked at them. Even if they looked even, Damien could see who had the advantage.

    The Eclipsing Shadow Lord gave up his personal achievements and used the Nox''s resources, slowly converting his mana into their kind. As for Elder Trinity, she spent thousands of years specifically cultivating a special power created to counter the Nox.

    Even if their strength andprehensive ability were simr, this single difference was enough to tip the scale.

    As if to prove Damien right, only half an hourter, Elder Trinity suddenly stabbed her arm out. The Eclipsing Shadow Lord moved to block, but his movements had be far too slow after Elder Trinity''s mana invaded his body.

    Elder Trinity''s hand directly pierced through the Eclipsing Shadow Lord''s mana barriers and entered his chest. Grabbing his heart tightly, she directly crushed it without hesitation.

    Just like that, the Eclipsing Shadow Lord''s body went limp, hanging off Elder Trinity''s arm like a rag doll.

 Chapter 539 Wrath [1]

    "Phew¡­"

    Elder Trinity let out a breath of relief as she saw the Eclipsing Shadow Lord''s life force fade away. And as soon as she felt his experience enter her body, she removed her hand from his corpse and allowed it to fall to the ground.

    The battle had not been easy for her, not in the slightest. Even though her boundary was at the peak of 4th ss and the Eclipsing Shadow Lord was still at thete 4th ss, he clearly had more talent andprehension than her, allowing him to fight well beyond his level.

    Once one entered the 4th ss, they''d be an Emperor of sorts. As such, the ability to fight across levels was far more difficult to attain. Especially because such power would usually be based onprehensive ability.

    Just being able to fight at his level 350 against Elder Trinity''s level 387 made her look at him in appreciation.

    "Are you okay?"

    Damien''s voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. When she looked up, she saw his figure approaching casually. A glint shed through the air as he passed an object to her.

    When Elder Trinity caught it, she found a strange jade sk, within being a small marble-like pill.

    "This is a top-grade healing pill from the Cloud ne. It should be able to properly bring you back to your peak condition." He stated without being asked.

    Even if she didn''t tell him, Damien understood the condition of Elder Trinity''s body. After such a harrowing battle where the power of Laws infiltrated her body, it was impossible for her to remain healthy.

    Looking at the pill bottle, Elder Trinity hesitantly nodded her head and popped the cap, directly taking the pill into her mouth. As the warm energy currents stored within were released, Elder Trinity let out another sigh, this time offort.

    Afterwards, she sat silently. Although Damien was standing right beside her, she couldn''t think of a topic of conversation to start with him.

    Instead of enduring the awkward air that began to rise between them, she turned her attention to the Eclipsing Shadow Lord''s corpse. From his finger, she pulled off a spatial ring covered in blood and bound it.

    "Ah!" She unknowingly eximed. "The expedition you''ve dragged us into has actually reaped such a big harvest!"

    There were various top-grade pills, manuals and skills from the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, mountains of spirit stones, and more! From the looks of it, Luo Tian had stuffed all of the Eclipsing Shadow Sect''s wealth into his spatial ring before fleeing!

    Elder Trinity''s harvest could not be considered light, and by association, Shadow Garden would''ve gained a great deal as well. The rewards from this spatial ring alone were so unimaginable, so what kind of wealth would one umte after decades or even centuries of following the Nox?

    Elder Trinity couldn''t say she wasn''t tempted, but this was a level of temptation she could easily stave off. Compared to the family that Shadow Garden built, wealth and treasures were nothing.

    However, not everyone thought the same. As Damien watched Elder Trinity intermittently exim in joy, his face was sour.

    ''Fuck¡­I lost another one¡­''

    Damien warily sighed internally. In truth, there was a problem he''d been having since the very early days of his life, but never addressed since he didn''t mind it too much.

    That was, almost every time Damien went into battle, his enemy''s spatial ring would be destroyed.

    Damien had a love/hate rtionship with spatial rings. They were extremely convenient and useful, not to mention the high-level application of spatialws necessary to create them. From this standpoint, Damien couldn''t help but admire the artistry and craft.

    But at the same time, the "creation" aspect of space within the spatial rings that allowed them to sustain themselves didn''t agree too well with the "destruction" aspect of his own spatial element.

    It wasn''t strange for a spatial ring tobust in on itself when it came into contact with his mana, not that this kind of situation urred often. Instead, the most prevalent cause of destruction was elsewhere.

    Whenever Damien fought, he had a tendency of dragging his opponents into the void to give himself a territorial advantage. And naturally, a rogue spatial ring would never be able to survive the chaotic spatial fluctuations in the void. The inner world within would directly copse.

    Luckily, Damien wasn''t materialistic at all. There wasn''t a single heavenly treasure or herb that couldpare to his Void Physique and its benefits. And even if there were herbs that trumped this card, Damien wouldn''t be capable of using them.

    Therefore, he didn''t mourn the lost spatial rings of the past, he only sighed at the fact that he wasn''t able to celebrate his harvest in the same way Elder Trinity could.

    After all, not only did he not gain any treasure, he wasn''t even allowing himself to level up! Damien had essentially fought this harrowing battle for nothing.

    But that wasn''t true at all. His gaze panned over the destroyed dimensional realm they stood within. The only ones remaining were disciples of Shadow Garden.

    Damien had already helped these lesser disciples herd the weak Eclipsing Shadow Sect members and kill them, so that problem was also solved.

    "I guess it''s time to go¡­?" Damien asked nobody in particr.

    But as he got ready to depart, his eyes caught a sudden glint to the side.

    "Not good!"

    "Watch out!"

    Elder Trinity and Damien yelled out at the same time, but they were already toote.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion rang out from their side, the dust cloud that spawned from it rose into the heavens and blotted out the sky. A fierce shockwave spread, causing many weaker disciples to cough up blood and copse onto the ground.

    Xiu!

    A shadowy figure shot out from the mushroom cloud, utilizing the smoke''s concealment to slip away. Its speed was incredible, crossing hundreds of kilometers every few seconds. But how could this kind of meager skill fool Damien''s eyes?

    "Take care of the disciples!"

    After leaving the order to Elder Trinity, his figure shed away in chase of the one running. Although Elder Trinity wanted to take his ce since she was much stronger, her words got caught in her mouth.

    By the time she started formting them, Damien was already thousands of kilometers away. When it came to long-distance speed, he wouldn''t lose to anyone.

    Elder Trinity frowned deeply as she watched the two receding figures. Her brows creased and a dangerous aura leaked from her body.

    Something wasn''t right. She knew that aura.

    She clearly killed him, didn''t she? Not only did his life force vanish, but even his experience had also been transferred to her.

    Their battle was incredibly fierce. Even if they didn''t use skills or techniques, they poured the entirety of their Law Comprehension into their attacks. This wasn''t something anyone could casually escape from. Even Elder Trinity herself was still in the process of recovering, though she''d rather die than admit it.

    All the facts lined up. No matter what perspective one looked at it from, the situation simply didn''t make sense.

    Just how in the world did Luo Tian manage to survive while still having enough power to escape so desperately?

 Chapter 540 Wrath [2]

    The isted space in which the Eclipsing Shadow Sect once resided faded into the distance. The surrounding winds rustled fiercely as if sensing impending doom.

    BOOM!

    Space shattered along with everything that existed within it. The one who caused this harrowing scene was a middle-aged man covered in his own blood.

    As for why he caused such a scene? It was simply a byproduct of the immense speed at which he was moving.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    "Hah!"

    The sound of projectiles cutting through the wind rang out from behind him. The man let out a spirited shout as he watched the approaching weapons. He grabbed his own left arm and directly crushed it into meat paste. The blood from his arm mixed with his mana, disgustingly twisting and reintegrating into his body, providing him with a bout of explosive strength.

    Haaah!

    Another shout rang out. The man''s body twisted in a way thatpletely ignored thews of physics, pivoting at a right angle and continuing his fleeing after dodging the projectiles.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM!

    Three massive explosions rang out as the projectiles impacted the ground below. Space-shattering explosions lined the Outer Wilds, dragging everything into the Chaotic Void.

    ''Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!'' The figure inwardly cursed as he witnessed this scene. Naturally, the fleeing man was none other than Luo Tian.

    ''This brat¡­who the hell is this brat?!''

    Luo Tian had always been a calm person. Or rather, he had always been indifferent. Whether it was his sect, his treasures, his cultivation, or even his own brother, none of these things mattered to him.

    The only thing he cared for was his own life. The only reason he cultivated was to extend his life. Lording over those weaker than him was just a positive side effect of his efforts.

    And roughly 2 years ago, he came across an underground auction held by followers of the demonic race invading the world. He heard that the main treasure of this auction was something that could directly increase his physical qualities and replenish his life force.

    With this kind of offer, it was guaranteed that he would attend. Of course, there was a plot behind the entire auction and underground event, but Luo Tian didn''t care about that. Since the ones partaking in this plot didn''t want to offend him, he wouldn''t needlessly cause trouble either.

    Not unless they stole what was rightfully his.

    But in the end, it wasn''t them who stole his property, it was some random boy who barely had any strength! That boy was cornered with just a few 3rd ss shadows and forced to enter the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    At that time, Luo Tian assumed Damien died. Any normal person would''ve done the same, especially after so many months passed without word of him.

    After that, Luo Tian slowly forgot about Damien. Although losing the Death Seed hurt his pride, it was just a small loss at the end of the day.

    After all, Luo Tian''s fires of life weren''t anywhere near extinguishing. The only reason for him to desire the Death Seed was his convoluted obsession with life.

    Therefore, when news spread of Damien''s antics at the Empyrean Dragon Realm, Luo Tian didn''t care much. He simply sent out a few more powerful shadows to deal with him.

    But at that same time, the purge began.

    It was an odd set of circumstances. Luo Tian and Damien had only met once, and even then they''d only spoken a few words. To Luo Tian, this matter meant nothing, but to Damien, it was a death feud he''d never forget.

    Now that Luo Tian was forced to flee with everything he had, he finally understood who Damien was. He finally understood the reason behind his sect''s downfall.

    "So it was you! You are the reason I''ve ended up in this state!" Luo Tian''s eyes reddened maddeningly.

    Even if he was indifferent to everything else, life was an obsession that consumes all emotion he could possibly have. But his cultivation was gone, and his body was crippled; even if he was able to survive this ordeal, what kind of life would he live?

    Once the final burst of strength he received from the sacrificial technique he used to escape Elder Trinity wore off, he''d be no better than amon mortal servant. In fact, he''d be even worse!

    Luo Tian gritted his teeth in rage. ''Fuck! With my current injuries, I am even weaker than that useless Luo Sheng! This brat will kill me if I face him directly!''

    Luo Tian''s mind raced. He needed to think of a strategy to save his life. And there was only one viable option he could formte in this moment of crisis.

    Bang!

    From his left knee down to his foot, the only thing remaining was a mangled bag of flesh. All the blood within that flesh was sucked out and used to empower Luo Tian''s escape instead.

    Swoosh!

    His direction switched abruptly. Until now, he''d been randomly fleeing through the Outer Wilds, but now he had a destination in mind.

    He was too far to see the finish line, but he already understood that if he was able to make it there, he''d survive and Damien might even die!

    Luo Tian''s speed increased exponentially! Just the thought of Damien''s miserable face lifted his spirit and allowed him to continue again.

    To fight even after thest breath, this was Luo Tian''s code¡­and this was exactly what he would do!

    The chase continued, but not nearly in as disorderly of a manner as before. As for the final destination¡­?

    Evotech Headquarters!

    ***

    Thousands of kilometers flew by, turning into tens of thousands of kilometers. Throughout this entire time, Luo Tian rushed at top speed, sacrificing his own body to guarantee his survival.

    Behind him, Damien annoyedly followed.

    Actually, capturing Luo Tian was only secondary to him. At this point, Luo Tian was already a dead dog who was desperately wing for his master. However, his master was¡­

    ''If there is someone capable of providing that technique to even dogs, they are not an enemy I can take lightly.''

    The technique Luo Tian used to escape Elder Trinity might''ve seemed straightforward, yet it was anything but.

    Judging whether someone was dead or not using their life force was never a viable method. Even Damien had an ability to restore his life force and save him from the brink of death.

    However, experience was absolute. The process of transferring experience was done by the system itself, which meant it couldn''t be done until the kill was confirmed by the system.

    Perhaps this didn''t mean much without context, but it was a matter of immense importance.

    After all, if the system confirmed the kill of someone who remained alive¡­

    ''Just what kind of being is capable of fooling the system?''

    Damien''s mind was gued by this harrowing thought. Though, he''d never get answers through mere spection.

    So he kept his distance. With his teleportation range, even moving ten thousand kilometers at a time wasn''t a problem.

    If Luo Tian was at his peak, he could naturally match this speed, but that wasn''t the case at all.

    The current Luo Tian was a kite at the end of its string. His speed was so slow even Little Xue''er could probably catch him.

    But Damien allowed him to continue fleeing.

    When it came to pigs and tigers, there were two main ways people emted them.

    The first was to y the pig to eat the tiger. Even ayman understood this concept.

    As for the second¡­

    Luo Tian the pig rushed desperately into the tiger''s den to avoid the dragon tailing him from behind.

    As for that dragon? He was simply using the pig to lure the tiger.

 Chapter 541 Wrath [3]

    The chase continued for many minutes. Luo Tian worked as hard as he possibly could to escape from Damien''s clutches, but no matter how hard he tried, thetter always seemed to be on his tail.

    By this point, it didn''t take a genius to know that Damien was allowing Luo Tian to continue running. If he used his current speed from the start, Luo Tian wouldn''t have even made it a few thousand kilometers before being caught.

    ''Shit!'' Luo Tian eximed inwardly. It was already toote to regret orment. The only option Luo Tian had for salvation was Evotech!

    His body was a mess. One arm, both legs, small portions of his torso, many parts of him were missing as he sacrificed them to increase his speed. On the horizon, the skyline of Evotech''s cityplex finally appeared.

    ''Almost there¡­!''

    Bang!

    Another portion of Luo Tian''s side copsed and his full potential burst forth. The structures on the skyline came into the foreground of his vision soon enough.

    But he didn''t stop simply when entering theplex. Ignoring the guards, he shot to the West Wing, taking out amunication device and contacting his backer.

    "Sir! Please save me!"

    His throat was barely functioning anymore, and those were the only words he could muster. Still, with his target location already reached, he felt a modicum of safety envelop him.

    Here, security was imprable. The only reason he was able to fly freely was because he''d been given the required authority to move unhindered. If it wasn''t for that, he would''ve died 100 times over before he even reached the West Wing.

    ''That brat was with the forces of that Shadow Garden organization. If they have spies in Evotech, he might be able to sneak in. I have to meet the Lord quickly before he catches up to me.''

    Luo Tian set foot on the ground in front of the main office of the West Wing, sighing a breath of relief as he went to open the door. However¡­

    "Aha, so it''s nothing fun. You''ve led me back to Evotech, but that''s not anything new to me. Haa, I should''ve never tried to act smart. That''s just not my style."

    A casual voice came from behind him. Luo Tian froze. He didn''t even have to turn around to know who was there.

    "H-how di¡ª"

    "Freeze."

    Time came to a halt around Luo Tian. With his current wounds, he couldn''t give the slightest resistance. His body no longer listened to hismands.

    "Compress."

    Another wordpelled space into action, matching its counterpart. Space distorted and folded in on itself, trapping and isting Luo Tian into a death trap that would slowly crush him into meat paste.

    But just as Damien went in for the kill, a harrowing aura wrapped around his body.

    "Now this is no fun. There''s a seed I can''t wait to see bloom, or a fully grown rose that I''ve been cultivating for many years. Which should I choose?"

    A man appeared in the air above. His jawline was incredibly sharp, his face looking like perfection chiseled directly by the heavens themselves. His body was wreathed in a suave business suit that didn''t match the War God-like auraing from his body

    His piercing red eyes looked down at Damien smilingly. It seemed the hypothetical that he posed was meant for him.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. Judging from aura alone, he was no match for this man. He couldn''t even estimate his power level.

    But at that moment¡­

    [Alert! Host hase into contact with a high-level assassination target! Please retreat immediately!]

    [Host''s chance of escape calcted to be 0%! Imnting necessary data pertaining to the target!]

    Green holographic warning boxes appeared in his mind. Eve, the AI chip, was sending droves of information into his brain

    Damien immediately came to understand the situation. In fact, his n worked wlessly. The pig he used had indeed lured the tiger. Except¡­this particr tiger was a Demigod-level existence.

    [Target Name: Wrath]

    [Target Estimated Strength: Unknown (Stable Divinity)]

    [Target Temperament: Unknown, constantly shifting, yful, cunning]

    [Suggested course of action if target is encountered: Flee]

    The tiger Damien caught was in fact the biggest tiger in the entire world. He was Wrath, the CEO of Evotech and the Demigod stationed by the Nox to watch over Niflheim.

    ''Why the hell is he here?!'' Damien eximed inwardly. ording to the mission information, Wrath never personally visited Evotech Headquarters. He simply didn''t care enough to do so.

    Then, why was Wrath here? Why was he interfering in a matter between mortals? As far as Damien knew, there was no way a mere dog like Luo Tian would actually matter to Wrath. If so¡­

    ''He came for me?''

    Damien''s eyes shifted, catching Wrath''s upturned eyes. From the start of their interaction until now, the man never looked away from Damien.

    "Ack!" A choking sound interrupted the building tension. Wrath looked over, finally noticing Luo Tian who was being tortured off to the side.

    His smile wavered slightly. "Now, now. Although my dogs might make mistakes here and there, it isn''t any reason to kill them, no? Why don''t you save me some face and let him go."

    Wrath''s words were polite, but the threat in his eyes was clear. His aura was still red, bearing down on Damien with incredible pressure.

    Damien gritted his teeth. He understood. An existence like Wrath no longer needed to care for such things as face, and he sure as hell didn''t care about his dogs. If so, the only reason he was forcing Luo Tian''s release was to humiliate Damien.

    Damien''s pupils shrank in disgust. Humiliation, this wasn''t a good feeling at all. Being forced to bend to the will of others, he hated it.

    But did his hate matter? Wrath was a Demigod. It''d only take a single breath to kill him. What choice did Damien have other than toply?

    He knew that. He understood this truth and understood that biding his time and gaining the strength to challenge Wrath was the smartest course of action.

    This way, he could avoid any situations where his life was constantly in danger.

    He knew that. He knew that, so why was his hand balling into a fist? Why was space following his movements?

    Thepression taking ce around Luo Tian''s body increased exponentially. His remaining arm and torso werepacted endlessly until they became a bloody red sludge.

    "AHHHHHH¡ª!"

    Luo Tian screamed in agony. It was hard to believe that a human could make such noises.

    Wrath watched the scene curiously, not moving to stop it. The faint yful smile that constantly colored his face didn''t waver in the slightest.

    In fact, there was a small glint in his eye instead.

    "Finding a lower existence that''s willing to defy me is a really rare thing." Wrath casuallymented, his eyes shifting back onto Damien.

    "I''m finding that I quite enjoy this feeling."

    Damien frowned. "And what feeling is that?"

    "Ahahaha!" Wrathughed. Hisugh was oddly feminine, resembling the jingling of distorted wind chimes.

    His smile widened. His eyes opened wide, his breath bing slightlybored. The way he looked at Damien¡­was close to obsession.

    "Ahhh, the feeling it gives me when you resist me¡­I love it."

 Chapter 542 Wrath [4]

    Damien''s body cringed in disgust. At the same time, he wondered whether he should regret his impulsive action or not.

    Killing Luo Tian was a move to provoke Wrath in the same way he provoked Damien. There wasn''t much else to it. But in fact, the difference in their power levels made this a feat unheard of.

    Damien understood that he could die at any moment, but he simply couldn''t stop himself from acting as he wished.

    Because that was his end goal.

    To stand at the top unfettered by anyone or anything. If he wished to reach that point one day, he needed to embody his beliefs at every step of the way until he arrived there. Otherwise, his resolve would be far too flimsy to see the peak.

    And in the same vein, he had to kill Luo Tian. Because if, at this juncture, Damien finally bent to power and authority, he''d cut off his future development.

    Malcolm, Tian Yang, Bai Xieren, Albeus, and even Tiamat; these characters were all people with immense power. But not once had Damien acted deferential to any of them.

    Perhaps he was just slightly deferential to Malcolm and Tian Yang, but they were his teachers, so this was only natural.

    But even then, he was cheeky and arrogant. This was his personality, and he didn''t change it for anyone.

    But today, he was in front of someone who wasn''t nearly as amiable as the other Demigods and powerful existences he''d met. If Damien pushed the limits too much this time, he''d truly die.

    So when he saw the disgusting smile on Wrath''s face, he was already in the process of teleporting away to make some distance between them.

    This move didn''t have any tactical advantages, but it at least gave Damien the illusion of safety.

    Watching his antics, Wrath smiled. Mm, the scent he smelled previously was trulying from this boy. Although it was muted and not nearly as powerful, it was still the same scent that he''d been chasing for a very long time.

    And it was for this reason that he suddenly appeared in front of Damien. If it was anyone else who arrived with Luo Tian, they wouldn''t have been able to even see a single hair on his head.

    But Damien was special.

    ''I do not know who He is, but if the seed He left behind is truly as miraculous as I''ve heard¡­''

    Wrath calmed his growing excitement. If Damien was rted to the seed he was searching for, he had already done too much. Altering the seed''s course of growth wasn''t something he had the qualifications to do.

    Besides, if he did too much, then¡­

    Rumble!

    The ground quaked as if to affirm Wrath''s thoughts.

    "Alright, alright, calm down. I''ll leave things alone." He muttered with a smile.

    Looking at Damien, he sighed. The interaction between the two was really too short. They''d only spoken a few sentences before he was forced to leave.

    But that was fine too. Wrath was certain that he''d already imprinted himself into Damien''s memory, and that was enough for now.

    "Grow well, little seedling." His voice was projected into Damien''s ear as if he was whispering from a centimeter away. Following this, he vanished.

    Damien stood silently outside the main headquarters of the West Wing, unknowing of what to do.

    The strange interaction he just had didn''t mean anything, but Damien had a strange feeling as if it meant a great deal more than he''d ever expected.

    Regardless, about the antics of a Demigod, Damien couldn''t specte at all. That level was too far out of reach.

    He could faintly feel it as someone who was on the cusp of achieving 4th ss¡­

    If the gap between 3rd ss and 4th ss was a vast ocean, then the gap between 4th ss and 5th ss was like the starry sky; impossible to estimate.

    Damien sighed. Demigods would move to their whims and those below them had no choice but to follow. In this universe where Gods didn''t exist, a Demigod''s will was absolute.

    Giving onest look at the West Wing around him, Damien shed away, disappearing from Evotech Headquarters.

    ***

    Damien returned to Shadow Garden rapidly. Now that he''d barged into Evotech, it was impossible for him to return to his Damien Grey identity.

    After all, even if Evotech security seemed flimsy with how Damien bypassed it, that was only because he had the necessary ess.

    Now, though, that ess was likely revoked. Not to mention, Wrath himself was lusting after the Void Physique. Returning to Evotech was suicide.

    Once he arrived at Shadow Garden, the first thing he did was make a brief report to Albeus about everything that happened. Over the course of the few days that Damien stayed in Shadow Garden, he''d formed somewhat of a friendship with the old man.

    Reporting to him was a matter of courtesy. Since he was gracious enough to lend Damien his troops, Damien wouldn''t skimp on showing respect either.

    Nevertheless, after conversing with Albeus about future ns, he immediately went to the small hut that had been prepared for him and sat down on the bed.

    A sigh of relief and indignation leaked from his lips.

    The previous event was too odd. The way things chained together seemed without order, and many of his interactions were cut off before they could bear fruit.

    Damien almost wished he could bring Luo Tian back to life, but he knew that was worthless.

    By this point, revenge had lost meaning to Damien. Seeing Luo Tian pathetically plea for help while running from him, Damien suddenly lost interest.

    His revenge target turned out to be so weak¡­

    But the big fish that was introduced in return wasn''t something Damien knew whether he should be excited or concerned about.

    ''I can''t even say that it was a close one this time. If he didn''t choose to let me go, I would''ve died. As for why he chose to do so¡­''

    Damien frowned and shook his head. The emotion on Wrath''s face wasn''t something that could be cultivated over a single meeting.

    It was an emotion that had festered and bred for years to reach its current magnitude.

    That kind of obsession wasn''t simple. And for a Demigod to be the one feeling it¡­the object of obsession couldn''t be simple at all.

    Damien wasn''t conceited enough to think he was the one Wrath wanted. But, at the same time, he understood that he was.

    ''Fuck¡­''

    It wasn''t long ago that he learned about the Nox and their connection with the Void Physique. Now, he''d met someone on that side who was actively chasing it.

    ''Things are going to get troublesome. But, the only one I have to fear is Wrath. Even if I expose my abilities to those peak 4th ss beings, they don''t have the status or ability to take anything from me. If so¡­''

    Why did he have to continue hiding the Void Physique? The one he was trying to hide it from already knew anyway. This thought rushed into his head and took root, tempting him.

    But he shook it off immediately. With the Void Physique''s concealment ability, Wrath shouldn''t have been able to confirm whether it was truly present in Damien''s body or not.

    Showing it off so tantly was simply seeking death.

    But even then, Damien smiled. He smiled because he knew that although things weren''t going ording to n, his n was proceeding perfectly.

    Chaos was slowly enveloping the unnamed world.

 Chapter 543 Core Extraction [1]

    Another month passed.

    Unexpectedly, after Damien''s encounter with Wrath, the situation came to a grinding halt. News about Damien''s position didn''t spread through Evotech and they even withdrew the forces that have been harassing Shadow Garden in the past.

    As for Asgard, they were also oddly quiet. The only thing Damien understood about that side was that the Moon Squadron''s elites had already infiltrated Evotech. As for the movements of Asgard itself, they were unclear, always hidden behind the Cloud ne forces.

    Like this, the three main forces that Damien was aware of began a small standoff. The atmosphere between them continued to intensify, but none took action. The second one of them did, a war would start.

    Meanwhile, Damien found himself out of the spotlight. His own role in the happenings of the world became minute, and he mainly kept updated on the situation through the connection between his and Long Chen''s AI assistants.

    In this way, he came to know of Evotech''s general status. In the three or so months that he was in the military, Long Chen showed exemry growth and talent. After joining his brothers in life-or-death battles many times, he proved himself and slowly rose through the ranks.

    Although he wasn''t abnormally powerful, he had the support and absolute trust of the General Strohman whom the duo met in the Armament Hall. Like this, gathering information wasn''t much of a problem.

    But after Damien met Wrath, he realized that any information he received this way was iffy. With Wrath''s personality, changing his entire organization on a whim wasn''t out of the question.

    ''Not to mention, the Core Extraction research¡­''

    The leading figure in the Core Extraction Project was none other than Lynn Carter, who brought him into Shadow Garden. Perhaps in a better scenario, he''d have been able to use this connection to view the research site. But now, entering Evotech was seeking death.

    Damien realized this in the first few days after his encounter with Wrath. But he had no desire to stay uninvolved in this world''s disputes.

    His original n was to take it slow and steady, using the entire 6 months of free reign he was provided to copse Evotech, but this didn''t work out in the slightest. He vastly overestimated the capabilities of his intelligence which only recently began growing.

    His previous n filled with infiltration and carefully nned, precise movements didn''t fit his character at all. From the beginning, it was bound to fail.

    Aishia''s n was a bit better than his. For Damien and Long Chen to work their way up in the system before taking it over, this could''ve worked with the proper patience and timing.

    But Wrath was the key obstacle that stopped everything from proceeding forward. His presence alone made almost all viable ns inviable.

    ''There are already many Demigods in this world. Albeus, the other two experts of Shadow Garden, Wrath¡­I''ve already met three Demigods in this world, but I''m sure this isn''t thest of them.''

    Asgard needed to have at least a Demigod to stave off Niflheim for so long. And judging by the fact that everyone from Shadow Garden was a refugee from the two aforementioned organizations, the number of Demigods wasn''t small.

    There were at least two or three in both organizations, maybe as many as 4. This number was unheard of. If the total poption of Demigods in the unnamed world was truly somewhere around 12, that was enough firepower to instantly raze a harrowing amount ofnd.

    ''That must be the reason for the initial stalemate that persisted before I arrived. If too many Demigods move, the world is destroyed. If the world is destroyed, many conveniences are ruined and many ns are foiled. They can''t allow this to happen.''

    Damien smiled. This meant that he could move with at least some assurance that he wouldn''t be randomly targeted by a Demigod. Another encounter like Wrath''s was the only thing making Damien wary.

    After he came to this realization, Damien left Shadow Garden. For the next month, he practically disappeared off the face of the earth. He didn''t enter any Hub Cities and only explored the Outer Wilds, making it impossible to estimate his location.

    But news of his adventures did indeed spread. His name simply wasn''t attached to these reports.

    A Death God appeared in the Outer Wilds. A single swing of his sword would turn thousands of kilometers into an abyssal hellscape, ughtering all his enemies.

    Nobody had seen this Death God. Even the ones who spoke of it only did so after seeing the destruction left in his wake.

    Many small organizations and influences in the Outer Wilds disappeared under his de. While these ughters seemed random to themon eye, it wasn''t the same for those who understood the ongoing situation.

    Each targeted force was a subsidiary of Asgard. There were hundreds or even thousands of these subsidiaries spread through the Outer Wilds for various reasons, but none of them could hide from the Death God who ran amok.

    As their cries reached their peak, a new rumor began to spread.

    The Death God was no longer one, but two!

    A new reaper appeared after the first reaper''s advent. This reaper''s methods were far more cruel and bloodthirsty than the first. His enemies were always found torn to shreds, burned, and sundered by mes and lightning.

    And soon after his actions began, people began drawing a connection. This reaper only targeted those subsidiaries of Niflheim! This was clearly a silent war between the two forces!

    This was the spection many had, but it remained true that neither of these Death Gods were ever caught. The 4th sses that moved from both organizations couldn''t seem to find them. As for the Demigods, they couldn''t be bothered to move for something so minuscule.

    A month had already passed since the two Death Gods began their advent. And currently, both of them could be seen sitting together on a cliff overlooking an underground forest in the Outer Wilds¡­

    But there was only a single person there!

    Naturally, both Death Gods were Damien. Against Asgard, he used a convoluted spatial power that looked more simr to shadow to match the Nox''s methods. When his Demon Transformation was activated, this was especially easy. As for Niflheim, he used his Void mes and lightning.

    At first, he simply wanted to target Niflheim and instigate them into action. He had no ns about Asgard as he still didn''t understand their intentions.

    But that viewpoint was forced to change. If there was one thing Eve was useful for, it was information. And because Damien broke his AI chip away from Asgard''s control, there was no filter on said information.

    Finding Asgard subsidiaries wasn''t hard. In reality, these smallerpanies and businesses were clean on the surface. Anyone who went without the intention to find fault wouldn''t see anything.

    But Damien was exactly the opposite of these normal people. The only thing he wanted to do was find fault. Of course, his view could be considered biased, but Damien didn''t care about such small matters. As long as he was right, there were no problems.

    And soon enough, he found that he was more than just right¡­

 Chapter 544 Core Extraction [2]

    Asgard had fallen deep. Damien realized this as he fell deeper into the rabbit hole that was the Outer Wilds.

    Perhaps the organization was truly just at one point, and perhaps their goal was to destroy Niflheim, but that was no longer true. After generations of oppression and bitter struggle, someone at the top finally caved.

    What Asgard was now was essentially a mere subordinate power to Niflheim. However, because of their immense strength, they were able to maintain a modicum of free reign.

    Perhaps this free reign was what called the Cloud ne forces over, or perhaps it was a trap from the start.

    Nevertheless, after searching through and destroying hundreds of subsidiaries, Damien was finally able to learn all this.

    After all, a select few of these facilities were being used for Chimera Research. Of the hundreds that he searched, no more than 10 were used as such, but even this was a considerable amount.

    It made Damien hopeful. If he kept searching and looting these subsidiarypanies, he might even be able to acquire clues about the Core Extraction project. This was the best piece of news he''d understood since stepping into this world.

    And following the rampant excitement that surfaced with this news, Damien''s assault on the subsidiarypanies became fiercer and fiercer. He drew closer and closer to his goal, until finally...

    "Found it." He muttered under his breath.

    Damien''s gaze rested on a small room no bigger than a closet. Inside there was a single holographicputer-like device, the rest of the room being filled with junk.

    The owner of this room was a ssic shut-in just like those from earth. But his true job was far more dangerous.

    Damien sat down at theputer. His eyes shook slightly as they skimmed through the reports on the screen.

    ''This is...insane.''

    It was the very Core Extraction research he was searching for. Damien''s current location was within a transfer point where information was forced to pass through before arriving in Hub City Avalon due to the strange corrosion effect of the Outer Wilds.

    As for this closet-like room and theputer within, this was where the transfer took ce.

    Naturally, this facility was massive. There were plenty of 3rd ss guards and even some 4th sses stationed to protect the transfer point. But the transfer point they protected was a fake.

    The true transfer point was the closet room, a ce where none would ever suspect. Even Damien was only able to find it because he sensed the aura of a 4th ss guarding the room in concealment.

    But now, that 4th ss was trapped in a cocoon of Void Essence. His body was slowly corroding, merging into the nothingness.

    This feat wouldn''t have been possible if the 4th ss was at a slightly higher level, but 4th sses weren''t just cabbages on the side of the street.

    Raising them was incredibly difficult. And even ifrger organizations like Niflheim had many 4th sses, not many of them surpassed the early stages of early 4th ss, the first 50 levels.

    The ones that were raised past this level were talents the organization invested heavily in. The rest would be assigned to their duties and then left alone. If they wished to grow further, they could only do so through effort.

    Regardless, this disparity was the reason Damien was able to smoothly enter this ce. Though, he still questioned why they didn''t position a stronger guard at the transfer point.

    These idle thoughts passed through Damien''s head rapidly, but he didn''t have any attention to spare them. His entire mind was focused on the information in front of him.

    ''The Core Extraction project is so simple, yet so insane. This n is one that came directly from the Nox, unlike other projects. Even the Chimera research was merely an attempt by humans to recreate 3rd ss and below Nox beings, the ones whocked spiritual intelligence.''

    There was nothing to be said about the goal behind the Core Extraction project. And even if the motive was in question, knowing it wouldn''t be of any help at the moment.

    Damien''s focus was on the gritty details in the report that outlined progress and experiment notes. Actually, this report was extremelyprehensive and easy to understand, almost to the point that it made Damien suspicious.

    But it only took until Damien reached the end of the report for his suspicion to be confirmed. Signed there was the single name of the one who wrote the report, Lynn Carter.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. The way this report was written was more like Lynn attempting to exin the Core Extraction project to ayman rather than someone who''d been working on it for ages.

    With how coincidental it was that Damien found Lynn''s report at this moment, he suspected whether or not she nned it this way.

    But for something like that, she would need an ability simr to foresight.

    Damien shook his head to clear away his thoughts. Before he spected about Lynn, he needed to confirm his suspicions first. And to do that, his body shed away, moving in the direction of Hub City Avalon.

    ***

    Damien''s movements were brash and arrogant, perfectly mirroring his personality. There was no hesitation in his step, and his unnned movements made it difficult for those tracking him to truly find him.

    The Two Death Gods of the Outer Wilds became living legends while Damien continued his work. The forces of both Niflheim and Asgard were bing warier and more hesitant to enter the Outer Wilds.

    Damien didn''t realize the kind of effects his actions had on society. Once he stopped caring about these things, he never considered them again.

    Tensions between Niflheim and Asgard rose exponentially. The two organizations had already had many minor scuffles in recent days, it wouldn''t be long before things evolved into a full-blown war.

    The powder keg was already filled and just waiting to be lit, and the two Death Gods in the Outer Wilds served as the match.

    With the arrogance of these two organizations, even if they knew that the current war was being instigated, they had no desire to stop it. This instigation was giving them probable cause.

    And in fact, when another month passed by, Niflheim and Asgard began a full frontal war. 4th sses shed above important facilities, ground troops ughtered until no man was left standing.

    ording to Damien''s understanding of Asgard, they''d never move so tantly. Being half-subordinated to Niflheim, they wouldn''t dare to kill off the other side''s experts.

    But this war clearly showed that he was mistaken in his view. The rtionship between the two behemoths was far more twisted than he could''ve ever expected.

    Unfortunately, Damien didn''t receive any information about the war as he had cut off contact with the world. Even the manymunication devices he had were dumped in the Sanctuary so their signals wouldn''t be transmitted.

    At the moment, Damien stood idly in the streets of Avalon. His mouth moved as he munched on a delectable fried meat snack and walked around.

    Even if he knew of the chaos he started, he wouldn''t have changed his ns. Currently, his main priority was Core Extraction.

    And depending on what he found in Avalon, the trajectory ofing events would drastically change.

 Chapter 545 Reactor [1]

    The Hub City Avalon was different from Hub City Evalion. Evalion was the home of Evotech''s Headquarters, which also made it the technological capital of the world. As for Avalon, it had an equally domineering title. It was the world''s industrial capital.

    Anyone with talent in creation or construction-rted fields, as well as researchers who preferred more mechanical experiments, would flock to Avalon, creating an environment of constant productivity and growth that allowed the city to pump out products at a frightening pace.

    Of course, not everything in Avalon was moving fast. There were some projects far toorge orplicated to match the flow of the rest of the city. But even a single percentage of growth in these projects was rted to tens of hundreds ofpleted smaller products. Their values couldn''t be prepared.

    Currently, Damien stood in the streets of Avalon, casually wasting his time. He''d already been in the city for a few days already, and he was almost infected by the atmosphere.

    Whenpared to Evalion which gave him a vibe simr to drug addicts itching for their next dose, Avalon was far better.

    The only problem was¡­

    "Hey, brat! If you aren''t going to do anything productive, then get out of the street!" An old dwarf scoffed as he bumped into Damien. The old dwarf didn''t even look up as he spoke, concentrating his entire attention on the trinket in his hands.

    Damien smiled wryly and moved out of the way. This wasn''t the first time he encountered a simr situation. The residents of Avalon were working almost to the extent of insanity.

    But, when Damien scoured their bodies with his awareness, he didn''t notice anything altering their minds or bodies. This atmosphere was entirely natural, which was the strangest part.

    ''What kind of person can cultivate this kind of ce? For everyone present here to be united in their craft, it''s truly an amazing sight to see.''

    Avalon wasn''t an attractive city. It had a somewhat steampunk aesthetic due to all the random inventions and metals littering the streets. But this made the city feel homey, which Damien enjoyed.

    ''Regardless, I need to start searching for leads. From what Eve said, there aren''t any Demigods in Avalon, and the peak 4th ss masters are mostly upational rather thanbative. I should be able to move freely most of the way.''

    Damien''s awareness spread to cover arge portion of the city, but it wasn''t as helpful as he expected. With the mechanical ingenuity of Avalon inhabitants, creating workshops that blocked awareness wasn''t hard at all.

    In fact, it was necessary.

    If someone''s awareness prated a workshop at a critical point and disturbed the craftsman inside, it''d be cmitous. Thus, awareness-blocking buildings were customary.

    Nevertheless, Damien wasn''t attempting to peek into anyone''s business. He simply wanted to locate the workshop mentioned in Lynn''s report.

    And with the detailed description he had of the ce, it didn''t take long for him to find the small workshop on the outer edge of the city. Compared to some of the other buildings, it was tiny and insignificant, but that was only for those who didn''t know the secrets hiding within.

    Damien''s body shed, appearing outside the workshop in an instant. He opened the door and walked in, immediately being assaulted with a rancid odor like rotting food.

    But this odor actually originated from a man who sat at a counter in the middle of the workshop. Other than the man and the counter, there was nothing else present at all.

    "What can I help you with?" The man asked nomittally, obviously disregarding Damien''s presence.

    "I was told toe here by a certain woman. Perhaps you know her?"

    Damien cut straight to the point. Word games and trickery weren''t his style, and he was tired of having to y with people. If his brazen attitude caused problems, he''d deal with them as they came.

    The rancid man''s eyes finally opened somewhat as he nced at Damien. "I don''t know any woman. Women don''te near me."

    Damien rolled his eyes. ''Of course they won''te near you if you stink like shit. What''d you expect?'' He thought inwardly. But he maintained at least a minimum level of courtesy on the outside.

    "Hmm, she should be going by the name Ashley Ruth when she visits this ce. In reality, she''s an Evotech researcher who¡ª"

    "Alright, alright!" The man sighed in defeat, erecting a soundproofing barrier around them before Damien could continue spouting confidential information likemon bullshit.

    "You''re an annoying one, has anyone ever told you that?"

    Damien smiled. "Of course not. Why would anyone find my charming self annoying?"

    The rancid man rolled his eyes, not bothering to entertain Damien anymore. "What you seek is down below. Tch, if she told me the one she was sending would be like you, I would''ve asked for a recement."

    Damien''s eyes widened, his mouth opening to question the rancid man''s words, but it was already toote.

    In the next instant, the rancid man''s body dispersed into a smoke cloud that floated around the workshop, prating into the walls and floor. When the process was finally finished, the floor opened downward, revealing an elevator shaft that would take Damien to his destination.

    There were no more words exchanged at all. Since the rancid man clearly wouldn''t answer his questions, Damien didn''t bother asking. Instead, he calmly descended the elevator shaft.

    But in his mind, anticipation was budding. How could he not be curious? The machine he was currently heading to view¡­if it could truly do as Lynn said, it would be an integral piece of Damien''s ns.

    Only, he didn''t know if he had the qualifications to im it.

    Damien soon reached the bottom of the elevator shaft and entered the massive underground research and development workshop. All around him, scientists and craftsmen moved busily in work.

    To the left and right, many different smaller inventions were being built and tested. Damien even saw something simr to a gravity gun on one of the tables. But his main focus was in the direct center of the workshop.

    Even with the workshop''s enormous size, the central area was visible regardless of where one was.

    There, floating peacefully in the air, was a glowing red cube roughly the size of a head. On its surface, strange runic patterns twisted and agglomerated, creating a profound scene that sucked one''s soul from their body

    Damien fiercely bit his lip. Even in that brief instant of looking at the cube, he found himself falling into a trance. If he wasn''t able to extricate himself, he might''ve turned brain-dead on the spot.

    Hissss!

    Damien sucked in a cold breath. Reading about it in a report and seeing it in person were twopletely different things.

    ''With this¡­''

    It might be possible, Damien thought. There was something he wanted to achieve, something so insane that anyone who heard his n would call it suicide.

    But Damien had confidence that he''d be able to pull it off. Especially if this cubended in his hands, he''d be able to do so wlessly.

    After all, this wasn''t any ordinary cube.

    The red cube floated in arge seemingly ss tube separated from the rest of the workshop. And on this tube sat a que that grandly proimed the cube''s identity.

    [World Core Fusion Reactor]

 Chapter 546 Reactor [2]

    [World Core Fusion Reactor]

    The machine''s name was straightforward, but its use wasn''t as much. To most, a device like this would have no uses whatsoever.

    After all, to use a machine that essentially fused World Cores together, wouldn''t one need multiple World Cores on hand?

    But Lynn''s idea was different. In fact, it was only because she understood the machine so perfectly that she was able to think of something so ingenious.

    The World Core Fusion Reactor had two main abilities. The first was to consume World Cores, and the second was the fuse them together. As for the purpose of this fusion? Even Damien didn''t know.

    Actually, the World Core Fusion Reactor was something akin to a half-heavenly treasure.

    Lynn Carter''s people found the ominous red cube in the Outer Wilds during an expedition, and at that time, it didn''t have the aura of a heavenly treasure yet. At most, it could be considered an embryo.

    But to a researcher, a heavenly treasure embryo was actually far more valuable than its fully formed counterpart. After all, it wasn''t every day one was able to research the creation of natural treasures spawned by the universe itself.

    However, understanding the cube was a far more daunting task than they ever imagined. It was only after Lynn personally took several months to experiment with it did she understand its qualities.

    To consume World Force, this was the ability the cube had when it was still in embryo form. If it was given time to grow, perhaps it truly would''ve be a World Devourer.

    But Lynn''s team caught it before it developed a consciousness, turning it into a piece of machinery instead of a treasure.

    It took many years to say the least. Lynn didn''t mention exactly how long, but Damien could imagine the grueling process it was to turn a heavenly treasure embryo into itsplete form using human hands, and even enhancing it.

    As he gazed at the mysterious red cube for longer and longer, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

    Just who was Lynn Carter?

    The World Core Fusion Reactor already surpassed the bounds of what Niflheim could do. Even if they had powerful strength and minds, they simply didn''t have wide enough perspectives to invent machines like this one.

    It was their fate for being trapped in this unnamed world, and the greater Sector 3, for their whole lives.

    But Lynn was different. She''d left Niflheim multiple times, though under strict surveince, and she''d experienced far more.

    It wasn''t strange for her to have obtained a fortuitous encounter on one of her journeys, allowing her to create something like this.

    But even then, why did she lead him here?

    Obviously, the World Core Fusion Reactor would be far more useful to Damien than to anyone else.

    To use the machine with Lynn''s method was to destroy worlds and steal their World Cores. Even disregarding the inhumanity of such actions, they were entirely impractical.

    But Damien was different. He was a Celestial. If he use his intrinsic connection with the World Cores simultaneously with the machine, he''d be able to fuse the World Cores without truly fusing them.

    Essentially, it was like having one mind but multiple bodies. This would increase the efficiency and utility of his power as a Celestial exponentially.

    But how did Lynn know? And if she didn''t know, why did she lead him here?

    The character known as Lynn Carter was shrouded in a veil of mystery. Her personality was cold and blunt, but her eyes carried an infinite amount of wisdom that didn''t match her being.

    In the 2 months Damien spent with Lynn before he went to Shadow Garden, he already understood that this woman wasn''t simple, but he didn''t realize just how deep her depths were.

    After all, this entire massive facility belonged solely to Lynn. Everyone working within was working for her. And more than that, from what Damien could infer, she had a rtively tight grasp on Avalon as a whole.

    ''But...even if she''s dangerous, at the moment, we''re using each other. This kind of rtionship is actually the most trustworthy, at least until our goals begin to conflict.''

    He could only assume Lynn''s goals, but if she showed him something as important as the World Core Fusion Reactor, she naturally viewed him as an ally for now.

    Only...

    ''I hope you don''t regret underestimating me in the future.'' Damien grinned wildly. His body shed, appearing in the tube next to the floating red cube. And in the next instant, he grabbed it and pushed it into his chest.

    The red cube turned into a liquid-like substance that sunk into Damien''s chest, entering his heart and circting through his blood. Everywhere the red liquid passed, Damien''s body was lit on fire both literally and figuratively. He was forced to endure an unimaginable level of pain.

    Was his current action idiotic? Absolutely. But Damien felt like he could do it. It wasn''t just confidence in himself, but confidence in his status as a Celestial.

    Besides, Lynn Carter clearly showed him the magic cube to tempt him, thinking that with his current ability, he wouldn''t be able to im it. It was impossible for her to give him such a treasure as a mere downpayment.

    Therefore, he would consume it. He would make the World Core Fusion Reactor a part of his strength and grow to a level where he could walk unhindered.

    But before that...

    rms red through the underground workshop. A plethora of scientists and craftsmen panicked as they saw Damien''s figure in the central tube, submerged in eerie red liquid.

    But what were they supposed to do?

    They were already weak inbat because they focused on secondary professions and only leveled up on the side. How were they supposed to contend with someone like Damien?

    However, before their panic could be too prevalent, the rms stopped ring. A deep voice echoed through therge workshop.

    "Leave him. This is all by the will of our master."

    Those words were magical. The budding panic was suppressed just as quickly as it appeared, those researchers and craftsmen returning to their jobs as if nothing happened.

    Their master was absolute. They didn''t know who she was, but anything she nned was far out of their ability toprehend. Instead of trying, it was better to simply focus on what they were best at.

    And so, Damien was able to put his entire focus into absorbing the World Core Fusion Reactor. He could already tell from just the initial phases...this process would not be a short one at all.

    ***

    Somewhere else in the unnamed world, a woman sat calmly at a small ss table overlooking the entire world. It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that this ce was an immortal abode.

    As she sat in silence, an old man approached from behind. The woman didn''t acknowledge his presence even when he sat down next to her.

    "Are things going as you wished for them to?" The old man asked with a smile.

    The woman remained expressionless as she answered. "Not in the slightest."

    "Hahahaha!" The old manughed rambunctiously. "This is why I enjoy watching these adventures. It''s always fun to see these unexpected events y out."

    The woman finally looked over at the old man. "Are you mocking my hard work?"

    Her aura didn''t waver, ring out immensely even though she knew she couldn''t harm a hair on this old man''s head.

    But the old man simply brushed off her aura and shook his head. "Isn''t my presence enough of an answer? Regardless, fate is truly a strange thing."

    The woman looked down upon the world. For some reason, she felt oddly lonely in that moment.

    "Mm, fate truly is a strange thing."

    With her words falling, the strange duo descended into silence. It was unknown when they''d finally speak again.

 Chapter 547 Escalating [1]

    Time passed rapidly for Damien as he fully immersed himself in absorbing the World Core Fusion Reactor and understanding its mysteries. But to many others, this period of time slowed to a crawl.

    Within Evotech Headquarters'' North Wing, a man covered in blood dragged his heavy feet through the halls. The copious amounts of blood drenching his body pooled on the floor, creating a small stream that followed his steps.

    This man continued to walk despite his condition until finally reaching arge barracks. At this juncture, he finally felt secure enough to close his eyes.

    "Lieutenant General!"

    A panicked voice rang out as the barrack guards noticed the falling figure. They rapidly rushed to his falling body, catching him before he could hit the ground.

    "Somebody call General Strohman! The Lieutenant General is¡ª"

    "Stop. No need."

    The Lieutenant General interrupted the guard mid-sentence. After taking a few seconds to stabilize himself, he stood back up on his own two feet and shrugged off the aid of the two guards.

    After thanking them for their help, he trudged further into the barracks, past the living quarters of ordinary soldiers, and towards the private room of the General himself.

    This was the privilege granted to him not only by his rank, but by his close connection with the General. Although he''d only been a part of the military for a few months, he''d formed a bond stronger than blood with the General. This was the result of fighting countless battles side by side.

    As he reached the General''s quarters, he pushed open the door lightly. A current of mana enveloped his body, immediately cleansing all the blood and grime that covered him.

    "Sheesh," a troubled voice came from the side. "Haven''t I told you to take it easy? These small scuffles shouldn''t involve figures of your status."

    The one who talked was naturally General Strohman himself. But unlike the stern countenance he usually put on, his expression was closer to that of a worried elder brother at the moment.

    "Hah," the Lieutenant General scoffed. "Unlike you, I''m still stuck in 3rd ss. I need all thebat and experience I can get so I can finally cross that boundary."

    "Regardless, overworking yourself is far worse than even not working at all. Long Chen, you must learn to pace yourself."

    Surprisingly enough, the Lieutenant General was actually Long Chen! Not to mention his achievement in rising to such a rank in this short period of time, what was even more startling was the fact that General Strohman actually knew his true name!

    "Brother Athan, your worries are unfounded. I know my limits more than anyone else, and these small scuffles with people at a simr level as me constantly help me test them. If I didn''t know the importance of rest, would I have returned here today?"

    General Strohman, or Athan as Long Chen called him, shook his head wryly. "If it wasn''t for me threatening you 2 months ago, would you have ever bothered?"

    Long Chen smiled, but didn''t respond. Joining the military and spending these past few months on the battlefield was truly the best method of training for him. Even without the overarching n that required him to do so, he still would''ve done it without hesitation.

    Especially after learning the truth. This General Strohman who casually sat in front of him was actually a spy from Asgard! His status in the organization wasn''t low at all either, and he was constantly updated on the general situation of the world.

    If it wasn''t for General Strohman, no, Inquisitor Athan Strohm, Long Chen wouldn''t have been able to achieve nearly as much as he had. Over time, especially after baring themselves to each other, the duo became as close as blood brothers.

    "How is everything going?" Long Chen suddenly asked. He washed himself with mana once more, clearing his cracked skin and giving way to a newyer of pristine, unblemished skin. Of the blood that stained his body moments prior, barely any was his.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Hearing Long Chen''s question, Athan''s brow furrowed. "It''s not looking too good. Asgard and Niflheim are edging closer and closer to full-blown warfare. The two Death Gods in the Outer Wilds aren''t helping the situation at all."

    "Mm," Long Chen nodded in agreement. "It feels as if these two Death Gods appeared at the perfect time to stir up the already vtile situation. Whoever nned their advent is a true mastermind."

    Long Chen was frowning as well. He understood that the storm caused by these Death Gods would elerate the situation and further envelop the world in chaos. Naturally, this result would make it far easier for people like Long Chen or Athan to move, but Long Chen didn''t know how to feel about it.

    He had always been a righteous person. Even his Sword Aura held traces of his indomitable will to follow the righteous path, manifesting as a holy radiance. To someone like him, starting a war just for the sake of achieving one''s goals was far across his bottom line.

    But, in this situation, he could only endure his internal crisis. If he acted based on his heart alone, he''d only end up ruining himself.

    ''Enduring is not a problem. And when the chaos begins, I must make sure the coteral damage isn''t too great. The goal of this mission is to eliminate the Nox''s influence on both this world and Sector 3 in general. This way, we won''t have to worry about internal strife when the Great War begins in the future.''

    There was no reason for the innocents in this world to die because of the sins of others. Evotech might''ve been scum, but what about everyone else? What about the craftsmen of Avalon, the doctors of Caduceus, and all others in the world who were genuinely promoting humanity''s growth?

    Was the destruction of the Nox worth the sacrifice of so many talents?

    Long Chen sighed to himself. It''d been roughly 5 months since the mission in Niflheim began, and it''d only be another month or so before the Celestial and Star Squadrons appeared in the world to begin their full frontal assault.

    Time was running out. If Long Chen wanted to follow his righteous heart and guarantee the people''s safety, he needed both strength and backing to do so.

    Strength was one thing. It couldn''t be gained easily, and even if Long Chen tried his hardest, he didn''t have the ability to promote to 4th ss any time soon. However, he had plenty of backing.

    Evotech''s military was closer to a mercenary group in their mindset. Rather than loyalty to Evotech, they had loyalty to one another. Only those who earned their respect on the battlefield were qualified to receive their loyalty and reverence.

    As for Long Chen, he''d achieved this dozens of times over. Even if he told the military to rebel against Evotech at this very moment, at least 3/4ths of them would follow hismand without hesitation.

    Not to mention, Athan would support him as well. With theirbined momentum, even if they began a hopeless assault without any prior nning, they''d at least be able to bring down two wings of Evotech Headquarters before faltering.

    But the military wasn''t enough. What Long Chen wanted to do went against the wills of Niflheim, Asgard, and even the Cloud ne''s forces. The path he wished to follow was entirely of his own design.

    And the determination he had to follow this path was a zing inferno that could easily epass the entire world.

 Chapter 548 Escalating [2]

    With so many months passing, the Moon Squadron''s forces had all but solidified their positions in Evotech. The ns created by those at the top were running smoothly.

    Of course, Wrath''s presence was still an unknown variable, but Wrath had no interest in Evotech at all. These inventions, no matter how heaven-defying some of them may be, held no benefit for him. The only thing he cared about was the "seed."

    Therefore, he didn''t interfere even while understanding that Evotech was being corrupted from the inside and turned into something else. Even this was a war between humans that was instigated by the Nox''s intervention. Regardless of what he did, his goals were being achieved.

    But it wasn''t simply the Moon Squadron and Long Chen within Evotech. There were also Asgard and Shadow Garden''s forces as well.

    Namely, Aishia and Lynn. Currently, these two women stood together in a personalb, half-heartedly conducting experiments on Nodal Technology.

    This kind of research was likely the most valuable to themon popce of the unnamed world. Nodal Technology was the reason why weapons like the Twin Moons existed, though those specific weapons developed entirely on their own.

    The unnamed world''s Mana Utilization System was inherently wed in that it didn''t allow people who practiced it to freely manipte the mana in their bodies to produce external phenomena. Something like Damien''s spatial distortion could be done, but anything more difficult than that was impossible.

    If they attempted to guide their mana externally for too long, it''d easily fizzle out and disperse. Even the old witch who tortured Damien had arge portion of her body reced with mechanical parts to circumvent this weakness.

    This was because the Nodal System was specifically tailored to be used with weaponry. The internal system was only half thepleted product.

    For the people to show the true extent of their power, they needed weapons of high enough caliber to amodate them. This was a major w that could easily lead to one''s death on a chaotic battlefield.

    But naturally, humans would adapt. Since the Nodal System was already too deeply entrenched into the unnamed world''s society topletely rewrite it, another solution was presented. That was, the introduction of armor suits thatplemented the Nodal System.

    These mechanical suits ranged anywhere from personal body armor that sleekly clung to the skin, to massive machines that blotted out the sky. The possibilities were limitless.

    And these limitless possibilities were what the two women were exploring at the moment.

    But they didn''t seem too happy even while knowing that.

    "If you design the Mana Connection Points like that, it''ll disrupt the flow between the Superior Node in the nape and the Sub-Nodes in the wrists. I didn''t think a seasoned researcher like you would make such a fatal mistake." Lynn mocked as she looked over at Aishia''s progress.

    Aishia scoffed in response. "And I didn''t expect someone as quiet and headstrong as you to be so annoyingly involved in my business when I never asked for your opinion."

    The two women red at each other fiercely. The enmity between them had been formed long before the Cloud ne''s mission began. This was an enmity that spanned over many years.

    At first, it was just minor conflicts of interest, but as time went on, things became more serious. Especially when Aishia began reporting directly to the Board of Executives, her arrogance shot through the roof.

    ? Lynn could only sit back and stomach her anger. Although the Core Extraction Project gave her immense status in Evotech, she hadn''t actually aplished much in this regard, leading her position to be precarious.

    But it wasn''t her fault. The duty assigned to her was quite literally the most daunting task to ask of someone like her. How could she be expected to produce results like candy?

    The reason she was able to maintain her position was that every breakthrough she had in the project was a major one. Over time, Evotech slowly gained enough confidence in her work to give her the time she needed.

    Of course, this was only because they werepletely in the dark about her side endeavors. If her control over Avalon was ever revealed, who knew how Evotech would react?

    Nevertheless, Lynn continued working on the mechanical armor in front of her. After Damien''s disappearance, Evotech had stuck her with Aishia. It was her own fault that she ended up in this situation, so she had no choice but to bear it.

    As for the disappearance itself, it strangely didn''t cause a stir in Evotech at all. It was as if the researcher Damien Grey never existed in the first ce.

    This level of thorough erasure had to be the work of someone extremely powerful. Just the fact that this person took the time to personally erase any trace of Damien''s presence made Lynn infinitely wary. She wouldn''t tolerate any unknown variables.

    ''Unless that man possesses some treasure of untold proportions, I can''t imagine why anyone with such status would care about him. It''s either that or he''s a spy, but it can''t be thetter since he doesn''t even originate from this world.''

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance. As expected, involving a variable like Damien was both a blessing and a curse at the same time. While his erratic actions would elerate her ns dramatically while also making it far easier to achieve her goal, his presence alone would bring along trouble.

    This was the curse of immense talent and fortune. It could be said that Damien was extremely lucky in his journey so far, not encountering anyone with enough greed or knowledge to pursue him seriously.

    But this could also be attributed to the fact that he was born in Sector 3.

    The Human Domain was heavily impacted in the previous war and often looked down upon by the other Sectors, leading to a situation where geniuses were valued far more highly. Those with the potential to reach the peak of 4th ss or even the Demigod realm were usually given an easier time than others, especially if they showed off their capabilities.

    As for what would happen when he left Sector 3¡­only time would tell.

    Lynn shook her head. Why was she thinking so far into the future when the problems in Niflheim hadn''t even been solved yet? Being able to see so much was just as much of a curse as it was a blessing.

    ''By now, he should''ve already seen the World Core Fusion Reactor. It''s impossible for a Celestial to resist the temptation of that device, so bringing him over to my side shouldn''t be a problem. Only¡­''

    She had no desire to bring Damien under her. A subordinate she couldn''t control didn''t interest her at all.

    But she wasn''t the kind of person to rely on something as flimsy as "allies" either.

    A business rtionship where they used each other for their own purposes, this was her favorite kind of interaction. There was no useless sophistry or morality, only pure benefits.

    In Lynn''s mind, this was the purest type of rtionship. Trust was ethereal, but benefits were tangible.

    Bzzt!

    Lynn pushed a small tool simr to a soldering iron into the center of the mechanical armor suit and began welding. Sparks flew and lights shed as the armor nearedpletion.

    To her, this armor was a representation of her hard work.

    She was already closing in on the final steps of her ns for this world, and when she was done, she''d finally be able to branch out into the wider universe.

    But before she added wings to the armor suit, she needed to make sure all the foundational mechanics worked properly first.

    Slow and steady won the race.

    All she needed to do now was lead her little outlier on the correct path and patiently wait for her years of nning and scheming to bear fruit.

 Chapter 549 Escalating [3]

    "Tch!"

    Aishia set down the materials in her hands and leaned on the workbench in front of her. A heavy sigh leaked from her lips.

    Looking at the machine in front of her, she couldn''t tell whether she was relieved or disappointed.

    The machine itself was a mechanical armor suit, a technology that had long be integrated into society. However, she wasn''t treating it as an armor suit at all.

    Even Lynn had scolded her around a week prior for her cement of Mana Connection Points. While Lynn''s criticism would''ve been t true in any other case, it wasn''t quite this time.

    This was specifically because Aishia wasn''t following the script for a normal mechanical armor suit. Only, she did most of the in-depth work outside of Lynn''s supervision, leaving her in the dark about the project''s true worth.

    Of course, being forced to swallow Lynn''s mockery wasn''t a good feeling. Aishia''s strength far surpassed Lynn''s. It''d only take a few ps to kill her. Knowing this only made it harder to endure, because she also knew that Lynn wasn''t a character Niflheim would let go.

    But as long as the end product was worth the effort, Aishia didn''t mind stomaching these insults.

    Aishia brushed her hand against the armor suit''s cold metal exterior. As her mana intertwined with the suit''s systems, thin blue vein-like lines began to spread across its body.

    sh!

    Its eyes lit up. Its head raised as if it were alive. Its gazended on Aishia, and it immediately kneeled down on one knee, its head lowered once more.

    "Rise," Aishiamanded softly.

    After spending so much grueling time and effort on this project, after failing so many times that she almost destroyed it entirely, her feeling afterpleting it was no longer joy, it was pure relief at having finished.

    The mech suit stood up following Aishia''smand. Watching it, Aishia continued her testing.

    First came basic motor responses, followed by more in-depth fine control tests. To check every system this way was inconvenient, but she at least had to personally check the main systems for any bugs.

    When her arm waved, the mech suit would follow her action. When her body shed across the room past the speed of sound, the suit would do the same. However, if she wished to¡­

    Aishia pointed at the wall and spoke. "Kill."

    Boom!

    A concentrated ball of mana flew from the mech suit''s palm and reached a nearby wall in an instant, drilling a hole roughly a foot in depth.

    Considering the fact that the material constituting this wall was one of the strongest alloys in the entire world, a foot-deep hole was a substantial achievement.

    "Haa¡­"

    Aishia breathed another sigh of relief. She put her hand on the mech suit''s shoulder, withdrawing the strings of mana she inserted moments prior. With this, the suit powered down and entered an inanimate state once more.

    In essence, what she created was puppet technology. For denizens who would be headless chickens on the battlefield without custom armor and weapons, this new approach to battle would surely be extremely popr.

    A metal known as Pr Star Iron was the most important ingredient in her innovation. This metal seemed to possess some sort of mysterious prity with mana, being able to attract and contain it within.

    This was incredibly important. Even when mana was infused into the ground or any foreign object, it''d naturally dissipate over time. A practitioner''s control over this mana would wane at an even faster speed, making remotely controlling one''s mana a nigh impossible feat.

    For normal puppet techniques, this wasn''t a problem. The puppet and caster would be connected by mana strings or simr methods, and this connection was the very weakness that made puppets irrelevant in today''s society.

    But with Pr Star Iron, Aishia was able to develop a mechanism to hold the caster''s mana and maintain their connection within a certain radius. Although this radius was currently only around 30 feet, it was something that could surely be improved with time.

    This was why, behind all of Aishia''s sighs, was a smile she could barely contain.

    Her goals in life were few. Vengeance and justice. For vengeance, she would destroy the Nox from their very roots. And for justice, she''d protect this world and its people to herst breath. From the beginning, this was her creed; this was Asgard''s creed.

    Puppet Mechs would only be one of her many contributions, but they would inevitably be one of the most important.

    Because if every citizen was given the ability to fight their oppressors, what kind of beautiful scene would that be?

    Aishia smiled naively as she imagined it. The world outside Niflheim, outside Asgard, what was it like?

    Even though she''d lived over 10,000 years, she''d done so while being sheltered heavily in Asgard. Her status as the Final Valkyrie made her one of the most important persons in the organization.

    When she went into the Outer Wilds to train, she''d always been given 4th ss protectors. Whenever she wished to interact with strangers, Asgard would vet them first and decide whether they were safe or not.

    The response was almost always a resounding no, but Aishia knew it couldn''t be helped. The outside world was a dangerous ce that far surpassed her imagination. If she even wanted the qualifications to properly explore it, she''d have to firstplete her primary objective.

    ''I should report to Lord Odin soon. News of this joyous asion cannot be dyed.''

    Aishia wiped the sweat off her brow and rapidly prepared to leave herboratory. She tapped a small cube against the Puppet Mech prototype, causing it to rapidlypress and reside within said cube.

    However, just as she was nning to leave¡­

    "Unholy Sanctum."

    An abyssal voice called out from behind her. Theb was enveloped in a poison-green domain that painted the air in its hue.

    Aishia''s eyes went dull. Her arms loosely fell to her sides.

    "Show me the progress." The voice demanded.

    Aishia absent-mindedly withdrew the cube in which the Puppet Mech resided, resummoning it into the world. However, it wasn''t the same as before.

    When her mana entered the mech, it followed a specific pattern, revolving through the Pr Star Iron like a counterflow.

    The mech suit powered up. Its aura red wildly, filled with bloodthirst and madness. It began thrashing around like a living creature, but the owner of the abyssal voice restrained it with a single thought.

    The mech attempted to wrangle out of the thick greenish-ck chains that bound it, but that wasn''t possible. Even if it had strength, it was still only a prototype.

    "It is not satisfactory yet, but it is infinitely close. Good, the Master will be pleased." The abyssal voice nodded.

    "And what of Asgard?" It asked once more.

    Aishia''s lips quivered for a brief instant, her eyes beginning to clear. But at that moment, a shrill sound traveled through the air. Upon hearing this sound, Aishia''s eyes dulled immediately. Her mouth opened and she began casually retelling secrets that had never left Asgard''s upper echelon.

    The abyssal figure smiled as it listened. Just as it had always been, and just as it always would be, Asgard was a mere dog under their control.

    "The Cloud ne? Even Odin himself wouldn''t dare move against us. Which little faction from Asgard actually dared to conspire? Jajajaja, It seems we must once again teach our dogs to behave."

    The abyssal voice faded from theb, the Unholy Sanctum vanishing without a trace. Even the Puppet Mech returned to Aishia''s storage box.

    Aishia''s eyes suddenly cleared. A puzzled look appeared on her face. For some reason, she felt as if she was missing something. A faint memory popped into her head.

    "¡­what¡­Asgard¡­"

    "Agh!"

    Aishia gripped her head in pain. Her mana shot through her Nodal Points and entered her brain, allowing her to rapidly rid herself of her splitting headache.

    But along with her headache vanished her suspicions about the events prior. And perhaps, even the headache itself would be forgotten soon as well.

    Aishia soon picked up her items and left theb, returning home so she could finally rx.

    After creating something with the potential to greatly benefit humanity, she could at least be allowed this much, right?

 Chapter 550 Escalating [4]

    Following that day, the passive approach Niflheim had taken in the growing conflict enveloping the world vanished.

    But their actions didn''t leave the confines of their own territory.

    In the depths of night, a shadow swept across the horizon. In the next instant, it vanished into thin air. The only thing left behind in its wake was a corpse.

    The owner of this corpse was an old man. His eyes which used to hold a light of child-like curiosity were now dull and forever frozen in an expression of terror.

    This old man was a member of the Moon Squadron that Damien had seen during Bai Xieren''s speech. His death wasn''t the first, and it wouldn''t be thest among those who dared to act against Niflheim.

    In theing days, spies from the Moon Squadron were constantly uprooted and in. It was as if Niflheim hadpletely urate information on their identities.

    And in fact, they did.

    Naturally, Aishia didn''t have such a massive swathe of information in her mind. This information had been provided by a hidden group managed by Niflheim and Asgard together. They were the true shadows of the world.

    To this point, the group was unnamed. Their members were unnamed, their fingerprints and even mana signatures burned away using self-sacrificial methods. The only purpose of these individuals'' existence was to serve the cause they were given.

    And a few months ago, they were ordered by Asgard''s executives to keep note of some suspicious personnel who would bending in the world.

    Even Damien and Long Chen had run into an agent from this group, but due to Damien''s decision to enter Niflheim before the Moon Squadron, they were saved from suspicion.

    Especially Long Chen. While Damien was missing and assumed dead by those who cared, and unknown to those who didn''t, Long Chen was a rising hero in the military with plenty of fame and merit. If his status as an otherworlder was revealed, it was unknown how the people around him would react.

    But even being spared from the ughter wasn''t something that made Long Chen happy. What he wished desperately was to end this ughter once and for all.

    However, he would only be a fool if he moved alone.

    Nevertheless, Long Chen wasn''t alone from the start. At the edge of Asgard territory, Bai Xieren stood with a heavy frown on her face.

    If she didn''t realize there was a problem even by this juncture, she was unqualified to be a leader.

    In fact, Bai Xieren understood from the beginning that there was likely a trap involved in this n. It was simply far too convenient of an opportunity to strike the Nox. From her years of experience, she was well aware of how tricky the Nox could be.

    But she still decided to move forward with the operation, as did Tian Yang and the rest of the Cloud ne''s experts. In their long lives, had they ever encountered rewards that weren''t apanied by risks? This was merely reality. Faltering because of something so intangible as risk was the mentality of a practitioner who would never achieve anything.

    Yet, her forces were being destroyed faster than she could cope with. The information they''d received and the fears they''d achieved weren''t nearly satisfactory yet.

    Bai Xieren breathed out a wisp of chaotic air as she steadied herself. If the Cloud ne''s forces were truly going to be targeted by the tworgest organizations in this world, they didn''t have a chance. Even if they brought arge number of people, theirprehensive strength was only roughly equal to Niflheim at most. Adding Asgard''s forces on top of that¡­they didn''t stand a single chance.

    But there was no going back now. Before the Celestial and Star Squadrons arrived in a few weeks'' time, she needed to set the stage in such a way that victory was a viable path.

    And to do so¡­

    [Receiving input¡­]

    [Error!]

    [Deciphering encrypted data¡­]

    [Error!]

    [Error! The Core Processor has sustained a substantial impact! Please evacuate while the system reboots itself!]

    Bai Xierenmanded her mana, turning it into an incandescent white light that showered her body. As it seeped into her skin and came into contact with her bloodstream, the AI voice in her head began erratically sending messages.

    But she didn''t stop. The ongoing purge in Niflheim was already enough to be considered a betrayal by Asgard. There was no need for her to keep up false pretenses and allow them to control her.

    The nanomachines from the AI chip were rapidly destroyed. A powerful stream of light even entered Bai Xieren''s brain, encasing it in an inescapable cocoon.

    [Requesting aid from the Administrator¡­]

    [Contacting the Administrator¡­]

    [Contact Failed!]

    [Reattemptingmunication¡­]

    [Failed!]

    [Reattempting¡­]

    [Failed!]

    [Failed!]

    [The Administrator is unavable. Setting temporary Administrator as Bai Xieren.]

    Only when she finally heard this message did she stop her assault. Unexpectedly, the AI processor and its nanomachines were quite stubborn. It took nearly an hour before it finally epted her as the Administrator.

    And while having Administrator permissions without ess to the control rooms was mostly useless, it had one main benefit.

    [Hidden Dragon Group, prepare to move.]

    A message was sent to a few select individuals, only ever to be viewed by them. Because it was sent by an Administrator, it was both heavily encrypted and untraceable.

    After the first message, many more were sent off in rapid session. From the missions given to the Hidden Dragon Group members to orders for the regr Moon Squadron members, Bai Xieren gave as much instruction as she could within a few minutes.

    Because that was all the time she had.

    [Connection reestablished!]

    With a light "ding!" sound, the AI processor rebooted itself, returning to its original chain ofmand.

    Seeing this, Bai Xieren actually sighed in relief. Even if the time was short, she''d done all she could. Now all there was left to do was wait and hope that her people could bring her a miracle.

    As for those miracle workers¡­

    Five individuals in vastly different parts of the world received five different messages with extremely simr goals.

    To kill.

    Kill, kill, and then kill some more.

    It wasn''t a simple mission anymore, it was an order they were given extreme incentives to carry out.

    To kill a Researcher was to gain a bit of wealth, but to kill an Executive was to gain a fortune!

    The disparity of rewards naturally corresponded to the difficulty of the targets, but it didn''t change the fact that many hefty prizes were being offered to them on a silver tter.

    Whether it was Li Xiu, Jiang Hualing, Hebi, or even Long Chen, they were all tempted by these offers.

    As for the final member of the Hidden Dragon Group¡­he was a bit preupied and missed the message entirely.

    As such, four individuals silently made up their minds that night. They''d already heard about or personally seen what was happening in Evotech. Wouldn''t the Cloud ne''s people lose face if they took such an insult sitting down?

    From today onward, Niflheim would understand¡­

    They would understand why that tiny faction in Asgard actually dared to oppose them.

 Chapter 551 Escalating [5]

    In one night, 37 Niflheim Executives died.

    In the next, another 42.

    These people weren''t high enough on thedder to be called the true upper echelon of Evotech yet, but they were just a step away. Their losses would genuinely harm the organization''s workflow and power.

    Fear spread rapidly. Especially in such precarious times, fear had an extreme hold on people''s hearts. A rumor began circting that the Death God of the Outer Wilds had arrived in Evotech to im their lives.

    The ordinary researchers with 3rd ss strength went into hiding, taking their findings and holing themselves up away from the Death God. As for the military, they were oddly silent. It was as if the ongoing scenario had nothing to do with them.

    And that was partially true. The military''s mercenary-like attitude wasn''t anything new. To Evotech, people like them naturally wouldn''t be allowed too much internal power. There was a separate guard force responsible for internal threats, while the military handled external matters.

    But this guard force was proving to be extremely pathetic. Every night, dozens of important personnel would die without leaving even bones behind, yet they weren''t even able to find a trace of the killer.

    To die meaninglessly without hope for vengeance, wasn''t this just too cruel?

    Evotech went into high alert for the second time in the past few months, but even this didn''t help their situation. People continued to mysteriously die under the hands of the Death God.

    The only choice left for Evotech, and the greater Niflheim, was to fight even more fiercely.

    The small scuffles between warriors escted rapidly, turning into battles where countless tens of people would die like ants. Both sides were already probing each other''s military strength in preparation for war.

    But even though Niflheim''s situation looked bad, it wasn''t nearly as poor as Asgard''s.

    ? From the beginning, Asgard wasn''t a united organization. Those who submitted and those who resisted fiercely opposed each other at every turn, making the internal strife in Asgard a harrowing struggle that took the lives of many geniuses.

    If there was one positive note, it was that Aishia was relocated before things went horribly. Even if she couldn''t aplish anything while she was in Evotech, she at least wouldn''t be harmed. This was because the current Aishia simply didn''t pose any threat to the organization.

    ¡­or so Odin thought as he sat on his throne.

    Regarding the struggles of those under him, he no longer had the power to control the situation. He was nothing more than a puppet ruler at this point.

    He was a 5th ss being! A true Demigod! Yet, he was an indecisive person. While trying to please everyone, he always angered both sides. Until slowly, his power over Asgard was wrested away from him.

    Of course, with his strength, it was impossible for them to take his power awaypletely. If Odin had any thought of resisting, even with Niflheim''s help, removing him from the throne would cost them a great deal. But, as mentioned before, Odin was indecisive.

    Even now, he sat in his empty throne room surrounded by reminders of the past''s glory. He stared at these reminders and wished to return to these times, but hepletely ignored the situation outside.

    Regardless of how domineering the Empire was, a faulty Emperor would bring it to ruin in just a few years. This was precisely the situation with Asgard.

    If this Emperor knew that his very own daughter was being controlled and used at every turn, how would he react?

    Regardless, there was no turning away from the situation anymore. There was no hiding the rift in Asgard or attempting to pretend to be good anymore.

    With war on the horizon, people would clearly delineate where they stood. And at that time, perhaps Asgard would lose a majority of its fighting power in a single swoop.

    ***

    The days passed extremely slowly for those who experienced them, but in the grand scheme of things, were extremely slow. Especially in the starry sky where time seemed to stagnate, understanding its flow was nearly impossible.

    Of course, this phenomenon was only present for those who didn''t have anyprehension of the concept itself. In reality, the starry sky was the ce where time''s machinations were the most concentrated.

    The thick Time Laws drifting through the chaotic space were the reason why there was never a time difference between the various worlds in the Human Domain and even therger 9 Sectorsbined. This time essence was so ethereal and all-powerful that it set the entire known universe in bnce and let it flow together.

    It was only natural for normal people to perceive this time chaotically, or not perceive it at all. It was simply too profound!

    Currently, there were many people experiencing this feeling, but only one able to benefit from it.

    These people stood on two starships that shuttled through the void, directly moving towards the unnamed world where Niflheim was located.

    Naturally, these were the Celestial and Star Squadrons.

    On the Celestial Squadron starship, a woman looked out the window at the chaotic space nervously.

    "Scared? As long as we''re inside, it can''t hurt us, you know." The woman sitting next to her consoled gently.

    The woman nodded, but her body wouldn''t stop shivering. "Even then, this vast expanse is too domineering. Even when I was told of the universe''s infinite vastness, I never imagined it could be so palpably true."

    These two women possessed unparalleled and unique beauty that caused the mes of desire to rage in the hearts of many elites, but none dared to approach them. After all, their backing was none other than their Commander himself. These women were naturally Rose and Ruyue.

    "Mm, it''s still terrifying even though it''s my second time doing something like this. The thought that if anything happened to this ship, we''d be thrust into that endlessness¡­" Rose''s voice trailed off, causing Ruyue''s shivers to be more pronounced.

    Seeing this, Rose let out a fit of bell-likeughter, attracting the attention of many. "Rx, I was just kidding. Even if the ship is destroyed, isn''t Senior Tian here? He''s not only your husband''s master, but yours as well. He''d never let you suffer under his watch."

    Ruyue smiled with a bit more assurance after hearing these words. This journey had been a true eye-opener for her.

    Damien had already told her multiple times about the grandness of space, but Ruyue didn''t take him entirely seriously. After all, Damien practically idolized the starry sky.

    It couldn''t be helped. He was both a Celestial and a space-time practitioner. To him, the starry sky was heaven; he simply didn''t understand or consider how terrifying it could be to others.

    Nevertheless, the Celestial and Star Squadron ships continued to push forward rapidly. By now, it would only be around a week or two longer before they arrived in the new world.

    But what waited for them was no longer the situation they desired. It was a chaotic ce where their presence could lead to a war far outside of their caliber to participate in.

    If Bai Xieren had the means, she would''ve directly told the two attack squads to turn back to prevent further aggregating the situation.

    But that wasn''t possible. Besides, Bai Xieren only had total control over the Moon Squadron. The true controlling force of the operation was¡­

 Chapter 552 Escalating [6]

    The Sun Squadron had been more than just quiet since the beginning of the operation, it was more like their presence vanished entirely.

    Shangguan Yu had taken his squad directly to Asgard and integrated with them when the mission began, but of course, back then he didn''t know the situation in Asgard at all.

    With his mind, he was naturally able to deduce it rapidly after seeing it for himself, but knowing something and truly acting upon it were two different things.

    As Shangguan Yu was organizing his forces to begin stabilizing and conquering Asgard, he was met with fierce opposition.

    And not just any opposition.

    He met the first Demigod of Asgard a month after arriving in the world, and though it wasn''t Odin, this person was a powerhouse in his own right.

    When he understood what Shangguan Yu was attempting, he acted without care for face and directly threw him and his people into a dungeon thousands of feet below Asgard''s main headquarters.

    This is where they''d stayed even until now, when the situation was on the verge of exploding.

    Although it was called a dungeon, the treatment wasn''t cruel at all. Every squad member would receive three meals per day, had a soft bed to sleep on, many recreational centers to visit, and even a personal servant to tend to their needs. If anything, this ce was a 7-star resort.

    But this was only on the surface. Regardless of how they were treated, they were still being forced away from the surface. Their position was taken away from them entirely.

    For the first few days, some held hope that more noble souls would rescue them from confinement, but that hope faded away long ago.

    Because it was a Demigod who acted.

    Even if there was a Demigod willing to aid them, he wouldn''t be able to do so unless he wanted to blow the powder keg that was Asgard.

    "Haa¡­" Shangguan Yu sighed to himself. In his hand, he twirled a strange item that looked like a golden metal pencil without an edge.

    ''Things are getting chaotic. I wonder if Bai Xieren will be able to take care of things without my guidance?''

    His sleek blonde hair already fell to the ground and then some. He got bored and decided to grow it out as a more fun measure of telling the time.

    ording to the strand length, it should almost be time for the main show to begin. Yet, he wasn''t being given the opportunity to participate.

    ''And I thought I''d finally get to see something fun. With how the old man has been going on about seed this, seed that, I wanted to be there when it blooms¡­''

    Shangguan Yu sighed once more and put down the small golden object in his hand. His pupils dted as his gaze extended to its limit.

    ''At least they''re kind enough to let me watch them crumble from the inside. If you were going to do it even without my help, then was there a need to ever lock me up in the first ce.''

    A small grin spread on his face. ''But this is fine too. I quite like this new feeling of being a spectator. Besides, it''s not like my harvests were small.''

    The golden pencil on the floor began rapidly spinning like a drill, drilling a hole into the dungeon floor below. As Shangguan Yu controlled this action, the light of curiosity in his eyes became more and more pronounced.

    ''How can such an inconceivable thing be possible? How could such a secret remain hidden for eons? Hahaha, how interesting!''

    Shangguan Yu soon became enamored with his task once more. Since being thrown into this dungeon, he''d rarely ever left his room.

    The elites outside were slowly bing limated to their new lifestyles,pletely forgetting about the original mission.

    But this wasn''t some kind of conditioning done by Asgard, it was entirely by the fault of those elites.

    They had witnessed a Demigod casually manhandle them as he pleased, and this Demigod wasn''t even Odin! What did that mean? It meant there was an unknown number of Demigods in this world that would actively be involved in theing struggle!

    With this kind of information, it was impossible not to get demotivated.

    But things wouldn''t always go how one wished. On one fateful day, the massive cer-like door of the dungeon was sted open and sent flying across the room.

    Through the entrance walked a bumbling old man who looked like a homeless beggar. Arge gourd was present in his hand, the stench of the liquor within alone causing many elites to be intoxicated.

    "Yo~ little brat YuYu! Where are you?!"

    His voice reverberated through the dungeon. If it wasn''t for his fear of breaking into the dungeon, perhaps nobody would''ve taken this old drunk seriously.

    "YuYu~! YuYu~! Come out for this father!"

    The old man kept yelling, confusing the elites. Just who was the YuYu he was looking for, and why would they be in a ce like this?

    At this time, a lone door near the back of the area slowly opened. Shangguan Yu walked out, his face pale as paper.

    The elites suddenly had a thought. YuYu¡­couldn''t have been¡­?

    "Ah! YuYu,e give this grandfather a hug! How long has it been since we''ve seen each other, yet the first thing you call me for is my power? You brat, you''ve really be arrogant, huh!"

    The old man pped Shangguan Yu on the shoulder heavily and pulled him into a hug. Seeing this, the elites were once again bbergasted.

    Shangguan Yu was actually letting this old man hug him? Wait, how did the old man get over there?

    It had to be known, there were many hundreds of meters between the two just a second ago, but the old man had traversed that distance so rapidly that the elites didn''t even notice he moved!

    Gasp!

    "Is he¡­the Demigod senior who will be joining us?" One curious Elite muttered.

    Hearing this, the rest also widened their eyes in realization. Right, the Cloud ne also had a Demigod! It was just that the sheer number of Demigods in Asgard made it hard for them to trust the might of one man.

    But Shangguan Yu was different. Even though he looked angry on the surface, he was ted to see his grandfather here.

    Although they referred to each other as grandfather and grandson, they were actually separated by many generations. Shangguan Yu was simply a descendant of his that gained the qualifications to personally meet him. And after they met the first time, they hit it off.

    "Geezer, get the hell off me. We have work to do." Shangguan Yu muttered.

    "Hah? Brat, don''t be so cheeky. Actually, you''ve been locked up so you don''t know. There isn''t much left to do besides sit back and enjoy the show."

    "Hm?" Shangguan Yu''s brown raised curiously. "It hasn''t been that many months, are you saying the situation has been fully saturated?"

    The old man grinned. "Saturated or not, who cares? Come, let''s go watch the good show. If something of note happens, we may even have a chance to intervene."

    The old man grabbed Shangguan Yu without another word and disappeared, leaving the rest of the elites behind in the dungeon.

    They looked at each other still shocked about the preceding events, but in the end, even though the dungeon door was clearly open, none of them decided to leave.

    They hadfort and safety down here, and ording to the old man''s words, things were far more chaotic on the surface.

    And if it came to a choice between their lives and their duty, none of them would hesitate to pick the former.

    But their presence didn''t matter at all.

    From the starry sky, two starships and a lone angel were infinitely close to arriving.

    From Niflheim and Asgard, 4th ss forces were being moved without reservation. Perhaps even Demigods would be allowed on the battlefield soon.

    From Shadow Garden and the Moon Squadron, forces unceasingly to further the ongoing conflict and blow it out of proportion.

    And from Avalon, a pulsating light covered the entire city and tinted it red. It seemed as if a massive metamorphosis was on the verge of happening.

    In this unnamed world, fate seemed to be especially yful. With all the main yers finally congregating where they needed to be, it was almost time for the game to begin.

 Chapter 553 Fate [1]

    BOOM!

    A massive explosion rang out, sending a shockwave dozens of kilometers in every direction. Arge facility was burnt to the ground in seconds.

    Cough! Cough!

    A man covered in dust emerged from the rubble, his eyes burning with hatred.

    "You¡­!" He pushed the word out of his mouth along with a mouthful of blood as he looked at the group of men in the sky.

    "Are you really doing this?! Do you actually wish to drop all pretenses and start a war?!" The man screamed.

    There had already been many small andrge scuffles that led hundreds and thousands of people to their deaths, but these people were insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Until now, neither party had moved in a way to damage the other party''s benefits.

    But that was merely until now.

    Therge facility that was currently burning to the ground was one of Asgard''s most important facilities. It was located in Hub City Primus, one of the few territories controlled by Asgard, and dealt mainly with the production of Nodal Weaponry.

    With the way the unnamed world''s Mana Utilization method worked, Nodal Weaponry facilities were every organization''s lifeblood. If the production of these weapons was halted, it''d heavily impact thebat power their armies could show.

    And although this facility was just one of many, it was also one of thergest. Asgard would take a massive blow from this raid.

    "Target Eliminated. Erasing Evidence."

    A cold mechanical voice left the man at the forefront of the attack. His arm lifted, a beam of condensed mana shooting out of his palm towards the man who screamed.

    "Ahhhh!"

    With a final shout of unwillingness, the man fell to the ground with a massive hole in his chest, dead.

    "Searching for signs of life¡­"

    "Searchpleted. Taskpleted. Returning to designated position."

    When the mechanical voice determined that there were no other survivors, it led the rest of its team back to the rendezvous point that was set beforehand. Here, an abyssal figure cloaked in shadows was waiting for them.

    "Jejeje! The first test went far better than I hoped! It looks like this method will be viable!"

    The abyssal figure put his hand on the being in front of him, causing a wisp of mana to exit its body. Soon, he did the same for all the rest.

    Right, these beings were not human at all. They are Puppet Mechs that had been enhanced and mass-produced by Niflheim after acquiring Aishia''s data!

    This was their first field test, and it was a major one at that. But now that they''de back sessful, there was nothing more to say. Niflheim hade into possession of a massive number of disposable troops through this invention, and now, they could start a war without worries.

    "Jejeje! I wonder how that little girl will react when she learns of this. Ahh, I truly wish to see that expression."

    With an eerie chuckle, the abyssal figure swept his arm and collected the Puppet Mechs into his spatial ring, returning to Niflheim thereafter.

    News of the attack spread rapidly. The fact that Niflheim had done it was obvious, as if they were proudly boasting of their achievement.

    Asgard was hit hard on the first day, losing any chance of initiative they had. They were forced into a passive position where they could only receive a beating.

    ? And at this point, even the pro-Niflheim faction was beginning to have doubts. Even if they supported Niflheim, wouldn''t they be killed along with everyone else if Asgard was destroyed? If Niflheim nned to shelter them, why hadn''t they done so already?

    With every day, news of another attack was spread, but Asgard wasn''t able to stop it at all. The attack patterns were simply too random, and they didn''t have enough 4th ss existences or space to spread their forces so thinly.

    As these attacks continued, Asgard slowly united. Not by choice, but by necessity. They slowly realized that every single one of them would die if they didn''t fight back, so their only option was to go fully offensive without care for losses until they evened things out.

    And that was exactly what happened.

    Asgard''s forces began desperately attacking the 12 Hub Cities under Niflheim''s control. If Asgard''s 3 Hub Cities and thepletely neutral Avalon were removed, these were all that remained.

    These attacks were incredibly fierce. It wasn''t just the experts panicking, but themon soldiers too. They all desperately fought for a chance to keep their lives.

    And like this, the Hub Cities Eminence, Protos, and Weine were destroyed one after another.

    Long Chen sat in his office with his head in his hands. The constant reports that kepting in were like buckets of oil being poured onto a fire that was already raging across the world. It was like every single chaotic variable exploded at once, tipping the precarious bnce that had been kept for many years beforehand.

    The only safe haven remaining in the world was Avalon. Nobody dared to touch this city, as even the city itself was a weapon that could be used to ughter 4th sses like chickens. The craftsmen of Avalon would work for anyone as long as they provided materials and money, so it was integral to never offend them.

    "Haa, when things reach this point, you just have to disappear. Isn''t this the part where you jump in like a badass and fix everything?" Long Chen inadvertently muttered.

    He''d been managing things alone without Damien''s help for many months already, and he found that it wasn''t fun at all. He didn''t understand how Damien could move so confidently and recklessly while still achieving the result he desired.

    "At this rate, I won''t be able to do anything besides continue my assassination missions, but that isn''t saving anyone!"

    His hand banged against the desk in frustration. The situation had developed to the point of no return in less than a week. This just went to show how bad things already were under the surface. With this kind of development speed, Long Chen wasn''t given any time to think.

    Long Chen''s eyes hardened. He couldn''t believe he actually ended up thinking about Damien at this critical juncture. He didn''t realize just how much he idolized the man''s carefree persona until this moment of crisis.

    But if that was what he idolized, then why was he acting in a way opposite of it?

    Long Chen''s mind cleared as if he gained enlightenment. "Right, I was never born to be a general who hides behind his soldiers. I was born to be on the frontlines ughtering enemies! Instead of being holed up here, I should fight!"

    He wasn''t going to fight for Niflheim or Evotech. Now that they''d reached this stage, all pretenses were being dropped.

    Long Chen stood up, draping himself in battle armor and grabbing the Empyrean Dragon Sword. As he marched out of his office, each of his steps carried an untold momentum that couldn''t be stopped.

    "Line up! Get ready! From today onward, we fight! I don''t care who you kill or what you kill for, we are not picking sides in this conflict! Kill, kill, and kill until you can''t kill anymore! This is my only order!"

    Hundreds and thousands of troops gathered under hismand. Their bloodlustbined into a frightening momentum that almost directly crushed the barracks.

    Long Chen looked at these men with a profound expression in his eyes. As they looked back at him, he could see the trust they had in him. If he asked them to die, they''d do so without hesitation.

    Long Chen grinned beside himself. He couldn''t help but be proud of what he''d achieved these past few months.

    And in order to retain everything he cared and stood for¡­

    "We march!"

    With hismand, bloodlust filled the heavens. An earth-shaking roar was formed from thebined voices of these thousands of troops.

    In this conflict that had now escted to the pinnacle, a new force would soon enter the fray.

 Chapter 554 Fate [2]

    Until this point, both sides had only been sending out 3rd ss soldiers and the asional 4th ss to manage them. Even Niflheim''s mass-produced Puppet Mechs couldn''t surpass the barrier of 4th ss strength.

    This was the result of choosing quantity over quality.

    When Long Chen and his private militia entered the fray, things became even more chaotic. Asgard and Niflheim weren''t able to just focus on each other anymore, they had to be wary of countless others who wanted to reap benefits from their conflict.

    But Long Chen''s group was different from those vultures. Their advent onto the battlefield earned them the nickname of "Bloody Cavalry," depicting how they charged in without fear and caused a river of blood to flow under their feet.

    The Bloody Cavalry was one of the most difficult threats to deal with, because they weren''t interested in anything other than killing. Whenever battle broke out in important capture points, they''d always appear and ruin the flow, taking the battlefield as their own stage.

    And due to their interference, the battlefield itself slowly moved away from the Hub Cities and territories of the two organizations. Because this was the only way the Bloody Cavalry would lessen their intervention.

    Long Chen grinned as he watched this change take ce in real-time. From the beginning, his goal wasn''t to kill.

    He wanted to save people.

    The innocents residing in these Hub Cities unaware of the world''s undercurrents, he didn''t want to see them harmed as coteral damage. This was why the Bloody Cavalry only acted when important capture points or facilities within Hub Cities were involved.

    And their reputation slowly grew to a point where it preceded them. The thick bloodlust that signified their arrival would immediately cause battles to end and relocate, achieving the purpose Long Chen aimed for all along.

    While Long Chen led the Bloody Cavalry from its head, Athan Strohm acted as their tail, staying behind the desk and taking care of the troublesome matters. The two together formed a perfectbination.

    As for Long Chen, he was ecstatic. If this was how Damien felt whenever he acted, it was no wonder he became an arrogant asshole. Living like this was simply too good!

    "Hahaha! Good job, boys!" Long Chenughed raucously as he raised his mug of liquor into the air. "We''ve be heroes of our generation, but this isn''t our end! By the end of this war, the entire universe will know our names!"

    ""OOOOOOOOOH!""

    The Bloody Cavalry was a brotherhood, and they celebrated like one as well. Now that their main goal of diverting the battlefield had been achieved, they had the capital to celebrate for a bit.

    But not everyone was as jovial as them.

    Within Evotech Headquarters, a woman stoically stared at the screen in front of her. On it was a status report of the happenings in Avalon.

    ''So that bastard actually managed to absorb it. I don''t know if I should praise him or curse him.'' Lynn Carter thought to herself.

    She had originally put the World Core Fusion Reactor up as bait to lure Damien into her ns, but who knew the situation would erupt without her help? Ironically, things had developed to the point where it''d actually benefit her more if Damien became more powerful, making her loss hurt far less than it would have.

    But as she looked at the screen, a frown still colored her face. ''He won''t wake up in time to guide the conflict, and his friend is too justice-minded to be of any help. Is it finally time to begin?''

    Lynn hesitated for a second. After building strength for so many years, it almost felt like a waste to use it all. But then again, what else was the strength she built for if not this very moment?

    The hesitation coloring her face faded, reced by a cold determination. Without suspense, she took out amunication device.

    "Victor, proceed with the n. Let everything loose and stir things up. Make it so that even the 4th-ss experts are unable to persist. Only at that point will things be saturated enough for us to usurp everything."

    "¡­I understand, Master." A hoarse voice responded to her coldmand. This was the same voice of the rancid man Damien had seen when he first entered Lynn''s workshop.

    The rancid man, Victor, put down hismunicator and sighed. "Haa, it''s such a shame. A force like this would normally be enough to conquer an entire world, but this world is just too convoluted. Just how many years of hard work will be destroyed in theing days?"

    Even whileining, his hands danced along a holographic keyboard. Parts of his body turned into smoke and drifted into different parts of the room, activating certain mechanisms that had never seen the light of day.

    "I feel bad for whoever ends up dealing with all this shit, but I''m also iparably excited. Just how will things develop? And how will they change after that man finally wakes up? Hahaha, the master is always up to something interesting!"

    Victor pushed down on the finalmand he needed. Now that everything was properly loaded, it was time for Avalon to show its strength.

    ***

    Deep below Victor''s location, Damien''s bodyy curled up in a fetal position submerged in a vat of red liquid. This was the same position he''d maintained for almost an entire month at this point.

    Within his mind, countless scenes kept shing by. The creation and destruction of stars, the foundational workings of the universe, these esoteric concepts flooded his brain until he couldn''t think of anything besides them anymore.

    At the same time, he watched supernovas and ck hole formations, understanding the rtions between stars and celestial bodies. Slowly but surely, something within him was awakening.

    And at the same time, the three projections in his spiritual world that represented his three bound worlds were inching closer and closer to each other, influenced by the power of the mysterious red liquid around Damien''s body.

    The World Laws stirred in excitement. Thunder clouds formed in the roof of the massive cave, shrouding the entire ce in shadow and sparks of lighting.

    Damien''s consciousness jolted awake. "No!" He eximed inwardly. Now that he had control over his body again, he rapidly suppressed his mana, coating his body in a cocoon of Void Essence.

    And when he was finally hidden away from the world, the thunderclouds and worldly phenomena began to disperse as well.

    Within the cocoon, Damien sighed a breath of relief. ''Hah, to think I almost crossed into 4th ss on ident! It seems theprehension stemming from this mysterious treasure-machine hybrid was enough to finally push me over the edge and saturate my boundary¡­but it isn''t time yet. I can''t promote until I''ve finished absorbing the World Core Fusion Reactor, or the consequences will be disastrous.''

    Because his realm had been saturated, it could be said that Damien was at the perfect state to attack 4th ss, but reality was different.

    As Damien submerged himself into the World Core Fusion Reactor''s illusory world and experienced the visions it showed him, his World Cores had already begun the process of fusion. If he stopped now before finishing this process and wantonly promoted, he''d suffer a heavy injury from the bacsh.

    ''It shouldn''t be long. Another week at least, a month at most. Within that time, the Celestial and Star Squadrons should arrive and the war should begin. I need to hurry.''

    Damien returned himself to the Fusion Reactor''s illusory world, sinking into the visions of universal truth once more.

    Only, he never would''ve expected that, unlike what he assumed, the war had already begun, and it was zing with fervor more intense than the sun itself!

 Chapter 555 Fate [3]

    Currently, the Outer Wilds were a massive battleground. It wasn''t just one or two battles that were taking ce within the vast expanse of corrosion; practically the entire ins were covered in the mes of war.

    On one of these battlefields particrly close to Avalon, two separate fronts were being upied. On the ground, leagues of 3rd ss existences fought to thest breath likemon soldiers. Their numbers blotted out the earth, painting a sea of ck and red.

    In the sky, dozens of 4th ss beings were engaging in their own battle. Now that war hadpletely broken out, these forces were not being spared any longer. And they were fighting with everything they had.

    This massive battle created a swirl of rampant mana and blood that enveloped the area outside of Avalon.

    "Haa! Your vile kind will not triumph over us!" A man dressed in all white yelled as he brought his greatsword down. Arge sword projection made of light followed its path, crushing down on his opponent.

    "Hahaha! Vile?! You call us who just want to survive vile?!" The man across from him was dressed in dark green clothing and had a particrly ugly face. It was clear he''d been experimented on at least a few times while in Niflheim.

    The two fighters'' mana shed, causing a wolf explosion that consumed them both. But even within these chaotic shockwaves, they continued fighting. Greatsword against spear, their every collision shattered space, creating dangerous pockets in which if they ever identally entered, they''d die.

    The sh between these two wasn''t even the greatest among the 4th sses on the battlefield. Across from them, two massive men stood facing each other, their fists connecting hundreds of times every second.

    Just like everyone else, they caused massive destruction as they fought, however, there was a stark difference. That was, these two men only used physical strength and mana reinforcement to battle.

    Although it was strange to do so in a life-or-death confrontation, nobody questioned their actions. After all, if those two began to utilize their Nodal Weaponry and push their mana externally, everyone around them would die without fail.

    This was because they were both peak 4th ss existences just a single step away from Divinity!

    The battle continued to rage on for many minutes, but before anything even close to a proper conclusion could be reached, the air began to tremble.

    The ground followed soon after. A terrific earthquake shook the earth, creating chaos on the battlefield taking ce there. Even the 4th sses in the sky weren''t safe from these wild shockwaves.

    The battle inadvertently paused as everyone questioned the ongoing situation. Their eyes wandered and their awarenesses spread, but to no avail.

    "What''s going on?!"

    "Are we being sieged?!"

    "Shit! It''s a trap! Everyone run!"

    It was unknown who said it, but after it was said, chaos ensued. Everyone in the vicinity rushed to escape, trampling each other as they did so.

    Unfortunately, there wasn''t a single ce for them to go.

    Far in the distance, the earth pulsed around a certain Hub City. The entirety of Avalon buzzed as if the city had a life of its own.

    As the oscitions continued, a massive moat began to form around Avalon, disconnecting it from the surroundingnd.

    From the start, Avalon was different from the other Hub Cities. Because under Lynn''smand and careful years of hard work, the entire city had been turned into a siege weapon.

    RUMBLE!

    Avalon dislodged from the ground, finally letting the earthquakes end. It became a floating ind that slowly ascended into the sky.

    And not long after, it began to move.

    With its sheer size, Avalon wasn''t a target that could be easily missed. From the battlefield many kilometers away, countless practitioners witnessed its ascent.

    "That is¡­!"

    "Oh my god¡­"

    "We''re done for¡­"

    The exmations became muted, and the chaos came to a halt. With such a striking visual impact, the fighting spirit of these weaker 3rd ss fighters had been directly crushed.

    But was Lynn a kind person?

    Within Avalon''s main control room, the same room he always upied, Victor watched the proceedings outside through the countless camera devices ced around Avalon''s perimeter.

    When he saw the battlefield, there was only one order he needed to give.

    "Kill."

    Whether it be Niflheim or Asgard, they were all the Master''s enemies. This made things far easier for him.

    Avalon listened to hismand. Massive cannons spanning tens of feet in length surfaced on the city, perimeter. An evenrger number of smaller weaponry units did the same.

    And then, they fired.

    DU! DU! DU! DU! DU!

    The sound was deafening. These dozens of cannons all gathered andpressed different kinds of elemental mana, forming an array of sts that razed everything in their path.

    When they reached the battlefield in a mere instant, a heaven-shaking explosion rang out. All the 3rd sses immediately perished in the st.

    As for the 4th sses¡­

    "Fuck!"

    The white-robed man cursed while coughing out a mouthful of blood. His body was hit by the explosion''s shockwave, sting him even closer to Avalon''s position. He was incredibly unlucky!

    As he saw the siege city preparing to fire again, panic washed over his face. He knew that in his current condition, he didn''t have enough mana to escape. Hell, none of them did.

    But if he was going to die¡­

    His eyesnded on the green-clothed man he''d been fighting before. His body moved rapidly, arriving at the man''s position in an instant.

    "If I''m dying, I''ll at least do it after I kill you! Hahahaha!"

    Heughed maddeningly, burning his blood vitality in a final attempt to kill his enemy. His body turned into a beacon of holy light that was even able to cleanse a small portion of the corruption in the atmosphere.

    "You¡­!"

    The green-robed man called out in panic. He rapidly revolved his mana and attempted to form a sturdy barrier, but how could he have that sort of time?

    The white-robed man''s light beam fell onto his body, cleaving him directly in half. And only a secondter, Avalon let off its second volley.

    The white-robed man grinned without fear. "To eliminate one more enemy before I go, and fight until the bitter end!"

    He charged fearlessly into theing barrage, his sword in hand. As the light of explosion swallowed him whole, nobody could bring themselves to scorn him.

    He''d died better than the rest of them at least.

    That was their final thought before the explosion swallowed them as well. Coupled with the precision weapons that were firing at the same time, this st guaranteed their deaths.

    When the battlefield cleared with not even a single bone remaining, Avalon stopped firing. Victor''s lips curved into a bright smile.

    "On to the next location."

    As he hummed happily, the siege city drifted away, ready to peruse the Outer Wilds and kill anyone it saw.

    Of course, there were two forces safe from this death sentence. First was Shadow Garden, which Lynn was a part of, and second was the Cloud ne''s forces, which Damien was a part of.

    Luckily, these two forces were quite easy to differentiate from Asgard and Niflheim, so there was no need to worry about friendly fire.

 Chapter 556 Fate [4]

    "What is this?"

    Deep in the starry sky, a lone angel looked down upon an unnamed world. His eyes clearly reflected his shock as he did so.

    After all, he didn''t expect that when he finally arrived in the Human Domain, the scene he would see was war.

    Actually, he''d been in the Human Domain for quite some time, but he wasn''t able to find anything substantial. Only when he finally checked the flow of fate did he find that the fate of this sector was concentrated on a single world at the moment.

    As for how he did so, naturally, it was due to his status as a High Angel. Angels were beings who already had heavy ties to Fate and Karma. Once they reached a high enough boundary, it was even possible for them to perceive and read it.

    Though, they couldn''t do so as intrinsically as Rose could with her Eyes of Destiny.

    Nevertheless, when Parsiel finally arrived at this, he found a war. Combined with the fact that the sector''s fate was being attracted to this world, it meant this war was incredibly important for the sector''s future.

    ''Don''t tell me this is¡­''

    Parsiel was a smart man. It was the reason why he was the only angel who realized the Human Domain''s importance. It didn''t take long for him to deduce the world''s identity.

    "Just like your Fallen Heaven and our Demon Abyss, this must be the Infected Source World of their Sector. Parsiel, my good friend, why didn''t you tell me you were going to explore something so fun?"

    A figure materialized next to the High Angel. This was none other than Demon Emperor Lucifer, the ruler of Sector 2.

    "Lucifer, to think you followed me all the way here. But why are you acting so high and mighty? Can''t you sense the sheer number of Divinities in that world?" Parsiel asked without any surprise at the sudden visitor. Even if Lucifer was powerful, he wasn''t powerful enough to hide from him.

    Lucifer shrugged in response. "How could I not be aware? However, doesn''t their presence just validate your theories? They are not involved with us, nor are we involved with them. I am content with sitting on the sidelines and enjoying the show."

    Parsiel shook his head and returned his attention to the unnamed world. From his vantage point, he could even see the two Cloud ne starships that had justnded on the moments prior.

    "If I''m reading the flow correctly, the final participating force has just arrived. Now all that is left to see is whether or not they can truly uproot this Infected Source World. If they can manage it, they''ll have aplished something unimaginable."

    There was an Infected Source World in every Sector, not just the Human Domain. However, these Infected Source Worlds were far more terrifying than the unnamed world where Niflheim resided.

    These worlds were Nox-infested. There wasn''t a single being within that wasn''t enved by the foreign race. And on those worlds, there would be thousands of 4th ss Nox and dozens of Demigods. These worlds truly had the strength to contend with the entire Sectors they upied.

    Infected Source Worlds were ticking time bombs where the Nox multiplied and grew in power. It was every sector''s wish to destroy them.

    But they were too powerful. When there were Nox pressuring them from outside and within, no sector could afford a full-on war with the Infected Source Worlds.

    But the Human Domain was different. Not only were theyrgely cut off from the wider universe, but they had also been struck incredibly hard in the previous war.

    There was only a single Nox Demigod and many Corrupted Demigods. With the number of Demigods on the allied side, destroying them wouldn''t be a problem.

    This was an advantage only the Human Domain possessed, and it was an advantage they thoroughly earned for themselves.

    After all, the Human Domain''s current situation was only such because of how fiercely its precious generation had fought.

    Parsiel shook his head in wonder. "Now that this final force has arrived, it shouldn''t take longer than another month for the situation to reach its climax. Let us stay and watch. I really am curious about what these humans can achieve."

    With that, Parsiel and Lucifer entered a small personal space vessel where they''d spend their time for the next few weeks.

    They would thoroughly enjoy this show while also evaluating the Human Domain. If they could meet the expectations that''d been set, it could only mean good things for their future.

    ***

    The Celestial and Star Squadronsnded on the unnamed world precisely on the 3rd day of the 6th month. They were perfectly on schedule.

    But the scene that greeted them was chaos.

    After Bai Xieren exined the chain of events that led to this oue, Tian Yang immediately sent his troops out.

    They were going straight to war!

    The Celestial and Star squadrons rapidly made their way to Hub City Evalion. Once they reached it, Tian Yang stared into the earth seriously.

    Evotech was Niflheim''s front on this unnamed world, and Evalion was its concealment formation. The trueyer of the Nox known as Niflheim was present directly underneath this Hub City.

    ''Little Bai should start attacking that Asgard soon enough. I guess we should get working too. Still, I wonder where that brat is?''

    Tian Yang nced at the two women behind him as he thought so. This brat was truly unable to appreciate what he had. Shaking off his unnecessary thoughts, Tian Yang raised his arm into the air.

    "We are cultivators who challenge the Heavens themselves! When a mere group of insects dares to steal from us, what should we do?!" He roared. His mana washed over the troops standing behind them, causing their blood to boil.

    They stood as one and chanted with fervor in their eyes.

    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

    "Good!" Tian Yang eximed. "If you''re itching to kill so much, then go! Charge!"

    He brought his hand down. Space within thousands of kilometerspressed and bore down on Evalion heavily. The city was already situated over a gaping abyss, so when such an immense amount of pressure was forced onto it¡­

    VOOM!

    The city imploded in on itself. The abyss below was revealed. Following Tian Yang''smand, the Celestial and Star Squadrons swarmed into the darkness.

    Sounds of battle rang out soon after, coupled with pitiful screams and horrific inhuman shrieks.

    Tian Yang watched casually from the sky, but his awareness was actually spreadpletely.

    ''The underground is just where the unintelligent 3rd ss and below Nox stay. That isn''t even mosquito meat. When is my premium steak going to show up?''

    Tian Yang was a patient man. He waited nicely for many minutes before the rushing sounds of wind invaded his ears.

    "Finally!" He eximed in excitement. How many years had it been since he found a good battlefield like this one? With all this chaos came a great deal of fun!

    He would thoroughly y with these little early and mid-level 4th-ss beings as much as he wanted.

    And perhaps¡­

    ''Perhaps I''ll kill a Demigod while I''m at it.''

    Tian Yang grinned at his own exceedingly arrogant thoughts.

    Right, if a Demigod came, things would be even more fun.

 Chapter 557 Fate [5]

    A woman rushed through the halls of arge silver castle that didn''t quite match the architectural style of the buildings around it, her eyes shining with worry.

    This woman was naturally Aishia Grey, and the castle she was in was none other than Asgard''s main headquarters.

    The war had escted far past the level she expected it to. And the Cloud ne''s forces were moving far differently than they were supposed to.

    It''d already been a few weeks since they arrived, and they''d been barraging Niflheim nonstop ever since that day. The Celestial Squadron stayed in the underground and continuously killed 3rd ss Nox and below while the Star Squadronunched a direct assault on Evotech.

    While Niflheim was preupied with these two forces, she assumed Asgard would receive a moment of respite to recover, but even this was untrue!

    The second Niflheim''s attention was turned away, Asgard began facing an assault from both inside and out, and the ones heading this assault were Bai Xieren''s Moon Squadron and a few remnants of Shangguan Ty''s Sun Squadron!

    Aishia rushed out of Evotech the second she received the news. She didn''t even care if her status as a spy was exposed because of her actions. She was already learning of the situation many weekste, so how could she sit still?

    When she finally made her way to Asgard, she found that the atmosphere was extremely deste. The soldiers didn''t seem to have an ounce of morale to defend theirnd.

    But she couldn''t understand why.

    And so, she directly ran to the main pce and rushed to the throne room, wanting to meet with Odin right away.

    Her hazy purple eyes were filled with concern as she made it to the door, but before she could push it open, she heard voicesing from the other side.

    "¡­supposed to do?! We can''t handle an assault like this any longer!" A woman yelled. Aishia immediately recognized her. She was the First Division Captain Loretta Stone, a peak 4th ss existence and an integral figure in the army.

    As Aishia pressed her ear against the door and continued listening, the sounds inside were amplified, allowing her to hear more clearly.

    "My Liege, what Captain Stone says is true. With the outsiders and the Just Faction attacking at the same time, we''re slowly losing control over everything. It isn''t just the military, but many assorted divisions that have already been swayed. If we continue with this inaction any longer, we will lose all relevance!" Another man followed. He was yet another important member of the army like Loretta Grey.

    "Loretta, Alec, I understand your concern, however, there is nothing I can do." A weary voice answered them.

    Hearing it, Aishia''s heart clenched. She hated hearing such pain and helplessness in Odin''s voice. However, it didn''t take long for her heart to go cold.

    It was unknown why Odin didn''t notice her presence. Perhaps he was too stressed, or perhaps he knew she was there but no longer had the mind to care. He spoke freely as if nothing in the world could stop him.

    "Niflheim has already cut off any source of aid. They''re too busy dealing with their own problems to help us. If we wish to fight back against a forceposed of dozens or hundreds of 4th-ss existences, we simply don''t have the capital. We can only let them pick apart Asgard while we go take shelter in Niflheimter. Otherwise, even we will be elimination targets."

    Odin knew that the Cloud ne brought their own Demigod, and that Demigod was far stronger than him.

    Actually, once one reached such a profound level of strength, the gap between people in the same ss range vastly increased. Even in 4th ss, a level 250 couldn''tpare at all to a level 300.

    So Odin long lost his will to fight back. His only hope of survival was taking refuge with a stronger power, which just happened to be Niflheim.

    To Odin and the other two in the room, this was the natural course of action, but to Aishia who was listening from outside, her entire world felt like it was copsing.

    Seek refuge in Niflheim? THE Niflheim?!

    Aishia''s body shivered uncontrobly as a rush of unwanted memories shed through her mind.

    Scenes of carnage and blood, scenes of her entire family being ughtered in front of her eyes, scenes of her people doing everything they could to whittle away at the Nox''s strength before perishing, saving her from their fate¡­

    Hearing her second family speak about Niflheim as if a savior rather than an oppressor, her entire worldview was flipped.

    Weren''t these supposed to be the good guys? Hadn''t she been fighting for justice on the side of Asgard for so many years? When did the justice-driven Asgard be an organization that sipped wine with the enemy?!

    "Khh!"

    Her head hurt. No, the pain stemmed from her soul. This level of betrayal wasn''t something she could handle. Her eyes turned red with fury.

    ''Is this the truth of the world?! Is it truly such an unforgiving ce?! Was everything else I was told throughout my life a lie too?!''

    It had to be understood that the people Aishia was questioning were more than just organization leaders to her. They were her family, her father, aunts, and uncles who raised her since young.

    When all these people suddenly betrayed her at the same time, how could she remain calm?

    Aishia''s feet stumbled. She walked away from the throne room shakily without ever entering. Even she didn''t know her current destination.

    Her entire world was dyed red. The only thing she could see was blood. Her body naturally left Asgard, left civilization, and entered the Outer Wilds. Here, she was going to kill until her fury was satiated. And afterwards, she''d die.

    There was nothing else worth living for, anyway. All her hopes had been crushed in a single instant.

    So, she''d pour everything she had into the battlefield.

    ***

    The Outer Wilds hadn''t been a safe ce for a long while already, but today, it was particrly dangerous.

    After all, there was nothing left of Niflheim''s main headquarters. The Celestial and Star Squadrons had thoroughly wrecked it.

    And while they did so, an unknown third party, Shadow Garden, took advantage of the chaos and assassinated the Board of Executives. Just like that, a ferocious group of 4th-ss Nox were ughtered like chickens.

    They weren''t even given the opportunity to disy the horrific might that earned them their positions.

    With Asgard facing internal strife as well, neither organization could afford to prolong this war. They both wished to end it as fast as possible, and none of the intruding third parties had any problems with this either.

    The faster Niflheim and Asgard went down, the better it was for them.

    With tensions reaching an all-time high, the small skirmishes andrge battles all came together, forming a massive battlefield that expanded for thousands of kilometers filled with war.

    The troops on both sides fought desperately. Thousands of 4th sses in the air and hundreds of thousands of 3rd sses and below on the ground were giving everything they had¡­

    Because they knew that this would be a pivotal battle in the grand war.

 Chapter 558 Fate [6]

    Within the ranks of the 4th ss experts battling in the air was a single bloodthirsty Valkyrie. She didn''t differentiate between friend and foe, her spear taking the life of anyone who came near her.

    Aishia was only at the middle levels of 4th ss, but herprehensive strength was enough to killte 4th-ss beings as well. On this type of chaotic battlefield, she was nearly invincible.

    Her spear twirled through the air, whipping up massive gusts of wind. She clutched it tightly with both hands, heavily thrusting forward without any sort of special technique.

    "Heavenly Maiden Battle Tactics 4th Form: Suppressive Whirlwind!"

    The air currents around her spear twisted into a cyclone that swirled around the tip. When she thrust out, a horizontal tornado swept through the air battlefield.

    Her attack naturally didn''t target a single person. She was attacking without any thought at all, putting her in a position where everyone was her enemy.

    If so, it was better to attack them all at once!

    After the suppressive whirlwind knocked her targets off bnce, she directly went into her next attack. Her spear swept up into the sky, letting off thousands of white spear lights that epassed the battlefield.

    St!

    St!

    St!

    The spear lights pierced through many people. Those who weren''t paying attention were directly killed, while others were killed by third parties while attempting to block the attack.

    A phantom image of a massive angel-like woman d in battle armor appeared behind Aishia, her spear shining with domineering light.

    This battle phantom was proof of her bloodline, proof of her Valkyrie heritage. Whenever she was on a chaotic battlefield like such, her power would be multiplied far past what she could normally show.

    And Aishia was making full use of this power. Her mana raged and her blood rolled, a ferocious war cry leaving her mouth.

    Haaah!!

    Her body turned into a beam of light, shooting toward one of the peak 4th-ss fighters nearby.

    "She''s done it."

    "Mm, if she was fighting a bit more conservatively, she would''ve been able to aplish more before her death."

    Watching her actions, a group of silent observers sighed in unison. It was simply too wasteful for such a talent to die so easily.

    But none of them moved to save her. Because if a single one of them moved, all the rest would have free reign as well.

    "Albeus, don''t you wish to save that woman?" A man with pale white skin sneered. "I''m sure you had some sort of connection with the Valkyries. It''d be a shame for their race to finally be extinct in this Sector because you didn''t move."

    Albeus rolled his eyes and nced at the man in derision. "Why does a Minor Sin like you think you can tell me how to act? At least reach Wrath''s level before acting high and mighty around here."

    A few chuckles rang out from those in the surroundings, causing the man a great deal of embarrassment. He''d been the one to attack, but in the end, he lost face!

    He red at Albeus with hatred, but didn''t move to attack. He couldn''t risk allowing these people to intervene in the ongoing battle.

    This group of people consisted solely of Demigods. Albeus, 2 smaller Demigods each from Shadow Garden, Niflheim, and Asgard, the Cloud ne''s Drunken Old Immortal, and even Wrath and Odin themselves.

    Because this battle would be the one deciding the oue of the war, these exalted figures naturally showed up. Since they couldn''t participate, they would at least take entertainment in the happenings of the world.

    Wrath smiled imperceptibly as he watched these Demigods fight. "Now, now. You''ll miss the exciting parts if you focus too much on each other."

    Wrath chuckled meaningfully, his eyesnding on the Drunken Old Immortal. Of the group, only he was unknown. His purpose in this world was to suppress Wrath, and even while rxing here, he still did so. It could be said that his guard was the highest among these Demigods.

    But his emotions weren''t the most chaotic. Odin hardly paid attention to those Demigods around him. His eyes remained on Aishia''s valiant figure venting her fury with blood, a weary sigh leaking from his lips.

    ''You might not understand my decision, but that doesn''t mean it isn''t the correct one. Unfortunately, I''m not young and naive like you. I can''t view the world in ck and white like you. In these years that I''ve been forced to live under their rule, I''ve trulye to understand how terrifying they can be. Even Wrath himself¡­might only be considered a minor character among their experts. Why else would he be sent to this barren Human Domain?''

    They are not an enemy we can defeat. For thousands of years, Odin had been convinced of this fact. And if he couldn''t beat them, he''d rather submit than die.

    He''d survived through the previous war, he''d survived for thousands of years even before it. Now that he stood here as a being without a definite lifespan, his fear of death had actually be more prevalent instead of decreasing.

    Therefore, he made any possible move to keep it. Even if that meant colluding with the enemy.

    As the Demigods watched on, Aishia slowly ran out of mana. She continued to challenge opponents outside of her power level, rapidly exhausting herself.

    She leaned on her spear breathing roughly. Blood poured out of the hundreds of cuts and gashes lining her body. There was even a hole in her left side through which her organs could be seen.

    All in all, she was in terrible condition.

    "I don''t care. I don''t care, I don''t care, I don''t care! All of youe at me at once!"

    Aishia yelled like a mad woman. Just this demeanor alone was enough to terrify her enemies. She seemed like she wouldn''t stop killing until she died. Hell, she might''ve continued killing even after!

    The surrounding experts nced at each other and nodded in unspoken agreement. Together as one, they rushed towards Aishia.

    Seeing theing tide of enemies, Aishia''s eyes glowed maddeningly. "Hahaha, good! Good, good, good! If I die, I shall die valiantly! I''ll never be a coward who mingles with the enemy!"

    Her spear shot out, covered in burning white light and another unknown energy. The mana fluctuationsing from it became increasingly vtile.

    It was clear that Aishia was putting everything into thisst attack.

    If her actions had to be ssified, anyone who understood the story would call them a tantrum. While her reasoning was somewhat justified, her course of action was extremely stupid.

    But did she know any better?

    Despite the bloodthirsty angel she was on the battlefield, Aishia was a sheltered child. She''d been taught by Asgard only what they wished for her to know, while the rest was kept hidden.

    As such, she didn''t understand what it meant to properly vent her emotions, she didn''t understand what it meant to keep a cool head and a zing heart.

    So as this final wave of attacks hit her, as she embraced death, she smiled. She smiled in relief that she would be escaping the hell her world became after she discovered Asgard''s true nature.

    Because the only thing she wished to do now was escape.

    A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.

    Without even realizing it, Aishia found herself far away from the impact zone, an imperceptible barrier shielding her from the shockwaves.

    She didn''t die.

    She''d been saved.

    But¡­who would do such a thing?

    As she turned around and looked at the one who she was inexplicably both thankful and furious towards, her eyes widened in shock.

    A man smiled back at her. It was a cheeky smile.

    "Sup, wifey? What happened to the whole ''till death do us part'' thing?"

    The youth stood in the midst of such a chaotic battle casually as if it was just anothermon street brawl and smiled.

    Seeing him, Aishia felt an unknown warmth in her chest.

    Damien had finally returned.

 Chapter 559 Fate [7]

    As Damien looked down at Aishia''s form in his arms, he felt nothing but pity for the woman. The feelings between men and women weren''t present in his eyes at all.

    When he first arrived in this world and met Aishia, she had been both his greatest help and the one he was wariest of. But back then, he didn''t truly understand her plight.

    And he was sure that even at this moment, Aishia didn''t understand how pitiful she was.

    When Damien exited his seclusion after swallowing the World Core Fusion Reactor, he found himself within the floating siege weapon titled Avalon. It was quite the jarring change from the Hub City he had grown to know.

    His first instinct after being absent for so long was, of course, to gain information. And luckily, Victor, the rancid man, was happy to provide it. Damien learned about the gist of events that had taken ce in the world while he was absent from the man. Along with it, he was able to use his previous knowledge to form some guesses about things he only theorized previously.

    Aishia was one of these things.

    At first, he''d been incredibly suspicious of her position. Especially with that little girl Reva who carried the scent of the Abyss, there was no way for Damien to trust her easily.

    But he was wrong, he was overly suspicious because of hisck of knowledge.

    In fact, of this world''s natural denizens, perhaps Aishia had suffered the most.

    Her entire race was ughtered in front of her eyes, and the family that took her in turned out to be a group of hypocritical scum, even in her final moment, she most likely didn''t understand theplexities of the situation that caused it to devolve to such a level. She didn''t have the mental capacity to question it in her current state.

    Damien sighed with emotion. Even as an exalted 4th ss existence, Aishia was still forced to bear the struggles of the weak. Her plight truly allowed him to understand the vastness of the world.

    But none of that mattered now. Damien felt a sudden pang in his heart. When he looked for its source, he found a white-haired beauty staring at him from the ground, a teasingly questioning look on her face.

    Seeing her, Damien smiled wryly and hastily withdrew his arms from Aishia''s waist, holding them up to proim his innocence. Only then did Ruyue nod in satisfaction.

    She and Rose had been present on this battlefield from the start. The two women worked in tandem to ughter countless 3rd ss existences, pushing them closer and closer to the same boundary Damien found himself resisting.

    Naturally, the battlefield was the best ce to gain strength. Even if the Nox beings that the Celestial and Star Squadrons were fighting also gave experience, it wasn''t nearly the same.

    Those Nox were a mixture of 3rd ss, 2nd ss, 1st ss, and even ssless beings. When the disparity in strength grew sorge, one wouldn''t even gain experience any more from ughtering.

    Therefore, the two women and many others decided to visit the main battlefield. Those remaining to take care of the Nox were those who lost the draw they had taken to decide roles.

    At this time, Rose and Ruyue were mere specks of dust among the many 3rd ss existences spanning the ins. Even Damien was only able to locate them due to his soul connection with Ruyue.

    The entire matter between the two took ce within an instant, and before those 4th sses targeting Aishia could make another move, Damien had already spread his awareness through the battlefield, thoroughly preparing to receive them.

    BOOM!

    Arge number of elemental attacks were thrown out in tandem, meshing together into a multicolored light that rushed at Damien. But before it could reach him, space caved and bent, twisting their attack trajectories and banishing them into the void.

    A nearly untraceable strand of World Force remained at the point of collision.

    "What?!"

    "How is this possible?!"

    A variety of exmations rang out at once. How could they not be surprised? A mere 3rd ss ant had just blocked theirbined attack!

    But contrary to the ease at which he disyed his ability, Damien could clearly feel his blood rolling from the bacsh. He had only just fused his three World Cores; it was impossible for him to proficiently control his new abilities.

    He rapidly grabbed the stunned Aishia and retreated even further,pletely leaving the battlefield. Finally, he was able to drop her off in a more stable position.

    "Stay here for a bit. When your mind has cleared, we can speak."

    "Ah¡­"

    Aishia wanted to say something, but by the time a sound leaked from her mouth, Damien was already gone.

    He returned to the battlefield, facing those 4th-ss existences with a savage grin on his face.

    "Good! None of you surpass the middle levels of 4th ss. Although this exceeds my current limit, I don''t believe I can''t escape from you unharmed!"

    His words wereced with clear provocation. He was telling them to focus on him instead of Aishia. And looking at the conditions of the two currently, Damien was naturally the greater threat.

    "Don''t underestimate him because of his level!" A red-robed old man shouted. "Let''s attack him together!"

    The surrounding 4th sses nodded in unison. After seeing Damien easily deflect theirbined attack earlier, not a single one had thoughts of underestimating him.

    Killing intent red. The battle in the sky was only moments away from resuming. But at that moment, the Heavens lost their light.

    "Hm?" Damien''s brow furrowed as he looked up. A frightening aura was present in this ckness. It wasn''t a simple natural phenomenon caused by someone''s attack.

    Within the dark skies, four men stood at a standstill. They were Wrath, Odin, the Drunken Old Immortal, and Albeus.

    "Wrath, what are you trying to do? How dare you direct your aura to attack?!" Albeus roared furiously.

    Just a moment ago when Damien was preparing to face off against the 4th sses, Wrath had actually used his aura to attempt to suppress him!

    With Albeus and the Drunken Old Immortal present, how could they allow that to happen? Before anything negative could take ce, they used their own auras to wash away Wrath''s. This small collision was enough to fill the sky with rampant mana and change its color.

    Seeing the men around him stare at him so vigntly, Wrath merely smiled. "What''s the problem? I was merely announcing my presence. It''s not as if my attack would''ve harmed anyone."

    His words were casual as if nothing in the world was rted to him. He was just an observer present for entertainment.

    But were these Demigods idiots?

    Absolutely not!

    Let alone the Drunken Old Immortal who knew about the Seed''s existence, even Albeus and Odin were able to understand that Wrath had intentions towards someone on the battlefield. And judging by his timing, this person was Damien!

    While Albeus and Damien hadn''t known each other for long, they got along well. It wasn''t a stretch to call the two friends, as Damien had never let something like a power gap decide how he acted around people.

    Naturally, Albeus wouldn''t let any harme to this young and talented friend of his! As for the Drunken Old Immortal, his job was to suppress Wrath and protect the Cloud ne''s forces. Even disregarding the seed, wouldn''t it be a great loss of face if he allowed Wrath to do as he pleased?

    Their demeanors only caused Wrath''s smile to widen. "What, you care about that boy so much? I don''t believe you understand the importance of his existence. Come, allow me to pour just a bit of my aura into his body and you''ll be able to witness for yourself his grand destiny."

    Albeus gritted his teeth. He knew Damien was special long ago. If not, there was no way so many strange events would revolve around him. Wrath, the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, Lynn Carter, the Outer Wilds Death Gods, the list went on. It would be a lie to say that he wasn''t curious about these secrets at all.

    "¡­but those are his secrets to keep," Albeus replied resolutely. "If he does not wish to share them, then that is his choice! Wrath, do not try to use your words to sway me. I am not so weak!"

    The Drunken Old Immortal nodded from the side, tacitly agreeing to Albeus'' words. Even if he didn''t have a personal connection with Damien, Shangguan Yu seemed to favor him a great deal.

    Not only that, but he was also the Cloud ne''s Star Master. If something untoward happened to him, the world would be affected too.

    By some coincidence, these two Demigods found it in their best interest to protect Damien.

    Seeing this, Wrath could only shake his head. "Greed is a natural instinct for all beings. The only reason you do not possess it is because you do not understand the value of the treasure you are protecting."

    His eyes hardened, his pupils narrowing into slits. "If that is so, then allow me to show you. Perhaps only then will you take my words seriously."

 Chapter 560 Fate [8]

    Wrath acted without a shred of hesitation. His aura red to its limit, causing the unnamed world''s space to directly shatter.

    This wasn''t the level of shattering that Damien could reproduce with his abilities. This was a true destruction of space, a rift that wouldn''t be healed for many years toe.

    Albeus and the Drunken Old Immortal looked on seriously. Despite their wish for inaction, Wrath wasn''t leaving them with a choice. They couldn''t simply let him act as he pleased.

    Two more massive auras erupted to counteract the first one. As the three Demigods found themselves in a standoff, the veil in the sky cleared, revealing them to the world.

    The rampant auraing from their bodies directly caused those in the sky to fall to the ground. The impact of such vast auras threw their energy into chaos.

    And Damien was among these people. But having his strict control over his mana disrupted had a far more profound impact on him than anyone else.

    Even Wrath was aware of this fact. It was why he acted in the first ce, and it was the reason for the satisfied grin decorating his face at the moment.

    "¡­oh shit."

    It was the onlyment Damien could make. In the next second, the mana circting through his body began to rapidly expand!

    The skies that had just recently cleared were filled with massive clouds again. The earth below was sundered, leaving Damien floating within an empty void of a few dozen kilometers. Even those in his surroundings were forced hundreds of kilometers away by the chaotic energy currents wrapping around his body.

    World Energy raged, connecting Heaven and Earth in a massive cyclone. And in the center of this cyclone was none other than Damien himself.

    It was finally happening.

    The Universe Baptism he''d been suppressing for over half a year had descended upon his body at the most inopportune moment!

    Universe Baptism.

    It was an elusive concept that described the process of ranking up from 3rd ss to 4th ss. This qualitative change in a practitioner''s body, mana, and legend would set them on the path to Godhood, separating them from the masses.

    3rd ss was the first step a practitioner took into the world, and 4th ss was when they finally had the qualifications to call themselves strong!

    But, the concept of a Universe Baptism was esoteric for a reason. Despite how many 4th ss existences were born into the universe, it was unknown how many of them experienced the same baptism.

    Some would undergo tribtions of heavenly thunder and lightning, some would find their bodies wreathed in the mes of hell, while others would undergo an entirely mental trial without any physical phenomenon involved.

    A Universe Baptism represented the will of the universe itself. It was the universe''s acknowledgement that one has gained the qualifications to stand proud and interact with its foundationalws. As such, it was impossible for it to be a simple process, despite its rtivemonness.

    However, these Baptisms always shared a singlemonality. This was the barrier of World Energy that both protected the practitioner undergoing Baptism and bathed their body in Laws, the very barrier that was currently enveloping Damien.

    As a barrier made up entirely of World Energy, it naturally wasn''t simple. Even if one gazed at it from a distance, one would be able to borrow its aura to perceive thews more clearly. Therefore, all practitioners wished to witness a Universe Baptism in person.

    All eyes were on Damien. Even the momentum of those Demigods in the sky was overshadowed by the grand disy of World Energy gathering around Damien.

    Wrath retracted his aura, his eyes shining with obsession. ''Finally, finally, finally! Ahh, my dear seed, you''ve finally decided to bloom!''

    He was ecstatic. How long had he been waiting for this moment? Due to clues he found within the Ancient Texts of his n, he even volunteered to oversee this barren and deste Sector of the universe, patientlyying in wait for tens of thousands of years until finally, this moment arrived in front of him!

    The look in his eyes was terrifying. Even Albeus shrunk back slightly when he saw it. But now that the situation had taken such a drastic turn, he couldn''t back down. He needed to protect Damien with everything he had, and perhaps this way he''d also be able to force Wrath into a desperate position!

    The thoughts of those in the surroundings were incredibly mixed. Not only these Demigods in the sky, but also those 4th sses that were just recently fighting Damien were watching on with hardened expressions.

    They had to take him seriously when he was still at the peak of 3rd ss, so what would happen to them if he seeded in his Baptism?

    Rose and Ruyue watched on worriedly. Now that the battle had halted, they finally had the freedom to pay attention to Damien without putting their lives on the line.

    And immediately after seeing his situation, they moved.

    Whoosh! Whoosh!

    Two bodies rapidly left the crowd of 3rd ss beings and arrived on the periphery of Damien''s Baptism zone. Rose and Ruyue red their killing intent, their weapons tightly clutched in their hands.

    Their intent was clear. Even if they were weak, they''d protect him until theirst breath. Not a single person would pass them until they were corpses in the ground.

    Whoosh!

    Another body soon joined them. A Valkyrie with an iparably cold expression red at the group of 4th sses, warning them not to get any funny ideas.

    Aishia''s awareness spread behind her, aplicated look surfacing on her face.

    After she calmed down, she was able to grasp the situation far more easily. To say she was embarrassed about her reckless and self-sacrificing actions from earlier was an understatement.

    And of this man who brought her out of that state and saved her from the brink of death, she didn''t know how to feel. They didn''t spend enough time together for her to have true feelings for him, and the time they spent together was done with an indomitable metaphorical wall between them.

    If so, then¡­why did she feel so warm when she looked at him?

    Aishia shook away her chaotic thoughts. For now, all she knew was that she would repay the life-saving grace Damien had shown her by protecting him in return. Although her reasoning was different from the other two women near her, she was just as prepared toy down her life.

    "All Cloud ne forces, heed mymand! Protect this area with your lives! If he seeds in his Baptism, we are guaranteed to win this war!"

    A booming voice sounded from the void. Space bent awkwardly before returning to its original position, but there now stood a sagely old man in the sky who wasn''t there previously.

    He didn''t even have to shatter space to shuttle through it. Whenever he wished to move, space would amodate him. This man was none other than Tian Yang.

    Upon receiving hismand, many hesitated. It was natural for them to do so when asked to sacrifice their lives for someone they didn''t know.

    However, Tian Yang was a Cloud ne denizen himself. He perfectly grasped their personalities. "I will not speak of rewards here because you are all aware that you will be awarded! However, know this! That man who is currently undergoing Heavenly Tribtion¡­is Heaven''s Wrath himself!"

    BOOOM!

    Dozens of massive lightning bolts fell from the sky around Damien, bathing him in their essence as if to back Tian Yang''s statement.

    When the Cloud ne forces saw this, they erupted with fervor.

    Heaven''s Wrath?

    The mysterious existence who razed arge portion of the Central ins in an instant¡­he was a 3rd ss who was just experiencing his Universe Baptism?!

    This was simply too mind-boggling! Just how was it possible for someone to possess such strength?!

    But in reality, that didn''t matter at all. Since it was Tian Yang himself who spoke, nobody questioned whether he was lying or not.

    To think that such an exalted figure was standing among them this whole time, and to think they were given the opportunity to protect this figure during his most critical moment! If they survived through this, it was equal to having Heaven''s Wrath himself owe them a favor!

    The Cloud ne forces present roared into action, surrounding the crater in which Damien was undergoing Baptism.

    As for the forces of Niflheim and Asgard, they still weren''t sure of what to do.

    If the mysterious figure was allowed toplete his Baptism, there was a high chance that their organizations would be defeated. Yet, moving against him was almost guaranteed death.

    Within this chaotic atmosphere, the World Energy Barrier around Damien finally finished taking shape.

    It expanded rapidly, epassing an area 100 kilometers in diameter around him. And finally, the world fell silent.

    Damien''s Universe Baptism was starting.

 Chapter 561 Baptism [1]

    Damien''s eyes remained closed, yet, a string of system windows still appeared in his vision.

    [Your achievements have reached the required threshold to change your ss. Choose a new ss from the list below. The nature of your Baptism will vary depending on your choice.]

    [Choose a ss]

    [1. Space-Time Grandmaster]

    [2. Spatial Sovereign]

    [3. True Dragon]

    [4. Godsprout]

    [5. Harem King]

    Damien almost coughed a mouthful of blood when he saw thest option. These ss options were based on the achievements he built until this point, and it was true that he had intentionally or unintentionally been together with a bevy of beauties in that time, but he didn''t think the system would acknowledge this!

    Then again, Damien had a habit of flirting with everyone, even if that person was a Demigod, so it wasn''t strange. Still, he didn''t realize how many paths the system offered people until this moment.

    Regardless, the fifth option was directly thrown out the window by him. He had no interest in wasting his life by pursuing a path of debauchery. But even as he looked at the other options, his brow became increasingly more furrowed.

    Space-Time Grandmaster, Spatial Sovereign, these were most definitely sses that were based on his achievements.

    Unlike his journey to 3rd ss, he concentrated on a more focused path during the past few years spent reaching the 4th ss boundary. It was natural that his choices had less variation between them.

    Even True Dragon was based on the direction he guided his bodily evolution. Only Godsprout was a mystery.

    However, none of these choices felt right. None of them resonated with his being the same way his Celestial ss did when he first chose it.

    Damien frowned. ''Is changing my ss necessary? I have yet to even touch on the precipice of a Celestial, how can I think about abandoning it already to try something new?''

    This was his true thought. Damien''s lifeblood was that of a Celestial, and as a young Celestial who had only just started realizing the greater abilities of his ss, he didn''t want to part with it.

    But, ironically enough, the system wasn''t giving him a choice. Until he chose one of the provided options, his Baptism would be halted.

    But at that moment, a change took ce.

    [Your Legend is being forcefully overwritten.]

    [Your ss list has been changed.]

    [Your ss has been forcefully chosen.]

    [You have be the Voidbringer. This ss is an unknown, as it has never appeared in the universe before. Your wish to continue on the path you have forged resonated with an unknown force, bringing about a first-of-its-kind miracle. Following your wish, your new path will run parallel to its predecessor. Your Celestial ss will not be overridden. Your future path cannot be determined.]

    Damien was bbergasted. Something interfered with the system? Voidbringer? There wasn''t anything like that on the provided list!

    But judging by its name, the source of this change could be easily inferred. After all, that source had been a silentpanion for Damien since the very beginning of his journey.

    [Your Baptism will now begin.]

    Before he could even question what the Voidbringer ss entailed, a new system window appeared. After this deration, Damien felt the power of space around him rapidly twisting and changing.

    [Beginning the first trial.]

    Bang!

    Damien felt as if his extremities were severed. His perception range decreased drastically, his senses dulled, even his mana lost a portion of its original luster.

    Space rapidly constricted around Damien''s body, but no matter how he attempted to wrest control over it, it wouldn''t budge. His dominion over space had beenpletely removed.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    Damien''s breaths became heavy. Not only because of the physical constrictions taking ce, but the mental ones as well.

    Ever since he was a child, space had always been with him. Even before the World Awakening, Damien''s perception of space was strange. It always made him feel warm and cozy as if it was his hearth.

    But now, for the first time in his twenty-something years of life, this hearth had been taken from him.

    The mental impact was greater than he ever imagined. As he stood in the air, he merely felt things as they were. He felt the air around him, he felt the swirling World Energy barrier in the distance, he felt the strange invisible force pressing down on him, but even though he knew this force was space, he couldn''t perceive it at all.

    His mind fell into an inadvertent panic. No matter how strong his will was, it was impossible for him to immediately adapt to the loss he was currently feeling.

    And as if to mock his mental state, thepression force of the surrounding space increased drastically.

    Blood vessels popped out of Damien''s skin, his muscles bulging as he was forced to resist the pressure with his bare body. His mana revolved rapidly, but after losing its core attribute, it wasn''t anywhere near as fierce as it usually was. Circting his mana only somewhat relieved his burden, leaving a majority of it for him to continue bearing.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    His breathing was shallow. It didn''t help his current situation at all. At that moment, his blood vessels began to pop one after another.

    "Argh!"

    Although the pain was immense, it allowed his chaotic mind to return to sanity at least somewhat. A wisp of rational thought crept into his muddled head.

    ''Stop panicking! What the hell are you doing?! Do you want to fail the Universe Baptism within the first few minutes?! Get your shit together!'' Damien roared at himself internally.

    "Come on!"

    Bang!

    He recklessly punched out, but with the current state of his body, his punch didn''t do any damage. In fact, the surrounding space returned his force back to him, turning his arm into a mangled mess.

    ''Shit!'' He eximed. But with more pain came more rationality. It could even be said that Damien purposefully sacrificed his arm to regain his mind.

    "Haa¡­.haa¡­."

    His breathing slowed. His eyes remained closed, his body feeling the ever-increasing pressure ofpressing space.

    But his mind was elsewhere. Damien put his full trust into Transcendent Regeneration to keep him alive, sealing off his senses and submerging himself in his spiritual world.

    ''Hoo¡­calm down.''

    With his environment bing more chaotic and the empty feeling of hisck of spatial affinity disappearing, his mind was able to regain enough rity to think straight.

    ''To think I''d be so distraught at the loss of my spatial abilities. Although I''ve experienced extreme suppression before, I''ve never experienced what it''s like to be a normal person without a spatial affinity at all. What a terrifying Universe Baptism.''

    Thinking about it, things began to make sense. Even if this was only the first trial, it was still a Universe Baptism. And more than that, it was a Universe Baptism rted to the ss his Void Physique had forced onto him. There was no way it''d be simple.

    ''This isn''t just a test of my abilities, but a test of my mentality as well. It''s clear from my previous state that I thoroughly failed it.'' Damien sighed to himself. His previous showing was pathetic.

    He prided himself on his will, it was one of his greatest facets. But even this supreme will crumbled when he lost his spatial affinity.

    But it couldn''t be helped. Quite literally from the moment he was born, Damien had been able to perceive space differently from others. The only reason he couldn''t actively control it was because of theck of mana on earth.

    There was no way to describe the horrific feeling of loss that washed over his mind and body when this perception was taken away. If it had to bepared to something, it was an exponentially worse version of losing all of one''s 5 senses in an instant.

    It was harrowing.

    But this was also the kind of ability that only a nigh-omnipotent entity like the system could possess. Only it could make him feel this level of loss.

    Therefore, only it was worthy of testing him like this.

    Analyzing the situation with a calm mind showed him a different picture than what he saw before.

    He''d already failed this trial in his book, but the Baptism was still ongoing. This meant he had a chance to redeem himself.

    ''The Universe Baptism isn''t just a method of gaining the universe''s acknowledgment. To even reach that step, one must first perfect themselves. While the Baptism is a trial, it is also a training ground for practitioners to temper themselves and rid themselves of their previous weaknesses. No wonder the differences between 3rd and 4th ss are so substantial.''

    "Haa¡­" Damien took a deep breath. With a stable mind, he returned his senses to his body. Immediately, that terrifying sense of loss enveloped him.

    Nothing could prepare him for this. Even if he was mentally ready, the feeling itself still caused his mind to freeze in shock for a few moments.

    But the difference was, this time he was able to regain his facilities.

    His mana surged. His bodily strength increased madly. In his mind, he wildly shouted.

    ''Demon Transformation! Dragon Transformation!''

    His body morphed, his skin became covered in ck scales, his hair turned snow white, and mysterious runes decorated his skin as dragon horns and wings appeared on his forehead and shoulder des.

    ''Defense!''

    The mysterious runes twisted into a rhombus-like pattern, exponentially increasing the toughness of Damien''s body. Even with the horrendous twisting of space around him, he remained unaffected.

    And now that his body had stabilized, he was able to focus his mind on his feeling of loss. He was able to thoroughly understand this feeling and submerge himself into it. In his mind, countless scenes shed by.

    His life on earth before the World Awakening was exceedingly nd. Space was his safe haven back then. He was being literal when he called it his hearth.

    Without its presence, the young Damien was unable to endure the mental trauma that continued to pile onto his person. Even when he met Elenater, he wasn''t able to properly converse with her or be friends.

    His sense of self had been suppressed too far without any shoulders to lean on. Even his mother was unable to fill this void.

    But he managed to persist until the World Awakening. He persisted until he awakened as an attributeless practitioner.

    This kind of character would usually be a weapon master like Long Chen, supplementing theirck of affinity with another Law. For Damien, this was Sword Law.

    He became a sword cultivator, but he wasn''t a very strong one. At most, he could be considered average.

    And when that fateful day came when he was forced into the dungeon, the result remained the same. After all, the Void Physique still hindered his development.

    But that was it.

    Even without the power of space, he still managed to scrape up a tiny bit of determination to live, even if this determination was only to save his mother.

    Even without the power of space, he managed to kill a powerful beast and evolve, starting his journey on the path to strength.

    Even without the power of space, he made it out of the dungeon, reaching a height in Sword Cultivation that he had never seen before in reality.

    But there was one stark difference.

    When he reached 3rd ss, he didn''t receive a method to return home. He was forced to work like a madman until he gained ess to a broken starship, barely making his return.

    Damien watched all these scenes take ce. Without the power of space, his path would''ve beenpletely different. But that didn''t mean he had no path at all. In the end, he was a person who yearned for strength and freedom. With his personality, it was impossible for him to die early unless he offended some powerhouse outside his caliber.

    Damien sighed lightly. ''My greatest friend andpanion is space itself. Even after viewing these scenes, my view hasn''t changed. However, I can at least begin to ept my current state.''

    His eyes shed open. Mirage appeared in his hand. Sword Intent covered its de, slowly bing more profound until it was nearing the level of Sword Aura.

    ''My path is my own. Regardless of what method I use to reach it, the peak will always be my goal. If you wish to deprive me of what is rightfully mine, fine. Do as you please. However, do not expect me to sit still and just watch.''

    Mirage made a simple arc in the air. There wasn''t anything special about this strike. After all, the only sword moves Damien knew were all fueled by his spatial affinity.

    But the intent behind this sh was far more profound than that. It was a manifestation of Damien''s desire to continue forward regardless of the consequences, regardless of the losses.

    Ka!

    Space shattered wherever the sword passed. The terrifying force bearing down on his body lessened greatly. And at the same time, the feeling of loss within Damien''s body slowly faded.

    It wouldn''t be long before hepleted the first trial.

 Chapter 562 Baptism [2]

    While Damien was engrossed in the first trial of his Universe Baptism, the outside world didn''t stay stationary.

    Although he couldn''t see beyond the veil of World Energy, Wrath was well aware of what was happening. The Seed was blooming, which meant a Universe Baptism unlike any other was taking ce.

    ''Now!''

    His body shed. He rapidly appeared in front of the World Energy barrier, attempting to use his pure strength as a Demigod to pass through the universe''s protection.

    Now was the perfect time. Wrath didn''t even wish to hinder Damien''s Baptism. Just being inside to witness it would allow his strength to increase by leaps and bounds.

    This was the beauty of the Seed. It was a gift that kept on giving. And once it was in full bloom, Wrath would be able to consume it and be an existence with the potential to achieve True Godhood!

    But before he could even impact the World Energy barrier, he felt a sudden shift in his surroundings. His eyes turned cold and ruthless.

    "Even at this juncture, you''re so adamant about stopping me?!"

    None of his previous yful demeanor was present anymore. Wrath was like a ferocious cornered beast erupting with strength.

    Albeus and the Drunken Old Immortal frowned. Seeing Wrath in this state sent a chill down their spines.

    From beginning to end, they had moved together to suppress Wrath. Even though they were all Demigods, something about Wrath sent danger bells ringing in their heads.

    Therefore, they spared no effort. The instant they initiatedbat, theyid down their Authorities.

    Domains were concepts formed from Law Comprehension, so they could be formed at any level. However, if one was able to form their domain before they achieved 4th ss, it would go through a qualitative change and be something greater.

    There was a saying in the wider universe. 3rd ss Domain, 4th ss Territory, 5th ss Authority!

    With the way things were exined, it almost seemed like an Authority was an enhanced version of a domain, but this was wrong. Authorities were the crowning ability of Demigods. Every single Demigod possessed an Authority.

    However, if one was able to evolve their Domain into a Territory and then fuse it with their Authority upon entering the Demigod realm, the strength of their Authority would bepletely different.

    But this was an unrted matter. The reason Albeus and the Drunken Old Immortalid down their Authorities was to make use of their base ability.

    This was Dimensional Separation.

    Even if they didn''t have an ounce of understanding towards space and time, a Demigod''s Authority was able to pervade reality and superimpose a separate space-time onto it. In this way, regardless of how much power they put into their attacks, the Real ne wouldn''t be affected.

    It was apletely segregated battlefield.

    Inbat amongst Demigods, Authorities were usually used for differing purposes and this separation of space-time was only a minor matter of convenience, but when fighting on the surface of a world instead of the starry sky, these Authorities were necessary.

    After all, a Demigod''s full-powered attack absolutely carried the potential to destroy a. Unless they wished the entire universe to turn into rubble, Demigods always fought within their Authority Dimensions.

    With two Authority Dimensions working in tandem, even with Wrath''s power level, he wouldn''t be able to casually interfere in the happenings of the Real ne.

    This was naturally the reason for his immense anger.

    "You will not interrupt his Baptism. Regardless of whatever Seed nonsense you spout, I will not betray my own morality." Albeus responded indifferently to Wrath''s rage. This was his true feeling, not a front he was putting up. Even if Damien had a treasure that was able to tempt him, he wouldn''t make a move on a junior.

    Even if he wasn''t righteous, Albeus'' character still learned towards the morally just side. He wouldn''t stoop so low as to steal from someone so much weaker than him.

    As for the Drunken Old Immortal, his reasoning was different. He was merely a curious old man. He had onlye to know of the Seed''s existence through a discarded Ancient Text he found on one of his many adventures. Now that it was truly in front of him, he naturally wanted to see what its existence entailed.

    Wrath looked at these two men with utter hatred. They had blocked him at every step, disallowing him from directing Damien''s growth the way he pleased. Did they want to die so badly?

    "If you desire death so much, then let me grant it to you!" Wrath yelled out. At that moment, a ripple spread from his body. His own Authority spread, shing with Albeus and the Drunken Old Immortal''s. The area it upied was dyed inky ck, the same color as his mana.

    Wrath''s arm raised into the air. He was a Nox Demigod. A being that surpassed mere humans from the moment of his birth. How dare they look down on him?!

    "Twisted Fantasy."

    Wrath''s words came out as a whisper, but they had a profound impact on the surroundings. The inky ck space was filled with a myriad of illusions depicting the most gruesome scenes one could possibly imagine.

    And the worst part of it all was the fact that these scenes originated from Wrath''s memory. He was the one whomitted these atrocities.

    Albeus and the Drunken Old Immortal found their emotions bing chaotic. The longer the illusions persisted, the harder it was to hold onto their rationality. If this continued, they''d be turned into mindless beasts!

    This just went to show the difference between them and Wrath. They became painfully aware of their own weakness. But neither backed down.

    Albeus pushed his arm out, his Authority ring. A blinding white light covered his body in a nearly corporeal set of armor. This armor contained a mysterious property that calmed his mind, allowing him to more easily persist the mental attack from Wrath.

    As for the Drunken Old Immortal, his method was far more simple and direct. His mana red into the air, bing liquid and slowly taking in mana and other materials to be a fine liquor. This liquor then flowed into his mouth, causing his face to flush.

    His name wasn''t the Drunken Old Immortal for no reason. His original affinity was water, but after years of development and building his legend, he twisted this affinity until he became a man who lived on liquor! Alcohol wasn''t just pleasure anymore, it was also his power!

    When the Drunken Old Immortal followed his namesake and got drunk, his power level would increase exponentially. And while his state of mind would be foggier, his mental defenses would actually be strengthened immensely! It was a strange ability, to say the least, but with even Damien receiving the option to choose Harem King during his Universe Baptism, it wasn''t too surprising.

    But regardless of the methods they used to ward off Wrath''s attack, it was still true that they were forced into a defensive position from the very start.

    Looking at each other, they came to a tacit understanding. They wouldn''t be able to hold anything back when facing Wrath.

    This battle would not be a simple one at all.

    ***

    While the Demigods fought in their Authority Dimensions, separated from reality, a fierce war was taking ce around Damien''s World Energy Barrier.

    Everything seemed to congregate in a single ce, the entire chaotic struggle of the unnamed world focusing around Damien.

    Whether it be the Nox, Niflheim, Asgard, Shadow Garden, the Cloud ne forces, or anyone else, as long as they were involved in the conflict, they were likely present.

    "Brothers, we fight! For humanity!" A ck-clothed young man roared. The massive broadsword in his swung in a sweeping arc, letting out a furious dragon roar as it tore through hundreds of Nox beings.

    ""FOR HUMANITY!!""

    The roars of his subordinates filled the heavens. The Bloody Cavalry charged into battle, ughtering anything and everything in their path!

    But even with their valiant efforts in killing thousands or even tens of thousands of Nox beings every few minutes, they were barely able to put a dent in the overall number.

    This was the most terrifying facet of the Nox. Even if the intelligent members of their species were small in number, those unintelligent Nox at 3rd ss and below were present in droves. At any given time, millions of them could be deployed as cannon fodder and it wouldn''t be considered a loss to the Nox''s overall power.

    But the Bloody Cavalry persisted in their attack. They were joined by the Celestial and Star Squadrons as well, giving them more leeway within the chaos.

    On another part of the battlefield, three women led the charge against a group of 3rd and 4th ss enemies from Niflheim.

    Rose''s illusions covered thousands of kilometers, her Illusory Throne active and sending countless flying swords hurling at the crowd of enemies.

    At the same time, Ruyue''s spear left a rain of blood in its wake. The spear was often known as themander of a hundred men, it was a weapon most suited forrge-scale warfare! For the first time in her life, Ruyue was able to bring out her weapon''s full potential!

    The massive Blood Moon in the sky that empowered her every attack and shot out beams of blue icemes and lunar energy didn''t even need to be mentioned. Compared to her spear, the effects of this boost were negligible.

    Aside from these two, Aishia was fighting with just as much reckless ferocity as she was before Damien saved her. Only, this time she was doing so consciously. No matter how random her actions seemed, they always followed a specific order and flow, making her wildly unpredictable, yet incredibly precise.

    Behind these three women were Shadow Garden''s forces. Even the white-clothed rice was present, ying a strange melody on her stringed instrument and providing buffs to her allies. This kind of supportive practitioner was rare and incredibly sought after on the battlefield. With her present, Shadow Garden and the three women held an absolute advantage over their foes.

    The problemy in their numbers, just as it did on the Bloody Cavalry''s side. Now that war had erupted in full, there was no need to hide any strength. Both Asgard and Niflheim showed their full power,bining their efforts to siege Damien''s World Energy barrier under Wrath''smand.

    Luckily, a majority of Asgard''s 4th sses were being held up and ughtered by the Moon Squadron within Asgard territory. This reduced the burden on the allied forces.

    Even the Demigods from Asgard and Niflheim were upied. The two Shadow Garden Demigods and the two Giant sisters that made up Shadow Garden''s core with Albeus were locked inbat with the two Nox Demigods and the two Asgardian Demigods.

    Although the numbers on both sides matched, the two Giant Sisters were still young. Comparatively, they didn''t have as much strength as the other six present. If this group was to truly beginbat, it was unknown whether or not Shadow Garden''s side could persist.

    But Demigods weren''t idiotic beings. At least, the ones present weren''t. Even if one side was able to defeat the other, they''d be forced to endure immense losses, and perhaps they''d even die in the process!

    When one''s lifespan reached the terrifying boundary of a Demigod''s, they''d be extremely attached to the concept of it. None of them wished to die early, leading to the current standstill.

    But even with such a great deal of Niflheim and Asgard''s forces blocked, the allied forces still had to deal with an immense number of enemies. With thousands of 4th sses and hundreds of thousands of 3rd sses flooding the battlefield, it was impossible to just cut everyone down like chickens.

    The battle had devolved into one between strength and numbers.

    As for which side would win? It was still far too early to determine.

 Chapter 563 Baptism [3]

    The scene within the World Energy Barrier slowly calmed down, with Damien oveing the spatial distortions and limating to the feeling of loss washing over his body. Although it was easy to describe, this process actually took many minutes toplete.

    And by the time it was done, Damien''s perception slowly began to expand. Just like that, his spatial affinity had been returned to him.

    The goal of the first trial was mainly to temper his will and body, and this had been aplished more than just a little sessfully. Damien''s mental fortitude reached an all-new height, to the point where his natural resistance to illusions and mental magic reached the same level as his All-Seeing Eyes.

    But Damien wasn''t stupid enough to think that things would be simpler now that he regained his affinity. In fact, the difficulty would only increase.

    Bang!

    Without giving Damien any time to rest, the World Energy Barrier began revolving. Space began to separate as if it was being run through by a cookie cutter. But this change was only present within Damien''s perception. It didn''t reflect in the real world.

    Swoosh!

    With a sudden breeze, the space around Damien strangely twisted. In that instant, he already realized what happened. He''d been separated into a lesser ne.

    This type of leaser ne was simr to the separate space-time that a Demigod''s Authority could produce. It was a different dimension whenpared to the Real ne.

    But even this was only the beginning. After the first separation, Damien continued getting pushed further and further into different dimensional barriers. His situation was like the smallest link of a Russian nesting doll.

    Theyer of space around him was tiny, only holding enough room to house his body alone. It looked exceedingly weak, almost like it could be crushed with a single touch, but this was far from being true.

    ''This is a dimension within a dimension within a dimension within¡­I don''t even know how manyyers there are. Now that I''ve regained my affinity, am I supposed to escape from this cage?''

    The concepts around him were exceedingly familiar. This was the very same application of Dimensional Magic that could create isted worlds and spaces, it was the branch of space he was nning to explore more thoroughly once he reached 4th ss and gained the ability to maniptews.

    But it seemed he was no longer given the option to wait. For Damien to continue his Baptism, he had toprehend these esoteric concepts and free himself from the dimensional prison around him.

    ''These dimensions are essentially separated spaces, but they aren''t that simple. Topletely iste a portion of space from the natural flow of space-time is exceedingly difficult, and toyer these isted portions on top of each other is even more. This level of difficulty doesn''t reach the same level as manipting two, three, and four-dimensional space as one pleases, but it''s still a fairly high-level concept.''

    Damien''sprehension of space itself was at a peak he couldn''t surpass with his current abilities. However, his understanding of dimensions didn''t match up at all.

    Most dimensional abilities were supportive. Whether they be sealing techniques, trapping techniques, creation techniques, or anything else, the destructive uses of this branch of magic weren''t as pronounced.

    Of course, that wasn''t to say there was no destructive power at all. It was just that one required a foundation built on these supportive concepts to ess that destructive nature.

    Damien was a person who excelled in destruction. One could even say it was his main talent. The reason he wasn''t able to progress rapidly on Dimensional Magic was precisely because this talent suppressed his ability to use more supportive and creation-rted abilities.

    Usually, he was able to make up for this difference through Void Essence, an energy particrly skilled in creation, but he wasn''t given the option to use shortcuts this time around.

    The Void Physique had been quiet ever since forcing his Baptism''s direction. Damien wasn''t able to sense it at all, nor was he able to draw Void Essence through his connection with it. He was entirely on his own.

    ''But that isn''t a bad thing at all. This is yet another chance to rid myself of a ring weakness I have.''

    Damien didn''t think he would be able to break the suppression his destruction talent had on his other facets, but he could at least weaken it to a manageable level.

    Without hesitation, he closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. His awareness contacted the dimensional barrier around him and melded with the spatialyers within. He wasn''t going to brute force his way out of this problem.

    Damien''s brow furrowed as he investigated the barrier. ''This is extremelyplex. It''s like the spatialyers have been woven into an imprable web that forms these walls. This isn''t merely an application of mana onto space, it is fundamentally changing the properties of space to adhere to one''s will.''

    He was able to realize this much from a nce, but knowing wouldn''t help him. It only reminded him of how difficult the task ahead of him truly was.

    ''Luckily, this is only the firstyer. Theplexities of this space are still at a level I can see through. But as I continue forward into greater dimensions, the structure necessary to maintain them will be more profound as well. Let me break out of here first and see how the difficulty increases.''

    When it came to the spatialyers, Damien was incrediblyfortable. To finely control his mana to warp through them and meld them wasn''t too difficult. Of course, this was only at the firstyer.

    After following the spatial web for a few minutes, Damien was able to understand its structure and find a w within. His mana attacked this spot, causing everything around it to unravel as well.

    ''Sess!'' Damien eximed. As space shattered around him, he found himself in a new isted area that was the size of a small room. It wouldn''t be a problem for ten people to fit in this area as long as they crowded together.

    Damien''s furrowed brows rxed a little when he saw this. ''So I won''t have to go through 800 different variations of these dimensional spaces before exiting. There should only be three or four more if the size grows exponentially like this. Although the difficulty will increase as well, this is actually preferable.''

    What Damien was learning at the moment wasn''t necessarily how to create these isted spaces. Whatever force was guiding this Baptism was truly giving him knowledge on the most fundamental level.

    As he noticed before, to create dimensional walls and isted spaces was to fundamentally change the order of space. The spatialyers that usually ebbed and flowed like waves would be forced into the shape of the container created for them.

    The ability Damien was learning was precisely this. To affect space on a fundamental level and gain enough understanding of it, setting up a foundation for him to affect it on a conceptual level in the future.

    Damien was aware of this too. This was why even though he understood the structure of therger room within the hour, he didn''t make any moves to break through it. First, he patiently perceived the way space responded when he changed small bits of the web, then moved on to doing the same withrger changes.

    In manipting these phenomena, Damien was unintentionally learning the concepts required to create isted spaces. Such was the beauty of understanding fundamentals. Everything else became easier from that point forward.

    And once Damien felt that he gained everything he could from the 10-man room, he flicked his finger towards a certain section, using his own spatial mana to create threads that interfered with the ones already present.

    Rather than shattering entirely like the first space, this new space merely cracked. A rift the size of a person appeared in the location where Damien''s mana was shot. This clearly outlined the level of finesse Damien achieved through his training in the 10-man room.

    And without pausing his momentum at all, Damien stepped through the spatial rift, arriving in a room nearly 10 times the size of the previous one.

    It wouldn''t be a short while before he was able toplete this trial.

    ***

    Hours passed without end in the World Energy barrier. Four hours after he exited the 10-man room, he made his way out of the 100-man room as well. This time, the rift he created was more defined, almost taking the shape of a door.

    Another 8 hours after that, Damien escaped the 1000-man room that followed. With the difficulty exponentially increasing, the time it took for Damien to exit increased as well, but this was only on the surface.

    In reality, he could''ve easily broken out of the 1000-man room within two or three hours, but he consciously decided against it. Before exiting these dimensional spaces, he would reap every reward he could get.

    The passage of time was forgotten under Damien''s intense concentration. He even forgot about the perilous situation outside the World Energy barrier. His entire perception was submerged in space.

    As the hours passed, Damien broke through a 10,000-man space and even a 100,000-man space. At this level, it was impossible for him to break through with brute force even if he wished to; he was simply too weak to do so. Therefore, he could only take the shortcut provided for him.

    The method by which he opened the dimensional spaces also improved by leaps and bounds. From a single small door that could only fit his body, he was able to increase his fine control until he could change the concepts of an entire wall of the dimensional space, turning it into a grand gateway to celebrate his entrance into a higher difficulty.

    And finally, after what seemed like days of effort, he was able to break through all obstacles and reach his final goal.

    A dimensional space capable of housing millions of existences with ease, maintaining stability even if they collectively red their mana.

    Only after breaking through this space would Damien finally escape the prison he''d been trapped in.

 Chapter 564 Baptism [4]

    Time passed without end, it''s ebbs and flows indistinguishable within the thick barrier of World Energy isting Damien from the outside world.

    In the center of that barrier, Damien sat silently, his eyes closed and his legs crossed as if he was an indomitable stone Buddha. asionally, his hands would dance through the air, leaving afterimages that gave off a beautifully profound feeling. This was the only sign that he was alive.

    In Damien''s mind, a massive map wasid out. It was abyrinth filled with impossible twists andplex structures that he had been studying for an unknown period of time.

    Compared to the 1000-man space or even the 100,000-man space, thergest 1,000,000-man space was apletely different monster.

    It wasn''t just a matter ofplexity or stability in the structure of the spatial webs, but also a matter of spatialw itself. Damien''s current achievements simply weren''t enough for him toprehend and unravel this kind of conceptual existence.

    But the Universe Baptism''s trials didn''t allow him any shortcuts. The only thing he could do was diligently attempt to understand the structure of the cage around him, hoping that he could eventually escape.

    ''The 1,000,000-man space doesn''t abide by the samews as the other spaces. I''ve noticed that every time I entered a new space, thews were moreplete. At this point, rather than being a mere separated space, one could even consider this space as an isted world.''

    It was a simr existence to the Sanctuary. The space contained its own foundationalws that differed from those outside. Due to this, the stability of space was incredible, almost reaching the level of a true world.

    But thews of an iplete space like this couldn''tpare to the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary existed in the void and was formed from it, receiving a constant supply of mana andws from it as well. Although the Sanctuary wasn''t quite self-sustaining yet, it was entirely possible to reach that point when Damien became strong enough.

    However, this space was different. While it was true that it had developed its own foundationalws, it didn''t have the ability to maintain them forever. As time passed, the traces of thesews would slowly diminish and the isted space would copse, rejoining the Real ne as if it never existed.

    But this process would take an exorbitant amount of time toplete. If Damien chose to wait until this space''sws degraded, he''d be trapped within for tens of years at the very least.

    And naturally, he had no intention of doing that.

    Damien''s mind moved rapidly. If he couldn''t unravel the space the same way he did with the others, he needed topensate for hisck of ability somehow. He needed to cope with the fact that he couldn''t use Laws yet.

    But who was Damien? While this task was impossible for others, he actually had a way to circumvent the universe''s restrictions!

    Exhaling a breath of chaotic air, his mouth moved to say a single word. "Bloom."

    That word served as a trigger. Within Damien''s spiritual world, a bright red light encapsted everything.

    In the past, this space had been represented by an endless starry sky with celestial bodies present to disy his connections with them. There was a sun, there was Earth, Apeiron, the Cloud ne, and finally his own spiritual world itself.

    But that scenery was different now. Aside from his spiritual world, there was only a single other existence floating in the boundless space.

    It was arge world,rger than any Damien had visited before. It would take tens or even hundreds of years to traverse from one end of this world to the other, disying just how massive it was.

    Despite its grandiosity, however, this world was only a spiritual representation. It didn''t have any physical form to be showcased to the universe.

    This world was thebination of the Cloud ne, Apeiron, and Earth. Using this world as a medium, the wills of those three worlds couldmunicate and amplify each other''s power. The connection they had with Damien also increased exponentially, allowing him to utilize a portion of their World Force even when he wasn''t present in those worlds!

    In the center of this massive world, acting as a substitute World Core, was none other than the red magic cube known as the World score Fusion Reactor. After Damien absorbed it, it took root in his spiritual world and refused to move.

    But it was constantly proving its use. The only reason this massive world could exist was because of its existence. And it was also the reason Damien would be able to pass his trial.

    Voom!

    Damien''s awareness interacted with the massive. He immediately got a response, three wills sending their words into his mind.

    Although he couldn''t truly hear them, he could understand what they wanted to say. He smiled as he listened to them.

    ''Ha, I''ll never get used to the feeling of having those three in my head. Especially Yun and Apeiron, those two don''t mesh well at all.''

    Damien lightly joked to himself, his movements not stopping at all while he did so. Through his connection with the three, World Force slowly entered his body, enhancing his state.

    And more than that¡­this World Force allowed Damien to take a shortcut to maniptingws.

    The 1,000,000-man space shook fiercely. After spending days or even weeksprehending the structure of this ce, the only thing standing in Damien''s way now was hisck ofws.

    Now that his ring weakness had been covered¡­

    The 1,000,000-man space couldn''t withstand the burden of Damien''s interference. His hands moved like a conductor guiding an orchestra, letting his mana and World Force y with the spatial web around him and unravel it.

    It wasn''t an easy process at all. Despite having the tools toplete his task, Damien still had to put in a great deal of effort to do so.

    And finally, after an unknown period of time, the shaking of the 1,000,000-man space halted.

    Lines formed in its walls, separating them into small puzzle pieces. Once this process was finished, space itself began to drift apart and fall through the air like snowkes.

    Damien felt a sense of freedom overwhelm him. Even though nothing in his surroundings changed at all, he could clearly feel the difference between existing in the Real ne and existing in an isted space. The two simply couldn''tpare.

    This was because the Real ne was plete" unlike those isted spaces.

    ''Haa, finally. Now that that''s over, I guess it''s finally time for the second trial?''

    Damien was hopeful, but the universe didn''t seem intent on fulfilling his wishes. There wasn''t a single system notification that sounded after he escaped the dimensional cage. However, there was indeed a change.

    ''This¡­!''

    Damien suddenly felt like he was submerged in a vat of msses. His movements slowed to the extreme, forcing him to use his utmost abilities to even budge an inch.

    But unlike the previous trial, space wasn''t manipted at all. No, this effect didn''te from space.

    Rather, the theme of the trial switched.

    ''Time has been slowed.'' Damien immediately realized. This slowing didn''t just involve his body, even his thoughts were being affected.

    This could only be caused by a vast difference in strength andprehension. When one couldn''t match up to a Time Law user, their entire being would be frozen. It wasn''t a simple physical phenomenon.

    Luckily, Damien''sprehension of time, whilegging behind space, was still somewhat substantial. He already understood how to speed up and slow down its flow within a specified area, thoughpletely halting it was still outside of his reach.

    ''So it''s aprehensive trial? It seems all of my elementalprehensions will be tested in this first trial. If I can pass, I will be allowed to ess theirws. If I fail, my path to those elements will be cut off entirely, or at least hindered.''

    This wasn''t good news for his me and lightning abilities, but Damien didn''t fret. Instead, arge grin spread on his face.

    ''It''s been a long time since I''ve been challenged so much. Who would''ve thought that the universe would be my worthy opponent?''

    Without hesitation, Damien delved into the surrounding stagnated time.

    Time and space had always been interlinked. Without the presence of mana, time was a measure of the perceived change taking ce within space. Lifespan, the cycles of celestial bodies, even a mere human walking from one ce to another could be used to represent time.

    But when mana was introduced, this rtionship became far more profound. Time was no longer a force that only existed through perception. With the foundationalws of the universe as support, time was able to be a true concept just like space.

    This was the reason why the rampant Time Essence in the starry sky was able to maintain the flow of time between all worlds existing in the Human Domain and the wider 9 Sectors.

    Space was stable, while time was ever-changing. The rtionship between the two mirrored that of Order and Chaos.

    Precisely because they were so intrinsically linked, Damien could use his spatialprehension to boost his timeprehension. This was the method he''d used to rapidly be proficient in time elemental abilities in the short period after he unlocked his affinity.

    It was a cheat, to say the least, but it was a cheat discovered through hard work and only usable through hard work.

    And it was this very cheat that would rapidly propel Damien through the trial he was currently taking.

 Chapter 565 Baptism [5]

    The time element was extremely strange. This was Damien''s takeaway as he spend agesprehending it within the World Energy Barrier.

    The time flow for him had already been altered before he was trapped in the dimensional cage, and now that it had been slowed to the point of solidifying, every second in the outside world took ages for him.

    He only had his body clock to make estimations, but he inferred that it had taken at least half a year to escape the dimensional cage. Adding on the time he spent stuck in stasis, it''d been over a year since his Universe Baptism started.

    But in the outside world, it had only been a few hours.

    Sadly, Damien wasn''t able to sense the outside world through the barrier. If he was able topare the two separate time flows to each other, hisprehension would havee far easier.

    Regardless, with half a year stuck in this halted time, Damien made significant gains. Not only did his time affinity be more pronounced, even his spatial abilities saw improvement.

    Slowly but surely, a mystical aura began to radiate from his body. When this aura encountered the Time Essence around Damien, it began to alter it, albeit not enough for it to actually matter.

    But progress was progress. Now that he was able to affect the atmosphere around him and even think at normal speeds again, he was able to establish a counter flow that would act as his escape route from this time lock.

    ''This process is too grueling.'' Damien thought to himself with a sigh. ''Even with my pace increasing exponentially as I understand the surrounding concepts, it''ll still take at least another half a year to whittle away at this static space.''

    When he originally began his Universe Baptism, although he fretted over the location, he didn''t panic too much. He believed that with his abilities, it wouldn''t take too long to pass.

    Now that he was in a situation where his Baptism could potentially take many years toplete, he didn''t know how to feel.

    Nheless, the time he spent within the World Energy Barrier would solely be spent improving. Even if it took a decade for him to finish, he at least wouldn''t suffer a loss.

    Clearing his mind of unnecessary thoughts, Damien put his entire focus back into the counterflow he was creating. He entered an ironical state where his sense of time was lost but hisprehension of the concept itself was rapidly increasing.

    And in this state, he diligently worked. It was the only thing he could do.

    ***

    While a few hours within the World Energy Barrier could be considered negligible, the situation in the outside world was one where every second counted.

    Now that several hours had passed, the ongoing battle had reached an extremely heated state.

    "On your left! Watch out!" Rose''s voice rang out amongst the chaotic shes of battle.

    Ruyue rapidly spun her body upon hearing them, barely dodging a mana-coated javelin that had been hurling toward her.

    Ruyue gave Rose a grateful look and turned to the javelin''s owner. He was a middle-aged man with a massive build like a professional bodybuilder. As he looked at Ruyue, he didn''t even attempt to conceal the lust in his eyes.

    After all, why should he? He was an exalted 4th ss existence! A mere 3rd ss like Ruyue should be honored to earn his lust.

    Only, it was a shame that they were enemies on this battlefield. If he wanted to bed this woman, he''d have to first turn her into a corpse.

    But this idea didn''t hinder his lust. It even enhanced it somewhat.

    Ruyue''s eyes were cold as she looked at this man. ording to her senses, he was only at the early stages of 4th ss, though his high and mighty demeanor seemed to suggest he was extremely powerful.

    Ruyue shook her head in derision. With her looks, encountering people like this man was normal. But normal didn''t mean she enjoyed it.

    ''A mere early 4th ss, huh. Damien could probably kill this man with a p, so wouldn''t it be too embarrassing if I couldn''t evenpete with him?''

    Fighting spirit burned in her eyes. When she first met Damien, Ruyue was actually stronger than him by a small margin. But as they traveled and adventured, his speed of growth far outstripped hers.

    She was also at the peak of 3rd ss by this point. The only reason she hadn''t initiated her Baptism was due to herckingprehension of her elements.

    But this wasn''t her fault at all. Her yin affinity turned her element into a far more conceptual existence. Not to mention her moon affinity which was even vaguer. The qualifications Ruyue needed to initiate her Baptism surpassed even Damien''s.

    However, Ruyue didn''t use this as an excuse. In her mind, even if Damien was a talent surpassing all others, as his wife, it was her duty to keep up with him.

    It was lonely at the top. Ruyue didn''t want to see Damien turn into an existence that nobody could match, an existence with no equals and only those who looked at him in reverence. She knew Damien''s personality, and she knew how much of an impact such status would have on him.

    She simply didn''t want to see him hurt by his own talent.

    And if she wanted to stand by his side and support some of the weight on his shoulders when he reached that point, she needed to put in hundreds or even thousands of times the effort that he did.

    The start of thatmitment was matching his achievements. Killing an early 4th ss when she was at the peak of 3rd ss? This was only the base standard.

    Ruyue flourished her spear, drawing an arc of blood across the battlefield. Blue mes lit up under her feet, propelling her at the burly man.

    Seeing her iing figure, he licked his lips perversely. A second javelin appeared from thin air and entered his grasp.

    Bang!

    The force of his movements broke the sound barrier, the hurled javelin flying so fast it could hardly be traced by the naked eye.

    But Ruyue remained entirely calm. The Blood Moon decorating the sky shot a thick beam of energy to her left, shing against the invisible javelin with the sound of scraping metal.

    This beam alone was enough to divert its trajectory far away from Ruyue, leaving her charge unhindered.

    She traversed the battlefield in seconds, arriving before the man with her spear primed to strike. Her spear thrust forward with the indomitable momentum of a dragon, straight for the man''s sr plexus!

    The burly man smirked when he saw the spear. This was an attack from someone who hadn''t even passed their Baptism, why should he take it seriously? But before his condescending thought could even finish, a harrowing current of mana enveloped his body.

    "Die," Ruyue muttered indifferently. ck mana revolves around her spear tip like a cyclone, exponentially increasing its force and destructive power.

    The burly man could only watch helplessly as the spear flew towards him. He hastily projected his mana to defend himself, but how could this half-hearted shield block Ruyue''s full-powered strike?

    BOOM!

    The impact force shattered the mana barrier in an instant, but Ruyue''s momentum didn''t halt at all. Her spear continued to fly towards the burly man until it struck true in the center of his chest.

    "Ahhh!"

    The burly man let out a scream of agony as his body was thrown backward. Without giving him time to retaliate, Ruyue chased him, her spear raised for another attack.

    "I learned this one from another pretentious 4th ss who thought she was better than me. Why don''t you have a taste of it as well?"

    The tip of Ruyue''s spear seemed to bloom like a flower, forming an icy lotus that directly froze the surrounding atmosphere. With a sweep of her spear, the ice lotus rotated madly as it sted towards the burly man!

    The Xue n 12th Elder''s Ice Lotus lived on even after her death, but its form was far more profound than anything she could''ve hoped topete with.

    ''Yin Lotus: Bloom''

    The frightening chilling power of yin transformed the ice lotus on a fundamental level. Even though its appearance didn''t change, the aura it radiated caused the burly man to feel death approaching.

    "I won''t lose to a mere woman!" He shouted. A burst of blood shot out from his body, transforming into a javelin filled with bloodlust.

    When Ruyue''s Yin Lotus finally reached his body, the blood javelin blocked its path. The collision of the two forces wasn''t anything to scoff at.

    In the first ce, this burly man wasn''t a false 4th ss like the 12th Elder. Even if he''d only done it recently, he''d still used his own power to cross his Baptism.

    With the power he held, he was able to sessfully fend off the terrifying ice lotus, though, he had to sacrifice a piece of his lifespan to do so.

    It was true that her opponent this time was far stronger than the 12th Elder of the past, but the current Ruyue had been constantly tempered by war.

    The Cloud ne''s purge, Apeiron''s purge, the war against the Nox, and now this battle, they had turned herbat efficiency into something the Ruyue of the past couldn''t hope topare with. In reality, it had only taken her two or three full-powered attacks to reduce the burly man to his current state.

    So even though the burly man was able to block her ice lotus, she had confidence he wouldn''t be able tost for much longer.

 Chapter 566 Baptism [6]

    The battlefield was chaotic, to say the least. It was to a level where an important figure like Ruyue couldn''t leave her position unless she wished to cause the deaths of countless allies.

    But she was still able to do so without any qualms. This was because she had absolute trust in the person holding the fort while she was gone.

    And this person wasn''t disappointing her trust at all. She stood at the forefront of the battlefield, her muted pink hair waving in the wind and giving her the valiant air of a hero.

    With every swipe of her hand, attacks that were sure to kill many would vanish into thin air. Hundreds of enemy soldiers would burst into cries of pain without being attacked at all. From the position of thesemon 3rd ss soldiers, her actions were like those of a god.

    Seeing their reverence, Rose didn''t feel anything. Instead, the pride welling up in her chest came from Ruyue''s efforts alone.

    Whenparing age alone, Ruyue was actually a bit older than Rose. But their mentalities couldn''t bepared. Regardless of age difference, Rose was still like a big sister to Ruyue.

    Since the first time she met Damien, many years had passed. She didn''t spend these years idly. In fact, her personality had gone through a myriad of changes.

    The time she spent away from Damien impacted her greatly. Being stranded in a new world with only Elena to keep herpany was in truth a terrifying experience.

    But Rose never hated Damien for it. Rather, she took that time as a smelting trial. In her mind, doing so was only her duty.

    Damien had spent the two years before he met her in a far worse environment without a single soul to keep himpany. The impact that time had on his psyche was far more immense than any experience she''d been through.

    He was a broken man when they met, and while she had her fair share of problems, she didn''t believe any of them added up to his struggles.

    Her experiences on the Cloud ne allowed her to experience a portion of what he felt like. If that was only a portion, she couldn''t even imagine the true extent of his pain.

    This was why when he came to apologize to her, she didn''t take long to convince. She never med him, only subconsciously bore some resentment that she couldn''t control.

    But more than that, she was proud of his growth. She was proud to see the man she fell in love with flourishing.

    It was an extremely self-sacrificing mentality. Even Rose was aware of this. But when it came to Damien, was it a problem to be self-sacrificing? If the situation required it, she wouldn''t hesitate to sacrifice everything for him, even if that meant destroying the entire universe for his sake.

    And over time, these feelings began to flood over to the women who she shared him with.

    At first, Ruyue and Elena were hindrances in her eyes. Despite her efforts to support Damien''s harem, her mind couldn''t help but sprout jealousy.

    Yet, this jealousy wasn''t even allowed to bear fruit. The two women were too outstanding for it to do so.

    Never once did they make her feel ufortable or unwanted, never once did they make her feel like they were peting" with her. Her experience sharing her man was far different than what she experienced witnessing her father''s imperial harem.

    It was strange. No matter how she tried to hate them, she couldn''t. Instead, she grew to love them like real sisters. With them sharing life and death on the battlefield countless times, this bond became unbreakable.

    Ruyue''s glory was her glory. Elena''s glory was her glory. Even if their paths separated, they would never forget their bond, nor would they abandon their love. Rose was keenly aware of this, and it was for this reason why both she and Ruyue didn''t question Elena''s decision to leave.

    She was no longer the little girl she was in Apeiron, she was no longer the sheltered little princess who only wished to explore the world. Her goals had evolved and changed.

    To support those she cared about with all her power and help them achieve their dreams, this was what Rose wished for.

    Now, seeing Ruyue set a goal for herself and act on it, how could she not be proud?

    Rose turned her attention back to the battlefield. She didn''t know why she suddenly became sentimental, but she didn''t mind the small interlude that lightened her mood within this bloody battlefield.

    Only, it was hard to be optimistic. There were too many enemies and too few allies. If the current pace was kept, it would only be another day before they were defeated in a battle of attrition.

    ''Before Damien finishes his Baptism, only Ruyue and I can hold the fort. I can''t rely on these weaker soldiers to aplish anything noteworthy.''

    For every hundred enemies she killed, a single soldier below her would kill at most ten. Whenbined together, their might was undeniable, but their numbers were slowly dwindling as people ran out of mana and were forced to withdraw.

    Rose''s eyes hardened. It had been a very long time since shest had to fight seriously. She never held the same desire to challenge herself that her peers had.

    But now, seeing Ruyue''s fervor, her fighting spirit unintentionally erupted. She couldn''t let her little sister overshadow her now, could she?

    With a fiendish grin on her face, Rose snapped her fingers. In that instant, the surrounding hundreds of kilometers and the countless thousands of existences within were epassed in a mysterious ck barrier.

    "Illusory Throne, show them your might."

    The Illusory Throne was a domain Rose first gained when she reached 3rd ss, but since then, it had changed constantly.

    Her crude use of its abilities from the past looked like child''s ypared to her current control.

    A throne appeared in the air within the ck barrier. Rose drifted through the air, calmly arriving in front of it and sitting down as if she was an emperor overlooking the world.

    "Mana cancetion."

    Sitting on the Illusory Throne, hermand wasw. Mana itself became illusive, shifting into an ethereal ne that these soldiers could never even dream to ess.

    In that instant, the battlefield came to a screeching halt. Every attack fired within the barrier was erased from existence as if it never existed.

    But Rose was only getting started.

    "Hell mes."

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The ground erupted with magma. Burning red mes danced through the air, rapidly spreading until the entire dark domain was dyed in its color.

    "Ahhhh!"

    "Someone save me!"

    "Hel- huh?"

    Cries of anguish and pain rang true, but within those cries were also mixed many confused reactions. After all, Rose didn''t just epass enemies in her domain. A few rogue soldiers were trapped as well.

    The Hell mes she summoned never existed in reality in the first ce. These illusory mes burned on more ethereal concepts, and the pain they transmitted was decided wholly by Rose.

    Vengeance, bloodlust, anger, negative emotions like these were used as fuel to the mes. Compared to the safety of her allies, the fate of her enemies could only be imagined.

    Those weaker Niflheim and Asgard soldiers were corrupted in an instant. Unable to bear the burning negative emotions around them, these soldiers'' eyes turned bloodshot, their reasoning disappearing.

    Without suspense, they began wildly attacking. But in the current situation, the only ones around them were allies!

    ng! sh!

    Swords and spears moved zealously through the crowd. The deranged soldiers attacked fiercely, however, without ess to mana, their attacks didn''t contain the same power as they used to.

    However, everyone else was in the same position. Their weapons were deadly against the weak mortal bodies of those they used to consider their friends.

    "Burn brighter."

    Rose''s voice rang out again. The intensity of the Hell mes increased exponentially. It wasn''t just one or two bloodlusted soldiers turning on their allies anymore. All 3rd ss soldiers were forced into a maddened state.

    Without Rose having to move a single step from her throne, her enemies began killing each other wildly. If she gave the word, they would do anything she said. Their minds had been corroded to such a terrifying degree.

    And to cause this mayhem, Rose only spoke a few words. This was the nature of her power.

    Rose''s original affinity was for illusions, an incredibly rare non-elemental affinity. Matching their rarity, non-elemental affinities tended to have more conceptual leeway than their elemental counterparts.

    Even Ruyue''s moon affinity could be used as an example of this. Through this strange affinity, she was able to control a power that mirrored that of a Celestial.

    As for Rose, her situation was even more special. Her illusion affinity was simr to Ruyue''s yin affinity in that it was able to showcase far more power than an ordinary illusion affinity.

    As Rose became more and more powerful, she found that her abilities were allowing her to manipte reality itself.

    It was almost god-like.

    Naturally, there were plenty of restrictions on this power. One couldn''t simply manipte the universe''s foundation because one wanted to.

    But to Rose, these restrictions were negligible. With the power she currently possessed and the power she possessed in the future, she had no doubt she would be able to achieve the impossible.

    Within an hour of Roseying down her domain, every enemy within a thousand kilometers had been in, leaving a gaping hole in the battlefield. As for Ruyue, she''d long since killed the burly man and moved on to new prey.

    But no matter how optimistic their situation looked, reality wasn''t so kind. The massive gap was soon filled by the endless number of enemies they were facing, and the only thing they had to show for their efforts was their depleting mana reserves.

    The current state of affairs wasn''t positive in the slightest.

 Chapter 567 Baptism [7]

    While Rose and Ruyue did their utmost to keep hold of their side''s dwindling momentum, the war never stopped growing in scale.

    It had to be remembered, while Wrath had turned the war into a fierce struggle to reach Damien, it didn''t start that way. The reason the war began was merely a conflict of interests, just like any other war.

    Niflheim and Asgard were originally enemies, Shadow Garden fought against both sides, and even the Cloud ne forces did the same.

    Therefore, not everyone was aiming for Damien''s Baptism. The chaotic battlefield was in a state where only those from the same influence were allies, with everyone else being nothing more than targets.

    Even now, with hundreds of thousands already dead, the war hadn''t reached its climax. Almost every side still had hidden cards up their sleeves, only to be used at the critical moment.

    But it was still true that more than just a few hours had passed. When tranted to time in the World Energy Barrier, it had already been another year.

    Two different streams of energy streaked through the air, opposing each other but coexisting without a problem. While one of these streams was noticeably stronger than the other, they somehow were able to maintain a delicate bnce.

    In the midst of these harmoniously conflicting energies was none other than Damien, but the past year had not been kind to his appearance.

    His clothes were torn to shreds, portions of his hair were charred and king off, and his body had been destroyed and rebuilt so many times that he no longer registered the pain of it all. But his eyes still shone as bright as the stars.

    While his main focus in the year that passed was indeed countering the time flow around him, the universe wasn''t so kind as to let him easily do so. Even while the temporal cage remained active, he was forced to endure trials rted to his other elements.

    Spatial lightning was a form of lightning generated in the starry sky due to the intense concentration of spatial essence interacting with stray elemental particles that entered space due to the movement of celestial bodies. When it came to types of lighting, it was one of the rarest and most destructive.

    When Damien''s lighting trial began, he was already being forced to endure spatial lighting.

    The rampaging energy that was like a fusion of two equally destructive energies destroyed his body outright. If it wasn''t for Transcendent Regeneration leveling up due to how constantly he used it, he would''ve died in that instant.

    But the spatial lighting was only the beginning. Afterwards, the lighting rapidly evolved until it surpassed even ck demon lighting, bing true heavenly lighting simr to what Damien absorbed when he went through his Partial Baptism.

    However, the silver heavenly lightning from back then, the lighting that was still residing in his Mana Heart, actually acted as a catalyst for the new heavenly lighting that rained down on him. The impact force it had on his body was several times worse than it would''ve been if he hadn''t possessed something so forbidden.

    The benefits he gained from doing so were the only thought that kept him sane throughout the process until he eventuallypleted it.

    Afterwards, he faced a me tribtion that wasn''t much different. The degree of me he was forced to endure increased exponentially with time. The impurities on his body, both physical and ethereal, were rapidly reduced to ashes by these mes.

    But the me tribtion didn''t cause nearly enough pain as its lighting counterpart. After all, Damien had a cheat code.

    If anything, he had to thank the universe for the format in which it tested him. Starting from mes that could be found in nature and moving up to mes that were more elusive and powerful meant that his Void mes were essentially provided a buffet!

    Besides the mes needed to temper his body, Damien let the Void me eat everything. And looking at its progress, he was more than just satisfied.

    Until this point, the Void mes had been rtively useless in battle, only showing their worth against arge number of weaker enemies. With Damien''s powerset, he didn''t need another ability that did so.

    However, the current Void mes couldn''t bepared with their pathetic past self. As they burned on Damien''s body, even the Time Essence in the vicinity was burned away, giving Damien more leeway to establish his counterflow.

    It was still unfortunate, though. While the Void mes devoured a Nihility me Source to gain the ability to grow stronger by eating other mes, Damien''s lighting didn''t have such an ability. The best he could do was store heavenly lightning as a one-time-use treasure forter.

    And when the lighting and me tribtions finally passed, Damien finally managed topletely establish his counterflow. The strength he gained through those trials wasn''t wasted in the slightest.

    Time was like an indomitable river. Reversing its flow was impossible, but if one had enough capital, elerating or decelerating that flow could be done easily. As for halting the flow entirely, that was far more difficult, even though it was still possible.

    Damien was fighting against time that seemed halted, but in reality, it was merely slowed to the extreme. The solution to this problem was simply to counteract the slowed flow with an elerated flow, but this was far easier than it sounded.

    After all, time was being slowed by the universe itself. This wasn''t a level Damien was able to match simply because he understood the concept or knew what to do. Even when hisprehension was sufficient, he still needed to proficiently wield World Force in order to affect phenomena on a level intrinsic enough topete.

    Now, it had been a year. Damien stood silently as he waited for the next trial to begin.

    Spending two years in this space absorbed in training and forgetting everything else had a severe impact on his mentality. He found that although he still had the ability to joke about his situation, it was harder for him to maintain the personality he upheld before.

    He didn''t think he could act so immature as to annoy every Demigod he met just for the sake of it anymore, acting far above his station out of a false sense of rebellion.

    Was it a bad thing for him to change? He didn''t think so. He didn''t think that this change would turn him into a stoic brick who didn''t interact with anyone. It was more urate to say that he understood his capital. He understood how much arrogance he could possess without it bing harmful.

    And more than that, his mind was calmer. His ability to react situationally had improved drastically. Even if Damien were to suddenly lose all his power, he wouldn''t panic as he did 2 years ago.

    Thus, when the time flow around him began to stabilize and all light slowly faded from within the World Energy Barrier, he silently put his guard up and waited.

    Whatever the next trial would be, he''d pass it with flying colors. And after that, he''d truly be reborn.

 Chapter 568 Baptism [8]

    As light faded from the World Energy Barrier, a myriad of changes took ce, but they all had one main purpose.

    Everything was being erased except Damien.

    All essences, whether they be simpler elemental essences or more esoteric ones like space and time, vanished from the air. This was a phenomenon that was quite literally impossible to mimic using human hands.

    In Damien''s mind, even gods couldn''t do such a thing.

    It was one thing to establish a domain where other essences were suppressed, it was even possible to banish the ambient mana into separate nes to mimic this effect, but Damien could clearly feel that neither of these were the case at the moment.

    These essences were quite literally vanishing, ignoring concepts like thew of conservation of energy.

    At the same time, even the mana in Damien''s body was being chained down. It was a simr feeling to the first trial when his spatial affinity was taken away, but now that he''d been thoroughly tempered by the past few years, he didn''t panic about it.

    He calmly waited, and as if to respond to his calmness, a new system message appeared.

    [First Trialpleted.]

    [Beginning Second Trial.]

    But that was it. It was only an indication that Damien had moved on to the next stage, without actually telling him how to pass through.

    In this situation, what was he supposed to do? There was no cage trapping him, there wasn''t even any essence in the surroundings for him toprehend. It was just him, alone in the expansive darkness.

    ''So I just have to endure¡­'' Damien thought to himself. From the beginning of his Baptism until now, the general theme seemed to be "enduring."

    He had to endure the years that passed without contact with the outside world, endure the endless dimensional cages that he had to escape, endure the infinitesimally slowed time flow, endure the physical destruction of his body through lightning and mes, and now, he was put in a situation where he no longer had anything to do.

    In a ck space where time didn''t flow, a ce where one could easily go insane or lose their sense of self if their mental strength wasn''t adequate, he would simply have to endure¡­

    Until the trial finally ended.

    Once he realized this, Damien directly sat down in a meditative posture. Walking around was pointless, and without any Time Essence around to indicate its flow, Damien couldn''t even use this walking to satiate the boredom that would eventually ovee him.

    Therefore, it was better for him to adapt as fast as he could. With his eyes closed, he simply sat like a stone Buddha, clearing his mind of any thoughts.

    Like this, a day passed, then two, then multiple weeks. An entire month passed while Damien did nothing but sit silently.

    It was only at this time that a change urred. A subtle pressure began to fill the air, bearing down on his body. However, at its current level, Damien quite literally didn''t feel it.

    4 weeks¡­5 weeks¡­6 weeks¡­

    When 2 months passed, the pressure finally began to tickle a bit, but Damien still ignored it. He was submerged in his spiritual world, attempting to glean some sort of benefit from his current situation.

    ''I can''t wantonly use my mana. It''s already hard enough to move it due to the restriction, but more than that, my supply at the moment is finite. Now that all ambient mana and essences have been removed from the surroundings, even Devour can''t help me recover.''

    For the first time in a very long time, Damien''s stamina became simr to an average person''s. It wouldn''t be easy for him to cope with this, having gotten used to easily replenishing his mana whenever he needed to.

    ''But this is good too. Amodating this situation will help me tune my fine control and mana utilization abilities. I can also tweak the Ananta Matrix to work more efficiently too. If I can connect Eve to the Ananta Matrix and have her program solely focus on algorithmically managing my mana, the whole system will be heightened to another level.''

    There were some calctions that the human mind simply couldn''t aplish. Even after evolving and being tempered as one''s league raised, the mind would still hold a limited capacity, especially forplicated processes like operating a mana system.

    This was why Mana Utilization Systems were always semi-automatic. One only needed tomand their mana to follow the system, rather than personally guide the mana. This not only increased one''s efficiency, but also allowed one''s mana output to grow and gave one far more leeway when it came to processing ability.

    If Damien could connect the AI chip in his head to the Ananta Matrix and make it his own power, however, he would be a level above even this.

    He would have another entity with limited intelligence and unbreakable loyalty managing his mana and helping him move it. Not only that, but Eve, being a miracle of technology and mana, could do so at a level the human mind couldn''tpare with.

    And the AI chip was still functioning based on Asgard''s specifications. Once it was connected to the Ananta Matrix and evolved to fuse with it, its fundamental systems would also be heightened to another level, giving Damien even more benefits.

    Until now, Damien hadn''t found the time to take care of this. Because Eve was an external source that he was attempting to turn into a part of his body, the process would be far more involved than when he created Nodal Points or other constructs out of his own mana.

    Now that he finally had the time, how could he miss this opportunity?

    With that thought in mind, he immediately went to work. Without any indication of the flow of time, hepletely lost himself.

    Another 3 months passed, marking 5 months since the second trial began. The pressure in the air was bing less and less faint by the day, but Damien still didn''t feel it at all.

    His body was just too powerful. It was mainly due to this powerful body that he couldpete with early 4th-ss beings so easily.

    When he possessed a body that surpassed those that went through Baptism, how could such a small amount of pressure affect him? He was still calmly altering Eve and extending Mana Nerves into his brain to connect with her.

    But since he was working with his brain, he did so with utmost focus. A single misstep could turn him into an idiot.

    Even if Transcendent Regeneration healed his brain afterwards, he''d lose all the progress he made, and he might even fry the AI chip that was at the core of this procedure. He didn''t have any room for mistakes.

    It was just, the current environment didn''t necessarily provide him with the total security he needed.

    As if the universe felt challenged by his casual demeanor, the rate at which the surrounding pressure increased hastened exponentially.

    Within a week, the pressure had doubled. By the time 6 months passed, Damien''s skin was already turning red from enduring.

    It wouldn''t be much longer before his body started truly feeling the pain that came along with this. Even in his utterly focused state, he was doing his best to maintain his calm and continue the procedure.

    He was in too deep to back out, but if he took even a few days too long toplete the process, the pressure would break his concentration and ruin it.

    Suddenly, Damien found himself in the midst of an extremely high-stakes gamble.

 Chapter 569 Baptism [9]

    Bang!

    With an explosive sound, the pressure within the World Energy Barrier once again increased exponentially!

    Damien''s flesh rapidly tore. Even after being tempered by the blood of countless beasts and even the Purple Primordial Undying Fruit, his mortal body wasn''t able to bear the burden that was being ced on it.

    More than anything, this went to show just how great said pressure was. If even Damien couldn''t resist it, then that meant anymon early 4th-ss being would die instantly under its strength!

    Damien gritted his teeth. In his current situation, he didn''t even have the extra processing capability to analyze the situation. The only thing he could do was put his utmost into enduring and finishing the current task as fast as possible!

    Damien''s mind worked without pause. Luckily, the Ananta Matrix was highly self-sufficient, so while he still had to guide the process and enact most of the changes himself, he didn''t have to do any of theplicated calctions that became necessary for such a substantial change.

    After all, no matter how much his intelligence had increased from the past, he wasn''t some super genius who could do everything.

    His advantagey in the fact that he was self-aware of his ownck of intelligence, or at least, he became self-aware of it not long after leaving the dungeon. As such, his every step was made with amodating this weakness in mind.

    The fact that the Ananta Matrix could actively assist him in the process of its evolution even without any semnce of spiritual intelligence was proof of this.

    Nevertheless, the intensive process continued. The AI chip in his brain was slowly enveloped in a wrapping of Mana Threads that connected to the Ananta Matrix. Through this connection, the AI chip was being altered to fit the Mana Circuit while also building an unbreakable connection with it.

    Essentially, the chip was bing an ethereal existence that surpassed its original self. While it would lose most of its abilities in the process, it would be more specialized and would fit Damien''s needs far better.

    ''Phew¡­'' Damien sighed internally. Reaching this step meant that most of his work was done. He still needed to watch for any outliers in the process, but his main job now was to endure the pressure surrounding him and protect his body so that the process wouldn''t be interrupted.

    Damien''s eyes shed open. It almost felt like he didn''t open them at all, though. For the past half a year, he''d been submerged in his consciousness and almost forgotten the state of the world outside.

    ''What do I do here?'' He asked himself after limating to the environment. His body was still wracked with pain and the pressure wasn''t decreasing in the slightest. Transcendent Regeneration was being pushed to its limits every second to keep him in one piece.

    But this wasn''t a viable solution to the problem. In the end, Transcendent Regeneration was also a skill. It would cease functioning when his mana was depleted.

    In the current situation where there was no way to replenish mana, using this ability was hurting him more than it was helping him.

    ''I can use Demon Transformation to increase my defense and Heal to mimic the effects of Transcendent Regeneration, but even this won''t hold up for long.''

    These two abilities weren''t skills, but traits. While they functioned simrly, the key difference between them was the fact that traits used stamina instead of mana.

    Damien''s stamina was no joke. Especially with Heal retaining the ability to replenish even his blood vitality, it was far more viable in the long term than Transcendent Regeneration at the moment.

    Without hesitation, Damien enacted his n. His body went through a massive change as he embodied his Demon Form, and a greenish-white light subtly emanated from his skin. Under these effects, the burden he felt lessened considerably.

    ''Haa, I finally have room to think. Luckily, I''ve reached the final steps in integrating the algorithmic system into my Ananta Matrix. That process shouldn''t even take a few more hours to finish¡­but who knows how long a few hours will take in this strange space.''

    Damien quite literally had nothing to do. Endure, endure, endure. This was the only thought in his mind.

    It could be said that Damien''s Baptism was already a unique case. From the Dimensional Cage to the Temporal Prison and finally this dark space, none of these trials would''ve impacted the average 4th ss.

    If the Universe Baptism was really such an intensive trial for everyone, there wouldn''t be so many 4th ss existences around. There was no way any normal influence could stomach the burden of raising them.

    But in the end, the format was still the same. Elemental mastery and mental fortitude; these were the two elements being tested in the Universe Baptism. While Damien didn''t know how thetter was usually tested, he was sure that the average elemental tribtions weren''t asplicated as his.

    After all, pseudo 4th ss beings like the Xue n''s 11th and 12th Elders only passed their Baptisms with outside help. Naturally, their Baptisms were also easier to stomach.

    In Damien''s opinion, there were two main reasons for this difference.

    The first was the most obvious: the change that took ce during his ss selection.

    It was clear that the Void Physique somehow altered his Baptism to suit its needs. Turning him into a Voidbringer against his will was enough proof of that. If the situation had to bepared to terms he was familiar with, Damien would ssify Voidbringer as a "hidden ss."

    Hidden sses having more difficult trials was amonce trope among video games he yed in the past, so it didn''t surprise him that such a thing happened.

    As for the second reason, it was far more practical. Compared to the average existence, Damien spent far more time consolidating his power before impacting the 4th ss threshold.

    Speaking realistically, Damien could''ve begun his Baptism at any time after his Partial Baptism had beenpleted. If he just yed an active part in any single one of the purges that took ce in the 6 month period before the Moon Squadron left for Niflheim, he could''ve easily umted the levels and achievements necessary.

    But he didn''t. Under Yun''s influence, he suppressed his desire to rapidly increase his strength and familiarized himself with what he already had. In the process, he discovered a portion of Dimensional Magic''s true power and even brought his Timeprehension to a level far higher than he expected it to grow in the time he had.

    As for his mes and lighting, although they didn''t receive any direct strengthening, they were consistently growing stronger along with him. Even Damien didn''t quite understand why this was possible, but if he had to take a guess, it was the influence of the final set of question marks in his status window.

    Regardless of which facet he looked at, he reached the peak or at least near the peak of what he could achieve as a mere 3rd ss. With these kinds of achievements, how could he receive the same level of trial as someone like the Xue n 12th Elder?

    If that were truly the case, he''d be an embarrassment to everyone and everything!

    Damien''s trial reflected his skill level, and more than that, his potential. When all theplicated matters were boiled down to such a point, the difficulty of his Baptism became easier to imagine.

 Chapter 570 Baptism [10]

    With Demon Transformation and Heal supporting him, even with the increasing pressure(l, Damien was able to easily hold out until the evolution of his Ananta Matrix waspleted.

    Voom!

    Damien felt an explosion go off in his mind. Even in this space filled with unending ckness, his vision was dyed white.

    Within his body, minute changes were taking ce, but each one carried a profound intent. With the new algorithmic chip guiding the Ananta Matrix, not only was its function drastically improved, even its autonomy lept to another level.

    Now, Damien barely even needed tomand his mana before it followed what he wanted to do. For the first time in his life, he felt like he and his mana were connected as a single being.

    Every being under the system had ess to mana. Regardless of talent, regardless of affinity, everyone was given the chance to utilize this mystical essence.

    That was one of the universe''s beauties. Even though talent was important, it was never the end all be allw of things. Any hardworking individual had the same ability to reach the heavens as a genius if they worked hard enough and continued to level up.

    But in the end, mana was an external force. Even once it was internalized, one needed to change their body to amodate it. Humans, at least, weren''t naturally evolved to use mana in the most efficient way they could. This was simply because theycked the intrinsic connection with mana that many other races had.

    Humanity was versatile and adaptable, and while this was their main advantage against other races, it was also their downfall. Humanity was quite literally a prime example of the saying: "jack of all trades, master of none."

    And as a human himself, Damien wasn''t able to escape from this quality. Regardless of how many times he evolved, his core would always remain human. That 50% of his bloodline would never be wiped no matter how much the Void Physique changed him.

    But in that moment when the Ananta Matrix finally evolved, Damien felt an orgasmic bliss spread through his mana. With every exhale, mana was pushed into the atmosphere, and with every inhale, it entered his body and infused itself into his systems.

    His pores opened wide like hungry mouths, mimicking the breathing done through his mouth. If it wasn''t for theck of mana in the surroundings, Damien would''ve sucked this space dry.

    ''Is this how elves feel when they breathe? No wonder their physical appearances are heightened. This kind of connection with mana isn''tparable to ordinary mana use. Just being in such close contact with the energy would do wonders, giving a mortal the ability to easily live for hundreds of years.''

    It wasn''t just a feeling. The barrier between thoughts and reality was so thin it was negligible. A subconscious desire was enough to mobilize Damien''s mana to do his bidding.

    At the moment, his level of mana affinity was actually more harmful than beneficial. Because Damien wasn''t used to such fine control, it was easy for him to idly waste mana. This was when the Ananta Matrix came in.

    Its autonomy was imperative. It could regte his mana for him and decide when to initiate its movement and when to ignore his subconscious thought. The best part was, the Ananta Matrix would never be wrong in its judgement of his desire.

    This was the intrinsic connection between circuit and man, between creator and creation.

    But even with this new level of efficiency, Damien wasn''t out of danger. Once again, the pressure around him exponentially increased. The universe clearly didn''t like that he was enduring so easily. Otherwise, how could the current circumstance even be called a trial?

    Crack!

    The sound of Damien''s skin cracking was as loud as a gunshot. As his blood began to leak, he rapidly suppressed Transcendent Regeneration and endured with his body alone.

    Crack! Crack!

    The cracks on his body didn''t stop spreading. Within minutes, his skin was segregated like puzzle pieces, thin lines running all across his body. In this state, it looked like a single breath could shatter him to pieces.

    And it really could¡­at least, the outsideyer of his body.

    "Khh¡­!" Damien suppressed a groan of pain. Before things could get worse, he already acted to save himself.

    ''Dragon Transformation!''

    Biting his tongue to help him remain rational, Damien activated his second transformation ability. When the two were stacked, they were an unstoppable force. The only reason Damien avoided this ability beforehand was because it consumed his stamina extremely rapidly.

    When he first gained the ability, he could spend at most 30 seconds in this form. But he wasn''t the same person anymore. Evensting 5 minutes wasn''t a problem for the current Damien.

    And when time became inconsequential, when its essence no longer existed to cement its flow, the concept itself returned to a representation of perception of change.

    In this environment where there was almost no change at all, couldn''t 5 minutes be 5 years without worry?

    This was what Damien kept telling himself as he resisted the pressure. Because his mana and stamina were being depleted at an insane rate, he couldn''t even resume practicing like he usually would''ve done.

    At one point, he was even of the mind to train the Space-Time River. No matter how hard he tried toprehend it, he couldn''t even take a single step past its most basic form, a form that wasn''t worth anything to the current Damien.

    Space and Time altered by the universe itself seemed like the perfect source from which he could draw inspiration. Unfortunately, the universe wasn''t that charitable. At the end of the day, Damien was being tested, not trained.

    And this was truly a test of mental and physical fortitude.

    Even disregarding the physical test, Damien almost didn''t realize how daunting the mental test would be for most people. Humans feared the unknown more than anything else. And after that was loneliness.

    In a dark and lonely ce where nothing was certain, going insane wasn''t shameful at all.

    The only reason Damien could survive so easily was because he''d already adapted to simr environments many times before.

    Even disregarding the First Dungeon, his first experience with intense loneliness and darkness, and ric''s memories, his most memorable experience with the concepts, just the half a year he spentatose and piecing together his spiritual continent in the Trial World was worse than this trial.

    Without realizing it, Damien had built up more experience than he could''ve ever imagined. He was even at the point where he looked down on a Universe Baptism.

    But he was painfully aware of one fact.

    His Baptism wouldn''t end with this trial.

    The strange Baptism he underwent started with the Void Physique, so it would end the same way. In Damien''s opinion, the physique had been far too quiet considering the circumstances.

    Now that he''d passed the elemental trials, he''d passed the mental trials, and he was infinitely close to passing the physical trials, it was finally approaching time for it to make a move.

    This made Damien insatiably curious.

    What kind of surprise would the Void Physique show him this time?

 Chapter 571 Baptism [11]

    With the dark space trial nearing its close, the World Energy Barrier began to show slight signs of fluctuation, but these weren''t noticed at all by those outside forces.

    Niflheim and Asgard had a nearly endless supply of 3rd ss beings that they threw into the war. But no matter how impossible it seemed for them to have such a massive reserve of troops, it wasn''t strange when one considered their status.

    Regardless of anything else, Niflheim and Asgard were the only influences that reigned over the unnamed world. Even organizations like Shadow Garden were only formed by those who escaped the previous two.

    In this sense, it was simr to if the Celestial Star Pce controlled half the forces of the entire Cloud ne. Even producing millions of 3rd ss beings was a simple matter at this level.

    But this reality only brought despair to those who rebelled against them. Doing so meant taking the entire world as one''s enemy. And when the entire world arrived on a single battlefield, holding them off was more difficult than anyone could ever imagine.

    But those of Shadow Garden and even those from the Cloud ne had resolved themselves to give their lives to their cause long ago. If they didn''t have even this muchmitment, they would''ve never been chosen by their respective organizations.

    Therefore, they continued fighting. Even as their brothers and sisters died in droves, they fought with everything they had.

    The forces of these two powers were nowhere near adequate enough in size tobat the endless wave of 3rd ss beings, but at least on the 4th ss side, they were rtively even. It was only due to this that Niflheim and Asgard''s forces weren''t able to mop up hundreds or even thousands of enemies in a single swoop, allowing Shadow Garden and the Cloud ne forces at least some minor respite.

    Still, they wouldn''tst much longer. If the situation continued to deteriorate, they would inevitably lose.

    Aishia knew this better than anyone. Until several hours ago, even she''d been part of Asgard''s forces. Her current actions of siding with their enemies could even be considered a temper tantrum on her part.

    Even she didn''t understand why she was fighting so hard. Even though she''d lived for over 10,000 years, it was a sheltered 10,000 years where she only ever fought with the protection of many elders.

    Now, experiencing the reality of warfare, she was disgusted. She couldn''t believe that the world was so vile, that the people who smiled at her so warmly could be such cold-blooded killers when the situation called for it.

    But in the end, was she much different? Even as she endured her disgust, she cut down people who used to look up to her like cabbages. She didn''t give a single care to their lives, using them to vent her grievances with the organization they belonged to.

    Did these 3rd ss beings harm her in any way? Were they even aware of the truth behind Asgard? In the end, these were just people who only knew how to follow orders. They didn''t deserve to be targeted by her hatred.

    Aishia began to understand. She began to understand that the justice she held in such high regard was nothing more than a pipe dream. Even if one had absolute power, creating such justice would be impossible.

    Because the fundamental makings of human nature didn''t lean towards morality, they leaned towards survival and survival alone.

    This was the curse of any existence with spiritual intelligence. Even if one overcame the fear of death, they wouldn''t ept it even at thest moment.

    At least, those who built the proper resolve as a practitioner wouldn''t.

    Aishia''s eyes hardened. If she wished to even maintain a semnce of her personal morality, she would need to adapt to this cruel world. She would need to change and amodate it before she could change it at all.

    But would she live that long?

    Surrounding her was a mob of 4th ss existences. On Shadow Garden''s side, she was doing arge portion of the heavy lifting when in terms of 4th ss battles.

    She didn''t mind it, though. She only wished that her mana capacity wouldst her until all her enemies fell.

    However, this was an empty hope. With every second, her mana dwindled further. Those facing her were 4th sses at the end of the day. Despite their apparent weakness in front of her spear, they were absolutely qualified to be her opponents.

    Aishia''s awareness spread, taking ount of her surroundings. The scent of hopelessness assailed her senses no matter how hard she tried to block it.

    Her grip on her spear tightened. The mana in her body circted fiercely, shining with a bright ethereal light that didn''t match the bloody image and aura she built on the battlefield.

    If her enemies were to title her at the moment, she was like a holy asura. Just this temperament alone was enough to strike fear in their hearts.

    They never wished for this fight! They didn''t want to throw their lives away like dogs! But what could they do?! Disobeying a Demigod would lead to a far more pitiful death. The most they could do was hope to die valiantly on the battlefield, or be lucky enough to survive in the end.

    The hopelessness Aishia sensed wasn''t just from Shadow Garden or the Cloud ne forces, but from all the ordinary foot soldiers on the ground.

    It was true that war was the best opportunity for growth, but out of these millions of troops, only the smallest minority of them would survive long enough to enjoy those benefits.

    In that atmosphere of utter hopelessness, a faint sound resounded from the horizon. It was faint, but for some reason, it was loud enough to announce its presence even through the chaos of this massive battlefield.

    Aishia looked over curiously, her mana still moving ceaselessly to y her enemies. Approaching the battlefield was a massive unknown object.

    Its shadow alone spanned thousands of kilometers. The sounding from its movement was bing increasingly deafening as it neared the battlefield.

    Aishia''s face inadvertently paled. If this object were to fall onto the battlefield, the shockwave from its impact would be enough to kill more soldiers than she''d killed in the time she''d participated in this war.

    But nothing of the sort would happen. Considering the individual who piloted this massive object, such a crass methodology would be more than just condemned.

    As the flying object neared, its figure became more defined, and its presence became harder to ignore. There were some sections of the warfront where people stopped fighting, focusing their attention on the mind-boggling sight in front of them.

    A massive city that floated in the sky. With this sight in front of them, could anyone remain calm?

    It seemed as if this city''s arrival was nned for the direst moment. When the scales were just about to tip in favor of Niflheim and Asgard, it revealed its presence and entered domineeringly.

    But those on the ground had to wonder¡­

    Just who would this floating city align itself with? And what effect would its presence have on this war?

 Chapter 572 Baptism [12]

    "Is that¡­Avalon?!"

    It was unknown who first spoke those words, but once they were put forth into the world, they spread like wildfire.

    After all, even before the city began floating, it was a central location in the unnamed world. More than just a few of these soldiers had visited it before.

    Now, looking closely at the city in the sky, they began to see the resemnce. The steampunk architectural style that diverged from the unnamed world''s overall aesthetic, the general technological expertise it took to even create something like a flying city, and many other factors seemed to confirm this conclusion without leaving any room for doubt.

    Because, in the end, this conclusion was the undeniable truth!

    Standing at the forefront of the flying siege weapon and looking down on the battlefield from atop it was a single woman, quiet and unassuming amongst Avalon''s domineering ambiance.

    But unknown to those who ignored her presence, a single word from her could easily decide their fates.

    This woman was none other than Lynn Carter!

    Looking down at the scene below, saying she was shocked was an understatement. In reality, Lynn never expected things to turn out this way.

    She had beenying down ns to copse the unnamed world''s societal structure for many years, and after finally deciding tounch Avalon, she''d acted on those ns.

    Ignoring this battlefield that she believed would just be one of many, she took her forces around the world and conquered Hub Cities without reservation. Now that many days had passed, it wasn''t an exaggeration to say that Lynn held the most political power in the world. She was nearly its ruler!

    But standing in the way of her truly ascending to this position were the two organizations she despised the most. The two organizations that put on a false show of good and evil to lull the citizens of this world into a false sense of understanding and security.

    The reason she conquered the remaining Hub Cities before visiting the main battlefield was precisely to undermine arge portion of the influence these two organizations held. Through absolute power and striking charisma, she was able to bring many of the seeds she nted into bloom, easily taking control of the world.

    Finally, it was time for her to face her enemies directly. Any schemes were useless in front of absolute power, she wished to illustrate this point to those who were so used to scheming in the dark.

    However, when she arrived, the scene she saw far surpassed her expectations.

    It wasn''t just a battle anymore, this was a full-scale war! And in the center of all that chaos was a whirlpool of World Energy!

    As the person who stirred him into action, it wasn''t difficult for Lynn to understand who was within that barrier. Especially after seeing Rose, Ruyue, and Aishia surrounding that barrier like Death Guards, her conclusion became set in stone. She had been following his progress from the start, so she naturally knew about those who were close to him.

    Lynn invested in Damien because she believed the chaos he stirred up would benefit her goals, but she never expected him to do it so wlessly. Due to his actions, therge battle in the Outer Wilds became an all-out war where no single side could hold back any of their cards. Almost all of the experts of the unnamed world, regardless of affiliation, had been gathered in one ce.

    For Lynn, who desired to destroy both Niflheim and Asgard with her entire being, was there a better oue?

    Her eyes becameplicated as she realized this, but in the end, she only sighed. There was nothing for her to contemte over. Since her enemies were gathered in one ce, her course of action was already set.

    "Open fire on Niflheim and Asgard. If even a single fighter from Shadow Garden or the Cloud ne is injured as coteral, it''ll be your heads on the line."

    Lynn''s coldmand rang out, and Avalon responded immediately. Everyone in this city worshipped her like a go; they wouldn''t dare to even think about betraying her expectations.

    As the cannons primed and all weapons turned towards the battlefield, a single thought entered the mind of every soldier, whether ally or enemy.

    When that city began its siege¡­

    They were fucked.

    ***

    Compared to the chaos taking ce outside, the scenery within the Authorities in the sky was far different.

    Currently, Wrath was looking at Albeus and the Drunken Old Immortal with a condescending smirk. Beads of sweat dripped down his brow and blood leaked from various parts of his body, but his demeanor was still that of an Emperor.

    After engaging in battle with these two, he was able to slowly regain his calm and reign in his madness. He didn''t need anything interfering with his rational thinking at this critical moment.

    Whoosh!

    An unassuming breeze passed by Wrath''s body, but he dodged without hesitation. After all, this breeze was a coagtion of Laws. Even he wouldn''t be unscathed if he let it hit him, a point which could be easily proven by witnessing the state of his body.

    "Do you think anything you do here has relevance? I am not shameless enough to say that you two pose no threat to me, however, it is true that you will not be able to kill me no matter how hard you try."

    In response to Wrath''s words, Albeus spat, "Pah! Stop the nonsense and fight me already!"

    He already knew this fact. It wasn''t hard to guess it. Wrath had been concealing himself far too deeply, this was something Albeus realized through their small bouts so far.

    He and the Drunken Old Immortal working together could only stand equal to Wrath, and this was only because of how casual their battle had been up until this point. If they truly fought with everything they had, it was unknown who woulde out on top.

    However, their goal was never to kill or even defeat Wrath. They only wished to stall him long enough for the Seed to bloom safely. When that happened, their true battle would begin.

    "Why so serious?" The Drunken Old Immortal stumbled. "The Seed is useless to you, anyway. You can''t control the power it possesses. Even if you consume it, you will only implode from the burden!"

    Compared to Albeus, he knew far more about what the Seed entailed. Even then, most of the information he had was hard to imagine.

    As a Demigod himself, he could be said to have reached the peak of the universe. Without leaving for the Heavenly World, ascending to True Godhood was impossible.

    The universe simply couldn''t bear the burden of housing a God.

    Therefore, Demigods were the true peak. Yet, the Seed was an existence that surpassed even them.

    The legends he read from the Ancient Texts were incredibly vague, with many portions lost in the annals of time, but from what he could make out, if the Seed was allowed to bloom to its full potential, even at the Demigod level, it would surpass the universe.

    To possess such a thing, and to even try to consume it for his own benefit, the Drunken Old Immortal couldn''t decide whether Wrath was absurdly stupid or hiding a pivotal card.

    But would Wrath ever reveal himself to his enemy?

    "An ant with a hint of knowledge thinks he canpare to me? You do not understand what the Seed entails. You do not understand how imperative its existence is to my race. To consume it?! That is a meager goal. I will not only consume the Seed, I will usurp it and take its ce! A mere junior who is just undergoing his first Baptism isn''t qualified to house it!"

    Wrath didn''t bother conversing with his enemies anymore. Even if he told them everything he knew, they still wouldn''t understand.

    Besides, his focus was never on them. Whether it be the war, the Demigods around him, or even the world itself, they all faded from his vision.

    The only thing Wrath could see was the slowly fading World Energy Barrier that was turning into a whirlpool connecting the Heavens and Earth.

 Chapter 573 Baptism [13]

    The World Energy Barrier was fading, or rather, it was bing one with the outside world, synchronizing their time flows andws.

    As Damien saw this happen, a wave of vertigo overcame him.

    It''d only been roughly half a day in the outside world, but to Damien, a full two and a half years had passed since his Universe Baptism began.

    The ratio between the two time flows was almost 1:2000! As Damien was forced to rapidly adapt to the drastically differing time flow of the outside world, it was only natural that he was incredibly disoriented.

    But more than that, he was confused.

    His Baptism hadn''t ended, this much he was aware of. If so, what significance did the World Energy Barrier''s movements have? Why was he being reintroduced to the real ne?

    Before he could question it further, his thought process was interrupted by a massive chain of explosions. His eyes moved instantly, locking onto the sight of a familiar city in an entirely unfamiliar position.

    ''That''s¡­Avalon?!''

    He wasn''t given time to remain surprised. From the floating ind on which Avalon rested, dozens of massive artillery weapons emerged, sting the battlefield without a single care.

    But if one looked closely, they''d notice that these shots were aimed quite precisely. They only fell in locations where Shadow Garden and Cloud ne forces weren''t present. In this way, these attacks with massive st radii wouldn''t affect the allied forces.

    However, this didn''t mean that Avalon couldn''t provide support for its allies. Aboveground and lining the roofs of nearly every building were smaller precision-based weapons. These weapons were operated by Avalon''s citizens, urately aiding their allies in repelling the swarm of enemies encroaching upon them.

    But swarm wasn''t even a substantial enough word to describe the scene of hundreds of thousands or even millions of enemy soldiers wantonly charging through the battlefield without a care for their lives. It was a terrifying sight.

    Above the ground, some few hundred meters in the air, the 4th ssbatants held their battles. Even Rose and Ruyue were included in this group. Here were the true powerhouses, those who could kill thousands of those on the ground with a single swing.

    But because they were all locked down by each other, this kind of scene didn''t appear.

    Even Rose and Ruyue, who were still at 3rd ss, were now being watched by 4th ss beings after their destructive power was recognized.

    ''This¡­how did things escte so much?!''

    Damien had a great understanding of time after studying it for so long in the World Energy Barrier, so understanding how much time had truly passed while he was gone wasn''t difficult.

    Still, even half a day wasn''t enough for things to be so chaotic!

    If Damien knew that he was the reason for this situation, it was unknown how he would react. After all, the only reason the battle reached this scale was because of Wrath''s order to capture him or interfere with his Baptism.

    While things had surely spiraled out of control after that order was given, it was still true that this was the reason everything started.

    But Damien still hadn''t taken in all the scenes around him. Even further in the sky, far above the clouds, the Demigods stood in stalemate. Due to their Authorities, the normal soldiers below them weren''t even able to witness their battles, but Damien was different.

    Authorities were separate dimensions, separate space-times. As this was his forte, wouldn''t it be embarrassing if Damien didn''t notice their presence?

    However, noticing them was all he could do. His power level hadn''t jumped nearly high enough for him to interfere with an Authority.

    Regardless, these scenes all entered Damien''s eyes within a few breaths time. Not long after, he was able to urately understand the gist of the situation.

    After all, it was rtively simple. The powder keg had finally been set off.

    Voom!

    The World Energy whirlpool soon finished its growth, and in the next second, it charged into Damien''s body. Droves upon droves of World Energy filled his every cell, nourishing him and destroying him at the same time.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Damien coughed in agony. World Energy was likely the highest form of energy he''d ever encountered, discounting Void Essence. It was energy only usable by the universe itself and Celestials like him.

    Now that it was flooding his body, he didn''t know what to do. It felt like the World Energy was prying into every nook and cranny of his internals in search of something it couldn''t find.

    ''What do¡­!''

    Before Damien''s thought could even finish, he found his body paralyzed. A slew of system notifications appeared in front of his eyes.

    [The Universe has acknowledged your qualifications.]

    [You have sessfullypleted the Universe Baptism.]

    [Your ss has been changed to¡ª]

    [Unknown entity interfering with procedures.]

    [The Third Test will begin.]

    Damien panicked. Now, of all times, the Void Physique decided to mess with him?! He was already in a precarious position, disoriented and unprotected, but now he was also paralyzed?! If someone decided to attack him¡­

    A sh appeared in front of Damien''s body. Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

    This was an attack. Not only was it an attack, it was an attack that could instantly kill him if itnded.

    Damien felt the horrifying energy fluctuationsing from this attack. It wasn''t something a mere 4th ss being could conjure. No, this was the work of a Divinity.

    In that moment of crisis, the world slowed nearly to a halt in Damien''s eyes. His mind remained iparably calm, racing in search of a solution to his predicament.

    If he couldn''t find one, he would die.

    This was a Demigod. There was no lucky chance, no miracle ability, no life-saving opportunity that could protect him from a Divinity.

    In front of a mortal, a Divinity was absolute.

    The feeling of death encroached upon Damien. It was a strange yet familiar feeling, but today, it seemed far more defined than usual.

    It was almost as if his senses were telling him he had no chance to escape this situation.

    It was almost as if the universe paralyzed him on purpose so that he could die under this sneak attack.

    The figure in front of Damien coalesced. Under his gaze, the visage of a bulky old man with a domineering beard and tired yet maddened eyes appeared.

    This man¡­was none other than Odin himself!

    The exalted leader of Asgard, the Demigod whose presence allowed Asgard to remain standing under Niflheim''s regime¡­

    This man was currently standing in front of a junior, his arm slowly extending while being encased in mana and mysteriousw fluctuations that Damien couldn''tprehend.

    He had already given up any sense of independence he had. The current Odin was no more than Wrath''s dog.

    In the strange mental state he was in, Damien clearly saw every motion Odin took as if it was in slow motion. But seeing these movements wouldn''t help him.

    He was just a being in the process of ascending to 4th ss. Even among mortals, he had a long way to go before being the strongest.

    His body simply didn''t have the ability to react.

 Chapter 574 Baptism [14]

    Throughout the entire war in the Outer Wilds, Odin had been a bystander.

    He watched as the situation escted, he watched as Damien began his breakthrough, he watched as the Demigods around him began fighting, but he didn''t move.

    Odin didn''t know what to do.

    He wasn''t a person whocked morality. At one point in his life, he''d been a just leader who fought against Niflheim with everything he had.

    When did things change?

    When he looked down at the lower battlegrounds and saw Aishia killing her own people with indifference painting her face, he felt a heart-wrenching pain. His being felt empty.

    Aishia was just a little girl not past 100 years old when he first met her. Her power level was barely scraping the bottom of 3rd ss due to how intensely the Valkyries around her cherished and protected her.

    That little girl had lost everyone after the war ended. There wasn''t a single Valkyrie left in existence, there was no ce for her to call home.

    And that''s when Odin found her. As he swept the world that was previously known as Asgard for any survivors, he found a single little girl crying amongst a mountain of corpses.

    His heart warmed in that instant. It wasn''t just pity he felt for the girl, but a sense of camaraderie.

    War wasn''t something that deserved to be glorified. Regardless of the heroes who appeared during wars, regardless of the various opportunities that would spawn in the chaos, for soldiers, wartime was represented by death and depression.

    Back then, Odin wasn''t as powerful as he was now. Although he was still a Demigod, he was the weakest kind, not even worthy of kissing Wrath''s feet.

    And when war broke out on a universal scale, there was a rule that almost always had to be followed.

    Demigods would remain in the Ancient Battlefield. If one side dispatched a Demigod, their enemy would be allowed the same privilege. In this way, it was impossible for Demigods to appear and turn the tides with absolute power.

    It was yet another method the universe used to maintain bnce.

    So even though Odin could barely be considered a Demigod, he was forced into the Ancient Battlefield. He was separated from those who made up the world known as Asgard.

    And when he was finally allowed to return, when the war reached its conclusion, the only member of Asgard remaining was that small Valkyrie he found amidst the rubble.

    She wasn''t the only one who had everything she loved stolen from her. Odin was the same, and an uncountable number of existences shared their pain.

    But in Asgard, there were only two.

    When Odin took Aishia in and raised her, he''d done it more for his own self-satisfaction than anything else. Seeing Aishia grow truly made him happy. It gave him the determination to rebuild Asgard.

    But fate was cruel. Niflheim imed their world long before Odin returned from the Ancient Battlefield. Even after Asgard was rebuilt, it became a minor power that had to struggle to survive. And even then, it was only able to do so because of Odin''s existence.

    As time passed, the worries that gued his mind became ever prevalent. He was spending less and less time with Aishia, holing himself up in his study to desperately keep Asgard afloat.

    This was when the two started drifting apart, and this was when things began going downhill.

    Aishia wasn''t just a daughter or a disciple to Odin, she was his emotional support. Her existence allowed him to maintain his sanity even through trying times. But due to his own actions, he lost this support.

    Aishia began to act on her own, integrating herself into Asgard and actively working to take down their enemy. Meanwhile, Odin became lost.

    He wanted Asgard to survive. He didn''t want everything he knew and loved to fall in war again. And to do so, the easiest and least bloody option was to submit to authority.

    But never did he imagine that the decision he made that day would hurt his daughter so much, nor did he imagine that he''d be nothing more than a dog who could only move on the orders of others.

    Looking down at Aishia, he realized that he couldn''t condemn her, he couldn''t pity her. The path she was walking was far better than his own, even if it would lead her to the precipice of death more times than she could ever expect.

    At least she wasn''t empty. At least she was able to regain herself.

    As he remembered the scene of Aishia''s Puppet Mechs acting against Asgard, his heart tore. He couldn''t imagine what Niflheim had done to her to make her hand over such imperative research without even realizing it.

    But it was toote for regret. Odin was an indecisive person, but he no longer had a choice. He wouldn''t be epted if he tried to redeem himself. He had sided with the same people who had ughtered his family and friends, ughtered his fellow Asgardians.

    There was no redemption for the wicked.

    And as the World Energy Barrier was torn down, Odin heard amand enter his head.

    Kill the man within the barrier. This was what Wrath ordered him to do.

    His eyes widened in shock. Didn''t Wrath wish to consume this boy? Wasn''t he obsessing over it for a reason? If so, why would he suddenly ask Odin to kill him?

    But even as he thought these useless thoughts, Odin was well aware that he didn''t have the qualifications to receive answers.

    He was just a dog. A dog who sold his soul to the devil.

    Odin gritted his teeth as he watched Damien. He wasn''t an uninformed person, he naturally understood the rtionship between Damien and Aishia.

    And he had personally witnessed the scene of Damien swooping in like a hero and saving Aishia from harm. Knowing that innocent little girl, this action alone was enough to sprout feelings in her heart.

    If Odin were to kill that man¡­

    He wouldn''t just be outcast. The little girl he raised for over 10,000 years would most likely take him as a revenge target, eventually killing him when she became a Demigod.

    And Odin had no doubt that Aishia would be a Demigod. He knew her talent and determination best.

    ''But perhaps¡­that might not be so bad.'' He thought to himself.

    It was toote for redemption. Odin was doomed to die on the hill he built for himself. If so, wouldn''t it be best if karma came full circle? If Aishia was the one who killed him, if he could provide Aishia with a goal to be stronger, he would at least do one good deed amongst the pile of terrible ones.

    His body moved without hesitation. For the sake of Asgard, for the sake of Aishia, and for the sake of himself, the boy named Damien had to die. It was his fate for being too weak to keep the treasures he had.

    Odin arrived in front of Damien within a tenth of an instant. Strangely enough, though, he could feel Damien''s gaze on his body. This gaze only made him move ever faster.

    His arm snaked forward, his hand outstretched like a de. The least he could do was provide this boy a quick death.

    But when he looked into those eyes, he only saw indifference and disdain. Even at the edge of death, Damien didn''t fold in the slightest. His heroic spirit only became all the more obvious.

    Odin''s eyes narrowed. This was the kind of person. The kind of person he despised the most. What gave them the right to be so haughty?! Why must they act so domineering with death inevitably in front of them?! Wasn''t itmon sense to do anything in one''s power to live?!

    These heroic youths who inadvertently forced Odin to face the pathetic person he''d be, he wouldn''t allow them to exist!

    The mana andw fluctuations around his arm became fiercer! Even though the attack hadn''t connected yet, half of Damien''s body had already been charred to a crisp, seemingly burnt through.

    And in that instant before the attack finally connected¡­

    "Haa¡­"

    A sigh resounded through the battlefield.

 Chapter 575 Baptism [15]

    "Haa¡­"

    A sigh resounded through the battlefield.

    To those weaker beings, this sigh didn''t mean anything. They simply ignored it and continued their battles. But to the experts present, this sigh had apletely different intent.

    In that moment, Odin''s momentum halted. His hand was already pressed into Damien''s neck, drawing a few drops of blood. If he had stopped his movements only a secondter, Damien''s head would''ve been cut clean off.

    But regardless of how intentional and skillful his actions looked, Odin knew best that this halting wasn''t his intent at all. A strange and profoundw fluctuation appeared around him, disallowing him from moving further.

    No matter how he tried to push his mana, no matter how he tried to counter thesews with his own, all his attempts were futile. Despite the amount of time that had passed since he first met Aishia, Odin hadn''t made too much progress in the Demigod realm.

    It was too vast and too vague of a power level even to someone who had reached it. The path forward from this point on was iparably difficult. Characters like Wrath who surpassed others to the point where two normal Demigods had to work together to suppress him were rare enough as it stood.

    This was the fate of those Demigods who refused the universe''sws. By right, a Demigod was to break through the universe''s boundaries and reach the Heavenly World upon their ascension. This was the path they were meant to follow.

    If they truly desired to stay in the lower universe, it was entirely possible. However, this also meant that the path forward was something they''d have to learn for themselves.

    The Universe barely had the capacity to contain Demigod-level existences. Naturally, it wouldn''t have the proper foundation for them to raise themselves easily.

    This was why, when a character appeared whose breath alone could suppress another Demigod, regardless of how weak the opposing Demigod was, it was a shocking disy of power.

    "I had no desire to participate in these squabbles, otherwise, why would I remain hidden for so long? However, it seems you do not desire for me to remain a mere bystander."

    The voice from the void wasnguid and indifferent, but there was an unstoppable momentum contained within. Simply listening to his words forced those in the surroundings to halt, a powerful sense of oppression washing over them.

    But the figure didn''t reveal himself yet. Clearly, Odin wasn''t enough to make him do so.

    Damien looked down at the hand inserted into his neck in shock. Regardless of any appearance he showed to the outside world, the vivid threat of death that assailed his senses wasn''t something he could easily cope with.

    This was true, inescapable death. It wasn''t a situation where he could maneuver his way out with enough wits and craftiness.

    But somehow, he''d managed to survive. It was only due to the grace of the mysterious senior that saved him. Damien was well aware of this fact.

    He wished he could thank this senior or perhaps understand his identity, but let alone speak, he couldn''t even move his body. He was still paralyzed by the World Energy spreading within.

    He could only move his eyes to watch the scene ying out before him.

    sh!

    It was unknown when it happened, but Odin was no longer in front of Damien. His body had been forcefully transported many feet away, finally giving Damien space to breathe.

    "This¡­this is¡­!" Odin stammered in shock. It wasn''t strange for Damien to miss his movements due to the massive power difference, but even Odin wasn''t able to tell when he was moved!

    If it wasn''t for the fact that Damien''s skin was no longer in contact with his body, perhaps he wouldn''t have noticed at all!

    "T-this senior¡­" Odin started. Facing such a mysterious foe, he didn''t dare show the slightest sign of disrespect. "Forgive this junior for being rash, however, this matter is between this junior and that boy. Senior does not need to worry about this junior interfering in the ongoing battle."

    As Odin spoke, Rose, Ruyue, and many others in the vicinity felt a sense of disgust welling in their hearts. Even while boot-licking, Odin was still trying to find an opportunity to kill Damien!

    To this move, they could only shake their heads in disappointment. Even an exalted Demigod could be blind at times.

    And as they expected, nothing good came from Orin''s words.

    Pah!

    A crisp p rang out, seemingly trumping the sound of even Avalon''s unending barrage. Odin''s body was sent flying back like a ragdoll, his face swelling uncontrobly.

    Once again, an attack that Odin couldn''t even begin to sense was sent towards him. Even facing the humiliation of being pped in front of so many people, even after losing an immense amount of face, he no longer dared to speak.

    In front of someone so powerful, a single misstep would lead to his death. And Odin in particr was a man who desperately clung to life.

    "Hmph. For me to interfere at this step, it should be obvious what my reason is. Anyone who dares touch that boy will die."

    At this point, even Wrath was paying attention to the sudden change in the situation. The appearance of this new Demigod wasn''t something he could''ve predicted.

    From the start, he never intended to let Odin kill Damien. In reality, he understood that the Seed''s blooming process couldn''t be stopped halfway. Any action against Damien could only be taken after his Baptism waspleted.

    However, even Wrath wasn''t aware of the repercussions of interfering. He only sent Odin out to test the waters. In essence, he was a sacrificialmb.

    Yet, the pitiful Asgardian couldn''t even do this job properly! Before Wrath could obtain any useful information, this new Demigod appeared out of nowhere and ruined everything!

    This made Wrath warier than anything that took ce until this point. When concerning this mysterious expert, even Wrath couldn''t judge his depths. This meant that at the very least, he was on par with him.

    While most of the involved parties were sunk in shock and confusion, only a single person stood with a silly grin on his face.

    This person¡­was none other than the Drunken Old Immortal!

    Hearing the voice that cut through the battlefield, he couldn''t help but think that it was extremely familiar. Only after feeling thew fluctuations from the previous p did he realize the neer''s identity.

    Without a care in the world, he took a swig of wine from his gourd and cackled. "Hahaha, you finally decided to reveal yourself? Old Void, quit acting mysterious ande out here!"

    His voice wasn''t too loud, but the intent behind his words grabbed everyone''s attention. By the looks of it, the Drunken Old Immortal actually knew this neer?

    "Haa, why do you have to ruin my fun every time?" The mysterious voice responded despondently. "Can''t you just allow me to have my moment even once?"

    The Drunken Old Immortal grinned like a fox. "Ha! You and your obsession with those mundane things! If you want to look good in front of these kids, juste out and p this Wrath character silly!"

    "Don''t joke with me. You just want me to clean up your mess since you''re toozy to do it yourself." The voice''s tone was deadpan with a trace of annoyance, clearly fed up with the Drunken Old Immortal''s antics.

    "Hahaha!" The Drunken Old Immortalughed raucously, not ashamed at being exposed at all. "Of course! Isn''t that what you always do?"

    The void trembled. An old man walked out of space next to the Drunken Old Immortal and pped him on the back of the head, directly taking the gourd out of his hand and drinking the wine within as if nothing else concerned him.

    "Tch. Don''t say that as though it''s my job. If you didn''t create trouble everywhere you went, would I have to do so much needless work?"

    The old man''s appearance wasn''t anything shocking, and his method of revealing himself made him seem like nothing more than a passing schr. But seeing this old man, two people on the battlefield felt a shock so immense that if it were possible, they would''ve coughed blood and fainted on the spot.

    After all, this was an incredibly familiar old man.

    With his hair, greyed from age, whipping in the wind, and his sagely beard falling down his front, the man who casually revealed himself as a Demigod¡­was none other than the Great Elder of the Celestial Star Pce¡­

    Tian Yang!

 Chapter 576 Baptism [16]

    Shocked? bbergasted? Could these words even begin to describe how Damien was feeling at the moment? It wasn''t just him, even Ruyue was in the same position.

    To them, Tian Yang was both their master and a kind old man that provided them support and helped them grow into the people they were today. As people so close to him, they naturally understood that he was strong.

    This point was further illustrated by how easily he crushed Xue Yebai. The strength he revealed truly was at the extreme peak of 4th ss.

    But the difference between the extreme peak of 4th ss and scraping the bottom of 5th ss was still like Heaven and Earth. Divinity wasn''t something that a mortal couldpare with.

    How could it be easy for these two disciples to suddenly ept that their master was a Demigod?!

    Damien''s mind raced. Logically, Tian Yang''s status made sense. Damien was already aware that the Celestial Star Pce had a Demigod ancestor.

    The problem was, when Damien first found out about this, he''d asked Yun to do aprehensive search for every Demigod in the world. Even Tang Lingzi was discovered through this search.

    But Yun didn''t say anything about Tian Yang. ording to the information Damien received, the Celestial Star Pce''s old ancestor was residing many kilometers below the sect, submerged in meditation.

    The confusion on Damien''s face was evident even through his paralyzed state. Naturally, Tian Yang noticed it too.

    He grinned mischievously. "Brat, you''re ten thousand years too early topete with me. I''m a Demigod specializing in Spatial Laws, you know? Do you think I''ve never had contact with the World Core before?"

    Realization struck Damien like a truck. Of course Tian Yang would''ve spoken to Yun before. Even if they couldn''tmunicate as thoroughly as he and Yun could, Tian Yang had more than enough power to roughly understand Yun''s intent.

    As for Yun, why wouldn''t it favor the Demigods born on its surface? Back then, Damien had only recently formed a contract with it, so their rtionship wasn''t solid at all. Choosing to protect Tian Yang''s identity wasn''t even something he could me Yun for.

    Compared to Damien, Ruyue''s reaction was even more exaggerated. She''s been with Tian Yang far longer than he had, and she didn''t have nearly enough information to draw the same conclusions as him.

    It was only after Tian Yang gave a brief exnation through mental transmission that she was able to somewhat calm down, but she forced him to promise an in-depth exnation when things were done and over. She wouldn''t be resigned until she knew everything.

    Tian Yang smiled wryly as he dealt with his two disciples, but at the moment, his prioritiesy elsewhere.

    His eyes focused on Wrath who was standing before him. A savage grin spread across his face.

    "I''ve been wanting to meet you for a long time." He said slowly.

    Wrath''s eyes narrowed. "And why is that?"

    "Hahaha!" Tian Yang chuckled. "Do you see anyone else around who can entertain me in battle? I finally found a worthy opponent, and he''s a scummy Nox as well. How can I not be excited?"

    "Your confidence is massive for someone who hasn''t even given his name yet. Don''t you think you''ve bitten off more than you can chew?" Wrath spat back.

    "Hm? Ah, I didn''t think your kind was civilized enough to care about such things. Mm, I am called Tian Yang, as for my title, I am the Void Old Immortal."

    Damien dearly wished he could move at the moment so he could p Tian Yang silly. If anyone was going to have that title, shouldn''t it have been him?!

    But Damien had lost relevance in the current matter. All eyes were focused on Tian Yang and Wrath.

    The Void Old Immortal of the Cloud ne. While this wasn''t a name Damien had ever heard before, to the native Cloud ne denizens that joined the operation against Niflheim, this title was like an explosion going off in their heads.

    He wasn''t just a legend, he was a mythical existence that surpassed anyone and everyone who had ever existed on the Cloud ne! His name was known by every child, decorated morously in the books they were read by their parents.

    For that figure to be standing before them...these denizens felt as if they were dreaming, floating on cloud nine.

    "To use the void''s name in your title is quite bold. Don''t you think you''ll incur its wrath by doing so?" Wrath sneered. He didn''t know anything about Tian Yang, so naturally, his title wouldn''t matter either.

    Tian Yang scoffed in return. "If you want to test my qualifications, I''d be more than happy to show you. What, did you not hear me the first time I challenged you?"

    Wrath gritted his teeth. No matter how enraged he was at Tian Yang''s constant rebuttals, he couldn''t move rashly. Tian Yang wasn''t someone he could bully like the rest of the Demigods present.

    The conversation between the two naturally progressed from this point, with many verbal blows being exchanged. Wrath didn''t have the confidence to directly face Tian Yang yet, so this was the most he could do to maintain his face.

    But standing below them quietly, Damien could no longer hear them.

    His mind was buzzing, a high-pitched ringing resonating in his ears and blocking out all other sounds. Even his eyesight was taken from him.

    The World Energy whirlpool around his body red up again, the energy that was keeping him paralyzed dispersing back into the atmosphere.

    Yet, Damien still didn''t move at all.

    Within his body, a change was urring. Damien was already aware of what this signified.

    Whatever mode the Void Physique wanted to make, it was making it now.

    Bang!

    An explosion urred within. Damien''s left side, just below his ribs, was sted into pieces.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Both legs were turned into mush in an instant, but they soon began to regrow under the effects of Transcendent Regeneration.

    While Damien''s body randomlybusting was a strange and harrowing sight, in reality, it was nothing more than a byproduct of the processes taking ce within his internal systems.

    Massive changes were taking ce. The true effects of the World Energy that wracked his body moments prior began to show.

    If Damien had to put it into words, that influx of World Energy was a primer. By adapting to the flow it forced into his body, bai circuits were already heated and his bodily systems working at full power. Even the World Core Fusion Reactor hungrily interfered with his body, attempting to consume every trace of World Energy it found.

    The reason his body was changing was because it was finally adapting to the pathwaysid out by World Energy. Thebustion was due to major changes thatpletely inverted or countered the existing flow of energy through his body, creating a naturally chaotic reaction.

    Yet, this was only the primer. While his body rapidly changed, Void Essence leaked from his mysterious connection to his physique, randomly appearing in his body like ck clouds.

    ''This...what does it want to do?'' Damien questioned, his expression bing dignified. Despite the pain, he was still clear-headed. By this point, he''d gotten used to losing limbs every once in a while.

    What he questioned was the Void Essence''s purpose. For it to intrude into his body without his control, there had to be some sort of n.

    And soon enough, this n was introduced to Damien in a bout of pain so unimaginable that he didn''t think it was possible.

    While the entire battlefield was paused and focused on Tian Yang and Wrath, a tense silence had enveloped it.

    But in that moment, the silence was interrupted by a harrowing scream of agony.

 Chapter 577 Baptism [17]

    "AHHHHHHHHH!"

    Damien''s agonizing roars rang out even through the frozen battlefield around him. The process of change his body was undergoing suddenly became far fiercer.

    Against his will, the Void Essence clouds in his body began circting through it, fusing into his Mana Circuits.

    And although he was usually unaffected by the harmful side of Void Essence, the same couldn''t be said about his current situation. As Void Essence attempted to prate his Mana Circuit, Damien was subjected to endless waves of scorching pain, as if he was being burned alive by the fire that created the universe.

    It had to be known, Damien''s mana circuit wasn''t simply a circuit inside his body. There was an etherealponent as well that didn''t exist in the Real ne. This ethereal circuit was like a backup and supplementary circuit.

    When his physical circuit didn''t work, it took over. And when his physical circuit worked fine, it''d assist and double the efficiency of any work it was doing.

    This circuit was untouchable. It was the pinnacle of Damien''s technical knowledge and the Ananta Matrix''s ability to evolve.

    Yet, this circuit was currently infected with Void Essence, turning into what looked like a diagram ofplexly intertwined roots projected over his body.

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

    His terrifying screams had no end. Compared to his paralyzed state from before, his current situation was far more vulnerable. And when it came to pain, this was the most he''d ever felt in his entire life.

    Damien was only lucky for Tian Yang, no, the Void Old Immortal''s presence. Because of him, Wrath didn''t have the confidence to move, and Odin had been put in his ce and was scared witless. Even Albeus and the Drunken Old Immortal left their positions, moving to aid their lessers against the four Demigods from both Niflheim and Asgard.

    This left Damien unthreatened by those terrifying existences in the sky. As for the 4th sses, they didn''t have time to even think about Damien under thebined barrage of the allied 4th sses and Avalon.

    But none of this mattered to Damien. How could he stay conscious about the outside situation?

    Void Essence finally managed to prate his Mana Circuits. Immediately upon contact with his free-flowing mana, it reacted and spread like a virus.

    It was like watching a river turn ck with squid ink. The iridescent blue and purple colors of Damien''s mana were wipedpletely, reced by a ck deeper than the abyss.

    Damien felt his mana reserves plummet immediately. It felt like if he checked his status at the moment, the Mana Capacity section would have a ring "0" written in it.

    "NO! I WON''T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!"

    His words came out as a bellow only he could hear. In this situation, he didn''t even have time to despair before collecting his thoughts.

    The burning will he forged through the countless trials before this moment was being tested in the harshest conditions. Even though the process itself was incredibly strange, it was still a product of his Baptism.

    The second he realized the emergency situation with his mana reserves, Damien acted. He didn''t waste time trying to think up a n. This time, he had to trust his natural instincts andprehensive power.

    And the first thing he instinctually did¡­was circte his mana.

    Whether or not it could be called mana anymore was still in question, but regardless, Damien circted the essence polluting his Mana Circuits as fiercely as he could.

    One revolution¡­two revolutions¡­five revolutions¡­

    The process repeated on loop. Every time a revolution waspleted, it became far easier for him to move the Essence. At the same time, the leak in his mana reserve was slowly being patched up as well.

    VOOM!

    A wave of power spread from Damien''s body, incorporating into the revolving World Essence whirlpool around him. The process that Damien instinctively tried to activate was starting.

    Ba-dum!

    Damien''s Mana Heart thumped powerfully. With every thump, the mana in his body, rather than returning to its previous state, turned an even darker shade of ck.

    ''This is¡­!''

    Now that the immediate danger was gone, he had the time to at least assess the situation.

    As he watched how the Void Essence corrupted his mana, Damien suddenly realized something.

    ''This is Devour?!''

    Right, the Devour skill was activated and devouring his mana on its own. But that wasn''t the only thing. Mixed with the Void Essence was a hidden and almost unnoticeable trace of World Essence that was guiding it.

    ''What is it¡­?''

    Before Damien could question again, another wave of power spread from his body. His Mana Circuits began physically changing.

    The Ananta Matrix was made to adapt. This was its first and main function. It was made and constantly improved so that it would never break, someday bing entirely invincible and perpetual.

    Even in a situation like this one, even when facing the ferocity of Void Essence, this quality shone through.

    After all, the damage he was undergoing was a byproduct of the Void Essence''s invasion. When it came to the situation itself, things were actually simple. As long as his Ananta Matrix could contain Void Essence, all other problems would naturally solve themselves.

    This was the card Damien relied on. If it wasn''t for this evolving ability, perhaps he truly would''ve been crippled by the sudden change in his body.

    Damiens Mana Heart thumped wildly. His Mana Circuits continued to morph, bing sturdier and thicker, expanding their channels to hold more mana. At the same time, they seemed to take on a mysterious property that allowed it to house Void Essence without a problem.

    Naturally, this change was caused by fusing with Void Essence and mirroring its properties. Small bits of World Essence were fused into the Circuits as well.

    His current Ananta Matrix had gone through a significant change. After the World Energy Baptism and Void Essence Baptism it received, it could hardly even be called the same circuit anymore.

    When the process finallypleted, everything fell into a lull.

    The World Energy whirlpool halted, the battle beyond its reach freezing in time. Only Damien was moving in the static world.

    But this moment was like the calm before the storm. Before Damien could even admire the mystical scene that made him feel more powerful than Divinities, he felt a feeling like millions of ants crawling through his skin.

    When he looked down, he noticed his body turning ck. His extremities were already encased in the unbreakable obsidian-like substance. His torso was rapidly enveloped even as he watched it happen.

    Damien couldn''t stop the process no matter how he pushed his mana. He couldn''t even move his body now that he was petrified from the neck down.

    He could feel it clearly. As the obsidian-like substance crawled up his face and into his orifices, he felt like he was being drowned and suffocated.

    It was at this moment that panic finally set in.

    But it was already toote.

    Damien''s body was frozen in the obsidian substance like a statue, frozen in time along with everything else.

    ***

    While the change Damien underwent took a long time to exin, the actual time it took was extremely short. From the first scream that jolted the battlefield around him, not even 5 minutes had passed. This drastic turn of events left people bbergasted.

    Rose, Ruyue, Aishia, and even Lynn looked towards the ck statue in which Damien was encased with worry. It was only natural that they wouldn''t be able to understand what was happening.

    As for the Demigods, even they were in the dark. The Void Physique was an existence that surpassed even them. The only reason for itsck of power was Damien''sck of power.

    But there were a few who roughly understood what was happening. Among them, Wrath and Tian Yang.

 Chapter 578 Baptism [18]

    In terms of Demigods, Tian Yang was among the strongest. This wasn''t something limited to the Human Domain, it held true even whenparing him to the wider 9 Sectors.

    To reach this level of power, staying in the Cloud ne, no, staying in the Human Domain wasn''t enough. Tian Yang had lived for around 50,000 years, and in that time, he''d explored the surrounding sectors and even made a name for himself on the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    The average Demigods of the Human Domain couldn''tpare to him, whether it be in strength or breadth of knowledge. As such, it was natural for Tian Yang to have a greater understanding of the situation than even the Drunken Old Immortal.

    Yet, the Void Physique wasn''t somemon physique that the other sectors had a great deal of information about. Regardless of what he knew, he couldn''tpare to Wrath.

    The two strongest experts present stood in the sky across from each other. While their eyes remained on Damien''s statue, their awarenesses were shing mid-air. If one of them dared to move, the other would stop them without hesitation.

    Tian Yang cracked a half-smile. "What, didn''t you want to absorb his power? Now is the perfect time, isn''t it? Why are you hesitating?"

    "Tch. There is no need for you to provoke me. I am not so foolish as to fall for your little tricks." Wrath spat back.

    Tian Yang nodded in disappointment. "I see, so you''re just a coward like the rest of them. From how obsessed you seemed with the seed, I''d expect more from you."

    "Obsession is one thing, and rationality is another. If I move right now, what end awaits me?"

    "Who knows." Tian Yang shrugged. "Don''t you want to find out?"

    He cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Tian Yang wasn''t some kind of savage, but that didn''t mean he didn''t love battle. In fact, battle maniacs were moremon than not in this universe where the fastest path to strength was ughter.

    Only, at his level of power, there weren''t many who could challenge him anymore. Even if he wished to go find opponents in the other sectors, they wouldn''t ept his challenges. On the precipice of wartime, nobody wanted to waste their strength or risk injury, at least among the Demigods.

    Therefore, the only viable enemies for the current Tian Yang were the Nox. Now that he''d found an opponent he''d been waiting so long for, how could he just let him go?

    Tian Yang was trying to provoke Wrath into battle mainly to satiate his own urges, but also to protect Damien. At this critical juncture, R?-an Yang didn''t want his young disciple to experience any setbacks. If he did, it might leave a permanent scar on his heart.

    For Damien whose greatest wish was to be unrestrained, Tian Yang felt a kinship surpassing master and disciple. He truly felt like a grandfather watching his grandson achieve what he could not.

    ''Work hard and achieve your dreams. As your master, I''ll support you from the back and take care of the troublesome matters. After all...''

    Tian Yang shook his head and refocused on Wrath. He''d given up ascension due to certain chains holding him in the lower universe. He didn''t want to see Damien experience the same fate.

    And for that to happen, he''d first help Damien take care of the things that he was still too weak to take care of.

    When he reached the level he desired, Tian Yang would be there watching from behind. Damien''s glory would be his own.

    Thinking this far, he couldn''t help but smile.

    ***

    Damien waspletely lucid within the cocoon. He could clearly feel the sticky tar-like substance snaking across his skin and devouring it. He could feel the essence attached to this substance prating into his body and making changes as it pleased.

    It was an extremely ufortable feeling. Especially because Damien, the owner of this body, couldn''t understand what was happening to him. He could only vaguely feel the movements of the Essence within.

    This was simr to the process of evolution Damien usually underwent, but at the same time, it was different.

    And after so many years of being forced to use his critical thinking skills, Damien became far quicker in understanding and analyzing. He realized that this was his chance. To throw away everything useless and bring his body closer to the perfection he desired.

    However, the cocoon of Void Essence began this process without his control, doing an overall wash to its wishes.

    If this continued, Damien would only reach a general perfection. There was naturally a difference between this and Damien''s own perception of the concept.

    He wanted to reach perfection through his own lens.

    Damien began struggling against the essence in his body. Rousing his mana, he attempted to forcefully take control over the Void Essence. But did he ever have such control over it? Even beforehand, he was only borrowing its strength. He had yet to understand its structure enough to wrest its control.

    At most, he could take control over a few strands. He would still get the rebirth he desired, but his jurisdiction over its direction would be limited to around 25%.

    ''...that''s more than enough. Even if I''m not actively controlling the rest, it is still working towards what the Void Physique perceived as perfection. If so, I need to make the most out of the 25% I can control.''

    The few strands of Void Essence that Damien could move were directed towards a few specific parts of his body. These were Nodal Points as well as areas that had experienced evolution.

    His legs that evolved after devouring the first Lightning Wolf, his throat that evolved after devouring the Wyvern, his eyes that evolved after eating that cursed spider, and all the other areas he''d inherited from others began going through drastic changes.

    But more than that, he focused his energy on was his Mana Circuits.

    With his current state, he wasn''t in need of another massive power boost. He''d already received more power than he knew what to do with, and he needed time to adjust to it. If he decided to continue wantonly raising his strength, he would simply be an empty shell who couldn''t even mobilize a portion of his full strength, conversely weakening him.

    Instead, what Damien focused on was ridding himself of problems he had in the past and preparing for problems that might arise in the future.

    His physical and ethereal Mana Circuits were one of these. Evidently, his mana wouldn''t be the same as it used to be anymore. The pitch-ck mana flowing through his Mana Veins waspletely different than anything he''d ever seen before.

    If this mana continued to grow and proliferate, his body and circuits might not be able to handle it. More than that, as his mana was now intrinsically linked to the Void Physique, Damien needed to make sure it wouldn''t rebel against him.

    After all, regardless of how long the Void Physique had been with him, Damien couldn''tpletely trust such a mysterious physique that seemed to have its own consciousness.

    Within the cocoon, Damien was quite literally going through metamorphosis.

    The man who exited after the process was finished...

    Would be apletely different monsterpared to the man who entered at the beginning.

 Chapter 579 Baptism [19]

    Void Essence was a strange thing. In terms of profundity, even space and timebined couldn''t hold a candle to it.

    Even Damien''s understanding of it was only 1% at most. To even im to be in control of this essence would only be arrogance on his part.

    But it was true that he had a method by which he could more easilyprehend the Void. This was the Sanctuary.

    The Sanctuary''s formation was byplete coincidence. Damien only wanted to borrow the power of Void Essence to make a subspace in which he could contain life. Yet, somehow, the Sanctuary was born.

    Inparison to true worlds, the Sanctuary wasn''t much, but it was still far more secure than an isted space. And more than anything else, the Sanctuary had its own budding foundationalws.

    This was a characteristic that even True Worlds didn''t have. The foundationalws of True Worlds were inherited from the universe. Despite the differences in the qualities of their ambient mana, the rules that made up all things on those worlds were all uniform.

    The Sanctuary didn''t match this uniformity. It received constant nourishment from the Void itself, being situated within it. As such, it was slowly forming its ownws in a way that mirrored a humanprehending their element.

    The key points derived from this process were two. Firstly, it meant that Damien, as the master and creator of the Sanctuary, had the ability to tweak and control these foundationalws, making him akin to a god within. And secondly, he could use this process to gain more understanding of the Void itself, since contacting it was nigh impossible with any other method.

    But even then, Damien didn''t have the qualifications to partake in this method ofprehension. With his previous power level, no matter how much he pondered upon it or tried to analyze it, he wouldn''t gain anything. Any insight that he did gain would vanish from his memories like it never existed.

    There was only one thing he understood: the Void was not a singr concept. If it was, there was no way it could provide the Sanctuary with the fuel it needed to maintain itself without a World Core.

    The five elements, life and death, space and time, creation and destruction, and any variants that stemmed from their foundation, the Void could perfectly create them all.

    It was more than just ethereal. It was magisterial to an iprehensible level. It almost seemed like the Void could do anything.

    As he underwent evolution within the Void Essence cocoon, Damien felt this even more clearly.

    It wasn''t just his body that was changing. It was only that his bodily change was far more rapid and easily sensed. In fact, within Damien, there were far more esoteric changes taking ce.

    There was a mysterious space in his body, a space that even he couldn''t sense the existence of. Within this space, there were three things.

    There were two colorless essences, one in the shape of a cube and the other without shape at all. These two mingled with each other and constantly intertwined, showing their affinity towards each other.

    These were space and time, the representations of them that manifested Damien''s affinities.

    As for the third construct, it was a small reddish-ck seed. On its surface, mystical runes of me and lighting danced as if they were alive.

    This seed represented the final affinity in Damien''s status window, a mystery that had remained unsolved to this day.

    These three forces usually cohabitated this mysterious space, continuously following the same dreary routine. But today, massive changes were taking ce.

    Strands of Void Essence rapidly converged within this space, invading these three constructs and forcing them to undergo changes.

    The space and time essences were already mingling, but they never crossed the boundaries that would connect them as one.

    This was mainly because Damien''sprehension wascking, but also because fusing them wasn''t an easy task at all. To do this would require a powerhouse to first sense the existence of this space and only then take years upon years to slowly allow them to fuse.

    However, Damien was exempt from this. Void Essence coiled around these space and time constructs, pushing them together. It acted as the glue, allowing them to fuse without problems.

    Let alone needing to take steps towards this process, Damien wasn''t even aware that it was urring! He could only vaguely feel that his affinities were going through an extreme change, evolving alongside him.

    But even this was rudimentary. As Damien grew in power, he would''ve taken this step regardless.

    The truly massive change within the mysterious space was the one that made the least noise.

    With a few nudges from the Void Essence, that tiny reddish-ck seed began to crack. From the crack, a small sprout began to bloom.

    The sprout pulsated with power. The auraing from it infected everything else, even traveling outside the mysterious space and affecting reality.

    The mes and lighting resting within Damien''s Mana Heart responded fiercely to this pulsation, chaotically ring.

    The Void mes already had the ability to swallow power to grow. While this ability was usually limited to other mes, the energy from the reddish-ck sprout was an exception. The Void mes happily devoured this energy, a tinge of asuran red appearing in their visage.

    Damien''s lighting showed an even more substantial response. It had been neglected for many years, slowly fading out of prominence. Whenpared to any of Damien''s other abilities, itgged too far behind.

    The only benefit this lightning had provided Damien recently was resistance. Because of his affinity, he was able to resist the Heavenly Lightning that struck him during his Partial and True Baptisms. More than that, he was even able to contain a few strands of silver Heavenly Lightning to use as life-saving measures in the future.

    It was just a shame that the first enemy Damien truly required these measures against was a Demigod. Tobat them, a mere strand of silver Heavenly Lightning wasn''t anywhere near enough.

    But against someone at the same level, this lighting was deadly. Even against those peak 4th ss existences, using this lightning would provide Damien a second of respite. This was more than enough time for him to warp away.

    Now, with the Heavenly Lightninging in contact with the reddish-ck energy, it began to revolt.

    It attempted to run wild in Damien''s body, doing everything it could to destroy that energy. But with Void Essence present, how could it be allowed to do as it pleased?

    Even this Heavenly Lightning was being forced to incorporate into Damien''s ability, truly bing a property of his lightning. Even if it wasn''t as powerful as its original form, it was still a major power boost for Damien''s previous ck lighting.

    Under Void Essence''s guidance, every facet of Damien''s being received a boost. Even his Legends became more defined.

    Slowly but surely, the process continued. After a full half an hour, Damien''s body finished its evolution. With his usual evolutions taking a few minutes at most, it could be seen how drastic the changes he went through were.

    When a full hour finally passed, the more ethereal changes also reachedpletion. Spiderweb cracks began to form on the Void Essence cocoon. As the outside situation had remained still during the process, this cracking clearly resounded in the ears of all those present.

    And finally, many secondster¡­

    A jade-white hand broke through the shell.

 Chapter 580 Baptism [20]

    It was strange how fast a situation could change.

    Mere moments ago, hundreds of thousands of troops were earnestly fighting to kill each other, even 4th sses were dropping like flies. But with the arrival of Tian Yang and his following movements, everything went quiet.

    Not even the troops below dared to move, as they feared the consequences of offending this new Demigod. After all, before his arrival, they weren''t able to see the other Demigods in the sky who were covered by Authorities.

    Damien''s situation was the cherry on top. Even an idiot could understand that these Demigods were paying close attention to him. Hell, the start of this war was due to Wrath''s desire to get his hands on the Seed.

    When the Void Essence cocoon covered him, surprise was the main emotion among them. Especially the 4th sses who already underwent Baptism, they were clearest on the strangeness of his situation.

    A normal Baptism was simple. One''sprehension of elements would be put to the test along with their mentality. While the method of testing and difficulty varied greatly per person, the underlying intent was usually the same.

    A situation like Damien''s was uncalled for. What did it mean? Why did it carry so much significance that even a Demigod would earnestly watch?

    All these questions were doomed to go unanswered, but at the very least, these practitioners were happy to be present at what seemed to be a monumental moment.

    Crack!

    When that crack rang out, tensions reached an all-time high. And finally, Damien''s hand pushed through, allowing the cocoon to crumble and fade into nothingness.

    Standing in the air now was a heroic youth. His momentum was both heroic and demonic at the same time, giving him an unpredictable aura, but his true aura was actually not present at all.

    If it wasn''t formon sense, the previous events, and the fact that he was currently hovering in the air, it wouldn''t be difficult to mistake him for amon mortal.

    But this was only for those weaker beings. The 4th sses could faintly feel a hint of the power he possessed, but the Demigods were far clearer.

    They could easily sense the all-epassing yet non-existent aura radiating from his body. To be able to give them this kind of feeling, Damien didn''t even seem human anymore.

    Rose and Ruyue were perhaps the most surprised by the new Damien that came out after his evolution. After all, his appearance had gone through great changes!

    His skin had always been milky-white, mirroring the finest jade, but this effect was even more exaggerated now. His smooth and unblemished skin made him seem like a sculpture carved out of the rarest minerals in existence.

    His hair, which had been uncut for many years, fell down his back like a midnight waterfall. However, unlike before, those streaks of silver were no longer present. His hair had reverted back to its previous glossy ck appearance.

    And below his sharp eyebrows were two mystical purple eyes. Even they had reverted to how they were before Damien''s evolution. No longer did they swirl along with the blood-red color that used to be there.

    In essence, Damien''s appearance regressed in a positive way. The only facet of his previous special appearance that remained were his cross-shaped pupils.

    This change in appearance wasn''t done on purpose, it was a natural byproduct of his path to perfection. After all, the changes in his appearance were always imperfections.

    His hair and eyes were byproducts of a time when he was young and unskilled. Back then, Damien had only just unlocked the functions of his Void Physique and gone through his first evolution.

    It was only natural that this evolution wouldn''t be asplete as those that came after it. Whether it be his hair or his eyes, they were both caused by his first evolution.

    Previously, he didn''t have the ability to go back and change what had happened in the past. The damage had been done. And with the general public not raising any concerns over his shiness, he slowly got used to it.

    But that didn''t change the fact that they were imperfections.

    The Void Physique was able to perfectly evolve Damien''s body and incorporate the traits of those he devoured. Even when he gained special bloodlines, they never affected his external appearance. This was the ideal.

    The only reason the All-Seeing Eyes maintained their cross-shaped pupils is because they functioned as both a trait and a skill. While he acquired them through devouring a spider beast, they were no longer the same pupils from back then.

    More than anything else, reverting to the appearance he was given at birth made Damien feel refreshed. He felt more like himself than he ever did before.

    And when that wasbined with the unbridled power he felt coursing through his veins¡­

    He threw his head back and roared into the sky. Dragon Pressure spread from his body in waves, giving off an extremely threatening feeling. Some 3rd ss soldiers in his direct vicinity were killed by this pressure alone.

    Finally.

    Finally, after so many years, his Baptism wasplete.

    There were no messages from the system, no indications that he passed, but he knew it instinctively. He was no longer on the same level as those small 3rd ss existences.

    As his hands clenched into fists, he could feel the essence of the world moving with them.

    He could feel Laws.

    It was a mystical feeling. Who knew that the space he had been mingling with since young could give him such a clear feeling? It felt as if he was connected with it, he had be one with it. It wasn''t just his closestpanion anymore. Space was him and he was space.

    But at the same time, it wasn''t just space. Whenever he interacted with space, he found that time would sneak its way in. And when he interacted with time, the same situation would ur with space.

    Within his body, these two elements had been intrinsically linked. Rather than saying he had affinities for space and time, it was more urate to just call it a singr space-time affinity.

    ''Tch. To think the difference between utilizingws with the help of World Force would feel so different from doing it personally. I was an idiot to think that World Force alone put me on par with those experts like Bai Xieren.''

    Back then, he''d mistakenly believed that even if he faced Bai Xieren, he''d have a chance at victory due to World Force. But he was older now and far smarter. More than that, he finally understood how it felt to be a 4th ss.

    Even if they were on the Cloud ne and he hadplete control over World Force, he wouldn''t have been able to defeat Bai Xieren. Her ability was her own, while Damien would only be borrowing a mere portion of the Cloud ne''s power.

    He shook his head in dismay. He didn''t even realize how insane his arrogance had been. If it wasn''t for the fact that those powerful beings he interacted with on the Cloud ne were allies and those who respected his position as the Star Master, he would''ve been squashed like a bug.

    The god-like omniscience that binding a world provided easily got to his head. With him still in the process of mentally maturing, this was even more so.

    But he didn''t have time to feel the true extent of his embarrassment towards his past actions. After all, he''d just received an immense boost in power.

    To consolidate that power as well as understand his limits, there was only one thing for him to do.

    His battle intent zed.

    Today, he would fight and kill until he either ran out of enemies, or dropped dead himself!

 Chapter 581 Convergence Of Fate [1]

    The battlefield was currently divided into many different sections. This was mainly because the sheer number of participants made it impossible to have a single chaotic battle. There were multiple battlegrounds where the situation vastly differed.

    Not all of these battlegrounds were wars between four forces. The Cloud ne originally didn''t bring too many troops to maintain covertness, and Shadow Garden was made up of traitors from other organizations so their numbers also weren''trge. At most, these two allied forces only took part in three or four different battlefields.

    Of these, the most prominent were the location nearest to Damien where Rose, Ruyue, and Aishia were fighting, and a location rtively further away where Long Chen''s Blood Cavalry held the momentum.

    In these two areas, the allied forces were achievingplete victory over their enemies. However, they still had to deal with the difference in numbers.

    Not to mention, the thousands of 4th-ss beings in the sky that constantly pressured them. Without these obstacles removed, it would be difficult to achieve a true victory.

    As for the other battlefields, the remaining two where the Cloud ne and Shadow Garden''s troops fought were rtively equal, and with Avalon''s help, they were able to persist.

    The rest of the sections were merely wars between Asgard and Niflheim alone. After all, these two forces were never allies. They merely acted for mutual benefit.

    As Damien looked over this situation, he developed a rough understanding of what to do. And since Tian Yang was actively filling him in on what took ce during his Baptism, he was able to grasp the situation.

    ''It looks like the first test will be wide-range killing power.''

    His first goal was to remove the numbers advantage that the enemies currently had. He didn''t believe that with his current achievements, it''d be impossible.

    Despite the fact that he already felt power coursing through his veins, he had a sneaking suspicion that even he couldn''t feel the true extent of evolution his body had gone through. This was something for him to slowly realize as time passed.

    But for now¡­

    Damien''s arm pointed outward, aiming into the horizon. His fingers were spread apart, in the next instant, clenching into a fist.

    ''Copse.''

    The pitch-ck mana in his body moved, slowly depleting. But there were no outside phenomena to apany this movement. As if doing so of its own will, space on the horizon copsed.

    BOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion rang out. Thousands of kilometers worth of space shattered and fell to the floor like ss. All those enemy soldiers within that space were sucked into the void, ripped to shreds by the rampantly swirling spatial mana within the chaotic space.

    In that instant, tens of thousands died. But this was nowhere near enough. Even Damien was frowning.

    ''I should be able to do more than that. Is the new property of my mana inhibiting me?''

    It made sense, considering that he barelyprehended the Void at all, but he still didn''t enjoying to know that he was being suppressed. Without hesitation, he continued his assault.

    ''Condense. Multiply. Ensnare.''

    His mana continued to deplete rapidly, but with his current reserves, that wasn''t a problem at all.

    While Copse was a widescale attack that indiscriminately killed anyone within its targeted area, his current method was different.

    This was the Dimensional Magic he learned within the World Energy Barrier.

    Just as he had once experienced, space condensed into small boxes, enough to contain hundreds of people within. These boxes were plentiful, trapping over a hundred thousand soldiers.

    After they formed, these soldiers werepletely isted from the outside world. From their perspective, they were suddenly thrown into an abyss without light or sound.

    ''elerate.''

    It was an even less showymand than hisst. Only those within the Dimensional Cages understood just how terrifying that one word could be.

    The essence of time that was missing from those cages flooded in without mercy, rapidly revolving and creating a force field of elerated time. These soldiers were only 3rd sses who hadn''t even touched upon Laws yet. How could they resist?

    Damien was currently putting on a show of power. As such, he made sure that what was happening inside the Dimensional Cages was clear for all to see.

    Those who watched on were forced to witness how in a mere instant, those poor soldiers aged and wrinkled, their life force fading rapidly. By the time a full second passed, many of their bodies had already scattered to ashes with not even bones left behind.

    ''How refreshing.'' Damien thought to himself. This wasn''t the feeling of battle he craved, but this scene where numbers were meaningless against his strength made it easy to get conceited.

    If he didn''t realize the depths of his arrogance beforehand, perhaps he would''ve be drunk on this feeling.

    ''There are too many of them for me to take care of it all myself. I''ve wiped out those on Rose and Ruyue''s side, so they should finish up soon. After that, they can help Long Chen and continue on from there. As for me¡­''

    The previous scene had happened too fast for many toprehend. Now that a few seconds had passed, the 4th sses in the surroundings were rushing towards him like an angry mob, not a single one sparing a nce at their other enemies.

    Damien grinned savagely. "Aishia,e help me out with the small fries. Li Xiu, Jiang Hualing, Hebi, don''t think I don''t feel your presences. Come get some kills as well. Just leave the stronger ones for me to deal with."

    "Hohoho~ now that you''ve reached our level it seems you have no consideration for us anymore. Can''t you ask a little nicer?" A mental transmission entered his ears. This was naturally from Jiang Hualing.

    Damien shook his head wryly. "Come on, I''m offering you a free meal. Aren''t you the one being rude by not epting?"

    Jiang Hualing smiled mysteriously. Really, she wasn''t wrong about this kid when they first met. Even when he was still at 3rd ss, he would''ve easily been able to obtain the Golden Dragon position.

    Without another word, her figure shed out of the crowd, arriving beside Damien. Aishia arrived at the same time. While Hebi lurked in the surroundings waiting for his time to strike, Li Xiu actually ignored his wordspletely.

    Seeing her actions, Damien''s smile turned even wrier. ''Looks like Long Chen got him another one. Really, that brat has some charisma.''

    Regardless, it was fine. He only wanted to give some free experience to those he knew. If they didn''t want to ept, that was on them.

    ''Ah, right.''

    It''d been so long that he almost forgot. Five more figures appeared around him from thin air. These were naturally the helpers he gained from the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    If he was going to eat, he''d make sure everyone around him could eat too.

    "Another one?" Elvira muttered.

    "Hmm¡­" The Fire Phoenix Matriarch hummed.

    "You always seem to be involved in some kind of chaos," Luciusmented.

    "Hahaha! This is why I like you, kid!" The White Dragon King roared withughter.

    As for the Ice Phoenix Matriarch, she quietly took in the surrounding scene.

    Damien smiled. With theirpany and mix of personalities, things would never be boring. Now, facing off against a horde of thousands of 4th ss beings, a team of 9 had assembled.

    To say it was going to be a fun battle would be an understatement.

 Chapter 582 Convergence Of Fate [2]

    There was no need to fill the five n leaders in on the situation. If Damien called them out, it meant it was time to fight. Although this time, it seemed the fight would be far fiercer.

    "Brat¡­you broke through?" The White Dragon King finally noticed. The auraing from Damien was so faint that he almost brushed over it.

    Damien nodded lightly. "Mm, but we can talk about thatter. For now, we fight!"

    There were too many enemiesing at them already. While mental transmissions only took an instant to exchange, Damien was itching to rush ahead. The White Dragon King could easily feel the zing inferno of fighting spiriting from his body, so he let the matter rest as well.

    After all, the thought of his junior catching up to him wasn''t pleasant. His fighting spirit inadvertently erupted at the thought!

    Without hesitation, Damien and his team charged at the iing horde.

    Even Damien wasn''t foolish enough to believe he could easily fight against thousands of 4th sses when he just ascended, but currently, his greatest advantage was surprise.

    Putting aside the fact that a freshly crowned 4th ss wouldn''t be used to their strength, they would have no Lawprehension to speak of. Comparatively, these established 4th sses should be far stronger.

    But Damien was different. Not only did he already have some minorprehension of Spatial Laws, but he could also utilize World Force and his new Void Mana to hold the advantage. He was far stronger than someone at the same level.

    In a situation where singlebat was practically impossible, his first goal was to leave a major psychological impact on this horde.

    His feet stepped through the air like nothing, his body rapidly arriving in front of a man whose aura was far stronger than those around him.

    This man was named Sylvius, and he was a 4th ss from Asgard. He wasn''t particrly outstanding among all of Asgard''s forces, but his power wasn''t something to scoff at. He was roughly at Aishia''s level.

    When Damien arrived in front of him, he swung the double-edged sword in his hand without hesitation, pouring out torrents of mana as he did so.

    Lighting crackled and sundered the air around him, painting everything bright yellow. He had seen Damien''s previous showing against the 3rd sses. He was in no way going to underestimate this enemy.

    Damien grinned. Mirage appeared in his right hand and Hel appeared in his left. Pitch-ck mana coiled around Mirage''s de, infusing it with space-time essence as he swung it to meet his opponent''s de.

    ''Lightning God Arts: Thunderous Impact!''

    ''Void Sword Art First Form: deless''

    A line was drawn through space wherever Mirage went. Its mere weight was enough to cause space to copse. On the other hand, the lighting coiling around Sylvius''s sword increased in quantity, raising his speed dozenfold until it far surpassed the sound barrier.

    BOOM!

    The collision between these two forces was more than just a little heavy. Sylvius rapidly twisted his body to the side, evading the massive spatial tear that deless created.

    When he looked over to see Damien doing the same, he found that his opponent actually hadn''t moved at all! His lightning wasn''t even an instant away from impacting Damien''s body, yet he didn''t dodge?

    Damien grinned slyly at Slyvius'' confusion. "If I knew you were a lighting expert I wouldn''t have chosen you."

    His left arm raised, the ck gun in his grip letting off undtions of power. From its barrel, a silverish-ck bullet was fired.

    This was created from Damien''s own lightning.

    BANG!

    Once again, a massive impact force rang out. Silver and yellow lighting intertwined and attempted to swallow each other. But despite Sylvius'' lighting beingposed of years ofwprehension, how could it contend with Damien, who had swallowed the Heavens'' lighting itself?

    The silver lighting rapidly devoured its opponent, its momentum constantly growing. When it finished its job, it continued forward, aiming for Sylvius himself!

    Sylvius gritted his teeth and raised his sword. This lighting was a higher level existence than his, that was true, but he could feel that Damien''sprehension wascking! While he possessed an advantage in raw power, Sylvius trumped him in skill!

    His sword shed rapidly, creating a web of lightning scars in the space around him. As the silver lightning approached this web, it was caught within and forced to wrestle against Sylvius'' substantialprehension.

    At the same time, Sylius red at Damien, his arms thrusting out.

    ''Lightning God Art: Lightning Asura!''

    A six-armed demonic phantom formed behind him, each arm holding a different lightning weapon. As Sylvius moved, the avatar moved with him.

    The top right arm that carried a massive lightning bolt and the middle left arm that held a domineering hammer moved together. One was fast and prative, while the other was slow and blunt. Whenbined together, they created a nearly unavoidable offense.

    Damien''s eyes hardened when he saw this. Right, even if their numbers made them seem like minor characters, these were all still 4th ss beings. 2 years ago, he wouldn''t have even dreamed of fighting against someone at Sylvius'' level.

    The lightning asura wasn''t a joke. Damien couldn''t use his own lighting to counter it, and it was true that hisck ofwprehension was currently limiting him.

    He had no choice but to use something more substantial.

    ''Mirror Domain.''

    Damien immediately summoned his domain, using the shattered space crystals it formed as a barrier against the lightning asura. At the same time, its first strike arrived.

    "BURST!" Sylvius roared. The massive lightning bolt struck the spatial barrier, separating into countless smaller and more concentrated bolts and prating the defense.

    But the Mirror Domain was also a surprisingly strong ability. Arge majority of these miniature lighting bolts were banished into the void or redirected to different locations. As for the rest, they shattered parts of the barrier as they fizzled out.

    But the lighting bolt was only an appetizer. The reason Sylvius burst it in the first ce was to prepare for the second attack.

    The lightning hammer came down. Its impact directly shattered half of Damien''s barrier. Yet, this was only the beginning. Sylvius roared once again, causing the surrounding lightning mana to be active.

    Any trace of the shattered lighting bolt that remained in the Mirror Domain spontaneouslybusted in a chain reaction. Whips of lighting connected them together, forming arge diagram.

    The lightning hammer finally broke through Damien''s defense and impacted that diagram. As it did, it formed a resonant reaction with them, exponentially multiplying its force.

    The Mirror Domain was enveloped in a storm of lightning that even Damien couldn''t dodge. In that instant, he activated his transformation skills, moving the blood runes on his scales into a defensive formation.

    BANG!

    The lightning struck true against Damien''s body. Waves of shock traveled through his scales, a portion even prating through them and entering his body.

    "Khh¡­!" Damien breathed. In this battle, he''d eaten the first loss. It wasn''t a matter of arrogance, nor was it a matter of power. Damien surely had far more raw power than Sylvius.

    But his raw power couldn''t show its true worth against the density of his opponent''swprehension. This only went to show how importantprehension was in 4th ss whenpared to its predecessors.

    Still, Damien was unfazed. When it came to cards, he had more than just a few. He wouldn''t go down with only this much.

    He circted his mana rapidly, mimicking the way he controlled Void Essence in the past. As he did so, he found something strange.

    The lighting in his body was formed from mana andwprehension. But as Damien''s Void Mana came into contact with it, a strange thing urred.

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock and anticipation. His thoughts raced as he realized what was happening.

    ''Don''t tell me¡­Void Mana has the power to suppressws¡­?''

    It wasn''t too clear at the moment since he''d only just ascended, but if his observation was true, he''d be an unstoppable powerhouse in the future!

    And when looking at the current fight¡­his chances of rapidly defeating his enemy had just increased exponentially.

 Chapter 583 Convergence Of Fate [3]

    Sylvius moved to continue his attack immediately, not giving Damien any chance to regain himself. As soon as he saw Damien''s body paralyze from the rampant lightning energy within, he raised his arm andmanded the Lightning Asura to attack once more.

    ''Lightning Asura: Sky Cleaver!''

    Just as the name implied, a massive saber cut through the air, cleaving the skies in two. But in that moment, Damien didn''t move to retreat or even block the attack. He stood in front of the massive saber with no fear.

    ''This suppressive effect¡­how do I utilize it properly?''

    He only just learned of its existence, so naturally, he didn''t have any proficiency in wielding it. Of course, he could always project his mana to the outside world and use it in the crudest way possible, but he didn''t want to do this.

    He wanted to understand the best use of his powers.

    For that, he would have to temper it in the most dangerous situations.

    Damien''s mana red, a pitch-ck aura emerging from his body. Even feeling this aura was enough to cause one''s scalp to tingle.

    The lightning saber reached Damien''s body in an instant, bringing along a deafening crackle of thunder that almost bust his eardrums. In response, he resided Mirage.

    ng!

    The difference in these two swords'' sizes was around 1000 times, but Mirage still held true under the weighty suppression. It wasn''t just a normal sword, it was a sword with budding intelligence and its own ability to utilize spatialws. Against a lifelessw saber like this one, it was actually superior.

    It was only a matter of brute strength. As Damien held onto Mirage''s hilt and pushed it to parry the lighting saber, he could hear the sound of the de creaking. While it wouldn''t be damaged, he was sure that it wasn''t going to be able to handle the pressure alone for much longer.

    ''Now!'' His eyes shed brilliantly. The ring mana around his body condensed into his sword and concentrated at the point of impact. Coming into contact with this strange mana, the lighting saber''s aura visibly dimmed, just enough to be manageable.

    Damien''s muscles bulged as he used every ounce of his strength to slide the lightning saber against Mirage''s de, finally reaching the point where hepletely skewed its direction. With the lighting saber out of the way, he pounced!

    In this fight, long-rangebat wouldn''t do him any good. Taking advantage of his physical strength and more esoteric abilities to kill his enemy by surprise was the best method to victory.

    His body arrived in front of Sylvius rapidly. Hel vanished from his left hand as it curled into a fist, rapidly propelling forward with the help of Damien''s mana!

    BOOM!

    The fist was like a meteor. When it crashed into Sylvius'' body, he was sent flying back at untold speeds. On his face, his confusion was clearly represented.

    His opponent was only a newly ascended 4th ss, wasn''t he? What kind of power was this?! But he wasn''t even given the chance to ponder on it. Damien''s figure shed through space, exiting to Sylvius'' side and throwing another fierce hook at his ribs!

    Bang! Crack!

    Sylvius rapidly moved his arms to parry, but his physical strength was nowhere near Damien''s. Although his mortal body was strengthened during his Baptism, he never focused on it, only ever improving his lightning.

    Against Damien''s heavily evolved bodily strength, how could he stand a chance?

    His body was sent flying once again, but this time, he''d truly taken damage. His right forearm was cracked, making his entire arm unusable until he took some medicines to fix it.

    In a fight where time was measured in seconds or even less, such an injury was truly dire.

    But there was more to it that he didn''t yet realize. Every time Damien''s fist impacted his body, he let a strand of Void Mana enter his enemy''s body. This strand was tiny and untraceable, but if Damien was correct about his mana''s qualities, it would be a deadly virus that soon showed its fangs.

    Until then, he only needed to continue wearing Sylvius down, chipping away at his defenses until he was nothing more than a pig on the chopping block.

    And that''s exactly what he did. When Damien''s attitude switched from testing his abilities to letting them fly wantonly, the momentum of the battlepletely changed.

    Space fractured everywhere, turning into deadly des that rushed at Sylvius from all directions. At the same time, Damien galvanized his mana and began utilizing the Void Sword Art, blocking off any methods for his enemy''s retreat.

    Under this barrage, Sylvius gritted his teeth and revolved his mana to dodge and block. Lightning shed endlessly with his bodily movements, heightening his speed to a level that even Damien would be hard-pressed to contend with!

    He waded through the onught of space des, his body dexterously avoiding the fissures created by deless. Unexpectedly, he was actually able to escape the encirclement!

    But as he did so, he realized another problem. It wasn''t just spatial fissures entrapping him in the current location. When his body neared an area some few hundred meters away, he found an invisible wall blocking his path.

    Damien grinned. Naturally, he would set up a Dimensional Cage to limit his enemy''s movements. Now that he had the ability, why would he waste it?

    ''elerate''

    His body became illusory, time around him slowing to a crawl. But in reality, Damien''s personal time was being elerated by the field around him.

    His body shed into the spatialyers and waded through them. With space and timeing together to aid him, his movement speed surpassed even teleportation.

    When he arrived beside Sylvius, thetter hadn''t even realized his presence. From that point-nk range, Mirage moved in a downward sh.

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance''

    The thin ck line signifying the ability was drawn perfectly. It almost blended in with the surrounding space due to how pristine it was. Everywhere it went, light and space bent to its will, disallowing its path to be blocked by any force.

    Because the current Dimensional Severance wasn''t the same empty shell that Damien had used back when he first created it in the Trial World. With his current understanding of Dimensional Magic, he truly could sever the dimension in two.

    Dimensional Severance was ethereal. While it moved as if it was existing in the Real ne, the truth waspletely different.

    It essentially formed a small self-contained dimension of its own, isting it from the outside world while still allowing it to affect it.

    Therefore, even when Sylvius became aware of the attack, even when he pushed everything he had to block it or dodge it due to the terrifyingly cold aura he felt from it, he wasn''t able to stop its path.

    To truly withstand Dimensional Severance, one needed the power to sunder the dimension itself.

    The ck line passed through Sylvius'' body so calmly that it almost looked like the two didn''t intersect. Afterwards, it continued its path of destruction, even taking a chunk out of Damien''s Dimensional Cage.

    Only then was one able to understand the true power of this attack.

    As for Sylvius, who was run through by it?

    His body split into two equal halves, the light fading from his eyes. He died just like that.

 Chapter 584 Convergence Of Fate [4]

    Even after killing Sylvius, Damien didn''t stop. His original goal was to psychologically attack the enemies with a show of strength, but his unfamiliarity with his own power disallowed this circumstance from bing reality.

    Now that the battle had ended, he needed to aplish that original purpose. And along with that, he needed to find better test dummies to help him understand his strength before he challenged people above his level.

    Damien''s targets were now those on the weaker side of things, at simr levels to him. Against them, he wouldn''t have to worry about the prospect of losing. He would be able to thoroughly understand at least how to utilize his Void Mana''s suppression effect properly.

    In the previous battle, he''d tried using it to enhance his weapon and fists, and he''d tried to use it intrusively, but neither of these methods seemed viable. The former was simply wasting the ability''s potential, while thetter took far too long to take effect.

    Even when Sylvius died, the Void Mana, suppression only slightly inhibited him. It was likely he didn''t even realize that his mana was being somewhat suppressed. When battles were timed by the second, an ability that took many minutes to activate wasn''t viable at all.

    Therefore, he needed more testing. To use thousands of 4th ss beings as testing dummies, who could be so bold besides Damien?

    Nevertheless, he moved with a goal in mind and wouldn''t stop until it was aplished. Mirage shed once more, Hel appearing in his hand.

    One almost began to feel sorry for his enemies.

    ***

    When Damien killed Sylvius, it didn''t cause as major of a shock on the battlefield as it would''ve in normal times. The situation was far too chaotic, making it hard for people to even notice this feat.

    However, his allies were plenty shocked by what they saw. They naturally didn''t want to see Damien die early by overestimating himself, so they''d been splitting their attention to watch his battle from the beginning.

    Now that it was over, they could only marvel at his talent. A newly ascended 4th ss killing someone in the middle of the same realm, wasn''t that too exaggerated?!

    It had to be known, the difference between levels in 4th ss was immense, and one''s experience level alone didn''t ount for the entirety of their strength.

    At 4th ss, the level on one''s status came to represent how defined their existence was more than what their actual strength level was. True strength came from not only this, but alsowprehension.

    This was why the denizens of the Cloud ne termed this realm as Law Connection and Law Sea. A high level no longer meant strong strength.

    But in this case, Sylvius was surely a man who spent a great deal of time perfecting his Lightning Laws. If not, there was no way he''d be able to fend off Damien''s silver Heavenly Lightning by relying onprehension alone.

    For Damien to y a character like this upon just ascending was mind-boggling.

    Perhaps even Aishia would only be able to stand evenly matched to the current Damien.

    However, they didn''t have much time to dwell on this topic. After affirming that Damien''s life wouldn''t be in danger, each of those eight individuals returned to battle, putting their whole focus into defending and ousting the horde in front of them.

    Really, to expect 9 people to fend off thousands of enemies with simr strength wasn''t practical at all. The only reason they were able to continue moving with confidence was because they weren''t alone in this battle.

    With Damien''s previous aid, Rose and Ruyue were able tobine their efforts to ughter the rest of the troops in their zone. Without 4th sses on their backs, it was far too easy.

    Afterward, they rushed into the adjacent zones,bining forces with those present to rapidly extinguish the enemy. Especially when the Bloody Cavalry met with Rose and Ruyue''s troops, they formed an unstoppable force.

    And with these 3rd sses gaining the upper hand, the remaining allied 4th ss beings no longer had to stay reserved. Hundreds of allies rushed towards Damien''s battle, ready to provide aid!

    4th ss beings spread so far that they blotted out the sky. With these newly arrived helpers, it was far easier for the previous 8 individuals to retain their strength while they fought.

    In a battle of attrition against arge number of enemies, wasting mana was a deadly mistake.

    The only exception to this rule was Damien himself. When he first began his onught, it''d taken him more than just a few minutes to kill a being at the same level as him. However, things were different now.

    With every enemy he killed, his speed rapidly increased. The Void Mana ring around his body became more dignified, signifying Damien''s increased control over it.

    In fact, this mana was slowly spreading into the distance rather than being congregated around Damien''s body. During his most recent battle, he''d identally stumbled upon a viable method to utilize this ability.

    The Mirror Domain spread into the horizon, shattering space into small crystalline shards that danced through the air like spirits. Any concept of distance and direction was thrown into disarray, even time bing muddled in certain areas.

    Under this atmosphere, a normal practitioner wouldn''t even be able to stand up straight, but these 4th sses were different. Damien''s domain was powerful in its own right, but it shared the same overarching problem as every other ability he had.

    It wasn''t supported by Laws.

    Due to this, even though they were still suppressed, even the weakest of 4th sses were able to put up some resistance against it.

    When Damien realized this, he spread his Void Mana and incorporated it into his domain. If he couldn''t match theirws, he indiscriminately suppress theirs until they matched his level!

    His current opponent, a young woman who looked around 20, was facing this very suppression.

    The Ice Laws she spent so much time arduously cultivating for the past 50 years since her ascension were suppressed near the level they were at when she first started sending them. This feeling was like losing something incredibly precious, putting a mental burden on her that only made her bad situation exponentially worse.

    "P-please¡­spare me¡­" She stammered. Her eyes were big and watery, giving off an exceedingly innocent feeling.

    While her looks weren''t anything heaven-defying, she was beautiful in her own right. Especially with her current expression, she made one feel the inexplicable desire of wanting to protect.

    But facing this woman''s charms, Damien was unmoved. More than that, he was disgusted.

    Ever since his ascension, he''d been marveling at the greatness of 4th ss inparison to its predecessors. In some sense, he''d put this power level on a pedestal and subconsciously expected those who reached it to disy behavior fitting for their positions.

    Sylvius was a good example of this. He ardently trained for who knows how long, and even though he ended up dead at Damien''s hands, he never showed a sign of weakness even in hisst moment.

    It wasn''t even just him. Most of Asgard''s troops were the same.

    It was people like this woman, those who submitted to Niflheim, that gave in to fear and cowardice. Even if they were true 4th ss beings, even the 11th Elder of the Xue n was better than them in Damien''s eyes.

    His sword moved without mercy, the woman''s head flying into the air soon after. Watching the fountain of blood that sprayed out from her neck, Damien scoffed.

    "It''s good to know that I won''t have to kill humanity''s future in my crusade against the Nox. The type of people that willingly submit to their oppression¡­aren''t even worth a second of my time."

    His gaze moved away, focusing on therger battlefield. The suppression force of his domain was the most practical utilization of Void Mana he could sustain at his current level. If so, there was no need for him to continue wasting time on small fries and cowards.

    His body moved, heading to a more central area. Now that he had the method, it was time to flex it in front of some worthy opponents.

 Chapter 585 Convergence Of Fate [5]

    While Damien''s tirade wentrgely unnoticed in the already chaotic battlefield before he rushed into the center area, there was a particr group of beings who witnessed every second of it.

    These beings had been specifically paying attention to him the entire time, after all.

    Wrath''s eyes were clouded with a myriad of emotions. While his greed and obsession fought to take over his rational mind, he was keenly aware that Tian Yang''s presence disallowed him from moving at all. Without blocking him in some way, Wrath would be indefinitely tied down.

    But Wrath wasn''t someone who could contain his emotions and control them. As a Nox, this was never the path they were meant to take.

    From birth, they were mindless. They followed their instincts to kill and plunder with no other thoughts in mind at all. For them to gain spiritual intelligence upon entering 4th ss was a miracle in itself, but it was a change far too abrupt for them topletely suppress the desires that controlled them for so long.

    For this reason, many 4th-ss Nox were belligerent to the core, acting domineering and without care for consequences regardless of the intelligence they possessed. Among them, Wrath could be called an outlier.

    He always valued his rational mind. He valued the memories he possessed that allowed him to maintain tact and cautiousness. It was only for this reason why he was able to perfectly conceal the Seed''s existence and take up his post in Niflheim without worrying about othersing to rob him of his treasure.

    That was something he''d never allow.

    But even someone like Wrath who spent a little over 10,000 yearsying in wait within the Human Domain until the Seed''s prophesied appearance, carefully nning his every step, couldn''t hold down his urges with his goal right in front of him.

    In his mind, the scene of him seizing Damien and devouring him repeated a million different ways. In each one, Wrath became an unrivaled powerhouse that led the Nox and even consumed the universe itself. With this kind of delusion fueling him, how could he retain control?

    Thest semnce of sanity in his mind disappeared. His vision turned red and his mind focused on the singr urge to consume the Seed.

    Wrath''s body emitted a series of popping noises. Tian Yang immediately sensed this, shing away and appearing mere feet in front of Wrath.

    "Don''t make any decisions you''ll regret." He stated coldly.

    In reality, his power level was just about equal to Wrath''s. It was because of his deep understanding of Spatial Laws that he appeared so mysterious under the probing of others.

    If he truly wanted to hold Wrath back, it wouldn''t be a simple matter at all. And if he wanted to do so while protecting this from destruction, it''d be near impossible.

    But Wrath didn''t even hear Tian Yang''s warning. His mind was focused wholly on Damien''s figure and the pitch-ck mana emanating from it.

    The popping sounds emitted from his body grew until each one was like a thunderp. Wrath''s body expanded to double its size, multiple appendages bursting forth from his body in fireworks of blood.

    His form was actually simr to Sylvius'' Lightning Asura, except his body was covered in the stench of blood and the aura of ughter. He was a true Asura!

    Roar!

    Wrath let out a furious bellow. Space distorted into bloody vortexes around him. In the next instant, his figure blurred and shot out!

    "Fuck!"

    Tian Yang gritted his teeth and cursed. He maneuvered through space, but even then he could only match Wrath''s speed. Raising his hand, he immediately forced the surrounding thousands of kilometers topress and lock, slowing Wrath''s movements.

    But Wrath was prepared for this. Even with his mind taken over by his instinct, he was a bred killer. Battle awareness was his natural talent.

    One of the six gargantuan arms jutting out of his back moved, a bloody bell appearing in its grasp.

    Dong!

    The bell rang violently, shaking even space at its very foundation. As these frequencies bounced around within Tian Yang''s spatial cage and amplified each other, space shattered entirely!

    The level of connection Tian Yang had with space surpassed Damien''s purely because of the difference inprehension. When space influenced by Tian Yang shattered, it led to a void that could kill even a Demigod if they stayed for too long.

    But Wrath didn''t seem to register this fact. Within the shattered void, his figure was a blood-red meteor. Ayer of energy protected him from the chaotic forces outside, allowing him to smoothly pass through.

    Tian Yang was frustrated, sure, but he didn''t think this result was unnatural. Wrath was equal to him, so attempting to stop him from fleeing at full power wasn''t within Tian Yang''s capabilities.

    ? But slowing him down enough to where he could catch up and initiate battle was more than just possible. As long as he could impose his Authority from nearby, he''d dy Wrath greatly.

    Haaa!

    Tian Yang let out a battle cry, his figure fusing into space. Although his true body didn''t move, it was like space itself became his body.

    The spatialyers condensed, turning into a massive hand that pressed down on the shattered void and attempted to grab Wrath!

    In that moment, Wrath didn''t hold anything back. He didn''t need any strength to kill Damien, so he could use his mana wantonly before reaching his target.

    The bloody light around him red into action, creating a massive inferno. This inferno then condensed into a terrifyingly massive red sword that shot up into the hand, nning to face it head-on!

    BOOOOOM!

    The shattered void that was still in the process of healing was blown apart once again. The collision of these two forces sent out fierce shockwaves that would''ve spread for thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers if Tian Yang didn''t contain them.

    But this was the worst possible situation!

    Borrowing the momentum of the shockwave, Wrath rapidly increased his speed! With a Demigod''s full-powered momentum, he''d already reached the 4th ss battlefield in the time it took for these two collisions to ur.

    To put it simply, it was instantaneous.

    Tian Yang cursed in his heart. If he wasn''t able to protect his disciple, what kind of master would he be?! He threw away any hesitation he might''ve had before and steeled himself.

    Voom!

    His Divinityced mana rapidly expanded. Within his body, his blood burned away, empowering it. Tian Yang took the riskiest move a cultivator could make; he sacrificed his own blood vitality!

    Blood vitality was the source of life force. If one burned it, while they could rapidly increase their power for a short period of time, they''d be left severely wounded for a very long time unless they ingested a great deal of heavenly materials. For Tian Yang to sacrifice his only went to show how much he valued his disciples.

    "Break for me!"

    His hands clenched into fists and punched out. At hismand, the void shattered into countless fragments that rained down on Wrath''s position. While this was a move Tian Yang could replicate without sacrificing his blood vitality, its power wasn''t nearly as great.

    In a fraction of an instant, mere milliseconds at most, Tian Yang''s attack reached Wrath. The spatial shards ran through his body, tearing him into multiple pieces, but even then, Wrath didn''t stop his charge.

    He knew from the start that he wouldn''t be able to block this attack. The injuries he received were grievous, and he would be incapacitated at the very least if he allowed them to fester.

    He ced all his bets on the single circumstance where he was able to consume Damien! If he seeded, he''d not only recover but be extremely powerful as well. If he failed¡­he''d die pathetically without aplishing anything.

    Wrath''s adamance was far past the level of insanity. No matter how Tian Yang attacked him, he allowed these attacks tond and used their impact force to propel himself forward! His fierce blood vitality dwindled with every passing instant, but he didn''t care anymore. Because¡­

    In that final moment, his body appeared where he desired it to be. His arm whipped out faster than lightning, his grip attempting to wrap around Damien''s neck!

 Chapter 586 Convergence Of Fate [6]

    It all happened in an instant.

    Wrath''s hand wrapped around Damien''s neck, immediately exerting immense pressure to crush it. At the same time, Tian Yang arrived next to him, spreading his authority and using everything he had to force Wrath''s movements to a halt.

    Like this, a stalemate developed. Damien became a hostage who would be killed the second Tian Yang let his guard down.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    He coughed out the blood that had gathered in his throat as his bewilderment grew with every passing moment. It took a few seconds for him to realize his own predicament.

    While his heart began to panic, he forced a strand of mana into his brain to calm his reaction. If he moved too rapidly, Wrath''s razor-sharp fingernails would dig into his neck and rip his head off.

    He really had no leeway. It took everything in his power to remain calm in this situation. But as he saw how hard Tian Yang was working to keep him alive, he was able to calm himself far faster.

    This wasn''t something he had any say in. This was a standoff between Demigods where he was unfortunate enough to be caught in the middle.

    "Let him go." Tian Yang uttered coldly, enunciating every syble. His rage was clearly represented in the billowing killing intenting from his body.

    Damien could feel small pocket spaces opening between his neck and Wrath''s w, giving him some space to breathe.

    If it was any other time, Damien would''ve marveled at Tian Yang''s precision control, but now, he could only be thankful for the breaths he was taking.

    Wrath''s eyes were almost literally burning. They didn''t leave Damien''s figure even as Tian Yang spoke to him and restrained him. With every ounce of his strength, he pushed against those pocket spaces and attempted to gain ground on Tian Yang.

    Tian Yang sighed in frustration. Wrath''s rational mind was already gone. Conversing with him was impossible. But at the same time, Tian Yang no longer had the freedom to move against Wrath and kill him.

    There were two reasons for this. Firstly, Wrath''s insistence on killing Damien was too fierce. If Tian Yang diverted his attention to attack, Wrath could just as easily use that time to pierce through Damien''s neck, which was the worst possible oue.

    Secondly, Wrath still had the final option of detonating his life force and mana. If he did this, not just Damien, but almost everyone else in this world would perish in an instant.

    Tian Yang absolutely couldn''t push Wrath to the point where he''d consider this option.

    The only thing he could do was defend and make sure Damien didn''t die.

    Luckily, Wrath was already heavily injured and he''d used up a great deal of mana. In terms of attrition, Tian Yang had a major advantage.

    If so, the only thing he could do was wait. When Wrath''s strength decreased appropriately, he could take the opportunity to attack and save Damien.

    As for Damien who was stuck ying this waiting game with Tian Yang, he could only hollowlyugh at his situation.

    This was the second time Tian Yang had saved him from Wrath''s murder attempts. Evenpared to thest time, this one was far direr.

    Damien''s strength wasn''t near his full potential, and with Void Mana currently hindering him more than it helped, he didn''t even have the ability to put up a weak defense against someone like Wrath. He only had his mortal body.

    This feeling of being forced to rely on outside help was extremely irking to Damien, but if it was Tian Yang, he could somewhat cope with it.

    To this master of his, he only felt gratitude and closeness. Owing Tian Yang a favor or two wasn''t a problem at all, even if that favor was a life-saving grace.

    After all, this wasn''t the first or second time Tian Yang had saved him. He''d saved Damien from Xue Yebai, many assassins sent by the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, and even from himself!

    If it wasn''t for Tian Yang''s existence and guidance when Damien first arrived on the Cloud ne, he really would''ve wandered with no goal or idea of how to proceed forward. Even his emotional trauma would''ve never been solved without Tian Yang''s initiation.

    Hell, in the previous moment, Tian Yang had even sacrificed his own blood vitality for Damien''s sake!

    Therefore, in this situation where his life and death wholly depended on Tian Yang, Damien was calmer than ever before.

    If he died here, it would only be his own fault for not being prudent enough, attracting the greed of a Demigod.

    This was the amount of trust he had in his master.

    ***

    Within the Authority, only three were present. Those in the outside world hadn''t even had time to react to the sudden change. In their eyes, Damien had merely vanished into thin air.

    But even while being rmed at this change, the allied force could only continue fighting. Their only chance at salvation was to win this war. Otherwise, death would be the tamest fate for them.

    In the central area where Damien previously was, the death rates were by far the lowest. While in other areas, even 4th sses died like flies, it was different here.

    Because this was where all the experts congregated.

    Among the crowd, the White Dragon King, Elvira, Lucius, Aishia, and the Phoenix Matriarchs stood out the most. It wasn''t just a matter of power, but also skill and cohesiveness.

    Aside from Aishia, the rest had spent many years together and were incredibly familiar. Aishia herself was also incredibly adaptable and had amazing battle sense, making it rtively easy for her to understand and merge into their dynamic.

    The White Dragon King utilized light while Lucius utilized darkness. When these two forcesbined, they created a chaotic destructive force that could raze massive amounts ofnd with ease.

    The Fire and Ice Phoenix Matriarchs also had simrly dichotomous abilities,bining fire and ice to create a sturdy defense and offense that couldn''t be prated.

    This only left Aishia and Elvira. While Aishia was a wood and lifew practitioner, Aishia could use spiritws, which were also a powerful and esoteric form of naturalws. Theirbination was more additive than the other two groups, but their power didn''t fall behind at all.

    Together, this group cleaved their way through the battlefield. It came to a point where the surrounding enemies became too fearful of them to even move lest they be the next target.

    But at this moment, the cohesion they maintained was abruptly broken.

    "Hm?!"

    "This¡­!"

    "EVERYONE DODGE!"

    The White Dragon King roared with everything he had. His body morphed into a massive dragon body over a thousand kilometers long. In his ws, he rapidly grabbed Aishia, Elvira, and Lucius and pushed his mana to exit the chaotic battlefield as fast as he could.

    And seeing his actions, the two Phoenix Matriarchs also rapidly entered their beast forms and fled with him.

    Their actions were instantaneous and extremely confusing to many. Arge majority of them even thought the group ran out of energy and was fleeing in fear.

    But a small portion of people like Jiang Hualing who had keen perception and ability to read people didn''t hesitate to follow their actions.

    These helpers called by Damien were fierce, far fiercer than a majority of the Cloud ne''s forces. There was no way they''d act without reason.

    In that moment, a mere second after the White Dragon King''s group and the Hidden Dragon Group escaped the central area, the earth burst apart.

    It wasn''t a small explosion at all. It was an explosion that enveloped the entire central area, swallowing all those remaining there within.

    Suddenly, something shot out from the ground. This object was almost as thick as the massive hole that was created in the earth and shaped like a vine, the only difference being its pinkish and disgusting appearance, it almost looked like an internal organ more than a natural construct.

    This fleshy vine burst through the central area. Everywhere it passed, 4th sses would burst into blood mist and be absorbed into the vine.

    But its target¡­wasn''t this battlefield at all.

    It raced into the sky, shattering a hidden dimension that none present could sense with ease. For a millisecond, the scene of Wrath clutching Damien''s neck while being imprisoned by Tian Yang was revealed to the world.

    And in the next millisecond, that vine wrapped around Wrath and crushed his body into a paste, devouring him whole.

    Everything went silent.

    Whatever had just burst forth from the ground¡­was a cmity of untold proportions.

 Chapter 587 Convergence Of Fate [7]

    The strange fleshy vine receded into the ground immediately after swallowing Wrath.

    Tian Yang acted without hesitation. Under thebined effect of his burnt blood vitality and extremewprehension, he enveloped Damien and every nearby Cloud ne soldier in his mana and teleported them away from the central area.

    But even after reaching the outskirts, his frown didn''t lessen. The rumbling of the earth only became fiercer, the hole created by the fleshy vine expanding into a sinkhole and swallowing more and more of the ground below.

    Damien stared into the sinkhole with trepidation. He could feel it. Below that area, there was a terrifying aura, the aura of something that was closely rted to his own.

    "We need to leave." He muttered. "We need to get off this world immediately."

    It was an instinctual feeling that couldn''t be exined with words, but after hearing it, Tian Yang''s expression became dignified.

    He''d known for a very long time that Damien''s body hid a massive secret. Now that Wrath had clearly delineated that he was the Seed, Tian Yang was somewhat aware of this secret''s origin.

    Damien''s instincts weren''t the same as a normal person''s. A practitioner''s instinct was already an ethereal sixth sense that was usually never wrong, but for Damien, this was even more exaggerated.

    It could be seen from the current circumstance. He could feel something inexplicable that even Tian Yang, with his insane strength, couldn''t sense at all.

    Without hesitation, Tian Yang spread his awareness and forcefully took hold of space. It was just a shame that his burning blood vitality couldn''tst much longer. Transporting such a massive swathe of people into the starry sky and protecting them from the chaotic space wasn''t something he could do.

    [Heal]

    At that moment, Damien''s body began shining with greenish-white light. He already had a rough understanding of the situation after sensing Tian Yang''s obviously chaotic aura, and healing his blood vitality was one of the first tests he did when he first received [Heal] from ric.

    His power level wasn''t anywhere near enough to help with the transportation process. He could only assist Tian Yang as much as he could.

    His handsnded on his master''s back, his mana flowing freely through Tian Yang''s meridians. With Void Mana''s all-epassing properties and Damien''s thorough understanding of how meridians functioned, this process was even more efficient than usual.

    Tian Yang gave Damien a deep look but didn''t say anything more. His mana red out, dyed with ck and white from the various effects Damien was providing him.

    People began disappearing from the battlefield in droves, however, these were only the Cloud ne''s forces.

    "If you can, help Shadow Garden as well. If it wasn''t for them, things wouldn''t have proceeded so easily on this mission.

    Damien was aware of the grace Lynn had shown him. Even if he had already paid her back by initiating this chaotic war that essentially copsed Niflheim and Asgard''s fighting strength, even causing Wrath''s death, he still held some goodwill towards her and Albeus. He wouldn''t let them die here.

    "Mm." Tian Yang nodded simply. With Damien''s help, he could almost endlessly burn his blood vitality. Although this state wouldn''tst long, it was more than enough time.

    As the two continued arduously working to transport all their allies from the unnamed world, the sinkhole in the ground continued to expand as well. In but a few seconds, the entirety of the battlefield was caved in.

    Droves of people fell into the hole. Even if they could fly in usual times, the strange and powerful attractive forceing from within disallowed them from doing so, forcing them to helplessly plummet to their deaths.

    Only those who were locked on by Tian Yang''s mana were able to survive this catastrophe.

    Damien''s body shivered. He''d seen plenty of cataclysms in ric''s memories, but this was the first he''d seen in person. Even in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, he''d only seen the aftermath.

    ''This isn''t good. Our forces won''t be able to survive with the current rescue speed. If the battle¡ª'' Damien''s thoughts halted. His face paled.

    Right, why was he only thinking about the battlefield? Aside from those here, the Sun and Moon Squadrons, including Bai Xieren, were still fighting their own battle in Asgard!

    Tian Yang seemed to realize the same thing long ago, but the uglyplexion of his face clearly showed his powerlessness.

    Even he was locked down by the powerful gravity inside the sinkhole. How could he possibly think about saving those that were far away?

    When Damien was in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, he''d burnt his blood vitality to transport millions into the Sanctuary, but that was an extremely different circumstance.

    For one, Damien shared an intrinsic connection with the Sanctuary, making transporting living beings into it far easier. Secondly, those individuals were mostly mortals. The cost of forcefully pulling someone was exponentially greater the higher their power level was.

    In any normal situation, Tian Yang''s Demigod-level strength could easily teleport these thousands of 3rd and 4th-ss beings. But this wasn''t any normal situation.

    Tian Yang wasn''t just teleporting these people under the intense pressure of the sinkhole''s gravity, he was teleporting them almost a hundred thousand kilometers away into the starry sky!

    And to make matters worse, he had to set up ayer of protection to keep them from being ripped apart by the chaotic Spatial Essence present there until he arrived to personally do the same.

    To say Tian Yang was exerting his capabilities to the extreme was an understatement.

    Damien''s eyes hardened. If he could Warp¡­

    Just like Tian Yang only moments before, Damien began furiously burning his blood vitality.

    Warp was a strange skill. It was teleportation, but it worked with far more ease than usual teleportation. Damien didn''t have to consciously move through the spatialyers, he only needed to understand his destination and a portal would form connecting him to it.

    As long as he could force that portal''s formation, even if he didn''t move, he''d still be teleported.

    "Can you handle this without me?" He asked solemnly. He knew it was a stupid question to ask to someone so much more powerful than him, but Tian Yang had burnt so much blood vitality in the past few minutes, his fatigue was obvious.

    Still, Tian Yang merely nodded his head. "Go. I''ll meet you in the starry sky. Don''t worry about your wives and friends, I''ll make sure nothing happens to them even if I die while doing so."

    Damien looked deeply at Tian Yang. This master of his¡­really liked making him owe favors.

    Slowly, a portal formed around Damien''s body. At this point, 30% of his blood vitality had been burnt. For him to be able to rapidly recover to perfect fighting form, he could only spend double that amount at most.

    By the time 50% of his blood vitality was burnt and the portal finished forming, the sinkhole had expanded for tens of thousands of kilometers. It wouldn''t be too long before it enveloped the entire world.

    Faintly, arge ck shadow could be seen within. It was a ckness darker than ck, creating a terrifying imagery.

    And that was thest thing Damien saw as he vanished from the battlefield.

    Unfortunately, he''d never personally been to Asgard''s headquarters, so he was forced to Warp to Niflheim. Regardless, he knew the approximate location.

    It only took 30 seconds to reach by teleporting like a madman with the boost of his burnt blood vitality.

    Damien''s awareness spread as far as it could. He identified Bai Xieren''s aura immediately. Looking at the expression on her face, she was already aware that something major was about to ur.

    "Come with me. We have roughly a minute, so guide me to every subordinate you sense unless you''re okay with their deaths."

    Bai Xieren nodded without hesitation. Even if she didn''t have Damien''s intuition, she was a powerful practitioner in her own right. She understood that for Damien to be speaking to her so demandingly, the situation was extremely serious.

    ? Following Damien''s order, she joined him and pointed him towards the Moon Squadron members nearby.

    By the time the roughly 500 people were gathered together, the gravitational pull from the sinkhole could already be faintly felt.

    "And the Sun Squadron?"

    Bai Xieren shook her head. "Don''t worry about them. Those cowards are rxing in an underground prison right now."

    "¡­rxing?"

    "Senior Drunken Old Immortal already freed them. They are staying of their own volition."

    "I see."

    Their conversation was sinct, but even then, it took time. Damien had no choice but to wrap the 500 present in his mana and rapidly activate Warp, transporting them to the starry sky.

    At the same time¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The world could no longer handle the pressure of the sinkhole. The earth was sundered, the atmosphere torn to shreds.

    The world was truly being destroyed.

 Chapter 588 Convergence Of Fate [8]

    When Damien''s body resurfaced in the starry sky, he immediately locked space around him and formed a Dimensional Cage to iste his party from the chaotic Spatial Essence around them.

    While his first thought was to find Tian Yang''s group and do the same to lighten his burden, Damien''s steps halted almost the second he tried to do so.

    "L-look¡­" a member of the Moon Squadron pointed to the unnamed world, his voice shaking fiercely.

    As Damien turned his attention, he witnessed a scene unlike any other.

    The world was crumbling.

    The atmosphere copsed, the world''s gravity copsing along with it. The foundationalws that allowed it to remain sturdy for an unknown amount of time were no longer there to provide support.

    Massive chunks of debris spanning the length of several cities flew into the void wantonly. The human architecture present on the surface was sundered into oblivion.

    At the same time, countless lives were taken. Their screams formed a crescendo that made Damien feel like he could hear their sorrow from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

    Seeing the massive chunks of human meat that floated through the void along with the debris, he was utterly dumbfounded. He couldn''t believe that such a tragedy appeared out of nowhere,pletely unprovoked.

    But he couldn''t stay still. He had to at least keep the people that were saved alive.

    His awareness spread. Starlight rained down on him from the surrounding space, enhancing his perception.

    In the starry sky, Damien was at his extreme peak.

    Luckily, it wasn''t hard to find Tian Yang''s group. They were quite conspicuous.

    Spatial mana raged. In the next moment, Damien''s group arrived on t ground in the midst of a massive city filled with people. The scene was chaotic as the existing denizens attempted to sort their newrades into various shelters; the surface didn''t have nearly enough space to amodate them all.

    This city was none other than Avalon.

    "Lynn, you fucking genius¡­" Damien muttered under his breath.

    Logically speaking, the next step after building a floating city was obviously to give it the capability for interspatial travel, but this wasn''t an easy thing to implement at all.

    For Avalon to have such fierce barriers and abilities, it was clear that Lynn had been nning to explore the vastness of the starry sky far before this cmity appeared.

    Only, she probably didn''t expect its first test flight to be due to the unnamed world''s destruction.

    Still, there was no time to rest.

    After Damien dropped off his baggage, he first used his soul connection with Ruyue to locate her. After affirming that she and Rose were present in Avalon, he directly left the city''s barrier.

    The scene of the unnamed world''s destruction became clear to him again.

    He teleported. He teleported as far away from Avalon as he could possibly get.

    He had a faint premonition that¡­

    The destruction of a world was impossible for him to describe. He couldn''t possibly put the scene he saw into words, or even fullyprehend it in his mind.

    While he watched on¡­

    BOOOM!

    A change took ce.

    So far, it was only the world''s outeryer that was copsing. While it was a terrifying scene, it was still only the start of its destruction.

    But at that moment, a portion of the world thousands of kilometers in diameter exploded in a pir of magma and debris. Faintly within the mes, the visage of a w could be seen.

    "T-that is¡­" Damien unknowingly stuttered. The appendage he saw alone was enough to crush the 3000 Beast Mountain Range with a tap.

    Yet, that was only the first.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Another w ripped apart the world. It was clear that the being they were attached to didn''t want to wait for the world to finish its slow copse.

    The variousyers of the cracked and shattered, spouts of magma painting the starry sky red.

    At some unknown time, Tian Yang, the Drunken Old Immortal, Albeus, and the other allied Demigods had appeared beside Damien. This group watched solemnly as that being revealed itself.

    If they had one thing to be thankful for, it was that this being''s massive size made its movements incredibly slow. This was the only reason they were able to escape with everyone they needed to save in time to avoid catastrophic losses.

    And at the same time, Tian Yang and the Drunken Old Immortal had used their own methods to call reinforcements.

    The speed of a Demigod couldn''t be underestimated. To traverse the distance between the Cloud ne and the unnamed world at their fastest speed, they only needed a few minutes.

    And aside from their reinforcements, multiple unknown Demigods appeared as well.

    Bai Xieren had long since told Damien that there were other forces aiding in the operation aside from the Cloud ne. These forces were from the other major worlds of the Human Domain.

    The Demigod Ancestors they brought also congregated with the group. Even during the chaotic battle they hadn''t appeared, taking a backseat since the conflict didn''t involve them at all. But this time, they had no choice but to join the fight.

    They couldn''t escape, after all.

    This being exerted a pressure that even made these Demigods break into cold sweats. It was clearly at the peak of the Demigod realm at the very least. It might even be¡­

    Regardless, it was a cmity for the Human Domain as a whole. If they couldn''t defeat it here, then how would they defend against it when it came to their home worlds, where they had nowhere near the same amount of Demigods to aid them?

    Besides, even if this being was slow with its precision movements, there was no doubt that each of its steps would allow it to traverse a distance they couldn''t even imagine.

    Fleeing was pointless.

    As two wingsrge enough to encase the entire world within their span broke free from the earth, they were even more certain of this fact.

    VOOOOOOM!

    A heaven-shaking fluctuation spread through the unnamed world and the chaotic space surrounding it. With its movement, the copse of the world became instantaneous.

    Extremely massive pieces of debris flew into the starry sky with momentum that could tten a 4th ss with ease. Within the chaos, the hazy outline of that terrifying being was finally revealed.

    Its head was elephantine with a far-reaching trunk and tusksrger than any building that previously stood on the world''s surface, but it was covered in harrowing draconic scales. It had the body and bat-like wings of a dragon, its 4 legs powerful and wed like a tiger. As if acting as a cherry on top, its tail was like a scorpion''s stinger, ready tosh out and kill anyone it touched in an instant.

    Space flowed around this beast like a river, showing extreme familiarity with its presence. It was only when they saw this that Damien''s group finally understood this being''s race.

    It was a Space Beast. Born from the chaotic space and spending their lives within it, Space Beasts were terrifying creatures with untold power. If one was lucky enough to catch them while they were young, killing them wouldn''t be a problem. But if they were allowed to grow¡­

    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

    The beast raised its head, letting out a bellow that shook the universe at its foundation.

    Finally, it was able to wake up.

    Finally, the moment it had been waiting for arrived.

    Finally, it could sense that irresistible aura that it had only felt once before.

    The beast''s eyes opened. They were like miniature moons of their own.

    Its pupils were blurred at first, but quickly cleared as they adjusted.

    And then, its gaze locked on Damien.

 Chapter 589 Behemoth [1]

    "So it is you."

    An ancient, billowing voice transmitted from the beast, causing space to quake at its ferocity. The beast didn''t open its mouth, nor did it use a mental transmission.

    Its thoughts had been directly imposed onto and manifested into reality. This was a level of fusion with the universe that none present hade close to reaching.

    This discovery immediately caused those Demigods'' eyes to harden. Whether or not the group of them could win this battle waspletely unknown. Frankly, they weren''t too hopeful of their chances.

    Damien was different from them. While these Demigods were so focused on the ramifications behind the voice, Damien''s mind was shaken by the words themselves.

    This beast was staring at him. He could feel its terrifying gaze, its deathly aura that surrounded his body.

    "You, who carry His scent. I have been awaiting your arrival for eons."

    The beast spoke once more. As its body finished unraveling to its full length, a shining blue object was revealed.

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    This was a World Core, there was no doubt about it. Suddenly, Damien began to understand why the world remained unnamed despite the history it had.

    Because it was never truly a world in the first ce.

    The Space Beast''s words were few, but they carried monstrous intent. It was like Damien was being told the secrets of the universe in those few words alone.

    He understood.

    He didn''t know how long the Space Beast had been alive, but it couldn''t have been a short time. At some point, it had found out about the fact that Damien would be born into the Human Domain. After that, it found a world at the start of its formation and took it as its nest,ying in slumber until an entire world formed around its body!

    To call this beast massive was an understatement. Evenpared to some smaller worlds like Earth, it was much bigger.

    "The inheritance of the God of Heaven, 500,000 years of waiting, it will finally be mine."

    The beast''s eyes shed. Without warning, its massive tail shot out like a meteor.

    "Dodge!" Tian Yang roared. In that instant, the Demigods scattered.

    Butpared to its size, the tail was incredibly fast. With the distance between the group and the beast being over 100,000 kilometers, it was able to show off its capabilities perfectly.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Space ruptured everywhere the stinger passed. In what felt like only a few seconds, the massive visage of the tail was already at the group''s previous location.

    BANG!

    The stinger pierced through space, creating a cavity that stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers into the distance.

    "Get in formation! Surround it! Cut off its tail first!" Tian Yang''s voice roared through space.

    Immediately, the remaining Demigodsplied with hismand. With the forces of the Human Domain''s main worlds and Shadow Gardenbined, the total number of Demigods had reached 12.

    They rushed in without hesitation. Against a beast of this size, that was their best option. Besides, aiming for the tail wasn''t a random decision.

    Tian Yang''s battle sense far surpassed Damien''s. In that instant the tail was used to attack, he''d deduced many things.

    For instance, while the tail was certainly powerful, its power mainly relied on prative force. Its movements themselves needed time to gain enough momentum to be heaven-shaking.

    Otherwise, the beast would''ve used its tail to directly pierce through the world and destroy it instantly instead of waiting for the opportune moment to burst it apart.

    Compared to the raw brute strength of its legs, the tail was a far safer attack target.

    12 Demigods used various methods to speed in close to where the beast was, but when they arrived within 10,000 kilometers of it, they found their movements bing strange.

    Tian Yang frowned. Right, a Space Beast was the closest existence to an embodiment of space itself. Even if it didn''t personally move, space would instinctively protect it like a living thing.

    For these Demigods, facing it would be incredibly difficult.

    Tian Yang gritted his teeth and charged forward, galvanizing his own Space Laws to carve a path forward. His speed increased rapidly, his wake being left a clear path for others to follow.

    The remaining Demigods instantly understood his intent. However, it was an unrealistic dream. The tunnel Tian Yang created began rapidly closing in an instant, repairing itself to peak condition.

    Suddenly, a figure appeared within the tunnel. His arms spread out like an eagle, pitch-ck mana ring from his body.

    With his presence, the bent space stabilized once more.

    "Go! Don''t hesitate!" Damien roared. He didn''t care if he was talking to people far more powerful than him anymore. Keeping this tunnel open for a few seconds was the limit of his current capabilities.

    To a Demigod, however, a few seconds was more than enough time. Damien only felt gusts of Spatial Essence whip around his body as the speed of those Demigods caused it to chaotically stir.

    He teleported away right after. This fight wasn''t something he could interfere in, he could only watch from the side.

    These Demigods, aside from the ones who personally knew Damien, didn''t even know that they were fighting to protect him.

    It was his fault that this Space Beast appeared in the first ce.

    He already knew that space and time were intrinsically connected. For a Space Beast to divine his future existence wasn''t too strange given this one''s power.

    The only thing Damien was confused about was the so-called "God of Heaven."

    On Damien''s body, only the Void Physique held the qualifications to entice a character like this beast. But what connection did it have to this God of Heaven?

    Damien was extremely curious. He felt that he found another avenue to learn the secrets of his physique, the other one being the Nox.

    But that was only if he could survive through this incident. If those Demigods couldn''tst¡­

    He shook his head and returned his attention to the fight. Not even a few seconds had passed, but the Demigods already arrived close to the beast.

    At this time, it finally acknowledged their presence.

    "Minor creations attack me¡­me, the Envoy of God¡­uneptable!"

    A terrific pressure spread from its body, forcefully increasing the intensity of the surrounding force field. At the same time, its tail whipped out once more.

    "Blood Emperor, get out of the way!" The Drunken Old Immortal yelled.

    The Blood Emperor, the Demigod from Bloond, rapidly revolved his mana without hesitation, turning his mortal body into a sea of blood that rapidly waded through space and escaped.

    But even then, he wasn''t able topletely avoid the massive stinger. As it struck out and copsed the surrounding space, a fourth of the blood sea was exiled to the void. When the Blood Emperor coagted into physical form again, his face was pale and his aura shaky.

    He''d been seriously wounded in a single hit.

    Nobody pitied his state, though. The remaining 11 Demigods used the opportunity created by the attack to rush at the tail, barraging it with various shes of Laws!

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Explosions rang out constantly and impacted the tail with fierce momentum that caused frightening fluctuations to spread out, butpared to the size of the beast their attacks looked small.

    This wasn''t their fault at all. If they were able to show their full capabilities, even with this beast''s tough body, it wouldn''t be able to resist their attacks.

    After all, the beast wasn''t a True God yet. It was only at the peak of Demigod realm, the only fact making survival a viable oue.

    The problemy in the fact that they were heavily suppressed under the beast''s forcefield. Only Tian Yang could show something simr to his full strength.

    But he chose not to. Seeing that the attacks weren''t having their intended effects, Tian Yang drew back and spread his mana. His hands flitted through the air, drawing up 11 runic symbols that then shot into the bodies of the surrounding Demigods.

    The pressure on them instantly lessened. Tian Yang was clearly using his power to support them instead of attacking.

    "Petty tricks." The beast scoffed with disdain. This was his domain! Nobody but him could rule this space!

    Space began to contort once again, causing the Demigods''plexions to turn ugly.

    The battle had only started, yet they were at such a severe disadvantage¡­was this truly a fight they could win?

 Chapter 590 Behemoth [2]

    In that moment of doubt, there was a change.

    Tian Yang primed his fist and punched out, his body erupting with strength! In the next instant¡­

    BOOM!

    Hundreds of the Space Beast''s scales were blown apart! A fountain of blood sprayed! While this impact was only around the size of a human and didn''t do any significant damage, it was a sign that the Demigods truly did have the capabilities to harm this beast!

    Aside from that, it was clear that the Space Beast didn''t see them as a threat. Even now, it hadn''t moved from its original position, its body floating above the unnamed world''s World Core.

    If these Demigods could take advantage of this¡­

    "Now!" Tian Yang shouted.

    They moved together as one. Tian Yang burst apart the space around him, the others following close behind. In an instant, they reached the Beast''s back.

    It was like arge ind floating in the void. Even when theynded on its back, the Space Beast showed no signs of moving. They were like antspared to it, truly.

    But they didn''te to appreciate the scenery. As soon as theynded, the 12 of them began attacking together!

    Albeus raised a massive axe into the sky and cleaved down heavily! His muscles bulged under his weapon''s weight, mana fiercely swirling around its edge.

    Boom!

    The attacknded, shattering apart a few hundred scales!

    The others did the same. Every single one of them was an expert in theirws. Their attacks weren''t jokes at all. Behind them, Drunken Old Immortal had a sea of reddish-brown water around him. He allowed it to seep into the wounds that others created, corroding the beast''s exposed skin.

    Still, they faced the same problem. The beast wasrge enough to generate its own gravity, and this gravity was being used to suppress them. This was the beast''s way of asserting dominance.

    "Merge your Authorities! Iste it from the surrounding space!"

    A mental transmission entered their heads. When they heard it, they felt like idiots.

    Right, they were facing a Space Beast! Its strongest strength was its connection to space itself. If they could iste it, they''d be able to defeat it far easier!

    The Demigods acted immediately, superimposing their Authorities along the beast''s back. Over a hundred thousand kilometers of space became a separate dimension. Arge majority of the beast''s back was included in this space.

    Damien sighed in relief as he watched this. He was the one who sent the mental transmission.

    After his Baptism, he became much clearer on how space worked, and his connection with it had deepened even further. Aside from that, the specific branch of space that Dimensional Magic introduced him to made him far more familiar with the concept of forcefields.

    Seeing the beast use the surrounding space to suppress those Demigods, it didn''t take long for him to realize that he could solve that problem with his Dimensional Cage ability.

    Only, he wasn''t nearly strong enough to do so. It was only after he remembered his experience with Wrath and Tian Yang where he personally experienced an Authority that a light bulb went off in his head.

    Now, with the help of his advice, the Demigods were freed from a majority of the beast''s pressure.

    A rain of light shines brighter than any star as the Demigodsbined their strength to attack.

    BOOOOM!

    Finally, arge chunk of the beast''s flesh was dislodged. After the Drunken Old Immortal used his strange corrosive liquid to fill the space, they moved on.

    After all, they couldn''t cause substantial damage at the moment. If they alerted the beast and gained its true attention, they''d lose any opportunity they had.

    For now, they were stalling time. Within a few minutes, reinforcements would arrive.

    Only then would they begin their true assault.

    ***

    A few minutes could pass by rapidly or incredibly slowly depending on the circumstance. In this case, it was thetter.

    After what felt like an eternity of slowly chipping away at the beast while it remained still, many shes of light began to arrive from the distance.

    These Demigods already understood the situation. Nothing needed to be said. The second they appeared, they attacked.

    Feeling the approaching auras, the beast opened the eyes it had closed in the time they were waiting.

    "Finally¡­all havee¡­?"

    Its words sent shivers down the spines of all present. Without warning, the beast''s massive wings pped.

    BOOM!

    Space was torn apart. The beast traveled several hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, turning around to face its opponents before halting and drifting in the void.

    "All together¡­appropriate sustenance¡­before remation¡­"

    Its mouth opened wide. From within, arge ck ball shot out. Everywhere it went. Space twisted around it and light was entrapped within. This object was a miniature ck hole.

    The true fight began. The number of Demigods had doubled.

    Facing the iing ck hole, most decided to rush around it. Even though its suction force was strong, they were just as strong.

    Instead of a detriment, it acted as a benefit. The Demigods used this force to boomerang themselves around the ck hole and build momentum to shoot out towards the beast!

    24 shooting stars sundered space together, surrounding the beasts. As if they''d nned it before, they stood with equal distance between each other, caging the beast within the circle their bodies created.

    "God Ensnaring Formation: Activate!"

    "God Killing Array: Activate!"

    The 12 Demigods activating the formation turned into shining pirs of light. Aplex grand array formed in the space between them, blocking it off from the outside world!

    At the same time, a second array formed, manifesting as blood-red energy that floated in the sealed space like fog. If one peered into it, they''d faintly be able to see the formation of titanic god-killing weapons!

    But the God Killing Array couldn''t be activated immediately. In the time it took for these weapons to form, the remaining 12 Demigods acted as a buffer! Their bodies shot through the air and rapidly impacted the massive beast, seas of different Law Comprehensions decorating the space in a myriad of colors!

    It was a fierce counterattack that went almost too smoothly, but the reason for this wasn''t majestic at all.

    These two formations were human inheritances found within the Human Domain. The ancient powerhouses from 100,000 years ago left them behind for their descendants, but unfortunately, they weren''t able to tell their stories.

    The Human Domain''s forces found these formations during the previous war. Their existence was a major part of the reason why the Human Domain was able to attain incredible feats during that war, essentially giving themselves an extrayer of protection for its inevitable continuation.

    Now, these Demigods were putting them into action once again. This wasn''t their first or second time doing so. They''d fought side by side countless times in their tens of thousands of years of existence.

    Under the God Ensnaring Formation, the beast''s movements werergely limited. And with space sealed off, it wasn''t nearly as powerful as it used to be.

    But that didn''t mean it was powerless.

    Frightening fluctuations of mana spread from the beast''s body. Its front leg raised, tearing through the starry sky.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    A Demigod from Ataraxia coughed blood as he was sent flying away. At that moment, three others flew forward and attacked the outstretched leg madly!

    Tian Yang circled around the beast, appearing beside its tail once again and continuing to attack it!

    From the way things looked from an outside perspective, the Demigods had a clear upper hand.

    Unfortunately, Space Beasts were far more fearsome than what this one had shown so far.

    After all, it had been toozy to enter a morefortable fighting form.

    But now, seeing how it had to face a crowd of powerful enemies and needed the ability to maneuver around them, it no longer continued treating them like insects.

    Its goal was never them in the first ce. Its goal was the child they were protecting.

    But if he wanted to take back what was rightfully his from that child, he would first need to kill those that blocked his path.

    The Space Beast''s bodypressed rapidly. After all, it was also a being under the system, and it conformed to its rules.

    As a beast, regardless of whether or not it was from an ancient race, it had the ability to attain human form at 4th ss.

    With a sh of light, the massive bestial chimera disappeared from sight, reced by a naked handsome youth.

    His eyes scanned those around him cidly. His mouth opened, letting out a deep and rumbling voice that didn''t match his appearance.

    "I am the 5th Primal Sovereign. Humans who block my path, be honored to die by my hands."

 Chapter 591 Behemoth [3]

    "Kneel."

    The Primal Sovereign spoke with austerity. Even within the God Ensnaring Formation, he was able to partially control space.

    Although this level wasn''t enough to threaten these Demigods, it was able to jolt their minds. It was a disy of power, a move to disturb their psyches.

    And not even a breathter, he moved. The Primal Sovereign''s body flickered out of existence, appearing next to the Ataraxian Demigod that he''d injured during the previous sh.

    His arm swept down, coated with furious torrents of mana.

    The Ataraxian Demigod''splexion paled. The strike he took from the Primal Sovereign earlier wasn''t a joke. He''d recovered slightly, but he still wasn''t in peak condition yet.

    Against this sudden attack, he could only desperately raise his mana in defense.

    Pah!

    The Primal Sovereign''s arm tore through the mana barrier like paper, continuing on with its momentum until it pierced into the Ataraxian Demigod''s chest.

    In thatst moment, he spurred his mana and rapidlybusted it at the same point the Primal Sovereign''s hand entered his body. The collision of these two forces threw the Ataraxian Demigod''s body back, saving him from death. However, his entire torso had been nearly torn open by the st.

    He was thoroughly out ofmission, and without rapid treatment and many years of slow healing, he wouldn''t recover to his peak state.

    But was the Primal Sovereign a kind existence? He had never and would never taste loss in his life. This was a vow he took to himself.

    He was still only the 5th Primal Sovereign. There were four others above him whose strength even he couldn''t fathom. They were the peaks he aspired to surpass.

    The Void Physique was crucial in that. His God''s gift, the final piece he needed for his preparation to beplete.

    With it, he would be indomitable.

    How could he let mere humans bully and kill him? That was uneptable!

    Space constricted rapidly. Even the God Killing Array''s bloody fog was being drawn into the forming vortex.

    Without hesitation, the Primal Sovereign flicked the forming vortex in the Ataraxian Demigod''s direction. It traveled slowly, but seemed to phase through space, reaching the man in an instant.

    He was only lucky that he wasn''t alone.

    The 12 Demigods controlling the God Killing Array galvanized their mana together. Finally, a single God Killing Sword had been conjured.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Space was torn asunder everywhere the sword passed. It shot through the air like aet, tearing through the Primal Sovereign''s vortex like paper and continuing its path towards him!

    This attack contained thebined power of those 12 Demigods after it was condensed and multiplied by the power of the array. It wasn''t something even the Primal Sovereign could easily deal with!

    His eyes hardened. With the God Killing Sword erupting with fervor, it reached his position in less than an instant.

    Suddenly, the Primal Sovereign opened his mouth. It was a move he''d used previously, but currently, they were in a sealed space. Its effects would naturally be much better.

    Chaotic flows of Spatial Essence shed within the Primal Sovereign''s body,bining and consuming each other until they formed a true ck hole. This process took ce instantly, as in the next instant, the ck hole containing terrifying energy collided with the God Killing Sword!

    Voom!

    A powerful mana fluctuation spread from their impact, but the ck hole swallowed any possible sound. These two attacks shed silently in the air, chipping away at each other''s momentum in a fierce game of tug-of-war.

    But would anyone stay still during that time?

    Immediately after the Primal Sovereignunched his attack, Albeus and two others shot up from the space below him, their mana primed!

    Albeus surfaced behind the Primal Sovereign, cleaving down with his massive axe and using pure brute strength to crush him!

    On two sides, the other two Demigods appeared andyered their Authorities, separating the Primal Sovereign even further from the space that adored him so dearly.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Albeus'' axe impacted the Primal Sovereign''s body,nding on his shoulder just shy of his neck. When the two shed, a sound like cannon balls impacting a dense cliff rang out. It was a dull impact, but an extremely powerful one.

    Theyered Authorities shattered. Without hesitation, the three Demigods drew back.

    Albeus'' power hadn''t been able to kill the Primal Sovereign or even seriously wound him. All of the physical strength that was stored in his original body had beenpressed and multiplied many times over when he transformed.

    Still, their attack was merely a probe. It became obvious that neither a battle of attrition nor powering through with strength alone would work against this enemy.

    The Demigods would no longer attempt to attack in small bursts. They had to go all out. Perhaps even¡­

    11 together charged as one, the remaining 12 poured their entire mana reserves into the God Killing Array. Even with their strength, they couldn''t fire it more than a dozen times before their mana became insufficient,

    The Primal Sovereign was immediately hit with an extremelyplicated mixture of Laws and attacks. From every angle, a new opponent struck him, slightly differing in timing from the others around and confusing him.

    Above the battlefield, Tian Yang stood with his eyes closed, taking in every detail. The truth was, the attack wasn''t asplicated as the Primal Sovereign saw it to be.

    This was an effect created by the mixture of Authorities and Law Comprehension. Tian Yang was an extreme expert on Spatial Laws. Among the remaining Demigods, there was one who specialized in Wind Laws and another in Illusion Laws who came from the world called Mirrorbloom.

    With thebined efforts of these three, along with the Primal Sovereign''s senses already being dulled, they were able to fool his mind.

    The Primal Sovereign stood and received the attacks, his body not damaged as much as one would expect. Even with this fierce counterattack, there were only small gashes forming in his skin. These flesh wounds wouldn''t even take a few seconds to regenerate.

    However, there was one thing he''d forgotten.

    In the sky, blood-red mist condensed once more, this time forming a heart-rending spear. Its tip was aimed at the Primal Sovereign, ready to strike true at any moment.

    Tian Yang''s eyes hardened. ''Now!'' He thought in his mind. His hands turned into blurs as he formed hundreds of seals that floated through the void and attached themselves onto the God Killing Spear.

    Finally, it shot out.

    The Primal Sovereign felt its presence and thick killing intent without fail. But when he understood the origin of that killing intent, he scoffed.

    "Humans¡­never learn¡­"

    He opened his mouth, his mana raging even more fiercely than ever before. Compared to the previous ck hole he used, this one was far fiercer.

    VOOOOM!

    The God Killing Spear''s tip was met by the ck hole like an indomitable shield! The two shed equally, with even the ck hole not being able to swallow the God Killing Spear''s full momentum.

    At the height of their collision, the God Killing Spear''s shaft began to shine with iridescent light! Spatial Essence began revolving around the spear, infusing into its body and forming a counterforce that pressured the ck hole!

    ? This, of course, wasn''t something easily done. Even at this moment, Tian Yang had sweat running down his forehead as he maintained the stability of the runes he sent out. Without his direct control, they would burst and the counterflow would disperse!

    Regardless, Tian Yang was a seasoned veteran. He wouldn''t make any mistakes at this juncture.

    Crack! Crack! Crack!

    The mana within the ck hole was pierced through, causing it to crack and shatter like an egg.

    After all, it was the closest manifestation of a ck hole that one could create, however, it wasn''t a real ck hole. It was a physical phenomenon created by imitating a ck hole to the extreme with mana.

    It was entirely possible to pierce through as long as one had the proper method.

    It could be said that Tian Yang was a perfect counter for the Primal Sovereign. Due to his presence, thetter hasn''t been able to properly utilize his strongest ability. If it wasn''t for this, even with the increased number of forces on their side, their chances of winning would be far slimmer.

    The God Killing Spear finally broke through the ck hole''s defense and shot past it. The spear emitted an asura-like killing intent that coagted into a physical aura that empowered it. As it got closer to the Primal Sovereign, its aura grew as well.

    A nearby Demigod from Phiroah chose this moment to rush in. Her body arrived to the Primal Sovereign''s side like a snake, furious gusts of murky green mana spreading from her body and entrapping him within.

    This fog was a poison mist she refined from her own blood vitality. It was the strongest poison she possessed.

    While even this poison was useless if it couldn''t enter one''s body, it had a peculiar effect. It had the ability to mark its target and follow them forever. Even if they found a way to protect themselves from its first strike, it''d eventually im their life.

    This was what made the poison so terrifying.

    The instant the woman finished spreading the poison mist, the God Killing Spear arrived a mere few dozen meters in front of her, at the Primal Sovereign''s position.

    And then, it exploded.

 Chapter 592 Behemoth [4]

    As the battle reached this point and those present waited for the explosive force of the God Killing Spear to disperse, there was one thing they all realized. Even Damien who was watching from afar was the same.

    The Primal Sovereign¡­actually wasn''t as fearsome of an existence as they''d originally thought.

    His raw power alone was incredibly terrifying. His connection with space was enough to make these 24 Demigods unable to resist him.

    However, he had weaknesses as well. Most obviously, his intelligence.

    In the first ce, Space Beasts weren''t materialistic and didn''t have societies. They spent their lives wandering the vastness of space aimlessly, asionally swallowing World Cores and using other means to increase their strength.

    In their minds, the only thing that mattered was strength, whether that be their current strength or ways to increase their strength.

    Tactics,prehension, none of this mattered to a Space Beast. Their natural connection with space trumped the level that most people could reach throughprehension.

    But there was a key difference. When humans spent years upon years arduouslyprehending the Laws, they formed their own viewpoints on the way they functioned and established martial roads unique to themselves.

    Through this, "skill" was born. Skilled usage ofws while conserving as much mana as possible without losing power, techniques that enhanced thesews and allowed them to disy their true potential, essentially, the ability to innovate and adapt was something that Space Beastscked.

    In this situation where the Primal Sovereign''s connection with space was cut off by the God Ensnaring Array, he truly only had his physical body and a small set of skills to use to defend himself and counterattack.

    As long as they could maintain their momentum without allowing him a chance to respond, they should be able to eventually kill the Primal Sovereign.

    Unfortunately, it was unsure whether or not those powering the formations couldst that long. The ones battling the Primal Sovereign were also constantly putting themselves on the edge of death.

    Slowly but surely, the explosive force dispersed and the Primal Sovereign''s body finally came into view.

    Spatial storms and ruptures raged around him. Falling into one of these would instantly kill a 4th ss, but they didn''t seem to harm the Primal Sovereign at all.

    Instead, seeing this scene, the Demigods'' faces turned ugly.

    Even the Primal Sovereign''s damaged body and the sight of the Phiroan Demigod''s poison sinking into his skin weren''t given their attention.

    Because with these spatial ruptures¡­

    The Primal Sovereign''s arm waved madly. Following his movement, droves of Spatial Essence rushed out of the crack and swirled around him, creating a fog in the air.

    "Shatter!" The Primal Sovereign bellowed. The surrounding Spatial Essence became increasingly heavy, bearing down on the God Killing Array and attempting to destroy it.

    As long as the universe''s Spatial Essence was present, the Primal Sovereign was a monster. Otherwise, he never would''ve earned his current title.

    Voom!

    A tongue of Spatial Essence whipped out, entrapping three Demigods in an isted space. The instant they arrived, they were met with an intense barrage of spatial attacks. However,pared to normal Spatial Laws, the ones contained in these attacks were slightly different.

    The Demigods didn''t notice the difference¡­but Damien did.

    He was the only one familiar with these fluctuations.

    The Primal Sovereign''s connection with space carried a hint of the Void within. He could clearly smell its scent, the same way Damien''s scent attracted Wrath and the Primal Sovereign.

    Within his body, he felt his Mana Heart tremble. It was ck in color after being influenced by Void Mana, and currently, it was thumping heavily.

    Damien''s entire being was almost consumed with the urge to devour. He knew that devouring the Primal Sovereign would help his strength grow immensely.

    But there were multiple problems with this. Even ignoring whether or not the Primal Sovereign would die here, there was also the problem of how Damien would convince those Demigods to give him the body.

    And even then, the Primal Sovereign wasn''t someone Damien could devour. He was a Divinity, apletely different existence.

    If Damien attempted to devour him with his current strength, he''d explode from the excess energy.

    As he controlled his urges, he continued to watch the fight. At the moment, the Demigods were struggling fiercely, but the Primal Sovereign was too strong!

    Mirrorbloom''s Illusive Fairy Goddess galvanized her illusions to their limits in a bid to confuse the Primal Sovereign, but space around her immediately turned into a hellscape.

    She was forced to focus on defense, lest she be swallowed by a stray ck hole.

    Her fate wasn''t hers alone. Almost every Demigod was being attacked by an endless amount of Spatial Essence. The God Killing Array''s function had been suppressed since the very beginning, and the remaining 12 Demigods were doing everything they could to force it into action.

    Only Tian Yang had it somewhat easier due to his affinity, but that didn''t put him in a favorable situation.

    From the way things were looking, the only way to defeat the Primal Sovereign was to close the ruptures in space around him. Those were the source of his seemingly infinite Spatial Essence.

    But Tian Yang was the only one who could repair this space. While he attempted to do so, the Primal Sovereign wouldn''t leave him alone.

    Could these Demigods, who were already struggling, provide cover for him while he worked?

    A sense of dread spread through them. Before the war with the Nox even began, the Human Domain''s strength would take a severe hit.

    Whether they won or lost this battle, they''d be losers in the end.

    It was¡­unfair.

    This cmity appeared out of nowhere. It had no warning, no major purpose, but it was still a cmity that could seriously threaten the Human Domain''s safety.

    But this was life. Nothing would ever go as nned. As humans, the only thing they could do was adapt.

    A sudden determination entered the Demigods'' eyes.

    There was a reason why the Human Domain was always at the forefront of the war. There was a reason why humans, despite how much other races looked down on them, were able to stand equal to or even surpass these very same races.

    The human race was a pool of filth. It was a ce where brothers would kill each other for wealth, lovers would betray each other for power, a ce where infighting was asmon as clouds in the sky.

    It was for this sense of disunity that many races looked down on humans and thought them weak and barbaric. If they couldn''t even see eye to eye with their own people, how could they do the same with others?

    But that was a misconception.

    The human race was extremely prone to infighting, but against outside threats, they always stood united. When humans were pushed to the extreme, emotions clouded their minds and allowed them to achieve the impossible and throw away their cowardice.

    The human race of the Human Domain¡­had never produced an unworthy Demigod.

    Every single person who''d been able to cross that boundary was a person worth respecting, and that remained true to this day. All others that didn''t meet this criterion were stuck at the extreme peak of 4th ss, unable to move forward.

    The Demigods present were no exception.

    Understanding the consequences of this battle, understanding what they had to do to achieve victory¡­

    Blood vitality burnt en masse. Nothing would be held back in a fight concerning the fate of the Human Domain.

 Chapter 593 Behemoth [5]

    Billowing auras of burning blood vitality spread through the God Ensnaring Formation. Even the Primal Sovereign understood the danger that stemmed from this.

    He moved rapidly. Now that he had ess to Spatial Essence, he wouldn''t let anyone halt his momentum.

    He charged at the nearest Demigod, the same Phiroan woman who poisoned him not long ago. Facing his sudden attack, she didn''t panic at all.

    Her hands moved in front of her body, forming a set ofplex seals that shone with pale green light. When they came together and burst¡­

    Boom!

    Arge chunk of the Primal Sovereign''s flesh was torn open. The poison she''d nted inside his bodybusted at hermand.

    The Primal Sovereign''s physical condition wasn''t at the same peak it used to be. After the God Killing Spear hit him, his internals sustained some serious damage.

    The poison that the Deathmist Empress used on him was just the cherry on top.

    But the Primal Sovereign was still a tank. He didn''t pay any mind to his injury, continuing his charge. Spatial Essence wrapped around the two and isted them; a massive portal opened above the Deathsmoke Empress'' head.

    VOOM!

    Chaotic spatial waves poured out like a tsunami, enveloping the Deathsmoke Empress within. In that instant, space fragmented at an ethereal level. Each piece of shattered space seemed to hold its own true dimension. The Deathsmoke Empress'' body was being forced into these shards.

    Even a Demigod would have a hard time surviving if they couldn''t affect space.

    The Deathsmoke Empress was in this position. The Laws she studied were used primarily for killing. When it came to defensive and supportive use, they didn''t have as much power.

    Against the absolute suppression of the Primal Sovereign''s connection with space, she was helpless, even after burning her blood vitality.

    Before anyone could react, the interaction finished. The Deathsmoke Empress'' body was torn to shreds and sucked into multiple different dimensions, disallowing her from ever healing.

    With a wave of his hand, the Primal Sovereign destroyed the fragments around him and turned around. Just like that, an exalted Demigod had died.

    Due to the miraculous effects of the God Ensnaring Formation and God Killing Array, it became hard to distinguish why the Primal Sovereign was a being to be feared. He was being defeated too easily.

    But the only reason that was possible was because his connection with space was cut off. Even if he didn''t have any intricate knowledge at all, his raw strength and instinctual control were both monstrous to the extreme.

    There was no hierarchy among Space Beasts. There was only strength. But even then, the term "Primal Sovereign" was able to exist.

    The Space Beasts able to im this title could only be 10. And of those 10, this Primal Sovereign was 5th. He wasn''t a small figure.

    As for those above him, they werergely unknown. However, it was rumored that the First Primal Sovereign, the Ancestral Sovereign, was the very first Space Beast to evere into existence itself!

    Even if the difference between ranks was massive, just to reach a level where his name could be said in the same sentence as such a figure spoke to his strength.

    Now that he had the ability to show it, why would he hold it back? These humans needed to die so that he could finally get what he came for.

    His body continued moving. After killing the Deathsmoke Empress, he next targeted the Blood Emperor. The Blood Emperor had been wounded in the very first sh, and although he was healed now, he still had some lingering fear in the back of his mind.

    This kind of fear affected his fighting form, leading him to take a minor role in the following shes. However, it seemed he could no longer hide.

    When it came to burning blood vitality, he had a bit more leeway than others. Since he became a Demigod through blood, he naturally understood how to control it.

    This meant, in terms of keeping the Primal Sovereign''s attention, he was the best choice.

    His gazended on Tian Yang. He said no words, but gave a single firm nod.

    He''d do the best he could, so Tian Yang had toplete his job with utter certainty!

    Without waiting for an answer, the Blood Emperor took out his weapon, a long staff made of strange red metal.

    Haaaa!

    The Blood Emperor let out a low shout. Dropping his body, he fiercely swung out with his staff, conjuring up a sea of blood that backed its momentum!

    His attack seemed premature, but in reality, his precision was perfect. At that same moment, the Primal Sovereign materialized in the staff''s path, his fist already primed to attack.

    Except, he never would''ve guessed that his movements were seen through!

    Bang!

    The staff rammed into the Primal Sovereign''s side, creating an audible crunching sound as it dug into his flesh. Following the blunt impact, the surrounding blood sea moved as well, attempting to infiltrate the Primal Sovereign''s body and attack him from within!

    The Primal Sovereign let out a guttural roar and galvanized his Spatial Essence, madly drawing it to him and using it to disintegrate the blood sea.

    The Blood Emperor pushed his mana fiercely, locking the Primal Sovereign in a fragile stalemate. With his Blood Vitality burning brighter than the sun, he was able to reach a level much closer to the Primal Sovereign''s, but this wasn''t nearly enough to make up the distance.

    However, because of thews he studied, he was extremely sensitive to blood in general. Even if he couldn''t sense the Primal Sovereign through normal means, he could still trace the beast''s blood as he moved.

    When the Primal Sovereign''s speed advantage was taken, it made it easier for the Blood Emperor to attack, drawing out the fight as long as he could.

    That was his job.

    And he wasn''t alone in this.

    zing auras lit up the surroundings. With the Primal Sovereign held in ce by the Blood Emperor, they took the opportunity to attack as well.

    Six shes appeared around him. Three were attacks while the other three were seals. Altogether, they exploded into a dazzling show of light as they aplished their purposes.

    The Primal Sovereign harrumphed. He slowly took a deep breath. The surrounding Spatial Essence began to gather in his lungs.

    OOOOOOOOOH!

    And then, his mouth opened and roared. His booming voice spread through the God Ensnaring Formation with a storm of harrowing spatial winds. The attacks sent towards him were sucked into this storm and shattered.

    With every move from the surrounding Demigods, he would counter easily. No matter how they attacked him, his power was just too strong.

    The 5th Primal Sovereign was someone they could defeat with theirbined power, but they weren''t prepared enough to do so during this encounter. Unfortunately, they couldn''t kill him smoothly.

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive vibration spread through the air. Within the God Killing Array, a total of 12 monstrous God Killing Weapons twirled through space.

    After burning their blood vitality, the Demigods in charge of the formations decided to hold nothing back. They could at most use the God Killing Array a dozen times before they ran out of strength, and now, they''d used all those chances at once!

    The effect this level of attack would have was too extensive. Even a portion of their allies wouldn''t be able to survive. But if they were forced to do it¡­

    "Do it!" A voice boomed out. It was none other than the Blood Emperor.

    "I will stay and hold him down! Strike him with the God Killing Weapons no matter the cost!"

    The Blood Emperor rushed at the Primal Sovereign without fear. By his side, two others silently appeared and joined him.

    They spoke no words. And among those controlling the formations, there was no hesitation. They could only mourn after the battle was over.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The 12 God Killing Weapons attacked together, creating an apocalyptic scene that could''ve destroyed a with ease.

 Chapter 594 Behemoth [6]

    Every second the Primal Sovereign was held back by the seven Demigods in charge of doing so was another second Tian Yang received toplete his task.

    In reality, he had the remaining three Demigods by his side for protection, but they weren''tsting as well as he expected.

    The Primal Sovereign''s instinct was difficult to ovee. The number of terrifying traps that were left in the space around the spatial fissure from which his energy originated was insane. With every step they took forward, they were forced to take another five back.

    ? But eventually, Tian Yang was able to get close to the fissure. The others were still attempting to extricate themselves, but none of that mattered.

    His mana didn''t rage wantonly. It flowed through his body like a calm river. Tian Yang gracefully waded through space and guided his mana, allowing it toe in contact with the surrounding Spatial Essence.

    From here, Tian Yang had to first take control of this fissure and then promote its closure. It wouldn''t be an easy task to do, and the Primal Sovereign would surely feel it when he began.

    But he didn''t have another option. He needed to close the fissure as fast as possible.

    At that moment¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    12 God Killing Weapons were fired in tandem. Aside from the Blood Emperor and the two by his side, the others in the vicinity fled as fast as possible, arriving closer to Tian Yang and far away from the st area.

    It had to be said, the God Ensnaring Formation didn''t contain a small amount of space. It was more than big enough to hold the Primal Sovereign in his beast form with space remaining.

    There was more than enough space to flee from the eruption.

    For the Primal Sovereign, this was especially true. He red his mana, teleporting far away from his current position, but halfway through his movement, a bloody hand reached into the void and grabbed him.

    "Where do you think you''re going?" The Blood Emperor snarled. Lit by the bloodlust of the iing God Killing Weapons, he looked utterly demonic.

    Knowing what the inevitable oue of this battle would be, the Blood Emperor burnt everything. His life was being used as fuel for his power.

    His grip was indomitable, the Blood Laws in the surroundings only heightening the power of theing attack.

    And even if the Primal Sovereign wanted to struggle, two more heavyw fluctuations bore down on his body as the others also made their move.

    Under theirbined effort, the Primal Sovereign truly was incapacitated.

    His eyes turned red. To lose at this juncture was impossible. His goal was right in front of him, yet it was out of reach.

    Right, his goal was always Damien. Killing these Demigods came second. But the Primal Sovereign couldn''t destroy the God Ensnaring Formation. He needed Damien toe to him.

    To do so¡­

    A savage grin spread on his face. As long as he could lure Damien into the God Ensnaring Formation and devour him, there would be nothing else standing in his way.

    But first¡­

    His body rapidly expanded, his beast form revealing itself once more. He realized that he couldn''t block or dodge this attack, so it was best to spread its damage over arger surface area.

    All of this happened in an instant. The God Killing Weapons arrived together in the next, shing against various parts of the Primal Sovereign''s massive body!

    Massive cavities were formed in his flesh, his previous wounds bing far more grievous. If he returned to human form in his current condition, it would do more harm than good. And truthfully, even his overall condition wasn''t positive at all.

    He was already on the road to death. Facing thebined assault of so many Demigods who were prepared to sacrifice themselves for their cause, he couldn''t match up!

    He had to put everything into his final gamble. His gaze pierced the God Ensnaring Formation, attempting to understand the scenes taking ce beyond.

    ***

    At some point, Damien lost his focus on the ongoing battle. It wasn''t that he didn''t understand its significance, it was more like he was physically forced to turn his attention away.

    While inside the God Ensnaring Formation, the Demigods went back and forth with the Primal Sovereign and fiercely attacked, Damien couldn''t see any of it. His vision was blocked by massive shes ofws and iprehensible essences. No matter how he peered into these shes, he couldn''tprehend anything.

    Such was the power of Divinity. When it was concentrated to this level and entrapped within a sealed space, it wasn''t something Damien could deduce anymore. It wasn''t the same as when he gave advice to the Demigods previously.

    But Damien considered himself lucky for having his attention skewed. If it wasn''t, he would''ve never found¡­

    In front of his body stood a World Core slightly smaller than a moon. In its current state, it was already withering.

    A World Core needed the world around it just as much as the world needed a World Core. The two were in a symbiotic rtionship that allowed all things to function smoothly.

    This world, however, was different. Due to the Fifth Primal Sovereign, while the world was still able to rely on the World Core, the World Core was never truly able to form a connection with the world.

    It was kept alive for thousands of years due to the Primal Sovereign''s presence, but now that both he and the unnamed world were destroyed, this World Core was dying.

    Damien wouldn''t let it do so.

    This was an uncorrupted World Core,pletely intact. Even Wrath hadn''t been able to locate and corrupt it before. Finding a stray World Core without a world formed around it was incredibly rare.

    Damien greedily eyed it. He had alreadymunicated with it. To survive, it naturally chose to follow him.

    And after he connected his Celestial Mana Thread with it and formed the contract, he immediately thrust his hand onto its surface, enveloping it in an immense suction force!

    He would never get an opportunity like this again. Without a special circumstance, he''d need to kill billions through world destruction before acquiring such a pristine World Core.

    But now, that wasn''t a problem.

    He could finally give a World Core to the Sanctuary!

    The Sanctuary was independent to the extreme, but it wasn''t a true world yet. This was solely due to itsck of a World Core.

    While World Cores fundamentally functioned as pirs of the universe, upholding its foundationalws, this wasn''t a function exclusive to universalws.

    World Cores had the heaven-defying ability to adapt to and be influenced by any existingws, conforming to them and carrying out its purpose without fail.

    This meant that adding a World Core to the Sanctuary would make thews far more defined, promoting the Sanctuary''s growth.

    But most of all, adding a World Core to the current Sanctuary and turning it into a true world¡­gave it the potential for extreme expansion.

    If the Sanctuary became a single world, the surrounding void would expand to amodate its atmosphere. Damien''s territory within the Void would expand, making it possible for him to contain multiple worlds in the Sanctuary!

    This was only the first step, the beginning of his grand ambitions. Perhaps, at some point in the future, the Sanctuary wouldn''t just be a single world or a collection of them¡­

    It would be a universe in its own right.

 Chapter 595 Behemoth[7]

    Suddenly, Damien felt a strong attractive force beckoning him. When he looked over, he noticed that it was emanating from within the God Ensnaring Formation.

    Unlike the previous traces of the Void in the Primal Sovereign''s mana, the current calling was a true call of the Void. This wasn''t something that could be enacted merely bying into contact with it once or twice.

    And when Damien''s Void Physique felt this calling, it was almost unable to resist. Damien''s body began forcefully moving towards the God Ensnaring Formation.

    But currently, he was still able to resist. He allowed his mana to rage, setting up a Dimensional Cage around him to iste himself from the fluctuations. At least his instincts would be somewhat reigned in this way.

    Besides, Damien still had work to do. He had to incorporate the new World Core into the Sanctuary and guide that process. If he didn''t, he wouldn''t be assured of its sess.

    Sitting down in the Dimensional Cage, Damien closed his eyes and focused all his senses on the Sanctuary. He wholly isted himself from reality, forcefully cutting off the connection his Void Physique was forming with the Primal Sovereign.

    Two figures watched as all this urred from far away in the starry sky. After the grand battle against the Primal Sovereign erupted, they''d moved even further away to view the events without being discovered.

    "You aren''t going to help them?" Lucifer asked with a yful smile on his face.

    "Help them?" Parsiel scoffed. "What do you expect me to do?"

    It had to be known that despite his high position in the Angel Race, he was still just an extreme peak 4th ss being. He hadn''t stepped into the realm of Divinity yet.

    But this wasn''t embarrassing at all. Parsiel wasn''t that old in the first ce, still under 10,000. When concerning the Demigod realm, even reaching it after 20,000 years wouldn''t be too bad.

    Lucifer smiled. He also knew this. Even he was the same as Parsiel. The Demigod Ancestors of their people didn''t tend to involve themselves in mortal affairs, holing up to perceivews for most of their lives. Even the more active Demigods were confined in one way or another.

    For instance, a Demigod like the Immortal Blood Asura was actively heading his own sect, but he couldn''t fight openly lest he attract the ire of the Nox Demigods. A battle between these two forces would be catastrophic to say the least.

    As such, society was mostly run by those at the extreme peak of 4th ss, or those who had only partially formed their Divinities.

    But Lucifer didn''t stop pressing Parsiel. After all, there were more truths to the situation than just this.

    "Don''t you know the current state of the Human Domain? Even the fundamentalw structure has degraded somewhat, leaving this ce essentially a wastnd inparison to your Divine Realm. If I''m not mistaken, your strength should match the lowest of Demigods from the Human Domain?" He asked rhetorically.

    "Yours does too, doesn''t it? Why don''t you go help them if you''re so adamant?" Parsiel spat back.

    Really, in this situation, he was powerless. He didn''t understand the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s purpose at all, and he didn''t understand what kind of value that human boy held either.

    He only knew that there was an immense amount of fate surrounding the boy named Damien. The reason he stayed and continued watching the current events y out was to understand more about the origins of this fate.

    After all, his end goal was to inform the humans about the overall situation of the Grand Heaven''s Boundary and the Grand Assembly that''d take ce 2 yearster.

    Neither of these were minor pieces of news, and the reason he traveled all the way to the Human Domain to share it was because he believed in Humanity''s potential.

    The fact that a group of their Demigods could hold the upper hand against an existence like the Fifth Primal Sovereign was enough to prove his actions right, but he cared more about the younger generation than the old.

    This war wouldn''t take ce over a small amount of time. Even a hundred years was a low estimate. What the allied forces needed now were geniuses who could grow into their power during those 100 years and be pirs that held the universe''s fate.

    If Damien could hold such a grand destiny in his body, it meant he represented the peak of humanity''s youths. It could be said that Parsiel''s decision for how to proceed wouldpletely be based on his actions.

    As for the man himself, he waspletely unaware of the importance that had been ced on him. His mind was only just returning to the Real ne after consolidating the changes in the Sanctuary.

    Integrating the World Core wasn''t a difficult process. Especially because he had total control over the Sanctuary''sws, turning the vast ne into a true world came easily.

    Now that he''d done everything he could, all that was left was for the World Core to settle into its new body and adapt. This was a process that''d take ce naturally with time.

    ''The Sanctuary is¡­different from what I remember.'' He thought to himself. Since the events of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, it''d been almost 4 years. But that was only for Damien, who experienced the altered time within his Baptism space.

    However, the Sanctuary wasn''t free from this altered time. As he aged two and a half years, so did civilization within it. The previously disorganized group of races he''d saved from the 3000 Beast Mountain Range had formed a true society that functionedpletely ording to the Sanctuary''sws.

    They regarded this space as their own homes.

    And while they couldn''t go out to explore or adventure due to the Sanctuary''s age, they still had plenty of space to grow and plenty of opponents to face.

    Damien shook his head as he thought about it. With the current society, there was no way any of these people would experience rapid growth. There wasn''t enough brutality or conflict.

    This wasn''t entirely a bad thing, but it wasn''t a good thing either. Still, Damien didn''t worry about it regardless. As the Sanctuary grew, the lucky chances and life-or-death encounters would be more prevalent too.

    When society evolved to that point, he could truly say he''d built something substantial.

    But until then, he could only wait and slowly grow. As for those in the Sanctuary, they were in the same position.

    Damien thoughtlessly removed the Dimensional Cage around him. In that instant, he was hit with a tsunami of sensation. Every pore in his body greedily absorbed the surrounding aura instinctually. In the few minutes he''d taken to iste himself, the Primal Sovereign had finished setting his bait.

    And this bait, whether Damien liked it or not, wasn''t something he could resist.

    His body moved withoutmand, inching closer to the God Ensnaring Formation. Even though his movements were incredibly slow, his body fused with space and arrived at the formation''s border in an instant.

    His gaze locked on the scene within. From this distance, the shes ofws he saw were far more blinding. But within the blinding light, there was a bastion of darkness that called out to him, causing a tender and close feeling to wash over his body.

    Damien''s eyes turned somewhat dull. He wasn''t strong enough to take full control over the Void Physique yet. And now that it''d achieved a degree of fusion with his main body, its capabilities in interfering with reality were far more pronounced.

    Damien''s leg raised slowly, taking a step forward and entering the God Ensnaring Formation. The formation''s walls rippled slightly to acknowledge his presence, but otherwise, there were no changes.

    Regardless of how imprable the formation might''ve been, it couldn''tpare with the Void Physique.

    Finally, Damien''s body fully submerged into the formation, and before even a single second could pass by, he was enveloped in a sh ofws.

 Chapter 596 Behemoth [8]

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    shes of divine light continuously impacted the Primal Sovereign''s body, deepening his already grievous wounds. From above, a booming voice directed the battle.

    "Cloudless, Phaseshift, attack the right nk together! Goddess, sever the tail!"

    The one currently speaking was the Wind Monarch of Mirrorbloom. Although hisbat strength wasn''t the highest, he had an acute ability to read the flow of battle, making him a fearsomemander.

    Although Tian Yang would''ve usually been the one to take this role, he was currently upied with a far more important task.

    OOOOOOH!

    A heavy bellow left the Primal Sovereign''s mouth. His massive tusks shone with blinding light, letting loose destructive sts of Spatial Essence that converged at a single location, a ce covered by his own forcefield.

    Here, Tian Yang was desperately working with everything he had to close the spatial fissure that was providing the Primal Sovereign power. He already achieved partial sess, but under the constant barrage of attacks from his enemy, Tian Yang wasn''t able topletely focus on his task.

    At this moment, three Demigods flew up in tandem to meet the terrifying sts. Their mana raged, transforming into multiplew threads that converged into a beautiful defensive wall. The concepts within this wall were vast and mighty, making it emit an ancient aura as a byproduct.

    BANG!

    The spatial essence shed against this wall fiercely, tearing apart its foundation. But even then, the wall was too thick. This attack alone couldn''t break it.

    Still, the Primal Sovereign didn''t stop wantonly sending out sts of Spatial Essence. Even in the God Ensnaring Formation as a whole, an enormous pressure was nketing all things, making it difficult for those present to summon their entire strength.

    BOOOOOOM!

    A great axe spanning thousands of kilometers appeared at the base of the Primal Sovereign''s tail. It cleaved through space, impacting the tail with its greatest strength!

    A heaven-shaking explosion rang out as the two forces made impact, but the standstill between them onlysted an instant. Through constant harassment, the tail''s defenses had already been broken down.

    The axe cleaved through the tail in a single swoop. Blood sprayed out as the massive tail fell heavily to the bottom of the God Ensnaring Formation!

    This was more than just good news. The tail''s prative power wasn''t something to joke about. Even though the Primal Sovereign didn''t use it much in this enclosed space, it was still a severe threat.

    Besides, this was the greatest blow they''d been able to inflict on the Primal Sovereign, and even then, it''d been done at the cost of the Blood Emperor and his twopanions'' lives¡­

    The Cloudless Monarch and Phaseshift Sovereign''s attacksnded in that moment, causing spurts of blood to spray from the beast''s two hind legs.

    But even with all the damage being done to his physical body, the Primal Sovereign didn''t turn his attention away from Tian Yang. To him, protecting his connection with space was the most important matter.

    Still, the Primal Sovereign was fighting recklessly to say the least. Even with his extreme power level, he would eventually run out of mana and exhaust his mortal body.

    However, before that happened¡­

    At this moment, there was a slight ripple in the God Ensnaring Formation. It went unseen within the chaos, but the Primal Sovereign would die before he missed it. This was his cue!

    Damien''s body surfaced in the God Ensnaring Formation, standing above the area the God Killing Array''s blood fog once popted.

    ? Before he could even witness the ongoing collision, he felt an extreme suction force lock onto his body!

    The Primal Sovereign''s trunk was raised for the first time since the battle began. Although this movement alone didn''t signify anything¡­

    A frightening essence revolved when the Primal Sovereign took this action, initiating the suction force Damien was currently feeling!

    This essence¡­wasn''t something that just anyone could use. At the same time, it wasn''t a devouring power simr to Damien''s.

    No, this was the devouring power possessed by a Heaven-Swallowing Beast! The Fifth Primal Sovereign had somehow acquired this trait for himself, and now that he''d reached a critical juncture, he disyed it in full force!

    Damien didn''t have any chance of resisting this force. As for the surrounding Demigods, they''d barely noticed his presence, so how could they aid him?

    However, it was different for Tian Yang. He was especially sensitive to Damien''s aura after spending so much time with him, and now seeing that suction force envelop him, Tian Yang felt his heart drop.

    Anything else could be taken from him. His strength, his status, at the end of the day, these things were material. Above all else, there were two things he cherished: the sect he grew up in, and the two disciples he''d taken as his own.

    If anything happened to Damien, he didn''t deserve to live!

    But just as he was about to move to rescue his disciple, a mental transmission fell upon his ears.

    "Geezer, focus on what you need to do! Just remember one thing: when the timees, grab onto me and don''t let go!"

    Damien''s voice was filled with icy determination. From the moment he became unable to resist the Call of the Void, he''d been nning for how to survive.

    Against Demigods who wanted to kill him, keeping his life was impossible. Even against those who wanted to consume him, his chances of survival were infinitesimal.

    However, against a Primal Sovereign that had been wounded to the point of nearing death¡­he had a bit more confidence.

    Only, he had no way of dealing with the aftermath. And even if he seeded, it was almost certain that he''d be incapacitated for a period of time afterwards.

    Yet, Damien took all this in stride. Looking at the surroundings, a number of Demigods had already perished. Their deaths were major losses to the Human Domain, and each and every one was his fault.

    He drew Wrath to the Human Domain, he drew the Fifth Primal Sovereign in the same way. If he couldn''t shoulder the consequences of his existence, he didn''t deserve to bear the responsibilities his existence ced on him.

    Damien no longer waited for the suction force to slowly consume him. His mana red into the surroundings, galvanizing his speed and sting him into the Primal Sovereign''s grasp like aet!

    The Primal Sovereign''s eyes twinkled with an amused light as he saw this. Could it be that this boy actually believed he had a chance at resistance? Or was he simply epting his death in stride? Regardless, the Primal Sovereign didn''t take his actions too seriously.

    His mouth opened like a gaping ck hole, revealing the abyss within. And only a secondter, Damien flew in.

    This event was tiny in the grand scheme of things. From the moment Damien appeared to the moment he was swallowed, only a single second passed.

    Among the Demigods, only a few noticed this interlude, and even among them, only Tian Yang understood the implications.

    He could only trust his disciple. Until now, Damien had produced plenty of miracles. Never once did he disappoint Tian Yang''s expectations.

    While the current circumstance was far more harrowing than anything that''d taken ce in the past, Tian Yang still trusted his disciple.

    This was a fighter he''d raised! Whether it was facing someone at the same level or even a True God, he would never back down!

    And as his master, Tian Yang once again found himself ying a supporting role...

    To make sure that while Damien put his everything on the line, nobody would be able to hinder his path.

 Chapter 597 Behemoth [9]

    Even while conversing with Damien, Tian Yang never stopped pouring his mana into the erupting spatial fissure.

    Now, he would only need a few more minutes to close it thoroughly. But he needed to be faster!

    Whether it be Damien or the surrounding Demigods, none of them were in good situations. If he could seal off arge portion of the Primal Sovereign''s strength, he could ease all their burdens and make this fight progress far more efficiently.

    Six shining lights surrounded the Primal Sovereign from all angles. They were constantly harassed by terrifying spatial phenomena, but persevered nheless. With their blood vitality burning to provide them power, they did everything they could!

    Finally, there were the twelve Demigods who upheld the God Ensnaring Formation. In truth, these twelve bore an immense burden. The God Killing Array alone had taken a majority of their strength to activate and utilize. Now, to make sure the God Ensnaring Formation didn''t burst, they were putting their lives on the line.

    Evenpared to thebatants, these twelve Demigods were more important. If they failed in their task, the Primal Sovereign would be released into the universe once more, regaining his entire connection with space and bing an entity they could no longer face.

    All parties were doing everything they could. At this rate, as long as they could continue, they would be able to kill the Fifth Primal Sovereign without too many more losses.

    However, unbeknownst to them, a fierce struggle to define their fates was taking ce within the Primal Sovereign''s body.

    When Damien was sucked into the Primal Sovereign''s mouth, he found himself in a space filled with darkness. Surprisingly enough, the space within the Primal Sovereign''s body was a naturally isted dimension. It was no wonder why even with all the wounds he''d umted during the battle, he hadn''t been fatally injured.

    Even his organs carried space''s blessing.

    Of course, the isted dimension Damien was in wasn''t peaceful at all. It only retained that appearance due to the invisible nature of the forces within.

    Damien''s body was currently being pulled apart by multiple different suction forcesing from different points in space. This feeling was simr to a certain medieval torture machine, except multiplied to a far more gruesome scale.

    If any other 4th ss was ced in this space, they''d instantly be torn to shreds without being able to put up a fight. Even Damien wasn''t too much better off.

    His body popped and bulged as he pushed his physical strength to the maximum. Void Mana took shape around him, forming a protective shield that gave him yet anotheryer of protection.

    In usual times, he would''ve added Void Essence to this shield to make it even thicker, but he no longer had to do so. His mana was essentially Void Essence, just adapted to his body.

    Compared to the Void Essence he''d used in the past, his current mana was even stronger. And it''d continue growing stronger along with Damien. Only, he didn''t have more than 5% control over his mana at the moment.

    However, for now, this was more than enough. What he nned to do didn''t depend on his understanding of his mana.

    "Devour."

    Damien spoke, but his words were silent, swallowed up by the devouring force. But at that moment, a counterforce spread from his body.

    This was Damien''s own devour ability. The Primal Sovereign used an inherent trait of Heaven Swallowing Beasts while Damien used the inherent trait of his Void Physique. Within the isted dimension of the Primal Sovereign''s body, these two forces fiercely collided.

    Bzzt!

    The sound of their collision was strange and static-like, two devouring forces attempting to devour each other. At first, Damien was at a natural disadvantage due to his low strength.

    But this didn''t continue for long. Compared to a Heaven-Swallowing Beast''s swallowingws, the Void Physique''s Devour was like an ancestor.

    Voom!

    The devouring vortex around Damien expanded in size, slowly growing to cover his entire body. Its momentum wasn''t fazed in the slightest. Even after reaching this point, it continued expanding with fervor!

    Within the devouring vortex, Damien furiously pushed his mana and blood vitality. He even mixed his spiritual intent into the flow of energy he was producing, putting everything he had into maintaining the vortex.

    Still, the devouring force Damien wasbatting was a natural response from the Primal Sovereign''s body, not one he actively controlled. This meant that no matter how Damien tried to wrest control over the opposing force, it always became stronger to perfectly counter him and then slowly chip away at the territory he created.

    From Damien''s perspective, this was a battle for his life. If he didn''t seed in his crazy idea, he''d be torn apart and digested by the Primal Sovereign. This wouldn''t just be the end for him, but for the Human Domain as a whole.

    The allied forces'' assault today was sure to have deeply offended the Primal Sovereign. If he was allowed to escape, let alone escape empowered by Damien''s nutrients, he was guaranteed to return for revenge.

    At that time, it''d be impossible to stop him.

    So Damien couldn''t fail here! It was imperative that he lived through this cmity!

    His mouth opened, letting out a ferocious roar. Damien''s cracking body expanded once more, taking on his Demon Dragon Form! A blood-red aura enveloped his body as well, signifying his burning blood vitality.

    These were all the cards Damien could logically y. As a final move, he could still sacrifice his lifespan, but he had no interest in truly burning away his life unless it was absolutely necessary.

    [Heal] activated, keeping Damien''s blood vitality stable as he sacrificed it. In only a few breaths time, his territory had expanded to cover the entire isted space, warding off the surrounding devouring power!

    This was a grand achievement. It could be said that Damien imed a portion of the Primal Sovereign''s body as his own. If he continued to do this, it wouldn''t just help him, it''d also help the Demigods outside.

    But nothing could flow so easily in this brutal universe.

    As Damien''s control reached such a massive level, the Primal Sovereign also noticed the abnormality within his body.

    He could clearly feel that the Seed he devoured hadn''t been digested, and its power wasn''t flowing through his veins. Yet, he could still feel the existence of that power within his body.

    And it wasn''t a small amount!

    The Primal Sovereign''s face turned ck as he realized what was happening. This brat truly did believe he had an opportunity to win! He was relying on the God of Heaven''s inheritance to retain his life even at the final juncture!

    The Primal Sovereign''s eyes became bloodshot. To use the very inheritance that he was chasing to defeat him, wasn''t this just pping him in the face? And more than that, this disrespect wasing from a mere human!

    How could he allow this to continue?

    The Primal Sovereign''s tactics changed immediately. He no longer harassed or attempted to kill the surrounding Demigods. Instead, he galvanized his mana wildly and formed a titanic spatial storm that revolved around him and isted him from the outside world!

    This spatial storm was intense. Even for these Demigods, to force their way to the center would consume too much energy, leaving them vulnerable when they finally found the Primal Sovereign.

    In this situation, there was only a single thing they could do. They could only wait for Tian Yang to finish his duties, cutting off the Primal Sovereign''s source of strength.

    At that time, he wouldn''t be able to continue upholding this spatial storm, allowing them a chance to attack.

    But how long would that take?

    Tian Yang wore a dignified expression. For others it didn''t matter, but it was different for him. He red his mana even more furiously, desperately attempting to sever the connection between the Primal Sovereign and the universe.

    Until that happened, the battle became a duel between two.

 Chapter 598 Behemoth [10]

    After erecting the spatial storm, the Primal Sovereign immediately sunk his consciousness into his body, materializing as an avatar that stood outside the bounds of Damien''s devouring force.

    "Boy, you dare resist me?! Be silent and be my strength!" He yelled in anger. He really couldn''t stand the fact that such a minor being believed he could stand against him.

    Even if this being was the Seed, he was called the Seed precisely because he hadn''t bloomed yet. At this moment, Damien was at most a sprout. His body and the Void Physique had begun the process of bing one, but hadn''t truly fused yet.

    When this process ended and Damien became a towering tree, there wasn''t a single being in the universe that could stand in his way.

    But right now, he was too far away from that point. Against an extremely powerful Demigod like the Primal Sovereign, he really didn''t stand a chance.

    The Primal Sovereign immediately took control of the surrounding swallowing power and used it to pressure Damien, shing against the territory he''d imed through his own devouring force.

    It didn''t take long for Damien''s deficit to be pronounced. However, even in this situation, he persisted.

    The Void''s devouring force was miraculous. Without its abilities, Damien wouldn''tst a second in this collision, but in reality, he was able to continue scraping up territory even under the terrifying suppression of the Primal Sovereign''s swallowingws.

    There were multiple reasons for this even when excluding the Void Physique. Of these, the most prevalent was the Primal Sovereign''scking strength.

    Not only was his mana already strained after battling with so many powerhouses for an extended period of time, he was also using an exorbitant amount of mana to maintain the spatial storm that protected him.

    Tobat Damien, he only had a small portion of power remaining. Even still, he was able to pressure him to such an extent. This only went to show the difference in power.

    Damien used everything he had. He roared into the heavens wildly as if raging at their inaction. From his body, multiple different abilities manifested at once.

    All his traits became active as his bloodlines were drawn to their maximum capabilities, and ck veins of Void Mana spread across his body, making him look especially demonic.

    The surrounding space became incredibly chaotic. The storm talent sundered everything in the air, turning it into a wastnd, dragon roars resounded throughout space, causing it to fluctuate immensely. The structural stability of this isted dimension was being tested to its limits.

    This was only a single isted dimension within the Primal Sovereign''s body, though, making it so the damage didn''t actually make any substantial impact.

    This reality didn''t discourage Damien, though, as these phenomena were merely byproducts of Damien wantonly drawing his strength without care!

    And while the Primal Sovereign wouldn''t suffer any major setbacks if this space was destroyed, it''d be a massive loss of face and a defeat he''d carry in his heart forever. He couldn''t allow that to happen!

    With this realization, the Primal Sovereign didn''t hold anything back. He even withdrew a portion of the mana within his spatial storm, utilizing it instead to suppress Damien.

    Massive spatial winds wrecked the isted space. Whenever they passed by Damien''s body, they cut into his flesh and left massive gashes. Even Devour wasn''t protecting him from this damage, as it was currently focused on devouring the Primal Sovereign''s entire body!

    This was Damien''s end goal. Even if he sacrificed everything he had, leaving himself an inch away from death, as long as he could devour the Primal Sovereign and use his power to revitalize himself, Damien would live without any longsting injuries.

    Coincidentally, this was the exact same n the Primal Sovereign had! They were both staking everything on devouring the other party.

    And so, the stalemate continued. Damien didn''t have much of a chance in the first ce. He''d used up almost every strength he had already, yet he couldn''t make progress outside this single isted space.

    In his mind, it was incredibly peaceful. Thoughts raced back and forth as he attempted to find a solution to his current predicament.

    But all he could think was to keep fighting. His awareness spread, passing the bounds of the isted space,

    Damien could be said to have some specialization in the field of dimensions. If he could use this ability to connect his mind to more isted spaces, there was a small chance for him to increase his devouring pace.

    But first¡­

    The Primal Sovereign''s avatar waved his hands wildly, forming an intense gust of spatial wind that would kill Damien in a single strike! As he let it go, Damien also gathered his mana in a bid to block it!

    Suddenly, bright white starlight converged on Damien''s body. This strength wasn''t summoned by him, but poured into him by the worlds he was connected with!

    The World Core Fusion Reactor and his enhanced Celestial abilities made his connection with his worlds far deeper. As they sensed him in danger, they sent aid without hesitation!

    The strength flowing through Damien''s body exponentially multiplied. At the same time, his mouth opened as he roared a phrase he hadn''t said in a very long time:

    "STARFALL!"

    The void shattered into pieces. The starlight around Damien''s body transformed until it shone with an iridescent blue, which was then reflected in the portal that had been summoned.

    The portal rapidly expanded in size until finally¡­

    A meteor the size of a moon rushed through the gap with insane speed! It began burning aftering in contact with the stable space of the isted dimension, and without veering from its path, it flew straight into the course of the Primal Sovereign''s spatial wind!

    BOOOOOM!

    The two forces made impact. Despite the power of the spatial wind, it wasn''t able topletely destroy the meteor before it dispersed. With its remaining momentum, the meteor crashed into the border of the isted dimension and burst it apart!

    "Keuk¡­!"

    "Pah¡­!"

    It wasn''t just a single one of them that got injured. The Primal Sovereign''s avatar became less defined, while Damien spat out a mouthful of blood. Summoning such a harrowing meteor was incredibly difficult even for him.

    After all, it possessed the ability to injure the Primal Sovereign!

    Blood leaked from Damien''s every pore, covering his body until he looked like an avatar of blood; inhuman. He''d been constantly burning blood vitality and overdrawing his mana. His fatigue was obvious. The only reason he didn''t copse was because the second he did, he''d die.

    Therefore, he ignored his wounds and continued pushing his mana. He wouldn''t miss the opportunity he granted himself!

    While the Primal Sovereign''s avatar was weakened, he wouldn''t be able to control his mana as precisely. Plus, Damien had truly injured the Primal Sovereign''s physical body in that attack. Perhaps this even caused some problems in the outside world that''s divide his attention. Regardless, this gave Damien an opening to rapidly expand his territory without fear!

    And that''s exactly what he did. From the size of a single isted dimension, the scale of Damien''s devouring power continuously increased until¡­

    Roughly half of the Primal Sovereign''s physical body had been plundered!

 Chapter 599 Behemoth [11]

    The truth was, Damien didn''t have the power to devour the Primal Sovereign whole. The beast''s body was massive, over half the size of the unnamed world it slumbered in. With his current level, this was far too grueling of a task.

    However, he had methods to circumvent this problem. Aside from the many sacrifices he made to sustain his mana and ability, he also used a few shortcuts to spread his devouring force faster.

    For instance, the Void mes.

    Void mes carried some of Devour''s abilities, and it was intrinsically linked to the Void Physique in this way. But more than that, the Void mes had an integral ability for the current circumstance. That was, the ability to devour mana and use it to sustain itself.

    This way, the mes could spread using their own mana without touching Damien''s reserves. Under his control, these mes spread rapidly and began depleting the Primal Sovereign''s mana, at the same time using their influence to spread Damien''s devouring power to the far reaches of the Primal Sovereign''s body.

    It was only with these shortcuts that Damien was able to rapidly encase half of the Primal Sovereign''s body with his power. And because he''d established such a massive degree of influence¡­

    Devour revved into effect. The swirling ck vortex that made up its form began rapidly devouring the Primal Sovereign. Whether it be his flesh and blood, his mana, or even the independent spaces that made up his internals, they all began feeling the immense suction force of the Void.

    This was a taxing process to say the least, but luckily, Damien wasn''t alone in his endeavor. While he injured and slowly chipped away at the Primal Sovereign from within¡­

    The Demigods outside also noticed a change. The intensity of the spatial storm had weakened considerably, and was continuing to do so with time.

    At this level, they should be able to¡­!

    Once again, the sky was alit with shining stars. The remaining Divinities charged into the spatial storm without hesitation, braving its ferocity and breaking through the barrier!

    The Cloudless Monarch and Phaseshift Sovereign arrived first, these two being especially specialized in speed.

    The Cloudless Monarch vanished into thin air. In only a few sparks of time, he was already inside one of the enormous craters that had been dug into the Primal Sovereign''s true body! His mana raged forth, having somewhat recovered in the time he waited outside the spatial storm.

    His moniker was Cloudless. This wasn''t some meaningless name. A Demigod''s title wasn''t just meant for its domineering appearance. Cloudless was a man with a vast expanse of mana like a cloudless sky. When it raged, it created a truly mesmerizing scene.

    For everyone but the Primal Sovereign, that is.

    The brilliant blue mana swirled into a vortex and drilled into the Primal Sovereign''s body without reserve. With thetter''s consciousness fully focused on devouring Damien, how could he resist?

    BANG!

    A pir of blood shot out from the wound. At the same time, Phaseshift''s attacksnded as well.

    While Cloudless was like the sky, Phaseshift was someone who barely existed in reality. While hisws were simr to the Illusive Fairy Goddess from Mirrorbloom, his actual abilities shared no resemnce. While the Illusive Fairy Goddess used illusions simrly to Rose, Phaseshift used illusions on his body alone, bing one with illusion and reality.

    He flickered in and out of existence as he rapidly flew around a certain area of the Primal Sovereign''s body. To an untrained eye, his actions were simr to a bird swooping down to catch prey.

    But in reality, his body was phasing through the Primal Sovereign''s body, brutally ripping out chunks of flesh with every move. While this move didn''t have as much destructive power as Cloudless'', it forced the Primal Sovereign to exhaust his blood vitality at an increasingly rapid rate, which was far more effective in the long run.

    As these two Demigods swooped in to attack, the remaining forces followed them. Even under thebined attack with his body being ruined further and further, the Primal Sovereign paid no attention to the outside world.

    He understood the reality of the situation a long time ago. Even if he diverted a portion of his consciousness to fending off against these Demigods, he could at most kill one more before he was inevitably killed by them.

    If that urred, he''d only face loss, with his actions for the past hundreds of thousands of years being meaningless!

    Instead, he would devour Damien. If he seeded, these Demigods wouldn''t be able to touch him any longer. But if he failed¡­

    Truthfully, the Primal Sovereign didn''t even consider the possibility of failure. But in the off chance that it truly happened, at least he would die at the hands of his enemy, a worthy death.

    Damien''s eyes were more serious than they''d ever been in his life. In terms of true life or death crises, this was the most severe he''d ever experienced.

    His face didn''t change, but with every passing second, he could feel the burden on his body bing increasingly heavy. This wasn''t only due to the Primal Sovereign, but also his own power.

    Devour couldn''t absorb the Primal Sovereign''s essence without having a target to direct it to. As the Primal Sovereign''s body was devoured, all of his energy was sent into Damien, forcing him to take control of it.

    Frankly, he couldn''t. It wasn''t a matter of skill or status, it was simply the fact that a mortal couldn''t absorb Divinity.

    Damien''s body was cracking under the pressure of his reckless actions. Even in the air above him, tribtion clouds formed to smite him.

    It only went to show how heinous his actions were. To steal Divinity as a Divinity was one thing, but to do so before one was acknowledged to stand at their level?

    Despicable!

    Even if one day, Divinities became asmon as clouds, it only went to show the amount of power their birthce possessed! Regardless of howmon they may seem when seen inrge numbers, every Divinity was a peerless genius of their era!

    There were no cheats to reach that level. Even if Damien reached level 399 in a single leap, he would never be able to feel the path to Divinity until he spent an appropriate amount of time and effort to reach that point.

    As he continued to shoulder the burden Divinity ced on him, Damien understood this in the core of his being.

    But at the same time, he was being empowered. He couldn''t personally separate the power of Divinity from the Primal Sovereign''s flesh, but the Void Physique was different.

    Due to hiscking strength, the speed was slower than a snail''s pace, but Damien was truly making some gains. Only, he would soon need an outlet for the massive reserve of Divinity being stored in his body, otherwise, he''dbust without any chance of resistance.

    At this time, the chaos in the outside world came to a standstill. Even the attacking Demigods halted their actions, their gazes focused on a single location.

    There, Tian Yang stood covered in sweat. His mana raged with blood-red highlights as blood vitality empowered his every action. His body stood within an immense spatial suppression that even he could barely withstand.

    His hands came together slowly. At first, they were many feet apart, but with time, they were able toe together.

    And finally, they pushed past any barriers blocking them, shattering space as they came together and sped!

    Tian Yang''s surroundings followed his actions. Everythingpressed, being forcefully drawn together, including the spatial fissure in front of him.

    Gargantuan currents of Spatial Essence continuously leaked from this fissure, making closing it an even more difficult task. Every time Tian Yang attempted to make progress, the bursts of Spatial Essence would force him to halt.

    But in that final moment when his hands sped together¡­

    The spatial fissure lost any means of resistance. It was mmed shut by the surroundingpression force, creating a loud bang as the surrounding Spatial Essence lost its momentum!

    Everything changed at that moment.

    The suppression force enveloping the God Ensnaring Formation was lifted, the wild gusts of Spatial Essence slowly melded into the world¡­and even the ravenous spatial storm disappeared as if they never existed.

    The Primal Sovereign''s most powerful source of strength had been cut off.

 Chapter 600 Behemoth [12]

    This change was reflected almost immediately in the struggle between Damien and the Primal Sovereign.

    Suddenly, the Primal Sovereign''s avatar became faint. His control over the surrounding swallowing force dimmed down as well.

    In truth, the Primal Sovereign''s mana wasn''t actually space-attributed. This was a difference between him and regr Space Beasts.

    While he relied almost wholly on his connection with space to show his amazing prowess, his mana actually contained swallowing attributes from his lineage as a Heaven Swallowing Beast.

    Realistically, cutting off his spatial connection shouldn''t interfere with his and Damien''s battle. However, the truth was far from what was expected.

    While the Primal Sovereign didn''t directly use space-attributed mana, he was still a Space Beast. His core strengthy within the universe''s foundation.

    When he utilized Spatial Essence, it didn''t just work as an attack or defense method. Because his body was infused with unholy amounts of the essence, being surrounded by it actually made his regeneration speed unfathomable. It was the reason he could still stand tall after being injured to such an extent by humanity''s Demigods.

    Within the confines of space, he was invincible.

    But now that he''d been cut offpletely, he was impacted by the true extent of his wounds. His body was wracked with soul-rending pain that made him want to scream out.

    And to make matters worse, the Demigods began attacking with even more fervor!

    The Primal Sovereign gritted his teeth and attempted to keep struggling, but he''d truly been crippled! Against the full force of the Void powered by Damien sacrificing his very life, how could he resist?

    The scope of his swallowingws slowly became smaller and smaller. The Void''s scent began emanating from every inch of his body as he was slowly consumed.

    On the outside, the Demigods were relentless. Massive attacks were let loose every second, utilizing every ounce of mana these sovereigns had to give.

    Even Tian Yang joined in on this final attack, creating portals that allowed the 12 Demigods upholding the God Ensnaring Formation to attack as well without leaving their posts.

    Previously, it''d only been a group of 12 attacking, and this number decreased with time. Now, in addition to the remaining 7, 12 more Demigods attacked in tandem! The Primal Sovereign''s body couldn''t continue resisting!

    OOOOOOOOOOH!

    An anguished bellow unintentionally left the Primal Sovereign''s body. He truly couldn''t ept it!

    How many years had it been? Almost 500,000? He''d spent that much time cradling the unnamed world''s core, lying in wait. The time before those 500,000 years¡­he almost couldn''t remember. There was a hazy fog covering his mind as he tried to.

    But in that moment of life and death, he pierced the fog without even meaning to. Memories of old flowed into his mind without end.

    Space Beasts weren''t born, they were created. While each and every one of them possessed a piece of the Ancestral Sovereign within them, there was no real connection.

    Space Beasts were independent existences. This was a fact known to even the mostmon practitioner.

    From the moment he came into existence, the Fifth Primal Sovereign had always been alone. He wandered the starry sky without pause, unknowing of what to do with himself.

    What was the purpose of a Space Beast? In usual cases, they didn''t even possess the spiritual intelligence to question this fact. The Fifth Primal Sovereign wasn''t like these other mindless beasts.

    He truly questioned his existence, his purpose, his drive. In his lonely life, the only thing that stood out was power.

    Gaining strength was a euphoric feeling. It was addicting, and even if stepping onto the road of strength was almost a guaranteed death for 90% of people, this fact didn''t stop anyone from doing so.

    After all, it was too tempting. To rise above everything else and stand supreme, wasn''t that grand?

    When the Fifth Primal Sovereign envisioned a day when he would stand equal to the Ancestral Sovereign or even achieve a greater level of strength, his blood boiled with excitement. For a being who had been searching for a purpose for an inestimable amount of time, this scene was nirvana.

    From that moment on, the Primal Sovereign continued to grow. He threw away all other thoughts and even attempted toprehendws like humans for the sake of power.

    While his attempts were mostly futile, he did manage to grasp a trace of Time Laws from within the Spatial Essence that always surrounded him. It was through this that he unequivocally witnessed a hint of the future.

    That future was something he''d never speak of. It was a terrifying prospect. But within that prospect, there was an extremely risky lucky chance.

    The Fifth Primal Sovereign had only interacted with the Void a single time. And even then, that encountersted less than a millisecond. Still, it changed his life. It changed his goal. It made him understand that there was always a peak above every peak.

    He wanted to see that final peak. That was the reason why he took such drastic actions to meet Damien when he was young and still growing into his strength.

    But now, he found that destiny was a cruel thing. The universe never cared for his ambitions, for the feelings he cultivated. In the end, he was dead from the moment he made his decision.

    Why did he do that? The temptation of strength was immense, sure, but the scene he saw invoked a primal fear that he''d never felt before. Under the suppression of that fear, why did he still make the choice to continue forth?

    In that moment, the Primal Sovereign seemed toe to a realization. ncing at Damien, his avatar bitterlyughed.

    "I see¡­I see¡­from the beginning¡­"

    His words were cut off. With the threat of external and internal forces ravaging his body, he could no longer sustain his avatar.

    Damien''s eyes flickered when he saw this. He felt strange in his heart. Before the Primal Sovereign''s avatar dispersed¡­he seemed far more mncholic than his character deemed fit.

    But at this time, Damien couldn''t worry about this fact. He felt something in his body click, and soon after, the devouring force went out of his control!

    An intense suction wrapped the entirety of the Primal Sovereign''s body. Even Damien''s own mortal body was pulled into this force! Rapidly, the isted spaces within the Primal Sovereign began copsing one after another. His body was beingpletely destroyed.

    At the same time, the Void Physique went haywire. It rapidly revolved Void Mana through Damien''s system, increasing its quality beyond his capabilities.

    In his previous terms, it was simr to Damien forcefully controlling High-Level Void Essence.

    His body was slowly twisted apart. It was excruciating, but he didn''t die. His vitality was too ferocious for him to die easily. Even after so much exhaustion, his body''s instincts alone allowed it to survive.

    His body itself became a ck hole.

    Soon enough, the rampant devouring force spread outside the Primal Sovereign''s body, even enveloping the Demigods within.

    Tian Yang''s face turned ugly.

    "Move!" He shouted out. Although he didn''t understand what was happening, he realized that it was the result of his disciple''s battle.

    The Demigods obeyed Tian Yang''smand without hesitation, rapidly retreating. After this battle, he had cemented his position as one of humanity''s leaders.

    BOOM!

    While they retreated, a shocking explosion resounded from the Primal Sovereign''s body. Looking back, they noticed that theary beast body was beingpressed at a rapid pace, imploding on itself as if it was being sucked into a ck hole.

    In their eyes, the Primal Sovereign was already dead. They only realized their mistake after hearing the bellows of agony leaving his mouth.

 Chapter 601 Behemoth [13]

    OOOOOOOOOOH!

    The Primal Sovereign was alive still. On the verge of death, but still alive. He''d never experienced pain like this before. This was the pain of death, the pain of being devoured.

    As a Space Beast, he''d never met anyone who could make him feel such agony. In his life, he''d only ever won his battles.

    But now, things were different. He couldn''t take it! He refused to die like this!

    The Primal Sovereign roused his mana. He didn''t revolve it, insteadpressing it in the core of his being, his soul. All his remaining lifeforce and power were directed towards this increasingly vtile mass.

    If he couldn''t win, if he couldn''t devour Damien, then he''d make sure Damien died here with him!

    He couldn''t ept the fate of a loser!

    He madly gathered his essence. Within seconds, the ball''s potency had reached an immense degree. If the Primal Sovereign were to detonate it¡­

    He didn''t hesitate to do so. He already understood that his death was inevitable, so he preferred to die on his own terms. He didn''t want to be led by the nose again. He refused to be a pawn in someone else''s games!

    Voom!

    Terrifying fluctuations of power emanated from the ball as it revolved on its own axis. With time, the light shining from its surface became blinding, space shattering when it came in contact with it. If this ball exploded, it''d be catastrophic.

    But at that time¡­

    VOOOOOOM!

    A wave of even more ferocious ck mana emanated from the Primal Sovereign''s core. The Primal Sovereign had prepared a feast for it, so how could the Void Physique deny it?

    Damien''s ck hole expanded gruesomely like a revolving saw. As it increased past the size of the Primal Sovereign''s body, it tore through every independent space and even flesh and blood, brutally cleaving the Primal Sovereign in two!

    The ball of energy became visible as his body split apart. The Primal Sovereign''s eyes turned bloodshot from rage. He couldn''t believe that even his final attempt would fail!

    But now, he was already on his final strands of life. With his previous injuriesbined with his body being severed, his immense vitality could no longer hold on. Besides, he''d condensed a majority of his power into that ball. From where could he summon the strength to resist?

    Still, his madness didn''t consume him. Because he could at least gloat at the fact that even if he''d die here, Damien would die with him. The amount of Divinity in his body would crush him to a paste.

    It wasn''t just the Primal Sovereign with no control over the situation, though. Even Damien was already unconscious. He''d been unconscious since the moment the devouring force escaped the Primal Sovereign''s body. Whether it was his mind he or his body, neither could withstand the impact of so much Divinity.

    In this state, his systems were operating on instinct alone. As the Primal Sovereign expected, he wouldn''tst much longer.

    BOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOOM!

    Pure white light gathered at Damien''s forehead and expanded into an omnidirectional tidal wave of energy that flooded every direction like a tsunami! The Primal Sovereign''s body, caught in this wave, was crushed into meat paste.

    He died just like that.

    In the end, he became nothing but an extra in the Void Physique''s show.

    But the waves of power didn''t end at one. They continued flowing from Damien''s body without reserve. Space copsed, the unnamed world''s debris was obliterated, everything around Damien was being cast into oblivion.

    "This is¡­Divinity!" A Demigod eximed. More than anyone else, they understood the profundities behind these fluctuations.

    Damien''s body couldn''t hold the power of Divinity. With no other outlet to send it to, the Void Physique simply expelled it into the atmosphere, causing heaven-shaking destruction as a byproduct.

    Tian Yang frowned. He remembered what his disciple said before entering the Primal Sovereign''s body. Although the apocalyptic scene in front of him made him wary, he decided to trust his disciple until the end.

    His body shot forward through the chaotic space, through the tsunami of Divinity, and rapidly approached Damien. The second he arrived nearby, Tian Yang stretched out his arm and grabbed Damien''s shoulder!

    As soon as he did, a tsunami of Divinity crashed into his body!

    It flowed through his meridians in raging waves, threatening to rip him to shreds. Even for Tian Yang, this level of power wasn''t something he could absorb in a short amount of time.

    Still, he held on and focused, revolving his mana fiercely to amodate the new power of Divinity within him. He closed his eyes, his breathing and movements matching Damien''s. Slowly, it was like their minds became one, absorbing the Primal Sovereign''s essence as efficiently as possible.

    For a moment, it seemed like everything would calm down. With Tian Yang and Damien working together, the Primal Sovereign''s essence gradually disappeared into their bodies.

    But could the Void Physique''s rampage be calmed so easily?

    The Void Physique''s Devour ability was able to turn quite literally anything into pure essence for Damien''s absorption. It was unknown why it suddenly lost control, but it was certain that the only way to calm it was an absence of energy.

    In the starry sky where Space and Time Essence rampantly swirled in droves, how could this condition be achieved?

    The suction forceing from Damien''s body reached another level, enveloping even Tian Yang within!

    He finally felt the mind-numbing suction force with his own body. He realized how terrifying it was for the Primal Sovereign to die this way!

    Tian Yang''s face paled. He wanted to keep helping his disciple, but he truly couldn''t withstand being so close to the Void Physique at the moment. He''d already been injured in the previous battle, and now he also had drives of Divinity he still had to digest before being able to properly use it.

    His mind and body were filled with unwillingness, but he was still forced to withdraw.

    Yet, the expansion surpassed his wildest expectations. Without warning, over 50,000 kilometers of space were enveloped in this power!

    Space and Time Essence rampaged and exploded wildly as they were thrown into chaos by this force. The surrounding space became a minefield of danger.

    Damien''s body was like a dark star. Due to the intense suction force, he began developing his own gravitational pull on the scale of a small moon. Not only was essence thrown into confusion, but even the surrounding celestial bodies were also drawn in.

    The Demigods retreated together. Whether it be the 12 in charge of the God Ensnaring Formation or the 7 that survived from the other group, a majority of them were no longer involved in the situation. Seeing things spiraling out of control, they anxiously held their breath.

    They''d been injured more than they ever expected when responding to the reinforcements call. Now, instead of facing another unknown situation, they''d rather retreat and enter seclusion for a period of time to recuperate. However, they couldn''t escape. If that boy''s strange situation became even slightly more threatening¡­

    They''d have to kill him for the sake of the Human Domain.

 Chapter 602 Behemoth [14]

    Of them, only Tian Yang and Albeus had major ties to Damien. As for the Drunken Old Immortal, he was close friends with Tian Yang so naturally he carried more worry for Damien than these Demigods. These three stood 100,000 kilometers away, watching intently for any changes in Damien''s body.

    A mesmerizing scene appeared. Asteroids, drawn to the scene by Damien''s gravity, revolved around his body like a chain. Starlight converged upon his location as he inadvertently drew power from nearby worlds.

    Everything was being consumed. This was the true face of the Void Physique. Unless Damien could control it¡­

    Space and Time Essence rapidly disappeared from space, causing the formation of a dark zone. Here where even time didn''t flow, the Void Physique''s terrifying suction started to run out of material to absorb.

    At the end of the day, it was still connected to Damien''s body. Even if it overdrew his power, it could only do so to a level he could withstand without dying, otherwise it''d lose its host.

    But it didn''t seem satisfied. Itpressed the devouring force''s reach until it only covered a small area around Damien. In this area, the devouring force was terrifying to a new extent!

    Bang!

    A dull sound rang out. A small hole roughly the size of a fist was formed in the dark zone. Within a few sparks of time, it expanded until it was the size of a person.

    Seeing it, theplexions of two specific individuals changed drastically.

    "That is¡­" Parsiel frowned.

    "Mm." Lucifer continued. "That boy somehow tore a hole in the fabric of this sector."

    "Impossible!" Parsiel inadvertently yelped. Tearing a hole in space was one thing, but to tear reality¡­

    "He won''t be able to evade its force regardless of what mysterious abilities he possesses. In the worst case¡­"

    Lucifer didn''t have to say it. If Damien was pulled into a tear in reality without any sort of guide, he''d possibly be banished to the Abyss, sentenced to an excruciating death.

    Parsiel gritted his teeth. That boy was incredibly valuable. He was an elite that had the potential to one day stand against the Saint King. He absolutely couldn''t die here, or else Parsiel''s entire visit to the Human Domain would be a waste!

    He didn''t hesitate any longer. His shining white wings spread into the void, his mana swirling around him like a group of dancers. After positioning himself in a praying position, Parsiel slowly took his mana back into his body.

    A small red glob of blood exited his forehead. This was his essence blood, a condensed portion of blood vitality.

    The second it appeared, it was branded with thousands of pure white runic patterns. And then, it tore through space until it reached the unconscious Damien, sinking into his body!

    After taking this action, Parsiel no longer spoke. His pale face was enough to prove his sacrifice.

    As for Damien, his body was slowly pulled closer to the tear in reality. It seemed he wouldn''t be able to avoid being sucked in.

    His body began to sink into the hole. But how could Tian Yang allow Damien to enter that ominous space? His body shot forward in a sh of light, his mana ring to the extreme. He entered the dark zone without fear and began flying towards Damien desperately.

    However, he couldn''t teleport. Space¡­quite literally didn''t exist in this area.

    This was the terror of a dark zone. One could only use the mana in one''s body with no hope of replenishing it. Even a Demigod would be thoroughly suppressed under these conditions, especially a spatial practitioner who relied on their surroundings more than a normal person.

    Tian Yang was powerless in the dark zone. He no longer had blood vitality to spare if he didn''t want to die a dog''s death. If he approached too close, he would be devoured as well.

    "DAMMIT!" Tian Yang roared. Even after understanding reality, he didn''t stop trying to reach Damien. His disciples were extremely important to him! He wouldn''t let them die!

    His body reached the limits of its potential. As his Divinity spread, even the surrounding dark zone began to recede! Pushing his Divinity to its maximum allowed Tian Yang to slightly alter thews of reality itself!

    In a normal situation, it''d be far easier for him to patch a dark zone by providing space and time essence until it returned to normal, but ironically enough, in this timeless space, he didn''t have enough time.

    Regardless of how rapidly he repaired space, he wouldn''t be able to save Damien with this method. That mysterious tear didn''t abide by the normalws of space. He could only be reckless.

    The changes around him allowed him to carry a slight hope of sess, he continued forward without a shred of hesitation!

    He was 30,000 kilometers away. With every breath, his speed was slowing. It felt like he was flying through thick msses.

    When he reached 20,000 kilometers, Damien''s unconscious body was already on the periphery of the ominous tear in space. With his current trajectory, he wouldn''t make it in time.

    His speed increased again. This time, Tian Yang sacrificed a portion of his life force. He traversed 10,000 kilometers in a mere instant, but his speed was meaningless in this timeless space.

    While his movements were faster than ever before, he also didn''t move at all. Time was a manifestation of change. In a ce without time, how could change take ce?

    Tian Yang''s body arrived within 10,000 meters of Damien. His status as a Demigod allowed him some leeway against the dark zone''s harrowing conditions. He could still see hope!

    And finally, he pushed himself until he was less than a kilometer away. This distance wasn''t even a single step for him.

    Tian Yang leapt forward. His arm was outstretched, grabbing toward Damien''s body!

    But his hopes were futile. At that critical juncture, his body ran into an invisible wall that he could never hope to break.

    From this vantage point, he saw the entire process of Damien being sucked into the mysterious tear from start to finish. It was like he was viewing the past, present, and future all at once. It was like the universe was telling him that Damien''s fate was inevitable.

    Tian Yang bit his lip until it drew blood. He couldn''t believe his own powerlessness! His disciple was facing a crisis, but he could only stand to the side and watch!

    Under Tian Yang''s helpless gaze, Damien''s body waspletely enveloped by that mysterious tear! In thatst moment, a sh of shadow appeared from nowhere, submerging into his body as well.

    But with its speedbined with the current circumstance, even Tian Yang only assumed it was an illusion.

    Space regained its stillness. A group of 19 Demigods, along with a new dark zone, were the only proof that today''s events truly urred.

    Their faces were pale. They felt no joy.

    It was clear to all of them what kind of significance Damien''s existence had for humanity. If he died¡­

    Regardless, with his fate unknown, there was no use in holding false hopes. They could only sigh in pity at the loss of another genius.

 Chapter 603 Divine [1]

    The starry sky remained still. Time passed, and people dispersed, but the atmosphere didn''t change.

    Tian Yang stood facing the 50,000-kilometer-long dark zone in space. His eyes didn''t leave the point where Damien had vanished. In those eyes, countless feelings were reflected.

    Anger, sorrow, guilt, and unwillingness were only a few of these. To think he, even after pushing his power to the extreme, couldn''t protect his own disciple. What kind of man was he?

    "Old Void, you know as well as I do that it is not your fault. Besides, you know your disciple better than anyone else. Would he really die here without achieving anything?" The Drunken Old Immortal patted Tian Yang''s shoulder and spoke words of constion.

    To the side, Albeus nodded his head in agreement. "For the short amount of time I knew that boy, he only created miracles. Even this time, his actions allowed us to defeat the Fifth Primal Sovereign far more efficiently. Without him, we would''ve lost a few more experts in the process. If he could achieve this only a few hours after his Baptism, I don''t believe he can''t survive that mysterious tear."

    Facing their constion, Tian Yang didn''t say a word. As the Drunken Old Immortal stated, he knew Damien better than anyone else. He also knew that Damien wasn''t a personmon sense could define.

    However, these old Divinities, despite their power, couldn''t sense the terrifying fluctuations emitted by that tear. Even Tian Yang could barely understand its nature, and that was only because he was deeply connected with space.

    This small glimpse that he witnessed, it was enough to leave him terrified. He couldn''t imagine what kind of ce that tear led to.

    At this moment, two figures silently appeared behind the three. They didn''t speak, only standing quietly, seemingly waiting for Tian Yang to approach them first.

    "So you finally came out. Is it because you believe yourselves safe after the battle ended?" Tian Yang said.

    Parsiel responded with a wry smile, "Senior, don''t joke with us. If we attempted to interfere, we would''ve only gotten in the way of your efforts."

    Tian Yang scoffed. "And so? Why did you decide to show yourselves now?"

    His attitude was clear. He had no good feelings towards these two beings who stood on the sidelines and attempted to reap benefits after the fact. Judging from their physical characteristics, they weren''t from the Human Domain either.

    Parsiel had been expecting a cold wee, though. It would be stranger if he was weed kindly considering the current circumstance. However, he still had to show himself.

    After all¡­

    "Senior may not know this, but that mysterious tear was a tear in the fabric of reality itself. Under normal circumstances, Senior''s disciple would have been thrown into the Abyss with no chance of survival. However, this junior has made sure to prevent that worst-case scenario."

    He paused slightly, but didn''t wait too long. Tian Yang was far stronger than him and any mind games would only lessen his chances at cooperation. Without holding back, he began to exin.

    "My name is Parsiel, and I am one of the 9 Holy Emperors of the Divine Realm. This time, I''vee to the Human Domain to inform your people of the Grand Heaven Boundary''s overarching situation. It is just that I so happened to arrive at this critical juncture and was unable to contact Senior and the others immediately.

    "In regards to senior''s disciple, there is no need to worry. Junior has ced a drop of blood essence engraved with holy guidance runic patterns in his body. This blood essence will guarantee that when the boy exits the Abyssal Corridor, he will arrive in my Divine Realm. Only, junior has no knowledge of where your disciple will arrive."

    "The only problem is what urs within the Abyssal Corridor. Due to the fact that they form only when the fabric of reality is torn, not much is known about them. Junior cannot guarantee whether or not your disciple will survive the journey."

    It was a harsh fact, but Parsiel knew he had no room to lie in this situation. Against Tian Yang, he was powerless. At the end of the day, he was only an extreme peak 4th ss existence. Tian Yang''s league was far above his.

    Tian Yang listened without a word throughout Parsiel''s speech. Hearing that Damein was alive and his destination would be within another Sector, he actually sighed a breath of relief.

    In truth, Damien was too much for the Human Domain. Whether it be his growth speed, his potential, his power level, or even the mysterious power in his body, they collectively outstripped the scope of the Human Domain by miles.

    That wasn''t to say that the youths of the Human Domain were useless. Those like Long Chen, Aishia, or any of Damien''s wives were peak talents even outside the Human Domain. However, Damien was intrinsically different than them.

    Despite how much he changed over time, his core was perfectly suited for chaos. An environment where he couldpete with those at his same level and experience countless struggles to rise, this was his perfect ying field.

    The Human Domain couldn''t provide this for him. It wasn''t just the unity of its people, but also their overall strength level. 4th sses were mostly the older generation. Amongst his peers, Damien had no challengers.

    The wider universe, on the other hand, was apletely different monster. When Tian Yang was young, he''d also traversed the various sectors of the Grand Heaven''s Boundary and experienced the Dimensional Leaderboard for himself. He understood just how valuable practicing in other sectors was for a practitioner''s growth.

    Damien had reached that level. And the Divine Realm was the perfect stage for a genius of his caliber. Only there would he find amplepetition to keep him on his toes.

    As for the journey through the Abyssal Corridor, Tian Yang didn''t even put it in his eyes. If his disciple coulde out on top after fighting a Demigod, even disregarding all the external aids he received, he wasn''t someone who''d die from a mere Abyssal Corridor.

    Thinking thus far, Tian Yang''s chaotic mood calmed down. He turned his attention back to Parsiel, scanning him from top to bottom.

    "A Holy Emperor, huh. It''s rare for someone like you to leave the safety of Luxurion at all, let alone travel to another Sector. Tell me, have things devolved to such a point already?"

    His tone was much more cordial. After all, this man did save Damien''s life, and his original intent seemed righteous as well. Tian Yang didn''t mind entertaining someone like this.

    Parsiel sighed a breath of relief as he heard this. After watching the previous battles, he''d already roughly grasped the Human Domain''s strength. They weren''t nearly as strong as they were in the past, but their spirit and fighting intent hadn''t dulled in the slightest.

    Aside from that, the quality of their forces wasn''t half bad. Especially their Demigods, they would be a great deterrent in the war.

    Concerning the deficits he found, Parsiel didn''t even pay them any mind. In the previous war, the Human Domain wasn''t just cut off from the rest of the universe, it was cut off from every outside force.

    This included the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    Humanity''s current situation wasn''t too much worse than the elves or the nt races in power. If they had the Dimensional Leaderboard to foster their growth, just how powerful would they be?

    Without any bias, Parsiel began his interaction with Tian Yang. He exined how the Elven Domain was obliterated, how the nt Races were currently under siege, and many other facts about the war that had already begun encroaching upon the universe.

    These two slowly made their way to the Cloud ne to continue their conversation. But in the back of his mind, Tian Yang was worried about another matter entirely.

    It was a matter that hurt his heart and mind, making him want to turn tail and escape the Human Domain as fast as possible.

    ''Haa¡­how am I going to tell Yue''er about that brat''s matter?''

    On the horizon, Tian Yang could feel his own death approaching.

 Chapter 604 Divine [2]

    The Divine Realm was thergest of the 8 Sectors. Its reach spanned hundreds of thousands of inhabitable worlds, and even more uninhabited areas. Even if a 4th ss spent his entire life flying from one end of the Divine Realm to the other, he might not be able to see every inch of it.

    However, the Divine Realm wasn''t as disconnected as it seemed. Not only was every world connected by spatial gates, but even within those worlds, the major cities and metropolises were connected the same way. Aside from this, every sector of the Grand Heaven Boundary besides the Human Domain had a long-distance teleportation array connecting them together,

    Somewhere within that plethora of worlds was a small world called Dawn World. Just like any other world, Dawn World was home to a plethora of influences and powers that ruled it. Among these was the Eclipse Sect.

    Currently, a group of disciples and an elder wearing the sect''s signature half-moon/half-sun emblem on their robes were exploring the periphery of a deste mountain range a few tens of thousands of kilometers away from the sect.

    "Elder Jue, are the reports true? Is there a new heavenly material in the Great Deste?" An excited disciple questioned with sparkling eyes.

    The surrounding disciples nodded in agreement, looking to the elder. He smiled lightly as he saw their childlike behavior.

    "Mm, it should be true. Not long ago, a group of wanderers saw a divine light shining from the skies. This phenomenon can only signal the birth of some heavenly material."

    The disciples conversed fervently after hearing his words. For some of them, this was their first excursion outside the sect. To think they''d be able to participate in something so major!

    At this time, a silvery voice snaked through the crowd, making itself heard by all those present despite its soft tone. "Elder, there seems to be something in the sky."

    The one who spoke was a veiled woman. Even the elder had to pay respects to this woman despite his higher cultivation. But he didn''t mind this. That woman''s status was truly special.

    "Princess, allow this old man to check. We can proceed after making sure there is no danger." The elder said fawningly. Without much thought, he spread his senses into the sky.

    The second he did, his face paled and he withdrew it instantly!

    "Everyone retreat!" He shouted. His mana wrapped around those that were too weak to follow his movements and rushed backward as fast as possible!

    As the group retreated, the sky above them was lit up with a red and orange glow. mes spread through the clouds, burning all things to ashes!

    The source of these mes became obvious only momentster. From the breach in the clouds, an unknown object shot towards the ground like a meteor! It moved faster than anyone present could register and in the next moment¡­

    BOOOOOOOM!

    It crashed into the Great Deste!

    A shockwave of power spread maddeningly. Everywhere it went, mountains were crushed and the heavens were sundered. In only a few seconds, the once lively mountain range became a dreary in filled with destruction.

    The Eclipse Sect disciples watched in shock from many thousands of kilometers away. They were lucky they''d only been at the mountain range''s periphery, otherwise, they''d have been caught in the st as well.

    The elder shakily looked at the destruction, his thoughts chaotic. He was a 4th ss, so he had extreme trust in his senses. It was just¡­the object he saw within the mes couldn''t have been a person, could it?

    At this time, the veiled woman spoke once more. In her eyes, one could clearly see a fiery curiosity that wouldn''t easily be sated.

    "Elder, can we take a look?" She asked quietly.

    "Impossible," the elder immediately refused. "That object came from the starry sky, and while it may be a rare treasure, it could be an equally terrifying danger. I can''t risk the princess'' life for such a chance."

    "There is no need to worry. I have checked the area and didn''t sense any danger. Besides, I only want to take a look. We can stay far away from the actual impact location." The princess said convincingly.

    The surrounding disciples immediately piped up to agree with the princess. After all, they were the young heroes of the sect. They didn''t want to leave a lucky chance if it was right in front of their noses.

    Against the fervent crowd, the elder couldn''t do anything. He was a practitioner too. How could he deny these young geniuses their experience? He could only make sure that no harm came to them in the worst-case scenario.

    Sighing, he slowly nodded his head. "Fine, but don''t stray too far from the group, and if I order you to retreat, obey without fail."

    The disciples let out a cheer, smilingly rushing into the now-destroyed Great Deste. Their minds were filled with curiosity: just what kind of treasure could cause so much destruction?

    However, contrary to their expectations, even after searching for hours they couldn''t find anything special. Until¡­

    "Elder Jue! Elder Jue! Over here!" A disciple called through a sound transmission talisman. His voice was somewhat panicked.

    Thinking there was an emergency, the elder rushed over immediately. But to his surprise, the disciple wasn''t injured at all. In fact, he looked no different than he did when they left the sect!

    "Why did you call me over?" Elder Jue questioned. He didn''t like others wasting his time. In response, the disciple could only shakily point to the ground below. He couldn''t make out any words.

    Elder Jue followed the disciple''s finger, his gazending on two figures, a man and a woman, submerged in the debris.

    "Hm? You called me over just to look at some corpses? Useless!" Elder Jue spat. He was supposed to be protecting the princess, not handling some weak disciple''s trauma!

    But the disciple wasn''t done yet. He shook his head fiercely and spoke, "those two¡­are still breathing."

    "What?!" Elder Jue eximed in shock. Before, in his indifference, he didn''t scan the bodies with his awareness. Now that he did, he could truly feel life fluctuations from these two people!

    ''How did they survive the explosion?'' He thought to himself. As his senses mulled over them, he could understand that they weren''t too strong. Their survival could only be called a miracle.

    "Bring them with us."

    At some point, the princess had arrived too. With her curious personality, she naturally followed Elder Jue after seeing him rush away.

    She''d been a troublemaker since she was a child. Even now, at 18 years old, she didn''t lose this trait. Seeing these two strangers, she intuitively felt that they''d provide her with a degree of fun that was worthwhile.

    Concerning the princess'' antics, Elder Jue truly couldn''t do anything. Her status was leagues above his. He was at most worthy of serving as her protector.

    His gaze turned back to the two bodies on the floor. In the end, he could only sigh. Luckily, these people didn''t seem too strong. At least, Elder Jue would be able to suppress them in case of emergency.

    Realizing this, he wrapped the two in his mana and brought them up, cing them in the Eclipse Sect''s spirit ship and ending this small interlude in their trip.

    The group stayed in the former Great Deste for many more hours in search of heavenly materials, but sadly, they found none. Even the Deste Ice Fruit that they were originally searching for was missing, most likely destroyed in the explosion.

    With downcast expressions, the disciples boarded the spirit ship once more. After thisrgely uneventful outing, it was time for them to return to the sect.

 Chapter 605 Divine [3]

    The journey back to the Eclipse Sect was quite the long one. With the Eclipse Sect itself being a smaller influence with only a few 4th ss protectors, it wasn''t able to afford spirit ships capable of traversing this distance in an incense stick of turn.

    However, the journey would still be shortened to a few days at most. During these days, the spirit ship was peaceful. The man and woman from the Great Deste were ced in separate rooms, a group of maids taking care of them and nursing them back to health.

    "It''s strange, isn''t it Elder Jue?" The veiled princessmented as she gazed out the spirit ship''s window.

    "What is strange, princess?" Elder Jue responded, clueless. The princess was too extravagant. It was impossible to guess her thoughts at any given moment.

    "Those two¡­" the princess started. "ording to the maids, their wounds weren''t extremely heavy despite the state we found them in. Aside from that, they''ve both healed to peak condition in only 2 days, but they remain unconscious."

    She was truly curious about the origins of these two people. Even though their strength didn''t seem too extravagant, their mortal bodies begged to differ.

    But even more so, she was curious about that strange meteor that hit the Great Deste and caused their injuries. Where did ite from? And why did it vanish without a trace?

    In the corner of her curious heart, she could feel that this situation wasn''t so simple. That meteor must''ve held an immense secret.

    She almost wanted to return to the Great Deste for a more in-depth search, but unfortunately, she couldn''t.

    ''The Storm Heavens Mystic Realm expedition begins in only 2 weeks. Sadly, I don''t have enough time to focus on anything else.'' The princess sighed to herself.

    The Storm Heavens Mystic Realm was incredibly important for her, mainly because it was a Mystic Realm connected to the Dimensional Leaderboard. If she could obtain good results within, her position would rise.

    Perhaps she''d even be able to reach the top 1,000,000!

    While this didn''t seem like much, reality was different. The Dimensional Leaderboard was a concept simr to the system in its reach.

    As long as one entered a Mystic Realm or Challenge Gate tied to the Dimensional Leaderboard, they''d automatically be registered on it as long as they met the age and ss requirements.

    Moreover, this wasn''t something limited to the Divine Realm. Every sector besides the Human Domain was represented on the Dimensional Leaderboard. If the princess reached the top 1,000,000, it meant that out of the countless young heroes of the 7 involved sectors, she would still be considered a peak genius!

    As for those in the Top 100 or even the Top 10,000, these were existences that the princess could never hope to match even if she did everything in her power. Those geniuses in the Top 10 were like spiritual gods in her heart.

    Thinking about the higher rankings on the leaderboard, the princess'' face soured. Nowadays, the sanctity of the Dimensional Leaderboard was being ruined. After all¡­

    "Princess, we''ve arrived." Elder Juemented lightly.

    On the horizon, the outline of a grand temple revealed itself. Majestic pirs supported its weight, carved with countless profound runes. The materials used to create it were incredibly rare on the Dawn World as well, loudly proiming the Eclipse Sect''s power. Even if the Eclipse Sect was a small sect on a universal scale, it was still near the peak of the Dawn World.

    When the spirit ship arrived at the pce, those on board rapidly departed and went their own ways. This small excursion hadn''tted them any gains to speak of, so these disciples were naturally disappointed. Even the excitement caused by the meteor couldn''t change this.

    As for the princess, she and Elder Jue moved towards an isted pce, the mysterious man and woman in tow.

    It wouldn''t be long before they woke up and the princess was able to receive the answers she wanted. Until then, she would enter a period of training while Elder Jue watched over them.

    Like this, a week passed without any changes.

    However, while the outside world experienced no changes, an ever-changing scenery shed through a certainatose man''s mind.

    These scenes were marred with the vicissitude of time. Endless millennia flowed without change, only the dark vastness of the starry sky expanding in every direction. Every now and then, the man witnessed brief shes of instances, minor interactions that held little to no meaning in the grand scheme of things. However, he felt no loneliness or insanity.

    From the moment he fell unconscious, Damien had been gued by these memories. Even through his journey in the Abyssal Corridor, he didn''t awaken even once.

    However, that journey was truly a harrowing one. The Abyss'' essence rampaged chaotically, mixed with many unknown forms of energy. These wild energy storms barraged Damien''s body without pause. In any normal circumstance, he''d have died instantly.

    But before he was pulled into the Abyssal Corridor, he''d not only devoured the Fifth Primal Sovereign, but also all of the universe''s essence within a 50,000-kilometer radius. To say his body was filled with ownerless energy was an understatement.

    Unfortunately, most of this energy had dissipated by now. It was whittled away by the Abyssal Corridor until only a minuscule amount remained for Damien to personally digest.

    In his current situation, though, how could that be possible? Luckily enough, his long dream seemed to being to an end.

    He saw a sh of starlight, followed by a terrifying all-consuming ckness. An ancient voice chanted in anguage he couldn''t understand. Reality twisted and warped into something unholy, something unspeakable. In the end, all things returned to one in a sh of brilliance that blinded Damien''s eyes!

    Unable to endure the shock of this scene, his mind jolted awake!

    Damien was covered in a cold sweat. He didn''t get up. For the next several minutes, heid still attempting toprehend what he''d just seen.

    But the more he pondered upon it, the faster it vanished from his memory. Eventually, Damien gave up.

    What he''d just witnessed¡­he''d lost scope of time so he didn''t understand how long that being had lived, but it was a period of time he found iprehensible.

    Regardless, he''de to understand what those scenes were after living that being''s life for so many years.

    Those were the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s memories. Aside from bloody battle and endless wandering, there was almost nothing else present. That was the life the Fifth Primal Sovereign led.

    What was more curious than this life, however, was both the final scene in the memories as well as the reason Damien could view them in the first ce.

    Concerning the first question, Damien had no way of finding an answer. He could only grow stronger until he had the power to understand the truths contained within. As for the second¡­

    There was really only a single exnation after Damien considered the entire chain of events.

    From his Baptism, to the war afterward, through the final fight with the Primal Sovereign, Damien slowly understood that the connection he now had with the Void Physique wasn''t something simple.

    His Void Mana was proof of their fusion. And clearly, he hadn''t uncovered even an infinitesimal portion of its abilities.

    His fusion with the Void Physique was a qualitative change in his abilities that he needed to slowly explore and understand. But he at least understood a few things. Of them¡­

    Was the fact that Devour now gave him ess to his target''s memories.

 Chapter 606 Divine [4]

    It took more than an hour for Damien to get his thoughts together. Once he did, he slowly sat up in therge bed he was sleeping on.

    He already understood that he was safe. The first thing he did when he regained consciousness was spread his awareness. Damien''s perception was extremely powerful from the beginning, making it incredibly easy for him to cover the entire Eclipse Sect within its scope.

    ''This ce¡­where am I?'' He wondered to himself. Thest thing he remembered was battling the Fifth Primal Sovereign, and now, he was in this strange sect.

    Most of the surrounding practitioners weren''t even human. They had varying features, but the mostmon was a pair of snow-white wings on their backs. These people were from the Angel Race.

    ''Divine Realm?'' He immediately thought. After ingesting both ric and the Primal Sovereign''s memories, he had a basic understanding of the 9 Sectors. While the Primal Sovereign never involved himself with the people of these sectors, he traveled through them often enough to have a general understanding of them.

    And with this understanding, Damien was quickly able to surmise his location. It wasn''t too hard of a task,

    Each of the 9 Sectors had its own dominant race. This was a fact set in reality, true regardless of where in the sector one was.

    Essentially, one only needed to understand the predominant race around them to generally understand which sector they were in. Naturally, there were times when this measure was inurate, but it was mostly trustable.

    ''If I''m in the Divine Realm¡­'' Damien''s face paled. Being in a separate sector wasn''t a problem, but the way he entered this sector was suspicious. How could he not worry about his home?

    The Human Domain must''ve been in a precarious situation after so many of its experts were injured. While Damien felt some guilt for causing this cmity, his main focus was elsewhere.

    He had once again left his wives alone. They''d spent plenty of time together before the Niflheim raid, but that didn''t make him feel any better. Especially when he couldn''t inform them of his departure before leaving them.

    From the Divine Realm to the Human Domain was a long journey. Even while using cross-sector teleportation arrays, Parsiel was only able to reach his destination in 6 months or so.

    And even this was only due to his special status. If an unknown individual like Damien wanted to use these arrays, he''d need to spend an exorbitant amount of money, money that he didn''t have.

    If he chose to traverse the distance without these gates, however, even tens of years wouldn''t be enough time to reach the Human Domain.

    Damien traced his chest. There, he could faintly feel Ruyue''s soul fluctuations. At their current distance, this feeling had no meaning aside from sentimental value, but that was all Damien needed.

    "I''m sorry for leaving again¡­" he muttered to himself. At this time, he truly could only think about Rose and Ruyue''s faces. Even Elena shed through his mind, but since she was on her own adventure, she likely wouldn''t hear about his matters.

    He was regretful. He didn''t enjoy that he couldn''t stand by their side as often as he''d liked to. But with the way he kept getting involved in dangerous situations, it was an impossible dream.

    They were both geniuses of their generation. Evenpared to Divine Realm geniuses, they were at the peak.

    But they still couldn''t match Damien.

    He''d keep getting stronger, and while they ardently followed behind him¡­he was afraid they''d never grow to be able to stand by his side.

    Damien shook his head fiercely. In truth, this was one of his greatest fears. He didn''t want to stand at the top of the world alone. However, he knew that it wasn''t something for him to think about.

    He already knew his wives'' talent, and he didn''t doubt them in the slightest. Even if they couldn''t match his speed, saying they could never reach the peak was a stretch. He wholeheartedly believed in their ability.

    And in the worst-case scenario, when he reached that peak, he''d bring everyone he cared about with him. At that time, what would he have to worry about?

    ''Regardless, I''m stuck in the Divine Realm for now. Though¡­that might not be the worst oue.''

    The Dimensional Leaderboard was a concept he''d just found out about. From his understanding, it was some kind of ranking list as well as a booster.

    The geniuses who were involved with the Dimensional Leaderboard would enter Mystic Realms, Challenge Gates, and other challenges set by the Dimensional Leaderboard itself. Depending on their performance, they''d be awarded the appropriate rewards.

    These rewards spanned from the mostmon mana crystals to the rarest of heavenly materials, artifacts, pills, and anything else. The Dimensional Leaderboard''s treasures were uncountable.

    But this wasn''t it. Aside from the benefits one gained in the Dimensional Leaderboard''s trials, as long as a genius entered the top 1,000,000, they''d also be granted rewards based on their rank.

    In essence, the Dimensional Leaderboard was a shortcut and a cheat code. This was Damien''s assessment of it.

    The path to gaining strength was even more streamlined than even the system made it. The geniuses of the other 7 sectors¡­were truly pampered.

    Damien spat in derision. He couldn''t associate with people who relied on crutches to gain stronger. It went against the core of his being. But at the same time, he knew he couldn''t judge those geniuses without facing them himself.

    ''Crutches, huh¡­'' Damien grinned to himself. ''Let''s see how it feels to have the universe itself helping me gain strength.''

    As Damien went to stand up, the room door opened. A human maid walked in, immediately yelping and dropping the bucket of water in her arms.

    "Ah! You¡­you woke up?" She stuttered. Her eyes moved relentlessly as she tried to figure out where to look. A slight blush crept up her cheeks.

    After all, currently, Damien''s naked figure wasn''t hidden from her vision at all!

    This maid had been in charge of him since they left the Great Deste, and had washed him plenty of times, but that was a different situation altogether. There was no way she''d feel any attraction to a corpse-like body regardless of its features.

    But now, she found it hard to contain herself. In a world where humans were a minority, it was rare for her to see someone of her race so attractive.

    And Damien''s attractiveness had reached new heights after his Baptism. His features became more perfect, his musclespact yet filled with power. Long ck hair flowed down his back, contrasting and entuating his ethereal purple eyes.

    It could be said that after ridding himself of his stranger features, Damien''s face became far more captivating. This little maid stood no chance.

    As for Damien himself, he didn''t pay any mind to the maid. After understanding the situation, he casually created a Celestial Star Pce core disciple robe out of mana and covered himself.

    "You, where are we?" He asked the maid. Before anything else, he needed to understand his general position. The Divine Realm was extremely vast, after all.

    The maid also began to calm herself down, replying, "w-we are in the Eclipse Sect. Our princess found you and yourpanion stranded in the Great Deste and saved you, bringing you back here."

    Damien''s brow perked. The Eclipse Sect was too small for him to take notice of, but thetter half of her sentence was¡­

    "Companion?" Damien quickly asked.

    "Mm," the maid replied, confused. "When the princess found you, you were together with a woman."

    Damien''s face paled instantly. A woman? A woman willing to follow him to the Divine Realm? Who could this be except one of his wives?!

    Damien didn''t pay the maid any mind, immediately spreading his awareness. Within seconds, he''d teleported away from his room.

    In his mind, his thoughts chaotically spun.

    His body was extremely tough, and from the fact that he didn''t gain any traits from the Primal Sovereign, he understood that the essence he devoured had protected him while he reached the Divine Realm.

    But if the trip was so disastrous that such a vast amount of essence was needed to protect him, what kind of state would the woman who followed him be in?

    His heart raced as he rushed to find out.

 Chapter 607 Divine [5]

    Damien''s figure materialized in a nearby room. Itsyout was entirely simr to his own, the only difference being the fact that a woman wasying on the bed.

    His heart beat out of his chest as he rushed over to her, but he immediately realized that something wasn''t right. This woman¡­wasn''t someone he''d ever met before.

    She had long ck hair that spread across the bed as she slumbered. Her skin was pale white like snow, unblemished and otherworldly. She had one of the most stunning faces Damien had ever seen, the small crescent moon mark between her eyebrows only entuating her natural beauty.

    Strangely enough, despite this woman being aplete stranger, Damien felt an incredibly familiar auraing from her. He simply couldn''t figure out where this familiarity came from.

    For a while, Damien stood in the room unsure of what to do. Regardless of anything else, it was true that this woman braved great dangers to appear with him in the Divine Realm. Only, what was her reason for doing so?

    Sadly, Damien could only wait until she woke up to find out. Until then¡­

    Damien''s figure shed away, appearing in his room. He''d only been gone for a few seconds at most, but his thoughts moved extremely fast. He realized that he couldn''t quite show his strength yet.

    After all, he''d already scanned the Eclipse Sect with his awareness. Evenpared to the Sect Master, he wasn''t much weaker. If the Eclipse Sect''s people realized this, they''d surely take him as a danger.

    However, this time, there wasn''t any problem. It wasn''t difficult for Damien to confuse the memories of a mortal maid. While this wasn''t aplete memory alteration, Damien could utilize his space abilities to confuse her perception and make her forget the previous events.

    He did so immediately, and after the maid woke up from her confusion, he continued their conversation as if nothing happened.

    In this way, he spent the next few minutes learning some basic facts about the world, and more importantly, about the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm.

    This was a term he heard for the first time from the maid''s mouth, and it was definitely an interesting one. Especially considering that it was connected to the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    His first goal in the Divine Realm was to ce his name on the Dimensional Leaderboard. Only then would he finally enter the race against the universe''s geniuses. He couldn''t wait for the moment he did. He''d been thirsting forpetition ever since his Baptism.

    At this time, a second maid entered the room. She was of a strange spirit-like race.

    "The Princess has summoned you." She said.

    Damien raised his brow. This so-called princess was the reason he had such a convenient starting point in the Divine Realm. He wouldn''t skimp out on meeting her.

    Damien followed the second maid through a series of hallways, finally arriving at arge dining room. The dining room table alone was long enough to seat hundreds of people, nothing needed to be said about the grandeur of the surrounding room.

    At the end of the long table sat a woman. A thin veil covered her face, but not even the Sect Leader could pierce this veil with his awareness if he tried. The only part of her face that remained visible were a pair of piercing grey eyes. Combined with her amazing body, it was clear why this princess was adored by many.

    "So you are the man I saved. Tell me, who are you?" The princess asked without hesitation. She didn''t seem to care for manners or decorum as she allowed her curiosity to take the wheel.

    Damien shrugged his shoulders and sat at the foot of the table.

    "You can call me Damien." He said casually.

    "Sir Damien, then. Where are you from? How did you end up in the Great Deste? Do you know what caused that explosion?"

    The princess let off a barrage of questions, surprising Damien a bit. He didn''t know how to answer these questions, nor did he know anything about the other powers of this world.

    In the end, Damien could only shrug again. "I''m not too sure if I''m being honest with you. One moment, I''m adventuring through the world with my Junior Sister, and the next moment, I wake up here."

    Damien''s posture was rxed andzy, his tone holding no respect for or acknowledgement of authority. He was the spitting image of a wanderer.

    The princess nodded as well, as if she was expecting his answer. On the Dawn World, it was rare to find humans with talent. Even after finding them, many sects still wouldn''t allow their entry due to pure discrimination.

    In this way, argemunity of human wanderers had formed in the world. While they didn''t have many powerful masters, it was still impressive for a human to make it as far as some of them did.

    But at the same time, thismon answer disappointed the princess. She was hoping for an incredible story, and even had a faint hope that this man would know something about the meteor. Unfortunately, he just seemed like a regr wanderer who knew nothing else.

    The princess sighed. For this bit of curiosity, she''d even slightly postponed her training. It wasn''t a good feeling realizing it was worthless.

    Damien quickly saw the disappointment on the princess'' face. Seeing that she was about to leave, his thoughts rushed. He couldn''t allow this interaction to end here.

    The princess was his ticket into the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm!

    Looking at her figure, she didn''t seem older than you 18 or 19. With the years he spent in the World Energy Barrier added to his own age, Damien was almost a decade older than her.

    He smiled seeing the curious heart reflected in her eyes. It was something he possessed as well at the start of his journey when he arrived in Apeiron.

    "How about this," he suddenly proposed, "although I don''t have too many fun stories of my own, I''ve traveled far and wide and heard many heroic stories that you''ve probably never imagined before! How about I tell you a few?"

    The princess'' eyes lit up. Hero stories, dramas, she loved the excitement of other people''s lives. She always wished to leave the sect and wander thends, discovering her own lucky chances to grow. Unfortunately, her status was too special, and she''d spent her entire life pampered and under pseudo-house arrest.

    Dinner was served soon after Damien''s proposition. He sat in the dining room with the princess and the man known as Elder Jue, talking about his own previous life experiences, some of ric''s more warm-hearted memories, and even tales from the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s memories that he recently gained.

    The entire time, the princess was listening intently, her eyes glowing with wonder. Damien''s storytelling was amazing, almost as if he''d experienced these events himself. Not only that, she could clearly feel the vastness and glory of the universe from his words. It made her blood boil in excitement!

    The princess was ambitious. If she wasn''t, she''d never aim for a high position on the Dimensional Leaderboard. Hearing these riveting stories made her rediscover her love for adventure and her love for practice.

    When she achieved enough strength, she''d also leave the Eclipse Sect and achieve her dreams. Of this, she was sure.

    Night fell by the time the princess finally left Damien alone. He finished his storytelling after a few hours, but the princess refused to let him go, pestering him for more. Damien could only smile wryly andply. This little princess reminded him of Xue''er, making it hard to refuse her requests.

    Nevertheless, Damien made a connection with the princess, and for the next several days toe, she was always by his side, listening to his experiences. Even when she practiced, she invited him to watch.

    In this peace, 6 days passed. A certain woman''s eyes began to flutter open.

 Chapter 608 Divine [6]

    The first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. In the next instant, her awareness spread.

    Thest thing she remembered was throwing herself onto Damien as he was sucked into a strange ck hole. Thinking back, that was a terrible decision.

    The wounds she incurred on the trip through that terrifying ckness weren''t simple. She passed out after a mere few moments of resisting with her own strength, but she had no idea how she survived after that.

    Her body was filled with hidden injuries until today. Her extreme skill in concealment was the only reason the medics didn''t realize her situation.

    Now that she was healed, she could finally awaken and understand her surroundings. However, theck of people around her was concerning.

    ''What is this ce?'' She wondered. The outside world was filled with strange people from races she''d never seen before. Compared to Damien, she didn''t have much knowledge at all,

    Still, now that she was alone, she couldn''t help but bury her head in her hands as she remembered her previous actions. She didn''t doubt that Damien didn''t recognize her. Facing him at this time would be far too embarrassing for her to withstand.

    But as if her thoughts summoned the devil, Damien''s figure soon appeared at the door to her room. He knocked politely, waiting for her cue to enter.

    She let out a small sound of affirmation and he came in. The first thing he saw when he entered the room were her eyes, mystically purple just like his own.

    "Nice to meet you." He said awkwardly, "my name is Damien."

    He really didn''t know how to treat this woman. He didn''t know her yet she risked her life for him. He couldn''t just act cold, could he?

    Seeing him shifting ufortably, the woman covered her mount and let out a slight giggle. Right, it''d been a very long time, but he was still the man she knew.

    "You don''t remember me?" She teased, gaining a little confidence.

    "Should I?" He returned the question.

    "Mm," she replied, "we used to be¡­very close."

    Her words were followed by a suggestive wink, making Damien feel ufortable. Who the hell was this woman?!

    In any other scenario, he''d have already stopped paying her any mind. However, he couldn''t help but feel like there was a mysterious connection between him and this woman.

    Noticing that he was truly clueless about her identity, the woman''s expression slightly dimmed. It was clear how disappointed she was.

    But in the next moment, her eyes lit up.

    "Ah!" She eximed. She jumped up off the bed and pounced at Damien. When she reached his vicinity, a murky ck fog of mana left her body.

    "You¡­what are you doing?!" Damien couldn''t even split his attention to realize that this woman was naked at the moment. He could clearly feel her mana pulling on something deeply connected to him.

    Specifically, his shadow!

    Damien''s eyes turned cold. It had been a long time since hest saw Zara. Ever since she ate the Death Seed, she''d been slumbering in his shadow.

    He''d felt her aura from his shadow this entire time, but over the years, he slowly stopped checking on her. He had too many other problems to worry about.

    Now, facing someone who could pull at his shadow, he was suddenly reminded of her. Was this woman trying to drag Zara out of his shadow?

    But he soon realized that his guess was wrong. What this woman pulled out was not his wolfpanion, but a mana construct with the exact same appearance as her!

    Damien could clearly feel that the wolfing out of his shadow was a being of pure energy. And once it finally emerged, it transformed into wisps of smoke and submerged into the woman''s body!

    "Any clues?" She asked smilingly. Damien could only stare at her in shock.

    When that energy clone was removed from his shadow, Damien received a rush of info. He remembered memories he had no recollection of ever making.

    These memories were all rted to Zara''s existence in one way or another. Watching them, it was clear to him that someone manipted his memory to make him forget about her.

    And when he connected that to the beautiful woman in front of him¡­

    "Tang Lingzi¡­" he muttered under his breath. Only a Demigod could pull something so ridiculous.

    Now, he could finally ce the familiarity he felt from this woman. It was the same feeling he got from Tang Lingzi''s disciple!

    And Tang Lingzi''s disciple, the beautiful woman standing before him now¡­was actually Zara the entire time!

    His mind broke when he realized it.

    "You¡­how¡­when¡­?" He stuttered. He couldn''t make out any words.

    Zara smiled brightly. This was the exact reaction she wanted to see. This was the grand reveal of her human form!

    She immediately jumped at Damien. Her legs circled around his waist and her arms around her neck, embracing him strongly.

    "Damien! I missed you!" She was already grown enough to speak more eloquently, but facing Damien, she couldn''t force herself to do so.

    It''d been too long since they separated. In truth, Tang Lingzi found her long before Damien''s visit to her floating ind.

    When Tang Lingzi first took Zara away, Damien hadn''t even entered the Primordial Undying Realm.

    The Myriad Illusion Veil was set by a weakened Demigod, so how could a Demigod at the peak of her strength be blocked by it?

    Tian Lingzi sensed Zara''s aura in the time after she ate the Death Seed, the same time Damien and Ruyue fought to protect her from the beast horde.

    Tang Lingzi gave Zara a promise. A promise to make her strong enough to stand by Damien''s side if she chose to be her disciple. To Zara, this was the most important thing in the world.

    From the moment they met to the moment they parted, she hadn''t been of much help to him. Only in the dungeon were they able to fight together. After that, due to theck of quality and quantity of beasts, Zara couldn''t evolve fast enough to match Damien''s growth speed.

    Under Tang Lingzi''s tutge, this all changed. She even overtook Damien for a period of time, achieving her human form when he was just at the boundary to 4th ss.

    Now, after years of waiting and grueling training, she finally stood before him again. Now, she finally had the strength to be helpful.

    She made a promise when she was young and immature, that when she achieved her human form, she''d fight alongside him without fear.

    And that''s what she nned to do.

    That''s why she unhesitatingly jumped onto Damien when he entered that dangerous ck hole.

    While Zara was celebrating, Damien was overwhelmed by confusion. It wasn''t his fault, though. His memories had been tampered with by a Demigod.

    While the intentions were good, it still made him shiver a bit. But he knew and trusted Tang Lingzi. Besides, she raised Zara into a powerful 4th ss being. She was an ally without a doubt.

    In the end, Damien wryly smiled and hugged her back.

    "It''s good to have you back." He said. Zara was the first person he ever trusted. She was half the reason why he didn''tpletely lose his mind in the First Dungeon. The feelings from back then hadn''t faded even now.

    "Let''s talk. I want to know about what happened to you over the past few years. Oh, but first, put some clothes on."

    Like this, Damien and Zara reunited for the first time in many years. Their conversation continued for an entire day, and by the time they exited her room, it was already time for the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm to begin.

 Chapter 609 Divine [7]

    The story Zara told Damien wasn''t riveting or heaven-shaking, it was quite ordinary in fact. Still, he could clearly feel from her tone how monumental of an impact Tang Lingzi''s presence had on her life.

    When she took Zara in, she was in the worst mental state possible. Her mental age didn''t match her physical age to begin with due to her growing up in the First Dungeon. Only after she met Damien did she begin to develop.

    However, developing emotion andplex thought wasn''t always a good thing. As Zara became more aware of her surroundings and the meaning behind the interactions around her, she became scared. She was scared of the world that suddenly turnedplicated and her role within it.

    In this weakness, the only thing she had to rely on was Damien, and Damien truly was a person who made her feel better about her existence. Only, there was always a racial boundary between them. There were certain things that he couldn''t understand or help with even if he knew them.

    Her helplessness was one of these things.

    As Damien grew stronger and her strength stagnated, she felt left behind, almost abandoned. She would always remain in his shadow without emerging because she simply didn''t have the face to appear. She was supposed to be hispanion, yet she was so weak. How would others view him when they noticed this?

    She didn''t want to do anything that could hurt Damien in any way.

    The Death Seed''s appearance was the second turning point in her life. Not only did she discover some secrets about her origin, but she also gained a method to grow stronger quickly.

    And Tang Lingzi was the third turning point. Under her guidance, the aforementioned effect was multiplied. Zara spent the years enduring hellish training withoutint. She ventured into the Cloud ne''s forbidden zones with nothing but her own strength to support her,ing out victorious.

    In this time, she also learned how to adapt to the ever-changing and chaotic world. Tang Lingzi was a beast herself, and one of somewhat simr lineage to Zara. She was able to guide thetter far better than an ordinary teacher, especially in matters involving Zara''s developing mind.

    During these few years, she matured, she grew, and she became a womanpletely unlike her previous self. That is, when facing outsiders.

    Against Damien, she was still the same mischievous wolf that always made him smile with her antics.

    Unfortunately, they didn''t have much time for their reunion. Damien didn''t even get to inform the curious Zara about his own adventures before dawn arrived. And the arrival of dawn signified the Eclipse Sect''s departure for the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm.

    Currently, in the Eclipse Sect''s main square, 20 disciples stood in rows of five like soldiers in the military. Their backs were straight, their auras were restrained, and their pride soared into the heavens. To be one of the 20 disciples chosen to enter the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm was a true honor.

    At the forefront of this group was a familiar veiled princess, and standing in front of these disciples were the Eclipse Sect Master and Vice Master, followed by a row of elders.

    "¡­you are all young heroes of the Grand Heavens Boundary and the future of our sect! Do not disappoint me in the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm!" The Eclipse Sect Master roared, finishing off a valiant speech.

    The disciples roared in response, their blood boiling. With fervor, they chanted, "Eclipse Sect forever! Eclipsing the heavens!"

    The atmosphere was jovial. With everyone soaking in anticipation to leave, the parting ceremony came to an end. But at this moment¡­

    Whoosh!

    Two figures appeared in the sky above these disciples, a heroic man followed by a heaven-shaking beauty.

    While Damien found it impossible to be fazed by Zara''s beauty due to her identity, it wasn''t the same for these disciples. Every male disciple present felt blood rushing to their heads as they looked at her. She was soft and delicate, yet tall and wild all at the same time. A mysterious and beautiful woman like her was a dreame true for any man!

    For every adoration-filled stare that Zara received, Damien received a re of malice and envy. He wryly smiled at the fate of someone traveling with a beautiful woman.

    If anything, he could only be thankful that the Human Domain''s inhabitants were less tant with their urges. Even the ones that lusted after his wives would never think of actually chasing them, whether that was due to their own strength or his.

    In the Divine Realm, however, Damien was unknown. He quite enjoyed this feeling. Being the underdog was always fun.

    Soon enough, he ignored these disciples and faced the Eclipse Sect Master who was warily watching him.

    "Senior, my name is Damien Void and I was lucky enough to receive the princess'' grace and arrive at this sect. I apologize for being an inconvenience, but would there be any way for me and mypanion to receive slots in the Mystic Realm expedition?" His tone was polite. He didn''t want to use the forceful approach and make enemies quite yet. He''d just arrived in the Divine Realm after all.

    However, nothing could ever be so easy. The Eclipse Sect Master immediately denied him.

    "Who are you? You trespassed onto the sacred grounds of my sect, yet you have the audacity to make demands? The participants for the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm expedition were carefully selected through a grueling tournament of strength! Not just anyone can decide to participate!"

    Damien sighed wryly. As expected, the easy way never worked. In ast bid attempt to solve the matter without conflict, Damien shot a helpless gaze at the princess.

    In response, she sighed defeatedly. While her status in the sect was indeed special, the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm expedition was too important to the sect. If they couldn''t obtain better results than the Sun and Moon Sect in this Mystic Realm, the Heavenly Jewel Pce would halve their supply of resources, making it extremely difficult for their sect to grow any further.

    No matter how special the princess was, she didn''t have the authority to intervene in these matters.

    Damien shrugged in response. In the end, why did he even try to do things peacefully? The reason he developed such a brash personality in the first ce was because peace was never an option. Even if he matured and became calmer, he still understood this to the core:

    Putting effort into pointless things was pointless. Therefore, why bother?

    Damien''s gaze found the nearest genius. He casually flicked his fingers, causing space to twist into a de that rushed at the disciple''s body!

    The speed of Damien''s attack wasn''t fast at all. He never had the intent of killing this disciple to make a point. Rather, he gave the disciple ample time to prepare and defend so nobody could question his methods.

    And that''s exactly what the disciple did. His mana raged around him, forming a thick mana barrier. At the same time, bolts of wind fired from around his body to offset the space de.

    Sadly, the difference in power was too exaggerated. Damien''s space de cut through those wind bolts like butter without losing any momentum. It continued flying forward, shattering the disciple''s mana barrier and cutting through his arm without stopping!

    The atmosphere turned silent. The surrounding disciples were too shocked by what they just witnessed.

    "Ahhh!" The injured disciple''s cries were what finally woke them up from their stupor. Their gazes shifted between his severed arm on the floor and the mysterious man in the sky dazedly.

    What¡­just happened?

 Chapter 610 Divine [8]

    While the disciples were shocked by the disy of power itself, the Sect Master''s shock came from elsewhere. From Damien''s casual attack, he clearly sensed the power of Laws.

    ''This boy is a 4th ss?! He doesn''t look older than 30!'' The Sect Master eximed inwardly. Reaching 4th ss before the age of 30 was an insane achievement. It was something only those peak geniuses of the universe could achieve.

    Even the princess, with her amazing status in the Eclipse Sect, was still only in the middle ranges of 3rd ss. It was estimated that she could reach 4th ss by 30, but reality was often different.

    After all, Universe Baptisms were unpredictable. There were even select cases of individuals who met every requirement to be baptized yet didn''t receive a Baptism at all.

    And even then, reaching a sufficient level of elementalprehension to trigger a Baptism wasn''t an easy task. It was something many people spent their entire lives trying to do.

    The significance of a 4th ss genius under the age of 30 was immense. Not just due to talent but also¡­

    The Sect Master shook his head. In the end, Damien didn''t belong to his sect. Regardless of the oue here, it wouldn''t affect him.

    Still, he no longer had the courage to denounce Damien. A genius like him would surpass the heavens, bing an untouchable existence in the future. Offending this type of person was something he absolutely wouldn''t do.

    In addition, there was no way Damien didn''t have status if he was able to reach his level at such a young age. He was surely the Holy Son of some major influence. But then, why did he appear in the Eclipse Sect?

    The Eclipse Sect Master diverted his attention to the princess. It seemed they''d need to have a talk on the way to the Mystic Realm. But until then¡­

    "Fine, I understand. You have sufficient power and the princess approves of you as well. You may take two spots for theing expedition."

    The Sect Master immediately gave him two spots without Zara''s strength being proven at all. He had no desire to see another one of his disciples get crippled.

    18 disciples were more than enough for the Eclipse Sect to receive adequate results. The main focus of this expedition was the princess, anyway, so losing two weaker disciples was irrelevant.

    Damien nodded in thanks. He waved his hand again, causing a greenish-white mana light to enter the crippled disciple''s body. A few minutester, a new arm grew in ce of the severed one.

    "Let''s go then," Damien said without giving anyone time to process his actions, "I don''t want to waste any time."

    The party headed to the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm boarded a nearby spirit ship soon after. Yet, the ambiance around them wasn''t normal.

    Even after the spirit ship took off, the disciples within were quiet, speaking in hushed whispers. Every once in a while, their gazes would turn to Damien and Zara curiously.

    These were powerhouses in their age group. More than that, they were likely scions of somerge influence. How could these young disciples not be curious? Sadly, none of them had the courage to strike up a conversation with the two.

    None except a certain princess. Of those who witnessed Damien''s show of strength, she was the most shocked. After all, she was certain that he and Zara were weaker than her when she first found them!

    She never would''ve imagined that Damien was so powerful. Thinking back to how she pestered him like a fangirl the past week, she was utterly embarrassed.

    But at the same time, she was incredibly excited! If Damien was truly a prime genius from some powerful holynd, it meant that the stories he told her might''ve been personal experiences!

    "Big brother Damien, howe you didn''t tell me something so exciting? You''re too mean!" She pouted while shaking his arm.

    Damien smiled slightly. "And what would''ve happened if I told you? Wouldn''t you have chased me away in fear?"

    "How could I?!" The princess jumped. "I know you have more interesting stories from around the universe. Please tell me!"

    Damien shook his head wryly while Zara giggled. The princess was truly the most curious little girl either of them had ever met.

    Her personality made it hard to refuse her, though, and Damien ended up digging his own grave. With this little girl''s curiosity, he quickly ran out of stories to tell! In the end, he was forced to resort to old Earthen myths and even modern entertainment to satiate her appetite.

    But conveniently enough, this routine was able to make the week-long trip to the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm far more enjoyable. By the time Damien looked out a nearby window, they''d already arrived!

    Mystic Realms were the most versatile form of challenge that the Dimensional Leaderboard offered, as well as the most essible. Unlike Challenge Gates or other isted challenges, Mystic Realms weren''t limited to a single location.

    When it was time for a Mystic Realm to open, multiple portals would appear around the various sectors. Anyone near these portals was free to enter, however, the ones that appeared in more popted areas were usually sectioned off and reserved for only top geniuses from powerful sects.

    Such was the case for the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm gate in the Dawn World. Currently, many spirit ships surrounded the gate''s location. However, due to the Mystic Realm''s rules, they couldn''t enter until it officially opened.

    These spirit ships contained the many sects and sect geniuses participating in the Mystic Realm expedition, but they weren''t the only ones present.

    A massive crowd had gathered. Rogue practitioners, uninvolved experts, and evenmon mortals arrived to witness the grand event.

    Mystic realms were stages for supreme geniuses to rise. And perhaps their world would produce one of these geniuses! No matter how unlikely such a situation was, nobody was willing to risk missing out if it truly did happen!

    Therefore, any Mystic Realm portal location would always be crowded with people.

    The Eclipse Sect''s spirit ship guided over the masses and arrived in line with the others present. When the ship finally came to a halt, the Sect Master and Vice Sect Master exited its halls, moving to greet their fellow sect masters.

    Meanwhile, the disciples exited the ship''s interior and stood on the hull. Now that they''d finally arrived, their anticipation reached its peak!

    Damien and Zara casually stood among them without drawing attention to themselves. They took in the sights and listened to the surrounding conversations to get a better understanding of theirpetition.

    Unfortunately, calling thempetition was a bit of a stretch. Even the Dawn World''s top sect, the Heavenly Jewel Pce, only had a peak 3rd ss genius leading their group.

    Damien frowned when he looked at the man basking in his own limelight. ''The Dawn World is too weak. Perhaps, the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm isn''t enough to attract those peak geniuses in the top 10 or even the top 10,000.'' He sighed to himself.

    He was being impatient. He wanted to rapidly increase his strength before returning to the Human Domain, and he wanted to do so before the war against the Nox became too chaotic.

    To push himself to the absolute limit of his potential, he needed proper stepping stones. But if he wanted toe in contact with said stepping stones¡­

    ''I guess I need to cause a blowout.''

 Chapter 611 Storm Heavens [1]

    The festivities surrounding the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm only became more pronounced as the time for its opening drew closer. All around, uninvolved parties fervently discussed their predictions on how the present geniuses would ce after exiting the Mystic Realm.

    "Heavenly Jewel Pce''s Marcus Scrow is already at the peak of 3rd ss. There''s no way the other geniuses will be able to match up to him!" A wandering practitionermented with surety.

    "That''s true, but have you heard about the Eclipse Sect''s princess? I heard that she''s a member of a Hidden n. Even if her level is weak, herbat power might be astonishing!"

    The first practitioner nodded his head in agreement. In terms of raw power, Holy Son Marcus had an undoubtable lead, but it was unsure how many geniuses surpassed hisbat power. After all, these geniuses didn''t show themselves to the outside world very often. It was difficult for themon eye to estimate their strength.

    "Has anyone noticed the Sun and Moon Sect? Their peak genius hasn''t shown themselves yet. Only their normal disciples have left the spirit ship." A more observant onlooker said.

    Those around him immediately shifted their attention, and slowly, they realized the truth of his words. There were no outstanding youths in the Sun and Moon Sect''s camp. While those present were still geniuses, it was to a far lesser extent.

    This discovery made the crowd increasingly curious. Was the Sun and Moon Sect unable to produce a genius or were they hiding a true gem?

    Only when the Mystic Realm opened would the answer be revealed.

    Damien and Zara went unnoticed in the fervor. They were already rtively low profile, and after merging their auras into the world and bing less noticeable to the untrained eye, this effect became more exaggerated.

    This time, Damien truly couldn''t be bothered to cause problems or get caught up in them. These surrounding disciples were just kids in his eyes, people who''d never experienced reality outside of theirfort zones.

    Mystic Realms always held the threat of death, this much was true. There were even some Mystic Realms that functioned in a battle royale format. However, at the end of the day, Damien didn''t put this experience on the same level as his own.

    In a Mystic Realm, trials were simted and rewards were promised with every sess. The mentality and will forged by these younger geniuses naturally wouldn''t match up to the bloodlust formed through years of ughter and brutal training.

    Still, he had to apud the Divine Realm for its standards. Even geniuses from a tiny corner of the sector like the Dawn World were able to match up to the Human Domain''s younger generation. Only the heaven-defying human geniuses like Long Chen could surpass them.

    If that were the case, then those true Holy Land-level influences would surely have immensely capable geniuses. Those were the people Damien actually wanted to meet.

    Still, experiencing the novelty of being powerful enough to dominate everything wasn''t a bad thing. In recent times, Damien had be too used to the presence of Demigods at every turn.

    His figure quietly departed his position and arrived next to the princess. He''d already heard the surrounding conversations, but his opinion differed from theirs.

    This princess had some sort of strange physique or bloodline, he could understand that much from a nce, but her current elementalprehension hadn''t progressed enough for her topete with that Marcus character.

    The princess was the main reason Damien could integrate with Divine Realm society as rapidly as he did. Without her aid, even convincing the Eclipse Sect Master to ept his presence would''ve been far more difficult.

    It wouldn''t have been strange if he roused the entire sect to stand against Damien. In that situation, even Damien wouldn''te out unscathed. But because of the princess'' trust, he was given the benefit of the doubt.

    Luckily for Damien, the princess had a lightning affinity. This was an area where he could provide some help. In this way, he could clear the debt between them.

    "Princess, close your eyes and spread your awareness." Damien''s mental transmission entered her ears.

    By this point, the princess already viewed Damien as a spiritual god in her heart. She trusted him without a sliver of doubt, following his instructions.

    Damien nodded his head and put his finger up to the princess'' forehead. A spark of silver lightning danced around his hand and entered the princess'' spiritual world. Afterward, it burst into a domineering aura that clouded her mind!

    The princess was afraid at first, but rapidly adapted to this new situation. As she probed the mysterious aura, she found that it contained the purest lightning essence she''d ever felt!

    If she couldprehend the secrets of this lightning even a little, her power level would experience a sharp incline!

    After all, Damien''s lightning was infused with Heavenly Lightning from the universe itself. While it wasn''t the highest tier of lightning in existence, it was definitely near the peak! For a practitioner at the princess'' level, this was the best gift he could give.

    What she did with that gift would depend on her own talent.

    This small interaction was likely the most interesting thing that happened for Damien during the wait. In many areas, geniuses had already begun warring words, and many existing blood debts were resurfacing in such an immense gathering. People were even betting on the geniuses'' cings when they exited the Mystic Realm.

    In this atmosphere of excitement and anticipation, days passed. Finally, on the 9th day of waiting, a change urred in the Mystic Realm gate.

    Thick bolts of lightning danced around the opaque portal. The sound of rumbling thunder emanated from its body. At one point, the portal itself began shaking uncontrobly.

    And finally, after so long, the opaque portal became translucent. Through its screen, it was possible to see the foggy outline of a different world.

    "Go! Remember, you are the prides of our sect! Show them what it means to eclipse the heavens!" The Eclipse Sect Master shouted. His cries mixed in with the countless others in the vicinity as all the surrounding powers prepared to enter the gate!

    Battle intent soared to the sky, excited cheers bing louder and louder with time. After hearing the words of their Sect Masters, all the present geniuses roused their mana and bolted into the spatial gate!

    It was like a tsunami of bodies, the scene was incredibly overwhelming to some of the mortals in the crowd.

    Near the middle of the group, Damien and Zara silently flew. In the crowd, only the Eclipse Sect Master noticed their presence.

    He felt a foreboding feeling in his heart, as if some major event was about to ur. Thinking about it, only these two could cause such a feeling in him, right?

    He suddenly began to worry about his disciples. It wouldn''t just be Damien and Zara, but countless other geniuses from other worlds. Mystic Realms were brutalpetitions that could crush one''s spirit instantly.

    It was something Damien didn''t realize because he already stood at the peak of talent and potential. When the geniuses of the Divine Realmpeted, they did so with every other genius on the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    In an instance where a top 1,000 or even top 100,000 genius appeared, how would these lesser geniuses keep their hearts firmed? Half of a genius'' pride came from the fact that they didn''t know how high the heavens were.

    How could a genius keep their pride if they were repeatedly exposed to people who they''d never be able to touch? How could they continue after realizing that they''d never achieve even a fraction of what these true geniuses would in the future?

    However, this was the path of a genius. They were like moths edging closer to a me. No matter how one attempted to convince them otherwise, they''d never let their paths be hindered.

    That was the marking of a true genius.

    The only thing the Eclipse Sect Master could do was wait patiently and hope for the best.

 Chapter 612 Storm Heavens [2]

    The atmosphere was deste.

    Dark ins of grey and withered dirt spread as far as the eye could see. An eternal canopy of thick ck clouds hung in the sky, blocking any potential sunlight thisnd could''ve received. In the center of this destend sat a single altarrge enough to hold hundreds of people. This pure gold piece ofnd was the only ssh of color in the otherwise bleak area.

    This space was the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm. As soon as the group of geniuses entered, they were met with this scene.

    Every Mystic Realm was different at a fundamental level. It wasn''t always certain that one would be allowed to understand the task beforepleting it. In some Mystic Realms, one had to understand every facet of the trial on their own.

    "Everyone! Follow my lead if you don''t wish to be killed!" A voice suddenly resounded. This was none other than Marcus Strow from the Heavenly Jewel Pce. He was undoubtedly the one with the highest status here.

    "This Storm Heavens Mystic Realm should be a talent-based trial. I believe we should first search the altar and see if there are any clues there. If we can''t find anything, we can split into small groups to explore the Mystic Realm''s other areas." He continued to say.

    Marcus Strow was an ambitious person, but also a charismatic leader. He was already set to be the Heavenly Jewel Pce''s next Sect Master. Hearing his logical words and authoritative tone, many geniuses felt the instinctive urge to follow hismand.

    Even those who didn''t want to follow his lead had no choice. His words were indeed the most practical way to continue.

    At the back of the crowd, the Eclipse Sect princess stood together with Damien and Zara. Her loyalty had reached an almost fanatic state after Damien''s previous gift, and she refused to leave his side.

    "Big brother, should we follow him?" She asked curiously.

    Damien shrugged and responded ndly, "Follow him if you want. Why ask me?"

    "Hmph! I know big brother is better than that fool. I''d rather follow you!" The princess uttered defiantly.

    Damien shrugged once more. He decided to just let the little princess do as she pleased. It wasn''t like she was wrong.

    Damien felt the strangeness of this world immediately upon entry. The thick clouds in the sky weren''t simple at all, and even the deste and withered soil below emitted a dangerous aura.

    ''Storm Heavens Mystic Realm, huh. The name is quite on the nose.'' Damien thought to himself. As he continued examining, he realized that the soil''s condition was most likely rted to the clouds above.

    The entire deste atmosphere was connected. And the key to that connection was¡­

    Damien grabbed Zara and the little princess and disappeared. In the next instant, the three appeared standing atop the golden altar.

    "Hey! What do you think you''re doing?!" Marcus yelled. He couldn''t believe that people were recklessly moving without listening to him.

    He soon realized the princess'' identity, but Damien and Zara were still unknowns to him. He only assumed they were her servants.

    "Jiao Mei, what do you think you''re doing?! Do you think being reckless will allow you to surpass me?!" He yelled furiously.

    The princess looked up at Damien for a brief instant. Seeing him smile slightly, she was immediately emboldened.

    "Hmph! You do not matter enough for me topete so fiercely with you. Did you never think that perhaps I understood the trial before you did?" She sneered back.

    In truth, she did have a partial understanding towards the nature of the trial. This was because she was a talented lightning affinity practitioner who''d just absorbed a strand of heavenly lightning. Her perception was more than just acute.

    However this perception would only get her so far. She was mainly relying on Damien''s guidance and word.

    "Hahahaha! You think you can surpass me? Just because of your mysterious physique? Don''t make meugh!" Marcus yelled. He turned to the surrounding geniuses and continued speaking.

    "Everyone! The Eclipse Sect princess is acting without thinking and trying to sabotage all of our chances at proceeding! Lend me your aid in defeating her and removing her from the podium!"

    His ability to instigate a crowd wasn''t a joke. Hearing that someone was attempting to sabotage them, the crowd''s hearts turned cold. There was no mercy in Mystic Realms, regardless of status!

    But with Damien present, would these normal geniuses even have a chance to attack? While nobody paid attention to him, he casually observed the altar.

    It was arge t pedestal for the most part, with ancient runic engravings etched on its surface. The only protrusions from this t ne were two gargoyle-like statues worshipping a ritual grail at the back center of the altar.

    Damien moved towards the gargoyles without hesitation and ripped the ritual grail out of their hands. In that instant, the originally calm atmosphere erupted!

    Rumble!

    The ground started quaking ferociously. The ck clouds above swirled in outrage. Thick bolts of lightning coagted, striking the soil with unstoppable momentum!

    "Ahhh¡ª!" A bolt of lightning fell on a nearby genius and turned him into ashes instantly. Everyone''s faces paled. This lightning¡­wasn''t something they could handle!

    "The altar! The altar is safe!" Someone screamed. Geniuses turned into streaks of light as they bolted to the altar, but the lightning was faster!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Hundreds of lightning bolts danced through the air, creating chains of lightning as they interacted with each other and proliferated through the air. Every genius caught in this lightning web died without fail!

    Marcus Strow''s eyes turned red with madness. Seeing the surrounding scene, he realized that the princess truly understood the trial before him!

    Mystic Realms weren''t always singr spaces. Most of the time, they contained two to three trials to urately test every genius that entered. But now, Marcus had already lost the lead from the first instant!

    He flew through the air, brutally destroying any lightning that got near him. A small force field spread around him and blocked off any elemental essence other than wind, his affinity. This was the elementary form of the domain he was building.

    Under its protection, Marcus dashed through the lightning heroically, rushing at the divine altar!

    Crackle!

    An abrupt bolt of lightning appeared from the sky only inches away from Marcus'' body. He realized that it was already toote to dodge! In thest moment before impact, he twisted his body at an impossible angle to subvert fatal injuries!

    BANG!

    The lightning made impact on Marcus'' side, burning through his flesh and even a portion of his rib cage. Luckily, he managed to survive, though his mana capacity was near empty.

    But that didn''t matter. He wasn''t too far away from the altar now. With a final push, he bolted through the air and broke through the altar''s protection, finally reaching safety!

    Marcus breathed heavily as he stabilized himself. That trial was more perilous than he''d expected.

    Sadly, Marcus'' fate wasn''t very lucky. The time he chose to arrive at the altar was the worst one possible.

    After all, Damien stealing the ritual grail was the reason the trial began. If he wasn''t punished for disturbing the space''s sanctity, how could it have peace?

    The dark clouds around the altar became increasingly thick until finally¡­

    BOOOOOM!

    A heaven-shaking eruption of bright silver light epassed the entirety of the divine altar.

 Chapter 613 Storm Heavens [3]

    Beautiful silver lightning painted the otherwise deste atmosphere in its color. While the sight itself was mesmerizing, its connotation made every genius pale.

    They were desperately escaping the lightning around them in hopes of reaching the altar, their only hope, yet they found that the altar itself was the most dangerous part of the trial. How could they not be terrified?

    Unfortunately, they didn''t even have time to panic. The altar''s situation didn''t change the fact that lightning was still attacking them. Instead of caring about those in a worse situation than them, they''d rather think about how they''d survive!

    However, the scene within the altar''s brilliance wasn''t what these geniuses imagined. The silver lightning constantly attempted to strike the altar''s surface, but it wasn''t given the opportunity to. The bright eruption viewable from the outside was caused by residual lightning alone.

    On the divine altar, Damien stood with his hands on Jiao Mei''s back. Whenever lightning arrived around them, he circted it through his and her body, creating a circuit that would enhance both of their power.

    While it was true that he could absorb all the surrounding lightning alone, the truth was that he didn''t need it. This silver lightning wasn''t Heavenly Lightning, only a mimicry. Therefore, even if he absorbed it all he wouldn''t benefit much.

    The princess, on the other hand, would benefit immensely. Instead of wasting this lightning, what was the harm in using it to raise another genius who could aid in the warter?

    Nevertheless, Damien, Zara, and Jiao Mei were entirely rxed inside the silver lightning storm. Only Marcus Strow was drowning in distress.

    He used a great deal of his mana just to survive the lightning outside the altar, and now that he was inside, he didn''t have the energy to survive. The only reason he could stay alive until now was because most of the surrounding lightning was absorbed by Damien and the princess.

    Still, his body was covered in gruesome burn wounds from the residual lightning alone. If the trial went on for too much longer, he''d surely die.

    He could only count himself lucky that the Dimensional Leaderboard rarely ever conjured death zones that were impossible to survive. Only about 10 minutester, the lightning storm ceased.

    But Marcus'' luck didn''t reverse. In that final instant, a stray lightning bolt flew out from Damien''s body and struck him in the skull, immediately vaporizing his spiritual world and killing him.

    The environment returned to its previous quiet.

    Of the few hundred disciples that entered the Mystic Realm from the Dawn World, only around 120 survived. Of them, 12 were from the Eclipse Sect.

    Without a word, everyone sat down where they were and began recovering. They had no idea when a new trial would begin.

    On the altar, Jiao Mei''s face was pale and fear-stricken. While she was mostly focused on absorbing the lightning Damien fed her, she was still aware of her surroundings. She clearly knew that Marcus'' death wasn''t an ident.

    "Do you want to ask why I killed him?" Damien asked casually. He could see the panic on Jiao Mei''s face.

    She shakily nodded her head in response. She and Marcus had a few problems due to their status, but she never had true enmity with him. Moreover, besides uttering some hateful words, Marcus didn''t provoke anyone enough to deserve death. She couldn''t understand why Damien killed him so indifferently.

    Damien smiled slightly. "I guess you could call it a preemptive strike? Or maybe it''s just me not wanting to deal with troubles. You see, I''ve built a habit of nipping problems in the bud before they can ever bloom, and this was one of those situations."

    "B-but how could he cause problems for you? He doesn''t even have half your strength!" Jiao Mei questioned.

    In response, Damien could only shrug. "He seemed like the type of person who''dtch onto someone else''s thigh to borrow a knife to kill. I mean, if you doubt my reasoning I can''t really argue. My judgement was based on instinct alone. Still, as practitioners, sometimes our instinct is the most urate warning sign."

    Damien didn''t lie to Jiao Mei. From the beginning, he was never one to allow his enemies to hold a grudge ande back for revenge. He killed them as soon as he had the power to do so, regardless of identity or consequence.

    Aside from that, his instinct was what allowed him to survive when he was at his lowest, and it was what brought him some of his most fortuitous encounters to date. He trusted his instinct over anything else.

    When he heard warning bells in his head looking at Marcus, he also thought it was strange. He could clearly see the vengeful light in thetter''s eyes, but someone so weak couldn''t harm him.

    But then he realized something: the only way for Marcus to cause him any trouble at all was through a powerhouse. This conclusion led to two different paths. First, Marcus would wait until the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm ended and use the Heavenly Jewel Pce''s influence to trouble Damien. Or second¡­

    There was a powerful genius in the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm that could rival Damien.

    Being the person he was, Damien naturally hoped his instinct pointed to the second option, but he couldn''t be sure. However, it was true that his anticipation for this Mystic Realm became more pronounced.

    As for Jiao Mei, she quietly took in Damien''s words. While he spoke them as a matter of course, it didn''t feel the same to her.

    She was someone who''d been sheltered and carefully raised since birth. Whenever she went to train, she''d always have protectors with her. Only recently did she begin entering Mystic Realms and Challenge Gates, but she still hadn''t learned how different it was fighting beasts or men.

    Jiao Mei wasn''t an idiot. She understood that Damien''s reasoning, while flimsy on the outside, came from unwavering confidence. In that case, his assumptions were most likely correct. Still, what kind of life did one have to live to be so untrusting?

    Even a minor slight from Marcus, a small slip-up in his demeanor, was all it took for Damien''s senses to go on alert. This was all it took for him to meet death.

    Could this be called the right path?

    Jiao Mei looked at Damien, a different sort of curiosity in her eyes. She suddenly wanted to know more about him. She wanted to know what experiences shaped his character, what created the man that stood before her today.

    He was just too mysterious. Whether it be his background, his power, or even the benevolence he''d shown her and his general demeanor, she couldn''t understand it at all. Not to mention Zara, who always quietly stood by his side.

    Sadly, Jiao Mei knew she likely wouldn''t receive answers even if she asked. And more than that¡­

    The clouds parted, creating a rift in the sky. Above those clouds there was no light and no darkness, only a single gate with archaic text engraved on its surface, matching the divine altar.

    The ringing of titanic bells sounded from the gate in the sky, and with those rings, stairs materialized from the surrounding lightning essence.

    Slowly, a stairway to heaven formed. This was the entrance to the next trial.

 Chapter 614 Storm Heavens [4]

    "Hahaha! Finally, I can escape this hellhole!" A genius shouted. His robes held the Sun and Moon Sect''s emblem.

    He rushed to the stairway and began climbing. His foot stepped on the first stair, and instantly, he felt a current of lightning coursing through his body. A light pressure enveloped him, but it was still negligible at the first step.

    Soon, he proceeded to the second step. Seeing him safely climb, the other geniuses also rushed to the steps and began their ascent.

    5 steps¡­10 steps¡­15 steps¡­

    The geniuses climbed slowly but steadily. The foremost of them stood at the 15th step already. However, they found that as they climbed, it became harder and harder to continue.

    An all-epassing pressure weighed on them externally and lightning attacked them internally. It was a cohesive test of both talent and bodily strength.

    "What are you doing? Go join them." Damienmented to Jiao Mei. His group of three was still standing on the altar without moving.

    "It''s safe?" She asked hesitantly.

    "Don''t ask me, go find out yourself. If you''re babied too much, you won''t learn how to fend for yourself." He said matter-of-factly.

    Jiao Mei hesitated for a few more seconds. It was true that she became far too reliant on Damien since meeting him. Even her recent increase in power was wholly due to his own effort.

    It was a shame that her only rival in the Dawn World died, and she still didn''tpletely understand Damien''s ruthlessness, but her trust in him didn''t change. She simply realized that Damien was a person, aplex existence that couldn''t be defined by his power alone.

    Jiao Mei built up her courage and flew to the stairway, climbing it with ease. Her lightning affinity and talent were already high, so the stairway wouldn''t pose too much of a threat to her.

    She surpassed thepetition in seconds, dashing up the first 33 steps without pause. After passing this mark, the intensity of both the pressure and lightning of the stairway increased drastically.

    Even then, it only slowed Jiao Mei down somewhat. In the end, this stairway was only a pseudo-trial. It wasn''t meant to be difficult, only slightly challenging.

    It only took Jiao Mei 10 minutes to reach the 99th step. When she did, she sat down and began meditating. The lightning essence in the air and the step below her were invaluable to her cultivation.

    When the geniuses below saw this, they felt the hope in their hearts shatter. Jiao Mei was a true genius! She wasn''t the kind of person they could measure up to.

    On any normal world of the Dawn World''s size, they would be heaven-sent geniuses. They would enjoy all the riches and power they wanted as they sat at the top of the world. Unfortunately, the Dawn World produced not only Jiao Mei, but also the even more terrifying Marcus Strow!

    "Hm? Where''s Senior Brother Marcus?" A Heavenly Jewel Pce disciple suddenly asked.

    "He wasn''t with you?" Another disciple questioned back.

    "I saw Senior Brother entering the divine altar! Maybe he obtained a lucky chance?"

    "But the Eclipse Sect princess also stood on the altar, why is she still here?"

    "Because Senior Brother is so much better than her!"

    "If he entered the divine altar and was struck by that silver lightning storm, then wouldn''t he be recuperating from his injuries right now? He''s probably still down below!" A more observant disciple chimed in.

    "Hm? But the princess is fine?" The first disciple responded, confused.

    The observant disciple smacked his head. "You''re too stupid! Obviously, Senior Brother took the brunt of the lightning and saved the princess! She''s just being ungrateful and climbing without him!"

    "That makes sense!" The surrounding disciples agreed. They sent hateful res at Jiao Mei. A heartless woman like her was meant to be scorned.

    As time passed, more and more geniuses made it to the 99th step. Even Damien and Zara appeared there at some point. Yet, there was no sign of Marcus Strow.

    At this point, the Heavenly Jewel Pce disciples began to panic.

    "Don''t tell me¡­Senior Brother died?" Someone whispered.

    "Who said that?! Senior Brother is invincible! He wouldn''t die so easily!"

    "Yeah, that''s right! It must have something to do with that treacherous princess!"

    "Yeah yeah! We demand answers!"

    Of the remaining disciples, roughly 50 of them were from the Heavenly Jewel Pce. When their shoutsbined into one, it was truly hard to ignore them.

    Jiao Mei was sweating inwardly. If they asked her, what was she supposed to say? They would never believe her if she said he died naturally, but if she said anything else, she''d surely cause problems for the Eclipse Sect once they exited the Mystic Realm!

    The Heavenly Jewel Pce disciples rushed closer with every second, congregating on her position. But before they could reach her¡­

    A thick wall of silver lightning sprung up from the 99th step, as it danced in the air, the group of youths could clearly feel a familiar aura.

    This was the same aura they''d been bathing in for so long!

    "The trialnd is protecting her!" Someone shouted. This opinion spread like wildfire, making the Heavenly Jewel Pce disciples'' faces turn red with fury.

    "She killed him! She must''ve killed him! She killed Senior Brother to take the trial privilege that was rightfully his!"

    They couldn''t believe it! The Eclipse Sect princess was truly a vile woman! Watching her hide behind a veil of terrifying lightning, they wanted to rip her to shreds!

    Sadly, they didn''t have the ability to bypass the lightning wall. They could only re from beyond its reach and hope that they could get revenge in the next trial.

    Standing behind Jiao Mei, Damien''s brow perked with curiosity. While this phenomenon seemed like his work, it truthfully wasn''t.

    The trial was actually protecting Jiao Mei.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed in thought. ''Is it because of her affinity, or¡­?''

    Damien took out the ritual grail he''d stolen from the altar. He could faintly see sparks of white lightning gathering within it.

    ''So it was this after all? Jiao Mei wasn''t being protected, she just conveniently fell within the protection range. Still, this grail¡­''

    After gathering a portion of lightning essence, the grail emitted a slightly holy aura that it didn''t possess before. The profundity of its existence suddenly multiplied many times over.

    Damien yed with the grail a bit, spreading his awareness into it and even attempting to drink from it, but he didn''t find anything of note. Everything about the grail evaded his senses.

    Despite this oue, though, Damien still happily kept the veil. After all, the phenomenon it caused on the 99th step was indication enough that the grail was special.

    Perhaps he just hadn''t met the requirements to understand its specialty just yet.

    Nevertheless, after putting away the grail, Damien focused his attention on the giant gate behind him. No matter how much he focused on the ancient engravings, he couldn''t understand their meaning. They weren''t written in the universalnguage or anynguage rted to it.

    In fact, they weren''t rted to anynguage Damien had in his memories. After absorbing both ric and the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s memories, the number ofnguages he understood wasn''t a joke.

    This could only mean that the gate in front of him was primordial. It was a construct that would''ve been considered ancient even 100,000 years ago when ric lived.

    The Dimensional Leaderboard suddenly became far more mysterious. How long had it existed? What was its purpose? Why did it possess sole control over these Mystic Realms?

    As he watched the ancient gate slowly open and reveal its interior, Damien found himself itching to find out.

 Chapter 615 Storm Heavens [5]

    With the gate''s opening, the Heavenly Jewel Pce disciples were forced to shelve their grievance until ater time. As the Dawn World group walked through the gate, they found themselves in yet another realm. It shared the same canopy of ck clouds as thest, however, the ground was vastly different.

    The Dawn World''s group stood on the rocky shore of a massive sea of lightning. Its currents danced like water snakes, attracting lightning from the sky to strike down on its surface.

    But before they could observe in detail, they realized that they were no longer alone. All around them, different portals opened and different groups emerged. Even discounting them, there were plenty of groups already standing at the shore.

    "This trial seems pretty straightforward." A random genius spoke to no one in particr.

    "Mm," a nearby practitioner agreed. "I''ve been here for a few minutes already and I''ve managed to grasp the pattern. But even then, this won''t be an easy test to pass."

    The Dawn World group began paying attention to these conversations. Before anything else, they needed to get a grasp of the trial itself.

    "The lightning sea clearly bes more dangerous as you go deeper. Even though the lightning''s strength and frequency aren''t too great near the shore, it isn''t the same in the depths."

    "That''s true. Even I wouldn''t have guessed the dangers of the depths if the Fallen Star Holy Land disciples didn''t go ahead!"

    "The Fallen Star Holy Land sent disciples this time?! Why would they enter this Mystic Realm?!"

    The suddenrge reaction drew Damien''s gaze. He''d been searching for the peak genius that may have been present, but he couldn''t find any traces. But now, his interest was piqued by this so-called Fallen Star Holy Land.

    The genius who spoke first had a smug look on his face, as if giving out his knowledge was a gift to mankind. Seeing the reactions he wanted from the crowd, he continued loudly:

    "Not only did the Fallen Star Holy Land send disciples, even their Holy Son, Atticus mesworth, is present! Only a few minutes before your group arrived, he led the Fallen Star Holy Land disciples into the lightning sea and disappeared into the horizon!"

    A collective gasp spread. The Fallen Star Holy Land was a true peak Holy Land. It wasn''t something anyone present couldpare with. Compared to the Fallen Star Holy Land, the Eclipse Sect couldn''t even be considered gravel.

    And to be the Holy Son of such a prestigious Holy Land¡­this Atticus was truly a stunning character!

    Still, most of those present were from smaller worlds without much contact with the Divine Realm as a whole. After all, transmission arrays weren''t cheap to activate and not everyone could use them. Individuals from these smaller worlds had to use spirit ships to venture the starry sky and find opportunities or wealth.

    Their worldviews would only expand through experiences such as the current one, where they met face-to-face with these true geniuses and witnessed their glory.

    At this time, the gloating disciple finished speaking. After talking about Atticus mesworth for a few more minutes, he switched to retelling the events prior to their arrival.

    In his words, the lightning sea became exponentially more difficult as one traveled deeper, and the quality of lightning increased as well.

    When Atticus and the Fallen Star Holy Land disciples vanished, the gloating genius swore he saw a sh of silver lightning.

    These geniuses all experienced the might of silver lightning in the previous trial. If there was silver lightning on the horizon, what kind of terrifying lightning would be beyond it?

    Once again, these regr geniuses marveled at the depths of a true peak influence. Comparing oneself to a genius from these influences was merely seeking disappointment.

    Nevertheless, with a rough outline of the trial''s contents, the surrounding geniuses began to move in droves, flying out over the lightning sea to join those already present within.

    Some only flew a few meters before stopping to temper themselves with the ambient lightning essence, while some continued much farther. However, none managed to make their way over the horizon.

    Seeing this sight, Damien shook his head. With a goal in mind, he no longer needed to mingle with these lesser geniuses. Thinking about the strength of a Divine Realm Holy Son, Damien''s blood boiled with fighting spirit.

    Besides, he was different from the rest.

    Damien bid a quick goodbye to Jiao Mei, giving her some words of encouragement and telling her that he''d meet her past the horizon. After doing so, he grabbed Zara''s hand and vanished.

    Their figures waded through the spatialyers and easily bypassed arge majority of the lightning sea. As they looked into the Real ne, they could clearly see the color and aura of the surrounding lightning changing and bing more brutal.

    Boom!

    When Damien and Zara exited the spatialyers, they were immediately met with booming lightning. It struck from above and below, connecting with them at the center point.

    Yet, a single wave from Zara was enough to disperse it. This lightning wasn''t even pseudo-heavenly lightning yet. How could it harm them?

    The duo calmly stepped forward, crossing into the next territory of the lightning sea. At the same time, two tiny ck dots vanished on the horizon.

    The only person who witnessed their existence at all was Jiao Mei. And even then, she could only sigh as her own weakness. Damien and Zara were her introduction to a grander and more magisterial world, not to mention they were fun people to hang around. Jiao Mei wanted to continue forward with them, but she knew shecked the ability.

    ''I must temper myself well in this trial. If I don''t push my limits, I''ll never catch up to them or even be able to see their backs!''

    Jiao Mei charged into the lightning sea without hesitation. Her body was struck by lightning soon enough, but she shrugged it off without worry.

    She continued doing this until she made it three-quarters of the way to the horizon. She could see the silver lightning cover with her own eyes now, though sadly, she''d reached her limit.

    Jiao Mei didn''t fret over this. She knew it would happen. She sat down in the air, allowing the surrounding lightning to baptize her while doing her utmost to suppress her pain.

    This could only be a long and grueling process. Jiao Mei had absorbed a great deal of lightning above her caliber due to Damien''s aid. Now, what she needed to do was make that power her own and thoroughly understand it.

    First, she sat for hours on end, tempering her body with lightning so she could withstand the pseudo-Heavenly Lightning on the horizon. Afterwards, she internalized her consciousness and sunk intoprehension, studying the principles of Damien''s Heavenly Lightning.

    After spending a few days or weeks like this, she was guaranteed to enter the silver lightning level. But time was always a variable in Mystic Realms.

    Some Mystic Realms would only stay open for a set amount of time, while others would only close after a certain condition was met. Within a Mystic Realm, one always had to act as if they had no free time at all.

    And while Jiao Mei cultivated in this environment, a different scene was taking ce beyond the silver lightning wall¡­

 Chapter 616 Storm Heavens [6]

    After crossing the horizon, Damien and Zara didn''t pause at all. Neither of them was even close to their limit yet.

    As they continued deeper into the lightning sea, they slowly found more and more people around them. These were none other than the Fallen Star Holy Land disciples they''d heard about previously.

    Damien shook his head wryly. "These are the weakest geniuses from that Holy Land yet they made it so far into the lightning sea. Their strength doesn''t exceed 3rd ss either. A Holy Land is truly different."

    He praised them sincerely. Damien''s breadth of vision had always been high, too high in fact. A genius like Marcus who he killed previously had the talent to reach even the top 100,000 of the Dimensional Leaderboard, but that rank meant nothing to Damien.

    Whether it was the Top 100,000 or the Top 100, none of these were good enough for him. Whether it was arrogance or confidence, he knew his worth.

    And now that his Celestial powers had be much more flexible and his Void Physique was somewhat integrated, his worth had skyrocketed.

    "I don''t care about the rest. Let me go find that Atticus character and see what he''s worth." Damien muttered. Without another word, he increased his speed and shot into the distance!

    The pseudo-Heavenly Lightning slowly became purer and purer with time. At some point, Damien crossed a threshold and was met with genuine Silver Heavenly Lightning!

    This was the same lightning he used himself. And while absorbing it wouldn''t affect his strength at all, he could surelyprehend something from its existence.

    Yet, he didn''t stop. He continued, stepping into pseudo-Gold Heavenly Lightning territory and even further into its true form. At this point, he released some Void Mana into the surroundings and activated Devour. Even as he moved, he contained Gold Heavenly Lightning in his body and integrated it with the lightning seed in his Mana Heart.

    In normal circumstances, Damien wasn''t strong enough to even face true Gold Heavenly Lightning. But this situation was different.

    ? For Heavenly Lightning to show its true power, it needed to be wielded by the universe itself. Even if this space could somehow create and contain the lightning, it could never use its full power.

    Due to this, the Mystic Realm unintentionally became Damien''s feeding ground. With Transcendent Regeneration making his body nigh-impervious, even this Gold Heavenly Lightning could do nothing to him.

    Zara, on the other hand, was different. While she was also strong enough to easily resist the Gold Heavenly Lightning, she could still benefit immensely from studying it. Compared to Damien, herprehension wascking.

    Even if she didn''t have a lightning affinity herself, she could study the way lightning worked and incorporate it into her own abilities. Aside from that, she could also temper her body, which was the ideal path for a beast.

    "Damien, I think I''ll stay here." She said quietly. Even though she already made the decision, she still looked to him for approval.

    Damienughed and patted her head. "Aren''t you grown now? You were so excited to show off, yet you''re still acting like a kid. If you want to do something, just do it. You know I''ll never stop you."

    "Mm," Zara nodded. His respect and encouragement made her happy, but she couldn''t help but feel bitter in her heart.

    It was true that she was no longer a kid. Having a human form meant she could walk beside Damien, and having strength meant she could help him when he needed it. This was everything she wanted, but for some reason, she felt a subtle change in the way Damien treated her.

    He no longer let her stick to him the same way she did in the past, whether it was physically or emotionally. It felt like he''d unconsciously put up a boundary between them, a boundary that she didn''t like.

    ''But, didn''t he tell me to do whatever I want to do?'' Zara tilted her head, confused. She''d learned plenty from Tang Lingzi, but in regards to rtionships, she didn''t have any knowledge or experience. After all, how could Tang Lingzi teach her something she herself didn''t know?

    If Tang Lingzi had a weakness, it would be her "lone wolf" personality that couldn''t cooperate well with others.

    Naturally, the "unconscious barrier" Damien put up was only because of Zara''s new form. Even if her beauty couldn''t change his opinion of her, he could still recognize it. Zara was now an incredibly beautiful woman with a mesmerizing face and body. If he allowed her to cuddle up with him like she used to do, things certainly wouldn''t end well.

    He wanted to evade the awkwardness of that situation, so he pushed Zara away a bit. While this was afortable tonic distance for humans, Zara wasn''t a human. She was a wolf, and one who craved Damien''s affection.

    In the end, Zara sighed and sat down to train. She didn''t like thinking about things she didn''t understand, but Tang Lingzi taught her to face her problems. Now that she''d met with Damien, properly interacting with him was the next hurdle.

    ''Patience, Zara. You can do it!'' She cheered herself on. Shortly after, she closed her eyes and entered meditation. To temper the mind and body, and then temper her social anxiety¡­

    The tasks on Zara''s te really filled it to the brim.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Damien had long since left the Golden Heavenly Lightning zone. In front of him stood a wall, a wall of ckness.

    "ck Demon Lightning¡­" he muttered. Of the different variations of natural lightning, ck Demon Lightning was by far the strongest.

    Damien''s face hardened. The strength of this next level would be far too exaggeratedpared to its predecessors.

    ck Demon Lightning was thoroughly untamable. It was like every strand had its own spirit, domineering and unbending to external pressure.

    This meant that, unlike Heavenly Lightning, ck Demon Lightning wouldn''t be suppressed at all even without the universe''s control. If Damien stepped into this next level, he''d face his first true challenge in the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm.

    He hesitated slightly. It was true that he wanted to challenge himself, but he wanted to find the Fallen Star Holy Son first. That man was Damien''s path forward. He was the guide that''d give Damien the way to truepetition.

    But before he could hesitate long, his worries all vanished at once. Within the sea of ck Demon Lightning, amotion broke out.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Just by streaking through the air, the ck Demon Lightning tore holes in the void. Tens of individual strands coiled together to form a snake-like creature. Its burning red eyes red hatefully in a single direction.

    There stood a man. His long ck hair spread wildly through the air, his spear carrying an indomitable will within. Facing the ck Demon Lightning, the man broke into raucousughter.

    "Hahahaha! To think that I would find such a treasure on a minor excursion like this one! Come, show me the power of the mythical ck Demon Lightning!"

    Raaaaah!

    The Demonic Lightning Snake let out a roar and streaked forward. It reached the man''s position in an instant and attacked, meeting his spear with its tail!

    BANG!

    A loud explosion rang out as the two forces collided. Space in the surrounding ten thousand kilometers shattered into pieces, giving way to a mystical cosmic backdrop.

    In the center of this destruction, only the man and the Demonic Lightning Snake remained unmoved. And outside the boundaries of the ck Demon Lightning Space, a man stood watching them.

    A wide grin spread on his face. He cracked his knuckles and recklessly rushed into the ck Demon Lightning Space.

    ''I finally found you.''

    His battle intent zed. Damien, Atticus, and the Demonic Lightning Snake, these three heaven-shaking forces were set to collide.

 Chapter 617 Atticus [1]

    Damien''s body rushed through the ck Demon Lightning zone with fervor. He instantly spread his domain into the surroundings and infused it with Void Mana.

    The Mirror Domain was no longer what it used to be. During the battle of the unnamed world, Damien thoroughly integrated his neww-suppressing ability into its structure. Not only that¡­

    An iridescent blue river shimmering with starlight materialized above Damien''s head. This river was only a few feet long at the moment, but it already emanated a powerful aura surpassing the Mirror Domain.

    This improved domain was modeled after the Space-Time River Damien saw at the start of its journey. To this day, it was the most mysterious force he''d ever encountered, seemingly containing the truths of the universe.

    Under the influence of its replica, the surrounding ck Demon Lightning was slowed as if it was flowing through msses. Atop this effect, the unruly lightning was endlessly diverted through the twisting spatial pockets and sent away from Damien''s body.

    His figure rapidly approached the ongoing battle in these favorable conditions. He felt the heat of the collision on his face. Powerful waves of mana impacted his body without pause as if warning him of the battle''s dangers.

    But this only served to make him more excited. His adventures in Niflheim were filled with people either too much stronger or too much weaker than him. Finding a battle that matched his level was his greatest wish at the moment.

    Mirage entered his right hand and Hel entered his left. He teleported behind the Demonic Lightning Snake, sending three shots through Hel''s barrel into its head!

    Roar!

    The Demonic Lightning Snake roared in pain as the cohesion of its figure was disturbed. In the end, it was an avatar made of lightning with no true physical body. Damien''s spatial abilities were deadly to it.

    Its red eyes glowed with hatred. Unlike Atticus, Damien already put a wound on it, making him its target!

    The snake twisted its body impossibly and opened its jaw wide, threatening to swallow Damien whole. Its figure curled in the air and its mouth snapped down on his body!

    Damien dodged to the side, but the lightning snake''s fangs still managed to pierce his left arm. Rampant lightning currents entered Damien''s body and ran wild like a pack of raging bulls. However, with Void Mana coating his internals, there was no way Damien would be injured by this small amount of lightning.

    Just as Damien prepared to counterattack, a different sh of lightning appeared from behind the snake. Atticus appeared atop its head with his spear raised high, thrusting it into the snake soon after! Gold and ck lightning danced together in the sky as their mana collided, blowing everything apart!

    Damien shed away from the st radius just in time, staring at the wild lightning storm in the distance. A wide grin spread on his face.

    "Good!"

    His body rushed forward again, paving through the lightning sea and diving into the storm. There, he clearly saw Atticus'' figure wrestling the Demonic Lightning Snake. Considering the snake''s size, it was quite theical sight. But Damien didn''t have time to be amused.

    The Demonic Lightning Snake was truly angry now. Not only had its rest been disturbed and its battle been interfered with, but now it was being ganged up on by mere humans! It couldn''t ept this!

    It wasn''t a true avatar, but it was a being formed by thousands of strands of ck Demon Lightning merging into one. It was something of an artificial consciousness for the surrounding space.

    In its domain, how could it let itself be beaten so easily?

    RUMBLE!

    Space trembled in fear. The menacing aura of ck Demon Lightning covered everything, forcing Damien to strengthen his domain for protection.

    BOOM!

    The first strike was aimed at Atticus, who was closer to the lightning snake. Sensing the force of the attack, he rapidly retreated and covered himself in mana. He coated his spear in powerful mana and swung out with incredible force, meeting the lightning head-on!

    Bang!

    A dull sound rang out as his spear met the lightning. For a single second, he managed to hold off against its force, but this stalemate didn''tst long. The lightning bolt split into dozens of strands, coursing through Atticus'' metal spear and entering his body to wreak havoc!

    Atticus wildly revolved this mana to defend, and at this time, another bolt of lightning struck!

    The target of this attack was Damien. He only just returned to battle, but he''d already been targeted!

    Still, there was arge difference between Damien and Atticus. It wasn''t a matter of skill or power, but inherent traits. The Void Physique would always be Damien''s greatest advantage.

    Damien met the oing lightning bolt with Mirage. Fluctuations of the Void Sword Art scattered around as he utilized deless to banish a portion of the lightning to the void. At the same time, the Space-Time River sent out waves of powerful suppression that took away around 30% of the lightning bolt''s power!

    When it finally collided against his body, it wasn''t anything Transcendent Regeneration couldn''t handle. But Damien wasn''t done after deflecting the bolt. He turned to the Demonic Lightning Snake and raised Mirage into the air, bringing it down for a clean forward sh!

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance''

    The world seemed to turn grey as all things came to a stop. A thin ck line turned the dimension in two, then four, then six, continuing until it split into countless fragments. The Demonic Lightning Snake''s body was torn into pieces and separated along with these fragments.

    But Damien''s eyes remained focused. While the Demonic Lightning Snake was a frightening manifestation, its true body was¡­

    RUMBLE!

    The ck Demon Lightning Sea below burst forth with madness, creating multiple tsunamis that covered the heavens with their reach! All around Damien, the sea furiously churned, ck Demon Lightning exiting it to strike him at every turn!

    Every bolt of ck Demon Lightning was instant death even to someone at the early 4th ss range. Even with Damien''s powerful body, enduring too many strikes from this lightning would inevitably kill him!

    His face turned dignified when he realized this. While he expected bacsh, he didn''t expect it to be so fierce. His mana raged through the air, doing its utmost to suppress the iing lightning.

    Mirage vanished from Damien''s hand, reced by Freya. The Twin Moons acted as one, guiding Damien''s mana and letting off a torrential downpour of mana bullets!

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The guns fired multiple shots per second, eachced with Damien''s unique mana. While these guns showed great power when he first used them, they couldn''t bepared to right now.

    After all, the current Twin Moons were utilizing Void Mana.

    The spread of Void Mana caused the spread ofw suppression and devouring force. Due to the influence of Damien''sws, space and time were especially affected.

    The ck Demon Lightning Sea churned below and space churned above. As Damien took control over the surrounding tens of thousands of kilometers, he brought his hand down and used space itself to battle the ferocious lightning sea!

 Chapter 618 Atticus [2]

    What was it like to use space itself to attack?

    While Damien was used to manipting space or using spatial mana, he''d only recently begun utilizing space itself to his advantage. An example of this was his Dimensional Cage ability.

    Dimensional Cage was a matter of imposing his will on a section of space and dominating it, forcing it to separate from the Real ne and be his domain.

    By dominating space, he could influence it through his will. This was the base concept of even mana usage. But only now that he could usews did Damien have the ability to affect space on such a fundamental level.

    This time, after dominating space, he didn''t choose to section it off. Instead, he used it as a divine hammer to crash down on the ck Demon Lightning Sea!

    Bang!

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Turbulent waves of ck Demon Lightning tried to forcefully push through space and attack him, but how could it? It was fighting against the space it existed in!

    Despite ck Demon Lightning''s terrifying abilities and power, it couldn''t survive in the void, at least, not without being actively guided. Even if it truly broke through the spatial suppression, the sea would only lose territory and weaken!

    Damien thought himself stupid for not taking this route earlier, but it couldn''t be helped. He didn''te here looking to quickly defeat the ck Demon Lightning, he came for a fight.

    On that note¡­

    His gaze panned a few thousand kilometers,nding on the figure of Atticus watching him with piercing eyes. In those eyes, Damien could clearly read astonishment and battle intent.

    He immediately smiled in realization. Right, this Atticus character was supposedly a supreme genius. He was someone who shared Damien''s sentiments of not easily finding worthy opponents.

    Especially in a ce like the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm which was clearly meant for 3rd ss geniuses, Damien''s presence was a mystery.

    In truth, Atticus didn''te to this Mystic Realm willingly. His master forced him to escort his junior disciples, spouting nonsense about how he''d receive an incredible lucky chance if he went.

    While Atticus was doubtful, he couldn''t deny his master''s words. In the end, not only did he find a perfect tempering area in the ck Demon Lightning Sea, but he also found the trace aura of¡­a lightning elemental!

    The Demonic Lightning Snake was something of a protector. Its presence meant that the lightning elemental was nearby. But just as he enteredbat, he was met with another surprise! A genius who could match, or even slightly outss him!

    The Fallen Star Holy Land wasn''t nearly the strongest Holy Land, but it was definitely close enough to the universe''s peak. As Atticus was its Holy Son, matching him wasn''t something an ordinary person could do.

    After thinking this far, he took a breath and spoke, "I am Atticus mesworth from Fallen Star Holy Land. Who might you be?"

    His tone was that of making acquaintances, but Damien wasn''t in any mood to talk at the moment. The fight against the Demonic Lightning Snake¡­had been too short!

    He still hadn''tpletely understood his power. He needed challenges to bring that power out of him. If he formed a connection with Atticus before fighting him, it was doubtful whether thetter would truly put his life on the line.

    If that was the case¡­

    ''Fight first, talkter!''

    The Twin Moons vanished into Damien''s subspace, reced by Mirage. Without a single word, he charged at Atticus!

    "Hey!" Atticus shouted. He raised his spear and blocked mirage, his muscles bulging as he forced out every ounce of his physical strength.

    ''His strength¡­fierce!'' Atticus thought to himself. In a battle of physical strength alone, he could tell that he already lost!

    Suddenly, Damien''s figure disappeared. Atticus spread his awareness warily, but Damien''s speed was too fast! He emerged at Atticus'' side, slightly lower in the air, and punched upward!

    His fist snaked through Atticus'' defense and reached its target, but at the same time, Atticus'' eyes hardened.

    "Fine! If you wish to y, let''s y!"

    BZZT!

    Golden lightning exploded out of his body and covered the surroundings, brightening the darkness like a second sun!

    Damien''s sword swung through the storm, spatial mana covering its de. Using Dimensional Magic, Damien gracefully shed through the lightning storm and divided it into pieces like nothing.

    Atticus frowned. "Spatial Laws? I underestimated you."

    He brandished his spear heroically, properly posturing himself. His battle intent soared to the sky in a single instant, his momentum bursting forth like a tidal wave!

    "Lightning congration!"

    With his shout, his spear thrust forward. Lightning danced on its surface like blistering mes, fanning out into the air as it left his spear tip!

    "Burn!"

    BOOOOM!

    Damien was immediately caught in between tens of towering lightning pirs. These pirs behaved and spread like mes, climbing up his body and attempting to turn him to cinders!

    His eyes hardened. Thew fluctuations of this attack were clearly different from anything he''d felt before. This was a level ofprehension that he was still too far away from reaching!

    He''d confirmed it! While his raw power was amazing, he wasn''t nearly as refined as these peak geniuses! Against them, he''d be forced to throw away any sort ofprehension in exchange for pure brute force. Only then could he win!

    "Good! Good! Good!" He shouted wildly. This was what he wanted! This was exactly his ideal! Whilepeting against these people and fighting in the war against the Nox, his strength would rise rapidly!

    Rumble!

    The stormy clouds above became restless. While he was submerged in revelry, Atticus already attacked again!

    "Turn him to ash!" Atticus roared into the sky. His face was pale and his mana drained. He knew Damien was strong, so he had no intention of prolonging the battle. Therefore, made a risky decision.

    He exerted his control into the sky, wrested control of the storm clouds, and summoned the ambient lightning essence to form ck Demon Lightning for his attack!

    From the heavens, a ferocious ck beam of light thicker than any tree trunk barreled towards the ground. It was set to strike precisely on Damien''s location.

    Facing a strike from such a concentrated st of ck Demon Lightning, even Damien would sweat. A single mistake could leave him dead!

    Even being crippled didn''t faze him. Transcendent Regeneration made his body almost unkible as long as he had a single breath of life left. But Damien wasn''t invincible yet. If he met a force that could injure him faster than Transcendent Regeneration could heal, he''d be just like anyone else.

    His gaze met the lightning head-on. His posture stood straight like a sword. In his current situation, his gait was like defiance of the Heavens.

    Damien''s body began to rapidly change. His draconic features burst through his skin, demonic runes etching themselves onto his scales. His long white hair flowed down his back gracefully, and with his demonic ck sclera and purple irises, he truly looked like a Demon God.

    The blood runes morphed into their defensive form, giving Damien a huge boost. At the same time, the greenish-white light of [Heal] covered him from head to toe.

    Mirage rested calmly in his hand,pleting his look. In this state, the power coursing through his body was unholy. This was the greatest amount of strength he could muster.

    To use his full power to confront Atticus'' full power¡­

    Only this could bring their battle to a proper conclusion.

 Chapter 619 Atticus [3]

    Tumultuous pitch-ck thunderclouds nketed the sky, bathing the realm in shadow. Submerged in this ckness, the thick pir of ck Demon Lightning hurling towards Damien was nigh-invisible.

    But it made its presence known.

    Its massive aura spread even faster than it, taking only a fraction of a second to reach Atticus who was many thousands of kilometers away. Every inch of space it passed through was thoroughly shattered, breaking the barrier between the Real ne and the Mystic Realm.

    Even below, confined by space itself, a roaring sea of ck Demon Lightning fought with fervor to reconnect to its realm. If this happened, even Damien wouldn''t survive.

    But whether it was lucky or unlucky, the ck Demon Lightning pir traveled too fast. In a mere instant, it was already looming above Damien''s head.

    In this realm of ckness, the pure snow-white hair flowing down Damien''s back made his figure especially prominent. Facing the ck Demon Lightning''s pressure, he was unfazed.

    His eyes stared into the sky, those mystical purple irises swirling with profundity. As the All-Seeing Eyes activated for the first time since Damien''s Baptism, he found the world unraveled before him.

    That thickly interwoven pir of ck Demon Lightning separated into the individual threads that formed it. Even the surrounding space developed a sort of physical presence that made it more pronounced.

    Under these conditions, Damien readied himself. His defenses were at their maximum power, his healing abilities the same. With only sparks of time separating him from total annihtion, he closed his eyes.

    Time slowed to a crawl. Damien''s awareness coated Mirage, allowing him to precisely guide his mana along its surface.

    Mirage was a space elemental sword to begin with. While Devourer''s ability was to grow and amplify his mana, Mirage''s was to control space with its own power and consciousness. Whenbined with Damien, it didn''t just amplify his power, it added its own power to every attack as well.

    Damien''s spatial mana covered Mirage first, forming a link with the sword. Next, temporal mana followed suit. With the way these twows interlinked, the fusion between it and the sword was perfect.

    Lightning and mes came next. While these were secondary elements in Damien''s arsenal that he didn''t utilize often, they were still incredibly strong. However, unlike space and time, these two elements were incredibly explosive and unstable, especially when mixed together as one.

    The bnce between these four forces was disturbed by their chaos. This was an inevitable circumstance. But while for most, their mana would backfire and explode, Damien was different.

    Void Mana coated the four other essences and forcefully tamed them. After it fused into Mirage, the sword began to glow with a deathly light.

    In that instant, he swung Mirage upward with all his strength! The ck Demon Lightning pir crashed down at the same time, meeting the de head-on!

    BOOOOOOM!

    The two forces collided with such grandeur that the foundation of the ck Demon Lightning space shook. Space and time quaked, mes and lightning raged, if there was a true depiction of hell on earth, this was it!

    With the All-Seeing Eyes'' guidance, Damien''s mana split into threads and attacked every individual strand of ck Demon Lightning. Spatial mana separated them, temporal mana locked them in ce, and mes and lightning followed for the killing strike!

    This superb show of precision left Atticus shocked, but it wasn''t quite over yet. A thread of Void Mana entered every thread of ck Demon Lightning, and after said lightning was destroyed, it devoured the leftover essence whole. In this way, Damien was not only resisting, but he was also growing at the same time!

    ROAR!

    The ck Demon Lightning roared like a beast as it crashed down on Damien''s body. With every fiber of his being, he resisted its invasion. However, ck Demon Lightning wasn''t the strongest natural lightning source without reason.

    Damien''s mana was able to stop over half of the pir''s strands from reaching him, but ck Demon Lightning was semi-intelligent. After multiple strands were destroyed at once, the remaining strands actively dodged his attack to strike him!

    And strike they did. Damien''s scales lit up with blood-red light as his demonic runes did their best to numb the prative force. The screech of metal shing against metal resounded piercingly.

    Within a second, the demonic runes were no longer able to resist. Bloody ck dragon scales flew wantonly through the sky as Damien''s defenses shattered. Raging ck Demon Lightning spread through his veins like a gue, burning his body from the inside out.  ''Fuck!'' Damien roared inwardly as he felt a striking pain worse than anything he''d felt in a very long time. He revolved Void Mana through his body as quickly as possible, but soon found that the lightning was equally matched with his mana!

    ''This¡­'' his eyes widened in shock. To date, the Void Physique had never failed to resist internal invasion. Any energy-based attack would be dissolved and devoured easily.

    However, his Void Physique had changed. It was no longer babying him as it did before his Baptism. For him to use its power so domineeringly, he had to earn it!

    Damien gritted his teeth in frustration. It wasn''t a good feeling realizing that the ability he most relied on was changing. Nevertheless, he pushed on!

    While currently, the Void Physique''s silence was a detriment, he realized how beneficial it''d be in the long run. Rather than his body being controlled by outside forces, everything that took ce would be under his control.

    This meant that if he was able to raise hisprehension of the Void enough, he could achieve results far surpassing what the Void Physique showed him in the past!

    Bang!

    Damien''s arm exploded, unable to bear the pressure. The pain cleared his mind instantly. Completely taking his attention away from the outside world, he put everything into controlling the Void Mana within him.

    ''Work with me!'' He shouted to himself. Every time he pulled, Void Mana pushed. Every time he tried to guide it, it resisted his will! This was a consequence of Damien''s lowprehension.

    Without another choice, he could only allow the mana to flow and follow its path. He was like a father providing support for his son from the back.

    But strangely enough, he found that when he allowed the mana to flow as it desired, it also became more receptive to hismands.

    Rather than mana, it felt like a small and rebellious life that he was raising. Watching its movements almost made Damien forget his current situation.

    Luckily, though, the mana''s desired path was one of devouring. With ck Demon Lightning being the closest source of sustenance, its direction was only obvious.

    ck Demon Lightning and Void Mana collided silently in Damien''s body. The two equal forces caused reckless damage to him with every move, but Damien silently endured it.

    He could only follow the Void Mana and nudge it to do his bidding. This didn''t take much mental power to do, so he divided the rest of his attention to simply watch the Void Mana and understand its properties as it collided against the ck Demon Lightning.

    Around Damien, space isted on its own, as if influenced by an invisible will. At the same time, the destructive power he used to resist the lightning pir dispersed as well, leaving the ck Demon Lightning space silent.

    The only remaining battle was the one taking ce within Damien''s body.

 Chapter 620 Atticus [4]

    The process of clearing the ck Demon Lightning from his body didn''t take more than a few seconds, but to Damien, it was an eternity. His perception of time froze entirely as his focus sunk into the collision between his Void Mana and the terrifying lightning.

    His eyes slowly fluttered open. Under the effects of [Heal], his arm regenerated as well. Finally seeing his body back in perfect condition, Damien let out a sigh of relief.

    The prior crisis was unexpected to say the least. While Damien didn''t react much in the moment, the changes in the Void Physique truly frightened him.

    After his Baptism, while individually each of his facets became more perfect, as a whole they were disordered and chaotic. He didn''t even know his own strength anymore.

    From the previous battle, it seemed he overestimated himself. But at the same time, considering that he was able to resist a Demigod, was that really true?

    So far, Damien only used the Void Physique''s abilities supportively. Now that he''d partially fused with it, he had no choice but to use Void Mana as part of his main offensive arsenal.

    However, the physique had been strangely inconsistent.

    After his Baptism, Damien fought a great deal. During those fights, including the fight against the Fifth Primal Sovereign, the Void Physique''s internal resistance ability wasn''t suppressed at all. Without this internal protection, he might''ve died or been severely injured during those battles.

    If so, then why did it remain unresponsive this time?

    Damien didn''t know at all, nor did he have any clues. At first, he suspected that it was due to the ck Demon Lightning itself, but he soon realized that this guess held no merit. After all, his Void Mana devoured a great deal of ck Demon Lightning during this excursion.

    Aside from that, his Void Mana did indeed cleanse his bodyter, but rather than for his own safety, this move felt more geared towards the Void Mana''s growth. When he first required its aid, it didn''t respond at all.

    The facts he knew only led him to a dead end. Damien soon understood that his journey to Divinity wouldn''t be as smooth as he originally prospected. If he couldn''tprehend the Void, his strength might even deteriorate!

    Strangely enough, this realization didn''t bring with it any sadness. Instead, he felt incredibly spirited.

    In the Human Domain, he didn''t have any challenges like this. He had plenty of mental issues and enemies to defeat, but his own strength never failed him.

    But now that he entered the Divine Realm, it was like the world was against him.

    He hadpetition in his age range, the true enemies he''d face would be stronger, the Nox invasion was already underway, and on top of everything else, his personal strength was unstable as well.

    If this wasn''t a challenge, what was?

    Damien smiled wryly and shook his head as he removed the Dimensional Cage around him.

    ''Maybe I should start epting that I''m a bit of a masochist¡­''

    Shaking away that terrifying thought, he returned his attention to the only other person present.

    Atticus was currently in a stunned state as if he was the one who just fought a pir of ck Demon Lightning. In his mind, he reyed the current scene over and over again.

    In truth, the attack he formted was only half the size of the one that struck Damien. Only, ck Demon Lightning was notoriously feral and bloodthirsty. Hundreds of extra threads joined the pir during its descent and enhanced its power.

    Visualizing the final pir, Atticus was forced to wonder to himself: did he have the ability to resist such an attack?

    The answer was no. While he was a monstrous genius, his depth was still within the bounds ofmon sense. Against a coalescence of ck Demon Lightning that could even kill an undefended high-level 4th ss being, how could he resist?

    The most he could do was mirror Damien''s first attack and disperse half the lightning pir''s power. The remaining half that struck him would, at the very least, severely injure him.

    Now, the man who survived that harrowing attack was standing thousands of kilometers away, seemingly unharmed. His bestial eyes were still filled with residual fighting intent and with his transformation still active, he looked especially intimidating.

    As Atticus raised his spear warily, Damien opened his mouth and spoke. His voice traveled the distance between them like nothing and arrived in Atticus'' ears.

    "Damien Void. That''s my name." He said. His words officially signaled the end of their battle.

    Atticus sighed in relief and withdrew his spear.

    "Atticus mesworth. It''s a pleasure to meet you." He said courteously. Damien was stronger than him, after all, even if he didn''t directly experience that strength.

    Damien nodded his head in response. "So tell me, why is a supreme genius like you in a Mystic Realm like this? Aside from that, what''s your rank on the Dimensional Leaderboard?"

    Atticus raised an eyebrow questioningly as he replied, "I''m here simply to guide my junior disciples. As for my rank, can''t you easily check it yourself?"

    "I can?" Damien asked.

    "Of course! What kind of leaderboard could function properly if one couldn''t check it at any time? As long as you''ve been registered by the Dimensional Leaderboard, you can check its rankings with a single thought."

    Atticus replied straightforwardly, but in his mind, he was utterly confused. Was Damien raised in an isted mountain somewhere? Otherwise, how could heck basic knowledge that even mortals knew?

    Damien rubbed his chin. "Hmm, this is my first Mystic Realm though so I''m probably not registered. That''ll only happen when we leave, right?"

    Atticus experienced another shock. Damien''s words essentially meant that he raised his strength to such a level through brutal life-or-death struggles without the leaderboard''s help. How could Atticus not be surprised?

    But at the same time, he was curious and excited. The Grand Heavens Boundary was in need of every genius it could get. And while his main goal in this Mystic Realm was to obtain the lightning seed residing within, he actually had a secondary goal that he never thought he''d aplish.

    In fact, it was a goal that every peak genius in the Grand Heavens Boundary shared.

    "Come to Death Emperor Star," he blurted out unintentionally.

    "I mean, sure, but let''s finish our previous conversation first."

    "Uh¡­"

    "What?" "Nothing, nothing," Atticus said, embarrassed. "The top 100 of the Dimensional Leaderboard are visible to all people. As long as you call it out, you''ll be able to view it. I''m ranked 53rd if you were wondering."

    "53? I guess that''s not a bad starting point¡­" Damien muttered to himself. "Anyway, I think we can save the rest of this conversation forter. Before we talk about all that Death Emperor Star nonsense, do you want this lightning seed or should I just take it for myself?"

    Atticus'' gaze panned down to Damien''s hands. There, he witnessed Damien spinning a small ck ball covered in lightning bolts on his finger like a basketball. Even from a distance, he could hear the lightning''s furious booms as it attempted to resist Damien''s control to no avail.

    Atticus was¡­stumped.

    He had a sudden premonition that he''d lose a great deal of sleep if he involved himself too deeply with Damien.

 Chapter 621 Atticus [5]

    Before the ck Demon Lightning space was the Golden Heavenly Lightning space. Here, a small portion of Fallen Star Holy Land disciples along with Zara patiently meditated and tempered their bodies. Aside from them, there were only two present.

    These two men stood at nearly the same height, and theirbined natural auras pressured the surrounding atmosphere to the point where the Golden Heavenly Lightning instinctually avoided them.

    But while their auras contributed to this fact, the main perpetrator was the small ball of electricity that floated between them.

    "¡­it''s not ck Demon Lightning. It was most likely formed through countless years of umtion using the ck Demon Lightning''s residual aura, so while it bears some of the same characteristics, it doesn''t have the same strength." Damien said as he observed the lightning.

    "Regardless, it''s a top-tier lightning seed. Are you sure you want to give this to me?" Atticus questioned suspiciously.

    The two hadn''t even known each other for an entire hour yet. As for their conversations thus far, they''d been filled with Damien asking Atticus for general knowledge about the Divine Realm. Other than understanding that Damien was truly clueless about everything, Atticus didn''t learn much about thetter.

    To offer up such a high-quality lightning seed without asking anything in return, was anyone so generous?

    In response, however, Damien shrugged indifferently. "I don''t need it. What am I supposed to do with it if I take it? Sell it? Oh, now that I think about it, I''m actually in need of some money so maybe I should."

    Damien''s eyes brightened at the prospect. The Divine Realm was different from the Human Domain in many ways. One of those ways was the fact that here, Damien would genuinely need money.

    The Divine Realm was far more organized than the Human Domain, and everyone was connected through the Dimensional Leaderboard. Even to travel back and forth between Mystic Realms, Damien would need to utilize teleportation arrays.

    That is, until he''d ventured enough of the realm to Warp wherever he pleased.

    If he wanted arge sum of money as soon as possible, was there a better way than to sell a lightning seed like the one in his hand?

    As Damien''s eyes slowly curved into crescents, Atticus was sweating. He never thought Damien would take his words of courtesy seriously!

    "Now, now. Let''s calm down a bit and think it over. If you want to sell it, I can''t stop you, but how about considering the Fallen Star Holy Land first? I can promise we won''t disappoint you." He said hurriedly.

    It wasn''t just because of the lightning seed. Damien was a top talent without any backing or connections. If the Fallen Star Holy Land could rope him in, it''d massively benefit them. And even if they couldn''t acquire Damien himself, being on good terms with a rising genius was never a bad thing.

    Damien raised his brow with a sly smile as he realized Atticus'' intent. Honestly, he liked thetter''s personality.

    Atticus was well aware of Damien''s strength yet still invited him into his Holy Land. It was impossible for Atticus to not know the implications of this decision.

    It was wholly possible for Damien to take his spot as the sect''s Holy Son.

    Yet, he still put the good of the sect over his own position. This was the making of a good man, a man who Damien could respect.

    "Hmm, since you''re already here, I might as well ask you first. What can you give me for this lightning seed?"

    Atticus furrowed his brows in thought before firming his will and speaking, "one ck card. I''ll give it to you right now."

    Damien''s eyes widened in surprise as he watched Atticus take out a metallic ck card the size of a ying card. An entire ck card! That wasn''t a small amount of money at all!

    Of the things Damien learned through Atticus, one was currency. In the Grand Heavens Boundary, these currency cards were the widely epted currency.

    At the lowest level were bronze cards. 100 bronze cards was a silver card, 100 silver cards was a gold card, 100 gold cards was a tinum card, 100 tinum cards was an amethyst card, and finally¡­

    1000 amethyst cards were equal to only a single ck card!

    It had to be known, to travel through intra-sector teleportation arrays only took 50 tinum cards. Even inter-sector teleportation arrays cost around 100 amethyst cards at most. The value of a ck card could only be imagined!

    For Atticus to toss out ck cards like nothing only went to show his status.

    Damien did the calctions in his head. While the lightning seed was powerful, it was violent and untamable. If sold in any regr market, it wouldn''t receive a high price because it couldn''t be properly used.

    A treasure like this could only be sold to elders of great sects or young geniuses of the generation. For these people, the value of the treasure was extremely subjective.

    Even if Atticus was the buyer, the lightning seed would only sell for around 700-800 amethyst cards at most.

    Giving Damien a ck card was a clear sign of goodwill.

    As for Damien, he smiled and took the ck card out of Atticus'' hand after a moment of thinking. "Pleasure doing business with you."

    Atticus nodded his head with a pained expression and took the lightning seed. It had already been sealed by Damien earlier so there was no risk in handling it.

    "So then," Damien suddenly said, "let''s get back to the main topic. Tell me about this Death Emperor Star."

    Their business was already over and Damien didn''t feel like having small talk with Atticus at the moment. He wanted to know his next destination in this realm, any ce where he could go to properly temper himself. The name Death Emperor Star was intimidating enough, and made Damien feel some slight anticipation.

    Atticus smiled brightly. "Right! I''dpletely forgotten about it due to the lightning seed. I apologize for being hasty, but allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Atticus mesworth. I am the Holy Son of the Fallen Star Holy Land, but that isn''t my only identity. I could be said to be a type of talent scout. My job is to bring young geniuses to Death Emperor Star so they can temper themselves at a rapid pace."

    "And Death Emperor Star is¡­?"

    "Death Emperor Star is a star at the edge of the Divine Realm. It is home to a Holy Land-level influence, Hidden Death Valley, but its function is inherently different from a sect. In reality, those who study in Hidden Death Valley aren''t restrained by the sect at all. Instead, the sect encourages youths to be powerful and independent so they can brave the wider universe with their own strength."

    Atticus began proudly giving a speech about the Death Emperor Star, but as Damien listened, his heart dropped. A sudden feeling of dread overcame him.

    ''This Hidden Death Valley¡­why does it sound so much like¡­an academy?''

    Damien''s face turned pale. He never would''ve thought that, as a man in his mid-twenties, he

    would be encouraged to endure yet another academy arc.

 Chapter 622 Atticus [6]

    Atticus'' speech about the Death Emperor Star went on for far longer than Damien would''ve preferred, but by the end, he''d already decided that it was his next destination.

    From Atticus'' words, Damien realized that while Hidden Death Valley was indeed an academy as he dreaded, it wasn''t so simple. Under that veil was a military institute in disguise.

    "Death Emperor Star is one of the most dangerous stars in our sector. Nearly every inch of its surface is a death zone, excluding Hidden Death Valley. Those who choose to attend its institute aren''t there for fun, they''re there to push themselves in the harshest conditions possible. I know I''m the one who invited you, but truthfully, it isn''t wise to go if you aren''t ready to risk your life. The death rate amongst those who do is¡­far worse than you can imagine." Atticus said.

    Damien nodded his head in understanding. Atticus didn''t sugarcoat his exnation at all. He made it crystal clear just how terrifying Death Emperor Star truly was. But this gave Damien a clearer picture of the institute itself.

    It wasn''t just some ce for geniuses to go and train. It was a military institution meant to turn them into killing machines. Hidden Death Valley was most likely established as a method to rapidly raise geniuses before the war grew to an irreversible scale.

    After all, in a universal war like the one urring, there were three battlefields. The true warzone in Eden, the nt races'' domain, the silent war between experts, and finally, the battle between the younger generation.

    The most embarrassing defeat the universe had faced thus far¡­was in thest category.

    Damien sighed as an ethereal golden scroll appeared in his eyesight. This was the Dimensional Leaderboard, or at least the small version he could ess without being registered in its records.

    Throughout that list were 99 foreign names and one he knew. However, among those 99, over 30 were only referred to by their titles.

    These 30 or so individuals¡­were Nox beings.

    The older generation couldn''t touch the younger generation; this was one of thepromises made by the Nox and universe experts to avoid catastrophic losses to both sides so early in the war. And using thispromise, the Nox sent a few geniuses to enter the universe and wreak havoc.

    Naturally, they targeted the Dimensional Leaderboard. What better way was there to p the universe''s youths in the face?

    But this p resounded far louder than anyone would''ve expected.

    At the very top of the Dimensional Leaderboard, ringly obvious in blood-red letters, was a single name.

    Saint King.

    The number one genius in the entire Grand Heavens Boundary, this spot was being held by a Nox.

    The universe had experts. The older generation had already reached saturation, containing an untold number of 4th sses and even many Demigods.

    However, the younger generation desperately needed to improve. If they couldn''t¡­

    Damien shook his head. There was no need to think about "what ifs." All he needed to do was make sure that spot would belong to a true denizen of the universe.

    Himself, of course.

    The top of the Dimensional Leaderboard was his goal since the second he learned of its existence. Now that he learned there was actually a Nox waiting for him there, why would he be saddened?

    That just meant Damien didn''t have to care about his enemy at all. He didn''t need to be mindful of the fact that the geniuses he was facing would be hisrades in warter.

    He grinned as he thought about face-pping a Nox genius. He needed to have a nice and long talk with their race anyway, so wouldn''t it be better if he beat them into obedience first?

    "I''m going. Take me there." He said firmly to Atticus. It didn''t take long at all to make his decision.

    Atticus looked deeply into his eyes, clearly sensing his determination. He nodded just as firmly in response. "Great! I knew you weren''t weak! But, we have to wait for the Mystic Realm to close before we leave¡­"

    Damien clicked his tongue in derision. "You think this tiny Mystic Realm can stop me from going where I want to go? Tch. Give me an hour and I''ll have this damn ce copsed."

    "Ah, but¡ª" Atticus tried to say something, but Damien had already vanished. He really couldn''t understand this mysterious genius. With how sinct their conversations were, one would expect Damien to be a cold and indifferent man. However, he wasn''t like that at all. He was expressive and didn''t hide his emotions, which made his behavior even stranger.

    Atticus furrowed his brows. ''Maybe¡­he just doesn''t like me?''

    With a downcast expression on his face, Atticus sat down and silently waited for Damien''s return.

    Besides, he was curious if Damien could really pull it off.

    Copsing a Mystic Realm¡­what kind of rank would he debut at on the Dimensional Leaderboard if he could pull off such a stunt?

    Frankly, Atticus couldn''t wait to find out.

    ***

    While Atticus was wondering whether to brood or watch on in anticipation, Damien had already arrived in the ck Demon Lightning space.

    His goal foring was simple.

    "You like this stuff, right? Go devour it all!" He shouted.

    His aura burst forth. Pitch-ck Void Mana wantonly spread from his body and permeated the atmosphere. As it did, it immediately shot into the ck Demon Lightning Sea below!

    Damien didn''t understand Void Mana yet, but if it wanted to act like a sentient creature, he''d treat it like one. And one thing he did know for sure was that the Void was insatiable.

    While it was true that Damien could copse this Mystic Realm with Dimensional Magic and All-Seeing Eyes alone, that would take an unknown amount of time and effort to aplish.

    The easiest way to copse the Mystic Realm was to simply destroy it until it forcefully ejected everyone within.

    And that was exactly his n.

    Void Mana snaked through the ck Demon Lightning Sea, nearly invisible in the realm of ckness. However, as it devoured and devoured, its color began to overtake the sea itself.

    It had to be said, this devouring wasn''t initiated by Damien nor did he receive any strength from it. In fact, he didn''t even know where the ck Demon Lightning was going. In his perception, it seemed to just vanish into thin air after being devoured.

    But he didn''t mind. It was the same reason he gave Atticus the lightning seed. Right now, he didn''t want more power. Before he began adding more to his te, he first needed to finish what was already there.

    The key was Death Emperor Star. If it was truly as Atticus said, Damien could rapidly understand his strength through the star''s trials and even improve on it afterward.

    But before that could happen¡­

    The ck Demon Lightning space began to quake. Unlike the space cracks that formed during battle that would heal over time, the cracks emerging in space at the moment were irreparable.

    Shattered spatial fragments fell through the air like snowkes. In the space they once upied, a hazy image of the Real ne appeared.

    Unfortunately, this exit didn''t lead to any ce Damien knew. Because he was shattering the Mystic Realm instead of naturally exiting, the exit point itself would be the Mystic Realm''s true location in the universe.

    But Damien didn''t care. He had no reason to.

    Damien separated a portion of his mana andtched onto the connection between the Mystic Realm and the Real ne. Next, he activated Warp and merged the portal that formed from it to the Dawn World where he came from.

    Just like that, an exit was formed without a hitch.

    "Light work," Damienmented with a smile. Now, all that was left to do was drag Atticus into the Divine Realm and use him as a taxi to get to Death Emperor Star.

 Chapter 623 Dawn World [1]

    The ck Demon Lightning Sea slowly faded from existence over time, and within half an hour, it''d beenpletely reced by a swirling ck mass.

    This mass was none other than the Void Mana Damien unleashed to devour the sea. Now, it has eaten its fill and finished its job. The ck Demon Lightning space lost its support and copsed.

    But Damien''s ns didn''t end there, the portal he set up was a separate matter. Once he copsed the Mystic Realm, Atticus would be sent back to the entrance he used to ess it. Naturally, he couldn''t allow this.

    The portal''s use was to bring Atticus back to the Dawn World with him. Copsing the Mystic Realm, on the other hand, was to enter the scene with a bang.

    When the ck Demon Lightning space copsed, the Mystic Realm became unstable. Most of its power was located in that space, and it was integral to maintaining the realm. After its destruction, small cracks began to spread in every direction, invisible to all present.

    At least, invisible to anyone that wasn''t Damien. With thebination of Dimensional Magic and All-Seeing Eyes, he easily pinpointed these cracks and expanded them, helping them grow with fervor.

    Within 15 minutes, the Golden and Silver Heavenly Lightning spaces began to quake. The lightning sea beyond them was practically submerged in lightning tsunamis and earthquakes as the realm malfunctioned.

    It was incredibly abrupt. Before the present geniuses could even understand what was happening, they found an invible force covering their bodies and ejecting them from the Mystic Realm.

    Among these people was none other than Jiao Mei. Even as her body vanished from the Mystic Realm, her eyes remained on the horizon. She had a strange feeling that she understood what caused this event.

    Damien stood in the Silver Heavenly Lightning space and watched these changes. ''That was easier than I thought¡­''

    Perhaps it was because this Mystic Realm was rtively simple and easy to understand, but Damien felt like destroying it should''ve been harder. After all, it was a product of the mighty Dimensional Leaderboard. It was impossible for its structure to be flimsy.

    ''Hmm, maybe it''s beginner''s luck?'' He thought to himself. He wasn''t stupid enough to think he was just that powerful, not after understanding how chaotic his inner state was. In the end, he could only give up and assume that this specific Mystic Realm was weak.

    His body shed, reappearing in the Golden Heavenly Lightning space. After calling Zara, who recently awakened, over and absorbing her into his shadow, he grabbed Atticus and teleported to the ck Demon Lightning space once more.

    "Alright, I made this portal so you can exit the Mystic Realm with me. Let''s go to the Dawn World and figure out where Death Emperor Star is from there." He said.

    "Hm?" Atticus responded, "go with you?"

    "Well, yeah. How else am I supposed to know where to go?" Damien questioned.

    "Ah, I see there''s been a mimunication somewhere," Atticus said with a bright smile. "You see, Death Emperor Star''s first trial doesn''t even take ce on the star at all!"

    "Don''t tell me¡­"

    "Yup!" Atticus'' smile widened. "Admissions into Hidden Death Valley begin in exactly 6 months. If you can''t make it there on time, you don''t get epted! Here are a few information jade slips and a star chart to help you out a bit since you''re so oblivious. Other than that, you''re on your own. Good luck buddy! I''ll see you there!"

    Atticus rapidly removed a few items from his space ring and threw them at Damien. In the next instant, he smiled and winked, his body fading and turning holographic.

    "Hey!" Damien shouted. He extended his mana to lock space, but soon noticed that he couldn''t interfere with Atticus'' teleportation!

    ''A Demigod¡­'' he realized. He couldn''t even grasp Atticus'' position in the spatialyers after he activated his teleportation method. The only beings capable of outwitting Damien to such an extent were Demigods.

    "Dammit!" He yelled exasperatedly. Of course things wouldn''t be so easy. It was no wonder why Atticus seemed so eager for their departure.

    Damien begrudgingly grabbed the items Atticus left behind and sifted through them. There were jade slips denoting general knowledge about the Divine Realm and Death Emperor Star. Using these, Damien could establish a solid grasp on the Divine Realm''s mechanics.

    Thest item was a small ck ball. At the moment, there was nothing reflected on its surface. However, Damien could easily infer its purpose from its name alone.

    In the end, he stored these items in his subspace and sighed. ''I made that portal for nothing¡­rat bastard.''

    As heined inwardly, he silently walked through the portal he created. Since it already existed, he wouldn''t let it go to waste.

    Just like that, the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm expedition came to an abrupt conclusion.

    ***

    The Dawn World''s current atmosphere could only be described as "alit with fervor." Even those in the far reaches of the world knew of the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm and its implications. Everybody wanted to see if a Dawn World genius could rise to fame this time.

    This anticipatory atmosphere was especially prevalent around the Mystic Realm Gate. Numerous spirit ships lined the skies and bodies polluted the earth until it looked like a mass of ckness.

    These people had no idea when the Mystic Realm would end, nor did they know what was urring inside. Yet, they still decided to wait.

    Conversations ran amok, guesses as to whether Jiao Mei would surpass Marcus Strow, of the talents that made up the universe''s peak, there were even some proudly facing off while supporting their respective geniuses.

    The Eclipse and Sun and Moon Sects were especially heated. They''d been inpetition for a very long time, and the results of their geniuses would supremely impact their standing after the secret realm ended.

    Late at night in this lively atmosphere, shes of light began appearing around the portal.

    "They''ve returned!"

    "The Mystic Realm closed!"

    Countless exmations rang out. Along with the appearance of these geniuses, a massive golden holographic scroll appeared in the sky. This was the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    On it, millions of names shone with splendor. Its visage made the sect leaders in the audience especially excited.

    The Dimensional Leaderboard had appeared! This could only mean that one of their geniuses performed spectacrly in the Mystic Realm!

    One by one, people materialized in the square and flew to greet their sect members. Some were ecstatic, some were downtrodden, and some were entirely expressionless. However, none of these people provoked a response from the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    Until one person came out.

    A body materialized, but its countenance was hidden under the brightness of the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    The shift didn''t ur in the top 1000 or even the top 100,000, but nobody was discouraged by this fact. Even reaching the top 1,000,000 was a feat to be praised for generations.

    But in front of everyone''s eyes, the name that appeared wasn''t at the 1,000,000th spot.

    There, ranked 500,431¡­

    Jiao Mei.

    The Dimensional Leaderboard''s brilliance dimmed, acting as a natural backlight for Jiao Mei''s beautiful veiled form. Looking at the leaderboard in the sky, she felt a strange mix of joy and loneliness.

    This was the goal she''d always dreamed of. With her power before entering the Mystic Realm, she would''ve never reached the 500,000s. She knew that this achievement was due to the contributions of a single person.

    And now that she''d met him, the top 1,000,000 didn''t seem as grand anymore. Jiao Mei''s aspirations already exceeded the Dawn World''s limits.

    Jiao Mei''s eyes darted through the crowd in search of that familiar face, but before she could find him, a booming voice rang out from above.

    "Marcus¡­where is our Marcus?!"

 Chapter 624 Dawn World [2]

    The Heavenly Jewel Pce Master''s voice responded loudly in everyone''s ears. Suddenly, their excitement over Jiao Mei''s position dimmed.

    The Heavenly Jewel Pce Master was furious. His gaze panned across his own disciples, but he only saw clueless looks on their faces. Soon enough though, his eyes crossed a boy whose head was hung in shame.

    "Look at me." Hemanded. The boy shakily obeyed his direction. If he didn''t, he would surely die.

    "Tell me what happened before I force it out of you." The Heavenly Jewel Pce Master continued.

    The boy''s body trembled in fear. He didn''t want to say what he witnessed. He was terrified of the consequences. Yet, if he didn''t speak, he''d be punished worse!

    Realizing this, he hesitantly opened his mouth. "S-senior brother Marcus is¡­he is dead."

    The disciple didn''t speak loudly, but his words reached the ears of everyone around him. Hearing them, the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master froze.

    "You said¡­he died?"

    The disciple nodded fearfully. "Y-yes. Senior brother took a strike from terrifying silver lightning to save us. Afterwards, we didn''t see him at all, even before entering the next trial."

    "Nonsense!" The Pce Master roared. "Marcus wouldn''t die from a mere bolt of lightning! Who are you trying to save with your lies?!"

    "I swear on my life that I am not lying! But¡­I also think Senior Brother shouldn''t have died! My fellow sect brothers who were with me can attest, when Senior Brother was struck, the only one near him was¡­the Eclipse Princess!"

    The disciple hatefully red at Jiao Mei. It was only a suspicion at first, but now that Jiao Mei had achieved such wondrous results in the Mystic Realm, his guess was all but confirmed!

    The Heavenly Jewel Pce Master''s gaze coldly turned to Jiao Mei. His domineering awareness covered her body and examined her internal situation.

    ''This lightning energy¡­''

    The Heavenly Jewel Pce Master''s eyes hardened. With the strength he sensed from Jiao Mei, it wouldn''t be impossible for her to kill Marcus, especially with the Mystic Realm''s aid.

    "You vile woman¡­you dare kill my sect''s young patriarch?!"

    A towering aura spread and covered the square, enveloping Jiao Mei within.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    She coughed out a mouthful of blood and fell to her knees, pale. The pressure ced on her was far more than she could bear! She would surely die if the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master didn''t stop!

    "Mas¡­ter¡­" she struggled to speak. Her desperate gazended on the Eclipse Sect Master, begging for his help.

    However, he merely sighed and turned his head away. The Heavenly Jewel Pce ruled the Dawn World. Rebelling against them was futile.

    It was just a shame that he''d lose such a talented genius.

    "Hmph." The Pce Master scoffed upon seeing this interaction. "Do you realize the weight of your sins?! Since you felt that Marcus deserved death, I''ll allow you to join him in the afterlife!"

    The Pce Master''s aura exploded! In that instant, the square shattered to pieces and Jiao Mei''s body flew back with immense force, blood leaking from her orifices.

    Jiao Mei wanted to cry. This pain was terrible. If she hadn''t tempered her body in the Mystic Realm, she would''ve died already.

    Still, she was going to die in a few seconds anyway, so her improvements hardly mattered.

    She smiled wryly to herself as she realized this. She was the only one who knew the truth of that incident, that Damien was the true perpetrator. She also knew that Damien definitely had the power to contend with these sect masters.

    Yet, she didn''t pin the me on him. He was the one who showed her the wider world she desired and gave her a proper goal to aspire to. Even if she had to die to protect him, it wouldn''t be enough to repay the gratitude she felt.

    At least, because of him, she achieved the dream she''d held for so long, and surpassed it by leaps and bounds. For her, this was enough.

    The smile on her face turned wholesome. She regretted dying young, she regretted not being able to fulfill her ambitions, she regretted not being able to see him one more time. But if she had to die here for his sake, she would do so with grace.

    The Heavenly Jewel Pce Master raised his hand. The ground around Jiao Mei began to move as if it were alive, swallowing her.

    But before she could be swallowed whole¡­

    "Yeah, let''s not do that."

    A casual voice rang out, dispersing the surrounding pressure. Jiao Mei''s body vanished and reappeared far away amidst a cluster of golden light.

    At the same time, the Dimensional Leaderboard in the sky began to shine with splendiferous light. It was Heaven and Earthpared to the reaction Jiao Mei induced.

    The audience, who had yet to adapt to the first sudden change of events, was dazed beyond belief. Even the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master halted his attack in shock.

    Innumerable eyes locked onto the massive scroll in the sky. Whether it was the 1,000,000s, 100,000s, or even the 1,000s, there were no changes.

    At this point, shock transformed into confusion. Why was the Dimensional Leaderboard acting so wildly if there were no changes?

    "L-look!" A voice suddenly rang out from the crowd. There, a little boy pointed at the Dimensional Leaderboard, his eyes wide as saucers.

    When people saw the direction he pointed in, their confusion intensified. Wasn''t that¡­a bit too high?

    Still, out of curiosity, many turned their gazes over fast enough to see a single name etched into the Dimensional Leaderboard''s surface. Each letter was carefully written, containing endless profundity.

    This scene of a name being written letter by letter would only appear once per person; during their introduction on the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    "T-this¡­what is this?" The Heavenly Jewel Pce Master eximed.

    "That is¡­it couldn''t be¡­" the Eclipse Sect Master''s face paled in sudden realization.

    Written slowly and steadily for all to see¡­

    [420. Damien Void]

    Damien''s name rested proudly in its spot. Its grand appearance was apanied by waves of golden light and auspicious signs, as if the Dimensional Leaderboard was showing its support.

    These phenomena continued for many minutes without end, and when they finally concluded, the Dimensional Leaderboard also began to fade from the sky.

    Damien didn''t pay attention to any of this, though. His eyes were focused on Jiao Mei''s bloody form in his arms.

    [Heal]

    As her body was covered in greenish-white light, the fury in Damien''s eyes slowly increased.

    While he didn''t have any strong connection to Jiao Mei, she was still an acquaintance. She was a kid with a lot of potential, potential he felt worth investing in.

    And now, someone decided to put their hands on the kid he was raising?

    Uneptable!

    Not to mention, Jiao Mei kept his involvement secret even at death''s door. Her loyalty to herrades couldn''t be questioned at all!

    Damien''s eyes didn''t leave Jiao Mei''s body, but his awareness was already spread to its limits. His gaze alone was cold enough to lower the surrounding temperature.

    "I wanted to leave the Dawn World peacefully." He spoke. His voice was neither loud nor soft, but projected to every corner of the audience clearly. "Since the strongest people here are only around the middle of 4th ss without any substantialwprehension to speak of, I wanted to let you live your small lives without getting involved."

    His gaze panned the crowd beforending on the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master. "But, I guess it''s true that no matter where you go, there''ll be some idiots begging to die."

    "Fine. If that''s what you want¡­just die then."

 Chapter 625 Dawn World [3]

    Damien''s words seemed to precede an attack, but he didn''t make any move to do so. Instead, he recalled his aura and plunged his mana into the Dawn World''s surface!

    This mana, guided by his awareness and Celestial abilities, prated the world''s barriers and arrived in front of its core with ease.

    ''You have two choices. You either submit to me, or die.''

    Damien''s voice resounded in the World Core''s space. Unlike his approach when dealing with his previous bound World Cores, he was extremely forceful.

    His abilities as a Celestial became far broader after his Baptism. Not only could he utilize starlight to attack and empower himself and use World Force even when apart from his worlds, he also no longer needed mutual consent to bind a world.

    However, there was a prerequisite. For Damien to use the forceful approach, he had to be the strongest practitioner present in the world.

    In the Dawn World, he easily met this condition.

    The World Core had no means to defend itself besides the practitioner residing on the world''s surface. If they couldn''t kill Damien, what else could it do? He truly had the capabilities to threaten this World Core with extinction.

    And the World Core clearly knew this. Even though its spiritual intelligence wasn''t as developed as Apeiron or the Cloud ne, it had enough conscious thought to judge Damien''s qualifications based on his actions thus far and read his power level.

    No World Core would choose death over survival.

    Damien''s Celestial Mana Thread easily prated the World Core''s defenses. A bond was formed without a hitch. This was the convenience that came with great power.

    On the surface of the world, Damien felt a sense of euphoria rush over him as every piece of the Dawn World was ced under his control. His eyes shone with brilliant blue starlight as he searched the surface.

    "Found it." He said lightly. Under the crowd''s stunned and wary gazes, he raised his hand and pressed down.

    Rumble!

    An earthquake spread through the world. By the time it reached the gate''s position, it was negligible, but the impacts it had were anything but.

    The Heavenly Jewel Pce Master''s face paled. As he traced the origin of the quake, he realized that¡­it was infinitely simr to the location of his sect!

    "Send out a transmission talisman and contact the forces remaining at the sect! Find out what happened right this instant!" He yelled to the disciples behind him. His gaze, however, didn''t leave Damien.

    The previous events were too coincidental. Damien''s hand movements seemed to trigger the earthquake that took ce. An ominous feeling crept into the Pce Master''s heart as he watched Damien''s expression morph into a cold smile.

    "Pa-pce Master¡­the sect is¡­" a disciple whispered. His hands were shaking as they held a glowing transmission talisman.

    The Heavenly Jewel Pce Masted''s face twisted. "What did you do?!"

    Damien''s smile didn''t change. "Hm? It''s more fun if we go see for ourselves, no?"

    With a snap of his fingers, he and the Pce Master vanished from the gate. When they reappeared, they were a few hundred kilometers away from a vast and beautiful mountain range. Spiritual waters flowed freely throughout, the ambient mana far richer than anywhere else in the world. This ce was none other than the Heavenly Jewel Pce.

    However, in the middle of this immortal scenery was a single extremely prevalent stain. The location that was once the sect''s central mountain where the Pce Master resided¡­

    Was copsed entirely. All that remained in its ce was arge pile of rubble.

    "Now that you''re here, the real fun can begin. After all, I have to thoroughly help you realize the sin you''vemitted."

    Damien''s hand pushed down once more. The entire outer ring of mountains copsed one by one, the inner mountains following soon after. It was a truly apocalyptic scene, one that almost brought the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master to tears.

    He wanted to yell out and tell Damien to stop, he wanted to use everything in his power to destroy his enemy, but from the moment his figure vanished from the Gate location, his body has been frozen.

    Damien controlled his every action.

    "Ah," Damien suddenly said. "Don''t think I''m some kind of viin. I haven''t harmed your disciples at all. However, I did blow up all their spatial rings. Aside from that, everything I saw that could be considered the sect''s foundation and legacy has been destroyed. There''s just one more thing to do¡­"

    Bang!

    The Heavenly Jewel Pce Master remained frozen as his middle finger was sted apart. This was naturally caused by the explosion of his spatial ring.

    A stream of ck mana entered his body immediately after. Slowly but surely, the mana in his body began to disappear.

    The Pce Master''s eyes dulled. Even when the sect was being destroyed, he was simply saddened. As long as he remained alive and possessed the sect''s methods, it could always be revived. But now¡­

    Whether it was his strength or the sect''s legacy, both were being destroyed before his eyes.

    "You look like you have something to say," Damienmented lightly. "I''ll allow it. Say what you want."

    "¡­" the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master was silent for a moment despite his voice being freed. In the end, he could only ask one question.

    "¡­why?"

    Damien raised his brow curiously. "What do you mean ''why?'' You tried to kill one of my people first. Is my action not justified?"

    "SHE KILLED MY SON!" The Pce Master exploded. His revenge on Jiao Mei was just! Even if Damien wanted to get revenge, he didn''t have to go to such lengths!

    But in response, Damien could only shrug. "And? Do the lives of people you value matter more than the lives of people I value?" He asked.

    "What matters in this world is strength, and the reason you''re suffering now is because I''m more powerful than you. In truth, I''m the one who killed your son. If I wasn''t powerful enough to defend myself and gain others'' respect, would I have survived our interaction?"

    His words were true of course, but they didn''t justify destroying the Heavenly Jewel Sect and its legacies. What the Pce Master wanted to know was something else: since the grudge was between them, why involve the Heavenly Jewel Pce?

    But even if Damien understood this, he truly didn''t have any way to answer this question. Even he didn''t know why his first thought was to target the sect; it was instinctual.

    But he didn''t feel bad about it. The Heavenly Jewel Pce disciples would be fine as long as they found other sects to be epted into. The only one who truly suffered was the Pce Master.

    To those disciples who looked on at Damien and the Pce Master from below, this day was a rude awakening; a glimpse into what true genius was like.

    For some, this would be a mental scar that inhibited their training for the rest of their lives. But for others, this would be motivation to grow and be strong enough to prevent the reenactment of such tragedy.

    Only thetter category was worthy of Damien''s attention.

    Nevertheless, his business at the former Heavenly Jewel Pce ended the moment he crippled its master. With onest look at the destruction he caused, Damien vanished, returning to the gate location.

 Chapter 626 Dawn World [4]

    The crowd around the gate location was silent the entire time Damien and the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master were gone. They used the brief moment of respite to process the events that took ce prior.

    First, Jiao Mei ced extremely high on the Dimensional Leaderboard. Afterwards, she was almost killed by the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master for killing his son. But before this could happen, a mysterious man appeared, ranking in the top 1000 of the Dimensional Leaderboard and saving Jiao Mei.

    How he and the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master disappeared or where they were going was a mystery. But before they could even make their guesses, Damien returned. The total time he was gone wasn''t more than 10 minutes.

    And when he returned, he did so alone.

    His eyes panned the crowd, causing them to freeze up in terror. His gaze briefly stopped on the Eclipse Sect Master before turning to Zara, who was holding Jiao Mei.

    Compared to when he left, Jiao Mei''splexion was far better. She only looked like she was peacefully sleeping at the moment.

    But as if she sensed Damien''s presence approaching, she grumbled quietly and slowly opened her eyes.

    The first thing she saw was his face. I''m that instant, memories rushed into her mind in waves. The fact that she was alive settled in.

    Quiet tears dripped from her eyes. No matter how much she prepared herself to die, she never truly wished to. She was infinitely grateful for the chance to live again.

    Damien allowed her to have her moment for as long as possible, but unfortunately, he didn''t have much time. While returning, he looked over the Star chart Atticus gave him and approximated Death Emperor Star''s rtive position. And frankly, "far" wasn''t a good enough word to describe it.

    To reach it in 6 months, even if he teleported with all his power, he needed every minute he could get. Especially considering that he was only allowed to use long-distance teleportation arrays a single time during his journey.

    This was a rule in ce to even the ying ground for people at the far reaches of the universe. If they had the ability, they could shorten their travel time by weeks or even months.

    Even though Damien had a ck card at his disposal, he didn''t want to use it to cheat his way through this first test. At most, he''d use a teleportation array in the final stretch of his journey. Before that, he wanted to use the 6 months he was given to temper himself whether that was by traversing the starry sky or entering Mystic Realms he found along the way.

    "Jiao Mei, do you want toe with me?" He asked.

    "You''re leaving?" She responded immediately with wide eyes.

    Damien nodded firmly. "I have to go. But there is a ce I can take you where you can train in peace for a while. If you don''t want that, I can take you with me and drop you off at a more suitable world for your talent. However, don''t make this decision for me, but for yourself. Even if you choose to travel with me, you and I won''t cross paths very often at all."

    What Damien could do was sent Jiao Mei to the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary''s atmosphere was perfect for slow and quiet practice, and there were powerful experts within who could guide her. However, she wouldn''t be able to get the same life-or-death experience she would in the outside world.

    This was one thing Damien wanted to change about the Sanctuary. Its residents could grow slowly, but they needed a harsher environment to foster growth. Only, he didn''t know how to add death zones into its fold. After all, no matter how much power he had in the Sanctuary, he couldn''t create life. If he wanted to make a beast domain or a natural death zone, he''d need help from the outside world.

    Hearing his words, Jiao Mei sunk into thought. She already decided to go with him, but she didn''t know which option to choose. What she knew was that the Dawn World couldn''t contain her anymore.

    But, even if she stayed with Damien, she wouldn''t see him often. These were his own words. In that case, what was the point?

    While Jiao Mei worshipped Damien, especially so after he saved her life multiple times, she was a girl with her own ambitions. She didn''t want to risk her own cultivation for the sole purpose of staying with him.

    In the end, shementably sighed. "I¡­will go to a more suitable world."

    She made the decision that was better for her future, and frankly, Damien wholly supported it. In his opinion, while this was the more dangerous option, it was also the best one.

    Therefore, he nodded with a smile. "Okay. I''ll make it happen. But before we leave¡­what do you want to do with them?"

    Damien''s gaze panned back to the Eclipse Sect Master. During the previous altercation, he made the choice to abandon Jiao Mei, something that haunted his mind ever since the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master was suppressed.

    He was of half a mind to retreat and hide away in the Eclipse Sect, but his informationwork was too good for him to easily do so. He heard about the Heavenly Jewel Pce''s destruction before anyone else.

    Jiao Mei looked at his figure. Right now, he didn''t look like the illustrious sect master she used to see. Instead, there was only a pitiful old man in his ce.

    "What¡­I can choose to do anything?" She asked hesitantly.

    "Anything," Damien confirmed. "As long as we''re in the Dawn World, I can do anything."

    "Destroy it all." She immediately answered. Her eyes were cold and indifferent. The second the Eclipse Sect Master decided to abandon her, she did the same with the sect.

    "And the disciples?"

    "Everyone I trust is in my personal pce. I don''t care about the rest."

    "Wait! Jiao Mei, please reconsider! Think about everything the sect has done for you! How could you betray us like this?!" The Eclipse Sect Master screamed in panic.

    "Betray?" Jiao Mei responded mockingly. She couldn''t contain herughter when she heard it. "You betrayed me first, yet you actually have the balls to talk about betrayal? Preposterous!"

    "You little demon! If it wasn''t for your special physique, you would be nothing! You''re just an abandoned daughter of the Jiao Family. If it wasn''t for me taking you in, you''d be dead on the streets by now!" The Eclipse Sect Master roared with bloodshot eyes.

    "That''s enough." Damien cut him off before he could continue. "Shut up and experience the consequences of your actions personally. Remember, the only reason this is happening is because you couldn''t support your disciple at her lowest. If you''re like this with your top genius, what will your reaction be like for other disciples?"

    Damien''s words immediately flipped a switch in the heads of those present Eclipse Sect disciples. Right, Jiao Mei was the best of them yet she was still abandoned. What would happen to them in a simr, hell, even in a lesser situation?

    They''d surely be treated even worse!

    Suddenly, the Eclipse Sect disciples backed away from the sect master. They couldn''t trust a man like him.

    And as Jiao Mei saw this, she suddenly changed her mind. "Can we go to the Eclipse Sect? I want to give the disciples a choice."

    Damien quietly nodded and teleported the involved parties to the Eclipse Sect. Standing in the air above it, Jiao Mei felt a sense of power envelop her.

    She poured mana into her voice and yelled, "fellow disciples! The Eclipse Sect Master is scum who abandons his sect members in cowardice! Now, the sect is set for destruction! For those who wish to live, leave now! Anyone who remains in the sect after half an hour will die!"

    Her words resounded to every corner of the sect. Jiao Mei was incredibly famous and popr. Just by hearing her voice, most people recognized who she was.

    "Isn''t that the princess?"

    "The princess is acting against the sect master?"

    "The sect master betrayed the sect?"

    Countless questions flew around, but there was nobody capable of answering them. The disciples were left with only a single choice to make.

    Stay or leave?

    Jiao Mei''s status in the sect was so high that not a single person dared topete with her for the position of sect master. Jiao Mei had absolutely no reason to lie. Aside from that, her moral character had always been just, as seen when she rescued Damien and Zara.

    If Jiao Mei said the sect was going to be destroyed because of the sect master''s actions¡­

    It was likely true!

    Those who realized this left the sect immediately. Hundreds of disciples swarmed the sky as they fled.

    This mass exodus caused a shift in public opinion. Humans were herd animals, after all. Seeing so many people decide to leave, hundreds more followed.

    What was left after the 30-minute mark were elders absolutely loyal to the sect and a few disciples who were the same.

    Damien sighed as he saw this. He respected their loyalty, but unfortunately, they stood on opposite sides. Since he was supporting Jiao Mei at the moment, he''d do so in full.

    "Are you sure about your decision?" He asked one more time.

    Looking at those who stayed, Jiao Mei nodded. "I have no regrets. If my karma is damaged by this act, I will shoulder that burden and continue forward. Right now, I simply wish to cut ties with this sect entirely."

    "And your own people?"

    "I''d like to bring them with me. Is that possible?"

    Damien nodded. Adding a few hundred people to the Sanctuary''s poption was nothing at all.

    "Well then, since you''re sure of your decision, let''s end things on a high note."

    Damien raised his hand to the sky. World Force swirled around him, empowering his movements. His mouth opened slowly, giving way to a single word:

    "Starfall."

 Chapter 627 Voyage [1]

    "Starfall."

    The sky caved, giving way to tens of portals. Under Damien''s guidance, meteorites breached the Dawn World''s atmosphere through these portals and rained down on the Eclipse Sect!

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Their impacts were rapid and heaven-shaking. Regardless of how the remaining Eclipse Sect disciples tried to defend themselves, they couldn''t escape the Starfall''s destruction.

    mes raged as the earth caved. Magma burst through the ground and turned the Eclipse Sect''snd into a ming sea. At the same time, the craters left behind by the meteorite rain expanded into massive chasms that led deep into the Dawn World''s surface.

    It was a hellish scene. Even before the meteor rain ended, everyone remaining in the Eclipse Sect was dead. Those few hundred people lost their lives so easily.

    But Damien wasn''t trying to destroy the entire Dawn World. The meteorites rained down solely on the Eclipse Sect''s area, and after only a few seconds, Damien closed the portals they entered through.

    But this was more than enough. Rather than the Eclipse Sect, the only thing remaining in the area was a death zone.

    Damien, Zara, Jiao Mei, and the restricted Eclipse Sect Master stood in the air above this destruction. While Zara and Damien didn''t show much reaction, the same couldn''t be said for the other two.

    Jiao Mei''s shock was apparent, but more reserved since she was already aware of Damien''s power. Still, seeing him destroy the entire sect in seconds left a deep impression in her heart.

    As for the Eclipse Sect Master, his expression was lifeless. After that scene, how could he have any more thoughts of resisting?

    Damien nced at him indifferently. "He''s yours. I''ve taken away his mana and left him crippled, so anything you decide to do, he''ll be forced to endure. I''lle find you tomorrow so we can depart."

    After saying a few more words to Jiao Mei, he and Zara disappeared. Jiao Mei''s gazended on the Eclipse Sect Master''s pitiful form. With a sigh, she shed her arm through the air, swiftly decapitating him.

    With his will already broken, there was no point in torturing him. She wouldn''t receive any joy from the act either. She just wanted to kill him and sever her karma with the Dawn World.

    Taking onest nce at the Eclipse Sect''s remains, Jiao Mei left the area. She would spend this day of respite preparing her people for departure and resting.

    ***

    In an isted cave somewhere, Damien sat quietly with his back against his wall. Arge ck mass was draped over hisp as he did so. This was naturally Zara.

    Her beast form had gone through some changes after her ascension and Baptism. Not only was her fur sleeker and more attuned to darkness, those massive fallen angel-like wings of hers were made of terrifying feathers with the strength of SSS-rank artifacts.

    The most noticeable difference, however, was the addition of another two tails at her rear, bringing the total number to four. Damien didn''t know the significance of these tails, but considering how they multiplied ording to Zara''s strength, they were surely rted to her bloodline somehow.

    As for her bloodline, this was exactly the topic of Damien and Zara''s conversation as they rested for a day. Zara had found out some clues about her origins from Tang Lingzi, but with her bloodline being so strange, even Tang Lingzi couldn''t urately pinpoint her ancestry.

    Nevertheless, the fact that there was Nox blood running through her veins was all but confirmed. While she fretted about how to tell Damien this for a period of time, she finally ended up spilling the truth on their final day in the Dawn World.

    But frankly, Damien didn''t care. Whether she was a Nox or a Universe Devourer, she was still the same Zara he found and befriended in the First Dungeon. He didn''t think their bond could be broken by something as vague as race.

    The two''s conversation continued until daylight shone down on the world once more. Whether it was Zara''s origins, their personal experiences during their separation, or the improvements in their power sets, they were finally able to take time to catch up on everything they needed.

    "Haa," Damien sighed as he stood up. "I guess it''s time to go. Six months¡­with my current abilities, I should be able to make it in 5 if I rush with everything I have. That leaves us a month of leeway in case we encounter anything fun along the way."

    He took out the star chart Atticus gave him and looked at it once more. "Death Emperor Star is rtively isted. Unfortunately, we''ll only be passing a few inhabited worlds along the way. Of those, I don''t know how many are worthy of our time."

    As he muttered to himself, he wasn''t disheartened. After all, even if there were no special events along the way, he''d still profit.

    Uninhabited worlds also had World Cores after all. While he couldn''t take every single one for himself, it wouldn''t be difficult to take over a few on the way.

    "You ready?" He turned around and asked Zara.

    "Mm," she replied with a nod. Her body was covered in a dim ck light as she transformed back into her human form. A long ck dress materialized soon after to cover her naked body.

    The two vanished from their cave, arriving at Jiao Mei''s personal pce. After giving a brief overview of the Sanctuary to those present, Damien sent them in to see it themselves.

    "The ce you''re going to now is the peaceful world I told you about before. If you like it, you can stay as long as you want." He told Jiao Mei as he teleported her to the Sanctuary.

    After receiving her nod, Damien also sighed in relief. Everything he had to do on the Dawn World was now done.

    ''I guess I have to check my rewards from the Mystic Realm, but I can do that after I''ve already made some progress in my journey.''

    If the Dimensional Leaderboard could only rank geniuses who explored its Mystic Realms, it wouldn''t have be so popr. Those who ranked in the top 10 of a Mystic Realm would receive rewards, and the top 3 would gain even better harvests.

    If Damien hadn''t proven his strength after exiting the Mystic Realm, he likely would''ve been hunted by opportunistic people who wanted his treasures.

    This was most likely part of the reason the Heavenly Jewel Pce Master acted so rashly against Jiao Mei.

    Regardless, checking his rewards could be done at any time, and at least for now, he didn''t need any power-boosting treasures.

    Damien''s gaze panned to the sky. Zara was in his shadow, Jiao Mei and her people were in the Sanctuary, the Dawn World''s World Core was under his control¡­

    He smiled lightly. His entrance into the Divine Realm was truly superb.

    With that final thought, his figure faded from existence, never to be seen on the Dawn World again.

    Legends of his actions would be passed down for generations, stories of a man who rampaged through the world and destroyed two of its greatest sects with ease. This man waster titled the Demon God as stories of his feats became more and more exaggerated. Despite his brief appearance, in the Dawn World''s history, he was both someone to be feared and respected by all.

    But, that was a story taking ce far in the future.

    At the current time, only the name Damien Void rooted itself in the hearts of those who witnessed him.

 Chapter 628 Voyage [2]

    6 months was both a long and short amount of time depending on how it was viewed. For the current Damien, it was ironically both.

    His surroundings were oddly silent and still. Despite the fact that all creation revolved in perpetual motion around him, it felt frozen as he passed through the illustrious starry sky.

    It was a calming experience. Damien''s mind, which was still extremely stressed from his sudden entrance into the Divine Realm, was given the chance to calm down and reflect.

    He had plenty of lingering fears about the Human Domain''s fate, but he realized that even without him the Human Domain''s strength wouldn''t decrease by much. Without his Void Physique attracting trouble, they might even flourish.

    Besides, he did have an avenue to meet with his wives and friends once more. Damien didn''t know the exact date it would take ce, but he remembered Tian Yang and Bai Xieren mentioning a Grand Assembly where the Grand Heavens Boundary''s forces would gather to prepare for all-out war.

    At the time of that assembly, Damien would surely see the people he wanted to see. Until then, he truly did need to grow his strength as fast as possible.

    The Elven Domain was already destroyed by the Nox and Eden wasn''t far away from joining it. The war was already taking ce on a universal scale. If it was allowed to draw out for too long, the losses would be catastrophic.

    After reaching this point, these thoughts were shelved. Damien wholeheartedly focused on improving himself.

    In the expansive starry sky, Damien was able to freely wield his power at its best state and assess his level and faults. While he couldn''t do this with total uracy due to theck of enemies and actual battle, he could at least identify the broader issues that he couldter define to thest detail.

    It''d been three months already.

    Aside from strenuously and futilely attempting to heighten hisprehension on the Void and practicing space and timews, assessing his strength, and purely traveling with no other thoughts in mind, the only other thing Damien did was bind every uninhabited world he came across.

    While at first, this seemed like an easy way for him to gain power, the truth was different. These World Cores, despite being plentiful, didn''t actually have a great deal of strength and World Force.

    A world''s strength was mainly made up of two factors: the solidity of its foundationalws and its residents.

    These two were entirely rted to each other. When a world''sws became more defined, its capacity would increase, allowing it to house stronger practitioners inrger quantities. And with their level cap lifted, these practitioners would in turn be more powerful and contribute back to the world by giving it strength.

    This was an unconscious process that most beings didn''t even know was taking ce, but it was a symbiotic rtionship that a world and its residents held. While a world protected, housed, and gave its residents the means to gain strength, the residents would in turn protect the world and give it strength.

    However, this meant that uninhabited worlds were unable to grow. While theirws would be more defined with time, theck of inhabitable atmosphere meant that no practitioners would live in the world, making it impossible to form the positive feedback loop worlds used to grow.

    These uninhabitable worlds could contain powerful lifeforms with ease, but they couldn''t support and sustain life on their own. The World Force Damien received from these worlds didn''t equate to a fraction of even Earth''s World Force.

    By his estimate, he''d need to bind roughly 1,000 uninhabitable worlds to reach Earth''s World Force when he first bound it. Its current World Force, however, would require tens of thousands of uninhabitable worlds to match.

    It could be said that for Damien to gain substantial World Force from these worlds, he needed to conquer entire sectors.

    However, this didn''t mean that he didn''t benefit at all. While he didn''t gain much World Force, he felt an inexplicable feeling every time he bound a new uninhabited world. It was a feeling simr to dominion.

    It made him wonder. Celestial were conquerers, conquerers on a much grander scale than mere kings and emperors. Wouldn''t it make sense for there to be some kind of benefit the more worlds he bound?

    Aftering to this conclusion, Damien''s days became much more fun. Before, he and Zara could casually pass the time whenever he got bored by having conversation or ying around, but now, he had another hobby to keep him sane¡­

    Binding World Cores!

    The entire process didn''t take more than a minute for these weak uninhabitable worlds. Considering that he''d delegated an entire month to side adventures, he had more than enough leeway to do so.

    The number ofs manifesting in his spiritual world multiplied rapidly. The red light of the World Core Fusion Reactor shone through the entire space as it took every new world Damien bound into its system.

    100¡­500¡­1000¡­

    By the time he reached the 1000 mark, three months passed. He was midway through his journey and making decent progress towards Death Emperor Star, perfectly on track to reaching.

    Sadly, aside from the asional spirit ship that passed by, Damien didn''t encounter anything special in the starry sky. There weren''t even many Space Beasts that dared to approach him after sensing his natural aura.

    A bit of the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s authority was mixed into his aura after he devoured thetter''s body and acted as a natural deterrent for most Space Beasts.

    Another week passed in this dreariness. At this time, Damien finally saw something different amongst the monotonous scenery.

    It was an inhabitable world!

    While this wasn''t the first inhabitable world Damien had passed, the rest were only around the level of the Dawn World or a bit higher. This world, however, was different.

    His perception of celestial bodies became incredibly sharp as he continuously bound worlds. Even from a distance, while he couldn''t tell exactly, he could at least understand that this world was special in some way.

    ''Finally!'' Damien celebrated inwardly. Even if there wasn''t an adventure here, he''d still make great gains as long as he could bind the World Core.

    Plus, this might be the perfect location to foster Jiao Mei''s growth.

    Damien''s figure rapidly shot through the starry sky, breaking through the world''s atmosphere and approaching its surface.

    Unlike his entrance into the Dawn World though, hisnding was far more skillful this time.

    His feet touched the ground silently, his presencepletely erased. His awareness spread tens of thousands of kilometers, enveloping around a fourth of the world.

    "Hmm, there isn''t anything crazy in this hemisphere. A few middle 4th sses and a single person on the verge of leveling into thete stage¡­but this flow of mana, there should be a more developed continent beyond my awareness'' reach."

    Damien understood this world to be a smaller variation of the Cloud ne in both its geography and strength. If his inference was correct, there was no need for him to stay on this continent.

    His figure shed to the far reaches of his perception. He appeared atop a tumultuous ocean infested with terrifying sea beasts, but he paid it no mind. After spreading his awareness once more and finding the continent he desired to reach, he immediately left the sea area.

    But never would Damien have guessed¡­that he''d be returning only a few hourster!

 Chapter 629 Azure Rain Star [1]

    Azure Rain Star wasn''t toorge of a world per se, but its importance couldn''t be underestimated.

    In the Divine Realm, Azure Rain Star acted as something of a transfer point and hub for trade. Due to its position near the boundaries of the sector,bined with the strength of its inhabitants, it easily became a world most spirit ships stopped by on their travels to other domains.

    But this trade hub only existed in the Mystic Continent, the Azure Rain Star''srgest continent.

    From the far reaches of the Mystic Continent all the way to its center, the cities were always crowded with people. Auctions took ce weekly with newly imported items, filling the continent with rare treasures that many coveted.

    If it wasn''t for the 10 extreme peak 4th ss guardians residing on the continent and overseeing its peace, the continent would''ve likely fallen into anarchy long ago.

    When Damien''s figure emerged from the void, he was on this very Mystic Continent. Thend was luscious and the environment was mostly consistent. At least in the area he was in, there weren''t many geographic anomalies.

    ''After assessing the strength of this world, I can be sure that leaving Jiao Mei here wouldn''t be a bad choice. However, it''s best if I investigate the world''s various powers and conflicts first. I can''t just drop her in a den of wolves with no protection or worldly experience.''

    About Jiao Mei, Damien didn''t know how he felt. It was strange. While they didn''t have any major connections, Damien felt the need to give her the best,

    In a sense, Jiao Mei was like his disciple. He''d taught and guided her through herprehension of the lightning element and provided her with his ownprehension to use as a basis for her future progress. It didn''t matter if he did it on a whim, in the end, Jiao Mei was still someone taught by him.

    In that case, he couldn''t allow her to be treated poorly. It was a matter of integrity.

    With this thought in mind, Damien continued teleporting until he reached the continent''s central zone. After entering thergest city he could find, Damien spent the next few days gathering general information about the world.

    ''Hmm¡­the simrities to the Cloud ne are a bit too much, aren''t they?'' He thought to himself with a wry smile.

    In a simr fashion to Ruyue''s homeworld, Azure Rain Star had 4 Pces and 5 Great ns.

    The 4 Pces contained a majority of the world''s experts and split the world into 4 to rule it, whether this was the Mystic Continent or thendmasses surrounding it.

    ''Of the Four Pces, Seeking Lotus Pce and Roaring Thunder Pce are best suited for Jiao Mei. While thetter is more tailored to her affinity, the former will allow her an environment free of distractions to practice¡­''

    ''I guess I should visit the Seeking Lotus Pce before making a decision.''

    While the Roaring Thunder Pce''s qualities were mostly reflected in its name, it wasn''t the same for the Seeking Lotus Pce. It was the second most powerful sect in the world, yet it was incredibly secretive. Aside from its location and the fact that it only epted women, not much was known about it.

    This was especially so for its techniques. For years, Seeking Lotus Pce disciples wandered the world and showcased their light, yet, the techniques they used didn''t have any sense of cohesiveness.

    It was more like every individual was using a technique tailored to their skill sets.

    To Damien, this fact sounded more like a rumor. It was simply too much work for a massive sect like one of the Four Pces to put so much effort into each and every disciple.

    If he wanted to confirm this rumor, the only choice he had was to see the sect for himself.

    ***

    ''This is going to be quite troublesome¡­'' Damien thought to himself as he stood before the gates to a mystical mountain path covered in illusive fog. This was the presumed entrance to the Seeking Lotus Pce.

    He had to wonder whether there was a better way to go about things, but in the end, he shrugged and walked through the gates.

    If any problems arose, he''d deal with them at that time.

    Immediately upon passing through the gate, Damien felt like he entered a different world. The scenery around him morphed and shifted psychedelically and a strange scent permeated his nose, making him woozy.

    ''Break!''

    In that instant, he poured mana into the All-Seeing Eyes. His irises swirled with mystery, shattering the illusions around him. He once again found himself on the same mountain path, however, he was roughly 10 feet further than he was before.

    ''This beguiling formation is a work of art. It''s rare to find an illusion that can bypass the All-Seeing Eyes'' passive perception.''

    His eyes became a bit more serious as he continued to walk. Just as he expected, the path ahead was filled with countless traps that became deadlier and deadlier as he continued on.

    At first, the formations simply tried to beguile him and lead him away from the sect. But as he got closer, the true killing formations began to activate. Damien was faced with strange attacks from every direction, attacks filled with mana he couldn''t identify.

    ''Strange¡­this mana shares qualities with the life mana Elena uses, but it seems to be of a higher state of existence. What could it be¡­?''

    As Damien closed his eyes and began feeling the mana around him for clues, a gazetched onto his body. Naturally, he felt its existence, but he showed no signs of this on his face.

    He didn''t want to alert those present with his strength and make things harder for him.

    ''That gaze is from¡­high-level 4th ss¡­probably around level 360¡­maybe a Supreme Elder?''

    Damien''s thoughts wandered as he continued along the path. While evading every trap it contained, he quietly felt the surrounding mana and became deeper entranced in its mystery.

    As he got closer to the mana''s source, he felt an innate revulsion stemming from the core of his being. It was like his body rejected that mana''s presence.

    But when he tried to consume it, he did so without a hitch.

    ''There must be something within me that opposes this mana. The reason I can still devour it without a hitch is due to the Void Physique''s abilities¡­''

    But if that was the case, which secret in his body rejected this mana?

    Before he couldpletely answer this question, he found himself standing at the end of the mountain path. In front of him was arge stretch of wilderness leading to the mountain peak, but no signs of the Seeking Lotus Pce.

    Damien frowned. He didn''t doubt that he was at the right location considering the gaze he felt and the mountain path, but if he couldn''t sense it¡­

    The All-Seeing Eyes activated again. While Damien still couldn''t clearly see the sect, streams of mana became visible to his eyes.

    And along with that, signs of spatial maniption.

    His frown curved back up into a grin. If it was a pocket dimension rather than an illusion, it would be much simpler for him to break in.

    His mana spread into the surroundings, starlight converging on his body.

    With his current achievements in Dimensional Magic, it only took a few minutes to find what he was looking for.

 Chapter 630 Azure Rain Star [2]

    Damien took a few light steps forward. His body melded into the surrounding space and faded from existence. As he walked in this strange physical state, all borders in space became meaningless.

    He, like a wisp of stray mana, easily entered the pocket dimension that existed on this mountain. Finally, the Seeking Lotus Pce''s scenery was revealed to him.

    It was a paradise. Tall waterfalls filled with mana roared and raged from the heavens, meeting on the earth as they fed their waters into arge and peacefulke. Colorful iridescent trees and foliage grew from the water and painted its surface. Even the Seeking Lotus Pce was built atop thiske.

    Its structure was different from other sects Damien had seen due to this. Its buildings floated a few inches above the water, using the water''s ambient mana as a repelling force to keep them afloat. The architectural style of these buildings wasn''t something Damien had seen before, but if he had topare, it was most simr to Roman architecture on earth.

    Combined with the scenery, the sect''s architecture created a strange dichotomy that enhanced its mystery.

    "Are you enjoying the view of our sect?" A voice resounded from behind Damien.

    "Mm," he nodded, "it''s definitely one of the more unique locations I''ve seen recently. While it isn''t anything special, the natural ambiance seems to be extremely suited for practice."

    "That''s natural. If it wasn''t, we wouldn''t have built the sect here in the first ce. Even the pocket dimension you bypassed existed here naturally before we came and upied it."

    "Naturally formed pocket dimension? Now that''s an interesting wonder of nature. Do you know if there are any more of these around for me to study?"

    "I might. But before I answer that question, why don''t you answer a few of mine?"

    Damien smiled as he watched the scenery around him change. In that instant, he''d been teleported into one of the sect''s buildings. His current location was a personal office with a view of the heavenly waterfalls outside.

    And sitting in a rather fancy chair in front of him was the woman he was conversing with earlier.

    "My name is Damien Void. And you?"

    "Sierra Lock." The woman replied.

    "I see¡­that''s likely a name I should know, but as you''ve probably guessed, I''m not from around here."

    "That much was obvious when you attempted to climb the mountain path. You''vended yourself in more trouble than you probably ever expected."

    "Aren''t you being a bit too friendly to someone who broke into your sect?"

    "Not in the slightest. You''ll understand soon enough."

    Sierra smiled after finishing her words. "You have a meeting with the Sect Master in a few minutes. First, though, why don''t you tell me why you decided toe here in the first ce? Judging by your attitude and strength, it surely can''t be because you luster after our beauties¡­right?"

    A terrifying pressure enveloped the room. While Damien could easily ward it off, he knew that he couldn''t actually fight Sierra if negotiations broke down. Without the full capacity of arge world''s World Force, he was powerless against these characters at the high ranges of 4th ss.

    Still, in this instance, he had no reason to fear. His intentions were just, after all.

    Taking this opportunity, Damien told Sierra about Jiao Mei and his dilemma. He essentially told her that the sole reason he visited the Seeking Lotus Pce was to vet the sect.

    "That''s quite bold of you. Do you think you''re qualified?" Sierra asked somewhat mockingly. It was clear that she held immense pride in the Seeking Lotus Pce.

    "I do," Damien responded inly. "I''ve seen stronger sects and I know Jiao Mei''s abilities best. I''d rather form my own opinions about your sect before making any decisions."

    "And why don''t you let her decide for herself?" Sierra pushed.

    "Because she doesn''t know anything," Damien answered without hesitation. "She''s a child without much worldly experience at all. She spent her entire life in a small world whose greatest powers could all be crushed by your sect master alone. Do you think she can urately judge which sect is best for her?"

    "I do," Sierra replied. "Everyone is entitled to their own decision. Even if I can respect your intentions, I can''t respect you making life choices for someone as naive as the girl you''re describing."

    "Well then, it''s good that I''m not making the choice for her. After I''ve formed my opinions on the sects I think are best for her, I''ll naturally allow her to decide which one she wants to join."

    "Hmph. It''s still controlling."

    "Stop bullshitting. You and I both know that you want to trick her into joining your sect. No sane person would turn down a disciple with a special physique."

    "Tch. Don''t you know that it''s rude to be so blunt? You''ll never be a cunning old fox that way."

    "I never wanted to be a cunning old fox anyway. I''d rather be a monster that can''t be stopped even with the most genius of schemes."

    "I guess we can''t agree then."

    "I guess not."

    Damien and Sierra stared at each other from across the table. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.

    But at that time, a messaging talisman on Sierra''s desk lit up, expelling the awkward atmosphere.

    "Sect Master is free. It''s time for you to go meet her." She said.

    "And why am I doing that?" Damien questioned back.

    "Didn''t I already tell you?" Sierra replied with a sly smile, "you''vended yourself in quite the troublesome situation."

    The scenery around them shifted once more. Damien and Sierra arrived in arger room with a simr minimalistic design. Seated at the desk in the center of the room was a beautiful veiled woman.

    "So you''re the man who passed the mountain trials?"

    Her voice flowed so smoothly that it almost became one with the atmosphere. Her words were more like the breath of the world than the actions of a living being.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed as he felt this. This was an incredibly familiar feeling. Familiar to the point of being terrifying.

    "You¡­"

    "The mountain trials were put in ce by our distant ancestor to amodate her lover. It is tradition that any man who passes the mountain trial has the right to marry a genius from our sect. However, there is one more thing you must do." The Seeking Lotus Pce Master cut Damien off as she spoke.

    "There is a Challenge Gate open at the moment. It opened around 2 weeks ago and is projected to remain open for another week. If you can attain satisfactory results in that trial to truly prove your worth, I will allow you to continue."

    "This¡­you¡­what?"

    Damien was speechless. He expected this meeting to be a matter of intimidation, but the Seeking Lotus Pce Masterpletely subverted that expectation.

    Sierra''s words echoed in his mind once more. A troublesome situation, that''s how she described his entrance into the sect.

    And seeing the slight smile she was desperately trying to hide as the Pce Master spoke, Damien could tell that this was what she meant.

    While the prospect of entering a Challenge Gate excited him, his purpose in entering was suspicious.

    He originally came to the Seeking Lotus Pce to find Jiao Mei a new home, but instead¡­

    He was now shopping for a new wife?!

 Chapter 631 Azure Rain Star [3]

    "Hold on!"

    Damien''s voice thundered through the room. He couldn''t let the Seeking Lotus Pce Master continue leading the conversation like this. If so, he''d only eat continuous losses.

    "You''re a powerful person, no? You should''ve clearly heard my conversation with Sierra in the other room. I''m not here to find a wife, I just want to find a good sect for an acquaintance of mine to attend."

    "But you passed the mountain trials." The Pce Master replied ndly.

    "So?"

    "The mountain trials aren''t simple. Their strength variespletely depending on who steps through the gates. It was said that the Ancestor''s lover only felt a light breeze on the mountain path. Meanwhile, anyone else had to face intense challenges. What about you? What did you face?"

    "I¡ª"

    "He faced a few minor killing formations and a beguiling array, but he''s already a 4th ss, so these minor arrays couldn''t do anything to him." Sierra cut Damien off before he could speak. She was obviously taking great pleasure in his misfortune.

    "Mm, then it''s just like the ancestor''s lover. Those minor formations only activated for show. This mechanism was put in ce so that nobody would question the ancestor''s bias in creating the mountain trial. Since then, this setting has never been activated again. This means you are destined for our sect."

    The Seeking Lotus Pce Master spoke with certainty. She wholeheartedly believed in the sect''s teachings and history. In fact, she was quite nd in some sense.

    While she was a wise and powerful sect master, she was also strictly adherent to the old rules. When it came to tradition, she didn''t mess around. The reason the Seeking Lotus Pce was still an all-women sect was due to this quality of hers.

    Damien rubbed his forehead in frustration. It really was difficult getting through to this woman. He''d more easily be able to convince a wall to talk back to him.

    "Look, I don''t want any wives right now. I have enough already. Whatever your tradition is, I won''t participate in it."

    "But you don''t have a choice. If you don''t follow our traditions, I''ll be forced to execute you by sectw."

    Damien rolled his eyes and sneered. "This woman¡­don''t you know how to be flexible sometimes? Nobody will want to marry someone as stuck up as you."

    "That''s fine since I have no ns of marrying. The sect is the only importance in my life. So then, what is your choice? Follow tradition or die?"

    Damien''s eyes hardened. He really didn''t have the ability to fight the Pce Master even when just considering their base strengths. If Damien''s other suspicion was true¡­then even his chances of escape became nonexistent.

    In this situation, choosing to surrender and pick a wife-in-name from the Seeking Lotus Pce seemed to be the best move, but Damien''s personality didn''t allow him to bend so easily, especially not to someone like the Pce Master.

    A sudden idea popped into his head. "Fine. I''ll follow your traditions. I''ve already picked which woman I want to marry too."

    "Good. Tell me her name and I can bring her to you. Once you''ve introduced yourselves, I''ll brief you on the Challenge Gate and you two can enter together." The Pce Master said inly.

    However, Sierra''s eyes widened in shock. She''d spent some time conversing with Damien. If she thought about what she knew about him¡­

    His next action proved her worries true. His arm raised parallel to the ground, his index finger outstretched. Sitting where he was pointing was none other than the Seeking Lotus Pce Master herself.

    He spoke with a smug grin. "You. I choose you."

    "I am not an option." She replied without a change of expression.

    "Are you sure about that, though? From the story you told, it seems your Ancestor was an option for her lover after he passed the mountain trials. If you love tradition so much, shouldn''t you be happily offering yourself up?"

    The Seeking Lotus Pce Master frowned. She didn''t want to admit it, but Damien''s words were true. The sect master was indeed included in the candidates a man could choose.

    However, there were strict conditions for that to ur. To be specific¡­the exact conditions Damien met.

    He was the only one in the past several tens of thousands of years to activate the mountain trial''s mock trial, and the second person in history to do so. This rare urrence was precisely what qualified him to pick the sect master as his wife candidate.

    In the old ancestor''s words, the mountain trial judged destiny. The trial one received would align with that destiny.

    Essentially, Damien was "destined" for her.

    But she didn''t want marriage. The only thing she ever cared about was the sect, and she knew that''d never change in the future.

    Her eyes turned to Damien, expressionless.

    "You are allowed to choose me if that is your wish." She said, surprising both Damien and Sierra.

    "However, if you wish to marry me, then not only do you have to achieve a new record in the Challenge Gate, you must also defeat me after you exit!"

    In the end, Damien seemed to be a talented young man. Aside from upholding the sect''s traditions, she could also build a connection with this young genius through their agreement. However, it would only be on paper. As long as she lived, she''d never let himy a hand on her. This was her reasoning as she made her decision.

    Damien smiled and nodded his head without hesitation upon hearing her proposal. He never wanted to marry the pce master in the first ce, he simply wanted to dy for time.

    If the pce master was still insistent on the rules, then in the worst case, Damien could run away and find a different world suitable for Jiao Mei. However, the matter hadn''t be soplicated yet.

    The Seeking Lotus Pce Master was inflexible about tradition but extremely wise when it came to ruling her sect. As for Sierra, she was a cunning fox who could trick anyone into doing her bidding. These twobined created a terrifying head to the Phoenix known as the Seeking Lotus Pce.

    Theirbined leadership could be trusted in Damien''s opinion. Even if he had some conflict with them, the sect would still be a good fit for Jiao Mei as long as their techniques were good enough.

    But for Damien to even find out about their techniques, he needed to maintain contact with the Seeking Lotus Pce Master and Sierra. Therefore, buying himself time using the Pce Master herself as his prize was his best option at the moment.

    Nevertheless, with Damien''s agreement, their conversation about his strange circumstance hade to a conclusion. The Seeking Lotus Pce Master tapped on her test, creating a holographic projection in the air.

    But just as she was about to start exining the Challenge Gate to Damien, he stopped her.

    The familiar scent on her body kept getting stronger and stronger with time. Now, it was almost overwhelming.

    The universe was screaming at Damien, and he noticed it quite quickly. Without another choice, he opened his mouth and asked the Pce Master the question that had been guing his mind.

    "You¡­are you a Celestial?"

 Chapter 632 Azure Rain Star [4]

    The Pce Master''s expression shifted instantly. The room morphed and Sierra''s figure vanished, leaving Damien and the Pce Master alone.

    "Who are you?" She asked coldly. Slowly, trickling up from the ground below, powerful streams of World Force converged around her body and enhanced her aura.

    Bang!

    The furniture in the room turned to dust under her aura''s pressure. And all that pressure rushed towards Damien, attempting to force him into submission.

    But instead, it brought a smile to his face. "So I was right¡­no wonder you smell so familiar. I didn''t think I''d ever meet another Celestial in my lifetime."

    "Another¡­?" The Pce Master repeated.

    Damien''s hand moved casually. World Force converged into his connection with his bound worlds and emerged at his fingertips. When his World Force came into contact with the Pce Master''s, a strange scene took ce.

    Bzzt!

    The World Force popped in the air and almost manifested a physical presence. Damien could feel both attraction and repulsion between the two forces.

    "You¡­you are also¡­!" The Pce Master gasped. Just like Damien, she was experiencing a great shock.

    sses weren''t unique. It was actually extremelymon for two people to share the same ss even if they were born billions of kilometers apart. However, even within these sses, there were various branches one could explore. This was where individuality came into y.

    For Celestials, or rather, for spatial experts, thismonality wasn''t somon.

    Spatial experts were already incredibly rare, and Celestials were especially rare amongst them. While both Damien and the Pce Master knew that there were other Celestial in the past and some existing in the present, neither expected their current meeting.

    "How did you know?" The Pce Master finally managed to ask.

    "How could I not? The scenting off your body is overbearing!" He replied.

    "¡­scent?" She questioned with a frown.

    "Ah, not a bad scent. It''s more like¡­the scent of starlight?" Damien said, unsure.

    "But I can''t sense or smell anything from you. Also, how can you use World Force if you aren''t in your bound world? What kind of path are you walking?"

    Hearing her question, enlightenment dawned on Damien. He began to understand why only he could sense the Pce Master''s Celestial status:

    While the Pce Master was more powerful than him as a practitioner, Damien was more powerful than her as a Celestial.

    And since he was more powerful, he could naturally sense her aura just like how she could easily tell his level with a nce.

    Even within sses, there were various branches. When it came to the Celestial ss, these branches were limited.

    Celestials were conquerors, but not all of them were the same.

    First, there were those like Damien. To Damien, the worlds he bound were a part of his strength. In a hierarchal sense, he was the emperor and they were his subjects.

    The activities on those worlds weren''t things he tried to control. He let civilization develop as it naturally would and allowed the power struggles of the world to remain.

    Because his rtionship was with the world itself, not its inhabitants.

    Of course, he''d always be partial to the Adire Empire or Celestial Star Pce above other forces, but he wouldn''t needlessly aid them in petty worldly squabbles. That was their business, not his.

    Damien''s conquerer''s nature was grand. He wanted the entirety of existence under his control from its very foundation.

    The Seeking Lotus Pce Master was different.

    Her rtionship with the Azure Rain Star was more likely to be an equals contract of sorts.

    Rather than the world being her power, she was the world''s power; its chosen Apostle.

    She ruled this world from the shadows and maintained its peace. She allowed order to flourish and civilization to progress without a hitch. In this way, she led Azure Rain Star to a higher boundary with every passing minute.

    To the Pce Master, conquering the universe didn''t mean anything. There were already billions and trillions of beings on the Azure Rain Star alone. Managing them all was taxing enough. How could she do the same with an entire universe?

    Unlike Damien, she took a hands-on approach in ruling the world. If his guess was right, then the Azure Rain Star was the only world she''d ever bound.

    It was natural for her to be weaker than him, who had thousands of stars under hismand.

    ''Well, there goes my lucky chance. I can''t go after a married woman if her husband is treating her right¡­I guess the only way to make this trip worthwhile is through the Challenge Gate.''

    Damien put this thought aside as he conversed with the Pce Master, who ended up telling him to address her by her name, Leona.

    As fellow Celestials, there was a broad range of topics for them to talk about. Especially since they were on diverging paths, their knowledge and experiences greatly differed.

    For instance, Damien had a lot more knowledge about World Cores themselves. He''d interacted with thousands at this point and he''d even cleansed two of corrupting mana. When it came to their structure and purpose in the universe, Damien knew a great deal.

    But Leona was far better at utilizing World Force than he was. She''d spent thousands of years as Azure Rain Star''s guardian, and through that time she''d developed her own methods of utilizing and enhancing World Force to best suit her needs.

    The two remained in conversation for three days and three nights,pletely unaware of the passing of time. But eventually, their conversation had toe to an end.

    "No matter how much I wish to continue learning from you, we don''t have too much time. The Challenge Gate''s trial takes a long time for some people, and there isn''t much time left before it closes. Once you safely return from the Challenge Gate, we''ll have plenty of time to talk."

    Damien raised his brow questioningly.

    "Ah¡­" Leona yelped after realizing the indication behind her words. As he watched her get flustered, he smiled mischievously. It was truly novel to see such an expression on her face.

    But the words she spoke weren''t wrong. Damien had to visit that Challenge Gate. If the rewards were even half as good as what he got from the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm¡­

    Damien''s smile widened into a grin. His awareness entered a small pocket dimension that only he could see.

    This dimension wasn''t part of the Sanctuary that he built. Rather, it was apartment he found anchored to him after exiting the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm.

    This was the dimension where any rewards given by the Dimensional Leaderboard would remain until Damien withdrew them. It, along with ess to the Dimensional Leaderboard''s system, was what he gained in the Mystic Realm.

    And in that dimension was a certain item.

    It was a small marble around the size of a quarter. Its surface was smooth like ss, but underneath that exterior were shes of terrifying lightning. Silver, gold, ck, and even variant lightning colors like purple and blue all shed around the marble in unison as if raging at the fact that they were captive.

    When Damien''s gazended on it, a blue holographic panel appeared in his vision.

    There, four words were clearly disyed:

    [Storm Heavens Realm Seed]

 Chapter 633 Challenge Gate [1]

    The marble-like Storm Heavens Realm Seed was actually an extraordinary item. It was something even Demigods might fight to obtain.

    Realm Seeds were incredibly rare. In simple terms, they were smaller and lessplete variants of Damien''s Sanctuary.

    The Sanctuary was aplete realm. Especially now that he''d incorporated a World Core into it, the Sanctuary was incredibly stable. Once it settled into its new form, Damien could begin adding entire worlds into it until he eventually created star clusters, gxies, or even universes!

    Realm Seeds were simr, but far less refined. Compared to the Sanctuary, a Realm Seed''sws weren''tplete at all. They were fractured pieces, but pieces that had the potential to grow into a whole.

    A Realm Seed, with enough time and care, could be nurtured into a dole world that one could control perfectly. It was an ultimate treasure, especially for Demigods who needed to feel the universe''s foundationalws so intently.

    The Storm Heavens Realm Seed was obviously a lightning realm. It would bear resemnce to the Mystic Realm Damien got it from.

    Still, he hadn''t found an environment where he could retrieve it and safely incorporate it into the Sanctuary. The second the Realm Seed exited its dimensional pocket, its existence would be sensed by those Demigods,

    Though, Damien didn''t expect the Challenge Gate''s rewards to be as heaven-defying. Firstly, Challenge Gates and Mystic Realms were intrinsically different. A Challenge Gate only contained a single cohesive challenge, and was usually much easier toplete than a Mystic Realm. Naturally, its rewards would be less appealing.

    However, Challenge Gates appeared far more often than Mystic Realms. If not for this, there would''ve been no bnce between the two methods.

    Even putting that aside, the Realm Seed was a supreme reward in the first ce. Damien gaining it was the product of multiple factors. Firstly, his performance in the Mystic Realm. Secondly, his fight against Atticus and the Demonic Lightning Snake. Thirdly, his actions in swallowing the ck Demon Lightning Sea and opening a portal to the Dawn World. And finally, him shattering the Mystic Realm entirety and reaching 420th ce on the Dimensional Leaderboard upon his debut.

    In fact, while Damien wasn''t aware of this, his name was already spreading through the upper echelons of the universe. The feat he aplished was something many geniuses from their Holy Lands would fail to do even if they had 1,000 tries.

    The only reason there wasn''t a swarm of Demigods around Damien trying to recruit him was Atticus. After Atticus returned to the Fallen Star Holy Land, he told the Holy Master about Damien and the fact that he''d attend Death Emperor Star''s academy.

    And if Damien was already headed to Death Emperor Star, these influences no longer had the need to chase him. They''d eventually meet him during one of the several events that the academy held throughout the year.

    Nevertheless, Atticus'' quiet efforts allowed Damien to travel these past three months in peace. However, the unseenmotion his name caused was enough proof of the grandeur of his entrance.

    The Challenge Gate he was headed to now wouldn''t be the same,

    ording to Leona, this Challenge Gate wasn''t a test of power at all. Instead, it was a test of reflex and mental abilities. This didn''t just include intelligence, but also more ethereal concepts like spiritual intent.

    Hearing this, Damien was incredibly confident. After oveing the Primordial Undying Realm''s trials and absorbing so many foreign memories, his spiritual world had been fortified to the utmost.

    Currently, his body stood in the air above the vast ocean he crossed to arrive on the Mystic Continent. The Challenge Gate was located under these waters.

    "The most difficult part of this challenge is finding and entering the gate. A teleportation array has already been set up, so exiting is easy." Leona said, hovering next to Damien. She had decided to personally escort him to the gate and watch his progress. He was a potential future husband for her, so naturally, she had to evaluate him with her own eyes.

    "We can''t enter through the same teleportation array?"

    "No. You can''t enter the Challenge Gate unless you pass through the physical gateway entrance that manifests. That''s where they got their name from. There aren''t any rules about exiting, though, since the trial is already over at that point."

    Damien nodded. It wasn''t unreasonable for the Challenge Gate to be structured in such a manner.

    "The Challenge Gate will determine the difficulty and contents of your trial after you pass through the entrance. The only thing I can tell you is that the theme will be what we discussed before. Remember, no treasure is worth more than your life. I don''t wish to see the first foreign Celestial I met die young."

    Damien smiled at Leona''s encouragement and rushed into the sea below. Over these past few days, he came to realize that she wasn''t as stuck up as he originally thought she was.

    Leona wasn''t just protecting her sect, she was protecting the entire world.

    The Seeking Lotus Pce''s Founding Ancestor was a Celestial, and she formed the sect for the sole purpose of drawing attention away from this identity of hers. Over time, the sect grew into its own entity and her legacy as the Star Master was forgotten. That is, until Leona came along.

    There were many rules and traditions in ce that protected Leona and hid her Star Master status. These were precautions built by the Founding Ancestor. However, just sticking to these few rules would be far too obvious to anyone with a keen eye.

    Instead, Leona decided to follow tradition to the letter. This way, nothing she did was ever questioned. Even Damien was fooled by her stubbornness until he identified her scent.

    In truth, Leona had been protecting Azure Rain Star from the shadows for a very long time. There were even stories about mysterious heroes etched into the world''s history that were actually written about her.

    When this was taken into context, Damien couldn''t help but sympathize. She was truly a wise and benevolent ruler.

    At the same time, he felt lucky to step onto the Conquerer''s Path instead of the World Lord''s path. He didn''t believe he could stomach even half of Leona''s responsibilities no matter how hard he tried.

    Nevertheless, Damien was forced to stop immersing himself in his thoughts. The sea¡­was not a friendly ce.

    This was Damien''s first time taking a deep dive into the ocean since the World Awakening all those years ago. The oceans were a terrifying and beast-infestedndscape where humanity had no ce.

    Now that reality sunk in for Damien, he began to realize this more and more.

    His surroundings were already filled with the blood of beasts he''d killed. He did so mindlessly as he moved, since these beasts were too weak to attract his attention. But now that he took a closer look at the scenery around him, he couldn''t help but feel anxious.

    A wide and dark expanse simr to the starry sky, except here, he didn''t have the same warm andfortable feeling. At the same time, there were far more beasts in this environment than anywhere else in the world.

    The blood around Damien was a lighthouse for these aquatic beasts. The ones Damien had seen thus far were weak, but the auras converging on the horizon weren''t the same at all.

 Chapter 634 Challenge Gate [2]

    "Have you had your fun yet? Let''s go, we don''t have time. You can y with the fishes when you finish up in the Challenge Gate." Leona suddenly said. As she did so, the approaching auras also became tame.

    Damien rolled his eyes. Only a Star Master could look at terrifying aquatic beasts and call them fishes. In front of Leona, these beasts truly were docile.

    Clicking his tongue, Damien responded, "tch. I don''t really have time to explore though¡­"

    Sadly, Damien only had a month of free time. He still had a long way to go before reaching Death Emperor Star, and he wouldn''t feelfortable going on any long and dangerous excursions until he was at least in its vicinity.

    Damien sighedmentably. ''Whatever. Death Emperor Star probably has an ocean on it too. And considering that world''s reputation, it''ll be infinitely more dangerous than this ocean.''

    Consoling himself like so, he followed Leona for many more minutes until they finally reached a massive ancient gate floating in the depths of the ocean as if it belonged there. As Damien looked at it, he couldn''t help but notice the simrities between it and the ancient gate he saw in the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm.

    "I''ll get going now and finish as soon as possible. Don''t miss me too much while I''m gone." With a light wink and a simple goodbye, Damien left Leona behind and passed through the gate.

    Leona shook her head wryly and watched him go. She was already several thousand years old, so she''d long since lost the right to participate in the Dimensional Leaderboard''s activities. She could only use her privileges as the Azure Rain Star''s Star Master to somewhat track Damien''s progress.

    ''I wonder what you''ll show me, so-called man of my destiny¡­'' she thought to herself. Her figure slowly melded into the world, disappearing from the ocean entirely.

    ***

    The entire environment around Damien changed the second he stepped through the gate. Most noticeably, he was on drynd.

    All around him were luscious and saturated green grasses that almost looked fake. The flowers growing from the ground were several mystical shades of bright color, and the trees towered higher than the eye could see.

    It was an unruly scenery, but in its center was a single dirt path that seemed to be manmade. Damien stood at the start of this dirt path.

    Immediately, he poured mana into his eyes. The All-Seeing Eyes activated, searching for an illusion, but just as soon as they activated, they were forcibly shut.

    Bzzt!

    "Ack!" Damien yelped as he rapidly closed his eyes. Two thick streams of bloody tears left his eyelids. In that moment, his eyes almost exploded.

    ''This¡­is this a restriction?''

    Damien could tell that he was in an illusion based on spiritual power alone, but he couldn''t shatter the illusion easily at all. The All-Seeing Eyes were a cheat code for this type of task, but as Damien just learned, using them was disallowed in this trial.

    ''I see¡­Leona did say it''s a test of mental abilities. The All-Seeing Eyes are the bane of all mental abilities, but in themselves are a trait. Therefore, it isn''t strange for them to be restricted.''

    The All-Seeing Eyes were powerful, sure, but they also limited Damien. Since they were a fast pass to destroying any illusion-rted or mental ability, his own mental abilities weren''t given space to grow.

    Now, such a chance hade along.

    ''I guess I''ll be spending more time in here than I expected.''

    With that thought, Damien began walking down the dirt path.

    His steps led him through the forest. As he watched on, he found himself in tune with nature.

    The breath of a dying tree ten kilometers away, the symbiotic rtionship between a pale blue flower and a strange reptilian creature, the cycle of life, death, and reincarnation that forever repeated in all living things, Damien almost got sucked in by these simple yet profound sights.

    But he kept walking, never allowing himself to veer off the main path. The second he did so, his mind would be forever lost in these illusions.

    Rain poured in the forest. The rain nourished the nts and wildlife, promoting their growth. It filled the rivers and caused them to overflow, giving aquatic beasts more room to hunt. As the rain continued to pour, it flooded the forest entirely and formed a massive sea.

    Damien kept walking. The waves picked him up as they grew. His feet barely touched the surface of the water. He never veered off the invisible path that his body was on.

    The forest''s ecosystem was destroyed by the sea. Marine life began to form, using those deceased nts and animals as sustenance to grow. Soon enough, the sea was popted by a plethora of creatures.

    They grew and evolved at an even faster pace than the forest creatures, and the rtionships between them were even more incredible. The sea even birthed some creatures who naturally had the intelligence of mortal humans even while being ssless beasts.

    But Damien remained unfazed. No matter how much beauty he was shown, his steps never diverged.

    The sun in the sky became hotter and hotter. The sea evaporated with time and gave way to the sand below. Under the sun''s intense heat, this sand began changing properties.

    A desert formed. Damien watched how the biome functioned and how its ecosystem was built. After an unknown period of time, the desert froze into a tundra, the tundra became a swamp, the swamp became a wilnd, the wilnd became a jungle, and the cycle continued.

    ''The flow of all things¡­the universal system¡­'' Damien muttered incoherently as he walked. He seemed to be on the precipice of something major, the tip of a heaven-shaking iceberg.

    Yet, he wascking the final push he needed to shatter the barrier between him and this truth.

    He did, however, shatter a different barrier. The cycle of biomes continued shifting endlessly for a very long time, but eventually, Damien''s tenacity won out.

    After the cycle reset for the 118th time, everything paused like time stopped. And then, the scenery slowly crumbled away.

    What was left was a small white room. Inside, there was a table and two chairs of the same color. Damien sat in one of these chairs and waited.

    Soon, another man arrived in the room. He sat down in the chair opposite of Damien and looked at him.

    "James."

    "Damien."

    "Good luck."

    "Same to you."

    Their conversation was short. The room limited their ability to speak.

    Once they were ready, the table opened and a game board simr to chess emerged.

    Damien looked at the board wryly. While intelligence wasn''t the main focus of this challenge, it was surely a part of it.

    Unfortunately for him, intelligence wasn''t really his strong suit. Nor was strategy.

    ''To kill or not to kill¡­'' Damien eyed James with squinted eyes. Killing him seemed like an easy solution, but he didn''t think the Dimensional Leaderboard would like it very much if he did that. He didn''t want to needlessly lower his score.

    Just as Leona said before, every Challenge Gate tested only a single facet of a practitioner''s abilities. Since this one was mental, he needed to stick to the script.

    Besides, even if he lost this match, he could still bring his score back up inter tests. This was the benefit of Challenge Gates being singr cohesive tests instead of broad trials like Mystic Realms.

    With one final sigh, Damien turned his attention back to the game. He had no idea how to even y, so he was just going to do whatever he wanted and pray that it worked out.

 Chapter 635 Challenge Gate [3]

    War wasn''t fun.

    Kings and Queens stayed on the back line, protected by their troops. Meanwhile, those petty soldiers on the battlefield were merely pawns abiding by their wills.

    These pawns obeyed orders as if they had no conscious thought of their own. They were mindless ves.

    One day, a pawn woke up.

    He realized his strange situation.

    He questioned morality. He questioned why he fought and who he was fighting.

    That pawn left his post. He traveled across the battlefield, avoiding those around him until he reached its end. There, he met the King and Queen.

    He asked the King and Queen, "why must I suffer like this?"

    However, he received no response. Neither the King nor the Queen acknowledged his presence.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t strong enough to defeat them.

    The pawn returned to the frontlines demoralized. From that day forth, he no longer fought. Instead, he walked and walked, hoping that one day he''d reach his destination.

    ***

    The Royal Knights were always renowned for their grandeur on the battlefield and staunch loyalty to the royal family. They were the kingdom''s first andst line of defense.

    These knights were powerful, sure, but they had no lives of their own. Their every action followed a set pattern, never to be broken.

    A knight walked his usual route through the pce halls. His eyes gazed through the adjacent window at the beautiful sight of the kingdom below. This was the kingdom he swore to protect.

    Seeing it now, he didn''t feel the same. He wondered whether the kingdom he''d been serving was the same one he grew up in.

    Wrought with gues and crime, the nobles andmoners always in stark opposition, this wasn''t the kingdom he knew. After the Crown Prince took the throne from the old King, everything changed.

    It was his duty to protect the Royal Family, but he could no longer ce his faith in the Royal Family.

    He wanted to see this kingdom prosper and grow. What he swore to protect upon being knighted was the kingdom first. Everything else came after.

    He clutched the old pendant hanging from his neck. A bold idea came to his mind. As if possessed, he immediately acted on it.

    That night, the knight silently made his way into the King''s chambers. Looking at the sleeping man, he sighed.

    In another dimension, this man could''ve led a simple life as amoner. Without the allure of great power, he never would''ve be the corrupt man he was today.

    The knight''s sword, which had been swung for the Royal Family for years, finally returned to its roots. It shed through the air for the kingdom itself, taking the king''s head.

    That knight fled the kingdom the next day. He wanted to see change, but he didn''t have the ability to bring forth that change. He could only start the wildfire that soon spread across the kingdom.

    He was a close aide to the Royal Family and understood its workings well. Now that the King died, the Queen would hold temporary power until a new sessor was raised.

    And while the Queen was just as cunning as the King, she held consideration for her subjects. She understood how to maintain power.

    If it wasn''t for her silent hand guiding the King, the kingdom would''ve fallen into ruin long ago.

    Now, the knight trusted the Queen with bringing order to the chaotic kingdom. While she did so, he walked.

    He simply walked and walked, hoping that one day he''d reach his destination.

    ***

    The King was a good man, but he was not wise. He had the heart needed to rule, earning him the people''s admiration, but he didn''t have their respect. He simply couldn''t do anything to aid the kingdom.

    They''d been at war for years on end, yet the King had no way to end this conflict. People were dying by the day, yet he could only sit and watch.

    He didn''t want his position anymore. He didn''t have the heart to let down these people.

    His steps led him to a room he''d long forbidden. This was a ce he never dared to enter ever since that day.

    But now, he was back.

    He pushed open the door. The room''s stench permeated his nostrils the second he did so. But he didn''t shy away.

    He walked into the room and approached the coffin in the middle.

    "Father, please forgive me," he said.

    He opened the coffin''s lid, allowing a decaying body to see the light of day. In the center of this body was a golden crystal.

    The King reached into the body and took the crystal. Afterwards, he closed the coffin and left the room.

    This crystal was the answer to his problems.

    Therefore, he followed its light.

    He eventually left the Royal Pce, left the capital, left the continent, and left the world itself. He simply continued walking.

    He walked and walked, hoping that one day he''d reach his destination.

    ***

    In the darkness of night, four figures unknowingly crossed paths. Their meeting was unlucky, fated, and evenical in a sense.

    They each came from different backgrounds, different walks of life, with different experiences. Still, they felt an odd chemistry between them.

    The group sat down at a bar and began to converse.

    One was a soldier. He spent years in the army fighting without cause, but when he finally escaped that torment, he realized he no longer had a home to return to.

    One was a knight. He spent his entire life protecting those he served, but in the end, he killed his liege with his own hands. He walked through life carrying the burden of his greatest sin.

    One was an undeserving ruler. His insecurity took hold of his heart and led him to stray from the correct path. Despite his attempts at salvaging the situation, he led his country to ruin. He fled in shame and guilt, never to look back again.

    The final one was a bard. He was a man who traveled far and wide, seeing everything there was to see. Compared to the rest, his life experience was grander and his worldview broader.

    As he looked at his newrades, he questioned whether their paths should remain untouched.

    But he couldn''t allow these new friends to continue on being self-destructive. As the trio got increasingly drunk, he entertained them with song and story. The night continued as if it would never end, but when it finally did, the trio passed out on the bar table, unable to move an inch.

    The bard sighed. He stood up and approached the three, searching through their belongings. From each, he took a single item.

    From the soldier, his sword. That sword which symbolized his endless struggle on the battlefield. Even after he left, he always kept it at his side.

    From the knight, his emblem. His treason was for the greater good. To this day, his loyalty to the kingdom never wavered. But that loyaltyy in his sword. This symbol only served to keep him attached to the Royal Family. Perhaps he knew this, but refused to remove it out of guilt.

    From the King, a golden crystal. This crystal was proof of his negligence. He allowed himself to be ensnared by its charm, giving him an excuse to escape the kingdom he ruined. But the bard didn''t take the King''s crown. The King was a man who wished for good but could only do wrong. Perhaps, one day, he''d mold himself into someone worthy of the throne. The bard instead took the crystal, the crystal that symbolized the weight of his sin.

    Finally, the bard stepped back. There were three items in his hands, but something was still missing.

    The hard put the sword, emblem, and crystal down on the table and sighed. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a small locket.

    This locket was a reminder of who he used to be.

    It was time to return to being that person.

 Chapter 636 Challenge Gate [4]

    The vicissitude of time, the expansiveness of space, the trauma of war, the weight of sin. When one experienced so much, was it strange to change?

    Life became numb. All things became meaningless. Death seemed inconsequential.

    An infinite universe filled with infinite worlds, infinite people living within. In this vast and endless existence, what weight did a single person hold?

    It was difficult to not despair in the face of such grandiosity. The realization of how tiny one''s existence truly was could be mind-numbing.

    But even those who gave into this reality lived their daily lives without pondering on it. It was pointless to do so.

    But if one looked deeper, they''d realize the correspondence between universe and man; between microcosm and macrocosm.

    Despite the minuteness of a single person''s existence, mankind still thrived. Why was that? Why was it that life would always find a way to exist regardless of circumstance, regardless of futility?

    It was a question impossible to answer without understanding the truths of the universe.

    Therefore, people began contemting these truths. They slowly found a way to adapt to them and grow to integrate them. In this way, evolution urred.

    Man no longer wanted to stand dichotomous to the universe. Man wanted to stand equal to it, to stand above it.

    Mankind developed the ability to do so. With time and effort, the existence of a single person could trump that of the universe itself.

    Or perhaps, a single existence could take the entire universe in the palm of his hand.

    A sword, an emblem, a crystal, and a pendant. These four objects revolved endlessly in the infinity of space.

    Their odd behavior made one question their existence, but even under the strictest of observation, these items were only found to be items; nothing more.

    Without the allure of treasure, this great mystery was soon forgotten. The four benign objects continued to revolve around each other for eternity.

    It was impossible to understand them.

    None understood their history.

    A sword reeking of blood and desteness.

    An emblem of contrasting loyalty and purpose.

    A crystal of responsibility and desire.

    And finally, a pendant.

    Even those who knew the story of these four objects couldn''t identify the pendant. It remained a profound mystery.

    Years passed. Millennia passed. Eons passed.

    A boy arrived in front of the four objects. He looked no more than 6 years old. His small hand reached out and took hold of the pendant.

    "To return¡­"

    His voice echoed through space. He carefully brushed his fingers across the pendant''s surface, wiping away the damage that had covered it over the years.

    "Returning, huh¡­"

    The boy''s body began to shine. Endless light converged upon the boy and the four objects.

    The sword shuddered. It shot through space like a meteor and impaled the boy''s body. Soon after, it melted and merged into him.

    The boy''s bloody aura soared. He looked about 10 years old, but he exuded the aura of someone who''d been killing their whole life.

    The emblem shot out next. It burned itself into the boy''s heart, melding into his body.

    His eyes changed. The twinge of innocence in his eyes vanished, reced by a multitude ofplex emotions.

    After the emblem was the crystal. It embedded itself in his forehead and melted, flowing through his veins.

    An aura of power began emanating from his 15-year-old body. Ambition emerged in his heart. But at the same time, he felt a heavy weight on his shoulders; a burden he was forced to carry.

    His eyes panned down to the pendant in his hand. He opened the seal on the locket, revealing whaty inside.

    Three images. These images portrayed three different people.

    A woman who tried to be perfect even though she was just learning the meaning of love.

    A woman who was caged for most of her life and now truly experiencing the world now that she was free.

    A woman whose feelings were turbulent, who was still understanding how to properly express herself and be the person she wanted to be.

    These three women had led vastly different lives. Just like those three people the bard met before, they were united by fate. While they were very different people, they did share onemonality.

    They were his safe space.

    They kept him grounded. Their very existence allowed him to face reality and defy it without fear. They kept the negative emotions from guing his mind and taking over.

    Memories rushed into the boy''s mind.

    He saw mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

    He saw beasts and men alike, torn to shreds and piled up with the rest.

    They were the manifestation of his bloodlust.

    He saw an old man who, despite his greatness, remained humble and unassuming.

    He saw an entric teacher who took pride in raising his students and seeing them seed.

    He saw countless figures, people who allowed him to move forward, people he wanted to protect.

    They were the recipients of his loyalty.

    He saw a world copse, everything and everyone on its surface exterminated without fail.

    He saw countless people suffering from atrocity, from destruction that gued the entire universe.

    They were the source of his responsibility.

    The pendant in his hand liquified. He closed his eyes as he relished in the sense ofpleteness he felt.

    When he opened his eyes again, he was a man in his mid-twenties. His eyes panned the surroundings curiously.

    "To return¡­"

    The surrounding space was covered in beams of starlight. The starry sky around him melted into liquid and rapidly drained through the crack in the room''s door.

    The room was white.

    Two men sat inside, facing each other.

    Between them, a chess-like game board.

    The white pieces were nearly destroyed. Meanwhile, the ck pieces had advanced far into enemy territory without any casualties.

    The two men sat and stared into each other''s eyes without a word. Their eyes were zed and dull.

    The man on the ck side blinked. rity returned to his figure.

    Thump.

    The man on the white side copsed. His head banged against the table, scattering the game pieces.

    A click resounded through the room. A door appeared behind the dead man.

    Damien looked at this door expressionlessly.

    But he didn''t enter.

    He remained seated in his seat. The room turned hazy, the white walls transmuting into smoke and fading into the atmosphere.

    His body became light. He became a divine dragon soaring through the heavens, plunged into the deepest of seas as a terrifying leviathan, and even explored the earth as a mere ant.

    But his expression never changed.

    Everything around him vanished. His body floated in a pitch-ck space. He felt his mind bing groggy. It was hard to think.

    Time was present. It was far easier to realize than it was anywhere else. Every passing second echoed clearly in his head.

    A red glow passed through his mind. The iridescent blue light of the stars shielded him from injury.

    He sat in that ckness alone, unable to move, his thoughts his onlypany.

    He began to wonder about many things. He wondered about questions that gued his mind, secrets he''d yet to uncover, even new uses of his power.

    Until one day, he lost the ability to think.

    He could only nkly exist in the ckness, his consciousness both awake and restrained.

    But regardless of the torment this condition caused him, his gaze never changed.

    From start to finish, he was emotionless.

 Chapter 637 Challenge Gate [5]

    The illusion never ended.

    The white room, the chess-like game, the man who yed against Damien, none of them were real. Damien didn''t realize it from start to finish.

    But when the game started, something changed.

    The illusion became more thorough. Damien''s ego was picked apart and separated into different pieces, different characters whose lives he experienced. These illusions were influenced by Damien''s soul, so they were far harder to detect.

    As such, his consciousness almost became fully immersed in the illusion. He almost became those people he saw, his true ego never to reform.

    The bard was the key. The locket he held was empty. It was just something he picked up during his travels. The images Damien saw when he opened its body were¡­his own memories.

    Damien''s emotionless face reflected in the pale ckness around him as it began to fade. His body was moved to a different white room, but this time, there was no challenge in front of him.

    A golden scroll slowly unraveled. There, he saw that his name moved up two ces. Presumably, he''dpleted the Challenge Gate.

    Only two ces¡­was far less than his estimate. He didn''t think his performance was necessarily bad. If so, it only meant that the people above him were better or had better track records.

    This was only Damien''s second interaction with the Dimensional Leaderboard. Without therge quantity of achievements other geniuses had, his only choice if he wanted to skip ranks was to aplish the unimaginable.

    Unfortunately, Damien wasn''t perfect. If it was a physical trial, he hadplete confidence in destroying everything and everyone around him. However, in a challenge like this one, he was at a natural disadvantage.

    Nevertheless, Damien could only ept his results. This Challenge Gate didn''t allow one multiple chances to pass.

    His body was soon teleported out of the Challenge Gate. After meeting up with Leona, he traveled back to Seeking Lotus Pce quietly.

    His face never changed.

    He and Leona arrived at the sect and went straight to her office. Now that he''d done what she asked, it was time for her to do the same.

    And Leona wasn''t someone to break a promise. She led Damien to the sect''s library and allowed him to peruse the shelves.

    Over the next few hours, Damien skimmed every technique he could find. As he expected, the rumors about every disciple having a customized technique were false. However, it wasn''t very far from the truth.

    Seeking Lotus Pce''s main techniques were simr to the Ananta Matrix in that they were built to evolve.

    The Ethereal Seeking Lotus was a foundation. Once one sessfully built that foundation, the technique would grow and change along with its user. This was why each Seeking Lotus Pce disciple seemed to have a technique perfectly suited for them.

    Because although the technique wasn''t as good as a personally tailored technique made by an expert, it was practically the next best thing!

    Damien made his decision. He already had a friendly rtionship with Seeking Lotus Pce especially after bonding with Leona over their shared ss. Since their main technique was also amazing and would change itself to be perfect for Jiao Mei, there was no need for any more thinking.

    After all, Damien didn''t want to risk Jiao Mei''s safety by being reckless. If Roaring Thunder Pce learned of Jiao Mei''s existence too early and discovered her physique, she''d be in more trouble than she was equipped to handle.

    The Roaring Thunder Pce was notoriously domineering, and while they nevermitted atrocities, they were still an "any means possible" type of sect. Damien visited Seeking Lotus Pce first because its environment seemed much more suitable for Jiao Mei.

    After reaching this conclusion, Damien exited the library. He looked at the Seeking Lotus Pce around him, peacefully residing in its pocket dimension.

    "Copse."

    His arm raised into the air and mmed down. Space trembled incessantly as Damien destroyed its foundations.

    "Starfall."

    Starlight shined upon his body. Damien used this starlight not to empower himself, but instead as a medium. He used it as a tether to shoot his awareness into the starry sky and read itsyout.

    After he did so, he clenched his fist and opened a portal in the sky.

    Voom!

    The portal eclipsed the entire Seeking Lotus Pce. No, the portal eclipsed the mountain entirely.

    "Come."

    Following Damien''smand, an object slowly fell through the portal.

    It wasn''t rapid like aet or piercing like a meteor, rather, it was moving at a snail''s pace.

    But that only made it more terrifying.

    That object wasn''t barren or dull. The small bit of its atmosphere that made its way through the portal was enough to announce its identity.

    The object continued forward. By the time it made it halfway through the portal, it was already colliding with Azure Rain Star.

    Damien''s body shed into the starry sky. As he departed, two worlds collided.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The two worlds'' crusts shattered instantly. All life on those worlds was decimated in an instant.

    The World Cores collided soon after. A powerful fluctuation of mana sted through the starry sky as they began merging into one. The entire area turned into a singrity.

    "The Void cannot be imitated," Damien whispered as he watched on. Pitch-ck exited his body and melded into the starry sky.

    "Devour everything."

    His essence spread. First, the two collidings were devoured, the space they resided in following soon after. The gue only spread from there.

    From this tiny corner of the Divine Realm to covering its whole area was only a matter of minutes. Devouring the entire Grand Heavens Boundary would only take an hour at most.

    ? Damien watched this happen without a word. As greater portions of existence disappeared, living beings united to defend against the scourge. At one point, even the Nox coborated with the universe''s forces. The Abyss was being swallowed as well.

    Their efforts, however, were futile. Everything was inevitably consumed, and the time it took didn''t exceed Damien''s one-hour estimate.

    He stood alone in the ckness. This ckness was neither existence nor nonexistence. It was the only thing left when even these two concepts were destroyed.

    This wasn''t something humans were meant to see.

    Damien''s eyes turned bloodshot. Even when he closed them, there was no difference. His ears buzzed as his eardrums burst. Blood leaked from his every orifice.

    His mind copsed instantly. The World Core Fusion Reactor and his bound worlds imploded as his spiritual world dissipated entirely, leaving him an idiot. Only secondster¡­

    Bang!

    Damien''s head exploded with a bang. But he didn''t mind. This was far morefortable than the terrific experience he''d just had.

    He opened his eyes, gasping for breath.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­" a tinge of rity reentered his eyes. As he looked around, he found himself in a familiar empty white room with a golden scroll floating in front of him.

    His name was at the 418th position just as he''d seen prior.

    Damien looked at the scroll, looked at his hands, looked at the room around him.

    He didn''t know.

    He really couldn''t tell.

    Was this truly reality?

    Or was he trapped in yet another illusion?

 Chapter 638 Challenge Gate [6]

    His hands trembled.

    He felt a disociaci¨®n from reality. No matter how real his surroundings were, he felt a disconcerting sense of distrust.

    He shakily stood up and swiped away the Dimensional Leaderboard. He walked slowly, arriving in front of the nearest wall.

    His hands brushed its surface. Despite its smooth appearance, it was coarse to the touch. It seemed to be made out of some unknown mineral.

    Bang!

    A single punch from Damien shattered the wall. His blood sprayed in the air as his fist shattered.

    The pain wracked his body, and Transcendent Regeneration quickly did its job to heal him. However, that sense of distrust didn''t go away.

    "Let me out." He said. His body moved following his words, and in the next moment, he found himself back in the depths of the ocean.

    The water''s immense weight pressed down on his body. The cool, damp feeling on his skin as it coated him made him feel alive.

    Sensation.

    He didn''t feel that in the Challenge Gate, despite the nature of the illusion.

    It wasn''t a coincidence. In fact, it was the reason he survived.

    The moment he entered the Challenge Gate, he utilized the Void Heart Sword Law''s Mind Prison to seal away a majority of his ego.

    His body moved on instinct and rationality. His every move was calcted. Even when he tore the universe apart, he felt nothing.

    Just the fact that he could feel sensation again meant the Mind Prison deactivated. If it did so, it meant he was out of danger.

    He was truly in reality.

    His body shuddered. The fact that he was still subconsciously unable to ept this truth just went to show the realism of those illusions.

    "Hey, finally finished?"

    A voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. When Damien turned around, he saw Leona standing behind him.

    "Mm, I just got out." He replied somewhat ndly.

    Leona furrowed her brows. Damien''s state wasn''t natural. "Let''s go back to the sect first. We can talkter."

    Damien nodded again and slowly followed her. The two flew silently until they arrived back at Seeking Lotus Pce''s pocket dimension.

    While both of them could teleport, Leona understood that Damien needed time right now. Something must''ve happened in the Challenge Gate.

    ''That''s strange¡­the other disciples who entered the gate didn''t seem affected at all¡­what difficulty did the gate assign him?''

    Leona''s eyes narrowed. Challenge Gates would always give an individual a trial apt for their strength and potential. If Damien''s trial was truly something that could faze him to this extent when he could even stare death in the eye calmly¡­

    Then it only meant that both his strength and potential were heaven and earthpared to the standard.

    While Leona attempted to rationalize her thoughts, Damien had already retreated to a secluded area he discovered after spreading his awareness.

    This ce was hidden between the various facilities of the sect, so it wentrgely unnoticed. Even now, it waspletely empty.

    But it was a truly beautiful ce.

    The scenery was simple. A single cherry blossom tree stood proudly in the center. Surrounding it was a bed of beautiful flowers that matched its colors. As the wind blew, the scent of cherry blossoms spread and calmed the mind. The soft trickling of water from a nearby stream only served to heighten the ambiance.

    Damien sat down under the cherry blossom tree and closed his eyes. He needed time to process what had happened.

    Compared to before he regained his ego, the events after were incredibly short. However, they were far more terrifying.

    A perfectly replicated reality. From the people to the environment to even the foundationalws of the world and universe, they were all too urate.

    This wasn''t information that a mere Dimensional Leaderboard should possess. In Damien''s opinion, even a God didn''t have the qualifications for this level of omnipotence.

    He was forced to doubt reality itself. If it could be done once, who said it couldn''t be done again?

    Perhaps he was still on earth,atose after the dungeon raid where he fell. Perhaps everything he saw now was an illusion of the mind. Or perhaps, someone put him under this illusion after learning of the Void Physique''s existence.

    To doubt reality itself wasn''t rational. Even if Damien doubted it, he wasn''t at a level where he could do anything about it.

    The only straw he could grasp onto was the Void.

    The Void cannot be imitated; these were the words he unconsciously spoke while destroying the universe.

    As Damien looked at the pitch-ck mana on his fingertips, he sighed.

    Right, it was pointless to worry.

    Even if this reality was fake, his experiences weren''t. He at least knew that mana had to be real for his doubts to hold truth.

    If mana existed, then the World Awakening truly happened. In that case, even if he was truly held captive and forced into this illusion, he''d be able to gain strength with time.

    Hisprehension couldn''t be faked. His abilities couldn''t be faked. These were things he earned with hard work and effort. Even if he lost them, he''d simply work hard enough to get them back.

    Damien''s closed eyes opened. Night had turned to day while he was drowned in his thoughts. At some point, Zara had emerged from his shadow as well.

    Currently, Damien''s head was shoved in her bosom as she held him. Realizing this, Damien smiled wryly.

    ''That Tang Lingzi¡­what is she teaching you?''

    He carefully extracted himself from her grip, even utilizing space to do so without creating a disturbance. Seeing Zara sleep so peacefully, he couldn''t bear to wake her up.

    ''Phew¡­enough contemting bullshit. I''m tired of overthinking.''

    He teleported through the Seeking Lotus Pce''s grounds until he arrived at Leona''s residence. Before he could even knock, she opened the door.

    "Come in. I''ve been waiting to talk to you."

    Damien nodded and entered. The following conversation¡­almost exactly followed the flow of the conversation he had with her in the illusion.

    After some discussion about the Challenge Gate and what happened inside, she allowed him to view the sect''s techniques.

    And just as he''d seen before, the Ethereal Seeking Lotus was truly an evolutionary technique. It was the exact same.

    Damien once again shuddered at the realism of that illusion. At the same time, however, he felt relieved that a good amount of his time was saved because of it.

    He didn''t have to think about his decision anymore since he''d already made it long ago when he first saw the Seeking Lotus Pce''s techniques.

    With this in mind, he returned to Leona and told her the good news. After he spoke to Jiao Mei and got her opinion, he''d bring her to visit the sect so she could make an informed decision.

    But until then¡­

    Leona had another matter to discuss with Damien.

    "So¡­as you know, I follow the sect''s traditions without fail to disguise my identity as this world''s Star Master. Now that I''ve continued this facade for so long, if I fail to do so even once, people will question it." She said hesitantly.

    Damien tilted his head in confusion. "Okay, and?"

    "And¡­" Leona continued. "I think we have to get married."

 Chapter 639 Broader Horizons[1]

    "And¡­"

    "I think we might have to get married."

    Damien rubbed his forehead in exasperation. After the Challenge Gate''s madness, he''dpletely forgotten about this troublesome situation he''dnded in.

    But right now, he didn''t have the energy to entertain the thought at all. He simply wanted to leave Jiao Mei in the Seeking Lotus Pce''s care and leave.

    "Do you want to get married?" He asked.

    "Not particrly," Leona responded immediately.

    "Then we won''t. It''s that simple."

    "But it isn''t. News spreads quickly in our world. The fact that you conquered the mountain trial is already known by all the major influences. If I refuse to marry you, it will truly cause problems." Leona sighed.

    "Still," Damien shook his head and said, "I have no interest in getting married. I''m sure you don''t want this burden holding you down either. Therefore, let''s do something simpler."

    "And that is?"

    "Every heard of Death Emperor Star?"

    Leona jumped slightly upon its mention. Who didn''t know of Death Emperor Star? It was an influence that every genius dreamed of but barely any were able to reach.

    "There isn''t a single talent in the universe who doesn''t know of its most prestigious academy and training ground. But why are you bringing it up?" She asked. But in the next instant, her eyes widened.

    She''d seen Damien''s talent personally, after all. It wasn''t too hard to understand his intent.

    "You¡­you are going to Death Emperor Star¡­how?"

    Damien shrugged. "I met a guy and he rmended me. I heard it''s a good ce to train so I''m going to check it out."

    "I¡­I see¡­" Leona didn''t know how to react to his casual response. Internally, she was really itching to strangle him.

    Nevertheless, if it was Death Emperor Star, then there truly was a much simpler solution.

    "Geniuses who train on Death Emperor Star usually do so for an undetermined amount of time¡­and with the war on the horizon, people don''t have as much energy to focus on minor matters¡­Azure Rain Star is slowly bing an important strategic point in the supply chain so our experts tend to be preupied¡­it could work." She finally nodded her head.

    Announcing that Damien was going to Death Emperor Star would only reap positive results. Aside from conveniently dying Damien and Leona''s marriage until its existence became inconsequential, it would also help Seeking Lotus Pce gain influence and power even beyond Azure Rain Star.

    The status of a Death Emperor Star trainee wasn''t light at all. And if one could be a Paragon, their status would be nigh-untouchable.

    Most likely, Damien and Leona would never meet again. If they did, it would be on the battlefield when the mes of war spread out of control. This solution was more than enough to deal with their situation.

    Therefore, Leona didn''t hesitate.

    "I''ll announce the news after your departure. I''ll have to reveal your name and ranking on the Dimensional Leaderboard as well to corroborate my story. Is that okay with you?"

    "Mm, that''s more than enough," Damien said with a smile.

    There was a reason he always chose a big influence to join when he went to a new world. The backing of a major influence was a perfect tool to get him out ofplicated social situations. It also granted him far more leeway in his actions.

    Whether it be arrogant young geniuses who would''ve attempted to start problems with him, old monsters who could''ve killed him in a single blow, or even young women in situations simr to this one, they''d all be dealt with easily.

    The marriage conversation ended just like that. The two of them were fellow Celestials and had a budding friendship forming between them due to this. The previous matter would only stain their rtionship if they lingered on it.

    After forgetting about the issue entirely, they talked a bit more about various subjects, mostly surrounding the war. Half an hourter, Damien walked out of Leona''s residence and returned to his own.

    And then, his body disappeared into the void.

    ***

    When Damien reappeared, he was floating above the Sanctuary. Now that its previousnd had formed into a proper world, his location was a ce simr to the starry sky.

    ''This world needs a new name since the Sanctuary is expanding. I''ll just let the residents pick.'' He thought to himself as he observed the world''s progress.

    In total, there were only around 7 million people in this world. They didn''t take up even a portion of its space.

    However, the areas they did upy were far different from the grassy wilnds Damien remembered.

    It''d been roughly three years since the 3000 Beast Mountain Range''s poption was transported to the Sanctuary. During that time, their civilization flourished.

    The elves spread out far beyond the other four races. Previously, they''d lived in a massive city that amodated their number. This was due to the 3000 Beast Mountain Range''s dangers.

    Now that they had space, why would they do the same? The Sanctuary''s Elven Kingdom was flourishing and widespread. The ins were mostly upied by them.

    The Fire and Ice Phoenix ns settled in the singr mountain in the distance. When Damien observed it, he realized that it''d transformed into a natural volcano with the expansion of the Sanctuary.

    The Fire Phoenix n lived at the precipice of this volcano and utilized its rampaging fire energy for their own convenience. As for the Ice Phoenix n, they lived at the base of the mountain on the seashore. While there weren''t any extreme cold environments for them to flourish in, water was the next best thing.

    Finally, White Dragon Grotto and Lucius'' group of demons. These groups went east into a desert-like area. Because their ideals were simr, they lived in close proximity and interacted often.

    There weren''t enough Demons with Lucius for them to form a separatemunity anyway. Cooperating with one of the other races was in their best interest.

    Nevertheless, the Sanctuary was a true world now, a world that would expand into a universe as soon as he could make it happen.

    Seeing its growth, Damien couldn''t help but be proud. He basked in this feeling for a few seconds before locating Jiao Mei.

    Currently, she was with Xue''er, Elitra, and a few Elven girls. Just as she was about to speak, she found the scenery around her instantly shift.

    "Jiao Mei, how''ve your past few months been?" Damien asked with a smile. He could see that the girl integrated into the Sanctuary''smunity well.

    Jiao Mei''s eyes widened when she heard his voice. "Ah! Where''ve you been?! How''d you get here? How''d I get here?" She fired off a flurry of confused questions.

    Damien chuckled lightly and answered with a shrug. "I''m a spatial practitioner. If I couldn''t do this much, it would be a disappointment."

    Jiao Mei slowly regained her senses over the next few minutes and spoke to Damien about her love for the Sanctuary. It seemed she found true friends in Elitra and those elves and a little sister in Xue''er.

    Hearing her talk, Damien almost didn''t want to tell her about Seeking Lotus Pce. But in the end, he understood that the choice was ultimately hers to make.

    "I came today to fulfill a promise I made to you 3 months back. How about it? Do you want to explore the world or do you want to stay here?"

 Chapter 640 Broader Horizons[2]

    Jiao Mei closed her mouth upon hearing his question. When she first answered, she did so with surety. Now, however, she was hesitant.

    She friends she made here and thefort she felt were addictive. She didn''t want to leave this atmosphere and enter a world of unknowns and enemies. The outside was terrifying, but in this world it was beautiful.

    Her eyes clouded over. She thought back to the life she lived. She was born into a prestigious family and adopted into a prestigious sect when that family kicked her out. She was loved by all due to her talent and physique and never experienced the world for what it truly was.

    When she met Damien, she realized what true practitioners looked like. They were ruthless and indifferent, killing as they saw fit and demanding respect with their presence alone. For the sake of strength, they were willing to risk everything, even their own lives.

    Compared to true practitioners, the people who surrounded her in the Dawn World were dirt. The reason she chose to travel with Damien was that she no longer wanted to be dirt.

    If she chose thisfort and security over risking everything for strength, she''d live happily, but she''d never achieve anything. Her path would end here.

    But if she chose to explore the wider universe, she''d expose herself to countless dangers that could take her life in an instant. She''d have to be wary at all times and she''d have to face reality without any shelter to rely on.

    ''No, that''s not true.'' She realized. While it was mostly true, she wouldn''t be without shelter on her journey. The man in front of her had guaranteed a ce for her to grow in peace when she was tired of danger.

    A definitive decision finally took root in her mind. This path, the one she saw Damien illustriously walking, she wanted to experience it for herself.

    "Take me. I choose strength."

    Damien smiled. "Very well. Then, allow me to introduce you to Seeking Lotus Pce and the wider Azure Rain Star. As long as you like it, this will be your starting point. From here on, you''ll grow limitlessly as long as you have the will and remain alive."

    Damien allowed Jiao Mei a few minutes to say goodbye to Elitra and the rest. Afterwards, their two bodies vanished from the Sanctuary.

    Seeking Lotus Pce revealed itself grandly to Jiao Mei''s eyes. It''s beautiful scenery, the stunning amount of mana in the air that was greater than anything she''d ever felt on the Dawn World, powerful disciples that could defeat her without even trying; Jiao Mei experienced a serious case of culture shock as she struggled to take everything in.

    But over time, she was slowly able to ept her new reality as Damien took her around the sect. Not only was the atmosphere and ambiance great for training, it was even an all-woman sect where she wouldn''t have to deal with nonsensical people who lusted after her beauty and talent. The more she saw of the sect, the more she liked it.

    Besides, Damien was the one who chose it for her. Even if she wasn''t given the chance to see the sect before joining, she''d still agree in an instant.

    Her decision to join was essentially set in stone.

    Leona and Sierra arrived near the end of the tour. They truly wanted to see the girl Damien went through so much trouble to enroll in the sect.

    And after seeing her physique, they let out a collective gasp of astonishment.

    "You idiot!" Leona scolded as she smacked Damien atop the head. "If you told me she had an innate Heavenly Lightning Seed from the beginning, we wouldn''t have been forced to deal with all the other nonsense!"

    "No, well, the issues were really a you thing more than a me thing¡­"

    "I can''t believe this¡­ it''s truly magnificent¡­although it hasn''t developed into its true form yet, it''s been fed a small amount of Heavenly Lightning and has begun to bud. This is amazing!" Sierra joined her.

    "Mm, mm. Real good. I definitely know what an innate Heavenly Lightning Seed is."

    "Your name was Jiao Mei, correct? If you join our Seeking Lotus Pce, you won''t be disappointed at all. I''ll allow you to practice our sect''s special Ethereal Seeking Lotus technique without any prerequisites and I''ll even let the Vice Pce Master teach you personally."

    "No, but the Ethereal Seeking Lotus thing was something we already agreed upon. Also, Sierra is the Vice Pce Master and she''s been drooling over Jiao Mei ever since she saw her physique so I think her tutge would happen regardless as well¡­"

    "Jiao Mei, I am this illustrious sect''s Vice Pce Master. And just like you, I am a lightning expert. Under my guidance, I''m sure you''ll grow amazingly."

    "Since when did you be a lightning practitioner? Also, how long is this going to continue for? Tch, women."

    ""Hm?""

    Three collective sounds of suspicion entered his ears. Damien smiled smugly. "So you finally acknowledge my presence, huh? Stop pressing Jiao Mei so much and let her talk, damn."

    The three women stared at him nkly.

    "Jiao Mei, how do you feel about bing a disciple of our sect?" Leona asked ndly.

    "I would love to." Jiao Mei responded in the same tone.

    "Good. Then, for your first sect mission, aid your Pce Master in punishing a delinquent!" Leona dered.

    "With pleasure!" Jiao Mei eximed with an evil smile.

    "Woah, woah, woah. Let''s all calm down a bit. After all, we''re all¡ª" Damien immediately escaped Seeking Lotus Pce''s pocket dimension and ran away.

    He knew he was poking a bear but still made the conscious decision to poke it. There was no way he''d stay around to see the aftermath.

    Still, thinking about their faces, he broke out into wildughter. Heughed harder than he had in a very long time.

    Having light fun like this, it really was something he needed to do more often.

    Nevertheless, now wasn''t the time for it. He looked into the distance at the Seeking Lotus Pce''s location with a small smile.

    Goodbyes weren''t his strong suit. He already made arrangements with Jiao Mei to leave her followers in the Sanctuary and even promised to visit herter so she could reunite with them. Anything more would be excessive.

    As for the rest¡­well, he didn''t know them well enough to have a soppy goodbye with them anyway.

    "I''ll be headed off now. Next time I see you, you better not be weaker than me." He muttered to no one in particr.

    On Azure Rain Star''s surface, a single woman smiled while looking up into the clouds. In her mind, she heard every word he said clearly.

    ''Arrogant brat¡­acting like I''m not already a few thousand years older than him¡­very well, then. I can''t just neglect such tant provocation. Let''s see which of our paths is king.''

    Her silent goodbye seemed to be mirrored in by the world itself. Jiao Mei followed Leona''s gaze with a twinge of sorrow in her eyes.

    Thereafter, Damien''s figure vanished, returning to the starry sky to continue his long journey.

    The time he had remaining to reach Death Emperor Star was only a little over two months.

 Chapter 641 Death Emperor Star [1]

    The next two months passed without a hitch. Damien spent his time binding uninhabitable worlds, conversing with Zara, and fighting the various space beasts that attacked him.

    His route was a rtively safe one. He mostly traveled around the edges of the Divine Realm, only moving inward a few times either for his own benefit or for the convenience of his route.

    It was only due to this that Damien didn''t encounter any extremely powerful existences or major worlds. The Divine Realm was structured like a grand kingdom with the strongest powers in the middle and weaker powers in the outskirts. In the center of the Divine Realm was the floating castle city, Luxurion, visible from any corner of the Divine Realm. The only outliers to this structure were major sects that took protector roles, shielding the Divine Realm''s borders.

    Death Emperor Star, however, was different. While it was located in the Divine Realm, its entire presence was a mystery. Apanying this mystery was the fact that Death Emperor Star had some sort of connection to the Abyss that had yet to be uncovered to this day.

    Its location was in the middle of nowhere. It was quite literally the most isted location in the entire Divine Realm, with the closest inhabitable worlds and influences present several millions of kilometers away. Reaching Death Emperor Star from these locations required the use of a teleportation array.

    Damien stood in a world called Aroath. This world was ruled by a subdivision of Blood Asura Holy Land, one of the universe''s Demigod influences.

    Blood Asura Holy Land was one of many peak influences that stationed sub-divisions on these worlds. Through them, individuals from their sects could freely arrive at Death Emperor Star with ease. While many of them didn''t actually gain entrance into the world, it was far easier for them to try.

    Nevertheless, there wasn''t a particr reason Damien chose this star. When he arrived in the area, it was merely the closest one.

    His steps took him through a bustling city. The sight of mortals going about their day-to-day lives was something Damien hadn''t seen in a very long time. He stopped by a nearby street stand and bought a pastry, slowly savoring it as he walked to his destination.

    The portal center was the most inessible ce in the entire world. To enter, one either needed a certain level of status within the Blood Asura Holy Land or an invitation to Death Emperor Star.

    This was mainly to prevent random challengers from attempting to enter Death Emperor Star. Not only would they waste the presiding experts'' time, but they would also risk killing themselves.

    As for external threats¡­it was a joke to think anyone or anything could force their way into Death Emperor Star. Many practitioners, even Demigods, unsessfully attempted to do so in the past. Death Emperor Star seemed to be protected by the universe itself.

    Damien arrived at the portal center with only a few minutes of walking. He entered the building while finishing off his pastry and walked over to an attendant.

    "Hello. I would like to enter Death Emperor Star."

    The male attendant looked him up and down suspiciously. "Not just anyone can enter Death Emperor Star. If you have the necessary qualifications, please provide them and I will grant passage. If not, I will have the guards escort you out."

    Two burly men around the middle stages of 4th ss appeared out of thin air. They stared down at Damien intimidatingly as if daring him to mess around.

    Damien shook his head wryly. For them to be so blunt, this portal center must''ve received plenty of opportunists in the past. As someone who''d worked a service job in the past, he really couldn''tin about their attitude.

    Without a word, he took out one of the jade slips Atticus left for him. This was precisely the invitation he needed.

    The attendant read over the jade slip''s contents with an increasingly astonished look on his face.

    "This¡­this¡­a real invitation¡­? From¡­the Holy Son of Fallen Star Holy Land himself?!"

    The attendant''s body shook. Thankfully, while he''d been rude in his tone, he hadn''t demeaned Damien at all.

    "S-sir, right this way. I shall have them open a portal for you as soon as possible."

    Damien nodded in affirmation. "Is it rare to see people with invitations around here?"

    The attendant tilted his head curiously. "Not particrly. All of the Death Emperor Star candidates are invitations. Those from our sect can use the portal without an invitation, but 99% of them return empty-handed. It''s basically a mechanism in ce for the sect''s greatest geniuses. Other than that, it is merely a status move."

    He gave Damien as much information as possible without giving away anything secretive. While it was true that every Death Emperor Star candidate was an invitation, they still had different sses amongst themselves.

    Death Emperor Star had more recruiters than one could imagine. Their entire goal was to train the universe''s young elites into heroes who could fight for its survival. Naturally they wouldn''t allow a genius to go unattended merely because nobody could recognize their talent.

    Each and every recruiter was an individual with amazing vision and outstanding character. However, their strengths and statuses still differed.

    For instance, a normal recruiter would''ve at most reached the 1000s or 10000s on the Dimensional Leaderboard in their prime. These people were geniuses in their own right, but their names weren''t known at all.

    Then there were assorted elders with entric personalities who liked to wander the universe and pick up talented seedlings. They had much more value than normal recruiters, but their personalities made it so their judgement was asionally questionable.

    While there were various other breeds of recruiters, the rarest were those peak geniuses of Death Emperor Star, the Paragons.

    There weren''t many Paragons to begin with, around 20, and of them, only a few were willing to be recruiters.

    Getting a rmendation from them was a true fear of wonder.

    And among these Paragons was none other than Atticus mesworth.

    Just his name alone was enough to give Damien considerable standing amongst those in the outside world. If Damien wanted, he could act however he pleased on this star and get away with it, regardless of what he did.

    But Damien didn''t take this borrowed power to heart. After all, it was only useful in the outside world. The second he crossed through that portal¡­

    Everything became meaningless except strength.

    Voom!

    A fluctuation of spatial power spread from further inside the portal center. Feeling it, the attendant stood up and bowed.

    "Sir, your portal has been prepared. Please maintain caution while traveling through the spatial tunnel, as the space around Death Emperor Star is extremely chaotic. When you reach, keep your senses heightened at all times. Of those I''ve seen enter Death Emperor Star¡­rarely anye back."

    Damien stood up and smiled. "Thank you for the warning. I''ll be sure to not drop my guard. And don''t worry. I''lle see you in a few years so you can add one more to your list of sess stories."

    The attendant smiled slightly, never releasing his bow. As he remained in the same position, Damien walked over to the portal. He gazed at it for a few seconds to admire itsplexity, and then, he stepped through without an ounce of hesitation.

    In the portal center, the male attendant''s smile slowly faded. His indifferent eyes nced at the two guards.

    "Go inform his highness. Holy Son Atticus'' rmendation has arrived."

 Chapter 642 Death Emperor Star [2]

    What Damien knew of Death Emperor Star came straight from Atticus. While he didn''t know how urate this information truly was, he at least knew that it should be mostly true.

    Now that he''d stepped through the portal, he''d finally arrived in this so-called hellish academy. But from the information Atticus provided, it was anything but.

    There were two different types of people in Hidden Death Valley: geniuses and people who thought themselves geniuses.

    For the former category, Death Emperor Star was a perfect training ground and a ce where they could test their limits. But for thetter, it was a true hell.

    Only, one wouldn''t know which category they fit into until they underwent Death Emperor Star''s trials.

    As for those trials, they were actually natural phenomena. Death Emperor Star itself was a massive death zone. Every single piece of its area, regardless of environment or appearance, was a death trap. The "trials" people underwent usually consisted of them surviving these death zones and training within.

    But of course, Hidden Death Valley wouldn''t be called an academy if it only housed geniuses who trained on Death Emperor Star. No, Hidden Death Valley was apletely different monster.

    Hidden Death Valley was home to a wide range of courses detailing a variety of subjects. From basic mana application to differences in mana utilization techniques to even specialized courses based on elemental affinity and one''s chosen ss. When it came to knowledge, this academy was truly equipped.

    However, this knowledge had to be earned. Every course, depending on itsplexity, cost a certain number of contribution points to attend. While the ways to earn contribution points were just as varied as the course list, there were a few surefire ways that were mostmonly used.

    For instance, Hidden Death Valley had its own events and challenges simr to the Dimensional Leaderboard''s Challenge Gates. cing in any of these events would award one contribution points.

    There were also mandatory courses that every genius had to take if they wanted to remain in Hidden Death Valley. These courses were all packed into a single day every week so that the geniuses would have more free time to train.

    Still, they were imperative courses. These mandatory sessions were precisely where Hidden Death Valley''s military influence shone through. That single day every week was a greater hell to most than even Death Emperor Star''s death zones.

    Nevertheless, for every hell Death Emperor Star possessed, there was an equal amount of heaven. With heavenly materials, powerful artifacts, and ancient legacies, Death Emperor Star was a ce where all these one in one million lucky chances congregated. As long as one had the ability, they were guaranteed sess.

    Not to mention, Hidden Death Valley itself was home to multiple Demigods and a plethora of 4th ss beings. If one was able to prove themselves, they could even earn the teachings of these magisterial individuals!

    Therefore, not a single person had thoughts of quitting despite theirints. They trained endlessly for the sake of their goals.

    All of the effort these geniuses spent day by day in Hidden Death Valley culminated into an assessment that took ce every year. The assessment was never the same so Damien didn''t have any surety about its contents, but from what he could tell, it wasn''t a joke.

    If one failed this assessment, they''d likely die. If they didn''t die, they''d be expelled from Hidden Death Valley. It was the most cutthroat time of every year.

    ''The next assessment is in 8 months. With my current strength plus the improvements I make in that time¡­regardless of the exam''s contents, I believe I can pass.''

    Damien went over the information one more time as he traveled through the spatial tunnel. It was truly as chaotic as the attendant made it seem, with spatial storms and turbulence being extremelymon. Still, his abilities allowed him to stay stable during his travel.

    The information Atticus provided didn''t stop at general knowledge. Damien was given an insight into the various influences within Hidden Death Valley itself and the people in those influences. Particrly, it clearly delineated who to stay away from.

    Blood Asura Holy Land was among these names.

    ''Power struggles are unavoidable anywhere, huh. The elders have factions, the students have factions, the students within the elders'' factions have sub-factions¡­it''s a whole mess. Then again, I guess it''s not surprising considering the nature of this ce.''

    Death Emperor Star''s lucky chances were all-inclusive. The weakest students and strongest Demigods alike could venture into the vast deadly world and search for ways to gain more power. It was natural for people to group up and wish for more control in this type of environment. If one person could monopolize all of the world''s resources¡­

    While it was true that the academy existed for the Grand Heavens Boundary''s sake, practitioners were a greedy bunch. Even while being altruistic they still sought benefits.

    Damien shook his head and put away the jade slips. When it came to political matters, he would never interfere. His thoughts on factions were simple: if they could offer him something good enough, he didn''t mind joining. However, he would never be someone''s dog and he would never allow someone to limit his freedom. Anyone who touched his bottom line¡­

    His body finally exited the spatial tunnel. He found himself surrounded by darkness. This was empty space. There were no worlds close enough to shine light this close. The only stars Damien could see were extremely far away and dull.

    He turned around, his gaze focusing on the world before him.

    It was so ck it almost blended in with deep space. However, an ash-grey color tinged its darkness, giving it a much more ominous feeling.

    This was Death Emperor Star. It was the most massive world Damien had seen to date. And unlike other worlds, this one had aura like a living being.

    Saying it was a true death zone wasn''t a lie. So many had died on its surface, so many had grown and evolved. The culmination of their legacies caused the world''s atmosphere to be stained.

    It emanated an aura it gained from those who triumphed.

    And it emanated a killing intent it gained from those who perished.

    This was Death Emperor Star, Damien''s final destination. This was the ce where he''d finally get his true start in the Divine Realm.

    But first, he has to gain entry.

    His body shot through space like aet, barreling towards the. When he got within reach of its atmosphere, a deathly ck fog shot up and enveloped him within.

    "Disperse!"

    Space stretched out infinitely around Damien''s body. Every since centimeter suddenly became extraneously distant. Damien used this application of space''s "distance" concept topletely separate himself from the fog and continue his descent.

    But this was only the beginning. Before he even exited the fog, he heard the terrifying screeches of a flock of aerial beasts. They were simr in form to phoenixes, but their feathers were metallic and their affinity waspletely aligned to destruction.

    SKREEE!

    The beast at the lead of the flock let out a piercing shriek. The flock shot through Death Emperor Star''s atmosphere and arrived in front of Damien. Their metallic feathers acted as thousands of tiny des that shed at his skin, their deathly mana tried to corrode him from both within and without.

    Facing this barrage, Damien stayed entirely calm. His mouth moved, forming two words.

    "Dimension Shift."

 Chapter 643 Death Emperor Star [3]

    "Dimension Shift."

    Space around Damien solidified and shifted. A pocket dimensionyered into real space and somewhat merged with it. Then, with utter precision, Damien used the pocket dimension as a medium to split the true dimension in two and shift it. It was like a cube of ice that was cut in half. The upper portion of space seemingly slid apart from the bottom, shifting entirely into a different dimension.

    Naturally, the metal-feathered aerial beasts weren''t excluded from this. Their bodies split along with space, dissected at a molecr level. Even after Damien''s attack dissipated, their cleaved bodies didn''t die. It took a few seconds before blood began to color space and the light faded from their eyes.

    Damien paid no mind to the perished beasts, continuing his descent. Within seconds, he burst through Death Emperor Star''s atmosphere.

    Here, he faced his next challenge. To be specific, it was the atmosphere itself. Just as he''d seen before, the amount of death that''d polluted this star fundamentally changed its properties. The air was almost deadly with the amount of death energy ambiently flowing. Aside from that, a thick aura suppression and killing intent would continuously bear down on everyone within its reach, adding ayer of mental and physical strain to each and every trial that took ce.

    This atmosphere hit Damien the second it could reach him. His falling speed multiplied several times due to the pressure. The killing intent tried to invade his mind, but was unable to do so.

    ''Superheronding time¡­!'' Damien thought to himself.

    He was already gaining insane momentum in the air. His body almost caught fire due to friction before Damien used vector control to stop it.

    But this speed wasn''t nearly enough. While most people would''ve desperately tried to slow themselves down, Damien controlled gravity to increase his momentum even further!

    Now he was experiencing a threefold pulling force towards the ground. His body was faster than any meteor, traveling tens of thousands of kilometers in an instant and arriving before the ground!

    ''Bang.''

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Hisnding wasn''t graceful. The second his body touched ground, the earth copsed. Rumbling as if a terrifying earthquake urred, the earth imploded and caved in, creating a crater tens of kilometers in diameter.

    Its depth, however, was another story. Death Emperor Star wasn''t famed for no reason. Damien''s extreme momentum was powerful, but it couldn''t prate far into this world''s surface. He was only around 500 meters deep in the earth.

    ''Yeah, I can see why people don''t do that more often. It hurts like a bitch.'' Damien thought as he crawled out of the crater.

    His legs both broke upon impact, so he had to make do with what he had while they healed.

    Nevertheless, the healing process was rapid. By the time he left the crater, he was already on two legs.

    At this time, there was a reaction from his subspace. One of the information jade slips flowed with a pale blue light as the information on it began to morph.

    When Damien took it out to observe, he realized that the previous writings had been entirely erased. What remained was a small map.

    It showed the area around Damien with some slight detail and marked a path that lead to Hidden Death Valley. The areas outside this path''s radius were cked out and unavable to him.

    ''I see, so I first have to reach the academy. That''s the entrance exam.''

    Everyone always said that luck was also a part of one''s skill set. Apparently, Hidden Death Valley also believed in this fact.

    When barreling through Death Emperor Star''s atmosphere, there was no way of telling where one wouldnd. The air was hazy with ck fog, making visibility extremely low. Aside from that, the mysterious forces in the atmosphere would veer one off course when they flew, altering theirnding area.

    For instance, Damien''s original trajectory would''ve put him only around 10 kilometers away from Hidden Death Valley. However, he was currently more than 10,000 kilometers away.

    Still, what was a challenge wasn''t necessarily the same for him. While Death Emperor Star indeed had its own spatial suppression that constantly tried to limit him, he was better than that by now.

    Ambient spatial suppression couldn''t do anything to him at this level.

    His awareness spread to its limit. At its far reaches, he could barely make out the outline of what he assumed to be Hidden Death Valley. To be cautious, he teleported 10 kilometers away from that area to observe first.

    As the name suggested, it was a valley between two mountains, but it expanded downward like a trench. The only thing Damien could see was the shadowy ckness that filled the empty space of that valley.

    ''ording to the map, this should be the ce. So do I just¡­jump?''

    Damien walked to the precipice of the abyssal trench and stared into its depths. Without hesitation, he lifted his foot off the ground and prepared to jump in.

    "Woah!"

    A sudden exmation stopped him from continuing. When Damien turned around, he saw a burly man standing there. His build was massive, his body around 10 feet tall and built like heavy-duty machinery. He had a rough beard growing on his face that made him look middle-aged, but his eyes shone with the brightness of youth.

    "Brother, you''re just jumping in? You''ve got bigger balls than me!" He said with augh.

    Damien quirked his brow. "You are?"

    "Hm? Ah, my name is Lonzo Barius! I''vee to enter Hidden Death Valley!"

    "Mm, I''m Damien Void. Anyway, while it''s been a pleasure meeting you, I seem to have business down there so¡­"

    Without finishing his sentence, Damien''s body began teetering off the edge once more. But before he could fall, Lonzo ran up behind him and pulled him back.

    "What are you thinking?!" He eximed.

    "Hm? Isn''t Hidden Death Valley down there?" Damien asked back.

    "It¡­it is, but you can''t just jump! You''ll die if you do!"

    "Then how am I supposed to get down there?"

    Lonzo sighed and shook his head. "I didn''t expect you to be clueless! An instructor wille receive everyone when we''ve all arrived and guide us down to the bottom. Otherwise, there''s no way for us to get there."

    Damien furrowed his brows. He looked at Lonzo and looked back at the trench. While it was true that it was deep and somewhat harrowing, he didn''t think it was impossible to survive.

    As long as he pulled some tricks and executed his abilities properly, there would be no harm at all.

    This Lonzo was seemingly a 4th ss as well, near Damien''s level. Yet, he viewed this challenge as an impossible one?

    Damien looked at him suspiciously. "You can''t survive if you jump down there?" He asked.

    Lonzo stared at him like he was an idiot. "Of course not! That fall is tens of thousands of kilometers! Besides, elements are suppressed in the air within the trench as a defense mechanism. You won''t be able to aid yourself using your affinity."

    Damien nodded understandingly. "I see. So your physical body isn''t powerful enough to survive that fall even with the aid of mana. That''s more reasonable. But that''s just a you thing. Me on the other hand¡­"

    He shook off Lonzo''s hand and walked back to the edge of the cliff.

    "I''m not that weak."

    Damien shed a confident smile at Lonzo and before thetter could react, he bent backwards and fell into the trench.

 Chapter 644 Death Emperor Star [4]

    Winds whipped around him as he began free-falling. As Lonzo told him earlier, he truly couldn''t utilize any of his affinities while falling.

    But that wasn''t much of a problem. After all, aside from his powerful body, he could use attributeless mana to fortify himself.

    His body remained near the trench wall as he descended, his mind focused on the moment he needed to start slowing his fall.

    When he''d fallen roughly 100 meters, his arm snapped out and his hand dug into the wall. In that instant, his body jerked with momentum!

    The wall couldn''t handle his velocity and the grip he made shattered, but that was a given. He remained with his hand in the wall, allowing it to tear through the dirt as he descended and slow his fall.

    The grating sound of his hand being torn as it broke apart the rock was gruesome. Still, his method was somewhat effective.

    200 meters¡­400 meters¡­500 meters¡­

    By the time he was a half kilometer deep in the trench, his descent slowed to a halt. He breathed out while letting his hand heal, hanging off the trench wall.

    ''Still no end? How deep does this go?''

    Realistically, he didn''t think Hidden Death Valley would be located more than a kilometer deep in the earth. However, he couldn''t sense it despite his current position.

    ''There may be perception-blocking formations set up in the area¡­maybe a beguiling formation too. It would make sense considering that it''s a system meant to block intruders.''

    Damien furrowed his brows. He didn''t think it''d be soplicated to get down to the bottom. If he knew there were multiple systems in ce to prevent this type of entrance, he would''ve just waited with Lonzo.

    But now that he was already here, he wouldn''t turn back. After his hand healed from its previous damage, he let go of the wall and began dropping again.

    Another 500 meters passed by rapidly with Damien still falling. By this time, he was already a kilometer deep, yet he still didn''t see anything nearby.

    That is, until he mysteriously felt the ground beneath his feet.

    With the surrounding ckness, it was hard to distinguish between whether he was truly falling or just suspended in the air. Suddenly feeling the ground with no indication of its arrival and the disappearance of his previous momentum was more than just a little disconcerting.

    "State your name and purpose or be executed."

    A feminine voice rang out from behind him. When he turned around, all he saw was ckness.

    ''Hmm, so my senses are being limited by this formation as well. If that''s the case¡­''

    He activated the All-Seeing Eyes and quickly found a w in the formation. Instead of breaking it entirely, however, he merely used it as a gateway to see through to the other side.

    This was an ally influence, after all. He didn''t want to needlessly start trouble with the people who''d be hispany for the foreseeable future.

    "My name is Damien Void," he replied once he finally got visuals on the group around him. "I''vee on Atticus mesworth''s rmendation to join this academy."

    The group of guards was made up of 10 men and women around the middle ranges of 4th ss. The one at the head of the squad was ate-stage. When she heard his reply, her brow furrowed.

    "If you''re an iing student you should be waiting for the instructor at the precipice of the trench. Why did you jump?"

    "I don''t know," Damien shrugged. "Someone told me I couldn''t do it so I decided to see for myself."

    "You have a fetish for courting death?" The woman sneered.

    "If death was a woman she''d be pretty hot¡­"

    Damien spoke without thinking.

    "Pfft¡­!"

    Damien could hear some of the guards hiding theirughter beyond the barrier. As for the woman in front, her face turned red with annoyance. Her eyes turned cold. She wasn''t in the mood to y games with a cheeky intruder even if he truly was rmended to the academy by a Paragon.

    "Nonsense! Show me your identification if you want entry. Since you''ve used Atticus mesworth''s name, I''ll have to bring an elder to verify your identity. If you aren''t confident in your lies I suggest you admit it now and allow us to take you into custody."

    "That''s fine, go get your elder. I''ll wait here." Damien said casually. He also didn''t want to deal with unnecessary conflict.

    The woman at the front eyed the barrier suspiciously as if she could see Damien''s figure within. She sent out a messaging talisman as she did so, and roughly 5 minutester, an old man appeared in the area.

    "Sheesh, what''re you calling me for? It''s just a little intruder, right? Just kill him and throw his body to the Galos."

    The old man crankily flew over andnded in front of the barrier. "Kid, if you want to be slick, don''t use a Paragon''s name. That''ll only draw suspicion to you. How are you nning to infiltrate with such terrible skills?!"

    "Uhh¡­" Damien stood speechless. He wasn''t even trying to intrude. Besides, why was this old man giving intruders tips on how to sneak into the academy better?! Wasn''t that counterintuitive?!

    It seemed the lead guard was thinking the same thing, as she quickly pped the old man atop the head and shut him up.

    "Old Man Gao, he says he has a real rmendation. Check it for us and see if he''s in the clear."

    "Oh? So he''s not an intruder?"

    "We don''t know yet."

    "Then do your jobs!"

    "I''m following protocol and calling you over! Do your job and stop talking nonsense, old man!"

    "Haa, fine fine. I don''t get why young kids these days are so motivated. Rx a little and try and enjoy life for once."

    The old man nced over at the barrier after talking. "Kid, show me some proof if you don''t want to die or whatever."

    Damien nodded and took out the emblem Atticus gave him, passing it through the barrier.

    The old man took it and nced over it a few times, even scanning it thoroughly with his awareness. No matter how he tried to pick fault, he couldn''t deny that it was a true emblem from the mesworth n.

    "Tch, and here I thought I was going to have some fun today." The old man mumbled.

    "Just let him through! He''s clear!"

    With those words, the barrier around Damien dissipated. Finally, he could see more than just the small amount he could through the w.

    He was currently in a space not too dissimr from the ckness he was in previously. The only difference was that mana-powered lights were hanging from the ceiling here, granting some visibility.

    "Damien Void, follow me. I''ll take you to the administrations office." A nearby guard said.

    Damien nodded and followed. Before he left, he nced at the old man in the corner. He had the itch to taunt him for his attitude, but didn''t let it control him.

    He was learning to be civil, after all.

    Nevertheless, Damien and the guard exited the ck room soon after.

    It was finally time for him to see Hidden Death Valley in all its glory.

 Chapter 645 Eden [1]

    Over a year passed since war took hold of the universe.

    Over this year, many things changed. Kingdoms rose and fell, geniuses ascended to the skies, and the war became far fiercer than ever before.

    Eden was arge sector, all things considered. However, inparison to the Elven Domain, it was still smaller. After all, even as the dominant species of their sector, nt species who could reach maturity and evolve weren''t extremelymonce. It took a great deal of time and effort for most of them to even acquire movement abilities, making theirbat capabilities limited.

    The reason they were able to rise until they became dominant was purely due to quantity. Even beasts were far outnumbered by nts in the universe. Eden was a wildly overgrown domain where there even existed nts who grew with the starry sky as their soil and universal origin energy as their sunlight. In this kind of environment, it wasn''t strange for arge number of nt species to eventually mutate and develop into powerhouses who imed thend.

    Nevertheless, they still relied on other races to grow in the early stages of their lives. The actualbat capability of the nt Races as a whole was made up of a small group of experts rather than arge army.

    Against most internal threats of the Grand Heavens Boundary, these few experts were enough to maintain the status quo, however, everything changed when the Nox appeared.

    Nox were inherently a species simr to the nt Races. They also specialized in quantity. The key difference between them was that the Nox weren''t limited in their movement capabilities.

    When it came to conquest, thetter species was far more equipped.

    Before aid arrived from the other 6 sectors, Eden was close to ruin. Its worlds were fine due to the abundance of nt species residing within them, but most of their domain had already been upied by the Nox. As beings who didn''t need a normally inhabitable environment to survive, they could easily im dead and uninhabitable stars for their own campsites, putting invisible pressure on the nt Races.

    Aid arrived about 3 months after the outbreak of war. Arge number of petty soldiers along with a few experts tomand them arrived from everywhere. The Nox''s mobility and numbers advantage was somewhat quelled through these reinforcements.

    Still, it was a harrowing war. As things stood, half of Eden was corrupted by the Nox. Thousands of worlds were destroyed without remorse, hundreds of billions or even more lives taken over the course of a year.

    However, maintaining the frontline and making sure it didn''t get pushed past Eden was the main goal, even if Eden itself was destroyed.

    "The enemy''s main camp is here on Throh. There is at least one Demigod residing there, along with the main destroyer ship that they''ve been using to annihte worlds rapidly. Sadly, even though we know the location, we do not have the means to attack it."

    A man spoke seriously in front of a group of listeners. His job was to report the overall situation to the warfront''s leaders so they could urately judge the situation and n around it.

    A woman frowned at his words as he spoke. She had pale green skin and hair simr to drifting leaves, her status as a nt race expert evident.

    "Taking the main camp would dy their progress a great deal. If they want to continue at their current pace, they''d need to bring another destroyer into the universe, which would undoubtedly take time. If we had even a single Demigod among us¡­"

    "Stop. You already understand that Demigods cannot participate in the war. The second one of them makes a move, they''ll collectively be teleported to the Ancient Battlefield until the war ends." Another man responded.

    "But isn''t that good for us? We need to cage their powerhouses more than they need to cage ours."

    "You''re wrong. It may look that way on the surface, but it''s much deeper than that. Think about it: when our Demigods are taken away, do we still have the power to defeat the Nox''s sheer numbers? We need to hold out for as long as we can do that the single time the Demigods can act is put to good use instead of being wasted pointlessly."

    "You''re right¡­" the woman realized, "but we still need to consider the enemy''s main camp. If we can capture Throh, our supply line to the Soul World will finally be functional. This will not only increase ourbat power, but also our efficiency and resources. Strategically, Throh is the most important location in Eden right now."

    Those present fell into thought upon hearing her words. As she said, establishing a connection to the Soul World, the Spirit Race''s domain, was their next immediate goal. The spirit race''s elemental and mental magic capabilities would be more than just helpful in their current predicament. Aside from that, the Soul World was a ce filled with unique resources rted to mental strength. Themon soldier would be able to fight with much more vigor and spirit if they could acquire such resources.

    In an army where multiple forces joined together as one, establishing a proper chain ofmand was naturally difficult. To cope with this, a reward and punishment system was put in ce to incentivize the soldiers and motivate them.

    One''s rank could increase through contribution even to the point of bing a leading general. They''d also be granted plenty of resources and artifacts to help them survive and grow with haste. For themon soldier, reaching 4th ss was an impossible dream.

    With a method to turn the impossible into reality right in front of them, how could they resist?

    But the greatest hurdle a practitioner faced as they grew stronger wasprehension. Establishing a dominion over one''s element and thoroughly grasping its foundation was nigh impossible for someone without talent.

    The Soul World''s resources could change that. If thesemon practitioners could enhance their mental abilities and strictly focus onprehension, their chances of being baptized were far greater.

    The room was silent as those leaders tried to find a solution. The enemy had many camps throughout Eden, but attacking them was pointless at the current juncture. It''d only serve to exhaust their men even more.

    ''What can we do¡­?''

    A woman thought to herself. She was one of Eden''s natives and also one of the first people to notice the iing war. Now that she sat here a year after its beginning, she was stumped.

    The enemy was not only more powerful, but also more equipped. More than the Demigod, the destroyer ship was the problem.

    The Nox Demigod wasn''t allowed to participate in the war due to the restriction. However, the destroyer ship wasn''t included in this restriction. The Nox had a Demigod-level force that could be used by lower existences. It was impossible to take Throh without considerable losses that they didn''t have the numbers to cope with.

    "¡­can we draw them away?" A voice rang out. Heads turned, multiple gazesnding on a girl not far away. She looked only around 10, but nobody underestimated her because of this.

    "Draw them away? How so? We''ve already tried to lure them away with our greatest treasures and temptations but they refuse to budge. It''s like they''re aware of our ns."

    "Well then," the girl continued, "we just have to make the bait something they can''t resist."

 Chapter 646 Eden[2]

    The meeting continued deep into the night. The little girl''s n was taken into consideration, and after she revealed the nature of her so-called "irresistible bait," the other experts also agreed that it could work.

    The n was extremely risky, though, and if it failed Eden would rapidly hasten towards total annihtion. It was a great gamble nobody was quite willing to take.

    In the end, that n was set aside as a final resort. Before the situation became tense enough to put it in motion, Eden''s forces would stick to guerri tactics and covert operations to lessen the Nox''s influence in the sector.

    War was a long and drawn-out process. Even going many months withoutbat wasn''t strange. The mental battle, however, was constant.

    And more than the Nox, the Army of Heaven, as the soldiers colloquially termed themselves, was suffering heavily. The stress and exhaustion they felt didn''t trante to the Nox powerhouses who could sit back and casually sent hundreds of thousands of mindless lower beings to attack at any time.

    Alleviating this invisible burden was of utmost priority. Once morale soared, their chances of victory would do the same. After all, a vigorous soldier would kill ten enemies in the same amount of time an exhausted soldier took to kill one.

    Within Eden, there was a worldrgely hidden from the universe due to its unique spatial coordinates. The folds of space seemed to wrap around the world and camouge it from the outside world.

    In this strange world, there was a tree that took up most of the world''s surface area, the earth around it was filled with foliage and flora that established itself using the tree''s roots as a base.

    And on this tree was a cabin. A woman sat in this cabin worriedly staring at the simple wooden table in front of her. A small "x" marked itself onto the table as she did so.

    "Another one gone. With this, under half of Eden''s worlds remain uncorrupted. Should I¡­move?"

    "Don''t. You know as well as I do that you can''t."

    A man appeared behind this woman wearing pristine white robes that contrasted his dark hair and eyes. His presence was ethereal, making one doubt whether he really existed or not.

    Naturally, this man was a Demigod.

    "Arturo, if it was your Demon Race in peril, would you stay still?" She asked.

    "I would," Arturo replied without hesitation.

    "Then you''re a better person than me. I cannot allow my people to suffer like this without a chance at redemption. If I kill that Demigod, it will give them the leeway to take back our sector and win the first major battle of this war. You know how much their momentum means."

    Arturo sighed despondently. "Regardless, none of us are powerful enough to disobey the universe''s rulings. If you wish to potentially harm every existence in the Grand Heavens Boundary, act as you please. However, wouldn''t it be better to provide minor aid so they can deal with the problem themselves? Not only will we remain safe, but your people can also further improve themselves."

    The woman frowned but said nothing. Of course she''d considered this passive stance of support but she didn''t know how viable it was. What did she have to offer besidesbat power? Her treasures weren''t helpful in the long run. Besides, one needed to at least be a 4th ss being to control a Demigod rank artifact.

    The exceptions to this rule were too rare to matter on such arge scale.

    "What you should offer them?" Arturo repeated after hearing her doubts. He raised his brow and looked at her like she was an idiot. "What they require right now is a method to take down the destroyer ship. You''re telling me that there''s nothing you can offer to aid them?"

    The woman looked deeply into Arturo''s eyes before her own shed with realization. She had been too focused on the Nox Demigod instead of the crux of the issue. As long as the destroyer ship lost function, the Nox would lose a great deal of their current momentum.

    "If it''s just a mana engineering device¡­it should be possible. Arturo, I thank you for your advice, but I must ask you to leave now. I have important business to take care of."

    Arturo chuckled lightly. "You don''t have to tell me twice. Just make sure you don''t do anything stupid while I''m not here."

    "Tch, as if I need your help with anything."

    "Even as a Demigod you''re still the same¡­it isn''t bad asking for help every once in a while, you know."

    "I''ll ask for help when I need it. I asked you for help just now, didn''t I?"

    ''I think it''s more apt to say you took my unsolicited advice but¡­'' Arturo thought internally. Naturally he wouldn''t say it out loud and upset the woman.

    Still, her behavior brought a smile to his face.

    Reaching the Demigod level wasn''t all fun and games. It wasn''t just power that one could wield freely. These Demigods who chose to stay in the lower universe were always limited by numerous factors.

    Ironically, the most limiting factors were manmade. The endless politics and restrictions made it tiring to even live. The only sce was that time passed extremely fast for these Demigods.

    Their natural lifespan was just too long, making their perception of time distant. Arturo had seen the rise and fall of countless powers and geniuses. He''d seen betrayal and darkness enough to make one convert to the Nox''s side.

    Yet, this woman always remained the same. Here, secluded in her little paradise, she shone with a radiant light that cast away all the darkness around him.

    Without her continued presence, Arturo knew that he might''ve¡­

    Nevertheless, seeing her get up and begin to work, his figure slowly faded. Interrupting her when she was like this was asking for death.

    In his mind, he had to wonder: with the ingenuity this woman showed whenever true danger appeared, could she truly help turn the tides of war without breaking the restriction?

    He could only hope so. From this point on, she became Eden''s most promising route of survival.

    ''That''s a heavy burden to carry alone¡­I dearly hope that it isn''t heavy enough to destroy you.''

    With that Arturo''s figure vanished. Finally, the woman turned around and looked at the spot where he used to be.

    "Just wait a bit longer. When this war is over¡­"

    We can finally have the rtionship we''ve always wanted. She wanted to say these words, but stopped herself.

    Whether they''d live through the war was still unknown.

    Her attention refocused on the task at hand. In her hand, pale green mana coagted into a ball. That ball was slowly molded into the shape of a small humanoid being. With another breath of mana, it was brought to life.

    "Go," the woman said, "take this to Aaliyah and tell her it is a gift from me. It is up to her how she uses it."

    Kyuu~!

    The fairy chirped excitedly and took hold of the spatial ring that was handed to it. Afterwards, it left through a nearby window and shed through space, headed to its destination.

    The woman looked up at the full moon in the sky and sighed.

    ''Hope, huh¡­it''ll still be a few years until its symbols can mature. Please¡­please try to hold out until then.''

 Chapter 647 Hidden Death Valley [1]

    Death Emperor Star in itself held a deste atmosphere. The sky was ck, the soil was ck, the fog permeating the air was ck; as a result of the copious amounts of death mana in this world''s foundation, the entirety of its figure had been painted in its color.

    When Damien teleported to Hidden Death Valley, he didn''t take much time to observe the surroundings for this reason. The ck ins hended in were a dreary and repetitive atmosphere without much variation.

    That didn''t mean that the rest of Death Emperor Star was the same, though. The surrounding 50,000 kilometers or so were regrly maintained by Hidden Death Valley''s staff and geniuses, allowing it to remain free of the rest of the world''s danger.

    Unlike Death Emperor Star''s regr scenery, however, Hidden Death Valley waspletely different. As a premier academy for the universe''s peak geniuses, it naturally had to be up to par.

    Damien was led by the guard to the Administrations Building nearby. Here, he showed his proof of invitation once more and received his identity token and uniform.

    He''d gotten so used to wearing robes at this point that seeing pants and a shirt made him feel strange in afortable way.

    After receiving his student materials and being assigned a private dorm, Damien was essentially given free rein to explore the campus.

    And he did just that. He spent the next two days walking without pause, exploring every nook and cranny of Hidden Death Valley''s main area.

    It was truly a magnificent ce.

    The northern area was sectioned off for training areas alone. There were gravity chambers, virtual battle arenas, dungeon simtors, time dtion capsules, and many more facilities that geniuses could use to speed up their training in a more controlled environment.

    The east was where all the courses were located. The entire eastern portion of Hidden Death Valley was architecturally modeled simrly to a college campus, with students walking about and attending sses to better themselves.

    Naturally, both of these zones required credits to enter and use.

    The western section was residential. Student housing varies depending on one''s rank and contribution points. From the smallest 4 person dorms to thergest personal pces, they all shared the west. In the same vein, there were variousmon areas along with entertainment andmercial districts, making the western area more of arge city than anything else.

    Finally, the south. In truth, Damien was denied entrance when he tried to explore the southern area. The reason was simple: the southern area was entirely military. Once inside, one would experience a living hell of conformity and order. They''d learn to be soldiers and be trained into obedience.

    Though this was a harsh way of putting it, Damien felt that it was most apt. Even if it was for the greater good, Hidden Death Valley was still training geniuses into mere hunting dogs.

    The only way to escape this fate was to stand out enough to stand above it.

    Nevertheless, these four districts had their own names. Arcadia in the north, Daea in the east, Star City in the west, and finally, the south''s Hell Hole.

    The central area was mostly empty aside from amodations for new students. The entirety of the trench Hidden Death Valley was located in was blocked off by a ceiling many tens of kilometers high above every district except the central area.

    The central area opened up to an abyss above that connected to the trench. After all, the trench itself could be used as a training mechanism if one was daring enough. Aside from that, this arrangement allowed Hidden Death Valley to funnel any intruders to a single area where they could be swiftly dealt with away from the academy''s main poption.

    These past two days, Damien rapidly got ustomed to the academy''s environment. From what he could see, most of the geniuses here were wholly focused on themselves, discarding any rtionships or even conflicts that didn''t directly impact their strength.

    Combined with the information he gained from Atticus, Damien felt he had a generally good understanding of the academy itself. And since a genius'' training regime was entirely dependent on themselves, there was no set standard for him to follow after these two days ended.

    Now that he''d ustomed himself to the new environment, it was up to him to decide how to spend his time. But of course, if he wanted to train without worry, he first needed an exorbitant amount of contribution points.

    ''Should I check the mission board first? Or maybe I should go straight for the Mystic Tower¡­?''

    The mission board and Mystic Tower were both located in Star City. While they were both locations where geniuses could find missions to earn contribution points, there was a fundamental difference between them. While the mission board handled tasks strictly within Hidden Death Valley, the Mystic Tower granted tasks in Death Emperor Star.

    Depending on the level of danger one wanted to experience, one could choose between the two. Of course, with Damien''s current situation, the Mystic Tower was his best bet.

    ''I have 6 months until the year-end assessment. If I want to blow mypetition out of the water and gain heavy benefits, I need to put my everything into these 6 months.''

    Damien immediately used a teleportation array to go to Star City. When he arrived, he made a beeline for therge cylindrical tower on the horizon. Its shape and size made it extremely obvious.

    "Zara, I think you cane out now," he said suddenly when he arrived in front of the building.

    "Are you sure? They didn''t register me as a student so¡­" a reply came as Zara''s figure materialized next to him.

    Damien shook his head. "It''s fine. In the worst-case scenario, you can still apany me as my beastpanion. Though, I prefer you join as an individual instead. That way, you can also benefit from the time we spend here."

    "Mm," Zara made a sound of affirmation. She''d realized long ago that clinging to Damien wasn''t the best option for either of them. If she did so, she''d never be able to match his speed of improvement.

    Still, the thought of separating again when they''d just reunited recently made her downcast.

    Damien smiled lightly and patted her head. "What are you thinking? Registering as an individual doesn''t mean separating from me, it just means standing as your own person. Who said we can''t take missions together after you''ve done so?"

    Zara''s eyes brightened immediately as he said it. While to him, there was nothing wrong with his words, it wasn''t the same for her.

    To stand as her own person and not as Damien''s beastpanion¡­didn''t that give her a chance?

    "Remember, men are fickle creatures! If you want a chance with the man you love, be bold! Stand next to him as an equal and make it impossible for him to reject you!"

    Such were the words Tang Lingzi would always tell her. That woman was more excited to push her together with Damien than even she herself was.

    But¡­that didn''t mean Zara was opposed to the idea. The feelings she had for Damien weren''t light. In her eyes, Damien was a childhood friend and the person she trusted most in the world.

    Nevertheless, she''d never considered mating with Damien. This was mainly because he never entertained the idea in the slightest. To him, she was nothing more than a beastpanion and a little sister.

    mes lit up in Zara''s eyes. She didn''t quite understand the human concepts of romance, but she knew that she wasn''t satisfied with the current distant rtionship she had with Damien. Even if there was no romance involved, she still wanted to be someone who could stand by his side as an equal, an individual.

    Damien smiled when he saw her face light up, unknowing of the thoughts in her head. Beckoning her to follow, he soon entered the Mystic Tower.

 Chapter 648 Hidden Death Valley [2]

    The Mystic Tower had a total of 8 floors that categorized tasks from least to most difficult.

    Hidden Death Valley was a ce for geniuses, but not all geniuses had the same starting point or ssifications. For instance, there were even kids in Hidden Death Valley who hadn''t reached 16 yet.

    The lowest floor''s tasks were doable even by 2nd ss beings. These were usually patrol tasks or cleanup tasks in the portion of Death Emperor Star that''d already been imed by the academy.

    The difficulty of tasks jumped with every floor one climbed in the Mystic Tower. By the 5th floor, tasks began appearing that even the strongest 3rd ss beings couldn''t face.

    Damien didn''t stop at the 5th floor, though. These tasks were around the level an early 4th ss being could handle, but that didn''t apply to him. The tasks he wanted could only be on the 6th floor.

    The 7th floor was forte-stage or even peak 4th-ss experts. As for the 8th floor, only extreme peak 4th-ss masters and Demigods had the right to enter.

    Damien wasn''t curious about these floors. He was well aware that he could only flee if he encountered ate-stage 4th-ss master. As for those above that level, he didn''t even have to mention it. It''d be instant death.

    The 6th floor alone was more than enough for his strength level. The tasks he saw weren''t small, after all.

    ying powerful demonic beasts, exploring mystical environments, capturing heavenly materials that''d been sighted, the tasks were numerous and varied, giving Damien almost too many options to choose from.

    But he didn''t take nearly as long as he expected to make a choice. When his eyesnded on a single task, he couldn''t peel them away anymore.

    ===

    Explore the Emperor Bone Sea

    The Emperor Bone Sea has remained unexplored even with Hidden Death Valley''s continued existence. Explore and map the sea to your best abilities. Contribution point rewards will vary depending on the detail and precision of the plotted map along with any other provided insights.

    Base Reward: 100 contribution points per 1000 kilometers of explored area.

    ===

    Of the present tasks, this one was perhaps the vaguest. After all, there was no clear agenda in this exploration. The only requirement was to map the area as one explored.

    The fact that nobody took the mission despite the presumable ease of its contents made Damien wonder about the Emperor Bone Sea''s existence. If it was truly a ce where mid-level 4th-ss beings couldn''t survive, it wouldn''t be on the 6th floor of the Mystic Tower.

    But at the same time, if the environment was survivable, this task wouldn''t be avable for Damien to choose from.

    ''Still, I''ve always wanted to explore the seas. Even before the World Awakening, we didn''t know much about the seas on earth. Comparatively, the seas of Death Emperor Star have probably existed for thousands of times longer. The mysteries hidden in their depths¡­''

    While the arrangement ofs changed as Earth integrated with the rest of the Human Domain, it was still true that earthlings knew more about space than their own oceans. The information they''d gained on celestial bodies, save for the more mystical elements like World Cores, was mostly true.

    Yet, the oceans still remained a mystery.

    Especially with the intrusion of mana,rge bodies of water like oceans and seas weren''t even explored by the strongest humans. With the brutality of the ocean''s atmosphere, it was unknown if even a Demigod could survive its deepest depths.

    Even Damien''s bound World Cores refused to allow him to explore the ocean with his awareness using them as mediums.

    But this was exactly what made Damien anticipate exploring it so much.

    New civilizationspletely untouched by non-aquatic life, new environments and ecosystems that functioned in apletely different manner than those onnd, the thought of discovering these things made Damien''s spirit of adventure light up with fervor.

    After getting Zara''s opinion and confirming that she didn''t mind this task, he immediately epted it.

    epting tasks from the Mystic Tower was too easy. Damien merely had to bring the mission paper up to his identity token, thereafter having it scanned and recorded in his student log. For the next month, this mission was reserved for him. If he was unable toplete it and/or return in that time, the mission would be returned to the board.

    Damien left the Mystic Tower feeling refreshed. The Mystic Tower and mission board reminded him of the half a year he spent as an adventurer on Apeiron. It was a nostalgic feeling that made him feel giddy and young.

    For the rest of the day, Damien took Zara around Star City to explore its various sights and enjoyed its delicacies. They even visited a sort of virtual reality game cafe where they entered a simtion and messed around to their hearts'' content.

    Day turned to night, the artificial sunlight bathing Hidden Death Valley vanishing over the pseudo-horizon. When darkness overcame the area, Star City became aze with light.

    "Wow¡­" Zara muttered as she watched the city glow. She''d never seen anything like it before.

    Damien couldn''t help but whistle as well. While he''d seen plenty of futuristic technologies in the unnamed world, that world''s denizenscked aesthetic sense. They built every building with practicality and functionality as their only thoughts.

    A scene like this one, the beauty of technology, only Chongqing on Earth couldpare to even a fraction of this city''s magnificence.

    "This isn''t a moment to be wasted. Come, let''s go see what the city has in store for us!" Damien eximed with excitement.

    "Mm!" Zara hummed in agreement. She grabbed his hand and ran into the skyline, happilyughing as she enjoyed the ambiance they''d created.

    The two were like children at their first amusement park. They let go of all worries, all cares about face, all responsibilities, and took just a single night to enjoy themselves to the fullest. They drank, they danced, they turned the city into their yground.

    And by the time they arrived in front of Damien''s dorm room, they could barely be considered sober.

    "Damiennn~" Zara slurred, "I feel funny~"

    She felt tingly and giddy all over. Her head was spinning, but that just made the world more fun. Whenever she had a thought, she''d find it exiting her mouth in the next second. She found it funny how little control she had over her inhibitions at the moment.

    Her first time getting tipsy was an experience she wouldn''t forget¡­at least, as long as she didn''t drink until she dropped.

    Damien held onto her with his arm wrapped around her shoulder, supporting her movements. Watching Zara clumsily maneuver herself, he burst out into a fit ofughter.

    "Whaaat~? What''s so funny? Show me, show me~!" Zara said, shaking him as she did so.

    "Nothing, nothing," Damien responded while trying to hide hisughter. "You seem to be having fun tonight."

    "Of couurse~!" Zara responded, "human drinks are¡­very fun¡­!"''

    Damien shook his head smilingly. He had to make a mental note to keep Zara away from alcohol. But, that could wait for a different day.

    Tonight, they would do anything they wanted and celebrate the start of a new journey.

    As the two moved to enter Damien''s dorm room, however, a voice suddenly rang out from behind them.

    "You¡­are you Damien Void?"

 Chapter 649 Conflict [1]

    "You¡­are you Damien Void?"

    When Damien turned around, the visage of a blonde-haired man with an upturned nose was revealed to him.

    "That would be me. And you are?" Damien responded curiously. There wasn''t any reason for people at the academy to know his name yet, so he had to wonder who the person in front of him was.

    "Hmph. I am Julius Wellspring. Though, I guess that means nothing to a back alley street thug like you." Julius responded haughtily.

    "Ah? My bad, I didn''t hear you. Can you repeat that for me?" Damien responded.

    "Hah, you''re hard of hearing too? Really, I have to wonder how far nepotism can get y¡ª"

    Bang!

    A fist swiftly connected with the right side of Julius'' face. With a guttural cracking sound, his body was sent flying backwards. Damien stood where Julius was previously, shaking his fist.

    "Tch. Who did I piss off this time?"

    A random strangering up to him and tantly trying to provoke him smelled an awful lot like the plot of some pompous genius who wanted to test or make trouble for him. Naturally, Damien hadn''t been in the Divine Realm long enough to make enemies like this, but he realized that there were a few other cases in which he inadvertently drew attention to himself.

    Firstly, his rank on the Dimensional Leaderboard. His sudden rise would obviously cause eyes to turn towards him. However, Damien himself was still hidden. The only one who''d seen his visage was Atticus, so nobody could match his name to his face.

    Still, this was likely part of the cause. The second was none other than Atticus. Since Damien entered Hidden Death Valley with Atticus'' rmendation, he''d been marked as a part of Atticus'' faction by others who knew of him. Enemies of Atticus or Fallen Star Holy Land would regard him as someone Atticus favored, which made him a good target to pressure to indirectly hurt Atticus.

    "Haa, this is why I always stay away from politics. These assholes just entertain each other with bullshit all the time like they have nothing better to do. Seriously¡­"

    "Y-you¡­! You dare attack me?!" Julius'' voice boomed through the surroundings, interrupting Damien''sints.

    "Hm? Didn''t you fall unconscious?"

    "That is none of your concern! I am the heir to the Wellspring Family of Immortal Blood Holy Land! You''ll pay for offending me!"

    ''So it was Immortal Blood Holy Land or at least someone rted to them¡­I guess this is why Atticus specifically mentioned to stay away from them.'' Damien thought to himself. But outwardly, he continued to taunt Julius.

    As he''d just found out, thetter was an idiot! Fishing information out of him would be too easy.

    "¡­the Wellspring Family is probably just some minor family in Immortal Blood Holy Land anyway. You give off the smell of a leashed dog."

    "How dare you?!" Julius roared. While Damien wasn''t exactly correct, it was true that the Wellspring Family was essentially a group of dogs.

    However, the masters they served were none other than those of the Bloodlock lineage, Immortal Blood Holy Land''s Lord n! The Immortal Blood Asura who ruled Immortal Blood Holy Land was a member of this lineage, and the rest were his descendants.

    The Wellspring Family was heaven and earthpared to other dogs.

    And while being someone''s ve was humiliating for any genius, being a Bloodlock''s ve meant there was no point in resisting this fate.

    ? Julius in particr was a person who perfectly assimted into his dog position.

    Nevertheless, even other high families of Immortal Blood Holy Land wouldn''t dare to call the Wellspring Family a group of dogs. The power they possessed couldn''t be underestimated.

    Now, a random hick who just joined Hidden Death Valley actually had the audacity to say those forbidden words?

    Julius couldn''t ept it!

    "I challenge you to a duel!" He shouted.

    The academy emblem on his uniform glowed with blue light. Aser-like beam of light left it and connected to the matching emblem on Damien''s chest.

    A holographic prompt appeared in front of his eyes.

    [You have received a duel request from Rank 10,341, [Julius Wellspring]. Please choose ept or Deny.]

    [ept]

    [Deny]

    Damien raised his brow. He was aware of the dueling system, but he didn''t think he''d be using it so soon.

    Hidden Death Valley had its own leaderboard called Heaven''s List, and the positions on this leaderboard were determined through ranked duels. Any student could challenge any other whenever they wished, but the other party had the choice whether or not to ept.

    Every duel that took ce in this manner was ranked, and if the Heaven''s List judged that the strength difference between the two fighters wasn''t too vast, denying a duel request would lower one''s overall average and affect their ranking.

    This judgement was based on one''s position in the ranking. Since Damien wasn''t even on Heaven''s List yet, rejecting the duel wouldn''t impact him in any way.

    Still, did he have any reason to do so?

    "You''re not even in the Top 10,000? Isn''t your master underestimating me too much?" Damien taunted. He didn''t hesitate to click the holographic ept button.

    The second he did, he and Julius were covered in a sh of blue light. Around them, a kilometer-wide holographic arena formed.

    This holographic arena was the special technology that allowed Heaven''s List to function. It was simr to the virtual battle arenas in Arcadia, except one could use their true body to fight.

    Only, killing was allowed. When a genius either died or was too wounded to continue, the barrier''s enchantment would activate, teleporting them out and restoring them to peak condition.

    From Damien''s understanding of it, the barrier worked using abination of space and time magic, along with another force that he wasn''t aware of. Regardless, it was the perfect arena for geniuses to go all out without risking any true harm or destruction.

    Of course, the mental damage left by what happened in the arena would remain. While it was a haven for upright students, it was just as favorable to those cruel individuals who enjoyed toying with their prey.

    Damien eyed Julius as thetter pulled out a rapier and charged it with mana. His eyes were indifferent to it all.

    "Rank 10,000, you can''t even touch my sleeves with that level of strength." He said.

    A vicious grin spread on his face. "Then, let me leave a big gift for your master. Let''s see how he reacts."

    A reddish-ck gleam colored Damien''s eyes. And in the next instant, his body flickered out of existence.

    ***

    Outside the holographic barrier, Zara stood by herself. After Damien''s interaction with Julius, she''d already used mana to sober up.

    Her eyes were cold as she watched the barrier. For someone to actually dare bully Damien¡­

    A vicious glint filled her eyes. It should''ve been her in the barrier. It should''ve been her ripping that Julius person to shreds.

    She felt a brewing killing intent that she could barely suppress.

    And as if fate was on her side, the barrier began to vanish soon after.

    Damien and Julius rematerialized in the physical world. While Damien stood the same as he always was, Julius was already on the floor, trembling.

    "Yo!" Damien said when he saw Zara. "I was thinking about torturing this guy, but it was a bit boring with his weak resistance. So I had a thought: wouldn''t this be the best way to introduce you to the academy?"

    "That barrier is a real treat. Besides a little emotional trauma, he really doesn''t have any wounds left. It''s hard to believe that he was fused to the ground a few seconds ago¡­anyways, since you''re currently just my beastpanion, it should count as a continuation of the previous challenge, so we can bypass the consecutive challenges rule. Do you want to have a go at him?"

    Zara didn''t hesitate for even a single second. Nodding her head eagerly, she copied what Julius did a few minutes prior and sent him a challenge request.

    Julius'' body shivered, caked in a cold sweat. Every fiber of his being begged him to deny the challenge.

    But with Damien hovering over him like this, there was no way he could do that. The terrors he''d experienced in the mere minute he was trapped in the barrier with Damien had left a deep scar in his mind.

    With an expression like he''d break out into tears at any second, Julius unwillingly hit the ept button, swiftly being transported into the arena with Zara soon after.

    Now, only Damien stood outside the barrier. He looked at it with a light smile on his face.

    ''I bet she''s having a ton of fun in there...''

 Chapter 650 Conflict [2]

    Compared to the minute Damien spent with Julius in the duel arena, Zara and Julius remained inside for an entire 5 minutes.

    When the barrier finally receded, a happily smiling Zara skipped over to Damien.

    "That was a lot of fun! I didn''t know it felt so good to relieve stress. We should do this more often!" She said excitedly.

    "Dummy!" Damien replied, knocking on her forehead. "We can''t just go traumatizing random strangers on the side of the street. Just rx and wait for the enemies toe find us. Then, you can y around to your heart''s content."

    "But how do you know they''lle for us?" Zara asked.

    Damien shrugged. "I mean, if we send theirckey back looking like that, don''t you think they''d feel at least a little provoked?"

    He pointed at Julius'' slumped figure. He was prone on the ground with his rear pointing skyward. His mouth foamed and his eyes were dull and empty.

    "Sheesh, what the hell did you do to him? I think his spiritual world copsed entirely from the stress." Damienmented in wonder and a bit of fear. Zara''s methods had always been on the crueler side.

    In response, Zara shed a bright smile like sunshine lighting up a gloomy day. "Hm? I just showed him the first four moves from Master''s ''Asshole Men Should Suffer'' technique set. Did I go overboard?"

    "Cough, n-no you didn''t¡­Tang Lingzi, she¡­never mind."

    Damien coughed awkwardly and shook the matter off. Since he and Zara were so close, he never needed to worry about experiencing Tang Lingzi''s terrifying skill set¡­right?

    Its name alone made him shudder in fear. But in this case, it did work in his favor. He''d been nning topletely break Julius from the start.

    A savage grin spread on his face. He''d always been the type to avoid trouble or cut the weeds and stomp the roots whenever he met a troublesome situation. He''d lived a rtively straightforward life because of this trait of his.

    He wasn''t a fan of needless conflict and unnecessary esction.

    But that was in normal times.

    Right now, Damien wanted strength as fast as possible. To grow, he needed as much conflict as he could stomach.

    As he started to shine brighter and brighter in Hidden Death Valley, people would inevitably start viewing him differently. Some might even back off and attempt to befriend him based on their projections of his potential.

    He needed to make sure there was at least one powerful adversary that had animosity so great that they''d pursue him regardless of consequence, to the point of self-destruction.

    Only then could he create a viin that''d keep him entertained.

    The rumors he''d heard about Immortal Blood Holy Land werergely negative, and they were also Fallen Star Holy Land''s enemy. Fallen Star Holy Land wasn''t a close friend of Damien''s, but he at least had a favorable impression of them due to Atticus¡­

    "¡­no. Needlessly justifying my actions will only delude me into a godplex."

    Damien stopped himself from thinking about the bigger picture. He knew deep down that he didn''t care about those conflicts at all. Growing his personal strength, this selfish reason was why he decided to oppose Immortal Blood Holy Land.

    After experiencing the Challenge Gate, Damien no longer wanted to reject who he was. His general indifference towards others and selfishness weren''t traits he could change. They were defining parts of his personality and traits he developed from those years he spent alone and rabid like a beast.

    He only needed to quell this indifference for the people he cared about. For those that didn''t fit this category, he no longer felt the need to consider them enough to justify how he acted towards them.

    He did what he wanted. If they didn''t like how he carried himself, they could stay away from him. And if they decided to oppose him¡­

    Julius'' slumped body disappeared and reappeared in Damien''s hand. He walked over to his private dorm''s door and put his finger about 1/4th of the way down from the top.

    Bzzt!

    World Force gathered and solidified. The door began to morph. The wood that made up its surface collected and extended into a spike jutting out from the top of the door.

    After controlling the earth below to fill the gaps left by the wood he used to make the spike, Damien took Julius and hung his body from it for all to see.

    "Come on, let''s see what our home for the next few years looks like," Damien told Zara with a smile after doing so.

    Zara smiled back and waltzed forward. Together, the two entered the room as if nothing happened.

    After checking the room out a bit, the two went about their own business for the night. Zara meditated to feel the Shadow Laws around her, which were especially present due to Hidden Death Valley''s particr location. As for Damien, he began thinking about a n for theing mission.

    Night turned to day quickly. After all, most of the night had already been spent by Damien and Zara enjoying Star City. Only a few hours after their altercation with Julius, the artificial sun rose over the horizon and painted the academy with light.

    As more and more people stepped outside to start their days, Julius'' body was immediately discovered.

    A crowd gathered around Damien''s dorm room. People used various recording devices to take pictures and videos of Julius, which spread through the academy like wildfire.

    Still, Damien''s name entering Heaven''s List went unnoticed. The points he got from defeating Julius only put him around the 50,000s in the end, most likely because his strength was evaluated to far surpass his opponent''s.

    As people excitedly began to wonder about and search for the owner of this new private dorm''s identity, a different scene was taking ce in a pce on the other side of Star City.

    A man with bloody red hair and crimson eyes sat on a throne. A servant kneeled before him, showing him an image of Julius and reciting the events that were taking ce outside.

    Kacha!

    The wine ss in the man''s hand shattered, the stench of blood wafting from the wine stains that formed.

    "I see," he muttered. "Atticus'' new dog¡­what an interesting guy."

    A smile spread on his face. Despite his curious tone, his expression was frighteningly cold. A terrifying killing intent leaked from his eyes.

    "You''ve only just arrived, but you so boldly provoke me¡­interesting, how interesting."

    He continued repeating his words. The kneeling servant shivered in fear, not daring to move an inch from his spot.

    "Just a dog¡­you''re just a dog¡­what gave you the confidence¡­?!"

    The man''s ruthless expression shifted back to its previous indifference in an instant.

    "It doesn''t matter. You, send someone stronger than that pathetic Wellspring brat. I don''t have the time to care about the actions of the Fallen Star Holy Son''s dogs. If he keeps acting up, though¡­I might have to consider showing my dear friend how to properly discipline his pets."

    A wicked smile spread across his face as he spoke. Standing up, he left the throne room.

    The kneeling servant''s head fell to the floor as he did so.

    The man took a sip of the crimson wine that''d just filled his ss.

    "Damien Void, was it? I look forward to seeing the source of your confidence."

 Chapter 651 Emperor Bone Sea [1]

    That day was a slow one.

    The entire Hidden Death Valley was in an uproar over Julius'' incident. After his body was taken down from Damien''s door and inspected, it was found that his mind hadpletely copsed with no hope of recovery. Even taking the duel arena into consideration, the level of mental duress he needed to endure to reach this point was absurd.

    Naturally, the cruelty of Julius'' situation caused people to wonder about the one that left him in such a state. As people with higher and higher status became curious, the name Damien Void was revealed to the public.

    However, just as before, nobody was able to associate a face with this name. Damien was simply too new and hadn''t had the chance to do any proper work in the academy yet.

    Nevertheless, the nature of their circumstances didn''t stop Damien or Zara from freely meandering the sect. With his spatial abilities and her concealment abilities, nobody could detect them when they left the dorm.

    Themotion slowly died down within a few days. While Julius'' state was rare to see, geniuses taking severe mental damage in the duel arena was amon urrence. People only thought it was a shame that such a genius was reduced to this state and, at the same time, they wondered what the Wellspring Family''s reaction to his death would be.

    What they did know for certain were two things. Firstly, Damien Void wasn''t someone to be messed with. And secondly, his true worth would be revealed based on the Wellspring Family''s response.

    ''How troublesome.'' Damien thought as he rxed in a cafe and listened to the conversations around him. ''This Wellspring Family seems like a big group of assholes with tiny egos. Most likely, my expedition into the Emperor Bone Sea won''t be peaceful¡­''

    If the Wellspring Family wanted information on his whereabouts, it wouldn''t be hard for them to receive them. And it wasn''t just them. The Bloodlock Prince Damien had gone to great lengths to offend would also send pursuers after him.

    Since he''d already epted the mission, there was no way for Damien to back out from the challenge. To drop a mission without just cause, one needed contribution points.

    ''I need to prepare for the worst-case scenario. I can be sure that no Demigods will be sent after me, so I at least have assurance that I can run if things get too big for me to handle. Aside from that¡­''

    He stood up and left the cafe after paying for his drink and perused Star City''s streets. To say the city was convenient was an understatement. Unlike most facilities in Hidden Death Valley, a majority of the shops in Star City took currency cards as a valid payment method. This meant that as long as he was in Star City, Damien was rich.

    It would be stupid to ignore this advantage.

    He had plenty of preparations to make before going to the Emperor Bone Sea. Of Death Emperor Star''s danger zones, it was one of the most mysterious. The reports he''d seen made the ecosystem seem evolved specifically to kill those who dared to intrude. But even then, he''d only been able to find information on the sea''s outskirts.

    His mission would take him far beyond that.

    ''Haa, I''ve only been rich for a few months and now I''ll have to spend so much of it in one ce. My heart can''t take this.''

    Despite his thoughts, Damien wasn''t frugal in his spending. In order to attain the best results possible, he spent as much money as he needed to.

    And thus, two days passed.

    The time for his mission to begin was upon him.

    ***

    The past two days were mostly uneventful. While Damien made preparations for the mission, Zara was actually the more active one among them.

    Her first stop on the day after ruining Julius was the administrations building. As Damien suggested, she decided to enter Hidden Death Valley as an individual.

    It was hard to tell since she spent most of her time shadowing Damien, but Zara was a freak of nature in her own right. Even whenpared to Damien''s wives, who were all peak talents, Zara was still superior.

    It had to be remembered, Zara reached 4th ss far before Damien. The only reason their strengths remained simr is because she didn''t do too much training after she reached this level, instead opting to wait for Damien to match her.

    Since she was the one who put them on an even ying field, she couldn''tin if she ran into a situation where he surpassed her by leagues. The only thing she could do was diligently work to increase her personal strength.

    As Damien said, personally registering was extremely important for her future growth.

    The registration was much smoother than either she or Damien expected. Her strength had already been proven in her duel with Julius, and since she was the contracted beast of a genius rmended by a Paragon, she had a degree of security when it came to her identity.

    After her background was checked and her strength verified, Zara was handed the Hidden Death Valley uniform as Damien was before. Since Damien was still in the process of preparing for their expedition, Zara decided to spend her time wisely.

    She returned to the dorm room and went through the information Damien obtained on the Emperor Bone Sea. She didn''t want to hold him back due to her own naivety.

    After memorizing everything over the course of a day, she spent the next day purely training. Her routine mainly consisted of individual training since she couldn''t yet ess Arcadia''s training centers, but she wasn''t shy about challenging other geniuses.

    Her rank steadily rose during the time she had. With only a day of beating up those who epted her challenge, her rank had already surpassed Damien''s.

    Still, this didn''t mean anything to her. Right now, neither of their ranks reflected their strengths.

    At the end of the second day, Zara returned to the dorm exhausted. She''d learned a myriad of techniques from Tang Lingzi and practicing them took a lot out of her. Slowly but surely, she was unraveling the Shadow Laws'' mysteries, understanding the fusion of light and darkness that resulted in her affinity.

    The Zara right now was a beast waiting to be unleashed. And she was truly anticipating the moment she was.

    Emperor Bone Sea¡­sounded like the perfect ce to fuel her evolution.

    Damien arrived in the dorm not long after Zara. When the two met, they spent a few hours going over the information they had before resting their minds and bodies.

    When dawn arrived upon them once more, they already stood in Hidden Death Valley''s central area.

    Here, aside from the administrative buildings and main security site, there were portals connecting to various locations across Death Emperor Star.

    After all, the danger zones of this world weren''t close to each other at all. It wouldn''t reflect well on the academy if their students died in transit to their destinations. This portal system was an assurance that those who died would at least do so without embarrassing themselves. At the same time, it made sure that the academy could properly respond to any situation on Death Emperor Star regardless of distance.

    It was a measure of both convenience and safety.

    Right now, Damien and Zara were using this exact method to reach the Emperor Bone Sea.

    With their mission registered in the academy''s database, it didn''t take long for them to gain ess to the portals.

    And only a few minutester, their figures vanished from Hidden Death Valley.

 Chapter 652 Emperor Bone Sea [2]

    The location was a tall cliff overlooking the Emperor Bone Sea. Here, a small one-story building was present. Only a single old woman resides here. The rest who passed through its doors were merely travelers.

    Today, two of such travelers arrived in her residence. After seeing to it that they were safe, she watched them leave without a change of expression.

    Most likely, she''d never see those two again. The Emperor Bone Sea was too perilous for people of their strength level.

    Naturally, the two travelers the old woman met were Damien and Zara. Currently, they stood at the precipice of the tall cliff and looked down at the Emperor Bone Sea, taking in its demonic majesty.

    The air above the sea was filled with thick killing intent that almost coagted into a fog. From various locations, structures of rock and minerals jutted out of the sea''s waters. From above, it was hard to see any signs of life within.

    After all, the Emperor Bone Sea was pure ck in color. This wasn''t due to the color of the water itself, but due to the sea''s terrifying depths. It was hard to imagine the abyss that hid below.

    "It was said that the sea''s nature was influenced by an Emperor Beast who died in its depths. ording to the rumors, that beast''s skeleton still rests at the bottom, and some of these strange protrusions we see are actually broken pieces of that skeleton." Damien muttered.

    "Mm, if possible, I want to know if those rumors are true. A beast that was able to gain the title of Emperor Beast, even a portion of its skeleton will be of great help to my training." Zara continued.

    The two stood for a few moments staring into the deathly sea. Damien''s sigh was the first thing to break their silence.

    "We''ve prepared as much as possible. While it would be a lie to say I''m not feeling hesitant right now, I guess there''s nothing else for us to do here." He finally said.

    Their mission was simply to scout. Anything else that took ce in the Emperor Bone Sea could only be considered training. As much as Damien wanted to stand on this cliff and organize his thoughts, he knew there was no point in doing so.

    "Are you ready?" He asked lightly.

    "Always," Zara responded with a smile.

    Together, the two stepped off the cliff, allowing their bodies to plummet into the sea below.

    ***

    Crash!

    An eruption of ckish-blue water shot into the air when the two hit the sea. Their bodies immediately submerged within as if weighed down by something.

    Kacha!

    Without hesitation, they coated their bodies in mana and isted themselves from the surrounding water.

    They''d already been exposed to the Emperor Bone Sea''s first danger: the water itself.

    Even after isting themselves with mana, the two could feel a ck sludge-like substance sticking to their bodies. This sludge was the water''s residue, and contained both poisonous and illusory properties.

    Damien began seeing terrifying images of his own cruel death. Depictions of him being tortured and humiliated, of him losing those he loved only to be betrayed by hisst strand of hope, depictions that could alter any normal person''s mental state beyond repair.

    But to Damien, these illusions meant nothing. He easily shattered their influence. Especially after experiencing the Challenge Gate, he felt that most illusions becameckluster.

    The poison, on the other hand, truly did its best to ruin his body. Because of Damien''s strong bodily defenses, this small amount of poison couldn''t even enter his system. However, his skin was melted off in countless ces where the poison tried to invade.

    Damien wasn''t the strongest, but he wasn''t weak. Developing countermeasures against the Emperor Bone Sea''s waters was the basic requirement one needed to meet to explore it.

    When he finished dealing with the water''s effects, he looked over at Zara just in time to see her do the same. Unlike him, she willingly absorbed the poison and used it to further her Laws.

    "It looks like you''ll gain a lot more from this ce than I will." He said with a smirk.

    "Then you''ll just have to work that much harder to catch up to me," Zara replied without hesitation.

    "Oho? When did my little Zara be so bold?"

    "Hmph! I''m not little anymore!"

    "Alright, alright."

    The two smiled at each other before ncing deeper into the sea. Their objective was to travel farther not deeper, but if they wanted to face the Emperor Bone Sea''s reality, they needed to reach its depths.

    After exchanging nods, the two used mana to propel themselves through the water. Their bodies shot through the sea like torpedos on a downward slope, traveling deeper and further at once.

    Their first 1,000 kilometers were easy. This much was bearable at their level.

    However, 100 contribution points were only enough to reserve an hour of time at one of Arcadia''s training centers. It wasn''t even close to enough for them.

    Still, the two didn''t move on immediately. First, Damien used spiritual intent to mark a jade slip with information about the depth and distance they''d traveled, along with the organisms and dangers they''d seen along the way.

    After adding a second marker to specify his current position, he put the jade slip away and began moving once more.

    But it was like they hit a wall. The second they crossed the first 1,000 kilometers, the mild Emperor Bone Sea they''d been experiencing vanished, reced by a ce befitting of its rumors.

    "Zara, behind!" Damien yelled.

    Zara moved without thinking, turning into a shadow and reappearing hundreds of meters away. Just as she did so¡­

    OOOOH!

    A bellow spread through the water around them, rattling their eardrums. As Damien and Zara watched on, a mystical scene urred.

    The glistening silver body of a massive creature filled their vision. Tens of kilometers were covered in its breadth, but when they observed it, they could only see characteristics of a regr fish species.

    The creature swam past the two as if they didn''t exist. Its body agilely cut through the water, moving at speeds that didn''t match its size at all.

    The creature suddenly made an arc. Its mouth opened wide and an immense suction force was emitted into the space a few hundred meters from Damien and Zara!

    In their eyes, this creature was simply drinking water. But as their awareness spread, they found countless organisms in the ckness that the creature was devouring. These fishes blended perfectly with the surrounding water to the point where their visages were entirely concealed even from Damien, yet that creature was able to find them instantly.

    In that moment, Damien felt like he got a glimpse into the sea''s ecosystem. A glimpse into something humans hadn''t yet explored enough to adapt to.

    But just as he marveled over that creature, blood sttered from its neck and painted the ckness red.

    A pale gleam shed near the creature''s body. There, a much smaller but far uglier being sat concealed.

    Xiu!

    The sound of its body cutting through the water was piercing. With every movement, it causes another gash in therge creature''s body. Chunks of flesh floated away, only to be devoured by the smaller beast.

    Within seconds, therge creature had been wholly devoured without an ounce of resistance.

    And with the smell of blood polluting the waters, things were sure to rapidly be hectic.

 Chapter 653 Emperor Bone Sea [3]

    20 shadows appeared on the precipice of the Emperor Bone Sea.

    The auras they emanated were light and airy, almost nonexistent. But if one was skilled enough, they''d be able to see the terrifying power hidden in these individuals'' bodies.

    This group consisted of experts, with the weakest of them being mid-level 4th ss existences. And the reason they gathered today¡­

    Was for the sake of killing one man, a man weaker than even their weakest.

    The group was made up of two different forces, easily distinguished by the emblems on their clothes. Despite their seemingly covert actions, they didn''t hide their affiliations.

    On 9 of their arms was the Wellspring Family''s emblem, and on the other 11, a veiled moon. Though this emblem didn''t mean anything to the untrained eye, anyone with a vast informationwork would understand that these 11 were special forces that answered directly to the Bloodlock Family.

    No words were exchanged between them. With a single nce from the two leaders at their helm, they dove into the Emperor Bone Sea below, steadily pursuing their prey.

    They had supreme confidence in their own abilities. The second they found him, that man would die.

    End of discussion.

    ***

    "We need to go. Now." Damien muttered solemnly.

    Just as he spoke, he felt a subtle vibration in the water around him. His instinct clearly delineated that the approaching danger would be too much for him to handle.

    Ha!

    He reached out and grabbed Zara''s arm, galvanizing his mana to push him as fast as possible. A small field of altered time enveloped them as well, further increasing their speed.

    sh!

    Their figures disappeared, reappearing 100 kilometers away. Rapidly, Damien took out his information jade slip and began jotting down everything he saw.

    They''d only recently passed the 1000-kilometer mark, and the fact that the danger level shot up so drastically was worrying.

    But now, the only choice they had was to continue forward. After all, when they looked at the direction they came from¡­

    A festival of blood was taking ce. Various sea creatures of unknown identity appeared from the darkness as if they''d beenying in wait the entire time. Themotion grew without end, soon expanding until even the 100 kilometers Damien and Zara fled were epassed in the violence.

    "Tch!" Damien clicked his tongue as he teleported them further away. At the same time, he marveled at the insanity before him.

    A tiny fish around the size of a finger shot through the waters without fear, entering the fray. Surrounding it were species far bigger and stronger than it, some even having many kilometer-long bodies.

    Xiu!

    Bang!

    The tiny fish cut through a gap between two of itspetitors just as the smaller one''s razor-sharp teeth tore open therger one''s body. Unassuming in its gait, this tiny fish consumed a portion of the dead beast''s body without any others noticing.

    It continued through the battlefield and by the time a few minutes passed, that tiny fish was alreadyrger than a human man. The evolution speed of this organism, or rather, all organisms in the ocean''s chaotic environment was absurd.

    Nevertheless, Damien and Zara kept moving. The smell of blood continued to permeate the sea, leading the expanding conflict to grow greater and greater with every passing second. The beasts at the head of this massive battle royale were already around Damien''s strength level, and they were only getting stronger with time.

    Damien begrudgingly pulled his eyes away from the chaos and directed his gaze deeper. He could feel multiple presences on the horizon, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

    ''Only one will survive.'' He realized.

    Hundreds, thousands of 4th ss existences were slowly embroiled in the chaos. Damien could instinctually feel that all of these beasts would be sustenance for a single being.

    As for which being that was? That depended wholly on the victor of this battle royale.

    ''This is¡­simply impossible for other species. It''s only possible because of the ocean''s strange environment and the sheer amount of sentient life within. Even if one tried to replicate this scene on the surface, it would just copse the existing ecosystem and run the area into ruin.''

    An environment of insanity like this could rapidly produce powerful existences. Yet, all these powerful existences would eventually be prey for even stronger existences. In Damien''s mind, he felt that the ocean was the rawest representation of the universe''s functionality.

    In the end, one was either prey or predator. Even as a predator, one would still be prey. The only way to survive was to kill, grow, and stand above everyone and everything else.

    He and Zara began moving once more. They no longer had the strength to stay and watch the proceedings. But just as they decided to leave, a school of beasts broke off from the masses and rapidly pursued them!

    ''Shit!''

    Damien immediately increased his speed. If he fought here, he''d inevitably be dragged into the massive conflict. His only option was to flee!

    He darted through the water almost as agilely as a fish. As he experienced the feeling more, he realized how simr the deep ocean was to space. His movement abilities inherently improved when he started mimicking spatial techniques to traverse.

    Suddenly, a glint caught his eye. The smell of fresh air inadvertently filled his nose. Without hesitation, he pulled Zara and moved in that direction.

    "Damien, wait! That is¡­!" Zara tried to say, but unfortunately, she didn''t have time to finish her words.

    The duo burst through the water and arrived in a ce free of it. As they looked around, they discovered a massive tree floating in the middle of the sea.

    It wasn''t anchored to anything, its roots didn''t extend into the ground. It merely floated as if it were dead bark, but it clearly gave off an aura of life.

    "This¡­the tree has created an air pocket around it?" Damien muttered. He heard Zara''s panic loud and clear before they entered this space, and he was now examining it to the best of his abilities to find anything wrong.

    "Zara, why did you try to stop me?" He asked as he did so.

    Zara shook her head. "It''s nothing. I just thought this tree looked familiar¡­"

    "Familiar?"

    "Mm, I remember seeing something like this in the notes you had in the dorm. But now that I look at the tree closely, it seems different."

    Damien''s eyes hardened upon hearing her words. Even if she was doubting her thoughts now, it didn''t mean they had no validity.

    Damien thought back on everything he knew about the Emperor Bone Sea as he further examined the tree.

    And at that moment, it suddenly clicked.

    "We''re¡­fucked."

    Existing without roots, creating air pockets to sustain itself, these features indeed mirrored a species Damien had researched before leaving.

    But this tree was different. Zara was right about that.

    The Unrestrained Life Tree was a species that mainly lived off the discarded remains of other beings left in the ocean. In simpler terms, it was a bottom feeder.

    However, its carnivorous nature was still true.

    And just like most other species, this tree had an equal and opposite.

    The Unrestrained Death Tree.

    Unlike its cousin, the Unrestrained Death Tree wasn''t satisfied with mere scraps. No, this tree was far deadlier.

    And judging by its proximity to the ongoing chaos¡­

    It was definitely the initiator of this battle royale.

 Chapter 654 Emperor Bone Sea [4]

    The Unrestrained Death Tree had two main abilities.

    The toxins it spread into the water around it could affect the emotions of those who passed through them, driving them mad with bloodlust. This ability would naturally cause a scene like the current one, a scene that was rtivelymon in an ocean ecosystem.

    Its second ability simply allowed it to absorb blood to grow.

    When these two werebined, the Unrestrained Death Tree could easily create ughterfests where blood would form seas within the sea. And because of its unassuming appearance, no beast would target it while it casually absorbed blood from a distance.

    However, if it was bothered¡­

    ''We need to go before¡­!''

    Skree!

    Damien''s thoughts cut off as a screech resounded through the water. In that moment, the school of beasts that''d been chasing him burst through the Unrestrained Death Tree''s bubble.

    Damien''s face paled.

    "Grab onto me! Now!" He yelled. Zara immediately followed his instruction. With the quickest speed he could possibly output his mana, Damien covered the two in a cocoon of Void Mana before using Dimensional Cage to separate them from the Real ne.

    At the same time, the Unrestrained Death Tree began to shudder.

    La~~~~

    A soothing melody was emitted from its branches as its leaves brushed against each other and produced sound. The melody sounded like the angelic voice of a heavenly beauty, a pure woman who could cleanse any sin from one''s soul.

    It was bewitching.

    The beasts that chased Damien, a species that looked like bipedal frogs, began to swoon. Their minds, still chaotic and not fully developed, were easily bewitched by this tune.

    The Unrestrained Death Tree''s roots slowly crawled out from beneath andtched onto these beasts. As Damien and Zara watched, all of their life essence was sucked away by the tree, leaving them as dried husks.

    But the terror didn''t end. These dead husks stood straight, their eyes alit with blue me. Mindless like machines, they became the tree''s ves for eternity.

    Damien shuddered and slowly backed away. The tree currently couldn''t sense him and Zara due to the multiyer protection he set up, but he didn''t want to rely too much on this.

    After all, the soothing melody that the tree emitted moments prior was powerful; powerful enough to even bewitch him if he had his guard down.

    Bing the tree''s eternal ve wasn''t his ideal death at all.

    ''If I teleport, it might sense the spatial fluctuations¡­no, it surely will. But¡­''

    Damien stopped hesitating. He spread his awareness as far as it could reach and teleported several hundred kilometers away.

    Through the sea''s ckness, it was hard to see if the tree was following them. But Damien didn''t worry. He was certain that it wouldn''t.

    The Unrestrained Death Tree was heavily territorial. Anyone or anything that entered its air pocket would be its ve or nutrients. However, in the current situation, the tree had to choose between two ves and a whole buffet that it had set up beforehand.

    Damien and Zara were still weak, this was their luck. If someone in the higher ranges of 4th ss was in the same situation, it was unknown how the tree would react.

    Standing far enough away to avoid the danger, Damien collected his breath. They''d only been in the Emperor Bone Sea for a few hours yet they''d already run into such a scenario. It was terrifying to think about what was present further and deeper.

    Still, Damien and Zara both needed the contribution points this mission would give. At the very least, they needed 1,000 points.

    That tranted to 10,000 kilometers of explored sea.

    "Are you okay to continue?" Damien asked Zara, but more than anything, he was asking himself.

    The 1,000-kilometer distance was enough to challenge someone around his level. By his estimate, at most they''d be able to travel 4,000 kilometers before being forced to stop and Warp away.

    It wasn''t just about the mission, though. Damien had a goal when he decided toe to the Emperor Bone Sea.

    ''I want to find civilization.''

    He wanted to see how those who grew past the level of these savage beasts, those whose spiritual intelligence matched humans and other species, he wanted to know how these beings lived and interacted.

    ''I want to find the Emperor Beast.''

    This goal was mainly for Zara. Emperor Bone Sea''s environment was much better for her growth than his own. If there was a chance to rapidly improve her strength, he obviously wanted to find it.

    And finally¡­

    ''I want to know why this sea feels so hollow.''

    He''d been feeling it since he first entered its waters. Despite its reputation and even the environment that he''d experienced so far, the Emperor Bone Sea felt¡­empty.

    Something was missing, and he wanted to know what. It was a nagging feeling that he couldn''t get rid of.

    Zara clearly saw these emotions sh through his eyes. She smiled and grabbed his hand.

    "Let''s go. With ourbined power, there should be nothing that can stop us from fleeing. As long as you can activate Warp, we will be safe, right?"

    Damien looked over at her. Really, it wasn''t just her appearance that changed. He didn''t know when, but the little wolf he knew had grown into a woman who could evenfort him with her words. It saddened him a bit that he wasn''t present to witness this development.

    Nevertheless, Zara''s words managed to calm his heart a bit. As long as he could use Warp¡­

    His eyes firmed. Without another word, he and Zara continued on, heading deeper and deeper into the Emperor Bone Sea.

    Roughly 5 minutester, in the ce they once stood, a group of 20 appeared, their bodies covered in a thick bloody aura.

    "Even after witnessing that scene, the boy decided to continue. I at least have to praise his courage." A man spoke.

    "Ha, that''s not courage, it''s idiocy. If he wasn''t this insane, he never would''ve challenged the young master." Another responded.

    "Mm, it''s a shame that such a genius has to die early, but what can you do? He chose this fate for himself." The man nodded in agreement.

    "You two, enough. We will wait a little longer before striking. The young master has dered that any treasures that man finds will belong to us as long as we kill him."

    The eyes of those present lit up. In truth, they''d been stalking Damien for a while and had already caught up to him when he escaped the Unrestrained Death Tree. The only reason Damien still lived was because their leader stopped them.

    Now that they knew the reason for this, how could their eyes not light up? Their job was akin to stealing candy from a baby!

    The group moved with haste and stealth, soon leaving to follow Damien''s footsteps.

    In their wake was a clear ocean. The previous chaos was gone, all the blood in the water was gone. Only the wilted husks of beasts that once lived remained.

    Along with a single tree. A tree whose hard-earned sustenance had just been ruthlessly stolen.

 Chapter 655 Emperor Bone Sea [5]

    The ckness of the Emperor Bone Sea really did remind one of the vast starry sky. The seemingly obvious vast emptiness was actually filled to the brim with life, forming a macrocosm in and of itself.

    In the same vein, the deep sea seemed to mirror space itself as well. At this level, the obvious presence of water essentially vanished, the murky ckness in the surroundings instead beginning to feel like heavy space.

    Water and space as elements generally mirrored each other more than most people realized. The spatialyers ebbed and flowed like tides, the heaviness of space felt like one was trying to walk while submerged in water. Space created a container, and water would expand however necessary to fill that container. The way theyplimented each other was noteworthy when one realized the distinct simrities between them.

    Damien and Zara had long since left their previous location not far from the 1,000-kilometer mark. Their bodies drifted through the sea, mapping it and scouring it for anything interesting.

    However, their journey was mostly uneventful. Despite being surrounded by the wonders of the deep sea, their mission came first. The two traveled with utmost stealth and avoided any stronger beasts even if they could defeat them. In the ocean, the smell of blood was a death rm.

    The 2,000-kilometer mark saw a sharp increase in faunistic activity. Many more species were present at this distance and depth, making it evident that this was a more ideal living condition for most creatures.

    At the 2,000-kilometer mark, the water pressure was just enough to shatter the bones of any 3rd ss who dared to venture in, but even ssless fishes and other aquatic beast species were able to survive it without a problem.

    It made Damien curious about their evolutionary path. On a whim, he rapidly moved and grabbed a nearby fish beast before disappearing from the world. His body entered the Sanctuary with Zara for a brief instant before they continued their journey.

    Without hesitation, Damien began dissecting the beast. While he didn''t have much disassembling knowledge, he was at least good enough with the sword to make precise cuts.

    Afterwards, he began to rapidly study the beast''s physiological structure with the All-Seeing Eyes and his ownprehension.

    ''I see¡­that''s interesting. They aren''t withstanding the water pressure at all, rather, they''re just offsetting it.''

    The beast''s internals weren''t too different from what one would expect from an aquatic beast. It was the exterior that was special.

    The fish''s scales were made of a strange reflective material. Through the All-Seeing Eyes, Damien saw through the scale''s structure perfectly. He watched as the scales cycled ambient mana in a specific pattern to create something akin to a maic field. This field disces the water pressure around them, and through the connection between these scales, the offset pressure could even be used as an attack!

    Being struck by the weight of the sea itself was bound to hurt. Damien couldn''t imagine what the strength of these beasts would be once they matured.

    ''Still, this is a species-specific evolution. It doesn''t exin why every single beast in these waters has the same survival ability. Unless¡­they all evolved differently to aplish the same goal?''

    It was an interesting theory to study. Different beasts developed differently based on their inherent traits. As they all took different routes to reach the same conclusion, studying them would help Damien supremely broaden his perspective and breadth of vision.

    ''After I finish the mission, I should return here to study more in-depth. If I just leave a spatial marker¡­''

    Damien and Zara exited the Sanctuary just like that. The only reason they entered in the first ce was so they could have a safe environment to drop their guards and wholly focus on examining the beast carcass.

    Now that they were done, it was time to continue with their task.

    Only, there was one thing they''d forgotten.

    The second they arrived back in the Emperor Bone Sea''s depths, all eyes turned to them.

    The stench of blood.

    Despite there being no blood on their bodies, the two still carried a whiff of blood scent with them as they returned.

    ''Shit¡­''

    Damien immediately realized they''d messed up. Just like those who came before them, theirck of experience in aquatic environments led to a small mistake with heavy consequences.

    "Let''s run!" Damien eximed.

    Zara didn''t even need to say a word of affirmation. She understood just as much as he did.

    The two turned and shot deeper into the Emperor Bone Sea without another thought.

    Behind them, a cacophony of sound resounded through the waves as various beasts caught scent of the blood on their bodies.

    Particrly enraged were the Bulletfish that shared a species with the fish Damien had killed.

    Shaaaa!

    A strange wail left their throats as they began to hightail towards Damien and Zara. Their bodies moved like rockets in the water,pletely ignoring the water pressure''s speed suppression and rapidly approaching the duo.

    "They''re too ustomed to this atmosphere. We can''t outmaneuver them by just running." Damien realized. He looked at Zara and she nodded back. Their spiritual connection was continuing to grow stronger as their rtionship solidified once more.

    Zara grabbed Damien''s shoulder and immediately galvanized her mana. The two quickly sunk into the surrounding ckness, their bodies bing immaterial.

    ''This is¡­insane.'' Damien marveled inwardly. Zara''s shadow control was bing more and more conceptual. As Damien allowed her full control over his body, he clearly felt separated from the Real ne at a level simr to his Dimensional Cage.

    Only, while the Dimensional Cage focused on stability and functionality, Zara''s shadow abilities were wholly focused on concealment. Naturally, this shadow space was much more convenient in this situation.

    The aquatic beast tide seemed to die down as soon as it started. With their bodies disappearing, the scent of blood disappeared as well.

    And while the weaker beasts who were ready to charge at even a hint of blood scent were too weak to sense Damien and Zara and thus gave up. The stronger beasts didn''t put enough value in the two''s existence to continue chasing them.

    At least, most of them didn''t.

    OOOOOOOH!

    A bellow caused the seas to quake. The sound waves from this bellow alone were enough to cause raging tsunamis on the surface.

    Ka! Ka! Ka!

    Shaaa!

    Skreee!

    Various panicked noises rang out as every surrounding beast began to flee for their lives.

    Damien and Zara weren''t stupid either. Whether it was the crowd''s reaction or the terror of that bellow, both were heavy indications that they should flee instantly.

    And while that was exactly what they did, luck wasn''t on their side.

    A massive body slithered up from the depths, two car-sized eyes staring directly at their position.

    The beast was reptilian, like a massive sea snake. Its body was around 10 kilometers long from head to tail, and its scales glistened with an aquamarine blue color.

    Its tongue snaked in and out of its mouth as if it was drooling. The two fin-like wings protruding from the middle of its long body pped in ce as it set its target.

    The beast bared its fangs and galvanized its aura.

    And then, it charged.

 Chapter 656 Emperor Bone Sea [6]

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock when he saw the beast''s visage. Unexpectedly, he actually knew this beast''s identity!

    After all, he''d faced a variation of its species long ago when he first arrived in the Cloud ne.

    It was none other than a Sea Dragon.

    However,pared to the one he saw before, this one was far more terrifying. While the first Sea Dragon had a degree of intelligence that allowed it to speak the universalnguage fluently, Damien didn''t doubt that the survival instincts of a Sea Dragon that grew up in the Emperor Bone Sea far outstripped such measly intelligence.

    "Block with everything you can!" He shouted.

    A Dimensional Cage sprang up, isting the duo from the world. The Space-Time River manifested with Damien''s domain, putting the surrounding space under Damien''splete control. At the same time, Zara formed a massive wall of material shadows. A murky ck color began to permeate the atmosphere.

    Zara''s domain stacked on top of Damien''s, and with their two domains and strongest defensive skillsbined, they confronted the Sea Dragon!

    BOOOOM!

    The Sea Dragon''s massive body crashed into their barriers with the force of the entire ocean behind it. Even though these were the two''s strongest defenses, they couldn''tst more than a second against the Sea Dragon''s terrifying power.

    The barriers shattered one after another, and the explosive force that destroyed them rapidly traveled through the waters and arrived at Damien and Zara''s position. However, the two didn''t panic.

    They pushed their mana fiercely, using it to redirect the shockwave''s force and shoot themselves far away from the Sea Dragon!

    "Now!" Damienmanded. Zara turned immaterial and sunk into Damien''s shadow. The second she did so, he teleported hundreds of kilometers away.

    But the Sea Dragon couldn''t be underestimated either.

    While Damien was forcefully transporting himself through space even while being heavily suppressed by the surrounding sea, the Sea Dragon waspletely in its element. Blue mana converged from the sea as the Sea Dragon snaked through it, actively aiding its movements.

    The Sea Dragon caught up to Damien rapidly. Its sheer speed allowed it to cross hundreds of kilometers in an instant. Its mouth opened wide when it saw Damien''s body and snapped down with immense force!

    Damien''s eyes hardened. Escaping the Sea Dragon couldn''t be easy. Most likely, it was tracking him through his dragon aura. This was also the most likely reason for it to be hell-bent on chasing him.

    When two dragon descendants met, there were only two paths for them to take; either they befriended each other or they devoured each other. The Sea Dragon had obviously chosen thetter.

    Damien''s body twisted at an impossible angle, narrowly dodging the Sea Dragon''s jaws. As he rapidly propelled himself backwards, his spatial mana raged, setting up a chain of Dimensional Cages between him and the Sea Dragon.

    He turned tail and ran soon after. His goal was to go as deep into the Emperor Bone Sea as possible.

    If there was one thing he learned from observing the Emperor Bone Sea''s native species, it was that the sea itself was the greatest weapon. Almost every species he''d seen had biologically adapted to utilize the sea''s natural environment to their own advantage, the Sea Dragon included.

    Its two fin-like wings pped furiously. The sea around it raged into a terrifying whirlpool that attacked Damien''s stacked Dimensional Cages and rapidly shattered them.

    The Sea Dragon didn''t even wait for this task toplete before charging its next attack. It absolutely couldn''t lose Damien.

    From Damien, it sensed a powerful dragon bloodline on par with its own. Because they were equal, neither could use Dragon Pressure to make the other submit. But if the Sea Dragon managed to kill Damien regardless, consuming his bloodline might be the key to its evolution.

    It wouldn''t miss this opportunity.

    The Sea Dragon''s jaw unhinged once more. A swirling vortex of blue mana formed in its mouth, creating a vacuum that sucked in the surrounding seawater.

    The water mixed into the mana and waspressed several times over. These terrifyingly powerful water bullets were then shot out with immense precision!

    Despite being hundreds of kilometers away already, Damien could clearly feel the scent of death approaching him. His body immediately turned ethereal, vanishing and reappearing randomly in the surrounding 100-kilometer range.

    At the same time, the water bullets reached Damien''s general location and began exploding. Massive air pockets formed and imploded on themselves constantly, painting the ck sea in white.

    Damien gritted his teeth and continued dodging. In this chase, the only advantage he had was teleportation. And he was no longer one to ignore his advantages.

    His teleportation became less random with time. At some point, he even began circling and taunting the Sea Dragon, enraging it into pursuing him with extreme speed and mania.

    Like this, the chase continued. Damien watched the environment around him shift countless times. When they started this cat-and-mouse game, they were only around 2,000 kilometers into the Emperor Bone Sea.

    Now, however, they''d already descended close to the 4,000 mark.

    The Sea Dragon never gave up on Damien. Using its insanity-inducing speed and control over the sea, it pressured him heavily with every move.

    Mirroring what it saw earlier, it began exerting control over the surroundings to a greater degree, forming the elementary form of what would one day be a domain.

    Damien shuddered when he saw this. If the Sea Dragon was allowed to form that domain, his spatial advantages would no longer exist.

    Thankfully, it was too slow in realizing this solution.

    At the 4,000-kilometer range, the Sea Dragon was no longer in its element. Its control abilities were weakened and the sea''s suppression severely limited its speed to a point where even Damien could escape it.

    He let out a sigh of relief realizing that his guess had been validated.

    Previously, he''d chosen to descend deeper into the sea with this exact gamble in mind. He had a thought: with the Sea Dragon''s power, why would it decide to stay so close to the Emperor Bone Sea''s shore?

    After some thought, he guessed that the 2,000-kilometer range was the Sea Dragon''s dominion, an environment that perfectlyplimented its abilities.

    However, as they went deeper into the sea, the environment began to change.

    Not only was the Sea Dragon affected by the change in environment, but it was also being struck by another suppressive force.

    Damien could feel it too. His half-dragon side was shivering in fear of the strange aura that permeated the sea. The aura only got stronger as they went deeper.

    Luckily, Damien was born a human and his human side was dominant. This terrifying bestial aura wasn''t able to affect him the same way it did aquatic beasts.

    Damien continued teleporting as he submerged himself in thought. Even if the Sea Dragon was slowly fading into the distance, he didn''t want to die from carelessness.

    As he slowly passed the 5,000-kilometer mark, Damien let out another sigh.

    The sea itself truly was the best weapon. If he had to escape the Sea Dragon with his own power, it would''ve been a terrifying chase that cost him at least a few limbs.

    But with the sea inadvertently aiding him, he was able to get by after dodging the Sea Dragon''s attacks and fleeing as fast as he could.

    Once again, the Emperor Bone Sea made him marvel.

    But now wasn''t the time to do so. Zara soon exited Damien''s shadow, and together, under the Sea Dragon''s grudge-filled and unresigned re, they began their exploration once more.

 Chapter 657 Ruin [1]

    The Emperor Bone Sea, more than anything else, taught Damien what it was like to be weak.

    The hours passed drearily, almost like no time was passing at all. If it wasn''t for Damien and Zara''s constant state of movement and vignce, they truly wouldn''t have understood how rapidly time was passing.

    After the 5,000-kilometer mark, as the duo descended deeper into the abyssal ocean, they came across self-sustaining ecosystems and magical sights they never would''ve expected in the ocean.

    At their current depth, an early 4th ss without a powerful body would be crushed by the water pressure alone.

    In this environment, it was insane that so much life could persevere.

    Aquatic flora was the mostmon sight at this level. Trees like the Unrestrained Life Tree were asmon as grass, and smaller variant nts surrounded these trees, forming a symbiotic rtionship in order to survive.

    After all, the seafloor was nowhere in sight. If Damien had to estimate, the sea floor was a ce only Demigods could survive in.

    Still, the variety of flora and fauna and the way they interacted made Damien thirst for more. At the same time, he found himself constantly fleeing from unknown threats, driven to locations he never would''ve expected to go.

    One of such ces was the ruin he found himself standing in front of now.

    Surrounding his body were dozens of swirling vortexes. But rather than natural phenomena, these vortexes were actually the defense mechanisms of a certain species of nt.

    This nt, the Whirlwind Seaweed, didn''t actually have much attack capability. Its physical body was also extremely weak, to the point where even a mortal could rip one apart like paper.

    And this fact didn''t change regardless of how much strength they gained. It was an inherent trait of this nt species.

    To cope with their weakness, the species evolves and adapted to its environment. These vortexes were formed by the oscition of these seaweeds as they interacted with the ocean''s ambient mana. Through simple movement, they could conjure a defense mechanism that could terrify most beasts.

    Of course, their actual power was limited. At most, they could redirect attackers away from them and obscure their perception. Still, this much was enough to help them survive in the wild.

    What Damien saw now was a seemingly manmade ruin surrounded by this breed of seaweed. The vortexespletely hid the ruin itself from sight and perception, and if one fell into them, they''d inevitably be thrown far away from the ruin itself.

    As a sort of home defense mechanism, these seaweeds were perfect.

    The only reason Damien and Zara bypassed them was his spatial prowess.

    ''Who built this ruin? The knowledge to use Whirlwind Seaweed for both natural concealment and protection¡­this couldn''t have been done by a human.'' Damien thought.

    Land species, whether they were humans, demons, angels, or any of Grand Heavens Boundary''s other dominant species, were too uninformed about oceans to create such an ingenious mechanism.

    And because the current location was on Death Emperor Star, it was even more unlikely for this structure to be manmade.

    Damien and Zara floated closer to the ruins and began to investigate. The rocky exterior was thick and smooth, simr to obsidian. By Damien''s estimate, the amount of pressure needed to create this kind of material could only be found on the sea floor.

    ''Strange. The sea floor is either a mystical undiscovered gond or an absolute death zone¡­it''d make more sense for this ruin to be located there, but why is it here? And why is it still in one piece?''

    The ruin was like a small vige. The fact that so many independent parts remained together and especially the Whirlwind Seaweed''s presence suggested that the ruin was created at this sea level, but why would anyone use insane materials like this obsidian-like rock to build such a ruin? Damien couldn''t understand it.

    "Damien!" Zara suddenly called out to him. "Doesn''t this pattern look familiar?"

    Hearing the excitement in her voice, he hastened his pace to reach her. When he did, he found her standing in front of a circr mural shaped simrly to a bank vault door.

    "This pattern¡­isn''t this¡­!" Damien''s eyes widened when he saw it. He didn''t even have to thoroughly investigate to understand where he''d seen it before.

    After all, this pattern had deeply carved itself into his subconscious.

    It was the same pattern he saw in both the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm and the Challenge Gate.

    "Is this¡­a Mystic Realm entrance?!" He eximed.

    Mystic Realm entrances could truly open anywhere, so his guess wasn''t too extraordinary. Still, this ruin didn''t seem like the entrance to some newly opened Mystic Realm. If it was, the ruin wouldn''t have been able to conceal itself so easily.

    After all, even sea beasts would be attracted to the prospect of a Mystic Realm, especially those with intelligence.

    ''I have to investigate.'' Damien thought to himself. He had the itching feeling that he''d stumbled upon something grand.

    His hand reached out and touched the ancient engravings. With the amount of time that had passed, they''d been severely weathered down.

    Still, their base structure remained.

    Damien''s hand traced the engraving as best it could. His eyes were closed as his entire mind focused on the pattern being etched into his brain.

    ''This pattern¡­no, this one¡­if you put these together then¡­''

    As pieces of the pattern surfaced in his mind, Damien began piecing them together like a puzzle. Only, he wasn''t following the pattern etched on the ruin.

    Instead, he repositioned the portions in his mind in a strange new pattern. He didn''t even have a grasp on what he was doing, he was merely following his instincts.

    The mana was guiding him.

    At first, the pattern merely looked like a circr formation without any special additions. However, as its form became moreplete, it turned into aplete mural.

    It was a depiction. Countless oceanic beasts littered the skies, ground, and everything in between. Their heads were bowed in reverence, and even the sun had been eclipsed for the same purpose.

    The bodies of all these beasts were angled towards a signal location. There, seated atop a throne on an altar at the bottom of the sea, was a man.

    A human man.

    Damien''s mind shook. Due to the nature of the engraving, the man''s features were extremely vague. The only reason Damien knew he was a human was due to theck of defining traits from other races, i.e, an angel''s wings.

    Nheless, as Damien looked at this human, he felt a pull from the very core of his being. He felt a connection to this mural that almost shared simrity with his connection to the Void.

    ''This¡­what is this?'' Damien inwardly wondered as he tried to collect his thoughts.

    Slowly but surely, he injected mana into the wall. The old debris and flora growing on the door after ages of abandonment ked away with his touch.

    And then, carefully maneuvering his mana, Damien began mirroring the mural in his mind on the ancient ruin.

    ? The pattern changed to his will as if it was meant to do so from the beginning. The same scene Damien had seen prior manifested on the wall for Zara to witness as well.

    That was the key.

    The swirling vortexes caused by the Whirlwind Seaweed were sucked into the door and fused, forming a vacuum that dragged Damien and Zara inside.

    Neither Damien nor Zara had the ability to resist this suction force. Yet, neither of them even thought to try in the first ce.

    Not only to escape the pursuers they were constantly forced to face, but also to discover the ancient secrets hidden within¡­

    The duo fearlessly allowed the vacuum to consume them.

 Chapter 658 Ruin [2]

    When their bodies rematerialized, they were still submerged in water. But unlike the abyssal void the Emperor Bone Sea''s waters emted, this water was crystal clear.

    It was light as a feather; if it wasn''t for the refracted sun rays shining around them, illuminating the water''s movements, they wouldn''t have even noticed its presence.

    "Amazing¡­" Zara muttered in astonishment.

    Damien''s expression, on the other hand, was strange.

    ''Isn''t this¡­a massive fishbowl?'' He thought to himself.

    With the All-Seeing Eyes fully activated, Damien could see the flow of mana around him. He could vaguely make out the presence of a nigh-invisible dome that expanded far past his perception, covering the entire area they were now in.

    "Let''s go see if we can find anything interesting. Even if this ce isn''t a Mystic Realm, it''s at least an ancient ruin. There''s bound to be some goods hidden somewhere." Damien said after ncing around for a few more moments.

    "Okay. We can split up and search as far as we can. Our spiritual link is enough to contact each other within a few thousand kilometers, so it should be enough to signal if we find anything." Zara agreed.

    "That''s true, but you can never be too careful. Take a transmission slip with you as well. I got these from that old man Tian Yang. They''re top-notch items with a Demigod''s guarantee, so they should work better if we stray too far apart."

    Zara took the transmission slip Damien handed her and nodded. The two soon separated, heading in different directions to investigate.

    Unfortunately for them, their current environment was much grander than they originally expected.

    ***

    Hours passed to the point where the sun rays lighting the water disappeared, leaving it submerged in ckness.

    This ckness, however, was decorated with majesty. With the sunlight''s disappearance, many creatures began to emerge from their hiding spots. Fluorescent-colored fish floated through the water and algae and nt life of the same color painted the ground.

    This grand disy of color was truly magical, but in this environment, it was the mostmon of sights.

    Unfortunately, despite being neers, Damien and Zara weren''t able to enjoy these wonders. Their entire day of searching left them without any results.

    ''This ce can''t be empty. For there to be such a mechanism guarding it, it has to be special somehow¡­''

    Damien''s brows furrowed as he tried to figure out the problem.

    "These¡­these fishes didn''te out at all when the sun was up¡­does it harm them in some way?" Zara suddenly asked.

    "I''m an idiot," Damien said immediately after.

    "Hm?!" She eximed in confusion.

    "Ah, nothing," he shook his head. "You''re a genius, though, I don''t know if you realize it."

    While Zara smiled happily at thepliment, Damien truly smacked himself inwardly. Right, the sea life in this environment didn''t respond well to sunlight, otherwise, it wouldn''t have been so deste when they first arrived.

    He finally took the time to appreciate the wonders around him, and at the same time, his eyes lit up.

    Perhaps¡­the nighttime was the key he was looking for.

    "Zara, let''s go investigate again." He suddenly said.

    "Hm? Will anything be different this time?" She asked.

    "I don''t know, but I have a hunch. Let''s just try it out. Either way, we don''t really have the option to leave."

    Damien exined his reasoning to Zara, causing her eyes to light up in agreement. She''d been the one who originally put forth the theory, though unknowingly. Only, she''d already stopped thinking about the search by this point so the solution didn''t cross her mind.

    The two split up once more and began searching. Completely unlike their first attempt, they found results almost immediately.

    "Traces of civilization¡­" Damien muttered under his breath as he used All-Seeing Eyes to thoroughly investigate the environment. Within the ground below, Damien could see clear traces of intelligent life.

    ''It seems Zara is finding traces too, but nothing significant. If I keep following this trail, though¡­''

    Using the traces as apass, Damien began traversing the strange realm at immense speeds. His body passed through the ckness like a rocket, and within a few hours, he found himself gazing into the distance at something that looked like a pack of fireflies.

    After close inspection, he realized that they weren''t fireflies at all. Instead, they werenterns!

    His body turned into a blur, rushing towards thosenterns. As he drew closer, the image of a small vige became clear to his eyes.

    The architecture mainly used y as its base. The structures themselves weren''t tooplicated, but their dome-like shape stood out from themon architectural styles that Damien became used to seeing.

    The vige was, as implied by thenterns, inhabited.

    Damien watched a few hundred people go about their days. These people had pale blue skin with colored splotches covering their bodies. They had fanned ears and scales running up their forearms and necks. Not to mention, the gills.

    ''It''s them...!'' Damien eximed inwardly. The civilization he''d been searching for in the Emperor Bone Sea¡­he finally found his first trace of it in this strange realm!

    He wasn''t subtle in his approach at all. By the time he arrived, a group of strong guards was already awaiting him with their weapons drawn.

    Unfortunately for them, their definition of strong wasn''t the same as Damien''s.

    "I don''t want to fight you guys. Here, watch this."

    Damien''s hand shot up into the sky. Spatial and Void manabined as one, creating a terrifying ck hole emitting an aura that far surpassed what these guards were capable of.

    They looked at Damien and back at the vortex, but didn''t move. They steeled their wills and prepared to fight. As long as their sacrifices gave others time to escape, their deaths would be worth it.

    "Halt. Do not fight him." An aged voice stopped them from attacking.

    An old man wearing nothing but a lower-body covering and a pair of ornate bone earrings appeared behind the men and looked at Damien.

    "Hmm, a human¡­I haven''t seen a human in several millennia. Boy, what is your purpose here?"

    Damien sheepishly scratched his head. "To be honest, I have no clue. Mypanion and I were randomly transported to this realm after being sucked into a vortex, and now I''ve finally explored enough to find your vige."

    "And yourpanion?" The old man asked.

    "Ah, she''s on the other side of the realm, probably around 20,000 kilometers away. We split up to cover more ground, you see."

    "Mm, she must have found the Oga vige. If it''s the Ogas¡­never mind. Boy,e in. Let''s talk for a bit."

    Damien nodded suspiciously and followed the elder. While he was wary, he wasn''t afraid. By his estimation, the old man''s strength should be simr to his own.

    Damien and the elder entered a nearby dome hut and sat across from each other with a small sand table between them. A young woman brought them tea to drink as they spoke.

    And while their conversation would surely be interesting, Zara''s experience was far, far more hectic than either of them could''ve ever imagined.

    She stood in the midst of the Oga n, massive explosions going off all around her.

    This n¡­seemed to be at war.

 Chapter 659 Prominence [1]

    After separating from Damien, Zara''s experience was simr to his own. After wandering for a few hours, she found her way to a small vige of a few hundred people.

    Curiously, these people were friendly from the start. They didn''t discriminate against her based on her unknown identity and made her feel at home. For around an hour, Zara stayed in this n and met with its people,ing to learn its name, the Oga n.

    The Oga vige wasn''t a very powerful force at all. Most of their denizens were children or elderly, their able men and women barely being enough to keep them living well.

    The n had such a peaceful atmosphere that it made Zara doubt whether or not this realm was truly connected to the Emperor Bone Sea. From her experience, everything in the Emperor Bone Sea was blood-crazed and deathly.

    Seeing those same peace-loving denizens turn into blood-crazed maniacs in a split second was truly jarring.

    The Tephit n attacked, these were the words of a guard that spurred everyone into motion. Within minutes, the entire vige was destroyed in a bout of explosions.

    "Haa!" A young Oga warrior shouted madly as he dug his fingers into an enemy''s neck and ripped out his throat. As they fought, the Oga n only used their fists to counteract even the sharpest weapons of the Tephit.

    The Tephit, on the other hand, were more refined. They used swift and piercing movements with their weapons, dancing through the water like glorious snakes. Wherever their swords struck, they would draw blood.

    ''This¡­what should I do in this situation?'' Zara wondered. Combat experience, she had plenty of. But when it came to experience in society, Zara was still somewhat clueless. When it came time for a conflict like this one, she would usually defer to Damien for a decision. Unfortunately, he wasn''t here at the moment.

    ''Ah! The transmission token!'' She realized. She pulled out a small thumb-sized slip from her spatial ring, but before injecting her mana into it, she hesitated.

    Her automatic response was to rely on Damien. She didn''t realize how deep her dependence was rooted. Because they''d been apart for so long, Zara was sure she''d changed into a person who could stand next to him rather than beside him, but she couldn''t help but want to follow in his shadow when they were together,

    ''I need to change.''

    Her goal was simple. It was the goal of a little girl who didn''t want to part from her idol and role model, a goal that she retained even after growing into a woman.

    If she couldn''t even make her own decisions, was she worthy of that goal?

    Zara immediately put the transmission token away and merged into the shadows, expanding her presence to cover the ongoing battle.

    "Oga and Tephit¡­" she muttered. The battle was rtively even. The Oga n''s ruthlessness allowed them to cope with the Tephit n''s ingenuity and armaments, but this strategy also resulted in faster deaths and injuries.

    While the Oga n certainly had a chance to win, it would be a hollow victory.

    ''They helped me, so I should help them. Right?'' Zara thought. If she was going to take her first steps toward changing, she couldn''t opt for neutrality.

    Thus, her simple reasoning ended up being the best one. In a conflict where both ns seemed to desire each other''s extinction, she chose to help the side she had connections with.

    Besides, neither side was out of her capacity. Their greatest forces were around her same level, but herbat strength far surpassed a mere early 4th ss.

    Her body rematerialized and turned into a hazy blur as she shot through the battlefield with insane speed. Once she arrived high above it, she raised her hand into the sky and galvanized her mana.

    ''cial Spbere''

    Her mana boomed through the surroundings, immediately affecting the water. Within a few sparks of time, the water began to crystallize.

    It had to be remembered, Zara''s affinities weren''t limited to Shadow Laws. Long ago, she even prioritized her ice affinity over her shadows.

    Now that she''d reached 4th ss, her Shadow Laws, the innate ability of her mysterious race, became her main focus.

    But that didn''t mean she neglected Ice Laws. In the Emperor Bone Sea, the strange death energy polluting the waters made it impossible for her ice to coagte and spread and the presence of terrifying beasts made it difficult to use such shy skills without drawing attention. But in this hidden realm¡­

    With Zara as its highest point, a dome of ice formed around the battlefield, trapping everyone within. In the next instant, Zara''s eyes turned a striking blue color as she fiercely exerted control over the elements.

    ''Chronolock''

    Even time froze. The remaining water within the cial Sphere chilled to a maddening level and halted all movement. Whether it was the Oga or the Tephit, they were all affected.

    Unlike the Tephit, however, the Oga didn''t experience the terrors of this biting cold.

    ''Shadow Rose: Bloom''

    Thorns of materialized shadows burst forth from the ground and stabbed through the arms and legs of the frozen Tiphet n members. A striking ck rose bloomed in the middle of their formation, and the thorns retracted into its body, carrying their targets with them.

    ''Seal''

    With one final word, Zara forced the rose to close its petals, sealing her enemies within.

    For now, she didn''t want to kill them. Through Tang Lingzi and Damien''s constant warnings, she''d learned the importance of information.

    Her body descended to the ground, the cial Sphere receding. She nced at the Oga n members who were watching her in awe, and immediately, they separated, leaving only a single old woman in Zara''s line of sight.

    "You must be an outsider, aren''t you?" The old woman said. "Regardless of where youe from, you are the savior of our vige today. Please allow me to thank you over a cup of tea."

    Zara''s brows furrowed, but in the end, she nodded. After following the old woman into a hut she constructed in the ruins of the destroyed vige, she sat down and asked her most pressing question.

    "Why did they attack you?"

    The old woman sighed. "As I thought, you''vee here unknowing of the terrifying situation. Child, instead of learning more, it would be best for you to leave. We are but a small vige connected to the main Oga n. The scale of this conflict isn''t something a growing child like you should get involved in. It pains me to see promising youths die young."

    Zara shook her head in denial. "Even then, you still have to tell me what''s happening. If you don''t, I''ll release your enemies again. I have no reason to help you if you don''t give me one."

    The olddy stared into Zara''s eyes as if trying to read her soul. Her bright golden eyes were firm andced with defiance. It was clear that she had no interest in running away.

    The old woman sighed as she spoke, "Haa¡­fine. In the end, a true genius'' path cannot be hindered by anyone. This conflict''s nature is simple. Currently, our beautiful realm of Aquazyl is engulfed in chaos. For this, there is only a single reason¡­"

    "The Prominence War."

 Chapter 660 Prominence [2]

    "The Prominence War?"

    Damien and the elder sat at a table together and conversed. Damien''s status as an outsider was revealed instantly, so there was no need to put up a false front. Their conversation started from matters of the outside world; the Nox invasion, the different sectors and races of Grand Heavens Boundary, the Dimensional Leaderboard, etc., to matters of Aquazyl with time. Now that they''did their cards on the table and built a modicum of trust, they finally arrived at the main topic.

    "Yes. Aquazyl has another name, the Sea God''s Realm. The Prominence War is a war for sovereignty that takes ce every 100,000 years. It is a fierce struggle between our five ns of Aquazyl, the Sea God''s descendants." The old man exined.

    "Mhm, that part is easy to understand. My question is: why, though? Wars for sovereignty aren''t special, so what''s the reason it only urs every 100,000 years?" Damien questioned.

    "Hm, you''re an observant one, I see. I don''t mind telling you. After all, even if you know, nothing will change. The Prominence War only takes ce every 100,000 years because that is the standard set by the Sea God. As for the reason for this standard to even exist¡­"

    "The reward for the final winner of the war is not merely sovereignty over Aquazyl. Rather, it is sovereignty over the Emperor Bone Sea as a whole."

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock. He mmed the table with surprise as he eximed, "what?! Is it even possible to have sovereignty over the Emperor Bone Sea?!"

    "Of course," the old man replied with a smile. "The entire Emperor Bone Sea is a treasure refined by the Sea God using his life''s achievements and knowledge. Gaining sovereignty over it with individual strength is naturally nigh-impossible, but if the Sea God grants the position, it will be universally epted within the Emperor Bone Sea without question."

    "Then I¡­!"

    "That''s impossible." The old man cut him off. "Only the five ns: the Tephit n, the Oga n, the Hubo n, the Verxis n, and our Ruvia n cany im to the throne. Our ns are descended from the Sea God and his five wives respectively. Only by possessing the bloodline of one of these ns does one have the right to the throne in the Prominence War."

    "Though, this doesn''t mean you can''t participate. It merely means that the rewards you gain will remain material. You''d essentially be ying the role of a mercenary for whichever n decides to hire you."

    Damien sighed in astonishment as the old man finished speaking. "Just what kind of person is the Sea God? Is he still alive?"

    The old man sighed as well, however, his sigh was far more downtrodden. "The Sea God¡­is dead. We do not know how or even where he died, but the Prominence War''s existence is proof of his death. The legends tell many tales of the Sea God. He was a man who reached the peak of Death and Water Laws, even touching upon the Law of Creation. His wives were all mythical Godbeasts, none even close to ordinary. The legends are too numerous to recount at the moment, but I''m sure you understand just what kind of character the Sea God was."

    Damien nodded strongly. He still remembered the system''s message during his very first ss change.

    The foundationalws of the universe were separated intoyers: The 5 elements, Life and Death, Space and Time, Creation and Destruction, and perhaps something above even them. For the Sea God to touch upon aw that symbolized the peak of the universe with its very existence was enough to show just what level of strength and influence he''d reached.

    Not to mention, if the Emperor Bone Sea was truly a treasure refined by him, he was clearly above the level of the Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Perhaps Damien was underestimating Demigods, but he didn''t believe a Demigod could create something as intricate as the Emperor Bone Sea.

    The Emperor Bone Sea held and birthed life. It was a self-contained macrocosm. It was just a single step below the ability to create one''s own world, an ability that reached the realm of Godhood.

    "The Prominence War created by such an individual¡­can''t be simple," Damien muttered.

    The old man chuckled. "Simple? Haha, not in the slightest. The condition to win the Prominence War is theplete extermination of the other four ns. Can that be called simple in any way?"

    "Hm? There should only be a few hundred of you in each n, no? It shouldn''t be that hard." Damien asked curiously.

    The old man shook his head. "You''re wrong. We are merely an outer branch of the Ruvia n. Our five ns contain millions of descendants each. If not for our bloodline bond, it would''ve been better to term us as Empires."

    "But I could''ve sworn I saw the barriers of this realm already¡­there''s no way you can fit so many people here and conceal them so well. If they existed in the vicinity, I would''ve found them."

    "Ah, you mean that barrier? That is but one of many. These barriers serve to separate various battlefields to lessen the chaos. We can battle without harming Aquazyl''s ecosystem through this method. Even if we are at war, none of us desire the destruction of Aquazyl."

    Damien nodded once more. Most of his questions had been answered by now.

    "I get the gist of the situation, but there''s still one thing I don''t understand. Why would the Sea God want to exterminate his own lineage? Why is he asking his descendants tomit genocide against each other? And¡­if this genocide took ce during the past Prominence Wars as well, how are your five ns still existing?"

    The old man smiled and nodded, "I was waiting for you to ask. Our ns, whenpared to the influences of the outside world, have a much strangerposition."

    "Even after total extermination, our ns can repopte. In truth, every beast in the Emperor Bone Sea has a trace of the Sea God''s bloodline. When a beast reaches a certain level of bloodline maturity, they are transported to Aquazyl and granted intelligence, bing a part of their parent n."

    "When a total extinction of 4 ns urs in the Prominence War, the winning n is given time to grow and fortify the foundation of their influence before the other 4 ns are slowly reformed. When 100,000 years pass, the 5 ns will be at their peaks once more and the Prominence War will begin again."

    The old man''s face fell. "In thest war, our Ruvia n was also eliminated. I''ve only seen scenes of that war through bloodline memories, but it was truly harrowing. It is not something I wish to see happen in my lifetime."

    "That''s understandable." Damien agreed. "But by your reasoning, the n who won the previous war should be considerably stronger than the other 4. Which n was it?"

    The old man looked out the hut''s window, seemingly wishing for his gaze to pierce reality and show him what he wanted to see.

    "The victors of the previous Prominence War¡­were none other than the Tephit n."

 Chapter 661 Prominence [3]

    Sun rays shot through Aquazyl''s crystal clear water as daybreak arrived upon it. The various settlements that had appeared during the nighttime vanished along with its entrance, hidden in the depths of the sand below, far separated from the outside world.

    Damien stood alone and gazed at this empty Aquazyl. The wonder and youthful exuberance he showed the Ruvia n Elder were already gone from his visage.

    ''This Mystic Realm¡­is interesting.'' Hemented internally.

    The Prominence War that the old elder boasted so heavily about, clearly he was only open because he was sure Damien couldn''t make any waves in this massive conflict. However, to Damien, the information he received was crucial.

    The way the Prominence War and Aquazyl as a whole were structured, with Damien''s knowledge that Aquazyl was indeed a Mystic Realm, held apletely different meaning.

    ''The Prominence War is this Mystic Realm''s task. It must''ve been something else when it first appeared in the world, but that Sea God character managed to manipte it and ce it under his control, changing its structure to his liking.''

    There was no reason to give the Sea God ns sovereignty over the Emperor Bone Sea. While these ns were blinded by tradition and the prospect of absolute control, they didn''t realize just how limited their control was.

    As long as they remained in Aquazyl, the Emperor Bone Sea could only serve as a factory to produce more n members for them. Their actual authority remained limited to Aquazyl itself.

    ''The only way to utilize the full extent of this authority is to leave Aquazyl, but they don''t have the ability to do so. Even when they enter this realm, they do so unwillingly, forcefully transported here. Yet, they don''t realize this due to their idolization of the Sea God and the fact that his machinations are the root of their intelligence. In reality, the entire conflict is pointless. The Prominence War was designed in a way where outsiders gain the most.''

    Damien''s blood began to boil with excitement. Only people with Sea God bloodline qualified to bear the Emperor Bone Sea''s crown? Laughable. For Damien, this obstacle was practically non-existent.

    ''Tephit n, right? I wonder how they taste¡­''

    A devious n began cooking in his head. At first, Damien''s only goal was exploration and satisfying his curiosity. He could only spend a maximum of three months in the Emperor Bone Sea before he needed to return to Hidden Death Valley for closed training in preparation for the yearly assessment.

    But with such a delectable cake ced right in front of his face, how could he stop himself from taking a bite?

    ***

    ''The Prominence War¡­isn''t this a buffet for Damien?'' Zara thought to herself after hearing the old Oga woman''s exnation.

    Damien''s Devour ability could easily grant him the qualifications to participate in the war. And if he decided to im the Emperor Bone Sea for himself, could anyone truly stop him?

    "Ah, it''s a Mystic Realm! I get it now!" She eximed out loud, though there was nobody nearby to hear her.

    Zara''s brain worked at maximum capacity and after a strenuous amount of thinking, she came to a simr, albeit less detailed, conclusion to Damien.

    ''Then, we need to participate, right?'' She asked herself. Without much thought, she pulled out her transmission token and poured mana into it.

    "Hm? Zara? What''s up?" Damien''s voice came from the other side.

    "I just found some great information! It''s about the Prominence War¡­"

    "Oh? Okay then, let''s hear it."

    Zara gave a brief rundown of what the old woman told her. While it was almost the same speech Damien received, it didn''t have the same level of detail just like her previous inference.

    It was Zara''s first time prying for information, after all. There were a few questions she could''ve asked that she missed due to inexperience.

    But for her first time, she truly did a spectacr job. Damien couldn''t help but be impressed at her growth rate.

    "What do you think we should do?" He asked, curious about her response.

    Zara took a moment to think before answering. "We should participate."

    "And why is that?"

    "Hm? Because we can get stronger that way? These Sea God n members smell tasty; I think they can aid my evolution. And also, don''t tell me you aren''t interested in controlling the Emperor Bone Sea?"

    "Hahaha!" Damienughed wildly. "You''re right! There''s no way I''d let such an opportunity go. In fact, I already have a n in mind. By the way, how are things going over at the Oga n?"

    "The Oga n vige was destroyed in a battle with the Tephit n. But don''t worry! I helped them defeat the enemies and even kept them alive for questioning! How is it, didn''t I do good?"

    "Haha, I can''t say you didn''t. You''ve actually created a perfect opportunity for me¡­"

    Damien''s voice faded. While Zara questioned what he was doing, she noticed an aura approaching from the horizon.

    Damien''s figure materialized in a bout of warped space, not far away from her location.

    "This should be¡­around the right ce?" He muttered to himself. As he looked around, he spotted Zara and smiled.

    "Yo! A little wolf told me that you prepared a gift for me?" He teased.

    "I''m not little!" Zara harrumphed, "if you want your gift, say I''m not little."

    Damien scratched his head awkwardly. "Alright, you win. You''re a big girl now and I''m an old man who has eyes but can''t see. Are you happy now?"

    "Very!" Zara said with a beaming smile. She waved her hand, allowing the Shadow Rose to rise from the ground and open up. The squirming bodies of the Tephit n members were revealed to the world.

    Damien smiled wolfishly as he saw them. Could he ask for a more perfect situation?

    "Well then, I''ll thank you for this meal." He said.

    Void Mana materialized at his fingertips and shot out as a group of hundreds of strings, each attaching to a Tephit n member.

    Their bodies slowly faded into essence as Damien devoured them. Since they were already on the verge of death, the process didn''t take long at all.

    Damien took a deep breath as he felt the changes in his body. Along with an evolution of his physique that allowed him to breathe underwater, a fourth bloodline had been added to his system, forming a link with the other three in their perpetual cycle.

    ''This is the Sea God''s bloodline? Honestly, I''m a little disappointed.''

    With the way the elder praised the Sea God, Damien at least expected the man''s bloodline to be magical or domineering. Instead, it was quite ordinary. He didn''t gain any traits or strength from it at all. Even the experience he should''ve gotten from those kills was swallowed by his Void Mana for its own improvement.

    But devouring the Tephit n members wasn''t without reward. While he might not have gained anything material, he never desired material rewards in the first ce.

    Now, he was a bonafide Tephit n member himself.

    Because of Zara''s help, he had easily gained the qualifications to take control of the Sea God''s legacy.

    All that was left now¡­was to stir the pot a little.

 Chapter 662 Prominence [4]

    Night fell in Aquazyl once more, leading to the rise of civilization from the depths. The Sea God ns'' aversion to sunlight was strange to say the least, as it didn''t seem to stem from a physical condition at all. Their actions werepletely random from an outsider''s perspective.

    Damien and Zara returned to the Ruvia and Oga n branches respectively when they came out from their burrows. During the brief moment of respite they gained during the daytime, they hade up with a vague course of action to follow.

    The n was simple.

    "I want to speak to your n Head. I have a proposal that he surely wouldn''t want to miss out on." Damien said with confidence.

    "The n Head? Even if you wish to meet him, it will be difficult. The n Head rarely exits seclusion, and when he does, it is only for the most important events concerning the n as a whole." The elder replied with furrowed brows. He didn''t doubt Damien''s qualifications to meet a figure with the n Head''s status at all. After all, Damien''s strength wasn''t too different from his own.

    Damien nodded. He''d already expected this. Still, the vige elder wasn''t some small character, considering his strength. It was likely that the n had positioned arge portion of its elders in these small battlefields to ensure that their subdivisions could survive. If Damien took this into consideration, he could be somewhat assured that the vige elder had the means to contact the n Head as he wished.

    And if there was a point of contact, nothing more needed to be said.

    "I can swear on my mana that you won''t regret helping me this time. If my proposal seeds, the Ruvia n will benefit more than you could ever imagine. It might even be possible¡­for the n to usurp the throne."

    The vige elder''s eyes narrowed. "Can you stand by what you just said? I''m aware that you haven''t known about the Prominence War for long, so I can excuse your mistake this once. Do not y games with me."

    Damien shook his head in rebuttal. "I''m not ying games. I truly have a n."

    The vige elder nced into Damien''s eyes. Strangely, he couldn''t take Damien''s words as mere nonsense. He hadn''t known Damien for long, nor did he have any reason to trust him. Still, he had the itching feeling that Damien''s words contained some truth.

    He furrowed his brows in thought. He wasn''t lying when he said contacting the n Head would be difficult. If he had something of note to tell the n Head, he might be able to rouse thetter''s interest, but Damien was seemingly intent on keeping his proposal hidden.

    "At the very least, hook me. If you can convince me to help you, then I can convince the n Head." The elder said firmly.

    Damien raised his brow. The elder''s words sounded like a guarantee, and powerhouses didn''t make guarantees easily. If the elder was truly so connected to the n Head¡­

    "Very well. For this n, the end goal is¡­the total annihtion of the Tephit n."

    ***

    Damien and the Ruvia Elder''s conversation was mirrored by Zara and the Oga Elder. The two worked in tandem, securing meetings with the central figures of these two great ns for only a single purpose:

    The downfall of the Tephit n.

    Now that Damien had the qualifications topete for sovereignty, he wasn''t going to waste it. But at the same time, he couldn''t stay in Aquazyl until the Prominence War reached its finale.

    The Prominence War between the five ns was on the level ofary warfare. To kill millions down to the roots would take time, especially when the enemy was of equal strength as the attacker. The Prominence War would at least take 5 years to a decade to reachpletion.

    In this time, Damien would be long gone. He might even reach Demigod status in 5 years, considering his past and current trajectory. He couldn''t allow the war to prolong, especially since the Emperor Bone Sea would be a pivotal weapon in the war against the Nox if he could obtain it.

    The best way to use the 3 months he had was to get rid of the greatestpetition.

    The Tephit n who won the previous Prominence War was farrger and more powerful than the other 4 ns. Any single n wouldn''t be able to defeat them alone in a head-on battle.

    Even if the ns worked together, reaching the Tephit n''s peak experts was a challenge in itself. The number of 4th sses they''d raised over the years was immense.

    Damien and Zara''s help could change a great deal of things.

    For one, they both had specialized spatial skills that could be used for concealment and transport. If one wanted tounch a heaven-shaking ambush, theirbination was the greatest tool.

    The two of them were also experts in their own right. Theirbinedbat power surpassed arge majority of the elders of any n. Plus, Damien''s mana was nearly inexhaustible. Against arge number of enemies, he was a war machine.

    To eliminate the Tephit n, they didn''t need to cut the weeds and stomp the roots. This job could be left for the other four ns after they left Aquazyl. As long as they could eliminate the Tephit n''s experts, their victory would be confirmed.

    "¡­what you''re saying is true, but can you match your ims? It seems as if you consider yourself a force that can match an entire n." The Ruvia Elder questioned doubtfully.

    He knew Damien was strong, but to suggest turning the tides against the Tephit n was insane.

    "Maybe not by myself," Damien openly admitted. He wasn''t stupidly arrogant enough to put himself on such a pedestal.

    "But what if I can bring my own force to match? And what if the Oga n also agrees to cooperate with us?"

    The vige elder''s eyebrows jumped as he fell into thought. He ignored Damien''s ims about his own force since he didn''t believe a young child like him could aplish so much at his age, but if the Oga n and Ruvia n cooperated with a spatial expert aiding them in bypassing barriers¡­

    ''It might be possible.''

    It was a wild thought to have. In normal circumstances, the two ns together still couldn''tpete with the Tephit n.

    In the 100,000 years after the previous Prominence War, the Tephit n''s society had taken major leaps. Their techniques and technologies were far too advanced for the other ns to understand.

    This meant that their defenses were nigh-unbreakable.

    But Damien''s spatial ability erased this obstacle entirely. If they could ignore the Tephit n''s technology and only had to focus on battling their experts, their chances of sess were greatly heightened.

    "I can''tpletely trust this n, nor do I have the appropriate knowledge to judge its sess. Haa, I guess I should congratte you for hooking me thoroughly. To discuss further, the n Head''s presence is necessary."

    The vige elder was cynical about their chances, but he wasn''t an idiot. The n Damien suggested was full of holes due to hisck of knowledge, but the overall structure was indeed viable.

    A transmission talisman lit up in the elder''s hand. On the other side¡­

 Chapter 663 Prominence [5]

    Geographically speaking, the structure of the Ruvia n was extremely loose. The n was divided into countless subdivisions and their forces were spread thin. Only within a single section of Aquazyl could the Ruvia n be considered truly strong.

    This was the same location where the vige elder''s message was directed.

    Within a rtivelyrge city containing many thousands of Ruvia n members, there was one building that stood out more than the rest. Nothing about this building gave away its uniqueness. Whether it was the architectural design or materials, they weren''t much different from any of the surrounding buildings.

    However, whenever a Ruvia n member passed in front of this building, they''d take a moment to bow in reverence.

    This was the home of their n Head. He was a stoic man and often his gait would terrify people even if that wasn''t his intent, but in his heart, he was a man who put his n above all else.

    The n Head was benevolent. His existence was what allowed the Ruvia n to flourish to its current apparent prosperity. Even when it came to matters of session, he promoted democracy. He didn''t want to see the Ruvia n fall into a pit of internal conflict.

    The n Head was arge man, standing around 7 feet tall. He had short, spiky ck hair and an angr face, the deep scar running from his forehead to his corbone being his most eye-catching feature.

    At the moment, he held a transmission talisman in his hand, his brows creased in thought.

    ''Elder Abul? What could this be about?'' He wondered.

    The second he injected his mana into the talisman and heard the message''s contents, however, the sternness of his face became increasingly firm.

    ''This¡­this could work.''

    He didn''t waste his time doubting the fractured n. With the framework he''d been provided and his own tactical knowledge, he was able to piece together the makings of a truly viable n.

    ''That spatial expert will be the key to this n''s sess or failure. Before I make any decisions, I must first test his worth.''

    Just like that, Damien''s entry into the Ruvia n''s main headquarters was secured. As long as he could properly disy his prowess to the n Head, his journey would be infinitely smooth.

    However, the same couldn''t be said for Zara.

    Compared to Damien, she received entry into the Oga n''s headquarters much faster, but the atmosphere was much different.

    Unlike the benevolence and tactical prowess of the Ruvia n, the Oga n specialized in brutality. As Zara had witnessed for herself, the Oga n was a realm of berserkers where results would be obtained by any means possible.

    For the sake of destroying the Tephit n, their disposition was actually weed. Their recklessness would greatly aid the allied force in pressing forward.

    But to convince them to even take part in said n was a hurdle of immense proportions.

    Zara stood in arge pce facing a woman sitting on a throne of bones. Her eyes were cold and ruthless, her body prone in preparation for any danger.

    "Still not willing to submit? Presumptuous!" The woman roared.

    Five men and women appeared from the shadows andunched themselves at Zara, their eyes dyed red with bloodlust.

    Before they could even reach her, they were frozen into blocks of ice and skewered by shadows.

    "Your people are not strong enough to force me. Give up before I decide to get serious." Zara stated.

    The woman in front of her wasn''t even the Oga n Head. She was merely a Great Elder.

    While her status was also high, she didn''t have any authority to move the entire n.

    Only, when Zara first entered the n, the Great Elder took a liking to her. Wanting her as both a beastpanion and a sex ve, the Great Elder began to pressure Zara through strength and numbers.

    Unfortunately, she overestimated herself. Now that they''d reached this point, a few tens of her subordinates had been mercilessly ughtered and Zara looked just as pristine as she did when she first entered.

    Her ims about the Great Elder being too weak to force her¡­were extremely true.

    "I haven''t attacked you because I have business with your n Head. Aside from that, any extra strength will be wee in the future. Before I''m forced to strike a blow against the Oga n, stop your nonsense."

    Zara spoke coldly and calmly as if she was unbothered, but she was boiling with fury on the inside. She wanted to rip this woman to shreds. She wanted to show the Great Elder the true meaning of brutality, the brutality of the First Dungeon. Her bestial instincts and bloodline were screaming at her to raise hell.

    But she suppressed these instincts to the best of her ability. She wouldn''t allow her bloodline to control her into making more mistakes. She would tame it and force it to submit.

    The Great Elder could only count herself lucky for Zara''s consideration. She, unfortunately, didn''t seem to realize the great grace she''d been bestowed.

    "You lowly mutt. A great being like me has dered you worthy of being my ve, yet you reject? Then die!"

    The Great Elder outstretched her arm, causing her bone throne to rattle. The countless humanoid bones raised into the air and sharpened into des, moving thereafter to fill Zara with holes!

    However¡­

    "What the hell do you think you''re doing?"

    A chilly atmosphere filled the throne room. The bone weapons, mid-flight, were halted in their tracks.

    Another woman walked through the entrance. The sight of her instantly caused the Great Elder to cower.

    "C-n Head¡­" she whispered respectfully, bowing her head.

    "n Head? You have the audacity to call me that? You took my guest and tried to turn her into a ve, is that the behavior a Great Elder should show?"

    "B-but¡­!" The Great Elder protested. The n Head had never objected to her behavior before. Many so-called "guests" had be dogs for the Great Elder to abuse as she pleased.

    But Zara was different. The weight Zara held surpassed the Great Elder by leagues, should her ims be true.

    The Great Elder immediately felt a grand sura envelop her. Her bone throne shattered into countless fragments that pierced into her skin, and the aura suppression''s weight forced her to her knees, her head nted on the floor.

    "You must be Zara." The Oga n Head said, ignoring the groveling Great Elder. "My name is Ria, and I am the one you came here to meet."

    Zara nodded nomittally. "Well met."

    "Mm, I guess your attitude is reasonable considering how you''ve been treated until now. But don''t you think you''re looking down on me too much?" The n Head said.

    ? "No, you''re the one looking down on me. Don''t try to be subtle with your bullshit and tell me outright. You want to fight, no?"

    Zara bared her fangs. Ever since entering the Oga n, her battlelust had been at an all-time high. Something about the primal atmosphere made her want to rip everyone who even slightly disrespected her to shreds.

    And it wasn''t like she was the only one feeling this way. The n Head, ever since hearing about Zara''s proposal, had been itching for a fight.

    A girl weaker than she was actually dared to dream so big? She dared to think up a n that even she, the Oga n Head, wasn''t able to realize?

    Audacious!

    Before anything else, she wanted to put Zara in her ce. Because a dog that didn''t follow orders¡­

    Wasn''t a dog she needed.

 Chapter 664 Prominence [6]

    Ria, the Oga n Head, and Zara switched locations, arriving in an empty field where they could fight to their heart''s content.

    Rather than saying they held animosity towards each other, it was better to say that they were just looking for excuses to fight.

    Ria was the head of a berserker n, so her bloodlust could be easily exined. Zara''s situation, however, was far moreplicated.

    Whether it was her nature as a beast, her mysterious bloodline, or even her inherent disposition, none had ever been peace-loving. Zara and Damien grew up together in the First Dungeon and were equally influenced by its environment.

    But while Damien slowly learned to control himself and somewhat adapt to society, Zara wasn''t the same. Unlike him, she had no reason to do so.

    She was a beast. Unless she went to the Beast Domain, she would never be treated the same as other existences. The humanoid races of the universe considered both beasts and nts as below them, but unlike nts who were left alone, beasts were often enved and controlled as mounts orpanions.

    Zara despised this idea. As she became morefortable with her identity, as she understood what it meant to live as an individual, she became unable to ept this reality.

    The only exception was Damien. Because while she did indeed view him as a sort of Master, he never treated her as such.

    In fact, he was the main driving force behind her quest for independence and her ability to realize problems on her own.

    In the current situation, Zara''s behavior could be considered venting. Along with this, she was well aware that with the Oga n''s nature, this duel was clearly a test of her worth.

    If she couldn''t prove herself, she''d be demeaned and rejected. If she could¡­

    She''d thoroughly force the Oga n to submit to her.

    "You''re quite brave following me out here," Ria said mockingly, pulling Zara out of her clouded mental state.

    Looking at Ria, Zara didn''t feel any fear. Instead, she felt an excitement she''d been missing for a very long time.

    "Don''t talk with words. Use your fists instead!"

    Without entertaining pointless sophistry, Zara turned into an array of shadows that split and snaked through the ground at different trajectories. They instantly surrounded Ria before reforming into a physical body as Zara shot her fist out at lightning speed!

    Ria scoffed and moved her body slightly, allowing the fist to pass by. Her arm shot out to grab Zara''s throat right after.

    "Ha! This is all you had? And you think you''re worthy of my help? Pathetic!"

    Ptui!

    Zara''s splitnded square in Ria''s eye. "Shut up, bitch. We haven''t even started yet."

    Thanks to the swearing habit she picked up from Damien, she was able to easily enrage Ria, whose ego had be bloated due to her position.

    Just as Ria tried to ruthlessly crush Zara''s throat, her body turned immaterial, dispersing into the air.

    "Engulf."

    Zara''s voice rang out from her original position. Her body remained there as if she never moved. Her shadow expanded from beneath her feet, following her words and engulfing the entire area.

    "Die."

    The pseudo-domain she created pressed down on Ria, limiting her speed. Zara''s body shifted the second it happened, arriving next to her and striking with precision.

    Bang!

    Her ws collided with Ria''s outstretched arm, letting out a dull thump. Instead of drawing back, Zara pushed on with her attack!

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Her ws shed like drifting shadows, elusive and ethereal, but every single swipe of her arm contained the power to tear a normal early 4th ss to shreds.

    Inparison, Ria''s movements were crude. She used the most basic blocking patterns imaginable, but the raw power of her defense was enough to contend against Zara''s technique.

    "Not bad! I thought this would be boring, but you might actually give me a good fight!" R¨ªa eximed.

    "It''s my turn now!"

    In that moment, her arm became a sh of light. Before Zara even realized it, a fist was mere millimeters away from her face.

    ''Chronolock!''

    She rapidly utilized her Ice Laws to freeze time, but Ria''s capabilities far exceeded her imagination. The fist, though somewhat slowed, was still too fast for her to react in time.

    Bang!

    Zara took a punch to the face and was sent flying backwards. Stabilizing herself in the air, she wiped the blood from her nose and sneered.

    "Weak!"

    Without an ounce of hesitation, she dove back in. Now partially transformed into her beast form, Zara continued her melee with Ria.

    Her brutality slowly began to match her opponent''s. The two danced around each other in a battle of blood, dying the ground red in their own. Whether it was Ria or Zara, neither was unscathed as they shed hundreds of times every instant.

    Zara was skilled in mid-rangebat more than anything else. While she did have a strong body as a beast, it had to be remembered that the Sea God ns were Godbeast descendants. On top of that, the Oga n specifically was specialized in physicalbat.

    Challenging Ria in this way waspletely impractical, but Zara didn''t care about practicality. She didn''t even care about winning as fast as possible.

    She wanted to destroy Ria in her area of expertise. Only in this way would the Oga n bow down to her.

    ''Now!''

    Zara''s eyes hardened. Her w shed out,ced with a grayish mana that had never seen the light of day before.

    ''Deconstruction: Lightspeed''

    Xiu!

    Her body moved too fast for sound to keep up with her. Her w turned into a blur of light, and as if it teleported,pletely changed trajectories in an instant.

    Zara retreated immediately. As she did, a fountain of blood sprayed out from Ria''s chest. The gash Zara created only stopped expanding when it reached her neck.

    ''She''s strong!'' Zara realized. Her sh had surpassed the speed she could move without the help of her self-created skill. She used Light Laws themselves to aid her speed, yet Ria still managed to narrowly dodge her throat being gouged out.

    "Keuk¡­!" Ria coughed. A trail of blood leaked from her lips.

    "Not bad¡­at this level, maybe it really will be possible to carry out your n¡­"

    "Fine! I''ve decided! The Oga n will earnestly hear your proposal and make the decision that benefits us most without an ounce of bias! While I can''t say for certain, we will most likely participate in your insanity!"

    Her gaze locked on Zara, a light of madness coloring her eyes.

    "But¡­we aren''t done with just this much, right?"

    A red aura covered her body. A thick smell of blood permeated the air as her bloodlust spread.

    From now on, she was clearly going to take this fight seriously.

    And Zara wasn''t one to deny such an entertaining battle.

    Her body shifted. Her beautiful form expanded into that of a terrifying winged ck wolf. Her shadow turned murky, almost mirroring the appearance of muddy water.

    Within that shadow, a pair of golden eyes shone ruthlessly.

    Zara''s maw widened into a harrowing grin. Her wings pped a single time in a motion that could only be called graceful.

    But the aftermath¡­was anything but.

    The surrounding few thousand kilometers were enveloped in a terrifying explosion, signifying the beginning of the battle''s second round.

 Chapter 665 First Act [1]

    Now that she''d reached 4th ss, the sheer size of Zara''s beast form had reached untold proportions. If she truly expanded to her greatest size, she would be a being that stood a few hundred kilometers in height.

    For arge-scale brawl, this form would allow her to a greater amount of damage for the same amount of effort. Since she was only fighting a single opponent, though, Zara made sure to limit her size to the appropriate level.

    She wasn''t much bigger than Ria when they shed. Her terrifying paws were coated in a deep ckness that seemed to suck one''s soul. Her gaping maw was lined with razor-sharp teeth sharper than any Chaos-ranked artifact.

    With this body made for killing, she became apletely different monster. The way she used her Laws also morphed, bing more bestial and instinctual.

    Concepts like techniques were simply thrown to the wind.

    BOOM!

    Ria''s body mmed into Zara''s side heavily, the dark red aura around her expanding into a material construct and exponentially heightening her striking power.

    "Keuk!"

    Zara coughed out a mouthful of blood, but didn''t budge from her spot. Shadows shot up from the ground and mounted her to her position. At the same time, a massive shard of ice jutted out from the area Ria impacted, heading straight for her forehead!

    "Haa!" Ria shouted enthusiastically. She ducked her body under the ice shard and punched upward, shattering it with a single fist. Her leg kicked up at Zara''s underbelly in hopes of finding a weak spot.

    Bang!

    Zara bowled in pain. In the first ce, Ria was stronger than her purely based on levels. Zara''s advantages came in the form of elemental affinities and human techniques, both of which she learned to use in the outside world.

    Ria''s striking range was limited to where her body could reach. But for Zara¡­

    The underbelly that Ria tried to attack was coated in a thickyer of ice. Even the shadows projected by her body onto the ground responded to her calls, forming an airtight defense for her most obvious weak spot.

    Ria''s kick made impact, and the shockwave caused Zara immense pain, but she didn''t get off scot-free either. She found a murky ckyer of frost covering her leg, slowing her movement by a small amount.

    Only, this small amount would be far greater if she allowed Zara to continue. Ria narrowed her eyes. She wasn''t used to fighting against somebody who could counter her so well. In Aquazyl, there were no ns who held either shadow or ice affinities, both of which being exclusive to creatures of the surface or of environments that matched their affinities.

    Despite Aquazyl''s denizens living their lives nocturnally, they were never truly connected to the darkened. Instead, their Sea God bloodline forced them to maintain a connection with the sea alone.

    The two shed for what seemed like the thousandth time. Regardless of how much blood they lost or how brutal their fight became, neither seemed to have any intention of stopping.

    Off to the side, high-ranking members of the Oga n watched in awe.

    There were never enough opponents. Whenever enemies came, the elders were usually enough to ughter them. In reality, they''d rarely ever seen their n Head fight to her full capabilities.

    At the same time, nobody dared to fight her and find out her limits. They were well aware based on her aura alone how much stronger she was than them.

    But seeing this current battle, they realized they''d vastly underestimated their n Head. The mere shockwaves from the ongoing sh continuously forced their bodies back, and that was after they''d been dispersed by the seawater!

    Among this group, the Great Elder was especially shaken. Zara could fight head-to-head with the n Head¡­

    What right did she have to act the way she did?

    Her body shivered in terror. If Zara didn''t hold back during their previous interaction¡­

    ''It''s not toote¡­it''s not toote¡­'' she chanted religiously in her head. As long as she could keep her life, she didn''t mind bing Zara''s dog.

    She wasn''t someone with a strong mentality, anyway. She was the type to vent her inferiorityplex on those under her.

    Nevertheless, the Great Elder received several pitying nces from the surrounding elders while they observed the battle.

    At this time¡­

    Zara and Ria stood 10 meters apart. Zara''s fur was matted in blood, deep holes puncturing into her body. Rather than external injuries, the internal injuries she wracked up were far more terrifying.

    As for Ria, she was also covered in blood from head to toe. Harrowing gashes ruined her toned visage, making her seem like a mutated science experiment rather than a sentient being.

    Blood dripped down her face and sshed into her eyes and mouth. She licked her lips and savored its taste.

    "It''s been so long¡­it''s been so long since I could fight like this! Kuahahahahaha!" She roared. She''d truly gone mad from battlelust.

    Zara watched her indifferently, but internally, she was suppressing the same madness that Ria was letting loose.

    ''This battle won''t end for a very long time¡­we are evenly matched in physical defense, and while her physical attack is better than mine, my elemental attacks can match her. If this goes on¡­''

    "Enough." She spoke out loud, attracting Ria''s attention.

    "Enough? You think this is enough?! It won''t be enough until one of us is dead!" Ria shouted in protest.

    Zara shook her head. "Get it together. We aren''t here to fight each other, but to talk about cooperating. Continuing further isn''t good for us."

    No matter how much she wanted to continue fighting, she knew her priorities. It wasn''t just Damien who wished to finish their part in this war quickly and return to Hidden Death Valley.

    Zara also had this desire. She wanted topete with peak geniuses who were simr in age to her. Aside from that, she wanted to see the ongoing war.

    The Nox yed arge role in her origins. She could grow by consuming their power, as she''d learned through the Death Seed. Rather than waste time in a fight where she would gain nothing, she chose progress.

    The Zara of the past would''ve never made this decision, nor would she have even realized the decision''s existence in the first ce.

    "I refuse to end this fight without dering a winner!" Ria said. After listening to Zara, she did manage to regain a semnce of sanity. She understood clearly how important Zara''s proposal would be to the Oga n''s survival.

    But still, she couldn''t run from her nature. It was in her blood to fight until the brutal end.

    Zara sighed. She figured it would be this way. Then, there was no other choice.

    "The solution is simple. Instead of physicalbat, let''spete in status."

    "Status?" Ria asked, tilting her head curiously.

    Zara nodded in affirmation. "Right. You''re a Godbeast descendant, aren''t you? Let''spete in bloodlines. The first to fall to the other''s suppression loses."

    Ria raised her brow in surprise and said, "hm? You want topete with me in bloodlines? Haha, you''re quite the confident one!"

    Her aura red in excitement. "If it''s bloodlines, I will never lose! Come! Show me what gives you the confidence to contend with the Sea God!"

 Chapter 666 First Act [2]

    "Come! Show me what gives you the confidence to contend with the Sea God!"

    With a heroic shout, Ria galvanized her aura. The slumbering Sea God bloodline in her body began to boil,ing to the forefront.

    In that instant, her appearance went through a massive shift. Aquamarine reptilian scales covered her body, her eyes turned into hollow sockets filled with blue mes, her hair lengthened and seemed to gain sentience, and finally, her mouth turned into a maw of jagged teeth.

    The Godbeast Ancestor of the Oga n was of a species called Charybdis. The original Charybdis was a gargantuan creature even more terrifying than the Fifth Primal Sovereign, and after her bloodline merged with the Sea God''s to create the Oga n, the bloodline''s monstrosity only grew.

    Unfortunately, the Sea God bloodline that the current Sea God ns carried was heavily diluted. The Sea God and his wives were existences from millions of years ago, after all.

    Therefore, unfortunately, Ria''s bloodline wasn''t anywhere near the original Charybdis in power. It was the same reason she didn''t have a beast form of her own, at best having a partial transformation simr to Damien''s.

    Still, this didn''t mean her bloodline wasn''t powerful. The second its immense aura nketed the surroundings, the Oga n elders watching the battle were forced to their knees in submission. Zara felt the bloodline''s coercive force wrap around her body, arrogantly trying to force her to do the same.

    But instead of gritting her teeth and enduring, she scoffed. It wasn''t intentional at all, but rather an instinctual reaction.

    She didn''t even control it.

    Nor did she have to rouse her bloodline to counter.

    The mystery of Zara''s bloodline began at birth. In truth, she never had something like a parent.

    There were other wolves Zara grew up with before being chased by the First Dungeon''s 40th-floor Boss Wyvern, but none of these were her kin. They merely included her due to their shared species.

    Zara, however, never felt a connection to these wolves. She knew from the start just how different she was. After all, her intelligence started developing far earlier than most beasts.

    In essence, Zara always felt a sense of loneliness deep within her. The source of this loneliness was none other than her bloodline, the unique part of her being that separated her from all others.

    The only one she''d ever felt a true bloodline connection with was Alea.

    Through her years of traveling with Damien, she''d been to multiple worlds, multiple realms, fantastical environments with new species she''d never seen before, but never once did these provide any clues about her bloodline.

    Alea was the first hint, and the second was the Death Seed.

    Through these, she could only confirm that she had some sort of connection with the Nox.

    But¡­did that really exin her bloodline in any way?

    As said bloodline voluntarily boiled inside her body, she found herself wondering again: just what was she?

    The stronger she got, the closer she got to the answer. For now, though¡­

    Zara''s mysterious bloodline red in response to Ria''s challenge, as if insulted by the fact that a mere diluted Sea God bloodline dared even think topete.

    Her beast form became more pronounced, not only growing to its full size of several hundred kilometers, but also bing more powerful with each passing second.

    Woong! Woong! Woong!

    A strange sound followed the waves of power fluctuation leaking from her body. Her bloodline aura spread and engulfed Ria''s, dying the world ck.

    This ckness didn''t cease. It expanded to cover thousands of kilometers both in distance and height. And as it did, the aura it gave off caused several manifested phenomena.

    Death, destruction, blood, violence, brutality, these concepts were only some encapsted by her aura. Scenes of brutal ughter, of universal destruction, of unthinkable torture, spread and infected the minds of those trapped in the ckness, submerging them in an inescapable illusion.

    "Khh!" Ria let out a strained breath and bit her tongue until it bled, doing her best to keep consciousness.

    Her body shivered in fear. Her Sea God bloodline¡­desperately tried to retreat into her body to escape Zara''s bloodline aura.

    ''What¡­is¡­this?!'' She panicked inwardly. Never in her life did she expect to encounter a bloodline more powerful than hers, let alone one that trumped her to this extent.

    "AHHHHHH!" A piercing shriek came from far away. The Great Elder, among the crowd of Oga n Elders, fell to her knees clutching her head.

    "STOP! STOP! MAKE IT STOP! AHHHHHH!"

    Her soul-rending cries cut through the ckness, inadvertently helping the others regain some sanity. Unfortunately, reality was even more terrifying than those illusions.

    The smell of death lingered around them. It felt like perverted hands were crawling up their bodies, grabbing them by the throats and ordering them to submit.

    The elders shook, unable to bear the disgusting feeling. The Great Elder was even worse. She was foaming from the mouth, blood leaking from her every orifice.

    Only Ria could withstand the bloodline''s pressure, albeit barely. Her knees were bent as if begging her to let them touch the ground. Still, she refused to submit.

    She red up into Zara''s massive eyes with an unyielding gaze even as her bloodline abandoned her.

    She epted it. She couldn''t beat Zara. Even if she used her bloodline earlier, if Zara just used her own, she''d have lost in an instant.

    But just because she couldn''t win didn''t mean she would lose. At the very least, she''d resist until the bitter end.

    Zara herself didn''t notice themotion she caused at all. In her mind, a fierce battle was taking ce.

    She fought against a shadowy being without form, a manifestation of her bloodline. She fought so she could control her body.

    There was a reason Zara didn''t touch her bloodline often. Whenever it came into effect, she maintained the risk of losing her ego to it, bing an insatiable ughter machine.

    If Zara lost this fight, there was no hope left for her.

    Nheless, this fight was one she''d fought endlessly during her time with Tang Lingzi. Controlling her bloodline was half the training she did, and by far the most grueling.

    "Not yet! I won''t fall to you!" She roared in defiance. Her eyes shone with brilliant golden light, creating a thick mental barrier around her body.

    "Jejejeje! Child, why fight? Be one with me, and you will obtain the power to rule the world. Tell me, didn''t you want to stand by that little boyfriend of yours?"

    Zara gritted her teeth in anger. "You deceptive bitch! What''s the point in having power if I have to give up my soul in exchange?! I want to stand by Damien as myself, not the lunatic you turn me into!"

    Her mental barrier strengthened to its maximum. The golden light around her spread through the surroundings, cleansing the bloodline''s darkness.

    "Jejejeje, then it is not time yet. Do not worry, child, for we shall be one in time. When that moment arrives, we will see whether or not you still reject us."

    The being''s voice faded. The shadows in Zara''s spiritual world faded. Now alone, she took many deep breaths to readjust her mental state.

    She didn''t like the way that being spoke. Even ignoring the strangeness of the fact that it could speak at all, its tone seemed to suggest that Zara would eventually submit to it regardless of the circumstances.

    As her consciousness returned to the material world, she made a silent vow to herself; a vow she''d made dozens of times in the past.

    ''The day my bloodline seeds in enveloping me¡­will be the day I die.''

 Chapter 667 First Act [3]

    As soon as Zara regained control over her body, her bloodline suppression vanished as if it never existed. Her body shrank and morphed back into her human form, wrapped in a beautiful ck dress.

    Ria undid her transformation as well, sighing in relief. Despite her ferocity in the moment, she didn''t actually want to die. It was relieving that the whole ordeal was done with.

    Her rationality had long since been returned to her. The unquenchable bloodlust she''d been emitting was gone entirely.

    Her body shed over to the elders to check on their conditions. Other than some light trauma from the prior illusions, they werepletely intact.

    The Great Elder on the other hand¡­

    Her mind nearly shattered. It was unknown whether Zara did it consciously or subconsciously, but her aura had specifically targeted the Great Elder among the crowd, bringing her an utterly mind-breaking experience.

    She would never be the same again, and even if her mind was healed, herbat prowess would take a steep dive.

    ? R¨ªa sighed. Such was the consequence of offending someone who shouldn''t be offended. The Great Elder''s antics, though silently allowed by her, were bound to bring her downfall sooner orter. It was just a shame that Ria didn''t have the ability to save her when that time came.

    Nevertheless, she didn''t hold any grudges against Zara. In fact, her opinion was the exact opposite.

    A domineering and mysterious bloodline, strength that far surpassed her level, strongwprehension, and endless talent; facing someone who had all of these factorsbined, how could she not be in awe?

    It didn''t take long for her to make a decision.

    Her knees bent, hitting the ground with a dull thump. With her head lowered in Zara''s direction, she spoke:

    "We, the Oga n, have never submitted to anyone regardless of strength. We are prideful beings who dare to contend with any and everything. However, you havepletely suppressed us. Even if our entire n decided to battle you, your bloodline alone would be enough to defeat us. Thus, I have made my decision."

    Her eyes raised, meeting Zara''s. Within was a light of admiration that wasn''t present before. "The Oga n will submit to you as our new leader. Former n Head Ria greets the n Head!"

    The elders'' eyes widened in shock at this deration, but without fail, they all mirrored Ria''s posture.

    ""The Oga n greets the n Head!""

    Zara''s eyes widened in just as much shock as theirs. n Head?! Since when did she ask for such a position?!

    Inwardly panicking, she hurriedly waved her arms in denial. "What are you talking about? I don''t have the experience or leadership ability to lead a n! If you follow me, it''ll only hurt you in the long run."

    Ria immediately refuted her, saying, "you''re wrong. Someone who can make the bold decision to fight the entire Tephit n, regardless of the means you use, is worthy of leading us. Please ept this position!"

    Zara continued to hesitate even after hearing Ria''s impassioned speech. Really, she wasn''t even the one who came up with that n! The basis of their trust was a scam!

    But before she could deny again, a voice in the distance stopped her.

    "Oho? Something interesting is happening here, I see."

    Two men appeared on the horizon, one old and one young. Naturally, they were Damien and the Ruvia n Head.

    "Damien!" Zara yelped upon seeing him. She didn''t expect him toe perfectly when she was in such an embarrassing situation.

    "What? Why are you embarrassed? If they want to take you as their leader, ept them. Even if you can only act as a spiritual pir for now, it doesn''t mean you''ll never grow into your role. Just follow your heart without worrying about the consequences. After all, aren''t I here to clean up after you if you make a mess?"

    Damien smiled warmly as he watched Zara''s bewildered reaction. He''d been forced to realize it over and over again, but it never seemed to fully set in.

    That little wolf from back then, the one who was too shy and insecure to leave his shadow, had grown into a fine woman. Every time she took another step forward, it filled him with immense joy.

    He didn''t know what it was like to have siblings, but seeing Zara grow up made him understand what the closeness of family was truly like. Even if he had to eat a loss, if it meant Zara''s happiness, he wouldn''t mind doing so.

    ''Haa, I''ll need to have a long talk with Tang Lingzi when I get back. If she doesn''t let me see what Zara went through after separating from me¡­''

    Damien shook off the thought. He didn''t even know when the Grand Assembly would take ce, so there was no point thinking about his people in the Human Domain.

    Doing so would only depress and distract him.

    Just as Damien was warmed by Zara''s growth, Zara felt bliss from Damien''s encouragement. If there was one thing she desired above all else, it was praise from the person she idolized.

    He would always be there to support her. Just this fact alone gave her immeasurable confidence.

    "Fine. I will ept the position of n Head. But! I will not stay here forever. When I leave, I will delegate my authority to Ria until my return. Is that eptable?"

    "Yes, n Head!" The Oga n elders and Ria shouted in unison.

    "Good then," Zara said smilingly. "Now, onto the important matter¡­"

    Her gaze traveled back to Damien and the Ruvia n Head. Finally freed from their kneeling position, the Oga n members finally looked over at the two as well.

    "You¡­Maximus?!" Ria shouted in astonishment. Damien was the only one who talked previously, so she didn''t even notice his presence. Now that she had, she felt a deep sense of shame bubbling up inside her.

    "Haha, Ria, have you been well? It''s been a very long time since I''ve seen you in such a position." The Ruvia n Head, Maximus, responded jovially.

    Ria''s face immediately went red. "What are you saying in front of everybody?! Hmph!"

    "Haha, alright, I''m sorry, okay? While I do want to take some time to catch up with you, we have important business to discuss first. My little friend Damien here came to me with an interesting proposal, you see. I trust little Zara had done the same with you?"

    "Mm," Ria responded. "We, the Oga n, have already decided to follow n Head Zara to death. And you?"

    "Of course, my Ruvia n will also be joining. With what the Tephit n has done to our people, how could I reject? Besides, this boy seems to know much more than I expected. With the help of these two, our chances of sess are surprisingly high."

    Damien smiled off to the side as he listened to them converse. Ignoring the¡­deep rtionship that Maximus and Ria seemingly shared, Maximus''st sentence was the main source of his smile.

    Damien had almost forgotten after all this time, but Devour experienced a tremendous evolution during his Baptism.

    Namely, it allowed him to consume memories.

    After devouring those Tephit n members that Zara caught, he actually acquired a substantial amount of information on the n''s subdivisions and structure. After all, one of those who Zara caught was a Tephit n elder.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have information on the Tephit n''s main headquarters, but with Damien''s new ability, it was only a matter of time.

    To Maximus who was unaware of this fact, they only had a high chance of defeating the Tephit n.

    But to Damien, this future was all but assured.

    The three parties who would be participating in the raid were finally gathered, their cooperation secured. If Damien added his own forces on top of that¡­

    The Tephit n''s total annihtion was just around the corner.

 Chapter 668 First Act [4]

    The overall structure of the n was simple.

    Between the three forces, there were several hundred thousand able-bodied soldiers who could be dispatched. These soldiers would be used to attack the Tephit n''s subdivisions, most of which Damien knew the structure of and location of.

    When the Tephit n''s attention was divided trying to support these subdivisions, they wouldunch a fierce attack on the main headquarters, killing the Tephit n Head and his strongest subordinates.

    Each secondary team was led by three 4th ss beings, one from each of the involved forces, in case of emergency. Lucius, White Dragon King, Elvira, and the two Phoenix Matriarchs were ced in these secondary teams. In fact, even Feng Qing''er and Lunaria Snow exited the Sanctuary for the first time to participate, following their mothers.

    Since Damien and Zara independently briefed Maximus and Ria about the outline of the n, the actual strategy meeting didn''t take long. Maximus and Ria provided their own input based on their knowledge and fleshed out the n. After revising the improved version for an entire night, there was no need to say more.

    The n was set in motion.

    The secondary teams shot into the horizon, spreading thin as they chased down their targets. Now, Damien and the rest only had to wait for results.

    ***

    Feng Qing''er looked around as she flew threw the crystal clear waters of Aquazyl. She''d never imagined the possibility of such an environment existing.

    The 3000 Beast Mountain Range was entirelyndlocked, and while it did have its fair share of rivers andkes, the volume of water in the entirety of the mountain range couldn''t even match a portion of Aquazyl.

    If she''d remained trapped in her own bubble for the rest of her life, it was unknown if she would have ever truly grown into a powerhouse.

    A sigh leaked from her mouth. That Damien she got to know in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range seemed so distant now. In a few short years, he''d promoted to the same level of strength as her mother. Meanwhile, she stagnated, unable to cross the final barrier and receive her Baptism.

    ''How do you do it?'' She wondered. She knew he was a freak from the beginning, but she was still astonished to see his progress.

    And at the same time, she mourned a bit thinking about what he had to go through to reach that point.

    She was able to leisurely train in thefort of the Sanctuary, slowly umting herprehension and raising her level to grow. While this environment was wonderous, Damien clearly didn''t have any semnce of this peace in his own life, despite being the Sanctuary''s creator.

    In fact, he rarely ever visited the Sanctuary at all. He treated it like an independent world that he was visiting rather than his own domain.

    Nevertheless, Feng Qing''er didn''t remain thinking about Damien for long. Her anticipation was killing her.

    There were plenty of conflicts in the Sanctuary, but because everyone was on the same side, there were never any life-or-death battles.

    The Storm Heavens Realm that was recently added to the Sanctuary was a breath of fresh air, allowing her to once again experience growth through struggle. But even then, the Storm Heavens Realm didn''t align with her affinities, so at most, it could only train her physical body.

    Now that she was outside, and partaking in a war no less, she was guaranteed the experience she so desired.

    How could she not be excited?

    Feng Qing''er''s gaze refocused on the horizon. Their force had already been traveling for a few days. They''d traveled through multiple barriers that separated different battlefields and were now finally arriving at their destination.

    And they were just in time for nightfall.

    Roughly 3 hours of flyingter, the sun faded behind the horizon. The Fire Phoenix Matriarch, Feng Yuxiang, took a spatial ring off of her finger and poured mana into it.

    What exited wasn''t items, but rather people. Since they traveled during the daytime to increase their speed and distance covered, Damien designed some pocket dimensions to hold the Sea God n members who were traveling with them.

    This convenience was the only reason they reached their destination in a matter of days rather than weeks.

    Feng Yuxiang spoke, "we are only a few hundred kilometers away from our destination. This Tephit camp is the most peripheral camp in the western region of Aquazyl. We will start from here and make our way inward until we meet the main force at the Tephit n''s headquarters."

    The Sea God n members rapidly regained their wits upon hearing her words and nodded.

    "This n cannot fail. If it does, our entire alliance faces the threat of total annihtion. Everyone! Lady Feng''s orders are absolute, as dered by the n Head! Disobedience means death!" A man shouted to his fellow n members.

    He was the Ruvia n 4th ss assigned to Feng Yuxiang''s group, named Leon. Next to him stood a muscled woman with tan skin from the Oga n, Tera.

    "The Tephit''s rule is over! Let''s let them experience the taste of defeat!" She roared.

    OOOOOH!

    The Oga n members let out a fierce battle cry that shook the waters. Smiling at their actions, Feng Yuxiang gave the order.

    "Charge!"

    Hundreds of kilometers were covered in a matter of minutes.

    And the Tephit n peripheral subdivision was destroyed only a few minutester.

    They didn''t stand a chance. Feng Yuxiang didn''t even have to act. When they first arrived, Tera ripped out the throat of the overseeing elder, killing him instantly and causing the remaining Tephit forces'' morale to steeply drop.

    It was a ughter after that. With Feng Qing''er at the head, the Ruvia, Oga, and Sanctuary forces acted without mercy.

    When the battle was over, nobody thought to rest. Their time was extremely precious at the moment, and as rapidly as they could, they had to destroy as many Tephit subdivisions as possible.

    Feng Qing''er grinned to herself. In this aquatic environment, she wasn''t just severely limited, she was essentially crippled. The strength of her fire element without the backing of Laws was decreased to a negligible level, forcing her to use both technique and creativity to make up the difference.

    In such conditions, the fighting capabilities she could show dropped to match her level, but this only excited her more.

    The challenge she had been seeking, this was it. A ce where she was pathetically weak and a ce where she could be abnormally strong.

    Her gaze drifted to the horizon.

    ''With this environment¡­I should be able to at least touch the precipice of 4th ss by the time our raid is over¡­how fun!''

    With a smile on her face as she followed the rest of the troops to the next Tephit subdivision, she suddenly had a thought.

    ''Luna¡­is probably thriving in this environment. Hahaha, I almost feel bad for the people who have to fight her.''

    Lunaria and the Ice Phoenix Matriarch were a terrifyingbo even onnd, but in this environment where they held aplete environmental advantage¡­?

    They truly did show the Tephit n the meaning of fear.

 Chapter 669 First Act [5]

    Evenpared to the haste Feng Yuxiang''s team made when destroying the peripheral camp, the Ice Phoenix Matriarch, Bianca Snow''s team was even faster.

    The other didn''t even have to act. With a few taps of her finger, she turned the entirety of the eastern peripheral camp into a block of ice, freezing even the 4th ss overseeing elder at a molecr level. When she shattered this ice and let it return to the rest of the seawater, there wasn''t a single trace of the camp left.

    "Mm, this is good." Shemented as the others watched her in awe. Even Willhelm and Tania, the other two 4th sses on her team, were astonished by her rapidity.

    "I won''t continue doing this every time," Bianca stated. "I, along with Willhelm and Tania, will conserve as much strength as possible while moving forward. We must be prepared to support the main force at any time."

    ""Yes, Ma''am!"" A collective affirmation rang out. The respect in their hearts for Bianca reached an all-time high.

    The group moved through the night, destroying every Tephit subdivision they came across. Just as she said, Bianca didn''t move unless it was absolutely necessary.

    Though, it never was.

    As she watched the destruction continue, she fell into thought. That boy she didn''t ce much stake in had really be a character. Judging by their behavior, the other Sanctuarian n Leaders hadpletely settled into their subordinate roles, not questioning Damien''s authority in the slightest.

    She couldn''t me them. After seeing his prowess and extreme growth rate, it was natural to feel submissive. He was someone who would be a Demigod one day, and he was someone who''d established his own world when he was still a 3rd ss being.

    It was insane to put him in the same category as anyone else.

    Bianca sighed. Her personality didn''t let her submit easily. Even more than the outspoken Feng Yuxiang, the defiance in her heart was prominent.

    Still, she could feel it. She was starting to submit to Damien as well.

    It was quite funny to think about it. Thest two times he summoned the Sanctuary''s forces were both during wars of massive scale. While thest one was easier since it was a head-to-head melee where strategy was necessary, this time was different.

    There was a concrete n in ce. And rather than being enveloped in war¡­Damien was starting one himself.

    He was bing more domineering by the day. He was throwing away his doubts and his struggles trying to appear more "human," truly embracing himself for what he was.

    This internal change that was slowly taking ce was reflected in the eyes of others, especially those like Bianca who''d seen him before it started.

    ''Haa, that brat is truly incorrigible. I hope my Luna doesn''t end up like Qing''er¡­poorss.''

    That yboy who flirted with everyone but couldn''t follow through and take responsibility, she really ought to smack him across the head a few times for beguiling her little niece.

    And from what Feng Qing''er had said, he even managed to seduce a girl who entered the Primordial Undying Realm as a Nox spy!

    Unimaginable!

    While she couldn''t help but praise his charisma, it also made her wary.

    She could joke about his seducing women whenever she wanted, but if that charisma continued to grow¡­

    Just how much of the universe would he end up conquering?

    ''What am I thinking?!'' Bianca wondered as she shook off her thoughts. Universal sovereignty wasn''t something so simple that a young genius like Damien could achieve it.

    Universal sovereignty waspeted for on a racial level. Let alone a single human, even a Demigod-level influence didn''t have a shot at conquering the entire universe.

    Besides, after the Nox arrived, the concept of universal sovereignty became obsolete. Instead, ensuring its survival was the main point on everyone''s minds.

    Still, the Sanctuary seemed to grow infinitely. As one of its residents, Bianca truly couldn''t get rid of that slight feeling within her soul¡­

    The feeling that the boy she served would aplish something unimaginable.

    ***

    The multitude of secondary teams continued moving without fail. The Sanctuary''s forces were much stronger than the regr 4th sses of Aquazyl, so naturally they moved faster.

    Still, the other secondary teams couldn''t be underestimated. With their synergy and familiarity with the environment, their speeds weren''t much slower than the Sanctuary teams.

    Like this, the Tephit n''s forces were rapidly being destroyed. With so many elders dying in session, it would be stranger if the main n didn''t hear word of the happenings.

    The Tephit n''s headquarters were far more advanced than the other ns. Not only because of their 100,000 years of development, but also because the Godbeast they were descended from was far more intelligent than those of the other ns.

    Within a skyscraper-like building was aarium-esque room that projected scenes mirroring the ck depths of the Emperor Bone Sea. The fluctuating waves made ripples in the darkness, shining pale light on the face of the man who sat in the room''s central position.

    He was Tephit, the Tephit n''s leader. Every n had a different method of choosing its ruler. The Tephit n''s was particrly special.

    It seemed like a random child would be crowned the Holy Son whenever the old leader was nearing death. His name would be changed to Tephit, the name every leader took for themselves.

    This child would stay with the old leader during his waning years and learn from him, eventually seeding his seat when the time came.

    Only, each n Head possessed an uncanny resemnce to thest. It was almost like the Tephit n was blessed with the fortune of a great n Head every time they made the change.

    Tephit was a man with broad shoulders and dark skin. His grey eyes were like swirling storm clouds, turbulent and unfocused. His gaze remained on the projected Emperor Bone Sea around him.

    ''Why¡­why¡­just why won''t you submit?!''

    His eyes turned red with fury. It had been nearly 100,000 years! Why wasn''t the Emperor Bone Sea willing to submit to the Tephit n''s rule?! As the Prominence War''s rules stated, the Tephit n did indeed be the sovereign of the Emperor Bone Sea.

    But if they were trapped in Aquazyl for life, what was the use of this authority?!

    ''Calm down¡­it won''t be long before my sovereignty isplete¡­it''ll only take¡­a few million more deaths.''

    His face twisted into a perverse smile. There wasn''t a single being in Aquazyl with the power to stop him. He couldn''t let his insanity take control and destroy his years of painstaking effort.

    ''But¡­it''s been too quiet recently. Is something the matter?''

    He took out a transmission talisman and injected mana into it. At that exact moment¡­

    "n Head, you called just in time! Please send reinforcements to all of our subdivisions! Someone has been fiercely attacking and destroying them! Hundreds of elders have died already!"

    "What?!" He eximed. "Exin the situation immediately. If you miss even a single detail¡­"

    "Y-yes, n Head!" The voice on the other side replied, panicking.

    Tephit soon received a not-so-brief overview of the situation. He learned about the fact that in every possible direction, the subdivisions in various battlefields were being destroyed.

    It was at a rate where hundreds of elders and an untold number of weaker n members had already died, and it had only been a single week!

    If this continued¡­

    A vein bulged from Tephit''s forehead. Just as he thought things were going smoothly, a group of vermin decided to interfere!

    His ns were at a critical juncture. He couldn''t allow those who disobeyed him to run free. To cut the weeds and stomp the roots¡­

    "Pass down my order. Send as many elders as needed to support the subdivisions that are still standing. ughter these rebels down to thest before they even see a glimpse of the main n!"

 Chapter 670 First Act [6]

    The night passed and daytime nketed Aquazyl. All Sea God n members, regardless of whether enemy or ally, retreated to the safety of darkness during this time.

    Unfortunately, neither Damien and Zara nor the Sanctuary forces were able to get a straight answer about why they did this.

    Instead, they were now left alone on the surface.

    In this time of respite, Damien and Zara met up with the Sanctuarians. In the middle of Aquazyl''s deste peace, they had a proper conversation for the first time since Damien summoned them.

    The group sat in a rtivelyrge house they built with their affinities. Aside from Damien, Zara, and Damien''s main Sanctuary forces like Feng Yuxiang and Feng Qing''er, the others present were elite forces that had been trained in the Sanctuary during his absence. Truly, the growth his subordinates had undergone astonished him.

    Damien smiled warmly as he conversed with them. He reminisced on the Primordial Undying Realm with Feng Qing''er and Lunaria, introduced Zara to the crowd she''d never met before, and even brought Xue''er and Elitra out to y with the rest.

    The overall atmosphere was jovial, but when Damien saw it, he knew there was something missing.

    "Hey,e with me for a second." His sound transmission entered the White Dragon King''s ears, causing his brow to raise in curiosity.

    After following Damien to a secluded spot, the two began to converse.

    "Why did you call me over?" The White Dragon King asked.

    Damien sighed. "It''s just¡­I wanted to talk to you about the promise we made long ago."

    The White Dragon King''s heart shook. How could he not remember the promise? It was a promise to find his son on the Cloud ne, it was the most important task that had been bogging him down ever since he got stuck in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    "¡­" he couldn''t force out any words. He never forgot the promise they made, he just refused to bring it up because he was well aware of how much Damien had been going through.

    Ever since he left the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, he never had a single break. Even when he took breaks, they neversted more than a day. Even those days were spent training.

    With this kind of schedule, and with the wait of universal war on his shoulders, Damien couldn''t be med even if hepletely forgot the promise.

    Yet, Damien never forgot.

    "In fact, one of the first things I did when I bound the Cloud ne was use my connection with it to search for anyone sharing your bloodline. However¡­"

    Damien didn''t have to finish his sentence. It was obvious that if Damien had truly found the White Dragon King''s son, said son would be standing with them now.

    "Is he¡­"

    "No." Damien cut him off before he could finish. "Yun is a sentient record of all things that have ever happened on the Cloud ne. Even if your son died, he would have known. Thepleteck of presence means¡­"

    "Nevertheless, Yun would''ve known of your son''s presence if he was ever on the Cloud ne. I can''t be certain of what happened to him, nor can I assure you he''s alive. But I swear on my name and mana that I will find him."

    Damien grabbed the White Dragon King''s shoulder and sighed. "I''m sorry, but this is all I can do."

    The White Dragon King shook his head in rebuttal. "No, the fact that you''re persistently attempting to find him is enough for me. By our Heavenly Oath, it waspletely possible for you to drop the search after not finding traces of him on the Cloud ne by simply assuming he was dead. I just¡­I hate my own weakness."

    Damien nodded his head. He understood this feeling too well. The reason he always acted preemptively, the reason he never let himself get into situations he couldn''t handle, was because of how vividly he remembered the feeling of powerlessness.

    It wasn''t something he ever wanted to feel again.

    "We, as singr existences in this universe, will always be minute in the grand scheme of things. It is our eternal goal to grow until we have the power to rid ourselves of that minuteness. Bai Yuxuan, follow me to the peak. Do not let your inner struggle cloud your mind." Damien said earnestly.

    Bai Yuxuan, the White Dragon King, smiled wryly. "Even if you say that, it isn''t easy to follow those words. The struggles of the mind are the most difficult to ovee, and even after oveing them, other mental problems arise to rece them. It is a neverending battle that I can''t seem to win."

    Damien felt sympathy towards the White Dragon King''s plight. The battles of the mind¡­these were what kept himpany on his journey to the top.

    He almost started cherishing his trauma, because he didn''t know what type of person he''d be without it.

    He didn''t want to know that person.

    It was only through countless brutal experiences, endlessly being forced to face his trauma, that Damien grew to his current level. But just as Bai Yuxuan stated, when the old problems were solved, new ones rose to take their ce.

    The two stood in silence, unmoving. Their gazes looked off into the horizon.

    In a universe where killing meant strength, where war was opportunity, where selfishness was the only way to grow rapidly, it was hard to maintain rtionships.

    Love, whether familial or romantic, became an afterthought. Those loved ones became a safe haven.

    Just as Bai Yuxuan dearly missed his son, Damien dearly missed his wives. Seeing the rtionships between people as he traveled the Divine Realm and even the Human Domain prior, he felt both lucky to have his wives and guilty for his treatment of them.

    Ironically, there had never been jealousy problems in his harem.

    The reason for this was simple: Damien''s wives spent far more time with each other than they did with him. They developed an unbreakable bond through countless adventures and experiences that couldn''t be broken by something as insignificant as jealousy.

    In the same vein, their love for Damien and vice versa would never break.

    Damien was aware of this fact. And perhaps, he''d subconsciously used this fact as an excuse to spend less time with them as he focused on his responsibilities.

    It wasn''t entirely his fault. He was constantly dragged around by various events, forced into situations where death was all but guaranteed. He trusted his wives and their strengths, but that didn''t mean he would willingly put them in those situations if he could help it.

    ''Then again, maybe I''m just being hypocritical.''

    The more time he spent away from them, the more he realized how little time they''d actually spent together. He wanted to return to them and spend years bonding with and loving them until they were satisfied, but he knew it wasn''t possible.

    ''But that isn''t an excuse to continue my behavior¡­when we meet again, I swear I won''t disappoint you.''

    His eyes reflected the refracted light rays shining through the waters. Perhaps being in Aquazyl for so long made him ustomed to viewing day as night and vice versa, because he felt like he was staring into a beautiful moon.

    Before he knew it, he was already approaching 30. The passing of time was light and airy like a spring breeze, almost unnoticeable if one didn''t consciously pay attention to it. His journey, from the moment he fell into the First Dungeon, would reach an entire decade in length by the time the Hidden Death Valley progress assessment ended.

    He thought back to those simple days on earth. He thought back to the various people he''d met.

    Jin Horten, Ethan and William from Apeiron, Long Chen and the Xue siblings on the Cloud ne¡­

    Aquazyl''s peace made him fall into a reminiscent mood, and he warmly smiled as he did so. There were many tribtions, too many to count. He''d been crippled and nearly killed an equally countless number of times.

    But he didn''t regret it at all.

    Because if he didn''t go through those experiences, he never would''ve grown.

    If he didn''t experience failure, he never would''ve understood what it meant to seed.

    He stood up from his spot and held a hand out to help Bai Yuxuan do the same.

    A war was on the horizon, and not a small one. He had a feeling that the final confrontation with the Tephit n would take ce within the month, far earlier than he expected.

    But he weed this haste.

    The Prominence War was more than just a Mystic Realm that would give Damien a pivotal weapon, it was training.

    Training for the true war he''d have to face once he left.

 Chapter 671 Second Act [1]

    20 shadows popted a discreet corner of the Emperor Bone Sea, nearly unmoving for over a week.

    This was the amount of time Damien and Zara had been in Aquazyl, and unfortunately for their pursuers, entering the ancient realm was easier said than done.

    "It''s impossible for them to just disappear! Don''t tell me some random kid was able to sense us and escape?!" One of the men said.

    "No, that''s impossible. The leader responded. "Not to mention the power difference, I''ve heard that brat is especially arrogant. Even if he did sense us, he wouldn''t run." The leader responded with squinted eyes.

    Because Damien was a known special expert, they''d been trailing at arge distance, but this ended up working against them. In the midst of this strange whirlpool formation they surrounded, he''d disappeared.

    The problem was that there was nothing within the formation. Even after destroying the Whirlwind Seaweed, they only found empty sea.

    Damien and Zara had truly disappeared into thin air.

    "Hmph!" One of the assassins harrumphed. "How long do we have to wait? The young master doesn''t need to care so much about some insignificant kid, right?"

    "We wait as long as necessary." The leader said, leaving no room for questions, "it is not our ce to question the young master."

    "Leader, we don''t have to stay in this area and wait like turtles, though, right? I heard this Emperor Bone Sea is filled to the brim with treasure. Why don''t we go explore a little?"

    Multiple sounds of agreement rang out, but even this suggestion was rejected by the leader. By his order, they were to wait without entertaining their greed in the slightest.

    While he didn''t say it out loud, the leader did have some hope. He figured that the special circumstances surrounding Damien''s disappearance might mean he stumbled upon some type of treasure.

    And if they were able to kill him when he reappeared¡­

    The leader smiled to himself. What one didn''t know couldn''t hurt them, right?

    When the time came, whatever treasures that boy possessed would all be his.

    ***

    Aquazyl was in an uproar.

    The moment the sun vanished over the horizon, the Tephit n moved with precision.

    Hundreds and thousands of elders were dispatched to the various peripheral branches and subdivisions, arriving to secure them before any sort of attack could take ce.

    Naturally, each and every one of the elders was a 4th ss being.

    Still, the n for the operation didn''t change. In fact, it only became more secure.

    While the secondary teams were mainly used as a diversion before, that wasn''t their only purpose. In truth, a majority of the dirty work was being done by them.

    To copse the Tephit n took more than just killing its Patriarch. Every elder, every 4th ss figure had to be cut down first, leaving the rest defenseless in front of the other four ns.

    The main perpetrators of their ughter would be the secondary teams.

    Currently, while the secondary teams continued to move and destroy Tephit n bases, Damien arrived at one of such bases himself.

    It was arge town of a couple thousand inhabitants. Their average level didn''t seem to exceed 150, and their strength was even weaker due tock of practice.

    Among these regr folk, however, was a group of three men sitting at a bar. If one looked at them, they wouldn''t find anything to note. They werepletely average in every way.

    But to Damien, they stood out like sore thumbs.

    ''Just the three of you? I''m a little disappointed, I won''t lie.''

    His body shed into the bar, his foot crushing the three men''s table as he did so.

    "Die."

    Spatial mana wrapped around the group and separated them into another dimension. The Space-Time River nketed the separated space, forcing the three men under Damien''s control.

    Time was the essence of change. With Damien having dominion over its flow, the three men lost control over their faculties. Space was the essence of stability. With it constricting them from every angle, the men couldn''t even begin to consider escape,

    "Three elders, you might not know me, but I know you. You see, I have a need for your memories, if you don''t mind me taking them."

    The three elders had only recently been dispatched from the main n by the n Head''s most recent order. While their strengths weren''t high, their information was crucial.

    The three were only around level 230, still in the early stages of 4th ss. Against Damien''s power, it was impossible for them to resist.

    Their bodies soon turned into essence for his growth, their memories entering his mind.

    ''Mm, this is what I wanted. Even if it''s not much, I can see the Tephit n''s main headquarters. Aside from that¡­''

    The distribution of elders was done in batches, so the three Damien had devoured didn''t know about each and every other elder in the field. However, there was a simple fix to this problem.

    Damien¡­just needed to devour more!

    He took out a transmission talisman and contacted Feng Yuxiang, directing her team towards the batch he''d just discovered.

    While they were being destroyed, Damien went to find a camp unrted to the one he''d just found, on the hunt for more elders to devour.

    In his wake was a ruined city. The previous atmosphere had been shattered by a rain of hellfire that brought its annihtion. As the rules of the Prominence War stated, four Sea God ns must be entirely extincted for thest to be dered the winner.

    In Damien''s case¡­all 5 Sea God ns needed to meet this end.

    ''Zara won''t be happy if I kill her subordinates¡­I guess the Sanctuary will wee another set of residents soon.''

    By Damien''s estimation, the restriction forcing the Sea God n members to remain in Aquazyl only applied to natural exits. If Damien used the Sanctuary to save them, not only would they be shielded by the Void, but they''d also be able to leave freely as long as they remained in the Sanctuary eternally.

    Or, at least until Damien imed control over the Emperor Bone Sea.

    Nheless, Damien chose the Tephit bloodline to inherit for a reason. It wasn''t just because the Tephit n was most simr to humanity.

    With the grudge the other four ns had against the Tephit, they wouldn''t question working together to destroy them.

    And if the Tephit n was destroyed, as long as Damien remained alive, he would have sole control over the rewards for winning the Prominence War.

    In this time, while his forces were working to bring about the Tephit n''s downfall, his main job was to obtain information.

    By devouring elders until there were no elders left to devour, he would understand the Tephit n down to its root.

    He projected that it''d take a week at most to rouse the Tephit n Head''s fury to the point of no return.

    When that time finally came, he would already know the Tephit n from the inside out. There would be no fact hidden from his eyes.

    In war against an enemy with a nigh-omniscient level of information, was victory even possible?

 Chapter 672 Second Act [2]

    The week passed rapidly and was, for the most part, uneventful.

    The current battle wasn''t like any others Damien had participated in. Rather than actually fighting to the death, more time was spent on information gathering and scouting.

    If it wasn''t for the threat of total warfare on the horizon, it truly would''ve been a nd week.

    Damien spent this time devouring without limit. Void Mana strengthened itself through the devoured essence and produced Damien a slight bit of Voidprehension when it did while Damien took those elders'' memories and put all the valuable information down in one ce.

    Within the jade slip he popted with information, there wasn''t just a rtively detailed map of the Tephit n''s headquarters, there was also a rough overview of their forces, their positions, and their overall strength level.

    Even with all this knowledge, there was a need to n for the unexpected. As Damien''s devoured memories became deeper and deeper, he began connecting a few points that weren''t as obvious in individual parts.

    One elder might''ve seen a single strange event, but when three elders saw simr events that somehow carried a cohesive flow to them, was it still coincidence?

    ''What is he nning?''

    From what Damien could gather, Tephit was an extremely secluded man. He rarely left his training room, spending his time immersed in the Emperor Bone Sea for unknown reasons.

    Yet, to Damien, these reasons were especially clear. He''d recognized the Prominence War''s wed reasoning instantly upon hearing its structure. If a being who held its power for countless years couldn''t do the same, was he even worthy of inheriting the throne?

    Mysterious disappearances polluted Aquazyl in recent times, but because of the Prominence War, most people just assumed these disappearances as deaths.

    After all, destruction was everywhere. It wasn''t strange for an entire city to vanish off the face of the realm without warning.

    ''Don''t tell me this is another sacrificial ritual¡­seriously, what''s with people and their obsession with sacrificing others for¡­ah, right¡­''

    Damien had seen too many sacrificial rituals in his time. He wanted to question the reasoning these people shared, but he realized he couldn''t.

    Sacrificing people for power was the basis of the universe''s growth system. Even his own Devour functioned on the same basis.

    The difference was between practitioners and innocents, but even then, the title of "innocent" was used liberally.

    In Aquazyl, everyone was a practitioner. There wasn''t such thing as an innocent present.

    Personal grudges and selfish power struggles drove Aquazyl''s society.

    Nevertheless, none of this really mattered. As Damien became more and more well-traveled and discovered the different cultures of the world, he realized that everyone was essentially the same.

    ''What are you trying to tell me?'' He asked no one in particr. The mana in the atmosphere remained just as still as it was before.

    His body shed away. Regardless of the questions in his heart, he had a job to do.

    And he would make sure not to disappoint.

    ***

    "This¡­this¡­this¡­!"

    "Amazing! Hahaha, I knew it was the right decision to join you!"

    Maximus and Ria stood with Damien''s information jade slip in hand. After reading through it, their shock was more than just immense.

    They''d spent countless years attempting to breach the Tephit n''s security, but were always unsessful. The n members would kill themselves through unknown methods before they could be questioned and the fortress-like defense of the headquarters itself made it nigh-impossible to breach.

    Yet, Damien was able to make such aprehensive report in less than a week?

    Unbelievable!

    "The raids on Tephit periphery branches and subdivisions are going as nned, but the Tephit n Head isn''t moving as expected. In fact, he''s just sitting back and allowing us to kill his people. Isn''t it strange?" Maximus said.

    "Ha? That guy is arrogant to the core. He views his n as a tool to achieve his goals. Why would he care about their safety?" Ria questioned. She didn''t understand why this point was relevant.

    Damien shook his head in rebuttal. "Even if his personality is like that, it''s different this time. Tephit isn''t just allowing us to continue killing his troops¡­he''s almost feeding them to us."

    The number of elders exiting the Tephit headquarters to fortify the subdivisions hadn''t decreased after repeated failures. Stronger forces were dispatched so rarely that they didn''t even make a difference in the bigger picture.

    The only thing this led to was continuous ughter of Tephit forces.

    "What if¡­that''s what he wants?" Zara suggested. All eyes turned to her for exnation.

    Zara felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn''t want to be involved in such an important discussion with herck of ability and eloquence, but she ended up blurting her thoughts out anyway. Now that she was given center stage, she couldn''t help but fumble.

    Damien grabbed hold of her hand, reassuringly squeezing it and bringing Zara back to reality.

    She took a few deep breaths, stabilizing herself and building up courage before saying, "I''ve been watching the Tephit n''s movements from the beginning, and they''ve always been strange. Why fuel rebellion instead of crushing it? Why send weaker forces even after understanding our power level? Why drag out this war instead of ending it before the two uninvolved ns decide to join?"

    "As I ask myself, I realize that¡­maybe Tephit wants the chaos to reach its peak? There are more than just a few methods to use chaos and bloodshed to one''s own benefit. And if Tephit is the type of person Ria makes him out to be, wouldn''t sacrificing his n for personal gain perfectly embody his character?"

    Ria''s eyes widened. "You don''t mean¡­!"

    "What other gain could he be wishing for aside from freedom?" Maximus said coldly.

    The eyes of the two n Heads were terrifyingly chilled. With Zara''s line of reasoning helping them see clearer, they couldn''t deny this truth.

    The n Heads of the five Sea God ns¡­they''d always known about the shackles of their existence. They were chained to this world and chained to the Prominence War, unable to escape the consistent cycle of death it wrought.

    Since they had to suffer, they did their best to ease the burden on the n members below them. This was the same for every n Head that came before them.

    The separated battlefields, the loose structure of the ns, these were all for that exact motive.

    If Tephit was trying to escape by himself, he was essentially betraying the other n Heads and betraying Aquazyl.

    They couldn''t ept it.

    Previously, Maximus and Ria only decided to enter this war and destroy the Tephit n for personal gain. Tephit was suppressing them too much, leading their ns into decline. They wanted the power they''d receive from killing him.

    However, the situation was different now. If Tephit wanted to escape Aquazyl alone, it wasn''t about power or selfishness anymore.

    They couldn''t allow that to happen.

    "Throw away any thought of further preparation. We, the Ruvia n, will attack the Tephit tomorrow!" Maximus fiercely dered.

    "We, the Oga n, will join you with honor!" Ria dered as well.

    The two looked at Damien and Zara, waiting for their responses.

    Damien smiled. Well, the matters of Aquazyl should be left to the people of Aquazyl. He didn''t need to worry about the Tephit n''s schemes.

    All that mattered to him was¡­

    "Attack tomorrow? That''s great. I was getting tired of waiting."

 Chapter 673 Second Act [3]

    The murky ck Emperor Bone Sea reflected in the Tephit n Head''s personal training room was dyed red with the color of blood.

    ''Almost¡­just a bit more and I can finally leave this ce. I can finally¡­be a god.''

    A light of madness painted his eyes. This escape n had been brewing for more than just the n Head''s lifespan. Every n Head before him aided in thepletion of a n that was just nowing into fruition.

    The reason was simple.

    To use blood sacrifice to tear open a hole in Aquazyl was easier said than done. Aquazyl was created by the Sea God, an unmatchable existence. Naturally, it took a great deal of time to properly umte the necessary sacrifices.

    Now, millions of yearster, their hard work was finally paying off. With just a few thousand more sacrifices, the crack would be opened wide, allowing Tephit to not only escape Aquazyl, but also to truly control the Emperor Bone Sea.

    ''Your refusal will not faze me. You will be mine!''

    The Tephit n Head excitedly licked his lips. The scene on the projected walls around him changed, reflecting the inside of Aquazyl.

    Despite the low level of authority he truly held, he could at least spy on the happenings in Aquazyl.

    ''Ahhh, you''ve finally decided toe. I''ve been waiting for so long!''

    Tephit excitedly grabbed a transmission talisman and sent a message, ordering all forces to return to the main headquarters and prepare for war.

    At the same time, he pushed open the training room doors and appeared in Aquazyl for the first time in many years. His reentrance clearly signified the importance of this moment for him.

    A few children thought themselves powerful and decided to wage war against him. In normal times, he naturally would''ve been extremely irritated by their behavior. But in his current circumstance¡­

    War was just another opportunity.

    ***

    The main attack force consisted of Damien and Zara, Maximus and Ria, the Sanctuary''s 4th ss beings, and the most powerful 4th ss beings from the Ruvia and Oga ns.

    This force didn''t have more than 20 people, but it was a team of elites. Those weaker than them would trace their steps and attack the lower-level Tephit n members while they pushed forward.

    They stood in the middle of a t in. The Tephit n''s main headquarters was surrounded by arge concealment array, making itpletely invisible to the outside world.

    But to Damien, it almost felt like home.

    "There is a threeyer defense system behind the concealment array that tries to beguile and kill anyone who enters. The firstyer is an intricate beguiling formation that uses Aquazyl itself as a foundation. If you aren''t careful, your mind will be broken by it. The secondyer is more material. Tephit n guards armed with powerful technology will be waiting there. If your mind bes too immersed in the formation, they''ll move and kill you before you can even react. As for the finalyer¡­just leave that one to me." Damien said with a grin.

    "Everyone is aware of the n, right?"

    "Hmph, it can hardly be called a n. Your only intention is to kill until there is nothing left to kill." Bianca scoffed.

    Damien scratched his head sheepishly. "I mean, is there any better way to do things? At this point, our options are pretty limited."

    Bianca shrugged and didn''t say anything. Of course, there were plenty of other ways to go about this n. The problem was that every other method would take strenuous amounts of time, time they didn''t have.

    This full-frontal assault would indeed be the most efficient route to take in their current circumstance, especially due to how knowledgeable Damien had suddenly be about the Tephit n.

    The main attack force had already discussed this n countless times in the past day. Now that they were at the enemy base, nervousness and anticipation hit them in waves.

    But before they could submerge themselves too deeply in forethought¡­

    "Let''s go!" Damien yelled enthusiastically. His body shed forward, his fist flying through the air!

    BANG!

    Cracks spread through the air as the sky itself seemed to shatter. An extremely well-hidden concealment array cracked and fell apart, giving way to the Tephit n''s scenery.

    With Damien''s knowledge of the n, finding the array''s weak point wasn''t difficult at all.

    He didn''t stop after breaking the array. His body shed through the beguiling formation. His powerful mental strength protected his mind with everything it had, but even then he could feel himself veering off course.

    "Haa!"

    With a spirited shout, Damien spread spatial mana around him in a thin web. His awareness infused into this web as he moved, allowing him to better sense the surrounding space.

    Ting!

    A sudden reaction came from the web''s periphery. There, a Tephit guard was slowly making his way towards Damien, armed head to toe with luxurious armor.

    Damien grinned. ''If youe to me, that makes things so much easier!''

    ''Material Shift''

    Damien''s recent breakthroughs in Dimensional Magic allowed him a supreme ability to manipte position. Dimensional Shift was this concept used on the grandest scale, shifting the position of the dimension itself.

    However, there were smaller and more precise applications of this ability that Damien could use. Material Shift was likely the most practical of them.

    Indiscreet spatial mana wrapped around the unaware guard. In the next instant, he found himself directly within the beguiling formation!

    Damien''s body took the guard''s original position. Using the boost he''d received from this move, Damien shot forward and increased his momentum!

    Material Shift allowed him to toy with the position of material objects, whether they were living or nonliving. If he wanted to, Damien could use this skill to easily transport his every team member past the beguiling formation.

    But this wasn''t his job.

    Damien''s target¡­was the n Head himself.

    But before that, he had to take care of something else. He zoomed past the secondary defensiveyer of armored guards and arrived at the thirdyer. Unexpectedly, thisyer was actually arge wall of murky ck water.

    This water was from the Emperor Bone Sea.

    Not only would the water itself harm intruders through poison and other nefarious methods, the beasts and nts residing within were terrifying in their own right. Damien had personally experienced their ferocity, so he knew not to downy this defensiveyer.

    However, in the end, this was merely a spark of the Emperor Bone Sea, not even enough to be quantified as a fraction. If he showed fear in front of this tiny piece, how could he confidently im the entire sea in the future?

    His hand reached out and brushed against the sea wall''s surface. Pitch-ck mana exited his fingertips, snaking along the wall.

    ''Devour it all. And don''t worry about portion sizes. There''ll be plenty more to eat after this.''

    Void Mana jumped and danced in jubtion upon hearing his words. In its excitement, its foggy form became more material, resembling the gaping maw of a terrifying and unknown creature.

    In the next second, the maw emitted a soul-snatching suction force, forcibly devouring the Emperor Bone Sea wall whole.

 Chapter 674 Second Act [4]

    While Damien made a beeline for Tephit, the rest of the main attack force split off into their own roles as well.

    The Tephit n kept a loose structure like the other four ns on the surface, but their actual internal structure was extremely hierarchal. Anyone who fell out of this line would be executed without mercy.

    The Tephit n had two Great Elders at thete-middle stages of 4th ss, roughly around level 330, tens of High Elders at around level 300, and countless normal elders who were between levels 200 and 300 in strength.

    The only Law Comprehension their bloodline allowed them was the same Law Comprehension that the other four ns used, just utilized with different methods.

    Knowing these two facts made facing them far easier. Firstly, Maximus and Ria would fight against the Great Elders. They were both incredibly strong and held extreme familiarity with the strangews of Aquazyl. They would take care of the two Great Elders faster than anyone else.

    The Sanctuarians were in charge of the High Elders. Their strengthy mainly in the uniqueness of theirws, giving them an advantage during first contact. In a race against time like the current raid, they needed to capitalize on this advantage as much as possible.

    The rest of the regr elders of the two ns would fight against the regr elders of the Tephit n. With these bases covered, there wasn''t much left to do besides carry out the n to perfection.

    Of course, there was one more job. Zara moved silently through the battlefield. Her beast form stood at its smallest height, no different in size than a wolf cub. As she ran, her shadow split from her body and materialized into a copy of her.

    The two versions of Zara moved in opposite directions, avoiding direct confrontation as much as possible.

    Their job waspletely unrted to everyone else''s. In fact, it was something only known to her and Damien.

    But in the end, her role in this raid was likely even more important than Damien''s, despite the fact that he was facing the Tephit n Head himself.

    ***

    Maximus and Ria made it through the beguiling formation not long after Zara. Their steps were light and rapid, their location already set.

    Boom! Bang!

    A jet of mana and a fist shot out, pulverizing the two Tephit guards who tried to stop them. Passing the secondary defensive line, they prepped themselves for the most terrifying third.

    But when they arrived, they only found empty space.

    "T-that terrifying ck wall is¡­" Ria muttered.

    "M-mm, it''s gone¡­" Maximus said, equally shocked.

    They thought they''d grown ustomed to Damien''s ferocity, but they were sorely mistaken. The terrifying ck wall that used to reside in this space was a harrowing defensive measure and the main reason none of the other ns had been able to invade the Tephit.

    That ck wall contained a deathly energy that invaded one''s body and corroded them from the inside out. This energy was so subtle that it was impossible to notice until the final stages of decay when one''s body ceased functioning.

    Not to mention, there were countless other dangers lurking within the water wall.

    The ns of Aquazyl viewed this wall not as the Tephit n''s property, but as the mark of the sovereign.

    But now, in front of their eyes, that mark of sovereignty had vanished. They didn''t know how Damien did it, but it was clearly his doing.

    "Tch, it''s not a good feeling being surpassed so much by a child," Ria mumbled inint.

    Maximus smiled lightly and patted her on the head. "Well, there isn''t much we can do about that. Shouldn''t we just be content that the younger generation is surpassing the old?"

    Ria pushed his hand away with a blush, replying, "hmph, don''t think I can''t see through you. You''re just acting nice because you know he can''tpete for sovereignty."

    "I can''t argue with that," Maximus shrugged, "but it''s true that I respect him. If this raid ends in sess¡­"

    He didn''t finish his words. Instead of posing hypotheticals, he''d much rather move into action.

    The duo pressed their feet against the ground and pushed off, flying through the water with precision and speed thatnd dwellers could never replicate. Before even Damien reached the n Head, they were already at the Great Elders'' abodes.

    "Raka, Tilis,e out and fight me!" Maximus yelled.

    "Hmm, so it has finally begun. Our time¡­has alsoe¡­" an aged voice rang out from within.

    "Time¡­aye. It has truly been so long." A second voice joined it.

    The residence''s door opened slowly, revealing the figures of two old men. They were both unremarkable in appearance, but both Maximus and Ria''s eyes hardened when they saw them.

    "Stop working with Tephit. Join us and get away from his schemes. Only then can you live¡­teacher!" Ria yelled.

    Raka and Tilis, two old men who had lived for untold millennia. They were not only elders of the Tephit n, but also the adored teachers of almost every n Head alive today.

    One day a few hundred years ago, they broke their neutrality and joined the Tephit n. Nobody was able to find out why, nor did the two leave any hints.

    In the end, the two didn''t even help the Tephit n in any way. Their actions were iprehensible.

    But still, the two old men didn''t budge on the decisions they made. Others¡­didn''t need to understand their reasoning.

    Tilis smiled warmly as he looked at the two n Heads. He remembered when they were still children who didn''t even know how to use mana.

    "Seeing how you two have grown¡­I''m truly overjoyed by your progress. And it seems you''ve found sce in each other. With the way you used to fight, who would''ve ever guessed?"

    "Ha, your vision is too narrow. I predicted their matrimony long ago, you just never listened to me."

    "E-elders!" Ria shouted in embarrassment. She nced over at Maximus, only to see the dumb smile that had lit up his face.

    "What? The two of you obviously want each other. Why are you hesitating so much?" Tilis said slyly.

    The blush on Ria''s face reddened. The two of them weren''t even married yet! It was true they''d had more than just a little fun, and it was true that they cared for each other abnormally, but the Prominence War and their responsibilities didn''t allow them to calmly ept marriage.

    Nevertheless, there wasn''t time for idle conversation at the moment. As much as she wanted to speak to her former teachers, Ria understood her priorities.

    The Tephit n needed to be exterminated. Until that happened, they needed to dy the two elders. They already knew that defeating them was impossible.

    Maximus was the same. Marriage might not have been possible at the moment, he would have all the time in the world to consider it in the future. For now¡­

    The two red their auras and readied themselves. To fight against the beings who raised them and taught them to fight in the first ce¡­

    Whether emotionally or technically, this fight would be extremely difficult for them.

 Chapter 675 Second Act [5]

    Maximus acted first.

    Despite the positive feelings he held for his old teachers, his n came before anything else. He wouldn''t hesitate even if it was his own mother in front of him.

    His fist shot out, projecting a jet of mana that sted towards the two elders.

    Boom!

    Aquazyl''s waters imploded wherever the beam went. The residence the two elders stayed in was destroyed just like that, but the individuals themselves weren''t harmed at all.

    Aquazyl''s mysteriousws epassed many different concepts, but the main ones were the five that the Sea God ns embodied.

    The Oga n embodied brutality, the mentality of the sea that allowed its ecosystem to thrive.

    The Tephit n embodied intelligence, the ultimate goal of all sea life. Intelligence didn''te easy to them, but when it did, they became unimaginable monsters.

    The Hubo n embodied fortitude, the reality of the sea. Without fortitude, even a mindless beast would be driven insane. In the depths of the sea where even light couldn''t exist, fortitude in both mind and body was incredibly important.

    The Verxis n embodied darkness, yet another reality of the sea.

    And finally, the Ruvia n¡­embodied the flow of mana itself.

    The concepts embodied by the five ns influenced their mana and caused its form to change drastically. At its core, each and every one of them was using a variation of Water Laws.

    For the Oga n, their mana influenced their blood more than anything else. Whether it be the terrifying bloodlust they could admit or the red aura they used to enhance their bodies, all of their abilities stemmed from blood.

    As for the Ruvia n, because their concept was far more esoteric, the breadth of their creativity was naturally greater. However, amonality among them was their skill in ranged attack methods.

    Maximus himself didn''t use any shy techniques or special skills to reach his position. Rather, it was his extreme control over mana that allowed him to do so.

    "Oh¡ª"

    The dispersed mana from his attack gathered again just as the elders began speaking once more. A secondary explosion went off, encapsting them within.

    "Ria, we can''t hold back. We have to go all out from the beginning!" Maximus stated solemnly.

    His body began to change, morphing into a more bestial form. Unlike what one would expect from Maximus considering his stature and personality, the form he morphed into was incredibly lithe, almost feminine in its charm.

    The Ruvia n was descended from Sirens. It was rare for Sirens to reach the Godbeast level since their bloodlines weren''t that powerful, but the same wasn''t the case for the Ruvia Ancestor.

    Her bloodline was incredibly potent, and while she was a Siren, her evolution into a Godbeast was close to aplete species transformation.

    When Maximus changed his form to embody her strengths, the amplification of his mana heightened considerably. Not only that, but he also gained a myriad of new abilities he couldn''t use in his base form.

    Without waiting for the explosion to die down, Maximus charged into the fray and locked onto Tilis. His aquamarine eyes shone with a light of power as he ferociously tore his w through space.

    Three massive gashes formed and took material form, aiming directly for Tilis!

    The waters parted, shed apart by the w. The atmosphere threatened to copse under its terrifying power. Just as Maximus told Ria, he didn''t n to hold back at all.

    Even if it meant wasting mana, he would defeat his former teacher.

    Not only for the sake of the n, but also for personal validation. If he could defeat Tilis, it meant he''d truly grown as a practitioner and as a person. Even if he didn''t want to admit it, Raka and Tilis were some of his ultimate goals.

    The elder smiled when he saw the attack. "Your skills have improved. Still, this level isn''t enough to injure me."

    Tilis waved his arm, causing the water around him to solidify. The frightening mana w was dispersed into nothing as it impacted the horribly solid water wall.

    "You¡­are just as amazing as before." Maximusplimented.

    There was a reason Tilis and Raka were teachers to every n Head that existed during their lifetimes. In truth, nobody knew which Sea God bloodline the two originated from.

    This was because the abilities they used didn''t align with any of the five existing ns. Instead of using their bloodline traits to influence the water and attack, they directly used their mana to connect to and control the water.

    This was unheard of. It was like they were surrounded by a constant domain that solidified their area of influence.

    Nevertheless, their strangeness made it possible for the five ns to trust them. Their existence wouldn''t cause harm to the power bnce between them, a power bnce that had been firmly established over the course of many hundreds of thousands of years.

    In this case, rather than bringing the two elders down, wouldn''t it be better to borrow their expertise to train the young into capable leaders?

    That was exactly what the five ns did. Maximus, as the Ruvia n''s n Head, was well aware of this fact. Whether it be power or charisma, he couldn''t beat them in either.

    Maximus gritted his teeth. He knew it wouldn''t be easy from the start, but even though it was a probing attack, the ease at which Tilis dispersed his mana didn''t make him happy at all.

    "It''s not that I''m amazing, it''s just that you haven''t grown into your strength quite yet. Come, show me how you''ve improved since I saw youst. I hope this isn''t the extent of your capabilities." Tilis responded casually.

    "Haa!"

    Maximus let out a fierce battle cry and began attacking again. His lithe form gracefully danced through the water. His movements created a strange sound that resonated with the surrounding water and amplified, ringing continuously through the area.

    ''Siren''s Song!''

    The shrill dinging sound became more and more pronounced. The water began to vibrate in ordance with the frequency, bing a minefield for anyone who stepped in it.

    And though he didn''t move, Tilis was included in this area of effect.

    Ding~!

    A sudden shockwave spread, centered on Maximus'' body. The ripple spread through the water and caused it to break apart as if it was solid. Tilis pushed his arm forward and erected a mana barrier, blocking a majority of the impact just as easily as he had prior.

    But unlike Maximus'' previous attacks, he was prepared this time. When Tilis'' barrier lowered, the vibration suddenly increased exponentially, surrounding him with a bombardment of sound attacks.

    "Hahahaha! Good, looks like you''ve learned to properly utilize your bloodline!" Tilismented with joy.

    "However, you''re still too green to catch up with your teacher."

    Tilis waved his hand once more. The waters stilled instantly. That alone was enough to offset Maximus'' attack.

    After all, sound needed a medium to travel. If that medium was frozen, it''d be frozen as well.

    The reason Tilis and Raka took the teacher role amongst Aquazyl''s denizens wasn''t just because of their strange prowess and origins.

    Rather, it was also the fact that no matter how one tried to attack, it was nearly impossible to hit someone who could control the attack''s medium.

    Within Aquazyl, Raka and Tilis were nigh-invincible.

 Chapter 676 Second Act [6]

    While Maximus did his best to match up to Tilis, Ria was having the same problem against Raka.

    Her body was covered in bright red aura, her fists shing in a flurry of destruction.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The water around her exploded with the pressure of her punches, littering the surroundings with imploding air bubbles. She threw hundreds of punches with every spark of time, her scaled fists enough to shatter the bones of any early 4th ss that was struck by them.

    To Raka, however, these punches were still child''s y. His body moved without wasting the slightest bit of energy. Every minute change in his position led Ria''s fists to miss by arge margin, leaving her body riddled with openings.

    Raka didn''t attack even though he bought himself plenty of opportunities. Rather than acting like an enemy on the battlefield, his demeanor was just that of Ria''s former teacher.

    "Your punches carry good weight, but you are still attacking the present. Haven''t I already told you? You must battle the future instead."

    Ria''s eyes hardened. Just as he said, she always had a problem with foresight. Her battle instinct allowed her to fight with precision and never worry about energy usage and efficiency, but her tendency to get too absorbed inbat usually ended with her losing track of the fight. She attacked not while predicting her opponent''s moves, but instead while attempting to force them into stillness.

    This strategy worked on those she could overpower, but failed miserably against those at her same level or higher.

    In fact, the reason she couldn''t soundly defeat Zara before their bloodlines were revealed was partially due to this weakness.

    Nheless, Ria continued attacking. She acted like she paid no attention to Raka''s words, but the way her eyes darted around unlike before clearly countered her facade.

    She was trying. She wasn''t able to control herself perfectly, but she at least found herself on the right track.

    Raka''s movements didn''t change, but Ria''s fists got closer and closer to hitting him. At some point, the rapid exchange of punching and dodging transformed into one of punching and blocking.

    Ria''s fists were met by Raka''s open palms. Each punch''s energy was dispersed into the ground or redirected back into Ria''s fists.

    Bang!

    Ria felt her bones rattle as her own force was multiplied and sent back into her body. Gritting her teeth, she sent out another punch.

    Raka blocked it as always, but in that instant, he found a foot directly in front of his chest! Ria''s body had spun without him noticing, her leg snapping like a whip as its power concentrated and shot towards Raka.

    Boom!

    Raka''s body was pushed back. Two thick lines were dug in the sand below as he slid.

    When he finally halted his momentum, he patted his body clean and smiled.

    "Good, it looks like you still know how to improve. Nowe at me again. Let''s fix those bad habits of yours one by one."

    ***

    With Ria and Maximus upying the two Great Elders, the remaining forces of the Tephit n actually weren''t that much of a problem.

    Once the Sanctuary group made their way out of the defensive formations, they directly confronted the tens of High Elders popting the Tephit n.

    They were already gathered, after all.

    The 5 Sanctuary leaders and 5 helpers from the Ruvia and Oga ns faced the group of 30 or so High Elders without fear.

    In fact, the second they arrived in front of the group, Elvira snatched a bead from her pocket and threw it into the air.

    A wave of spatial mana spread through the area. Within seconds, space was sealed off by a Dimensional Cage, trapping the entire group inside.

    This bead was made by Damien, carrying the same concept as the pocket dimension he created to transport the Sea God n troops during the day. It was an extremely intuitive item that could greatly benefit its user if utilized properly.

    After all, Damien didn''t use much of his ownprehension to fuel the bead. Instead, he set down the groundwork that allowed the Dimensional Cage to form, leaving the rest of the process for the user themself.

    The more powerful the user, the sturdier the Dimensional Cage.

    With Elvira being the most powerful of the Sanctuarians, her usage of the bead ensured that their range ofbat wouldn''t spread to an unmanageable degree.

    "Attack!" She roared. Unlike Maximus and Ria, this group had no reason to converse with the enemy.

    Elvira charged without waiting for the rest to follow. The seafloor burst open as terrifyingly thick vines of seaweed and other aquatic nts manifested and tore towards the High Elders.

    BOOM!

    The vines mmed into the ground, creating massive shockwaves that pushed the elders away from each other. At the same time, these vines divided the battlefield in a way most beneficial to the attacking force.

    After her work was done, she shifted her trajectory and shot towards the elders with the strongest mana signatures. Her hands balled into fists, and covered in light green mana, they hurtled forward at frightening speeds.

    Even water didn''t seem to inhibit Elvira''s movements.

    Catastrophic explosions rang out every time her attacks made impact. Elvira''s destructive power was terrifying, especially considering her racial qualities as an elf.

    Aside from that, the new terrain she was experiencing allowed her to not only utilize many different nt species she''d never seen before, but also to heighten herprehension through this same method.

    The current Elvira¡­was nothing like the small Elf Queen who resided in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    "Haaa!"

    A spirited shout left her mouth. She jumped in the air, raising her leg above her head and slicing it down with precision!

    Bang!

    An elder''s arms were shattered instantly as he attempted to block. His body shot backwards from the momentum, but before he could fly too far, a vine burst forth from the ground and caught him.

    The life essence remaining in the body was slowly being squeezed out, used as fuel to strengthen the surrounding nt life.

    But could the elder allow this? Even without his arms, his legs were still just fine!

    A mana-infused kick tore through the vine holding him captive. The elder panted for breath, his face pale. Despite his escaping so early, the vine still managed to suck a good portion of his life essence away.

    He was no longer fit forbat.

    Luckily for him, Elvira was upied by another two elders before she could chase after him. As she forgot his existence, the elder backed away slowly, attempting to flee from the battlefield. Until¡­

    BANG!

    His body was squashed into paste by the White Dragon King''s petrifying fist. Rather than a direct attack, this elder was killed as coteral.

    Bai Yuxuan charged light mana into his body and elerated to untold speeds. The white draconic scales covering his body forcefully raised his bodily strength to another level, turning his fists into weapons of mass destruction.

    Bai Yuxuan didn''t even attack the now-dead elder. Merely, the residual force from his fist was something the already crippled elder no longer had the power to resist.

    Feng Yuxiang and Bianca worked together in a flurry of fire and ice, rapidly heating and cooling the surrounding water to create pressurized explosions that filled the air and blocked off any escape route for the besieged elders.

    Lucius and his maid dashed around the battlefield like flickering shadows, rapidly decapitating any elder hanging on the verge of death.

    Thebination of the Sanctuary''s six 4th ss beings was ferocious to the maximum, leaving little to no room for the Sea God n members to act.

    This fight was supposed to be long and grueling. It was supposed to be a fierce struggle of life and death that was barely winnable even with their extreme power levels.

    Yet, howe these outsiders made it look so easy?

 Chapter 677 Finale [1]

    The Tephit n''s main headquarters was in shambles.",

    In a mere half an hour, the defenses had already been more than just breached. Following the elite team''s entrance, a drove of weaker practitioners entered the fray, taking to the stage and ughtering any Tephit n member they saw.

    At the forefront of this charge were characters like Feng Qing''er, Lunaria Snow, and Elitra. This trio of women especially stood out amongst the crowd, showcasing their beauty and prowess with grandeur as they bulldozed through the Tephit n.

    Lunaria''s ice was extremely harrowing to these residents of the sea. Compared to those in the Emperor Bone Sea, Aquazyl''s denizens were incredibly sensitive to mana, even more so mana they''d never encountered before.

    Ice Laws were a variation of Water Laws, and in a sense were weaker. Because ice only ounted for a single state of water, it naturally didn''t have the flexibility of pure Water Laws.

    However, Water Laws didn''t have much attack power. The Tephit n was particrly weak to this power.

    The Tephit n''s mana moved simrly to the residents of the unnamed world under Niflheim. Their mana didn''t trante well externally, forcing them to use ingenuity to counter this weakness.

    They relied on technology more than any other n, and in most cases, this fact gave them a massive advantage in strength and tactics.

    Against Ice Laws, however, they didn''t have much of a counter. Ice was perfect for corroding the internals of a machine. Even more so if that machine was surrounded with water as was the case for any instrument in Aquazyl.

    3rd ss soldiers fell like flies in front of Lunaria. It got to the point where even those at the peak of that level were unable to touch her.

    At that time, a sudden change took ce.

    The Ice Phoenix Runes that surrounded Lunaria''s body shifted and morphed into a cocoon that swallowed her whole. A flurry of World Energy rushed in from all sides, trapping her inside an imprable barrier.

    Lunaria had been fighting without pause for over a week now. In this climate where her ice element thrived, she found herprehension increasing at a rapid pace.

    Her bloodline purity was already more than enough. She didn''t have a need to evolve further. Now that herprehension had caught up to her bloodline and bodily strength¡­

    Her Baptism was finally underway.

    Feng Qing''er''s eyes widened when she noticed this.

    "Everyone! Protect Luna and make sure nothing can bother her! When she finishes her Baptism, we have one more 4th ss to lead us to victory!"

    Her words were received with a loud hoorah. The allied forces'' morale was heightened greatly. After all, who wouldn''t be excited to watch a Baptism? Not to mention, the person being Baptized was an ally!

    To say Feng Qing''er wasn''t jealous of Lunaria''s advancement would be a lie. As someone who was desperately waiting for her own opportunity to advance, she would of course feel negatively seeing others reach that benchmark before her.

    But this was Luna, this was her best friend. Lunaria and she had been together since they were young. Never once did they separate.

    Even when they quarreled, they never let a disagreement stand between them.

    This case was the same,

    ''Luna may have achieved her Baptism before me, but I''ll make sure to reach Divinity before she can!''

    This was Feng Qing''er''s predominant thought. Rather than letting jealousy cloud her mind, she used Lunaria''s achievement as fuel for her growth, determination topete even harder.

    She hadn''t received her Baptism yet, this much was true. But it was also true that the amount of fire elemental energy in the surroundings was nill. Even if she was already qualified to receive a Baptism, it would be impossible for her to actually undergo it until she returned to either the Sanctuary or the outside world.

    Feng Qing''er''s mana red. Her bloodline burned fiercely as she let out mes of reincarnation that even burned through the mana-filled water around her.

    She''d been focusing on training by allowing her mes to be suppressed by the atmosphere until now. But with Lunaria taking a major step ahead of her, she could no longer hold back.

    Reincarnation me, the me of Samsara, it wasn''t something a mere Aquazyl could suppress. Only if the Sea God himself arrived to stop her would this happen.

    Burning Fire Phoenix Runes manifested one after another, painting the sky in a terrifying red light. The water burned, turning into me.

    "If I can''t ascend to the heavens right now, then I''ll spend my time sending the rest of you to hell. Just be happy it isn''t me being Baptized right now."

    The surrounding Tephit n members looked at her in shock.

    Be happy?! With the way she was ughtering them, how could they ever even consider it?! And based on her words, was the woman undergoing Baptism even more terrifying than even her?

    "Destroy the World Energy Barrier!" Someone shouted.

    The Tephit forces moved with haste to aplish that exact purpose.

    But their charge only made Feng Qing''er''s smile widen.

    ''I was getting worried since we weren''t given Dimensional Beads to use, but this is great. Luna¡­is the perfect bait to lure these suckers into my trap!''

    Feng Qing''er''s finger itched. To pull the trigger¡­she would wait until all avable parties were gathered first.

    ***

    The main building at the very center of the Tephit n''s main headquarters was shaped like a modern skyscraper. Stained ss windows lined its surface, rising up into the sky and painting the word below in a mural of various colors.

    This building was usually heavily popted not only with elders, but alsomon workers who took care of the n''s security in the n Head''s stead.

    But today, only two were present.

    They sat at the peak of the skyscraper overlooking the Tephit n. Across the table from one another, they calmly sipped tea and watched the ongoing chaos.

    "This is interesting¡­" therger man said. His eyes panned away from the destruction as if it meant nothing to him. "I knew this day wasing, but I never expected to proceed with such an amusing turn of events."

    His eyesnded on the man across from him. That man was indifferent sipping tea, savoring its taste as if nothing in the world could harm him.

    "You actually dared to show up. Aren''t you afraid I''ll ughter you where you stand?" Tephit pressed on.

    "Do you think you have the ability?" The man questioned back casually.

    Tephit''s eyes widened. His mouth widened into a grin as he struggled to suppress hisughter.

    "You''re quite the amusing one, though I already said it once. Nevertheless, you must have your reasons for visiting me so cordially. Isn''t that right, Mister Damien Void?"

    Damien''s indifferent eyes nced over to the n Head. "Fine, if you want to skip the small talk, I''m extremely happy to do so. I''vee here with a single proposal for you. Your fate resides on your answer."

    "How fun," Tephit responded with a smile. "Tell me, then. What is your question."

    Damien nodded. With utmost seriousness painting his face, he spoke.

    "How do you feel abouting to work under me?"

 Chapter 678 Finale [2]

    "How do you feel abouting to work under me?"

    Damien''s shocking words were only heard by the two of them. Unbeknownst to the others, Damien''s n was never to kill Tephit.

    In the many days he spent devouring Tephit n elders, he was able to piece together a story that none other than him could see, the story of the Tephit n Head that would never be revealed to the masses.

    Comprehending this story allowed him a different perspective on the happenings of Aquazyl, and at the same time, made him consider changing his approach.

    Even the meeting between the two had been set up many nights prior. Damien used a special contact signal known to the Tephit n''s elders to do so.

    "Work under you? That''s quite aical thing to hear from a junior, don''t you think?" Tephit teased with a smile. He didn''t seem to take Damien''s words to heart.

    "You know as much as I do that I''m not joking around. Look below, do you think your ns will seed even with the current scene?"

    Tephit nced at the ongoing violence and shook his head. "How could youprehend my ns? Even this much is within my expectations."

    "I never said your expectations didn''t ount for this circumstance. Rather, I''m saying your expectations have been wrong from the start."

    Tephit''s eyes hardened, but before he could speak, Damien continued his previous thought.

    "I don''t know how long you''ve lived and nned this route, but your sacrificial ritual won''t open the gate you wish it to. Even if you make your way out of Aquazyl, you will not be able to control the Emperor Bone Sea."

    "The Sea God''s descendants; this is what you lot like to call yourselves. But someone like you who has lived countless lives as your soul transfers from one body to another should understand just as well as I do that this legend is false."

    "You''re saying the Sea God doesn''t exist?" Tephit questioned.

    "No. The Sea God definitely existed, and so did the five Godbeasts your ns descended from. However, the two had no rtions with each other. While you are indeed Godbeast descendants, you are not Sea God descendants. If you were, the current problem you face wouldn''t exist."

    "And that problem is...?"

    "Naturally it''s your inability to control the Emperor Bone Sea."

    The two became quiet. Tephit thought over Damien''s words with utmost seriousness. Despite how much he wanted to throw this youth''s ideas away as nonsense, he couldn''t bring himself to do so.

    After all, everything Damien said was right.

    The Tephit that existed now was the same Tephit who led the n hundreds of thousands of years ago. Every time his lifespan neared its end, he would bring a child with great talent under his wing and steal his body, continuing his life past its natural limits.

    With the breadth of experience he gained through all the time he spent alive, he''d alsoe to certain conclusions. These conclusions were the reason why he chose to sacrifice everyone and escape in the first ce.

    The Sea God ns were fakes. Their pride in their bloodlines was based on a foundation of lies. In reality, the Sea God ns were tools used by the Sea God to maintain Aquazyl until its natural sessor arrived.

    Tephit was unresigned to this oue. He refused to be cannon fodder for someone else''s growth. He wanted to escape and use his authority to rule the Emperor Bone Sea, breaking the vicious cycle he''d experienced so many times.

    But...now he was hearing that his efforts were all in vain?

    "I know how you''re probably feeling right now, but you can''t let your doubt and unwillingness control you. Listen to my proposal properly and make a decision. If you still wish to continue forward after that conversation ends, we will fight to the death."

    Damien spoke with certainty. He had a certain grasp on Tephit''s character. While he was willing to use any means necessary to achieve his goals, he wasn''t an inherently bad person. He was just someone forced to the extreme by his horrible circumstances.

    Damien wanted Tephit under him. He wanted to create a civilization in the Sanctuary''s seas, a civilization that would grow and flourish into a grand army that could help him in times of need.

    It was true that the Sanctuary was a separate realmpared to the Real ne. Residing within was just as entrapping as living in Aquazyl. But in the Sanctuary, the decision to leave always existed. This was the key point Damien wanted to use to convince Tephit.

    Tephit was a man who yearned for freedom. To use freedom to tempt him into moving ording to Damien''s wishes was his main goal and n ining to the Tephit n.

    "It feels like this is a moment where I should let pride cloud my vision so I can fight you...but for some reason, I can''t convince myself to do so," Tephit said with a wry smile.

    "I''m old now. Did you know? When a soul goes through the strain of possessing a new body, it takes more than just a little damage. Possession is something that can only be done once unless you wish to lose a part of yourself."

    "I, however, have undergone possession five times already. My emotions have been numbed, even the determination I started with had been diluted to a primal instinct. I try my best to cover my weaknesses and emote to my best capabilities, but this only serves as a reminder of how grand my ambitions used to be. Nowadays, I only move with a faint sliver of hope that I will aplish something in this life."

    Tephit gazed up at Aquazyl''s sky.

    "How can I verify that what you say is true?" He asked Damien.

    Damien shrugged. "You can''t. I have absolute confidence in my assumptions, and judging from your reactions, you''ve made the same guesses in the past. Just because you suppressed those thoughts in fear of their truth doesn''t make them invalid."

    Tephit nodded. Everything Damien presumed had once been presumed by him. Still, it was difficult for him to make a decision.

    After all...

    "It''s already toote. The sacrifices needed toplete the ritual will bepletely filled once the Tephit n meets its destruction. At this point, is it even worth turning away?"

    Damien smiled. This was exactly the final nail he needed to strike into the coffin.

    "That''s fine then, let''s do it that way. I''ll apany you to the end, and when you see your n''s failure with your own eyes, I''ll take you in. How does that sound?"

    "It sounds awfully maniptive," Tephit replied with a smile.

    "Is it maniptive if I tell you my goal from the start?" Damien asked with the same smile.

    "Fair enough."

    Tephit sighed in exasperation. He was truly too old to keep carrying the facade of a young and crazily ambitious leader. He''d been doing so for such a long time, he found it refreshing to speak to someone who understood his identity.

    Looking at Damien, he was forced to sigh in wonder. Just the fact that thetter sat here, not only in front of him but also in Aquazyl in general, showed the degree of talent he held.

    He was someone who''d ascend to the peak one day.

    ''Maybe...I''ll be able to see something spectacr before I die if I follow him...''

    The wild thought came to Tephit''s mind. He was well aware that his current life was hisst. If he transferred his soul even one more time, his ego would be lost in the process.

    "Come, then. Let''s see how true your words are."

    Tephit resolved himself to a decision. He and Damien sat in silence thereafter, drinking their tea and watching the ongoing events take ce.

    The Tephit n''s role was almost over, and while the ending of the war Damien started was a bitckluster due to Tephit''s attitude, he didn''t mind this at all.

    After all, theckluster nature of this conclusion only meant that his nning was without w. When events flowed properly, nothing like the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s surprise explosive death would ur.

    And if Damien was able to truly n things to such precision, it only meant that his ability to properly use his intelligence was rising.

    Nevertheless, besides a little pride, Damien didn''t feel much.

    His celebration could wait until Tephit stood under his rule.

 Chapter 679 Do Not Unlock

    PRETEND THIS CHAP DOESNT EXIST

    The contents are just old chaps again its pointless to waste money on it

    The murky ck Emperor Bone Sea reflected in the Tephit n Head''s personal training room was dyed red with the color of blood.

    ''Almost¡­just a bit more and I can finally leave this ce. I can finally¡­be a god.''

    A light of madness painted his eyes. This escape n had been brewing for more than just the n Head''s lifespan. Every n Head before him aided in thepletion of a n that was just nowing into fruition.

    The reason was simple.

    To use blood sacrifice to tear open a hole in Aquazyl was easier said than done. Aquazyl was created by the Sea God, an unmatchable existence. Naturally, it took a great deal of time to properly umte the necessary sacrifices.

    Now, millions of yearster, their hard work was finally paying off. With just a few thousand more sacrifices, the crack would be opened wide, allowing Tephit to not only escape Aquazyl, but also to truly control the Emperor Bone Sea.

    ''Your refusal will not faze me. You will be mine!''

    The Tephit n Head excitedly licked his lips. The scene on the projected walls around him changed, reflecting the inside of Aquazyl.

    Despite the low level of authority he truly held, he could at least spy on the happenings in Aquazyl.

    ''Ahhh, you''ve finally decided toe. I''ve been waiting for so long!''

    Tephit excitedly grabbed a transmission talisman and sent a message, ordering all forces to return to the main headquarters and prepare for war.

    At the same time, he pushed open the training room doors and appeared in Aquazyl for the first time in many years. His reentrance clearly signified the importance of this moment for him.

    A few children thought themselves powerful and decided to wage war against him. In normal times, he naturally would''ve been extremely irritated by their behavior. But in his current circumstance¡­

    War was just another opportunity.

    ***

    The main attack force consisted of Damien and Zara, Maximus and Ria, the Sanctuary''s 4th ss beings, and the most powerful 4th ss beings from the Ruvia and Oga ns.

    This force didn''t have more than 20 people, but it was a team of elites. Those weaker than them would trace their steps and attack the lower-level Tephit n members while they pushed forward.

    They stood in the middle of a t in. The Tephit n''s main headquarters was surrounded by arge concealment array, making itpletely invisible to the outside world.

    But to Damien, it almost felt like home.

    "There is a threeyer defense system behind the concealment array that tries to beguile and kill anyone who enters. The firstyer is an intricate beguiling formation that uses Aquazyl itself as a foundation. If you aren''t careful, your mind will be broken by it. The secondyer is more material. Tephit n guards armed with powerful technology will be waiting there. If your mind bes too immersed in the formation, they''ll move and kill you before you can even react. As for the finalyer¡­just leave that one to me." Damien said with a grin.

    "Everyone is aware of the n, right?"

    "Hmph, it can hardly be called a n. Your only intention is to kill until there is nothing left to kill." Bianca scoffed.

    Damien scratched his head sheepishly. "I mean, is there any better way to do things? At this point, our options are pretty limited."

    Bianca shrugged and didn''t say anything. Of course, there were plenty of other ways to go about this n. The problem was that every other method would take strenuous amounts of time, time they didn''t have.

    This full-frontal assault would indeed be the most efficient route to take in their current circumstance, especially due to how knowledgeable Damien had suddenly be about the Tephit n.

    The main attack force had already discussed this n countless times in the past day. Now that they were at the enemy base, nervousness and anticipation hit them in waves.

    But before they could submerge themselves too deeply in forethought¡­

    "Let''s go!" Damien yelled enthusiastically. His body shed forward, his fist flying through the air!

    BANG!

    Cracks spread through the air as the sky itself seemed to shatter. An extremely well-hidden concealment array cracked and fell apart, giving way to the Tephit n''s scenery.

    With Damien''s knowledge of the n, finding the array''s weak point wasn''t difficult at all.

    He didn''t stop after breaking the array. His body shed through the beguiling formation. His powerful mental strength protected his mind with everything it had, but even then he could feel himself veering off course.

    "Haa!"

    With a spirited shout, Damien spread spatial mana around him in a thin web. His awareness infused into this web as he moved, allowing him to better sense the surrounding space.

    Ting!

    A sudden reaction came from the web''s periphery. There, a Tephit guard was slowly making his way towards Damien, armed head to toe with luxurious armor.

    Damien grinned. ''If youe to me, that makes things so much easier!''

    ''Material Shift''

    Damien''s recent breakthroughs in Dimensional Magic allowed him a supreme ability to manipte position. Dimensional Shift was this concept used on the grandest scale, shifting the position of the dimension itself.

    However, there were smaller and more precise applications of this ability that Damien could use. Material Shift was likely the most practical of them.

    Indiscreet spatial mana wrapped around the unaware guard. In the next instant, he found himself directly within the beguiling formation!

    Damien''s body took the guard''s original position. Using the boost he''d received from this move, Damien shot forward and increased his momentum!

    Material Shift allowed him to toy with the position of material objects, whether they were living or nonliving. If he wanted to, Damien could use this skill to easily transport his every team member past the beguiling formation.

    But this wasn''t his job.

    Damien''s target¡­was the n Head himself.

    But before that, he had to take care of something else. He zoomed past the secondary defensiveyer of armored guards and arrived at the thirdyer. Unexpectedly, thisyer was actually arge wall of murky ck water.

    This water was from the Emperor Bone Sea.

    Not only would the water itself harm intruders through poison and other nefarious methods, the beasts and nts residing within were terrifying in their own right. Damien had personally experienced their ferocity, so he knew not to downy this defensiveyer.

    However, in the end, this was merely a spark of the Emperor Bone Sea, not even enough to be quantified as a fraction. If he showed fear in front of this tiny piece, how could he confidently im the entire sea in the future?

    His hand reached out and brushed against the sea wall''s surface. Pitch-ck mana exited his fingertips, snaking along the wall.

    ''Devour it all. And don''t worry about portion sizes. There''ll be plenty more to eat after this.''

    Void Mana jumped and danced in jubtion upon hearing his words. In its excitement, its foggy form became more material, resembling the gaping maw of a terrifying and unknown creature.

    In the next second, the maw emitted a soul-snatching suction force, forcibly devouring the Emperor Bone Sea wall whole.

    While Damien made a beeline for Tephit, the rest of the main attack force split off into their own roles as well.

    The Tephit n kept a loose structure like the other four ns on the surface, but their actual internal structure was extremely hierarchal. Anyone who fell out of this line would be executed without mercy.

    The Tephit n had two Great Elders at thete-middle stages of 4th ss, roughly around level 330, tens of High Elders at around level 300, and countless normal elders who were between levels 200 and 300 in strength.

    The only Law Comprehension their bloodline allowed them was the same Law Comprehension that the other four ns used, just utilized with different methods.

    Knowing these two facts made facing them far easier. Firstly, Maximus and Ria would fight against the Great Elders. They were both incredibly strong and held extreme familiarity with the strangews of Aquazyl. They would take care of the two Great Elders faster than anyone else.

    The Sanctuarians were in charge of the High Elders. Their strengthy mainly in the uniqueness of theirws, giving them an advantage during first contact. In a race against time like the current raid, they needed to capitalize on this advantage as much as possible.

    The rest of the regr elders of the two ns would fight against the regr elders of the Tephit n. With these bases covered, there wasn''t much left to do besides carry out the n to perfection.

    Of course, there was one more job. Zara moved silently through the battlefield. Her beast form stood at its smallest height, no different in size than a wolf cub. As she ran, her shadow split from her body and materialized into a copy of her.

    The two versions of Zara moved in opposite directions, avoiding direct confrontation as much as possible.

    Their job waspletely unrted to everyone else''s. In fact, it was something only known to her and Damien.

    But in the end, her role in this raid was likely even more important than Damien''s, despite the fact that he was facing the Tephit n Head himself.

    ***

    Maximus and Ria made it through the beguiling formation not long after Zara. Their steps were light and rapid, their location already set.

    Boom! Bang!

    A jet of mana and a fist shot out, pulverizing the two Tephit guards who tried to stop them. Passing the secondary defensive line, they prepped themselves for the most terrifying third.

    But when they arrived, they only found empty space.

    "T-that terrifying ck wall is¡­" Ria muttered.

    "M-mm, it''s gone¡­" Maximus said, equally shocked.

    They thought they''d grown ustomed to Damien''s ferocity, but they were sorely mistaken. The terrifying ck wall that used to reside in this space was a harrowing defensive measure and the main reason none of the other ns had been able to invade the Tephit.

    That ck wall contained a deathly energy that invaded one''s body and corroded them from the inside out. This energy was so subtle that it was impossible to notice until the final stages of decay when one''s body ceased functioning.

    Not to mention, there were countless other dangers lurking within the water wall.

    The ns of Aquazyl viewed this wall not as the Tephit n''s property, but as the mark of the sovereign.

    But now, in front of their eyes, that mark of sovereignty had vanished. They didn''t know how Damien did it, but it was clearly his doing.

    "Tch, it''s not a good feeling being surpassed so much by a child," Ria mumbled inint.

    Maximus smiled lightly and patted her on the head. "Well, there isn''t much we can do about that. Shouldn''t we just be content that the younger generation is surpassing the old?"

    Ria pushed his hand away with a blush, replying, "hmph, don''t think I can''t see through you. You''re just acting nice because you know he can''tpete for sovereignty."

    "I can''t argue with that," Maximus shrugged, "but it''s true that I respect him. If this raid ends in sess¡­"

    He didn''t finish his words. Instead of posing hypotheticals, he''d much rather move into action.

    The duo pressed their feet against the ground and pushed off, flying through the water with precision and speed thatnd dwellers could never replicate. Before even Damien reached the n Head, they were already at the Great Elders'' abodes.

    "Raka, Tilis,e out and fight me!" Maximus yelled.

    "Hmm, so it has finally begun. Our time¡­has alsoe¡­" an aged voice rang out from within.

    "Time¡­aye. It has truly been so long." A second voice joined it.

    The residence''s door opened slowly, revealing the figures of two old men. They were both unremarkable in appearance, but both Maximus and Ria''s eyes hardened when they saw them.

    "Stop working with Tephit. Join us and get away from his schemes. Only then can you live¡­teacher!" Ria yelled.

    Raka and Tilis, two old men who had lived for untold millennia. They were not only elders of the Tephit n, but also the adored teachers of almost every n Head alive today.

    One day a few hundred years ago, they broke their neutrality and joined the Tephit n. Nobody was able to find out why, nor did the two leave any hints.

    In the end, the two didn''t even help the Tephit n in any way. Their actions were iprehensible.

    But still, the two old men didn''t budge on the decisions they made. Others¡­didn''t need to understand their reasoning.

    Tilis smiled warmly as he looked at the two n Heads. He remembered when they were still children who didn''t even know how to use mana.

    "Seeing how you two have grown¡­I''m truly overjoyed by your progress. And it seems you''ve found sce in each other. With the way you used to fight, who would''ve ever guessed?"

    "Ha, your vision is too narrow. I predicted their matrimony long ago, you just never listened to me."

    "E-elders!" Ria shouted in embarrassment. She nced over at Maximus, only to see the dumb smile that had lit up his face.

    "What? The two of you obviously want each other. Why are you hesitating so much?" Tilis said slyly.

    The blush on Ria''s face reddened. The two of them weren''t even married yet! It was true they''d had more than just a little fun, and it was true that they cared for each other abnormally, but the Prominence War and their responsibilities didn''t allow them to calmly ept marriage.

    Nevertheless, there wasn''t time for idle conversation at the moment. As much as she wanted to speak to her former teachers, Ria understood her priorities.

    The Tephit n needed to be exterminated. Until that happened, they needed to dy the two elders. They already knew that defeating them was impossible.

    Maximus was the same. Marriage might not have been possible at the moment, he would have all the time in the world to consider it in the future. For now¡­

    The two red their auras and readied themselves. To fight against the beings who raised them and taught them to fight in the first ce¡­

    Whether emotionally or technically, this fight would be extremely difficult for them.

 Chapter 680 Finale [3]

    While Damien and Tephit were having a rtively rxed time at the top of the Tephit n''s main building, the battlefield only continued to grow more violent.

    Elvira and the Sanctuarians stood against what remained of the Tephit n''s High Elders, a group of only ten. The other twenty were already one with the ground.

    The inside of the Dimensional Cage was still. The Tephit Elders no longer had the courage to attack after seeing theirrades get cut down like vegetables. Their hesitation wasn''t strange at all.

    As for the attacking force, they didn''t move either. While it would be simple to kill off thesest few elders, the group decided to instead take time and recuperate any lost mana or injuries they''d acquired during the battle. They didn''t know what risks they would have to face after leaving the Dimensional Cage''s protection, so it was best to be safe.

    Still, the oue of their fight was all but decided. With no chance at resistance, the remaining High Elders would die the second the attacking force decided to strike.

    This overwhelming scene tranted to all parts of the battlefield. The regr elders of the two ns struggled against the Tephit elders alone, but with their advantage in numbers, overpowering the enemy became light work. Even the third-ss beings were ughtering their way through the Tephit n.

    Under Damien''s forces'' leadership, the losses were kept to an absolute minimum. Compared to the Tephit n''s losses, they were entirely negligible.

    The most eye-catching scene, however, was naturally Lunaria''s Baptism.

    The swirling World Energy Barrier drew the attention of countless elites who flocked over to witness it, but these people were all struck down by Feng Qing''er and her followers.

    None were able to get near Lunaria''s Baptism site. And even if they did, it was unknown whether they could survive the biting cold that was slowly permeating the area.

    Within the World Energy Barrier, Lunaria was facing the Baptism of a Phoenix, a trial known as Rebirth.

    Unlike humans who changed sses every time they ranked up, beasts would experience bloodline evolution. This method of strengthening would put them on the path to bing Godbeasts, whether they followed the path of their ancestors or forged their own.

    Just like Feng Qing''er experienced rebirth to unlock her Reincarnation mes, Lunaria had to do the same to unlock hertent bloodline abilities.

    In particr, the Ice Phoenix n''s Life mes.

    Lunaria already had ess to a preliminary version of this me. Her natural Ice mes already carried a hint of life energy, which was also what allowed her to utilize Ice Phoenix Runes to her convenience. However, this was, at the end of the day, still just a preliminary version.

    The rebirth of an Ice Phoenix was a multiple-stage process where Ice Laws and Life Laws would engrave themselves into a young phoenix''s psyche and body, empowering them and providing them theprehension they needed to continue forward.

    But naturally, they needed to prove themselves before they could ess any of these boons. Lunaria was in the process of undergoing extreme torture by Ice Laws. Her body was ripped to shreds, and her mind was corrupted to the extreme.

    Yet, regardless of what was thrown at her, she remained stoic. This was a natural trial she''d been prepared to ovee for many years now. With it now dawning upon her, the only thing for her to do wasplete it as she nned many times in the past.

    And she would do so in just a single hour.

    ***

    The only person missing from the ongoing chaos was Zara. Unlike the rest, the task she''d been assigned¡­wasn''t rted to the Tephit n at all.

    Rather, it was to ruin the ns of a single person.

    Zara''s main body and shadow clone set off in different directions, melding into the surroundings and sinking into the ground.

    She arrived in an underground area that not many had ess to. Here, the culmination of Tephit''s life''s work was present.

    Arge tube holding an unknown greenish liquid sat in the center of the room. Multiple mana-powered consoles surrounded it from every direction, each having a different purpose.

    Underneath the tube was the outline of a portal. This was where every bit of power Tephit imed from blood sacrifice was stored.

    Zara had found this ce rtively easily, sure, but that was only due to Damien''s strict guidance. He wasn''t just aware of the internalyout, but also the weak points in every security measure in ce to guard this area.

    If she had even a little bit less information, she would''ve died trying to infiltrate this forbidden area.

    Looking at the portal outline, Zara was reminded of Damien''s words.

    "I want to recruit Tephit into the Sanctuary. That old geezer''s knowledge and breadth of vision surpass even the oldest of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range''s refugees. If he bes a part of our force, the level of equipment and technology we possess will increase to apletely different level."

    "Tephit is too smart. Even if his original n fails, he''ll surely have multiple countermeasures in ce to ensure an overall sess. If there is even an ounce of sess in his schemes, he won''t be willing to submit. Despite his nihilistic viewpoint, he''s quite the stubborn old man."

    "I don''t n on lying to him. It''s true that no matter what he does, the Emperor Bone Sea won''t submit to him. But¡­Tephit''s main wish is freedom, not control. Even if controlling the Emperor Bone Sea is impossible, the power he''s collected until now is enough to open a portal to the outside world. This much is already enough to make recruiting him impossible."

    "Zara, I will go speak to him personally and try to recruit him, but while I do so, I need you to do an even more important job¡­"

    "Destroy any chance of his n''s sess. Make it impossible for him to reject our proposal. It may be cruel, but it is simply the way of the world. Just like he is willing to use any means possible, I am the same."

    Damien didn''t try to justify his actions to her. He''d grown past that point long ago. Everything he did was for the sake of his and his family''s future. There wasn''t a single minute that went by without him thinking of how to destroy the Nox so they could live peacefully.

    Unfortunately, his personal power wasn''t enough to change the tides of war, nor did he have the time to grow to a level where it was.

    His best bet was to create a terrifying force that could demolish the Nox, crushing their race into extinction.

    If he ever met a person he felt worthy of this force, he would recruit them. That was the end of the story.

    Tephit fell into this category as well. Not only because of his technical ingenuity, but also because of his possession ability. To Tephit, possessing another body was a death wish.

    But to Damien¡­

    As long as he could increase [Heal]''s prowess until it could heal even souls, what else did he have to fear?

 Chapter 681 Finale [4]

    Zara walked through the mysterious underground space alone. The only other people who could ess this area were either currently conversing with Damien or being held back by other forces.

    Her goal was clear.

    She couldn''t destroy the machines around her, as that would alert Tephit of her presence and ruin her entire n. Instead, she had to precisely manipte their systems to force them to malfunction.

    Naturally, Zara wasn''t anything like a technological expert. She didn''t have the necessary knowledge to copse such an intricate system with her mana.

    But what she did have was guidance from someone who did.

    Even Damien was a plebeian when it came to machines, but the memories he devoured gave him an extreme understanding of how these specific machines functioned.

    As for where he got the memories from? In truth, it was a strange bit of coincidence.

    None of the elders he devoured had the authority to enter this space. Other than Tephit and the two Great Elders, nobody else had this authority.

    The one who provided him with this information¡­was none other than Tilis.

    ***

    Two days prior to the start of the war, while the allied force was in the midst of finalizing their attack ns, a sudden sound transmission entered Damien''s head.

    It was a request for a meeting.

    Naturally, Damien found this strange. Not just the sound transmission itself, but also the fact that nobody could sense the transmission''s existence except him.

    Sound transmissions, at the end of the day, were applications of projected mana. As long as one was much stronger than the person sending the sound transmission, they''d be able to sense its existence, though intercepting it was a different story.

    The fact that nobody among the multiple high-level 4th ss beings in their group could sense this mana only meant that the person sending the transmission was far above their level.

    Out of sheer curiosity, Damien answered the call. He didn''t stop to think about the risk.

    When he arrived at the meeting location, he found himself face to face with an unassuming old man.

    "Are you the one who called me?" He asked curiously.

    "Is there anyone else around but me?" The old man replied casually.

    "Fair enough," Damien said. "Well then, you said you had important information to give me, no? Let''s get to it then."

    The old man smiled slightly as he spoke, "child, you''re a bit too enthusiastic, aren''t you? Since I called you here, I will naturally give you the information you seek. But before that¡­"

    The old man''s arm waved through the water, causing the surrounding water to flurry into a massive vortex that entrapped Damien.

    "Show me your skill. Can you prove that you are worthy of my help?"

    Damien''s eyes hardened. Though the surrounding vortex wasn''t too terribly difficult for him to break, he didn''t like the feeling of being tested.

    At the same time, the old man gave him a strange vibe that he couldn''t quite pinpoint.

    His eyes darted around the vortex, then back to the old man.

    "I see, so it''s you." He muttered. He''d heard from Maximus and Ria the identities of the Tephit n''s Great Elders.

    "I''ve been wanting to talk to you for a while now as well. What a strange coincidence." Damienmented.

    Void Mana materialized at his fingertips, snaking off in different directions and sealing off the surrounding space.

    ''Phase Shift''

    If Material Shift was meant for physical constructs and Dimension Shift was meant for the fabric of reality itself, Phase Shift was more meant to influence the "state" of a target than anything else.

    Living beings could be regressed or progressed in age, and the state of an object could be equally shifted.

    In the case of water, this shift took ce in its phase of matter. The terrifying vortex that entrapped Damien was forced into Phase Shift''s range. As Damien''s mana continued to spread? The vortex shifted into ayer of steam that clouded up the atmosphere.

    When Damien''s disy of power ended, the waters of Aquazyl smashed against each other as they attempted to fill the gap he created.

    Through the resulting explosion, Tilis'' smile was especially clear.

    "Mm, so he wasn''t wrong. Someone bearing ''that'' has finallye¡­"

    Tilis waved his hand and calmed the water. Looking at Damien, a light of admiration colored his eyes.

    "For you to reach this level despite your age and background, you must''ve trained extremely hard. Mm, he must be proud." Tilis said.

    "What are you talking about?" Damien asked. Tilis'' words made no sense to him at all.

    "Hahaha," Tilis chuckled at Damien''s confusion. "Worry not. When the timees, I''m sure you''ll understand everything that fogs your mind."

    "Tch."

    "Nevermind that," Tilis said. "Haven''t youe here to receive information? Now that I''ve confirmed your identity, giving you information is a given."

    Tilis and Damien''s conversation began there. It wasn''t just Aquazyl or the Nox they spoke about. Their conversation mostly revolved around many broader topics, topics that made Damien endlessly interested in what the man had to say.

    But of course, it began with the information Damien sought.

    "I see, so it''s something like that. I figured it''d be along those lines, but nope. That boss of yours is extremely bad at his job."

    "He is the reason the Tephit n has been able to thrive for many hundreds of thousands of years. Is he truly inadequate in your eyes?"

    Damien grinned at the question. "Not at all. In fact¡­that''s a very rare talent he has. Most people would go insane after the first or second possession."

    "His power can''t be underestimated, his genius mind is still growing, his talent is through the roof¡­anyone who doesn''t have the idea to recruit him is ipetent."

    "Oho? You have bold dreams. It''s no wonder the universe loves you¡­"

    Tilis led Damien on a walk through the barrenness of Aquazyl''s daytime scenery. At that time, Damien suddenly noticed something.

    "You¡­are not one of them."

    "Hm? What do you mean by that?" Tilis questioned back.

    "The residents of Aquazyl avoid the sunlight like a gue. Even if they''re threatened with death, they won''t step into its vicinity. How is it that you''re still fine?" Damien asked suspiciously.

    Tilis grinned. "Good question. But if you want to know why they do such a thing¡­"

    "Do me a single favor. If you canplete it with precision, I will tell you everything you could possibly want to know about Aquazyl and the Emperor Bone Sea. "

    Damien furrowed his brows in thought. A favor from an expert could never be simple. Owing someone like Tilis a favor would usually only end in downfall. After all, at their level of strength, favors weren''t something that could be denied. Especially when one achieved Divinity, the weight of their words began to directly impact their power, making it dangerous to act as brazenly as one did in their youth.

    But instead of following the most natural scenario, Tilis used his favor for a single matter.

    Back in the present, Zara worked to fulfill this wish. Her shadows nketed the whole underground space and in the next instant¡­

    She began to work on sabotaging everything as she was ordered.

 Chapter 682 Finale [5]

    Suspense was thrown out the window thereafter.

    The Sanctuary forces ughtered the remaining High Elders easily and exited the Dimensional Cage, joining the others in destroying the rest of the Tephit n, Lunaria was soon to finish her Baptism, which would add another wave of power to the already overpowering allied force, and the number of Tephit soldiers dwindled until even calling them a resistance was no longer possible.

    The only people remaining on the Tephit n''s side who could change the results of this war were Tephit himself and the two Great Elders, however, neither side seemed to have any intention of aiding the falling n.

    Raka and Tilis stood with Ria and Maximus, taking a break from their fight. While the two elders stood unscathed, both Maximus and Ria were covered in bruises and scratches from the previous altercation.

    The only reason their injuries were so light was because Raka and Tilis never fought with the intent to kill. Instead, they refined the two n Heads'' fighting styles until they were able to stand on their own even against the two elders themselves.

    "¡­why did you join the Tephit n?" Ria asked during this moment of respite.

    The question had bothered her for an incredibly long time, but she had resigned herself to never knowing the answer back then. Now, however, she wanted to know more than ever.

    Raka and Tilis clearly weren''t in the Tephit n to aid them or use them for protection. The former was disproven by their current attitude and thetter¡­neither of the two Great Elders needed anyone''s protection.

    Just based on the previous fight alone, these two were the strongest beings in Aquazyl.

    Then, for what reason did they have to pick an affiliation?

    Raka smiled lightly. "Why, you say? The flow of fate led us this far. The purpose of our existence has always been unknown, but perhaps¡­we''ve found some clues recently?"

    He gave Tilis a knowing look as he spoke. Though he hadn''t been there himself, he trusted Tilis absolutely when thetter imed he found traces of ''that'' thing in Aquazyl.

    Tilis shook his head wryly. "Children, we are not so grand as you believe us to be. In the end, we are mere tools set to carry out the machinations of fate. If fate wishes for our deaths, that will be the day we die. For you to understand our reasoning, you must at least be stronger than anyone else in Aquazyl."

    Maximus'' eyes narrowed. "You¡­the two of you aren''t mortals, are you?"

    "Mortals? Everyone is mortal. Even the strongest being can die if he meets someone better than him." Raka replied.

    Maximus shook his head in rebuttal. "You understand what I mean. Teachers¡­are you both Divinities?"

    Tilis smiled curiously. "Oho? And what makes you think that?"

    "You''re so strong!" Ria immediately blurted out. "Even if we''re much weaker than you, if you were 4th-ss beings we''d at least be able to injure you! But even after taking a full-powered attack from me, you took no damage!"

    Ria felt stupid when she said it out loud. Until Maximus voiced his thoughts, she didn''t even consider the possibility of her two mentors being Divinities. But, thinking about it now, wouldn''t everything make sense if they were?

    The question remained, though: for what reason were these two incredibly powerful beings trapping themselves in Aquazyl? And what could possibly justify their actions?

    "Well, I think the answer to that is pretty simple." A new voice appeared behind them.

    This was naturally Damien, who hade down from the peak of the Tephit skyscraper with Tephit now that the ongoing events were reaching a close.

    Their first stop was the Great Elders. This fight was the only one that hadn''t beenpleted yet, after all.

    Looking at Raka and Tilis, some of the final dots in his mind began to connect. When he met Tilis previously, he didn''t have any surety about thetter''s identity. Now, however, especially with the conclusions made by Maximus and Ria, his assumptions became moreplete.

    "I didn''t think there would be something like this, but I guess it makes sense. I don''t think anyone has enough trust in autonomous systems to just leave them operating such a massive project without supervisors." Damien said.

    "Isn''t that right, subordinates of the Sea God?"

    It was a wild conjecture. It was a question that acted on the assumption that the two Great Elders had been alive for countless millions of years, existing from when the Sea God''s reign was still true.

    But to Damien, it only made sense. The lifespan of a Demigod was extremely long, but it didn''t cross the threshold of one million years. To live for such an extensive period of time, the two Great Elders must''ve connected their very souls to Aquazyl''s foundation.

    Only, that would mean they became a part of Aquazyl. Leaving its premises became an impossibility for them.

    What other individual would be willing to go so far besides the Sea God''s own subordinates?

    While Damien''s guess was made after a good amount of analysis, Raka and Tilis were still shocked at how close he was to the truth.

    The Sea God''s subordinates¡­this title didn''t fit them too perfectly. But their connection with the man who earned that grand godly title wasn''t a small one. And¡­they did indeed know him during his lifetime. They weren''t like the rest who only learned of his existence through legends.

    They had existed in Aquazyl for so many years that it was surprising nobody else noticed. However, it made sense when they considered how secluded they lived their lives before the previous Prominence War.

    Nevertheless, the fact that an outsider was able to piece together so many facts after staying in Aquazyl for a little less than a month was extremely surprising, almost to the point of rendering them speechless.

    "You¡­are quite the interesting fellow," Raka said with a sigh of astonishment.

    "Indeed, to think you would guess it so easily. It feels like keeping up the facade was just a joke." Tilis continued in the same tone.

    They had a mission toplete in Aquazyl, and they''d stayed for so long toplete that mission. Although they weren''t stupidly secretive about their identities, they never made it obvious who they were.

    The facade they had kept for so many years was peeled away just like that, no less by a boy not older than 30.

    It felt strange knowing that the final objective of their mission was possibly arriving in front of them.

    "It''s quite funny. We were given a list of conditions one needed to fulfill to perfectly pass the trial set in this realm, but you''vepleted almost all those conditions before even bing aware of the trial. Tell me, boy: would you like to hear the truth of this world?" Tilis asked solemnly.

    But rather than the answer he expected, Damien gave a stern refusal.

    "That conversation can wait. The main event is almost over, you see."

    As he spoke, a fountain of blood shot into the air many tens of kilometers away.

    Lunaria hadpleted her Baptism, and upon her entrance¡­

    The requirements for Tephit''s sacrificial ritual were all met.

 Chapter 683 Wrap Up [1]

    All things returned to silence.

    Despite the heat of the ongoing warfare, no sound was transmitted through Aquazyl''s waters. The sudden change reflected greatly on those present, forcing allbat to a halt.

    "This is the moment of truth," Tephit murmured to nobody in particr. Despite his personal confidence, Damien''s words had truly shaken him. His anticipation for this moment was more than just great.

    Aquazyl rumbled from its foundation as a frightening fluctuation of power spread from below the Tephit n''s main headquarters.

    Rumble!

    Cracks spread through the sky. A reddish brown color painted the realm as arge formation circle slowly formed in the air.

    This formation was called the Blood Sacrament God Array. It didn''t have a set purpose, but rather was an all-epassing formation whose use would change based on its growth and the method by which it was used.

    In this case, Tephit merged the Blood Sacrament God Array with the technological portal outline and other machines below the Tephit n to break a hole in the realm.

    Aquazyl''s foundation shook for this very reason. The massive amount of energy Tephit had gathered for the past hundreds of thousands of years was dispersing into the atmosphere in ordance with the formation,tching into Aquazyl''s foundationalws and forcing them apart.

    This process would take at least a day to finish, but whether fortunately or unfortunately, it wouldn''t be allowed to get that far.

    For 5 hours, the formation worked as nned. Cracks spread through the air and ground, the atmosphere seemed to be on the brink of apocalypse, it was a precursor, a peek into what would''ve happened if Tephit''s ns seeded.

    But Damien wasn''t just guessing when he confronted the n Head. His words were based on fact, assurance that he couldn''t share without revealing Devour''s true power.

    After the fifth hour passed, the violence came to an abrupt halt. The cracks that tried to spread and thicken slowed their growth until they barely moved.

    And then¡­the destruction reversed.

    There was an inherent difference between the mana of a lower existence and the mana of a Divinity.

    The process of gaining strength was rtively streamlined, especially with the existence of the system, but beneath the universe''s natural devouring and evolution method of growth, there was another system as well.

    This was the system of Laws that people followed after achieving 4th ss. But in reality, the growth towards entering this system began far earlier than that.

    ssless beings were aware of their affinities but unable to properly utilize them. The first 10 levels they gained would familiarize them with mana and strengthen their bodies to handle it properly.

    After that, 1st ss was a matter of understanding mana at a beginner level. The journey to level 50 was one of learning the ss system and how to utilize it, growing in the direction one believed best suited them.

    2nd ss was where a practitioner finally came into true contact with their elements. Unlike the previous two sses that didn''t allow much versatility, 2nd ss was one where a practitioner could truly understand what it meant to be strong. Damien gaining ess to vector control at this level was merely a single example of this phenomenon.

    3rd ss was where affinities turned into elements. One''s connection with their element would greatly heighten, their ability to manipte it at a conceptual level bing more prominent. Before one could be worthy of Baptism, one needed to achieve a level of connection with their elements that they never had before.

    4th ss was a true dividing point. Here, rather than the elements that stem from them, one would interact with the Laws themselves, building connections and understanding them to the fullest.

    However, to achieve Divinity, one couldn''t just have a connection with thews. They needed to embody them.

    Divine Mana, Divine Essence, Higher Mana; the power source of the higher existences took many names, but they were all the same essential energy source. This energy, rather than being derived from mana or derived fromws, was drawn directly from them.

    Just as a practitioner embodied theirw, theirw would begin to embody them.

    Aquazyl was a realm built on this rtionship. The foundationalws of this realm weren''t just regrws found in nature, they werews that embodied the Sea God himself.

    In essence, Aquazyl was the remnant will of the Sea God. Even if Tephit used billions of years to refine as much essence as possible, he wouldn''t be able to break through Aquazyl''sws unless he understood this fact. At least, not with his current methods.

    Aquazyl began rapidly repairing itself not long after the destruction halted. In fact, the realm even used the excess energy from Tephit''s blood sacrifice to strengthen itself, bing firmer and less susceptible to future repetitions of the same situation.

    "Hahaha¡­" Tephitughed wryly. "Not only was it a failure, but it was also a failure that aplished the exact opposite resultpared to my purpose¡­"

    He couldn''t believe it even after seeing it. He''d braced himself for this moment, but no amount of bracing could help him ept that hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of years of effort went down the drain so easily.

    "Is this¡­how it ends?" He wondered. What was he to do now? Because of their previous agreement, wasn''t he practically bing Damien''s ve now that his ns lost value?

    What was the point of his life?

    "Don''t."

    Damien''s voice halted his dreary thoughts. He turned around with dull eyes, gazing at his new master.

    "There''s no benefit in acting all suicidal now. In the end, didn''t you want freedom? You might be subordinating yourself to me, but you''ll get the freedom you desired by doing so. At that time, what you do with your life is entirely up to you. Whether you want to build a new influence like the Tephit n, lead troops into war as a great hero, or even just rx in the Sanctuary for the rest of your life, it''spletely up to you. The only thing you have to do is answer my call when I need aid."

    Damien''s words were truthful. He was never a stern ruler who micromanaged the actions of his subordinates. In fact, even though the entirety of the Sanctuary''s poption was subordinated to him, the only ones he truly considered his followers were the n Leaders, those who actively submit to him.

    The rest were merely citizens of a new world. Their lives were their own, and as the Sanctuary grew, the number of those like them would only increase. Worrying about them was useless.

    Tephit would be a valued subordinate, someone on the level of the five n Leaders. He would be the dawn of the Sanctuary''s aquatic civilization, and hopefully, its leader.

    Damien had big ns for Tephit. In order to carry these out, he couldn''t let thetter submerge himself in despair.

    "Come with me," he finally said after some thought. "I''ll show you the Sanctuary, and after I finish up a few more things, I''ll show you the world beyond. At that time, let''s see if you can keep this same dreary atmosphere."

    He grabbed Tephit''s shoulder and immediately willed his mana, causing the two to vanish from existence.

    In the next instant, the Sanctuary''s breathtakingndscape revealed itself to their eyes.

 Chapter 684 Wrap Up [2]

    The Sanctuary of today was apletely different monster than any of its previous forms. The world Damien and Tephit materialized into¡­was truly a world.

    Four continents were separated by a vast and empty sea where life was only beginning to bud. Each of these continents was home to a different biome, each biome home to a different race of people.

    The core groups from each n still lived on the original continent in the center, with the orientation Damien had seen when he came to the Sanctuary to pick up Jiao Mei, but these were only the elite few hundred from each n.

    This was because the main continent had flourished into a mana-filled holynd whereprehending thews became almost streamlined. Training here would provide extreme benefit to those who did, thus, the five ns decided to leave it for only their elites. The rest would have to earn their spots on the central continent.

    The other three continents surrounded the center in a triangr formation. The Fire and Ice Phoenix ns inhabited the scorching desert and freezing tundra environments, and White Dragon Grotto and Lucius'' Demon King n lived in a more moderate climate. Perhaps because the Sanctuary''s growth was influenced by its inhabitants, the environments it spawned as it grew matched them perfectly.

    These four continents surrounded each other and made up the world''s center, but even then, roughly 60% of the world''s surface remained uninhabited.

    This was because, other than the oceans that upied most of the world''s space, another 20% was taken by another, far more mysterious, continent.

    The Storm Heavens Continent, a death zone where young elites went to train and temper themselves. Thisnd was uninhabitable due to the terrifying lightning that continuously struck down, lightning that even reached the level of ck Demon Lightning. Other than some special lifeforms that thrived in such a lightning-d environments, the only beings on this continent were those who came temporarily to train.

    Nevertheless, this continent was extremely important to the world''s residents. It was the best possible ce for one to temper their bodies.

    This world, thebination of new and old that formed the first celestial body of the Sanctuary''s budding universe, had already been named in a conjoined effort by the five ns.

    Theavel.

    A word that mixed Dragon Tongue, Elven Language, Demon Tongue, and Phoenix Tongue in one, melding them to fit a single definition:

    First.

    The first of its kind, the first under the heavens, the first step forward, Theavel.

    Damien quite liked this name, and it seemed his subordinates did even more so. The status of being the first inhabitants of a budding universe wasn''t light, and it was clearly something they took pride in.

    While Damien admired the Sanctuary''spleteness, Tephit''s amazement came from an entirely different source.

    How long had he lived?

    Hundreds of thousands of years? Millions of years? After so long, he''d lost count. But¡­in all those terrifyingly long and dreary years, he''d never seen a scene like this; a scene that waspletely independent of Aquazyl.

    "Amazing¡­" he muttered to himself. A spark seemed to light in his eye. He felt like a child again, seeing such wonder that he never thought he could experience.

    The cleanliness of the air, thendmasses that existed above sea level, the different biomes that simply didn''t exist within Aquazyl. While Aquazyl was a strange sea realm that mirrored thend above far more than any other area, it was still underwater at the end of the day. Something like a tundra or a desert was impossible to find.

    "This is Theavel, the first world of my Sanctuary, and your new home. While it is still an independent realm, it is much freer than Aquazyl and I won''t set any rules for you to follow other than the usual rules to not get in conflict with your allies. When the timees, I''ll also show you the universe outside Aquazyl, the Grand Heavens Boundary. It is a wonderous ce filled with a myriad of races and beautiful sceneries unlike anything you could ever imagine. Stay excited." Damien exined with a grin.

    Tephit took it all in with fervor. Even the Sanctuary was enough novelty for him to never wish to leave. Just the fact that they were flying in the sky above this world,pletely without the aid of water, was a shock to him.

    If he was given the chance to take control of this world''s waters and grow its poption as he wished, how great would that be? He could raise a perfect army of soldiers as well as a family unlike what he''d ever had before.

    At that time, serving Damien would''ve been the greatest decision he ever made.

    Tephit took a knee where he stood, immediately making his decision. "I, Tephit, swear on my blood and mana to serve you, Damien Void, for eternity."

    Damien smiled in satisfaction. The process of acquiring this new ¡ª servant was much easier than he expected it to be.

    Honestly, those people on Aquazyl were bumpkins. They didn''t know anything about the outside world and even the concept of it was enough to fascinate them. With Damien''s means, subordinating them was light work.

    Nevertheless, it wasn''t quite the time for Damien to pat himself on the back. Before that, he needed to finish up his work in Aquazyl.

    While Tephit remained in the Sanctuary to familiarize himself with Theavel''s environment, Damien returned to Aquazyl.

    His personal tasks were mostly done. Now, he simply had to oversee the battlefield in case of any extraneous circumstances. For instance, an event where Ria or Maximus decided to rebel.

    Whether fortunately or unfortunately for him, though, everything went incredibly smoothly. He almost felt strange bringing events to such a proper conclusion. He''d gotten too used to every event ending by being blown out of proportion, the environment beingpletely destroyed

    Damien looked over the Tephit n main headquarters. More than anything, he wanted to see Zara. If the task she''d been assigned waspleted properly¡­

    While Damien was in thought, Raka and Tilis walked up from behind him.

    "Finished your work?" Tilis asked. The elder had been waiting for Damien''s return. There was still much for them to talk about.

    "Mm, this and that. There''s still some more I have to do before I can say I''m really finished. Did you need me for something?" Damien questioned back. Ever since their first meeting, he had a feeling that these two elders wanted more from him than they led on.

    He was being kind not bringing it up directly, but at the same time, he was well aware that he couldn''t beat them regardless of how many strength-boosting abilities he used.

    Tilis smiled seeing Damien''s aggravated expression. Naturally, he was aware of the strange youth''s inner thoughts. It wasn''t like Damien tried to hide them in any way.

    But still, he truly did need Damien for something. And now that Tephit had seemingly been taken care of, the time was right for them to speak.

    "I did, actually," Tilis responded straightforwardly. "After all, why wouldn''t I want a word with Aquazyl''s future sessor?"

 Chapter 685 Wrap Up [3]

    "Hm?"

    Damien was bbergasted by the form of address. Of course, bing Aquazyl''s sessor was indeed his end goal, but he didn''t expect to be called by the title quite yet.

    After all, he hadn''t done anything to earn it.

    "Is there a reason you''re crowning me so early?" He asked Tilis curiously.

    "Hahaha, whether it''s early or not merely depends on perception. To me, your existence alone is enough to validity that title." Tilis replied.

    "I see¡­" Damien said. He didn''t really know how to respond, nor was he in the mood to entertain these two elders.

    Knowing their backstory, it was a sure case that they could give him all the answers he possibly wanted, but knowing their type after meeting characters like Tian Yang and Malcolm, he knew those answers wouldn''te easy.

    Now, Damien was through with Aquazyl. He wanted to return to Hidden Death Valley and begin his training regime before focusing on the true great issue at hand.

    Aquazyl''s matters could wait until the Prominence War ended.

    "Don''t be so hasty to turn us away," Raka said with a smile, as if predicting Damien''s thoughts. "While it''s true that we can''t tell you everything you wish to know, we at least wish to tell you one thing."

    "Do not fall victim to the Void." Tilis finished.

    Damien''s eyes widened. No matter how many times he used Void Mana, those who could recognize it could still be counted on one hand. Even looking at those in the Human Domain who''d heard legends of the "Seed" weren''tpletely aware of the Void. They only knew it as a mysterious and powerful power.

    "What do you mean by that?" Damien asked. His interest was more than just a little piqued at this point.

    Tilis shrugged. "What we mean can only be discovered by you. If you''re told the answer at a time like this, it''ll only negatively affect your growth. Is that what you wish for?"

    "Of course not," Damien said begrudgingly. He understood, but that didn''t mean he wasn''t put off.

    "To not sumb to the Void¡­I think¡­I can somewhat rte¡­"

    When he thought about it, Damien realized that he''d always been ying a mental game of tug-of-war with his Void Physique.

    The reason his journey as a practitioner didn''t start until he was 17 was solely due to the Void Physique''s interference. Even after that, he''d been constantly led by the nose by his physique, being tested again and again to prove his ability to use it.

    Now, devour had evolved and the Void Physique had somewhat integrated with his body. Through this, he gained ess to Void Mana.

    But did Void Mana listen to hismand?

    When he used it as normal mana, it acted like normal mana. At least in this regard, it didn''t cause him any problems. But when he attempted to utilize the Void''s power, his mana would always disobey him.

    It was strange to have mana that behaved semi-intelligently, but after getting used to the Void mes, Damien was somewhat limated to the situation. Still, that didn''t change the strangeness of it all.

    And on top of that, everything he devoured would be fed to his Void Mana. The mana itself would grow stronger, but Damien wouldn''t see any of those benefits himself. It was like he was being enved by it slowly.

    His eyes hardened when he realized it. To control the mana and not let it control him, while it sounded easy, could it truly be called that?

    And even if he understood what he had to do, how would he go about doing it?

    ''Another troublesome task has loaded itself onto my te, huh¡­''

    This wasn''t a new problem, but rather an old one that he was only just bing aware of. Rather than saying it was being added to his te, it was better to say that this was the task making up the te itself.

    ''Every time I feed the Void Mana, it feeds meprehensions in return. Only, I haven''t had the time to sift through or even try to grasp theseprehensions. My understanding of the Void is negligible to say the least, but if I want to control it, I first have to understand it in full¡­''

    Damien shook off his thoughts and looked around. Raka and Tilis had left at some point, apparently only finding him to deliver that singr message. When he sent a mental transmission to Zara through their link, he learned that she was still in the process of collecting everything from the underground space as he''d asked.

    Within the Tephit n main headquarters, the scenes of carnage hade to aplete halt. The allied forces were busy cleaning up the aftermath and making sure there were no survivors.

    ''Lunaria had a Baptism during that mess, and Qing''er seems to be on the precipice of one too. I should go meet themter¡­but for now, it seems like I have time.''

    Damien teleported away from his position and arrived atop the massive skyscraper where he met Tephit hours prior. Here, withplete peace and silence, he submerged himself into his spiritual world.

    The usual scenery revealed itself, countless dead stars and the four true worlds he''d bound, a zing sun, a starry sky, and the spiritual continent he spent so much effort piecing together in the Primordial Undying Realm.

    And on that spiritual continent was a ck egg. It was sleek and metallic, its shell covered in beautiful mysterious patterns that made Damien''s eyes sting just looking at them.

    ''This is¡­aprehension egg?'' Damien wondered. He''d never heard of such a concept, but the random name he gave the egg didn''t do it any justice.

    The egg had not a single fluctuation of aura or power. The way it sat made it look dead and incredibly useless. If any normal person saw this egg, they''d likely ignore itpletely even after seeing its unique appearance.

    But¡­it also gave off a feeling of destruction. A feeling of endlessness and cmity, a feeling of nothingness within existence, a feeling of genesis and nihility.

    The myriad of feelings projected by this egg didn''te from physical aura or even some sort of mental pressure, rather, it was quite literally just a feeling Damien got when he looked at it. He had no idea how it was actually transmitted to him.

    ''It''s dangerous¡­incredibly dangerous¡­'' a mad grin lit up his face. Because he''d been carefully nning his steps for a while, it had been a truly long time since he met a situation where death seemed to stare him right in the eyes.

    Why did this feeling always make him so excited?

    His body shed over to the egg without hesitation. His hand reached out and brushed against its surface.

    In the next instant, his mind vanished from his body, transported to a different dimension entirely.

    And while it was a harrowing experience, a truend of nothingness that could drive any normal man insane, Damien only had a single thought in mind¡­

    ''Why is it always darkness when I get transported to different dimensions? Can''t it be something more creative? Like damn¡­''

 Chapter 686 Wrap Up [4]

    The space Damien found himself in was yet another space of ckness. Yet, this one was quite different from the rest.

    ? This ckness didn''te from the excruciating presence of darkness or any abyssal substance, it came from the literal absence of all else.

    The space Damien stood in was best described as nothingness, the Void.

    But Damien knew that the Void wasn''t just something as simple as nothingness.

    Whether it be existence or nonexistence, these concepts were contained within thews of the universe. Without one, the other simply could not be conceptualized.

    When Damien was young and came in contact with the Void, he originally thought it was something like the power of nothingness, but that was just a naive thought.

    The Void¡­was far more esoteric and profound than just that.

    The current space he found himself in was an example. Yes, it was a space filled with the air and essence of nothingness, but didn''t he still exist? True nothingness was still impossible.

    Existence within nonexistence; nonexistence within existence, the duality between these two was only a single concept of the Void.

    And this was the concept Damien drew upon aftering in contact with theprehension egg.

    His eyes closed on their own as he sunk into his own thoughts. In the Real ne, currents of Void Mana began swirling around his body, dancing as he became more and more familiar with their origin.

    What was the Void?

    The Void was what existed before anything else. All creation existed within the Void.

    But then, what difference was there between the Void and regr space?

    Naturally, just like all others, space was a concept birthed from the Void. But unlike the rest, it was one of the most interlinked with it.

    Space and Time were born not long after the universe sparked into existence. These two concepts allowed beings to exist and have them a flow to follow. They were personifications of Order and Chaos.

    The Void didn''t have such personifications. When Damien felt its raw essence around him, he realized that there was no such thing as "flow" within the Void.

    ''Do not sumb to the Void.''

    Damien remembered Tilis'' warning advice. Feeling the Void so closely now, he felt he somewhat understood those words.

    This power had no structure. When one believed it was chaotic, they''d find order, but when they believed it was orderic, they''d find chaos. These two were only concepts birthed from the Void, so how could they epass its existence?

    The ckness of the Void was like an amalgamation of everyw or idea to ever exist. If one wanted to, one could look at the Void as a sum of these parts, and while this viewpoint would allow one to view the Void much easier, it would also skew their perception in a way whereprehending it would be exponentially harder.

    Damien didn''t choose this method. He already understood from long ago the significance of the Void. Just calling it a sum of its parts didn''t do it even the slightest bit of justice.

    All things were birthed from the Void, but all things did not limit the Void. The only reason existence and nonexistence weren''t continuously expanding and being evolved was merely because the Void had no desire to continue building the universe.

    Was it bored?

    Damien always viewed sentient beings as sentient beings, never putting one above the other merely due to their physical presence. This was because he was well aware of how much more powerful a weapon spirit could be than a human if it was given the time to train.

    That kind of discrimination was simply asking for death.

    The Void was also a sentient being. When Damien watched his Void Mana, it always seemed to be in an excited state. It always seemed to be looking for fun, for a challenge, for a reason to rebel. This quality always caused him harm, but was there truly a good reason for it?

    If the Void was bored and decided to send a portion of its power into the world, if that powernded in a boy who misused it and didn''t bring it justice, would the Void be happy?

    Naturally not!

    While Damien did his best to understand and adapt to his power, it was true that he spent many years idling! If he thought of his current predicament as something like petty revenge from the Void, it would make his mana''s mischievous behavior that much more understandable.

    Nevertheless, it was true that Damien somewhat understood now.

    The "something within nothing" and the "nothing within something."

    The meaning of these phrases was simple. It was almost so simple that Damien wanted to p himself across the head for not realizing it earlier.

    But this simplicity¡­

    The darkness around Damien faded. He found himself back in his spiritual world, facing the pitch-ckprehension egg in front of him.

    The egg still retained its beautiful metallic sheen. It still retained that deathly aura it carried. However, the profound patterns decorating its surface had already disappeared.

    ''I see¡­I guess I''ll have to do a considerable amount of devouring to experience that again¡­'' Damien thought to himself,

    His mind returned to his body thereafter. The first thing he saw was the swirling Void Mana.

    "What, are you that excited to see me?" He asked with a smile.

    Xiu!

    The mana whirred as if voicing agreement. It swirled around his body even faster, dancing up and down like a little sprite meeting its first human.

    "Hahahaha! Interesting little thing."

    Damien reached his hand out, causing the mana to fly into it and swirl around his fingertips. Looking off into the distance, Damien spread his hand wide.

    ''Genesis''

    Voom!

    The waters of Aquazyl shook. Where Damien''s intent was targeted, arge structure erected itself from the ground. It was a castle of pure sand and limestone, dragged to the surface by a mere thought.

    Within this pce was a fully decorated set of halls, functioning lights, anything else one would expect from a true residence. It was hard to believe Damien erected it only moments ago.

    ''Disperse''

    The castle drifted into the proverbial wind. Its existence was broken down into chunks and then dismantled,pletely taking it off the face of the earth. This wasn''t a surface-level disappearance either, no, it was aplete erasure from existence.

    Something within nothing and nothing within something; while Damien didn''t have ess to the peak abilities of these two concepts, he could at least begin to manipte them.

    "Aha¡­" Damien eximed in interest, "this power¡­will be a lot of fun."

    A savage grin lit up his face. It was justing time for him to leave Aquazyl, and he''d received such a good gift. He really didn''t expect it.

    After all, the main reward from his stint in Aquazyl would only reveal itself many years in the future. He didn''t expect to make any short-term gains here.

    But that didn''t mean he didn''t wee it.

    This new powerup was sudden, but wholly needed. When Damien thought about it, he had so many more options avable to him.

    Especially when it came to preparing his second present¡­

    A present that was currently waiting patiently for him in the Emperor Bone Sea.

 Chapter 687 Wrap Up [5]

    Events proceeded easily from that point on. Now that Tephit was tucked away in the Sanctuary and his n was in shambles, the biggest threat in the Prominence War had been totally eliminated. It was now a stage for the remaining four ns to battle it out.

    Between the Ruvia and Oga ns, the rtionship was still unknown. Now that they''d gone through such an experience together, the members of the two ns had formed bonds that were extremely hard to break. Something like betrayal in the face of power was still difficult for them.

    As for the Hubo and Verxis ns, they likely weren''t even aware of the massive war when it first broke out. Information about the Tephit n''s defeat should''ve just recently reached them, their reactions still in the midst of taking ce.

    The question was, who would take the central position of this war from this point forth?

    The Oga n was different from the rest. Despite how others still lumped them together, the higher-ups of the Oga n were well aware of their separation from the remaining ns.

    After all, they''d sword loyalty to a different leader, an outsider. To others this looked like a hasty and stupid decision, but to those who''d felt Zara''s bloodline pressure and seen what it did to the former Great Elder, this choice wasn''t just smart, it was genius.

    Someone of Zara''s caliber would go incredibly far in life. Perhaps, she would one day even surpass the universe.

    And that wasn''t even mentioning the people she surrounded herself with. If Damien was any example, it was clear that Zara didn''t make friends with anyone normal.

    The Oga n''s lower members were incredibly reluctant to ept Zara as their new n Head before the war, but after seeing the carnage the Sanctuary''s forces wrought, they changed their minds.

    They wanted to be like that too. They wanted strength like that too.

    Now, the Oga n''s fierce loyalty to Zara was already established and set in stone. They would from now on be inseparable from her¡­

    At least in some form.

    Zara didn''t have a method to keep arge number of people for a prolonged period of time. Her shadow realm ability was only meant for short-term inhabitance by outsiders. Unfortunately for both her and the Oga n, she didn''t have the facilities to keep them with her.

    It was a conundrum she faced for many hours. She didn''t want to throw away her first followers just after receiving them. It felt like she''d finally taken a step towards her goals, and she didn''t want to lose that feeling.

    Zara stood with Damien, handing him an assortment of technological parts and a few stranger fantasy-like items. These were the machinery Zara stole from the underground space. The base structure for a realm-breaking teleportation device, a rudimentary version of the Blood Sacrament God Array, and many other useful trinkets were stored there.

    It wasn''t just any day when one got the chance to raid such a vastly beneficial treasure chest.

    Nevertheless, as Zara handed the items to Damien, she actually voiced another request. It was the final solution she came up with after so many hours.

    "Can I¡­house the Oga n in your Sanctuary?" She asked hesitantly.

    She knew that the Sanctuary was Damien''s life''s work. Even whenpared to his Voidprehension, the Sanctuary was still a better representation of him as an individual.

    Zara didn''t want to taint thatnd he was growing himself with troops that weren''t his own.

    But contrary to her expectations, Damien just shrugged. "Why not? Tell me when they need entrance and I''ll help you out."

    "Really?" Zara eximed with excitement.

    "Of course! Not even counting the fact that you''re my precious little beastpanion, the Sanctuary has always been its own isted world. You know how little I interfere in its growth." He continued.

    "I''ll let people into the Sanctuary andter, once they''ve been limated and have sworn their loyalty, let them out. Besides the people I''m actually close to, that''s the extent to which I interfere in the Sanctuary''s happenings."

    "The Sanctuary has always been strange in my heart. I''ve always been aware that it''s my world. If I wanted to, I could ughter every single existence living within in a few moments. But still, I don''t like being too involved in it."

    "That ce is its own world, after all. Especially now that it''s evolved, it''s looking more and more like a true world in outer space. I don''t want that world to take on my characteristics. I want it to grow through its natural course of action until the Sanctuary universe would be so independent that it''s nearly inessible to those who aren''t epted by its residents."

    Damien''s spiel wasn''tpletely meant for Zara, more for himself. Seeing the Sanctuary again with Tephit made him desperately want to change many things to make function better.

    Unfortunately, he had to remember his own ideals.

    He was letting the Sanctuary grow on its own for a purpose. Rather than a conscious thought, it was more of a hunch; a hunch that would onlye true far in the future, if ever.

    Nevertheless, his opinions about the Sanctuary didn''t have any ce in his mind at the moment.

    After his conversation with Zara, the Oga n naturally settled in the Sanctuary. They decided to live nearby the continent of White Dragon Grotto and the Demons.

    Their belligerent personalities fit well with White Dragon Grotto''s ideals. With them in the ocean and the grotto onnd, the two were an invincible duo.

    Left in Aquazyl were 3 ns. And of the Oga n, only Ria remained in the Real ne.

    She stood facing Maximus, her mouth moving but no wordsing out. She didn''t know how to exin the situation to him at all.

    "You''re leaving?" He asked. He had known Ria for too long. He could easily read her thoughts through her face.

    "M-mm. The n is leaving. I¡­might stay," Ria said with difficulty

    Unlike the others, she had things she didn''t want to leave behind. Mainly¡­

    "Just go," Maximus said softly.

    The man in front of her. He was always quietly supporting her and making sure everything went her way. Despite his cold attitude, she was well aware of his heart''s warmth.

    If he annoyedly spat at her to go, it only meant that he''d be disappointed if she wasted the opportunity.

    In the end, she took the offer. As she turned to leave, she found herself incredibly reluctant.

    She looked into Maximus'' eyes and in the next moment¡­

    A pair of lips firmly pressed onto his. Maximus'' eyes widened in shock as he watched Ria passionately kiss him, eventually joining her in the fun.

    "I¡­don''t want to go yet¡­" Ria muttered.

    "But if you don''t go, will you have timeter? Your entire n is going. Even if you''ve chosen to serve a different leader, you''re still their central point. You can''t just leave." Maximus said realistically.

    Ria already understood. He didn''t want her to miss something so major simply because of him¡­

    Especially since he might not survive until the end of the Prominence War.

    In their current society, theing of a Prominence War cut off any possibility of a rtionship.

    Because it was entirely possible for those n members to die instantly, their rtionships meaning nothing but emptyfort in the end.

    And Maximus¡­he didn''t want to devalue Ria into a mere emptyfort.

 Chapter 688 Wrap Up [6]

    The rtionship between Maximus and Ria was a strange one, but also somewhat inevitable. Ever since young, they and the Hubo and Verxis n Heads had been good friends who studied under the same teacher.

    The reality of the Prominence War drove them apart yearster, causing the Hubo and Verxis n Heads to be distant and hostile. Maximus and Ria, however, didn''t follow the stereotype.

    Their closeness transcended the bounds of their circumstances, and through each other, they were able to find some sce in the dreary atmosphere of Aquazyl that only these n Heads knew.

    Still, this kind of peace couldn''tst forever.

    In the vast and chaotic river of life, there would be just as many partings as there were meetings. All people had their own paths to take, their own goals to chase. In this environment, it waspletely natural for people with extremely close bonds to be distant simply due to circumstance.

    Maximus and Ria''s case wasn''t too special. Stories of lovers who transcended the hostility of their ns to be together, of couples who survived the chaos of war by holding each other tight, were exceedingly popr. Humans, no, sentient lifeforms tended to seekfort in each other when times became too rough to handle alone.

    Damien had seen plenty of examples of this with his own eyes. Hell, he''d even been a part of this example.

    This was exactly how his rtionship with Rose began. The two of them were struggling through their own circumstances without help, but found each other to seek refuge in.

    Even these fairytales of perfect couples could end in tragedy. And even if they didn''t end in tragedy, they''d certainly end in parting.

    Those who could stay together forever were only those who didn''t have any goals to aplish. People who could remain sedentary while enjoying quiet lives were those who either had nothing or wanted nothing.

    Damien wasn''t one of these people, thus he was forced to continuously part from his wives. And neither Ria nor Maximus was this type of person, so they were inevitably forced to do the same.

    It was just¡­that inevitability came far faster than they''d expected.

    "Parting is inevitable, yes, but what matters is how one behaves once it''s happened," Damien muttered to himself.

    "What?" Zara asked, confused.

    Damien smiled and shook his head. "Nothing, just thinking about this and that."

    His awareness still covered the two n Heads. His curiosity about their decision was still as high as ever, and he didn''t want to miss this conversation.

    Still, he wasn''t going to tantly barge into their personal space. He only wanted to understand how people reacted to situations like this one.

    After all, Damien had undergone this sort of parting many many times, far more times than he wanted to admit.

    Every single time, he was forced to ept reality and move forward. He didn''t spend too much time on missing his loved ones, because if he did, he knew his progress would be slowed.

    Damien was always curious about emotions. The way they functioned was so strange, and when he was younger, he even contemted getting rid of them entirely. The Mind Prison that still resided on his spiritual continent was proof of this.

    Nowadays, Damien''s emotions were quite muted. His general demeanor was indifference, he wasn''t able to joke and tease like he would when he was younger, and it felt like any action that didn''t guide him closer to his end goals waspletely useless, even if this action was something like entertaining his friends andpanions.

    He didn''t like this change much. It felt like the burden on his shoulders was forcing him to change into a different person.

    When he realized this, he got into the habit of bing curious about the emotions of others. He wondered how others would react if they were put in simr situations as he''d been in the past, to see just how strange his own reactions were.

    So far, he could only see that his rationality outstripped his emotional reactions considerably. When he was to make a choice whether to leave for a greater purpose ande backter or stay back and ignore that opportunity, he''d choose the former in a heartbeat.

    It wasn''t that he didn''t love his wives or his friends, it was just that his love didn''t trante in the way others'' love did.

    He was still trying to figure out how to show his love properly, in a way where everyone could understand the depth of his feelings without him having topletely change his person.

    His wives were people who understood this side of him. They''d spent prolonged periods of time with him and each of them had seen him at a different low point. Even through all his bullshit, they''d stuck with him. Even with him leaving so often, they''d stuck with him.

    Because they were people who understood hisplicated heart and the emotions he couldn''t showcase the way he wanted to.

    If it wasn''t for that, would any sane woman want to stay with a man who barely spent any time with them? A man who continued to leave them ande back with new wives?

    That was simply a joke.

    There was a reason why despite Damien''s constant flirting with woman after woman, the only ones that truly stuck and fostered a rtionship of mutual love with him were three.

    Even Elena, who''d left to find her own path, was the same. Years ago when their separation took ce, Damien was despairing and didn''t realize much of the truth of her actions.

    Their twisted rtionship couldn''t be fixed by mere time together, and neither of them were the type to sit still and try to fix said rtionship.

    They both knew of each other''s feelings.

    They both knew they would never betray each other for another.

    With that kind of assurance, they didn''t need to worry about how they acted. They both went toplete their own goals, using the best means they knew to help the other party cope while they did so.

    And in the end, did their love fade? Damien was sure his didn''t, and even though he couldn''t see Elena, he knew she was waiting for him somewhere across the universe.

    Maximus and Ria''s love story was cute, it was a story of rivals who fell in love and decided to fight fate. But when Damien looked at it, he didn''t think it couldpare to his own.

    He had three beautiful and understanding wives, three women who didn''t just sit around and wait for him or act as his yes-men at all times. He had the three best women in the universe as his partners, women who would work as hard as they needed to in order to grow at their fastest speeds and develop.

    Watching Maximus and Ria, Damien''s thoughts switched away from his own emotions and focused on the emotions of these three instead.

    He ended up thinking about them for a long long time, slowlying to appreciate every facet of their personalities, ingraining every tiny detail of their faces into his mind once again.

    And he wondered¡­what were they up to now?

 Chapter 689 Them [1]

    The Human Domain.

    It was a ce that birthed many heroes in the past and a ce that many adored as the most prominent force in the war against the Nox 10,000 years ago.

    In that Great War, humanity was the sole reason the universe was able to survive and keep 9 Sectors of space. The other 8 dominant races could only be thankful for humanity''s presence in the universe.

    This was the reason why humans were never mistreated in different sectors of the universe. Even if they had low status or were enved, they''d never be ced in those horrifying conditions that some ves were forced into.

    Even if these human ves couldn''t appreciate this grace due to their thankless circumstances, it didn''t mean that it didn''t exist.

    The Human Domain of the current era couldn''t match the one of old, but that didn''t mean it had changed. It was still a ce where heroes rose to any challenge that appeared.

    And currently, there was another Great War about to begin. The Nox had destroyed the Elven Domain and they''d destroyed Eden. While a war continued in Eden, the Soul World and Beast Domain were slowly being targeted by the Nox as well.

    For this race''s end goal was merely destruction. They didn''t care to conquer, and thus had no reason to fight for territory with the universe''s denizens.

    This put the universe''s forces in an objectively worse position that was hard to ovee with strength alone.

    The Human Domain, unfortunately, was heavily disconnected from the rest of the universe. Only through Parciel had they recently gained ess to the universe''s information, but they were still a long way from bing a part of it again.

    After all, the Dimensional Leaderboard still hadn''t shown up, nor were there any teleportation arrays connecting the Human Domain both internally and externally.

    After the raid on Niflheim and the destruction of the sector''s Infected Source World, the main forces of the Human Domain gathered in the Cloud ne, using it as their main headquarters.

    Tian Yang took the lead of this new cumtive force as the Void Old Immortal and organized the Human Domain''s forces into a true army.

    After that came the training.

    It was a hellish training that even caused death for some weaker trainees. It was a terrifying experience that none ever wanted to experience again.

    But it granted strength at unimaginable speeds. Tian Yang''s methods ignored personal safety and prioritized power leveling and elementalprehension above all else.

    And among the training zones he''d picked, there was a certain location that was all too familiar.

    It was a zone of pitch ckness that stood out even in the darkness of outer space. It was a ce where nothing could exist, not life nor mana or even the Laws of the universe.

    This was a Dead Zone, specifically, the Dead Zone created by Damien and the Fifth Primal Sovereign at the end of their sh.

    Here, two women sat silently.

    The atmosphere was still. Their bodies embraced this stillness as if they were in stasis, not even a single hair moving out of position.

    These two women, one white-haired and the other pink-haired, were in the midst of what must''ve been the most dangerous training regimen Tian Yang had designed.

    The Dead Zone was a terrifying ce. Without theck of natural elements, it was impossible for life to survive. There was no air for humans to breathe. In a situation like this, only coating the body in mana could allow one to survive.

    Yet, in a Dead Zone where mana ceased to exist, it was impossible to replenish one''s mana supply. This meant that entering a Dead Zone was only a slow walk to death.

    A walk that couldn''t be avoided.

    Theck of foundationalws in a Dead Zone erased concepts that all beings took asmonality. Concepts like distance, time, or even life and death were extinguished entirely.

    And this was exactly what Tian Yang''s training was modeled around.

    The concepts of life and death were equally missing, the concepts of all things were missing. In this empty space, no matter how close one got to death, as long as one believed they were alive, one would never truly die.

    It was a mysterious phenomenon, something that could never be understood by someone who hadn''t experienced it personally.

    As for the purposes of this training? There were two.

    The first was the most simple mental training. This empty environment left one alone with their thoughts in a situation where they needed to constantly exerciseplete control over their psyche. This was an incredible mental exercise that could boost one''s spiritual world to apletely different level.

    As for the second benefit, this was more esoteric. It was a matter of elements,

    Comprehension of Laws and elements didn''te easy, and while universal forces were great for grasping the foundations of elements, they didn''t quite help as one''s path diverged to be more personal.

    At that point, themonness of universalw would actually be a hindrance. If one focused too much on it, their ownws would be convoluted.

    In a Dead Zone wherews didn''t exist, the only fluctuation of elements that one could sense was their own. This gave a far more personalizedprehension experience, allowing one to look deep within themselves and truly realize what their path to strength would be.

    Every practitioner was different in that regard. Even if two people practiced Ice Laws, furthered their Ice Laws to specifically focus on the permafrost concept, and then fought using the exact same skills with the exact sameprehension, the results they outputted would still vary.

    Rose and Ruyue, as they sat in the Dead Zone for months at a time, were finding their paths.

    The two of them didn''t have it as easy as others. Just like Damien, they didn''t have streamlined paths.

    Ruyue''s yin element was vast enough to epass all negative forces. Instead of a single element, it was more an amalgamation of countless others. For her to find a path with this element was exceedingly difficult, not to mention the ever-elusive moon affinity that gave her Celestial-like powers.

    Rose, on the other hand, had illusion and wind affinities. Neither of these affinities were particrly special, but when they ended up in Rose''s hands, they were transformed entirely.

    Rose mostly stopped utilizing her wind element. As she grew, its use decreased to a negligible level, bing something she only used asionally when she needed a quick offensive counter.

    Her illusions, however, were far greater. And unlike Ruyue, Rose had been moving towards a goal from the very beginning of her journey.

    To turn illusion into reality and vice versa, to be someone who could manipte reality at its seams using illusions as a medium.

    Despite the differences in their journeys and end goals, the two were both chasing goals of extreme difficulty, goals that prevented them from receiving Baptism even until now.

    But at the same time, this left one thing certain: when the two women finally received their Baptisms, they''d be monsters unlike any before them.

    They might even reach a level where they surpass the Human Domain entirely.

 Chapter 690 Them [2]

    The Dead Zone training wasn''t a new part of either Rose or Ruyue''s regime. They''d been stationary within this space for many months already, edging closer and closer to a breakthrough with every passing second.

    Usually, when it was time to make a major leap in power, one would need to level up profusely and consolidate their power. However, this same case didn''t apply to the two of them.

    After all, they''d been fighting with their lives on the line for many years after reaching 3rd ss. They weren''t just trophies who stood around and waited for their husband to finish work ande home.

    When it came to wars, Rose and Ruyue had participated in them more than even Damien. They were key yers in the purges of three worlds that took ce while Damien was busy training.

    The problem was still theplexity of their elements. It was a blessing and a curse, providing them with the power to stand above theirpetition while also holding them back and making their path to strength that much harder.

    Even with this, only Long Chen and a few other geniuses from the Human Domain were able to match up to them. The two women and Long Chen were the Human Domain''s premiere geniuses.

    They were the Human Domain''s greatest stars, along with one other name.

    Damien Void.

    Some believed he''d died while some believed he''d been sent to a different part of the universe. Regardless of opinion, though, all people agreed that his talent outstripped almost everyone they''d ever seen.

    It was an insane level of talent, a level of talent that wouldn''t die easily, even the non-believers were well aware of their fact, but they acted based on emotion alone.

    Nevertheless, the Human Domain remained trapped in an endless training regime. Whether it was the lowest 1st ss being or an extreme peak 4th ss being, none were safe from it.

    Through this regime, they would rise into bing the heroes who saved the universe once more.

    ***

    The starry sky was a vast and endless ce filled with a myriad of beautiful sceneries that barely anyone would have the pleasure of witnessing.

    The 9 Sectors were only separated due to the ssification systems set by sentient beings. In reality, it was all just a part of the vast Grand Heavens Boundary, the universe''s shell.

    Deep within the starry sky, in one of these areas that''d never been discovered or explored, therey a Mystic Realm unlike any other.

    In terms of concept, the Mystic Realm was simr to Aquazyl. It was a hidden realm where many sentient lifeforms lived and served a purpose. Their lifespans became irrelevant when they connected their minds to the spiritual pir that maintained the realm.

    However, the realm didn''t bear any simrities to Aquazyl at all.

    It was white everywhere. When one entered the Mystic Realm, they''d be met by a pure white walkway surrounded by puffy translucent clouds that seemed to flow downwards into the Void like beautiful waterfalls. At the end of this walkway was an equally white city.

    The architectural style didn''t have any sort of consistency, but each and every building looked like it was carved out of the cleanest limestone.

    Unfortunately, most of these buildings were empty. Their owners had passed long ago.

    The only signs of their existence remaining were the small mementos they left in their wake.

    Currently, this usually unupied space was home to a visitor.

    Her long blue hair swayed in the wind, looking like ocean waves crashing against each other as they followed the moon''s flow. Her eyes remained closed, but the piercing chill produced by her gaze remained stationary, hovering around her irises until she decided it time to be activated.

    This woman was none other than Elena.

    Compared to Rose and Ruyue, her strength was already higher. After all, she''d stepped into 4th ss already!

    While Elena''s achievements couldn''t be discounted, even she knew that most of her recent improvements were the fault of this realm alone.

    It had already been many years since Elena separated from Damien. And for her, it had been even more than the original time flow could register. The strange Mystic Realm she remained in seemed to twist time, making it impossible to see or grasp.

    In this time, she''d done nothing but practice. At the same time, Elena had learned far more about herself than she ever knew before.

    Truthfully, Elena never knew her parents. She''d moved from foster home to foster home from the earliest years of her life. This only changed when she began earning money from her hunter career.

    Like Damien, though, Elena always felt an attraction to mana. She was sensitive to life, to people, to all things. Perhaps her sensing of Damien''s spatial element was what created the bond they''dtere to share.

    This ability wasn''t something a human who''d never been in contact should produce. Adapting to mana before even sending its existence was unheard of.

    In that case, there was only one answer. Just like Damien, she must''ve had family from outside earth

    Damien''s father was a being of origins too big for even the current Damien to understand. In Elena''s &case, however, both parents were missing.

    It was likely that Elena''s parents were deeply connected to this mysterious Mystic Realm. And judging by the source of her power¡­

    Her mother was likely a Valkyrie or something simr. As for her father¡­

    It was better not to mention him. Elena didn''t know anything about the man, but she got the sinking feeling that he was incredibly dangerous whenever she thought about him.

    Nevertheless, her origins didn''t matter much to her. What Elena wanted was strength, and no matter where that strength came from, she''d ept it.

    Her eyes shot open. Those ocean-blue irises shone like beautiful sapphires in the light sky. Her mouth parted as she let out a sigh.

    ''Another day with no progress¡­'' Elena muttered inwardly.

    Ever since entering thisnd of Valha, Elena had been working towards a strict set of goals. She set time limits for herself and forced herself to properly train to achieve them.

    Sadly, no matter how much work she did, she couldn''t make progress. The Life Laws that she was trying to master and apply in more conceptual ways¡­were simply too convoluted. No matter how she studied, she couldn''tprehend them at all.

    But that was normal. Elena''s situation was the exact opposite of Rose and Ruyue''s. While the two of them merely needed to heighten theirprehension until their Baptisms arrived, Elena was long past the Baptism and only needed to continue tempering herself and moving forward.

    Essentially, what Elena needed was no longer the same type of dreary practice at all times.

    What Elena needed was truebat experience.

    Her eyes turned to the Mystic Realm''s entrance. Despite all the mysteries surrounding this territory, it was still true that she somehow attained ownership of it.

    Her smile spread into a savage grin. As she wondered if that specific trait was something everyone who spent too much time with Damien one greeted, Elena exited the realm entirely.

    ''I heard the Nox have been up to some tricks recently. I guess killing them will be a lot of fun.''

    With that thought, Elena''s body turned into a sh of light.

    Her body was headed straight in the direction of Eden.

 Chapter 691 Return [1]

    Contrary to the effect Damien''s disappearance had on the Human Domain''s fate, the actual reaction to the event was quite muted.

    It was a strange thing, a situation like the boy who cried wolf. Those close to Damien had witnessed him achieve too many miraculous feats to believe anything could kill him before he decided to die.

    This didn''t just go for his wives, whose faith in him had reached unholy levels. It also went for those like Tian Yang, Long Chen, Alea, and even the Xue siblings.

    With Damien''s presence having left such a profound impact on their hearts, they didn''t have any worries at all.

    The ones who felt the most emotion were naturally Rose and Ruyue. Damien''s disappearance irked them, but more than anything it made them hateful of their own weakness.

    In a situation where he was taken away by a mysterious force, they weren''t even nearby. They were being evacuated away with everyone else while Damien joined a group of Demigods in a battle that even left a portion of them dead!

    And even after the battle, Damien had been sucked into an Abyssal Corridor that could kill even the strongest Demigods. They knew Damien would survive, but they hated that they had no chance to do the same.

    No matter how much they worked, they never seemed to be able to support him when it was necessary. It was this realization that led them to train in the most deathly conditions to achieve the best results possible.

    Their training, Long Chen''s training, Alea''s training, even Tian Yang''s training, was all motivated partially by him. His deeds that they couldn''t replicate¡­next time they met, whether as friends, lovers, master and disciple, or even strangers, they''d be there to stand by his side and show him their worth.

    They''d make it clear that none of them were side characters in his story.

    2 yearster when it was time for the Grand Assembly to take ce, they''d see him again. And at that time¡­they would prove their determination while seeing just what unimaginable level he''d reached in the time he was gone.

    ***

    The atmosphere of Aquazyl was wrapped in silence. With the events at the Tephit n havinge to aplete conclusion, there wasn''t much else that could bring upheaval to the realm.

    In the end, Ria decided to join her n in the Sanctuary, following her deep conversation and¡­following night with Maximus.

    As for Maximus, he was staying in Aquazyl.

    Just as Damien realized before, all people had their own goals and paths. All people had aspirations they worked excruciatingly to achieve.

    For Maximus, this was both the safety of his n and its prosperity. These driving factors and his dedication were the reason the Ruvia n could stand tall to this day. He had no doubt that if he entered the Sanctuary like Ria and the Oga n, he''d give his n both of these things. However, he couldn''t bring himself to do it.

    Maximus had realized something during these past few weeks of interacting with Damien. He realized that even if Damien himself wasn''t the sessor of Aquazyl, he wasn''t either. None of the Sea God ns were for that matter.

    Then, what was the point of the Prominence War?

    Was it just a stopgap to keep the realm functioning until the true sessor came along?

    Regardless of the Prominence War''s true purpose, it was true that Maximus gained nothing from remaining in Aquazyl. The reason he decided to stay¡­

    Was far more selfless.

    Maximus looked up at the dark sky. Aquazyl''s sun had set, allowing him time to peacefully think over the past events.

    ''Aquazyl will not be peaceful while you''re gone¡­'' he thought to himself.

    ''I don''t know when you''ll return or if you even will. But if you do, then it means you''re truly the one we''ve been waiting for.''

    His arm reached out as if wanting to grasp at the invisible strings of fate. He wondered whether or not his life had any proper meaning.

    But even if it didn''t, all he had to do was give his life meaning with his own actions. Why would he wait for some unknown force to do it for him?

    ''I will take control of Aquazyl and await your return. If that dayes, I will serve you loyally and hand over the throne. If it doesn''t, I will rule Aquazyl for eternity and make sure the Prominence War isn''t allowed to continue destroying our societies.''

    Maximus closed his eyes. The face of a woman appeared there. She had beautiful dark skin, beautiful eyes that he could never stop looking away from, a toned and muscr body that showcased the years she spent in battle¡­

    Her rugged exterior and demeanor made anyone believe she was more of a man than a woman. Viewing her as a romantic partner or even as an attractive woman was impossible for most despite her stunning beauty.

    But Maximus knew that deep down, she was still a girl who yearned for love and romance. She was someone who was both hard and soft but never had the opportunity to show off her soft side.

    If they truly returned one day¡­

    ''I''ll make sure you''ll never have to hide that side of you ever again. From that day until eternity, I will protect you with everything I have.''

    His thoughts came to a halt slowly after that sentence. There was so much he needed to do, so many ns he had to execute in order for the future to go perfectly as he wished it.

    Therefore, thinking about these idle things wouldn''t do him any good.

    Maximus opened his eyes. Something in his mind clicked.

    Sirens were beings of hypnosis and charm. Their main attack method used sound as a medium, but their general aptitude in mana usage tranted in many more ways than just this.

    For instance, mental magic. Sirens were incredibly capable when it came to manipting thoughts and emotions. This was the method they used to feed and kill when they were young and weak. They''d lure weaker beings with their songs, manipting their minds so they willingly handed themselves over.

    This mental magic was most often used on other targets, but that didn''t mean it was limited to this much.

    A Siren''s mental magic could just as easily be used on themselves.

    Maximus'' eyes dulled, bing lifeless. His heart numbed to feel nothing and his mind cleared of unnecessary thought. The only thing he kept was his goal and the methods he would use to reach it.

    This version of Maximus was like a robot, a puppet. But it was this version of Maximus that could get work done with utmost efficiency, it was this version of him that could dictatorially rule Aquazyl for as long as he needed to before his task finally came to an end.

    Until he was exposed to the trigger that would undo this mental magic, he''d remain in this state.

    As for what that trigger was¡­?

    She was currently in the Sanctuary, exploring Theavel''s seas and looking for a ce where she and her n could have a fresh start.

 Chapter 692 Return [2]

    "Ah, I guess we''re finally out." Damien''s voice echoed silently through the surroundings. Only Zara was present to hear him.

    "Mm, this scenery almost makes me miss the First Dungeon." She replied.

    The two had left Aquazyl already, finding themselves back within the Emperor Bone Sea.

    The method of exit was actually incredibly easy unlike that of entrance, but this wasn''t due to Aquazyl''sws at all. Instead, it was something that could best be attributed to Tephit.

    The transportation device he made was actually extremely intricate and functional. If Tephit wanted to use it to transport himself around Aquazyl, he could''ve gone any distance, reaching the ends of the realm in a single leap if he so desired.

    However, he was too focused on escape to even realize the greatness of his achievements. He rooted the teleportation device to Aquazyl''s foundation and forced its function to change, bing something impossible for him or his technology to truly achieve.

    In the end, with Zara''s help, Damien stole every bit of this technology that existed. Tephit wouldn''t need it, and nobody else knew about it.

    When the finale of the small war took ce and Aquazyl''s foundation began to crack, Zarapletely cut off the transportation device and its entire system from the rest of the Blood Sacrament God Array. What she gained was not only the device, but also the mysterious tube of liquid that stood above it.

    That liquid¡­was the coagted essence Tephit collected over hundreds of thousands or even millions of years.

    Through a system that neither Damien nor Zara had discovered during their time in the Tephit n, Tephit managed to condense the essence he devoured through the formation into liquid form and house it in that mysterious ss container without it copsing due to the sheer weight and aura of the liquid.

    Damien still didn''t know what the ss was made out of, but it was even more miraculous than the essence itself, despite the ridiculousness of that statement.

    Nevertheless, Damien only needed to use Void Mana and Dimensional Magic to tweak the base functions of the transmission device and then power it with the coagted essence to escape the realm.

    Because he could do many things Tephit couldn''t.

    Ignoring Damien''s spatial powers and his new ability to utilize the "Something Within Nothing" concept, Damien still had the primary advantage of originally being from the outside world.

    This made it possible for Damien to set physical coordinates into the device that Tephit would''ve had no way of ever finding out.

    And perhaps Aquazyl helped a bit too. After all, there was never a method in ce to prevent outsiders from leaving. Only the Sea God ns were bound by Aquazyl''s rules.

    Now that Damien and Zara were out of that realm, they finally got a moment to breathe. The previous events had flown extremely smoothly, but that didn''t mean they didn''t have any stress.

    Damien did much more thinking than ever before. His intelligence stat which grew with the rest of his stats as he devoured more foes was finally put to good use. Damien''s brain partied so hard after finally being used properly that it had now crashed.

    He was ready to go to bed and sleep off his exhaustion, something he hadn''t done in many years.

    However, there was still one more task he had toplete before he could do so.

    Damien and Zara swam at a leisurely pace. They were still at least 5,000 kilometers away from the shore distance-wise. If depth was taken into ount as well, it was far beyond that.

    With so much space to cover, they''d usually be moving fast. But this time, they decided not to. Whether it was to enjoy the scenery at the depths of the Emperor Bone Sea or just to enjoy the moment, the fact didn''t change that they were moving slowly.

    And their direction¡­wasn''t quite linear. It was almost as if they were looking for something.

    "Isn''t that right, boss? I don''t think this is a normal movement pattern."

    A voice rang out through sound transmission. It belonged to a single shadow among a group of twenty that quietly pursued Damien and Zara from the shadows.

    "It''s true. They disappeared for an entire month and now theye back so driven? Something is fishy here." Another man said.

    The leader gazed at the two with a glint in his eye. This kind of behavior¡­didn''t it mean that their wait wasn''t in vain?

    If these two were being so proactive, they must''ve found a grand treasure!

    "Come, let''s follow them silently. If they''ve found a treasure, we''ll attack after they''ve imed it!"

    The leader moved first, followed by the others. They were like darkness incarnate, without sound or presence as they swam through the seas.

    As they trailed the duo, Damien and Zara made their way closer and closer to the shore, the entire time zig-zagging their path in search of hidden treasure.

    When they finally arrived near the 2,000-kilometer mark, they halted.

    "Is it over here? I could''ve sworn they said it was over here." Damien muttered to himself.

    "It is! We saw it on the way in, but we couldn''t do anything because we didn''t know the secret array formation. Now that we''ve gotten our hands on it, all we need to do is find that weird tree!" Zara replied excitedly.

    ''Tree?'' The group leader wondered to himself. As he thought back, he did indeed remember passing by a strange tree as he trailed the two. However, it didn''t look remarkable at all.

    Still, that didn''t change the fact that he remembered its position.

    "Fox, go to these coordinates and make a scene. Don''t reveal yourself, but make sure the two of them sense the disturbance and head over there." The leader said.

    The one called Fox immediately did as he was told. After reaching the coordinates, he cut a small gash in his pinky and allowed his blood to flow into the water.

    As his body disappeared from existence, a dozen or so sea creatures appeared. Smelling the blood scent, they frenzied and began ferociously battling each other.

    For some reason, the small amount of blood stench caused such an intense melee. And even as a few seconds passed by, the battle only became fiercer.

    Naturally, Damien and Zara sensed this disturbance. They rapidly changed directions and swam towards it.

    "Ah, there it is!" Zara eximed. A few hundred kilometers away from the ongoing melee was arge tree with roots that seemed totch onto the water itself.

    When Damien saw it, his eyes lit up with greed. "With this, we can finallye on, let''s go activate the secret mechanism. Remember to stay within 5 meters of the trunk or else you won''t be transported into the secret realm properly."

    The duo immediately entered the air pocket created by the tree. Their bodies moved closer and closer to the trunk as their hands continuously formed a myriad of strange symbols radiating an ancient aura.

    The assassin leader and his group watched patiently. They edged closer as the two moved. They''d heard Damien''s words. To gain the treasure they sought, they needed to stay within 5 meters of the tree.

    So when they reached the 5-meter mark, they halted and waited for the duo to finish the activation ritual.

    At that time, the leader suddenly frowned. ''Why the hell are the two of them voicing all their thoughts¡­shouldn''t they be using sound transmissions?''

    His eyes widened. His body rapidly moved, trying to retreat, but it was toote!

    Damien''s face lit up with a savage grin.

    "Lock."

    VOOM!

    The water in a 10-meter radius of the group solidified into terrifying walls. A Dimensional Cage formed around these water walls to further fortify the defenses.

    "Yo! My dear pursuers, I know we haven''t had a chance to properly meet yet, but I''m afraid this will be thest time we see each other. I''ve arranged a nice date for you with this here Unrestrained Death Tree, so just rx and get to know her, yeah? Anyway, enjoy!"

    Damien and Zara shed two dazzling smiles directly at the hidden group of 20. In the next instant, their bodies vanished.

    Remaining in their ce was arge pool of blood.

    The Unrestrained Death Tree woke up to this scent.

    But above that, it sensed something else.

    Wasn''t that¡­the scent of those beings that stole its prey a while back?

    And by the looks of it¡­they were trapped in a mysterious space with it, unable to escape.

    The tree''s branches swayed in pleasure.

    It seemed that tonight it would receive dinner and revenge all at once.

    How sweet!

 Chapter 693 Return [3]

    The Unrestrained Death Tree had limited intelligence, but it could at least emote and carry memory simr to an adult human.

    When it first sensed Damien''s presence, the main reason it remained unmoving was because it remembered him. He and Zara were like those creatures who shared symbiotic rtionships with it, creating chaos for it to feed while using its domain for protection.

    The second reason was the fact that they still carried the scent of Aquazyl on their bodies. The Sea God''s Realm was a ce all creatures in the Emperor Bone Sea desired to go, even if it was at an instinctual level.

    Now that Damien had brought the tree a gift so big, it was delighted, to say the least. It remembered his favor deeply in its proverbial heart.

    The assassin group, however¡­

    The memories the tree had of them werepletely opposite of those it had of Damien.

    Now that they were trapped together, it acted without mercy.

    The Unrestrained Death Tree didn''t have much attack capability, but if its prey was in an enclosed space and unable to escape, there was nothing for it to fear.

    Its branches shot out and intertwined into massive arms that had reach covering the entirety of the enclosed space. Hundreds of these arms twisted through space and forcefully grabbed the assassins before they could react.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Dozens of explosions rang out as the assassins destroyed the branches. The Unrestrained Death Tree didn''t have much defense when put against these powerhouses, but that didn''t matter at all.

    It had already marked them.

    From the areas the assassins were grabbed, small red flowers began to bloom. They burrowed into the assassins'' skin and fed on their blood, intrinsically intertwining with their bodyposition.

    The rest was history. Without even needing to work, the tree could suck the assassins dry of every bit of blood and essence in their bodies.

    Even with its low defense, it didn''t worry about being attacked while this process was ongoing. After all¡­

    The Unrestrained Death Tree had a symbiotic rtionship with many a beast.

    Grrrr!

    The growls of dozens of beasts congregated and created a cacophony of sound within the Dimensional Cage.

    The assassins shivered. The assassin leader in particr was pale-faced.

    He''d been blinded. Not just by greed and pride, but also by rationality.

    From the beginning, he never expected Damien to sense him. Why would he? He was a level 356 existence, an individual who could barely be considered a high-level 4th ss, though he was more often ssified as a mid-level being.

    Even his subordinates were in simr strength ranges to him. Whether it was the forces from the Bloodlock n or the Wellspring Family, none of them were amateurs.

    If so, then how could Damien sense them?

    A beginner who only recently entered 4th ss had no chance to do so. Hell, even Reavus Bloodlock, the Bloodlock Prince who ordered this assassination, couldn''t sense their presence if they decided to hide.

    ''Ah¡­young master, you''ve made a mistake¡­''

    The assassin leader smiled wryly. He hasn''t even seen a hint of Damien''s power. The entire time they were trailing him, Damien had been running from various beasts, never fighting back.

    Why was that?

    Why would any prideful genius decide toy low if they knew they could achieve better results if they fought?

    The assassin leader''s realization wasn''t small. The fact that Damien wasn''t just stronger than the Bloodlock Heir, but instead incredibly stronger was major news. If the prince decided to pursue his enmity with this new rising star, he was assured to die.

    But¡­it was toote for him to transmit this information to anyone.

    He fought desperately with his men, killing beast after beast, but it was all in vain. Their strength was being rapidly drained and in the first ce, almost every beast that could freely traverse the Emperor Bone Sea was a 4th ss. The ones who couldn''t silently reach this level could only be prey to the rest.

    The entire ordeal only took a few minutes, not even half an hour to finish. In the end, all twenty assassins became dried husks without life or mana remaining in them.

    And finally, even those husks were eaten by beasts.

    The Dimensional Cage and water wall came down as soon as the life signatures of those assassins disappeared. There was no warning nor any sort of clue as to why it was so urate.

    After all, Damien and Zara were already far far away, approaching the 1,000-kilometer mark in the Emperor Bone Sea.

    ***

    "Well, that was quite a show," Damien said, pleased by what he''d just witnessed.

    His new Void abilities were interesting to say the least. Not only could he affect reality at a material level, but he could also project his consciousness into anything he manipted.

    In essence, his mana no longer needed to be directly connected to his body to function.

    Mana was esoteric and all-present, but the way sentient beings could utilize it was restricted. No matter what level one reached, controlling mana outside of one''s body would always be subject to the same restrictions.

    Mana acted like a puppet on a string. One needed to consciously control it if one wanted to maintain its shape. Otherwise, it would continue through the set action and then disperse into the atmosphere naturally.

    An example of this would be Damien''s lightning abilities. He could call down lightning from the heavens if he so desired, but he couldn''t start a lightning storm and leave it active while he left toplete other tasks. If he wanted to do this, he needed to stay within a certain range of the mana so the "string" wouldn''t disconnect, and he''d have to separate a portion of his mental strength to control that mana and keep his hold on it.

    Even when Damien created Dimensional Cages, the same property applied. The only difference was that Dimensional Cage''s activation range far exceeded most other abilities.

    The Dimensional Cage beads Damien gave to his forces during the Tephit n raid functioned on a simr concept. Using the user''s mana as the "string" and the array etched in the bead as the "base," the bead could activate the Dimensional Cage ability and sustain it.

    This was one of the base concepts of Formation Arts. To house one''s own abilities in a formation was the most basic art that a beginner needed to learn before they could grasp the creation of more powerful and esoteric formations.

    What Damien''s new ability did was partially remove that restriction. At least on Void abilities, Damien faced no such restriction of mana. Any mana he outputted with the Void''s properties instilled in it would be controlled by him regardless of distance, without the need for his conscious control or any sort of string.

    In essence, it was like everyone else was still using cords and Damien alone had ess to Bluetooth.

    He clenched his fists in glee as he realized this. The Void still restricted him greatly. It would take far more for hisprehension to reach a level where he could use these insanity-inducing abilities freely.

    However, he was finally on his path to conquering the Void.

 Chapter 694 Return [4]

    Leaving the Emperor Bone Sea was a far easier task than entering it. Whether it was due to their apparent familiarity with the environment or the Sea God''s lingering aura on their bodies, they didn''t run into any trouble at all in their exit.

    Within a few hours, Damien and Zara were at the precipice of a cliff, overlooking the scenery they spent thest month exploring.

    "It''s finally time to return¡­" Zara said, a bit of mncholy in her voice.

    "Mm, at least for now, we should leave the Emperor Bone Sea alone. When the timees, we''re sure to return." Damienmented.

    "Are you sad we have to leave?" He asked.

    "Hmm, a little?" Zara said, feeling a little unsure. "I had a lot of fun on this trip. It''s just sad that it has to end."

    Damien smiled lightly. "Ah, if it''s just that then it''s fine. After all, won''t we have many more trips following this one? This is only our first mission, and the first bit of Death Emperor Star that we''ve seen. In time, we''ll explore every single piece of it that exists."

    "Mm!" Zara nodded happily.

    Her hesitation to leave came mainly from the fact that during this trip, the rtionship she had with Damien improved drastically. Well, rather than improved, it was better to say it returned to normalcy.

    The closeness of their interactions was far different from the distance they had when traveling to Death Emperor Star, and even if Damien was only treating her as apanion, that was perfectly fine to her.

    Even discounting their rtionship, this bit of practical experience was also something she enjoyed incredibly. During her time with Tang Lingzi, while she was constantly traversing Forbidden Zones, she was doing so alone.

    The atmosphere of brutal training that surrounded those explorations made them difficult to enjoy, and the loneliness made it easy to get bored or go insane.

    Now, traveling with someone else and experiencing life and death together, Zara felt a new thrill unlike what she''d felt back then.

    She thoroughly loved the feeling of gaining strength and adventuring. A budding adventurer''s spirit bloomed in her heart, making her anticipate the adventures that woulde.

    While they spoke, Damien and Zara made their way back to the little cabin on the cliff. They smiled at the olddy''s surprised face as they asked her to transport them back to the academy.

    And with one final push, they arrived back in Hidden Death Valley.

    ***

    "You''ve mapped 5,000 kilometers in both depth and distance. The reward of 1,000 contribution points will be deposited in your ounts. How would you like to split it?"

    "Half and half."

    "Alright, I''ll send 500 points to Mister Damien Void and 500 points to Miss Zara. In addition to these points, the discovery of an aquatic civilization with intelligent life and detailed information about said society has granted you an additional 1,000 points. I will split this reward the same way. Is that okay?"

    "Perfect."

    Damien smiled at the receptionist in the Mystic Tower who verified his questpletion. Now that both he and Zara had 1,000 contribution points, they had more than enough to fuel their training for the next few months.

    In order to cope with the fact that they never reached the 10,000-kilometer mark, Damien was forced to instead use information about Aquazyl to make up those points.

    Still, he was careful about what he chose to share.

    Any information about the Prominence War or the Sea God waspletely hidden. The only information he gave was a general overview of the 5 ns and their structures, as well as their appearances. He did include information about an ongoing war, but imed that he knew nothing of it.

    As for the location of the realm, how would he know? He was furiously escaping a Sea Dragon when he was suddenly pulled into a mystical vortex that appeared out of thin air. Even if he wanted to go back to Aquazyl, he didn''t have the means or understanding to locate it.

    At least, that''s what Hidden Death Valley''s report said.

    Even if Damien needed contribution points, there was no reason for him to share a cake that was exclusively prepared for him. He wasn''t that generous.

    Nevertheless, the required processes concerning the Emperor Bone Sea mission were allpleted swiftly. While his adventure in Aquazyl wasn''t over yet, Damien had the patience to wait until the time was right before returning.

    Until then, there was only one thing on his mind:

    Train, train, train.

    It was time for his ranking in Heaven''s List to skyrocket.

    ***

    Bang!

    A vase shattered on the floor in a castle deep within Hidden Death Valley. It wasn''t the first of its kind nor would it be thest.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Countless treasures made of invaluable materials were thrown about like waste, all due to the tantrum of a single man.

    "How, how, how?! How did he survive?!" Reavus Bloodlock snarled with bloodshot eyes. He couldn''t believe that even with all the manpower he wasted taking care of Damien, he still failed.

    His enmity with Damien was only a byproduct of his enmity with Atticus mesworth, but somehow, it had be a far more prominent issue.

    Damien was just a dog¡­a mere dog of the Fallen Star Holy Land dared to make him lose face like this?!

    "What a cowardly move! Using the Emperor Bone Sea''s environment to kill instead of fighting with his own power, how weak!" Reavus scoffed.

    He''d seen the mission report. Damien reported his encounter with the assassins, and he also reported the method he used to deal with them.

    Aside from that, Reavus still remembered the scenes he saw on the assassins'' memory beads after their deaths.

    Every assassin connected to the Bloodlock n had a memory bead in their body to transmit images of what urred during their death. In this way, the Bloodlock n could assess their enemies'' strength and n ordingly.

    What Reavus saw was incredibly confusing. It was a tree with branches like human arms, surrounded by a dark red stream of blood.

    After cross-referencing Damien''s report, Reavus learned of the Unrestrained Death Tree''s existence. He also learned about how the assassins he sent foolishly revealed themselves at the prospect of treasure.

    Though nobody other than he knew of his involvement with the assassins, Reavus still felt like his reputation was tainted! Both by the low quality of his men and Damien''s craftiness, he was embarrassed!

    "Kill them all!" He roared. "Any family members of the assassins, kill them all! If you find any good women, bring them to me! Hmph, how dare they die so insolently?!"

    His hands gleamed with the same red light as his irises.

    He never lost to anyone other than those with higher status than him. For those people, he could quietly ept defeat and train until he could surpass them.

    But for a meremoner scum who was brought in as the Fallen Star Holy Land''s ve boy¡­?

    Reavus clenched his teeth until they cracked. This insult¡­he sure as hell wouldn''t take it lying down.

 Chapter 695 Training And Thoughts [1]

    Arcadia was, funnily enough, not named as such due to some profound reason. Instead, it was a spin on the simple word "arcade."

    This was how Hidden Death Valley''s geniuses viewed the northern sector of thend. It was an arcade filled with various training games they could use to grow stronger, and of course, they needed to use points to do so.

    But Arcadia wasn''t just a ce to train, it was also a ce where one could test the results of their training. Aside from the various facilities that the area presented, the most popr attraction it held was the battle arena.

    The battle arena was separated into four brackets: Pawn, Knight, King, and Emperor. Each of these brackets had its own Overlord that held the longest winning streak, a winning streak that was undefeated regardless of which Overlord one was paying attention to.

    The brackets were usually separated by Heaven''s List ranking, and if one didn''t have a Heaven''s List ranking that urately mirrored their strength, they''d have to start from the bottom and win 10 consecutive wins to then challenge the bracket''s Overlord.

    After defeating an Overlord, one could either take that Overlord''s ce or advance to the next bracket. Of course, if one''s strength was too drastically above those in the same bracket, the former option wasn''t avable to them.

    At that time, a new Overlord would be born after their ascent, holding the spot thereafter.

    The battle arena served multiple purposes. Aside from testing one''s strength and gaining battle experience, one could also advance their Heaven''s List ranking rapidly through the ranked dueling system.

    If one wanted a good fight, this was the best ce to go for it.

    But training always came first.

    When Damien and Zara returned from the Emperor Bone Sea, their first and only goal was training. Arcadia became their new home.

    Gravity Chambers were best for training endurance and physical defense. Tempering one''s body with the sheer force of the atmosphere brought aprehensive strengthening that many other forms of body strengtheningcked, as they tended to focus on a specific facet of the body instead of overall improvement.

    Dungeon Simtors allowed one to gain battle experience against rapid beasts, apletely different type of battle than one against an intelligent lifeform. This trained one''s instinct and perception, making them more attuned to their raw strengths which then improved their overall battle capacity.

    There were plenty of other general training arenas like these, including areas like the ckness Cage and Illusive Forest thatprehensively increased mental strength. Aside from the general training areas were also countless affinity-specific training areas that people could use to enhance theirwprehension to another level.

    With Damien and Zara being different people with different paths, they naturally didn''t have much contact during this training period. Still, neither of them minded much. The improvements they made with their time were far more beneficial, and would help them spend more time leisurely in the long run.

    "Lock."

    "Copse."

    "Bind."

    "Seal."

    "Break."

    "Copse."

    "Copse."

    "Copse."

    Damien stood stationary in the middle of a vast empty space. His arms hung rxedly to his sides, but his fists clenched and unclenched constantly as he forcefully used his mana in the harshest way possible.

    Small pockets of space around him broke down, twisted, locked, and sealed themselves endlessly before copsing in on themselves and creating spatial tears that Damien then used his mana to repair before starting his routine again.

    His actions created chaos in his surroundings, but the environment itself remained still. It was built to withstand this level of intense training.

    "Dimension Shift."

    "Material Shift."

    "Phase Shift."

    The dimension split in half horizontally, the physical presences within the two halves swapped ces, and finally, their molecr structures shifted until they werepletely different than their original forms, almost like alchemy.

    "Revert."

    KRRRRR!

    A sound like gears ruggedly grinding against each other rang out piercingly, causing Damien''s ears to bleed. Rather than taking it slow and reverting each process one by one, Damien used the "Something Within Nothing" concept to withstand the impact of doing all three actions at once.

    However, this was already at the level of manipting reality. At Damien''s level of Void Comprehension, this wasn''t yet possible.

    "Khhh¡­!" Damien gritted his teeth and let out a rough exhale. He could feel rampant mana wracking his body with untold pain. Blood leaked from his eyes and lips as he tried to control this chaotic flow.

    "Re¡­vert!"

    Haaa!

    A battle cry left his mouth along with a spray of blood. The dimension returned to normal, all things returning to their rightful ces.

    In consequence, Damien''s body took on the damage they sustained.

    Spurt!

    Fountains of blood gushed out of various points in his body like a broken fire hydrant. The amount of damage he''d dealt wasn''t light, so naturally, the consequences were equally harsh.

    [Heal]

    The greenish-white light brought by the trait covered his body and halted the limitless bleeding. His pale face regained a tinge of color.

    ''It''s not enough.''

    Despite the insanity of his actions, Damien wasn''t satisfied at all.

    What had he aplished?

    He could only use these abilities in their base forms. He couldn''t manipte their properties and conceptually alter them to fit his needs like he could with simpler abilities like Spatial Copse.

    ''The trigger¡­isn''t spatial anymore.''

    He realized it quickly. In fact, his spatial abilities had never been a problem. In terms ofprehending thisw, even saying he was heaven-defying didn''t do him justice.

    It had to be known, something like Dimension Shift was a feat even Tian Yang couldn''t achieve. Despite his natural power and stature as a Demigod, Tian Yang''s spatial path was far more straightforward than Damien''s and didn''t reach such an intrinsically conceptual level.

    Was this a matter of effort or power? Not at all. It was a matter of sheer talent alone.

    Not all beings were created equal. This rule applied especially to Damien.

    ''Status''

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Human/Dragon/????

    Male - Age 27

    Level 215 - [Voidbringer] - [Celestial]

    Experience value: 18,790/325,000

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Spacetime, ????

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 100000

    STR: 2550

    AGI: 2250

    DEF: 2500

    INT: 2000

    DEX: 2325

    Skills: [Dimensional Magic Level 6], [Transcendent Regeneration Level 2], [Void Art Level 6], [Devour Level 7], [Dragon Transformation], [Demon Transformation], [Awareness], [Celestial Authority], [Reality Shift Level 1], [Sea God''s Descendent], [Void]

    Trait(s): [All-Seeing Eyes Level 7], [Dragon''s Breath], [Ananta Matrix], [Storm], [Void Essence], [Void mes], [Heal]

    Even after his Baptism, Damien''s status hadn''t changed much. Though, at this point, Damien no longer trusted his status to urately pinpoint his strength.

    It had never been truly urate after all.

    He had a spection as to why this was. Naturally, it was due to the Void Physique. Just like any other abnormality in his body, the root cause could always be narrowed down to this particr facet.

    Because the Void wasn''t something the system could understand. The power Damien gained through it couldn''t be urately reflected.

    Whenever Damien devoured a beast, he took its essence without the system''s aid. This was something only he could do and something that naturally happened outside the system''s bounds. The best it could do was attempt to put his strength into numbers.

    But those attempts never truly worked out. After all, with the Void Physique not beingpletely anchored to Damien''s body, how could the system perceive it properly? It could only understand a portion of the strength the physique provided Damien.

    Nevertheless, Damien didn''t look at his status for his abilities or even his physical stats. His attention remained focused on the top of the holographic window.

    He sighed a weary sigh.

    ''Damn¡­when did I get so old?''

 Chapter 696 Training And Thoughts [2]

    Time truly was a strange thing. Because Damien spent the majority of the years he''d gained since hest checked his status in his Baptism Space, his mentality didn''t register those years at all. He didn''t feel like it''d been almost 3 years since he exited the Primordial Undying Realm.

    He was truly growing old.

    On a universal scale, 30 years was nothing. Even geniuses like Atticus were well in their 40s despite looking no older than 20. Because high-intensity training usually caused one to lose track of the flow of time and the lifespan of an individual became increasingly longer with every rank up, 20 and 40 were essentially the same age.

    Hell, even Damien''s lifespan was, at the very least, well into the tens of thousands of years already.

    Still, Damien was an earthling at heart. Turning 30¡­wasn''t this the perfect age for a midlife crisis?!

    Honestly speaking, he was doing well for himself as someone in theirte twenties. He was never a teenager who viewed 30 as old. He''d seen the way 30-year-olds acted and the way people in their mid-twenties thought. While they were much more emotionally mature and experienced than any teenager, they still kept a spark of youth within them.

    "Old" was a term that only applied to people who sumbed to their mortality. Even an 80-year-old could be described as young if their heart was young.

    Nevertheless, Damien didn''t like the age reflected in his status.

    It had been a decade.

    His fall into the first dungeon happened when he was 17.

    And now¡­

    27.

    In that time, what did he aplish?

    Sure, he grew to an unparalleled level in 10 years, but did he live up to what his talent could achieve?

    No.

    Damien wasn''t some country bumpkin from a beginner world who didn''t know how the universe worked anymore. He was an aplished rising star that many Holy Lands at the peak of the universe were paying attention to.

    He''d seen the level of talent that came with this kind of position.

    And frankly, he was disappointed.

    Self-awareness was something Damiencked for a long time. He could never see the ends of his talent and therefore used the talent of others to measure himself. This method only made him lower his expectations of what he could achieve.

    And regardless of how one utilized mana, mentality remained the core of its use.

    Regardless of how childish it sounded, imagination was incredibly important to a practitioner. To delve into the concepts and embody one''s Law, one needed the imagination to expand one''sprehension and carve a spot for oneself inside that vast Law''s bubble.

    If one mentally limited themselves, how could they reach the epitome of their talent?

    Damien always thought it was arrogance. He didn''t want to cloud his mind with delusions of grandeur and end up like the overconfident enemies he''d killed numerous times already.

    Recently, however, he''d realized the difference between him and them.

    For him to think of himself highly wouldn''t be arrogance. Simply because he deserved such a high evaluation.

    He was the Bearer of the Void Physique, a truly unique existence among the endless beings existing in the universe and beyond it.

    If he couldn''t be considered heaven-defying, who could?

    The realization of his sheer level of potential left Damien feeling wholly unsatisfied with his improvements. Rather thanpeting with people his own age, he should''ve been stomping them to the ground and thoroughly crushing them.

    To do so, he could no longer underestimate himself.

    His affinity was no longer space or time alone, but spacetime as a whole. The creation of the Space-Time River that resided in his domain was proof of this.

    If he wanted to improve further, he couldn''t keep limiting himself to being a mere spatial practitioner or temporal practitioner. Instead, he needed to truly control spacetime and be a master of the continuum. He needed to be a master of the universe''s "flow."

    ''The flow¡­I''ve only just started realizing it, but this esoteric process is too intertwined in my destiny for me to ignore it. At the end of the day, what is the "flow" and what significance does it hold?''

    He''d known it since he was young, but he''d never taken the time to truly think about it. Once he realized its existence, he took some time to relive his life and try to pinpoint it.

    He once again realized how little time he''d had to rest.

    From the beginning, Damien had always been forcefully thrust into the universe''s most important events.

    Apeiron''s Eternal Secret Realm where he first learned of the Nox''s existence and met Kurt Galloway''s remnant soul, Earth''s bout with invading forces of Niflheim and the Cloud ne, bing the Void Old Immortal''s disciple, the 3000 Beast Mountain Range''s Demigods and deep-rooted Nox influence, including the Elven Race and White Dragon King, encountering Wrath and the Fifth Primal Sovereign; the list was too long to even name all the events together.

    These events were ongoing with or without his presence, and discounting a few, they would''ve reached their proper conclusions even without his aid.

    If so, what was his purpose in being present?

    Was he a mere observer watching the universe''s gears turn? Or was he being purposefully led to these scenes to view them and grow from them?

    At the root of everything was the Nox. The universe seemed intent on putting Damien against the invading race regardless of his own desires.

    But¡­

    ''The Nox¡­is eradicating them the best solution?''

    The Nox were Damien''s main clue regarding the Void Physique and its origins. Even the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s obsession with the Void Physique was rted to the Nox.

    And with how Wrath reacted to the "Seed," it was clear that the Nox had some sort of information that he direly needed.

    In the event that the Nox were a race he could subordinate rather than eliminate, which path should he choose¡­?

    ''Haa¡­what am I doing when I should be training?''

    Training was a time of solitude. It gave Damien time to think about the things he usually neglected in favor ofpleting the tasks at hand.

    Whenever he trained, Damien''s mind was always clouded with idle thought. Perhaps it was a result of his neurodivergence, but his train of thought would always shift away from the task at hand to contemte matters that had no basis behind them, matters such as subordinating the Nox.

    What was the use of thinking about it? Even if it was something that could happen in the future, how many years would it take for him to be powerful enough to even consider it?

    Whenever Damien thought to the future, he''d always end up on tangents, creating situations in his head that would often never pan out.

    It was dangerously distracting.

    Thus, he liked to keep his mind in the present. He had a vague outline of the future he wanted to see. As long as he worked towards this outline, that was enough for him.

    ''Spacetime¡­I will conquer this concept before my training is over.''

    He returned to the topic at hand. Every day he spent in a new training area was spending more of his contribution points, and he didn''t have any time to waste.

    There were now 8 months remaining until the progress assessment.

    In that time, Damien was determined to be apletely different monster than he already was.

 Chapter 697 Training And Thoughts [3]

    Damien''s training periodsted for over a month, and though it was a short time in the grand scheme of things, it was quite a frustrating predicament for his enemies.

    After all, Hidden Death Valley wasn''t friendly to conflict outside of established duels. While anything could happen within them, external battles would be heavily punished regardless of one''s status.

    Hidden Death Valley was and ruled by multiple Demigods, and through their strength and influence, had no need to bow before any outside influence. This was half the reason why it gained its current reputation.

    Damien''s enemies could only bite their nails and wait until he entered the battle arena. When that time finally came, they could get rid of him.

    As for Damien himself, he paid no mind to these raging voices, despite being fully aware of their existence. In fact, he made particrly sure to unt his daily routine to rile these people up and fuel their anger.

    When he finished training, he would go to the battle arena and properly sweep the floor with them. If they weren''t offended enough to continuously challenge him, what was the point of fighting them at all?

    Nevertheless, thoughts on these people didn''t cloud Damien''s mind at all. As he ignored their presence entirely, he settled into a routine by which he could train to his full potential.

    There was not even an ounce of rest involved in this routine.

    6 hours of physical body training in the Gravity Chambers and Force Chambers, 6 hours of mental training in the ckness Cage and Illusive Forest that also helped him improve the abilities of his All-Seeing Eyes, 6 hours of Spacetime training in the elemental training areas, and finally, 6 hours of focus in the ckness Cage aimed to improve his Void Comprehension.

    Every single day for 40 days, Damien partook in this routine. With his Void Comprehension taking ce at an incredibly slow rate, he was also able to use the final 6 hours to recharge his physical and mental state before continuing the routine again.

    Through this, the gains he made weren''t small. But rather than saying that he increased his power, it was more urate to say that he was able to properly utilize the power he already possessed.

    At least, to some extent.

    Damien always heard about people solidifying their foundations or consolidating their power, but he never expected himself tond in the same situation. With the past 10 years of misconstrual holding him back, all he could do now was grow into his strength before trying to improve again, essentially putting him in the same situation.

    Though, it wasn''t his first time doing something like this. Damien realized just how often he gained power without properly being able to use it. It was a consistent problem for him dating back to when he first evolved, when he acquired vector control, and perhaps every other step of his journey.

    A regr 4th ss, the lowest of the low, still had the power to annihte an entire continent if they used their life as coteral.

    Someone of Damien''s strength level should be able to do so by exerting everyst bit of mana in their body, as well as damaging themselves somewhat.

    He, on the other hand, didn''t need to physically injure his body to aplish the same feat. If he was using the power residing in his body alone, the extent of his mana pool was more than enough to destroy a continent.

    But if he used his Celestial Authority to empower an ability like Starfall¡­?

    Even world destruction wasn''t out of his reach.

    Now, a world like Death Emperor Star with its incredibly dense foundationalws wouldn''t sumb to his measly power, but if he wanted to destroy Apeiron or Azure Rain Star, it was entirely possible.

    Damien sighed and shook his head wryly at the thought. No matter how much understanding he gained about his own strength, he still couldn''t believe it.

    It was hard to feel that powerful. It was hard to fathom that he could destroy a world if he wanted to.

    After all, he couldn''t physically feel that power. His body contained incredible amounts of mana, but because of the Void Physique''s external presence, the physical weight of that mana was never tranted into his physical body.

    But its existence was a surety nheless.

    Damien clenched his fists and reveled in that realization. His gaze panned over the horizon of the Space and Time training area he was in. His mystical purple eyes seemed to swirl with profundity, countless patterns forming in his irises.

    Bzzt! Crackle!

    Sparks flew threw the air as a projection attempted to manifest itself. An invisible and formless yet streamlined image tried to break through the fabric of reality and appear before Damien''s eyes.

    Those All-Seeing Eyes didn''t gain their name from nothing. Until this point, they''d let him see countless things. Illusions became null, mana became clear, the very essence of the universe was revealed to him¡­but he could never break the fabric of reality and see through the dimension entirely.

    The potential of his eyes could allow this. If he could evolve them to a certain level, seeing through reality would be passive. But currently¡­

    BANG!

    Space and time exploded, creating a warped area the size of a quarter in front of Damien. In this area where nothing else could exist, Damien felt the presence of the Void he knew¡­and a faint sense of something even vaguer.

    "Khaah¡­!" Damien let out a pained breath as he wiped the blood leaking from his eyes.

    Waving his hand, he spoke.

    "Reversal."

    A strange coagted essence flowed out of his body and repaired the small hole in reality. Spacetime essence that created the very box that the universe was stood tame in front of his control.

    To affect the environment like this was easy. It was something he could do since long ago. After all, hadn''t he been creating ck holes since the early stages of 3rd ss?

    Only, these ck holes didn''t contain the mind-numbing suction force of true ck holes. They were rudimentary materializations that could exist without breaking the foundationalw of the worlds Damien was in when he created them.

    His current abilities bordered on reality maniption.

    Below creation and destruction, the forces that allowed all others to exist, space and time were the most powerful and most necessary. Without them, how could life evene into being?

    As he learned to control these two forces and bring them together into one, he began to understand more about reality, more about the universe, and more about himself.

    The Space-Time River he''d once seen almost a decade ago, that blurry memory of a hazy blue river in the midst of chaotic nothingness, it didn''t leave his head for the past 40 days.

    It was his goal, his aspiration.

    That river¡­as he grew, its outline became clearer. The fog blocking his view didn''t seem so thick anymore. And as he explored the properties of that river in full, he realized that spacetime, the Void, even the esoteric "flow" that he''d juste to know¡­

    Perhaps all these facets, all these little pieces thatprehensively formted his power and his being¡­

    Were never separate to begin with.

 Chapter 698 Training And Thoughts [4]

    In the end, 40 days weren''t enough to achieve what Damien wanted to achieve. The forces he was trying to control were out of reach for even Demigods, let alone mere lower existences like himself.

    His improvements mainly took ce mentally. He wasprehending the path forward so that he could walk it properly without making the same mistakes in the past.

    But this was enough.

    He didn''t need to gain strength in a single month. He had at least another seven to continue improving himself to reach where he wanted to be.

    And he was perfectly content with what he''d gained so far. Even if there wasn''t a substantial increase in his current strength, his road forward would be much breezier because of the training he did now.

    This type of forethought wasn''t something he possessed before. Growing into his intelligence allowed him to make a decision that benefitted his future and allowed him to grow as a person.

    What better result was there than this?

    At the end of the day, what mattered more than any sort of material power was mentality. Damien''s mind which was a broken mess from long ago was healing and growing, his mental state was stabilizing into something that actually helped him rather than hindered him as it had done in the past.

    And his mental state was always his greatest weakness. Insecurity made him miss out on opportunities, trust issues made him miss out on rtionships,mitment issues made him miss out on love with his wives; he didn''t need to list out every single facet of his life that had been ruined by his mental issues to understand their significance.

    Fixing himself meant fixing everything else. There was nothing more that needed to be said.

    Damien walked out of the Spacetime training zone with a refreshed smile on his face. He''d been feeling this freeing sensation ever since he began solely focusing on improvement again.

    He''d been growing in strength through practical experience for so long that he almost forgot the pure joy of taking time to himself to sort out his thoughts and train.

    That alone time, that peace, was something he''d never forget again.

    Sadly, it wasn''t something that could continue forever.

    Training and practical experience went hand in hand. While training alone could achieve results, without testing these results in actualbat, they were pointless.

    What was the point of an attack that took multiple seconds to charge in a battle where every millisecond counted?

    Unless he could fight until he cut that activation time down or fight until he learned to multitask and control his opponent''s movements before the attack was ready, there was no point in even having it in his arsenal.

    There was a reason Damien avoided using hisrger and more powerful attacks inbat more often than not. There was a reason he only used Starfall for environmental destruction rather than actualbat.

    His current training was too esoteric for its abilities to trante well inbat. Unless he could experience it personally, he would only be carving a useless path.

    Therefore, his steps led him to the battle arena.

    The battle arena was arge open-air colosseum that could seat tens of millions of spectators, though that was only a matter of circumstance. The ring itself was already ten thousand kilometers long, so one could imagine howrge the stands surrounding it needed to be to maintain its shape.

    Still, this amount of space was necessary. In a battle between experts, a mere 10,000 kilometers only ounted for a few steps at most.

    The battle arena''s atmosphere was raucous as always. The roaring cheers of geniuses as they watched the ongoing battles shook the ground and raised the earth. The blood-boiling atmosphere caused one to thirst forbat, thirst for blood.

    Even Damien was partially infected by it.

    The battle arena functioned on time slots, with the Pawn Bracket taking ce early in the morning and the Emperor Bracket taking ce deep into the night. Though, not all this time was used every day. After all, Emperor level geniuses didn''t appear casually. When they battled, it was always a scene that filled the stands to the brim.

    Instead, the main matches that took ce in the battle arena were usually of the Pawn and Knight brackets. A few thousand geniuses at the very least would always be present in the stands, utilizing the betting booths as a way to gamble for quick contribution points.

    Today was such a day where the crowd was low. The ongoing matches weren''t spectacr at all, mere showings by weaker and younger geniuses trying to establish a name for themselves.

    It was in this atmosphere that Damien arrived. As someone who still only ranked in the 40,000s on Heaven''s List even after his prior missionpletion, he was forced to start at the very bottom and climb his way up.

    After registering his name and rank, he made his way to the waiting area for the fighters. Sitting in the room, he calmly observed these young geniuses and their battle styles.

    ''Hmm¡­weak. This one doesn''t have the potential to go beyond 3rd ss. I wonder how he made it to Hidden Death Valley?''

    ''Ohh, this one could do well if she improved her fighting style. Her wind element is actually focused more on power than speed, but she''s conforming to the usual beliefs on how wind should be applied and limiting herself. I wonder when she''ll learn otherwise?''

    ''That kid¡­they''re actually not bad? I''ve never seen someone utilize fire as an armament rather than a projected attack. How interesting¡­''

    As he watched, he became more and more fascinated by these young geniuses. Despite their obvious ws and weakness, most of them had immense potential and unique elemental abilities that could put them at the top of Heaven''s List one day if they worked hard enough for it.

    It was just unfortunate that most of them would die before they reached their full potential. Even those who survived would likely not put in the necessary pain to reach the unimaginable heights he projected for them.

    This was the reality of the universe, especially the universe in its current war-torn state.

    As Damien remained in idle thought, hours passed by. The fights in the arena continued, and the riveting atmosphere became more and more pronounced every time a new genius raked up a winning streak.

    Whoosh!

    A wind arrow was fired from an archaic wooden bow. The arrow turned into tens and thousands, filling the entire arena''s area and blocking off the archer''s enemy from any escape routes.

    BOOM!

    The arrows naturally found their target in such an impossible situation, leaving the otherpetitor riddled with holes. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and copsed, turning into holographic light as his body was transported out of the arena and reconstructed.

    "Winner: Ray White!" The announcer yelled with vigor. The archer, Ray White, had just achieved 9 wins. He was only a single win away from being able to challenge the Overlord.

    Unfortunately¡­

    "After a 10-minute break to recharge his energy, our rising star Ray White will face his final match before potentially battling the Overlord! The unfortunate soul who''s been summoned to face him¡­a neer called Damien Void! ce your bets! Grab your seats! And get ready for a ferocious showdown!"

    The announcer''s words caused another roar of cheers from the audience as they followed his words. As Damien walked into the arena, he almost felt sorry for his opponent.

    ''What a shameful coincidence¡­well, if you''re truly that strong, you should be able to reach this point again once I''m gone.''

    With a light smile on his face, Damien arrived in the center of the field. As he waited patiently, 10 minutes easily passed.

    Ray White entered the field again. His short brown hair rustled in the wind and his amber eyes shone with a light of determination.

    He''d reached this point with pure effort. He wasn''t some Holy Land genius, but instead someone who''d been scouted from the wider universe by a recruiter like Atticus.

    Now that he was here, he would let the world know his name.

    He was only one victory away, and he didn''t n to lose his streak easily.

    With Ray White and Damien facing each other on the stage, all that was left was for the match to start.

    The arena went quiet.

    The crowd held their breaths waiting for their champion to achieve his victory.

    "Match: Start!"

    The announcer''s voice rang out.

    The crowd cheered.

    And then¡­

    "Sorry about this."

    Damien''s voice quietly perforated through the atmosphere.

    He didn''t move at all.

    Space constricted.

    The poor Ray White who was still at the early stages of 3rd ss didn''t even know what hit him.

    In the next instant, he appeared outside of the arena.

    The silence that followed was especially ring.

 Chapter 699 Battle Arena [1]

    9 more geniuses fell the same way Ray White did.

    They all had their own stories, their own ambitions, but Damien was hard-pressed to care about them.

    After all, he had his goals too, and they far outstripped the importance of these young geniuses in his heart.

    Besides, if they couldn''t take their defeats today as a lesson and humble themselves before improving to one day reach his level, they weren''t worth the title of genius.

    The battle arena had strict rules. Only 10 matches could be fought every day, if one fought an Overlord, they couldn''t fight another match until the day after they won.

    This meant that Damien yet again took the opportunity to spend his day training before returning to the arena.

    As for the Overlord? He wasn''t even worth mentioning. Regardless of his position, he was still the Overlord of the Pawn Bracket. Damien only needed a slight bit of mana to defeat him.

    The Pawn and Knight brackets were meant for 3rd sspetitors. The fact that Damien was even forced to plow through them was ignorant.

    Then again, if it was anyone else, they wouldn''t have been forced to do the same.

    Despite Hidden Death Valley''s abject rejection of status, that didn''t mean the geniuses within wouldpletely abide by thosews. In smaller situations, bribery and oppression wouldn''t be monitored.

    These facets came with existence. To live was to experience them. Therefore, in spite of their desire for fairness, the leaders of the academy didn''tpletely quell this oppression.

    Bribing the battle arena staff was quite an easy task for Reavus Bloodlock. Even though he knew that Damien wouldn''t be held back by these small brackets and young geniuses, he thought he could at least use them to rtively understand Damien''s strength.

    An early 4th ss being under level 225 still needed to put in a bit of effort to defeat a genius at the extreme peak of 3rd ss. This effort might''ve been only a slight excess amount of mana in their attack, but the amount of excess still signified the level their strength had reached.

    Damien, however, didn''t let this faze him. What could Reavus gain from a petty trick like this? Damien wasn''t a mere dog as Reavus had been assuming him to be, and naturally he wouldn''t perform like one.

    Whether it was the Pawn Bracket or the Knight Bracket, Damien breezed through them by merely constricting space around his opponents until they were crushed. There was no excess use of mana, nock of control that could reveal a hint of his true power. The only thing Damien gave his enemies was a show of dominance.

    Just like that, using the 4 days he was required due to the restrictions, Damien passed through the bottom two brackets like a storm and arrived in the King Bracket.

    ''Finally, things should get interesting.'' He thought to himself.

    The King Bracket was a different ce than the previous two in that there wasn''t necessarily a set level of strength for those present within it. Every 4th ss genius in Hidden Death Valley that couldn''t rack up a 10-win streak was ced in this category.

    Of course, high-level 4th sses above level 375 who dominated thepetition were immediately seeded into the Emperor Bracket, but even without them, there were countless beings between levels 350 and 374 who remained in the King Bracket.

    Most of them weren''t even trying topete.

    Due to the harshness of the King Bracket, the Emperor Bracket had be a selective club of sorts. Those who could fight there were only the peak geniuses of Hidden Death Valley and the universe as a whole.

    In this sense, a level 380 genius who was over the age of 300 didn''t qualify for the Emperor Bracket. Despite their strength, their talent was still lower than the required level.

    ''300¡­Bai Xieren and the rest are all over 10,000 years old and still stuck at the higher end of 4th ss. The disparity in talent is a little jarring to look at.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It couldn''t be helped. The Human Domain''s precarious situation naturally led to ack of talent. This trend only changed with the current generation of geniuses like Damien and Long Chen. Now that wartime was upon them again, the Human Domain was fated to rise.

    Nevertheless, seeing young geniuses who didn''t even reach the age of 100 yet standing equal to the peak figures of the Human Domain filled Damien with a different kind of fervor.

    He couldn''t wait to battle.

    And he knew¡­

    The King Bracket would provide him a ton of entertainment. His enemies would be here in droves trying to hinder his path, even those unrted to him would do their best to block him from entering the Emperor Bracket sheerly due to the exclusivity its existence now held.

    On the 5th day of his arena run, Damien arrived back at the battle arena and made his way to the challengers'' section. The day was already over, and it was deep into the night. The arena was lit up by mana-powered torches and beautiful dancing spirits that lit the way. The ambiance it gave off waspletely different than it was in the sun, emitting the aura of something sacred.

    The atmosphere, however, was far more thrilling. Millions of people stood in the stands cheering. With Hidden Death Valley recruiting geniuses from all 7 remaining intact sectors, it would''ve been stranger if it didn''t contain at least this many people.

    The earth shook with their cheers. The sky trembled with their battle intent. The enclosed space of the battle arena was like apletely different worldpared to the serenity outside its barriers.

    Entering the challengers'' section, Damien immediately noticed the difference between those young geniuses and the people present. Everyone emitted a slighttent bloodlust umted over countless years ofbat. Their gazes didn''t carry any of the innocent exuberance of youth, despite their appearances not being much different from those youths themselves.

    Damien inadvertently cracked a smile as he took a seat. He crossed one leg over the other and spread his arms across the seats next to him, rxing entirely.

    He closed his eyes and waited his turn. What he wanted was battle experience not sparring experience. There would rarely be moments in war where he knew his enemy''s every ability and saw them fighting beforehand. If he wanted to prepare for that scenario, he naturally couldn''t be as observant as he was before.

    Still, his stance was one of dominance and fearlessness. In a room filled with peak geniuses, he actually dared to recline so casually?!

    More than just a few were offended. And more than just a few aura pressures converged on Damien''s body in a bid to suppress him before he got too arrogant.

    The smile on his face twisted into a sneer.

    Hoo¡­

    He blew out a small breath of air.

    The aura pressure was dispelled just like that.

    Damien scoffed in his mind. How could any mere aura pressure stand against his Void Mana? Laughable!

    ''But¡­this is how it should be.''

    Prideful geniuses, endlesspetition, and bloodlust clouding the air¡­

    ''Mm, the atmosphere is just right.''

 Chapter 700 Battle Arena [2]

    Compared to the previous brackets, not as many battles took ce on a day-to-day basis in the King Bracket. This was mainly due to the length of each battle being much longer, and the repair time for the arena itself being the same.

    Unfortunately for Damien, he didn''t get to fight at all on the 5th day. He sat there in his same posture waiting for some genius to provoke him all the way until the timing for the King Bracket ended.

    While he was a bit disappointed, he knew that the second he went up, he''d dominate. Therefore, it didn''t bother him too much.

    Casually standing up at the end of the time and stretching, he began to walk out of the battle arena.

    But¡­

    The end of the King Bracket signified the start of the Emperor Bracket.

    As he exited the arena, Damien came face to face with the one man he wanted to see the most.

    "What a thick scent of blood. Is it a fetish thing?"

    Those were the first words that came out of his mouth when he locked eyes with the red-eyed man in front of him.

    "Damien Void. You''re just as scummy as I expected. Amoner from the bottom of the bottom naturally won''t have the ss to give a proper greeting." The man replied.

    Damien grinned. "Mm, and apparently spoiled rich brats like you are the same. The difference between us is that I don''t let eloquent bullshitting cloud my intent when I speak."

    "Hah, the only reason you dare to make thatparison is because you''ve never felt the power of a Holy Land yourself. When the timees, let us see if you can still be so bold." Reavus scoffed.

    Damien smiled nonchntly. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. Anyway, I need to go do something actually productive instead of wasting my time with flies so I''ll take my leave. I''ll see you in the Emperor Bracket soon, Bloodbitch prince."

    "You¡­!"

    Reavus shot his hand out, but it was already toote. Damien''s figure was long gone, space and time coalescing to take him back to the Gravity Chamber training area so he could continue his usual routine.

    Reavus stood alone outside the battle arena, his teeth clenched in anger.

    He never would''ve thought that in their first face-to-face encounter, he''d lose to Damien in a war of words.

    "Crass¡­pathetic¡­vermin!" He spat in hatred.

    His heart was already dead set on revenge. To face a loss so early in his quest only fueled this thought, driving his enmity with Damien to a point nearing obsession.

    "Hahaha, looks like you''re struggling with something. Need some help?"

    A teasing voice came from behind. There stood a man with long ck hair and equally dark eyes, a familiar man that Damien had met once before.

    "Atticus¡­" Reavus seethed. "What help would I need from a clown like you? Get out of my face."

    "Haha,e on, now. Don''t be so harsh. I heard you''ve recently made enemies with a rising genius. I assume it isn''t going well for you?" Atticus continued with a condescending smile.

    "What do I need to tell you? Have you not been keeping a tight enough leash on your dog to know what he''s been up to?" Reavus replied hatefully.

    "Pfft¡­hahahahaha!" Atticus broke out into a fit of raucousughter. "Dog? That guy? If I could have someone like him as a dog, I''d even give up my Holy Son position!"

    Reavus'' eyes inadvertently widened. Atticus'' offhandedment might have seemed joking, but he wasn''t someone to speak pointlessly.

    Especially when his title and position as the Fallen Star Holy Son were at stake, he absolutely couldn''t speak sarcastically. The connotations behind the Holy Son position didn''t allow any mistakes. A Holy Son wasn''t just a representation of the sect, but also its most sponsored genius.

    A Holy Son reneging their position was more than just a disgrace for a Holy Land, but a massive p to the face that would never be tolerated!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    If he was serious, didn''t that mean¡­

    "Don''t overthink it." Atticus suddenly said, interrupting Reavus'' thoughts. "Sooner orter, you''ll be food for his growth. Im just excited to see how long you canst before it happens."

    With a cool grin on his face as he walked, Atticus passed Reavus and entered the battle arena.

    Reavus Bloodlock, while he was a Bloodlock Prince indeed, he wasn''t the prince set to take the throne when the Immortal Blood Asura decided to step down. That position actually belonged to his 4th brother.

    Reavus himself was 3rd in line. He was a genius, sure, but not a genius satisfying the standards of a Demigod-level Holy Land.

    This year he would be 87. Still stuck with mediocrewprehension despite his high level, how could he bepared to a genius like Atticus?

    The reason for his Heaven''s List ranking being higher than Atticus'' was solely due to his raw power that made his talent a secondary consideration.

    Even if Reavus was more powerful now, Atticus had no doubt he''d surpass the Bloodlock prince in time. He held no fear towards a moody prince with daddy issues who wouldn''t even be able to kiss his feet in 100 years.

    And Atticus knew very well Damien''s talent. He was weak right now, too weak to be put on the same pedestal as other Emperor level geniuses.

    But¡­that was only if one looked at his level.

    As someone who''d actually fought a few rounds against the man, why would Atticus be stupid enough to take Damien''s level to heart?

    That man was powerful, more powerful and talented than any genius at his level that Atticus had seen in his many years of life both as a Holy Land genius and a Hidden Death Valley recruiter.

    Reavus Bloodlock? That pathetic prince?

    The fact that he couldn''t even see Damien ying him like a fiddle wasughable.

    If it would take Atticus 100 years to be untouchable for Reavus, it would take Damien only 50 at most.

    Atticus'' concerns were elsewhere.

    ''When the timees, will you have the heart to strike him down? Despite his position, Immortal Blood Holy Land won''t take his death lightly. His father is still the Immortal Bloof Asura''s most talented son, and he will undoubtedlye for the person who kills his son.''

    Atticus entered the Emperor Bracket challenger section. Compared to the previous brackets, it was rtively empty.

    Only 10 people sat in the seats awaiting their matches.

    None of them emitted any aura. They sat quietly to themselves without speaking, emitting a solemn atmosphere that couldn''t be broken by outside forces.

    Atticus took his seat among them with an interested smile on his face.

    ''I''m curious. With your unyielding personality, will you finally sumb when you face a power too great for you to handle? Or will you take on the challenge and find some miraculous way to survive?''

    Haa, he couldn''t handle the anticipation. It''d been too long since he''d seen a genius who could make him feel so excited.

    The more he saw Damien grow, the more the belief firmed in his heart.

    Damien¡­

    Could he possibly be the genius who could stand against the Saint King?

 Chapter 701 Battle Arena [3]

    "Haaa¡­"

    Damien exhaled a long breath as he stepped out of the ckness Chamber. Unfortunately for him, he needed to end his training early.

    The 6th day since his battle arena start dawned long ago, and now had reached its end. The time for the King Bracket tomence was upon him.

    Just like the previous day, Damien returned to the arena and waited for his name to be called.

    But just like the day before, there was nothing.

    The 7th day passed¡­

    Nothing.

    The 8th day passed¡­

    Nothing.

    On the 9th day, Damien sat alone in the Darkness Chamber once more. While his face was calm on the outside, he was internally seething.

    Even if the King Bracket''s fighting schedule was less popted than the previous brackets, it was unheard of for a challenger to go uncalled for three days straight.

    Damien was well aware of what was happening.

    Reavus Bloodlock was taking petty revenge.

    What else could be the cause? When everyone around him got their chance to fight multiple times over while he was stuck waiting alone, how could it be boiled down to mere coincidence?

    ''Haha¡­I didn''t think provoking him would have this effect. Really, for a top genius, he should know how to fight like a man.''

    Damien''s eyes zed. It was the 9th day now. Of those 9 days, three were already spent unproductively.

    He who had beenpletely immersed in the rigorous training atmosphere he created didn''t take well to its interruption.

    ''Those normal geniuses might bend to you if you harass them enough, but do you think I''m the same? Reavus, oh Reavus¡­let me show you what it means to be domineering.''

    A pathetic brat who could only show his power through status, Damien had no need to entertain him.

    In fact, all he wanted to do was piss the Bloodbitch prince off even more.

    And to do that¡­

    What else did he have to do besides be himself?

    ***

    The atmosphere of the battle arena was the same as always, but the challengers'' area was filled with a mocking air directed at one person.

    None of the geniuses here were dumb. In fact, some of them were even in on the drama. The fact that Damien was being forcefully rejected from the battle arena made these geniuses especially gleeful.

    After all, hadn''t he been taunting them from the moment he stepped into the challengers'' area? His downfall made them smug.

    Arrogance without backing would only lead one to offending the wrong person and getting suppressed. Most of these geniuses had felt it themselves, so while they did pity the man, they also took pleasure in his misfortune.

    Laughing at someone else''s trouble made them feel better about their own.

    Nevertheless, the night continued on as usual. Battles urred one after the other, and fighters umted win streaks only to be struck down by stronger opponents.

    The crowd in the stand continued their betting, some bing rich while others lost their savings to gambling.

    And at some point, yet another battle was underway.

    The two opponents were arge brown-skinned man with rippling muscles and devilish horns on his head and a smaller more lithe man with beauty far out of the ordinary. Conversely to their dichotomy, both were using pure brute force and body enhancement to fight.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Their every punch caused the arena floor to shatter. As their fists connected, waves of power emanated from the collisions and impacted the arena barrier, causing it to tremble ever so slightly.

    Raaaaaah!

    The crowd went wild. This level of riveting battle was exactly what they came to see! Both of these fighters, despite their differences, were physical strength masters who surpassed all others in this aspect!

    What a fight!

    The lithe man ducked below his opponent''s fist and spun his body to send a low kick at his stomach. The exact second he made impact, therger man pounded his elbow down to meet the kick, using his inertia to dispel most of the force headed towards him into the ground!

    The two opponents pushed away from each other, panting heavily. With zing fighting spirit in their eyes, they charged once more and¡­!

    "Hold it."

    BOOM!

    Their outstretched fists collided with something, but it wasn''t each other. The momentum of their attacks disappeared instantly like they''d been swallowed by a ck hole.

    A dust cloud kicked up from the force regardless, obscuring the audience''s vision.

    But with their awarenesses spread, the twobatants clearly knew what happened.

    Their fists had been¡­stopped?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    When the dust cleared, those standing in the arena weren''t two but three. A man stood between the two fighters, clenching their outstretched fists in his hands.

    "Sorry for interrupting, but I''m a little tired of waiting. It''s my turn now." The mysterious man uttered coldly.

    "You¡­what do you¡ª-"

    Before the lithe man could finish his words, he found the ground rushing at his face.

    BOOM!

    Both fighters were mmed into the ground furiously, unable to resist the neer''s power.

    "You know, I don''t really care if someone tries to suppress me with strength. If I end up sumbing, it''s only because I''m weak. I''ll find a way to escape and get my revenge when I''m strong enough."

    The mysterious man spoke as he raised his leg.

    Bang!

    Crack!

    He mmed it down on therger man''s body, eliciting a clear cracking sound as the downed fighter''s bones broke.

    Of course, the man never let go of his opponents'' arms. Therge man''s arm popped out of its socket naturally as the counterforce struck. Luckily for him, he didn''t have enmity with the neer or his arm would''ve beenpletely ripped from his body.

    "What I hate, though, is idiots who suppress others with no power to show for themselves. Using others'' reputation and power to bully people, how cowardly is that? Now, I won''t say I don''t understand the concept and I won''t spout any bullshit about how it''s unfair, but if you''re going to do it, just don''t do it to me."

    The man''s leg swept out rapidly. A strong current of mana apanied its trip as it impacted the lithe man''s skull.

    BOOM!

    The lithe man went flying. His body crashed into the arena barrier, contorting seriously as multiple bones shattered. He coughed out a mouthful of blood as he copsed onto the ground, unconscious.

    The mysterious man turned to face the crowd, his eyes focusing somewhere beyond the arena.

    "I''m not mindful enough to tolerate your bullshit."

    Clenching his fist, the man caused space to distort around the two fallenpetitors. Their already destroyed bodies were crumpled into meatballs, and in the next instant, they disappeared from the arena.

    Even after they revived on the outside, they didn''t regain consciousness.

    The man looked at the announcer standing far above the arena. The announcer''s face was especially pale as he watched the ongoing scene.

    He wasn''t a strong person at all. He was just a smaller genius working this job to get a few contribution points for himself.

    If the man came for him¡­

    "Hey."

    "Y-yes!" The announcer stuttered.

    "Announce my name," the man said. "It''s my turn to fight."

    "U-um, I d-don''t have the authori¡ª"

    "Do you want to die?"

    The announcer fell backwards as the man appeared in front of him like a ghost.

    "Do you think I don''t know what you''ve been doing? Do you think the little bribes you''ve received are that important? Or maybe¡­is the Bloodbitch n''s reputation worth more to you than your own life?"

    His footnded on the announcer''s sternum. His cold purple eyes stared down at the helpless man without a single ounce of emotion.

    "Announce. My. Name."

    The announcer felt tears welling up in his eyes. The man wasn''t wrong. The Bloodlock n was too terrifying for him to ever think about disobeying them.

    But from the look in this man''s eyes, he really wouldn''t care about the academy''s rules! If the announcer kept being stubborn, he was sure to die!

    "O-okay! Okay, I''ll announce your name! Just don''t kill me!"

    "Good. Now, repeat after me into that mic of yours. If you miss a word, you die."

    The audience watched with bated breaths as the unheard conversation continued on the announcer''s podium. A few secondster, the mysterious man arrived back in the center of the arena.

    The announcer stood up slowly. His legs trembled violently, his skin was so pale one would think he no longer had any blood left in his body.

    And after what he was about to say¡­maybe there wouldn''t be.

    "A new challenger has entered the arena¡­!" The announcer yelled weakly, trying to sound as confident as he usually did.

    "Now introducing the Rising Emperor of Death Emperor Star, the Bane of the Bloodbitch n: Damien Void!"

    He couldn''t stand it anymore. The announcer copsed to the ground and fainted.

    And in the arena, Damien stood with a calm smile.

    Oppression? That was something only he was allowed. Not a single soul would be allowed to do the same to him.

 Chapter 702 Battle Arena [4]

    "Now introducing the Rising Emperor of Death Emperor Star, the Bane of the Bloodbitch n: Damien Void!"

    The entire arena went silent.

    Whether it was the challengers'' area, the arena crowd, or even those watching the battles remotely in thefort of their own homes, nobody spoke a single word.

    They all stared at the purple-eyed man on the arena floor with hurried breaths and widened eyes.

    Did that man¡­really dare to insult the Bloodlock n so tantly?!

    The disy he put on with his entrance was domineering to say the least, but was it worth offending one of the universe''s strongest ns for?!

    Unlike their apparent worry and mocking at his choice, others felt differently.

    More than anyone, Atticus'' reaction was especially pronounced.

    "HAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

    Hisughter bellowed through the halls of his pce. He keeled over, unable to stand straight anymore after seeing Damien''s disy of power.

    "Haha¡­hahaha¡­really, I didn''t think you''d do it so soon!"

    Atticus was bewildered and excited. Just yesterday he''d been wondering if Damien had the courage and resolve to face the Bloodlock n''s fury if he ever killed Reavus. But now, wasn''t it obvious what the young hero''s choice would be? Atticus almost felt stupid for doubting him.

    "Now, put on a performance worthy of your boasts! Hahahaha, I really can''t wait to fight you again in the Emperor Bracket!"

    Atticus'' excitement turned into fighting intent rapidly. Damien''s every action served as a reminder of their tie in the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm.

    Atticus was unresigned.

    One day, they''d finish that battle.

    Then, he could finally see the true extent of Damien''s strength.

    And he could feel the exhration of winning against the most promising genius he''d met in many many years.

    ***

    Back in the arena, Damien remained standing, waiting for a challenger toe greet him. But after his previous stunt, there was nobody willing to do so.

    Besides, this wasn''t how the battle arena worked! Challengers couldn''t just run onto the stage as they pleased and battle! It''d be utter chaos if they did!

    But¡­what were they supposed to do now?

    Damien''s actions had interrupted the King Bracket''s flow, and more than that, had served as a p in the face to many of the geniuses present.

    They''dughed at him and mocked him for acting too high and mighty and offending someone too big for him to handle. They''d celebrated the fact that he was in the same situation.

    But unlike them, he didn''t bend.

    He arrogantly proimed himself the Bloodlock n''s enemy.

    And in the process, he called every single one of those who had sumbed a weakling.

    Plenty were angry. Plenty wanted to run onto the stage and beat Damien to a pulp.

    But unlike him, they didn''t have the reckless abandon to discard the academy and its ruling powers.

    The rules that were set, they would follow to the tee.

    Damien sighed despondently. "Seriously? You''re all supposed to be proud geniuses! What happened to all your gusto from before?! You can''t even face a little bit of punishment for the sake of your self-worth?! Pathetic!"

    "It''s not pathetic at all." Another voice responded.

    A man with simr build and stature to Damien walked through the challenger gate. His white hair contradicted his ashen-grey skin, his red eyes shined with a light of intelligence.

    "Small punishment? It''s nothing like that. How would you feel about confinement and brutal reconditioning in the Hell Hole? Or maybe you want to be prematurely sent into war against her Nox to ''temper your psyche.''" The man said as he walked to the center of the arena floor.

    "We are still growing. Nobody wants to submit, but sometimes we don''t have a choice. To submit and live until one day we can break free from our shackles and triumph, is that truly cowardly and pathetic?" The man asked. He was now face to face with Damien, only a few feet apart as he stood up to thetter''s challenge.

    In response, Damien shook his head. "No, what you''re describing isn''t cowardly. I''d rather escape than submit to pressure, but I have spatial abilities that allow me to actualize this mentality. For someone who can''t escape, it isn''t wrong to submit and wait for a chance to kill the oppressor."

    "Then¡­!"

    "But that''s just you." Damien continued, not giving the man a chance to speak. "Those pathetic bitches in there feel joy when others suffer the same fate. To even feel that way, they must first bend to their circumstances and give up. Are they not weak?"

    "That¡­"

    "Enough." Damien looked straight into the man''s gleaming eyes. "You at least had the courage to step up, and I can somewhat respect you for that. So, fight me. Prove yourself through battle."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Damien took a fighting stance with his arms up like a boxer. He didn''t take out his weapons yet, for he didn''t think he''d need them in this fight.

    Despite his powerful appearance, the grey-skinned man wasn''t too powerful. After all, Damien could see through his status. He knew exactly what thetter''s level was.

    SHIIING!

    A collision took ce. Without an announcer, there was no set start to the battle. Instead, it began when one challenger decided to move.

    In this case, it was the grey-skinned man. His name was Alec, and he was a dark elf from a quiet corner of the Elven Domain. As his world bordered the edge of another sector, he was quick to escape when danger struck.

    He was one of the Elven Domain''s few survivors. His grudge against the Nox ran deeper than blood, and his shame at his cowardice ran even deeper.

    Damien''s insults touched the scars in his heart that he endlessly wished to hide. It was recklessness that brought him to the stage, but a fiery determination that allowed him to attack.

    In a sense, Damien was right. He was also one of those beings who gave up after seeing ultimate power. The terrifying sight of his world being blown to pieces as a fleet of Nox starships passed by was too striking. It haunted his memory every night.

    And when he heard rumors about the Star Destroyer, Exadrion, which annihted all life on Aurora, the Elven Main World, this fear became even more palpable.

    He worked endlessly to conquer it. He trained for years to be powerful enough to have an impact on the war, but the stronger he got, the more hopeless he felt.

    The Nox¡­were just too strong.

    He couldn''t even stand the oppression of the smaller forces within the universe itself, so how could he stand against the Nox who wished to destroy it all?

    This mentality caused a roadblock, one he had yet to ovee.

    Damien''s words were an inadvertent wake-up call.

    The faces of his family as he fled, Alec would never forget their relieved smiles as they saw him leave the world safely.

    For them, for his entire race, he needed to remain strong.

    So that one day, he could get revenge.

    He poured all those feelings into a terrifying strike of his sword, shing it at Damien with every ounce of willpower he had.

    But the metallic ring that rang out¡­

    In Damien''s hand was a translucent sword that almost melded in with the environment. In that split second before Alec''s attack struck, he managed to parry it and send thetter''s sword into the ground.

    Damien walked up to his opponent with a smile. "It''s no fun if you exhaust yourself before we even fight, but I get it. Congrattions on getting past whatever was hindering you."

    Alec''s eyes widened, and with an aplished smile on his face, he fell to the ground.

    It was as Damien said. The previous moment of realization drained him. Oveing his fear of the Nox and realizing his truth was taxing on his mental strength considering the depths of his trauma.

    And while Damien didn''t get any satisfaction out of his "duel" with Alec, he was satisfied with the results nheless.

    Indeed, it seemed like among those useless trash in the challengers'' area, there truly were some hidden gems.

    Damien easily stabbed Mirage through Alec''s throat and decapitated him, sending him out of the arena painlessly.

    His gaze turned back to the challengers'' area, piercing through the arena walls.

    "So are there more like him amongst you, or are the rest of you just pussies?"

    His words, the previous scene, and all else that had happened in thest few minutesbined as one.

    Even those who fit the weakling categorization he''d mentioned earlier were riled up.

    Nobody wanted to be seen as weak. Nobody wanted their pride stepped on and crushed by others.

    They had no choice back then but to submit. Every single one of them swore on the day they submitted that they''d grow and pay back the humiliation they suffered.

    But none of them carried out on their promises in the end. As Damien said, they gave up.

    But were they willing?

    No!

    And even if they were, they''d never let anyone else talk down to them for it!

    Bloody killing intent, billowing fighting intent, and ming determination ram rampant through the challengers'' area.

    It looked like Damien wouldn''t becking in opponents for a very long time.

 Chapter 703 Battle Arena [5]

    Bang! Boom!

    A body went flying into the arena barrier. The man it belonged to didn''t fold so easily, though. He kicked off the barrier, using his strength to propel himself back at his opponent!

    His spear clenched tightly in his hands, he thrust it forward, coating its tip with swirling mana and simmering mes.

    Bang!

    His opponent raised his hand and swiped it furiously, sending a wave of colorless mana at him and distorting the atmosphere. When his spear collided with this mana, it felt like his strength was immediately diffused.

    Still, the man didn''t stop. His name was Richard, and he was the fifth member of the King Bracket that had stepped up to face Damien today.

    After witnessing how thest four were defeated, he was well aware of his opponent''s spatial prowess. He also knew that the man could use Time Laws to a certain extent.

    Therefore rather than retreating when his energy was dispersed, he pushed forward with all his might! Long-rangedbat was ineffective against Damien, so getting in close was all he could do!

    "Haa!"

    With a spirited shout, he broke through the mana wall and arrived in front of Damien with a sh of light. His spear swept out powerfully, his mana moving to activate a skill.

    ''Cyclone!''

    VOOM!

    A terrifying vortex of mes engulfed Damien. While this happened, Richard moved his spear again, stabbing out thousands of times within a single second.

    ''One Thousand As One: me Piercer!''

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The vortex was filled with holes as the me Piercer attack prated it and struck Damien. Damien''s body was pushed back many kilometers as he used his arms to block.

    A grin surfaced on his face. He''d fought five times including this one, and every fight just got better and better.

    At this rate, he couldn''t even imagine what his tenth opponent would be like.

    Damien waved his left hand without hesitation, summoning Freya from his subspace and immediately firing tens of spatial mana bullets at Richard.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The bullets exploded in mid-air as they collided with the prating force from the me Piercer. With the two attacks neutralized, the two fighters were back to square one.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­" Richard let out heavy breaths as he used the lull to recover. Damien watched him with an amused look on his face.

    But internally, he was truly getting a bit serious.

    ''These guys aren''t the peak of the universe for nothing. It wouldn''t be hard for me to stomp someone of Richard''s skill level as long as I spammedrger attacks in session, but I''m not here for that.''

    His main purpose ining to the battle arena was training. If he simply dominated his opponents without a care for his original intent, how would he improve?

    Richard was incredibly skilled in one-on-onebat. His techniques were magnificent and skillful uses of mana that Damien found himself admiring as they fought.

    With the All-Seeing Eyes reading this mana flow as the battle continued, Damien truly learned more than he''d ever expected.

    The two fighters burst towards each other once more. Richard gritted his teeth and mmed his spear into the ground, causing a massive gash in the arena floor that expanded until it was well past Damien''s location.

    ''Arise!''

    Richard jerked his spear out of the ground and, following his motion, a massive spout of magma raised along with it.

    Boom!

    ''Earth me: Cursed Dragon!''

    Roar!!

    The magma pir transformed into a ckish-red draconic avatar. Its body was entirely made of energy and elements, but carried a different type of hardness that Damien couldn''t quite put his finger on.

    Without hesitation, he charged at the forming dragon.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    He shot tens of bullets from Freya''s barrel as he moved. The gun in his hand disappeared thereafter, returning as its ck counterpart.

    Compared to Freya''s speed and uracy, Hel carried unimaginable raw power.

    Spacetime mana flowed from Damien''s body. The fabric of reality in the surrounding few meters halted, creating a temporary Dead Zone around him. The power of this zone condensed and loaded itself into the forming mana bullet inside Hel''s barrel until finally¡­

    BOOOOM!

    The bullet fired. It cut through the air rtively slowly, but it was surrounded by a world-bending force that made it impossible to dodge.

    When it reached the magma dragon, it burst into its original form, forming a Dead Zone that disallowed the use of mana.

    Roar!

    The dragon roared furiously as if unable to ept its immediate loss. Its body expanded, furious mes spreading through the Dead Zone and infecting its foundations.

    Kacha!

    Its borders shattered. The dragon, though weakened, managed to escape and charge at Damien at insane speeds.

    ''Tch. It''s not battle-ready yet. Well, isn''t that why I came here in the first ce?'' Damien thought to himself as he watched it happen.

    The creation of a temporary Dead Zone could be a powerful ability once it was matured, but before that point, it had countless weaknesses. Forcefully imposing a Dead Zone onto stable space would naturally weaken its foundation. A strong enough enemy could use their mana to target this w and destroy the zone before too much damage was done.

    While this would force them to use a good chunk of their mana capacity, it wasn''t enough for what Damien eventually wanted to do with it.

    Nevertheless, reflection and improvement came after the battle ended. For now¡­

    ''Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break''

    Bang!

    A massive hole was punctured in the dragon''s body. Despite the injury, it kept moving. It had no physical presence, after all. As a being made of energy, it wouldn''t die until thest me of its body was snuffed out.

    But Damien was prepared for this.

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse''

    BOOOOOM!

    Space within 1,000 kilometers shattered and bent, bing a chaotic flow of mana that swirled into a ck vortex emitting terrifying suction force.

    Naturally, the power of this Spatial Copse wasn''t nearly at Damien''s peak, but what could he do? The arena was only 10,000 kilometers across.

    ROAR!!

    The dragon furiously cried out as it tried to escape the barrier, yet every usage of its energy was a depletion of its life. Against this vortex whose suction force was powerful enough to consume it whole, did it have any choice but to submit?

    "Empower!"

    A cry rang out from far away. Richard mmed his spear into the ground and allowed his aura to release wantonly. Condensed me Essence gathered around him as more and more rampant mana came under his control.

    And every bit of this mana was used to empower the dragon he''d summoned.

    Sadly, his loss was set in stone the moment he decided to do so.

    Damien grinned wildly. His body shed away from the dragon and appeared directly behind Richard like a ghost.

    "Remember, when you''re up against a spatial practitioner, distance will never be on your side."

    "You¡­!"

    ''Seven Stars Encircling The Moon''

    Before Richard could finish his sentence, a shining fist resembling a moon surrounded by seven small balls of chaotic energy impacted his chest.

    And everything went white.

    A terrifying explosive mana wave covered the arena floor. Richard''s body was instantly blown to bits by the violently rampaging mana that entered his system.

    He was already nearly out of energy after the battle so far, and with the wounds he''d umted until this point¡­

    He simply stood no chance.

    The brightness cleared up, giving way to the vision of Damien standing alone in the battle arena.

    And the crowd went wild.

 Chapter 704 Encounter [1]

    ''What a day, what a day.'' Damien thought smilingly as he walked away from the battle arena. He made the conscious decision to stop after umting his fifth win in Richard.

    After all, a genius'' win streak wouldn''t be reset until they lost, this was the same even if they left and decided to return another day to continue. Though, dying for too long would naturally cause their streak to expire.

    Damien''s reasons to stop were two. Firstly, he wanted to take the time to go over what he''d learned in battle today and improve before he returned to the arena for his second run.

    This was because, from the sixth match onward, he''d likely be facing opponents above level 300, people stronger than Aishia and the others he''d met in Niflheim.

    If it was just one person, he''d be able to deal with them just fine. But against a group of them that fought him in session, he was bound to suffer some mental exhaustion along the way.

    He couldn''t allow that. He needed to maintain his peak shape as much as possible so he could continue his brutal training and sparring routine for as long as he could.

    The second reason was moreplicated. He''d simply made too big of a scene today with his antics.

    ''They should being to find me soon...''

    Despite the fact that his actions were for the sole purpose of pping a tyrant in the face and bringing him down from his pedestal, in the end, he still broke the academy''s rules.

    Not only had he interrupted a ranked duel, he''d also fought and maimed multiple students outside of the dueling grounds. This was a serious offense that the school definitely wouldn''t tolerate.

    If he used everyst second of the King Bracket''s time for his own benefit without allowing others a chance to fight, he''d be condemned even further. He had to at least minimize the damage so the academy wouldn''t punish him through istion or something simr.

    p¨¤§ád¨¢-¨¾?¦Í¨º¦É.§ã¨®§® ''Still, the rewards were...more than a little satisfactory.''

    Aside from the improvements to hisprehension and battle style, his Heaven''s List ranking saw a major change as well. From the 40,000s where he once stood, he''d now made his way to the top 15,000 easily.

    The battle arena was a ce where powerful geniuses gathered, and the King Bracket was a ce where some of the most exemry of them were seeded. Though these geniuses weren''t powerful enough to immediately push his ranking to the top 100 or even the top 10,000, this was more than enough for him at the moment.

    Once he finished his challenge tomorrow and defeated the Overlord the day after, he didn''t doubt that he''d make his way far past a mere rank 100.

    Those in the Emperor Bracket were only the best of the best, so the Overlord blocking the Emperor Bracket from reach naturally had to be the same.

    As Damien walked back to the training area to continue his usual routine, he suddenly halted. His eyes darted to a certain location on his right side, and his awareness spread around him.

    ''One, two, three...a total of fifteen, huh. Quite generous for someone like me.'' Damien thought sarcastically.

    "Oh? Some familiar faces? I thought you were in charge of guarding the trench. What''re you doing all the way over here?"

    His words were directed at a certain woman hidden in the shadows. Hearing them, she sighed and walked out.

    "I knew you were a troublemaker when we first met, but I didn''t think you''d be one that had the power to cause trouble in here. How annoying."

    The woman emerging from the shadows was none other than the Head Guard who''d stopped him when he first descended into Hidden Death Valley. The other fourteen she brought along were her personal squad members, people she''d chosen and raised into terrifying powerhouses.

    "Damien Void, I''ve been ordered to escort you to the Board of Directors. Please follow me without causing another scene."

    "Rx, that was my n from the start. I''m not someone who causes trouble just for the sake of it, you know? I like my peace."

    The Head Guard shook her head and turned around. With the other fourteen forming a tight barrier around Damien, it didn''t look like he could even teeter as he followed them to the Board of Directors.

    ''They all range from around level 360 to...oho, this Head Guard woman has already dipped a foot into Divinity? Did I see things wrong when I first arrived?''

    It couldn''t be helped. His abilities, especially his All-Seeing Eyes, weren''t developed enough to see through someone so powerful before he began controlling spacetime. Rather than saying he misread them, it was better to say that he read everything he could.

    Still, thinking back to his reckless behavior, he smiled wryly. He was lucky he wasn''t someone who caused problems randomly, or else he would''ve died then and there.

    The group of guards escorted Damien through Hidden Death Valley, leaving Arcadia and passing through Star City as they arrived at the Hell Hole. When they reached the entrance, the Head Guard shed her emblem and received permission to enter.

    "From this point on, everything you see must remain a secret. You will be promoted to sign a Mana Oath in front of the Director when we reach the office, so don''t even think about disobeying." The Head Guard said.

    Damien nodded in agreement. Considering the security level of the Hell Hole, this seemed like a basic procedure.

    Besides, who did he even have to tell about the ce? If it was Zara, they could just share memories through their spiritual connection to share information. In the first ce, with her being his beastpanion, he doubted he''d be prohibited from sharing with her as long as she signed the same Mana Oath.

    The thick doors of the Hell Hole were made of a metal alloy that neither awareness nor space could prate. It was an area Damien couldn''t break into even if he had 10 times his current power.

    And when the group walked in, he finally saw why it was termed the Hell Hole.

    Torture.

    The training the people within were partaking in was torture at the very least. He saw dozens of people have their bodies destroyed, only to be resurrected by the mysterious medicines injected into them thereafter.

    This was a method of physical body training that most could never stand. It was essentially death and rebirth, repeated over and over again until the body reached a satisfactory level of strength.

    Damien had undergone this process nearly every time he evolved, and even a few times outside this process, but he never got used to the pain.

    ''I even became a bit of a masochist to cope with it...tch, damn Void Physique.''

    The body reconstruction training was only one of many torturous training regimens Damien witnessed. All around, groups of geniuses were being put through hell to numb their free will and strengthen their bloodlust and power.

    Hell Hole...was truly an apt name for this ce.

    "Stop dilly-dallying and follow me. We''ve arrived." The Head Guard spoke after around half an hour of walking.

    The group arrived in front of a small but ancient door connected to an unassuming hut. If one entered the Hell Hole without knowledge of the hut''s existence, they wouldn''t pay it any mind.

    But Damien was different. He could sense it clearly.

    This hut...was a structure simr to Aquazyl.

    It was a self-contained realm transformed from a Mystic Realm.

    ''Oho, these old geezers are pretty interesting.''

    With that final thought, Damien followed the Head Guard through the small door.

    This would be his first encounter with the wider universe''s Demigods, and frankly, he couldn''t wait to see how theypared to his master.

 Chapter 705 Encounter [2]

    Behind the small door stood the simple scene of the inside of the small hut it was attached to. It waspletely unlike what Damien expected.

    But that expectation was met only a secondter when the Head Guard led him to the hut''s backdoor and walked through it.

    Whaty beyond was a massive roompletely dichotomous with the small hut. Ornate tinum and silver decorations lined the walls, which were painted with beautiful murals emanating profound auras. Each of these murals told the tale of a different hero, each of these heroes having made immense aplishments in their tales. Just looking at them made one feel incredibly fighting spirit and killing intent.

    The floor was a simr tinum color to the wall ornaments,pletely reflective and allowing Damien to see his own reflection from below.

    Centered halfway between the walls and the center of the room were two rows of thrones, six in each row. And finally, a single throne sat at the head, as if clearly delineating its owner''s importance.

    ''Wow¡­the ceiling is¡­''

    Damien didn''t pay any mind to the scene on the floor. His attention was drawn to the beautifully carved and painted mural on the ceiling.

    It was a single monster taking up the entire ceiling. With the head of a tiger, the wings of a dragon, the legs of a hawk, the tentacles of a Kraken¡­this astronomical beast seemed to hold a characteristic of every beast race in existence. Even its mere visage was enough to send shivers down Damien''s spine. He couldn''t imagine the power of the beast the mural depicted.

    And he couldn''t imagine the power of the man sitting atop it. His long ck hair flowed and fluttered in the wind, his crystalline blue eyes shining with a light of ferocity and power. In his hand was a beautifully crafted sword that carried the universe''s will within its de.

    As Damien''s attention turned back to the other murals, he realized that every hero painted on the walls was showing reverence to the one on the ceiling.

    "Curious of his identity?" An aged voice rang out.

    "Should I not be?" Damien answered.

    "Ohoho, nothing like that. It''s just, even if you''re curious you''ll never understand who he was. There is nobody present that can answer that question for you either." The voice replied.

    "Well, that''s a shame then. This man truly feels worthy of these heroes'' reverence. I would like to hear his story."

    "If you wish to do so, then explore Death Emperor Star to finality. After all, this mural came into existence well before our group of old men arrived and founded the academy."

    Damien finally turned his attention away from the mural and looked at the throne at the head of their formation. There, a sagely old man now sat with a smile on his face.

    And it wasn''t just him. All of the 12 remaining seats were now filled with both men and women of unknown origin.

    "So this is the perpetrator?" A man asked coldly. "Why are you being so friendly to him, Director? Let''s just expel him and get it over with."

    "Calm down, Alphus. The boy has only just arrived here. Can''t you let him at least exin himself before jumping to the verdict?" Another man questioned the previous.

    "Hmph! Those who do not follow the academy''s rules must be punished. Am I wrong for thinking so?"

    "Of course not. But since when did we ever expel someone for a crime of this level?"

    "H-hmph. The past is the past. This is the present."

    "Both of you be quiet." The sagely old man snapped coldly.

    "You''re quite the interesting boy," the old man said as he turned to face Damien. "Many havee before you, but none were soposed. You are aware of your current position, no?"

    "You mean the fact that I''m standing before the Thirteen Zodiacs of Hidden Death Valley; the Demigods that rule over it all? I''m well aware."

    "Amusing," the old man said in reply.

    "Then, do you know why we called you here?"

    "It probably isn''t because I broke such a petty rule. If it was, there''d be no need for the 13 Zodiacs to congregate. Is this matter rted to my provocation of the Bloodbitch n?"

    "Brat, I suggest you watch your tongue." Another man spoke from the side. His throne was third from the central throne on the right side.

    "For what reason should I do that? If someone wants to provoke me, they shouldn''t expect me to sit quietly and take it."

    "And you shouldn''t expect yourself to be able to handle it. How arrogant of you to even think about challenging the Bloodlock n, and even more than that, how presumptuous of you to speak to us in such a tone?!" The man roared, his aura ring to suppress Damien.

    However, another aura burst forth at the same time,pletely dispelling the man''s momentum.

    "Behave yourselves. Both of you." The old man warned. "Instead, student Damien, why don''t you tell me your side of the story? There must''ve been a reason for you to act so recklessly even while knowing the rules."

    "Does telling my side change anything?" Damien asked.

    "It might," the old man admitted. "We still haven''t decided on your punishment yet."

    Damien furrowed his brows. If that biased Elder got his way, he could easily be expelled from the academy due to this tiny incident. If he wanted to survive this situation and even obtain some connections and rewards from it¡­

    He needed to turn the rest of the elders to his side.

    "The academy enforces both a rule to keep students from harming each other outside the duel arenas and one to keep students from oppressing each other with status and backing. I''m here for a minor offense to the former rule due to someone else''s minor offense to thetter. If you want to punish me for my actions, then bring the other person here so he can face the same."

    Damien''s words were those of provocation. He was well aware of the Bloodlock n''s influence, and despite Hidden Death Valley being a neutral organization, it wouldn''t be strange if multiple of its elders were bought out by other ns.

    Damien wanted to know just how many of these people would be against him regardless of what he said, and the best way to do so was through provocation.

    "You brat¡­!" The earlier man said. His name was Silcerin, Scorpio of the 13 Zodiacs. Though he wasn''t a member of the Bloodlock n, he had deep ties with the Wellspring Family through the marriage of his sister and one of the family''s elders. His grudge against Damien began long ago with Julius'' crippling.

    Damien ignored the man, knowing he was suppressed by the Director, and poured mana into the All-Seeing Eyes. His gaze moved through slowed spacetime to study every minute change in these elders'' expressions.

    But¡­would they allow him to continue?

    "Quite bold of you to think you could read us so easily, don''t you think?" A woman said teasingly. Her words sent an invisible tremor through space, interfering with Damien''s skill.

    Damien shrugged in response, not taking it to heart. He''d expected this to happen. He was standing against a room filled with Demigods, after all.

    He remained bold against them even while knowing they could kill him with a single breath because he was banking on a single fact.

    His gaze turned to the Director. The things he''d heard about this man¡­

    If there was anyone Damien needed on his side from this point forth, it was none other than him.

 Chapter 706 Encounter [3]

    "Alright, let''s end this charade and get back to the topic at hand. Do you have anything else to say before we decide your punishment?" The Director spoke, cutting the tension that had been building between Damien and the Board.

    Damien looked at him curiously. His lips widened into a small but vicious smile. "To allow oppression to continue on such a low level, I doubt it''s because you want us to submit? If my actions aligned with what you wanted in the first ce, what''s the use of punishment?"

    The Director''s eyes widened slightly in surprise. In the next moment, a small smile appeared on his face. "How interesting. Alright, if that''s all you say then that''s enough. I shall convene with the others and decide your punishment."

    A transparent screen of mana erected itself between Damien and the elders. From the way it appeared, Damien almost thought it was a usage of Space Laws, but it waspletely different.

    It was like the world''s atmosphere itself solidified into a barrier.

    ''What a strange group.'' Damien thought to himself. His interaction with them was short and mostly to the point. Every time it looked like some drama would appear, the Director stepped in and quelled all sides.

    ''He has them under his grasp so tightly¡­what a guy.''

    The Thirteen Zodiacs. Inmon mythology and knowledge, only twelve zodiacs were ever acknowledged. When Damien first found out about the Board of Directors and how they ssified themselves, he wondered why they decided to include the thirteenth.

    But after meeting them and seeing their dynamic, he understood.

    Ophiuchus, the Zodiac Killer.

    Other than this sign, there was no better way to describe the Director.

    Despite the Board of Directors being seen as an entity of equals by the outside world, the Director held every ounce of power in Hidden Death Valley. The others obeyed his every word even if they hated his instruction, simply because they had no other choice.

    If they disobeyed, they would be devoured.

    ''Is that what he was trying to show me?''

    Even though the interaction was short, the Director''s attitude while it was ongoing was strange. In front of outsiders, there''s no way he''d show such a domineering and oppressive appearance towards his peers.

    After all, he had to maintain the image that they were harmonious and equal.

    If so, why did he make it so tantly obvious to Damien that he was inplete control?

    Was it a move to intimidate him?

    Or better, was it¡­?

    ''He wants something from me. He''s showing me that if I have his backing, I can be rampant and unhinged without worrying about people outside of my meansing after me¡­but there''s no such thing as free lunch in this world.''

    As Damien submerged himself in thought, the transparent barrier dispersed and reconnected him with the world.

    "It has been decided!" The Director said dominantly. "Because your sin was light, we will not threaten you with expulsion or anything of the sort. Instead, I will give you two options¡­"

    "The first is that you spend 5 years in the Istion Chamber reflecting on your mistakes. Through this, you might even gain some special insights that help you grow stronger. The second option¡­"

    "¡­you must participate in the ongoing war and achieve promising results. If your achievements reach a certain level, you will be allowed back to the academy."

    "I choose the second," Damien said without hesitation. "I just have one question."

    "Ask it."

    "Will I still be allowed to take the progress assessment if my punishment is still ongoing in 6 months?"

    The Director furrowed his brows. "Is the assessment that important to you?"

    Damien shrugged. "I''ve been training in preparation for it for a while now. If I miss it, wouldn''t it be a shame?"

    The Director let out a small chuckle at his words. "Indeed, it would be. Very well. I will allow you to return for the progress assessment in 6 months regardless of whether your punishment has ended or not."

    "This is my final verdict!"

    ***

    Damien''s encounter with the Board of Directors ended just like that. Unlike the mess of conflict he expected to walk into, it was far more sinct.

    In fact, Damien had barely seen anything of a majority of the Zodiacs. Aside from the biased Scorpio and that woman who chimed in, none of the others spoke at all.

    Damien walked with the Head Guard and her squad and left the Hell Hole. While he could''ve returned to the battle arena to finish his run, he instead decided to return to his Star City home for a small period of rest.

    A grin lit up his face the entire time. He couldn''t believe his luck.

    ''And they said it was punishment. Since when was giving me exactly what I want considered punishment?''

    He''d been itching to join the war for a very long time, but he''d never had the opportunity. Before entering Hidden Death Valley, he was simply too weak to even consider it.

    Now that he had a decent amount of strength, he was more than qualified to join the war. As long as he remained careful, he wouldn''t die an early death.

    Only, he had no method to ess the battlefield. Hidden Death Valley geniuses had to go through strict procedures and training before they were allowed into the warfront. This was a safety measure to make sure no promising geniuses would die before their time.

    ''I was told that I depart in 3 days. That''s more than enough time to finish up at the arena. Ah, I should probably call Zara too.''

    Zara had been off doing her own training since they returned. Damien hadn''t even seen a glimpse of her. But, he knew she''d want to join him on this expedition. Even discounting her new love for adventure and thrill¡­

    The Nox held an integral key to her identity. If she wanted to understand her origins, she''d have to face them as much as possible.

    Damien submerged himself in thought as he visualized various scenes he''d seen through both ric and the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s memories. Those scenes of war both motivated and humbled him, preparing him for what was toe.

    After an unknown amount of time, he faced a much-expected interruption.

    "It''s quite dangerous to be so unaware of your surroundings, you know?" A voice appeared from nearby, snapping him out of his thoughts.

    At some point, an old man had entered the house.

    "I mean, no matter how much attention I paid, I wouldn''t be able to sense you. What''s the point of trying?" Damien responded with a smile.

    Standing up from the bed, he picked up a bottle of spirit liquor from the counter and sat it down at the table.

    "So? What great deed have I aplished for the Director himself to give me a home visit?"

    The Director smiled and sat down opposite Damien. Taking a sip from the ss of spirit liquor Damien poured for him, he spoke.

    "Well, I''m sure you''ve already guessed it by now but I''m not one to enjoy mind games and riddles. I''ll get straight to the point."

    He put the ss down and stared directly into Damien''s eyes, his atmosphere bing solemn.

    "This time, when you go out to war, there is something I need you to aplish."

 Chapter 707 Encounter [4]

    "This time, when you go out to war, there is something I need you to aplish."

    The Director''s words served as an affirmation of Damien''s previous suspicions. However, there were still a few curious points.

    What made the Director choose Damien specifically?

    At least in Hidden Death Valley, he hadn''t aplished much. Even if the Emperor Bone Sea expedition was taken into ount, Damien''s recount of Aquazyl was too vague for it to pique the Director''s attention.

    ''Ah, has this old man been paying attention to me?'' Damien suddenly realized. He hadn''t been in the Divine Realm for long, but his entrance into the Dimensional Leaderboard wasn''t a small one. If Atticus'' high evaluation of him was also considered, it wasn''t surprising for high-level figures to have their eyes on him.

    "You should at least have a vague understanding of my strength. I hope you aren''t trying to ask me to change the tides of the war or something." Damien said straightforwardly.

    Even if it was a task from a Demigod, an extremely powerful one at that, he still had his boundaries.

    "Haha, nothing like that. What, do you think I want to kill off a young genius before he can grow?" The Director responded with the same manner.

    "Fair enough. Then, what is it that you want?" Damien asked.

    The Director nodded and pulled out a projection device, disying a wall of holograms in the air showcasing various sceneries and statistics.

    "The world you will be deployed to is called Calypto, the Infected Source World of Eden."

    The Director waved his hand in the air and switched the order of the holograms, bringing to attention many images of a corrupted and decayed world.

    "I assume you already know what an Infected Source World is and understand its significance, so I won''t spend too much time exining it. In reality, Eden''s Infected Source World has lost most of its value already since the Sector itself is on the brink of destruction."

    "Nevertheless, before the Sector fallspletely, we must still protect it. Eden is a gateway into the wider universe. Once Eden is taken, the Nox attacks in the Soul World and Beast Domain will heighten and war will spread further than we can control."

    "The goal of your deployment will be to destroy Calypto. If this mission seeds, we will have far more control over the battlefield in Eden. With Calypto acting as a sort of centralmand post connecting the Nox forces to Throh where their main base resides, destroying it means effectively severing their chain ofmand."

    Damien furrowed his brows as he looked through the information presented to him. "Even if the chain ofmand is severed, how much can we benefit? By my understanding, the Nox have already spread their ws into the Soul World and Beast Domain."

    "Even aside from that, the mindless Nox beings under 4th ss will rampage with or withoutmands. Rather than having them run wild, wouldn''t it be better for us if they maintained the strict formation they have under the Higher Nox''s control?"

    The Director''s brow raised curiously. He didn''t expect Damien to know much about the war as he hadn''t been exposed to it yet, but surprisingly, the young genius was generally well-informed.

    ''I guess it''s a benefit of being a rogue. Without the shackles of a major organization, he can move however he pleases.'' The Director thought.

    Soon enough, he continued the conversation and refuted Damien. "The societal structure of the Nox is much moreplicated than you think. In fact, while most 3rd ss Nox and below are mindless, it''s possible for Higher Nox to share a portion of their intelligence with a lower being and use them as an avatar."

    "Through this, they can effectively act without having to sacrifice their main bodies. Destroying Calypto holds numerous benefits, and among them is our gaining the ability to find these Nox Avatars and eliminate them, forcing the stronger forces out of hiding and striking them with a critical blow."

    Damien sunk into thought. Information about Nox Avatars was new to him. Whether it was ric or the Fifth Primal Sovereign, neither had run into this concept before.

    But as Damien thought about it more, he realized something. Didn''t the first Nox he ever encountered have this ability?

    ''The Nox trapped in the ancient temple was only a 3rd ss. I always thought the purpose of trapping such a weak being was for the sake of introducing the Nox to the younger generation¡­but maybe it was something greater?''

    While its intelligence had decayed from years of solitude and stasis, the Nox he met still had the ability to speak and think properly. What if¡­that Nox was originally the Avatar of a much stronger being?

    If that was so, sealing it made more sense. Killing the Avatar would allow the strand of consciousness sealed within to escape and return to its original owner, and while the death of the Avatar would injure the Nox it was connected to, the effect was something that could easily be healed from over the 10,000 year period that separated the past war and the current one.

    If the Avatar was instead sealed, it would mark a permanent loss of that strand of consciousness for the Nox who owned it, thus leading it to be partially crippled for the long period before the war started.

    When Damien and his group killed that Nox, the strand of consciousness would''ve returned to its original owner, injuring it and forcing it to spend time healing in this era rather than thest.

    ''What a n¡­if the original Nox was a supreme powerhouse, Kurt''s actions essentially forced it out of the war. We might''ve saved a portion of the universe without even realizing it.''

    Naturally, sealing an Avatar wasn''t an easy task. Even Kurt could only seal one at the peak of his power as a Demigod. Killing them, however, was a different story.

    And if the Avatars were killed¡­

    "Not only will the chain ofmand be disrupted, the stronger forces will be harmed without me having to touch them. Even if the mindless lesser Nox beings rampage, the consequences of their actions won''t be enough to offset the advantages of going through with this n." Damien realized.

    It wasn''t apt to call this move a major blow to the Nox, it would definitely mess with their momentum and trajectory, giving the Army of Heaven some leeway in their actions.

    Still, attacking an Infected Source World was incredibly dangerous. While the main base of the Nox was located in Throh, a world over halfway across the Sector, Calypto would still contain arge portion of the Nox''s power. There would be no shortage of extreme peak 4th sses present there.

    "It''s dangerous¡­but possible," Damien muttered. Turning back to the Director, he asked, "what is my role in this n? For you toe to me specifically, it must be pretty big."

    The Director smiled. He enjoyed watching the wheels in Damien''s head turn. It made him appreciate the new generation of geniuses that they were raising, and it helped him reaffirm his determination to run the academy as he''d been doing for countless millennia already.

    With a wide grin on his face, he spoke. "If my information isn''t wrong, your ss is Celestial, no? Naturally, I want you to do as a Celestial should."

    "Devastate and conquer."

 Chapter 708 Encounter [5]

    The conversation between Damien and the Directorsted through the night. The duo went over the statistics in the hologram and Damien learned more about what the Director actually wanted from him.

    The task in store for him wasn''t small, but it wasn''t unachievable. It also helped that it was a task that aligned with Damien''s goals, incentivizing him toplete it.

    ''What a crazy old man.'' Damien thought to himself. The n itself was rtively streamlined, but it was something only an insane person could think up.

    Damien had to admire the Director''s spirit.

    ''Old monsters are usually like this, huh? The Director isn''t as casual as Master, but I feel like the two of them would get along well.''

    The Director''s attitude towards Damien could be considered good. The Director was a Demigod and the heading figure of Hidden Death Valley, if he was even somewhat cordial in his treatment then it could be considered a good thing.

    Hidden behind those eyes of his was a ruthlessness that could only be bred in cmity. It was something Damien infinitely admired, as this type of attitude would always achieve the best results in wartime.

    ''Still, he''s lucky he chose me. If it was someone with a heroplex then¡­''

    Damien shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He took the Director''s projection device and ced it in his subspace. This was a gift from the Director, and the information on it would be an immense help to him in his quest.

    ''I guess I should finish what I started¡­I have another two days. As long as I don''t fall, that''s enough time to dominate the King Bracket and move upward.''

    Damien stood up and walked out of his Star City home.

    His battlelust was especially high after his previous conversation with the Director, and he was more than just a little excited to entertain it.

    ***

    BOOOOOM!

    "Winner: Damien Void!"

    The terrifying explosion that rang out was immediately followed by the announcer''s excited voice. The cheers of the crowd rocked the entire coliseum, causing space to tremble with their fervor.

    On the arena floor, Damien stood silently. Blood ran down his body from the numerous wounds he''d received from the previous battle, but Transcendent Regeneration made sure those wounds wouldn''t hinder him.

    "This is our rising star''s 9th win in the King Bracket! With just one more, he gains the right to challenge the Overlord for supremacy!"

    Despite the uproarious atmosphere of the crowd, Damien''s face remained cold. Unlike his first five matches, the sixth through ninth weren''t as enjoyable.

    But this wasn''t a matter of the battle itself.

    Damien''s most recent victim dematerialized from the arena floor and appeared outside the barrier. His face was pale white and drained of any blood, and despite being fully healed, he didn''t wake up at all.

    The torture Damien had inflicted onto him was too much to bear. His psyche had already crumbled.

    ''That''s four. From level 300 to level 330, they''ve been getting stronger every time. But¡­is this the best the Bloodbitches can do? Even if their levels are powerful, theirwprehension iscking. They''d die in a heartbeat if they were ever sent to war.''

    His opponents didn''t try to hide their affiliation. Each and every one was a servant of the Bloodlock n sent by Reavus to hinder him.

    Knowing this fact, Damien didn''t go easy on them. In fact, he did everything he could to make sure they''d never wake up again no matter how much healing they''d received.

    On one hand, he was offended by how little Reavus thought of him. To send these people to destroy him with brute force alone, did he really think Damien was weak?

    4th ss was a rank wherewprehension mattered far more than levels. If one couldn''t match theirprehension with their base power level, they''d be infinitely weaker than even those beneath them.

    Now, an average genius wouldn''t stand a chance against these forces. Damien was well aware that he couldn''t underestimate their power. But against someone like him whoseprehension far outstripped their base level, these men were nothing more than bugs.

    A stronger physical body and higher existence level meant nothing to him who could devour existences to heighten those factors easily.

    ''Those four weren''t bad solely because of this weakness. Level 300 and even 325 beings are manageable in singlebat, but unless they''recking inwprehension like those idiots, I won''t be able to face someone higher level than that¡­''

    By this point, Reavus should''ve been aware that he couldn''t hinder Damien with such sloppy methods. Most likely, he was facing some restrictions that didn''t allow him to send geniuses too overly powerful to fight him.

    But those restrictions wouldn''t apply for the tenth match. That was a match that decided whether or not he''d fight the Overlord, and the strength of hispetitor would likely be a glimpse into the Overlord''s own strength. It wouldn''t be an easy win at all.

    ''I should be prepared to sacrifice a limb or two.''

    "Contestant Damien Void, would you like to continue fighting?" The announcer asked.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed in thought. If he could, he''d prefer to take a day to recuperate before continuing.

    But his current circumstances didn''t give him time to do so.

    And besides, wasn''t the best way to improve being pushed to the brink?

    After a slight moment of thought, Damien nodded his head. The crowd''s reaction to his decision could be imagined. It was hard to describe just how excited they were.

    People in the King Bracket didn''t usually have win streaks for so long. Whenever it looked like someone would reach the Overlord, countless powerhouses would arrive to suppress them.

    But Damien didn''t face this challenge.

    His performance and his empowering words from his first entrance didn''t just gain hatred from the battle arena geniuses, but respect as well.

    His determination to face the Bloodlock n without backing down was more than just admirable, it was something to be worshipped.

    Those unaffiliated geniuses and those with different affiliations didn''t interfere with Damien anymore. This was partially due to the prior factor and partially because they didn''t want to offend the Bloodlock n by stealing their prey.

    Now that he''d reached an almost impossible height to these observing geniuses, they naturally wanted to see him triumph.

    Everyone loved a good underdog story.

    As the battle arena rules mandated, Damien was given half an hour to recover his energy. This period of time was greater than that of the lower brackets due to the King Bracket''s difficulty and the connotations of Damien''s next fight.

    During this time, Damien not only healed and used Devour to replenish his mana, he also calmed his mind and sunk into aprehensive state.

    His spacetime abilities weren''t fully developed yet, but any small improvement he could have in this area would be an immense help to him.

    Unfortunately, half an hour wasn''t any time at all. It passed faster than a shooting star.

    Damien stood up confidently.

    The announcer''s voice rang out to introduce his opponent.

    The crowd went wild.

    A woman walked through the challenger gate and entered the arena.

    The mere residual power of her footsteps caused the ground to quake.

    As Damien looked on, his eyes hardened.

    ''Level 340¡­''

    This fight¡­

    He''d be hard-pressed to win.

 Chapter 709 Overlord [1]

    Despite the powerful fluctuations emitted by her movements, the woman''s steps were light and airy. Her small frame made it hard to imagine how she put so much weight into the ground so effortlessly.

    "Now entering: the rising star''s final challenger! Not many know her name, but many know her power! Bianca Weiss, the Earthshaker!"

    The woman''s name, Bianca, was truly unknown within Hidden Death Valley. Even on Heaven''s List, she didn''t stand out much.

    But the title that followed that name was more than just well-known.

    One of the strongest enforcers working under the Bloodlock n''s Hidden Death Valley influence, a genius who surpassed even Reavus Bloodlock in talent, the Earthshaker.

    The Earthshaker''s gender was never known before this day, but due to her reputation, everyone assumed she was instead a gargantuan man. Reports of her actions listed the way she brutally tore opponents apart, how she could use a single stomp to cause a civilization-destroying earthquake.

    Seeing the face behind that horrifying title, the crowd was especially stunned. Rather than a grotesque man, she was actually a beautiful woman!

    Damien, unlike the crowd, was of no mind to pay attention to these small details. He could see her level with his eyes, and he could sense herwprehension with his perception.

    This woman was truly strong. She wasn''t like those wastrels he''d fought before.

    Bianca soon reached the center of the arena floor, standing a few feet away from Damien.

    "Mm, you have to at least be this strong to make the young master send me." Shemented nonchntly.

    A vein bulged in Damien''s forehead. The immediate dismissal didn''t feel good at all.

    But¡­

    His blood was boiling. Just as she thought of him¡­

    ''Right, I need someone of at least this level to challenge me.''

    As the two faced off, the crowd finally registered what they''d heard. People ran about to rapidly change their bets or alter the amounts. The announcer smiled as he saw this.

    He wasn''t the same announcer Damien almost killedst time, rather, he was the recement. And unlike the previous announcer, he didn''t care about Hidden Death Valley''s political drama at all.

    He only cared about money.

    And considering the fact that Damien''s matches always raked in insane amounts of money, how could he not be excited?

    After all, he got a cut of that betting pool as his payment.

    The battle was dyed another ten minutes to amodate thesete betters. The entire time, Damien and Bianca didn''t speak a single word to each other.

    Bianca stood quietly with her eyes closed. Meanwhile, Damien poured mana into the All-Seeing Eyes to see through as much of her as he could.

    ''She only has an earth affinity¡­but this affinity doesn''t feel as weak as the other earth affinities I''ve seen.''

    The mana passively swirling around her body was simply too powerful for her earth affinity to be as simple as controlling rocks.

    Damien started thinking, just what could one do if one expanded an earth affinity into the conceptual stage?

    Minutes passed as both challengers fell into a silent lull. The arena soon filled back up, the millions of spectators returning to their seats and waiting for the battle to start with utmost anticipation.

    The announcer smiled and opened his mouth. "Challengers, are you ready?!"

    Damien and Bianca opened their eyes. They sinctly nodded, not taking their attention off each other.

    With a wide grin on his face, the announcer raised his arm into the sky.

    "Battle¡­Start!"

    BANG!

    A fist impacted Mirage. In that instant the announcer called for the start of the battle, both Bianca and Damien moved.

    Dark yellow mana coated Bianca''s fists as she moved. Her speed wasn''t particrly fast, but she was adept at attacking perfectly to counter this weakness.

    Despite being much faster than her, Damien couldn''t find an opening to attack. He was stuck using Mirage to block the immense force of her punches, all the while being gradually pushed back.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The punches continued to rain down. Damien immediately activated teleportation and made distance, reappearing tens of meters away.

    ''Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break''

    His sword angled parallel to the ground and shot out like an arrow. The distance separating him from his opponent became negligible.

    Bang!

    Bianca raised her arms in an X to block, but the force of the attack still managed to push her back. Narrowing her eyes, she waved her arm through the air.

    ''Earth, rise.''

    Rumble!

    The earth quaked as countless pirs sprouted from its surface. These pirs were massive, and numerous, enveloping the entire arena in their shadows.

    And as they rose, they specifically targeted Damien with a heavy impact force that made his bones rattle and his organs shake.

    ''Shit!''

    Damien teleported constantly, avoiding the rising pirs. He knew that getting hit by them would only hinder his progress.

    He needed to get close to her. The entire arena was her weapon, so long rangedbat wasn''t a viable option anymore. Unless he could touch her, he wouldn''t be able to win.

    Material Shift would be the most convenient ability to use at the moment, but its main limitation was the necessity of a second target to shift with. In Bianca''s vicinity, even the rock on the floor was connected to her mana. He didn''t have any targets to lock onto.

    ''Then¡­!''

    He immediately moved to enter the spatialyers and teleport. But at that moment¡­

    "Keuk¡­!"

    A strong repelling force pushed him back and disallowed him from doing so.

    Damien''s eyes widened. Right, he''d forgotten about this possibility.

    The battle arena was mostly fair, but it had its loopholes. For one, artifacts were allowed.

    Including spatial locking artifacts.

    ''This isn''t some easy spatial lock¡­I can''t unravel it easily.''

    Damien''s face turned dignified. His most useful movement ability had been locked away. With space still being his main method of attack, this limitation was genuinely severe.

    Luckily, he''d spent time learning how to adapt to battling within a spatial lock after his previous encounters.

    Even without teleportation¡­

    ''Seven Stars Encircling The Moon!''

    Damien''s fist immediately turned into a shining moon. Seven stars of spacetime essence and me-lightning essence formed around the shining moon, chaotically spinning around each other.

    ''I''ve never tried this, but it should work!''

    Damien''s fist shot out. The seven stars collided with each other one by one and exponentially multiplied the force of the attack. The rampant energy finally centered on the moon after all seven stars copsed, and when Damien''s fist reached the end of its path,pletely outstretched¡­

    VOOOOM!

    He directed the energy in a straight line, disallowing it from exploding outward. A fearsome beam of shining white chaotic light burst through the air, shattering space and turning the rock pirs around it into powder as it rushed at Bianca.

    ''Earth, shield!'' Bianca shouted inwardly. The earth around her body condensed and pressurized, turning crystalline as it rose from the ground and created an eight-point barrier around her.

    This barrier wasn''t just made of earth, but of the powerful minerals hidden within it. Even those above her level would have an extremely difficult time breaking through her turtle shell.

    CRASH! BOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien''s chaotic light beam impacted the crystalline shield almost the exact second it appeared. An ear-piercing screeching sound rang out as the zing mana tried to pierce through the shield. Rays of light were reflected all over the arena, destroying the rock pirs and even forming cracks in the arena barrier.

    But Bianca already knew the attack wouldn''t pierce her defense. Her opponent was weaker than her. How was he to aplish something even those above her level couldn''t do?

    ''Pierce him!''

    Her arm waved through the air like she was conducting an orchestra. The debris from the destroyed rock pirs rose into the air and shot through it like a group of shooting stars. The yellowish-brown mana lighting up the atmosphere became active, attacking Damien fiercely!

    He flew into the air, dodging with everything he had. Time mana circled around his body and sped up his own personal time, increasing his speed.

    Bang!

    Freya appeared in his hand, bullets leaving its barrel and shooting down as many of the rock bullets as it could.

    And as a final touch on his defense, vector control activated. Any rock projectiles that appeared too close to him were redirected and shot back at their owner.

    Still, Bianca was too powerful.

    How could she allow her own attack to harm her?

    She poured mana into the crystalline barrier and reinforced it. Even with the doubled strength the rock projectiles gained through Damien''s vector control, they couldn''t pierce its surface, exploding as soon as they made impact.

    Seeing this, Damien gritted his teeth.

    It seemed he''d need far more power than he was currently using if he wanted to defeat her.

 Chapter 710 Overlord [2]

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The battle continued for minutes on end, bing a constant exchange between Damien and Bianca as the former tried to break thetter''s barrier and thetter tried to limit the former''s movements.

    Xiu!

    Damien''s body shot through the air, zooming in random patterns to avoid the hail of stone shards rapidly bursting towards him.

    Every time they impacted the arena barrier, they caused frightening cracks to form. Even the audience could no longer cheer due to fear.

    "Elders, now!"

    A voice came from outside the arena. Without anyone realizing it, a group of enforcement elders had arrived on the scene. They galvanized their mana, sending it into the barrier to strengthen it with all their power.

    The cracks soon healed and the barrier strengthened.

    The foremost elder watched the ongoing battle with a look of trepidation. They''d only just arrived yet the two geniuses within forced them to use all their power to contain the battle. If this continued¡­

    "Call for reinforcements immediately! We need the High Elders to support us if we don''t want the entire coliseum to shatter!"

    The elders hurriedly moved to contain the destruction. Meanwhile, within the arena, the battle was only bing more heated.

    mes and lightning billowed from Damien''s body and clouded the atmosphere, destroying any projectilesing his way.

    Hended on the ground and red at his opponent.

    [Storm]

    Crackle!

    Furious lightning clouds formed in the sky. Silver Heavenly Lightning surged within, booming as it impacted the ground around Bianca.

    Still, the strange crystalline shield she''d erected was incredibly powerful. Even as the third strongest lightning in the universe impacted it, it remained unharmed.

    Bianca raised her arm from within the safety of the barrier andmanded the world. Her mana raged around her and sunk into the earth.

    ''Arise, my legion!''

    The earth trembled fiercely as cracks spread through its surface. The ground below seemed to mold itself and take shape, rising into the air and turning into a row of soldiers that separated Bianca from Damien.

    ''Attack!''

    The rock army charged. They acted as if they had independent consciousnesses of their own, circling around Damien and blocking his escape routes. Once their formation wasplete, they attacked.

    ''Tch!'' Damien scoffed as he battled them back. Mirage swung through the air and parried the close-ranged attacks that got near him while he wielded Freya in his other hand to rapidly diffuse any projected attacks flying at him from afar.

    ''I knew it wasn''t going to be easy, but I didn''t think it would be this bad!'' Damien thought to himself. From the moment space was sealed near the start of the battle, he''d been ced at a disadvantage.

    After all, this sealing wasn''t something rudimentary that Damien could break easily. He would need to dedicate a portion of his focus to the barrier and a portion of his mana to his All-Seeing Eyes to find a weakness, and even with this, it''d take a few minutes to do so.

    Bianca, however, didn''t give him the opportunity to divide his attention. Each of the rock soldiers she summoned had the power of an early 4th ss, and while they were individually weak enough for Damien to handle them easily, theirbined power wasn''t a joke.

    Boom!

    Damien''s sword shed against the rock sword of a nearby soldier. While he attempted to parry, a spear shot towards his abdomen!

    ''Dammit! Freeze!''

    Time slowed to a crawl. Damien watched as the spear moved through space, but he knew it was already toote to dodgepletely. In ast-ditch effort to preserve as much strength as he could, he slightly moved his body to the left to avoid the brunt of the spear''s tip.

    Spurt!

    Time resumed thereafter. The spear cut a gash in Damien''s side but failed to pierce him. Damien parried the sword and spun around, sending a mana-infused kick into the spear-wielding soldier''s head with immense force.

    Bang!

    The soldier''s head burst. While it was dazed by the damage, Damien retreated dozens of steps and maneuvered his way out of the encirclement.

    ''I can''t continue like this. She knows my mana capacity is great so she''s trying to wear me down. The Storm trait is forcing her to stay within her barrier, but looking at the way her mana is flowing, she doesn''t have to actively provide it to these soldiers for them to move. Compared to the mana it takes her to maintain her barrier and the spatial locking artifact, I''m in a much worse position if I keep wasting time on these soldiers¡­''''

    Damien''s eyes hardened. He wiped the blood off his lips and took his sword stance.

    ''Void Sword Art Third Form: Dance of the Void''

    His body became a haze. While Dance of the Void''s usage was severely limited when Damien couldn''t travel through space, that didn''t mean he couldn''t use it.

    He just had to use time as a substitute.

    Rather than flickering in and out of existence, he was simply moving fast enough to emte the same effect.

    And through this¡­

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    The shes Mirage made through the air were like zipping bees. With every movement he made, another head went flying into the air.

    The group of soldiers originally had over twenty members, but in an instant, that number had been reduced to below ten.

    Still, the soldiers weren''t the main priority.

    ''Shackles of Earth! Tsunami!''

    Bianca stomped into the ground, causing the rock below to fluctuate like waves of the sea. The ground rose and rose and rose until it formed a towering wall almost as high as the coliseum''s peak.

    The rolling rock wave then pulsated and pushed forward, sweeping away everything in its path!

    At the same time, the rock soldiers around Damien shattered and merged, turning into thick spikes that jutted out of the earth and stabbed into Damien''s body. The change was so quick that he didn''t even have time to react!

    Two spikes impaled his calves while ten more jutted into various parts of his back. Damien gritted his teeth and shattered the spikes, scattering dust and debris in all directions.

    He winced in pain soon after. With pieces of rock trapped in his muscles, Transcendent Regeneration couldn''t properly heal him. And while he could expel these rock fragments with just an instant of time¡­

    The earthen tsunami was already upon him. Its towering appearance blocked his vision of everything else. An overwhelmingly powerful mana fluctuation wrapped around his body as his face turned dignified.

    "Hoo¡­" Damien exhaled a slow breath.

    His mind raced, everything in the surroundings seemingly slowing down as his processing speed surpassed the rate at which they moved.

    He closed his eyes.

    Mirage raised above his head.

    A strange current of mana covered its de. Spacetime essence gathered and empowered the sword.

    And then¡­

    Damien swung it with all his might. He didn''t aim at the tsunami and he didn''t aim at Bianca who was hidden behind it. He mmed Mirage directly towards the ground with everyst ounce of his power!

    He''d been training every facet of his being in recent months. Whether it was his elemental abilities, his physical body, or even his mind, they''d all seen an increase in fortification.

    He''d been wondering to himself for a long time what it would be like to destroy a world.

    And when he realized he had the power to do so already, inspiration struck him like lightning.

    The result¡­

    ''Void Sword Art Sixth Form: Worldbreaker''

    Mirage struck the ground. The essence trapped withinbined with the sword''s aura and submerged into the ground.

    Crack!

    Cracks began to spread through the earth.

    Crack! Crack! Crack!

    The cracks widened and widened, creating a web thousands of feet across. The web of cracks raced to the base of the earthen tsunami and spread behind Damien to cover the entirety of the arena that he could ess at the moment.

    And finally, when the cracks finished spreading¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The body of Death Emperor Star itself exploded.

 Chapter 711 Overlord [3]

    Worldbreaker was by no means a simple attack. It disrupted spacetime and intrinsically broke down theponents of a world, forming a positive feedback loop with the World Core and destroying the thereafter.

    Naturally, on a world as strong as Death Emperor Star, this effect was drastically lessened. Because Damien was also holding back his power so it could be contained within the arena barrier, the destruction caused wasn''t nearly enough to shatter the world itself.

    However, it wasn''t something to be underestimated.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The entire arena floor disintegrated into a cloud of dust. Bianca''s earthen tsunami and even the crystalline barrier protecting her body were instantly shattered.

    "Keuk¡­.!"

    She coughed out a mouthful of blood as her mana rebounded, stabilizing herself in the air so she didn''t fall into the chasm Damien had created.

    The battle that had taken ce on the ground thus far was moved to the air. The illustrious battle arena floor that had never faced total destruction before was no longer existent, reced by an abyssal chasm whose bottom couldn''t be seen.

    Bianca wiped the blood from her lips and gritted her teeth. While she was fortunate enough to avoid heavy injury due to the countlessyers of protection that stood between her and the attack, she was now essentially crippled.

    Her most powerful attacks were built on the foundation of the earth. Even if she could still attack and defend without its presence, the amount of mana she had to use to do so would be astronomical.

    There was a reason people didn''t ce too much stock in affinities that relied on external mediums to disy their full power.

    If an affinity wasn''t versatile enough to be wholly usable even in the worst conditions, what was the point of having it?

    The important fact was that this wasn''t a problem of the earth affinity itself. While the universe''s foundationalws had ranks, the actual power they could disy wholly depended on the wielder.

    That was to say, Bianca''s current state was a product of her own malpractice. If she hadn''t focused so much on manipting the earth around her and instead focused on understanding the versatility of herw, she wouldn''t have been in such a disadvantageous position.

    But¡­what else was she supposed to do?

    Not only was she a woman, she was a woman in the Bloodlock n. If she didn''t want to be turned into a sex ve or a blood source for the Bloodlock heirs, she needed to prove her worth.

    And the only at she knew how was destruction.

    Her immense destructive talent was the reason she was allowed to join the enforcer unit instead of suffering the same fate as most other women in the n. Her ability topletely dominate any earthen battlefield was a necessity in warfare.

    After all, while her power had a fatal weakness, the Bloodlock n merely had to ce her in situations where that weakness would never be exploited.

    In this way, they''d gain a powerful subordinate while always having an easy method of bringing her down if she decided to rebel.

    The enforcer unit was only worth so much. The Bloodlock n''s power was centralized within its bloodline, so even if they were a strong fighting force, any outsiders working for the n were considered cannon fodder.

    Ironically, the only ones who escaped this fate were those who suffered the most: the wives and concubines of the Bloodlock men.

    Bianca''s eyes hardened as she thought of this. A defeat here would likely force her into that position as well.

    Even if she was cropped, she couldn''t¡­!

    Bang!

    A bullet of condensed spatial mana shot past her head. Just as it reached a few inches behind her, it turned into a blur.

    ''Material Shift''

    Damien''s figure appeared in the bullet''s ce. Without giving Bianca a chance, he began a furious offensive.

    ''Void Sword Art First Form: deless''

    ''Void Sword Art Third Form: Dance of the Void''

    ''Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break''

    Space was thrown into chaos as Damien chained his sword forms endlessly. Large gashes opened up, opening Death Emperor Star''s space into the chaotic void, smaller spatial cracks formed from the speed and precision of Dance of the Void''s sword shes, and Bianca was continuously forced to dodge and block unseen attacks from Horizon Break.

    Her gritted teeth began to leak with blood. She fortified her defenses with earth mana, but the level of mastery she could show in her current state was incredibly low.

    ''I have to get close!'' She thought rapidly. There were only two facets of her strength that she trusted in her current situation.

    Her control of gravity and her physical strength.

    If she could get close to Damien and utilize these powers to weaken him, she might be able to clinch a chance at victory!

    Bianca moved immediately on her assumption. She dodged by instinct alone, using her countless years on the battlefield to guide her. Through this, she escaped the encirclement of Horizon Break and charged at Damien.

    Still, his speed far outstripped her. And when it came to closebat, since when did he lose out to anyone?

    Rather than relying on his newfound advantages to pressure Bianca into a loss, Damien put away his weapons and met her head-on.

    Against these Bloodlock dogs, he showed no mercy or respect. His aim was to dominate and humiliate.

    BANG!

    His fist meet hers as they finally met. The sound caused the ambient air to explode and produced a screech of metal shing against metal.

    The second they made impact, Bianca felt her whole body rattle from head to toe. The force of his punch...wasn''t any weaker than hers!

    Brownish-yellow mana surfaced on her body and coated her fists. Immediately, she utilized gravity to heighten the power of her attack while simultaneously increasing her speed.

    This was by far the most intrinsic utilization of mana she knew. She expertly weaved decreased gravity and increased gravity to best suit her needs.

    In this state, her single fist could cause tens of thousands of kilometers of damage.

    But against Damien¡­

    "Oh? You can do something like this?" Hemented with a smile.

    His fist meet hers once more, but the result wasn''t any different than thest time.

    "You aren''t the only one who can y with gravity, you know." He continued.

    Vector control was an ability that''d be further forgotten the more powerful Damien got. This wasn''t a matter of its power, since true vector control would absolutely dominate the universe, but rather a matter of his own talent.

    Damien had never been the smartest. In fact, the him who first obtained vector control could be called an absolute dolt.

    The problemy in this fact. Vector control, despite how simplified it was when Damien used it by utilizing space as a medium, was heavily calction-forward in its usage.

    To urately pinpoint the vectors of an opponent''s attack became increasingly difficult as he grew in power. And whenws and natural forces came into y, something like a vector became less prominent. The mana of a 4th ss was able to break the establishedws to a certain extent, which negated vector control''s usefulness.

    In the hands of a genius, vector control could''ve grown to insurmountable heights. Unfortunately, Damien wasn''t a genius.

    The only reason he got vector control¡­was because it was the ability he needed most at the time.

    Vector control was a manifestation of his desire for "control" after his first defeat to the 40th Floor Boss Wyvern.

    But as he grew, control came to him in a different manner; through absolute power.

    And now, this was the first time Damien had used vector control in many, many years.

 Chapter 712 Overlord [4]

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Despite being in the midst of a ferocious melee with Bianca, Damien still had the freedom to think idle thoughts about his abilities.

    Bianca made a critical mistake after Damien used Worldbreaker to evaporate the ground. Due to her surprise at being put in apletely unfamiliar situation, she wasn''t thinking straight at all.

    While she was limited in her mana usage, she could still barrage Damien and use her superior mana capacity to pressure him. At the moment, this was her best bet at survival and sess.

    However, she instead decided topete with physical strength, Damien''s first and continued strong point.

    It couldn''t be helped. When Bianca was briefed about Damien''s abilities, his physical strength was never mentioned. The only time he''d showcased it was when he destroyed those two early 4th ss fighters upon entering the King Bracket.

    Naturally, that level of physical strength wouldn''t be considered a threat to someone in the mid-stage of 4th ss like her.

    She was mainly told to focus on his spatial abilities and his artifacts, the two powers Damien used most often.

    There was a critical difference between Damien and the geniuses of the Bloodlock n. He never once chose peaceful growth over deathly struggle.

    Every time he found another weakness, he did his absolute best to correct it and find ways to improve.

    Perhaps the main geniuses of the Bloodlock n were doing the same, but a member of the enforcer unit¡­?

    The Bloodlock n''s suppression of them wasn''t just something that could be exploited by the n.

    Damien was doing exactly that: exploiting the weakness that was intentionally left in Bianca''s strength to control her.

    BOOM!

    A heavy punch flew out. Damien twisted his body and allowed it to impact his chest, using the opening he created tond a ferocious strike on Bianca as well.

    But unlike him, she didn''t have Transcendent Regeneration.

    The two flew back from the force of the collision. Bianca coughed another mouthful of blood and massaged her chest, where arge ck mark had formted.

    The punch didn''t manage to pierce her skin, but her internals were a mess. She could feel chunks of her organs within the blood she was coughing up.

    If they continued like this, she''d meet a ratherckluster end.

    This wasn''t how it was supposed to go.

    She was supposed to win this battle and prove herself, gaining more freedom within the Bloodlock n.

    Who would''ve thought she''d run into such a monster?

    "Haa¡­ngaah¡­" Bianca took a fewbored breaths as she tried to stabilize herself.

    But it was hard.

    Her body felt heavy.

    Humans were strange creatures. Motivation, despite being intangible, actually had an incredible effect on their performance.

    The loss of hope was extremely detrimental to their ability to move forward.

    Even if they had the same level of energy, a human with motivation and hope would move far faster than someone who didn''t.

    And despite a humanpleting the exact same task on two different days, they could feel like heaven and hell depending on their emotional state.

    Bianca¡­was feeling hopeless.

    She felt the despair of her life''s situation every single day, but she used destruction to mitigate her mental burden. Dominating the battlefield was her coping mechanism.

    Now that she was ced in a position of weakness, a position where she was being dominated on the battlefield, she couldn''t draw out her full strength.

    Or any at all for that matter.

    Slowly but surely, she began to descend. Holding herself up in the air felt hard.

    Looking at the abyss below, she had a thought.

    Wouldn''t her life be infinitely better if it ended?

    Damien left every single Bloodlock n servant in a vegetative state. Even if they awoketer, they would be crippled for life.

    The difference was that they were all men. At worst, they''d be killed.

    As she was a woman, and a rather beautiful one at that, her fate would be much worse.

    Just imagining the various marks she''d seen on the Bloodlock concubines and the various rooms she''d identally stumbled into during her time in the n''s mansions¡­

    ''Maybe I should just die.''

    Was there any other respite? As long as she existed in this universe she''d never escape the Bloodlock n''s grasp.

    Her eyes turned dull.

    And Damien was only a few hundred kilometers away to witness this change.

    He had to stop the smile from forming on his face.

    ''Is this an opportunity?'' He thought to himself.

    He knew that look. That was the look of someone who gave up on life.

    And people like that¡­were the easiest to manipte.

    ''If I''m going against the Bloodlock n, I might as well obtain some proper information about them, right?''

    The enforcer unit¡­Damien didn''t know their exact status within the n, but the fact that Bianca was sent here as thest obstacle standing in his way before he fought the Overlord was proof enough that she was valued at least somewhat.

    She was sent to the battle arena as a show of power by the Bloodlock n. Just remembering the looks of terror on the crowd''s faces when she was introduced gave Damien the confidence he needed to enact his n.

    A bullet flew from Hel''s barrel.

    Bianca stared at it as it approached her.

    But she didn''t move.

    The bullet entered through her be and exploded inside her head.

    Her body immediately dematerialized and reappeared outside the arena barrier.

    She was still conscious unlike Damien''s previous opponents.

    But at that moment¡­

    "Hahaha, the Bloodbitch n must value you a lot for them to send you here to stop me, right? Then I ought to provide them an even better present than anything before."

    Damien''s voice resounded through the arena before the announcer could even speak the results of the battle.

    His body shed away. His teleportation became usable again the second Bianca was defeated, as her spatial locking artifact was deactivated and transported out of the arena with her.

    He appeared directly behind her copsed body, a twisted smirk on his face.

    "Let this be an example. Whether it''s the Bloodbitch n or a random genius on the side of the street; nobody who offends me will walk away unscathed."

    Mirage appeared in his hand.

    It swung down in a crisp arc.

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance''

    A thin ck line cut the dimension in two.

    And when it struck Bianca''s body, she was vanquished from existence.

    Not even a hint of her corpse remained in the world for others to see.

    ***

    After the sequence of events that took ce in the battle arena, Damien was naturally summoned back in front of the Board of Directors. Unlikest time, his sin this time was far worse.

    He''d killed someone on Hidden Death Valley''s grounds.

    Of the sins the geniuses couldmit, this was by far one of the worst.

    The crowd, the announcer, the observing elders, there wasn''t a single person who reacted in time to stop him. They were already in a stunned state from the battle itself, how were they supposed to stop an event that had only ever happened a minuscule number of times in Hidden Death Valley''s long existence?

    Damien didn''t even meet the enforcement officers of the sect.

    The second Bianca''s life signature vanished, his body immediately appeared in the isted realm¡­

    And a terrifying pressure locked onto him.

    Looking at the cold faces of the Demigods around him, Damien smiled wryly.

    ''Welp¡­I can''t say I didn''t expect this¡­''

 Chapter 713 Overlord [5]

    "Umm¡­hi again?" Damien''s sheepish words resounded through therge chamber.

    "Insolence! Not only did you break the academy''s rules and disregard our authority once, but you even took for granted the opportunity you were given! Are you seeking death?!"

    Scorpio of the Thirteen Zodiacs, Silcerin, raged immediately. If it wasn''t bad enough that Damienmitted such an offense a second time within three days, he also returned to the Board of Directors with such a flippant attitude!

    If this wasn''t disregarding their authority, then what was?!

    "Hahaha, rx. You''re already sending me off to war anyway. What can a cute and innocent little genius like me do when I''m sent into the real world? I''ll die!" Damien replied with a mock-pouty expression.

    Silcerin gritted his teeth and red his aura. Despite his rampant actions, nobody moved to stop him.

    Damien''s first visit could be called a minor offense. It was also his first time breaking any rules, so the fact that he received harsh punishment was enough.

    But clearly, their approach was too light.

    A Demigod''s pressure immediately nketed the chamber and mmed down on Damien''s body.

    "Khhh!"

    Damien gritted his teeth and let out a sharp exhale as he revolved his Void Mana and tried to use Dimensional Magic to separate himself from the pressure, but that was much harder than it sounded.

    ''So this is¡­a Demigod!'' He eximed inwardly. The pressure he felt now was nothing like the pressure of even an extreme peak 4th ss.

    There was something different about a Silcerin''s aura. Every single action he took wasced with a portion of the Divinity he carried. Even if Damien formed a new connection with the Void, it wasn''t solid enough to protect him from the Divine.

    "Alright, that should be enough." The Director''s voice cut through the pressure, freeing Damien.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    As Damien let out heavy breaths and recovered himself, the Director continued speaking.

    "The sin you havemitted today is the heaviest sin one canmit at our academy. We will not be taking any statements from you. You will be lucky if you escape death today."

    Along with his external words, the Director sent a sound transmission to Damien''s head. "Brat, what the hell were you thinking?!"

    The usual world barrier appeared between Damien and the Zodiacs as they began discussing his punishment.

    "Hehe," Damien replied in kind, "well, it''s not like I actually killed her. Call it a bit of smoke and mirrors."

    "She''s alive?" The Director eximed in surprise.

    In fact, he hadn''t seen the altercation at all. Hidden Death Valley''s protection arrays automatically took care of most of the academy''s policing.

    However, when someone was killed, the perpetrator would be teleported to the hidden realm along with the Thirteen Zodiacs, who were notified before transportation.

    All in all, the Director didn''t know any of the event''s details, nor did the other Demigods. The punishment for dealing with a genius who killed within the academy''s grounds was always death without mercy, so they had no need to.

    Except¡­today they''d run into a rather special situation.

    Since the Director already knew about Damien''s ss, he decided to give a short exnation of what urred. Without revealing the existence of the Sanctuary, using Dimensional Magic and the Celestial ss as a scapegoat, Damien wove a story that fit perfectly into the conversation and exined his actions.

    "I roughly get the gist of it¡­" the Director muttered. "But why go through all the trouble? This situation could''ve been easily avoided."

    "Ah, you mean the current situation," Damien replied. He realized that the Director quite easily understood the reason behind his "killing" Bianca.

    "Well, you have a dog of the Bloodbitch n with you in the room, don''t you? It''d be troublesome if he decided to spill my ns to the main n."

    p¦Á§ád¦Á-¨¾?¦Í¨º|¡¤§ã¨®§® The Director sighed. Yes, it was smart to not alert Silcerin at all, but did that make his actions any better? Even if he didn''t exin himself, he could''ve at least foregone offending the man!

    "Haa, I''ll see what I can do. Regardless, you won''t be getting off light this time. I hope you''ve prepared yourself."

    "Rx. Whether or not I''m punished depends on if they have the ability to punish me. If it''s escape we''re talking about, I''m more than just confident in my abilities." Damien responded smugly. Though, his inner thoughts were quite different.

    ''Their two options are killing or crippling me. Even if the Director can make sure I don''t die, I don''t think he can subvert the crippling. And judging by that old dog''s attitude, I probably won''t be excused from my war punishment due to this fact¡­''

    Truthfully, Damien wasn''t afraid of being crippled, he was merely wary of its connotation.

    If he showcased that he''d made a full recovery immediately after being crippled, he wouldn''t make it out alive. Either he''d be killed, or he''d be captured and used as an experimental subject so others could understand how to duplicate Transcendent Regeneration.

    Until this point, nobody questioned the ability. This was because, even though they were rare, healing abilities that could heal limbs still existed.

    Apletely crippled mana utilization system and body returning to its original state through the use of a single skill, however, was unheard of.

    ''Haa¡­how troublesome. Looks like I won''t be able to fight the Overlord any time soon.''

    It was a shame, but it couldn''t be helped. For the sake of his greater ns, this small bit of glory could easily be sacrificed.

    At that time, the barrier between Damien and the Board of Directors dispersed. He was put face to face with the Demigods once more.

    Without suspense, the words Damien was expecting to hear¡­

    "Damien Void! You will be forced to fight an arena battle with the current King Bracket Overlord in the battle arena! This battle willmence without the usage of the dueling system, so death will be permanent! Due to special circumstances, you''ve been given this final chance. If you can defeat the Overlord, you''ll follow through with our previously agreed punishment and return to the academy for the progress examination in 7 months. If you fail, however¡­you die!"

    ¡­didn''te out of the Director''s mouth?

    Damien''s eyes widened as he stood stunned. Wasn''t Hidden Death Valley extremely strict about the No Killing rule?! Wasn''t that the reason why Julius and even Reavus Bloodlock didn''t push him too much within the academy?!

    A rule that could easily frighten those pompously arrogant profligate sons of rich parents into submission¡­

    Was being broken so easily?!

    Whether it was his eyes or his ears, he couldn''t believe them at all!

    It was only Silcerin''s especially bitter expression that cued Damien in on the fact that the Director''s words weren''t false.

    Seeing the stunned look on Damien''s face, the Director cracked a small grin. "What''d I tell you? This much is easy for me."

    Damien shook off his surprise and wryly smiled. "I guess it''s wrong of me to underestimate Hidden Death Valley''s ruler."

    "That''s right! But kid, you need to be especially careful during theing battle. The King Bracket Overlord¡­is not a simple character at all.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed as he listened. He nced around the room, catching various nces of gloating or pity from the surrounding Demigods.

    ''I see¡­they agreed to this punishment because they don''t think I have even a single percentage of a chance to seed¡­well, that''s fine¡­"

    ''Whether he''s an ant or a God, I''ll crush him all the same.''

 Chapter 714 Overlord [6]

    The day passed quickly. That night, Damien had no reason to return to the battle arena. His win streak had already beenpleted and regardless of the circumstance, he would fight the Overlord tomorrow.

    Instead, he spent the day cooped up in the safety of his own home.

    There were two things for him to do.

    Firstly, he submerged himself in thought and made some preliminary ns for his expedition into the warzone. Even if he couldn''t properly plot out scenarios until he was briefed in 2 days, he could at least mentally prepare himself for things to go wrong.

    Secondly, he studied his opponent. Having a connection with someone with status like the Director''s came with more than just a few benefits. One of these was his ability to gather information that others didn''t have ess to.

    ''Sheesh, every time I feel how easy life would be with a backer, it makes me wonder if I should just cave and join one of those major influences. Haha, how nice would that be.'' Damien thought to himself.

    If it was already this easy with a mere connection, how easy would it be if he had an entire Holy Land''s resources and backing? There was no doubt he''d reach the extreme peak of 4th ss in just a year with ease.

    Nevertheless, gaining this backing came with its own problems. And with Damien''s personality, him being thrown into the political game between major ns would be a disaster for whoever was backing him.

    The reason he could act so freely and offend people as he pleased was because he was a wanderer. More than that, the reason he could do so without worry was because his family was safe in the Human Domain.

    He''d entered the Divine Realm through an Abyssal Corridor, after all. Not only was this method unconventional, it was wholly impossible for anyone else. His tracks started and ended in the Dawn World.

    ''Aside from that, this guy is really something. Ranked top 50 in Heaven''s List, top 100 on the Dimensional Leaderboard, has connections with people from almost all the prominent Holy Lands and Demigod influences¡­''

    ''And most of all, he''s a wanderer like me.''

    Damien smiled in admiration as he read more about his opponent. With the Director''s reach, he was able to put together a profile so detailed that it was scary.

    ''Hm? A spatial affinity? Space and wind, huh, how interesting¡­''

    Damien had met plenty of spatial users in the past, but never one on the same level as him. Whether it was Tian Yang or Kurt Galloway, they were both Demigods, supreme existence with a grasp on space that he couldn''t even imagine.

    But¡­

    His abilities remained special regardless.

    Even after meeting Leona, another Celestial, this fact remained true.

    In fact, despite the rarity of the spatial affinity, themon popce didn''t put much stock into it. It was widely believed that Space Laws were weak and secondary unless one could reach untold heights with them and flip that standard.

    Damien''s usage of spatial abilitiespletely overturned this belief. Ever since he was a yoyng fledgling, he''d been creating ways to make his spatial abilities more destructive.

    deless was the first ever example of this.

    When it came to spatial abilities, Damien''s methods were far more conceptual than the average user. He had an intrinsic connection with space that he could feel even before the existence of mana in his body, a level of elemental affinity that was rare even if the entire universe was taken into ount.

    Therefore, when it came to spatial practitioners that didn''t far outstrip him in power¡­

    Damien didn''t worry at all.

    ''Hahaha, this guy is a level 350, just barely a high-level 4th ss being. If he had any other affinity, I would probably suffer by his hands. Even if I won in the end, I would still lose at least two or three limbs in the process.''

    His next opponent wouldn''t be like Bianca. He was battle-hardened, but he was also unrestrained. He tasted the benefits of being a wanderer and used Hidden Death Valley as a field to gain the resources he couldn''t get without backing.

    ''Except, you''re still being suppressed, huh.''

    This man, the man named Leon Holfort, was definitely capable of reaching the Emperor Bracket. The only reason he remained as the King Bracket Overlord was hidden suppression.

    ''Whether it''s you deciding not to poke the ho''s nest or them actively suppressing you, it still stands true that you''ll never stand equal to them. What a shame¡­''

    If he had the willpower to fight his fate, he would''ve been a perfect soldier. With his power, he could''ve earned the academy''s backing easily, bing a genius who could stand on par with those Emperors and Paragons in terms of both status and power.

    Damien was the perfect example. He was still rtively weak in the eyes of others, but he still garnered the Director''s attention. Not only was this because of his talent, but also because of his defiance and willpower.

    If he never stood against the Bloodlock n, how would his name have made its way to the Director''s ears in the first ce?

    And if he didn''t have the balls to stand against the Bloodlock n, would the Director have ever considered him as a candidate to carry out his special mission?

    Damien rxed in bed and closed his eyes, turning off the holographic screen hovering before him.

    ''You should be sorry, Leon¡­unfortunately, I won''t be able to let you off easy tomorrow.''

    The difficult fight that should''ve taken ce, Damien didn''t think he could entertain it.

    Because he wanted to show Leon something.

    To this fellow spatial practitioner, he wanted to show what it meant to be strong.

    ***

    The next day, the battle arena crowd was met with a surprise.

    All matches were canceled. A major event was taking ce.

    Someone was challenging the King Bracket Overlord.

    In the past 1,000 years, this type of challenge had only taken ce four times, and every single one of these four times ended in a brutal loss for the challenger.

    Knowing this, the arena crowd was even more bbergasted by the additional piece of news they heard.

    Due to a ruling from the Board of Directors, this fight would take ce without the dueling system''s protection.

    In essence, it would be a true life of death battle.

    With this news came word of Damien''s feats over the past two weeks. His rapid rise through the ranks, his domineering entry into the battle arena, and even his "killing" of Bianca becamemon knowledge to all, leading them to wonder why he was even alive to fight this battle.

    The fact that he was given a chance at redemption after breaking the academy''s most sacred rule was madness to them.

    Zara walked among the crowd and listened to these stories. For the past almost two months, she''d been far too enveloped in her training to pay a single lick of attention to the outside world. She''d been rapidly consolidating her strength and improving on her Shadow Laws, learning to separate them into light and darkness to exponentially grow in power.

    It wasn''t a coincidence that she exited her intense training today. Damien called her out beforehand, telling her that something fun was taking ce.

    Besides inviting her to watch his battle, he also did so for the purpose of inviting her to the warzone with him. He hadn''t had the chance to contact her recently, after all.

    As she walked into the arena, Zara felt a wry smile surfacing her face.

    Judging by the words of these geniuses, her Damien had been causing trouble again¡­a great deal of it.

    The number of geniuses congregating in the arena was massive. By the time noon arrived, the stands were filled with millions upon millions of them.

    And walking into the arena were two.

    A purple-eyed man with jade white skin, a lean yet perfectly muscled build, and a domineering aura, and a robust man with glistening green eyes and tanned skin, his aura not losing out to his opponent in the slightest.

    Crackle!

    As they met in the middle of the arena floor, their aura fought for supremacy, their gazes locked on each other.

    Unlike other arena battles, this one was real.

    There was a chance that only one of them would exit the arena tonight.

    And neither of them nned to be the one who stayed.

 Chapter 715 Overlord [7]

    "Today''s battle is one for the history books! On the right, we have our battle arena''s rising star, Damien Void! And on the left, the King Bracket''s Overlord, the Battle Arena Champion who hadn''t lost a single battle in the past 20 years¡­Leon Holfort!"

    The announcer''s words caused a wave of raucous cheers to emanate from the crowd. Even disregarding the connotations of this battle, just the fact that these two powerhouses were going to fight in the ring was enough to put them on the edge of their seats.

    The arena looked different today. Overnight, the previously 10,000-kilometer-wide arena stage had been expanded multiple times over, giving the two contestants an insane amount of ground on which they could battle.

    This was only possible because the battle arena existed in an area simr to a Dimensional Cage. Due to its rtive istion from the outside world, it could be expanded and retracted as needed for the ongoing battle''s convenience.

    Usually, the arena stage didn''t change at all. Even when the weakest 2nd and 3rd ss geniuses fought, they did so with 10,000 kilometers of emptynd surrounding them.

    Only in a situation like this, when two contestants with Emperor level strength fought, would the expansion function be utilized.

    Despite the announcer''s hot-blooded words, neither of the men in the arena moved an inch. They stood sizing each other up,peting with their auras and trying to gauge their opponent''s strength.

    Damien wasn''t the only one who was given information. Leon was both given information on Damien and a strict warning never to underestimate his enemy.

    Because his current challenger, despite his rtively lower level, would be far more difficult to face than any who came before him.

    p¦Á§ád¦Á-¨¾?¦Í¨º|¡¤§ã¨®§® The crowd in the coliseum today was also much different than usual. Aside from the regr geniuses, many esteemed personas hade to witness the showdown.

    Whether it was the Paragons present at the academy, other Emperor-level geniuses that hadn''t yet reached this level, or even High Elders and Supreme Elders of the influence, none of them wanted to miss out on such a showing.

    And in the air above, concealed from the perception of all those present, were thirteen more spectators.

    The Director smiled as he gazed down upon the arena. He really had to wonder what this rising star would show him today.

    And aside from Silcerin, who was wearing a cold and haughty expression, the rest of the Zodiacs looked indifferent.

    It was true that Damien''s situation interested them. It wasn''t just because of the Director''s apparent interest in the young genius, but also due to the feats they discovered when they checked his background.

    A man who''d appeared from thin air, a man who the universe had no record of¡­this man managed to make his way to the peak of the younger generation within a mere year of his first appearance.

    This kind of talent was unheard of. It was natural for them to be interested.

    But at the same time, even disregarding the Director''s influence, they didn''t put much stock into him yet.

    Geniuses rose and fell like drifting clouds. There was a high likelihood that Damien would die in battle, whether that be today or when he went to war in theing days.

    It was still unknown whether he''d be cannon fodder or if he''d rise from the rubble, but only time would tell.

    If he came back from the warfront alive, then¡­

    Many people eagerly waited for the fight to start. Many bets were ced on both contenders, leading the atmosphere to heighten even more.

    And when the crowd reached the peak of its excitement¡­

    "Battle: Start!"

    The announcer''s words rang out like a bolt of lightning. Immediately, Leon teleported tens of kilometers away and waved his hand through the air.

    ''Spatial Windstorm!''

    His mana raged and formed a vortex of chaotic spatial winds. This vortex shed through space, never moving in a linear path as it somehow reached Damien in an instant.

    And in response, Damien¡­

    Grinned.

    "Dominion."

    Voom!

    An invisible wave of power spread from his body and encapsted the surrounding ten thousand kilometers, space rippled and rocked like peaceful waves crawling up a beach. Immediately, Leon''s spatial power was dispersed.

    As for the remaining tornado, why did Damien have to be afraid of some heavy winds?

    It passed through his body as if it didn''t exist at all.

    Damien looked up, gazing directly into his opponent''s eyes.

    "If it were a battle of anything else, perhaps my loss would be set. But if you want topete in Space Laws¡­"

    "Under Divinity, there is no one capable of stopping me."

    Space solidified.

    The Space-Time River materialized above Damien''s head, glimmering with iridescent blue starlight.

    "Warp."

    Space twisted. The entire arena turned into a chaotic mess. The skies became the earth, the earth became walls, the walls became interweaving branches that spanned dozens of kilometers, and those branches transformed back into the sky.

    Within the Space-Time River Domain, Damien was a God.

    Leon gritted his teeth and backed away. Despite the distance he made, he found himself trapped in Damien''s terrifying spatial cage.

    Leon''s spatial mana emanated from his body in waves. He dispelled a portion of the spatial confusion taking ce around him and regained his bearings. At the same time, his eyes hardened as he looked at Damien who was now floating in the air.

    Topete in Space Laws, this had been his intent since the start.

    Space Laws were the core of his being. They were the reason he was able to stand on par with the greatest geniuses of the era. If it was space, he wouldn''t lose to anyone!

    His body turned into a blur as he shed across the distorted terrain. Despite his senses being confused, he used instinct alone to traverse the spatialyers and find Damien.

    But if he could do it, why couldn''t Damien?

    Bang!

    A fist appeared from nothingness and mmed into Leon''s face, pushing him back. Damien appeared from within the spatialyers and grinned.

    "You can do more than this, right?"

    "Spatial Copse!" Leon yelled without responding. His hand clenched into a fist and mmed through space, causing it to shatter into countless fragments!

    A small hole was created, allowing the chaotic void to consume space itself. In the area around Leon, Damien''s spatial confusion lost its effect.

    "Damn, I knew that one was too mainstream. I bet every spatial practitioner has their own spatial copse¡­" Damienmented.

    "Since you''ve shown me yours, I''ll show you mine as well!"

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse''

    Mirage appeared in Damien''s hand as he mmed it downwards. Spatial mana raged, clouding the surrounding space.

    And when Mirage reached the end of its arc¡­

    Bang!

    Space shattered on a massive scale. Thousands of kilometers were enveloped in darkness as the chaotic void took prominence over space. The ck hole that formed swirled furiously, emitting a terrifying suction force that could be felt even outside the arena barrier!

    ''This¡­!'' Leon gasped in shock. The scale and power of Damien''s copse far outstripped his. It was to a level where he couldn''t even call himself inferior, as that term wasn''t nearly strong enough.

    It wasn''t just due to Damien''s Space Lawprehension. Mirage was a sword of space, a sword that not only had its own spatial abilities, but also the inheritedprehension from its previous master.

    When it worked together with Damien to showcase the copse tied to his sword art, the results were devastating.

    Small spatial tears opened up all around the ck hole as it furiously sucked anything nearby into its maws. Leon found himself riddled with small cuts in an instant as he moved rapidly to dodge the intrusion of these tears.

    But would Damien let him continue?

    ''Dimension Shift''

    The dimension itself split in two. The world turned grey as it split horizontally into two pieces, trapping Leon''s upper and lower body in each of them respectively.

    ''What is this?!'' Leon eximed in astonishment. This level of spatial control that even split the dimension they existed in far outstripped his understanding of space.

    Space¡­was weak.

    At least that''s what he told himself.

    Other than copse and a few other minor abilities, Leon couldn''t find any offensive merit in his Spatial Lawprehension if he didn''tbine it with his Wind Laws.

    He took pride in his element because even without offense, the defensive and supportive capabilities in space far outstripped itspetitors. It was also an especially rare element, so the element of surprise was always on his side in battle against enemies who didn''t know him.

    When Damien used space, he threwmon sense out the window. He turned this supportive element into an intense offense that couldn''t be escaped regardless of how hard one tried!

    And if they didn''t have a spatial affinity to help them counter his onught¡­

    Then any opponent he faced was guaranteed to die!

 Chapter 716 Overlord [8]

    As the battlemenced, the domineering showing only became more and more intense. Every minute that passed led to another tear in space, another array of shattered spatial fragments fluttering to the ground, and another mind-breaking spatial phenomenon that those in the crowd simply couldn''tprehend.

    What¡­was this?

    Even as they tried to watch the battle, it became difficult to concentrate. The eyes of some weaker geniuses began to bleed just by looking at the ongoing events.

    Spatial confusion was incredibly powerful. Against someone who couldn''t use the spatialyers as a medium for their senses, this kind of pseudo-illusion was deadly.

    Their awareness would be twisted and mutted until their spiritual world shattered, their five senses would be confused to the point of bing utterly useless, unless one had the power to brute force their way through the confusion or the skill to continue fighting through instinct alone, they would bepletely incapacitated by this single move!

    "How¡­how are we supposed to fight against those monsters?" a young genius muttered. His spirit was immediately shattered upon witnessing the battle.

    And he wasn''t the only one. Many felt the same pressure, the same inferiority as they gazed upon what true strength looked like.

    But they were a minority. Those who could join Hidden Death Valley¡­were never normal characters.

    The dark elf Damien met when he first entered the King Bracket, Alec, watched the battle with shining eyes.

    He''d learned his lesson previously. Weakness didn''t stem from the body, and it didn''t stem from talent. Regardless of the circumstances of one''s birth, bing a powerhouse was only a matter of effort.

    This was the system set in ce by the universe. No matter how unfair life was, as long as one had perseverance and a bit of luck, they''d reach the goals they always dreamed of.

    Weakness stemmed from the mind. A cowardly or defeatist mentality such as the one possessed by many King Bracket contenders before Damien''s arrival, this was the true difference between a genius and an ant.

    This battle was proof. It was proof that even someone with no status or power to his name in the slightest could rise and be a shining star admired by all.

    One day¡­one day he would be like that too.

    Alec now had the mentality to do so.

    And just like the previous young genius, he wasn''t alone. His belief was shared by many, his drive was shared by many. An atmosphere of fiery determination seemed to envelop the stands as the gathered crowd watched the battle.

    But this battle¡­was only just beginning.

    Damien wouldn''t let it end until he''d engraved it into Leon''s mind.

    A spatial practitioner was born to dominate. Bing content in his role as an Overlord was pathetic.

    If he was going to share Damien''s elemental affinity, then he should have the spirit to match as well.

    Damien''s arms waved through the air like he was conducting an orchestra. The dimension was torn into pieces and remolded, countless Dimensional Cages stacked on each other like a Russian nesting doll, attacks from the Void Sword Art popted the air like clouds in their number.

    Tens of thousands of kilometers of space were shattered and remolded. The arena floor was like a toy that Damien could y with as he pleased, even if the destruction wasn''t at the same level as an attack like Worldbreaker, the connotation behind his current showing was far greater.

    ''He was hiding his power.'' Leon surmised. The report he''d read didn''t state anything like this. As he found himself trapped and barraged from every side, forced to use his strong physical body and pure level of existence to dodge and block the iing attacks, he realized how naive he''d been to think Damien was as simple as the report stated.

    This man was a monster. There was no other way to describe him.

    ''But if he''s a monster¡­then that''s all the better for me.''

    Leon''s mindset changed the instant the Space-Time River appeared. That mystical materialization was unlike anything he''d ever seen before, and just a single nce at its form made him feel countless sparks of insight forming in his mind.

    Leon was the Overlord. It was his job to stop anyone from reaching the Emperor Bracket. Especially in this battle, he knew that many things were riding on his win.

    But before he was an Overlord, he was a wanderer. He was a man who rose to prominence with nothing but his own determination supporting him. He was someone who would use any resource at his disposal to grow stronger,

    What he saw in Damien was no longer an opponent he had to defeat, but instead a rival who he could battle and learn from to grow.

    The instant his mindset changed, the entire meaning of the duel changed as well. Damien''s attacks no longer looked like a rampant and domineering barrage, but instead a lesson.

    He was trying to teach Leon.

    Space wasn''t weak.

    Only its users were weak.

    If one utilized space to its maximum potential¡­

    ''Void Sword Art Sixth Form: Worldbreaker''

    It would be a monstrous ability that none could contend with.

    The arena exploded once more. With space above and the earth below, Damien''s essence pervaded all things and controlled them into destruction.

    But at this point, Leon could no longer enjoy the magnificent scene.

    ''Ah, but I don''t want it to end like this¡­''

    Being a wanderer had just as many disadvantages as it did benefits. In Leon''s case, this was mainly showcased in hisck of resources and proper training.

    Without these two things, he encountered the same problem as Damien. He grew without learning to properly utilize his strength.

    His mana capacity was weak. He''d only been able to expand it to 70,000 through the use of many treasures he''d gained through his journeys and through his years working in Death Emperor Star.

    Before he entered the academy, he''d been stuck at a mere 40,000 units of mana regardless of how he tried to grow.

    Because, unlike Damien, he didn''t have the Devour ability to support him.

    ''¡­I''m sorry, but I can''t let this battle end here.''

    His apology wasn''t to Damien, nor was it to anyone watching from the crowd.

    He was apologizing to his own spirit, because the action he was about to take went against every bit of morality in his bones.

    "You must kill him. Even if you don''t have the ability to do it yourself, you still have to do it." A voice resounded in his ears.

    It was a memory from just minutes before he entered the arena floor.

    "If you find yourself in a situation where you''re about to lose, take this pill. You will gain power you''ve never felt before. Use it to destroy him thoroughly!"

    Leon knew what they wanted from him. He was being used by the major ns to do their dirty work again.

    But he had no ns to use the pill. He at least had some minor protection in Hidden Death Valley, so even if he denied the orders given to him, he wouldn''t face many repercussions.

    Yet, the situation had changed.

    He wasn''t using the pill for the sake of others, no, he was using it so he could continue this battle, so he could learn the things he''d sought for years on end.

    Leon hardened his gaze and took the dark red pull out of his spatial ring.

    And without hesitation, he swallowed it into his body.

 Chapter 717 Overlord [9]

    Leon''s body began changing immediately after he took the pill.

    His shoulders broadened, his height grew by almost two feet, and his skin turned a charred ck color. His blood vessels crystallized and broke through the frame of his body, manifesting as red magma-like lines on the surface of his skin.

    "AHHHHH!" Leon roared. The pain he felt as he transformed was intense. Rampaging mana filled his body and entered the mysterious pocket within, enhancing even his base abilities by arge portion.

    This type of pill could only be created by a Demigod. After all, it forcefully raised the level of one''s soul as well as their body.

    Leon opened his eyes a mere secondter. Their previous color was gone, reced by the bloody color that overtook the rest of his body. Just by looking at his figure, one could easily guess the type of burden he ced on himself.

    But even after taking the pill, he didn''t immediately move. Leon stayed in ce and spread his awareness, feeling the space around him and trying to understand it.

    "HERE!"

    His fist punched out with immense force. Reddish-silver spatial mana surrounded his fist, impacting a gashed portion of space left by deless and shattering it.

    This wasn''t a shattering of space, but a shattering of Damien''s spatial mana that allowed the gash to continue existing.

    The soul was a strange thing that waspletely iprehensible to those without Divinity. It was a container and a basis of life, iming its ce as the most important part of a sentient being.

    And when the soul grew in capability, it wasn''t just abilities that got strengthened, butprehension as well.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Leon''s fists were like a flurry of light as they punched out thousands of times every second. The reddish-silver spatial mana around his body became more and more pronounced with every second.

    As for Damien who Leon was supposed to be fighting, he didn''t even consider moving in for a killing blow.

    A smile surfaced on his face. ''This crazy fucker. Doesn''t he know he''s going to cripple himself by doing that? Well, I can''t say I don''t admire his passion.''

    As it turned out, Damien was wrong about Leon. The King Bracket Overlord wasn''t some weak-minded fool who caved to the pressure of those major influences.

    Instead, he was an insane person, an insane genius who knew how to bide his time and wait.

    When he was strong enough, he would show everyone what it meant to be powerful, and he wouldn''t need anyone''s help to do it.

    Leon was exactly the type of genius Damien admired the most. He was willing to sacrifice even himself to grow while also having the mind to not act prematurely.

    ''Unfortunately, I''m not as patient as you. But if you''re going to such lengths for the sake of growth, I can''t look down on you, can I?''

    Damien suddenly paused his attack. Leon didn''t have too much time left in this state, and something as basic as deless wouldn''t do anything for his growth.

    It was better to show him something more intrinsic.

    ''Restructure.''

    ''Conceal.''

    ''Expand.''

    Spacetime Essence swirled around Damien''s body and spread through the Space-Time River Domain. Suddenly, the warped domain began to change.

    The earth that had beenpletely destroyed by Worldbreaker repaired itself, the debris in the air moving in reverse as it returned to its rightful ce. The skies unbent and returned to normal as well, with Damien''s spatial confusion being removed from the atmosphere.

    At the same time, countless Dimensional Cages formed on top of each other and created apletely isted dimension from the Real ne.

    Space seemingly returned to normal. The two fighters suddenly disappeared from the arena, and at the same time, the arena returned to its unblemished state.

    It was like the ongoing battle never took ce at all.

    And this change happened in an instant.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    Many couldn''t process it.

    As the crowd tried to understand what was happening, Damien''s mana continued to move and execute hismands.

    The Dimensional Cage expanded into a ne of its own. Here, Damien was free to use his power as he pleased.

    ''Compress.''

    ''Burst.''

    ''Rupture.''

    In front of Leon''s confused eyes, the space around himpressed to a point, looking like a small sun emitting beams as it tried to stay connected to reality.

    The sun exploded. Space and time were thrown into chaos as the Void swallowed all things. Five Dimensional Cages copsed at once, slightly exposing the ne to the outside world.

    But Damien fixed that issue immediately.

    At the same time, the space that was being consumed by the void ruptured and formed a gash thousands of kilometers long. Rending space and time, nearly tearing apart the fabric of reality.

    "Without the presence of space, how could life exist? Without the presence of space, where would time flow? Without the presence of space, how can reality manifest?" Damien spoke.

    Leon looked at him in wonder. His power¡­truly couldn''t aplish anything close to this.

    "Space is an extremely powerful force. Controlling it means controlling the universe. Look past the conventional boundaries ced upon the element by fools who know no better and allow your mind to truly connect with space. Only through this will you be able to advance past 4th ss and step into the realm of Divinity."

    Damien spoke with surety. Even if he was further from Divinity than Leon, he''d been in contact with the Divine far more frequently.

    In fact, he''d even devoured a Demigod.

    The Fifth Primal Sovereign''s essence was wasted as it protected Damien on his journey through the Abyssal Corridor, but the Space Beast''s memories were still fresh in his head even a year after the battle.

    He couldn''tprehend most of the mysteries present in those memories, but he devoured anything he could.

    Not only did his intrinsic control of space increase to the point where he was almost like a Space Beast himself in the way space actively moved to aid him, but he also gained a small understanding of what Divinity truly meant.

    It wasn''t just a rank-up, and it wasn''t just a matter of "shedding the mortal coil."

    Achieving Divinity was aplete restructuring of one''s being, a change that surpassed all others.

    Looking at Leon, Damien could feel the talent the genius had. He wasn''t at a level where he could interfere with the dimension, but he definitely had more untapped potential that couldn''t manifest due to his circumstances.

    Now that Damien was here, how could he allow that situation to continue?

    He would never forsake a fellow spatial practitioner who was worthy of his respect.

    "Come. Ignore everything else and meet my Space Laws with yours. We''ll see how much you can gain."

    Leon''s dazed expression shifted immediately. A fiery light converged in his eyes. Reddish-silver spatial mana red around his body.

    "Yes!"

    He burst forth with unholy speed. The mana around his body shifted gradually from what it was at the start of the battle.

    He could see Damien''s intentions clearly now, and he had no ns to waste this opportunity.

    Perhaps he''d be crippled after this battle, perhaps he''d never be able to improve again¡­

    But before he reached that point, he''d reach a level that he could''ve never imagined before today!

 Chapter 718 Overlord [10]

    Zap!

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Two figures rapidly vanished and reappeared from existence, melding into the spatialyers and altering their structure as theypeted in a battle of Laws.

    Space became an abstract concept under their rule. Its base structure was altered and restructured until it became apletely different existence.

    In the first half hour, Leon could do nothing but dodge and desperately block Damien''s attacks. But as time passed, he became limated to the rate of attack and the concepts within, growing inprehension by the second.

    By the time an hour passed, he was fighting equally with Damien. When 90 minutes flew by, he was even suppressing the purple-eyed genius to an extent.

    Damien grinned. ''Right, this is how it should be. Let''s up the difficulty a bit.''

    At first, Damien had only been using basic Space Laws, the same breed ofw that Leon could control. But now that Leon had a basic grasp on his level, doing this was pointless.

    Dimensional Magic began to show its might. A higher level of Space Laws than Leon could utilize at the moment, and a level he likely wouldn''t be able to touch until he changed his ss again and ascended.

    But even with this, Damien was only fighting equal to Leon. The more thetter''sprehension increased, the better he was able to use his actual strength.

    The only thing that weakened Leon was hiswprehension. At the end of the day, he was a Level 350 being. And not just that, he was a Level 350 being who forcefully raised his power through that mysterious pill.

    Damien didn''t have even a slight chance of winning against Leon in this state.

    But Leon also didn''t desire victory. The respect he had for Damien in his heart had reached an insurmountable level.

    He didn''t care that Damien was younger and weaker than him, he didn''t care that Damien had offended powers he always paid attention to avoid.

    Damien was the closest thing to a teacher he''d ever had.

    Leon smiled as he continued to fight. His fists bled every time they made impact with Damien''s, his body felt on the verge of breaking.

    His mind, however, was free. Hisprehension broke through time and time again, putting him in a state of bliss.

    The sounds of battle became a heavenly sermon in his ears. Space hugged him and held him tight, embracing him like a mother to her child.

    He could feel it. He could feel the concepts of space that Damien showed him, and he could finally understand what Damien meant by his previous words.

    The constraints he felt that space had, these constraints were defined by people who couldn''t even use the element! How stupid was he to follow their notions?!

    If he could continue this battle for just another hour, he knew he would take a qualitative leap in power.

    Yet¡­he didn''t have time.

    It had now been two hours since he began learning from Damien.

    The red pill wore off an hour ago, but Leon forcefully expanded his mana and maintained its effects as long as possible.

    Now that another hour had passed, it was impossible for him to maintain that state.

    His body wrinkled. The robustness brought by the pill faded away, the crystalline blood vessels on his skin shattered, and he withered into a corpse-like state.

    He coughed out a mouthful of blood and crumpled to the floor.

    Damien''s fist paused abruptly before it made contact with Leon. The forceful stop shattered the bones in Damien''s arm, but he didn''t care.

    He shed behind Leon and supported his body.

    "So? How did it feel?" He asked teasingly.

    "Ha¡­haha¡­it felt¡­amazing¡­" Leon responded through rough and blood-filled breaths.

    "Was it worth sacrificing everything for?" Damien asked again.

    "¡­" Leon thought for a moment. The consequences of his actions finally set in.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    Tears fell quietly from his eyes.

    "No¡­no it wasn''t. I wish¡­I could''ve fought for longer¡­"

    Damien was in disbelief, and he ended up involuntarily smiling. "You crazy bastard. You aren''t even thinking about your future, huh."

    "With the way I was¡­I didn''t have a future to think about¡­but now¡­"

    Leon''s mentality might''ve been strong, but he still submitted to the major ns. Whether it was a subconscious decision or a submission to strength, it was still true that he did it.

    When he looked at Damien, he saw someone who never submitted regardless of circumstance. He fought the Bloodlock n and taunted them openly, he spoke brazenly to a Demogod like Silcerin to the point where the Zodiac even gave Leon the red pill to kill him thoroughly.

    And even though these actions would be considered stupid or reckless by others, it didn''t look that way to Leon.

    After all, wasn''t Damien standing herepletely fine?

    Obviously, he''d gained a certain confidence from his actions and strength, and he acted based on that confidence.

    Respect was earned, not given.

    Leon''s mentality went through a sudden change during this battle. Even if he lived on as a cripple, he didn''t n to forsake reality.

    Even if he was powerless, he wouldn''t bend to anyone.

    [Heal]

    A greenish-white light suddenly wrapped around his body. It was warm and contained the essence of something he''d never felt before.

    Somehow, the injuries on his body began to recede.

    "This ability is a gift given to me by a great senior. He was a hero of his generation, and someone that should''ve gone down in the history books. Unfortunately, his name was forgotten with time, and his sacrifice went unpraised." Damien said with a sigh.

    "Even if I can''t feel it, I''m sure this ability contains a portion of his will. It''s so mystical, how could it not?"

    "W-what¡­?" Leon eximed in disbelief.

    "Shut up already. Even if I can heal you, you still overexerted yourself like crazy. If you don''t rest and properly digest theprehension you gained from this battle, there would''ve been no point in having it at all."

    Leon''s eyes remained wide. He was bbergasted, dibobted even. The question remained in his head, and inadvertently left his mouth.

    "Why?"

    Damien smiled. "Why, huh¡­is it not enough that I don''t want to see the loss of a talented spatial practitioner like you? There aren''t many of us in this universe, you know. The small portion of us that do exist should stick together, don''t you think?"

    Leon shook his head wryly and smiled. Really, he couldn''tprehend this young guy.

    His reputation preceded him,beling him a demon. Just as he was respected, he was immensely feared.

    But as it turned out, he wasn''t such a bad person. As long as one didn''t offend him, that is.

    Leon felt his eyelids closing on their own. They were too heavy for him to keep up.

    And as he fell into unconsciousness, the final sight that entered his eyes was the beautiful scene of the entire spatial scenery they''d created dissipating into the air.

    It was truly art. It was art that only a spatial practitioner could appreciate.

    That art faded from existence, and shimmering rays of sunlight reced it.

    But Leon didn''t mind.

    Just the fact that he''d been able to witness it¡­

    Meant that he was a far greater person than he was before.

 Chapter 719 Calypto [1]

    Damien and Leon reappeared on the arena floor, one standing tall and the other copsed unconscious.

    And the crowd reaction was¡­mild.

    After all, a majority of the fight had taken ce outside of their reach. How was the crowd supposed to react when they didn''t even understand what took ce?

    More than anything else, confusion ran rampant amongst them. Some began angrily shouting demanding their bet money returned due to the nature of the fight.

    The magisterial showdown they''d been watching suddenly vanished, and the results came about hourster while they sat in confusion. This was more than just being blue-balled!

    Those people who bet on Leon''s win were absolutely furious. A majority of them had bet an insane amount of contribution points on the previous Overlord, considering his indelible record.

    Losing those points was one thing, but losing them without even knowing how was another!

    Their protests were loud and violent. Many began shing against the arena barrier in protest, causing a scene amongst the crowd.

    But the announcer disregarded their voices.

    "Winner: Damien Void! The rising star has defeated the Overlord and officially earned his ce in the academy! The question is¡­will he be the new Overlord, or will he instead choose to be an Emperor?!" He yelled with the same vigor as always.

    The announcer was just as confused as anyone else, but it wasn''t his job toin. He knew the results of the battle were valid regardless of whether he''d actually seen it or not.

    After all, he''d received a mental transmission from an esteemed figure that he never should''ve had contact with in his lifetime.

    In the air, separated from the masses below, thirteen figures stood. The Director smiled as he stood among them.

    "Silcerin, did you enjoy the battle?" He asked.

    Silcerin red into the arena with red eyes. He couldn''t believe it! Even after Leon took the Blood Bursting Pill, he refused to show his full strength! By the time he started fighting to his full capacity, the pill''s duration was already long gone, leading to his easy defeat.

    He truly couldn''t believe it. To give Leon the Blood Bursting Pill was already an extreme affront to the academy''s rules. He''d only done so to curry favor with the Bloodlock n.

    But now that Damien hade out victorious, everything he did was in vain! The only thing he earned himself was the ire of those around him.

    As well as¡­

    "You should already be aware, no? Not only did you attempt to kill a rising genius of the academy, but you also almost crippled another. Aside from that, you did so in an attempt to spread the influence of another n within the academy''s grounds. For your crimes, you will spend the next two years in the Abyssal Prison for disregarding the academy''s rules."

    The Director''s words were like a bolt of lightning. Silcerin had long been expecting punishment. Even if he seeded in killing Damien, he was still bound to be punished.

    However, he didn''t expect it to be so harsh! The Abyssal Prison was Hidden Death Valley''s most terrifying prison. It was built into the ground thousands of kilometers below the surface, a ce where Death Emperor Star''s death energy thrived to the point where even Demigods would be harmed.

    If Silcerin was sent to the Abyssal Prison, he''d essentially be crippled. Especially with a two-year sentence, the version of him that exited the prison wouldn''t be anywhere near his current self!

    "Director, you can''t do this! I am one of the Thirteen Zodiacs! How could you sacrifice me for a mere brat?! I will¡ª"

    "Enough!"

    The Director''s cold voice forced Silcerin to freeze. He felt an enormous pressure envelop him, limiting his every movement.

    The pressure¡­was predatory. Silcerin felt like he''d been thrown into a freezing pit, the maws of a terrifying beast slowly encapsting him.

    The Zodiac Killer, no, it was more apt to call him the Zodiac Devourer. There was a good reason why the Director was feared by the other Zodiacs.

    Silcerin fell silent immediately, but in his mind, he was raging.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    ''Damien Void! This is all your fault! I swear upon my family name, when I exit my punishment, I will personally seek you out and kill you!''

    "Director, reconsider your decision! I am the academy''s connection to the Bloodlock n. If you imprison me, the n will definitely¡ª"

    In the next instant, Silcerin''s body disappeared from the sky.

    Without suspense, he''d been transported to and trapped in the Abyssal Prison.

    The Director didn''t give him a single chance to speak.

    Why would he? The Director didn''t care at all about what Silcerin had to say. From the way he spoke, he was obviously going to use the Bloodlock n''s influence to buy his freedom.

    But the Bloodlock n had no power in the academy.

    ''Immortal Blood Asura? If that old fart wants to try me, let hime.'' The Director scoffed.

    He swept his gaze across the other 11 Zodiacs. "Any objections?"

    He was immediately met with an array of shaken heads. How could they dare object to his decision?

    Besides, they had no reason to. Unlike Silcerin, none of the rest had ties to the Bloodlock n. They had no reason to care for a fate he brought upon himself.

    Instead, their attention was fully focused on Damien. Even if he hadn''t beaten Leon in a true duel of strength, the power he showed in the Dimensional Cage wasn''t light. The conceptual level of his Law usage was astounding.

    Each and every one of them had already forgotten about Silcerin''s matter. In their minds, recruiting Damien into their factions was far more important.

    The Director smiled when he saw them like this. ''Recruit him? Ha, I''d like to see you try. That kid won''t bend to anyone, even if it''s me.''

    Damien''s stubbornness was one of the first things the Director noticed when he first started investigating the young genius.

    If he wanted to, Damien could''ve be a supreme genius of Fallen Star Holy Land upon meeting Atticus in Dawn World, even recing thetter as the Holy Land''s Holy Son.

    But he chose not to.

    If even a peak Holy Land influence couldn''t move him, how could they?

    Nevertheless, he didn''t hate this characteristic. An untamed Damien was for the best.

    After all¡­

    ''If any influence gets their hands on a genius of his caliber, it will break the delicate bnce that''s been created in recent times.''

    The Director shook his head and stopped thinking about it. The Grand Heavens Boundary''s matters were too twisted, only somewhat calm due to the Nox invasion.

    In any case, Damien''s personality made him the perfect mercenary. As long as one offered the right reward, he wouldn''t hesitate to take the quest.

    And that was exactly what the Director did.

    ''I look forward to seeing how you progress when you leave this birdcage, boy.''

    With that final thought, the Director vanished from the sky. The remaining 11 Zodiacs followed immediately after him.

    The only ones left in the area were those on the ground, those who remained none the wiser about the former presence of those Deities who once stood above them.

 Chapter 720 Calypto [2]

    A day went by after the Overlord battle in the arena.

    During this time, Damien had to deal with a great deal of troublesome matters. The fame he acquired from the battle wasn''t light, but many believed it was undeserved.

    Still, he was able to refuse a majority of the duel requests that came his way. After all, his Heaven''s List ranking skyrocketed into the top 20 after he defeated Leon.

    Though their battle wasn''t ranked, his feat was still recognized by the academy, and his ranking was manually adjusted to match it.

    Aside from this, Damien also had to deal with his new standing.

    The announcer''s question at the end of the battle¡­

    Naturally, he answered by bing an Emperor. Why would he willingly put himself below those Holy Land geniuses?

    If they were truly a bunch of pretentious brats who rigged the King Bracket to preserve the "sanctity" of the Emperor Bracket, he would thoroughly destroy them one by one and humble them.

    Though, this was a matter for another time.

    After limating himself to the various benefits he gained from bing an Emperor, Damien went straight to his Star City residence and submerged himself in nning.

    There were only a few hours left until he left Hidden Death Valley, after all.

    ''Zara agreed immediately when I mentioned the warfront¡­the academy must be suffocating for her.''

    There were practitioners of all races on Death Emperor Star, including those from the Beast Races, but Zara never fit in with them.

    Beasts who reached 4th ss tended to embrace civilization, bing no different from humans when they didn''t utilize their beast forms.

    But Zara wasn''t like that.

    Even though she maintained more human mannerisms and a civilized lifestyle, she never shunned her bestial heritage. Zara''s nature was carnage, and in an environment like Hidden Death Valley where killing was disallowed, she was forced to suppress this nature.

    The battlefield was her home.

    ''I guess we aren''t much different in that aspect.'' Damien thought with a wry smile. Though he enjoyed theforts of Hidden Death Valley far more than Zara, he also clearly felt its restrictions.

    With his new status especially, his presence became more defined. It felt like there were eyes on him at all times.

    As someone who was used to moving uninhibited, this naturally didn''t sit well with Damien.

    ''I didn''te here for Hidden Death Valley, I came for Death Emperor Star. Unfortunately, time isn''t on my side. If I want to explore more of this mysterious and deadly world, I''ll first need to amass more power and enhance myprehension. Going to the battlefield is actually the perfect path for me to take if I want to boost my growth.''

    Practicalbat was just as important for digestingprehension as it was for consolidating strength. Using an ability over and over again would ingrain it into one''s mind and make using it almost instinctual. In the same way, the more one exercised theirprehension practically, the further it would deepen.

    Damien smiled in anticipation. In 4 more hours, he''d finally get to experience the battlefield he''d been hearing about ever since he was a young genius on Apeiron.

    He closed his eyes and didn''t think further.

    For now, he needed to rest his mind and achieve peak condition before his time came.

    ***

    4 hours was nothing. As Damien''s strength grew, his perception of time changed as well. Days felt incredibly short, and months felt like they''d pass in a sh.

    He tended to live on a day-by-day schedule, never giving himself a moment of rest. This was the only way he could stay grounded.

    Because before he exited training to visit the duel arena, he didn''t even realize a month and some had passed since he began his regimen.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    This was dangerous.

    He had ces to be, things to do, and a plethora of responsibilities on his te. If he ever got too immersed in a task and faded into his natural perception of time, his perception of those responsibilities would also begin to fade.

    He wanted to see Rose and Ruyue, he wanted to see Elena again now that he''d grown and rekindle their love. He didn''t want to be a monster who disregarded these emotional matters as he became absorbed in training and time.

    Currently, Damien stood in the central area of Hidden Death Valley, directly under the trench from which he first entered the academy. Zara stood next to him with a look of wonder on her face.

    "Is it really that cool?" Damien asked with a smile.

    Zara looked over at him with a frown. "How could it not be? Just look at it!"

    Damien shrugged. He could understand where her marvel came from. After all, they were currently standing underneath a wonder of technology unlike anything they''d seen before.

    It was a starship spanning countless tens of kilometers. It was shaped somewhat simrly to an aircraft carrier, but its design was much smoother. As it was built to withstand the chaotic starry sky, most of its facilities were located inside the ship instead of on its surface. Though, there was indeed a deck since 4th ss beings could survive in the starry sky by using their mana as protection.

    Its hull held a silver sheen from the beautiful metal that created it, and blue lines of mana snaked across its surface as it floated in the air. It was so stupidly futuristic that even Damien was somewhat surprised by its appearance.

    Still, he could never be truly excited by starships. As someone who possessed transportation abilities far outstripping these devices, he could never appreciate the convenience that their invention brought to the masses.

    But, he could definitely appreciate their weaponry.

    Although the starship was floating, its istion barrier wasn''t active, allowing Damien''s awareness to prate its surface. He could clearly see the various armaments lining the ship''s interior.

    As the two stood, their surroundings were slowly filled with people. Damien was given a special mission, sure, but this expedition didn''t involve him alone.

    A force of 5,000 students ranked from the 100s to the 10,000s on Heaven''s List was also enlisted in this mission. These students had been through the Hell Hole''s brutal training, and expeditions like this one were used by the academy to test their growth.

    When all 5,000 finally arrived, the starship descended and gracefullynded on the ground.

    A small portion of the ship''s side slid apart and revealed its interior. From there, a massive and gruff man exited.

    "Soldiers, board the ship!"

    His words were sinct and without emotion. He was amander in front of his troops, and he expected nothing from them other than his orders followed.

    And just as he expected, the 5,000 geniuses immediately got into formation and boarded the starship in an orderly fashion.

    Damien and Zara stood at the end of their line.

    Boarding that starship would signal the start of another monumental chapter of their lives, their first introduction to war.

    Damien couldn''t tell whether he was excited or nervous, but he truly felt jittery now that the moment was upon him.

    But¡­

    He wasn''t a coward. He refused to be one.

    Even in front of this massive change, he refused to show fear.

    He stepped forward.

    And along with the rest of those apanying him to Calypto, he confidently boarded the starship.

 Chapter 721 Calypto [3]

    The trip to Calypto took 2 months even with the starship using the best transportation techniques in the universe.

    Not only did it cruise through the starry sky at an insane speed surpassing any 4th ss being, it also traveled through three different long-distance teleportation arrays while doing so.

    Cross-sector teleportation arrays were widely avable in the Grand Heavens Boundary, but all those to Eden, Soul World, and the Beast Domain had been manually cut now that the Nox seeded in breaching the three sectors.

    Teleportation arrays were an immense convenience to the masses, but they were also an easy way to infiltrate the universe. These teleportation arrays were precisely how Nox geniuses like the Saint King were able to arrive in the Divine Realm.

    Rather than the safety of those who lived in the invaded domains, keeping the Nox out of the remaining ones was more important to those in power.

    Nevertheless, other than the speed of the journey itself, this starship voyage didn''t vary much from Damien''s usual trips through the starry sky. Whenever he could, he''d leave the ship and bind any Dead Stars he saw in the vicinity. And whenever he came across a lower world or beginner world, he would bind it too.

    After all, the difficulty of doing so was the same. Unless the World Core had gained spirituality, it would be dominated by his Celestial Authority.

    In consequence, Damien''s mana capacity skyrocketed once again. The amount of World Force he could control didn''t increase substantially, but the force itself became more dense. It was slowly bing viable to utilize inbat again.

    Still, 2 months wasn''t much time, and the starship didn''t wait for anyone. As it was rather tiring to Warp back into the moving ship every time he left it, Damien only got a few chances to perform this high-speed farming.

    And finally, the starship crossed into Eden.

    As the nt Race''s domain, Eden was known for its luscious worlds covered in beautiful greenery and life aura. Yet, none of those scenes could be witnessed anymore.

    Eden was submerged in destion.

    Nearly every world the starship passed was charred ck and destroyed. Some were even in pieces, their debris floating aimlessly in the starry sky.

    Only when the ship reached Calypto was a hint of the Sector''s previous wonder present.

    But even this wonder had been corrupted.

    Calypto was arge with a diameter of roughly 300,000 kilometers. This size meant that, if ced between Earth and the Moon, it would almost encapste all of the present space.

    Only a world of this level would the Nox choose as an Infected Source World.

    The world itself was painted in the color green. Even the ocean waters were dyed a simr greenish-white color after being influenced by the atmosphere.

    But rather than the luscious and lively green one would usually see in Eden, this green stunk of infection. It was a disgusting color that corrupted the''s previous atmosphere.

    They were only a few tens of thousands of kilometers away from the, and at this time, the operationmander summoned the present geniuses to the main cabin of the ship.

    "Everyone here has been roughly briefed about the situation, but I will reiterate one more time for safety. Today, we are not here to destroy the Infected Source World; none of you possess the power to do so. Instead, our mission is to distract the Nox forces residing in this world for 2 months to prevent them from aiding the main force on Throh while the main operation takes ce." Themander spoke sternly.

    "You will be split into teams of five and dispatched to various locations along the world. A world map, as well as general details on both characteristics of the world and those residing in it, have been sent to your academy emblems. Double tapping the emblem will allow you to view it."

    Themander nced over the 5,000 geniuses present with a stern face. At a time like this, there was no room for error.

    2 months was an incredibly short period of time, and expecting mere students who hadn''t grown into their strength yet to assist in this mission was something he never agreed with.

    But there was no choice. Heaven''s Army didn''t have enough leeway to split their attention to both Throh and Calypto.

    The strength of these students wasn''t much weaker than Heaven''s Army''s forces, but their experience with war and ughter was far toocking.

    Regardless, there wasn''t another option for them. The only thing he could do was watch over them and keep as many of them alive as possible.

    "There is no overarching n for this mission as the goal is distraction rather than destruction. Depending on your drop point, you will be given a series of tasks toplete, but this is it. Keep in mind that this is not just a test of your power, but also your integrity, will, and tactical intelligence! Move wisely to aplish your missions, and if you find yourself with time remaining, use it to destroy the enemy!"

    "We touch ground in 3 hours. Use this time to get limated with your teammates and prepare yourself!"

    With those words, themander left the main cabin and returned to the starship''s control room.

    Immediately after, the academy emblems of the present geniuses began to shine. An array of lines lit up the room, connecting each emblem to another.

    These lines led the geniuses to their team members. Damien and Zara had a line connecting them as well, and together, they moved to meet the rest of their group.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''It''s nice that we were ced together. Is this the Director''s work?'' Damien wondered as he walked.

    The Director was truly favoring him to influence the team pairings on an important mission like this for his sake, not that he minded at all.

    It only took a bit of walking for the duo to meet with the rest of their group. The other three had seemingly already met prior to the mission, considering how they were standing together chatting.

    When Damien and Zara arrived, the three immediately gave them a once-over.

    "So these are the two newbiesing with us? A pretty boy and his toy? How sad."

    The one who spoke was a woman with bronze skin and a sleek yet toned build. Her ck hair was pulled up in a long ponytail that draped halfway down her back.

    "A-ah! You can''t say that about people, Synth! How many times has the instructor told you not to judge people by their appearance?!" A girl next to her condemned.

    Unlike the first who had a more masculine vibe, this girl was small and cute, almost like a doll. She had shining blonde hair and equally golden eyes, a rosy blush settling on her pale skin as she shyly spoke.

    "Whatever. It''s not like they''ll do anything about it, right? Ash, you need to grow some balls. That shy personality of yours doesn''t fit you." The woman named Synth replied.

    As the two spoke, Damien sinctly made a mental note to put this Synth woman in her ce once theynded on Calypto. He couldn''t allow someone so unruly to interfere with his judgement.

    While he did so, the third person in their group walked up to him with an apologetic smile.

    "I''m sorry about her. She has a tendency to speak without thinking. The instructors have been trying to quell her rebellious nature for years, but nothing they do seems to stick."

    "Don''t worry about it," Damien replied. "If even the instructors in the Hell Hole couldn''t fix her, then it can''t be helped."

    The man nodded wryly and put out his hand. "My name is Tyler, by the way. I''m a level 300 Contractor. I''m able to tame beasts and fuse their power into my body."

    ''This Tyler guy¡­his power is simr to that Hun Fang brat. I wonder how those siblings are doing now¡­?''

    Damien shook off his thought and instead shook Tyler''s outstretched hand, replying in kind, "Damien Void. I''m not willing to reveal my ss, but I''m especially skilled in Spatial Laws and Dimensional Magic."

    He kept his exnation short and didn''t mention his level, knowing that doing so would be counterintuitive. As Zara followed his lead and introduced herself, he looked over at the other two.

    ''Their levels aren''t bad¡­the mana emanating from their bodies surpasses what you''d expect from an average level 300. Also, they definitely aren''t what they seem at all.''

    "What are you looking at, creep?" Synth sneered, interrupting his observation.

    Damien nced at her with a bored look. "What, are you too stupid to understand my intent? Tyler here was smart enough to introduce himself to his teammates. What about you?"

    "Tch. Synth, level 315, Mechanist. That''s all you need to know." Synth replied with a disgruntled scoff.

    "H-hi! I''m Ash. I''m a level 313 Berserker. Please take care of me!" The blonde-haired girl followed.

    "Berserker?!" Damien blurted out in surprise. He''d met plenty of people whose personalities juxtaposed their sses, but this one had to be the most severe case.

    "Y-yes¡­" Ash replied sheepishly.

    Damien shrugged. "Well, if you''re strong you''re strong. Looking at the three of you, it seems your partyposition is pretty solid already."

    Ash was a Berserker, a frontline fighter who could double as a tank. Tyler was a Contractor, and while his power involved fusing with beasts, he yed the mid-rangebatant role since he could respond properly to most situations with his varied skillset. Finally, Synth was a Mechanist. Damien first learned of this ss type from Lynn Carter in Niflheim. Essentially, people of this ss type were technomancers with various control abilities. Synth was clearly the long-ranged damage dealer and crowd controller of the group.

    Together, they had an airtight formation and routine that they probably followed ever since they''d been ced together.

    Considering that Damien and Zara arrived and ruined this synchronicity as unknowns, Damien almost felt like he could forgive them for their obviously unweing atmosphere.

    Though, that atmosphere wouldn''t remain for long.

    He wouldn''t allow it to.

    After all, since when was he someone who''d agree to be part of a team he didn''t lead?

 Chapter 722 Calypto [4]

    As three hours rapidly raced by, Damien and Zara got familiar with the trio they were partnered with. As it turned out, they''d been together for many years already.

    The Hell Hole was just as torturous of a ce as Damien had seen during his brief visit, and despite undergoing the pains of remaining there, these three were able to rely on each other to ovee all odds and survive.

    ''Still, to be able to take all that torture without bending is admirable, especially for that brat. This group might not be so bad.''

    Damien''s ns didn''t change at all, but he could at least admire the spirit of these three, mostly the Mechanist named Synth.

    Even putting aside her fortitude, she''d turned a more engineering-based technomancer ss into a battle ss with her own ingenuity. She was a genius among geniuses.

    Damien''s group continued conversing and getting familiar with each other, and in what felt like an instant, the starship was already hovering within Calypto''s atmosphere.

    "All troops, prepare for transport!" Themander''s voice boomed through the hall.

    Each group immediately stood straight, separating from each other and grabbing onto their group members'' shoulders.

    "Follow what they''re doing," Tyler said to Damien and Zara, "we will be teleported to our mission coordinates all at once. While holding onto each other isn''t necessary, it heightens the chances of us spawning at the same point rather than being scattered around the area."

    Damien nodded and grabbed Zara''s shoulder, and she did the same with Ash.

    The 5,000 geniuses stood in these connected positions for only a few seconds before groups started to disappear one by one.

    And soon enough, Damien''s group''s turn came.

    A sh of light enveloped him, a formation circle appearing beneath the five''s feet.

    In the next instant, they vanished from the starship.

    ***

    A mixture of sharp pleasant and foul odors mixed within Damien''s nostrils as he rematerialized. The leaves of the tall tree that produced these odors brushed against his face.

    ''Ha, even with all that talk, we still got separated.'' Damien scoffed inwardly.

    He spread his awareness into the surroundings and rapidly found the rest of the group. Other than him, they allnded together.

    ''Just my luck.''

    He teleported over before they could even regain their bearings. Other than Zara, the rest didn''t even realize there''d been an issue.

    "Good, everyone''s here," Tyler said under his breath. "Let''s find a safe ce to look through our mission tasks first and proceed from there."

    "Done," Damien said almost immediately.

    "Hm?" Tyler voiced questioningly.

    "Don''t worry about it. We''ll be there in 3¡­2¡­1¡­"

    The group teleported once again. Nowadays, Damien''s teleportation skill didn''t have many restrictions. Bringing a group of five people around his strength level with him wasn''t a problem at all.

    When they reappeared, they were standing in a mossy cave. Just as they regained their senses from another sudden spatial jump¡­

    Hssss!

    The nts around them began to hiss violently. Poisonous purple fluid dripped from the ceiling and fell to the floor, burning deep holes in the earth''s surface.

    "Didn''t you say it was safe?!" Synth eximed.

    Damien flicked his finger. Sixteen spatial lights left his hand and hit the surrounding nts, expanding into miniature Dimensional Cages that trapped them.

    "Well, it is now." He smirked.

    "Why would you do that?!" Tyler shouted immediately. The previous kind facade he possessed dropped immediately.

    "Do what?" Damien responded cluelessly.

    "Not only are you acting without consulting your teammates, you''re even putting them in danger! Even ignoring the sudden teleportation, why would you choose a cave that you obviously knew was popted?! This isn''t how a team member should act!" Tyler yelled sternly,

    Damien sighed in response. While he could see the man''s point, he also scoffed at it. Truly, these kids were green without experience in the field. They''d never been forced to survive in the wild before.

    Meanwhile, Damien had experienced it from a first-person perspective. Whether it was the 10 years of war he lived through as ric or the 2 years of brutal survival he lived through as a teenager, both were experiences these geniuses who grew up in the Hell Hole couldn''tpare with.

    He couldn''t take Tyler''s words seriously.

    "I can at least acquiesce about the teleportation. Though, it wasn''t a mistake. I did it on purpose because I''m an asshole." In natural Damien fashion, he decided to start his rebuttal by pissing them off.

    "About the cave issue, sure if it''s just the three of you, finding an unupied cave would be the best. But since I''m here now, it''s different." He continued.

    "This world was once dominated by nt species. Whether you realize it or not, everything around us has at least some form of spiritual intelligence. The reason I chose this cave is precisely for that reason."

    "As long as these acidic grapevines are alive, their aura will mask our scent. Not only that, the local flora and fauna won''t randomly intrude on this cave since its existence has already been ingrained in the ecosystem. With the vines trapped by me, they''re not only unthreatening to us, they''re even helping us scare off those beasts and sentient nts who were waiting to strike us. Don''t tell me you didn''t even sense their obvious killing intent?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Tyler shrunk back a bit, intimidated by Damien''s eyes.

    Old habits died hard. Whenever he put himself in a survival mindset, Damien''s eyes would be exceedingly cold.

    Indifferent rationality and untameable insanity, only abination of these two could allow one to survive in a ce like the First Dungeon as a ssless mortal.

    Something sparked within him.

    It wasn''t just Tyler who experienced a shock from his words. Even the unruly Synth and the shy Ash stepped back a bit.

    They fully supported Tyler''s outburst a moment ago. Just like him, they were incredibly displeased by Damien''s actions.

    But even though Damien himself said he was being an asshole for the teleportation gimmick, his following reasoning left them no room to question him.

    "I know you all think highly of yourselves, but put away that pride of yours. We''ve entered enemy territory, there is Nox aura permeating every inch of the surroundings. I don''t care about the tactical intelligence themander told you to exercise, it means nothing in front of me."

    Reddish-ck sparks erupted from his eyes as they swept across the three.

    Space trembled due to the pressure of his gaze.

    "I''m demanding obedience from the three of you. I don''t mind you ying around when it''s time to y around, and I don''t mind you gaining experience here. But at least for now, I will not tolerate insubordination. Understand?"

    His aura red. Space and time followed hismand and twisted around the three, suffocating them. Despite themotion Damien was making, not a single existence sensed the group''s presence.

    They''d long been isted from the world by a Dimensional Cage.

    "I''ll ask again. Do. You. Understand?"

    Tyler was the first to cave. He nodded immediately, followed by Ash.

    Through years of training, differentiating opponents they could face from those who could crush them became instinctual.

    And Damien¡­perhaps he even surpassed thetter category.

    Damien''s gaze focused on Synth. Despite his show of authority, she remained staring at him with zing eyes, not speaking a word.

    He teleported in front of her. His handshed out like a w and took hold of her neck.

    He squeezed. He squeezed as if he was going to snap her neck if she uttered a single wrong word.

    "Synth!"

    "Unhand her!"

    Furious cries came from Ash and Tyler, but Damien ignored them. He heightened his spacetime control, restricting their movementspletely.

    "Do you think I won''t kill you right now?" He asked coldly.

    "Kill¡­me¡­then¡­" Synth replied. Her defiance didn''t drop even at this juncture.

    Damien stared into her eyes indifferently. That zing light they contained, it reminded him of himself.

    But in the current situation, he didn''t have the time nor mind to entertain such a rebel.

    "As you wish."

    His hand tightened immediately. Synth immediately felt the pain of suffocation. Her eyes widened. She¡­was she really going to die here?

    She''d been unruly in the Hell Hole, sure, but the only reason she could do so was because she knew the instructors wouldn''t kill her.

    Facing a real threat of death¡­how was she supposed to react?

    A gentle handnded on Damien''s shoulder.

    "Damien¡­"

    Zara''s calm voice rang out through the cave.

    Before Synth could evenpletelyprehend the situation, Damien let go of his grasp on her throat and backed away.

    "Haa..." He sighed lightly. shing Zara a reassuring smile, he turned back to the trio.

    "It''s been brought to my attention that I was a bit too heavy-handed with my approach, but let''s put that aside for now. How about I exin the situation first, and then you can deem whether or not my actions were valid?"

    From the bloodthirsty demon he was a second ago, he transformed into a smilingly handsome young master.

    This sudden change¡­

    Was quite hard to adapt to for the unlucky trio.

 Chapter 723 Calypto [5]

    The mossy cave was silent. The only sounds permeating its walls were Synth''s broken coughs as she recovered from her recent near-death experience.

    It had been five minutes since Damien''s outburst, but no words had been spoken yet. After all, the three geniuses needed time to gather themselves before facing him again.

    In their eyes, the amiable youth they''d met in the starship had been reced by a monster. There was no way they could calmly converse with him anymore,

    Damien sighed as he watched them. Though, couldn''t me them for their current attitude. If Zara hadn''t stopped him, he really would''ve killed Synth.

    ''Was I being too dramatic?'' He asked himself.

    The second they dropped into Calypto, his mindset experienced an extreme change. It wasn''t just due to his survival instinct or the importance of their mission, it was a reaction akin to PTSD.

    And perhaps it was, to some extent. He''d lived 10 years of war already, whether it was in his own body or not. His experience didn''t trantepletely into the real world, but the feelings stayed ingrained in his subconscious.

    The stench of Nox mana in the air, the killing intent that surrounded them on all sides, the many factors present on Calyptobined and invoked a primal reaction that he could barely control.

    Still, he didn''t think he was wrong.

    After all¡­

    "If the three of you don''t put your guards up and start listening to me, you''ll die the second we leave this cave."

    The trio''s eyes collectively widened in shock

    "W-what?!" Tyler eximed, speaking for them.

    Damien shrugged in response. "The atmosphere is filled with deadly poison. It must be a trait of this forest. Aside from that, every tree and leaf out there is carnivorous. If you even step wrong, you might find yourself with one less leg."

    "T-then¡­" Tyler stammered.

    "Mm, the quick teleportation was to iste you from those effects. I''ll be fine because I have a powerful natural regeneration and Zara will be fine because of her beast physique, but the three of you are regr people. None of you have special traits to help you survive the atmosphere."

    Tyler and Ash were humans while Synth was an elf. While the first two had average bodies, Synth would be especially affected by the atmosphere due to the elves'' closeness with nature.

    If they stayed in an open-air environment for more than a few seconds, she would''ve been instantly poisoned.

    From the looks of it, Tyler didn''t doubt Damien''s words at all. Once he heard them, his brain whirred to life and put the pieces together. The poisonous grapevines in the cave, the foul odor in the air, the ominous hissing of the nts as they stood, it all added up to support what Damien said.

    "B-but¡­how did you know?" Tyler asked cautiously.

    "Hm? Because I was poisoned when we firstnded. I spawned inside a tree, you see. That bastard didn''t hesitate to strike even without understanding who or what I am."

    Damien thought back to the leaves that grazed his face when he first materialized. In fact, he didn''t even realize he was poisoned until midway through Tyler''s words about finding a cave. Only when the poison was expelled by Transcendent Regeneration did he perceive its existence.

    He had no desire to stay in an environment filled with poison that could deceive even his senses, and he acted on that notion without another thought.

    "If you could survive, why couldn''t we?" Synth growled immediately. Her rebellious gaze was now mixed with fear and caution as she spoke, but she didn''t hesitate regardless.

    Damien sighed. This was why he hated working in teams. It was just too annoying to build trust with people he didn''t care about.

    ''Let''s just do it the easy way.''

    The Dimensional Cage around them dispersed. Without speaking another word, Damien walked up to the cave wall and released a nearby poison vine from its entrapment.

    That terrifying purple acid dripped down without dy¡­right onto Damien''s body.

    "What are you doing?!" Tyler yelled in a panic.

    "Rx," Damien responded immediately. He sealed the vine once more and turned around, "can''t you see I''m fine?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He was, in fact, not fine.

    His flesh and muscles evaporatedpletely in the areas where he was struck. His right arm rapidly melted into a pile of bloody goo, and even a portion of his face melted down to where his skull was clearly showing.

    "Eek!" Ash yelped in terror as she turned away.

    Tyler and Synth cringed when they saw his appearance, fighting back the urge to vomit.

    "Tch, don''t turn away and watch."

    Just as Damien spoke, his flesh began to wriggle and reconnect. Sizzling purple fluid was excreted from his pores as he grew a new arm and healed his face.

    "Can any of you do that? If you think you can, you''re wee to try." He spoke afterpletely healing back to peak condition.

    "T-this¡­"

    Tyler couldn''t rebut. It was truly an insane healing factor, far surpassing anything they had ess to. While they had separate antidotes and healing pills that could mimic the same effect, they took far longer to act.

    The amount of pain they''d have to suffer before they could finally cure themselves¡­

    "Does it not¡­hurt?" Synth asked quietly. She couldn''t bring herself to raise her voice after that showing.

    "Of course, it hurts, dumbass," Damien replied. "But in the end, it''s just a matter of endurance. Isn''t it simple when you think about it?"

    No. It definitely wasn''t simple. Synth shuddered at the thought of enduring the pain of her arms and face melting off even if it was only for a few seconds.

    Only an insane person could do that with a straight face.

    With every moment they spent in this cave, Damien only became more and more terrifying to them. Age didn''t matter, level didn''t matter. He was someone who defiedmon sense.

    And they''d only known him for a few hours.

    They couldn''t imagine what kind of insanity they''d experience going forward.

    "Anyway," Damien said, somewhat breaking the tense atmosphere, "do you understand why I acted the way I did? Or should I exin more?"

    After looking at each other briefly, the three shook their heads in denial.

    In reality, they did want a deeper exnation. Even if he wanted control over the group, and even if his intent was to protect them from the toxic atmosphere, he only needed to show them as he''d done just now.

    What effect did the first showing have? Why did he feel the need to go so far?

    But even if they asked, Damien couldn''t tell them.

    He couldn''t tell them about his inherited PTSD, he couldn''t tell them about the strange instinct that guided his actions¡­

    And he couldn''t tell them about the mission the Director gave him.

    "Alright we''re on a bit of a time crunch to exit this forest, so let''s ignore this for now and get the important stuff out of the way."

    "Now, should we move on to our mission objectives or do you want to continue wasting time refusing my leadership?" Damien segued as he double-tapped his school emblem.

    He didn''t even give the trio a chance to answer as he continued on.

    Ignoring thempletely, he began to browse the list of tasks they''d been provided. He''d already memorized the world map when the Director gave it to him previously, so he didn''t need to look at it again.

    ''Oho¡­'' he thought to himself. ''Now this might be interesting.''

 Chapter 724 Calypto [6]

    Damien''s squad''s tasks were simple on paper, but were perhaps the hardest tasks given out during this assignment. At least, Damien felt they had to be.

    ''Is it because I''m on the team? Haha, am I being overevaluated or am I just being too cautious?''

    Essentially, their squad was tasked with destroying the periphery bases of the Nox on this world, destroying their food supplies, and cutting their supply chains.

    It was a great deal of work, enough to take an entire army to aplish, but it had been delegated to five people alone.

    Damien looked over at the other three curiously. Despite reading through the tasks themselves, they didn''t seem too rmed by the scale of their mission.

    ''Are these brats better than I thought¡­?'' He wondered.

    Maybe he was the scary one and they were normal¡­

    ''Nah, that can''t be it.''

    Swiping his hand, Damien shuffled the holographic windows around him until the world map was disyed.

    ''Theasi, Engra, and Ls are the closest nearby cities that have been transformed into peripheral bases. We can start there. Other than that¡­I wonder how those three will react when they see it.''

    He located the nearby food supplies and supply routes soon after pinpointing the cities and turned back to the three, exining it to them slowly.

    "First, we''ll attack Theasi and eliminate any troops within. There''s a food supply only a few kilometers away, so it''s the best ce to start. After destroying Theasi and the food supply, cutting supply chains to Engra and Ls will be extremely convenient. As for how we move from there, it depends on the situation."

    "Any thoughts?"

    While Synth and Ash put their heads down, Tyler began calcting the viability of Damien''s choice. He was the main tactician of their small group, so naturally, the other two would follow his lead.

    After a moment, Tyler slowly nodded. "We can do this. There shouldn''t be any problems unless something unforeseen happens, but those situations are unforeseen for a reason. As you said, it''s best to act ordingly when the timees."

    Damien smiled lightly and nodded back. ''This guy has his priorities straight.''

    Unlike Synth and Ash, who were still somewhat preupied with the previous event, Tyler forget it entirely in favor ofpleting the mission.

    There was a reason he acted as their tactician.

    ''Well, I did almost kill Synth so I can''t say anything about her aversion. This Ash though¡­is she really a berserker?''

    It was hard to imagine a berserker with such a frail personality, but there was no reason for her to lie about her ss.

    ''Whatever. I guess I''ll find out when it''s time for battle.''

    "Next up on the agenda: escaping this forest." Damien continued.

    "In all honestly, it won''t be that hard. As long as you remainpletely obedient and follow my steps to the tee, you''ll escape without a scratch. Worst case scenario you get poisoned, but didn''t I say before? It''s just a matter of endurance." He finished with an evil grin.

    Synth and Ash shuddered when they saw his expression. Without hesitation, the three agreed to his words.

    If they could survive properly, the matter of leadership and obedience meant nothing.

    They couldn''t trust Damien at all both because they didn''t know him and because of his actions until this point, but they could be certain of one thing:

    Damien cared about this mission.

    And as long as he cared about this mission, he wouldn''t needlessly sabotage their team, especially if they followed him properly.

    Damien smiled widely when he saw their unhesitant reactions. These three really caught on quick.

    "Good, since it''s settled, then it''s time to go. Remember! Follow me closely!"

    With those words, Damien walked out of the cave and began traversing the forest.

    He did so casually, recklessly moving without caring about the surroundings. It almost made the trio doubt whether or not they wanted to follow him.

    But seeing Zara do so easily, they weren''t left with a choice.

    Slowly but surely, they exited the cave and followed Damien''s footsteps exactly.

    And somehow, the surrounding nts never attacked them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Every step Damien took was followed by a light ripple in space. The path he walked was filled with the element, each step only amplifying its effects.

    Hssss!

    A nearby nt shot forward, opening its leaves like a Venus Fly Trap as it tried to attack Damien.

    But before it could even get near his body, it ran into an invisible wall. Regardless of how hard it tried, it felt like it was stuck in msses, unable to move forward even an inch.

    The concept of distance that Damien used for Horizon Break had plenty of other uses as well. Making an infinitesimally small portion of space nearly infinite was only one of its base abilities.

    And with this simple method alone, Damien was able to keep the group safe from any attacks.

    Trees couldn''t move. Even if they attacked, they could only do so with branches and roots. Restricting these was just as simple as restricting regr nts. Other than the trees, however, nothing else was a threat to Damien''s safety.

    As for the poison¡­

    ''Material Shift''

    ''Material Shift''

    ''Material Shift''

    The poison in the surroundings was constantly separated from the atmosphere through Material Shift. As Damien''s mana depleted, the toxicity of the atmosphere in the surrounding few kilometers began to substantially drop.

    His awareness spread to its limits, searching for the end of the forest. As long as he could see it, he could go there.

    And while Damien implemented multipleplicated techniques to make the casual stroll he was taking possible, they were incredibly discreet techniques.

    To the three geniuses following behind him, it was like a miracle urred.

    Attacks couldn''t get near them at all, and every time a block of solid purple material appeared in the sky, the air became slightly more breathable.

    They didn''t understand exactly what Damien was doing, but his actions served as a greater show of strength than anything he''d done in the cave.

    Only half an hourter, Damien found the edge of the forest ten thousand kilometers away.

    He surrounded the group with his mana and teleported them without a word.

    In the next instant, they were standing on a deste in with the forest to their backs.

    It was that easy.

    ''But¡­if we''d stepped out of line even once, his protection wouldn''t have applied to us. We would''ve been stuck in that strange sticky space,pletely susceptible to iing attacks.''

    And Damien wouldn''t put in any effort to save them if that happened. Tyler realized it instantly.

    ''Perhaps¡­that tyrannical showing was necessary.''

    Tyler nced at Synth from the corner of his eye. No matter how close they were, he had to admit that Synth was still too unruly to act as a soldier.

    Tyler was the brain, he was a practical thinker regardless of the situation.

    Now, his rational brain was showing him the obvious.

    Without being terrified of Damien due to him almost killing her, Synth would''ve never listened to his orders. Even if Tyler and Ash tried to convince her otherwise, she would''ve done something out of line just to satisfy her silly pride.

    That kind of action would''ve cost her her life.

    Tyler looked at Damien''s back with aplicated gaze.

    Was it all nned from the start? Or was Damien just naturally tyrannical?

    While he couldn''t formte a proper answer to this question, he at least knew this much:

    Perhaps following Damien in a brutal environment like this one¡­

    Was actually the best decision they could''ve possibly made.

 Chapter 725 Theasi [1]

    Immediately after leaving the toxic forest, the group made their way to Theasi. Even though Damien said it was close, in reality, it was close to 2,000 kilometers away.

    The only reason this distance looked short was because of the power of their squad.

    Because everyone in the squad had power that at least surpassed mid-rank 4th ss, they made it to Theasi within half an hour.

    "Tyler, how do the three of you usually do reconnaissance?" Damien asked when they arrived a few hundred kilometers away from the base.

    "Reconnaissance usually ends up being my job. I have a few tamed beasts with stealth-based abilities and transformation abilities, so I can get by. Though, since stealth isn''t my specialty, it can only be called base-level information gathering." Tyler responded after some thought.

    He didn''t hide anything, telling the tant truth even if that meant bringing down his value as a team member.

    Damien nodded in appreciation at his straightforwardness.

    "That''s fine then. Zara, do you mind taking the job?"

    "No problem."

    Zara responded without much thought and melted into the ground, turning into a shadow that blended with the scenery and disappeared.

    "That¡­" Tyler muttered.

    "Hm? Is there a problem?" Damien asked curiously.

    "No, it''s morning. I''ve just never seen someone who can use Shadow Laws so tantly. The shadow affinity is one people tend to disregard since it can only show its prowess with the presence of darkness."

    "Is she that strange? She''s been able to do things like this since she was young."

    "Mm, she is talented enough to utilize her Laws in innovative ways that others couldn''t think of. This level of talent far exceeds us."

    "Aha, that reminds me. I never got to know you three''s Heaven''s List rankings." Damien suddenly said.

    Tyler scratched his head sheepishly.

    "That''s probably because we aren''t too special. We''ve barely made our way into the 10,000s. Synth has the highest ranking at 8,127. Ash is second with 8,442, and I''m¡­well, I haven''t made it into the 8000s yet." He spoke in an embarrassed tone.

    Damien shook his head. In fact, making it into the top 10,000 on Heaven''s List essentially meant that they were in the top 1% of the universe''s geniuses. While not everyone was counted on Heaven''s List, it still outlined a considerable portion of the universe''s talent.

    This ranking couldn''t match up to Emperors like Damien and Atticus, but it was more than just decent.

    While Damien and Tyler continued conversing, the shadows nearby coalesced and Zara''s form emerged from the ground.

    "Got everything?" Damien asked.

    "Of course," Zara replied with a smile.

    She''d only been gone for around ten minutes, but that was more than enough time.

    Her mana moved delicately, particles of ice forming in the air andbining into the form of a city. This ice sculpture was precise down to the veryst detail; a scaled-down model of Theasi.

    "The city''syout isn''t veryplicated, and the Nox didn''t change it when they overtook it. Infiltrating wouldn''t be a problem, but there''s no need for it." Zara started exining.

    "There is a considerable number of 3rd ss Nox and below, but the main firepower of the base lies in the 100 Higher Nox residing there. But even they''re only early-stage 4th ss beings with a single mid-stage 4th ss leading them."

    Damien nodded as he watched Zara exin the base''s structure and the troops'' positioning. It was thorough intelligence to the point where it was overkill for the size of the base they were raiding.

    After thinking for a moment, Damien opened his mouth to speak.

    "I''ll take this one with Zara. Save your strength, since I''m going to make you do all the heavy lifting from this point forth." He said to the apanying trio.

    "A-all of it?!" Synth eximed.

    Damien grinned. "Chill, I''ll help out if it looks like you guys can''t handle it. But¡­you came here for experience, didn''t you¡­?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    With an evil smile decorating his face, he finished his words. "I''ll make sure you get all the training you could possibly want."

    With that, he grabbed hold of Zara and teleported away, arriving at Theasi.

    "Was it okay to leave them by themselves?" Zara asked when they rematerialized.

    "Eh, it''ll be fine," Damien replied nonchntly. "Instead of worrying about them, let''s take care of our own business. What do you think, should we do it like old times and race to see who kills the most?"

    Zara nced at Damien and smiled. "Hmph, if you think you can still beat me as badly as before, I''ll prove you wrong!"

    Without another word, she dashed forward and entered the Nox camp. Immediately, she was faced with a cacophony of ear-rending screeches. Only a single Lower Nox near the city''s entrance smelled her presence, but they reacted as one.

    Kraaaaah!

    Together, thousands of mindless Nox beings charged at Zara with ws and razor-sharp appendages shing about. Their inky ck forms were gruesome to look at, and as Zara began killing them, ink sshed about onto the paved roads of the city.

    Zara didn''t even bother to use techniques on these lesser beings. Back when she first fought one with Damien and Rose, they''d been too weak to cope with the Nox''s frightening regeneration factor. But now¡­

    With every swipe of her hand, hundreds fell. It wasn''t even a challenge to take out the several thousand Lesser Nox that were charging towards her.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Ink piled up on the streets like rainwater as Zara''s shadows permeated the air. She moved through the city with ease, slowly making her way towards the 4th sses.

    But before she could reach their location, she noticed something odd.

    The ink polluting the ground was wriggling around like it was alive. It was coalescing together, and with each second, therge ink ball they formed grewrger andrger.

    ''What is this?'' Zara wondered. Unlike Damien who''d seen many imparted memories of the Nox, Zara didn''t have much information on them.

    Instead of stopping the process before it could finish, she decided to watch what happened when they were done.

    And soon she found her answer.

    The ink ball grew until the streets were clean once more. Its surface hardened into something akin to a shell, and when it cracked¡­

    A greyish-ck hand punched out from within.

    "Hm¡­" a mutter came from the being that stepped out of the ink egg. It looked at its new body in marvel.

    "We have been¡­reborn¡­"

    Zara''s eyes narrowed. ''A¡­4th ss? How is that possible?''

    Even if they were otherworldly invaders, the Nox still followed the same growth system as everyone else. For a phenomenon like this to take ce was simply impossible.

    After all, a 4th ss wasn''t just an amalgamation of 3rd ss beings. Even if one transmuted thousands of 3rd ss beings into a singlerger existence, it would merely be a stronger 3rd ss.

    To ess Laws, to connect with the universe, to contain higher forms of mana, one needed to pass their Baptism and reach 4th ss.

    Yet¡­why was it that she could feel the energy ofws from this newly-born Nox?

    For a moment, Zara was stumped.

    ''Never mind. I can just ask Damien about it when we finish here.'' She thought to herself. She''d yet to ask him for information about the Nox both due to circumstance and pride, but in a situation like this, she didn''t care about pride anymore.

    What she wanted were answers, answers about her origins and answers about her race. And if she had to lean on someone to get those answers¡­

    As long as it was Damien, she didn''t mind at all.

 Chapter 726 Theasi [2]

    While Zara still wanted to experiment more with this newly born Nox being, she knew she''d have plenty of chances to do so in the future. Their mission on this world wouldn''t end with just a single Nox settlement, so she had an abundance of time to observe and learn about the species.

    Right now, however, she was in the middle of apetition.

    She couldn''t just let Damien win after all that boasting she did, could she?

    Without hesitation, she mobilized the power of her Shadow Laws, putting into motion theprehension she earned through the past few months of rigorous training.

    ''Shadow Inverse: World of Light''

    Voom!

    The surroundings were painted in blinding grayish-white light. All darkness in the world faded as the concept itself was overwritten.

    "Kaaaaah! W-what is this?!" The newly born Higher Nox screeched.

    It had only just been birthed into existence. It barely had control over its body, let alone the ability to resist someone of Zara''s strength.

    "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it right now!"

    As its screeches became louder and more ear-piercing, the blinding light focused on the Higher Nox''s position and intensified. When it reached a level where it seemed like a second sun had swallowed the earth¡­

    ¡­the Higher Nox''s screams died down.

    The light faded soon after.

    The battle ended just like that.

    ''Time to move on.'' Zara said inwardly. ''If I dy, I''m bound to lose.''

    Her body faded to shadow and dashed through the city. Wherever she went, she would find a new group of Lesser Nox to ughter.

    But even as she did so, she could feel it.

    Fierce vibrations emanated from the city center. The fluctuations from the battle there spread even to where she currently was.

    As expected of a spatial practitioner, Damien ignored all the small fries and went straight for the bosses.

    And considering that the battle was taking far longer than it needed to, he was clearly having a great time.

    Zara shook her head in dismay at the thought.

    ''Tch, cheater.''

    ***

    Just as Zara guessed, Damien didn''t waste any time on those Lesser Nox. They didn''t mean anything to him, and even if he wanted to kill them, he could easily do after he got rid of their leaders.

    The Higher Nox however¡­

    ''These guys somehow gained intelligence through means that the Heaven''s Armies of countless generations have failed to grasp. But if I can devour them¡­''

    Damien didn''t even see these beings as opponents. In his eyes, they were bundles of essence and memories for him to devour.

    ''I need to be quick, though. It''d be annoying if these bastards dissolved into ink like their lesser counterparts, and it''d be an even greater disaster if they do that transformers shit too.''

    Damien dodged a jagged de as he entertained his thoughts. Just as he did so, three more surrounded him from each side and tried to block his escape routes.

    But how could such a strategy work against him?

    His body disappeared as the des converged on his prior position, rematerializing elsewhere.

    Still, he wasn''t necessarily safe. There were 100 4th ss Nox who all gathered together in the central area of the city. When Damien arrived, he provoked them all into action, fighting them at once.

    ''Then again, it was only two or three at the beginning. Who knew the Nox were so short-tempered? Just a little bit of provocation and they gathered like sheep.''

    His body ducked and weaved through a flurry of attacks. Inky ck liquid surrounded him from every angle and morphed into various weapons and attacks as he moved around.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Despite the efforts of 100 beingsing together as one, even touching a hair on Damien''s body seemed impossible.

    "Why are you running?! Fight like a man!"

    "Fight us! Fight us, don''t run!"

    Various exmations of anger rang out from the surrounding Nox beings. Their bodies morphed and mutated to give them an advantage against him, but nothing they did worked.

    They were too weak.

    Early-stage 4th ss beings were next to nothing to Damien at this point.

    ''Especially since these guys haven''t adapted to their intelligence yet. I can''t be certain if it''s only those who''ve just been promoted who are like this or all early-stage 4th ss Nox, but at least the ones in this camp are still in the process of learning how to utilize their newfound spirituality.''

    Damien didn''t think it was strange. Even he, as a human who was born with consciousness, needed a copious amount of time to learn how to use his intelligence. The version of him who existed in the First Dungeon, despite being more fluent, wasn''t much smarter than these Nox.

    Turning around, Damien shed his arm through the air and sent an arc of spatial mana at the inky sludge wall that was about to attack him, splitting it in two.

    ''Their attack patterns are too simple. They have ess to Death Laws, but they haven''t learned to use them. They''re still using the same physical attacks they''re used to, but consciously infused with death mana in the crudest way possible.''

    He teleported away, appearing behind one of the nearby Nox beings and crushing its skull with a single press of his hand.

    The being immediately melted into a puddle of ink emanating a slightw fluctuation.

    ''As I thought, this is a racial trait. It''s not that bad when they''re still Lesser Nox, but if the Higher Nox are allowed tobine through this method¡­''

    It might actually create a challenge for him.

    Unfortunately, Damien didn''t have time to entertain this challenge. He couldn''t be certain how memories were affected when the Nox were reborn, and memories were his top priority at the moment.

    ''Alright, there''s no point in dying further. It''s time to get down to business.''

    ''Dimension Shift''

    The world turned grey and one became two. The dimension split horizontally where Damien shed his arm out, bisecting his enemies without fail.

    Their bodies began to dissipate, both halves individually turning into puddles of ink.

    Yet, in that split second before they could melt¡­

    ''Stagnant Reality''

    Spacetime Essence flowed from his body and permeated the surroundings. Within the bisected world, reality itself was brought to a screeching halt.

    "Khhh¡­!" Damien let out a pained breath. Even though his ability to control spacetime had improved, tampering with the fabric of reality on arge scale brought him immense pain, even if he did so for only a few moments.

    Not to mention, the mana usage was enormous. Damien was usually someone who never had to worry about running out of mana, but in the current instance¡­

    ¡­100,000 units of mana flowed like water, exiting his body to maintain the space. At the rate his mana was depleting, Damien could only hold the effect for a single second.

    But this was enough time.

    ''Devour''

    Rumbling ck energy clouds dispersed into the surroundings, centered on Damien''s body. Like a horde of beasts, the clouds charged at the bisected Nox beings frozen in time and enveloped them.

    Within mere sparks of an instant, they were devoured whole.

    When time resumed once more, no trace of them could be found. An influx of essence rushed into Damien''s body, apanied by a sticky and disgusting mana that he found himself unable to integrate.

    He didn''t even have to think before coagting this mana into a ball and expelling it from his body.

    And just as he did so, he was hit with another wave of boons, the exact benefit he was seeking when he attacked these beings.

    Their memories began to flood into his mind.

 Chapter 727 Cruel [1]

    "Ack!"

    Damien clutched his head in pain as a wave of fragmented memories rushed into his spiritual world.

    Death, destruction, darkness; these three words were the only ones he could use to describe their contents.

    ''What is this?'' He wondered as he tried to organize the messy array of images.

    It wasn''t just the fact that he''d devoured 100 of them at once, even the memories of each individual were in pieces, never following a singr time flow.

    Like shards of ss littered across his spiritual world, the memories remained. But regardless of how he tried, he was unable to find order within them.

    ''Is something missing?''

    When he devoured the Fifth Primal Sovereign, he was shown a great deal of thetter''s life. Damien had no way of knowing if he saw everything, but he knew that at least the important parts were covered.

    The memories yed out like a film back then. He watched from the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s perspective while his life unfolded.

    The memories of these Nox, however, didn''t hold any semnce of simrity, whether in content or form, to those of the deceased Sovereign.

    ''Let''s put them away for now.''

    Damien quickly used his own spiritual intent to suppress the chaotic memories and seal them away within his mind.

    When he had the opportunity, he could naturally look over them. But for now¡­

    ''Is that bastard finally going to show up?''

    There was still one enemy left, a mid-level 4th ss Nox who was acting as the leader of those he just faced.

    But no matter how critical the previous battle became, it didn''t show itself at all.

    Damien''s awareness spread through the city. Before long, he found exactly what he was looking for.

    ''Heh, trying to run?'' He scoffed inwardly.

    Mirage appeared in his hand, and without a moment of hesitation, he mmed it into the ground.

    ''Void Sword Art Sixth Form: Worldbreaker''

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Dust and debris flew chaotically into the sky, the surrounding buildings copsed in a domino fashion as the attack''s shockwave spread.

    Within seconds, the city was leveled to the ground.

    ''It''s nice to see Worldbreaker''s effects outside of the battle arena, but still¡­I wonder how it''ll look at full power?''

    Damien naturally held himself back so he didn''t ruin the world too much. He couldn''t afford for it to be destroyed quite yet.

    Nevertheless, he achieved his purpose. With the city now leveled, the small mid-level 4th ss Nox was exposed in broad daylight.

    "Running with your tail between your legs isn''t very leader-like of you, is it?" Damien asked sarcastically after teleporting in front of the being.

    "Ah¡­ah¡­!"

    The Nox whimpered as he backed away. Just a second ago, he''d personally witnessed how Damien ughtered the other 4th-ss Nox.

    Just because he was a mid-level 4th ss didn''t mean he was insanely powerful. It was a given that Damien could kill him just as easily.

    Only, his intelligence hadpletely developed. He knew exactly what was happening.

    ''I¡­I need to escape!'' He thought in a panic. His eyes darted around, but because Damien copsed the town, there was nothing he could use as a distraction while he ran.

    ''Ah, the ground!''

    "Thinking about escaping?"

    The devil''s whisper entered the Nox''s ear. Suddenly, he found the ground drifting away from him.

    Rather than being lifted into the air, though, he was instead being separated from reality.

    "I was wondering why the memories I devoured are so disorganized and fragmented, but there''s really no way for me to figure it out. After all, when has there ever been a case where someone devoured a Nox''s memories?"

    ''What is he talking about?''

    The mid-level 4th ss Nox felt a wave of confusion hit him, along with a certain ominous feeling that he couldn''t pinpoint the cause of.

    But then, before he could regain himself, Damien''s voice appeared right next to his ear.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "So I was thinking: if I have to put the puzzle together on my own regardless, shouldn''t I acquire as many pieces as I can first?"

    Arge hand grabbed the Nox''s face. Through the gap in those fingers, the being could see a pair of gleaming purple eyes looking down at him.

    "S-spare¡­m-me¡­"

    "Thank you for the meal."

    It was thest sentence he heard. Spacetime Essence transferred into his body from Damien''s hand and wrecked his internals. Before he could even writhe in pain, a cloud of ck gaseous essence swallowed his body.

    ''Devour''

    Damien licked his lips as he watched the Nox being struggle to escape. The Void''s maws entrapped its prey, slowly savoring his taste as it devoured him.

    Without suspense, the mid-level Nox died even more pitifully than his underlings.

    ''Too easy. I guess there''s a reason why Theasi is just a peripheral camp.''

    Damien dispelled the Dimensional Cage and floated down to the ground. Just as he expected, even the mid-level 4th ss Nox''s memories were the same.

    Because it was only a single target this time, Damien could feel it far more clearly.

    ''They obviously don''t live with broken memories. It feels more like something is forcefully shattering them during the process of transmission. Or maybe¡­does it happen upon death?''

    In the first ce, the Nox were a strange species. Despite following the same growth system as every other species, they were able to do things that fundamentally went against the universe''sws.

    For one, the way they dissolved upon death.

    ''In their dissolved state, even if I devour them I don''t receive any benefits. Whether it''s memories or power, it all vanishes as if the beings were never alive in the first ce.''

    Yet, the Nox also possessed the miraculous ability to gather together and fuse as one after they died. The puddles of ink that even the Void Physique couldn''t find value in would suddenly be priceless limbs and organs for the newly born Nox being.

    ''Is it truly that? When they die, are theypletely broken down into their baseponents so that the newly born lifeform isn''t just an amalgamation of egos? If that''s the case, then¡­''

    As Damien was stuck in thought, Zara materialized next to him, bringing the trio of geniuses that apanied them along as well.

    "Damien, are you okay?" She asked quietly, snapping him out of his thoughts.

    He smiled back with a reassuring look. "I''m fine, I was just thinking about something. Never mind that, though. How was your hunting?"

    "Great! I think I killed around 10,000 before you brought the city down. The rest died as coteral, so I couldn''t count them."

    "You might''ve killed more, but I got the big ones. Who''s the real winner here?"

    "Obviously me. Didn''t you say we werepeting for most kills? You sabotaged yourself from the beginning."

    "Tch."

    Damien scoffed, knowing he couldn''t argue. He really could''ve killed a decent number of Lesser Nox before targeting the 4th sses, but he got too absorbed in the prospect of devouring their memories.

    ''I didn''t even get anything good from devouring them either.''

    "Alright, fine. You win." He said with a sigh.

    "Hmph! I told you from the start!"

    While the two yfully bantered, the three behind them were forced into shock once more.

    Leveling the city was one thing. Even they could aplish the same feat as mid-level 4th sses. But the fact that it took less than 5 minutes for the duo topletely obliterate the Nox present within?

    That wasn''t something any of them could aplish.

    ''I see why he wanted to take it alone now¡­'' Tyler thought to himself. Besides the obvious efficiency, it was yet another show of power.

    ''But this time, it wasn''t meant for us.''

    Damien definitely knew that their trio had no thoughts of rebelling or disobeying after the incident in the toxic forest. The reason he went so far as leveling the city had to be something else.

    ''Haa¡­.never mind. I won''t be able to understand his actions no matter how hard I think.''

    As Tyler resigned himself to ignorance, Damien''s voice entered his ears.

    "Now that we''re done with that, it''s your turn. Are you all ready?"

    This time, the trio would have to show off their power.

    And they had to be sure not to disappoint.

 Chapter 728 Cruel [2]

    Another 5 minutes passed after Theasi''s destruction. With this time, the group made their way to the food supply nearby.

    They found themselves outside of arge fortress-like city that even surpassed Theasi in size. It was quite ironic to see a food supply that looked grander than the base it supplied food to.

    ''It''s finally time for that, huh.'' Damien thought as he looked at the three.

    They were huddled up together, going over a n to take down the food supply.

    Because it wasn''t an actual base, the number of Nox present within wasn''t too high. Because the duties at the food supply were much more hands-on, every Nox within was an intelligent Higher Nox as well.

    Damien and Zara stood to the side and watched how the three decided to proceed. The only help they provided was in reconnaissance.

    Zara gave the group a general overview of the fortress'' structure as well as an urate view of the strength of each Higher Nox within.

    There were only 20, and every single one was still in the early stages of 4th ss, but that didn''t mean the group could let their guard down.

    "We''ll go with the same strategies as usual. Are you both ready?" Tyler asked with a solemn face.

    "Mm."

    "Let''s get it over with already!"

    He received two vastly different responses with the same intent. After giving Damien a nod of confirmation, he moved towards the fortress with one woman on either side of him.

    "Was it okay to not tell them?" Zara asked as she watched them leave.

    "Mm, I don''t know. I felt like it''d be more impactful if they saw it for themselves." Damien replied with a shrug.

    Zara looked at him for a second and sighed.

    During the time she''d spent under Tang Lingzi, she learned a little about what humans were supposed to be like.

    Damien was definitely not like them at all. If anything, he was more bestial than even she was.

    But that wasn''t her ce to judge.

    As long as he remained the same Damien she knew, she didn''t care in the slightest.

    Putting away her stray thoughts, Zara refocused her attention on the trio who''d just arrived at the fortress gates.

    Tyler silently gave the signal, and on hismand¡­

    BOOOM!

    The fortress wall copsed. A 10-foot-tall mech suit encapsted Synth''s body at an unknown time, and a single st from its cannons was enough to take down the wall.

    With utmost confidence in their abilities, the group charged forward¡­

    ¡­only to stop the next instant.

    "This is¡­the food supply¡­?" Tyler spoke shakily. He was barely able to formte his words.

    "Ah¡­!" Ash muttered a sound of astonishment, unable to speak at all.

    And as they reacted¡­

    "What is this bullshit?!" Synth''s roar resounded through the surroundings.

    In front of them wasn''t anything like a food supply at all.

    It was a city filled with livestock.

    Sentient livestock.

    Lining the streets were hundreds and thousands of beings from all races. Humans, angels, elves, and even nt species sat withered in long lines aside the road.

    Their bodies were frail, their skin without blood or life.

    They were dead.

    Within the various buildings of the fortress that was better termed an enclosure, even more life signatures could be felt.

    Clearly, food supply meant somethingpletely different when considering the Nox.

    ''Concentration camps.''

    Damien knew it from the beginning. The fact that the Nox were keeping the universe''s lifeforms in concentration camps and torturing them before devouring them as food, it was included in the Director''s information.

    But nothing he said could''ve prepared his squad members for this reality.

    ''They''ve been trained forbat, but they haven''t been trained for the brutality of war. I guess part of the reason they have practical training like this is so they can experience it first-hand.''

    It was a cruel method. Those who couldn''t adapt would die in battle, while those who could would return victorious as changed men and women.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Was it to temper them? Or was it to dull their emotions and control them?

    Damien didn''t know the academy''s intent, but what he could see was that Tyler, Ash, and Synth¡­

    "Attack. Leave none alive."

    ¡­were part of thetter category.

    They moved without hesitation.

    Synth flew into the air, using her mech suit to target the environment itself and destroy the fortress.

    Tyler''s form changed into a mix between a panther and a human, speeding across the ground as he pulled the living victims away from their enclosures into the center of the city.

    Their main goal was to save people.

    By the time the Nox present reacted, Ash''s trembling form was already in front of them.

    "You¡­you¡­how could you¡­?" She muttered as she faced them.

    "Human?"

    "Hahaha! A human hase!"

    "Capture her! Capture her!"

    The Nox didn''t respond to her question. Their thick bloodlust permeated the air as they moved to y her.

    Ash''s entire aura changed in that moment.

    "HOW COULD YOU?!"

    Her eyes zed red with fury. Her small body emitted a series of cracking and popping sounds as she suddenly erged in size.

    Bulging muscles popted her form, veins so thick they could be mistaken as snakes writhed across her skin.

    "ALL OF YOU¡­SHOULD DIE!"

    The female gori known as Ash charged without mercy. Her fists were covered in a thick red killing energy and her body seemed impervious to pain.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    With every punch, a shockwave rang out. Loud bangs apanied her fists as the air copsed from the pressure of her movements.

    The Nox began to stter across the ground as ink.

    "Kill!"

    "Threat! Threat!"

    The Nox screeched miserably, mobilizing their mana and turning their appendages into various weapons as they charged at the berserker.

    But before they could reach her¡­

    VOOOOM!

    Aser-like beam of energy descended from the heavens. Synth stood in the air with her mech suit primed, aiming at any Nox who blocked Ash''s path.

    The ughter continued just like that. Ash acted from the front, Tyler joined the two and supported Ash from the middle, and anything the two couldn''t handle was covered by Synth who watched from the air.

    Their teamwork was impable. Within just 5 minutes, the 20 Higher Nox within the camp were killed.

    What followed was a tsunami of hellfire. Tyler''s form changed into a draconian. When he opened his mouth, furious mes epassed the entire battlefield and consumed the inky ground.

    ''Thorough. They weren''t trained in the Hell Hole for nothing.'' Damien thought with a smile as he watched them.

    They first cleared a proper amount of space for them to battle freely by destroying the buildings and moving the victims of the camp while Ash distracted the enemy with her insane defense and power. Once this step was done, the other two joined and used their synchronicity to absolutely decimate the Higher Nox.

    They even remembered to eliminate the inky residue so the Nox couldn''t be reborn from the ashes.

    It was a wless victory.

    But one that took a heavy toll on their minds.

    Their rage and the proceeding battle allowed them to face it without much thought, however, it was over now. Reality was shoved in their faces.

    There were tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of these food supplies all around Calypto. There was an uncountable number if they looked at the entirety of Eden.

    And each and every one of these food supplies was another concentration camp filled with denizens of the universe.

    Denizens who suffered every single day without any hope of salvation.

 Chapter 729 Cruel [3]

    There was only silence in the air.

    A massive battle that destroyed a majority of the fortress just ended, but those who were contained within didn''t show any emotion.

    As Tyler, Synth, and Ash walked through the crowd and provided healing pills to the victims, they were only met with dull eyes and hopelessness.

    ''No, this is worse than hopelessness. They no longer have life in them even if they''re alive.''

    Hopelessness was a feeling akin to despair. The fact that it could be felt meant that the possibility of a spark of hope appearing still existed, since emotion still ran rampant within the mind.

    But when even hopelessness was lost¡­

    ''They can''t be saved.'' Tyler realized.

    Even if these people were saved, nothing would change. They wouldn''t regain their minds. They''d been broken to that extent.

    Ash shivered as she walked through the aisles of bodies.

    Malnourished wasn''t a strong enough word to describe their condition. They were practically hanging onto life by a thread, a thread the Nox created to forcefully keep them in thend of the living.

    And perhaps theck of proper nutrition was the least of their problems. It was rarer to see an unblemished body than one covered in scars in this ce.

    The wounds on their bodies were rarely healed properly. Scar tissue and disgusting infected gashes painted their bodies in an atrocious yellow color.

    Was this reality?

    Was reality always so cruel?

    The cruelty of war was something veterans spoke of constantly. It was something that was drilled into the heads of everyone who was bound to experience it.

    War was never painted as something grand to these Hell Hole soldiers.

    But this was a different level.

    The Nox were inhumane to say the least. They didn''t care about respect or integrity, they didn''t care about the universe''s perception of what should and shouldn''t be done.

    They exercised cruelty by whatever means possible, their only goal to bring ruination to thend of existence.

    Damien and Zaranded on the ground nearby and watched the geniuses quietly as they tried to cope with the truth they''d been faced with.

    Tyler was the calmest. His rational brain long told him that the possibility of something like this existed, but he consciously chose to ignore it in favor of his mental well-being.

    Now that reality was in front of him, he sighed and faced it head-on.

    Synth was much fiercer. She had a fiery personality from the start, and the moment she became aware of the suffering these people must''ve gone through, her temper exploded.

    It was only due to the solemn atmosphere that she kept her mouth shut. But from the way her fists clenched so hard she drew blood from her palms, her feelings were evident.

    Of the three, Ash had the most severe reaction.

    From the beginning, she was a reserved person. She could be called the "innocent" one in the group despite her ferocity inbat.

    Reality hit her like a hammer. She stumbled as she walked, her face incredibly pale from what she witnessed. It looked like she was barely holding herself together.

    But she still did her best to try.

    Perhaps the atrocities that had already taken ce were impossible to reverse, but the purpose of the Hell Hole and the soldiers it raised was to make sure future atrocities could be prevented.

    Despite her own fears, Ash ingrained the image of these suffering people into her mind so she''d never forget it.

    While the three did what they could, Damien walked through the crowded streets and gathered the bodies of the dead, piling them up in the center of the ruined city.

    Their corpses formed a hill that almost reached the top of the fortress walls.

    Looking at the hill of corpses, he sighed lightly.

    ''I sincerely hope fate gives you bliss in your next lives.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Void mes sparked on his fingers. As he flicked them, the small spark of me fell into the hill of corpses and set it aze.

    The silence was interrupted by the sound of flickering mes. The putrid stench of the burning corpses spread through the city and attracted the attention of all those present.

    Even within the dull eyes of the survivors, a small trace of sorrow could be seen.

    But it was apanied by a trace of relief.

    Their friends and families who died, perhaps their fates were for the better. At least they didn''t end up as meals for the Nox, and at least their suffering finally came to an end.

    At least they wouldn''t have to endure the terror of living on.

    ***

    "What should we do with them?" Tyler asked after the deceased were properly sent off.

    Damien looked over at the survivors with furrowed brows. "That depends. In our current situation, we can''t necessarily save them. That would only be possible after our mission ends."

    p¦Ánd¦Á`no¦Í?1~§ão§® "Then¡­"

    "But that''s under the assumption that they want to be saved."

    Tyler looked at Damien hesitantly. "You don''t mean¡­"

    "It''s probably what you think."

    "But¡­wouldn''t it be better to provide them a new lease on life? What if they realize in the future that living on was better than dying futilely?"

    Damien sighed. Indeed, it was normal to think that way. He had personal experience that told him that living was better than dying without aplishing anything. If he''d sumbed to the First Dungeon long ago, he would''ve simply be another statistic on earth, never to reach his current heights.

    But at the same time, he couldn''t force his own experience onto others.

    At the end of the day, it was only his opinion or Tyler''s opinion that said living was the best course of action for them.

    If they wished for death, however, who was he to deprive them of it?

    To live and create a future where life was better than death, one needed to have the desire to do so. Without that desire, the realization of this fact would simply never appear.

    With that thought in mind, Damien walked over to the survivors who had been gathered together in the city center.

    "I will offer you two choices," he said, infusing mana in his voice so his words couldn''t go unheard.

    "The first is death. If you wish for thefort of death, I will grant it to you. If this world is not one you wish to live in anymore, then that is your decision. You will not be judged, and you will not feel pain. Eternal rest is likely a more appropriate term in this scenario."

    His eyes panned across the crowd. It wasn''t just a few who reacted to his proposition.

    "The second choice is survival. Survive and live, ovee your circumstances and earn your happiness back. The road to doing so will be arduous, there will be countless times when you wish you chose to die today, but if you can truly utilize the life you earned yourself, then the prospect of normalcy won''t be hidden from you. Perhaps you may evene to cherish your pain, for without it, you would''ve never be the person you became when you overcame it."

    He didn''t try to butter his words or speak lightly. He didn''t try to promote one option or the other. Heid out the facts as they were, indifferent to his impact on these people''s decisions.

    He wasn''t some hero. He wasn''t someone who could provide uplifting words that allowed people to gain the will to live.

    He knew the responsibility that came with that position. If these people chose to live based on his words alone, if they found that life didn''t improve how he promised, their worship would turn to hatred in an instant.

    He had no desire to bear the weight of their feelings, whether it be grudge or gratitude.

    "I wille back tomorrow to hear your decisions. Remember, your life is your own. Do not feel ashamed regardless of what choice you make. There is more pride in following your heart than following the crowd."

    With those final words, Damien teleported away, disappearing from the crowd''s view entirely.

    What was left was a silent atmosphere that hadn''t changed.

    But within the dull eyes of those people, various emotions began to rise.

 Chapter 730 Cruel [4]

    The day passed rapidly. On the next morning, Damien returned to the city center where the survivors were located.

    It wasn''t hard to understand the decisions of these people.

    Damien followed their wishes without remorse or hesitation. If one wished to die, he provided them with death.

    The city poption was roughly 100,000 including those who died before they arrived, but of the 50,000 or so who survived, not many could muster up the will to live.

    Salvation, what did it mean?

    Salvation depended on perception.

    To these people who''d experienced tragedy unlike any other, salvation often meant death. The bliss of nonexistence was their only desire.

    Because the world wasn''t a ce that weed them anymore.

    Young girls who''d been sullied by the Nox, those who''d been forced to carry their bloodline, how could they bear to live on with that shame engraved in their bodies and souls?

    Even the strongest of these young women was too utterly disgusted by the prospect of carrying a Nox''s lineage to live on.

    Every single survivor in that category chose death.

    For men and women who''d been forced to watch as their families were brutally tortured and killed, reuniting with their loved ones was the most prominent desire.

    While some chose to survive, the majority chose death.

    The stench of death, Damien had be used to it after all this time. But today, it was particrly pungent.

    As Damien acted as an executioner, he didn''t let the burden of his actions pollute his mind. But that didn''t stop his grudge against the Nox from growing.

    What if it was Rose and Ruyue who were captured? What if it was his mother?

    Damien couldn''t imagine the person he''d be if something untoward happened to them.

    In a sense, he could empathize with the feelings of these survivors, yet they differed sheerly due to power.

    Perhaps he''d be suicidal as well, perhaps he''d wish for nothing but death, however, he had the power to at least make a dent in the Nox''s army before he died.

    He could charge the enemy and destroy a few worlds to vent his anger, perhaps finding a will to live in that time. He had the potential to grow into a figure who could exterminate the Nox, allowing him the revenge he''d so desire.

    For these people who didn''t have the ability to do so, he could only feel pity.

    Still, not everyone chose the easy route.

    There were some, some with determination and some with courage, some with the mes of vengeance burning brightly in their eyes, who chose to live.

    Damien''s speech wasn''t empowering in the slightest, the words he said weren''t the words they wanted to hear. If anything, his harsh portrayal of the future pushed some over the edge in their decision to die.

    "But you forced us to ept reality." A man said earnestly. He was one of those who decided to move forward and live, and looking at how he was treated by the rest, he had be a sort of spiritual pir for them.

    "I''d much rather hear the tant truth than flowery words of pity. I cannot stomach what took ce here, and I cannot live with my powerlessness, but regardless, I will live on."

    The man''s eyes turned to the horizon. He tried to look past the bounds of reality. He felt like he could almost see his wife''s face smiling down at him from Heaven.

    "Didn''t you say it before?" The man said with a weak smile. "Perhaps I will realize that life is better than death despite its cruelty."

    There were only around 5,000 people remaining. Even if it was arge number, it wasn''t even a fraction of the city''s total poption.

    Damien was curious about why they chose to live and survive, but the answer he was given was far simpler than he expected.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You''re able to move forward with only that slight ray of hope guiding you?" He asked.

    The man smiled and shook his head. "It isn''t that. I do not think anyone here still has the faith in existence to believe in such a small chance."

    "Then¡­"

    "We simply do not wish to see their stories end here." The man said.

    "We will live so they can live vicariously through us. We will endure hardship and earn our happiness back, so that those who suffered with us can feel a portion of this happiness from Heaven."

    "It may be childish, but I feel that our continued existence is the only spark of hope that our people have remaining. Even if they''ve already passed on, I wish for their spirits to be at peace in the afterlife. For that, people like you must exterminate the enemy, and people like us must ovee our twisted fates. Those are the roles we''ve been granted, and the roles we must fulfill."

    As Damien panned his gaze across those behind the man, he saw a united will that didn''t exist before today.

    It was a will born from suffering that existed amongst amunity of people that couldn''t rte to anyone else.

    ''It isn''t that they didn''t want to die, they just ignored their instinct and decided to live anyway. That¡­''

    "I understand," Damien said sinctly. He felt a strange emotion welling up in his chest, one he wasn''t used to at all.

    p¦Ánd¦Á`no¦Í?1~§ão§® "Then, for now, I will provide you a home. If you choose to leave it in the future, I will respect that decision. If you choose to utilize the opportunities that ce grants you, I will respect that decision as well."

    He put his hand out and released a wave of spatial essence that covered the 5,000 survivors.

    "I wish you all the best. I hope life gives you a reason to find meaning in it once more."

    As the group disappeared, the man in the front smiled lightly.

    "We will not wait for life to give us meaning, we will instead give meaning to life. The next time we meet, we will not show you such a shameful appearance. This much I can promise."

    "Then I''ll be looking forward to it."

    Their interaction ended with that. The group was transported into the Sanctuary where they''d be settled by the 5 n Leaders.

    The Sanctuary would provide them peace away from the universe. They would never have to experience the same pain again.

    This was the extent of Damien''s consideration.

    How they lived their lives from that point forth depended wholly on themselves.

    ''I guess it''s time to return now. I shouldn''t keep them waiting for too long.''

    Damien came alone today, leaving the rest of the group behind. He didn''t want them to witness what took ce.

    But he knew that this wasn''t thest "food supply" they''de across as they continued their journey.

    Eventually, the rest woulde to realize what he was doing.

    ''But that''s a conversation for another time. For now, I should give those kids a ce to vent their frustrations.''

    This was only the first step of their journey.

    Since the hardest part, adapting, had beenpleted, it was time for them to pick up the pace.

    The Nox couldn''t be allowed to survive in this world any longer.

 Chapter 731 Eye [1]

    Was it a month that passed after that day?

    Damien didn''t know. His squad hadn''t stopped moving during the time that passed, so trying to understand its span was difficult to do.

    After Theasi was destroyed, the nearby bases at Engra and Ls were taken care of as well. With the immediate area cleansed of Nox, the group moved on to the next.

    Calypto as a whole had 8 continents on its surface, taking up most of the world''s space. The continent that Damien and the restnded on was sinctly termed the Jade Continent due to the overflowing jade-green color that used to permeate it.

    Nowadays, that color was wholly reced with the same destion as the rest.

    Nevertheless, the Jade Continent was rtively small. There were only a few thousand peripheral bases present here, and none of them mattered in terms of the Infected Source World''s general operations.

    In essence, the troops here could be called reserve forces or cannon fodder.

    For this reason, they all were around the same level as the Nox in Theasi, a level that was all too easy for Damien and his group to take on.

    The Jade Continent found itself cleansed of Nox within a single month. It wasn''t just because of the efficiency and speed of the squad''s movements, but also because of their personal hatred fueling their actions.

    They rarely took rest, moving immediately from one base to another. With the perpetualness of their movements and the ferocity of their attacks, tens or even hundreds of bases could be targeted in a day.

    Of course, this would''ve been impossible without Damien''s presence.

    As time passed, he realized the value of the people who''d been grouped with him in this operation. None of them were weaklings, and while their mentalities were still in the process of tempering, none of them shied away from the trials they had to go through.

    If they were alone, they''d be forced to take breaks to recover mana and stamina. No being in the world had the capability to move perpetually without consequence.

    But Damien had the Void Physique, a power that seemed to always find a way to surpass the world.

    The mana-gathering method he usually used for himself became avable to everyone. The Void Physique punched a hole in reality and sucked any and all mana in the atmosphere into its grasp. It was up to Damien how to repurpose this mana once he had it.

    And for the past month, he''d been providing it to his squad so they could move without restrictions.

    Even aside from this, Damien''s teleportation allowed them to move at speeds that wouldn''t have been possible on their feet or through the sky. Going from base to base, a process that could''ve cost them many hours of precious time, became an afterthought.

    The ten bases a day they could take without setting aside time for recovery suddenly ballooned into the hundreds.

    With such a routine continuing for so long, how could the Jade Continent''s Nox survive?

    Currently, the group sat on the continent''s edge looking out on the mucus-like seas beyond. For the first time in a month, they took a day for themselves.

    ''Their physical health has been maintained by me, but their mental health is probably a mess right now. I''m surprised they aren''t on the verge of copse.'' Damien thought to himself.

    Even now, after enduring so much stress, those three were setting up a campfire and grilling some of the beast meat they brought as rations. It was unbelievable when hepared them to their past selves.

    ''It''s a bit of a shame, though¡­''

    For some reason, the more he saw them grow, the more he felt like their current circumstances were corrupting the innocence they once held.

    These people weren''t young at all. Even Ash, the youngest, was 24. Still, whether it was 20 or 30, it was all still considered a genius'' growth-period. Only after 500 years would one''s strength be considered saturated.

    Damien couldn''t help but see them as kids. Even if he was younger than Tyler, he''d experienced too much more to care about something as paltry as a few-year difference in age.

    The "innocence" they held couldn''t be called innocence considering that they''d been raised in the Hell Hole, but the blissful ignorance they possessed towards the struggles of the weak was something to be envied.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Because even the most indifferent person would sigh seeing this ignorance get shattered.

    ''Well, I hope they can keep at least a spark of that youthful exuberance within them. For now, enjoying moments of peace like this is the only way they can do so. As for me¡­''

    Damien didn''t have time for peace. Unlike them, he had a far greater mission to aplish.

    ''It should be about a month before I can get there, but I might as well prepare beforehand.''

    He sat down in a lotus position and closed his eyes, sending his awareness into the earth.

    He was curious about something.

    When he saw Apeiron or the Cloud ne''s World Core, he was met with a degree of corruption the Nox had achieved over time before the purge took ce. However, the unnamed world''s World Core was in perfect condition.

    Even though it was an Infected Source World, even Wrath couldn''t have predicted that a Primal Sovereign was slumbering beneath its surface. Naturally, with a Primal Sovereign''s natural protection field, the World Core didn''t get corrupted no matter how much the Nox tried.

    But what about Calypto¡­?

    It was simply impossible for one of the four remaining Primal Sovereigns to take residence within Calypto. That kind of coincidence never happened twice.

    In that case, what state would the''s World Core be in?

    It didn''t take long for him to find out.

    Damien''s consciousness was pulled into the center of the world. He could clearly feel a rejection force stemming from whaty there, but this force couldn''t hold him back at all.

    World Cores were infinitely powerful constructs, but in front of a Celestial, they could only submit.

    ''Haa, I guess I expected it, but this is still pretty jarring to see up close.'' Damien sighed inwardly when he finally made his way to the World Core.

    It was just as ck as a starless sky. The disgusting gloop that made up the World Core writhed disgustingly in response to Damien''s presence.

    ''It can''t be saved.''

    The Nox mana corrupting the Cloud ne''s World Core was like a tumor. As long as it was removed, the remaining material could be salvaged.

    However, this World Core had been fully corrupted. Down to its very core, it was transmuted into something only the Nox could exin.

    ''If I devour it, the world will copse. Plus, since it''s Nox mana, I can''t even benefit from it.''

    A Celestial Mana Thread shot forth from Damien''s finger and tried to pierce the Infected World Core, but it was met by a barrier of rejection immediately upon contact.

    ''As I thought, controlling it is also impossible. Do I have to possess Nox mana to do so?''

    As he quietly observed the World Core, its writhing form began to change.

    An eye appeared on its surface.

    Damien smiled when he saw it. "You finally noticed me? Well, that''s not a problem. I''ve been wanting to have a talk with you for a while now."

 Chapter 732 Eye [2]

    The eye blinked as if surprised by Damien''s immediate reaction.

    "You were predicting my presence?"

    A booming voice filled the empty cavity where the World Core resided. Just hearing it almost burst Damien''s eardrums.

    "Of course I was expecting you. If not, why would Ie here so rashly."

    Damien was, in fact, not expecting this situation to ur.

    ''They can form a direct connection to the World Core deep enough to use it as an avatar? What methods are they using?''

    Even a Celestial couldn''t use a World Core as an avatar, because a World Core was fundamentally unable to function as such.

    World Cores, despite their heaven-defying power, were heavily restricted by the universalw. Even their bonds with Celestials were regted by this overarching rule. It was fundamentally impossible for a World Core to function outside of the set restrictions,

    ''Then, are theypletely rewriting the World Core''s existence into something different? What is its purpose? And more importantly¡­just how?''

    A feeling of uncharacteristic and irresistible greed suddenly overcame Damien. His instinct as a Celestial was dying to understand the Nox''s methodology, for it could be extremely useful to his growth.

    Damien quelled this feeling instantly. By the time the mysterious eye responded, he''d already wrapped up his thoughts.

    "Foolish human. If you wish for death so badly, I do not mind granting it to you."

    The World Core''s mana immediately began moving.

    "Hey, hey! Calm down a bit. Can''t you see I''m only here for some idle conversation?"

    The eye red at Damien. "For what reason would I desire to converse with a lower existence? Stop your foolishness and perish."

    The World Core''s mana red. Disgusting ck ink sttered across the walls of the cavity, fluctuating as they pressured Damien.

    ''Fuck, who is this guy?!'' Damien thought inwardly as he resisted the pressure.

    His Celestial Authority spread and enveloped his body, and the World Force he could ess through the World Core Fusion Reactor in his spiritual world was unleashed in full.

    "Old ghosts like you¡­just don''t know how to be civil! Damn!"

    The Demon Dragon Transformation followed his words. His body was immediately enhanced manifold, making it much easier to resist the pressure.

    On top of the multiyer protection heid outside his body, he consciously revolved Void Mana through his system to expel or devour any Nox Mana that managed to pierce his defense.

    "Hoh?" The voice in the eye made a sound of intrigue. "To think you would acquire something like that¡­how interesting¡­"

    Waves of inky ck mana surrounded Damien and started digging into his protectionyers like worms. His World Force, his Celestial Authority, his Demon Dragon Body, none were able to stop their invasion.

    "Gah!" Damien gasped.

    The first worm of mana managed to pierce his skin and dig into his body.

    The first was followed by a second, a fourth, a tenth, and countless more until Damien''s entire body was covered in what looked like a ck suit of armor.

    ''This¡­is¡­fucking¡­disgusting!'' Damien roared internally. His internal body was searing with pain. Each worm that entered left a deep stabbing pain that felt like it impaled his soul.

    ''Break!''

    Void mana revolved more furiously with every passing instant, causing mana to rush in and out of Damien''s body in waves. Spacetime Essence, Void mes, any cards Damien had were fully disyed in his bid to stay alive.

    And it worked.

    Pshhhhhh!

    With the sound of meat searing on a grill, the countless worms within his body were burned and expelled, transformed into pure essence that he then absorbed and recycled to fortify his defense.

    ''But these little fuckers won''t stoping!''

    His opponent had an entire World Core''s worth of mana to throw at him. No matter the situation, even if he uses the Void Physique''s mana hole to recuperate, he wouldn''t be able topete.

    ''Dammit!!'' Damien roared once more. Anger began to cloud his mind. He refused to die in such a stupid manner, in a situation that appeared as randomly as this one.

    His mana began to fuse with the inky ck mana entering his body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The inky mana was like a parasite, actively corrupting his own mana into its form. If Damien allowed this to continue, he''d be crippled at the very least.

    And even if it wasn''t a permanent injury, losing the thread of himself that he sent to the World Core space would leave him bedridden for a good amount of time, even if he used [Heal] continuously.

    Yet, despite knowing the consequences of failing here, Damien couldn''t find a method to escape.

    ''Material Shift''

    ''Dimension Shift''

    ''Phase Shift''

    ''Stagnant Reality''

    ''Fuck! Just freeze''

    Time and space shattered around him, reality was slightly cracking under the pressure of his will, but the mana worms in his body seemed to defy reality itself.

    In that moment, reddish-ck sparks flew.

    Damien''s eyes were colored in madness.

    ''FUCK!''

    His body felt on the verge of exploding. A mysterious force entered his system and enhanced every facet of his abilities, allowing him to forcefully increase the time he could resist.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Damien''s aura exploded with the mes of hell. The World Core space began to crack from the pressure of his aura. Any mana worms that approached this deathly ming aura were burned to cinders before they could even reach Damien''s body.

    In response, all the eye had to do was increase its power output.

    A World Core¡­was something even a Demigod couldn''t face the explosion of.

    The final shred of resistance Damien had copsed. His body once again became a nest for those mana worms who burrowed into his skin. He could feel their slimy bodies crawling through his internals and propagating.

    "AHHHHHHHH!" He let out a guttural scream. He pushed Void Mana to its limits, wrapping it around his body like a cocoon and isting his systems.

    He ripped his arms off.

    He ripped his legs off.

    He could regrow them when he had the time, but the ones that were already attached to his body had just be breeding grounds for that atrocious mana.

    Yet, just as Damien prepared to take drastic measures to save himself¡­

    ¡­the pressure suddenly lost its weight. Damien didn''t even have time to realize his mortality before it happened.

    "Human¡­you are quite different from your peers." The eye scoffed.

    Damien didn''t respond. As he caught his breath, his body began changing, influenced by the reddish-ck energy surrounding him.

    With the terrifying appearance that the energy gave him and the half-regrown limbs dangling from his body, he looked like a demon straight from the 9thyer of hell.

    But this form of his didn''t seem to faze the eye in the slightest.

    "Hahaha, still so eager to fight? Interesting human, I do not wish to kill you so early. Let us meet once your blood has matured. At that point, I wonder whether you''ll still have the gall to stand up to me¡­"

    "Remember this, my title is Saint Emperor. I''ll be looking forward to your future growth¡­"

    The eye vanished on its own.

    The sickly mana receded back into the World Core.

    And Damien woke up.

    His mind whirred to life. Confusion was eminent on his face.

    ''What¡­the fuck just happened?''

 Chapter 733 Fragments [1]

    A campfire cookout was in full swing. The smell of delectable purified beast meat wafted through the air, and the sound of conversation apanied it.

    Tyler, Ash, and Synth took their time to enjoy the barbecue of their own creation. If not today, then when would they ever get another chance? Even if they wanted to rest, Damien wouldn''t allow them.

    When it was time for battle, he was a hellish drill instructor that pushed his students until they dropped.

    Nevertheless, Damien didn''t join his "students" in their celebratory atmosphere. He sat many meters away contemting what took ce within the World Core Space.

    ''Saint Emperor¡­is he the father of the Saint King?''

    If so, he was surely a Demigod.

    ''But if he''s so powerful, why did he spare me?''

    By all rational logic, the Saint Emperor had no reason to keep Damien alive. Even if he didn''t know him, the fact that the young genius could interact with the World Core should''ve been enough to provoke him into killing Damien for safety''s sake.

    But instead, he decided to let him grow?

    ''He reacted to something within me¡­what was it?''

    He thought back over the Saint Emperor''s words. From beginning to end, he''d only spoken in vague riddles, but there must''ve been something in there that Damien could grasp onto.

    A light appeared in his mind as he thought.

    ''Didn''t he say he''d wait for my blood to mature¡­? And before that, he reacted after I used the Demon Dragon Form¡­''

    At first, Damien instantly believed that the Saint Emperor was convinced by his Void Mana, but this didn''t seem to be the case. While it was impossible for the Demigod to miss the strangeness of Damien''s mana, because he wasn''t using Void Essence himself, the actual scent of the Void was difficult to distinguish.

    If so, then the only other viable connection was his Demon Bloodline.

    The Demon Bloodline, in reality, had nothing to do with Demons. It was a bloodline that appeared after Damien devoured the dark material that the Demons in the Trial World were using as their source of power.

    ''And that dark material came from a Nox Demigod.''

    It wasn''t like swallowing Nox Mana or essence as he''d done until this point. Something about the spark of Divinity thatytent within those pieces of dark material gave them a special property that Damien had yet to see replicated.

    And because of their source, it wasn''t hard for Damien to make the connection.

    ''My Demon Bloodline has beentent ever since I received it. It only activates when I call upon it, and otherwise makes no moves, unlike the fiery dragon bloodline that seems to rage every time I enter battle.''

    But the fact that he''d never sensed anything strange didn''t mean that nothing strange existed.

    ''I should keep better watch over it in the future. If it truly does try to corrupt me¡­I have to take action immediately.''

    Damien didn''t n to throw an important card like his Demon Bloodline away so easily. Aside from that, he had faith that his control over the Void would heighten to a point where any internal resistance would be impossible in the future.

    ''On that note, I should spend more timeprehending the Void than thinking idly. The incident with the World Core has helped me confirm enough suspicions, but it isn''t something I can affect in my current state.''

    No matter how much knowledge he had, he couldn''t make use of it without power.

    With that in mind, Damien closed his eyes and focused inward,tching onto his connection with the Void Physique and slowly sinking intoprehension.

    The party of his squad members continued deep into the night. By the time Damien woke up from hisprehensive state, the three young geniuses were passed out around the fire in variousedic poses.

    ''Sheesh, it''s like this is their first time having fun.'' Damien thought wryly as he walked over.

    On the way, he noticed Zara sitting off in the distance.

    He furrowed his brows in thought.

    Zara had been especially quiet ever since they left Death Emperor Star. Considering her excitement before they left, it was extremely worrying for Damien, who saw her as a younger sibling.

    ''Is she that anxious?'' He wondered. It wasn''t hard for him to figure out where her mood switch came from.

    To Zara, this expedition meant more than just stopping the Nox. This was a quest that heavily impacted her identity.

    ''Zara''s bloodline is rted to the Nox somehow, this much we know. But I don''t know if we can find out anything substantial from Calypto¡­''

    Damien wanted to help, but he didn''t know how to. This problem was something Zara had to ovee on her own.

    ''Haa¡­how annoying.''

    If it was up to him, he''d storm the world until he found the answers she wanted. Sadly, he didn''t have the ability nor the tactlessness to do so.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He could only watch over her from afar and make sure she didn''t sumb to negativity.

    ''Even if we can''t find answers here, I''ll take you across the entire universe and beyond until you get what you want. I swear on my life.''

    Damien made a silent vow as he turned away from her.

    He moved thereafter towards the campfire, kicking the three geniuses awake so they could move on.

    It was time for them to raid the Lotus Continent, the continent nearest to their current Jade Continent.

    And perhaps there, they''d have some more luck finding something substantial.

    ***

    A universe copsed.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    A man''s bloody figure dashed through the ckness. The sound of his breaths was the only thing keeping him sane.

    ''I have to¡­escape!''

    His thoughts sped as he raced away from the copsing universe. The ckness around him hindered his every step and skewed his sense of direction. Even though he was born in this same ckness, it never epted him as its own.

    ''I have to tell someone¡­I have to run¡­this is¡­madness!''

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    He ran for what seemed like ages. His mana copsed multiple times, and his body didn''t want to listen to hismand. But every time he felt like giving up, he remembered the atrocities he''d witnessed prior.

    The strength to keep moving came instantly when he did so.

    He could never return to that ce.

    ''Do they not realize it? No, the ones who realized have already left. I''m¡­the only one remaining.''

    He felt suffocated.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    In the distance, a fragment of light beckoned towards him.

    His skin immediately tingled with anticipation.

    ''Finally¡­finally! How many years has it been?''

    He increased his speed and rushed towards the light.

    And at the same time, he felt a plethora of auras lock onto his position.

    ''No¡­!''

    "ASTAROTH!"

    A booming voice traveled through the ckness and rang in his ears. Just the sound alone made him bleed.

    But he ignored this pain as if it didn''t exist.

    It didn''t matter if they caught up to him.

    He''d already arrived at his destination.

    The fragment of light was just in front of him.

    Through its blinding rays, he could hazily see an atmosphere unlike his current one.

    An atmosphere where the ckness didn''t reign.

    He rushed through the crack, and in the next instant, he disappeared.

    The only thing remaining in his ce¡­was a picture of gxies and stars as far as the eye could see.

 Chapter 734 Fragments [2]

    Zara abruptly opened her eyes. The feeling of cold sweat pouring down her back seemed especially sensitive today.

    ''What¡­what was that?'' She thought shakily.

    The scene she''d just witnessed, what was it? Where did it take ce? Who were those people? And most importantly, who was that man?

    The questions in her head piled up higher than any mountain peak. The unfortunate part was, this wasn''t the first load of mysteries that''d been dumped on her in recent times.

    Ever since the groupnded on Calypto, she kept seeing these strange images.

    It wasn''t always that man.

    Sometimes it was merely scenery, gruesome scenery she''d never witnessed in person. Sometimes it was other people, but they only appeared as hazy outlines in her mind.

    She could barely remember their voices when she opened her eyes.

    ''It hurts¡­''

    Her splitting headache never faded and her mental state became infinitely worse with every passing day. No matter how she tried to ignore it and move on, the strange visions didn''t allow her any respite.

    Ba-dum!

    Her heart suddenly beat powerfully, almost leaping out of her chest.

    The world was enveloped in shadows.

    The hazy outline of a man appeared before her.

    ''This is¡­''

    As Zara watched from the side, the man began to move in a strange pattern. His feet glided across the ground like it was made of ice, his body twisting delicately as if he was dancing to the most subtle melodies in the world.

    Without even realizing it, Zara began following his movements.

    Her left foot went forward, her right foot circled around, her hands raised into the air and naturally flowed with her movements.

    The mana in the air became excited. It whirred to life and buzzed around her like tiny little spirits enjoying her performance. Light and darkness split in two and popted each side of her body.

    But Zara didn''t even notice it.

    As she continued following the mysterious man''s movements, her momentum grew until finally¡­!

    The light and darknessbined as one. They swirled together like yin and yang in a basketball-sized cavity in front of Zara''s body.

    At that moment, she abruptly opened her eyes.

    The vision came to an end.

    The ball of counteracting energies fizzled out of existence.

    Zara fell to the ground panting. Despite her mana capacity being almost full, she felt as if she''d drained itpletely.

    Copsing to the floor, Zara clutched her head in pain.

    ''Just¡­what is going on?!''

    ***

    Unlike the Jade Continent, the Lotus Continent was far more connected to the Nox''s main force. Of the seven remaining continents, it was still only seventh in overall power, but the significance of the Lotus Continenty elsewhere.

    "The Lotus Continent is essentially where the Nox are getting all of their resources," Tyler stated as he looked at his holographic world map.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Whether it''s metals and minerals, precious herbs, or even people, the Lotus Continent has them in abundance. Or at least, had. I can''t say what the current state of the continent is."

    "The people have likely all been captured at this point, but I doubt they''ve gathered all the resources they desire yet. If they had, there''s no way this world would still be standing." Damien responded.

    The World Core was alreadypletely under their control, as was the world''s poption. By all intents and purposes, Calypto waspletely conquered.

    "There''s a reason themander only ordered us to stall for time rather than fighting all out. The Nox outnumber us by far too much for our small group of 5000 to dream about exterminating them." Damien muttered.

    Calypto was an Infected Source World. This meant that it wasn''t just an ordinary Nox base, it was more akin to a factory that mass-produced mindless 3rd ss Nox for the Higher Nox to throw around as they pleased.

    While these 3rd ss Nox could be killed with a single look by someone at Damien''s power level, their sheer numbers made them difficult to face.

    After all, nobody had infinite mana in this apocalypse.

    "The Lotus Continent probably has some hints about the creation process. If we can find those hints, it won''t just be beneficial to us, but also to any soldiers who have to raid Infected Source Worlds in the future."

    By this assumption, the group chose their n of attack. While their movements wouldn''t deviate much from their strategy on the Jade Continent, their goal was far more robust.

    ''Utterly decimate any ns that the Nox might have.''

    The group moved with this intention, slowly making their way ind as they circled the continent''s periphery and took down base after base.

    Compared to the Jade Continent, the forces were only marginally stronger. Besides an increase in the number of mid-level 4th ss Higher Nox, there wasn''t much of a change.

    ''This is only the seventh continent and mid-level Higher Nox are bingmon. By the time we get to the main base, am I going to see extreme peak 4th sses on the street like cabbages?'' Damien joked to himself.

    He waved his arm and enveloped the group in front of him in spatial mana, promptly sending them to the Sanctuary.

    It was around the 1500th "food supply" they''de across, and yet another few thousand people who''d been weed to Theavel.

    ''Sheesh, it''s going to get crowded if we keep going like this.''

    Despite hisints, Damien was actually quite pleased with the sudden influx of denizens on Theavel. After all, the rtionship between a world and its people was symbiotic.

    A world grew through the achievements of its poption, while the people were given residence and mana by the world so they couldprehend itsws. The more people living in Theavel, the more who explored its various regions and conquered it, the more the world itself would grow and evolve.

    Another half month passed without any change to the routine. Damien and his squad slowly became more synchronized and efficient, and before long, they were closing in on the central area of the continent.

    "That mine is what they''ve been fiercely trying to protect as we''ve moved. Even if it isn''t what we''ve been looking for, there should be something noteworthy in there." Tylermented.

    Damien nodded. The closer they got to this very mine, the more fierce the resistance was. There were no longer Nox who tried to run away to save their lives. Even the most cowardly enemies threw themselves at Damien and the rest with abject terror in their eyes.

    ''Either there''s an eldritch horror waiting for us underground, or we just hit the jackpot.'' Damien thought to himself with a smile.

    "Then, let''s not deviate from the usual strategy for now. Just remember to be cautious, and don''t lose sight of those around you."

    With those words, Damien took the lead and entered the mine. The cold and damp atmosphere waspletely unexpected from a ce that seemed like it''d be filled with dry humidity. The ground squelched under their feet as they walked, almost as if they were in a swamp.

    But that rotten smell¡­

    ''It''s blood.'' Damien realized instantly.

    The analogy that blood flowed like a river was often used to describe massacres, but was it truly realistic? It was hard to imagine how much blood was necessary to truly form a river.

    Yet, here and now, Damien encountered that very situation.

    His eyes hardened.

    ''This scene¡­is oddly familiar.''

 Chapter 735 Methods [1]

    The group quietly made their way through the mine, using Zara''s Shadow Laws to conceal themselves within the darkness.

    Eventually, the tunnel opened up onto arge natural cavern.

    Drip!

    The tunnel exited about halfway up the cavern''s wall. The bloody stream flowing through its ground dripped onto the cavern floor, taking its role as the only sound within the eeriness of the atmosphere.

    But the dripping blood wasn''t alone on that ground. It fell into what looked like ake of blood, gathered for unknown purposes.

    "There''s light on the other side. You three stay here with Zara and investigate the cavern. I''ll go scout." Damien sent a sound transmission to his squad members.

    The three young geniuses and Zara nodded. Since Damien could teleport if the situation got out of hand, he was the best scout among them. And with Zara''s concealment abilities, they would have a far easier time moving through the cavern.

    After receiving their confirmation, Damien''s figure immediately vanished and reappeared on the other side of the cavern. There, a continuation of the previous tunnel was present.

    ''There must''ve been a rail system in ce when this ce was still actively used as a mine, but it was taken down when it was repurposed by the Nox.'' Damien thought idly as he walked down the new tunnel.

    His figure soon turned illusory and disappeared altogether.

    ''One With Dimension''

    It was a concealment technique created using Zara''s shadow concealment as a base. Damien''s body melded into the dimension itself rather than the spatialyers, essentially bing part of nature.

    This ability was perfect for stealth, but it had a major caveat. The degree of fusion forced Damien to remain stationary. If he wanted to move without exposing himself, he''d have to precisely control the flow of his mana and tune it to the environment as he did so.

    This was still above Damien''s level. His understanding of naturalw was still in the process of forming, and he''d barely touched on the concept of "flow" that he''d begun noticing not too long ago.

    However, in the current situation, he didn''t need mobility.

    Laid out in front of him was an all-too-familiar scenery.

    It was ab-like space filled with scientists and researchers. Technological equipment that didn''t match Calypto''s aesthetic at all was strewn about. However, more than any of this, the main upants of theb''s space wererge vats filled with unknown liquid and, as Damien had long been expecting, tanks filled with bodies.

    ''It''s another one of those.'' He thought to himself.

    He''d been seeing them everywhere. He saw them in the Niflheim base on earth, in the secret auction on the Cloud ne, and practically everywhere on the unnamed world. He always knew that the Nox had ns involving the horrific procedures they performed in these facilities, but he was never able to understand what those ns were.

    Of course, he had plenty of guesses, one of which was likely correct. The Nox didn''t seem like a race that was involved with heavy scheming. Rather, they seemed the type to ze through everything with sheer force, ironically simr to Damien.

    Regardless, Damien refused to give any of his conjectures weight until he had solid proof. Because if any of his thoughts were true, they would have a serious impact on the war itself.

    ''For all I know, the things I''m questioning have already been answered by Heaven''s Army, who''ve beenbatting the Nox for years now. Still, until I get ess to that information, I have to find out myself.''

    Slowly, Damien masked his presence and undid his concealment, stealthily moving through the darkness of the tunnel and arriving inside the facility.

    The bright white lighting scheme disallowed any sort of shadow concealment, and the turbulent mana in the air made it difficult to move without alerting anyone.

    ''Without One With Dimension, it''s impossible for me to get deeper.'' Damien realized.

    Only Zara, with her freakish concealment skills, would be able to take them deeper into theb.

    ''I guess I''ll just observe a bit and return.''

    Damien sat quietly for many hours and watched the scientists work. He watched as they experimented on both living and dead bodies, injecting them with various serums and feeding them various pills to gauge their reactions.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The mostmon result was a torturous death.

    The ckness of Nox mana or the strangeness of the other serums that were being injected would almost always cause the victims to deform grotesquely and mutate into beasts that died thereafter. Additional limbs were only the most basic growths that formed.

    When the inevitable failure took ce, the corpses were submerged in the vats of liquid and melted down to their baseponents.

    ''The mana doesn''t dissipate.''

    It was the first thing Damien noticed about the vats.

    Usually when a person died, their mana and essence would disperse into the atmosphere. This was where the term "bing one with nature" originated from.

    However, these vats carried a special property that allowed them to store the deceased''s mana and even amplify it as it was fused into the vat''s liquid.

    ''They''ve already used over 1200 bodies in the past 2 hours, yet there hasn''t been a single sess. Are they even aiming for sess in the first ce?''

    From the looks of it, the various drugs and serums that were being developed were only purposed for torture. Perhaps Damien would find something if he waited a little longer¡­

    A change urred.

    A dead body that was injected with ck fluid suddenly twitched.

    After the initial injection, sickly ck veins climbed up the body until they formed a spiderweb epassing the entire nervous system. Afterwards, the liquid invaded the corpse''s dormant bloodstream and reactivated it.

    The heart was forcefully restarted and used to filter out old blood and rece it with the new mutated blood.

    At the same time, the liquid''s control over the corpse''s nervous system became increasingly prominent, which was mirrored by the spread of the sickly ck color on the skin.

    And when both of these processes reached their pinnacle¡­

    The body twitched.

    Crash!

    Nearby surgical equipment flew across the area as the twitches transitioned into a full seizure. The corpse thrashed around violently and mutated, bing far taller and more robust than it was when it was alive.

    And finally, when the thrashing calmed down¡­

    The corpse opened its eyes.

    Two pitch-ck sclerae stared into the world. Like foam balls surfacing atop ake of slime, red-slitted pupils formed in those eyes.

    GRAAAAAAAAH!

    The being that reced the corpse roared madly. In that moment, as if they''d been expecting it, the surrounding researchers rolled a machine over and turned it on. The machine emitted a frightening vibration that felt like an earthquake, immediately calming down the new creature.

    As he watched the scientists sedate the creature and store it in a separate enclosure away from the unused body, he couldn''t ovee his shock.

    He didn''t care about the reanimated dead body, as it was only the obvious oue from the connotations that he deduced.

    Instead, his thought process followed something far greater than a single body.

    ''Those things¡­are parasites?''

 Chapter 736 Methods [2]

    Parasites.

    Damien hadn''t encountered many parasitic species in the universe, even during his many years of exploring its sights. It was strange. Considering the mystical properties of mana, parasitic species should''ve thrived in its advent.

    However, while he''d experienced some simr scenarios, he''d never seen a true parasite in the past 10 years.

    Why was that?

    At its core, mana was a form of energy. But at the same time, mana was a core trait of the universe that allowed it to maintain its functionality.

    With the advent of mana, the universalw could develop more thoroughly and be essible enough for humans and other sentient lifeforms toprehend and utilize, heightening the connection between the universe and its residents.

    While regr parasites could function without mana, it was obvious what evolved parasitic species depended on. The blood that used to sustain them wasn''t enough anymore. They needed to consume something more intrinsic, something like lifeforce or mana.

    The problem was, mana flowing through the body was far more in tune with an individual''s psyche than their blood flow. The senses of a practitioner also far outstripped those of an average mortal.

    Being parasitic without alerting the parasitized being was nearly impossible. This led to the natural decline of parasitic species as most species evolved away from that trait.

    The only parasitic species that existed moremonly were those controlled by existences, parasites like the one Lucius was living with.

    But¡­what would happen if a race appeared that didn''t have this kind of prolonged contact with the rest of the universe? And what if this race was belligerent enough to openly parasitize others without fear of death?

    The current situation was exactly that.

    The struggles that led to the natural decrease in parasitic species didn''t apply to the Nox, who forcefully parasitized their hosts with the aid of others.

    ''I need to get closer. If I can get a vial containing a parasite, it''d be revolutionary.''

    Lynn Carter''s image immediately appeared in Damien''s mind. She wasn''t just a genius researcher and scientist, she was also someone who was once a double agent within Niflheim, a Nox influence.

    ''The serum in the Human Domain most likely didn''t contain parasites, since the war hasn''t reached our sector yet. Instead, the experiments conducted there are likely for the goal of creating artificial Nox, or a ve-like fighting force of some kind.''

    If Lynn Carter had encountered the Nox parasites before, she would''ve told Damien. That wasn''t something they''d hide from each other when attempting to build mutual trust.

    But if she were to encounter the parasites¡­

    ''I''m almostpletely certain she''d find a way to counteract them.''

    Damien observed for a few more minutes and collected his thoughts.

    ''I should head back.''

    Getting into theb area and observing from close proximity was the most important thing at the moment. Before anything else, Damien needed to get Zara''s help.

    As soon as he made the decision, his body silently vanished from the area, leaving none the wiser to his presence.

    ***

    Damien was observing theboratory for almost 3 hours without pause. During that time, Zara took the three young geniuses to investigate the rest of the cavern.

    The cavern floor wasrgely barren. Besides the bloodke that took up around a third of the cavern, the rest was empty.

    However, after ten minutes of scouring the ground, the group located two small hidden passages that led deeper into the world''s surface.

    Zara silently motioned towards one of them, leading the group down the tunnel.

    While Zara was a powerful practitioner, she was also of a wolf bloodline. Her sense of smell was much more heightened than her other senses, allowing her perception to expand to greater limits than others.

    From the passage she picked, she could smell something vile, something unknown.

    But at the same time, it was something familiar.

    The group made it to the end of the passage and¡­

    "Heuk¡­!"

    Ash almost vomited immediately.

    The room at the end of the passage was actually quiet small, only fitting for around a thousand people.

    However, the number of bodies within was double that.

    ''This¡­''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Even Zara couldn''t hold back her disgust.

    It was a room that once held a thousand pregnant women. These women had been forcefully kept locked in this cramped space until they gave birth.

    And their children¡­

    ¡­were half-breeds with Nox genes in their bodies.

    The second they were born, they "cannibalized their hosts" to gain sustenance, leading to the current scene.

    One thousand skeletons that were stripped down to the bone of any nutritious meat, and a little over one thousand children with ckened sclera and ash grey skin sitting curiously among them.

    Evidently, the birth of some of these children was recent, as the blood stains formed by their first meal had yet to disappear.

    With disgust in her heart, Zara spread her awareness to check for anything beyond the room, but when she found nothing, she immediately took the three geniuses and left.

    They didn''t need to see more. The connotations of the horrific scene they''d just barely been toote to witness were enough already.

    ''Cannibalistic tendencies¡­''

    Zara noted it down in her brain as moved to the second secret passage.

    As she expected long ago, it was the guards'' quarters.

    Even before reaching the passage''s opening, Zara could clearly sense tens of Higher Nox auras popting the end of the tunnel.

    ''Without concealment, we''ll cause too much of a scene.'' She realized immediately.

    The guards themselves were at most at the mid-levels of 4th ss, but fighting with them would inevitably bring down the cavern, which was more beneficial to the Nox than it was to them.

    Zara made the executive decision to leave that tunnel unexplored for now and began returning back to the main cavern, and at that time, a body appeared in front of her.

    Her guard didn''t raise even once. Her shadow extended and enveloped the body before it could even fully materialize.

    When Damien appeared before her, she shed a small smile.

    "Finished scouting?"

    "Mm, all done."

    "Then, we should apany you there, no?"

    "Are you reading my mind or something?"

    Zara and Damien casually went back and forth as they walked through the tunnel and moved to theb where Damien was just a moment ago.

    Internally, however, they were exchanging notes.

    ''Cannibalistic babies, huh¡­'' Damien thought as he listened through what Zara and the rest experienced.

    Cannibals and parasites, he really couldn''t believe his luck to find both in the same ce.

    ''These are two of the primary methods that were used to take over Apeiron.''

    The story he heard from Kurt Galloway long ago began to rey in his head. Apeiron''s destruction that was barely prevented by the sacrifice of a few heroic Demigods came not from the Nox themselves, but instead from those denizens they corrupted.

    It wasn''t just Apeiron, but countless worlds who encountered the same problem.

    ''If we can find a method using what we learn from here¡­''

    It might be possible to save a few more worlds.

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    He already had other ns in Calypto, but taking a little extra time to carry them out wasn''t too much of a problem.

    Just like that, yet another objective was added to his mission.

    There were definitely more research areas hidden around Calypto, and Damien didn''t n to leave even a single one untouched.

 Chapter 737 Jinxed [1]

    With Zara''s help, aplishing any stealth-based objective was a piece of cake.

    Her shadow concealment went against thews of nature. Even in an area with no darkness, she could hide within the light.

    With the three geniuses left at the mine entrance, Damien and Zara returned to theb and quietly infiltrated its premises.

    The researchers within the library were like machines. They were hyperfocused on their objectives,pletely unaware of reality.

    Therefore, stealing a few samples from under their noses wasn''t a problem at all.

    ''A Parasite and three of the other mysterious serums they''ve been experimenting with¡­that should be enough.''

    As Damien stored the samples away in his subspace, he thought more about the researchers than their research.

    ''They''re all denizens.'' He realized. At first, he assumed the facility was filled with Nox or at least Nox Worshippers, but strangely enough, theb was the cleanest area of Calypto Damien had seen yet.

    ''Because I was wandering aimlessly or on Death Emperor Star for the past year or so, I''d almost forgotten how tantly disgusting Nox Mana is.''

    From the beginning, Damien had the passive ability to see people''s mana. Identifying Nox Worshippers or anyone with even a hint of Nox Mana around then was nothing to him.

    Calypto was covered in the substance. The green forests, the vast ins, the ruined cities; every piece of the world Damien had seen until this point was repugnant¡­

    ¡­except theboratory.

    Aside from the Parasites and the separate section of theb where sessful experiments were kept, nothing else reeked of Nox Mana.

    ''Are they hostages, or¡­?''

    ''No, hostages wouldn''t work so ardently even if they were being threatened. There was no hesitation in their eyes, as if they were working with objects rather than people.''

    Those researchers weren''t people being threatened, they were people who sold their souls so they could experience just another second of life.

    They were cowards and traitors.

    ''They haven''t been injected with Nox Mana likely so they can keep their rationality while they work. Most Nox Worshippers have a tendency to go berserk when their mana corrupts them to an extent.''

    In order to save their own lives, they took the lives of their kin and sided with those aiming to destroy the universe itself.

    "Pathetic." Damien scoffed coldly.

    He and Zara arrived at the mine entrance where they first entered the facility and met up with the other three.

    But before they could leave¡­

    Damien turned back to therge hill that obscured the atrocities taking ce below it. His hand raised up into the air, and as if he was calling the start of a race¡­

    Shing!

    He sliced his arm through the air.

    ''Spacetime¡­Severence''

    The world halted.

    Within an increment of spacetime that no lower existence couldprehend, the world split.

    It was soundless, it was formless. Reality itself changed to match the mana''s desire.

    One begot two, two begot three, and three begot all things. As if mirroring the truths of the universe in number, the singr cut split into numerous instances that converged in a single spacetime.

    And finally, time resumed¡­

    RUMBLE!

    The sound of rock and debris copsing rang out instantly. The screams of those who were crushed by the falling debris were cut off within an instant.

    The entire area was split into a grid-like pattern. There wasn''t a single stretch of untouchednd.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    And everything within the given area¡­

    ¡­was erased from existence.

    ''Devour''

    Thick ck clouds of smoke leaked from Damien''s body and fell into the created pit like a waterfall. It snakes through the debris, taking hold of any organic being it could find and devouring them.

    Damien''s body shuddered.

    He could feel the Nox mana piling up in his body, he could feel the pure essence he received from those researchers, and he could even feel the presence of tens of parasites that were being actively broken down into essence by the clouds of Devour.

    Everything was his to consume.

    The spectacle ended only a few momentster. Damien retracted the devour clouds back into his body and enjoyed the refreshing feeling of the new essence he''d acquired.

    Turning back to his squad, he smiled. It was an extremely cold smile.

    "These types of facilities really piss me off. Care to join me in wiping them from existence?"

    Zara smiled and rolled her eyes, walking to his side without hesitation. As for the other three¡­

    They had no idea what they''d just witnessed. The level of power wasn''t too shocking, but the method of execution was absolutely stunning.

    Hearing the words that followed that show, they really couldn''t help it.

    They could feel the immense heat boiling up in their blood. The desire for battle, for extermination, it was addicting to say the least.

    With mes in their eyes clearly portraying their mood, the three responded in unison.

    ""Yes, sir!""

    ***

    A half a month passed from that point.

    The squad''s dynamic became far more solid with the time they spent together, and the problems they had upon meeting fadedpletely.

    Tyler was the most outgoing. While he was a fierce tactician with an incredible brain, Damien was a belligerent general who used fists to get his point across. When the twopared strategies and bnced their tendencies to form a n, it would always be a spectacle.

    Synth maintained her rebellious personality regardless of how time passed, but it seemed she''d chosen to submit to Damien, at the very least. Of the many times she decided to go off on her own in a bout of recklessness, there wasn''t a single one where Damien''s presence didn''t scare her back into line.

    Ash''s case was the most difficult. While she didn''t cause problems and perfectly meshed with the group in times ofbat, her fear never disappeared. She could converse normally with her teammates, and she could even asionally make conversation with Zara, but she couldn''t go anywhere near Damien without freezing up.

    ''I guess nearly killing her best friend would elicit that reaction, yeah.'' Damien thought ironically.

    Currently, they''d finished their business on the Lotus Continent and moved to the nearby Blue River Continent. This continent was well known for itsrge waterways and theplex pattern of rivers that popted its surface.

    And most of the Nox bases in this continent followed the same pattern. They''d stay near the rivers and pollute the jade-green waters so that no life could survive on the continent''s surface. At the same time, they partook in the same cruelties of the Nox on the other two continents.

    Taking them down wasn''t even a matter of question. The heightening of the Nox''s power level didn''t even make a dent in the newly named, at Synth''s suggestion, Stargazer Squad. Their synergy was enough to destroy even the most heavily guarded bases.

    And more than that, the number ofb facilities they''d destroyed wasn''t small. The achievements of this squadpletely surpassed the other squads present in Calypto.

    This was something they knew as fact. After running around 3 continents causing mayhem, it was inevitable for them to meet a few fellow soldiers. Only, these meetings were often short and sinct.

    As time passed, the other Hell Hole forces developed a slight ire towards the Stargazer Squad, an emotion that stemmed from jealousy.

    However, they didn''t let their emotions get to their heads. They weren''t on a school field trip, they were at war. Even if the atmosphere didn''t match the great battle scenes they''d envisioned in their heads, the work they were doing was still important.

    Because without them acting as a distraction, Heaven''s Army''s main force would have far more trouble on the frontlines.

    ''Or at least that''s what they told us, anyway.''

 Chapter 738 Jinxed [2]

    Damien somewhat scoffed at the grand goal themander stated as the mission objective during the final briefing before they touched ground.

    Providing a distraction so that Calypto''s forces couldn''t support the main army on Throh?

    Sure it was a viable n, and a smart one when considering how massive the Nox force on Throh already was, but was it really a good idea to choose students who''d never experienced livebat as the ones to carry out this mission?

    It was highly irrational.

    Damien didn''t doubt that the mission objective was being aplished, he simply believed that there were other, more dependable measures being put in ce to aplish that goal.

    ''The point of telling the mission objective to students is to raise their morale by giving them a cause.''

    If the Calypto mission was regarded as mere training, it was impossible to elicit such raw passion and determination from the rising soldiers. Instead, themander chose to instill them with pride in their universe and pride in their mission.

    ''Looking at the results, his strategy was pretty smart.''

    Every group the Stargazer Squad met until this point was highly focused on their mission. Even when they came into conflict with other groups over kill stealing and point stealing, they never allowed the problem to develop since there was a greater enemy to face.

    ''But still, how can theypare to my kids?''

    Damien smiled like a proud dad as he watched the scene of annihtion take ce below him.

    Ash was in full berserker mode, her towering figure bulldozing through a horde of Lesser Nox. Meanwhile, Tyler''s beast form was that of a reptilian dragon as he attacked the Higher Nox in control of that group. Synth flew in the air and provided support for both of her squad members, using an array of drones to control the skies and rain down hell.

    While the three of them moved in perfect synchronicity, Zara dashed around the battlefield and provided help wherever help was needed. It was the perfect battle formation.

    ''It''s to the point where I can''t even find space to interfere. Really, am I raising a group of monsters or something?''

    Despite his thoughts, Damien couldn''t hide the pride on his face. From the undeveloped talents they were when they first entered Calypto, the three had blossomed into true geniuses who knew how to adapt and grow by the circumstances.

    ''It''s been a fun trip.''

    With that thought, Damien descended to the ground and met up with his squad.

    There were three morerge bases for them to deal with on the Blue River Continent.

    As for the rest¡­?

    They decided to be benevolent and leave the scraps for those other groups who faded into the background due to their aplishments.

    ***

    The two-month mark that was supposed to signal the end of the mission was apanied by an announcement that the mission deadline would be extended another 4 months.

    The performance the students showcased far exceeded themander''s expectations, and although saying that the students were a major help in a mission they were supposed to be insignificant in was a stretch, they weren''t far from reaching that point.

    Of the eight continents of Calypto, 4 had beenpletely cleared. The main force of Calypto which consisted of millions, if not billions, of Nox beings, was located on the main Willow Continent. Still, there were countless millions of Nox living within the other seven continents, and destroying over half of them in 2 months was an immense achievement for a group of students.

    Though, this achievement could mainly be redited to a single group.

    The Stargazer Squad.

    Through the records of their academy emblems, it was assured that they weren''t cheating in any way to attain their results. They bulldozed their way through Calypto with pure battle prowess and tactical brilliance.

    Soon enough, they became an example for all groups to follow.

    Themander even reached out to Damien at one point, gaining his permission to turn the Stargazer Squad''s battle recordings into examples for the students.

    And while others were raving over their achievers, the squad itself showed no care for the attention.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Currently, they stood on the 6th, colloquially termed the Vineyard. Aside from the Willow Continent, this one was by far the most dangerous.

    This was because the Vineyard was genuinely a ce where nature was the enemy.

    Unlike the other continents where most sentient nt life died out, leaving only those in infested areas like forests alive, it wasn''t the same on the Vineyard.

    Here, the nt life was thriving. It was impossible to walk a single step without finding a sentient nt ready to kill at a moment''s notice.

    But the most terrifying part¡­arge majority of these nts had been corrupted by the ambient Nox Mana.

    Not only were they a scourge, they were mindless and deadly, like ves to the Nox residing on the continent.

    The Stargazer Squad was able to fight this environment purely due to Damien''s Space-Time Domain. With the domain present, nothing was able to intrude on their hunting grounds without permission.

    Like this, a majority of the Nox bases on the continent had already been destroyed.

    ''It''s been 3 months since we first arrived here. We spent two months traveling, which leaves me with only a single month before the progress examination at the academy begins¡­will I really be okay?''

    He still hadn''t made significant progress on the mission the Director gave him, and even putting that aside, he wouldn''t be able to reach the academy in time for the progress examination if things continued like this.

    ''If the Director doesn''t pull some strings to get me back to the academy on time, I''ll have to do it myself. Though, it''d be tiring to deal with the problems thate along with that, so I''d rather not.''

    Damien cut down with Mirage and split the dimension in half, turning a group of researchers into minced meat.

    Was the count already in the hundreds? Damien didn''t even know how manyboratories he''d destroyed at this point,

    What he did know, however, was that with the sheer number of these facilities he''d seen in the past few months, the number of sessfully bred Parasites existing in the universe was already uncountable.

    ''Well, I can at least be happy that I''m taking care of the ones within my reach. We also haven''t met any interference from the main forces of the Nox on Calypto. We should continue moving at this pace and do as much as we can before they notice us.''

    Damien regrouped with the others after ughtering everyone within theb facility. As a group, they walked out of the facility''s secluded entrance and arrived back on the surface.

    Their senses immediately became alert.

    ''Fuck. Did I jinx it?'' Damien thought wryly as he spread his awareness.

    They were surrounded in all directions.

    It was like a sea of ck.

    Millions of Lesser Nox apanied by thousands of Higher Nox covered every inch ofnd and air in the surroundings to make escaping aedic thought.

    A man walked out from the crowd,nding on the ground only a few meters from Damien and the rest.

    His dark-grey skin signified his status as a Higher Nox. He dressed like a butler with arge top hat on his head and a monocle covering one eye.

    Scanning the group, his eyes soonnded on Damien.

    "Ah, yes you must be the one." He said smilingly as he cleared his throat.

    "We havee bearing a gift for "the brave boy who dared to fight" from our dear Master."

    The Higher Nox butler bowed until his upper body was parallel to the ground and raised his head, smiling eerily.

    "Sir Saint Emperor sends his regards."

 Chapter 739 Eternal Hour [1]

    Somewhere concealed in the starry sky above Calypto was arge destroyer starship. This starship also doubled as Hidden Death Valley''smand center.

    Currently, therge warship that could easily fit 5000 people like nothing, only held a select few passengers, less than 100, in fact.

    Of them, most were part of the information sector, tasked with monitoring, reading, and ssifying the deployed soldiers'' information.

    The ones not partaking in this particr job could be counted on one hand.

    The Commander who first briefed the geniuses on their mission was one of them.

    Currently, he stared menacingly at a star map.

    "The students are doing much better than expected, but on the contrary¡­"

    The first line of defense had already been breached.

    The leading Nox Avatar and its strongest followers charged into the starry sky around one month ago, and they''d already breached one of the immense andplex defense lines that''d been set up around Calypto.

    "Reports from Throh are chaotic. It''s still too soon to understand whether the operation is proceeding in our favor or not. Haa, the only good news in this situation is that at least those kids are safe¡­"

    Since most of the Nox experts in Calypto were in the starry sky fighting against the actual troops set up to restrict their movement, the geniuses on the surface would be safe from a majority of the threats that¡ª

    HONG! HONG! HONG! HONG!

    The abrupt and jarring sound of rm bells rang from the information division.

    Themander immediately rushed over. When he reached the source of the rm, he was met with arge number of people moving about with papers and holographic windows floating about.

    "This is apletely unexpected situation. The squad is on Continent 6, so the nearest troops that could provide assistance are over an hour away."

    "How fast can the starship get there? We must not lose that squadron."

    "I agree that they are extremely talented, but their talent will not change reality. If we move the starship now, the invisible pressure our existence puts on the Nox Avatar and its forces will disappear, and the main defense line will be attacked far more harshly. We cannot sacrifice the fate of the universe for a few geniuses!"

    Themander pushed his way through the crowd and listened in on the conversation.

    ''What is this¡­?''

    He finally reached the front of the crowd and saw the scene projected on the screen they were all watching.

    A single squadron of five people¡­

    ¡­facing off against an army of Nox fit to conquer an entire world.

    The starship was immovable due to the current circumstances.

    The nearest forces that could provide aid were over an hour away.

    Themander clenched his fists as he watched the screen.

    ''Please¡­please try to survive for a single hour!''

    ***

    "Sir Saint Emperor sends his regards."

    Those words echoed around the canyon and amplified, as if forcing the Stargazer Squad to ept the reality they''d just been presented with.

    Damien inadvertently frowned as he gazed at the butler''s condescending expression. Soon enough, he fixed his expression and smiled back at the butler. "This is quite the reception, isn''t it? I didn''t know the Saint Emperor cared about me so much."

    He replied calmly as his awareness silently spread around him.

    For ten thousand kilometers, he could see nothing but a wave of Nox.

    It was truly an army that could conquer the world.

    Aside from that¡­<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''So the Saint Emperor was someone like that¡­he is the owner of the Nox Avatar ruling this Infected Source World.''

    A few pieces of the puzzle in his head started to click.

    He looked back up at the butler and his army.

    "I don''t know if your master told you, but I''m not a fan of small talk, especially if I''m talking to dogs. You came here for a fight, did you not? Ah, I forgot that dogs don''t speak English. Want me to say it again while barking?"

    ''The emergency signal didn''t return any positive responses¡­1 hour, huh.''

    Damien tapped his academy emblem and activated the emergency signal the second he saw the butler.

    After all, with the ferocity of the mana raging around his body, he was evidently a high-rank 4th ss Nox at the very least, if not an extreme peak level expert.

    The response to his call for help, however, was wholly negative.

    ''That damn Saint Emperor¡­has he been watching me since then?''

    Damien thought back to his encounter with the Demigod a few months back. That day, the Saint Emperor controlled the World Core itself to act as his avatar.

    Damien wondered why the Nox expert didn''t kill him that day. Most old monsters were adamant about cutting the weeds and pulling the roots regardless of the situation.

    ''But it seems he just wanted to y with his food a bit.''

    He let Damien continue moving unrestrained to drop his guard, and at the moment when he waspletely unprepared¡­

    ''He dropped an army on my face.''

    Damien sighed. None of this would''ve happened if he''d just made the obvious connection between the Saint Emperor and the Nox Avatar. None of this would''ve happened if he didn''t choose to recklessly interact with an infected World Core with no prior knowledge about its functions.

    The Saint Emperor perfectly tracked Damien''s movements with ease and prepared the perfect trap.

    For the first time, Damien met a tactician who he couldn''t overwhelm with brute strength alone.

    ''I don''t know how many millions of them there are, but they''ll be endless once we start fighting. In arge-scale battle like this, the Nox''s transformation ability shines the brightest.''

    The ability tobine after death and be reborn was something a practitioner couldbat in smaller situations, but when an entire army was involved, wasting mana on eliminating the Nox remains was impractical.

    In fact, it was far more practical to allow the Nox to reform and slowly kill them until they couldn''t reform any longer.

    After all, no matter how strange the Nox''s inherent ability was, it couldn''t ovee the barrier of Divinity.

    ''Alright, it''s just a few million, right? It''s just an hour, right? Let''s just fucking go for it.''

    Damien unwillingly epted the current circumstance. His entire thought process only took a few sparks of an instant, so by the time he gathered his thoughts, the Nox butler was just beginning to reply to his earlier statement.

    "Making crass allusions to provoke me will not work, dear sir. However, it is true that we havee here to fight. Or is it better to say¡­we havee to exterminate?"

    The butler raised his body and smiled eerily.

    "Since dear sir has stated his discontent towards flowery talks, this humble one shall not bother with it any longer. Then, shall we instead move on to the main event?"

    He raised his arm in the air, summoning a cane from the space in front of him.

    He grabbed the cane''s head and allowed the tip to touch the ground. He clicked his heels and turned his body.

    "Please enjoy the gift our dear Master has prepared for you, O beloved guests."

    His words echoed through the canyon once more, apanied by the uncoordinated stomping of the approaching armies.

    The butler''s body vanished into the crowd.

    And Damien''s eyes hardened.

    ''I think I might have to go all out this time.''

 Chapter 740 Eternal Hour [2]

    Only a few seconds remained until the start of battle, but even seconds were essential to practitioners on Damien''s level.

    "Listen, just follow my lead and fight. It''s the same as always right?"

    "Same as always?! How is this the same as always?!"

    "O-o-o-one hour? H-how can we possibly resist for that long?"

    "This time, I''ll have to agree. We are not nearly strong enough tost an hour against an army equipped to take out thousands, if not tens of thousands, of practitioners at our level."

    A flurry of sound transmissions were exchanged between the five squad members. Their panic was obvious, and it wasn''t like it was unjustified. Damien didn''t take the same forceful attitude as he usually did in this specific situation.

    "Listen carefully. While the sheer numbers make it feel impossible to win, that''s just an illusion. Pain is an illusion, fear is an illusion. You three have spent your entire lives preparing for war, and now that it''s here in front of you, you hesitate? Especially when you have such a trustworthy and reliable leader, what reason do you have to fear?"

    Damien gave himself a metaphorical pat on the back and grinned like a wild beast.

    "Just trust your instincts and fight. If you run out of mana, find me and I''ll supply you with more. Remember, we are the Stargazer Squadron! We aren''t some side characters that are meant to die here!"

    Nobody responded, but the mes in their eyes indeed began to ignite.

    Perhaps it was in part due to Damien''s speech, or perhaps they''d finally epted the inevitability of their circumstances, but the three geniuses threw away their fear and hesitation.

    As for Zara, when was there a moment she didn''t stand tall at Damien''s side?

    "Go wild and eat as many as you can. Since the Death Seed awakened your connection with the Nox, don''t you think consuming more of their mana would be helpful to you?" Damien said to Zara with a smile.

    "Mm, I''ll try my best," Zara replied sinctly.

    Even if she wanted to say more, there was no need for it. Damien couldpletely understand the emotion behind her words.

    "Well, then¡­" Damien finally spoke aloud.

    "Should we get this show started?"

    Just as his words fell, they were eclipsed by the sounds of heinous roars and screeches only a few feet away.

    And finally¡­

    A tidal wave eclipsed a canoe.

    ***

    BOOOOOOM!

    ''Material Shift''

    ''Stagnant Reality''

    ''Dimension Shift''

    Xiu!

    Damien''s figure disappeared in a sh at the exact same instant a flying projectile pierced the space where he once stood.

    As his body reappeared, reality copsed where he once was, thousands of Lesser Nox experiencing an abrupt and wholly unscheduled bisection.

    BOOOOOOM!

    This wasn''t the first and it wouldn''t be thest, but it almost felt like any damage he did was nothing more than a drop of water in the vast ocean.

    "Woah!"

    Damien rapidly snapped out of his thoughts and tilted left ever so slightly, barely dodging the war hammer that grazed his face.

    "Hey, buddy! Didn''t anyone tell you that ambushes are for cowards?!" Damien spouted annoyedly.

    "Jie jie jie! There are no cowards in war, only winners and losers!"

    The Higher Nox who attacked Damien was short and stumpy, standing at roughly 5 feet tall with a body like a meatball. Strangely enough, his fat didn''t jiggle as fat should. It was instead dense and steely like tempered muscles.

    "Fatty, you should be careful. I heard this ride has a height restriction."

    "Jie jie jie! Did you start spouting nonsense after realizing you are about to die?" The fatty Noxughed obnoxiously.

    "Hm? No. I guess I have to speak in dog terms for anyone here to understand me. So basically, what I meant was¡­aren''t you a little too short to be fighting in wars?"

    Damien taunted the fatty with a twisted smile on his face. A face that suddenly erged in the fatty''s eyes.

    ''Like master like disciple.''

    Hel appeared in his hand and pointed at the Nox''s forehead.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Boom."

    Space exploded. Without prior warning or any sort of fluctuation, space between the fatty''s eyebrows caved in, impacting him with extreme force.

    "Kagh!" The fatty made a phlegmy sound as he flew backwards. He stabilized himself almost immediately, however, and red back at Damien.

    "You rat! Didn''t anyone teach you that ambushes are for cowards?!"

    "Touch¨¦."

    Damien teleported once more and covered the distance between him and the fatty in a spark of an instant. His fist swung down at the fatty''s face loaded with the power of Spacetime.

    ''This fatty didn''t even get scratched by Hel''s bullet. His power might not be higher than mid-rank, but his defense is basically high-rank. He won''t be easy to kill.''

    Damien spread his awareness with a trace of concern in his eyes.

    At the same time, he twisted his body impossibly and evaded the war hammer mming down towards his head.

    ''Just this one fatty is so powerful already, yet there are over a thousand of these guys¡­?''

    He sighed with emotion as he realized it.

    ''This is going to be a long ass hour.''

    His fist swung forward, colliding with the fatty''s. A shockwave spread, killing any Lesser Nox around them.

    ''Right, before I worry about anything else, I should take him out first.''

    This would be the first battle of hundreds, thousands, or maybe even millions.

    This would be the first battle of that terrifying hour that would follow.

    With so much hanging on the results of this battle, Damien couldn''t just let himself get stood up, could he?

    A battle-hungry smile crept onto his face for the first time in many, many years.

    ***

    The world became shadow. Light and dark inteced and created something new, something capable of epassing everything, consuming everything.

    It wasn''t just darkness that couldn''t exist without light, it wasn''t just light that could only exist within the darkness, it was a "shadow" that was created tobine the advantages of both sides.

    However, this shadow seemed iplete.

    The "darkness" was saturated to the maximum. It was the ckest of cks, the most convoluted darkness that could drive one insane by merely glimpsing it.

    However, what was the cause of thiscking "light?"

    Zara wondered earnestly as she made full use of the enchanting darkness around her.

    Her every step was the cause of thousands of deaths, her every breath tormenting the souls of the deceased.

    As for the remains of those who fell?

    Before they could even attempt tobine into a greater being, they were swallowed by the darkness, bing one with it.

    ''Bing one with my legion is the best fate for your kind.''

    Zara turned her gaze. Her golden eyes shone like gems as she focused her attention on a nearby being.

    Strong.

    Stronger than anything she''d ever faced.

    But not as strong as Damien.

    ''The perfect practice dummy.'' Zara thought to herself.

    She couldn''t understand it.

    Just why couldn''t the "light" ever form true duality with the "darkness" within her domain?

    She thought long and hard without ascertaining anything.

    It was almost as if her thoughts were being "restricted."

    But just as someone very dear to her would always say¡­

    The best way to improve was through practical experience.

 Chapter 741 Eternal Hour [3]

    A sea of ck ink.

    A forced encounter with death.

    The terrifying cacophony of war.

    Other than the third, something he''d been preparing himself to face for many years, none of these were things Tyler had been expecting to encounter on his first deployment to war.

    But, fate wasn''t something that could be controlled.

    Tyler''s legs mmed into the ground, shooting him up into the air. His form shifted rapidly, wings and reptilian scales appearing all over his body.

    Raaaah!

    He let out a ferocious battle cry as he pped his wings and shot through the sky. ming breath left his mouth, creating widespread damage among the enemies.

    Thousands of Lesser Nox died to his every attack, but the gaps formed by their absence were filled in an instant. He didn''t have a single second to breathe.

    ''Dodge left. Defensive form. Switch.''

    His form switched again, shifting back into the panther form he used most often.

    Tyler''s eyes darted around and his awareness spread out thoroughly so he could understand his surroundings properly. His body moved like a machine,pletely contradicting his bestial appearance.

    His body only shifted minimally at every interval, but he was able to dodge the swarm around him with rtive ease.

    His speed in panther form was unparalleled, but he sacrificed defense to gain such an effect. In battle, it was far less taxing on his body than some of his stronger summons.

    However, it was still incredibly taxing on his brain.

    ''I need to find a way out. I can''t stay surrounded.''

    Tyler''s thoughts rushed rapidly. Fighting alone in a situation like this was a terrible idea.

    He, Synth, and Ash weren''t powerful enough to take on those Higher Nox who came along. Even if they had power, their power was still in the range of mid-level 4th ss.

    Therefore, the best they could do was control the swarm so that Damien and Zara wouldn''t be bothered as they fought.

    It was an extremely uneven split looking at strength. Over a thousand Higher Nox with high-rank 4th ss physiques were terrifying regardless of how many Lesser Nox were on the other side.

    But that didn''t make fighting the swarm any easier.

    Millions were still millions.

    No matter how many thousands died with each attack, more would always be present to rece them.

    The Lesser Nox had always existed with this exact formation. To simply exist and push forward until the enemy ran out of strength was an extremely brutish yet effective strategy.

    ''I need to find the others.''

    Tyler spread his awareness to its maximum, covering several thousand kilometers.

    ''I can''t see them at all. We must''ve been separated while figh¡ª''

    "¡­!"

    Tyler suddenly flipped backwards and turned into a retreating tail of light. Where he once stood¡­

    BANG!

    A massive crater formed.

    Within the dust and debris, a lion-like man with wild hair and glistening yellow eyes brushed a hint of blood off his ash-grey skin.

    "Hmm, you dodged?" He spoke casually as he left the crater, his eyes never leaving Tyler''s form regardless of his speed.

    "You''re pretty fast," the man said with a smile. "But I''m faster."

    BOOM!

    The man''s figure blurred and appeared directly next to Tyler. He mmed his arm to the side, blocking the young genius'' path and forcefully halting his momentum.

    Tyler panicked, narrowly evading the arm that would''ve punched a hole in his head if he''d run into it. He rolled on the floor and stood up, facing the man who stopped him.

    ''There''s no escape.''

    He realized it quickly. Escaping this lion-haired man was impossible with his abilities. His only options were to fight or die.

    His form changed. It was a near-instantaneous effect.

    His body grew and became more robust, his face became more primal, and tufts of fur began growing from his skin.

    ROAR!

    A powerful fluctuation spread from Tyler''s body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Oho, I like your courage." The man said.

    "My name is Elio. Remember it when you die."

    The man, Elio''s form blurred. A streak of light shot towards Tyler like aet, reaching his body in an instant.

    BANG!

    Elio''s fist hit Tyler in the center of his chest, but unlike before¡­

    Tyler withstood the punch with sheer defensive power alone.

    "You¡­won''t kill me that easily." He grunted rebelliously.

    The Titan Ape was one of Tyler''s most powerful summons. It was slow and heavy, but it was equally tough and powerful.

    To resist against a few hits from Elio was light work.

    But to do it continuously¡­?

    Tyler didn''t wait to see what would happen. His fists became weapons of mass destruction. He didn''t even aim for Elio as he fought, merely wishing to cause as much damage as possible.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Every impact felt like a nuclear explosion. The ground was torn to sunders, space trembled and cracked apart, and the surrounding tens of thousands of Nox were turned into ink stains.

    Elio dodged like a cheetah and evaded the brunt force of every hit, but even he couldn''t avoid the proceeding shock.

    ''Tch!'' He scoffed inwardly. He could feel his organs rattling, but he had confidence in the physique that''d been built for him. His body wouldn''t fall apart with just this much.

    Elio''s eyes turned cold. He''de here to y around a bit since the three fighting the swarm seemed weaker than the two fighting the Higher Nox, but he didn''t like what he''d encountered.

    Talent.

    Elio always hated the concept of talent.

    The Nox didn''t have talent. None of them were able to grow with their own effort to achieve power.

    The Nox''s way of gaining power was different, far more straightforward and adaptable.

    Elio envied talent and he hated it. He hated the fact that no matter what level he reached, it''d never be wholly due to his own efforts.

    He hated that the power he had was, to some extent, borrowed.

    ''Heavenly God Armor''

    Talent deserved to die. So everyone could experience the same bleakness as him, so everyone would always be equal.

    Talent had to die.

    Elio''s body was covered in oozing ck mana. The mana solidified within sparks of a second, engraving itself with mystical patterns as it formed an ancient armor set that covered Elio''s entire body.

    A massive broadsword materialized in his grip.

    He charged towards Tyler''s titanic form and shed downwards, ignoring the flurry of attacks that was taking ce.

    Shiiing!

    The sword sound cut through the surrounding chaos and rang especially bright.

    A spray of blood apanied it, dying the sky red.

    "Ack!"

    Tyler clutched his chest as he backed away, his form changing once more into a panther beastman.

    The gash running across his torso was clear as day. It was so massive that it almost looked like Tyler''s body had been split in two.

    ''With just one attack¡­!'' Tyler thought, trying his best to ignore the pain.

    The Higher Nox experts who were leading the swarm¡­they truly weren''t a force he could take on.

    He didn''t have the power.

    ''No.''

    Tyler clenched his fists and threw away the thoughts in his head.

    ''I was going to die anyway, it''s just a matter of how I go out.''

    He''d never really cared for shiness and he''d never really cared for pride, but now that he was on the battlefield, he felt differently.

    It seemed¡­he''d been influenced by a certain reckless squad leader.

 Chapter 742 Eternal Hour [4]

    Tyler was a rational person.

    Throughout life, he would rationalize all things in order to understand them.

    He rationalized emotion so he could ovee it, he rationalized fear and understood courage, he even rationalized his rtionships so he could maintain them properly.

    When someone like him awakened as a contractor, he was originally ecstatic.

    As a contractor, he could use his tactical ability more than his personal strength tomand an army, allowing his talents to shine.

    But¡­the Contractor ss didn''t function exactly as he''d expected.

    Rather than the wisdom-centric ss he expected, he got the most brutish possible subform of the ss: a possession type.

    His fighting style was rational. His mind could never adapt to the irrationality and primal methods of beasts, which led to him never being able to utilize the full potential of his ss.

    There was never a moment when Tyler chose to stop thinking.

    Until today.

    ''If I''m going to die, I''ll die with pride.''

    It was a hot-blooded thought, something Tyler had never experienced before.

    Something snapped in his mind.

    And he turned off his rationality.

    Tyler turned into a sh of light as he charged at Elio. His movements no longer resembled a human''s at all.

    The panther form was one of speed and dexterity. It was a form that relied heavily on instinct, as when moving with such deftness, one''s senses were often too slow to properly utilize the full extent of that agility.

    Tyler''s natural disposition blocked his power and bottlenecked him.

    With it out of the way, there was nothing blocking his full potential anymore.

    He moved like a blur of ck smoke. He dashed around Elio''s body at a speed that even he couldn''tpletely follow. His body seemed boneless the way he continuously dodged attacks in the most impossible fashion.

    But he wasn''t merely dodging.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    His ws made high-pitched whirs in the air as they cut the wind in seven.

    The sound of metal shing against metal was apanied by a bright array of sparks. Though Tyler''s ws didn''t have the same durability as Elio''s armor, he made up the difference using momentum alone.

    He didn''t think even once. He allowed his body to move as it pleased, and concentrated his thoughts on piercing through the armor.

    It was Tyler''s first encounter with tunnel vision.

    And perhaps¡­it was somewhat better for him?

    Without thought clouding Tyler''s brain with calction, it was able to fire off at a far faster rate. In apletely contradictory manner, the less Tyler controlled himself, the more precise he''d be.

    Even as his battle with Elio moved like a hurricane, causing a massive scene within the swarm of Lesser Nox, Tyler adapted and moved like a predator who''d been surviving in the wilderness jungle for years.

    Dragon, ape, panther, ox; his form changed so often and so randomly that his attack patterns suddenly became impossible to read.

    Elio''s fury grew with every second.

    Talent, this was talent, this was exactly what he hated.

    He couldn''t do this. He couldn''t grow from battle and grow from hardship. He couldn''t enjoy the feeling of being a practitioner.

    His prey was supposed to die easily when the Heavenly God Armor appeared. He was supposed to be an invincible figure that couldn''t be moved.

    Yet¡­what was the current situation?

    ck mana flowed from his body like toxic fumes and polluted the atmosphere. His counters to Tyler''s attacks grew stronger and stronger.

    ''Fate-Severing sh''

    Elio cut down with his broadsword. Its de gave off a deste and sacrilegious aura.

    Tyler''s bestial instinct immediately rang rm bells in his head. If he was hit by that attack, or even grazed by its aura¡­

    He''d die.

    This wasn''t a problem that could be solved by instinct.

    Techniques were part of the reason why humans were so superior to beasts before thetter species gained intelligence.

    Tyler''s rational mind spun in search of a solution.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But with the time he had¡­!

    "Hey! Who gave you permission to bully our leader?"

    The sass in the sudden neer''s tone cut through the atmosphere with such force that it felt like time stopped to wee her entrance.

    And then, she resumed it with her own hands.

    BOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion descended between Tyler and Elio. While the force wasn''t enough to stop thetter''s swing, it pushed Tyler away with its sudden momentum and allowed him to dodge the iing attack.

    BANG!

    Elio''s sh followed through, and at the same time, a massive fist mmed into his skull.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    The rough grunting of a female gori was especially clear at that moment.

    Tyler looked up in shock.

    "You¡­you guys¡­when did you get here?"

    Synth scoffed in disbelief. "Unreal. You caused all that chaos and expected us not to notice you?"

    "Chaos?"

    "Look around, asshole."

    Tyler did as he was told and surveyed the battlefield.

    He was suddenly made aware of a massive trail of destruction that''d followed his battle with Elio. Thousands of kilometers ofnd had beenin to waste.

    "Haa, seriously. If you didn''t keep running in the opposite direction from us, we would''ve gotten here sooner. Since when did you be the reckless one?"

    "OOOH!"

    "See? Even Ash agrees."

    "Haha¡­"

    Tylerughed ufortably at her question. Truly, this was his first time experiencing what it felt like to be Synth.

    And it wasn''t as bad as he thought.

    Smiling, he stood up and popped a pill into his mouth. As he allowed his injuries to heal, he spread his awareness and pierced through the truths of the world.

    "Since you guys are here now, I guess there''s no need to fret."

    His body morphed into panther form for the final time of this battle.

    "Let''s kill this son of a bitch together!"

    With his words as a war cry, the three charged into battle, surrounding Elio with their usual strategies and immediately driving him into a corner.

    The Heavenly God Armor barely withstood their attacks. Every time Ash''s fist impacted it, the force resonated through the armor and shook Elio''s bones.

    Not to mention, with Synth''s rear support, Elio didn''t have any range of movement anymore. He was like a caged beast being prepared for ughter.

    From afar, a pair of eyes watched their battle. A smile formed on that being''s face.

    ''They''re doing pretty well.''

    Damien shed Mirage through the air and beheaded the Higher Nox in his grasp.

    ''If they can stand up to one of these generals with theirbined strength, it''s better for me. It means I won''t have to worry about them too much as long as I attract the enemy''s attention onto myself.''

    It had only been 5 minutes since the battle started. While this was less than 10% of the time remaining until help arrived, it was an extremely long amount of time for a practitioner with their perception heightened to its maximum.

    This battle had been going on for ages.

    Damien defeated the first fatty in a minute and moved on to his next target, but even with his current pace, he wouldn''t be able to get through the massive number of Higher Nox in an hour.

    ''If they decide to swarm me, it''ll cause problems. But more than that¡­''

    The butler hadn''t moved yet.

    Like an uninvolved bystander, he watched the battle from the sidelines with a calm smile on his face.

    ''Goddamnit. I want to punch his fucking teeth out...''

 Chapter 743 Eternal Hour [5]

    Time passed at an indescribably slow rate.

    Every microsecond was clearly reflected in the eyes of the Stargazer Squad as their minds were forced to the limit by the endless wave of enemies that surrounded them.

    But they still had 50 minutes left to defend themselves.

    In total, only 10 minutes had passed. In this time, countless Lesser Nox and over twenty Higher Nox fell.

    But this number was, in the end, nothing.

    Damien pulled Hel''s trigger and watched as it pulverized a Higher Nox''s head.

    ''As much as I want to devour every single Higher Nox here, I don''t think everyone will be able tost long enough¡­''

    His eyes darted around in search of a new target.

    ''Zara''s speed isn''t much slower than mine, but evenbined, we''ll only be able to take a few hundred of them before an hour is up regardless.''

    Damien suddenly twisted his body at an impossible angle, dodging thebined attacks of a long spear and a certain deathly breed of mana.

    ''These fuckers just won''t leave me alone¡­''

    His eyes hardened as he lifted Mirage up.

    ''I''ll go for the butler after I finish these guys off. Even if he isn''t actively contributing right now, he''s the biggest threat on the battlefield. If I upy him, even if I can''t defeat him, everyone''s mental burdens will lessen.''

    Damien couldn''t understand the thoughts of his fellow teammates if they didn''t voice them, but he could clearly understand their predicament. In a situation like this, it was impossible for them to not divert a portion of their focus outside the battle just in case he decided to move.

    ''Annoying prick.''

    Damien charged at the two Nox who ambushed him without giving them a chance to speak. He was tired of hearing the screechy voices of the Nox.

    ''Seriously, where did they get their inspiration from? They seem to have the intrinsic ability to spout the most basic viin lines in existence.''

    Mirage turned into a flurry of waves altering the atmosphere. Its translucent de blended in with the background, bing one with the world, and using the world itself as its de.

    Damien himself was nothing more than a vessel for the sword''s power. He allowed it to move how it chose to move, he allowed it to flow as it chose to flow. Mirage was a being with budding consciousness, and it had its own desires and battle sense.

    Damien certainly wouldn''t reject his weapon''s desire for battle.

    He wasn''t a sword practitioner, and he would never be one. Even to this day, he only used the sword out of convenience. He had no real preference when it came to weapons, and if anything, he preferred using his fists.

    But Mirage was once the sword of an expert swordsman. Its inherited memory was far more flexible and maneuverable in battle than Damien''s own brutish methods.

    When Damien''s power and Mirage''s technique werebined into one, it truly created a terrifying storm.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    The sound of wind being sliced into pieces was the only thing revealing Mirage''s presence as its speed surpassed what the eyes could see. The two Higher Nox who had to face the barrage were ced into a position where they could do nothing but defend.

    "Petty tricks!" The spear-wielding Nox suddenly scoffed. He lifted his spear into the air and surrounded it with a cyclone of mana. When he brought it down, it created a massive gust that pushed hispanion away.

    Damien was clearly aware of their goal, but he didn''t try to stop them. Even if the mage was given distance, it wouldn''t help him survive.

    ''The only reason¡­you''re still alive¡­is cheats!'' Damien roared inwardly as he swung his de. If these Nox didn''t have defense far surpassing their true power level, they would''ve died to a single one of his swings!

    But the difference between levels in 4th ss was massive. After all, 4th ss was a stage heavily reliant onprehension, and the amount ofprehension one could achieve was somewhat connected to their level, as the heightening of their stats allowed them to get closer to the Laws of the universe.

    At the same time, 4th ss was a beginner course where one could experience what it felt like to interact with thews before ascending to Divinity and bing further in tune with them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Mid-level 4th ss" and "high-level" 4th ss didn''t sound much different on paper, but it wasn''t a difference that could be ovee with just skill.

    Spacetime mana began to rage around Damien''s body, countering the spear-wielding Nox''s cyclone and taking hold of the battle''s momentum. However, the spear-wielding Nox''s apparent powerlessness was only a matter of circumstance. He wasn''t some weakling that''d be killed off with a few swings of Mirage.

    His spear was like a hummingbird, its presence loudly roaring in Damien''s ears and its speed and stability keeping it steady amongst any winds or rain. The spearman stabbed and shed with exquisite form,pletely matching Mirage''s skill level and disallowing Damien fromnding a hit.

    "Lance Cannon!''

    A shout suddenly came from behind.

    Damien felt the presence of something massive rapidly approaching him.

    Without hesitation, he let go of Mirage, jumped up, and locked his legs around the spear-wielding Higher Nox''s torso.

    "You¡­what¡­?!" The Nox let out a confused exmation and raised his fist to punch Damien, but in that instant he was distracted¡­

    The so-called Lance Cannon appeared right before him.

    Damien''s body disappeared like it never existed.

    And a massivence the size of a tree pierced through the spear-wielding Nox''s chest.

    Damien appeared near the mage without worrying about the other Nox''s life or death. Hel and Freya appeared in his hands, the crystals in his wrists shining as his mana was transferred into the twin armaments.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Like a school of fish, hundreds of bullets were fired out of the twin gun barrels, surrounding the mage from all sides as they curved through space.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    ''I''ll turn you into sashimi, bitch.''

    The Twin Moons vanished from Damien''s hands, allowing him room to wave them around like a zealous conductor. The space cracks created by his movements were like ded crescent moons, flying through the air and decorating the bullet storm they apanied.

    Miniature explosions painted the air around the mage and forced him to focus wholly on defense. A thick barrier of ck mana covered his body and protected him from the explosions, but at the same time, left him immobile.

    ''Checkmate.''

    Damien grinned as he teleported into the cloud of explosions. He reached his hand out without hesitation and ced it on the barrier''s surface.

    ''Material Shift''

    With his words, the barrier began to change¡­

    ¡­along with everything inside of it.

    It was like the work of the world''s greatest alchemist. The world itself was transmuted, the atmosphere forcefully turned into stone by Damien''s Midas touch.

    "What is this?!" The Nox mage panicked. He waved his staff through the air and cast a plethora of spells, breaking pieces of the transmuted atmosphere one by one.

    But the rate of freezing was far faster than his rate of casting.

    If he didn''t escape his confines fast enough¡­

    He''d end up as another statue in Medusa''s garden.

 Chapter 744 Eternal Hour [6]

    Damien''s battle soon became far more heated. A third opponent appeared while he was dealing with the Nox mage, forcing him to divert his attention to others instead of finishing off the mage.

    ''It''s not enough.''

    A pair of eyes watched Damien''s every movement, uncaring of the rest of the battlefield.

    These sharp eyes were piercing and even a tad lustful in the intent they conveyed.

    Naturally, these eyes belonged to the butler.

    ''The Master ordered him to be tortured to the brink before being killed. This isn''t enough, is it?''

    The butler bit his nails anxiously. Even though the psed time wasn''t long, he wasn''t satisfied with what he''d seen.

    The battle was simply moving too slowly, it was too boring. Itcked the grandeur he''d imagined!

    ''These idiotic generals have no sense of unity. If they just worked as one, wouldn''t he be captured simply? I refuse to let the Master''s intentions be twisted by a group of barbarians!''

    His thoughts swam maniacally through his head, tempting him into all kinds of scenarios he could use to entrap Damien.

    At the same time, he remembered the conversation he had with the Saint Emperor months prior.

    ***

    "Sebastian, I met quite an interesting child today."

    The speaker was a tall grey-skinned man with ck hair that flowed down his back like a river. His sclerae were ck and his eyes were a piercing red color, but oddly enough, he gave off an impression simr to a schrly young master.

    "Who is this child, Master?" Sebastian answered his master''s call.

    "Haha, of that, even I''m not sure. However, he is extremely talented. He might even be a match for my son."

    "For the Young Master?!" Sebastian eximed in shock.

    "Mm, exactly. That child is a top talent that hasn''t been seen in millions of years, yet the human side has a genius of equal standing. Isn''t that interesting?"

    The Saint Emperor smiled into the distance with blurred eyes. He didn''t need them to see what he desired.

    A boy with immense bravado and spirit, a boy with a bloodline that made his soul shiver, a boy with a strange yet familiar scent emanating from his body¡­

    "Right, if anyone wished to match him, they must at least be at this level."

    Turning back to the butler, he spoke once more. "Sebastian, I have a task I want you to execute. Even if it fails, I will not fault you. Consider it a simple¡­test, if you please. Find out whether this boy is a worthy opponent for Dante or just another ant that needs to be crushed.?

    Sebastian bowed his head without a second thought and replied enthusiastically, "As youmand, Master."

    ***

    ''The Young Master could kill these mere generals with a single p! What does the Master see in that boy?''

    The butler wondered as he looked at Damien. He was ordered to test the boy, but clearly, these lesser generals weren''t enough to do so.

    ''If I''m to judge whether he is worthy of the Young Master''s attention or not, shouldn''t I test him myself?''

    The butler smiled with a hint of mania as he stared up into the battlefield.

    ''To bring out one''s full potential, one must first endure unspeakable torture, was it? Ah, Master truly has a way with words.''

    With that thought, he made his decision. Though, it was better to say that he let go of his restraints.

    ''Master, forgive me if I kill him. If he dies, it just means he was too weak to face the Young Master anyway.''

    The butler''s body disappeared.

    Time seemed to freeze.

    And then¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The air for several thousand kilometers exploded.

    Damien only felt a sudden breeze pass by his face before the world flipped. He didn''t even register the pain in his face until he''d shot backwards several hundred kilometers.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Nngh!" He groaned, realizing that he couldn''t properly formte words. Before he could even regain his senses¡­

    Bang!

    Crack!

    His body finally crashed into a rock several thousand kilometers away from the main battlefield.

    His spine cracked on impact.

    "Fmghk!"

    Damien failed his attempt to curse from the pain. Soon after, his body fell out of the rock indent he''d created and fell to the ground.

    Crack! Snap!

    The sound of Damien''s bones rearranging and fitting back into ce was especially jarring in the silence this far away from the battlefield.

    His face was a mess. His jaw was hanging loose and his skull was fractured in several ces. It was a miracle that his brain didn''t take much damage.

    After his spine returned to one piece, Damien stood up and grabbed his face, snapping it up into its rightful ce.

    "Ahh, fuck. I can finally talk again. You know, I''m all for appreciating culture, but I can''t appreciate a culture where a punch to the face is your greeting."

    He massaged his jaw casually as he shot a re into the sky. There, a figure stepped out of the rippling space and appeared.

    "Oh my, well I dearly apologize if I caused you any fright. As you said, this is how we greet people in our culture, so it can''t be helped, correct?"

    "Tch, I didn''t know being a Nox meant having no friends. What''s the point of all that power if you''re going to live ame-ass life of servitude anyway?"

    "Hohoho, you may insult me as you wish, but please do not direct any ire towards my dear master."

    "And if I do?"

    "Would you like to experience the answer to that question?"

    The butler''s eyes turned cold and his aura red outward. Space shattered, unable to endure its pressure.

    "I only wished to y a bit when I dragged you out here. I suggest you do not force me to be serious."

    Damien smiled a cocky smile. He smiled as if everything in the world was below him, ants for him to crush as he pleased.

    "I should be the one saying that to you, Cuck Emperor''s Dog. You know, the same way I was talking to your bitchass emperor''s wifest night."

    "You¡­!"

    "Hahaha! Your master is the Saint Emperor, so your Young Master must be the Saint King, right? It''s crazy how I''m going to single-handedly curb stomp two generations of the same family line in theing few years."

    Damien almost cackled from the pleasure of insulting someone with such childishness.

    Who cared?

    Sophistry was meant for humans, meant for denizens of the civilized universe. It wasn''t a tool that scummy barbarians like the Nox should be allowed to use.

    ''Right, everything belongs to us. For the ones who try to destroy it¡­?''

    No mercy.

    No negotiation.

    No courtesy.

    ''Life is too short to be the bigger person.''

    Damien thought it with a smile on his face as he revolved his mana carefully.

    In the almost infinitely slowed time that Damien perceived, he was able to clearly see how the Box butler''s face went from red to ck.

    He could clearly see how the aura around the butler''s body becameced with killing intent.

    And he could clearly see as the butler shot himself through the air like aet, intent on ughtering Damien with a single strike.

 Chapter 745 Life And Death [1]

    Sebastian''s rapid figure appeared before Damien''s eyes in a mere instant.

    BOOM!

    Two fists collided and split the air.

    The earth cracked and shattered to pieces, creating a massive crater. Space trembled at the might of the collision, yet the two beings who created such force were unmoved.

    "Oho, not bad for a human!" Sebastian, the Nox butler,mented with a grin.

    "Yeah, and you''re not bad for a scummy invader!"

    Damien pushed his fist forward with a burst of mana as he shouted his reply. His left arm moved like a piston, shooting a punch into Sebastian''s stomach before thetter could react.

    Or at least, that was the goal.

    Bang!

    A dull sound rang out as Sebastian caught Damien''s fist.

    "Has the rush of battle made you forget our strength difference? How ignorant."

    "Yeah, that''s my bad."

    Damien grinned and moved his right arm, sliding it across Sebastian''s arm to parry his motion while simultaneously materializing an object in his hand

    Freya''s silver sheen reflected Sebastian''s face as it fired off tens of rounds in a single instant. With Freya''s immense speed, Sebastian truly wasn''t given a chance to counter!

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Sebastian''s body was covered in a spatial explosion. Damien immediately teleported away and took Mirage into his free hand, mentally preparing himself.

    ''He isn''t trying to kill me.''

    Damien could at least surmise this much from their first sh. The reason he used his fist instead of a weapon was to test this theory of his.

    In the worst-case scenario, his arm would''ve exploded, but that was merely a necessary risk.

    In exchange for his gamble, he was able to understand a portion of his enemy''s intentions.

    ''His killing intent is superficial. I can only tell because of the All-Seeing Eyes. Even my survival sense couldn''t interpret his killing intent properly.''

    The explosion began to clear up. From within, Sebastian''s unharmed figure emerged.

    "So you aren''t a mere durd as I originally assumed. Were you gauging me? Did you find anything worthwhile with your attempt?"

    "Eh, this and that."

    Damien shrugged and took a battle stance.

    ''That Saint Emperor bastard¡­I fucking hate that sadistic bastard¡­''

    He shot forward like an arrow. Mirage swung through the air in a beautiful arc, marking the beginning of Damien''s offensive.

    Mirage''s sword techniques drew mystical patterns in the sky. A flower of spatial distortion was formed in the air as Damien pressed Sebastian harder and harder. The butler continued his nonchnt act, however, and blocked every attack with a calm look on his face.

    Damien''s eyes hardened. Freya vanished from his left hand.

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse''

    Damien mmed Mirage downward, shattering space at its very roots and forcing the creation of a ck hole.

    Sebastian was naturally trapped in the middle. He gazed around the total ckness of his surroundings with interest.

    Tapping the air, he found that the flow of his mana wasn''t nearly as stable as usual. Even his internal systems were being somewhat influenced by the space.

    ''This human has some tricks up his sleeve!'' The butler thought to himself.

    But unfortunately, it wasn''t enough. Sebastian tapped his fingers through the air, creating a spiderweb of inky ck mana.

    The second he pulled on one of the mana strings, his force was transferred to all the others, creating a resonance that immediately shattered Damien''s spatial phenomenon.

    ''Seven Stars Encircling The Moon''

    A bright white light too close to be natural appeared in front of Sebastian''s face the second the spatial phenomenon shattered. Chaotic mana flowed together and bloomed into a beautiful disharmonic explosion that swallowed all things.

    ''This¡­!''

    BOOOOOOOOM!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Sebastian''s body shot through the air and crashed into the ground, deepening the already chasm-like crater that''d been formed by the force of their continuous impacts.

    Damien''s eyes tracked his every movement like a hawk. In this battle, he couldn''t allow Sebastian even a single spark of an instant to counterattack.

    His body turned into aet as he trailed Sebastian''s path. His speed continuously increased, gravity multiplying countless times around him to amplify his speed.

    ''Void Sword Art Sixth Form: Worldbreaker''

    Xiu!

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    An unhindered Worldbreaker, the first of its kind.

    It lived up to its name perfectly.

    From the point of impact where Sebastian was, the ground copsed in a fan-like pattern stretching out over the horizon.

    Rushing winds like hurricanes could be heard from below, signs of the various terrifying spatial storms and cracks that formed due to the pressure of the impact. Even after Damien''s original attack lost power, these naturally formed phenomena would continue devouring the earth until they were full.

    The continent nicknamed the Vinyard was only a little less than 100,000 kilometers across.

    And Worldbreaker turned almost half of its area into a wastndcking in any of the harrowing nt species that forced people to avoid it for so long.

    As for the other half, it was currently in the process of copsing entirely due to the main battlefield''s expanding presence.

    It was truly a scene like world destruction.

    But was that enough?

    Damien didn''t even halt to appreciate the tens of thousands of kilometers ofnd he''d just wasted.

    ''Stagnant Reality''

    ''Dimension Shift''

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severence''

    ''Spacetime Severence''

    Damien cut the world in half with everything he had. Spacetime, the dimension, and even reality to an extent were torn to shreds by the immensity of his power.

    Apanying this destruction was the expansion of the Space-Time River Domain. With its help, not inky was the surrounding destruction amplified immensely, but it was also contained within the domain''s range so as to concentrate the attack''s power onto Sebastian alone.

    The environment once again suffered immensely. Sebastian''s body floated limply in the air within an isted spatial phenomenon, the earth around him vanquished to totality.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    ''That should''ve done something¡­right?'' Damien thought as he wiped the blood flowing from his lips.

    "Were you perhaps thinking that you could injure me with that attack?"

    A voice whispered into his ear. Before Damien could turn around, he felt a force strike his head with power that felt like a direct impact from a tank round.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Damien''s body shot back, blood leaking from his mouth.

    His skull almost shattered from that hit alone.

    The Space-Time River Domain, Damien''s powerful body, nothing could protect him from Sebastian''s immense power.

    "If that was your thought, then you''d be pleased to know that you were correct. You have indeed aplished something outside of my expectations."

    Sebastian''s figure appeared a few meters away. There was a deep gash running down the side of his face, apparently refusing to close even with his healing factor.

    This gash was only one of many. The butler''s signature suit was drenched in its owner''s blood.

    However, Sebastian didn''t seem bothered by it. Instead, he smiled wider than ever. His disgustingly ck aura permeated the atmosphere and mimicked his expressions.

    "Since you showed me something so interesting, I should reward you as well. Today, I''ll allow you to witness the techniques of this humble butler!"

    He disappeared into the wind with a deranged smile on his face.

    And all Damien could remember about what came after¡­

    ¡­was pain.

 Chapter 746 Life And Death [2]

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Sebastian''s movements were untraceable even with All-Seeing Eyes.

    Boom!

    Damien only felt the pain of impact after Sebastian had already moved onto a new attack.

    He moved Mirage in a desperate attempt to block, he used Freya and Hel to try and buy himself space, he even tried to outright teleport away, but Sebastian always managed to stop him.

    It wasn''t just a matter of power, but also precision. Using the special corrosive trait of his mana, Sebastian was able to shatter Damien''s connection with his mana, effectively cutting off its activation entirely.

    Under these conditions, Damien could do nothing but take the beating. His body copsed multiple times, remaining functioning due to Transcendent Regeneration alone.

    Sebastian''s every punch was like a nuclear bomb, and when mana was involved in those punches, they becameary destroyers. Damien took the force of the punches with a straight face only because of all the pain he''d experienced so far in life.

    If it wasn''t for the powerful body and healing factor he gained through Devour, he would''ve died ten times over by now.

    The only respite Damien had was Void Mana''s special property to devour. With this, his mana fought back against the corrosion, which allowed him to asionally defend, even if his power was somewhat weakened.

    ''Do you think that''s enough?'' Sebastian thought smilingly.

    Inky ck mana covered his skin like armor.

    ''Heavenly God Armor: Balistic Form''

    "The inspiration for this technique actually came from you humans, so I truly do need to thank your race."

    The Heavenly God Armor morphed away from

    It''s original appearance and changed into something akin to a mech titan.

    An array, a plethora, a true myriad of weapons emerged from within the mech titan''s body.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    BOOOOOOOOM

    XIU! XIU! XIU!

    The cacophony of sound formed by thebined attack of those weapons was soul-tearing. As for the damage¡­

    Damien''s body shot through the air with so much force that he truly turned into a meteor,pletely exiting the world''s atmosphere.

    Sebastian bent his knees and shot upwards in chase. The two soon arrived in the vast starry sky, a stage for them and them alone.

    "Now that we''ve moved here, you can also show your full potential, no? If you don''t, you''ll truly die, you know."

    "So you really were testing me, you dog bastard."

    "Ohoho! A test it may be, however master has given me full control over this operation. Do you know what that means?"

    "That you''ll kill me because I told your Young Master to suck my dick?"

    "You are a human who truly knows how to test others'' patience. Did I not beat it into that thick skull of yours yet?"

    Sebastian''s figure vanished.

    Damien suddenly felt a hand on his face.

    "Stop the cocky act if you don''t want to die."

    BOOOOOM!

    A burst of inky ck mana collided with Damien''s face at point nk range. The terrifying ck emission was like a jet engine,pletely enveloping Damien''s upper body in its mes.

    ''FUCK!'' Damien roared inwardly.

    His face was truly burning off. His body was going to be charred to a crisp anytime soon.

    ''Transcendent Regeneration can''t keep up with the rate of damage¡­I need to escape his grasp!''

    His body was trying its best, but in the end, he was still in the early-stages of 4th ss. Even with his insane stats, he couldn''t match someone at Sebastian''s level at all.

    In that moment of desperation, a moment that came without warning, Damien''s mind suddenly became tranquil.

    A certain prison in his spiritual world that''d remained dormant for many years suddenly shone with light.

    Reality slowed to a crawl. The pain in Damien''s body became distant. His mind functioned at a speed unlike ever before.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    As he began to n ways to escape his current predicament, he realized something.

    He had never been so close to death. This wasn''t a statement alluding to his mortality at all, however, as there were plenty of times throughout his life when he''d quite literally been a half step through death''s doors.

    Rather, it was a matter of spirituality.

    Discounting his near-death state, his life that was hanging on by a thread purely due to Transcendent Regeneration, the Nox''s inherent mana was a strange variant of death mana as well. Facing a Nox of Sebastian''s level inevitably meant existing in an environment overflowing with deathly energy.

    Mentally, Damien felt more connected with death than ever before. He felt like if he pried a little harder, he''d be able to understand the nuances behind the concept.

    And along with that¡­

    Within Damien''s body, a strange interaction was taking ce. A greenish-white mana and a harrowing ck mana met within his Mana Heart and intertwined, interacting as if they were long lost siblings.

    It was the interaction of Life and Death.

    ''Something¡­is changing.''

    Damien didn''t understand what was happening to his body at all, but he did know one thing.

    ''The longer I can prolong this battle, the stronger I can get.''

    The interaction between Life and Death in his body was being fueled by Life Laws siphoned from the [Heal] trait and Death Laws from Sebastian himself.

    Life Laws were overflowing in Damien''s body not only because of [Heal], but also because of his very own Transcendent Regeneration skill.

    The onlycking ingredient was Death Laws¡­

    Death Laws that Damien could harvest in bulk as long as he could survive against Sebastian''s strikes.

    ''Battle is the best course of action. The process taking ce within my body is good for me, anyway. I can feel it strengthening me with every passing second.''

    There was nothing to fear.

    There was no reason to hesitate.

    Damien, who had been forced into a passive position previously, ignored the consequences of his actions andpletely shattered the flow of battle.

    "ARGH!"

    Damien cried out in pain as Sebastian''s mana mmed into his body and madly burned him. Blood sprayed from his pores and his mouth. .

    But he was prepared for this.

    For power, any amount of pain just needed to be endured.

    Damien used the opening created by his extremely sudden shift in strategy, he opened his mouth wide and roared as loud as he could.

    A ck beam of dragon''s breath exited his throat and impacted Sebastian''s hand with an immense force, at the same point nk range he''d struck Damien moments prior.

    Sebastian''s grip loosened due to the sudden pain. Damien didn''t miss his chance. Using Dragon''s Breath as a counterforce, he wildly tumbled away from Sebastian''s body.

    He flew several kilometers before finally stopping.

    Transcendent Regeneration healed his body before he even regained his bnce.

    He stared at the distant Sebastian with a ferocious glint in his eyes.

    Reddish-ck sparks popted his aura like fireworks.

    ck scales and bloody runic patterns modified his body into that of a monster''s.

    And he charged with only a single thought in mind.

    ''This is a new path to strength!''

    Strength, everything he''d been chasing for so long, and the goal he still chased to this day. To one day stand at the peak of existence and overlook all things¡­

    He''d been stagnating recently. Despite his focus being on something as esoteric as Spacetime itself, he felt a roadblock unlike anything he''d ever faced before.

    In simple terms: something felt¡­missing.

    Though he didn''t know what was happening inside his body, Damien could clearly feel the emptiness in his soul slowly filling.

    This was the missing piece, or at least, a part of it.

    And Damien wouldn''t allow Sebastian to leave until he understood itpletely.

 Chapter 747 Life And Death [3]

    Time ticked by at an unbearably slow pace.

    Damien''s perception of the concept lessened as it continued flowing. With all his attention focused on withstanding Sebastian''s attacks, he didn''t have any awareness to spare for time.

    After all, he couldn''t just dodge or block, he couldn''t perform in such a way that forced the battle''s momentum in his favor.

    At this moment, he needed to get hit. Constantly.

    Mirage moved like a twisting serpent through Sebastian''s never-ending barrage of punches. Its beautiful semi-translucent de glinted with blood as it moved, creating a fierce and ethereal image.

    Meanwhile, on the other hand, Sebastian''s seemingly simple punches seemed to contain some sort of mysticism that Damien couldn''t identify.

    They were constraining.

    They didn''t seem supported by technique or skill. Instead, they were backed by raw physical strength and mana.

    ''There''s a mysterious Law hidden within his mana.''

    Damien realized it as he devoured Sebastian''s Death Laws and used them to fuel the strange process taking ce in his own body.

    ''I''ve always known Nox Mana as a variant, but could I have been wrong?''

    The Laws entering Damien''s body were undoubtedly Death Laws, so the Nox''s connection with Death wasn''t false, however, what if that was only a single facet of their mana?

    ''It''s possible. His fists seem to be powered by¡­wind and space¡­? And maybe something else too. No matter how conceptual you get, you can''t use Death Laws topletely mimic the powers of another Law.''

    Damien''s assumption about the Laws Sebastian used was merely his own, but he was sure about thetter half of his thoughts.

    He stayed within Sebastian''s attack range with immacte precision. His body didn''t go unscathed, but the new protection of his Demon Dragon Form allowed him to resist without being pushed back by the butler''s sheer pressure.

    ''Still, this is way harder than I thought!''

    More than his body, it was Damien''s mind that felt immense strain from the current battle situation.

    His body could move instinctually to react as best as possible, but his eyes had to track Sebastian''s movements and move in synchronicity to perfectly take enough damage to aid his growth without breaking his body.

    His brain felt like it wanted to break out of his skull. His spiritual world was trembling at the mere level of focus he needed to show at this moment.

    But Damien wasn''t fazed. He threw any unnecessary feelings like pain and hesitation away into the Mind Prison.

    The only thing left for him was rational thought and a portion of his emotion.

    After all, the istion of all emotions could lead to mistakes caused by ruthlessness that didn''t fit Damien''s personal code.

    Nevertheless, his control over his spiritual world allowed him to enter a perfect battle state that he''d never achieved before. It allowed him to battle someone immensely stronger than him without dying.

    Even if he could never take initiative, this alone was enough to show his power.

    ''However, it''s not enough.''

    Damien could clearly feel his body changing. Something within him was pulsating with the desire to bloom.

    With every second, he became just a little bit stronger. His power became a little bit more consolidated.

    Within Damien''s Mana Heart, a small seed was slowly being born. It was pure white on one half and the darkest of ck on the other. It rooted itself in the Mana Heart and became one with its form.

    Damien could tell instinctually.

    When that seed finally finished blooming, he would finally be able to stand up against Sebastian.

    ***

    Back on the main battlefield, the situation only continued to deteriorate.

    Damien was a force akin to thousands of men. To the Stargazer Squad, he was a major part of their fighting force.

    That wasn''t to say they were helpless alone, but the situation simply didn''t favor them at all.

    There were around a thousand Higher Nox remaining. The only reason the group wasn''t dead was that these Nox didn''t take them seriously.

    They watched with smiles as their fellowrades died. They even cheered asionally, cing bets on the ongoing battles.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    And when one died, another woulde. Sometimes, they''de two or three at a time, putting immense pressure on the Stargazer Squad.

    But¡­where would the entertainmente from if the geniuses died?

    The Nox might''ve been barbaric in their goals and emotions, but the Higher Nox did indeed possess intelligence. They were also beings who craved entertainment.

    When their belligerence was paired with this trait, a scene like the current one became infinitelymon.

    Down on the ground, Zara shed her arm through her opponent, killing him instantly. As his body bisected into two halves and melted onto the ground, she found two moreing her way.

    ''At this rate, it''ll never end.''

    Zara''s eyes narrowed. These Higher Nox loved to talk before they fought, so she knew she''d have some time to think.

    ''Damien is gone. He was dragged away by the butler.''

    She didn''t see it personally, but the aftershocks of their collision were too ferocious for her to not notice.

    After all, over half of the continent was gone!

    It wouldn''t be long until the main battlefield was also forced to shift into the air.

    ''If the butler is gone, is there a need to be careful?''

    A glint of killing intent appeared in her eyes.

    The reason she refrained from doing anything shy was to avoid the butler''s attention. If he entered the battle, their loss was a guarantee.

    However, since the butler was no longer present, did she have to hold back?

    Even if she couldn''t kill the Higher Nox like flies, she could get rid of the entire swarm that followed them with general quickness.

    ''But how will they react?'' Zara thought as she nced up at the rows and rows of Higher Nox rxing in the skies.

    Even if she caused world-scale damage, these Higher Nox would survive due to their defensive abilities.

    Essentially, it was impossible for her to avoid them or take them out quickly.

    She didn''t know which decision to make.

    On one hand, she could allow the current situation to continue, which could possibly lead to an eventual win, but had a higher chance of leading to their slow deaths,

    On the other hand, she could let loose and ignore any restrictions she''d ced on herself, killing as she pleased. This option would free Tyler and the rest of the squad''s hands, which would allow them to work together and increase their killing efficiency.

    However, this option would likely lead to a siege by a number of Higher Nox they couldn''t handle.

    But if they could¡­

    Zara firmed her resolve,

    In times like this, she was never able to make a decision.

    She was still learning how to do so.

    But that''s why she had a solution prepared for this exact situation.

    The person she idolized, what would he do?

    ''Right, he would act without care and bulldoze his way through everything.''

    Zara''s eyes ignited with proverbial mes.

    She was a beast too, was she not?

    Then, it was finally time for her to start acting like one.

    With the sound of crackling bones, Zara''s body began to change¡­

    And Calypto was taught what it felt like to be despised by a World-Eating Wolf.

 Chapter 748 Life And Death [4]

    Zara''s form expanded until a massive wolf with a body spanning countless thousands of kilometers appeared in the sky. Its beautiful fallen angel-like wings pped, causing immense gusts of air that shook the world itself.

    Back in her original form, Zara moved like a beast.

    She jumped into the crowd of Lesser Nox immediately. The impact of her paws touching the ground alone was enough to kill thousands of them.

    AWOOOOOOO!

    She raised her head into the air and let out a fierce howl. As the sound waves spread and burst the eardrums of anyone too close, a massive curtain of ckness draped from Zara''s wings and fell to the ground.

    CRASH!

    The curtain exploded into the ground and rose into a tidal wave that eclipsed the sky.

    Every Lesser Nox that was caught in it instantly died and became a part of the curtain. Their essence and blood were devoured by Zara, empowering her and easing the headache she''d been feeling for a very long time.

    Blood.

    Cries.

    Loneliness.

    She could almost feel that strange man''s feelings and experiences. She could almost feel theplete set of memories she was in the process of gaining.

    But just a few Lesser Nox wasn''t enough.

    ROAR!

    Zara roared with vigor and stamped her legs against the ground. Spiked shadows rose from the ground and impaled anyone they came across. The sky turned ck and a rain of shadow arrows fell into the army as well, showering them with attacks from above and below.

    Countless Nox died. Tens of thousands turned into hundreds of thousands in mere seconds. By the time the Higher Noxprehended what was happening, Zara had already taken out a major portion of their army.

    Over a million Lesser Nox died just like that.

    After all, while Zara''s ability to utilize techniques faded in her beast form, her power and natural instinct for movement was heightened immensely.

    Without even needing techniques, she could use her affinities as efficiently as possible.

    It was for this same reason why she didn''t use ice in her attack. Currently, what she needed wasn''t just to kill the Nox, but to absorb them as well.

    Her barrage ended within 10 seconds.

    By its end, over two million Lesser Nox had died.

    The army that once extended into the horizon was essentially halved.

    Zara''s form changed back into a human immediately after she finished her barrage. At the moment, the entire horde of Higher Nox was shooting towards her position.

    ''As expected.''

    Zara''s body turned into an amalgamation of shadow. She didn''t have an ounce of hesitation as she met the crowd head-on.

    Immediately, she submerged herself within and took the role of an assassin. She was silent, she was hidden, and she was deadly. While she didn''t strike often, the strikes she did take severely injured those she targeted.

    "Coward!"

    "Catch her!"

    "I''ll punish you like a bitch tonight!"

    Crack!

    The Higher Nox who spokest found his spine immediately shattered by a passing shadow.

    The Higher Nox were incredibly vexed by her behavior. With a crowd so big, fighting one person had both advantages and disadvantages.

    Especially when the single person in question was skilled in concealment, it would be an uphill battle for both sides.

    Zara was able to cause immense confusion within the crowd and make them unable to aim their attacks properly. She was able to draw the entire horde of a thousand Higher Nox''s attention onto her, making thempletely ignore the rest of the Stargazer Squad.

    And though those three geniuses were rtively new to battle like this, they''d worked with Zara and Damien enough to understand their personalities and intents,

    Damien was wild and domineering. When he was inmand, they''d likely use sheer power as a basis for their strategies.

    And while Zara was someone who behaviorally mirrored Damien in some cases, her approach to battle was often different.

    She was someone who waited for the perfect opportunity and utilized it to strike a single, extremely fatal blow to her enemy.

    With her acting as a beautiful diversion in this case¡­<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ¡­the fatal blow would obviously be left to them.

    Tyler looked back at Ash and Synth. Seeing their smiling faces, he grinned.

    If they''d won this level of trust from their seniors, they were clearly doing something right.

    The group took their positions in a triangr formation. However, unlike their usual strategy, Ash stood in the back, Tyler stood in the middle, and Synth took the lead.

    A floating mechanical ball appeared in the air, hovering next to Synth''s head.

    "Illusion Force Field: Activate."

    The ball whirred to life, and with a few shes of blue, it covered the group in a small dome-shaped barrier.

    While it only looked like such on the inside, their presence had actuallypletely vanished from the battlefield. The outside of the barrier was a real-time reflection of the surroundings that even fluctuated realistically when waves of aura passed over it.

    "It''s not as good as the Vice Captain''s concealment, but it''ll be enough in a situation where the enemy is preupied," Synth said, shing a peace sign.

    "Mm, it''s more than enough," Tyler responded. "Then, let''s go!"

    The three began to run and approach the battlefield. They looked up into the air from below, watching how the battle panned out.

    "The Vice Captain¡­is truly terrifying," Tyler muttered.

    He feared Damien, sure, but after interacting with him, Tyler realized that Damien was extremely amodating towards humans. The act he showed against his enemies wasn''t anywhere near how he treated his allies.

    But Zara was different. Zara''s ruthlessness was cold and sinister. Whenever he saw how mechanically she was able to move her body and kill, he was almost reminded of the Nox''s belligerence.

    ''Haha, what am I thinking?''

    Tyler shook off the thought and returned his attention to the battlefield. Zara''s strategy was still sessful at the moment as the Higher Nox scurried around in the air to catch her, but it wouldn''tst forever.

    ''Eventually they''ll get tired of this cat and mouse and decide to approach her assault with a more practical counter.''

    Zara''s main weapon in the current instance was confusion. The second she lost it, the efficiency she possessed would vanish.

    ''So we have to move before that happens.''

    Tyler''s eyes narrowed. At most, they could trail Zara and finish the Nox she fatally wounded, but what else could they do?

    ''We''re¡­too weak.'' Tyler sighed inwardly.

    ''Even if we split up and take the Nox individua¡ª''

    ''Am I stupid?''

    Tyler nearly smacked himself across his face to sober up.

    Right, they couldn''t do anything individually. Even if they used their impable teamwork, they wouldn''t be of much help.

    However, what if their power itself wasbined?

    ''The indestructible body of a Berserker and the variety of elemental powers and physical boosts of a Contractor supported by the flexibility and adaptability of a Mechanist¡­just what kind of monster would that be?''

    Tyler''s mind whirred to life. Infinite possibilities swan through his head. Like fish within a river of temptation, each and every one provoked his interest.

    However, he could only choose one.

    The perfect strategy, the strategy that''d allow them to get out of this scenario without getting too deeply injured¡­

    ''¡­doesn''t exist.''

    If they were going to do this, they were going to sacrifice more than they''d ever expected.

    Their mana was already running low. With Damien upied by the butler, they didn''t have any way to rapidly replenish themselves.

    This would be ast-ditch attack. Perhaps they could barely defend themselves after taking a few pills afterwards, but that would be the extent of their continued contribution.

    ''However, the alternative is death.''

    Before the battle started, support was estimated to arrive in an hour at the earliest.

    At this point, it had only been 30 minutes.

    Tyler''s eyes burned with determination, and¡­

    He made his decision.

 Chapter 749 Black Ink [1]

    ''Let''s do it. I don''t believe that ourbined strength can''t bring at least some change to this battle!''

    As Tyler made his decision, the rumbling earth below finally lost its structure.

    RUMBLE!

    Large cracks split across the ground as it shattered into an exponentially increasing number of pieces.

    The ocean surrounding the continent began to flood inward.

    VOOOOOM!

    Yet another powerful fluctuation spread from the distance. A single sh between Damien and Sebastian was enough to destroy half of the continent and destabilize its entire structure, but the current battle had also reached a point where it did the same.

    With so much force, how could the continent endure?

    Its foundation was shattered. Hot magma spewed into the ocean, creating a reaction that massively impacted the atmosphere.

    Tsunamis raged deeper into the ocean, ash covered the skies, and throughout all this destruction, Tyler¡­smiled.

    ''Perfect!''

    It was something that would''ve happened eventually, but the timing couldn''t have been more perfect.

    With the continent sinking and an underwater volcano erupting, the environment had been perfectly prepared.

    "Let''s go!"

    Tyler straightened his body and used mana to increase his speed. He charged into the ocean like a fish on itsst breath, followed by Synth and Ash.

    In the air, Zara''s eyes glinted as she caught their actions.

    ''Bring them to the ocean?''

    She smiled lightly. It was an interesting n that she hadn''t thought of.

    She didn''t know what kind of advantages the rest of the squad had underwater, but the darkness of the ocean was extremely beneficial for her.

    ''30 seconds.''

    If they needed time to prepare, that was all she could give.

    And as if they could feel Zara''s expectations, the three geniuses swam deeper into the ocean with dignified faces.

    Tyler exhaled to calm his mind.

    ''The fifth¡­''

    His fifth summon was one he rarely used. The summon rarely allowed him to borrow its power, and the necessary conditions to guarantee its cooperation were too strenuous.

    However, this situation was perfect.

    ''I still don''t know what it is, and its effects always seem to be random¡­''

    Tyler was hesitant about trusting a summon he didn''t have a fully fleshed rtionship with, but he knew for certain the level of power that his fifth summon possessed.

    ''I didn''t choose it, it chose me.''

    With a sigh, Tyler revolved his mana and activated his contract.

    ''You won''t tell me your name so this process is pretty annoying. Juste out already.''

    Immediately, Tyler''s body began to change.

    "W-what the fuck?!" A rare curse slipped out of his mouth due to the absurdity of the situation.

    His body wasn''t turning into another animal form, and he didn''t feel many enhancements at all.

    Instead, he was being condensed into something¡­metallic.

    ''How can this be called a summon?!''

    Tyler''s rational mind almostbusted. He couldn''t make heads or tails of the situation, and he couldn''t exin anything about his current predicament with what he knew about his power.

    However, Tyler''s thoughts didn''t change the fact that he continued to change.

    Until he was a metallic metal ball floating in the air.

    A slew of information flowed into his mind.

    ''Flexible¡­Armor Parasite?''

    Everything about his current form was exined to him through this mysterious flow of information. And when he finally understood the implications of his current form¡­

    ''Is this even allowed?''

    ¡­was the only thought in his head.

    A giddy smile decorated his nonexistent face. ''I don''t know what this summon is, but I wish he''d show up more often.''

    Tyler''s globr body shot through the ocean until it arrived in front of Ash. Without hesitation, he charged into her chest.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "W-what?!" Synth eximed.

    But before she could say anything, the ck glob suddenly expanded and covered Ash''s body.

    A suit of threatening ck armor dawned her.

    Calling the armor would be an insult to its brutality.

    ''Ash, Synth, can you hear me?''

    A voice transmission appeared in the two''s minds, leading them to simultaneously nod.

    ''Good. As I''ve just learned, this form is a parasite of sorts, but different from the ones we''ve been destroying.''

    ''Currently, my body has been connected to Ash''s Mana Circuits. As long as we are connected, I''ll be able to use her abilities and she''ll be able to use mine.''

    The duo''s eyes widened at the revtion. If Tyler could use Ash''s power, he could be a nigh-invincible armor. And if Ash could use Tyler''s power, she could exponentially increase her own.

    As for the problem with Ash using an ability she had no affinity with, since Tyler could utilize Ash''s Mana Circuits, he could easily help her control the fusion so she could disy its full potential.

    ''Now, for the final touch¡­''

    Synth grinned. "It''s my turn now? If you guys are going hard, then I guess I''ll have to do the same."

    Synth''s surroundings immediately became filled with technology of various shapes and sizes, their uses unknown.

    "Just stand there and let me overgear you like crazy! And, don''t worry about learning what everything does and controlling it. I can do that remotely while supporting you."

    The three smirked together.

    It was a level of teamwork far surpassing anything they''d tried before, something they could only pull off due to circumstance.

    But¡­would it be difficult for them?

    They wererades who''d been through hell and high water together. They were each other''s support pirs and most trusted allies.

    Even if they were to die here, they''d do it together.

    It didn''t take long for Synth to cover the armor with her gadgets. When the two factorsbined, Ash truly looked like a titan sentinel who guarded the universe.

    ''Is it about time?''

    Apanying Tyler''s thought was a massive explosion on the ocean''s surface.

    "AAAAGGGH!"

    A muffled scream rang out. An explosion of ink dyed the ocean''s surface ck. The man''s eyes widened. The ink overtook his body and flowed down his throat, disallowing him from rejecting his embrace.

    His lungs copsed.

    He was suffocating.

    His eyes widened to the point where they almost burst.

    Until they finally did.

    The man''s head exploded violently into a pool of ink, but it was devoured by the massive stter in the sea the instant it transformed.

    "How dare you?!"

    "Why can you use that power?!"

    Various shouts emerged from the distance as more and more figures plunged into the ocean depths.

    Within a few seconds, a little upward of 900 Higher Nox stood in a circr formation within the waters. In the center of their formation was a single woman.

    A woman surrounded by a sea of ck ink.

    Her golden eyes glinted with bloodthirst as she looked at her enemies.

    "Who are you to ask for my name?"

    "I am¡ª"

    "Dead."

    A pair of golden eyes covered the man''s entire field of vision. Zara appeared in front of him before he could even register what was happening. Her arm snapped out like a whip and clutched his neck, digging into it with her ws.

    The sea of ck ink behind her moved onmand, swallowing the man and slowly killing him as it did the man before.

    Zara stood like a predator looking down on her prey and swept her gaze around the remaining Higher Nox.

    As for Tyler and the rest who stood below, they were utterly bbergasted.

    This¡­

    Weren''t things supposed to be direr?

    What were they supposed to do in this situation?

 Chapter 750 Black Ink [2]

    ''30 seconds.''

    Zara''s mind raced rapidly. She could instinctually feel that if there wasn''t a change in the situation soon, her strategy would quickly fall apart.

    But, she had to buy 30 seconds for her juniors. Since she''d entrusted them in being the change this situation needed, she could only allow them to shine when they were ready.

    Until then¡­

    Zara''s body became semi-material, like a ck shadow of death swirling through the skies.

    This form was far more conspicuous in normal circumstances, but with the Nox''s ck mana flying through the air, they could hardly pinpoint her location.

    The only way for them to see her would be to stop attackingpletely, but wouldn''t that just be asking for death?

    "Don''t hold back! Kill her!"

    With the yell of one came the spirit of others. This massive group, if they couldn''t even kill a single woman, wouldn''t they be theughingstock of the whole universe?

    The atmospheric mana began to shift. The Higher Nox weren''t just going to throw attacks wantonly to avoid injuring each other, they were going to use genuinely destructive techniques.

    Zara could feel it clearly. As if she was connected to the mana through the ink she''d devoured, she could feel how it moved and twisted ording to her enemies'' wills.

    ''There''s no ce to dodge.''

    Zara shifted to the right, avoiding a massive fist that charged towards her. Just as that happened, however, she found a brutal stake threatening to impale her from below. A dark phoenix swooped in from the sky and let out feathers like arrows, showering Zara''s surroundings in hostile mana.

    The more she dodged, the more she realized there was nowhere to go.

    ''Shadow Dominion.''

    Zara''s domain spread tens of thousands of kilometers into the surroundings and enveloped the Nox within. While this couldn''t stop them, it would at least allow Zara more control of the situation.

    With this control, she was able to be far more agile and sensitive to mana fluctuations. Every attack was within her sight.

    But not every movement of hers could match this new level of sight.

    "Khhh!"

    Zara let out a rough exhale as her shoulder was impaled by an inky ck spike.

    She saw iting, but she couldn''t dodge it. If she dodged, she would''ve been impaled through the chest by a different spike, which was far more inhibiting than a shoulder injury.

    Zara''s eyes shed with a piercing light. The shape of her domain began to change, bing more fluid.

    This subconscious change took ce silently, and with such thick ckness surrounding them, nobody noticed its presence.

    However, Zara could feel her state of mind wavering.

    Cruelty, brutality, ruthlessness. The more she fought, the more she devoured, the more this feeling grew.

    Despite feeling how dangerous it might be, she didn''t fight it. If anything, this danger only meant she was getting closer to her origins.

    The fight continued.

    10 seconds passed, and besides the injury on her shoulder, Zara wasn''t touched once. 5 Higher Nox died by her hands, and the domain continued to shrink into a more bulbous liquid form.

    20 seconds passed. Zara''s injuries worsened, but she fought as if they didn''t exist. Her bodily functions weren''t inhibited by her wounds in the slightest, almost like they never pierced past her flesh.

    7 more Nox died under Zara''s hands. Every time they fell, the waters below their feet would rise up and swallow them whole.

    It was a terrifying sight. Even though they far outnumbered her to the point where it was embarrassing, they still weren''t able to kill her.

    And yet, she was killing them brutally and devouring them, something that they''d never seen happen without any side effects.

    At first, they wondered whether or not capturing Zara was a better idea than killing her.

    But in the end, she was a threat too dangerous to keep alive.

    As they fought more fiercely, Zara''s eyes became bloodier and bloodier. Her killing intent materialized in the air and fused into the fluid domain, empowering it.

    The domain moved around Zara like a scarf. The ckness flowed with the smoothness of water and the burning ferocity of fire. It held the infinite despair of death and the horrors of darkness.

    With this weapon in hand, Zara became a monster. Her ws were made for ripping apart flesh, and she used them as such. She shed from one ce to another, tearing apart any living organism she could find

    And finally, 30 seconds passed.

    BOOOOOM!

    The ocean imploded from the pressure of their collision with it. Zara immediately killed the man in her hand when she finally arrived underwater.

    A cold rationality filled her head as the surrounding water calmed her emotions. It was an immediate change that didn''t feel natural in any way.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Who are you to ask for my name?"

    "I am¡ª"

    "Dead."

    The Higher Nox''s death was instant. It wasn''t anything like the struggle Zara put up every time she fought one of them previously.

    She turned her eyes and looked at each Higher Nox surrounding her individually.

    Prey.

    These were her prey.

    And they were delicious prey that allowed her abilities to develop each time she ate one.

    Didn''t she have permission to go wild?

    Wasn''t she told to do anything she needed to do to solve the questions guing her mind?

    Didn''t she have someone who could support her no matter what happened?

    Then¡­for what reason did she need to fear her current state?

    This¡­was exactly what she wanted.

    Flickers of a man''s life appeared in her mind as she stood silently. Memories of a life she didn''t know, a life unrted to her. Yet, every time she saw a piece of this life, her heart ached with endless sorrow.

    She needed to know more.

    And the prey in front of her would allow her to do so.

    That was thest rational thought that surfaced in her chaotic mind.

    Her body leaned back, her arms spread to the side, and her eyes closed.

    The sea of ink exploded.

    ckness spread through the already dark ocean and made it impossible to determine anything like direction or distance. In fact, the entire concept of space became negligible under this ckness'' influence.

    Movement? Even thinking about it felt like a joke under the disgusting stickiness.

    Zara''s coldly gleaming gold eyes were like a beacon in the darkness.

    When she opened her eyes, when those eyes shone¡­

    Mayhem and madness spread.

    The darkness spread like an incurable disease and infected the surroundings wholly. The more it grew, the more powerful Zara seemed to be.

    Yet, she wasn''t killing the Higher Nox. She was slowly torturing them, taking away their sanity before she took their lives.

    Because as long as they could think, they could fight.

    If they could fight, they could work together to destroy her suppression.

    Destroying their minds was the quickest and most efficient solution¡­

    ¡­and it was a solution Zara quite enjoyed.

    As Zara''s torture continued, muffled screams resonated through the waters. It was gruesome to imagine what was happening to those men.

    However, time wasn''t on their side.

    35 minutes had passed.

    They only had to wait 25 more minutes for support.

    And a chance like this one wouldn''te again.

    The sadistic desire of a blood-crazed wolf was, unfortunately, ignored.

    Before she could fully enjoy herself, a¡­being¡­appeared from the depths.

    A colossal titan in a strange suit of armor¡­

    ¡­charged straight into the ckness and exploded.

 Chapter 751 Black Ink [3]

    It was hard to find an opening in Zara''s rampage. It was so hard, in fact, that Tyler and the rest wholly gave up on trying to do so.

    Instead, they went with the more barbaric option.

    "CHARGE!"

    Tyler''s roar rattled Synth and Ash''s brains. With heightened battlelust due to the nature of their current circumstances, they shot up into the battle with peaking fervor!

    B-B-BOOOOM!

    A collection of drones swam ahead of the titan warrior and cleared an opening in the ink sea. The trio shot into the gap within the single instant it remained open and scanned their surroundings.

    It was like purgatory.

    Zara''s ckness was thick and full without the inky properties of the Nox. Her darkness didn''t just stem from the Nox, but also from her ownprehension of the Law.

    Therefore, in terms of strength, it far exceeded anything the three geniuses had faced until this point. If the atmosphere wasn''t actively avoiding them, they would''ve died already.

    ''That''s good. It isn''t the worst-case scenario.''

    Tyler nodded his nonexistent head when he noticed it. Their continued survival was proof that Zara hadn''tpletely lost her rationality, unlike what her actions portrayed.

    The titan warrior''s body began to shift. A giant panther-like beastman covered in hell armor appeared in its ce, charging out with speed thatpletely contradicted its size.

    Bang!

    The trio stood together as one and shot through the darkness until they found their first group of targets. There were five Higher Nox standing together trying to escape Zara''s confinement.

    But all of a sudden, they felt the ckness loosen.

    Just as their limbs became free¡­

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    They were struck by a slew of explosions that extended into the distance. A massive armored warrior appeared in their midst and swung its arms, utilizing the jagged ws on its fingers to shred into its enemies'' flesh.

    "Ahhh!"

    "How dare you?!"

    An array of exmations left the group, however, they were quick to gather their sentences. Before the titan warrior could execute its follow-up attacks, they''d already converged and begun their counter.

    Fine enemies surrounded the titan warrior and blocked its paths of escape. Inky ck mana that became invisible due to the atmosphere swirled around their bodies and formed various attacks.

    ''Now.''

    Synth''s fingers moved deftly across a holographic keyboard. As soon as she finished typing, the gadgets decorating Tyler''s armored form whirred to life.

    BANG! BOOOM!

    The Nox shot forward as one. Twisting serpents and terrifying tidal waves congregated onto the warrior. The attacks seemed simple, but contained an unorthodox fluctuation of Death Laws that allowed them to move differently.

    mes of Nox Manabusted all around the titan warrior. Sparks of ck lightning danced around the air and focused on striking the warrior down.

    But Synth was already prepared. A shield made up of countless individual hexagons materialized around the warrior.

    Crack!

    Cracks immediately formed on its surface, but they were rapidly repaired by Synth''s mana. ck lines began forming on the barrier''s surface, indicating the amount of Nox mana seeping through the rapidly regenerating cracks.

    When the ck lines epassed half of the barrier, Synth''s eyes narrowed.

    "Attack now!"

    Ash moved asmanded. Her fist raised up and shot out like a cannon st.

    However, something was different about this attack.

    The gauntlets on Ash''s hands pulsated with ck light. As she threw one punch forward and mmed the other fist back, the pulsating light spread with the force of her strikes.

    At the same time, the ck lines in the barrier faded as if they were being suctioned away.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    VOOOOOM!

    A ring of ckish-red mana spread from the gauntlets. A terrifying force impacted the 5 Higher Mox, pushing their bodies back,

    "Ack!"

    One of the Higher Nox let out a groan of pain. His body was split open by the sudden burst of mana. However, how could Nox mana hurt the Nox? He smiled cruelly as he thought about how he''d destroy that mech once he regener¡ª

    His thoughts couldn''t even finish before his body was bisected.

    Like a sh of light, a behemoth of speed appeared before each Higher Nox and broke them into pieces.

    ''We have help.'' Tyler realized.

    Taking on 5 Higher Nox at once was an achievement even if they were using theirbined power, but it was still impossible for them to do it so rapidly.

    One-shotting these terrifying beings who could be Overlords of any lower world and even some of the middle worlds they came across? That was a joke amongst jokes. Only someone like Damien could do that.

    But what if they were to receive aid from someone who wasn''t much weaker than that level?

    If Zara broke their minds while the trio simultaneously broke their bodies, how could the Higher Nox put up a proper fight?

    ''Mental attacks are scary¡­''

    With that thought as hisst, Tyler shut off his awareness.

    The intelligent strategy was useless at the moment.

    Whether it was Ash or Zara, both were currently beings of pure force.

    So, wouldn''t their cooperation flow better if they were allowed to showcase this mind state?

    Suddenly, Ash became the central controlling force of the titan warrior. Synth and Tyler provided support and stuck within their roles, making sure that nothing could halt Ash''s charge.

    And they did so perfectly.

    BANG! BANG! BOOOOOOM!

    Ash''s mountainous figure tore through the waters and blew the ocean to bits as she recklessly eviscerated any Nox being in her path. She was more than just a bulldozer, she was a horde of them charging together like bulls.

    Her fists were weapons of mass destruction alone, but her power was only enhanced by the support of herrades. Tyler''s control allowed her to freely switch between forms and Synth''s support made it easy for her to keep her mind focused without distractions.

    With every punch, a Higher Nox died. With every roar, their fighting spirit fell even lower.

    The Higher Nox were powerful, but they weren''t powerful enough to face this suddenbination of force.

    With every Higher Nox that died, Zara''s domain would be even more powerful. As her domain grew, her cruelty became more prominent and the level of pressure she ced on her captives became mind-numbing.

    The Higher Nox couldn''t even see the trioing.

    Their minds were in utter chaos. Their heads were like televisions gued with radio static, randomly receiving memories and images that confused their egos.

    A ck space unlike the present universe, an area that existed "outside" of reality''s bounds.

    A ce that the Nox called home, their Mothend.

    Scenes of this ce shed through their heads and confused their memories. It was a ce that most of them had never visited, but it was a ce they yearned for with all their hearts.

    As they basked in its existence, they found themselves freed of their mortal coil.

    Their souls traveled to that blessednd for rebirth.

    And their bodies became a part of Zara''s power.

    Rather than a terrifying illusion, Zara gave them irresistible temptation.

    The Nox were beings of desire, after all.

    Their weaknesses were far more varied than they''d ever dare to admit.

 Chapter 752 Black Ink [4]

    The skies were dyed ck.

    The clouds parted ways to showcase the void thaty beyond.

    ''Focus.''

    The Heavens shattered, abandoning those on the earth.

    A cataclysm turned all life into ash.

    ''Focus.''

    A man looked on with indifferent eyes.

    But deep within his pupils, there was a hint of morbid realization.

    This ce¡­this was not¡ª

    ''FOCUS!''

    Zara''s mind moved in and out of reality. She could hardly perceive what was real or fake.

    Her mental state was the exact same as the Nox she was influencing. In fact, despite the rest of the squad''s assumption that she was purposefully aiding them, it was more coincidence than anything else.

    Zara stood submerged in ck ink. She was cut off from the outside atmospherepletely, even unaware of the battle situation,

    Everything was being handled autonomously. The connection between her mind and the ck ink sea reached an unprecedented level.

    Zara couldn''t focus on the battle in her current state, anyway,

    Perhaps, if she joined the battle¡­

    A cold and damp environment. A familiar environment.

    A woman unlike any other, a woman with abyssal ck hair.

    And next to her¡­

    ''Focus!''

    Zara snapped back to reality. Her head felt strange, she couldn''t fight the wooziness oveing her, but she did her best to contribute.

    ''Those guys¡­doing good.''

    Her thoughts were strained, but she was at least able toprehend reality a little after waking up. Her hands moved deftly to control the ck ink around her, using it to y a more active role in supporting the genius trio.

    Thebination of the ck ink and the titan warrior was deadly. Compared to their previous dominance, the Higher Nox currently weren''t able to elicit the same fear.

    After all, they were separated.

    The main reason for their fearsomeness was their number. Their power itself wasn''t high.

    Despite their bodies being as strong as a high-level 4th ss, their power output was still only at the mid-levels, simr to Tyler and the girls.

    With Tyler, Synth, and Ashbining their individual advantages to create an exponentially stronger being¡­

    How could these Higher Nox resist without their numbers?

    Zara smiled and withdrew her control over the ink. All she needed to do was contain the Higher Nox and force them into a confused state so they couldn''t regroup.

    The actual battle could be left for those who were in dire need of experience.

    Besides, didn''t she reap benefits either way?

    A strange luby, eerie and deste.

    It was the only thing that could cut through the ckness.

    What existed before creation?

    And what allowed creation to exist?

    A man walked alone through the ruined halls. His cape fluttered behind his back to bring sound to the pregnant silence around him.

    He looked up into the sky and wished for stars.

    He wondered when the madness would end.

    Why was his memory¡­so filled with war?

    A the size of a universe, a world unlike any other.

    It was too appealing to stop.

    A World Core draped in ckness¡­

    ¡­was swallowed by the void.

    A hand of jagged ws shed through the air, painting the waters in ck blood.

    Zara''s eyes refocused.

    In her hand, she found a mutted head that was slowly transitioning into ink.

    Her mind was a mess.

    She wanted to copse and pass out to rid herself of the immense confusion in her memories.

    It would''ve been fine if the memories were coherent, but they were nothing of the sort. Countless fragments thatsted a mere few seconds would merge into one longption of nonsense that Zara couldn''t understand no matter how hard she tried.

    And each one of these fragments held some sort of importance.

    She could feel it in her blood, in her veins, in the very core of her being.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    If she was able to piece together what she saw, it wouldn''t only be her origins that she''d learn¡­

    She''d gain ess to something game-changing.

    ''Just¡­focus¡­''

    Zara''s mind was almost literally splitting into multiple pieces. It wouldn''t be odd if she went insane as this feeling continued.

    "Ah¡­"

    Just when¡­?

    When did her hands be stained in blood?

    Zara looked down at her shaking hands in confusion.

    Thest time she checked, she was within the confines of a ck ink field, protected from the outside world.

    Just when did she make her way to the battlefield¡­?

    And just how many had she killed¡­?

    ''What¡­''

    Before everything, there was only darkness.

    However, this darkness was not darkness. It was the brightest light, the darkest darkness, the world itself, and a reflection of its inexistence.

    From this darkness emerged a creature, and from this light emerged a creature.

    Upon their first meeting, all things were born.

    Zara finally realized it.

    ''The Nox¡­don''t bleed red.''

    ***

    The suicidal war that the Stargazer Squad waged against the Nox finally seemed to be headed in a positive direction.

    After countless twists and turns, the Higher Nox were finally isted and kept as prey on the chopping block for Tyler, Synth, and Ash to slowly kill.

    However, this was only on the surface.

    ''We don''t have enough mana to continue for long.''

    40 minutes, that''s how long had passed.

    With 20 minutes remaining until reinforcements arrived, Tyler knew they were in a far tighter situation than it seemed.

    ''This marks 300. The number has gone down significantly, but it doesn''t matter. 700 of them can easily kill us the second we drop our guard.''

    Currently, they had Zara''s support in isting the Nox, but how long would thatst? Even Zara wasn''t an unlimited tank of mana. The strain that came along with such a wide-scale liquid domain was likely insane.

    ''We just have to do what we can while the odds are in our favor and then hope, I guess¡­''

    Tyler''s nonexistent eyes hardened as he spread his awareness into the world. He saw the group of Higher Nox that''d just died turning into ink and dissolving into the domain.

    ''Ash''s mana is almost dry. She won''t be able to maintain her berserker form for longer than 5 more minutes. As for me¡­''

    Tyler could feel the dredges of his mana pool scraping through his veins so he could use them. He didn''t even know how he was still maintaining his armor state, but he was certain that he didn''t have the energy to do anything else anymore.

    ''Synth is probably the best off since she built her machines with the ability to gather their own mana¡­it looks like we''ll have to rely on her for now.''

    In their current form, Tyler and Ash were essentially connected at the hip. Only Synth had freedom of movement as someone who was working remotely.

    At the same time, she didn''t need as much mana as herrades to survive.

    If she used her machines to inject mana into Tyler and Ash, they''d likely gain the sustenance tost for another 10 or so minutes.

    ''Everything is on track for now. Let''s hope that¡ª''

    sh!

    The water¡­didn''t cut.

    It was too clean, to the point where the passing attack didn''t disturb the surrounding water at all.

    However, it did dye the water red.

    "A-ah¡­"

    A slight exmation leaked into the air.

    Tyler spread his awareness with a look of horror on his face.

    The armor he''d transformed into was sliced into three equal sections.

    From within, a thick trail of blood leaked.

    ''That''s not a light wound¡­''

    Tyler spread his awareness further. Before anything else, he needed to identify the assant. It wasn''t a hard task since she stood silently not far away, staring into her blood-stained hands.

    Tyler''s mind shook.

    Why¡­?

    Just why was Zara attacking them?

 Chapter 753 Black Ink [5]

    Life, Death, and Reincarnation; the three concepts that form the overarching concept known as Samsara.

    ording to the universalws, life and death were the second fromst concepts to emerge at the universe''s foundation.

    Creation and Destruction allowed all other concepts to exist, Space and Time created a vessel to house those concepts, and Life and Death created and regted beings who could make use of those concepts. Lastly came the 5 elements and all other things. These concepts spread through the created Spacetime,tched onto Life and Death, and introduced themselves to the world.

    Life and Death were integral to the continuation of the universe, and housed the closest simrities to the original Creation and Destructionws out of all the foundationalws.

    However, even more than creation and destruction, life and death allowed one toprehend the importance of another concept: Duality.

    Mortality was something every sentient being had toe to terms with at some point in their life. Even for a practitioner who constantly increased their lifespan through training, mortality was something that needed to be acknowledged.

    After all, a practitioner who could escape the bounds of mortality was a practitioner who''d faced it every single day in order to do so.

    Life and Death were a beginning and end, yet they were also an end and a beginning. Life and Death were concepts that even the lowliest mortals could understand to a meager degree.

    Wherever there was life, there would be death. And wherever there was death, there would be seeds of new life.

    The two concepts seldom existed individually. It was something that applied to almost every other concept, but it was most easily reflected in life and death.

    Duality. Every force in existence had an equal and opposite to match it. Life had death, space had time, creation had destruction, and even the greatest forces of nonexistence held duality with existence.

    Greenish white and murky ck mixed together like yin and yang to showcase this rtionship. They swirled around each other and formed a funnel that touched ground upon a single seed, acting as water and sunlight to bloom that seed.

    The more time went by, the greater this vortex became. Eventually, a trace of ck spawned around its edges and began integrating itself.

    Whoosh!

    The ssh of ck was like a steroid. The vortex immediately grew massively, and the rate at which the seed was absorbing its energy heightened immensely,

    Suddenly, a string of the ck mana shot into the seed and rooted itself, afterward, it traveled outside of the Mana Heart where it originated and snaked through the internal body.

    Until finally, it phased out of the Real ne and became ethereal.

    A pure white space was revealed. It wasn''t vast, but it held more than a few concepts within.

    mes and lightning raced through the entire space without proper form, but even with their chaotic paths, there was a certain area they simply couldn''t pierce.

    There, a small, almost transparent gold and silver seed sat quietly. A field of distorted spacetime surrounded its existence, disallowing any entry.

    This was the most stable part of the mysterious space.

    Aside from the me-lightning and the spacetime seed, there was one final seed of reddish-ck color. It emitted an extremely hostile aura, and whenever the me-lightning passed over it, it was converted into a different, far more destructive force.

    The ck mana thread ignored this dangerous force and moved in the other direction. When it arrived near the spacetime seed, it diverted its course and positioned itself somewhat behind the seed.

    A pulsation spread through the space.

    Murky ck and greenish-white light traveled through the ck mana and spread into the mysterious space. However, soon enough, the spreading mana was met by the spacetime seed''s repellent force and sent back to its original position.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    As the manapounded multiple times, a sound like a sickly heartbeat rang through the space.

    The seed forming in the Real ne became illusory. Through the ck mana tube, the energy contained within the vortex connected to it was diverted to the mysterious space.

    Until finally¡­

    Ba-dum!

    Ba-dum!

    Two pulsations of ck and white mana spread through the space and formed a dome-like cocoon. Cracks spread on the cocoon almost immediately upon its creation.

    Crack! Crackle!

    The cocoon''s shell shattered and fluttered around the empty air like butterflies.

    In the center of the cocoon where the ck mana tube once sat was a new seed.

    A seed of murky ck and greenish white.

    Thump!

    "Ah¡­"

    Damien''s eyes rolled up into his head. A sudden wave of something thumped through his body,pletely overriding his systems.

    His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. Both vitality and deathly air flowed through his veins at once.

    It was a strange feeling.

    An almost painful one.

    But at the same time, it was¡­<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Euphoric.''

    There was truly no better way to describe the feeling.

    Bang!

    Sebastian''s fist was like a falling meteor as it struck Damien directly in his ribs.

    "Kak¡­!"

    Damien''s body flew backwards, blood flying out of his mouth.

    Sebastian appeared in front of him like a ghost and continued his beatdown. A flurry of punches loaded with Nox Mana rained down on Damien''s body, causing blood to spurt incessantly from his damaged organs.

    But¡­why?

    Sebastian frowned in displeasure. Oddly enough, he couldn''t find any of the previous joy he gained from beating Damien to a pulp.

    It felt¡­empty.

    ''That human is no longer reacting.''

    Sebastian stepped forward. His body blurred and appeared dozens of kilometers away where Damien''s body hadnded.

    BOOM!

    He kicked the limp body. He stomped on it until all of its bones were shattered.

    Even recognizing this body as the human known as "Damien" was impossible in its current state.

    But this was even more fearsome than anything else.

    Because even with his body in such a state¡­

    ''He is¡­smiling?''

    Right, Damien was smiling.

    He was smiling so widely that it made his deformed face even more gruesome to look at.

    ''It doesn''t hurt.''

    Sebastian''s attacks didn''t hurt anymore.

    The pain in his body was negligible.

    Even with the current level of damage, Damien didn''t have any panic in his mind.

    A strange feeling brewed in his mind¡­

    A feeling that said he was unkible.

    Under Sebastian''s suspicious eyes, Damien''s mutted body fused back together. His bones snapped, crackled, and popped back into ce, his skin and muscles following thereafter.

    It was only a few seconds before he could stand up again.

    ''Don''t be delusional.'' He reminded himself.

    Damien knew just how hard it was to fully kill him, but that didn''t make him unkible.

    However, he did feel something strange in his body.

    A new type of energy he''d never used before wasced into his Void Mana, and the seed in his Mana Heart had disappearedpletely,

    Did the process¡­finish?

    Damien clenched his fists in curiosity. He was expecting some kind of grand deration of strength, but he didn''t quite feel anything at all.

    ''Hmm¡­I guess it needs a test drive.''

    He smiled and cracked his neck. His eyes turned to the enemy standing only a few feet away.

    "Ahahaha¡­well, this is pretty awkward. I forgot what round we''re on, but are you ready for the next one?"

    Smilingly, he beckoned his opponent over with a finger.

    Even the Higher Nox Sebastian who wasn''t fully aware of human gestures could sense the provocationced in that finger.

    The butler''s eyes narrowed.

    This child¡­

    ¡­was quite annoying.

 Chapter 754 Black Ink [6]

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The two''s battle continued with raging ferocity after that brief respite. However, the battle situation itself was quite different.

    In the beginning, Damien was only taking attacks without countering. He focused wholly on defense to keep himself alive under Sebastian''s brutal onught.

    But as time went on, his disposition shifted. He became bolder, wilder, and more reckless. His weapons disappeared from his hands and his fists struck out without fear.

    The shattering of their bones rang out constantly.

    Yet, it only took an instant after they shattered for the bones to regenerate.

    In a situation like this, why would Damien have to worry about injuring them?

    He struck out with insane fervor. His fists were like unfeeling machines attached to his body. Sebastian found himself cornered not by Damien''s force, but by his madness.

    ''This human¡­is insane!''

    Sebastian realized long ago that Damien wasn''t right in the head, but at this point, even such an evaluation didn''t do the young genius justice.

    He was utterly mad. There wasn''t a single shred of rationality in that outwardly stable mind.

    No matter how he got hit, no matter how he got injured, and no matter how close he got to death, he always stood back up with a grin and continued fighting.

    In fact, his excitement only grew as he took heavier hits.

    ''Dark Touch.''

    Sebastian''s hand struck out like a snake, his finger poking multiple spots on Damien''s body.

    In the next instant¡­.

    Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

    Whizzing sounds emitted from the young genius'' body as his joints copsed and blood spurted from his pores. Nox Mana prated his defenses and began corrupting his Mana Circuits.

    "Hahahaha!" Damienughed wildly.

    He could feel it.

    With every injury he got, the strange essence popting his mana stream was being further integrated with his body. Not only was his life force increasing, but his durability and power were also doing the same.

    ''It''s a good power, something I need to explore more in the future. Before that, I''ll just do what I can through this battle and hold this asshole back until reinforcements arrive!''

    Damien grinned. At this point, it had to have been at least 45 minutes.

    15 minutes was a long time, but it wasn''t nearly as long as the time that had passed.

    ''And now, I have the qualifications to fight back.''

    Perhaps he couldn''t kill Sebastian, but living wasn''t an issue anymore. Sebastian wouldn''t be able to kill Damien as long as Damien''s focus didn''t waver.

    And how could it?

    There was nothing present to distract him.

    The Vinyard continent was nothing more than a collection of shards in the ocean at this point. The ground below was almost nonexistent, especially after Damien and Sebastian''sst sh.

    The two stood in the air now, and if they wanted tond on solid ground to fight, they''d need to relocate to another continent entirely.

    ''I can''t allow that to happen.''

    The air was Damien''s domain. With nothing blocking his range, he could teleport essentially anywhere. As long as he had this advantage, leading Sebastian on was much easier.

    ''But that guy isn''t as dumb as he looks. Actually¡­dammit, he even looks like a smartass.''

    Damien dodged a fist and sent his own punch forward. He teleported in the same instant Sebastian caught the punch and appeared behind the butler, aiming Hel at his head.

    BANG!

    A loud explosion of spatial manaced with unknown concepts rang through the air. Space quaked and almost shattered from its impact.

    An iridescent blue stream appeared above Damien''s head along with the spread of a domain. Space suddenly came under hisplete control.

    Damien clenched his fist, causing an intense distortion to spread into the surroundings along with an intense spatial confusion.

    "Oho, have you decided to use everything in your arsenal?"

    "Hah! With your power, you can sense it, right? Someone interesting is on the way."

    Sebastian''s eyes narrowed. "Indeed they are, but does that affect me? I shall kill you before they can even reach my toes."

    "Try it if you can," Damien smirked.

    ''Lowly Souls¡­Come.''

    Sebastian''s eyes suddenly lit up with dim ck light. His hands came together to form a string ofplex symbols as if performing a summoning ritual.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A pulsation of power spread through the air.

    Nox mana danced like beautiful women, slithering through the air and creating a spiderweb that spread to the far reaches of where the Vineyard once stood.

    The mana burrowed into the ground and disappeared.

    The atmosphere turned silent.

    Xiu!

    Damien shed to the right to avoid the terrifyingly fast object that cut by his side.

    "Oh? Now this is interesting¡­"

    Sebastian''s amused voice brought him back to reality.

    Damien''s eyes turned cold.

    "What the hell do you think you''re doing?"

    His voice wasced with thick killing intent. The killing intent fumed into the atmosphere and dyed the world red.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Reality warped under its weight. A mountain of corpses that reached Calypto''s atmosphere appeared like a mirage behind Damien.

    "So this is your reverse scale? That''s fun to know. Does it hurt to see?"

    Sebastian''s teasing voice wentpletely ignored.

    Damien''s eyes were trained on the figure that just arrived.

    ck hair like the dark skies revealed by moonlight at night, golden eyes that shone like beautiful gems above the mortal world, a crescent-shaped mark on the be that added a mystical charm to her appearance¡­

    Zara.

    Zara was standing next to his enemy submissively.

    Her golden eyes gleamed with killing intent. A disgusting aura of ckness swirled around her like a swarm of bees.

    ''She''s been corrupted.''

    Damien realized it as soon as he saw her, but this only made him angrier.

    "She''s quite the specimen. Who would''ve thought one of our seeds would survive until this era!"

    The Soul Summoning spell was meant to summon any Nox Being with lower strength than Sebastian to fight for him as a puppet. When he used it, he expected to see a revived army of millions that would pressure Damien into a quick death.

    But instead, he summoned someone else. Someone who''d apparently devoured every Nox in the environment and remained as thest living Nox Being.

    She was a specimen that greatly interested Sebastian.

    He looked at Zara like she was a precious doll, bringing his hand up to investigate her internals and Mana Circuit.

    BANG!

    A shot from Hel exploded the space between Sebastian and Zara.

    "Don''t you dare touch her."

    Damien''s cold voice rang out again.

    He was enraged. He was more furious than he''d ever been.

    Although Sebastian didn''t say it out loud, his demeanor alone was enough of a tell.

    Zara had be his hostage.

    Zara had be his puppet.

    "Ohoho, littless, how about you show your worth by killing that human over there?"

    Zara''s body moved like a machine. Resistance was clear in her eyes, but her body evidently didn''t follow her will.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive aura burst out of Damien''s body. Space swirled into a mess, time lost its flow, and an aura of utter destion spread across Calypto.

    He didn''t care.

    He didn''t care how it happened and he didn''t care why it happened.

    The second Damien saw Zara standing next to Sebastian¡­

    Something within him snapped.

 Chapter 755 Black Ink [7]

    Weakness.

    Damien had always been thoroughly aware of his weaknesses, but they''d always been internalized.

    The weaknesses that stemmed from his owncking existence could be fixed through training and effort, so he never put too much stock into them.

    Instead, he worked ceaselessly to rid himself of weakness and truly be untouchable.

    However, there was one thing he''d forgotten.

    As a practitioner, emotions were both a blessing and a curse. The presence of emotions allowed for the presence of determination and drive, and the presence of emotion allowed for expanded creativity which helped withprehension.

    However, at the same time, when these emotions were directed towards other people, they became a curse.

    Strong hatred could be a source of determination, but it could also cause one to fall into the depths of despair and bottleneck their training.

    In the same vein, strong love could be an equally strong source of determination, but it was the greatest exploitable weakness in existence.

    The second a loved one became one''s captive, it was unimaginably easy to manipte the enemy.

    Damien had this weakness just like any other human being. However, he''d originally believed it negligible since his women were in the Human Domain, tucked away and safe from his enemies.

    Zara wasn''t a factor he''d considered.

    He simply never pictured a situation where Zara was captured.

    ''I should''ve known.''

    Nox Mana''s main property was always to corrupt. The reason Damien was so much better equipped to deal with the Nox inparison to hisrades was also because of his immunity to their corruption.

    Zara didn''t have this immunity. The more she devoured the Nox, the more she was corrupted by their mana.

    Damien fought with his everything.

    Space became a malleable substance that was used to attack and defend. Calypto''s space was manipted and twisted to the extent that it wouldn''t naturally heal for many years.

    The seas were split into countless sections and dried up, anynd even tens of thousands of kilometers away was heavily impacted by the spreading fluctuations of Damien''s madness.

    But he didn''t stop.

    He was like a feral beast without limits.

    Damien''s eyes were dyed in reddish-ck. me-lightning of the same color arced from his arms and burned the oceans to nothingness.

    He punched with the force of a thousand meteors, he shed Mirage like a swordsman making hisst stand.

    But all throughout, he never touched Zara.

    His body swerved through the air and shed about randomly. Zara''s terrifyingly powerful ws and shadows found themselves striking nothing but empty air due to his intense evasion tactics.

    Damien could sense her. Through their spiritual link, he knew exactly where she''d be and what she''d do.

    Of course, since their contract was one of equals, she could do the same for him¡­

    But her spatial perception wasn''t nearly developed enough for her to effectively block his advent.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Spacepressed and folded before exploding over Sebastian''s head. The butler was flung down into the sea floor, surrounded by mountainous walls of water that had yet to fill the empty space between them due to the spatial distortion in the air.

    BANG!

    A terrifying fistnded on the butler''s face as he took in the situation. It was followed by a flurry of physical attacks that didn''t leave him any room to maneuver.

    Xiu!

    At that moment, Zara''s body flew through the air and cut by Damien''s side once more. Shended next to Sebastian and immediately shed out her ws, coating them in a swirl of shadows that attacked Damien as they sliced through the air.

    ''Dammit!''

    Damien found himself trapped in a world of darkness. Everything around him became an enemy.

    Sticky shadows tried to restrict his movement, shadow constructs of all shapes and forms charged at him and shot at him with harrowing destructive force, and Zara herself was like the world''s most skilled assassin, attacking in the narrowest gaps that even Damien couldn''t fully defend against.

    ''I can''t fight them at the same time¡­''

    ''Seven Stars Encircling The Moon''

    A chaotic fist of countless different streams of manabusted and shattered the surrounding darkness. Damien teleported away, grabbing Mirage and shing with all his might.

    ''Void Sword Art First Form: deless''

    ''Void Sword Art Third Form: Dance of the Void''

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse''

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severence''

    Mirage became a weapon of mass destruction.

    Massive gashes in space spanned thousands of kilometers and blocked in the battlefield. Damien''s figure became a collection of afterimages as he danced around the constricted space and made his movements impossible to read.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Space copsed around Sebastian and trapped him in a ck hole spatial phenomenon. As the butler began to break the phenomenon and escape, a thin ck line cut towards him at an incredibly slow, yet almost instant pace.

    SHING!

    The spatial copse and Sebastian were cut together, but Damien wasn''t able to see the end of this fight quite yet.

    Zara''s body flew at him the second Dimensional Severence left his de. She tracked him no matter how he teleported and deflected his attacks effortlessly as if she knew their each and every weakness.

    And she might as well have. As thepanion who''d stayed by Damien''s side the longest, she was most aware of his bad habits during battle. Even if she wasn''t consciously controlling her body, her instincts alone were enough topletely counteract him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Fuck!''

    No matter what, he couldn''t harm Zara.

    It wasn''t a matter of sympathy. If he could save her by defeating herpletely, he''d do it in a heartbeat.

    However, he could feel it through their connection.

    Zara''s current state was simr to his state moments prior. Some integral process was taking ce in her body, something that could seriously benefit her if allowed to finish.

    ''Ah¡­I see.''

    Damien finally understood.

    ''This is like a parasitic battle.''

    Zara was being corrupted, but she was earnestly fighting for control. While Damien didn''t know the details, he could at least understand the stakes involved in that battle.

    ''If she wins, she gains everything she''s been working towards, but if she loses, her ego gets extinguished and she remained a puppet.''

    Damien''s fury almost raged out of control again. Sebastian must''ve known. He must''ve provoked Zara into attacking him because he knew that the second Damien struck Zara, he''d harm her progress.

    A puppet that couldn''t be attacked, what better tool was there than this?

    ''I just need a single opportunity¡­''

    If he had a single second to himself when Sebastian was unable to defend against him, he felt like he could turn the situation around.

    ''I can''t kill him, but now that he''s this weakened, I can at least¡­''

    Damien felt it when he struck Sebastian. The butler''s strength wasn''t nearly what it was when they first started.

    After all, he wasn''t an unkible monster either. Even if he was too strong for Damien to affect him much, his mana capacity was still the same as everyone else''s.

    After using so many mana-filled attacks, it was inevitable for him to start running low.

    Damien shot out like a rocket and engaged inbat with Sebastian again.

    His fist connected with the butler''s jaw, but in consequence, he was kicked in the knee and his flow was disrupted.

    He kicked like a whip into Sebastian''s side, but the butler instantly used the force to his advantage and redirected it at Damien.

    ''His skill level outstrips mine too much.''

    Damien couldn''tnd a hit without being countered. After a few sparks of an instant, Zara joined as well and forced Damien into a deeper hole.

    His eyes darted around like mice. His awareness was extremely focused on the current two enemies he needed to fight.

    Everything other than the battle was disregarded.

    ''One second is all I need¡­''

    Reddish-ck sparks decorated his eyes and aura. His power level suddenly spiked.

    ''Just a single second...''

    The reddish-ck sparks began to pollute his mana. He swiped his hand through the air and covered Zara in spatial mana, teleporting her away as he mmed his hand down in front of Sebastian.

    BOOM!

    Sebastian covered himself in a cocoon of Nox Mana to evade the st. When the chaotic mana explosion died down, the cocoon shot out like a curtain of sand and enveloped Damien.

    Damien thrashed within the curtain in a bid to remove all the Nox Manatching onto his body. He roared like a mad Titan as he tore his way through any obstacles in his path.

    ''Just one second¡­if I can distract him for a single¡­!''

    BOOOOOOM!

    The ocean below burst into an explosion of foam.

    The valiant figure of a nearly-destroyed Titan warrior spiked out of the water and mmed into Sebastian like a tank!

    The Titan warrior''s arms and legs wrapped around Sebastian''s body and forcefully held him in ce.

    "GET HIM NOW!"

    "BEGONE, VERMIN!"

    Damien''s perception heightened to the maximum. Every spark of an instant felt like countless seconds.

    In this slowed world, he shed away.

    His body appeared behind Sebastian.

    He grabbed the Higher Nox butler''s head like a basketball.

    And at the same time, he sensed the terrifying agglomeration of mana gathering between Sebastian and the Titan warrior.

    ''I¡­don''t have time.''

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Sebastian''s gathered mana exploded forward like a beam of deathly light.

    Time resumed.

    Damien and Sebastian vanished from the area.

    And the Titan warrior stood in the air with a massive hole in its body.

 Chapter 756 Black Ink [8]

    ''How¡­did ite to this?''

    Minutes prior to its eruption from the ocean, the wreckage of a Titan warrior could be seen strewn about the dark sea. Pieces of metal and debris floated away from the main body, leaving it battered and filled with holes.

    Still in his armor form, Tyler sighed. Surprisingly enough, he could feel the terrible pain arcing through his body even in his current state.

    The armor''s damage was his bodily damage, and currently, the armor itself was torn to the point where it was almost multiple separated pieces.

    ''If I turn back into human form right now, I''ll probably die instantly.''

    Tyler thought back to the previous battle, if it could even be called that.

    Rather than a battle, it was a one-sided beatdown.

    The power of the Titan warrior after Tyler, Synth, and Ashbined their individual power was immense, but it didn''t seem to matter at all to Zara.

    She was feral, but strangely rational at the same time. She moved like a beast, but her every attack was fatal and calcted.

    Her ws moved as if ignoring space, always hitting their target. The myriad of scars and gashes lining both Tyler''s armor form and Ash''s body were innumerable.

    Her shadow was a terrifying assassin with a mind of its own. Whenever it attacked, Ash and Tyler had to use everything in their power to evade or block. The shadows were extremely strange as well. They changed properties multiple times, making blocking thempletely an almost impossible task.

    If Tyler and the rest hadn''t been focused to the utmost, they would''ve died.

    ''No, she spared us.''

    "Keuk¡­"

    Ash''s strained breaths resounded through the area as Tyler tried to pull her up to the surface. Synth stood nearby with dark circles under her eyes, furiously typing away on a holographic keyboard she manifested.

    "Synth¡­what are you doing¡­?" Tyler asked through sound transmission.

    "¡­maintenance."

    Despite her attempts to remain calm, that single word shook as much as a magnitude 9 earthquake. She could barely input the propermands on her keyboard with the level of tremoring in her hands.

    "Rx¡­" Tyler said with a smile, "We aren''t dying yet."

    Synth sighed. Even if they weren''t dead, weren''t they already on the brink? If Ash and Tyler took even a bit more damage, they''d be in a fatal state that couldn''t be healed with their current methods.

    "I barely have enough mana to repair everything. At this rate, it''s better for us to just give up and wait for the battle to end¡­"

    "No!"

    Tyler immediately stopped her from continuing.

    "No matter what, we will not abandon ourrades¡­even if that means we die!"

    Tyler was determined. He didn''t care about his own state at all.

    As a child, he never dreamt of bing a soldier on the battlefield. He never dreamt of putting his life on the line for the sake of merely surviving.

    The ones who''d forced him to do so were the Nox.

    Their followers killed his family, and yearster, they destroyed his homeworldpletely.

    His grudge against the Nox was immense, but he''d thoroughly suppressed it so he could grow without losing his life to recklessness.

    However, the Nox were doing the same thing again. They were threatening to take away the things he cared about.

    "But I''m not powerless anymore."

    Damien was strong, but he wasn''t strong enough to take Zara and Sebastian at the same time. He needed someone to at least act like a meat shield so he could move unhindered.

    "As long as we have the ability, we will perform."

    "That''s the fucking problem!" Synth shouted abruptly.

    "You don''t have the ability! We''re out of mana, we''re out of stamina, and the two of you are so wounded that you can''t even move properly! How the fuck do you expect to help without dying?!"

    She understood Tyler''s mentality. While she didn''t have the same strong hatred for the Nox as he did, she''d heard his story more than once already.

    Still, she couldn''t condone his suicidal actions.

    "I''m shutting down operations. You won''t be able to move until reinforcements arrive. Use this time to heal."

    Synth decisively pressed a button on her keyboard, which immediately restricted Ash''s movements. Naturally, Tyler was restricted as well.

    "We¡­go¡­"

    At that moment, Ash opened her mouth. She couldn''t articte herself properly in berserker form, but she could at least voice her intentions.

    She wanted to go.

    Not for any grand reason like Tyler, though.

    She just wanted to save the woman who''d been treating her like a younger sister all this time.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Zara was kind to the trio and never treated them wrong. If Damien was the devil who chastised and tortured them whenever he had the opportunity, Zara was the angel that''d pick them up afterwards and make sure they were alright.

    Ash didn''t want to repay Zara''s kindness with cowardice.

    She wanted to help in any way possible.

    "Will¡­move¡­!"

    Ash''s titanic body began to slowly drag itself through the water. Electric sparks fizzled out from Synth''s machines as they tried to restrain her.

    But what was a berserker without power?

    RAAAAAAAH!

    Ash''s roar reverberated through the dark waters like a whale call. Her muscles bulged to their greatest extent, and veins popped out of her skin.

    BOOM!

    A wall of reddish mana burst from her body and pushed back the devices holding her.

    But even with her newfound freedom, she wasn''t moving very fast.

    Her berserk transformation would end without mana, and she didn''t have much left. At most, she could attack a few more times before being forced to revert.

    ''But that''s enough.''

    Tyler''s voice appeared in her head.

    "Just a single decisive moment is all we need. After that, we can leave everything to that bastard."

    Ash smiled. He was a devilish training instructor and a man with a heart cker than Nox Mana, but Ash didn''t doubt his reliability.

    Damien would always turn a situation in his favor if he had the opportunity.

    "Haa, you two are going to be the death of me one day."

    She already knew it when she was forced to be the voice of rationality, but these two had truly lost their minds.

    With yet another sigh, Synth closed her eyes and hopped into apartment on the Titan warrior''s armor. This was a space she''d made specifically for herself.

    "Fine, then let''s go. But if I die, I''m haunting both of you from the grave!"

    "Mm!"

    Ash pushed herself through the water with Synth''s technological support.

    And with that, the three made their way to the surface.

    ***

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    "You¡­!"

    Damien''s shocked exmation was jolting.

    Even through the pain, Tyler smiled.

    "What do you think¡­? Is this¡­enough to get acknowledged?"

    There was a massive hole in Ash''s torso. The bottom of her heart could be seen dangling from its top. Tyler was acting as Ash''s armor, so the damage on his body didn''t even need to be mentioned. He was just as fatally wounded as the berserker.

    As for Synth¡­

    Thepartment she sat in exploded. Shards of thick ss flew through the air and stabbed into her coffee-colored skin, drawing a painting of blood upon her body.

    At the same time, the impact itself rattled her internals and caused countless ruptures within her body. If it wasn''t for Synth taking a majority of this force, Ash''s body would''vepletely exploded in that moment.

    The Titan warrior fell out of the sky, unable to continue operating.

    And those who piloted it¡­

    Even if they were still alive now, their injuries already fated them with death.

    The reddish-ck in Damien''s eyes became far worse. The sparks crackling around his body started to shatter space itself with their presence.

    Everything was going wrong. Everything was falling apart¡­

    ¡­because of one man.

    Damien''s crazed eyes locked onto Sebastian spewing hatred.

    That man had to die, even if it meant Damien would die with him.

    That was the only thought in Damien''s mind as he dragged Sebastian into the void.

 Chapter 757 Rescue [1]

    Reddish-ck.

    Just what was the significance of this color?

    To this day, Damien was barely consciously aware of the reddish-ck sparks that would asionally popte his aura, but he knew that there was some sort of force in his body that he wasn''t aware of.

    Usually, when the reddish-ck aura activated itself, Damien was sent into a state of frenzy, unable to properlyprehend his actions until he''d finished whatever task he was handling.

    However, this time it was different.

    Damien''s cold and indifferent eyes shone like amethysts as he dragged Sebastian through the spatialyers. He flew through Calypto''s atmosphere until he eventually left itpletely.

    "Get up and fight me."

    Damien flung Sebastian''s body into the starry sky and stood tall. His hand pressed down on the universe, beckoning its assistance.

    ''Celestial Authority''

    ''Starfall''

    An iridescent blue mixed with the reddish-ck sparks in Damien''s aura. The starry sky rumbled as countless entities swam through it with untold speed.

    Starfall was a skill that summoned celestial bodies for Damien to control. At its base, it was a skill that could be used for far more than just a few meteor showers.

    However, it was never able to show its full power within a world''s atmosphere. This wasn''t just because a portal was necessary to allow those bodies to enter the world, but also because Damien himself didn''t desire the destruction of the world.

    In the starry sky, there were no limitations.

    In fact, the range of Damien''s abilities only increased.

    VOOOOM!

    Thousands of meteors appeared in the distance, concealed by the darkness of space. They zed trails through the silence and arrived at Sebastian''s position in an instant, exploding on impact!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The first to strike were the smallest pieces of space debris. These pieces flung Sebastian around, disallowing him from regaining hisposure.

    When this attack was nearing its end, a second, farrger force appeared behind the Nox butler.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Aary body the size of a moon eclipsed Sebastian''s own body. He turned around coldly and faced it.

    ''Unveiling Darkness''

    Sebastian flicked his finger into theary body and sent a concentrated strand of Nox Mana into its center.

    Within an instant, cracks began to spread across the moon. ck splotches stained its surface until finally, it exploded into dust that floated away with the streams of Spatial Essence in the surroundings.

    "Human, Imend your strength. However, do not mistake my kindness for weakness. You are not powerful enough to fight me as an equal yet."

    Sebastian coldly spoke as he vanished from the air. He arrived behind Damien and spread his arms out, gathering a great amount of Nox Mana in his palms.

    ''Strength of the Abandoned Land''

    Sebastian''s eyes glowed with ck light. The mana in his palms spread across his body like spiderwebs.

    BOOM!

    Sebastian''s aura suddenly exploded, bing exponentially stronger.

    "I may have fought you, but you haven''t drawn out even a portion of my skills yet. Lacking mana? If that was enough to make me fall, I would have died ages ago."

    Sebastian took a stance for the first time in the battle. He lowered his body and pulled his fist back, concentrating his power within it.

    His eyes shot open.

    His fist shot out.

    B-B-BOOOOOOOOM!

    Space cracked and tore for countless tens of thousands of kilometers. Damien was immediately surrounded by chaotic spatial storms and terrifying fluctuations of mana that made him feel like his insides were burning.

    However, Damien didn''t react to the pain.

    ''Focus.''

    He closed his eyes and moved as one with the spatial storms. The chaotic mana fluctuations couldn''t even touch the hem of his clothes.

    Damien''s focus was split in two. The first part was wholly dedicated to Sebastian. His every movement, his every expression, and even the movement of his mana was clearly reflected in Damien''s eyes and internalized in his mind.

    As for the second portion, even Damien couldn''t quite pinpoint where his attention was being directed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Rather than focusing, it was better to say he was earnestly feeling something within his body that he''d never noticed before.

    ''What is this empowering feeling¡­?''

    Damien could feel those reddish-ck sparks pulsating in his veins. With every pulse, he felt like a dam broke in his body, allowing him to contain and utilize more mana.

    ''It''s not just that, the quality of my mana has increased.''

    Damien''s body became a blur. He teleported high above Sebastian and swept his arm through the air.

    ''Dimension Shift First Variation: Land of the Dead''

    Damien''s eyes zed with purple light. The aura of Spacetime essence flowed through his body and altered the world.

    The dimension split in two around Sebastian. His body was bisected into the top and bottom half of the split.

    Yet, Sebastian remained unfazed. He formed a myriad of seals with his hands and pushed the formed runic symbols into the starry sky. Suddenly, the severed dimension began to heal.

    Unfortunately for Sebastian, this attack wasn''t the same Dimension Shift Damien used previously.

    Crackle!

    Reddish-ck sparks appeared in the severed dimension. With their spread, the two halves that were almost connected once more split immediately, and continued to split into thousands of tiny pieces.

    ''Break.''

    Damien clenched his fist.

    The reddish-ck sparks connected into a strange spherical pattern and lit up like fireworks.

    The thousands of dimensional fragments copsed at once. They became independent entities that repelled each other instead of healing back into a single piece.

    The following explosion was silent. Space became nil, time became nil, and even the universalw lost a portion of its power.

    Outside of Calytpo''s atmosphere, a temporary Dead Zone had formed, trapping Sebastian within.

    Damien''s body passed through the Dead Zone''s boundaries.

    "Human, where did you learn this trick? It''s quite interesting."

    Sebastian grinned as if he knew Damien could hear him.

    "Judging by theck ofw fluctuations in the surroundings, I can understand that you utilized this trick to suppress me. However, I''ll have to disappoint you."

    Sebastian''s eyes glowed with such fervor that they lit up the Dead Zone.

    "This atmosphere¡­feels just like home to me."

    BANG!

    An explosion of Nox Mana spread through the Dead Zone andtched onto its foundation.

    ''This is¡­!''

    Damien barely had time to process his shock before he was forced to dodge.

    ''The Dead Zone itself became his weapon?!''

    Whenever Sebastian made a movement, Damien could clearly feel the boundaries of the Dead Zone moving with him. It was something that felt impossible, yet Damien was seeing it happen right in front of him!

    ''Dammit! Just how do I kill this monster?!''

    Damien felt frustration like nothing he''d ever felt in his life. Since when was there an enemy he couldn''t defeat? Even if it seemed inevitable for him to lose, he always found a way to turn the situation around.

    ''I refuse¡­to let this bastard stain my record!''

    With the heightening of his emotions, the reddish-ck sparks in his aura became more and more powerful.

    As Damien dodged and blocked Sebastian''s attacks, he could feel the impact force bing lighter with time.

    He was still getting stronger.

    ''But¡­I don''t have time to wait.''

    Support would be arriving at any time on the''s surface.

    And the most dangerous Nox being remaining there was¡­

    ''Zara.''

 Chapter 758 Rescue [2]

    ''I can''t let the academy learn about Zara''s origins. If that ever happens, she''ll likely lose most of her freedom.''

    Zara''s Nox heritage was something Damien epted because he knew her. If the higher authorities of Grand Heavens Boundary learned of this fact instead, they''d either turn Zara into an experimental subject, a ve, or an exile.

    ''And none of those options look promising.''

    Damien gritted his teeth. His body flowed through the air and became one with the world. He became an entity that Sebastian couldn''t hit no matter how hard he tried.

    Yet, Damien couldn''tnd a single strike either. Sebastian was using the Dead Zone itself to his advantage, an advantage Damien hadn''t yet found a way to rid him of.

    ''To defeat him and return to the surface with enough time to bring Zara back¡­is that even possible?''

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    ''Ten minutes. I have ten minutes at the maximum.''

    Ten minutes until reinforcements arrived¡­

    In that time, Damien either had to force Sebastian back into Calypto, which would make his choice to bring the Nox butler to the starry sky negligible, or he could defeat the butler and head back to the surface himself.

    Damien calmed down the incessant thumping of his heart and cleared his mind of the strange buzzing he''d been hearing since earlier.

    ''Since it''se to this, it''s time to be extreme.''

    Damien sighed. He really didn''t want to get blown to bits every single time he had an intense battle, but it seemed masochism loved him too much to let him go.

    With fiery resolve in his eyes, Damien charged forward without regard for anything.

    His body was like a guided missile. The Dead Zone around him tried to stop him with everything it had, suppressing his mana andws, suppressing his body, and even directly attacking with methods simr to Zara''s.

    Yet, Damien didn''t waver.

    Xiu!

    Damien''s body was pierced by a tentacle of darkness. He could feel the hole next to his Mana Heart, a hole that would be lethal to anyone but him.

    But he didn''t waver.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Darkness sprayed over Damien''s body like water, each droplet exploding and tearing off a chunk of his skin. He was closer to an undead than a human at this point, his appearance reminiscent of zombies from older movies.

    But he didn''t waver.

    His left arm was torn to pieces by what looked like a beast''s maw. His right arm became a bag of flesh after his bones were turned into powder by a blunt impact. His torso was riddled with holes and gashes, pieces of his internal organs flying into the starry sky as he moved faster and faster.

    But he didn''t waver.

    He would never waver.

    He would never lose.

    Damien arrived in front of Sebastian''s horrified face. He stood there for a moment to bask in the feeling of sheer terror that the Nox butler was feeling.

    Perhaps it wasn''t fear of his power, but it was fear nheless.

    "You are¡­utterly insane."

    They were the only words Sebastian could mutter before he found a fist in his face.

    "You Nox love to corrupt, right? So why don''t I corrupt you instead?"

    Damien pushed forward without a care for his bodily condition. He trailed Sebastian and grabbed the butler''s face once more.

    Haaa!

    With a spirited shout, Damien pushed his mana with everything he had.

    Void Mana prated Sebastian''s body through his pores and spread like wildfire.

    10,000 units¡­50,000 units¡­100,000 units¡­

    Every unit of mana Damien had in his body was pushed into Sebastian. Within the butler''s body, a storm unlike any other was taking ce.

    ''This¡­!''

    Sebastian felt panic for the first time since the fight began. Void Mana traveled through his systems and infiltrated everything. His Mana Circuits were covered in foggy ck clouds, and with their existence, Sebastian could feel a fierce devouring force unlike anything he''d ever¡­

    ''No, this is¡­!''

    The mana was familiar, far more familiar than anything he''d ever expected to feel in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    "Who are you?!" Sebastian roared through the pain he was feeling.

    "Who am I? The bastard who''s going to kill you, that''s who." Damien responded coldly through gritted teeth.

    Void Mana went into a frenzy. It didn''t stop at Sebastian''s mana, but insteadtched onto every nook and cranny of his body. Unlike its usual silent yet rebellious behavior, the current Void Mana was like a starved beast.

    ''What''s going on?'' Damien wondered in confusion.

    From the beginning, his only goal was to corrupt Sebastian''s mana and cripple him so his advantages would leave him, but the current situation waspletely unexpected.

    ''The Void Mana is expressing¡­desire?''

    Damien roared out as he tried to control the rampaging mana. At the rate it was leaving his body, no amount of recuperating would recover it in a short amount of time.

    On the other hand, Sebastian''s eyes almost popped out of his skull.

    ''This mana is interacting with¡­no, it is actively following his orders?! How could this¡­this is inconceivable!''

    Originally, Sebastian had been of the mind to kill Damien where he stood. While the young genius wasn''t at the Saint King''s level yet, Sebastian was already sure after fighting him.

    The Saint King could never win against Damien.

    When facing a genius of untold proportions, his first and main thought was to destroy the seed before it sprouted.

    But this seed was special.

    This seed¡­<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Intense greed filled Sebastian''s body. It was a sticky and hideous feeling that threatened to consume him whole.

    "ARGH!"

    Excruciating pain hit Sebastian''s body the second this emotion surfaced, somewhat bringing him back to his senses.

    ''I must report this to Master.''

    The terrifying mana was already encroaching on his vital systems. At this rate, even if he didn''t die, Sebastian was sure to be seriously injured.

    ''But as long as I can get this information back to Master¡­''

    A light of anticipation filled his eyes.

    Right, if it was for the Master, being crippled was nothing.

    Fear was nothing.

    Pain was nothing.

    It was all just an illusion to keep him from the peak.

    "HAAAAAAAA!"

    Sebastian roared with all his might. He gripped Damien''s wrist with all the force he had remaining in his body, and pulled.

    Rrrip!

    The gruesome sound of Damien''s arm being torn from his body was especially prominent in the pregnant silence of the Dead Zone.

    Yet, his hand remainedtched onto Sebastian''s face.

    Damien grinned. "You think that''s enough to stop me?"

    A ck mana thread connected Damien''s detached arm to his shoulder. The current of Void Mana leaving his body was sustained by this thread, and even though he''d escaped Damien''s grasp, Sebastian was still in serious danger.

    But¡­he simply didn''t care.

    "HUMAN! YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE LAST OF ME!"

    Sebastian roared as his body turned into a sh of light. He immediately shot towards the boundaries of the Dead Zone, molding it around him so that Damien couldn''t catch back up.

    "Khhhh!"

    Sebastian''s every breath was strained. Void Mana suffocated him and clogged his throat, almost forcing him to vomit.

    Regardless of the pain, however, Sebastian didn''t stop. He moved like a dying man attempting to fulfill hisst wish, filled with zing determination that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

    "Did you think you could run?"

    Just as he appeared at the Dead Zone''s boundary, Damien''s harrowing figure appeared before him.

    Those purple eyes sparked with reddish-ck light and shone with overwhelming bloodthirst.

    "I''ve already prepared your grave, so don''t expect to leave it."

    Seeing the furious genius, Sebastian felt an unquenchable desire budding in his heart.

    "What, did the loss of your little servant girl hurt you so much? Do not worry, for my master has never mistreated his servants. She will be well¡ª"

    "Shut the fuck up and die."

    Damien spread his arms out and gathered his mana. He actedpletely on instinct, ignoring everything he knew about mana utilization and following his heart.

    Reddish-ck sparks spread through the air and interacted, igniting into a massive me that emanated a deathly aura that even threatened Sebastian.

    "Ah¡­"

    Sebastian made a sound of disappointment.

    "Unfortunately, I will not be able to die today, for I have other obligations to fulfill. Young human, we will meet again."

    His body began to fade from existence. An invible force called to him and dragged him away.

    Damien shot his destructive mes forward with all his might in the exact same instant. The mes teleported through the Void and appeared on Sebastian''s position.

    The half-faded figure of the Nox butler began to burn. He burned with reddish-ck hell mes that wouldn''t extinguish no matter what.

    And along with these mes, he was forced to endure the horrific pain of the Void Mana corrupting him from within.

    "AHHHHH¡ª"

    The scream was cut off in the middle.

    It was thest sound Damien heard from the butler.

    His eyes remained cold, perhaps even colder than they were before.

    But he didn''t give chase.

    That was a Demigod''s aura. The Saint Emperor was the one who took Sebastian away.

    Yet, he didn''t even say a single word to Damien, nonconforming with the attitude he''d shown thus far.

    In the end, Damien turned his eyes away from Sebastian''s previous position.

    It didn''t matter if the butler was gone.

    Damien could still sense him.

    His mana was within Sebastian''s system, and it wouldn''t leave unless hemanded it to.

    Currently, rather than the butler, there was another problem Damien needed to rapidly resolve.

    He needed to make sure he kept his promise with Zara.

 Chapter 759 Rescue [3]

    Damien and Sebastian only battled in the starry sky for a series of minutes before their confrontation ended, however, the impact of their battle rattled the entirety of Calypto, bringing mass attention to the shing scenery that momentarily appeared in the sky.

    Among these people was a certain woman, her eyes glowing golden with feral and bloodthirsty energy.

    Though, her attention only remained on the sky for a moment.

    Murky ck shadows surrounded her and bloomed into beautiful yet deadly lotuses. The sea below her feet was corrupted by these shadows and used as a vessel to transport them further across the world.

    The destroyed Vineyard Continent could only contain a mere portion of these shadows. They spread further and further, congregating into a straight path that connected the ruined continent to another, the Willow Continent that was closest to it.

    Zara''s body turned into a blur. Her figure traveled along the massive shadow and became one with it, traversing the continents in a mere few minutes rather than the hours it would''ve taken otherwise.

    And upon touching ground, she didn''t waste a single second.

    The shadows extending into the ocean retracted into her body, and a new domain spread around her current position.

    She could sense their presence.

    Millions, billions of Nox beings with varying power levels. While most of them were still mindless, several tens of thousands of them were above 4th ss.

    Zara''s unstable mind didn''t even botherprehending the consequences of her actions.

    Tens of thousands of kilometers were immediately covered in inky ckness.

    And as Zara pressed her hand down¡­

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The earth below crumpled like paper. Any Lesser Nox within her range was smashed along with it, bing nothing more than sustenance for her growth.

    But these Lesser Nox weren''t nearly enough.

    They didn''t have the memories she desired, they didn''t have the power she desired.

    What she wanted could only be found through those with intelligence.

    She moved towards the weakest presence she could sense. It was a Higher Nox surrounded by ten others near his level, all still within the ranges of low-level 4th ss.

    Xiu!

    Her figure shot out like an arrow, immense speed and precisioncing her movements. She coated her ws in ayer of mana to empower them as she sliced out ferociously.

    Shing!

    Her first target''s head flew into the sky with a single swipe of her hand. The ten others followed soon after, unable to even speak a word before they died.

    There was a world somewhere deep in the Abyss, a world teeming with Nox, and a world that birthed them into existence.

    Zara could now feel its existence. She could feel a slight connection with that ce, allowing her to better ess the fragmented memories polluting her mind.

    Her figure flew through the Willow Continent with increased fervor. Her domain expanded with every Nox she devoured, slowly growing to cover arge portion of the continent''s surface.

    Despite how rapidly her power was increasing, however, Zara''s situation was worse than ever before.

    Within her spiritual world, a raging battle that far exceeded the scale of her ughter in the Real ne was taking ce.

    Memory fragments were like fragments of ss. They were beautiful and perhaps even extremely important, but they were dangerous all the same.

    The chaos in Zara''s mind turned these ss fragments into deadly weapons and mobilized them. A terrifying tornado of memory fragments flew through Zara''s spiritual world and tore it apart, opening cracks for Nox Mana to invade.

    The current sight of the spiritual world was tragic. Inky ck mana and distorted memories flew about without rhyme or reason, utterly corrupting Zara''s mind.

    And as this damage became more severe, her actions in the Real ne became more reckless and brutal.

    She stood inbat with Higher Nox that far exceeded her usual power level, but she wasn''t even conscious of what her body was doing.

    It was hell.

    Zara stood hidden in an isted corner of the spiritual world, grasping at any sense of order she could find. Her avatar was like a flickering me, but one with endless determination behind it.

    Still, her head hurt.

    Every time a new batch of memories appeared, they''d join the swirling tornado and aid it in breaking apart her defenses.

    And it wasn''t like she could focus on the tornado and stop it.

    After all, she was actively dealing with the mental shock of receiving these fragmented memories as they tried to destroy her.

    ''Control¡­difficult¡­but¡­key¡­''

    Zara''s thought process was broken, but she could stillprehend the situation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The growth of the tornado was both a blessing and a curse to her.

    If she could stop it, she''d gain control over the fragments and their currentbined state would aid her in chronologically ordering them.

    However, if she failed¡­

    ''Failure¡­not¡­option¡­''

    Zara''s illusory figure gritted her teeth hard enough that they would bleed if she was physical. She closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling her connection with the surrounding space.

    ''This¡­my¡­domain¡­!''

    VOOM!

    A wave of power spread through the spiritual world.

    The tornado was briefly disrupted. Its chaotic swirl slowed heavily as the repelling force of Zara''s power impacted it.

    Zara spread her awareness and spread her mana. She spread everything she had, allowing her existence totch onto reality and maintain itself.

    Before she tried tobat the tornado, she first needed to secure the safety of her ego.

    Unlike Damien''s spiritual world, Zara''s was bathed in darkness. It was a darkness darker than ck and darker than the abyss.

    However, she also had her own spiritual continent.

    Zara shed through the spiritual world with everything she had. She used her spiritual intent like vines, uncaring of how much damage she did to her mind with her actions.

    Did it matter if she broke?

    She would break either way.

    All that mattered was that she won this battle before she did.

    Eventually, she arrived at her destination.

    Just in time for the tornado to resume its cycle.

    WHOOOSH!

    "Mmgh¡­!"

    Chaotic winds swirled through the spiritual world and struck Zara. Her already illusory figure faded even more.

    But she held onto her mind. She ced her hands and knees on the spiritual continent below and dug her spiritual intent into its surface.

    ''Control¡­finally¡­''

    Zara''s mind suddenly became somewhat clear. In the center of the spiritual continent, she saw a single spark of light.

    ''That is¡­my lifeline¡­''

    That spark of light was what called her to the spiritual continent in the first ce, and it would be her only source of security while she fought against the tornado.

    ''I will¡­survive.''

    She firmed her resolve. She had no ns of dying in this ce. Not before she answered the questions that had gued her mind for so long, and not before she met Damien again.

    ''Please¡­stay safe.''

    Spiritual intent congregated on the continent and grew into a massive halo.

    Under Zara''s control, the continent began to move¡­

    ¡­straight towards the center of the tornado.

    Controlling the tornado from the outside was impossible. Even trying to consciously control the stream of memories entering her head was currently impossible.

    However, if she was in the eye of the tornado, perhaps she''d have a chance.

    It was a gamble with her life on the line, but Zara wasn''t hesitant at all to take it.

    Because either way, her life was on the line.

    And as she''d learned from a certain crazed genius¡­

    Wasn''t it better to die on your own terms, regardless of the circumstance?

 Chapter 760 Rescue [4]

    "Haa¡­haha¡­I didn''t expect it to be this difficult¡­"

    Immediately after Sebastian retreated, Damien dragged his haggard body into the spatialyers and began moving at his fastest speed towards Calypto.

    Unfortunately, the task was far harder than he originally expected.

    The previous battle was extremely intense, and even if it was abruptly cut off, Damien still used the majority of his power to fight off Sebastian.

    He''d even used his Void Physique''s abilities, something he''d been avoiding doing openly ever since the Wrath incident.

    ''That butler¡­he definitely knows.''

    "Khhh¡­!"

    Damien trudged through the muddied waters of space with a metaphorical limp. His body was healing, but at a far slower pace than Transcendent Regeneration usually allowed.

    ''Haha¡­is this the consequence of low mana reserves? While it''s fun to feel something new every once in a while, this isn''t really the time for that, is it?''

    Transcendent Regeneration, no matter how heaven-defying it was, was still a skill. Its continued activation was heavily reliant on mana.

    In truth, it was only because of Damien''s unorthodox Mana Circuit and ability to gather mana into his body that Transcendent Regeneration could function. For any other person, it''d be a nigh-useless skill in battle.

    Damien was currently experiencing what it was like to be "normal."

    ''Dammit. Has the Ananta Matrix been affected as well?''

    Bodily regeneration and mana regeneration were both moving at a snail''s pace, but Damien didn''t have the time to check on the damages in his body.

    All he knew was that he was a wreck, a wreck that urgently needed to return to Calypto and save hispanion.

    What felt like hours passed within a few seconds. Damien exited the spatialyers within Calypto''s atmosphere and took in a breath of fresh air.

    ''Right, the air here sucks.''

    Ignoring the foul stench filling his nostrils, he spread his awareness to its limits. His spiritual intent raged as a substitute for mana, connecting with space and forcing his awareness past the bounds of its usual reach.

    ''Where the hell did you go?''

    Damien wondered for only an instant before he realized.

    ''Ah yeah, the answer is way too obvious for me to dally like this.''

    For a blood-crazed Zara who wanted to devour every Nox in sight, what better location was there than the Willow Continent?

    Damien shed through the atmosphere. He redirected his mana so that Transcendent Regeneration only focused on his arms and arrived on the Willow Continent in a little over a minute.

    ''Holy shit¡­''

    The scene of destruction before him was terrifying in its connotation.

    ''I can''t let this continue.''

    Zara''s feral state was a secondary concern. The existence of the Sanctuary allowed Damien the peace of mind when it came to Zara''s overall safety.

    But that was only within the Sanctuary.

    ''If our allies find her, they''ll kill her, and if our enemies are given the chance, they''ll turn her into a puppet.''

    Zara was in a situation where she could be an enemy of the universe in a single instant.

    Damien couldn''t hesitate.

    His body became a blur as he kicked off the air and rushed towards the area of the continent where rampant mana fluctuations were currently tearing everything apart. From the sky, he could clearly see the intense battle taking ce.

    Zara hadpletely shifted back to her beast form. Her titanic wolf body crushed everything in its path and spread a gue of shadows across the continent.

    The inky and horrid smell of Nox Mana in her aura was growing by the second, and theplexity of her utilization was growing with it.

    At this rate, Zara would be a full-fledged Nox being before the battle ended.

    In front of her stood a group of thousands of Nox, far outstripping the number that the Stargazer Squad had fought only mere minutes prior. These Nox were in strict formation, emanating a devastating killing intent as they formed a myriad of seals around Zara''s body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''No¡­!''

    Damien immediately became alert. Those seals were too simr to the ones Sebastian formed for him to stay still.

    His body came crashing down like a meteor. With the dredges of mana he had gathered while making his way to the continent, he activated his most chaotic ability without any of the care he usually showed.

    ''Starfall: Endless Rain''

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A flurry of portals opened in the sky. Massive chunks of space debris and equallyrge meteors streaked out of their depths and crashed into the continent below.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The deathly impacts seemed never-ending. The massive Willow Continent was bombarded from one end to the other, with nond left untouched by the terrifying rain of celestial bodies.

    Damien''s body blurred through the storm and arrived atop Zara''s mountainous body. He mmed his hands down against her back and pushed any remaining mana he had to swirl around her.

    Yet, with his measly reserves, how could he cover a body spanning multiple thousands of kilometers?

    "FUCK!"

    Damien roared. His blood began to boil and burn, roaring alongside him.

    A second wave of power filled his body, but at the same time, he could feel himself weakening immensely.

    Still, his mana was doing what he desired it to do. Zara''s body was coated in a thin fment of spatial mana that was slowly bing more pronounced.

    It was at this time that Zara herself noticed his continued presence on her back.

    AWOOOOOO!

    A fearsome howl left her maw. Ayer of shadow immediately spread across her fur and activated, turning every single follicle of hair into a de to attack her enemy.

    The enemy, however, was her only ally in the current circumstance.

    "ARGH!"

    Countless thorns stabbed through every inch of Damien''s skin. Even his heart was pierced, darkness permeating its core and interfering with its operation.

    Damien felt suffocated. Blood spurted from his body in fountains, dying Zara''s ck coat in red.

    ''DAMMIT! THIS¡­FUCKING¡­HURTS!"

    The thorns piercing his body didn''t stop after a single barrage. With every passing second, his worsening wounds were further aggravated by their continued assault.

    He felt the stench of death encroaching upon him, making him nauseous.

    But at the same time, this stench was invigorating. Death wasn''t some new concept to Damien. He''d been living while teasing its keeper for years, and its presence only brought his attention to a new high.

    Something within his body came to life, empowering him further. A ck and white seed hidden somewhere within him emitted a strong pulsation of light that filled every nook and cranny of his system with energy.

    "I WON''T¡­GO DOWN¡­UNTIL I FULFILL¡­OUR PROMISE!" Damien bellowed through halted breaths.

    His blood burned brighter, reddish-ck sparks enhanced his abilities, and his spatial mana¡­

    ¡­finally seeded in covering Zara entirely.

    "COME ON!"

    He made his final push. He put all his focus into his connection with the Sanctuary. With the smell of burning blood vitality, he used every ounce of power remaining in his body.

    His blood drained rapidly, his face turned pale white, his aura deted like a popped balloon, but even then, he didn''t have any mind to stop his actions.

    HAAAAAA!

    His spirited shout echoed through the world, and in the same instant, finally¡­

    ¡­he and Zarapletely disappeared from its surface.

 Chapter 761 Samsara [1]

    A pair of eyes turned somewhere deep in the starry sky, their gaze focused on and almost unseen due to its distance.

    An amused light lit up those eyes.

    "Sir, is there a problem?" A voice came from the side.

    The owner of the eyes smiled lightly.

    "Nothing, I just noticed something fun."

    The man turned his attention back to the scene in front of him.

    "Fire on mymand."

    Hezily watched the proceeding scenario from his seat. Behind him, a number of eyes watched with him through various devices, though their attention remained mainly on the man.

    "Fire."

    He gave hismand.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Three cannon sts resounded with enough force that they could be heard from within the starship. Beams of brilliant white light shot through space and exploded upon contact with the nearest physical object.

    RUMBLE!

    Space trembled upon their collision. The enemy starship caught me and nearly exploded, but an illusory blue film surrounded its chassis and saved it from total destruction.

    "Alpha Squad, move in. Beta Squad, watch the right. Their reinforcements have arrived."

    The man''s voice sounded again, and the forces below him moved on hismand. Hundreds of powerful auras lit up the starry sky as they charged into battle.

    The man''s eyes suddenly closed. Using the starship as a medium to boost his range, he spread his awareness over 1,000,000 kilometers, observing the entirety of the battlefield around him.

    It was a nightmare.

    The wreckage of countless broken starships littered the empty void. These pieces of debris were being further destroyed by the rampant mana spreading from the deployed troops from both sides.

    Hundreds of millions of Lesser Nox infested the area like a gue, almost melding in with the surrounding ckness if it wasn''t for their feral charging. Standing against them, an array of universe denizens fought with all their might, keeping the horde away from the main battlefield.

    There, tens of starships far eclipsing any others in the area faced each other. The Nox''s main force of extreme peak 4th ss experts also remained on this battlefield, fighting against the universe''s experts.

    Chaotic explosions and spatial ruptures filled the starry sky and turned it into a coge of different spatial sections. The atmosphere was bing so chaotic that a Dead Zone was already on the verge of forming.

    Watching this scene, the man''s smile grew wider.

    ''Though it''s annoying to maneuver, the creation of these Avatars is truly a blessing from the Dark God. Not only am I able to crush these pests myself, I also got to see something quite interesting.''

    He nonchntly nced into the corner of themand center where he sat. A man stood there quietly, his body half burnt to a crisp. Yet, he stood silently without showing a single sign of pain.

    "Does it hurt?" The man asked.

    "No, Master. Since these wounds allowed me to bring you valuable information, they bring me bliss rather than pain."

    The response was instant.

    "Sometimes I believe you might be too loyal, Sebastian."

    "My loyalty was earned by Master. It is an expression of the Saint Emperor''s immense charisma."

    "You should train your strength rather than your ttery. To lose so miserably to a human child, aren''t you embarrassed?"

    "¡­I will ept any punishment Master gives me."

    The Saint Emperor turned his head away without responding, facing Calypto once more.

    "That child¡­indeed, Dante will not be that boy''s match if they meet too early in the future. Who would have thought that such a treasure would be buried in this measly section universe?"

    The Saint Emperor''s gaze was lit with greed, lust, and amusement.

    "However, isn''t this fun? Rather than an opponent for Dante, have I found a future opponent for myself? If I y him after he grows into that power¡­"

    The Saint Emperor clenched his fist. A wisp of pitch-ck mana unconsciously swirled it.

    "Heuk¡­!"

    Sebastian coughed in the corner of the room. He felt something in his heart pound, forcing blood up his throat.

    "Hahaha, interesting, how interesting!"

    His gaze turned cold.

    "Sebastian, you understand what you must do, no?"

    "Yes, Master. I shall observe the human''s growth and keep the Young Master from encountering him."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Good. If you carry out your duties properly, I shall heal those wounds of yours. For now, you will keep them as a reminder of your failure."

    "Yes, Master."

    The Saint Emperor''s indifferent gaze returned to the battlefield.

    "Now, let us remove these pests standing in our way."

    As he continuedmanding his troops, he clenched his fist.

    It was charred,pletely crippled.

    Arcing on its surface were traces of golden lightning¡­

    ¡­along with a barely-noticeable scent of the Void.

    ***

    Hak!

    Hak!

    Hak!

    "Khhh¡­"

    Blood sttered across the ground. Bits and pieces of organs were strewn about. A man kneeled on the floor and coughed up a copious amount of blood, adding to the vital fluid pouring out of his body.

    "FU¡ª HEUK¡­!"

    He wasn''t even able to finish his cursing exmation before another wave of blood climbed up his throat and forced its way out of my body.

    ''What¡­is happening?!''

    After entering the Sanctuary, Damien immediately ced Zara in the isted prison space for her safety. Afterwards, he moved to his own personal chamber to deal with his bodily situation.

    He barely made it before hepletely broke down.

    Thump!

    "AGH¡­!"

    Losing so much blood made it impossible for him to properly control his body. He copsed onto the floor and clutched his chest in pain.

    Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum!

    His heart beat violently. His Mana Circuit burned. The only stable area of Damien''s existence was his spiritual world.

    Luckily, this meant that he could still ess his awareness.

    Damien''s perception spread through his ruined body. Every detail of his internals was revealed to him in full resolution as if he was watching through the most advanced camera in existence.

    ''This¡­what¡­?''

    It didn''t make sense at all.

    The wounds in his body were bad, sure, but the main source of his trouble didn''t stem from them. Instead, his body was actively rebelling against and destroying itself.

    His blood boiled up and forced its way out of his system, his Mana Circuits copsed into each other and became a mess, and even his ethereal Mana Circuit began to lose function, desperately sputtering as it tried to evolve to cope with the current situation.

    Pui!

    Damien spit out another mouthful of blood and dragged himself to a nearby wall. He propped his person up against it and closed his eyes, entering a semi-meditative state.

    The pain was unbearable. Damien had endured pain before, but he usually had a reason to put himself in pain, allowing him to endure it easily.

    This time, there was no gain, no benefit. There wasn''t even a proper reason for his situation.

    Sebastian had injured him greatly, and so had Zara, but neither of them had the means to disrupt Transcendent Regeneration and the Ananta Matrix.

    Damien circted his mana carefully, drawing in the atmospheric mana and converting it into his own usable mana, thereafter using this energy to cleanse his Mana Circuit.

    Unfortunately, it wasn''t as effective as he hoped.

    "ARGH!"

    The clean mana he absorbed shed with his existing mana and worsened his bodily situation. The Anata Matrix began to crack, the Mana Veins in his body shattering into countless pieces.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    With every attempt he made, his internal situation only became more confusing.

 Chapter 762 Samsara [2]

    Minutes passed but felt like weeks. Damien continued observing his body as it changed, enduring the pain and holding onto his vitality with everything he had.

    He''d lost far too much blood. If it wasn''t for the immense amount of vitality he''d gained over the years through Devour, he would''ve already died.

    But as the situation continued to worsen, Damien was able to find a glimpse of hope.

    ''That is¡­''

    His senses went to his Mana Heart. His gaze was attracted by a fleck of white and ck that was hidden in one of the heart''s crevices.

    ''That speck holds so much vitality¡­''

    The amount of vitality in the small speck of light was enough to match an entire vial of Damien''s blood. It was immensely stronger than anything he currently had ess to.

    ''If I can reproduce it, I can finally get out of this fucked up situation.''

    Damien was, quite frankly, annoyed. It didn''t matter if he was close to death already. Since he couldn''t feel its ghastly hands creeping across his skin, it meant that panic was unnecessary¡­

    At least, for now.

    His awareness concentrated on the white and ck fleck of light, digging into its material and carefully observing its structure.

    It was only a full minuteter that Damien finally came back to his senses.

    ''This thing¡­is it rted to what happened before?''

    The energying from the speck of light was incredibly familiar. As Damien became more in tune with it, he was able to realize where this familiarity came from.

    This mysterious and contradictory energy signature was the exact same feeling that spread through his body as he fought Sebastian. It was a result of the strange interaction between his mana and Sebastian''s, something he still hadn''t had the chance topletely explore.

    Nevertheless, Damien''sprehensive abilities were unparalleled in the universe. It didn''t take him long to feel the origins of the energy.

    ''Life and Death. This is absolutely abination of Life and Death Laws¡­! But how could twopletely contradictory energiese together like this? Their duality is being destroyed¡­''

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    ''No, are they perpetually empowering each other?''

    Within that tiny speck of light, countless mysteries of Life and Death swirled together in perfect harmony. They interacted, but they didn''t merge. Their energies meshed, but didn''tpletely ovep.

    ''What a confusing state. On the surface, it contradicts duality, but in reality, it is the most foundational representation of it. When Life and Deathe together properly, can they form such a beautiful cycle?''

    When he thought about it, the rtionship between these two concepts had always been like that. Life and Death swirled together and the fine line where they ovepped was the basis of reincarnation. Together, these processes formed the cycle of Samsara.

    ''Is that cycle¡­being represented within my body?''

    The situation changed immediately.

    It wasn''t a physical change. Damien''s body was still breaking down by the second. His blood was still forming a river on the ground. However, the connotation waspletely different.

    ''Am I being rebirthed?''

    A sh of yin and yang enveloped his mind.

    ''I see¡­''

    The mysteries of Life and Death flowed into his spiritual world and formed a seed within the vast starfield decorating it.

    ''I must survive.''

    The seed lit up and dyed the world ck and white. The morous light gathered into a beam and cut through the bounds of reality, connecting with its counterpart in Damien''s body.

    ''If I can get through this process¡­''

    The seed within the mysterious white space lit up when the beam connected with it. Just like its predecessor, it formed a connection that transcended reality¡­

    ''¡­I will transcend humanity.''

    ¡­with a barely noticeable fleck of light in Damien''s Mana Heart.

    The light refracted instantly.

    A triangr connection was formed between three separate representations of the same force.

    And finally¡­<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "AHHHHHHHH¡ª!"

    Damien was dyed white and ck. An incarnation of light flew out of his chest and hovered in the air. His physical body, however, exploded like it was shot countless times. Every ounce of blood within his system was forced out, sttering across any surface existing in the room as his withered form fell to the floor.

    However, the blood didn''t stay in ce for long. It dripped down onto the ground whilepletely ignoring the concept of cohesion. It collected into a ball, a globr mass that floated into the air in the center of the room.

    VOOM!

    Damien''s light incarnation shot rays of its power into the mass of blood. The blood shone with iridescent light as it began to change form.

    It became thicker, yet more ethereal. It became subtle, yet the vitality within was preposterous. The bloodpletely changed forms into a different substance, a higher existence than its former state.

    It was blood that represented the wheel of Samsara. Even as it existed, it was in a constant cycle of Life, Death, and Reincarnation. The properties of this blood were ever-changing and the possibilities it opened the gateway to were limitless.

    With this blood substituting his natural lifeblood, Damien could truly be something that transcended a human.

    The infusion process was finallypleted. The new substance shot through the air and pierced Damien''s heart.

    Thump!

    Damien''s dry and withered heart let out a weak thump.

    A small bead of white and ck blood dissolved in its center.

    A flicker of light shone brightly from his Mana Heart, empowering the bead of blood.

    Ba-dum¡­!

    Ba-dum!

    Ba-DUM!

    A burst of vitality filled the heart. The white and ck blood bead merged with it, giving it a flow of blood to restart its processes.

    THUMP!

    THUMP!

    THUMP!

    The newly revived heart was beating louder than ever before. It beat with such force that space trembled under its immense vitality.

    Damien''s heart utterly transformed, and the blood that came out of the new organ wasn''t red¡­it was white and ck.

    VOOM!

    The new blood spread through his body in an instant. His withered form was being revitalized at an observable pace, almost to the extent that it was miraculous.

    His skin returned to its jade-white color, a rosyplexion alighting his face and even enhancing his beauty. He gave off a strangely contradictory aura, as if he was both existing and not existing at the same time.

    The Ananta Matrix whirred to life. A stream of Void Mana snaked out of the ethereal circuit and entered Damien''s body, merging with his bloodstream thereafter.

    A devouring force spread, eating away at a small portion of the overflowing vitalitying from the white and ck blood. The vitality itself was broken down into pure essence which was transferred back to the ethereal circuit.

    At the same time, almost as if by fate, Damien''s physical Mana Circuit was repaired by the immense cirction of vitality.

    "Mana" was introduced back into Damien''s body.

    "Vitality" was present in droves.

    And with that¡­

    ''De¡­vour¡­''

    The purple-eyes genius who''d been hanging onto life by an extremely thin thread was finally able to take action.

    A gaping ck hole opened above his head.

    Every single strand of essence in the surrounding several thousand kilometers disappeared as if it had never existed.

    And the fabric of reality trembled ever so slightly.

 Chapter 763 Samsara [3]

    A body sat silently within the infinite void. It was motionless and nearly lifeless, resembling a stone Buddha more than a true living being.

    This was because, while the outer frame of this body waspleted, the internal structure was still in the process of forming.

    It had been over a day since Damien moved from his personal chamber to the infinite void. In this time, he''d been wholly absorbed in the processes in his body, disregarding all else in the world.

    ''If I connect this here¡­ah, that blocks bloodflow to the left leg¡­''

    ''What about¡­that''ll work, but I''ll have to rewire the digestive system somewhat to amodate it¡­''

    Damien''s thoughts spun rapidly in his mind. As he observed his internal body, he endlessly experimented on which structure would allow him to perform as perfectly as he wished it to.

    After the original restructuring and blood-washing process, Damien was finally able to ess his mana again. Using this advantage, he wrestled partial control over the process and gained the chance to restructure his body.

    This was the only time when it''d be possible. Using the immense overflowing vitality of the white and ck blood that had yet to settle and consolidate within Damien''s body as a fallback, he could ruin himself as much as he wanted without the risk of repercussions.

    Thus began a gruesome process of trial and error.

    Damien first yed with his Ananta Matrix, further increasing the cohesion between the multiple Mana Utilization Methods hebined into the Mana Circuit.

    Even this process took multiple hours, but it was rather quickpared to his bodily modification. After all, the Ananta Matrix was created to evolve. It actively assisted Damien in his quest to improve it.

    His body itself had no such function.

    To observe theplex pathways of veins and nerves and to understand the rtionship between organs and how they needed to be connected for the human body''s systems to function wasn''t an easy task. Before he could even start experimentation, Damien needed to spend multiple hours perfecting his understanding of how his internal body functioned.

    When he finally did, he began testing theories without a single qualm about the immense pain he was putting himself in.

    After all, how could this pain be worse than the pain of literal death that he experienced not long ago?

    With time, his body changed. The still form in the void became moreplete, emitting a faint aura of strength that was hardly noticeable if one didn''t focus on it.

    While Damien was making changes, he wasn''t nning to change things too much. The human body was already designed with such beautiful precision that he didn''t actually need to make many changes.

    For the most part, there were three factors he focused on.

    Firstly, he built his new body with a restructured system that revolved around his Mana Circuit rather than existing under it. More than just baking his Mana Circuits into his body, this new structure was far more efficient since it was assisted by the aura of mana emanating from the circuits.

    This new system also brought more importance to the bloodstream and allowed it to perform past the original abilities of the heart and blood vessels. The newly formed Samsara Blood was able to showcase its highest capabilities and adapt to any possible situation with this system, maximizing its potential.

    The second factor was the same path he''d been taking through Devour all this time. Damien optimized his body for battle, turning himself into a machine of efficiency and output that went unparalleled among those on his same level.

    And finally, he set up an entirely new system within his body. This system was a collection of Dimensional Spaces that existed in harmony within his body. These spaces were isted, yet tethered to reality.

    Within each space was a vital organ. Through the newly implemented system, these organs were semi-separated from reality, which made it far harder to attack them. If an enemy happened to pierce his body and attack his vitals, Damien would have anotheryer of protection.

    Time passed with immeasurable slowness. The essence of time that permeated the infinite was almost negligible, making it difficult to understand how time truly flowed in this area.

    But if one thing was certain, it was that the time flow certainly wasn''t the same as the outside world.

    With time crawling, Damien was given far more freedom in his actions.

    And finally, an entire week passed.

    A pair of eyes gently fluttered open and stared into the sky.

    HONG!

    The sound of an ancient deste bell reverberated through the tremoring space.

    HONG! HONG! HONG!

    The bell rang continuously, and with every proceeding ring, a materialization became more visible in the sky.

    It was a golden wheel surrounded by white and ck wisps of flowing mana.

    ''The Wheel of Samsara.''

    Damien calmly looked at the forming manifestation. Even though it carried the appearance of Heaven''s wrath, he didn''t show any fear.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Come."

    He beckoned the wheel. Immediately upon his invitation, it began rapidly rotating in the air and shot towards him.

    Damien epted it with open arms. The manifestation struck him and disappeared into his body in an instant,pletely fusing with him.

    "Ah¡­finally done."

    The Wheel of Samsara''s manifestation fully merged with his heart, and upon thepletion of this process, Damien could clearly feel the white and ck blood in his system activate.

    Voom!

    It finally seemed to melt into his body and be one with it. It finally conformed to the system Damien had built for it, epting him as its rightful owner.

    Damien clenched his fist. Space trembled at this mere motion,

    ''If I fought that butler now¡­would he have the chance to escape?''

    Damien was well aware of the immensity of his change in the past week. Even if it didn''t look like anything more than an increase in vitality on the outside, it was far more significant than that.

    The power of Life and Death flowed through his veins. It wasn''t a power he needed mana to ess, it was a power that was one with his body itself.

    ''Maybe I should integrate Spacetime Laws into my body this way as well¡­''

    Damien had a somewhat nonsensical thought. Even if it''d be great, when would he get the chance to do so?

    The titanic vitality from the white and ck blood was now a part of his body and couldn''t be used as wantonly as before. The chance of himing across another situation where he was overflowing with wasted vitality was nil.

    ''Well, it isn''t a problem. If I''m right, then I got more than just a few benefits from this new blood. Namely¡­''

    ''Status''

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    ????

    Male - Age 27

    Level 240 - [Voidbringer] - [Celestial]

    Experience value: 246,000/380,000

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Spacetime, Samsara, ????

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 250000

    STR: 5500

    AGI: 5330

    DEF: 5000

    INT: 4500

    DEX: 5330

    Skills: [Dimensional Magic Level 8], [Transcendent Regeneration Level 6], [Void Art Level 6], [Devour Level 8], [Dragon Transformation], [Demon Transformation], [Awareness], [Celestial Authority], [Reality Shift Level 2], [Sea God''s Descendent], [Void], [Spacetime Intent], [Samsara Intent]

    Trait(s): [All-Seeing Eyes Level 8], [Dragon''s Breath], [Ananta Matrix], [Storm], [Void Essence], [Void mes], [Heal]

    ''Now that''s an attractive sight.''

 Chapter 764 Samsara [4]

    Damien''s status had gone through a qualitative change, and it wasn''t a matter of stats.

    Damien had long learned to ignore his stats as they never properly represented his power level, but every other portion of his status contained important changes that he thoroughly enjoyed seeing.

    Mainly the Affinities section.

    ''Samsara Intent and Spacetime Intent¡­''

    Damien now had an affinity not for Life and Death, but for the cycle of Samsara as a whole. On top of this, the affinity as well as his ever-deepening Spacetime affinity were granted their own intents.

    This meant that he had a far more direct connection with theirws. He would be able to utilize them with almost the same instinctual proficiency as a beast, but this was only the base ability of these new skills.

    Their main benefit was the gateway they opened. Through these intents, Damien would be able to carve his own path into the universalw, growing independent from yet connected to the existing system, bing an existence that stood on equal terms with it.

    This was a level simr to what Demigods reached.

    ''This is my path to Divinity.''

    The introduction of Samsara into his abilities was sudden and abrupt, but it came as a tiding of fate. Comprehension of the concept flowed into Damien''s mind with the same smoothness as Spacetime, almost as if telling him that he was always meant to tread this path.

    ''I haveprehension of Samsara, but I have yet to digest it enough to use it inbat. However, my potential has increased yet again. By the time I master this ability, will I truly be unparalleled under heaven¡­?''

    A delusion of grandeur filled Damien''s head. The thought of crushing Demigods under his feet like trash was incredibly enticing.

    ''But even with all this, my rebirth seems to be a gift that keeps on giving. What could this possibly be¡­?''

    Damien''s eyes went to the holographic notification floating in the air before his eyes.

    [The flow is an embodiment of the Natural Law. Do not despair as you follow its trail.]

    ''Did thise from the system?''

    That unbiased system without full sentience sent him a message like this? That was impossible.

    ''But this isn''t manmade. That only leaves one option¡­''

    It was a message from the universe itself.

    ''Amazing.''

    It was the only thing Damien could say before his mind went to work.

    The flow he''d been vaguely feeling for so long¡­felt somewhat closer than before.

    ''There is a faint stream of something¡­leading to Zara¡­''

    It wasn''t mana, nor was it any other form of energy that Damien had encountered before. When he unleashed his Void Mana into the atmosphere, even it couldn''t sense the presence of that stream.

    ''How odd¡­! My Void Mana went through a qualitative change along with my body, and it seems that the introduction of Samsara allowed me to ess more of its abilities. Yet, this improved Void Mana can''t sense the stream?''

    Damien''s curiosity was immediately piqued.

    His body floated through space at a seemingly leisurely pace, but he traversed countless thousands of kilometers within seconds.

    He arrived at the prison realm within the Sanctuary, an isted space solely for storing those who could be usedter.

    Until this point, it remained empty. Damien had a bad habit of killing everyone who crossed him, after all.

    ''Though, I do have a new target in mind to enjoy the treatment of this space.''

    There was a certain butler who would be able to enjoy the prison realm''s various facilities the second Damien caught him. But until then¡­

    A mountainous beast stood within the otherwise deste realm. Even though it thrashed violently and rebelled, none of the prison realm''s defenses activated against it.

    ''Zara¡­''

    Damien''s eyes became sorrowful as he looked at her. He could feel his spiritual connection with her weakening by the second.

    ''She''s sacrificing everything for her goals, huh¡­''

    With his newprehension on Samsara, Damien''s understanding of Zara''s situation also heightened.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    When he first saved her, it was still possible for Zara to retreat. She could''ve expelled the Nox Mana from her aura and forfeited her gains for the sake of survival.

    But instead, she chose to fight on.

    ''Really, someone''s been teaching her terrible habits.''

    Despite how close he was, Zara wasn''t able to recognize his presence at all. It was almost as if Damien didn''t exist.

    Or rather, it was like he''d be a part of the universe.

    ''What are those¡­?''

    His eyes moved across Zara''s figure. On her be and eight other spots along her body, faint blue lights glowed like checkpoints.

    ''Is this rted to the flow?''

    The universe had just told him to confidently follow the flow. If this was also a part of that, didn''t it mean it''d be something good?

    Damien''s body shed and appeared atop Zara. He gently ced his hand upon a blue spot on Zara''s back and closed his eyes.

    He immediately felt a strange sensation roll through him.

    A tornado of fragmented memories ravaged his mind.

    But at the same time, a beautiful whiteish-blue light enveloped his mind and brought serenity.

    ''I see. Is her mental situation being worsened by something taking ce in her body?''

    Damien couldn''t help with Zara''s mental battle. Just as he had fought for endless years in his spiritual world after being struck by a Demigod''s True Voice, Zara would have to repair her spiritual world on her own.

    ''But if I can alleviate the process even a little, I believe she can seed on her own. I guess I have to ept that this little girl grew into a badass.''

    Damien smiled wryly. In the end, Zara had be something akin to a female version of himself. He really had to wonder why she chose him as her role model when Tang Lingzi existed, but her love brought him endless emotion that he didn''t know how to deal with.

    ''Is this what it feels like to watch a sibling grow up? Damn, it''s a bit annoying.''

    The introduction of this new form of affection endlessly flustered Damien, but it brought him an equal amount of warmth.

    This warmth was motivation to always move forward.

    Just as he''d moved ceaselessly on Apeiron for 2 years to grow in power and return to earth to save his mother, he felt infinite motivation to protect Zara and let her grow up happy.

    ''If the pain you experience is vital for your growth and happiness, then who am I to stop you from experiencing it? Just as I promised before, I will always stand behind you and support you with my everything.''

    A gentle stream of warm mana flowed from Damien''s palms and swirled in conjunction with the blue spot. Samsara Intent prated Zara''s physical body and created a pathway from her head to her tail, leaving no spot unmapped.

    And following the scouting expedition of the Samsara Intent, the true cavalry arrived.

    Void Mana flowed into Zara''s system.

    The Nox Mana that polluted a majority of her body cowered in fear.

    ''Stop resisting and be her power.''

    Damien red his Void Mana with all his power. He activated Devour and turned the Nox Mana into pure essence, feeding it back into Zara''s Mana Circuits to empower her.

    This process changed the Nox Mana, removing its corrupting properties. As the essence merged with Zara''s system, it formed a new deathly mana that Damien had never seen before.

    A small smile formed on his face.

    ''Yeah, a member of the Void Family should be at least this talented.''

    Damien''s smiling face immediately scrunched up in disgust.

    ''¡­I''m d I didn''t say that out loud.''

    Whilementing the embarrassment of hisst name, he returned his focus to cleansing Zara''s internals.

    Meanwhile, within Zara''s mind space¡­

 Chapter 765 Hunt [1]

    Meanwhile, within Zara''s mind space, Damien''s efforts were being reflected clearly.

    Immediately upon his intervention, the sheer level of Nox Mana polluting the spiritual works drastically decreased as if there was a leak in the space. For Zara, who was fighting with everything she had to survive, this change was a wee one.

    Currently, her fading form was in the center of the memory fragment tornado. Despite the chaos around her, she sat motionless and unfazed.

    Her mind was split into countless different pieces, working to concurrently control the tornado, piece together the memory fragments, and hold together the spiritual world itself.

    As for the main contributor to Zara''s survival¡­

    A small spark of light flickered in the depths of her spiritual continent. It was barely present, but its light was almost blinding. The light empowers Zara immensely, clearing her mind of corruption and allowing her to properly think and sustain herself.

    With its help, Zara was able to make rapid progress. She felt a connection with the spark, and a connection with the memory fragments. With both of these existing concepts as a basis, she began building a foundation for the memories to connect.

    ''It all begins in the Mothend.''

    She didn''t know its proper name, since the Nox treated the name as a forbidden yet holy script, but she knew of the location''s significance. It was the ce where Nox came into existence, and the main perpetrator of their skewed existence.

    ''The Mothend is a ce of eternal rest and bliss. Once one leaves the Mothend, they are never allowed to return.''

    Zara''s focus followed a man with a strong build and blurred face as he went through the stages of life as a Nox being born within their civilization. He grew, he devoured, and he became powerful enough to finally develop consciousness. After this, he finally left the Mothend and set out on his own journey.

    However, the results of this journey were far different than he originally expected.

    The events he experienced weren''t made known to Zara through the memory fragments, but she was able to view the result¡­

    The man rebelled.

    He rebelled against his own race and fled to the Grand Heavens Boundary, eventually making his way to a small world where he lived in hiding for many years.

    Zara''s understanding of the man''s life was limited. Rather than his actions, the memories focused more on other facets.

    His power, his goals, his techniques, his skills, his mana utilization methods, and other factors such as these were prioritized over history. The information constantly flowing into Zara''s head gave her a deep understanding of darkness, and a deep understanding of the Nox''s own brand of Mana.

    These memories opened up a new path that Zara had never seen before, using a mana that was far moreplex than she''d ever expected.

    Zara established a rtive chronology within the memories as she continuously watched them. She was able to organize them into different categories based on their usefulness and contents so that digesting them was easier.

    She didn''t know how long it had been, but she knew that her previous hopeless situation was no longer a problem.

    Something was guiding her.

    A warm hand reached out to her in the dark and showed her the way forward.

    Following it felt like the most natural action in existence.

    At the same time, another warm energyforted Zara. The spark of light in her spiritual continent settled within her chest, glowing dimly. Immediately upon feeling it, she sensed the connection it formed to a location unknown.

    There were multiple factors rooting her to reality, and with their help, Zara didn''t have to concentrate on maintaining her existence. She put everything into offense, fully taking control of the tornado.

    VOOM!

    The massive chaotic tornado began to slow. Its energy flow was wildly disrupted by multiple forces, and it wasn''t able to maintain its momentum.

    Zara didn''t waste this opportunity. Her spiritual intent meshed into the tornado and painted it in her aura. Slowly but surely, it was bing a concept under her control.

    In the outside world, Zara''s feral physical body also began to calm down.

    Damien walked along her back and gently untangled the strange blue spots popting Zara''s back and wings. Her tails swung from side to side, bing strangely powerful as the pain in Zara''s body was alleviated.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''She''s been growing new tails with time for a while now. I don''t know why I didn''t realize that they''re a manifestation of her power.''

    A nine-tailed wolf wasn''t amon species. In fact, Damien had never encountered another wolf species with tails like Zara''s, which resembled a fox more than a wolf.

    Thinking these idle thoughts, Damien slowly made his way to Zara''s head. His actions were like a rxing massage, allowing her body to lose its aggression and calm down.

    By the time he made it to her be, she was alreadyying down on the ground, somewhat unresponsive.

    ''I know you''re awake in there. When youe back to your senses, I''ll give you a little surprise.''

    Damien smiled lightly. Zara had an immense affinity for darkness and anything rted. It was to the extent that her mana would passively observe the properties of a strong enough darkness that it encountered, the same way it devoured and incorporated the Nox.

    Then, if Damien used his new Samsara Intent to inject her Mana Stream with clean Death Mana, wouldn''t she be even more powerful?

    With this thought in mind, Damien ced his hand on Zara''s be and began slowly unraveling the final knot he could see. The strange blue spots that the "flow" showed him were almostpletely gone.

    The be, however, was a gateway to the spiritual world. The damage in this area far exceeded anything else Damien had seen in Zara''s body.

    ''I guess I''ll also get an opportunity to practice¡­?'' He thought hesitantly.

    Samsara Intent flowed from his hands, emanating a strange and contradicting aura. Life nourished and Death decayed. Reincarnation acted as the glue between these opposing forces that allowed them to work in conjunction,

    Life Mana brought power to Zara''s body and healed her. Her mana flowed smoother, her bodily systems were cleared of impurity, and her mind received yet another burst of rity.

    Death Mana was the cavalry. It moved to directly attack the traces of corruption in Zara''s body, shing against the variation Death Mana as if it wanted to prove its superiority to thetter.

    And finally, as these twows worked on attack and support, the essence of reincarnation covered defense. A swirling vortex of Reincarnation Laws acted as a master of redirection, disallowing for any negative energy to gather and be lethal.

    ''This is good. The prison realm''s atmosphere must be helping somewhat. The amount of resistance is far less than what was present in the Real ne.''

    Damien sighed in relief as he supported Zara. If things continued on this trajectory, there wouldn''t be a problem with bringing her back to peak condition.

    But as he was thinking, he suddenly remembered the outside world''s situation.

    ''Aha, we''ve been gone for a bit now. I wonder if the reinforcement team ever arrived¡­?''

    A majority of the situation was already cleaned up by Damien and his squad, but reinforcements couldn''t hurt, right?

    The only thing that worried Damien was how they''d react to his disappearance.

    ''I guess I should head back soon¡­''

    There wasn''t much else for him to do in the Sanctuary after healing Zara. The time to return to reality was rapidly approaching.

    ''Zara will need to rest for a considerable amount of time to digest her gains this time, and I¡­''

    ''I still have a mission to aplish.''

    Damien''s eyes briefly turned cold.

    Previously, he didn''t have any personal stock in his task, however, the Nox had decided to change that.

    With a new vendetta fueling his actions against them, he surely wouldn''t hold back.

    Calypto''s end was already on the horizon.

 Chapter 766 Hunt [2]

    Just as Damien expected, quite a chaotic situation was taking ce in the Real ne.

    1 hour officially passed from the start of the battle mere seconds after Damien teleported away, and while the reinforcements arrived near the end of the 60th minute, it was still true that they arrived perfectly on time.

    A group made up of students and teachers alike appeared at the Vineyard where the original battle took ce, only to be faced with a mind-boggling scene.

    "The continent¡­is gone?"

    The leading instructor, a subordinate of themander, looked around, baffled.

    It wasn''t a matter of the power required to destroy the continent. Most 4th sses, especially those usingrge-scale attacks with immense mana behind them, possessed the capabilities to destroy a continent.

    However, the Vineyard''s state was past mere destruction. It was utterly annihted, and even the waters that rushed in to upy its former ce were divided and morphed by the residual mana from the sh, disallowing the ocean from returning to its natural state.

    Right, the previous Vineyard was nothing more than a sinkhole of untold proportions.

    And within that harrowing atmosphere, barely any life signatures could be felt,

    ''There are a few weak life auras deep in the ocean, but other than that¡­has everyone died?''

    The instructor was unable to understand the situation based on what he could see.

    "Spread out and track down the source of any life auras in the vicinity. If you find allies, bring them whether dead or alive."

    The instructor gave amand and the forces under him immediatelyplied. As they searched¡­

    HONG!

    VOOOOOOOM!

    A terrifying fluctuation whooshed past them. Judging by its sheer size which was far greater than the previous Vineyard Continent, an even more catastrophic battle was taking ce.

    "That direction¡­is the Willow Continent." The instructor murmured.

    "Roaring Tiger Squad, Silver Moon Squad, Dragon Elephant Squad, follow me to the Willow Continent! As for the rest of you, continue the search. If you find anything, report to base. If you encounter survivors, take them back to base and let medical deal with them!"

    ""Yes, sir!""

    A collective affirmation followed his words. The three squads he called for appeared beside him, and without hesitation, he activated a device on his wrist.

    Voom!

    Spatial fluctuations spread to cover his group. In the next instant, they disappeared.

    The teleportation technology was a perk allowed to instructors so they could appear at any location to assist when necessary, but they weren''t given to students as they''d allow the students to bypass many difficulties they were supposed to experience on this trip.

    Yet, as the instructor reappeared in reality, he had a slight feeling that this restriction didn''t affect the Stargazer Squad at all.

    Almost every continent had been cleared with their help, and more than that, they''d made a true impact on the war situation.

    Their presence allowed the allied forces to push forward without worry, and even greater a contribution was their ability to remove Sebastian from the battlefield.

    As the Saint Emperor''s personal butler and closest aid, Sebastian was a unit that the currently deployed forces on Calypto couldn''t deal with. The ones who had that kind of power were preupied in the starry sky, fighting a harrowing war against the Infected Source World''s main force.

    ''But now, that same Sebastian is missing, and Calypto¡­''

    ''Is this really something a student can aplish?''

    The instructor had been standing in the air above the Willow Continent for many seconds without moving now. After seeing the sight below him, how could he?

    The entire continent was littered with evidence of a battle that had just ended. The sttered remains of countless Nox beings submerged the continent in ck slime, and a massive force of Higher Nox rushed through the air in panic, evidently perplexed by something.

    "You all have worked together multiple times already, so I''m sure you already understand your roles. Go, fulfill your duties and bring glory to our universe!"

    ""Yes, sir!""

    The three squads immediately descended onto the Willow Continent and began to scour it. Their jobs were split in three. While the Roaring Tiger and Dragon Elephant Squads covered offense and defense, the Silver Moon Squad went to work gathering information and understanding past events based on the residual mana in the air.

    While the squads worked, the instructor quietly entered the continent as well.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    His form shifted.

    His skin turned ashen grey, and his mana took on a sticky ck property it didn''t usually possess.

    The instructor appeared in front of a Higher Nox being in his new form.

    "What''s happening?! What is this panic?" He shouted in apparent confusion and anger.

    "Did you just arrive? A precious seed has been stolen by the enemy! We must find it and convert it before the enemy reinforcements arrive!"

    The Higher Nox spilled information without concern for its recipient. In his current form, the instructor was identical to the Nox.

    "I see, so something like that happened."

    "Quickly help us sea¡ª!"

    The instructor''s hand shot out. The Higher Nox was bisected and killed in an instant.

    "I guess that''s all he could provide. Shall I find someone of higher status?"

    The instructor spread his awareness over the continent.

    From this first target, he already heard multiple concerning words and phrases.

    ''The Nox have a variety of different ''seeds'' with different connotations. I have to find out which one they lost¡­''

    Even the safety of the illustrious Stargazer Squad wasn''t as important as finding the existence of a ''seed.''

    ''Of the multitude of seeds, the Dark God''s Seed is the highest, the Yin-Yang Heaven Seed is second, and the Empyrean God Seed is third. The Empyrean God Seed is the Saint King, but the other two have yet to show themselves.''

    Among the Nox Seeds, these two were particrly special, not for their rankings, but the connotations behind their abilities. From what Heaven''s Army had gathered thus far, if the Nox found those two seeds, they''d acquire enough force to decimate the universe without opposition.

    ''Even if he was a low-rank Nox, he should''ve still known about the seed rankings. For that level of panic¡­''

    The seed they were searching for was at least part of the five greater seeds.

    ''I must find that seed and end its existence before it can bloom.''

    The instructor''s eyes turned cold.

    ''The Stargazer Squad¡­''

    ording to that Nox, the Seed was stolen by the Stargazer Squad''s leader. From what the instructor knew, that boy was sent by a higher-up for some important mission.

    ''I should learn more about him. If he is hostile, then I will have to eliminate him as well.''

    At that time, the instructor received a transmission from his academy emblem.

    "Sir, we have found survivors! They look to be members of the Stargazer Squad, but they''re barely alive! How should we proceed?"

    The instructor''s eyes lit up. "Save them by any means necessary! Use Elixirs if need be!"

    Those lower squad members likely weren''t as powerful as their leader, and if they could be used to gather information¡­

    The mysterious spatial expert who''d been causing a storm on Calypto recently would be far less mysterious.

    ''I should finish my business here while they heal.''

    The instructor''s ashen-grey form moved forward, his awareness already locked on a new target.

    While Damien knew the situation in the Real ne was bad, could he have ever predicted it¡­?

    The fact that a member of the Heaven''s Army''s Hunting Dogs, one of its most illustrious squadrons, had just caught a whiff of his scent¡­

    ¡­and wasn''t willing to let it go.

 Chapter 767 Hunt [3]

    Within a starship hidden in Calypto''s atmosphere was a collection of rooms filled with people. This particr starship didn''t have much attack capability, as it was built for an entirely different purpose,

    Pure white light without a hint of variation shone down from the ceiling, painting the room an extremely boring yet sterile color.

    The room itself was lined with a number of cots, men and women in matching attire running between them to care for those who were transferred to this facility.

    "Mmgh¡­"

    A pair of eyes fluttered open, but were immediately blinded by the light. The owner of those eyes attempted to lift his arm to cover them, but soon found that they were restrained by unknown material.

    ''Where¡­is this¡­?''

    A thought shed through the man''s head. He instantly became wary. Was he captured by the enemy? Was he going to be interrogated?

    But¡­didn''t he die?

    Thest thing he remembered was a gaping hole being torn open in his body. After that experience, the sheer pain overwhelmed him and forced him unconscious.

    His eyes eventually adjusted to the light, allowing him to open them.

    He was met with a nd ceiling the same color as the light, and the sounds of ttering metal and iprehensible chatter.

    ''My head¡­''

    It took almost an entire minute for him to finally exit his confused state.

    "¡­seems to be responsive. Move on to the next stage of treatment."

    Those were the first words he heard. His eyes widened, his gaze moving unceasingly to try and catch a peek at the voice''s owner.

    "Mmgh¡­!"

    The man began to struggle. The chains cuffing him to the cot rattled and seemed on the verge of copsing, but at that moment, a nurse walked over to his bedside.

    "Patient Tyler Heathrow, please calm down. You are safe."

    The nurse''s soothing voice flowed into his ears, and her pleasing appearance appeared in his field of view.

    Tyler immediately calmed down.

    ''She''s human.''

    If she was human, he was either in a Nox research facility or he was rescued by allies, and considering the fact that he was still conscious enough to think, he was sure it was thetter.

    "Wha¡ª heuk!"

    "Please don''t speak, sir. Your body was damaged heavily, and we still must proceed with treatment. For now, you have been stabilized, but it would be best to not aggravate your situation."

    Tyler unwillingly nodded. He looked at the nurse with pleading eyes, dying to know what actually happened.

    The nurse smiled. "Sir, you were found along with two others in the depths of the ocean with fatal injuries. Luckily, an instructor spoke up on your behalf and allowed you to receive premium treatment."

    Tyler''s brows furrowed.

    ''So I should have died¡­''

    He sighed at the realization. He was so close to death, yet in that moment as he copsed into the ocean, his thoughts weren''t those of a dying man.

    Instead, he had been smiling at the fact that his n was executed sessfully.

    ''Premium treatment¡­does that mean they''re using Elixirs?''

    Tyler didn''t understand why anyone would waste Elixirs onmon soldiers like them, but he figured it had something to do with the captain.

    ''That crazy bastard must''ve done something crazy again.''

    Even as he thought, Tyler used his eyes to urge the nurse to continue speaking. More than anything else, he needed to know¡­

    "The two people who were found alongside you have been epted for treatment. While their condition is critical, there is hope of saving them, so do not worry."

    ''¡­hope?''

    Tyler suddenly felt a sinking sensation in his sto¡ª his nonexistent stomach.

    "We will begin Elixir treatment now."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The nurse left Tyler''s field of vision after speaking, leaving him to his own thoughts. He could feel a variety of tubes connect to his body, and he could feel the strange andforting liquid flowing through his veins.

    ''My stomach is actually closing¡­Elixir is truly magical.''

    Elixir was a potion with unknown origins to this day. Common Elixirs that could heal 2nd ss and below practitioners could be created by alchemists, and even Elixirs for 3rd ss beings could be created by extremely skilled alchemists, but Elixirs for those who passed their Baptism couldn''t be created with human hands.

    To this day, every Elixir was a precious treasure, even though they were somewhatmon. Each and every one of those Elixirs was found in a secret realm or rewarded by the Dimensional Leaderboard, after all.

    ''But even with that, there''s merely "hope" of saving Synth and Ash¡­?''

    Tyler''s sinking feeling only grew. Synth took a majority of the damage from the final attack that took them down, and Ash had been umting damage for a long period of time before receiving a fatal injury, so her state could only be imagined.

    Of the three, Tyler''s body was the most intact due to the curious properties of his fifth summon. The armor form that linked him with Ash allowed him to survive with lighter injuries after returning to human form.

    Though, without context, Tyler''s injuries were truly harrowing.

    Aside from the gaping hole in his stomach, his legs had been blown to bits, and even his Mana Circuit was mildly crippled.

    He would need multiple months in bed to regain his previous strength even with the Elixir helping him heal.

    As the minutes slowly passed, Tyler regained bits and pieces of control over his body. Eventually, it reached a point where the only thing keeping him off his feet was the chains holding him down.

    It was at that time when another presence entered the area where Tyler was located.

    A slight wave of mana passed over his body.

    Tyler''s eyes shot to the side, revealing to him the figure of a stalwart man with dead eyes.

    "Who¡­"

    "I am Instructor Baek, the man who allowed you to receive this treatment." Instructor Baek said as he observed Tyler''s body.

    "The damage was truly as bad as they described. Even with Elixir, your body is still so convoluted."

    "Can you speak?" Instructor Baek asked without allowing Tyler to acknowledge his previous statement.

    "Mm, I can speak," Tyler replied. It still felt like his throat was being stabbed through when he spoke, but he could feel the importance of the conversation that was about to take ce.

    He didn''t want to miss out on information because of a little pain.

    ''All I have to do is endure it. If the captain can do it, I can too.''

    "The Stargazer Squad has achieved many feats and umted many merit points on this expedition. It is a little surprising considering the level of your squad. None of you have the strength to aplish the feats listed under your names."

    Tyler''s gaze sharpened. ''He''s prodding.''

    "Instructor, our squad may not have had the strength to aplish these feats when we first arrived on Calypto, however, we have grown immensely through continuedbat and reached a level that allowed us to thrive. There is nothing strange about the results."

    Tyler''s response was sinct and unquestionable. After all, growing through battle was the most basic rule of the universe. Denying it was foolery.

    "Mm, however, the final battle that your squad fought was entirely impossible to survive with your strength, even if I consider your rise through this war. Is your leader truly skilled enough to fight back one of the Blight Emperor''s closest aides?"

    "Blight Emperor?"

    "Ah, that is the name of the Nox in control of this Infected Source World. He is battling the main army in the starry sky as we speak."

    ''Does this instructor not know about the Saint Emperor?''

    Though Damien didn''t share the exact details of his encounter with the Saint Emperor, Tyler and the others at least knew that the Nox Avatar at the head of Calypto was the Saint Emperor''s vessel.

    ''I should retain this information until I learn more.''

    Tyler looked back at Instructor Baek with widened eyes.

    "We¡­we fought such a monster?!"

    Since this instructor thought of him as a mere pawn, he would y the part of one perfectly.

    And through that, he would gain the information he sought.

    Tyler had been submerging himself in battle for so long that he almost forgot how fun it was to use his brain.

    But this haughty instructor who viewed him as an ant even while trying to get information from him¡­really brought out Tyler''s maniptive instinct.

 Chapter 768 Hunt [4]

    "We¡­we fought such a monster?!"

    Instructor Baek, Baek Woojin, frowned at the terrified expression of the ant before him.

    ''No, it should be like this. He is someone who got this far bytching onto someone else''s coattails, so his mentality will naturally be weak.''

    Baek Woojin was an instructor who dealt with cadets every day. He already understood how weak these soldiers-to-be were. He was an avid supporter of sending them into war for this exact purpose.

    "Your leader must be extremely strong to deal with such a foe. I heard he was able to force the Higher Nox Sebastian to flee with his tail between his legs."

    "Really?! Captain is so strong, but I guess the Nox are strong too¡­it''s a shame that Captain couldn''t kill him, though."

    ''Fool, your captain could never be powerful enough to kill such a being.''

    "Haha, it is indeed a shame. What''s more of a shame, though, is the disappearance of your captain."

    "Disappearance?!"

    "Right, he seems to be in danger. Hepletely disappeared from our radar, and even thest known location of his academy emblem is a deste wastnd now."

    "C-can you save the captain?! He must''ve been extremely injured during the battle or else he''d never get caught. I don''t know if you know, but Captain is a God of Space!"

    "Oho? Calling him a God is a bit of a stretch, no?"

    "Of course, not! Captain can teleport hundreds of kilometers with ease! He''s a true god!"

    ''Hundreds of kilometers? Did I overestimate the strength of that boy?''

    Baek Woojin frowned to himself, unsure of how to proceed. Looking at this pure reverence in the cadet''s eyes, it was clear he wasn''t lying.

    ''Nevertheless, I should dig deeper. It is still a fact that the child is in possession of a Seed.''

    As he decided, he continued to press Tyler about Damien. From the utterly delusional man''s words, Damien was a god unlike anything that had been seen by the world before.

    Yet, the feats described were only enough to put him on the same level as a slightly above-average Heaven''s Army soldier.

    ''It is undeniable that he possesses immense talent, but his actual power level¡­what could provoke a higher-up to send someone like him to the war?''

    There were only a few things that could justify the extreme speed and efficiency of the Stargazer Squad.

    Firstly, they were getting help from an outside force, likely an extremely powerful artifact.

    Secondly, the Seed in Damien''s possession. If there was a Seed aiding the squad, it wouldn''t be surprising if they achieved twice the results they did.

    ''I cannot underestimate the boy due to my own bias. In the end, regardless of his methods, he was still able to gain the favor of those stubborn geezers and fight off Sebastian.''

    Baek Woojin did everything he could to make Damien''s strengthprehensible, but every question only led to more questions.

    For instance, if Damien was busy fighting Sebastian, who took care of the thousands of Higher Nox that were deployed along with him?

    ''It doesn''t make any sense.''

    Looking at Baek Woojin''s perplexed expression, Tyler inconspicuously smiled.

    ''Right, question yourself more.''

    Baek Woojin''s current state wasn''t of his own creation, nor was it due to the information he received. Rather, Tyler''s performance forced him to doubt his own senses.

    Baek Woojin was smart enough to understand that Damien was strong. Even if he had a bias holding him back, his rationality would''ve allowed him to understand the truth eventually.

    But Tyler acted like a devoted follower of Damien, someone who deified and worshipped him. The words of someone like him would exaggerate their god''s strength, not bring them down.

    Tyler''s existence contradicted everything Baek Woojin assumed he knew, and because Tyler was giving a first-person recount as a key yer in the situation, it was impossible for the instructor to ignore his words.

    ''It''ll be annoying if he goes to Ash and Synth to interrogate them. I need to find a way to share the story with them.''

    If there was one thing Tyler was sure of, it was that Baek Woojin was hostile.

    He didn''t need to be a genius to figure it out. The man''s natural disposition already showed hostility to the weak, and on top of that, his line of questioning only focused on Damien''s power, ignoring any and all else.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Did the Captain get himself into something troublesome? Or¡­''

    A chill passed through Tyler''s body as he fully remembered the situation before he passed out.

    ''Vice Captain was possessed or something simr. She was also using Nox Mana near the end¡­''

    ''The Vice Captain is a good person, and she listens to everything Captain says without hesitation. There''s no way she''d betray us.''

    If so, then the Vice Captain''s situation was extremelyplicated, and something nobody could find out about.

    ''But we know.''

    It finally dawned on Tyler. The pieces clicked together in his mind, allowing him to fully grasp theplex situation that was taking ce.

    ''Dammit¡­that bastard Captain is going to owe us infinite drinks if we can save his ass here.''

    Tyler continued his conversation with Baek Woojin, and whenever he could, he used slight behavioral and body cues to lead the instructor''s thoughts in the direction he wanted.

    What he was doing was a capital crime. Withholding vital information from higher authorities wouldn''t just end in death. If he was caught, he''d go through unbearable torture without ever being allowed to die.

    But¡­

    ''Captain is just too damn charismatic.''

    Tyler didn''t even know when he began to refer to Damien as "Captain" in his mind. He had thoroughly epted the man''s leadership and was thoroughly convinced by his charisma.

    The undying bond of a squad wasn''t something that could be formed easily. Tyler, Synth, and Ash took countless years to finally reach a point where they were willing to do anything for each other.

    Yet, here he was, risking death for the sake of a leader he''d only known for a few months.

    Minutes passed slowly. Eventually, Baek Woojin gave up on getting information out of Tyler.

    "Rest well and heal. Your contribution to the army is incredibly important, and we are eagerly awaiting your return to the field."

    Those nd words were thest the instructor spoke before leaving the room.

    ''That child is too far gone.''

    Baek Woojin sighed to himself. Instead of gaining anything, he actually ended up more confused than ever before. His mental image of Damien wasrgely skewed away from rationality,plicating his thought process.

    ''I want to cross-check his words with the other two from the Stargazer Squad, but those two¡­''

    It was safe to say that they wouldn''t be in any condition to speak for a very long time.

    ''It''s a waste of Elixir to treat them all.''

    In reality, the expensive Elixir treatment was only offered to the squad member who woke up first, and this happened to be Tyler.

    As for the other two¡­

    They were being treated, but not nearly as thoroughly.

    They were hanging onto life by a thread, and the medical staff only worked to make sure this thread never snapped.

    As for the actual recovery, that woulde with time¡­a very, very considerable amount of time.

    ''If they die, they die.'' Baek Woojin coldly thought as he walked through the medical facility.

    ''Wasting turn on ants is pointless. I''ll cross-check that boy''s information with the academy itself.''

    Baek Woojin''s eyes turned cold.

    Regardless of anyone else''s opinion, he would eliminate the Seed and anything rted to it.

    Even if that meant ridding the universe of one of its potential heroes.

 Chapter 769 Hunt [5]

    The day passed as Baek Woojin''s quest continued, however, the actual results of his investigation were nil.

    Aside from Tyler, the only people who''d truly seen Damien in action were Synth and Ash. The Hell Hole geniuses were too secluded from the rest of Hidden Death Valley to even know about Damien''s feats and his Heaven''s List ranking, otherwise, Synth wouldn''t have been so put off when they first met.

    ''The academy database is acting strange today. Is someone interfering with my ess?''

    Baek Woojin frowned as he attempted to find Damien in the academy''s books. It wasn''t his first or second attempt today, but every time he tried, he was locked out by some mysterious force.

    ''Is there someone altering the system to aid him¡­? Do they not understand that they aremitting a crime?''

    It didn''t matter what level of favoritism a student received. Even if the Gods themselves were interested in a genius, tampering with their profile in the academy database was a heinous crime that wouldn''t be tolerated.

    Of course, protecting information wasn''t prohibited, but Damien''s information wasn''t just protected, it was wholly inessible and borderline missing.

    ''I must contact the Director.''

    Baek Woojin had immense respect for the Academy Director. The old Demigod was impartial and dedicated to the universe more than anyone else. He sacrificed his own life to remain in Hidden Death Valley and foster future generations, so how could any sane military man not respect him?

    If there was justice in need of serving, the Director would do so without hesitation, regardless of the other party''s identity.

    Baek Woojin immediately went to the main control center to open a line with the academy. With the Director''s status, contacting him through a personal line was impossible.

    Bzzt!

    The line buzzed as the connection was epted. A holographic panel opened in the air, revealing the Director''s stern appearance.

    "Report."

    "Yes, Sir! This is Instructor Baek Woojin reporting. I have found a w in the student database. It is evident that someone is tampering with it."

    "Oh?"

    The Director''s face turned even colder than it naturally was.

    "Indeed, this is a proper reason to contact me. borate on the situation."

    "Yes, sir. Recently, a Higher Nox revealed that one of our deployed students has made contact with a Nox Seed¡­"

    Baek Woojin began reporting everything he knew about Damien''s situation beginning from his deployment and ending with his disappearance.

    Despite his demeanor, Baek Woojin wasn''t a selfish person. He had no ns of killing the Seed himself to boost his own reputation or status.!

    He simply wanted to kill it because it was a threat.

    Therefore, telling the Director everything he knew was par for course. He wasn''t going to disobey militaryw for the sake of this ambition.

    As he continued to speak, the Director''s face rarely changed. Besides the asional raised eyebrow or mutter, he didn''t show a hint of emotion.

    However, inwardly, he was smiling happily.

    ''So that littless was a Nox Seed? And that kid has formed such an unshakeable bond with her¡­I wonder how far they''ll go together¡­''

    Naturally, the Director wasn''t the least bit worried about the altering of Damien''s information. He was the one who did it, after all!

    The Director being Damien''s backer was something only known to the Twelve Zodiacs and a few select individuals. He''d intentionally hidden his support for the young genius so it wouldn''t affect his experience in the field.

    Now, however, it''de back to him in the most unexpected way.

    ''Should we see how he handles this situation?''

    "Tell me more about that child. You say he''s an unparalleled genius?"

    "I am not certain, sir. The reports of those in his squadron testify to his power, and his feats alone are undeniable, but I cannot be certain if these feats are fabricated with the help of outside forces. I do not believe a cadet can be so strong."

    "I understand. I will deal with this matter personally and cleanse the academy of any scourge present. Continue your investigation on the field in the meantime."

    "Yes, sir!"

    The Director ended the conversation with those words. The holographic screen disappeared from Baek Woojin''s sight immediately.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''As expected of the Director. His efficiency is unparalleled.''

    It only took learning about the situation for him to move into action. Though his apparent disinterest in the situation was offputting, Baek Woojin was confident that this was merely the Director''s facade.

    ''Then¡­should I return to questioning some Nox?''

    Baek Woojin continued on his quest with gusto, unaware of the fact that the entire world was against him.

    ***

    Days passed until almost a full week went by after Damien''s disappearance. Aside from Baek Woojin, nobody else raised much of a fuss about it.

    The loss of a genius was a regr asion in war, and even if Damien was a heaven-defying genius, he was still someone who could die in a single moment of carelessness.

    Rather than expecting him to be alive and missing, most simply assumed he got overconfident and died at the hands of a powerful Nox being.

    Not everyone gave up hope, though.

    Tyler sat at the edge of a hospital bed with his head down.

    Two people were in this room, both in critical condition.

    The wounds on their bodies had yet to close after so long, but luckily, they were still alive.

    ''How long are you going to let them treat us like this?'' Tylermented inwardly.

    He''d only been discharged yesterday, and he immediately went to find Ash and Synth, only to learn that the duo didn''t get the same treatment that he did.

    ''They''re being fed Elixir, but at this rate, it''ll take months for them to heal. The damages to their Mana Circuits will only fester in that time, and they might even end up crippled¡­''

    There was nothing he could do alone. Tyler was powerless, and the entirety of the cadet force believed him to be someone who rose by riding Damien''s coattails.

    He wouldn''t care in a normal situation, but it was different now. The envy of others was causing hisrades to suffer.

    ''Captain, only you can fix things now.''

    Terrifying strength, a domineering oppression that shut everyone and everything up, these were the things that described Damien.

    ''"f you could just take care of that Baek Woojin bastard, I can handle the rest."

    "Okay, but who''s Baek Woojin?"

    A voice responded from behind.

    Tyler''s heart skipped a beat.

    When he turned around, the visage of a certain purple-eyed genius entered his sight.

    "Captain!" Tyler blurted out in surprise.

    "What, did you miss me that much?" Damien replied with a smile.

    He nced over at the two bedridden women in the room and frowned.

    "Let''s talkter. First, I''ll deal with this situation."

    Pure white essence leaked from his fingertips and coagted into drops of milky fluid that dripped onto Ash and Synth''s bodies.

    The fluid glowed with a dim and mysterious light as it permeated, covering the two in the same light.

    And immediately, they began to heal.

    Their organs regrew, their bones reconnected, and even their Mana Circuits were fortified.

    Against the effects of pure Life Laws backed by the Wheel of Samsara itself, how could Elixir evenpare?

 Chapter 770 Hunt [6]

    ''So that''s how it happened¡­''

    Damien and Tyler sat together in the hospital room in silence. Many minutes had passed since Damien''s arrival, and he''d beenpletely informed of the situation in that time.

    "So that Baek Woojin guy is the main one investigating me and Zara and the rest are just following hismand, the lot of you have been isted and shunned because of your connection with me and because they think you''re all freeloaders with no power, and the overall situation on Calypto has been in a stalemate for the past week. Did I miss anything?"

    Tyler shook his head. "That''s the summary. There have been rumors about the Saint Emperor terrorizing the main force in the starry sky, but they''re unconfirmed. Nobody in our cadet division is allowed to get near the main battlefield."

    "Mm, and what about Calypto itself? What''re the Nox forces here like?"

    "After Vice Captain''s outburst, most of the Higher Nox on Calypto have either left in search of her or holed themselves up in hiding. For the most part, Calypto itself is secure."

    "I see¡­"

    The situation was, for the most part, as Damien expected.

    Originally, the n was to send Zara into the Sanctuary and return to the Real ne to handle the aftermath, but because of his sudden body metamorphosis, he was unable to follow through on this.

    He already predicted that Zara''s status would be outed, and he already predicted that everything he was trying to prevent would go wrong.

    This was why his first move after returning to the Real ne was to find Tyler and the rest. He wanted to at least make sure his squad was saved by the reinforcements that he''d requested.

    Luckily, things didn''t spiral into mayhem, and the squad members were rtively safe.

    ''This Baek Woojin is a lone wolf type. He has underlings helping him investigate, but ording to Tyler, they aren''t aware of the Seed or even Zara''s existence.''

    The underlings Baek Woojin used were only aware that Damien did something wrong, and because of their envy, they immediately assumed that he cheated the system and faked his feats.

    Rumors spread thereafter, incriminating Tyler and the rest and leading to their current poor treatment.

    ''But that works out better for me.''

    Since it was like this¡­

    ''Only one has to die.''

    Damien''s gaze sharpened.

    Anyone who targeted him or hisrades would die.

    Their affiliation didn''t matter, their intent didn''t matter, their pleas didn''t matter.

    Only their deaths would assuage Damien''s wariness.

    Damien stood up from his spot.

    "Those two should be fine now that I''ve healed them. If they don''t wake up by the end of the day, contact me and I''ll give them a second round of treatment."

    "Where are you going?" Tyler asked.

    He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it anyway.

    And who was Damien to reject him? Tyler held down the fort while he was away and fully proved his loyalty. Even under the threat of death, hefortably protected Damien without batting an eye.

    With a wide grin on his face, Damien turned around.

    "Some trash dared to mess with my squad members. Isn''t it my duty as the Captain to take it out?"

    ***

    Baek Woojin.

    A high-level 4th ss being and a stalwart member of the army, he was someone who would do anything for the safety of the universe.

    But this mentality got him in trouble often.

    He viewed the weak as ants, useless against the Nox. He only respected superiors he deemed worthy of respect, disregarding orders from those he didn''t.

    The reason he found himself in Hidden Death Valley was because Heaven''s Army didn''t want him anymore.

    Since the Director was someone he respected, the army put Baek Woojin in the academy to tame him.

    But that was a mistake.

    The Director was an equally unconventional person, and instead of taming Baek Woojin, he gave the man a position in the Hell Hole and allowed him to train future cadets.

    Was it by design that he ended up in this situation?

    Was it his fate?

    Darkness surrounded Baek Woojin''s body. It was a murky darkness like Nox Mana, but at the same time, it was far less corrupt.

    ''I''m being ambushed.''

    It wasn''t hard to realize the situation. One moment, he was walking down the halls of a starship, and the next, he was here.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''I must escape this darkness first and identify the enemy.''

    "Are you thinking about finding out who I am?"

    A voice came from the darkness, taunting and hostile.

    "You''ve been trying to find me for a while now. I''m surprised you didn''t recognize me from the start."

    The aggressor didn''t seem to care about hiding their identity at all.

    And as if to taunt Baek Woojin further, they stepped into the light and revealed themselves.

    "I heard you were looking for me so I came to find you. Nice to meet you, Instructor Baek Woojin."

    Damien''s malicious smile was harrowing in the current atmosphere, but Baek Woojin didn''t allow himself to be affected.

    "So you are that genius. Hand over the Nox Seed and I will turn a blind eye to your dishonesty. Otherwise, I will kill you where you stand."

    "Oho? Do you think you have the ability?"

    "I''m more than capable of dealing with a sprout who relies on outside help by myself."

    "Hahahaha!"

    Damien couldn''t help butugh.

    "Even at this stage, you''re keeping up that delusion? Allow me to fill you in on something¡­"

    His body disappeared.

    Baek Woojin suddenly felt a force envelop his face.

    A hand had grabbed him at an unknown time.

    "Just because you can''tprehend something doesn''t mean it''s fabricated."

    BAM!

    The world turned horizontal.

    The ground mmed against Baek Woojin''s back.

    "Ack¡­!"

    The Instructor let out a sound of pain. He began revolving his mana in preparation for attack when¡­

    "Ah, ah, ah. We can''t have that now, can we?"

    Those light-hearted words dispersed his mana in heartbeat.

    "You''re in my domain right now. What gives you the confidence to move?"

    "I will¡­never sumb to evil!"

    Baek Woojin burst out with strength and used sheer physical force and dexterity to escape Damien''s clutches. He flipped onto his feet and took a fighting stance, nning to do anything he could to survive.

    "My cause is the safety of this universe. Anything that gets in the way of that cause¡­should be destroyed! Damien Void, do not let your mind be corrupted by Nox Spawn! Hand over the Seed!"

    "Haa¡­"

    Watching Baek Woojin yell like a madman in a situation where he could die any second, Damien sighed.

    ''It''s a shame killing someone who''s so dedicated to the cause, but it must be done.''

    Damien moved his finger through the air in a beautiful line.

    There wasn''t any fanciful technique behind the finger, nor was there an abundance of overflowing mana.

    The mysteries behind his intent were hidden deeply.

    A strange sensation overcame Baek Woojin.

    The joys of life, the sorrows of death, and the destion thaty in between. All of thesebined into a single feeling that impacted Baek Woojin''s mind and forced him into a state of confusion and copse.

    Damien only needed to walk up to him and kill him.

    The instructor wouldn''t be able to resist.

    However, for what felt like the first time in his life¡­

    Damien hesitated.

 Chapter 771 Hesitation [1]

    Hesitation was a strange feeling for someone with Damien''s self-confidence. When it came to the battlefield, Damien never regretted a decision that he made.

    To kill someone was to save himself. If anyone who antagonized him was allowed to live, he would be the one to die instead.

    It had been this way since the beginning.

    Even the smallest creatures in the First Dungeon has the power to rip him to shreds back then.

    The past molded Damien into someone who didn''t care about the potential benefits keeping someone alive could bring if it meant keeping a loose end untied.

    To feel it now was strange.

    ''Baek Woojin¡­''

    Damien did his research on the man after talking to Tyler. Baek Woojin was a decorated member of Heaven''s Army, a part of the Hunting Dogs, and a defender of justice to the bone. Objectively speaking, he was the most upstanding citizen in the universe.

    His only w was his ck-and-white sense of morality. In a sense, he thought simrly to Damien in how he dealt with threats first and consequencester.

    ''Did I feel sympathy for him?''

    Damien scoffed at the thought. It was impossible for him to sympathize with someone who targeted Zara.

    ''Then, he''ll be useful in the future.''

    That was the only exnation for his hesitation. Damien''s instinct had grown ever since he started acting intelligently. The previous sense he possessed was unrefined and feral, but as he grew, his sense became more rational as well.

    To explore other possible futures, this was the ability Damien gained.

    ''I''ve only heard about how prestigious the Hunting Dogs are but I''ve never actually heard anything about them. This guy is a high-level 4th ss, but he''s weak. Likely, he''s not a very high-ranking member.''

    ''He might''ve been dropped from the squad since he''s an instructor at the academy now. Ah, will the Director be pissed if I kill him?''

    Damien''s thoughts spun. He began to realize the number of problems he''d bring upon himself by wantonly killing a member of Heaven''s Army at the moment.

    ''I don''t have any status in the universe, and since I''ve been inactive on the Dimensional Leaderboard for a while, my name has pretty much been forgotten by the masses. I can''t wantonly kill without justification.''

    It was the exact trouble he avoided countless times in the past by finding an influence to back him. Zenith Academy, Celestial Star Pce, White Dragon Grotto, and even Shadow Garden were prime examples of this.

    Hidden Death Valley was extremely respected as an academy, but it was a neutral force. Damien couldn''t simply use its name to get himself out of any situation.

    ''What should I do with him¡­?''

    Regardless of the risks, Damien couldn''t let Baek Woojin continue what he was doing, and he couldn''t allow the rumors about his squad to continue propagating.

    ''So¡­brainwashing is the way to go?''

    Topletely alter Baek Woojin''s memories and turn him into an ally¡­wasn''t this an amazing n?

    ''Or at least, it would be if I had the means to brainwash him.''

    Damien''s entire being was geared towards destruction. He didn''t have the ability to manipte like certain people he knew.

    Yet, even those people merely had genius minds, not specialized skills.

    ''I guess it''s time to experiment.''

    Void Mana had some kind of connection to memories, considering its ability to devour them. Damien''s best bet was to try and manipte this power consciously, altering memories instead ofpletely devouring them.

    ''It should be fine¡­right?''

    In the worst-case scenario, he could just use Nox Mana to corrupt Baek Woojin''s body and leave it somewhere on Calypto. The Saint Emperor could take the me for his death.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Perfect. Good thing I thought of that Nox Mana strategy after I realized that I could use this guy. It would''ve been bad otherwise.''

    While having a minor "teehee~" moment in his head, Damien walked up to the still-stunned figure of Baek Woojin and ced his finger on the man''s forehead.

    ''Let''s hope this goes well for both of our sakes.''

    Damien willed his Void Mana forward. Thin wisps of pitch-ck mana permeated the air, causing the ambient temperature to drop several degrees.

    The mana darted and dashed, snaked and swirled, and acted as if it was apletely sentient being with immense curiosity. And under Damien''s guidance, that curious force sunk into Baek Woojin''s head.

    Damien sunk a strand of his awareness into the mana as he moved it. The wisps flowed through his be and poked around, eventually finding a way to disappear from reality.

    ''Found you.''

    Damien sent his awareness into the tiny area the Void Mana found, and a new world was opened to him.

    It was painted in multiple different shades of blue. A small spiritual continent sat to the side, calmly existing alongside the rest of the scenery.

    ''I didn''t know a spiritual world could look so calm.''

    Damien had to marvel a bit. His own spiritual world was a manifestation of chaos. There were so many different materializations inside that even Damien lost count of them sometimes.

    Nevertheless, adjusting to the clutter of his own spiritual world made it immeasurably easier to maneuver through the serenity of this one.

    ''His memories should be over¡­there.''

    There was a space like a river. It flowed and painted countless pictures, illustrating the life of a man who constantly fought adversity and climbed to the top.

    It showed his pain, and it showed his struggle. As if he was devouring the man, Damien was able to learn an incredible amount about him.

    ''So it''s a revenge thing and a heroplex at the same time. No wonder he was so crazed about Zara.''

    As it turned out, Baek Woojin lost his entire family to the Nox, save for a single little sister who wasatose and in need of intensive treatment. The reason he joined Heaven''s Army at all was to gain contribution points to treat her, but along the way, he developed an extreme sense of justice.

    He didn''t want anyone else to suffer the same fate he suffered, and for that, the universe needed to be cleansed of its current scourge.

    ''Turns out I don''t really need to alter much. As long as I can erase my squad''s connection with the incident and make him think the Nox Seed was taken away by the Nox before he arrived, I''ll be fine.''

    On paper, it was a simple task. There were only a few key memories that needed to be altered for the rest to fall in ce like dominos.

    ''But since I''ve never done this before, it''ll probably be a taxing task nheless.''

    Damien sighed and readied himself. He cleared his mind and focused on his Void Mana.

    ''As long as I''ve known it, the Void has only showcased properties of devouring, but that''s not all there is to it. The Void is all-consuming, but it is also all things. Erase the current misconception and bloom into your full potential!''

    He willed his Void Mana, he connected with the Void itself and berated its inaction.

    To Damien, the Void was everything. It wasn''t just the entity that gave him the opportunity to be strong, it was the entity that birthed everything he ever knew and loved.

    He was well aware that devouring was only the most basic of its abilities.

    Samsara helped him realize it.

    To destroy reality was easy, to alter it was difficult, and to create it was nigh-impossible.

    But the Void¡­

    The Void was something that could do all three.

 Chapter 772 Hesitation [2]

    A man with ashen-grey skin moved calmly through the battlefield.

    Another simr in appearance to him into view, evident panic on his face.

    A Seed had gone missing.

    It had been stolen by a mysterious man who attacked the base.

    Darkness erupted.

    The scene crumpled. The edges of its frame began to burn as it disappeared from existence.

    It was an excruciating process.

    The scene was corrupted. Strange discrepancies began to appear within. The ashen-grey skin of the men began to morph, their words were distorted, and even the environment around them was altered significantly.

    The warped scene continued to crumple and twist into oblivion. Its original form was wholly unrecognizable in its current state.

    The darkness eventually dimmed down significantly.

    The scene halted.

    The two men stood frozen in ce.

    Damien''s visage was covered in sweat.

    ''This is¡­much harder than expected¡­!''

    In that instant, he almostpletely destroyed the memory that he was trying to alter. He was barely able to restrain the Void Mana before it devoured the memory whole.

    ''Since the core of the memory is still there, I can still alter the details, so it should be fine¡­the problem is, do I have the ability to do that much intricate work?''

    A mere touch was enough to destroy a memory, but to actually alter it perfectly would require countless precise touches.

    Nevertheless, he has to try. In its current state, even aplete idiot could understand that the memory was altered.

    Damien returned his mind to the process.

    He slowly built the details of the scene back in.

    The destroyedndscape of the Willow Continent was easiest to recreate as Damien had personally seen it before escaping to the Sanctuary. And because Damien was merely restoring the memory rather than altering it, it wasn''t too difficult of a task.

    The difficulty came after.

    Two men stood above the destroyed ruins of the Willow Continent.

    Their features were nondescript, and the words flowing from their mouth had no form.

    "Did¡­arrive?! Seed¡­stolen¡­enemy! Fi¡ª"

    Words began to form through radio static.

    "Did¡­you¡­arrive?! Seed¡­acquired¡­escaped! Find¡­reinforc¡ª"

    They slowly took shape.

    "Did you just arrive?! The Seed has been acquired, but the enemy escaped! We must kill the enemy of the Blight Emperor before his reinforcements arrive!"

    A man''s face slowly became visible. His words were finally clear to the second man in the scene, allowing him to respond.

    "I see, so something like that happened."

    "Quickly help us sea¡ª!"

    The instructor''s hand shot out. The Higher Nox was bisected and killed in an instant.

    The scene began to change. The instructor realized the terror that a new Seed could bring, he realized how dangerous it was that the Nox had acquired it, and he realized the importance of the only factor that held the Nox back as they took it.

    ''The Stargazer Squad¡­''

    He needed to learn more about them. If they truly lived up to their name, they could be valuable allies in the war.

    The scene began to change.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The scene continued to change.

    Waves formed, crashing about and colliding with each other. The seas rumbled with chaos, bing turbulent in an instant.

    Damien''s wisp of awareness shrunk back. Baek Woojin''s spiritual world suddenly turned violent and raged.

    Those violent waves that crashed about caused great damage, almostpletely destroying the spiritual world in an instant.

    A wisp of pure white mana appeared instantly. Damien responded without hesitation, using his new Life Laws to heal the damage in the spiritual world.

    The calm aura of Life Laws calmed the seas and dried thends. The cracks formed by themotion were patched, and the spiritual world once again regained peace.

    ''Phew¡­'' Damien sighed in relief. If he''d been just a secondte, Baek Woojin would''ve died right then and there.

    ''It''s dangerous. That was only the first memory, but it already caused such a reaction.''

    Changing the events themselves wasn''t hard, but changing Baek Woojin''s thought process to naturally veer in a different direction was extremely taxing, and evidently, it put a burden on his mind to process this drastic change in thoughts.

    ''Luckily, I was able to get through that entire interaction before the damage became too bad. His first impression of the squad has been shifted into a positive light.''

    Now, all that was left was to continuously repeat the process until Baek Woojin''s entire past week was different from the original.

    ''It''ll be hard. I can''t repeat this process for everyone he interacted with.''

    Damien didn''t want fanatic loyalty from Baek Woojin, he wanted realism. For that reason, he couldn''t outright remove the hostility the instructor had for the squad, nor could he alter the conversations he had too much.

    ''But that wasn''t the goal in the first ce. I can get him as an ally without the help of altered memories.''

    If that was the case, then not much needed to be changed outside of Baek Woojin''s internal monologue.

    ''Yet, that''s the hardest part. I guess I''ll need a constant stream of Life Laws and countless hours to get this done.''

    Damien sighed to himself. This was why he didn''t like leaving people alive. Itplicated things far too much.

    But at the same time, it allowed him to learn and grow like he hadn''t before. If it wasn''t for his sudden desire to keep Baek Woojin alive, how long would it have taken him to realize the intricate usages of Void Mana?

    Comprehending the Void was his main goal at all times, and if his decisions allowed him to do so with greater efficiency¡­

    ''¡­they might have to start calling me Saint Damien soon enough.''

    ***

    The world was dark, but that darkness was hidden beneath an array of shining lights.

    Starships lit up the sky with their splendor, creating a grandiose scene for those watching from below.

    It was a truly beautiful scene.

    Or at least, it would''ve been.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Countless smaller ships raced through the air in fiercebat with each other. Dazzling bursts of mana lit up the night sky like fireworks and rainbows, but at the end of each rainbow was a dead man.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Heavy artillery fired from the sky above, rocking the ground with force greater than any earthquake. Shockwaves spread through the world, incinerating those they passed through. Thend itself was cracked and sundered beyond repair, almost razed down to the mantle.

    The scenes of terror were numerous, and they didn''t just exist on this one.

    This only signified a smaller battlefield within therge-scale warzone that was formed in the area. At least ten differents of the same size were experiencing simr scenes.

    But the main battlefield was elsewhere, on a world of equal size to Calypto.

    Yet this world was already in pieces. The entire world had been destroyed at some point, leaving only a murky ck ball of ink that substituted its World Core.

    Two sides stood against each other and fought with ferocious brutality. It was a scene where not a single soul was safe from the clutches of death.

    It was the battlefield of Throh, where Heaven''s Army was making a stand to reim the universe''s lostnd and drive back the invading scourge.

 Chapter 773 Throh [1]

    "What''s the current situation?! Someone report!"

    Deep within Throh, a squad of elites stood stranded and unable to contact their peers.

    They had been part of a strike team sent out to assassinate a few important members of the Nox''s home base on Throh, but before they could even reach the base, they were met with a terrifying ambush.

    A woman clutched a radio device and screamed into it, hoping for a response from her squad members, but she was only met with silence.

    Her eyes sharpened as she lifted her injured body off the rocks. She held arge gun in her hand, evidently possessing plenty of firepower on her own.

    She ran through the destion of Throh. This deep into the, there was nothing but endless desert and cracked dirt. The heat was almost unbearable, especially in the armor that these Heaven''s Army soldiers were wearing.

    "Reporting to base, we''ve been ambushed! I repeat, we''ve been ambushed! Send reinforcements as fast as possible!"

    The woman yelled into her radio one more time before raising her gun and cautiously making her way out of the imploded area where she was stuck.

    After climbing out of the wreckage, she found a newndscape in front of her.

    Underneath Throh''s surface was something terrifying.

    Something that Heaven''s Army wasn''t prepared to face.

    The woman was quiet.

    She didn''t even dare let a single breath leak from her mouth.

    That thing was right in front of her.

    The imploded ground created an opening in its quarters.

    If she moved even a little¡­

    "This¡­this is base reporting! Unit 67, are you still there?"

    "I repeat, unit 67 this is base! Do you copy?"

    Despite her own personal desires, the woman was unable to reach for her radio.

    After all¡­

    "Something" appeared before her.

    It was present yet not present at all, alive yet showing no signs of life¡­

    It was a contradictory existence that should not be allowed to exist in this world.

    And that existence¡­was facing the woman head-on at the moment.

    "Base¡­I think you just got me killed."

    The woman spoke with a wry smile.

    And that was thest expression to ever surface on her face,

    "Something" whipped out at her, and her existence was erased in a single instant. The only remaining proof of her presence was the final message she sent to the base.

    A control operator panicked. Just now, the only reporting member of Unit 67 had dered her own death.

    Considering the mission that Unit 67 was sent on, it could only be imagined what this total wipeout implied.

    "Commander! Urgent news!"

    An assistant made their way towards themander''s office immediately. They informed him of Unit 67''s situation in as much detail as they got from the control operator who was connected to them.

    Themander frowned.

    "There is something¡­within the?"

    It wasn''t as surprising as it was unexpected. It was a variable that Heaven''s Army wasn''t quite equipped to deal with, considering how one of their elite squads was torn to shreds by that entity without even a hint of resistance.

    "Contact the Council and fill them in on the situation. In the meantime, Units 34, 27, and 66 should be summoned to my office, and Units 22, 15, and 53 should be sent to General Streuss for further instruction."

    Themander''s assistant moved instantly. It only took a little over a minute for everyone to gather where they were supposed to be.

    "Attention! Our 3000 Lightning Pce will gain infinite prestige in this war! We have just found an entity of unknown proportions and power beneath the. Before we can message the association and inform them of its existence, protect the from its wrath and keep it contained! Do you understand?!"

    "Yes, Sir!"

    The three squads he summoned to his office shouted in unison. While they were busy containing the entity, the three squads under General Streuss would lead a second expedition into the cave to capture footage of that entity so it could be analyzed.

    "You may die on this mission, but you will die with honor! You will die as protectors of this universe, people who allowed it to persevere during these terrible times! Are you prepared to make this sacrifice?!"

    "YES, SIR!"

    An enthusiastic response followed his words, carrying enough momentum to shake the world.

    Themander smiled.

    "Good! Then, I wish you all good luck, and don''t make me write home to your families! I owe you all drinks when you get back!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The deployed squads smiled wryly. Themander''s method of cheering them up wasn''t the best, but his intent made them smile every time.

    Without hesitation, they teleported from the starship andnded on Throh.

    Themander sighed from above.

    ''Just how many of you will I have to send off before this war ends¡­?''

    Hemented their fates, but he could do nothing to stop them. He wasn''t lying about the importance of their sacrifices.

    ''Now that we''ve discovered something so horrendous, we can only hope everything else works out in our favor. If the Infected Source World''s forces appear¡­''

    Thest information he heard about the Infected Source World was that a group of cadets was going to take charge of it.

    Of course, the instructors above them and even some Heaven''s Army troops were overseeing them, but it still remained that the main operations on Calypto were being handled by inexperienced kids.

    ''If they can hold those pests off until we finish up here, I''ll swear my loyalty to them as a whole. I''ll even be a dog if it means containing the situation that''s already out of our control.''

    Themander sighed once more. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the freedom nor the jurisdiction to know the overall situation with constantly updating details.

    He could only hope that fate would be on their side.

    ***

    In another starship far away from any ongoing battlefield, countless individuals swarmed about as they carried out their individual tasks.

    This starship was the main control center, the starship that linked every part of the battlefield together.

    And here, they were able to receive information from all across the universe.

    "Most of Calypto''s forces have been wiped out by the Stargazer Squad! I repeat, only the Blight Emperor and his closest aides remain!"

    A shocking announcement came through not long ago and was transmitted everywhere, an announcement specifically naming a squad of students and praising their contribution to the war.

    ording to the operator, this squad essentially swept Calypto''s surface single-handedly.

    "Single-handedly?"

    "Single-handedly."

    A man raised his brows in appreciation when he heard the news. "What''s the current situation of this squad?"

    "Two are crucially injured, one is still recovering after Elixir treatment, and two are missing."

    That alone was enough to shock the man, but when he learned of why they were in such a predicament¡­

    "My gods! Who knew we still had such courageous youths entering our ranks!"

    He let out a shout of anticipation. He couldn''t wait until these brave students joined him on the true battlefield.

    Only people like them were worthy of bing Hunting Dogs.

    "Speaking of, isn''t little Jinjin over there? How''s he doing?"

    "Instructor Baek Woojin is currently investigating the Stargazer Squad for unknown reasons. The cadets have spected that he suspects them of fabricating their feats."

    "Haa¡­that boy was always too stubborn to recognize others. I hope it doesn''t end too poorly for him."

    "Indeed, however, sir, this is not the time to be thinking about that. Your troops await yourmand."

    "Right, then shall we get going?"

    The man smiled and stood up from his throne. An ornate blue robe signified his high status, and the schrly aura emanating from him made even the most belligerent fool feel tranquility.

    He stood on a balcony overlooking 100,000 troops, all lined up in undeniably perfect formation.

    "Men!" The man shouted with all his power.

    "Tonight, we feast on the blood of our enemies!"

    "Tonight¡­we kill until we''re killed!"

    RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

    The response was beautifully glorious. The soldiers chanted as one unified mind, with no doubts in their minds about the sess of their mission.

    Throh was a battlefield where countless different squads and sects fought together while simultaneouslypeting. It was an environment of brutal war no matter how many thousands of kilometers away one went.

    And in this environment, the only way to survive was to contribute.

    As contribution points stacked up, the guarantee of safety would increase as well.

    For these fighters from smaller sects, and even those from major influences, who came to the battlefield for glory¡­

    Each and every battle was one of fierce survival andpetition.

 Chapter 774 Throh [2]

    The Stargazer Squad''s contribution to the battle on Throh wasn''t to be underestimated.

    Even without the discovery of the entity beneath the surface, Heaven''s Army was still stretching its forces in this battle. It was one where most troops would die for the sake of the greater good, so the participation rate of the soldiers was incredibly low already.

    Only a few tens of millions came to support Heaven''s Army for this battle, and while this number itself was massive, whenpared to the size of the warzone, it was truly nothing.

    These forces were at wit''s end trying to deal with the endless stream of Nox that seemed to be present on Throh. It wasn''t just the mindless 3rd ss Nox, but also droves upon droves of intelligent 4th ss Nox.

    The potential introduction of reinforcements from countess thousands of 4th ss Nox led by a Mox Avatar was incredibly harrowing. The mental exhaustion caused by forcefully bearing the knowledge that the enemy might have reinforcements even with their already massive size was disheartening, to say the least.

    Now, with the announcement from the control center that the forces of Calypto were sessfully stalled, the various squads participating in the battle could focus wholly on what was in front of them.

    The enemies they saw were all the enemies they''d have to face.

    The true impact of this knowledge wasn''t something that could be understood unless one was present.

    There was only a single group who couldn''t celebrate.

    The squads chosen to enter the''s surface and dig deeper were disying utmost caution as they traveled, their weapons drawn even though there were no threats in the surroundings.

    Their eyes darted around as if they were surrounded by terrifying auras. As they walked, the silence gave prominence to the crunching of their footsteps, forcing them to focus on the fact that that was all they could hear.

    "Squad 22, report."

    The team leader of squad 53 spoke into his radio.

    "Squad 22, reporting. We haven''t run into anything special quite yet, but the atmosphere itself is extremely ominous. I can''t help but get the feeling that we''re waking into a trap."

    "Safety is more important than anything else, Squad Leader. Remember to evacuate if things look too difficult. We can regroup at the entrance and explore togetherter."

    "Understood. We will proceed with caution."

    Squad 53''s leader cut his radio and refocused on the surroundings. His squad was currently within the depths of an underground cavern. Their surroundings were a beautiful array of stctites and stgmites, but from another perspective, they looked like the teeth of a massive beast.

    ''Our mission as me paranoid.'' The Squad 53 Leader sighed. He checked the area with his awareness and found no signs of life from the cavern.

    "Let''s move forward. This thing is supposed to be a monster. Never drop your guard."

    Squad 53 moved through the cavern and made their way deeper into the connected cave system. With every step, the atmosphere seemed to get hotter and hotter until even their armor couldn''t protect them anymore.

    "Halt."

    The Squad 53 leader shot his awareness forward. Beyond the wall adjacent to him was arge empty area filled with moltenva. He could feel countless life signatures from within theva of creatures waiting to attack them.

    If it was his decision, he''d avoid this area with everything he had. However¡­

    ''This is the only path.''

    Behind every other wall were waterfalls ofva that disallowed any sort of intrusion into their streams.

    "Attention! The next section will be incredibly difficult, so be prepared!"

    Only after making the announcement did the leader finally begin destroying the wall.

    The squad walked into the empty spaces. The heated breaths of theva below brushed against their skin and burned them with every touch.

    "Watch out for the beings below! Let''s go!"

    The leader immediately hopped onto a nearby protrusion of rock and began hopping his way across therge expanse ofva.

    Any freend was a validnding point. Squad 53''s members gradually followed their leader''s footsteps and made their way across theva sea:

    However¡­.

    "AHHHHH! SAVE ME¡ª!"

    Not everyone could remain standing in the tiny rock protrusions.

    The one scream led to a cacophony. Out of Squad 66''s hundreds of members, at least a few tens of them died.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Squad 22, do you copy? Squad 15, are there any changes on the outside?"

    "Squad 22 reporting in, we haven''te across any changes. We just crossed ava sea and are making our way deeper into the tunnel system."

    "Squad 15 reporting in, there are no major changes on the surface. Nox forces have passed through the area, but none have been allowed close to the site."

    "Understood. Squad 15, be sure to constantly watch our footage in real-time so you can support us when the timees, I have a feeling that we''ll run into the entity soon enough."

    "Roger!"

    The radio conversation ended and the squads began moving once more.

    They moved so much that they almost doubted the original report about the entity.

    At least, until they ran into it personally.

    ''It turned dark in an instant.'' Squad 53''s leader realized.

    Even their scrunching footsteps could no longer be heard.

    "Where is it¡­?" He wondered.

    Out of curiosity, he raised his gun and fired a burst of mana bullets into the air.

    Skreee!

    A mild sound of pain reverberated through the room.

    ''So that''s how it is¡­'' the Squad 53 leader smiled wryly and raised his gun once more.

    "Boys, we''ve already been swallowed! Let''s go out with a fucking bang!"

    HOO! HAH!

    Squad 53 let out a spirited and unified bellow as they raised their weapons.

    A section of the tunnel system was lit up with various colors of mana.

    Squad 53 was already in trouble, yet they hadn''t even met the main body of the enemy yet.

    There were only five squads working together for this operation. To either destroy everything or get as much information as possible was far too hard.

    But this was the exact type of challenge that they joined for.

    If they couldn''t even get past this much, how were they supposed to thrive in the universe?

    Heaven''s Army was full of opportunists, and the reward system made it infinitely easier to connect them.

    When so many people desperately waited for their opportunities, the intenselypetitive environment was always maintained.

    Squad 53, Squad 22, and Squad 15 all fought with their everything and recorded footage of the being they faced.

    But despite their immense advantage in technology and firepower, Squad 22 was wiped out in an instant.

    They didn''t even live long enough to send apologies to their loved ones.

    Thest thing visible in the choppy footage was a single eye, an eye bigger than even some smaller beginner worlds.

    The existence of an unknownary being was confirmed at that moment.

    Themand center was lit ame with solemnity as those within tried to find a way to take the entity down.

    However, as someone who was facing it directly, the Squad 53 leader understood just how idiotic the idea was. His body roughly slumped against a nearby wall.

    ''We really are fighting¡­an unwinnable war.''

 Chapter 775 Throh [3]

    It was far away from Throh, but not far enough.

    "Something" levitated in the starry sky, its gait enough to eclipse an entire world.

    It was the most terrifying thing a Heaven''s Army soldier could see, a starship of untold proportions equipped with weaponry and innovation enough to match its size.

    This destroyer starship was currently inactive, but it had the potential to be activated at any time, bing an integral part of the Nox''s ns to destroy the universe.

    However, not everyone showed fear in front of the destroyer.

    A woman far too beautiful for the bloody battlefield entered the destroyer ship like a shadow. Her pale green skin reflected off of its metallic outer shell as she made her way into the guts of the ship.

    The team she brought entered with her.

    They spread out immediately upon entry without a single word, as if every step had been nned from long ago. Their bodies turned into illusive blurs as they began moving toplete their task.

    Small seeds around the size of a marble were distributed to every corner of the starship. They had various colors and patterns decorating their surfaces, outlining the variety in their effects.

    The beautiful nt-race woman closed her eyes as she stood in the center of the starship, feeling for each and every seed that had been distributed.

    ''Aaliyah, remember your origins. Do not allow that disease to continue spreading. I can only help you this much. I hope you know what to do.''

    She remembered the message she received from a little fairy many months ago. That fairy was carrying a bag of these seeds, and even though Aliyah had never seen them before, she had a vague guess about what they were.

    ''Holy Mother¡­''

    Aaliyah shook her head in denial. As far as she knew, the Holy Mother was dead. She''d died protecting the nt races long ago during the ancient eras, and only vestiges of her will remained.

    But¡­wasn''t it okay to hope.

    Aaliyah could feel the beautifulplexity within the seeds. Just the fact that they were all seemingly tailored to be handled by her was astonishing enough. When their intended effects were taken into ount¡­

    ''Luckily, the Nox have not decided to use the starship yet. If it was active, we would have far too many issues to deal with to cleanly deal with the situation.''

    Unfortunately, the concept of "jinxing" didn''t exist among the nt races.

    Aaliyah couldn''t have known any better.

    PSHHHHH!

    The sound of a pressurized room depressurizing was so loud that it resonated throughout the massive starship.

    The nt race beings who invaded the ship froze.

    Their bodies were concealed and hidden within the crevices of the ship, areas that would never be checked.

    Their leader, however¡­

    Aaliyah''s eyes widened when she heard the door opening. However, she couldn''t move. In order to spread her awareness evenly and control all the seeds that had been nted, she needed to be in the middle.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    The sound of footsteps slowly got closer. It wasn''t just one pair, but instead enough footsteps to form a small rumbling sound as the group walked.

    PSSSHHHHH!

    A door depressurized.

    A group of people entered the central control room.

    "I absolutely deplore the scent of nt Race experts. I can''t believe their blood aura has be so thick that it even permeated through Leviathan." A woman sneered.

    "Ahaha, and why is that? The nt races might be strange, but they taste quite good. Hmm, how should I say this? They have a bit more sweetness that those who diverge from nature don''t possess." A man responded with a smile as he sat down in one of the nearby seats.

    Each seat was linked to another control module, with each operator working in tandem to control the entirety of the ship. For a ship on theary scale like this one, single-handed control was nearly impossible. Only a Demigod had the mental strength to actually pull off such a feat.

    The current group of 6 Higher Nox beings who chatted casually as they took their ces amongst these seats didn''t look like professional starship operators. In fact, they didn''t look like they deserved to be in the war zone at all.

    Their skin was smooth and beautiful, their faces were perfectly proportioned, and even their bodies looked sculpted from the finest y by a master craftsman.

    Compared to the majority of Nox beings, they were on another level.

    But at the same time, they were extremely young.

    Aaliyah watched from her concealed spot within the roof of the central control room.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The most she could do was hide herself quickly before the group entered, so it was a miracle she was even able to get this far.

    She didn''t dare to use her mana for fear of being discovered, but she knew that the second the starship was activated¡­

    ''We''ll be found in an instant.''

    Aaliyah''s eyes hardened.

    ''Let''s wait it out for now.''

    The group that arrived was clearly filled with experts, judging by their ability to y with the starship''s controls so freely, but none had taken the helm yet.

    These six merely sat at subsidiary stations, taking their rightful ces and waiting for the one who would lead them.

    It didn''t take him long to appear.

    Light footsteps that almost disappeared into the void preceded his entrance into the room.

    He was lithe and almost womanly, his appearance possessing such a powerful feminine charm that even men around him were forced to look away with red faces.

    His movements were graceful and filled with poise, unmatched by 90% of existences in the universe.

    "Are you all ready?" He asked slowly.

    "Ready!"

    "Let''s rev it up, Captain!"

    "We''ve been waiting for this moment for years already."

    The team responded enthusiastically to his words, causing the captain to smile.

    He walked to the helm and took his seat. He stared out the massive holographic window of the starship that reflected the starry sky outside.

    ''I will surpass you, Father.''

    The womanly man sharpened his gaze.

    Aaliyah''s heart skipped a beat.

    ''That is¡­''

    She knew this man''s identity. While she''d never seen him in person, she''d seen countless pictures of a face that almost perfectly resembled him.

    Even the most basic inference abilities couldprehend his identity.

    ''He is the guelord''s only son, Thaddeus Church.''

    A chill ran through Aaliyah''s body.

    The feeling of immense opportunity as well as immense disaster flowed through her at once.

    ''There aren''t many of them, but with the ship''s systems, the 6 of them possess the fighting force of an entire army both internally and externally.

    Even within the ship''s interior, there were countless weapons to deal with intruders. It would be instant death for the guerri squad if they were caught.

    Aaliyah took a shaky breath as she watched Thaddeus Church turn on the starship''s various systems.

    With every click, every whir, and every ding of confirmation, her heart skipped a beat.

    The timing was off.

    She had a single chance.

    If Thaddeus Church didn''t deign to inspect the ship beforeunching, the gueri squad would be able to aplish a feat far surpassing their original intention.

    But if he performed the inspection as he was supposed to¡­

    ''Cherry Blossom Squad, prepare to fall.''

    As their name suggested, they would be one with death, and use their deaths to spread destion to their enemies.

 Chapter 776 Throh [4]

    Every second was excruciatingly slow.

    The thrusters and engines turned on.

    The internal operating systems revved to lights, and all the lights and facilities on the inside of the starship became functional.

    Countless systems whirred to life one by one. The endlessly long starship was slowly lit in an array of colors, a deep growl emitting from its engines.

    And finally, when all other systems were functioning properly¡­

    The weapons systems activated.

    Thousands upon thousands of weapons spanning countless kilometers of the area came to life. Diagnostics were run immediately after, showcasing the perfect condition that the weapons were in.

    Thaddeus Church manned the ship''s helm not as a young master who wanted to prove himself, but as a trained soldier carrying out orders.

    The starship came to life.

    There was only one final step left beforeunch, but it was optional.

    It was something of a customary measure to scan the internals of the ship beforeunching, specifically to avoid any rats sneaking on board where they weren''t supposed to be.

    ''How pathetic. No mere lower being from this universe has the courage to stand against Father. Even without an inspection, nothing will happen.'' Thaddeus scoffed.

    He truly had so much pride in his father. Even if he didn''t run a final inspection, he was confident in his ability to seed.

    But at the same time¡­

    ''If I am not thorough, he will not acknowledge me.''

    Thaddeus moved. He entered amand into the ship, and as the scanning wave of mana spread through the ship¡­

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Aaliyah''s heart dropped to her stomach. Countless loud explosions rang out from various points in the ship. When Thaddeus checked the ship''s security system, he found tens of intruders hidden in unreachable crevices and hidden areas within the ship.

    "So this is why Father said to constantly maintain awareness. Rats have far more courage than they can handle."

    Thaddeus indifferently clicked a few buttons on a holographic touchpad nearby, activating the internal security system.

    "If you truly wish to die, then do it usefully by bing my sustenance. Don''t detonate that precious life force so easily."

    The ship''s intent was changed from "kill" to "capture." Binding spells and formations, along with physical binds made from mana-suppressing material, shot through the ship''s interior.

    But they couldn''t get to everyone.

    Aaliyah controlled her breathing as best as she could, but her hyperventting was barely calmed.

    Every time a distant explosion went off, another one of herrades died.

    Every time the inspection light shot out and the defense system activated, another one of her allies was captured as a torture subject.

    But Aaliyah couldn''t move.

    She forcefully held back the tears in her eyes so they wouldn''t cloud her vision. She forcefully calmed her breaths so they wouldn''t attract attention.

    She closed her eyes and focused, focused on the inconspicuous seeds that were scattered around the starship, seeds that weren''t detected by the inspection light because they had no life within them at all.

    ''I won''t allow your sacrifices to be in vain.''

    Aaliyah gritted her teeth. Every explosion led the inspection light further away from her. Every time one of her squad members died, they did so to protect Alliyah.

    As long as Aaliyah survived, the mission could still be aplished. The squad understood her intent perfectly, and they''d been ready to die for her cause from the beginning.

    A man ran through the starship''s hallways without fear. Lasers and beams of light chased him everywhere he went and countless trap formations tried to capture him from the front, but he always managed to slink his way out of any situation like a conniving rat.

    HAHAHAHAHAHA!

    He ran like a wild man, hisughter echoing through the ship''s halls like roaring seas or dragons. Even with the entirety of the ship''s defense system against him, he had no fear.

    "GO GET ''EM, CAPTAIN! I''LL BE CHEERING YOU ON FROM HELL!"

    He burst through the door in his path and arrived in a room filled withrge machines. Without a single second of hesitation, he gathered all the mana in his body to his chest and detonated his lifeforce.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    mes raged through the machines, burning and damaging them. Immediately, a few red alerts appeared on Thaddeus'' screen.

    "Dammit! They took the navigation! Why doesn''t this ship''s system work faster?!"

    He mmed his fist against the arm of his chair in annoyance.

    "I refuse to be defeated before I even begin my advent. Focus all defense systems on the bugs in the ship and eliminate them. Take power away from unnecessary systems if need be. We won''t leave until we''ve exterminated these pests."

    Thaddeus'' cold orders were followed immediately. The lights in the ship shut off, and many of the recreational facilities closed down as well. All the power directed towards maintaining them was put into defense.

    And the change was obvious.

    The Cherry Blossom Squad didn''t have the power to resist such a terrifying onught. Especially after Thaddeus abandoned any thoughts of keeping them alive, how could they subvert the defense systems of a ship with Demigod-level power?

    No screams of agony rang out, only cries of pride and honor echoed through the starship.

    But each cry meant another death.

    Aaliyah clenched her fists and bit her lip until it bled.

    Sacrifices were a part of war that she could never ept, but they were a part of war that she was forced to cope with.

    Even with the current n, there would be countless more sacrifices needed in order to destroy this starship once and for all.

    But Aaliyah would have to bear it. For the sake of her people and for the sake of the universe, she would have to bear it.

    The explosions died down after a few minutes.

    The few tens of squad members were all killed, not a single body left behind to bury.

    Thaddeus released his deathly grip on his chair and leaned back.

    "Mm, they are finally gone. Turn off that annoying inspection light and redirect power where it''s supposed to be. Find out which systems are damaged and send the automated repair machines to work on them. We won''t have navigation for some time, but I can operate just fine without it. Is everyone prepared forunch?"

    "All systems go!"

    "We''ve been ready since the beginning."

    "Let''s just go kill some fools already!"

    With the lively responses of hisrades boosting him, Thaddeus took control of the ship.

    The massive starship began to shift its position.

    Its movement was slow, but every second it moved allowed it to change position and angle by multiple thousands of kilometers.

    Throh wasn''t that far away. At most, it was a few hundred thousand of kilometers to the east.

    With the starship''s capabilities, crossing that would only take a few minutes.

    ''After that, a massacre will begin.''

    Aaliyah mentally prepared herself. At the same time, her awareness formed bonds between the countless seeds spread through the starship''s interior.

    Even if her squad mates were dead, vestiges of their existence remained in the universe.

    They would forever be remembered as the saviors of countless quintillions of existences, the beings who destroyed the destroyer of worlds.

    She wouldn''t let their hard work or their sacrifices go to waste.

    ''The gift of the Holy Mother and myrades¡­I''ll be sure to deliver it in full!''

    With zealous determination in her eyes, Aaliyah quietly hid and patiently waited.

    When her one opportunity came, she would grab onto it with everything she had.

    The battle for Throh would go down in history as a monumental victory for the universe''s denizens.

    Everyone affiliated with Heaven''s Army was doing everything they could to make sure of it.

 Chapter 777 Throh [5]

    Considering every battle taking ce on Throh and in its vicinity, not many could trump Aaliyah''s position in importance.

    However, there was still one final battlefield with this honor.

    Yet, that battlefield was the most peaceful of them all.

    Millions of kilometers away from Throh, a man sat quietly in the void, his eyes were closed and his form was at ease. His environment, however, didn''t reflect his calmness.

    Swoosh!

    Spatial winds whipped through the starry sky as a multitude of auras converged on the man''s position. Despite his nonaggression, those around him wouldn''t allow him to sit casually.

    "The prospect of Infinity, was it a lie? From humans, it is expected."

    He spoke in oddly worded sentences, almost as if he was moments away from an epiphany that he could never reach.

    His eyes remained closed at all times. It was rumored that any ce his gaze touched would be overruled by destion.

    Tens of beings surrounded him. Even the weakest of them had just reached extreme peak 4th ss. Among them were a few familiar faces, including the little girl who originally proposed the n they''d used to lure the guelord so far away from Throh.

    "Infinity is not something we can reach in this realm. As someone who reached the unattainable already, you should be aware of this. Still, you decided to answer our provocation?"

    The little girl spoke as the group''s representative, speaking to the enemy as an equal.

    However, the enemy wasn''t an equal.

    The enemy¡­was a true Demigod.

    "Reached¡­unattainable? I answered provocation, for prospect of Infinity. Prospect of Infinity¡­is it not here?"

    A terrifying gazended on the little girl, sending a shiver down her spine. The guelord''s head sharply turned to face her, and although his eyes weren''t open, it was like his gaze was piercing through reality to reach her.

    The little girl''s eyes sharpened as well.

    "guelord¡­you must be a part of the Inhuman Emperor''s forces. He is still locked away in his dog cage, isn''t he? What gives you the courage to act so wantonly?"

    "Master is not sealed, he is merely waiting."

    "Waiting for?"

    "Dead men, tell no tales."

    BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

    guelord''s eyes opened. A swarm of locusts flew out of his sockets and clouded the air, millions upon millions appearing all at once.

    That number slowly grew into the billions. Even though they existed immediately next to guelord as he formed his attack, Heaven''s Army''s forces couldn''t do anything.

    Because just as Demigods couldn''t attack them, they couldn''t allow themselves to get attacked by Demigods.

    If any of them was hit, the Demigods would be forced into the Ancient Battlefield, which would cut off one of the universe''s most powerful trump cards.

    Eventually, the billions of locusts condensed and merged into a single being. A humanoid figure formed and shrunk down to the size of an average person.

    "This form is more adequate."

    guelord smiled. He grinned with teeth of locusts.

    "You shall be sustenance for my Master. Be honored."

    "Everyone, attack!"

    The little girl''smand came immediately. guelord''s newly formed Avatar was trapped in an array of barriers and bombarded with high-damage skills and attacks for many seconds on end.

    But within the flurry, no pain could be heard.

    When the attacks finally died down, the guelord''s undamaged figure was once again revealed.

    "This body¡­is not so weak."

    He spread his arms into the sky andughed. Countless locusts split off of his body and swarmed into the surroundings. The starry sky was gued by their existence, and the gue they carried spread like wildfire.

    The guelord specialized in disease. He was a person who mastered a craft that was unreachable to most.

    To control disease and gue wasn''t simple. To create a mana-based disease that couldn''t be healed through magic or skills was even more impossible.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But guelord did it.

    These locusts weren''t normal at all, and the spreading gue¡­

    ¡­was even enough to affect 4th ss beings.

    "My power may be limited by this Avatar, but is their power the same? Enjoy my concoctions, and have a good rest. When you awaken, you will be one with a greater being."

    Drowsiness overtook many of the surroundingbatants immediately after guelord''s words dropped. They felt like their systems were slowed and their reactions didn''t match their perception at all.

    The little girl gritted her teeth in anger.

    "What a shitty loophole. You know, universe? Sometimes, you''re a little too unbiased."

    She immediately took action. She brought her hands up to her chest in a praying position, moving her fingers incessantly to create numerous patterns in the air.

    Her eyes glowed with infinitely blue light. A hexagonal diagram formed behind her.

    It was filled with countless patterns, with 5 stars forming a pentagon inside. The rest of the space was filled with unknown text, as well as numerous interlocking rings of various sizes.

    It was a strangely popted symbol, as if it had weathered the rivers of time for eons and been changed multiple times.

    The little girl spread her arms out and chanted.

    Strange words flowed from her mouth. They didn''t have true form, but their inflection as they rolled off her tongue seemed to make the fabric of reality tremble.

    Her words slowly came together, and the various patterns that formed from her fingers merged into the diagram behind her back. And finally¡­

    "Demon Sealing Act One: Severence From Heaven."

    Every sound in the vicinity came together to voice the words.

    An illusory blue sword hovered in the starry sky for a brief moment before shooting out like aet. Its zing trail obliterated any locusts it came across, and the guelord''s venom seemed to lose effect as well.

    The holy light of the sword was unstoppable, and within mere sparks of an instant, it reached the guelord''s Avatar body.

    "This¡­!"

    Shing!

    The sword pierced through. The swarm of locusts that formed the body was frozen, and even the expression on his face was unable to move.

    The avatar was sealed in that moment, and the gue it spread was wiped from existence. The guelord''s main body shook.

    "You are¡­a Sessor."

    "It took you long enough to notice."

    The little girl stood proudly among herrades, flicking her finger and bringing the strange diagram back into her body.

    Gazing indifferently at the guelord, she finally stated the identity that made his attitude change immediately.

    "My name is Prisci Adire, 245th Generation Head of the Demon Sealing Pantheon. Stop your resistance before I''m forced to take drastic measures."

    "The Demon Sealing Pantheon¡­always a hassle."

    guelord frowned as memories of the past resurfaced in his mind.

    The Demon Sealing Pagoda wasn''t just a faction that had existed for over 10,000 years to experience the past war¡­

    It was a faction that continued its existence from the distant past, having records that even spoke of the Forgotten War from 100,000 years in the past.

    guelord frowned as he realized the type of influence the Demon Sealing Pantheon was. They were formed for the sole purpose of exterminating Nox, and all of their techniques were specifically targeted to restrict the Noxpletely during battle.

    "I understand. I will not, interfere in this battle." He finally stated.

    Fighting here would only result in breaking the universalw and being sent to the Ancient Battlefield.

    And that wasn''t allowed to happen.

    After all, the Emperors still had ns in this universe.

 Chapter 778 Throh [6]

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    It was a harrowing sight.

    A single beam of light, a beam so massive in scale that it looked like a second sun approaching, shot through the bounds of the starry sky and made impact with its target.

    All matter was eliminated. Whether it was life or ecosystem, it all turned to dust under the power of this beam.

    Millions died in a single attack.

    A massive starship hung in the air above a, slowly moving away as it recharged its weapons.

    The below was once called Dreyll, however, it was now nothing more than a deste wastnd. Both the Nox and Heaven''s Army forces had been wiped out without mercy.

    "Gahahaha! This is so fun! Thad, you didn''t tell us you had something so fun!" A man celebrated as he looked back at the damage,

    Of the six, he was the most vocal. His name was Theo, and while he had a seemingly charismatic and happy-go-lucky personality, he was an insane individual who took almost sexual pleasure in the deaths of others.

    The rest were two women and three more men. The women were mostly silent, but Aaliyah already knew all the men''s names and their general habits.

    If she had to put it in one word¡­

    ''Scum.''

    There was no better way to describe them. Aaliyah had the feeling that the only reason these two women remained unvited by them was because they were too strong.

    The strangest part was the fact that this group of lustful and disgusting degenerates was friends with Thaddeus Church.

    From what Aaliyah could see, Thaddeus was different. He was calm and calcting, and even when he showed emotion, it looked like he calcted it beforehand. Thaddeus gave off a strangely artificial feeling that Aaliyah couldn''t quite put her finger on, but it disgusted her all the same.

    When the first shot went off, Aaliyah was almost tempted to immediately act to take down to starship, but she had to hold herself back.

    Her position was extremely sensitive, and any extraneous movement would expose her. Though a single shot caused a genocide, Aaliyah was still forced to wait.

    The time wasn''t right yet.

    Judging by the starship''s trajectory, it would arrive there soon enough.

    ''Please wait¡­just a little longer.''

    The starship made it to its next target.

    Instead of a singr beam, thousands of smaller weapons appeared, bombarding the targeted until it copsed in on itself.

    Just a bit longer¡­

    Aaliyah didn''t know how many times the sentence went through her head as she watched the ongoing massacre.

    ***

    News spread rapidly through the battlefields. Heaven''s Army''s informationwork was one of the best in the universe,

    A star destroyer joined the war. A massive ship with thebat power of a Demigod was now terrorizing the battlefield.

    "Did Aaliyah fail¡­?" A green-skinned woman wondered to herself.

    "No, if she died, I would have felt something. Since she''s still alive¡­"

    "She''s waiting for an opportunity to strike." A man nearby finished her sentence.

    The woman nodded. "If the n went downhill, the best ce for an opportunity to reverse the scale would be¡­."

    Her eyes went to a nearby map, scanning it in detail.

    "Here." She pointed out a spot. It was the most obvious location on the map, yet one of the most improbable.

    "If she wants to turn the situation around and gain ground for our troops, her best bet would be to make her move in the ruins of Throh."

    "The only remaining piece ofnd is the World Core, which cannot be damaged through ordinary means. Other than that, the space isrgely popted by Nox andmon foot soldiers. In terms of losses to the army, this is where we''ll take the softest hit. However, Aaliyah¡­"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Aaliyah wasn''t the type of person to sacrifice anyone, let alone so many troops. If she was truly aiming for Throh itself¡­

    "She''s nning to die with them."

    The woman''s eyes hardened. "That cannot be allowed. Aaliyah is one of our nt Races'' final geniuses. Her fate determined the fate of our people."

    "Assemble multiple teams! We''re moving towards Throh for an emergency mission!"

    The woman nodded at the man beside her, and he sighed wryly in response. It wasn''t like he could stop her, nor was her decision wrong.

    Within minutes, thousands of troops had assembled at the woman''smand. They entered a smaller starship built for speed and rushed towards Throh,

    Meanwhile, the starship made its way in the same direction.

    ''Father always emphasized the importance of World Cores, but why? Why must we harvest them with such vigor?''

    Thaddeus was a curious person from birth.

    World Cores were always prioritized by guelord, and even the Emperors would show favor to those who presented World Cores as gifts. The value of the item seemed immense in Nox society, but was barely ever mentioned in the universe.

    Thaddeus wanted to know why, and there happened to be a World Core at the center of the battlefield.

    ''I can investigate the object to clear my suspicions, and those fools can continue their mindless ughter games. If I must entertain them, then I will do so in the least bothersome way.''

    6 useless sacks of flesh were needed to get this starship operational, and these sacks were the least useless of the ones Thaddeus knew.

    ''Their personalities are vile. Our race¡­is truly disgusting.''

    Thaddeus'' indifferent eyes remained on the starry sky as he operated the starship.

    ''Humans, Angels, Demons, Nox¡­everyone dies the same. We fool ourselves with the illusion of rebirth, but in reality, we are merely being swallowed by a greater ego. Is that the proper way a life should end?''

    Thaddeus despised Nox culture. Cannibalism was the path to strength, and being cannibalized was the only path after death.

    ''Humans are the most interesting. How were they able to build such aplex society without inborn affinities for mana? Unfortunately, they are too weak.''

    The weak didn''t deserve to live, this was the truth of the world that Thaddeus knew.

    If only he could meet an adequate human, he''d finally be able to build some understanding towards the race.

    But for now¡­

    ''Father has given me this task, and I must not fail him. If that happens¡­''

    Thaddeus shook off the thought and returned his attention to the starry sky.

    From within the ceiling, Aaliyah watched his every move.

    His expressions were strange, almost as if even he was aware of how disgusting hispany was.

    But this was merely a curious fact.

    Aaliyah didn''t care at all about what Thaddeus could possibly be thinking.

    She knew that there were only a few minutes until she needed to flip the switch, and at the same time, there were only a few minutes left of her life.

    Multiple forces converged near Throh as if they were waiting for this moment. Both Nox and Heaven''s Army alike gathered.

    A finalrge-scale battle to end this chapter of the war once and for all was brewing.

    And far, far away, almost half a Sector away from Throh, another world-shattering battle was taking ce as well.

    Except in this one¡­

    The presiding Emperor wasn''t so friendly.

 Chapter 779 Explosion [1]

    "FIRE NOW! DO NOT HESITATE!"

    A furious roar echoed through the starship. The speaker''s vigor was mirrored by his troops, as within a second, thunderous booms were being emitted from the ship''s weaponry.

    Tens of brilliant light beams shot through the starry sky, impaling countless smaller starships and evennding a hit on therge enemymand ship behind them.

    The ship suddenly veered to the left, narrowly dodging a light beam that almost pierced its hull.

    XIU! XIU! XIU! XIU!

    The whipping sound of energy attacks flying past was the only thing that popted the ears of those who fought on it.

    Small fighter ships whizzed through the starry sky and created an array of dogfights within the space between therger starships. A few thousand kilometers away, individual troops fought the Nox with their bare bodies exposed to the terrors of deep space.

    The chaotic spatial essence in the starry sky swayed as if it was alive, threatening to copse under the stress of thebined attacks.

    Currently, the situation wasn''t looking optimistic for the Allied forces.

    The Blight Emperor was far too powerful and cunning. The way he moved his troops was extremely unconventional, almost as if he was ying games with the Allied forces.

    Sadly, even if he was ying a game, there was nothing that could be done about it.

    There were barely any among the current soldiers who could face off against an extreme peak 4th ss Nox Avatar. In the first ce, this was supposed to be a diversion mission, not an elimination one.

    The Blight Emperor''s sudden decision to stage a full-force offensive was a great surprise, and one that forced the currently limited forces to face off against the powerhouses of the Infected Source World,

    ''The Blight Emperor is a cunning man who will attack when we least expect it. We''ve already lost a third of our troops to his mere few thousand. If the situation continues like this, we will not make it out alive, nor will we aplish our mission objective. Something needs to be done.''

    Themander of the operation, the same man who apanied Damien and the rest to Calypto, stood with a stern look on his face.

    From his vantage point, he could view a majority of the battlefield, and rarely did he see the allied forces pushing forward properly.

    ''Their numbers are too great for these forces. We need elite squads here to deal with the present Noxpletely. It''s at least a positive that the situation on the surface has calmed down.''

    Themander severely regretted hisck of action during the Stargazer Squad''s crisis, but there was truly nothing he could do at the time besides wait and watch.

    Bzzt!

    A holographic screen appeared before themander as he was stuck in thought.

    "Commander, Instructor Baek Woojin reporting!"

    The figure of a stalwart man with tan skin appeared before themander. He had bags under his eyes as if he hadn''t slept for many days, but overall, he didn''t look in bad condition.

    "Report."

    "Yes, sir. The situation on the surface haspletely resolved itself, and I have cleared any suspicion of the Stargazer Squad fabricating their achievements. However, there is bad news as well."

    "The Nox were able to acquire another Seed. The Seed''s current growth is unknown, however, it is sure that they will deploy it on the battlefield within the next few years."

    Themander frowned and rubbed his temples. He didn''t need this kind of pessimistic information at the moment. The inclusion of a new Seed into the already perilous situation¡­

    He didn''t want to think about it.

    "Commander, there is one more thing I must report."

    Luckily, Baek Woojin didn''t n to let him.

    "The situation¡­may change very soon."

    "Hm, what do you¡ª"

    RUMBLE!

    A shiver ran through themander''s body as a terrifyingly loud rumble spread through the starry sky.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Don''t tell me¡­"

    Calypto itself was shaking.

    ***

    A few minutes ago.

    "I see, so that''s how the situation is ying out."

    Damien''s voice rang out solemnly. Currently, he was in conversation with Baek Woojin about the battle for Throh.

    "Indeed. My squad is also participating in that battle, so I am able to get real-time updates on how the situation is progressing."

    "It''s concerning. With the battle reaching a pinnacle soon, the troops will need something to boost their morality, both those in Throh and those fighting the Blight Emperor here."

    Damien knew about the importance of morale in a battle with so many troops. If anyone was able to strike a major blow against the Nox in this moment, the zealousness of all troops would skyrocket, and their fortified minds would allow them to fight without fatigue.

    ''If we can¡­''

    Damien''s mind spun as he thought of ways to change the overly pessimistic situation.

    ''Ah¡­''

    It didn''t take long for a lightbulb to go off in his head.

    ''It may not have been possible before, but¡­I''ve been reborn.''

    "Instructor Baek, contact themander and fill him in on Throh''s situation. Also, tell him to prepare himself. I''m about to do something major."

    Baek Woojin''s eyes narrowed. "I don''t quite understand your intent, but I will convey it to the Commander. I will watch over your actions. They will be an adequate measure to see whether or not you can hold up your end of our deal."

    Damien grinned. "Don''t worry. I''ll put on a good show."

    He teleported away immediately after saying his goodbyes. Within the spatialyers, he sighed to himself.

    ''Baek Woojin''s mind seems stable, and he doesn''t seem to notice any anomalies in his memory. As long as I can follow through on my promise, I''ll gain an important ally. Still, while the allied forces in Calypto are still in the dark about Zara''s identity, the Nox are not. I still haven''tpletely escaped danger.''

    At this point, it was impossible for the Saint Emperor to be unaware of both his and Zara''s identities.

    It wasn''t possible to kill the Saint Emperor or alter his memories, especially when the version of him present was only an Avatar, but Damien had another solution.

    ''Bring as much heat onto myself as possible to move their attention away from Zara, and¡­''

    Damien made his way to the very center of Calypto. He floated over a body of water and flicked his fingers, erecting Dimensional Walls and splitting the seas.

    He descended to the newly revealed ocean floor and ced his hand down.

    He closed his eyes and connected to the most prominent yet concealed force in his body.

    Ever since he unlocked Samsara Intent, something changed in his connection with the Void. Concepts that used to be blurry and vague became clearer, and it was almost like theprehension he was being fed increased in grade.

    ''The Void is above everything, and to understand it, I must first understand all things. However, while all things must exist, they can just as easily fade into nonexistence. The Void is a manifestation of this concept, and before I can return all creation to nothingness, I must first understand the rtionships between those concepts already in existence.''

    His eyes opened slowly. His swirling purple irises were colored pitch-ck.

    Wisps of mana matching his eyes converged around his hands. And on hismand¡­

    [Spike]

    They turned into jagged spikes thousands of kilometers wide that impaled the earth.

    The entire world rumbled on impact.

 Chapter 780 Explosion [2]

    RUMBLE!

    The world rumbled on impact.

    Starting from Damien''s hand position, an array of spikes shot into the earth and formed a line many hundreds of kilometers long.

    The spikes stopped spreading soon enough, but they never stopped growing. They grew in length, their jagged edges tearing through the rock of Calypto''s surface and digging into its core.

    ''Concentrate. Control. Execute.''

    Damien controlled each spike with utmost precision. It was far harder than controlling any normal attack.

    After all, these spikes were made of pure Void Mana.

    The Void tore into Calypto and consumed it. The rumbled endlessly as its surface was continuously prated until finally¡­

    BANG!

    The first spike prated into the World Core Space.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The rest of the spikes made their way into the same cavern soon enough. The spikes suddenly lost shape at their tips, bing like snakes that slithered through the cavern and surrounded the inky ck World Core.

    ''Devouring this much mana would be impossible, but converting it¡­''

    Converting it was entirely possible, especially with the Void helping Damien manipte reality at its base.

    ''Deconstruct the mana, reorganize its structure, and purify it. Revert the World Core to its Origin...''

    ''Reality Alteration: Purification.''

    VOOOM!

    The Void Mana snakes shot into the corrupted World Core and began their feast. Their appetites were insatiable, as no matter how much of the Corrupted World Core''s mana they devoured, they were always desperate for more.

    An immense amount of mana flowed through the Void Mana and circted in Damien''s system.

    This was nned on his part.

    After forming a closed circuit between himself and the World Core, fundamentally purifying its mana would be much easier.

    Iridescent blue was a beautiful color, a color made even more beautiful when it appeared in specks amongst a sea of inky, corrupted ck.

    The appearance of this pure mana was incredibly slow, but it was a change nheless. And as the Void Mana snakes continued their devouring, the process only became faster.

    Damien could feel it in his body, the presence of mana above anything he could personally wield.

    This mana used him as a transfer point before returning to its rightful ce, and as though the World itself was rewarding Damien, the mana left bits and pieces ofprehension in his head that he never would''ve expected beforehand.

    His power as a Celestial was enhanced immensely, and at the same time, he was able to achieve the unimaginable.

    ''If I can revert this World Core and bind it¡­''

    This new method to strike blows against the Nox would be integral in his future endeavors.

    ''I must focus and continue. I cannot move from this spot until the entire World Core is purified, otherwise, my efforts will go to waste."

    Damien was taking on an immense job, but he needed toplete it as fast as possible.

    After all, despite the fact that the process only just started¡­

    The Saint Emperor had likely already caught wind of what he was doing.

    ***

    "Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    Bellowingughter boomed through the starship, contradicting the heavy atmosphere shared by its other residents.

    The Saint Emperor sat on his seat at the helm of his starship andughed uproariously.

    He almost couldn''t believe it was true.

    ''That kid is bold! To think he would directly attack me like this! Is he looking out for the troops who are forced to stand against me?''

    The Saint Emperor found the whole situation just asedic as it was serious.

    Unlike what anyone would''ve expected, a young and growing genius was actually trying to interfere in a battle concerning a Demigod.

    However, what that boy was actually doing was concerning, to say the least.

    ''To purify my World Core¡­who gave you the audacity? Did you not learnst time?''

    The Saint Emperor smiled lightly and closed his eyes, projecting his consciousness into the World Core.

    He immediately felt the specks of purity corrupting his form, disgusting him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Boy, what made you decide to take my kindness for granted? If you keep acting like this, I''ll have to kill you."

    "And what makes you think I give a fuck?" Damien responded with a grin. "Kill me if you can, pussy."

    The Saint Emperor frowned. "Do not test my patience."

    A wave of terrifying fluctuations spread from the World Core.

    But Damien wouldn''t allow a repeat of what happenedst time.

    He waved his arm on the surface, and the spikes under his control morphed into a sturdy defense that absorbed the impact of those shockwaves.

    He didn''t even send an Avatar into the World Core Space this time, so the Saint Emperor wouldn''t be able to touch him at all.

    "I came prepared this time, bitch."

    Damien dug his ws even deeper into the World Core. The small Void Mana snakes trembled and bloated, turning into dragons in an instant.

    Roar!

    Roar!

    Roar!

    A cacophony of roars sounded as the dragons began devouring the World Core. The amount of iridescent blue within the corrupted World Core slowly began to increase.

    The Saint Emperor frowned. ''That was undoubtedly the Dark God''s mana¡­the World Core will not be able to emit enough power to shatter its veil.''

    Damien''s mana contained the most powerful devouring force in the universe. Even against a concept like a World Core, the mana would hold its ground.

    Only an immense difference in usable strength would be able to break through Damien''s mana.

    ''I must go down myself.''

    There were few things that matched the importance of a World Core in the eyes of the Nox.

    Even if all of Throh''s forces were eliminated, as long as Calypto''s World Core could be saved, there wouldn''t be any repercussions to the Saint Emperor''s units for leaving their allies to die.

    The Saint Emperor sighed, but it was a strangely happy sigh.

    ''This is quite fun. The Human Race''s hero of this generation¡­will he grow into a worthy opponent?''

    The Saint Emperor''s Avatar disappeared from the starship he upied without a word.

    He moved towards Calypto at untold speeds.

    His movements were extremely concealed, and even though countless forces were observing him with extreme precision, they couldn''t sense his movements.

    Only a single person on the battlefield witnessed his exit.

    ''Something grand is about to happen.''

    The Commander immediately connected the dots between the strange set of events he''d experienced. Without hesitation, he stepped down from hismanding position and established a new chain ofmand for the Allied forces so they could function properly without him.

    After this was finished, he immediately left the starship in chase.

    He needed to see what was going on.

    And if someone or something on the surface was truly doing something that could even distract the Saint Emperor himself¡­

    That person needed to be protected at all costs.

    News of the Saint Emperor fleeing the battlefield spread amongst the allied forces like wildfire.

    The battle situation changed immediately.

    Without the threat of the Saint Emperor keeping them wary, what could the rest of these Nox do?

    As long as the allied forces could match their power, nothing else would be a problem.

    An all-out offensive began.

    Without the Saint Emperor''s active instruction, theplexity of the Nox army''s strategies lessened considerably.

    They weren''t moving like savages, but their movements were at least readable.

    The two opposing forces were finally on the same ying field.

    And the Allied forces had no n to miss this opportunity.

    All forces got into formation, from the smallest ground troops to thergest of the allied force''s starships.

    And at that final moment¡­

    All hell broke loose.

 Chapter 781 Explosion [3]

    The warzone around Throh was tens or even hundreds of times worse than that of Calypto.

    XIU! XIU! XIU!

    BANG! BANG!

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Countless sounds rang out, most having unknown origins, but one thing was certain. Each and every sound signaled the death of another soldier.

    ck ink formed a river in the starry sky. The blood of men interweaved with it and created a horrid scenery.

    "Team 1, reporting!"

    "Team 2, reporting!"

    "Team 3, reporting!"

    Three squads of fighter ships, each containing roughly fifty members, rushed into the fray. Their weapons were already hot, and the second the enemy entered their sight, they fired without mercy.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Countless enemy ships exploded under their assault. They flew in perfect formation, each squad working to reinforce their counterparts, forming a system that was unbreakable without sufficient preparation.

    However, these squads weren''t present to kill at the moment.

    "What''s the ETA?!" Squad 1''s Leader shouted into the inte.

    "Unknown! We don''t have visuals on the ship, but it should be arriving any moment!" A reply came through.

    "Roger! Let''s continue clearing out the Nox in the vicinity! We can''t allow the n to be disrupted!"

    ""Copy!""

    The squads split into their three individual parts and moved in different directions.

    They weren''t even a portion of the current forces. As they separated, they disappeared into the countless concurrent battlefields existing in the vicinity of Throh.

    Countless Nox and countless Heaven''s Army troops congregated and fought bloody battles. Everywhere one looked, there was only death.

    OOOOOOOOOOM!

    A distant sound reverberated deeply through space. It shook the internals of those it passed through, giving them a slight idea of that entity''s power.

    "It''s here!"

    Squad 1''s Leader, Sherya, the same green-skinned woman who realized Aaliyah''s intent previously, shouted the second she heard the sound.

    "All squads enter formation! Ry the information to nearby forces and move them as needed! We need to hold back the Nox and make sure that ship isn''t allowed to do any damage!"

    Aaliyah''s goal in waiting was evidently to strike the greatest blow possible. This didn''t just mean killing Thaddeus Church and destroying the destroyer ship, but also eliminating arge portion of the Nox''s forces in the area.

    In normal circumstances, the best strategy would be to fake their bloodlust and withdraw after gathering the Nox in a single area so Aaliyah could enact her n perfectly.

    However, Aaliyah couldn''t die.

    ''We have to clear the area so the ship won''t be able to enter with an attack. After that, we can slowly herd the Nox over. But if I want to save Aaliyah¡­''

    Saving Aaliyah wasn''t a matter of what happened before she destroyed the ship, but what happened after. Her body would be consumed by the proceeding explosion and she''d die instantly if things were left alone.

    To prevent this required an equal amount of courage and insanity.

    Minutes passed as Sherya and the rest organized the battlefield. They umted as many forces as they could and worked with precision, taking control over the battle''s momentum.

    Still, this wasn''t an easy task. Ships exploded into clouds of me often, and those who eventually became brothers and sisters over time were forced to ept the losses of their family members.

    They fought because they understood the importance of this war.

    They fought because they didn''t want their children and grandchildren to be born in a time when the entire universe was under the threat of extinction.

    They wanted to build a new world with their own hands.

    And for that, they fought without regard for death.

    Their vigor infected those around them, and the amount of Heaven''s Army troops in the surroundings grew until an entire army was following Sherya''s orders.

    They worked ceaselessly, and eventually, a massive starship''s form began to reveal itself in the distance.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It was massive. It was aary threat for a reason. Compared to the size of the regr fighter ships that were most prevalent in the area at the moment, the star destroyer was an elephant amongst ants.

    From within, Thaddeus gazed down at the war taking ce beneath him.

    "Pathetic."

    A single word was uttered from his mouth.

    "Hahaha, I know, right?! Look at those pathetic ants trying to struggle. It''s hrious!"

    "Kekeke, they''re so weak! So weak and pathetic!"

    The goons behind him made their own interpretations of his words, but naturally, none of them were even close to his intent.

    The war itself, that was pathetic.

    The conqueror''s urge that created these situations in the first ce, that was pathetic.

    ''I will extract the World Core and then leave. Though, I might as well eliminate these soldiers so Father won''t be disappointed.''

    With a sigh, Thaddeus sent inputs into the ship''s systems with utter precision.

    The weaponry on the exterior immediately whirred to life.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The sound of cannon fire was too loud to be ignored.

    "Scatter! Begin Phase 2 of the n!" Sherya shouted without hesitation.

    The tens of thousands of Heaven''s Army starships under hermand scattered like rats. They spiraled through the starry sky in random patternspletely leaving the beam attack''s area of effect.

    XIUUUU!

    Space cracked like ss as the beam passed through it, but the same beam continuously impacted nothing as it moved.

    Sherya was prepared for this opening attack from the very beginning. She''d been moving her troops in such a way that they could easily avoid it from the beginning.

    ''The hard partes now.''

    "Tiger Squad, take the units under you to the third position! Sun Squad, take your forces to the sixteenth position! Remember your roles and don''t deviate, or else we''ll all die!"

    "Affirmative!"

    Sherya''s authority had long been established. The squads shemanded didn''t even question her as she directed them.

    "Squad 3, watch out for cannon fire!l

    Squad 3 shifted their position on her order and narrowly avoided a rain of cannon fire that passed by their position.

    As the star destroyer''s smaller weapons began to fire, terrifying mana projectiles fell like a torrent of rain upon every being present underneath it.

    "Squad 2, take the Wind Lightning Sect and its subsidiaries to attack the star destroyer! You don''t need to do damage, you just need to provide a distraction!"

    "Yes, Captain!"

    "Beta Squad, take advantage of the diversion and aim for those smaller weapons! If we can destroy them, we can take away arge portion of the star destroyer''s power!"

    Another group of starships flew out.

    Squad 2 and the Wind Lightning Sect kept themselves in front of the star destroyer, clearly within itsmander''s vision.

    Taunting was one thing, but in a situation like this, more extreme measures were necessary.

    The units under Squad 2 barraged the star destroyer''s hull with various attacks, some even exiting their starships entirely to use their personal mana and force.

    Elemental attacks flew through the starry sky along with the beaming mana of starships. The entire area in front of the star destroyer was alit with splendor.

    At the same time, Beta Squad snaked along the star destroyer''s side, slowly making their way up until they reached the secondary weapons that lined the starship''s sides.

    The operation, as of now, was going without a hitch.

    And Aaliyah could only dazedly watch it all from within her little hiding spot in the star destroyer''s control room.

 Chapter 782 Explosion [4]

    ''This¡­is not how things were supposed to go!''

    Aaliyah was in a mild state of panic at the strange situation that was taking ce. The sheer amount of reinforcements present shouldn''t have been possible considering the way Heaven''s Army''s forces were spread.

    That is, unless someone with enough authority called for it.

    ''Sherya!''

    Aaliyah knew exactly who it was. There was only one person in the world who understood her deeply enough topletely understand her intent off only a few clues.

    ''You were supposed to lead everyone away, not bring them to help¡­!''

    Aaliyah almost wanted to cry. How was she supposed to take down the starship if countless important allies had to be sacrificed as well?!

    Despite the determination she built to ept any sacrifice to aplish her goals, Sherya''s presence changed things.

    Sherya was one of the few people who couldn''t be allowed to die.

    Aaliyah was forced to wait without being able to do anything else. She was forced to watch the proceedings outside from the same perspective as those Higher Nox in themand center.

    As she watched, she saw the utter cohesion that Heaven''s Army possessed in this moment. She saw how they wlessly executed their n even when their troops were falling at an astronomical rate.

    "Focus on those few in the back. It looks like their entire formation is revolving around them."

    Thaddeus'' voice suddenly rang out.

    Aaliyah''s eyes widened.

    ''No¡­!''

    A beam of light shot from the star destroyer and cleaved through the universe, unobstructed as it moved towards its targets.

    Aaliyah was on the verge of fainting. If those were the leaders of the operation, wasn''t that where Sherya was?!

    But unlike Aaliyah''s dread, Sherya had a wide smile on her face.

    "Perfect! Everyone prep for impact and get ready! Everythinges together here!"

    Her n was never intricate and detailed. There were never a great deal of misdirections and steps for them to seed.

    After all, she didn''t even have a few minutes to formte the n.

    It was, at its core, a simplebination of distraction and herding.

    The distraction had been taken care of.

    Beta Squad flew around the star destroyer and targeted its weapons. Even as they lost half of their forces in this endeavor, they continued without hesitation.

    Squad 2 and the Wind Lightning Sect were also still in the star destroyer''s general vicinity, but the second the beam fired, they fled the central position they formerly upied.

    As she faced the beam of light about to hit her, Sherya''s eyes were more serious than ever before.

    The distraction wouldn''t have been a distraction if it was done pointlessly.

    Naturally, something was being covered up.

    The blinding white light of the mana beam covered hundreds of kilometers as it grew in size. It was impossible for anyone to see in this atmosphere.

    "Now!"

    But sight was secondary.

    Sherya gave hermand.

    Immediately, countless starships appeared over the horizon, chased by a horde of Lesser Nox and arge number of Higher Nox in starships as well.

    When these starships appeared, Sherya mmed down on a button on her control panel.

    A thick mana barrier appeared around her starship, and soon after, the starships of those around her.

    Space around the star destroyer was lit up with blue light as countless barriers were deployed.

    And as soon as they all appeared in reality, they connected and formed a massive-sized dome that epassed the star destroyer and the Nox that''d been herded over.

    AALIYAH!

    NOW!

    The bellow was so loud that it almost felt unreal. It eclipsed the star destroyer''s beam attack, the roaring of starships all around, and all other sounds present on the battlefield¡­

    ¡­just to enter the ears of a single person.

    A spark was lit.

    Thaddeus'' eyes widened.

    He felt a fluctuation behind him. His hand immediately shot out. His mana formed a thick chain that stabbed into the ceiling.

    But it was already toote,

    Blood spurted from the ceiling, and Aaliyah''s figure was revealed there.

    With a line of ck mana impaling her stomach, she grinned a bloody grin.

    "May you never be reborn."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Crash!

    She crushed the ball of mana that''d formed in her hand.

    Countless seeds reacted all around the starship and bloomed.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Gigantic vines tore through the starship''s systems as the seeds bloomed. The vines thrashed wildly and ripped apart anything nearby, and at the same time, they actively searched for their brethren tobine into one.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The vines took the most efficient paths to connect. They sundered the starship from the inside, and as more and more vines connected, they became thicker and more impervious to the starship''s defenses.

    "DAMMIT!" Thaddeus roared. Countless shing red lights appeared on the holographic screen before him as the ship''s systems began to fail.

    The vines continued to grow. Aaliyahy in a pool of blood where Thaddeus left her to die, her fingers ever so slightly twitching.

    Every twitch held untold significance.

    The seeds Aaliyah nted weren''t all the same.

    They were all the same species, but each seed would grow into a specimen with different abilities than thest.

    It was a chaoticbination of powers that only someone as in tune with nature as the nt Races could handle.

    And under Aaliyah''s control, these seeds could show their full potential.

    OOOOOOOOOOM!

    Sixteen seedsbined into one, forming a sentient behemoth beast that frenziedly attacked the starship.

    In another location, 34 seedsbined into a raging me vine that spread deathly fire through the starship and utterly ruined its interior.

    There were countless unimaginable effects that could be produced if these vines were manipted correctly.

    But Aaliyah only cared about one.

    ''Expand.''

    It was a moment that cut through the silence.

    In the outside world, the mana light beam was just about tond.

    And at the same time that massive beam impacted the territory barrier formed by the countless Heaven''s Army starships¡­

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    BAAAAAANG!

    Mountain-sized vines burst through the starship''s hull.

    Vines tore the starship into pieces as they forced their way out of it. They wrapped around the starship and held it together like gift wrapping.

    It was like a scene of nature overrunning modern infrastructure.

    Sherya''s eyes widened.

    "GODSPEED, NOW!"

    ''Explode.''

    The vines turned red in an instant.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosion trumped any other. The fabric of reality quaked from its force. Titanic shockwaves spread into the surroundings and immediately shattered the territory barrier around the starship.

    Ahhhhh!

    Screams were the mostmon sound as the starships were torn apart, their pilots flung into the starry sky.

    But more than these pilots¡­

    Those pilots who herded the Nox into the center of the territory barrier, as well as the Nox they herded¡­

    Were incinerated within a second.

    They were erased from existence during the initial explosion alone.

    However, the spectacle wasn''t over.

    The massive star destroyer was subject to countless chain explosions. Rubble was exploded into even smaller pieces, and any integral piece of the starship turned into a nuclear bomb that could kill millions with its st radius.

    The only part of the starship that remained safe was one.

    A ck cocoon of energy surrounded the control room as it was barraged with explosive force.

    Within, Thaddeus Church clutched a pendant that hung from his neck and spit out the blood that was pooling in his mouth.

    His icy gaze remained on the only other being within the room with him.

    The killing intent he emitted was perhaps even more terrifying for Aaliyah than the explosions taking ce outside.

 Chapter 783 Turning Point [1]

    A rumbling as if a was exploding.

    A powerful force that mmed through space.

    And heat, unbearable heat,

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The structure of the starship copsed along with the explosion, and Thaddeus was immediately pulled by the immense suction force of the explosion.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    He gritted his teeth and endured the pressure as best as he could, but it wasn''t enough. He could only helplessly endure as his body was thrown into the walls of the starship.

    Bang!

    Crack!

    His back hit an exposed beam and his spine cracked. A series of whooshes passed him as the rest who weren''t so lucky met their tragic fates.

    The explosion swallowed them.

    Their bodies were incinerated. Their flesh and bones were seared away brutally, and even the ck ink they transformed into evaporated into nothingness.

    In that final moment before Thaddeus could join them, the protective charm left to him by his father activated, and a thick barrier enveloped the entire control room, protecting him.

    He understood why he survived, but why did she?

    Thaddeus stared at the woman in front of him with powerful killing intent in his eyes.

    "It was your fault!" He shouted.

    "If it wasn''t for you, the ship wouldn''t have been destroyed and my exploration wouldn''t have been ruined! How dare you?!"

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Aaliyah coughed out a mouthful of blood and smiled wryly.

    "I wasn''t so sure of it after seeing how you interact amongst yourselves, but you really have no consideration for human life. I stopped you from massacring countless innocents for no reason. Is that such a crime?"

    She held the wound in her stomach and shakily stood up.

    Even she didn''t know why she''d survived, but as long as she was alive, she''d do everything she could to fight.

    "What value does human life have?!" Thaddeus roared back in response.

    "You''re weak existences who can''t even stand invasion from outsiders! You''re broken from the inside and corrupted thoroughly, you lie and backstab, you feel emotion that skews your rational thought! How can you call yourselves worthy of value?!"

    "Spoiled brat."

    "What?!"

    Aaliyah couldn''t hold herself back from scoffing after hearing Thaddeus'' speech.

    "I called you a spoiled brat. Isn''t that all you are? You look down on others because you can''t understand them, youin about unimportant things as if your life would suddenly be worse without them, you''re a hypocritical bastard who criticizes others without even looking at your own ws. If you aren''t a spoiled brat, what else could you be?"

    "Khh¡­"

    Thaddeus wanted to respond, but his words were stuck in his throat.

    ''Is that¡­how others perceive me?''

    The roaring of explosions was the only sound in the area for many minutes.

    Thaddeus sat down on the ruined floor of the control room and fell into thought.

    Aaliyah knew she had an opportunity to kill him. He wasn''t paying her any mind, and he was a vile person who deserved death no matter what.

    But¡­

    She couldn''t bring herself to do it.

    ''Is he¡­self-reflecting?''

    It was honestly something she never expected the Nox to be able to do. Considering how they always acted belligerently without remorse, Aaliyah didn''t think the concept of a conscience existed within them.

    Seeing Thaddeus ruminate over her sharp words, she couldn''t help but wait to see the oue.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Just as she expected, Thaddeus was truly reflecting on her words.

    In any regr situation, he''d never have done so. Even if it was his own father reprimanding him, Thaddeus would show resistance if he didn''t agree with what was being said.

    But this wasn''t an ordinary situation, and Aaliyah wasn''t an ordinary person.

    Somehow, she''d survived that explosion with no new wounds. Thaddeus saw it briefly out of the corner of his eyes, "something" brushed through the control room at the same instant the explosion happened, and that "something" gave Aaliyah the means to survive.

    But even if she was aided by an external force, just the fact that she had the fate to be trapped with him in this isted space where none could interfere held immense significance to Thaddeus.

    ''Nobody has ever dared to talk to me like that.''

    The people who surrounded him were always either trying to kill him or curry favor with him. Meeting Aaliyah was his first experience with someone who could scold him without fear.

    ''Are all humans like this?''

    Thaddeus thought back to his actions in the past.

    ''Hypocritical bastard, she says¡­?''

    It was true. Most of the ws he listed for humanity, didn''t the Nox possess them in far greater quantities?

    His own race was disgusting, this was a thought he''d had since young. Thaddeus had never enjoyed the Nox''s way of life, nor did he support their methods.

    He simply grew indifferent because his hatred became too deep.

    To cope with it, he unloaded it on those ants he met during the war.

    He looked back up at Aaliyah, breaking away from the depressing chain of thought that was forming in his mind.

    "I really want to kill you." He muttered.

    "If you try, I''ll fight back until the end," Aaliyah responded confidently.

    "Hmph."

    Thaddeus smirked at her words.

    It was calm.

    Despite the roaring of explosions that didn''t seem to want to quiet down outside the barrier, despite the intense war that was taking ce even further out than that explosion, Thaddeus felt peace.

    "You''re a strange woman. You recognize me as an enemy, yet you refuse to act. You''ve had every chance to kill me in the past few minutes, but you didn''t take a single one. What is your intent?"

    "U-um¡­I¡­just felt like it?" Aaliyah responded in confusion.

    Even she didn''t know why she didn''t kill Thaddeus. To this moment, the desire in her mind wasn''t to kill, but to fix.

    ''He''s different from the rest of them.''

    Thaddeus was indifferent to all things, but he had a hint of curiosity in him that overrode his personality entirely. He was a Nox with many of the disgusting personality traits of a Nox, but he also had a human side that Aaliyah couldn''t help but see after observing him for so long.

    Her hatred for the man would never vanish. He would always be the man who massacred universe denizens like nothing without even a single hint of motive.

    But sacrifices¡­were necessary.

    When it came to indifference to the deaths of others, Aaliyah couldn''t even me Thaddeus. This same atmosphere was possessed by nearly every expert in the universe.

    If she could help him understand what the universe was like, if she could help him understand morality, wouldn''t humanity gain a crucial ally?

    This Thaddeus character was a gamble for Aaliyah. If she went all in to follow her instinct, she''d either gain a powerful ally or invite a wolf into the sheep''s den.

    Her hands trembled as she watched the man try to rationalize her words.

    Her heart thumped.

    ''Death is mercy. If I can help him learn sympathy, and he feels the guilt and burden on his shoulders¡­''

    That would be the best punishment for him, and the best vengeance for the fallen.

    Giving a man who didn''t flinch in the face of pain and death those two things was meaningless. The joy caused by his death would fade and be reced with a hollow emptiness soon enough.

    To reform the pitiful soul she saw in front of her, and to provide the ultimate retribution for the fallen¡­

    Aaliyah made a choice.

 Chapter 784 Turning Point [2]

    "Thaddeus Church¡­" Aaliyah blurted out.

    Thaddeus'' head shot up, his eyes locked on her.

    "What do you want?"

    "I want you toe with me!"

    "What?"

    This confusing woman only continued to confuse him further with every second. What was she even talking about?

    Aaliyah gritted her teeth and endured his judgmental gaze. "Come with me! Let''s leave the battlefield! I want to show you around our beautiful Grand Heavens Boundary!"

    Thaddeus'' eyes widened. He expected her to say something stupid, but he didn''t expect it to be so utterly iprehensible.

    "You want me, a Nox, to join you, a nt Race, to explore the universe that my kind is trying to destroy?"

    He reiterated it in case she didn''t realize what her words meant, but he was met with disappointment.

    "I know what I said, and I mean it."

    "You are mentally insane."

    "Is there another type of insanity?"

    "You''re a truly annoying woman."

    "Fufu! That just means I''ve defeated you with my charms!"

    Thaddeus sighed as he nced away from Aaliyah''s bubbly person.

    ''What is she doing? Where did this evene from? Is she trying to lure me into a trap? Where is the setup?''

    Thaddeus'' thoughts raced. He tried to rationalize Aaliyah''s proposal to no avail whatsoever.

    "Exin in detail. I cannot understand your perverted thought process."

    "I''m not a pervert!"

    "Only a masochist would think to invite the enemy into their homebase for tourism."

    "I''m not a masochist either!"

    Aaliyah''s face turned red in embarrassment. She was barely able to understand her own thoughts, and now she was being told to voice them?

    ''Calm down and concentrate.'' She told herself.

    It took almost an entire minute for Aaliyah to calm down and organize her thoughts. The entire time, Thaddeus quietly waited without moving a single step.

    "You look lonely."

    They were the first words out of Aaliyah''s mouth.

    Thaddeus red at her fiercely, and while she did jump, she refused to back down.

    "I watched you from when you first entered the control room until now, and I can''t help but think you''re different from the rest of your kind. You have emotions they don''t possess, and rationality that goes against their belligerence. Also, I can see it, you know? You''re trying so hard, but your curiosity is written all over your face."

    "If you want to say yes, then just say yes! There''s no need to be a tsundere."

    "Tsundere?"

    "Ah, That''s a human thing. Don''t worry about it."

    "The fact that you won''t tell me what it means makes me dislike it automatically."

    "That''s probably the right response from you, Mr. Stoic."

    "Hm?"

    "Nothing! I didn''t say anything."

    "Tch."

    Thaddeus turned away.

    ''What is this heat in my face.''

    He was turning red unknowingly, and he didn''t enjoy the feeling at all.

    Still¡­

    ''Escape¡­''

    Not just escape from the warzone, but escape from his father, escape from responsibilities, escape from the Nox as a whole¡­

    It was too damn appealing.

    ''Grand Heavens Boundary, why are the experts so obsessed with this universe? What importance do World Cores hold? Is the universe truly as beautiful as the rumors? Without all this destion spread through it, is this ce truly a heavenly trainingnd as the people describe it?''

    His curiosity overflowed with the growth of his interest.

    He lifted his head to look at the beautiful green-skinned woman holding her hand out to him.

    She was different from the women he usually saw. Women of the Nox were usually extremely seductive and dominant, but Aaliyah was theplete opposite of that.

    She was cute, bubbly, and even a little innocent.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her entire existence confused Thaddeus, who''d never experienced such a positive personality before.

    His eyes went to her hand and back to her face.

    His heart beat violently as if it wanted to burst out of his chest.

    It was a suffocating feeling.

    But for some reason, from this single interaction, this strange woman had hooked him.

    He was curious about her and the world that produced someone like her.

    He wanted to see it.

    And he wanted to escape the suffocating constraints of his identity.

    ''I am trying to find reasons to deny her, but my decision was made long ago, wasn''t it? How troublesome.''

    Thaddeus reached out slowly.

    His handtched onto the one outstretched to him.

    Understanding these strange beings that opposed the Nox was something he''d wanted to do for a very long time.

    He stood up with Aaliyah''s support.

    "You don''t hate me?"

    "Of course I do. You massacred so many people without reason. Why wouldn''t I hate you?"

    "Then¡­?"

    "Can I not feel sympathetic for someone I hate?"

    "I really can''t understand you."

    "As it should be!"

    Aaliyah suddenly frowned.

    "But¡­getting you out of here without being noticed will be hard¡­"

    The duo''s attention returned to their overall situation. They''d been so enveloped in each other that they didn''t even realize the sound of explosions growing louder.

    "The charm can''t hold out for much longer."

    The shield was already cracking. It wouldn''t be long before they were exposed to the terror of the outside world.

    But Aaliyah wasn''t worried. Rather, she was excited.

    ''If I can get him out, I''ll be the first person to ever turn a Nox into an ally!''

    The task ahead fit her far better than a traumatic warzone. She needed peace, especially after all the trauma Thaddeus himself had given her.

    Honestly, she still had the urge to kill him. She still wanted him to suffer as much as possible.

    But she held it in and let it be suppressed by the other most prominent urge in her body.

    It was the urge to help.

    If her outstretching her hand could change the trajectory of someone''s life for the better¡­

    She''d do it, regardless of that person''s identity.

    After all, wasn''t that just who she was?

    Aaliyah smiled to herself,

    ''Sherya is really going to hate me for this one.''

    ***

    While the starship''s destruction was rtively quick due to Aaliyah''s patience and Sherya''s nning, its aftereffects were huge, both literally and metaphorically.

    In the literal sense, the explosive cloud created by the destroyed starship didn''t settle down even after many minutes, and the explosion only seemed to get stronger with every passing second. It fed on theplex structures and mana storages of the former star destroyer to be an uncontroble behemoth.

    But the metaphorical effects of the starship''s death were even more terrifying than the all-consuming explosion.

    The star destroyer was the Nox''s only usable Demigod-level force in the universe.

    It was their greatest advantage, and their greatest siege weapon.

    With it gone, not only would the current battle for Throh proceed faster as one of its primary objectives was aplished, the Nox''s future attempts to take over other Sectors would be far more bearable.

    The Nox invasion had effectively been slowed down considerably.

    Word spread rapidly through various channels, reaching the ears of, the forces keeping guelord in check, the Calypto battlefield, and even those ruling authorities of the universe.

    The destruction of the star destroyer sent one message ring across the universe.

    From now on¡­

    It was time for a counterattack.

 Chapter 785 Final Stand [1]

    785 Final Stand [1]

    Two figures flitted through space at their greatest speeds, almost matching each other as they shot through Calypto''s atmosphere.

    If they hadn''t seen each other in the starry sky before entering the, they wouldn''t have been able to see each other at all due to the distance between them.

    When they touched ground, they were on opposite sides of the world.

    But it didn''t matter.

    The second theynded, they both plunged into the nearby sea and made beelines towards a single target.

    In the middle of the sea, there was a section of chaotic whirlpools where the seawater was heavily disrupted. There was a massive chasm separating the seas as if a scene from a holy scripture, and within stood a single man.

    Pitch-ck wisps of mana swarmed around him like dancing fairies, giving off a strange and eerie sense of beauty. The yful behavior of these fairiespletely contradicted the actions of the mana they represented.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The aftereffects of Damien''s interference in the World''s structure became more evident with every passing second. Underwater volcanos erupted due to the shifting tectonic tes, and heaven-reaching tsunamis spread in every direction with Damien as their center.

    This chaos was mirrored in the World Core Space.

    As Damien''s interference continued, the World Core''s fundamental properties shifted. The pure mana that originally formted the core began to fight alongside him, shing with the murky Nox Mana that had possessed its form.

    A secondary sh took ce between these two forces, and frankly, without Damien''s careful aid, their battle for dominance would''ve torn the entire world in two.

    ''Fuck!''

    When he first started, Damien never expected things to be like this. He obviously understood that changing the World Core''s properties wouldn''t be a smooth process, but to think it would be so violent¡­

    ''Even I wasn''t prepared to hold an entire world together with my power!''

    Mediating the struggle between two extremely powerful forces while protecting the world''s foundationalws so it wouldn''t copse entirely was almost impossible. If Damien didn''t have a myriad of skills as a Celestial, as well as immense mental strength gathered through various trials, he would''ve never been able to hold on for as long as he had.

    However¡­

    "BLIGHT EMPEROR!"

    09:19

    ''They''reing.''

    His eyes sharpened.

    Above his head, the air was sundered into nothingness and space shattered.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The resulting explosion was dyed. The impact was too fast.

    "BLIGHT EMPEROR!"

    "Hahaha! Another interesting one hase!"

    Two booming voices resounded one after another. Standing opposite each other with Damien at their center were two domineering men whosebined presence would cause 90% of life in the existing universe to tremble beneath their feet.

    On one side was a grey-skinned fiend with piercing snake eyes. His long hair fluttered in the wind, and though his body was lean, the power emanating from his every fiber was not to be underestimated.

    On the other was a man who looked far more average. He didn''t have any sort of kingly demeanor or aura, but he gave off a staunch and stalwart impression that made people automatically trust him. It was apletely different kind of charisma.

    These two red at each other fiercely, but after their first greeting, they looked away and ignored each other.

    They''de for one man, after all.

    "We finally meet in person, young human." The Saint Emperor said with a smile.

    Damien looked up in the air at the Emperor and rolled his eyes in disgust.

    "I expected the guy who''s been giving me so much trouble to be at least somewhat domineering, but you''re just another chuuni cultivator. What a disappointment."

    "Your mouth has gotten worse since our first meeting. Now that I''m here in person, do you think I would allow you to spout nonsense so freely?"

    The Saint Emperor''s eyes turned cold. A wave of power shot from his body towards Damien, but someone got in the way before it could strike him.

    "Now, now. For an Emperor, aren''t you a little trigger-happy? If you came to have a conversation with our little friend, then do it properly."

    The Commander spoke with a grin on his face. He wasn''t originally this type of person, but after seeing how the Blight Emperor conversed with Damien, he decided to try a more roguish approach than his usual demeanor.

    It was strange, but it was fun. It made him feel young again to insult someone with such authority without care.

    Damien grinned at themander who was exploring his youth. "Old man, you''re a good one. Help me hold that bastard off until I finish what I''m doing. Trust me, he''ll only get angrier the longer he can''t touch me."

    "You''re an interesting cadet, you know that? None have ever dared to act as you do on this cruel battlefield."

    "That''s just because they''re too weak."

    "Hahahaha! Indeed, Heaven''s Army is a batch of weaklings! Why don''t you join our side instead?"

    Damien sent a deadpan stare at the Saint Emperor. "What kind of idiocy are you spouting?"

    "Is it truly idiocy? I merely wish to recruit a promising seedling to a ce where he can be properly nurtured. After all, don''t we both have things that the other person desires?"

    Damien''s gaze turned cold. The longer he entertained this conversation, the harder it became to keep the world intact.

    He was acting fine on the outside, but his mind was in utter chaos trying to manage every task he was trying to aplish at once.

    Perhaps even he himself couldn''t process the grandiosity of what he was trying to achieve.

    "Old man, how long can you hold him off for?" Damien asked through sound transmission.

    "Realistically, I can keep him upied for as long as necessary. But to do so while minding the environmental damage is far harder. I can at most mitigate damage for 15 minutes before I''m forced to use more devastating attacks." The Commander responded.

    ''15 minutes¡­''

    "It''s enough."

    Damien hardened his gaze.

    Topletely shift the World Core in 15 minutes was impossible, but if it was just taking control of half so that the Saint Emperor''s domination would be affected¡­

    ''Good, we just need to weaken his Avatar. He definitely won''t want to take a backseat in the war for the next few years, so he''ll retreat as long as his advantage is taken away.''

    By the time Damien returned his attention to reality, the battle between the two experts had already begun.

    The air above was submerged in the same chaos as the sea and world below.

    ''This''ll be my first time watching a sh of this level, right¡­?'' Damien thought to himself.

    He''d seen even Demigods fighting with his own eyes, but he''d never seen an intricate singlebat match between them where they disyed the height of their Laws.

    Something like that¡­

    Wasn''t it the best sustenance for his growth?

    His eyes gleamed like a predator that locked onto its prey.

    15 more minutes until this entire damn battle was over.

    15 more minutes until he could finally rx and tie up all the loose ends that''d been piling up due to the battlefield''s constant state of disorder.

    ''The objective is simply too easy this time. This battle¡­has basically already been dered our victory.''

 Chapter 786 Final Stand [2]

    786 Final Stand [2]

    "Park Jinho, it has been a long time since west met."

    "Not long enough in my opinion. If I could go my entire life without seeing you once, I would be content."

    "Don''t be like that. Aren''t we practically brothers after all the times we''ve fought until this point?"

    "I would never form brotherhood with a demon like you."

    While Damien was stuck in thought on the ground, the Saint Emperor and the Commander conversed.

    In truth, neither of them wanted to have this conversation, but they were forced by the circumstance.

    The first to move would be the one to lose.

    But at the same time, the Saint Emperor couldn''t afford to stay still.

    ''The situation is getting dangerous. There is no merit in staying past my wee if that boy is able toplete his convoluted endeavor.''

    Calypto''s World Core needed to be saved, but his life was more important. At the end of the day, he was still an Emperor, and regardless of what happened, the repercussions he faced wouldn''t be too harsh.

    ''Nevertheless, I must at least put in some effort. If I am able to reach the boy before he reaches the most criticalndmark, the mission can still be said to be aplished.''

    While Park Jinho was stalling for time, the Saint Emperor was taking time to himself to think.

    What was the most ideal path forward from this point?

    Or rather¡­

    ''Which path will make this war more interesting¡­?''

    The Saint Emperor already knew the answer.

    "¡­this is why I''ve always hated you the most. That disgusting snake-like personality of yours is truly the worst."

    The Saint Emperor returned his attention to Park Jinho who''d just finished speaking and sighed.

    "I''m tired of this. I can''t believe I stooped so low as to entertain the conversations of ants."

    He didn''t need more time to understand what he wanted.

    The Saint Emperor ced his hand in the air and pushed forward.

    ''Execution Ring.''

    The inky ck mana emitted from his body was different from that of other Nox.

    Unlike them, he truly explored its properties.

    Corrosion? That wasn''t a property of Nox Mana, but a side effect.

    After all, Nox Mana was merely¡­

    A pathway of ck light formed between Park Jinho and the Saint Emperor. Once it enveloped them, it spread in all directions until multiple hundreds of kilometers were encased in a thick tinted ss-like dome.

    "This is an entertaining ability that I rarely use. Until you die or I release the barrier, nobody can leave. Won''t that make our match more amusing?"

    "I can''t expect anything more from scum like you."

    Park Jinho''s eyes were solemn. Not only were the two of them enveloped in the life-or-death arena, Damien was as well.

    And with such limited space¡­

    ''Protecting him just became much harder.''

    ''Path Extinction.''

    Park Jinho wasn''t allowed to entertain his thoughts for very long. A beam of ck light shot through the air and exterminated anything in its path as it rushed towards him.

    It was in front of his eyes before he could even process it.

    ''Flex Shield: Maximum Capacity!''

    A hastily constructed shield of water appeared before Park Jinho. The ck light beam impacted it, and despite the water''s seeming weakness, it held up perfectly against the assault.

    "I see you have reached the stage of altering your element! Not bad!"

    The Saint Emperor grinned as he flew through the air. His hands moved slowly, but every ounce of their movement seemed to contain endless profundities.

    ''Copsing Darkness.''

    It was a move that represented the rtionship between light and darkness. Without the presence of light¡­

    Darkness copsed on itself and multiplied.

    A wave of ck energy appeared and charged forth like a tsunami. Its form was basic, but Park Jinho could clearly feel the energy of extermination within.

    ''His Laws are convoluted. He can mimic the properties of other Laws within his own, but the foundation will always be Death Laws.''

    Death Laws were powerful, but extremely hard to develop. People with affinity towards them were disregarded in their growth stage, but if they managed to reach maturity¡­

    ''15 minutes will be difficult.''

    Park Jinho gathered his mana and drew a pair of twin swords from his spatial ring.

    ''Separation of Heaven and Earth.''

    Thick streams of strangely blue water swirled around the twin swords as Park Jinho dashed forward. His body twisted in a lithe manner that didn''t match his figure at all, but somehow, he was able to cut through the air like an experienced dancer and weave through the Saint Emperor''s deathly attack.

    His swords shed out with fury. The strange water coating the des created arcs through the air that didn''t disappear for many seconds, and even when they did, the water''s aura remained.

    Bang!

    Park Jinho made first contact with the Saint Emperor. His des shed into thetter''s skin, but were stopped before making too much progress.

    "You think a weak attack like that will stop me?"

    The Saint Emperor pulled his fist back and let off a punch like cannon fire. The atmosphere boomed from his speed, and roared even louder upon impact.

    BANG!

    Park Jinho was sent flying with an indent in his face, but his eyes never closed. Even though his assault failed, he was able to garner a good amount of information from the exchange.

    ''First off, closebat is his specialty.''

    Park Jinho swerved his body and avoided the Saint Emperor''s meteoric falling punch. He shed his des out to meet the man''s fists, creating a sound like metal shing against metal as they flew apart.

    ''Secondly, his Laws are geared towards extermination.''

    But for Park Jinho and Damien, this was a fight for survival.

    09:21

    "You don''t have the luxury to split your attention. Focus on me if you wish to keep your Avatar in one If even a single strand of that mana was allowed to run free in his body, Park Jinho would be incinerated. He needed to exercise the utmost caution as he fought, making sure to expel any intruding mana in his body even as he focused on the battle.

    Strange blue water collected in the air and manifested into multiple projectiles. They shot at the Saint Emperor like a swarm of locusts, restraining his nonevents severely.

    Park Jinho''s eyes sharpened. His body twirled through the barrage of water projectiles and hid between the lines, approaching the Saint Emperor stealthily.

    He was able to reach the enemy''s nk within an instant.

    ''And thirdly¡­''

    His des struck out, but they didn''t aim for the Saint Emperor at all.

    Streams of mana raced through the atmosphere, and halfway through their descent to the earth, they shed with an invisible force.

    ''He was never aiming for me.''

    The point of collision was only a few meters away from Damien''s head.

    If that invisible force was allowed free reign, the young genius would already be dead, or the Calypto would be copsed.

    "Tch. You were able to figure it out so quickly. I should expect it from someone of your caliber though, shouldn''t I?"

    The Saint Emperor smilingly apple as if the entire ongoing battle was a joke to him.

    And it might as well have been.

    The Saint Emperor was a Demigod using an Avatar. Any fight against a lower existence was merely entertainment for him.

    But for Park Jinho and Damien, this was a fight for survival.

    "You don''t have the luxury to split your attention. Focus on me if you wish to keep your Avatar in one piece."

    Park Jinho spoke coldly as he shed his des.

    15 minutes¡­

    15 minutes was starting to seem a lot longer than it usually was.

    As for Damien¡­

    He was really starting to hate countdowns.

 Chapter 787 Final Stand [3]

    787 Final Stand [3]

    Damien was in a predicament at the moment.

    On one side, there was a battle that would provide him with immenseprehension of Death Laws, and on the other was a that would copse without his care and attention.

    ''Fuck you, universe!'' Damien shouted inwardly, cursing the difficult position he was ced in.

    ''I mean, yeah the is important and all, bute on¡­!''

    He sighed inment as he tried to ignore the fierce fluctuations mming into his body from above. The pain was, of course, nothing, but the desire to watch the battle was simply too strong!

    ''Damn Calypto, if you don''t want to lose my interest, keep me upied! I''m the table in this rtionship!''

    The answered his call. Its surface rumbled fiercely, creating worldwide earthquakes that copsed most manmade structures on the. Waves of ck and blue mana drilled through the core of the world, seemingly attempting to hollow it out from the inside.

    ''Fuck! Now is not the time to startmunicating properly!''

    Bam!

    Damien pped his palms deeper into the ground as if the tactile sensation would better connect him to the situation. He clenched fistfuls of rock and turned his wrists vigorously, remotely controlling the Void Mana infiltrating the World Core.

    ''It''s really like a different world in here.''

    They weren''t the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, but they weren''t far off. Like minimized fragments of the universalw, strands of Law floated aimlessly through the slowly reforming World Core.

    ''These are the foundationalws of the world, a microcosm that mirrors the universe''s overall set ofws.''

    Damien was generally knowledgeable about the universe at a conceptual level. Rather than reality, he had spent far more time interacting with such concepts.

    His consciousness was unconsciously pulled towards those fragments of Law.

    The All-Seeing Eyes passively activated, removing the temptation the Laws emitted from Damien''s system.

    ''Phew¡­'' Damien sighed in relief.

    ''Now is not the time. Once I''ve bound this World Core, it won''t be toote to understand itsplexities.''

    Damien could feel it in his soul. A World Core that was partially of his own creation¡­

    Would be apletely different existence than a regr World Core.

    As a result, the number ofrge-area or destructive skills being used was negligible. Instead, an 09:22

    intricate battle of Laws and closebat was taking ce.

    ***

    5 minutes passed.

    Damien''s purification of the World Core was roughly 25%plete.

    Above, the battle remained roughly the same as it was before.

    The two experts were fighting, but neither of them desired the destruction of the terrain. Even if their reasoning was different, the end goal was the same.

    As a result, the number ofrge-area or destructive skills being used was negligible. Instead, an intricate battle of Laws and closebat was taking ce.

    To parry was to create an opening, to strike was to kill.

    Park Jinho had always been a swordsman who followed these rules, aiming to end every battle with at most two swings of his swords.

    His body wasrge and stocky, but his affinities forced him to adopt a more lithe and gracefulbat style.

    It was an oddly contradictory sight to watch his massive body maneuvering as if it weighed nothing, but Park Jinho wasn''t ashamed of his style at all.

    This unconventional style was the exact skill that allowed him to reach his current position.

    The amount of effort he''d put into perfecting his swordy and basic movements was unholy.

    And as a result¡­

    ''Sixty-Three Faces of Water, 16th Face: Absolute Boundary''

    It was a skill usually used duringrge brawls, but the Saint Emperor possessed more power than any number of menbined.

    Each of his punches could crush a mountain with ease, each of his kicks could split the seas. His body seemed to be made out of the universe''s strongest materials with the way he never broke.

    Park Jinho''s twin swords began to move like water to counter this gargantuan force.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The swords moved like butterflies flitting through the air. Each of the Saint Emperor''s strikes was met by a de that expertly parried them and transferred the battle''s momentum into Park Jinho''s hands.

    "Hahaha! How fun!" The Saint Emperorughed wildly as he continued his assault. His fists were coated in terrifying extermination mana that threatened to kill Park Jinho whenever it came close.

    Each strike wasn''t just powerful, but extremely dexterous as well. Despite Park Jinho''s attempts to make distance between them, the Saint Emperor''s fists always managed to make their way into his blind spots to strike him.

    Absolute Boundary gave the humanmander the first moment of respite he''d tasted since the battle started.

    But of course, he wasn''t one to merely sit still and wait.

    If Absolute Boundary merely deflected attacks, wasn''t it too domineering to give it such a name?

    Park Jinho''s swords glowed with strange murky light as he continued deflecting and parrying the Saint Emperor''s attacks.

    The light continuously grew, and as the Saint Emperor threw a surprise kick at Park Jinho''s stomach¡­

    ''Release.''

    Park Jinho crossed his swords and sliced in an X, his des aiming for the Saint Emperor''s unguarded chest.

    ''17th Face: Weight of Water''

    A fluctuation ofws covered the murky energy around the sword des as they shed. The energy abruptly became tens or even hundreds of times heavier, and as the swords finished their crescent arcs, the energy went flying towards its target.

    SHIIIIIING!

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The Saint Emperor''s own energy was returned to him,pressed and consolidated by the weight of an ocean. The Saint Emperor''s body went flying, chunks of ck gunk flying from his form.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    Park Jinho stood silent and caught his breath. His eyes stared warily at where the Saint Emperor''s bodynded, waiting for the man to make another move.

    ''7 more min¡ª''

    "Bastard!"

    Park Jinho''s figure blurred and reappeared in front of Damien, shing out and countering another stream of invisible energy that almost struck the young genius.

    "Blight Emperor, you bastard! How dare you use such petty tricks?!"

    "Hahaha! This battle has been my loss since its start. Why shouldn''t I use any means possible to enjoy the time before I must retreat?"

    "Is this a game to you?!"

    "Weren''t you already aware of this fact?"

    "Grr!"

    Park Jinho tried to charge again, but he was forced to halt immediately.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    His swords cut through the air and decimated multiple invisible projectiles.

    ''Rangedbat? This is more advantageous for me!''

    Park Jinho withdrew his swords and brought his hands together.

    His swordsmanship was his best attack method, but it was far from his most effective and versatile.

    When it came to battle, unless he was facing an opponent he respected, Park Jinho rarely brought out his des.

    Instead¡­

    He used the abilities that granted him the title "Poseidon."

    The seas raged outside the barrier. Even though they couldn''t answer Park Jinho''s calls, they showed their fervent desire to do so.

    Luckily, a sea wasn''t necessary for Poseidon to show his power.

    He could merely conjure his own.

    ''Multi-cast: Barrier''

    ''Elemental Summoning: Aquarius''

    ''Sea God''s Dominion''

    Multiple things happened at once.

    Damien and Park Jinho were covered by a thick array of barriers.

    A beautiful ethereal woman appeared behind Park Jinho and wrapped her arms around his neck.

    And with his hand outstretched, Park Jinho became a God of the Sea, ready to unleash his wrath onto his enemies.

 Chapter 788 Final Stand [4]

    In any normal circumstance, the Saint Emperor would''ve immediately moved out of range after sensing Park Jinho''s umted power, but the life-or-death arena he''d set up limited him just as much as it did his opponent.

    ''But without this much, would there ever be a challenge?''

    The Saint Emperor couldn''t help but grin looking at the truly gargantuan amount of water that was being gathered.

    The fact that it hadn''t been mobilized yet but was still giving off such fluctuations¡­

    ''I could challenge him in closebat again, however, that is his specialty. Even if I wish to enjoy this battle, I still have a job to do.''

    His eyes flicked over to the young genius kneeling on the floor behind Park Jinho.

    ''That boy¡­while I can''t touch him quite yet, I at least have to leave an impression.''

    He couldn''t have Damien forgetting him when he met other Nox Emperors, could he?

    It needed to be him.

    ''I want to be his nemesis.''

    Because only then could he truly witness the rise of a monster, a true terror that far outstripped any mere Nox being.

    ''It seems I''m getting a bit overexcited.

    The treasure in front of his eyes was too captivating, but also in front of his eyes was an array of water spears with both the hardness of metal and the flexibility of water.

    ''How troublesome.''

    The Saint Emperor frowned and swiped his arm, letting loose a swarm of strange bugs. These bugs were wholly made of mana, and when they came in contact with the water spears¡­

    Chomp!

    They devoured the spears'' mana with so much vigor that their each and every bite was audible.

    ''I suppose it wouldn''t be bad to use a speck of power here.''

    ''Underworld River''

    The Saint Emperor outstretched his hand with his palm facing the earth. A single drop of milky grey liquid dripped from his finger.

    ROOOOAAAAAAR!

    When it sshed against the ground, a river roared to life. Its deathly waters were filled with an aura of grudge and resentment. The river crashed through the open environment, filling the space between Park Jinho and the Saint Emperor in an instant.

    ''Wrath Index 4th Scripture: Tides of Moonlight''

    The moon controlled the waves, but if one''s power was enough, the waves could control the moon itself.

    Its light would shine upon the world and be one with the sea, transforming the water into a miraculous substance that not only had supreme regenerative capabilities, but also immense density that water shouldn''t possess, almost turning it into a non-Newtonian fluid.

    BANG!

    The two torrents of water crashed against each other instantly. The moonlight water intertwined with the underworld river and shed fiercely. Despite both forces being heavily Yin in nature, the moon represented the gentle side while Death represented the cruelty.

    The two forces were diametrically opposed from the beginning.

    BOOOOOM!

    The seething water crashed into the surroundings and melted the earth and surrounding pure water like acid. If it wasn''t for the multiyer barrier protecting Damien, even his body would''ve been incinerated.

    ''5 minutes¡­''

    Park Jinho gritted his teeth.

    So far, holding off the Saint Emperor was proving to be an easier task than it should''ve been, especially because thetter wasn''t fighting back with his full strength.

    However, Park Jinho didn''t have infinite mana, and using attacks that could affect someone of the Saint Emperor''s level required an immense amount of Lawprehension to fuel them. It was impossible for him tost a long period of time against such an opponent.

    Nevertheless, he wasn''t aware of Damien''s progress yet, and until he got a signal from the young genius, Park Jinho could do nothing but fight.

    ''Almost there¡­'' Damien thought solemnly as he felt yet another wave of terrifying fluctuations behind his back.

    He felt like his skin was being seared just from being near those fluctuations, but because of the barrier protecting him, he understood that it was merely a cebo effect.

    ''But to make me feel a cebo only testifies to their power.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Around 40% of the World Core had been converted by now, and the battle was getting easier with every passing second.

    Damien was even able to split off a portion of his consciousness toprehend the mysteries of heaven and earth present within the World Core.

    And more than that¡­

    ''So this is the origin of Nox Mana. I haven''t yet had the chance to observe pure Nox Mana carefully. Finally, I can uncover a bit about these assholes and form countermeasures against them.''

    Just as Damien went to connect with the Nox Mana and observe it, a sudden change took ce.

    BANG!

    The Nox side of the World Core suddenlyshed out furiously, starting an unexpected offensive against its counterpart.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Damien swallowed down the blood crawling up his throat and focused on controlling the pure World Core''s essence.

    Using Void Mana as a medium, he was able to somewhat manipte this untouchable mana and be one with it.

    But a battle between energies like this was both moreplex and far simpler than a battle between sentient beings.

    There was no need for fancy techniques or scheming, every collision would be head-on and without nning.

    However, each collision was apetition ofws. Whichever side came out on top would rule.

    Damien was able to hold out because he had firmprehension of four of the foundational elements of a world. Using these along with the World Core''s own strayprehension, he was able tost until only 5 minutes remained before he took main control over the World Core.

    However¡­

    "Did you think I would allow you to get away so easily, boy?"

    A disconnected voice boomed through the cavern, its source being arge eye that opened on the Corrupted half of the World Core.

    Damien frowned.

    "This bastard¡­you really can''t let me do anything in peace."

    "Hahahaha! And why should I do that? Your expressions are far more amusing if I act this way."

    "You sound like a creepy stalker."

    "It''s not right to denounce an Emperor, you know."

    The Saint Emperor conversed with Damien like an uncle trying to gain his nephew''s affection, but throughout their conversation, their shes became fiercer and more deadly.

    The Laws hidden within Nox Mana were especially clear at the moment.

    Death, annihtion, extermination, a hint of the 5 elements, and even¡­

    ''It can''t be.''

    Damien shook off the absurd assumption forming in his head and counterattacked with his ownws.

    Life, Death, Reincarnation, Space, Time, Fire, Lightning, and even a hint of Void merges into the pure World Core mana and shot forward.

    These Laws shed with their enemies.

    It was a silent sh. There wasn''t anything particrly entertaining about the scene.

    But at the same time, it was mystical.

    Two waves of differentws intertwined and mingled. While thews shed, they also followed their natural instinct to exist in harmony.

    It was a strange dichotomy to witness, especially in such a vague form, but Damien could feelprehension pouring into his mind.

    The rtionships between elements that he''d been trying to understand, wasn''t this a glimpse of it?

    Damien almost wanted to jump up and hug the Saint Emperor.

    After all, for thest few minutes of their first interaction¡­

    The Saint Emperor had given Damien a bigger gift than he''d ever expected to give.

 Chapter 789 Final Stand [5]

    The way Life and Death interacted was rtively simple. The two Laws represented pr opposites, and while they shared a symbiotic rtionship, it was alsomon for them to sh at a moment''s notice.

    Reincarnation represented the delicate bnce in which these two opposites harmonized.

    Space and Time were more convoluted in many different ways. For one, there wasn''t a defined boundary between them, and they were always interacting as if they desired to be one. Along with this, space and time didn''t have a middle ground, rather their convergence point was far less of a point and more of a macrocosm in itself.

    After all, the convergence of space and time created the "container" in which reality existed.

    Now, with these facts in mind, how did space react when it mingled with Life, and what about Death? The same could be said about time. How did these unrted forces interact?

    While they were unrted on the surface, in reality, they had far more rtion than anyone could imagine.

    What was space if not a ce for life to reside? Where could life exist without space for it to exist within?

    And without time, what was the measure of death? The concept of lifespan would disappear, the concept of maturity would disappear, and all the functions of life that allowed death to thrive would cease existing.

    In essence, these four forces shared aplex rtionship that was represented within the universalw, and it wasn''t just them.

    The five elements, creation and destruction, and all other concepts in existence were connected somehow.

    ''That connection is being represented here.''

    Due to the sh between two different World Core variants, thews of the universe were wantonly being thrown about the World Core Space.

    While it didn''t mean anything to the Saint Emperor, who''d already reached a level where he could touch the universalw with the tips of his fingers, it was everything to Damien.

    ''This is it. This is everything. If I can internalize this¡­''

    Damien sunk intoprehension without care for his surroundings. Even if he didn''t put his trust in Park Jinho, themander was his only hope of survival on the physical ne, and with the World Cores shing so ferociously, he didn''t have to mediate the battle much either.

    As long as he diverted a portion of his consciousness to maintain the world''s stability¡­

    ''Let''s see what I can gain from this unexpected opportunity.''

    It had to be remembered that a Demigod stood opposed to Damien. Immersing himself inprehension at this juncture contained just as much risk as it did reward¡­

    ¡­or at least, that''s what Damien thought.

    ''He''s a fast learner. At this rate, I shouldn''t have to wait too long before he reaches "that" level.''

    The Saint Emperor watched Damien as he controlled the Infected World Core to retaliate with the bare minimum of required strength to survive.

    His consciousness was split in two, with both sides partaking in battle, but neither looked distressed in the slightest.

    ''Park Jinho is just average. With time, he too will fade into the annals of history. This boy, however¡­the change he brings to this universe will be immense, likely more immense than even our advent.''

    The Saint Emperor felt something bubbling up in his chest, a feeling he hadn''t experienced so prominently in many years.

    ''Excitement.''

    A burning anticipation filled his chest as he thought of Damien''s, no, the Seed''s future achievements.

    However, nothing was set in stone. Fate was a mysterious force, firm at times yet extremely malleable at others.

    When it came to the fate of someone like Damien, there were countless different branching paths that he could possibly take depending on the situation.

    ''I want to drive him to despair.''

    If so, Damien''s path would be that of an Asura. Watching him destroy the universe with his own hands would be a treat, especially if the Saint Emperor could appear during the aftermath and consume the Seed''s power.

    However¡­

    ''That isn''t nearly the most amusing timeline.''

    As someone who''d lived for countless hundreds of thousands of years, the Saint Emperor was a being consumed by boredom.

    He participated in the war personally for a spark of entertainment, and also to see if he could find someone with the potential to be entertainment in the future.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Instead, he found Damien, someone who far surpassed any expectations he could''ve possibly held.

    ''There are so many paths, it is almost euphoric to imagine them ying out. However, only one cane into existence.''

    The Saint Emperor smiled.

    ''Let us see how his life ys out first. It seems he is already on quite the interesting path.''

    The Saint Emperor nced over at Damien, who was surrounded by willowisps of pitch-ck mana that constantly shifted between multiple different concepts. His smile only grew wider and more perverse when he saw it.

    His fists clenched, and a trace of murky ck mana appeared around it.

    But unlikest time, it wasn''t met by heavenly retribution.

    The ck mana was allowed to swirl freely.

    After all, with the source nearby, how could the heavens dare to interfere?

    ''Is it another three minutes before the process is over? Shall I entertain this Park Jinho for a bit before I go?''

    The Saint Emperor casually parried Park Jinho''s swords with his bare forearms and counterattacked with the ferocity of a tiger.

    Right hook, a jab from the left, another straight punch, an uppercut to the jaw; the uppercut lost momentum halfway through as the Saint Emperor impossibly changed its trajectory and mmed the back of his fist into Park Jinho''s nose.

    Bang!

    The humanmander''s body went flying. Before he could regain his senses, the Saint Emperor was before him again.

    He felt like every attack was being forcefully etched into his soul. He could clearly remember every pattern, every slight nuance of the Saint Emperor''s movements as the man utterly decimated him.

    ''I must make distance¡­!''

    Park Jinho truly tried his best. He used every tactic in his arsenal. He utilized Water Laws to their utmost, giving way to a mystical showing of water''s properties, however, it was no use.

    ''He was toying with me from the beginning.''

    The realization struck along with another thunderous fist,

    It was inconceivable.

    Even when he barely used mana, the Saint Emperor''s precise movements honed over hundreds of thousands of years of training were more than enough to suppress someone of Park Jinho''s level.

    Not to mention, the pureprehensive ability of a Demigod.

    As a being who nearly surpassed the universe, the Saint Emperor had an inexplicable ability to deconstruct itsws.

    Though it wasn''t absolute, it was an ability that could absolutely suppress those with less understanding of those base concepts than him.

    In essence, it was an ability that boiled down to the universalw once again.

    Park Jinho gritted his teeth and fought back with everything he had. He swirled through the air like a dreidel, disying all 63 Faces of Water one after another.

    The first phase began gently, but thest phase was a raging tsunami that could consume a with its fury.

    The ability itself was wless, but the enemy was too powerful for it to show its worth.

    It was a depressing fight.

    Park Jinho felt the desire to give up countless times.

    But somehow, he managed to persevere past his pessimism.

    5 minutes passed.

    The world began rumbling once more.

 Chapter 790 Final Stand [6]

    Damien''s eyes shot open.

    His irises reflected brilliant blue and abyssal ck, but with every second, the iridescent blue light swallowed the ckness and refused to let it live.

    5 minutes had passed, and with the Saint Emperor''s unexpected aid, 50% of the World Core had been purified.

    There was nothing left for Damien to do.

    The reflections faded from his irises, and his consciousness returned to reality.

    ''I still need to facilitate the process to watch out for changes, but it should bergely autonomous at this point. The Saint Emperor also can''t regain control without spending a considerable amount of time tipping the bnce again. After all¡­''

    This newly formed World Core wasn''t the same as the one that''d been corrupted the first time. This World Core was influenced by Damien, and transitively, the Void.

    "Is it finished?"

    The words didn''te from Park Jinho, but from the Saint Emperor. The Nox Demigod smilingly looked at Damien with a look of interest coloring his eyes.

    Park Jinho looked over curiously as well.

    Damien nced at Park Jinho and nodded.

    "It''s finished. His power should be significantly weakening with every passing second."

    "Aha, that one is true, but it isn''t pleasant if you look down on me too much."

    The Saint Emperor''s demeanor was ever-changing. In a split second, his jovial attitude turned cold.

    "It is true that my defeat was decided long ago, and it is also true that my best course of action from this point forward is retreat, however¡­"

    The Saint Emperor raised his arms above his head and began to gather mana.

    "Let me leave you a reminder. This retreat was not caused by you, it was not provoked by the measly forces you dare to call Heaven''s Army. This retreat was forced by a single man and his ability to alter the very fabric of reality."

    The sky turned ck.

    The sun disappeared from Calypto, and the entire realm was submerged in ckness.

    It began to rain.

    "I do not particrly enjoy being looked down on. I shall leave you a treat before I leave, a reminder of why I am titled an Emperor."

    "You think you can leave as you please?" Park Jinho sneered.

    "Do you truly believe you can stop me?"

    The Saint Emperor snapped his finger.

    The world cracked.

    It wasn''t a mere expression, it wasn''t an action that took a great deal of power to execute.

    A mere snap of the finger created a crack that split Calypto into two even halves.

    Crack!

    Crack! Crack! Crack!

    RUMBLE!

    Spiderwebs spread from the crack and the structural stability of the world was immediately challenged.

    "Fuck!"

    Damien cursed as he inserted his consciousness back into the World Core. He pushed Void Mana into the pure blue World Mana and controlled it, using it as a tether to hold the world together.

    "Hahaha! You were nning to use this well, were you not? An Emperor''s possessions¡­are his alone!"

    KA-BOOM!

    A crackle of lightning resounded through the world. The torrent of rain pouring from the ckened sky became furious, and even Damien began to feel its effects.

    ''He is¡­corrupting the world again.''

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    This wasn''t a corruption that would ever reach the World Core now that the core itself regained its ability to fight.

    There was no real benefit to corrupting ypto a second time.

    The Saint Emperor was merely toying with his enemies.

    He turned Calypto into and uninhabitable by any race other than the Nox, he turned it into an infertilend that couldn''t birthe or house a single ounce of life.

    And there wasn''t a single person powerful enough to stop him.

    Park Jinho and Damien could only powerlessly watch as the oceans around them turned ck and the world was ruined.

    ''At this rate¡­''

    Damien frowned. At this rate, the entire world would be destroyed, along with everyone on it.

    ''How would I even stop him¡­?!''

    Frustration set in.

    Frustration caused by weakness.

    This was absolute power.

    Even while limited to the form of a 4th ss being, the Saint Emperor could easily waste a.

    This was the same feeling Damien felt long ago, facing an opponent whose status wasn''t much weaker than the Saint Emperor.

    Watching a battle where an entire horde of Demigods had to work together to fight a single being instilled the same sense of powerlessness deep into his bones.

    The true pinnacle of the universe was still far away.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It wasn''t something he could touch yet.

    But¡­

    ''It''s closer than I imagined.''

    It burned. The desire to be stronger was almost suffocating.

    But this type of suffocation, Damien didn''t mind at all.

    He watched the Saint Emperor with cold and indifferent eyes.

    He engrained every detail of thetter''s existence into his mind, from his appearance down to the intricate nuances of his mana.

    "Next time we meet, I will destroy you," Damien muttered.

    The Saint Emperor looked over with an anticipatory smile on his face. "I truly hope you can live up to those words."

    His body floated into the air. The life-or-death arena faded from existence, and the Saint Emperor began moving to exit Calypto''s atmosphere.

    As always, he was uninhibited.

    Damien and Park Jinho watched destely as he left.

    "Should we do something?"

    "Even if we want to, can we?"

    Damien looked over at the downtrodden Park Jinho.

    The spark his eyes once possessed was gone.

    "Facing a Demigod in singlebat is an eye-opening experience, huh."

    "Eye-opening¡­is definitely one way to put it."

    "¡­"

    The duo sat silently.

    There was nothing to say.

    They saved Calypto¡­didn''t they?

    Despite its state, the world was still alive¡­wasn''t it?

    But they only felt destion and disappointment.

    The Saint Emperor was like a storm. He appeared, acted without restraint and plunged everything into chaos, then left as if nothing happened.

    Damien and Park Jinho had weathered that storm, sure, but as people who''d faced it directly, they understood more than anything the truth behind the situation.

    "We were spared."

    "He treated us like unruly children."

    "What a disgusting feeling."

    Battle was an imperative concept in this world. Battle was what drove society to improve, and it was what allowed every individual a chance to ascend to Godhood.

    Battle was something that almost every practitioner loved, even if it was to different extents.

    But¡­

    That was only when the battle had purpose.

    The Saint Emperor''s battle against Damien and Park Jinho¡­?

    It was utterly pointless.

    It was a show of power and a move to crush the spirits of the enemy.

    It was the mere whim of a higher existence.

    Damien begrudgingly picked himself up off the floor.

    The severed ocean around him was dyed ck due to recent events, and acted as an opaque barrier hiding him from the rest of the world.

    Haa¡­

    A sigh leaked from his lips.

    Mulling over a pointless battle was more pointless than the battle itself.

    Trying to rationalize the utterly random whim of a higher existence was more pointless than even that.

    Instead, he had to move forward.

    Just like he''d always done, he had to move forward while pushing the past behind him.

    Next time, his battle with the Saint Emperor wouldn''t be pointless, no, it would be the moment the Nox realized just how terrifying of an enemy Damien could be.

    Until then¡­

    Damien turned to Park Jinho with a tired smile on his face.

    "Since things havee to this, should we do some damage control and salvage what we can?"

    Park Jinho looked back at him with the same smile on his face. It seemed he had also realized the same things as Damien.

    "Mm," Park Jinho gave a sound of affirmation.

    His eyes turned up at the ckened sky.

    "After all, the war never ends."

 Chapter 791 Winding Down [1]

    ck skies, ck seas, cknd; Calypto was drowned in ck to the point where Damien got tired of the color.

    "It''s worse than I thought." He murmured to himself.

    The remaining 6 continents on Calypto were more than just unlivable, they werepletely dested. The ground was cracked and sundered, and even stepping on it would inflict one with a deadly curse.

    But this was merely the earth alone. The air was poisonous, and even the waters were filled with corruption that could immediately turn anyone who drank it into a mindless berserker who killed until they died.

    ''And that bastard was prepared, too prepared. Was this his goal from the start?''

    The depth of Calypto''s corruption was far worse than when only the World Core was infected. At this rate, it would take hundreds of years after the World Core recovered for this world to ept life once more.

    ''Luckily, damage control is going rtively well.''

    The bright side was the fact that barely any sentient life existed on Calypto, aside from those that''d already been corrupted.

    The kidnapped victims in the research sites were mostly rescued, and almost all of the food supplies were also emptied out. Of the total poption of prisoners on the, only around 10% died in the ensuing catastrophe.

    But that was still tens of thousands of people.

    ''The Saint Emperor doesn''t give a shit about captives. His aim in corrupting Calypto was¡­''

    Me.

    The thought came to Damien''s head instantly. Other than he, the Celestial who would bind Calypto, nobody else would suffer from the''s current state.

    Even Heaven''s Army never had ns for Calypto. The world was too deep in the middle of Eden for it to matter strategically, considering the Sector''s current state.

    ''But the luckiest part isn''t any of that.''

    Damien''s awareness connected to the recuperating World Core and spread through the depths of the earth.

    It was extremely close to the World Core, almost too close forfort, but there was arge hollowed cave-like area present there beneath the earth.

    ''It''s not naturally formed.''

    Damien didn''t notice it until the control efforts began, and when he did, one of his main worries disappearedpletely.

    ''Looks like I''ll still be able toplete the mission the Director gave me.''

    His body disappeared from the surface.

    When the Director prefaced the mission to Damien, his exact words were "devastate and conquer," and while Damien had done both of those things, he''d yet to aplish the final task he was given.

    It was perhaps the most important, and the task Damien fretted over most throughout his stay on Calypto.

    After all, it was nearly impossible to discover the underground cavern without the World Core''s assistance.

    But now¡­

    Damien''s body rematerialized in the cavern. The damp smell of blood, sweat, and feces filled his nose.

    It was a truly disgusting ce.

    The walls were lined with chains, each pair holding the wrists of another prisoner. Each of these prisoners was covered in an array of body fluids, notpletely their own.

    And more than that, their bodies were brutally broken. Some were sewn together with other prisoners, and there were even some who''d been fused with disgusting lifeforms that Damien didn''t even want to name.

    Damien walked through the cavern slowly, his eyes panning from side to side in search of any life signatures.

    ''They''re all dead¡­though, it may be for the better.''

    For these people who''d undergone inhumane torture and be monsters, perhaps death was the least painful future.

    Damien''s clothes fluttered as he jumped from the edge of a cliff and fell deeper into the cavern.

    All around, simr sights of tragedy filled his eyes. It was hard for him to find a method of torture that wasn''t used.

    When he finally reached the cavern''s deepest depths, his foot touched ground in the midst of a swarming pit of unidentified insects.

    ''Fuck¡­''

    He cursed as he stomped his foot into the ground, sending a shockwave that pushed away any creature near him.

    ''Mana is suppressed down here, almost to the point of bingpletely obsolete.''

    He walked forward without hesitation, pushing away bugs and decaying bodies until he reached the end of the cavern.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It was an ordinary wall with no special features, at least on the outside.

    But the All-Seeing Eyes showed Damien something different.

    ''I finally found you¡­''

    BANG!

    His fist went through the wall, destroying the magic that enchanted it and opening up the passage within.

    There was only a single person.

    Chains stretched down from the ceiling to cuff their wrists, and chains came up from the ground to cuff their ankles.

    A strange crystal lined the walls of the cave in which this person was being held. As soon as Damien entered their vicinity, he felt his consciousness bing faint.

    ''Fuck¡­I guess it takes this much to deal with someone on that level¡­''

    He gritted his teeth and pushed into the cave, using his Mind Prison to numb the sensation filling his body.

    He finally reached that person''s position, and was able to see their face for the first time.

    A smile crept up his own.

    "So we finally meet. Aesir ckwood, I''ve been looking for you."

    World Force materialized in the air, giving off a formless fluctuation that offset the cave''s natural defenses.

    [Break]

    Damien used the absolute power of a Celestial to destroy the chains binding the man named Aesir''s extremities and caught the man''s limp body before he could fall to the floor.

    ''Amazing. ording to the Director''s information, he''s been stuck here for at least 3 years, yet he''s still in perfect condition.''

    3 years was nothing to a practitioner who could survive off of mana alone, but in this manaless environment, aplishing the same feat could only be called a miracle.

    As Damien brought the man''s body out of the cave, his eyes slowly opened.

    "Urgh¡­"

    A pained groan left his mouth. His vision was hazy, and the feeling of movement after so long almost made him nauseous.

    "Put me down¡­for a second¡­" He squeezed out through pained breaths.

    Naturally, Damienplied. Teleporting to the surface with someone as weak as Aesir would only cause his death.

    Aesir closed his eyes immediately upon touching solid ground. Even in the suppressing environment, breaths of mana began emanating from his body.

    ''At this rate¡­''

    It only took half an hour for Aesir''s once terribly injured body to return to its peak condition.

    His eyes opened again, containing almost an abyssal emptiness as they turned towards Damien.

    "I apologize for the inconvenience. Allow me to reintroduce myself now that I am in somewhat better condition. I am Aesir ckwood. May I have the honor of knowing my benefactor''s name?"

    "Mm, I''m Damien Void. It''s a pleasure to meet in this form."

    "This form?"

    "Come on, now. Are you really going to act clueless? You haven''t been ying the ''recently rescued prisoner of war'' act very well so far."

    "What do you¡­"

    "I mean, you didn''t even question who I was when you woke up, you immediately figured out how to evade the cavern''s mana suppression, and it seems as if you''ve been expecting my presence for a long time now. With all the hints youid out in front of me, did you think I wouldn''t notice?"

    Aesir ckwood''s shocked expression slowly faded into one of curiosity.

    "Then, who are you assuming me to be?"

    Damien grinned a sly grin, like the grin of a fox. He clearly gave off the aura of someone up to no good.

    "Hahaha, who do you think I assume you to be¡­Director?"

 Chapter 792 Winding Down [2]

    The cave went silent for a few moments.

    "¡­tch."

    Until a barely audible click of the tongue interrupted it.

    "Was my acting really that bad?"

    Aesir ckwood scratched his head with a disappointed look on his face, as if he truly didn''t expect to get found out.

    "I mean, did you even try to hide yourself?"

    Damien''s words were the final blow.

    "Hey, I did my best, okay?! It''s not like I was born to be an actor or something. Fuck, that profession isn''t even profitable anymore!"

    Damien''s eyes widened. This manner of speech¡­was definitely not what he expected.

    Though, he didn''t find it surprising.

    Aesir ckwood was a different being than the Director, after all.

    "This is my first time seeing a clone in real life."

    "Well, as a clone, this is my first time seeing a perverse genius like you in real life too, so I guess that''s something."

    "You''re quite the annoying guy. Are you really the Director''s clone?"

    "Tch! I''m the one who gave you all the information to find this body. Who else would I be?"

    "So you know it yet you still pretend like me guessing your identity was something mind-blowing."

    "K-kuhum! My mana is still regenerating, so leave me alone for a bit."

    Damien rolled his eyes. Aesir ckwood wasn''t anything like what he expected to find when he got here, and it wasn''t just a matter of personality.

    Rather, Damien only realized Aesir''s identity in the final few moments before he voiced his assumption.

    Clones were a strange thing. There were many different forms of cloning and puppeteering that appeared in Grand Heavens Boundary over time, but the "best method" was always a position left unupied due to the sheer variety of techniques and their pros and cons.

    The method the Director used was arguably one of the best, but also one of the riskiest.

    ''Aesir ckwood¡­he is a true human through and through.''

    Aesir ckwood was born from a mother and father rather than a test tube. He lived a normal life as Aesir ckwood likely for the majority of his childhood.

    However, his true identity was that of a clone, a piece of the Director''s gic structure, mana, and soul that was imnted into a fertilized egg.

    By the time Aesir turned 18, the memories started flooding in,

    By the time he was 20, his identity was already established.

    Aesir was a living clone who shared consciousness and memory with the Director, but wasn''tpletely under his control.

    He had the freedom to move as he pleased as long as he didn''t vite the Director''s overarching will.

    This was the same reason their personalities differed so much. Even as a clone, Aesir ckwood was sentient and aware of how important identity was for a person.

    He prioritized his own ego over the Director''s, and while this led them to constantly sh, their goals were aligned and these shes were merely on the same level as those between a parent and child.

    ''What an interesting method. Aesir can act simrly to a Nox Avatar, but with his autonomy, the Director doesn''t have to put his full attention into control. This allows them to move independently and aplish double the work with half the effort.''

    Damien nced over Aesir''s body. Even the man''s status window was revealed to him, indicating his level.

    "4th ss, huh. Weaker than I expected."

    "Shut up already. If I wasn''t a 4th ss, I wouldn''t even be able to interfere in this war."

    "You won''t be able to interfere anyway if you keep getting yourself locked up like this. Isn''t it embarrassing?"

    "Oi, brat. You picking a fight?"

    "And if I am?"

    Aesir red at Damien, but in the end, scratched his head and turned his eyes to the floor.

    "Fuck, that old man won''t let me."

    "So much for autonomy."

    "You little shit¡­!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Hahahaha!"

    Damien shook off hisughter and turned away.

    "In all seriousness, the situation isn''t good right now. I don''t know how much has been transmitted to the academy, but¡­"

    Aesir shook his head in denial. "The situation is actually far more favorable for us than it has ever been. The battlefield on Throh has developed well, and since you were able to finish up here, we''ve gained an advantage over those scummy invaders for the first time in a few years."

    Damien smiled wryly. "Is this the so-called ''lost the battle, won the war'' expression? It doesn''t feel too good when you''re part of the former side."

    "You are saying you lost the battle?" Aesir''s brows shot up in surprise.

    Damien sighed.

    "It''s best if you see for yourself."

    Grabbing the now semi-recovered man, Damien teleported back to the surface.

    And Aesir''s jaw dropped to the floor.

    ***

    The recovery efforts on Calypto were progressing smoothly.

    Most of the enemy forces were dead, and though the''s atmosphere was corrupted, the internals of all starships present in its vicinity were perfectly fine.

    Everyone that could be evacuated was evacuated, and everyone who needed to be killed was put down.

    It wasn''t a celebratory time.

    It took almost an entire week for the processes on Calypto to end, and the forces present there evacuated as soon as they could. After joining up with the forces stationed in the''s orbit, they didn''t move anymore.

    Everyone needed a moment of rest.

    Too much had happened for them to move into action again immediately.

    Butpared to the regr soldiers and cadets, Damien''s exhaustion was multiple times worse.

    Aesir had already left to speak with Park Jinho many days ago. As the Director slowly filled himself in on the situation through his clone, Damien wasying down on afortable bed, his eyes closed and his arm over his face.

    ''It''s been so chaotic that I feel like dying.''

    He''d gained a lion''s share of benefits over the course of this war, but he''d almost lost just as much. Perhaps his physical body was perfectly fine, but his mental exhaustion was so great that he wanted to drop dead for a few years to recover.

    ''But I don''t have the freedom to do that.''

    There were still many things that needed to be done.

    ''I need to have another talk with Baek Woojin, check up on Tyler and them, check up on Zara, facilitate Calypto''s purification until it''s over, make sure Aesir doesn''t do anything stupid until we get back to the academy,prehend my new powers so I can efficiently use them¡­fuck, I don''t even want to continue listing.''

    The constantly changing chain of events forced Damien into a pit of loose ends like he''d never experienced before.

    While some were permanent like his identity being revealed to the Saint Emperor, he needed to make sure the things he could fix remained fixed.

    ''I should start with Baek Woojin, since I''m still not 100% sure that the brainwashing took full effect. After that, I can¡­you know what, fuck this.''

    Damien''s body disappeared from the bed, only rematerializing when he arrived in a different world entirely.

    He shed away, traveling millions of kilometers in an instant as he made his way to a specific area of the world.

    It was a paradise for fairies, a ce where nature ran rampant to the point where it was almost unnatural.

    Throughout these fields, bell-likeughter would intermittently resound as children ran around ying with the spirits and nts.

    And among them¡­

    Was one far more special than the rest.

    Her eyes turned as if she sensed his presence.

    The smile that lit up her face was enough to melt away any fatigue.

    "Big brother!"

    She shouted in joy as she barrelled towards him.

    Damien smiled softly as he gently caught her and dispersed her momentum.

    ''Just for today, I think a little rxation should be allowed.''

 Chapter 793 Cracks [1]

    The explosion was far worse from the outside.

    While Aaliyah and Thaddeus were able to avoid it because of guelord''s artifact, the forces fighting to block the star destroyer weren''t so lucky.

    Countless warriors lost their lives.

    But with their sacrifice, they saved countless more.

    The star destroyer was aary object despite being constructed by man, so its copse wasn''t something light. The sheer amount of damage it did to the starry sky alone would remain for hundreds of years toe.

    Countless hundreds of kilometers of space distorted chaotically, and traversing the area around Throh became nearly impossible.

    In a sense, Heaven''s Army had faced defeat on this battlefront as well. After all, aside from destroying the star destroyer, the main goal of the attack on Throh was securing a supply route to the Soul World.

    While this was still somewhat possible, it was far more inconvenient due to the area''s current condition. Not to mention, the Throh didn''t exist anymore.

    Even the entity that resided within the world had fled during the star destroyer explosion. Heaven''s Army wasn''t even able topletely confirm its identity, only that its form was simr to a snake.

    Only a stray World Core remained in Throh''s ce.

    Perhaps, someday, it would be able to bloom into a once more.

    Nevertheless, events continued after the explosion. There was no time to ruminate over mysteries that couldn''t be immediately solved.

    The battle wound down eventually, and because a majority of the Nox forces in the area had been decimated by Sherya''s tactics, cleanup was far easier than it shouldn''t have been.

    The normal Heaven''s Army soldiers worked ceaselessly for many days to perfectly clean the battlefield. Meanwhile, the higher authorities were far away, partaking in apletely different type of battle.

    A mental standoff against a Demigod wasn''t a joke, especially when an unknown situation caused that Demigod''s kin to activate a protective charm given to him by said Demigod.

    Prisci Adire was barely able to hold the guelord back using her authority and ability, along with the help of those extreme peak 4th sses supporting her.

    "The victory¡­is ours." A relieved murmur leaked from her mouth. In the current pregnant silence, it was incredibly loud.

    The atmosphere shifted immediately.

    The building tension died down, and even though they were in the presence of a Demigod, these extreme peak 4th sses didn''t have any more fear.

    They''d won the battle, and since the guelord''s son didn''t die, they didn''t have to worry about retaliation.

    "You fools, destroying your own universe, it is hrious."

    The guelord''s broken words were like a bucket of cold water on the spreading atmosphere of calm.

    His gleaming eyes nced around the encirclement.

    "Universe prohibits, my participation, otherwise only death¡­"

    "¡­disdainful."

    The Demigod began to move. He stood up from his seated position and floated unhurriedly through the crowd around him.

    They didn''t lift a finger.

    They could do nothing but avoid him, lest the universalw activate its prohibitions.

    Prisci Adire watched him leave with an indifferent face.

    "You may outstrip us in strength, but remember: the universe''s restrictions are protecting you just as much as it protects us. You aren''t even an Emperor yet, and you dare to be arrogant? Any of our Holy Masters could end you with a single finger."

    guelord''s movements paused. His head turned, his eyes ring at Prisci''s small figure.

    "We, will see¡­Ancient Battlefield, true stage."

    Leaving those words, he turned around and left.

    Those present couldn''t help but feel as if his existence was dissonant, a feeling that got stronger the further away he got.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''A Demigod isn''t called a higher existence for no reason.''

    It was a shared thought amongst those extreme peak 4th sses who participated in the mission.

    They hadn''t battled him, and thanks to Prisci''s power, his Avatar had been subdued rapidly as well. But just from that single showing of power and histent aura, they were clearly able to see that he was Heaven and they were Earth.

    Prisci let out a deep sigh.

    "Let''s go. Let''s regroup with the main army and assess the situation before nning on how to proceed from here, guelord won''t be a problem anymore."

    "How do you know?" A nearbybatant asked.

    Prisci''s eyes became hazy as she looked in the direction the guelord left in.

    "¡­that man isn''t asplicated as he appears."

    Her eyes were filled with indiscernible emotion, yet within mere sparks of an instant returned to their usual indifference.

    There was still work to do.

    Now that they''d won the battle, a connection needed to be made with Soul World, and Eden''s situation needed to be stabilized,

    The war wasn''t over. In fact, now that such a huge battle ended in Heaven''s Army''s victory, they needed to capitalize on their momentum and move with more fervor than ever before,

    ''Before the Nox can dig their ws too deep in the Soul World and Beast Domain, we need to be ready to counteract them. Never again can we allow the situation to turn out the same way as it did in Eden.''

    Perhaps it wasn''t a total Dead Zone like the Elven Domain, but Eden was also uninhabitable at this point. The majority of its worlds were either destroyedpletely or corrupted beyond repair, and the nt Races had taken a massive blow to their numbers.

    If the universe kept losing as it had been, it wouldn''t be long before it was totally destroyed.

    ''Amidst all this bad news, it''s at least good to know that our universe is still producing geniuses.''

    A small smile formed on Prisci''s face. This kind of expression was so incredibly rare that if any of her acquaintances saw her currently, they''d directly faint.

    ''Damien Void, just what kind of person are you?''

    The advent of a genius who could hold back an Emperor, create miracles, and single-handedly push both concurrent battles to victory with his own actions¡­

    If this wasn''t enough to make her smile, just what was?

    Prisci clenched her fists as she moved towards Throh to regroup with the main army.

    As long as Damien stayed on the battlefield, they''d one day meet.

    And when that day came¡­

    ''If his character is ideal, he could be the perfect sessor to the Demon Sealing Pantheon.''

    In no time at all, Prisci and her group reunited with the main army and continued their duties.

    All things proceeded as they should, and the universe regained a modicum of peace, even if it was only for a brief moment.

    Things were silent for a week or so after the battle as Heaven''s Army and all those associated with them celebrated their victory and nned their next moves. Contact between Sectors was at an all-time high as well, with innumerable forcesing together as one to support the relief efforts.

    But there was something nobody knew, not even the utmost experts of the universe.

    The 9 Sectors together formed a delicate bnce that allowed the universe to function at its maximum capacity.

    They were all cogs in a massive wheel, and each held a certain significance that couldn''t be exined properly in words.

    Now that two of them had been destroyed¡­

    Cracks began to appear in the wheel''s foundation.

 Chapter 794 Cracks [2]

    ''Haa¡­''

    Peace of mind.

    The past few monthspletely disallowed Damien from feeling it, and though he had gone longer without a moment of peace, the pressure of the battlefield made the feelingpletely different.

    It was a relief to sit in a field and enjoy the day.

    Peace wasn''t a right, it was a privilege earned with hard work.

    With the little bit of it that Damien had earned, hepletely checked on Theavel and became informed on the current workings of the Original World.

    Of course, the majority of his day was upied by Xue''er, who was more than just a little annoyed by hisck of care for her.

    He abandoned her in Theavel for several months or even years on end, and through that time, she''d grown almost a head taller.

    That malnourished little girl Damien once knew was no more.

    Every time he saw her interact with the other Theavel denizens, a warm smile unconsciously surfaced on his face.

    She was a beloved princess among all the races, and a leader of the children who lived nearby.

    And more than that¡­

    ''Her spirit mastery is increasing naturally. It''s like she gets stronger by breathing.''

    The way Xue''er interacted with spirits made it seem like she should''ve been born one of them. In fact, Damien had to double-check her status to make sure she wasn''t a halfbreed of some sort.

    But when it wasn''t his own status, the system never lied. Xue''er was truly a full human.

    Nevertheless, after entertaining this uselessly talented adopted sister of his, he perused Theavel''s five continents and explored its cities.

    A poption of a few million wasn''t much, but with every year that passed, that poption saw a dramatic increase. At this point, there were surely over a few hundred million popting thends at this point in time.

    And this also included the survivors that''d been rescued from Calypto. They alone numbered nearly a hundred thousand.

    The sights of Theavel truly affirmed Damien''s will to continue how he''d been moving. His approach towards the Sanctuary was the right one.

    This world was beautiful, and it was natural. It felt like the atmosphere was moreplete because the world was allowed to develop on its own, rather than in his image.

    ''Everyone is thriving together. It''s quite surreal to see this ce grow.''

    It wasn''t just the world itself or the poption that changed.

    Firstly, the Storm Heavens Minor Realm acted as a perfect ce for denizens to temper their bodies, and perhaps even acquire lightning affinities. It was a ce that could build one''s foundation so one could properly step on the path of a practitioner.

    Other than that, and far more importantly, a major upheaval took ce not long after Theavel''s creation.

    Dungeons.

    The newly established World Core did its job perfectly, and Theavel transformed into a beginner world. Dungeons appeared on its surface, and beasts began to roam, created through them.

    A natural ecosystem was created, and the general poption finally had a way to grow and level up.

    With this, the overall level of Theavel''s troops saw a sharp increase. The 4th sses that were so rare to see became slightly moremon, and the number of 3rd ss and below soldiers grew with every year.

    ''With the current trajectory, it should only be a few more years before I have an elite army of my own¡­''

    Damien smiled at the thought. Being under someone else''smand truly didn''t suit him, and while being amander didn''t suit him either, he didn''t need to recklessly take that position.

    ''I''ll have to start talent scouting.''

    Before the army grew stable, he needed to find a strategist and amander who could lead them to victory.

    Only then would he truly be an emperor.

    ''The night sky looks dull.''

    Damien''s gaze pointed at the starless sky.

    How could there be any scenery when Theavel was the only world in existence?

    ''A budding universe, huh¡­''

    It was still just the start. Eventually, the entire sky would be filled with stars. Celestial bodies would span further than even an absolute being could perceive.

    That was Damien''s goal.

    ''Has ite time to leave already?''

    It was truly a fun day.

    The improvements to Theavel were one thing, but more than that, this was likely Damien''s first time truly interacting with themon people living in his domain.

    It was an odd feeling. They had no idea who he was, yet they treated him with such generosity. The society built on Theavel waspletely different from that of the Real ne.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It warmed his heart.

    Damien was extremely content with the type of people and environment his world had budded.

    And now that he''d seen it all¡­

    "¡­STER!"

    "Hm?"

    Damien quirked his brow at the scream that echoed from the distance.

    "¡­ASTERRRR!"

    His face turned pale.

    ''Don''t tell me¡­''

    "MASTERRRRRR~!"

    ''She found me.''

    The abundant body of a certain demon princess appeared over the hill. She was clearly out of breath and covered head to toe in sweat, but the fervent aura emanating from her body could be felt several meters away.

    Damien smiled wryly. ''Well, I guess I won''t regret leaving anymore.''

    His body immediately vanished.

    If it was to dodge the clingy obsession of a certain maid that hepletely regretted taking in¡­

    He would use any means necessary.

    ***

    The juxtaposition between Theavel and Calypto almost convinced Damien to endure the obsessive love of a woman he''d been diligently avoiding, but this feeling was pushed down instantly.

    The warmth of Theavel stayed in Theavel, but it left Damien with energy that he didn''t have before. It cleared the mental fatigue that made him dread moving forward, and allowed him to focus on what needed to be done.

    As he''d nned earlier, his first stop was Baek Woojin.

    The duo sat across from each other in a cafe within one of the academy starships in the fleet. They were both silent, as if waiting for the other person to speak first.

    That silence was eventually broken by Baek Woojin himself.

    "Why did youe visit me? We are not so acquainted for you to care about my well-being."

    "Sheesh, there''s no reason to be so uptight is there? The battle ended already, you know."

    "The war never ends."

    "But the battle does."

    "And that matters because¡­?"

    "Naturally, if you don''t rest your mind between battles, won''t you die from carelessness one of these days?"

    "I will never lose control over my mind."

    "Alright, enough of this."

    Damien sighed and massaged his forehead. Dealing with a prude like Baek Woojin was the hardest. Truly, nothing got through their skulls.

    Damien shook his head, his eyes turning serious.

    "I can heal your sister."

    "You''ve said this before, yet you have shown no proof of your words."

    "Didn''t you say the previous battle would attest to my credibility?"

    "¡­"

    Baek Woojin didn''t speak. Although he hadn''t been there himself, he knew all about Damien''s deeds. Tales of his heroics spread all throughout Heaven''s Army like wildfire as soon as the situation died down.

    His credibility truly couldn''t be doubted.

    In the hearts of countless soldiers, the purple-eyed genius was a hero.

    Baek Woojin''s gaze softened.

    He let out a tired sigh.

    "Tell me, what do I need to do?"

 Chapter 795 Separation [1]

    ''That went¡­perfectly.''

    Damien walked into the starry sky with a smile on his face. His conversation with Baek Woojin had ended, and it had gone far better than he''d ever expected.

    ''I knew he was an army man to the bone, but to think it had such an insane influence on his opinions.''

    Damien was able to easily confirm that the brainwashing worked properly. Baek Woojin didn''t doubt his false memories at all, and due to the care Damien put into changing each memory, he was even slightly influenced by the pseudo-emotions present within them.

    Aside from that, Baek Woojin was heavily influenced by the army''s opinion. Damien was now considered a war hero. If it wasn''t for his spatial abilities making him extremely elusive, he would''ve already been swarmed by people trying to get acquainted with him.

    When those two factorsbined, it made for a Baek Woojin that was actually amiable, something Damien never expected to see.

    ''I''ll have to stop by Heaven''s Army headquarters at some point to heal his sister, but that should be nothing after I master Samsara. For now, everything is flowing perfectly on Baek Woojin''s side.''

    The instructor was now considering a true long-term alliance with Damien, an alliance that extended to the Hunting Dogs.

    ''I hadn''t even heard their name before, but it turns out they''re really something.''

    Of the squads battling in Throh, the Hunting Dogs were one of the top performers. When added to their other feats throughout the war, it wasn''t surprising that they were so renowned.

    ''If I can get such a strong force under me¡­''

    Damien grinned at the thought.

    He lifted his head and looked at the door at the door his feet led him to. Opening it, he was greeted with a strange scene.

    Synth sat on a chair with her back hunched. Her eyes were on the floor, and her hair fell messily, obscuring her face.

    Her entire aura was gloomy. Ash stood next to her patting her back lightly, while Tyler paced with concern on the other side of the room.

    While it was a great thing seeing the three of them up and moving as if nothing happened¡­

    "What''s with this atmosphere?"

    Damien''s voice cut through the silence.

    Synth''s body shuddered.

    Tyler froze, turning his face away with shame.

    Even Ash couldn''t look Damien in the eye.

    ''Though, thatst one is just the usual.''

    "What the hell happened while I was gone?"

    Damien walked into the room with a solemn face. He couldn''t imagine what could''ve put his squad members in such a state.

    Synth shakily looked up.

    Tears formed at the corner of her eyes when she looked at him.

    "I¡­I can''t believe it¡­"

    She choked out the words, seemingly unable to formte her thoughts properly.

    "How could you¡­HOW COULD YOU SELL YOUR BODY TO SAVE US?! UWAAAAAH~!!!"

    Synth immediately broke down into a fit of uncontroble sobbing. Tyler looked away in pain, and Ash¡­continued being Ash.

    As for Damien¡­

    "¡­bruh."

    ¡­he facepalmed so hard the two surfaces almost fused.

    Pak!

    Pak!

    Pak!

    Three dimensional flicks resounded, and three bumps swelled on three different foreheads.

    "What the fuck are you idiots on about?"

    Damien stood like an exhausted teacher dealing with his students as he faced his three squad members, who were now kneeling on the floor in front of him.

    "T-that¡­" Synth mumbled.

    "That?" Damien repeated with a raised brow.

    "W-well¡­I mean, it''s your fault for looking suspicious! How could you do¡­"that"¡­with that squi¡ª?!"

    Pak!

    Another flick resounded.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Damien''s eyes turned to Tyler.

    "So?"

    "Baek Woojin came to us a few days ago to apologize, and then today she caught wind of the two of you meeting privately. You can guess how it went from there."

    "And you joined because¡­?"

    "Uhh¡­because it sounded fun?"

    "Tch. Fair enough."

    Damien shook his head wryly. He was d his squad members were in peak condition, but at the same time, he was somewhatmenting that his squad members were in peak condition.

    Since the emergency situation wasn''t really an emergency at all, Damien rxed and sat down in a nearby chair with a rxed look on his face¡­

    After disciplining Synth a little, of course.

    "You guys are really livingvish. To think they''d provide you with a suite like this."

    Damien looked around the room, impressed. It was seriously like a five-star resort,pletely unlike the other more "economy ss" rooms on the starship.

    "It can''t be helped. After all, aren''t we the squad members of the great Death Emperor Damien Void?" Tyler responded teasingly.

    "Khh¡­" Damien cringed at the nickname. "They just named me after Death Emperor Star, didn''t they."

    "They 100% just named you after Death Emperor Star."

    "Fuck."

    Damien sighed at his luck with titles. It seemed that everywhere he went, he''d only get half-asses titles that made him endlessly cringe.

    He looked out the window with a frown.

    "Putting that aside, how was it? Your first experience at war, that is." He suddenly said.

    "¡­"

    The room was still for a few moments.

    "¡­it was terrifying."

    Tyler was the first to speak.

    "We''ve been preparing our entire lives to enter the battlefield, but virtual simtion can never truly emte the feeling of being here. The stench of blood, the screams of dying allies, the atrocities of the Nox, nothing could''ve prepared us for the reality of war."

    Synth nodded in agreement. There were multiple times throughout the few months they spent on Calypto when she felt like giving up and leaving. The mental stress was far greater than anything she''d experienced in simtions.

    "But still, I don''t regret it." She said.

    Looking at the starry sky beyond the window, a small smile crept up her face.

    "Our narrow worldviews were expanded, we were able to experience many things we never would''ve known if we''d stayed in the Hell Hole, and most importantly¡­"

    "¡­we got stronger."

    Synth clenched her fist.

    "Never again will we be humiliated like we were back then."

    Her determination zed through the room, coalescing with the zing ferocity of her two closestpanions as they reminisced on the past few months,

    Overall, none of them regretted this experience, and none of them mourned their fates.

    Risk and reward often came hand in hand. War was merely the most visceral representation of this concept.

    Tyler, Synth, and even Ash had been trained for war since young, and now that they''d survived their first tribtion¡­

    ''I can''t wait to see how you grow in the future.''

    Damien smiled lightly.

    He didn''t know if he''d ever see these three again after he returned to Hidden Death Valley, but he couldn''t deny that they''d left a deep impression in his heart.

    After staying with them for so long, Damien realized the importance of many things he''d neglected in the past.

    Most importantly, camaraderie and teamwork.

    Damien was a lone wolf. Nothing could ever change this trait of his.

    However, perhaps it wouldn''t be bad to have a force under hismand, a force that obeyed him absolutely.

    For helping him realize the importance of such a force¡­

    Damien would forever be thankful to these three rogues that he''d met by fate.

 Chapter 796 Separation [2]

    A few days passed after that.

    Damien spent most of his time with the Stargazer Squad, and when he wasn''t with them, he was off making sure Aesir didn''t get himself into any trouble.

    Aesir, unlike the Director, was an extremely mischievous and sarcastic person. He was almost a perfect rich young master, except hecked all the ss a young master would possess.

    It wasn''t umon for Damien to be forced to break up a random fight that Aesir instigated or appease higher officers who were affected by his antics.

    Nevertheless, throughout these few days, Damien was able to take care of most of his priorities in the Real ne.

    The only reason he hadn''t visited Zara yet was Calypto.

    ''After the first day, progress has slowed immensely.''

    The academy''s fleet would be leaving Calypto tomorrow, far ahead of their projected return date. After the preceding events, there was truly no reason to remain in this dested world.

    ''The Saint Emperor made a full retreat out of Eden. It''s projected that his Avatar is back in the Abyss right now recovering his forces. Aside from the polluted atmosphere, Calypto is a pretty safe ce to be.''

    In fact, because of the poisonous air that killed Nox and humans alike, Calypto was probably one of the greatest ces to hide from the war.

    ''There''s still some more time until the progress examination. I should be able to make it back on my own by the time it starts.''

    Damien furrowed his brows as he looked out at Calypto.

    In the end, this world would be his. Even if he himself wasn''t a ruler like Leona, he still had a certain responsibility towards the worlds he bound.

    Calypto was a special case even among them, since its World Core was his own creation to an extent.

    ''I want to see how it ends. And I need time to train by myself as well.''

    It wasn''t a hard decision to make. The hard part was exining his decision to those around him and separating himself from them.

    This process took the entirety of the day to finish.

    From the Stargazer Squad to Baek Woojin and Park Jinho, Damien had a lot of goodbyes to say before he could leave.

    Before he knew it, he''d met morerades than he knew what to do with.

    "Be careful! Even if it''s you, surviving isn''t a guarantee! Always keep your guard up! If you see an enemy that''s too great to handle, run away! Your life is more important than your pride! Do you understand?!"

    Park Jinho gripped Damien''s shoulders furiously and shouted every possible piece of advice he could think of.

    The young man in front of him was a genius without predecessor or sessor. He, as a mid-level 4th ss being, stood equal to a Demigod''s Avatar and fought without hesitation or fear.

    He was an example for the younger generation, and a rival for the old. He was someone who would one day be a central figure in the war.

    How could Park Jinho ever think about losing the future hero of the universe?

    "You have to survive!"

    Damien wryly smiled as his body was flung about by the distraughtmander. To the side, the rest of hisrades stood snickering amongst themselves.

    "Tch. So much for a wholesome goodbye." Damien muttered.

    "Hah? What''d you say, you bastard? Wholesome goodbye?! WHOLESOME GOODBYE?! You''re lucky I''m not beating your fu¡ªmmgh mmph!"

    A pair of arms appeared behind Synth and dragged her away, covering her mouth as she continued trying to yell out curses.

    Tyler smiled apologetically from beside where she once stood.

    "As you can see, she''s not taking the news well."

    Damien wriggled his way out of themander''s grasp and walked over.

    "Well, I never expected her to. Good luck dealing with that when I leave."

    "A bastard until the end, huh."

    "It can''t be helped. It''s my defining trait, after all."

    "Tch. I feel bad for the poor souls who follow a bastard Captain like you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The pair chuckled. After a moment, Tyler straightened his body and faced Damien head-on. Keeping his head lowered, he deeply bowed.

    "It was an honor serving under you."

    Damien''s eyes widened for a second, and before long, softened as his smile turned warm.

    "It was an honor serving alongside you as well."

    The pair stood in silence for a while. They knew each other inside and out after going through life and death together for so long. No words needed to be said to convey their intent.

    "Ah, but I guess Ash isn''t going to say anything until the end." Damien suddenly said.

    Ever since that fateful day, Ash hadn''t spoken a single word to him, even in battle. Though it was understandable, he still felt it was a shame.

    Tyler turned away with a strange look on his face. "Well¡­it isn''t quite for the same reason anymore."

    "Hm?" Damien questioned.

    "You¡­never mind, it''s probably better if you don''t know. Who knows what''d happen if you got your bastard ws in her."

    "What the hell are you on about?"

    "Hm? Ah, I was just wondering how those Nox''s ws work. They change shape so naturally that it almost feels strange."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Time passed as Damien mindlessly conversed with Tyler and the rest who''de to see him off.

    It was truly arger group than he''d imagined. There were plenty of people Damien hadn''t even met before, purelying to thank him for what he''d done.

    It didn''t feel that special to him.

    All he did was his best to survive and grow stronger.

    But somehow, he''d managed to make such a deep impact on so many people''s lives.

    The strings of fate and karma were truly strange. The more he felt the effects of his newfound fame, the stronger this thought became.

    Damien smiled. He found himself smiling often in this atmosphere, almost as if he was born to live on the battlefield.

    But like all good things, his time with theserades had toe to an end as well.

    Damien stood in the starry sky alone, watching a fleet of starships fade into the distance.

    He kept remembering his final conversation with Tyler. The happy moments were one thing, but more than that¡­

    ''Captain, you must exercise utmost caution from this point forth. I don''t know what secret you''re hiding, but it''s a surety that the Saint Emperor is fully aware of it at this point. As long as you are on the battlefield, you will not have a single peaceful moment.''

    Tyler''sst words to him were words of warning.

    Damien was aware of it.

    He''d been trying not to think of it with everything else on his te, but now that things had calmed down, there was nothing else to push the thought to the back of his mind.

    The life of a target that he''d been avoiding ever since he learned of the Void Physique''s peculiarity was likely going to be his from this point forth.

    And to prepare for what was toe¡­

    ''I need to get stronger, unbelievably stronger.''

    There was only a single solution.

    Damien shed into Calypto''s corrupted atmosphere.

    He had until the World Core waspletely purified.

    By the time the process ended and it came time to return to Hidden Death Valley¡­

    ''I need to be a monster.''

 Chapter 797 Shadow [1]

    The Homeworld of the Nox was called Al''Katra. Rather than a world, it was better to call it an entire universe condensed into a world.

    It was a ce where a matter of millions of kilometers was nothing, and the poption exceeded any named number in the humannguage.

    A Nox being born wasn''t a special asion. Even though the Nox had no concept of fertility and reproduction, new members of their species would always appear as if they were destined to prosper and expand their influence.

    What truly caused a scene was when a Higher Nox was born.

    asionally, in extremely rare situations, a Nox being was born with consciousness from the start.

    Life for these beings was hard. They needed to adapt to the world on their own, and do everything they possibly could to survive in a world where everyone around them wished to consume them.

    After all, the Nox grew through cannibalism.

    One day, a special being was born even amongst Higher Nox. He possessed an ability that was even rarer than the concept of his existence.

    He could reproduce, not with other Nox, but with species other than them.

    This talent existed within the Noxmunity beforehand, but every time it appeared was a time for celebration. After all, sowing seeds in nearby universes was a great boon for the Nox, who were forced to live in the Abyss to survive.

    However, this talent also turned its users into ves, worked to death to propagate the species.

    That boy grew up with such a power, and over time, he became aware of his importance. He began to grow his position, and instead of allowing his power to consume him, he used it as a great tool to assure his rise in society.

    That man''s name was Ultak Murrobun. To the outside world, he was known as the Divine Emperor.

    For over 100,000 years, he lived domineeringly on Al''Katra. Whenever he needed to, he would explore other universes and utilize the power he was granted to spread the Nox''s influence across reality. His reputation reached a high that couldn''t be surpassed by any other.

    And that was exactly the problem.

    Arge majority of newly born or promoted Higher Nox subordinated themselves to the Divine Emperor, and a great portion of Lesser Nox and halfbreeds were being born from his seed alone.

    He became too powerful.

    It was uneptable.

    Over time, his appearances in other universes halted. His actions were strictly supervised and impeded by the other Nox Emperors. For 10,000 years, he was forced to hole himself up in his dwelling and watch events on the outside world progress.

    During this time, the only thing he had with him was his own thoughts.

    He was barred from moving his own troops, lest they all be mercilessly ughtered by his enemies.

    It was only natural for him to get curious.

    About the human world, about human society, and about the concept of "culture" that the Nox whollycked.

    With his world transformed into a prison, the human world became a beautiful fantasy in his mind.

    It didn''t take long for him to abandon his post.

    He made a secret visit to the human world and experienced the feeling he''d been craving so much. He satiated his curiosity as much as he could, and in the process¡­

    The unfeeling Divine Emperor who only ever knew death and propagation fell in love.

    Gasp!

    Zara''s eyes shot open. A drop of cold sweat dripped down her face as she gasped for breath.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    Her pupils shook fiercely as she tried to solidify her ego. Her body trembled at the same tempo, extreme cold overwhelming her senses.

    ''That¡­''

    Zara clenched her fis¡ª

    Zara''s paws dug into the earth of the Prison Realm.

    ''I''m still in beast form?''

    It took a few minutes for her senses to reorient to reality.

    A flood of chaotic memories entered her head.

    Blood, battle, and¡­

    Betrayal.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''I¡­''

    Zara shook for a different reason.

    She, with her own hands, attacked her savior and only family in this world.

    Even if she was unconscious and controlled, the fact that she attacked Damien was true.

    ''I am a failure.''

    She closed her eyes in disappointment. After everything she went through to awaken her memories¡­

    She barely received any answers.

    ''That man is my father.''

    That was the only thing about her lineage that she could gauge.

    The man in her memories, the Divine Emperor Ultak Murrobun, undoubtedly provided half of her genes. And along with that, it was his power that allowed her to see such memories in the first ce.

    ''The Nox can inherit bloodline memories.''

    This was the second most important fact that she''d learned.

    Actually, in terms of knowledge of the Nox and her power, Zara learned a great deal. She could likely exercise far better mana control now, and the range of her repertoire greatly expanded.

    She couldn''t bepletely unhappy with what she''d received, but the gnawing feeling that something was missing simply wouldn''t go away.

    The memory she received skipped over a great deal of the Divine Emperor''s over 100,000 years of existence, surely including many things that clued towards Zara''s future existence.

    And with all the clues she had gathered until this point, she had a rtive idea of why that was.

    ''I need to find whatever is at the end of that spark of light.''

    It was the key to her memories. If she was able to understand it better, perhaps she''d unlock what she truly wanted.

    Reaching this conclusion, she calmed down somewhat.

    ''This was merely my first attempt to unlock my bloodline memories. In usual cases, the introduction of bloodline memories into the ego causes it to be unstable. Compared to the usual result, I''m in a far better position.''

    The effect of newly introduced bloodline memories was exactly why many entry and early-level 4th ss Nox were far stupider than they should''ve been.

    In the most basic terms, the confusion of their egopletely messed up their ability to think and make decisions, which turned them into idiots for a period of time.

    Though, this wasn''t much of a consequence considering how unnaturally the Nox acquired sentience.

    Nevertheless, it was true that Zara avoided this consequence while obtaining a great deal of benefits. What she needed to do now was organize the information in her mind and guarantee the stability of her ego so she never lost herself as she''d done previously.

    She refused to be anyone''s puppet.

    Zara stood up and observed her surroundings. She found herself in a strange destedndscape where the only life present was her.

    ''This is¡­?''

    While the realm itself made her wary, she could sense Damien''s aura in every single direction. Considering that he wasn''t present, there was only one ce she could be.

    ''Sanctuary.''

    She sighed in relief. If she was here, it meant he was safe. Now, she only needed to worry about the other thr¡ª

    "AGH!"

    A furious pain overcame her.

    Her body convulsed. She foamed at the mouth and her eyes rolled back into her head as a sticky ck substance began to leak from her pores.

    "Jie jie jie jie¡­!"

    Eerieughter traveled through the air, just as sticky and repulsive as the inky substance that produced it.

    A shadowy being took form before Zara and looked down at her.

    "Jiejiejie! Girl, you are maturing well!"

 Chapter 798 Shadow [2]

    "Jiejiejie! Girl, you are maturing well!"

    The shadow spoke ominously. Its words seemed to echo through space, as the shadow had no mouth of its own.

    "You¡­" Zara muttered, ring coldly at it. "So you are my Demonic Providence?"

    "Jiejiejie! So you have unlocked a portion of your bloodline memories. Good! This one''s holder should at least be at this level."

    Zara didn''t respond. She''d seen this shadow only once before, and at that time, it had threatened to consume her and steal her body.

    Naturally, she didn''t have any good feelings toward it.

    But that didn''t change the fact that it was her Demonic Providence.

    The third most important concept that Zara learned through her bloodline memories was of Demonic Providence.

    Demonic Providence was something like a coalescence of a Nox being''s life and power before sentience. This agglomeration would grow along with its user, and when its user reached the required level, it would merge with them and provide them a special power.

    Just like the guelord''s ability to control disease, or even the Saint Emperor''s ability to mimic other elements.

    Every Nox being that achieved sentience would automatically gain their own Demonic Providence, and though she was a halfbreed, Zara also had her own.

    The shadow manifested before her was its ego. It was her own power, but at the same time, it stood against her.

    "State your purpose." She said sinctly.

    "Jiejiejie! I merely came to check on my owner! Is that such a crime?"

    "It is. You know as well as I do what you represent."

    "Oho? Has the little girl finally matured a bit?"

    Zara''s eyes sharpened. She didn''t have any mind to entertain this being.

    Another Nox''s Demonic Providence would bepletely in sync with them and obey them unconditionally, but Zara wasn''t so lucky.

    Because of her halfbreed status, her Demonic Providence took a skewed path to growth. While it did emte her life and power as she grew, it also served as a container for her Nox abilities before she''d developed her bloodline.

    In this way, her Demonic Providence gained the thought process of a Nox, along with all of Zara''s negative thoughts and energy. Though it was formless, she couldn''t help but see it as a convoluted mirror of herself.

    ''To fullye into my power, I must make it submit.''

    She understood that, but she also understood that it wasn''t in her current capacity. Perhaps after she mastered the techniques in her memory¡­

    "Girl, I have not appeared today to fight. Lower your guard." The shadow said suddenly.

    "Then why have youe?"

    "Jiejiejie! I merely wished to see your progress! I felt such a beautiful rush of energy and emotion a bit ago; how could I note?"

    "You aren''t needed, so go back."

    "Is that amand¡­?"

    Grr¡­

    Zara growled at the shadow''s mocking words. It seemed that even it was aware of its position.

    But just as it said, it didn''te today to fight.

    "Girl, I will give you five years. If you cannot mature in five years¡­jiejiejiejie!"

    The shadow began to retreat into Zara''s body, continuing until itpletely vanished from the air.

    Zara sat on the ground with a frown on her face.

    The shadow''s visit today signified two things.

    Firstly, it wanted to remind her of its existence. Now that Zara was aware of its connotation, it hade to unt its existence and mock her.

    And secondly, Zara was being epted as a Nox being. If the shadow didn''t find her worthy of her lineage, it would''ve consumed her already.

    While these things didn''t seem extremely significant, reality was different.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The second fact was a boon since it meant Zara wouldn''t be immediately killed by other Nox beings who had yet to identify her as an enemy. Her status would grant her a lot of leeway on the battlefield.

    The first was a relief. Since the shadow took initiative to contact her¡­

    ''It is at least somewhat on my side.''

    If the shadow was an enemy, it would''ve been in its best interest to let Zara forget it for now, only appearing at the critical moment to kill her.

    ''But its allegiance is fragile. 5 years¡­''

    If she couldn''t meet that deadline, she''d die and be reced by her mirror version.

    Before that, she needed to grow stronger and find the origin of that mysterious spark.

    Zara''s body changed and shrunk into human form. She sat down on the floor with her legs crossed and closed her eyes.

    She couldn''t leave this Prison Realm until Damien came to get her, so until that time came¡­

    She would train like a beast.

    ***

    Somewhere within the vast sea of stars, two bodies rapidly moved without any sense of direction or purpose.

    Eventually, these two beings came across a beginner world where they stopped to rest.

    A beautiful man and woman walked through the streets of this world, their existence alone infatuating many denizens of the world.

    But the two themselves were entirely disconnected. They seemed to have formed a bubble around them that none could prate.

    "Isn''t it great? Here, try this¡ª ooh! This too!"

    The woman happily rushed through the streets and purchased an array of sweets and treats, forcing a majority of them into her malepanion''s mouth.

    He begrudgingly chewed with dull eyes. He had to admit that this woman was interesting, but after seeing how she acquired the money she was so wantonly spending now, he couldn''t see her the same.

    "Hm? What''s wrong?" She questioned as she turned to face him. Herrge green eyes were filled with curiosity and innocence, making him doubt whether or not she had a split personality.

    "Nothing. I am merely perusing the world as you suggested." He responded nomittally. His bored gaze watched the same sights as the woman, but he simply couldn''t understand her excitement.

    Nevertheless, she smiled at him warmly. "It''s okay if you don''t understand yet. How could I expect you to immediately change? Don''t worry. We''ll slowly make our way through the universe, and by the time we''re done, you''ll fall in love!"

    The man nced away awkwardly.

    Just what was he doing right now?

    Since when was he someone who could casually peruse a world?

    Honestly speaking, this was his first time walking through a world without its residents cowering in fear.

    His hand touched his face subconsciously. His skin didn''t feel any different from before, but a mere change in color was able to cause perception to change to such a degree.

    It was a different feeling, an interesting one.

    He didn''t hate it.

    But to say he''d fall in love¡­

    He didn''t know if this universe could truly appeal to him enough to make him feel something as esoteric as love.

    However, to say that there wasn''t anything in the universe that could do so¡­

    Was aplete lie.

    The woman smiled.

    Change was an extremely gradual process, but it was a process nheless. At some point, it would reach its proper end,

    This particr process, the experience of showing a young and naive foreigner the beauty of life¡­

    How could Aaliyah not feel excited at the mere prospect?

 Chapter 799 Monster [1]

    Time passed without end, and the universe flowed without pause. The strings of fate and karma continued to intertwine as all beings moved to aplish their own desires and purposes.

    During this time, Damien remained on Calypto with limited contact with the outside world.

    He traversed the mountains and rivers, explored the subterranean world, and becamepletely acquainted with this new world that he was to bind.

    It was a novel experience.

    Aside from the peacefulness of solitude, the rity of mind Damien gained from mindlessly walking the earth was curious. He didn''t quite know how to describe the way he felt.

    It was an experience that made him feel bigger than himself. He, as a human, experienced the mindset of someone far transcending that level.

    ''Though, I guess I''m not quite human anymore.''

    Damien smiled wryly. Even his status had no clue what his current race was. After changing his blood, he''d be an entirely unique existence under heaven.

    Wasn''t that exhrating?

    At least, Damien thought it would be.

    Yet, it wasn''t like that at all. Rather than feeling like he grew stronger, he felt like he''d grown into himself, bing moreplete.

    He clenched his fist quietly as he stared at it. White and ck wisps of mana circled his hand like koi fish, making their presence known.

    ''What do you want from me?''

    Mana was a mere energy source for others, but to Damien, it always felt alive. His mana was yful, and even asionally disobeyed hismand. After interacting with such strange mana for so long, how could Damien not view it as a sentient creature of its own?

    He asked the mana a question like it could answer him, and to his expectation, the mana jumped in response to his thoughts.

    Still, he was left sighing. Regardless of the mana''s reaction, it couldn''t trulymunicate with him, nor could it help him understand it.

    When it came toprehending Life and Death Laws, he was entirely on his own.

    ''But isn''t that what makes the process exciting?''

    Originally, it was difficult toprehend Life in an atmosphere so corroded with Death, but that problem onlysted for the first few weeks before he understood how to solve it.

    Life and Death themselves had helped himprehend duality, and duality was what would help himprehend Life and Death.

    Death was cold and harrowing to some, bliss to others, and merely void to some. The perception of death was wholly dependent on one''s life experience, tying the two concepts even further together.

    In a situation where the meaning of death couldn''t be understood without the presence of life, Damien was able to find absolute duality, and even within this deste environment, he felt life.

    He felt the life of the World Core that was slowly budding within the earth, he felt the life of those creatures who lived so deep in the subterranean world that they weren''t affected by the Saint Emperor''s final move, and more than anything else¡­

    He could feel "Life" from existence itself.

    The universe''s breath of life entered his pores, filling him with a sense of enlightenment unlike anything he''d ever felt before,

    Just as the two forces had done within his body, the external Life and Death Laws Damien observed intermingled and showcased their rtionship, allowing him toprehend both at the same time.

    This kind of observation was ten times better than any sort of individualprehension. Comprehending the interactions between Life and Death allowed one to gain double the understanding with half the effort.

    And all of this was possible due to the strange trance-like state of mind that Damien entered. In this state, he cut out any thought not pertaining to his training, and Life and Death began to breathe through him.

    His blood churned through his body, the white and ck glow of it surfacing on his skin as time passed.

    He began to understand.

    Life was beautiful, but so was Death.

    Life and Death were a measure of existence. In a sense, the stronger one became, the more they strayed from the two concepts.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''If one reaches the Demigod level andpletely sheds their mortal coil,prehending thesews bes impossible.''

    It wasn''t that life and death had no impact on Demigods, since it was true that they still lived and could still die. Merely, internalizing the true meaning behind life and death wasn''t possible when one was so distanced from them.

    Nevertheless, both life and death were extremely amicable towards Damien in terms of their mana, andprehending them was only more difficult thanprehending space and time, which came naturally to Damien at this point.

    What he was more curious about was the intersection between them.

    Death marked the end of Life, and to a certain extent, it also marked the start of a new life, but this was only in a situation where the concept of reincarnation was present.

    Damien''s greatest find in this time of reflection was that reincarnation was fickle. Not always did it allow existences into its cycle.

    For some, Death was the true end.

    Their egos would be erased, their souls would break down and vanish into the folds of reality, and the entirety of their existence would crumble.

    p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® ''It sounds torturous, but it''s no different than regr death. Since the ego is erased first, the "person" that the soul represented is already gone by the time it is erased from existence. Rather, the universe''s indifference is the most interesting facet of this process.''

    The process seemed like punishment for vile souls, but it was nothing of the sort. It was merely a matter of random chance, an event that took ce at the whims of a conceptual existence without sentience of its own.

    It was cruel, unbiased, and indifferent.

    ''It''s also one of the most confusing processes I''vee across.''

    Damien shook his head and decided not to think about it. For now, he didn''t have the proper level of Life and Deathprehension to break down the nuances behind such a vague process.

    What he did have, however, was a newfound connection to the two Laws as well as a few different means to utilize them, whether inbat or support.

    ''It''s just unfortunate that I didn''t have much time. If I had another half a year, I feel like I could truly be one with these Laws.''

    Sadly, Damien was a man with many responsibilities.

    He''d stayed past his wee on Calypto, and the progress examination was only a matter of days away.

    Damien''s awareness sunk into the world. He set his eyes on an almost wholly iridescent blue World Core.

    The traces of Nox Mana in the World Core Space were still many, but their actual influence on the World Core had be negligible.

    Damien snapped his fingers. Arge shadowy maw appeared in the World Core Space and began devouring every bit of Nox Mana it came across.

    With just a bit of effort, the entire World Core Space was cleansed.

    ''The only thing left to do is bind the core, I guess.''

    There were too many things that made Damienment his short stay on Calypto. The greatest was his inability toprehend just "how" the World Core changed and recorrected itself after his original interference.

    ''Though, it''s be a bit clearer.''

    With the introduction of Life and Death into Damien''s repertoire, his Voidprehension saw a sharp increase, which allowed him to see a vague representation of the process.

    Everything woulde to him in due time. This much, Damien was sure of.

    But for now¡­

    His consciousness teleported to the World Core Space. A Celestial Mana Thread left his finger and gracefully entwined with the World Core''s pure mana.

    When the two forces made contact¡­

    An explosion of light enveloped Damien''s mind.

 Chapter 800 Monster [2]

    The birth of a world.

    This was what Damien saw upon binding Calypto.

    It was a scene he''d seen once before, but not nearly in the same level of detail as what he was currently witnessing.

    From the moment the universe''s mana coalesced into a tiny sprout that would bloom into a World Core all the way until that World Core matured, formed a world around it, and birthed life, Damien saw it all.

    He was an observer, someone who shouldn''t have existed as this happened. And from this position, he was able to witness things themon eye wasn''t supposed to see:

    Traces of the universalw in its purest and most unadulterated form.

    ''This¡­''

    Damien''s mind raced. The matter of the world itself was secondary. Even the immense Life and Deathprehension he could gain from watching the world grow was secondary.

    If he could obtain even a trace ofprehension of the universalw, all else would be mundane.

    ''Khh¡­!''

    His mind pulsated as he tried to hone in on that barely noticeable trace. He pushed his mental energy to the limit, using his awareness to pierce reality and reach that strand of intent.

    It was shapeless, formless, colorless, almost nonexistent. Yet, it was the exact same intent that formed the entirety of the universe. It was nowhere, yet it was everywhere at the same time, making it almost impossible for Damien to touch it.

    But he did his best. He put everything he possibly could into locating it. He got closer and closer, the fluctuation of that power bing clearer with time until¡­!

    His mind snapped back to reality.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    In the end, he wasn''t able to grasp what he wanted.

    However¡­

    ''That¡­''

    His eyes sharpened.

    ''Wasn''t that simr to the breath of the Void?''

    ***

    Damien''s interaction with the World Core was short yet meaningful. As soon as his consciousness returned to his body, he felt droves of World Force bing his to use, and a new celestial body appeared in his spiritual world, connected to his other worlds through the World Core Fusion Reactor.

    It was truly apletely different entity than the rest.

    The World Force was weak inparison to its quantity, but that was merely because the World Core was still new and without spiritual intelligence. In terms of purity, this new breed of World Force was far greater than anything Damien had ever touched before.

    ''It feels like this World Force''s fluctuation is closer to the universalw that I barely felt earlier.''

    The universalw clearly had a connection to the Void that Damien had been unaware of, and since the Void itself influenced this World Core''s formation, it was natural for it to be closer to the origin than a regr World Core.

    As for the benefits of this change, Damien would have to slowly uncover them with time. Calypto''s new World Core couldn''t even transmit hints of emotion like Earth could yet, so it couldn''t help him in any way.

    Nevertheless, Damien was immensely satisfied.

    The binding was a sess.

    ''This is a viable process.''

    In the future, he had yet another card to use against the Nox, one that could strike serious blows to their efforts in destroying the universe.

    If Damien could continue to refine his craft, perhaps there woulde a day when he could revive destroyed World Cores as well.

    If that day came¡­

    ''Hah, it''s no use thinking in hypotheticals. Rather than that, I should start heading back to the academy.''

    Most of the worries that had been troubling him were dealt with.

    Damien had gone to the Sanctuary to visit Zara long ago, and he''d seen that she was safe. While she wasn''t yet ready to share what she''d experienced with him, that''de with time. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her safety and health were far more important than the information she could provide.

    Since she wanted to quietly meditate and organize her mind, Damien created a new section of the Sanctuary specifically dedicated to her practice and allowed her to stay there.

    While she took care of her own matters, he had a progress examination to breeze through.

    ''At this point, it feels useless.''

    Death Emperor Star still had countless forbidden zones for Damien to explore, but he didn''t currently have the time to explore them all.

    He urgently needed to head to the battlefield and participate in the war. This was something he realized after his adventures in Calypto.

    ''For now, I''ll go back to the academy since I have a promise to uphold with the Director. And since Aesir and Calypto were both saved by me, shouldn''t I be rewarded?''

    Damien grinned greedily as he thought about extorting the Director. That stoic old man who didn''t know how to be jovial, it would be nice to see a distraught expression on his face, right?

    ''Yeah, now that''s some quality motivation.''

    With a smile on his face, Damien flickered out of existence and disappeared from Calypto altogether.

    Only a lonely and deste world was left in his wake.

    It was a few minutester when new life signatures appeared in the vicinity.

    A little girl and an old man stood together in the starry sky above Calypto. Despite the oddity of their presence, the strangest part about them was¡­their familiarity!

    This duo had encountered Damien once before, long ago when he was still on the unnamed world in the Human Domain. It was because he eavesdropped on their conversation that he learned of Wrath''s danger.

    However, this duo never personally interacted with Damien.

    In this instance, they''de just barely after he departed.

    "He''s going to meet them soon, isn''t he?" The little girl asked as she gazed at Calypto.

    ¦Ñ¦Á§ád¦Á---n?¦Ía| §ãom "He is, indeed. Why do you ask?" The old man replied with a smile.

    The little girl was silent for a moment.

    "Say, if you utilized everything in your arsenal, could you alter the base structure of a World Core to your liking?"

    She asked the old man without answering his previous question, because she knew. If it was her, it''d be utterly impossible.

    In fact, just the thought of doing so was inconceivable.

    The old man''s gaze traveled from the little girl to Calypto with an unchanging smile on his face. A trace of solemnity shed through his wizened eyes.

    "¡­no. Even if I used the Lord''s Divine Providence, I would still fail."

    "I thought so."

    The girl''s indifferent facade twitched.

    Thest time she''d seen him was only a matter of years ago, yet in such a short period of time, he was able to reach such a level?

    Even if this was the lower universe, affecting the fabric of reality was something even a Demigod couldn''t do.

    Hell, even a God couldn''t take such a task lightly.

    "Just what the hell is he?" The girl muttered under her breath.

    The old man''s smile widened. "Of course, the answer is obvious¡­"

    His gaze shifted to the horizon, as if his eyes could pierce through the veil of reality and see anything they wished to see.

    Those eyes gleamed with a sense of curiosity and pride that couldn''t be hidden even under his usual smiling facade.

    "¡­only a monster like him is worthy of being the Lord''s kin."

 Chapter 801 Swing [1]

    Hidden Death Valley was bustling far more than usual in recent days. After all, the time of the progress examination was closing in rapidly.

    At this time, only a few days remained until the assessment began, and a few details about how it would be held were posted for all to see.

    Whether it was the lowest students who were still at 2nd ss to those Emperors and Paragons who stood at the very peak, everyone was eagerly awaiting the time of the test.

    After all, this progress examination was more than just a simple test. It was a stage for geniuses to prove themselves andpete against each other for resources and status.

    The progress examination was akin to a festival for these practitioners who put strength and training above all else.

    Within his residence in Star City, Atticus looked over the information provided. As he was a Paragon himself, the amount he could view was far greater than the normal genius.

    ''So this year''s progress examination will take ce in the Celestial Realm. How interesting!''

    Even Atticus had never entered the Celestial Realm. After all, it was one of the most mysterious and bountiful small realms present on Death Emperor Star!

    The Celestial Realm had only been opened twice since the academy''s founding, but the mere mention of it was enough to get anyone''s blood boiling.

    ''The Celestial Realm is rumored to be the small realm with the most treasures and legacies on Death Emperor Star. Even the seniors who entered during the first and second explorations weren''t able to uncover the realm''s secrets or even traverse the entire thing! With that in mind, why would they choose to hold a progress examination within such a critical realm opening¡­?''

    Atticus furrowed his brows in thought. Naturally, he was just as excited as anyone else to enter this mystical realm. Just thinking about the godly artifacts, techniques, and resources that''d been retrieved from the Celestial Realm previously made him drool.

    ¦Ñ¦Á§ád¦Á---n?¦Ía| §ãom However, he didn''t want to enter blindly. Especially when the realm in question was covered in such a thick veil of mysticism, it was impossible for him to not be wary.

    ''They only released this information now, three days before the progress examination begins. They must''ve known that we''d try to investigate and limited our time.''

    For Atticus, three days were enough time to get a general overview of the past Celestial Realm expeditions, but concrete details would be difficult to find. As for those geniuses without high status, it was nigh impossible for them to do the same.

    ''They say that background is also a talent. This must be the type of situation they''re referring to.''

    Atticus closed the holographic windows hovering in front of him and stood from his seat, walking out of his home and gazing at Hidden Death Valley''sndscape that was sprawled before him.

    ''This time¡­things will get interesting.''

    The Emperors and Paragons had been progressing at a rapid pace, bing much stronger in a short period of time. Competing against them would be well worth it.

    However, there were a few wild cards in this time''s progress examination.

    The one Atticus focused on was naturally the one he introduced to the academy.

    Damien Void.

    ''Last I heard, he was sent to war as punishment for killing the Bloodlock n''s people. He should be returning soon¡­how strong has he be?''

    Atticus couldn''t forget their first battle, the first time he''d ever seen such a tremendous talent who didn''t originate from a major sect or n. Comparing that battle to Damien''sst before he left for war¡­?

    His progress was insane. Atticus didn''t even think it was possible to be so strong in such a short period of time.

    But the genius who''d already proved him wrong multiple times¡­just what kind of show would he put on this time?

    Frankly, Atticus couldn''t wait.

    ***

    Three days passed quickly. The day of the progress examination arrived before anyone could be prepared for it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    All Hidden Death Valley students stood on the streets of the academy, their attention directed to the sky above.

    There, the Director and the 11 Zodiacs stood domineeringly, their imposing aura nketing the entire academy space.

    The Director opened his mouth to speak, projecting his booming voice with mana.

    "Students! The time hase for you to set yourselves apart from your peers and soar into the sky! The progress examination is not merely a test of your qualifications to remain in the academy, it is a test of whether or not you are worthy of ascending the steps of Godhood in the future! It is an exam that will test your power, your grit and determination, your heroic spirit, and even the deepest desires of your soul!"

    "This year, the unfathomable Celestial Realm has opened once more, and we have decided to allow you, our Hidden Death Valley geniuses, to explore it personally!

    "The details of the exam will be provided once you enter the realm. Your academy emblems will lead you toplete all the tasks necessary to get a passing grade, and after you''vepleted these tasks, it is up to you when you wish to leave! You will have three months to explore as you please and encounter your own fortuitous encounters!"

    "Young geniuses, are you prepared?!"

    ""YES, DIRECTOR!!""

    A unified cry resounded through the academy. Fighting spirit burned the atmosphere with its fearsome ze as every genius present prepared themselves to sacrifice their lives for opportunity.

    The Director smiled from his position in the air. "Good! I can feel your determination from here! Only geniuses with as much willingness to risk their lives as you can seed in life!"

    "Now, go forth! The opportunities and dangers of the Celestial Realm await you!"

    The Director summoned his mana and covered the entire academy in a thick web. The 11 Zodiacs behind him moved as well, forming a strange pattern and creating a myriad of seals with their hands, summoning a grand formation unto the academy.

    A titanic array diagram appeared in the air, and a film of blue light enveloped the academy. Spatial fluctuations resonated and shook the atmosphere as disciples began to disappear in groups of many hundreds at a time.

    Among the geniuses who were waiting to be transported to the Celestial Realm, a smallmotion broke out.

    Voom!

    The chaotic spatial fluctuations in a certain part of Star City coalesced and caused the atmosphere to shatter. A ck hole leading to the chaotic void began to consume everything around it.

    Until, a change took ce.

    Crack!

    It was so abrupt that the surrounding geniuses didn''t even have a chance to properly process the situation. The suction force of the ck hole reversed and blew fierce winds into the vicinity.

    Puha!

    A strangely human noise came from the ck hole as an object shot out and mmed into the ground.

    From the smoke, a man rose.

    He dusted off his dirtied uniform and looked around, scratching his head sheepishly when he understood the situation.

    "Well¡­at least I got here on time."

    Damien swept his hand through the air and calmed the chaotic spatial fluctuations around him. In the next instant, he felt a calm aura of spatial mana covering him.

    In thatst moment before his body was teleported into the Celestial Realm, he had a thought.

    ''Aha, maybe I should''ve figured out what''s going on first.''

 Chapter 802 Swing [2]

    Rumble!

    This time''s spatial travel wasn''t as peaceful as Damien''s usual trip.

    The instant he was swallowed by the spatial mana, he was met with a furious array of spatial storms and terrifying phenomena that could rip any normal genius to pieces with ease.

    However, was Damien ever a normal genius?

    "Shoo, shoo. Stop making things annoying."

    Damien brushed off the spatial confusion like it was nothing, shooing away the terrifying storms with a single movement of his hand.

    The spatial essence that flowed from his body naturally was enough to repel these storms, but they were obnoxious, so Damien personally took action to disperse them.

    Perhaps he still had a lot to learn, but just dealing with spatial storms in the chaotic void was nothing for him at this point.

    This trip to the Celestial Realm would be a peaceful adventure, nothing like the chaos and destruction of war. Achieving this situation was Damien''s current goal.

    Eventually, he reached the end of what should have been a perilous journey, arriving in the realm as he was intended. His body materialized within a quiet jungle, sky-reaching trees surrounding him in every direction.

    ''It''s truly beautiful. Worthy of being called the Celestial Realm.''

    Damien swept through the information provided through his academy emblem. He was provided the same amount of information as any other Emperor, though it was a surprise that he was even taken into consideration.

    ''I didn''t really have time to inform anyone of my return. Did that old man really just bank on the fact that I''de back?''

    It was nice to know that he had the Director''s trust, even if it was only a basic level of respect.

    Nevertheless, there was no need to think about the Director at the moment. Matters with him could be settled once the exam ended.

    p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® ''Three months in this realm toplete all the tasks provided. Should I check those first¡­?''

    The holographic screens in his eyes shifted, showcasing a list of multiple tasks apanied by point values.

    ''The lowest level tasks are just herb gathering missions and the likes. After that, there are beast subjugations, which are also rtively easy. As for the harder tasks¡­''

    [Explore the Mystic Emperor''s Tomb and return alive - 5500pts]

    [Travel to the East Jade Sea and find the Heart of the Sea - 4700pts]

    [Explore an unmarked territory and provide a detailed overview of its structure - 2500 ~ 10000pts]

    ''Oho, now these look more fun.''

    ording to the information, the number of points a genius needed for their exam to be markedplete wholly depended on their own power level as measured by the academy through their stay within its walls. For some weaker geniuses, only a hundred points were needed to pass. This amounted to merely a few herb-gathering missions.

    As for Damien¡­

    [Points Obtained: 0/25000]

    A colossal sum that''d take multiple extreme difficulty missions to achieve.

    ''Tch, this is that old man''s doing, isn''t it.''

    Damien clicked his tongue in annoyance. He definitely hadn''t shown the academy enough achievements for them to put him on the same level as their strongest Paragons. Hell, did Atticus even receive a number as big as his?!

    Damien massaged his forehead and sighed. ''Well, I just have to do it, right?''

    In the end, what was a little bit of adventure to him? If he was being arrogant, he could even call himself the king of adventure!

    Hmph!

    Damien harrumphed defiantly and scrolled through the extreme difficulty task list.

    ''3 months, right?! Fuck it, I''ll get 100,000 points from this stupid realm and p that damn old ghost in the face!''

    ''But¡­''

    Damien''s frown became more pronounced the further he scrolled.

    ''All of these tasks are fucking long! Even the travel times alone are multiple days long, especially since the terrain is unfamiliar! How the fuck am I supposed to aplish anything?!''

    He sighed and clicked his tongue for the umpteenth time.

    ''Fuck, for now let me discern where I am. After that, I can cross reference with the map and see what tasks are most suitable for my goal.

    Damien flew into the air above the trees to observe his position. The second he did, his brow raised curiously.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''This¡­isn''t this realm supposed to be massive andrgely unexplored¡­?''

    What Damien thought was a far-reaching jungle was merely a match of jungle-like terrain only a few tens of kilometers in size.

    This terrain was a small ind within the greater realm.

    The sky was bluer than blue and filled with drifting clouds. Around the small jungle ind was water so clear that it couldn''t be told apart from the sky, making it feel as if the ind itself was floating in the sky.

    Apart from this ind, there was only one more piece ofnd.

    It was another small ind several hundred kilometers away. Unlike the jungle ind, it waspletely unpopted by all but one structure.

    A small and humble cottage.

    ''Don''t tell me I stumbled into the den of some prehistoric old monster who''s been cultivating in seclusion since the ancient era¡­''

    Clearly, Damien was NOT in the Celestial Realm.

    But when in doubt¡­

    ''I''ll just do whatever the fuck I want and deal with the consequencester.''

    Damien moved towards the hut without hesitation andnded on the ind. Completely different from when he saw it from a distance, he noticed that there were a variety of amodations around the cottage, such as multiple patio space and outdoor rotundas to host guests in.

    Damien curiously walked around the cottage, and even directly entered it, but he couldn''t find any signs of life in the vicinity.

    ''Yet, this cottage looks like it''s been used recently.''

    It was clean, and despite theck of life aura, the cottage itself was lively. It was generously decorated and even had a bookshelf with countless titles lining it.

    ''Hm? Exploration of the Universal Law? The True Value of Spacetime? Celestial ss for Dummies?! What the hell?''

    Damien picked up a random book on the shelf and started reading, quickly bing enamored in the esoteric theories that were shared through its text.

    Before he realized it, an entire day passed as he read.

    By the time he finished the book and looked out the window, darkness had already dawned on the small realm.

    ''Hmm, I should probably che¡ª''

    Something beyond the window suddenly caught Damien''s eye.

    It was a small and nondescript swing hanging from a tree, the type of swing a child would have in their front yard.

    Damien felt a pang in his heart as he looked at it.

    A vague memory surfaced in his mind.

    His eyes widened.

    ''Wait, that''s¡­''

    "It''s the swing you used to love so much when you were little. It even has the same engraving you drew on it that fateful summer."

    A voice came from behind. Damien flinched. He realized that even after hearing the voice, he still couldn''t sense its owner''s existence.

    But¡­

    There was no way he wouldn''t recognize that voice.

    Had it been 20 years since he''dst heard it?

    He slowly turned around.

    The figure of a man was revealed to him.

    A man that looked almost identical to himself.

    Damien''s eyes turned cold.

    After so long, they were finally meeting again.

    "Father¡­"

 Chapter 803 Destiny [1]

    "Father¡­"

    The man standing there had short ck hair and deep blue eyes. He didn''t look older than 35 and had a roguish and rugged aura around him that was simr to yet contrasted with Damien''s own aura.

    Damien closed his eyes and massaged his forehead before opening them back up to check whether or not he was hallucinating.

    Unfortunately, that man was still standing there when he checked the third, fourth, and even fifth time.

    "Yeah, I''m not dealing with this today."

    Damien turned around and began walking without turning back.

    "Wait, wait! What is this reaction?!"

    The man materialized in Damien''s path and waved his hands in a panic.

    Damien rolled his eyes. "And? What type of reaction were you expecting?"

    "Uhm, I don''t know, maybe some shock or something? Where''s the whole, ''oh my god that''s really my father!'' moment?"

    Damien stared at the man with a dead fish gaze.

    Was this really the father he knew?

    "If you spring up on me like this before I can even get limated to the small realm, how am I supposed to be all surprised? I''m already disoriented from your wacky ass summoning methods."

    "Come on, no son of mine will be bothered by a few mere spatial storms and some confusion."

    "And how are you supposed to know that, you deadbeat piece of shit?"

    "Aha¡­"

    The man scratched his head in shame and nced away. "Well, here I am¡­?"

    "Tch."

    eaglesnov?1,§ão§® Damien walked around him and continued without hesitation. He was going to leave this ind, leave this realm, and continue living his life as if this encounter never happened.

    Damien''s body shed and disappeared from the ind, leaving only his sorrowful father behind.

    ''Fuck¡­what am I doing?''

    Damien berated himself inwardly. He was no longer an angsty teen who only harbored hatred for his father. During his journey, he''d seen countless hints that his father''s situation was far moreplicated than he originally thought.

    Yet, he couldn''t bring himself to ept this fact wholeheartedly after seeing the man himself.

    All those bottled-up emotions rushed to his head and controlled his actions. Because of how unexpected the situation was, he was even more susceptible to these urges.

    ''But¡­I don''t even know his name.''

    Wasn''t that madness?

    It wasn''t that he never heard his father''s name. His mother didn''t mention him much, but she at least told him that much.

    The name she''d told Damien was "Michael," but presently, Damien no longer believed in this name.

    The secretive man who descended on a world of mortals, had a child, and left without telling anyone surely wouldn''t reveal his true name during the process.

    ''Fuck¡­''

    Just how was he supposed to process this?!

    Damien sat silently on the jungle ind without moving. He listened to the brushing wind amongst the trees, and the quiet chirping of birdsing from the distance.

    He tried to calm his mind in this peaceful climate.

    But¡­

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    He clutched his chest in pain.

    Breathing was hard. He gasped for breath, but the air didn''t seem to go to his lungs.

    It was suffocating. It felt like an empty void was forming in his heart and sucking his feelings into it, churning violently and regurgitating his emotions after a full round of chaotically messing with them.

    Thoughts didn''t form in his head during this time. The desire to be calm was present, but it couldn''t gain any ground against this agonizing tightness in his chest.

    A panic attack.

    Aftering so far, he was having a panic attack after meeting his father.

    It was embarrassing. He thought he''d already conquered all his trauma, but clearly, some things slipped through the cracks.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The only reason Damien was able to converse normally with his father for those few seconds they spoke was his burning desire to never be weak in front of the man who abandoned him.

    But in reality, he was in pain.

    How dare he?

    How dare he appear here after so long, acting as if nothing happened?

    DID HE NOT UNDERSTAND THE PAIN HE CAUSED HIS FAMILY?!

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and entered a meditative state as best as he could, bing in tune with the world and blocking out his surroundings.

    This world was mystical. Itsws were far vaguer than the outside world, yet it feltplete in an ethereal and unexinable way.

    This mystery and the slight chaos he felt in the atmospheric fluctuations calmed Damien down more than any peace could.

    Even the universe could feel turmoil.

    Even the universe had problems it couldn''t solve, and even if it mobilized its residents, these problems couldn''t be solved.

    The difference between Damien and the universe was that he had free will.

    When a problem that seemed impossible appeared before him, he could break through it as long as he put in enough effort.

    At least, that''s what he believed for the majority of his life.

    At the end of the day, all things needed bnce, including the mind and body. Perhaps the constantly growing mental stress toll on Damien''s head was affecting him, making his past trauma worse when it finally decided to strike him.

    There was a need to view the situation rationally, and Damien didn''t have the time to calm down before doing so.

    ''Vanish, scourge-like emotions.''

    The Mind Prison took effect, and Damien''s eyes turned cold.

    ''He is not here for no reason.''

    If he was here merely to visit the son he abandoned, he wouldn''t have done so in such a fashion.

    At this critical juncture where the war was tilted in nobody''s favor and the universe''s denizens needed to take initiative, this visit was too coincidental.

    ''He needs something from me?''

    It was a possibility, but if that was truly the reason for his return, Damien had no need to entertain him.

    ''A catastrophe is approaching?''

    While it was more annoying if this was the reason, it wasn''t necessarily something Damien could avoid. He''d need to hear the man out.

    ''In the end, the reason doesn''t matter. I still have to talk to him.''

    That man was the answer to many of Damien''s questions, not just about his origins, but also the universe as a whole.

    He couldn''t sacrifice such a great opportunity because of his negative feelings.

    ''But suppressing them is almost impossible. If I must converse with him, I must do it in this state.''

    The Mind Prison was an esoteric concept that Damien learned to naturally control over time. He was able to separate portions of his emotions and ego as he pleased to entrap, making the level of indifference he disyed differ based on the situation.

    In this situation¡­

    All feelings and emotions were thrown into the prison.

    A cold and indifferent Damien stood in reality, his purple eyes dull and robotic.

    He walked across the jungle ind and flew across the sea to arrive at the cottage.

    The man''s visage was still present there, unmoving from his position when Damien left.

    "Are you finally ready to talk?"

    He spoke when he saw Damien approaching, in a far softer tone than before,

    However, Damien didn''t respond.

    Afternding on the ground, he stared the man directly in his eyes and wasted no time.

    "Tell me who you are, and who I am."

 Chapter 804 Destiny [2]

    Damien''s father stood silently, staring into his son''s eyes.

    They were a beautiful purple color that reminded him of a long-lost love.

    But at the moment, they didn''t gleam with life like a human''s eyes.

    These were the dead eyes of a puppet, an object without free will.

    He felt an unimaginable pain in his heart.

    His own child¡­his own flesh and blood¡­

    ¡­couldn''t face him without taking such measures?

    He knew this day woulde, the day when he met his son again after so many years. He was truly excited to see his growth and reunite with him, but it seemed his thinking was far too wishful.

    The wrongs he''dmitted in the past, regardless of the reasoning behind them, hadsting consequences that he''d need to slowlypensate for.

    He sighed to himself.

    In this situation, he didn''t have any right to act fatherly.

    Besides, he didn''t have enough time for that.

    "My name is Dante Void, and you probably don''t need me to tell you our rtion."

    Damien nodded. It was good to finally know the name of the man who birthed him after 28 years of existence.

    "There isn''t too much I can tell you, as knowing too early will only harm you in the long run, but I will tell you everything I can."

    Those were the words Damien didn''t want to hear. The same bullshit that was always spouted. He hated people who withheld knowledge off such a flimsy personal judgement without taking into ount his own desires.

    However¡­

    "The matters of God can only be handled by Gods."

    Damien couldn''t rebut that statement.

    ''Gods¡­''

    These impossible existences that Damien could only fantasize about¡­his father was one of them?

    Though it wasn''t said outright, it was more than slightly implied. If Damien didn''t understand this obvious nuance, his brain would''ve been utterly useless.

    He shut off his extraneous thoughts and focused on Dante''s words.

    "Who I am, I cannot tell you quite yet. All you need to know is that I''m your father, and I would never abandon my own flesh and blood without reason."

    Dante''s eyes were incredibly solemn as he spoke.

    "As for you, is there anything to say that you don''t know? You are my son, the heir to my legacy, and the most gifted genius in the entirety of existence. There is no better descriptor for your talent than ''unparalleled under heaven.''"

    He gazed at Damien in admiration. The young man didn''t look older than 30, yet he already had such achievements.

    The fluctuation of Spacetime, of Samsara, and even of something far more ethereal that even Dante himself couldn''t ce his finger on. With all of thesebined, regardless of Damien''s weak base level, hisbat power was approaching the peak of 4th ss.

    A son like this was everything he could''ve ever asked for.

    It was a shame that he couldn''t preside over his growth.

    "Countless years ago, I arrived in this universe to escape my enemies and coincidentally made my way to the known as Earth. Around 35 years ago, I met your mother."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "It was a happy life, living mundanely in a world where mana didn''t even exist. It felt like I could throw away all my worries and livefortably for once, unbothered by the innumerable problems waiting for me in the Heavenly World. Of course, this was merely wishful thinking, blissful ignorance that I consciously epted."

    "It didn''t take long for my enemies to find me, and at that point, I was forced to leave."

    "After all, a lower world can''t even handle the aura of a single God. What would happen to it if multiple converged on its location at once?"

    Dante looked down with a mncholic smile. "I really didn''t want to leave. If I had a choice, I would have done everything in my power to stay with you and quietly protect the world as you grew. But time waits for no man, and my fate eventually caught up to me."

    "I will not say it was a mistake to have you. Even though I haven''t been present to watch you grow, I''ve been dearly awaiting our reunion for decades. However, it was a mistake to have you at that time. If I had been more conscious, I would''ve waited until I could give you a proper childhood before even considering parenthood."

    "But just as I said before, fate is a cruel mistress."

    He looked up at Damien, but found no response from thetter. He remained standing with the same utterly indifferent gaze as before.

    Dante smiled wryly. He couldn''t even see his son''s emotions, wasn''t this too cruel?

    But his son was coping in the best way he knew how. Trying to stop him would only further ruin their rtionship,

    He needed to give the young man time.

    Others, however, weren''t willing to wait.

    "The universe needed you, and you were birthed for that purpose. This is what I believe."

    "You were born with a seed of destiny in your body, and throughout your life, I''m sure you''ve been entangled in the universe''s fate whether consensually or not. It isn''t a situation where you''re forced to be the universe''s hero, but you were one of many geniuses born into an era of heroes meant to save it from its destruction."

    "Perhaps even my leaving was something the universe foresaw, for with my guidance, you wouldn''t have lived a life that tied you to this universe. In a time of catastrophe, I could take you directly to the Heavenly World to save you, making your existence inconsequential to the universe''s safety."

    "But I guess I''m just rambling. I merely wish for you to understand that there were countless nuances behind your birth, things you will need to slowly unravel with time. Until then, I will answer as many questions as I can before I disappear."

    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel "Disappear?" Damien questioned.

    It was his first reaction since Dante began his speech.

    Dante smiled regretfully. "Mm, despite thepleteness of this form, it is but a projection I''ve sent to meet with you. A friend who reads the Tides of Fate gave me a location and a time. If not for him, I wouldn''t have been able to contact you at all. This avatar will onlyst a few minutes before dispersing."

    "And why is that?" Damien asked again.

    Dante answered calmly. "For one, a God cannot exist in the lower universe in any form for too long. The universalw of the Heavenly World will strike us down if we try. As for the second reason¡­"

    His expression turned solemn.

    "I''m currently imprisoned by my enemies, and I cannot take any action that alerts them of my ability to stay connected with the outside world."

    An explosion went off in Damien''s mind. An unknown feeling broke free from the barrier of the Mind Prison and filled his brain.

    ''Imprisoned?''

    That father that seemed so unreachable, the one who imed himself a God whose mere aura was enough to destroy a¡­

    That very same man was imprisoned and suppressed to a level where even a few minutes of conversation required him to risk his life¡­?

    Suddenly, a portion of the raging chaos clouding Damien''s thought process cleared up.

    If Dante was risking so much just toe speak with him¡­

    ''¡­then the least I can do is hear him out.''

 Chapter 805 Destiny [3]

    "Ask me anything. I will answer what I can."

    This was Dante''s deration. As long as he was able to help, he would do everything he could with the few minutes he had.

    Damien furrowed his brows. In this situation, there were many things he wanted to ask about, but he needed to pick and choose.

    ''I would like to know more about the Heavenly World, but I doubt he''ll tell me. If so, I should prioritize things that will help more in the short run¡­''

    There were a few items left on the list after Damien narrowed it down, but the number was far less than it was before.

    And as he finalized his questions, his mind also calmed.

    Once Damien realized that the Dante Void he was currently talking to was a projection, he was able to cope much easier.

    After all, this was a "fake" image of his father. Back on Apeiron, during the illusion trial of the Eternal Secret Realm''s Legacy Tombs, Damien faced another face of his father like this one.

    As long as he thought of this avatar as a more advanced version of that projection, his mind didn''t feel so chaotic.

    He was able to put his feelings aside and focus on what was important.

    As such, his first question was simple.

    "Tell me everything you know about the Nox."

    The most imminent threat and the great enemy Damien had been facing since the beginning of his journey, now that they''d gotten a hold of some of his secrets, he couldn''t go without information on them.

    "Nox, aye¡­" Dante muttered with a distant look. "It looks like those pests are still up to no good."

    "Well, even I am notpletely aware of the Nox''s origins. From what I learned through my travels long ago, the Nox''s homeworld is a mysteriousnd in the Abyss called Al''Katra¡­"

    Dante went on to exin everything he knew about Nox society to Damien. For the most part, it didn''t vary much from the information Zara learned through her bloodline memories.

    The Nox were cannibals who grew stronger by devouring their own kin, and they had a unique species trait to pass bloodline memories down through generations to raise Higher Nox to full intelligence and train them.

    The hierarchy of Nox society was strange. From what Dante knew, there weren''t many different distinctions.

    All Lesser Nox were regarded the same, as nothing more than cannon fodder to send to battle when necessary. The Higher Nox who''d yet topletely develop their intelligence were only slightly above these Lesser Nox. Because of theirck of intuitive ability, they couldn''t be used to carry outplex orders.

    Higher Nox could follow two routes to gain status after their intelligence was established. Firstly, they could follow a path of blood to grow in strength on the battlefield. And secondly, they could follow the path of schrs, bing supreme geniuses that stood above the heavens with their minds alone.

    This fact was especially surprising to Damien. The Nox he''d met so far were all following the ughter path, which was natural since they were participating in the war.

    Those Nox who followed the schr path¡­

    ''Were they the ones who nned the total destruction of the Elven Domain?''

    Even considering the Nox''s surprise element, taking an entire Sector before reinforcements could arrive was unfathomable. It wasn''t a feat that could be aplished with power alone.

    There must''ve been a genius strategist behind that attack.

    ''As for the matters of Eden, I don''t know whether the schrs have a greater n or if they took their hands off the situation for now. I can only find out with time.''

    The schr path was difficult to cultivate, and could only show its true prowess in theter realms. Most likely, the schr controlling the current war was a Demigod perhaps even at the Emperor level.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Emperors were the highest authorities of the Nox, only standing below the Dark God, the spiritual god that the Nox worshipped. Its existence had yet to be proven.

    Under the Emperors were Lords like guelord, and the Nox under them were usually not assigned status until they arrived on the battlefield.

    There was no such thing as long-term camaraderie amongst the Nox. At any moment, they were willing to turn against their allies for more power.

    Especially since, in some sense, they were all a single massive entity.

    "Their reproduction method is unknown and extremely mysterious, but with the way they''re able to merge after death and be reborn, I believe that they have a system akin to a hivemind, at least until the Demigod level," Dante said.

    Damien sighed as he learned more and more about the Nox.

    The existence and habits of their race were so peculiar that it genuinely stumped his brain. He felt like he wouldn''t be able to fully understand them unless he went to Al''Katra himself.

    But that wasn''t something he could do quite yet.

    He had to join the warfront as soon as possible, and after about a year or so, the Grand Assembly would start, and he''d finally be able to reunite with his loved ones.

    At least until that reunion was properly over, he couldn''t leave for an indiscernible amount of time to find Al''Katra.

    Damien closed his eyes and processed everything he learned.

    If there was one thing that was certain, it was that the Nox''sws were in fact based on Death Laws, but they themselves weren''t a variant of Death Laws.

    There was something deeper that needed to be investigated, especially with the existence of such a strange system like Demonic Providence. This type of power simply didn''t exist in nature.

    ''That means it isn''t a product of Grand Heavens Boundary, which operates on the naturalw. Does the Abyss have its own universalw? Or maybe there is some other secret in the Abyss that I''ve yet to discover¡­? Now that I think about it, the Abyssal Corridor that originally dragged me to the Divine Realm also seems to have a connection to the Abyss¡­''

    Damien shook his head lightly and cleared his thoughts.

    ''With the memories I devoured on Calypto and Zara''s help, I should be able to get a clearer picture based on the foundation Dante has given me. I think¡­''

    "You''re done asking about those pests?" Dantemented with a smile.

    Damien nodded. "This is more than enough information for now. It would''ve been nice to know a weakness, but if one had been found, we wouldn''t be in such a dire situation."

    "Hahaha, dire, you say. Mm, it can truly be called that. Pests like them are the hardest to get rid of, and even after you get rid of them they always find a way toe back. It''s quite the annoying predicament, isn''t it?" Dante said with an odd smile.

    He snapped out of his strange daze soon and returned to the topic at hand. "Well then, is there anything else you want to know?"

    Damien hesitated for a second. "I¡­I want to know about your power, and the power of the Celestial ss."

    Dante''s eyes widened, and a grin spread across his face. His excitement seemed to soar higher than the heavens.

    After all¡­

    e¦Áglesnovel`c,om "I''ve been waiting for you to ask."

    He''d been waiting too long to give his son a lesson.

 Chapter 806 Destiny [4]

    A lesson of five minutes, just how much could be aplished within its duration?

    Unexpectedly, the answer was "quite a lot" when Damien was involved.

    Immediately after Damien asked Dante for aid, thetter didn''t hesitate to enter "wandering old master" mode to tutor him.

    It started simple. Dante was the origin of Damien''s spatial talent and an expert who far exceeded him in this capacity at the moment. The first thing he did was check Damien''s currentprehension.

    Damien revealed his ability to manipte dimensions, and even showcased his progress with Spacetime Laws, giving Dante an endless wave of surprises.

    ''I''d sensed the fluctuations of Spacetime from him, but I didn''t expect he''d reached such a level. To make the fabric of reality tremble with his strength is an amazing feat.''

    Dante was beaming with pride already after this first check, but his pride only became more and more exaggerated with time.

    Damien was an extremely fast learner, and hisprehension ability was far greater than anything Dante had ever seen.

    The nuances behind the Celestial ss were many, and it was difficult for the normal spatial expert to understand them. This was mainly because the average spatial expert could never touch upon the intrinsic level of dimensional maniption necessary to reach the peak of the ss.

    Damien, naturally, wasn''t like them. Since he was already so established in the realm of dimensions, Dante had an extremely easy time teaching him to go further with his ss.

    Damien smiled and clenched his fist as he listened to Dante speak.

    ''The Celestial ss¡­who knew it could be so massive?''

    "¡­binding worlds and utilizing World Force are just the most basic abilities of a Celestial. At this level, they can be considered minorly aplished. Now, depending on whether a Celestial chose to be a Ruler or a Conquerer, their path forward will differ, but since you have chosen the Conquerer''s Path, I will ignore the Ruler Path for now."

    Dante stopped and faced Damien, bringing his palm up and showcasing a small world that was floating there.

    "A Celestial is a dominator. The worlds we conquerer are wholly ours, and everything from their future development to their current environments can be decided by us."

    Dante snapped his finger, and the terrain of the world on his palm changed. Rocky mountains copsed into rivers, and the seas rose into towering cliffs.

    With another snap of the finger, Damien and Dante were transported into the world. All the miniature changes Damien watched like a god just a moment ago were being shown to him from the perspective of a mortal.

    "Celestials are not merely Overseers, but also entities closer to the universe than any other. At the peak of our ss, the universe we''ve bound on the outside¡­"

    Dante''s avatar split into tens, hundreds, and even thousands of copies of itself.

    Each one emitted a fearsome aura as if each was as heavy as a celestial body.

    "¡­bes a universe within our bodies."

    Dante smiled, and his clones transformed into small worlds simr to the one he''d shown previously.

    Every single one was a world Dante had bound before, and every world was capable of producing an Avatar of him.

    ''This¡­''

    Damien''s mouth was agape in astonishment. Cloning techniques naturally existed, but never to this degree.

    And the fact that each clone held the strength of a¡­

    Damien could truly be a one-man army if he could master this ability.

    His eyes sparkled with curiosity and desire.

    Dante chuckled when he saw him. "Don''t get too excited yet. You think this is the end¡­?"

    "Unfortunately, I cannot show you any more than this with the power of my projection, but I trust that you will one day discover the impossible realm that all Celestials dream to reach."

    Suddenly, Dante''s expression turned solemn.

    "Because we Celestials are so in tune with the universe, we are able to sense things that others can''t. For instance, I''m sure you''ve noticed the existence of the ''flow.''"

    Damien''s eyes widened once more.

    "I''ll take that as a yes," Dante said with a smile. "The flow is an ethereal concept, and it is one of the rawest materializations of the universal will, and perhaps even a greater force. The Flow is immensely tempting for Celestials, asprehending it would allow them to conquer and even bind the universe itself."

    "However, do not be fooled by illusions of grandeur. The risk of following this path is greater than the reward. Barely any Celestials have ever reached the end of that road, and the ones who have lost all emotion and free thought, bing ves to the universe."

    Damien''s eyes hardened. This¡­wasn''t a truth he expected to hear.

    He''d been feeling the call of the flow for many years now, and while he ignored it because he didn''t have enough information to follow it, he''d always been of the mind that he''d get to the root of it one day.

    "Are you asking me to give up on that path?" He asked mncholically.

    However, Dante shook his head in refusal. "How could I tell my own son to give up on his dreams of the peak? Merely, I wish to warn you. Follow the flow,prehend it, and escape its clutches so you can rule it. Never, and I repeat, never allow the flow to envelop you and drag you forward. This path only leads to death, regardless of the temptation you feel when you encounter it."

    Damien nodded seriously, internalizing everything Dante said.

    Before he knew it, he was conversing casually with the man as if his hatred didn''t exist in the first ce.

    And honestly, it didn''t,

    What Damien was feeling were merely vestiges of his past emotions, ghosts of trauma that tried to haunt him even after he yed them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He didn''t need to ovee this trauma again, he merely needed a reason to quell its screams.

    Dante''s attitude during their interaction built this reason in Damien''s heart.

    He could tell.

    This man was an asshole, an absolute tool who left his family, regardless of the reason¡­

    But at the same time, he was a father, Damien''s father. It was evident that he was being conscious of Damien''s feelings as he spoke, and from the way he entertained all of Damien''s questions, it was clear that he wanted to make up for his past mistakes.

    e¦Áglesnovel`c,om Perhaps the time of reconciliation wasn''t now, but Damien didn''t think it''d be impossible in the future.

    The only problem was¡­

    ''This bastard acts exactly like me.''

    Dante waspletely unserious, domineering, and uncaring of anyone but himself. He was a braggart that tried to sneak hints of his achievements into every conversation they had.

    This trait was annoying, sure, but it also gave Damien a clearer picture of who his father was.

    Dante Void was far more active in the lower universe than he''d expected, and it was clear that many vestiges of his past actions were left in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    While it was too much to say they were legacies left for Damien specifically, it was true that only he knew of many of their existences.

    Unfortunately, time decided to act as Damien''s enemy once more.

    5 minutes felt like an eternity to Damien, but at the end of the day, they were only five minutes,

    They would eventually reach their end.

    Dante''s body began to fade mid-conversation. His lecture on Celestials had already ended, and the father-son pair were merely having idle conversation at this time.

    Was it sad that this was Damien''s favorite part of their encounter so far?

    The stories of the Sea Kingdom of tria, the Sand Wyrm Tribe of Uhar, and the many other civilizations Dante had visited in his time, Damien truly was enjoying listening to them.

    "It seems like it''s time for me to go."

    Those were the words he wanted to hear the least.

    His head hung, downcast.

    Dante smiled sorrowfully. He was d that his son still cared for him enough to react like this at his departure, but the act of departing tore his soul apart.

    "I wish I could stay. I wish I could stay by you and your mother for all eternity, enjoying the beauties of life¡­ah, why must our family have such convoluted destiny¡­?" Dante''s voice became softer with every word.

    "Damien!" Dante suddenly shouted, causing Damien''s head to snap towards him.

    "A man''s will is his greatest quality! Never bow your head, never submit, and always fight until the veryst breath! As long as you persevere with everything you have, the road ahead will reveal itself!"

    Dante''s eyes were serious and filled with pain. His fading body didn''t allow him to say the goodbye he wanted to say, so he instead said everything he could in the time he had.

    With barely any time remaining, Dante stood stalwart.

    A final roar left his mouth.

    "Make our Void Pce proud!"

    Dante''s projection dispersed into the air with those words.

    The powerful reverberation of his voice continued to spread through the small realm, echoing endlessly.

    Damien''s eyes hardened, and his gaze turned cold.

    "Our Void Pce, huh¡­"

    That damn bastard was leaving a trail of breadcrumbs until the very end.

    But¡­

    ''I''ll happily follow it if it means I can beat your ass at the end.''

    A new goal, a God who needed a beating, renewed determination, and¡­

    Damien gently touched his chest.

    Before his father vanished, he''d flicked a speck of something magical into his body.

    Damien could feel a new sense of power coursing through his body, mirroring his renewed purpose.

    It was time for him to dominate and conquer, just as Dante said.

    Damien Void¡­this would be a name that provoked only fear and reverence from now on.

 Chapter 807 Ants [1]

    ''¡­now what?''

    Damien stood alone in the small realm, and while he''d just made a major promise to himself¡­

    ¡­he didn''t quite have a method to leave this realm and enter the true Celestial Realm.

    ''What a grand start.'' Damien thought wryly as he plopped down in one of the outdoor rotundas surrounding the small hut.

    Perhaps his mind was still too confused from the sudden encounter that''d just ended.

    Despite how long it felt, his father''s avatar had only been present for around 20 minutes, and Damien spent half of those minutes building his courage to actually face the man.

    ''Hahaha¡­even if it''s something I overcame, it''s a little pathetic.''

    He shook his head and stopped berating himself. It was yet another pointless action.

    Now that his father was gone again, Damien found himself bearing a different weight than before.

    ''That projection had answers, but couldn''t give them to me. The only way to truly find out what I want to know is to explore on my own and break Dante out of his imprisonment.''

    It was an insane goal, especially considering that Dante''s enemies were all Gods, but Damien didn''t shirk away from it.

    Instead, he embraced his newfound destiny.

    A path forward was always important to have. A practitioner could wander aimlessly for countless years if they veered off their path, perhaps never finding their way back.

    Of course, everyone''s path was of their own creation, but many refused to follow the path that their destiny and efforts culminated, and many more strayed from their paths for more dire reasons.

    Damien lost his path when he was forced into the Divine Realm, but as he connected further with the war and became more active in the universe, he found the path before him bing clearer and clearer.

    Dante gave Damien the final piece he needed toplete that puzzle.

    A rough framework formed in Damien''s mind.

    ''But currently, the progress examination is still ongoing. I have three months¡­''

    Damien''s eyes sharpened.

    He made the decision to leave Hidden Death Valley before even returning, but he didn''t know how to use the 3 months of buffer he had before he could exit the Celestial Realm.

    ''It''s not ideal to gain more power at the moment, especially since I still have to stabilize my Samsara Intent and internalize the new power Dante granted me. I also need to implement the new Celestial methods he taught me. Even if there are opportunities in the Celestial Realm, they aren''t fated for me.''

    Besides, there could be no opportunity greater than a gift from a God himself.

    ''Then¡­should I make a final ssh before making my way out¡­?''

    Damien looked into the night sky with a small grin on his face.

    In the next second, he vanished.

    When he reappeared he was in Theavil. The clean atmosphere around him cleansed his soul, and the feeling of control in his hands refreshed his mind.

    But his goal today wasn''t refreshment. He teleported once more and appeared inside an isted log cabin in the woods somewhere in the world.

    Here, only a single resident stayed.

    "Enjoying your new life?" He asked with a smile.

    "A very apt line for a kidnapper to say to his victim, don''t you think?" The woman living in the cabin replied sarcastically.

    "Come on, now. If you really felt that way, you would''ve tried rebelling already. It''s actually a little funny to me how quickly you adapted to your new circumstances." <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    eaglesnov?1,§ão§® The woman turned her head towards Damien, revealing her beautiful features. She was none other than Bianca, the Bloodlock ve he''d fought during his 10th match in the King Bracket.

    ''Her attitude makes me regret my decision.'' Damien thought wryly.

    That day in the battle arena, Damien didn''t have a single thought of killing her. His showy usage of Dimensional Severance and the disappearance of her life signature were merely facades he set to fool the public.

    At that time, he''d viewed the Bloodlock n as a major enemy, and he couldn''t let the enemy realize he''d caught himself an informant, could he?

    "So? What did youe here for this time?" Bianca asked, changing the subject.

    "Ah, that. Well, I was just wondering how credible you are since the situation you talked about hasn''t happened yet."

    "And that''s my fault?" Bianca rolled her eyes. "I only predicted the course of action that Reavus would take. Do you think I''m a prophet or something?"

    Damien chuckled at her tant disregard for his words. "Hahaha, I''m just messing with you. Truth be told, the forces he sent after me probably died before they could even reach me. The situation on Calypto was a little¡­special, after all."

    Bianca sighed. "You look like a devilughing at that."

    "I''d say I''m pretty normalpared to your former young master, though?"

    "Touch¨¦."

    Many months ago, Damien visited Bianca to inquire about the Bloodlock n''s situation. At that time, the former enforcer warned him that Reavus would likely send an assassination squad after him, since he would finally be away from the academy''s protection.

    Unfortunately, Damien never had the chance to meet this assassination squad.

    ''The most probable situation is that they couldn''t reach me after seeing how heavily Heaven''s Army decided to protect me.''

    During the first few months of the mission, theirck of contact was likely because the assassination squadnded on a different continent than them. After that, however¡­

    ''Did Park Jinho and them secretly deal with them¡­? Or maybe the squad was just killed in action before reaching me¡­?''

    It wasn''t impossible. The Nox on Calypto were all high-level, with even a fewte-stage 4th ss beings among them. For an assassination squad built to take out an early-level 4th ss, this level of threat was evidently too much.

    Damien''s thoughts swam as Bianca reiterated what she''d told him months prior when he first visited her.

    Convincing her to be an informant didn''t take long considering her situation. Her only worry was a certain blood seal that prevented her from spreading information, but due to the Sanctuary''s existence being wholly separate from the Real ne, the seal couldn''t affect her inside.

    This was the same principle Damien used to recruit Lucius.

    Nevertheless, ording to Bianca, Reavus Bloodlock was never the type of person to take a grudge lying down. Since Damien was still alive after offending him, the arrogant young master would take any necessary measures to take him down.

    "The problem is, you destroyed so many forces at the Emperor Bone Sea that his actions were being watched by his father. He wasn''t going to get any more second chances if he messed up again. If you really didn''t encounter the assassination squad, you''ll either be targeted during the progress examination, or Reavus is already on hisst legs."

    Damien rubbed his chin in thought. "Still, the forces he has ess to shouldn''t be insanely powerful, right? He''s not even the Crown Prince."

    "Rather than power, it''s more a matter of numbers. My position as an enforcer wasn''t high or low, so I only know a little bit. All I know for certain is that he only has a single extreme peak 4th ss servant who stands by his side at all times."

    Damien smiled at her revtion. It was absolutely impossible for Reavus to bring an extreme peak 4th ss servant into the Celestial Realm with him. And without that extreme peak master¡­

    ''This is the perfect stage for me.''

    Damien grinned savagely.

    Reavus lost his use after the events of Calypto. Damien didn''t need a whetstone to grow anymore.

    Therefore, it was finally time to clean up the trash.

    ¡­after he figured out how to leave the small realm.

 Chapter 808 Ants [2]

    "Fuwah!"

    A ssh of water was apanied by a gasp for air as a figure surfaced in an ocean in the middle of nowhere.

    "Finally!" Damien eximed.

    He didn''t care about his current predicament at all. After all, he finally made his way out of that damn small realm!

    ''That fucking old man¡­he definitely knew what he was doing.''

    Damien clicked his tongue and flew out of the ocean as he thought about the extremely annoying escape route he had to take.

    As it turned out, the small realm was a portion of the Celestial Realm that had been severed and dimensionally separated by a spatial expert of "unknown origins."

    When Damien used the All-Seeing Eyes to observe the realm''s foundation, he found an extremelyplicated set of steps engraved in the formation that''d allow the small realm to reconnect with the rest of the Celestial Realm.

    However, never did Damien think it''d be such an intensive process!

    Hell, even ignoring the sheer mental torture it was to untangle the small realm''s foundation, when he finally seeded, the realm copsed in on itself!

    The small jungle ind sunk to the bottom of the ocean, the cabin ind disappeared entirely, and the ocean between the two inds rbined with the actual ocean existing in the Celestial Realm.

    Naturally, Damien was dragged into the whirlpool and sinkhole hell that formed afterward while the two bodies of water merged.

    It was only now, many hourster, that he''d made his way out of that predicament.

    The waters around him were dyed red with blood, and countless corpses were intermittently surfacing amongst the waves, proof of Damien''s fierce battle to return to the surface.

    Damien looked down at these corpsesmentably. ''I want to devour them, but I have to contain myself. Even putting aside the fact that I don''t want to get stronger quite yet, I can''t carelessly devour whatever I want anymore,''

    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel Devour became a far more intrinsic skill after his Baptism. Now, it could devour memories and even World Cores if necessary.

    A power like this couldn''t be used on mere sea creatures withoutplete intelligence. Their memories would only clog Damien''s mind and take up space needlessly.

    ''Haa¡­such is fate, such is fate.'' Damien shook his head and sighed as he moved away from the bloodied ocean area.

    ''I guess I should first findnd, and from there, I can go about finding Reavus.''

    Damien received a very handy tool from Bianca before he left Theavel. It was a talisman that could contact Reavus Bloodlock from any distance, no holds barred.

    This type of talisman was incredibly rare, and usually would only be seen among the most trusted confidantes of an expert. The only reason Bianca had one was because of her cannon fodder status.

    ''This talisman has a forced summoning effect, so Reavus could summon Bianca from anywhere to use her as a shield¡­how cruel.''

    Nevertheless, this cruelty currently acted in his favor. Even if he didn''t get force summoned, Damien could track the fluctuation from the talisman and follow it through space to find Reavus.

    ''Being a spatial expert really is handy.'' He thought with a smile.

    Damien spread his awareness and teleported multiple tens of thousands of kilometers at a time, finally reachingnd after three tries.

    The first thing he did was pull out the map that the academy provided.

    ''This area is¡­just my luck.''

    Of course hended in an unexplored territory. If things were easy for him, would he even be Damien Void?

    ''Well, it''s more urate to say that the universe is trying to make things hard for me. In reality¡­''

    How could this faze him?

    Damien teleported like a madman, covering hundreds of thousands and even millions of kilometers without breaking a sweat.

    Because he wasn''t interested in it, the territory below him passed his perception without any oddities, but Damien knew better than anyone just how many legacies were hidden within this area.

    ''My awareness caught at least a few Legacy Tombs, and when ites to natural treasures, they''re present in droves. This Celestial Realm truly is a paradise!''

    While he admired the realm, Damien kept a portion of his attention on the talisman in his hand.

    Just ringing Reavus with this talisman would make his approach too obvious, so Damien didn''t choose this method. Instead, he intermittently sent small pulses of mana through the talisman and followed the general direction the signal flew in.

    The method reminded him of his endless quests as a mortal to find "the End" of a certain video game.

    ''Silverfish are lucky I''ve never met them in real life.''

    Damien eventually made his way across millions of miles, an amount of space that he didn''t expect to be present in this secret realm.

    Rather than a realm, this was closer to a small universe in itself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Fuck¡­do I need toe back here to explore these mysteries¡­?''

    Either way, Damien would have toe back to Death Emperor Star.

    After all, arge number of his father''s legacies were left on this.

    ''He said he used this ce as a cemetery, but I don''t know how that makes any sense when he''s alive and well and none of his enemies were buried here¡­''

    Damien shook off his father''s nonsense and sighed. He was happy to have so much more to do, but at the same time, he could clearly feel the weight of his responsibilities due to how heavy they''d be.

    ''Yeah, I need to cool off.''

    Damien''s eyes snapped in a certain direction. There, only a few thousand kilometers away, was the endpoint of the talisman''s signal.

    ''Have they noticed me already?''

    Damien smiled in anticipation.

    ''I should give them a proper show before sending them off.''

    His body disappeared into the distance. As for his ns¡­

    Even the Creator himself couldn''t predict the wicked thoughts in the purple-eyed genius'' mind.

    ***

    "Hurry up! We still have ten kilometers left before we reach the Legacy Tomb!"

    An arrogant voice resounded through the valley that the group was traveling through.

    There were over 20 of them in total, with one man situated in a pnquin in their center.

    This man was naturally Reavus Bloodlock, the Third Prince of the Bloodlock n who was extremely aggravated at all times in recent days.

    How could he not be?

    Everything he tried ended in failure!

    The first time, he sent a number of 4th ssckeys to take care of a pest, but they never returned. As for the pest, he survived like a cockroach and rose to prominence.

    But while Reavus was scraping his mind for ideas of how to deal with him, that pest went and made himself an enemy of the entire school, and eventually got himself banished to war for an unknown period of time.

    Another group of assassins was sent to take advantage of this opportunity. Unlike the previous group, there was no room for error this time. The assassins were all extremely skilled forces that absolutely could not be used as cannon fodder.

    Reavus didn''t have a choice but to mobilize them.

    All of his cannon fodder had already been used up.

    Yet, even with all their des, even the second assassination attempt failed!

    And the reason was¡­the assassination squad was never able to approach their target?!

    Reavus didn''t even care to hear the rest of their report. He didn''t care about the "why," only that the mission had failed.

    Thus, these 20-something assassins were forced into the Celestial Realm like pawns.

    ''This is myst chance. If I can''t kill him here, Father will surely have my head!''

    Reavus'' head spun wildly as he tried to think of a way to locate Damien.

    Bzzt!

    "DAMMIT! WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!"

    It happened again.

    Reavus kept feeling a strange buzzing from his spatial ring, but no matter how he checked, he could never find its source.

    It was aggravating him, and he was already in a bad mood because of Damien.

    So when all sound vanished from the surroundings and the sky suddenly became cloudy¡­

    Reavus was too enveloped in his own useless rage to even notice.

 Chapter 809 Ants [3]

    The sky turned grey.

    Swirling clouds formed from thin air and gathered into a thick canopy spanning countless tens of kilometers.

    It was instant.

    A group of twenty-something people came to a halt, warily watching their surroundings.

    "Keep your guard up!" A man shouted. "This is either a natural phenomenon of the secret realm or an attack. Move based on your best judgement!"

    Many silent affirmations were given as the group surveyed the surroundings.

    However, no matter how they spread their awareness, they weren''t able to find a trace of a perpetrator.

    Crackle!

    ck and silver lightning crackled through the clouds.

    Rain began to pour.

    "Dodge!"

    KA-BOOOOOM!

    A hurried exmation was followed by a shattering sound as lightning struck the ground. The terrifying force of nature drilled into the ground and formed a massive crater almost asrge as the storm itself.

    Bodies flew through the air as the group stabilized themselves and moved away from the explosion.

    "Get in formation! We need to leave the vicinity of these clouds!"

    The same man shouted once more, making his status evident. The group followed his order and rapidly fled the area, pnquin in tow.

    However, the storm didn''t leave them alone.

    BANG!

    BANG!

    BANG!

    Bolts of harrowing lightning struck behind them constantly as the storm followed their movements. The shockwaves from the resulting explosions pushed against their backs, both helping them in their escape and slowly injuring them further.

    "Dammit! If we can''t avoid it, let''s fight!"

    The leader halted his flight and stared at the storm. Even though the lightning bolts struck with the strength of ate-stage 4th ss being, it wouldn''t be too difficult to avoid them if they worked as a group.

    "Get into formation! Split into two teams and form two lines of defense! First group, follow mymand to fend off the lightning! Second group, focus on dispersing the storm!"

    The group leader gave out a barrage of orders that were quickly followed. The group formed a barrier with the pnquin at their center, intent on protecting it at all costs.

    "Franklin! What is happening out there?!" Reavus shouted from within the pnquin, not bothered to even observe the situation for himself.

    "Everything is fine, young master. We are merely being targeted by a natural phenomenon. It will be taken care of soon."

    Franklin, the leader, calmly replied while facing down the storm.

    ''Something doesn''t feel right¡­'' he thought with a frown.

    For a natural phenomenon, the storm''s movements were too intentional. Even now, the lightning halted while he conversed with the young master. No natural phenomenon would do such a thing.

    ''Are we being targeted?''

    Franklin''s eyes narrowed. If they were being targeted, the enemy was someone far exceeding them in power. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have been able to stay so perfectly concealed from the group''s perception.

    ''We will deal with this storm first, and find the perpetrator afterwards.'' Franklin decided. At the moment, the immediate threat was more pressing.

    As long as he remained on guard for the enemy¡­

    ''This¡­when¡­?''

    Franklin''s eyes snapped open.

    Or rather, he rapidly blinked his eyes to make sure they were open.

    Total darkness.

    Since when had it enveloped them?

    The crackling thunder of the storm could still be heard from above, but all sight was blocked from an unknown point in time.

    ''Not good!''

    Franklin immediately mobilized his mana and lunged for the pnquin. If the enemy was so skilled, then the young master would be¡­!

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Franklin coughed out a mouthful of blood and keeled over.

    ''¡­my mana¡­?''

    He couldn''t feel its existence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    No¡­

    "HAK!"

    Franklin clutched his throat, his eyes bulging out of his head from the suffocating pain in his body.

    It was being torn apart from the inside. The mana within him was raging and rebelling, rapidly destroying his Mana System and targeting his organs.

    ''Why¡­?!''

    Franklin gagged and tried to drag his body forward, not even realizing that at some point, he''d been transferred from the sky to the ground.

    He moved his bloodied body and finally caught sight of the pnquin¡­

    ¡­and the demonic purple eyes of the being standing atop it.

    ''A¡­devil¡­''

    Franklin took hisst breath.

    The mana in his heart rebelled and burst it, killing him instantly.

    And the twenty-somethingpanions he once had¡­

    ¡­all suffered the same fate as him.

    ***

    ''Good. My attainments in Voidprehension are much more substantial than they were before. It seems that understanding the universe to a greater extent through my Celestial ss supports myprehension. Is this the result of having a duel ss?''

    Damien casually took his time to arrange his thoughts from atop Reavus Bloodlock''s pnquin.

    [Storm] was a trait he''d had for a very long time, but with his lightning losing its value over time, Damien didn''t quite have a use for it anymore. This time, he''d merely used it to lure the enemy in a certain direction.

    The main reason for the assassination squad''s rapid deaths was Damien''s Voidprehension.

    The two concepts he''dprehended, the "Breath of All Things" and the "Breath of Nothingness," were base abilities of the Void, but actually represented grand concepts that needed to be deeply explored before they could be considered whollyprehended.

    From the Breath of Nothingness, Damien obtained the ability to destroy, manipte, and erase. The abilities of the Breath of Nothingness tended to lean towards the spiritual or conceptual aspects, rather than the material ones. Damien''s previous ability to alter Baek Woojin''s memories could also be attributed to this ability, though he didn''t know it at the time.

    On the contrary, the ability Damien gained from the Breath of All Things was centered around "control." Control over all material things was a grand concept in theory, but Damien couldn''t harness the absolute dominance of this ability with his currentprehension.

    However, controlling the mana of these unsuspecting assassins was a minor task.

    They were weaker than him, after all.

    "MMPH! MMGH!"

    "Hm?"

    Damien snapped out of his thoughts and looked below him where the strange sounds wereing from.

    "Aha, my bad. I almost forgot about you."

    Damien smiled at the passenger of the pnquin, a miserable Reavus Bloodlock who was currently bound and gagged by chains made of space itself.

    "Did you enjoy the show? Ah, sorry, sorry, let me remove that gag so you can speak."

    "Puha! Damien Void, you trash! How dare you do this to me?!" Reavus immediately screeched upon regaining his ability to talk.

    "Are those words you should be saying to someone who holds your life in their hands?" Damien responded sarcastically.

    "Ha! You? Hold my life in your hands? Such a thing is impossible!"

    Haa!

    Reavus let out a fierce battle cry and galvanized his mana, ring his aura to its limit as he tried to formte blood mana in the air.

    Damien watched him ndly.

    The Void Curtain that surrounded them was like an enhanced domain. All mana was under Damien''s control, and even those stronger than him would feel pressured by this nigh-absolute ability.

    Reavus Bloodlock?

    Even the fact that Damien considered him an opponent in the past was a great honor.

    Now, the two simply couldn''t bepared.

    At this time, Reavus seemed to finally realize the situation he was in.

    His face paled, but at the same time, a slightly crazed smile spread from his lips.

    "Damien Void, Damien Void¡­HAHAHAHAHA! If you kill me, you''re dead! My father won''t let you off! Hahahaha! Even if I die today, I''ll be seeing you in hell!"

    Damien''s eyes turned mocking.

    The fish had finally taken the bait.

 Chapter 810 Ants [4]

    "Your father? Even if your father is ate-stage 4th ss, do you think he can match me?" Damien taunted openly.

    And Reavus reacted just as a dumb dog would.

    "Hah? Late-stage 4th ss? Don''t joke with me! My father is an extreme peak master, and my grandfather is the Immortal Blood Asura himself! Damien Void, if you let me go now, I will forgive your sins and you won''t be targeted by the Bloodlock n anymore! I can swear a Mana Oath by it!"

    Reavus'' words were both mocking and sincere at the same time. Threatening Damien with his family''s power before offering a Mana Oath for trust was exactly the carrot-and-stick method that leaders tended to use on theirckeys.

    However, Damien was nockey.

    He seemed to have forgotten something after getting caught up in the moment.

    ''I can just devour him and find out everything I need from his memories.''

    Damien grinned.

    "Reavus, my friend. It seems you don''t have any use after all. However, your father and grandfather, now those are stepping stones to look forward to!"

    Reavus'' eyes widened. "You wouldn''t dare¡­!"

    "Oh, I absolutely would."

    Damien''s grin turned savage.

    In truth, Reavus'' efforts to sabotage him were all in vain and never actually seeded in inhibiting him.

    Reavus himself was trash, only able to bully the weak.

    Damien truly could leave Reavus alive and allow him to return to the Bloodlock n. This way, he''d be subjected to an endless stream of assassins and other experts before the actual high-ranking figures of the n moved.

    This, of course, would provide Damien with apt material for growth andbat practice, but it was unneeded at the moment.

    The Nox were far better punching bags.

    On the other hand, if Damien killed Reavus here¡­

    ''Won''t the big bosse from the start?''

    If so, he had to make a scene.

    ''I heard that these big ns have various methods to find out who killed their disciples. The Demigod-level influences can create soulmps since a Demigod has control over that esoteric concept, but I heard they have a few more surefire methods¡­''

    Among them, runes and restrictions that could transmit thest scenes before one''s death to another party.

    ''If Reavus has one of those, then don''t I have to leave a convincing enough show for his father toe to me personally?''

    Damien cracked his knuckles with anticipation.

    It had been a long time since he was able to torture someone.

    Reavus Bloodlock¡­

    The young "genius" could onlyment his fate making an enemy of someone like Damien.

    ***

    The cycle of night and day in the Celestial Realm waspletely disproportionate to the Real ne. The nights were far, far longer, almost endless.

    A certain soul felt this eternity far more than his peers.

    His screams resounded through a lonely mountain valley. They were visceral screams, almost as gruesome as the squelching sound of his body being slowly picked apart.

    ''I didn''t know vultures existed in this realm.'' Damien thought curiously as he watched the proceedings.

    [Heal]

    A white light streamed from his finger and entered Reavus'' body, healing a portion of his injuries.

    ''This should be thest bit. I don''t know how much the Bloodlock n will be able to see once the feed gets transmitted back. I should keep it suffice.''

    As night turned to day, Damien realized he''d already tortured Reavus Bloodlock for over 40 hours. The man''s spirit was long broken, and his consciousness was barely being maintained by Damien''s healing.

    ''It''s quite the poor sight. I almost feel bad for him.''

    Damien shrugged and walked over to Reavus'' body, shooing away the vulture beasts as he did so.

    "You look terrible."

    "Ugghk¡­iusuug¡­"

    Damien snorted, trying to hold back hisughter.

    Well, it was his fault for expecting cohesive words from a blob of meat that didn''t even have a proper mouth anymore.

    "Hmm, I wanted to put the finishing touches on this masterpiece of mine, but I think this is enough."

    "Well, then¡­this is our goodbye, young master."

    Damien smiled warmly and shed his hand out, severing Reavus''st string of life force and sending him into the cycle of reincarnation.

    "Hey, hey! To whoever is watching this, my name is Damien, and¡­well, what else can I say? I''m a bit camera-shy. Umm¡­it looks like we''ll be seeing each other often after this, so I just wanted to say I look forward to our first meeting! Ta-ta now!"

    Damien shed a toothy grin at the transmission signal that formlessly exited Reavus'' body.

    And in the next instant, he watched that formless transmission signal fizzle as it tried to exit the Celestial Realm''s barrier.

    Damien rubbed his nose awkwardly. "Looks like it''ll have trouble reaching the Bloodlock n until the Celestial Realm reopens. What a shame, after all that effort I put into my acting¡­"

    He let out an exaggerated sigh of mncholy, but inwardly, he was widely grinning.

    ''Good! This means I have 3 months to get the fuck out of here before the Bloodlock n catches up! Hahahaha!''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    His overall n was a little on the crazy side.

    He couldn''t face an extreme peak 4th ss with his current strength, yet he went and provoked one anyway.

    He was hoping he''d get to have a few experiences at war before the Bloodlock n''s people found him. At that point, he''d be ready to take whatever came to him.

    A three-month respite was actually a heavenly-blessed opportunity for Damien.

    ''I can aplish the final task I wanted to take care of before leaving the academy and then leave. By the time the Bloodlock n arrives here, I''ll be long gone. Let''s see how they find me after that.''

    The smile on Damien''s face had gone through a myriad of changes since the beginning of this interaction, and now that it was ending, that same smile looked particrly mischievous.

    He soon vanished into the void, leaving behind a mountain valley filled with corpses.

    However, strangely enough¡­

    The most important of them was missing entirely.

    ***

    3 months passed rapidly, especially for those in the Celestial Realm. Despite participating in countless perilous adventures in this time frame, those who''d experienced the realm''s mystical properties and endless rewards were naturally enamored by it.

    Unfortunately, staying past one''s wee was impossible. The Celestial Realm''s opening was random, and it had only opened 3 times in the past 100,000 years. Getting trapped inside was a death sentence no matter how one looked at it!

    Disciples poured out of the secret realm entrance in droves. Their disciple badges shed with various colors that showcased their progress and the results of their examination.

    But unlike a usual progress examination, nobody was focused on their results when they exited.

    After all, an utterly inconceivable rumor had been spreading recently.

    It was a rumor about a mysterious genius who made his advent in the Celestial Realm.

    It was said that he could leap millions of kilometers in a single bound, summon the winds and rain with a thought, and even wholly erase his enemies from existence.

    It was a terrifying rumor, but a rumor that had no validity behind it¡­

    ¡­at least, at the beginning,

    A second round of rumors began circting afterwards.

    That same genius, the terrifying entity that most had chalked up to fiction, was a true monster. After all, that person''s existence was confirmed.

    Every Emperor and Paragon of Hidden Death Valley had been defeated.

    It didn''t matter their level or elementalprehension, as long as they were below the extreme peak of 4th ss, they were suppressed without exception.

    The mysterious genius who achieved this feat vanished afterpleting his round of challenges.

    There was no name for him on Heaven''s List. His identity became an utmost mystery of Hidden Death Valley.

    However, these geniuses refused to forget his feats.

    The number one spot on Heaven''s List was filled by a new name, a name fit for someone who could dominate the rankings of Heaven in a single string of challenges.

    [1. Heavenly King]

    Atticus looked at the ranking wryly.

    He cracked his shoulder and winced in pain. It was an old injury at this point, but it still hurt like hell.

    ''Dammit¡­you didn''t have to be so heavy-handed, did you?''

    He knew from the start that that man would be something great.

    But to think it happened so soon¡­

    ''Heavenly King is truly an apt title for a genius like him.''

    Atticus smiled lightly.

    The Heavenly King or the Saint King¡­

    Just which one would win in the end?

    ''I have to get stronger.''

    Atticus wanted to be there for that moment, and he was unresigned to being a mere spectator.

    ''When we meet again, I won''t let you thrash me like that. Never again.''

    Atticus eyes hardened.

    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel That guy disappeared after causing such a scene, likely headed somewhere he could be an even greater monster.

    In that case, Atticus would be a monster too.

    He was absolutely determined to do so.

    He was one of many affected by the sudden appearance of such a heaven-defying genius, though his case was far more severe since he knew the man personally.

    From the weakest disciples to those Emperors and Paragons who''d faced humiliation under the purple-eyed demon''s hand, all geniuses of Hidden Death Valley were spurred into action.

    The Director watched this change take ce from above.

    He smiled to himself.

    ''I''ve helped you as much as I can. Your identity is now only known in this academy as the Heavenly King. "Damien Void" never returned from Calypto, so go. Run wild as you please and be the Ruler of Heaven that you were meant to be¡­''

    ''¡­Sessor of Void Pce.''

 Chapter 811 Enlist [1]

    "¡­finally here."

    A lonely voice rang out in the midst of nothingness, the owner of that voice floating alone in the endless night.

    At this time, only a month had passed since Damien''s meeting with his father. The deeds of the Heavenly King had yet to be made known, but the string of challenges had beenpleted only a single day ago.

    It only took Damien a single month to locate and defeat a majority of Hidden Death Valley''s Emperors and Paragons. The academy emblem was especially helpful for this task, but more than anything, the Celestial Realm provided Damien a nearly endless space to abuse his teleportation for movement.

    It was an extremely refreshing experience to travel millions of kilometers unrestrained, and this experience also led him to find other challengers at an extremely rapid pace. By the time the month ended and Damien finished beating up his peers, he''d already seen everything the Celestial Realm had to offer.

    ''So naturally, it was time to disappear.''

    Damien had no idea just what kind of stir he''d cause in Hidden Death Valley after news of his feats leaked, but it was definitely a shame that he couldn''t see it.

    In the 2 months before the progress examination came to its true end, he needed to establish himself in Heaven''s Army and prepare for what was toe next.

    ''The Director owes me a few favors, so he should take care of the aftermath. But¡­damn, seeing Atticus'' face at that time was great.''

    If there was one match Damien enjoyed more than the rest, it was his battle with Atticus. As the two were friends to an extent, they fought for an entire day and night without rest, merely testing each other''s skills and enjoying the battle rather than thirsting for blood.

    ''I didn''t think anyone in Hidden Death Valley could challenge me anymore¡­but I guess there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers everywhere.''

    Damien grinned. He couldn''t help but anticipate their next meeting.

    But until then¡­

    ''I''m closing in on them. If I''m not mistaken, arge portion of Heaven''s Army is still in Throh''s vicinity. If I head there, I should be able to find someone important enough to give me a position.''

    Heaven''s Army did have a central headquarters, however, it was located in Hephaestus, the Dwarven Domain.

    Hephaestus was the technological hub of the universe. Only in Hephaestus could one find teleportation arrays that could connect directly to any other part of the universe.

    For the sake of efficiency in the mobilization of troops and fortification of the headquarters'' defense, the Dwarven Domain was the most obvious choice.

    Unfortunately, Hephaestus was on theplete opposite side of the universe from Eden. If Damien wanted to get there, even with his speed it''d take at least a few months.

    ''Therefore, I can only go for this much stupider yet somewhat more convenient method.'' Damien sighed to himself.

    His body passed through the ruined remains of Eden. Everywhere he went, he saw destroyed worlds and debris from the chaotic warfare that''d been taking ce in this realm for many years already.

    ''It''s really a shame. A mere few years to destroy an entire sector, a ce where countless quintillions of existences are housed. The scale of this war is outrageous.''

    When Damien first heard of Eden''s condition, he thought the reports were exaggerated. He assumed that along the way, he''d be able to find at least a few safe worlds or dead stars to bind.

    This, however, was merely his wishful thinking. Eden was truly destroyed, only slightly better than the Elven Domain, which was turned into aplete Dead Zone.

    ''Butpared to the rest of the sector, this ce is particrly lively.''

    Damien''s body rematerialized in the void once more, and finally, he saw activity in front of him.

    Countless starships and troops moved about through the starry sky. A plethora of temporary base camps had been formed on the remains of the surroundings. Among them, there were even a few celestial bodies that survived.

    Sensing the familiar fluctuation of World Force, Damien smiled. He was d that at least a few seeds could survive. As long as they existed, nothing would remain destroyed forever.

    Damien maneuvered through the ordered chaos uninhibited. Since Heaven''s Army was originally a coalition of forces, nobody doubted his identity. It wasn''t rare to see strangers among the troops.

    He eventually found his way to an open area in the starry sky. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In the distance, the debris of a wrecked floated like rings around a shining blue World Core.

    Those were the remains of Throh.

    The temptation to swallow that World Core naturally rose in Damien''s heart, but for now, he suppressed it.

    ''I should find the highest authorities. The life fluctuations of extreme peak 4th ss beings should be¡­yeah, that was as easy as expected.''

    Damien''s head turned in a certain direction, and his body moved thereafter. He teleported until he was only a few hundreds of kilometers from Throh''s World Core.

    Here¡­

    Two massive auras red in the distance. Within a second, the owners of those auras arrived in front of Damien.

    "This is a restricted area. State your affiliation and your purpose." The man on the right said.

    "I''vee to speak with those extreme peak experts residing here."

    Damien responded sinctly, but he was inwardly marveling a bit. After all, thete-stage 4th ss beings before him were positioned as mere guards.

    How could he not be surprised?

    Nevertheless, these guards clearly didn''t take well to his answer.

    "Unless you have been authorized, you will not be allowed entry. State your affiliation and your authorization code." The same man coldly said, raising his spear at Damien.

    Damien sighed and scratched his head. ''This is going to be an annoying interaction if I let it keep going. I have two options from here¡­''

    Either he could cause a scene and gain the attention of those extreme peak masters, or he could turn around and join a smaller force before slowly working his way up to a prominent position.

    ''Unfortunately, I don''t have the time or patience for that. I guess I''ll have to¡ª''

    "Let him through."

    "Hm?"

    A distant voice echoed in the ears of the three present. The guards who were just seconds away from pouncing on Damien suddenly backed down, ring at him intimidatingly before making way for him.

    Damien quirked his head curiously, but didn''t make a fuss. If his purpose was being achieved more efficiently, why would hein?

    He followed the aura fluctuation from the voice just then until he arrived at a small dead star floating amongst Throh''s debris.

    ''This is¡­''

    Damien''s eyes widened yet again.

    ''Spatial expansion magic spanning an entire dead star is impressive regardless of how small the star is. I wonder what it''s like inside¡­?''

    Damien entered the star''s "atmosphere." He felt a small tug as space changed its wavelength. The scenery around him changed as well, almost as if the dead star was transformed into an entirely different realm.

    "Oho¡­"

    Damien was definitely looking for an expert when he came to Throh¡­

    But this exceeded his expectations by andslide.

 Chapter 812 Enlist [2]

    A sprawling sea of green spanned an infinite distance, filled with vibrant life aurapletely unlike what one would expect from a Dead Star. In the midst of that evesting field was an ancient temple-like building.

    Damien didn''t walk into the temple, rather, he moved around it and found the courtyard attached to its rear.

    This was the ce he was to go.

    The courtyard was fenced off, but Damien could clearly feel the vast aura being emitted from the being within. He stood at the door in contemtion, unknowing of whether he should enter or not.

    If the existence beyond the door was hostile, he''d be in serious trouble.

    "What are you hesitating for? Since you are already here, enter."

    That being''s voice resounded once more.

    Damien sighed and pushed the door open, entering the courtyard. He scanned its interior, appreciating the calm naturalistic aesthetic of the area before his eyes finally caught the owner of the voice.

    "What¡­" she said with a small smile, "¡­do I look different from what you expected?"

    Damien nodded on instinct before shaking his head profusely. "Ha¡­haha¡­what could your appearance possibly matter for?"

    "Oh? So that wasn''t a look of bewilderment on your face earlier?"

    "I would never!"

    "Hmm¡­"

    The woman smiled and shook her head, dropping the matter. It wasn''t surprising for him to react like he did, after all, everyone did the first time they met her!

    Despite the fact that she was an extreme peak 4th ss master, she looked no older than 12 or 13 years old!

    "Don''t mind my current state. It is but a consequence of using power beyond my abilities. My body will return to its normal state eventually." She stated.

    "Anyway, if I''m not mistaken, you must be Damien Void, the most famous genius in the universe at the moment. For what reason have youe to see me?"

    Damien''s eyes sharpened. "What makes you say that?"

    "There is no use pretending in front of me, boy. Spatial abilities are rare enough alone, but purple eyes that signify nobility are even rarer. You are more unique than you seem to realize."

    Damien frowned. He didn''t know how valid her reasoning was, but it was true that he couldn''t hide his identity from her.

    Well, it wasn''t as if he was trying to hide in the first ce, merely¡­

    "I didn''t know rumors about me had spread so far." He said with a sigh.

    The woman chuckled. "More than that, you are practically a hero amongst themon soldiers."

    "It''s a bit annoying when you put it that way."

    "Haha, how interesting."

    The woman smiled. It was a surprise seeing this man appear before her like this, but it wasn''t a bad thing at all. Rather, she was quite interested in his reason foring.

    A genius like him could go anywhere in the universe with his current reputation. By all measures, he should''ve been taking advantage of his status to climb the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    But instead, he came to the battlefield?

    If his reasoning was as she thought it was¡­

    "Boy, my name is Prisci Adire. I am one of the High Commanders of this army. If you have something to say to me, then say it now."

    This time, it was Damien''s turn to be shocked.

    ''Adire?!''

    It wasn''t strange for names to be repeated in a universe of this scale. There were probably millions of different Adires without any connection to each other. This Prisci was likely a case like this, with no rtion to Rose at all, but if it turned out to not be the case¡­

    ''Haha, if that happens, then my wife is destined for a free powerup.''

    Damien shook off the nonsensical thought and replied to Prisci''s words. "Since you know who I am, then it makes things much simpler. I am here to fight, it''s as easy as that. I want to be put in a position where I can endlessly sh with the Nox."

    Prisci''s brow raised in curiosity. "And your reasoning?"

    "Do I need any grand reason? I want to fight, kill, and be stronger. Isn''t that the same motivation that every practitioner shares?" <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Prisci smiled.

    "How interesting."

    ¡­she was extremely pleased that she noticed him before those other old ghosts could get their hands on him.

    He met her expectations, and even exceeded them to an extent.

    ''To fight, kill, and grow stronger¡­indeed, this is the most simple yet most powerful motivation one could possess.''

    Saying that every practitioner had this motivation wasn''t a lie, but Damien downyed it heavily.

    Sure, every practitioner had the desire for strength, but not every practitioner was willing to devote themselves wholeheartedly to it.

    Damien wasn''t like these people. Prisci could clearly see it in his eyes.

    ''He''s willing to die for it.''

    It was evident based on his current actions. For the sake of strength, he was willing to throw himself into war, even though he could just as well use the Dimensional Leaderboard to slowly and safely grow.

    It was motivation to the extent of insanity.

    Because for this type of person, death was merely a measure of their unworthiness.

    They were indifferent in front of it, because if it happened, it was because they deserved it.

    They simply weren''t strong enough.

    This type of motivation was the qualification of a genius, but also the reason that countless geniuses died before they could bloom into their strength.

    Nevertheless, who was Prisci to crush the ambitions of a rising star?

    Rather, she wanted to push him forward and see how he could grow.

    ''After all, I''m considering him for the sessor position of the Demon Sealing Pantheon. I should test his limits before making a decision¡­shouldn''t I?''

    Prisci''s lips spread into a small grin. "If you are intent on following this path, then I will not stop you. However, I do have a condition."

    "I can put you at the forefront of every small scuffle and battle if that''s what you wish, but you must travel with at least onepanion at all times."

    "And why is that?"

    "Why, there are multiple reasons. Firstly, do you think I''ll let a wild card like you into the field without at least an observer on you? Secondly, you need a method to stay connected to Heaven''s Army. Geniuses like you tend to be lone wolves, so working with a squad will be difficult unless you have someone who can help you limate. Even setting these two reasons aside, there are many benefits to traveling with apanion."

    "I will personally pick apanion that won''t burden you. You can trust their skills."

    Damien furrowed his brows in thought. He didn''t know why Prisci was being so direct about the fact that she didn''t trust him and wanted to observe him, but he did appreciate her transparency.

    ''Also, not everything she''s saying is wrong. It''s true that without Zara''s existence and mediation, my rtionship with the Stargazer Squad probably wouldn''t have improved in the slightest¡­''

    He didn''t like admitting that he was an edgy loner, but his past actions didn''t let him run from the truth.

    ''I don''t have any ulterior motives, so there''s really no need to worry about an observer. As for techniques, I doubt anyone below the Demigod level will be able to properly understand them without an exnation from me, so there won''t be any problems there either.''

    Besides personal difort, there were no visible cons to having a capablepanion.

    "Haa¡­fine, I''ll ept your terms. But I better get some special treatment or something for letting you attempt to steal my secrets." Damien sighed in defeat.

    "My, my. If I remember correctly, you came from humble origins. It seems you got used to the "genius treatment" much faster than expected."

    "Tch, who wouldn''t? Everything bes needlessly troublesome without it."

    "Haha, fair enough." Prisci conceded with a smile.

    "Do not worry, you will receive treatment matching your strength. This is how Heaven''s Army has always operated. However, your benefits willeter. First, let''s talk about where you will be deployed¡­"

    Prisci trailed off with a mysterious smile as she summoned an array of holographic windows between her and Damien.

    "Tell me, are you interested in seeing the edge of existence?"

 Chapter 813 Enlist [3]

    ''What a crazy woman.''

    Damien sat in a provided amodation and sighed to himself as he thought back to the previous conversation.

    He''d already finished finalizing the terms of his agreement with Prisci, and she''d already chosen the perfect ce for his deployment. Only, that woman''s personality wasn''t something Damien could handle.

    ''I should keep contact with her at a minimum.''

    Damien rolled over in bed and flicked his finger through the air, summoning a holographic window.

    ''The edge of existence, Eien¡­to think such a ce could exist.''

    The so-called "edge of existence" was the border of the known universe. Beyond thisnd was the murky Abyss that no practitioner had ever survived.

    What was curious about the edge of existence was that rather than a portion of space or even a collection ofs, it was a massive tnd made of unknown material.

    It was essentially a solid ring that encircled the universe.

    Even the width of this ring was countless millions of kilometers long, the length didn''t even need to be mentioned. This massive battlefield was the true warzone against the Nox. It was the first line of defense that protected the universe from outside invasion.

    The existence of Eien only made the Nox''s rapid conquest of two sectors even stranger.

    ''Then, does it reallye down to traitors?''

    Damien sighed. Considering the Nox''s usual methods, there were bound to be traitors everywhere. Even within ces like Hidden Death Valley or Heaven''s Army.

    ''It''s been a while since I''vest dealt with traitors. Aftering to the Divine Realm, I haven''t encountered any at all.''

    In fairness, a good portion of Damien''s time in the Divine Realm had been spent on Death Emperor Star, where traitors were almost non-existent, but it was still strange that he didn''t meet any on Calypto.

    ''When we reach a scale this big, there''s no way the traitors will be split into individual groups like they were in the Human Domain. There''s likely a greater organization formed by traitors that manages them.''

    So far, Damien had heard nothing about such an organization, but he didn''t doubt its existence at all.

    And if there was anywhere he''d find them, it would definitely be Eien.

    After all, what were traitors good for if not sneaking their allies through enemy lines?

    ''That Prisci is making me wait here while she finds apanion for me. I should use this time to deepen myprehension of Life and Death Laws.''

    After his conversation with Prisci, Damien realized that it was impossible for him to abuse his spacetime abilities in Eien. His identity had be too well-known after Calypto''s incidents, and after people found out about his previous feat of dominating the Dimensional Leaderboard, the fervor surrounding his name only became fiercer.

    ''I''ll use Eien as a stepping stone to train my Samsara Intent to perfection.''

    Damien crossed his legs and began meditating. Unknowingly, 3 days passed before a knock on his door woke him.

    "Sir Damien, the Master has called for you." A maidservant said from beyond the door.

    "Understood," Damien responded as he opened it. "Take me to see her."

    The maidservant bowed and led him to Prisci''s courtyard. When Damien entered, he was almost suffocated by thetent aura filling the surroundings.

    "This¡­"

    "Haha,e in. Excuse the suddenness of my invitation, but the others wished to see you as well. I hope you understand."

    "Yeah¡­sure¡­"

    Damien slowly calmed his blood and nced at the multitude of figures filling the room.

    Right, there were over fifteen characters in the room at the moment, all of them with the strength of extreme peak 4th ss.

    "So¡­who is everyone?" Damien asked.

    "Puahahaha! He''s just as crass as that kid said!" An old man burst out in response.

    "Kid, my name is Sterling Asterin, but you may know me better as the Fallen Star Holy Master. I''ve heard a lot about you from my little disciple."

    Damien''s eyes widened. "Atticus'' master?"

    "Haha, right!"

    "But¡­isn''t the Fallen Star Holy Land led by a Demigod?"

    "Hm, it''s a mistake many people make so I don''t me you. Our Demigod Ancestor doesn''t interfere with the mundane world much, and all sect duties are relegated to me. On paper, he is the leader of the sect, but the Holy Master position belongs to me alone."

    "I see¡­" Damien nodded in understanding. It made sense if an illustrious Demigod didn''t want to deal with menial tasks. They likely had a long road ofprehension to embark on, so they focused on training more often than not.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''ording to Reavus'' memory, Blood Asura Holy Land is led personally by the Immortal Blood Asura. I guess it''s different based on the Demigod''s personality.''

    Damien concluded his thoughts and listened to the introductions of the rest of the present experts. As expected, each and every one of them held a position with at least the power of a Holy Land High Elder.

    These were Heaven''s Army''s High Commanders. It was a position that couldn''t just be achieved through extreme peak 4th ss strength, but also required dignity, wisdom, and leadership that was acknowledged by themon soldiers and higher-ups alike.

    And for some reason, they all lined up just to meet Damien.

    Damien awkwardly returned their greetings and participated in their sophistries for a period of time, inwardlymenting the fact that he decided toe.

    It was only many hourster when the experts left Damien alone with Prisci once more.

    "Haa¡­" Damien let out a tired sigh and plopped down on a nearby sofa.

    "Acting so rxed around me, boy? Don''t you have respect for your seniors?"

    "Should I have respect for a senior who forced me to entertain that bullshit?! Haa, I feel like dying and I haven''t even left for the battlefield yet."

    "Mm, mm, you need the battlefield to feel alive."

    "Don''t make it sound so edgy."

    Damien rolled his eyes before turning to look at Prisci.

    "So have you found apanion yet? If you''re saying that much yourself, you should be well aware of the depth of my desire."

    Prisci smiled mysteriously. "Worry not. I have already found a perfectpanion for you. We are merely waiting for them to reach this ce so I can send you to Eien together."

    Damien sighed in relief. "If you''re saying they''re reliable, I''ll trust you for now, but this itchy feeling is really pissing me off. I can already tell that you pulled some bullshit."

    Damien didn''t know much about Prisci, but Reavus did. More urately, Reavus had a vague memory of the Demon Sealing Pantheon that Prisci belonged to.

    It was a mysterious influence of which nobody knew the location or members. Only a single Demon Sealing Pantheon member woulde to light in every generation, leading the universe in the war effort with their techniques made specially to restrict and kill the Nox.

    Even if Prisci herself was a fox, her position meant that she''d at least follow through when she needed to.

    "Then? Did you only summon me for that pseudo-banquet?"

    "Pseudo-banquet is a bit too posh of a description, but indeed. That and to tell you that yourpanion is en route. Since both matters have already been covered, I have nothing left to say."

    "Then I''ll be taking my leave," Damien said as he stood up.

    "Leaving so early?"

    "I don''t want to spend a single extra minute around someone as conniving as you."

    "How rude."

    Prisci smiled, but didn''t stop him from leaving. She had plenty of time to y with Damien before determining his worth. She didn''t have to rush at all.

    "Fuwah! Those old geezers¡­it''s good that they kept their word, but it won''tst for long." Prisci flopped onto a nearby couch and sighed out loud.

    Before Damien arrived, she''d made a bet with the other High Commanders. If she won, they wouldn''t try to poach Damien from her for 3 months, but if she lost, they could do as they pleased and she couldn''t interfere.

    Naturally, she won the bet.

    And quite simple at that.

    "Hahahaha!"

    She couldn''t help butugh when she thought about it.

    It was a simple prompt, yet not even a single High Commander could aplish it.

    All they had to do was sessfully probe Damien. If they could determine his level through this probe, they would win.

    But as Prisci found only a few days earlier¡­

    Such a feat was impossible even for an extreme peak 4th ss being, regardless of how many revolutions they''dpleted.

    Prisci smiled to herself.

    "This kid only bes more interesting the more I interact with him."

 Chapter 814 Enlist [4]

    ''Today is finally the day.''

    Damien stood up from meditative posture and stretched his body. An entire week passed since he started staying in this strange Dead Star realm, and hispanion had finally arrived.

    ''I''ll have to assess them myself before we leave.''

    Damien cracked his knuckles and prepared for a fight as he headed back to Prisci''s courtyard.

    He knew for certain that finding apanion that could match his age and aplishments was impossible, so he was curious about the type of person Prisci recruited.

    ''Is it some old monster? I hope they have an amicable personality.''

    The walk to Prisci''s courtyard was practically ingrained in Damien''s mind at this point, so he was able to reach it without a hitch. When he entered¡­

    "Fuck this."

    ¡­he was disappointed by theck ofpanion in the room.

    "What''s this about?" He questioned with a frown.

    "Hahaha, calm down. No need to be so hostile. Yourpanion is here, they just went to pay respects to the other High Commanders before you arrived. Why don''t you stay here and wait for them?"

    Prisci motioned towards a chair across from her at the table she sat at. On the table was a go board which seemed to be actively in y, though Prisci didn''t have anypany.

    "It was a game that never got to finish. How about scrapping it and ying a match against me?" Prisci asked.

    Damien shrugged and walked over. He yed a little bit of Go on Earth, but not enough to be considered good.

    Go was a game that emphasized push and pull. To take initiative and hand it over intentionally, Damien was never intelligent enough to make these calls.

    But it wasn''t like the aggressive approach never worked.

    He sat down with Prisci and started the game, cing his first piece.

    "Have you yed much Go before?" Prisci asked.

    "Not much, but I understand the principle."

    "Mm, then I guess I''ll go easy on you."

    Damien and Prisci took turns making moves, blocking each other while also trying to gain the advantage.

    However, as Damien already stated, he was never good at games like this one.

    He focused too much on his own side, and before he even realized it, Prisci had created aplex web that left him with no choice but defeat.

    "I don''t know why I decided to y when I suck, but I''ll ept the loss." He said with a sigh.

    "Oh? epting it so easily is fine in this situation, but can you do so forever?" Prisci responded mysteriously.

    "And by that you mean¡­"

    "I''m sure you already know. Even if you pretend to be brutish, I can see the intelligence behind your eyes."

    "You must be hallucinating."

    "Maybe so."

    Prisci shrugged and moved the pieces off the board, starting a new game.

    "Go is very interesting to y as a High Commander on the battlefield. In a situation where all routes are cut off, what options are left? More than any of the strategies I''ve learned from this game, this is the question that''s bothered me."

    Prisci ced her piece with a wry smile. "In Go, the situation changes based on the yer. Some will admit defeat the moment they sense their loss, refusing to continue the game. Some will try to find a way to win even knowing their impending loss, but still give up in the end. Some will beg for a rematch without fail, acting like starved dogs. The smallest number of people choose to fight until the end even while knowing their fate."

    Her eyes raised and met Damien''s. "It''s good to know that you are this type of person, however, this type of person is always the first to die. Without considering other options, they fight until they can no longer fight."

    Her expression turned solemn. "You are a spatial expert. Your skill in fleeing is unparalleled under the Demigod level. Even if it means you must abandon yourpanions¡­"

    "You must survive. For the sake of the universe''s continued existence, you must survive at all costs."

    Damien silently returned her moves, refusing toment on her words.

    His actions¡­would depend on the situation.

    He couldn''t promise anything.

    Nor could he shoulder the weight of the universe.

    ''I''ll move how I wish to move. If anyone inhibits that¡­''

    Before Damien could think further, a knock resounded from the courtyard door.

    "It looks like yourpanion has finally arrived," Prisci said.

    With her invitation, the person beyond the door stepped into the courtyard.

    Their form was revealed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''This¡­''

    The woman was around 5 feet 6 inches in height. Her hair was medium-length and so dark it almost looked ck, but the way it glinted with deep blue in the sunlight made it evident that it barely wasn''t. She had green eyes that reminded Damien of the endless abundance of life, and her overall stature was soposed that she almost blended in with nature.

    "Greetings, Senior. I havee as ordered."

    The woman bowered to Prisci as she spoke, refusing to move from the doorway.

    "Mm,e sit. This is Damien, the man you''ll be apanying for the foreseeable future."

    The woman walked over to the table and bowed towards Damien.

    "Ximen Wuhen greets Young Master Damien."

    "Mm, well met," Damien muttered off-handedly.

    ''Her level is¡­''

    "Boy, don''t focus too much on Wuhen''s level. If you do, you''re sure to regret it." Prisci interrupted him before he coulde to any conclusions.

    "If you want to talk about raw power, Wuhen definitely can''t match you, but in terms ofbat effectiveness¡­"

    "Show him."

    Ximen Wuhen nodded and faced Damien. "Please excuse my rudeness."

    She formed a set of seals with her hand, and immediately, thews of Heaven and Earth shifted.

    ''Oho¡­'' Damien whistled inwardly, impressed.

    Surrounding him currently was a powerful array that Damien didn''t know the identity of. From what he could tell, it both restrained the enemy and sapped their mana to slowly weaken and kill them.

    "This array isn''t bad. It can be deployed instantly, and it has enough power to affect anyone underte-stage 4th ss. If it''s arge-scale battle, this ability couldpletely reverse the situation." Damienmented.

    "However, is this it?"

    Ximen Wuhen was near the peak of mid-stage 4th ss, so her having this level of ability wasn''t surprising. Of course, she definitely proved that she would be useful.

    Only, Damien didn''t need someone who could only show their use in specific situations.

    He was a bit disappointed in what she''d shown so far.

    "I apologize, Young Master. I will not hold back any longer." Ximen Wuhen said without a change of expression.

    Her hand seals changed, and thews of Heaven and Earth changed along with them.

    The nature of the arraypletely reversed.

    Damien felt an unknown strength filling his body. His mana became denser, and he even felt an improvement in hisprehension ability.

    His entire being had been elevated as if he''d jumped 20 or 30 levels in an instant.

    Prisci smiled at his bewilderment.

    "Along with being an extremely aplished formation master who can support you in battle, she is also one of the rarest types of supporters in existence, a being with the ability to buff others."

    Damien''s eyes sharpened. Even the greatest supporters couldn''t strengthen other people''s abilities to an extent that actually mattered. It was simply impossible to maneuver mana in a way that empowered someone else without consciously controlling it, but at that point, the technique would be no different than puppeteering.

    Buff-type supporters were rare to the point where they weren''t even highly sought after because rarely anyone knew of their existence.

    Now that one was standing before Damien¡­

    ''I can''t be mad at all.'' He thought while hiding his satisfaction.

    Damien didn''t need help inbat. He didn''t need a defensive type either since his body was the greatest possible defense. All-in-all, Damien was a one-man army that couldn''t be interfered with.

    But if the other party wasn''t interfering, but was rather enhancing his abilities¡­

    Indeed, Prisci wasn''t lying when she said she found a supporter that perfectly suited Damien.

    With said supporter in tow, Damien could finally set off for Eien.

    It was time to start a new journey, a new adventure that''d spread his name far and wide.

    Damien had been on the cusp of adventure so many times that he thought this feeling would''ve numbed by now.

    But he couldn''t even pay attention to Prisci''s words.

    The anticipation was killing him.

    The itch in his body to utterly destroy and conquer all things¡­

    He couldn''t wait to fulfill it.

 Chapter 815 Enlist [5]

    After conversing with Prisci for a bit longer, Damien immediately left for Eien with Ximen Wuhen in tow.

    The Dead Star itself was only a temporary base, mostly held together by the magic and skills of those residing on it, so there wasn''t a direct teleportation station to Eien nearby, however, there were more than a few in Soul World, a sector whose border was mere days away from Throh.

    Overall, the travel time wouldn''t be too long. Damien would reach Eien within a week, but a week was enough time for plenty to happen.

    Damien mainly used this week to learn more about Ximen Wuhen and Eien.

    For the first matter, rather than Ximen Wuhen herself, Damien was naturally more interested in her ability.

    As someone immensely familiar with the naturalw, he held an immense curiosity towards her ability which seemed to break it.

    However, the reality of her power was different from what Damien expected.

    The nature of her mana itself was different.

    When Damien observed her body, he noticed that the ambient mana she absorbed would go through some sort of change the instant it entered her body, bing wholly different from its original property.

    Of course, a normal practitioner could also change the nature of mana to match their elements, but this was actually apletely different process.

    Regardless of their simrities, the fact that one happened consciously while the other happened naturally was a major differentiator.

    On top of that, Ximen Wuhen''s mana didn''t align with any of the Laws Damien knew of. Even when he asked her what Law she practiced, she couldn''t answer him.

    To her,wprehension came as naturally as breathing. While she practiced and refined her formation art, her mana continued to mature subconsciously.

    ''A true genius.''

    It was the only way to describe her.

    As someone who also held this title, Damien did his best to uncover the secrets behind her mysterious identity, but of course, a week wasn''t nearly enough time to solve a mystery that stumped even High Commanders like Prisci.

    Luckily, this week allowed Damien to get limated to Eien''s power structure.

    Eien was also a prime piece ofnd, and it wasn''t a small number of sects trying to capture it. The Nox were a threat to the universe as a whole, which was the only reason these forces didn''t fiercely sh for hegemony.

    ''If they truly decided to sh, though, the destruction they''d cause would be disastrous.''

    The most important fact that Damien found out was the power level of Eien, rather than its structure.

    The term "extreme peak 4th ss" didn''t matter at all in Eien.

    After all, there were an uncountable number of extreme peak experts present there.

    After seeing the absurd numbers in the information Prisci provided, Damien personally went to ask Ximen Wuhen about its validity.

    In that moment, Damien''s worldview was unexpectedly widened once again.

    ''I was too naive.'' He thought to himself.

    Damien thought he already understood the true vastness of the universe, but his opinion was skewed by what he''d seen.

    A majority of the universe''s forces were in Eien.

    As Prisci said, Eien was the true battlefield.

    When the sparks of war were just barely lighting up the starry sky, a vast portion of the universe''s experts were deployed to Eden to act as a first, and hopefullyst, line of defense.

    If it wasn''t for these experts, the universe might''ve fallen before Damien could even enter the Divine Realm.

    The experts that would''ve been considered at the very peak of the universe¡­

    ¡­were present in Eien in the billions.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Granted, Eien is, ironically, thergest celestial body in the universe with its length. But still, the fact that they had to define an entirely different power system to ssify them because of the sheer number is insane.''

    Naturally, not all extreme peak 4th ss beings were the same.

    The extreme peak of 4th ss was merely what every single being who reached level 399 was called. The next step was a step onto the path of Godhood, and depending on how close one was to taking this step, one''s power would be drastically different.

    The new stages of extreme peak 4th ss were titled as "revolutions" becausepleting each one felt like another revolution through life, an entirely new journey from level 1 to 399.

    High Commanders like Prisci were at the 6th of nine revolutions. Above them were only Executioners at the 7th or 8th revolution and Supremes at the 9th revolution.

    Below the High Commanders were normal Commanders with strength ranging from the 3rd to 5th revolution, and below even them were Millennium Generals from the 1st and 2nd revolutions.

    Practitioners who''d yet to reach the extreme peak stage were delegated as regr soldiers, and just as the Nox did, Heaven''s Army would assign roles based on the situation.

    ''But most people travel with their sects and organizations. It''s hard for the governing body of Heaven''s Army to separate these people or even move them without offering benefits.''

    This was why the carrot and stick reward system implemented for the war was perfect. Achievements became tangible as rewards apanied them, and these prideful sect disciples and practitioners became dogs with their tails wagging at the prospect.

    ''Would it be best to join a sect for ease of information gathering and movement¡­?''

    Just as all of Damien''s prior affiliations had done, a new one would provide him a canopy to use in case of emergencies.

    However, in Eien, there likely wasn''t a situation where he could earn the right to move freely.

    ''I can move with Ximen Wuhen alone, but I do need a base camp to return to in case anything happens. Even if it isn''t a sect, it seems I''ll have to be acquainted with some influence.''

    Damien sighed. Interacting with people was much harder than ughtering Nox, but doing it properly made life far easier.

    Nevertheless, the week passed rapidly with Damien busying himself with information gathering and training.

    Many millions of kilometers of travel and three long-distance teleportation arrayster, the destination was finally in sight.

    As Prisci described it, it truly was the end of existence.

    The glimmering specks of light decorating the starry sky were nonexistent on the other side of Eien. The sky was pitch-ck, and moving too far into enemy territory meant entering the Abyss.

    It was a ce with a deste atmosphere that could be felt from afar, and a bloodthirst with the same effect.

    ''This is a warzone.''

    Damien''s eyes hardened. Realization about where he''d taken himself set in.

    This was a ce where survival and benefits mattered more than all else. In the warzone that protected humanity, the concept of humanity was entirelycking.

    Damien steeled himself.

    The days ahead would mirror this atmosphere.

    He closed his eyes and calmed his boiling emotions, reopening them with indifference oozing from his pupils.

    "Let''s go."

    He dered it without leaving room for arguments.

    He grabbed onto Ximen Wuhen''s army and shed away.

    In the next moment, the duo appeared in the sky above the cracked reddish-purple desert that was Eien.

    Damien deeply breathed in the blood-soaked air¡­

    And a spark of reddish-ck mana shed across his pupils.

 Chapter 816 Enlist [6]

    Of the influences making up Heaven''s Armies forces in Eien, there were a few powerful options that Damien could join for his ns.

    There were two types of influences at the Edge of Existence.

    The first was more traditional. These influences were tight-knit and loyal groups who stuck together regardless of the cost. The disciples of these influences tended to have a great deal of pride in their affiliations and would do anything they could for said affiliation''s survival.

    The second type was far more unorthodox. These influences were massive in scale, having operations spanning the entire universal road that made up the edge of existence. On such a scale, it was impossible to mimic the traditions and bonds of orthodox sects.

    These influences took a more mercenary-like approach with their disciples, but maintained a base level of tradition that made it hard to ssify them as mercenary organizations.

    Of these, Damien would of course rather join thetter. Even if his freedom would still be restricted, he''d be able to act independently with much more ease within a looser power structure.

    Considering this, along with distance and time constraints, Damien narrowed his options down to three organizations with branches nearby where he and Ximen Wuhen arrived: Iron Fortress, Hope Organization, and Sanctuary.

    ''I have to say, I''m a bit partial towards thest one due to the name, but I still have to figure out which one matches my ideals best before making a decision.''

    As he''d learned before, regardless of their loose structure, these influences had their own doctrines. Their tendencies were partially reflected in their names, but that wasn''t enough to judge them, otherwise, Damien would''ve long taken the "Hope Organization" off his list.

    ''They''re all in different directions, which is inconvenient, but at least I can observe the general atmosphere of this ce while I travel.''

    With Eien''s gargantuan size, every few hundred million kilometers signified a different domain with a different atmosphere. Since Damien entered from Soul World, he was in a section of Eien called the Blood-Drenched Wilderness.

    ''This area is well-known for its beast poption. It''s said that millions of corrupted beasts and Lesser Nox roam thesends. Hopefully, the number of Higher Nox doesn''t disappoint either.''

    Damien and Ximen Wuhen moved with efficiency since thetter didn''tin about spatial travel at all. Within a few minutes, they''d made it to the Hope Organization branch, the closest of the three to their location.

    ''Yeah, I should''ve just crossed it off at the beginning.''

    It wasn''t bad when he first walked in. The building was structured simrly to the adventurer''s guild branches on Apeiron, so Damien actually had high hopes.

    But¡­

    ''Show mercy to your enemies is one of their golden rules? Hah!''

    This rule only applied to non-Nox and/or Nox-affiliated enemies, but Damien couldn''t ept it regardless.

    ''Even a single act of mercy cane back to bite youter. The only reason they can enforce a policy like that is because they''re supported by a High Commander.''

    Damien shook his head. Of Iron Fortress and Sanctuary, neither immediately made Damien want to reject. His partiality to Sanctuary definitely came into y when he went to make a decision on where to go next, however¡­

    Rumble!

    The ground quaked.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''It''sing from over there.''

    Damien grabbed Ximen Wuhen and teleported to the source of the tremors, hiding their bodies with One With Dimension once they arrived.

    ''As expected, it''s a battle.''

    Damien spread his awareness and watched the battle in great detail. From what he could see, there was a multitude of forces present. Among them, the three, or rather, two, he was contemting joining. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''I should stay back for now and observe them. The results of this battle can help me make my decision.''

    The enemy was a Nox force consisting of many thousands of Higher Nox and an exponentiallyrger number of minions.

    The number of 3rd ss and below fighters on the battlefield was low, but the number of 4th sses made it negligible. A portion of the allied force''s troops was delegated specifically to hold off the horde and barrage it with wide-range attacks.

    ''Interesting. The Iron Fortress members are fighting much more individualistically than the Sanctuary members. The former looks like an unorganized collection of mercenaries while thetter looks like cooperation between a few different skilled squads.''

    As Damien observed, he was able to pick apart the strengths and weaknesses of both parties.

    Iron Fortress was far better in terms of raw power, but theirck of cohesiveness brought their efficiency down by many points. In terms of moral character, the Sanctuary members seemed more willing to aid their allies than Iron Fortress members, though Damien didn''t know whether this was a good or a bad thing.

    ''Even then, it bes a deciding factor whenparing the two. It''s the daddy issues driving me, isn''t it.'' Damien joked inwardly.

    After meeting his father, he could finally ept the immense longing for family and belonging hidden deep in his heart. It always subconsciously influenced his decisions, but now that he was conscious of it, he didn''t know how to feel.

    ''Whatever, everything is temporary anyway, but it''s better to make friends. Who knows what kind of benefits I can reap from connectionster on.''

    Joining Celestial Star Pce allowed Damien to meet Tian Yang and somehow earn the protection of a Demigod. Even if all other examples were ignored, this alone was enough to justify Damien''s desire to form bonds.

    But at the same time¡­

    ''I''ll have to visit their guild branch before making a concrete decision. I really hope our interests align, but if they don''t¡­''

    ***

    ''¡­our interests perfectly align.''

    Damien sighed and smiled wryly when he read through Sanctuary''s code. Other than basic human decency-type rules, they didn''t actually have many restrictions,

    ''A sanctuary for all, formed to create a sanctuary for all, huh.''

    It was a pretty convincing slogan, especially considering that it even had the ability to reel Damien in.

    He left the battlefield after observing for a few minutes and went straight to Sanctuary, expecting nothing but disappointment.

    What he received was theplete opposite.

    Despite the fact that they advised their members to form squads, they didn''t force it. People who wanted to travel solo were also wee, but they had to sign a different contract since their safety wasn''t nearly as guaranteed.

    ''It''s just a matter of resources. ording to the contract, 40% of the resources I gather will be taken by the guild, but I''ll bepensated with achievement points to use on Heaven''s Army rewards. It isn''t a bad trade, especially because I don''t need resources for myself.''

    There was no need for hesitation.

    Damien and Ximen Wuhen walked to the front desk of the Sanctuary branch and immediately joined the guild, signing the mana contract that bound them to it.

    "Great!" The receptionistdy said. "Now that you''ve be official guild members, there are a few protocols you need to remember. After you''ve memorized them, you can go to the mission board and pick out some quests to take."

    "As stated in the contract, you will be able to move at your own discretion, however, if the guild issues a summons, participation is mandatory. Failure toply will break the contract terms, thus crippling you through the restriction¡­"

 Chapter 817 First Move [1]

    The receptionist rambled off a spiel ofmon information that every guild member should know as she handed over the duo''s guild identification ques.

    ording to her, while Eien was a warzone, it wasn''t apletely militarized region in the sense that not all battles that took ce were ordered and properly befitting of the term "war."

    While these battles happened often as well, it wasn''t strange to see small scuffles everywhere and even areas where the environment resembled awless zone more than a battlefield.

    For newbies who''ve just arrived at the Edge of Existence, it was rmended to slowly limate by taking on smaller extermination missions with a full squad before moving ontorge-scale operations with more people.

    Of course, Damien paid no mind to this advice.

    ''I can kill as I please, but if I follow the receptionist''s advice, I''ll be stuck as amon soldier who can''t participate in anything extraordinary. If I want the experience I came here for, I need to be forward in my approach.''

    Damien grinned as he looked at the mission list. The lowest level missions were essentially training missions, merely consisting of tasks on the level of defeating a group of 10 Lesser Nox. Moving up from there, the number and strength of the Nox to be killed increased slowly, until at the very extreme, there were even missions to assassinate Nox Avatars.

    ''de Lord, Poison Lord, Insect Lord¡­there are over fifteen Nox Avatars on this list. Do the Nox truly possess such a terrifying number of Demigods?''

    Damien frowned as he scrolled to a more suitable portion of the list.

    His frown soon turned back into a grin.

    ''Nice! It looks like they''ve scouted out a couple of strongholds but haven''t been able to take them down yet. This is the perfect opportunity for me.''

    Nox Strongholds were present in droves on Eien. Their level varied and some even had Nox Avatars residing within, but it seemed like the strongholds in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness weren''t this developed quite yet.''

    ''The strongest beings in all of these strongholds arete-stage 4th ss Nox, but the surrounding guilds haven''t been able to conquer them for multiple reasons.''

    Logistically, the only valid reason for their hesitation was the number ofte-stage 4th ss beings, but this problem could be solved with just a bit of nning.

    The true reason for theirck of action was just as always.

    Politics and sophistry.

    Nox Strongholds were extremely useful strategic points that every guild wanted for themselves. These strongholds usually had arge number of resources stored within, and their positioning allowed Heaven''s Army to use them to im morend on Eien.

    This momentum was incredibly important for the war effort, so not only would the majority benefit, the conquerors of the stronghold would gain control over the resources found there.

    Everybody won, that is, if they could agree on who conquered the stronghold.

    Every guild wanted to hoard the resources, which led to a stalemate where nobody touched the strongholds for fear of forming enmity with the other forces in the vicinity.

    ''In this situation, it only takes a single misced brick to topple the whole structure¡­or I guess in this situation, it''s two.''

    Damien smiled mischievously. He didn''t ept the mission, but as he already saw the coordinates of the strongholds, he had no need to.

    He didn''te to Eien for Sanctuary or Heaven''s Army''s rewards.

    He came for blood.

    His body shed several hundred thousand kilometers away from the guild branch with Ximen Wuhen in tow. Within a few hours, they arrived at the first stronghold.

    Damien spread his awareness and activated his All-Seeing Eyes.

    ''The numbers are mostly as expected. The number of early and mid-stage 4th ss beings is more than what was estimated, but it should be doable. As for thete-stage 4th sses¡­''

    Damien nced at Ximen Wuhen. If it came down to it, he could use this as an opportunity to test her power.

    "Stay here and observe for now. If you see a moment where it looks like I need support, provide it at your discretion." Damien told her.

    Ximen Wuhen nodded with a slight bow, backing away and standing in the air on her own.

    Damien turned his attention back to the stronghold.

    It was big.

    Really big.

    ''There are at least a few million Lesser Nox in there, not to mention the thousands of Higher Nox¡­''

    It was like the battle on Calypto all over again.

    But this time¡­

    ''I''m not so weak anymore.''

    Damien flicked his hand into the air and pointed his finger at the stronghold.

    Celestial Mana gathered in the air.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Starfall: Cosmic Manifestation.''

    VOOm!

    A wave of power spread from Damien''s body.

    The sky went ck.

    The weather didn''t change, a sun remained in the sky, but the sky went dark regardless.

    Something gargantuan appeared there, casting a shadow over the Heavens.

    Several tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter was the celestial body that manifested in the air.

    It hovered there for a moment.

    The Nox below began to notice it.

    As their gazes turned upward¡­

    Ximen Wuhen''s eyes widened.

    ''Fall.''

    Theary body fell through the sky with speed not matching its side. An extreme gravity acted upon its surface, causing it to burn as it resisted the repelling force preventing it from mming into Eien.

    But no repelling force could match the weight of a.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The fortress copsed, the Earth copsed, the sky copsed. The rumbling impact of the massive construct resounded for several tens of thousands of miles. The shockwaves that spread incinerated countless Lesser Nox, and injured arge number of Higher Nox as well.

    It was a beautiful scene of destruction that deserved further description, but Damien didn''t wait long enough to admire the blooming chaotic aftermath of his attack.

    He charged.

    His body disappeared and reappeared among the chaos. Pure white mana coated his body, and murky ck mana swirled around his arms and legs.

    ''Let''s feast.''

    Damien bared his fangs.

    Bang!

    The air exploded under the weight of his eleration. With pure speed alone, he arrived in front of the nearest Higher Nox and directly sliced him in half.

    The Nox''s body dissolved into ink, but before it could slink away to rejoin with its peers, a deathly spike pierced its body and melted it into nothingness.

    Damien''s eyes turned. His gaze was followed by proverbial lightning as he scouted a group of ten targets not too far away from each other.

    A panther? A cheetah? No, the speed at which he moved had already entered the realm of legends, mirroring the mythical Kun Peng!

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The impact of his fists was silent. The ws and sickles of death wordlessly encroached upon these unfortunate Nox and reaped their lives. However, each step he took caused space to tremble and shatter.

    The sound preceded his movements, yet the Nox couldn''t avoid him.

    It was a terrifying prospect.

    A fury of blood overtook the crumbling fortress. As the Cosmic Manifestation faded out of existence, the total number of survivors finally became countable.

    Millions of Lesser Nox? It didn''t matter their number, anyone under 4th ss was instantly incinerated by the impact and following shockwaves.

    Of the Higher Nox, most of the early-stage beings were heavily injured, the mid-stage beings weren''t as injured, but they didn''t have nearly enough power topete with Damien, and the high-stage beings¡­

    Damien tore through the remaining early and mid-stage Nox as fast as he could. The tide of death that he spread continued to grow, and as it did, the residue of his murky ck manayered together and formed a mist that followed Damien''s movements.

    The second the mist covered the entirety of the stronghold''s area¡­

    ''Reap their lives.''

    Damien dictated his enemy''s fate.

 Chapter 818 First Move [2]

    Heads flew.

    Sickles made from the surrounding mist appeared on the neck of every living Nox present in the area. Before they could even react, their heads had been separated from their bodies.

    ''Don''t let them escape.''

    The mist pressed down against the Earth, swallowing up the inky remains of the Nox and disallowing them from being reborn.

    The Nox didn''t deserve rebirth, whether it was through their own convoluted method or the true Cycle of Samsara.

    ''I''ll sentence the lot of you to purgatory.''

    Damien''s attention turned outward. There were still 10 left alive.

    10 Higher Nox for him to kill.

    ''It''s only 10 here, but it''s in the hundreds in some of the other fortresses. I need the power to dominate them alone.''

    Right now¡­

    Kill.

    Eat.

    Evolve.

    ¡­his old slogan came back to prominence.

    A savage grin spread across Damien''s face.

    "Hahahaha! Come! Show me why you should be feared!"

    He recklessly threw his body forward and confronted thete-stage 4th ss Nox.

    "A gentleman''s challenge is singlebat!" Damien yelled raucously as he formed a set of seals with his hands.

    ''Dimensional Cage Variation One: Suppression of All Things.''

    Countless separated dimensions clouded Eien''s space. These Dimensional Cages were infinitely stacked on top of each other, forming Russian nesting dolls with thousands ofyers!

    On top of that, the attack itself was supported by the Breath of All Things.

    It was specifically designed to control all things material.''

    "This¡­!"

    "You fiend¡­!"

    "Release me!"

    A number of exmations rang out when the 9 trappedte-stage 4th ss Nox understood their situations, yet before they could even try to escape, Damien was long gone.

    "You''re the first," Damien stated to thest untrapped Nox.

    Contrary to what the others believed, Damien never disappeared. Rather, he dragged his first target into an alternate dimension so deeply woven into the fabric of space that it couldn''t be recognized by anyone other than another expert.

    He and thest Nox were still very much in the vicinity of the rest.

    "You are a strong human, but you are not strong enough to defeat me!" The Higher Nox said.

    Damien smirked. "Don''t talk, act."

    He shed forward and shed out, using his hand as a de aimed to decapitate the enemy.

    The Higher Nox quickly dodged to the side before he was hit, but just as he turned to regain his bnce¡­

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    ck mana bullets exploded all around his body, scattering Death Energy that tried to enter his system and corrode him.

    "Ha! You cannot beat me with my own trick!" The Higher Nox eximed mockingly. He mobilized his own corrosive mana, quickly dissolving Damien''s.

    "Who said I was going to use your trick?"

    Damien''s voice sounded from behind the Higher Nox.

    He felt cold metal on his head.

    "Bang."

    Bang!

    A bullet fired, filled with pure white light that contrasted the previous ck bullets. The bullet submerged into the Higher Nox''s head like a powerless light ball and disappeared.

    The Higher Nox immediately red his aura and got away from Damien, warily raising his defense.

    "Strong human, do not underestimate me!"

    The Nox began dancing.

    His form was ferocious and war-like,pletely belligerent unlike the usual graceful dance postures one expected to see. His every move summoned a tide of mana, a tide that only became exponentially greater with every step he took.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Face my wrath!"

    The Higher Nox''s roar was the key. The attack he''d been building was released, forming a massive saucer of disgusting ck mana that swirled in the air.

    "Come! Kill this fool for me!"

    Upon the Nox''smand, the saucer spun even faster and blobs of inky ck mana dropped from its surface,nding on the floor and deforming into strange creatures.

    KREEE!

    Their cries were cacophonous, almost breaking Damien''s ears as he retreated.

    ''Is this Demonic Providence?''

    The strange creatures weren''t Nox, nor were they mere mana constructs. Damien had no idea their identity, but he could confirm that they were true independent life forms that unhesitantly obeyed the Higher Nox''smands.

    ''Let''s test this out a bit.''

    Damien charged into the fray once more. With Hel in one hand and Freya in the other, one representing Death and the other Life, he was judge, jury, and executioner on the battlefield.

    He was the true adjudicator of fate.

    Using the Twin Moons as well as his closebat skills, Damien went into battle with the strange creatures. As he did so, he carefully observed their patterns and strength.

    ''How fun. These are like game mobs with set patterns and sequences, but their power isn''t a joke. If I get hit by their attacks, my body will definitely be broken.''

    Crack!

    ''Oops.'' Damien smiled wryly as his ribs shattered. A frog-like creature mmed its head into him, but instead of being fleshy like a toad, it was like a cement gargoyle mmed into Damien''s body!

    Damien shook slightly as his healing factor kicked in. Without hesitation, he charged back into the field.

    ''Against a group, this Providence would be incredibly useful. Not only are there tank types like that frog, there are even long-ranged damage dealers and even attackers with specialized skills. It''s like a miniature army of gremlins.''

    Damien smiled as he became more interested in the strange ability.

    At that moment¡­

    "Did you forget about me?!"

    "Not if you announce your presence like that."

    Bang!

    Crack!

    Damien turned around and mmed his fist upward, directly shattering the Higher Nox''s ribs.

    As the man went flying across the space, Damien shed and appeared above him.

    ''Let''s increase the gravity a bit.''

    BOOOOOM!

    Space shattered.

    Damien descended with the weight of a meteor, picking up speed until his feet collided with the Higher Nox''s flying body and mmed the man into the ground below.

    BOOOOM!

    Two consecutive explosions and the multitude of cracking and squelching sounds that came from the Higher Nox''s body were enough to understand the damage that''d been done.

    "I do want to y with you for a bit longer, but your friends will escape if I dy too much. Unfortunately, you''ll have to go."

    This first Higher Nox had solid skill, but waspletely unsuited for fighting Damien. His army was powerful, but how could they do anysting damage to someone who could heal nearly instantaneously?

    ''Now that I think about it, aren''t extreme peak 4th ss masters the only ones who can kill me?''

    Damien smiled slightly. It was an ironic situation where his strength was only enough topete withte-stage beings, but his vitality could put him among the experts.

    ''I shouldn''t get too careless. Regardless of how heaven-defying Transcendent Regeneration is, it isn''t omnipotent. It''s failed before, and it can fail again.''

    Damien reaffirmed his cautiousness as he mmed his foot down on the Higher Nox''s head.

    A dark cloud of Void Mana consumed the body thereafter.

    Damien frowned as he felt the changes in his body.

    ''It''s a shame. It doesn''t look like I can inherit Demonic Providences. It might also be a situation where I just need to devour more before it happens.''

    The only way to find out was to fight.

    Damien snapped his finger and summoned the next Higher Nox into the separate dimension. It was possible since the dimension itself was connected to the Dimensional Cages he made prior.

    The grin alighting his face was wider than ever.

    "Now then, show me what you can do."

 Chapter 819 First Move [3]

    The second Higher Nox''s Demonic Providence gave his mana the property of lightning.

    The third Higher Nox gained the ability to add vibration to his mana and increase its prative power.

    The fourth could use mes of hell, ck and corrosive, inextinguishable by most means.

    Each Demonic Providence was different, and the skill with which each Higher Nox handled their Providence also differed.

    Unlike the first Higher Nox who couldn''t properly show the power of his summon army, each consecutive opponent showed Damien more skill and more technique,pletely different from the Nox he''d fought before.

    However, no matter what they did, their power could never match Sebastian''s.

    ''That butler''s fist skills were probably a Demonic Providence. If it wasn''t for the circumstances and my sudden enlightenment on Life and Death, I would''ve been pummeled to death from the beginning.''

    Damien got extremely lucky in his battle with Sebastian and won in the end, but luck wasn''t a skill.

    Luck wasn''t something that could be controlled.

    So why would Damien bank on luck?

    He''d rather increase his skill so the same situation never took ce again.

    "You''re thest one." He said through heavy breaths.

    9te-stage Higher Nox had been defeated so far, and Damien''s level had seen a solid increase. Now that he was facing his final opponent, it would be a lie to say he wasn''t somewhat exhausted.

    ''Using only Samsara Intent is difficult. I can''t fight with the same mobility and firepower I have using Spacetime yet since I haven''t refined my skills in practicalbat. I need to push myself harder.''

    Since there weren''t any observers around, Damien cheated slightly by using his spatial advantages topensate for his weaknesses, but that could be done no more.

    Improvement wouldn''t happen without struggle.

    "Come." He said coldly.

    The Higher Nox didn''t move, however, and continued to observe Damien instead.

    "You are a strange human. Despite acting against us, you smell the same as us. Kekeke, you are no different from us, are you?" The Higher Nox stated with a strange smile.

    "What''re you rambling about?" Damien scoffed. "If you don''te at me, I''lle to you."

    Bang!

    His body shot forward and arrived before the Higher Nox in a mere instant. He swung his fists at his opponent with all of his strength, pouring Death Mana into his every attack.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The Higher Nox swiftly weaved through the storm of punches, slightly moving his arms to block and redirect the force elsewhere. Every movement of his body was skilled and nned, leaving Damien no room tond a hit.

    "You are skilled, but not skilled enough!" The Nox shouted.

    Bang!

    His fist roared through the air and collided with Damien''s. The impact force of the two fists sent a shockwave several kilometers into the distance.

    "Khh!" Damien gritted his teeth and pushed the muscles in his arm to their maximum output. His fist shed against the Nox''s, fighting a fierce game of tug of war to determine the final winner.

    At that moment¡­

    BANG!

    A gunshot boomed through space.

    The Higher Nox''s body went flying. A pure white light prated his skin and entered his circuits.

    Damien grinned.

    It was the same trick he''d used on the first Nox, and every opponent that came after him.

    It was Damien''s secret to sess.

    "Come at me!"

    He threw himself forward with a grin on his face, following the Nox''s flight path.

    The Nox stabilized himself immediately and red at Damien with cold eyes.

    "I do not know what you did, but it''s useless!"

    His body suddenly jerked. A gold and ck light surrounded him, and a strange holy demonic aura radiated from his every movement.

    "Have a taste of my Heavenly Demonic Body!"

    The Higher Nox punched out before Damien could even reach his vicinity.

    BANG!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Space shattered. The foundation of Damien''s isted dimension shook under the force of the punch.

    Damien''s body flew backwards, blood pooling in his mouth.

    ''I didn''t even get hit!'' He eximed inwardly.

    Whether it was the initial impact or the following shockwave, neither touched Damien''s body.

    Yet, he was still injured?

    ''Does this guy''s Demonic Providence have a simr property to Horizon Break?''

    To ignore the restraints of space and attack and exponentially increase one''s base power, this Demonic Providence was clearly on a different level from those prior.

    "Aha, I see how it is. So you''re the big boss!"

    Damien hit his fist against his palm in realization.

    "You must be a pretty big guy, right? So, if I kill you, wouldn''t it cause problems?"

    The Higher Nox grinned evilly.

    "That''s right. I am Jared, the Heavenly Demon General! If you manage to kill me, you''ll invite cmity onto your race! Hahaha, how does it feel to know you''ll lose no matter what?" He asked mockingly.

    Damien raised his brow. "Lose? But¡­I don''t really count that as a loss, though?"

    Damien''s current expression was far eviler than Jared''s, causing a shiver to run down thetter''s spine.

    ''This human¡­''

    His brow twitched. The enemy was not only powerful, but also insane. In that case¡­

    "Death is your only option!"

    "Hahaha! Let''s see if death can truly im me!"

    Damien arrived before the Higher Nox in an instant and punched out.

    "Fuck your Heavenly Demon Body, Jared is a stupid name!"

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Damien immediately entered closebat with the enemy. His fists struck out like lightning, aiming at his opponent''s every weak spot. However, he was currently facing someone who outstripped him in physical strength.

    CRACK!

    The shattering of Damien''s wrists and hand bones was so loud and visceral that both fighters cringed, but neither stopped their movements.

    Damien''s arm moved rapidly to block Jared''s punch, shattering in the process. In the time it took for that movement to be executed, Damien was already swinging his shattered fist again.

    And by the time the fist reached Jared''s body, it was already healed.

    BOOM!

    A Death Manaced blow invaded Jared''s defense and shot him into the distance. Thetent mana of the blow invaded his system and began corrupting his mana system.

    "Hmph! This puny corrosion!"

    Jared moved his own mana to repel Damien''s invading mana, but the moment he checked his internals, his ashen grey face turned pale white.

    "T-this¡­w-what¡­"

    Damien grinned. "Is it already starting to take effect?"

    "What did you do to me?!" Jared roared.

    Damien''s grin widened. Unexpectedly, the process worked faster than it did on any of the previous Nox.

    "Hey, Jared, does your Heavenly Demon Body perhaps draw out vitality in exchange for power?" He asked.

    The Higher Nox backed away. "Spouting nonsense! The nuances of my techniques cannot beprehended by a mere human!"

    "Aha, so it really was like that. In that case, aren''t you just killing yourself?"

    Perhaps in a normal situation, this not-so-intimidating man named Jared could use other means to supplement his lost vitality so it didn''t affect his battle capacity.

    But what if¡­

    What if something within him was actively sucking away his vitality?

    What if he was fighting against an opponent whoprehended the Laws of Life and Death?

    Wasn''t using a skill that doubled the rate at which his vitality drained just asking for death?

 Chapter 820 First Move [4]

    The battle lost its excitement after Damien''s n was set into motion.

    The vitality-sucking Life Bullet put Jared in a situation where, as long as the battle was prolonged, his defeat was inevitable.

    And what was Damien if not an infinite killing machine?

    His mana endlessly replenished from the ambient mana in the surroundings, at a rate far faster than any normal 4th ss could achieve. This mana supplemented his recovery and allowed his body to heal nigh-instantly.

    Infinite body and infinite mana, the concepts that Damien was partially embodying were both terrifying.

    If he could truly raise himself to that level, and bring his mind to the same level¡­

    ''I might be unparalleled.''

    Damien threw his fist out and summoned Hel and Freya. The two guns sted without pause, filling the entire isted dimension with deathly mana.

    Explosions of Death Mana caused withering, and concentrated bursts of it caused corrosion. These two concepts together made it impossible for Jared''s body to remain unaffected.

    Especially since every hit he took elerated the rate at which his vitality was sucked.

    This was the true trap Damienid with Life and Death Mana. It was the temporary solution he''d envisioned to fight until he could use his techniques more intricately.

    In short, he drained the enemy until they were dry, regardless of how long it took.

    Eventually, even Jared''s Heavenly Demon Body couldn''t hold on. The ck and gold light weakened and fizzled out, and the effect of Damien''s attacks on Jared''s body heightened to an extreme degree.

    "Ha!"

    Damien threw another punch, but something was different about this one.

    The Death Mana around his fist swirled like a cyclone. In the midst of the strange wind cannon shape was a chaotic ball of Life Mana that seemed ready to burst at any moment.

    ''Purgatory Cannon''

    A variation of Seven Stars Encircling The Moon using Samsara Intent.

    The Life Mana in the center of the cyclone was a bomb. The second it came in contact with the repelling force of Death Mana and the natural flow that it created¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    White and ck light blinded all vision. The isted dimension shook and started copsing. As for Jared¡­

    Half of the Higher Nox''s body had been blown away by the attack.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    The man stood clutching the half of his chest he had left. Beads of sweat dripped down his brow, mixing with the blood staining his body to create a visceral picture.

    "You¡­cannot¡­kill me!" Jared roared.

    His eyes turned red. His body began to transform, mutating into something terrifying.

    Shing!

    "Yeah, how about no."

    A sword pierced the Higher Nox''s forehead.

    The transformation fell apart before it could finish.

    ''Devour.''

    Damien swallowed his enemy''s body with no other thought in mind.

    ''Transformation skills are really a double-edged sword.''

    Even the Demon Dragon Form was impossible to use in realbat nowadays unless it was activated beforehand.

    The time needed to transform might''ve only been a few milliseconds, but too much could happen in this timeframe when 4th ss beings were concerned.

    For instance, death.

    Jared''s memories flowed into Damien''s head, broken into incoherent fragments that mirrored the falling spatial fragments formed by the copsing isted dimension.

    Damien shed away, reappearing in reality.

    ''It was easier than expected, but it definitely wasn''t easy.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    If he was alone, it would''ve been impossible.

    Damien appeared next to Ximen Wuhen and nodded his head. "Good work."

    "It was my pleasure. I, unfortunately, could not aid the young master in battle, so I had to make myself useful otherwise."

    Damien smiled wryly. He tried to get her to stop calling him young master, but she refused.

    But it was true that her innovative thinking helped Damien win this battle.

    It took roughly 3 hours to kill the Higher Nox one at a time, and the only reason he was able to properly separate them was because of Ximen Wuhen''s help.

    If she didn''t use her ability to enhance the strength of Damien''s Dimensional Cages, even with the enhancements he made to the ability, he couldn''t trap 10te-stage 4th sses and still have the peace of mind to battle for 3 hours straight.

    ''As expected, bringing her along was a good idea.''

    "It''s time for us to go. Things should get spicier in theing days, so for now, let''s sit back and wait for the results." He said out loud.

    Taking Ximen Wuhen along, he returned to the Sanctuary guild branch.

    In his wake was only a destroyed fortress.

    The destruction spanned tens of thousands of miles, and the only reason it wasn''t worse was because Damien took the battle into an isted dimension before fighting the strongest enemies.

    Nevertheless, the scene couldn''t stay isted for long.

    The routine patrols around the surrounding Nox Strongholds noticed theplete disappearance of one rtively soon.

    On the same day it was destroyed, a punitive force was sent from Iron Fortress, Hope Organization, and Sanctuary to investigate the scene.

    The atmosphere was intense as the branch managers of the three guilds sat across from each other at a table.

    "We have been holding off on stronghold subjugation due to an unspoken agreement between our forces, but I never expected someone would be brazen enough to destroy a stronghold entirely! This is a p to our faces!" A man growled.

    He had light blonde hair and a body optimized forbat. He wore thick knight armor and carried a double-edged sword on his waist, signifying his upation.

    This man was the Branch Manager of Hope Organization''s Blood-Drenched Wilderness Branch, Jean Brightmond.

    Sitting opposed to him was arge man and an icy beauty. The man was truly an Iron Fortress in human form, named Geralt. As for the woman, she was mysterious and didn''t speak much, but her identity as the Sanctuary Guild''s Branch Manager couldn''t be doubted.

    Her name was Rilia Sterhaven. The minimum requirement to be a Branch Manager was to be a Millennium General, but it was spected that her power was even above this realm.

    "There is nothing to say. Our Sanctuary was not involved in this case, and will contribute to the search for the perpetrator."

    "Iron Fortress as well. We will not let those who slight us live!"

    The two voiced their agreement with Jean, however, the man himself wasn''t happy.

    He gritted his teeth in frustration. ''There is nobody other than the three of us who can waste a stronghold thoroughly and quietly. It certainly wasn''t me, so it must be one of them!''

    This wasn''t a train of thought unique to him. In fact, the other two branch managers were thinking the exact same thing.

    While they remained amicable on the surface, a storm was brewing between them.

    Someone destroyed a stronghold. Not just conquering, but total annihtion.

    This meant that the resources and strategic advantages gained by capturing the stronghold were both ruined!

    This was nothing but a loss from the guilds'' perspectives!

    However, regardless of who did it, the fact that it was done still stood.

    There were two more Nox Strongholds in the vicinity of the three guilds.

    Before these strongholds could be destroyed or captured by the force who decided to move¡­

    The others needed to move first.

    Proverbial sparks flew through the air.

    The war that had been stalled for so long due to personal interests¡­

    ¡­was finally getting back on track.

    All because of the actions of a man who hadn''t even been in Eien for an entire day yet.

 Chapter 821 Domino [1]

    Eien''s massive size didn''t need to be mentioned multiple times to be realized. Even in width, it was greater in size than the area of manys.

    With this kind of space, especially with half of the battlefield sunken in the Abyss, it was natural for there to be countless pockets of space that remained undiscovered by Heaven''s Army.

    An aged figure sat like a monk in one of these spatial pockets.

    For the first time in many hundreds of years, his eyes opened.

    "The Heavenly Demon Candidate has lost his im."

    The man''s ancient voice echoed through the small cave he upied, slightly cracking the walls.

    "This ce is no longer suitable."

    With the second instance of speech, the cave copsed entirely.

    The old man reappeared in the void of Eien, easily flicking away the spatial copse caused by his actions.

    "The 9th revolution nears the end of its cycle and the Path of Godhood opens its doors. Before this event, I cannot move."

    The old man took out a strange ck and red talisman, burning it in the next instant.

    "Let the juniors fight amongst themselves. Those who die merely weren''t worthy of their Providence."

    His gaze pierced the bounds of reality, traveling millions of kilometers in the distance.

    "A familiar scent¡­"

    He shook his head to regain focus.

    Regardless of the matters of existence, he could not and would not interfere.

    It was close.

    He could feel the weing embrace of Divinity on the horizon.

    "The day that I, Jahad, reach Divinity¡­"

    His body moved millions of miles in an instant, not through spatial teleportation, but through pure force of movement.

    His gaze panned the surroundings before his body moved, disappearing into a new spatial pocket in which he would stay for a few hundred more years.

    In his wake, only a single phrase was left resounding through the empty Abyss.

    "¡­that day will be the end of existence."

    ***

    A ck and red talisman burned.

    Rather, multiple burned in many different locations across the Blood-Drenched Wilderness and nearby areas.

    The Heavenly Demon Body no longer has an owner.

    As the Demonic Providence''smandments allow, the person who kills the Heavenly Demon Candidate''s killer will inherit the Heavenly Demon Body.

    These two messages came together to every Nox Stronghold and camp within several million kilometers.

    Suddenly, many eyes turned to the Blood-Drenched Wilderness.

    Just who was the Heavenly Demon Candidate''s killer?

    Rapid investigations only brought back uncertainty, as if the killer vanished into thin air.

    This was especially rming for those in other territories. To hide oneself so well required a specific level of skill that only existed in extreme peak masters.

    It was best to wait.

    After all, weren''t there two Nox Strongholds in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness aside from the one the Heavenly Demon Candidate controlled?

    Those two strongholds would be the perfect lure, and at the same time, the killer''s response to these strongholds'' existence would reveal much about their personality and strength.

    However, before these things could be ascertained, the two Nox Strongholds needed to be pushed into action.

    And if it was instigators one was looking for¡­

    ¡­Eien was a ce where they thrived and a ce where they gathered.

    ***

    Pressure was an extremely strong force, especially whening from a powerful entity.

    The pressure and tension caused by the ck and red talisman were already high since only the strongest experts were permitted to use them.

    However, immediately after this pressure appeared, countless forces in the surrounding areas exerted their own power on the Blood-Drenched Wilderness as well.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    At first, it was just Nox forces, yet, once Heaven''s Army learned of the situation, they also pushed their forces to war.

    It wasn''t just a matter of revealing the Heavenly Demon Candidate''s killer, who became an extremely important target of protection for Heaven''s Army, but also capitalizing on the current frenzy to push the war forward.

    After all, the higher-ups of Heaven''s Army also weren''t happy with the level of politics on the battlefield. In a war of this size, such petty struggles couldn''t be allowed.

    Eien''s massive size was the main problem. With how thinly the army was spread, it was impossible to exert total control over it. This control needed to be spread amongst guild branch managers and others of their same level, but these were the exact people who caused discord to spread through the warzone.

    If the mes of war zed brightly once more, the space for petty squabbles decreased heavily, and people would be forced to remember their allegiance.

    The two Nox Strongholds were both in full preparation mode.

    One stronghold had 100te-stage 4th sses, while the other had over 500. The destroyed stronghold was only so weak because it was new.

    The Heavenly Demon Candidate was scheduled to begin his advent from this stronghold, but it was destroyed before he even got a chance.

    And in the end, the man himself died a pitiful death without even being able to leave hisst words.

    The other two strongholds didn''t have any ns to follow him to purgatory.

    "Prepare for war! Before those humans can invade us, we must conquer them! Drink their blood, eat their flesh, and dominate them without fail!"

    A grey-skinned man stood on a tform above an army of millions. His aura radiated strongly, filling his troops with a strong sense of loyalty.

    After all, this man wasn''t originally part of their forces.

    He was sent from elsewhere, only joining them in thest few days.

    But this man¡­

    Was an extreme peak 4th ss master at the 4th revolution, a true Commander!

    RAAAAAAAAAAH!

    The furious warcry of those troops rang out powerfully.

    Their numbers covered countless thousands of kilometers.

    The forces of two strongholds together were marching under this man''s lead.

    And their destination¡­

    They made a beeline for Grand Heavens Boundary''s half of Eien.

    Just as the man said, they would initiate war before war enveloped them.

    And he¡­

    ''I will acquire the Heavenly Demon Body and truly be invincible! Hahahaha!''

    The Nox Commander grinned wickedly from behind his massive army.

    The estimated time of their first encounter with the enemy¡­

    Was a mere three days.

    ***

    ''So it''s finally starting.''

    Damien sat in a bed within Sanctuary''s guild branch and chewed on a stalk of grass. Ximen Wuhen sat silently on a chair to the side.

    The duo had been waiting aimlessly for almost an entire week now, but it seemed that Damien''s forethought was spot on this time.

    ''The situation in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness was already a powder keg waiting to blow, but who would''ve thought it was to this degree.''

    Damien smiled as he thought back to the message he received a few hours earlier.

    A guild summon was issued. Tomorrow morning, all forces were to gather and march towards the Abyss to crush the Nox army.

    ''This is a joint operation that''s being led by the three guild branch heads, but many more forces are joining than expected. These smaller forces and squads have been sitting around waiting for an opportunity to rise, and they finally found one.''

    Damien nced out the window at the dreary scenery of the Blood-Drenched Wilderness.

    ''I wonder how these individualistic forces will collide in a major operation like this. Honestly, it''s a bit too hopeful to believe they''ll cooperate perfectly, but I''ll hope regardless.''

    It wouldn''t be long before tomorrow came.

    ''I guess this will be my true introduction to war.''

    The part of foot soldier would be yed for now, but when the time was right¡­

    ''I''ll dominate everything and write my own legend.''

 Chapter 822 Domino [2]

    The distinction between night and day in Eien was strange, but the night did eventually pass.

    Although, the darkness of night wasn''t necessarily a concept existing in a t ne like Eien.

    The sun and moon hung in the sky, but they only ever remained on the Grand Heavens Boundary half of Eien, given that the Abyss would consume them instantly if they crossed into its territory.

    This strange situation led to both celestial bodies existing together at one time. The distinction between night and day was determined by which celestial body was closer to the earth at a given point in time, as the two rotated around each others'' axes.

    There were a true sun and moon dedicated to Eien, but since they traveled around the ring lengthwise, seeing them was a once in a countless hundred years experience.

    When they met at the two extremes poles of Eien, mystical phenomena were said to ur.

    ''One of these days, I''ll have to go see those phenomena for myself.'' Damien thought to himself as he exited his room.

    His eyes widened in the next moment.

    ''Wow, they really did a lot overnight.''

    The vast stretch ofnd that connected the three major guilds leading the war effort in this sector of Eien was now filled with various tents and facilities, meant to sort and organize the army before they were sent to war.

    Today''s effort wasrge-scale, and the soldiers were meant to act like true soldiers. To verify that no kinks would hinder the army''s sess, various security checks and tests had to be taken before a soldier could be properly entered into the forming army.

    Damien passed through these checks with ease. He merely showed off his Life and Death Laws a bit and his strength and talent were proven. As for his identity, a strange formation scanned him to reveal that he was truly a human without an ounce of Nox Mana in his system.

    ''These checks are good. Since they''re done only before battle, though, it''s a bit easier for traitors to slip through the cracks.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. He couldn''t see it from where he stood, but he could definitely smell the scent of Nox Manaing from various locations in the vast campsite.

    ''I''ll take care of them in the chaos. Before that, I should go meet the unit I''ve been assigned to.''

    Damien was given a cavalry position, a ce where he could stand at the forefront of the battle. He didn''t know if it was Prisci''s meddling or the generals'' impression of his skills thatnded him the position, but he didn''t care either way.

    ''Cavalry usually ride horses, right? How does that work here?''

    It didn''t take long to find out.

    Damien arrived at the Roaring Dragon Cavalry Unit to which he was assigned and was immediately bbergasted.

    ''These are¡­tron bikes?!''

    More specifically, they were personal starships built for peak mobility. It was merely that their form happened to resemble the light cycles from a certain intellectual property popr on Earth.

    ''Since they''re starships, they can definitely race through the stars. In other words¡­light cycle pod racers!''

    Damien''s old nerd habits from his teenage years bubbled to the surface when he saw the beautiful machines. He couldn''t help but walk over and admire them¡­

    Without touching, of course.

    ''It''s basic human decency to look but not touch with such expensive vehicles.''

    "You like what you see?"

    A voice sounded from behind Damien, causing him to turn around. The visage of arge and densely built middle-aged man was revealed to his eyes.

    His skin was a dark bronze color but his hair was pure white. This dichotomy, however, couldn''t take its role as his most prominent feature.

    That position went to the horrific scar that started on his forehead and disappeared within the cor of his shirt.

    "My name is Ezio, and I''m the leader of this here Roaring Dragon Cavalry. It''s a pleasure to meet you, new recruit."

    Ezio shed arge smile as he spoke.

    Damien was almost blinded by its light.

    ''What a friendly guy.''

    "I''m Damien Void. I look forward to working with you." He replied in kind.

    "Hahaha! Good! Damien, let me give you some tips on controlling these babies, and then we''ll take a fewps to limate you to the ride. Once we get to the battlefield, there is no more room for mistakes."

    Ezio''s face was incredibly solemn by the time his words ended. Damien nodded with the same seriousness,pletely understanding the importance of the small training he''d receive before they departed.

    Any variable was a negative variable in an organized war like this.

    Ezio grinned. "Don''t be so serious. Now is the time to get out all yourughs and enjoy yourself. After all, who knows if we''ll be able to return?"

    Damien smiled wryly. This guy could really talk about death in such a casual manner. He obviously wasn''t someone simple.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Then, instructor, I look forward to our lesson." He said.

    "Haha! You''re looking forward to a lot today, aye?"

    "Haha¡­" Damienughed awkwardly. He was just trying to be polite, but, well, his "being polite" skill was miles below level 0.

    ''Haa, let''s just focus on these badass bikes and forget it.''

    Damien looked over at the storage of bikes. There were more than 400 in the warehouse, but only a little over a hundred would be used.

    The Roaring Dragon Cavalry was the only one allowed to use this equipment, after all.

    "Take your pick. Whichever bike calls out to you, choose it without hesitation! The bond between man and machine is the most important part of riding!"

    With Ezio''s words of encouragement, Damien entered the warehouse and strolled through the rows of machines.

    They were all equally precious, but they all had minor differences.

    ''The ones who have owners¡­I can feel it clearly. I thought it was just a saying, but could there truly be such thing as a "bond between man and machine?"''

    Damien frowned. If so, he ironically wasn''t feeling it at all.

    After five minutes of perusing, his opinion still remained the same.

    None of these bikes were for him.

    There was just¡­something missing.

    Damien caught a glint in the corner of his eye.

    No, something called out to him.

    It wasn''t far, but it wasn''t within the warehouse.

    Damien immediately followed that slight sensation he felt until he arrived behind the warehouse at what seemed to be a junkyard.

    ''Is it that¡­?'' He questioned inwardly.

    Among the rusted metal and spare parts, there was one particr piece of machinery that was covered by a thick ck cloth.

    "Aha, so you''ve felt its call as well," Ezio said as he arrived nearby.

    "What is under that cloth?" Damien asked curiously.

    Ezio smiled. He moved forward and grabbed the cloth himself, pulling it away to reveal what was underneath.

    "This is both the strongest and most unreliable machine in our inventory."

    It was a sleek ck color. Purple and red stripes decorated its surface, giving it a minimalistic yet impactful design.

    "She''s had multiple riders in the past, but none have been able to tame her. In the end, she was left out here, unused."

    It radiated the aura of an untamed bull, yet held the same grace as a prancing gazelle. Its mere existence seemed to be a symbol of status and authority.

    "Honestly, even we aren''t aware of her origins. She''s been in the warehouse since before any of us Roaring Dragon guys were given ess to it."

    VROOM!

    The bike roared on its own as if it knew it was being praised.

    "Her name is Atnatis, and it''s said that she will not allow those she doesn''t approve to even touch her."

    Ezio grinned and looked at Damien.

    "So how is it? Would you like to give it a try?"

    Yeah, this was it.

    This was exactly what he was looking for.

    He didn''t know what it was, but this bike had that certain something he craved.

    Damien grinned.

    ''No matter what, I''ll make you mine.''

 Chapter 823 Domino [3]

    VROOOOOOOOM!

    "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    The twin roars of a booming engine and a raucous man resounded together for countless kilometers.

    WHOOSH!

    A blur of ck zipped past those spectating the track, moving at speeds so high that even the eyes of many practitioners couldn''t catch up to it.

    It had already been five minutes since this fiasco started, and at this point, it was drawing far too much attention from uninvolved parties to continue.

    "That''s enough! Come on back!"

    Ezio''s voice cut through the crowd''s cheers and entered the driver''s ears.

    The extreme speeds of the vehicle he was driving slowed almost instantaneously, and the machine cut through the air as if defying thews of physics to drift until it parked mere meters away from Ezio.

    "Hahahaha!"

    Even after dismounting the vehicle, the driver wasughing.

    How could he not?

    ''This thing is fucking awesome!''

    It had been a long time since Damien had such novel fun.

    "Not only did you tame Atntis in minutes, you even grew into a professional rider in the same span of time! Tell me, you''re not the hidden son of some old monster, are you?" Ezio teased with a grin as he slung his arm over Damien''s shoulder.

    "Ha¡­haha¡­how could that be¡­? If I was really some powerful person, why would I choose to be a foot soldier here?" Damien responded awkwardly.

    ''It''s not like Ipletely lied¡­my young master benefits won''t activate until I reach the Heavenly World.''

    Damien shook his head with a smile.

    "Is my riding up to par? I don''t want to hold everyone back when we get to battle."

    Ezio rolled his eyes. "Don''t go fishing forpliments just because I gave you a few! Hell, with your skills, you could even be the captain of your own unit, let alone a small member of mine!"

    "Don''t joke, captain. I don''t have nearly the leadership ability for that."

    "Hahaha! Kid, you''re a good one! Come, let us meet with the rest of the brothers and prepare to set off."

    Damien put his hand out and pushed a pulse of mana into his bike. Once the bike received his mana, it turned into a purple card slightlyrger than a ying card for Damien to store on his body.

    "Tch, I''m jealous."

    "I would be too."

    Damien smiled as he put the card away. Really, this bike was everything a man could ever dream of.

    Horsepower wasn''t even a worthy term for it with its speed that far outstripped that of sound. Its design was sleek, it sounded beautiful, it had countless conveniences for its rider, and it even had an anti-theft system of its own that killed those who tried to steal it.

    If it wasn''t a man''s dream, then just what was?

    ''Actually taming it was annoying, though.''

    To the outside world, Damien merely touched the bike''s surface for a few minutes and it epted him. However, in reality, he fought a fierce battle against the bike''s system to earn its approval.

    ''The mana currents it emits for self-defense are pure and attributeless, but the way they snake up one''s mana system to attack them is shocking. It almost moves as if it has free will, though it hasn''t developed even a sliver of consciousness yet.''

    The fact that its abilities were a pure wonder of technology and mana engineering made its existence even greater.

    ''But it''s name¡­''

    The bike was clearly named after the Greek goddess, Atnta, who was deemed the fastest goddess in mythology, however, Damien wasn''t a fan of the name.

    He was American, after all.

    Between Anta and Antis, there was no need for an Atntis.

    ''Your name¡­''

    Damien felt the card in his pocket. He felt the slim connection he created with the machine.

    His heart and soul intertwined with the machinery.

    His eyes gleamed.

    ''¡­Jack ck.''

    ''¡­''

    Damien could swear he felt the bike dete in disappointment.

    He almost snorted.

    ''I''m kidding, I''m kidding. I can''t change the bike''s original name because that would be an insult to the creator. Since he wished to name his creation after a God, I can only abide by his will. However, I don''t feel like saying that long name whenever I need you, so I''ll just call you ckie from now on.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Damien smiled a very concerning smile as he squeezed the purple card until the voice of rejection from within stopped.

    "Hm? Is everything okay?" Ezio asked.

    "Everything''s fine. Perfect, in fact." Damien responded.

    "Well, good then! It''s time for us to meet the boys!"

    Damien and Ezio finally arrived at their final location, a small campground a few hundred meters away where a group of around twenty were merrily chatting andughing.

    "Oi! Who told you idiots you could rest?!"

    Ezio immediately charged over when he saw them, mming his fist down on the nearest man''s head.

    "Run! The captain''s back!" Someone shouted.

    "It''s toote for that, dumbass!" Someone else replied.

    Bonk!

    The furious bonk of a bottle bouncing off the fleeing man''s head rang out, sending a shiver down the rest''s spines.

    As the man fell to the ground with his butt sticking in the air, Ezio turned around with red eyes and an evil grin.

    "Who else wants some?"

    "¡­"

    Everyone remained silent.

    "¡­"

    The silence continued.

    "Run!"

    Everyone scattered.

    "You fuckers! If I don''t catch you today, drinks are on me tonight!"

    RAAAAAAAAH!

    Roars of approval came from the distance as the men ran away from the now-charging Ezio.

    As for Damien, he watched from the sidelines with a wry expression on his face.

    ''Well this is¡­an interesting group of people.''

    Damien grinned.

    If anything, he wouldn''t get bored traveling with them.

    And really, if he thought about it¡­

    That was all that mattered.

    ***

    Time rushed by.

    Damien was introduced to the squad, all of whom had been caught by Ezio, and while they wanted to invite him to drink with them, time didn''t allow such a thing.

    The checks and security measures ended within the first few hours of the day. A few hours after that, the army waspletely organized.

    Millions had been separated into countless different divisions and trees, connecting further and further as one went higher up the powerdder.

    And once these two essential steps had beenpleted, there was no more need to stay in the camp.

    The march began.

    Day one was the harshest.

    The entire length of the march could be added up to at least 500,000 kilometers. If they wanted to meet the Nox Army before they could invade the Grand Heavens Boundary half of Eien, they needed to move around 200,000 kilometers a day!

    To people of Damien''s level, 200,000 kilometers was chump change, however, for the 3rd ss beings who enlisted, it was absolute torture.

    People copsed like flies, and no matter how hard the medical division worked, it was impossible to save everyone.

    In the Blood-Drenched Wilderness, the migration of these powerful practitioners was no different than the migration of mortals on a manaless world.

    Even with their strength, they couldn''t avoid deaths during the journey.

    On the first day alone, 5,000 died.

    And that toll only grew with every new day that passed.

 Chapter 824 Domino [4]

    Compared to the rest of the army, the Roaring Dragon Cavalry was particrly lucky.

    Unlike the other cavalry units, they didn''t use beast mounts. Since their mounts were entirely electronic, they didn''t need rest.

    They only needed their rider''s mana to recharge to peak condition.

    As such, a position on the Roaring Dragon Cavalry actually became an extremely coveted role. People would approach the group every few hours in hopes of earning a chance.

    Naturally, they were all turned away.

    When Damien asked Ezio his reasoning, thetter''s response was simple.

    "We can''t afford liabilities or burdens at this time."

    So then, why was Damien sent to this cavalry?

    ''It was Prisci''s connection after all.''

    That was what he concluded by the time the second day rolled around. Even with his skills, it was impossible for him to be assigned to such a prestigious unit without credibility.

    The hints were too various to be coincidental, and though Ezio was a master of hiding his emotions behind a friendly smile, his buddies weren''t so skilled.

    ''These guys are acting kind, but they''re obviously unresigned on the inside.''

    It didn''t matter how good of a driver Damien was. If he couldn''t cooperate properly with the rest of the cavalry, he was useless.

    Ironically, his expertise would rather be a hindrance than a help.

    ''Then I''ll just have to prove my worth.''

    Damien never moved for the sake of others, nor did he care what others thought about him.

    But that didn''t mean he wanted to be perceived negatively by those he respected.

    Soldiers like those who surrounded Ezio were honorable and great. They were the heroes protecting the universe from invasion.

    This by itself was enough to earn Damien''s respect, let alone their amiability and general charisma.

    Damien didn''t have any ns of being a side character during this war, but before he made any major moves¡­

    ''I will absolutely not disrupt their flow.''

    He hated people who thought themselves heroes and acted without care for the consequences of their actions in a serious situation like this.

    He wouldn''t be one, regardless of his goals.

    Throughout the entire three-day journey to the battlefield, Damien kept mostly to himself. He didn''t socialize not because of the pressure, but because he was more focused on other matters.

    Familiarizing himself with his own power, with ckie''s power, and with the interactions between the cavalry members. This was how he kept himself busy.

    ''I can''t know their battle habits through observation alone, but I can at least get a gist of how they handle themselves and their positions. If I couple this with their status information that the All-Seeing Eyes show me, it should be enough.''

    Those three days passed far faster than one would expect from such a grueling march.

    The atmosphere was tense, but lighthearted undertones did permeate the army.

    Today would be the final day of many of their lives.

    If so, what was the purpose of living it so strictly?

    At least, this was how things remained until the vast in where the battle would be held came into sight.

    Tension rose.

    The ambiance changed.

    "Heaven''s Army" appeared on the warfront.

    Countless thousands of kilometers away was a sea of ckness drenched in killing intent, the Nox Army.

    Jean, Rilia, and Geralt, the three guild branch leaders, stood at the front of the army with cold eyes.

    "I sense a troubling aura," Riliamented.

    The two men beside her nodded grimly.

    "This is an unforeseen circumstance. It seems that they''ve managed to attract a Commander-level Nox to their cause." Geralt added, confirming Rilia''s thoughts.

    "Can you fight him?" Jean asked.

    Rilia shot him a nce. "The rumors about me arergely blown out of proportion. Against a 4th revolution expert, I alone am not nearly enough."

    "Then the three of us together¡­"

    "Yes, this is the only option."

    Jean''s eyes hardened at Rilia''s revtion.

    If the three of them had to work together against the Commander, how would they deal with the countlesste-stage 4th ss Nox in the army?

    "We cannot recklessly call for war," Geralt said with a frown.

    "You are right, however, I doubt a Nox army will kindly receive our delegation. We have no choice but to improvise."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "But the foot soldiers¡­"

    "We can only hope that thete-stage Nox can be held back by the stronger units."

    "Haa¡­it seems we truly have no choice."

    Jean gave in quickly. His morals couldn''t ovee his desire for victory.

    Despite his somewhat greedy nature, he truly did care about the war effort.

    "Let''s move."

    Rilia''s voice was an inviblemandment.

    Facing the ck tide that was slowly approaching from the distance, Heaven''s Army moved as well.

    It was a slow and deliberate movement. Every single one of their steps contained grand momentum, momentum thatyered like waves every time another step was taken.

    By the time they arrived within a few kilometers of the enemy, they sounded like a stampede of ferocious beasts.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Three stomps marked the halting of their movement.

    This moment was also when they finally took in the full scale of the enemy''s forces.

    Millions were notrge enough to describe the sheer number of existences.

    A majority of them were weak and mindless ves, but that didn''t change the impossible number they made up.

    ""BY HEAVEN''S WILL! EXTERMINATE THE ENEMY!""

    Their unhesitant roars shook space itself. The challenge in front of them was just one of many. As soldiers of Heaven''s Army, they would absolutely make the universe proud.

    But the Nox army remained unfazed.

    "Hohoho! What a show you''ve put on for me!"

    A voice came from behind the sea of ck.

    Within an instant, a man appeared across from the three branch managers.

    "I didn''t expect to receive such a wee. How can I repay you but give you the most blissful deaths in existence?"

    The man smiled wickedly as he spoke. It was clear that he was here for war. He didn''t care about any sort of banter, sophistry, or politics.

    Rilia gritted her teeth. This type of person who put their own will over any benefits was the hardest to deal with. In fact, it was almost impossible to reason with them.

    "Humans! Hand over the killer of the Heavenly Demon Candidate and I, the great Aarish, shall spare your pathetic lives!"

    The words he spouted were utter nonsense.

    How were they supposed to hand over someone whose identity still hadn''t been uncovered?

    Rilia looked to her left.

    Jean nodded solemnly,

    Her head turned right.

    Geralt''s bloodthirsty gaze never moved from the Nox Commander named Aarish.

    "Huu¡­"

    She could feel the breath of desire from the army behind her.

    The thick killing intent they formed, and the even thicker hatred for the Nox that they held was suffocating.

    She felt like she''d get swallowed by their momentum if she didn''t catch herself.

    That''s when she realized it.

    Once their reins were released, nothing would stop their march.

    In that case¡­

    She closed her eyes and steeled her mind. She ignored the provocative remarks of the Nox Commander before her.

    And finally¡­

    "CHAAAAAAAARGE!"

    She roared with all her might.

    And dropped those reins.

    In the next instant¡­

    B-B-B-BOOOOM!

    The horses truly rampaged.

 Chapter 825 War [1]

    The dark maroon earth spanned for as far as the eye could see and even further. Countless millions of miles of space were filled with silence for so many years, however, today that silence was broken.

    There were two battlefields currently in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness. Both of these battlefields were equally ferocious, but there were vast differences between them.

    The first battlefield was filled with only mindless Lesser Nox and 3rd-ss soldiers. These millions upon millions of forces shed without any rhyme or reason, purely fighting until one sidepletely exterminated the other.

    The second battlefield was far more tactical. All 4th ss and above soldiers were stationed here, and together, they followed themands of their superiors to wage war in a far more standardized manner.

    "Squads 1-10, charge from the front! Squads 11-50, circle to the sides and limit their movement! Never lose our momentum!"

    Commands were transferred down the line from the very top of the army. Thesemands were executed as perfectly as possible, all squads aiming forplete victory.

    The 50 different troops of foot soldiers did as they were ordered, rushing forward to sh with the Nox. The booming sounds of explosions filled the air as the two sides collided.

    However, these foot soldiers weren''t meant to cause damage. Rather, they were a distraction, a deterrence, and a defense. With their thick lines holding back and caging the Nox, it was hard for the enemy army to move as they pleased, even with the vast tnd they upied.

    "Calvary squads, move now!"

    Countless beasts rose into the air. These beasts carried all cavalry units besides the Roaring Dragon Unit.

    As their fierce roads filled the sky, the battlefield immediately became more chaotic:

    The striking power of a 4th ss soldier wasn''t to be underestimated. Even the weakest of them could affectnd on a continental scale.

    When they were ced in such a small close quarters battle like this, they weren''t able to show their whole power without harming or interfering with those around them:

    This was the main caveat of power from an organized power''s perspective. The stronger one was, the less they''d cooperate with others, as their personal power began to resemble an army alone.

    However, just as there were problems, there were solutions.

    Thousands of 4th-ss Nox attacked the lines of foot soldiers before them, showering them with terrible attacks of ckness and corrosion, but of these attacks, not many made it through the defense.

    "Hold steady!"

    This roar condensed the thoughts and feelings of these frontline troops into two words. Their manabined into one to create an impregnable fortress¡­

    ¡­at least, for a period of time.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    BANG! BANG!

    When the cavalry units appeared on the battlefield, the foot soldiers immediately retreated. In the next moment, the trembling and shaking of space became severe enough that it could be seen with the naked eye.

    The fierce aerial bombardment caused a strict separation between the Nox and Heaven''s Army, and at the same time, it drew the first blood in this battle.

    "Ack!" A Nox cried out in pain as his chest was pierced by a red beam of light. Before he could even melt and rebirth, he was struck again andpletely evaporated.

    "Roaring Dragon Cavalry, on me!"

    Ezio''s shout rang through the ears of his squad members. It was finally their time to move.

    Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

    Suddenly, a number of strange starships peeled off from the main army and moved around the edges of the battlefield.

    Their roars were loud, but their auras were heavily concealed. In this chaotic battlefield, who could pay attention to a little extra noise?

    In fact, despite the sound of the engines, it was impossible to hear the airbikes in the current cacophony.

    "We''ve been ordered to nk the enemy and take out a group of their experts. These beings are allte-stage Nox beings with Demonic Providence, so we must act with utmost safety! Damien, since you''re new, don''t participate in this first battle. Observe us, and if you truly think you''ve found a good opportunity, take it. Let''s test your mettle!"

    "Yes, sir!"

    Damien and the rest responded sternly as they followed Ezio''smand. With the speed of their bikes, they made it to the enemy''s nk within a few minutes.

    The squad halted. Ezio ced an istion barrier around them, and for safety, Damien also secretly cloaked them in One With Dimension.

    "You see that big guy over there?" Ezio said while pointing at a certain Nox who stood at a height of several meters.

    "That''s our target. He is ate-stage Nox with the Demonic Providence of Gigantification. His individual strength is already high, but everyone under him is also powerful. To strike the first critical blow to the Nox Army, we must take them out!"

    Damien looked over after listening to Ezio''s speech and scanned the group of around 30 Higher Nox.

    ''Allte-stage. It would be nice if I could see their Demonic Providence on their status windows too, but I guess that''s asking for too much.''

    Damien remained quiet as the squad began to move once more. Ezio listed off a number of formations and ns that Damien had no knowledge of as they did so, but it seemed fine since everyone else was on board.

    Within seconds, the assault began.

    BOOM!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A beam of light shot from Ezio''s airbike. Like a needle piercing through reality, it concentrated to a point and shot between the giant Nox''s eyebrows.

    "Hm?"

    The Nox turned around, sending the attack. However, it was toote.

    His massive cycloptic eye widened in shock.

    The beam went in the front of his forehead and came out the back.

    He copsed to his knees.

    "Khh¡­enemy attack!"

    He immediately roared to alert hisrades, who moved to surround him thereafter.

    The Roaring Dragon Cavalry finished their first fly-by at this time as well, returning to their starting position.

    Damien sat at their back in confusion.

    ''Why didn''t they capitalize on the surprise factor to deal a critical blow?''

    Only the single attack was fired, and by the time it was over, the enemy was alerted and the target wasn''t even dead.

    ''Wait¡­''

    As the squad moved again, Damien noticed something.

    A few of their members were missing.

    ''Aha¡­''

    So that''s how it was.

    Damien began to understand how the Roaring Dragon Cavalry operated.

    ''Reckless within the bounds of safety, eh?''

    He smiled.

    Now that he knew their approach, he could also contribute.

    But before that, it was time to let the n y out in full.

    Just as Damien''s thoughts reached their close, the group reappeared in the giant''s vicinity.

    "Now!"

    Ezio''s shout was apanied by the roars of engines.

    "Roaring Dragon Cavalry, let them know fear!"

    RAAAAAAAH!''

    The cavalry charged.

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    So this was a bloodbath.

    Even early stage 4th ss Nox were being in like chickens and dogs.

    ''But¡­''

    Damien quirked his head.

    ''¡­doesn''t this make my job so much easier?''

    Without waiting a single second longer, he charged into the battlefield.

    While everyone else focused on the external threats, he would cleanse the army from the inside and provide support.

    At least, until he was caught.

    Damien grinned.

    ''Let the cat and mouse game¡­begin!''

 Chapter 826 War [2]

    The Roaring Dragon Cavalry was truly a unit to be envied. Everywhere they moved, death followed, and regardless of how reckless and chaotic their approach seemed, they were in perfect harmony to the point where one questioned how many hundreds of years of practice it took to be so synchronized.

    Boom!

    A group of three Nox fighting a member of the cavalry suddenly had their heads blown off. An airbike sped by without stopping, and just as it stopped, the original fighter stuck his spear to the side without hesitation.

    Bang!

    A furious Nox being mmed into the outstretched spear, unable to stop in time. The Nox impaled itself, and if that wasn''t humiliating enough, it was then swung around like a hammer to kill its peers until it diedpletely.

    In another section of the battlefield, two airbikes flew through the air as if partaking in a mating ritual. They spiraled up and dove down, seemingly ignoring the war below them entirely.

    "Take care of the crazy ones first!" A Nox being shouted.

    The roaring dragon cavalry was too strong. However, their strength came from machines. As long as their machines could be broken¡­

    A group of over tente-stage Nox shot into the air to confront those two. They kept their distance and carefully circled the pair.

    "Fire!"

    Just as the Nox gave the order to attack, the two Roaring Dragon Cavalry members grinned at each other.

    "See you on the other side."

    "Hell yeah. If you die first, I''m taking Jenny for myself!"

    "Hahaha, in your dreams!"

    The two spread their arms and dropped off their airbikes, seemingly to avoid dying in the following explosion.

    The Nox didn''t care about these drivers at all. They immediately went for the airbikes, seizing control of them.

    "Report to the Commander and await his instruction!" The head Nox said.

    "Yes, si¡ªh-huh?" His subordinate''s face paled in the midst of his affirmation.

    "What is it?!" The Nox asked.

    "I¡­I can''t control this thing!"

    Those were thest words heard from the subordinate. In the next instant, his body was dragged along by a rogue airbike on a journey unlike any other!

    "AHHHHHHH!" He screamed in fear as the world blurred around him. Before long, only a single target stood out in his vision.

    ''Ufta!''

    Ufta was the name of the Nox giant. At this rate, the only possible means of survival for this subordinate Nox was Ufta.

    He dragged the airbike''s handles, desperately trying to swerve in the giant''s direction. The action was actually far simpler than expected.

    From the distance, Ufta noticed the iing airbike.

    His singr eye narrowed. Rather than human breath, he smelled his own people.

    His mind immediately went into confusion.

    As someone whose form mirrored a cyclops, his vision wasn''t his best aspect. Rather, he usually used his sense of smell more than anything else. With his nose, he could differentiate a concoction of a thousand smells into its baseponents easily.

    The sight of an airbike mixed with the smell of the Nox was jarring, making Ufta hesitate for a second, but it wasn''t much time.

    Whether it was a Nox or a Human, it was best to kill first and thinkter.

    He pulled his fist back as if loading a cannon. When the airbike was still several meters away, he''d already let loose his punch.

    ''Smash!''

    "Wait! Wait! Wait!"

    The subordinate Nox''s futile shouts received no ears. The ws of death seemed to suffocate him as that fist got nearer and nearer to him.

    In thest second¡­

    "Save ourrade!"

    VROOOM!

    An airbike shot forward. It was sleek ck, but left purple and red streaks in its wake.

    It moved so fast that its presence could only be determined by the sound its speed produced.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Damien solemnly focused on his flight path. He swerved through countless Nox and shot under the loose airbike.

    The world seemed to move in slow motion.

    Damien crossed under the airbike.

    He brushed his hand across its surface.

    The bike began to dematerialize.

    A card fell into Damien''s hand.

    The eyes of every Roaring Dragon Cavalry member widened at once.

    And at the same time, they furiously retreated.

    All in a spark of an instant as Damien was under that airbike, these events urred.

    Before the instant could even end, Damien was already several meters away.

    What was left in the air was a subordinate Nox flying forward with the momentum of the airbike¡­

    ¡­and a giant''s fist that was already too far into its motion to stop.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A terrifying shockwave spread as the fist moved forward, but without the airbike to take its impact, the force spread into the Nox Army in the surroundings.

    They never expected an attack from within their own lines. With a Commander presiding over the battle, it was impossible for the Nox to act as wantonly as usual.

    This drop in their usual cautiousness was fatal.

    The giant, Ufta''s punch instantly killed several hundred 4th ss Nox who''d yet to enter thete stages. Even manyte-stage 4th-ss Nox were injured in the process.

    "GOOD!" Ezio identally eximed far louder than he''d meant to. It was almost to the point of being a roar itself.

    He couldn''t help it.

    His blood was boiling.

    The original n obviously didn''t involve Damien, and even without his interference, a simr result would''vee about.

    However, Damien''s quick thinking and willingness to take risks allowed them to achieve an even greater result without sacrificing an airbike as the original n provoked.

    "Everyone charge! Don''t waste this opportunity!"

    The Nox were confused by the sudden attack, and now that Ufta was also in a disoriented state, it was the perfect time to carpet bomb and ughter.

    Therefore, that''s exactly what they did.

    The Roaring Dragon Cavalry clearly disyed why they were so renowned. Ufta was in rapidly once the Nox''s strong defense line was broken. With the Roaring Dragon Squading together to fight him, who had no support, it was a minor task. After finishing it, they eliminated hundreds of Nox within a minute, and before anyone could catch their tail, they''d already retreated.

    "Hahaha! Damien, you damn dog! You didn''t tell me you were so good!" Ezio eximed over their transmission channel.

    "Haha, if I didn''t prove it now, when would I have the option?" Damien responded with a smile. He took his time to enjoy thepliments of his fellow squad members as they rendezvoused a distance away from the battlefield.

    It didn''t take much to earn their respect. Since Damien was truly a skilled fighter rather than a random newbie, there was absolutely no reason to hold prejudice against him.

    As such, the Roaring Dragon Cavalry''s further strategies always included Damien.

    The squad was amazing, this much became far more apparent when their current atmosphere waspared to the rest of the army.

    The Roaring Dragon Cavalry''s support would definitely cause waves that supported the frontline, but until then¡­

    It was a brutal battle.

    Thousands, hundreds of thousands died rapidly.

    When the two armies werepared, they weren''t that different in strength. It was difficult for either side to gain an absolute advantage, but with the Nox having more troops, it was obvious who''d win if the fight was drawn out.

    Something needed to be done.

    The three guild branch managers took it upon themselves to be this "something."

    If they could kill Aarish, the Nox Commander, the tides would shift greatly in their favor.

    However, for them to kill a 4th revolution master, regardless of theirbined strength, was a deathly task.

 Chapter 827 War [3]

    "We must confront him as soon as possible! If he is taken down, the rest of the work is easy."

    "No, the Nox do not have the same emotions as we do. Morale is not a problem for the majority of their forces, so taking down the Commander will not have the desired effect if done immediately. Rather, we must n to take everything down in one fell swoop!"

    "Haa¡­"

    Jean sighed as he listened to the other two branch managers argue. Even if they knew how to proceed, they didn''t know what method to use.

    There were various benefits to both of their methods, however, depending on the battle situation, both could end up producing negligible effects.

    ''The Roaring Dragon Cavalry is pushing the back line, which has made the frontline unstable as well. As long as we continue on this path, we will win, even if we suffer disastrous losses in the process¡­''

    But, of course, that was impossible. Needlessly sacrificing troops would do more harm than good in the long run.

    ''Then, the only real benefit of taking down the Commander is morale and assurance for our side. If that''s the case, then it''s better to act as soon as possible.''

    The Nox wouldn''t feel much at the loss of their Commander, but Heaven''s Army would benefit immensely if the man died. After all, his mere presence was a variable on the battlefield. As long as the troops had to be wary of him, theirbat effectiveness would be lowered to an extent.

    ''We can''t rely on the Roaring Dragon Cavalry too much. If our advantages be so clear, it''s obvious who the Commander will target.''

    "We should attack now."

    Jean finally spoke, cutting into the discussion. The two snapped their heads to look at him with two very different expressions.

    "Haa¡­let me exin my reasoning¡­"

    After Jean exined his thought process, Rilia''s gaze softened considerably. Her brow furrowed as she gave his ideas some thought.

    "It is true that we cannot predict the Nox reaction to the Commander''s death. The Nox are too strange and varied of a species, almost like humans in the variety of their beliefs."

    Despite her words, Rilia still hesitated. Regardless of what they said, it was still a 4th revolution expert they were nning to face.

    ''Shit.''

    "Fine, let''s do it."

    The steeled her resolve as she spoke, knowing that she signed up for this kind of situation from the beginning.

    There were a lot of words that could be used to describe her, and not all of them were pleasant, but "coward" certainly wasn''t on that list.

    Geralt nodded.

    Jean nodded.

    The three branch managers exited their tent and flew into the air.

    "Aarish,e fight us!" Jean bellowed. His mana raged into the surroundings, kicking up a whirlwind with its pressure.

    A second aura joined him from far away. The grey-skinned Commander''s visage became clear soon after.

    "Hahahaha! I didn''t expect you would have the guts to challenge me! What, all three of you areing together?" He eximed mockingly as he approached,

    "Take it as a measure of our sincerity," Jean replied calmly, backing away.

    Aarish grinned. "If you want to lure me away from the battlefield, you''ll have to exert some effort first!"

    His body turned into a ck blur, appearing in front of Jean in an instant. Energy coalesced on his palm and condensed into an ethereal ball, which he pushed out furiously.

    BOOM!

    Space shattered and the entire sky seemed to explode with light. The force of the explosion immediately threw the three branch leaders into the air, however, they were able to put their defenses up in time to avoid injury.

    "We can''t focus on anyone else right now! Kill him and let''s deal with the consequencester!" Geralt yelled.

    He pulled his body back like a bowstring, stepping on the air as if it was material. The muscles in his body bulged with power as they sent a terrifying force down into his foot until¡­

    Bang!

    Heunched with the speed of aet to meet Aarish where he stood.

    "Filthy Nox, taste my de!"

    A massive great axe appeared in Geralt''s hands. He swung down as he moved, reaching the apex of the swing at the exact same moment he arrived in front of the enemy.

    SLASH!

    The sound of the axe cutting through the air could be heard from several kilometers away. It collided with Aarish''s body and tore him apart, sending two halves flying in different directions.

    Geralt''s eyes narrowed. In the next second, they widened as he rapidly made distance.

    BOOM!

    BOOOOOOOM!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The two halves exploded into terrific shockwaves that reverberated through the air.

    Crash!

    Geralt''s mana defense broke. The shockwave mmed into his body and rattled his organs, sending him flying back, injured.

    Ptui!

    Geralt spit out the blood pooling in his mouth and gritted his teeth.

    ''I knew it would be difficult to fight someone at the 4th revolution, but I didn''t think it would be to this extent!''

    Even if it was only a single attack, it was more than enough for Geralt to gauge the strength difference between him and the enemy.

    It was massive.

    The 9 revolutions weren''t merely termed revolutions for nothing.

    As the steps leading to the Path of Godhood, each revolution ounted for a massive jump in power, almost as if one was leaping in ss rather than stages.

    Geralt nced back at his tworades who''d yet to move. They returned his nce with grim expressions.

    Truly, it would be impossible if the three of them didn''t work together.

    "Have you finished your moment of realization yet?"

    A reading voice came from the void not far away. The Nox Commander Aarish stepped into reality with a smug smile on his face.

    "Forget about killing me, you can''t even catch me! Hahahaha!"

    Rilia''s staff immediately went into the air. The bright blue gem at its head shined with splendor as she cast a territorial magic spell.

    ''Absolute Suppression of the Sea.''

    Under the sea, all beings were suppressed. No matter one''s strength, one would inevitably reach a point where one could no longer continue deeper.

    This was the evesting mystery of the oceans, and a concept that Rilia mirrored in her spells.

    A fierce current of water appeared in the air and encircled the battlefield. A thick suppression apanied it, pushing down on space and nearly forcing it topress.

    Aarish smiled lightly. "You think you can suppress me with this much? Pathetic."

    His hand flew out. He made a fist as if he was grabbing something, and the incorporeal space between his fingers solidified into a spear.

    ''Void Spear.''

    Aarish threw the spear lightly, and at first, it didn''t look like it was moving at all.

    However, it appeared before Geralt and Rilia instantaneously as if teleporting.

    ''Run wild.''

    ck mana came from within the spear and corrupted its nigh-transparent form. Within a spark of a second, the spear bloomed into a blossoming lotus of ckness. Tendrils of mana shot out in all directions like fireworks, flying as far as they could before turning into a series of explosions that polluted the entire battlefield.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    "Ahhhh¡ª!"

    A shriek was cut off before it could finish. It was apanied by all those around it, voices of those whose lives were incinerated like waste when a single drop of the explosions'' mana touched them.

    "DAMMIT!" Geralt roared. His eyes turned red as he recklessly charged.

    "FOCUS ON US, YOU SCUM!"

    Yet, instead of aiming for Aarish as he originally seemed to do, he mmed his axe into the ground with all his strength.

    BOOM!

    ''Sacred Protector of the Holy Mountain.''

    The skill''s name was long, but its effects matched its length. A golden barrier of light spread from Geralt''s axe as he wielded it. The barrier spread for several hundreds of thousands of kilometers, separating Aarish from the main battlefield.

    However, the three branch managers were trapped alongside him.

    "Ahahaha! This entire ordeal is so amusing! It seems you''ve trapped yourselves in this barrier with me. Doesn''t that mean¡­there''s nowhere left for you to run?"

    A perverse grin spread on Aarish''s face as his mana raged forth.

    "Come, then! Let me see how you struggle before bing my food!"

 Chapter 828 War [4]

    RUMBLE!

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The sounds were harrowing just by themselves, the people of Heaven''s Army absolutely couldn''t imagine the type of battle that was taking ce beyond the barrier.

    The previous event was terrifying. Countless thousands had died from the explosions, but there was no time to mourn them.

    Now that the branch managers were fighting the main Commander, the rest of them needed to eliminate the enemy before they came back.

    "Squad 1, support Squad 13 on the left! Squad 20, move west and meet up with Squad 6! Work together to suppress the enemy and follow the Roaring Dragon Cavalry!"

    Orders were still being given out by high-ranking officials, and they were still being followed as best as possible. The various squads moved with vigor and fervor, desperate to survive the battle and be stronger so they could save their universe.

    With every universe denizen that died, a Nox would die too. Even if it was a hopeless situation, these soldiers would rather detonate themselves than allow another Nox to live on.

    At least, most of them.

    "S-senior brother, you¡­!" A man crouched, bloodied on the ground. A hole had been punctured in his heart just moments prior.

    "Hahaha, little Long, the reason is simple. It is impossible for us to win against the strength of the great Lords! If we do not sumb, we will die! Little Long, if you had just joined me back then¡­" the man trailed off, looking at his dying friend with pity.

    However, the dying man merely spat blood on his old friend''s boots.

    "I will¡­never¡­turn traitor."

    No matter how choppy his sentence was, he ended it firmly.

    And in the next moment¡­

    "Well said!"

    Shing!

    A crisp sound floated through the air, and the traitor''s head floated into the air with it.

    The dying man looked up at the killer with weak eyes. A smile hung on his face.

    Even if he died, it was great to see that the traitorous scum got his ending as well.

    Suddenly, a bright white light covered his body.

    The blood pumping through his veins boiled as his heart pumped once more.

    The wound¡­was closing.

    The man''s shocked expression was frozen on his face like it was a still frame. By the time he managed to look up at his savior¡­

    The man was already gone.

    ''Hero¡­''

    The thought stuck in the newly revived man''s mind. In fact, it was a thought that reverberated through the army.

    This was the Heretic Executioner''s 5th round of cleanup. In the past hour of war, he''d already taken care of tens of traitors who''d snuck their way into the army.

    The man was praised in the hearts of many as a hero, but he himself didn''t feel any joy.

    ''There''s too many.''

    His brows furrowed as he moved, decapitating yet another traitor.

    ''If this number is present in an army of only the Blood-Drenched Wilderness'' forces, how many exist in Eien as a whole¡­?''

    And even more concerning, what if there were stronger ones?

    Damien gritted his teeth. He hated traitors even more than the Nox. He hated people who gave up without even trying, sumbing to a fate that they could change with their own hands if they just put in the effort.

    It was deplorable, disgusting, and absolutely scummy.

    ''The Roaring Dragon Cavalry has been mostly maintaining the backline and pressuring the enemy, but the frontline isn''t doing so hot. If we don''t provide ai¡ªhm?''

    Damien''s attention went upward. He suddenly felt a strange fluctuationing from the sky.

    ''That is¡­''

    The ckness of the abyss and the space of Grand Heavens Boundary seemed to be¡­merging?

    ''That can''t be good.''

    Damien''s frown deepened.

    He returned to formation with the Roaring Dragon Cavalry and took a backseat in the battle for a few moments as he observed space and tried to understand what was happening.

    ''The root cause is¡­'' <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Over there."

    He traced the origin of the fluctuations that were disrupting space, leading him past the golden barrier separating the Nox Commander from the main army.

    ''The space on Eien is so strong. Even Demigods can fight here without totally copsing the atmosphere and causing a phenomenon like this. This is the same reason why Eien is called a destend without opportunity, since it''s nigh-impossible for circumstance to alter the environment¡­''

    Whatever was happening, Damien didn''t have enough knowledge of Eien to interfere or even understand. All he knew was that he definitely didn''t like it.

    ''I''ll have to keep my eye on that as I fight. We need to clean up as much as we can before cracks start to form!''

    At that point, everyone would die.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. He spread his awareness to take stock of the entire battlefield.

    To the side, the fierce and wild sh between the Lesser Nox and 3rd ss beings continued. It looked as though the number on Heaven''s Army''s side had already been reduced by around 100,000. As for the Nox¡­

    ''There''s too many of them. It''s impossible to tell how many have died.''

    That alone qualified the secondary battlefield as Heaven''s Army''s disadvantage.

    The main battlefield was far more stable. The death toll on both sides remained rtively equal, but that still wasn''t a good thing.

    Sacrificing every single troop they had for the sake of this battle wasn''t worth it at all.

    ''All I can do is try my best¡­right?''

    Just as Damien was going to return his focus to the battlefield, he was stopped by yet another realization.

    ''For space to be disrupted to this degree, the attacks within the barrier can''t merely be utilizing other Laws. This kind of convolution can only be achieved by manipting space itself.''

    There was a spatial expert beyond the barrier, the only question was which side they were on.

    ''It''s definitely not the Iron Fortress or Sanctuary guild branch managers. I caught a glimpse of their attacks before the barrier formed, so I can guess their affinities quite easily¡­''

    Between the Hope Organization branch manager and the Nox Commander¡­

    ''I really hope it''s the former.''

    At the end of the day, it didn''t matter.

    It was said that the Sanctuary branch manager was the strongest of the three. As long as her strength wasn''t hindered¡­

    ''I''ll take the gamble.''

    "Captain, I received an order directly from the branch manager! I''ll be separating from the squad for now!" He shouted.

    "Haha, no worries! Come back to us when you''re free. Your presence is always wee!"

    In ssic Ezio fashion, the man responded as if Damien was a retiring coworker rather than arade in war.

    Damien smiled.

    He really wished he could spend more time with a cozy and tight-knit group like this one.

    Sadly, he didn''t have that kind of freedom.

    Damien swerved his airbike and veered away from the cavalry unit, dismounting the machine only after getting several thousand kilometers from the battlefield.

    Here, the only traces of war were the fierce sounds and mana fluctuations, as well as a domineering golden barrier.

    Damien ced his hand on it.

    "Woah!"

    He slipped through unhindered.

    "¡­"

    Shaking his head in incredulity, Damien pushed his hand out.

    "Why" he could enter the barrier didn''t matter. All that mattered was that he''d done it.

    Now¡­

    ''Dimensional Prison: Celestial Lock.''

    A spatial fluctuation traveled the entire length of the barrier and even further.

    In the next instant¡­

    Space locked, and a mountainous suppression bore down on all those existing within it.

 Chapter 829 War [5]

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Terrible explosions rocked the air, shaking space and even causing it to shatter in certain areas. Massive collisions took ce countless times every second, making it impossible for any organism to survive within a several thousand-kilometer radius of the battlefield.

    Bang!

    A great axe swung through the air, attempting to bisect its enemypletely, but the current enemy was simply too snake-like. Every time the axe came near him, he''d turn into a puff of smoke and reappear several kilometers away.

    The same thing happened this time. The grey-skinned man''s body faded as if it never existed. However, when he reappeared, there were an array of surprises waiting for him.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Spheres of strange water surrounded his body, shooting out tendrils like iron wires to confine him in a single spot.

    If this attack was merely water alone, it would''ve been impossible to suppress the man who could escape from far worse unscathed, but Rilia was prepared.

    Every water affinity expert would evolve as they grew in strength, developing their own quality of water that matched their fighting style. Some would have poisonous water mana, while others had water that could heal. Rilia''s specialty was suppression, and she''d been working to incorporate the qualities of gravity into her mana since a very young age.

    When she attacked with the intent of forcing an enemy into a corner, there was nigh-anything that could stop her.

    A heavy suppression bore down on Aarish''s shoulders like a mountain. For the first time during this fight¡­he gritted his teeth.

    ''How troublesome.''

    His eyes scanned the three enemies in front of him. Individually, he could kill each of them without much trouble, however, it was different when theybined their power.

    They couldn''t kill him with personal strength, but they could definitely prevent him fromnding fatal hits on each other.

    The three-point defense they created was almost impossible for him to prate with simple moves.

    However, the reason he gritted his teeth wasn''t pain, but annoyance.

    ''I havee here to find the Heavenly Demon Candidate''s killer, but the search has been too inconclusive. These three beings are the only ones capable of killing the previous candidate, however, their mana signatures do not match the traces left at the scene¡­''

    Aarish narrowed his eyes, twisting his body at an impossible angle to dodge a massive bloody axe that once again aimed to chop him into pieces.

    ''The third has yet to act.''

    Aarish hid within the folds of space and observed his opponents.

    ''I must get rid of that woman first.''

    The woman with the power of suppression was the most troublesome enemy, as her aid allowed the other two to attack freely. Without her, they would barely even be able to touch him.

    His body shed away, appearing behind Rilia in an instant.

    "Die, peasant."

    His arm shed through the air, a thick and murky death mana covering his hand as it approached Rilia''s neck.

    The hair on her body raised in foreshadowing of danger. Her senses pricked up, ringing rm bells in her head.

    She spun around with widened eyes and raised her staff, erecting a makeshift mana barrier to protect her from the surprise attack.

    Shing!

    Shatter!

    Pieces of the mana barrier fluttered to the ground. The second Aarish''s hand passed through the flimsy barrier, it was broken into countless pieces.

    "Kak¡­!"

    A mouthful of blood flew from Rilia''s mouth as she was sent flying. Aarish''s eyes locked onto her like a predator, his body appearing at her position within the same instant.

    "You will be the first to die."

    "Not so fast."

    sh!

    Just as he went to deliver the final blow, his outstretched hand collided with something metallic. Arge ymore had blocked his path.

    As for the wielder of said weapon¡­

    "So you have finally decided to step in!"

    Aarish eximed with excitement as Jean''s visage was revealed.

    "What a masochistic monster, anticipating your own death with such fervor," Jeanmented in disgust.

    "Kekeke, but who said I would be the one dying today?"

    "I did!"

    Geralt''s booming voice came from behind. He stood with his great axe coated in gold aura. His eyes glowed like sunbeams as he roared into the sky.

    "WAR GOD''S FURY!"

    The axe came swinging down. Before it even reached halfway through its swing, the ground caved in from its pressure.

    By the time it sliced into the earth¡­

    BOOOOOOM!

    A wave of golden mana roared through the environment, cutting a massive gorge into the Blood-Drenched Wilderness as it moved to eclipse all those in its path, including the other two guild masters.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Jean''s eyes narrowed. In the split second Aarish was distracted by the iing attack, he grabbed Rilia''s arm and threw her out of the st radius.

    In the next moment, he jumped back and readied his sword.

    "Hahaha! What is your role? Preventing my escape? Worry not, for I have no such ns!" Aarish eximed arrogantly.

    It was clear that he''d mistaken the reason for Jean''s actions, but that was even better for them.

    The Nox Commander stuck his hand out in front of him, as if motioning the wave to stop.

    ROOOOAAAAAAAR!

    The wave soon epassed him. On both sides of his body, the massive gorge continued forming, the sh leaving behind an abyss thousands of kilometers deep.

    Aarish, on the other hand,pletely avoided the effect of the attack.

    A thick ck cocoon covered him from head to toe, acting as a turtle shell to shield him from the impact.

    However¡­

    Crack! Crack! Crack!

    Hairline cracks spread across the cocoon''s surface from the pressure. Aarish nced at these cracks with surprise.

    "Oho! You are far stronger than expected, giant! However, it is still not enough!"

    "¡­but we''ve known that since the beginning."

    Jean''s voice came from behind.

    The man closed his eyes and swung his sword in a strange arc.

    Shing!

    The sword''s de traveled its arc, and as it reached its pinnacle, a miracle happened.

    The extreme tip of the de, the indescribably small point that signified the absolute end of the de, barely came in contact with the golden mana wave.

    Ding!

    A sound like a bell being rung resounded.

    All things froze for a second.

    Aarish''s eyes widened.

    "Perfect Parry."

    The words signified thepletion of Jean''s attack.

    The golden wave that was furiously rushing past him a mere moment ago¡­

    ¡­defied all reason to change its course an entire 180 degrees, rushing to swallow Aarish for a second time.

    ''At this rate, my shield won''t hold on¡­!''

    Aarish made a quick decision. He put his hands together and gritted his teeth.

    "Dammit! Damn this body! It does not matter. Even if I must use my power, I will kill the three of you today!"

    His hands came together in a praying position and then separated by barely a few inches.

    p!

    Aarish brought his hands together and pped once.

    Space seemed to change.

    It contracted endlessly into a point before expanding again, and then finally¡­

    CLAP!

    A second p rang out.

    This time, space itself popped.

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    A massive suction force leaked from the portion of the chaotic void that''d been released. The entire golden wave of Geralt''s War God''s Fury attack was swallowed by this newly born ck hole.

    "Now, over there."

    Aarish''s gaze snapped towards Rilia, who''d gotten back up and was preparing for a major attack.

    He grinned.

    His fingers snapped.

    Space popped a second time. A new ck hole opened near Rilia''s position.

    And from that ck hole, a massive wave of golden energy leaked like a tsunami, enveloping Rilia''s body in an instant.

    BOOOM!

 Chapter 830 War [6]

    BOOOM!

    As soon as Rilia''s body disappeared amidst the explosion, the two male branch managers charged with fury in their eyes.

    Geralt''s actual elemental affinity was unknown, but his unparalleled achievements in weapon arts were showcased clearly in this battle.

    His axe rarely reached Aarish due to thetter''s insane movement capability, but the fact that he was even able to pressure a spatial expert with pure weapon skills was amazing.

    The fact that his axe existed wasn''t something Aarish could ignore. There was a reason he dodged every attack instead of taking them head-on.

    After all, even if he was far more powerful in terms of pure force andwprehension, he didn''t have an absolute advantage.

    Geralt''s axe could wound him if it was allowed to hit, so he naturally couldn''t allow that to happen.

    It was frustrating.

    Geralt had always been able to solve his problems with his fists. He was a man who made it to his current position by walking the path of an Asura, littered with the blood and corpses of his enemies.

    This was the first time he''d met an enemy he couldn''t reach no matter how hard he tried.

    But still, he gritted his teeth and kept fighting. His hope was that he''d be able to improve through this experience so that it never happened again.

    Besides, at least this time, he hadrades by his side.

    Jean''s de was as fast as light and just as incorporeal as well. It held a strange property that directly scorched Nox Mana and purified it, which made him a deadly force to normal Nox.

    However, even his speed couldn''t catch up to instant transmission. Even light needed a measure of time to travel from one point or the next.

    This amount of time might''ve been negligible in any normal situation, but here where every fraction of a second counted, the minute loss of speed Jean experienced by using light as a medium rather than space was seriously affecting his battle capacity.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    ''It has already been over an hour. For a fight between experts tost this long¡­if we cannot swiftly take him down, we will end up fighting until our mana reserves are depleted, and if that happens¡­''

    Then they were goners. It was obvious who had the highest mana capacity among the four of them.

    ''We need to suppress his spatial movement. This is the main factor holding us back.''

    Just as Jean, Geralt, and the currently incapacitated Rilia were unable to touch Aarish, Aarish was unable to seriously injure them.

    They simply didn''t give him the time.

    ''However, that means nothing if we cannot interfere with his teleportation. If only I had some slightprehension of space, I could identify his location within the spatialyers, but it''s impossible for us normal people!''

    Spatial experts were both respected and feared once they reached a certain level. After all, when they achieved that milestone, it meant they were essentially untouchable.

    As Jean lost himself in the impossibility of the situation, a change took ce.

    Rumble!

    "Woah!"

    Space suddenly became heavy and murky like msses. The change was so sudden that even Aarish, who wouldn''t normally be so affected by the situation, was directly forced out of the spatialyers.

    The suppression itself wasn''t strong, rather, it was something Aarish could normally shrug off without a second thought.

    But in this situation, where space was his absolute weapon against these experts who couldn''t interfere with it, how could he expect said weapon to revolt?

    "Now!"

    Jean didn''t even take a second to consider the situation.

    All he knew was that the enemy was unguarded.

    His body moved slower than it should''ve, but the difference was marginal. He reached Aarish just a few fractions of a secondter than he usually would''ve and swung his sword in a strange pattern.

    ''White Plum Sword Dance.''

    The white plum tree was a strange tree that existed on Jean''s homeworld. Many a sword practitioner would arrive at this tree''s trunk every year to observe it''s swaying leaves and try toprehend the mysteries behind its existence.

    Sadly, it was impossible¡­for all but one.

    Jean was the first toprehend the White Plum Tree''s mystical sword dances, and in theing days, he was forcefully made thest as well.

    That world was destroyed by the Nox, and Jean was its final survivor.

    The lifelong resentment of such a truth fused itself into the Plum Blossom Sword Dance, the final memoir of a fallen world.

    HAAAA!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Jean let out a spirited shout as he pushed his sword with everything he had.

    1 sh.

    2 shes.

    4 shes.

    16 shes.

    256 shes.

    The number of sword movements exponentially increased with every spark of a second, and thepounded impact of these shes continuously barraged Aarish''s body.

    "Khh¡­!"

    The Nox Commander held back the blood in his mouth and desperately spread his awareness to find a way out of the situation, but it was looking impossible.

    Jean''s strange sword dance didn''t just attack, but also suppressed. No matter what direction Aarish tried to escape in, he could sense a fatal blow waiting for him.

    And even without thisyer of suppression, Geralt was just waiting for his turn to take over and give his axe the bloody feast it''d been desiring this entire time.

    If that wasn''t bad enough¡­

    Rilia''s form became visible on the horizon. She was battered and bloody, and her clothes were ripped in multiple ces, but she acted as if nothing happened as she raised her staff to join the battle.

    "Dammit! Do you know who I am?!" Aarish shouted in a rage.

    His eyes turned red, and the mana in his body began to boil.

    "I am the son of the Void Lord! None of you peons are worthy of defeating me!"

    Click!

    Everything halted.

    Jean''s eyes widened. The aura on his sword was dispelled instantly by some mysterious force.

    Aarish looked up with pitch-ck eyescking any sort of sclera or pupils.

    "Dominion."

    Thick ck smoke floated up from his mouth and formed a dome around him, Geralt, and Jean.

    Standing on the outside, Rilia''s face paled.

    The power Aarish showcased wasn''t power he should''ve had. The intensity of thews was far too powerful for any 4th ss toprehend regardless of their level.

    Rilia bit her lip in worry. ''This must be one of his final trump cards. If he is truly the son of a Lord-level character¡­I''m afraid it will be incredibly difficult for those two."

    She flew to the edge of the ck barrier and slowly reached her hand out to grab it.

    Pah!

    Arger hand grabbed hers before it could reach its destination.

    "I wouldn''t do that if I were you."

    Rilia''s eyes widened. She mmed her staff in the direction of the voice, but the owner was long gone.

    He stood calmly a few meters away with a wry smile on his face.

    "Can you not look before you smack? Don''t you know I just saved your life?"

    Rilia''s eyes widened.

    The being who she couldn''t sense wasn''t an enemy, rather it was a young human man she''d never seen before.

    Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

    This man¡­

    "Why are you here when you''re so weak?!"

    ¡­was definitely not someone who should''ve been interfering at this moment.

 Chapter 831 War [7]

    "Why are you here when you''re so weak?!"

    Damien grasped his chest in shock. He never expected that today, in a battle against an enemy so powerful, he would catch a stray.

    "Don''t be so rude to your savior. If I want to be here, who can stop me?" He pompously dered.

    Rilia red at him suspiciously. She didn''t care about his strange personality, but his entire existence in this moment was confusing her.

    "Who are you and why have youe here?" She asked.

    Damien sighed and introduced himself. "Well, you can just call me Damien. As for my reason foring here, just call it simple curiosity. Looking at this baby, I think it was worth it."

    Damien nced over at the strange barrier as he spoke thest sentence. The power fueling the barrier was magnificent, and the breath of space emitted from it was so sophisticated that even Damien felt like he could learn something from it.

    ''I never expected there to be a spatial expert among the Nox Demigods¡­''

    "This barrier is strange, but it''s definitely not something you or I can touch. Since it''s been conjured with the power of a Demigod, at least its defensive capabilities will mirror this fact properly." Damien said without waiting for Rilia to speak.

    "However, it isn''t all bad. A barrier of this level definitely can''t be maintained for long by a lower existence. The longer it stays up, the more damage the caster will take."

    "And you know this because¡­?"

    "I''m something of a spatial expert of myself."

    "I see¡­"

    Rilia nodded her head without questioning him. The only way for someone weaker than her to evade her perception was indeed to utilize space to a terrifying degree, so she didn''t have any mind to question him.

    "Then, man named Damien, what do you propose we do now?" She asked as if testing him.

    Damien''s brows furrowed. He looked off into the horizon as he spoke.

    "We should prepare."

    "Prepare?"

    Damien nodded. "Right, it looks like something big is going to happen soon¡­"

    It was invisible to other people. Damien could only smile wryly at their blissful ignorance.

    If they could see the same scene as him¡­

    They surely would have fled as far as possible already.

    ''Well, that''s not to say that I''m not interested in what''s happening. Let''s sit back and watch for now.''

    He''d already taken care of the traitors on the battlefield, so unless there were extraneous circumstances, his help on the main battlefield wasn''t necessarily needed anymore.

    ''It''d be great if I could see inside the barrier¡­''

    Damien nced back over at it. He felt like he could just barely perceive the fluctuations of battle taking ce within, but it wasn''t enough for him to understand the situation.

    But if there was one thing he did know, it was that the current situation of the two trapped guild branch managers couldn''t be good.

    ***

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    "JEAN, DODGE!"

    Geralt''s booming voice sounded within the explosions. Jean immediately moved backward, narrowly avoiding a strange formless intent that tried to tear through him.

    Geralt appeared before him in the next instant, great axe in tow.

    HAAAAA!

    Geralt roared with all his strength and spun the great axe on its one axis, turning it into a rotating saw with terrifying cutting power.

    SCREEEEEEECH!

    As the spinning axe came in contact with the formless intent, the sound of metal shing against metal rang out strongly. Sparks flew in every direction, and if one looked closely enough, one would be able to clearly see the axe being slowly ground to nothingness.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    Geralt swallowed back the blood pooling in his mouth, refusing to move.

    "Jean, it''s up to you! I''ll do my best to block him until then!" He roared.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Jean gritted his teeth in frustration, ring at the corrupted form of the Nox Commander before him. It had already been half an hour since the barrier was erected, and the situation wasn''t optimistic at all.

    Both Jean and Geralt had sustained heavy injuries from the space around them. Now, they''d finally limated enough to deal with the invisible attacks, but that didn''t mean they were safe.

    Aarish no longer looked humanoid, no, he''dpletely embraced the monster within him. He had eight sharp legs like a spider and the upper body of an ape. The massive ck holes acting as his eyes were constantly wide open, and the roarsing from his mouth were enough to pierce one''s eardrums.

    ''So this is the true nature of Demonic Providence¡­'' Jean thought as he winced in pain.

    He stood up off his knee, clutching his bloodied left shoulder.

    ''I can''t move this arm anymore, but it shouldn''t inhibit my mobility too much. I must find an opening.''

    Jean''s eyes focused on Aarish''s form with utmost precision. He burned his mental power trying to find a gap in the monster''s defenses.

    But no matter how he looked, it seemed impossible. The spider legs gave Aarish extreme mobility and flexibility, while his abdomen was mammalian and scaled, offering him armor-like protection.

    ''We must make the opening ourselves.''

    At this moment, Geralt finally made his move.

    HA!

    His muscles bulged like they would explode as Geralt mmed his axe to the side, redirecting the force of Aarish''s formless attacks.

    BOOM!

    His body shot forward like a meteor, the golden aura around his axe coalescing andpounding on itself.

    "Die, monster!"

    Along with a spirited shout, Geralt made his attack. He wielded his axe like it weighed nothing at all, swinging it through the air and even forcing it to twirl to match his attack pattern.

    "Kekekeke! Stupid human, you cannot defeat me!" Aarish eximed zealously. He whipped his legs through the air, causing dozens of formless spatial attacks to charge towards both Geralt and Jean.

    Geralt''s eyes narrowed.

    He didn''t stop moving.

    CLASH!

    The axe made heavy contact with the spider monster''s carapace. After the first time, tens and even hundreds of strikes followed.

    A golden light began to form on Aarish''s body.

    At the same time, the formless intent reached Geralt.

    Piu! Piu! Piu!

    It sounded like silenced bullets. The strange intent entered through one side of Geralt''s body and exited through the other, littering the man''s body with coin-sized holes.

    And one of those holes¡­

    ¡­was only mere centimeters away from his heart.

    "AGH!"

    Geralt let out a sound of pain, but didn''t halt his movements. The axe moved and moved and moved, and seeing Geralt''s refusal to move, Aarish began targeting him more seriously too,

    A sh that severed the chaotic void. This was the next attack aiming for Geralt''s head.

    Rather than formless like its predecessors, this sh was glittering as if it was filled with countless stars.

    But despite its beauty, Geralt knew that this sh would spell his death.

    His eyes hardened. "Jean, do not mourn for me! Complete the task in front of you!"

    He grinned madly. "I, Geralt, have always been a warrior. Today, I shall die a death worthy of my stature!"

    The light on his axe concentrated on its de.

    The golden line on Aarish''s body shone with splendor.

    And finally, the two forces met.

 Chapter 832 War [8]

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The ringing of the explosion signaled the beginning of a single second that Jean considered more important than his entire life leading up to the moment.

    Geralt''s axe made contact with the golden line he''d drawn on Aarish''s body.

    The two forces resonated, and by some means unknown to anyone but Geralt, a terrifyingly massive force was emitted by their meeting.

    The explosion rang out because of this.

    Rampant waves of energy spread in all directions, and while most of the formless intent in the air was destroyed by these chaotic fluctuations, one attack continued its trajectory unhindered.

    Jean watched it move in slow motion.

    Its flight path was perfectly blocked by Geralt''s neck.

    ''Bastard¡­''

    Jean gritted his teeth.

    He had to move.

    Otherwise, even if Geralt truly died here, his sacrifice would mean nothing.

    The ymore in his grip felt heavy. With one hand, it was far more difficult to wield.

    But the responsibility on Jean''s shoulders was far heavier.

    His eyes opened wide. His attention focused on the chink Geralt opened in Aarish''s defenses.

    ''I must pierce it.''

    He readied his sword.

    ''I must pierce it.''

    Mana swirled within and around his body, forming a natural barrier that pushed away any external force in his vicinity.

    ''I must pierce it.''

    The mana and sword became one. A beautiful holy aura covered Jean''s sword as his eyes slowly closed.

    Yet, the environment around him was clearly reflected in his vision.

    ''I must¡­pierce it!''

    He moved.

    His body blurred, bing a force that space couldn''t impede.

    HAAAAAAA!

    He roared like a wild beast. The blood vessels in his neck bulged and pulsated from the pure amount of spirit he was putting into the shout.

    He arrived next to Geralt in an instant.

    His eyes moved to look at his old friend.

    Geralt was smiling.

    It was the same bloodthirsty and wild smile he held whenever he enjoyed a battle to its greatest potential.

    Jean sighed inwardly.

    His sword began its swing.

    Then, as the second came to an end, multiple things took ce at once.

    The terrifying spatial sh finished its flight path.

    A head went flying into the air.

    A sword pierced through the tiny chink in Aarish''s armor.

    A wave of foreign mana clogged the Nox Commander''s systems and aggravated his injuries.

    Blood spurted.

    And a spider leg moved¡­

    ¡­to pierce through another body.

    ***

    VOOOOOOM!

    A strange energy-like sound resounded.

    The golden barrier separating the main battlefield from Aarish and the guild branch managers flickered and faded, bing almost negligible.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed as he looked back at the barrier.

    ''One has died.''

    Damien gritted his teeth. ''My spatial suppression feels insignificant, but it''s doing a good job bncing the fluctuation of that strange prison realm. However, it looks like it''s about to be much harder to maintain¡­

    Damien was essentially forcing the chaotic spatial aura to stay inside a box of his creation. However, this box only had five sides. The fifth was substituted by an already existing wall.

    This wall became an important support pir that allowed Damien to expand his influence to a greater range without worrying about leakage.

    And now that it was copsing¡­

    ''The rampant spatial mana has begun spreading into the main battlefield. I have to stop it.''

    Damien teleported away without paying any mind to Rilia''s exmations that followed him. He arrived where the massive golden light barrier once stood and spread his arms.

    ''My Grand Heavens Boundary¡­will not lose this war!''

    OOOOOOOOM!

    His mana raged like a tsunami. For the first time in a long time, Damien put his entire mana capacity to use.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The pure quantity of mana tore a hole through the atmosphere. Damien then forcibly turned the newly formed back hole into a medium for Devour, recklessly taking everything that couldn''t be contained by his barrier into his own body.

    "Argh¡­!"

    Damien bit his lip in pain. The foreign spatial mana raged through his body like a pack of wild bulls.

    ''As expected, even if it only has a trace of Divine Mana, anything blessed by a Demigod is troublesome.''

    Despite his calm thoughts, Damien was actually quite surprised by the situation of his body. Rather than the damage, he was curious about the slow reaction of his Void Physique.

    Even if its processes were no longer totally automated, it was still second nature for Damien to cleanse his body with Void Mana whenever a situation like this urred,

    This time, however, the mana was allowed to rampage on its own for a few seconds before it was tamed and recycled by the Void.

    ''This fucking hurts¡­''

    Damien nced back at the battlefield behind him with a wry smile.

    ''Well, at least you guys can fight without worry, just remain blissfully ignorant for now. No matter what''sing, it can''t be good.''

    "What the hell do you think you''re doing?!"

    A shout of rebuke snapped Damien out of his cynical thoughts.

    "Hm? Can''t you see I''m saving people?"

    "You¡­just what kind of monster are you¡­?"

    The person who appeared was none other than Rilia. And with her level of strength, she could clearly see what was happening to Damien.

    "Saving people? What''s the use of saving people if you die? Don''t you know the value of a genius in this era?!" Rilia yelled.

    "Uhm¡­I''m not dying tho¡ª"

    "Truly, you kids in the younger generation have no appreciation for life!"

    Rilia gritted her teeth and moved behind Damien, cing her hands on his back.

    "ept my mana and use it to regte the chaos within you!"

    "No, listen to me, I''m really not dy¡ª"

    "Don''t waste energy on talking and refine the wild energy!"

    Damien sighed. It seemed Rilia wasn''t nning to listen to him,

    ''Well, I''ll take this kind of refusal to cooperate over any other¡­''

    Damien shook his head wryly and continued regting the energy as best he could, but¡­

    It was simply impossible for him to perfectly control energy that leaked for millions of kilometers with his current strength,

    RUMBLE!

    Damien''s face turned dignified.

    He stopped his actions and moved away from Rilia.

    He was able to protect the main army before the event itself took ce, but now¡­

    Crack! Crack! Crack!

    The ck sky split into countless pieces and shattered.

    Crash!

    Pieces of the ss ceiling rained to the ground. As soon as they touched, the earth rose into several dozen pirs that formed a strange pattern if viewed from above.

    This is¡­''

    Damien studied the symbol with furrowed brows. From it, he could feel the fluctuation of all elements, yet at the same time, there was no fluctuation at all.

    At this time, the situation experienced another change.

    The earth pirs lit up like a rainbow of various colors, shining like beacons that painted the sky in a splendorous hue of iridescence.

    By this point, all sounds of battle had halted. Those with spiritual intelligence couldn''t take their eyes away from the mystical phenomena, and even those without it were enamored by the strange fluctuations emitted by it.

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    The shattered sky¡­wasn''t it swirling like a portal?

    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

    An inhuman bellow emitted by an object rather than a being.

    A horrifying suction force appeared.

    A light spread as far as the eye could see and made it so the eye could see nothing at all.

    And when the light disappeared¡­

    All those existing within several thousand kilometers of the phenomenon disappeared from the face of the earth.

    The only thing remaining in their wake was a strange swirling sky illuminated by beacons of multicolored light.

    A man watched this happen from the distance.

    His eyes turned cold.

    "It seems that Eien will be active again for the first time in many years¡­"

    He turned around and began to leave.

    "I must go prepare, or I''ll definitely get left behind."

    "How rare, how rare¡­"

    "To think that in my life, I''d be able to personally experience a Void Corridor!"

 Chapter 833 Void Corridor [1]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Tens of light blurs streaked through the air, delivering a rain of hell to those below.

    After Damien''s departure, the Roaring Dragon Cavalry took a central role on the battlefield, and Ezio tookmand of a majority of the troops to bring them to victory.

    The airbikes were the core of the new army formation. After the Roaring Dragon Cavalry set up a canopy to both injure and confuse the enemy, the second wave of aerial troops would follow tond killing blows. Any that were left afterward were left to ground troops to finish off.

    This strategy was much better than the disorganized mess that the battlefield had turned into for a moment, but even with this, it was difficult to secure the win.

    ''The Nox troops are too many in number. For every one we take down, another ten pop up. And in this environment, it''s impossible for us topletely exterminate every enemy, so rebirths are taking ce as well.''

    Ezio narrowed his eyes and observed the battlefield from above before handing down hismand.

    The Nox were currently fighting in small groups rather than as a whole entity. Without the oppression of a Nox Commander to keep them in ce, their unruly and independent nature came out in full force.

    This was extremely advantageous for Heaven''s Army, as it made it far easier to cope with the pure number of enemies.

    ROAR!

    SKREEEE!

    The cries of beasts resounded as the affiliated cavalry units made their move.

    The battlefield itself spanned for several hundred thousand kilometers. At this time, the cavalry units covered that entire circumference with their forces as if to confine their enemies.

    "Fire!"

    Countless beasts roared and let loose their strongest wide-area attacks.

    Ezio focused his mind to its maximum potential and peered into the proceeding explosions, observing the Nox within.

    ''There are¡­160 that act as leaders. As long as they can be taken down, the rest won''t be trouble.''

    Still, 160 was arge number.

    Ezio''s body jolted.

    "Shit!"

    He rapidly swerved his airbike to the side and abandoned it. In the next instant, a terrifying projectile swerved to follow him and directly collided with the bike.

    BOOM!

    The machine exploded on impact, making Ezio shed a tear as he regained his bnce in the air. However, before he could even properly mourn the loss of his baby, the projectile charged through the explosion, headed straight for him!

    "Dammit, why me?!"

    Ezio gritted his teeth and galvanized his mana, setting up a fortified defense. At the same time, he gathered mana in his arms and enhanced his strength manifold, pulling his fist back in preparation to receive the hit.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    "Kak!"

    Ezio''s fist came in contact with the yellow light. He coughed out blood as he was sent by the force.

    The yellow light, on the other hand, merely halted in its tracks.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Ezio rapidly readjusted and grabbed his shoulder in pain as he red at the light.

    ''That is¡­why is that here?!''

    Ezio''s eyes widened. Unexpectedly, he recognized the force that attacked him.

    His face turned pale.

    The yellow light expanded with the passing of time, revealing its form as a beautiful orange-gold phoenix that was emitting a fierce killing intent.

    Ezio gritted his teeth and pushed his mana. ''Dammit! There are still Nox strong enough to directly control the Infected on the battlefield!''

    The phoenix in front of him wasn''t a Nox being, rather, it was a beast who''d been corrupted by them. And its entrance meant¡­

    ''If we can''t deal with them quickly, we''ll be besieged by a second wave!''

    "Everyone, attention! Focus on the 160 targets I''ve marked! Take them down as fast as possible while I hold back the strong beasts!"

    Ezio immediately ryed the order and refocused on the phoenix.

    ''It''s ate-stage 4th-ss beast. Since it arrived by itself, I''m sure there won''t be other beasts as strong as it in theing tide. As long as I can get rid of it¡­''

    There was no need for further thought. Ezio pushed his mana to its furthest and shot at the beast. Earthly mana covered his fists and turned them into terrifyingly dense blunt weapons that he swung with the weight of stars.

    BOOM!

    The impact of his fist on the air rang out, sending an ear-piercing p into the surroundings. The phoenix, however, sensed the attack''s danger from the start and dodged perfectly.

    The beast bared its talons and pped its wings powerfully, making an impossible maneuver to fly into Ezio''s blind spot and sh him.

    SHING!

    The sound of flesh tearing was loud. Ezio''s blood went flying into the air, forcing him to grit his teeth to force down the scream building in his chest.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "ARGH!"

    The beast''s talon ripped almost all the way through Ezio''s body before he could respond. But in that final moment, Ezio had no n of remaining idle.

    He grabbed the beast''s outstretched leg with all his strength, his muscles bulging as if to increase their power to aid him. His earthly mana zed into the surroundings unlike its usual peaceful appearance, and under Ezio''s strict control, it directly pressured the phoenix and attacked its wings.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    SKREEE!

    The phoenix was forced to back away to avoid the attack. Ezio grinned, ready for his counterattack when¡­

    XIU!

    The world seemed to turn white.

    Ezio barely moved his head in time.

    A thin red line appeared on his neck, dripping blood onto the rest of his body thereafter.

    A cold sweat poured down his back.

    He almost died.

    ''There was¡­another one¡­?''

    Ezio''s pale face turned a shade whiter.

    If this beast was able to arrive, then¡­

    RUMBLE!

    His worst fears came true. The sound of the earth quaking was so loud that it felt like Eien was on the verge of copse.

    A plethora of powerful auras expressed themselves from the distance, intimidating their enemy into submission far before their arrival.

    ''Then¡­the phoenix was just a diversion¡­?''

    The phoenix and the newly arrived flying panther beast both looked at Ezio with a look of contempt, as if mocking him. They didn''t attack during this time, clearly enjoying the feeling of despair spreading through Heaven''s Army.

    AHHHHHH!

    The first scream signified the start of a ughter.

    The 3rd sses on the subsidiary battlefield were the first to die. Under the rampaging force of countless 4th ss beasts, how could they stand a chance?

    The screams of agony that entered Ezio''s ears felt like scars in his heart. Every single one of them was anotherrade lost in battle.

    ''But it seems¡­I will be joining them soon.''

    Ezio smiled wryly.

    ''What a shame, I just found a great sessor candidate too¡­''

    He grinned inment and took a fighting stance.

    If he was going to die anyway, he was going to take as many enemies down with him as possible!

    Ezio lifted his injured body and began gathering power, but before he could even make a move, his mana was disrupted and canceled.

    ''Something else?!''

    He almost gave up all hope.

    But at that time, he realized that the screaming stopped.

    He looked down, and then he followed the gazes of those below to the sky.

    His eyes almost fell out of his skull.

    ''That¡­''

    His thought wasn''t even allowed to end before he disappeared off the face of the earth.

    The beast tide, the Nox, and the remains of Heaven''s Army all disappeared with him.

    A figure watched it take ce from the distance.

    This figure existed millions of kilometers away from the battlefield at the peak of a mountain in apletely different section of Eien.

    He smiled.

    He curled his fingers, giving way to many ck wisps that melded into the air for reasons unknown.

    The man''s lips curved into a malicious smile.

    ''As expected, you came here. Someone the Lord appreciates cannot be average¡­''

    "Damien Void, enjoy the gift I''ve prepared for you! I pray you do not die too early."

 Chapter 834 Void Corridor [2]

    A Void Corridor.

    The news of its existence was far more valuable than what was originally taking ce in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness. Within a single day, all forces within several hundreds of millions of miles were made aware of it.

    Somewhere 300 million or so kilometers from the Blood-Drenched Wilderness was a territory known as the Misty Wilnds. The forces here were far stronger than those in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness. Several 9th Revolution experts headed the top forces, and even a few Demigod Avatars were present.

    Demigod Avatars were extremely rare. They were the product of universe denizens observing and deconstructing the Nox technique of Avatar creation and attempting to replicate it.

    Sadly, Nox techniques were almost exclusive to the Nox. Those Demigods who''d seeded in creating Avatars were rarer than colored people at a n meeting!

    Nevertheless, the strength of forces congregated in the Misty Wilnds was evident. Among these forces, one of the strongest was Arcadia, a small guild consisting of only 20 members.

    However, every member was an extreme peak powerhouse, and the weakest was a 4th revolution master.

    Currently, in the guild headquarters, amotion was taking ce.

    "Void Corridor?! Are you certain?!" A woman shouted unwittingly before covering her mouth.

    The girl in front of her nodded her head profusely. "Right! I heard that there was a big war going on and the collision caused a Void Corridor to open! Big sister, are we going over?"

    "Go, go! Of course, we''ll go! How could we miss such an event?!"

    The woman immediately jumped out of her chair and sent a talisman to inform the rest of the guild of her movements.

    They would surely catch up to her once they received the transmission.

    ''To think I''d be lucky enough to experience a Void Corridor in my lifetime.''

    The thought she had was shared by countless people, almost everyone who heard the news.

    After all, the existence of a Void Corridor was too rare,

    It wasmon knowledge that Eien was a cecking in opportunities. Due to its closeness to the Abyss, it was impossible for secret realms or other alternate spaces to exist, and it was even less likely for resources to naturally appear in Eien''s terrible climate.

    Void Corridors were a concept thatpletely went against this reasoning.

    Void Corridors could be considered top 10 on a list of the rarest phenomena in the universe.

    In essence, they were secret realms, but in reality, they were far greater than just that.

    Void Corridors were strange portals that led to even stranger and more mystical realmspletely outside of the universe''s jurisdiction. The treasures found within were nonexistent elsewhere, and the opportunities were even greater.

    There were even records of Void Corridors opening the way to God-level Inheritances.

    The cause behind their existence had yet to be realized after countless years. In the past few hundred thousand years, only 3 Void Corridor openings had been recorded.

    It was obvious how important the current opening was.

    The two women from Arcadia were both powerful experts, with the stronger of the two being at the 6th revolution, but they were only small characters in the grand scheme of things.

    Forces were gathering towards the Blood-Drenched Wilderness at a rapid pace, and the mass migration raised questions in territories further from the source of information, which eventually led to their involvement as well.

    Eien''s ring spanned the entirety of Grand Heavens Boundary. It was possible to walk its length and make it from Soul World to Hephaestus, one side of the universe to theplete opposite, and back by merely walking forward.

    And the forces moving towards the Void Corridor¡­

    ¡­consisted of those from an entire half of this ring.

    ***

    "Sister, we''re finally here! This is the edge of the Blood-Drenched Wilderness!" A feminine voice rang out in the void, followed by the appearance of a mature woman.

    She looked in herte 20s with short brown hair and green eyes. Her figure wasn''t amazingly proportioned, but she had a toned body that was built from countless years of battle.

    The beauty she held was undeniable.

    This woman was named Alexandra, a 6th revolution expert from Arcadia. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The woman who traveled with her was her younger sister, Alice, a 5th Revolution master.

    Both were several thousand years old already, but it seemed like Alice would never mature. Even after all this time, she still clung to her big sister like a child.

    Alexandra smiled wryly as she spread her awareness.

    "It looks like we''re a bitte."

    3 days had passed since the news originally spread. Even with the fastest personal teleportation devices in hand, it still took them this long to arrive.

    And now that they had, it was clear that they were many steps toote.

    The numbers were easily in the millions. From the mostmon foot soldier to Eien''s top experts, anyone who was close enough to reach this ce before 3 days passed was present.

    As for the rest, they had no chance at all.

    Alexandra''s eyes narrowed as she further inspected.

    ''There are at least 6 Holy Land level influences present, and an even greater number of those that are just below that level. It seems that we won''t becking extreme peak experts within the rift.''

    Her attention shifted past the denizen forces, into the ckness of the Abyss.

    ''They''ve arrived too.''

    With the number of forces convening in the area, it was impossible for the Nox to not realize the situation, but their response was fast¡­almost too fast.

    ''There are several High Commander and Executioner auras in their ranks. If it''s a Supreme¡­then I am not yet qualified to feel their presence. I can only hope that too many haven''t appeared.''

    Alexandra could sense the chaos that the current event would stir, and her feeling only became stronger as she got closer to the crowd.

    With so many Heaven''s Army and Nox forces in one ce, was peace even an option¡­?

    It was aughable thought.

    Anyone with sense understood that the importance of this Void Corridor didn''t merely lie in its benefits.

    No, the true importance of this Void Corridor was the "opportunity" it created.

    How long had it been since the denizens and Nox met with such gusto?

    How long had it been since the two sides shed without worry about tactics or consequences?

    The Void Corridor was a pathway to an unknownnd, and separate from the universe.

    It was the perfect location¡­

    For a purge, that is.

    The atmosphere alone was enough to prove it. The two sides didn''t even need to meet.

    Only one would be exiting.

    If the other side wasn''tpletely purged, leaving the y known realm was pointless.

    Alexandra and Alice reached the Heaven''s Army base camp and walked in, saying their greetings to the familiar experts within.

    While Alice trailed off halfway through the walk to take care of her own business, Alexandra continued until she arrived at thergest tent in the vicinity.

    Walking in, she was immediately struck by the disorientation of entering a spatial expansion, but it didn''t take any time at all for her to readjust with her level.

    Finally, her eyes caught sight of what she came for.

    The sources of the strongest auras in the camp, the leaders of the strongest forces that''d congregated in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness¡­

    This was where they gathered to discuss their n on how to proceed.

 Chapter 835 Void Corridor [3]

    Alexandra''s gaze panned around the room, taking note of the most important characters present.

    By her observation, the forces of roughly 15-20 territories hade. Even taking the entirety of Eien into perspective, this was a massive force unlike anything that''d been assembled in the past.

    Among the territories of Eien, there was a sort of unspoken hierarchy that one would learn as one grew. For the most part, this hierarchy followed strength and influence alone.

    Therefore, of the forces present, only five truly mattered, and even among those five¡­

    Alexandra''s eyes widened as a certain emblem came into view.

    ''The Ancient God n¡­''

    The Ancient God n was one of the most mysterious and powerful forces affiliated with Heaven''s Army. In truth, their people had remained in Eien for countless eons, protecting the universe from outside threats even before the forgotten war 100,000 years ago.

    It was rumored that they held an innate bloodline that gave them mythical power and the ability to grow far faster than their peers. Their eyes were said to see through the mysteries of reality, as such, their younger generation was always the greatest, and the oppression of their experts couldn''t be denied.

    "Could it be the Young Master of the Ancient God n hase to participate in this Void Corridor opening?"

    Alexandra''s ears perked up as a man approached the Ancient God n Elders that were sitting quietly in the corner of the room.

    The elders, who refused to give anyone face, actually opened their eyes to look at him.

    "The ns of our Young Master are not for you to know. Just know that we will not participate in your silly scheme. Take the rest of these fools with you if you wish to die."

    "Hahaha, elder, you jest. How could I push anyone to their death? I merely wish to do for our universe as our universe had done for us and save it from harm."

    "Presumptuous."

    The man''s smile almost cracked. Behind his stic expression, he was seething in fury.

    ''Tch, how dare these mere elders look down on me?!''

    A vein popped in his forehead, but nobody called attention to it. After saying their piece, the elders also closed their eyes and returned to meditation.

    Alexandra watched the man storm away with curious eyes.

    ''He should be the leader of Asuran Gate. Since it''s a subsidiary of the Blood Asura Holy Land, its power is clear, but it seems the Ancient God n doesn''t even ce them in their eyes.''

    As she continued observing the surroundings and the interactions between the many forces, she managed to pick up a good deal of information about what happened before she arrived.

    Firstly, Asuran Gate was seemingly attempting to organize all present forces under theirmand to attack the Nox within the unknown realm, but they were having a difficult time convincing those forces who couldn''t be suppressed with force.

    ''It seems he was so angry because the Ancient God n is hisst hope. If not them, none of the other three great influences will follow either.''

    Alexandra shook her head in disappointment. ''It''s not like the idea is bad, but the entire execution is off. As the Ancient God n elders said, it is merely leading innocent troops to their death.''

    ''Rather than that, perhaps the most curious thing is the Ancient God n''s Young Master.''

    Aside from Asuran Gate, this was the topic that gained the most traffic amongst the experts present.

    The Ancient God n was already a mysterious existence, but their Young Master was even greater. Their form had never been witnessed by outsiders before, and their strength was wholly unknown.

    Even the fact that the Ancient God n had a Young Master was only confirmed after a dozen years of effort.

    Now that it was almost confirmed that such a personage would be entering the Void Corridor, how could people not get excited?

    The atmosphere turned strange as two different intents took prevalence: alliance and murder.

    Alexandra''s eyes narrowed. With a sigh, she stood up and exited the tent.

    ''I thought there would be some sort of discussion, but it''s merely the usual sophistry. Every force is attempting to take control, and as a result, they''ve divided themselves even further. At this rate, the chaos in the unknown realm will be severe.'' <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    From what she heard in the tent, the Void Corridor was still unstable after its initial formation. It was likely that a majority of those who were originally sucked in by its force were shredded to death by chaotic spatial storms.

    The stabilization process was supposed to take 3 days, and now that it was already the third day, it looked like the process woulde to an end at any time.

    ''Then, we can finally get to work.''

    Alexandra was part of a guild, but their guild acted more like an extended family than an organization. She was far from used to all the sophistry of the upper ss, especially since she''d reached her current level through blood and sweat alone.

    She was born and raised in Eien.

    ''I guess I''ll take a stroll and try to find Alice for now. It isn''t a bad idea to survey theprehensive strength of our troops either.''

    Alexandra did exactly as she intended and took a casual stroll around the camp, surveying the forces while also taking note of the Nox force that had gathered several thousand kilometers away.

    ''Our two forces don''t even need to interact to enter the Void Corridor because of its size. Whether or not conflict will begin before we enter the realm depends on others, but both sides will likely prioritize benefits over ughter for now. Still, it''s concerning.''

    There were far too many powerful Nox gathering. Dealing with them was already a problem, but if they were ever killed without being truly exterminated, they''d merge into a truly terrifying monster not much worse than a Demigod in power.

    ''I''ll keep note of them for now. There''s nothing I can do on my own.''

    "Big sister!"

    At that time, an exmation rang out, drawing Alexandra''s attention.

    "Alice!" She eximed as she turned around, her eyes widening in the next moment. "Who''s this?"

    Alice returned in one piece, which was a relief considering her usual luck, but she''d brought with her a strangepanion.

    "This is Xinyue! I just met her while I was exploring and decided to take her on an adventure!"

    The girl named Xinyue bowed slightly upon introduction, the stoic expression on her face never changing.

    Alexandra smiled wryly. "Alice, you didn''t kidnap someone again, did you?"

    Alice jumped back like a startled cat. "H-how could I do something like that¡­?! Ha¡­hahaha¡­hahahaha¡­"

    "Haa¡­"

    Alexandra rubbed her forehead as she looked over at Xinyue. "Xinyue, right? Are you okay? Alice didn''t take you against her will, did she? If there''s someone waiting for you, I can take you back now."

    Xinyue quirked her head. "This¡­is amon thing?"

    "Ahhh! No, it''s notmon! Not at all!"

    "Absolutely. Alice has a track record of identally kidnapping people."

    Alexandra covered Alice''s mouth as she spoke, refusing to let thetter make excuses.

    Xinyue nodded understandingly. "I see. Alice, is bad person. But, strangely good bad person. I will apany Alice."

    "Haha¡­yeah, I guess you could say it like that. If she isn''t troubling you, then it''s not a problem. Nice to meet you, Xinyue."

    Alexandra scratched her head in embarrassment and held her hand out for a handshake.

    As for Xinyue, she quirked her head once again as she looked at the hand.

    "You¡­you don''t know what a handshake is¡­?"

 Chapter 836 Void Corridor [4]

    "You¡­you don''t know what a handshake is¡­?"

    Alexandra asked hesitantly.

    Seeing Xinyue shake her head, she sighed.

    Taking a second look, this Xinyue was quite the beautiful girl.

    She didn''t look a day older than 19, with pale skin like white snow. Her body wasn''t overly proportioned, rather, her bust and waist were perfectly curved to match her slim figure, which actually added a greater charm thanrge assets ever could.

    However, the divinity of her body proportions wasn''t her greatest feature. Looking at her, Alexandra''s attention was immediately drawn to her hair and eyes.

    Hair so beautifully white that no snow could match its purity, and eyes sparkling blue like diamonds. They were piercing yetforting, making one ufortable from the overload of sensation one would feel if they stared for too long.

    ''What a strange girl.''

    Alexandra quickly got acquainted with Xinyue and moved with her and Alice to a different location. As she spoke more, she noticed that, rather than being reserved as she''d initially thought, Xinyue was instead extremely naive and indifferent.

    It was as if she''d truly grown up under a rock, but if that was so, how could she gather the strength to participate in this operation?

    While pondering the question and familiarizing herself with Xinyue, Alexandra slowly passed the time until finally¡­

    The air began to swirl.

    "It''s starting."

    Xinyue''s sparkling eyes went up to the sky. "We go?"

    Alexandra shook her head. "Not quite yet."

    "Why?"

    Instead of responding, Alexandra pointed to the sky.

    Already, the forces of Asuran Gate and the other three great influences besides the Ancient God n were standing in the air.

    At the helm was the man she saw earlier, Lucas Streem. He was now donning a set of ferocious ck battle armor, pointing his spear at the Nox in the distance.

    VOOOOM!

    The mana around the Void Corridor raged, barely resisting the suction force that was beginning to form.

    At the same time, amotion broke out within the Nox camp.

    A man floated into the air, standing on equal grounds with Lucas.

    "Human, are you sure you wish to provoke us now?" The Nox High Commander said mockingly.

    "Hmph! Why should I be courteous to scum like you?"

    Lucas shed his spear through the air, whipping up terrifying wind storms that flew at the Nox High Commander.

    However, thetter merely swept away the attack with a single hand.

    "Is this it, human?" The Nox asked again.

    Lucas grinned. "Right, that''s it. I want to see how you act arrogant when we''re in the unknown realm¡­hahahaha!"

    Without another word, Lucas charged into the Void Corridor. His forces followed right behind him, vanishing from existence entirely.

    "I guess we can go now," Alice said.

    "No, we need to leave immediately." Alexandra corrected.

    She grabbed Xinyue and Alice''s wrists without hesitation and flew into the air with all her power.

    It only took her an instant to vanish into the Void Corridor with herpanions.

    However, that instant was life-saving.

    RUMBLE!

    The Nox High Commander in the air felt something strange about the previous interaction.

    He turned around to look at his own force.

    And his killing intent raged.

    The spear wind that he''d casually blocked earlier had diverted its course and struck the Nox Army. Several million Lesser Nox and even a few Higher Nox were killed by its impact.

    "So you''re ying dirty!" The High Commander growled through gritted teeth.

    "I see! Good, good, good! Traitorous humans dare to act like they are the greatest, you are no better than dogs! Hahahaha!"

    BOOM!

    The High Commander''s mana zed into the surroundings, burning a hole in space.

    His cold gaze was like a predator eyeing its prey.

    He turned towards the camp where countless Heaven''s Army troops were still beginning to enter the Void Corridor.

    He grinned. It was a malevolent grin that seemed to freeze the atmosphere.

    As the Nox Army flew into the air to enter the Void Corridor, the High Commander switched ces with them and returned to the ground.

    His figure shed.

    He appeared in the Heaven''s Army camp in an instant.

    His eyes panned over the surroundings.

    He grabbed hold of the first person he saw and crushed their throat in a single move.

    Without hesitation, he moved on, beginning a killing spree that could no longer be stopped, as all of the experts had already entered the portal.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    The High Commanderughed maniacally.

    "Hahahaha! All of you that are about to die, me that foolish human for your fates!"

    Just like that, the Void Corridor event was kickstarted by ughter.

    And it wasn''t just outside the unknown realm.

    Even when the forces of both sides made it inside¡­

    They realized that they heavily underestimated the reality of these unknown realms.

    This ce¡­

    While it was truly filled with opportunity, it was also a hell on earth surpassing any other.

    ***

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    "Xinyue, are you okay?!"

    "Okay."

    "Alice?!"

    "All good!"

    Alexandra winced in pain as she opened her eyes. The surroundings were smoldering. It was so incredibly hot that even a 6th revolution master like her felt like she was melting.

    "If you guys can hear me, move towards my voice! Let''s gather before moving anywhere else!"

    Alexandra grunted as she pushed against the ground.

    She''d taken Alice and Xinyue into the Void Corridor before the tragedy she was expecting happened, but when she came back to her senses, she was stuck in a strange crack in the earth.

    "Dammit! Let me out already!"

    BOOM!

    Alexandra mmed her fist against the ground and shattered the earth around her, jumping out of the crack with ease.

    At this time, Alice''s call could also be heard from far away.

    "Big sister, where are you?!"

    Alexandra smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but just before she could speak¡­

    Her face paled.

    "Shit!"

    Boom!

    She mmed her foot into the ground and took off with eleration force that instantly surpassed the speed of sound.

    ''Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!''

    Alexandra cursed endlessly in her mind as she sprinted away as fast as she could. Before long, she came up on Alice and Xinyue.

    "Big sis¡ª"

    "We''re running!"

    Alexandra grabbed Alice and Xinyue under both her arms and continued sprinting without a single break in her flow.

    "Big sister, what''s happening?!" Alice asked in a panic.

    But Alexandra didn''t have to answer.

    "Ah¡­"

    Xinyue let out a small exmation and pointed her finger in the direction Alexandra came from.

    When Alice''s eyes arrived there as well¡­

    "Ahhhh!"

    A piercing shriek left her mouth.

    "Shut up! I''m the one running here, don''t distract me!" Alexandra yelled in a panic.

    And for once, Alice shut her mouth as she was told.

    After all, she saw it.

    A magma geyser dozens of hundreds of thousands of kilometers high was spewing burning mana andva everywhere. Every blob of mana that impacted the ground from that height was like a nuclear missile.

    And this geyser¡­just so happened to be opened by a certain heavy impact force hitting a crack in the earth.

    Thus, the current situation.

    With her twopanions under her arms, Alexandra ran as fast as she could to escape the magma hell around her¡­

    All whilementing her luck thatnded her in such a situation.

    Well, if there was one thing that was certain¡­

    This unknown realm would not be a boring ce in the slightest.

    But if she wanted to experience it, she had to escape the wrath of the spewing magma hole first!

 Chapter 837 Void Corridor [5]

    "Haa¡­haa¡­finally¡­escaped."

    The rough breathing of two women echoed through a small cave in which they rested. After a full hour of running, they were finally able to escape the st radius of the giant geyser.

    "What a strange realm!"

    Alice was the first to speak, and she said exactly what was on everyone''s minds.

    "It truly is strange. The change in atmosphere was far too sudden, almost as if there are thousands or even more biomes present here." Alexandra added.

    She looked outside the cave, but her vision waspletely blocked by a blizzard, roaring winds and snow turning the air into abstract art.

    The blizzard started exactly where the geyser''s st radius ended. The switch from heat to chill was so rapid that the bodies of the three women almost failed to adapt, leaving them with several internal injuries that they were forced to rest to heal.

    "Strange realm, very big. Many risks, but many opportunities." Xinyue muttered.

    The other two nodded in agreement. They knew this principle as well as anyone else, it was just a shame that after escaping the harrowing natural phenomena, they didn''t get any rewards at all.

    "There have only ever been 3 Void Corridor openings recorded in history, so there is nothing confirmed about this ce. Whether it be the time, the exit method, or even the opportunities and risks, we are in the dark about them all."

    "W-what?! We don''t know how to leave this ce?!" Alice immediately eximed in shock.

    Alexandra cracked a small smile. "Rx. Even if the method to leave is unknown, we at least know that leaving is possible. The only question is whether that exit will be manual or automatic."

    Whatever the case, it was impossible for there to be a "fixed exit" in this realm due to its size. Either all living beings remaining within after the time limit would be automatically ejected from the realm, or new gates would spawn to aid their exit.

    Thetter added far more risk, since anyone who couldn''t find a gate would be trapped inside the realm, but neither was something the group could worry about at the moment.

    Leaving the realm wasn''t something they had any ns to do at the moment, so rather than mulling over it, it was better for them to gain their bearings within the realm and start searching for opportunities.

    "Xinyue, does your elemental affinity have anything to do with ice or water?" Alexandra suddenly asked.

    Xinyue shook her head in denial.

    Alexandra rubbed her chin in thought. "It''s the same for me and Alice. It''s unlikely for us to find any proper benefits in this blizzard biome, so I suggest we first find a better location and then start searching."

    "Great!"

    "Okay."

    Receiving their confirmation, Alexandra stood up from her position and stretched.

    "Good! Are the two of you rested up?"

    "Big sister, we''ve been ready for forever! Just say the word and we''ll follow!" Alice responded excitedly.

    Alexandra grinned. "Great, but be prepared. The ride from here on is going to be a little bumpy."

    "What do you mean bum¡ªkyaaaaa!"

    Alexandra didn''t wait for her sister to finish before picking her up like a sack of rice and throwing her over her shoulder.

    "Xinyue, you want a ride too?" Alexandra asked teasingly.

    Xinyue quirked her head. "Can walk."

    Alexandra smiled wryly. ''It looks like I won''t be able tomunicate with her so easily.''

    Shaking her head, she walked to the exit of the cave and stared out.

    WHOOOOOOOOOSH!

    The wind roared with such fervor that one would believe a Godbeast resided in this tundra. The kes whipping through the air were merely snow, but each one was incredibly sharp and had enough momentum to easily bisect anyone below mid-stage 4th ss.

    And Alexandra¡­

    Stepped into this chaos without hesitation.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    She charged mana into her legs and jumped, using the force of each leap to go further with the next one. If anyone saw her at the moment, they''d be hard-pressed to notpare her to a frog.

    ''Khh¡­this wind¡­!''

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Alexandra covered her face with her arm. The further she went into this biome, the fiercer the winds got. She could feel the small lines of blood dripping down her face from the cuts formed by the empowered snowkes.

    "S¡­sister¡­"

    Alice''s weak voice came from behind. Alexandra turned to look at her sister, only to find the girl covered in multiple bloody wounds.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "H-how did this happen?!" Alexandra cried.

    She had been holding Alice the entire time, and made sure to protect her under an umbre of mana. How did all of these snowkes manage to cut her?!

    "Sister¡­keep going¡­" Alice said weakly.

    Even she was unaware of what happened. The cuts all happened at the same time, instantaneously.

    But Alice was an extreme peak 4th ss master in her own right. Even if herbat capability wasn''t the highest, in terms of vitality, she wasn''tcking at all.

    Alexandra''s eyes hardened as she realized her sister''s intentions.

    ''I can''t let her sacrifice herself for me. Also, I can''t safely proceed forward without knowing how Alice got wounded¡­''

    Alexandra spread her awareness to its limits and scanned the terrain in search of a cave to hide in.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    The terrific snowkes continued to attack her as she moved, piercing her mana shield and brushing past her body with ease, leaving small cuts littering her form.

    By themselves, these cuts were nothing, but when umted¡­

    "There!" Alexandra suddenly eximed.

    She changed course and dove at the ground, aiming for a cave she''d sensed on the periphery of her perception.

    Shing!

    The sound of something swiftly moving through the air was prominent, but only in Alexandra''s ears. The sh felt like a devil''s whisper, and following it could only be¡­

    The devil''s touch.

    Alexandra''s body jerked.

    Blood sprayed into the air.

    Just as had happened to Alice a few moments prior, Alexandra''s body was suddenly assaulted by thousands of small cuts, cuts thatpounded on her previous injuries and caused far more fatal wounds to form.

    "Sister¡­?"

    "Sister!"

    Alice''s panicked cries were thest thing that graced Alexandra''s fading consciousness before itpletely sumbed to darkness.

    The pair of sisters plummeted to the ground.

    The winds whipped around them, tearing their clothes and slowly encroaching on their bodies, evidently with the aim of tearing them apart before they could touch ground.

    But the winds weren''t granted such an opportunity.

    Voom!

    A divine blue light shield suddenly epassed the two women. As the winds struck this shield, it was soon made clear that they didn''t have the slightest ability to prate it.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The furious winds became fiercer, almost exclusively attacking the divine blue shield and ignoring all else in the surroundings.

    But the winds weren''t nearly strong enough to aplish their goal.

    sh!

    Skreeeeee!

    The wind screamed like it was sentient, but in the end, it was unable to do anything. The blue light shield descended to the ground and floated gracefully into the nearby cave that Alexandra spotted earlier.

    Once it entered the cave¡­

    Pop!

    The shield popped like a bubble and dispersed, leaving the two sisters on the cave floor, unconscious.

    However, all of their wounds were gone.

    They''d been healed to the point where one would believe they''d never been in a single battle before in their lifetimes.

    And as time passed with no signs of the caster''s appearance, Alexandra''s eyes finally fluttered open.

    "Mm¡­"

 Chapter 838 Void Corridor [6]

    "Mm¡­"

    Alexandra groggily rubbed her eyes. For some reason, she felt like she''d just had the best sleep of her entire life.

    But¡­wasn''t she in the middle of something?

    "Ah!"

    The memories came rushing back to her like a tidal wave.

    "Alice!"

    She shot up but wobbled and fell back to the floor. She was still too disoriented to move.

    Luckily, she spotted her sister sleeping on the cave floor not too far away before she did anything drastic.

    ''What¡­happened to us¡­?''

    Considering their previous predicament, both of them should''ve been dead. Alexandra and Alice both fell unconscious near the end, so protecting themselves and reaching this cave was absolutely impossible.

    ''Somebody helped us¡­?''

    If so, it was proper to be extremely wary at the moment. Such a powerful force who waited until the sisters were on the brink of death before saving them, it was normal to doubt their intentions.

    Alexandra sighed and sat down.

    ''This ce really makes me question if I actually reached the 6th revolution or not.''

    Environment damage? Fatigue? The events she''d experienced so far made Alexandra feel like a newbie adventurer just setting off on their path to greatness.

    It was a thrilling feeling, but it was also terrifying. After all, after so many years, she''d forgotten this feeling.

    That is, the feeling of being "mortal."

    Alexandra clenched her fist, looking down at the cave floor absentmindedly.

    ''Mortality¡­how long has it been since I''ve faced my mortality¡­?''

    Her thoughts swirled. She felt like she was on the verge of epiphany, about to realize something crucial for her future progress.

    "Oh, finally found you."

    A voice suddenly rang through the cave.

    Alexandra''s eyes shot open. She jumped up and stood before her sister''s unconscious body, her aura red.

    "Who?!"

    Under Alexandra''s sharp gaze, the figure revealed themselves.

    She sighed in relief.

    "Xinyue, it''s just you!"

    Alexandra plopped onto the floor and sighed again. "Where have you been all this time?"

    Xinyue tilted her head curiously, a reaction that seemed to be her mostmon, and spoke, "was following, lost track of Alexandra, searched and finally found."

    Alexandra nodded in understanding. It was easy to lose track of people in the almost negligible visibility of the blizzard, and considering that this was the only cave present for several hundred thousand kilometers, it waspletely normal for Xinyue to find them here.

    Only, others would have just as easy of a time.

    "Xinyue, did you find any secrets to the blizzard on your way here? We must leave immediately, but I''m afraid Alice''s body can''t take it with her current condition."

    Xinyue rubbed her chin in thought, imitating Alexandra''s movements. "Average storm. Eye is peaceful, best bet."

    Xinyue raised her thumb cheekily, but theck of change in her expression made the gesture a bit strange.

    "Pfft¡­!"

    Alexandraughed unwittingly. Really, in a tense atmosphere like this, Xinyue''s identaledy was a great pick-me-up.

    "Alright, since you say the eye of the storm is safe, I''ll trust you. Let''s rush there as fast as we can!"

    Xinyue quirked her head. "This is eye. We are here."

    Alexandra''s face fell. "H-huh?"

    "Eye of storm, very small, only this cave."

    It was bad news, extremely bad news.

    If that was the case, how were they supposed to escape?!

    The eye of the storm was the safest ce for them, but it also put them furthest from any possible exit. The journey was definitely not something Alice could handle with her injuries!

    ''Shit. I need to think of something¡­''

    Alexandra''s awareness spread once more, but before she could even do anything, Xinyue moved.

    She walked to the back of the cave and crouched on the floor, feeling the soil with her hands.

    In the next instant¡­

    Bang!

    She mmed her palm down, causing the floor to shatter entirely.

    A hole several meters wide was revealed, and within, a staircase descended into darkness.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "New path," Xinyue said with an air of aplishment.

    "Nice," Alexandra responded with a grin.

    She didn''t know where this strange passageway led to, but anywhere was better than remaining in this cave.

    After all, there was no way to tell when the blizzard would end, and before it ended, staying in the cave was suicide.

    ''As the only safe zone within several hundred thousand kilometers, it will be a ce where everyone who passes by this area stops.''

    If so, then the opening Xinyue created was likely an inheritance or at least a treasure site of some sort.

    ''Opportunity and risk together, eh?''

    Alexandra smiled. It would definitely be dangerous below, but it was better than nothing, especially if there were rewards involved.

    "Hup!"

    Alexandra let out a small grunt as she slung Alice over her shoulder again.

    "I''ll take care of her until she wakes up. Xinyue, let''s go together."

    Xinyue nodded and the two women immediately made their way down the stairs.

    Rumble!

    As they vanished into the depths, the cave rumbled slightly.

    The rocks began to move, rearranging themselves until the floor became one piece again, indistinguishable from its previous appearance.

    However, there was indeed something different about it.

    Because under this floor¡­

    There was only solid rock.

    ***

    It was incredibly damp, almost to the point where it felt like the inside of some creature''s stomach rather than an underground area.

    Atop that, there was no light at all. Even mana lost its light in this darkness, forcing one to descend the seemingly endless staircase blindly.

    But that was only the start.

    Alexandra was an experienced fighter, so moving without her eyes wasn''t difficult at all.

    Around 100 steps down, however, she felt something change.

    20 stepster, she realized she could no longer smell the damp air around her.

    Her eyes hardened. She tightened her grip on Xinyue''s hand.

    If anything happened, this grip was her assurance that she was still alive.

    200 steps down, another change took ce. Alexandra''s mouth was already numb due to theck of olfactory input to her brain, but that numbness beplete at some point, helping Alexandra realize that her sense of taste had also disappeared.

    Besides her eyes, the two senses she''d lost so far didn''t affect her perception much. As long as she could still use her perception, taste and smell were inconsequential.

    Their loss, however, didn''t bode well for the future.

    As Alexandra expected, as she passed the 300th step, she could no longer hear the sound of her and Xinyue''s footsteps.

    The only confirmation she had of thetter''s existence was the firm grip she felt on her hand.

    And despite knowing the hell that she was about to descend into, Alexandra kept moving.

    She closed her eyes even though they were useless at the moment.

    She focused on the feeling of Xinyue''s cold hands in hers.

    She focused on the feeling of Alice''s warm body on her back, and the movement of her chest as she breathed.

    100 steps were crossed in what seemed like an instant.

    Alexandra''s foot stepped on the 401st step.

    Or did it?

    She had no way of knowing.

    Was Alice still in her hand?

    Was Xinyue''s hand still entwined with her own?

    She had no idea.

    She couldn''t feel it at all.

    She could only trust in object permanence and keep walking forward.

    Or at least,plete the action she believed was walking forward.

    However, at this moment¡­

    Even the weakest beast could kill Alexandra.

    She was leftpletely defenseless, forced to descend the endless staircase mindlessly in hope of some sort of salvation.

 Chapter 839 Tomb [1]

    How long had it been?

    Time was iprehensible without the five senses to send input to the brain. Even with the mystical abilities of a practitioner, beingpletely deprived of sensation made it difficult to perceive the outside world.

    After all, the perception of a practitioner, the awareness that all beings possessed, was an ethereal sense developed with the five bodily senses as a basis.

    What would happen if one was made to forget what those base sensations felt like?

    Naturally, they wouldn''t be able to properly perceive the sensory input they gain through awareness, making the skill more harmful than helpful.

    Alexandra found herselfbatting this problem far sooner than she expected.

    Even without senses or perception, she didn''t expect her body clock to distort so rapidly.

    Then again, she had no way of knowing the time in the first ce.

    For all she knew, it might''ve been years since she started walking.

    Total silence.

    Total darkness.

    Without a sense of direction or feeling, Alexandra didn''t even know if she was still walking.

    However, there was nothing she could do besides continue. If continuing couldn''t help her regain her senses, she''d eventually descend into madness.

    ''Focus¡­''

    Alexandra''s thoughts were loud as if she was speaking them. They were her onlypany, and her only measure to maintain sanity.

    ''Focus¡­concentrate¡­try to feel the surroundings¡­''

    Alexandra focused her mind on a single invisible point of her choosing. She didn''t know what exactly she was doing, all she knew was that it made her feel more secure.

    ''This point¡­this is my lifeline¡­''

    Time passed.

    It was like an eternity, filled with absolute nothingness.

    At some point, Alexandra''s thoughts stopped altogether.

    Her mind fell into a sort of stasis as her consciousness traveled out of her body.

    Flicker!

    It was the sound of a tongue of me whipping lightly through the air.

    ''Ack!''

    Alexandra eximed inwardly. Even though the sound was extremely quiet, it resounded in her ears like booming drums.

    The light from the me blinded her eyes in the next moment. Her nose burned from the sudden influx of sensation, and even her mouth started tasting sour as the sensation from her nose rebounded.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    Alexandra panted heavily as she tried to limate to the senses she''d long forgotten. At the same time, she observed her current state.

    ''I am not truly present. This type of ethereal state¡­is it something like astral projection¡­?'' She wondered.

    After many minutes passed and her senses finally readjustedpletely, she finally got the chance to understand the surroundings.

    That single torch with the dancing me atop it was merely one of many lining a long hallway with no end. In the opposite direction, one could see the staircase Alexandra was originally on, the one she still believed she was descending.

    ''Then I¡­''

    Her attention finally went to the floor.

    Her face turned pale.

    There were three bodies there. Xinyue and Alice were immediately noticeable by their features, and it didn''t look like they''d taken much damage.

    Alexandra on the other hand¡­

    ''How¡­how am I going to recover from this?!''

    Her body was a mangled mess. There were severalrge holes in her body, and her stomach waspletely torn open. Her organs spilled out onto the ground below and formed an especially gruesome image.

    And as if the damage to her body wasn''t enough, her skull was cracked as well. Her head was bleeding in multiple ces, and the skin and muscles of her face were drooping like melted stic.

    Alexandra went into a slight panic. In any normal circumstance, it would''ve been strange to even consider her alive at the moment. But¡­wasn''t she alive?

    If not, then had she be a ghost¡­?

    The pale color of Alexandra''s face became impossibly whiter.

    ''Impossible. I cannot die yet!''

    As long as Alice was still a young girl at heart, she couldn''t die. She couldn''t leave her only family alone in this world.

    ''Then¡­''

    There was nothing she could do with her abilities to heal her body.

    However, she was currently in a strange ethereal state.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    If she could enter whatever treasure site was beyond the hallway before her and find a miracle treasure, she might have a chance at healing herself.

    ''Good. I can also scout so I cane back with Xinyue and Alice to loot the ce.''

    Alexandra''s eyes hardened. She immediately moved to traverse the infinite hallway, but before she could move¡­

    "Alex¡­andra¡­?"

    A confused voice came from behind her.

    ''Oh no¡­''

    She panicked once more. If the two girls woke up and saw her body, how would they react?

    ''There''s no way for them to see my current form, but I need to assure them of my safety. Otherwise, at least Alice will do something reckless.''

    Alexandra slowly turned around while trying to figure out how to solve this dilemma.

    Xinyue was the one who woke up. She sat on her knees and curiously looked at Alexandra''s corpse without any aversion.

    And then¡­

    Her eyes turned to the spirit form.

    "How?"

    It was just a single word, but it hit Alexandra like a truck.

    ''She can see me?!''

    "Yes. I can see you."

    ''She can read my thoughts?!''

    "You are in spirit form, so your thoughts and words have no distinction."

    ''Oh, I see¡­wait, you can talk normally?!''

    "Minor details."

    Alexandra backed away in shock. Was this the same Xinyue she''d gotten to know over the past few days? For some reason, her aura seemed far different from usual.

    "And so? How did this happen?"

    Alexandra shook her head in defeat. ''I don''t know. I was doing focus exercises to keep hold of my sanity in the sensory deprivation state, and somehow ended up like this. I only noticed my body''s condition a few minutes before you woke up.''

    Xinyue put her hand over her mouth in thought.

    "This ce is too strange to be a regr treasure cove. It must be the inheritance of some great emperor. However, for it to force you into spirit form¡­is this a blessing or a curse?"

    Alexandra furrowed her brows in confusion. She had absolutely no clue what Xinyue was insinuating.

    However, thetter didn''t give her a chance to ask questions.

    "Our first priority should be healing your body. Come with me, let us explore this inheritance site and try to find some healing medicines. There should be no small amount if this is truly the tomb of a great emperor."

    Xinyue began walking, but was quickly stopped by a spirit who intercepted her path.

    ''Wait! We can''t leave Alice alone here.'' Alexandra said solemnly.

    Xinyue nced over at the unconscious Alice. "She is a good person, but shecks grit. Even if she is a healer, she needs to develop her physical ability to protect herself. Otherwise, she will only ever be a burden."

    ''What do you mean by that?!'' Alexandra demanded.

    Xinyue shook her head. "I mean only what I have said. I appreciate Alice''s personality. She has allowed me to experience many things I didn''t know beforehand. However, I do not wish for her to die. For this purpose, she must develop her mentality."

    Alexandra frowned. She wanted to argue, but she couldn''t say anything.

    The other party''s critique came from good intentions alone, despite the coldness in her tone.

    And truthfully, Alexandra knew she was right.

    ''Haa¡­this problem can be dealt withter. For now, you stay with her while I explore the area.''

    "No need."

    Xinyue swept her hand through the air, causing a current of mana to envelop Alice. Through its guidance, she vanishedpletely, no trace of her left in reality.

    "She can rest in my spatial treasure for now. Spirits like you are easy targets for those who specialize in spiritual intent. As you are mainly an elemental practitioner, you will not be able to defend against them."

    Xinyue walked forward without waiting for Alexandra''s response, entering the infinite hallway with confident strides.

    Alexandra watched her back for a moment and sighed.

    She didn''t know what provoked Xinyue''s change in demeanor, nor did she understand thetter''s strange abilities¡­

    But at least she knew that the snow-white goddess was on their side.

    ''Fine! I''ll just follow you!''

    Alexandra''s spirit form soon caught up to Xinyue, trailing behind her ever so slightly as they walked.

    Within an instant, the power dynamic of the small three-person grouppletely shifted.

 Chapter 840 Tomb [2]

    Tap!

    Tap!

    Tap!

    Xinyue''s footsteps echoed through the silent hallway.

    Time had been passing slowly for so long already, yet she never stopped walking.

    Alexandra was forced to doubt her intentions.

    ''We''ve already passed several doors with powerful auras behind them. Along with that, there were three ancient steles and even a Law Comprehension area that could massively boost one''s abilities. Yet¡­she hasn''t stopped at a single one.''

    How could she not be confused? Even the most stalwart genius wouldn''t be able to sit still in front of such a grand array of treasures.

    But no matter how much Alexandra wanted to ask, she couldn''t find the courage to do so.

    Something about the current Xinyue rang major rm bells in her head.

    Alexandra suddenly remembered Xinyue''s words from before they entered this hallway.

    ''Right now, anyone skilled with spiritual intent can kill me like a chicken¡­''

    Alexandra''s eyes moved to Xinyue''s cold and indifferent back figure.

    ''Is she¡­one of these experts?''

    Her body shuddered at the thought, but it didn''t seem like an unlikely possibility. Especially since Xinyue could see her spiritual form and even knew so much about spirits in general.

    ''She couldn''t be thinking of enving me, could she?''

    Events would change depending on one''s perception of them.

    So far, Alexandra had only viewed Xinyue as a friend. She was a friend who was willing to protect Alice and even apany her in search of medicinal treasures to heal her body.

    But if she swapped the lens with which she viewed the situation¡­

    Xinyue currently had Alice hostage in a spatial treasure under hermand. She was possibly a spiritual master who was aiming to kill or even enve Alexandra for her own benefit.

    Alexandra found herself in a dilemma. Which of these sides was she to adhere to?

    Before she realized it, Xinyue had halted her steps.

    She stared at arge monument. It was a figure of a domineering man covered in bloody battle armor. Headless corpses littered the ground around him, and the heads that belonged to them decorated his spear tip. The spear itself pointed towards the heavens as if dering war on them after killing all of its enemies.

    "Sky Emperor Wu Mo," Xinyue muttered.

    ''You know this man?'' Alexandra asked.

    "Mm, he is an important figure in our universe''s history. The Sky Emperor was the only person in existence to harness the power of the sky to defeat his enemies."

    "He was a human genius that yed an immense role in the forgotten war that took ce 100,000 years ago. Unfortunately, all traces of him vanished at some point, and even the ancient experts were never able to find him."

    "In the end, the Sky Emperor was dered deceased, and an empty grave was erected in his honor. I never would have expected to see a monument depicting his figure here."

    Xinyue''s eyes and tone didn''t carry a single hint of expression, but Alexandra felt like there was something hidden beneath that indifference.

    Only, she wasn''t in a position to find out what that was.

    ''Is this ce the legacy tomb of the Sky Emperor?'' She asked

    "It should be," Xinyue confirmed with a nod. "There is no possible reason for this monument to exist other than to remind the future generations of his existence."

    ''I see¡­he was truly an unfortunate soul.''

    "You could see it that way."

    Xinyue walked up to the base of the monument and ced her hand on the small que decorating it.

    "Sky Emperor, we, the descendants of Grand Heavens Boundary, havee to seek your guidance."

    She pushed a trace of mana into the que, and immediately, it went alit with bright blue splendor.

    Rumble!

    The statue quaked slightly, and unexpectedly, its stone eyelids fluttered, giving way to two orbs of divine light that substituted the statue''s eyes.

    "Entrants¡­identified¡­"

    A booming voice rolled through the air, causing the wind to tumble.

    The statue''s neck twisted, causing debris to fall off and crash against the floor.

    Its head turned to look down at Xinyue and Alexandra.

    "The skies stand second to the Heavens. I stand above the skies, therefore I am the Heavens!"

    The words were powerful, so powerful that they sent the mana in the atmosphere on a chaotic rampage.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Worthy descendants of our Great Mother, obtain my inheritance and protect her from all harm!"

    The chaotic mana swirled around Xinyue and even the ethereal Alexandra. Their bodies turned light, and the scenery around them shifted like a movie ying in fast-forward.

    When the nauseatingly blurred surroundings cleared, they''d been moved to an entirely different location.

    "Stay wary. We have no idea about the trials toe." Xinyue warned.

    Alexandra nodded and prepared her defenses. Even if she was weakened in spiritual form, she wasn''t weak.

    She wouldn''t be a burden to anyone.

    The duo walked forward together, and the scenery around them began to change.

    The surroundings had no face at the beginning, but as she continued walking, Alexandra started to see many familiar scenes.

    The happy memories she shared with her guildmates, the peaceful life she lived before the start of the war, and¡­

    A family of four resided happily in a mountainside cottage in the middle of nowhere. Their faces were decorated with pure smiles, unlike anything one would see in Eien.

    ''Father¡­Mother¡­''

    The sky turned red.

    Demons descended onto the world and began to wreak havoc.

    The biggest kingdoms and influences fell first. Their rulers and experts were executed down to thest.

    But the demons didn''t end their rampage after taking over the world, no, the inhabitants of the world were a scourge they couldn''t stand.

    Even a small family living quietly in the mountains wasn''t spared.

    Two little girls no older than 10 and 4 returned to their small cottage only to be met with the reeking smell of blood.

    It sttered across the cottage walls, it pooled in the well, it stained the grass crimson.

    From the small tree that the two girls used to swing from every day, a body hung, lifeless.

    The man was a husk of his former self. His body was hardly even human anymore, and the expression of frozen insanity on his face made it evident that his death wasn''t a good one.

    Further into the house was a woman.

    Her body was in better condition than the man''s, but her expression was dull as if she''d had her spirit sucked out of her.

    A knife protruded from her neck, leaking blood onto the bedsheets.

    She''d been defiled and impregnated by the demons. Unable to bear this weight, she chose to kill herself rather than let the corrupted child be born into the world.

    The couple''s two daughters were only 10 and 4.

    The younger of the two was too young. She''d forgotten a majority of the event''s details as she grew older.

    The elder sister, however, never forgot.

    The incident was stained in her memory for eternity.

    Alexandra''s eyes went red.

    Her mana red unwittingly, pushing fierce winds into the surroundings.

    Pah!

    A crisp pnded on her cheek.

    Her incorporeal state didn''t seem to hold any weight against this p.

    Her eyes cleared from the sheer shock of the impact.

    The first thing that came into view was Xinyue''s ice-cold gaze.

    "Focus. Do not get distracted by mere illusions."

    Alexandra''s body shuddered.

    That was all¡­just an illusion?

    It was so real that she couldn''t resist its pull even with her 6th revolution strength, and the scene it decided to show was exactly the scene that would provoke the greatest reaction from her.

    She couldn''t imagine merely shrugging it off as if it never existed.

    She floated in the air behind Xinyue, keeping her attention on thetter''s back so as to not fall prey to illusions, but seeing how steady she was walking, Alexandra was forced to wonder:

    Just what was Xinyue seeing?

    And just how could she remain so indifferent?

 Chapter 841 Sky [1]

    Before anyone knew it, the illusion trial was over. It was just long enough to leave asting impression on those who experienced it, but not quite long enough for them topletely adapt to it.

    As such, it formed a small scar on their minds as they moved on toter trials.

    The number of trials was unknown, but as Xinyue and Alexandra progressed through the tomb, they found themselves facing an impossible number of challenges.

    Trials of the mind seemed much easier once the illusion trial ended, but it was nothing more than a facade. The proceeding mind trials were extremely dangerous on a far subtler level, setting up this illusion.

    For instance, the 5th trial that the duo faced was a mind trial. In this trial, the goal was to "not remember."

    The air gave off a nostalgic scent. The atmosphere made one think about the past and reminisce. However, the longer they thought about the past, the more of their past was erased.

    If a challenger was unable to control their thoughts and suppress the reminiscence, they would eventually lose their memories entirely and be nk tes before descending into insanity.

    Compared to the physical trials, the mental ones were far worse. Physical trials could be resolved through strength, and especially for Alexandra, who currentlycked a physical body, getting through the body trials was like cheating.

    Conversely, the mental trials affected her far worse than they would any normal person.

    If it wasn''t for Xinyue''s help, she would''ve gradually chipped away at herself until she went insane from these trials. It was truly an unfortunate experience.

    Alexandra wanted to cry. It''d been many hours already, and the duo had passed through over 20 trials, yet they hadn''t been granted a single reward.

    ''Even if I gain nothing from this ce, can''t I at least have my body back?'' Shemented inwardly.

    With the passing of time, 25 trials werepleted. The number continued to climb until finally, the trial count surpassed 30.

    Alexandra and Xinyue stood on an isted trial ground. Their surroundings were deste besides a single statue a few meters to their front.

    As they entered the area and began to investigate, the statue slowly moved and opened its eyes.

    "Challengers¡­identified¡­"

    The mechanical voice rang out, and immediately after, it was reced by a booming and lively bellow.

    "Challengers who have reached this point, rejoice, for the general trials have ended! From this point forth, you will be considered sessor candidates for my legacy. As long as you canplete the final 10 Sky Trials, you will be qualified to inherit my techniques,wprehension, and even a portion of my true strength for yourself! Challengers, I wish you luck!"

    Rumble!

    The ground rumbled. The statue sunk into the earth like it was trapped in quicksand.

    However, even with the disappearance of the statue, the rumbling of the ground didn''t stop.

    Xinyue coldly panned her gaze across the barrennd and furrowed her brows.

    ''Nothing.''

    Despite the grand earthquake that was taking ce, she couldn''t see or sense anythinging from the distance.

    ''In that case¡­''

    Her attention moved to the ground below. Her eyebrows knit slightly.

    In the next instant, bright blue mana surrounded her legs as she pushed off the ground below, flying into the air.

    Boom!

    The pressure of her step cracked the ground below, however, the damage was negligible.

    After all, directly after Xinyue jumped¡­

    BANG!

    The ground burst apart as a massive organism broke through the surface. Its terrifying mouth was like a pit of hell filled with several tens of thousands of sharp teeth. With the creature''s size, even swallowing a building in a single bite didn''t seem impossible.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It flew up into the air, propelled by the massive momentum it umted below ground, and chased Xinyue''s flying form. Its circr jaw pulsated menacingly as it tried to swallow her.

    Snap!

    Whoosh!

    The jaw snapped closed, missing Xinyue, but emitting a fluctuation of wind that snapped the air and caused it to explode.

    "Tch!"

    Xinyue clicked her tongue as she was pushed back by the force. Her eyes remained trained on the ground below, taking into ount the movements below the surface.

    ''Numbers are insignificant in front of strength.''

    Her eyes narrowed. She flipped in the air, using her momentum and mana to force herself to fall vertically without a single variation in angle.

    Xinyue became a meteor crashing towards the ground. Just as she reached the halfway point¡­

    BANG!

    The ground shattered once more, giving way to a new sandworm with its massive jaw agape.

    Xinyue didn''t back away at all. Instead, she pushed her mana even harder and loaded power into her leg, raising it above her head with peak flexibility.

    A streak of blue light fell through the air like a shooting star. Its brightness eclipsed the sun, and when it finally made impact with the being below it¡­

    BANG!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    It didn''t matter the sand worm''s size. Xinyue''s heel came down like a divine axe and mmed into the creature''s head, immediately sending a shocking amount of force spreading through its internals.

    The first impact was only an appetizer. What followed was a series of massive explosions that spread within the sandworm''s body, caused by Xinyue''s expertly controlled mana sneaking its way into the worm''s important life organs.

    The "st" sound of the worm exploding was particrly gruesome. Dark green intestinal fluids and stomach acids flew into the air along with bright red blood, painting the destendscape in a myriad of colors.

    Xinyue jumped in the air and flipped backward, stabilizing herself a few meters away from the hole that the second sand worm burst from.

    ''10 total. A simple matter."

    Xinyue moved like lightning, zipping across the battlefield so fast that even Alexandra only saw a streak of light.

    Her legs were like hammers and axes of the highest order, cleaving apart enemies with ease. Her fists were weapons of mass destruction that couldn''t be unveiled casually, lest all things be destroyed.

    10 sand worms had gathered in the area, a number that was especially difficult to handle because predicting their movement path was nigh impossible.

    With arge number of sandworms below ground, their movements formed an entangled web that would confuse a practitioner''s awareness, therefore, even if one was able to sense them, sensing their attack took incredible skill.

    Xinyue, however, seemed immune to this problem. She confronted the sandworms before they could confront her. She shattered the earth before they could exit, showering them with a rain of debris and fooling their senses into believing they were being attacked.

    She used the habits of sandworms along with her own strength to dominate. Alexandra didn''t even get a chance to move before the battle was over.

    "Trial of Sky, much simpler than expected," Xinyue muttered to herself.

    She walked into the distance, ignoring everything around her in the process. Alexandra trailed behind with mixed feelings, but at this point, there was nothing she could do besides follow and observe.

    Nevertheless, the duo continued making progress.

    Eventually, 9 Trials of Sky werepleted altogether, and only thest remained.

 Chapter 842 Sky [2]

    9 Trials of Sky.

    While the first was a mere matter of battling enemies, the trials became extremely difficult as time progressed.

    And the content of the trials was even stranger. There didn''t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the order or identity of the trials.

    The 3rd trial was a matter of the arts. If one wasn''t skilled in at least one of the four arts, it was impossible for them to pass this trial.

    Among them, Xinyue was particrly skilled in music. She was professionally taught to y the zither and guqin from a young age, making it simple for her to pass.

    Alexandra had a harder time due to her current state, but she wasn''t at a major disadvantage in this trial. Due to Alice''s continued insistence, she''d picked up painting as a hobby outside of battle long ago. After she was given the means toplete the trial, actually doing so was a breeze.

    The 5th trial was a strange one in that it didn''t seem to have any particr purpose.

    The trial objective was simple: endure.

    The challengers were subjected to an unholy level of pain that came from nowhere. Their bodies were broken and healed over and over again with the aim of driving them to insanity.

    An endurance trial was understandable. Wanting to test a challenger''s perseverance was actually far more normal than it was abnormal.

    But it took passing 34 trials to even reach this trial, so wasn''t it a bit counterintuitive?

    That''s what Alexandra thought as shemented while enduring the trial''s pain. However, as time passed, she began to slowly and wholeheartedly ept the pain.

    Alexandra was currently a spirit body. As such, the level of pain she experienced during the deconstruction and reconstruction process was far worse than any normal person.

    She felt the pain of her soul tearing to shreds countless times only. Xinyue couldn''t help her this time, and after several minutes of torturous pain, she truly almost went insane.

    But it was at this same moment that she realized the benefits of the trial. Her soul was being strengthened immensely, a benefit she wouldn''t have received if she''de physically.

    The soul was a concept unexplored by even extreme peak 4th-ss masters. While they were aware of the soul''s importance, they couldn''t touch upon its mysteries until crossing the final threshold to Divinity.

    For Alexandra to receive a soul-strengthening at this juncture was amazing. Regardless of the pain she had to endure, Alexandra forced herself to do so quietly.

    With the addition of incentives, it was like she became apletely different person.

    The 9th trial was the next oddity after this one. After all, there was no trial at all.

    Xinyue and Alexandra merely waited. They stood in ce and, as they recuperated and recovered strength after the 8th trial, they suddenly received the message that they passed the 9th trial as well.

    There was no mention of a trial task or even a sign that the trial started, only a message that it ended.

    And after everything was finally over, the duo stood ready for the final Trial of Sky.

    It was quiet, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop several thousand kilometers away with ease.

    Heaven and Earth seemed toe to a standstill, the trial grounds bing a sacrosanct location that none could intrude upon.

    However, there were two beings ruining the sanctity of the environment.

    The sky rumbled.

    It wasn''t an exaggeration or a figure of speech.

    The sky truly rumbled.

    It shook as if it was a physical concept. It quaked as the earth could quake, and almost as if an illusion, debris began falling from the sky in the form ofets and meteors.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    As the meteors fell and exploded on impact with the ground, Xinyue and Alexandra tried to move and leave the st radius, but at that moment, they found that their movement waspletely restricted.

    Whoosh!

    The winds whipped past their face as the smoldering heat of the explosions enveloped them. Heat surpassing theva area of the Void Corridor almost melted the duo on the spot.

    However, it was clear that this heat wasn''t the main trial.

    After all, the sky was falling.

    The rumbling of the Heavens continued, and the sky came lower and lower to the ground. The clouds became tangible, scraping across the earth as they meandered in their usual manner.

    VOOM!

    An immense pressure descended on the two challengers, almost instantly crushing them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Xinyue fell to her knees, and Alexandra''s spirit body crackled unstably.

    This was their reaction to the mere introduction of this pressure.

    OOOOOOOH!

    The air seemed to bellow with the force of the wind. The sky came in contact with the ground, and those who interrupted the reunion of two lovers would only meet death.

    Xinyue and Alexandra were no different.

    ''Haaaaah!'' Alexandra screamed out as she mmed her arms up at the sky. She felt like she could touch it. She felt like each cloud was a mountain that she had to destroy if she wanted to survive.

    Xinyue was clearly the same. Her arms were by no means muscr, but the force she exerted through them was enough to crush stars and sunder worlds.

    Xinyue''s expression was fierce. It was a massive changepared to her usual stoicism, but sadly, Alexandra couldn''t be bothered to notice.

    Xinyue felt something within her burn as the sky copsed atop her. Her eyes felt like they would spew mes at any moment. The bright blue irises that decorated her sclera like gems shined with iridescent light, directly shing with the sky above and lessening its pressure.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­hak¡­!"

    She did her best to control her breathing, but it was impossible.

    She tried to fight the sky, but it was impossible.

    Her strength wasn''t enough.

    Even with the assistance of her eyes, she could only hold on for a few minutes longer.

    RUMBLE!

    The sky quaked again, and the clouds changed form. They ckened and became thicker. Lightning snaked through their interiors, sparking between clouds and creating a dangerous lightning field in the air.

    "Khh¡­!"

    Xinyue gritted her teeth as the sparks of lightning collided with her body. Despite the pain she was experiencing, she refused to back down.

    And she refused to show the emotion that was desired of her.

    Her eyes zed with determination, but her face remained indifferent.

    Alexandra lost control first.

    Her spirit form sparked and dissipated. She screamed with everything she had, she shed against the sky, but she couldn''t change her fate.

    As she faded from existence, herst thoughts were regrets.

    She didn''t want to die.

    She wanted to live longer and build a happy life for her sister.

    She was unresigned.

    But at least she wouldn''t be going alone.

    Xinyue fell only moments after her.

    In the end, she wasn''t able to hold off against the pressure.

    But she didn''t react the same way as Alexandra.

    She stared death in the eye coldly. She faced it with utter indifference.

    If she died, then she would die. However, death was only eptable if it was inevitable.

    In this situation where she was suppressed and oppressed, it was impossible for her to fight back more than she already had.

    She just couldn''t win against the enemy.

    She was unworthy of strength, therefore she was dying.

    This unfeeling thought was herst.

    Her body sttered into blood mist and meat paste a mere instantter.

 Chapter 843 Sky [3]

    "Ha!"

    Xinyue''s eyes shot open. Her body shot up and her mana mobilized as she spread her awareness and scanned her surroundings.

    The confusion set in first.

    Hadn''t she just died?

    The sensation of encroaching death was still fresh in her mind, and though the pain of being crushed onlysted for an instant, with Xinyue''s perception, she was able to feel every spark of it clearly.

    Her body shuddered involuntarily before she forcibly stopped it and righted her posture.

    Her senses slowly limated to her new surroundings, and she slowly epted the fact that she was still alive.

    ''Alexandra is not here.''

    The spirit woman who''d been with her all this time wasn''t present in the small room with her. Other than the bed she was currently standing on and a small table on the side, there was only a door leading further into whatever structure she was currently in.

    ''My awareness cannot pierce this door.'' Xinyue realized with a frown.

    She widened her eyes, causing them to glow brightly, but even then she couldn''t see anything.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    For her eyes to fail was an incredibly rare circumstance. It either meant that there was an immense opportunity behind that door, or an even greater danger.

    "Tch."

    Xinyue gritted her teeth and steeled herself. Regardless, she wasn''t willing to stay in the room.

    She carefully walked up to the door. She circted her mana calmly so that every part of her body was energized in case she needed to move instantly.

    And when all her preparations were made, she flung the door open.

    Bang!

    She was met with quite the anticlimactic scene.

    The room she was in was part of a small nondescript cottage without many standout features at all. Just to be sure, Xinyue even thoroughly swept it with her awareness, but found that, besides her room, the rest of the house waspletely normal.

    Her next steps took her outside.

    She was met with the same silence as before, a beautiful yet empty green in syed out in front of her.

    "Where is this ce?" She wondered out loud.

    "This is my domain. You have earned the right to enter."

    A booming voice echoed through the wind from every direction,

    Xinyue''s guard went up immediately. Her mana was already prepared, she just needed to find the enemy.

    However, the voice was a step ahead of her.

    "Quell your mana. I have no physical form. Attempting to attack me is pointless."

    Xinyue''s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

    "Who are you?" She asked coldly.

    "Hahaha," the voice chuckled lightly and said, "Junior, you''vee for my inheritance yet you cannot recognize me?"

    "¡­Sky Emperor?" Xinyue muttered with some shock.

    After ruminating about it for a while, she realized that there really wasn''t any other possibility. As she had "died" in the Sky Emperor''s trial ground, the only culprit for her "resurrection" was the emperor himself.

    To be able to pull such a stunt, one needed at least an emperor''s strength.

    "Xinyue greets Sky Emperor Wu Mo."

    Xinyue bowed her body slightly and cupped her fists in respect.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Mm, considering your identity, this much respect is expected. At least,pared to that person you are far better:"

    "That person?" Xinyue questioned.

    "You will meet them soon. There is still one final trial before you can obtain myplete inheritance, after all."

    Xinyue nodded in understanding. About the whims of higher existences, she couldn''t say anything at all.

    Nevertheless, she still had a few questions. She wasn''t an ungrateful person.

    "I participated in the trial with a spirit woman. I do not see her now. Where is she?" She asked.

    "This matter is simple. In the final trial, only you were able to pass. In the face of death, you remained stalwart with no regret or grievance. You showed the tenacity and drive to fight even after yourst breath, something that woman does not quite possess."

    "Yourpanion is currently resting elsewhere. As a reward for making it to the final trial, I have repaired her spirit body to peak form." The Sky Emperor answered.

    "I understand, senior. However, that woman''s physical body was destroyed at the entrance of this tomb. Rather than improving her spirit body, I believe it would be best to heal and empower her physique." Xinyue suggested.

    "Oh? And why do you believe that?" The Sky Emperor questioned curiously.

    Xinyue nodded her head and answered, "Alexandra has not yet broken the shackles of existence and ascended. Aplete soul at her current juncture would only harm her progress rather than fuel it. It would instead be better to bring her body and soul to a bnce so her future training path can be smoother."

    "Hahahaha! How interesting!"

    The Sky Emperor''sugh shook the air.

    "Come, follow your heart and you will arrive at your destiny. After you''ve done so, I will return to initiate the final trial."

    The Sky Emperor didn''t continue the previous topic, and after giving Xinyue a final piece of instruction, his presence disappeared entirely.

    ''Merely a wisp of soul.'' Xinyue thought to herself.

    The Sky Emperor was long dead, but a wisp of his soul had managed to survive and maintain his legacy until people managed to arrive to im it.

    It had been at least 100,000 years since the Sky Emperor''s existence.

    Just how powerful was his soul for him to aplish such a feat?

    As she pondered on this, Xinyue began to move without any specified path. Just as the Sky Emperor''s soul wisp suggested, she walked as her heart desired.

    Only, her heart was void of desire.

    It was better to say she walked aimlessly, knowing that she would eventually reach her destination. If the Sky Emperor wanted to start the final trial, he couldn''t do so without her presence.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t quite follow the trial rules.

    She didn''t possess the heart''s desires that she needed for it.

    Actually, the void in her heart was the reason for her amazing performance in every mental trial she''d faced so far.

    She saw nothing from the illusion trial but ckness. She had no desire to reminisce during the memory trial, and even inter mind trials that intrinsically dug into one''s psyche, she experienced nothing.

    It was such a rare situation that even the Sky Emperor hadn''t ounted for it.

    Nevertheless, just as Xinyue expected, she eventually reached the gates of a gargantuan pce, the ce where her so-called "destiny" was kept.

    She walked through the kilometer-tall open doors and traversed the halls until she finally reached the throne room.

    With a push of her hand, she entered the trial location, which, as she was just learning, doubled as a treasure cove.

    Shining jewels and golden antiques littered the floor like trash. An array of artifacts ranging from the mostmon F rank to the impossible-to-attain God rank was piled up in one corner, and spanning from there to the other side of the room was a vast hill of resources and materials that could greatly strengthen several tens of thousands of people.

    Finally, on the other side of the hill of resources was a mound of spiritual fruits and other edible treasures. Xinyue even spotted several fruits with the effect of directly boosting levels. Fruits that could do so for when 4th ss beings were one in a million treasures that one could never expect to see in their lifetime.

    The stunning image these fruits produced, however, was entirely ruined.

    Ruined by a man who sat atop the treasure mound and shoved those ultra-rare fruits in his mouth like a monkey.

 Chapter 844 Sky [4]

    "¡­"

    Xinyue stood silently at the throne room entrance, literally speechless.

    The first emotion that resonated with her was rage.

    "What do you think you''re doing?" She uttered icily.

    She couldn''t believe that some random man was squandering the resources here. Fruits that increased one''s level could only be eaten effectively a few times before they stopped working, yet in the span of a single second, this man actually dared to eat six!

    These were resources that, if taken out of the Void Corridor, could strengthen the entire Heaven''s Army to a new level, giving them an edge on the Nox.

    The selfishness of humans never ceased to baffle her.

    The man, hearing her words, lifted his gazezily. When he saw her form, his brow raised in interest.

    "You are?"

    Xinyue almost attacked when she saw the man''s prating gaze, but restrained herself after considering the environment.

    "I am Xinyue, here to ept the Sky Emperor''s legacy."

    The man scanned her from head to toe, his perception easily piercing her defenses to inspect her internal body.

    "I see. So that old guy has finally found a proper sessor. You know, he was so unresigned with me being his sessor that he added a new bullshit condition about how two people need to fight for the seat. Isn''t that just hrious?" He spoke, more to himself than anything else.

    Xinyue''s eyes were colder than ever before. This man seemingly had no consideration for her presence at all. Hepletely ignored her question and moved at his own pace, endlessly making her want to break her indifference and explode in rage.

    Again, she asked, "What do you think you''re doing right now?"

    The man quirked his head and responded simply, "Eating?"

    Snap!

    Something within her snapped.

    Xinyue''s eyes glowed as her mana red. "Do you not understand how pathetic your selfish behavior is? Instead of sharing benefits to save the universe which birthed and houses you, you would instead carelessly eat fruit that cannot provide you with anything? How dare you?!"

    She began to walk forward slowly. She didn''t know this man''s strength yet, so she couldn''tsh out, but she couldn''t tolerate him either.

    But the man disregarded her behavior entirely.

    "Say, are you new here?" He asked casually.

    "What does that matter to you?" Xinyue replied with clear hostility.

    "Matters! Of course, it matters! Looking at you making a fuss, you must think this old fart''s tomb is something special."

    "Are you suggesting that the Sky Emperor''s Tomb is somethingmonce?"

    "Sky Emperor? Haha, I didn''t know that guy had such a cool title. But, yeah. Inheritances on this level are quite literally like clouds in the sky here."

    Xinyue''s eyes narrowed and she slowly retracted her hostility.

    Judging from the man''s causal behavior alone, it was clear that he didn''t see her as a threat. Aside from that, he had information on the Void Corridor, something she needed more than vengeance.

    "I arrived in this realm no more than a week ago, though the exact amount of time is unknown as there are many time distortions in this realm."

    "A week ago¡­" the man muttered, "¡­how many days was the Void Corridor open before you entered?"

    Xinyue furrowed her brows questioningly but still answered.

    "Three days."

    "Hahaha, three days, huh? That''s actually insane."

    "Insane?" Xinyue repeated.

    The man nodded. "Right, I knew the distortion was big, but I didn''t expect it to be that big. Xinyue, I can call you Xinyue, right? Anyway, do you want to hear something fun?"

    The man sat up from his previouszy posture and leaned forward, cing his head in his hands with a sly smile forming on his face.

    Xinyue backed away slightly. "What is it?"

    "Actually¡­"

    Just as the man started talking, the atmosphere changed. A heavy pressure descended from the sky.

    "Challengers, the time hase for you topete for my legacy!" The Sky Emperor''s booming voice roared.

    The man covered his ears in annoyance and yelled back, "Old fart, stop putting on a show and get on with it already! We both know you won''t ept me as your inheritor anyway!"

    The Sky Emperor''s grand momentum instantly faltered.

    "Brat, keep your current attitude and see how I deal with you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "It''s been 3 months since you trapped me here already! 3 months, I say! Either give her your legacy already or just let me go!"

    "Ahem, your stay here is of your own choosing. I had no part in that decision."

    "Bullshit! You forced me into the Heavenly Suppression Chamber and killed me 3,752 times! I guess they titled you the Sky Emperor because your shamelessness is higher than the Heavens!"

    "Tch, minor details. Regardless, I must test my sessor, and you are a perfect being to carry it out. If you fight her, I will grant you freedom."

    "I''m not your diator, old dog. Besides, can''t you see the difference in our levels? She''s clearly an extreme peak master, how do you expect me to fight her?!"

    "I can revive you as long as you are within my domain."

    "That doesn''t help!"

    The man and the Sky Emperor argued like a pair of old enemies, forcing Xinyue to take a supporting role as she watched them without knowing what to feel.

    The esteemed image of the Sky Emperor she''d built in her mind copsed instantly, and even her image of the man changed.

    The time span he mentioned stood out.

    Clearly, he had been here for a considerable amount of time. The lifespan of a 4th ss expert could reach tens of thousands of years, but it definitely didn''t reach the hundreds of thousands.

    If so, just when did he enter the Void Corridor?

    And aside from that, didn''t he say he was weaker than her?

    If so, couldn''t she have directly beaten him until he spat out the answers she desired?

    She really wanted to p him for acting like an expert when he wasn''t one.

    ''Yet, I truly cannot feel a hint of aura from his body. He reads in my perception as a regr human.''

    Xinyue''s eyes widened. Her irises swirled gently as she activated her power.

    Her perception was instantly enhanced. Her gaze was like a godly force that no information could hide from.

    Everything about every treasure in the room was revealed to her, and as she panned her eyes over to the man¡­

    He looked back at her.

    Bzzt!

    "Ah!"

    Sparks burst in the air. Xinyue covered her face with her hands as she experienced bacsh for the first time in her life.

    Tears of blood dripped from her eyes.

    "What an interesting sessor candidate." The man said with a smile.

    "Don''t hurt her too much. You know as well as I do that you are invincible in this space."

    "If that''s the case, then you should just hand over your legacy already."

    "You know as well as I do that you have no need for it."

    "Nonsense! Do you know how many subordinates I have? I''d totally put it to good use!"

    "Even more reason to keep it from you."

    "Tch."

    The two resumed their conversation as if nothing happened, but Xinyue couldn''t match their casual attitudes.

    ''What just happened?''

    She experienced something that should''ve been impossible.

    Somebody blocked the ability of her eyes.

    No¡­

    That man had the same ability as her.

    Her eyes hardened.

    A light of utter solemnity reflected in her cross-shaped pupils. They were unique pupils among themon people, but the man in front of her shared the trait.

    Her thoughts whirred.

    ''This man¡­what is his rtionship with the Ancient God n?''

 Chapter 845 Sky [5]

    The Ancient God n.

    Their numbers weren''t veryrge at all, but in terms of strength, they were at the peak of the universe, using a small group of elites to rival thergest Holy Land influences.

    Besides their innate talent and the strange power they inherited through their bloodline, the trait that propelled the Ancient God n to their current position was one.

    All-Seeing Eyes.

    They were eyes that could pierce the veil of reality and reveal all things to the user. As long as it was within one''s eyesight, its identity and information would immediately be sent to the user''s brain.

    Using this inherent power, the Ancient God n members were able toprehendws countless times faster than others, and when it came to connection with the universe, they were also one of the greatest.

    Essentially, as long as they could gain enough battle experience and levels, their path forward was guaranteed. The usualprehension gateways that people got stuck at were negligible to them.

    However, the All-Seeing Eyes were the Ancient God n''s greatest secret. While the strangeness of their eyes made it evident that they had some sort of ability, the outside world merely knew it as a slight increase in perception and mental ability.

    The fact that the All-Seeing Eyes were the greatest truth pupils in existence was a fact that would bring the downfall of their n if it was known to the outside world.

    For this reason, the Ancient God n never allowed those outside their boundaries to marry into the n. Even if they needed to resort to inbreeding, they wouldn''t hesitate for the sake of protecting their n.

    Xinyue was a rarity amongst Ancient God n members due to the fact that her bloodline was pure, untainted by the twisted practices that the n was forced to adopt.

    At the same time, she was born with All-Seeing Eyes that were infinitely close to their final evolution.

    The potential she had was mind-boggling.

    It was for this reason why, despite her being born to a branch family, she was taken as the Ancient God n''s Young Master and trained since young to inherit the n in the future.

    As long as she''d lived, she''d only heard praise from others. Her pupils were a matter of pride for her, a symbol of the status she was born with and the potential she represented.

    She was the spirit of the Ancient God n.

    Yet, today, her entire worldview was crushed.

    A man she''d never seen before had the same All-Seeing Eyes that she did, and on top of that, his pupils weren''t much weaker than hers at all!

    Just how was this possible?

    Did someone from the Ancient God n break the ancient rules and give birth to a child outside of the n?

    Naturally, this was impossible. The Ancient God n kept a strict eye on their members'' activities, and after eons of effort, they were able to create a treasure that could detect the Ancient God n bloodline anywhere in the universe.

    If the man was truly a member of their n, he would''ve already been killed.

    ''Then how¡­?''

    Xinyue couldn''t wrap her head around it.

    "Old ghost, your pupil is a bit strange. Did she lose her mind or something?"

    The man''s voice suddenly rang out, breaking her chain of thought.

    Haa¡­

    An audible sigh reverberated through the air.

    "Since when were you not the problem? It is obvious that your previous trick confused her." The Sky Emperor replied with such a deadpan voice that his eye roll was practically tangible.

    "Hah?! What''d I do this time?" The man eximed.

    "Why don''t you ask her?" The Sky Emperor rebutted.

    The man looked over at Xinyue without speaking, but everything about his expression asked, "So?"

    Xinyue sighed and hardened her heart. The identity of this mysterious man was too strange. He imed to be weaker than her, yet he could block her perception. On top of that, he was on such friendly terms with a character at the level of the Sky Emperor.

    Evidently, he wasn''t some small personage.

    ''I cannot ask him directly¡­not yet, at least.''

    "Haa¡­" Xinyue sighed. "I have nothing to say, senior, I was merely thinking about some things. This junior''s mind is now at ease, and I am ready to take your trial."

    The man raised his brow, but shrugged it off as if he didn''t care.

    As for the Sky Emperor¡­

    "Good!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    His bellow shook space.

    "Since you have steeled yourself to ept my legacy, then I shall transport you into the final trial grounds! Remember, never lose your wariness, and never lose your root!"

    After his words ended, the Sky Emperor''s aura swirled through the air and enveloped Xinyue. In the next instant, her body turned light and shot into the air like a beam of light, disappearing soon after.

    Left in the pce were only the man and the Sky Emperor''s soul wisp.

    "Old fart, do you think she''ll be able toplete it?" He asked casually, sinking his teeth into another spiritual fruit.

    "¡­"

    The Sky Emperor was silent for a moment. After some thought, he finally spoke.

    "¡­she will, but not nearly as fast as you did."

    The man smirked slightly and stood up.

    "Haa, well, it can''t be helped. She just got here, after all. Me, on the other hand¡­"

    He swept his hand through the air, creating a holographic screen on which Xinyue''s form appeared. Currently, she''d justnded in the trial location.

    Looking at her observe the surroundings warily, he smiled.

    "¡­I had almost two years to limate before I came here."

    ***

    The Sky Emperor''s final trial was both simple and extremely difficult at the same time.

    On paper, there was nothing to it. It was merely a survival challenge where one was dropped into a hellish environment and forced to survive for a set period of time.

    However, this type of trial had a benefit that not many others had.

    It wasprehensive.

    Endless battle would both test one''s strength and refine it.

    Endless battle would wear down one''s mentality and force them to fortify themselves.

    Endless battle would allow one to deepen theirwprehension and grow ustomed to manipting natural forces, progressing them through the 4th ss.

    All in all, this format was both simple and efficient. For the Sky Emperor, who tested his inheritor''s every facet separately in 40 trials before the final trial, this type of test gave a final assurance to his inheritor''s character and power level.

    The time Xinyue needed to survive in this trial was a month.

    Her next 30 days would be filled with pain and torture both mental and physical, to the point where she''d likely prefer death over continuing.

    But if she could make it past those 30 days, the benefits she gained would be immeasurable.

    Regardless of the trial''s difficulty, Xinyue had no thoughts of backing out. After all, she had a new reason to get stronger and survive through this trial.

    There was a suspicious existence who somehow obtained the legacy of the Ancient God n.

    Until she could verify his identity and invite him back to her n, she couldn''t die.

    And past that short-term goal¡­

    ''I will survive.''

    Xinyue''s thoughts caused the air to stir.

    The blood-red air around her reeked, but the scent only inspired her determination further.

    RUMBLE!

    The earth shook.

    A beast tide wasing.

    Xinyue clenched her fists and walked forward.

    This time, she would meet the threat head-on.

 Chapter 846 Sky [6]

    15 days passed in an instant.

    In the Sky Emperor Pce, a man sat calmly in a reclining chair with a bowl of spirit fruits in his hand. His whole attention was focused on the screen in front of him, depicting the valiant battle of a powerful heroine.

    "Oooh!" He eximed lightly as the heroine shed through another beast.

    She''d been doing an extremely good job so far. She struggled at the beginning and faltered more than a few times, but she never allowed her momentum topletely die out. This way, she was able to find her second wind, third wind, and every wind after that until she eventually controlled the winds themselves.

    ''Compared to me, she''s still a bit worse, but it''s just a matter ofbat experience. Once she''s fought enough to learn how to properly use her strength, I won''t be able to defeat her through normal means.''

    He smiled at the thought. Unexpectedly, that old fart emperor was able to find a superb sessor.

    ''That guy''s legacy is a bit low-level, though¡­he was too greedy in life and didn''t leave behind many strong techniques for his descendants. Even his remaining soul wisp was created without memory of those techniques.''

    It was a silly thought, but the Sky Emperor''s soul wisp was actually far more noble than the person himself.

    ''Hmm, it''s clear that we have some sort of fate, so it wouldn''t hurt if I passed a few things to her. I''ve collected too much to keep for myself anyway.''

    In fact, with the number of techniques and skills he''d obtained recently, he was forced to build a library to house them all!

    It had been an entire two years since he first arrived in this realm, but as he''d learned a few days back, only 3 days passed in the real world.

    This kind of deviated time difference was only possible in a ce like a Void Corridor. The Abyss'' influence weakened the universalw, giving way to strange natural phenomena such as this.

    ''It''s only been such a short time in the outside world. Will it be another ten years before the realm opens up again? But, I''m absolutely not willing to stay here for so long.''

    With his abilities, escaping a secret realm had never been difficult, but for the same reason that the strange time dtion existed, he couldn''t easily leave this realm.

    His attention returned to the screen just as the heroine mmed her foot into the ground, generating ice spikes that annihted several tens of enemies in front of her.

    ''Her eyes are the same as mine.''

    She wasn''t the only one who noticed it. He as well was someone who never expected to find someone else who shared his trait.

    ''But considering her surprise, these eyes aren''t something I''m supposed to have.''

    He smiled lightly, shoving another spirit fruit in his mouth.

    ''How interesting¡­''

    His expression soured in the next moment.

    "Dammit, old man! These fruits aren''t even ripe yet! Meat, give me meat! I demand it!"

    In the face of his rage, the Sky Emperor¡­

    Remained entirely silent.

    There was absolutely no way he''d waste more power on that brat. He knew full well that it''d only end with his mental defeat and descent into insanity.

    Truly, he was a brat that made people unable to decide how to feel about him.

    On one hand, he was an arrogant man with no consideration for others. He created the flow wherever he went and forced others to follow it. He had the makings of an emperor, but at the same time, he was more annoying than any sly old fox.

    Yet, for people like the Sky Emperor, he held an irresistible appeal.

    Those who remained in these legacy tombs were all remnant souls of old emperors. Despite their current state, they clearly remembered the wars they participated in.

    They clearly remembered the terror of the Nox that even the strongest masters couldn''t defeat.

    They still remembered the universal destruction that was wrought while they remained helpless.

    To them, this man was a godsend.

    He was the universe''s final effort, he was an unparalleled genius with unlimited growth potential, and with his speed of growth, it wasn''t impossible for him to bloom into his potential before the Nox could suppress him.

    For these experts who''d tasted defeat and ended up trapped in the Void Corridor until their inevitable deaths, this man was the true vessel through which their legacies could return to the world.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Only, he wasn''t a simple person at all.

    Tricking his eyes was impossible. Trying to scam him was even more impossible. It was like he could directly see into one''s soul and extract their deepest secrets.

    Through whatever strange method he used, he conquered the legacy tombs that could be conquered and stole the legacies of anyone he deemed worthy of being reintroduced to the world.

    Those who had insidious personalities in life would not be allowed to corrupt the new generation as long as he was watching.

    The Sky Emperor sighed. In fact, he could be considered lucky.

    Because his current personality was so different from when he was alive, he was able to befriend this terrifying genius.

    But from what he''d sensed¡­

    Several of the remnant souls guarding other legacy tombs had been extinguished.

    No trace of their auras could be felt anymore.

    It made the Sky Emperor shiver in fear. He couldn''t even rely on his previous standing to frighten this young genius, so all he could do was coexist peacefully.

    Unfortunately¡­

    ''That brat is a grave robber! A scammer!''

    Not only did he allow Xinyue to participate in the Sky Emperor''s trial despite knowing that she wouldn''t gain any major benefits from it, he even tricked the Sky Emperor himself into transferring control of the entire legacy tomb to him!

    In some sense, it could be said that this man was the one controlling Xinyue''s trial. It was his legacy that she was preparing to inherit.

    Yet¡­

    Was that truly a bad thing?

    The Sky Emperor sighed. In the end, he could never decide how to feel about the young genius.

    However, after the past 2 years, a certain name spread through the Wild Continent. Every emperor both feared and hoped to meet the genius who possessed purple eyes.

    And to honor his achievements, they granted him a title.

    The conquerer of the Wild Continent, the demon who terrorized fallen Divinities¡­

    These remnant souls could think of no better title for him than Blight Rat!

    Everywhere he went, he brought a scourge that robbed Divinities of their treasures and even sometimes their lives!

    He was a cancer that polluted the peace of the Wild Continent!

    Achoo!

    "Who could possibly be thinking about me at this hour? I''m a pure man, you know? I don''t do booty calls!"

    The gue demon''s murmur echoed through the pce.

    The Sky Emperor''s incorporeal body shivered.

    ¡­of course, everything he''d been thinking properly was thought with the best intentions in mind.

    In fact, Blight Rat was a powerful name, and anyone who heard the name would agree that it was the greatest possiblepliment.

    Adding these statements at the end of his thoughts would save him from the gue demon''s wrath, right?

    Well, at least, that was how the Sky Emperor calmed himself while eagerly waiting for his inheritor toplete the trial so he could finally kick this demon out of his house.

    An incorporeal tear dropped from his incorporeal eye.

    Truly, he couldn''t wait.

 Chapter 847 Library [1]

    "Haa¡­"

    A sigh rang through an empty battlefield.

    Aside from the woman who voiced it, there were only corpses littering the ground.

    Hundreds of thousands, no, millions of corpses surrounded the body of a single woman as she stood and bathed in the bloody light of the red sun.

    30 days.

    It felt like an eternity, but now, it was finally over.

    This hell, she never once thought she would experience something like it. Even in Eien, she''d never seen such a situation where a single being was forced to face the onught of countless enemies with simr strength to them.

    If it wasn''t a trial situation that wasn''t inherently trying to kill her, Xinyue was sure she would''ve died.

    But did she regret epting the trial?

    ''Absolutely not.''

    It was a definitive answer. Through the past month of battle, the most valuable thing she gained was experience. This level of battle experience was impossible to earn without strenuous situations to promote it, and since Xinyue was always sheltered as the Ancient God n''s Young Master, despite her power and ability, she''d never truly had the chance to risk her life.

    This time, she saw aprehensive increase in strength, ranging from her physical body to even herwprehension.

    And as if that wasn''t enough, she even felt like she was touching upon something greater, albeit faintly.

    "Take me back."

    Now that she''d squeezed the benefits out of this ce, there was no reason to stay.

    Her body turned into a beam of light upon her deration, and in the next instant, the bloody smell she''d gotten so used to disappeared.

    What greeted her was instead¡­

    "Hahaha! What a show! Girl, I didn''t expect you''d do so well!"

    The call of a strange man.

    Xinyue''s face fell. She almost forgot about this man''s existence during her time fighting. The small goal she''d made with him in mind held no stock against her true ambitions, after all.

    "Where is the Sky Emperor?" She asked. She didn''t want to deal with this man more than she had to.

    However, he smiled slyly in response to her question. "That old man? Well, he''s feeling a bit of shame for his living self''s actions so he''s hiding somewhere around here."

    "Shame?"

    "Right, right. See, hmm, how do I put this¡­aha!"

    "You''ve been scammed!"

    Xinyue''s face fell even further. "Are you insinuating that a great emperor scammed me?"

    "No, don''t misunderstand me. I''m not insinuating anything, I''m saying it outright."

    "Are you going to keep evading my question until I''m forced to be ruthless?"

    "Ahhh! Senior Sky Emperor, help me! Your inheritor is trying to kill me!"

    The man yelled with so little enthusiasm that it was hard to take him seriously, especially since he didn''t move from his slumped position even once.

    Nevertheless, he didn''t leave Xinyue to seethe for too long.

    After his little stint of teasing was over, he calmly exined the situation to Xinyue, allowing her to understand the truth behind this legacy tomb.

    "Are you being serious right now?"

    Despite the fact that she was the one asking the question, she knew full well the answer.

    Merely, she was in such disbelief and rage that she had to ask again.

    "Sky Emperor¡­how pathetic." Xinyue coldly uttered.

    The air fluctuated as if the Sky Emperor''s soul wisp twitched in response to Xinyue''s changed opinion, but Xinyue didn''t care at all.

    She was irked, but she wasn''t too offended. After all, the trial she''d endured was far more valuable than any technique the Sky Emperor could''ve given her.

    Merely¡­

    "Rx."

    The man''s voice rang out again, breaking her out of her thoughts.

    "While that old fart can''t give you anything, aren''t I still here? While I''m not some great emperor, I don''t have any problem sponsoring a genius. How about it, are you interested?"

    The man lifted his body and smiled lightly as he looked at her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    There couldn''t have been a more untrustworthy expression to use at this moment.

    Every fiber of Xinyue''s body was telling her to reject the offer purely because of this man''s connection to it, however¡­

    ''He somehow got his hands on All-Seeing Eyes, a feat that should be impossible. Even if he isn''t some great persona, the master behind him should not be a small force.''

    "Okay, I will ept your offer."

    The decision was made in a split second, causing the man to smile.

    "Good! I like decisive people like you. I think we''ll get along well in the future."

    "I have no interest in getting along with you."

    "Aww,e on, Xinyue. Haven''t we be closerades after this experience?"

    "There is no such thing."

    "Hm? How could that be?"

    "I don''t even know your name, let alone how you are as arade. With your unreliable appearance, I have no interest in learning either."

    The man grinned slightly.

    His body vanished, reappearing before Xinyue before she could even react.

    "Aha, was that the only problem? Well, solving that is simple¡­"

    The man''s arm shed. His hand was gripping Xinyue''s shoulder before she could even process the sensation.

    As her eyes widened, as her mana red into the surroundings¡­

    "¡­my name is Damien Void."

    "What are you¡ª"

    A current of mana covered the duo, and they disappeared from the Sky Emperor Pce altogether.

    Not even a trace of their existence remained.

    ***

    "¡ªdoing?!"

    Xinyue''s body lurched forward suddenly. Unable to react to the sudden change, she tripped and fell to the floor.

    The scent of grass filled her nose. She sat up, wiping the mud that stained her face.

    ''Wait¡­grass?''

    Xinyue''s eyes widened as she shot up. Her awareness spread into the surroundings, allowing her to witness a truly mystical sight.

    A continent that spanned the entirety of her awareness filled with beings of many different races, the architectural style was a mix of extremely futuristic designs and more ancient ssical themes, and due to the fact that elves lived in this ce, the architecture was built into nature rather than overriding it.

    This created a truly unique atmosphere unseen in any world.

    The strength of beings was nothing much to brag about, with a majority of them being 3rd ss, but there were still at least several thousand 4th ss troops present on this continent.

    Xinyue and Damien were standing at the edge of the continent, one of the rare pieces ofnd that remained purely natural.

    Looking down upon civilization from this point, Xinyue didn''t know what to think.

    "This¡­what is this?" She asked, baffled.

    Damien smiled and responded matter-of-factly, "This is Theavel."

    Without exining further, he started making his way down the cliff, entering the city below.

    Without any clue what else to do, Xinyue followed.

    The duo made their way through the city, allowing Xinyue to witness the pure innovation of this new society. As several very different races lived in harmony, civilization saw a huge boost and evolved into something great.

    Whether it was for technology, politics, economy, or even social issues, this ce seemed to have sorted out a system to deal with them all effectively without leaving anyone dissatisfied.

    It was an impossible society.

    Xinyue followed Damien through the city for almost half an hour before they reached the city center. Here, along with various skyscrapers, was one smaller building that took the very central position of the city.

    Seeing it, Damien stopped and looked over his shoulder with a smile.

    "Wee to the Void Library. This is the greatest store of knowledge in Theavel, and also the source of your opportunity. I hope you enjoy your stay."

 Chapter 848 Library [2]

    While the Void Library definitely had a name that many long-time friends of Damien would criticize due to theziness that went into naming it, he truly defended its name more than he did everything else that he¡­somewhatzily named.

    After all, unlike those abilities, this library was named after the Void Corridor, the ce where all of its contents were plundered from.

    This library was specifically built when Damien amassed far more resources than he felt like keeping with him constantly. Since he had no need for said resources, he established this space to pass them to his subordinates.

    Of course, there were several procedures that went into guaranteeing loyalty andparability before techniques were handed out, but it was still true that the library gave equal opportunity to all Theavel residents, from the original elves to the newest refugees from Calypto.

    It wasn''t just learning resources that Damien gained, though, and the library represented a second purpose as well.

    It was a big juicy carrot that everyone wanted to take a bite out of, especially since the stick seemed to be taking a vacation.

    The resources and materials that could be used for practice were all stored within the library, and a reward system had been established to hand them to those who earned them.

    Through the gains he''d made during his 2 years in the Void Corridor, Damien was able to create a system that could stably build the strength of his army while slowly guaranteeing their absolute loyalty to him.

    Usually, he only visited this ce to cure his boredom and watch over those within, but today, he''d brought a guest with him.

    "The Void Library has several legacies at the Demigod level and even a few God-level inheritances within. Along with those, there is an assortment of techniques for practically every naturalw in existence, so you shouldn''t have trouble finding material that suits you." Damien exined as he took Xinyue through the entrance to the library.

    "You can pick one inheritance and three techniques from any part of the library, however, I''ll only give you ten minutes to make your decision. Don''t dy, don''t hesitate, and don''t overestimate yourself. In the end, make a choice you will not regret in the future."

    The two walked through the library entrance unhindered, the security guarding the ce acting like they didn''t see the duo at all.

    Damien shed a small smile at the front desk attendant as he escorted Xinyue into the main building, causing her to smile and lower her head.

    A smile from the sovereign, just how much was that worth?

    She almost wanted to scream like a fangirl at that moment, but she knew she had to contain herself in front of the sovereign.

    He was a kind and humble man. He saved everyone who lives in Theavel today, and afterward, he allowed them to live on their own without trying to oppress or control them.

    Honestly, if it wasn''t for the 5 Emperors constantly praising the sovereign and reminding the denizens of his existence, they would''ve forgotten that this was his world.

    However, he was always helping them from the shadows. Even this library was something he built so they could grow stronger and fight the oppression that forced them into Theavel in the first ce.

    It might''ve been strange from an outsider''s perspective, but to the denizens of Theavel¡­

    Doubting the sovereign or questioning his authority was a crime above all others.

    Still, he never tried to use his power over them to harm them, so they also acted respectfully about his preferences.

    As he walked into the library and causally took a seat on a bean bag chair, those around him subtly gave him space and didn''t disturb him.

    Xinyue observed this reaction with a strange look on her face. She couldn''t understand why everyone in this ce seemed to revere the annoying man she''d been interacting with so far.

    Yet, their feelings were not the reason for her visit.

    ''Ten minutes¡­if you dare to implement such a deadline, there must be something worth hiding within the library.''

    "Can I start now?" She asked.

    She remained indifferent on the surface, but Damien could clearly feel her excitement.

    "Of course! Your ten minutes start the moment you take a step further than this point." Damien responded.

    Xinyue nodded, and without hesitation, took her first step.

    She dashed into the library and spread her awareness, but as soon as she tried to spread it more than a few meters, she found her senses blocked entirely.

    Her eyes glowed blue. The strength and intensity of her awareness greatly increased, and her vision expanded to 360 degrees.

    She rapidly intook all the information she possibly could.

    ''This¡­this¡­this¡­!''

    Her eyes widened into saucers, and continued to pop further and further out of her head as she read through the different manuals that were present on the shelves.

    ''Forbidden Ancient Script, Hegemon God Body, Reticent Buddha Psalm¡­these are all precious godly techniques of the forgotten era!''

    Even the usually stoic Xinyue was forced to exim from the sheer quality of material.

    It suddenly dawned on her how short 10 minutes truly was.

    All of a sudden, her pace massively increased. She stopped reading through the technique descriptions and only focused on their names and creators. This way, she was still able to sort them without wasting as much time.

    She practically kicked up a duststorm in the library with her speed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Even the others that were currently studying within were forced to evacuate.

    At the moment, they crowded behind Damien like childrenining to their parent.

    He smiled when he saw their expressions. "Don''t worry, she''ll only be in there for ten minutes. Even if she stays past her wee, I''ll drag her out. Just wait here for a bit and enjoy the show until then."

    The denizens nodded hesitantly, but didn''t move from behind Damien.

    After all, what were they supposed to do for these ten minutes? It was too short of a timeframe to leave ande back, but too long for them to simply wait around idly.

    Damien shook his head wryly. ''Really, I can''t stop myself from spoiling these assholes when Ie here.''

    He snapped his finger lightly, and the scene changed. Several tables appeared from nowhere and the space expanded to amodate them. After the chairs and utensils were all set, Damien snapped again, summoning several dishes onto the table.

    "Alright, everyone! I don''te here often, but I have heard that we''ve established a stable beast poption apart from just livestock. Since we have the stock now, let''s feast!"

    The denizens stood quietly for a second before¡­

    "YEEEAAAAAAH!"

    "WOOOOO!"

    "Love live the Sovereign!"

    ""Long live the Sovereign!""

    Raucous cheers filled the area as a lively atmosphere descended. The denizens rushed to the tables and started filling their tes, happily indulging in the impromptu party that their sovereign was throwing.

    Around 6 minutes in, an unexpected guest arrived.

    "You still love doing whatever you want, aye?"

    A beautiful woman with flowing green hair walked through the entrance of the library. The celestial appearance she held along with her heavenly voice that soothed the soul and calmed the heart made it impossible for these regr denizens to not be infatuated with her.

    However, for them, she was untouchable.

    ""We greet the 1st Emperor!""

    The crowd immediately got on their knees to show fealty, but were waved off by Elvira, who never took her eyes off Damien.

    Damien smiled. "It''s been a while since we''ve seen each other. Why so distant?"

    "Aren''t we in public? Even if you are a friendly and approachable sovereign, I still have an image to maintain."

    "Bleh, useless things."

    "Only you can say so with such conviction."

    Elvira smiled and sat down behind Damien on his bean bag chair, her body very clearly touching his.

    Damien closed his eyes and leaned back.

    "How''s everything progressing?"

    Elvira smiled lightly as she brushed her hands through his hair. "Progress has been smooth thus far. The militarization ns are especially progressing speedily since there is no small number of volunteers. ording to our current projection, Theavel''splete development should be finished within 3 years."

    "And the army''s development?"

    Elvira furrowed her brows. "As you know, we have sufficient numbers. What weck is power. With your recent achievements, it won''t be difficult to produce several experts, but they need time and space to grow. Theavel can''t provide them a sufficient environment quite yet."

    Damien nodded. As expected, mass-producing 4th sses was far more difficult than doing the same with 3rd sses. Theavel was developing rapidly now that it had a World Core, but it still needed time for these changes to saturate.

    "I am currently unavable, but once I return to Eien, I''ll figure something out to help them."

    Elvira smiled and nodded.

    With such a considerate sovereign ruling them, who could those beneath him not fall for his charms?

    When they first met, this man was ambitious yet ipetent. Yet, over the years, he''d shown his grit time and time again, growing into someone she could truly be proud to follow.

    She was content with her current life.

    Or at least, for the most part.

 Chapter 849 Growth [1]

    Theavel''s main problems at the moment all stemmed from its youth. If there was sufficient time to develop, of course, all of these problems would solve themselves, but with the outside world''s situation worsening with every day, time was something they simply didn''t have.

    Theavel''s poption was mainly made up of those from the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. Aside from them, the secondrgest group was the Calypto refugees, and the rest were stragglers Damien picked up during his travels every once in a while.

    With this distribution, controlling the poption was still easy. They were all eitherpletely loyal to their respective leader, or they held absolute respect and reverence for Damien.

    This factor was what united the world and allowed it to exist without internal conflict, but Elvira was sure that such issues couldn''t be avoided in the future.

    While she wanted to find a way to solve this problem, was there truly one? Other than mind control, there was no way to have such an absolute control over a poption.

    "Hm? That''s what''s bothering you? That''s a simple issue."

    These were the words her sovereign said to her when she told him her worries.

    He sat there, his head in herp, his posture rxed to the utmost, and merely snapped his fingers.

    "Done."

    "Done?" She asked in astonishment.

    "Done. Well, to some extent," he replied calmly.

    "I just altered Theavel''s World Laws a bit. Attacking another denizen directly or indirectly with hostile intent is now impossible, so at least violence will be quelled. Of course, it is still possible for dissent to develop, and I''m sure if someone truly wanted to, they could find a loophole to cause chaos, but this should be enough precaution until that situation urs."

    He exined his thought process to Elvira.

    His main goal was the safety of the poption.

    At least now, it was impossible for themon people to be taken hostage or cruelly mistreated in the event of political conflict. Other simr acts could also be prevented, which meant that the consequences of suppressing threats were minimized by arge margin.

    Elvira''s eyes widened. After living in Theavel so long, she''d be ustomed to focusing on the political side of things. It was difficult for her to think of a solution like his, but at the same time, she never would''ve given consideration to such a nonsensical solution.

    After all, wasn''t what he just imed to aplish an impossible feat?

    "Don''t believe me?" He said, looking up at her with a smile.

    Elvira looked away and replied, "It''s not that I don''t believe you, merely, this kind of phenomenon is unheard of. I can''t quite wrap my head around it."

    "In the end, you just want a demonstration, right? That''s even simpler."

    Damien checked the time. There were still 2 minutes left before Xinyue''s time in the library ended. Knowing this, he grabbed Elvira and teleported elsewhere.

    When the two emerged from the folds of space, they were on a vast field on the Western Continent.

    Here, several beast packs roamed, and huntersmonly came to kill them for food and training.

    Currently, there was a team of hunters fighting a ferocious boar. They worked as a unit and slew it with ease, however, a conflict arose soon after.

    "What do you mean?! Didn''t we agree to share the spoils evenly?!" A man roared.

    "Haha, did you think I''d agree to that? My vige needs this boar meat more than yours, so obediently hand it over!" Hispanion roared back.

    "How dare you?!"

    "Hmph. If you don''t agree to the easy way, we can only use force!"

    The second man drew his sword and covered it with mana. He kicked off the ground and shed his sword at the other man¡­

    Hong!

    A barely audible bell sounded.

    The man''s actions were halted. He stood frozen in the air,pletely unable to control his body.

    The first man''s eyes widened, but he wasn''t going to miss this opportunity. He grabbed his knife and swung at his incapacitated enemy when¡­

    Hong!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He encountered the exact same situation.

    "Beasts are not ssified as denizens unless they develop intelligence and pledge fealty to one of you five, and you five are not ssified as denizens either, as you are rulers. Other than these few, everyone else will be subjected to the same punishment¡­"

    "¡­at least, for the most part."

    Damien''s voice sounded in Elvira''s ears as she watched the situation take ce.

    She turned to face him, her brow quirked in curiosity.

    "Well, it''s not right topletely limit people''s freedom. If conflict truly reaches a tipping point, people can use the duel function to have a life or death battle that is registered in the database."

    "There are a few more loopholes that promote conflict, but none of them are unregted. I''ve given you partial control over this mechanism so you can adjust thews ording to the situation."

    "My only ask is that you never make itpletely impossible for conflict to ur."

    Elvira watched Damien''s back as he spoke. His mindset was truly not something that many people could possess.

    She didn''t know what he''d experienced for him to promote violence for the sake of strength with such determination, but she understood how beneficial his mentality had been for his growth.

    She couldn''t necessarily refute his reasoning, nor did she want to. She also faced death and conflict countless times to gain the strength she had. Without it, she may not have ever be the Elf Queen.

    "Ah, look at the time. I should go fetch thatss before she raids my entire library." Damien suddenly said.

    "Leaving already?" Elvira asked.

    Damien smiled and patted her head, something the dignified Elf Queen had never experienced before. "I do have to leave early this time, but there''s one more thing I have to do."

    Elvira smiled warmly and nodded.

    She understood his intent.

    After all, her disciple had been eagerly awaiting his return as well.

    It was only right for them to meet before he left.

    The duo left the field in an instant, leaving the two frozen men to save themselves from their predicament themselves.

    Just how long would it take them to learn that the key to escape was dropping their hostility?

    Regardless, Damien and Elvira arrived back in the library and passed the lively party that was still ongoing. Damien opened his eyes wide and used the All-Seeing Eyes to scan the library, finding Xinyue''s trace soon after.

    "Haha, so she found it in the end." He muttered.

    He vanished from Elvira''s side, reappearing with a woman slung over his shoulders.

    She barraged him with ice mana in a bid to escape, but how could she hurt him?

    He was invincible in the Sanctuary.

    Rolling his eyes, Damien put her down, cing a spatial wall between her and the bookshelves to prevent her from trying to re-enter.

    "So, how did you like it? Did you find anything you like?" He asked teasingly.

    Xinyue nced away with a strange look on her face.

    "Haa¡­" she sighed.

    As much as she didn''t want to confirm this man''s ego¡­

    "¡­several¡­things¡­"

    The library''s contents made her throw away a bit of her pride when she spoke to him.

 Chapter 850 Growth [2]

    Damien smiled lightly and looked through what Xinyue took from the library.

    ''Stagnant Universe Divine Canon, Temporal Freeze, and¡­Trait Enhancement? Interesting.''

    The first was an icew manual created by a supreme genius of the forgotten era. The man who created the technique was evil and insane to the extreme. His aim was to freeze the universe and keep it as a showpiece in his collection, however, the technique he created to do so wasn''t inherently evil.

    Rather, on his path to freeze the universe itself, his first discovery was how to freeze Spacetime. The Stagnant Universe Divine Canon was exactly this technique.

    The first skill that Xinyue chose was also an ice skill rting to time, however, its use was more local. The manual and skill were equivalent to macrocosm and microcosm.

    These were all skills that Xinyue had a great affinity with, so it wasn''t surprising that she chose them. What surprised Damien was her final choice.

    Rather than a skill, Trait Enhancement was a single-use technique that could intrinsically increase the grade of a trait, as suggested by the name.

    This technique was useless to most, and since it was single use, not many considered it worth learning, but for Xinyue, it would yield an immense harvest surpassing anything else she could''ve obtained from the Void Library.

    The All-Seeing Eyes were already an evolvable trait. With a qualitative boost from Trait Enhancement, they would be a true force to be reckoned with.

    This was the skill Damien believed would be best for Xinyue, but he didn''t know whether or not she would look past the short-term benefits of some more powerful techniques to choose it.

    Seeing that she had, he couldn''t help but smile.

    "Good. Since you''ve made your choices, there isn''t much else to do here. After I run a quick errand, we will return to the Wild Continent to have some fun."

    "Fun?" Xinyue questioned.

    Damien smiled slyly and nced at her.

    "Hasn''t arge Nox Armye to explore the Void Corridor? Since the opportunity to feast is in front of me, do you think I, as a sane person, can reject it?"

    Xinyue''s eyes widened.

    To view an army of several hundred million as a feast¡­

    ''As expected, this man is a maniac.''

    Xinyue was never surer of a thought in her life.

    ***

    Theavel was home to many different biomes, reflecting all possible environments one could imagine, but the most prevalent had to be the beautiful luscious ins that spanned great lengths of almost every continent.

    These fields were the epitome of nature, representing Theavel''s budding life as well as the vitality that the new world held.

    Among the various environments of the world, this one was the elves'' favorite.

    They nurtured the flora, raised fauna, and turned these empty fields into thriving prairies filled with life.

    Within one of these prairies on the Central Continent, a little girl ran free without a care in the world.

    She looked about 13 years old. Her long ck hair and big eyes gave her an irresistibly cute appearance that provoked almost everyone in Theavel to spoil her.

    Compared to the environment she''d been born into, the environment that killed her family, the environment she''d grown up in for the past 8 years was like Heaven and Earth.

    Andpared to the naive child she was 8 years ago, she was now a willful teenager who was starting to be her own person.

    "Big brother, you came!" She eximed as Damien''s figure materialized in the field nearby.

    She ran over andunched herself into his arms, clinging to him like a ko.

    Damien smiled wryly. "Xue''er, you''re already a big girl. Howe you''re still so attached to your big brother?"

    Xue''er lifted her head off his chest and grinned widely. "Because big brother is the best!"

    "Tch, excuses," Damien muttered with a smile, flicking Xue''er''s forehead and peeling her off of him.

    "Have you been doing well? Your teacher isn''t bullying you, is she?" He asked.

    Xue''er shook her head furiously. "Of course, not! If it wasn''t for teacher, I wouldn''t have been able to talk to my spirit friends so well! Don''t be mean to her!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Oho, so you care about your teacher more than your big brother now? Elvira, it looks like we need to have a chatter."

    Damien nced back at Elvira, who he''d brought with him, and raised his fist in defiance.

    It was also at this time when Xue''er recognized the existence of the two others who''de with Damien.

    "Teacher! And¡­a new big sister¡­?" Xue''er said, quirking her head as she scanned Xinyue up and down.

    Xinyue looked away ufortably without saying anything. In the first ce, she''d only been brought here so she couldn''t raid the library while Damien was busy.

    While she chose not to enter the conversation, Damien furrowed his brows in mock anger.

    "What nonsense are you talking about?" He scolded, sending a fierce karate chop to Xue''er''s forehead.

    "Leave my forehead alone!" She eximed.

    "If you want me to stop, you have to beat me first!"

    Damien dered smugly.

    "Hmph! I''m strong now too, big brother! I''ll beat you up and chop your forehead back!"

    Xue''er put her fists up as she spoke, and surprisingly enough¡­

    A current of mana flowed from her body and red into the surroundings.

    Damien smiled slightly as he blocked the punches that followed.

    Looking at her now felt surreal.

    Time was truly an iprehensible thing. While experiencing it oneself, it didn''t feel like anything at all, however, witnessing a change as drastic as a child''s growth grounded the concept and forced one to realize its passing.

    Damien was currently experiencing this feeling.

    When did that little Xue''er be so big? She was already up to his stomach in height, and even though she still disyed willful innocence, he could clearly see a light of maturity growing in her eyes.

    He''d been so busy over the years that he''d never truly had time to take her growth into ount. That is, until two years ago.

    Two years ago, when Damien realized that he would be trapped in the Void Corridor for a considerable amount of time, he took a moment to enter the Sanctuary and rest his mind.

    Unlike his previous small vacations, this onested an entire week. During this time, he truly realized that Xue''er was no longer a child.

    It was time for her to make a decision for her future.

    Whether or not she wanted to be a practitioner, Damien felt he knew the answer ever since he first saw her interacting with spirits.

    Regardless, he had the conversation with her, and he received that obvious answer directly from her mouth.

    From that point for tu, Xue''er became Elvira''s disciple and began studying mana and spirit control seriously.

    The growth potential she''d showcased was something even Damien didn''t expect.

    It had only been 2 years, yet Xue''er had progressed far past her 1st ss, and at this time¡­

    "Haa!" She let out a fiercely cute war cry as she mmed her palm through the air.

    A colorful swirl of mana and spirits formed before her and shot at Damien like cannon fire.

    This attack was termed "Swirly Beam" by Xue''er, and was a skill she earned upon promotion to her second ss.

    A ss which she was already halfway through.

    It was unfathomable.

    A future 14-year-old 3rd ss being¡­

    Just what kind of monster had Damien picked up from the Trial World?

 Chapter 851 Growth [3]

    Spending time with Xue''er was something Damien rarely got to do, but now that he had a modicum of time, he could finally spend a few days appeasing the grievance of this little sister that he''d been neglecting for so long.

    While it was a shame that he couldn''t take her out of Theavel to enjoy the sights of Grand Heavens Boundary, he did his best to make up for this by providing Xue''er an experience like she''d never felt before.

    Using Void Mana and his absolute control over the Sanctuary''sws, Damien could essentially do anything as long as it wasn''t at the level of resurrecting the dead.

    As such, building a few amusement park rides, a movie theater, and other novel entertainment areas wasn''t a problem at all.

    For Damien, the definition of fun was his memories of earth, those days when he could game and watch tv as much as he wanted, when he could go out and experience the beautiful nightlife of his home city and enjoy weekends with his friends.

    He couldn''t give Xue''er the exact same experience she would''ve had as a regr girl on earth, but it wasn''t hard to emte it.

    Besides, Xue''er was quite the poprss among her peers. She had no small number of friends that eventually joined her and Damien on their escapades.

    From appeasing Xue''er, Damien randomly found himself satisfying the whims of an entire horde of children.

    He looked over at Xue''er, only for her to sh him a fox-like smile.

    ''I''ve been tricked.''

    He smiled wryly when he realized it. Xue''er was a teenager after all.

    Without much ability to resist, Damien spent the next three days with the group of children that rapidly grew with the passing of time. At the end, he even threw something akin to a mini-rave for the brats.

    If there was one thing Damien learned, it was that children and mana did NOT mix well together. These kids had endless energy and endless curiosity that they had the mental capacity to actually satisfy,

    It was like giving a steroid and cocaine smoothie to someone with ADHD.

    Nevertheless, the seemingly endless headache eventually found its conclusion. 3 days and 3 nightster, Damien finally tucked Xue''er into bed and walked out to a peaceful scenery devoid of parties and raves.

    ''Theavel''s sky needs some stars.''

    The starless sky had been bothering Damien for years, but his current circumstance didn''t allow him to fix it.

    When he returned to the Real ne, he could eventually solve this problem, but before he did that, there were still a few things left to do on the Wild Continent.

    ''It''s been over a month since the second batch arrived. I don''t know if a third batch was sent afterwards, but with how much time has passed, everyone should be properly herded by now.''

    For a phenomenon as prominent as a Void Corridor, it was obvious that both the Nox and Heaven''s Army would send powerful experts. It was likely that there were even 9th revolution masters present within the Void Corridor.

    Honestly, it would''ve been far easier for Damien to pick apart the Nox forces while they were separated so he could avoid the eyes of those extreme peak experts, but his circumstances didn''t allow such an easy route.

    He was trapped in the Sky Emperor''s pce until Xinyue finallypleted the trial, after all.

    ''No matter. I''ll make do with what I have. Besides, even though my level has been constantly improving, my strength seems to have stagnated.''

    Damien''s actual strength had seen no drastic changes in the 2 years he''d been in the Void Corridor. For Damien, who progressed at an ungodly speed, 2 years of stagnation felt fatal.

    However, what he gained in return for this stagnation was a sea of fragmented memories.

    He''d devoured so many remnant souls that the remaining dead emperors created such an unttering nickname for him. While these remnants didn''t have the full memories of their living selves, they at least had enough recollection to define their egos.

    As such, Damien was able to learn much about the power structure of the forgotten era, the territories that were most valued at the time, and even arge majority of the heroic experts whose names would''ve been passed through the generations if not for theplete erasure of information about the distant past.

    Along with these truths¡­<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Grand Heavens Boundary¡­used to be far bigger.''

    There were currently 7 inhabitable Sectors remaining in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    However, in the vestiges of the past¡­

    ''Where did the other 11 Sectors vanish to?''

    Grand Heavens Boundary used to be a massive universe more than double its current size. It was home to an infinite number of races, most of which Damien had never seen or even heard of before, and hosted a mana density that was unfathomable in current society,

    90% of those ancient races had gone extinct.

    The mana density weakened to around half of its former glory,

    And 11 Sectors vanished into thin air.

    ''At first, I wanted to believe that the Sectors are merely what we know as the Abyss that exists outside of Eien, but it isn''t so simple.''

    The Abyss was the Abyss. It wasn''t an area that came into existence due to the result of an ancient war.

    If one circled Eien until they reached the Elven Domain, they would clearly be able to tell the difference between the Dead Zone that the Elven Domain had be and the Abyss that stood parallel to it.

    So then, what happened to those 11 Sectors?

    Even if the Abyss wasn''t directly the answer to this question, it was definitely rted.

    Damien''s thought to explore the Abyss became firmer, but now wasn''t the time for it.

    ''After I escape the Void Corridor, there are still several matters to solve within the universe. The Bloodlock n should start chasing me soon, the Grand Assembly will start within a year, and there are still several traitors polluting Heaven''s Army and even the upper echelons of the universe. Until at least a majority of these problems are solved, I cannot leave the universe behind so easily.''

    Damien didn''t care much for those living in the universe. He had no interest in acting for the greater good.

    What he wanted to save wasn''t the universe''s people, but the universe itself, this ce that allowed him to exist and grow.

    ''I''ll be able to see Rose and Ruyue again at the Grand Assembly, so staying until then is a must.''

    Damien sighed longingly.

    This separation from his wives was the longest he''d experienced thus far, and though he reaffirmed his love for them every time they were apart, the feeling he got this time was different.

    ''I don''t want to continue like this.''

    He would eventually have to leave his wives again even after he reunited with them. This was the fate he shouldered as he walked the path he walked. However, he refused to be separated from them indefinitely.

    ''Production is almost finished¡­''

    Damien''s eyes widened. His gaze pierced Theavel''s atmosphere and observed the Void where only a single sun and moon resided.

    However, clear fluctuations of hot and cold could be felt from the celestial bodies that opposed them.

    For some reason¡­

    ¡­it made one feel as if the sun and moon were being refined.

 Chapter 852 Growth [4]

    The second night turned to day marked thepletion of Damien''s routine checks through Theavel.

    ''It looks like the five continents have formed a rtionship of nonaggression since the world leaders are a tight-knit group. When ites to major conflict, Theavel will probably never experience it. Though, that''s to be expected.''

    As the first world in the Sanctuary''s budding universe, Theavel was the most stable. It was formed from only people who had some sort of personal connection to Damien and those who served them.

    However, as the universe grew, this kind of harmony naturally wouldn''tst.

    ''Until then, this ce will remain peaceful, which¡­isn''t bad as long as the Sanctuary hasn''t bloomed into a true universe.''

    When that day finally came, it was still unknown whether the current atmosphere could prevail.

    ''Putting aside future prospects, I never expected Elitra to have such administrative potential.''

    Damien had been visiting the Sanctuary far more frequently since he entered the Void Corridor, but he still never interfered with its politics. At the same time, he did everything in his power to avoid Elitra, who seemed to have an uncanny ability to sense his presence when he was near.

    With thebination of these factors, Damien never got to see Elitra''s talent firsthand. At least, not untilst night.

    ''I''ll have to ask Elvira to put her in a higher position so she can fully make use of her potential. When the Sanctuary grows in the future, she should be able to manage multiple worlds and keep them in order.''

    Damien smiled wholeheartedly. Finally, he found a use for that useless maid. He almost wanted to cry imagining the scene of her being too busy to pay him any mind.

    ''After the army gets ustomed to the squad formations I learned from Heaven''s Army and Tyler, I can start taking them out into Eien for training. This is the best way to rapidly raise their level.''

    Unfortunately, the army he was raising was raised in an ivory tower. He absolutely needed them to experience the cruelty of reality before they became useful.

    ''Hm, maybe I''ve be a bit heartless, but it can''t be helped. For their sakes and for the universe''s sake, they must grow as fast as possible.''

    Being a ruler was too troublesome. Damien wasn''t used to worrying about other people''s affairs to such an extent, and it was taking a slight toll on him.

    He was lucky to have Elvira and the rest. Without their help, Theavel would''ve absolutely turned into awlessnd or a dictatorship by now.

    ''Nevertheless, now that morning''se, it''s time to go.''

    Damien shed away, appearing near a meditating Xinyue and bringing her along with him.

    After saying his final goodbyes to the Sanctuarians, he vanished from the realm, returning to the Sky Emperor''s Pce.

    "Haa, it''s refreshing to leave without doing all the long goodbyes. I guess I should keep visiting frequently to avoid that." Damien sighed, stretching his body.

    "Hm? Why are you so silent?" He asked when he noticed Xinyue''s strange mood.

    She''d been in the Sanctuary with him for the past few days, and while she got to see many endearing sides of his personality, she also slowly got to understand what kind of role he held in that strange world.

    He was a ruler.

    The world itself was a ce that could easily be destroyed with the force of the Ancient God n, but it had a strange set of worldws that didn''t conform to the universal standard that Xinyue knew, which endlessly confused her.

    How could such a world exist?

    And how did this man be its ruler?

    The questions piling up in her head only became more extensive as she spent more time with him, but she knew that she couldn''t let him go until she figured out the secret behind his eyes.

    As such, she was forced into a passive position where she didn''t quite know how to face the man in front of her.

    She didn''t want to be submissive, but she also knew that she couldn''t keep her same prideful attitude.

    Seeing her choose not to answer his question, Damien shrugged and turned his back.

    "Old man, I''ll be taking my spoils now! What are you nning to do?" He yelled into the air.

    "I will stay." The ancient voice of the Sky Emperor''s remnant soul rang out in response. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Are you sure? It''s going to be an especially bumpy ride for you if you decide to apany me." Damien reiterated.

    But the Sky Emperor didn''t leave any room for doubt.

    "I have thought over this decision for many months already. My true self died long ago, and my current existence is far too pitiful. If I have to be extinguished regardless, I''d rather witness a miracle before I go."

    Damien grinned. "Whatever you say."

    Bang!

    He stomped his foot into the Sky Emperor Pce''s floor. A web of hairline cracks spread from the point of impact, soon transforming into bright golden lines that crossed the floor and formed a strange pattern that epassed the whole pce.

    "All that''s left to do is your part," Damien said.

    "Mm." The Sky Emperor affirmed. His aura red into the surroundings for a brief instant, and the golden formation was dyed red.

    In that moment, the Sky Emperor officially relinquished his control over the pce.

    Damien dripped his blood onto the red-lined floor, causing the formation to pulsate.

    Voom!

    A wave of mana spread through the air. It was vast andplete, a mana that resembled the sky.

    Voom!

    A second wave of mana spread. It was dark and untraceable, containing traces of countless differentws.

    This was Damien''s mana. Once it finished spreading through the pce¡­

    ''I finally gained my own God Rank artifact.''

    Damien grinned. Ever since he saw Long Chen acquire the Empyrean Dragon Sword back when he was in the Cloud ne, Damien had been desiring a God Rank treasure himself,

    He didn''t need a sword, he didn''t need armor, he didn''t need supportive treasures. Damien somewhatmented his self-sustainability when he realized how useless most treasures were to him.

    But this pce was different. It was both a residence and a fortress with heavy offensive and defensive power. Rather than a pce, it was better to call this structure a top-grade starship disguised as a pce.

    To hold a vessel with the same power level as the Nox''s star destroyer in his hands, how could Damien not be excited?

    ''And coincidentally enough, the perfect targets to test this thing''s power on are readily avable in this realm.''

    "Well then, no need to hesitate."

    Damien pushed his mana into the pce formation.

    RUMBLE!

    The earth rumbled. The pce''s foundation began to lift off of the ground, tearing apart from the earth below.

    It didn''t feel like a clean process at all. The shaking was intense to the point where it felt like the whole pce would copse, it was hard to imagine that these walls could handle such fierce shockwaves.

    However, as expected of a God Rank artifact, there were no problems with its structural integrity.

    The rumbling gradually calmed down as the pce further detached from the ground, and in a matter of minutes¡­

    The ancient treasure that had been forced into stagnancy for so long finally moved once more.

    A golden pce flew through the sky. It''s destination¡­?

    Naturally, it was anywhere the Nox were present.

 Chapter 853 Attack [1]

    Over a month had passed since the second round of entrants made their way into the Void Corridor. In this time, a number of things had happened.

    For one, several experts from both sides saw rapid increases in strength. Most of this strength came from the abundant resources of the Wild Continent, many of which had efficacy rivaling direct leveling fruits.

    However, there was a strange phenomenon that urred when they tried to enter Legacy Tombs to attain ancient inheritances.

    Regardless of which tomb it was, which allegiance the ancient expert had, they''d only open their inheritances to humans. These humans felt incredibly blessed, as, besides the Legacy Tombs that only epted humans, the rest didn''t have inheritances at all!

    Compared to the great rumors about Void Corridors, reality was extremely disappointing.

    Though, why did it seem less like the realm was trash and more like it was raided beforehand?

    Nevertheless, this possibility was so unfathomable that it wasn''t given any thought. Rather than focusing on the mystery of the inheritances, the two sides realized it was more beneficial topete for resources.

    As such, scuffles started both between opposing forces and those on the same side. A fierce melee broke out for several days before the leaders of both forces quelled their troops and brought order to the realm.

    After all, the secondary goal that all people held ining to the Wild Continent was exterminating the enemy. How could they tolerate internal conflict at such a time?

    By the time the second week rolled around, the conflict evolved into several full-scale battles between Heaven''s Army and the Nox Army.

    Countless people on both sides died, but these deaths were usually limited to ground troops and those under thete stages of 4th ss. On a battlefield of experts such as this one, they were nothing more than cannon fodder.

    Deaths among those above that level were far more disastrous. Each one meant a substantial loss of battle power, and while several experts from both sides died, the Nox currently held the advantage.

    They simply had too many experts. There were several tens of thousands ofte-stage 4th ss denizens in the Void Corridor, along with a few thousand extreme peak masters, however, the Nox had at least thousands more troops at both levels.

    Heaven''s Army was fighting an uphill battle, but since when were they not? They endured as they always did and fought for the sake of their lives and their homnd.

    Currently, the two sides were at an involuntary ceasefire.

    3 days ago, a mystical scent started to permeate the Wild Continent. This scent could instantly revitalize one''s body. The Nox and Grand Heavens Boundary denizens hadpletely different physiques, but the effect of the scent remained the same throughout.

    This could only mean it was a heavenly material. Resources under the level of heavenly materials simply didn''t have overarching effects that didn''t vary from person to person.

    On another note, the only benefit humanity''s birth physique had over other races was the fact that they had highpatibility with all resources, a product of their high adaptability.

    Nevertheless, the emergence of a heavenly material was a major event. It wasn''t something that could be approached carelessly, as any small factor could potentially ruin the blooming process of such a precious material.

    As such, both sides recalled their forces and began slowly preparing for the birth phenomenon to show itself so they could charge to the heavenly material''s location and im it.

    ***

    In and of darkness somewhere on the Wild Continent, a scene resembling hell presented itself to all present,

    Countless feral and mindless ck beings were chained together in a massive pit, their numbers reaching the tens of millions. They tried to climb over each other and even devour each other, but the muzzles and chains keeping them down didn''t allow them to act rowdy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    This pit stood at the forefront of the Nox base camp, holding the Lesser Nox beings who had been brought into the realm.

    Past the pit was arge structure that looked like a cross between a pce and a temple. This was the residence of the Nox Army''s leader, a Supreme at the 9th revolution.

    This structure was surrounded by a plethora of smaller structures that housed the rest of the Higher Nox poption, however, at the moment, most of the important members of the Nox Army were at the Supreme''s residence.

    "As you know, our primary goal in this secret realm is to cripple one man. The rest of Heaven''s Army is merely a group of ants we must crush before achieving our goal." The Supreme stated, panning his gaze over his subordinates.

    "Has anyone found information about that man yet?"

    Despite the Supreme''s prompting, nobody spoke up. Despite spending a month gathering intel through several scuffles and battles, they hadn''t caught a hint of the man''s existence.

    The Supreme''s eyes turned cold. "You are all powerful experts, yet you can''t find a single boy?"

    "Sir Theon, it isn''t that we haven''t found him, but rather that he hadn''t appeared at all. It is almost as if he is purposefully evading our forces." A High Commander said quietly.

    "Expand on that." The Supreme said.

    "Yes, sir. We received confirmation from the Envoy that the boy entered the Void Corridor, so we can be sure that he is present somewhere on the Wild Continent. However, we have scoured every inch of the continent in the past month and we have yet to find traces of him. It is likely that he took refuge within an inheritance site and hid there." The High Commander responded.

    The Supreme furrowed his brows. It wasn''t an impossible theory. After all, the boy they were chasing was a human. He had ess to the inheritances that all others were barred from.

    "Hmph, does he truly think he can hide from us? Even if he managed to perceive the threat of our presence, to think he would be such a coward." He scoffed.

    "However, Sir Theon, what if it was merely happenstance? Even if the target''s strength is weak, we should still be prudent. No small character can garner the attention of the Emperors."

    The Supreme nced at the High Commander and nodded. "You are right. Heighten surveince of Heaven''s Army and fortify the campsite. If he has the guts to confront us, we shall face him with our full force."

    The Supreme''s decision went into effect before the meeting even ended. As soon as they finished speaking about the topic, the Supreme''s orders were carried out.

    At the same time, they moved on to discussions about the heavenly material.

    However, Sir Theon, the Supreme, still had his mind on the previous topic.

    Their current goal was both unheard of and demeaning. For a Supreme like him to be tasked with crippling, not even killing but merely crippling, a rising genius who wasn''t even at thete stage of 4th ss yet, had such a situation ever urred in the past?

    The reason Theon epted the order willingly was because he was curious. He also had ambitions, and as someone with huge ambitions, meeting the man who could cause an Emperor to act so out of character was imperative.

    Even as his subordinates discussed how to deal with the Supreme of Heaven''s Army, the question remained in his mind:

    ''Just who is Damien Void?''

    BOOOOOOM!

 Chapter 854 Attack [2]

    ''Just who is Damien Void?''

    BOOOOOOM!

    Sir Theon''s thought was instantly proceeded by the sound of a muffled explosion.

    He stood up, his eyes narrowing. He looked past the bounds of his residence to see¡­

    A golden pce hovered in the sky. Behind it, a golden ring of mana formed like a halo. Currently, this golden ring was emitting furious light that transformed into a rain of swords that plunged into the earth below, absolutely demolishing the Lesser Nox pit in its totality.

    With a single explosion, several hundred thousand Lesser Nox were incinerated to the point of no return. And even as the Supreme watched, the pce started charging for a second attack.

    "Presumptuous!"

    He mmed his hand down on the table, and without him needing to speak again, the High Commanders in the room moved.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The air exploded as several powerful auras red into the atmosphere. The High Commanders shot through the air and reached the golden pce in an instant.

    "Who is so brave to charge into our camp!"

    "Hmph! Who cares? Destroy this atrocious structure!"

    The High Commanders galvanized their mana, causing a ck tide to form in the air and crash down on the pce, enveloping it entirely.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Within the murky ck waters, several deadly attacks were hidden. The pce found itself barraged by countless profound Nox Laws, the scent of death corroding its surface.

    "Break for me!"

    A High Commander shouted as he pushed his mana. He formed a strange shape with his hands, forcing his mana to follow.

    "Death Spiral!"

    A cyclone shot from his body and charged at the pce. While it looked like a simple attack that even a 2nd ss could pull off, it actually hid a profound mystery of death, the concept of vicissitude, within.

    This concept was especially useful for structural damage, as it spread corrosion on a more intrinsic level and even damaged the lifespan of materials, making them brittle and easily broken.

    BOOOOM!

    The spiral collided with the pce wall, pushing into its surface like a massive ck drill. Sparks flew in all directions and a smoke cloud formed, bringing color to the darkness.

    This ferocious attack was one of many. At least 10 attacks with the same level of force struck the pce in unison, bombarding it and forcing it into a state of inaction.

    It was a domineering scene with no witnesses.

    However, when the ck tide cleared away, the pce stood unblemished.

    "What¡­?!" a High Commander eximed.

    Hearing it, a small grin spread on the face of a certain purple-eyed genius.

    "Since your assault was unsessful, it''s my turn now!"

    The pce''s golden light shined once again, sending a flurry of attacks back at the High Commanders and the earth below.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Each golden sword projection was terrifyingly sharp and powerful, forcing the High Commanders to acknowledge them.

    And while they were stuck dealing with the attacks, the rest of the sword rain went unhindered as it crashed into the earth.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOOOM!

    "Who dares?!"

    A roar resounded through the air. It was followed by the appearance of several hundred Higher Nox at the extreme peak of the 4th ss who swarmed the ground below and shielded the camp from the sword rain.

    Within the golden pce, Damien''s grin only widened.

    "Good, good! Send as many as you can, and then send your Supreme as the cherry on top! Hahahaha!"

    His borderline maniacalughter rmed those who could hear him, specifically, the crowd of three women who resided in the pce with him.

    That''s right, the number of females in Damien''s party increased by two in the time it took to find and reach the Nox base camp. Though, only one of them was corporeal. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Nevertheless, the three women had varying expressions on their faces. Alice maintained an attitude of curiosity when she woke up in such a mystical environment with an unfamiliar man. Alexandra was far warier, and especially in the current situation, she was panicking for her life.

    As for Xinyue, she showed no expression at all. After leaving the Sanctuary, it was like she became a nk te.

    Damien didn''t pay any mind to these women. How could they hold any importance when he was currently controlling a badass star weapon?!

    ''This is every man''s dream!'' He eximed inwardly as he stared into the various holographic screens that showed him the outside world.

    ''This is ducking awesome!''

    He mmed his hand down on a certain formation node. The structure of the pce went through a subtle change as a row of cannons unveiled themselves from the multiple spires of the structure.

    "Fire!"

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    A rain of cannon fire joined the rain of swords. Despite the number of High Commanders increasing, the effect of their existence didn''t increase at all.

    They were forced down by the pce''s weaponry, unable to even focus on protecting the camp below them.

    Explosions became somonce that the air felt strange without ash in it. The hellishndscape became a true hell as the Nox who couldn''t defend themselves were removed from the reincarnation cycle.

    Damien''s eyes twinkled.

    The pce was showing its true greatness at this very moment.

    What he was pulling now, perhaps even a Supreme couldn''t do.

    The amount of damage he was doing to the Nox''s experts was negligible, but the rest of their army¡­?

    It was impossible for those several tens of millions of troops to survive if the pce was allowed to continue its tyranny.

    This was the product of God Rank defense. Even a Supreme would fall under the strikes of another Supreme.

    The pce, however¡­

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A world-crushing aura surfaced on the horizon. Sir Theon''s figure stood in front of the sun and, despite his size, he seemed to eclipse it entirely.

    "Bold fool who dares to attack my camp, face the consequences of your actions!"

    Sir Theon mmed his hands together and moved his mana.

    "Demonic Needle!"

    Above his head, a needle materialized. It was several hundred kilometers in length, but its very tip was sharp to a microscopic degree.

    As Sir Theon threw his arm forward, the needle moved at impossible speeds. It appeared before the castle in an instant and drilled into its surface.

    Bzzzzzzt!

    The sparks that flew from the collision sparked mes that burned even the atmosphere itself, the mere shockwaves were enough to plunge the earth below into chaos.

    In fact, Sir Theon''s attack likely killed more Nox than any single one of Damien''s.

    "We''re dead! We''re really dead this time!" Alexandra eximed.

    "Big brother, are we going to die?!" Alice eximed.

    "Who''s your big brother, you damn hag?! You''re thousands of years older than me!" Damien scoffed.

    He couldn''t fault the women for being scared, but¡­

    The needle finally dissipated after causing immense environmental damage and even sweeping away several extreme peak Nox masters.

    The dust cloud and sparks settled, revealing the pce''s condition.

    Sir Theon''s eyes widened.

    Anyone who could see it could only stare at it in bafflement.

    In the ce where the needle struck¡­

    There was only a small chip in the pce''s defense.

 Chapter 855 Retreat [1]

    ''This¡­''

    Sir Theon''s eyes widened in shock as the dust cleared.

    His attack, even if it didn''t contain his full power, was only able to cause a tiny chip in the pce wall?

    Just what kind of material was this treasure made of?!

    "Hahahaha!"

    Damien''s raucousughter resounded through the air. Looking at the Supreme''s expression, how could he not be jubnt?

    "Try again, try three times, try as much as you want! You won''t be able to do anything! Hahahaha!"

    Damien was more than pleased with the castle.

    And now that he''d tested its power¡­

    ''It''s time to retreat.''

    Going against the Nox Army alone wasughable. Even if the golden pce was a God Rank artifact, it was still being controlled by Damien.

    In terms of attack power, he couldn''t truly damage any of these extreme peak experts, let alone a Supreme. The only true "God Ranked" ability that the golden pce had at the moment was its physical defense.

    As such, Damien never nned to bank on this reckless attack. It was a taunt, a show of dominance to humiliate these scum who dared to invade his universe.

    ''But¡­maybe I should cause a little bit more damage before I leave.'' He thought with a smirk.

    ''Let''s get a bit creative, shall we?''

    He pushed his mana. The pitch-ck hue of Void Mana permeated the golden pce and corrupted its formations. Damien''s irises swirled with power as he tweaked his mana intricately to mimic and mirror the golden pce''s functions.

    Afterward, he superimposed the Void Mana system onto the existing one.

    Voom!

    A wave of power spread.

    Damien grinned.

    ''Now, let''s get started for real.''

    He threw his hand out andmanded the golden pce. The formation whirred to life.

    Outside, the golden halo that backed the pce began to change in shape and color. It formed a crown that rotated around the castle''s spires, ck and bedazzled with several precious jewels.

    ''Fire.''

    The ck crown shined with brilliant light. Light rays flew from its surface in all directions, covering Heaven and Earth.

    XIUUUUU!

    Each beam was like a concentrated death ray. Any troops under the extreme peak of 4th ss that were caught in a beam were incinerated in an instant.

    Evente-stage beings were in like chickens and pigs.

    "Dammit! Am I a joke to you?!"

    Sir Theon''s furious roar eclipsed the terrifying roars of the pce. He mmed his hands together and galvanized his mana.

    The atmosphere changed.

    The ckness got deeper, almost as if it was a living abyss.

    A sticky feeling spread through the air like the webs of a spider.

    Sir Theon''s eyes were stained pitch ck.

    His fury disappeared from his face, reced with only indifference.

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    ''This¡­''

    This was a Demonic Providence, an extremely powerful one at that.

    ''Even if the pce can hypothetically walk away from an attack like that, I have no desire to risk it.''

    Damien''s eyes hardened. By the flow of mana in the atmosphere, it would take another second for the Supreme to finish casting his skill.

    ''Then this is my final chance.''

    Damien formed a number of seals with his hands and pushed his foot into the floor below. The crown above the pce rotated once more and hovered above the pce.

    In an instant, it detached itself from the pce structure and flew as an independent object.

    ''Go.''

    "Demon God Summoning!"

    Two attacks were fired at once.

    A massive ck crown crashed into the ground, spreading a wave of death that spanned several tens of thousands of kilometers.

    A pair of eyes opened in the abyss. A maw that could swallow stars with ease opened and attempted to swallow the golden pce.

    ''Mister Supreme, I''ll see youter.'' Damien thought to himself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He stomped his foot once more.

    The golden pce''s formation activated.

    And¡­

    Arge-scale teleportation took ce.

    The entire pce vanished several million kilometers into the distance, far beyond the perception of anyone present.

    RAAAAAAAAA!

    A demonic god roared in fury after losing its prey.

    Sir Theon clutched his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood, his face bing noticeably paler.

    He gritted his teeth and stared into the distance, hatred and fury zing in his eyes.

    ''I do not know who you are, but I will make sure that your entire bloodline is wiped from existence, even if I must die to do so!''

    Sir Theon eventually returned to the earth and entered his residence.

    He wouldn''t be seen again for many days.

    Just like that, the sudden and deadly assault on the Nox Army came to an end.

    The final death toll¡­

    On the attacker side, none at all.

    As for the Nox¡­the number was over 4 million.

    A majority of their Lesser Nox force and even arge portion of their Higher Nox experts were killed.

    The worst part was, the Nox didn''t even know who their attacker was.

    Even though they didn''t lose any of their key forces¡­

    The assault was theirplete defeat.

    ***

    No matter how hard one tried, on a battlefield where intelligence agents were everywhere, it was impossible to hide news for long.

    The rumor that the Nox Army had been assaulted by a mystical golden pce and lost arge portion of their forces was verified 2 days after the event.

    The entirety of Heaven''s Army was abuzz with chatter about the event.

    Just who was the mysterious expert who dared to do such a thing?

    In the end, were they allies, or merely passing helpers?

    And most of all¡­

    Would Asuran Gate let this go?

    Within the Asuran Gate base camp, a man sat at his desk, veins bulging from his forehead as if to iterate his fury.

    "Who is this audacious fool?!"

    Lucas Streem cursed in frustration, mming his fist down on his desk.

    This Void Corridor was an amazing opportunity for him.

    If he could distinguish himself here, there was a chance for him to be pulled out of this hellish battlefield and sent to train in the main n!

    This was something every Asuran Gate member wished for, yet it was almost impossible to achieve.

    Now that Lucas hade across an opportunity to make this impossible possible, how could he not be furious?

    "How dare he steal my spotlight?!"

    His zing eyes red past the bounds of his tent.

    "You, and you! Find information on that golden pce within 2 days. If I don''t hear back¡­"

    The two men guarding his tent jumped and shivered in fear.

    ""Yes, sir!""

    They didn''t dare disobey. They could onlyment that they were forced to aplish this impossible task.

    Because they knew the consequence of failing.

    Lucas Streem wasn''t the type to threaten one''s life. He understood that pride went a long way in this society.

    He was a man who used one''s connections against them. Loved ones, friends, family, anybody who could die to motivate a soldier would die.

    Such a man was currently harboring an almost possessive hatred for an unknown enemy.

    And funnily enough, this enemy was an ally.

    Just how would Damien react if he realized that he unintentionally made both Supremes on the Wild Continent despise him?

    Perhaps the wry expression on his face wouldn''t vanish for several years.

 Chapter 856 Retreat [2]

    Somewhere in the Wild Continent, a golden pce emerged from the void and took rest on the earth below.

    The pce wasrge on its own, but when ced in the mountain range where it currently found itself, it didn''t look too magnificent at all.

    Within his personal quarters, Damien sat quietly with his eyes closed. A white and ck swirl of mana circled his body and pulsated, growing denser and purer with every passing second.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien exhaled a light breath and opened his eyes.

    ''Samsara Intent is still difficult. Using it in battle has be smoother, but creating a moveset using Samsara Intent is more taxing than expected¡­''

    Damien frowned. When he first startedprehending space, he used his sword as a medium to project his mana with ease. Using a medium to create a move set andprehend a concept was far easier than doing so without one.

    ''However, I don''t want to make a new sword art.''

    Damien wasn''t a sword practitioner. He used the sword out of necessity when he first started out, and as he grew, it became one of his many viable attack methods.

    If he were to return to the sword at this point in time, it''d harm him more than it helped him. Even if Damien knew he was a genius, he wouldn''t recklessly bite off more than he could chew.

    The sword path wasn''t for him, and that was invible fact.

    ''Then¡­''

    In terms of weapons, the only other one he had was the Twin Moons.

    ''A gun art?''

    It wasn''t unheard of, and it also provided an avenue wholly different from the sword path. If Spacetime and Samsara could be separated into sword and gun, maneuvering them in battle would also be much easier.

    ''The only problem is that I know nothing about professional guny.''

    Damien shook his head and stood up, thinking that he needed to find a master on the outside to teach him once he returned to Eien.

    ''Actually, couldn''t Prisci provide one for me?''

    Last time, even though she''d creeped him out, Prisci had given Damien a great deal of help. And even if he didn''t use her much, Ximen Wuhen wasn''t a bad helper at all.

    After the original battle, Damien took the opportunity to stuff her in the Sanctuary and keep her there. Of course, he would still bring her out if he ever needed help, merely¡­

    ''Prisci''s eyes can''t be so sharp.''

    It was fine if there were people who observed him from a distance, but such close-range observation that could unearth his secrets, especially when he was still growing with the help of the various things he earned from the Void Corridor and beyond, wasn''t eptable. He had decided long ago that Prisci would only learn about the cards he wanted her to know, no more no less.

    Ximen Wuhen had no method to escape the Sanctuary, and after staying there for two years, she learned to adapt and fit into Theavel''s society.

    In all honesty, Damien believed she would do far better as a minister in Theavel than anything she could aplish under Prisci.

    Nevertheless, Damien didn''t bring it up to the woman quite yet because her personality seemed to be a nk te other than her loyalty for the High Commander, likely the result of some kind of mental maniption.

    ''Whatever, it''s not my business. For now, I should n my path forward.''

    It was unknown when the Void Corridor would reopen and force everyone out, but before then, the Nox needed to go.

    ''I could ce faith in Heaven''s Army, but ording to Alexandra, the current force is led by a subsidiary faction of Blood Asura Holy Land. Interacting with them is dangerous, especially right now.''

    It wasn''t the worst-case scenario. Three months still hadn''t passed since Damien''s exit from the Celestial Realm, so there were still a few tens of days before the Bloodlock n learned about what he did to Reavus. However, revealing his location right now in any capacity was dangerous.

    He still hadn''t acquired the power he desired, the power that would allow him to fend off the extreme peak experts of the Bloodlock n.

    ''If Heaven''s Army isn''t viable, there are two routes I could take¡­''

    The first route was more direct. It was for Damien to personally take action and make use of his familiarity with the Wild Continent to lead the Nox on a rat race that slowly whittled away their forces.

    The second route, however¡­

    ''Can I enlist their help? With their dispositions, it will either be more straightforward than I could ever hope for or nigh impossible with no in-between.''

    Regardless, if he got their help, Damien was confident in killing off the Supreme and decimating the Nox Army.

    Several tens of thousands of extreme peak masters, just how big of a setback would the Nox face if they died?

    It was a scene Damien desperately wanted to see.

    As such¡­

    ''Fuck it, let''s just try it out. Even if I can''t defeat them, they can''t kill me either.''

    With that thought in mind, Damien''s body shed away from the golden pce, traveling several million miles in the distance before reaching a hidden alcove covered by wild vines and greenery.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Old hag,e out!" Damien yelled.

    His voice echoed through the alcove in an impossible manner, seemingly disappearing into a void that didn''t exist.

    Suddenly, the mana in the air swirled and took the form of an olddy not much taller than Damien''s leg.

    When her figure took physical form, she nced over at Damien indifferently.

    Then, her face changed,

    "Brat, didn''t I tell you not to address me the same way you do with those old ghosts?! I''m alive and well, you know! I''m still in my prime!"

    Her eyes turned red and her teeth turned into jagged edges. She raised the cane in her hand and, without suspense, started relentlessly beating Damien over his head.

    "Hey, hey! Okay, I''m sorry! Let me go, granny!"

    "Granny?"

    "Auntie?"

    "Auntie?!"

    "Big¡­sister¡­?"

    "Brat, you''re dead!"

    "No, I''m too young and handsome to die!"

    Damien ran in circles around the alcove as he tried his best to avoid the olddy''s cane, though, it was an impossible goal in the first ce.

    Thwack!

    Thwack!

    Thwack!

    Three strong wacks had him lying on the floor with aicallyrge bump on his head.

    "Haa, Granny Liu, did you have to give me such a rough greeting? I''m a fragile man, you know?" Heined as he sat up and brushed off his injuries.

    "Tch," Granny Liu scoffed, "you brat only looks for people when you need something. Don''t try to y me like a fool because I''m old."

    Damien chuckled awkwardly and looked away. Well¡­he couldn''t necessarily prove her wrong.

    ''But if you''re going to call yourself old, why are you beating me for saying it?!''

    Wait, that wasn''t the point right now!

    "Granny, I need help! Please give me a trial!"

    Granny Liu nced at Damien and sighed, "What is it this time?"

    Seeing her positive response, he grinned.

    As expected, forming a good rtionship with these people was a great idea.

    When he first arrived in the Wild Continent, he''d met them by chance after raiding a great emperor''s tomb. They were headed to find the inheritance as well, but strangely enough, rather than the inheritance, they just wanted a small portion of the resources he earned.

    The resource they needed was called the Crystallized Ginseng, something Damien didn''t need at all since it was a body-tempering resource.

    He could''ve made a trade with them, but since he didn''t need the resources and he was looking for a way to get rid of some of his stock, he simply gave them all the Crystallized Ginseng he''d found until that point.

    His random act of grace ended up getting him in the good graces of this indigenous race that resided in the Wild Continent.

    Damien grinned.

    "I want to take care of some pests." He answered Granny Liu''s question with confidence.

    Because with their help, a mere Nox Army that only had a single supreme wouldn''t be a problem anymore.

    After all¡­

    They were descendants of the Titan Race, the progenitors and ancestors of the Giant Race that existed in the Grand Heavens Boundary in the current era.

    When it came to physical power¡­

    Perhaps even the greatest Primal Sovereign wouldn''t even be able to match their top experts.

 Chapter 857 Trials [1]

    In Grand Heavens Boundary, the existence of the Titan Race was long forgotten. They had been extinct for several hundred thousand years, and even the giants who were birthed from them didn''t have any records about them.

    This was partly due to the sheer amount of time that passed and the disposition of Titans and Giants. In terms of written history, they were far worse than other races as they were disinclined to keep such records.

    However, more than that was another reason. The Titan Race had been actively erased from history by experts of the past, and their descendants were banished into the Void Corridor so as topletely eliminate the possibility of Titans reappearing in the universe.

    After all, the Titan Race was a race of traitors.

    ***

    The small alcove opened up around Damien and Granny Liu, giving way to a long earthen corridor that descended deeper below ground.

    Damien followed Granny Liu through this corridor, watching as it opened up gradually and became a cave system that spanned several hundred thousand kilometers.

    This ce was the home of the Titans, if they could even be called that anymore.

    Generations had passed since the first group of Titan descendants was banished to the Void Corridor. Even Granny Liu was in the 5th generation born after the migration.

    As time passed and they were forced to inbreed to keep their people alive, rather thanpounding, their bloodline continuously became more impure and thinned until the currently existing Titans were mere shells of their previous glory.

    There was a reason the Titan Race was so feared. There was a reason they were only partially exterminated and banished instead of fully wiped out.

    The Titan Race of the past had a true gift from heaven in terms of physical strength. Even the weakest Titan could demolish their peers with fists alone.

    As if their strength wasn''t enough, the universe also gifted them with divine bodies that were nigh indestructible.

    When the ancient experts took care of the Titan Race back then, they simply weren''t able to kill every Titan, leading to Damien''s meeting with their descendants in the current era.

    These descendants termed themselves the Cloud Giant Race. They were somewhere between Titans and Giants, leaning more towards the former.

    ''But even if their current potential is heavily deteriorated, it''s still greater than many of the people existing in the current universe.'' Damien thought to himself.

    Talking down about the Titans was easy when one wasn''t aware of their strength.

    Damien could only use their descendants to put them into perspective, but even then they were unfathomable.

    ''Just why did a race with such a close connection to the universe turn traitor?''

    It was a curious twist of fate that didn''t make sense to Damien at all. Especially since he''d met and interacted with the Cloud Giants, he couldn''t understand their ancestors'' intentions.

    ''There must be some plot.''

    Were the Titans innocent?

    Probably not.

    But did that change Damien''s opinion of the Cloud Giants?

    It was a question that didn''t even need asking.

    The faults of the past generation were the faults of the past generation alone. If the current generation was clearly different, what was the use of persecuting them?

    Such an action only needed to be taken if they decided to follow in their ancestors'' footsteps.

    Granny Liu led Damien through an array of tunnels for several minutes, her speed gradually increasing as they moved along.

    Within a few minutes, they were racing through the tunnels faster than the speed of sound, using their residual mana to quell the sonic booms that were threatening to form behind them.

    "Granny, where are we going?" Damien asked curiously. They must''ve been halfway to the very bottom of the Wild Continent by now. He couldn''t think of a reason to go so far for a mere meeting.

    Granny Liu nced at him in exasperation. "Didn''t you say you wanted to take a trial? Did you change your mind?"

    Damien''s eyes widened. "Nope! As expected, Granny Liu knows best!"

    The Titans of the past were a curious race. They were incredibly independent and without many positive rtionships with other races, but they had a single tradition that allowed cooperation. This was the so-called trial.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In Titan tradition, if a guest ever came with a request that required the race to move as a whole, they would be assigned an appropriate trial toplete. Only after proving themselves would they be granted aid.

    The Cloud Giants adopted this tradition as well, however, they weren''t necessarily able to carry out trials when no other intelligent life existed on the Wild Continent.

    When Damien first learned of their tradition, it wasn''t through them, but rather through the memories of one of the forgotten emperors that he devoured.

    He didn''t immediately confront them about it and instead chose to keep his chance for when he needed it more.

    ''Actually, the original n was to use the trial to convince them to move to the Sanctuary, but I can find a different method for that.''

    Actually, Damien had formed some greater ambitions recently, so it was good that he got a different opportunity to take the trial.

    After all, besides requiring help from the Cloud Giants, Damien also wanted to experience the traditions of this forgotten ancient race.

    Eventually, Granny Liu and Damien reached a point that seemed to be a central node of the underground tunnel system.

    Here, an intense heat zed, coloring the air a burning red color.

    Standing in the center of this small open area, Granny Liu halted.

    "Little monster, your request is a big one. To fight the Nox is one thing, but to ughter a Supreme is another. Rather than a single trial, you will be given three. The first is endurance, the second is perseverance, and the final is morality. If you can pass all three trials, we will spare no effort to help you."

    Damien looked at the heated floor curiously. ''The trials are more character-driven than expected. Considering the reputation of the Titans, I expected it to be something more belligerent.''

    "Good. If it''s just these three facets, I have confidence in passing." He responded to Granny Liu.

    Granny Liu smiled an ominous smile. "If that is your decision, then let the first trial of endurance begin!"

    "Huh? Granny, wai¡ª!"

    Before Damien could finish his sentence, Granny Liu rushed out of the open space, reentering the tunnel system and mming her foot into the ground.

    "Have a great time, boy!"

    Those were thest words Damien heard before his vision was filled with red.

    "Fuck! That''s hot!"

    Crack!

    Rumble!

    Before he could readjust to the heatwave, the ground below him cracked and shattered into countless pieces.

    Theva pit thaty below was revealed to the world.

    And as Damien tried to fly to avoid falling in¡­

    He suddenly found that any sort of movement was restricted entirely.

    ''Ah, fuck. So this is what she meant by endurance.''

    VOOM!

    As Damien''s wry smile grew, a wave of mes enveloped him and dragged him into theva pit.

    His body descended without a struggle and began to burn under theva''s surface.

    And though Damien had experienced such ava quenching once before¡­

    ''This still hurts like hell!''

 Chapter 858 Trials [2]

    The first trial was self-exnatory.

    Damien''s flesh and bones were sundered and burned until they couldn''t be burned anymore.

    And then they were burned some more.

    Transcendent Regeneration kept him alive and his iron wall mentality didn''t submit to such little pain, making this trial easy to pass.

    It was even mildly enjoyable.

    Damien enjoyed "sensation" a lot. The tactile sensation of pain made him feel like he was putting in effort to gain the strength he had, changing his view of it into something positive.

    Even during battle, while getting injured was extremely detrimental, it only made Damien enjoy the fight more.

    The battle maniac tendencies he had as a teenager had been thoroughly suppressed in the vicissitude of time, but they were still present somewhere in his heart.

    He only really felt that insane, almost orgasmic drive for pain and death in training situations like this where he was stimted to the max.

    Nevertheless, Damien was able to hold back both pleasure and pain toplete the trial, staying in theva pool for over 48 hours without pause.

    When he resurfaced and regained his ability to move, he immediately followed Granny Liu to the next trial, the trial of perseverance.

    Perseverance was difficult to test. In most cases, these kinds of trials would beposed of endless roads or other constructs that forced the participants to experience infinity.

    The Cloud Giants seemed to have a more extreme version of this trial.

    Perseverance in the face of infinity, in the face of an impossible wall, was possible to ovee as long as hope was present.

    But perseverance could only be truly experienced in hopelessness.

    The hopelessness felt when facing an impossible walk was sinking. It felt like thousands of pounds of weight were chained to one''s ankles, dragging them to drown in the depths of the ocean.

    However¡­what if this impossible wall was met with existing hopelessness?

    What if one''s family was ughtered by a supreme expert, their homeworld destroyed by that expert''s sect, their body crippled, their martial path cut off byck of talent and guidance; what if all factors that could possibly go wrong went wrong at once?

    Would one still be able to persevere even while knowing that getting anywhere was literally impossible?

    This was the feeling Damien was made to experience.

    In the face of true impossibility, what was the point of fighting spirit?

    At that point, it was no longer a matter that had anything to do with the outside world.

    It was a matter only pertaining to the individual.

    It was pride.

    Even if one was destined to achieve nothing, would they sumb to this nothingness, or would they relentlessly fight it until theirst breath, even if it was just for the sake of saying they fought?

    Damien didn''t know if there was a correct answer to this question. He couldn''t fault those who decided to throw away their personal desires for security.

    In the end, their path wasn''t wrong either.

    He just couldn''t do it.

    Even if it was only for that final moment of realization when he was on his deathbed, even if it was only tofort himself with the fact that he never gave up, at least he would die without regrets because he tried.

    Life meant opportunity.

    This was the realization Damien made when hepleted the second trial.

    He did so in less than 3 hours, a record that had never been surpassed in Titan history.

    And now that those two trials were finished, Damien began thest.

    This was both the simplest and most difficult trial.

    Because the decision of whether or not one passed was entirely subjective.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Currently, Damien was stood before an array of massive individuals. Even the smallest one was 10 meters tall, with thergest one being over a kilometer in height, taking up the majority of the vast cavern in which they were situated.

    Granny Liu, still shorter than short, stood on the side and watched the proceedings quietly.

    "Damien Void, you have challenged our three trials ande out sessful from the first two! Even if you fail here, you have still earned the right to make a request from our n, albeit smaller than your original one!" The kilometer-tall giant said, his voice booming through the cavern.

    "For this trial, I shall ask you three questions. Once you have given your answers, the jury before you will discuss ande to a decision on whether or not you passed. Have you any questions?"

    Damien looked up into the giant''s eyes and shook his head in refusal.

    He was concerned about this trial, especially since he was well aware that lying wouldn''t work, but there was nothing he could do about it.

    If his true thoughts couldn''t convince these Cloud Giants, he didn''t need their extended help.

    There was no point trying to establish a long-term cooperative rtionship with people who couldn''t see eye to eye with him.

    The kilometer-tall giant, the Head of the Cloud Giant Tribe, nodded his head, affirming Damien''s willingness to continue.

    He opened his mouth and asked the first question.

    "There are 1,000,000 innocent civilians being held captive in an enemy camp, however, your mother has been kidnapped by a mysterious force that is colluding with the enemy. You can only save o¡ª"

    "My mother," Damien answered, cutting the Giant Leader off.

    The giant raised his brow. "I have yet to finish my question, are you sure about your answer?"

    Damien shook his head. "No need to ask. It doesn''t matter how many randoms you add to the scenario. My mother''s life is worth more than even the Heavens themselves."

    Saving his mother was the first motivation he ever had on his path to strength. The determination to save his mother allowed him to survive so much tragedy and pain, how could her life be worth the same as rabble he''d never met before?

    It might''ve been a cruel thought process, but it was honest.

    In this trial, that was all that mattered.

    The Giant Leader nodded his head without a change of expression.

    "Then, onto the second question. You meet an enemy who hasmitted countless atrocities, however, he wishes to faithfully serve you and be one of your people. Would you ept him?"

    Damien furrowed his brows.

    "Am I allowed to ask questions?"

    "Ask away." The Giant Leader responded.

    "Am I answering from the perspective of the me who stands before you or a nondescript entity?"

    The Giant Leader thought for a moment before answering, "Tell me what you, the Damien Void I meet now, would do in this situation."

    Damien nodded. "Then, my answer is that it depends on his crimes."

    "If his crimes are murder, treachery, or other violent atrocities, regardless of the scale, as long as I put a ve seal on him, I can control him at a whim and make sure he doesn''t step out of line. If he has the capacity tomit such atrocities, he will be a useful subordinate, as sometimes such qualities are necessary."

    "Otherwise?" The Giant Leader questioned.

    "There are two alternate paths that don''t differ much from the original. Regardless, I will put a ve seal on him and control him."

    "However, if he has touched women, he will be punished by women. His punishment will wholly depend on what, depending on what the situation, either the women he assaulted or my female subordinates decide. Afterward, whether or not I ept him as a subordinate also depends on their opinions, as they are the ones whose performance will be affected if they are ufortable in his presence."

    Damien''s eyes sharpened.

    "If he decided to stoop so low as to touch children, I''ll personally ce him in a hell of endless torture, and I''ll personally make sure that he maintains sanity and reason for as long as he remains alive in that ce. I cannot punish all those whomit such atrocities, but I''ll never shy away from punishing one who is before me."

    The Giant Leader nodded, the same indifferent look on his face as if Damien''s answer meant nothing to him at all.

    And now that they''d reached this point, he asked the final question.

    "If the entire universe turned against you, including those you hold dear in your heart, would you still move with the same determination to save it?"

 Chapter 859 Movements [1]

    "If the entire universe turned against you, including those you hold dear in your heart, would you still move with the same determination to save it?"

    "¡­"

    Damien closed his eyes and thought over the question rather than answering instantly as he''d done before.

    He''d never given any thought to a hypothetical where Rose, Ruyue, and all of his closest people betrayed him since he knew it was simply impossible.

    However, now that the question was set in front of him as a hypothetical, he finally gave it the time of day.

    In reality, this question went far deeper than morality.

    This question could define one''s sense of self, opening pathways to explore several other facets of one''s ego.

    Damien had three hearts outside of his body.

    The first was Earth, his roots, his origin. Even if Damien didn''t have any particr feelings for Earth, he knew how important the world was to him as a Celestial.

    The second was Apeiron, the location where he experienced rebirth. The Damien Void who existed on Apeiron was apletely different being from the one who came from Earth. That was a Damien Void qualified to grow stronger.

    And finally, the Cloud ne, Damien''s third external heart. The Cloud ne was the world that allowed Damien to ovee his past and look towards his future, shedding his mental instability entirely.

    Each of these worlds held great meaning in Damien''s heart, and coincidentally enough, each was the birth world of one of his wives.

    For everyone and everything he knew and loved to turn against him, these worlds would also do the same.

    The people residing on their surfaces would follow their will, bing his eternal enemies.

    Even if he returned to his roots, he''d only be met with jeers.

    No matter where he went, he''d either be shunned or attacked.

    There was no such thing as safety, no such thing as sce¡­

    At least, not within Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Damien didn''t doubt that, if he truly decided to join them, the Nox would ept him. They valued power over quite literally everything, and with their strange connection to the Void, they''d obviously want Damien on their side.

    However, would the betrayal of the universe push Damien to the enemy side?

    He tried to picture himself in that situation, where everyone he grew to love turned their backs on him one by one, betraying him and forcing him into a corner.

    ''It''s painful.''

    The first few times, it felt like his heart was being stabbed when he was met with their indifference.

    But as time went on, his heart became void. His emotions became numb as he only expected betrayal and never longed for love.

    He became colder, more indifferent, and less inclined to aid those in danger when he saw them.

    Rather, he movedpletely independently.

    But¡­would he abandon the universe?

    ''No.''

    It was simple to realize once he put the situation into perspective.

    Because even if everyone else betrayed him, the universe never would.

    It was an eternal ally with no way to voice its support.

    It was his true roots, and the "flow" to which he''d been connected for several years.

    Even if everyone in the universe died, as long as he saved its existence, its roots, it would still be able to regrow and rebirth itself.

    So what did it matter if everyone betrayed him?

    If they ever betrayed his expectations of them to such an extent, they simply weren''t worth his emotions.

    They weren''t worthy of being the cause of his abandonment.

    Damien looked up at the Giant Leader with mes in his eyes and gave his answer with utmost confidence.

    "Yes. I would still save the universe even if everyone inside had to die first."

    "Very well!" The Giant Leader eximed. "Since you have given the answers buried in your heart without a hint of intention to lie, we will return your sincerity with an absolutely truthful verdict!"

    Boom!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Giant Leader lightly tapped his foot on the ground, causing a massive wall of limestone to raise from the earth and separate Damien from the Giant Elders.

    "They''re discussing whether or not they should help you now. Regardless of their answer, know that you have passed the trials splendidly." Granny Liu walked up to Damien and said.

    "Hm? Granny Liu, you''re still here? You didn''t tell me you were a big shot!" Damien responded in surprise.

    "Tch, what do you know? This olddy once sat in that central seat, you know."

    "Ehh?"

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock. There was no way this little olddy was trying to tell him that she was the previous leader of the Cloud Giant Race, right?

    "Granny, quit kidding with me. If you''re really some big person, how do you think the council will vote?"

    Granny Liu nced at the limestone barrier with furrowed brows.

    "Those brats¡­well, it doesn''t matter what they say. Either way, your request will be granted."

    "Granted?"

    "Granted."

    Damien''s eyes widened further. Why was Granny Liu so certain of the oue?

    At this time, Damien failed to realize that he''d left one important fact out of consideration.

    The Cloud Giants were expelled to the Wild Continent because their ancestors supported the Nox. Even though they were direct descendants of the Titan bloodline, even they didn''t have knowledge of why their ancestors chose betrayal.

    All they knew was that they''d been punished for an eternity for sins they didn''tmit.

    There were many parties at fault for this. The Titans themselves, the forces that decided to exterminate them, and the Nox were all key reasons for the race''s tragic fate.

    Of them, the Titans and ancient experts were dead and gone. If the legacies of these experts survived, they existed in the outside world that the Cloud Giants couldn''t ess.

    Now, intelligent life had returned to the Wild Continent in the form of outside adventurers, and half of those who came were Nox.

    Of the three groups that the Cloud Giants resented, there was only one that they could currently act against.

    And¡­what if their contributions somehow allowed them to exit this forsakennd?

    Regardless, there were endless benefits for the Cloud Giants if they attacked the Nox.

    There was no reason for them to refuse.

    Merely¡­

    Generations without leaving the turtle shell known as the Void Corridor had turned these once ferocious beings into great cowards.

    Currently, the Giant Leader was facing a split opinion.

    A majority of the elders wanted to remain in inaction. They didn''t want to aggravate a situation they had no part in, as they had safety and security in their current state.

    However, was this safety and security really worth it?

    Was it not just a facade?

    Even if they were a smaller number, there were still several elders who firmly believed that now was the time for action.

    They had just cause in epting the request of someone who aced their trials, they had a motive in ughtering Nox, and they had more than enough power to spare.

    Damien''s trial answers weren''t brought up in the conversation one time.

    Before he even started answering, he''d passed the trial in many of these elders'' eyes, including those who currently opposed his request.

    His answers only led them to respect him and ponder his skewed yet curious mentality.

    It was a personal curiosity that these elders didn''t enter into their discussion.

    Perhaps it was for this reason why the opinions were currently so split.

    At this point, the weight of responsibility fell on the Giant Leader''s shoulders.

    His decision would be the Cloud Giants'' decision.

    So¡­would he sumb to pressure, or would he rise to the challenge?

    Even the Giant Leader himself didn''t know which route he''d choose.

 Chapter 860 Movements [2]

    While Damien waited for the council of Cloud Giants toe to a decision, the world didn''t stay in stasis with him.

    Events in the outside world progressed at their usual pace without a single ounce of consideration for Damien''s circumstances.

    The first thing that happened, on the same day Damien first entered the Cloud Giants'' Sanctuary, was the release of a bounty that subtly affected the tides of fate.

    It was a bounty on a mysterious man and his golden pce. Anyone who was able to bring this man in would receive a hefty reward of resources and money, enough to set them straight for several years on end.

    The strangeness of the bounty didn''te from the bounty itself, rather, it was the requesters.

    There were two.

    Lucas Streem of Asuran Gate and Sir Theon of the Nox Army.

    Both sides offered copious rewards for that man''s capture, forming the first instance where Nox and universe denizens unintentionally cooperated.

    As the ceasefire between both sides was still ongoing until the heavenly material finally showed itself, the next few days became a widespread search for a single man rather than a war.

    When Nox and universe denizens encountered each other, they actually avoidedbat, something that''d never happened before.

    Yet, despite several days passing, the man''s traces couldn''t be found anywhere.

    ***

    Somewhere in a forest on the Wild Continent, a party of five fought against several ferocious beasts at the extreme peak of 4th ss.

    The beasts in the Wild Continent were all mindless regardless of strength level, making it far more difficult to deal with them.

    However, this team had great cohesion that allowed them to aplish things that they absolutely couldn''t do individually.

    "Alexandra, now!" A man suddenly shouted.

    "You got it, boss!" A woman shouted back as she jumped into the air and let loose a rain of rocky bullets onto the beast.

    "Good! Tess, Braden, get it while it''s distracted!"

    "Got it!"

    "No need to tell me!"

    The two people charged in from both sides, controlling the beast''s movements and forcing it into a corner,

    The beast slowly umted injuries under the attacks of these three people until finally¡­

    Haa!

    The leader jumped into the air and sliced his sword powerfully, bisecting the beast into two even halves.

    "Fuwah! That''s so tiring!" The woman named Tess eximed as she crumpled onto the ground.

    "Tch, you just love toin. We''ve dealt with so much worse back in the Misty Wilnds, what does a little beast mean to us?" Braden responded nomittally.

    "Alright, alright, don''t start arguing again, you two." The leader said with a sigh.

    "Alice, can you heal us up?"

    "On it, boss!"

    Alice pped her hands together and prayed, causing white and gold mana to descend from the sky and wash through the bodies of these five people, healing all of their minor injuries and even partially healing most major injuries.

    "Haha, as expected of Alice! You can''t find a better healer anywhere else!" Tess eximed in satisfaction.

    "Hehe~" Alice giggled happily.

    Her gaze turned to the horizon, a slight hint of worry surfacing in her eyes.

    It had been many days since they separated and that man disappeared.

    He wasn''t dead, right?

    She truly hoped he could survive this ordeal. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She personally saw his determination to fight against the enemy, and even though she was never too good at reading people, she thought he was a good man.

    He saved her sister, after all.

    Alexandra nced over to find Alice sneaking a peak at her and sighed.

    ''Don''t tell me she developed some positive feelings for that man in such a short period of time¡­?''

    Unlike Alice, Alexandra was far warier about the interaction they''d had with that strange man. Aside from the power of his artifact, just the fact that he was willing to offend so many people was dangerous in and of itself.

    Arcadia Guild had survived and grown into its current state because they''d been prudent as they rose, taking ount of others'' interests so as to not offend someone who couldn''t be offended.

    The reckless and belligerent approach of that man wasn''t something Alexandra could fathom.

    ''Regardless, he is still my savior. If he didn''t provide me with the appropriate materials and his mysterious healing power, I wouldn''t be able to use my body at all right now. Even if I can''t understand him, I will at least protect his identity for as long as I can.''

    In fact, Alexandra and Alice''s return to the Grand Heavens Boundary camp and reunion with the other members of Arcadia who''de for the Void Corridor opening wasn''t a coincidence.

    It was something Damien had requested of them.

    He didn''t know how Heaven''s Army would move with Asuran Gate controlling them, and he didn''t need any unknown factor interfering with his movements.

    Alexandra and Alice were currently acting as his eyes and ears in Heaven''s Army. He could contact them through an unknown mental skill and exchange information as needed, but he hadn''t cast anything like a ve seal on them.

    ''It''s a trust test. If we fail, we''ll likely die.''

    Alexandra realized it early, and acted ordingly. Though, since this man wasn''t truly an enemy of the universe, she didn''t mind helping him.

    ''If anything, he is doing far more tobat the Nox than Asuran Gate. That Lucas man is not a good character in the slightest.''

    She hadn''t heard much since she''d only been present for a few days, but it was clear that Lucas Streem was severely abusing his authority to oppress and control those beneath him.

    Atop that, he even established unofficial cooperation with the Nox to find a man who, by all logic, should''ve been a distinguished guest of Heaven''s Army.

    Public sentiment was heavily skewed against Asuran Gate, but what could these people do?

    They were too weak for their opinions to matter.

    Subtly, a change of mentality took ce in Heaven''s Army.

    If that mysterious man was leading them, would they be in a better situation?

    He was bold in action, yet prudent. He knew when to attack and retreat to deal the greatest damage to the Nox while suffering the least losses.

    And when he was ced side by side with Lucas Streem, he seemed like the defender of justice that all people wished would lead them.

    ''The situation is bing chaotic. If the army continued to subtly split like this, the Nox will gain a heavy advantage over us. Now that the heavenly material is on the verge of blooming, it seems the only possible path forward is a full head-on confrontation.''

    Now that Damien had ughtered a majority of the Nox''s cannon fodder and ground troops, they would need to act fast and aggressively if they wanted to take victories against Heaven''s Army.

    The sh for the heavenly material would surely spiral out of control.

    It wasn''t a matter of "if," but a matter of "when."

    ''I hope you can do something about this situation. If you can truly pull our people out of despair¡­''

    Well, then he might not be a bad leader at all.

    Heaven''s Army needed good people at the helm.

    ''If only he wasn''t so reckless, wouldn''t that be great?''

    Alexandra sighed and shook her head.

    For now, she should just stick to the task she was assigned.

    As for how events would pan out in the future¡­?

    It was useless to try predicting something that man was nning to interfere in.

 Chapter 861 Movements [3]

    Several days passed since then.

    The Nox and Heaven''s Armies continued their endless search for the mysterious expert, and while they partook in the asional scuffle, they waited patiently for the heavenly material to bloom.

    From the looks of it, it wouldn''t take too much longer.

    The intense spiritual aura from that material had already permeated the entire Wild Continent, assuring those watching for its development that it wasn''t far from being birthed.

    "Have we found anything about the location of the heavenly material?"

    Currently, Lucas Streem was meeting with his advisor to go over ns and information formted and gained over the past few days.

    "Milord, we have been able to triangte the general location of the treasure. It will be birthed in a mountain valley 150,000 kilometers to the north. However, we did not dare to get too close lest we disturb the heavenly material''s birth process, so this is as much as we have gained." The advisor responded while pushing a number of documents across the desk.

    Lucas picked them up and perused them. These documents outlined the movements of the opposing armies as well as details garnered and inferred about the treasure, essentially providing Lucas with all the information he needed at the moment.

    ''The Nox are still being cautious. It looks like that old bastard Theon got injured in the previous sh. Now is the perfect time to act, however, I must be patient. When the timees, I shall eliminate Theon in front of everybody''s eyes. Who will be able to doubt me then?!''

    His eyes burned with ambition as he looked through the rest of the documents. For the most part, there was nothing he didn''t already know.

    However¡­

    ''Hm? What is this? Since when did the Arcadia Guild be so powerful?''

    Asuran Gate wasn''t located anywhere near the Misty Wilnds, but Lucas had still heard about the illustrious reputation of the Arcadia Guild.

    ''The number of extreme peak beasts they''ve ughtered is already mind-numbing, yet they''ve been ying all the Nox theye across as well. In these few days, they''ve umted over double the contributions of the next best team!''

    If their Guildmaster was present, their current achievements could be more easily exined. Yet, they were able to aplish so much with only a 6th revolution master at their head?

    ''How?'' Lucas furrowed his brows in thought.

    He pulled up a holographic panel that showed the information of several people. Among them were the Arcadia members present in the Void Corridor.

    ''Overall, while they are an exceptional thing, there isn''t anything uniquely special about them. Were they able toe across some sort of miraculous opportunity on the Wild Continent?''

    If so, then they needed to be watched far closer.

    ''The Arcadia Guild might be powerful, but it isn''t anywhere near our Asuran Gate. Haha, after I take their treasures, I should thoroughly enjoy Alexandra and Alice, these two sisters. I wonder how they taste¡­?''

    Lucas licked his lips, his eyes shing red. Just as he went to consult his advisor for another matter¡­

    HONG!

    "Who?!"

    A massive aura fluctuation tore through the Asuran Gate base camp and traveled endlessly into the distance. Lucas immediately stood up and readied his weapon to defend against the force, but before he could, another fierce wave rushed past his body.

    HONG!

    "This¡­ could this be¡­?!"

    HONG!

    The third energy wave spread, apanied by the ringing sound of an ancient bell.

    "It''s here! It''s finally here!" Lucas eximed.

    "Xiao Bai, gather our forces! We are marching to the heavenly material as soon as possible!"

    "Rest assured, Milord, the troops will be prepared for departure in half an hour."

    The advisor bowed and disappeared. Meanwhile, Lucas clenched his fists and tried to calm himself.

    ''This opportunity¡­I will not waste it! If that expert decides to disrupt my ns, then he can only die with the Nox!''

    Lucas stood up from his desk and began putting on his armor. He grabbed a nearby spear and stood silent for a second.

    This was his big moment, his debut.

    He would definitely put on a show that thoroughly impressed the Bloodlock n. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Then, he could finally start making his way up this universe''s powerdder.

    His n was foolproof.

    Truly foolproof.

    ***

    The three waves of power didn''t just sweep over the Asuran Gate bass camp, but the entirety of the Wild Continent. As long as one wasn''t an absolute dolt, it didn''t take long to understand what was happening.

    The heavenly material was finally being birthed!

    Heaven''s Army began to congregate immediately. Due to theirrge numbers, they were forced to split into several different groups for ease of transportation.

    As for the Nox Army, even though Damien was able to wipe out arge portion of their forces, they still had a great number of troops remaining. However, because of their strict hierarchal system, it didn''t take them nearly as long to gather and set off.

    The Nox had an advantage when it came to reaching the heavenly material, but it was unknown whether or not they''d be able to keep it afterward.

    Nevertheless, both armies set off for the heavenly material''s location the instant they felt the power fluctuations.

    It looked like the final battle of the Wild Continent would take ce only a few dayster.

    Currently, Alexandra and Alice were with the rest of the Arcadia Guild''s people in a section of the army led by the Ancient God n.

    ''We''ve sessfully entered this army since Xinyue suggested it, so we should be rtively safe inparison to others. However, the other task¡­''

    Alexandra steeled herself and stopped thinking about it. Since it was her benefactor''s request, it was naturally impossible to refuse.

    She just didn''t know how her second benefactor would react to her actions.

    ''No matter, no matter. In the end, this will only benefit him, so he shouldn''t get mad and kill me¡­right?''

    Alexandra didn''t stay with that man long enough to have a good grasp on his personality, but he definitely didn''t seem like a good person.

    ''But if Xinyue can trust him, then I can too.''

    Xinyue didn''t try to covertly send her off toplete tasks or anything of the sort. Rather, she was quite direct with her request, and even requested Alexandra''s aid within the golden pce that man controlled.

    He likely already knew about what she was tasked to do. If he didn''t warn her before letting her leave¡­

    ''But he could be testing me¡­''

    Alexandrained inwardly and constantly contemted the disadvantages of her actions, but before she knew it, her feet had already taken her to the Ancient God n members.

    "Hm? A member of Arcadia? What have youe for?" A man asked.

    "I have a message to pass to your elders. Please allow me to pass." Alexandra responded.

    The man''s eyes narrowed. "I''m afraid I cannot grant your request. Our elders aren''t people who can be seen so easily."

    Alexandra sighed. She expected this situation. Luckily, Xinyue did too and prepared an out for her beforehand.

    Alexandra reached into her spatial ring and pulled out a small emblem no bigger than her palm. It was inscribed with a cross surrounded by a strange construct simr to a dimensional crack.

    When the man saw it, his eyes widened. "This, this is¡­! Where did you get this emblem?!"

    "Where do you think I got it? Do you think I am capable of taking it by force?" Alexandra replied without a change in tone.

    "¡­"

    The man hesitated for a second before lowering his guard.

    "I understand. I will inform the elders right away. However, whether or not they see you is not up to me."

    "Thank you," Alexandra said with a smile. "Ah, but before you go, please ry a message to them. Tell them I said ''Ancient Codex: Blue Grade Vition.''"

    The man nodded his head in confusion and left to inform the elders of her visit.

    And not even a full minuteter, Alexandra found the space around her twisting as she arrived in a new location.

 Chapter 862 Movements [4]

    "State your name and affiliation."

    An aged voice boomed the instant Alexandra regained her senses, almost directly bursting her eardrums.

    "Agh!" She eximed as she covered her ears.

    "State your name and affiliation."

    The voice rang out again. Blood gushed through the cracks in Alexandra''s fingers, spurting onto the floor around her.

    Thud!

    Alexandra copsed to her knees. Her head was ringing, she couldn''t form a coherent thought, the world around her was spinning uncontrobly, and it felt like any movement she made would kill her.

    She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth in an attempt to muffle her voice and endure the pain. Just as she did, the ancient voice rang out again.

    "Sta¡ª"

    "Stop."

    A second voice rang out instead, quelling the furious power of the first.

    Alexandra copsed to the ground convulsing.

    "Look what you have done. How do you expect her to answer your questions in this state? How have you lived for so long and remained the same brainless man?"

    The second voice, that of a gentle woman, admonished the first as it grew closer to Alexandra.

    "Girl, forgive him for his actions. He is an impulsive idiot who doesn''t know how to think properly. He only gained his elder seat through brute strength."

    A warm hand approached in the darkness. The woman ced her palm on the convulsing Alexandra''s forehead and inserted a stream of gentle mana into her body.

    Alexandra''s convulsions immediately stopped. Her body began to heal as well, even bing stronger than it was before.

    She opened her eyes with a slight struggle and looked up, only to be faced with the most beautiful woman she''d ever seen.

    "S-senior! Thank you for saving me!" She immediately eximed, bowing her head.

    The woman smiled. "No need for thanks. As that idiot Third Elder injured you, I have provided you with somepensation. Now, can you tell us who you are?"

    Alexandra immediately nodded,pletely ignoring the Third Elder who''d brought her to the ground in the first ce.

    "Senior, I am Alexandra from the Arcadia Guild. Today, I havee to deliver a message to the Ancient God n Elders."

    "Oh? And the message is from¡­?"

    "The message is from a friend of mine named Xinyue. From what I know, she is also the Young Master of your Ancient God n."

    The woman nodded. "Indeed she is. Is she the one who told you that code?"

    "Yes, senior, however, she did not tell me what it means."

    "I see¡­" the woman said with a sigh, "Third Elder, are you ashamed yet?"

    "What nonsense." The Third Elder harrumphed, disinclined to interact further.

    The woman shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to Alexandra. "Was there anything else Xinyue told you?"

    "Yes, Xinyue had an additional message. She told me to tell you, ''Enter the golden pce to find the answers we seek.''"

    "Golden pce¡­?" The woman muttered. "So that mysterious expert is the Ancient Codex Vition? It seems Xinyue has found something interesting."

    "Miss Alexandra, you may leave now. The message had been received."

    Alexandra hesitated for a bit, but in the end, she retreated. However this matter proceeded, it had nothing to do with her anymore. This much was already far above her pay grade.

    Within the Ancient God n camp, the woman sat silently, a group of Elders around her.

    "Madam, why did you let her go? We have no way to verify her intentions, it is not wise to let her loose." An elder said.

    "Indeed, Madam. This is against how we usually conduct ourselves. Especially in the face of an Ancient Codex Vition, we cannot act sox!" Another elder agreed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Are you all of the same opinion?" The woman asked as she panned her gaze across the elders.

    Several of them avoided her gaze, making their tacit agreement known.

    The woman sighed. "Has our Ancient God n been raising fools all these years? You are only focusing on one part of Xinyue''s message while ignoring the rest. How can I trust you with the n if you act so recklessly?"

    "Listen, Xinyue specifically categorized the vition as Blue Grade. Along with that, she has told us to enter the golden pce ourselves. Does anyone here doubt Xinyue''s loyalty to the n?"

    "Absolutely not! It is impossible for the Young Master to turn traitor!" An elder eximed. His words were followed by numerous murmurs of agreement.

    The woman smiled seeing this. "If Xinyue is not a traitor, then why has she categorized our most supreme vition as a mere Blue Grade?"

    The elders went silent.

    There were several codexes and scripts that the Ancient God n followed. Only the Ancient Codex epassed those rules of the ancestors, mainly the harsh rules in ce for the All-Seeing Eyes.

    If Xinyue specifically stated an Ancient Codex Vition, it meant that she''d found an outsider with All-Seeing Eyes.

    However, along with the several codexes, the Ancient God n had a different system tobel the severity of a crime.

    Blue Grade was second only to Purple Grads. Assigning a Blue rating meant Xinyue thought the outsider was extremely powerful and needed to be carefully confronted.

    However, it also meant she didn''t think the problem was worthy of being Purple Grade.

    For Ancient Codex Vitions, Purple Grade was essentially guaranteed.

    "When was thest time there was a change in the Mist-Piercing Mirror?" The woman suddenly asked.

    Immediately, every elder''s eyes widened into saucers.

    Right, how could they forget?

    The Mist-Piercing Mirror that could be used to locate any trace of Ancient God n bloodline and the All-Seeing Eyes in the universe hadn''t budged in several thousand years.

    No member of the Ancient God n had vited their doctrine, and no existing threat remained in the universe.

    If so, then how did this person get their hands on the All-Seeing Eyes?

    "This must be the question Xinyue hasn''t been able to answer. By the fact that she was able to easily send a messenger to us, it is clear that the other party is not hostile. I suggest we peacefully confront him before resorting to more unscrupulous means."

    "Does anyone have any objections?"

    The woman''s eyes panned over the elders once more, lingering on the few who''d tried to educate her a moment ago.

    There were no responses to her question.

    "Good, then I will personally take a delegation with me to the golden pce after this heavenly material squabble ends. Until then, you are to regard the golden pce and its owner as distinguished guests of our Ancient God n. Any action against him will not be tolerated. Understood?"

    ""Understood!"" The elders responded in unison.

    The woman nodded and sent them out of her residence.

    Left alone, the woman sat in silence for a moment.

    Suddenly, her eyes curved into crescents.

    Her body shuddered as if she was holding back something big.

    ''Is it you? Have I finally found you?'' She wondered inwardly.

    It had been so many years that she''d almost forgotten her identity and purpose.

    The current Ancient God n was nothing like its previous self.

    She had been numb to emotion for so long trying to keep the n surviving, but today, she felt a rush of emotion that almost capsized her.

    Her heart palpitated in curiosity and anticipation.

    ''Young Master, have you finallye?''

 Chapter 863 Birthed [1]

    ''Is it around here somewhere¡­?''

    The damp cave walls dropped with unknown liquid, filling the entire cave system with a strange yet oddly calming scent.

    Damien walked through the cave system for several hours without end, almost to the point where his perception of time began to blur.

    At the moment, he was chasing something indescribable.

    ''I felt something strange during the trials, but that feeling came from deep within the Wild Continent. I wasn''t sure if there would be tunnels connecting to such locations, but I should be able to get rtively close as long as I keep following this route.''

    Even Damien didn''t know exactly what he was looking for, only that it was important.

    After all, a long-forgotten ability of his eyes had activated, the same ability that allowed him to sense Kurt Galloway''s subspace and even Zara back when he was in the First Dungeon.

    This sense always warned him about extraordinary danger or opportunity.

    It had been dormant for a very long time. It was evident that this particr ability had extremely high standards for reacting.

    Hadn''t it been the only reason Damien saved Zara back then? Who would''ve thought that she was a being with such mysterious origins?

    Knowing the past track record of this ability, Damien wasted no effort to try and find the source of that feeling, but as far as he''d been searching, he''d been unsessful.

    ''The only thing changing is this burning heat in my chest. The sensation has been incrementally growing fiercer with every second.''

    It felt like the sun was zing within his Mana Heart.

    Yet, this sensation made Damien feel like he was continuously getting closer to the source of his troubles and curiosity.

    Rumble!

    Just as he stood up to continue searching, the earthen walls and ceiling enclosing the space began to shake chaotically.

    HONG!

    HONG!

    HONG!

    Three ancient bell rings that sounded almost vibrant were apanied by three shockwaves that threatened to copse the cave system Damien was in.

    His attention was immediately drawn to the surface. His gaze pierced through reality, allowing him to see the slight gold hue that had permeated the Wild Continent''s atmosphere.

    ''I see, so that heavenly treasure is finally blooming. The surface will be chaotic soon enough.'' Damien thought with a grin.

    ''If this thing turns out to be what I think it is, my ns will proceed far smoother than expected. Haha, just gather in peace and fight those fools from Asuran Gate for now. I''ll make sure both of you exit this world together.''

    Damien shook his head with a smile and began moving again. From the looks of it, there were still several days before he needed to act. In that time, he had a few specific goals he absolutely needed to aplish.

    ''Which means no more dawdling.''

    His eyes sharpened.

    It was time for him to get serious.

    ***

    A few hundreds of thousands of kilometers wasn''t a distance that meant anything to a high-level 4th ss expert, but when it came to moving as an army, even such a distance became taxing.

    Putting aside the weaker forces that held the army back, there were also several security matters, conformity rules, and other circumstances that made it difficult for Heaven''s Army to move at its full potential speed,

    Overall, it took almost an entire week to reach the mountain valley where the heavenly material was hatching.

    The groups of Heaven''s Army joined together 4 days in and passed the great mountain that blocked them from their location.

    It was a grueling journey for many, especially near the end, but most of them were able to make it through without dying.

    Lucas stepped over the horizon, his figure upying one of the two great mountains bordering the valley. Behind him, several million troops stood uniformly, slightly separated by unit and squad.

    ''Damn, we''rete.'' He thought with narrowed eyes.

    As he gazed across the valley, he could clearly see the repulsing form of Sir Theon and his elite troop standing at a spot nearly parallel to his own.

    Lucas furrowed his brows. ''As expected, his troop is far less numerous than it was previously. That mysterious expert really did leave a severe blow.''

    It wasn''t just the troops, even Sir Theon himself had a slightly weaker aura than he did previously.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Just how?''

    Lucas couldn''t wrap his head around it. Even he, someone who stood on par with Sir Theon, couldn''t leave asting internal injury on the man. Just how powerful was the mysterious expert to do so and escape without his identity being known?

    In reality, Sir Theon was injured by the bacsh of his own skill when the Demon God Summoning failed to consume its target, but that was perhaps even more embarrassing!

    What would Sir Theon and Lucas do when they realized the mysterious man they''d been fearing and respecting was actually a junior that they could kill with a single p?

    Nevertheless, that was a story for another time.

    At the moment, these two men stood across from each other and, despite the distance, didn''t break eye contact even once.

    Silence descended on the mountain valley.

    All eyes were drawn to a small golden light that appeared in the dirt.

    "Haha, nobody can stop me now!"

    A voice suddenly rang out. A Nox being stood near the golden light, seemingly having snuck there while the two sides were busy standing off.

    The sound of necks snapping in his direction was almost palpable.

    Countless eyes went red with envy.

    "How dare you take what''s mine?!"

    "Catch him first, we canpeteter!"

    "Hahaha, you are all too weak for this treasure!"

    From both Heaven''s Army and the Nox side, several weaker or less intelligent beings shot forward. The original Nox was cut down in an instant as several thousand others tried to take his ce and steal the material before it bloomed.

    However¡­

    Thuk!

    Thuk!

    Thuk!

    Bodies suddenly started dropping on the floor. Their vitality was sucked away and they were turned into lifeless husks in an instant.

    Numerous small vines receded into the ground afterpletely devouring the thousands who charged early.

    Their blood and vitality nurtured the half-birthed secret treasure.

    The true golden light below the ground was tinged golden-red.

    Rumble!

    ''Those idiots caused changes in the heavenly material, but they also caused it to bloom faster. I can''t say whether this is a blessing or a curse.'' Lucas thought to himself as he watched the ground split apart.

    He didn''t stop those people, and neither did Sir Theon.

    It was for the sole purpose that their sacrifice, even if it changed the nature of the heavenly material, would definitely strengthen it.

    And finally¡­

    BOOM!

    The ground burst into countless fragments that flew into the surroundings and embedded thems legs into any solid surface they could find, including the bodies of many unfortunate souls.

    From the cracked earth, a massive vine rose into the sky. Beautiful iridescent flowers bloomed on its surface with every few meters that it raised out of the ground, growingrge enough that even a single flower could eclipse several dozen people.

    ''This is it¡­!'' Lucas eximed.

    He didn''t know the exact identity of the treasure, but the breath it exuded was extremely enticing. It felt like even a Supreme like him could benefit from consuming this treasure.

    Realizing this, he didn''t hesitate to make the call.

    "Heaven''s Army, don''t falter! Charge and take the treasure before those scum can!"

 Chapter 864 Birthed [2]

    "Charge!"

    "We charge!"

    "Onward!"

    Calls for confrontation spread through the army as Lucas''mand was passed down. The several million-strong army immediately split into several parts that operated autonomously but kept in contact with each other.

    RUMBLE!

    Even more than it did when the heavenly material first surfaced, the ground rumbled under thebined footsteps of Heaven''s Army.

    On the other side, Sir Theon harrumphed loudly. "Hmph! Look at those hypocrites go. If they win here, how can we ever show our faces in the future? Charge! Charge and kill everything!"

    As both sides made their move, the vine finally stopped growing. Several thousand kilometers in the sky, the dual flowers at the very tip of the vine slowly bloomed.

    One gold and one silver, one hot and one cold, the two flowers created untold harmony with their existence.

    But more than them¡­

    In the center of those flowers, one could faintly make out a certain structure holding arge amount of liquid.

    ''That''s the true heavenly material.'' Lucas and Sir Theon realized together.

    The entire vine was polluted with treasures galore, but the only one that truly mattered was the liquid at the top. Only that was worthy of being called a heavenly material!

    Two armies shed in the valley below.

    Experts shed in the sky above, fighting for those flowers that bloomed on the vine''s stem.

    And finally, on par with the clouds were two experts eyeing the same treasure.

    Now that they''de face to face, it was time for them to settle old and new debts.

    Only one of them would be walking out of here alive.

    ***

    Haa¡­

    One breath.

    Haa¡­

    Two breaths.

    Haa¡­

    Alexandra''s eyes remained focused. Her perception of time was anchored to the speed of her breathing, and the way she confronted her enemies seemed to portray her in apletely different light than before she''d entered the golden pce.

    At that time, she''d been instantly turned into a spirit and rid of most of her fighting capacity. Back then, she was nothing more than a pig on the chopping block.

    Now, however, her body had been reconstructed by Damien, who allowed her to possess far more potential than she originally had, and then strengthened a second time by the woman from the Ancient God n.

    Without even realizing it, Alexandra received aprehensive increase in power that was only showing itself on this asion.

    ''Earthly Hellstorm!''

    She mmed her foot down on the ground, causing the earth to ripple and change properties. The ground below acted like a wave of water, sweeping through the enemies in front of Alexandra and clearing a path for her to get to the flower ahead.

    "Haa!"

    Boom!

    Just as she snatched the flower, a powerful shot of ming mana narrowly missed her head. She turned around with bloodlust in her eyes, only to find an unexpected visitor.

    "Clyde." She muttered through gritted teeth.

    "Alex, you recognized me! How sweet!" The man named Clyde eximed with a perverse smile.

    "What is your intention? You are actually attacking yourrades at this juncture?!" Alexandra yelled back.

    Clyde''s grin fell slightly.

    "Aha, so you''re unaware! Well¡­"

    Xiu!

    Alexandra''s senses jumped, forcing her to rapidly move her body at an impossible angle.

    She found herself looking up at where her head once was. There, a burning ck hellme was flickering without any intention of going out.

    In the next second, Clyde''s face took up her vision.

    "There''s no such thing as eternal allies or eternal enemies, my dear Alex." He proimed with a smile.

    "The only thing that matters in this world¡­"

    Clyde raised his arm, his hand sharpening and transmuting into a de.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "¡­is benefits."

    Clyde swung down, aiming to decapitate Alexandra in one strike.

    However, she was no longer the same person he knew.

    Yellowish-brown mana coated the surface of her skin.

    Boom!

    Clyde''s arm de cut through Alexandra''s body, but Clyde didn''t show any satisfaction.

    That strike¡­

    Crumble!

    Before he could even ponder it, Alexandra''s body crumpled into hundreds of rock shards that fell powerlessly to the ground.

    "You have betrayed your homnd." Alexandra''s voice came from further away.

    "You are an Elder of Mystic Wind Pavillion. You are supposed to be a leader of Heaven''s Army, a person that all troops can look up to. You''ve betrayed the Angel Race, betrayed your sect, and betrayed the universe itself¡­"

    A wave of power spread. A yellowish-brown hue coated the air for several kilometers, entrapping Clyde.

    "¡­your blood shall be a reminder for those of future generations! Our Grand Heavens Boundary is invible!"

    ''Spirit of Earth, Voice of the Wild, answer my call.''

    Alexandra chanted in her head while galvanizing her mana. While it felt like eternities in her mind, it took less than an instant for her call to be answered.

    Guuuoooohhh!

    An ancient groan rang out.

    BOOM!

    The earth exploded. A titanic arm shot out from within and mmed down into the ground below, crushing Clyde in the process.

    "Khhh¡­!" Clyde exhaled through gritted teeth as he tried to keep his blood in his mouth. He pushed against the massive hand with all his strength, but found that he could barely evenly match it.

    "What is this?!" He roared. "Who are you?! You are not Alex!"

    Hearing the screams from her delusional ex-stalker, Alexandra smirked.

    "That''s right, I am not the Alex that you can pressure anymore. Starting today¡­"

    BANG!

    "¡­I am reborn."

    She mmed her hand down. The massive earthly hand followed her movement, mming down and leaving no space between the ground and it.

    Clyde was ttened into meatpaste and then ttened further into fine partictes that couldn''t be seen with the naked eye.

    After his destroyed body transformed into ink and she destroyed him a second time, she paid no him no more mind.

    ''That flower must have some special properties if it''s attached to the heavenly material''s stem. I must get to it before that man appears and starts ruining everything.''

    Unlike everyone else, who merely raced against each other, Alexandra also had to race against time!

    Even though she''d just achieved a piece of revenge that she''d been desiring for a very long time, she could even celebrate or revel in it.

    She moved instantly and with efficiency, evenpletely avoiding many opponents for the sake of speed.

    She was well aware. At some point, this ce would be showered in blood without mercy. The Nox, and maybe even a part of Heaven''s Army, would likely face cmity.

    ''Dammit! That man truly moves without any consideration for others!''

    Alexandrained inwardly while slicing through another enemy. She approached closer and closer until she finallynded on the massive flower.

    There were 19 others on the flower with her. As soon as she stepped onto its surface¡­

    The petals closed.

    The 20 people in the flower were isted from the rest of the world, and at the same time, a portion of the flower opened up and revealed a beautiful golden honey-like substance there.

    It was evident what they were to do.

    Thest one standing would win the treasure, while the rest would be nutrients for this nt.

    Fighting began immediately.

    But rather than joining them, Alexandra stood back and observed.

    There was something strange going on here, and before she found out what it was, even the gods themselves wouldn''t be able to move her.

 Chapter 865 Madness [1]

    The situation around the heavenly vine soon became chaotic.

    The Nox and Heaven''s Army forces shed fiercely,ying waste to the surrounding environment. Bodies dropped constantly, and as the earth was stained in red, the golden red aura around the heavenly vine began to shift and be redder and redder.

    With so many millions of troops fighting fiercely, not everyone could stay around the heavenly vine. Several hundreds of thousands of kilometers had been transformed into a battlefield, this whole region bing a bloody ughter domain.

    Near the outskirts of this region, several 3rd ss soldiers fought fiercely against the endless waves of mindless Lesser Nox.

    They split into countless teams and formed a defensive line that absolutely couldn''t be prated, and even among these teams, roles were properly distributed for peak efficiency.

    The first role was the tanks. This role also had the most people, as the tanks held the line and drew the aggression of these Lesser Nox to allow their teammates to attack.

    The second role was the damage dealers. These people had highly destructive abilities and precise control, which allowed them to rapidly blitz the massive crowd of Lesser Nox and lessen their numbers considerably.

    The third role was the cleaners. These troops mainly had wide area destruction skills, which they used to exterminate the ink remains of deceased Nox so they couldn''t rbine with theirrades and form a greater threat.

    Within these three roles, there were several subsidiary positions, and even outside of these main roles, there were several other positions. Together, even with their 3rd ss strength, they even had the ability to hold off a small number of 4th ss beings.

    Boom!

    A burst of Nox Mana impacted a man''s shield.

    "Khh¡­!" He groaned as he absorbed the impact.

    "Josh, now!"

    "On it!"

    A man jumped over his head as soon as he made the call. The man''s twin des shed through the air with absolute precision, followed by an almost invisible trail of green light.

    Shing!

    The cutting of air also symbolized the death of a group of several hundred Nox. The man named Josh immediately retracted his des and retreated behind the shielded man the second he finished attacking.

    Voom!

    A burning ball of light appeared above the two men. It crashed down into the crowd that had formed to rece those Nox who died, spreading a wave of fire several hundred meters into the surrounding.

    A woman walked up behind the two men, a crystal ball floating next to her head. "Josh, Elliot, we can''t dy any longer! Let''s join up with the main squad!"

    "We can''t! We don''t have any space to move!" Elliot yelled back.

    "Then we''ll make room! Otherwise, we can only die!"

    "Tch! Why do I have to do all the work again?!"

    Elliot clicked his tongue in unwillingness, but his steely gaze didn''t falter in the slightest.

    Jess, the female witch, was right. They had been pushed almost an entire kilometer away from the main defense line, and with their current situation, only death awaited them.

    "Fuck!" Elliot roared. Mana zed around his body and congregated on his shield.

    ''ming Bull Run!''

    VOOM!

    Elliot burst into a ball of mes as he charged forward. His every step caused the ground to shake, and the Nox in his path were turned to cinders upon contact.

    As he ran, Josh and Jess followed behind him, clearing the sides and making sure that the Nox couldn''t interrupt Elliot''s charge at all.

    With Josh''s agility and Jess'' great long-range power, they were able to sessfully support Elliot as he carved a path through the Nox horde.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    As the group of three approached closer to the defensive line, the sounds of battle became louder and far more prominent. At some point, the only sound filling the three''s ears was that of des shing.

    However¡­

    ''des shing?''

    The Nox¡­didn''t use weaponry.

    BOOM!

    Elliot''s charge came to an end. A burst of fire spread in all directions around him as he made the final push and returned to the defensive line.

    However, when the Nox blocking the defensive line from view were cleared¡­<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A horrific sight entered their eyes.

    "This¡­what is this madness?!" Jess eximed.

    No matter which direction they looked in, Heaven''s Army had copsed. Brothers were fighting each other madly,rades stabbed each other whileughing indifferently, there was no semnce of order remaining in the ranks.

    "Fuck! What are they doing?! At this rate, the defensive line will break!" Elliot roared furiously. "Josh, go ahead first and try to knock some sense into them! We''ll support you from behind until I recover!"

    Elliot''s eyes scanned the battlefield as he waited for Josh''s affirmation, however, it never came.

    "Josh?" Elliot questioned, turning his gaze to his silentrade.

    "Josh, what''s going on with you?"

    Elliot walked up to his old friend and grabbed his shoulder, turning Josh to face him.

    "¡­Josh?"

    Spurt!

    Elliot''s eyes widened. He looked down into his friend''s eyes.

    The only thing he saw was madness.

    His body copsed to the floor, lifeless.

    "Josh, you¡­!" Jess eximed, however, she found a speedy de shing towards her neck before she could finish.

    ''What happened to Josh?!'' She wondered inwardly, panicking.

    This was a critical juncture where teamwork was of the utmost importance. She didn''t expect herrade of so many years to turn against her here and kill her brother!

    Her emotions boiled.

    "Josh, I can''t believe you''d do this!" She roared. She galvanized her mana and prepared a massive ball of fire to exterminate the traitor.

    ''Hm? What''s that smell?''

    Just before she let the attack loose, a strange scent entered her nose. It was an enticing scent of flowers mixed with the scent of blood.

    As soon as it entered her nose¡­

    Jess'' eyes changed.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Her fireball exploded in mid-air, turning into a rain of starfall that flew wantonly into the battlefield and caused a chain of explosions spanning several kilometers.

    Swish!

    A de passed by her neck. Her eyes widened in concentration as she narrowly dodged to the left.

    Her arm shot out, her hand catching her attacker''s wrist like a w.

    Kekekekeke!

    VOOM!

    A bout of maniacalughter left her mouth as a powerful me transferred from her arm to her attacker''s body, burning him to a crisp.

    Josh''s body fell to the floor not far from Elliot''s, and as it did, Jess moved further into the defensive line to continue her killing spree.

    Elliot and Josh''s lifeless bodies were left in her wake, soon enveloped by the force of battle and consumed by the battlefield.

    However, their blood remained stained in the earth as if to immortalize them.

    That blood glowed with a slight hue of gold and red.

    It integrated deeper into the ground, dripping into something like a vein extending below the surface of the earth.

    If one could see aprehensive view of the underground, they''d be able to see a massivework of these veins spanning the entirety of the ughter domain that''d formed with the sh of these two massive forces.

    And that vein system''s center¡­?

    Naturally, it was none other than the heavenly vine.

 Chapter 866 Madness [2]

    BANG!

    A body cut through the air and mmed into a pure white wall. Despite the wall''s seemingly soft appearance, the impact between it and the man''s body was thick and absolutely one-sided.

    "Kah¡­!"

    The man coughed up a mouthful of blood as his body copsed to the floor. Before he could regain his bearings, a lithe figure appeared behind him like a shadow and sliced through his neck, letting his head fly into the air like a firework.

    That man was the 16th to die.

    From the group who originally entered the flower space, only 4 remained.

    Of them, only one was familiar.

    Alexandra stood in a corner with solemn eyes. Surrounding her were four bodies.

    These bodies were a show of what would happen if one messed with her, as well as her temporary peace bringer.

    She''d been attacked five times so far. The first four''s fates were evident. After they died, nobody else dared to provoke Alexandra.

    At least, for the most part.

    The fifth time she was attacked, it was by the same lithe figure who killed that man. The figure was hidden by a cloak of shadows and remained both faceless and genderless, however, if one thing was certain, it was that person''s strength.

    If it wasn''t for her twice-tempered body, she would''ve died under the force of a single one of that person''s punches.

    However, it was strange. After she survived the first attack, that person no longer paid attention to her, instead targeting the remaining experts in the flower space.

    Now, they''d killed 8 of the 16 who died.

    Alexandra was wary of this strange individual, but more than that, she was extremely wary of the flower space itself.

    ''Their bodies disappear when they die. They''re likely being consumed as nutrients by this flower.'' Alexandra surmised.

    It wasn''t a unique tactic. Most nt species and even several beast species used this same method of evolution to gain strength.

    It was just¡­

    ''The scale of this time is massive. If this nt is truly able to steal our essence, it will grow into something cmitous.''

    Alexandra''s eyes rapidly moved from side to side as she followed that strange person''s battles with the remaining two experts.

    It was one against two, but that person didn''t seem to be at a loss at all. In fact, it was more urate to say that they were dominating.

    ''The soldiers and Nox belowte-stage 4th ss are probably already being ughtered and absorbed. We can''t let any more extreme peak 4th ss experts die and feed this thing!''

    "Stop!" Alexandra shouted just as that person went for the kill.

    Their shadowy head turned towards her, however, the trajectory of their weapon didn''t change.

    Two heads flew into the air, two spouts of blood showered the pure white flower space in red.

    "Fuck!" Alexandra shouted. "Why don''t people listen?!"

    Before she knew it, that person was in front of her face.

    They stood silently. Even without their face showing, Alexandra could clearly feel their eyes scanning her.

    "You are¡­not a dog of Asuran Gate." The mysterious person muttered.

    "Hm?" Alexandra made a sound of confusion.

    "Why¡­ask¡­stop?"

    Alexandra furrowed her brows. Thest time she heard this choppy speech pattern, she ended up without a body.

    Nevertheless, this person was a potential ally she couldn''t lose at the moment.

    "It''s like this¡­"

    Alexandra rapidly exined her reasoning to the mysterious person. She didn''t leave out many details, as long as they didn''t concern greater secrets.

    "¡­the rewards in these flower spaces are probably real, but there''s probably corruptive mana hidden within. I don''t doubt that those who consume these materials will be ves to that vine."

    The mysterious person stood silently for a short moment.

    "How¡­fix?"

    Alexandra shook her head. "It''s impossible for us. The only solution is to kill the heavenly vine so its mana loses effect. Our best path forward is to escape this flower prison and spread awareness, but it doesn''t look like that''s easy."

    It was as she said, the flower petals that enclosed the space were harder than most heavenly materials.

    Every piece of this heavenly vine was a treasure, though that didn''t quite matter if they couldn''t survive this situation.

    The mysterious person nced at the petal walls and nodded.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Will¡­break¡­5¡­minutes."

    "What? Are you sure you can do that? Wait, in the first ce, who the hell are you?!"

    The mysterious person flinched at Alexandra''s exmation. They hesitated for a second with their back turned.

    "Alexandra¡­Arcadia¡­Guild¡­" that person muttered.

    They turned around, the shadows covering their body slowly vanishing.

    Long iridescent blue hair, the divine body of a goddess, this person''s form looked far too perfect for it to remain hidden under a veil.

    However, her face¡­

    It was a mangled mess. Shadowy ck energy pulsated through the exposed veins in the woman''s face, only somewhat contributing to its gruesomely mutted appearance.

    If it wasn''t for the fact that it was attached to a body, it would''ve been hard to even call it a face at all.

    Alexandra''s eyes widened. The disgust she felt for a split second was reced by pity almost immediately.

    ''This person is¡­''

    No, this person used to be¡­

    "Rilia¡­Sterhaven¡­Sanctuary¡­Guild¡­"

    One of the first-round entrants of the Void Corridor, and also the strongest of them.

    How did she end up like this?

    ***

    The battles on the ground and the battles in the flower spaces were all extremely fierce. The stench of death clouded the atmosphere and almost took physical presence due to the sheer amount of it in the area.

    However, these battles meant nothingpared to the one taking ce in the clouds.

    BOOOOOM!

    A massive st of mana enveloped the sky. Shaped like a dark phoenix, holding the properties of both fire and metal, this attack formed a zing inferno of death that enveloped the enemy and melted them while corroding their insides.

    This dark phoenix mmed into a valiant man who stood across from it. A golden-red light barrier formed around him and shed against the phoenix, causing sparks to fly into the air.

    "Sir Theon, you''ve be weaker!" Lucas shouted jovially.

    "Let''s see if you can still take my attacks!"

    Lucas raised his weapon and pointed it. Swirls of mana covered its de like will-o-wisps as he pushed it forward.

    "Divine Sword Style: Split Sword Enhanced Style!"

    Lucas'' sword split into several thousand pieces, each sword carrying a different concept from the Bloof and Metal Laws that Lucas studied.

    These swords were already powerful individually, having more than enough power to destroy cities, however, when they came together¡­

    B-B-BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The proceeding explosion was heaven-shaking. Clouds of me and metal fragments rushed to cloud the entire atmosphere around Sir Theon.

    The metal fragments were already extremely enhanced, but when they werebined with the force of the explosion and blood element, they became dangerous even for someone at Sir Theon''s level.

    "Tch!" He clicked his tongue as he swerved through the air and dodged the rain of attacks. His murky ck mana acted like a ribbon, trailing his hand and forming a flexible defense that reflected most of Lucas'' attacks.

    Yet, Theon wasn''t happy at all.

    ''If I was at my peak, dealing with this would''ve been no problem at all, however, I cannot exert myself to my full capacity due to that conspirator''s tricks!''

    The battle was fine right now, but if they prolonged the fight, Sir Theon would absolutely lose due to his existing injury.

    Theon knew this and Lucas did too. It was obvious what thetter''s intentions were at this point.

    Sir Theon gritted his teeth in rage.

    ''Dammit! After I kill this fool, you will be next!''

    Sir Theon immediately charged back into battle, exchanging several thousand attacks with Lucas every second.

    And as the two fought, they lost the ability to watch their stray mana.

    Below them, an almost unnoticeable suction force began emitting from the dual flowers at the vine''s peak.

    The mana that these two experts left in the surroundings¡­

    Was slowly absorbed and turned into power by the heavenly vine below them.

 Chapter 867 Madness [3]

    Confusion was a dangerous weapon.

    On a small scale, it didn''t mean much at all, but when infecting a crowd, it spread like wildfire.

    The mental confusion of Heaven''s Army and the Nox started at the very outer edge of the battlefield where the 3rd sses fought. Out at that distance, the Nox were already mindless, so the effect of the confusion was far less pronounced.

    Universe denizens turned on each other for seemingly no reason at all, but with them fighting anything that was around them, the battlefield was turned into a fierce melee with no sides whatsoever.

    This melee was what spread to the inner portions of the battlefield.

    Within half an hour of the heavenly vine''s blooming, there wasn''t a single sane person remaining on the ground.

    Everyone from the earliest stages of 3rd ss to the middle stages of 4th ss turned crazed and shed.

    BOOOOOM!

    The atmosphere exploded countless times under the fierce collisions taking ce. Several 4th ss beings, both denizen and Nox, rose into the sky and continued their fights away from the rest of the battlefield, not because they didn''t want to hurt others, but because they had more space to maneuver.

    These 4th sses used the height of theirwprehension to fight, holding nothing back at all.

    Little did they know that their presence in the sky only aided the spread of the infection. As the scenting from their bodies permeated the air, it was absorbed by the heavenly vine and redistributed among the flower spaces on its stem.

    At that point, the situation saw a second change, not any better for either side.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    Originally, there were less than a hundred enclosed flower spaces, each holding more than twenty people. However, suddenly, the vine seemed to bloom into something different, sprouting several hundred flowers that were evenrger than the originals.

    The original flowers were consumed by theserger variants, and the total number of peak existences trapped within the flowers drastically increased.

    "Dammit! We just got out, now we''re back in the same situation again!" Alexandra eximed in defeat.

    How long had it taken Rilia to carve her way out of the original flower space? Just as they thought they could start helping theirrades, they found themselves trapped by an evenrger and stronger flower space.

    "Unite¡­here¡­kill¡­enemy¡­" Rilia muttered.

    Alexandra nodded. "You''re right. Even if killing is feeding the vine''s agenda, we have no choice when ites to the Nox. It''s best for us to unify our side''s experts and counterattack faster than the vine can grow!"

    In the current flower space, there were a few hundred extreme peak masters at the very least, and the split wasn''t even.

    A majority of those present were enemies.

    To rally allies with their current odds and the already disjointed nature of Heaven''s Army would be difficult, but they had to try.

    Alexandra immediately put the n in motion. She rushed to the denizen experts and began exining the situation to them slowly, allowing them topletely understand how they needed to move from there.

    At the same time, Rilia charged into the crowd of Nox and began a killing spree.

    Unfortunately, the strength of these Nox far exceeded the strength of her previous enemies. She wasn''t able to rapidly kill them off like she''d done before.

    Still, she was an efficient killing machine unlike any other.

    Her body moved like a shadow, it was a blur in the light that even the greatest trained eye would barely be able to catch a glimpse of. It wasn''t a teleportation skill, nor was it some kind of instant movement. Rather, it seemed Rilia had mastered some sort of movement skill that allowed her to move swiftly and elegantly, almost defying thews of physics the way she ignored gravity.

    This speed was her main weapon. The massive sickles she used as weapons were truly envoys from the Death God. Each time they sliced out, it felt like a soul was reaped. Even those who remained alive could feel their souls losing power under the oppression of those weapons.

    Though, there were several hundred Nox present, and it was absolutely impossible for Rilia to hold out alone.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    She zig-zagged through the air to avoid a terrifying array of spikes that threatened to swallow her. Just as she reached the end of her movement path, a mushroom cloud swallowed her whole.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    BOOOOM!

    A nearby Nox swept his hand through the air, controlling the explosion to deal the greatest amount of damage possible.

    Rilia''s form went flying through the air, ck blood spurting from her lips and chest.

    THUD!

    She mmed against the flower wall and slid down to the floor.

    Ptui!

    Her eyes remained indifferent as she spat out the blood pooling in her mouth and stood up again.

    There might''ve been an injury, but she didn''t feel pain. She was more than okay to keep fighting.

    And luckily¡­

    "Hey! Don''t move so recklessly!" An annoyed voice came from behind.

    Alexandra arrived next to Rilia in the next instant, followed by a crowd of Heaven''s Army experts.

    Rilia''s eyes widened.

    Alexandra grinned. "I couldn''t convince all of them, but the majority are good people. Now that we''re all on the same page, let''s fight and kill the enemy so we can survive and save our people!"

    Haaaa!

    The experts behind Alexandra all nodded solemnly and charged.

    A massive sh began, a sh that could easily rip a continent or maybe even an entire world into shreds.

    However, this conflict was contained within a single flower space.

    If one exited this flower and looked into the hundreds of mirrored spaces in the other flowers on the vine, they''d see simr scenes, however to different extents.

    There were some flower spaces where the experts realized what was happening and banded together to defeat the Nox and escape, some where denizens and Nox actually worked together to escape their mutual destruction, and others where the experts simply fell prey to the vine''s machinations.

    No matter which route they took, it remained an absolute truth that a massive number of experts was dying, a loss that neither side wanted to endure at all.

    The current forces in the Void Corridor weren''t a joke. If taken back to Eien, they would make up roughly a fourth of the massive universal ring.

    If they took so many losses, wouldn''t a massive hole be opened in the universe''s defense?

    Unfortunately, the only people who could possibly care about this fact were either trapped in flower spaces or didn''t care at all.

    As a matter of fact, thetter opinion was only held by a single person.

    The same person who was currently leading Heaven''s Army for the sake of his own personal gain.

    That man wasn''t even thinking about the universe. His only thought was achieving merit to enter the eyes of his owners in the Bloodlock n.

    But how could such a stupid person ever be epted by the Bloodlock n?

    To be so desperate for recognition, yet to not realize the repercussions of causing such severe losses to the army, why would the Bloodlock n ept this kind of narrow-minded fool?

    Of course, their n was built on a foundation of narrow-minded fools, but that didn''t need to be said out loud, right?

    Nevertheless, the current situation was one that devolved with every second it continued on.

    Something needed to change.

    As soon as possible.

 Chapter 868 Madness [4]

    If one thing could be considered miraculous, it was the structural integrity of the Wild Continent.

    Even with a massive war of 4th ss beings who could single-handedly destroy continents and extreme peak masters who were even stronger than them taking ce on its surface, neither the continent itself nor its atmosphere experienced even the slightest copse.

    Hell, the most atmospheric disturbance the Wild Continent had experienced since the opening of the Void Corridor was Damien''s constant teleportation.

    However, no matter how strong an environment was, if it wasn''t in the Heavenly World, could it truly withstand the collision of forces just barely below Divinity?

    This question was put to the test as Lucas'' sh with Sir Theon intensified. Law fluctuations with untold profundity flew through the air like clouds, absolutely razing everything in their path.

    Lucas was the head of Asuran Gate, an organization under Blood Asura Holy Land, which meant his main specialty was in Blood Laws, though his original affinity was for metal.

    Lucas incorporated this original affinity into his Blood Laws and created an art that could manipte the iron in blood, whether it was his own, his enemies, or even blood mana created through mana.

    This concept somewhat limited his versatility, but his expertise in maniption made him a deadly enemy.

    Bang!

    Sir Theon shot backward, his arms crossed in front of his chest. The armor that covered his forearms had been shattered by the previous attack.

    Ptui!

    Sir Theon spit out a mouthful of blood and furrowed his brows as he charged back into battle, attacking continuously to prevent Lucas from having any opportunities.

    ''He already got me. If I give him even a single moment of respite, I will lose here.'' Sir Theon thought solemnly.

    As mentioned before, Lucas'' ability was to control the metal in blood, even his opponent''s. The only caveat was that this ability had harsh activation requirements.

    In the current situation where Lucas had been continuously barraging Sir Theon with blood and metal attacks and injuring him, these conditions had been met.

    Every cut Sir Theon received, no matter how shallow they were, was corrupted by Lucas'' mana. His mana had already formed a connection with Sir Theon''s blood, almost nearing the point where Lucas could instantly control the Nox Supreme.

    At this point, it was far toote for Sir Theon to counteract the corruption. Instead, he could only kill its originator before he could make use of it!

    His mana raged into the surroundings, forming a human-sized projection behind him.

    ''Partial Divinity.''

    Sir Theon activated his Demonic Providence. The projection melded into his body, turning into an aura of Divinity that encased him.

    When it came to Demonic Providence, Sir Theon''s was likely the most literal. He gained the ability to "borrow" the Divinities of Demigods who allowed him to. Naturally, not many Demigods would agree to such a thing, however, there were several exceptions.

    One of which was the Saint Emperor who Sir Theon served.

    Sir Theon felt a rush of power course through his body. He felt the unbridled freedom of a higher existence, the absolute gait by which a Divinity carried themselves.

    His eyes sharpened. His muscles bulged. His attacks became exponentially fiercer and deadlier.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Terrifying bursts of ck mana filled the atmosphere, taking on the properties of several elements as they did.

    Lucas suddenly found himself in an extremely disadvantageous position.

    His thoughts whirred as he tried to find a way out of his predicament.

    However, there was no way he couldpete with true Divine Mana.

    His eyes hardened as a thought crossed his mind.

    ''Will I truly be forced to use that here?''

    ***

    Within a certain flower space, a reeking smell permeated the air. Several blotches of ck ink painted the ground below, evidence of the hard-fought battle that had juste to an end.

    Of the several hundred Heaven''s Army experts, only around 200 survived the fierce collision, and currently, they rested their bodies and healed their injuries.

    As soon as they broke out of this ce, they would need to go back to battle again. It was best to cherish every moment of respite they could get. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Apart from the main crowd, two people sat together. One was a beautiful woman, while the other was veiled in a cloak of shadows.

    They sat in silence for a very long time.

    There were many things that needed to be discussed, however, actually discussing them was a different matter.

    Finally, Alexandra couldn''t take it anymore.

    "Rilia, just what happened to you?" She asked through mental transmission.

    Rilia nced over at her and sighed.

    "My story¡­is not one worth listening to."

    Unlike the voice that came from her mouth, the voice that came from Rilia''s mental transmission was both beautiful and articte.

    Hearing it, Alexandra felt a pang in her heart.

    She shook her head in refusal. "You are my savior and myrade. Now that we''ve been through multiple life-or-death battles together, I know your character. Whatever is troubling you, I want to help you with."

    "¡­"

    Rilia sat silently for a while.

    She was a person of few words and even fewer expressions, however, Alexandra could clearly feel the deste emotion that clouded Rilia''s mind at the moment.

    "I was¡­" Rilia started.

    "No, my story does not matter. The important matter now is to leave this ce and cate the situation outside. This whole thing¡­this whole thing is a conspiracy!"

    Rilia''s heart suddenly spiked. Her mana red unintentionally, mming the unsuspecting Alexandra into a nearby wall.

    "Ah¡­!" Rilia eximed in shock.

    "It''s fine," Alexandra responded as she brushed off her clothes and returned to her original spot.

    "Continue. I want to hear what you have to say."

    Rilia nodded.

    "My experience in this secret realm has been a hell greater than hell itself, however, there is still one person I despise most in this world."

    "It was him. It was he who orchestrated everything! The war in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness, the defeat of our Heaven''s Army, it was all within his predictions!"

    "However, this Void Corridor was unpredictable. It was something that no man could ever n. It sucked us in, it foiled his grand scheme, but¡­it gave way to something greater!"

    Rilia''s aura red again. Her killing intent rose into the sky as the gritted her teeth and continued speaking.

    "For his own selfish desires, for his own goals, he is willing to sacrifice everyone and everything. Even if he didn''t know this heavenly vine was carnivorous, he wouldn''t act on it even if he knew."

    Alexandra''s eyes became more solemn with every sentence.

    Even if she hadn''t known Rilia for long, she''d heard thetter''s reputation. She was an upright and logical woman, nothing like the behavior she was showing now.

    And despite the horrors that she seemed to have gone through, she was still sane. This much could be understood by her general demeanor and ability to judge the situation.

    With all this in mind¡­

    "Just who could possibly make you so wary?" Alexandra asked.

    Rilia opened her mouth. She spoke with her true voice rather than mental transmission, as if to enunciate the importance of her words.

    "Lucas¡­Streem¡­"

    "¡­is¡­a¡­traitor."

 Chapter 869 Confrontation [1]

    ''Will I truly be forced to use that here?''

    Lucas Streem gritted his teeth as the thought shed across his mind.

    ''There are too many people here, but¡­''

    Sir Theon was relentless. With the strengthening of his Demonic Providence, Lucaspletely lost his original advantage.

    However, to truly use "that," meant to abandon almost everything he''d worked so long for.

    ''My position will be in danger as long as anyone who sees me survives. If I leave alone, there will be additional suspicions that will lead to my being exposed. At the end of the day, I must use it to survive.''

    Lucas'' eyes hardened.

    It had been many years since he first converted, and ever since that fateful day when his destiny changedpletely, he''d been meticulously nning his steps so he could gain the most benefits from any situation he found himself in.

    The war in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness was one of these ns.

    In fact, the Blood-Drenched Wilderness was only coincidentally drawn into his n.

    Due to the mysterious destruction of one of the Nox Strongholds and the death of the Nox''s Heavenly Demon Candidate, a buzz of rumors began to spread about the area.

    Lucas capitalized on this buzz, nurturing it into a wildfire that eventually consumed the entire domain and descended it into chaos.

    Merely, Lucas never expected a Void Corridor to open.

    And he never expected a force greater than his own would also be meddling in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness'' affairs.

    Nevertheless, the conditions inside the Void Corridor were extremely advantageous for him. With everyone dying left and right, wouldn''t his n continue without fail?

    Especially¡­

    His eyesnded on Sir Theon who was rapidly approaching.

    This man was the goal of the Blood-Drenched Wilderness n. The entire operation was a front to lure out a Supreme and put him in an unfavorable position.

    ''At that point, I can devour him and grow. I am just barely below the line of Divinity now. If I can consume a few Supremes, I will be able to take the final step!''

    The Nox were a cannibalistic race. No matter how strong they got, the most effective method of evolution was to consume their own kind.

    Nox Worshippers didn''t obtain this ability, at least, not upon their initial corruption.

    However, Lucas Streem was different from the other Nox Worshippers Damien had met. Lucas was a man who''d reached the 9th revolution of extreme peak 4th ss as a Nox Worshipper, and as a reward for his efforts, he also gained several of the Nox''s qualities.

    Of these was the ability to consume the Nox to grow.

    As Lucas'' blood was nearlypletely corrupted by now, he was closer to Nox than Demon anyway.

    Therefore, when the time came to make an impulsive decision, he didn''t hesitate for long.

    VOOM!

    An explosion of murky ck mana surrounded Lucas. His bloody metal mana was corrupted by this color, turning into a dirty grey color as it swirled in the air.

    Lucas'' form went through a massive change, bing demonic to the extreme. Horns, wings, a tail, and even sleek reptilian skin covered Lucas'' body, exponentially empowering him.

    Ha!

    Lucas let out a short shout as he charged forward and met Sir Theon head-on,

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A murky ck aura collided with a Partial Divinity. The air exploded, space shivered and trembled, and an expansive line of spatial cracks opened up in the sky, polluting the air with chaos.

    "Hahaha! So that''s how it is!" Sir Theon eximed immediately.

    "You selfish bastard! You actually dare to consume me?!"

    Sir Theon''s emotions boiled. It was one thing for him to battle an expert of the universe, but now, this battle was an internal struggle.

    A greedy man wanted to bite off more than he could chew.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Did he actually think Supremes were soft persimmons?

    How could Sir Theon not feel rage?

    "Fool! Allow me to show you the power of a true Nox!" He roared.

    His mana raged, covering his body in a terrifying ck armor. Hellmes and ck ice surrounded him on both sides, ignoring their differences and melding into a single attack that shot out with utmost ferocity.

    B-B-BOOOOOM!

    The attack was shaped like a bullet ofpressed energy, and its existence already ripped through the air before it even started moving.

    It approached Lucas at lightning speed and exploded into a rain of icy mes.

    Lucas'' face hardened. His eyes darted from side to side as he judged the trajectory and danger of the attack. His body, now empowered by the release of his true form, moved like a loach as he dodged every single piece of mana that Sir Theon sent at him.

    Slowly but surely, he inched closer and closer to the enemy, and once he was less than a kilometer away¡­

    ''Maic Impact!''

    He clenched his fist. The iron that he couldn''t quite control because of his previous disadvantage came under his reign.

    "Hak¡­!" Sir Theon eximed as his body jerked to a halt.

    He tried to move his arm, but it felt like it was weighed down by the weight of a.

    "Ha¡­hahahaha!" Lucasughed maniacally.

    "A Supreme¡­a true Supreme¡­hahahaha!"

    To actually try to consume a Supreme was insane. Even Lucas was aware of that.

    The reason he had confidence was his special ability. Unlike others, he had a sort of invible control that allowed him to ignore strength differences as long as he could y his cards right.

    If he could gain control over an enemy''s body before they blocked his interference, it was over for them.

    "You are my pawn, Sir Theon! Your only purpose is to feed me! Hahahaha!"

    Sir Theon was just now learning about the seemingly absolute truth of this statement.

    He tried to move his body, but nothing he tried mattered at all. After all, his body itself was the chain holding him down.

    Meanwhile, Lucas circled him without a care in the world, caressing his body and slowly cutting into it as if savoring a delicacy. His mouth constantly moved, spewing an unending rain of nonsense into Sir Theon''s ears.

    "You pathetic being. Allow me to put you out of your misery." Lucas said.

    ''Dammit!'' Sir Theon roared inwardly, unable to open his mouth. He red at Lucas in hatred as he willed his entire body to move.

    His mana red and roared, causing constant quakes in the atmosphere.

    At some point, Sir Theon felt a slight portion of his movement ability return.

    But at the same time, Lucas had already begun slicing into his arm, eating it whole without a care for his surroundings at all.

    He must''ve realized it.

    He must''ve realized that there wasn''t a sane soul remaining in the heavenly vine''s vicinity.

    He must''ve realized what the heavenly vine was doing, he simply didn''t care.

    Why would he care about something that didn''t affect him? There was a prime meal in front of his eyes, simply waiting to be devoured.

    The battle in the sky suddenly became strange.

    Rather than two opponents fighting for life and death¡­

    It was more of a standoff between predator and prey, merely, the prey was still undecided.

    After all, Sir Theon was absolutely not going to allow himself to die like this.

 Chapter 870 Confrontation [2]

    "Finally found you."

    A lone voice rang out deep underground, far away from anyone and anything existing on the Wild Continent.

    Well, anything except one.

    Before the man whose hands slightly trembled as he gazed at it was a ball of light roughly the same size as a 2 story house. It was dim and barely glowing, but had an untamed yellowish hue that made it lookrger than life.

    From many many days ago, Damien had been searching for this thing. It was the source of the fluctuation that led him so deep into the underground and what he believed was the greatest treasure of the hidden realm.

    ''It''s simr to a World Core, but not quite the same. It looks like this Wild Continent was part of the established universe at some point.'' Damien thought to himself.

    World Cores were a product of universalw, so by all means, no secret realm or separated space should be able to birth them. This meant that before it was part of the Void Corridor, the Wild Continent actually existed in Grand Heavens Boundary!

    ''Then is this a different hidden realm than the one that opened during previous Void Corridor openings?''

    Damien had the memories of experts, but he didn''t have enough context to know whether they entered the Wild Continent through normal means or through Void Corridor.

    ''Never mind, the situation outside seems to have reached a tipping point. I shouldn''t dy any longer.''

    Damien walked up to the floating sphere and gently ced his hand on its surface.

    Unlike when he bound World Cores, he was extremely careful with this one.

    After all, it was still a rudimentary World Core that hadn''t fully formed and materialized yet. The strength of Damien''s Celestial Mana Thread would likely cause this construct to copse.

    Nevertheless, under Damien''s gentle urging and gradual introduction of his own mana, the floating sphere began to expand and change in color.

    At the same time, Damien''s senses expanded far past his body, growing until his perception epassed the entire Wild Continent.

    ''Oho¡­'' Damien eximed.

    Since it wasn''t aplete World Core, he didn''t gain much World Force by binding it, but he did gain a modicum of control over the Wild Continent.

    ''Until I can move this continent out of the Void Corridor, I won''t be able to im full ownership, but this is enough for now.''

    Damien closed his eyes and focused on the scenes taking ce directly above him.

    Actually, he didn''t really need his expanded vision to understand the situation above, but it allowed him to gain a far more precise understanding.

    Though, the massive roots that wed their way into the subterranean world made the heavenly vine''s location obvious.

    Even as Damien bound the underdeveloped World Core, the roots fell deeper into the cavern space, growing longer to reach its target.

    A target that Damien had just stolen from it.

    He grinned when he realized.

    ''Am I foiling ns on ident now? How fun!''

    His vision suddenly turned to the stem of the heavenly vine. His gaze pierced physical reality and witnessed the happenings of the flower spaces, his eyes narrowing as he did.

    ''The extreme peak masters can''t keep dying like this. I need to lessen this vine''s atmospheric control.''

    He raised his hand to do exactly as he said, but before he could¡­

    ''That¡­''

    His eyes caught sight of what was happening above the heavenly vine.

    A surprised chuckle left his mouth.

    ''Is this a ''like father like son'' situation? Who would''ve thought the subsidiary force of that corrupt n would be corrupt as well? Utterly sphemous!''

    Despite his thoughts, Damien was grinning widely.

    Another Nox Supreme?

    Didn''t that mean¡­

    "Haha, it looks like you''re getting a feast today."

    He spoke out loud, addressing the woman who stood silently behind him.

    In response, she lightly smiled, her eyes turning sharp.

    "Good. It''s been a long time since I tasted blood."

    The crescent moon-shaped symbol between her eyebrows shone with her eyes.

    However, her time to enter the battlefield hadn''t quitee yet.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Before that, there was another team who wanted to show their strength.

    And who was Damien to reject them?

    ***

    Rumble!

    The battlefield shook, though nobody paid it any mind. There were barely any sane troops left in general, let alone those who had the time to pay attention to the rumbling that had already be white noise to these soldiers.

    However, unlike their assumptions, this rumbling wasn''t the normal sound created by the collision of so many troops.

    No, something was approaching.

    A dust cloud approached the battlefield with untold speed, the rumbling caused by its existence bing fiercer and fiercer with every second.

    By the time the dust cloud got close enough for its identity to be ascertained, the ground was already cracked and sundered, on the verge of copsing entirety.

    "BROTHERS!"

    A booming voice resounded through the world.

    A man who stood an entire kilometer in height roared, his eyes piercing the battlefield.

    "ELIMINATE THE ENEMY!"

    He didn''t waste any words.

    And his exmation was met only with vigor.

    RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

    The Cloud Giants let out a fierce warcry as they made their entrance into the battlefield.

    Not only was this warcry a domineering show of power to their enemies, it was an unexpected boost to their allies.

    The sheer momentum behind theirbined roars cleared a portion of the atmosphere of the heavenly vine''s madness spores, and the power of their roars shook people''s internals and loosened the heavenly vine''s control.

    For Heaven''s Army, a portion seemed to have regained a measure of sentience, allowing them to break away from the chaos and truly fight once more.

    However, the Nox didn''t experience such benefits at all.

    Instead¡­.

    RAAAAAAAH!

    "HAHAHAHA! FINALLY! BATTLE!"

    The Cloud Giants were like berserk executioners. They ughtered any Nox around them, the records of their past humiliation burning in their souls and empowering them.

    As they approached the inner battlefield, more and more Cloud Giants separated from therge crowd that they''d arrived in.

    Several hundred of them remained on the outskirts with the 3rd sses, tens remained with the remaining 4th sses, and the rest climbed the vine stem to reach the flower spaces that had been blocked off from them.

    The advent of the Cloud Giants unto the battlefield was truly a game-changer. Not only did Heaven''s Army suddenly gain a method to regain their sanity, but they also gained a fighting force of elites that wasn''t much worse than their selection of extreme peak masters.

    When these Cloud Giants finally made their way through the flower spaces and united with the universe''s extreme peak masters, just what kind of show would they put on?

    It was definitely a question worth asking, but it wasn''t a question Lucas or Sir Theon would allow answered at all.

    The gazes of the two Supremes snapped down to the ground. They immediately separated, Sir Theon regrowing his arm.

    They nced at each other in tacit understanding.

    They could fight against each otherter.

    Now that an outside threat hade to stop them, it needed to be taken care of first.

    Two blurs of ck light disappeared from above the flower.

    And at the same time, a tinum light intercepted them.

    "Were you looking for an opponent?" The owner of that light said.

    His kilometer-tall body was a natural roadblock that couldn''t be surpassed simply.

    He grinned as he faced the two beings in front of him.

    "Come, I shall entertain you for today!"

 Chapter 871 Confrontation [3]

    "Come, I shall entertain you for today!"

    A booming voice rang out, and was immediately followed by a collision.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Two extreme peak masters attacked as one, mming into the Giant Leader''s body with their full force.

    However, what were giants known for if not physical power?

    "Hahahaha! I am Gntis, King of the Cloud Giants! You two Nox scum should be grateful to have a chance to injure my body!"

    Gntis roared andughed heartily like an old sailor, apletely different demeanor than he demonstrated during more managerial duties.

    And hearing his ecstatic response, two faces crumpled as one.

    "Receive my strike!"

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Gntis threw his fist forward without a care in the world, but this single strike was enough to cause countless booming explosions to nket the sky as the air exploded.

    "Kak¡­!"

    "Ha¡­!"

    Two groans of pain rang out as Lucas and Sir Theon were pushed back, their blood rolling in their bodies.

    They looked at each other solemnly. It seemed that the current enemy wasn''t something they could defeat if they held back at all.

    After that single strike, they were already aware of the difference in power between them.

    After all, even after fighting each other for so long, they both needed to use countless tricks to injure each other.

    Meanwhile, this giant only needed a single punch!

    "Have you forgotten my existence?!"

    A booming voice was followed by a terrifying storm. Punches rang out in bulk with no semnce of physics. Gntis'' body moved with the speed of a cheetah despite having the size of an element, and as if his defying acts were recognized by the universe, space continuously threatened to tear open and swallow him as his attacks grew fiercer.

    "Dammit!" Lucas yelled in frustration. If he could just get past this damn giant''s skin, he would be able to gain an absolute advantage, but it was impossible!

    Every time he punched out, every time his mana came in contact with that skin, it was repelled as if there was a forcefield covering Gntis!

    However, there was nothing of the sort. This was the result of pure physical prowess that matched the elemental prowess of most people''s 9th revolution.

    Sir Theon''s eyes narrowed. He could feel the effects of his Demonic Providence fading away with every second, he still had internal injuries remaining from the mysterious expert''s attack, and he was already corrupted with Lucas'' mana shards. He was by far in the worst position among the three.

    ''Even if Lucas is on my side now, I have no doubt he will sacrifice me to save himself if the situation arises.'' Sir Theon thought to himself.

    Regardless of which side he was on, he''d lose.

    It was an incredibly vexing feeling, but at the current juncture, Sir Theon had no time to think over it. He could only keep it in mind and n for the event so he could be prepared when it urred.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Spurt!

    Sir Theon flew backwards with blood spraying out of his mouth. Even Lucas was thrown away, unable to bear the momentum of Gntis'' attacks.

    "Hahahahaha!"

    Gntis''ugh echoed through the surroundings, inadvertently freeing many people from their confused states.

    As the battle in the sky progressed, the battles on the ground began to change as well. As more Heaven''s Army soldiers regained their sanity, the tides began to turn in their favor.

    The only problem they had to deal with was the Nox''s numbers, but with their current advantage, the Nox''s advantage only evened the ying field.

    Unlike Lucas who was fully focused on the fight, Sir Theon had been taking in all of these sights. He could feel the tides of this war changing, and he clearly understood who would win in the end, even if the victory was pyrrhic.

    He nced at Lucas as he avoided Gntis'' punches. His body swerved through the air, not hindering the battle but not necessarily helping either.

    Lucas red at him hatefully, but how could he find time toin? He didn''t even have the freedom to control Sir Theon through the mana shards in his body at the moment.

    The only thing he could do was dodge, dodge, dodge!

    "I refuse to be beaten so one-sidedly!" He roared in anger. His aura suddenly red with the scent of blood, making it evident that he was burning his blood vitality.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Sir Theon''s eyes widened. He didn''t know why Lucas was so determined, but it was all the better for him.

    He quietly awaited his chance as the other two fought.

    Gntis didn''t care about Sir Theon at all. He could see thetter''s injuries clearer than water, and considering the expression currently decorating the Nox Supreme''s face, Gntis could guess that something interesting would happen if he let that man go.

    Nevertheless, Gntis lost the ability to check on Sir Theon soon after.

    With his blood vitality as the foundation, Lucas'' strength skyrocketed. It wasn''t just his physical body, but the power of hisws as well.

    BOOM!

    Two fists collided, one natural and the other covered in bloody light. A gargantuan red explosive force spread from the impact and enveloped them, however, neither of them chose to retreat.

    Their fists connected again. At the same time, Lucas maneuvered his mana skillfully to create several metallic constructs enhanced by blood mana. These constructs were vessels for several differentw concepts, any of which would be deadly to practitioners under the extreme peak level.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Gntis'' eyes narrowed. He could feel microscopic cuts forming on the surface of his skin.

    While these cuts didn''t mean anything in the short term, he had seen a portion of Lucas and Sir Theon''s previous battle and understood how this Nox Worshipper''s abilities worked.

    "It looks like I''ll have to get serious!"

    Gntis kicked his foot forward like a spartan, striking Lucas in the chest and pushing him back. His body suddenly red with light, beams shooting from his orifices as his aura solidified into something greater.

    "You¡­!" Lucas tried to exim.

    However, the fist in front of his face had already struck him by the time the first word came out.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Lucas shot backward with the same speed as aet. He could feel his organs rumbling. There were several internal injuries already in his body, but they''d all be exponentially worse.

    ''If this goes on, I''ll lose no matter what!'' Lucas thought to himself.

    However, the solution immediately appeared in his mind.

    His mana concentrated in his body as he took control over the mana shards he''d left in his target.

    He sensed his target''s location and prepared to throw him into Gntis to distract him, however¡­

    ''The target is¡­''

    Shik!

    A de pierced through Lucas'' chest.

    ''¡­behind me?''

    Lucas'' eyes widened in shock. He was too absorbed in the battle and failed to consider Sir Theon''s actions.

    After all, logic said that the duo should attack the Cloud Giant first, since thetter wasn''t affiliated with the Nox.

    Unfortunately, Lucas forgot for a second who he was dealing with.

    He was irrational, but he was still born a Demon. He still understood the prudence that universe denizens learned as they grew.

    The Nox had no such concept.

    They would act on whichever benefit would serve them best in the short term.

    In this case, Lucas'' death was that act.

    Cough!

    Lucas suddenly coughed. Chunks of organs sprayed from his mouth, mixed with the blood that was already leaking from it.

    His body started to liquefy.

    However, it wasn''t allowed toplete that process at all.

 Chapter 872 Confrontation [4]

    "Hang in there, we''re almost out!"

    An exmation of drive rang through a flower space as those within shed with the flower''s petals in a bid to escape.

    They''d already been attacking the flower barrier for several minutes, but they hadn''t seen any sort of change. Even the spirited shout that spurred them on was one of false hope.

    It seemed like the only way to escape the flower space was to kill each other and im the treasure, however, none of those currently alive were stupid enough to even consider this.

    They''d seen the flower''s evolution for themselves. They''d seen how the heavenly vine absorbed the dead to grow. After that, how could they still believe that its treasures were safe?

    Still, their mentalities meant nothing in the face of the flower space''s defensive power.

    Alexandra sighed to herself as she attacked the wall.

    She didn''t even know how to feel at the moment.

    How was one supposed to feel when they learned that one of the universe''s leaders was a traitor?

    Was one supposed to doubt everyone and everything from that point forth?

    Alexandra couldn''t bring herself to do that, and while she of course held the desire to do something, she didn''t have the power to act on it.

    ''I have to find a way to tell him.''

    She thought back to the strange man she''d met for barely any time at all. If it was him, maybe ridding the universe of a great betrayer would be a possibility.

    But how was she supposed to warn him?

    Rumble!

    At this time, the flower space suddenly shook. Muffled impacts sounded all across the barrier as if a rain of hail was battering it.

    Alexandra''s eyes widened. "Someone''s helping from the outside! Push harder!"

    The others noticed around the same time as her, and their efforts were maximized instantly.

    Crack! Crack!

    The barrier began to crack slowly. As the petals were being attacked from multiple angles, the spreading cracks eventually met each other and became more pronounced.

    And just as the petals began to shatter¡­

    RUMBLE!

    The earth itself rumbled.

    The heavenly vine glowed with intense golden-red light.

    Rilia appeared beside Alexandra in an instant.

    "Must¡­leave."

    She grabbed Alexandra by the arm and rapidly shot into the air.

    "Wait! The barr¡ª"

    Alexandra started to warn Rilia, but her worries were unfounded. Before the duo reached the top of the flower space, the barrier shattered entirety.

    Alexandra and Rilia shot into the air of the outside world and rapidly retreated away from the heavenly vine, leaving its sphere of influence entirely.

    "Time¡­of¡­reckoning," Rilia muttered, pointing at the heavenly vine''s peak.

    There, Alexandra saw a sight she''d never once expected.

    A massive giant stood facing Lucas Streem, who was currently impaled by the Nox Supreme''s de.

    The heavenly vine squirmed below them, the petals of the twin flowers at its peak curling and releasing as if to express excitement,

    "This is¡­just what happened?!" Alexandra eximed.

    It wasn''t just about the Cloud Giants who suddenly appeared, but the battlefield as a whole.

    Where did all the troops go?!

    Unless¡­

    They couldn''t have died in the rtively short amount of time that passed, right?

    Then again, thinking about the sheer number of extreme peak masters who died within that same span of time, Alexandra stopped doubting what she saw.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    RUMBLE!

    The earth shook again, sending vibrations even to where Rilia and Alexandra stood several hundred thousand kilometers away.

    "The heavenly vine¡­is moving," Alexandra muttered.

    Before her eyes, the vine squirmed to life.

    Two massive vines like tentacles shot from the main vine''s surface, flying into the air and wrapping around Lucas'' body.

    In the air above the vine, Sir Theon''s expression changed instantly.

    Boom!

    The air exploded as he pushed away from Lucas as fast as he could.

    And at the same pace he moved, he clearly witnessed Lucas'' body freezing over and being sucked into the vine''s "mouth," almost as if it was being stored forter.

    ''I must flee!''

    The thought was instantly changed into action. Without any care for face or mission, he turned tail and ran away at his fastest speed.

    In the first ce, this kind of conflict wasn''t in his pay grade!

    He was sent to kill a weak kid not even at the extreme peak of 4th ss!

    Why should he entangle with these forces that''d definitely cause his death?

    And he wasn''t the only one thinking so. Gntis pulled away even before Sir Theon,pletely avoiding the vine.

    In the first ce, he was hired help! There was no need to risk his life where it wasn''t necessary.

    ''The mana shards in my body have be ownerless now that Lucas has been taken by the vine. If I can find a ce to sit down and refine them, I should be able to heal back to my peak.'' Sir Theon ruminated inwardly.

    With his power limited, Sir Theon could fight evenly against Lucas and even escape the heavenly vine. What would his full strength look like?

    Though, Sir Theon''s fantasies remained fantasies.

    Escape?

    Maybe if it was a few minutes ago before Gntis arrived, escape was still an option.

    But now?

    The heavenly vine''s growth was elerated exponentially after it absorbed the mana of three Supremes, and in its current state¡­

    BANG!

    ¡­it was no different from a Supreme itself.

    The ground below exploded. A vine as thick as a tree trunk flew into the air, aiming to tangle around Sir Theon and bring him down.

    He narrowly dodged in the air, but was met by a second, third, and fourth vine as he moved like a fly, buzzing around without a particr destination.

    Once the 99th vine exited the ground, the group of vines began to sway in formation. A magic circle appeared around them, increasing their girth and length, as well as imbuing them with certain powers.

    They now shot out with the power of the earth itself at their disposal. More than that, it even seemed like the vine had certain elemental affinities, likely gained after devouring so many experts.

    After all, it wasn''t impossible to gain an unnatural affinity, merely extremely rare.

    The prospect of escape which was barely possible before becamepletely impossible.

    When one entered 4th ss, their every attack would be imbued withws. The form of the attack stopped mattering as much as the substance became more defined.

    This meant that most people opted to drop their fancier techniques for simpler, more useful skills that could be utilized with speed in a normal battle, and this also meant that the current heavenly vine, even though it was only swinging tentacles around wantonly, was throwing deadly force with every attack.

    It was especially annoying since the heavenly vine didn''t quite know how to control its strength.

    And Sir Theon was incredibly unresigned since his internal injuries were the only reason he was so miserable right now.

    But, the reason didn''t change the fact that he was miserable.

    With the vines filled with terrifyingw fluctuations attacking him relentlessly, a thought crossed Sir Theon''s mind.

    ''Did I offend someone insanely powerful in my past life?!''

    There was truly no other exnation for his misfortune.

 Chapter 873 Confrontation [5]

    ''Partial Divinity.''

    Once again, a call was made.

    However, its strength was nowhere near its predecessor. Under the heavenly vine''s suppression, Sir Theon had no choice but to forcefully activate his Demonic Providence again.

    He couldn''t summon the Saint Emperor''s strength a second time, but he had long made contracts with several Lord-level Demigods that he could use in case of emergency.

    ''de Lord''s Intent.''

    Sir Theon''s aura strengthened to a new level and sharpened incredibly. His entire body became like a sword, and the de in his hand started to swing even without his prompting.

    It was like an extension of his body, something he could control on an instinctive level.

    Shing!

    His de shed through the air in a mysterious pattern. Sir Theon''s body weaved through the 99 vines that attacked him, easily dodging and parrying their attacks before counterattacking fiercely.

    Vines dropped like flies. It was like their previous forcing Sir Theon into a corner was aplete lie.

    ''As long as the Demonic Providence is active, I can move while ignoring my internal injuries. However, when it ends¡­''

    Previously, Sir Theon used the Saint Emperor''s Divinity because he was in a critical situation where he needed the greatest power output he could get.

    However, for his body, bearing a Lord''s Divinity was far less taxing. His efficiency would be maximized at the cost of raw power.

    At this moment, Sir Theon''s opponent was a vine that hadn''t fully grown into its strength yet. Its sentience was limited so its control over itsws wasn''t refined at all.

    As long as he could capitalize on his temporary advantage and destroy that vine, he''d end up with benefits that far exceeded the consequences he''d suffer from overexerting his power.

    ''I have five minutes. I must not falter!''

    His head snapped in the direction of the heavenly vine, his body following not long after. By the time his thought ended, he was already halfway to the heavenly vine''s main body.

    But how could it allow its greatest threat to return?

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Vines sted the ground open with every inch that Sir Theon moved. The number grew from tens to hundreds and even until the thousands, endlessly approaching Sir Theon and attempting to confine him.

    Unfortunately for the vine, Sir Theon wasn''t in his same weakened state anymore.

    With the de Lord''s Divinity, he truly became a master of the de. His every strike was filled with profundity and meaning and his every movement caused the winds to whip in reverence.

    sh!

    He shed out forcefully, throwing a massive crescent of de Aura into the horde of vines.

    Shik! Shik! Shik!

    A strange sound rang out as the vines were shed into pieces. As theynded on the ground, Sir Theon suddenly noticed that they were absorbed into the earth like the corpses of the dead.

    ''At this rate, the vine will regenerate endlessly. It''s already dyed me too much!''

    2 minutes passed. Even if it wasn''t much time, it meant everything to Sir Theon.

    He wasn''t even a thousand kilometers closer to the heavenly vine yet, and he had several thousand to cross.

    If every thousand kilometers took an entire two minutes to prate¡­

    ''I''ll never make it.''

    Sir Theon''s eyes hardened. His face turned dignified.

    ''It seems I won''t be able to escape death today.'' He realized.

    But would this realization shake his resolve?

    Never!

    Even if he was fated to die, he''d take his enemy along with him. If he didn''t try until the end, the possibility of survival would truly be zero!

    "Burn!"

    VOOM!

    Sir Theon''s eyes burned brightly, his body suddenly covered in bulging veins. His blood boiled and burned, empowering his aura with its vitality.

    "Damned vine! I will conquer you today!"

    Sir Theon''s body arched, his head turning to the sky.

    RAAAAAAAH!

    He let out a fierce roar. His aura red several hundred kilometers into the surroundings, letting loose a storm of de Aura that obliterated any and everything in that range.

    BOOM!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Sir Theon''s body shot forward like aet. By the time his third minute ended, he only had a few hundred kilometers to travel before reaching the vine''s main body.

    At that time, the situation evolved again.

    The heavenly vine wasn''t remaining in stasis while Sir Theon attacked it.

    It''s every action to dy him had a single purpose: to buy enough time for it to limate.

    And while that time wasn''tpletely bought¡­

    VOOOOOM!

    A massive fluctuation escaped the ground below Sir Theon and sted him into the air.

    A vine shot through the exploded ground as the rest had, however, this one was inherently different.

    The flower blooming at its tip was clearly emanating fluctuations of Sword Aura, likely collected from the dead.

    ''de Aura and Sword Aura are rivals in the same vein. It chose to fight fire with fire until it can understand proper countermeasures.''

    Sir Theon gritted his teeth in frustration. In all his years of life, he''d never been this suppressed by an opponent at the same level.

    ''I won''t allow today to be the day I suffer such humiliation.''

    Sir Theon mmed his feet against the air as if it was solid and shot towards the vine with ferocity, shing in a specific pattern that was difficult to perceive with the naked eye.

    ''de Lord''s Inherited Art: 10,000 Consecutive shes!''

    SHIING!

    His de Aura reached a great level and created 10,000 interconnecting lines that acted as an inescapable of death.

    In response, the vine shot out several fierce sts of Sword Aura, utterly brutish yet far more damaging than Sir Theon''s strikes.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The two forces collided in the air in a terrifying sh of light. The air was cut into tens of thousands of pieces, and even the Wild Continent''s sturdy atmosphere slightly cracked under the pressure.

    Sir Theon shot several thousand kilometers in the distance, blood spraying from his body.

    Yet, his face was decorated with a grin.

    ''Foolish vine.''

    He might''ve been injured, but the direction he was flying¡­

    Sir Theon suddenly turned his body and shed his de diagonally.

    ''de Lord''s Inherited Art: Absolute Dominance.''

    The edge of his de made contact with something solid.

    de Aura overshadowed the heavens.

    Sir Theon put everything he had into this attack. He used the momentum of the explosion to shoot himself towards the heavenly vine and use his final minute to gather everyst bit of power that he could.

    The Absolute Dominance strike was the full force of a Supreme, a force that caused the Wild Continent''s atmosphere to crack into several different pieces.

    His de prated the heavenly vine''s thick exterioryer.

    HAAAAAAAAAH!

    Sir Theon roared, his muscles bulging monstrously as he pushed the de deeper into the vine''s trunk.

    It went deeper and deeper. With every second, another piece of the heavenly vine was obliterated, returned to nothingness by Sir Theon''s de until finally¡­!

    The final minute of Partial Divinity was exhausted.

    Sir Theon''s progress¡­?

    Roughly halfway through the vine.

    His strength faltered.

    His expression crumpled.

    "I still¡­failed." He muttered.

    The thick trunk of the vine separated into countless strands that wrapped around Sir Theon and dragged him into its body.

    And in the same moment¡­

    "It''s time."

    A voice rang out in the void.

 Chapter 874 Confrontation [6]

    While the heavenly vine was dealing with Sir Theon, it didn''t stop its attempts to grow stronger.

    The ferocious vines that were attacking the Supreme rained hell on the main battlefield as well, and unlike Sir Theon that had the ability to fight against them, not many on the ground were the same.

    Countless people were torn to shreds and absorbed within a single instant, but luckily, the Cloud Giants had also finished freeing the extreme peak experts trapped in the flower spaces.

    A fierce battle followed.

    The extreme peak experts banded together to hold back the vines and destroy them, but facing their endless regeneration, even their power wasn''t enough to stop tens of thousands from dying as coteral damage.

    Alexandra and Rilia were also part of the crowd facing the vines. They swerved together, acting as one andbining their power to create a solid attack and defense that couldn''t be prated.

    Unfortunately, the duo had expended a great deal of strength trying to escape the flower space earlier and they hadn''t been given much time to rest at all.

    Bang!

    Crack!

    A group of vines mmed into Alexandra''s earthly defense and shattered the imprable wall. Alexandra clutched her chest and calmed her rolling blood as she retreated. At the same time, Rilia moved forward and held the vines back with her strength.

    ck shadows and liquid swirled through the air as Rilia moved, acting as the only proof of her presence. With her speed, dodging the vines wasn''t a problem, but destroying them was another matter altogether.

    It was fine when she had time behind Alexandra''s defense, but in a head-on fight, she was powerless in the short run.

    Rilia darted around and shed the vines, but they mmed back at her with the same intensity. In this fierce back and forth, Rilia gradually left a myriad of cuts on several vines, and when she felt that the number was enough¡­

    Slice!

    She sliced her weapon, letting a ck line fly through the air, directly shattering the vines she''d been targeting.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­" Rilia caught her breath and moved again, but at that time, a vine appeared behind her, absolutely unannounced!

    Her eyes widened. She tried to move her body, but the best she could do was offset the impact so she didn''t get any fatal injuries.

    However, in the current atmosphere, any major injury was fatal!

    Xiu!

    A projectile whizzed past Rilia''s face as she slightly moved her head. The cut on her cheek was mild inparison to what happened to the vine that almost killed her.

    Crackle!

    A strangely brittle sound resounded. The vine directly froze within a second and shattered into multiple pieces.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    The first projectile was followed by a storm of countless more, causing every vine in the vicinity to shatter.

    When Rilia and Alexandra looked up, they caught sight of the figure who helped them.

    Alexandra''s eyes widened.

    "Xinyue!"

    Xinyue nced over and nodded before dashing over to a separate group of vines and continuing her attack.

    Alexandra sighed to herself and took several medicines to heal herself.

    It looked like a great change would be taking ce soon.

    Just as she had that thought, it was like the entire battlefield froze.

    The heavenly vine and everything connected to it froze as if paused in time.

    The Heaven''s Army soldiers affected by the vine''s control werepletely freed in an instant.

    It was almost like a miracle.

    ***

    "It''s time."

    The heavenly vine froze as a voice rang out in the void, unheard by all but one.

    Damien stood below the earth, unmoving from his original position with his hands on the underdeveloped World Core.

    However, hismand forced that horrifying heavenly vine to freeze.

    Why was that?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The answer was simple.

    Damien was now the "owner" of the Wild Continent. Even if this didn''t give him control over the beings who inhabited it, it definitely gave him control over the flora.

    Regardless of how heavenly the vine was, it was still a nt that required the earth to survive, at least for now.

    Damien realized immediately that he could capitalize on this.

    While he couldn''t takeplete control over the vine, he could somewhat govern its actions.

    The vine originally held the desire to devour Lucas and Sir Theon, but it was Damien''s influence that caused it to target Sir Theon to such an extent and first entrap Lucas before anything else.

    ''Although I couldn''t do anything before, this vine is really unlucky.''

    The root system the vine established to absorb the blood of the dead and attack with its subordinate vines was the very reason Damien was finally able to establish full control over the vine''s movements.

    Damien''s gaze pierced the earth and viewed the situation above.

    "Gntis, now. I can only hold it for 3 minutes." He said.

    His voice traveled through space and entered the Giant Leader''s ear, causing him to grin.

    "Good! I have been wanting to destroy this thing since I first saw it!"

    In fact, Gntis wasn''t nearly as powerless as Lucas and Sir Theon. Even if the vine was at full power, he''d be able to defeat it in singlebat.

    The problem was that their fight would span countless kilometers and cause unrestrained destruction. As Damien wanted to save Heaven''s Army, he couldn''t allow Gntis to run wild.

    Thus, the current n. After he restrained the vine, Gntis would be able to use his full force without repercussions, and if the vine couldn''t dodge or block, the coteral damage caused by this strength would be lessened greatly.

    The Damien and Gntis duo ignored the strange atmosphere on the battlefield and enacted their n without a single deviation.

    Gntis''s body became a peak weapon as he let loose a flurry of punches and kicksced with terrifying mana fluctuations.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Rendered unable to react, the vine was forced to endure the attacks. Chunks of its body flew into the air and exploded, its flowers withered, and it eventually began to die.

    Standing underground, Damien felt that the whole scene was quite anticlimactic.

    After all the trouble it caused, the heavenly vine was just going to die so easily?

    It almost felt wrong.

    However, there was nothing strange about it. This was the result of taking control of every variable and waiting for the perfect opportunity to reverse the situation.

    Merely, was Damien ever the person to do this?

    He finally got to experience what it felt like to be the person controlling things from behind the scenes.

    No danger, only benefits.

    Damien cracked a wry smile.

    ''It''s a bit disgusting.''

    He shook his head and turned around.

    "Let''s go up. Staying away from the battlefield is irking me." He said. "Plus, it''s time for you to eat."

    The woman standing behind him nodded with a smile. "Finally. Waiting like this was so tiring."

    "You''re telling me!" Damien eximed. "It''s so suffocating that I honestly wish the scale of this battle was a bit smaller so I could participate, but it is what it is."

    He shrugged his shoulders and held out his hand out. "Either way, we benefit most in the end."

    Zara''s smile widened as she took it. "Mm. As expected of us."

    The duo vanished, reappearing above ground.

    Only then did they notice the strangeness of the battlefield.

    It was normal for the area to be nketed in emotion, however, this emotion was usually something deste or fiery.

    Was it normal for the atmosphere of a battlefield to be¡­awkward?

 Chapter 875 Rewards [1]

    The sudden end of the apocalyptic situation that had overtaken the Wild Continent left all those who were able to witness it in shock.

    Other than the 3rd sses, who were still too busy taking care of the mindless Lesser Nox to notice the changes in the battlefield, all others were simply staring at the motionless heavenly vine as it was beaten into nonexistence.

    Damien and Zara appeared in this very atmosphere, acting oblivious as they met Gntis at the heavenly vine.

    "Young Master!" Gntis greeted when he noticed their approach.

    Damien nodded. "How''s it going? Any benefits?"

    Gntis shook his head with a sigh. "None. It seems that the treasures of this vine have all been coalesced into two different cores. The first is at the peak of the vine, and the second is at the very center of its body. The first is easy to reach, however, the second¡­"

    Gntis trailed off and let his words be vague, but Damien understood his intent. Just as there were some tasks that needed to be left to brute force, some tasks required immense precision.

    Gntis could absolutely w out the second core, but if he did so, just how much raw material would go to waste?

    There was no need to even think about it when there was a spatial expert present.

    "Then I guess it''s time for me to do some work," Damien said with a smile.

    He closed his eyes and let his awareness prate the dead vine''s surface. Instantly, he was met with an incredibly interwoven set of structures, soplicated that a headache struck his mind for merely trying to navigate it.

    Damien furrowed his brows and focused his awareness. ''This vine¡­''

    He shook his head and saved his thoughts for when the task was over. Slowly but surely, he unraveled the vine''splex structure, following the traces of aura iid within to locate the second core.

    ''Finally.''

    He breathed a sigh of relief as the crimson-red and gold core came into view. And unexpectedly, there was a second surprise next to it.

    ''Haha, this guy really had bad luck until the end.''

    Damien used his spatial mana to wrap around the two objects buried in the center of the vine and carefully disced them, bringing them into the outside world without a single trace of damage.

    Zara''s eyes immediately lit up. "Can I?"

    "Go right ahead," Damien responded easily. "What else is he good for?"

    He tossed Sir Theon''s dead body to Zara, who changed into her beast form and began feasting in a way that reminded everyone that she was born a beast.

    Damien smiled wryly. Zara hade out of her small seclusion while he was binding the false World Core, awakened by the strong breath of Nox Mana she felt through her connection with him.

    And naturally, she woke up hungry.

    Damien shook his head and let her be. In the end, this was no different from his own Devour ability, so he couldn''t reallyment at all.

    Instead, he collected the heavenly vine''s second core, a clear pouch filled with unknown viscous liquid, and investigated the two treasures in his hands.

    The thought he had earlier cemented itself in that moment.

    ''This heavenly vine is a taboo existence.''

    Even in the memories he''d taken from the various ancient Emperors of the Wild Continent, Damien had never seen such an anomalous existence.

    ''The vine wasn''t just able to regenerate from nothing, it was able to absorb people''s abilities from their corpses. Such an ability simply isn''t possible in the universe''s power system.''

    Damien knew well what it meant to be an anomalous existence, as there were none as anomalous as him. In fact, even this ability of the heavenly vine was simr to his own Void abilities.

    ''So it trulyes back to that.''

    The fact that this was a Void Corridor, a ce outside of the universe''s jurisdiction, meant that the restrictions and structure of the universal system didn''t exist outside.

    Damien''s Void abilities, the heavenly vine''s abilities, and even the Nox''s Demonic Providence were all proof that the Abyss was a ce morewless than any other.

    But it also meant that the Abyss was a ce of endless opportunity, a ce where one could obtain reality-altering power if they could survive.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''The internal core contains all the blood vitality that the heavenly vine collected, which isn''t very helpful to me¡­as for the external core, this liquid seems to be the vine''s lifeline. If I devour it, I should be able to enhance my Samsara Intent to a new level.''

    Damien grinned. This time''s expedition was really fortuitous. It was likely the least amount of work he''d put in thus far inparison to what he gained.

    Nevertheless, there was still one problem.

    ''How long has it been?''

    At first, Damien thought the time dtion was constant at the strange rate he''d heard from Alexandra, but after binding the false World Core, he realized this wasn''t true at all.

    Rather, the time dtion was always randomly changing at such a subtle and intrinsic level that even Damien couldn''t detect it with his current abilities.

    Such smooth transitions in dtion that didn''t even alert those within was absolutely an ability at the peak of Time Laws.

    ''Well, I just hope it hasn''t been a month.''

    Damien looked into the sky.

    Until the Void Corridor spit them out, they were stuck here. Now that the greatest trouble had been taken care of, the only thing left to do was¡­

    "HEAVEN''S ARMY!" He roared, his voice amplified by mana so it boomed all across the battlefield.

    Countless beings snapped to attention, staring into the sky at the man nked by the same giant who killed the heavenly vine.

    Seeing their eyes on him, Damien opened his mouth to speak.

    "Lucas Streem was a traitor!"

    His opening sentence cut through the silence, causing countless people''s hearts to skip a beat.

    "Asuran Gate has betrayed the universe, however, we soldiers of Heaven are not scum of the same feather! Today, we have an opportunity to achieve a great victory and wipe out the Nox forces of several sectors of Eien. If we win this battle, you will all be heroes talked about for many generations toe!"

    Damien''s continued words caused their blood to boil. mes of vengeance and determination alit in the eyes of those soldiers on the ground and even the extreme peak masters among them.

    "Today, we have defeated the greatest threats! The heavenly vine is destroyed, and the Nox Supreme has be nothing more than dog food!"

    Damien directed their attention to Zara absolutely devouring Sir Theon''s body.

    "Fight! Fight and kill all of our enemies, so we can return to the universe with glory!"

    Damien''s final roar shook Heaven and Earth.

    The Nox who''d just found out that their Supreme was truly no better than dog food lost their opportunity to take initiative.

    And as if a rolling tide¡­

    RAAAAAAAAAAH!

    The roars of valor spread and infected all Heaven''s Army troops present.

    The war began once more.

    However, this time¡­

    It was nothing more than a one-sided ughter.

    The Nox who lost their leader felt their morality drop by several leagues, and without a central power to guide them, their structure fell apart entirely.

    And dealing with a disorganized crowd?

    It was truly no different from ughtering pigs and chickens.

 Chapter 876 Rewards [2]

    Sunlight.

    It was something taken for granted by those who experienced it, something judged as a natural part of the universal system that would always be present.

    However, in a time of war, in a time where dark clouds covered everything as far as the eye could see, not naturally but through the effects of countless mana emissions coagting and polluting the world, sunlight took on a new meaning.

    As the bright rays of the sun parted the clouds of the Wild Continent, showering the cracked and sundered earth with an aura of vitality and power, the dark and bloody battlefield found its resting ce.

    Several million soldiers stood together, kneeled to the ground, cried their hearts out, and celebrated the fact that they were alive.

    After all, it was truly a miracle.

    When the number of soldiers was decreased from the tens of millions to the single-digit millions, it became clear just how harrowing the previous battle was.

    It was difficult to identify it when the battle was viewed through the eyes of the powerful, but in the eyes of thesemon soldiers, they''d just been through purgatory.

    Several thousands of healers made their way through the crowds, restoring limbs and healing those who needed it. Some soldiers with immacte cooking skills began to barbecue, using the meat of beasts they''d caught earlier to create a feast for theirrades.

    With so many priests and healers around, one didn''t even need to worry about the mutation factor that these beasts carried.

    Nevertheless, as these soldiers shared stories of their heroic battles this time, a few points seemed to maintain prominence, whether between crowds of 3rd sses or extreme peak masters.

    The first was that iprehensible heavenly vine. How could they not talk about the entity that almost massacred them all?

    The second was the Cloud Giants. If it wasn''t for their timely aid, all of the extreme peak masters and a majority of those under them would''ve died under thebined assault of the vine and Nox.

    And the final point was the mysterious man who spurred them into action once everything was over.

    It didn''t take long for a connection to be drawn between him and the mysterious expert who originally left Sir Theon with his internal injury.

    However, they had no way to confirm their suspicions.

    After all, just as mysteriously as he''d appeared, he''d disappeared into the wind,pletely untraceable by all methods.

    It made some people wonder.

    Was he truly a member of the current society?

    Or was he a phantom of an ancient emperor who couldn''t bear to see his descendants ughtered?

    Unfortunately, this train of thought only led to more questions.

    When these people learned that the man they revered wasn''t even at the extreme peak of 4th ss yet, how would they feel?

    Perhaps some of them would directly cough blood and die.

    That was just too unfair!

    ***

    Indeed, Damien had vanished from the perception of others, but he wasn''t necessarily trying to hide.

    Merely, after the battle ended, he and Zara returned to the Cloud Giant settlement with Gntis.

    Currently, they stood before the Giant Council once again, however, the air between them wasn''t nearly as tense as it was the first time.

    "Old Giant, this time several hundred of your people died helping me. I must thank you from the bottom of my heart." Damien dered, bowing his head slightly.

    Gntis smiled.

    "No need for thanks. They died honorably in battle, not disappointing our people. I''m sure their souls are content in the afterlife." He said. The Cloud Giants did mourn their dead, but with their past, they didn''t attach the same meaning to death as humans did.

    Still, Damien couldn''t ept it. Gntis and his people''s help was imperative for his n''s sess, and he was never the type of person who didn''t know how to reward his people.

    "Regardless, take this Bloodstone as a sign of my sincerity. If you use it yourself, it should enhance your strength somewhat, but I''d suggest letting a younger generation refine it, as it willprehensively boost their physical body and talent to a new level. Perhaps they can even revive your race."

    Damien took the red and gold Bloodstone out of his spatial storage and tossed it to Gntis, allowing it to fly through the sky until the Giant Leader caught it in his hands.

    He looked at it with widened eyes, but eventually smiled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Good! Elder Liu is never wrong in her choice of people, and it seems she''s kept her streak today! Damien Void, you will forever be a friend of my Cloud Giant race. As long as it isn''t too severe, we will ept any request from you!"

    "Any request?" Damien asked.

    "Anything¡­that isn''t too severe," Gntis responded, emphasizing thetter half of his words after seeing the look on Damien''s face.

    Damien shook his head in wonder. "It''s funny you mention that, actually. I have an offer that you won''t be able to refuse. So there''s this ce called the Sanctuary¡­"

    Damien put on his best old fox smile and gave his spiel.

    The Wild Continent was his already, so all that he had left to do was convince its residents to be his as well.

    Nevertheless, it was a long and boring talk that nobody would want to go through if they didn''t have to.

    Compared to it, there were far more interesting conversations taking ce elsewhere.

    ***

    Heaven''s Army retreated from the battlefield after a day and returned to their original base camp to live until the Void Corridor opened. There were still several opportunities and inheritances present, so it wasn''t as if these soldiers ran out of things to do after the war ended.

    Within a certain tent, a group of elders sat with a youngdy, currently in the middle of a fierce discussion.

    "Young Master, you aren''t lying, right? No matter how many times I hear it, it is simply impossible to believe!" A man eximed, rubbing his forehead as he tried to make sense of the information he''d just heard.

    The youngdy among the crowd shook her head. "No, everything I have said is the truth. If it is necessary, the elders may use soul-searching techniques on me."

    "We wouldn''t dare!" Several elders eximed at once.

    Ha! Punish her? What a joke!

    These elders, despite their powerful strength, didn''t even have the status to kiss the Young Master''s feet!

    Xinyue nced at these elders and nodded. "Very well. Be prepared to send an envoy to meet with him soon. We must invite him back to the n."

    "Young Master, why should we take such methods for a mere brat? We can just force him toe!" An elder suddenly said.

    Ha!

    Xinyue identally scoffed, something that surprised these elders who''d never seen her change her expression before.

    Panning her gaze over them, she smirked slightly. "If you wish to bring him by force, you may try. However, do not me me when you die an early death."

    "Hehehe~"

    A giggle rang out at the edge of the tent as Xinyue''s words came to an end.

    "Master Elize," Xinyue greeted respectfully.

    The woman named Elize nodded in recognition before spreading the fan before her face, her eyes unreadable.

    "Young Master, I will personally act as the envoy this time. Do not worry, for I will bring that man back to the n without fail."

    Xinyue''s eyes widened slightly. She didn''t know anything that could make this woman move on her own ord, but if she truly did, then it was guaranteed that the task at hand would bepleted.

    Xinyue nodded at Elize as she dismissed the rest of the elders.

    "Very well, then we shall leave right now. I will take you to see him."

    Elize smiled happily, only a modicum of the euphoria she was experiencing internally.

    After all, she''d confirmed it when she saw himst.

    It was truly him.

    He''d finallye.

    Now that she had the opportunity to meet him, how could she reject it?

 Chapter 877 Discussion [1]

    Xinyue and Elize arrived in the area where the Cloud Giants resided soon enough, however, once they arrived there, Xinyue paused, unknowing of where to move next.

    After all, Damien didn''t bring Xinyue with him to meet the Cloud Giants, so her only real marker in this territory was the golden pce that seemed to have disappeared.

    Just as she furrowed her brows, a light fluctuation spread in front of her, giving way to a small section of malleable space.

    "It seems we''ve been invited in," Elize said with a smile.

    Xinyue nodded, leading her through the spatial portal and arriving within the golden pce''s familiar domineering halls once more.

    The duo traversed the pce until they made it to the throne room, giving Xinyue an all too familiar feeling. Just as she pushed open the door, expecting to see a nomittal man uncaringly eating spiritual fruits likest time¡­

    Voom!

    A powerful pressure descended.

    Thud!

    Xinyue was immediately forced to the floor while Elize struggled to keep her bnce. Confusion set in instantly. Why was Damien suddenly attacking his allies?

    But when Xinyue finally managed to raise her head and look at him, the questions in her mind vanished.

    Despite the fact that he was weaker than her, she absolutely couldn''t put up any resistance at the moment.

    Whether that was because of the golden pce''s suppression or Damien''s own icy murderous aura was unknown.

    Currently, Damien didn''t resemble his usually carefree self at all.

    He sat upon his throne, radiating the dignity and authority of an Emperor. His cold and deadly gaze was trained on Elize alone, never even acknowledging Xinyue''s presence.

    "Who are you?" He asked without a change of expression.

    Xinyue struggled to lift herself off the ground and answer, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from doing so.

    Thud!

    Instead, a second knee hit the ground.

    Without hesitation, Elize kneeled on the ground, lowering her body even further into a full kowtow.

    Xinyue''s eyes widened in shock.

    Damien''s brow raised in curiosity.

    Eliza''s mouth opened as she introduced herself.

    "Elize Handler greets Young Master."

    "Oh? But isn''t Xinyue your Young Master?" Damien questioned rhetorically.

    Elize slightly lifted her gaze so she could see him.

    "Young Master, please ept this subordinate!"

    Damien''s eyes sharpened.

    Of all things Damien expected Xinyue to bring here, this definitely wasn''t one of them.

    However, his current emotion wasn''t something he could exin with words.

    After all, the feeling he got from Elize was something he''d only felt twice before, and although this feeling was far, far less defined than the previous two, Damien would never forget the feeling of this specific type of connection.

    It was a connection of blood.

    "Tell me who you are. You should understand the consequences of lying or hiding the truth." He stated.

    Elize hesitated for a second. "Young Master, there are many things that you cannot know, however, I will answer you to the best of my ability."

    Damien nodded. "Then first, what is your rtionship with Void Pce and how did you end up in the Ancient God n?"

    He got straight to the point. His words cut through the atmosphere, particrly striking Xinyue deeply.

    Void Pce?

    It was a force she''d never heard of.

    But considering Elize''s current attitude, wasn''t she an outsider who infiltrated the Ancient God n?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    How¡­

    How was that possible?!

    Naturally, Damien had his own considerations about the matter. There was a reason he didn''t send Xinyue out before speaking to Elize, despite knowing clearly what the topic of their conversation would be.

    And as Elize began to answer his question, he found that his assumptions were mostly correct.

    "Young Master, my ancestor is a direct blood descendant of Void Pce. I was raised in this lower universe by my mother, but I have been instilled with countless memories of the past, allowing me to know my purpose for existing here in this ce."

    "As for the matter of the Ancient God n¡­"

    Elize nced over at Xinyue and hesitated for a moment.

    "Speak," Damien ordered.

    Elize sighed in resignation.

    "The Ancient God n is a force cultivated by my ancestors for the sake of aiding the Young Master when he finally appears."

    Xinyue felt her heart stop for a moment.

    Even Damien''s eyes widened with some surprise.

    "Oh? Expand on that."

    Elize nodded and continued. "The Ancient God n was originally an indigenous tribe of evolved humans living on the boundary of Eien. When my ancestor arrived in this realm, he saved them from certain destruction and began to care for them on a whim."

    "However, unbeknownst to him, the people he saved were far more special than he gave them credit for. Over the years, they evolved and became stronger until their gene pool concentrated to the point of birthing a trait, whichter became termed the All-Seeing Eyes, a reflection of reality itself that pieces through all things."

    "The Ancient God n wasn''t originally supposed to exist, and even the ancestor was nning to leave them on their own after they developed to a certain extent. Yet, before he could leave, he was visited by the Wanderers of the n."

    "Wanderers?" Damien asked.

    "Yes. The Wanderers are a group of n members who traverse the upper and lower universes reading the flow of fate and karma."

    "I see," Damien nodded in understanding.

    From here, he could pretty much understand how events panned out.

    The Wanderers likely read his future existence in the flow of fate, and after Elize''s ancestor learned of it, he remained behind to cultivate the Ancient God n into a force that could truly aid him.

    ''It seems the rest of the n has been putting in more effort than that damn dad of mine.'' He scoffed inwardly.

    Dante was in prison and couldn''t move for obvious reasons, but Damien was still allowed to insult him, right?

    Nevertheless, Elize''s slight bloodline connection with him and the Ancient God n''s existence were exined quite easily since Damien already had enough information to guess most of the things Elize told him.

    There were probably several secrets hidden within the stories that Elize could tell, but Damien wasn''t interested in them. He already got the answers to the questions he wanted answers to.

    The matters of Void Pce weren''t his to worry about.

    What was more surprising was the coincidence that led to their meeting. If he hadn''t obtained the All-Seeing Eyes from a random spider in the First Dungeon, would he have ever made it to this point?

    Damien closed his eyes for a second and organized his thoughts. Afterward, he turned to Xinyue.

    She was the Young Master of the Ancient God n. Learning these things from Elize likely struck her far harder than anyone else.

    But she was smart enough to not tantly deny something that could very well be the truth.

    "Xinyue, what do you think about this?" He asked curiously.

    Xinyue raised her gaze to meet his own, her eyes filled withplicated emotions.

    After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke.

    "I am not convinced."

    4 simple words.

    4 words of defiance.

    Her prideful n was going to subordinate itself to another power so easily?

    Uneptable!

 Chapter 878 Discussion [2]

    "I am not convinced."

    Xinyue''s bold words rang through the halls of the golden pce without care.

    Damien smiled in response. It wasn''t as if this wasn''t what he expected from her.

    "What are you not convinced by? You''ve seen my strength, you''ve understood my status, is there still something that needs to be proved before I can inherit what''s rightfully mine?" He asked.

    Xinyue gritted her teeth. This method of speaking about the Ancient God n like it was an object¡­

    "I cannot ept someone like you as the owner of our Ancient God n!" She yelled, defiantly staring into his eyes.

    Damien shed, appearing not even a few inches away from Xinyue, allowing their breaths to mingle.

    "Then, what would it take for you to ept me?"

    Xinyue pushed away from him and hardened her eyes.

    From what she understood about Damien''s personality, he wasn''t this type of disrespecting and lecherous person. For him to be acting this way¡­

    ''Is he testing me?''

    Of course, it wasn''t some sort of extremely important test, but it was a test nheless.

    Rather than testing Xinyue, he was more testing the Ancient God n''s attitude, something which Xinyue could represent easily with her status.

    And from Xinyue''s reaction, it became clear that subordinating themselves to someone wasn''t the problem.

    The problem was "who" they subordinated themselves to.

    In that case¡­

    "Tell me, is there some kind of trial or something? From your reaction, it seems you only want ''worthy people'' to control your n. It shouldn''t be too hard to take that position, don''t you think?"

    Xinyue furrowed her brows. He wasn''t wrong. The Ancient God n did have their own Trial Land that would usually be used in situations like this. In fact, there were several people who tried to control the Ancient God n in the past who failed the trials and died.

    However, if the Ancient God n was truly created by Void Pce members, didn''t that mean the Trial Land wouldn''t pose any problems for Damien?

    After all, the entire n was made for him to inherit.

    Honestly, the fact that several hundreds of thousands of years of effort had been put in for this single purpose was still unfathomable to her.

    ''Then again, I have yet to read the n''s ancient records.''

    The ancient records could only be read by those approved by the n Head. A portion of the highest elders were the only ones who received this honor aside from the n Head herself.

    Xinyue was supposed to be granted this authority if she performed well in the Void Corridor, but currently, she didn''t know whether she''d still be able to.

    Nevertheless, she couldn''t decide on such a matter, and in the end, she wasn''t the one in control of the Ancient God n.

    "When the Void Corridor opens,e with me to meet my mother. Your goal of conquering our n will depend on her decision." Xinyue said indifferently.

    Damien sighed lightly. "It seems you despise me now?"

    Xinyue shook her head in denial. "No, I''m merely overwhelmed by the things that I''ve learned. It is natural considering that my entire lifeblood has been reduced to a tool that was created for others."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien cracked a wry smile, not knowing how to respond.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    After all, wasn''t this sprung on him out of nowhere as well?

    It was just that, after the conversation he had with Dante, this level of news couldn''t surprise him anymore.

    Void Pce had always existed behind the scenes of Grand Heavens Boundary even though the force itself was located in the Heavenly World. Damien was smart enough to understand that a good portion of his development was likely influenced by Void Pce''s guiding hand.

    Now that he''d grown, this guiding hand showed itself before him, allowing him to decide how to use it.

    "Very well," he said, "I will apany you to the Ancient God n once we leave the Void Corridor. Until then, do as you please. The resources in the pce are free to use."

    With those words, Damien vanished, entering the Sanctuary to train by himself.

    The atmosphere between Elize and Xinyue froze the instant he left, making it evident that some extremely emotional conversations were about to take ce, but that was between the two of them.

    Damien had no interest in what the Ancient God n felt about the truth of their existence. In the end, he had nothing to do with them before he met Xinyue, which also meant that their problems were unrted to him.

    At least, until they epted him as their ruler.

    When that day came, they''d receive the same treatment as his subordinates.

    But before that, he didn''t deign to waste time on them.

    There were more important things to be done. Mainly, increasing strength.

    ''Regardless of how long it''s been, the Bloodlock n''s pursuit will begin soon. I need to be prepared to face a few extreme peak masters at the very least. In the worst case scenario, I need to have countermeasures against a Supreme.''

    Damien sat in his own personal training area with the heavenly vine''s "life sack" in his grasp. He lightly cut open the top, using space to maintain the sack''s shape and disallow the liquid from spilling.

    Immediately, a strong aura of life and death sted the atmosphere.

    Damien inhaled this breath with his eyes closed.

    ''It''s more life aura than death, however, the duality of the two concepts is still reflected here. Unlike my previous life and deathprehension, however¡­''

    The concept he felt within the heavenly vine''s lifeblood was intrinsically tied to the concept of "siphoning."

    The Life Laws taught one how to siphon other people''s life force for oneself or even share their own lifeforce with others. This concept was simr to [Heal], however, [Heal] was a far more refined version.

    [Heal] was able to siphon life aura from the universe itself for healing purposes, which was why it was so sure-fire.

    Nevertheless, just as it could siphon and control Life, the vine also learned to emte these effects with death.

    ''It''s like a curse. The concept is just like the Life Bullets I used to kill the Nox at the first few strongholds, but before today, I wasn''t able to perfectly define thesews.''

    Damien had been using a rudimentary form of this ability without knowing how to grow it. The addition of the heavenly vine''sprehension into his own would be a massive boon, more than he ever expected to receive from this "life sack."

    ''Devour.''

    His mana enveloped and consumed the entirety of the liquid and even the pouch it came in. Furious waves of power tumbled through Damien''s body as he epted and limated to the heavenly vine''s power.

    Damien quietly incorporated this new strength alone in the void, and as he remained unaware of time, it passed faster than ever before.

    It was unknown how many days passed before he opened his eyes, but when he did, he was immediately met with several urgent messages requesting his presence.

    ording to those desperately contacting Damien from the outside world¡­

    The Void Corridor was finally opening again.

 Chapter 879 Vengeance [1]

    The Void Corridor experience, none could truly pinpoint how to describe it.

    Of the first batch of entrants, the only ones seen alive thus far were Damien and Rilia, however, there were more survivors than just them.

    2 years passed before they met outsiders again. Unlike Damien who was constantly hunting inheritances and Rilia who was trapped in an inheritance site for that time, the others were forced to limate to the Wild Continent''s ecosystem and ingrain themselves into it.

    This was the method Ezio chose to keep his people safe.

    He and the Roaring Dragon Cavalry took it upon themselves to unite all the survivors they could find and establish a base camp to the far, far south of the continent, far away from any of the action that had taken ce thus far.

    Of course, they were still attacked by plenty of Nox beings, but with their position, the beings who found them were never strong enough to be a threat.

    Currently, the survivor group had just undergone a mass migration. They left their camp behind for the first time in 2 years and made their way to a specified point.

    When they arrived, they were met with arge, swirling ck portal.

    ''It''s finally time to go, aye?'' Ezio thought to himself.

    After these few years, he''d be used to the Wild Continent, and it''d be a lie to say he wouldn''t miss it.

    Several people had sacrificed their lives here, allowing the majority to survive.

    Even a new member of their Roaring Dragon Cavalry ended up missing, never heard from again after leaving them on the battlefield.

    ''I can only hope that boy is okay¡­''

    He sighed to himself and took his first step, prepared to leave the Wild Continent once and for all, but at that moment, a change urred.

    A terrifying pressure descended, not aimed at those on the ground, but merely passing by them.

    Arge structure flew through the air. It was a golden chariot that emanated the same energy as a starship despite its regr size, a chariot that barely came into view before it disappeared into the Void Corridor along with the massive aura that apanied it.

    Ezio and the others only got a brief glimpse of the personages who could upy such a vehicle before they were gone.

    However, was there something wrong with his eyes?

    Ezio could have sworn that he saw a familiar face among them.

    ''Haha, what a joke.''

    How could such a thing happen?

    He truly must''ve been getting old.

    ***

    The fresh air of the Blood-Drenched Wilderness, though it carried a heavy scent of blood and an inexplicable feeling of death, was like holy water to those who exited the Wild Continent.

    Although their time within wasn''t anything special, not evensting more than 2 months, they''d experienced so much that they wished they could immediately retire for the rest of their lives.

    However, evenpared to the joys and emotions of those who survived the Void Corridor, the emotions of those waiting for them on the outside were far greater.

    In the records of the past, not even a few thousand people would survive until the end of the Void Corridor openings. When hundreds of thousands or even a million Heaven''s Army troops piled out of the entrance, how could their hearts remain stable?

    When they heard about what happened inside and saw that not a single Nox made its way out of the Corridor, their joy turned into utter ecstasy.

    What a victory!

    In that final battle and the days that proceeded it, Heaven''s Army was able to eradicate the Nox forces of several territories spanning almost half of Eien''s distance!

    The fall of Asuran Gate, the appearance of the heavenly vine and mysterious expert, the Cloud Giants, everything about the Void Corridor became a mythical story that was documented for the history books to be included as one of the very few Void Corridor openings to ever take ce.

    The effects of the Void Corridor were slow to spread through Eien due to its sheer size, but it was certain that Heaven''s Army, at least in Eien, would gain a definitive advantage over the Nox, all thanks to the machinations of just a few people.

    Though, the name "Damien Void" didn''t resound through the heavens and strike fear in people''s hearts. Rather, the name "Damien Void" wasn''t mentioned at all.

    The only people who knew of his existence apart from Xinyue were two, and he was certain that neither of them had the guts to oppose him for no reason at all.

    The fact that he was both the main contributor to Heaven''s Army''s victory and the person who put in the least effort would remain known only to him.

    Currently, Damien was already several million miles away from Eien. He, along with the Ancient God n, was on their way to the Ancient God n''s Hidden World for the sake of continuing their previous discussion.

    However, even as they moved, Damien''s sharp gaze remained in the sky.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He read the time flow.

    It had been roughly a month since he fell into the Wild Continent.

    Therefore¡­

    A grin spread on his face.

    ''Things will get interesting soon.''

    ***

    Far away from Eien, in the Divine Realm, there was a certain world isted from the rest. The chaotic space that surrounded it allowed it to maintain a natural defense that even blocked Demigods, and the reputation that this world itself had helped it block any threats that the barrier couldn''t.

    This ce was none other than Death Emperor Star, an inheritance ground, a death zone, and the home of the universe''s most prestigious academy.

    At this moment, a swirling iridescent blue light was nketing the institute. With every second that passed, a new figure would materialize on the ground and be physical.

    Finally, the Celestial Realm opening, the progress examination, was over.

    3 months had passed both swiftly and extremely arduously, but now that they were over, it was a lie to say these geniuses weren''t left with a sense of loss.

    Nevertheless, as more and more people exited the realm, word began to spread and rumors began to circte. Rumors of the Celestial Realm''s mystical environment or treasures were prevalent, but even more than them¡­

    The Heavenly King.

    This title began to spread like wildfire.

    And unbeknownst to these geniuses, many fates attached to this title started to interweave in that moment.

    It began with the escape of a single strand of mana from the Celestial Realm.

    A memory that had been trapped for several months finally made its way to its destination, traveling across millions upon millions of kilometers in a few instances and reaching a collection of worlds located in their own section of the Divine Realm.

    The strand of mana flew through the several mystical structures of these worlds until it arrived at a specific reddish-ck castle near the summit of thergest world.

    Kacha!

    Without interference, it entered between the eyebrows of the man who popted that castle.

    BOOM!

    Killing intent immediately red, tearing down the castle walls. The man''s aura roared and raged into the heavens, growing so titanous that it almost eclipsed the entirety of the world he resided on.

    His eyes burned with fury as he watched the scenes that the mana strand offered him.

    "Hey, hey¡­my name¡­camera shy¡­seeing each other¡­ta ta¡­!"

    The words of the man who turned his son into an abomination were choppy as if the signal had been interfered with before he finished talking, but with the man''sprehension ability, understanding a portion of what was said wasn''t a problem.

    It was humiliation, open provocation.

    And what was worse? His son wasn''t even left with a body. He could clearly feel that his son''s existence was erased from the universe entirely, an act that would even prevent him from reincarnating through the Wheel of Samsara like all others.

    "DAMIEN¡­!" The man roared.

    His voice boomed through the world, sending cracks through its foundation, however, he clearly didn''t have any ns to calm down.

    His aura red further as he roared with all his might.

    "MARK MY WORDS! I, ARTHUR BLOODLOCK, WILL AVENGE MY SON!"

    BOOOOOOM!

    The world copsed under the weight of his aura, and the universe took note of his determination.

    At this very moment, Damien earned the unquenchable hatred of a Supreme¡­

    Yet again.

 Chapter 880 Vengeance [2]

    By the time he calmed down, Arthur was already within Blood Asura Holy Land''s main world. This world was located in the center of the gxy cluster that the holynd presided over, and when it came to size, even a few Calyptos could be stuffed within before it was full.

    It was truly a wondrous sight to see constructs the size of mountains, a society that grew far past the limit of the world''s holding capacity.

    But this overpoption and the industrial development that followed was really caused by the selfishness of one man.

    A man who created a pce the size of a world as a symbol of his status as this gxy cluster''s master.

    Arthur stormed through the halls of this unnaturally sized residence and sought an audience with the Demigod who built it, a request that was granted soon enough,

    Arthur walked through the halls and arrived in a secluded room. It was small and slightly musty,pletely unlike what one would expect from a Demigod like Immortal Blood Asura. Especially when considering his whims while creating the pce itself.

    "Holy Master," Arthur greeted respectfully, bowing a full 90 degrees.

    "Mm, for what purpose have youe?"

    A response came from the robust old man who sat silently in the middle of the room. He didn''t open his eyes, nor did he change his meditative posture, but the breath he radiated inherently made Arthur feel reverence.

    This wasn''t the reverence between parent and child, but between god and servant.

    In Immortal Blood Asura''s eyes, blood rtionships were weaker than dust.

    After all, if he truly wanted to, he could forge his blood to match anyone, technically rting him to all beings in the universe.

    Arthur bowed before this man he never once considered his father and begged for permission like a son.

    "Holy Master, my son has been mercilessly tortured and ughtered! Please allow me to seek revenge!"

    "Who is your son?" Immortal Blood Asura asked nomittally.

    "Responding to Holy Master, my son''s name is Reavus Bloodlock."

    Immortal Blood Asura sat without speaking for a moment, but soon responded: "Very well. Do as you please. However, do not involve the sect in your troubles."

    Arthur''s eyes lit up.

    "Thank you, Holy Master!" He proimed. After another deep bow, he immediately left the room.

    Immortal Blood Asura wasn''t someone who approved intrusions, and the way he projected himself to others was as an overbearing tyrant, so nobody dared to stay past their wee.

    Left alone, Immortal Blood Asura let out a small sigh, sweeping the dust in the room into the air.

    Hisnguid eyes seemed like they''d seen everything there was to see and had grown numb, but at the moment, there was a twinge of something else hidden inside.

    Rage? Curiosity?

    The origin of this emotion was unknown, as it wasn''t something he was used to feeling. In fact, it was strange for him to feel anything at all.

    Was it because one of his grandsons died?

    Impossible. He had several thousand grandsons, and most of them were ipetent. He didn''t care about the death of a grandson whose name he couldn''t even be bothered to remember.

    Then, was it because one of his sons, a direct descendant, one with enormous talent at that, was aggrieved by this loss?

    That was even less likely. For those Immortal Blood Asura approved of, he was a devil greater than any other. If they couldn''t survive the trials that life beset on them, they weren''t worthy of his approval.

    Then¡­?

    Just what was causing this strange feeling¡­?

    "Aha¡­" Immortal Blood Asura muttered.

    He realized where this feeling came from.

    An ant dared to smack his Blood Asura Holy Land across the face so openly.

    Some random fly in the universe dared to do something that even other peak influences would have to hesitate before doing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Wasn''t it interesting?

    No, to be more urate, it wasedic.

    It was utterlyughable that someone so idiotic existed in the world.

    "Ha¡­hakaka¡­!"

    A strange sound came out of the mouth of the man who hadn''tughed in hundreds of thousands of years as he tried to remember the feeling.

    It was almost a shame that he''d already reached his current impossible boundary, for he couldn''t go crush this ant himself.

    However, since one of his progeny was already on the job, there was nothing to worry about.

    Blood Asura Holy Land''s sturdy foundation, just who could shake it?

    That person simply hadn''t been born into this universe yet.

    ***

    The first destination was naturally Hidden Death Valley.

    After gaining Immortal Blood Asura''s permission, Arthur immediately boarded his spirit ship and rushed to the academy at his fastest speed.

    When he arrived on Aroath, he immediately galvanized his aura and made his presence known.

    After all, even he had to be cautious around the rulers of Hidden Death Valley.

    The portal on the satellite world activated within seconds of Arthur''s aura eclipsing the world.

    A gentle force pervaded the air and offset the terrifying pressure that had enveloped the world''s residents.

    "Arthur, we haven''t seen each other in hundreds of years, and this is how you greet me?"

    A sagely old man stepped out of the gate, revealing himself as the Hidden Death Valley Director.

    "Alucard, you must already be aware of the purpose of my visit. Do not try to stop me from entering your institute." Arthur proimed coldly, referring to the Director by a name that only a handful of existences in the entire universe had the privilege of knowing.

    Alucard, the Director, nced sideways at Arthur. He could clearly feel thetter''s deep-seated killing intent and hatred, however, there was nothing for him to do here.

    He shrugged and responded casually, "I''m aware that some kind of ident has taken ce. You may go in and investigate, however, if you cause trouble, you are aware of what will happen."

    Arthur didn''t respond, instead directly walking through the portal and entering Death Emperor Star.

    Looking back at his receding figure, Alucard cracked a small, imperceptible smile.

    ''Was this your purpose all along?'' He wondered, thinking of a certain genius he had the pleasure of meeting.

    ''I''ve seen countless insane geniuses throughout the years, but I''ve never met one who purposefully provokes impossible enemies to kill him. Damien Void, will you be able to escape this self-created catastrophe? Or will you fall to your own ego? I''m quite interested to find out.''

    Either way, there were no traces of Damien left in Hidden Death Valley. Without at least this much mystery, the chase wouldn''t be any fun.

    Therefore, while Alucard erased Damien''s existence from the academy, when it came to those who attended it¡­

    Well, it was simpler to say that it wouldn''t be impossible for Arthur to find his son''s killer''s identity.

    ''I definitely can''t miss that moment of realization. Should I capture the image and give it to that boyter? I still haven''t rewarded him for his efforts in Calypto¡­''

    Alucard walked through the gate and re-entered the academy as he finished his thoughts.

    He was really d that such a genius had been born.

    Because as long as he was active in the universe, fun things were guaranteed to happen.

    He was truly a lucky star!

 Chapter 881 Quest [1]

    A golden chariotnded in a world painted in tinum.

    This was none other than the Ancient God n''s Hidden World. Located within the folds of space roughly 30 million kilometers away from Eien, this world had remained undiscovered for over a hundred thousand years, no matter what kind of illustrious existence passed through the area.

    The world was simr to the concept of Elysium. It was a truly beautiful sight, filled with brilliant color and various strange structures Damien had never seen before.

    But when it came to architecture, he was a bit jaded. At this point, after visiting so many worlds and experiencing their cultures, he''de to a realization.

    Regardless, it all served the same purpose, didn''t it?

    Architecture was arge part of culture, but all cultures were rooted in other cultures. When it came to the universal scale, even hidden ns like the Ancient God n could be influenced by others.

    Particrly if they''d been raised by an outside force from the beginning.

    ''Even though there''s a lot of unnecessary nonsense added, these structures basically mimic Earth. However¡­''

    When the Ancient God n was formed, humans didn''t even exist on Earth yet.

    ''Well, it''s probably that old bastard''s doing.''

    Damien waved off the thought, instead activating his eyes and peering into the folds of reality, clearly following the countless intricate linear patterns that interweaved in the air and created the grand formation that concealed this world.

    ''This kind of workmanship, is it even possible for a Demogod?'' He wondered.

    Powerful Demigods could easily create phenomena on a world scale, but this type of grand formation was different. The amount of effort and skill that went into this creation was far more impressive than its scale or power.

    As Damien continued to observe the formation, Xinyue and Elize led him through the n, headed for the main building situated in the southeastern hemisphere of the world. The trio was nked by the remaining elders who entered the Void Corridor, however, each and every one of them was silent at the moment.

    After all, of them, not a single one approved Damien''s continued existence. It was merely due to Elize and Xinyue''s order that they stayed their hand.

    This group eventually made their way through the shining metallic world and entered the main building, traversing the halls until they came upon a humble dining room, in which a table was already set for them.

    "Please take your seats. The Lord will be with you in a moment." A nearby maid stated, flicking her fingers and causing all the seats at the table to pull out.

    The invited guests took their seats, with Damien at the foot of the table. Xinyue and Elize separated from him, taking their seats nearest to the head of the table.

    Just as they finished arranging themselves, a beautiful woman appeared in the room. With her beautiful snow-white hair and skin and her piercing light blue eyes, she was almost like a version of Xinyue that had already reached her prime and sat stably there.

    "Mother."

    ""n Head.""

    The Ancient God n members stood up and bowed with respect as she entered.

    Damien watched them in amusement, not bothering to follow their example.

    The woman nced at him for a second before waving her hand, ordering the elders and Xinyue to take their seats.

    "Xinyue, you seem to have brought something interesting." Shemented after taking her seat at the head of the table.

    Damien nced at her, but chose not to speak. As he was in someone else''s territory at the moment, he at least had to give them a chance before he responded in kind.

    ''Still, what an attitude to have towards a guest.'' Damien thought sarcastically as he watched Xinyue exin his existence to her mother.

    As the story progressed, the white-haired woman''s expression crumpled further and further, and when it finally got to the point where Elize got involved, all of the other elders were immediately dismissed from the room.

    Damien sat and watched her try to rationalize his existence in real-time. Her expression changed at least 16 times within a single second as she decided how to deal with him, and the number of times her killing intent spiked was roughly half of that.

    ''It doesn''t look like I''m as wee as Xinyue and Elize expected. Then again, this woman could also be the problem.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Damien stopped paying attention to them and spread his awareness, nketing the entire world in his perception.

    From what he understood about the Ancient God n, it wasn''t an inherently matriarchal or patriarchal n. Instead, they had two n heads, one from each gender, who ruled together.

    This woman was one of them, and though she wasn''t Xinyue''s birth mother, she was being called "Mother" all the same.

    Damien was looking for her "Father."

    He wanted to have a conversation with the Ancient God n, and that didn''t seem like something he could achieve with this woman.

    After all, despite his continued presence in the room, she had yet to acknowledge him besides her small provocation when she first entered.

    ''Haa, stuck-up people exist everywhere. I''m too old to be dealing with this shit, especially when it''sing from a Demigod who should be old enough to know better.''

    Damien knew that searching for a Demigod with his awareness was futile, but he still did so in hopes that the second Demigod of the n would notice his intentions.

    And as he wished, within a single second, a strange fluctuation decorated the corner of his perception.

    He nced sideways at Xinyue and her mother, and seeing as how that woman was still trying to find ways to show her superiority, he gave up on it.

    He didn''t even bother to listen to the details of their conversation.

    He simply¡­left.

    "You¡­!"

    An exmation followed his disappearing figure as the woman shot to her feet and red her aura, but just as she did¡­

    Kacha!

    A second aura fluctuation broke her pressure.

    Her eyes sharpened. She gritted her teeth in frustration, but she didn''t move, ring daggers into Damien''s soul as he disappeared.

    When he materialized again, Damien found himself at the edge of what seemed like a forest that was made entirely of a tinum metallic substance.

    A man stood within. His figure wasn''t robust and was instead more feminine, especially when it came to his facial features, but his beauty couldn''t be denied.

    This man was the type of person who could make people fall in love with him by merely walking down the street.

    "So you are the sessor prophesized by future generations?" The man asked, moving his perception along Damien''s body

    Damien shrugged in response. "That''s what it looks like. I also only learned of this a bit ago, so it''s not like I can give you answers you don''t already have."

    The man nodded with a slight smile. "However, isn''t this quite a strange way to carry yourself in this situation? I am either a hostile Demigod or a subordinate, and you are currently treating me like neither."

    "Then, what do you want me to act like?" Damien asked.

    The man paused and shook his head wryly. "It is not important."

    "I have observed your bloodline, and I can say with confidence that you are the one prophesized by the ancestors. Such a unique bloodline identity is not something a regr genius can possess."

    The man turned around to face Damien, closing the fan in his hand matter-of-factly.

    "I am Di, the primary head of this Ancient God n. Today, I shall decide whether you are worthy of the mantle you have been gifted."

 Chapter 882 Quest [2]

    "I am Di, the primary head of this Ancient God n. Today, I shall decide whether you are worthy of the mantle you have been gifted."

    Damien furrowed his brows upon hearing those words. Quite a dreadful feeling filled his body.

    "n Head Di, since you''re treating me with sincerity, I''ll do the same with you." He began.

    "Currently, my time is extremely limited. I do not have the luxury to take three hundred different trials to gain the eptance of the Ancient God n and its people." He continued, looking directly into Di''s eyes.

    "I will notin about the treatment I''ve received here, nor will Iin about the main trial you give me, however, I will not go through any trial for anyone who doubts my strength or potential."

    "Frankly speaking, I really don''t care about the Ancient God n enough to put that much effort into you guys."

    Damien finished his words on such a note, unwavering and steady.

    He wasn''t lying at all.

    Ever since he came to the Divine Realm, Damien had been facing trial after trial, all arranged by people who wanted to see his potential and help him because of it.

    There wasn''t inherently a problem with this, but Damien was tired of it. He couldn''t stand constantly moving at the whims of other people to prove himself.

    After all, he knew his strength better than anyone else.

    Even before he entered the Void Corridor, he was able to fight againstte-stage 4th-ss enemies without much trouble. At that time, his ability was capped here because the nine revolutions of extreme peak 4th ss each produce a great level of power that anyone under that level would be hard-pressed topete with.

    Now¡­?

    Now that he''d digested all of the boons he received in the Void Corridor, including the heavenly vine''s lifeblood¡­?

    Now, he was sittingfortably at level 399, just barely reaching the cusp of the extreme peak level.

    He wasn''t quite there yet, but he didn''t doubt that anyone in their first or second revolution would have a difficult time dealing with him.

    He had just hit 30. On the universal scale, there were barely any geniuses who could match his current achievements.

    When it was taken into ount that he hadn''t even been leveling for 15 years yet, that number became zero.

    Needless to say, Damien understood his current worth, and he was no longer prone to act along with the wills of others if he didn''t have to.

    Besides, when it came to new forces¡­

    Damien smiled slightly. Hadn''t he just received a semirge force for himself?

    He had to wonder what the empty inside of the Void Corridor looked like.

    Nevertheless, Di looked at Damien quietly as he finished his words. Even though he didn''t show any hostility, the strength of his gaze made Damien feel like his soul was being sucked out.

    He stood his ground and endured for an entire five minutes before Di retracted his gaze.

    "Very well," Di said. "It is normal for supreme geniuses to have their own pride."

    "Boy, let me tell you this. The current Ancient God n has no interest in being controlled by you, just as you have no interest in controlling it. However, as we are bound by fate, this is not an oue that can be avoided."

    "Our n was built on the foundation of that promise we made to the founder. If we renege it now due to our pride, won''t our n suffer the consequences?"

    Di sighed and put his hand on Damien''s shoulder.

    "This n already belongs to you. In truth, regardless of what tricks we use, the fact that you''ve stepped into this world means you''ve already imed ownership of our n."

    He waved his hand, removing the facades of the world for Damien.

    Reality didn''t change at all, but for someone with All-Seeing Eyes, the veil of reality meant nothing.

    "So that''s how it is¡­" Damien muttered as he observed what Di showed him.

    ''The grand formation isn''t just a concealment formation, but a sort of ethereal prison that houses the Ancient God n.''

    It wasn''t a physical prison, but rather, a prison of soul. The souls of the Ancient God n members were intrinsically connected to the grand formation, and they were entrapped by itsws.

    If someone gained control over this formation, controlling the life and death of the Ancient God n became possible with a single thought.

    Even if the one that needed to die was a Demigod.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Damien flicked his finger in the air and watched the force of his mana resonate through the grand formation.

    "This¡­" he muttered under his breath.

    "¡­belongs to you." Di finished his words.

    "The moment you stepped into this world, the grand formation transferred control of its mechanisms to you. Ran likely sensed this as well, which is why she chose to antagonize you previously."

    "A little stupid to antagonize someone who controls your life," Damien scoffed.

    Then again, he knew clearly that Di wasn''t lying.

    After Di removed the veil covering his eyes, he could feel the instinctive control he held over the formation.

    In the end, he sighed to himself.

    ''Even if I can''t obtain their approval, they''ll be forced to follow me, but that will negatively impact the performance they disy on the battlefield. Regardless, I have to do something to earn the trust of the n.''

    Not a menial task to gain Di or Ran''s approval, but a true quest that could grant him the submission of any and all Ancient God n members in existence.

    He shared his thoughts with Di, who quirked his brow in surprise.

    "Are you certain?" He asked.

    "I am," Damien responded.

    Di nodded.

    "Then I shall give you a task, however, the reason for this task''s difficulty is a bit strange." He said slowly.

    Di pulled up several holographic projections disying a portion of the universe that Damien had never seen before.

    "The Ancient God n has three ancient artifacts that double as the lifeblood of our n." He began.

    "The first is the Mist-Piercing Mirror, the heavenly artifact that allows us to control the spread of our bloodline and prevent outsiders from tainting our n''s lineage."

    "As we''ve learned in recent days, it doesn''t seem to work on those that the mirror approves of." Di finished with a smile.

    "The second treasure is the Alteron Star Cruiser, a star destroyer-ss battleship that was gifted to us several tens of thousands of years ago."

    "Unfortunately, the Alteron Star Cruiser was destroyed in war 10,000 years ago."

    "The final treasure¡­" Di said while flipping the holograms in the air, his voice turning far more solemn than before.

    The image of a strange nondescript bead appeared on the screen.

    "The final treasure is the Genesis Bead, our n''s true lifeblood and the origin of our All-Seeing Eyes trait."

    As Damien looked through the various images he was provided, he got the gist of what he had to do.

    To say he wasn''t excited by the prospect wasn''t a lie.

    See, this was the type of trial he didn''t mind taking at all.

    "The Genesis Bead is currently on Beast Emperor Star in the hands of the Golden Dragon Godbeast n. Your task is to go to the Beast Domain and retrieve the Genesis Bead using whatever means necessary."

    Di nced at Damien with an imperceptible smile.

    "What do you think? Can you do it?"

    Damien grinned. It was just as he expected.

    A new ce he''d never been, new treasures for him to plunder, and new enemies to boost his progress.

    There was only one word that needed toe out of his mouth at this time, and he spoke it with absolute confidence.

    "Absolutely."

 Chapter 883 Undercurrents [1]

    "Absolutely."

    Damien''s direct and bold response made Di smile. It was clear that the young genius had no scruples about taking on such a dangerous task, despite the seeming impossibility.

    If anything, he could definitely respect Damien''s courage and mentality.

    "This jade slip contains all the information you''ll need for this mission, including the general structure of the Beast Domain and the kind of forces and phenomena you should expect there." Di continued, passing a jade slip to Damien.

    "This task will be difficult, and you will likely fail, however, if you can make it to Beast Emperor Star and negotiate with the Golden Dragon n, even if the negotiations fail, I will ept it as a sess."

    Damien raised his brow curiously.

    "Isn''t that a bit counterintuitive?" He asked.

    He didn''t understand why he''d been given a mission objective that wasn''t even required toplete the mission, especially on a mission with the significance of this one.

    Di didn''t let him stay curious for too long.

    "This time, you will have a strict time limit toplete this task. If it cannot be done in three months, it is meaningless either way. Far more important events will begin at that time, making us lose our final opportunity to regain our treasure for many years toe."

    Damien looked at Di with a look that told him to continue, disinclined to beg for more information.

    Di shook his head with a smile seeing Damien''s strange behavior but indulged the young genius anyway.

    "In 3 months, an event called the Grand Assembly will begin. This is a pivotal point for the Great War, therefore it is something everyone with some prominence in the universe must attend. Even you, Damien Void, as a peak genius of the universe, are required to show your face there."

    Bang!

    An explosion went off in Damien''s head.

    Grand Assembly¡­?

    Weren''t those the two words he''d been trying to hear for so long now?

    The event where the Human Domain would join the rest of the universe in nning a final counterattack to end the warpletely, the event that acted as Damien''s greatest connection to the Human Domain, the ce where he''d be able to reunite with all those he left behind all those years ago¡­

    ''Finally!''

    His eyes lit up in excitement.

    Thinking of his wives, his friends, his master, and his otherrades from the Human Domain, he truly fell into a bout of reminiscence.

    Ever since he arrived in the Divine Realm, he''d been too focused on moving forward at his fastest speeds to consider meeting them again, but with the prospect in front of him so tantly, his anticipation for the event 3 monthster shot through the roof.

    ''I can''t allow my current issues to interfere with the reunion I''ve been waiting so long for. Before the Grand Assembly, I at least need to make sure the Bloodlock n is suppressed to an extent.''

    Damien didn''t know who would be sent after him, but there was no doubt that someone was already following his trail and aiming to kill him.

    That person needed to die, and anyone closely associated with them needed to die as well.

    In the worst-case scenario, Immortal Blood Asura himself would be Damien''s enemy rather than those below him, but since he was also bound by the restrictions on Demigods, this was likely a better scenario than Damien being constantly pursued by gravel.

    Damien''s eyes sharpened, ring with determination.

    ''This time, I''ll cut off any manageable loose ends. Anything or anyone that stands in my way¡­will die!''

    A spark he felt like he''d lost some time ago revitalized, and as night fell, Damien left the Ancient God n''s Hidden World without alerting anyone.

    Only three people noticed his departure.

    Di smiled to himself, reminiscing on the past. The simrities Damien showed to that person were uncanny, to the point where Di almost believed he was a direct reincarnation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    As for Ran, even she couldn''t deny this fact. Complicated emotions swirled through her eyes, her thoughts unknown to anyone but her.

    Besides these two, only Xinyue was somewhat appear of Damien''s departure, even though she couldn''t directly sense it. She stared into the night sky withplicated emotions that differed from Ran''s.

    The Ancient God n¡­

    Would it really bow its head before a young genius like Damien?

    In the end, only time would tell.

    ***

    The Beast Domain was a vast sector withbat power ranking in the top 4 of all sectors. The Beast Domain''s nature was feral, and even the ambient mana carried some of these wild tendencies.

    In the eyes of more ruthless experts, the Beast Domain was the perfect training ground for both young and old geniuses, as it was a ce where one could ughter without remorse.

    The Beast Domain''s, a ce synonymous with killing to the point where those residing within termed it the ughter Domain instead.

    The Beast Domain was popted by several tens of thousands of smaller worlds with minor influences and poptions, but there were only around 12 that had any significance.

    On one of these 12 worlds, in a nondescript inn somewhere in thergest city, a cloaked figure sat quietly behind a mug of spiritger. Their ears were perked as they listened to the surrounding conversations and gathered information.

    This inn was particrly known to be a gathering ce for informants, so the amount and quality of news one received were both questionable.

    "Did you hear? The royal family is holding a marriage tournament for their youngestdy! The strongestpetitor will get to marry the ughter Domain''s little princess!" A man said.

    "Hah? Little princess! Don''t joke with me! Everyone knows that the little princess is a demon beyond all others! There''s a reason the Emperor decided to marry her off so easily despite her status!" Someone responded.

    The man shrank down as many judgemental gazesnded on him, but soon recovered.

    "Hmph! Do you think I don''t know that? Actually, even the Emperor is aware of how difficult his daughter is, so for this tournament, he put out the best rewards possible!"

    At the mention of rewards, the atmosphere in the inn slightly shifted. Even though nobody moved, it was clear that the number of ears on the man had severely increased.

    He puffed his chest in pride, raising his voice as he gained the confidence to speak.

    "Even the 10th ce winner can gain several resources and direct leveling fruits to aid their practice! The second and third ce winners get to pick a treasure from the royal treasury along with their resources, and for first ce¡­"

    The man paused for emphasis, feeling several auras heighten in anticipation from the words he''d already spoken.

    With a smug smile, he yelled, "The first ce winner will be given official status and power in the royal family, and as a token of sincerity, they will receive a legendary treasure, the Genesis Bead, to help them in their future endeavors!"

    Bang!

    Several tables copsed into dust, several people stood up in shock. The fact that the Genesis Bead was mentioned here, what were the chances?

    "How sure are you of this information? If you lie to us, your end will not be peaceful." A burly man with an intimidating aura said, standing up and grabbing the handle of his axe.

    However, the original speaker was unfazed. He reached into his shirt pocket and grabbed an emblem, thrusting it into the air for all to see.

    "Actually, I have been hired by the royal family themselves to spread this news! The credibility absolutely cannot be doubted!"

    As the crowd''s gazes went to the emblem, a few shocked gasps rang out.

    Indeed, the man was holding an official emblem of the royal family, making it clear that his words were backed by theirs.

    And within seconds of him proving the validity of his words¡­

    The inn erupted in chaos.

 Chapter 884 Undercurrents [2]

    As hundreds of people swarmed out of the inn with the intent of reaching Beast Emperor Star as fast as possible, an almost imperceptible shadow made its way through their ranks, leaving the inn and eventually making its way to a nearby forest.

    After walking for a bit, the figure came across a sleek air bike that was parked not far away.

    They inserted their mana and took off, submerging into their thoughts.

    ''The Genesis Bead is a peak treasure of Life. I must attain it at all costs.''

    There were several rumors about the Genesis Bead, with some more outrageous ones even iming it was rted to the origin of the universe. Its effects were actually unknown, but if one thing was certain, it was the fact that the Genesis Bead was a treasure not many could match.

    ''What could provoke them to put out such a heavenly treasure for apetition as simple andwless as this? It will undoubtedly cause chaos!''

    There was no possible scenario where thepetition was allowed to ur without interruptions. In fact, there was a higher chance of the ceremony getting ruined than the little princess getting married.

    ''But I must still attend. The Genesis Bead is too important.''

    As the figure shed through the air, their cloak fluttered in the wind, revealing hints of the woman underneath.

    She was a beauty that could be described in no way other than divine. No matter which part of her body one focused on, any word that wasn''t "perfection" would feel sphemous.

    This woman was beautiful to the point where she could genuinely provoke reverence from those weaker beings who witnessed her.

    Yet, even with such an appearance, her hands were filled with callouses from endless battle. Her ocean-blue eyes were burning with a fearsome determination that not many in the universe could match.

    ''The Genesis Bead will be mine.'' She dered inwardly as she left the world''s atmosphere.

    Even if all else was vague, she would achieve her goals.

    Of this, she could swear on her pride as a Valkyrie!

    ***

    On the other side of the universe, Hidden Death Valley was in a frenzy.

    A storm had just left the premises, after all.

    Arthur Bloodlock was truly a merciless and cruel individual. The second he stepped into the institute, he red his aura as a Supreme and immediately suppressed all those that couldn''t resist him.

    He tore through the academy in search of clues about his son, but he found nothing.

    After all, Reavus Bloodlock wasn''t a good person at all.

    The number of people he''d offended was vast, and the number of people who hated him but couldn''t retaliate due to status was even greater.

    Were there students willing to help with the investigation?

    Even though most of them knew nothing at all, they refused to cooperate all the same.

    Under the academy''s protection, they didn''t have to be afraid of the Bloodlock n''s influence, not unless there was a Bloodlock genius attending the academy.

    But now that Reavus was dead, why did they need to care?

    As they expected, Alucard thoroughly suppressed Arthur whenever he tried to cross the line, guaranteeing the safety of his students.

    However, this didn''t mean the search was unsessful.

    Rting the Heavenly King to the murderer named Damien wasn''t difficult considering the former''s deeds in the Celestial Realm.

    At that point, Arthur narrowed his investigation to only those Emperors and Paragons at the peak of the academy.

    However, how could these prideful geniuses with backing no weaker than Blood Asura Holy Land submit easily? With Arthur''s forceful methods, they were more inclined to ignore him regardless.

    Arthur was almost consumed by his rage at that point. To have so many ants disrespecting him like this wasn''t something he''d ever ept!

    Merely, Hidden Death Valley was one of the rare few influences in the universe that the Bloodlock n couldn''t match up to.

    Luckily, the academy was still an academy. There was no such thing as unity between sect members, at least not at a definite level.

    While Reavus Bloodlock had been killed, there were still forces aligned with the Bloodlock n in the institute.

    Specifically, those Wellspring Family geniuses who were too weak to everpete with those at the Paragon level.

    From them, Arthur was able to easily get the information he wanted.

    About the man who ruthlessly crippled the Wellspring Family Heir, killed several Bloodlock n and Wellspring Family members, and tortured Reavus to death, Arthur finally got a clue.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Damien Void!'' He roared inwardly as he left the academy. ''I will ughter you!''

    The man''s crimes were far worse than he expected. He''d repeatedly pped Blood Asura Holy Land across the face without care, sullying their reputation with his existence.

    This was a man who absolutely had to die.

    With this thought in mind, Arthur shot through the universe, using several cross-sector teleportation arrays to reach Eien in the shortest amount of time possible.

    If there was a ce best suited for hiding from one''s enemies, it was Eien. With its vastness and culture, nobody would care who one offended until that trouble came back to bite them.

    ''Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!'' Arthur raged inwardly.

    Despite being in Eien for several days, he couldn''t find a single clue about the man named Damien Void! It''s like he didn''t exist at all!

    Rather than him, it seemed everyone wanted to tell him about some Golden Pce Master who shook the world a few days ago, but this didn''t matter at all to Arthur!

    ''Has he left Eien?'' He wondered.

    If Damien was strong enough to kill Reavus so one-sidedly, there was no way he''d be in Eien as a regr foot soldier.

    If he wasn''t here¡­

    ''I''m sure we have a subsidiary force here. I shall visit them for information.''

    What would Arthur''s reaction be like when he found out that Asuran Gate was destroyed thoroughly after evidence of their collusion with the Nox leaked from the Void Corridor expedition?

    Well, it wasn''t pretty at all.

    The already ruined headquarters of Asuran Gate was reduced to dust by Arthur''s rage.

    It was infuriating.

    It was truly infuriating!

    How could it be that a weakling not even at the extreme peak of 4th ss could lead him on so pathetically?!

    From Eien, there was absolutely no trail of Damien''s next location.

    Even those who knew him when he was on Eien assumed he died in the Void Corridor due to his rapid and silent exit.

    In that final moment, Arthur was once again presented with a final strand of hope in the form of a cloaked figure surrounded by ominous ck mana.

    "Damien Void, I can tell you his location," the figure proimed indifferently, letting loose a bit of their aura and making it clear to Arthur that he couldn''t match them at all.

    This person was already on the cusp of Divinity.

    Arthur''s eyes sharpened. He could feel the breath of the Nox on this person''s body even though it wasn''t inherently mixed into their mana.

    ''A traitor.'' He realized instantly.

    However, he didn''t push this person away.

    In this world, there was no such thing as eternal enemies, only eternal benefits.

    If this man could truly provide the information he wanted, Arthur didn''t even mind sheltering him and giving him an identity in the universe.

    Nevertheless, he held out his hand as a sign of cooperation.

    "Tell me everything you know about that man, and you will be rewarded handsomely."

    The shadowy figure seemed to grin maliciously, though it might have been an illusion created by their aura.

    They reached out a wrinkled hand and shook Arthur''s.

    "Haha, cooperation is a simple task. That Damien Void is our enemy as well. If you wish to know his precise location and information about his skillset, all you need to do is¡­"

    A conversation began from there.

    It was a conversation that could possibly sentence the entirety of Blood Asura Holy Land to purgatory.

    However, it was being carried out regardless.

    All for the sake of the death of a single man.

 Chapter 885 Undercurrents [3]

    From Soul World where Damien was originally situated, the Beast Domain was a considerable distance.

    It was adjacent to Eden, however, actually reaching the Beast Domain took far more effort than just traveling through Eden.

    After all, the border was filled with ferocious wild energy, a cosmic phenomenon that acted as a natural defense line on the border of the Beast Domain.

    This defense line was the main reason the Nox hadn''t immediately taken care of the Beast Domain''s forces and instead chose to focus their efforts on Soul World after the destruction of Eden.

    While it wouldn''t have been too much of a problem for Damien to brute force his way through this defense with the Breath of Nothingness, he was currently prioritizing efficiency.

    For others, making their way halfway around the universe to enter the Beast Domain was far too taxing, however, to Damien, it was light work.

    With the help of cross-sector teleportation arrays and his own spatial abilities, the journey that should''ve originally taken several months waspleted in a matter of days.

    Currently, Damien stood in line at a cross-sector teleportation array at the edge of the Divine Realm, the final one he needed to take before he reached his destination.

    ''Lines are the worst.'' He thought with a sigh.

    Even with the exorbitant price that long-distance travel begot, the number of people willing to use these formations, especially in the current circumstance, was high. It wasn''t umon for a family to use every penny of their umted wealth for the sake of a new life in the Divine Realm, even if that life was brutal.

    After all, war was epassing every border domain recently. As Damien traveled, he realized that the other territories of Eien were facing extreme pressure, far beyond what he was capable of aiding them with.

    If anything, his work in the Void Corridor had bought a few months of respite, but with the Grand Assembly fast approaching, it wasn''t certain that the Nox would continue following their current slow-conquering strategy.

    Nevertheless, for themon people, it looked like the outer domains were dying. Nobody wanted to remain in these sectors after hearing about what happened to Eden and the Elven Domain.

    This caused the beginning of a mass migration that''d been rising to prominence in the past few years.

    With the current trajectory, it seemed like the outer sectors would all be abandoned within a decade, even if the war ended before then.

    ''Whatever, it''s not my problem. For now, the Divine Realm is indeed the safest option for these people, so it isn''t my ce to tell them otherwise.''

    Besides, Damien was too irked with other matters at the moment to care about other people.

    ''Status''

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    ????

    Male - Age 30

    Level 399 - [Voidbringer] - [Celestial]

    Experience value: 1,500/1,000,000

    Title(s): [???????, Bearer of the Void Physique, Evolver]

    Affinities: Spacetime, Samsara, ????

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 500000

    STR: 10000

    AGI: 10000

    DEF: 10000

    INT: 10000

    DEX: 10000<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Skills: [Dimensional Magic Level 9], [Transcendent Regeneration Level Max], [Void Art Level 6], [Devour Level 8], [Dragon Transformation], [Demon Transformation], [Awareness], [Celestial Authority], [Reality Shift Level 1], [Sea God''s Descendent], [Void], [Spacetime Intent], [Samsara Intent]

    Trait(s): [All-Seeing Eyes Level 8], [Dragon''s Breath], [Ananta Matrix], [Storm], [Void Essence], [Void mes], [Heal]

    It was annoying.

    He had already jumped over 150 levels in the years he spent in the Celestial Realm, Eien, and the Wild Continent, but other than that number jumping, nothing special happened to the rest.

    His mana capacity value was by far the most useless. The 500,000 units disyed were the limit of what he could house in his body, but with the Ananta Matrix and Void Physique, the concept of mana capacity simply never existed for Damien.

    Aside from that, statsprehensively increased to 10,000, a marking that he was on the cusp of his first revolution, but raising it by even one more point was more difficult than ascending the heavens.

    At least, for normal people.

    Damien''s physical stats had always been a mess. The system stopped being able to calcte his true power level back in the First Dungeon before he''d even reached 2nd ss and had been ying a game of catch-up ever since, an unsessful one at that.

    At this point, the system was merely showing him values for the sake of showing him values. In reality, he was well aware that his strength already surpassed a normal 1st or 2nd revolution master.

    Damien was far too used to his bugged status for its values alone to bother him, but this time it was different.

    ''Now that I''m at this level, I can feel it. The existence of "legends," that is.''

    League and Legend, two words that the system loved to use when Damien was still an ant. The first one was merely one''s state of existence. As one grew in power, the league of their soul and body would improve until they eventually shed the mortal coil and ascended to Divinity.

    However, Legends were far more iprehensible. Even for Damien, who had devoured the memories of several masters, the existence of this esoteric remained vague.

    Until now.

    It wasn''t that he gained something, rather, the continued elevation of his league allowed him to perceive things that simply couldn''t be perceived by the senses of someone who hadn''t reached this point yet.

    There was no doubt Damien could''ve digested the information properly long ago, but in the end, he wasn''t quite free from the universe''s influence yet.

    "One''s Legend¡­is the foundation of Divinity." He muttered to himself.

    In some inexplicable way, Legends were the foundation of everything the system showed him.

    Damien could only vaguely sense it at the moment, but if he had to put the feeling into words, he could only put it one way:

    Legends define one''s existence.

    If League merely describes the level of one''s existence, Legends are the building blocks of that level.

    Other than this, Damien truly couldn''tprehend more.

    ''It''s not a matter of my own skill, but a matter of universalw. I need to further myprehension of the Void so I can be free of such restrictions in the future.''

    It irked Damien that he couldn''t properly view his progress through the system or utilize its only function properly, but he also knew that this was likely a benefit for him, as it forced him to define himself without aid, something that led to far greater returns even though the process was grueling.

    What Damien didn''t know, however, was that even this thought process of his was boosting him subconsciously.

    He finally arrived at the cross-sector teleportation array and paid his fare. His body soon disappeared along with all those heading to the Beast Domain as well, none the wiser to the strange changes taking ce within him.

    That strange space where his elements were personified, no, Damien''s soul was experiencing growth.

    His "League" was morphing into something different.

    After all, he was slowly reaching that tipping point.

    To fully understand the concept of legends¡­

    This was the requirement for one to truly begin the nine revolutions of extreme peak 4th ss.

 Chapter 886 Undercurrents [4]

    ''Phew, finally here.'' Damien thought to himself as he stepped through the other side of the teleportation array. Even within the reception building, one could clearly feel the turbid air of the Beast Domain on their skin.

    ''Beast Emperor Star is this Sector''s central star and the home of its royal family. I can''t just approach Beast Emperor Star from the start and try for the Genesis Bead. I don''t know anything about the Beast Domain.''

    In normal times, Damien could spend some time gathering information before making a move so he didn''t encounter any harrowing unknown variables like in Calypto, but with a three-month deadline on his tail, such action was naturally impossible.

    Still, rapidly gaining information was something Damien had several convenient abilities for.

    After leaving the peripheral world where the teleportation array was located, Damien teleported until he found the nearestrge world, entering its atmosphere and setting down in its biggest city, a ce called Greenwood.

    ''It should be¡­aha, there''s one.''

    Damien''s awareness caught sight of the specific building he was looking for, and before anyone could even notice his presence, he disappeared and arrived in front of it.

    This ce was none other than the local information guild.

    ''In terms of money, I pretty much have an endless supply at this point. The number of currency cards in those Void Corridor inheritances was even greater than the number of techniques, so even if I wanted to retire and live as a world emperor for the rest of my life, I''d be set. But¡­''

    Just because he had money didn''t mean he wanted to spend it on useless things. If there ever came a need to use arge amount of money, it was smart to have as much as possible. Even aside from the worst-case scenario, there was also the possibility that he''d need to kickstart the Sanctuary''s economy with his own fortune, something impossible unless his personal wealth was unholy.

    Nevertheless, with this thought in mind, Damien made a simple request at the information guild.

    After learning from them who the most evil and strongest practitioner in the area was, Damien left directly.

    The so-called Evil Witch Doctor was an expert at thete-stage 4th ss, one of the strongest beings in the current world that had no extreme peak masters.

    However, by the time tomorrow came, the Evil Witch Doctor would be no more.

    Within a few hours of receiving the information, Damien had already killed and devoured the human-formed beast.

    Just like that, information on the Beast Domain filled his head.

    ''This witch doctor was a truly evil guy, but it seems he had connections to a greater influence on Beast Emperor Star. This is good. If it wasn''t for that connection, his knowledge would be way too shallow to be useful.''

    Damien sifted through the witch doctor''s memories, internalizing all the important events that had been taking ce in the Beast Domain recently.

    ''The ck Dragon n seems to fiercely oppose the ruling Golden Dragon n at every step. This witch doctor was also someone serving them. It seems like they''re the main contenders of the royal family, and also the main oppressor of most forces in this sector.''

    From what he could tell, arge portion of the major events and catastrophes that had taken ce in the Beast Domain were rted to the ck Dragon n.

    For the sake of his mission, it was looking like he''d also be forced to oppose said n.

    ''The little princess'' marriage ceremony¡­looks like I''ll have to crash that event. Well, it doesn''t look like she wants to get married either, so it should be fine, right?''

    It wasn''t like he wanted to make enemies with the Golden Dragon n, but he also didn''t want to enter another fake marriage for the sake of his goals. He already felt guilty for how he left Leona with such a vague rejection.

    ''Either way, I guess I should head to the vicinity of Beast Emperor Star for now.''

    Damien now had a general grasp on the situation, and now that such an important step waspleted, he directly left therge world and traveled towards the center of the Beast Domain.

    ''This ce is way more exciting than the other sectors. Even when I''m just traveling normally like this, it''s hard to go a full ten thousand kilometers without witnessing a battle.''

    The main difference between the Beast Domain and its counterparts was the ratio of practitioners tomon people, a difference that became obvious as Damien traveled.

    It wasn''t once or twice that he was almost dragged into a battle for no reason, though, he managed to avoid most of them.

    Even now, he could feel the fluctuations of battle not far in front of him.

    Two streaks of light shot through the starry sky, followed by a horde of 4th ss beings radiating heavy killing intent.

    Damien''s brow raised as he watched the proceedings. He didn''t know who was in that first light ray, but they were definitely someone important.

    ''Hm? Coming to me?'' <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He suddenly noticed that the direction those light rays were fleeing was directly in line with his own.

    He smiled to himself. ''Then, let''s see what your intentions are.''

    He stood still without acknowledging the approaching chaos until it arrived before him. Two light rays suddenly materialized into people, one boy and one girl.

    "Sir, please help us!" The girl said, her eyes filled with panic.

    "What are you doing?! If you stop now, they''ll catch us!" The boy shouted, grabbing the girl''s arm and trying to drag her away.

    However, it was far toote. Within an instant, several ck shadows surrounded the trio and blocked their every escape route.

    The boy''s eyes hardened. He gritted his teeth as if making a decision.

    Meanwhile, the girl didn''t seem to lose faith in the strange man they''d just run into.

    "Sir, please help us solve this trouble. If you do, I promise we will reward you handsomely!" She pleaded, practically kneeling before him.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien looked down at her indifferently. However, inwardly, he was practically cheesing.

    As he observed this girl, he noticed some simrities to a certain portrait in the memories he''d just recently devoured.

    Really, he couldn''t believe his luck.

    After all, wasn''t this girl none other than the Golden Dragon n''s little princess?

    Damien didn''t think such a coincidence could exist in reality, but as someone who studied the flow of the universe, he could somewhat understand what led this specific event to take ce.

    ncing between the princess and her pursuers, Damien made an easy decision.

    "Well, it''s not much trouble to stomp out some gravel, but I hope yourpensation can satisfy me," he said lightly.

    "Hah?" The boy suddenly eximed, snapping his head towards Damien. "We''re all about to die and you''re still in the mood to brag?! Useless people like you should just shut up and not interfere with matters that don''t conceuuugh¡­!"

    The boy''s words slurred as a crisp p made contact with his face, flinging a few of his teeth out of his mouth.

    "You¡­!" He eximed.

    "You shut up and watch, idiot," Damien finished.

    He was already 30 years old.

    He deigned to argue with children.

    He truly¡­

    ''Okay, fuck that, that''s a lie. After I''m done with these idiots, I''ll take care of that prick and teach him a lesson in ce of his parents.''

    Damien grinned.

    He was really such a righteous person.

    Setting people on the right path was his duty in life!

    And even if he had to use¡­not-so-happy means to help them, it was fine!

    After all, he was a benevolent and magnanimous soul who could never do any wrong!

    ¡­right?

 Chapter 887 Golden Dragon [1]

    "You¡­! How dare you hit me?! I am the fou¡ª!"

    The boy pointed at Damien and yelled without a care for the current situation, holding his reddened face, however, before he could finish, he was promptly shut up by the girl by his side.

    "Sir, please don''t mind him! Here is a spatial ring with some resources as a sign of our faith. If you can solve our problem, I promise I will give you several times these rewards," She said quickly.

    Damien epted the spatial ring with ease, putting up an invisible shield that blocked the pursuers froming closer.

    "Make sure to keep your word," he said lightly.

    He red his mana imperceptibly, subtly taking control of the surrounding space. At the level of his opponents, they couldn''t even sense his interference.

    For a second, he had a thought.

    ''Should I y it weak and struggle a bit to reap more rewards?''

    But he didn''t give this thought any consideration.

    If he was weaker and in need of resources, this method would definitely be best for him.

    However, in Damien''s current state, connections were more important than power. To make the greatest impact on this so-called demonic little princess, he needed to show an appropriate amount of strength.

    ''If I can meet her father through this method, it''ll expedite my ns a great deal.''

    Unfortunately, the Genesis Bead was in aplicated position right now. If he simply took it through the usual method, he''d be the enemy of the entire Beast Domain and the number of pests that woulde to bother him was far more than he bothered to care about.

    He needed to find a way to get not just the Golden Dragon n''s backing, but their full and absolute support.

    Bing their son-inw absolutely wasn''t possible, so the only option was to prove his worth.

    ''Let''s get this over with.''

    It had only been a minute since his first contact with the little princess and her boy toy, but one minute was a great deal of time for experts in battle.

    The entire time, those pursuers had been attacking Damien''s invisible barrier, but since their attacks were being swallowed and banished to nonexistence and because Damien had isted sound within the barrier so his conversation wouldn''t get interrupted, it almost looked like they were simply standing around in wait.

    "Duck for a second."

    "Hm? Ah¡ª!"

    Damien grabbed the little princess and boy''s heads and pushed them down to their knees without waiting for their answers.

    ''Spacetime Severence.''

    Ding!

    A pulse spread from Damien''s body, imperceptible and profound. There was no heaven-shaking phenomenon or beautiful destruction of universalw, merely a single ding as if a bell rang.

    Damien released the two kids soon after.

    "Who do you think you are?!" The boy eximed once more.

    In his life, he''d never been treated so roughly. If it wasn''t for the little princess clearly disallowing him from taking action, he absolutely would''ve fought this man!

    How old could he be? From his looks and aura, he wasn''t even above 40 years of age!

    ''Hmph. Keep pretending. We''ll see what happens after you''re tortured by this group.'' He thought maliciously.

    But before he could even properly enjoy the gory scene in his head, he noticed something strange.

    ''They¡­aren''t moving?''

    The pursuers were all stationary as if they''d been frozen in time.

    Haa¡­

    A sigh resounded.

    Shick!

    A strange sound followed it.

    All at once, the bodies of the pursuers split into two without a single exception.

    "There. Now, for my reward¡­" Damien turned to the two with a smile on his face.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I hope you can properlypensate me for my efforts."

    ***

    "Who are you?"

    "What''s your name?"

    "Where are you from?"

    "You''re so strong! What level are you?"

    "Hello? Why don''t you answer me?"

    "Hey? Mister? Mister?"

    An endless stream of questions.

    This was what Damien was met with after the ordeal ended.

    He started to realize why this little girl was known as a devil emperor among themonfolk. She was truly a little fox demon with endless curiosity and energy, annoying any and everyone she came in contact with to death!

    ''The mischievous glint in her eyes is bugging me. She reminds me of¡­She Who Shall Not Be Named¡­''

    The devil princess'' demeanor was extremely simr to a certain maid, but Damien knew that if he thought about her in the slightest, she''d somehow find out.

    Therefore, he could only sigh and keep his thoughts to himself, quietly enduring the princess'' existence as he led her back to Beast Emperor Star.

    As he''d found out in the past few hours, the little princess''s name was Astoria Golden, and the man next to her wasn''t her boy toy, but rather her brother, the 4th prince of the Golden Dragon n, Titus Golden.

    Damien originally thought this Titus character would try to cause trouble, but it seemed that the previous demonstration was enough to shut his mouth.

    ''Still, he has a me in his eyes. If I didn''t need the Golden Dragon n''s cooperation right now¡­''

    Nevertheless, killing him would have to wait until there was a proper opportunity.

    The group of three moved swiftly with Astoria''s navigation and Damien''s teleportation. Within a few days, they''d arrived in the vicinity of Beast Emperor Star.

    ''Wow¡­'' Damien eximed inwardly.

    He''d seen countless mystical worlds, but every adventure seemed to bring him a new surprise.

    In terms of size, Beast Emperor Star and Calypto were roughly the same, however, Beast Emperor Star was far more special than the original Calypto.

    Golden clouds swam across its surface, painting the world in an auspicious air. This auspicious air didn''t just stop at the world''s atmosphere, but extended into the periphery for several thousand kilometers, manifesting as a beautiful cosmic phenomenon that even Damien was forced to be impressed by.

    ''The Golden Dragon n is interesting. It''s said that Angels are the closest beings to fate in the universe, but this world far outstrips any angel I''ve met to this day.''

    The concept of fate and the flow of the universe weren''t quite the same, but they were concepts in the same vein. Since Damien wasprehending universal flow, he could also somewhat peer into the density of fate around him.

    This ability wasn''t very useful if he didn''t want to use it as a treasure finder, but it still allowed Damien to gain a deeper understanding of the universe.

    As he entertained his thoughts, Astoria and Titus led him through the auspicious clouds.

    "These clouds are rumored to have been formed by our progenitor ancestor, the Golden Dragon Godbeast. Because of these clouds, Beast Emperor Star and the entire Beast Domain it represents have been able to remain standing through countless trying times," Astoria exined as theynded on the ground.

    "It is said that anyone who passes through the clouds gains positive luck for several weeks afterward, but that''s just a rumor," She continued as she began waking in a certain direction.

    "While he isn''t quite at the level of the Ancestor yet, my father is also a proper Godbeast. What do you think, don''t you want to meet him?" She finished with a sly smile. She looked up at Damien''s face in anticipation of the type of expression he''d make.

    Unfortunately¡­

    Tak!

    She was only met with a flick to the forehead.

    "In the first ce, I came here to talk to your father. Come on and lead me to him already," Damien said indifferently.

    Astoria''s expression crumpled, but her determination red.

    It looked like she''d have to try far harder to get her new target to act now she wanted him to, but that was fine.

    After all, she lived for the chase!

 Chapter 888 Golden Dragon [2]

    "Wait¡­" she suddenly spoke in realization, "you knew who I was this whole time?!"

    With the way Damien had been acting, she thought he was some neer in the Beast Domain who''d never heard of or seen her, but that didn''t seem to be true at all!

    "I mean, I''ve only heard the reputation of the devil princess and seen a portrait of you, if that makes you feel any better," Damien responded.

    "It doesn''t!"

    "Too bad then."

    "Hmph!"

    "Alright, stop harrumphing and lead me to your father already."

    "I won''t!" Astoria suddenly eximed, cing her hands on her hips defiantly.

    "Is there a reason why or is this just a devil princess thing?" Damien asked with a frown.

    "Uhm¡­both!" Astoria replied, sticking her tongue out cutely.

    "Understood," Damien responded, "then¡­"

    Two especially fierce sacks of rice went over Damien''s shoulders.

    "I''ll find the pce myself. I''m sure you won''t get off easily when your father finds out what happened. You want to try and escape punishment in front of me? Don''t make meugh," Damien scoffed sarcastically, ignoring Astoria''s pounding on his back.

    ''Now then¡­''

    He spread his awareness to find the Golden Dragon n''s main pce, covering over a hundred thousand miles with his awareness.

    Unfortunately, he seemed to be on the wrong side of the, evidently Astoria''s arrangement, so he needed to teleport a good few times before the beautiful golden scenery of the n Estate revealed itself to his eyes.

    "So this is the Golden Dragon n, aye? What a pretentious group," Damien muttered.

    The sheer amount of gold that went into building the several hundred thousand kilometerrge estate ground was blinding. It was enough gold to make someone never want to see the color gold again in their lives.

    Of course, most of the buildings and flora were untainted, but the entire estate ground was connected through a series of golden roads and trails, almost looking like the veins of a¡ª

    ''That''s exactly what it is.'' Damien realized.

    The fearsome and domineering dragon aura that clouded the air and even stimted Damien''s draconic bloodline didn''t originate from any treasure, but from the strange road itself.

    Damien was almost certain that the road was created using the remains of a true dragon, likely at the Godbeast level.

    ''The main pce is¡­''

    Damien teleported to the air above the main pce and red his aura, making his presence known.

    "Package delivery! Did anyone here order a package?!" He yelled, his voice booming into the surroundings, backed by mana.

    The following processes happened so rapidly that they were hardly worth mentioning.

    Golden Dragon n guards surrounded Damien and pointed their weapons at him, only to immediately lower them when they saw who he was carrying with him.

    Eventually, an imperious voice came from within the pce, inviting him in.

    "Let him through."

    Those three simple words, with no sign of emotional fluctuation at all, carried heavy power, not just in a literal sense.

    Damien''s gaze narrowed somewhat. From this alone, it was clear that the Golden Dragon n''s Emperor was a shrewd person.

    Only, was it shrewdness or indifference?

    Damien teleported into the pce with the intention of finding out, following the aura traces until he made his way to the throne room.

    Here, he was met by a congregation.

    Several tens of Golden Dragon n Members, presumably people of the royal family, stood lined in rows on both sides of the hall, watching Damien as he walked through the door.

    However, his eyes didn''t leave the man seated on the throne.

    ''That''s it. That''s the real deal right there.

    Long midnight ck hair, sharp and divine golden eyes, a chiseled face, a robust body that was covered in an incredibly arrogant golden armor, everything about the man screamed "domineering!"

    ''This is what that brat Long Chen could''ve been if he followed my suggestions and became a cultivator in real life! I didn''t think I''d ever get to see it in my lifetime!'' Damien eximed inwardly, his spirit shedding cheers of joy.

    Truly, the differences between this man and Long Chen, whether in appearance or aura, were not many at all.

    "What is your purpose foring here?" The man said, cutting straight to the chase.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Damien shrugged with a smile. "I found your stuff scattered in the starry sky, so as a good samaritan, I came to return it. Satisfied?"

    Thump!

    Thump!

    Two dull sounds rang out as Astoria and Titus were dropped on their butts.

    Whoosh!

    They disappeared instantly, whisked away by a random n member and kept far, far away from Damien.

    However, this action didn''t symbolize hostility, merely wariness.

    "Since you''ve acted so straightforwardly, I will not be needlessly hostile to you. Tell me what you desire and I will make sure you can get it," the man said afterward.

    Even if he acted like this, the past few days had been utter chaos for him.

    He set up the marriage tournament for his daughter''s hand and the Genesis Bead to draw out the forces hiding in the dark, but it seemed Astoria herself was far too against the concept of getting married to even consider this kind of n.

    How she managed to sneak away under a Demigod''s nose? Even the Golden Dragon Emperor himself didn''t know! Ever since she was young, Astoria seemed especially gifted at slipping away from situations where it should''ve been impossible for her to do so.

    With the ck Dragon n''s recent signs of aggressiveness, Astoria absolutely couldn''t be allowed to roam as freely as she used to.

    Therefore, the Golden Dragon Emperor truly was grateful to Damien for bringing her back.

    "Unfortunately, I don''t believe it''ll be so easy for me to get what I want from you." Damien finally responded. "However¡­hold on, give me a second."

    Damjen halted his words and teleported away, appearing several tens of meters away at the entrance to the throne hall.

    He swept his hand through the air like a crazy person, however, when his arm finished its arc¡­

    "Astoria!"

    "How?!"

    Multiple exmations rang out when the people in the room saw what Damien had caught.

    The little princess that had been on thepletely opposite side of the throne room a mere minute ago was now in Damien''s grasp.

    "Let me go! Why did you catch me?!" Astoriained as she tried to escape from Damien''s clutches.

    "Hm? You think you can escape? As long as I''m here, you''re not leaving this ce until you tell your father what happened."

    "I don''t want to! Let me go! I want to y!"

    "yter. This is more important."

    "Nothing is more important than ying!"

    "Oh? Okay, let''s y then. I''ll ''y'' with you the same way I ''yed'' with your brother."

    Astoria''s face suddenly paled. Her eyes robotically creaked as her gaze moved to her brother.

    Despite being in the pce now, he still remained standing.

    Not because he wanted to, but because sitting down would probably bust his ass into a million pieces!

    Astoria absolutely didn''t want to experience that!

    "Fine, fine! Put me down! I''ll stay!"

    "Will you?"

    "I will!"

    "You definitely won''t."

    Damien ignored her pleas and brought her back to the front of the room, keeping her in his grasp so she couldn''t escape.

    "Now, properly exin to your father before you go anywhere," Damienmanded.

    However, inwardly, his thoughts were elsewhere entirely.

    The way this little girl was trying to escape¡­

    Damien didn''t think such a coincidence existed.

    Somehow, in this ce, he''d found a genius with spatial talent that was almost on the same level as his own!

 Chapter 889 Golden Dragon [3]

    Soon enough, the Golden Dragon Emperor was made aware of what truly happened in the starry sky.

    As he guessed, Astoria ran away from home after hearing about the marriage tournament, however, unexpectedly for both of them, there were already several groups waiting in ambush for her.

    If she hadn''t been luckily saved by the 4th prince who was returning home from an excursion, she would''ve died before even leaving Beast Emperor Star.

    Unfortunately for the duo, they were soon forced into the starry sky by several other groups and chased for thousands of kilometers on end, taking them through a domestic teleportation array and eventuallynding them in the same territory of the Beast Domain that Damien was in.

    "This is absolutely the work of the ck Dragon n! Father Emperor, we must take action!" The 4th prince eximed as the story came to an end.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor nodded without a change of expression and said, "Mm, I will take proper measures to solve this problem. Anyone who dares to bully my family¡­can only die!"

    He turned his attention to Damien next.

    "Clear the room. I''d like to have a talk with this young man alone."

    As the Golden Dragon n members left the throne room, they cast strange nces in Damien''s direction, unknowing of how to feel about him.

    After all, he was an outsider, but he was the princess'' savior, and considering the rtionship they''d shown so far, he had absolutely no ill intentions towards the princess.

    It was still unknown whether they could trust him or not, but since the Emperor invited him for a private conversation, it at least meant that he had some importance.

    "Brother, don''t be too scared! My father is actually a really nice person, he''s just too shy to show it!" Astoria whispered in Damien''s ear as she passed by.

    His eyes darted over to the Emperor just in time to see the slight twitch of thetter''s eyelids, almost making him break out intoughter.

    Thankfully, he was able to hold it until everyone left the room.

    "Is something funny?" The Emperor asked.

    "Nothing at all," Damien responded.

    "Hmm¡­"

    The Emperor furrowed his brows and scanned Damien''s body with his eyes as if trying to extract all of his secrets.

    "You have an interestingposition."

    "I get that often."

    "Do you?"

    "No, but if you think about it, I really should."

    The Emperor almost rolled his eyes from the sheer amount of sarcasm dripping in that statement but chose to ignore it for the sake of furthering their conversation.

    "If I am not mistaken, you havee here for the Genesis Bead. Instead of fighting in the tournament, why have you chosen such a method toe in contact with me?" The Emperor questioned.

    Damien shrugged lightly. "It just ended up like that. Your daughter ran up to me while I was minding my own business and paid me to deal with her pursuers. If you want to know why me¡­maybe your daughter sensed something?"

    At first, Damien was also questioning why Astoria suddenly ran up to him. It was clear that she''d run a great distance, and he definitely wasn''t the first expert she saw, but he was the one she chose.

    However, he somewhat understood now.

    After all, didn''t the same thing happen to him?

    Back in the first dungeon, when his spatial power was first reaching saturation, he also met a simr situation where he was pushed into a corner.

    At that time, his spatial affinity was what led him to Kurt''s subspace and allowed him to survive.

    Wasn''t Astoria experiencing the same thing?

    Since she was a Golden Dragon, her physique and bloodline were far different from his own, which led to their affinities manifesting differently. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    While Damien had to slowly build his body and limate himself to the spatialyers due to his human nature, Astoria had a naturally powerful body and the same powerful connection to space, which allowed her to unconsciously and imperceptibly travel through the spatialyers while avoiding the detection of even Demigods!

    In some sense, Astoria''s talent was even greater than Damien''s, it was just that their area of expertise was clearly different.

    When Damien exined this to the Golden Dragon Emperor, even he couldn''t help but be surprised. After all, even rarer than those in the entire universe, spatial experts among the beast races were one in a hundred trillion!

    "You have no notion of marrying my daughter, correct?" The Golden Dragon Emperor asked, almost rhetorically.

    "Correct," Damien answered anyway.

    "However, despite your grace and rtionship with my daughter, I cannot simply give you the Genesis Bead. Now, it has be the central force driving the current n." The Golden Dragon Emperor continued.

    "The undercurrents of our Beast Domain have been roaring and raging in recent days. While we are able to hold off the Nox with our natural defenses and the umtion of fate, this doesn''t stop internal struggles from taking ce."

    "The ck Dragon n was originally a brother to our Golden Dragon n, but something changed 30 years ago,pletely reversing the n''s attitude and identity. Since then, they have been secretly building connections and growing influence in the Beast Domain with the intent of usurping our throne and plundering our fate."

    As the Golden Dragon Emperor''s words came to an end, Damien sighed. It was obvious what was about to happen.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor looked at Damien as he finished his words.

    "The Genesis Bead and the marriage tournament as a whole are both lures to bring those hidden forces to the light. Through the Genesis Bead, the ck Dragon n gains an artifact that can be used as the lifeblood of their influence, and through Astoria, they gain ess to the fate of the Golden Dragon n. When these two factors are put in one ce, it is absolutely impossible for them to stay hidden."

    The meaning was clear.

    ''Enter the tournament and win properly if you want it, and don''t interrupt my ns while you get it.''

    It was a stance that disregarded Damien entirely, but he didn''t let it provoke him.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor definitely wasn''t such a brick-like man. Considering how Damien had yet to be kicked out of the pce, it seemed there was still room for negotiation.

    Damien sighed and cracked his fingers.

    "Alright, negotiation it is. Just know, I''m not some soft persimmon you can bully as you please!"

    Negotiation always began with money, and in line with this belief, Damien first presented the wide array of funds he''d acquired in recent years.

    Honestly speaking, Damien didn''t even remember how currency cards were divided anymore. With such a massive heap of them that he rarely ever used, knowing was pointless. Besides, wouldn''t people tell him how much they wanted him to pay?

    If anyone tried to scam him, they''d simply die. There was no need to worry.

    Nevertheless, while Damien didn''t know the exact amount, he was sure that he as a single entity definitely had more money than somerger influences.

    Yet, with such a sum presented before him, the Golden Dragon Emperor merely shook his head.

    "Our beast races don''t value currency the same way the rest of you do. This scrap metal has no meaning for us."

    It was a bullshit response.

    How would they even maintain an economy without money?!

    The Golden Dragon Emperor was definitely just trying to make things hard for Damien.

    But that was still fine.

    Resources, artifacts, technique manuals, he had an abundance of them all.

    Eventually, one of them had to seed.

    ¡­right?

 Chapter 890 Golden Dragon [4]

    Wrong.

    Damien practically emptied his entire inventory, but the Golden Dragon Emperor remained unimpressed throughout the entire showing.

    It didn''t matter even if Damien pulled out a rare Demigod inheritance that had been unseen for a hundred thousand years, in the Emperor''s eyes, it was trash!

    It became clear that material trade was going nowhere. Damien needed to provide something far more substantial than just resources.

    A thought came to mind.

    "What if¡­I be Astoria''s tutor?" He suddenly said.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor finally showed a change of expression, raising his brow in curiosity.

    "Oh? Go on." He proimed with interest.

    Actually, Damien was rationalizing it at the same time as the Emperor, so all he did was voice his thought process.

    "I won''t call myself the best spatial expert until I kill the Ancestral Sovereign, but I''m definitely up there near that peak. I specialize in spatial destruction, but I have experience with the other facets of space so I won''t be constrained to teaching her by my own path¡­"

    There were several more positives and negatives, but in the end, it came down to one thing.

    "When ites to talent, she''s the only person I''ve seen who could genuinely match me, and I don''t want to see that talent go to waste."

    It''d happened too many times. Every spatial expert he''d met so far besides Tian Yang and perhaps Leona had wasted their talent due to the universe''s skewed belief on how spatial experts should be.

    This was something Damien wanted to see change, but even on a small scale, his existence hadn''t been able to tip people''s perception of spatial experts.

    At least, in his own experience.

    Unbeknownst to him, his presence was indeed subtly changing the stigma around spatial practitioners. For one, in the Human Domain as a whole, spatial experts had be incredibly respected and cherished.

    But that was a story for another time.

    "If you leave your daughter in my hands, I can guarantee that she won''t continue wasting her affinity like she''s been doing so far. I''ll turn her into an expert you''re proud of, and maybe fix her temperament a bit while I''m at it," Damien proimed confidently,

    The Golden Dragon Emperor''s eyes narrowed as he fell into thought.

    Astoria was already a 4th ss expert who rose through her Baptism using the techniques and skills of the Golden Dragon n that could subtly manipte fate and mainly relied on the physical body.

    However, now that he knew she had such a talent, could he really allow it to go unrefined?

    It irked him that, as a Godbeast, he wasn''t able to sense her affinity at all. It made him suspicious that this man could do it while he couldn''t.

    But there were several exnations that could rationalize this, including the fact that the Emperor had never done aprehensive scan of Astoria''s affinities, or that the affinity was only recently awakened in its truest form.

    ''Can I trust this man?''

    For the first time in a long time, the Golden Dragon Emperor was facing a genius too great for him to control.

    These kinds of existences could either massively boost the fate of an influence or copse it entirely.

    It was an incredible gamble.

    However¡­

    "I ept."

    Astoria was the Golden Dragon Emperor''s most cherished and doted-on child. She was also the child with the most potential among her 8 siblings.

    Merely, with Astoria''s temperament, she was never fit to be a ruler.

    The Emperor couldn''t correct her. It was toote for him to start being strict. She absolutely wouldn''t take him seriously.

    But in Damien''s presence, that unruly princess had beenpletely suppressed.

    ''Maybe this is the kind of influence she needs in her life.''

    This was the thought process that led to his decision.

    He didn''t even care if Damien could properly teach Astoria, as long as he didn''t ruin her achievements, his influence and presence would definitely cause a positive change in her character by filling a hole in her heart that her blood brothers couldn''t fill.

    After all, they were too embroiled inpetition for the throne to have time to care about Astoria who didn''t matter to this battle at all.

    "I wish for you to be Astoria''s live-in tutor for theing months. If your performance is satisfactory, I will grant you the Genesis Bead." The Emperor said.

    Damien sighed

    Hidden behind that promation was a very serious bit of fine print.

    As a live-in tutor, wouldn''t Damien be considered part of the Golden Dragon Emperor''s camp?

    He would definitely be asked to help solve the n''s current problem.

    Luckily for him, he never expected things to be easy from the start.

    If at least one world wasn''t blown up by the time he left a sector, he simply wasn''t Damien Void! <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Plus, I''ve always wanted a dragon. This ck Dragon n seems to have some interesting picks.''

    "Good," he said, responding to the Emperor. "However, I have conditions."

    "Speak."

    "First, if it ever looks like my life is in danger, I will escape. If I can take Astoria with me, I will, but if I can''t, you aren''t to me me." Damien started.

    The Emperor red at him for a moment, but conceded to his request. In the end, he couldn''t expect Damien to sacrifice himself for people he barely knew.

    "Secondly, I''m not doing this for free. The Genesis Bead is originally the Ancient God n''s treasure, and I have no interest in stealing it from them. I want to visit your treasury and pick a few things for myself."

    "You are working for the Ancient God n?" The Emperor asked.

    "They''re my subordinates," Damien responded.

    "Hmm¡­" the Emperor muttered disbelievingly, however, for now, he would let it slide.

    Boasting was only a crime when it was found false, after all.

    "How many items do you wish to take from the treasury?"

    "Five."

    "One."

    "Three."

    "Three is fine."

    "Three it is!"

    "However, you must first swear a Mana Oath that the Genesis Bead will be left to the Ancient God n."

    "That''s easy."

    Damien and the Emperor both nodded in satisfaction at the ease of their current negotiation. Since neither of them was trying to y tricks on the other, it was able to proceed without hups.

    "I have one final request," Damien continued a few momentster, somewhat hesitating.

    "What is it? At this point, is there a need to hesitate?" The Emperor questioned.

    Damien firmed his eyes and nodded. "Thest thing I wish for¡­is the unconditional support of the Golden Dragon n after this matter ends."

    The Emperor''s eyes turned cold in an instant.

    "Are you aware of what you are asking for?" He asked icily.

    "I do," Damien responded with the same firmness.

    "Giving you the unconditional support of our n is the same as putting my n''s fate in your hands. Do you think this is a privilege that can be given to just anyone?"

    "I don''t."

    "And you still dare to request it?!"

    "I do," Damien responded calmly.

    "I''m aware that it''s an outrageous request, so don''t answer for now. Wait and see my potential for yourself. When this conflictes to an end, I''m sure you''ll make the decision that best benefits your people."

    The Golden Dragon Emperor''s expression slowly returned to its neutral state as he nodded and continued the conversation.

    From that point on, both Damien and the Emperor acted like the final demand was never stated. They discussed the ck Dragon and Golden Dragon ns, the history of the Beast Domain, the Nox invasion, and many more topics before the conversation finally came to an end and Damien was escorted to his living quarters.

    However, unknown to Damien, the Emperor''s opinion on his final demand wasn''t as firm as he made it seem.

    He''d seen it for himself.

    A number of resources that could build a major influence just below the level of a Holy Land in an instant¡­representing the personal wealth of a single man.

    And considering that they were strangers, there was definitely plenty more Damien was hiding.

    ''Not only that, he was confidently disying his wealth before me without worrying about me oppressing him and stealing from him. He is clearly not naive, so his confidence must have some origin¡­''

    Indeed, as Damien had said, it was best to observe him and judge his potential personally beforeing to a decision.

    ''Someone whose fate I cannot read¡­I look forward to seeing what kind of influence he can have on Astoria.''

    With that, the Emperor concluded his thoughts on the matter.

    Now, he needed to continue preparations.

    A beautiful ceremony of blood was going to take ce soon enough.

    And absolutely nothing could go wrong when it did.

 Chapter 891 Golden Dragon [5]

    As the night passed, the time for Damien toplete likely the most difficult task of his current mission arrived.

    That was, convincing Astoria to willingly be his disciple.

    Of course, he had talked it over with her father the day prior, but that agreement only went so far. With Astoria''s personality, she would absolutely abhor learning from a master assigned to her by others.

    If Damien even wanted the chance to teach this talent, he needed her to want to be taught.

    But that didn''t matter to him. Regardless, he only wanted to teach someone willing to learn from him.

    After all, Astoria would be his first disciple in this life.

    He didn''t quite know how to approach the subject, but in the end, he decided to stop thinking about it and confront the problem head-on like he always did.

    As such, he arrived in front of Astoria''s quarters early the next morning, fully unprepared for what was toe.

    He was let into her courtyard surprisingly easily, making it obvious that his new status had already been passed along to the pce''s staff. Once he arrived in the courtyard, Damien went to a nearby stone table and sat down, enjoying the peaceful ambiance of this devil princess'' abode.

    There was a small creek running its length, bordered by an intricately patterned rock garden including several beautiful miniature waterfalls that heightened the peaceful feelinging from the stream.

    The entire central area of the courtyard was an open garden that was clearly well-maintained. It was surrounded on all sides by the living area, in which the devil princess currently was.

    ''I can''t really barge into her room¡­am I supposed to just sit here?'' He thought to himself as he wondered who took care of these nts.

    However, he didn''t have to do anything troublesome as he feared. Instead, Astoria soon entered the central courtyard, her eyes widening in shock when she saw him.

    "Brother?!" She eximed.

    "Who''s your brother?" Damien quipped back.

    "Ehhh? You didn''t even tell me your name, so what else can I call you?"

    "Hmm¡­" Damien muttered.

    As Astoria approached and sat down at the table, Damien wondered how to breach the subject he''d originallye for.

    "Did my father tell you toe?" Astoria suddenly asked.

    Damien raised his brow in interest. "Indeed, he did. How did you guess?"

    "If it wasn''t for Father, would the guards have let you in the courtyard in the first ce? There are only two people allowed in this courtyard, and you clearly aren''t one of them!" She said matter-of-factly.

    "Fair enough. Then, why do you think your father sent me?" Damien asked.

    Astoria quirked her head curiously before her eyes lit up with excitement. "Did he hire you as my personal bodyguard?"

    Tak!

    The karate chop thatnded on her forehead was a clear enough rejection, however, Damien found that this little girl had given him the perfect segue.

    "Incorrect. Your father doesn''t have enough money to hire me as a bodyguard. However, I have been hired for something else," he said after some thought.

    He looked into Astoria''s eyes and continued with utmost seriousness, deciding to be utterly blunt.

    "Astoria, you have a genius spatial talent that can hardly be matched by any existence in the universe. Last night, I convinced your father to let me stay here because I wish to take you under my wing and properly bloom it, however, I do not wish to force you into learning from me."

    Astoria''s eyes widened at the clear meaning of Damien''s words.

    He wanted to be¡­her master?

    She couldn''t believe someone who didn''t look even a fraction of her father''s age dared to im they could be her tutor, but she didn''t immediately reject his proposition.

    After all, didn''t the Emperor already agree?

    Aside from that¡­

    Wouldn''t this be fun?

    As she listened to Damien give a quick summary of spatial abilities and concepts, of the battle usage and practical benefits of the spatial element, and of his own personal abilities, Astoria began to realize just how great her talent could be.

    It wasn''t a matter of battle power. Of course she wanted to protect herself better, but this wasn''t the reason Damien''s words tempted her.

    Rather, if she mastered space, couldn''t she live unhindered as she''d always wished?

    Couldn''t she live on her own terms, roaming the universe in search of excitement without being worried about another deadly situation taking ce?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Perhaps she was overexaggerating the power of space in her mind, especially since the person telling her these things had no concept of mana capacity, but hearing that she had a supreme talent in space made her feel incredibly proud.

    "¡­your talent is more suited for the supportive elements of space than the destructive ones, but since you are already skilled in the arts of your Golden Dragon Lineage,bat power isn''t your main deficit."

    "Does that mean I won''t get stronger?" Astoria interrupted.

    "Hah!" Damien scoffed unintentionally.

    "You think you won''t get stronger?" Damien said with a teasing smile.

    He brought his fingers in front of Astoria''s face and lightly pinched the air.

    Immediately, space solidified, making it impossible for her to move.

    "Go ahead, try anything," Damien proimed with confidence.

    Astoria''s eyes burned withpetitive spirit.

    Her immediate thought was to escape the way she usually did, but as soon as she tried to sense that feeling that she always followed to escape, she found that it was being blocked by a mysterious force.

    "Haha, spatial abilities won''t work in front of me, littless. Try something more substantial."

    "Hmph! Don''t underestimate me!" Astoria eximed.

    A bright golden light burst out of her body, the phantom of a golden dragon backing her. Her fists became heavier and heavier until they weighed tens of thousands of pounds.

    With this amount of force in her grasp, she punched out, exploding all that power into the atmosphere!

    Unfortunately, she was currently caught in Damien''s trap.

    "Even if you''re talented, you''re still at least a hundred levels below me. Your strength won''t have any effect here." Damien said with pseudo-mockery, ncing down at Astoria''s waist.

    "Why don''t you try using that? You don''t have any other options, after all."

    Astoria''s eyes hardened.

    "Don''t think I''m finished yet!" She eximed fiercely. Her power immediately doubled. She attacked not with brute force, but using the techniques of the Golden Dragon n.

    ''Golden Dragon Fist Aura!''

    A massive golden dragon materialized around her body as she struck continuously in a mysterious pattern. Once it reached saturation, the dragon flew out with extreme speed and struck against the solidified space!

    Bang!

    A muffled bang was all that rang out when the furious golden dragon impacted the empty air before Astoria.

    Just as Damien said, the difference in level was impossible for her to ovee.

    She hadn''t attacked many times, but she''d seen enough battle to at least understand when an enemy was too much for her to handle.

    As ast resort, she did as Damien suggested and ripped the talisman on her waist, alerting her shadow guards of the danger she was facing.

    Bzzt!

    The signal shot out from the talisman and¡­dispersed immediately.

    It simply couldn''t withstand the pressure of the solidified Dimensional Cage in which Damien had trapped Astoria.

    He looked at the young genius with a smug smile.

    "What do you think? Do you still believe you won''t get stronger by learning from me?"

    The Dimensional Cage began to disperse.

    And Astoria¡­

    Her eyes glowed with intrigue.

    Damien grinned in satisfaction.

    ''The fish had bitten the hook.''

 Chapter 892 Golden Dragon [6]

    "Teach me!" Astoria immediately eximed, jumping up to Damien and tugging on his sleeve.

    "Calm down, calm down," Damien urged as he shook her off.

    "I''m not just nning to teach you, I''m going to ept you as a proper disciple. Do you understand what that means? My status in your life will be no less than your father''s, and my words and ideals will be reflected in you in the future. You are still young and have plenty of time to decide on your path, so do not rashly make a decision because of my demonstration."

    Despite his eagerness to teach her, he needed her to know what it meant to ept him as a master.

    He wasn''t going to say something like she could never have another master in this life, as such practices were extremely outdated, but during their time together, he definitely wouldn''t take it easy.

    He wouldn''t treat her as a "little sister," but as a "disciple."

    Astoria nodded her head in understanding.

    "There''s no problem with this. If you were someone not worth following, would you be so considerate about my decision? I''ve thought it over already, and I want to learn!"

    Damien smiled lightly.

    "Then, who are you calling ''you?''"

    "Hehe, Master!" Astoria eximed with a smile.

    "Tch, most masters get tea ceremonies or kowtows when they ept disciples, but all I get is a clingy brat. So sad." Damien sighed in faux disappointment

    "Err¡­" Astoria looked away sheepishly.

    She definitely didn''t know how to do the tea ceremony, and even Damien had to admit that epting a kowtow from someone without a great difference in seniority felt strange¡­

    "Whatever, let''s just use a Mana Oath as a master-disciple contract of sorts." Damien sighed.

    Astoria smiled and put her hand over her heart, activating her mana.

    "I, Astoria Golden, hereby take Sir Damien Void as my Master for life. If I ever betray his trust, the universe may strip me of my mana and leave me crippled for eternity!"

    It was a firm and direct oath without any loopholes.

    Damien couldn''t help but smile in return.

    "Then, from this point forth, I, Damien Void, ept Astoria Golden as my disciple for life. Should I ever betray her trust, may the universe cripple me for life and strike my soul from reincarnation!"

    Mana coalesced between them in the form of an illusory contract before tearing into two and entering their bodies.

    Unknown to the duo themselves, this would be the start of another legend in the known universe for generations toe.

    The legend of the Void Princess who ruled the concept of space, a true supreme Godbeast without rival.

    ***

    After establishing the master-disciple rtionship with Astoria far easier than he expected, Damien directly left her quarters for the day. He''d begin teaching her tomorrow, but for now, with him having officially epted her, it was time for him to im his first reward.

    "Your Majesty, I hope you don''t renege on our agreement," Damien said as he faced the Emperor, who was currently eyeing him strangely.

    "Worry not, for I am not such a heartless person. I am merely surprised that you were able to tame Astoria in such a short period of time!" The Emperor eximed in genuine amazement.

    How many years did he spend tirelessly trying to convince Astoria to do this and that? How was Damien able to aplish a task as significant as bing her master so simply?!

    What he didn''t know was that, while the current Damien was a man with a youthful mouth and a mature mind, he didn''t used to be that way.

    He used to be even worse than Astoria, genuinely thinking of himself as the Heavens and even viewing the war with the Nox as a mere yground.

    Coming from such a past, Damien knew exactly how to tame young and overexcited geniuses like Astoria.

    He simply needed to give her a reason to learn.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He needed to keep her entertained in the truest sense.

    And when it came to elements, there weren''t many as entertaining to learn as space.

    Especially if one could grow to appreciate the true vastness of the concept.

    Nevertheless, those things were reserved for ater date. For now, Damien had used the prospect of such things to entice Astoria into epting their master-disciple rtionship.

    "It''s just a little show of skill. What do you think, Emperor, aren''t I a great choice of tutor?" Damien teased with a smile.

    "It has only been two days yet you seem to have no thoughts of respecting my status as an Emperor and a Demigod. Very well, take your treasures and leave. Don''t let me see your face unless I need to." The Emperor sighed exasperatedly.

    Damien smiled and winked casually. "Don''t worry, Your Majesty. Once you start seeing the results of my efforts, I''m afraid you won''t be willing to let me go."

    After giving final goodbye, Damien followed a nearby group of guards who escorted him to the royal treasury.

    It wasn''t a long walk, rather, it was a direct teleportation thatnded them in front of a pair of towering golden doors with intricate draconic patterns etched on them.

    From it, the true majesty of dragons could be felt. It was a suppressive aura that even made Damien''s mutated bloodline feel a bit of reverence, filling him with endless surprise.

    ''My dragon bloodline is no longer necessarily a dragon bloodline. It is my three bloodlines merged into one and fused into the Samsara Blood flowing through my veins. For such a deeply entrenched bloodline to suddenly show activity¡­the origin of this door is not simple.''

    If the doors alone were already so magisterial, what would the contents look like?

    ''Three things are not a lot now that I think about it.'' Damien thought wryly.

    As he did, he watched the several guards line up in formation across the golden doors and insert strange ques into the slots present there.

    The doors began to rumble,ing alit with blindingly bright light. Before Damien knew it, his spatial coordinates had been disced.

    Despite not moving or teleporting, he arrived inside the light beams, the true face of the treasury.

    Damien''s eyes widened into saucers.

    Compared to the wealth he had procured with so much difficulty¡­

    ''It''s not even worthparing.''

    This treasury was easily a hundred times the size of Damien''s entire fortune.

    And currently, all he could see were shes of artifacts and currencies flying by in the golden light.

    "A guest has entered the Golden Dragon Treasure Cove."

    A robotic voice sang out.

    "As per the regtions, three treasures will be designated to their fated owner."

    Listening to its words, Damien''s felt a mixture of disappointment and excitement.

    It was unfortunate that he couldn''t see the entire treasury syed out before him, but it was understandable that an outsider wouldn''t be able to ess such things.

    But¡­

    Damien had always been a fan of these fateful encounters.

    Rather than treasures he picked himself, the ones that came to him through fate were the ones who stuck with him through thick and thin, bing true members of his arsenal.

    And now, fate was going to confer him three treasures.

    The anticipation was truly killing him.

 Chapter 893 Treasures [1]

    "As per the regtions, three treasures will be designated to their fated owner."

    After the treasury spirit''s voice rang out, the blinding golden light that enveloped Damien seemed to prate his system, attempting to read him.

    However, the defense of the Void Physique, now that Damien had gained more control over it, was near passive. The golden light was immediately dissolved and circted through Damien''s system, bing one with his mana.

    "Internal scanning error. Guest''s strength cannot be measured."

    The treasury spirit''s voice rang out again in the same robotic tone. Following its first failure, it opted for a different approach and instead coated the outside of Damien''s body with its light.

    Damien felt a strange ethereal tingling with no real origin as the light pricked at his skin. This time, it didn''t enter his body but instead hovered around him for several instants before slightly fading.

    "External scanning error. Guest''s fate cannot be measured."

    Once again, an error. Even within the robotic voice, a twinge of annoyance could be sensed.

    It was rare to be unable to read fate, but for strong experts, hiding their fate and strength was a small matter.

    However, the current guest was merely at the peak of 4th ss, not even in his first revolution yet!

    It was difficult to say what level of power Damien was truly at now, but it shouldn''t have ever been something that this artifact spirit that could even read Demigods couldn''t see.

    Nevertheless, the artifact spirit could read neither his fate nor his strength, so how was it supposed to designate him treasures?

    Damien sighed and slightly lowered his physical defenses to at least let the artifact spirit understand his status.

    His body condition would never be readable because of the Void Physique''s existence, but this much could be willingly shown.

    The golden light paled slightly when Damien''s defenses went down, as if the artifact spirit was offended by his actions, but it still cooperated and scanned him once more.

    "Guest''s strength has been partially assessed. Initiating final scan."

    Damien''s eyes widened as the light around him went through a severe change.

    The golden color shifted into utter ckness. Damien was suddenly submerged in a realm of the artifact spirit''s creation.

    ''It''s not an illusion. The All-Seeing Eyes can''t see through it.''

    The All-Seeing Eyes were nearing the point of piercing reality. Just what kind of realm was he currently¡ª

    "¡­!"

    A familiar fluctuation filled the air.

    This was the scent of the Abyss that Damien became familiar with in Eien.

    This deep ckness that seemed to have no life at all, yet imperceptibly contained an extremelyplex and chaotic mixture ofws, this space filled with shattered stars and endless debris as far as the eye could see¡­

    Was this the Abyss¡­?

    "Final scanplete. Assigning Guest''s treasures."

    Damien''s eyes snapped open.

    He found himself once again surrounded by beautiful golden light.

    His eyes were solemn.

    ''Was that a product of this treasury, or did something unexpected just happen?''

    He didn''t know why he suddenly saw a sh of the Abyss at this juncture, but he wasn''t going to ignore it like it meant nothing.

    ''Is this perhaps¡­universal flow?''

    Something was leading him to the Abyss. Evidently, it would be a destination he''d inevitably visit in the future.

    Merely¡­

    ''With the Grand Assembly and the severity of theing days, when will I have time to visit the Abyss?''

    He couldn''t just leave the universe behind without a n or safety measures.

    As he ruminated over the issue, the golden light began to solidify. In front of Damien''s body, three small orbs like gachas materialized.

    "Guest''s treasures have been distributed. ess to the Golden Dragon Treasury has expired. Guest will be transported to the outside world."

    The robotic voice rang out for a final time as Damien collected the three orbs. A fluctuation of spatial discement covered him once more, sending him back to the treasury entrance.

    Bang!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    With the sound of two towering doors mming closed, the familiar scenery outside the treasury became clear to Damien''s eyes again.

    "That''s it¡­?" He muttered.

    He expected a more intensive process, but it made sense that such an advanced treasury that could even analyze fate wouldn''t need too long to distribute treasures.

    ''They''re a lot smaller than I expected.'' Damien thought to himself.

    The orbs in his possession were no bigger than golf balls, making him wonder what kind of treasures he''d been designated, but he didn''t immediately open them.

    Instead, he first returned to his residence, which had been reassigned to an empty room in Astoria''s courtyard, and closed himself off from the outside world.

    Only after entering his personal space in the Sanctuary did he take the treasures out again.

    ''Hoo¡­just what could you have given me after saying something like that?''

    As he stared at the three orbs, he tried to forget the final words of the treasury, but it was harder than expected.

    ''Whatever, let''s just see what I got.''

    For some reason, a strange sense of excitement filled his body. It wasn''t excitement to receive a powerful treasure, but more like the excitement of a child who just received a mystery present.

    Gacha was a drug more addicting than any drug back on earth, and Damien was no stranger to its effects.

    Even now, he could feel the pain of spending bags of cash before even realizing that he''d blown through it.

    It was a hobby he wasn''t able to experience the pleasure of after the World Awakening, and experiencing it here, in this situation, was an extremely novel feeling.

    Nevertheless, Damien capitalized on this excitement and directly crushed all three orbs, revealing the treasures within.

    "This¡­!"

    Damien eximed, standing up in shock.

    On the table before him sat three seeds. They weren''t physical objects, but rather ethereal personifications in the form of seeds.

    Two of them were incredibly familiar in form. He''d seen and received one of these in the past.

    ''These are Realm Seeds!'' Damien realized excitedly.

    Realm Seeds could be used to create entire continents with specific environments that were always perfect for training.

    The Storm Heavens Realm that bloomed in Theavel was perfect for body refining, and these two Realm Seeds were sure to have their own specialties as well.

    As for thest seed, it was a beautiful iridescent blue color that was extremely familiar to Damien.

    When he picked the seed up, he felt an immediate connection to it.

    ''This seed¡­resembles a World Core?''

    His irises swirled with the activation of All-Seeing Eyes.

    The more Damien peered into the seed, the more simrities he saw between it and a World Core.

    ''There''s no way this is¡­''

    He would have to find out personally.

    But if this seed truly was what he thought it was¡­

    The Golden Dragon Treasury''sst words rang out in his head once again.

    "Guest, please focus on what is important. The future is reliant on your growth."

    His expression became dignified.

    ''The future is reliant on me, eh¡­?''

    Looking at the three seeds, countless thoughts swam through Damien''s head.

    In the end, he came to one conclusion¡­

    ''I don''t like that at all.''

    ¡­he absolutely abhorred the fact that such a thing was even proposed.

 Chapter 894 Treasures [2]

    ''I''ll have to stay in the Sanctuary longer than expected.'' Damien thought to himself.

    For a treasure that read fate to put the universe''s fate in his hands meant that it didn''t trust the chances of the universe''s countless other residents.

    To say he was its only hope meant everyone else was worthless.

    Damien couldn''t ept it at all.

    ''You want to make me do all the work? Don''t make meugh.''

    If the universe''s current forces were insufficient, then Damien could only raise them into something greater.

    It was clear that the treasury wasn''t opposed to this thought process either, considering the treasures it gave him.

    ''Realistically, I get no benefit from these things, only the people under me will be able to utilize them.''

    But that didn''t matter.

    That was for the better.

    Because while his people would grow, the Sanctuary would grow too.

    It didn''t matter if the Sanctuary didn''t increase Damien''s strength directly. The budding universe was his life''s work, his most important masterpiece, and his greatest goal. It''s expansion was exactly what he wanted to see.

    ''Time Dtion.''

    Damien tapped the air and adjusted the Sanctuary''s time flow, slowing it down to give him several weeks of time without affecting his activities in the outside world.

    ''With the current time difference, I have a 30 days in the Sanctuary per hour in the outside world. It''s more than enough for the current task.''

    Damien''s body shed, reappearing in the void of the Sanctuary, far away from the bounds of Theavel.

    ''First, let''s test the main thing.''

    Damien took out the iridescent blue seed and threw it into the void before him. In the next instant, he flicked his finger and extended a Celestial Mana Thread that pierced through the middle of the seed.

    "Take as much mana as you want and bloom."

    As if responding to Damien''s words, the seed began to shake and expand.

    Within a few seconds, Damien''s entire mana capacity of 500,000 was consumed.

    He burst with power, connecting to his Void Physique and replenishing his mana at a rate that was still far slower than it was being sucked.

    ''Damn!'' Damien eximed inwardly.

    The Sanctuary''s ambient mana levels were nowhere near the true universe''s. With this rate of consumption, the Sanctuary absolutely wouldn''t be able to stand his consumption!

    VOOM!

    A terrifying wave of power spread from the seed as it expanded to the size of a skyscraper, showing no signs of stopping.

    It''s current form was a beautiful starry blue ball.

    Damien grinned when he saw it.

    ''As expected, it was a World Seed!''

    The seed of a World Core, an incredibly rare treasure that was likely a nighpletely unique treasure in the universe.

    Damien wasn''t even able to realize the proper value of what he''d received until this moment.

    ''If it''s like that, then I can only go all out!''

    Damien''s breath went through a great change. The flurrying mana fluctuations emitting from his body vanished entirely.

    His body floated in the void as with no presence at all, as if he was one with the void. If it wasn''t for his current position, one could mistake him for amon mortal schr.

    Internally, Damien focused on his connection with the Real ne, the tether that kept the Sanctuary connected to the point in space where he entered from, the same mechanism that allowed him to return to the Real ne in the same ce he entered from, regardless of whether or not he was on a moving object.

    He activated the Breath of All Things, feeding it through the tether. From then on, a mystical phenomenon took ce.

    Damien''s mana¡­traveled through nes of existence.

    It used the tether as a medium to exert its influence in the real world. The Breath of All Things allowed Damien to create this concrete connection that absolutely should not have been possible, and through it¡­

    A second pulse of Void Mana entered the tether, containing the Breath of Nothingness.

    And imperceptibly, the mana in Astoria''s courtyard flowed into his room, following the connection to nourish his body.

    The entire process took no more than a few seconds.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    And the response time between the Real ne and the Sanctuary was almost instant.

    ''Let''s get started then.''

    With a grin, Damien expanded his mana without reserve.

    BOOM!

    The air in the outside world exploded. A massive ck hole formed in Damien''s room and began devouring the mana for several thousand kilometers, sending shockwaves throughout the entire pce.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Within the Sanctuary, Damien finally matched the World Seed''s mana consumption rate, providing it the steady stream of mana it needed toplete its blooming.

    Damien eventually lost track of time as he put his full concentration into maintaining the mana connection.

    Unknowingly, half a day passed in the Sanctuary. The World Seed had already bloomed to the size of a moon, the usual size of a World Core, but it had yet to stop absorbing mana.

    Before Damien''s eyes, strange patterns formed on the World Core''s surface.

    ''This¡­''

    A surreal feeling filled his body.

    ''Am I about to witness a world being born?''

    ***

    In the outside world, themotion caused by Damien''s actions wasn''t small at all.

    After all, the mana for several thousand kilometers began to disappear at a rate faster than it had ever been consumed before!

    It was hard to not notice the swirling waves of mana that roared through the air like New Yorkers with somewhere to be. Within a minute, a massive crowd of guards and pce staff gathered before Astoria''s residence, preparing to barge in to confront whatever force was hoarding the world''s mana!

    However, before they could enter, a voice responded in their ears.

    "Leave it be."

    Those three words were a suprememandment, and though their interest reached an all-time high, the crowd could only disperse.

    As they did, a figure materialized in their ce and pushed open the doors.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor''s domineering form barely fit through Astoria''s doorway, but he made his way into the courtyard, his eyes focused on Damien''s room.

    ''He is not there.''

    Damien was not in the room, and there was no trace of him at all.

    However, the ck hole intaking the roaring mana stream was hard to ignore.

    ''That man¡­''

    The Golden Dragon Emperor''s eyes narrowed.

    Despite his strength, he couldn''t exin the current phenomenon at all.

    ''Just who did I allow into my pce?''

    The Emperor didn''t know whether to regret or feel anticipated, but he knew that Damien was someone far more mysterious than he''d originally expected.

    ''For now, I will allow you to do as you please. When the timees, I hope you repay my grace properly.''

    The Golden Dragon Emperor red his sleeve, causing a transparent golden barrier to cover the entire pce and several thousand kilometers outside of it, essentially turning the patch ofnd into an isted dimension.

    ''Taking the atmospheric mana is fine, but if you attempt to touch the fate clouds again¡­''

    "Hmph."

    The Emperor snorted lightly and vanished, returning to his own residence.

    From behind a nearby door, a pair of eyes peeked through.

    Astoria began observing the situation the moment she first felt it, but as it continued getting bigger and bigger, Astoria felt strange pulling from Damien''s room.

    Something was calling to her, something deep within her soul.

    And now that the Emperor had left¡­

    Who was stopping her from answering that call?

 Chapter 895 World [1]

    The formation of a world.

    It was a phenomenon Damien had actually seen multiple times in visions, whether it be at the very beginning of his journey or in recent days.

    However, each time he was able to view such a scene, it was done through the eyes or memories of someone else, limiting the amount of benefits Damien could actually receive.

    This time was different.

    This time, a world was being born naturally before Damien.

    And more than that, it was being born from his mana.

    He was intrinsically linked to this world in the same way he was linked to Calypto. As the mysterious patterns of universalw etched themselves onto the forming World Core''s surface, Damien could clearly feel their intents and definitions.

    ''In the end, I am the universalw of the Sanctuary.''

    The Sanctuary was Damien''s creation and the sole ce where Damien could truly exert the god-like power that the Void Physique had the potential to provide him.

    Here, if he said go left, not even the smallest atom would dare go right.

    As such, the universalw patterns all mirrored Damien''s specifications for the Sanctuary, while also mimicking the true universe''sws to fill in the gaps in Damien''s interpretation.

    This not only allowed the Sanctuary to maintain a state of perfection, but it also allowed Damien to gain a direct understanding of universalw that was impossible to receive in the Real ne.

    Knowledge entered his mind in droves, knowledge that he was forced to internalize andpartmentalize in his spiritual world while maintaining the mana flow to the World Core.

    It was a difficult process, but with everything Damien had been through¡­

    World Creation was surprisingly easy.

    Under the eyes of no living being, an entire month passed with Damien remaining unmoving like a Buddhist monk. He became a part of a circuit,pletely mending with the universe as his subconscious began operating the simultaneous processes he''d been undertaking for the past 30 days.

    And as an hour passed in the Real ne, Astoria found that she could no longer hold back her curiosity.

    The ethereal tug that she originally felt was almost like a forceful pull at this point. Refusing to follow her instinct was starting to cause her physical pain, making her realize that resistance was impossible.

    In the first ce, she only held out for an hour in fear of her father returning to check on the situation again. Now that it looked like such a thing wasn''t going to happen, there was no reason for her to continue suppressing herself.

    Sneakily as a rat, she peeked her head out of her room and scanned the area, making sure she was alone.

    And in an instant, she rushed across the courtyard and arrived before Damien''s room, flinging the door open and quickly making her way in,

    By the time the breeze caused by her speed rushes through the courtyard, she had already transferred rooms.

    The guards had no idea she''d even moved.

    Astoria raised her eyes and looked at the swirling ck hole popting the room, approaching it cautiously,

    ''This is it. This is the thing that''s calling to me!''

    Something beyond that ck hole was beckoning her soul.

    If she just walked through it¡­

    ''But it could be dangerous¡­!''

    Her inner angel tried to lead her onto a safer path, but by the time it was able to voice its opinion, Astoria was already touching the ck hole.

    In the next instant, her body disappeared, swept into its suction.

    Astoria closed her eyes tightly as she felt the chaotic spatial fluctuations envelop her. From all around, she could only hear roaring winds and hear the whipping of terrifying force against her body.

    For a second, she thought she would die within the tunnel.

    She thought she would die to her own curiosity.

    That was herst conscious thought before she passed out, allowing the fluctuations to carry her.

    Luckily for her, the journey wasn''t long.

    Within a few seconds, Astoria''s tattered form was thrown into the Sanctuary.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Directly next to where Damien was currently seated.

    He opened his eyes in shock when he felt her presence.

    ''What?!'' He eximed inwardly.

    Astoria was unconscious, almost naked, and bleeding from every ce where her skin was showing. It looked like she''d just been mauled by something horrific.

    ''No way she¡­''

    Damien could only think of one method for Astoria to enter the Sanctuary, and it was both impossible and incredibly stupid.

    After all, was it possible to enter the Sanctuary through the ck hole in the outside world?

    Absolutely not!

    In the first ce, the ck hole was created by the Breath of Nothingness and supported by the Breath of All Things. These two forces turned the ck hole into a space where someone of Astoria''s level should''ve been instantly reduced to nothingness.

    Even if a Demigod like the Golden Dragon Emperor tried to take this path, he''d only find himself stranded in the chaotic void, forced to find his way back to the Real ne through brute force alone.

    For Astoria to somehow force her way into the Sanctuary¡­

    ''It definitely has something to do with this.'' Damien thought as he nced at the forming world.

    Perhaps the universalws were fragile at the moment, or perhaps the World Seed had some sort of connection with Astoria, which wouldn''t be strange considering how it was acquired from the Golden Dragon Treasury.

    Regardless¡­

    ''It''s good that she survived. Even though her wounds look terrible, her draconic physique isn''t for show. Her most fatal injuries should heal on their own in a few days.''

    The main problem was that Astoria''s Mana Veins had been damaged. This wasn''t something regr regeneration could take care of.

    ''I can''t divert energy right now, so it''ll have to wait until I''m done. As long as she doesn''t die, it''s fine.''

    With that thought, Damien closed his eyes again and returned focus to the process.

    Now that his injured disciple was by his side, he couldn''t be so leisurely and passive anymore.

    He needed to get this done as soon as possible.

    As such, he immediately took control of the mana flow and used his connection with the World Core to inject it with the Breath of All Things, heavily hastening the formation process.

    Within 3 days of Astoria''s entrance,yers of earth began to form around the World Core.

    At this time, Astoria''s major wounds healed as well.

    Her eyes fluttered open weakly.

    "M¡­master¡­?" She voiced vaguely as she tried to understand her situation.

    "Don''t speak," Damien responded without turning to look at her, "pay attention to what''s going on right now. This is probably something you''ll never get to experience again in your lifetime."

    Astoria turned her head with great difficulty towards the bright light that was illuminating half of her face.

    Immediately, her eyes widened into saucers.

    "Master, what''s going on?!" She eximed.

    What she saw was truly iprehensible to her. Even if she could guess the base concept of what was happening, her mind wasn''t able to process and retain that understanding due to her nonexistent understanding of space.

    Damien grinned when he saw her fascination.

    At the same time, he understood why Astoria had been dragged into the Sanctuary.

    "This is a World Creation Event," Damien said slowly, finally turning to look at his disciple. "And this¡­"

    "This is one of your greatest affinities within the Laws of Space."

 Chapter 896 World [2]

    While the Golden Dragon Pce experienced suchmotion, it remained silent to the outside world.

    However, the outside world was subjected to its ownmotions.

    With the passing of days, more and more people were arriving on Beast Emperor Star for theing tournament. Most of these people took up residence in nearby cities to wait, but not everyone was the same.

    One person decided that staying in the city wasn''t enough.

    Besides, she had a small connection to the Golden Dragon Royal Family.

    With such thought in mind, she made her way to the pce and stood before the gates.

    "I would like to request an audience with the Emperor," she stated to the guards,

    However, she was met with immediate rejection.

    "The pce is currently restricted for all our side personnel. You will be able to attain an audience with the Emperor when ites time for thepetition." The guard stated firmly.

    The woman''s eyes narrowed. She wanted to find a way into the pce to gain clues into the situation, especially since she was a woman whose victory wouldn''t be valid even if she dominated the tournament.

    After all, neither she nor Astoria swung that way!

    Nevertheless, she wasn''t too inclined to meet the Emperor.

    She decided to give one more attempt before leaving it alone.

    She took out an ancient emblem that she''d received from the Mystic Realm in the past and tossed it to the guard.

    "Please show this emblem to your Emperor. If he still rejects my presence, I will leave peacefully."

    Along with her words, she tossed a spatial ring filled with currency cards at the guards, immediately grabbing their attention.

    "For such a courteous guest, we can at least do this much. However, if His Majesty still rejects, you must not cause amotion," the guard warned as he withdrew amunication talisman and sent a recording of the emblem pattern to the main pce.

    Within seconds, a response came back.

    "You may enter," the guard proimed with widened eyes, handing her emblem back to her.

    The gates were opened swiftly, and the woman was allowed into the pce.

    She immediately felt the chaotic flow of mana, but since those escorting her didn''t mention it, she also decided to ignore it.

    Eventually, she made her way to the throne hall, standing before the Golden Dragon Emperor.

    "Where did you receive that emblem?" The Emperor immediately demanded, his gaze solemn.

    The woman bowed her head and cupped her hands in greeting.

    "Responding to His Majesty, this one''s name is Elena Pierce. I am a descendant of the Valkyries, and have been lucky enough to inherit their final will."

    Her deep blue eyes shone in the golden splendor of the pce.

    As the Golden Dragon Emperor looked her up and down, he truly couldn''t see any qualities of a Valkyrie in her, however, the emblem she showed wasn''t a lie.

    The status of a Valkyrie could never be mimicked or imitated, and treasures of the Valkyries could only ever be used by Valkyries. This was an ancientw that had never been broken in the history of the universe.

    "To think there would still be Valkyries remaining in this era¡­" the Golden Dragon Emperor muttered in reminiscence.

    In the olden days, the Valkyrie n and Golden Dragon n, as two of the universe''s greatest forces of justice and purity, had an inexplicably close rtionship.

    It was even said that the past generation''s Valkyrie Queen and the Golden Dragon Emperor had a slight meeting of love in the past, but it was never known whether or not this story was true.

    Nevertheless, seeing a descendent of the Valkyries enter his pce, the Emperor couldn''t turn her down.

    "I am assuming you havee for the Genesis Bead?" The Emperor mentioned.

    Elena nodded her head. "Indeed. It is a peak treasure of Life that will be extremely beneficial for my path as a Valkyrie. However, I am aware that the current situation is incredibly chaotic. I will not ask for the Genesis Bead for free. First, I promise to aid the Golden Dragon Royal n in solving its current circumstances."

    The Golden Dragon Emperor hesitated for a moment.

    He''d already signed a Mana Oath with his daughter''s tutor which promised him the Genesis Bead. Though a Mana Oath was something the Emperor could break without many personal consequences, it would heavily impact the fate of the Golden Dragon n, making it impossible for him to go back on his word.

    However, he couldn''t turn away a descendant of their sworn sister n.

    ''Haa, how troublesome.''

    "Currently, there are some issues and I cannot agree to your request. For now, I invite you to take residence within our pce. You may utilize the training areas and resources as you please to grow until the timees when we can discuss the issue again."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Elena''s eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she nodded regardless.

    "Very well. I shall ept the Emperor''s courtesy."

    With another bow, Elena exited the throne room and followed a separate escort to her living chambers.

    She entered the residence alone and copsed on the bed, sighing to herself.

    It had been a long time since she saw someone she knew.

    ''I wonder how they''re all doing?'' She thought as she reminisced on the old days

    Her two sisters, the man she fell in love with, and all those in the Human Domain¡­

    How were they doing right now?

    She got into this mood often, thinking about the past.

    After living several lonely years on her own, and spending even longer experiencing the lonely years of her predecessors, she felt that she was ready to try again with love.

    Back then she left in a flurry of jealousy and miscedpassion that, in reality, nobody asked for. With her current experience, she realized that walking the path she was currently walking, the path that Damien chose to walk, was incredibly lonesome.

    It was hard to keep a sane mind in these circumstances even with people beside her.

    Only that ind of warmth that existed in the Human Domain could cleanse this loneliness.

    But that ind¡­

    Elena shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

    "Just how long will it be until I see your master again?" Elena spoke with an exasperated sigh.

    "I only serve one master, and it is not the man you are referring to. However, I reckon it will not be too long before your wish is granted."

    A feminine voice coalesced from the shadows nearby, soon followed by a figure.

    This person was none other than Latia, Lucius'' maid who Damien had assigned to protect Elena when she left all those years ago.

    Her presence was both discovered and exined long ago, and ever since then, she''d been serving as Elena''s attendant.

    Even though she still took Lucius as her one and only master in this life, Elena''s orders were only below his in her heart.

    However, unlike Elena, Latia had lived in the Sanctuary for many years.

    She remembered its scent well.

    Nevertheless, in the current instance, she didn''t say a word.

    She didn''t dare do such a thing without getting that terrifying man''s permission first.

    As she waited on the side, Elena rolled over into her stomach and buried her face in the bed.

    For some reason, her reminiscent feelings were at an all-time high today.

    Was it because of the uing Grand Assembly? Or maybe, now that she was finally away from Eien''s terrifying battle atmosphere and the endless training of Valha''s Mystic Realm, the feelings she''d been suppressing for so long were bursting forth.

    "Haa¡­"

    Elena sighed.

    At this point, even the bed she was on started to smell like Damien.

    ''I must be going crazy.'' She thought to herself as she tried to shake off the feeling.

    However, just how would she react if she found out that her feeling wasn''t just her imagination, but the true reality of the situation?

    How would she feel if she realized that Damien had been staying in this room only a day prior, and the scent she was smelling was his residual aura?

    Perhaps even the indifferent mind Elena had cultivated over all these years would copse

    Whether or not she''d ever make this realization, though¡­?

    Only time could tell.

 Chapter 897 World [3]

    Chapter 897 World [3]

    Night turned to day in the outside world, and in that same period of time, a little over 6 months passed in the Sanctuary.

    1

    In this time, neither Damien nor Astoria had moved much at all.

    In these 6 months, both geniuses were utterly focused on the World Creation Event, watching with front-row seats as the World Core bloomed earth and an atmosphere and eventually gained all the necessaryponents to be a true world that could house life.

    Oceans formed, mountains rose and fell, and eventually, when the tectonic tespleted their first shift, the world settled in ce and was born.

    It wasn''t a fanciful phenomenon that was announced all over the universe. If so, wouldn''t the universe be crowded with such obnoxious phenomena?

    Instead, the world was covered in a barely visible blue light film that faded soon after, though its presence could still be clearly felt.

    "M-master¡­" Astoria voiced, her words echoing through the empty void.

    Damien turned to Astoria with a smile, lightly stretching his body.

    "How was it? Did you manage to understand anything?" He asked in return.

    Astoria hesitated for a moment but shook her head. "Master, I thought I understood something, but when I tried to think of it, it all became blurry. I don''t know what happened!"

    Damien nodded in understanding. "That''s normal. At your level, having a full recollection of such a profound event would only burn your brain. However, now that you''ve witnessed it, your path forward will be far, far smoother."

    Damien wasn''t just pulling the words out of his ass. He''d personally experienced something simr as a young genius.

    Back then, when he visited the Space-Time River, he lost all awareness of its existence for a period of time, only remembering its name.

    Even to this day, Damien couldn''t recover the entirety of his memory in that strange space.

    However, chasing the Space-Time River contributed greatly to Damien''s current strength. As he grew, he always used the Space-Time River as a foundation for his practice, allowing him to excel.

    For Astoria, who was more talented in supportive spatial abilities, witnessing a World Creation Event was a mind-bendingly precious opportunity.

    However, Astoria wasn''t satisfied with this. As Damien slowly exined it to her, her expression crumpled further and further.

    "I don''t believe I can''t understand it!" She eximed defiantly. "Master, please teach me! I won''t disappoint you!"

    "Oh? And if you can''t produce results? How are you going topensate me for wasting my time?" Damien retorted.

    "I¡­I¡­I''ll give you¡­anything," Astoria stammered, blushing slightly and pushing her body forward.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    Tak!

    A flicknded firmly on Astoria''s forehead, turning it red and pushing her away from him.

    "Who taught you to be so mischievous? Did you think I, your Master, would fall for such an obvious trap?"

    Damien scoffed while flicking his finger, sending a small beam of light into Astoria''s stomach and disrupting the mana flow of the treasure she hid there.

    If Damien had to guess, it was some sort of restraining treasure that Astoria was going to try to use for unknown reasons.

    After all, she was known as a devil emperor. There was no way she''d submit to someone so easily.

    Unfortunately for her, Damien wasn''t someone she could easily mess with.

    An evil grin spread on his face.

    "Aha, so my young disciple loves to tie people up. Then, let''s see how you like it done to you!"

    Damien immediately controlled thews of the Sanctuary and restricted Astoria''s movements entirely.

    Walking up to her as she struggled futilely in hopes of escape, Damien''s grin widened.

    "Didn''t you want to hear the specifics about World Creation? Hmph, I, your gracious master, shall educate you!"

    Damien stood in front of Astoria, made sure there were 0 distractions in the surroundings she could use as respite, and then¡­

    "World creation starts with a few very basic conditions. Firstly, arge congregation of mana, secondly, the approval of the universalw, and third, a World Seed, a heavenly material that is born in ordance with the universalw to popte the starry sky.

    "By the time you entered the Sanctuary, the World Core''s base structure was already formed. This is the easiest part, as it''s just a matter of umting mana to such a density and intensity that it creates the shape of a material World Core.

    "Whates after is the most important step. The universalw will baptize the false World Core and turn it true. Through this baptism, the World Core gains a connection to the universe and the capability to form its own World Laws, which in turn allows the world to form an atmosphere and house life.

    "There are several important universalws involved in this process, including but not limited to¡­"

    From that point on, Damien talked and talked and talked. He talked until his disciple was practically begging him to shut up and let her go, apologizing profusely for ying.

    But would he stop?

    Hell no!

    Even though he was punishing Astoria by not entertaining the severe ADHD that she seemed to have, he was also teaching her important facts. Through the knowledge she gained from him today, she could interpte much more when she finally got a grasp on how the Laws of Space functioned.

    Nevertheless, Damien let Astoria go after his speech ended, and she immediately copsed in the void like she''d just been tortured to death.

    "Masterrr~ I won''t¡­y¡­anymore~" she muttered to herself.

    Damien nced at her wryly. Evidently, she was unconscious. It was a little humorous that the previous lesson had scarred her enough to appear in her dreams.

    ''Rest well.'' Damien thought with a smile. ''From this point on, it''ll only get worse.''

    He smiled so brightly that one would mistake his teeth for the sun. He was truly a benevolent saint of the people.

    With that thought in mind, Damien hauled Astoria over his shoulder again and entered the atmosphere of the newly formed world.

    ''I should check on this ce before she regains consciousness. The World Seed had an inexplicable connection with Astoria, so this world might be the ideal training environment for her. Whether or not it can hold her power, though¡­is another story altogether.''

    Damien sighed to himself. Observing the atmosphere, he immediately knew it was impossible for this world to hold 4th ss beings without bing structurally unstable.

    It was a newborn world that was even younger than Earth in its awakening. It was still covered by the universe''s beginner world protection measures, and the dungeons forming on the world barely had 1st ss beasts.

    ''No problem. It''s just a matter of force.''

    In any other situation, it was impossible, but with Damien in full control of both the world and the universe it resided in''sws, there was no problem at all.

    He took the two Realm Seeds out of his inventory and threw them in opposite directions, allowing them to fly to twopletely different portions of the world several tens of thousands of kilometers apart.

    When they arrived in position, Damien only needed to speak a single word.

    "Bloom."

    And instantly, the entire world began to quake furiously, cracking into two equal halves.

    Just like that, the newly formed world was destroyed.

 Chapter 898 World [4]

    Chapter 898 World [4]

    ''Hold on, that''s not right.''

    1

    Damien took control of the universalws and wrapped the budding world in a cocoon of energy, forcing it together and disallowing it from shattering entirely.

    However, he didn''t heal the cracks in the world. He allowed the world to break apart within the sphere of influence he allowed.

    After all, it was an important step in the process.

    As the world broke apart, the two Realm Seedstched onto the world''s several sections and even its World Core, rooting themselves in the world''s surface.

    Afterward, it was merely a matter of blooming.

    As the Realm Seeds bloomed, they would create specialized training areas, but they''d also force the world to adapt to their presence. The current broken pieces would be melded together and destroyed several times to facilitate this adaptation and strengthen the word.

    The method of strengthening was extremely simr to human body reconstruction.

    Nevertheless¡­

    ''It''ll take several days for the Realm Seeds to integrate into the world and finish strengthening it. While that happens, I should fix the most immediate problem.''

    Damien snapped his fingers and changed the time dtion once again, making it much, much tamer.

    The previous time dtion that turned a month into a mere hour on the outside world was incredibly useful, but couldn''t be maintained for long with the Sanctuary''s current structural integrity.

    The ability would only be strengthened once Damien added more worlds to the space.

    For now, though, changing the time difference so an hour on the outside world was a day inside the Sanctuary still provided a decent amount of time without damaging the environment.

    ''Though, it''s good that I''ve reached this level already. If not, I can''t imagine how annoying it would be to set aside 6 months to birth this world in the current circumstance.''

    Damien gently set Astoria down on the ground next to him and changed her clothes. He couldn''t allow her to continue the mostly ripped fabric that she arrived in that revealed almost her whole body.

    He almost wanted to p her for having to sense of shame, but he couldn''t me her since he also forgot about her situation while teaching her.

    ''Let''s repair her Mana Veins first.''

    Damien diverted a portion of his attention and cast [Heal] on Astoria, enveloping her in beautiful white light that made her feel endlesslyfortable.

    While that was going on, Damien used his remaining mental strength to submerge his senses into the world and observe the ongoing processes.

    ''It''s insane. Everything is happening so smoothly because of thews already in ce, but it''s actually an extremelyplex and intrinsic process currently taking ce. If this was attempted without the universalw facilitating, I can''t imagine how many centuries of trial and error would be necessary to seed.''

    The universalw was the mostplete set of rules in existence. Under its structure, any and all phenomena could take ce. If it was taken away¡­

    Damien simply couldn''t fathom the chaos that would ensue.

    Shaking his head, Damien cleared his thoughts and returned his focus to the task at hand.

    For the next few months, this would be hisst opportunity to train properly. After this, there was far too much to be done for him to take time for himself.

    ''My Void Intent has grown to¡­well, using it in battle seems viable now.''

    Using the Void directly was difficult, not because it was tooplicated and restricted, but specifically because it was too free.

    Taking Void Mana as an example, it became clear to its user that the Void could transform into anything.

    Damien could use his existing spatial skills with Void Mana as a recement for his usual Spatial Mana, and not much would change.

    However, his attacks would gain a special devouring property, and he''d gain a level of control that almost defied thews of the universe.

    ''I should take this time to get limated with using my mana pathways properly with Void Mana. I can''t let it rebel against me during battle ever again.''

    The semi-sentient entity that was his mana had been awfully quiet recently, but Damien wasn''t going to risk it.

    As such, he began training with fervor

    And many days passed.

    Finally, Astoria woke up for the second time.

    "Sheesh, what a disciple. I didn''t expect you to faint every time something became too much for you."

    Damien teasing words were the first to enter her mind.

    She jumped up in fright and stood at attention. "I apologize, Master! I''ll never do¡ª eh? Master? Did you change me?"

    Astoria looked down at the new robes on her body and furiously blushed.

    Damien shrugged in response. "You were nearly naked before. Are you going to me me for your owncking situational awareness?"

    "U-uhm¡­"

    Astoria looked away while fidgeting.

    Regardless of what he said, he was still the first man to ever see her naked.

    Even for the devil princess, didn''t such status have some sort of mean¡ª

    Tak!

    "Stop thinking useless thoughts and follow me. It''s time to start your training."

    Astoria rubbed her forehead and followed Damien, watching his back carefully.

    Suddenly, she realized something.

    ''He''s not much older than me, but he''s still my Master.''

    It wasn''t that Astoria hadn''t epted Damien in her heart, but that the barely existent age difference and the fact that Damien was the most handsome young man she''d ever seen was hard to ignore.

    However, he was her Master.

    As he''d told her before, he held the same status as her father, and evidently, he viewed her from this position.

    She was nothing more than a little girl in his eyes.

    It was a slightly empty feeling for unknown reasons, but more than anything, it was extremely relieving.

    "Trust" was built on instances like this.

    And today, Astoria felt her first inking of that feeling.

    The feeling that, no matter what happened, she could trust her Master to be by her side.

    However, what apanied this feeling¡­

    ¡­was a training hell.

    "Astoria, in this space, we have plenty of time before the tournament begins. Using this time, I promise I''ll turn you into an expert who can stand on your own with confidence in this vast universe."

    Damien turned around with eyes like crescents.

    "And I¡­am not a man who breaks promises."

    Astoria felt a shiver go down her spine.

    For some reason¡­

    Damien''s current sunny expression was extremely ominous.

    ***

    1

    Several months passed since that fateful day.

    Every day that pased during those months, the Sanctuary''s void learn about until it was far toote.

    was popted with the sounds of shrieking, crying, explosions, and many more exciting things.

    It got to the point where a certain rumor spread between the people of Theavel.

    A rumor that the Lord had reached an unexinable level, and for some reason, had decided to kill chickens and pigs in space.

    Inexplicably, Damien earned another nickname that he wouldn''t learn about until it was far toote.

    To the people of Theavel who saw a star light up in their sky for the first time before this strange phenomenon took ce¡­

    Damien became the Immortal Rancher: a man who could even raise stars with his genius farming ability!

    Wasn''t it morous?

 Chapter 899 Training [1]

    Chapter 899 Training [1]

    There existed a space.

    1

    It spanned several tens of thousands of kilometers and had an environment simr to a moon. For the most part, nothing about the space seemed off, however, that was only to the untrained eye.

    If one had the ability, one would be able to see the strange and chaotic distribution of the spatialyers, the unnatural movements they made, and the sheer number of spatial cracks littering the air.

    This area existed on the previously budding world that had just been born. After it and it''s sister-seed bloomed, theytched onto the world and immediately raised its existence level to the point where it could support them.

    Now, this world was no different than a middle world in many factors.

    BOOM!

    An explosion rang through the empty space. In a specific portion of the Mystic Realm, space imploded and copsed inward, forming a terrifying ck hole whose suction force could instantly raze 3rd ss soldiers into nonexistence.

    In the middle of this ck hole was a girl protected by a translucent film of mana.

    "I already told you, controlling space is not a forceful process. You''ve been instinctually connecting with space for many years already, you don''t need to change that process much at all. You just need to gain conscious control over what you''ve been doing subconsciously this entire time."

    Damien''s stern voice echoed as he waved his hand and suppressed the ck hole, bringing Astoria back into the Sanctuary.

    "Now, try again. All you need to do ispress the space."

    Astoria''s eyes hardened as she focused on the task at hand. She repeated the several lessons Damien had taught her in her head, remembering the various insights she''d gained on space in the past few months.

    She slowly pushed her hands together as if she was holding an invisible basketball, trying to connect her will to the space around her.

    ''Focus.''

    She honed in on that feeling, the feeling of teleportation that she''d essentially mastered in the past months.

    It was different passing through the spatialyers. To do so, she needed to manipte her own body more than the spatialyers around her.

    Compressing space, though still a foundational level skill, was far more direct than teleportation, emphasizing control over space.

    However, controlling space was a contradictory concept. To exert the greatest control, one had to loosen the reigns as much as possible and let space act as it pleased.

    After all, the rtionship between spatial practitioners and space itself was extremely deep, far deeper than most other affinities and their wielders.

    Astoria''s hands slowly came together. She visualized a massive phantom forming behind her,

    grabbing space itself and mimicking her movements, crushing it into a ball.

    She carefully moved the mana in her body, and gently spread it into the surroundings, however, she didn''t attempt to forcefully mp her mana onto space to mold it as she''d been trying to do thus far.

    The visualization in her head was transmitted into space through her mana, and as the two forces interacted, Astoria could feel her control over the spatialyers subtly growing.

    Without hesitation, she increased her speed and incrementally increased the amount of mana she was using, and eventually¡­

    Kacha!

    The space before Astoriapressed past the point it could handle, shattering into pieces and forming arge spatial crack almost the size of her body.

    "I¡­I did it!" Astoria eximed, jumping into the air in excitement.

    "Indeed, you did¡­" Damien nodded while dispelling the spatial crack.

    Astoria''s face lit up. It was so incredibly rare to hear apliment from Damien that she was ecstatic receiving one now.

    "¡­now, do it without taking ten million years to nail the proper form," Damien continued.

    Astoria''s face immediately fell.

    "Master~! Can I please take a break now~?" Astoria begged, shing Damien her best pitiful expression.

    Damien raised his brow. "How many breaks have you already taken in the past 6 months?"

    "E-ehhh~? J-just a few¡­?" Astoria responded while averting her gaze suspiciously.

    "Just a few, eh?" Damien responded with a smile.

    "We''ve been training for 6 months, and of those, you''ve spent 2 on ''breaks.'' Compared to that, you''ve spent 4 months learning only how to teleport and maneuver through space,pletely ignoring the other foundational elements. Now, tell me, why should I give you a break?"

    "U-um¡­because I''m tired¡­?"

    "It looks like the previous punishments weren''t effective. I''ll be sure to get more creative next ti¡ª"

    "Master, wait! I''ll practice, I''ll practice! You can just rest your mind and watch as your genius disciple achieves the impossible!"

    Damien nced at her sideways. "Okay then, my ''genius disciple,'' when I was 17, I took 2 months topletely consolidate the foundation of my spatial element. How about you try to surpass me?"

    "Eh? 17? That isn''t much younger than me! Master, I thought you were a young man¡­don''t tell me you''re actually an old monster in disguise¡­!"

    Astoria backed away in faux horror as she spoke, causing Damien''s eyebrows to twitch endlessly.

    "You brat, I''m only 30! A young 30!" He eximed, whacking her over the head.

    "A-ah¡­haha¡­I-I see¡­heh¡­a-a young¡­heh heh¡­t-thirty¡­pfft!" Astoria stammered beforepletely failing to hold back herughter.

    "Hahahaha! Master, I didn''t expect that you were actually an old man! I thought you were closer to my age! No wonder yo¡ª"

    "I understand. Let''s have fun with today''s punishment."

    Damien picked Astoria up by the back of her shirt as if she was a kitten.

    "I''m still perfecting this little power of mine, so bear with it if it gets a bit extreme."

    Astoria''s face paled.

    "Wait, Master, you''re young! You''re young and handsome! You definitely don''t look a day over 20, no, 18! C-calm down, we can talk this ooouuuuu¡ª!"

    Before Astoria could finish her words, Damien opened a portal nearby and tossed her in. Her voice eventually faded into the void as she was sent to a punishment realm Damien specifically created for her.

    Left by himself, he was forced to shake his head wryly.

    ''Why did I have to ept such an unruly disciple¡­?'' He sighed to himself in exasperation.

    In the past 6 months, he''d taught Astoria many things, mostly supportive spatial skills such as teleportation, subspace creation, and other simr techniques.

    When it came to these areas, Astoria truly excelled. She was like a fish in water, swimming downstream at her fastest speed.

    It was almost terrifying how fast she absorbed knowledge.

    However¡­

    ''She can''t even seem toprehend an ounce of any destruction-focused skill. Can there be such a skewed representation of talent?''

    It was possible that Astoria simply wouldn''t be able to cast destructive magic with her spatial affinity. Even when it came topressing space, it took her far too much concentration to aplish.

    Even a normal beginner would be able to do it at a fourth of her speed.

    ''I might have to change my approach.''

    Thus far, Damien had been trying toy a stable foundation for Astoria before teaching her specialized magic, since it would be far easier for her to understand the nuances of the techniques, but it didn''t seem like this would be the proper path for Astoria.

    Rather than having her focus on fundamentals that''ll merely halt her progress in the grand scheme, it might''ve been better to specialize her focus from the beginning and thoroughly raise her into an expert in that area.

    ''With the current trajectory, we have around three and a half years¡­it''s more than enough.''

    Damien immediately submerged himself in thought, structuring a new training n for his disciple.

    As for Astoria herself¡­

    Needless to say, she was currently submerged in a hell where she was stuck in the body of a proper nobledy, unable to do anything but watch as the body''s owner took care of managerial tasks day in and day out for days on end!

    It was truly a torture unlike any other.

 Chapter 900 Training [2]

    Chapter 900 Training [2]

    1

    The days became uncountable as Damien enacted his newly formed training n for Astoria.

    1

    Hepletely disregarded all fundamental skills rted to destruction and purely taught Astoria the method to interfere with space in a supportive manner.

    In this sense, Astoria''s talent truly bloomed. No matter what Damien taught her, she was able to absorb it without a single issue.

    For instance, Dimensional Magic.

    Dimensional Magic was something Damien only acquired upon bing a Celestial, but Astoria was able to use it from the beginning.

    Dimensional Cage, Phase Shift, Material Shift, and even Vector Control became skills that Astoria excelled in.

    And through Vector Control, she was able to create an attack method without truly having any destructive power of her own.

    Time passed.

    Astoria''s talent for Vector Control began to bloom in full.

    As she was already a 4th ss being, she wasn''t able to receive the benefits of ranking up with space as her main pathway, but with Damien in her corner assisting her, she was able to gain something far better.

    After all, Damien was the possessor of the Void Physique.

    With the Breath of All Things, Damien could alter the physical conditions of the world to whatever could suit Astoria''s needs best.

    With the Breath of Nothingness, he could pass his own memories of endless practice to Astoria so she could digest her gains faster and have a guideline to follow if she ever struggled with those fundamentals that she didn''t personally learn.

    Astoria was easily able to surpass Damien''s 2 months'' progress as she''d imed, and after those two months ended, Astoria''s attitude towards the hell training she was undergoing started to experience a subtle shift.

    She was enjoying it.

    Once she came back from that particrly cruel punishment, the way her master approached her training took aplete 180.

    The curriculum she began to study from that point on was extremely joyful, and everything she learned was internalized almost instantly.

    She felt that instinctual connection she had with space strengthening over time, and she felt that as long as she was interfering in a gentle manner like her current abilities provoked, she had the potential to grow endlessly.

    "At some point, the instruction I can provide you will be limited. Unlike the other elements, space isrgely neglected in the universe and the infinite paths within the Laws are still hidden from us practitioners," Damien lectured.

    "When ites to supportive abilities, I''ve already taught you everything I know, after all, I am a destructive practitioner. From this point on, your training will be far more independent. I will watch over you and apany you so as to ensure your safety, but I will not intervene in your training unless it''s truly necessary."

    Astoria''s eyes widened. "Master, does that mean¡­"

    Damien nodded. "It''s likely as you''ve guessed. Today, we are leaving the Sanctuary."

    Damien had been training Astoria in the Sanctuary for a year and a half now. It was only with this much time that Astoria was able to master Vector Control and Dimensional Magic to her current level.

    It should''ve been around a month in the outside world since their training started, which meant that in another two months, the grand tournament would begin.

    With this much time¡­

    ''It should be fine. I can still create localized time pockets when necessary, even though the effect in the Real ne won''t be nearly as exaggerated as it is in here. Besides¡­''

    Damien''s pupils swirled as he activated the All-Seeing Eyes.

    [Status]

    [Astoria Golden]

    Golden Dragon

    Female - Age 19

    Level 274 - [Royal Golden Dragon]

    Experience value: 124,779/411,000

    Title(s): [Void Disciple]

    Affinities: Fate, Space

    Physique: Imperial Golden Dragon Body

    Magic Power: 250000

    DEF: 1300

    STR: 1100

    AGI: 1000

    DEF: 1300

    INT: 1000

    DEX: 1350

    Skills: [Dimensional Magic Level 4], [Vector Control Level 7]¡­

    Damien smiled. With these skills, he didn''t think Astoria would have a problem surviving in the wilderness.

    ''This Void Disciple title is extremely convenient.''

    It had been a very long time since Damien saw the birth of a new title, but it seemed this one was influenced by his own titles and physique.

    The Void Disciple title seemingly appeared when Damien and Astoria first made their contract, but Damien didn''t notice it until he tried to read Astoria''s status around half a year into their training.

    Damien didn''t know what effects the title had on Astoria herself, but it provided him some benefits as well.

    For instance, he could see a majority of Astoria''s status.

    Most of her skills and her traits were hidden, but essentially anything Damien had influenced and could influence was shown to him, allowing him to better n Astoria''s training.

    Now that she''s reached her current level, what she needed more than anything else was practical experience.

    ''I wanted to take her to the Wild Continent, but I haven''t properly integrated it into the Sanctuary yet. Before I can find a World Core for the chunk ofnd, it''ll be difficult for it to be a functioning part of this universe.''

    The Wild Continent was essentially stuffed in its own corner of the Sanctuary at the moment. Damien was forced to create a separate space for it since the existing worldws couldn''t support its existence.

    Nevertheless, for now, the Wild Continent was still a useless piece ofnd.

    ''I can use this expedition to find a World Core for the Wild Continent too.''

    "Prepare yourself. We''ll be leaving in two days." He said out loud.

    Astoria nodded her head excitedly. The past year and a half of harsh training had smoothed out her personality a great deal, but that mischievousness in her soul never left.

    Now that she was getting the opportunity to leave this ce and explore the universe, how could she not be excited?

    Astoria immediately stood up to return to Theavel where her temporary residence was.

    "Then, Master, I''ll see you in two days!"

    "Ah, go see your aunt and them while you''re there. They''ve prepared gifts for you."

    Astoria''s already alit face suddenly burned as brightly as a me in joy.

    "Yes!"

    She immediately set off, rushing back to Theavel at her fastest speed.

    ''Sheesh, Elvira and them are spoiling her too much. Is it that strange for me to ept a disciple?''

    When he originally told the five leaders of the Sanctuary about Astoria, their reactions weren''t small at all.

    In simple terms, they said:

    "Your broody self actually made a meaningful connection to someone else willingly?"

    "Hahahahaha! This kid is actually taking care of a kid now! Hahahaha! Him of all people!"

    "This is truly unexpected."

    And so on.

    Needless to say, it was quite embarrassing for Damien, as the subject of their teasing.

    However, those five truly treated Astoria as their Young Miss, a status thatpletely enabled her gremlin behavior.

    A behavior that was even starting to affect Xue''er.

    ''Haa, raising kids is hard.''

    Damien sighed to himself and smiled wryly.

    It was his first time epting a disciple, and while teaching was far more fun than he expected, raising his disciple into a decent human being was a far more difficult task than he expected.

    But¡­wasn''t the challenge riveting in its own way?

    Seeing Astoria grow not only in power but as a person brought Damien endless satisfaction that he couldn''t quite put into words.

    All he knew was that he had extremely high hopes for her potential and wanted to see her grow even more than ever before.

    And for that¡­

    ''Haha, how will she feel when she finds out we aren''t going to be training in the Beast Domain at all¡­?''

    Warp was a great skill.

    A great skill that his good disciple would soon get to experience for the first time.

    Truly, he couldn''t wait to see the look on her face.

 Chapter 901 Training [3]

    The time of the great tournament approached closer and closer, and with the passing of a month, several thousands of different forces had made their way to Beast Emperor Star in preparation for the proceedings.

    In fact, the world was currently enveloped in a festive atmosphere. With the number of external influences congregating, massive trade fairs and auctions were held all over the ce as treasures found their way to their rightful owners.

    Even themon people were able to enjoy the festivities, setting up their own carnivals and using the opportunity to make a profit and enjoy themselves during these few days of peace and cultural exchange,

    However, with the sheer number of people gathering, there were bound to be those who didn''t know how to respectw and order.

    Those who killed and stole from others, those who tried to rape the women and bully themon people, all of these types of unscrupulous people also saw opportunity brewing on Beast Emperor Star.

    But would the Golden Dragon n allow such degeneracy to fester on their soil?

    Absolutely not!

    Shing!

    A light sword not too different from a rapier cut through the air, a spray of blood following behind it.

    A man''s head flew into the air and mmed against the pavement.

    "Phew¡­" the assant let out a small sigh.

    "Come on, you''re okay now. There are people waiting to take you home."

    She turned to a nearby group of women with their clothes nearly entirely torn off, bloody scrapes covering their bodies.

    They shivered as they looked at the bloodied surroundings, but the woman''s words seemed to bring them back to their senses.

    "A-ah¡­!" One of them eximed.

    "Thank you so much for saving us! We''ll definitely make sure to repay this grace!" She continued, establishing herself as the leader of the group.

    "No need. Take these nkets to cover yourselves and head outside the alley. The guards will make sure topensate you."

    With those words, the blue-haired heroine disappeared from the alley, leaving the group of women by themselves.

    Their eyes remained wide for many minutes before they finally came back to reality.

    ''So¡­so cool!'' They thought in unison.

    Without even realizing it, that woman had be an idol in these young women''s hearts.

    As for the heroine herself¡­

    ''This job is far more difficult than I expected. When is that tutor going to show himself?''

    The woman frowned to herself, thinking back to the affairs of the pce.

    Right, this woman was none other than our favorite Valkyrie, Elena.

    In the past month that she''d been staying on Beast Emperor Star, she had no ns of remaining idle.

    ording to the Golden Dragon Emperor, the little princess''s Master, the man who was promised the Genesis Bead, was currently in the middle of training his disciple and wouldn''t be avable for a period of time.

    Elena needed to have a talk with that man to try and negotiate for the treasure, but until this day, she hadn''t even seen a single trace of him!

    ''Haa¡­how troublesome.''

    Elena stopped moving, bringing two fingers up and touching her forehead.

    ''Call of Valha.''

    A pure white magic circle surfaced in the earth around her, soon expanding until tens of shining armors manifested into the Real ne.

    "Go, keep order. Damon, I pass themand to you. Summon your brothers as you wish."

    Upon Elena''smand, a particr cavalry soldier dismounted his horse and stepped forward, kneeling in submission and affirmation.

    After him, the rest followed behind. Evidently, he was the soldier nicknamed Damon.

    Under hismand, the Undying Warriors of Valha''s Army spread first through the city, and eventually, through arge portion of the world.

    Elena''s army was already at the level of tens of thousands of troops, and while she couldn''t keep control over the entire, it wouldn''t be impossible for her to aplish such a feat in a world the size of Apeiron.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Helping with the guardian duty is taxing, but it builds trust. If I keep going like this, the Golden Dragon Emperor will be more inclined to listen to my demands. If not...''

    Elena didn''t think she was powerful enough to take on everyone who wanted the Genesis Bead, but she was semi-confident in escaping.

    As she submerged herself in thought, she kept moving and responding to emergencies that her legion couldn''t handle. Eventually, a token on her waist began to vibrate.

    ''Hm? Contact from the pce?''

    Elena poured her mana into the token and was immediately met with an urgent voice.

    "The little princess and her master have returned! Come back quickly!"

    Elena''s eyes widened. The message was from a close friend she''d made in the pce, the vice-captain of the pce guards. The second the words entered her ears, Elena dashed into the air and took off.

    She arrived near the pce within 5 minutes. The first thing she noticed was that the strange fluctuationsing from the little princess'' courtyard were long gone.

    Now, a simr presence stood in the throne room.

    Elena''s senses extended several tens of thousands of kilometers past her body, allowing her to sense these things, however, she was still at least 30 seconds from the pce!

    ''I can''t miss this opportunity!''

    ording to his previous behavior, this mysterious master was likely to disappear for several months again after this time exiting his seclusion. If Elena missed this chance, she would likely miss her opportunity to get the Genesis Bead without using force!

    30 seconds was an eternity and an instant at the same time.

    To Elena, these 30 seconds passed like hours. Every step she took was deliberate and geared to move her at the fastest speed possible, every movement in the atmosphere was caught in her perception.

    However, in the grand scheme of things, 30 seconds wasn''t much at all.

    Boom!

    Elena arrived before the pce with a sonic boom, rushing through the gates and maneuvering the halls to the throne room.

    Within seconds, she reached her destination and threw open the doors to find¡­!

    The Golden Dragon Emperor and the rest of the Golden Dragon n''s direct lineage seated in the throne room¡­

    Except for the little princess.

    Elena''s face fell.

    ''Was I toote?''

    She wondered how powerful that person must''ve been to simply disapp¡ª

    ''Hm? Spatial fluctuations?''

    "Young Elena, I''m afraid you''vee a moment toote. Just now, that sir took my daughter away once again to train."

    The Golden Dragon Emperor finally acknowledged her presence, willfully ignoring her disrespectful entrance.

    Elena shook her head. "It''s fine. Say, the princess'' master¡­is a spatial practitioner?"

    The Golden Dragon Emperor raised his brow. "Hm? Indeed. ording to him, my daughter has a supreme talent in space, which is what led to him epting her as a disciple. Have you not heard this news throughout the pce yet?"

    Elena shook her head, internally this time.

    She furiously refused the prodding voice of hope in the back of her head.

    "Do you know when he will return?" She finally asked.

    However, the Golden Dragon Emperor could only shake his head in resignation.

    After all, even if he told her, she probably wouldn''t believe him!

    Just how could anyone believe that a man not even properly at the extreme peak of 4th ss¡­

    ¡­could instantly transmit himself to an entirely different Sector?!

 Chapter 902 Training [4]

    "M-master¡­?!"

    A panicked voice rang out in the starry sky as two people materialized from thin air.

    The girl among them stumbled to her knees, supporting herself with mana and calming her rolling internals to at least avoid vomiting.

    "Ah, right. I forgot about that," Damien muttered with a wry smile.

    Even normal spatial movement was taxing for non-experts. Even though Astoria was also a spatial practitioner now, she wasn''t nearly practiced enough to make such a long-distance jump with ease.

    "Take your time to stabilize yourself. We still have another jump to make."

    "Another one?!" Astoria eximed, her face turning pale.

    "Rx," Damien said with a smile, "the next one is only a few hundred thousand kilometers. It''ll be fine."

    "Oh, just a few¡­few hundred thousand?! Master, are you insane?!"

    "What? Is there something wrong with that? The jump we just made was several hundreds of millions of kilometers, you know. We''re pretty deep in the Divine Realm right now."

    "Ha¡­haha¡­r-right¡­h-hundred¡­million¡­haha¡­Divine Realm¡­hahaha¡­" Astoria muttered robotically.

    "What''re you making a big deal out of? Quickly rest and recuperate so we can jump again."

    Damien tried to wave Astoria off with that, but she wasn''t so easy to manipte.

    "M-a-s-t-e-r, even though you''re my master, it still bugs me that you don''t understand what kind of monster you are! If you think like this, how can I ever meet your expe¡ª I mean, ck off more in the future?!" She eximed, quickly correcting her slight mistake as she spoke.

    "Master, even the Golden Dragon n doesn''t have the means to travel so far in a single leap. You''re basically a personal cross-sector teleportation array! That''s an immense power that''spletely unique to you!"

    Astoria''s words were filled with excitement. How could they not be? The more powerful her master was, the better for her training, and the more she''d be able to brag to her acquaintances from other Holy Lands.

    However, Damien himself remained unimpressed.

    ''I know Warp doesn''t have enough freedom to just take me wherever I want to be, but I shouldn''t spoil this little girl''s mood right now.'' He thought with a wry smile.

    The overactive imagination of his disciple would be a great motivator for her future training.

    Besides, even if Damien wasn''t quite at the point of freely traversing the universe, he was close enough.

    And if it was Astoria, she could definitely surpass his movement capabilities if she worked hard enough in the future.

    "Master, Master, what else can you do? I knew you were a secret powerhouse in disguise! What if¡ª blegh¡­!"

    Astoria began enthusiastically rambling again, however, she found her words interrupted as she keeled over and introduced the universe to her breakfast.

    Damien sighed and used mana to lift her hair out of her face, patting her on the back gently.

    "I told you to rest but you didn''t listen. Now look what happened." He scolded lightly.

    "I''m sorry¡­Master¡­bleurgh!"

    Damien smiled to himself at theedic scene and slowly helped Astoria readjust her body condition.

    "I didn''t expect you to react so violently now that you''ve reached your current level. Likely, it''s a mental matter rather than a physical one. Therefore, just this once, I''ll make an exception."

    Aa Damien said, Astoria''s body could definitely handle therge jump. And when he said mental problem, he didn''t mean that Astoria had some sort of hidden trauma inhibiting her.

    Rather¡­

    ''Her talent is too high.''

    Even though she had barely graduated from the beginner level in Damien''s books, her natural talent and affinity made her instinctively attempt toprehend the mysteries of his methods, leading to the current situation.

    After all, Damien''s usage of Space Laws far exceeded Astoria''sprehensive ability, and even disregarding that, Damien had recently made a switch so all his techniques would be manifested through the Void rather than his affinities themselves!

    When Astoria tried toprehend this mana, how could she remain unharmed?

    It was likely only due to her Void Disciple title that she received such a minute rebound.

    Damien wrapped Astoria in his mana and formed a shield for her, ensuring that she wouldn''t feel anything during the secondary Warp.

    And soon after, the two disappeared once more, leaving only a puddle of¡­Dragon n Breakfast? floating in the void. <novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ***

    "Hm? Waaaaah!"

    Ssh!

    "Fwah!"

    Damien and Astoria''s new materialization point was above arge body of water. While Damien stood in the air calmly, Astoria seemingly forgot to do so, plummeting into the sea below.

    She surfaced soon after and made her way back to Damien, utterly soaked in seawater.

    "Hehe~ oopsie!" She said, quirking her head cutely.

    Whoosh!

    Astoria''s figure vanished and reappeared several meters away just as Damien''s flick was going tond on her forehead.

    "Hmph! Silly Master, I can totally predict you no¡ªow!"

    Without suspense, the smacknded on her forehead, though Damien didn''t move to chase her at all.

    Horizon Break''s concepts were especially in training Astoria.

    "Haven''t you learned by now? This young master''s smacks¡­can never be stopped! Hahahaha!" Damien proimed smugly.

    "Damn Master, I''ll definitely beat you up one day!"

    "Oh? Is that a challenge? Well then, my cute disciple who can''t even handle a little bit of teleportation, how do you n to do that?"

    "I-I¡­hmph, why should I tell you my n?!"

    "Hahaha! Alright, stop joking around. Trouble hase looking for you."

    Damien stopped their banter abruptly and nced in a certain direction, attracting Astoria''s gaze as well.

    There, the sea was churning violently, on the verge of forming a massive sinkhole.

    "Master, that is¡­" Astoria muttered with a pale face.

    "Hmm, that should be the ruler of this territory. He''s not very happy with the scene you made when we got here."

    "Are you sure it''s not because you teleported us into his territory?!"

    "Hm? How could that be? No creature could possibly hate a benevolent and magnanimous young master like me."

    "Keuk¡­! Master, I think your words gave me critical damage. I don''t think I can fight him."

    "Nonsense. I''ll be cheering for you on the sidelines, so if you ever want moral support, just look over. I''ll sh my most handsome smile to motivate you."

    "E-eh? Master, what do you mean by tha-ooooooah!"

    "Why do I always get thrown?!" Astoria eximed as she flew through the sky, a very familiar feeling to her at this point.

    Her current trajectory put her directly in the face of the mysterious monster in the depths.

    Damien tossed her perfectly so she''d have no choice but to fight.

    ''Damn Master! Setting up a Dimensional Cage is unfair!'' She thought to herself with a frown.

    However, she didn''tin out loud.

    Instead, as she watched the massive Kraken-like monster raise its body from the water, as she felt its terrifying aura almost at thete stages of 4th ss, she readied her fists and took abat stance in preparation for the battle toe.

    If she could help it, she''d definitely choose to bezy.

    She wanted to y around and tease her master more, not fight against ugly beasts.

    However, even she was curious¡­

    Just how much had she grown in the past year and a half?

 Chapter 903 Training [5]

    Astoria was an interesting character. Her personality was geared toward yfulness and mischief. However, it didn''t take away her ability to get serious.

    As someone born and raised as part of a royal n. She''d of course been schooled in discipline and ss, but in her normal life, she tended to ignore these teachings.

    The first time she ran away from the pce, she understood the pleasures that life could have. Thus forth, she''d been indulging in such pleasures, ying around to her heart''s content without a care for anything else.

    It was a mindset she adopted for several years, even putting aside her training for the sake of this joy.

    In the past year and a half, she started to see a subtle change in herself.

    No matter how she wanted to y, she simply couldn''t convince herself to give up everything to do so. No matter how mischievous she wanted to be, she no longer wanted to sacrifice her training for it.

    Was Damien the reason for this change?

    In part, sure. As a teacher, Damien was strict and rtively indifferent to Astoria''s struggles andints, however, as an individual, Damien was incredibly amiable and charismatic.

    The difference in how he acted during training and outside of it definitely influenced Astoria and changed her attitude, especially since she''s been taking his punishment whenever she disobeyed him.

    But the change Astoria saw was notpletely due to Damien. In fact, his influence was minimal.

    The change in Astoria had a simple origin.

    It was simply¡­joy.

    The joy she felt in learning with Damien was something she never felt at the pce. Whether it was during noble training orbat training, nothing about the Golden Dragon n''s techniques sparked her interest.

    Space was different.

    Space was¡­

    "Fun! This is too fun!"

    Astoriaughed joyously as she shed through the air, never remaining in one ce for too long.

    Her arms waved through the air with purpose, her mana ring along with her movements and interacting with the environment.

    BOOM!

    A massive tentacle exploded forth from below the ocean and mmed through the air with speed that betrayed its size. It was apanied by three more at different orientations that blocked any route Astoria could take to attack.

    But for a spatial mage, when was this ever a problem?

    "Hahahaha!" Astoriaughed as she finished her movements.

    As the tentacles mmed into her position, her body vanished and appeared opposite to where she once stood. She pushed her hands forward and yelled with fervor.

    "Dimensional Cage!"

    A much smaller and less stable Dimensional Cage appeared within the one Damien conjured. Despite its ws, it was more than enough for her current purposes.

    ''First step: establish control,plete!'' She thought to herself as she began to push her mana again.

    ''Second step: gain an advantage!''

    Astoria flew into battle,pletely subverting the Kraken''s expectations. She pushed closer to its body and shoved her arm forward to strike it.

    The Kraken''s massive eyes narrowed in fury.

    OOOOOOOH!

    It bellowed loud enough to shatter eardrums as a light of mana covered it.

    "Foolish girl!" A voice boomed into the atmosphere.

    "Humph! Only Master is allowed to insult me!"

    Astoria''s body shed forward. Her arm extended rapidly, letting out a powerful force that exploded into the Kraken''s body!

    However¡­

    BANG!

    Crack!

    "Ack!"

    A dull sound rang out. Astoria disappeared, teleporting several hundred kilometers away.

    She shook her bloodied hand and winced in pain. She could feel several broken bones rattling around where they shouldn''t be rattling at all, but she ignored it.

    ''Pain is power.''

    One of Damien''s favorite mottos. The more pain she felt, the stronger she''d grow.

    Astoria''s eyes narrowed as she peered into the Kraken''s skin. With just a quick nce, she was able to see the thickyers of mana protectionyering its internals.

    ''That''s a natural protection. I won''t be able to break it easily.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Bang!

    The air exploded as a tentacle narrowly missed Astoria''s side. Before she could teleport away, three more banging explosions rang out.

    Pirs of water rose from the sea below and reached the heavens, entrapping Astoria within.

    ''Perfect!''

    She wasn''t panicked at all. In fact¡­

    ''Perfect Reversal...''

    Astoria flicked the air with her mana. The forceful water pirs around her seemed to respond to her touch, bending far away from their intended trajectories.

    ''Return!''

    BOOOM!

    A phenomenon that defied thews of physics. The water pirs whipped into perfect right angles and acted almost like cannons as they shot with terrifying intensity back at the Kraken''s body.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    CRACK!

    "Girl, you dare?!" The Kraken roared as its defenses cracked.

    Astoria didn''t respond at all. She took the opportunity while the Kraken was distracted to teleport directly next to its body and strike her hand against its skin.

    ''Des¡ª''

    Bang!

    "Keuk¡­!"

    A st of mana mmed into her body and pushed her back. Astoria coughed a mouthful of blood as she tried to regain bnce, but before she could¡­!

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    A tentacle crashed into her side and flung her backward. A water pir rose up under her and threw her into the air. As if finishing abo, the Kraken opened its mouth and shot out a st ofpressed air that impacted Astoria straight in her chest, cracking several of her ribs.

    "Hak¡­! Hak¡­! Hak¡­!"

    Astoria threw up blood with a ce face as she teleported away several times, getting as far away as possible from the enemy.

    She assessed her injuries while gritting her teeth to avoid screaming out in pain. Her bones were broken in several ces, she was bleeding internally, and some of her organs had experienced serious injury. If it wasn''t for her dragon body, she would''ve been dead already.

    ''I can''t¡­''

    She almost gave up at that moment. The battle hadn''t gone on for long, but she hadn''t been able to do anything but get beat.

    Worst of all, it was done in just a few moves by a beast who didn''t even take its human form.

    It was uneptable.

    Astoria gave up on attacking and changed her approach.

    She took several healing and mana-replenishing pills and teleported endlessly, almost ignoring her mana capacity as she took a moment to heal her injuries and think of a way to defeat the enemy.

    ''Master is right, my space abilities aren''t geared towards attacking.''

    She could makeshift attacks with Vector Control and exert great power, but it wasn''t nearly enough.

    Even her Vector Control was meant for support rather than attack.

    ''Then, I can only improvise.''

    Damien had told her several times that her mainbat power would stille from her Golden Dragon techniques, but she didn''t want to listen to him.

    She almost wanted to throw away her old techniques and bepletely reborn.

    But it was nothing more than delusion.

    Reality didn''t allow one to simply change in an instant if one wished it.

    It was an extremely tedious thing to change oneself.

    But in most cases¡­

    ''Why should I change?''

    Astoria''s eyes hardened.

    What would it look like if she stopped denying her true self?

    This time, she wouldn''t stop herself from finding out.

 Chapter 904 Training [6]

    ''Imperial Dragon Body: Open!''

    Astoria stopped holding back her full potential. A bright golden aura surrounded her body as ayer of scales surfaced on her skin. Wings, horns, and a thick draconic tail followed soon after, leaving Astoria in a half-dragon form.

    ''Golden Heavenly Sun!''

    She pulled her fist back and concentrated her raging aura into it, causing the aura around her body to slowly subdue itself.

    Her body shed forward at amazing speeds, though not quite teleporting. She swerved through the Kraken''s dozens of tentacles and narrowly dodged each and every terrifying water attack it threw at her, approaching its body in an instant.

    Once again, the Kraken released a massive pulse of mana that mmed into Astoria''s body, but before it could make contact¡­

    She disappeared!

    Astoria appeared not even 10 meters to the right, standing on the Kraken''s body where its tentacles connected to its head.

    "Feel my wrath, old beast!"

    Astoria mmed her fist down, releasing all of the built-up golden aura into the Kraken.

    BOOOOM!

    For the first time, the Kraken took serious damage.

    Its flesh exploded as its internal mana protection was shattered thoroughly by the golden energy.

    And to make matters worse, Astoria immediately utilized Vector Control to severely multiply the amount of internal damage that was being dealt.

    "Girl, I will kill you today!" The Kraken roared.

    Up to this point, he''d been treating Astoria lightly because he couldn''t feel any threat from her. There was no need for him to go all out.

    However, he wasn''t a young and arrogant beast. Now that he''s been injured, why would he show the same ignorance?

    "Waves, rise!"

    His voice caused the seas to churn. Towering waves rose into the sky, several tens of kilometers high, threatening to swallow Astoria whole.

    She immediately teleported into the air above the tsunamis and used Vector Control to shield herself from the mana fluctuations.

    ''I need to take this opportunity! He should''ve lost some mobility from that¡ª''

    "¡­!"

    Astoria''s senses suddenly rang major rm bells in her head. She instinctually teleported before even realizing what had happened, however, as soon as she reappeared, she felt something sping around her neck.

    "Girl, you''ve pushed the limits today. I was going to be generous, but you''ve forced me!"

    A naked man with wild red hair with arge bloody hole in his side held her throat and tightened his grip, crushing her neck in his grasp.

    Hak¡­!

    Hak¡­!

    Hak¡­!

    Astoria took short breaths as she tried to salvage as much air as she could and stay breathing. She tried to teleport, but the Kraken''s tightening grip didn''t give her the mental stability she needed to do so.

    ''Escape! I need to escape!''

    Her eyes widened. Her focus heightened to the absolute maximum as she surveyed the surroundings and tried to find a way out, but they were currently high in the sky, away from anything she could use to help herself.

    ''I need to¡­master¡­''

    She nced around, looking for Damien, but he was nowhere to be found.

    ''Master¡­where are¡­''

    The Kraken''s voracious gaze was piercing holes through her body as he slowly killed her, enjoying every second of her pain.

    He wasn''t someone who enjoyed bullying the weak, but after Astoria managed to wound him, he needed to save face.

    They were alone, but the ocean had eyes. If he didn''t exert his authority here, rumors were bound to spread.

    Astoria also realized the gravity of the situation.

    Damien wasn''t here.

    He wasn''ting to save her.

    He¡ª

    ''Master thinks¡­I can¡­!''

    Her mind suddenly cleared.

    Damien might''ve seemed indifferent, but he wasn''t someone who''d let her die like this.

    ''Pain¡­is¡­power¡­!''

    Astoria gritted her teeth and revolved her mana, scavenging oxygen from any source she could find. Her eyes zed with fiery determination as her mind spun in search of the solution Damien saw for her.

    "Girl, you still haven''t given up?!"

    The Kraken''s eyes sharpened when he saw Astoria''s defiance. He mmed his leg down on her knee, snapping her right leg in the opposite direction.

    "Hak¡­!"

    Astoria wanted to scream in pain, but there was no air in her throat to produce the sound.

    The pain was immense.

    But it was this immensity that forced Astoria to face reality and face death, to face herself and to face her power,<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    And under that circumstance¡­

    ''Damage¡­transfer!''

    ¡­she found her solution.

    "Heuk¡­!"

    A strange sound exited the Kraken''s throat.

    Crack!

    A strange sound was emitted from the Kraken''s body.

    Suddenly, he violently jerked backward, inadvertently letting go of Astoria''s neck.

    "What did you¡­!"

    Astoria didn''t wait for him to finish. She teleported directly behind him and sunk her ws into his head.

    ''Burst!''

    The Kraken was a powerful foe, but how could he react in time?

    In that instant, Astoria used Vector Control to transfer all the damage she''d taken back to the Kraken, severely wounding him in an instant.

    Now, that didn''t mean Astoria''s wounds were gone. She was still struggling to catch her breath as she moved.

    But she had time to limate to her pain.

    The Kraken, on the other hand, received the sensation of all that pain in a single instant, which severely amplified the effect.

    Now that he was stunned, how could Astoria let something like pain stop her?

    That wasn''t the sort of coward her master was raising her to be!

    Her grip tightened without hesitation. The golden scales on her fingers extended into several ws that stabbed into the Kraken''s skull.

    "You¡­!" He tried to exim, but it was already toote.

    BANG!

    A golden burst of energy mmed into the Kraken through the holes in his head, directly exploding his head into meatpaste that flew everywhere.

    The Kraken''s limp headless body copsed into the sea.

    Astoria stood silently for a second, processing what just happened.

    ''I¡­did it¡­?''

    Her body immediately rxed. A relieved smile surfaced on her face.

    "Master¡­I¡­did it¡­"

    A warm embrace enveloped her. A soothing energy entered her body and began repairing it.

    Her heavy eyelids slightly pushed open, allowing her to see the smiling face of the man who was holding her.

    "Congrattions, on your first kill across ranks! For now, get some rest. I''ll handle it from here."

    Damien''s voice was like a fairy''s melody in her ears. The second she heard it, the fatigue that had umted in her body immediately took over.

    She fell asleep within seconds.

    Damien smiled as he looked down at her.

    ''You nailed the execution, but I can''t say the same about the ending.'' He thought to himself.

    He kicked his foot lightly, sending a bullet of mana into the sea below.

    Within seconds, the blue seas were dyed red for kilometers on end.

    Under the waves, a massive ck hole was tearing apart a horde of beasts that had gathered.

    The corpse of a territory lord and his injured and weakened killer were both extremely enticing meals for these beasts. It was only natural for them to gather.

    "But you don''t need to know that for now," Damien muttered.

    Astoria was fast asleep with a wide smile on her face.

    That sense of victory that she was currently feeling, the sensation of oveing adversity and triumphing¡­

    Damien simply couldn''t bring himself to take that away from her.

    ''Next time, I won''t be so nice.''

    If it happened again, he would allow her to properly experience the consequences of her actions.

    But for today¡­

    He teleported away with Astoria in his arms.

    In this vast ce with endless challenges and endless secrets, it was utterly wasteful to spend the whole time training in the ocean.

    After all, this ce was only open to the world every hundred thousand or so years!

    But now¡­

    Damien and Astoria had the whole Celestial Realm to themselves, free and open for conquest.

 Chapter 905 Festival [1]

    Chapter 905 Festival [1]

    Somewhere in the universe, there was a far-reaching wall of bloody fog, a natural phenomenon whose cause was unknown.

    For many years, this phenomenon had remained unblemished. Even when it was broken apart, it always returned to its original position to act as a fortress wall protecting a specific corner of the universe.

    BANG!

    With a single punch, a hole was torn through the fog,pletely dispersing it in a certain area.

    A man calmly stepped through and traveled several thousand kilometers before finally exiting the tunnel he''d made for himself, watching the fog return to its ce thereafter.

    ''Beast Domain¡­this must be it.''

    The man''s red eyes glowed with fervor.

    It had been a month since he left Eien after argely iprehensive search.

    Now, Arthur Bloodlock had found his way to the Beast Domain.

    ''I heard that a very interestingpetition is going to take ce soon.'' He thought to himself.

    In fact, Arthur hadn''te to the Beast Domain after tracing Damien.

    He made his way here naturally after hearing rumors about the Genesis Bead.

    ''A treasure of the Ancient God n that was stolen by the Golden Dragon n in the previous war¡­if it wasn''t for those lizards, the supreme treasure of Life would have been our Bloodlock n''s.''

    Arthur''s eyes sharpened. At the moment, he was filled to the brim with rage. His son''s killer had disappeared without a trace and wasrgely assumed dead, but Arthur didn''t believe that sentiment.

    Someone who would dare to provoke the Bloodlock n so openly wouldn''t die so easily. Someone who could evade his search for so long absolutely had to be alive.

    ''The Beast Domain is a gathering ce for warriors. ording to that man, that boy should be here, however, finding his traces will require intense effort. Nevertheless¡­''

    Arthur grinned as he began moving through the void.

    ''As long as I have the Genesis Bead, I can find his location in an instant.''

    The Genesis Bead''s abilities were truly vast. The reason it was so coveted, the reason it was called a supreme treasure wasn''t just a matter of conger effectiveness.

    The Genesis Bead was the greatest vessel of Life in the universe, and as such, tracking someone''s unique life fluctuations through it was a menial task.

    Not to mention this, in the hands of the Bloodlock n, the Genesis Bead would be a truly terrifying force.

    ''Beast Emperor Star¡­that golden bastard''s territory. I heard he has a beautiful daughter. If our n can obtain her¡­''

    Arthur''s ambitions ran wild.

    The Bloodlock n was born to conquer. The Bloodlock people were destined to rule the universe.

    Even in this quest of vengeance, Arthur never disregarded his n.

    He never had and he never would.

    Because the Bloodlock n was everything.

    ''Humph. Let''s see what kind of resistance a group of mere beasts can put up.''

    Arthur''s body turned into a stream of red energy as his speed reached an unprecedented level.

    At this time, it had been a month and a half since Damien took Astoria to the Celestial Realm.

    And now, only days remained before the festivities began.

    ***

    "Fuwah! Master, wake up! It''s time to go!"

    An energetic voice rang through an isted cave. A young woman happily bounced through the cave, humming in excitement as she eagerly awaited the awakening of her master.

    Suddenly, she vanished.

    A karate chopnded where she once stood, but she was already 10 meters across the cave by the time it arrived.

    "Good. You''ve gotten better in the past year and a half."

    The karate-chopping assant nodded his head in satisfaction. Even though he hadn''t tried too hard, he had indeed coated his arm in spatial mana that should''ve cut off her ability to teleport.

    Since she''d been able to do so regardless, it was clear that herprehension of Dimensional Magic had reached a new level.

    Damien felt nothing other than tion from this fact, knowing that in just three years, he was able topletely transform Astoria¡­

    ¡­.at least, strength-wise.

    "Master, Master, isn''t it crazy?! I''m already 21, but 2 months ago, I was 18! Isn''t that crazy, Master?!" She chirped ceaselessly.

    Damien rolled his eyes and ignored her. She''d been squabbling about his time-dtion ability for several years already, and he''d long gotten used to it.

    ''Three years, eh?'' He thought to himself.

    At first, he didn''t think he''d get so much time. He expected to be able to extend the time they had by another half a year at most.

    However, the Celestial Realm provided him with an unexpected boon. In fact, his ability to control time within the realm didn''t differ much from the Sanctuary.

    ''After that bastard appeared here, along with this new revtion, it''s be clear that the Celestial Realm has some connection to Void Pce in the Heavenly World. I need toe back after the Grand Assembly and try to excavate it.''

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have time now.

    A year and a half was the maximum he could do. Since he didn''t have absolute control over the realm, slowing time to the point where half a year could pass in a few hours simply wasn''t possible like it was in the Sanctuary.

    Still,

    ''Three years was a perfect duration. Not too long, not too short.''

    "Howe you''re so excited to go back? Last time we spoke about it, didn''t you want to stay as far away from thepetition as possible?" Damien asked with a teasing smile.

    Astoria turned her head away in embarrassment. "W-well, I changed my mind, that''s it!"

    "Mhm, and it''s not because you want to pummel a few people back on Beast Emperor Star?"

    "Third brother, fourth brother, Peng Haotian, Rena Asagaki¡ª hm? Master, did you say something?"

    "Nothing, don''t worry about it."

    "Oh, okay!"

    Astoria happily hummed and skipped out of the cave.

    The second her foot exited the cave''s protection, a massive shadow enveloped her body.

    The maw of a beast closed around her, its razor-sharp teeth sinking into Astoria''s¡­

    Crack!

    The beast''s teeth directly shattered upon contact with her skin.

    Astoria looked up and tilted her head curiously. "You''re just a little mid-level 4th-ss beast. What gave you the confidence to attack me?"

    She flicked her finger and send a beam of mana into the beast''s head.

    It traveled through the beast''s skull without any interference and came in contact with its brain.

    Immediately, the previously harmless mana expanded.

    A Dimensional Cage opened in the beast''s skull and enveloped its brain.

    In the next instant, Astoria clenched her fist,pressing the Dimensional Cage into a marble-sized ball.

    Squelch!

    A strange sound rang out.

    The beast''s eyes went dull.

    And it copsed to the ground, strange fluid leaking from its eyes.

    "Master~ I took care of the problem! Come on, let''s go now!"

    Astoria called for Damien,pletely disregarding the beast carcass.

    His figure materialized nearby not long after with a smile on his face.

    ''Raising disciples is great.'' He thought to himself.

    Was this how all masters felt when they saw their disciples expertly use a supportive spatial skill to attack and efficiently assassinate their enemies, or was it a feeling unique to him?

    Either way, it was something he thoroughly enjoyed.

    In fact, he also couldn''t wait for their return to Beast Emperor Star.

    After all, those little Holy Land disciples thought they were on the same level as HIS disciple¡­?

    He couldn''t wait to see how she''d p their faces.

 Chapter 906 Festival [2]

    Chapter 906 Festival [2]

    "Lord, this little one has aplished the assigned task."

    The grisly voice of a cloaked man echoed through a dark and humid area. This ce was far separated from existence, a ce that rarely anyone even knew the identity of.

    Despite the prolonged echoing of his voice, it still seemed incredibly small not only in rtion to the environment, but also to the individual he was reporting to.

    That person didn''t have the posture of an Emperor. They sat casually on a jade stone pillowrge enough to carry their entire body. They held their head in their hands nomittally with zed eyes.

    Nobody who came in contact with this person would believe they were mentally present. By all logic, it should''ve been impossible for someone with such strange eyes to exist in the same world as anymon expert.

    However, the man didn''t move from his kneeling position no matter how much time passed.

    It was an entire 12 dayster when this situation changed.

    "You had something to report?"

    That person''s smooth voice zed over the atmosphere, filling it with an odd sticky feeling.

    The man bowed his head without hesitation, repeating his original "Oh? How long has it been?"

    "Responding to the Lord, it has been a little over a month."

    report without any resentment.

    "Lord, I have aplished the task you assigned me. A proper vessel has been found."

    "Oh? How long has it been?"

    "Responding to the Lord, it has been a little over a month."

    "Quite fast. Did you have a fortuitous encounter?"

    "Affirmative, Lord. While this little one was in the midst of his search, he happened toe across Arthur Bloodlock, a direct descendant of Immortal Blood Asura. With a bit of coercion, your humble servant was able to nt the Devil Seed in his spiritual world. The corruption shall beplete within a week." the servant imed with an ounce of pride in his voice.

    For the first time, the figure''s expression changed.

    "Child¡­" the figure muttered, "you do not have the courage to lie to me, so it must be the truth. However, it cannot be so easy to coerce such a figure, no? Exin to this Lord how you aplished this feat."

    The figure''s voice was soft and its words were light. Any normal person would absolutely believe these to be magnanimous words.

    However, the servant knew better. His Lord was not someone who would ept baseless chatter. If he couldn''t justify his words and provide evidence¡­

    His fate would be far, far, far worse than death!

    "Lord, in actuality, this sess is not my doing at all. I was able to take advantage of a coincidence to coax Arthur Bloodlock with ease."

    "Oh?"

    "Lord, Arthur Bloodlock has a blood debt against a genius that Sir Saint Emperor has been observing. Sir Saint Emperor''s legions have been tracking that genius'' location with absolute precision, and I was able to sell that information for Arthur Bloodlock''s cooperation."

    The figure''s brow raised in curiosity. The corners of their lips curled up into a strange smile.

    "That old ghost has found another ything? Very well, this Lord is also curious about what can make that old man move so aggressively!"

    OOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A terrifying aura enveloped the area. Space immediately shattered into countless pieces, and even the chaotic void beyond was stilled by the almost solid aura.

    "Lord, please calm down! This universe cannot handle your full power!" the servant yelled desperately.

    The figure''s eye twitched slightly. Their aura immediately retracted back into their body.

    "Hmph, this pathetic universe. Why do those old ghosts put so much focus into it?" theyined with a frown.

    "7 days, was it¡­?"

    In 7 days, Arthur Bloodlock would be overtaken by corruption, and at that time¡­

    His physical body would be the property of the absolute worst individual it could possibly be given to.

    This person, this person with no true gender, no true form at all, was a ruler of the mortal body. This person was an experimentalist who would do anything to satisfy their own curiosity.

    This person was the Marite Lord, one of the top three Nox experts under the Emperor level, and by far the most insane member of their race.

    This was a person with puppets stationed in various parts of the universe, acting as people in positions high and low. It was unknown just how many people this Lord had under their control, but it wasrgely spected that they were nigh immortal.

    After all, each body under their control had a unique life fluctuation.

    If this person decided to escape their physical body and take possession of a puppet to live on, nobody would be able to find them.

    And this person¡­

    This person was never truly in one ce.

    Their mind was always split between at least 10 different puppets, never leaving a moment where they didn''t have a path forward.

    When it came to the Marite Lord¡­

    Even Emperors would rather avoid interacting.

    ***

    Back in the Golden Dragon Pce, a greatmotion was taking ce.

    There were only a few days remaining before the proceedings began, yet the princess was still missing!

    Of course the pce residents knew where Astoria had gone. However, they didn''t expect her to cut it so close! If she didn''t make it in time for the opening festival, many ns would fail.

    After all, Astoria was, in the crudest terms, bait.

    Astoria was the only reason the Emperor had just cause to put something like the Genesis Bead up for grabs without suspicion.

    Because if the tournament winner was his son-inw, would the Emperor truly suffer any losses from giving away the treasure?

    Nevertheless, the Golden Dragon Emperor was certainly feeling the stress.

    ''The ck Dragon n has already arrived and begun gathering forces. A member of the Divine Realm''s Bloodlock n is on the way, many Beast Emperors have secretly docked on our star in wait for the Genesis Bead''s unraveling¡­''

    On one hand, his n was working. Slowly but surely, the enemies he wanted to flush out had been showing themselves one by one.

    However, on the other hand¡­

    This number was far outside of his expectations.

    The ck Dragon n had already grown to the point where they could truly contend with the Golden Dragon n for hegemony.

    And even putting them aside, the Golden Dragon Emperor had to wonder: just when did he make so many enemies?!

    It was an aggravating truth to realize, but there was nothing incorrect about it: an innocent man with treasure is guilty.

    ''Want to touch my Golden Dragon n''s Treasures¡­?''

    The Emperor''s sharp golden eyes looked like they could cut holes through reality.

    ''Let''s see you try!''

    "Raise the gs! Announce the news! We will begin the opening festival¡­in 12 hours'' time!"

    The Emperor made his announcement without leaving any room for objection.

    He watched the pce officials scramble around as they tried began to set everything in order.

    And eventually, his eyes went to the sky.

    ''You must return soon, my good daughter.''

    Honestly speaking, he didn''t think any progress could be made in 3 months.

    Damien deciding to take Astoria away from the pce seemed to affirm this thought.

    But on the slight chance¡­

    On the slight chance that Astoria had truly grown¡­

    She wouldn''t just be bait anymore.

    She''d be one of the central pirs that allowed his n to seed!

 Chapter 907 Festival [3]

    Chapter 907 Festival [3]

    "Everything is going ording to n. Our forces have infiltrated Beast Emperor Star and spread throughout. There shouldn''t be any problems."

    A man sat among a table of those who looked simr to him, sharing the same onyx ck eyes and hair, as he gave his report,

    "Has the Golden Dragon n made any movements?" Another man asked.

    "None. It seems they are focused on making sure their festival proceeds ording to n. However, they have acquired the aid of a strange protective unit that scours the world, so it is unknown whether or not they have information we are unaware of."

    "Protective unit?"

    "Yes, sir. ording to our scouts, the unit is made up of summoned creatures, though the identity of the summoner is unknown. It has been difficult for our teams to move freely with this troop around."

    "I see¡­" the second man muttered to himself. "Is there anything else of note?"

    "We were able to receive a small glimpse of information from the pce. Our informants say that Astoria Golden has been epted by a master, but no other information on this so-called master has been found. The Golden Dragon Royal Family is keeping a firm lock on that person''s identity."

    "His power level?"

    "Also unknown, however, it can be spected to be at the 6th revolution at most. Any expert above that level would have been sensed by the Supreme the moment they entered the atmosphere."

    "Mm, be mindful regardless. At this stage, we cannot let even a single outlier slip by."

    The second man looked the first in the eye and continued, "Keep a firm grasp on any iing information. It has been almost a thousand years since we began acting on this n. We cannot let it get ruined in the final moment!"

    The first man bowed his head inpliance and withdrew to his seat.

    Of those present, he was thest to speak. Now that he''d finished his report, there was nothing more to be said.

    The meeting soon dispersed, leaving only a single man in the room.

    ''The Golden Dragon n''s enemies are greater than expected. If we encounter some interference¡­no! The words of that person all those years ago¡­we cannot allow them toe true!''

    The man bit his lip nervously.

    He couldn''t help but remember the divination the ck Dragon n had been forced to receive all those years ago.

    Back then, he was just a child, a child who only managed to hear the final words of that prophecy.

    "He who tames the Golden Star will one day enve the ck Dragon."

    A fate of very, was this the only end for his n¡­?

    Uneptable!

    The veracity of the prophecy couldn''t be doubted. Even the Demigod Elders at the time verified that the Seer wasn''t a fool.

    But could anyone ept such a fate?

    Absolutely not!

    For the past 1000 years, the ck Dragon n had been slowly and covertly growing themselves to antagonize the Master of the Golden Star, the Golden Dragon Emperor.

    If Beast Emperor Star, the Fate Star, could be overtaken, if the Golden Dragon Emperor could be in, then wouldn''t the ck Dragon n see their fate reversed?

    This long-awaited day was finally on the horizon.

    "Everything must happen perfectly tomorrow¡­" the man, Pretus'' eyes sharpened into swords.

    "¡­otherwise, even a single mistake can cause the end of our n!"

    ***

    The Golden Dragon n Estate was truly a gargantuan area.

    With its size, it absolutely wouldn''t be strange to call it a country rather thanbel it as the estate of a single n. On Beast Emperor Star, no influence could upy nearly as much territory as the ruling family had, especially for personal use.

    However, it wasn''t as if this massive plot ofnd was used for mere decoration or authority. In fact, the Golden Dragon n was an influence with several hundred million existences under its banner, and the entire n Estate was upied by them, essentially in a structure not much different from a functioning country.

    The only difference was that each and every individual living in the estate had at least a noticeable amount of Golden Dragon Bloodline.

    What set the Royal Family apart was the fact that their Ancestor was a True Godbeast and also the founder of this empire that now spanned the entirety of Beast Emperor Star and the Beast Domain it resides in!

    Nevertheless, the Golden Dragon n Estate''s physical and spiritual meaning was evident. It was a ce all people desired to visit at some point.

    And now, one of the rare asions where the main estate, the portion of the country where only those with pure bloodline could enter, was open to the general public.

    "Hey, hey, let me through!"

    "I was here first! Stop trying to cut me!"

    "Eh? You want to see how I cut you?"

    "I''d like to see you try!"

    Two people fell to the floor in unison, not even able to finish their arguments. With absolute swiftness and efficiency, they disappeared from the clogged lines that spanned the Golden Dragon n at the moment.

    "Don''t push! Move in an orderly line! Anyone who causes trouble will be immediately removed!" A nearby guard yelled, emphasizing the point.

    He wasn''t the only one yelling. For several thousand kilometers, countless guards were stationed to manage the lines of people and maintain peace.

    Along with these guards, a shadow unit remained to rapidly remove any troublemakers so the guards wouldn''t have to personally act and cause amotion.

    Overall, the security measures in ce were extraneous. But at the same time, nobody questioned them.

    After all, when they finally made their way into the estate, they forgot all about the troubles they experienced before.

    Beautiful golden fate clouds hung in the air, showering all those under their gait with auspicious air. The mana was calm and enlightening, even directly healing some elderly and sickly mortals back to their peak state.

    The streets were lined with extravagant decorations no matter how many thousands of kilometers one traveled. Street stalls were set up, selling souvenirs, food items, and anything else one could think of to the average consumer.

    The atmosphere was filled with joy andughter as the festive aura enveloped and infected everyone.

    It was like a fairnd.

    With the passing of time, the cities crowded and millions of people made their way through the lines.

    And when it hit noon on the second day¡­

    VOOM!

    A titanic projection appeared in the sky, depicting a domineering and handsome man with piercing golden eyes that seemed to look down on the entire universe.

    "Citizens, visitors, and those from other worlds and walks of life, wee to our Golden Dragon n''s Festival of Fate!" He proimed, his voice booming for millions of kilometers without end.

    "As you all know, the main event of this festival is a grand tournament for many treasures, and most importantly, for my daughter''s hand in marriage! However, we cannot have the main event take ce so early! Eat, drink, and celebrate! Enjoy the next few days of small events that we have prepared and when 5 days finally pass¡­"

    "We will finally hold the grand tournament, the most prestigious event of our Beast Domain in the past decade!"

    RAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

    Immediately, the earth shook as if a natural disaster was going to take ce. Raucous, wild cheers rang out from every corner of the Golden Dragon Estate as not only the n members, but also the guests cheered toplete the Golden Dragon Emperor''s speech.

    The second his projection faded from the sky, the world became a party bus.

    The Festival of Fate had finally begun.

 Chapter 908 Festival [4]

    Chapter 908 Festival [4]

    "Commence the n."

    Multiple teams moved upon receiving themand. Their first task wasn''t something as grand as assassination, nor were they nning to copse the festivities.

    No, if the ck Dragon n wanted to seed in their objective, they needed to be far more subtle.

    After all, destroying the Golden Dragon n wasn''t as simple as it sounded.

    For a n so connected to fate, merely attacking them head-on wouldn''t work. Their fate was too strong, making it highly likely that they''d somehow pull through or find a way to survive and rise up another day.

    To destroy the Golden Dragon n, one first needed to disperse their fate.

    This was the main goal of the ck Dragon n for the past thousand years. Slowly but surely, they encroached upon the Golden Dragon n''s influence in the Beast Domain and heavily undermined it.

    While their efforts didn''t directly damage the Golden Dragon n, they did have an effect.

    They brought the ruling n down from their pedestal.

    The illustrious Fate Clouds that protected them from harm and offered them countless fortuitous opportunities, one of suchnded the Genesis Bead in their hands, were far weaker than they used to be.

    Now, it wasn''t impossible to bring the n down like it was when they first started their endeavor.

    Now, if the ck Dragon n could use this grand event to strike a fatal chink in their enemy''s armor¡­

    The first group of teams was sent out for menial disruption. Their job was to inconvenience people and bother them, evading the security troops and causing trouble that went unsolved.

    The people would slowly build slight resentment towards the Golden Dragon n who couldn''t keep them safe during the festival that urred in their ownnds.

    If one couldn''t even protect people within their reach, how could one be expected to rule an entire empire?

    The n, on paper, had no ws. Because the ck Dragon n didn''t n to make any big movements, there would be no reason for the Golden Dragon n to suspect or pursue them.

    At least, that''s what they thought.

    Shing!

    A sword shed through the air.

    "Who are you?! Why are you attacking us?!" A panicked civilian eximed.

    He huddled together with his children and protected them under his body as he looked at the woman slowly approaching them.

    She was already surrounded by a pool of blood, blood from those who had no ability to even speak before they were killed.

    Looking down at the man, the woman smiled. Her ocean blue eyes were ironically without waves as she raised her sword.

    "I don''t know who created your disguise technique, but it means nothing in front of my light."

    She shed her sword down, and immediately, the terrified civilian''s eyes changed.

    "Dammit!" He eximed, jumping back to avoid the sword.

    Elena''s de shed directly through the two children he was holding in his grasp, however, a ball of light soon enveloped their remains.

    Puff!

    The "children" exploded into a ball of murky fumes that almost melted through Elena''s mana barrier.

    "Smart move, but using poison on a Valkyrie? Please."

    Elena flicked her finger, dispersing the light ball and using the force to propel the poison back at the man, who narrowly dodged.

    The poisonnded on the ground next to him and melted a hole almost a kilometer deep in a single instant.

    "How brutal."

    Elena''s voice rang in the man''s ears.

    His eyes widened.

    His head snapped to the side¡­

    ¡­and then kept going.

    It spun through the air with a fountain of blood before he even realized what was happening.

    Elena looked down at the man''s body in disgust.

    "Hmph."

    She pulled an object out of her spatial ring. It was something of a ss ball, filled with milky white liquid and purple sparks that looked like a strangely inverted cosmos.

    ''ck Dragon n¡­none of you can escape me today.''

    She grinned as she felt the Life fluctuations entering her body nourishing her mind, and elevating herprehension.

    ''I only have it until the festival ends, but this is more than enough for now. If worstes to worst, I can just run.'' Elena thought to herself.

    This object was none other than the Genesis Bead, something she''d managed to get her hands on after ceaselessly bargaining with and convincing the Golden Dragon Emperor.

    For the next few days, she''d be able to use it to her heart''s content as long as she spent at least 3 hours a day tracking down and suppressing the n''s enemies with its abilities.

    It was an absolutely advantageous deal, and Elena didn''t n to return the emperor''s sincerity with disrespect.

    Until the event ended, she didn''t mind being the emperor''s sword.

    And when it ended, she didn''t mind bing his enemy.

    ''A spatial expert, eh? You''re unlucky to have met me. If it was anyone else, I''d be worried, but when ites to spatial experts¡­''

    ''¡­I have way too much experience for your kind to fool me.''

    She smiled slyly as she tracked the next group of enemies, this time from a smaller influence called the Fiery Anaconda n.

    ''¡­I have way too much experience for your kind to fool me.''

    ***

    Elena wasn''t some newbie.

    The ck Dragon n was obviously plotting something malicious, but she and anyone with some sense would understand that these small teams wouldn''t have the information she needed.

    To gain information on the ck Dragon n''s true objectives, she needed to attract their attention to her and make them send more valuable assets to suppress her.

    And to do so, wasn''t the easiest way to absolutely oppress them to the point where they could only seethe in silence or attack?

    This was Elena''s exact strategy. While she targeted other smaller influences as well, she made sure to specifically make things difficult for the ck Dragon n.

    The Valha Soul named Damon was extremely advanced, and could share its sight, hearing, and even memories and skills with Elena. Using it as a medium, Elena was able to essentially take half the under her web and turn it into her absolute domain.

    ''They sent out 62 teams, but none of them had a soldier over 3rd ss. It looks like their original goal was to move quietly and cause harm in the shadows, but how can I let that happen?''

    After leaving the Valha Mystic Realm, Elena had changed in many ways, one of which was her fighting style.

    Elena used to be a frontlinebatant, an infinite warrior who would never tire.

    She never let go of these traits, of course, but her training path had long deviated from keeping such a thing as a focus.

    The current Elena was an Empress, a cunning general who could expertly maneuver her troops to get her work done for her.

    However¡­

    ''Even the Empress should have some time to y, no?''

    The Genesis Bead wasn''t a treasure that worked best in solitude, it was a treasure whose greatest benefits could be felt when one was constantly on the move and using it.

    ''Aha, do such coincidences happen all the time on Beast Emperor Star?'' Elena thought with a smile.

    She''d just been thinking about wanting to y, and as if on cue, the ck Dragon n had finally sent her some ymates.

    The day ended and the night passed, filled with uninterrupted festivity.

    And under the veil of peace and security, a single woman was facing off against an entire n of dragons.

    What an exciting event!

 Chapter 909 Confrontation [1]

    The location was a rtively unpopted region in the Golden Dragon n Estate.

    Elena currently stood face to face with a group of figures wearing tight ck clothing as expected of assassins.

    "You''ve finally decided to show yourself?" Shemented with a smirk, panning her gaze over the group.

    ''They''re all in the middle stages and early stages of 4th ss. This ck Dragon n is seriously underestimating me.'' She thought inwardly.

    It was to be expected since this was only the second wave, but she was still a bit disappointed that she wouldn''t get to personally fight today.

    ''16th Infantry Unit, respond.''

    Elena allowed her hand to hover over the ground below, dripping her mana into the earth as if it was liquid.

    Within milliseconds of her snarky remarks, a group of 15 soldiers in glowing white armor materialized before her.

    The assassins hadn''t yet been able to move yet.

    "Let''s make this fun. The 16th Infantry is the weakest unit in my army. If you can beat them, maybe you have the qualifications to be considered ants in my eyes!"

    She smiled giddily and flicked her wrist forward, giving themand to charge.

    In such a situation, why would she let her enemy have the first move?

    As she''d imed, the 16th Infantry was Elena''s newest formed and thus weakest unit. Its strength was still around the same level as that of the assassins'', making it so they wouldn''t suffer an immediate defeat as they would in front of any other troop.

    15 white-d soldiers charged as one, meeting the group of 20 assassins before they could take advantage of their mobility.

    ng! ng! ng! ng!

    Swords and spears shed against short swords and knives. Despite the sudden nature of the situation, the assassins didn''t panic in the slightest.

    They worked as a well-oiled machine and immediately reacted to the change in the situation.

    The leader of the group was a man named Dn. Within the ck Dragon n, his rank wasn''t too high, but he was the son of an outer elder.

    This mission was one of many he''d been assigned in the past few decades, and the team that followed him was able to follow hismand as if they were parts of his body.

    Whoosh!

    He slid his knives against the great sword of his enemy and forced therger de to the side. The second he finished this maneuver, he pushed on the balls of his feet and retreated several meters.

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

    His unit followed directly after, waiting for hismand to move.

    ''The enemy is more difficult than expected. This might not be an operation our team can handle.''

    Dn was a man who''d been in the field long enough to develop an instinct for these sorts of things, and he wasn''t the type of person to throw away the lives of his brothers in a hopeless battle.

    ''First, test the waters.''

    His eyes sharpened as he made the decision. Within a split second, he''d already vanished into the shadows, turning into a small trail of smoke that swerved through the air until it was directly behind the head of the main Valha Soul.

    ''Shadow Demon Art First Form: Void sh.''

    The Shadow Demon Art, the main art of the ck Dragon n''s Covert Operations Division, was an art that used a single sh to end all things.

    Dn''s figure materialized like a ghost, his legs wrapping around the Valha Soul''s head and constricting its movements. Within an instant, his knife was already stabbed through the enemy''s helmet, his attack in the process of executing.

    Shing!

    A ck sh of light cut through the Valha soul and connected Dn''s knife to the ground. As the Valha Soul split in two, Dn jumped back and surveyed the area, keeping his eyes focused on Elena.

    Shing!

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    All around, the 19 remaining members of his squad followed his movements andunched a coordinated attack. From the start, they had higher numbers than the enemy, and as a unit trained to fight above their own level, dealing with them was far easier than their initial collision made it seem like it would be.

    Dn''s eyes narrowed.

    ''It shouldn''t be this easy.'' He thought with a frown.

    The dangerous aura he felt from Elena indicated that her true power was far beyond this.

    The itching feeling in the back of his mind refused to leave, and as if confirming his thoughts¡­

    "Oh! You''re a lot more skilled than I expected."

    A teasing voice came from the very enemy he''d been so carefully watching.

    "Hmm, this is where we have a problem. Everyone else is too powerful, and I don''t want you to die just yet¡­" Elena muttered, cing her finger on her chin in thought.

    "Well, I guess I''ll just do it myself."

    She smiled and swept her hand through the air, grabbing the sword that materialized from her spatial ring.

    It was an incredibly familiar thin single-edged de, the same de Damien had Vormec forge her all those years ago.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, this de was no longer the same as it used to be.

    In its current state¡­

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Elena''s movements were soundless. Her sword moved through the air with such precision that it barely made a sound.

    Before Dn could process her movements, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his legs.

    Spurt!

    Spurt!

    Spurt!

    Simultaneously, the extremities of each member of the squad tore open, forcing them to copse to the floor, blood spraying wantonly around them.

    ''What¡­just¡­''

    Dn''s eyes widened in shock.

    ''This mission is impossible.''

    The thought he had earlier was instantly confirmed.

    ''Our priority is escape!''

    Dn gritted his teeth and pushed his mana, connecting to his spatial ring and summoning a certain item.

    "Ah, ah, I can''t have you doing that."

    Elena''s voice was like a reaper''s. She appeared behind Dn and stabbed her sword through his torso, pinning him to the ground.

    "You seem to be the leader of this little group, so answer a few questions for me. When it''s done, I''ll give you a painless death. How''s that for a deal?"

    Dn''s eyes burned in rage. Dying on a mission was one thing, but being humiliated by the enemy like this wasn''t something he could ever ept!

    Ptui!

    Heunched a ball of spit at Elena''s feet.

    "I''ll never bow to scum who opposes our n!" He said firmly.

    Without waiting for a response, he red his mana into the atmosphere.

    VOOM!

    A talisman appeared in the sky and covered the area. The 20 members of the assassination squad were covered in a bright light as their bodies were connected to the talisman.

    "Teleportation Device?" Elena muttered. "That''s a bit troublesome."

    She wasn''t a spatial expert who could interfere with the spell''s activation, nor was she a formation master who could break the talisman''s function before it activated,

    However, on the other hand¡­

    ''Isn''t it better for me if they return?''

    Fighting an endless horde of weaker enemies wasn''t fun at all. Even if Elena was participating in this fight for more serious reasons, it didn''t mean she wanted to prolong something that didn''t need to be prolonged.

    "But I can''t let you think you beat me. I can''t cancel the whole formation, but¡­"

    Elena smiled and looked down at the man pinned to the ground before her.

    "¡­I''ll keep you here for now."

    She withdrew her sword and brandished it into the air.

    ''Severing Evil.''

    A sh of light epassed the environment.

    In reality, it was two shesbined into one.

    In the first, a bright white sword light cut through something ethereal, something formless.

    In the second, 19 bodies vanished from the surroundings, leaving only two.

    Dn shivered as he copsed to the floor and coughed blood, bacsh from his sudden disconnection from the talisman formation.

    Meanwhile, Elena stood with the same indifferent smile on her face.

    This man might''ve been somewhat low on the food chain, but he surely had some information¡­right?

    Well, there was nothing left to do but find out.

    And finding out¡­was one of Elena''s favorite things to do.

 Chapter 910 Confrontation [2]

    ''Hmm¡­this is troublesome.''

    Elena stood not far from where she originally defeated the assassination squad.

    It hadn''t been too long since the battle ended, and though she tortured the man named Dn for over an hour already, he didn''t seem to want to spit out any information.

    And along with that trouble¡­

    "You ck Dragon n guys are seriously annoying," Elena muttered.

    Surrounding her were over 200 assassins, a group assembled to counter her the second the original 19 were teleported back to wherever they went.

    The part that annoyed Elena, however, was the fact that none of them were nearly strong enough to make a difference.

    "Let''s just get this over with." She sighed.

    "Damon, take care of them yourself. I''ll give you two moves."

    Upon Elena''s words, a figure appeared before her like a blur.

    The Valha Soul named Damon panned his gaze over the crowd, the blue mes that acted as his eyes flickering in arrogance.

    He raised his sword without hesitation.

    The assassins moved at the same time.

    But the oue was already known. It was impossible for these troops to do anything.

    Damon''s sword shed once. A beautiful white sword pattern formed in the air, depicting a world-devouring wolf howling into the void.

    The wolf looked down upon the world below with eyes indifferent to all things.

    And then, it mmed down its paw.

    RUMBLE!

    BOOM!

    The earth exploded. Half of the assassins that were in the middle of their charge were skewered by w-like protrusions that rose ording to the wolf''s will.

    Damon''s sword swang once more.

    This time, the effect was a single line cut through the air. It was a seemingly simple attack, however, as soon as the remaining assassins moved to avoid it, the attack split into countless branches that chased them to the ends of the earth until they were pierced.

    Just as Elena ordered, they were ughtered in two moves.

    "As I thought, it was a terrible idea to send those wastes."

    A voice resounded. A woman with beautiful ck hair and golden eyes walked into the scene, unaffected by the surrounding gore.

    "You are?" Elena asked.

    "Hm, you can call me Dalia." The woman responded as she nced at the corpses on the ground in disgust.

    "You''re here for them?" Elena questioned again.

    Dalia sneered inadvertently. "Don''t lump me in with these useless wastes. The n elders seem to value these lower-level troops, but what''s the point in having them if they''ll just die randomly like this?"

    "I am indeed a member of the ck Dragon n, but I''m not here on the n''s orders."

    She turned her gaze to Elena with a condescending smirk.

    "Today, I''vee to see whether or not you''re worthy of our n''s attention."

    Elena''s eyes narrowed. "And are you worthy of judging me?"

    "Don''t be so hostile from the start. I''m also a believer in give and take. If you manage to impress me, I''ll tell you some of the information you''re probably looking for right now." Dalia spoke convincingly.

    "Impress you? Don''t make meugh. A brat like you can do nothing but spout bullshit and act high and mighty. Instead of impressing you, I think I should teach you a lesson for your parents!" Elena sneered.

    "I don''t know if you know this, but I don''t like uncooperative people."

    "And I don''t like pretentious bitches, so I guess we''re on the same page."

    Dalia red at Elena, clearly taking offense to her words.

    "I wanted to talk a little before we started fighting, but you''re just itching to be killed, aren''t you?"

    Elena rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Are you a practitioner or a storyteller? If you want to fight, then just fight!"

    Elena no longer entertained conversation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The aura radiating from this Dalia was far stronger than the men that''d just died. It was obvious that not only her strength, but her status and ess to information were much greater than theirs.

    Elena''s sword came down on her head incredibly fast, moving as a blur in the air. The fluctuations of mana on the sword were intrinsically different than what Elena had shown thus far, evidently containing more profundity.

    Dalia''s eyes narrowed as she stepped back and avoided the strike. She waved her hand and summoned a beautiful ck and gold fan, swiping it through the air and shing it against Elena''s sword.

    ng!

    A dull metallic collision rang out. Despite its size, the fan was able to hold off Elena''s sword with ease.

    However, Dalia was well aware of the nuances of her weapon. Head-on collision wasn''t it''s strong suit.

    Keeping her body in a mostlyid-back posture as if she had no desire to entertain the fight, Dalia scraped the edge of her closed fan across Elena''s sword and pushed thetter weapon out of the way.

    When Elena''s guard was broken, she immediately struck out, piercing the fan into Elena''s body.

    Elena dodged easily, bringing her swords up to counter. However, Dalia was clearly aware of how she would move. When the fan was only a centimeter away from Elena, Dalia snapped it open, mming her arm to the side with an extremely energetic motion.

    Shing!

    The sharpened fan de cut across Elena''s stomach and created a terrifying gash. Blood spurted into the air and covered Dalia''s vision.

    And as she waited for the counterattack toe through the blood fog¡­

    ''Yggdrasil.''

    The ground under her feet rumbled.

    BOOM! BANG! BANG!

    A thick tree trunk burst out of the earth and encapsted her, growing high into the sky.

    Dalia''s eyes narrowed as she observed her new prison. She still had minor mobility, and using that, she attempted to destroy the tree trunk entirely and escape.

    Unfortunately for her, it wasn''t that simple.

    ''Siphon.''

    Elena gave amand and the divine tree Yggdrasil responded. Its branches glowed with greenish-white light and its trunk went alit withplex patterns,

    Dalia immediately felt the change. Her life force, her blood vitality, was slowly being sucked away by something.

    "You actually yed such a dirty trick?!" Dalia yelled in fury.

    "What dirty trick? Did you expect me to hold back while fighting you?" Elena replied with a smirk.

    Dalia''s eyes sharpened into daggers that pierced through her enemy.

    "Fine, if that''s how you want to y, let''s y then!"

    ROOOOAAAAAR!!!

    Dalia opened her mouth and roared into the heavens, producing a sound that absolutely shouldn''t have been possible with her small throat.

    Her body expanded, wings exploded out of her spine, a tail extended itself from her lower back, and most of all¡­

    Dalia''s figure morphed into something else entirely, growing bigger and bigger until even Yggdrasil could no longer hold it.

    BANG!

    The manifested tree burst into a rain of splinters, and out of it emerged an enormous ck dragon that looked down on the world in contempt.

    Elena grinned when she saw it.

    Really, she loved prideful beasts the most.

    A 4th ss beast''s human form was apounded version of their power, their greatest and most powerful form.

    However, beasts were extremely prideful.

    It genuinely wasn''t rare to see them return to their beast forms in battle, even if it did make themprehensively weaker.

    And while it was true that their familiarity with their bodies would give them greater skill than they had in human form¡­

    A bigger target was just a bigger target.

    And now that Dalia had turned herself into a bigger target, how could Elena just leave her be?

 Chapter 911 Confrontation [3]

    ''Valkyrie Form: Activate!''

    To fight an airborne enemy, one also needed to find a way to get airborne. And while all practitioners at their level could fly, achieving the aerial maneuverability of a winged creature was impossible unless one specialized in an attribute epassing flying techniques.

    Elena''s light and life affinities didn''t have any connection to flying, however, they had many connections to the body itself and with speed.

    With Elena''s call, a beautifully ornate tinum-silver armor formed around her body. A pair of angelic wings sprouted from her back, and her sword was covered in a myriad of runic patterns that intrinsically influenced its identity.

    Finally, a helmet formed around her head. Two wings decorated its sides, ring out behind Elena''s head majestically. The front of the helmet was mainly uncovered, allowing her enemies to see her heroic appearance as she defeated them.

    Crack!

    BANG!

    Elena pushed her feet against the ground and shot into the air, meeting Dalia head-on.

    "Damn human, I''ll kill you!" Dalia eximed.

    In all honesty, the sentiments she held had changed severely over the course of the battle.

    It was fine for Elena to be more beautiful than her, but it absolutely wasn''t eptable for the enemy to be both more beautiful and more powerful!

    Dalia was a practitioner, and naturally, she held the ambitions of a practitioner.

    She wanted to be the perfect woman that none could everpare to.

    And thus, whenever she saw women who might surpass her¡­

    Crush without mercy!

    Seeing the Valkyrie charging towards her, Dalia turned her massive body and mmed her tail towards the enemy.

    The gargantuan wrecking ball-like tail swung through the air with speed that defied physics and reached Elena perfectly, striking her body with its full power.

    BOOM!

    Elena raised her sword and brought it down against Dalia''s thick-scaled tail. Sparks flew as the two surfaces collided, almost making one believe two metals were scraping against each other.

    Elena gritted her teeth and dragged her sword across Dalia''s tail in a bid to deflect it, but this task wasn''t easy facing such a massive object.

    ''Particle eleration!''

    Elena''s sword began to vibrate as it shone with light. The de became thinner and thinner until it reached a specific point, a point where the particles within the sword were moving so fast that nothing could stand in its way!

    However, such wasn''t nearly enough to warrant the attack''s grand name.

    Shing!

    Elena''s sword cut through Dalia''s tail and gouged out arge chunk of flesh.

    Dalia immediately twisted her body, mming her ws down to push Elena away, however, this only provided her the opportunity she was waiting for.

    ''Burst!''

    Particle eleration, would it truly be able to hold its name if it was merely a matter of speed?

    The fast-moving particles that made up Elena''s sword crashed into each other one by one, and as Elena''s mana maintained the sword''s basic shape, it was slowly filled with the energy of atomic copse.

    While it wasn''t anything near creating a speedster, Elena''s particle eleration wasn''t anything tough about.

    Dalia pushed her wings as fast as possible and retreated the instant she felt the fluctuation, but Elena didn''t let her go.

    She chased the dragon relentlessly, shing her sword out every few seconds.

    Along with these shes¡­

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

    Fiery atomic impacts covered the area for several thousand kilometers. The environment became a nuclear minefield filled with terrifying radiation and mana fluctuations that could instantly incinerate any normal early or middle-stage 4th ss in seconds.

    Whoosh!

    Dalia flew high into the sky, far into the atmosphere and away from the nuclear fallout.

    Hoo!

    She inhaled a deep breath of pure air and gritted her teeth, her eyes zing in defiance.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The enemy was extremely powerful, powerful to the point where she was being suppressed without the ability to fight back.

    The worst part was, they weren''t too far away in level!

    Elena''s advantagey in speed and attribute. Both of these opposed Dalia''s features, making it difficult to find a proper opening to sneak an attack in.

    Dalia wasn''t a member of the Covert Operations Unit that Dn came from, but she was from an adjacent unit that used simr techniques.

    The problem was that to avoid the current Elena, Dalia needed to maintain dragon form, but in dragon form, Dalia only had ess to instinctual techniques that wouldn''t be able topete on such a profound level.

    ''Dammit!'' She cursed inwardly. She clearly understood that she was the one who forced herself into this position, but she simply couldn''t ept that there was no way to recover.

    ''That''s it! If I¡­''

    "Heresy Inquisition: Judgement Chains"

    Elena''s voice rang out like a reaper''s. Glowing white chains with beautiful golden etchings decorating their surface sprung out of thin air and wrapped around Dalia''s massive body.

    ROOOOAAAAAR!!

    She let out a furious roar as she struggled against them. She let her mana ze free, shooting out flurries of dragon breath and even using her pressure to try and suppress Elena directly.

    However, the Judgement Chains weren''t a normal skill.

    This was a skill that could only be used when one had absolute certainty that their enemy couldn''t escape.

    ''Bind.''

    Elena clenched her fist, forcing the chains to tighten horrifically around Dalia''s body.

    Shick!

    A strange sound rang out as the chains dug into her scales.

    OOOOOOOH!

    Dalia howled in pain, never-ending her struggle to escape.

    But no matter how much she indulged in futility, her fate was set from the moment she gave Elena time to prepare.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The chains extended endlessly until they pierced the earth and took hold of it. They dragged Dalia down to the ground without any care for her situation, ripping into her body as they did so.

    BANG!

    When her body finallynded in the ground, Elena materialized on top of her, a smug grin decorating her face.

    "How does it feel knowing that your defeat is your fault and your fault alone?" Elena asked, fully aware of the reason for her easy victory.

    Dalia red back with endless rage in her eyes.

    "If it wasn''t for my own mistakes, you would have never been able to capture me!" She eximed defiantly.

    "Oh? And since when did that matter?"

    Elena''s eyes sharpened. She stabbed her sword down into one of the gashes on Dalia''s underbelly, twisting it and worsening the wound manifold.

    Ahhhh!

    A screech rang out in response. Dalia immediately shut up.

    She was arrogant, but she was never an idiot.

    She had let her arrogance control her, and itnded her in such a miserable situation.

    She wouldn''t let it be the death of her as well.

    "Now then," Elena muttered as she saw the subtle change in her opponent''s mentality, "let''s get started."

    She pped her hands together and summoned an illusory weighing scale.

    "Today, you will face judgement. All lies are meaningless before the eyes of heaven, and all sin will inevitably meet retribution. Face the pride of the Valkyries and answer to your sins!"

    Elena fiercely chanted the incantation, and in response, the illusory weighing scale transformed into the form of a beautiful goddess.

    The moment she opened her gigantic eyes¡­

    Dalia''s consciousness was muddied into nonexistence.

 Chapter 912 Confrontation [4]

    Thest thing Dalia heard was the angelic chanting that called forth the goddess. Thest thing she saw was that authoritative gaze that immediately copsed her ego.

    Dalia felt like she was submerged in endless muddy water. Light, sound, sensation as a whole felt distant and ethereal.

    Just¡­how did she arrive in this ce?

    in the outside world, Dalia''s body rxed, herrge head falling to the floor. Her eyes zed over without a hint of consciousness, however, Dalia had yet topletely pass out.

    Elena watched her calmly, waiting for her to reach this state.

    "First question: What is your name and rank?" She askedmandingly.

    "Dalia Necron, Leader of the ck Dragon n''s 64th Attack Team."

    The response she wanted came immediately. Dalia answered with slurred words, clearly unable to consciously understand her own actions.

    Elena nodded matter-of-factly.

    "Good. Why did you attack me today?"

    Elena immediately got to the bulk of the issue.

    After all, there was no need to continue stalling.

    The spell was clearly in effect.

    The Judgement Chains were only a single part of a whole, a condition necessary to activate the true judgment spell that Elena had just used.

    With this spell, she could coerce the truth out of her enemies without worrying about bias or trickery.

    However, this skill had many conditions, the most constraining of which only allowed her to use this attack on those at the same level as or more powerful than her.

    The Valkyries were a race that represented absolute justice. They were a race that viewed the world in ck and white, disallowing anything that didn''t fit into their ssifications.

    While this was a trait that inevitably contributed to their extinction, it wasn''tpletely negative.

    For instance, the Valkyries inherently didn''t have any techniques that could be used to bully the weak.

    Even Elena somewhat mirrored this sentiment, which was why she sent the 16th Infantry to fight Dn and his group before taking action herself.

    Nevertheless, Dalia''s appearance was a great lucky chance for Elena from the beginning, which was why she pushed so hard during battle without regard for the atmosphere or secrecy, aiming to take Dalia down as quickly as possible.

    "My purpose foring was¡­" Dalia began.

    "To be the best in the universe."

    "borate." Elena prodded.

    "I was given intel about a woman who was both powerful and beautiful. If I cannot defeat such a woman, my path will be destroyed."

    Elena almost directly scoffed at the stupid and selfish thought process, but she put her personal feelings aside.

    "What is the ck Dragon n nning?"

    "The¡ª"

    Kak¡­!

    Dalia coughed out a mouthful of blood as her eyes mildly cleared up.

    Elena''s face turned dignified as she pushed her mana, encasing Dalia''s consciousness in a proverbial film that didn''t allow it to resurface.

    ''Looks like they aren''tpletely stupid.'' Elena thought to herself.

    Dalia definitely hadn''t returned to consciousness by herself. There was definitely some sort of restriction in ce preventing her from talking.

    ''Luckily I stopped pushing it before it got too bad. If I question her so directly, I won''t be able to obtain any information at all.''

    Elena sighed. At times like these, she truly wished she could directly read memories.

    Unfortunately, such a power was already outside the bounds of universalw.

    "Whatever. New question: how manyrades do you have in the vicinity?"

    Elena phrased the question to avoid triggering thoughts about the ck Dragon n in title as well as the overarching goals of the n. As such, she was hoping the restriction wouldn''t activate.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "65 million troops are on Beast Emperor Star."

    This time, Dalia was able to respond properly,

    Elena''s eyes sharpened.

    "And what is the strength distribution among them?"

    "64,900,000 3rd ss and below, 70,000 early and middle stage 4th ss, 20,000te-stage 4th ss, 5,000 peak 4th ss, 2,000 1st and 2nd revolution, 1,000 3rd and 4th revolution, 1,000 5th and 6th revolution, 10 7th and 8th revolution, 1 9th revolution."

    An egregious sum of individuals, and an egregious collection of strength.

    Elena finally found out the true scale of the enemy she was facing.

    She finally understood just how grand the current confrontation was.

    A n that had spanned for several generations, a grudge that had been festering for an unimaginable amount of time, how could it be something simple?

    Even if it was only a single part of this n, it was something that the ck Dragon n put every single bit of its resources into.

    But Elena had no fear.

    As long as she moved smartly using the information she could acquire from her target¡­

    She didn''t believe the ck Dragon n could bring her down.

    ***

    Elena moved swiftly through Beast Emperor Star.

    Dalia had already been thoroughly used and discarded, and with her unwittingly giving Elena a considerable amount of information, the need to keep anyone alive disappeared.

    Nevertheless, Elena covered up the battle scene to the best of her abilities, incinerated the corpses, and immediately set off.

    Her destination?

    One of three main bases on Beast Emperor Star that the ck Dragon n was acting out of. This was the most important piece of information Elena was able to dig out of Dalia before her brain was melted by the restriction.

    ''It''s unfortunate that I couldn''t find the second or third bases, but I don''t have the power to face the enemies in those bases either¡­I need to move quickly.''

    The base where Dalia and Dn came from was the weakest of the three, made evident by their low strength.

    Elena didn''t n to just destroy the base, she nned to use it as a stepping stone to unearth the rest of the ck Dragon n.

    The problem was, she was racing against time.

    The Festival of Fate wouldst 5 days, and with each passing day, the ck Dragon n''s ns would be furthered and their hostility would rise.

    Before they could push matters to a full-blown war, Elena needed to smoke them out and hit them first.

    ''If I want to do that, I need to destroy this base and gather information on the other two within the day. If I''m not prepared to strike by the time 24 hours pass, I''ll lose.''

    It was a little terrifying to think of. Elena wasn''t even at the extreme peak yet, but the enemy she faced even included a Supreme, an existence who was on the very cusp of Divinity.

    However¡­

    Was it different in Eien?

    Elena left the Valha Mystic Realm around the same time Damien left Calypto, and just as he did, she experienced more than a few time dtions.

    While she didn''t gain nearly the number of years Damien did, she was able to gain a considerable amount of experience.

    She knew what the true universe looked like, and she had faced the most harrowing battlefields known to man, those that existed in Eien.

    After all, that was a ce where innumerable existences were massacred every second.

    ''Haha,pared to those Nox Supremes, the ck Dragon n almost looks like a joke.''

    Elena''s confidence hit an all-time high.

    And within a few minutes, she arrived at her destination.

 Chapter 913 Infiltration [1]

    A sprawling sea spanned for as far as the eye could see, tinged in a gold hue by the sky above.

    It was currently just approaching dusk, giving Elena a solid 24 hours to work with.

    The base she was looking for was directly below her feet, submerged in the waves and hidden from the world.

    Now that she''d arrived here, it was time to take action.

    ''Yggdrasil''s Roots,e.''

    Yggdrasil''s roots, the foundation of the world tree that extended below the earth and supported its growth from the shadows, a title given to the covert operations unit among Elena''s Valha Souls.

    These souls were special in that, unlike the rest of the soldiers, these souls didn''t make it to Valha.

    These were the abandoned souls residing outside Valha, begging for a way to salvation.

    When Elena encountered them the first time, she realized that these souls were a manifestation of the dark underside of society that even a race as upright as the Valkyries had to deal with.

    And though these souls represented such ugliness, all things were equal under heaven. Elena immediately saw their use and added them to her army as a separate and specialized unit.

    These ck souls that were even darker than shadows, able to blend in with any environment and exist without a single hint of breathing from their bodies, these were the best possible reconnaissance agents one could ask for.

    "Go," Elenamanded.

    The souls dispersed into streaks of smoke that copsed into the ocean below. As Elena moved to a more secure position and found an underwater cave to observe from, she poured mana into her eyes and shared vision with the impure souls.

    Immediately, her vision was covered in the ckness of the deep sea, a ce where no natural light could reach.

    All around, flora and fauna alike glowed with beautiful bioluminescence, their evolutionary mechanisms that allowed them to survive in such a luckless environment for their entire lives.

    The impure souls traveled deeper and deeper until they were several hundred kilometers below sea level. At this time, they finally came in contact with the sea floor.

    ''Hm? It''s not there?'' Elena thought to herself.

    She sent out around 20 impure souls, but none of their perceptions picked up any hint of a hideout in the surroundings.

    ''But it''s impossible to lie under Judgement¡­then it can only be that.''

    Elena ordered her souls to dig deeper into the ground, bypassing the levels of earth and moltenva until they''d dug into the''s core by almost an entire kilometer.

    Whoosh!

    A slight breath of mana meandered through the area, imperceptible to all. However, the impure souls weren''t normal beings.

    In exchange for their sentience and a majority of their senses, they gained an extreme acuity for mana, something that one would be hard-pressed to match even if they searched the entire universe for equals.

    The impure souls snapped in the direction of the mana traces, moving like a pack of predators chasing their prey until finally, they arrived before a thick wall of bedrock that seemed to prevent them from moving forward.

    ''This is it.'' Elena thought as she looked at the wall.

    It was extremely coarse and it was clearly a natural structure, but Elena could clearly sense traces of tampering in the rock itself.

    ''If the roots can''t prate it, there must be some sort of preventive mechanism blocking them. Is there a way around it, or do I have to¡­?''

    Elena would definitely prefer the quiet approach, but she was pressed for time. She had to think of what option would bring her the greatest efficiency, even if the risks were higher.

    ''Cracking the mechanism isn''tpletely out of the question. Light is particrly useful as an elemental key, however, it''s unknown whether it''ll set off any rms when I try. The safest method is to wait for someone to enter and let the roots follow them, but it''s also impractical to hope someonees along at a convenient time like this¡­''

    Then again, there were 65 million cl Dragons in Beast Emperor Star at the moment. Even if the ones present in this base were less than a third of that number, it was still a considerable number of troops.

    ''Assuming that they continued their activities after I stopped actively protecting the festival, the improbability is lessened considerably.''

    Elena''s eyes sharpened. ''Then that''s that.''

    She was already in over her head. There was no need for her to recklessly get herself in trouble when other options existed.

    ''If nobodyes within half an hour, I''ll break through myself.''

    It was the absolute safest option within the restrictions of the current situation.

    As such, Elena waited.

    And waited.

    And waited.

    Half an hour passed without suspense, and despite her somewhat small hopes, not a single soul passed through the depths.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''I have no choice but to be violent.'' She sighed to herself as she stood up and prepared to act.

    However, as if waiting for that moment¡­

    A presence appeared in the ocean, traveling rapidly through the water and prating the world''s surface, eventually making his way near the b of bedrock where the impure souls were.

    ''Disperse!''

    Elena immediately ordered the souls to vanish, and they faded into nothingness immediately.

    In the next second, that man appeared, drawing a strange set of patterns on the bedrock and activating the teleportation formation present on its surface.

    Unbeknownst to him, several shadows had attached themselves to his body.

    And when he arrived on the other side of the teleportation formation, a majority of them quietly slipped into the surrounding darkness and spread through the facility they''d arrived in.

    One soul, however, decided to stay with the man, following him until he arrived before a specific room.

    Bang!

    He mmed the door open with force, his eyes filled with burning rage.

    He stormed into the room and faced those gathered within, mming his hand down on the table furiously.

    "Delia is dead. How do you n to exin this away?!" He growled, panning his gaze over those few individuals.

    They all had extremely powerful auras, far surpassing the man himself. Yet, he showed no fear.

    Elena watched with bated breaths as the rtive of the woman she killed was enveloped by the desire for revenge.

    She watched him roar at the influential figures before him with gusto, creating a scene with his power and even threatening them more than a few times.

    However, their response¡­?

    "You will receive properpensation for your loss after the n reachespletion."

    A single cold-hearted sentence.

    The man''s eyes frosted over.

    "You actually dare say that? After all that bullshit about family and camaraderie, about how we''re fighting for the fate of our n, you don''t even have the ability to sympathize with the deaths of the n''s members?" He sneered.

    "Watch your mouth, Darrius!" A nearby womanmanded.

    The man at the head of the table waved his hand dismissively. "Don''t bother. Darrius, if you cannot understand my sentiments and the sentiments of those above at the moment, then you are nothing more than a hazard to this mission. Tell me one more time, will you ept properpensation when the mission ends, or will you remain confined in the Cube until the mission ends?"

    Darrius grit his teeth in frustration. "Damnit! Fuck your mission! Why should I care about the n when my only family no longer exists in this world?!"

    He stormed out of the room, prepared to leave Beast Emperor Star. But would he be given such luxuries?

    "I see you''ve made your decision," the man spoke indifferently.

    "Then, do not me me for what happens next."

    Wap!

    A blue holographic cube abruptly sprung out from the ground below Darrius and expanded until it enveloped him inside.

    His eyes widened in shock.

    "Hey! What do you think you''re doing?!" He yelled, banging against the sides of the cube.

    Unfortunately, his strength was useless.

    "Since you have decided to abandon the cause, slumber until we have achieved victory. When we return to Necros, you will receive a proper punishment."

    "No! You can''t do this to me! Let me out, dammit!"

    The man looked away, paying no more mind to Darrius.

    And with him unable to resist at all, the cubepressed into a miniature prison that was ced on a nearby shelf.

    That was the end of Darrius'' involvement in Beast Emperor Star''s affairs.

    Or at least, that''s what his captors assumed.

 Chapter 914 Infiltration [2]

    ''I can use this.''

    Elena grinned widely in her concealed underwater cave, far away from the hidden base.

    What she''d just witnessed was definitely surprising, and though she gained no information at all, she certainly did gain something great.

    She found a way in.

    ''Forming an alliance with that man is impossible.''

    After all, she was the very murderer he hated with such passion.

    ''However, using him is a different story.''

    It felt a bit morally ambiguous to use a man with an evident understanding of right and wrong, but at the same time¡­

    ''If he came with the ck Dragon n on this mission, how can he be innocent?''

    All peoplemitted sin for the sake of survival in this gruesome universe.

    Punishing such sin for the sake of it was wrong. This was a point that the prior age of Valkyries and Elena heavily disagreed on.

    There was no sense of morality in a war between denizens. The winner was right, and the loser was dirt.

    Since everyone wasmitting sin equally, was there a need to specifically inquisition against it?

    Nevertheless, Elena made her decision rapidly. As she did so, she constantly received feedback from her remaining impure souls, giving her a rtivelyplete map of the facility.

    ''This facility''s infrastructure is too simple. It''s clear that the third hidden base is only used to store cannon fodder.''

    The strongest beings in this base were 1st and 2nd revolution masters, and on top of that, they were mostly clustered within the base''s center, the ce where Darrius just got himself captured.

    As long as Elena could avoid that area, it was likely that she could evade their perception as well.

    ''I can''t bank on that. Despite Delia''s carelessness, the ck Dragon n as a whole is taking its current operations extremely seriously. The lower level members are only told that the fate of the n is at stake without any details on why, but they''re all ready toy down their lives with just this much motivation.''

    It was a terrifying level of cohesion that would''ve seemed like mind control if an outlier like Darrius didn''t exist.

    ''It''s too unrealistic to believe I can make Darrius betray the n¡­''

    If so, she needed to get more creative.

    Dealing with smart people was always the most difficult, yet, from another perspective, wasn''t it always fun to receive a challenge?

    Elena submerged her consciousness into the impure soul that was attached to Darrius. Naturally, it was taken into the prison with him as it wastched to his body.

    Elena became one with this soul, taking control of its body and slowly materializing as wisps of smoke around Darrius.

    His eyes, closed in meditation, immediately snapped open.

    "Who?!" He roared vigntly before remembering his current situation.

    Of course, there was nobody who could prate the ck Dragon n''s special item, the Cube. It was a mobile prison with the integrity of an obsidian fortress.

    "Do you seek revenge?"

    Impossibly, a voice joined him in the prison space. It was dark, grimy, and filled with an aura of evil and death.

    "Who are you?!" Darrius yelled, spreading his awareness and heightening his senses.

    "Do you seek revenge?"

    The same words rang out again.

    Darrius'' eyes hardened.

    An entity that he couldn''t sense or perceive in any sense¡­

    Was offering him an opportunity?

    This could either be an extreme blessing or a mistake greater than any other.

    However, for the current Darrius¡­

    His sister had just been ughtered.

    He wanted to see her killer dead.

    No, he wanted to see her killer tortured until their soul copsed and then desecrated and fed to dogs.

    His eyes turned red in murderous intent.

    He stopped thinking.

    "Yes, I want revenge."

    Delia was the only family he had left in this world. Not just his direct family, but his entire family line has been massacred more than 50 years ago, leaving just him and his little sister to fend for themselves.

    The ck Dragon n was too massive for them to offer support to each and every member of the n.

    As such, the siblings were forced through a great deal of harrowing suffering before they finally received aid and were adopted by an elder of the n.

    However, just what did fate have against them?

    Even that elder was ughtered on a mission 20 years ago.

    Grown adults at that point, the siblings received no more aid at all, relegated to theirber divisions and indoctrinated into the army asmon soldiers.

    Compared to the rage in his soul right now, his feelings for the ck Dragon n were negligible.

    Elena grinned to herself.

    Consent was key.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Now that she''d received it.

    ''Take it.''

    She gave the order, and the impure soul immediately wrapped around Darrius'' body and pierced his spiritual world.

    Thereafter, it turned into a ck crystalline structure that took root on his spiritual continent.

    Darrius'' eyes widened.

    He felt an unknown power flowing through his body.

    It was murky, impure, and evil, but it wasn''t anything like the diametrically vile mana of the Nox.

    ''With this¡­'' Darrius thought to himself.

    With the aid of this strange power that had been granted to him¡­

    Crack!

    The Cube began to crack.

    And within seconds, it shattered entirely.

    Bang!

    Space imploded as thepressed space rapidly expanded back to its original size and spat Darrius out.

    "What¡­?!" The woman from earlier eximed, shooting to her feet.

    "Darrius, how did you escape?!" She roaredmandingly.

    However, the current Darrius was in no state to listen to her words.

    Grrrr¡­!

    He let out a low growl, puffs of ck mana smoke rising from his body.

    "Revenge¡­will be¡­mine!"

    Bang!

    He mmed his foot against the ground and rapidly pushed forward, rushing out of the room and several hundred meters down the corridor within a second.

    "Stop him! Do not let him leave the base!" The man in charge roared.

    rms red throughout the base, and a multitude of troops responded at once.

    Darrius was immediately surrounded from all sides.

    "Darrius, don''t make us do this!" the man at the head of the group eximed.

    Darrius nced over indifferently.

    "Peter¡­" he muttered with a brief instance of lucidity.

    Yet, even with a clear ability to understand his actions, he didn''t make a different choice.

    "I must avenge my sister, even if it costs me my life!"

    His body burst with eerie ck mana.

    And without suspense, a deadly melee began.

    ***

    sh!

    A sh of light enveloped a nondescript figure and transported her to her destination.

    Elena spread her awareness and cautiously moved forward, carefully avoiding the route Darrius was taking to the exit.

    ''The distraction is working properly, but the roots don''t have a lot of personal power. Once he runs through the energy supply, he''ll copse entirely.''

    That was the terrifying thing about impure souls. Not only could they corrupt one''s spiritual world, but they would also take back the power they lent by sucking the host''s body until they were satisfied.

    In most cases, as the host used every ounce of provided power to achieve their desires, they were never able to resist having every ounce of their mana and vitality sucked away.

    ''When that happens, the facility will go into high alert, and it''ll be almost impossible for me to escape.''

    Elena judged that she had roughly 15 minutes before Darrius ran out of steam.

    But for her current task¡­

    ''15 minutes is more than enough.''

    Elena grinned as she stuck a strange device to a nearby wall. She turned it clockwise 90 degrees, and when she let go, it melded into the wall and disappeared.

    ''One down, ny-nine to go.''

    Destroying the base was a task she could easily aplish within the given time limit.

    What she now needed to ce her focus on was finding someone to provide her with information about the other two bases.

    ''Hmm, then, am I going to have to target some extreme peak masters?''

    The thought was absurd.

    But what was the harm in entertaining it?

    Elena was sure excited to try, that much was certain.

 Chapter 915 Infiltration [3]

    Whoosh!

    Elena''s body was like a wisp of flowing wind as she moved swiftly through the ck Dragon n facility.

    In terms ofyout, as she''d noticed before, this facility wasn''tplicated at all. It was merely a collection of corridors and areas that followed a very basic rectangr structure. As long as Elena knew where she came from, it wouldn''t be difficult to get back.

    The only strange part of the architecture was the size of the rooms that stood between those corridors. They were irregr and some even dipped several hundred meters below the average level of the base.

    And naturally, the sheer size of a facility made to house several million troops couldn''t be small.

    Darrius was currently causing amotion due southeast of where Elena currently was, and as she moved deeper into the base, cing a number of devices across the walls, she got closer and closer to saidmotion.

    ''He''s holding up quite well.'' She thought to herself.

    She genuinely didn''t think Darrius would be able to hold on for so long under the siege of so many troops, but it became evident that they were hesitant to subdue and oppress him, likely due to his talent or status.

    ''If I ce these here¡­''

    Elena stood in a specific corridor and scanned the area intensely, her eyes darting around in search of something.

    ''Nice.''

    It didn''t take her long to find the perfect positioning.

    She immediately took out four more devices, much different in appearance than the previous group, and attached them to four different spots on the wall.

    Elena grinned to herself as she vanished from the area, heading deeper into the base and concealing herself as best as possible.

    ''Now then, it''s time to stir up some trouble.''

    She dashed through the corridors, and in no time at all, she was practically parallel with Darrius and the congregation of troops around him.

    And this¡­

    This was her cue to act.

    She hid herself in a nearby room, covered herself in a thick film of mana, and finally¡­

    She pressed the red button.

    ***

    "Darrius, don''t make us use force!"

    The man named Peter headed the unit suppressing Darrius in ce, roaring his pleas to solve this problem peacefully.

    Not only was Darrius a good brother of his, but he was also a valuable asset to the ck Dragon n, a talented younger generation who had the potential to be a High Elder one day.

    Ruining a genius like this, despite the nature of the situation, wasn''t something Peter wanted to do, nor was it something the higher-ups desired.

    After all, there was a reason they imprisoned him instead of directly killing him for insubordination.

    Nevertheless, Darrius was of no mind to listen. He held a pair of axes in his hands and stood ready for battle. Smoke curled out of his nostrils as he deeply exhaled, making him appear more beastly than ever before.

    Peter gritted his teeth.

    If it was like this¡­!

    "Fuck! Restrain him! Try not to injure him, but do what is necessary if the situation calls for it!"

    He immediately gave the order despite his internal hesitation.

    The troops around him charged, engaging Darrius in a furious melee.

    ng! ng! ng!

    The sound of metal shing mixed with the sound of spraying blood and echoed through the corridor. Contrary to anyone''s expectations, Darrius held his ground even while being sieged by several soldiers near his strength level.

    He swung his axes with ferocity, oozing ck mana into the surroundings that disturbed his opponents'' mental states and made it difficult for them to react properly. Using this semi-instinctual tactic, Darrius was slowly pushing through the crowd, ignoring his umted injuries as his focus remained solely on reaching the exit.

    "Dammit!" Peter roared.

    He mmed hisrge foot down on the ground, causing cracks to spread throughout the hallway.

    He didn''t have to step in, but for the sake of the ck Dragon n, he¡­!

    RUMBLE!

    "Hm?"

    Peter''s gaze snapped to the side. He suddenly felt a strange rumbling shockwave spreading from that direction.

    ''What could that be? The base is definitely¡ª''

    BANG!

    The door leading to a nearby corridor burst off its hinges and mmed into the crowd of troops, directly crushing a few of their bones into powder.

    Peter''s eyes widened.

    This pressure was¡­!

    "Everyone, run!"

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The tsunami of mes entered the room before Peter''s words could properlynd. The mes engulfed all things, spreading further and further through the base until the entire structure was enveloped in mes!

    "AHHHHH!"

    "SOMEONE HELP!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "IT HURTS! IT HURTS!"

    The wails of those beings under 4th ss sounded like evil spirits howling. They burned without any ability to resist, slowly being suffocated to death as their flesh and bones were melted down into liquid that soon evaporated in the heat of the mes.

    ''Shit! What''s happening?!'' Peter panicked inwardly as he burst through a nearby corridor and rushed deeper into the base.

    ''Where are themanders at a time like this?!''

    As he sifted through every possible scenario in his head, Peter''s ears caught wind of a recurrence of the first rumbling he heard.

    Why did it sound like¡­

    Even more explosions were going off?

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The cascading explosions got closer and closer, and the roaring fire that swallowed the base only got hotter.

    Soon enough, entry-level 4th ss beings were also falling to its ws.

    ng!

    Two axes dropped to the floor. A man stood with widened eyes as he observed the iprehensible scene around him.

    He suddenly understood.

    He had¡­lost the gamble.

    With the raging mes and chaos surrounding him, he felt an odd moment of peace.

    The crystalline ck structure in his spiritual world turned into a fog that endlessly devoured his mana and life force.

    But he felt a strange sense of peace.

    ''Father, mother, uncle, sis¡­'' he thought as he stared into the facility''s burning ceiling.

    ''I''m finallying to meet you.''

    Nobody noticed it in the current situation, but slowly, that man''s body turned into an empty husk.

    And without any support, it soon burned into cinders.

    A ck shadow imperceptibly snuck out of that burning body and made its way through the halls of the facility, finally reaching its destination.

    "You did well."

    The praise it craved, the validation from its savior¡­

    It was absolutely delighted to hear thesest words as it returned to Valha.

    ***

    Elena swept her hand through the air and collected the final impure soul remaining in the base. As she observed the surrounding damages, she nodded in satisfaction.

    Now, there was only a single step left.

    And her targets¡­were currently making their way towards her at their fastest speeds.

    ''Is it ironic that this will probably be the easiest part of the operation?'' Elena thought wryly.

    She stuck to a nearby wall and used Light Laws to conceal herself,ying in wait.

    Not even 30 secondster, three figures could be seen flitting down in her direction.

    "Sir, headquarters will definitely ask for an exnation. We need to find a method to survive." The woman from earlier pressed with a solemn look.

    "I know. I already have a n. As long as we can¡ª"

    The three people, a familiar group of two men and one woman, took a collective step.

    A step that they shouldn''t have ever taken.

    Immediately, four shining devices lit up on the walls to their sides.

    "Watch¡ª!"

    The leader tried to warn hisrades and dodge, but the mechanism wasn''t so slow as to allow such actions.

    Within an instant, a solid cube of iridescent blue energy formed and trapped the three individuals.

    And in the next instant, it shrunk to the size of a Rubik''s cube.

    Elena walked up and took the Rubik''s cube into her hand.

    Her mission had been aplished.

    The time taken?

    Roughly 2 hours.

    Left with 22 hours, Elena rushed out of the burning facility.

    And as soon as she made her exit¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The entire base was blown to oblivion.

 Chapter 916 Infiltration [4]

    "You¡­you did what?!"

    A surprised exmation echoed through the throne room of the Golden Dragon Imperial Pce.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor mmed his hand down on his armrest in surprise, looking at the small cube in his hands.

    Elena grinned as she responded to him. "Overall, the process was pretty simple. This is Valkyrie trapping technology, made so that even extreme peak masters can''t escape. I was lucky enough to get my hands on it a while back, which is why I hadplete confidence in this operation."

    Right, despite the fact that Elena was currently in thete-stages of 4th ss, she wasn''t an iprehensible genius who could easily take down extreme peak masters, regardless of how weak they were.

    However, Elena wasn''t someone who used the head-on approach so wantonly like a certain someone. If she could solve a problem with wits, she naturally preferred it that way.

    For this reason, Elena was always equipped with several artifacts with various different purposes, artifacts that could help her survive even the most difficult scenarios.

    "I''m sure there isn''t long before the ck Dragon n catches wind of what happened. I suggest you find a way to pry information out of those three before that happens, so we can preemptively strike them at their hearts." Elena suggested.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor nodded in agreement. "Worry not. I have already summoned experts to do this very job. I shall inform you when we are preparing to move out."

    He was more than just a little pleased with Elena''s contribution. After all, she''d just provided him the key to enacting many ns he already had in motion!

    He spoke with confidence oozing from his words, as if gaining the necessary information was something in the past.

    And Elena didn''t argue. She also trusted in the capabilities of the Golden Dragon n''s specialists.

    She decided to instead return to her room to rest and recuperate, as well as train with the Genesis Bead while she could.

    She could feel her Life Laws on the verge of another breakthrough, and until she reached it, she didn''t n to exit seclusion.

    How long would it take?

    While Elena had no way to measure such things, she was confident that she could finish before the raid started.

    And at that time, she would join with her peak strength, making her apletely different monster than she already was.

    As Elena sat down in meditative posture and withdrew the Genesis Bead, the countdown began.

    6 hours.

    At most, there was this much time before the beginning of war.

    ***

    Somewhere in the starry abyss between worlds, the deep space of Grand Heavens Boundary, two figures meandered without proper destination or speed, as if tourists enjoying the sights of the universe.

    "Master, why are we moving so slow?" The woman among them asked.

    She was just a little girl when they left for training, but as they were returning, she''d already be a grown woman.

    As for the handsome young man next to her, he gazed at the universe with eyes that seemed weathered by time, indifferent due to themonality of all things they viewed.

    "There''s no rush. You''re a spatial expert now, so interact with space a little bit," he said with a light smile.

    "But Master, the Festival of Fate already started! We''re going to bete!" The woman, Astoria, eximed in a disgruntled voice.

    Damien looked off into the distance, his eyes zing over slightly as he spoke. "Well, I don''t think we''re missing much."

    The Golden Dragon n was definitely in a precarious situation at the moment with the ck Dragon n and it''s allies on the verge of striking, but Damien didn''t quite want to arrive on the scene yet.

    After all, he wanted to see what those fate clouds could do.

    ''Fate has always been so esoteric. If I can use this chance to grasp a bit of its workings, myprehension on universal flow will see a major boost.''

    Universal flow didn''t have any sort of presence in reality. Damien might''ve beenprehending it, but he felt that he''d never be able to actively utilize this flow.

    Rather, the ability to read it was already an unimaginable skill.

    ''Worst case scenario, I can just devour a few fate clouds, but if I want to do that, I need to first solve the Golden Dragon n''s troubles¡­''

    At the moment, what Damien wanted to see was how the fate clouds boosted the Golden Dragon n.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    There wasn''t much power left in those clouds, but he wanted to see what this little bit of suspicious fate could aplish.

    ''It''s unfortunate that I can''t go to Beast Emperor Star and just observe directly.'' He sighed inwardly.

    With Astoria present, there was no way he could covertly arrive at Beast Emperor Star and spend time reading it rather than directly entering it and getting involved with his troubles.

    As such, he was forced to remain at this boundary, not far away from the Beast Domain but not too close either.

    From here, Damien could somewhat understand what was happening in Beast Emperor Star through abination of awareness and universal flow.

    To read this was also a form of training, which was as why Damien tried to urge Astoria to stay for longer to experience the starry sky, but she wasn''t having it at all.

    Currently, she hung off his back like a monkey, her arms around his neck to support her as she swung around and bothered him.

    "Master, I''m bored~!"

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien sighed, out loud this time.

    "Are you going to keep acting like this until I agree?"

    "Yup!"

    "You''re quite the annoying disciple."

    "Ehhh~? Don''t be mean, Master. I know you love me!"

    "Tch. Get off already."

    "Are we going now? Are we?"

    "We''ll go, we''ll go, just quiet down already."

    "Hehe~"

    Astoria formed a V with her fingers and shed it at Damien victoriously, making him endlessly roll his eyes.

    But either way, it was obvious that he wouldn''t be allowed to concentrate on what he was doing as long as this disciple of his was around.

    In the end, he could only shrug it off. It was his fault for letting her act so willful, but what could he do?

    He didn''t want to see this overenthusiastic disciple of his lose her spark.

    ''I guess I''ll observe the fate cloudster. It won''t be toote as long as there''s still conflict ongoing.''

    With Astoria still on his back, Damien began teleporting once more, making his way back to Beast Emperor Star using shorter jumps to help fortify Astoria''s body.

    And was it a coincidence?

    A certain Bloodlock nsman was making his way to the same destination at almost the same pace, his arrival time aligning with Damien''s.

    In reality, he should''ve arrived far earlier.

    But was it truly a coincidence?

    It seemed like the universe itself was doing its best to hold him back, throwing endless perils in his path to block him.

    If it wasn''t for that, how could he have taken so long to make this journey when he was already within the Beast Domain many days ago?

    Strange coincidences¡­was that the only one?

    Weren''t there so many people already moving like they were pieces on a chess board?

    Strange coincidences¡­

    Wasn''t it better to call this¡­fate?

 Chapter 917 Clash [1]

    A meeting was taking ce in the ck Dragon n''s main headquarters on Beast Emperor Star.

    This meeting was one of many that took ce other the past few days, and many more that were ted to take ce as long as the n was ongoing.

    The ck Dragon n absolutely could not tolerate failures during this time, and as such, they were always moving to make sure they were a step ahead of their enemies.

    "Progress has been rtively ording to n. Minor chaos has been caused among themon people, and the Golden Dragon n''s response has been slow enough to cause a slight shift in public sentiment, however, it isn''t nearly enough." A man reported.

    "We must hasten our progress. We cannot continue with our originally nned trajectory with the amount of bacsh we''ve been facing," a nearby woman continued.

    "The mysterious summoner has gone quiet for almost a day. It is not a wee sign."

    Elena''s interference and subsequent withdrawal from battle with the n was taken into ount long ago, and multiple groups of assassins had already been sent out to deal with her, each assassin at thete stages of 4th ss.

    "Have the investigation results for the disappearances of the previous teamse back?"

    "Negative. We have yet to find traces of their mana or bodies, however, there is arge patch of abandonednd containing clear scars of battles. It is likely that they were lured to and killed there."

    "The current teams?"

    "They have yet to find traces of the summoner. They are either in hiding or at the royal pce, though thetter seems more likely."

    "Indeed¡­"

    "There is no need to worry about the summoner. Once they leave the royal pce, they will immediately be dealt with by the teams we sent out. More than that, we should be concerned about the royal children!"

    "Correct. As we know, all of the emperor''s children have heaven-defyingbat potential. Only the little princess is a target that can be taken easily¡­"

    The conversation continued as every possible variable was discussed and countermeasures were formed tobat them.

    At that time, a man suddenly barged into the room.

    "Bad news! The tertiary base camp has gone up in mes! We have lost contact with all forces stationed at the base, and it is almost impossible to enter its premises without being swallowed by waves of mes!"

    The man immediately gave his report without waiting for anyone to be surprised by his presence. The officials in the room snapped their attention to him, some of them even standing up in shock.

    "When did this happen?!" The man named Pretus questioned in amanding voice.

    "Three hours ago, sir! The base''s destruction was not noticed immediately due to an unrted spatial phenomenon that disrupted our transmission waves."

    "Understood. You may leave."

    Pretus gritted his teeth and nced at those in the room with him.

    "This is an extreme oversight! While we were sitting here nning, the enemy took the opportunity to strike us first!"

    "How could they have found the base location?"

    "That''s obvious. The missing teams should be the answer."

    "Dammit! They made it around the restriction?! We must immediately¡ª"

    "Enough!"

    Pretus roared, silencing the meeting room.

    His cold gaze immediately forced any voices of objection to entertain this silence.

    "We do not know how, but the enemy has a way to evade our information restriction. There is only one thing that could mean¡­"

    "¡­they will being here for war as soon as possible!"

    Pretus sighed to himself as he spoke. Thinking further, even this small change was able to force them into a corner due to the precarious nature of their n.

    There was no other choice but to take drastic measures to readjust their path forward.

    "We need to begin the third phase immediately," he said with determination.

    "T-the third phase? But sir¡­!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I know what you want to say, but save it! Have you forgotten our reason for doing all of this in the first ce?!"

    The room went silent again. Everyone was clearly aware of the gruesome trajectory that the ck Dragon n''s fate was currently on.

    It wasn''t just one or two unwilling sighs that echoed through the room, but nobody spoke up in objection.

    Indeed, if they wanted to gain the upper hand against the Golden Dragon n here, if they wanted to preserve their chance at victory¡­

    "Pass down the order! Activate phase 3! All units remain on standby until further notice!"

    Themand was sent down the chain, and multiple moving parts came together to form the activation process of the n.

    In a certain area devoid of anything but the sound of furious typing, technological experts readied the mechanisms necessary to execute such arge-scale n.

    Throughout the Golden Dragon Estate, hidden members of the ck Dragon n buried strange canisters in the ground and hid them within the buildings before vanishing entirely.

    A different group of teams spread through the seas and skies, nting their own strange devices in specific locations determined by the logistics division.

    And while all these nsmen moved as a cohesive unit, the activation of Phase 3 became imminent.

    "All systems go. Phase 3 will begin in 15 minutes!"

    A report came back from the logistics division. All soldiers remained in wait, hoping that these 15 minutes could pass in an instant.

    But the universe was never so forgiving.

    With such an important moment on the horizon, another report spread through the base like wildfire:

    The enemy had arrived at their doorstep!

    ***

    It was amazing the wonders that power could bring.

    The Golden Dragon n''s army appeared within an instant, several tens of millions of forces standing in the air or on the ground, facing the direction of the ck Dragon n''s main hidden base with a dense aura of killing intent surrounding them.

    They were led by a domineering man with bright golden hair and eyes, donning armor shining in the same hue. He was none other than the Golden Dragon Emperor''s 2nd son, known as the Draconic War God.

    Several hundred thousand kilometers away, themon people were still eagerly enjoying their festival, however, the visiting experts could sense gunpowder clouding the air.

    The distant and terrifying fluctuations¡­

    They had to find the source!

    A small and hidden crowd began to gather as an army stood alone, awaiting its partner on the battlefield.

    And from the Imperial Pce, the Golden Dragon Emperor watched the proceedings carefully.

    As a Demigod himself, he was unable to directly take part in the confrontation, but that didn''t mean he would just leave it to others.

    A projection of his figure floated in the sky above the armor, this mere fragment of his presence spreading fear and awe among the onlookers.

    And finally, among the rapidly boiling atmosphere¡­

    The ck Dragon n took the stage, matching the Golden Dragons in both numbers and force.

    Pretus stood at the head of the ck Dragons donning a menacing battle armor that made him look like a demon god.

    He held his massive greatsword in the air, gathering mana towards his body.

    15 minutes.

    Until this time passed, the Golden Dragon Army needed to be held here.

    And after that time passed¡­

    He was excited to see the way they panicked and struggled to save themselves.

 Chapter 918 Clash [2]

    The golden fate clouds surrounding Beast Emperor Star were truly magisterial, especially when viewed from space.

    Wap!

    The folds of space twisted as two figures appeared to marvel at this very view.

    But of course, one of them was far too used to it to feel any sort of grandiosity.

    "Master, let''s go, let''s go! I don''t want to bete!"

    Astoria tugged on Damien''s hand and pulled him towards Beast Emperor Star with fervor.

    Ever since she''d gained some strength, she''d been dying toe back to Beast Emperor Star.

    While she never truly exined her reasoning, nor did she outwardly disy any strange behavior, Damien was more than aware of her struggles.

    From long ago, Astoria had been viewed as the weakling. She was the easily bullyable little princess who''d always choose running away over fighting back, a target that even regr geniuses without matching status could pick on, since she would never report the bullying to her father.

    Of course, Astoria was also the little devil emperor that all people feared. Her mischievous nature and "interesting" way of ying pranks earned her several enemies, and though they''d never try to harm her for it, they surely ruined her name and refused to offer aid in even the direst of situations.

    Astoria was always surrounded by hate, envy, and negativity.

    Even since the very first day of her training, when she first began to see the benefits of capitalizing on her spatial affinity, Astoria had been dreaming of the day she returned.

    For Damien, as her master, how could he be unaware of her ambitions?

    Merely, he kept his mouth shut so as to allow her to maintain that drive, that independence that would lead to her growth in the future.

    "Let''s go. I''m sure your father still thinks he''d handed you over to a scammer," Damienmented with a smile as he began to move forward.

    Astoria smiled happily, following after him.

    "Master, when we get back, there''s so much I want to show you! Beast Emperor Star is the best world in the universe."

    "Yes, yes. Once you win that silly marriage tournament and earn your freedom, I''ll take you out to y for an entire month if you truly wish for it."

    "Really, Master?! You can''t go back on your¡ª"

    Damien''s eyes sharpened. He pulled Astoria''s arm and rapidly set up a defense before¡­!

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    It happened in an instant.

    A massive cloud of hostile mana enveloped Damien and Astoria, burning the space around them and causing the fabric of reality to tremble.

    Damien''s defenses cracked immediately. The chaotic mana fluctuations tore through his own mana and even impacted his body.

    He shielded Astoria to the best of his ability, allowing his skin and muscles to be shredded as he maneuvered his mana internally and summoned the golden pce from the Sanctuary.

    BANG!

    Damien and Astoria disappeared into the pce, and the horror-inducing mana that assaulted them fell against the pce walls, causing dull thuds as it lost its momentum against the protective formations.

    "HAHAHAHAHA!! SO IT WAS YOU ALL ALONG!"

    A mad cackle boomed through space and prated the castle walls.

    Damien put Astoria down and summoned the castle''s surveince systems to catch sight of his enemy.

    Immediately, his face fell.

    Those signature piercing bloody red eyes, he couldn''t mistake them anywhere.

    This was a Bloodlock n member.

    ''He''s finally here!'' Damien realized.

    The pursuer he''d been waiting for this whole time, the one he''d provoked all those years ago when he was just leaving Death Emperor Star¡­

    This man was Arthur Bloodlock, Reavus Bloodlock''s father!

    "Master, what''s happening?!" Astoria eximed from the side.

    "Nothing, don''t worry about it. This is your master''s personal issue," Damien responded calmly.

    "But Master¡­!"

    "No need to say anymore. You''ll have to stay with your auntie Elvira and the rest for a little bit, alright?"

    "Master!" Astoria yelled again.

    She didn''t need to say any other words to convey her feelings.

    The force of that attack¡­<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It wasn''t something just anyone could create, especially so suddenly that it could be used as a sneak attack!

    The enemy was definitely a peak expert, and even if it was Damien¡­

    Astoria wasn''t allowed toplete her thought before Damien sent her into the Sanctuary.

    For this battle that was both extremely sudden and expected at the same time, Damien didn''t need to involve anyone else.

    After all, this trouble was directly brought by him, purposefully at that.

    "Arthur Bloodlock, you''ve finally found me. Isn''t it funny? You''re an exalted Supreme, yet you couldn''t even find a little growing genius like me for months on end! Hahahaha!"

    Damien used the golden pce''s mechanisms to project his voice into space, immediately choosing to provoke the enemy.

    As expected, Arthur''s face turned ck.

    "Boy, you killed my son and now dare to mock me; do you not put the Bloodlock n in your eyes?!" He roared, his mana ring into the surroundings.

    Kacha!

    Space shattered once again, transforming several thousand kilometers around Arthur into a chaotic void.

    Damien''s heart beat so fast that it almost leapt out of his chest.

    He truly didn''t expect the enemy to be a Supreme, but he''d sensed it upon their first collision.

    This challenge¡­was he truly up for it?

    As someone who hadn''t even properly entered the extreme peak yet, could he truly face a Supreme?

    ''No, facing him isn''t enough. I need to kill him and make sure he can''t cause more problems in the future!''

    What Damien needed was a stepping stone, not a cockroach.

    But even with the golden pce, he could only resist the attacks of a Supreme, he couldn''t fight back.

    "Boy, if you do note out and obediently receive your punishment, I will drag you out with force!" Arthur roared, ending the tirade he''d been going on while Damien thought about his options.

    Damien found himself smirking.

    Even if they were supreme experts, they were still prey to their own egos.

    That was something that could easily be used to his advantage.

    ''Shit, I can''t take it anymore. Let''s just fight!''

    Damien pped his hands together and summoned the pce formations. A massive golden halo formed in the starry sky around the pce, and a beautifully ornate ancient formation backed it domineeringly.

    "Old bastard, did you see it?" Damien asked with a smile.

    Arthur''s eyes sharpened as he watched the pce rev into action.

    "Boy, what nonsense are you speaking now?" He said icily.

    Damien''s smile widened into a condescending grin.

    "Oh, nothing. I was just asking if you were able to see how I mutted your son. The video feed was a little interrupted on the way back, you see."

    "BOY, YOU DARE?!"

    Arthur immediately flew into a rage.

    To be taunted by his son''s killer, especially when the target himself was so much weaker¡­

    He couldn''t stand it!

    Arthur immediately let loose his mana. He coalesced a suit of bloody armor around his body and shot out.

    He arrived in front of the pce before Damien could even register his movements.

    His fist punched out powerfully.

    And another explosion rocked the starry sky.

    A second battle was beginning above Beast Emperor Star, and on the surface below, an even more gruesome collision was following the same path.

    The fate clouds in the atmosphere swirled, countless worried sentiments clouded the air.

    It wasn''t expected, but today¡­

    Today, a final battle set for the future was going to begin far earlier than it should have.

 Chapter 919 Clash [3]

    What was a Supreme?

    It was easy to say that they were beings on the verge of Divinity. It was easy to say that they were the strongest existences that could maneuver freely under the universalw.

    But what did that mean?

    To answer such a question, one must first understand what it meant to enter the 9 revolutions at the extreme peak of 4th ss.

    If the 3rd ss was a journey to familiarize oneself with the elements, and the 4th ss was a journey toprehend the Laws thaty above those elements, the 9 revolutions were the process of ingraining those Laws into oneself and forming one''s Divinity.

    After all, Divinity was something built, not something granted.

    Cosmic Rebirth, the higher form of Universe Baptism, was the process of validating one''s Divinity and gaining the approval of the universe.

    Then¡­

    Demigods were titled Demigods because there was a realm of Gods above their existence, but in all actuality, Demigods were already set in Godhood.

    If one took the definition of the term literally¡­

    Weren''t extreme peak masters the true Demigods?

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    It was terrifying to see, even from the protection of the golden pce.

    Arthur Bloodlock''s attacks didn''t have any true shape, nor did they take on the form of techniques in the slightest. To the outside observer, it was almost like he was wantonly throwing mana about like amon 1st ss warrior.

    However, this absolutely was not the case.

    The golden pce''s defenses shook endlessly as they withstood the mountainous impacts of thoseckluster mana sts. Vine-like bloody patterns crept across the pce walls, spreading their color far and wide.

    Damien could feel it. Though he wasn''t quite at that level yet, his perception could almost touch it.

    Arthur Bloodlock''s each and every attack containedplexly intertwined Law fluctuations, interwoven concepts that formed their own mysterious effects even without Arthur''s direct prodding.

    ''Is this what it means to internalize Laws?'' Damien wondered as he watched the assault.

    Arthur was showing no signs of effort or exhaustion. He continued to attack the pce with world-shaking blows as if they were regr manaless punches, even making Damien fear if the defenses could hold up.

    ''That Nox Supreme wasn''t like this. I think I finally understand why the Void Corridor n went so smoothly.''

    The Nox Supreme had been injured by the bacsh of his own attack, an extremely lucky chance that was actually an inevitable fact if the golden pce''s power was considered.

    Watching the three-way collision that took ceter truly made Damien underestimate the power of Supremes.

    And more than anything, it made him severely underestimate the power of the Cloud Giant Leader, Gntis.

    ''Didn''t I find myself a real cheat?'' Damien realized with a smile.

    A fallback, he''d found one.

    It meant that regardless of how he took things from this point forward, he had a way out.

    And if that was so¡­

    "Old Bloodbitch, can you hear me?!" Damien yelled, projecting his voice through the pce formations.

    Arthur''s brown twitched slightly, but he didn''t respond, continuing his assault on the pce.

    Damien sighed in annoyance. "Hey, stupid fucker, you should know by now that you can''t break through those walls. Why don''t I give you an opportunity?"

    Arthur''s eyes darted over, a slight pause appearing in his movements.

    "Haha, fine. If you want to be childish then just listen while you waste your time," Damien continued upon seeing his reaction.

    "I wille out of the pce and fight you directly."

    Those words managed to do what their predecessors couldn''t.

    Arthur stopped and backed away, ring suspiciously at the pce.

    "Speak."

    Damien smirked. "I''lle out and fight you in singlebat, but on one condition¡­"

    "¡­lower your strength to match mine."

    "You are truly an arrogant prick," Arthur growled coldly.

    "Then are you rejecting my offer?" Damien asked.

    "Hmph. How can you be sure I will follow your terms?" Arthur countered.

    Damien shrugged lightly. "That''s simple. We''ll sign a Mana Oath."

    Arthur furrowed his brows in thought.

    While this situation seemed like something that''d give Damien a path forward, a chance to avoid total destruction¡­

    That wasn''t true at all.

    Arthur grinned to himself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Someone who hadn''t entered the 9 revolutions would never understand what it truly meant to stand on the extreme peak of existence.

    Even if his strength was lowered¡­

    "I will ept your deal," Arthur said with a condescending smile on his face.

    "Good!" Damien eximed, his eyes shining.

    He immediately said his part of the oath, allowing Arthur to be perfectly clear about his sincerity before he left the pce.

    And as if to mock him, Arthur followed dutifully.

    Within an instant, a Mana Oath was formed between the two parties.

    Arthur was to lower his strength to match Damien''s level. If he ever increased his strength past that point while the battle was ongoing, he would be penalized by the universe.

    And with thatyer of protection in ce, Damien no longer had any need to hide like a coward.

    His body materialized in the starry sky. The golden pce vanished, returned to the Sanctuary.

    "Boy, why did you do it?" Arthur asked coldly, finally seeing Damien face to face.

    He''d only sensed it from the distance, that familiar mana fluctuations that resonated in the projection of Reavus'' final moments.

    By the time he attacked, Damien was already in the golden pce.

    The valiant figure of this man, the calm and even slightly anticipatory expression on his face as he stood parallel to a Supreme¡­

    It irked him greatly.

    Damien nced over nonchntly, as if aware of exactly what to do to infuriate Arthur.

    "Does something like that matter at this point?" He asked mockingly.

    "You killed my son. Boy, if you do not give me an exnation, do not expect an easy death!"

    The mocking sneer forming on Damien''s face only became more pronounced.

    If they were to fight at the same level¡­

    Did anyone in the universe stand a chance against him?

    "Old bitch, I killed your son because I didn''t like the way he looked at me. Oh, also, I needed a new grindstone, and you seemed like the perfect candidate!"

    "You dare?!"

    "I do!"

    Damien vanished, reappearing behind Arthur with his fist outstretched.

    ''Seven Stars Encircling The Moon''

    Three Death Stars and three Life Stars surrounded a moon made of Spacetime.

    VOOOOOOM!

    A monstrous fluctuation burst from Damien''s fist before the attack was even executed.

    He pushed his fist out in a split second, mming it towards Arthur''s face as the vtile forces around his fist collided.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The fabric of reality trembled, spacetime bent in on itself as an infinite cycle of samsara swallowed all life within the surrounding tens of thousands of kilometers.

    Damien immediately teleported hundreds of meters away, not waiting to see the results of his attack.

    Mirage appeared in his right and Freya joined it in his left. Damien''s eyes swirled as the All-Seeing Eyes passively activated, and finally¡­

    Breaths of pitch-ck mana danced around his body.

    Whoosh!

    He jerked his head to the side rapidly, using the momentum to flick his body backwards and put force into his legs.

    Bang!

    Arthur''s figure, which had just surfaced only a few inches away from Damien, was instantly assaulted by a mana-charged kick that sted him back into space.

    Damien immediately followed his path, brandishing Freya and firing a barrage of pure white bullets into Arthur''s repelling body.

    "Hmph!"

    Arthur swept his hand through space, creating a bloody tide that crashed into the bullets and burst them.

    He stabilized his body in the void and smirked.

    "Boy, you truly have talent! It''s a shame you must die here!"

    He pped his hands together, summoning his mana.

    And before Damien could react, a towering manifestation had formed behind him.

 Chapter 920 Clash [4]

    A master at the end of his 9 revolutions.

    What sort of strength had such a person attained?

    Damien had seen those Demigods who could crush half a with a casual swipe of the hand, but how far away were those monstrous existences from those on the cusp of reaching that level?

    It was unfortunate that one would never know unless they asked a Demigod to convey their experience. After all, Demigods were only allowed to engage inbat with other Demigods.

    It was incredibly rare to see them battle.

    Nevertheless, the integration of Laws and the defining of one''s self were two of the key points of the 9 revolutions.

    And when one had done so to such aplete level that they were titled a Supreme¡­

    Something like a level couldn''t limit their power by much.

    The intricacies of theirws were far beyond what a mere level could represent.

    Behind Arthur, a towering phantom image of a bloody red emperor manifested itself. Several hundred thousand kilometers around the two fighters were suddenly dyed red. An oddly viscous atmosphere was formed as Arthur raised his arm.

    Damien''s eyes sharpened.

    ''I have to dodge!''

    Arthur brought his hand down with force. The projection behind him followed his movements, mming its continent-sized hand down on Damien''s position.

    "¡­!"

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock at the rapid expansion of the phantom. With the speed of that palm, even his instant teleportation would be too slow to avoid it!

    ''One With Dimension.''

    Damien closed his eyes and melded with the folds of the universe.

    The palm crashed down onto his position in the exact same instant.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Space shattered and time became chaotic. The sheer physical power of the palm ruptured the dimension itself, causing gruesome tears to spread for millions of kilometers on end.

    "Keuk¡­!" Damien coughed in pain as his body was shot out of the dimensionalyers. When his hiding ce was directly copsed, how could he be fine?

    The chaotic twisting of the dimension ruptured several of his organs before it spat him out, but he wasn''t too worried about the injury.

    Instead, he needed to figure out how to move forward!

    Arthur was far more powerful than expected, but it wasn''t out of the scope that Damien could handle.

    Damien firmed his gaze and teleported. Mirage swung through the air as he moved, cutting through all things before he even left the spatialyers.

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance''

    The thin ck line cut through space and time, forming an all-consuming void as it arrived before Arthur within a spark of a second.

    Arthur''s eyes widened when he sensed the dangerous fluctuationsing from the attack.

    He raised his arms and crossed them, pouring mana into them and forming a pair of blood-red gauntlets on his fist.

    Skreeeee!

    The sound of metal screeching against metal rang out as the attack struck Arthur''s defenses.

    Shing!

    The mana gauntlets were cut away with the dimension in an instant. The sh continued on its way until¡­!

    ng!

    The sound of impact wasn''t what Damien expected at all.

    ''Right, he''s a fucking Supreme.''

    Damien clicked his tongue in realization.

    Even if his level was lowered¡­would his physical defense be constrained?

    Damien was more aware than anyone else of how unreliable stats were. Even if his defense stat itself was lowered to amon level 399 who hadn''t entered the next phase, his true defense definitely exceeded a 2nd revolution master!

    ''I need to take this more seriously.'' Damien thought to himself.

    He was fighting a Supreme, so he had to be cautious regardless of the restrictions.

    But if he kept hiding his cards, this battle would drag on for an eternity.

    And though in normal circumstances this was an advantage for Damien¡­

    He sensed it from the corner of his perception.

    It started less than a minute ago.

    The Fate Clouds that dutifully obscured Beast Emperor Star within their embrace¡­

    ¡­were thinning.

    ***

    It didn''t take much for a war to start.

    Benefits, if even one side could sense them, it was inevitable that conflict would ur.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    And when such conflict urred, there was no need for something like words.

    The Gold and ck Dragon ns had been enemies for centuries, millennia, it was a rtionship that couldn''t be corrected regardless of how much time passed.

    When the two sides met during these troubled times, blood was bound to be shed.

    The current war was no different.

    Tens of millions of troops met each other in the air and on the ground. Thebined effect of their shes shook the world itself, spreading a wave of panic through themon people.

    However, regardless of what damages they caused, the world would not fall.

    After all, there was a Demigod focusing on holding it together.

    With the strength of the Golden Dragon n, fighting the ck Dragon n was rtively even. Both sides were being ughtered at essentially the same rate, and it didn''t look like this war woulde to a satisfying end.

    Elena watched it from the sidelines, disinterested in participating in a sh like this.

    She was sure of it.

    The ck Dragon n had greater numbers yet were moving as if to match their enemies.

    They were stalling.

    She became sure of this conclusion after observing for many minutes, and almost instinctively, she deployed her Valha Souls to investigate.

    At this time¡­

    15 minutes had passed.

    "Phase 3 has begun! I repeat, Phase 3 has begun!"

    A report resounded in the ears of every ck Dragon, living or dead,

    And as if nned from the start, each and every one of them palmed their chests, activating a secret mechanism that directly teleported them away from the battlefield.

    ''This¡­'' Elena thought as a sinking feeling enveloped her.

    Rumble!

    The earth shook.

    But this time, there was no battle to provoke it.

    All around Beast Emperor Star, unbeknownst to anyone, canisters and devices activated as one.

    Rain¡­began to pour from the sky.

    It was a beautiful golden rain, a shower of auspicious blessings.

    It was a rain pouring down from the Fate Clouds.

    But¡­

    It was odd.

    Why was there a trace of eerie ck within that rain?

    RUMBLE!

    The earth rumbled again, this time with intensity great enough to knock 4th ss soldiers off their feet.

    Elena''s face paled as her awareness picked up a fluctuation.

    Rather, countless fluctuations filled her perception from every angle.

    Beasts¡­were gathering.

    Red-eyed, frenzied beasts that didn''t look anything like the civilized beast poption that resided on this star.

    Elena''s eyes suddenly darted to the ground below.

    Those Golden Dragon n members with weaker strength¡­

    Their eyes turned red. Their mana red into the surroundings as one, but their killing intent shed intensely.

    Under the horrified gazes of the middle-stage or higher masters present.,.

    A frenzied melee began.

    "Stop them immediately!" Elena roared, reacting instantly.

    She pushed her mana and rapidly propelled herself to the ground, mming down with immense force.

    Her hands came together in a praying motion. The World Tree Yggdrasil revealed its fangs behind her.

    A holy white light nketed several tens of thousands of kilometers as Elena opened her eyes.

    "Goddess'' Blessing."

    The miraculous effects of her mana were obvious to see.

    With Elena''s aid, the small patch ofnd where the Golden Dragon Army was located...

    Became one of the only havens on Beast Emperor Star.

 Chapter 921 Clash [5]

    "Goddess'' Blessing."

    Elena''s mana, entwined with concepts of holiness and purity, truly had the ability to create a safe zone within the apocalypse that had befallen Beast Emperor Star.

    As she took to calming the sudden madness that overcame the army, a figurended beside her, his golden eyes cold and piercing.

    "Helper, the situation has be extremely severe. The beast poption of the world has been driven to madness by the corrupted rain of the Fate Clouds, and the Fate Clouds themselves have begun to dissipate. We must act immediately if we wish to change the situation.

    This man, Hedrick, was the Draconic War God, the Second Prince of the Golden Dragon Royal Family himself. Before he''de to battle, his father had told him to explicitly trust the Valkyrie that would likely arrive to aid him.

    As such, he didn''t withhold any information, and despite her small strength, he treated her as an equal.

    ''Aside from Father Emperor''s suggestion, I must still befriend this woman. Her power will be an incredible asset in the current situation.'' He thought as he watched the Golden Dragon troops regain their sanity.

    Elena''s expression became grimmer with every passing second as she listened to the information.

    ording to Hedrick, the ck Dragon n''s previous teleportation had taken them directly to the Inner Estate where the pce was located. It was evident that they were going to use the chaos as an opportunity tounch a siege.

    And it wasn''t them alone. All of the hostile forces that the Golden Dragon n gathered with the n of slowly taking care of them one by one united, leaving them severely outnumbered and overwhelmed.

    The world itself was shaking from the wide-scale destruction taking ce on its surface. The Golden Dragon Emperor had to maintain his utmost focus to keep it stable as stronger and stronger beings began to fight.

    It was an utterly hopeless scenario that appeared out of nowhere.

    No, it was an utterly hopeless scenario that was the result of a thousand years of nning.

    ''The original corrosion of the Fate Clouds was due to the ck Dragon n''s plotting, but the rain has changed in the past few seconds.'' Elena thought to herself.

    The current rain, the color of that rain, was not the ckened gold it originally held. Currently, that ck color had deluded into a more murky grey.

    While this color change wasn''t significant enough to mean anything to others, Elena was different.

    After all, she spent several years fighting side by side with a woman with the natural ability to read fate, almost staying together for every hour of every day.

    She was never able to grasp it herself, but if it was just colors¡­

    Rose had told her more than enough to allow her to read the rain.

    "The situation isn''t hopeless yet," she dered to Hedrick, her voice solemn.

    Hedrick immediately turned his attention to her, ready to hear the solution offered by someone his father trusted to such agree.

    However, when Elena opened her mouth¡­

    "We must save themon people."

    Hedrick immediately frowned.

    "Do you think this is a game?" He growled.

    Elena shook her head, clearly aware of his misunderstanding.

    "I''m a proponent of justice, but I''m not an idiot with a heroplex. To attain victory this time, our best chance is to save themon people."

    Before Hedrick could interrupt again, Elena shed him a sharp re, letting him understand the gravity of her words.

    "The Fate Clouds have protected the Golden Dragon n for untold millennia. It isn''t just a matter of physical protection, but the ethereal aspect as well."

    "The ''Fate'' of the Golden Dragon n has always been protected, and as long as that ''Fate'' remains protected, the Golden Dragon n will not fall, no matter how tragic its fate may seem."

    Hedrick''s eyes widened as he finally understood her point.

    "If the Fate Clouds can be restored¡­" he muttered.

    "Just as themon people were sacrificed to destroy the Fate Clouds, they can be saved to repair them," Elena concluded.

    Hedrick nodded in concession. "I apologize for my previous bias. I will lead my troops and work in tandem with you to protect this world!"

    Elena nodded as well. "Good. I can cover half by myself, I''ll need you to take the rest."

    "No problem."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Yes, problem. You cannot kill the frenzied beasts. You must restrain and suppress them until I cane and purify their souls."

    Hedrick frowned at the troublesome situation, but didn''tin.

    He needed to do what needed to be done.

    As he watched Elena''s figure fade into the distance, a look of abject determination on her face, he thought back to his family at the pce.

    ''Hold strong.'' He thought in prayer. His eyes were icy, but they burned with the mes of vengeance.

    ''I will not allow these scum to take our world!''

    ***

    "Boy, is that all you have?!"

    Arthur''s crazed exmation boomed through the vacuum of space. His bloody mana roared and raged, forming massive unavoidable waves that trapped Damien from every direction.

    "Tch."

    Damien clicked his tongue in annoyance as he dodged Arthur''s attacks and attempted to escape the encirclement.

    ''Not being able to teleport is fucking annoying.''

    Damien was currently in a domain of Arthur''s creation. Even if he teleported, the current situation would just repeat itself.

    ¡¤?¦Èm Damien withdrew Mirage and switched Freya to his right hand before summoning Hel in his left.

    ''The Mirror Domain would be ineffective facing such a grand disy ofws, and it''s too early to summon the Space-Time River¡­''

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    BOOM!

    ''I have to use "that."''

    900 shots left Freya''s barrel in a matter of a second and swarmed the surrounding space with white bullets, unavoidable due to their numerosity.

    These shots were followed by a single ck bullet fired from Hel, hidden deeply within the storm to the point where even Arthur couldn''t detect it.

    ng! ng! ng! ng!

    Arthur''s arms moved at unbelievable speeds as he blocked each and every life bullet that came near him. He felt the strange fluctuation that made his lifeblood tremble and knew very well that he couldn''t allow those bullets to hit.

    Splitting a portion of his mind, Arthur spread his awareness to find and counterattack¡ª

    Damien appeared in the air above Arthur, his back facing his enemy and his sword crossed against his chest.

    The second Arthur recognized his presence, he released his stored momentum and twisted his body violently, shing Mirage out with everything he had¡­!

    ''Void Sword Art Seventh Form¡­''

    Arthur tried to dodge, but Hel''s death bullet struck him in the side and forced him to remain stationary.

    Mirage shed into Arthur''s shoulder.

    And immediately, everything went white.

    It was a sh of light that could be seen even several million miles away. Countless beings on several worlds deep in the Beast Domain turned their eyes to the sky to witness the strange phenomenon.

    From the surface of Beast Emperor Star, it was as if the sun dropped into their atmosphere, directly blinding anyone under the extreme peak of 4th ss.

    The energies of spacetime, the energies of Samsara, that slight trace of Void, theybined into a mystical sight, a sight rare to witness from such close proximity.

    It truly looked like a¡ª

    ''¡­Supernova.''

 Chapter 922 Clash [6]

    Supernova.

    Unlike the rest of Damien''s sword forms, this one wasn''t the product of months of experimentation and theorizing.

    Rather, it was the result of sudden epiphany.

    Even Damien didn''t quite understand what it was, he only knew that he could use it.

    Was it the result of increasing his control over Void Breathing? It was yet another fact he didn''t know.

    Damien merely used the most destructive attack in his arsenal, and as he felt the mana course through his body, he called out its name instinctually.

    And a supernova truly followed.

    Space and time warped around Mirage, the concepts of Samsara filled that space, and with the addition of some Void Mana, even traces of the 5 elements included themselves in the concoction.

    And in that final moment, a pulse of reddish-ck mana amplified everything to another level.

    The proceeding burst burned with the heat of an exploding star. Mirage wedged itself into Arthur''s shoulder and poured every ounce of its power into his bodily systems.

    The effects projected into the starry sky were merely the aftershocks of this outpouring.

    ''ARGH!'' Arthur roared in pain inwardly,

    His physical defenses were strong, but they''d been melted through by the heat of a star! The mana stampeding through his body at the moment was vtile, profound, esoteric, and most of all, from elements Arthur had no connection to!

    "Fuck!" He shouted madly, his voice dissolving into the blinding light around him.

    He could feel fluctuations simr to his bloodws, but they were entwined with another mysterious power that blocked him from interfering with them!

    If not for this connection, he had no way to use hisws to fight back!

    ''I can''t believe I''ve been forced to this point by a child!'' Arthur eximed in fury.

    Without another choice, he charged mana into his core and¡­

    Exploded!

    Bang!

    Arthur''s body exploded into a river of blood, and the chaotic fluctuations trapped within him burst into the surroundings.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    A secondary explosion went off, even catching Damien and flinging him backwards with several fatal injuries.

    The sea of blood that was once Arthur Bloodlock didn''t sit still in the void. It swam like a living organism and escaped the radius of the explosion before coagting into a physical body once more!

    Only¡­

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    ¡¤?¦Èm Strained breaths left his mouth, his face pale as paper.

    ''He''s weak.'' Damien realized.

    It wasn''t a small portion of that blood that was incinerated by the heat. How could a whole be formed when its parts were missing?

    When Arthur came back, his aura was widely unstable and far less domineering than it originally was.

    Now, by no means was he truly weak.

    However¡ª

    ''I can definitely beat him now.''

    Damien''s eyes hardened as he put away all his weapons.

    From this point onwards, his weapons would only limit him.

    And if he used them too much, they were sure to break.

    "Arthur Bloodlock, you''re a far better grindstone than I was originally expecting!" Damien eximed, his battle spirit boiling.

    "Boy, you dare mock me?! Do you think this state means you will win?!" Arthur spat back spitefully.

    "Haha, of course I do! And you do too!" Damien quipped back.

    Arthur snarled, but didn''t speak. He knew better than anyone else his physical condition.

    The problem was¡­his arrogant self dered a Mana Oath!

    If he actually raised his strength and used power to suppress Damien, he''d be struck down by the universalw and be even easier to kill!

    Arthur frowned to himself, warily circling Damien as he looked for an opportunity to take the initiative.

    They''d been fighting for over 20 minutes now, but the majority of their collisions had taken ce in the final minute of that.

    As the two of them let loose all of their cards, they were able to exchange tens of thousands of moves within that single minute.

    By now, they were already standing in the chaotic void that represented the destruction of space. The scenery of this void was merely shadowed by Arthur''s domain.

    However, even that domain was currently showing signs of failing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Was Arthur¡­going to lose?

    ''Lose¡­?''

    A thought suddenly came to mind.

    And Damien found his moment as well.

    ''It''s time.'' They thought as one.

    ''Space-Time River.''

    Damien immediately summoned his domain. The iridescent blue form of the Space-Time River, that projection that was merely a few inches long when he first created it, spanned for several kilometers, ebbing and flowing through space like a fish in water, and directly suppressing Arthur''s weakened domain.

    Damien shed away. His teleportation truly became instant as he attained power that made him feel like a God of Spacetime.

    He exhaled the Breath of All Things as he thought back to the way the Saint Emperor incorporated the properties of other elements in his mana.

    ''Void Breathing: Elemental Wargod''

    Void Breathing, theprehensive term for Damien''s Void abilities and the most apt term to describe the methodology he discovered toprehend his most elusive affinity.

    Now, the first true technique manifested through this affinity had been created.

    Damien''s form changed. He became a being of energy, incarnated by the elements.

    mes, water, wind, earth, lightning, wood, metal, and many more elementsbined to create his existence itself as he mmed his leg towards Arthur''s face.

    BANG!

    The kick struck true. Damien''s shin crashed into Arthur''s cheekbone and thetter was struck with the vtile force of ipatible elements bursting together as if they were lovers.

    It was different from a normal elemental attack. There was something more profound, more deadly behind it.

    Arthur felt this clearly. He felt it as clearly as the cracking of his skull when that kick impacted him.

    "Ack!" He cried out inadvertently, stumbling away and readjusting himself.

    Damien gave chase. He didn''t know how long the Elemental Warlord state wouldst, but as long as it did, he wouldn''t let up!

    ''Fall.''

    Meteorites were summoned through earth, sized like monster trucks.

    ''Burn.''

    They were ignited by fire, gathering more and more heat as they fell through the air.

    ''Faster.''

    The force of wind provoked the mes into a burning inferno. It was almost impossible to see the superheated chunks of rock they hid.

    The meteorites only took a second to reach a critical point.

    ''Now, finish it.''

    The burning atmosphere immediately cooled past freezing.

    And¡­

    Just what would happen when the heat from a meteor met a force that could match its heat in coldness?

    Just as the duo was going to find out, Arthur opened his mouth and roared out:

    "I¡­QUIT!"

    Damien''s mind immediately went nk.

    He almost felt the need to break the imaginary fourth wall in order to make sure his ears were working.

    Did Arthur Bloodlock¡­

    ¡­really just forfeit?

    The thought was aughable one, but thisughable feeling disappeared instantaneously,

    For the instant Arthur dered his withdrawal, his aura burst from its confines.

    The terms of the Mana Oath; to keep himself at Damien''s level as long as the match was ongoing.

    If he just quit the match, wouldn''t that restriction disappear?

    Arthur grinned and mmed his hand forward.

    "Die, you pathetic ant."

    And that''s when Damien finally felt it with his own body.

    The true power of a Supreme, that is.

 Chapter 923 Clash [7]

    Elena moved at the speed of light.

    It wasn''t an exaggeration. She truly moved at the fastest speed her currentprehension of Light Laws could take her to, and with that speed, she endlessly circled Beast Emperor Star, helping any and everyone she could.

    ''This won''t work.'' She thought to herself.

    The current n, the one she''d suggested, used her as a central point. Everything relied on her ability to purify themon people, and more than that, it relied on themon people''s understanding.

    A warrior of white pushed through the air andnded heavily on the ground. He immediately reached out and grabbed onto the skull of the ck-clothed man next to him.

    "Let go of me¡­!" The man eximed in rage as he summoned his mana.

    But without a single word, the warrior clenched his fist, bursting the man''s skull and allowing his body to drop to the ground.

    The warrior didn''t stop for a moment, diving into the fray with hisrades and executing anyone sharing his clothing.

    Eventually, a group of ten formed, moving through the chaotic streets of the city until they finally came upon the town square.

    "Hahaha! For the n!"

    "Die, die, die!"

    "Stop fooling around! We need to finish up and move on!"

    A group of twenty men stood together in the square. Surrounding them were numerous corpses, mostly of beasts, but some human among them too.

    The beasts were thosemon people who used the Beast Transformation Technique to attain their human forms, while the rest were evidently 4th ss and above beasts.

    The carcasses were all bloody and gnarled as if they''d been torn through by a horde of voracious wolves.

    However, their killers were men in ck.

    Men who enjoyed torturing these innocent souls as they died slow and painful deaths.

    The Lord¡­absolutely didn''t tolerate these types of fiends!

    The white warriors were in instantaneous understanding, their minds connecting as one.

    Without any hesitation or care, they charged forward and assaulted the enemy group.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Two white-d warriors jumped onto the rooftops of nearby buildings and drew their bows,unching a volley of ballistic arrows that exploded violently on impact.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    "What?!"

    "Enemy attack!"

    The enemy group panicked and grouped together, peering through the clouds of dust and smoke kicked up by the explosions.

    However, the remaining 8 white warriors had already used the cover to assume their positions.

    VOOM!

    A glowing white formation circle appeared and enveloped the entire za, including the twenty men.

    Eight swords struck the ground as one. They dug many inches deep into the earth, each further inch causing the formation to flow with even more fervor.

    "Fuck! What''re you doing?! Attack!" One of the ck-d men roared.

    The others were immediately snapped out of their stupor.

    The enemy wasunching a massively destructive attack, but they were incapacitated in the process!

    Immediately, twenty split into groups of two and swarmed the white warriors.

    XIU! XIU! XIU!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    BOOOOOM!

    Fists, swords, daggers, and even guns filled with eerie ck mana bombarded the stationary soldiers.

    Clouds of debris filled the air, the explosions only getting fiercer as the two archers fought back against their enemies.

    "Hahaha, who are these idiots?! How dare they leave themselves exposed!" A man eximed as he shoved his sword into the neck gap of one white armored soldier.

    "Just die now! Di¡ªhuh?"

    He stumbled over his words at the sudden realization that¡­his sword struck nothing¡­?

    Shakily, the man raised his gaze, only to be met with two blue wisps of me, hovering within a void of nothingness.

    "G-ghosts! They''re ghosts!" The man yelled, hoping hisrades would hear and form appropriate countermeasures.

    However, there was no response.

    "Eh?"

    The man let out a sound of confusion as he realized that he was no longer anywhere near his colleagues.

    When did he get to this misty forest?

    It was quite beautiful!

    It was quite¡­?

    ''I could''ve sworn I was doing something impor¡ª''

    Shing!

    A head flew through the air, the cut on its neck crisp and clean.

    The scenery vanished. The emotionless footsteps of those white-d warriors were the only remaining sound in the za.

    Ding!

    Seeing that all the enemies were eliminated, one of the warriors resonated his mana at a certain frequency.

    Swoosh!

    The response was instant.

    Elena appeared in a sh and panned her gaze over the surrounding destruction.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Any survivors?" She asked.

    The Valha Souls nodded, using their motions in a bid to speak. However, there was no rhyme or reason to what they were doing at¡ª

    "Got it. If there are that many of them, relief should be done immediately. Take care of the bodies while I''m doing this," Elenamanded with ease, somehow perfectly understanding the strangemunication attempts of her underlings.

    ''Goddess'' Blessing.''

    It was tiring to pray every time she activated the ability, but she really didn''t have any other choice.

    Elena put her hands together and let her mana cover the town.

    ording to the Valha Souls, there were still several survivors in this town, most of whom were part of the small non-beast poption of the world.

    While they weren''t driven to madness by the rain, they were afflicted with deadly sickness and pain as their bodies were forcefully transformed into beasts.

    Luckily, since the mutation was from the same source as the beast frenzy, Goddess'' Blessing would still be able to revert the effects.

    Elena sighed, seeing the corpses beneath her.

    Unlike those who survived, they could be purified, but they couldn''t be saved.

    They were forced to die as monsters, not proud beasts.

    ''I need to move on.''

    Elena''s eyes were almost half-lidded with fatigue, but she couldn''t stop.

    If she stopped, the entire n would fall apart.

    And if she stopped, the weight of the situation would hit her like a tank round.

    They couldn''t continue like this.

    But if they didn''t, just what would they do?

    Kiiiii~!

    Elena''s body shuddered.

    ''Another one.''

    A blur of light was all that was left of her as she sped towards the signal she''d just received.

    In her wake, the Valha Souls in the city gathered the corpses of the dead andid them out in the town za, respectfully covering them with sheets and closing their eyes if need be.

    Quietly, the surroundings were filled with people.

    The city that was filled with dead bodies just moments ago was suddenly filled with life.

    The atmosphere was mournful. Those who lived cried and wished they had been the ones to die instead, no, they wished such a tragedy never happened.

    "If the Golden Dragon n protected us¡­" someone muttered inadvertently.

    "Yeah, if they did their jobs, my wife would still be alive!"

    "They swore to protect us! How could they abandon us when we need them most?!"

    The sentiment grew with every passing moment.

    The people needed someone to me, and wasn''t the closest target their own ruler?

    ¡¤?¦Èm Even though the ones who caused the tragedy were outsiders, they weren''t tangible.

    Anger and hatred clouded the air. The crowd who couldn''t cope with their sadness turned to anger and fury to fill the void in their hearts.

    However¡­did they forget that they weren''t alone?

    Bang!

    A sword shed into the ground.

    A white-d soldier stared into the forming mob, his eyes indifferent and hollow.

    Those eyes¡­were terrifying.

    The mob immediately backed away in shock and fear.

    Pak!

    A rock hit the soldier''s armor. There was no force behind it at all, but it was a clear provocation.

    "A-are you going to oppress us too?!" A boy shouted, grabbing another rock into his hands.

    His knees shook, his eyes welled up with tears, but he stared into those hollow blue mes with determination.

    ng!

    ng!

    ng!

    The pieces of Valha Soul''s armor ttered against each other as it slowly stepped towards the boy.

    The crowd parted, not offering the child any help.

    How could they? They were also mortals, after all.

    The boy''s head tilted further and further up as the Valha Soul got closer.

    He tried his best to keep his eyes off the massive sword in thetter''s hand, and he tried his hardest to keep his eyes open despite his fear.

    Before he even knew what was happening, a hand shed out.

    He closed his eyes, epting hisst moments until¡­!

    He felt a gentle touchnd on the top of his head.

    Those blue mes that flickered so indifferently in the face of cmity. That ghostly empty shell of armor that moved against thews of nature¡­

    Just why¡­?

    Just why did the touch of this inanimate being feel so¡­warm?

 Chapter 924 Clash [8]

    It wasn''t an isted case.

    Themon people around the world were reacting violently even after being saved.

    Mob mentality was a dangerous thing. The second one person suggested a ce to vent anger, it wasn''t difficult for all those around them to adopt the same method to cope with their struggle.

    After all, it was just so much easier than facing reality.

    But in the current situation, refusing to ept the situation was absolutely impractical and foolish. When the world was burning around you, what was the point of pointing fingers?

    Unfortunately, the people''s minds weren''t necessarily in a rational ce at the moment, and even more unfortunately, not everyone was as patient and forgiving as Elena.

    "Why are you sote?!"

    "You should''ve saved us earlier!"

    "If it wasn''t for you, none of this would''ve happened!"

    "I hope the Golden Dragon n gets exterminated!"

    BOOM!

    The man who spokest immediately exploded into chunks of meat paste.

    Those around him shuddered and cowered in fear, backing away from the assant.

    The golden eyes man nced at them icily.

    "You may say whatever helps you survive, however, anyone who wishes misfortune upon my Golden Dragon n shall die!"

    Hedrick roared it out, making sure anyone in the vicinity could hear him.

    He roughly exhaled, catching his breath and storing his weapon. He slowly took in the constant stream of information entering his ear from all around the world.

    The situation only got worse and worse with every passing second. It got to the point where even hearing how bad the situation was already pissed him and all those working alongside him off.

    Elena''s strategy was definitely helping recover the Fate Clouds, but the irrationality of themon popce was countering their efforts almost 1:1.

    He couldn''t stand it.

    No, "they" couldn''t stand it.

    He''d already led his army to save the people, he''d worked tirelessly to subdue the frenzied beasts instead of killing them, he''d conceded as much as he possibly could in the situation, yet they still¡­!

    He couldn''t do it.

    He couldn''t sit still and allow them to undermine the authority of the Golden Dragon n, he couldn''t allow their negativity to affect the performance of his soldiers, he couldn''t allow their weakness to infect those around them!

    It was moronic!

    Preposterous!

    "ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC!"

    Bang!

    He mmed his foot into the ground and poured all of his mana into his voice, letting his fury fuel his power.

    "HOW DARE YOU?!"

    The words boomed across half the world.

    All existences within that area turned their eyes to the sky, feeling the waves of fury rocking through their bodies.

    "HOW DARE YOU ACT SO WEAK?! IT IS NOT ONLY THE GOLDEN DRAGON CLAN WHO LIVES IN THIS WORLD, BUT ALL OF YOU AS WELL!"

    "INSTEAD OF FINDING ANY WAY TO HELP SAVE YOUR WORLD FROM DESTRUCTION, YOU BLAME THE ONLY PEOPLE TRYING TO SAVE YOU FROM TRAGEDY?!?!"

    "ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC!"

    He knew.

    He knew there was nothing thesemon people could possibly do to help.

    But he was not going to let them sit on their asses and ruin the efforts of those who were trying.

    "EITHER SIT QUIETLY AND WAIT FOR DEATH, OR FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO SURVIVE!"

    Hedrick breathed out, his emotions finally calming.

    On one hand, he wanted to berate himself for doing something so detrimental, but on the other hand, he didn''t know what he would do if he couldn''t let out his frustration.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    These people were the ones his father put so much thought into protecting? They didn''t deserve hispassion at all!

    He didn''t even want to look at them anymore.

    ''This type of humanitarian work isn''t meant for me.''

    Without wasting another second, he delegated his duties to his subordinates and set up a chain ofmand for them before abandoning his post entirely.

    From now on, themander of the operation would be Elena, and her orders were absolute.

    Hedrick was a fighter. He was the Draconic War God.

    Instead of doing this bullshit, his skills could be put to better use elsewhere.

    Particrly, the ck Dragon n bases.

    It didn''t matter how strong they were.

    From this point on, as long as a ck Dragon existed in his perception¡­

    They would be cut down without exception!

    ***

    "Haa¡­"

    A forlorn sigh rang through the throne room of the Golden Dragon Pce.

    Elena and Hedrick were both constantly receiving reports about the world''s situation through transmissions andmunication, but neither of them could truly look at the world''s situation as a whole and understand how bad it was.

    Nobody could do so.

    Nobody except the Golden Dragon Emperor himself.

    ''Will it truly end as predicted¡­?'' He wondered to himself, unable to make a move in any capacity.

    His personal feelings became irrelevant when acting on them would cause his own death and affect the fate of the universe as a whole.

    ''Their efforts are not enough to calm the mayhem. In less than 10 minutes, the situation will be out of our control.''

    The ck Dragon n''s n was slowly growing in scale and intensity,

    At first, they just let the beasts riot, but soon enough, they also began wantonly ughtering.

    Along with that, the siege on the castle was about to begin. The forces had finished their preparations and were already marching through the Inner Estate, ughtering anyone who dared to fight.

    And finally, as if it wasn''t enough to target the people alone, the ck Dragons targeted the world itself.

    Or rather, the forces they''d brought along with them were dividing up the world into their own territories and using the madness to rule as tyrants.

    There were even some who seemed to be targeting the World Core.

    Elena''s Valha Souls were spread across half the world, and the Golden Dragon Army was covering the other. Both sides had alreadye in contact with these so-called territory lords and engaged inbat with them.

    But the strength of these rulers was at the very least at level 399, with some of them being genuine extreme peak masters.

    ''Hedrick has gone after the ck Dragon n directly, Miss Elena is still fighting for the people, but her strength isn''t nearly high enough¡­boy, are you thest remaining hope?''

    The Emperor nced up into the sky, piercing the atmosphere with his gaze and viewing the battle taking ce in the depths of space.

    ''I truly hope you can pull through and save this world. If not¡­I hope you can at least protect and take care of my daughter.''

    10 minutes, could anything be done in this time?

    With such aprehensive attack, the only reason the world was still standing was because the enemies also needed time to properly execute their schemes.

    The Emperor found himself sighing once again.

    That day, long ago, two prophecies were given to two different ns of dragons.

    The first told of a tragic fate of envement.

    And the second¡­

    The second was more elusive. It told no great tales about glory or destruction, only of an opportunity that might present itself.

    However, one question remained among all those who heard either prophecy.

    Just what was the Golden Star, and who was the one who could tame it?

 Chapter 925 Clash [9]

    At the same time, In the depths of space several million kilometers away from Beast Emperor Star, Damien and Arthur''s battle took a new turn.

    The shift in their dynamic was reflected in the space around them. The expansive Space-Time River was clouded with bloody air as Arthur finally unleashed his true power.

    No longer bound by the effects of the Mana Oath, how could he allow this young genius to continue living?

    Even if Reavus'' death was removed from the picture, Damien still had to die. After all, if he was allowed to grow, he would surely pose a threat to Blood Asura Holy Land!

    "Die, boy!" He roared out, pushing his mana.

    His enemy was indeed just a child who couldn''tpare to him anymore, but he wasn''t going to be careless anymore.

    Within a single instant, a fraction of a fraction of a second, he gathered his Law concepts and formed a true technique.

    ''Asuran Death Needles.'' He called out, giving his mana a form to take.

    Three long crimson infinity-de-like needles formed in the air, silent and deadly.

    The techniques of Blood Asura Holy Land naturally used blood as their main element, but blood was never a true element in the universe''sws.

    Rather, it was a variation of water with hints of metal, life, death, and even a bit of fire element mixed in.

    This blood affinity was unlike the blood affinities of those outside the n. No, it was far, far more advanced.

    And now, standing in the void, Damien realized that he had no choice but to experience those techniques with his body.

    Shing! Shing! Shing!

    The sound was swift and as quiet as a spring breeze,

    The pain came before he even heard it.

    Three needles, each at least a meter long, prated Damien''s body and lodged themselves inside, jutting out of his front and back gruesomely.

    One through the heart.

    One through the head.

    One through the center of his chest, the central point of the Ananta Matrix.

    Arthur perfectly pinpointed Damien''s most fatal points throughout their previous collisions, and he didn''t waste time using these weaknesses against him.

    How could this moment be described?

    Damien always believed he''d reached the cusp of a Supreme''s perceptive ability, but he found himself at a loss for words as he felt the power coursing through him.

    Glug¡­!

    Damien vomited a mouthful of blood, filled with the residue of internal organs.

    Within his body, multiple forces were raging in conjunction to tear him apart.

    His blood was being siphoned, separated into its different parts, and stolen. His organs were being rid of vitality and crushed beneath the pressure of the invading mana itself. Small, almost molecr specks of metal shredded through him and left his insides as nothing more than a sack of misceneous fluids.

    He bled from every orifice, and almost every single pore in his body. Every bit of that blood flew into the air and coagted into a sphere ced conveniently so it was perfectly in Damien''s line of sight.

    This¡­

    This was a deathly experience.

    It was evident that Arthur didn''t want to kill him immediately, but wanted him to suffer until thest second.

    Could Damien ask for more?

    His mouth split apart into an indiscernible grin, hidden beneath the copious amount of blood covering his face.

    ''Pain is power.''

    His heart was pierced?

    His brain was pierced?

    It wasughable to even think so.

    Damien had long since separated his vitals into their own separate dimensions, and it wasn''t as if he just left these defenses at the same level they were when he first created them.

    The more powerful he got, the stronger those defenses became, and as he became more proficient in Void Breathing¡­

    He was sure that he could at least keep his life long enough to escape from anyone under the Demigod level.

    ''This time, though, there''s no reason to escape.''

    Currently, Damien wasn''t in trouble. Of course, if the forces in his body were allowed to continue acting as they pleased for a few more minutes, the situation wouldn''t be quite the same.

    But was there any need to let them do that?

    Arthur watched the changes in Damien''s expression, bodynguage, and aura with extreme care, even recording the moment so he could present it to his son''s grave, dering his vengeancepleted.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    His smile grew wider at the same rate as the glob of Damien''s blood.

    Until suddenly¡­

    Damien''s finger twitched.

    ''Hm?''

    Arthur''s eyes widened slightly. This boy¡­was still able to move?

    It should''ve been absolutely impossible. With a Death Needle in his brain, it was certain that the only thing Damien could do was think and feel, unable to control his body to maneuver out of the pain.

    But didn''t he just¡­

    VOOM!

    A fluctuation tore through space. Arthur''s eyes widened as he suddenly dodged to the side, raising his defenses.

    Bang!

    A destructive force mmed into his barrier furiously, causing cracks to spread across its surface.

    ''What?!'' Arthur eximed in shock.

    He pushed higher into space and red his aura, sending an attack back at the mysterious force.

    Bang!

    Crack!

    Another bang, this one far more dull than the previous one.

    ''Tch!''

    Arthur retreated again, shaking his hand and maneuvering his blood to rapidly regenerate his shattered bones.

    What did he hit just now?

    Was this some sort of meteor?

    Or maybe Damien managed to draw an artifact with his final breath?

    "Hahahaha!"

    A boomingughter denied all of Arthur''s conjectures.

    Finally, he caught a glimpse of just what he''d attacked, emerging from a cloud of steam that could even somewhat obscure his vision.

    "A¡­giant?" Arthur muttered.

    His opponent grinned wildly in response. Hisrge incisors glinted in the distant sunlight, creating a terrifying titan-like image.

    "Indeed, I am Gntis, King of the Cloud Giants. I will be your opponent for today!" He eximed loudly, his voice cracking the sound barrier.

    Arthur''s eyes sharpened.

    ''This is not a simple opponent.'' He thought to himself, sensing the other party''s strength.

    "Who are you and why are you interfering in my Blood Asura Holy Land''s affairs?" Arthur questioned, using the holynd''s name to warn the enemy of who he was messing with.

    However, was this giant an idiot?

    In response, he simplyughed!

    "Hahaha! Blood Asura or Dirty Pig, whoever dares aim for my Young Lord''s life doesn''t deserve to exist in this universe!"

    Gntis spoke raucously, but inside, his emotions were icy.

    Seeing Damien''s current state, he understood that any normal practitioner would''ve already died 1000 times over in the seconds it took for him to be summoned.

    If Damien was just a little bit less extraordinary¡­

    His heart burned with fury.

    This wasn''t just any random individual, this wasn''t just the savior who granted his Cloud Giant n a way into the true universe, a path to freedom¡­

    He was a man who was growing to be the savior of the universe itself!

    These small-minded people not only wanted to kill his savior, but also ruin the beautiful free world that the Cloud Giants had just barely been able to see?

    Gntis spoke raucously, but inside, he made an oath.

    He swore that this man and anyone who dared to support him were not allowed to exist in the same world as him and his people!

 Chapter 926 Clash [10]

    BANG!

    Gntis immediately sent his fist forward with crushing force, not bothering to entertain conversation any longer.

    Arthur''s face paled and his eyes became solemn. Without another thought, he sent a fist forward to meet it.

    BOOOOOOM!

    A furious fluctuation spread for several million kilometers, even causing waves of heat to enter Beast Emperor Star''s atmosphere.

    A rain of Law concepts from opposing elements met and collided. It wasn''t just a matter of strength, butplexity.

    Blood Laws had a concept of regeneration. Used to attack, this concept could cause the force of the attack to amplify and strike in waves, essentially regenerating the attack''s force,

    Conversely, Gntis used a mixture of Wind Laws and the unique body system of the Cloud Giants. Within the concepts in his arsenal was one of amplification, a concept that did almost the exact same thing as the regeneration concept of Blood Laws, at least offensively.

    When these two concepts came in contact during the collision of force, it wasn''t a matter of which concept was stronger, rather, it was a battle of which concept was more defined.

    In simpler terms, it was a battle ofprehension, something that seemed far more intuitive than what Gntis was capable of.

    However, for anyone to reach the level of Supreme, at least theirprehensive ability had to reach a certain standard, a standard not met often on a universal scale.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Even as their previous attacks continued to collide and battle, Gntis and Arthur didn''t halt their battle. Their fists shed thousands of times per millisecond, theirws filled the atmosphere and started to change the properties of space. For a moment, it looked like they were evenly matched.

    But this wasn''t quite true. Arthur was both injured from losing a portion of his blood in the previous battle and forced to engage in physicalbat with someone specialized in the area.

    At the moment, Arthur struck out with fists coated in multipleyers of mana, his knuckles extended into nigh-indestructible spikes that heavily increased his attack and prative power.

    Tobat Gntis, he could only resort to this.

    "I refuse to let you control me!" He yelled out in frustration.

    Bang!

    His fist mmed into Gntis'' once more. His mana ballooned out and suddenly enveloped the collision point, including Gntis'' fist.

    Shik!

    Gntis'' thick skin wouldn''t have been prated normally, but after taking so many blows from Arthur''s spiked fists, it was impossible for him to not have a few cuts.

    And that was enough.

    Arthur''s mana immediately invaded Gntis'' body and began wreaking havoc, allowing him to feel what was currently happening to Damien.

    "You did this¡­to my Young Lord¡­?" Gntis muttered, his eyes changing.

    "How dare you?!"

    A catastrophic windstorm formed around him and pushed even space itself away. Arthur began to back away, but before he could get too far, he found himself surrounded by these chaotic winds.

    His mana was affected by their flow, drawn out and away from his body to weaken him.

    Arthur gritted his teeth and responded in kind, tightening his control over the mana in Gntis'' body and ruining him internally.

    At this moment, they''d pinpointed each other''s strengths and weaknesses.

    Gntis would be an easy target if his body was weakened, and Arthur was a pig on the chopping block without his mana.

    Though they were enemies, they were well aware of the apocalyptic effects their battle could have on the universe.

    While Arthur didn''t necessarily care for the universe''s safety, he absolutely cared about face.

    If he ignored thismon courtesy of lowering the destructive force of the battle, those eyes in the distance that were surely watching the battle would take it as a provocation and would absolutely use it as ammunition against Blood Asura Holy Land.

    When one was on the cusp of Divinity, all forces became enemies, and all enemies would do anything they could to make sure one fell before taking that final step.

    A battle of Supremes could go through a myriad of changes in a single instance.

    The current silent confrontation was one of such instances.

    After all, whoever took the lead at this stage of the battle¡­

    Would gain an absolute advantage if the battle continued.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ***

    The sounds of battle faded as the battle itself became more sinct, but to Damien, they were muddled into the background from the start.

    It was hard to project his senses outwards. In this sense, Arthur definitely seeded.

    It was difficult to move his body before it was fully healed. In this sense, Arthur also seeded.

    But the Sanctuary wasn''t external, nor was it internal. It was an ethereal existence tethered to Damien on a level far more intrinsic than either of these things.

    This allowed Damien to escape his fate of immediate death, and to solve the prospect of a slow death¡­

    Voom!

    Like a rusty machine being brought back to life, the Void Physique revealed itself.

    Waves of mana eclipsing the universe spread through Damien''s body and swallowed the various manifestations of foreign mana that ravaged him.

    It didn''t matter their concepts, it didn''t matter their power, the Void devoured all.

    In the end, anything under Divinity couldn''t resist the Void Physique. This was something Damien discovered long ago when he was still in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    But even as the mana was cleansed, Damien remained impaled and unmoving.

    There was a reason he formed the motto: "Pain is power."

    It was only when his body was so deeply inflicted with foreign substances and unbearable pain that he could trulyprehend the universe''s secrets without boundaries or restrictions.

    ''So it''s like this. The origin of a Supreme''s great ability is...their Legend.''

    The more the Void Physique devoured, the clearer this esoteric concept became in his head.

    The wild conjectures he''d formed as he witnessed his own Legend grow were being confirmed and denied with rapidity, and his perception of "Legends" became more defined with every passing second.

    A definitive change was taking ce, not within his body but within his soul.

    "Something" was forming there.

    "Something" that even Damien, who couldn''t perceive the soul in the slightest, could sense.

    That "something" coagted slowly, taking pieces of his affinities, of his mind, of his body, of his heart, and fusing them into one.

    And when that "something" finally finished forming¡­

    Damien shuddered.

    A pale white light covered his figure and rapidly regenerated his injuries.

    He reached up and grabbed hold of the needle ran through his skull, and¡­

    Shik¡­!

    ¡­tore it out.

    Shik¡­!

    Shik¡­!

    The two needles in Damien''s chest followed soon after. ck mana swallowed them whole and turned them into sustenance for its owner, allowing him a peek into theirws.

    Damien clenched his fist lightly.

    He couldn''t tell what the difference was.

    He was still level 399.

    His stats hadn''t changed, his skills hadn''t leveled up, and while hisprehension had increased, it wasn''t a direct result of the previous process, but rather, the result of his efforts after being struck.

    Yet somehow, Damien could tell.

    After 15 years, 15 long grueling years filled with joys and sorrows¡­

    He had finally stepped into the extreme peak and begun his path to Divinity.

 Chapter 927 Shift [1]

    From the very beginning of Damien''s journey to power, Legends had been a concept he was curious about.

    Back when he was still a small warrior trapped in the First Dungeon, when the system constantly sent him messages to help him progress, it had constantly mentioned that his Legend was being enhanced.

    However, he was never able to pick apart the existence of Legends.

    In this moment, after devouring Arthur''s mana and Laws, that hazy idea became clear.

    And it was almostughable just how simple the concept was.

    Legends, put simply, were an amalgamation of one''s life and achievements.

    Every action one took, whether it be a grand adventure or a single minuscule step, was recorded by the system and would be one''s Legend. This Legend would then be the foundation of many things, silently supporting one''s strength.

    It seemed extremely simple at first nce, but within that simple overarching exnation were manyplexities that lower existences simply couldn''t perceive.

    It was unknown when the system first arrived in the universe.

    The system, or rather, the Apeiron Records, was a metaphysical phenomenon of sorts, the universe''s method to bring order to its plentiful forces and establish a ''system'' for the existences within it to follow so they could systematically increase their strength.

    However, it wasn''t always so. In fact, with the existence of mana and the spiritual intelligence of the many living beings of the world, it was an inevitability for them to gain power.

    Only, with no established system, growing in strength was almost impractically difficult.

    To grow one''s Legend was a far more intensive process, and to define one''s being was even harder than that.

    The system quantified the things that were previously esoteric, and even the method to build one''s Legend became streamlined.

    That was, naturally, the ughtering system that was in ce to the present day.

    The concept of experience, this strange energy that was stolen from the corpses of those one killed, from heavenly resources, and even from absorbing ambient mana, was a numerical representation of one''s Legend built through the system.

    For the most part, it was an extremely urate representation of one''s strength. After all, the myriad beings didn''t have the ability to gain so-called "Achievements" by themselves. They needed the system''s support to trante them into an essible format.

    Conversely, the system could gain a perfect understanding of one''s strength, as for the most part, it is the one transferring that strength over.

    Then, what would happen if one somehow managed to gain Achievements through hard work?

    In fact, it wasn''t impossible or even that rare. The universe itself was keen on blessing those it appreciated, aiding them in growing their Legends as they adventured and contributed to its existence.

    Though, Achievements that were earned by oneself weren''t reflected in one''s experience, which was why it was possible to find such disparities among those at the same level.

    Those who worked hard to improve themselves and didn''t rely on the system''s help to seed would always be stronger than those who only knew massacre.

    The enlightenment one gained upon entering the 9 revolutions¡­was it supposed to be this thorough?

    Damien felt like he could see through the universe, or at least take the slightest peek through its exterior, for the first time in his life.

    And so many questions he had been harboring for over a decade were answered one by one.

    Mainly, his own status window.

    What kind of existence was Damien?

    He was a unique existence in the universe, the Bearer of the Void Physique who had the impossible ability to do the system''s job better than even it could!

    When he devoured his enemies, their Legends, the stolen Legends that the system usually transferred to and integrated with a practitioner, were stolen directly by his hand and incorporated into his body through the Void Physique itself.

    This process didn''t just take ce out of the system''s jurisdiction, but out of the universe''s as a whole!

    Of course the system couldn''t disy Damien''s strength properly when it was barely allowed to read his strength in the first ce!

    Damien realized that, in a sense, he was walking a simr path to those original humans who existed before the system.

    He was defining himself, not letting someone or something else define him.

    And this¡­

    ''This is the foundation of my strength.'' He muttered inwardly, clenching his fist as he gazed down at his own body curiously,

    ''Legends are the foundation of everything in terms of a practitioner''s strength, and most importantly¡­''

    ''¡­Legends are the foundation of Divinity.''

    Damien nced over at Gntis and Arthur. It had been many seconds already, yet the two remained motionless.

    Damien suddenly teleported, arriving only a few meters away from the two beings.

    ''I understand the path forward.''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The 9 revolutions weren''t technically a part of the power system at all.

    If so, why would such arge power realm be relegated to mere names, rather than having its own set of levels?

    In reality, the 9 revolutions could be seen as a bridge between 4th and 5th ss, a road on which one defined their Legend until it grew into a Divinity that could propel them to Cosmic Rebirth.

    Now that Damien had stepped on that path¡­

    "Haha¡­hahahaha!"

    He couldn''t help butugh. It was a boisterous and jovialugh that Damien hadn''t let out for several years at this point.

    For the 9 revolutions, "levels" no longer mattered.

    "Collecting experience" was no longer important.

    What was important wasprehension and action.

    With the Void Physique as his backer, with the universal flow directing him to the most major events taking ce within his homnd, how could it be difficult for Damien to progress through these revolutions?

    This was¡­

    This was his ying field!

    Shik!

    Damien''s arm shot out.

    Arthur was currently preupied with his stalemate with Gntis. If his focus wavered even slightly, he''d lose the edge and be overpowered.

    Therefore, when a young genius who''d just entered his 1st revolution, a genius that should''ve been long dead already, snuck up behind him and ced his hand on his back¡­

    Just how was Arthur supposed to react?

    ''Hmph.'' Arthur scoffed inwardly, not paying the slightest mind to the touch. Even if Damien managed to live somehow, there was no way for him to exert enough power to actually affect the current collision.

    Whoosh!

    Pitch-ck mana deeper than the ckness of space surfaced on Damien''s palm.

    As he felt the breath of that mana, Damien closed his eyes and became absorbed in it.

    ''Void Breathing Enhanced Technique¡­''

    Damien''s eyes fluttered open, calm and gentle.

    His beautiful amethyst pupils were dyed in ck.

    ''Altering Spacetime.''

    Arthur reacted immediately.

    A horrendous fluctuation like a beast of the void appeared behind him so suddenly that he jerked his body, sting his mana out to evade.

    However, he was already toote.

    And in the first ce, acknowledging the attack was a fatal mistake.

    Arthur felt his life force leaving his body. It wasn''t being absorbed, no, it was being burned as he rapidly aged past his prime.

    Just¡­how?!

    How was this power that a 1st revolution brat could output?!

    And that''s when he realized it.

    It wasn''t the power of a first revolution brat, but the power of a first revolution brat that was being supported by the mana of a Supreme.

    To the side, Gntis grinned.

    "Haha, the battle was just getting fun, but I guess it has to end now! Stranger, you were a good opponent!" He said, giving Arthur a strong thumbs up.

    For that to be one of thest interactions he had before death¡­

    How could Arthur ept this?!

 Chapter 928 Shift [2]

    Arthur was unresigned. He didn''t die in glorious battle, but in a sneak attack when he was at his most vulnerable.

    In usual times, there would be no need to worry. Even if he showed his back, there were hardly any existences that could actually injure him while he was in that state.

    How Damien did so? He didn''t know. But he was rational enough to understand that if the power of the two men before him wasbined, he didn''t stand a chance.

    ''I can no longer run.''

    Arthur was already weakened twice over. Running from Gntis was out of the question.

    ''Is death my only option¡­?''

    To test the waters, he whipped out a teleportation device and tried to activate it, but as expected, it directly imploded in his hand.

    It wasughable to try and teleport away from a spatial master.

    Arthur''s eyes hardened solemnly.

    ''Even if I die, I will go down fi¡ª!''

    Bang!

    A fist mmed into the side of Arthur''s face, cracking his skull and sending him flying.

    Only then did he realize that his perception was currently covered in a hazy fog.

    ''Dammit! I will survive!''

    Arthur widened his eyes and pushed his mana to its limit, forcefully raising his perceptive ability and burning his mana to enhance his bodily processes, an easy feat with Blood Laws.

    Whoosh!

    Haaa¡­!

    Arthur let out a determined shout as he pushed his body away, narrowly avoiding another attack.

    Shik!

    A sword pierced through his back, shattering several ribs as it crashed out the other side of his body.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Three punches, one to the chin that made his head spin and two to the body, crushing him into paste and forcing him to waste even more mana on regeneration.

    Arthur moved.

    He moved and moved.

    He did everything he could, letting go of his pride as a Supreme and using every trick he could possibly think of to escape.

    He turned into a blood sea.

    He was burned and weakened.

    He tried to target Damien, the weaker enemy, with Demigod Artifacts to distract Gntis.

    A golden pce appeared in the void, protecting Damien from harm.

    Whether it was escape or battle, neither option was presented to the current Arthur Bloodlock.

    "FUCK!" He roared, unable to contain his frustration.

    Arthur was always an emotional person. It was a quality he''d passed to his descendants and a quality that somewhat aided him in his rise to power.

    But his willingness to sacrifice anything for his desires, the same willingness that caused others to rise to the peak¡­

    Why was it bringing him only misfortune?

    In these final moments, Arthur didn''t experience any sort of shbacks, nor did he see the face of his wives or sons.

    He saw the face of his father, vividly reflected in his mind.

    He saw the scornful expression of Immortal Blood Asura as he looked at his son''s corpse.

    Suddenly, something snapped within him.

    ''Hahahaha, what was ever the point?!'' He roared inwardly.

    If he was ughtered here, he would only ever be known as a shame to the n!

    Even if he lived, falling out of favor with his father was worse than death!

    And like that, Arthur came to a decision.

    ''If I''m going to die, I will make sure our Bloodlock n does not lose face because of it!''I think you should take a look at

    A glorious death, the dream of every warrior.

    It was nothing more than a pipe dream.

    Arthur grinned madly and stabbed his own arm through his chest, grabbing his still-beating heart and crushing it.

    "Die with me!" He yelled, cackling like a lunatic.

    Damien''s eyes widened in surprise.

    Surviving a Supreme''s death knell was impossible.

    But¡­

    He almost felt bad for humiliating Arthur even in hisst moments.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Arthur''s body exploded in the void, transforming it into a bloody hell that would kill any and everyone nearby. The explosive force spread for millions upon millions of kilometers, assaulting the chaotic void, the starry sky, and many nearby worlds, including Beast Emperor Star.

    However, in lieu of this oue, Damien and Gntis disappeared entirely, taking refuge in the Sanctuary until the force died down.

    It seemed like an easy resolution to a difficult problem, but it was anything but that.

    This time, Damien''s victory was dependent on a great deal of luck, or was it rather¡­fate?

    If Arthur had just known that Damien separated his vitals from his body, would he have been able to choose a more fitting strategy to deal with Damien, therefore killing him before Gntis arrived?

    If Damien wasn''t a monster, was there any hope for him at all?

    The importance of strength was once again reflected, and though Damien had just been promoted, his mind was forced to remain grounded by reality.

    With the passing of a minute, Damien returned to the broken starry sky after thanking Gntis for his help and promising him a hefty reward.

    The battle just now, Damien internalized it and took it as a lesson, but he didn''t attach too much weight to it.

    Being blunt, Arthur''s purpose was to be his whetstone, and as the battle with Arthur truly did allow him to raise himself to a new level, the man himself no longer had any value.

    What was important was Beast Emperor Star, almost naked with the dispersal of Fate Clouds in its atmosphere.

    ''If the situation is that dire, I might not be able to execute the n I had for Astoria. I''ll have to investigate as soon as possible.''

    Damien began to move, but he didn''t even make it a few hundred kilometers before the atmosphere suddenly changed.

    VOOM!

    Space solidified. It was a strange solidification that wasn''t done through Spatial Laws, a solidification that Damien couldn''t break.

    ''This¡­!''

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock. Without another thought, he tried to return to the Sanctuary to save himself, however¡­!

    "So this is the little rat that has been nibbling away at my Bloodlock n."

    An ancient voice resounded through space. Just listening to it made Damien''s eardrums quake on the verge of explosion.

    "Khh¡­!" Damien gritted his teeth as he rapidly healed himself.

    He made a vital error.

    It wasn''t that he''d forgotten, he just didn''t understand enough to prepare for this situation.

    Winds swirled through space, and before Damien''s eyes, a massive projection formed. It was an old man with a bald head and a long beard, almost like an old monk. However, his bloody eyes told of countless ughters and a love for mania that remained deeply concealed.

    This projection¡­

    "Immortal Blood Asura."

    Immortal Blood Asura gazed down at Damien''s puny body and peered through his existence, trying to unearth all of his secrets.

    "As a young genius, you are passable. You even managed to kill Arthur using some dirty means. For this, I will acknowledge you. However¡­"

    "For your affronts against the Bloodlock n, today you will die."

    Reavus was just a grandson. Immortal Blood Asura had more grandsons than he bothered to care about. Until one of them showed satisfactory results on the Dimensional Leaderboard, he wouldn''t even acknowledge them.

    While Reavus used to be top 10 on Heaven''s List, he was only in the 50s of the Dimensional Leaderboard, simr to Atticus. Unless he reached the 20s, Immortal Blood Asura had no reason to care for him.

    Arthur was different. Arthur reached not only the top 20 in his youth, but even the top 10. His achievements were so great that he earned himself a spot on the Legacy Tome, a separate part of the Dimensional Leaderboard that immortalized the names of its greatest geniuses.

    Arthur was someone Immortal Blood Asura put a great deal of effort into raising. While he wasn''t a son who had a chance to inherit the throne, countless resources were expended to raise him as a loyal and unstoppable general who served the throne.

    Now that he was dead¡­

    Immortal Blood Asura was more than just a little angry.

 Chapter 929 Shift [3]

    A palm tore through space.

    It was gargantuan, spanning several hundreds of thousands of kilometers, but at the same time, it was minuscule and untraceable.

    Damien watched it approach and erge in his eyes. He felt its power bearing down on him, locking him in ce.

    Now at the first stage of building Divinity, he understood more than ever just how unstoppable this palm was.

    No matter where he went, no matter how strong he was, this palm would still strike him and still kill him.

    It was hopeless.

    And that hopelessness was precisely what formed the grin on Damien''s face.

    ''It''s always this, huh.'' He muttered to himself.

    Wasn''t it always like this? Wasn''t there always someone more powerful waiting in the shadows to strike him for one reason or another?

    This trouble was special because it was provoked by him personally, but it didn''t change the fact that the Bloodlock n was nothing more than another one of Damien''s stepping stones.

    If he was certain of anything, it was that he absolutely couldn''t be killed by a stepping stone!

    ''Defenses.''

    He didn''t have time to form too many cohesive thoughts. In the sparks of fractions of a second that he had, he split his consciousness into hundreds of pieces and instinctually set up every defense possible.

    It started with a golden pce. Within the golden pce, Damien stood surrounded by formations, all activated to their maximum power. Spacetime around him was distorted and vague, almost separating Damien from reality entirely.

    ''Sanctua¡ª''

    He tried it, but immediately stopped himself.

    Shiver!

    ''What a dangerous feeling.''

    The second he tried to enter the Sanctuary, he felt a terrifying sensation as if all his secrets were about to be revealed.

    The invisible tether that kept him tied to this world even when he was in the Sanctuary, it was entirely possible for the Immortal Blood Asura to sense it.

    And if such a character was allowed knowledge on the Sanctuary¡­

    ''Anyway, I can''t let that happen.''

    ''Void Breathing First Form: Elemental Wargod.''

    The number of shields around Damien multiplied exponentially. At the same time, Damien''s body underwent a massive change as he took on the Demon Dragon Form and activated his Defensive Body Runes.

    By the final instant before the palm struck, Damien had already formed over ten thousandyers of defense.

    And in the first instant the palm made contact¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Half of thoseyers were directly crushed into oblivion.

    The golden pce was torn into countless pieces that flew out into the vacuum of space. Its formations shattered, creating smaller mana explosions within the already existing destruction.

    The palm didn''t waver in the slightest even after crushing the golden pce that so easily resisted Arthur beforehand. It continued with the same pace, crashing through barrier after barrier and approaching Damien.

    ''There''s nothing I can do here.'' He realized.

    With Elemental Wargod stacked on the Demon Dragon Form, Damien was in his most powerful physical state.

    With Void Breathing as a basis and Spacetime and Samsara supporting it, Damien was in his most powerful ethereal state.

    But even when they were all put together, when every hint of Damien''s power coagted as one for the sake of this since instance¡­

    He simply didn''t stand a chance against Divinity.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The impact rocked Damien''s body. His skin was immediately melted off and his muscles and bones were threatening to follow soon. Chaotic mana waves flowed into his body and though the Void Physique attempted to devour and convert them, it couldn''t quite resist Divinity in its current state.

    Damien kept his eyes open and felt the pain without numbing himself.

    He stared directly into the eyes of the Immortal Blood Asura''s projection as he felt his body weaken, refusing to give up or waver in the slightest.

    "I¡­will not¡­DIE!"

    BANG!

    Something within Damien snapped.

    A ck seal appeared between his eyebrows, corrupting Damien''s mana into an inky ck color. His eyes followed the same pattern as "something" entered his body.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Damien''s consciousness was forced into a backseat.

    ''Boy, if you reject me here, I really won''t be able to save you.''

    A voice rang through his head, causing his eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets.

    This voice that he''d almost forgotten with time¡­

    Wasn''t this¡­

    "Tiamat?!" Damien eximed in shock.

    ''It is I. Now, stop your resisting lest this sliver of spirit be crushed by the strange forces in your body.''

    Damien immediately followed her will and dropped his defenses, allowing her surface-level control of his body.

    Damien, or rather, Tiamat, turned her eyes to the sky, gazing at the Immortal Blood Asura indifferently.

    "This is why humans are so demeaned by others. Even when your universe is in mortal danger, you still have Demigods willing to find loopholes in the universalw to attack juniors. How pathetic."

    She scoffed lightly as if even speaking about it was below her station. In the next second, she raised her arm in a graceful motion that looked somewhat preposterous on Damien''s body.

    "Little boy, know your ce."

    Ding!

    VOOM!

    Tiamat tapped her finger gently in the air.

    A bell chimed, a wave of ck mana spread so thinly that it was almost indiscernible.

    But with the spreading of that wave, the weight of Immortal Blood Asura''s attack lessened greatly, and its impact on Damien''s bodypletely subsided.

    "Hm?"

    The massive projection looked down with a hint of curiosity in its indifferent eyes.

    As it faded, a small smile appeared on its face.

    "How interesting¡­"

    Immortal Blood Asura''s final words rang through the void, apanying the final image he saw before the connection was cut.

    An image of Damien, alone in the void and covered in powerful inky ck mana.

    Mana that reeked of the Nox.

    The projection was single use, only able to exert the force of a single Demigod strike before fading, lest it trigger the universalw.

    But even though Damien hadn''t been killed today¡­

    Would his fate be any better when news of his corruption leaked?

    Rather, his fate would be far worse than anything the Bloodlock n could do to him.

    Back on his own star, Immortal Blood Asura''s cold face that never cracked revealed a hint of a smile as he watched over the projection''s memories.

    "Arthur has been disappointing, but his death has left me such a surprise¡­very well. Since you were able to aplish at least this before you died, I will enact your revenge, if only for the sake of the n''s face."

    And while Immortal Blood Asura''s rage stemmed from the waste of resources rather than the loss of his kin, at least someone was mourning the death of Arthur Bloodlock.

    Deep in the Abyss, away from all people in a secluded cave, a being''s eyes fluttered open.

    "My new toy¡­someone destroyed my new toy¡­?" They muttered to themself.

    The seed that had only recently been nted had already perished, and the body of that seed was torn to oblivion, unable to be controlled any longer.

    Crack!

    A small object in the being''s hands shattered. As its pieces fell to the ground, they drilled holes several meters deep with their weight alone.

    That being gritted their teeth, feeling an emotion they hadn''t felt in a very long time.

    "That person¡­that person must die!"

    For the first time in several tens of thousands of years, someone dared to provoke the Marite Lord.

    The heavens sang a silent prayer.

    A prayer for the poor soul who would have to face this terrifying being''s wrath.

 Chapter 930 Shift [4]

    Back in the starry sky, Damien now stood quietly and unmoving in the void. The 5 Emperors of Theavel, as well as Gntis and Tephit, formed a defense around his body, making sure that no being could even get a glimpse at their Young Lord.

    Currently, the man himself was wrapped in a fog of inky ck Nox Mana that wouldn''t leave his system. It was difficult to not view him as someone who betrayed humanity and the universe.

    However, everyone standing here knew just how much Damien had done to save those who were oppressed by the Nox, and all those present understood that the Sanctuary itself was the utmost anti-Nox fortress in existence.

    The person who created, nurtured, and constantly grew that ce had no need to be tempted by the Nox''s sophistry.

    Nevertheless, under Elvira''s express order, none of them said a word and merely stuck to their jobs as guards.

    As for Damien''s situation, that was for him to figure out himself.

    They could only pray that their Young Lord woulde out on top of this challenge like he always did.

    Since he was Damien Void himself, a man who was titled equal to heaven by so many unrted existences, he''d definitely find a way out¡­

    ¡­right?

    ***

    Within Damien''s spiritual world, a strange scene was taking ce.

    Two people, both spiritual bodies, sat across from each other at a small materialized tea table. Naturally, there were refreshments before them, but in a simted space like this, they didn''t truly give one the satisfaction of real food and drink.

    "So, Divine Power, huh," Damien said, breaking the silence between them.

    "Indeed. I did tell you that you would be able to resist the strike of a Demigod with it. How does it feel to waste it here?" Tiamat responded teasingly.

    Damien shrugged. "Is it a waste? I''m more surprised that I went so long without provoking a Demigod toe after me."

    Tiamat shook her head. "It is indeed a waste. If you were standing in front of that Demigod''s true body when my Divine Power was used, you might''ve had a chance to injure him."

    "Well, that''s no fun. If I''m going to make him bleed, shouldn''t I do it with my own power?"

    "As bold as always."

    "Isn''t that my charm?"

    "Hmph. Your charm is simply nonexistent."

    "Ah, my heart."

    "At least try to make it look real."

    Tiamat smiled lightly. Compared to the boyish personality Damien had when they first met, he was indeed a different person now. The current Damien was far more mature, less susceptible to his impulses.

    This could especially be seen by the fact that he allowed her to control his body for a period of time and let her continue existing in this space for a conversation afterward.

    "With your previous attitude, my Divine Power should''ve been extinguished by now. Why are you keeping it within your body?" She asked curiously.

    Damien smiled. "Well, let''s just say the line between enemy and ally has been pretty skewedtely, so I can''t really sit here and pretend every Nox is a mindless evil being like I used to. Aside from that, didn''t you save me? I should at least give you the benefit of the doubt."

    "Hmm, then should I be honored that I am being allowed to have this conversation?"

    "Absolutely."

    "Cheeky brat."

    Tiamat sighed and looked at the world around her, marveling at the unique spiritual world unlike any she''d seen before.

    "Choosing you was a good choice,"

    "Choosing me was your only choice."

    "Don''t ruin the moment."

    "Tch."

    Damien looked at the deadly beauty before him without knowing what to say at all.

    She''d saved him due to a promise that had been made almost a decade ago in his time. Even back then, he''d only had thoughts of turning this Demigod into a maid as revenge.

    Now that he''d experienced Elitra for long enough, he''d definitely thrown that n out the window, but he couldn''t lie that having this woman as an ally would be extremely beneficial for him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Back then when you were sealed¡­"

    "Don''t ask," Tiamat cut him off before he could continue.

    "The matters of the past, the matters of our race¡­simply cannot be spoken of to outsiders."

    "I see¡­" Damien muttered, somewhat understanding what she wanted to say.

    "Then, why don''t you tell me what you''ve been waiting to say this whole time? I do have other things to do after I clear your mana out of my system."

    Tiamat nodded.

    Indeed, it wasn''t just Damien allowing her to stay in his spiritual world, but her maintaining herself for a purpose.

    Now that they''d gotten to that point, there was no longer a need to hold back.

    "After possessing your body for a period of time, I became sure of something," she began, her eyes turning solemn.

    She took a small breath and made sure she had Damien''s full attention before continuing with a single, extremely ominous sentence:

    "If you continue following the current trajectory of your fate, you will absolutely die in theing years."

    ***

    Only a single minute passed in the starry sky before Damien''s eyes fluttered open, solemnity reflected in his pupils.

    That talk with Tiamat¡­

    ''Let''s put it aside for now.''

    What she''d told him wasn''t information relevant to the current moment, and in the current moment, he needed to rush to Beast Emperor Star to stop the ongoing catastrophe.

    After all, if he didn''t help save it, he would lose the allegiance of both the Golden Dragon Godbeast n and the Ancient God n.

    It wasn''t something that could be allowed to happen.

    But before that¡­

    ''I need to get rid of this disgusting mana.''

    Despite his gratitude and rtively positive feeling for Tiamat, Damien was still conscious of her status as a Nox.

    She coulde under him, but he absolutely couldn''t cooperate with a Nox on such a level where she had control over him as well.

    In the end, he was still a loyal denizen of Grand Heavens Boundary.

    ''It''s annoying because I can''t devour it. Should I find a way to repurpose it?''

    Truthfully, Damien currently had a rare opportunity.

    He had Divine Power, the mana of a Demigod, flowing through his body without any hostility.

    And on top of that, it was Nox Mana, whose connection with the Void Damien had always been curious about.

    ''I need to set it aside until I have time to properly study it. After that, I can get rid of it easy.''

    Devouring it was impossible, but expelling it was easy.

    Therefore, at least for the moment, Damien gathered all that mana within his Mana Heart and encased it in a solid prism of Void Mana so it would be invisible to the prying eye.

    And without hesitation, Damien took his people and made his way to Beast Emperor Star.

    So much happened in the starry sky after Arthur''s original attack, but not even 15 minutes psed throughout it all.

    With the world''s current state, Beast Emperor Star had around 5 minutes left before it was beyond salvation.

    5 minutes¡­

    Could Damien truly save the world in this short amount of time?

 Chapter 931 Surface [1]

    5 minutes ago, on Beast Emperor Star''s surface.

    At the same time that the Golden Dragon Emperor realized the extreme time constraint that their world''s safety was under, he immediately ryed the news to multiple different areas.

    Elena and Hedrick of course received the transmission, as well as the remaining royal children and the head of the Imperial Guard, a separate army that answered directly to the Emperor.

    These important figures that could all make a difference in the current situation, for them, rather than false hope, understanding reality was far more beneficial.

    Various decisions were made at once.

    At the pce, the royal children dropped their wariness of each other in this time of threat and assembled the private forces they''d been raising for the session war, creating arge army along with the Imperial Guard to face the ck Dragon n''s main army that was storming the castle.

    The shes began instantly, and as they continued, both sides racked up countless casualties. At this point, the ck Dragon n didn''t show any consideration for strategy.

    Rather, they attacked without a care for life and death, purely using their bodies to create a path for theter forces to pass through.

    Their goal was obvious. They were making their way towards the throne room as fast as possible, aiming for the Emperor himself.

    After all, even if he couldn''t move personally, he was the main supporting pir of the entire Golden Dragon n. As long as they could capture or even kill him, they would have an automatic win.

    As the battle continued in the castle, Hedrick took a more direct approach. He moved alone and returned to the ck Dragon n''s base, where their Supreme and main leaders were situated.

    Just as the ck Dragons aimed for the head, he would too.

    And finally, Elena traversed the entirety of Beast Emperor Star for one purpose: finding and killing those from other forces who joined hands with the ck Dragon n to initiate this world-scale siege.

    In the past 10 minutes, Elena had been working with both her Valha Army and the Golden Dragon Army that was ced under hermand to eliminate the Territory Lords and capture their lesser minions to be used as ves and cannon fodder as they continued their sieges.

    In all honesty, Elena was moving with extreme efficiency and skill at the moment. She''d already led the two armies to eliminate a majority of the Territory Lords, and of the 6 that were left, 4 were still at a level that could be easily taken care of by the armies without her aid.

    As for thest two¡­

    "We can leave the 4 Dukes forter. For now, we need to concentrate all of our forces on the final two Lords. These two are from the Tyrant n and the Kunpeng n, two influences just a step worse than your Golden Dragon n," Elena spoke solemnly to her army.

    "Diego will take the strongest soldiers from the Golden Dragon Army to defeat the Tyrant n troops, while Damon takes the strongest Valha Souls to do the same for the Kunpeng n. Anymon soldiers should be sent around the world to provide relief to any victims that might''ve been missed. As for the Territory Lords¡­"

    Elena''s eyes hardened.

    "I''ll take them myself."

    "Lady Elena, with your strength, it¡ª" the soldier named Diego began.

    "Don''t question it," Elena interrupted.

    "I will prevail. You do not need to worry about anything but your own job."

    Diego furrowed his brows disapprovingly, but didn''t say anything.

    They hadn''t known each other long, but Diego understood howpetent of a general Elena was after following her during this period. While he was definitely worried about her safety, he couldn''t question her decisions.

    As the armies moved, they went over the details of the n and created far more intricate strategies to initiate their assault and win with the least possible casualties.

    And eventually, they made it to the far West of Beast Emperor Star. Here, in an area termed Terrorwind by the current Territory Lords, was where both of the enemy ns were located.

    These two ns had specifically been saved forst by Elena, as with theirbined forces, they far outstripped the rest of the Territory Lords.

    The instant the armies entered enemy territory, they were assaulted by waves of nauseating heat.

    ''That must be from the Tyrant n.'' Elena thought to herself, picturing the giant magma monsters that were the Tyrant n.

    ''I should be able to take one on by myself, but if they''re together¡­''

    Elena made the decision to fight both Territory Lords not out of some sort of chivalry, but due to pure selfishness.

    The current circumstance had been incredibly beneficial for her. Equipped with the Genesis Bead, her leveling andprehension speed far surpassed anything she''d felt before, and she was already approaching level 399.

    She had no doubt she could face off against the weakest extreme peak masters with her current strength, however¡­<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Her enemies weren''t so simple.

    Bang!

    Bang!

    Two clouds of dust rose into the air before Elena. One was dispersed in a massive wave of wind, while the other was directly incinerated into nothingness.

    The figures of two men, one massive and the other quote lean, revealed themselves.

    "So this is it! The infamous Golden Dragon Army has finallye!" The massive dark-skinned man among them eximed, his fists pumping with heat

    "Let''s get this over with quickly. I do not enjoy the thought of allying with you." The skinnier man responded bluntly.

    Elena''s eyes narrowed.

    "Leave me! Spread out and find the enemy forces!" She ordered the army, her eyes never leaving the two men.

    "So, you two are the Territory Lords I''ve been hearing so much about?" Elena asked.

    She disyed confidence, but inwardly, she was wary of their every move.

    Her enemies, however, didn''t seem to share her seriousness.

    "Hey, hey! Isn''t this girl quite good?" The Tyrant Lord suddenly said, looking Elena up and down.

    "Indeed. She is quite to my taste. After we finish her, we canpete on who gets to taste her first."

    "Hey, girl! Are you still pure?"

    Elena''s face darkened.

    "It seems you have no consideration for me at all, eh?" She sneered.

    "Consideration? I can offer you some consideration. How about youe back with me tonight and I''ll consider letting you stay alive as my ve maid?"

    Elena''s eyes were icy.

    These two were definitely much stronger than she was.

    Yet¡­

    "You know,st time a man tried to talk to me like that, I cut his dick off."

    ¡­she wasn''t someone who bowed to strength. Not back then, and absolutely not now.

    She drew her sword, a beautiful thin de that seemed as frail as a feather.

    sh!

    Light blinded the two Territory Lords, and in the next instant¡­

    ''Illuminating Strikes.''

    Shing! Shing! Shing! Shing!

    Thousands of sword shed stacked atop each other to form two extremely powerful strikes that even trumped the blinding sh in their light values.

    And the target of these strikes?

    Just slightly below the waists of the two men.

    It was definitely a battle of life or death, but if she was going to say something so arrogant to trash-talk them beforehand¡­

    Shouldn''t she live up to her words before she killed them?

 Chapter 932 Surface [2]

    ng!

    ng!

    Two dull sounds rang out as the Tyrant and Kun Lords blocked her under-the-belt attacks.

    "Girl, you''re quite bold!" The Tyrant Lord eximed, his eyes turning red with fury.

    "Haha, why shouldn''t I be? Mutts should be sterilized."

    "Mutts?" The Kun Lord repeated. "You dare call me a mutt?!"

    He swept his hand through the air in a slightly feminine motion and summoned a fan, using it to control the winds around him.

    At the same time, the Tyrant Lord mmed his fists together, evidently ready for battle.

    Elena stared them down, trying to gauge their power.

    ''One is a speed-focused fighter, and the other has tyrannical strength. It''ll be difficult to injure them if I don''t go all out from the start.''

    Elena immediately formted a strategy and implemented it.

    She targeted the Tyrant Lord first. Her body shed behind his and her sword swung out fiercely. Fluctuations of eerie Life Laws covered her de, evidently signs of a strange and deadly concept.

    The Tyrant Lord immediately ducked down to avoid the de, but Elena didn''t let up.

    ''Alteration.''

    Crack!

    Her arm snapped as she rapidly controlled the momentum of her swing and followed the Tyrant Lord''s downward trajectory.

    However, even with her arm bent at a strange angle, Elena seemed to be maneuvering it with ease, as if she was born with such a disfigured limb.

    Shik!

    Her sword stabbed into the unsuspecting Tyrant Lord, letting loose its energy into his body.

    At the same time, Elena felt a breeze slightly prick her finest hairs.

    Her eyes sharpened.

    ''Alteration.''

    Crack!

    Whoosh!

    Elena''s spine snapped in half as she rapidly bent her body in half to evade the terrifyingly sharp de of wind that almost severed her head from her body.

    ''Revitalize.''

    A bright white light covered her as she pressed off the ground and flipped into the air, spinning her body with a series of cracks.

    Her arm and spine snapped into ce like rubber bands snapping back, and using that sudden momentum, Elena sent another strike at the Tyrant Lord who was just before her, preparing to attack first!

    BOOM!

    SHING!

    Two sounds rang out as one. The Tyrant Lord sent a crushing punch into Elena''s cut, however, her sword stabbed into his shoulder and transferred even more of those strange Life Laws into his body.

    She grinned as she flew backwards, spitting out the blood pooling in her mouth.

    "Sneaking up on me with your strength? How petty." Elena suddenly spoke to nobody in particr.

    ''Yggdrasil.''

    The World Tree burst from the ground behind her. The trunk mmed against her back and stopped her momentum, and on the direct opposite side, a massive chunk of the trunk was cut into oblivion, an attack from the Kun Lord.

    ''I still can''t sense him.'' She thought to herself as she jumped up and recovered herself, examining the battlefield.

    The Kun Lord was simply missing. He was definitely in the area somewhere, but Elena couldn''t sense nor see him.

    As for the Tyrant Lord, he was currently standing up slowly, his back turned to her.

    His aura simmered in the atmosphere, low and furious like a beast on the verge of going berserk.

    "What did you¡­do to me?" He muttered.

    Elena grinned. It seemed it was already starting to take action.

    It so¡­

    "There''s no reason for me to tell you!"

    ¡­now was the perfect time to attack!

    She rushed forward, sword primed to attack, but before she could even make it halfway, she was stopped by a mysterious force.

    ng!

    Her de went forth and collided with something metal.

    "I knew you''d show up!" Elena eximed, mming her sword down again.

    ''Light of Beginnings.''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The Light of Beginnings that revealed all things shine brightly, illuminating the Kun Lord''s hidden form for Elena to attack as she pleased.

    At the same time, she called out with spirit:

    "Yggdrasil!"

    Leading to the tree''s movement, massive roots tore through the ground, aiming for the Tyrant Lord himself.

    The Kun Lord''s expression changed. He didn''t know what was happening to his partner, but he knew that he had to take the leading role in this fight right now.

    "Girl, you''ve impressed me, but that isn''t enough to save your life!"

    He brandished his fan fiercely and began moving his body in a strange way that made it impossible to move one''s attention away from him.

    Elena found her senses muddled by his movements, almost like a snake to his flute.

    However, since when was she someone that could be so easily controlled?

    She immediately let loose the Light of Beginnings, clearing her muddled spiritual world just in time to see the fan barely a centimeter away from her face.

    Shing!

    Spurt!

    It was toote to stop it. Elena''s world first went red and then entirely ck. Her eyes had been directly cut open, ridding her of sight.

    In the dark world, Elena focused on the sound of her breathing and centered herself.

    She couldn''t feel the Kun Lord''s presence, but she could feel the Tyrant Lord, and she could feel Yggdrasil.

    She could feel the earth under her feet, and she could feel the particles of light mana illuminating the world with every passing second.

    Eyes¡­

    Eyes were unnecessary for someone like her.

    A clear picture of the world was painted in her mind by the light mana, the same process through which light was processed by the brain normally, only much faster and more precise.

    For any normal person, the world they viewed was an entire 15 seconds behind the world as it existed. Even with mana''s help, one without such a close affinity for light wouldn''t be able to ovee this gappletely.

    Even the strongest experts under Divinity still took a few microseconds or more to process the images and information they received from their eyes and perception.

    Elena didn''t do it often due to the strain it put on her mind, but in this situation where she was physically blinded, the process seemed to take ce naturally.

    Currently, as Elena realized, she was existing just a few microseconds in the futurepared to the Kun Lord who had given her such an advantage.

    As long as she could find him, those few microseconds could define the oue of their fight.

    ''He''ll try to take advantage of my weakness, but he''s wary.''

    The Kun Lord hadn''t attacked her yet because he wasn''t an impulsive individual who''d get incapacitated at the beginning of the fight like the Tyrant Lord.

    He still had to consider the possibility that Elena hadn''t been weakened by his strike, that she could still perceive with the same efficiency she could with her sight.

    The winds around Elena slightly stirred, and while her body slightly jerked in reaction, she didn''t seem to understand what was happening around her.

    The wind crept up and took away Elena''s smell and hearing, forming a wall that didn''t allow her mana to project into the surroundings.

    ''She''s open.'' The Kun Lord realized by the time he was finished.

    If she could truly sense the outside world, it was absolutely improbable for her to let him put her at such a disadvantage.

    This was the perfect opportunity to incapacitate her and steal her before the Tyrant Lord could get to her.

    Such a delicious and powerful woman, no man would want to let her go.

    With this thought in mind, the Kun Lord flew forward. He gracefullynded before Elena and raised his fan to the side, preparing to sh out.

    "It''s time toe back with me. A woman like you needs thorough re-education before you can be of any use," he stated, knowing she couldn''t hear him.

    Without hesitation, he shed out, cutting her legs and arms so she couldn''t move them at all.

    Next, he took out a talisman and prepared to seal her mana.

    And it was at that moment¡­

    Elena''s eyes shot open.

    ''Alteration.''

    ''Revitalize.''

    Her right arm snapped strangely and shot forward.

    In that abrupt moment, the Kun Lord found himself facing exactly what he''d done to Elena moments before.

    A sword, just a centimeter away from his eye,pletely unavoidable.

    Shing!

    Blood sprayed onto the ground below.

    The only one retaining their vision was the Tyrant Lord, who was still upied by the strange situation in his body, which was only worsening as he faced off with Yggdrasil.

    And in his absence, a battle between the blind, a battle of perception and instinct, was about to begin.

 Chapter 933 Surface [3]

    Several million kilometers away from where Elena and her armies undertook their operation was the ck Dragon n''s main base.

    This base was originally used as a lure, forcing the Golden Dragon Army out before springing the world cmity on them. However, currently, it was facing another threat.

    BOOM!

    An explosion of golden light tore through the walls of the base. Bodies flew through the air, technology was shredded to pieces as a man stepped through the newly created rupture in the wall and nced around.

    He was none other than Hedrick, second son of the Golden Dragon Emperor.

    Just as he promised to himself, he went directly to the ck Dragon n''s headquarters to face off against their elites.

    And now that he was here, it seemed it would be extremely easy to aplish his goals.

    Whoosh!

    Whoosh!

    "Who goes there?!"

    "Draconic War God, even if it''s you, you will die here today!"

    Exmations rang out as a guard squad arrived before Hedrick could take a single step into the facility.

    "To respond so quickly, it seems you really don''t want me to go deeper," he muttered mockingly.

    He brandished his weapon, a long earthy ck halberd with a de almost an entire foot long.

    "If you believe you can stop me, then fight until yourst!"

    Hedrick charged without giving them the opportunity to reply. He swung his spear horizontally, making a crescent that shed through the two men at the front of the guard squad and directly split them into four.

    "Come, ck Dragons! Show me why you believe you can usurp our rule!"

    The deathly ck spear spun through the air, and within a second, the rest of the guard detail was ughtered. Hedrick finally exited the room he broke into and spread his awareness through the facility.

    ''My perception is being blocked, but I can still sense aura.''

    The structure of the facility itself didn''t enter his head at all, but the concentrated aura where the Supreme and his closest confidantes resided was all too clear to his eyes.

    ''For now, that area must be avoided.''

    The goal was to draw them out, rather than going to meet them. Firstly, Hedrick wanted to cause as much damage as possible before facing them, secondly, he didn''t want to face them in an environment they werefortable in, but rather one of his choosing, and thirdly¡­

    Thirdly, his pride didn''t allow him to be the one who approached first.

    The first minute passed.

    Hedrick made his way through the facility like a bulldozer. Every ck Dragon in his path, whether strong or weak, was bisected or crushed by the power of his spear.

    In a single minute, the kills he''d racked up were many, numbering at least in the hundreds.

    By the second minute, extreme peak experts began to take notice of him.

    His battles became longer and required more energy. Even if these 3rd and 4th revolution masters were weaker than him, when taken inrge numbers, they still weren''t soft persimmons.

    Golden mana filled the air, the base itself was torn to shreds by its collisions with the eerie ck mana of the ck Dragon n.

    By the third minute, stronger experts began to popte the area.

    5th and 6th revolution masters started appearing amongst the crowd, forcing Hedrick into a tighter and tighter corner.

    It was at this moment that he realized, this gradual increase in strength level wasn''t a coincidence.

    They were purposefully wearing him down with weaker forces, slowly introducing stronger beings that had a chance ofnding a fatal blow when the time came.

    This was a war of one versus many. If Hedrick lost focus for even a single second, he was done for!

    He fought with everything he had. He consumed mana-replenishing pills and elixirs with so much vigor that an outsider might have considered him a drug addict.

    And somehow, he managed to stay standing against the harrowing assault.

    As a single man, his kill count had now reached a number in the ten thousands, and from the fiery look in his eyes that never seemed to fade¡­<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    This number wasn''t anywhere close to his limit.

    ***

    Two beings entered the atmosphere, almost wholly devoid of Fate Clouds.

    Under them spread a bleak scenery of death and destruction, the cmity of worlds, war.

    "Master¡­" the woman among them muttered.

    Her long ck hair fluttered in the wind, and her golden eyes shone in worry. She was none other than the little princess of this very world, Astoria Golden.

    Standing next to her was the universe''s favorite purple-eyed genius, Damien, who gazed down at Beast Emperor Star contemtively.

    "So it was like that, eh," he muttered to himself as his irises slowly settled down.

    "You littless, it turns out you''re worth much more than expected," he continued with a smile, pinching Astoria''s cheek.

    However, she was in no mood to receive his teasing.

    "Master, be serious! We need to do something!" She eximed, pulling away from his hand.

    "Rx, rx," Damien responded, "do you think I, your master, am a heartless person? I just wanted to observe for a second before moving."

    "Did you find anything? Astoria asked hopefully.

    Damien nodded. "Of course! In fact, the secret to saving the world is¡­"

    Astoria''s eyes widened in anticipation.

    "Drumroll¡­"

    "Master, please!"

    "Fine, fine, the key to saving this world is¡­you, my dear disciple!"

    A light shined down on Astoria and illuminated her like a spotlight as Damien pointed at her dramatically.

    "Me?" Astoria questioned, ignoring Damien''s antics.

    "Yup," Damien said with a sigh. It was clear that his cute disciple wouldn''t y along with him until after this whole thing was solved, not that she was being unreasonable.

    "In fact, when I just nced at the world through my skill, I noticed something odd in the World Core. Within the regr core, there is a secondary golden core that seems to be made of the same energy as the Fate Clouds." Damien began.

    "There''s nothing odd about this, since the Fate Clouds are essentially a limb of the world''s body, but what I found strange is that the fluctuationing from this golden core¡­is the same as the fluctuation from yourbined Golden Dragon Space Power."

    It was a realization that couldn''t be made until this moment, when Astoria had reached a level where her space abilities and Golden Dragon abilities could mix perfectly.

    And as if affirming Damien''s conjectures¡­

    "Master, is that what''s been calling to me since we came back?" Astoria spoke innocently.

    Damien grinned. "You genius disciple, why didn''t you tell me before? Indeed, the thing calling to you should be the golden core, and its reason should be so you can help it save this world."

    "B-but how can I do that? I''m not even at the extreme peak yet."

    Damien furrowed his brows in thought, but before long, his head jerked like it''d been struck by lightning.

    "Haha, that''s simple enough," he immediately said.

    Damien grabbed hold of Astoria and teleported, traversing the until he arrived at a certain area, just a few million kilometers away from where Elena and her armies were currently fighting.

    "Master, why are we¡ª"

    "This area is where four so-called Territory Lords reside. Each and every one of them is a powerhouse, but none of them is at the extreme peak yet. If you want to save the world, your first task is to defeat all four of these Territory Lords and prove your grit."

    As Astoria processed his words, Damien looked up in a certain direction with a smile.

    ''Don''t worry, old ghost. Just sit back and watch as your daughter shows you how she''s grown.''

 Chapter 934 Surface [4]

    Damien followed Astoria as she began scouting the area and forming a n of attack.

    It didn''t take her long to ept his order and firm her will.

    However, while Damien apanied her, he didn''t n to help unless her life was truly endangered.

    After all, she couldn''t grow if she was coddled.

    As such, Damien used this time to think over the information he''d received from the Golden Dragon Emperor when he first entered the atmosphere.

    ''ording to the old man, there''s only five minutes before the world''s situation bes irreversible. But if Astoria can defeat these four Territory Lords before then, she should be acknowledged by the World Core, which is guaranteed to change things.''

    Astoria began to descend from the air, taking a more direct approach. She walked through the territory of the first Territory Lord, the Lightning Lord, with the confident intention of facing him head-on.

    Damien shrugged and followed her. In the first ce, he didn''t think these little cosy lords could touch his disciple, so he wasn''t worried.

    ''At the moment, there are three battlefields. The pce is being handled by the royal children and imperial guard, so I don''t have to worry about it. There''s apparently a Valkyrie taking care of some of the stronger Territory Lords, but she''s apanied by an entire army so I don''t need to go over there to help.''

    Damien''s brow slightly raised in a curious manner as he thought about it.

    ''Still, this is the third Valkyrie I''ve met even though they''re supposed to be an extinct n. I should go meet her and make acquaintance once this ends.''

    Shaking off that tangent, his thoughts narrowed in on the final battlefield.

    ''The Draconic War God will die if he continues alone. With my 1st revolution strength, I''m still not strong enough to fight those High Commanders and Supremes, but there are several thousand extreme peak masters under that level that will also barrage him. I can use them as target practice to limate to this new stage and sense the changes in my body.''

    Damien nodded to himself as he finalized his thoughts. Once he finished up here with Astoria, he would immediately go aid the Draconic War God.

    Nevertheless, at the moment, he was nothing more than a lurking old master. His role was to watch the younger generation show off for a bit before the big guns finally came into y.

    And who would ever say no to ying such a role? Not only was it a treat to see one''s disciple soar to the heavens, but it was also great to kick back and use one''s status as an excuse to do nothi¡ª

    ''Kuhum, what''re these impure thoughts? I would never use my position as an excuse to bezy. Never. Not at all. Okay maybe if I¡­''

    As Damien fought his internal monologue, Astoria finally approached the enemy she was targeting.

    The Lightning Lord was a member of the Lightning Kraken n, a mainly aquatic n that rarely interferes with the affairs of thend.

    However, this time, they seemed to change their mind.

    "Oho? Who is this? Isn''t this the little demon princess who caused my son so many losses back then? How honored I am to receive your visit!"

    The sticky words of a fat man with dark blue skin weed Astoria. In response¡­

    "Hey, blueberry bitch, are you the one calling himself a Territory Lord on someone else''snd?" Astoria coldly uttered.

    Damien almost spat out his water, even forgetting for a second that he wasn''t drinking any water.

    ''Who taught her to talk like that?!'' He wondered inwardly as he watched the bluebe¡ª Lightning Lord''s face turn different shades of purple.

    "Hey, blueberry, isn''t your face supposed to be turning red right now? Wait, don''t tell me¡­pfft!"

    Astoria suddenlyughed out, apparently extremely amused by the blue¡ª Lightning Lord''s situation.

    "You¡­! Even in this situation, you dare to be arrogant?! Little Dragon, I will catch you today!"

    The Lightning Lord barely paid Astoria any mind. After all, this princess who was nothing more than an early-stage 4th ss 2 months ago, what could she achieve against ate-stage like him?

    "Haha, my little Li will definitely be happy if I give you to him as a gift. Little girl, why don''t yo¡ª"

    Bang!

    Elena stomped her foot down on the Lightning Lord''s and pressed it into the ground.

    Boom!

    A fist covered in golden aura tore through space and mmed into the side of his face, throwing him into the ground below.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Crack! Riiiip!

    Under Astoria''s powerful physical strength, the Lightning Lord''s foot was unable to escape. As such, when his body was thrown to the side with such velocity¡­

    His leg was directly torn from his torso.

    "Ahhhh!" The Lightning Lord yelled in anguish.

    Astoria''s cold eyes filled his vision in the next instant.

    "You are not worth my time. Just die."

    Astoria pulled her fist back and covered it in a copious amount of golden aura, apact spatial dimension formed an inch in front of her fist, a Dimensional Cagepressed to the extreme.

    And in a single second, before the Lightning Lord could even react, she punched out and struck it.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    A rupture in space spread forward for several hundred kilometers, tearing the Lightning Lord and almost his entire territory and n to shreds.

    "Hoo¡­" Astoria breathed out, settling her emotions.

    She looked up with firm eyes.

    "Master, this one wasn''t challenging enough. I''m going right to the next one," she said as she began to move.

    Damien smiled as he followed behind. "What''re you telling me for? This is your stage, use it as you please."

    Astoria continued flying forward without acknowledging his words, but on her face, a small smile spread imperceptibly.

    This warmth, she was d she had it at a moment like this.

    If it wasn''t for the constant understanding that Damien was right behind her supporting her, she didn''t think she could keep her calm after seeing the state of the world.

    That warmth enveloped her like afortable cocoon and gave her the strength to protect what she wanted to protect.

    And though she didn''t notice, that warmth manifested around her body as a slight golden aura that even Damien could barely see.

    His smile was extremely wholesome at the moment, like a father watching his daughter graduate high school.

    She was truly growing into her own, and it was clear that the universe was acknowledging her progress.

    In this world, perhaps only Damien understood what kind of struggles Astoria faced internally.

    She never let these struggles affect her strength like his weak past self did, and she never let these struggles surface and affect her life, something Damien also failed to do.

    Astoria wasn''t someone who suppressed her troubles, but someone who epted and internalized them, constantly working towards the day when she could personally make those problems disappear.

    This was truly her stage.

    The current Beast Emperor Star was quite literally set up so it could help Astoria take that final step and bloom into her full true potential.

    When that day came¡­

    Just what heights would she reach?

    Damien''s blood boiled in anticipation.

    He couldn''t wait to see it.

    And it seemed he needed to start working hard.

    After all, he could never let his disciple surpass him, could he?

 Chapter 935 Surface [5]

    Astoria''s next target was the Roc Lord from the Earthly Roc n.

    The travel speed of rocs was incredibly fast, and though Astoria reached the Roc Lord''s territory as rapidly as possible, she was just barelyter than the information from the n''s spies.

    As such, the Roc Lord was far more prepared for her than the Lightning Lord.

    He met Astoria in the sky, his eyes solemn.

    "Why must you target my n?" He asked coldly, taking a fighting stance.

    Astoria smirked. She almostughed out loud at the audacity.

    "Why must I target your n? As someone openly poaching my n''snd, you still have the gall to say something like that?"

    Astoria had picked up many things from Damien over the few years they spent together, and of them was his disgust for hypocrites.

    If it was up to her, she would have directly killed the Roc Lord in that instant, but unfortunately, she wasn''t quite strong enough to end this as quickly as she did thest.

    Nevertheless, she wasn''t in the mood for conversation anymore.

    Whoosh!

    Astoria''s body turned into a blur as she rushed up to the Roc Lord, sending a heavy punch at his stomach.

    Swoosh! Swoosh!

    An aerial beast to begin with, the Roc Lord''s mobility far outstripped his Krakenpanion. He dodged to the left and right, swinging through the air like a chaotic pendulum.

    "Girl, don''t be rash!" The Roc Lord shouted as he cut his hand through the air, summoning a de of wind that shed at Astoria.

    "Hmph!"

    Astoria snorted and lifted her arms across her chest, taking the attack directly. Her golden aura red out and swallowed it before expanding and covering her fists as she sent an immediate counter forward.

    ''Dimensional Cage.''

    The Roc Lord easily dodged Astoria''s first punch by twisting his body to the side, but he wasn''t able to escape the rapidpression of space that trapped him and Astoria in an isted cage together.

    ''Try to run now, birdie.'' Astoria snorted inwardly as she charged him once more.

    She let loose a flurry of punches with no particr technique, using pure physical strength to force the Roc Lord into a corner.

    With the Dimensional Cage around him, he could no longer dodge with the same efficiency or freedom, and when it came to attack power, he was the worst of the four lords.

    After all, he specialized in speed and trapping.

    But in this trapped space, how could he set up a trap?

    Astoria didn''t leave him any room to act, entirely her purpose when she set up the Dimensional Cage.

    Originally, she only wanted to trap the Roc Lord and take advantage of his most ring weakness from the start, but as it turned out, the reason this weakness was so obvious was because it was the result of many weaknessesbined!

    When Astoria cut the Roc Lord off from the world, the "Earthly" trait of his race was directly impeded, and while Astoria didn''t intend this, she wasn''t going to let it go now that she''d realized it.

    ''Fate Lines!''

    Astoria flicked her hand out into space, letting five golden strings extend from her fingernails and whip around the Dimensional Cage.

    ''Vector Control.''

    Immediately, she locked onto several points of space at once and activated Vector Control.

    The wantonly flying golden strings immediately straightened out and changed their flight trajectories, instantly surrounding the unsuspecting Roc Lord!

    "Dammit!" He roared in frustration as he spun his body, summoning several thousand feathers that shot into the golden fate lines and attempted to interfere with them, but at that moment, the Roc Lord found out just what made the Golden Dragon n so terrifying.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    The Fate Lines pressed forward, moving through the feathers like incorporeal illusions.

    When it came to Fate, even if it was just a representation created through mana, it wasn''t so easy to simply interfere with it as could be done with other elements.

    After all, fate was far more esoteric and far more intrinsically connected to the universe''s existence.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Unless one had a fate that could match the user''s, they would have to be extremely creative to block the impact of an attack like Fate Lines.

    As for the Roc Lord, this individual who was already about to be killed by Astoria, how could he have a fate that matched hers?

    Shik! Shik! Shik!

    The Fate Lines stuck into the Roc Lord''s body, causing him to jerk. His head snapped back, his eyes turning fully white.

    ''Severing Ties.''

    Shing!

    The sound of a sword rang out, but no sword was pulled.

    The sound came from within the Roc Lord''s body, where something ethereal had been shed apart.

    The Roc Lord crumpled in the air, still living but unmoving and corpse-like.

    "Hm? What did you do?" Damien suddenly appeared next to Astoria and asked.

    Astoria quirked her head as she responded, "This is one of the core techniques of our n. It can sever people''s karmic ties to the world, which essentially cuts them off from the path of Law entirely."

    Damien''s eyes slightly widened in surprise. It was quite the cruel move, essentially crippling the enemy at a level that simply couldn''t be reversed by anything other than a miracle.

    But, who was Damien to judge?

    "Hm, well I was just curious. Carry on with what you were doing," he said, exiting with a smile and returning to his observer''s position.

    The Roc Lord was basically already dead, so regardless of what Astoria did with him, Damien didn''t need to care.

    Instead, he directed his gaze to the sky.

    ''It''s about time to start now.''

    In fact, while Astoria was the key to saving the world, she couldn''t quite do it without a little urging from him.

    But, she didn''t need to know that, right?

    With a small smile illuminating his face, Damien flew up into the atmosphere and closed his eyes, spreading his arms to his sides.

    ''Gather.''

    The Breath of All Things leaked from his body and spread like a over Beast Emperor Star''s atmosphere.

    And using this impossible ability of the Void to control all existence, Damien called forth the fate of the world, the fate that was being spurred on by Astoria''s existence.

    Slowly but surely, wisps of golden smoke gathered around Damien''s immediate vicinity.

    Eventually, these would form new Fate Clouds to rece the old.

    But that wasn''t for Damien to control.

    He was merely acting as a conduit, allowing the world to channel its force through him and gather these clouds with far more efficiency than it''d ever see naturally.

    As long as Astoria kept fighting for the world, the golden core would continue to be stimted into action, and as long as Elena and Hedrick continued their activities, the citizens would eventually see the light.

    In fact, while Hedrick saw himself as a hindrance, he was anything but.

    His speech earlier offended many people, but more than that, it forced people to face their shame.

    Themon people who irrationally looked for someone to me looked at the world around them. They looked at how their homes burned and how their soldiers desperately worked to stop the spreading destruction.

    And then, they looked down at themselves, wondering just what gave them the courage to be so ignorant.

    Damien could feel it all around him.

    The congregation of fate that was filling the atmosphere and floating up to the skies to join him¡­

    Was only gettingrger andrger with every passing second.

 Chapter 936 Surface [6]

    Astoria didn''t kill the Roc Lord. Rather, she tossed him into a spatial dimension for him to rot until she coulde back and give him a proper punishment.

    Afterwards, she made her way to the abode of the Shadow Lord, head of the Invisible Panther n.

    Now that she''d taken care of two out of the main four, Astoria had used up both the element of surprise and her free pass.

    The Lightning Lord wasn''t an easy character, but he died easily since Astoria used such a destructive attack at close range without giving him a single chance to dodge.

    As for the Roc Lord, he was just weak. There was a reason he had to follow behind the ck Dragon n and ept any scraps they threw at him.

    But thesest two wouldn''t underestimate her as they absolutely received news of her strength, and they were nowhere near as weak as the Roc Lord.

    Astoria entered the Shadow Lord''s territory with her awareness fully extended and her senses heightened to the max. The Invisible Panther n was incredibly skilled in deception and stealth, a skill Astoria had personally tasted multiple times.

    Right, unlike the other ns, the Invisible Panther n wasn''t a weak n, they were just participating in this war due to the external pressure of the ck Dragon n.

    When it came to respect, they were simr to giants in their worship of strength.

    Xiu!

    Crack!

    Astoria raised her arm and grabbed the hidden dagger that flew towards her neck, directly shattering it to pieces.

    "na¡­" Astoria muttered, feeling the shadowy fluctuationsing from the dagger.

    "Astoria, I am surprised you still remember me," a calm and slightly sultry voice came from the void.

    "How could I not? With the way you humiliated mest time, did you think I would easily forget you?" Astoria sneered.

    The woman named na smirked from her hiding ce. "Do not fault me for your own weakness. If you had the strength topete against me, would you have lost in such a way?"

    Astoria gritted her teeth in anger.

    "You hypocritical bitch! Show yourself and watch how I educate you!" She roared.

    na''s smirk widened. Astoria''s greatest fault was never her strength, but her short-sightedness.

    The same impulsivity that led to her bing the little devil emperor was what usually cost her the victory in battle against her peers.

    This time, though na wasn''t particrly hostile to Astoria, she''d received orders.

    "Our Patriarch has passed it down. As long as you can defeat me, the Invisible Panther n will no longer interfere in Beast Emperor Star''s matters," she stated.

    Astoria''s rage only grew. "Even at this juncture, you want to mock me?!"

    "I am not mocking you."

    "Then, tell your Patriarch toe personally. Maybe then I''ll listen to what he has to say."

    "That is impossible."

    Before Astoria could quip back, Damien''s voice suddenly rang in her ear.

    "Take her offer."

    Astoria''s eyes narrowed, but she didn''t talk back.

    She was well aware of her master''s means at this point. If he said so¡­

    Then she would have to calm her anger and view this situation from a different perspective.

    Being blinded by rage wouldn''t do her any good.

    "Huu¡­" Astoria let out a deep exhale.

    "Fine, let''s do it like this then. I want to see how my old nemesis has improved in these past few years," she said calmly, once more spreading her awareness and preparing for battle.

    And though she couldn''t quite feel it, she was absolutely correct to listen to Damien''s suggestion.

    After all, the leader of the Invisible Panther n, the Shadow Lord¡­

    Was an extreme peak master only slightly weaker than Damien!

    It was evident that he was hiding his strength, and it was evident that he had differing thoughts about the current situation than his peers on the same side, therefore, Damien chose not to engage directly.

    Just as the Shadow Lord wished, this matter would be solved by juniors.

    Nevertheless, Astoria didn''t attack rashly in this battle as she did in the previous two.

    She knew some of her enemy''s quirks, and unlike the previous two who were more arrogant and domineering, na was quiet and careful.

    She only showed herself when she was assured of victory, and if she wasn''t, it was impossible for anyone on the same level to find her.

    This battle would by far be the quickest, as it would be ended in one move.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    However, this was the most difficult battle for Astoria up to this point.

    She closed her eyes and focused on the surroundings.

    Damien''s teachings surfaced in her mind, supporting her decisions.

    Enemies who could use stealth would always be the most troublesome, but as a spatial cultivator, it would be embarrassing to lose to a stealth expert at the same level.

    After all, what was stealth?

    Wasn''t it merely concealing oneself in the atmosphere or environment?

    Even at the mostplex levels, unless a stealth expert could separate themself from the dimension, it would be impossible for them to hide from a space-practicing peer.

    2 years.

    For the past 2 years, Astoria had been doing everything in her power to focus on this singr concept of sensing the atmosphere and using it to her advantage.

    This was the basis of her spatial element.

    And as long as she could just find a trace¡­

    ''There it is.''

    She didn''t find na, but she found where the previous "greeting knife" was thrown from.

    ''Vector Control.''

    Astoria locked onto that point in space. From there, she expanded her perception and used Vector Control to "trace" the activity that existed and extended from that point.

    And using this roundabout method.

    Astoria''s eyes narrowed.

    She quietly set up a Dimensional Cage in the surrounding area and charged mana into her legs and fists.

    In the next instant¡­

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Space ruptured and burst as Astoria''s fist pushed forward.

    From the center of that impact, a girl not much older than Astoria flew forward, coughing out blood as she tried to stabilize herself.

    sh!

    Astoria appeared right in front of na, her face only centimeters away from the other girl.

    She grinned.

    "I''m not the same person I used to be."

    na''s eyes widened.

    A small smile spread on her lips.

    And a furious punch mmed into her gut, crushing her into the ground below.

    Astorianded silently, her expression unmoving.

    Something was happening within her.

    It wasn''t some sort of ethereal phenomenon, but rather a small shift in Astoria''s perception.

    The validation she wished for was a type of validation that only she could provide herself.

    And now, though the battle was short, just the fact that she was able to defeat na in a single move was telling of her strength and effort.

    The time she spent working, the time she spent shedding her identity as a devil emperor and growing into herself as a practitioner¡­

    She finally felt like she could feel just how significant that time was for her.

    And with that confidence, she made her way to her fourth and final battle.

    A battle that even Damien, who was watching from above, wasn''t sure if she could win.

    This time, her target was the Dark Phoenix n.

    The n itself was rtively new and had a short history, however, there was one thing that allowed them to sit on the same pedestal as the top forces in the Beast Domain.

    That is, they were descendants of the Godbeast, Death Phoenix.

 Chapter 937 Surface [7]

    The Death Phoenix was a Godbeast not much weaker than the Golden Dragon, however, it took several generations before its descendants could finally emerge in the universe.

    The possible reasons for this phenomenon were many, but the reasoning didn''t matter anymore.

    The Dark Phoenix n was able to rise to prominence through the power of their racial traits and gain the backing of the ck Dragon n. While the other ns participating in the Golden Dragon n''s downfall were merely in business rtionships with the n, the Dark Phoenixes were true subordinates.

    As Astoria approached their base, a prickling sensation overtook her, alerting her of danger lurking all around.

    In the sky above, Damien''s eyes narrowed as well. He looked deep into the main residence of the n where the Death Lord resided.

    "4th revolution master." He muttered to himself.

    It should''ve been expected from Godbeast descendants, but the rate of growth of these phoenixes was truly terrifying.

    To produce a 4th revolution master in less than 100 years was something not many could do.

    Nevertheless, it was clear that this master also hid his strength for unknown reasons. If Astoria tried to charge him, she would be instantly killed.

    ''Is it time to get my hands dirty?'' Damien wondered with a smile.

    The rest of the n didn''t even have a single extreme peak master, making it obvious that some extraneous means were used to raise the Death Lord to his strength so rapidly.

    With these conditions, if Astoria were to challenge the entire n instead of just the Lord, she would find an even greater challenge than any of her three others.

    And while she did so, Damien could also test his new power.

    "Astoria, stand back and face off against the experts who try to chase me. I''ll be taking the Territory Lord this time," he said through mental transmission.

    Astoria pouted for a second before realizing the implications of his words.

    "How strong is the Territory Lord?" She asked curiously.

    "4th revolution," Damien answered nonchntly.

    "Ehh?!"

    Astoria immediately jumped in surprise.

    "Master, isn''t that a bit too much?!" She asked in a slight panic.

    Damien shrugged, grinning to himself. "Don''t talk nonsense. This is the perfect challenge."

    "Hmm¡­" Astoria frowned in worry, but she wasn''t given even an instant to let that worry fester.

    "I''m going in. Follow me if you don''t want to miss the fun!"

    "Eh? Master, you¡ª"

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Only when she heard the distant explosion did Astoria realize that Damien was already gone.

    She jumped up and ran towards it with an exasperated expression.

    "Dammit, Master! Wait for me!"

    ***

    ''Starfall.''

    It was an entrance gift, a grand ceremony of mes that announced Damien''s presence to the world.

    The meteorite that sped through Damien''s connected portal crashed into the main abode of the Death Phoenix n, directly blowing it to shreds and killing several tens of people who were within.

    Damien descended into the mes excitedly.

    It had been a long time since he met an opponent who could match him.

    In recent days, he''d only been meeting those significantly weaker or significantly stronger than him, and it almost felt like he lost track of his strength in this time he spent peerless.

    Atop that, he''d been winning too often.

    The impossible situations he was able to ovee in the past, he was only able to do so because of the long list of past experiences that supported him.

    If he was to be content, if he was to forget his true ce in the universe, he was sure to taste karma eventually.

    In the end, Sir Theon was killed by the Heavenly Vine, and the Heavenly Vine was killed by Gntis. Arthur was also only killed due to Gntis'' interference, and Immortal Blood Asura was driven back by Tiamat.

    Damien himself had only contributed to these victories. He never actually had the power to execute them himself.

    As the Death Lord, thisrge and domineering character rose from the mes to face him, Damien felt his blood pumping.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He knew his own limits better than anyone. Now that he''d finally entered the extreme peak, he didn''t doubt that he was any weaker than this Death Lord.

    But the only way to test that was¡­!

    Bang!

    Damien pushed off the air and flew forward, swinging his fist with extreme velocity.

    The Death Lord''s eyes slightly moved. With a look of superiority clouding his face, he extended his arm, manifesting a ck feathered wing that shed against Damien''s fist,

    ng!

    Sparks flew from the point of impact. Damien looked into his opponent''s eyes as he vanished and appeared on theplete opposite side of where he was, summoning Hel and shooting a terrifying ck bullet into the Death Lord''s temple!

    Bang!

    The shot flew true and entered the enemy''s head, but unlike what Damien expected, he saw no reaction.

    Bzzt¡­!

    Suddenly, Damien felt his connection with the mana disappear.

    His eyes narrowed.

    "I should''ve expected it from someone called the Death Lord. It seems this particrw is useless against you," Damien said with a smile.

    The Death Lord nced up at him as he teleported a few meters away and responded, "After attacking me so fiercely, you finally decide to speak?"

    "Hey, hey, you can''t me me. It''s been so long since I met someone who could match me, I couldn''t hold back."

    "Hmm, it is true that characters of your strength are rare in this part of the universe. Very well, I have also been itching for a fight recently. Entertain me well."

    "Your whole n might get exterminated while we''re fighting, you know?"

    "If so, that is their fate."

    "Sheesh, the Death Phoenix sure is unforgiving."

    "It is but our nature."

    "Hmph!"

    Damien abruptly teleported, summoning Mirage and shing out.

    ''Void Sword Art First Form: deless''

    Space tore apart into a proverbial mush of flesh and bones, cutting into the Death Lord''s body.

    The Death Lord didn''t panic, instead summoning his own mana and shing his arm, shattering the spatial mana into pieces.

    "Nice one!" Damien eximed as he circled back. Freya appeared in his left while Mirage stayed in his right.

    In the next instant, he began a furious assault.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Countless bullets of pure white mana clouded the air. Space was gashed into pieces, and as Damien activated Dance of the Void, a collection of minuscule yet deadly spatial cracks formed in the atmosphere,ying in wait for the enemy to collide with them.

    With this opportunity to go all out without worry right in front of him, how could Damien act lightly?

    He felt like he was back in his younger days, using every possible means without care and endlessly barraging the opponent until they gave in.

    Whether it was Spacetime or Samsara, Damien had spent thest 2 years developing them seriously while training Astoria.

    The number of theoretical attacks he was waiting for the opportunity to bring into reality was many.

    And the Death Lord was just unfortunate enough to appear at this timing, when Damien was desperate for a fight.

    With this kind of barrage assaulting him, would he even have a chance to show off his skills as a 4th revolution master?!

    Well, the Death Lord certainly wasn''t resigned to such a fate.

    He wasn''t going to let Damien beat him one-sidedly.

    After all, even if he was relegated to a lower position in this siege¡­

    He was still a true 4th revolution master, after all.

 Chapter 938 Surface [8]

    The Death Lord''s eyes narrowed in the face of this assault.

    He suddenly poured mana into his body and abandoned his human form, bing a Dark Phoenix in all its glory.

    Skreeee!

    He let out a powerful war cry as he furiously pped his wings. A tornado of purple-ck mana formed around him, blocking the rain of bullets as they fell.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    As the bullets made contact with the swirling barrier, they exploded into showers of light. At the point of contact, a clear negative reaction was taking ce, making the mana bullets vtile and dispersing them.

    Damien observed it carefully, realizing the reason for this phenomenon.

    ''Should it be called Law Discordance?''

    The Death Lord''s barrier was made of a very specific Death Law concept that Damien wasn''t familiar with, and it was repelling his own Life Law like a ma with the same prity.

    It was theplete opposite of a Law Resonance like Samsara Intent, and if it was something the Death Lord could wield consciously¡­

    ''It''s too early to make assumptions.''

    Damien brought Freya and Hel out together and aimed them at the barrier,bining his Life and Death mana to shoot bullets of True Samsara into the barrier.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    The bullets flew unhindered and sunk into the Death Law Barrier.

    ''Hm?''

    Damien''s brow immediately raised in curiosity.

    ''It''s still¡­shing?''

    It seemed in that instant, Damien''s Samsara Intent shed against something else, anotherbination of Life and Death Laws, but not quite the same as Samsara.

    ''That''s dangerous. I shouldn''t let him utilize that.''

    If he continued using Samsara, it was inevitable for their collision to take a long time, and what Beast Emperor Starcked most was time.

    As such, Damien was limited to only Spacetime in this battle.

    But¡­was that ever really a limitation?

    ''Let''s try this out.''

    ''Transmission.''

    Damien vanished.

    Skreeee!

    The Death Lord let out a powerful war cry as he furiously pped his wings. A tornado of purple-ck mana formed around him, blocking the rain of bullets as they fell.

    A sword shed out.

    ''Void Sword Art Sixth Form: Worldbreaker''

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Mirage sliced into the forming tornado and dispersed it to nothingness. Its path continued until it mmed into the Death Lord''s back, releasing all of its pent-up mana and crushing him into the earth below.

    Damien stood in the air above, panting heavily.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    ''So¡­it''s possible.''

    Damien''s eyes shone with excitement.

    In that moment, he hadn''t just teleported.

    No, in that moment, he truly traveled through space and time and arrived less than a second in the past to cut down the Death Lord before he formed his strange tornado.

    It was an extremelyplicated maneuver, and while its nuances needed further definition, the Death Lord''s rising figure didn''t allot any time to do so.

    Huu¡­<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Damien took a deep breath and opened a ck hole behind him, swallowing the ambient mana to replenish himself before he returned to battle.

    ''It''s too early to be excited.''

    Transmission, a useful killing move that waspletely ineffective in the middle of a battle.

    Damien hadn''t used it properly because he didn''t quite understand how to use it properly yet, but now that he''d experienced it, he could improve in the future.

    ''The first test run is done. Let''s continue.''

    Damien rushed into the air, away from his enemy, as he spread his arms into the air.

    ''Void Breathing: Domain of Reminiscence.''

    Damien''s eyes were dyed ck, bing portals of ckness in his face. His mana spread for several kilometers into the surroundings, shifting Spacetime in a strange and imperceptible manner.

    A string of pitch-ck mana pierced the Death Lord''s spiritual world and spread its webs, connecting to his deepest memories and drawing them into reality.

    The space changed.

    A dark world manifested itself, ridden with chaos and destruction.

    The Death Lord''s eyes turned hazy as he fell into the illusion.

    This apocalyptic worldscape wasn''t a random image. No, it was a setting drawn from the core of the Death Lord''s being.

    This was a scene that tormented him ever since childhood.

    This was the memory of his original world, a long-destroyed vestige of the past.

    ***

    While Damien experimented with new attacks and fought the Death Lord, the situation on the rest of the continued to proceed.

    Elena''s armies conquered the Kunpeng n and attacked the Tyrant n, while Elena herself slowly wore the two Territory Lords down inbat.

    Hedrick got closer and closer to the ck Dragon n''s ruling powers, who, despite his siege on their base, didn''t deign to move and deal with him personally. With the current progression of events, his mana would run out within the next few minutes.

    The battle at the pce only became fiercer with time. Now that 3 minutes had passed since Damien and Astoria arrived in the world, the sh was taking ce in full force, with the most powerfulbatants facing off to determine the final oue.

    And separated from all three battlefields, Astoria had her own struggle. She fought with all her strength, expertly utilizing Vector Control and Dimensional Magic to support her Golden Dragon Techniques, conserving her mana as much as possible as she battled her way through the Dark Phoenix n''s forces.

    It was difficult. The Dark Phoenix n was skilled in both Death and Fire Laws, and when these twows werebined, they became a true force to be reckoned with.

    Even with her newly acquired abilities, Astoria couldn''t avoid injury.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Astoria coughed out a mouthful of blood as she took the attack of ate-stage 4th ss powerhouse, avoiding a fatal blow from another in the process.

    Her hands moved restlessly, creating seal after seal to form Dimensional Cages that separated the thousands of enemies into smaller portions for her to devour one after another, however, the number ofte-stage powerhouses made it difficult for her to maneuver freely.

    ''Dammit!'' She eximed inwardly as her eyes darted around the surroundings.

    Since Damien trusted her to win this battle, it meant there was absolutely a method for her to do so.

    However, to this point, she had still yet to figure out what it was!

    ''My spatial skills are supportive, they were never meant to be my main form of attack.'' She thought to herself as she analyzed the things Damien prioritized during their lessons.

    ''I am the descendant of a Godbeast, and my body is that of a future Godbeast. If I want to exert my full power, I need to learn how to harness it!''

    Astoria racked her brain as she dodged and blocked as many attacks as possible, wearing her opponents down slowly.

    Fate, just how was she supposed to harness it?

    She could use Fate Lines to sever people''s worldly ties, and she could cover her body in golden aura to enhance herself, but even as a Golden Dragon, Astoria was never able to fully understand the concept of Fate.

    Astoria suddenly understood what Damien wanted from her.

    Through this battle, she needed to have a breakthrough and learn to harness fate.

    That wasn''t only the key to winning this battle, but also¡­

    It was the key to saving the world!

 Chapter 939 Fate [1]

    Once, on a distant far in the past, two experts existed.

    These two experts were both old monsters who''d exhausted the majority of their lifespans, and in their final moments, these two shed constantly.

    On one side was a man who craved life. He worshipped immortality and did everything he could to stave off death, even using heinous methods to steal the vitality of others to sustain himself.

    On the other side was a man who epted mortality. He understood that death would eventuallye for anyone who had yet to step onto the path of Godhood, and he didn''t reject it. Rather, he weed the end of his life cycle, as it would only signify greater things for the future.

    These two experts stood on opposite sides, and their shes weren''t merely using words. They constantly battled until their final moments, when they stood together to finally determine which of them was correct in their thinking.

    In that moment, both sides stared death in her eyes¡­

    And the went up in mes.

    A third party descended into the world and spread destruction across it, enveloping it in darkness.

    Within the chaos, a man threw down amp. As its ss shattered, the me within was spread to pollute the world,

    Purple-ck tongues of me enveloped existence itself, burning all things to dust.

    Except for a single man and the n that served him.

    The mes of death merged with his perception, harmonized with his soul. Rather than being killed by the mes, he and his people received a baptism.

    This was the birth of the very first traces of Dark Phoenix Godbeast Bloodline in the universe.

    And the mysterious invading race who originally introduced the purple-ck me to the world, this was also when the Dark Phoenix n met the ck Dragon n and formed its connection.

    A boy burned in mes of death.

    His eyes were shut tightly, his teeth gritted in pain. He clutched his heart as his body was forcefully transmuted into that of a Dark Phoenix.

    That pain remained clear in his head for countless years.

    Even when he and his people were forced to flee the universe and hide in a hidden realm for countless years, even when they returned to reality only to realize tens of thousands of years had passed around them, even when he was crowned the Lord of his sacred n and granted the responsibility of protecting it, that original feeling of pain and purification was forever etched in his memory.

    Today, watching it manifested into reality, his emotions were tumultuous.

    It was terrifying that such a strange phenomenon could even exist, far sturdier and more tangible than any illusion.

    It was almost as if he''d been sent back in time to that very moment.

    He looked down at his hands, too small to hold any tool yet long coarse from tireless work.

    From here on out, he had to choose between two things.

    As a 4th revolution master, his perception allowed him to stay grounded even within this atmosphere and maintain his understanding of reality. If he desires it, he could break out of this illusion and continue fighting for the ck Dragon n''s cause.

    However, if he wanted to, he could seal his senses and submerge himself into this illusion, obtaining the ability to change his bleak past, even if it was only for his own personal satisfaction.

    The Death Lord followed the ck Dragons, but more than anything, he followed the will of the Dark Phoenix.

    Even after receiving the Dark Phoenix''s blessing, the old n head didn''t try to experience nirvana or any sort of material rebirth.

    He epted his death and died contentedly a mere few years after his n stabilized themselves after the original disaster, not even taking the opportunity to test his new power.

    The Death Lord was the 3rd Lord after the old n head, but the scene he witnessed all those years ago was just as fresh in his mind as the memory it was attached to.

    Even when he was a child, he could intuitively understand that the old n head was wiser than anyone couldprehend. Compared to anyone who seeded him, perhaps the old n head was still the man with the greatest affinity for the Dark Phoenix bloodline to ever exist.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    As the man titled 2nd to such a being, the Death Lord wanted to understand how his old influence became so detached from the world, and he wanted to understand how the old man viewed it.

    If he could understand this truth by experiencing this reconstructed past¡­

    The Death Lord''s eyes went to the sky.

    It wasn''t rare to find opportunities to grow while in battle, but it was almost impossible to find an opponent who''d allow one to properly digest these gains.

    From his ce above the illusion, Damien quirked his brow.

    ''That doesn''t mean what I think it means, does it?'' He wondered.

    As a training maniac himself, Damien could very clearly understand the look in the Death Lord''s eyes.

    However¡­seriously?!

    ''It''s a little hrious that he''s making a request like that. If I wasn''t the same breed, would I have even understood it?''

    For a man risking his life to obtain a chance to grow stronger, Damien could only show respect.

    And aside from that, they''d yet to properly fight. The Death Lord was strong, but he simply wasn''t fast enough to keep up with Damien''s pace. As long as he stayed the way he was, he''d be able to keep his life, but fighting back was another story.

    ''Have I developed a habit of raising my own enemies?'' Damien thought to himself, shaking his head wryly.

    Damien had always been a man who would never respect strength if it wasn''t backed by character and will.

    However, the Death Lord had currently shown both strength and will. In terms of character, it was best to say he wascking any at all.

    So, Damien was curious.

    ''If I leave him be, what kind of use will he have?''

    And that''s when it struck him.

    ''That guy¡­has the Breath of Nothingness polluting his spiritual world. As long as he''s submerged his consciousness in the false reality, I can enve him unimpeded.''

    It was an absolute advantage.

    And Damien himself had more important things to do if he wanted to end the ongoing conflict as soon as possible.

    ''Haa¡­seriously, it''s hard to find people as kind as me in this universe.'' Damien sighed.

    He tapped his finger through the air, creating ayer of dimensional protection around the hidden reality before using a few wisps of the Breath of All Things to make the false reality more stable.

    "I hope you can properly utilize this and give me a surprise when I''m back."

    Leaving these words to ring in the Death Lord''s ears, Damien vanished.

    The hidden reality that only a single person would ever experiencemenced on its own trajectory.

    Not too far away, Astoria''s battle continued, but her mind was elsewhere.

    She pondered it endlessly, trying to reach for any possible answer she could think of.

    Fate¡­just what in the world was it?

 Chapter 940 Fate [2]

    Fate.

    By definition, fate was the development of events beyond an individual''s control, development determined by a supernatural or higher power.

    However, in a world of mana and universalw, the definition of fate couldn''t be so simple.

    If Karma was the web that connected all things, then Fate was a representation of the possible futures that could sprout from those connections.

    The "fate" that one usually thought of when the term was mentioned, one''s ultimate fate that determined the course of their life, was a representation of the karma between oneself and the universe itself.

    Yet, even this definition was only on the surface level. Anyone who had some sort ofprehensive ability could draw these connections, but that didn''t mean they could suddenly wield fate.

    No, for someone blessed with such a power, the understanding required was far more intrinsic.

    But the problem also stemmed from this fact.

    Despite the heaven-defyingprehensive ability a genius like Astoria had, she also had a heaven-defying level of talent.

    When she''d been using and understanding Fate instinctively for the past 20 years, suddenly attempting to trulyprehend its inner workings was an extremelyplicated task to do in a closed environment, let alone during battle.

    ''I have to do this. I have to understand it.''

    Whoosh!

    Astoria dodged to the side and punched out, exploding with golden aura and pushing back her opponents.

    ''If I can''t do it on my own¡­''

    As she fought, Astoria slowly gained the ability to perceive her surroundings and calmly analyze every factor she possibly could.

    With this new outlook, she was finally able to notice the golden blobs in the sky that had almost taken shape.

    ''¡­then I just need to borrow some help!''

    Bang!

    The ground burst into a cloud of debris as Astoriaunched herself into the air, using Vector Control to exponentially boost her eleration and reach the partial Fate Clouds in an instant.

    She closed her eyes and set up a Dimensional Cage. Lightly moving her hand through the air in a strange pattern, Astoria summoned both her Golden Dragon and spatial mana together as she said:

    "Sentries¡­"

    Her mana coalesced into four miniature dragons that exited the Dimensional Cage and flew around it.

    These dragons weren''t just manifestations of her will and mana, but also targets loaded with charged Vector Points that would be able to repurpose enemy attacks and defend her position.

    With them protecting her, she at least didn''t need to worry for a brief 30 seconds.

    Astoria didn''t n to waste this time at all.

    Her body became a vortex, absorbing the energy of the Fate Cloud around her without any mind for the ancient tradition that all Golden Dragons respected, to never desecrate these clouds.

    Strange golden mana entered her body in waves. It was corporeal and present, yet ethereal and seemingly existing on a higher ne. It was mana, but not necessarily mana. It was like Damien''s Void Mana, better called its own energy than a form of mana at all.

    Thump!

    Her heart beat powerfully.

    Within the core of the world, a golden heart thumped with the same rhythm.

    The energy of Fate filled Astoria''s body, causing her to glow in a golden sheen.

    A mark appeared between her eyebrows.

    Gradually, like a nearly stilled river blocked by a damn, a "golden star" formed itself between Astoria''s brows.

    And judging by the energy fluctuations in the surroundings¡­

    The dam would be flooded soon enough.

    ***

    ''God Spear.''

    The soul weapon of the Valkyries was summoned.

    Elena wrapped her hands around its pole and forcefully pulled it into existence, revealing its beautiful tinum and white glow to all beings present.

    ''God Spear Inquisition Technique: Downward Momentum.''

    Without waiting for a response from her enemies, Elena mmed the spear into the ground, running her mana through a specific bodily pathway before charging it into the swinging spear.

    BOOOOM!

    The ground immediately burst. From below, rays of white light pierced the earth and polluted the area, bing more and more numerous until¡­!

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    "Dammit!"

    "Kagh¡­!"

    A massive explosion of light enveloped an area several tens of kilometers wide. The Kun Lord immediately dashed into the air and escaped the st radius, however, the Tyrant Lord wasn''t so lucky.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    He took short and heavy breaths as he tried to stabilize his weary body.

    It was odd.

    At the beginning of the battle, Elena shed him twice. Ever since that moment, he''d been weakened over time until he couldn''t even fight Yggdrasil anymore.

    In simple terms, there was a circuit connecting Elena, Yggdrasil, and the Valha Army. The Tyrant Lord had been marked, and his energy was currently feeding that system.

    Whenever Elena needed lifeforce, Yggdrasil could immediately transfer it to her. When she didn''t need it, Yggdrasil could use its authority to relegate the life force to the Valha Army, increasing the strength of the soldiers.

    With its administrative power within Elena''s established abilities, Yggdrasil naturally wasn''t weak itself. Every hit that the Tyrant Lord took from the tree would sap a portion of his lifeforce, draining him even faster than before.

    However, there was simply no way for the Tyrant Lord to know this fact.

    He was too far removed from Life Laws to know that they were ruining his body at the moment.

    He stood up shakily and hardened his body, coping with the injuries he received from the explosion as he nced into the sky at the ongoing battle.

    Elena used the God Spear with ultimate proficiency,unching several sweeping attacks and thrusts that fully made use of her distance advantage to suppress the Kun Lord''s speed.

    She stepped back several kilometers and held the spear in one hand, pitching it forward like a javelin.

    WHOOSH!

    The spear tore through the atmosphere, ripping apart space and time as it arrived before the Kun Lord.

    The Tyrant Lord''s eyes widened.

    ''I have to get up there!'' He thought to himself in frustration.

    He took a step and took another. He pushed his mana to support his weak body into the air.

    And as he began to rise into the skies¡­

    Shik!

    A sword pierced him from behind, driving itself through his heart.

    "¡­!"

    He looked down with widened eyes.

    "You¡­"

    He wasn''t allowed to speak before he suddenly jerked forward like he was possessed.

    "Since it''s been long enough, I think it''s time to reap this reward."

    Elena''s words entered his ears like the whispers of a devil.

    She was going to reap¡­what?

    "Keuk¡­!"

    The Tyrant Lord coughed out a mouthful of blood as his body jerked again.

    Elena touched his torso before suddenly yanking her arm back, tearing arge ball of mana out of the Tyrant Lord''s chest.

    "I''ll be taking this for myself. As for you¡­well, just slowly enjoy yourst few moments."

    Without another word, Elena shoved the ball of mana into her own body and shot back into the air to face off with the Kun Lord.

    It was only then that the Tyrant Lord realized it.

    From start to finish, he''d been her target.

    While she pretended to put her full focus on the Kun Lord, she used covert methods to slowly wear him down until he was nothing more than a pig on the chopping block.

    With the Kun Lord preupied, he wouldn''t have been able to sense the strangeness, and when it came to the Tyrant Lord¡­

    If his previous actions were taken into ount, it was clear that perception wasn''t his forte.

    sh!

    Suddenly, Elena appeared before him again, causing his slowly closing eyes to rapidly reopen.

    Elena looked up at him with a smile. "My bad, I forgot something."

    Shing!

    A sword shed through the air.

    The Tyrant Lord suddenly felt a breeze from below, and in the same instant, he felt a terrifying pain envelop him, far worse than the pain of death that he was already undergoing.

    As Elena once again returned to the Kun Lord to continue their battle, "something" fell to the ground below and sank into the sea of blood that was present there.

    To define that "something''s" identity¡­

    Well, was it enough to say that the Tyrant Lord could no longer be considered a man?

 Chapter 941 Fate [3]

    In the air above, the Kun Lord''s face immediately crumpled.

    Elena had acted within an instant, leaving him no room to react at all, and now that she''d killed the Tyrant Lord under his nose, it wasn''t just a severe loss ofbat power, but also a massive p to his face!

    The Kun Lord''s eyes narrowed as he watched Elena charge at him with her God Spear. He raised his fan to block as he racked his brain to think of a way out of this situation.

    ''Dammit! At this rate, I will run out of energy within the minute, but she still seems to have mana in droves! How is this possible?!''

    ng!

    The Kun Lord pushed his fan forward and shed against Elena''s God Spear, however, he could clearly feel the fan''s internal structure crumpling as it maintained contact.

    Whoosh!

    He summoned his wings and pped them fiercely, narrowly dodging the swinging trajectory of the spear.

    ''I have to end this quick!''

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Wind was ssified on the same level as the foundational elements, but in reality, it was a step weaker. For this reason, most wind affinity practitioners attempted to control "air" as opposed to just wind.

    The Kunpeng, on the other hand, was a beast of wind and water, one affinity usually outshining the other depending on one''s racial traits. Their inherent skills and techniques never attempted to take control of the more intrinsic concepts of wind, but instead focused on harnessing the wind itself to its greatest capability.

    While this was limiting in a certain sense, it also allowed the Kunpeng n to cultivate an extremely unique skillset that specialized in both major destructive spells and movement.

    As the Kun Lord moved, his speed got faster and faster. The winds around him began to whip up a storm, and while it wasn''t noticeable at the beginning, the wind was waving in a strange natural pattern uncharacteristic of the wind''s usual behaviors.

    Elena stood in the middle of the forming storm with a solemn gaze. She read the wind''s movements and slowly understood the form the attack would take, preparing for the best moment to counterattack.

    ''The Kun Lord is worn down and his mentality has been affected by the Tyrant Lord''s death. He should be trying to go for the kill right now, but while it''s riskier for me, it also provides a great opportunity.''

    The wind grew and formed phantasms that popted the air, asionally rushing down to attack Elena and disrupt her focus.

    The Kun Lord watched Elena''s every movement and adjusted his own flight path in ordance.

    This was an ultimate technique of the Kunpeng n called Breath of the Wind. It allowed one to take control of the natural winds and turn them supernatural without forcing massive amounts of mana into it.

    It was a technique rarely used for itsplexity, however, in a situation like this one, it was perfect.

    WHOOSH!

    The winds finally picked up enough speed and formed a raging tornado around Elena. des of wind formed in its structure, circling Elena like hungry piranhas waiting for a chance to strike. The phantasms became more defined, giving them more attack power and intelligence.

    Under thebined attacks of these two factors, along with the strange pull of the wind that seemed to suck away mana and lifeforce, Elena was surrounded by countless deadly threats that she had to evade all at once.

    Haa!

    Elena gritted her teeth and let out a war cry. She mmed the God Spear forward, allowing it to shine in all its brilliance as she poured droves of mana into its shaft.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    A sh of light obscured the surrounding few kilometers. Without hesitation, Elena rocketed into the air, her trajectory perfectly on course for the now-blinded Kun Lord.

    ''He should be weakened after using so much stamina. I have to strike now!''

    Elena brandished the God Spear and channeled her Life Mana through several different pathways in her body.

    When she was a mere 10 meters away from the enemy, she thrusted the spear forward with all her power, letting loose the mana coalesced within.

    ''Stasis!''

    Xiu!

    A small line of mana shot out of the spear tip, not much greater in diameter than said tip. It shot through the atmosphere like aet and without suspense, pierced the Kun Lord''s chest.

    "Keuk¡­!" He coughed, rapidly retreating.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Unfortunately, it was toote for him.

    "What is this?!" He eximed as he realized his inability to move.

    "There''s no need for a dead man to know."

    Elena''s face was the first thing that appeared when his vision returned. The Kun Lord''s eyes widened as he once againshed out in an attempt to move, but before he could even try¡­

    Shing!

    A sword sliced through the air.

    Just like his poor brother, he also lost his little brother.

    Shing!

    The second sword sh came along with the pain and realization of what the first entailed.

    A clean cut from his shoulder down through his heart, fatal and unrecoverable without immediate aid, but not immediately deathly.

    For at least the next few seconds, the Kun Lord would be forced to face his humiliation and death.

    Elena sighed to herself as she watched him fall to the ground with a mortified look on his face.

    ''Well, I''ve followed through on my promise, but¡­wasn''t it a bit too easy?''

    Elena grinned to herself as she felt her level increase, hitting that final mark before the extreme peak of 4th ss, but she didn''t lose track of reality.

    Compared to the trouble the Kun Lord had given her during the entire battle, the way he died was just too simple.

    It was almost as if¡­someone secretly interfered?

    ''Hm?''

    Elena turned south, sensing a strange energy fluctuation.

    ''That¡­is the direction of the final four Territory Lords?''

    Elena quirked her brow curiously.

    ''I was nning to take care of them now that I''m done here, but it looks like someone beat me to it. Should I go check it out?''

    She flew into the air and made her way over.

    Over to the central point of the congregation of golden clouds that was rapidly spreading across the world.

    ***

    The situation of Beast Emperor Star, in these final moments, saw a subtle shift in trajectory that soon grew into a tsunami that enveloped the entire.

    The Fate Clouds were returning, and along with them, hope for survival.

    It was an interesting dichotomy.

    On one side was the destructive atmosphere of the world, covered in toxic smoke and filled with brutal battles of death and bloodshed. No matter where in the world one was, they would witness these sights. It was impossible to run from such world-scale chaos.

    While on the other side was the golden sky. The golden sky had always been the pride of Beast Emperor Star and the protective umbre that assured the denizens of their safety and prosperity.

    When the Fate Clouds vanished, the loss of this canopy drove many people to irrationality, which actually contributed further to the canopy''s dispersal.

    However, the situation had changed.

    Even if they were small and still budding, the Fate Clouds were back.

    And with them¡­the broken spirit of themon people showed signs of recovery.

 Chapter 942 Fate [4]

    The Fate Clouds were only the final ointment that healed the camel''s back.

    It started with Elena''s efforts and the Golden Dragon Royal Family''s firm will to protect, grew with Hedrick''s domineering speech, and finally reached the precipice when the golden sky emerged.

    Irrationality gave in to forced eptance of reality, and with eptance, the irrational negative sentiments clouding the atmosphere also calmed down significantly.

    Hope spread.

    And Astoria could feel it all from her perch within the central Fate Cloud.

    All people became orbs of light, colored differently depending on the trajectory of their fate and the fates they were connected with.

    It was beautiful, it was intriguing, and it made Astoria feel like she''d finally found a missing piece of herself that she''d been desperately wishing to find for so long.

    The golden star between her eyebrows finished its formation. Astoria''s eyes and mouth suddenly became beam weapons, projectingrge pirs of light that traveled far into the atmosphere and slightly prated the starry sky with their light.

    Her body was reconstructed by the enormous amount of fate energy around her, an amount that was rapidly increasing as the situation in the world brightened.

    Due to the workings of fate, every interaction was a two-way street, including the interaction between fate itself and the people it affected.

    After all, no matter what anyone said, it was still possible for one to change their fate.

    Therefore, as the world provided for the Fate Clouds, the Fate Clouds showered their blessings down on the world.

    From the pce to the territories to the far edges of the world where Hedrick was, the strings of fate seemed to y a melody of victory and auspiciousness, and inexplicably¡­

    This fate backed the people fighting for the world, aiding them in their endeavors.

    From outside the Fate Clouds, Damien used the All-Seeing Eyes to gauge Astoria''s situation.

    ''Mhm, this is a ssic awakening scene. She should be powering up properly this time, so I don''t have to worry about her for a bit. Since there''s still another minute or two before the deadline the Emperor gave, I should go make myself useful instead of waiting here.''

    Damien already nned to aid the Draconic War God in his assault, but he''d been held up by the Death Lord, who, in the end, simply wasn''t hostile enough to be a proper opponent.

    ''There''s nothing else to do here. Good luck, my cute disciple. This Master will go take care of some troubles for you, so grow and bloom into your potential without qualms or worries.''

    Damien smiled, genuinely proud of his disciple''s current achievements.

    And in the next instant, he vanished.

    Whoosh!

    It was roughly 10 secondster when a new face appeared in the vicinity.

    ''Hm? Isn''t that¡­the little princess?''

    Elena peered into the Fate Clouds with interest when she realized the situation.

    ''I guess that new master really did create a miracle.'' She thought with a smile.

    It seemed that with this discovery, the question she had about her easy win against the Kun Lord was answered.

    However¡­

    ''Why does it feel like I missed something important?'' Elena thought with furrowed brows.

    ''Never mind, let''s focus on the current situation. The Territory Lords and their ns have all been in, so this area is actually the safest ce in the world right now¡­Hedrick is too far away, so I should provide my aid at the pce.''

    Elena nced up at Astoria''s floating figure and sighed lightly.

    Whoosh!

    As she flew into the air and departed for the pce, several hundred white-d Valha Souls remained in her ce.

    Even if this area was safe, as the little princess was currently doing something extremely important¡­

    She couldn''t be left without a guard detail, right?

    ***

    BOOOOOM!

    Another line of defense was blown to bits.

    Screams of agony filled the air as countless soldiers were torn to shreds by a massive golden spear. Even the stronger beings were pushed back and forced to focus on defense.

    Alone against the forces of the ck Dragon n, Hedrick used both his environment and his own connection with fate to stay alive and push forward no matter what difficulties arose.

    His spear swung out again. Golden threads of fate entwined in the air and formed cords that wrapped around the strongest 6th and 7th revolution enemies and tore through them. Upon their deaths, their bodies disintegrated into golden particles that strengthened the cords as they flew from enemy to enemy to continue their ughter.

    However, even with his apparent advantage, it was still true that Hedrick was facing far too many opponents.

    Shik!

    "Kak¡­!"

    Hedrick spat out a mouthful of blood as another sword joined the collection of those impaled in his body.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Combined with his gashes and open wounds, they were enough to dye him from head to toe in blood.

    VOOM!

    His mana raged as he thrusted his spear backwards and pierced the attacker''s heart. As he did so, the mana cords in front of his body maintained a defense line around him, making sure the enemies couldn''t get close despite their numbers.

    ''I cannotst much longer.'' He thought to himself with a frown.

    He''d already killed several tens of thousands of troops, and he was sure that the ck Dragon n''s main army''s numbers had been reduced significantly, yet¡­

    Why weren''t the Supreme and Executioners acting?

    After all, even if they didn''t care about the losses incurred in battle, they still needed to consider the future.

    If they wanted to rule, they needed subjects!

    For them topletely ignore the ughter from their perch was nonsensical, and despite pondering it throughout the battle, he still hadn''t been able to rationalize it.

    ''There''s no time to think about that.''

    Hedrick returned his attention to the battle, continuing to expertly maneuver his mana and weapon to drag the battle for as long as possible when¡ª

    Bang!

    A hole was blown in the ceiling of the facility.

    "Haha, so this is where the fun was at!"

    An enthusiastic voice boomed through the air. A body crashed through the roof. A sword was raised into the air.

    "Worldbreaker!"

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The base exploded into a mushroom cloud of smoke and debris. The only section that remained intact was the room where the Supreme and Executioners stayed.

    ''So they are watching the battle.'' Hedrick noted.

    "Need some help?"

    A voice came from behind him at the same moment.

    He nced back, noticing a face that he''d only seen in projections thus far.

    "You are¡­the youngest''s master," he muttered.

    "That would be me," Damien responded with a grin.

    "You are much weaker than me. How do you n to help?"

    Damien''s grin shifted into a smirk.

    "With the way you look, wouldn''t anything count as help?"

    Wap!

    Damien snapped his fingers, and almost like magic, the swords in Hedrick''s body vanished and reappeared on the ground with a tter.

    "You¡­are you trying to kill me?!" Hedrick eximed.

    [Heal]

    Damien refrained from responding and promptly cast [Heal], recovering Hedrick''s wounds and stamina at a monstrous rate.

    Hedrick nced back at Damien with widened eyes.

    "You¡­"

    "No need to say anything. Right now, let''s focus on the environmental conservation efforts."

    "Environmental conservation¡­?"

    "Of course! As an affiliate of this world, isn''t itmon courtesy to help eliminate any invasive species that try to crawl where they don''t belong?"

    Hedrick''s lips curled into a small smile.

    "I like the way you think."

    He stood up and faced the scattered enemies who were just recovering from Damien''s explosive entrance.

    With this kind of healing ability, as well as someone to help him deal with the numbers difference¡­

    As Damien perfectly stated, it was time topletely exterminate this invasive species.

 Chapter 943 Fate [5]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    "Haha, it''s always been more fun like this!"

    "Hmph, stop talking and keep fighting!"

    "Tch, you''re such a buzzkill!"

    With Damien''s arrival, the battle situation took aplete turn.

    Hedrick was already a monster in his own right, but with Damien providing him infinite stamina and mana recovery, as well as supporting his back so he could focus on the strongest enemies, he became a whole different beast.

    His spear was like a cannon. Each of its blows yed several tens of troops at the 4th and 5th revolution. Whenever he shed with those at the 6th or 7th revolution, he only needed a few moves before they were cut down like the rest.

    ''What is he? A really strong High Commander, or a genuine Executioner?'' Damien wondered as he flew through the air, throwing his hand forward andmanding the ambient mana.

    ''Spacetime Waves.''

    Space suddenly thickened like msses, forcing the movements of all forces to halt or slow.

    "Why are you targeting your allies?!" Hedrick roared.

    "Chill, I already have it covered," Damien responded, appearing behind him and tapping him on the shoulder.

    A small crest appeared on his body, and as it pulsed, Hedrick found that the surrounding spatial solidification no longer affected him.

    "Hmph, I suppose you''re somewhatpetent."

    "Sheesh, the requirements for petent'' are high, huh. Are you a siscon or something?"

    "What is that?"

    "Ehm, don''t worry about it."

    Damien teleported away and returned to controlling his skill.

    If it was a mere solidification of space, why would he name it after water?

    Damien pushed his fingers through the air like he was parting water, and along with his movements, the environment shifted.

    Flora grew and died, thend expanded and contracted, and as the ck Dragon Reserve Army was pushed back and separated, thendscape experienced 100 years of change and became somethingpletely different.

    New hills and valleys popted the area, giving Hedrick and Damien another tactical advantage over their enemies.

    "What''re you waiting for? Kill!" Damien eximed.

    "You don''t have to tell me twice!" Hedrick yelled back.

    He shot forward like a gold and rose into the air, lifting his spear above his head and shouting:

    "Divine Thrust!"

    His trajectory changed. He crashed straight down with immense momentum, his spear pointed at the ground. As mmed into the earth a few meters from several different groups of separated enemies, he thrust the spear forward and dug it into the ground.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    One of the newly created hills was shattered to pieces, its rocks tearing through the bodies of several ck Dragons. The following shockwave turned the organs of many more into meatpaste and directly separated the strong from the weak.

    "Nice move, but you should probably rename it!" Damien shouted as he passed by and shed with Mirage, cutting a few 1st and 2nd revolution masters in half.

    "Why?" Hedrick questioned, following his lead and killing the enemies that tried to approach them from behind.

    "Because it sounds like something a cringey smut protagonist would say!" Damien responded with a grin.

    "What is smut?" Hedrick asked.

    "Ehm, don''t worry about it."

    Damien followed the script and teleported away to attack a different enemy group, but his attention wasn''t quite on the battle.

    ''Hedrick filled me in, but it really is strange that they aren''t moving. Could it be¡­''

    Damien activated his All-Seeing Eyes and peered through the walls of the final room of the base that remained intact like a nuclear shelter.

    The walls were several feet thick and made of a strange material that blurred Damien''s perception, but the All-Seeing eyes had reached a level of just barely piercing reality. As long as Damien made the effort, anything could be clear.

    And as his vision pierced the bunker-like room¡­

    "Fuck, it''s a trap!"

    ¡­the realization immediately hit him.

    "What do you mean it''s a trap?!" Hedrick roared.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I mean it''s a fucking trap! There''s nobody in that damn room!"

    "What?!"

    Hedrick gritted his teeth in anger. Even if it was nonsensical, he couldn''t doubt Damien''s perception after seeing him in battle. With the way he kept suck precise track of the enemy''s position and strength when he separated them, it was impossible for his perception to becking.

    If what he said was true, then¡­!

    ''They''re aiming for the pce!''

    Damien and Hedrick realized it instantly.

    "We have to go!"

    "But we can''t leave until we take care of this. I can teleport us out, but if these troops start attacking themon people, the recovery of the Fate Clouds will be interrupted again."

    "Then¡­"

    "Go big or go home. Even if we destroy everything in the vicinity, I can revert it to normal afterwards."

    "Good!"

    Damien grinned and nced down at the battlefield.

    He could see the ck Dragons scrambling to regroup and escape. It wasn''t hard to realize what Hedrick was nning from watching his actions.

    "Stay here for a while." He said with a smirk.

    He clenched his fist and twisted space away from the existing dimension, folding and molding it into thousands ofplexly intertwined Dimensional Cages.

    Even if it was a Supreme, they''d need at least half a second to break out.

    And as everyone knew, for an expert, half a second was¡­

    Hedrick stood in the air with a sun in his hands. Its golden light obscured everything for several tens of thousands of kilometers, and the sheer waves of power emanating from it caused space to rip and tear strangely.

    ''Hmm, it''s fun, but it doesn''t quite have the umph I''m looking for.'' Damien thought to himself.

    ''I guess I should take the opportunity to try that out¡­?''

    The 4th technique to be tested today, Damien was going to make it count.

    Hel appeared in his right hand.

    ''Samsara Gun Art, First Apocalypse¡­''

    Hedrick released his golden sun.

    Furious waves of heat burned the atmosphere as it collided with the ground. Tens of thousands of kilometers ofnd were burned to the point where nothing could ever survive on its soil.

    The enemy soldiers put up as many barriers and protective measures as possible, but when facing such a massive attack that used all of an Executioner''s mana to carry out, it was impossible to escape unscathed¡­

    Especially when the strongest troops here were merely on the same level as him!

    Screams and painful roars rang out as the ck Dragons tried to escape, but just after the first impact¡­

    A second wave came.

    Damien shot a single bullet from Hel''s barrel. It was a murky grey color uncharacteristic of both life and death.

    The bullet submerged into the earth below without making much noise at all.

    Until the time was right.

    VOOM!

    A wave of grey mana spread throughout the Dimensional Cage and mmed against its barriers.

    ''Extermination.''

    Damien beckoned for death.

    And death answered his call.

    Anyone that was touched by the mana wave turned to ashes and dispersed into the wind.

    Even the greatest High Commanders and Executioners fell prey to this death wave, as they had already been critically injured by Hedrick just moments before.

    The entire mana reserve of an Executioner and Damien''s monstrous mana capacity¡­ was truly a heretically powerfulbination.

 Chapter 944 Fate [6]

    ''Huu¡­it''s fun to see how that works every once in a while.'' Damien thought to himself as he looked down at the destruction.

    Every expert was capable of attacks like this, but firstly they rarely had the time to actually charge up such attacks in battle, and secondly using one''s entire mana capacity in a single attack was never a good idea.

    Unless one had an absolute advantage and was carrying out a true extermination, it was simply impractical to ever do so.

    However, every practitioner wondered what it would be like if they exploded out all of their power in a single instant.

    Some would even traverse the starry sky to find an empty location to test just that.

    Nevertheless, as it was a rare thing to witness, both Damien and Hedrick took a moment to appreciate it.

    But it wasn''t more than a moment.

    ''Spacetime Reversal.''

    Damien rapidly recovered his mana and once again fully emptied the tank.

    Under his coercion, the world shifted and recovered to its past appearance, not to before the ck Dragon base was destroyed, but before it was even created.

    ''If only this was possible on living beings.'' Damien sighed wistfully.

    He could do something simr by affecting an enemy''s lifeforce, but the actual process and result were entirely different.

    Nevertheless, now wasn''t the time to be thinking about it.

    "Hey, drop the dumb face and prepare yourself. We''re going to confront a far stronger enemy right now, and considering Beast Emperor Star''s current forces, you''re the only one who can take on that Supreme." Damien said as he nudged Hedrick and brought him back to reality.

    Though, Hedrick couldn''t be med for losing track of the situation. What Damien had just done was truly magisterial, even for an expert at his level.

    But now that he''d been brought back, he wasn''t going to ignore his responsibility.

    Right, as long as his eldest brother was away, he was the strongest fighting force in the world. If he didn''t do his job properly and let the ck Dragons reach the Emperor, the battle would truly be impossible to win!

    "Worry not. I am prepared toy down my life to hold the Supreme back," he stated confidently.

    "Well, you don''t have to go that far," Damien said.

    "Nonsense. I am still at the 8th revolution. I cannot fight back a Supreme."

    "Hmm, we''ll see about that."

    Damien smiled slyly and refused to borate, instead grabbing Hedrick''s arm tightly.

    "Fair warning; the first time is always rough."

    "Wha¡ª"

    Wap!

    The duo immediately disappeared, traveling several tens of thousands of kilometers in an instant.

    The two of them moved as fast as they could, however, it was a given that the enemy who left before them¡­

    Arrived before them as well.

    ***

    When Elena arrived at the Inner Estate, it was already in disarray.

    Disorder andwlessness ran rampant as the mes of war enveloped the entire area. Bloody battles were taking ce every few tens of meters, and the beings in this area were dying at an astonishing rate.

    It was an all-out melee. It seemed these dragons didn''t care one bit for tactics,pletely subverting the thought that dragons were creatures who craved knowledge.

    Of course, dragons like that existed, but these specific dragons were belligerent.

    They didn''t care about strategy, only about strength.

    While it was inefficient, it had one benefit: the strong didn''t oppress the weak.

    Those who were strong fought against others who were strong, and those who were weak were left to deal with the rest. It was a type of respect that only those who respected strength as the highest authority conveyed.

    ''The battlefield is being led by the royal children. The 3rd prince and 1st princess are the strongest, they should at least be High Commanders. The 2nd princess is holding her own well since she''s still on the weaker side. The 4th and 5th princes, as well as the 3rd and 4th princesses are¡­all dead. At this rate, it''ll be impossible to stop the stronger enemies from breaching the defense line.''

    No, in fact, it had already happened.

    It was lucky that the Imperial Guard was made up of experts who were able to rapidly deal with those who made it past.

    ''The best ce for me to help is¡­there.''

    ''Lightspeed.''

    Elena turned into a beam of light as she shot forward with impossible speed, whizzing past the 1st princess and shing her sword.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Shing!

    A group of 20 1st revolution masters were cut into tiny pieces. Elena stood on the earth and scanned the battlefield, summoning her remaining Valha Souls to aid the situation wherever they were needed.

    "I don''t know who you are, but I appreciate the help!" The 1st princess shouted out.

    "My name is Elena, and don''t worry about it. I''m getting paid for this!" Elena responded with a smirk.

    "Haha, I like the way you think! You can call me Liza!" 1st princessughed and responded as she cut through another enemy.

    "Good! The main army will be here within the minute! We just need to hold on until then!"

    "Hahahaha! That''s the second good news I''ve heard all day!"

    "And the first?"

    "I heard my little sister is back!"

    "How touching."

    Elena smiled as she pressed forward and joined the battle. The current outlook was positive, far more positive than the situation seemed when it first erupted.

    As long as it continued that way¡­

    But of course it would never continue that way.

    Even with the support of Fate, disrupting such tightly woven ns required more than just a bit of effort.

    WHOOSH!

    The winds whipped fiercely, throwing back the stronger beings and shredding some weaker ones into pieces.

    "So this is it?"

    A voice echoed through the air, freezing the atmosphere.

    A young man with the dull, hazy eyes of a corpse appeared in the air, indifferently looking down at the pce.

    "Y-yes sir. He should be here." The Executioner next to him stammered submissively.

    "Good. I''ve been waiting to meet him."

    The Supreme gracefully descended to the ground and walked forward. The path before him cleared naturally as his mere aura made people instinctually revere him.

    "Hey, what do you think you''re doing?!"

    The 3rd Prince rushed to interrupt his path, raising his sword.

    "Wait, Johannes, sto¡ª!!"

    The 1st Princess, Elizabeth''s warning was far toote.

    Bang!

    The 3rd Prince''s body burst apart unprovoked, showering the surrounding few meters in blood.

    However, even this blood parted when the Supreme passed over it.

    "Lord Garvy, you''ve arrived! Please lead us to victory!"

    A ck Dragon Executioner knelt down before the Supreme, his actions followed by the remaining ck Dragons¡­

    Bang!

    ¡­however, his fate was no better than the 3rd Prince.

    "Pests."

    The Supreme spoke a single word before continuing his calm walk through the Inner Estate.

    As the ck Dragon Execurioner''s blood rained down to the earth, the battlefield truly froze.

    Both enemies and allies were mere pests to be crushed¡­?

    Just¡­what was this ideology?

    While the Golden Dragons merely saw it as a terrifying enemy exerting his power, the ck Dragons knew better.

    This attitude¡­

    Was entirely different from the usual behavior of the Supreme known as Lord Garvy!

 Chapter 945 Struggle [1]

    The silence was deafening.

    The crunch of the Supreme''s boots on the dead and withering soil rang true for kilometers on end as the world stilled.

    No matter who it was, they didn''t dare to move.

    Elena stood next to the 1st Princess and held her, helping her hold in her grief as she observed the situation with narrowed eyes.

    ''This is dangerous. If he''s allowed to get near the Emperor, it''s over, but nobody here can stop him.''

    It was evident that something strange was happening. The presence of their Supreme should have emboldened the ck Dragon Army, but their behavior was the exact opposite.

    Like beings oppressed under an iron fist.

    ''Could it be there''s some problem with the Supreme?''

    Elena immediately pinpointed the problem from the looks of fear and confusion on the faces of the ck Dragons. She nced over at the man walking with two Executioners obediently walking with their heads lowered behind him.

    Although it was unknown to those present, these three were thest of the ck Dragon n''s experts. The rest had been in in battle with Hedrick and Damien.

    However, Lord Garvy alone could sweep 99% of the world''s fighters with his own strength.

    As for why he hadn''t acted until now¡­

    The reason was actually quite simple. In the ck Dragon n''s hierarchy, he wasn''t at the top. He merely waited to do what he was ordered to do by his Demigod, act at the perfect moment to target the Golden Dragon Emperor.

    He even had a specialized prison artifact on his body, designed to hold Demigods, for a situation where the Golden Dragon Emperor didn''t act and vite the universalw.

    However, "Lord Gary''s" goal had changed.

    "He is not here."

    The cold voice rang out, making the two Executioners behind Lord Garvy freeze in fear.

    "L-lord? This is thest location we could read, so he might not be here, but due to the freshness of the signature, it is certain that he is still on this," the female Executioner stammered.

    "Hm?"

    Lord Garvy made a questioning sound, however, his expression remained still.

    "Then, why did you bring me here?"

    "L-lord, you requested us to bring you to thest known loc¡ª"

    St!

    The male Executioner''s head exploded. His body turned into particles that were absorbed into the Supreme''s body.

    "Were you saying something?"

    "N-not at all, Lord! I will find that person as soon as possible and bring him before you!" The female Executioner yelped in fear.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Lord Garvy turned his gaze away from the pce and turned to face the frozen battlefield.

    "Ants¡­" he muttered.

    "Do you know where ''that person'' is?"

    His voice wasn''t loud, but it seemed to carry to the ends of the earth. All those present heard his words, however, how were they supposed to answer him if he didn''t tell them who he was looking for?!

    "Lord Garvy, may we see an image of the individual you are searching for?"

    A young ck Dragon stood up from the crowd and looked the Supreme in his cold, dead eyes without fear.

    "Oh?"

    Voom!

    A sudden pressure descended and crushed the boy back to his knees. Several bones cracked within his body, and blood poured out of his eyes, nose, and mouth.

    Then, the pressure disappeared.

    "Very well. No more can be expected from ants."

    As if nothing happened, the Supreme threw a nce into the air, immediately causing the mana to swirl and form an image.

    It was an image of three people. One was arge nondescript man with a gruff beard and a domineering face. One was a smaller man with vaguer features. Only his ck hair and well-defined muscture were visible in the hazy image. The final one was a girl, much smaller than the previous two, with bright golden hair and equally hazy features as the second man.

    ''Three people?'' Elena thought to herself as she nced at the projection.

    "The Supreme is searching for the man in the middle. The two on his left and right are presumed to be his acquaintances. If you have any leads, speak them now."

    The female Executioner spoke up as the Supreme clearly didn''t deign to speak. After hearing her exnation, those in the surroundings rapidly began drawing conclusions.

    One among them was extremely popr.

    ''Isn''t that¡­the little princess?''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Elena''s expression didn''t crack in the slightest, but inwardly, she began to rapidly weigh her options.

    ''If the little princess''s location is outed, the entire fate of this world is doomed. Even with what''s happening now, since the Supreme isn''t targeting the Emperor, our loss isn''t guaranteed. However, since the little princess is up there, the target in question should be¡­''

    The little princess'' new master, the only man that could''ve possibly been seen near her in recent days.

    ''I need to stop anyone from speaking.''

    Elena didn''t know why the tutor was being targeted, but she absolutely couldn''t allow the little princess to be implicated.

    "L-lord Supreme, that person on the left is¡ª"

    BANG!

    Someone spoke up. A bolt of light pierced his forehead before he could finish, instantly killing him.

    The Supreme''s eyes darted to the distance.

    "Nuisances¡­"

    He lightly lifted his arm in the air and beckoned towards himself.

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    A furious wind kicked up, creating an air current on the ground that dragged the sniper out of his hiding spot.

    The figure armored in white lurched to a stop in the air before the Supreme, his body flopping limply.

    "Hm, a summon. Smart summoner, cutting the connection so quickly. However¡­"

    Elena''s breath halted.

    Her left hand slowly crept towards her right, her fingertips brushing against her spatial ring.

    Her eyes narrowed as her perception heightened to its greatest limit.

    It was less than a split second. It was almost like iprehensible how fast the following interaction took ce.

    Lord Garvy''s eyes snapped to Elena''s position.

    "¡­!"

    Elena immediately swept her hand across her spatial ring and removed a glowing white shield. She held it in front of her body and mmed her knee into the ground, letting the shield expand both upwards and downwards as¡­!

    BOOM!

    Crack!

    "Something" exploded against the shield and three Elena back almost a hundred kilometers.

    A crack spread from the single impact.

    "Human, you must know something."

    Lord Garvy made another beckoning motion, and Elena felt the undeniable pull of a Supreme, a pull akin to the gravity of a dead star.

    ''Dammit!'' She eximed inwardly, gritting her teeth.

    ''Aegis is strong, but I''m not strong enough to weird its true power. It can at most block 3 attacks from a Supreme, but¡ª"

    BOOOOOOM!

    ''Khhh¡­but he''s definitely not going to let me go after just 3!"

    Elena was sent flying again. She could feel the blood bubbling up in her throat as the residual impact force was transferred into her body from the shield.

    "How fun."

    A small smile formed on the Supreme''s face as he beckoned Elena towards him once more.

    "This should be your final struggle, yes?"

    He raised his arm once more and curled his fingers in, lightly flicking his index finger out as Elena''s shield arrived in front of him.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The resulting explosion was massive, however, a mysterious force contained andpressed it around Elena, barraging her with a deathly amount of energy.

    "Agh!"

    Elena groaned in pain as she held back from screaming out. Aegis shattered upon impact. Due to the explosion being controlled, its shards shot back and impaled themselves into Elena''s body.

    The chaotic energy waves mmed into her from every direction, bent on killing her immediately.

    She gritted her teeth, her eyes firming even as her skin was charred.

    ''I¡­will not die here!''

 Chapter 946 Struggle [2]

    ''I¡­will not die here!''

    Elena''s deration wasn''t one of false hope or desperation, but of pure willpower.

    Regardless of what she faced here, she absolutely refused to die.

    She summoned everything she had.

    She started from the weakest Valha Souls, burning them and using their life force to constantly replenish herself, using an additional element of Light Healing to exponentially boost her regeneration speed.

    The pain was excruciating. Not only did she burn, she almost copsed internally from the violently rampaging mana.

    "Haaaaa!!!"

    She let out a hoarse war cry as she forced the mana to obey her orders. Shebined light and life into one and purified all negative powers in her body, pushing them towards the center of her chest and gathering them into a solidifying gem of mana.

    "Khhhh¡­!"

    It was painful. Even more painful than the external injuries. Let alone the fact that she was allowing an object to crystallize within her body, just making the raging mana follow hermand made her feel like her body was being torn into countless pieces.

    However, she managed. She managed somehow and pushed on, digging into her own chest and digging the gem out.

    It wasn''t the best solution, but it was the fastest.

    The gem quickly disappeared into her spatial ring, an instinctual action she took while focusing every bit of her attention on both defending against and mitigating the energy of the st.

    With the culmination of her effort, along with the shielding of several treasures that almost instantly broke one by one, Elena was able to somehow survive until the st died down.

    "A persistent one."

    Lord Garvy''s words didn''t allow her a single moment of rest.

    Right, the blow she''d just survived using her everything was just a casual flick from a Supreme.

    If he decided to do more damage¡­

    "Open her mind."

    "Yes, Lord."

    The female Executioner appeared behind Elena and restricted her movement.

    "Be grateful. At least for now, you are able to keep your life," She transmitted into Elena''s ear.

    Elena smirked mockingly. "Funny way to be talking about your own lord."

    The female Executioner''s eyes hardened. "That¡­is not my Lord."

    "Hm?"

    Elena wanted to question the interesting thing she just heard, but before she could speak further, she felt something attach to her forehead.

    ''This is¡­!''

    Elena''s eyes rolled back into her head, her body suddenly convulsing.

    Electric shocks tore through her nervous system, essentially attempting to fry her brain. The pain was far more intrinsic than what the explosion could produce, forcing Elena to experience a true hell.

    ''It will be over soon. Survive well.''

    The female Executioner''s silent prayer went unheard, overshadowed by the Supreme''s domineering movements.

    "It seems that human has the most expensive information, as she is the only one willing to take such actions to hide it. Therefore, the rest of you are no longer needed."

    Lord Garvy raised his arm and flicked his hand forward.

    A gust of ck wind flew through the air, straight with no deviation for several thousand kilometers.

    And everybody within that range died instantly.

    "L-lord?! How could you?!"

    "Lord Garvy, please stop!"

    The ck Dragons cried in agony at his betrayal, but he didn''t bat an eye.

    "Girl, if you care for these people, reveal your truths."

    It was horrible. The instant death and destruction was clearly disyed in Elena''s eyes. Despite the torture she was undergoing, she waspletely lucid and able to perceive the surroundings.

    "Khhh¡­I¡­will¡­ne¡­ver¡­!!!"

    Elena forced her words out of her mouth with mana alone, unable to utilize her vocal cords or bodily systems.

    "Still tenacious¡­have the younger generation grown so much?"

    Bang!

    Elena''s left leg was blown into meatpaste.

    Her eyes widened in shock, but she didn''t back down.

    "More."

    Bang!

    Her right leg exploded as well.

    "Drop her."

    Upon receiving the order, the female Executioner stopped supporting Elena''s body, allowing her to crash to the ground several tens of meters below.

    "Pathetic ant, do not disobey me any longer."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Lord Garvy walked up to her and smashed his foot into her face, crushing her into the soil.

    Poof!

    Something spurted blood, but in Elena''s current state, it was impossible to know where that blood came from.

    Bang!

    A foot came down.

    "Where is your struggle?"

    Bang!

    A foot came down.

    "Where is your hope?"

    Bang!

    A foot came down.

    "Filthy lower existence with the gall to challenge a Supreme, where is your courage?"

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Elena''s head was turned into a bloody mess, but her lifeforce still weakly hung on.

    Her thoughts were hazy. The only thing she could understand was that she was in pain.

    And¡­

    ''I will¡­die¡­''

    She was indignant that she was put down before putting up any fight at all. She was unresigned at this horrifying difference in power!

    She weakly tried to move, but she was still connected to that strange device. She was still unable to control her body at all.

    She didn''t have legs to move with, she couldn''t even ess her mana to try anything.

    Against a Supreme¡­was she truly just an ant?

    ''I¡­refuse.''

    She couldn''t ept it.

    ''I¡­will not¡­stay¡­weak.''

    No, she wouldn''t ept it.

    This reality, she wouldn''t allow it to bloom.

    If Fate wished for her death, then she would cut down Fate. If the universe itself desired her fall, then she could only copse the universe itself!

    Voom!

    "Something" appeared within Elena''s soul.

    A pitch-ck seed wrapped in strings of white and sunny yellow, mysterious and ethereal.

    A "Symbol of Union" that had hidden itself until she found herself in a situation where it was impossible for her to survive.

    And along with this symbol came something that represented it far more definitively.

    A "Title" manifested itself in Elena''s status.

    [Daughter of the Void]

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    "Who dares?!"

    A sudden explosion rocked thend, pushing everyone back, but mysteriously enough, killing only one.

    The Supreme nced down and noticed that the woman under his foot was no longer present.

    His gaze turned up, looking at the two men before him.

    A man with long blonde hair and fierce draconic golden eyes stood with his spear ready, the body of the female Executioner impaled on its de.

    The other man had long ck hair and swirling ethereal purple eyes, striking a severe contrast with the first. He stood with the woman from before in his arms, a beautiful white light covering her body.

    And nking them was the imperious Golden Dragon Army, armed with several tens of million troops, including 7th and 8th revolution masters.

    Bzzt!

    The device on Elena''s forehead shattered. Her eyes slightly opened as she tried to assess the situation, but fatigue didn''t allow her to do so.

    A sense of warmth andfort overcame her, lulling her to sleep.

    Nevertheless, it didn''t matter, since even when she opened her eyes, she was hallucinating.

    Because, there was absolutely no way, right¡­? There was no way the person who saved her was actually¡ª

    "Damien Void," Lord Garvy muttered as Elena''s consciousness slipped away, a strange tri-colored cocoon enveloping her body.

    He gazed at the grand apaniment that had arrived to strike him down and smiled, his attention returning to Damien.

    His smile widened. His eyes narrowed eerily as he opened his mouth and said:

    "I''ve been waiting so long to meet you."

 Chapter 947 Lord [1]

    "I''ve been waiting so long to meet you."

    Lord Garvy''s face twisted into a disgusting smile as he spoke, making Damien shiver.

    "Have we met before?" He asked warily.

    Whoosh!

    Lord Garvy was only a few inches away from him before he realized it. He looked Damien up and down before taking a sharp inhale.

    "Haa¡­this is the scent. You are indeed the one who killed him."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    "Who are you talking about?"

    "Hm? How am I supposed to know his name? He was¡­a present that I had yet to open. However, you ruined him for me."

    Lord Garvy tilted his head in an oddly feminine motion, his eyes curving into crescents.

    "So, I was curious to meet the little genius who had the gall."

    "Attack!"

    Damien immediately roared as he teleported away and sent Elena''s unconscious body to the Sanctuary.

    He definitely hadn''t yetprehended the identity of who he''d just saved. Though, it wasn''t as if he had the free time to do so.

    4 Executioners from the Golden Dragon Army followed Hedrick''s lead and charged at Lord Garvy with their weapons raised.

    "Hmph. Do not get in my way."

    Lord Garvy swept his hand through the air, producing a furious gale that pushed all 5 opponents away and prated their bodies.

    However, before he could use his strength advantage, a strange formless sensation covered the 5 Golden Dragons, stabilizing them.

    Their bodies were strengthened and their mana was elevated to another level. They could even vaguely feel gaps in theirprehension filling themselves with peak efficiency.

    "This¡­"

    "Don''t question it and just fight!"

    Damien''s booming sound transmission entered Hedrick''s ears, making him grin.

    ''So this was your secret card.''

    "Come! With the strength we''ve gained, let us y the enemy!"

    Hedrick roared and charged again, utilizing his new strength to its greatest limits and swinging out his spear.

    Bang!

    Lord Garvy held his finger in the air and casually blocked the spear tip, however¡­

    Crunch!

    The ground crunched as he took a step backwards.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    4 attacks struck him from different directions at the same time,pounding on top of the impact of Hedrick''s strike to form an even stronger blow.

    Five 8th revolution Executioners had nowhere near enough force to kill a Supreme, but what about five peak 8th revolution masters with strength just under the Supreme level?

    Then¡­wouldn''t the scales be tipped?

    As Hedrick led the four soldiers under him to barrage and suppress Lord Garvy so he had no chance to attack on his own, Damien watched from the distance.

    "Young Master, have you been well?"

    A feminine voice came from his side.

    Damien smiled. "Mm, and you?"

    "Likewise. Your hidden world is quite the ce."

    "Isn''t it? I was wondering why you hadn''t asked me to let you out yet. It seems you fully integrated with those inside, eh?"

    "Please don''t joke with me, Young Master. I am nowhere near qualified enough to live amongst those pioneering a new civilization."

    "That Prici really raised you to be too submissive. Since you''re with me now, you should show some more pride. We''re an arrogant bunch on this side, you know?"

    "I will keep that in mind, Young Master."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien looked up and down the woman at his side, marveling over just how much she''d changed in the past few years.

    At least in terms of appearance, recognizing this woman as Ximen Wuhen was almost impossible!

    Ximen Wuhen had been living in the Sanctuary ever since Damien sent her there when he was still in Eien. During that time, she''d gotten well acquainted with the citizens of Theavel and had even provided several contributions to their societal growth.

    Ximen Wuhen was very clear about her role in Damien''s mind. She was a weapon that he could use when he needed her, but otherwise, he didn''t really care about what she did.

    Therefore, her mysterious power had gone unused for a considerable period.

    At times like this, though, her aid was perfect.

    ''I didn''t even think about bringing her out when I was facing Arthur. I need to take better stock of Theavel''s strength when I have time.''

    He also needed to popte the new second world that still remained unnamed, but that was a matter for even further in the future.

    For now, he kept his attention on the battle.

    ''It''s creepy. Why is he still looking at me?''

    It was almost impossible to see what was happening inside the cloud of mana that enshrouded the ongoing battle, but it wasn''t a problem for Damien.

    He could see clearly through the fog, he could see how Lord Garvy''s eyes remained focused on his position even as he faced the onught of several experts.

    ''He has no care for his own physical condition. He''s almost treating it like it isn''t his own¡­don''t tell me¡­''

    The ck Dragon n clearly didn''t recognize their Supreme anymore.

    Rather than focusing on the overall situation, Lord Garvy only focused his attention on Damien, who had never met him before.

    ''I killed someone he cares about¡­?''

    If it was recently, then the only important person he''d killed was Arthur Bloodlock, but did the Bloodlock n and ck Dragon n have rtions?

    As far as Damien knew, the two ns didn''t evene in contact.

    ''Wait¡­!''

    He suddenly remembered an important fact.

    Something Tiamat had told him during their conversation in his spiritual world.

    ''Arthur Bloodlock had a trace of Nox mana in his body, and not just any mana, but the mana of a Demigod. What are the chances that it connects back to the Nox again?''

    "¡­!"

    Damien''s senses suddenly became alert. His gaze shot back to the battlefield just in time to see Lord Garvy''s heinous grin and¡­

    The wisps of inky ck mana that were emitted from his gaze for less than a single instant.

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    ''That was on purpose.''

    His original suspicion became truth in that instant, making Damien sigh to himself.

    ''Dammit, I really can''t get a break.''

    ''Let''s think. If it''s a Nox Demigod, it definitely isn''t someone at the Emperor level. They wouldn''t be so covert in showing themselves. If it''s a Lord, then the one who would gain the most from Arthur Bloodlock would be¡­the Marite Lord?''

    Damien gritted his teeth and cursed his luck. As he grew stronger, the broken memories of all the Nox he devoured also slowly organized themselves under his guidance. When it came to the power structure of the current Nox, Damien had a rough understanding of the most important characters.

    The Marite Lord was one of the Lords he had sworn to avoid for as long as possible.

    Because this person¡ª

    ''¡ªis like the Saint Emperor but crazier.''

    It really was a coincidence among coincidences that their paths happened to intersect.

    The Marite Lord was a follower of the Inhuman Emperor, so they weren''t aware of the true importance of Damien''s existence quite yet.

    However, it just so happened that Damien''s existence forced a figure with great influence in the inner universe to visit Eien, granting the Nox a prime opportunity for infiltration.

    It was just unfortunate for them that Damien was well-prepared for their confrontation and ended up winning.

    Yet, despite the victory that his actions evoked, he still found himself stuck in deep, deep shit!

 Chapter 948 Lord [2]

    ''This is a unique circumstance. It can''t be handled as if we''re still fighting a war.''

    The Marite Lord had personally killed the ck Dragons'' most powerful forces, ridding them of any hope of seeding in their invasion.

    Along with that, the revival of the Fate Clouds was proceeding extremely smoothly, and the golden canopy had almost returned to its previous beauty.

    ''It''s funny since those two things are probably rted.''

    Damien didn''t believe in coincidences, nor did he believe in unavoidable fate, however, a phenomenon like this was still within the bounds of reality.

    It was a slight guiding force that provoked people to make decisions or partake in events that would promote their fate.

    It was¡­almost like universal flow.

    Nevertheless, if Fate brought the Nox Demigod to Beast Emperor Star, then there was absolutely something deeper going on than just a convenient circumstance where the ck Dragons lost their fighting power.

    ''Haa, in the end, I have to confront another person who can kill me with a single p. When am I going to learn how to stay within my pay grade?''

    Damienined inwardly as he shed away, leaving Ximen Wuhen with the Theavel Emperors to guard her.

    He reappeared only a few meters from the obscuring mana cloud.

    He walked through the air, space and time warping around him and offering him easy entry into the chaotic storm.

    And within, he was able to see a terrible collision of forces so great in power that, if it wasn''t for the mana storm, it likely would''ve torn half the to shreds.

    ''It''s being controlled by that one.'' Damien thought to himself as he nced at the Golden Dragon in the corner of the area with his hands together in a strange formation.

    Damien''s question about the origin of the strange phenomenon was solved instantly, and he was able to focus on Hedrick''s true power.

    It was magisterial.

    His spear was like a cannon with the piercing power of a tank round and the weight and recoil of amon pistol.

    With his maneuverability and raw strength, when he added his Golden Dragon Aura into his attacks and controlled Fate to boost himself more than what Ximen Wuhen already provided, he was an unparalleled monster.

    It almost made Damien wish he''d found a spear instead of twin swords when he was in the First Dungeon.

    Nevertheless, his heroic disy had toe to an end.

    "Hedrick, fall back!" Damien yelled out, attracting the man''s attention.

    "What do you mean ''fall back?!''" Hedrick roared back.

    "This isn''t a matter rted to Beast Emperor Star anymore! That person isn''t the ck Dragon Supreme, Garvy, but a Nox Demigod possessing his body!"

    "W-what?!"

    Hedrick held his spear shaft horizontally as a punch crashed into it. Using the force, he allowed himself to be propelled backwards until he was out of closebat range.

    He stood warily with his spear ready, but despite his and the other Golden Dragons'' retreat, Lord Garvy didn''t move.

    "Finally decided toe meet me?" He said, throwing a nce at Damien.

    "If you''d told me what was going on from the start, would things have been so difficult?" Damien quipped back.

    "Ohoho, as expected of you, boy. I don''t know how long it''s been since someone questioned me."

    "Congrattions, I guess, but if you could kindly stay as far away from me as possible, I''d appreciate it."

    "Boy, do you know who I am?"

    "What do you think?"

    "As I thought, you are interesting!"

    Lord Garvy once again appeared in front of Damien before he could react.

    "This body iscking in every department. It''s a miracle that this man was even able to make it to the cusp of Divinity. Let us continue this conversation elsewhere."

    Lord Garvy''s eyes abruptly rolled back into his head as he fell from the sky limply.

    Whoosh!

    His dead body was snatched by a ck shadow mid-fall, never to be seen again.

    Meanwhile, Damien closed his eyes and entered the Sanctuary, separating himself from existence before anything drastic happened.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    His consciousness materialized as an Avatar in his spiritual world.

    When he arrived, a scene was already created; a damp cave with arge stone bed at its end.

    On the bedy an¡­individual of indiscernible gender.

    Their face wasrgely feminine and a pair of breasts decorated their chest, however, the bottom half of their naked figure was more¡­manly.

    "You''re unpleasant," Damien spat as he conjured some clothing on their body.

    "Why? Can you not appreciate the natural beauty of my body?"

    "Unfortunately for you, I don''t have a preference for dragons."

    "Hmm, then you''d like it better this way¡­?"

    The Marite Lord''s form changed, bing the opposite of their previous appearance. Their upper body and head became masculine, but a cave now decorated the space between their thighs.

    "How is it? I even made it wet for you." The Marite Lord smirked.

    "Is this how you get off or something?" Damien responded with a deadpan expression.

    "You''re no fun. Usually, men have the most entertaining reactions to tricks like this."

    "I apologize for not being in the mood to entertain the enemy."

    "How cruel!"

    The Marite Lord stood up with a smile, walking over to Damien with a sultry sway in their step.

    "It doesn''t have to be abination, you know. If you want¡­I can take the form of anyone you wish."

    An air of seduction filled Damien''s spiritual world. He could feel his mind and body bing hotter with every passing second.

    However, he wasn''t some easy target.

    Void Mana rolled through his body and cleared the seductive effects in an instant. As for his mind, was it even possible for seduction to prate it?

    While Damien was much calmer now, it was still true that coercive seduction used to be one of the things Damien abhorred most in the world.

    "What''s your goal here?" He asked coldly as he forcefully shattered the air filling his mind.

    "Hm? Isn''t that obvious?"

    The Marite Lord hopped up to him with a sunny grin on their face.

    "Since you broke my toy, shouldn''t you take his ce?"

    Damien frowned. "Do you think I''m someone easy to control?"

    "Of course not!" The Marite Lord answered instantly. "But¡­isn''t that what makes it fun?"

    "Tch. Try your hardest. Even if you''re a Demigod, I don''t believe you can overpower me with a sliver of consciousness."

    "Hmm, that''s a bet I like! Very well, since I''m a fair and benevolent Lord, I shall reward you if you are able to resist my control until the end."

    Two pairs of eyes met. One was filled with cold determination, while the other was yful and carefree.

    Somehow, Damien found himself confronting yet another Demigod. He almost wondered if he had some kind of attractive field around him that lured dangerous and crazy personalities towards him.

    But there was no pointining. Let alone waiting on the doorstep, the trouble had already barged into the house and made itselffortable.

    Therefore, there was only one path forward.

    Damien needed to defeat this strange Demigod and get them out of his spiritual world as soon as possible.

    It had been a very long time since thest time his mentality was tested.

    So, despite the danger of the situation, excitement filled Damien''s body.

    Ah, the fate of a battle maniac.

    No matter how much time passed, no matter how much they grew, they never truly changed, did they?

 Chapter 949 Lord [3]

    The Marite Lord''s first test was "Seduction," a test Damien passed wlessly.

    However, there was a reason it was merely their first step to overwriting a soul. Those who fell to seduction were those who would never have a chance to enter Divinity in their lives, thus they were merely disposable pawns to the Marite Lord.

    The real hells came after.

    Damien''s spiritual world blurred and disappeared. His Avatar was dropped into a dark space filled with nothingness.

    ''My body feels real.'' He immediately noticed.

    He felt sensations that weren''t possible through an Avatar. Even his All-Seeing Eye couldn''t find a w in his senses, making it clear just how thorough the illusion was.

    ''What is this? Am I going to experience solitude?''

    Damien was correct. The 2nd step after "Seduction" was "Solitude."

    Even if a man couldn''t be broken by a woman, could he survive his own thoughts?

    Solitude wasn''t something often experienced in the universe by those who didn''t follow the absorption method of slow leveling. Most of the time, these people were together with their influences or battling their enemies to grow stronger, making true solitude a strange and unwee feeling.

    And when that solitudested for decades, centuries, and even millennia, just what would happen to one''s mind?

    No, if the concept of time disappeared, if every moment felt like an eternity, the incongruity of feeling would make one extremely susceptible to emotion, breaking them even faster.

    This was thest level of the Marite Lord''s game most 4th ss beings experienced.

    The solitude drove them mad and opened a hole in their mental defenses that the Marite Lord could use to pollute their souls.

    However, when it came to solitude, Damien didn''t have many issues.

    While he spent several years traveling the universe alone, true solitude was to be alone with one''s thoughts in the void; without the starry sky as a backdrop, and without the aura of vibrant life of the universe.

    Damien sat down and crossed his legs, closing his eyes and focusing inwardly.

    ''This is good.'' He thought to himself.

    Let alone the fact that void environments actually feltfortable for Damien, he was currently in need of time to himself.

    Developing techniques andprehendingws took time, a great deal of it. Damien could always set up time dtions to grant himself extra time, but there were several universal restrictions on the usage of time, which made it difficult for Damien to use this strategy consistently.

    Aside from that, he currently didn''t have any room in his schedule for calm contemtion.

    Since the Golden Dragon n''s issue was almost solved, Damien would soon have to rush back to the Ancient God n so he could apany them to the Grand Assembly.

    Now, logically speaking, it was impossible toprehendws in a ce void of them, but unfortunately for the Marite Lord, Damien wasn''t a being exinable with logic alone.

    Traces of incorporeal pitch-ck mana exhaled from Damien''s pores and returned, converted into thew energy of Space, Time, Life, and Death.

    Damien focused his mind solemnly as the energies entered his body. He immediately controlled them with his spiritual intent and reigned them in, separating them into their own sections and separatelyprehending them.

    He couldn''t imagine what kind of catastrophe it''d cause if so many powerful and vtilews collided.

    ''But, couldn''t they mesh as well?''

    It was always his first thought after absorption, but he''d never had the courage to experiment due to circumstance and safety.

    ''But right now, my body is an illusion.''

    Damien was still a Spiritual Avatar, so while anyprehension he received would still be stored in his spiritual world, he wouldn''t be able to directly affect his body at all.

    Therefore, he could finally go all out without worry!

    ''Combine!''

    He let go of his spiritual intent and let the elements flow as they wished.

    Life and Death moved towards each other, as did Space and Time, and oddly enough¡­

    The two groups slowly started to approach each other like wary dogs meeting their long-lost siblings.

    Damien watched the process intently, losing track of his surroundings in the process.

    ''They''re forming¡­a staircase?''

    It was strange. As the elements approached each other, space and time grewrger while the inverse happened to Life and Death,yering them almost like steps in an ascending path.

    Bzzt!

    A connection formed,<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The energies finally connected, and in that moment, Damien''s mind exploded with light.

    It materialized before him, that staircase. He stood on the step of Spacetime, the energy of Samsara pushing him from behind.

    He covered his eyes with his hand to block the winds and gazed below.

    There was no ground, however, Damien could tell that "something" was supposed to exist below Life and Death.

    ''Aha¡­''

    The memory struck him abruptly. He''d remembered those same words many times in the past, but it felt different this time.

    The 5 elements.

    Life and Death.

    Space and Time.

    Creation and Destruction.

    And finally, the unknown that existed before the elements of existence were born.

    These were the utmost foundational pirs of universal order, the elements that allowed the universe to function as wlessly as it did.

    ''I want to go further.'' Damien thought to himself.

    He tried to take a step, but he was blocked by an invisible wall.

    There was a wall signifying the nonexistence of the proceeding step, a barrier that Damien couldn''t break no matter how much power he put into it.

    ''I want to see the top, but I can''t even see the path forward¡­''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''I have to work harder.''

    When the system gave Damien that advice all those years ago, it stopped its exnation after proposing the existence of "Nihility."

    However, Damien was unresigned to this.

    He could feel it instinctually.

    There was something beyond that wall, something that hadn''t even been theorized by the universe itself yet!

    He wanted to climb up and find the truth behind his feeling, breaking through the watershed impeding him and¡ª

    Whoosh!

    Damien''s eyes shot open.

    ''It''s over already?''

    Around him was no longer a void, but andscape dyed in red.

    From the rocky and deste ground below to the sun and smh above, the entire realm was dyed in a bleak red hue.

    Damien calmly stood up and surveyed the surroundings.

    ''The survivability difference between Seduction and Solitude was marginal, but there''s no way a Demigod would waste time increasing the difficulty level so lightly. They''re trying to steal my body, not test me.''

    Likely, it was his own fortitude that allowed him to pass Solitude so easily.

    What happened from this point forward would only be worse.

    Damien took a confident step forward, walking with his back straight as a sword.

    He walked for an unknown period of time through the bleakndscape before he finally understood the identity of the test.

    It was "Insecurity."

    ''The Marite Lord''s methods are far more methodical than their personality. After shaking the target''s mental stability, they immediately attack the greatest insecurities that the target has. Unless one survives the previous attack without any damage, they wouldn''t be able to help being shaken by something like this.''

    Before Damien was depicted a scene so tangible he was almost sucked into it.

    It was a scene of tragedy.

    The tragedy that was Damien''s final remaining insecurity.

 Chapter 950 Lord [4]

    Was it back in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range when he finally overcame the mental barriers that held his progression back so much?

    It had been so long that the memories were starting to feel distant.

    Back then, Damien was still young. He was still struggling with his past, the terrible traumas he''d incurred over years of suffering in silence.

    When those traumas were confronted and resolved, Damien was essentially reborn into a new person.

    However, while the wounds themselves healed, they left behind scars.

    More specifically, a single, extremely deep scar.

    Damien looked at the images presented to him with indifference in his eyes.

    Shik!

    Shik!

    Shik!

    A sword repetitively stabbed into a corpse on the ground. Its wielder showed no emotion as he cut off thest remaining hope of life for the blue-haired woman below him.

    That woman was none other than Elena.

    Surrounding her were several mutted corpses. Yet, despite their unrecognizable states, Damien could perfectly tell who they were.

    Ruyue, Rose, Zara, Tian Yang, Long Chen, Astoria, and everyone else Damien had ever had a strong rtionship with¡­

    ¡­including his own mother, ire Watson.

    Damien looked the killer in his eyes.

    And the killer stared back.

    Crash!

    Damien shattered the mirror, his eyes never changing.

    The same force that allowed him to live as he lived and even allowed him to ovee the current danger as easily as he currently could was the same force he feared the most.

    ''My own indifference.''

    Damien was always a person who attached extreme importance to his sense of identity. He always made sure he understood himself better than his enemies ever could, so they could never use his weaknesses against him.

    As such, he was painfully aware of how dangerous his indifference was.

    If he ever encountered a situation in the future where he was forced to drop his morals, if that situation caused him to loosen the tight grip he kept on the rtionships he had with those people who managed to enter his dead heart¡­

    Would he also be like Immortal Blood Asura who could easily sacrifice his children and family for the sake of power?

    The Marite Lord''s next attack came faster than expected.

    Ironically, the very insecurity Damien faced in the 4th attack allowed him to bypass it easily, sending him into the 4th test.

    "Fear."

    The fears represented were two branching concepts that formed a single whole.

    The first was connected to Damien''s insecurity. It was a fear of his own desire for power.

    From the beginning, Damien''s driving force to grow stronger was simply so he could grow stronger.

    The main motivator that pushed him forward was his dream to look down on existence from the peak of everything.

    When his core desire for strength wasn''t rooted in those he cared for, the likelihood of the aforementioned tragedying to life was high.

    Therefore, Damien always slightly feared and kept a leash on this desire, finding new small goals to tie it to so he could always remain grounded, never reaching a state where he wouldmit the unthinkable for its sake.

    As for the second fear¡­

    Damien stood at the top. He had achieved that unknown realm that even the universe didn''t know about and looked down on all existence from below.

    Yet, he stood alone.

    Where would he go from here?

    There was nothing above him, and all things below him gazed at him in fear and reverence.

    The people he loved and cared about stayed by his side, but they were never able to reach that untold height, stopping at the universe''s final bounds of power.

    No matter how close they were, they felt millions of kilometers in the distance.

    As someone at the finish line, Damien could clearly understand how impossible it was for that gap to close.

    So¡­then what?

    When he finally achieved his goal, what was he to do?

    The greatest fear at the very core of his being was this very situation.

    An unattainable peak being reached once could be chalked up to heavenly luck and skill, but multiple times? For everyone rted to the first individual?<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    It was unrealistic to even hope for it.

    To sit on this peak alone was something Damien couldn''t stand the thought of, and to stand on this peak and not see greater horizons in the distance was just as terrifying.

    Even now, facing this situation firsthand, Damien could feel the emptiness in his soul that made him want to give up and abandon his dream.

    Yet¡­

    ''I don''t even understand Divinity yet, how can I guess about the peak of existence? Whatever happens will be solved by the me that exists in that time. Isn''t that right?''

    Damien smiled. He felt a warm force cover his body, bringing him out of that bleak and deste future.

    ''These past two illusions have shown me things I needed to see. A situation like that can only end in tragedy if one doesn''t prepare for it beforehand. Since I''ve been made painfully aware of the possibilities, I just have to make sure they don''t ever get realized. Easy enough, right?''

    Damien stepped forward and entered the next illusion with a smile on his face.

    Really, when he exited this prison, he had to offer the Marite Lord his sincerest thanks for their gracious gift.

    After all, to an extreme peak master, defining their sense of self and furthering their understanding of Laws was the most imperative task.

    And wasn''t that exactly what the Marite Lord was allowing him to do?

    Seriously, just as they''d stated themselves, they were truly a kind and benevolent Lord!

    ***

    "Hohohoho¡­huhuhuhuhu!"

    The Marite Lord''s strangeughter echoed through the void.

    In the Real ne, in their residence in the void, the Marite Lord watched Damien''s progress through their soul wisp''s eyes.

    "Look at this! This is great! I knew the Saint Emperor couldn''t be interested in someone normal, but to think it''d be like this!"

    The Marite Lord happily pped their hands as their eyes turned to crescents.

    "ffy, isn''t this interesting?" They asked with a beaming smile.

    "Keeurrgh¡­gaakhhogb¡­"

    A ball of mush nearby let out a string of incoherent sounds in response.

    "Hm? Spare you? But I''m busy right now. Wait untilter and I''ll think about it."

    The ball of mush trembled at her words.

    "Huuugggh¡­haaaaaaaaggggh¡­"

    The Marite Lord''s eyes immediately shot over to the mush.

    "Trash, disobey me again and see what happens." They uttered coldly.

    "¡­guuuu¡­"

    The mush shivered fiercely and tried to back away before remembering its current form.

    A mush ball named ffy, not the exalted Nox Demigod, the me Lord.

    "Wow, seriously wow! He crushed Seduction before it could even start, used Solitude to attainprehension of a mysteriousw that I don''t know, breezed through Insecurity and Fear with a straight face, whates next?!" The Marite Lord eximed as they stroked their chin in intrigue.

    "Not to mention, his insecurities and fears are so surprising. Everything he doubts is internal. It''s as if he truly believes that there is no greater threat to him in this universe than himself¡­"

    Not only that, he truly believed without a sliver of doubt that it was inevitable for him to eventually reach the unknown peak.

    It was arrogant beyond arrogance.

    He was facing a death sentence from a Demigod, yet he viewed it as a training ground to refine his mental fortitude.

    Not only did he not ce the illusions in his eyes, he looked down upon the caster themself as well!

    "I like it!¡­ I dont like it!¡­ I hate it!¡­no, I love it! What is this feeling?! Was there ever something like this?!"

    "Guu¡ª"

    "ffy, I''m so happy right now!"

    The Marite Lord hopped over and picked up the mush ball like a puppy, holding it up in the air.

    They brought it to their chest in a tight hug.

    Bang!

    "ffy~!"

    The mush ball exploded into a rain of ck ink that drenched the Marite Lord.

    They smiled happier than ever as they licked the ink off their lips.

    "This one¡­I want him!"

 Chapter 951 Retreat [1]

    The Marite Lord''s attack was a 20-stage process. The first 10 illusions were each targeting a different weakness in one''s identity, while the remaining 10 were more of abined assault that became more intrinsic with every step, digging deeper into one''s psyche to disrupt them.

    However, while Damien steadily made his way through one illusion after another, there was something he didn''t know.

    It was incredibly rare to see thest 10 illusions in the sequence. When the illusions were performed with the Marite Lord''s full strength, even weaker Demigods would fall by the 10th stage.

    This time, it was proper to say that the Marite Lord''s presence wasrgely influenced by Fate.

    It wasn''t easy to steal a body before a seed had sprouted within. On a power like puppeteering, the universal restrictions were many.

    Perhaps they didn''t need to be followed as strictly in the Abyss, but when they wanted to attack someone within Grand Heavens Boundary, not only did a seed need to be sprouted, the target needed to submit.

    As such, to take Lord Garvy''s body urgently, the Marite Lord had to sacrifice a considerable amount, leaving them with a rtively weak sliver of consciousness remaining by the time they entered Damien''s spiritual world.

    Damien''s mental fortitude was a known strength of his. The Marite Lord''s improved challenges might''ve been an even better challenge for him, but Fate understood better than anyone.

    The universal flow had been pointing toward a certain event for not just months, but years on years.

    Currently, Damien''s need for a challenge wasn''t as strong as his need to attend the Grand Assembly, which required Beast Emperor Star''s matters to be concluded.

    As he destroyed the final of 20 illusions, he found himself back in his spiritual world, the Marite Lord syed out before him.

    "You''re an entertaining human! More than any of the others I''ve seen!" They immediately jumped up and said upon his return.

    "And you''re the second most annoying Nox Demigod I''ve met. I guess we aren''t on the same level," Damien quipped back.

    "Why did youe here, anyway? Was Arthur''s body that important to you?"

    "Hm?" The Marite Lord''s brow raises curiously.

    "How could it not be?"

    They shed forward, their face only centimeters from Damien''s. He could feel their poisonous breath against his cheek as they stared into his eyes.

    "The Bloodlock n is one of your universe''s most influential Holy Lands. If I can take control of the Immortal Blood Asura who leads it, wouldn''t you be in trouble?"

    Damien shivered, feeling the odd incongruity from the Marite Lord''s expression.

    "Isn''t it only right I wish forpensation? And if that old Saint bastard wants you, shouldn''t your value be about equal?"

    The Marite Lord''s expression was yful, but their aura was anything but. It was eerie, cold, and looked down upon all beings as ythings to be used and reced.

    "But there was something else too¡­I don''t know! I just suddenly felt like seeing you for myself, so I came!"

    The darkness behind their words disappeared like it never existed.

    And there it was.

    ''They were really brought here by Fate. Just what is the connection between Fate and universal flow?''

    As Damien saw it, the connection between Arthur Bloodlock and the Marite Lord was formed by the universal flow, however, the connection between the Marite Lord and himself was formed by Fate.

    Damien urgently wanted to understand the connection between these two esoteric and formless forces that supported the universe so he could unearth the truths of universal flow, but he had no connections to Fate.

    The concept simply eluded him, even when Astoria allowed him to search her memory for clues.

    Nevertheless, the matters of Fate could always be handledter.

    Damien currently needed to find a way to get this crazy Demigod out of his head before he was forced to personally experience why they were termed the most insane Nox Demigod of them all.

    He threw a nce at them, watching them casually eat from a bunch of grapes they''d materialized through spiritual intent.

    ''They clearly won''t leave on their own. I might as well see if they''ll answer questions or not.''

    "Didn''t you say you''d give me a reward if I passed your trial? Where is that?" He asked, introducing conversation.

    The Marite Lord looked up. For a second, Damien got chills from their gaze.

    Yet, just like before, that feeling disappeared instantaneously.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''Scary.''

    "Reward? Did I say something like that? Hmm¡­how about you be my subordinate? I''ll offer you plenty of rewards then," the Marite Lord said.

    "Funny. I''ll pass on any ''reward'' that involves switching sides or betraying my homnd. How does that sound?"

    "Boring."

    "If it''s boring then leave."

    "No thanks! It''s even more boring outside!"

    "Then my reward?"

    "Why should I give you one? Who even said I''d reward you?"

    "Wow, I never expected a great Nox Demigod to go back on their promise. It''s almost embarrassing to view you guys as enemies."

    "That kind of thing won''t faze me, boy. I don''t care about all that Nox-Human nonsense."

    Damien furrowed his brows and frowned. He originally breached the subject of a reward so he could ease into some more leading questions, but he was even getting tripped up at this step.

    ''Is it even worth it¡­?'' He wondered. He could definitely get information elsewhere if he tried hard enough. Time and effort would allow the Nox memory fragments in his mind to connect and form a more cohesive picture as well.

    He could imagine the frustration he''d encounter if he tried to question this irregr being, and he didn''t want to deal with it at all.

    "Fine, instead of a reward, give me one favor," he finally said.

    "Favor?" The Marite Lord echoed.

    "Right, a favor. At any time, allow me to request one favor from you," Damien repeated seriously.

    The Marite Lord gazed at him, never breaking their eyes from his own.

    Damien felt like his soul was being scoured, like countless incorporeal hands were feeling over his body.

    But he didn''t bend. A favor from a Demigod, especially a Nox one, was worth far more than any material reward ever could be.

    The Marite Lord''s lips parted into an amused sneer.

    "Do you think you''re worthy of my favor?" They said mockingly.

    Damien grinned as well. "Do you think I''m not?"

    The Marite Lord''s eyes widened slightly. Suddenly, they began tough.

    "Pfft¡­hahaha! Hahahahaha!"

    "I like you! I really, really like you! Fine, I will ept one favor from you as long as it doesn''t hurt me too much," they stated confidently, their eyes sparkling.

    Damien smiled back, but he truly didn''t know whether tough or cry. Having the interest of a character like the Marite Lord wasn''t necessarily a good thing.

    However, it was good that he''d received this word.

    "The word of a Demigod cannot be broken," he said.

    "Whoever taught you that must''ve been a con artist, but you don''t have to worry. You being alive is more entertaining for me, and I''m sure your favor will be even more fun! I''m looking forward to it."

    The response wasn''t strange on paper, but people who could go to any lengths for their own entertainment were some of the most terrifying in existence.

    Nevertheless, with that out of the way¡­

    "When are you leaving? I have things to do."

    ¡­Damien desperately wanted this crazy person OUT of his spiritual world!

 Chapter 952 Retreat [2]

    Getting the Marite Lord to leave his body was far more taxing than Damien ever expected it to be.

    No matter how much they imed they would leave him alive, it was clear that they still felt unresigned about his survival.

    Nevertheless, he eventually managed to convince them, not through any sort of negotiation or promise, but rather a certain strand of Divine Power that was residing in Damien''s spiritual world.

    Tiamat''s will had gone into a hibernating state after their conversation, but her Divine Power was still present. Damien couldn''t absorb it, nor did he want to carelessly release it into the atmosphere.

    Therefore, while Tiamat herself wasn''t present, traces of her existence were.

    And as Damien learned through the Marite Lord''s quick exit after sensing those vestiges¡­

    ''Tiamat was an Emperor.''

    There were no beings in existence who could make the Marite Lord retreat without a rebellious word besides Nox Emperors, denizen Demigods of the same level included.

    ''I was once again saved by her, but I once again have to raise my guard against her. If she''s an Emperor, it makes sense why she was sealed instead of killed, but she doesn''t seem to have been weakened much if her residual aura can still scare off Lord-level Nox.''

    Damien was curious about who designed the seal. Back then, he never found any traces of the dungeon''s creator, nor did Kurt Galloway mention anything in his notes and research.

    However, that person was definitely not a simple character. Tiamat''s imprisonment was clouded in ayer of mystery that had to be revealed before Damien could decide how to proceed in his rtionship with her.

    Whether they''d be friends or enemies?

    Only time could tell.

    Damien opened his eyes slowly.

    ''It was smart to move to the Sanctuary before anything happened.''

    The first thing Damien saw were wisps of Nox Mana evaporating off his body. He was afraid that if he was outside, someone would''ve killed him before he had a chance to exin himself.

    ''I thought I''d age another few years so I set up a time dtion, but it looks like the Marite Lord didn''t affect my physical body at all since they wanted it for themself. On the other hand, that means this time dtion was useless¡­''

    Damien understood through his body clock that not even a few seconds had passed since the ordeal began, and considering the time dtion, it was possible that those outside hadn''t yet perceived his disappearance.

    ''Return¡­? No, not yet.''

    At this point, all that was left to do was cleanup. Though it was shameful to admit it, the Marite Lord helped greatly this time. They directly crushed most of the ck Dragons'' strongest experts, leaving only a few officials and many lesser soldiers in Beast Emperor Star.

    With his skills, Hedrick could lead the charge against these forces and achieve a victory.

    It was more beneficial for Damien to spend his time elsewhere.

    After all, there were several things in his body that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

    ***

    Just as Damien predicted, Hedrick didn''t waste time pondering his fate and instead took the opportunity to lead his army to sweep the ck Dragons.

    ''That tutor is strong. He will survive if he is worthy of his strength.''

    This was Hedrick''s thought. He and Damien weren''t close to begin with, and his position as Astoria''s teacher hadn''t shown its value yet, so there was no reason for him to spare more than a single thought.

    However, while he had no idea what Damien did with the Nox Demigod in that final instant, he respected the man for creating such a wonderful opening.

    The ck Dragon Army was already defeated mentally by Lord Garvy''s betrayal, and when they were assaulted with the Golden Dragon Army''s full power, they couldn''t provide any resistance.

    They were promptly captured, not killed, and held within the estate''s specialized dungeon.

    When the ck Dragons were cleaned up, the army spread out and quelled the unrest guing the world, eliminating any lingering threats along the way.

    It was a long process that took several days, and by the end of it¡­

    The sky was shining gold, illuminated by a canopy of Fate Clouds.

    There was one specific section of the world. As civilians calmed themselves and let go of their fear, as soldiers finished their duties and finally had time to rest, all beings slowly gathered here.

    In this ce. There was a single gargantuan Fate Cloud that all others strayed away from, creating a halo of natural light among the golden sheen held by the rest of the world.

    It was understood not long after the cleanup began. This was the source, the origin of those Fate Clouds who returned to bless the world.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    And thus, this ce became a ce of prayer and hope, said to bring good luck to anyone who prayed under it long enough.

    After 5 days, the cloud slowly dispersed into the surroundings, filling in the circr gap around it and finally connecting to the rest of the clouds.

    DING!

    A high-pitched ringing bell sounded as the Fate Clouds shined brightly, lighting up Beast Emperor Star and creating a spectacle for those who saw it as part of their night sky.

    In the midst of the beautiful heavenly glow was a single woman who gracefully descended to the ground below.

    She opened her eyes to be greeted by several million people staring at her with widened eyes.

    Her head tilted to the side.

    "Did I miss something?"

    One could almost picture the question mark floating over her head when she spoke her first words.

    "A-Astoria?!"

    Her eyes turned to the voice who called for her. A smile spread on her face soon after.

    "Eldest Sister, you''re here?"

    "Astoria!"

    Elizabeth ran forward and embraced Astoria tightly.

    "Thank the heavens! I thought we lost you too!" Elizabeth cried as she held her younger sister.

    Astoria''s eyes slightly narrowed as she picked up the meaning behind those words, but she didn''t mention it.

    "Eldest Sister, let''s go back to the pce and meet Father. It looks like the war is over, but there''s still work to be done, right?"

    Astoria grabbed Elizabeth''s hand and pulled her into the air, moving as she said.

    She left behind the crowd below, unaware of the impact she''d left on their hearts.

    And when she arrived at the pce, she finally heard of what happened.

    She wasn''t too close to most of them, but half of her siblings had died.

    It wasn''t something she could just ept.

    While she was being selfish and getting stronger by herself, they were living and dying together with their family.

    "I feel useless," she muttered to herself as she copsed onto her bed.

    Though she''d been informed of the oue of the war, that was it. The Emperor ordered her to rest and return tomorrow to tell him in detail about her experiences after she left.

    And now that she was alone, it struck her just how close Beast Emperor Star and the Golden Dragon n were to perishing,

    "I wish I could''ve helped somehow¡­"

    "No, rather, if it wasn''t for your help, this world would have been destroyed."

    A voice refuted her soliloquy. Astoria immediately teleported away and raised her guard, only to widen her eyes and immediately rush back.

    "Master!"

    She jumped into Damien''s arms like a ko and dug her face into his chest.

    Damien smiled wryly and sat down on the nearby sofa, patting her backfortingly.

    It couldn''t have been more obvious that Astoria was trying to bottle up her feelings and stay strong, but he wouldn''t allow it.

    No disciple of his would be allowed to follow the same mistakes he''d made in the past.

    So his first priority, now that he''d finished up his own errands and returned, was to make sure she was okay.

 Chapter 953 Banquet [1]

    Astoria broke down once she felt Damien''s warmth. She didn''t cry or shout, but she dug herself into him and trembled, unable to find a way to properly express the emotions inside her.

    The sadness was minimal, as of those who died, none were close to her. One of them was even the 4th Prince who''d caused her so much trouble when she first met Damien.

    The main emotion guing her mind was frustration.

    Frustration that even after she worked so hard to gain so much strength, she still wasn''t able to contribute to her family and fight by their side.

    Damien sighed. In terms of the conflict itself, it was true that Astoria had no involvement at all. Yet, her nonaggressive contribution of restoring the Fate Clouds did far more for the world''s safety than any of the ughter and death taking ce elsewhere.

    Everyone else secured short-term safety, while Astoria restored long-term security. If both didn''t happen concurrently, Beast Emperor Star would''ve faced far worse threats in the future, when their enemies came to prey on them while they were weak.

    ''Convincing Astoria about her importance through words is no use even if it''sing from me. She''s too used to belligerence, so she doesn''t realize the value of strategy at all, just like the rest of these damn dragons.''

    It was definitely a huge w in their thinking that only the Emperor had ovee, but since the recent cmity happened due to theck of strategy and wariness, Damien was sure the Golden Dragons would improve from this point forward.

    ''But for now, let''s cheer her up and go meet with the Emperor.''

    Damien grabbed Astoria''s hand and pulled her off the couch.

    "M-master? What are you doing?"

    Astoria blushed, her mind suddenly filled with stray thoughts.

    "Come with me, let''s go have some fun," Damien proimed with a smile.

    Astoria''s blush deepened.

    "Master, be more mindful of your words!" She eximed in embarrassment.

    "Hm? What''s wrong?" Damien asked, tilting his head curiously.

    Astoria gritted her teeth and shot a hateful re at him.

    "R-really¡­you¡­"

    "When a man and a woman are alone in a room together, just what kind of fun can they have?!" She finally eximed.

    "Uh¡­"

    Damien stared at her in disbelief. "Who said we were staying in your room?"

    "¡­"

    Astoria lowered her head, directing her eyes to the ground.

    "Hello?"

    "¡­"

    Her face turned the same color as a tomato, and then went deeper red until it looked like she was seriously about to explode.

    "Earth to Astoria?"

    "It''s time to die."

    Astoria expressionlessly grabbed a dagger from nowhere.

    "Alright, stop fooling around. It''s not that embarrassing, is it?" Damien said wryly.

    "Master, this is social suicide. I can never go out in public again."

    "It''s only the two of us who heard it though?"

    "Regardless."

    "Rx, it''s fine for you to have these thoughts asionally. After all, you''re at ''that'' age."

    "What age?"

    "Ahaha, don''t worry about it. Anyway,e with me. I''ll show you something magnificent."

    He and Astoria shed away from Beast Emperor Star entirely.

    When Damien was thinking about how to cheer up Astoria, there were a few ideas he had, the first of which was to take her somewhere with dazzling scenery so she could find peace and clear her mind.

    He genuinely thought hard about where to take her, as he''d seen many mind-blowing sights in the past, but honestly, there weren''t many that could match the simple yet grand beauty of the universe itself.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Damien and Astoria arrived at the ce where he felt the universe''s grandiosity with his own body for the first time.

    Just a few hundred thousand kilometers away from Dawn World, in the middle of the starry sky.

    A ce where beautiful stars of all different colors, shapes, and properties decorated the ckness, where Sky Castle Luxurion shone like the North Star, so blindingly bright yet so incredibly far away.

    It wasn''t a particrly special ce. Honestly, the same view could be found anywhere in the Divine Realm.

    However, to a spatial practitioner, the view itself wasn''t what mattered.

    Just standing there, one would get immersed in the ambiance, and fall prey to the universe''s ebb and flow. It was a beautifully serene and calming experience that Damien wanted to show Astoria.

    As a talent not much lower than himself, how could Astoria fall short of his expectation?

    She synchronized with the universe''s body, rxed her mind, and found the security to view the situation on a greater scale.

    She gained the peace and quiet she needed to gather her thoughts and strength so she could move forward with peak performance.

    And when she opened her eyes, Damien shed away with her once again.

    This time, they arrived on t ground, in a world filled with the color orange. Orange sands made up the ground below and orange dust flowed through the air. The sky and sun were mellow and pastel, making the entire environment feel strangely bleak.

    "What are we doing here, Master?" Astoria asked, now in a far better state than before.

    Luckily, Damien had appeared before she let her feelings fester for too long, so clearing her doubts was also easier.

    Damien looked over with a grin. "This is an abandoned world I came across a few years ago. I don''t know how it was created or why it''s empty, but there is no life in this world at all."

    Astoria raised her eyes in interest. "Is there some sort of treasure here?"

    "Nope!" Damien eximed happily.

    "Then¡­?"

    "My dear disciple, the reason we came here is simple. In this abandoned and empty world, you can destroy any and everything without consequences! Go wild, Astorimon!"

    Astoria''s eyes widened. Her expression slowly morphed, bing more and more excited.

    "Are you serious?!"

    She asked with the hope and exuberance of a little girl going to a theme park for the first time, and Damien was happy to say he could meet her expectations.

    "Go wild. You have 2 hours to spend however you want, then we''re going to meet your father."

    "Master, you''re the best!"

    Astoria jumped up and gave Damien a quick hug before rushing away.

    Distant booms resounded in the next instant.

    Damien sighed to himself with a defeated smile.

    "Haa, just what kind of barbarian princess am I raising?"

    ***

    Damien returned to Beast Emperor Star with a happily skipping Astoria precisely 2 hourster.

    ''It''s almost concerning how easily violence was able to solve her problems, but it''s probably nothing, right?''

    Damien walked through the pce halls with Astoria and arrived before the dining hall.

    The guards outside bowed upon seeing them, pushing open the massive doors.

    "The Emperor has been waiting."

    The master-disciple duo walked into the dining hall with confidence, panning their gazes across the room and taking ount of everyone present.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor, his three wives, his remaining living children besides the 1st Prince, and many unnamed officials that Damien didn''t bother with.

    Damien''s eyesnded on the Emperor, a smile spreading across his face when he noticed thetter looking at him as well.

    "What a grand reception this is. Emperor, if I knew you were missing me so dearly, I would''ve brought gifts!"

 Chapter 954 Banquet [2]

    "What a grand reception this is. Emperor, if I knew you were missing me so dearly, I would''ve brought gifts!"

    "You! How dare you speak to His Majesty so crassly?!"

    An immediate voice of protest rose from among the officials.

    Damien sneered, ignoring the man and walking over to one of the two empty seats near the Emperor and taking his ce.

    Astoria followed after him and took a seat as well.

    As they did so, the Emperor sent a nce at the previous official, warning him to not speak carelessly.

    At the same time, a transmission entered Damien''s ear.

    "Brat, you should at least respect my status in front of a crowd like this. It will only make things more troublesome for both of us if you do not."

    Damien shrugged. "I can call you ''His Majesty the Emperor'' as much as you want me to, but if you want me to change my demeanor, it''ll be much harder than that."

    "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

    "An expert''s pride, you know how it is."

    "Tch!"

    The Golden Dragon Emperor clicked his tongue without a response, because¡­

    He actually did know how it was!

    He was also someone with an extraneous amount of "expert''s pride!"

    ''Khh¡­dammit, why does this brat have to make so much sense?!''

    The Emperor sighed to himself before standing up and addressing the room.

    "We Golden Dragons have faced an untold cmity caused by both the strength of our enemies and our own carelessness. While we somehow managed to seed this time, we have learned our lesson. This banquet was held not for celebration, but to mark the moment when we Golden Dragons change our ways and be cunning enough to rule the universe!"

    He raised his ss, his eyes sharpening and his aura ring out domineeringly.

    "To the future!"

    ""To the future!!""

    The crowd enthusiastically followed his exmation, and a feast began soon after.

    Dish after exquisite dish was presented to the attendees, and a jovial atmosphere soon overcame the Golden Dragon Estate.

    After a few hours of misceneous greetings and conversations, the Golden Dragon Emperor finally brought Damien and Astoria forward.

    Originally, they were supposed to meet in a more private setting, but the situation didn''t allow it.

    This banquet was organized mainly to reassure the people that there would once again be peace on Beast Emperor Star, so it was imperative that it took ce, but since both Damien and the Golden Dragons had too much work to do and not enough time, ns were merged.

    When she arrived before the Emperor, Astoria immediately bowed with respect.

    "Father." She said with emotion.

    "Have you been well?" He asked lightly, putting up a barrier around the three of them, as well as some of their nearby family, including Elizabeth and Hedrick.

    Astoria nodded slightly, straightening herself and looking her father in the eye.

    ''Oho?''

    This action alone inwardly impressed the Emperor, who maintained an indifferent facade for the sake of face.

    His daughter who had never had a serious moment in her life was suddenly looking at him with such firm eyes, how could he not be surprised?

    "Sit," the Emperor motioned with a smile, "how have you spent thest few months?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Astoria began recounting her experiences and travels with Damien that spanned almost 2 years, leaving out only the most secretive details involving Damien''s strengths.

    The story was fantastical from the start, and as it continued, more than Astoria''s journey, Damien''s power came to light.

    The ability to control time so Astoria could train properly, the ability to teleport all across the universe to find the perfect environments, and strength that Hedrick and the Emperor had personally witnessed during the war; wasn''t Damien a bit too monstrous?

    Nevertheless, Astoria''s achievements didn''t go unnoticed.

    Especially when Damien exined her maneuvering in the Fate Clouds, the small crowd around them was filled with gasps of astonishment.

    Nobody doubted Astoria''s ims. After all, with the Emperor present, how could they dare to lie? If such an event urred, the Emperor would''ve personally witnessed it from his throne, therefore, he would''ve been furious at the slightest facy.

    Astoria soon became a hot topic. She was crowded by her family and barraged with an assortment of questions that she did her best to answer, but she wasn''t used to having so much positive attention on her at one time.

    Damien smiled warmly as he watched her slowly get used to the atmosphere and adapt to it.

    Astoria was originally a very joyous person, but the smile she carried now seemed to have more depth to it, giving her a more mature and put-together atmosphere than the little devil emperor she used to be.

    Damien almost couldn''t believe that Astoria used to have such a reputation.

    ''I guess her puberty phase finally ended. Her usual yfulness makes me forget, but she''s truly grown into a strong woman.'' He thought proudly.

    ''Speaking of women¡­''

    Damien''s thoughts suddenly shifted onto a different track as he turned to the Emperor, remembering a question he''d been wanting to ask.

    "Ah, by the way, that girl in the cocoon, any idea who she is?" He asked through mental transmission.

    When he returned to the Real ne, he brought her out of the Sanctuary and handed her over to the Golden Dragons, but seeing how well she was treated by the pce staff, he got a little curious.

    "She? She is a lone Valkyrie who aided us immensely in this conflict. If it wasn''t for her, we might have copsed from the very first attack." The Emperor responded.

    "Hmm¡­" Damien muttered.

    "Her goal is the Genesis Bead. The treasure is actually in her possession at the moment, so you will have to meet her before iming your promised reward."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. "You''re not going back on your word, are you?"

    "Haha, we are bound by Mana Oath, are we not? You will receive your promised rewards, do not worry."

    Damien nodded. "Where is she now? Have you found out what''s going on with her?"

    "She is in a private room in the East Wing of the pce. Her strange state persists with cause unknown, but I will alert you when she awakens."

    "No need. I''ll go see her myself. I felt something about that barrier thest time I saw it. I want to check it out."

    "Understood."

    The Emperor acquiesced with a shrug. Soon after, Damien found an opportunity to excuse himself from the banquet.

    It was Astoria''s day today. The banquet was her stage to shine, and while he wanted to apany her for it, he couldn''t be there for every big moment of her life.

    Therefore, it was better to leave this to her as an opportunity to adjust to this situation she''d likely encounter often in the future.

    As he walked to the pce''s East Wing, he fell into thought.

    The Genesis Bead was important to his mission, but he wasn''t worried about receiving it. Since such a thorough Mana Oath was in ce, he was sure it''de into his possession one way or another.

    However, it was truly interesting.

    ''The Emperor wouldn''t even let me see the Genesis Bead when I first arrived. Just what kind of identity does the person who can make him willingly hand it over for personal use have?''

    He arrived in the East Wing and found the room in question, knocking lightly on the door before opening it.

    The answer to his question was right before him, unconscious and behind a veil of ck and white.

 Chapter 955 Cocoon [1]

    [Daughter of the Void]

    When this title awakened, everything changed. The battlefield faded away, the universe itself faded into the distance as Elena''s consciousness was taken on a journey through the vast unknown.

    And naturally, her body changed along with her mind. The ck and white cocoon''s energy was fueling Elena''sprehensive evolution into a greater state of existence.

    Then, what was truly happening to her?

    Elena''s current situation was odd and unexinable from the outside, but in truth, its roots were very easily traceable.

    At that moment of life and death, a "seed" awakened within her. It wasn''t some esoteric concept like Damien''s "Seed" or the Nox Seeds, but it was a seed nheless.

    And its nting¡­well, it could be traced back to a night of passion shared within the Empyrean Dragon Realm.

    Elena had no natural connection with the Void, nor was the Void an existence that was friendly to those other than Damien, but Elena had achieved a hidden requirement even Damien didn''t know of.

    She''d been "epted" by the Void as a spouse of its progeny, and as such, it saved her from death and bestowed her with a blessing.

    The cocoon was a representation of this blessing, a safe space where she wouldn''t be interrupted before shepletely digested her gains.

    It had been 5 days already.

    Elena immediately understood that the title''s awakening was an opportunity rather than a disaster, and with her quick thinking and intuition, she absorbed anything and everything she saw around her.

    The problem was that the things she was absorbing had no physical presence. She simply exerted the will to absorb and focused on the mystical and hazy environment, gradually gaining a hold over the ambient natural forces.

    The scene became clear with time, revealing Elena to a lush jungle-like habitat overflowing with vitality. Decorating the sky were grand floating mountains and pces, and in the very middle of the ecosystem stood a towering Yggdrasil that Elena soon recognized as her own.

    ''This is¡­''

    Her eyes widened in astonishment at the natural beauty, as well as the thickness of thew fluctuationsing from this jungle.

    It was as if this ce was the origin of life, the ce where the concept of life first introduced itself to the universe.

    Elena''s body suddenly jerked as "something" flew out of her chest.

    ''The Genesis Bead?!''

    Elena''s shock only increased when the treasure appeared. She hadn''t bound it or imed ownership in any way, so why was it following her soul to this alternate dimension?

    She wanted to ask, but there was no one around to answer. As such, she instead chose to follow the flying bead through the forest until she arrived before the massive world tree.

    She raised her arm and gently brushed her fingertips against the bark.

    Ba-dum! Ba-dum!

    She could hear the jungle''s heartbeat, a pumping flow of vitality that powered the entire jungle and allowed this haven to exist.

    Meanwhile, the Genesis Bead spun on its own axis in the air, absorbing the purest concentrated Life Laws from the world tree and internalizing it.

    Soon after, a new stream of energy left the bead and flowed into Elena''s mind, spreading through her avatar body and filling her to the brim.

    Voom!

    Stray foliage whipped into the sky as the winds swirled around Elena and lifted her into the air.

    She didn''t know why exactly this was happening to her, but she could at least understand one thing.

    The Life Lawprehension that was flowing into her mind far outstripped anything she''d been able to perceive in reality, and the longer the energy stayed within her avatar, the greater theprehension became.

    Mystical abilities that she could never even imagine became possible evolutionary paths, and somehow, it was almost as if the Law of Life itself was beckoning her towards it.

    The scenery of the jungle changed. Behind the world tree, three pathways appeared, leading into the distance beyond perception.

    Elena intuitively understood that she was being made to choose.

    She needed to decide how she would grow her Life Laws from this point forward.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    There was the path on the far left, "personal" Life Laws. If she chose this path, Elena would continue on her way to bing an infinite warrior who could constantly buff and heal herself to be undying.

    This was the path she pursued when she was just starting her journey to the peak, but as she aged and matured, she realized it wasn''t necessarily the best path.

    This path would make Elena a great independent force, but with the universe''s current situation, a single Elena wouldn''t have much impact on the battlefield as an infinite warrior.

    The middle path, "emitted" Life Laws, was far better in this sense. This was the ssic healer path. If she traveled it, she could be a Goddess of Life who could even bring the dead back to life.

    Yet¡­

    ''That''s not enough.''

    Elena never wanted to be a healer. She didn''t want to be relegated to the back of the battlefield with no choice but to watch and passively react to the battle situation.

    Then, the final path on the far right.

    As Elena gazed upon it, she noticed that information on how this path would proceed didn''t appear in her mind as it did with the other two.

    Instead, a much more esoteric sensation filled her systems.

    It was grand, magisterial, and primordial. It was so close, yet separated by distance uncrossable. It was a sensation akin to "the beginning of everything."

    ''This path¡­should be called "universal" Life Laws.'' Elena thought to herself.

    This feeling represented what Life truly was, only, Elena wasn''t able to understand it at her current level.

    The final path was one ofprehending the universe, and as a byproduct, Life.

    It was difficult, almost impossible to traverse, but epassed the other two paths and provided an even greater horizon for those who could climb up high enough to see it.

    ''If I''m doing this, there''s no reason to settle for mediocrity, right?''

    Elena had several ambitions. She wanted to stand at the top just like any other practitioner, but such a goal didn''t need to be mentioned.

    At the moment, her goals were two.

    The first was to grow strong enough to repel the Nox from the universe and save it from destruction. Elena had formed several personal grudges with the Nox over time, which, along with her sense of justice, made her an avid loyalist who would try anything in her power to aid the universe.

    This was her most grounded goal, as it didn''t just pertain to her own survival, but the survival of everything.

    The second goal was more personal.

    She wanted to return. She wanted to return to her friends and family and once again enjoy the warmth they provided.

    Rose and Ruyue were great sisters who motivated her to do better and always challenged her. They were her closest friends and strongest rivals, people she never wanted to forget.

    Damien''s status in her heart didn''t even need to be mentioned. After so many years, she still thought of him so vividly. Did it need to be further borated on just how deep her feelings were?

    And aside from love, Elena wasn''t an outlier to Damien''s exclusive motivation effect.

    Anyone who came in contact with him for long enough would end up setting him as a goal to surpass due to his heaven-defying talent, and surprisingly enough, they would always see far greater results with this motivation driving them.

    It was almost like the "motivation" was a true universal force with how effective it was.

    Nevertheless, even her short-term goals required her to be excellent, above all others.

    Therefore, a mediocre path simply wouldn''t fly.

    Elena stepped forward without hesitation, her foot firmly crunching against the soil of the "Universal Life Law" path.

    And she walked, following the path to the ends of the earth.

    The processes of her body and mind coincided in that moment, and the final stage of her evolution began.

 Chapter 956 Cocoon [2]

    To be a Daughter of the Void meant more than just being Damien''s spouse.

    While Damien was something like an "apostle" of the Void in Grand Heavens Boundary, he wasn''t yet at a level where he could contact the Void''s will and control it.

    The Daughter of the Void title and the seed that initiated its blooming wouldn''t manifest in the bodies of every woman Damien had rtions with, only those the Void approved of.

    This was why the seed would only show its presence in the very final moments before death, saving the woman in question and presenting her with power.

    Those who were worthy of the seed''s existence were recognized by the Void itself as people with potential.

    As for the identity of this potential and how it would be used for the Void''s elusive agendas¡­

    That was something that could only be discovered in the future.

    Elena was undergoing a cohesive transformation far above the level of something like body reconstruction and almost approaching a race change like Damien underwent when he achieved Samsara.

    However, there was no such thing as a free meal.

    For the Void to give her such a profound blessing¡­whatever it required from her would definitely be harsh enough to bnce it.

    ***

    Creak!

    The door creaked as Damien pushed it open, revealing the luxurious setting of the room within.

    It was filled with the most pristine furniture and decoration, along with the top physicians of the Golden Dragon n who were keeping close watch on the ck and white cocoonin on the massive bed.

    "Sir Teacher!"

    One of the nearby physicians recognized Damien and slightly bowed his head in greeting. The others also turned and gave their short greetings before continuing their work.

    Although it couldn''t bepared to Elena, Damien also had a certain status within the pce. He was young, powerful, charismatic, and mysterious, making many wonder about his origins and identity.

    He''d only spent a few days with the pce staff, with the rest of his time upied with teaching Astoria before they left, but it had been enough to strike an impression, especially with the grand entrance and proceeding show he put on in front of the Emperor.

    Still, he hadn''t shown his face enough to warrant such high-quality treatment like Elena was receiving.

    His role as a teacher wasn''t very well respected at first, but now that the war was over, who would dare show Damien disrespect? Even if he couldn''t do anything for the princess'' growth, his own power and character were already exemry enough!

    Of course, Astoria''s contributions hadn''t yet spread amongst themon popce, so these people didn''t know about her rapid growth, or else their reception towards Damien would''ve been far, far warmer.

    Despite the size of the n, they had a surprising amount of loyalty and a very familial bond that one didn''t usually find amongstrger and more powerful influences.

    "What''s the situation?" He asked the first physician, curious about what they''d found so far.

    The physician handed over a tablet filled with information for Damien to skim as he began to exin.

    "It is impossible for us to prate this cocoon with any of ourtest artifacts and technology, so we haven''t been able to probe it at all. However, it has be clear through external observation that the cocoon is quite literally metamorphosizing the individual within."

    He tapped a few times on the tablet, bringing up a series of research results gathered over the past 5 days.

    "By our calctions, the cocoon is made up of mostly solidified Life Laws, but the main structure is supported by an unknown substance. More than being unable to investigate, our tools were directly disintegrated by this substance, so we decided to stay away from it in further experiments."

    It was just a fancy way of saying they didn''t know anything.

    Damien nced over at the cocoon in understanding, approaching it with the physician.

    ''No wonder I''d been feeling strange since I first saw it. This cocoon is supported by Void Mana.'' He. thought to himself.

    It was a little silly that he knew more about the situation than the professionals, but what could they do? This simply wasn''t a medical or scientific problem.

    Damien had personally experienced his own share of cocoons. They were very clearly the Void''s favorite way to initiate an evolution where it intrinsically changed one''s body into something else entirely. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''Last time I was in a cocoon, the Void cleansed my chuuni, so something good is probably happening to this person too.''

    He smiled to himself as he reached out, brushing his hand against the cocoon''s smooth surface. Gently, he tried to insert his mana into its surface.

    Bzzt!

    ''Hm? Rejecting me?''

    Damien''s brow raised in surprise. This was the first time he''d ever seen the Void outright reject his touch, making him ever more curious about the individual inside.

    ''I guess whatever''s happening in the cocoon is only for that person to experience. Well, it''s not like it matters. Nobody will gain more advantages from the Void than me, anyway.''

    As the owner of the Void Physique, Damien was definitely a bit baffled that the Void was showing its presence so easily, and even more so that it was supporting another being.

    ''Hmm, if it''s like this, there''s no point in me being here. I can only wait until they wake up to ask about it.''

    Damien turned and thanked the physician who gave him the information he desired before walking towards the door and leaving the room.

    However, just as he closed the door behind him¡­

    VOOM!

    A huge burst of mana violently whipped the door back open, mming it into the unprepared Damien''s body and pushing him back a few steps.

    "What''s happening?!"

    "Everyone calm down! Watch the readings and respond ordingly!"

    "Set up barriers! We don''t know if this reaction is hostile!"

    Damien rushed back into the room to the sound of the physicians desperately trying to adapt to the change in the situation,

    The cocoon was glowing fiercely with pure white light, emanating a suffocating density of vitality into the surroundings.

    ''This is¡­Samsara?!'' Damien thought with widened eyes, but soon corrected himself.

    ''No, there are no Death Laws involved in this, but that Life Law fluctuation alone has the sameplexity as my Samsara Intent! That''s amazing!''

    Life was only a part of the whole in Damien''s Samsara, so purely in terms of the element, Damien actually lost out inparison to this fluctuation!

    His heart raced at the connotations, and under his unbending gaze, the cocoon slowly melted and dispersed into the air.

    sh!

    The light became blinding, even hindering Damien''s perception before dying down.

    Now, instead of a cocoon, only a single person remained on the bed.

    Her eyes shot open, immediately scanning the room and assessing her surroundings before¡­

    "¡­!"

    Her expression morphed into astonishment as her gazended on a specific figure.

    And that figure shared her emotion, unable to rationalize what was happening.

    Damien and Elena looked into each other''s eyes.

    Silence filled the room.

    A reunion after almost so many grueling years of loneliness¡­finally, it was taking ce.

 Chapter 957 Reunion [1]

    From Dawn World, the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm, Azure Rain Star, and Death Emperor Star to Calypto, Eien, the Wild Continent, the Ancient God n, and finally Beast Emperor Star; in the almost 10 years since he left the Human Domain, Damien never stopped moving.

    He became stronger and stronger, and even fumbled a few times along the way. He met countless friends and enemies alike, and suffered untold pain to rise as fast as he could.

    Somehow, he''d been able to propel himself from the very beginning of 4th ss all the way to its extreme peak in the same amount of time most people took to just cross 50 or so levels, and yet, he was never satisfied.

    The longer he stayed in the wider universe, the greater he felt those forces that held him down and the more he realized the need for forces that kept him grounded.

    It was difficult to think about "family" in Damien''s situation.

    After all, if he ever allowed himself to waver, he''d fall. He''d been on an incline ever since the Fifth Primal Sovereign died, but the steeper the incline became, the easier it was for the smallest touch to send him tumbling back down the mountain.

    To adapt to this pressure, his mind changed and elevated itself, viewing the world simrly to an Emperor, though Damien''s behavior didn''t match his mentality.

    It had been several years since thest time Damien truly thought of his family, barring the traumatic illusion the Marite Lord showed him not long ago.

    He didn''t want to admit it, but he''d pushed them to the back of his mind because he didn''t believe he''d be able to see them any time soon.

    It was the same thing that happened when he first surfaced on Apeiron and realized how difficult it''d be to return to Earth, only, the scale was far, far more massive.

    However, recently, with the Grand Assembly approaching, Damien had been gradually preparing himself for that moment of meeting again, so he could embrace his loved ones at his full capacity.

    Still, for someone as in touch with himself as Damien, his feelings always manifested vaguely.

    And he was forced to step back and ask himself:

    Just¡­what was he supposed to be feeling right now?

    ***

    The Valha Mystic Realm wasn''t like most others. Rather than a Mystic Realm with a task that neededpletion before it opened, it was a prison realm that trapped its sessors until it felt they were ready to leave.

    Elena stayed there for years on end, trying her best to grasp the abilities of the Valkyries, but as she did, she realized that the grand race of the past had several ws.

    Aside from their ck-and-white perception of the universe, they were extremely reclusive and rarely had contact with outsiders. Even when birthing new members of the n, Valkyries would get pregnant on the outside and return to their nnd, cutting all contact with the father without making him aware of the baby''s existence.

    It was a cruel method of survival that the Valkyries felt justified as it "maintained the sanctity of their n," however, as a descendant, Elena couldn''t agree with this philosophy.

    The longer she stayed in the Valha Mystic Realm and learned about the Valkyries, the more she believed there was a justified reason for the n''s downfall, and arge part of it was their own fault.

    Therefore, she vowed to never be like them.

    Being honest, Elena''s past self wasn''t much different from them. She also had such a decisively one-sided view of justice that separated the world into ck and white, and when it came to interacting with others, she was never the best at expressing herself, making it difficult for her to find people she could genuinely trust.

    And in a fit of youthful impulsivity, she ran away from those people with her ck-and-white worldview guiding her actions.

    She always believed she was right in leaving, and that didn''t change because of what she saw, but she came to regret the "method" by which she left.

    It was hurtful and cold, almost as if she was casting aside those she cared about.

    Her outlook began to shift, and as if acknowledging that shift, the Valha Mystic Realm opened its doors for her.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Almost like it was also aware of the ws of the Valkyrie race.

    Nevertheless, from that point, Elena traveled to Eien and spent years fighting on the deathly battlefield, making several connections and enemies of her own and establishing a position in the universe.

    Even though she hadn''t spent much time climbing the Dimensional Leaderboard, her name was quite well-known in certain sectors of the universe.

    And as she grew, her desire to return to the Human Domain only heightened.

    That was, until she one day saw a familiar name at the top of the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    She suddenly realized that something must have happened in the Human Domain, and if she wanted to meet all her loved ones at once, returning wasn''t the best solution.

    Instead, she turned her eyes to the uing "Grand Assembly" that she heard so much about from herrades,

    Supposedly it was a meeting of the universe''s top forces that only the most prestigious could attend. It was said that all sectors woulde together, even the ever-elusive Human Domain, to n a true counterattack on the Nox.

    However, the only people allowed at the Grand Assembly were those top forces, as well as the best of the younger generation from these forces.

    Thus, as someone who''d wandered as a vagrant for so many years, Elena needed to find a force to join.

    Didn''t the Genesis Bead reveal itself at the perfect time?

    Elena originally nned to gain both the treasure and the Golden Dragon n''s support in this escapade, granting her a spot in the uing event, but an entirely unexpected turn of events took ce andnded her here, on a bed somewhere in the Golden Dragon Pce, a higher existence than she was than she arrived.

    Yet, regardless of the elevation of her being, she was still at a loss for words.

    She could confidently say that at this moment, she was prepared for every possible situation except for the one she was in.

    And she couldn''t form a single cohesive thought on how to proceed.

    ***

    In the silence of the small, isted room, two people stared into each other''s eyes, never breaking the connection between their gazes even as minutes passed by.

    Noticing something odd about the situation, the physicians and medical staff excused themselves several minutes ago, but Damien and Elena didn''t even notice.

    They were still lost in each other''s eyes, neither able to formte thoughts or words to break the ice.

    Damien could feel his palms bing sweaty. It was a strange feeling, one he''d forgotten with his control over bodily responses.

    However, today wasn''t a day where "control" held much value.

    In the end, he raised his eyes and cracked a half-smile, letting his words flow as they wanted.

    And the result¡­

    "Uh¡­hi¡­?"

    ¡­made him want to bury his head in the concrete and die.

 Chapter 958 Reunion [2]

    "Uh¡­hi¡­?"

    The pregnant silence was broken by an attempt atmunication, but not a sessful one.

    Elena''s eyes widened slightly as she watched Damien. It was impossible to see it normally, but in Elena''s eyes, Damien''s minute awkward fidgeting was clearly disyed.

    A warm smile spread on her face.

    Even after so many years, his romantic awkwardness was the same as ever, eh?

    "It''s been a while," she said lightly with a smile. "How have you been?"

    Her words were simple, but carried a mysterious air that washed over Damien and calmed his anxious mind.

    As he looked on at the woman in front of him, he barely recognized her. From her personality which had be so firm and calm to her appearance which had matured and bloomed into its full potential, Elena was truly a changed person.

    "It''s been a while" held far more weight than its simplicity let on.

    "How have you been," just how was he supposed to answer that question?

    He tried as best he could, but all that came out was:

    "You know how it is. I''ve just been doing this and that, making my way around. What about you?"

    "Same," she responded lightly.

    The room was enveloped in another lull of silence.

    The tension between them was thick, so thick that they weren''t able to maneuver through it.

    They''d both changed so much over the years, what if they weren''tpatible anymore? What if their feelings were mere idealizations that only existed in their minds?

    They were useless doubts, but doubts that surfaced naturally and couldn''t be ignored.

    However, Damien would no longer allow these doubts to rule him. That was the greatest difference between him in the past and present.

    "Shall we go for a walk?" He asked lightly, holding his hand out to Elena.

    She looked at it, her eyes serene and without waves. When she looked back up into his, they softened.

    She gracefully held his outstretched hand and nodded happily.

    "I''d be delighted," she said, standing up off the bed.

    Damien nodded, and soon after, the duo vanished.

    When they reappeared, they were on a beach at the edge of existence.

    On their left was nothing but ckness, and to their right was an ever-expanding ocean that was illuminated under the light of 6 moons.

    There was no better ce for a serene walk than this ce that left one alone with their thoughts and the beauty of the world.

    Damien and Elena experienced this personally.

    They walked along the beach for hours without a single word, their entwined hands never separating and their minds and bodies slowly melding into one.

    It was true that neither of them could quite put what they wanted to say into words.

    But in the current situation, they didn''t need to.

    Wisps of pitch-ck mana flowed between their interlocked fingers, turning the previous expression literal.

    Their minds and bodies became one.

    They could feel each other''s hesitation and anxiety, and gradually, even their memories began to intermingle and disy themselves.

    It was dark and quiet. The cascading waves of the ocean ebbed and flowed against the beach, slowly pulling inward with time. The subtle light of the moons that shone on its surface rippled, creating beautiful lunar phenomena over the water.

    And Damien and Elena slowly "learned" each other once again.

    Hesitation faded into the background, and rather than a silence brought about by tension, the silence shifted into one of understanding.

    Words were no longer needed to convey their feelings.

    The two of them were mature now. Damien was already in his 30s, and Elena wasn''t far from reaching that point either.

    After all they''d experienced, they didn''t have the ability to have a blisteringly hot, love-filled reunion as one would expect of them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Without them realizing, their love for each other had be deeper and more rooted, it had matured into something more intrinsic that didn''t manifest itself so powerfully.

    Because it didn''t need to. They simply didn''t need to be so explosively affectionate to convey their intentions anymore.

    The sand crunched under their feet as they came to a stop. As if already aware of each other''s intentions, they set down on the beach and faced the sea.

    "You''ve been through a lot," Damien muttered, never breaking his eyes from the horizon.

    "Can you really say that after what you''ve been through?" Elena quipped back with a smile.

    "Haha, why can''t I? I don''t have your main character energy, so I had to work hard to make enemies, you know?"

    "Aha, so all that targeting was because of main character energy! Why didn''t I think of it sooner?"

    "Naturally, it''s because I''m a peak genius that can''t be matched. I just have that kind of intuition."

    "Oh, that makes sense. I''ve always known you were a peak genius, especially back on Earth when you predicted the World Awakening way before it happened."

    "I did that?"

    "You didn''t? Then what was all that ''ck ¡ª"

    "Wow, bringing up decades-old dirt. Low blow."

    "Ehh? I''m sure our peak genius can handle it?"

    "You''re the devil."

    "Right, I''m the devil who seduced you, Mr. Peak Genius."

    "Mm, it''s really annoying. You shouldpensate me for the emotional damage."

    "Should I?"

    "Definitely. You should spend the rest of your life atoning for it by my side."

    "Hmm, what should I do? It seems I was already nning to do that, though?"

    Damien and Elena smiled at each other.

    This dynamic, it was different from the past, but it hadn''t changed as much as they''d expected.

    Because no matter how they changed, the cores of their personalities remained the same. And as people who''d known each other from young, how could their rtionship be broken by just a little tension and doubt?

    After viewing each other''s experiences, they understood each other perfectly. Elena''s [Daughter of the Void] title also acted, bringing her and Damien''s souls closer together, though the two in question didn''t realize it.

    "Romance."

    It was something they were both terrible at.

    When they saw each other''s perspective of their separation, they felt their faces burning up in embarrassment at how childish and stupid they used to be.

    But back then, they were right about one thing.

    Their rtionship had be too twisted by needlessplications to function. They needed a fresh start.

    Now, meeting at a time like this, they were finally given that fresh start.

    And neither of them nned to waste it.

    Their conversation continued until the moons set beyond the horizon and two suns rose above the ocean, one red and one yellow.

    They talked about the experiences they viewed, Elena taking an avid interest in Hidden Death Valley and Damien''s encounters with Demigods, while Damien was more interested in how Elena maneuvered herself in Eien to rise the ranks so fast.

    Eventually, their conversation branched away from the past and became more random as they talked about even the most mindless topics for hours at a time just to listen to each other''s voices for as long as they could.

    They relished in the feeling of closeness between them, a feeling they''d both missed for so long.

    This was it, that grounding force that Damien was searching for, and that beautiful connection that Elena had been chasing.

    This was "family."

    And now that they''d taken hold of it, they never nned on letting it go ever again.

 Chapter 959 Reunion [3]

    Another day cycle passed as Damien and Elena remained on the beach, but with a newly set time dtion supporting them, they had all the time in the world to waste.

    At least for a bit.

    For hours on end, the two talked about their experiences, their thoughts, and so much more. Even though they''d viewed each other''s experiences already, there was a different feeling hearing it directly from the other party''s mouth.

    Theyughed, they mourned, and they reached a point where they understood each other far more than they ever did, all in the span of that single day.

    Only with the Void''s quiet support was this possible.

    And the duo themselvespletely embraced the elusive force''s pushing. After all, now that they were older, they truly understood how keymunication was in a rtionship.

    When they were younger, this was another fact they thought they knew, but of course, considering how their rtionship derailed so rapidly, it was clear that they didn''t know anything at all.

    What they thought was munication" was just venting. They merely threw their emotions at each other and expected the other party to amodate them.

    But since when was that viable at all? If anything, it could even be considered toxic to an extent.

    With calm minds and connected hearts, they solved any previous misunderstandings between them easily. Though they''d already moved on from these issues and grown out of them, it was still important to rify so they could truly start over.

    And that''s what they did.

    They ignored the universe, they ignored their responsibilities, and with this time they had alone, they made sure nothing would ever drive a wedge between them again.

    "Jealousy" was the emotion Elena felt so fiercely back then, jealousy that clouded her positive feelings and drove her to act impulsively.

    As for Damien¡­well, his main problem had always been biting off more than he could chew.

    There was amon saying that it was impossible to love others if one didn''t love oneself, and Damien somewhat embodied this concept.

    He was never ready to have more than one wife, but in the heat of passion and romance, he''d forgone his better judgement and made a mess.

    Did he regret it?

    Not at all.

    But did he feel sorry for the three women he disappointed with his bullshit?

    Absolutely.

    In the end, both of them were ming themselves and absolving the other party of all me. It took a very long time for them to finally ept that the problem was in the rtionship''s very existence.

    Luckily, the past existed to reminisce on, not to live in.

    "Do you were the Valkyrie aiming for the Genesis Bead, huh? That damn emperor should''ve mentioned a name or something, it would''ve saved me so much trouble," Damienined as hey back in the sand.

    Elena chuckled, summoning the bead from her spatial ring. "It''s the same for me. If I knew you were the one who needed the bead, I wouldn''t have tried so hard to snatch it."

    Damien shook his head. "No, it''s fine. While I did sign a Mana Oath with the emperor to return the bead to the Ancient God n, nothing can be done if they don''t ept it, right?"

    He nced at the bead and cracked a sly slime.

    "Plus, it''s not like it''s possible for them to take it anymore, am I right?"

    "You noticed quick. Even I don''t know what happened. It suddenly appeared before me while I was stuck in that strange space and bound itself to me. I can feel that this bead is now truly a part of my body."

    Elena reached out and touched the Genesis Bead, causing it to lightly ripple with light fluctuations, almost as if it was happily receiving her touch.

    "That strange space¡­" Damien muttered, ncing at their interlocked hands.

    The wisps of Void Mana surrounding their sp didn''t disperse even now.

    "Elena, did you perhaps receive anything while you were in the cocoon?" He asked.

    "Multiple things, actually," Elena said with a nod, "I found a path to the peak, gained immenseprehension of Life Laws, and I even gained a title."

    "Title?"

    "Mm, it says [Daughter of the Void]. Cool, isn''t it?"

    "Keuk¡­y-yeah, very cool," Damien stammered.

    He slightly turned his face away, feeling heat rising to his cheeks.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''Is this what it feels like when your girlfriend gains the approval of your parents?'' He wondered to himself, trying to calm down the slight fluttering in his chest.

    If there was anything he expected, it definitely wasn''t that!

    Of course, while Elena knew about the Void Physique, she definitely didn''t know about the strange rtionship he had with the Void, thus leaving her unaware of the title''s true meaning.

    ''Luckily, the Void hid anything about itself in our memory exchange, otherwise, I would be dying of embarrassment right now,''

    While he didn''t want to admit it, he was definitely already dying of embarrassment, but that didn''t need to be mentioned.

    ''Putting that aside¡­''

    "Being acknowledged by the Void is definitely a good thing. You''re already at level 399, right? Stepping into the extreme peak should be a breeze now that you have the Void''s backing," hemented.

    "Right? I don''t quite understand it, but I can feel that if I focus on Life Laws, I''ll be able to grow stronger at least 10 times faster than I could before!"

    "Haha, then you''ll finally be able to keep up with me," Damien stated, puffing his chest arrogantly.

    "Tch, you only know how to brag," Elena said teasingly, lightly punching his arm.

    Damien nced over, catching sight of her and inexplicably getting lost in her eyes.

    Those deep, ocean-blue eyes that were even more beautifully pronounced with the true ocean in the background truly had his soul in a chokehold.

    "Should we get going?" Elena suddenly said, looking into the air.

    "Should we?" Damien repeated hesitantly.

    "We have to," Elena said with a smile.

    "Do we?" Damien asked again.

    "Mm, we do. Your time dtion won''t hold out for much longer, right?"

    "I mean, we could always go to the Sanctuary¡­"

    Elena''s smile widened. She giggled lightly as she stood up and reached her hand out to him.

    "What''re you hesitating for? Even if there are things left unsaid right now, don''t we have an eternity to say them?"

    Damien returned her smile warmly, grabbing her hand and standing up.

    "Indeed we do," he said, gazing into the beautiful horizon onest time.

    He really, really didn''t want to leave.

    He was afraid that once he began working again, he would never have the time for a moment like this again, ironicing from someone who could control the concept.

    Yet, it was true.

    He had a history of neglecting the most important things when he became too set on a task.

    ''Ah, what am I thinking about?''

    Damien shook his head and cleared his thoughts. His eyes went down to his and Elena''s hands as the smile on his face widened.

    ''An eternity¡­right, even if I''m absolutely romantically ipetent, even I''ll be able to better myself if I have an eternity.''

    Thinking too much was a habit that always wronged him, so he would crush it right here and now!

    With that final thought filling the air with an aura of determination and spirit, Damien and Elena vanished from the mysterious world.

    Their presence was the first in several million years, and perhaps it would be thest for several million more.

    As time passed, perhaps the beach itself would be swallowed by the ocean current, and perhaps this entire world would be an aquatic paradise.

    Yet, the vestiges of two lovers who finally reunited on its sands would remain with it for eternity.

    Just as they would each other.

 Chapter 960 Reunion [4]

    The duo returned to the separated room in the East Wing together and calmly exited, walking through the halls of the pce with no particr destination.

    Damien wanted to introduce Astoria to Elena, but that would have to wait until after the banquet ended, so for now, they were going to enjoy just a bit more alone time before returning to the tasks at hand.

    The first to see them were the very physicians who watched over Elena while she wasatose in the cocoon. They didn''t approach or say anything outright, but both Damien and Elena were more than powerful enough to hear them whispering and gossiping to each other.

    What they didn''t expect, however, was for the gossip to spread like wildfire!

    The pce was in an incredibly precarious situation right now. Everyone was finally winding down from the great war that just barely ended, which meant any and all pieces of good or juicy gossip were passed from jolly denizen to even jollier denizen with the speed of nervous response!

    The rumors got so big that they even entered the banquet hall and the Emperor''s ears, by that point bing so out of proportion that Damien and Elena were painted as some sort of group sent from a mysterious God n to audit the Golden Dragons!

    The result was a summon from the emperor, who currently gazed at the duo with mild surprise coloring his eyes.

    He had called them into the banquet hall, and while it was awkward, they were now sitting at the head table together with the royal family, including Astoria, who was watching Damien with eyes wider than saucers.

    "How do the two of you know each other?" The Emperor asked with genuine curiosity.

    Damien nced at Elena and grinned, turning back to the Emperor.

    "How could we not? We''re husband and wife, after all," he proimed proudly.

    Bang!

    "WIFE?!"

    An abrupt exmation came from the side, where Astoria had mmed her palms against the table and stood up in shock.

    "Eh? What''s wrong with that?" Damien asked.

    "Hnngh¡­" Astoria whined as she slumped back into her seat. "Master, why can''t you be single?!"

    "Why should I be single?"

    "So I can snatch you up, of course!"

    "What are you on about?"

    Damien grabbed Astoria''s ear and pulled, making her wince in pain.

    "Ow, ow, ow! I was just joking! Master, please spare me~!"

    "Spare you? Give me one reason why I should spare you."

    "Umm, because I''m your favorite disciple?"

    "You''re my only disciple."

    "Which makes me the favorite!"

    "Glib-tongued brat. Who taught you to speak like that?"

    "Teehee~"

    Damien let go of Astoria''s ear and subtly healed the red spot with his trait while she giggled to herself.

    On the side, Elena raised her brow as she looked at the young princess.

    Astoria also looked over after feeling her scanning gaze.

    Elena''s eyes were serene and without ripples like a secludedke. It was especially intimidating to Astoria, who was currently in the position of a daughter meeting her new stepmother.

    Soon enough, Elena shifted over, sitting next to Astoria

    "H-hello," Astoria greeted, slightly bowing her head.

    "Mm, you must be Astoria, right? I''ve heard a lot about you from Damien. What do you think, he''s a big bastard, isn''t he?" Elena entered the conversation with a small grin.

    "B-bastard?!" Astoria eximed, hurriedly covering her mouth and ncing around to make sure nobody heard.

    Elena''s grin turned sly as she continued: "Right, right. I''ve known that bastard since we were kids, so I''m more aware of his tendencies than anyone. If he ever bullies you, just call me over. I''ll be sure to put him in his ce for you."

    Astoria''s eyes widened.

    She even teared up a little.

    "M-mistress!" She eximed.

    "Eh?!" Elena gasped in shock.

    "Mistress!" Astoria repeated again, jumping into Elena''s arms and hugging her tightly.

    "You''re right! Master is the biggest bastard in the world! You must get justice for me!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Pfft¡­hahahahaha!"

    Elenaughed brightly at Astoria''s antics, understanding why Damien was so animated when he talked about her.

    A harmonious atmosphere formed around them as they began to converse about this and that, ncing over at Damien every once in a while and giggling.

    As for the man himself, he''d been pulled into another conversation with the emperor now that such a development had taken ce.

    "So in the end, it turned out like that. Fate is truly strange, isn''t it?" The Emperormented as Damien gave him a brief overview of his and Elena''s past.

    "I guess so. I''ll definitely have to thank Fate for this one, since I doubt our meeting would''ve happened so easily if it wasn''t for its aid." Damien responded with a smile.

    "Mm, however, it seems you''ll have some issuespleting your side of the Mana Oath?" The Emperor teased.

    "Ehhh, let''s not sweat the small stuff. I''ll make it work somehow," Damien mumbled, looking away sheepishly.

    "I also believe you will," the Emperor said. "Truly, I must thank you for what you''ve done for both my daughter and my domain. Even if I give you the Genesis Bead, I don''t think it''ll suffice."

    "Then give me some more," Damien replied instantly, money signs lighting up his eyes.

    "Hahaha, I like a man who knows what he wants. Then, shall I show you the reward I''ve prepared?"

    "You were being serious?"

    "We Golden Dragons never lie."

    Damien grinned. To say he wasn''t curious would be a lie. A reward chosen by the Golden Dragon Emperor himself couldn''t be something simple.

    "Then, what are we waiting for? I''d like to see just what our gracious emperor has prepared for me," he proimed with mock sarcasm.

    Whoosh!

    It happened before his brain could adapt. It wasn''t spatial transmission, but Damien was somehow transported to an entirely different space in a single moment.

    "This is¡­"

    Damien squinted his eyes as the scenery revealed itself to him.

    He was in a small grove in a forest. Trees lined the horizon, and the vicinity was decorated by several beautifully intricate statues depicting different dragons and domineering figures.

    In the midst of these statues was a small and almost unnoticeable path that led deeper into the forest, towards "something" whose aura was attracting Damien like a tantalizing snack.

    He followed the path until he eventually arrived before arge spring of deep, azure blue water. A translucent waterfall crashed into the spring, but despite its force, not a single ripple was formed on the water''s surface.

    "This is the Ancestral Dragon Pool, one of the three sacrednds of our n."

    The Golden Dragon Emperor''s voice resounded from a location unknown, reverberating through the strange realm.

    "Ancestral Dragon Pool?" Damien echoed, activating his All-Seeing Eyes and gazing into the water.

    ROAR!

    "Woah!"

    He immediately stepped back as a wave of ferocious draconic intent overcame him, pressuring the dragon bloodline hidden in his body.

    And in that same instant, his mind was submerged in a wave of uncontroble excitement.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor''s following words did nothing to calm his raging emotions.

    "The original purpose of the Ancestral Dragon Pool is to cleanse bloodlines and build the perfect dragon body for those who enter it, but though you have traces of dragon bloodline in your body, you are not a true dragon, thus this effect will not be particrly useful to you¡­"

    "...in truth, this is the first time an outsider has entered this sacrednd. In most cases, I would not deign to allow such a thing, as doing so would be useless to non-dragons, however, you are different. I do not know why, but my intuition tells me you will gain some unexpected boons if you enter the pool."

    "You will have 7 days. After this, we must set off for the Grand Assembly, and you must also leave for the Ancient God n to do the same. What benefits you obtain will be entirely up to you. From this point onward, I can only wish you luck."

    Damien grinned.

    His grin widened with every passing instant as he did everything he could to suppress the urge to dive straight into the pool.

    He looked up into the sky, hoping his gaze would reach the Golden Dragon Emperor.

    "Emperor, make sure to take onest good look at me before I go in. In a week when you see me again, I''ll show you what a true heaven-defying genius looks like."

    Finally, with his words all said and his spirit raging, he let go of his inhibitions¡­

    ¡­and jumped.

    Ssh!

 Chapter 961 Dragon Pool [1]

    There was nothing special about the Ancestral Dragon Pool from the outside. It was definitely a beautiful natural spring, but if one didn''t have the perception ability of the All-Seeing Eyes or something of the same caliber, it was impossible to find anything special about it.

    At least, from the outside.

    Ssh!

    Damien''s body submerged into the spring, sshing its water into the air. As he disappeared beneath the surface, the various statues in the surroundings began to glow with a strange hazy light.

    The scenery changed drastically. The beautiful forest and grove withered into an apocalyptic wastnd, and from this wastnd rose blistering volcanos, heaven-piercing mountains, and even roaring rivers that rushed through the sky.

    ROAR!

    ROAR!

    ROAR!

    Draconic roars reverberated through the air. Streams of mana came together to form massive projections that danced through the sky, depicting countless mythical beasts and heroes in their prime.

    The glowing statues opened their eyes, beams of light connecting them each to a unique projected phenomenon. And while it was so subtle that it was imperceptible, their attention turned to the pool nearby.

    The pool filled with several different colors that emanated a strong bloody scent.

    It was difficult to see if one was within the scene, but if one took the time to view it as an outsider¡­

    ¡­it would be clear that the multicolor blood pool was the source of all else taking ce in the surroundings:

    ***

    Massive changes were happening outside, almost as if to represent something grand, but Damien wasn''t privy to any of it.

    The second he waspletely submerged in the water, he felt like he was transported to another world.

    ''It''s heavy.'' He thought to himself as he gritted his teeth and endured the water''s pressure.

    He could still see the surface. He wasn''t even a few feet deep, but he was already feeling pressure as if he was at the bottom of the ocean.

    ''It was a surprise, but this is still bearable. Since this is an ancestral site, won''t there be greater rewards the deeper I go?''

    He turned his gaze downward into the abyss thaty below. The water turned pitch ck not even 100 meters deep, and whaty beyond was hidden behind its veil.

    However, ever since he entered the pool, Damien felt like he wasn''t the only presence within. He could vaguely feel a variety of auras. The closest ones were weak and faltering, but the more vague ones made their presence known despite the vast distance that separated them from him.

    ''These auras must have something to do with the actual ancestral ritual that dragons get to undergo when they enter the pool. As for me, even with the All-Seeing Eyes boosting my perception, I can only vaguely understand what they are.''

    The Golden Dragon Emperor warned him from the beginning that the pool was unsuitable for outsiders, but he didn''t take those words seriously until this moment.

    He finally realized that it would genuinely be impossible for him to gain anything the conventional way.

    ''Well, I bet if I try hard enough, I can use the Breath of All Things to change my body structure into a dragon body, but why would I want to do that? I don''t know what my race became after my blood was dyed in Samsara, but it definitely exceeds any mere dragon.''

    There was a time when Damien looked up to dragons.

    There was a time when he saw them as peak existences that he wanted to chase, a race he held pride in being associated with.

    But now¡­?

    ''Now, dragons are just another species to be dominated.''

    Damien grinned to himself and kicked off the water, shooting into the pool''s depths.

    He passed the 100-meter mark in an instant and found himself submerged once again, this time in darkness.

    The pressure constricting his body became fiercer with every passing second. 1 kilometer, 5 kilometers, 9 kilometers; by the time he made it to the 10-kilometer mark, he finally started feeling its effects.

    Crack!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    A small fracture appeared in his forearm, alerting him to the fact that the pressure bypassed his defenses.

    ''At this level, Transcendent Regeneration can easily cope. I don''t even have to use [Heal] yet.''

    Or at least, that''s what he thought.

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    When he reached the 20-kilometer mark, he was met with a terrifying underwater current that mmed into his body and manhandled him, throwing him around the depths andpletely disorienting him.

    ''Shit!'' He eximed as he rapidly used his mana to stabilize himself.

    However, his defenses broke in a single second!

    Damien''s mana dispersed into the water the second it left his body, and to make matters worse, the dispersed mana was absorbed by the current, which enhanced it to a new level.

    WHOOOOOOOOSH!

    The current came back a second time to harass the unprepared Damien.

    He could feel his skin and muscles rapidly tearing under its razor-sharp force, and as if aggrieved that Damien forgot about it, the ambient pressure returned in spades, exponentially strengthening the deadly environment.

    ''Dammit, the current tossed me at least a few kilometers deeper into the pool! I need to stabilize myself and figure out how to maneuver my mana asap!''

    He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, trusting Transcendent Regeneration to keep him alive.

    He sunk his consciousness into his own body, rolling Void Mana through his systems and absorbing how it reacted to external stimuli.

    ''The mana dispersal is an inherent effect of the water, so trying to ovee it would be useless. Instead, I need to adapt. I''m sure that''s what this test is about.''

    Damien wasn''t a member of a Dragon n. The Golden Dragon Emperor never expressly mentioned it, but Damien was certain that there were residual spirits and soul wisps in the area observing him, likely remnants of ancestral beasts.

    Those ancient ancestors, how would they feel when they were suddenly awoken only to realize the individual in the Ancestral DRAGON Pool wasn''t a dragon at all?

    ''They would be furious, and I doubt that bastard emperor bothered exining anything.''

    Damien''s opinion of the emperor changed as if he was bipr.

    ''When I reach Demigod level, I''m going to embarrass the shit out of him in front of Astoria. Let''s see how he likes the taste of vengeance.''

    Damien shook his head and focused his mind once again.

    He was certain the current extraneous circumstances were a result of this hostility, and if he wasn''t able to triumph over them, he would be directly killed by these long-deceased experts.

    ''Honestly speaking, I could probably escape death, but if they target my soul, I won''t be able to defend at all. Plus, it''s not a good idea to make an enemy out of the Golden Dragon n right now. It''s highly likely that I''ll be able to subordinate them in the future, so I should treat them well.''

    He couldn''t use brute force, since destroying the Ancestral Dragon Pool definitely didn''t align with the decision he''d just made.

    He couldn''t Devour it either, since that would probably provoke an even worse reaction.

    Void abilities were out of the question from the start. It didn''t matter if they were dead, those remnant souls were experts in life. They would definitely be able to sense his greatest secret.

    The Saint Emperor was enough proof of this, as he was able to sense the Void in Damien even through an Avatar.

    With all these factors taken into consideration, Damien was left with only one option.

    He smiled wryly at his fate.

    ''Welp, pain is power¡­right?''

    If all else failed, he''d just endure the consequences with his body.

    This was the Secret Way of the Masochist!

 Chapter 962 Dragon Pool [2]

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Muffled explosions sounded through the depths, sting air pockets into the tightlypressed water and disrupting its flow, however, contrary to what one might think, these explosions didn''t originate from the environment at all.

    Swish!

    Damien''s body raced deeper and deeper into the Ancestral Dragon Pool, surpassing the 5-kilometer mark quickly and continuing without pause.

    As he moved, his body emitted a series of concerning popping noises, each of which was followed by a miniature explosion that rocked the pool.

    Right, the explosions weren''t an external threat, but rather, the effect of external threats on Damien''s internal body.

    The underwater current and pressure were both still attacking his external body, but after he crossed the 100-kilometer mark, a new danger joined them.

    Small, barely perceptible bubbles rose from the depths. Damien couldn''t see them, even with the aid of All-Seeing Eyes. Though ironic, this only meant he was forced to take yet another attack with his bodily strength.

    The bubbles were far more dangerous than the other two. Damien couldn''t understand the mysteries supporting them, but whenever they came in contact with his body, they''d directly bypass his physical defense and enter his internal body before exploding outward, essentially sting Damien''s organs out of his body.

    Transcendent Regeneration worked as fast as possible, and while making sure to conceal it within his body, Damien used a wisp of the Breath of All Things to enhance its effects.

    This was how he held up until now, finally reaching 500 kilometers deep in the seemingly endless pool.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    His body jerked forward, to the side, and straight down as three explosions rocked his body and threw him off course.

    ''Huu¡­''

    He wanted to take a deep breath to calm himself down, but he could only do so inwardly. After all, he was currently underwater and unable to mobilize his mana. If he lost control of his breath, he would easily be swept up and suffocated by the currents.

    ''Do I have to keep descending?'' He thought, gazing in the direction he assumed was downward with a frown.

    Shik! Shik! Shik!

    His body was impaled by multiple razor-sharp water jets. He gritted his teeth and pushed Transcendent Regeneration harder, moving to avoid any iing projectiles.

    ''Fuck, I don''t even know what I''m doing right now. This is frustrating.''

    In the Wild Continent, Damien could act as he pleased because the fallen Emperors were without affiliation or escape, which meant even if they knew his secrets, they couldn''t spread them.

    Adding to that the fact that Damien took the Wild Continent for himself, he never had to worry about using his Void abilities back then.

    The problem here was less about the remnant souls themselves, but their affiliation with the Golden Dragon n.

    The outside world, the Real ne, was what he needed to be careful of.

    As he hesitated, he failed to notice theck of attacks he''d faced as he did so.

    Around him, the waters stilled.

    And Damien finally looked back into the surroundings, his eyes widening in amazement.

    Discounting Aquazel, he hadn''t spent much time underwater, so Damien was still a stranger to many of the environment''s phenomena.

    Therefore, the current scene was an amazing novelty even in his eyes,

    The 5 meters of space around Damien was still and quiet, almost like the surface of an undisturbedke.

    It was serene, and gave Damien a subtle feeling of moonlight for unknown reasons.

    However, outside that small haven was utter chaos.

    No light could reach this depth, but the "darkness" in the water still whipped back and forth like a rampaging bull, terrifying storms tearing up the water, and even more terrifying pressure forcing the water topress to untold levels.

    Deadly attacks zoomed around without any target in particr, merely hoping to impact anything before they dispersed, explosive pockets formed thousands of times every second, and just vaguely¡­

    The smoky cyan shadow of a massive dragon revealed itself.

    "Yo¡ª"

    Damien tried projecting his thoughts, but even that was silenced by the water.

    OOOOOOOOH!

    RUMBLE!

    The dragon shadow let out a cry that reverberated through the water and shook the very foundation of the Ancestral Dragon Pool.

    Through the vibrations tearing through the water, a string of words boomed in Damien''s ears. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Act. Without. Resignation. No. Soul. Shall. Witness¡­No. Soul. Shall. Hear."

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    ''This¡­it couldn''t have possibly¡­!''

    Damien wanted to deny it, but there was no way he could just chalk it up to coincidence and move on!

    This dragon shadow¡­definitely knew about his Void Breathing!

    ''What should I do¡­''

    He wanted to contemte his options, but how could he be given the time to do that?

    Damien watched as the safe zone was rapidly devoured by the outside chaos. He watched it approach him, it''s deathly maws hungering for his blood.

    There was no time to think.

    At this point¡­

    ''Agh, I don''t even know anymore! Fuck it, let''s just go!''

    Damien stopped holding back.

    VOOM!

    The chaotic water flow finally caught up to him, but in that same instant, a terrifying wall of pitch-ck mana mmed it back, forcefully taming the chaos.

    ''You want to see me go all out? Then¡­''

    "COME AT ME!"

    Damien roared with all his power. He infused the Breath of Nothingness into his words and forced the atmosphere to ept their presence, causing them to reverberate through the water in every direction, filling the space with his presence.

    BANG!

    His foot kicked out, pounding into the water like it was solid and using it as a foothold to send him flying deeper yet again.

    However, he wasn''t going to lose this time.

    This time¡­

    XIU! XIU! XIU!

    WHOOOOOOOOOSH!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The countless annihtory forces barraged Damien with fierceness like never before. Yet, he didn''t pay them any mind as he pushed forward.

    Void Mana raged into the surroundings, dissolving the water''s natural mana and devouring it, feeding it to Damien, who then used it to power his Regeneration.

    The energy of Devour didn''t stop there, though. It spread up into the areas of the pool Damien had already passed through and exploded into a ck hole whose vacuum force voraciously consumed everything the water had to offer.

    The underwater current was sucked away like a living organism being drawn into a tornado. The pressure also decreased marginally with Devour''s interference.

    Devour covered the retreat path, while Void Breathing took the role of clearing the path forward.

    The Breath of All Things and the Breath of Nothingness were both directly opposite and absolutely the same.

    This meant that, while they contradicted each other, they could be used in tandem and would actually boost each other''s strengths.

    The Breath of All Things pertained to the material. Just as Devour did from the rear, it cleared the water itself of any negative effects and destroyed the deathly phenomena that were awaiting Damien''s arrival. As if this wasn''t enough, it also imbued the water with positive effects that returned Damien the ability to use his mana freely.

    However, he didn''t need it anymore.

    The Breath of Nothingness pertained to the ethereal. Unlike the other two Void abilities in action, it didn''t aid Damien''s charge forward at all.

    Rather, it snaked through the surroundings, on the prowl for prey.

    Its specific purpose, however, wouldn''t reveal itself quite yet.

    Currently, Damien was 5,000 kilometers deep in the Ancestral Dragon Pool.

    And from the looks of it, there would be at least another 5,000 before he could reach its floor.

    ''Really, if the rewards don''t justify this uselessly long journey, I swear I''m going to rage.''

 Chapter 963 Dragon Pool [3]

    The Ancestral Dragon Pool, as the Golden Dragon Emperor mentioned, was originally meant for dragons to cleanse their blood and grow.

    This process was not just a matter of the body, but also the spirit.

    The "blood cleansing" process is thest that takes ce before one exits the pool. Before one can gain the opportunity to cleanse their blood, they first needed to obtain the approval of the ancestors.

    This was naturally done through a series of tests taken once one dove to the limit of their endurance, offered by the remnant souls slumbering in the specified area.

    After obtaining the approval of an ancestral dragon, the young dragon would be granted a portion of the ancestor''s bloodline memories and power, which would help them define their future growth path. The immensebined benefits of these many processes would gradually show themselves as the genius grew, manifesting as heaven-defying talent and potential.

    Knowing this, one might question: just how could the Golden Dragon n maintain the Ancestral Dragon Pool?

    Regardless of the n''s power, it couldn''t change reality. Every ancestral soul wisp could at most choose a single genius before losing its power, so how could the Ancestral Dragon Pool support the n for generations on end?

    It wasn''t due to an excessive number of deceased predecessors, that much was for sure.

    Actually, the Ancestral Dragon Pool wasn''t a treasure of the Golden Dragon n at all.

    The truth was far, far more mystical.

    The true Ancestral Dragon Pool resided in the Heavenly World, far removed from Grand Heavens Boundary.

    However, the Ancestral Dragon Pool was one of the Dragon species'' greatest treasures. It was able to project itself anywhere it could find dragons and present them with a minimized version of itself, empowering and uniting the entire Dragon species under a single umbre.

    No matter how terrible feuds between Dragon ns became, they would never openly attempt to exterminate each other.

    At least, as long as there weren''t extraneous circumstances such as a fate of envement.

    Nevertheless, the secret to why the Ancestral Dragon Pool could support the entirety of the Dragon speciesy in the nature of Dragons themselves.

    It wasn''t known to many, but the soul of every dragon that reached the nine revolutions of extreme peak 4th ss or higher would bein to rest within the pool.

    It wasn''t just one n or even one universe, but every dragon in existence that was subject to this.

    Therefore, how could the Ancestral Dragon Pool ever run out of energy?

    Its closed positive feedback loop was precisely what allowed dragons to be such fearsome existences with both knowledge and power in spades.

    Most young dragons didn''t make it very deep in the pool, but since the pool tested potential rather than strength, it wasn''t too rare for those ancestral souls in the 5000-kilometer depths to take interest in those who don''t even make it halfway to their perch.

    However, the 5000 kilometers of area below that point marked an absolute turning point.

    Every dragon soul existing in this area was extremely powerful, each a renowned expert of their era,

    It was rare for geniuses to reach these depths, and even rarer for these dragons to take interest.

    Unfortunately, today wasn''t a day where they could maintain their nonchnce.

    ROAR!

    A terrifyin¡ª no, a terrified roar rang out.

    A dark red dragon soul rushed through the depths with all its power, swerving through the deathly phenomena around it with precision and using everything it possibly could to block the path behind it and dy its pursuer.

    Yet, nothing it did worked.

    Voom!

    A pulse of pitch-ck mana spread through the water and instantly dispersed everything it contacted. Rocks and obstructions were directly dissolved into nothingness, while every dragon soul and mana phenomenon was devoured and recycled for a good cause.

    The dragon soul panicked. It tried to escape with all its power, but there was quite literally nothing it could do.

    Shiver!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Its body suddenly shook. An eerie sensation crawled up its proverbial back.

    The dragon soul froze.

    Its only option was to die.

    It didn''t realize this until the veryst moment.

    Whoosh!

    The dragon soul was swallowed up by a beastly maw of mana. Its memories rushed into Damien''s head while its power incorporated with his own, strengthening both his mana and his bloodlines.

    ''Good! The more of these souls I absorb, the easier it is to exist in this water!''

    While Damien didn''t know it, one was originally only supposed to absorb a single soul, and consensually at that.

    But why did he need to care? In the first ce, this trial was rigged against him.

    Since that mysterious dragon shadow wanted him to go all out, he was going to give it a great show.

    ''After all, a dragon shadow that can directly suppress the Ancestral Dragon Pool is definitely not a simple character.

    And even if it was, Damien would just devour it for fooling him.

    His n was perfect.

    He was currently 8000 kilometers deep in the Ancestral Dragon Pool, and this red dragon soul was the 36th he''d absorbed.

    He slowed down his pace and set up a barrier so he could peacefully absorb the dragon soul''s memories.

    Well, it wasn''t like any dragon soul would take initiative to approach him after his rampage, but that was beside the point.

    ''As I thought, the position of these dragon souls isn''t determined by strength, but by Legend.'' Damien confirmed after watching through the memories.

    ''Of the dragons I''ve devoured so far, only 5 or 6 of them were at the Demigod level when they were alive, but their souls were so deteriorated that they couldn''t maintain the ability to speak coherently. The rest are all at varying revolutions of the extreme peak, but what all of them have inmon is¡­''

    The 6th soul Damien absorbed was a great general who led countless armies to sweep the Nox 10,000 years ago. His efforts allowed the universe several years of respite, which then allowed the universe''s forces to make an informed counterattack that almost drove the Nox out of the universe.

    The 13th soul was a reaper who served under a Death Dragon Godbeast. He was in charge of managing hundreds of millions of souls that were reaped every day to aid the Demigod in his training. However, appalled by the inhumanity, he rebelled against the Demigod with the help of several allies he met in his travels and overthrew him, bringing safety to an untold number of people in his era.

    The 36th soul, the red dragon soul, belonged to a youth no older than 20 years. His life was short, but he was a heaven-defying genius who was able to reach the extreme peak in that tiny amount of time. And while he didn''t live long enough to have a long string of grand aplishments, he held the monumental achievement of exploding his blood vitality to seal an Abyssal Corridor that opened in his sector, both preventing invasion and saving the entire sector from imminent doom.

    ''¡­they were all the "protagonists" of their generations.''

    The feats that supported their Legends were varied, but they were all fantastical stories of people who aplished things many never would, even after ascending to Divinity.

    In fact, Divinities were even less likely to build pronounced Legends, because they were more cautious than anyone.

    ''It''s interesting. I should experiment more.''

    Damien grinned to himself as he clenched his fist and panned his gaze across the surroundings like a predator searching for prey.

    It truly was interesting.

    These Legends were so great that they couldn''t be wholly contained. A portion of their power leaked into Damien''s Legend when he absorbed them, empowering him and adding their stories to his own.

    It was a strange feeling that he couldn''t quite pinpoint, and he wanted to know more about it.

    ''As expected, this Ancestral Dragon Pool really is exciting.''

 Chapter 964 Dragon Pool [4]

    Damien immediately acted on his desire.

    Before him, these dragon souls were mere worms. They couldn''t resist the pull of the Breath of All Things and the crushing force of the Breath of Nothingness. Their souls were dissected and their strengths were divided and repurposed to aid Damien to the best of their abilities.

    As a result of their attempt to iste and suppress him, they faced his wrath.

    And they faced it in spades.

    Damien didn''t move from the 8000 to 9000-kilometer depth, taking his time to tear through each and every dragon soul he could find.

    The number of devoured souls increased from double digits to triple digits, and as time went by, it even approached the quadruple digits!

    ''I''ve devoured¡­776. The sheer volume of memories and Legends isn''t something I can manage in a short period of time, but the Mind Prison''s support is somewhat mitigating that problem.''

    Damien was once again forced to thank the mysterious technique he''d discovered in the Cloud ne.

    Originally, it was supposed to be a sword technique, but Damien avoided the "sword" part like the gue.

    It wasn''t his intent, it was just a result of the circumstances. In the beginning, Tian Yang warned him to practice carefully so he didn''t get turned into a heartless monster by the technique, so Damien was cautious in his usage.

    After he overcame himself, he''d thought about using the Void Heart Sword Law as inspiration to create more sword techniques of his own, but before he got around to it, he gained so many new abilities that he forgot about it entirely.

    Ever since then, Damien had never paid attention to the "Sword Law" half of the technique, however, he''d done plenty of work to improve the "Void Heart" section,

    The Mind Prison was always one of his greatest spiritual defenses, and as he grew, he made sure it grew with him.

    With its current abilities, not only could it hold his own memories and emotions, it could be used as a storage space for the things swallowed by the Breath of Nothingness¡­

    ¡­including intact souls

    The previously figurative mind prison truly became its name.

    This ability was crucial in the current situation especially, since Damien would undoubtedly be corrupted and controlled by the memories he was devouring otherwise.

    After all, no matter how fortified his spiritual world was, he was absorbing millions of years'' worth of memories from several different scattered eras and locations, some not in Grand Heavens Boundary at all!

    Yet, there would always be a limit.

    As Damien realized himself, the Mind Prison could only "mitigate" the problem, not "solve" it.

    ''On the bright side, it''s not much of a loss. I''ll devour one more so I can hit the lucky number 777 and then I''ll make my way down to the bottom of the pool. That should be where the previous dragon shadow''s aura is pulling me to.''

    Damien made good on his word instantly. The next dragon soul unlucky enough to find itself in his trajectory was devoured without much of a struggle and integrated with the rest.

    ''It''s a shame that it wasn''t too powerful, but oh well.''

    Damien shrugged and pushed his spatial abilities, enhanced by Void Mana, to propel him to the deepest depths of the Ancestral Dragon Pool as soon as possible,

    It was an incredibly effective method. Damien was able to directly bypass almost every threat awaiting him, and Void Breathing easily dealt with anything unavoidable.

    From 8500 kilometers to 10,000 was a simple journey, but when Damien arrived, he realized¡­

    10,000 kilometers wasn''t the deepest depth at all!

    ''Fucking hell.'' He cursed inwardly, mildly annoyed.

    He didn''t bother to loiter around at the false bottom of the pool. Now, his greatest priority was finding that dragon shadow.

    He teleported ceaselessly and used aplexbination of Dimensional Cages and other Dimensional Magic to efficiently traverse several hundred kilometers per minute,

    15,000¡­20,000¡­25,000¡­

    When he reached the 30,000-kilometer mark, he finally saw a difference in the ck water.

    ''Is this it?''

    He excitedly shot down another few thousand kilometers, and finally, after a needlessly long journey¡­

    His foot touched solid ground.

    Whoosh!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    A breeze brushed past.

    Damien silently enjoyed the¡ª

    ''Wait, a breeze?''

    Damien''s eyes widened as he realized that the "water" around him was no longer water in any sense.

    Rather, it was air colored and textured to look like water.

    ''Is this a secret realm?'' Damien wondered, but the All-Seeing Eyes didn''t reveal any signs of spatial disturbance, so he was forced to throw away this assumption.

    ''These ancestral dragons are so shy, it''s impossible for a humble person like me to rationalize their ways. If I want answers, I need to find him.''

    Damien''s eyes turned west.

    ''It feels close. I shouldn''t be obstructed from this point forth.''

    He rushed west, reaching his destination in a matter of seconds.

    He scanned the area, trying to locate traces of the blue dragon shadow, however¡­

    "An egg?"

    The only thing he found was a deep blue egg with several swirling patterns decorating its surface. It was about as 4 feet tall, and when Damien went to pick it up, he realized it weighed at least as much as a mountain!

    "What the hell kind of egg is this?!" He eximed.

    Even the biggest Behemoths weren''t this heavy in their prenatal states!

    Damien dragged the egg out of the hidden crater he found it in and ced it on t ground before observing it with every perception ability he had.

    His awareness pierced it from every angle, but no matter how he enhanced his abilities, he could only vaguely make out the figure within.

    ''This time, my abilities aren''t failing. I''m sure that both my awareness and All-Seeing Eyes are working properly. Then¡­isn''t the thing in this egg quite phenomenal?''

    If his perception didn''t fail him, then the creature in this egg was still incubating, and it was clear that the process hadn''t started that long ago!

    Yet, the egg was already as heavy as a mountain and carried such a profound and strange aura?

    ''I should take it with me for now. Maybe I can get some answers by cing it in a time dtion in the Sanctuary and supporting its growth for a while.''

    Regardless of what it was, it was interesting, and that was enough reason for Damien to take it.

    [Do you really think so?]

    A voice boomed through the atmosphere, trembling the air.

    "Eh?" Damien raised his brow in curiosity and turned it around.

    "A dragon soul with sentience, that''s a first," hemented as he faced the being that materialized behind him,

    It was only a head.

    Yet, it was a headrge enough to eclipse the entire secret realm as far as Damien could perceive it.

    A single eye of this dragon wasrger than any star or.

    Damien''s body shivered in unwitting excitement.

    It was an instinctual response.

    He gradually opened his mouth and moved his lips to speak, suppressing his emotions in the face of this absolute power.

    "Not only did you just read my thoughts, you''ve maintained your sentience. Since I haven''t met another dragon soul even close to that level, I have to assume it was you who called me here," he said, taking a deep breath,

    He grinned and firmly brought his fist to his palm in greeting.

    "My name is Damien Void, future ruler of everything. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

 Chapter 965 Ancestor [1]

    "My name is Damien Void, future ruler of everything. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

    Damien respectfully bowed his head and greeted the entity before him, but his words were as arrogant as they could be.

    When he first encountered this shadow not long ago, he hadn''t been able to sense anything from it and could only gauge its importance by its abilities.

    However, after devouring a whopping 777 dragon souls, the situation was different.

    Damien felt an inherent reverence that stemmed from the very core of his being, from his Legend.

    The memories he devoured from those dragon souls were still being digested, but from what he understood already, he could estimate the status of this blue dragon shadow.

    Its gargantuan universe-eclipsing size and aura were one thing, but they could only attest to the fact that the Dragon had definitely reached Divinity in its lifetime, and not to a small degree either.

    The effect on Damien''s Legend, on the other hand, was unprecedented.

    The Legends that merged into his own were practically forcing him to his knees, attempting to destroy his ego when he refused.

    He was able to tame them easily since they were now his property, but their reaction indicated a single fact more than any other:

    This dragon soul was a true Godbeast.

    As Damien learned long, long ago in the First Dungeon, beasts had multiple evolutionary paths.

    It wasn''t rare for a beast to change its species entirely by the time it reached the peak of its power, but regardless of how it evolved, its growth paths would always stem from Godbeast blood.

    Every single beast had Godbeast blood, but for most, this blood was diluted and muddled until its existence lost any meaning.

    When a beast grew into its power, its Godbeast blood would also grow and evolve, merging with its own blood and enhancing its state of existence.

    And finally, at the final step before Divinity, beasts are offered a choice:

    Their first choice was to follow the growth path of their Godbeast Ancestor. This path was safe and rtively stable. As long as one possessed the appropriate potential and was able to stay alive long enough, they would eventually reach the Godbeast level, even if it took a million years to do so.

    Along with that, since these Godbeasts were already well-established, their bloodline memories existed to aid their descendants forward, supporting them and granting thempatible techniques to use.

    The second choice was much riskier. This choice meant to forgo the ancestral path and carve one''s own path. Following this path didn''t guarantee sess, and in fact, most who chose it ultimately failed and died without achieving anything monumental.

    However, for those who were able to seed in their attempts and rise to the status of Godbeast with their own power, sheerly through devouring other bloodlines and refining one''s own, their power would far exceed those following the ancestral path.

    And even greater, their Legend would morph, granting them immense prestige on the same level as those primordial Godbeasts who established the paths that most currently follow.

    It was a huge risk that most weren''t willing to take since it concerned their futures.

    But this blue dragon shadow was not one of them.

    Not only did it take the risk, it seeded with flying colors.

    Damien didn''t know what kind of Godbeast it was, but he was sure that the path this dragon shadow built brick by brick during its lifetime was currently guiding countless dragons to their own peaks.

    It was only right for the residual emotions of the devoured dragon souls to feel inherent reverence for this being.

    Even Damien felt immense respect for its achievements.

    Yet, he maintained cautiousness.

    He didn''t know this being''s intentio¡ª

    [Must you be so wary? If this Emperor wished to y you, would you still be standing?]

    The dragon shadow''s booming disconnected voice interrupted Damien''s inner thoughts, making him cringe slightly.

    "You know, most people find it rude when you read their thoughts without permission," he muttered.

    [This Emperor does not care for the grievances of mortals.]

    "Is it still called a godplex if the being in question is actually a god?" <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    [Child, you must be wondering why this Emperor summoned you here.]

    Damien''s quip was entirely ignored by the dragon shadow, who easily swerved the conversation into its main objective.

    Damien sighed to himself and nodded, not saying anything.

    ''I mean, I''m definitely curious, but I don''t like this feeling of losing the momentum¡­ anyway, this guy is already dead and I doubt any dragon n geniuses are making it this deep, so I might as well just listen. Let''s consider it granting an old man his final wish.''

    As Damien entertained himself with some devious thoughts, the blue dragon shadow began telling its story.

    [The time of this Emperor''s beginning¡­is lost and unattainable. A matter of millions cannot possibly describe it.]

    The dragon shadow''s words were apanied by a change of scenery. The entire hidden realm morphed to follow its words, giving Damien a visual apaniment.

    It was a dark sky that light simply didn''t exist with enough strength to prate.

    There were a few thousand stars total, and while the ckness looked ever-expanding, the truth was that these few thousand were the only worlds in all of existence.

    [This Emperor was born Qi Long, a lizard in the 9th Water Tribe. We were not beasts, however, we developed sentience through the Blessing of Water and worshipped it in return.]

    The surroundings zoomed in on a single, and on that, a single smallke that was home to a group of roughly 80 monitor lizard-like creatures.

    Among them were 30 adolescents, one of which was Qi Long.

    The tribe lived and died together, fighting off threats from nearby tribes and growing until they conquered the rest of the 41 Water Tribes in the world.

    When they achieved sovereignty, most of the nsmen became content and lived in peace, but Qi Long was different.

    [In this Emperor''s 50th year, the joys of life provided by peace became dull. This Emperor lusted after higher peaks that the 9th Water Tribe could not reach.]

    Eventually, he decided to leave.

    He broke through the bounds of the world and traveled, eventually learning about "power" and the means to gain it, something the Water Tribes never came in contact with.

    And through these same travels, he realized that the "Blessing of Water" was actually a curse that limited and siphoned his tribe''s potential.

    Enraged by this fact, he trained harder and encountered several opportunities, not only bing an expert, but creating a path for himself and his people to follow that wouldn''t be affected by the external curse of the Blessing of Water.

    This was one of the very first instances of beast evolution.

    And while this achievement was one unknown to him at the time, his repertoire was still growing by the day. He left his mark in every world he visited and even brought several hundred under his umbre.

    [After 500 years, this Emperor returned to the 9th Water Tribe and confronted the water itself, revealing its schemes and defeating it after 100 days of unendingbat.]

    Qi Long, who was now in human form, stood above an expansive sea. Its water curled around his feet in worship and danced around his body in joy.

    The water of his homeworld was not normal water, but a portion of the heavens manifested as water. Its significance was far greater than anything Qi Long could imagine.

    [Through victory, this Emperor ascended. From a mere nameless lizard, this Emperor became a True Dragon. The waters branded my soul and body, forever attaching me with a title.]

    "Azure."

    Azure like the ocean waves, azure like the sky above. Qi Long was a being who came from the starry sky to force the Seas of Heaven into submission, and through this feat unlike anything that had been aplished in history thus far, he gained a control over water that was almost godly.

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock.

    ''Don''t tell me¡­''

    Looking at the way this story was going, Damien could already guess this dragon shadow''s identity.

    The legendary Azure Dragon.

    A Godbeast whose influence was so unbelievably widespread that even Earth, so far removed from the true universe until a few decades ago, had several religions that mentioned him.

    ''Holy shit.''

 Chapter 966 Ancestor [2]

    ''Holy shit.''

    Damien finally realized how important the dragon before him was, but his questions only became greater with this discovery.

    After all, if he truly was the great Azure Dragon, the first Azure Dragon to ever exist at that, then¡­

    How did he die?

    Damien hoped to find the answer as the story continued.

    Obtaining "Azure" was the first step in Qi Long''s grueling journey to power.

    "Azure" wasn''t necessarily a direct boost in power, but rather a "key" that would only be useful in time.

    After defeating the Seas of Heaven, Qi Long went along to conquer the 3,000 worlds. With his power and dominion over water, finding someone who could match him was almost impossible.

    The era and location of Qi Long''s story were both a mystery, but as the story continued, it became clear that Qi Long''s homnd was far separated from any sort of true universe.

    It took 1000 years to conquer the 3,000 worlds in their entirety.

    Another 4000 years passed after that with Qi Long training to his utmost and trying to find a way to further improve.

    Until one day, he finally broke the bounds of his small universe and arrived somewhere greater.

    ''The Heavenly World.'' Damien thought to himself.

    The scenery around him wasn''t much different from what he''d witnessed in his many years of life, but something just felt different.

    The mana in the air was different, purer and far more dense. This mana carried stronger power in its ambient form than most lower universe existences could output with all their strength.

    The lush grasses and greenery and the resident fauna were new and interesting, piquing Damien''s interest even though he had no knowledge whatsoever of herbology and other rted fields.

    There was simply something mystical about the ce that Damien couldn''t ce his finger on.

    And Qi Long felt the same.

    His adventure in the Heavenly World began when he had yet to reach the extreme peak and continued until the very end of his life.

    For the most part, there wasn''t anything strange about his story. It was a tale of hard work and effortbined with talent that could support it creating a genius of untold proportion.

    "Azure" aided Qi Long until the very end, eventually allowing him to break free of the shackles of existence and be a true spiritual god.

    It was an inspiring and wonderous chain of events that would make anymon practitioner worship the genius who overcame it, but Damien wasn''t too interested in Qi Long''s origin story.

    After all, wasn''t his life already something simr?

    What interested Damien was the concept Qi Long began researching after he teaued in his Godbeast path.

    ''Universal Flow.''

    As someone who controlled a power of heaven, Qi Long was far more in tune with the universe than the average practitioner, and when he underwent Cosmic Rebirth, he felt the subtle force that guided all existence on its proper path.

    He became infatuated with the concept rapidly. He felt as if he''d discovered a hint at the answer to everything. He researched and researched, spending thousands of years trying toe in contact with the concept again¡­

    ¡­only to failpletely.

    He theorized that he just wasn''t "destined" toprehend Universal Flow. While destiny wasn''t a tangible force and would usually be left out of any sort of research, Universal Flow was a concept heavily tied to the ethereal and intangible.

    By Qi Long''s hypotheses, the concept known as "Universal Flow" was¡­everything.

    It didn''t influence the universe, it was the universe. It didn''t influence events, it carried them out as they were supposed to be carried out.

    In some sense, the best way to describe Universal Flow was as the "plot" of a novel.

    Only, this novel had no writer.

    No being controlled the plot, but the plot was created nheless.

    Universal Flow was the tail of this "plot" that peeked out of the clouds. Its body and head were too profound for even the universe itself to understand, let alone mere existences within it.

    Unfortunately, Qi Long couldn''t get further than this point in his research without actuallying in contact with the force again. It was especially frustrating since the memory he had of the force was blurred as if it had been tampered with.

    Qi Long eventually gave up on his unattainable dream and returned to increasing his power as he''d always done, but little did he know that the small progress he''d made at this time would eventually be received by a junior untold years in the future.

    And that junior¡­

    That junior carried the "destiny" that hecked.

    Damien''s eyes were wide in shock, but also zed over like a corpse.

    He stood frozen like a statue as Qi Long''s story yed out around him.

    Yet, he wasn''t seeing it at all.

    In his eyes was reflected a certain "something."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He couldn''t describe it in words.

    How could he, a mortal, ever dare?

    However, it was beautiful and iprehensible, almost directly shattering his ego with its presence alone.

    He suddenly understood.

    This wasn''t a force he should interfere with.

    This wasn''t something he should have ever touched.

    It was best if he followed Qi Long''s example and gave up.

    ''It''s impossible for a human to touch something like this. It''s impossible for a human to¡ª''

    Gasp!

    Damien''s eyes abruptly focused. He gasped for air and immediately used the Mind Prison to separate any and all unneeded emotions from his mind.

    ''Dangerous. That was too dangerous.'' He thought to himself.

    ''But¡­I finally came in contact with it.''

    He saw it with his own eyes.

    He didn''t just mildly feel it like he''d been doing thus far, he truly witnessed it in all its glory.

    It was terrifying.

    A force that was ever present and constantly guiding all things on their proper paths.

    It wasn''t just god-like, it was God.

    [Have you understood?]

    The Azure Dragon''s voice rang out.

    Damien nodded slightly.

    Qi Long never made progress in his research on Universal Flow, he was still someone who''d made contact with it, something that only happened a single-digit number of times in the universe''s lifetime.

    What Qi Long sensed from Damien when they first met wasn''t the Void, but Universal Flow.

    The reason he was called to this ce was exactly this.

    "But if you only summoned me because of Universal Flow, why did you show me the rest?" Damien suddenly asked as curiosity overcame him.

    [There is much you can learn from observing this Emperor''s experiences.]

    The Azure Dragon''s answer was simple and perfunctory.

    "That''s true," Damien said in response, "but what''s the use? These memories will only be useful to the dragon you¡ª"

    Damien halted his words, his eyes shakily returning to the Azure Dragon.

    "You aren''t thinking of¡­"

    [This Emperor has rested long enough. It is time to appoint a sessor.]

    "Shouldn''t you be appointing a dragon to be your sessor?! I won''t even be able to use most of your techniques!"

    The Azure Dragon''s massive eyes rolled downward, his gaze meeting Damien''s.

    [An existence chosen by the Universal Flow is more valuable than the entire Dragon speciesbined. This Emperor would much rather entrust you with my legacy than any other being.]

    Damien stared up at the Godbeast at a loss for words. He was dumbfounded by this series of events that was taking apletely different direction than expected.

    And the worst part was, that direction was also the most obvious one!

    Honestly, there wasn''t much to consider. No matter how ipatible he and Qi Long were, the other party was a true Godbeast.

    Damien was prepared to take anything he possibly could from the Azure Dragon without leaving a single scrap behind.

    Qi Long closed his eyes.

    His shadow started to fade into the atmosphere.

    And ever-so-gently, a wisp of blue entered Damien''s spiritual world.

    Little did he know, however, that this little blue wisp would make him suffer more than anything he''d faced since he arrived in the greater universe.

 Chapter 967 Ancestor [3]

    The Azure Dragon''s blessing affected both the material and ethereal, but its effects were centralized in the body.

    When that little blue wisp entered Damien''s spiritual world, it immediately exploded into a rampaging wave of Divine Power that broke through the ethereal and flooded Damien''s body from his head downward.

    The pain began almost instantaneously. The second the mana broke through into Damien''s body, the first thing it did was refine his brain.

    And naturally, as his nerves were being directly attacked and restructured, he was subjected to unbearable torment that rid him of the ability to think at all.

    "Ggghhhhh¡­!"

    Damien gritted his teeth and let out a muffled groan as the Divine Power entrenched itself deeper into his systems.

    The process of body reconstruction didn''t need exnation. Damien had already experienced it many times and while this one was more intrinsic and targeted even his nervous system and other facets that were usually left untouched, it wasn''t much different in the actual methodology.

    He was broken down and put back together over and over again until he was fortified to a new degree.

    However, the main physical focus of this ritual was never body reconstruction. Instead, it was "blood."

    The blood circting through Damien''s body was dyed in ck and white, mirroring yin and yang at the beginning of creation. This blood was created and fueled by Samsara, already cing it near the level of Divinity in its worth.

    Even if it was the Azure Dragon, improving this blood was impossible. The Azure Dragon didn''t have much expertise on Life and Death Laws in the first ce.

    Bloodlines, on the other hand, were a different story.

    Bloodlines were indeed incorporated into the bloodstream, but they had an ethereal element to them as well.

    Bloodlines weren''t regted by the heart and pumped through the body like normal blood. They were special and had their own metaphorical cores that held all of their base properties.

    These properties included purity, bloodline memories, strength, and many other things.

    As such, when one bled, their bloodline wouldn''t be depleted, but it was still possible to burn one''s bloodline to heighten its potential for a short period of time.

    Generally, every individual bloodline in one''s body would have its own core. The only outliers were those who had multiple different bloodlines from beasts of simr species, whose bloodlines had the possibility of merging.

    The Void Physique naturally didn''t allow Damien to follow thismon path. When he was in the Fiest Dungeon and using Devour to rapidly grow his power, he devoured countless bloodlines that were all condensed into a single bloodline core, leading to a muddled and inefficient final product.

    This problem was solvedter when Damien used the Primordial Undying Tree''s fruits to restructure his bloodline and purify it. His new bloodline was far stronger and aided him many times in the conflicts that urred afterward.

    Still, the question remained: why did the Void Physique make him follow such a seemingly disadvantageous path?

    As time went on, this question remained unanswered and Damien''s bloodlines gradually became irrelevant.

    His strength improved too fast. He devoured thousands or even tens of thousands of beings, but they were either beings with lesser bloodlines than his own or Nox who didn''t contribute anything to his bloodline at all.

    If there was any ce for Damien to find a hope of increasing his bloodline''s power, it was the previous conflict filled with dying dragons. Unfortunately, aside from a few ck Dragons, Damien was unable to devour the rest of the countless enemies he''d in.

    It was almost as if the Azure Dragon was aware of Damien''s ws.

    Damien kept his mind focused on the pain and his perception focused inside his body. He watched with as much lucidity as he could muster as tiny blue wisps infected his bloodline core and altered it.

    It was an odd feeling that didn''t contribute to his agony, but made him feel a sense of disconcertion and difort that stacked on top of the pain.

    He didn''t know what was happening.

    Currently, he had two main bloodlines: Dragon and Demon. The first had clear origins and could be easily traced and improved, but the second¡­

    Even Damien wasn''t quite sure how he managed to extract this bloodline and internalize it, nor did he know its origin.

    Damien always figured in the back of his mind that this bloodline had mysterious and powerful origins, but at the moment the blue wisps contacted it, his assumptions became truths.

    Damien''s bloodline core tremored as the Divine Power of an Ancestral Godbeast collided against the unknown power. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Bang!

    His body rapidly morphed, bing tall, pale, and demonic. The unknown bloodline bared its fangs against the Azure Dragon''s influence like a prideful lion resisting hunters.

    The bloodline''s influence spread through his body and covered him in various blood runes, most of which Damien didn''t know the identity of. He could feel the Azure Dragon''s Divine Power reeling like an offended young master and preparing to strike back.

    "¡­!"

    Damien immediately became alert. If that collision was allowed to ur, his bloodline core would undoubtedly sustain damage.

    His bloodlines didn''t matter much anymore, but Damien couldn''t risk that explosion affecting his soul or abilities in any way!

    Whoosh!

    Damien''s worries were solved before they could properly manifest:

    A stream of essence Damien hadn''t seen in a very long time forced itself between the two powers.

    The pure force of the Void Physique, different from Void Mana and Void Essence but sharing the same origin, rolled through Damien''s body and reeled the many ongoing processes under its control.

    Huu¡­

    Damien exhaled slowly, believing he had a moment of respite now that the Void Physique would regte the changes.

    However¡­

    Did he forget¡­?

    The Void Physique was the very thing that turned him into a masochist who lived by the slogan: "Pain is power."

    The bodily effects were controlled now, so they''d resume without the same pain or conflict they''d produced thus far.

    Therefore, the ethereal portion of the process could finally start.

    Gasp!

    Damien''s chest jerked forward. He threw his head back and his eyes widened into saucers as he gasped for air with everything he had.

    Divine Power invaded the core of his being, the depths of his soul, and began a secondary metamorphosis.

    This time, there was truly no other sensation besides pain.

    Damien couldn''t sense his soul yet, nor could he sense what was happening to it.

    He only felt that it was being torn apart.

    His ego was threatening to copse directly. His mind almost shattered into a million pieces, mentally crippling him.

    Damien urgently moved everything important to him into the Mind Prison. Emotions, memories, the World Core Fusion Reactor, and the manifestations of stars in his spiritual world packed the Mind Prison until it couldn''t hold anything more.

    And by the time he finished setting up this emergency countermeasure, hepletely lost control of his mind and body.

    He felt like he was floating in a white space with no sort of definition. The pain that resonated through his body yet didn''t originate from it at all manifested itself as several bloody illusions in this space that kept Damienpany.

    With no witnesses, and to the knowledge of only a single remnant soul, a brand etched itself onto Damien''s soul.

    The brand¡­

    ¡­of "Azure."

 Chapter 968 Ancestor [4]

    An unknown amount of time passed after the soul transformation began, and by the time it ended, the bodily processes reached their conclusion as well.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    Damien fell to the ground and desperately tried to catch his breath.

    That was truly an unbearable process.

    Usually, Damien could at least watch the changes taking ce and he could use this to maintain his lucidity and focus, but this time, he was alone with the pain.

    It was enough to make any normal person lose his mind. It didn''t matter how strong Damien''s mental defenses were; the Divine Power would have absolutely crushed his mind into oblivion if he didn''t take the initiative to hide away everything that defined him.

    His spiritual world was an absolute mess in its current state, which made it extremely difficult for Damien to take his mind off the terror he just experienced and move on,

    It was only after he removed his ego from istion and regained the warmth of a "sense of self" that he managed to calm down.

    ''What¡­happened?'' He muttered inwardly as he inspected his body.

    First of all, his physical body had been strengthened to a new level. He would definitely be able to resist attacks from anyone under the High Commander level without any mana defense at all.

    His response time was nearly instantaneous now. His body could now react to his intentions before he could even fully realize them.

    His thoughts and processing ability were much faster than before, a noticeable change caused by the refining of his brain and spiritual world.

    Damien skimmed over these changes as he focused his perception on his bloodline core.

    It used to be pure red, almost like a blood clot. Now, however, it was entirely different.

    It was pitch ck in its base, with intricate patterns of gold, white, blue, and a hint of red wrapping around it to form a beautiful and profound picture.

    ''This is¡­have my bloodlines been merged?''

    Not just merged, but empowered. The previously immovable demon bloodline had somehow swallowed its draconicpanion and merged with the Azure Dragon''s Divine Power to create apletely new "bloodline-like force" that resided in Damien''s bloodline core.

    "What a good thing," he muttered somewhat spitefully as he realized that he''d have to put effort into fully digesting his bloodline change.

    "No, instead of focusing on that, why does it feel like I can¡­"

    Damien summoned a ball of Void Mana on his palm. He moved it around and yed with its wisps, observing it thoughtfully.

    "If I just¡­"

    There was a new instinct in his body, backed by mysteriousprehension.

    Damien followed that instinct and altered the structure of his mana.

    The wispy pitch-ck Void Mana gradually brightened and shifted in color as well as texture.

    Its entire state of matter changed.

    From what exhibited itself as a gas, the Void Mana became liquid.

    No, it became "water."

    Damien flicked his finger and let the ball of water fly forward with the strength of a regr mortal''s throw.

    Without much suspense, it arced through the air and separated into droplets before sshing against the ground.

    It was just ordinary water¡­

    ''Holy shit¡­did I just do that?!''

    ¡­however, Damien''s reaction suggested anything but.

    ''Even the Saint Emperor can only imitate other elements with his mana. I have no affinity for water at all, and I''ve barelye in contact with it. How can I¡­''

    How could he bend thews of reality so easily?!

    Affinities existed for a reason. Humans, or all living things for that matter, were granted affinities at birth and would follow their paths until death. It was still possible to gain new elements, but only those one already had some affinity with.

    Damien''s Time Law was an inborn affinity that took time to manifest, but his lightning was a perfect example of the aforementioned phenomenon. If Damien originally had no affinity for lightning, the Void Physique wouldn''t have been able to imnt a new affinity into his weak and malnourished body.

    Simply put, to directly control an unrted affinity was one of the greatest impossibilities for a practitioner.

    Or at least, it was supposed to be¡­?

    ''Is this an inherent effect of the Void Physique that was revealed by the new instinct I gained, or is this a direct result of the Azure Dragon''s blessing?''

    Damien was in a rush to find out, because if it was the former, it was massively important; the most grandiose breakthrough in training he''d had ever encountered.

    [Child, are you satisfied with your gains?]

    The Azure Dragon''s voice broke him out of his trance.

    Damien wasn''t the slightest bit bothered. He directly stood up and bowed until his face was parallel to the ground, deeply expressing his thanks to this primordial being.

    "I will never forget this graciousness you''ve shown me. Until the day I die, I will be an ally to your Azure Dragon n."

    He didn''t just say it, he swore it on his mana and his soul, letting the universe acknowledge his sincerity.

    Disregarding every other benefit, the Azure Dragon gave Damien a hint about how to move forward inprehending the Void. This alone was worthy of utmost respect.

    However, the Azure Dragon didn''t stop at this. Rather, he gave a greater blessing than what even the greatest geniuses of the Dragon n could receive.

    He gave Damien "everything."

    Damien raised his head to look the dragon in the eye. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Has the timee?"

    [Indeed. The time hase.]

    "..."

    Damien didn''t respond. He walked up to the Azure Dragon and took a seat, leaning back against one of the being''s massive ws.

    [What are you doing?]

    "Nothing much. I just felt like sitting here for a bit. Is there a problem?"

    [...none.]

    Silence enveloped the realm. Neither Damien nor the Azure Dragon took initiative to speak, but it was as if they shared an intrinsic understanding of what they wanted to and needed to say.

    Those words didn''t need to be voiced.

    Time passed slowly. Every second that ticked by was perceived to its greatest by the only two beings existing in this space.

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    He didn''t want to acknowledge the fact that the feeling against his back was disappearing.

    He didn''t want to acknowledge¡­that the Azure Dragon was fading.

    So he sat there.

    He stayed silent before this being who could passively read his every thought.

    Until the Azure Dragon''s body was no more than an outline of wispy blue energy.

    At thatst second¡­

    "I will fulfill your final wishes. Go in peace."

    The Azure Dragon''s hazy consciousness snapped back to reality.

    His eyes widened.

    He showed true emotion, something he forgot after millions of years.

    A small smile spread on his lips.

    [Hmph.]

    Pride.

    The expression he wished the world to remember him by was thest one he exhibited.

    The hidden realm that housed only two¡­was left with only one.

    The Azure Dragon''s body slowly dispersed into a beautiful disy of crystallized azure blue shards, like snow ascending to the heavens.

    A hollow smile surfaced on Damien''s face as he watched it.

    He only knew the Godbeast for a short period, but in that period, he not only gained immensely, he saw how that being lived his life.

    He was a powerful Divinity that provoked fear and reverence wherever he went, but he was always alone.

    He never met someone who could see the world from his perspective, and he ended up isted in his own research and chasing after the peak.

    He lived in an era Damien couldn''t imagine and fought millions upon millions of enemies that were equally unfathomable.

    He wasn''t some kind of hero, nor did he have an exemry character. He was arrogant and domineering and did anything to grow stronger, but he never crossed the bottom line he set for himself, and despite the sheer amount of failure he faced, he never faltered.

    The Azure Dragon was not a hero, but he was without question a being worthy of utmost respect.

    There were only two before him.

    Kurt Galloway, the Spatial Grandmaster of Apeiron, ric Alfheim, the Primordial Undying Tree, and now, the Azure Dragon, Ruler of the Seas.

    They were seniors who lit the me in Damien''s heart, seniors whose memories and vestiges inside of him would always remind him that there was someone better, whether it be in character or strength.

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien sighed.

    Death was a concept all too familiar to him, but it never hit as hard as it did when these people he respected met their inevitable ends.

    ''If only I met them sooner¡­''

    This thought clouded his mind every time, but he knew it was useless.

    They died with pride and were remembered in glory, exactly as they wished to pass.

    Selfishly interfering with their fates would be a sin.

    Damien quietly stood up and looked into the sky. There, the passage to return to the Ancestral Dragon Pool revealed itself.

    He wished he could''ve spoken to the Azure Dragon more, but this was the end of their fated encounter.

    It was time for Damien to set his sights on the next goal and move on as he always did.

    It was time for him to set out for the Grand Assembly.

 Chapter 969 Prophecy [1]

    Damien was in the Ancestral Dragon Pool for no more than a single day. As he left the pool and the scenery faded around him, he finally realized that there was a time dtion around the space.

    It was so wless that he didn''t notice it until he left, which was incredibly impressive.

    ''I''ll have to visit the original Ancestral Dragon Pool in the Heavenly World so I can experience it in all its glory.'' Damien thought to himself as he walked through the halls of the Golden Dragon Pce.

    The banquet came to an end not more than an hour ago, and countless people were moving through the pce halls, returning to their quarters or homes to rest and finally sumb to their fatigue.

    The atmosphere of the world had calmed down drastically. It was a miracle just how fast people could readjust after a tragedy.

    Now that the celebration of life had ended, the time to celebrate the dead arrived.

    The number of casualties from the catastrophe was in the several millions at the very least. People all over the world had lost their friends and loved ones to the war, and while the urge to ce me did exist in their heads, how could they?

    The Emperor himself suffered more than anyone else in this tragedy, losing half of his children to the enemy.

    The burial rituals of the Golden Dragons were quite fascinating. As beings who were so close to fate, they didn''t view death as a sorrowful thing. Death was inevitable, and though fate could be cruel in the way it toyed with lives, it was a just entity.

    Those who died in this battle, those who defended their homnd or died innocent of any crime, would be reincarnated with blissful destiny. This was without a doubt.

    Therefore, it was not a time to mourn, but to celebrate.

    To celebrate the achievements the deceased made in their past lives, and to pray for their happiness in the next.

    Damien quietly watched the ceremonies without participating himself. He was just an outsider after all, and his achievements weren''t broadcasted to earn the people''s affection.

    Unlike him, Elena was widely epted among the Golden Dragons. She was personally requested to participate in the processions, and her acts of spreading vitality across the world and healing its people practically made her a saint in their eyes.

    Funnily enough, being Elena''s spouse granted Damien more status among the nsmen than his role as Astoria''s teacher.

    Not like he minded it, though. Who wouldn''t feel pride seeing their wife achieve greatness?

    Damien had no interest in stealing her stage.

    Instead, he silently obtained the Emperor''s permission and made his way into a secret corridor in the pce, walking down a damp hallway and down an extremely cramped and weathered staircase until he was near the core of the world.

    ''Another prison near the World Core. The Director''s Avatar was trapped in one of these too; I guess it''s amon practice.''

    It was also likely that the invaders who were aiming for the World Core during the war were actually trying to enter this prison and let loose its inmates to cause chaos.

    Damien reached the end of the staircase and stepped on tnd again. He was met with a thick metal te with no visible openings that was guarded by a group of 5 High Commander level guards.

    "State your name and affiliation," the head guardmanded, raising his weapon.

    Damien shook his head wryly, "you don''t have to be so on edge. The war is truly over."

    He took out a que the Emperor gave him and tossed it to the guard, who caught it and carefully inspected it with his awareness before nodding at hisrades.

    "I apologize for the misunderstanding, sir. Please enter," the head guard said as he returned his focus to Damien.

    Damien smiled and nodded. "Don''t worry about it. You''re just doing your job."

    He watched as the guards acted together, positioning themselves against nondescript locations on the two walls on their side of the metal te with no particr rhyme or reason.

    Rumble!

    The ground began to rumble and the metal te showed immediate changes, but the guards hadn''t moved in the slightest.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Damien opened his All-Seeing Eyes and took a deeper nce into their actions.

    ''Oh? That''s interesting.''

    With the new perception opened by his trait, Damien could see the mana streams exiting these guards'' bodies. The mana streams entered the walls and flowed in multiple randomly intersecting paths.

    Each connection point would cause the metal te to change properties and be illusory, and while the movements looked thoughtless, the mana control required to be so precise in intricate work like this was genuinely nonsensical.

    ''If they make a single misstep and the connection point is even a millimeter off, the formation will counterattack. These guards have been specifically trained to do this job.''

    It was an incredibly smart decision that Damien honestly didn''t expect from the Golden Dragons considering their track record.

    It became clear to him that if these guards and this mechanism hadn''t been soplex, the war situation would have been far, far worse than it already was.

    ''Hmm, those invaders who went down to the World Core pretty much just disappeared by the time the conflict settled down. I guess their fate is clear now.''

    The metal te finally turned fully illusory, allowing Damien into the prison.

    He was immediately struck by the stench. It was a putrid and disgusting mix of feces, body odor, varying body fluids, and several other unidentifiable yet repulsive scents, all enhanced by the damp environment of the underground prison.

    It was pitch ck and lifeless in appearance. Damien could see clearly using the All-Seeing Eyes, but his regr visual ability wasn''t nearly enough to see through the artificially amplified darkness.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Damien walked through the prison indifferent to the maniacal cacophony of prisoners around him.

    They screamed and taunted, they provoked and pleaded, they did anything they could possibly think of to grab Damien''s attention, with some even urinating through the cell bars or touching themselves when they saw him.

    ''There is¡­no time dtion in this ce.'' Damien thought as he poked his senses through the air. ''These rabid ones; just how long did they have to stay here to lose themselves to insanity?''

    The prisoners were from all different races, some human, some beast, some angel, and even some Nox. Many races that had death feuds against each other were ced near each other as if to create the utmost chaos in this controlled environment.

    However, Damien didn''te here for them, nor did he dare to entertain them. Any reaction he gave would be pleasure for them, even if that reaction was to torture or kill.

    He walked and walked through the seemingly endless single corridor of the prison, passing thousands upon thousands of cells and areas until he finally reached his destination.

    "Look at this. They really hate you guys, eh?" He said with a slight smile as he looked into therge cell block.

    This isted area was created with the sole purpose of housing ck Dragons. It was built with far worse conditions than any other cell block, and there were specialized guards who stayed in the area to torment the ck Dragons and break their spirits whenever possible.

    ''It''s inevitable to form a godplex in an environment where you have mana and your enemies are helpless and crippled.'' He inwardly noted as he watched a group of guards humiliate a group of older ck Dragons.

    He sighed and entered the cell block. The guards immediately looked up and turned hostile, but Damien just had to repeat the same process he did with the gate guards to cate them.

    After they left, he faced the millions of ck Dragons that were in the cell block. He knew very well that all of their gazes were currently on him, filled with hostility, hatred, and fear.

    He grinned.

    There was one more thing he had to test before leaving Beast Emperor Star.

    He raised his arm parallel to the ground and gracefully outstretched a single finger.

    He gently tapped the air.

    "Bind."

 Chapter 970 Prophecy [2]

    Thousands of years ago, an ancient prophecy was told.

    It was a prophecy that set two ns with no conflict against each other and made them mortal enemies. It drove them to sh swords and eventually to the war that finally ended with the past encounter.

    Yet¡­how could one be so sure that the war was over?

    The ck Dragons sent an army to Beast Emperor Star, but they didn''t invade with their entire race. There were still several hundred million ck Dragons in their homeworld, including their Demigod Ancestor.

    Of course, this wasn''tmon knowledge. To most, thest of the ck Dragon n was locked away in the depths of the world.

    Those with power could never rest as long as the ck Dragons remained unruly.

    They needed to be thoroughly tamed.

    This thought led to another question: how could one tame a n that both concealed themselves well and had the backing of a Demigod?

    The ck Dragons needed a thousand years to whittle away at the Golden Drsgons before they couldunch a direct invasion.

    Spending that much time on internal conflict wasn''t something the denizens of Grand Heavens Boundary could afford at the moment.

    It seemed that the universe was rtively at peace internally, but trusting this facade was only for the naive and willfully ignorant.

    2 entire sectors had been destroyed.

    The lives lost were innumerable, uncountable unless one used increments of quintillions.

    An ancient prophecy, Damien learned about it while interacting with the Marite Lord.

    The prophecy was centered around the so-called Golden Star, a being the ck Dragons assumed to be the Golden Dragon Emperor, as he was the man who ruled the Fate Star.

    However, Beast Emperor Star, the Fate Star, was an entirely different entity than the Golden Star in the prophecy.

    And even more so, the Golden Dragon Emperor was not the ruler of the Fate Star.

    He merely took residence on its surface and ruled from it.

    The Fate Star was an aged world that naturally had its own spiritual intelligence, and thus it also had the ability to choose who couldmand it.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor was powerful, but he never gained the Fate Star''s acknowledgement.

    The reason was simple.

    He wascking in "potential."

    This wasn''t to say he had no talent. He was already a Godbeast and it was almost guaranteed that he''d ascend to being a true spiritual god if he had the opportunity.

    Yet, his potential was blocked by two factors.

    The first was his decision to stay in the lower universe. He gave away his chance to grow further than the Demigod level for the sake of his n, and while admirable, it wasn''t a smart decision in the slightest.

    The second factor was much vaguer.

    It was the very path he followed that hindered him.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor never made decisions without considering his people. His Cosmic Rebirth ended with him following the Golden Dragon Godbeast''s evolution path, which also meant his achievements would only ever reach the height of his ancestor, never to improve further unless he met some extraneous fortuitous circumstance.

    The Fate Star understood what it represented. Being its ruler wasn''t a title, but a state of existence that put one in direct contact with the concept of Fate that remained esoteric to all.

    It was extremely careful in choosing its master, but it eventually seeded in finding a genius it felt it could put its faith in.

    For once, that genius wasn''t Damien.

    It was a girl born and raised on its surface who finally received an opportunity to bloom into her potential just recently.

    It was none other than Astoria Golden.

    The Golden Star.

    Not the master of the Fate Star¡­

    ¡­but the master of "Fate" itself.

    "Bind."

    ck lines of Void mana spread from his finger like a massive spider web that stabbed into the heads of every single ck Dragon present.

    It wasn''t possible before.

    Though Damien believed the prophecy had something to do with him, he couldn''t do anything to control the ck Dragons as the prophecy stated, which originally made him doubt his assumptions about Astoria.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    However, if she didn''t have the kind of potential that could move the Fate Star, why would the Void ever bestow her a title?

    The event that made the impossible possible was obvious.

    Once again, it was the Azure Dragon whose aid gave Damien the proper tools to aplish his goals.

    In this case, it was "authority."

    Damien couldn''tpletely understand this authority, but it gave him some sort of coercion over the Dragon Race. Those weaker than him would submit without question, and those stronger than him would be suppressed by its effects.

    This authority did not give Damien the ability to enve an entire race of dragons.

    It was the "key" that allowed him to truly integrate himself into the Fate of the Dragon n.

    After that, it was just a matter of following the prophecy.

    The ck Dragon n was fated toe under his rule, and Fate itself would go under Astoria''s.

    There was no resistance, to the extent that it was eerie.

    Damien furrowed his brows as he traced the Void Mana spiderweb with his eyes and noted down its processes.

    The fact that nothing was off was all the more disconcerting.

    ''If we follow the precedent, the ancient prophecy should''ve been the result of¡­''

    VOOM!

    Void Mana burst out of the spiderweb''s every thread and rocked the cell block''s foundation.

    ''¡­yeah, it could only be this.''

    Damien''s eyes hardened. He pped his hands together and set up several thousand interwoven Dimensional Cages to iste the cell block from the Real ne and hide what was happening.

    As he did so, the Void Mana that burst into the atmosphere concentrated into several pirs, one for every ck Dragon, and then¡­

    Zip!

    Each pir impaled itself into its respective ck Dragon and disappeared into their bodies.

    One by one, their bodies jerked forward and they raised into the air as if possessed. ck draconic features polluted their human forms and turned them into half-human half-dragon hybrids, almost like Damien after Dragon Transformation.

    The raging mana calmed down soon enough since it was all absorbed into the ck Dragons. The scene quieted down, but Damien could vaguely feel the pulses of Void Mana metamorphosing the ck Dragons from within.

    He smiled wryly.

    ''Well, it''s not too surprising since this whole trip to Beast Emperor Star has been defined by Fate and Universal Flow. If there wasn''t something like this, there''s no way I would''ve ended up here at all.''

    Damien had no idea if it had its own ego, but he was sure of one thing: the Void was always silently watching him.

    Recently more than ever before, it involved itself in almost every conflict he''d been a part of, almost as if it was urging him to focus on it rather than his Lawprehension.

    And he listened to that call.

    Theprehension of Universal Flow, the constant usage of Void Breathing, and most recently, the discovery of elemental alchemy all contributed to the Void''s agenda.

    ''Should I consider this a reward?'' Damien thought, chuckling to himself.

    He swept his hand through the air and pulled the spiderweb of Void Mana back into his body, using the same moment to send the ck Dragons to the Sanctuary.

    ''They were practically driven to madness trying to avoid their fate, so they definitely won''t be pleased when they find out it came true. I''ll send them to the Wild Continent for now and let Gntis whip them into shape. Afterwards, they can be transferred to Theavel to join the main army.''

    Damien patted himself on the back for a job well done and took down his Dimensional Cages.

    ''I''ll have to find time to deal with the rest of them after the Grand Assembly. Finding the location of their homeworld won''t be a problem with all the ves I just got, but I am a little worried about the Demigod¡­I''ll just have to trust the Void on this one and go for it.''

    Damien nodded contentedly and turned around.

    Without a word, he left the prison, nodding at the guards in acknowledgement as he did so.

    He made it back to the Golden Dragon Pce without a hitch, but he was left wondering¡­

    Just what kind of expression would they make when they realized what happened?

    He truly regretted not staying to see it.

 Chapter 971 Farewell [1]

    The Day of the Dead came to its natural end when the moon was halfway through its journey across the sky. The people of Beast Emperor Star retreated to their homes to enjoy the peace they once took for granted, and the people of the main n returned to the pce to begin restoration procedures to heal the world itself back to its peak.

    Damien also finished his business and returned to the pce around the same time, making his way to a secluded office-like room to meet the Emperor thereafter.

    "We''ve been having a lot of meetings these days, huh," Damien said with a smile as he sat down in the seat prepared for him.

    The royal n, including the Emperor himself, no longer cared if Damien followed the usual courtesies. After all, disregarding his achievements, his status as Astoria''s teacher technically ced him equal to the Emperor in seniority!

    "Indeed," the Emperor responded, passing Damien a ss and motioning for him to help himself to the few spirit liquor disyed on the table. "Though, this will be thest for a considerable period, no?"

    Damien nodded. "Mm, now that I''ve achieved everything I set out to do, there''s no point in staying. I should clear things up with the Ancient God n as soon as possible."

    "Good. It seems you have nned your steps carefully. However, you must still be careful. There are many people after your life."

    "You heard something?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    The Emperor hummed as he poured himself a ss of spirit wine. "Just a few things. There are more than a few influences trying to find your information, but you''ve hidden well. Most of your history is a nk te, while a majority of the rest is being blocked by a certain influence."

    Damien smiled wryly. He didn''t know whether tough or cry at this newly unveiled truth.

    First of all, wasn''t the Emperor insinuating that he was also searching for Damien''s information?

    Putting aside that only slightly concerning fact, had he really been lowkey in any fashion? He almost wanted to check if someone altered his memories and made his life far more exciting than it actually was.

    ''I can''t decide whether that would be better or worse, but for now, let''s stop thinking about it. Even if it''s a joke, with my luck, I''ll probably end up the target of a few trickster Gods. Then again, maybe they''d teach me how to actually be lowkey¡­?''

    Rather than saying he had hidden, it was more urate to say that he killed everyone who would''ve wanted to sell his information in vengeance, and those who were left alive were simply too far apart for their ounts of his person to be assumed as the same person.

    After all, other than Damien, who else could move halfway across the universe in a few weeks or less? Even spatial practitioners didn''t have this kind of mobility, so his existence was conveniently kept unrecognized.

    Though, he didn''t doubt that if these people''s memories were searched for his appearance, his entire "hidden genius" persona would die.

    ''I''ll have to repay the Director someday.'' He thought to himself.

    The enemies who wanted his life at this stage were mostly Holy Land-level influences or Demigods. While his fame made him blush a little, he now had to consider the Human Domain again.

    To someone like Immortal Blood Asura, making the connection would be a piece of cake as long as he had a single lead.

    "Setting that aside for now, you will also be attending the Grand Assembly, no?" Damien said, returning his mind to reality.

    The Emperor nodded. "Yes, the n has not changed. I will be personally attending the Grand Assembly. Matters of the world will be left to Hedrick and Elizabeth."

    Damien furrowed his brows. "Are you nning to bring Astoria?"

    "Is there a problem?" the Emperor asked.

    Damien nodded. "You should let her remain here. In fact, you shouldn''t let her leave the world until it stabilizes."

    The Emperor raised his brow curiously.

    ''I guess he doesn''t know yet.''

    Damien realized once again just how esoteric Fate was. Even at this stage, a Demigod like the Golden Dragon Emperor could only sense that Astoria had be proficient in utilizing Fate like a Golden Dragon.

    Damien sighed in slight wonder and began exining everything from the beginning. He exined what he knew about Fate, slightly embellishing the details with concepts of Universal Flow and Samsara to make it more digestible.

    The Emperor made a variety of expressions as he listened to Damien''s exnation and learned about what truly happened when Astoria restored the Fate Clouds and how Damien essentially enved and kidnapped the ck Dragons.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Many events have been taking ce outside of my perception. What a strange feeling," the Emperor said somewhat wryly as he took another sip of his drink.

    Damien didn''t speak further upon seeing the Emperor fall prey to his own thoughts.

    There were many things for him to digest, after all.

    As a Divinity, the Golden Dragon Emperor''s mentality was far stronger than the average man, but he wasn''t a brick wall. If he was, he wouldn''t have sacrificed his future for the sake of his n.

    However, to learn that this sacrifice was the reason he was never able to achieve the goal he''d been striving towards ever since his ascension to the throne¡­was difficult to ept, to say the least.

    And even more than that, his goal had chosen his daughter instead of him.

    ''So this was the meaning of that prophecy¡­'' he thought to himself.

    The great blessing fated for the Golden Dragons wasn''t external. It wasn''t some sort of treasure¡­

    It was Astoria.

    This girl who had only ever shown herself to be a mischievous devil somehow matured into someone grand before he even realized it.

    Was this the shock every parent had to experience at some point in their life?

    A smile formed on his face.

    It truly did hurt, but since he never had a chance in the first ce, wasn''t this the best possible scenario?

    ''Astoria¡­you have finally found your ce in the limelight¡­'' the Emperor thought, his eyes half-closing as he sent his thoughts into the sky.

    ''Deytria, I hope you are watching over her from your ce in the Heavens¡­''

    He offered a silent prayer before opening his eyes and turning back to Damien.

    "Thank you."

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    "What''d I do?"

    The Emperor smiled. It was a smile that contained warmth, something he''d never shown Damien.

    "If it wasn''t for your aid, would Astoria have been able to bloom into her potential? If left to others, it would have gone unnoticed until the day she died. How could I not thank you?"

    Damien shook his head. "No, I only gave her the chance to grow. If she wasn''t already a genius with a fiercely unyielding spirit, she would have gained nothing at all."

    He finally poured himself a ss of dark spirit liquor and raised it in the air with a grin.

    "She''s bound toin incessantly when she learns she has to stay home, so make sure to properly thank her for saving the world."

    The Emperor''s eyes widened slightly before he returned Damien''s expression, shing his sharp canines.

    He raised his ss to meet the one extended to him.

    Clink!

    "Consider it done."

 Chapter 972 Farewell [2]

    "Master~! Why are you leaving me~?!"

    Astoria''s ear-rending whining resounded through the halls of the pce, making anyone who could hear her''s expression wry.

    Damien was included among these people. He rolled his eyes and smirked, patting her on the head to cate her.

    "Rx. Why''re you acting like I''m going to go die somewhere? We''ll reunite eventually," he said warmly.

    "But Master~, if you leave, everything will be boring again!"

    "I shouldn''t have expected anything else from you."

    "Hm?"

    "Haa, nothing. Anyway, you already have plenty to do here, so what''s the point of leaving? You''re still acting like this, but we both know what''s in your heart."

    Astoria looked away, embarrassed at how well he could read her.

    Damien gave a half smile and sent her a sound transmission for only the two of them to hear.

    "I have onest gift for you before I leave. Take this bead. Whenever you find yourself with some alone time, crush it. You''ll get a big surprise."

    Damien passed her a small blue marble, which she took and eyed curiously.

    "Master, what is this thing? Why did you have to tell me through sound transmission?" She questioned.

    "Haha, don''t worry about that for now. All you need to know is: as long as you crush that bead, you won''t get bored during this period of house arrest. I''ll guarantee that on my pride as your master," Damien responded smugly.

    "Oh?"

    Astoria''s eyes brightened as she stashed the bead in her spatial ring.

    "Master, I''m not patient so I''m going to go try it now! I''ll see you next time!"

    She immediately ran over to the Emperor and spoke a few words before scurrying back to her room.

    Damien shook his head with a half-smile on his face. ''Well, the sooner the better I guess.''

    Astoria''s behavior wasn''t a facade, but she was far moreplex than she was before she met Damien.

    She now had a sense of responsibility and understanding towards her position and power.

    Damien''s smile was not a wry one caused by her mischief, but a content one, because he knew that his disciple was doing everything she could to grow stronger as efficiently and stably as possible.

    And she trusted their rtionship enough to know that the gift Damien gave her would be the best first step for her to take.

    How could he not feel pride after seeing her determination?

    He wished he could help her more, but her path was never space.

    From the beginning, her spatial abilities were supportive.

    Only, her main strength was not the techniques of the Golden Dragons, but instead those of another being entirely.

    ''I wonder how it''ll look when those two meet¡­I guess I''ll hear it directly from Astoriater.''

    Damien turned his attention a few feet away, where Elena and the Emperor were having a conversation that''d basically been going in circles for the past few minutes.

    "¡­your contributions. Without you, this would have fallen."

    "It''s nothing, your Majesty. I was only acting for material benefit, so I cannot ept your thanks.

    "For material benefit only? However, any normal contractee would not put in half the effort you did. I believe in your sense of justice, and I believe it should bemended. There is no need to reject our sincerity."

    "I¡­"

    "She''ll take it!"

    Damien appeared between the duo and swiped the box in the Emperor''s hand, wrapping his arm around Elena and shing a grin at the duo.

    "Guys, courtesy is fun, but isn''t this a bit too excessive?" He said teasingly.

    Elena frowned. "I really didn''t do anything worthy of rewarding though, so I don''t want to ept anything precious."

    "Unfortunately for you, wifey, your husband is shameless and greedy, so we''ll be taking this anyway."

    "Emperor, any objections?"

    "None," the Emperor responded with a smile.

    Elena looked at Damien, then the Emperor, then back at Damien one more time before finally letting out a defeated sigh.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Haa, fine. But I still won''t take it for free. If the Golden Dragon n ever needs my help in the future, I''ll lend it without question."

    The Emperor nodded contentedly. "That goes without saying. Our Golden Dragon n shared your sentiment and will aid you with the same fervor if the need ever arises. As allies, it is only right that we support each other."

    The duo expressed their appreciation, and after a few more minutes of conversation, the time of departure truly came.

    Damien and Elena left the pce hand in hand, the Emperor and Golden Dragon n''s words of well wishes following them out.

    Damien looked over at the lovely woman beside him with a smile.

    "You ready? We have a lot of exining to do before the fun stuff starts."

    Elena leaned into his shoulder with the same warm expression on her face. "Please go easy on the teleportation this time. I''m not ready to die yet."

    "Hey, aren''t we supposed to be having a romantic moment as we ride off into the sunset right now?"

    "Why would you want to do something so unbelievably cringe?"

    "I hate that you know Earth humor."

    "Yes, and I love you too."

    "Tch."

    Damien clicked his tongue, trying his best to pretend like he wasn''t grinning like a fool on the inside.

    It had been so long that he didn''t realize how much he missed the feeling of having a beauty by his side, particrly a beauty he had feelings for.

    It wasn''t bad.

    It wasn''t bad at all.

    ''¡­but I should still get a little revenge for thatst bit, no?''

    Elena shivered as she sensed Damien''s evil grin.

    "Wait, don''t even think about¡ª!"

    "Toote."

    sh!

    The duo disappeared from the world, off to start their next journey and leaving behind a world that shone in gold.

    In every corner of the Fate Star, beautiful manifestations covered the sky as if to celebrate the existence of the couple.

    Astoria watched the fading spatial fluctuations with an unreadable expression on her face, tightening her grip on the bead in her hand.

    ''Next time, I''ll be strong enough to stand by them.''

    Her sentiment drifted into reality and merged with those of many others, and Astoria herself¡­

    ¡­vanished into the air along with the spatial fluctuations.

    Major changes were going to take ce in the universe soon enough, and while those involved didn''t know it quite yet, the cmity of Beast Emperor Star marked the start of a new era.

    It was an era of war and death, an era of total uncertainty¡­

    Yet, it was only this type of era that could birth ultimate geniuses,

    And it was only in this type of era that they could draw out everyst bit of their potential.

    The stage was set for their debut.

    All that was left¡­was for those stars to shine.

    ***

    The trip to the Ancient God n was simple and smooth, at least for Damien. While Elena had something of a shaky ride, it wasn''t too bad for her either.

    The couple entered the Ancient God n''s hidden world and met Di within seconds of their arrival. Now that there were mere days remaining before the biggest gathering of the century took ce, there was no time to dally and talk about meaningless things.

    First of all, the Genesis Bead needed to be recovered. Otherwise, the Ancient God n couldn''t confront otherrger influences with confidence.

    However, when Damien and Elena actually got around to exining what happened¡­

    "You did¡­WHAT?!"

    ¡­the reaction was just as bad as they expected it to be.

 Chapter 973 Grand [1]

    The Ancient God n once had three treasures.

    One was destroyed while the other only dealt with internal n matters, leaving only the Genesis Bead with the ability to aid them against outside threats.

    Unfortunately, the bead was lost as well.

    It wasn''t a matter of the Ancient God n being negligent. In fact, after the Alteron Star Cruiser''s destruction, they guarded the Genesis Bead to the best of their capabilities.

    How could they predict its theft? And after its theft, how could they retrieve it when it was passed around several times with no true owner for too long?

    By the time the beadnded in the Golden Dragon Emperor''s hands, the Ancient God n''s situation had deteriorated, making it incredibly inconvenient for them to retrieve it.

    Damien''s existence was a p to the n''s face, but Di and Ran, its leaders, understood how significant he was to their n''s fate.

    Let alone revival, if he could reach the level of the Ancestor who originally created the Ancient God n, he could take them to higher heights than they''d ever imagined,

    Therefore, both in convenience and to test him, they sent him to the Beast Domain to reim their lost treasure.

    Did they doubt he could do it?

    Not at all. No master of the Ancient God n could be so weak.

    However, did they expect him to do it so fast?

    And more than that¡ª

    "You did¡­WHAT?!"

    Ran''s voice was practically like the screech of an eagle as she stood up and mmed her hands down on the table.

    Seated around it were Di, Damien, Elena, Xinyue, and Ran herself. They had only just reunited and begun their conversation, but she already felt like her head was going to explode.

    "We sent you to retrieve our n''s artifact, yet you came back only to tell us that we cannot reim it at all?! What is this sphemy?!"

    Ran''s roars weren''t too big of an overreaction, all things considered.

    Compared to her, Di was far moreposed. Still, his usually unmoving face was currently crinkled in aplicated expression.

    Of the three, only Xinyue showed no reaction at all. She merely looked between Damien and Elena, seemingly quietly assessing the situation.

    Damien sighed and exined the entire story, starting from meeting Astoria and ending finally when he enved the ck Dragons.

    The further the story went, the more the expressions of the three Ancient God nsmen changed.

    From intrigue to shock, from disgust to admiration, they absorbed the tales of the Great War of Beast Emperor Star and everything that came about as a result of it.

    Including Elena''s binding of the Genesis Bead.

    At the end of the exnation, Elena directly stood up and bowed to the two n leaders, expressing her apology.

    "I still have no clue how or why the Genesis Bead bonded itself with me, but I had no intention of plundering your treasures. If there is anything I can do topensate, I will try my best to do it," she said sincerely.

    Ran ground her teeth, shing Elena a re that could burn a hole through the world itself, but she didn''t speak.

    Di nced at Elena and shook his head softly. "The situation is different from what we originally assumed. Rather than binding the Genesis Bead, you were chosen by it. This is not something we can hold a grudge for."

    The Genesis Bead, as a supreme treasure, had a rudimentary consciousness, which meant that while it couldn''tmunicate or articte itself, it could choose its owner.

    In terms of intelligence, it was barely lower than Mirage.

    Nevertheless, the Genesis Bead never bound itself to an Ancient God n member no matter how much time passed. It only ever allowed them to use its base capabilities, which still boosted their overall strength tremendously.

    For it to bind with Elena meant it was ready to show its true form and true worth.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "It is both a blessing for the individual and a terrible omen for the state of the universe. I am beginning to worry about what will happen during this Grand Assembly," Di muttered.

    Looking at Damien and Elena, he continued, "This matter cannot be solved simply, but we can at least put aside the more detailed conversations until the current hurdle is crossed. Until then, Miss Elena, please do not underestimate the Genesis Bead. Since it has chosen you, you must not allow it to wallow in mediocrity."

    Elena nodded firmly in acknowledgment, silently sensing the bead that resided in her body.

    Meanwhile, Damien continued the conversation, steering it away from his and Elena''s blunder now that the air had been slightly cleared up.

    "What''s the n?" He asked.

    "We are already prepared to set out. We were only awaiting your arrival. Now that you are here, we can leave at any time."

    Damien nodded. "The Grand Assembly is only 3 days away, right? Can your starship make it in time?"

    "Naturally it would be difficult for a starship to make such a trip, but is that not where youe in?"

    "Aha, so the n was always to abuse my power."

    "This is not abuse in any sense. This is merely you doing your duty for your subordinates. Isn''t that right, ''Lord Damien.''"

    Di''s voice wasced with just a hint of sarcasm that made Damien''s expression wry.

    ''Weren''t you supposed to ept me after I¡ª oh wait, I totally failed the task they gave me, didn''t I¡­''

    ''Oh well, it is what it is.''

    Damien shrugged.

    "5 days to get to the Divine Realm¡­how big is the starship?"

    "Notrge. It is just enough to contain 4 of us, as well as one more genius from the n."

    "I see, so Ran is staying?"

    "Don''t speak my name so casually! But yes, I will not be attending. This time, each influence can only bring 5 geniuses and 5 elders. You should be thankful that two of those spots are being granted to you," Ran interrupted haughtily.

    "Ah, actually, I don''t need one. You can use mine for another genius."

    "Wha-?! You¡­!"

    "I dropped down a lot in the time I spent away, but I''m still top 50 on the Dimensional Leaderboard. I already have an entry quota." Damien said nonchntly.

    "H-huh?"

    Ran''s eyes widened slightly, making it clear that she had no foreknowledge of this fact.

    Damien nced at Di, who shook his head in defeat.

    Even he couldn''t control her behavior. Since she disregarded Damien from the beginning, she didn''t bother doing any research on him.

    Damien sighed to himself. "You probably need time to choose a third genius, so let''s set out tomorrow. Until then, me and Elena will go elsewhere to prepare."

    Damien nced at Elena, who nodded back at him with a smile. Taking her hand, he vanished from the Ancient God n, entering the Sanctuary for a period ofst-minute adjustment.

    After all, no matter how big of an event the Grand Assembly was to the universe as a whole, it was even bigger to Damien.

    Because this event¡­

    This event was the ce where he would finally reunite with everyone from the Human Domain.

    His anticipation was practically explosive.

 Chapter 974 Grand [2]

    The Grand Assembly.

    To this day, many words had been spoken of it, but not much had been said to describe what the event actually was.

    In fact, this wasn''t without reason. The Grand Assembly''s importance was obvious, and those involved in arranging it were extremely cautious about containing information.

    However, now that the day was approaching, those invited parties finally received some information.

    First off, the location.

    The Grand Assembly was set to take ce in what could be considered the safest ce in the entire universe; Sky Castle Luxurion.

    It was the very center of the Divine Realm, which also happened to be the widely regarded center of the universe.

    Currently, several hundred forces made their way through the Divine Realm, using teleportation arrays and starships to rapidly move through the starry sky.

    Of course, without special means, it was impossible for those further from the Divine Realm, such as the Ancient God n, to reach Luxurion in time, but that was to be expected.

    The Grand Assembly would begin soon enough, but it would continue for at least two months.

    The true conference to decide the fate of Grand Heavens Boundary would only take ce after all forces were present, but there were many other events that would lead up to that conference, aimed to promote camaraderie and rivalry among peers from every corner of the universe.

    Naturally, most of these events were meant for younger geniuses, but there was plenty for the older experts to do as well.

    After all, at a time like this, it was best to make as many allies and acquaintances as possible.

    Especially those with little influence like the Ancient God n, who operated mainly in Eien and had far more acim than their numbers suggested.

    A starship drifted through the starry sky. It was deep ck with maroon emblems painting its surface, depicting it as a vessel belonging to the Royal Demon n.

    Rulers of the Infernal Realm, helmed by the Supreme, Lucifer, the Royal Demon n was likely one of the most influential ns in Grand Heavens Boundary, with their numerous Demigod Ancestors outstripping the number of extreme peak masters most regr influences had.

    They, along with the Heavenly n of the Divine Realm, were the strongest singr influences in Grand Heavens Boundary, ns with status that made them utterly untouchable for all.

    However, surprisingly enough, this ship was not home to only demons.

    Among those on the vessel were many humans, and even a single angel.

    "Lucifer, when will we arrive?" The angel asked as he gazed out a nearby window.

    Lucifer smiled slightly as he responded: "What, have you missed thefort of Luxurion so much? I thought you were better than the rest of those fools, Parsiel."

    The angel, Parsiel, sneered. "If I was like them, you''d have killed me already. Stop joking around and answer me."

    "We should arrive on the first or second day of the assembly. Why must you worry when we''ve already been traveling for so long? You knew where the assembly would be held months ago, no?"

    "That''s true, yet¡­"

    Parsiel frowned to himself. It had been several years since he left the Divine Realm on a mission to find talent, and now that he was returning, he couldn''t get rid of the wriggling difort in his chest.

    What was this feeling?

    Fear? Foreboding?

    Or maybe it was just anticipation?

    He didn''t know, but whatever it was, it made him feel jittery and ufortable.

    "How do you think they will be received when we arrive?" He suddenly said.

    "Do you even need to ask?" Lucifer responded immediately.

    "It''ll be utterly humiliating¡­"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "¡­at least, until they get a chance to prove themselves."

    The smile on his face became somewhat imperceptible, but Parsiel knew exactly what he meant.

    Those people¡­

    Well, it was best to say that their existence finally convinced Parsiel that rumors of the Human Domain weren''t embellished in the slightest.

    Perhaps they were even a little too mild to describe those monsters!

    "To think someone can not only pass their Baptism and enter 4th ss, but traverse the entire thing andnd in thete stages in the span of what, 2 years? 3 years? If I didn''t see it myself, I wouldn''t believe a single word of it," he muttered, still shaking his head in wonder at this fact he''d known for a long time now.

    "And it isn''t just one, but four. Chaotic eras truly do produce many heroes," Lucifer added.

    "Mm, and the 5th is¡­"

    "Even I can''t understand what that Void Old Immortal is thinking. Since he''s a Demigod, I''m sure he has his own considerations."

    The two''s conversation fell into a lull.

    For this event, they had taken the great risk of backing an unknown variable, the Human Domain''s forces.

    Depending on their performance, it would either be a blessing or a catastrophe for many people, not just those directly involved.

    ''The Human Domain''s status has fallen to an all-time low in the 10,000 years they''ve been disconnected from the universe. If those young geniuses excel, they will immediately regain their grand status. However, if they end up failing¡­''

    If the Human Domain was secluded from the universe not just physically but emotionally, what would happen to them?

    Rather, if they lost their value and the influences that controlled Grand Heavens Boundary decided to forsake Sector 3 entirely, how would its citizens survive when the Nox eventually invaded?

    These stakes naturally weren''t just known by Lucifer and Parsiel, but by the Human Domain geniuses as well.

    Despite theirparative youth, they were beings who understood their worth and their duty.

    And none of them nned to fail.

    There were 9 rooms in the starship upied by Human Domain forces.

    5 of them contained Demigod elders such as the Void Old Immortal Tian Yang, while the other four contained 5 geniuses.

    Unlike their peers, two of the geniuses decided to share a room, using the time they spent on the starship to train together and improve.

    Between them, there were no unfamiliar faces.

    A beautiful woman with light, almost pastel pink hair who had an aura of mystery and intrigue around her like a strange cross between a trickster and a goddess, and a woman with white hair that matched her ethereal appearance, who almost appeared like a lone moon in the sky, or maybe even a goddess of death.

    They had been training with their eyes set on the Grand Assembly for a very long time, and they didn''t n to rx even now.

    They remained with their eyes closed and legs crossed, seated facing each other with their mana intermingling and strengthening in the space between them.

    Unlike the rest, they had two goals in this expedition.

    The first was naturally to secure the fate of the Human Domain and gain allies for theing outbreak of all-out war¡­

    ¡­and the second was to look for a person.

    His whereabouts were a mystery and had been a mystery since he first disappeared, but they had a hunch.

    That man who somehow managed to get himself involved in every major event that he had the ability to interfere in¡­

    ¡­he would definitely be there.

 Chapter 975 Grand [3]

    Wap!

    The starry sky warped strangely as a starship catapulted through its folds and arrived several hundred million kilometers away from its starting position.

    The stars ands that decorated space were beautiful, and though it would seem like a dreary and unchanging scenery, every celestial body had its own unique life signature, which, for those who could see them, painted the starry sky in a myriad of colors and visions.

    The Divine Realm''s outer space was far different from the Beast Domain. If there was one main factor that defined the two, it was the atmosphere.

    The Divine Realm was still and calm, while the Beast Domain was far more belligerent.

    It sounded like a qualitative effect, but it was actually directly rted to the qualities of the sectors'' mana itself. This mana was influenced by its users and influenced them in return, which established these qualities over a long period of time.

    But, even without this mana, the Divine Realm stood out from the rest; solely due to the existence of Luxurion.

    The Ancient God n''s starship traveled without pause, and those on board were almost copsing from the constant spatial travel, but by sacrificing themselves, they made it to the Divine Realm in an incredibly short period of time, leaving themselves an entire day before the Grand Assembly''s official start.

    Damien stood in the control center of the ship and stared out the windows, his eyes set on Luxurion''s light, visible from every corner of the Divine Realm.

    ''I didn''t reallyprehend it back when I first arrived, but just how big is Luxurion? For its light to shine so fiercely for hundreds of millions of kilometers¡­''

    He didn''t continue the train of thought for long, as after a few more long-distance teleportations, the castle''s figure became clear in his eyes.

    Massive was an understatement.

    Damien just came from the Golden Dragon Pce which was almost like a moon in size, but Luxurion?

    Luxurion wasrger than suns, an entire gigantic world in the shape of a shining white and gold castle, a color scheme expected of angels.

    Hisss!

    Damien deeply inhaled as he observed it. Compared to the castle, the starship looked like an ant.

    No, with the thousands of starships making their way towards the location, the castle was like the ant hill to their colony.

    It was a silly analogy, but it also served to illustrate the humbling feeling that standing in front of such a structure provoked.

    The time and effort it took to build this castle and detail it so intricately, the power and finesse it took to fortify it and make it a true divine sanctuary that symbolized safety, everything that went into bringing this ce into existence, and even its existence itself, made one understand just how far they were from the peak of everything.

    It was exhrating and grounding at the same time, especially for younger geniuses like Damien who were still filled with the motivation to grow and improve.

    As Damien entertained his anticipation, Di took over control of the starship and maneuvered it into the line that had formed outside Luxurion.

    In total, the number of those who arrived a day early was only in the few thousands, most of these being affiliated forces ofrger influences who could only participate in the festivities but were barred from the actual conference.

    Those not included in these were geniuses who wanted to scout thepetition beforehand.

    Some of these geniuses were people with high status in the universe who hid themselves and traveled separately from their backing for the sake of a more natural experience.

    Among them, there were several familiar faces from Hidden Death Valley, including the one and only Atticus mesworth.

    Atticus was one of the first in the wider universe to recognize Damien''s talents, and though the man himself disappeared for almost a year, he didn''t fade from Atticus'' mind.

    No, the scars of defeat he still held from their battle in the Celestial Realm were a daily reminder of that monstrous being who could only be viewed as a goal to surpass.

    Atticus had worked extremely hard these past months and securely stepped foot into level 399, just barely missing the extreme peak.

    As he went through the many verification procedures to enter Luxurion, his spirit burned brighter. He was confident that Damien would appear at the Grand Assembly, and he was confident that Damien, who was still in the mid-ranges of 4th ss when theyst met, wouldn''t be able to match his progress.

    And in a sense, he wasn''t wrong. If Damien only had 9 months to train, he likely wouldn''t have reached his current extreme power level.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    However, Damien didn''t have 9 months, but around 5 years and 9 months after the Void Corridor and Astoria''s training.

    If Atticus came to know this, just how would he feel?

    It was almost certain he''d cough blood and kneel in seconds.

    But¡­that was a story for a different time.

    ***

    Damien and his group weren''t too far behind Atticus in line. Around 20 minutes after he entered Luxurion, Damien''s group arrived and began undergoing security procedures as well.

    Atticus was definitely understating the security procedures because of his status as Fallen Star Holy Land''s Young Master. It wasn''t just strict and tedious, but absolutely airtight to prevent any sort of mishap.

    Confirming identity was easy, but after identity confirmation came an extremely in-depth and almost ufortable search, which was followed by stations that recorded one''s mana fluctuations, blood, power level, soul fluctuation, and much more.

    Essentially, the procedures were less about confirming that those who entered wouldn''t be a threat during the assembly, it was to ensure that they could be monitored and, if needed, controlled after the assembly ended.

    Damien passed the procedures without a hitch, calmly obeying everymand he was given, though¡­

    ''Kekekeke, let''s see how you try to leash me with falsified information. You''ll never be able to tell it''s fake until it''s toote because you''ll never understand the Void! Kekekeke¡­''

    ¡­his inner thoughts were quite devious indeed.

    It would be a lie to say the grandiosity of this event wasn''t making him giddy. After operating so seriously for so long, this opportunity to take two months off while waiting for the main conference was weed with open arms.

    Damien turned back and watched as Elena finished her own business and flew over to where he was waiting.

    "Should we go now?" she asked, ncing at the Ancient God n members, who had to go through a much more thorough questioning since they were an influence rather than individuals.

    ''From the original exnation, I thought it would be more difficult to get in, but it seems like they''re letting anyone in right now. I guess the invite-only part that everyone was worrying about was just the conference itself.''

    "Let''s just go. For now, I don''t think Ran and Xinyue appreciate our presence in the slightest," he said out loud after thinking it over.

    Elena nodded in agreement. "I don''t know the full story, but it should be a matter of time. Don''t you just have to show up and show out like always so they feel no doubts about the ''Lord'' they follow?"

    Damien smiled wryly and responded, "Don''t say it like that. I really wanted to just rx this time."

    "Hahaha!" Elenaughed brightly. "Since when was that an option?"

    "I hate how urate that is."

    "And I love you too."

    "We''re doing this again?"

    "It just felt appropriate."

    "Fair enough."

    The twoughed together as they truly entered Luxurion.

    ''Show up and show out, huh¡­''

    Damien''s face twitched as he tried to stop the wolf grin trying to form on his face.

    ''When you say it like that, how can I even refuse?''

 Chapter 976 Grand [4]

    The inside of Luxurion was just as luxurious as its exterior, perhaps even more.

    After all, with a castle the size of a, how would one fill the space?

    Naturally, the entire structure had high ceilings that could easily amodate Giants in their full size or beasts with huge forms, but that was still only enough to fill a bit more space.

    Luxurion was like a world specifically created for training and events. It was armed with countless facilities which could house hundreds of thousands of practitioners easily that contained state-of-the-art mana technology to train various facets of one''s strength, as well as a plethora of arenas and ballrooms and other facilities of simr nature.

    Damien and Elena entered through the main entrance of the pce, which was on the North side. This entrance was used for public events where outsiders would enter Luxurion, as its other facilities werergely reserved for the Angel Race alone.

    It was their treasure, after all. Regardless of its universal importance, the Angel Race made the final decision on how it was utilized.

    Nevertheless, for the Grand Assembly, many areas of Luxurion that had originally been closed to the public were opened.

    "At this point, everything is basically free game. We can do whatever we want until someone tries to stop us," Damien muttered as he nced around.

    There were many people already in the halls, but they were spread sparsely inparison to the size of the hall itself.

    Many younger practitioners were leaving the main entrance hall one by one to explore Luxurion, which gave Damien the idea to do the same.

    "Luxurion''s facilities are famous throughout the universe, but those outside of the Angel Race could only ever dream about them in envy. Now that we have the chance to experience that dream, why not do it right?" Elenamented in agreement.

    The two left the Ancient God n behind as they''d agreed prior and explored the castle.

    ''Xinyue''s attitude hadpletely changed since she found out about my position. I don''t know if it''s grievance or something else, but it''s not fun to see¡­''

    Damien didn''t have any particr feelings for Xinyue, but she was an acquaintance that he''d spent some time with. He didn''t like that she now looked at him like an enemy targeting her n.

    ''Nothing can be done about it. If I was in her position, I''d probably be the same.''

    Damien shrugged it off and focused on the scenic walk he was taking instead.

    As Elena said, what the Ancient God n needed was time to ept their fate.

    ''If they want to view themselves as ves, I should leave them with the ck Dragons and show them how those who were forcefully submitted are actually treated. Maybe their views will change.''

    The ck Dragons under hismand were currently experiencing hell in the name of disciplining, but that wasn''t a story that needed to be told.

    ''Putting aside useless thoughts, these facilities are truly amazing. They''re only a step better than what was avable in Hidden Death Valley, but a step at that height is a thousand steps in regr terms.''

    If he wanted to benefit from training right now, these facilities would be a perfect tool. Unfortunately, his goal was elsewhere.

    ''For 2 months, I have to entertain myself without causing too much trouble and getting a target ced on my back. To start, I should scout the level that the average genius is at so I can make a n to move forward.''

    The end goal was to thoroughly crush thepetition, but doing so this early would be idiotic.

    As the saying went, the first to show their cards would always lose.

    Damien exined his reasoning to Elena, who had the same thought but for different reasons, and the duo made their way to the castle''s battleground, a ce where tens of arenas existed as one to create the greatest conjoined tournament venues in the universe.

    The arenas were already in use, with several tens of geniuses waiting to fight and even more sitting in the stands.

    As Damien had no interest in weaker fights, he went to the arena emanating the strongest mana fluctuations, which was also coincidentally the smallest one.

    The stands could only hold a hundred or so people at most, and the ring was only a few tens of metersrge.

    Two men stood on opposing sides of the arena. Their eyes were closed and their postures suggested they were meditating, but to the trained eye, a fearsome battle was taking ce.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Silently and imperceptibly, leaving behind only the furious fluctuations of their existence,ws shed in the air between the two geniuses.

    They battled purely using the concepts they were learning without mobilizing these concepts as attacks.

    Damien''s brow raised when he saw it.

    ''Smart. They can still show off, but they can conceal a majority of their power by fighting this way. After all, no matter the strength of one''sprehension, it''s useless without techniques to properly utilize it.''

    Even more so,w concepts could go through a myriad of changes as one found methods to militarize them.

    "They''re not matching each other, but doing their best to force the other to attack through suppression. It makes me want to try," Elena said through sound transmission.

    Damien nodded in agreement, releasing his All-Seeing Eyes to get a more tangible view of the fight.

    As time went on and multiple battles started and ended, he became more certain.

    ''Theirprehension is impressive, but it isn''t anything special. At most, they''re average among Eien''s forces and slightly above average in Hidden Death Valley. If these people were ced on the Dimensional Leaderboard, they wouldn''t even make the top 5,000.''

    A frown formed on his lips.

    ''If they represent the average state of geniuses in the universe, it''s not just a matter of this assembly being boring anymore. The universe will genuinely suffer if it can only rely on a small number of heroes.''

    He fell into thought about how he could influence this situation for the better, only to be jerked back to reality by a hand that firmlynded on his shoulder.

    "Damien, you''re really here!"

    A man''s voice came from behind, making Damien sigh.

    ''I guess I''ll think about itter.''

    He turned around with a somewhat forced smile to greet the man.

    "Atticus, I didn''t expect to see you here," he said, brushing the man''s hand off his shoulder.

    Atticus clicked his tongue. "If you were surprised, I wouldn''t be standing here so rxed."

    He sat down beside Damien, greeted Elena as "sister-inw," and began a conversation with the duo as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

    Damien''s expression turned wry.

    He truly did appreciate Atticus and would forever be thankful for his rmendation that gave Damien ess to a prime training location like Hidden Death Valley, but¡­

    Atticus had be a bit strange after theirst fight.

    Damien only experienced it for a few minutes before running away to fight the next genius, but he had a foreboding premonition.

    In his head, he sent a silent prayer.

    ''Atticus, for the love of god, I beg you not to make me everyone''s target on day one.''

    Was it a prayer or a jinx?

    Fortunately for Damien, he wouldn''t have to wait long at all to find out.

 Chapter 977 Day One [1]

    With Atticus'' arrival, the air became far livelier, and many eyes that previously had no interest in Damien''s existence turned to scrutinize him.

    Atticus was quite a well-known figure in the universe. Those in the know were very clear on his appearance and aura, and now seeing him act so jovially with a mystery genius, how could they not be curious?

    Atticus himself, on the other hand, ignored these gazes as if they never existed in the first ce. He dragged Damien into a conversation about what he''d been doing since he left the academy, why he left so suddenly, and other topics that basically put his life on disy for those listening.

    Damien sighed wryly. He couldn''t shut this man up, or he would just end up causing more trouble. The most he could do was lie a rtively nd story about his whereabouts and actions, eventually causing those eyes to lose interest.

    ''Haa, even though they are outwardly disregarding us, they''re still paying close attention. Atticus'' status is too high for him to associate with anyone average¡­''

    Did he perhaps make them even more curious with his actions?

    Regardless, the conversation continued on its natural course until it reached the event Damien was dreading most.

    "Now that I''ve improved, you won''t beat me likest time! Let''s fight!"

    Atticus'' eyes shone with brilliant fighting spirit as he grabbed Damien''s hand and dragged him to the arena floor, throwing out the two geniuses who were alreadypeting.

    "When did I agree to fight you?" Damien spat in annoyance.

    "Hahaha, consent isn''t important! If you don''t agree, I''ll just attack you until you fight me!" Atticus responded brightly.

    "That was genuinely an insane thing to say."

    Damien pped away Atticus'' grasp and backed out of the ring.

    "Consent is key, Atticus. I''m not fighting you right now," he said as he walked back to the stands.

    Atticus'' eyes narrowed.

    "Didn''t I say it already? That doesn''t matter. Today, I will defeat you!"

    His aura red and hisw concepts formlessly presented themselves, shooting through the air and mming towards Damien.

    In fact, while Atticus didn''t show it outwardly, his defeat in the Celestial Realm weighed on him heavily, even affecting his training and blocking him from realizing the truths of the extreme peak.

    He understood that Damien had certain ns for this time from his behavior, but frankly, he couldn''t care less right now.

    With his own path to power impeded by this roadblock, he needed to do everything he could to ovee it, and as soon as possible.

    From the moment he found and approached Damien, his intent had been to drag him to the arena and fight him.

    Now that the chance was in front of him, he wasn''t going to let it go.

    Haa¡­

    A sigh echoed through the surroundings.

    Voom!

    A wall of invisible force appeared at Damien''s back and swallowed Atticus'' attackpletely.

    "You really don''t n to give up?" He asked, turning his head back slightly.

    "I¡­"

    Atticus hesitated for a second when his eyes met Damien''s.

    Those weren''t the eyes of a friend, but a predator.

    Yet, Atticus didn''t allow himself to be controlled by this hesitation.

    ''I''ve already grown so much. There''s no way I won''t win!''

    "I will not give up until you fight me!" He said out loud, firmly and with determination.

    "Tsk."

    Damien clicked his tongue.

    He was annoyed almost to the point of anger.

    He didn''t care about his "ns" being ruined, since there wasn''t really a n in the first ce. Damien wanted to try being lowkey so he wouldn''t have to deal with as much troublesome nonsense, but he knew from the beginning that this entire Grand Assembly would be filled with trouble.

    Essentially, he tried for the sake of saying he tried.

    He, of course, didn''t expect his attempt to be thwarted within minutes, but there was nothing he could do about it.

    Even Universal Flow was bent on making him the center of everything.

    What annoyed and angered Damien was the fact that Atticus was trying to use him.

    He could have earnestly asked for help and Damien wouldn''t have rejected.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    With his perception, how could he not notice Atticus'' problem? He was already at a higher state of existence than the man, after all.

    To instead publically make this kind of fuss¡­

    ''The minds of Holy Land geniuses are fucked.''

    Other people became tools in their eyes when they needed to increase their power. Even worse, it happened at such a subconscious level that they didn''t even realize what they were doing.

    Damien understood that it could only be one''s environment that could breed this kind of mentality, but still¡­

    "Fine," he uttered, turning around to face his opponent. "I''ll give you three moves."

    "You¡­what?" Atticus stammered.

    "Didn''t I say it clearly? I''ll give you three free moves where I won''t make any attempts to dodge. If you can''t bring me down in three moves, I''ll end you with one."

    Atticus'' eyes widened in shock.

    "Are you¡­being serious right now?"

    Damien showed no reaction.

    Atticus almost couldn''tprehend it.

    To be looked down on was one thing, but to bepletely disregarded by someone one saw as a peer waspletely and utterly humiliating!

    Atticus gritted his teeth. He summoned his mana and focused inwardly to gather his Laws before snapping his eyes opening and roaring:

    "DON''T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME!"

    The atmosphere was dyed in bright yellow and ck hues, a testament to the strength of Atticus'' manifested Laws.

    Though they were formless, their influence on the world was too strong for them to remain hidden.

    VOOM!

    The colored hues rushed through the air, clouding everything between Atticus and Damien in its color as it struck fiercely!

    CLASH!

    Sparks fluttered through the air when the Law concepts were mere centimeters away from Damien. The yellow and ck hue was forcefully dispersed starting from the collision point, and waspletely vanquished a secondter.

    Damien looked up with boredom written on his face.

    "Was that it?"

    Atticus didn''t respond, instead raising his mana for another attack.

    Atticus'' main affinity was lightning, and the core of his strength was powered by thebination of numerous Lightning Seeds he''d taken into his body.

    In the first strike, he used the power of the two seeds he had when he first met Damien, just to test how far he''de.

    However, it wasn''t supposed to be deflected so easily.

    This time, Atticus gathered the power of 6 Lightning Seeds, each more powerful than the next. Hebined thewprehension they granted him into a single overarching web, which he then flung at Damien.

    The spectacle it made as it arced through the air, painting the world in a variety of colors, made its power all the more palpable¡­

    CLASH!

    ¡­until it met its opposition.

    It suddenly became pointless to describe theplexity ofws or the beauty of the attack.

    Because none of those things mattered when the attack was swallowed in the same way as its predecessors:

    Without a single hint of struggle.

    Atticus'' face paled.

    ''This¡­what is going on?!''

    Atticus inwardly fumbled as he tried to make sense of what was happening. He simply couldn''t believe that this chain of events was actually taking ce.

    And it was good for him to be submerged in his thoughts at this time, because Damien¡­

    Damien yawned.

    "You''ve got one more. Make it count."

 Chapter 978 Day One [2]

    "You''ve got one more. Make it count."

    When these words entered his ears, Atticus almost snapped.

    He didn''t waste any more time thinking about "why" Damien was able to stop him. He merely needed to let out aw concept so powerful that the "why" became irrelevant.

    And so, he did exactly that.

    He used his full power, gathering 9 Lightning Seeds as one and using their concepts to enhance and empower each other, not just forming a web, but a massive interconnectedwork that far outstripped a mere web.

    It was formless in the sense that it was given no form, but it had form nheless. At this level, it didn''t just color the atmosphere, thew fluctuations created their own manifestations and existed in reality with their sheer intensity as support pirs.

    A lightning god formed in front of Atticus, its eyes looking down on Damien as if it was sentient.

    It raised its arms into the air and created a gargantuan spear out of ambient mana, forcing Lightning Laws into it until its properties changed.

    ''Oho? Now that''s interesting.'' Damienmented inwardly.

    He''d never tried something like this himself, so he''d never actually seen if his Laws could create such manifestations.

    His fingers twitched with the urge to try on the spot, but his rationality held him back.

    ''There''s a difference between overpowering Atticus and letting my Law Manifestation out. If the Void decides to pull something funny, it''ll be toote tough.''

    While shelving the idea for a more secluded location, he watched the lightning god stab its spear at him with a ferociousness that tore the atmosphere apart.

    "Hmph."

    He snorted lightly and crossed his arms.

    Unlike before, he didn''t use his Laws to consume Atticus'' attack.

    He just stood still and allowed the spear to pierce his body and impale him against the arena wall.

    Rampantw fluctuations raged through his body, but they couldn''t do any damage.

    The Void Physique didn''t have to take action at all. Damien''s bodily defenses were already at a level where 3rd and 4th revolution masters wouldn''t be able to easily harm him.

    For Atticus who wasn''t even in the extreme peak yet¡­?

    Damien didn''t feel an ounce of pain. It felt like tiny static shocks were snaking through his skin for a few moments before they died down.

    And that was it.

    The lightning god projection faded, thew fluctuations calmed, and all that was left in the arena was an uninjured Damien and a devastated Atticus.

    "This¡­why¡­? I¡­after so long¡­!"

    Atticus copsed to his knees. His words came out fragmented as he tried to piece together his sanity.

    Damien sighed in disappointment.

    He walked up to Atticus and ced his hand on the man''s shoulder.

    "The answer was always the simplest. You just needed¡­to let go."

    He muttered those words so only the two could hear them, and in the next second¡­

    Voom!

    A pulse of mana spread through Atticus'' body.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    He coughed a mouthful of blood that was filled with chunks of organs.

    Damien didn''t stay to watch what happened.

    And Atticus didn''t try to stop him from leaving.

    He sat copsed on the ground, unmoving as blood leaked from his lips and eyes.

    Just as Damien promised, he ended it in a single move.

    In a single move, Atticus realized the insurmountable gap that had opened up between them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The man he once saw as a promising genius who could aid him in the future had grown into someone far more powerful than him before he could even blink.

    ''The answer¡­to let go¡­''

    Atticus finally understood.

    His obsessions were only holding him back. His desire to "do" first and "think"ter was making him overlook the most obvious truths.

    And because of that, he almostpletely disregarded his friendship with the very monster that defeated him.

    "Haa¡­"

    He sighed in disappointment, a simr sigh to what Damien let out moments ago.

    ''I really messed up this time.''

    ***

    Damien and Elena quickly left the battleground after the incident, but they couldn''t stop rumors of his existence from spreading.

    In the end, it only took half an hour for almost everyone in Luxurion to know about the mystery genius who thoroughly crushed the Fallen Star Holy Land Young Master in a duel.

    Meanwhile, the man himself found a quiet corner of the castle with a view of the starry sky beyond and took some time for himself.

    He didn''t expect his mood to be ruined so quickly, but after seeing Atticus'' behavior, it couldn''t be helped.

    He''d been traveling alone or with littlepany almost his whole life, so while he understood the base truths of the universe, experiencing them still hit him harder.

    Today, he was reminded how far people would go for the sake of power.

    Atticus'' case wasn''t too extreme, but with Damien''s immense perceptive ability and the All-Seeing Eyes'' partial ability to see through reality itself, he could almost be considered an empath in his ability to read other people''s emotions if he so desired.

    The deep-seated desire within Atticus that clouded his every other feeling, it was the same desire Damien felt within himself.

    Seeing that Atticus had the potential to fall prey to such desire reminded him that he was just as much at risk.

    And more than that¡ª

    ''It''s guaranteed that a majority of thoseing to Luxurion in the next few months will have already sumbed to that desire. Those older experts have a hard time resisting the temptation of power after facing the ultimate limits of their potential. Not only does this suggest that the number of traitors in the universe is probably higher than expected, but it also means this Grand Assembly will be turned into a stage for them to strut their egos in front of each other.''

    To others, it could seem like Damien was making wild guesses and acting as if they were truths. On such small scales, however, a "guess" from Damien was no different from truth.

    His understanding of Universal Flow made it easy for him to read the flow of people.

    ''The original n was to show up and show out. That was fine, but at most it would get me recognized as a monstrous genius¡­''

    ''¡­but "monstrous genius" isn''t enough anymore.''

    His eyes hardened.

    ''I have to utterly dominate and ruin this event.''

    The flickering me of a nearby candle danced in his eyes, casting a shadow over his face that made him look quite viinous.

    The n was set.

    Damien just needed to remove the ability to focus on personal interests.

    And to do so, he needed to y the viin role.

    ''I''ll beat up your geniuses and I''ll beat up your elders. When you try to catch me, you''ll learn that it really is possible to get so mad you cough blood.''

    When that time came, what choice would these forces have but to band together to deal with him?

    Not only would this force them into cooperative rtionships, which he could figure out how to make sustainableter, it would be great fun for him.

    ''I''ve never really had a hero arc, but a viin arc sounds like a great way to release stress¡­well, let''s call it a mini-arc. I don''t want to go full viin, after all.''

    He smiled to himself, and even more so, he smiled at the universe beyond.

    ''Just trust me. I refuse to let you die under my watch.''

 Chapter 979 Meeting [1]

    As Damien chose to avoid interacting with others after the incident with Atticus, the rest of the day passed smoothly.

    And soon enough, the true first day of the Grand Assembly began.

    The forces located within the reaches of the Divine Realm had all arrived, including those of Hidden Death Valley and even Azure Rain Star. It was estimated that the next week or two would be the prime time when most forces would arrive, which meant today was still a rtively rxed day without many organized activities.

    Aside from the training areas and other rooms connected by the corridors of Luxurion, there were three halls open to entertain newly weed guests. These halls could each hold over 25,000 people and became the main area for building rtionships andworking.

    It was a scene equal to a banquet of massive proportions, however, this naturally couldn''t go on for months until the main conference.

    Damien wondered just how they were going to make it worth these experts'' time to stay for the entire duration of the event as he and Elena made their way to the nearest of the halls.

    Originally, Damien wanted to take it easy today and let the talk about him die down a bit before showing his face again, but he quickly realized there was no point in hiding.

    Unlike other times, the Grand Assembly was filled with only experts. Whether it be the young geniuses who would spread rumors to the ends of the earth or the elders who could see through the truths of the world and verify their words, both would eventually find a way to focus on him.

    Especially when his disguise techniques couldn''t yet fool Demigods.

    ''The most I can do is falsify specific parts of my being for a short amount of time like I did for the entry verification, but I''m sure it''ll get better with practice.''

    Damien juggled his thoughts and entertained idle conversation with Elena as the duo approached the first main hall.

    Ceilings nearly a kilometer high, incredibly grand and ornate decoration, and people of such number that they formed a sea; it was exactly what Damien was expecting.

    "Let''s go see if anyone we know is here. If not, we''ll try the other ones," he said.

    Elena nodded in acknowledgement and followed him into the hall.

    She was also a rtively prominent figure in certain parts of the universe, and she had her own connections, some that reached the level of the Director from Hidden Death Valley.

    The two traversed the hall while ignoring the various eyes that turned to them, whether due to their appearances or reputations, until their heads both snapped in the same direction.

    "Director!""Commander!"

    The duo''s voices intepped, causing them to turn to each other in surprise as the two they called for also turned their heads.

    "Damien?"

    "Elena?"

    Two old men voiced their surprise together. One was stronger and more well-built, with a physique like a bodybuilder despite his aged appearance. The other was shorter and chubbier, but his wild mane-like hair and beard as well as the fierce look in his eyes made it difficult to underestimate him.

    They were none other than Alucard, the Director of Hidden Death Valley, and one of Elena''s greatest mentors, Commander Huo Xuan of Eien''s Divine Graveyard zone.

    The two duos met each other and introduced themselves, immediately producing a jovial atmosphere around them.

    "You know, I was just bragging to this old fart about the promising seed I found, and he said he had an even better one! Who would''ve thought we''d encounter the two of you together so soon!" The Director said with a bright smile.

    Damien returned his expression and responded, "More than that, Director, I didn''t know you had such a contact in Eien."

    "Brat, are you worried I''ll find out about what you were up to after disappearing?"

    "That¡­"

    Damien averted his gaze and greeted Commander Huo in an attempt to change the topic.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Commander, thank you for everything you''ve done for Elena. If it wasn''t for your help, perhaps I wouldn''t have been able to see her again."

    He lowered his head sincerely. There were no lies in his statement.

    When Elena first arrived in Eien, she coincidentallynded in the most dangerous zone after No Return Pass, the Divine Graveyard.

    This was a ce where High Commanders weremon and Supremes fought on the frontlines constantly to fight off the unbelievable number of powerful Nox who tried to invade through this point.

    Divine Graveyard was on the opposite end of Eien from the Blood-Drenched Wilderness, essible from Hephaestus, the Dwarven Domain. Due to this location, Divine Graveyard was one of the Nox''s main focuses, as breaching it meant reaching the main operation center of Heaven''s Army.

    Here, a lone Elena went through terrible struggles, almost dying several times before shended on the doorstep of a human camp, bloodied and nigh-lifeless.

    Commander Huo, who led that camp, could''ve left Elena to die there. It wouldn''t have benefited him in the slightest to take in someone as weak as her, and it would even be a waste of resources to heal her from such grievous wounds.

    However, the Commander still made the decision to save her; out of nothing but the goodness of his heart.

    Under this just and powerful Commander, Elena was able to steadily grow into her strength as a 4th ss and gain a deeper understanding of her Laws throughbat. He turned the Graveyard of Gods into a training ground for a young elite, which was exactly the thing Elena needed most at that time.

    She didn''t stay in his care for more than 6 months before she was sucked into a hidden realm with a severe time dtion, where she remained in solitude for almost a year training her mental strength, but his influence defined her future travels in the Divine Realm, and his name allowed her to escape many troublesome situationster on.

    If there was one person who essentially guaranteed Elena''s survival until she met Damien, it was Commander Huo.

    The Commander looked Damien up and down, even scanning him a few times with his awareness.

    And this time, unlike anything he''d done before, Damien allowed the scan to read most of his being.

    "You are her husband?" Commander Huo asked, seemingly disregarding Damien''s words of thanks.

    "Yes, sir," Damien admitted firmly.

    "Hmm¡­"

    The Commander nced between Elena and Damien a few times, his brows furrowing deeper every time before finally, they loosened.

    "Good!"

    A smile formed on his face.

    "Thisss, with the way she acted so cold to everyone, I thought she would be alone for the rest of her life. Now that I know it was because she had already given her heart to someone like you, how could I be any more contented?"

    Commander Huo let out a boisterousugh as he half-waddled over to Damien and patted him on the shoulder with ease that didn''t match his height.

    "Boy, since Alucard approves of you, there''s nothing more for me to say. As for me taking care of your little wife, just think of it as sponsoring a genius. That shouldn''t be too hard to ept, right?"

    Damien gazed into the man''s eyes. They were clear and full of light, the eyes of a true hero.

    "I can''t ept that." He said.

    He turned his attention inward and looked through the Sanctuary a bit before nodding and pulling an object out of the air.

    "Senior, please ept this gift of gratitude from me in exchange for what you''ve done for us."

 Chapter 980 Meeting [2]

    sh!

    A set of three booklets appeared in Damien''s hand, which he held out to Commander Huo.

    The Commander''s eyes immediately widened into saucers. No, they practically fell out of their sockets.

    "You¡­! This¡­!" He stammered, reaching a trembling hand out to touch the booklets.

    "Take them. They are of no use to me, but it''s different for you, right?" Damien said with a fox-like smile.

    Commander Huo gently ran his fingers along the worn seams of the booklets for a few more seconds before calming his astonishment and sighing.

    "Boy, I thought I understood your genius from the beginning, but who would have thought I was still underestimating you!"

    Damien''s smile widened.

    As expected, these books were treasures the Commander couldn''t refuse.

    The three books were titled as such:

    [Wrath of Odin - Skill Manual]

    [Ultimate Force - Trait Manual]

    [Worldbearing Tyrant Technique]

    They were three techniques owned by the Cloud Giants, who happily handed them over to Damien.

    As anyone could guess, the three were special techniques of the Giant Race,pletely useless to all others.

    And while Commander Huo disguised himself well, he couldn''t hide from Damien.

    "H-how did you obtain these?" Commander Huo asked, ignoring the fact that his facade had been exposed.

    The group was surrounded by multiple istion barriers set by Damien, Alucard, and Commander Huo himself, so this key detail about his true strength was guaranteed to stay within their circle.

    Damien took a second to think before answering Commander Huo''s question.

    "Hmm, I guess you could say it was given to me by a good friend."

    Unlike their current state, the original Cloud Giants were also part of the main Giant Race. When theynded themselves in the Wild Continent, they took many core racial techniques with them.

    Now that countless millennia had passed, those core techniques were legendary lost ancient scripts that could immensely benefit the entire Giant Race.

    "To say you were gifted such valuable objects, I can only say I wish I had a friend like that."

    Commander Huo''s eyes showed a hint of hesitation and worry. He clearly wanted to put up some resistance in courtesy, but he couldn''t stop his hands from grabbing the ancient booklets out of Damien''s grasp.

    "Hahahahaha!"

    The Director''sugh filled the space.

    "Brother Xuan, what did I tell you? This kid knows nothing but creating miracles."

    Commander Huo didn''t respond. He deeply looked at Damien before hiding the booklets away in his spatial storage.

    He didn''t say anything because he simply couldn''t. Damien might''ve taken them out casually, but these booklets would help the Giant Race rise to apletely new level. Not only would they regain their connection to their ancestral heritage, but they''d also finally be able to understand the methods of the ancestors, which would allow them to chase after the domineering physiques of their even further removed Titan ancestors.

    A grand service to the universe, that was what Damien did with a single flick of his hand.

    Commander Huo was sure Damien understood what he was doing, and since he didn''t say anything, the Commander would do the same.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    No words needed to be said for both of them to understand that they would be brothers and allies of life and death for the rest of time.

    The barriers around their group dispersed not long after the booklets were put away, and the serious atmosphere around them also melted like snow. They returned to jovial conversation, Damien and Elena getting acquainted with their other halves'' mentors and Alucard and Huo Xuan doing the same with their proteges, and soon enough, many hours passed.

    "Ah, right, are the two of you nning on participating in the hunt?" the Director suddenly said.

    ""Hunt?"" Damien and Elena echoed together.

    "I see. Even Angels will show partiality, eh? The hunt is tomorrow''s event, the first event of this Assembly. It willst for a month, and participants will be allowed to join at any time within that period, so those who arriveter still have the chance to participate."

    "I see," Damien muttered. "So what is this so-called hunt about?"

    "I''ll exin this part," Commander Huo butted in.

    "The hunt is honestly apetition organized with as little structure as possible. The Angels have decided to open their Holy Light Realm to the young geniuses of the universe for a single month. During this time, you can fight other geniuses, enter trial sites topete for rewards, or even just simply explore if you so desire."

    "Hm? Is there any point in that?" Elena asked. "If it''s a secret realm the Angels are willing to share, themon rewards can''t be anything good."

    "That may be true in normal times, but the current situation has forced many to make concessions. While it''s true that the Holy Light Realm''s true benefits have already been imed, the current realm is filled with treasures offered by the universe''s finest. I can guarantee there will be at least one good treasure in there." Commander Huo responded with a smirk.

    "Haa, really, those stingy Angels didn''t go easy on us at all. No treasures under Chaos rank were considered eptable, and I''m sure at least a few of us Demigods forked up a God-ranked treasure of two. It''ll definitely satisfy you young brats." The Director chimed in despondently.

    "Interesting¡­"

    Damien was genuinely intrigued by the nature of the event. By the looks of it, the sole purpose of opening the Holy Light Realm with such conditions was toprehensively raise the strength of the younger geniuses.

    ''Conversely, depending on the behavior of the geniuses themselves, it might turn into a situation where a small number of elites benefit and the rest face humiliation. The question is¡­which is better?''

    Damien and Elena wrapped up their conversation with the two old experts by affirming their participation in the hunt before returning to their room.

    "What''s the n?" Elena asked once they had some privacy.

    "n?" Damien repeated.

    "Mhm. You probably have some things you want to aplish in that secret realm, right? Let me in on it."

    "You say that like I wouldn''t have done that to begin with. Anyway, as of now, I don''t have a n. I want to observe the situation before I decide what to do."

    "I see¡­" Elena muttered.

    "You have some ideas?" Damien asked.

    From childhood, Elena was the smarter of the two. No matter how much he thought he knew, he could guarantee she''d show him a different perspective.

    And of course, she wasn''t about to let him down.

    "If we put everything on the table," she started, " this hunt is going to continue for a month without stopping, so the number of participants will rise to at least twenty to twenty-five thousand. We aren''t allowed to kill, but if a genius sustains a fatal wound, they''ll be ejected from the secret realm and disqualified."

    She tapped her chin as she thought of the best way to phrase her thoughts.

    "I''m sure you''re thinking about whether to support a small number of elites or allow all of the geniuses a chance to rise, but that''s just extraneous. There''s no need to think so much."

    She turned her eyes to Damien, a slight smile curving on her lips.

    With the moonlight illuminating her from behind, she looked especially enchanting as she continued:

    "Alright, I got it. Here''s the n¡­"

 Chapter 981 Holy Light Realm [1]

    Dawn was felt differently in Luxurion.

    Due to the Sky Castle''s special location and existence, it didn''t orbit a sun, nor did it have any moons in its own orbit.

    Both of these celestial bodies would cloud Luxurion''s stainless image with their light, so the castle itself was built with several regtions to guarantee that such bodies would never enter or be born in its vicinity.

    Time in Luxurion was defined by an interesting system implemented by Angels who frequented the castle, utilizing Fate Lines and Light Laws to create a special mechanism that provided a falsified sense of day and night that actually originated from the air itself rather than a specific light source.

    The system was realistic to the point where one would only notice its existence if one took the time to truly perceive the starry sky outside.

    Nevertheless, this realism was exactly what made residing in Luxurionfortable.

    On this particr dawn, the castle was bustling far more than usual. Almost a thousand geniuses made their way to the first banquet hall with those experts who brought them to the Assembly.

    As the number of iing parties thinned, three figures walked into the hall and walked onto the elevated stage that had been prepared beforehand.

    All three of them were beautiful blonde-haired Angels, though only a single one was female. Of the two men, one was a familiar figure, the Angel named Luciel who led the Heavenly n.

    He panned his gaze across the experts below and smiled charismatically.

    "It makes me proud to see how our universe''s people can put aside their personal biases and unite as one in times of crisis. I am honored to stand before those of you here, and those who willter arrive, and host this Grand Assembly," he started.

    "Due to the nature of this gathering, I will not give any lengthy speeches at this time. After all, I don''t think any of us would want to hear me repeat my self-righteous spiel over and over again¡­"

    "...today, we have gathered for the opening of the Holy Light Realm. This event is for geniuses under 200 years of age only, and the only rule is that killing is not allowed. Within the Holy Light Realm, there are countless peak treasures offered by the experts of our beautiful universe as well as our own Heavenly n. These treasures are yours for the taking, however¡­beware the dangers of the realm, and beware each other over all."

    Luciel wrapped up his speech quickly, just as unwilling to drag it out as everyone else, and smiled when he felt the anticipation radiating from the geniuses in the crowd.

    He exchanged nods with his twopanions and turned around, his back facing the crowd.

    His hands became blurs as they moved into severalplex formations. His mana swirled through the air, connecting with the mana exerted by the other two Angels until it finally materialized as a beautifulpass-like array that flew into the air and rotated fiercely.

    VOOM!

    Along with a strong pulse of vitality-filled mana, a pure white portal opened at the end of the hall behind the three Angels.

    Finally, Luciel turned back to the crowd with a smile.

    "Geniuses, enter at your own discretion! Remember, you can enter at any time, but once you leave, you will be disqualified! Now, go forth and meet your fortuitous chances; grow and bloom into heroes who will protect our universe!"

    Immediately a wave of geniuses flooded the area, rushing into the secret realm as fast as they could to monopolize the opportunities within.

    The three Angels left the stage, allowing the crowd to pass. Luciel''s gaze panned over the crowd once more as he made his exit, and just before his figure disappeared into the corridors of Luxurion¡­a mysterious smile illuminated his face.

    Standing at the back of the crowd, Damien twitched slightly. His eyes shot over to the receding figures of the Angels, his expression hardening.

    ''That guy¡­knows me?''

    He frowned to himself as he tried to think of a connection between him and the Heavenly n, but there was none at all.

    In fact, the only connection they had was through Parsiel who befriended the Human Domain''s forces, though this was something neither the Heavenly n nor Damien knew quite yet.

    Damien shook off the thought after realizing there was no reasonable answer with the information he knew, instead turning to Elena.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "You ready?" he asked.

    "Ready? I''ve been ready for a while now. You''re the one who suddenly got absorbed in your thoughts," Elena quipped back with a teasing smile.

    Damien shook his head wryly. "I had a good reason for it this ti¨C never mind, let''s just go."

    The duo waved goodbye to the two mentors who were watching over them from afar and flew into the air, joining the crowd of geniuses rushing into the portal.

    A grin lit up Damien''s face.

    ''This is going to be fun. To think this n was something Elena came up with¡­''

    His eyes were bright with a light of genuine amusement for the first time in a very long time.

    He couldn''t wait to see the looks on those geezers'' faces when it was over.

    ***

    The Holy Light Realm, as its name suggested, was a hidden realm rted to Light and Life Laws. It was formed on the remains of a destroyed Mystic Realm, using its residual energy to create apletely new environment.

    The inside of the Holy Light Realm was mainly a collection of forests with a few ins separating them. These forests oozed with strong vitality that empowered the nts and animals within, mutating them into greater species.

    In the far north of the realm was a stunning pyramid made of sandstone-like material that shone in the artificial sunlight.

    In the far south was another pyramid, made of pure gold and radiating an even stronger aura than its opposite.

    When Damien and Elena materialized in the realm, they were merely a few steps from the gold pyramid. They could see every detail of its figure clearly, including the line of geniuses racing through its doors.

    "Do you want this one, or should I take it?" Elena asked. Her tone was clear and cool,cking its usual yfulness.

    "You can have it if you want. I''m more interested in the rest of the realm," Damien responded with a shrug.

    When Elena got serious, bantering with her was pointless. Let alone going in one ear and out the other, extraneous words would never enter her ears at all.

    Elena nodded, acknowledging his words as she began to walk away.

    "Then I''ll start here. Don''t forget to keep in contact. We should keep track of each other''s progress while we aren''t together."

    Damien nodded with a wry smile as he watched her leave when suddenly¡­

    Whoosh!

    A breeze brushed past his face, and a pair of soft lips quickly met his.

    By the time he processed it, Elena was already gone, disappeared into the golden pyramid.

    His smile warmed up considerably in that single instant.

    ''I see you still remember your husband, huh.'' He remarked inwardly as he turned around.

    ''Now then, let''s get started. There''s a lot of work to be done.''

 Chapter 982 Holy Light Realm [2]

    Damien shed through the secret realm rapidly, mentally mapping out its topography. It was a rtivelyrge realm, around twice the size of an average continent, but this distance was still easy for Damien to cover within a day.

    ''Aside from the two pyramids, there are a lot of subterranean tunnels that lead to unknown locations, as well as hidden groves with even more hidden secret paths. Comparing the size of the realm to the density of treasures, it really is a ce where opportunity is always at one''s doorstep.''

    Damien came to a stop, his body several thousand feet above the continent.

    ''The pyramids obviously hold the greatest rewards, but they''ll also have the most difficult challenges. It''s not worth challenging the period if the goal is monopolization. It''d be much easier to just¡ª''

    "¡ªah, an opportunity!"

    Damien pped in delight as he set his sights on a target.

    His body vanished, reappearing soundlessly on the ground below. He walked a few steps to the right, one backward, and three more forward before stomping his foot against the ground.

    Rumble!

    A small tremor swept through the earth. The ground within a few feet of Damien vanished, dropping him into the subterranean world.

    ''It should be around here¡­''

    Damien walked a bit and felt the coarse walls around him before his senses finally picked up what he was looking for.

    ''Found you.''

    BOOM!

    His fist mmed into the earthen wall to his right with immense force, sending clouds of dust flying through the tunnel.

    However¡­

    ''Only some cracks? As expected of a secret realm of the Angel Race.''

    Evidently, certain areas had been fortified several times to keep the things hidden within safe, but Damien wasn''t perturbed.

    ''If it''s cracked in one, it''ll shatter in five.''

    He brought his fist back once more, this time covering it in a denseyer ofpacted mana.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    RUMBLE!

    Just as he promised, he mmed his fist into the wall four more times, targeting the exact same spot until the wall lost its integrity and copsed.

    Damien stepped through the rubble and into the small room beyond. There, he found a podium about as high as his waist, atop which floated some sort of grimoire that held a mystical aura.

    ''Hmm, what is this supposed to be?''

    He unceremoniously snatched it off its pedestal and flipped through it. Feeling nothing particrly special from the book, he simply tossed it into his spatial storage and moved on.

    ''That''s one of¡­I don''t even know how many.''

    A wild grin spread on his face.

    ''This subterranean world is good. I guess the geniuses were presumed to have a maximum of 1st revolution strength, so the fortification only ounts for this much. It''s a shame for those other guys who have to deal with a bunch of nonsense to get these treasures, but hey, if I got them first, were they ever meant for others in the first ce?''

    Without a moment wasted, his body shot through the tunnels of the subterranean world, stopping asionally to break through the walls and steal the treasures they hid.

    He didn''t even bother checking what the treasures were before throwing them in storage, purely moving with the goal of grabbing as much as he possibly could.

    As he snatched the 10th treasure and moved roughly a fourth of the way through the observable tunnel system, a thought popped into his mind.

    ''Those old ghosts outside¡­are probably panicking right now, right?''

    After all¡ª

    ****

    "¡ªhe is tantly robbing us! This is uneptable!"

    The shout was one of many that formed a cacophony ofints in the first banquet hall.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    It was one thing if he was just stealing treasures. Those treasures he took were merely Chaos-rank artifacts that were slightly stronger than their peers.

    The problem was¡­these artifacts were provided by the experts viewing the Holy Light Realm from the outside! He wasn''t just stealing misceneous treasures, he was basically pping them in the face!

    "Everyone, please calm down," said Luciel, who returned upon noticing themotion.

    "Remember, we all agreed to set this event with the loosest rules possible. His actions still fall within the realm of what''s eptable. If you wish to stop him, you can only wait for your own geniuses to fight against him and steal them."

    "Are you backing that genius?!" A gruff man yelled angrily.

    "How could I? He is not a member of our Heavenly n. I am merely enacting the rules we collectively set. At this time, are you not the ones going back on your word?"

    "Khh¡­"

    The man gritted his teeth and shot a hateful re at Luciel, but didn''t retaliate.

    The Angel was correct. The rules for the hunt, as well as several other events, had been corroborated by most of the experts that would be attending the Grand Assembly.

    Luxurion''s involvement was kept undisclosed, as was every detail about the main conference, but at least these smaller activities were spread to most forces, which was why people like the Director and Commander Huo already knew of the event''s existence when they arrived.

    The fact that Damien and Elena didn''t know could only be attributed to the fact that the Angel Race somewhat disregarded smaller forces like the Ancient God n and distant forces like the Golden Dragon n.

    Nevertheless, the few words from Luciel quieted the dissenting experts, but he didn''t clear their grievances.

    He had no motive to do so.

    As he said, he wasn''t backing Damien, merely enforcing the rules.

    The outwardly loud voices maintained their loudness, but expressed it through mana. Severalmunication artifacts were withdrawn at once, and within the secret realm, around 30 geniuses received the same message.

    Suppress and eliminate Damien Void!

    Their orders were apanied by projections of Damien''s appearance, as well as rough estimates of his location.

    These thirty geniuses, all spread in different parts of the secret realm, turned their attention to one location at the same time.

    Among them were two who were already together, a man roughly 25 years in age and a little girl no more than 16.

    "Senior brother, are we going?" The girl asked, tugging the man''s sleeve."

    "Hmm¡­do you want to?" He asked without much emotion.

    "I do!" The girl immediately responded. "Senior brother, I can feel that something fun will happen where Master told us to go. Maybe we''ll find a load of treasure!"

    The man didn''t respond, gazing into the distance with an unreadable expression on his face.

    ''Damien Void¡­where have I heard that name before?''

    His nose twitched slightly.

    ''This scent¡­is this his path?''

    The man''s eyes narrowed, a barely discernible light of interest alighting within them.

    ''I must see it for myself.''

    He stood up from the tree he was leaning against and began walking in the direction specified in the message.

    "Xiao Yue, let''s go."

    "Mm!"

    The little girl happily hummed as she happily followed him from behind.

    Just like the two of them, none of the geniuses tasked with attacking Damien turned down the task.

    Whether it was due to interest,petitive spirit, or even just greed for treasure, thirty geniuses congregated just a few tens of kilometers east of the sandstone pyramid.

    As for their target¡­

 Chapter 983 Blade [1]

    Chapter 983 de [1]

    "Nice, a total of 35 treasures! That''s much more than I was expecting to get down here."

    Damien nodded in satisfaction while tossing the 35th treasure into storage with the rest.

    ''This subterranean vein has been cleared, but I only traveled in a straight line for a few thousand kilometers. I should''ve made it around halfway through the realm in distance, but nowhere near that in the actual area covered.''

    35 treasures in a single vein was a great harvest, but it also meant that other simr veins would have plenty of treasures as well.

    When Damien was mapping the realm, his All-Seeing Eyes saw the subterranean tunnels as a massively interconnected system, but his experience showed differently.

    ''That can only mean there are powerful illusory walls that I can''t see through unless I actively use the All-Seeing Eyes. If I can uncover the fakes and make use of the entire hidden system, I can gain an absolute advantage against thepetition.''

    Damien was only able to take a single step forward before¡ª

    BOOOOOOM!

    ¡ªthe ceiling copsed inward, revealing tens of meters of the subterranean tunnel to the world above.

    Damien looked up into the open air with intrigue, tilting his head when nothing else happened.

    "Aha, are you perhaps scared?" Hemented, shaking his head lightly as he pressed off the ground and leaped out of the tunnel and onto the solid ground of the surface.

    "I knew I''d get ganged up on, but I didn''t expect it to happen on day one! Let''s see¡­ there are thirty of you? Mm, I guess five of those elders outside are respectable people."

    A smile lit up his face as he felt the slight twitches of rm that came from the surroundings.

    "I bet you''re wondering, ''How did he find us?!'' or maybe even, ''he must be bluffing,'' but I assure you I''m not. Want proof? Then¡­"

    Bang!

    Damien flicked his finger, forcing space to implode in an empty area around 10 meters away.

    "Keuk! You¡­!"

    A man was thrown out of the empty air, slightly roughed up by the previous attack. He immediately spat a few words of grievance before making distance and warily watching Damien''s movements.

    "I think that guy was the second best among you in terms of concealment techniques, so the rest of you have no chance. Juste out and fight me all together."

    Damien''s originally ineffective taunts became super effective as if he had a type advantage. 27 geniuses joined the first man, surrounding Damien in therge clearing he was currently standing in.

    Damien''s eyes lingered on the distant horizon for a second before he turned his attention to the gathered geniuses.

    "Hmm, mostlyte-stage 4th ss and¡­a few in the middle stages? What are you guys even doing here?"

    Damien immediately scoffed after reading their power levels, snapping his finger and wrapping the 8 mid-stage 4th ss geniuses in his mana.

    "Go y games elsewhere."

    His mana tightened around them, and with a sh of light, they disappeared from the area entirely.

    "You¡­what did you do to Asia?!" A young man yelled, pointing his sword at Damien.

    "Do you expect me to know who Asia is?" Damien replied offhandedly.

    "You just made her vanish!" The man practically screeched in annoyance.

    "Oh, this is a current grudge. My bad, I thought you were an old enemy''s pupil or something. If she was one of those who just disappeared, she''s probably in this secret realm somewhere. As for her safety¡­well, that depends on her, doesn''t it?" Damien remarked tauntingly.

    "I''ll kill you!" The young man roared, charging at Damien without a second of hesitation.

    "Haa, seriously. Were you listening to anything I said?"

    Damien watched as the man approached with his sword outstretched.

    He put a finger out into the air.

    Clink!

    The sword stabbed against it and halted in its tracks. Within a second of the young man forcing it forward¡­

    Shatter!

    It broke into countless shards that fell powerlessly to the ground.

    "My sword¡ª!" The young man cried out. "What did you do to it, you demon?!"

    "Brother, I quite literally did nothing at all. If you were half as smart as your peers, you''d realize how dumb the shit you just said is," Damien replied with a deadpan expression.

    He nced around at the others, who showed clear hesitation after seeing his defensive ability. With a sigh, he turned his attention to the sky.

    "If you''re going to send people after me, send the ones that actually have balls! Also, how badly are you treating these kids for the destruction of a single treasure to make them hesitate so strongly?! Stop being so stingy, you damn old farts!"

    He shook his head in disappointment, unaware of the storm his provocation had just incited and turned back to the geniuses.

    "If you want to fight, I''ll entertain you, but be warned that your treasures will definitely break when they touch my body."

    "I¡­I''ll forfeit! I''m sorry, Master!"

    The first to flee was the man Damien dragged out of hiding first. It was to be expected from a man who specialized in concealment.

    But his cowardice started a chain reaction.

    Sabotaging other geniuses in the secret realm went without saying, but to do so at their own expense was nothing more than foolishness!

    One by one, the geniuses cleared out, either saying a few words and fleeing or directly apologizing before leaving with their heads held high.

    Damien watched them go wryly before finally turning his attention back to the horizon.

    "Then, what about you?" He said to nobody in particr.

    "Naturally, I havee to test your skills," a response came from the void.

    A man materialized in the distance.

    He had a chiseled and handsome face, the definition of traditional male attractiveness. His eyes were sharp like des, his irises painted in a beautiful sakura pink color, unlike anything Damien had seen before. His hair was long and ck as midnight, simr to Damien, but his build was far more robust, that of a man who rigorously trained his body every day.

    There were two des strapped to his back, one pitch ck and the other shining tinum, mirroring the Twin Moons.

    Despite the distance separating them, Damien could feel the mysterious auraing from the man, as if he was severed from the Real ne by a field of unknown intent.

    "You are?" He asked, his tone that of an equal rather than a superior.

    The man nodded, cupping his hands and offering a slight bow of introduction.

    "My name is Su Ren. I have spent my whole life sharpening my de and searching for challenges. You can consider me a wandering demaster seeking advice," he said firmly, neither arrogant nor submissive.

    Damien nodded and returned the gesture. "Damien Void. I guess I''m something of a jack of all trades, but I specialize in physical strength andwprehension."

    "Those are quite the grand specialties," Su Renmented, drawing his des.

    "I guess they are. Whether I''m just bragging or not, why don''t youe find out for yourself?" Damien quipped back.

    Su Ren''s lips curled slightly.

    "That is exactly what I came here to do."

    BANG!

 Chapter 984 Blade [2]

    Chapter 984 de [2]

    The first banquet hall that only calmed down a few minutes ago was once again thrown into an uproar, and it wasn''t just a meager 30 dissenting voices this time.

    Damien''s provocation only struck those specific 30, but his words actually had an unknown ssh effect that hit almost 100 elders for one simple reason:

    "How dare a young brat act so arrogant to his elders?!"

    The Director and Commander Huo watched, unknowing of whether tough or cry as this very statement was echoed over and over again while these elders contacted their best disciples and ced targets on Damien''s back.

    In this situation, what could the two of them do? These elders wouldn''t calm down if they used force and status to suppress them, and that bottled-up resentment would be an even greater de aimed at Damien''s throat.

    The only real solution was for Damien to utterly crush their geniuses. If that happened, force and status could be used with justification, and these elders wouldn''t be able to act no matter how hard they wanted to.

    In fact, this was usually the strategy used byrger forces to support their most promising young geniuses.

    As themotion grew, a voice echoed through the hall.

    "Gentlemen, I will not stop you from targeting that genius, but I advise you to be patient," Luciel said with a mysterious smile.

    "Why should we listen to you?! You are clearly biased towards that young brat!" an elder shouted out.

    Oh, am I?" Luciel replied with the same calm expression. "I wonder, will you feel the same after observing the current situation?"

    He directed their attention back to the various screens disying the secret realm''s situation, particrly the one that followed Damien.

    "What do you¨C"

    "Wait, that is¨C"

    "Shh, don''t say anything! Don''t you know who his master is¡­?"

    Two elders were quieted instantly before they could say anything they regretted, and with the reminder of thest, all those watching the screens suddenly understood what was happening.

    Their eyes no longer lingered on Damien, but focused earnestly on the man facing him.

    Luciel''s eyes curved into crescents as he watched the immediate shift in their attitudes.

    "Let us observe for now. I''m sure you all understand¡­right?"

    His words were met with silence¡­

    ***

    ¡­aplete contradiction to the atmosphere of the secret realm.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    A set of dual des crossed over each other to block the attack of a single sword that mmed into their intersecting point.

    The air exploded upon their collision, adding to the atrocious melody of explosive impacts that reverberated through this specific portion of the secret realm.

    ''Void Sword Art First Step: deless''

    Mirage turned into a haze as the atmosphere was torn apart by spatial gashes. Damien pressed forward and attacked ferociously, leaving not a single opening for his opponent.

    "As expected, you''re good!" Su Ren eximed as he twisted his body impossibly and avoided the terrifying strength of deless.

    His white de rose upward along Mirage''s edge while the ck de nted downward to break Damien''s stance.

    "Woah!"

    Damien stepped back and leaned his body, just barely avoiding the de shing at his face.

    "Haha, how fun!"

    Heughed boisterously and twisted his waist, gathering momentum as he held Mirage up parallel to the ground.

    ''Void Sword Art Second Step: Horizon Break''

    ng!

    Unlike the usual dull thump heard after Horizon Break, the atmosphere rang with the sound of metals shing.

    Su Ren stood with a swirl of grey mana covering his white sword. In the finestyers of space, Damien could just vaguely see this mana suppressing the spatial rupture created by his attack.

    "Oh, that''s some interesting mana," Damienplimented with a grin.

    "I am aware. After all, I created it myself."

    Su Ren shot forward like a speeding bullet, that mysterious grey mana swirling into a storm around him as he shed his des together as one.

    The only word to possibly describe that sh was "perfection."

    Perfection in form, in technique, in movement, in internal regtion, in mana control¨C

    Merely, perfection.

    ''Pure Force, 73rd iteration, Dual sh.''

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    999 Dimensional Cages rose around him in a single instant. In the next, a horrifying wave of mana crashed into his defenses.

    Crash! Crash! Crash!

    One by one, the spatial fields were shattered and sentenced to oblivion. 999 became 100 soon enough, and Damien was forced to teleport over a kilometer to the right to avoid the mana storm.

    ''Hoo, that one would''ve hurt.'' he thought to himself, his eyes hardening.

    He lifted his hand and wiped a drop of blood from the cut on his lip.

    ''What a fresh feeling.''

    Su Ren proved himself to be aplete subversion of Damien''s expectations of this secret realm. Not only was he powerful, he was extremely adept at utilizing his power.

    Even now, seeing the way he calmly watched Damien from the distance, it was clear that he expected his opponent to easily dodge the previous attack.

    ''Or rather, it was a test, and I lived up to his expectations¡­''

    ''...though, he''s only reciprocating what he''s being given, so I can''t say anything.''

    "Alright then!" Damien eximed.

    "It''s time to go a bit harder."

    ''Dimension Shift.''

    The world bisected. Its two halves, split by a fine line, slid against each other like the lifeless halves of a body.

    Within the severed world, only Damien existed. All other beings were trapped by the dimensions of reality¡­

    ¡­or at least, that was the usual scenario.

    However, in this very moment, Su Ren stood filled with vitality and life in this worldcking any. The field Damien sensed before, the pure natural materialization of his de intent, cut him away from the dimension itself, allowing him to exist uniquely in almost any environment.

    Damien''s grin widened ferociously.

    ''Samsara Intent: Frozen Wheel.''

    ''Spacetime Severance.''

    ''Void Breathing Second Technique: Absolute Mastery''

    Rapid fire, without pause, before Su Ren couldprehend the situation; all of these descriptions urately portrayed the speed at which these three domineering abilities wereunched.

    Frozen Wheel, a technique simr to a domain. Damien established a dominion over a certain area and, within that area, used his And finally, a technique Damien was testing for the very first time; a technique that used the ethereal aspect of the Breath of influence to freeze the Wheel of Samsara, the cycle of life and death. This immediately disabled any sort of healing factor the enemy possessed and made sure the embrace of death was always lurking around them, breaking their mentality.

    Spacetime Severance struck once the Wheel of Samsara was frozen, severing the bisected world once more, this time on a far more conceptual level. Spacetime Severance had one purpose and one purpose alone: to wipe all things from existence.

    And finally, a technique Damien was testing for the very first time; a technique that used the ethereal aspect of the Breath of Nothingness to artificially enhance Damien in a single aspect, bringing him to what he hypothesized should be a state near absolute mastery, hence the name.

    Absolute Mastery was a technique that could only be tested inbat, but Damien had been in a special situation where he couldn''t find any opponents who could properly match him¡­

    ''...until now.''

    Huu¡­

    Damien took a deep breath and relished in the enlightening feeling filling his body.

    And he kept his awareness trained on the man he was so thankful for, the man who would finally allow him to gain a rtive understanding of his strength, and the man who, even after facing Spacetime Severance, stoodpletely unharmed.

    Damien raised Mirage and pointed it at that man as he roared with fervor:

    "COME!"

 Chapter 985 Blade [3]

    "COME!"

    Damien''s roar exploded through the atmosphere and sparked Su Ren''s fighting spirit into a burning ze.

    He mmed his foot into the ground and shot forward like aet. His des moved before he even reached Damien, twirling around each other like twin snakes in a mysterious dance.

    And suddenly, they were in Damien''s face.

    His eyes widened. It was toote for him to react. The strange sword dance wasn''t an illusion technique, but an ethereal misdirection that Damien couldn''t see through with his base abilities.

    ''Shit!''

    Damien twisted his body so the attack would hit a more manageable area, but before he could finish his motion¡­

    sh!

    His arm rose,pletely instinctually, and wielded Mirage to expertly parry Su Ren''s des.

    ''Huh¡­?''

    Damien''s mouth opened slightly in astonishment. Without warning, he had be a spectator in his own body.

    It was a situation simr to when he used Devour for the first time, only in this instance, he was fully conscious.

    But in both, his body sumbed to instinct and became a beast.

    Shing!

    Mirage did an impossible maneuver, shifting from a parry directly into a pierce in a motion that would''ve normally shattered its user''s wrist.

    And in fact, it did exactly that.

    Snap! Crack!

    A series of grotesque noises emanated from his hand and wrist, but Transcendent Regeneration immediately went to work, healing the injury before the sword finished its movement.

    Su Ren''s eyes narrowed as he witnessed this, his body moving backward with his desing up to block Mirage.

    ''Something strange is happening with this man.''

    Su Ren''s thoughts were extremely strict at the moment, only appearing when they needed to. He waspletely focused on the battle from the start, as Damien''s physical strength andwprehension were truly incredible.

    However, this was different.

    This wasn''t the strength Damien showed, and most of all¡­

    ''His scent changed.''

    Screech!

    The unknown crystalline material of Mirage and the contradicting metals of Su Ren''s dual des scraped against each other as Su Ren parried the sword''s path and pushed it to the side. The sparks created by the event were colorful, almost iridescent due to the magical nature of the des.

    ''His previous scent was wild and untamed. His im of being a jack of all trades waspletely backed by this nature. However, the current scent is like that of Master''s body, that of an expert of untold proportion¡­''

    ''¡­how intriguing. Master, you were right. Coming out to experience the world is the best way to train.''

    Su Ren made an expression he only knew how to make in battle.

    It was an expression often seen on Damien''s face in the exact same circumstances:

    A wild grin.

    ''This fight¡­can propel me to the next level!''

    Su Ren''s eyes shone with ferocity.

    He finally decided. There was no need to continue suppressing himself.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    His mana raged into the atmosphere, dying the severed world grey. Oddly enough, this grey brought light to the world, returning it to its original face and filling it with a sharp and deadly de aura.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Spark!

    Sparks flew through the air as the invisible de intent shed against Damien''s sword, which didn''t stop its movements even after being pushed away.

    Damien was also pushed back several steps by the sudden wave of mana, his body riddled with shallow cuts.

    "Interesting, so you want topete in domains," he said enthusiastically.

    "Indeed. Due to the current circumstance, it is impossible for us to fight with our full strength. However, if it is just for a moment¡­"

    "¡­then we should be able to hide it from their eyes." Damien finished.

    The Holy Light Realm was just a secret realm in the end. The two of them had already fought long enough to understand that a collision of their full force would copse the realm entirely.

    Even disregarding this fact, their interaction was being watched by countless eyes. It was never a wise idea to reveal one''s cards to those whose affiliations were unknown.

    But just once.

    Just once, they wanted to experience what it was like to fight without holding anything back.

    ''Come, Space-Time River.''

    Damien canceled the Absolute Mastery state. He was satisfied with the preliminary test, even if it onlysted for a few seconds. Any further testing could be done at ater time, when he and Su Ren were in a safe environment.

    Instead, he let go of all else and put his everything into Spacetime.

    Spacetime was his lifeblood, his origin, and the concept he loved the most.

    The Space-Time River was merely a copy, a tribute by him to the true peak entity of Spacetime.

    But even a copy of such an existence couldn''t be weak, lest it stain the name of the legendary original entity.

    Voom!

    An iridescent blue river of stars slowly revealed itself in the air above. It was several kilometers long, stretching into the distance, and its width was almost a hundred feet, a far cry from its past minuscule form.

    "If you want to see the peak of my achievements thus far, this is what I will show you. The concept of Spacetime, the very fabric of reality that allows all things to exist. Face its truth, and tell me what you can glean," he uttered, a slight hint of reverence in his voice.

    Su Ren nodded in admiration.

    "Then I shall reciprocate. The peak of my achievements with the de, the path I have followed that allowed me to create my own variation of mana and is guiding me to the very peak of existence, is in this very domain. It is the deepest truth of humanity, and reflects the deepest truths within oneself. Today, I will show you the ability to sever ''everything.''"

    Two men faced each other, their stances far too different for them to bepared.

    Damien stood tall with his hands behind his back. His body was illuminated by the light of the Space-Time River, painting him as a Celestial descended to the mortal world.

    Meanwhile, Su Ren stood with his knees slightly bent, his center of gravity lowered to the earth. His stance was grounded and reflected that of an average mortal practicing the de, yet held a hidden profundity that was simply indiscernible to almost all.

    A pregnant silence descended on the atmosphere as the two men faced off with their auras, the spirits of the battle gods shining in their eyes.

    Even in the first banquet hall, the same was taking ce.

    All those elders and experts held their breaths, no longer daring to speak out for fear of missing a single instant of this interaction.

    Their battle was short and packed with constant back-and-forth action, and in that tiny speck of time, the two managed to showcase a level ofwprehension that seemed unfathomable for a genius.

    Their words were reflected clearly to these experts.

    Those two geniuses were going to do everything in their power to cast a veil over the eyes of onlookers when this final sh happened.

    To see through that veil, even these old monsters and influential figures opened their eyes wide and focused.

    Until finally, that moment happened.

    Two opposing intents shed beautifully and chaotically¡­

    And the impossible was actualized.

 Chapter 986 Blade [4]

    How would one describe such a sh of Laws?

    With more base-level Laws like the elemental Laws most people had affinities with, it was easier to describe even their conceptual states, since there were only a select number of concepts they could actually harness.

    This was both due to the simplistic nature of the most basic foundational elements of the universe and the fact that, even when these elements harnessed higher Laws like Wood tapping into Life, it was only ever an emtion, not a true connection to the higher Laws.

    Now, that wasn''t to say those connections couldn''t be made, merely, it took an extremely high level ofprehension to truly elevate a base element in such an intrinsic way.

    Whenparing this rtivelyprehensible structure to those of the true Higher Laws, it was like night and day.

    The reason Higher Laws were elevated from the rest wasn''t just due to their primordial existences, but due to theirplexity.

    In fact, these two factors were directly connected. Because Higher Laws were formed in the very first moments of the universe, they were responsible for maintaining farrger and more important facets of the universe''s existence.

    This, of course, meant the number of concepts within these Higher Laws far outstripped lower ones.

    Spacetime was even higher than its individual parts, and when it came to something like the Space-Time River, it wasn''t possible to describe its effects on reality without breaking down the very fundamental workings of the universe.

    As for its opponent, it was even moreplicated for an entirely different reason.

    Weapon intents were a human contribution to the universe. The Laws that they represented were actually incorporated into the universe''s original workings due to the sess and widespread usage of such weapon intents.

    Therefore, while the visible concepts within weapon intents were scarce and simple, their actual meaning on a universal scale was extraordinarily grand.

    Only those like Su Ren, who reached extreme heights in their professions, could tap into these elusive meanings and utilize them, transforming weapon intent into a magisterial Law unlike anything seen before.

    Such was the cause of Su Ren''s special mana.

    Nevertheless, Damien and Su Ren didn''t move in the slightest.

    On the screens showcasing the battle and in reality itself, they stoodpletely still.

    But currently, a scene that could only be seen through their eyes, the eyes of those who had unearthed such profound concepts, was taking ce.

    The physical manifestation was like an enchanting dance performed by the most beautiful women to ever live.

    The Space-Time River flowed freely through the air, unrestrained by any and all. Its waters looped and twirled, twisted and snaked through the air like a lithe and ethereal fairy above the mundane world.

    Meanwhile, Su Ren''s de intent formed into an ethereal avatar that apanied the river in its dance, its movements far more precise and ordered like a trained professional who had been dancing for countless years in practice.

    They were equally otherworldly, yet their magnificence contrasted in the most perfect way, as if uniting Heaven and Earth in a sacrosanct ritual.

    It wasn''t a sh in any sense. It wasn''t some world-breaking scene, nor was it impressive from an outside perspective.

    It was almost embarrassing to watch.

    Yet, for Damien and Su Ren, this experience was one they''d never give up.

    They wished this dance would never end. They wished they could forever gaze upon this bewitching entwinement of cosmic forces and remain enraptured by its heavenly aura.

    Yet, all things had toe to an end eventually.

    A final blow containing their absolute everything, both delivered as promised.

    But before today, neither of them knew that ferociousbat could be so divine.

    No, what they just witnessed was a glimpse of what it meant to be truly divine.

    ''The peak¡­''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    They had the same thought as they remained arrested many seconds after the fluctuations of their Laws died down.

    All practitioners chased Divinity, but until they reached that final instance of Supremacy when Divinity was just a few steps away, it was impossible for them to ever understand what Divinity truly meant.

    It wasn''t a generalization, but an established truth of the universe that was formed after untold generations of practitioners lived and died.

    Yet, today, two beings who both only recently stepped into the 9 revolutions before Divinity saw a hint of something they were never meant to see.

    Damien and Su Ren, while they had no interaction with each other before today, were actually very simr, especially in their strong mental fortitude built through harrowing experiences.

    For them to be frozen, unable to form coherent thoughts as they did everything they could to regain their lucidity, only further affirmed the absurdity of the situation.

    The first banquet hall once again mirrored their emotions, as the air was stained in confusion.

    Comprehending a unique Law was a rarity in itself. 99% of the universe''s practitioners had affinities for basews, and of those in the final 1%, an even smaller percentage managed to rise to prominence.

    The strength of the experts in the hall didn''t matter. Their inborn talent disallowed them from ever understanding what they witnessed.

    There were five, however, who didn''t share their feelings.

    Four of them were Executioner level elders who specialized in weapon intents.

    Though Su Ren''s de intent didn''t exactly align with their practice methods, the vague vestiges of his unbelievable de intent they were able to glean gave them unlimited newprehensions. Without a single word, they left for their personal quarters to make the most of this blessing.

    As for the final one, it was a beautiful woman who, coincidentally enough, almost married one of the geniuses pictured.

    The only other spatial practitioner at the Grand Assembly for now, and the only other Celestial Damien had ever met, Leona, the Star Master of Azure Rain Star.

    The path she chose was one of stagnation. She, like the Golden Dragon Emperor and many noble rulers, sacrificed her talent for her people and ruled Azure Rain Star without fully exploring the potential of the Celestial ss.

    She never thought she would improve again.

    But somehow, every time she saw that man, she would experience a miracle.

    The first time they met, his departure made her realize the depths her ss could have, which she couldn''t have done without meeting another Celestial.

    And this time, she finally found a path to explore those depths.

    The five of them were the main beneficiaries of the preceding event, aside from the two directly involved, but they weren''t the only ones who gained something from it.

    In fact, there was one more.

    The Angel, Luciel.

    His eyes maintained their unreadable light, and the smile on his face remained unchanged, but his thoughts were swirling chaotically.

    ''What was that? Although I could not sense their final attacks, the Holy Light Realm reacted extremely. Could it be¡­they rmed the spirit with their power?''

    The spirit of the Holy Light Realm was originally the artifact spirit of a God-ranked artifact that was transferred into the Holy Light Realm when it was created.

    That spirit had apanied several Demigods over tens of thousands of years of existence, and even the Angel Race''s best geniuses were never able to attract its attention.

    ''Thest time the spirit showed a reaction was¡­''

    Luciel''s eyes hardened.

    ''¡­when the Void Emperor made his first appearance.''

 Chapter 987 Blade [5]

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    Two deep exhales resounded as one. Damien and Su Ren closed their eyes before slowly allowing them to flutter open, clear and unperturbed.

    The two men stared at each other for a single moment before their faces broke into wide grins.

    "That was amazing!" Damien eximed fervently.

    "Indeed, I never thought I would witness such a sight in my life," Su Ren said, his voice steady and filled with reverence.

    "Is that the height we aim for?"

    Damien shook his head, an air of confidence surrounding his body. Nothing changed, but something about him felt different. He carried in his natural gait the slight aura of an emperor above the mortal world.

    "No, we''re aiming higher," he responded firmly.

    Su Ren''s eyes widened.

    Indeed, he was not aiming for a glimpse of Divinity, his goal was to surpass the peak of everything.

    A slight chuckle left his mouth.

    "I cannot argue with that," he said in concession, straightening his back and continuing, "Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Su Ren. I belong to no faction and only hold loyalty to one Master. Though I rarely leave the mountain, I have been bestowed a title by the universe for my efforts: de God."

    He walked up to Damien with his hand outstretched.

    Damien looked down with a smile and firmly shook it.

    "Damien Void. I don''t have any crazy titles, just a few embarrassing ones, but it''s an honor to make your acquaintance."

    The two nodded at each other and let go of their grasps.

    Damien stretched lightly and got reustomed to his own body.

    He never left it in the first ce, but the pull of thatw collision was literally soul-snatching. The reason he and Su Ren ended up in such terrible states was because they were pulled into theirw manifestations.

    They simultaneously viewed the phenomenon from both internal and external perspectives, which was extremely taxing on the mind.

    ''After exerting myself so much, I only received what could barely be considered a glimpse of the Divine, and of that glimpse, what I could retain was¡­''

    ''...no, I think my retention was actually pretty satisfactory.''

    He smiled inwardly as he clenched his fist, feeling the definitive change in his mana.

    What he gained was a hint, just like Leona, of a path forward. He had too much to do at the Grand Assembly to act on it immediately, but the feeling fresh in his memory was currently being immortalized.

    Damien sent the Breath of Nothingness into his own spiritual world, severing the memory of the past battle and storing it in the Mind Prison so it would never fade.

    ''It''s good that I have more control of the Mind Prison now. If it was back when I first made it, I would''ve forgotten that memory''s existence entirely.''

    As a consequence of removing that memory from the stream of memories existing in his head, he truly couldn''t remember its contents, however, he still clearly understood what it represented and the fact that it was being stored in the Mind Prison, which represented an extreme level of mental strength.

    ''Now that that''s been dealt with, de God, huh¡­so this is the level I''m at.''

    Damien didn''tment on the grand title, as it didn''t have anything to do with his rtionship with Su Ren, but he surely knew what it meant.

    How could he not? Anyone who''d ever seen the Dimensional Leaderboard would clearly remember the title that had been in the number one spot on that ranking for over a decade¡­

    ¡­and everyone who witnessed it would forever remember the day he was dethroned by the enemy.

    ''The Saint Emperor''s son, I haven''t had the chance to meet him yet, but he''s supposed to be stronger than that guy?''

    The Saint King never truly entered his eyes until this very moment.

    ''I should prepare for the worst.''

    With that thought, Damien returned his attention to reality, where he suddenly became the only witness to an extremelyedic situation.

    Currently, the domineering and stalwart Su Ren was helplessly copsed on his knees with some kind of sloth-like animal wrapped around his head.

    "Senior Brother, how could you do something so dangerous?!"

    The sloth-like little girl cried out loud enough to scare all nearby beasts away. She hugged Su Ren''s head as tight as she could and pounded on his back in anger.

    "Xiao Yue, calm down already. It was not dangerous at all," Su Ren''s muffled voice rang out, only making Xiao Yue angrier.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Senior Brother, you are not alone in the mountain anymore! You have Xiao Yue now, and you can''t leave me alone! I¡­"

    Damien tuned out at that point. With an ironic expression on his face, he waited until her rant ended and Su Ren was finally able to pull her off of him.

    He stood up and patted the first off his body before cupping his fist towards Damien.

    "I''m sorry you had to witness that," he said, slightly embarrassed.

    Damien shook his head.

    "It''s fine, I understand," he responded, memories of his little disciple and sister popping into his head. "I thought you were unaffiliated, though?"

    "I am,"

    "She calls you Senior Brother?"

    "I have tried to stop her, but it has proved impossible."

    "I totally get it."

    Damien patted his new friend on the shoulder in solidarity. After all, he fell into the same trap when he met Xue''er and somehow ended up with a new sibling.

    "So your name is Xiao Yue?" Damien asked, turning to the little girl.

    "Hmph, only Senior Brother can call me Xiao Yue! It''s ''Princess'' Yue to you!"

    She harrumphed.

    Damien chuckled slightly. "Alright then, Xiao Yue, I have a little sister around your age. Would you like to meet her?"

    "Why should I care about your little sister? This Princess only likes Senior Brother!"

    "Xiao Yue, phrasing."

    "Hmph!"

    Su Ren shrugged helplessly.

    "She''s an orphan I found in a secret realm. I eventually sent her to a sect to grow, but now that she''s seen me again, she refuses to let go. It''s not what you''re thinking."

    "You sure?"

    "100%."

    Damien shrugged back and turned to Xiao Yue again.

    "You know, our Xue''er is only at the peak of 3rd ss right now. She''s never met someone her age who is such a genius. Wouldn''t it be cool if you could be her role model?" he spoke coaxingly.

    "Hmmmm¡­" she hummed, clearly moved.

    "She might even call you Big Sister, and you can be to her what your Senior Brother is to you."

    Xiao Yue''s eyes immediately brightened.

    "I can be like Senior Brother?!"

    "Yup! But only if you can be a proper big sister. Do you think you can do it?"

    "Of course I can! There''s nothing this Princess can''t do!"

    "Great!" Damien eximed, winking at Su Ren as he received the man''s silent thanks.

    ''I''m such a genius. The only thing that could possiblybat a teenage girl¡­is another teenage girl! Xue''er, I choose you!"

    Damien snapped his finger, and his Xue''ermon spawned into the battlefield!

    "Big brother? What''s up?" she said, rubbing her eyes and adapting to the new environment.

    "Ah, nothing," Damien responded, rubbing her head, "there''s just someone I want you to meet."

    "Hm?" Xue''er turned her attention in the direction Damien was indicating, and her eyes immediately narrowed.

    "An enemy."

 Chapter 988 Blade [6]

    "Hi, my name is Xiao Yue, but you can just call me big sister!" Xiao Yue said, introducing herself to Xue''er.

    Xue''er immediately turned back to Damien.

    "Big brother, how could you betray me like this?!" She eximed, huffing and pouting as she red at him hatefully.

    "E-eh?!" Damien stammered.

    "Who is this girl?!" Xue''er interrogated.

    "Uh, she''s my friend''s little sister. I thought the two of you would be good friends¡­"

    "Eh?"

    Xue''er''s brow quirked curiously.

    "So you aren''t selling me off?"

    "Why the f¡ª why would I ever do that?!" Damien deimed, appalled by her wild assumption.

    "But Uncle Bai said that if I don''t practice hard, you''ll sell me off¡­"

    "He said WHAT?!"

    Damien rubbed his temple and sighed defeatedly.

    ''That damn old man. Just what is he thinking saying something like that to a kid?''

    Xue''er grew up in the Sanctuary, so she was quite naive to the reality of the outside world, which she''d only heard about in stories.

    Because of her tragic past, Damien tried his best not to expose her to things like death and violence, but maybe sheltering her so much was a¡ª

    "Hehe~ just kidding!"

    "Huh?"

    Xue''er stuck her tongue out yfully.

    "Actually, Uncle Bai told me to tell you that. He said you''d make a great expression if I did, and he was right! Hehehe~"

    ''Fuuuuuuuck, I''m going to kill that old man!''

    Damien gave Xue''er a firm knock on the head before wryly turning to Su Ren and Xiao Yue.

    "Brother."

    Su Ren patted his new friend on the shoulder in solidarity. He now understood. This was truly a brother in arms.

    Finally, someone who understood his pain!

    As Damien experienced deja vu from his current situation, Xue''er ran away to escape punishment and started chatting with Xiao Yue.

    The conversation went something like:

    "If you call me big sister, this princess will never mistreat you!"

    "Hmph, why should you be the big sister? I''m taller than you, and prettier than you, so I should be the big sister!"

    "But I''m stronger than you!"

    "Grrr, but my brother is stronger than yours!"

    "You''re lying! Senior Brother is the strongest genius in the universe!"

    "That''s only because my big brother didn''t want that spot. Your senior brother should be thanking him!"

    "Hmph!"

    "Hmph!"

    It was enough to make a grown man lose his mind, which is why Damien and Su Ren left the girls to their own devices and switched their focus elsewhere.

    "You said Xiao Yue is part of a sect, right? Which one?" Damien asked.

    "The Divine Feather Sect," Su Ren replied, "My Master is close to their Sect Master, so I was able to leave her therefortably."

    "Hmm, Divine Feather Sect¡­if I''m remembering right, they''re just under the Holy Land level. I''m sure they won''t be too happy about this oue," Damien muttered, ncing over at the girls who couldn''t decide whether to argue or get along.

    Su Ren shook his head in disagreement. "Xiao Yue''s master is trustworthy. He likely only wished for her to witness a sh of greater forces. After all, looking at her level, would any sane person think she had a chance?"

    Damien hummed in agreement. Just as Xue''er was 15 and at the peak of 3rd ss, Xiao Yue was 16 and just recently passed her Universe Baptism. Her talent was immense, but her real strength wasn''t enough to hurt a fly in the Holy Light Realm.

    ''That only goes to show how much they trust Su Ren¡­alright, it should be fine. I''ll have to meet the Divine Feather Sect''s groupter.''

    "What''s your n now?" He asked, changing the topic.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I only came to this realm to find worthy opponents, however, there are none other than you. Now, I will help Xiao Yue look for treasures." Su Ren said after a moment of thought.

    "I see¡­"

    Damien quickly summoned his mana and drew a map of the secret realm in the air, blocking off a certain area in the far corner near the golden pyramid.

    "I rmend this area. There should be 50 or 60 Chaos-rank treasures and at least one God-rank artifact there. As for the rest of the realm, don''t hope for much."

    Su Ren''s brow raised in intrigue. "Don''t tell me you n to¡­"

    "Shhh¡­it''s already been a few minutes since our battle ended. The forest is crowded with eyes."

    "Hmph, why should I mind them? What can they do?"

    "Haha, I mean, that''s true. They only saw the aftermath of the battle rather than our actualbat, yet they''re still too scared to approach. However, it''s not just them watching, is it?"

    "Fair enough."

    Su Ren panned an indifferent gaze through the surrounding forest, causing several bushes to shake as those hiding within their leaves jerked.

    "Then, I shall take my leave now. Let us meet again at ater date," he finally said, once more giving Damien a bow.

    Damien returned it in kind with a smile. "Of course. Ah, but would you mind doing me a favor?"

    "What is it?"

    "Hmm, never mind."

    Damien shook his head, dismissing what he was about to say.

    Originally, he was going to ask Su Ren to take Xue''er along with him so she could get some real-world experience, but he immediately realized it was a stupid idea.

    When was thest time Xue''er actually came to Grand Heavens Boundary?

    She was born in a secret realm, and she was raised in an isted world.

    Damien brought her out with the singr thought to distract Xiao Yue and introduce Xue''er to a genius her age, but his actions were far deeper than that.

    First off, he openly teleported a stranger into the Holy Light Realm through unknown means. The Sanctuary''s existence was too improbable to be guessed, but those outside would definitely be curious about his methods.

    He needed to think up a valid excuse, and while he did so¡­

    He would give Xue''er the best possible first experience as a genius of the universe she could possibly have.

    Damien and Su Ren wrapped up their conversation and pulled their respective children away from each other, bidding farewell and moving in opposite directions.

    "Hmph, that Xiao Xiao is so annoying! Big brother, I don''t need a friend like her," Xue''erined as they left the area.

    "Haha, you''re saying that, but calling her by a nickname? Isn''t that a bit hypocritical?"

    "Nope! Actually, Auntie taught me that xiao means small in big brother''s homnd, so I call her Xiao Xiao, because she''s double small!"

    "Pfft¡­! I don''t think that''s how that works, but let''s roll with it anyway! Which auntie taught you that?"

    "Auntie Elvira, of course!"

    "Eh? Who would''ve thought!"

    Damien was genuinely surprised. When did Elvira start studying up on Earth?

    And it wasn''t just to the level of knowing Damien''s homnd of America, but the entirety of Earth.

    After all, Damien wasn''t Chinese, nor did he speak Chinese. It could be said that Elvira managed to be even more knowledgeable on his home than he was!

    It was heartwarming to know that she''d been making these efforts without a single word to him, just as she did with everything else.

    If it wasn''t for Elvira, Theavel wouldn''t have be what it currently was. She was his most trustworthy aid, and someone whose back he knew would always support him,

    Wasn''t that why she was the 1st of the 5 Emperors?

    Damien happily conversed with Xue''er, learning more about Theavel from the perspective of its residents and learning more about what Xue''er had been up to in the time they hadn''t been together.

    Her progress was almost reality-breaking. She managed to reach the peak of 3rd ss in only 2 years, not slowing down at all from when she was in the earlier stages of power.

    ''It''s time¡­''

    He couldn''t dy it anymore.

    ''Xue''er needs to make her debut in Grand Heavens Boundary. Now that she''s working towards her Baptism, I can''t selfishly hold her back anymore.''

    ''It''s time for her to enter the true battleground of geniuses.''

 Chapter 989 Shrine [1]

    Elena''s original n was simple, at least in its first stage.

    The first step was to monopolize the treasures of the Holy Light Realm. Of course, the real meat of the n came after this step ended, but it was essential for the days ahead to take hold of every treasure he possibly could.

    However, Damien now had a secondary goal: to use this secret realm as a stage for Xue''er, and if possible, initiate her Baptism under the eyes of all those experts outside.

    Xue''er needed to make a proper wave upon her introduction, or she wouldn''t be taken seriously at all. The current Xue''er was naive and easily exploitable, something uneptable if she wanted to survive without his umbre shielding her from the rain.

    It hurt him to even consider it, but he needed to expose her to the cruelty of reality while she was still under hisplete protection, so that when the day came when she decided to leave and experience it on her own, he could have a semnce of confidence.

    That day would surelye. As an extreme peak expert himself, Damien was perfectly clear on the importance of forging one''s own way.

    This was, in fact, the only way to grow in the extreme peak and beyond.

    ''If the path she picks is to follow me, I''m sure she''ll grow fine and bloom magnificently, but how can itpare to what she could achieve on her own? I hate feeling like I''m making simr decisions to my old man, but it''s not about me anymore.''

    "Huu¡­"

    He shelved the thought for now. That was a decision to be made in the far future, and for now, he only needed to focus on what he needed to do.

    "Xue''er, since you''vee out for the first time, do you want to have some fun?" he asked with a slight smile.

    "Fun? What kind?" she questioned back.

    "The kind where we blow a bunch of stuff up and steal even more!"

    "Oooh, that''s my favorite kind of fun!"

    "Haha, as expected of my little sister!"

    The demonic duo happily walked through the secret realm, plotting deviously along the way.

    The advent of a little girl who acted like a mini Damien¡­

    The universe was in for a treat, that much was for certain.

    ***

    The golden pyramid, as those geniuses learned as they entered it, was called the Tomb of Ayakashi.

    ording to the story told my the tomb''s walls, it once sealed 100,000 demonic spirits and was erected opposite the Holy Light Tomb to weaken them until they eventually dispersed after countless years.

    After all, these demonic spirits were once peak entities that tormented countless races, and they were far too ethereal for them to be killed easily.

    Over time, several tens of thousands of them dispersed, returning to the heavens, but an unknown number of them were still sealed within the tomb, awaiting their eventual demise.

    The trials of the tomb were plentiful, and mostly rted to the concept of demonic spirits and illusions.

    The geniuses who rushed in at the very beginning were still stuck in the first corridor of the tomb, unable to get past the tens of trials that existed within a few steps of each other.

    The tomb was designed to never be infiltrated, and while the Holy Light Tomb was rebuilt by them, the Tomb of Ayakashi was the original tomb they encountered in the original mystic realm.

    When the Angels raided it the first time, they spent an immense amount of time in preparation and avoided thousands of the trials and traps in the tomb, which meant they remained to this day, awaiting those who fell in their grasp.

    It was silly in a sense. There were many traps, but they weren''t unavoidable. As long as one took the correct path, one could avoid every single trap in the tomb and reach its center in an hour at most.

    However, it was easier said than done. Unless one possessed the All-Seeing Eyes or a simr perception ability, it was impossible for them to see the swerving and patternless path they were meant to take.

    Elena surpassed most geniuses in many facets, but perception wasn''t one of them. Her perceptive ability could only be considered above average at best.

    Her mental specialty was instead intuition. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Patterns were present everywhere. Once Elena experienced a situation enough times, she was able to intuitively understand the patterns and plot the best path forward.

    Unfortunately, the Tomb of Ayakashi was made opposing order. To contain the most chaotic of spirits, only total chaos could be used.

    Order was simply too predictable, something Elena''s talent essentially proved.

    When she first entered the tomb, she was able to traverse the path rtively easily by relying on her strong mental fortitude, however, upon moving 100 steps, the floor below her dropped out and she fell into apletely dark space.

    She kept her eyes closed and her awareness spread thinly around her.

    The illusions impacted her mind constantly, showing her horrifying imagery both of those she know and of general scenarios of tragedy.

    They wanted to see her break, to see her sumb to their will and be their puppet.

    She could hear their voices calling out to her.

    "You are worthless," they said.

    "You are destined to be useless," they said.

    "You will die without aplishing anything," they said.

    "Unless you ept our presence."

    She would''ve been swayed a few months ago.

    Back when she was still doubting if she was doing things the right way, back when she was still traversing this cold world on her own, perhaps she would''ve entertained their voices a little.

    But no more.

    Meeting Damien was the trigger, but it wasn''t the reason.

    The reason was rather the blooming of her new title, something that would''ve happened with or without his involvement in the War of Beast Emperor Star.

    With that event, Elena formed a direct connection with the universe''s source of Life. She gained "validation" from the universe and the Void, these forces that silently encouraged her and told her to grow as she desired.

    It was hard growing without a guiding influence. Damien had the Void that removed any need he had for one, but Elena had nothing but her own thoughts.

    Thoughts that were now backed by Life in the same way Damien was backed by the Void.

    Voom!

    A powerful surge of Life Laws shot in all directions, centered on her body. The vigorous aura illuminated the darkness and tore the voices to shreds, disallowing them from nearing her.

    Skeletons and crazed writings littered the ground. Far more disgusting objects joined them, but Elena paid them no mind.

    She walked to the center of the dark space, where a dim glow lit a nondescript shrine surrounded by skeletons, still in the prostrated position they held until death.

    "Transcended Death Shrine¡­" Elena muttered, reading off the text on the main tome.

    Her eyes widened. Her pupils shrunk into dots as her eyes zed over.

    Elena''s mind was transported to a new space, and her body¡­

    Her body was left unattended in the resting ce of demonic spirits.

    What could possibly go wrong?

 Chapter 990 Shrine [2]

    Elena opened her eyes to a world of ckish-grey, almost ash-colored rock.

    It was rtively t, to the point where she could see the curve of the on the horizon, but there was a scarce amount of erected stone pirs and other structures formed over years of weathering.

    As she stood there, Elena was forced to wonder:

    ''What does this have to do with the Transcended Death Shrine?''

    Her expression was solemn as she walked through the dark world and tried to understand it.

    ''It isn''t safe to leave my body alone in that unknown ce. I need to get back as soon as possible, or I''ll likely lose it forever.''

    She remembered the prostrated figures she saw around the shrine and shuddered as she thought about ending up like them.

    If they were her prospective future, her current situation was the cause of their strange deaths.

    ''If it was an illusion, at least the method of escaping would be more streamlined, but this is far too real to be an illusion. It''s more like a separated reality, a space a level above secret realms.''

    If she didn''t remember her mind getting sucked into this world, she would''ve thought her avatar body was made of flesh and blood.

    ''That is the worst-case scenario already. If the environment is tangible, my spiritual world will take damage as if it''s tangible as well. If my avatar breaks, my soul will copse.''

    Understanding the situation didn''t take long once she set aside time to think, but finding her way out was a different story.

    She''d been walking for what seemed like 2 hours or so and the scenery hadn''t changed one bit.

    An hour ago, she started paying attention to the protrusions and structures that asionally presented themselves as well, but she soon realized there was no pattern among them.

    ''The answer is either in the heavens, underground, or not here at all.''

    Of the three options, the underground seemed most unlikely.

    Bang!

    Elena stomped her foot on the ground, watching her spiritual intent spread through the earth and disperse.

    ''With my strength, entering the subterranean world would be impossible. If the shrine was a hostile entity, this would''ve made it obvious that the answer is underground, however¡­''

    ¡­was the shrine truly hostile?

    The words "Transcended Death" didn''t allude to evil, nor to darkness in any sense.

    While transcending death seemed to be a battle with the concept of death, a constant effort to evade its embrace and live another day, the concept was far less rted to death than the concept of life.

    After all, who would desire to transcend death other than those obsessed with life?

    Those who epted death never moved to transcend it. They moved with other purposes, and eventually transcended the concept as a byproduct of their efforts.

    In this case, rather than saying they transcended death, it was better to say they ascended to a higher state of life.

    The concept of Transcended Death, at least in Elena''s eyes as she internalized it, was an extremely different vein of Life Laws than what she specialized in.

    It was Life that oppressed Death.

    ''The league of this concept is far higher than what I''ve been able toprehend on my own. If it wasn''t for the stacked enhancements of the Genesis Bead and my new title, I wouldn''t have been able to sense it.''

    She looked into the sky. It was dark and starless, just as bleak and deste as the earth below.

    If this world was not a test, but rather a physical manifestation of the concept engraved on the shrine¡­

    Pah!

    Elena jumped off the ground, but found that flying was disallowed entirely.

    ''Aha, so I''m right.''

    With a smile, she wrapped her body in fluctuations of Life. Using the concepts of the Law as both a shield and a propeller, Elena lifted herself into the air.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The previous suppression immediately vanished.

    ''I knew it.''

    The Transcended Death Shrine was never a hostile entity. Merely, it was too profound for themon man to understand, which eventually led those who tried to their deaths.

    ''If one stays on the ground, it''s like embracing death. The longer it takes to realize the safety of the heavens, the closer one bes to death, until they eventually embrace it willingly, prostrating to its manifestation in the shrine.''

    The heavens could be called the birth giver of life, the arbiter of samsara, or as many other titles as one wanted to create.

    Because the concept of the heavens and the concept of universal will were one and the same.

    As Elena ascended the skies, the suppressive force pierced her defenses and entered her body, converting into strips ofprehension that she digested as soon as she received them.

    The higher she went, the greater the reward she attained. By the time she could see the dark world''s atmosphere in the near distance, she felt like she could almost grasp the true meaning of Transcended Death.

    Unfortunately, her strength was merely at the peak of 4th ss. She felt a wall blocking her from going any higher, a wall formed not only from her own exhaustion of mental strength, but also from the realm''s refusal to grant her more.

    ''Eh? I guess the realm spirit is a bit salty?'' She thought with a wry smile.

    ''Well, I can''t me it. If I was the spirit of a realm that had never been understood for several tens of thousands of years, I would also get arrogant.''

    She shook her head and cleared her thoughts. Regardless of the realm''s intentions, she was at her limit already.

    ''Transcended Death¡­you might view it as an all-powerful concept, but to me, it''s just another step on my path to finding the source of Life. Even without your help, I will conquer it someday.''

    Elena pressed her hand forward, flexing her fingers as shemanded the Life Mana within her.

    ''Shatter this. It is time to go.''

    Voom!

    Her mana burst forth and filled the atmosphere with vibrant white light.

    The greatest gain Elena plundered from Transcended Death was simple.

    Attack power.

    The Life Laws she practiced until this point rarely had attacking moves, more focused on healing and vitality.

    Transcended Death was a concept built on oppression, thus, Elena''s Life Laws gained an oppressive quality when it was incorporated into them.

    And using this oppressive quality, she pressed down on the atmosphere until it cracked, giving her leeway to reconnect to the Real ne.

    With onest bow of gratitude to the hidden realm spirit, Elena vanished, returning her mind to her physical body.

    The realm went silent, and a few secondster, a small brush of wind swirled into the air, revealing the figure of a young woman with eyes clearer than any spring.

    She stared into the space where Elena disappeared, tilting her head curiously.

    "Is she the one?" The girl asked.

    She received no response, but remained unperturbed.

    "I see. Then I will continue observing."

    The girl took a few steps body, and her body merged into the realm, vanishing from perception.

    She was the very realm spirit Elena noticed before she left the ce.

    However, unbeknownst to Elena, she wasn''t a realm spirit at all,

    Instead, she was a manifested spirit representing the concept of Transcended Death itself, almost like a sentient Law Concept.

    Elena''s meeting with this entity meant far more to her future training than she''d ever imagine.

 Chapter 991 Arrival [1]

    ''Life Chains.''

    The second Elena returned to her physical body, she attacked.

    Without any specific target in mind, she wildly flung chains of life mana through the surroundings, sting the air apart and destroying the rock below.

    [SKREEEE!]

    [AHHHHHH!]

    [HUMAN, STOP!]

    Ethereal shrieks rang out. There was no physical presence, nor did Elena feel any impact when she struck these entities, but their screams were enough to alert her to their presence.

    ''Explode.''

    She mmed her foot on the ground, shooting a pulse of mana into the earth and allowing it to spread thinly before exploding outward.

    The rocky ground broke apart, waves of Life Mana flowing out of it and filling the entire space with a thick vital aura that, to these demonic spirits, was a curse.

    "Hmph. You disgusting things. You actually dare attempt to steal my body?!" Elena roared.

    She could feel the demonic aura in her veins, a clear sign that they tried to corrupt her into one of them while her mind was gone. If she hadn''te back in time, her body would''ve truly be their possession.

    At that point, the worst possible scenario she could think of would likely be only one of the terrible things they did with their newly acquired physical presence.

    On the other hand, since she was able toe out in time, these demonic spirits served as the perfect targets to test her new offensive strength!

    ''This is great! My base attack power is almost twice as strong as it used to be, and my Law Concepts are all now backed by the ferocity of Transcended Death. My mana has moved a step further in being the bane of dark energies.''

    Elena''s sharp gaze cut through the dark space, locating the hundreds of demonic spirits that swirled around her cautiously, no longer daring to approach after seeing their brethren ughtered like chickens.

    "Hmph."

    Elena harrumphed, not bothering with them any longer. She paid her final respects to the Transcended Death Shrine and walked to the end of the dark space, punching a hole in the wall and entering a new corridor within the depths of the pyramid.

    ''I couldn''t see it at all before. Could it be that only those who canprehend the shrine can use this path?''

    Elena realized quickly that she was nowhere near the original route she was taking before she fell into the dark space.

    She was at least several hundred meters deeper into the earth, and the structure of the pyramid around her was far more decrepit and unkempt, with various small creatures skittering through the corridors and nondescript overgrown flora infecting the walls.

    ''I don''t think we were supposed toe down here.'' Elena thought wryly,

    As far as the temple hieroglyphs told, the greatest treasures of the Tomb of Ayakashi resided at its very peak, so all those other geniuses were ascending with all their strength to this very moment.

    Who would''ve thought the pyramid was actually hiding such arge portion of its body underneath the earth?

    Even if those geniuses knew of this, they wouldn''t be able to reach this ce unless they had a simr experience to her.

    Which meant¡­

    ''Let''s see what kind of treasures the Angel Race was chasing in the original Mystic Realm.''

    Elena moved with purpose, killing demonic spirits and avoiding the tomb''s traps with as much efficiency as she could produce.

    And slowly but surely, she made her way to the very central point of the tomb.

    The true burial site of the demonic spirits.

    ***

    A starship docked at the entrance of Luxurion.

    The experts who were focused on the geniuses in the Holy Light Realm didn''t notice it immediately, but as soon as one caught sight of the crest on its side, all the rest turned their attention as well.

    This phenomenon became especially pronounced when Luciel personally went out to greet the iing guests.

    A portion of the starship''s body turned holographic, revealing those inside.

    The first to step out was a beautifully handsome man with striking red eyes, the king of demons, Lucifer.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    He was followed by Parsiel, his angelic counterpart, and the Royal Demon n''s elders and geniuses.

    "Lucifer, Parsiel, it has been a while. Have you been well?" Luciel said with a smile, weing the duo.

    "n Head," Parsiel said as he bowed in respect.

    Meanwhile, Lucifer returned Luciel''s smile and shook the man''s hand.

    "It has indeed been a while. Have you been ruling your n properly, dear brother?"

    Luciel''s eyes narrowed slightly.

    "I would prefer if you didn''t say anything that could cause misunderstandings."

    "Hm? Misunderstandings? But there is nothing but truth in my words."

    "You¡ª"

    Luciel''s words suddenly halted as his attention was drawn back to the starship.

    Suddenly, the air stilled as a thick and viscous aura filled it.

    It wasn''t an exerted aura, but the natural aura of strength that existed around a strong Demigod.

    An old man stepped out of the ship. His appearance was that of a wise sage, but his eyes held the domineering light of a war emperor.

    nking him were five elders, including three more Demigods, as well as five younger geniuses, three women, one man, and¡­a little girl roughly 10 years old.

    And among them, there wasn''t a single unfamiliar face.

    "They are¡­?" Luciel asked curiously, turning to Lucifer, who shrugged.

    "Don''t ask me. They''re your subordinate''s guests."

    "Parsiel?"

    "Yes, n Head. As you know, I left years ago to contact forces I believed would aid us in theing battles. These are¡ª"

    "Parsiel, there is no need for you to introduce us. We are more than capable of speaking for ourselves," the old man at the head of the group interrupted.

    He walked up to Luciel, facing the Angel directly without a hint of disturbance in his eyes or aura.

    "I am Tian Yang, the Void Old Immortal. We from the Human Domain appreciate your invitation to this grand event."

    His words were sincere, but the undertone behind them was slightly taunting, just barelyced with mockery that normal people couldn''t sense.

    "Hmm¡­." Luciel hummed, ncing over the group.

    "The forces of the Human Domain indeed should not be neglected. The achievements of your ancestors are worthy of respect."

    "Hmph, haven''t you heard that the new generation always surpasses the old? I''d advise you not to look down on us."

    The one who spoke was the female among the two Demigods, Tang Lingzi.

    She and the Drunken Old Immortal stepped up, silently supporting Tian Yang with their presence.

    Luciel showed no change of expression as he guided the group into the main hall, however, the same couldn''t be said about the experts watching the interaction from afar.

    The Human Domain.

    It was widely looked down upon and regarded as the weakest of Grand Heavens Boundary''s remaining sectors. Nobody present believed the Human Domain would show its face at this assembly¡­

    ¡­and they surely didn''t expect them to show it so fiercely.

    To make their first introduction by unting three powerful Demigods wasn''t a courtesy, but a taunt.

    They were practically screaming in the ears of these experts:

    "You think the Human Domain is trash? Thene test our fists and prove it!"

 Chapter 992 Arrival [2]

    Tian Yang lead his group through the halls of Luxurion, standing side by side with Luciel as they entered the first banquet hall.

    The hall was filled with a pregnant silence as those within cast a variety of gazes at the group.

    Gazes filled with disdain, with mockery, with interest, and even those with just a hint of fear targeted the Human Domain''s people, almost as if testing their grit.

    "Hmph."

    Tian Yang snorted lightly, diapering the invisible pressure as he walked through the crowd, followed by the rest who didn''t lose confident and upright postures once.

    In all honesty, the experts in this hall were not solely good people. Arge portion of them were greedy and self-centered, uncaring for the fates of those who didn''t benefit them.

    To these people, the Human Domain represented an unknown threat. No matter how much they were looked down upon, the tales of their past deeds were enough to make these people wary.

    After all, the Human Domain may have fallen, but its people were clearly still standing strong.

    However, they were forced to hold back their desire to humiliate these people and establish dominance early.

    Because the Human Domain forces didn''t arrive alone, they arrived along with the Royal Demon n and were personally invited by a member of the Heavenly n!

    This kind of silent support was hard to read, as it wasn''t known how far thoserge influences would go to protect the ones they were backing.

    Therefore, they needed to observe the situation until they had a proper understanding of how these powers were operating before doing anything.

    This led to a silence unbroken as Tian Yang and his group reached the front of the hall while Luciel calmly and smilingly filled them in on what had happened thus far at the Grand Assembly.

    Meanwhile,pletely unnoticed due to the extremely prominent presence of those from the Human Domain, another force entered the first banquet hall of Luxurion.

    They were the Sapphire Soul n, a mid-sized force in Soul World that was led by a council of 9 Supremes and only a single Demigod Ancestor.

    They were already prepared for a lukewarm reception. They didn''t have much status, and were lucky to even be allowed into the first portion of the Grand Assembly, a blessing they only received from being a subordinate sect of Nirvana Soul Pce, one of the strongest Spirit Race forces.

    However, the reception they received wasn''t just lukewarm, it was colder than ice.

    Not a single expert in the hall noticed their entrance.

    Their eyes turned to the center of attention, the reason for this humiliation that they were silently suffering.

    A small group that didn''t look remarkable at all.

    Upon further observation and learning the identities of those people, the head of the group, a Supreme named Thael''s eyes narrowed slyly.

    ''The Human Domain is a relic of the past, but they still have a strong reputation. If our disciples can defeat their geniuses, our reputation will rise immensely.''

    The Sapphire Soul Sect''s ultimate goal was to escape the shadow of their mother sect. This Grand Assembly, in their eyes, was the perfect ce to start working towards this goal.

    "Gumhar, take your fellow disciples and test those Human Domain geniuses. If you think you can beat them, crush them thoroughly."

    His sound transmission entered the ears of the sect''s top disciple, Gumhar, who nodded with a vicious grin.

    "Understood, Master."

    He motioned for the four behind him to follow him and pushed his way through the crowd, his actions finally alerting others to the Sapphire Soul Sect''s presence.

    Though Gumhar was being extremely rude to those he didn''t have the status to offend, nobody stopped his charge.

    How could these experts not guess his intentions?

    Since they couldn''t probe the Human Domain on their own, why would they stop someone from doing it for them?

    Gumhar made it to the front of the crowd soon enough, and immediately stomped his foot on the ground.

    "I won''t ept this!" He roared.

    Tian Yang, Lucifer, and their groups turned their attention to Gumhar at once, bored looks on their faces.

    Gumhar felt a bead of sweat forming on his temple, but he quickly ignored it. He knew how important his role was!

    Besides, he really did want to conquer the Human Domain''s geniuses.

    Especially the three women among them, each a peerless beauty.

    "The Human Domain is just a pathetic relic! You people should be embarrassed showing your faces here! If the Human Domain wants to help in the war, you should just send some beauties to entertain our hardworking soldiers! Is there anything else you''re good for?!"

    His taunting shouts echoed through the walls, provoking many reactions from the crowd, but none at all from the Human Domain.

    Or rather, there was one.

    Four of the younger geniuses and the two elders who weren''t yet Demigods immediately scurried away from a certain woman, who stood with a bright smile on her beautiful face.

    She pped her hands happily.

    "You''re right! Our Human Domain can definitely provide several beauties for those brave soldiers on the frontlines!" She eximed, eagerly supporting Gumhar''s words.

    "Y-yeah!" He stammered, feeling a little strange. "It''s good that you know your ce!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Yup!" The beauty continued.

    "Then, here''s the first! Does anyone wish to purchase her services?"

    Gumhar was forced to gulp as he heard the words, following her finger to find the beauty she was referring to with anticipation written all over his face¡­

    ''Hm? Where is she pointing?''

    ¡­until he was forced back to reality.

    The woman''s finger was pointing at¡­him?

    "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

    He nced around, looking to Thael in confusion, only to see his elder''s pale and horror-struck expression.

    "What''s going on? Guys¡­?"

    Gumhar turned around, facing his fourrades.

    Four figures frozen in ice, their faces still twisted in the mocking expressions they held moments prior.

    Gumhar''s face twisted in shock.

    "W-w-what?!" He eximed, stepping back several steps.

    Only¡­was his chest supposed to move like that¡­?

    ''It¡­can''t¡­be¡­''

    He shakily looked down.

    And indeed, entering his vision was a pair of voluptuous breasts.

    "N-no! This is fake!"

    He fell to the floor and crawled backward, his eyes falling on a happily smiling pink-haired beauty.

    "What do you think?" She said. "Is this satisfactory?"

    "Kahak¡­!"

    Gumhar immediately coughed blood, which looked strangeing from a Spirit, and fainted, unable to ept his new and improved body.

    It was so quick that even these experts would''ve missed it if they weren''t paying attention.

    The pink-haired beauty imposed an illusion on Gumhar so strong that it nearly became reality, and within a second, the white-haired beauty next to her froze the remaining four geniuses on a molecr level, killing them instantly.

    "Hmph."

    The white-haired woman scoffed scornfully and turned away, not bothering with the situation anymore.

    Meanwhile, herpanion directed her attention to the crowd itself, especially the petrified elder standing at its rear.

    "Now then, does anyone else have a problem with us being here?"

    Her words were met with silence, and with that disy of power acting as an early introduction, the geniuses of the Human Domain walked together and approached the portal to the Holy Light Realm.

    Rose Adire, level 380, Weaver of Reality.

    Xue Ruyue, level 380, Yin Spirit Queen.

    Long Chen, level 390, Draconic Sword Emperor.

    Xue Fang, level 360, Icede Grandmaster.

    Reva, level ???, ???.

    Together, the five stepped onto the universal stage.

    It was time to show the entirety of Grand Heavens Boundary what it meant to be from the Human Domain.

    ***

    Somewhere in the Holy Light Realm, Damien''s body twitched.

    "Something" within was showing itself, reminding him of its eternal existence in his heart.

    It was a little wisp of soul that connected him to a single person.

    ''Ruyue¡­''

 Chapter 993 Goals [1]

    ''They''ve finallye.''

    Damien''s heart was practically beating out of his chest, but he kept an outwardly calm facade.

    He was currently with Xue''er deep within the Holy Light Tomb. It was the location he decided to use to both train her and limate her to danger, and though he could use the All-Seeing Eyes to find the shortest route to the center and easily snatch the tomb''s treasures for himself, he didn''t do so.

    Instead, he used the same ability to find the longest and most grueling route to the center, and unapologetically pushed Xue''er along that route.

    As she encountered traps and illusions, her mental strength and battle sense would improve.

    But it would take a lot of suffering before she could reach that point.

    The current Xue''er was covered head to toe in small scratches and dried blood from wounds Damien healed long ago.

    Though the threat they posed was gone, she still clearly remembered the sensation of pain that came along with them.

    It was scary.

    The outside world she''d heard so much about was just as cruel as those in Theavel made it out to be.

    Yet, while it may have been unexpected from Xue''er, who grew up sheltered by Damien, she was a girl with her own ambitions and dreams.

    A single nightmare still haunted her every once in a while. It depicted the scenes of her childhood, where she watched those in her vige die brutally, where she almost joined them in the underworld.

    It was a memory that Damien saved her from, but she always thought back to what would have happened if he wasn''t there.

    As he heard the terrible stories of those who were saved from Calypto, and even those from the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, she realized that she wasn''t alone in her struggle.

    People all over the universe were suffering, and the only way they could save themselves was to be stronger.

    It was that realization that pushed her to beg Elvira to teach her until thetter finally sumbed, and it was the same deep-seated idea that pushed her to receive Damien''s training regardless of how harsh it was.

    As her older brother and mentor, Damien could clearly see the fiery glimmer in her eyes, and thus, he didn''t stop her from acting as she pleased, merely staying behind her and making sure she would never face death head-on.

    ''I know this state very well. This is the same state that allowed me to survive through the First Dungeon. I don''t know where she found it, but what she''s acting on is "desperation."''

    He wanted to ask where such a desperate desire for power came from, but he withheld the question. When she was ready to tell him, she would.

    ''This kind of desire by itself is extremely dangerous, especially for a growing teenager. She needs me here silently supporting her to bnce that desperation with warmth. Otherwise, she might end up like I did.''

    Damien could feel his soul bleeding from the terrible longing he felt for his women, but now wasn''t the time to be selfish.

    ''They are here as representatives of the Human Domain, which means they''re here with something to prove. Hmm, if the Human Domain is nning to re-enter the universal scene, I need to choose the perfect timing to reveal my affiliation.''

    If he outright imed himself a part of the Human Domain, his light would overshadow them and have the opposite effect of what he desired.

    If he waited until Rose, Ruyue, and the rest proved themselves, and then swooped in at the end as a cherry on top, the Human Domain would be held in legends as a sector that retained its ability to create countless geniuses even while in its worst state.

    ''Good. I can train Xue''er without worry and leave the situation outside to them. Now that Ruyue is close and the soul connection is active again, I''ll be able to tell if they''re ever in mortal danger.''

    Damien flicked his finger slightly, sending a ball of white light into Xue''er''s body, healing her injuries and replenishing her stamina.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­thanks, big brother,'' she said as she stabilized herself.

    "It''s fine to take breaks, you know. We have months to train to our hearts'' content," Damien said gently, expressing his worry.

    However, Xue''er shook her head in refusal.

    "Now that I''m older, I don''t want to be weak anymore. The Aunties and Uncles all told me that big brother had to go through terrible things to be powerful. If I also have to endure terrible things to be like big brother, then I''ll do it."

    She said it firmly without any sign of the childish immaturity she usually carried.

    Damien felt a slight pain in his heart, realizing that she was going to start growing up soon, but he quickly shook off the feeling.

    ''Xue''er, don''t worry. Big brother will always be rooting for you.''

    Damien silently sent his encouragement to the brave girl who pushed forward with a will of steel.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    And at the same time, he wished good fortune upon those from his homnd who were currently fighting for its sake.

    The Holy Light Realm''s situation became moreplicated with every passing day, but the n was still the same.

    Only, the end goal was no longer Damien''s domination over the universe''s geniuses, but the Human Domain''s domination over the entire rest of the universe.

    ***

    Whoosh!

    Five people surfaced in the Holy Light Realm.

    Bang!

    Immediately, an explosion wrapped around them.

    "Hmph!" Ruyue harrumphed and tossed up a barrier of special ice that blocked the explosive force entirely.

    She exchanged nods with the three adults behind her and took down the barrier.

    Xiu!

    Long Chen shot out like a ballistic missile, the Empyrean Dragon Sword in his hands sweeping in a wide arc in front of him.

    Shiiiiing!

    An extremely crisp sound rang through the air, and immediately, the world was severed in two.

    Trees, beasts, and all geniuses in the path of his swing were bisected. The geniuses were immediately transferred out of the secret realm and healed, while the atmosphere suddenly quieted down.

    "Take them down!"

    A shout suddenly reverberated, bringing the geniuses in the surroundings to their senses.

    The group that just entered¡­was a threat!

    Roughly 40 geniuses dropped their hostility for each other and acted as one to take down the newly appeared enemy.

    But this¡­

    This was exactly what the Human Domain group wanted.

    Rose grinned deviously.

    "Alright, it''s time to start the ughterfest! Whoever gets the most kills gets a random box of their choosing! Ah, except you, Reva. You just stay behind us and rx for now."

    "Random box?" Xue Fang''s attention was immediately piqued.

    "Don''t get excited yet," Long Chen said before he could continue.

    "Right," Ruyue agreed. "Rose, you can''t just offer a random box without telling us which grade."

    Rose smirked smugly.

    "Hmph, do you think I''d snuff you guys? Since this is a few month-long event, we''ll split it in three. The winner after a week will get a gold box, the winner after a month will get a diamond box, and the final winner will get a mythril box!"

    Everyone''s eyes narrowed as one.

    "She''s finally bringing out a mythril box, huh? I was wondering what she was saving it for," Xue Fang muttered.

    And at the same time, his expression got serious.

    If there was a mythril box at stake¡­

    ¡­not a single one of them could afford to ck off.

 Chapter 994 Goals [2]

    The experts in the first banquet hall were all stoic characters in their daily lives, but in the past two days, they''d been forced to show a wide range of emotions.

    In fact, at this point, the experts had split into various cliques, mostly of forces who were already affiliated, or those from the same domain. However, the Human Domain only sent a single group to represent themselves, rather than multiple groups from strong influences.

    While the murmuring of the crowd leaned towards shaming the domain for having only a few worthy geniuses to showcase, Tian Yang and the rest didn''t let the crowd bother them at all.

    After all, why would they care for the opinions of those speaking without a single hint of knowledge?

    They alone understood the true capabilities of their domain, and this knowledge bestowed them with supreme confidence.

    Of course, not all the experts held such bias. There were a few who took the time to greet Tian Yang''s group and introduce themselves. These were mainly those without strong affiliations that forced them to pick a side, such as the Ancient God n.

    And of course, the very familiar Director Alucard and Commander Huo.

    There was only one influence in the universe that could im to bepletely unbiased, and that influence was none other than Hidden Death Valley of Death Emperor Star.

    "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the Director said amiably, nodding in greeting as he approached.

    "Oh?" Tian Yang uttered with a slight smile. "Could you be Alucard?"

    "Have we met before?" The Director asked in slight confusion.

    Tian Yang shook his head in amusement. "Perhaps you do not recognize this version of me, but perhaps you have some faint memory of a man named Yang Tian?"

    "Yang Tian¡­" the Director echoed before his eyes suddenly widened.

    "Crazy Bastard Yang Tian?!"

    "The one and only!"

    "Hahahaha!" The Directorughed boisterously. "How could this be? I thought you died in the Ancient Mythical Realm all those millennia ago!"

    Tian Yang smiled warmly as his old acquaintance pped his shoulder happily.

    "Mm, I also thought I was dead, but instead, when I awoke, I had returned to my home in the Human Domain. Quite the strange circumstance, wasn''t it?"

    "In this universe? Not as rare as one would believe it."

    "Isn''t that true."

    Tian Yang''s youth took ce in a time when the Human Domain wasn''t so utterly disconnected from the wider universe. Back then, while the divide existed, it was far easier to find safe passage through the destroyed space if one was willing to risk their life for the chance.

    Tian Yang held a secret that nobody in the Human Domain knew.

    Under his wise and sagely exterior was a man who, in his youth, was a mad barbarian enough to where his universally bestowed title was Crazy Bastard!

    Not many he knew back then were still alive now, and of those who were, only Alucard who he just revealed his identity to could make the connection between him and his past.

    Tian Yang and Alucard began to jovially converse, catching up on the details of each other''s lives, while Tang Lingzi and Albeus entertained the other influences who came to greet the Human Domain.

    Suddenly, a wave of gasps spread through the crowd.

    Tian Yang''s attention was attracted to the front of the hall, and his smile immediately widened into a haughty grin.

    With no warning, tens of geniuses started dropping out of the secret realm portal every minute, copsing to the floor and writhing as they readjusted to being alive.

    On the screens in the air above them, the advent of four geniuses was disyed clearly to all.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    They took the four cardinal directions for themselves, moving forward without pause and destroying anything in their paths.

    To the south was a dark icy hellscape. The souls of the dead wandered the air and corrupted any genius they came across, while the ice below froze their bodies and minds for eternity.

    To the west was another icynd, but far purer and brighter than its counterpart. It was t, as all obstructions in the path were sliced to nothingness, and the razor-sharp sword aura in the air razed everything that touched it.

    To the north was an atmosphere with no change, but perhaps that was the most terrifying part. Despite thend of death and destruction the north had be, not a single person could see a hint of it through its peaceful appearance.

    And finally, to the east was a path that truly represented the concept of destruction. Thend was torn and sundered, golden dragons of sword aura streaked through the air and devoured any enemy they found.

    The one thing all these paths had inmon was the fact that at their ends, one could faintly hear the sounds of continued ughter, making it evident that those who carved them were nowhere near done with their domineering killing spree.

    And of course, they were all created by Human Domain geniuses.

    This¡­

    ''What is this¡­?'' Many experts thought as one.

    Was this the so-called decrepit and declined Human Domain?

    If this was the trash Human Domain, what did that make them, the people whose geniuses were being crushed like ants?

    The negative stigmas surrounding the Human Domain were already crumbling with every second, but neither those geniuses in the secret realm nor Tian Yang and the elders in Luxurion nned to stop here.

    Just like anyone else, they had no desire to stay in the shadows of the past.

    Whether it be at the genesis of the universe or the very ends of time when creation returned to nothingness, the Human Domain would remain a legendary existence to all.

    That was the ultimate goal.

    ***

    It was arge space, far toorge to fit within the bounds of the Tomb of Ayakashi.

    The walls were made of weathered dark brown bricks that were covered in damp green moss and vines that snaked around like they were alive. The ground was lined with ancient letterings and hieroglyphs depicting various symbolisms that were long lost in the annals of time.

    Chains spanned the ceiling and draped down several feet, nging against each other as they were swayed by the mysterious wind that wrapped around the space and filled the already eerie atmosphere with disharmonious melodies that sang songs of death.

    The entire area showed signs of extreme debilitation except for the very center, where a massive stele stood by its lonesome.

    This was the central point of the Tomb of Ayakashi, the very room that held the ancient secrets hidden within the tomb.

    And as Elena stared into its darkness, she firmed her will.

    ''The aura in this ce is not natural. It''sing mainly from that stele, but there are strong pulses of iting from several other areas. I''m afraid this tomb¨C''

    ¨Cwas already in the process of breaking down.

    She covered her body in powerful vital aura and Light Laws, warding off all evil as she stepped into the unknown.

    A single disy in the first banquet hall went dark.

    From this point forward, Elena was truly on her own.

 Chapter 995 Shadow [1]

    Chapter 995 Shadow [1]

    Tap!

    Tap!

    Tap!

    Elena''s steps echoed through the damp and empty space as she made her way to the stele in the middle. Her thoughts were slow as if matching the quiet atmosphere around her.

    ''This ce is odd and radiates an extremely disconcerting feeling, but I can''t sense what''s actually wrong.''

    She expected to be dragged into battle or a mental struggle as soon as she entered, but it was strange how peaceful the space truly was.

    ''It almost makes me want to take down my defenses¡­''

    Elena frowned lightly as she realized her thoughts were bing irrational.

    ''It seems too subtle to be everything this ce has to offer. If I can ovee it by just realizing that it''s happening, it isn''t worthy of being an effect of the main tomb.''

    There were two possibilities for the current peace.

    The first was that the tomb was doing its job properly and all the demonic spirits were properly sealed within the stele, unable to make trouble.

    But how could such a good thing exist?

    ''The second scenario is that¡­''

    Elena reached the stele and carefully ced her hand on its surface, sending a pulse of Life mana into its surface.

    Hong!

    The stele reverberated, and a set of ancient letterings appeared on its surface.

    These words were from an archaguage unknown to Elena or anyone alive in the current era, but they shared simrities with the current universalnguage, almost like it was a predecessor.

    "Heaven. Spirit. Body. End."

    Elena voiced the four words she couldprehend from the tablet. They were spread apart with context connecting each to the next.

    ''Unfortunately, these words could mean anything if I try to fill in the nks. The fact that this is a tomb of demonic spirits should be the greatest clue to the meaning of these phrases¡­''

    Elena sighed. Her knowledge of ancient history was negligible since most of said knowledge had been erased from the universe. She had no idea what could''ve been going through the people who etched these words'' minds.

    But she could feel that they put their souls into their art, etching these words with all their power and wisdom.

    ''Thus, even at the end of times, these words will remain.''

    She removed her hand from the stele and nced around the tomb, her eyes hardening.

    ''There isn''t any sign of a formation on the stele, nor is there any evil aura contained within. Most likely¡­''

    The spirits that had yet to decay and cease existence were loose, spread out within the tomb.

    "If they''re on the level of the previous spirits, it won''t be too hard to exterminate them. The problem is what happens if they manage to possess the geniuses in the tomb.''

    In that case, Elena didn''t know enough about souls to save those geniuses or exterminate the demons who controlled them.

    ''For now, let''s move.''

    Elena nced at the stele and quickly wrapped her mana around it.

    In the next instant, it disappeared.

    ''This new spatial ring is far better than the usual stuff. That guy is really¡­''

    She smiled as she shook her head. The spatial ring was given to her by Damien after he saw her old one. It was connected to the Sanctuary, which meant its storage space was almost infinite, and its attractive power was great, so objects rooted in the ground could be directly pocketed if she so desired them.

    Unlike a normal spatial ring that merely had an internal space that the user could ess, this ring could produce its own spatial field to wrap and transport objects, which was what made it so magical.

    After taking the stele, Elena quickly left the main tomb¡­

    Bang!

    ¡­or at least, she tried.

    An explosion copsed the tomb''s entrance, trapping her inside until she could get through the pile of rubble.

    "Who?!" She yelled, her eyes sharpening.

    She summoned her mana and let it wrap around her body protectively in case she needed to attack.

    And she scanned the surroundings, her gaze taking every inch of the space into ount.

    She gritted her teeth in realization.

    ''That''s right. Before I entered, I had already sensed the stele''s aura¡­and the auras from the environment itself.''

    She smiled ironically.

    ''I guess the confusion was worthy of being an effect of the main tomb after all.''

    Even after she realized it, it still affected her and made her lose any sense of danger.

    And because of this, she spent too much time studying the stele andpletely forgot the matter of demonic spirits for a second.

    Whooooosh!

    A strong wind blew through the space, its origin unknown.

    Elena felt the growing auras in the darkness around her, she could feel those eerie voices from the shrine area returning.

    ''As expected, demonic spirits.''

    Tap!

    She took a step back, projecting light mana into the air in front of her.

    ''Fuck.''

    Her face paled.

    That wasn''t darkness at all.

    That was¡ª

    The darkness morphed. It rippled like waves, and high in the air near the chains hanging from the ceiling, something like a face formed.

    ''Run?''

    She nced at the exit.

    ''I''ll need 5 minutes to get through the rubble.''

    Her eyes went back to the shadow looming over her, just in time to see its "eyes" and "mouth" curve into a twisted smiling expression.

    ''I have to fight.''

    Shing!

    Bang!

    She withdrew her sword and shot into the air, meeting the shadow face-to-face. Her sword shed through the air in a clean arc, sending a wave of Light and Life into the shadow''s body.

    Whoom!

    An odd hollow whoosh resounded as the sh disappeared into the shadow, its connection with Elena cut entirely.

    "Right¡­" she muttered.

    Demonic spirits were ethereal beings. It was their greatest strength, but also the reason they couldn''t leave the tomb without possessing a body.

    ''And for this mass of demonic spirits, I''ve be the perfect body.''

    The body of an individual who, with nothing but her own strength, made it to the very center of the Tomb of Ayakashi.

    If not her, then who?

    WHOOSH!

    Elena''s eyes suddenly widened. She twisted her body sideways, just in time for a massive wave of shadow to m against her side.

    BANG!

    She shot backward and crashed into the dense walls of the tomb, coughing a mouthful of blood as she pulled herself out of the cracks.

    Ptui!

    She spit out another mouthful of blood as she stared back at the shadow that was still smiling at her with that same creepy expression.

    ''This¡­is troublesome.''

    Her mentality went through a change.

    Her mind entered a state where the battle in front of her was the only thing that mattered in life.

    Because she made the realization that if she didn''t win here, she''d die and be a puppet to their will.

    Her sword shone with beautiful white light.

    Crack! Crack! Crack!

    BOOM!

    A massive tree filled with vitality grew in front of her, reaching the ceiling of the massive space.

    She hopped onto its nearest branch and traversed its canopy until she was once again facing the shadow.

    "Thanks for waiting," she said coldly.

    "I''m good now, soe die whenever you''re ready."

 Chapter 996 Shadow [2]

    Chapter 996 Shadow [2]

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Explosions rang through the main tomb of Ayakashi as Elena and the massive demonic spirit fought fiercely.

    Bursts of light shed across the space as Elena moved through the spirit''s body. They were earth-shaking and soul-rattling, but the infrastructure of the tomb didn''t budge.

    Xiu!

    Elena shot back and pressed her sword forward,manding the massive world tree behind her.

    Rumble!

    The earth shook, thousands of roots shooting into the air and mming into the ground below, sending furious shockwaves of Life Mana into the shadow-like entity.

    ''It''s not working. Attacking like this is a pointless waste of mana if I can''t cause any damage.''

    Her eyes sharpened.

    ''If I don''t find a way to strike it soon, I need to find a way to run.''

    She''d grown much since the past. She wanted to stop this threat before it could hurt anyone, but she wasn''t willing to sacrifice her life to do so.

    Swoosh!

    She shot to the side, avoiding a wave of terrifying mana that arced toward her. Gritting her teeth, she shed out and sent a beam of The two forces collided, and Elena borrowed the force to retreat further.

    pure white mana into the attack.

    Boom!

    The two forces collided, and Elena borrowed the force to retreat further.

    ''Luckily, this thing still has to use mana to attack, so even if I can''t hurt it, it can''t hurt me either as long as I''m careful.''

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The spirit''s attacks became fiercer. Not only did its mana improve in quality, thews that supported it became far moreplex, affecting reality at a deeper level.

    ''The demonic spirit''s mana¡­what is it?'' Elena wondered.

    It was eerie like death, but contained more properties of darkness. It clearly represented a yin-attributed Law, but without knowing which one it was, Elena couldn''t form a proper n of action.

    After all, she wasn''t like Damien, whose mana capacity was nearly infinite. If she wanted to heal herself, she needed to expend a considerable amount of effort. Currently, she was facing an unknown and extremely strong opponent, which didn''t leave her space to waste energy.

    When she found the perfect time and method to kill this entity, she would strike with everything and y it.

    ''To do that¡­''

    She weaved through the darkness around her, entering the shadow''s body once more.

    Immediately, she was struck by its cruel and cold Laws.

    Her perception went ck. No matter how far she stretched her awareness, she couldn''t see even a single centimeter in front of her.

    Even her sense of touch was dulled, the sword shining with mana in her hand the only thing grounding her to reality.

    ''I am Elena Pierce.'' She reminded herself constantly.

    Her ego felt like it was slipping into oblivion. Her mind was submerged in a deepke of nothingness, the whispering voices of death enchanting her to join them in their splendor.

    "Whispering voices of¡­death?"

    Voom!

    Light shined through Elena''s body and soul.

    ''That''s it. This thing is using Death Laws!''

    BOOM!

    She wantonly released her mana into the surroundings, filling the air with vitality.

    Though the mana still had no effect on the entity, it illuminated a path in the darkness, guiding Elena back to safety.

    Whoosh!

    She shot out of the spirit''s body and was immediately confronted by an attack.

    With her new knowledge of the Laws contained within, she expertly wielded her own Life Laws in a split second to disperse it.

    ROOOOOOOH!

    The sound that emanated from the sh was strange on its own, but the two attacks actually wrapped around each other like stars on a merging path, creating a beautiful picture of yin and yang.

    Elena''s eyes widened as she made space, her gaze focused on the middle point of those two forces.

    What she saw was the interaction between life and death, a representation of Samsara.

    ''This isn''t what I want.''

    Her eyes widened at the thought that originated from deep in her subconscious.

    "Right, that''s not what I want," she reiterated,pletely aware this time.

    What she chased was not peace. What she chased was not life that acted as one half of a whole along with death.

    She was chasing the source of Life itself.

    Elena Pierce, an individual recognized by the Void and granted a connection with forces far above her station¡­

    If she only wanted this much, she would have never been granted such an honor.

    VOOM!

    The essence of Life raged around her body.

    "Life that Transcended Death" swirled into the air.

    In the end, ethereal beings, just like all others, relied on mana.

    Therefore, thoroughly crushing its mana would reveal an opening to strike.

    "My goal has never been to chase a beautiful life. Ever since I gained the opportunity to enter this world¡­I have been moving with the intent to suppress any and all things."

    Her deration was to the universe itself.

    Life that bnced death? The universe could keep that!

    Elena Pierce was not a person who conformed to anyone''s will, even if it was the Heavens themselves!

    She pushed her mana and mmed her foot in the air as if it was solid, shooting into the air like aet.

    She put her sword away. It was just a tool, no longer strong enough to support her.

    Her hands pped together and her fingers twisted around each other, forming a symbol like an eye trapped in a pyramidal cage. As she slightly closed her eyes¡­

    ¡­her hands slowly pressed forward.

    HONG!

    The ring of an ancient bell resounded through the air.

    The atmosphere was dyed white. No, a beam of white light shot into the skies of the Holy Light Realm like a beacon was lit atop the Tomb of Ayakashi. The beam pierced reality itself, shining through Luxurion in the outside world and immediately causing a stir.

    The pure white light was brighter than brightness, purer than purity. Its existence was sacred in the world for the few seconds it blessed the eyes of those lucky enough to witness it before it died down.

    However, just a few seconds was enough to create massive waves in many hearts. That sacrosanct beam represented something far greater than its appearance, after all.

    Of the experts in the first banquet hall, Luciel''s thoughts perfectly summed up those of hispatriots.

    ''This is truly¡­an era of geniuses.''

    The Holy Light Realm was proving to be of far greater significance than anyone expected.

    ''It seems we''ll have to make some changes.''

    Luciel immediately left the area and called a meeting with his fellows in the Heavenly n.

    Meanwhile, in the very center of the Tomb of Ayakashi, Elena''s attack manifested.

    A powerfully glowing heavenly ankh no smaller than the demonic spirit''s titanic body shot toward it with impossible speed.

    ck splotches almost like ink sshed into the air, coating the ankh.

    Sizzzzzz!

    The ink gutturally sizzled as the ankh''s mana burned through it and sent it to oblivion.

    The concept of Transcending Death thoroughly suppressed the demonic spirit''s Laws, making its attackspletely ineffective.

    And as the attack finally collided with the spirit''s body, Elena went through a qualitative change.

    The understanding of her ultimate goal was apanied by theprehension of another elusive concept.

    Legends.

    Because in that moment, Elena defined her own Legend. Even before Damien, she took a step towards forming her own Divinity.

    At this moment, Elena had stepped into the extreme peak of 4th ss.

 Chapter 997 Shadow [3]

    SKREEEEEEE!

    A soul-shattering screech pulled Elena back to reality, giving her no time to adjust to her gains.

    ''The consequence of breaking through during battle is being unable to grasp everything properly, but battle is also the best way to adapt to those gains.''

    Elena cracked her neck as she watched the ankh and the demonic spirit''s body fight each other fiercely.

    The demonic spirit was clearly feeling pain, evident through its screeching and theshing of its shadowy tentacles.

    ''It won''t die.'' Elena realized.

    The ankh was powerful, but it was only the result of her preliminary understanding.

    How could it be that easy to kill an entity formed by the merging of countless demonic spirits?

    While she finally had a method to hurt the entity, she needed to put in far more work to rid it from existence.

    VOOM!

    Crash!

    A pulse of dark mana reverberated through the air, and the ankh was finally shattered.

    The demonic spirit''s massive hollow eyes were nted in anger, its mouth producing a multitude of teeth and tongues that seemed to be screaming in rage and humiliation,

    ''Its ego isn''tplete.'' Elena realized as she swerved to the side and shed the air, cutting through a tentacle of darkness.

    She shed forward at the speed of light and spun her body, loading her leg with power and kicking out heavily.

    Bang!

    Her foot collided with the ethereal spirit body like it was a material object. The mana of Transcended Death rippled through the darkness like the spotlight of a lighthouse in the deep seas.

    Elena immediately felt the resistance of the spirit''s Laws. The dark and deathly fluctuation of that unknown concept shed against the mana of Life, slowly nibbling away at it until it could no longer hold its structure.

    Still, this nibbling was gradual. Elena''s attack still had its intended effect.

    SKREEEE!

    The demonic spirit screeched angrily and swept its massive arm at Elena, essentially sending a wave of mana that covered the skies in her direction.

    However¡­

    Shik!

    The mana suddenly split in half, two streamsing from opposite directions with the same target.

    Elena shot upward through the gap between them and grinned.

    ''The more injured it gets, the more its ego will destabilize.''

    She confirmed her assumption with that attack.

    From the ancient hieroglyphs on the wall, Elena learned of the individualistic and greedy nature of demonic spirits. For them tobine like this was for the sole purpose of survival, and now¡ª

    ''¡ªI only have a single body. In the end, all except one of them will be sentenced to death in this decrepit hall.''

    It seemed the yin-yang effect of the previous attacks didn''t just allow Elena to promote, it returned a piece of sentience to those demonic spirits.

    ''All the better for me.''

    Elena shed to the very edge of the room where Yggdrasil was located andnded on its branches.

    Bang!

    A holographic green shield covered the tree and blocked the spirit''s continued attacks.

    Crack!

    ''I only have a few seconds.''

    Elena rushed to the center of the tree, a t area where the trunk spread out into tens of thousands of branches.

    She ced her hand on the solid wood and closed her eyes, sending a prayer and a hint of mana into its trunk.

    And in response, a single branch snapped off the tree andnded before her.

    ''Nice.'' She thought as she picked it up.

    CRASH!

    She left the tree just in time to see the barrier break.

    With a wild expression decorating her face, she sted through the mass of thousands of dark tentacles, using the branch of Yggdrasil as a sword to cut all things.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Shing!

    It sliced through the deathly mana around it like a true de, its seemingly feeble body acting with the same power as a heavenly material.

    Elena''s smile was like sunlight that illuminated the world.

    She felt a sense of freedom that came with the enlightenment of her promotion. It allowed her to act without qualms, following her natural instincts to achieve exactly what she wanted.

    And what she wanted was the death of this being.

    Elena wasted no time. Armed with her new weapon, she entered the spirit''s body once more.

    Its Laws assaulted her as always, but the feeling was different this time.

    It was almost like they were fragmented, originating from entirely different sources.

    ''Now that I know what to look for, this is a simple job!''

    She was no longer facing a single extremely powerful demonic spirit, but a horde of weaker ones.

    ''So I just need to kill all of you before you can kill me¡­''

    Elena swiped her branch of Yggdrasil through the air.

    ''Sounds fun.''

    It was the beginning of a ughter.

    From the start, individual demonic spirits had no chance against her. This much was proven when she killed those that were in the shrine area.

    It wasn''t that her perceptive ability magically increased or anything of the sort. Instead, the mana of Transcended Death forcefully separated these beings, severing the threads that held them as one.

    The fact that they were internally warring was only an added bonus.

    Elena cut through demonic spirit after demonic spirit, Transcended Death filling the atmosphere. Thousands were felled at her hand before she finally ran out of mana and was forced to retreat.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    ''Its body is clearly getting smaller¡­'' she noted as she gathered herself.

    She immediately took shelter within Yggdrasil''s powerful frame when she felt herself running out of steam, and at the current moment, the tree was holding back the demonic spirit army.

    ''Yggdrasil can maintain its existence without my aid, but its actualbat power isn''t high. Its protection won''tst long.''

    The Valha Army didn''t understand the concept of Transcended Death as it was apletely different vein of Life Laws from what the Valkyries studied, and it would take a considerable amount of time to teach them to use it, so they weren''t a viable option¡­

    ''¡­and escape is no longer as beneficial as fighting. As long as I can find a way to rapidly replenish mana¡­''

    She didn''t have pills, nor did she have any outside help.

    Elena gritted her teeth.

    ''Think of the long-term and just do.''

    Without hesitation, she set her own body alight.

    The smell of burning blood vitality curled through the air.

    And as Elena''s stamina and bodily strength weakened, her mana replenished itself, reaching a new high.

    ''I have to be as efficient as possible¡­!''

    She shot out of Yggdrasil''s protection, hiding her mana and using the darkness as cover to make her way towards the demonic spirits without being noticed.

    Naturally, this wasn''t possible.

    But for a single second, the demonic spirits failed to realize Elena had left the world tree.

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    A terrifying tornado erupted as Elena powerfully kicked off the ground, shattering the nearly-impregnable bricks below. Her body turned into a streak of pure white light that submerged into the darkness and burned like a candle in a lonely study.

    500 spirits died on impact. 500 more died in the following second as Elena red her mana, creating a myriad of symbols that represented eternal life and directly striking individual demonic spirits with their holy aura.

    SKREEEEE!

    The cacophony of roars that followed was like a symphony in Elena''s ears.

    Her eyes sharpened.

    ''Let''s end this.''

 Chapter 998 Shadow [4]

    Elena''s battle was catastrophic, but the Tomb of Ayakashi itself was built so sturdily that not even a ripple of it made its way to the surface, projecting a calm aura over the tomb.

    Unfortunately, those within weren''t feeling the same calm.

    Those who fell into traps and were unable to free themselves, those who were injured and weak¡­

    ¡­they found their bodies leaving their control as their consciousnesses were swallowed by a foreign entity.

    In total, the number was only around 100. Compared to the tens of thousands of demonic spirits still in the central area with Elena, it was nothing.

    However, these were 100 young geniuses of the universe.

    Their potential and their importance weren''t light.

    Every single one of them was to be a pivotal force of the universe''s strength.

    But that future was no longer avable to them.

    Those targeted were at their weakest, which gave these demonic spirits an opportunity topletely take them over.

    Their egos were erased, and their bodies became mere vessels.

    Those 100 demonic spirits immediately left the Tomb of Ayakashi, easily avoiding the traps they spent countless millennia observing.

    And finally, they made their way into the Holy Light Realm.

    The group immediately split as the demonic spirits followed their individualistic instincts and separated to strengthen themselves¡­

    BOOM!

    Fearsome explosions filled the air in all parts of the Holy Light Realm with clouds of smoke.

    It started from the east.

    A man with shining ck hair and domineering golden-red draconic eyes stared down a group of about ten demonic spirits with his brow raised.

    "That''s quite odd. I didn''t expect to see something like this," he said casually, resting his massive greatsword on his shoulder.

    The demonic spirits looked at each other and came to a consensus.

    A dangerous enemy was in front of them, so they would work together just this once!

    It seemed eons of istion had some effect on their mentality after all.

    They pounced as a group, strange mana erupting from their bodies.

    It was a twisted mix of the original mana of the bodies'' owners and the deathly mana of the demonic spirits, a result of the rapidity of their possession and proceedingbat.

    Long Chen''s eyes twinkled as he watched them.

    "These entities are pure yin, right? Isn''t this what you were looking for?" He said, ncing at his sword.

    Brrr!

    The sword purred in response.

    "No, you can''t have her. If you knew who her husband was, you would understand why she''s untouchable."

    Bang!

    Ling Chen casually jumped back and avoided the strikes of his enemies as he continued his conversation.

    Bzzt! Brrrr!

    He sighed as he interpreted the sword''s thoughts.

    "Look at them. If they originate from this realm, do you think there will only be ten of them?"

    Bzzt¡­?

    "Yes, I''ll hunt as many as I find."

    Brrr?

    "Damn brat, can you learn to be less greedy? Being a dragon doesn''t excuse this nonsense."

    Brr¡­

    Long Chen sighed in annoyance. The Empyrean Dragon Sword was just as gluttonous as it was domineering!

    ''I coaxed him for now, but he''ll surely make a fusster if I don''t feed him properly.''

    Long Chen shook his head and shed the sword through the air. It seemed to be the most casual possible movement, but it was actually hiding a great deal of profound intent.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ''A Single w To Dominate All.''

    A simple sh that represented just one w of a dragon, that tiny piece of its body holding the grand ability to destroy countless living beings with a single touch.

    Stter!

    The demonic spirits'' physical bodies were immediately torn to shreds, and unlike other geniuses, they remained in the realm, bing fertilizer for the trees that would grow in the future.

    Meanwhile, the demonic spirits rushed out of those bodies and fled madly, their every instinct screaming that death was near.

    Though, running was never an option.

    The Empyrean Dragon Sword suddenly began to glow, and a projection of a massive five-wed golden dragon appeared in the air.

    The dragon opened its mouth, and a suction force like a ck hole filled the atmosphere.

    One by one, the ten demonic spirits were directly swallowed by the dragon, who happily burped before returning to the sword.

    "Hmph," Long Chen snorted. "What a waste of time."

    He took a vial out of his spatial ring and downed a few pills, easily replenishing his mana and stamina.

    This time, the Human Domain came wholly prepared.

    Whether it be pills or artifacts, strength or mentality, the Human Domain''s group arrived with it all in spades.

    100 demonic spirits?

    What did that mean to them?

    Ignoring Long Chen''s strange method, Ruyue was a literal ruler of yin, and Rose''s entire path to power was based on controlling the ethereal and bringing it into reality!

    Demonic spirits were nothing more than snacks to them!

    As for Xue Fang, he didn''t personally have a method to interact with the immaterial, but he did have a treasure that could imprison spirits!

    After he killed the host bodies, he collected the demonic spirits, which was actually the most beneficial method in the long term!

    The screens in the banquet hall were only Chaos-rank treasures. Their ability to project was just as much as the perception of a 4th ss who had yet to step into the nine revolutions.

    Originally, there was going to be a riot in the first banquet hall when those experts saw their geniuses dying without the realm''s protection, however, it was Xue Fang''s actions that gave physical presence to the demonic spirits themselves and allowed the experts to understand the situation!

    Rather than a disaster that could''ve ruined the universe''s chances at survival, the release of demonic spirits became an event for geniuses to rise.

    And all of its gains¡­

    ¡­were granted to and monopolized by those of the Human Domain.

    Each of them had a nigh-infinite supply of pills, and now that they''d been in the Holy Light Realm for an entire day, their kill count had rapidly risen into the hundreds.

    Luckily for the poor geniuses who fell prey to their assault, the Holy Light Realm was filled with alluring treasures, and ughter wasn''t the only way for those four to prove themselves.

    Eventually, they halted their killing spree for a single reason.

    In Rose''s own words:

    "What better way is there to show these fools up than monopolizing all the treasures they were supposed to get?"

    It was a genius n.

    And oddly enough, it was a n proposed by two of Damien''s wives onpletely separate asions.

    One had to wonder¡­

    Just who influenced them to think like that¡­?

    ***

    The Holy Light Realm was originally nned to be an exciting event thatsted roughly 2 months.

    This was because, frankly speaking, nobody expected the sheer number and power of the universe''s geniuses.

    Because each of the individuals that stood out so far were those who didn''t show themselves on this grand stage often, if at all, the actual standard for geniuses was considerably lower than their level.

    Therefore, a change was proposed.

    And within a day, it was implemented.

    Heaven and Earth rumbled¡­as the Holy Light Realm began to expand.

 Chapter 999 Growth [1]

    Rumble!

    The ends of the Holy Light Realm were once represented by an illusion barrier that made the realm seem ever-expansive when it, in reality, was anything but.

    However, this illusion shattered as a true scenery appeared in its ce. The ne expanded exponentially until it was almost ten times its original size!

    New structures appeared with new treasures hidden within, and new dangers popted thends.

    Every genius outside the two tombs felt the change directly as the earth under their feet stretched and cracked.

    Their interest was piqued.

    The Holy Light Realm was already explored to its maximum potential. It wasn''t that there weren''t treasures or new environments to find, but rather the fact that a select few geniuses established such a dominance that the rest had no motivation topete with them.

    The expanding realm represented a new frontier. Those who were already in the realm and those who were newly entering all had their eyes lit with a newborn fervor as they shot into the vast expanse to meet their destined chances.

    Unlike the rest, however, Ruyue''s eyes didn''t explore on the new territories.

    They were directed at the Holy Light Tomb, a contemtive expression on her face.

    She and Rose anticipated the Grand Assembly not only for their own ambitions, but to meet the man who disappeared from their lives over two years ago.

    And unlike Rose, Ruyue could feel him in her heart.

    Literally.

    She felt his calm and reassuring heartbeat, and she felt his presence in that magnificent sandstone tomb, but¡­

    ''Should I go?''

    She didn''t know whether or not to follow her instinct and find him immediately.

    Among Damien''s wives, Ruyue was always the coldest outwardly. Those she didn''t care for wouldn''t even be graced with a word from her.

    And for someone with such an exterior, one wouldn''t expect the warm and emotional internal struggle she was facing.

    During her Baptism, she saw a vision.

    A vision where she was forced to choose between her love and her power.

    She almost failed due to her inability to make this choice, and in the end, she¡­

    ''Not yet.''

    ¡­didn''t choose at all.

    She could never abandon her love, the love that saved her from destion, and she could never abandon her power that did the same.

    Both were crucial aspects of her being, and only after realizing the dual importance they held could she move on to the next stage of Baptism.

    Currently, she had to make the same choice, but with far less dire consequences.

    And thus, she chose to pursue power.

    ''Because without power, I can''t pursue my love.''

    Her cold exterior could only be melted by the warmth in her heart, and in order to preserve that warmth, she would do anything necessary.

    ''Never again will I lose him so powerlessly.''

    Rose never talked about that day, but Ruyue knew well that she felt the same.

    They were devastated, and suddenly understood why Damien chose to follow the lonely path of a paragon genius.

    Whoosh!

    Ruyue pressed off her heels and glided through the air, heading deeper into the unknown that spawned in the south.

    "Hmm¡­" she hummed, watching the geniuses on the ground below clear out as they discovered her presence.

    ''It''s not worth spending time on them.''

    As Rose said, there was no longer a point in continuing their killing spree. They originally expected the geniuses they werepeting against to be stronger, which is why they nned for a month of fighting, but that n fell through.

    ''No, it''s only been dyed. Once more Holy Lands arrive, we''ll meet the true peak of the universe.''

    The Human Domain geniuses received a quick course on the structure and major influences of Grand Heavens Boundary on the way to Luxurion, and Parsiel made sure they overestimated their opponents as much as possible.

    ''If that Angel''s words weren''t propaganda, I need to reach level 399 rapidly.''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Ruyue moved several thousand kilometers within an hour, passing by several strange structures and monuments that made the expanded realm seem like an ancient ruined society.

    Suddenly, her ears perked up.

    "This sound¡­water¡­?"

    Ruyue''s eyes went to the horizon. The sound she heard was like water, but there was something strange about it, something that separated it from every other stream and river in the vicinity.

    sh!

    Her body arrived at her target in an instant, and as she looked out into the mountain below, she found a mundanely beautiful scenery.

    It was a house, roughlyrge enough for a family of four to livefortably. It had two stories, but its design was quite unique even amongst the things Ruyue had seen.

    It sat atop azy river that calmly twisted through the densely packed trees. Its floors almost hovered above the river, making it seem like the river was being produced by the house itself.

    This structure could best be described as a fusion of water andnd in a fashion that almost seemed ethereal and separate from reality.

    Ruyue gracefullynded on the ground and walked up to the house, scanning it with her awareness.

    ''Nothing?''

    She raised her brow as she carefully made her way up the stairs and into the structure itself.

    Ding~! Ding~! Ding~!

    Windchimes danced, sending beautiful melodies through the peaceful air.

    Ruyue closed her eyes and appreciated this sense of calm as she stepped through the house''s sliding ss entrance.

    Swoosh!

    Her eyes widened.

    She felt like she entered an entirely new world.

    Her mind was filled with a strange connection, as if she could feel the earth connecting to the seas, and the seas connecting to the sky.

    Looking out the translucent walls of the house that gave a crystal clear view of the outside scenery, Ruyue felt like she was a part of the water and a part of the earth, a true staple of the environment.

    Water and earth were both elements of yin, and though Ruyue never truly utilized either, she could still intrinsically connect to them at any moment.

    With the house''s mysterious effects, this connection was enhanced exponentially, and Ruyue''s mind entered a ne she''d never seen before.

    Yin, the Law she followed.

    She always ssified yin as dark and cold, but she failed to see its other face.

    Yin was the picture of serenity. It was the most flexiblew, able to bend anything towards nothingness.

    Ruyue always chased strength above control because she had always felt the need for immediate power.

    Neglecting control was never the answer.

    Rather, as someone who followed the path of Yin, control should''ve been her utmost priority.

    ''Ah¡­''

    Why didn''t she realize it sooner?

    No, she was just too focused on a decision she never needed to make in the first ce and got distracted from the path forward.

    Her strength didn''t rise, nor did herprehension suddenly expand.

    However, her mind cleared.

    She received what she needed most, assurance in and realization of herself.

    Ruyue''s eyes shed with countless imageries as they rapidly cleared, the haze that clouded them disappearing entirely,

    She once again looked out into the environment, and a small smile decorated her face, immortalizing her beauty in the painting-like scenery.

    ''Good. This is exciting.''

    If this was the reward from the first interesting thing she found, she couldn''t wait to see what came next.

 Chapter 1000 Growth [2]

    A week passed.

    The Holy Light Realm quieted down considerably after its expansion. The size was greater than even somes now, and the geniuses were able to spread out far enough to avoid each other and focus on their own growth.

    And in this time, many more forces arrived.

    For those in the Divine Realm, one week was enough to reach Luxurion regardless of how far they were. Now that such a time period had passed, thest of those forces made their arrival, and their geniuses also entered the Holy Light Realm.

    Of course, excluding the bigger Holy Lands.

    How could they arrive so early?

    It was a matter of face, something extremely important to thoserge influences.

    Nevertheless, there were now over ten thousand geniuses in the Holy Light Realm.

    The experts in the first and second banquet halls watched these geniuses closely, taking note of those to be befriended and those to be nurtured.

    And naturally, those who witnessed it were curious about what exactly happened to the Holy Light Realm.

    Luciel''s charming smile was quite wry as he exined:

    "After reassessing the strength of these young geniuses, we realized that the Holy Light Realm isn''t quite enough for them to fully disy their gifts¡­"

    His eyeszily turned to the disys as he continued, "In fact, this is not the Holy Light Realm at all. That realm was originally created by the ancestors, and over time, we at the Heavenly n didn''t just leave it alone."

    "We built on what the ancestors started, and turned the Holy Light Realm into its own hidden world. This time, we merely took down the barriers and allowed ess to the entire hidden world. Only¡­"

    His smile shifted, once again bing unreadable.

    "¡­there may be many unexpected things on Holy Light Star¡­"

    He let his words trail off, only making the surrounding experts more curious.

    Tian Yang, who stood among them, observed the screens in interest.

    ''It''s location¡­mm, it should be fine.''

    He quietly used his inherent senses to locate Holy Light Star, properly giving himself insurance on his geniuses'' safety.

    While his means were unique, he was only one amongst many who used various methods to ensure that their geniuses would be protected.

    After all, if Luciel himself was saying they would encounter the unknown with such a mysterious expression, there was bound to be something truly dangerous in that world.

    Perhaps the only people who weren''t experiencing the air of change were those in the two great tombs at the center of Holy Light Star, those who had yet to even realize the realm''s changes.

    Among them were three who held a special positionpared to the rest, two of which were Damien and Xue''er.

    Xue''er was at the peak of 3rd ss, and to promote, she needed to define the Law she wanted to practice going forward.

    What Damien found while watching her progress through the tomb was that Xue''er was genuinely a genius.

    Whether it be in her use of mana orbat sense, she excelled far more than someone who remained sheltered for the majority of her life should.

    It made him wonder:

    ''How the hell did Elvira train her?''

    The only master Xue''er had until now was none other than the Elf Queen herself. She had a gentle demeanor, but she turned into a true demon in battle.

    He could imagine the type of trainer she''d be, but he couldn''t imagine Xue''er suffering through that type of training.

    She proved him wrong in just a few minutes, and over the past week, she''d only managed to impress him further.

    It had to be reiterated: Xue''er was still at the peak of 3rd ss.

    In this tomb made for 4th ss beings, her ability to traverse, no matter how slow it was, was more than just the marking of a genius, but the marking of a true heaven-defying talent.

    The only question that remained was posed just a few moments ago.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    What Law did she study?

    Xue''er''s single affinity was to natural spirits, but there was no Law governing natural spirits.

    In a certain sense, it could be said that Xue''er studied all of the base elemental Laws, but there had never been such a case of a single individual having over five affinities, let alone one that was greatly talented in all of them.

    Even Damien only had three affinities. His ability to use any other elements came solely from the Void, not from his own body.

    Xue''er was currently facing an illusion that guided her further and further away from the tomb''s central area.

    While Damien was well aware of this, he didn''t make any moves to correct her.

    ''I can''t say for certain about her affinities, but her perception is lower than average. She''s able to instinctually understand many things, and the things she doesn''t understand are taken care of by the spirits she utilizes. She hasn''t actually trained her physical body''s perceptive ability to the proper standard.''

    In Damien''s opinion, this perceptive disadvantage was exactly the thing preventing her from realizing her affinity and triggering her Baptism.

    As for Xue''er herself¡­

    "Hm? This isn''t the way?"

    She looked up into the empty air and tilted her head curiously.

    "Then, where am I going?" She asked.

    Bzzt!

    A small light like a firefly materialized before her, dancing in the air as it pointed her through the halls around her.

    "Ehh, aren''t we going back the way we came?" Sheined naively.

    She genuinely couldn''t tell which direction was right. At every turn, there were 6 new corridors leading topletely new routes, almost like a truebyrinth.

    Xue''er was never a nner. Elvira tried many times to teach her tactics, but she couldn''t digest the knowledge whatsoever.

    But¡­did she really need to?

    She asked herself a while ago and found her answer.

    There was no need for her to worry about these things when they would never be worries for her¡­

    Or at least, she thought.

    Damien''s ins¨ªstanse made her consider differently.

    Therefore, instead of relying on the spirits'' help to traverse the corridors of thisbyrinth, she tried to do it on her own.

    And of course, she failed miserably.

    She finally epted the spirits'' help when they alerted her that she was nearly back at the entrance to the tomb.

    In her attempt to use her own perception, shepletely backtracked.

    ''I thought I was ready, but I was wrong.''

    Xue''er was still a teenager in her growth phase. The only way for her to realize that she didn''t know as much as she thought she did was to truly experience these new situations.

    Even more than Damien, what Xue''er understood in the Holy Light Tomb was her own weakness.

    ''I need to change.''

    She skipped happily behind the spirit that led her along, but the light in her eyes wasn''t so naive.

    She''d bled and she''d hurt, she''d felt the consequences of her actions many times since she entered the outside world again.

    She was still a frog, but she was taking her first steps out of the well.

    And now that she''d begun, she had no n to ever stop climbing.

 Chapter 1001 Blaze [1]

    "Huu¡­huu¡­"

    Elena stood in the deepest depths of the Tomb of Ayakashi.

    Drip!

    Drip!

    Droplets of ck water leaked from the ceiling and dropped onto the ground around her, the only remains of the opponents she once faced.

    ''Finally¡­it''s over¡­''

    Her body was stained in dry blood and her spiritual world was filled with cracks caused by thest week of bitter battle. The branch of Yggdrasil she wielded was dyed in an eerie ck aura, a consequence of the countless demonic spirits that were vanquished by its body.

    She was no longer in the central area. No, she killed that massive agglomeration of demonic spirits within two days.

    After that, she moved through the various corridors of the lowestyer of the pyramid and sent every demonic spirit she found back into the clutches of oblivion.

    Their total number was close to 60,000, and the endless battle was far more taxing on Elena than she would''ve ever expected.

    In fact, she tried to escape and heal 3 days in, but she found that there were no exits present at all, with even the entrance she found her way throughpletely gone.

    ''The amount of blood vitality I''ve been forced to burn is concerning. I''ve sacrificed around¡­15,000 years of lifespan¡­''

    Elena frowned.

    ''Even though I specialize in Life Laws, my lifespan is still only around 30,000 or 40,000 years. I basically shaved off half my life.''

    Blood vitality was ast resort for a reason. The ratio of the amount of blood vitality burned and actual power granted was far too unbnced.

    After all, though the act of sacrificing oneself for power in this way was approved by the universe, it still went against the way of heaven in a certain sense.

    Short-term gain without consequences wasn''t possible.

    ''The only thing I can be thankful for is the Genesis Bead trying to heal me.''

    Herprehension wasn''t high enough to do it on her own, but the treasure was different.

    It was far higher in league than she was, so while it could only do so at a snail''s pace, it was still somewhat working to heal her.

    ''Still, it''s not smart to exert myself too much for a few weeks. I should get out of this temple and find a safe ce to retreat.''

    Elena nced at the walls around her with a sigh.

    ''If only I could find a way out¡­''

    The corridors were even stronger than the central area, which had been thoroughly worn down by the power of the coagted demonic spirits.

    It was impossible to leave this ce.

    ¡­or was it?

    Elena''s attention abruptly snapped to a glint she noticed out of the corner of her eyes.

    sh!

    She appeared in its position in a second and dug her arm into a small hole in the wall.

    "Got you!" She eximed, grabbing the furry creature at its end.

    She pulled it out, ignoring its screeching and scratching as she finally caught sight of her target.

    "Hm¡­?" She muttered.

    "The cat distribution system is actually universal?!"

    Her eyes lit up magnificently.

    In her grasp was a little orange tabby cat, its big and dumb eyes gazing up at her defiantly.

    "How did you get here, little guy?" Elena asked, her voice suddenly several pitches higher.

    Hisss!

    The cat hissed in hostility, making its position clear.

    However, to Elena, this gesture only made it cuter.

    "Did you get stuck? Do you want me to help you get out?"

    Her question was baseless since she had no means of aplishing what she promised, but she asked anyway.

    After all, who could resist those eyes?

    Unfortunately, the cat was far less enthusiastic about the interaction than Elena. Regardless of her coaxing and prodding, it only made attempts to flee her grasp and escape.

    Elena''s eyes hardened.

    "Then I can only bring out my secret weapon."

    Meow!

    The cat purred in fear and cowered as Elena reached into her spatial storage with an extremely evil expression.

    "Take this!"

    Nyaaaa!

    The cat let out a scream and closed its eyes, turning its face away from danger before¡­!

    Sniff¡­sniff¡­!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Hm? What was that smell?

    It opened a single eye and peeked at its captor, who was currently holding a massive piece of meat in her other hand.

    Drip!

    Elena grinned as she watched the cat visibly drool.

    "Do you want it?" She asked temptingly.

    The cat nodded furiously.

    It didn''t know what she was holding, but it definitely wanted that!

    "Hmm, but there''s a problem¡­"

    Nyaaa!

    "Okay, okay, I can give it to you, but only if you form a contract with me."

    Meow?

    "Forming a contract with me means bing partners! We''ll eat good meat and have fun together for the rest of time!"

    The cat eyed her strangely before ncing back at the meat.

    Its eyes moved between the two multiple times before it finally lowered its head.

    Elena smiled. "I knew you''d be interested."

    She didn''t have a cat when she was on Earth, but she always adored the little things. What she knew about them was that they were extremely bratty, extremely cute, and extremely addicted to food!

    She gently pressed her index finger against the cat''s forehead, initiating a beast contract, which it also epted.

    ''I feel like I''m tricking a child, but oh well.''

    Elena shrugged as she felt the newly formed connection between her and the little creature.

    "Take it. It''s all yours," she proimed with a smug expression, finally letting go of the cat and throwing therge b of meat in its direction.

    The cat''s eyes immediately lit ame as it rushed to the meat and devoured it.

    This texture!

    This juiciness!

    This utterly magnificent taste!

    Howe it had never tried something like this before?!

    "Hehe, I didn''t know you''d love it that much. Since you like to eat so much, should I just call you Fatty?"

    Nyaaa!

    "I thought so. I''m still going to call you Fatty though."

    Elena giggled as the cat red at her.

    "I''ll call you I when we meet people, but don''t think you''ll get out of this one when we''re alone!"

    There were only two proper ways to treat cats.

    The first was to coddle them and pamper them to the extreme.

    And the second was to bully them as much as possible!

    Of course, as a true cat owner, Elena was going to bnce both, but that was beside the point.

    "Say, how did you get here?" She asked again.

    Nya?

    Meow!

    "Eh? That''s possible? Show me where!"

    Her eyes lit up excitedly.

    From I''s thoughts, Elena learned the cat was born and grew up within the Tomb of Ayakashi, but it had found several routes to traverse the tomb itself.

    Only, it was blocked from ever leaving by a mysterious restriction.

    After finishing her meal, I skittered through the winding corridors until she came across a nondescript wall, only differentiated by the rest by the faintest scratches on its surface.

    "It''s here?" Elena asked, receiving a nod in response.

    Her smile widened.

    Finally, she could leave.

    She walked into the wall, and mystically, she passed right through it, her eyesnding on a weathered staircase that led upward as far as the eye could see.

    ''This is really it!'' She eximed inwardly as she began making her way up.

    She could finally make her way out of this damned tomb.

    However, as she made her way up, a thought floated in her mind.

    ''Is it just me, or is it getting hotter?''

 Chapter 1002 Blaze [2]

    "The First Cmity will begin soon."

    A voice only heard in Luxurion prophesized the Holy Light Realm''s belligerent future.

    Elena felt the change from within the Tomb of Ayakashi and only became more solemn as she got closer and closer to its exit.

    However, not many were like her.

    Regardless of their position, these geniuses didn''t quite notice the slight darkening of the sky.

    The atmosphere heated up only a few degrees at first, but in a single instant¡­

    VOOM!

    A terrifying heat swept through the realm.

    mes burned through Heaven and Earth, and the sky was covered in a thick ck smog.

    "W-what''s happening?!"

    "Fuck, run!"

    "Someone help!"

    The geniuses on Holy Light Star were abruptly wrapped within those mes, their yells of panic drowned in the ze.

    The first and second banquet halls were met with an influx of hundreds of geniuses in that moment, as they were burned and expelled from the realm by the disaster.

    As for those who remained, they ran, scattering in every direction. They desperately searched for shelter from the mes that could burn even them in just a few seconds.

    Some tried to fight back, but that wasn''t as easy as expected. Because¡­

    "This me burns through mana," Su Ren realized with interest.

    He observed the spherical forcefield he''d ced around himself and Xiao Yue to protect them and watched as tongues of me devoured it piece by piece, breaking it down to nothingness.

    "Senior Brother, what''s happening?!" Xiao Yue cried, evident fear in her voice.

    Su Ren turned around calmly and responded, "Nothing special. It seems this realm is moreplex than we originally expected, but it isn''t anything I can''t handle."

    "Really?" Xiao Yue asked, clutching his sleeve.

    Su Ren clearly felt her shaking hands. He sighed and ced his own hand on her head warmly.

    "Have I ever lied to you?" He askedfortingly.

    "No¡­"

    "Exactly."

    Su Ren smiled inwardly as he felt her calming down.

    He turned his attention back to the disaster outside, his eyes slightly narrowing.

    ''This shouldn''t be an original mechanism of the realm. If it was, the experts outside wouldn''t have allowed their geniuses to enter.''

    The mes were incredibly powerful, and those early and middle stage 4th ss geniuses had no way of surviving more than one or two seconds inside it.

    ''Nevertheless, since it is already here, there is nothing to do but survive it.''

    With Su Ren''s strength, which could match Damien at his power level that surpassed the 4th revolution, making it through this cmity was not that hard of a task.

    However, not everyone could enjoy this same rxed attitude¡­

    ***

    VOOM!

    WHOOSH!

    The roaring inferno was almost nonsensically loud.

    Rose rushed through its embers, her skin red and peeling from the heat attacking her.

    ''Dammit!'' She yelled inwardly.

    She swept her hand through the air, affecting arge area with her mana and pushing Illusion Laws into that space.

    Whoosh!

    The mes immediately quieted down. Their material ze had been turned into an illusion, removing any effects it had on reality.

    Rose didn''t wait to admire her handiwork. After clearing the area, she shot back into the firestorm, her eyes constantly searching for any signs of shelter.

    BOOM!

    From behind her, the terrifying sound of tides of me shing against each other as they rushed to fill the space she cleared resounded.

    It didn''t even take a single second for this to ur.

    ''I can only use illusions to create momentary respite. If I want to survive this, I need to find something to shield myself!''

    Haa!

    With a sharp battle cry, she leaped into the air and summoned a massive scythe from her spatial ring.

    She twirled it through the air, her every movement attracting tongues of me like a snake whisperer with his flute.

    However, what she controlled was not me, but wind!

    WHOOSH!

    A tornado formed around her body. With the nature of fire, this tornado only served as an attractive force. The swirling winds drew in the surrounding mes and instantly transformed into a small firestorm within its greater counterpart.

    ''Hoo¡­''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Rose''s eyes sharpened as she stood in its center.

    ''I can''t keep going like this. I''ll run out of mana sooner orter, and I don''t want to waste pills unnecessarily.''

    Even if she could avoid the fire, she couldn''t avoid the mana-burning heat. Her skin was blistered madly, and she could feel its ability to protect her internal body dwindling.

    ''There''s no other choice.''

    She gritted her teeth and shot down to the ground.

    Boom!

    The impact created a crater and disrupted the tornado she''d created, but Rose didn''t care. Her scythe tore through the ground, digging the crater deeper and deeper.

    Vam!

    She freed one arm and threw it in the air, controlling her Illusion Laws to fill in the space above her head.

    ''The illusion will break in 3 seconds.''

    She''d bought herself this short amount of time by tunneling into the ground, and now that she was away from immediate danger, she rapidly spread her awareness in every direction, looking for a subterranean tunnel or any sort of isted area that could shield her from the disaster.

    ''There¡­!''

    In a realm densely packed with hidden areas and fortuitous encounters, her awareness that spread over ten thousand kilometers easily found a ce for her.

    ''Illusory Shift.''

    She gently tapped her foot on the ground and glided forward, straight into the wall before her.

    And mysteriously enough¡­she passed right through it!

    Rose''s body became incorporeal, which allowed her to travel through solid rock for several hundred meters until she reached the open area she found.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The faint sound of her illusion breaking and the storm invading her original hiding spot resonated through the rock and vibrated against Rose''s back as she made the final push and rematerialized in reality.

    "Fuwah¡­!"

    She let go of the breath she''d been holding and leaned against the wall, taking a few pills out of her spatial ring and eating them.

    Her scarred and blistered skin began to heal, and even her muscles saw some slight readjustment.

    Her mana recovered as well, but only to half of her full capacity. After all, she wasn''t trying to waste pills.

    "Phew¡­now that that''s over with, let''s find out where I am."

    She nced up at the damp ceiling, through which she could still hear the roaring mes above.

    "I''m not too deep underground, but I''m deep enough to be safe. As for this location¡­"

    Honestly, she didn''t pay much attention to where she was going due to the time constraint, but she was hoping it would be the location of a lucky chance.

    Compared to the rest of the group, Rose rarely received such chances.

    It wasn''t a matter of luck nor was it a matter of talent. In fact, Rose''s ability to keep up with the rest despite this fact was a testament to her great talent.

    Merely, she studied Illusion Laws. Her Wind Laws were entirely secondary, and she only ever practiced them when she had free time, which was hardly ever.

    Illusion Laws in the way Rose used them were rare on a universal scale, as she was essentially learning to manipte reality itself.

    How could it be easy to find chances for such a Law?

    ''Rather, because I''m studying something so heaven-defying, I''m being denied chances I would''ve received otherwise.''

    Rose sighed wryly as she explored the dark cave around her.

    "Whether it''s through awareness or regr perception, I can''t find anything wrong with this ce, both in a good way and a bad way," she muttered.

    "Haa, a curse is a curse, I guess."

    She sat down once more, nning to simply wait in the empty cave and recover until the firestorm passed.

    She leaned back against a nearby wall and ced her hands on the ground to her sides, entering a rxed state until¡ª

    Click!

    "What the hell?!"

    Rose''s right hand sunk a few inches along with a square portion of the ground around it.

    "This is¡­secret mechanism?!" Rose eximed excitedly.

    Her smile only widened when she felt the ground dropping out below her.

    "Haha, this is ssic!"

    She eagerly gazed into the darkness below as she fell several thousand meters and mmed into the ground.

    BANG!

    Her expression soured the moment she felt t ground.

    She sighed once again.

    "Haa¡­a curse really is a curse, I guess."

    She drew her scythe and took a battle stance¡­

    ¡­facing several tens of thousands of hostile beasts that upied the massive abyss she''d fallen into.

 Chapter 1003 Blaze [3]

    BOOOOOM!

    mes tore through the open entrance of the Tomb of Ayakashi and stormed through the entry corridor, making it impossible for anyone to leave.

    Elena''s eyes narrowed as she jumped back and avoided the spreading ze.

    ''Am I stuck here?'' She wondered inwardly.

    She set up a defense around her body and turned the corner into a connected corridor, avoiding the mes that mmed into the wall behind her.

    She had to run through several hundred meters of the corridor before she finally felt the heat on her heel weakening.

    ''Luckily, the force isn''t continuously pushing, otherwise, this whole tomb would be burned to the ground.'' She sighed in relief as she stopped and rested against the wall:

    There was nothing wrong with destroying a tomb like this one, but the problem was that she was still inside it!

    ''Why does this shit have to happen right when I decide to leave?!'' Sheined to herself.

    The fire may have weakened, but it wasn''t dying down nearly enough. Its heat still corroded the entry corridor, and was slowly creeping into the connecting pathways as well.

    ''With my strength, it''s still possible to escape, but what''s the point? If the mes outside are powerful enough to charge so far inside before dying down, leaving will be far more disastrous than staying put.''

    As she entertained her thoughts, her attention turned to the left, from which she heard several sets of footsteps approaching.

    A group of men was revealed from the shadows.

    When they noticed Elena, their brows raised in unison.

    "Eh? Big brother, isn''t that¡­?" The second foremost man said, nudging the man at their head.

    The so-called "big brother" looked Elena up and down before pulling out a piece of parchment.

    A grin spread on his face.

    "You''re right. That''s her," he said suspiciously.

    Elena''s eyes narrowed.

    ''Enemies?''

    "State your names and affiliations," She uttered, quietly summoning Yggdrasil''s branch.

    "Us?" The foremost man said, turning his head towards her strangely.

    "Who we are doesn''t matter. The only thing that matters is¡­"

    He turned the parchment towards her.

    "This is you, right?"

    On it was a picture of two people together. Naturally, they were Damien and Elena.

    "All you need to know is that someone wants your head, and there''s no way for you to escape death! Brothers, get her!"

    Elena clicked her tongue and jumped back as six bandit-like men leaped at her in unison.

    She swung Yggdrasil''s branch in a horizontal arc, infusing it with the concept of Transcended Death as she let the sh go.

    Shiiiing!

    The branch sliced through the air with the sharpness of a peak treasure, beheading all six men at once.

    She turned back to their leader.

    "Is this it?" She asked, boredom evident in her eyes.

    "You¡­!" The man eximed, his face red in fury.

    "How dare you kill my brothers?!"

    He drew arge axe from his spatial ring and charged at Elena, swinging it powerfully.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    His every swing caused the air to quake and the earth to shatter. His gait was like a raging bull, untameable and unstoppable.

    Elena dodged left and right, swerving her body with utter precision to avoid the impact of the blows. Yggdrasil''s branch lightly vibrated in her hand as she quickly maneuvered it to redirect any force she couldn''t dodge.

    ''I can kill him now, but there''s no point in that.''

    Whoosh!

    She ducked down, avoiding a great sweeping sh of the axe as she ced her hands on the ground and kicked her lower body into the air.

    Her legs went through the gap in the man''s arms and wrapped around his neck.

    WHIP!

    BANG!

    Elena snapped her body with a force that seemed impossible from her smaller frame and mmed the bandit leader''s head into the ground, using the same momentum to straighten herself.

    sh! sh!

    Yggdrasil''s branch went through the man''s arms and legs, rendering him immobile.

    "Nggh¡­!" He groaned in pain.

    Elena ignored him and stabbed her branch into his chest, lightly pressing its tip against his heart just enough so he could feel the grip of death.

    She smiled. It was a cold and unfeeling smile, not reflected in her eyes at all.

    "Now then, why don''t you tell me who sent you and I''ll give you a painless death?"

    "Hmph!" The man scoffed. "Do you think I''m cheap?! If you want to kill me, then do it! I dare you!"

    "Oh? You say that like I''d regret killing you?"

    "Of course! You cannot bear the hatred of our Lord!"

    "And your Lord is¡­?"

    "The Lord is¡ª keuk¡­!"

    Just as the words came out of his mouth, he choked, blood sttering on the ground around him as he coughed uncontrobly.

    Elena raised her brow.

    "Dead?"

    She kicked the corpse to be sure, but the man was truly lifeless.

    ''Hmm, I guess the person behind them was prepared for their stupidity. The restriction activated so fast I couldn''t even react.''

    It was a shame that she couldn''t get any real information out of him, but it was fine.

    She swept his spatial ring off his hand and emptied its contents into her own, specifically taking out the parchment he showed her earlier.

    The picture was truly a good one, almost like a professional painting of Damien and Elena while they were in Beast Emperor Star.

    And along with it were a few words written on the page.

    "These two evil practitionersmitted serious crimes in the universe and enved countless innocents."

    "Bounty: 150,000,000 in currency cards and a special God-rank treasure."

    Elena''s eyes widened as she read it.

    The charges were one thing. If someone was going to use another''s knife to kill them, they needed to make up at least this much.

    However¡­

    "Tch, we''re only worth 150 million?! What kind of bullshit is that?!"

    Elena tore up the bounty paper annoyedly and clenched her fist.

    "Dammit, you sent bounty hunters and your own subordinates against us, but you''re only offering such a measly reward?! Only trashes are going toe after us!"

    She scoffed to herself and leaned her back against the wall again, brooding slightly as she went back to patiently waiting for the firestorm to calm.

    In reality, the reward wasn''t a small amount at all. Her entire fortune was only around 150,000,000 in currency cards.

    However, what she held was the fortune of a level 399 master who wasn''t yet at the extreme peak!

    Nevertheless, it became clear that someone was targeting her and Damien.

    Elena nced at the strange needles in her spatial ring, trophies of her recent victory.

    And she nced at the detailed ount nearby that clearly exined how to circumvent the realm''sws and definitively kill within.

    Perhaps the first enemies she met were disappointing, but Elena slowly realized¡­

    ¡­the plot behind the scenes was far more dangerous than this group let on.

    ''Good. Let''s see which bastards dare go against us.''

    It had been around a day since she first encountered the firestorm, and nothing special happened aside from the first encounter.

    Until finally, she saw the mes retreat.

    Elena walked into the entry corridor and looked into the blue skies beyond.

    ''Damned world, I''ming for you.''

 Chapter 1004 Blaze [4]

    Roaring winds and the booming sound of explosions were the mostmon to hear at this time.

    The firestorm raged for an entire day before stopping, and not everyone was lucky enough to find shelter during that time.

    Specifically, Long Chen and Xue Fang.

    These two, rather than finding safety, ended up finding each other!

    They stood back to back with their swords drawn, sword intent zing around them and slicing through the immaterial mes.

    Their bodies were just as injured as Rose''s was when she escaped, but they didn''t have the luxury of rest. They were exhausted already, but they had no choice but to keep fighting.

    Otherwise, they''d embarrass the Human Domain!

    "Brother, can you hold out?!" Long Chen roared, his voice drowned in the air.

    "Of course! Who do you think I am?!" Xue Fang responded, clearly understanding him.

    Shing!

    His sword shed through the air, sending waves of ice into the inferno and weakening it slightly.

    Long Chen joined him, using his own sword intent to break through the storm so they could once again push forward toward safety.

    ''Dammit!'' Long Chen raged inwardly.

    Despite all his improvement, he was still stuck in a situation like this?!

    Uneptable!

    "Let the Heavens hear your cries, Empyrean Dragon Sword!" He yelled with all his might, mming his massive sword into the ground.

    OOOOOOOOOOOH!

    A menacing bellow exited its de as a titanic dragon shadow manifested itself and opened its mouth, letting loose a fierce devouring force that epassed the surrounding mes.

    Like a swirling torpedo, the mes entered the dragon''s mouth and sat in its belly. Long Chen could feel their heat in his own stomach, making him want to gag.

    "Brother, let''s run!" He eximed, quickly ignoring the difort.

    Xue Fang nodded and instantly shot to the west, Long Chen following not far behind.

    The dragon shadow bought them a considerable amount of time. Its devouring force spread for several thousand meters, clearing arge path for the duo.

    However, just how unlucky were they?

    Regardless of their efforts, they could find no shelter at all!

    ROOOOAAAAAAAR!

    The roaring mes crashed through the surroundings and mmed into each other like colliding tsunamis. The force rapidly spread and found its way to the fleeing duo.

    "Underground!" Xue Fang yelled hurriedly.

    He stuck his sword into the earth and sent a pulse of mana downward, opening arge crater in the ground.

    Long Chen jumped in with him and shed his sword through the earth as well. The two spread their awareness in search of shelter, but they didn''t have any time!

    WHOOSH!

    mes rushed into the crater and enveloped them, burning their flesh and bones.

    "ARRRGH!"

    "DAMMIT!"

    The two roared in pain as they tried to put their mana up to block the attacks, but the corrosion force of the me only seemed to grow with their insistence on fighting it.

    "There is no way out!" Xue Fang said solemnly.

    "Then¡­we can only fight and die honorably! We cannot disappoint the expectations of our peers and seniors!" Long Chen replied.

    Xue Fang nodded in agreement.

    It was unfortunate to be expelled from the realm here, but nothing could be done about it.

    Rather than dying cowardly deaths like those they''de across as they fought for survival, they would put on a beautiful show for those outside to make sure they were never underestimated!

    The duo raised their swords in unison, their fighting spirit zing with more heat than the surrounding inferno¡­

    ¡­and they confronted the world itself with everything they had.

    A beautiful icy disy covered one half of the world while dancing dragons of gold graced the other. The Laws they utilized were not only mystical, but filled with aplexity that allowed their mana to exist without being immediately burned away by the mes.

    It truly was a magisterial disy. The experts watching from the outside were thoroughly impressed, and both Long Chen and Xue Fang became names to watch as long as they could survive.

    Their disy almost usurped the mes'' light entirely, but it had toe to an end eventually. With so many powerful attacks being thrown out every second, their mana dwindled within minutes.

    And when their mana finally ran out¡­

    They stared the ze in its face without fear and epted the death that approached them.

    WHOOOOSH!

    BANG!

    Long Chen''s eyes widened.

    Mysteriously and miraculously, the mes mmed against invisible walls that formed around the duo.

    On all sides, regardless of their attempts to burn through the walls, the mes werepletely unable to prate their surface.

    Long Chen cautiously pressed his hand forward and felt the mana of those walls.

    A wry smile formed on his face.

    "This bastard¡­is this how you say hello to an old friend?"

    ***

    "Old friend? Don''t you mean little brother?"

    Within the central region of the Holy Light Tomb, a small smile formed on Damien''s face.

    He lowered his hand and shook his head.

    ''That damn guy¡­I expected more from him.''

    His words were those of disappointment, but the smile widening on his face gave him away.

    How could he ever be disappointed? Hispanions were outshining almost every genius who came to the Grand Assembly, including those from great forces with huge status in the universe!

    ''I can''t affect such long distances with anything else, but luckily Dimensional Cages directly affect natural space so it''s different. Otherwise, that idiot would''ve been kicked out so early.''

    Damien''s awareness was extremely powerful, more than enough to wrap around most of Holy Light Star. When he felt the strangeness filling the air, he spread it to check on the situation, only to find an utterly cmitous atmosphere outside.

    Dimensional Cage allowed him to alter portions of space that already existed in reality, thus its effective range was anywhere within his awareness.

    For normal attacks that had to be exerted from the body, such distances couldn''t be covered unless Damien wanted to destroy everything in the path between him and his target.

    Only Dimensional Cage operated on such strange principles.

    ''Rose and Ruyue found shelter, Elena is also still in the other tomb, and I don''t need to worry about Su Ren. Now that those two are safe, it should be fine, right?''

    He and Xue''er couldn''t even feel the heat from where they were, so he wasn''t really worried about being affected by the situation. Currently, Xue''er was challenging the main opportunity of the Holy Light Tomb, so what Damien wanted to do was be sure nothing would ruin both his and her concentration at the moment.

    He was fortunate enough to save his friends, but seeing their outlines in his perception only made him want to meet up with them all the sooner.

    ''Well, we should be able to reunite after this firestorm dies down, since Xue''er should also be done by then. But¡­''

    He paused as a sudden thought entered his head.

    ''¡­wasn''t there five of them?''

    The timing was almost too coincidental.

    Suddenly, Damien felt something wrap around his leg.

    He looked down alertly, only for his eyes to widen in shock.

    "This¡­you are¡­!"

    What he found was none other than a certain little girl hugging his leg like a daughter overly attached to her father.

    And in fact, that exnation wasn''t too different from the actual situation.

    Because this little girl, Reva, who came with the Human Domain''s forces¡­

    ¡­was none other than the little girl who acted as Damien''s daughter while he was in Niflheim!

    ''What the hell is going on?!''

 Chapter 1005 Shattered [1]

    Damien stared at the little girl on his leg with no idea what he was supposed to do.

    How did she get here? And why did shee?

    He wanted to get the answers to these questions, but he didn''t know if it was actually possible.

    "Um¡­do you know where you are?" He asked awkwardly.

    Reva nodded with dull and clueless eyes.

    "Do you know who I am?"

    Reva nodded again, nothing changing about her expression or demeanor.

    "Ehm¡­"

    Damien scratched his face in genuine speechlessness.

    ''Am I supposed to consider her an enemy? I can''t really bring myself to be cautious against her¡­''

    The way she appeared andtched onto him while evading his perception was definitely concerning. If she truly was an enemy, she could''ve made an attempt on his life in that moment.

    But her nonaggression wasn''t the reason for his calmness. Rather, it was the strange connection he felt with her, almost like they were from the same source.

    ''However, she isn''t a product of the Void. With my current abilities, I would''ve immediately known if that was the case.''

    Back then, Niflheim''s situation spiraled out of control extremely fast, and he eventually forgot about this fake daughter of his in the confusion and destruction.

    Now that he''d seen her again and felt that bond, his curiosity was once again awakened.

    "Do you know how to speak?" He asked.

    Reva shook her head.

    Damien sighed.

    "Haa, I figured. Then, will you allow me to see inside your mind?"

    Reva stared at him for a moment, quirking her head just slightly before nodding.

    She closed her eyes and lifted her chin to face Damien, and in response, he gently ced his index finger on her forehead.

    A wisp of Void Mana traveled into her head and infiltrated her spiritual world. At that moment, it immediately shifted into the Breath of Nothingness and swam towards her memories.

    Damien received a view of the inside of Reva''s mind¡­

    ¡­and genuinely, he could not make sense of the scene at all.

    ''What is this absolute chaos? Even the Breath of Nothingness is having trouble navigating it!''

    Reva''s spiritual world was made up of a collection of swirling vortexes, the force of each colliding with the rest and practically tearing apart anything between them.

    ''It''s a miracle she''s even alive.''

    Damien was sure that any other person, regardless of strength or ability, would not be able to stand this kind of spiritual torment for years on end.

    How old was Reva?

    While she looked no more than ten, she looked the same years ago when Damien first met her.

    And with the state of her spiritual world, it was clear that her age didn''t match her appearance in the slightest.

    ''There.''

    Damien eventually found a narrow gap between the vortexes, not in three-dimensional space, but in four.

    ''No, that''s just the fourth dimension. If I''m sensing it properly, there are at least 16 dimensions making up the structure of this spiritual world.

    Damien maneuvered the Breath of Nothingness through the fourth, fifth, sixth, and many other dimensions, each showing a state of decay that differed from the rest.

    ¦Ñ¦Á¦°d¦Ás¦­¦Ïvel From the first three dimensions, which were a representation of total chaos, each proceeding dimension showed a moreplete state.

    By the tenth dimension, Damien could faintly make out physical structures, bestpared to stray debris.

    By the thirteenth, those structures solidified into small rocks and celestial bodies.

    By the fifteenth, the size of the space had grown rapidly and it was beginning to look like a true universe.

    And finally, in the 18th universe, Damien encountered the universe itself.

    However, this universe¡ª

    ''¡ªis not Grand Heavens Boundary.'' Damien thought solemnly.

    With a turbulent sigh, he pulled the Breath of Nothingness out of Reva''s spiritual world and returned his mind to reality.

    He looked down at the little girl who was still staring at him with the same clueless expression.

    He didn''t need to see her memories.

    No, he''d already seen them.

    "I''m sorry," he said, slightly mournfully.

    However, Reva only quirked her head in confusion.

    Because she¡­

    ''She cannot remember what she originally was.''

    The memories locked behind severalyers of decay were nothing more than pieces of code that Reva didn''t have ess to.

    And Reva herself was not a human.

    ''She is a remnant, a piece of that shattered universe that somehow survived and made its way to Grand Heavens Boundary.''

    Damien''s mind moved at lightning speed. With his understanding of the Void, Dimensional Magic, and Universal Flow, he could somewhat make out what urred at that time.

    ''Somehow, that universe was destroyed. It was consumed by the Void, but either intentionally or unintentionally, the universe itself split a portion of itsw and tried to save it. That piece of universalw collided with the Void, and somehow it gained a physical body¡­''

    How she gained a physical body was unknown, which pointed to the fact that there was surely a third force involved in the event.

    In addition to that, how she made it to Grand Heavens Boundary was also a concern.

    ''Yet, even if there were countless miracles involved in her meeting with me, the Heavens are still just.''

    As consequence of that phenomenon, she almost wholly lost her ego, left as an empty shell that could only follow its instincts.

    And that instinct connected it to Damien, who was practically the Void''s apostle.

    ''She is not part of the Void, but the Void aided in her creation. Not only that, she is also a fragment of a universe, which falls under my Celestial Authority. No wonder the bond was so muddled and unreadable.''

    Damien didn''t know howmon it was in the universe, but he was a double-ss individual. With both elusive and rare sses drawing a connection between him and Reva, it was natural for him to be unable to understand it.

    Though, now that he knew this information¡­what was he supposed to do with it?

    ''She isn''t some avatar, she''s a genuine piece of universalw, and a foreign universalw at that! If I can restore her memories, she can be invaluable in all three of my mainprehensive paths¡­''

    As a Celestial, as a Voidbringer, and as a follower of Universal Flow, Reva''s existence was extremely profound.

    But if he wanted to interfere so deeply in her psyche without harming her already fragile mind¡­

    ''I need insurance.''

    He looked back to Reva hesitantly before finally opening his mouth and asking:

    "Do you know what you are?"

    Reva shook her head in denial.

    "Do you want to know?"

    This time, she didn''t give a proper answer, seemingly unknowing of what she wanted.

    "I have a way to help you, but you''ll have to be my subordinate first. Are you willing?"

    Reva''s eyes suddenly clouded over.

    sh!

    Their clear and dull appearance shifted as they were filled with the light of shining gxies.

    And as the light emitted from them grew, it materialized into the form of a beautiful woman with long flowing white hair and a body made of stars.

    [Please¡­protect her.]

    "You are¡­"

    The projection shook its head, and Damien''s eyes turned solemn.

    "I understand what you want. But you understand what it means for me to bind her, right?" He asked, his expression containing utmost seriousness.

    [I¡­trust¡­you.]

    The woman reached out, her ethereal hand brushing against Damien''s face almost as if it was tangible.

    And Damien''s eyes briefly became covered in the light of stars as well.

    When he came back to reality, he sighed lightly and nodded his head.

    "Fine. If that''s your wish, then it shall be so."

    Damien pushed his hand out again, and sent a Celestial Mana Thread into Reva''s forehead, imitating his previous action.

    However, this time, the meaning behind it was far, far moreplex.

 Chapter 1006 Shattered [2]

    ?

    The projection of the woman disappeared as soon as the Celestial Mana Thread made contact.

    Damien only briefly saw the relief on her face as she left, choosing to ignore it for now.

    The binding of a universe fragment, what did it entail?

    In all honesty, Damien had no idea. The fact that other universes existed wasn''t known to many at all, let alone fragments of them existing in this universe.

    ''I doubt this is the first time, but those who''ve found universe fragments would do everything possible to keep them hidden¡­''

    ''¡­and none of them were Celestials.''

    Damien let loose a distressed breath as the binding process ended. He closed his eyes and looked inward. There, he found a new entity inside the World Core Fusion Reactor.

    Sitting above the many worlds under Damien''s control was a rhomboid crystalline object that shone with rainbow light, representing Reva''s bind.

    Only, this newly created bind didn''t benefit Damien in the slightest.

    He smiled wryly.

    ''I guess I''ll only find out how crazy what I just did was after I''ve unsealed her, but what can you do? A beauty''s gratitude is the hardest debt to repay.''

    His thoughts drifted back to that woman, the shattered universe''s true universalw.

    What she''d shown him¡­

    ''Never mind. Let''s just get through the Grand Assembly first.''

    He opened his eyes, and Reva had disappeared.

    ''Is her physical body that unstable? It seems she''ll be resting inside that crystal until I manage to unseal a few of those seals.''

    Like Damien originally said, nobody could survive with such terrible damage in their spiritual world. Regardless of her true identity, Reva''s physical body wouldn''t have been able to bear the pressure of her mind for much longer without any support.

    ''Now that she''s found refuge, the process should be stalled for a bit, but she''s not safe yet.''

    Damien finally set Reva''s matter aside, as it wasn''t something he could focus on at the moment, and swept his hand through the air.

    Over a hundred thousand protectiveyers of space and time were dispersed, returning Damien to the Real ne.

    As for when he''d set them up? Of course, it was the instant he spotted Reva!

    With so many eyes on him, his every action had to be taken with caution.

    Nevertheless, now that he was out, he was once again graced by the sight of Xue''er sitting in a lotus position in the midst of a cloud of white and gold aura like a warrior who returned valiantly and victoriously from battle.

    This chance of hers, he had no idea what it was.

    In fact, he was sure the central area of the tomb was untouched by the Angels, and whatever Xue''er was currently experiencing was a factor of the original Mystic Realm that the Holy Light Realm was built on.

    Hadn''t Elena experienced something simr before?

    Damien had no way of knowing it, but the Angels were never able to conquer the two tombs of the original mystic realm.

    It wasn''t a matter of their ability, but the tombs themselves.

    Because Mystic Realms were, in part, created by the universe itself.

    The true benefits to be gained from them would never appear unless they found their proper owners.

    ''All I can say is that she''s benefitting immensely. This might even be her opportunity to find her path.''

    Damien shrugged and sat back, observing and making sure nothing went wrong.

    ''Anyway, putting that aside¡­this is supposed tost for 2 months? With the way things are progressing, I''m afraid this event will be ended soon.''

    He smiled to himself.

    What could he say?

    The forces of Grand Heavens Boundary really underestimated the younger generation this time.

    ''Let''s hope she finishes quickly. I still want to have some more fun before we''re kicked out.''

    His awareness spread past the bounds of the Holy Light Tomb.

    In his eyes¡­

    ***

    ¡­the firestorm faded into the atmosphere as if it never existed.

    After raging for one full day and night, it vanished in the wind like a passing wanderer with no desires or ambitions.

    Geniuses in all corners of Holy Light Star peeked their heads out from their various hiding ces, embracing the bright sun and the passing of danger.

    It was a moment of respite.

    But it was not one to be cherished.

    "Everyone, gather immediately."

    A message entered the ears of the Human Domain geniuses.

    Within four hours, three geniuses gathered at their original rendezvous point.

    In fact, they weren''t too far from it, but after the chaos, orienting themselves and understanding their position took time.

    Nevertheless, as the three of them reached the rendezvous point, Xue Fang was the one to speak first.

    "Sister, why did you summon us this time?" He asked, looking at Ruyue.

    Ruyue rolled her eyes. "I''m not your sister. You still want to consider me a part of the Xue n?"

    Xue Fang put his hands up in surrender as sweat dripped down his temple. "What''re you talking about? The Xue n has long been destroyed. I have no attachment to that ce."

    "Then?"

    "Ehem¡­Little Yue wan¡ª"

    "Don''t talk about her. Anyway, let''s drop this for now. We have more important matters to discuss."

    "En, if it''s you, the only reason for a summon would be a crisis."

    Ruyue nodded, looking at the two men solemnly.

    "First of all, the concentration of evil aura in the atmosphere has increased significantly since the passing of the firestorm. The smell of blood radiating from the east is extremely concerning. If I''m correct, there will be a beast tide soon."

    Long Chen''s eyes widened in realization.

    "The firestorm didn''t just kill, it destroyed the environment thoroughly. Every beast in the realm has been deprived of a home. However, how many of them could survive the tide?"

    Xue Fang shook his head and joined the conversation.

    "That isn''t the case. The beasts on the surface have likely all died. The subterranean world, on the other hand¡­"

    "Right," Ruyue nodded, "that brings me to my second concern."

    Her eyes hardened.

    "I''m afraid Rose has been trapped in the subterranean world."

    Her expression was immediately mirrored on the faces of herpanions.

    They didn''t doubt her words at all, nor did they question how she knew this information.

    Because the bond of sisterhood between Rose and Ruyue was something inexplicable that neither of these men could understand.

    They always had a perfect understanding of what the other was thinking, and this ability seemed to transcend reality itself.

    If Ruyue felt Rose was in danger, and in the subterranean world at that, it could only be so.

    "We need to find her first. Do you have any idea where she is?" Long Chen asked.

    Ruyue nodded once more.

    "Yes, and that''s why I called you here. Currently, Rose should be around 10,000 meters under our feet."

    Shiiiing!

    The sound of three weapons being drawn as one resounded through the air.

    "Then, let''s get to work."

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    A crater was formed instantly, and it was torn into a cavern within seconds.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The furious impacts attracted the attention of many geniuses, but who would dare go near people who could exert such power to casually p the ground?

    These crazy people had to be avoided at all costs!

    Under this atmosphere, the Human Domain geniuses tunneled roughly 4,000 meters into the earth until finally¡­

    BANG!

    Ruyue''s spear mmed into the rock, causing it to copse inward.

    The trio fell through the same abyss Rose experienced, but unlike her, they were able to see the slightest shes of lighting from below.

    ''There she is.'' Ruyue thought in relief.

    Her expression sharpened as she used mana to actively increase her falling speed.

    "Prepare for battle!" She shouted powerfully.

    "When wend, immediately ughter everything!"

 Chapter 1007 Tide [1]

    Xiu!

    Whoosh!

    A body swerved through the darkness of an underground cavern, almost big enough to be considered its own world.

    Its movements were lithe and graceful, yet held an element of brutality that couldn''t be ignored.

    Especially when considering the massive scythe in that individual''s hands.

    Rose was always aware that she didn''t have the best luck.

    It wasn''t just due to the Laws she studied, but also due to the special pupils she possessed.

    As someone who could see and toy with the karma of all things, how could she be allowed positive fortune of her own?

    Rose had experienced her fair share of extreme situations, and falling into a beast den wasn''t anything new.

    This specific situation, she''d experienced three times before.

    Only, this one was far more dangerous.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    The projectiles flying through the air were balls of razor-sharp white thread. The threads were strong by themselves, but when grouped, their slicing power could raze any 4th ss being easily.

    Rose flipped, using her momentum to narrowly dodge the projectiles as she wielded her scythe, shing through the air with utmost precision.

    Spurt!

    Her scythe pierced the head of a massive spider, roughly the size of a semi-truck. Its blue blood sprayed through the air, sizzling as it interacted with the air.

    "Tsk!"

    Rose clicked her tongue and jumped off the spider, wiping the blood off her face and wincing.

    ''Damn. These guys have poisonous blood too?''

    Rose retreated several hundred meters, swiping her hand through the air and creating a massive windstorm that tore through the space.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The explosions were deafening, and the cracking of the area''s structure made the noise far more harrowing.

    Yet, Rose was more than aware that her attack didn''t cause much actual damage.

    ¦Ñ¦Á¦°d¦Ás¦­¦Ïvel There were over ten thousand beasts in this cavern when she first entered it.

    As she was forced to fight them, she realized that not a single one of these beasts was weaker than her.

    The lowest-level beasts were still level 375, and their true strength surpassed that levelpletely.

    ''I''ve killed around 1,000, but I''ve used up too many pills here. This is life or death, so it isn''t the time to be frugal, but what other choice do I have? If I replenish myself as I need to, I won''t survive this encounter.''

    Her eyes were hardened, but her spirit was raging as bright as ever.

    ''Regardless, this is a setting where I can be a little more serious. There are a few things I''ve been wanting to try.''

    Rose''s power of illusion was her strongest suit, but it wasn''t her only specialization.

    She''d always been trying to upgrade her eyes, following that beautiful vision she saw all those years ago in the Eternal Secret Realm.

    Unfortunately, the power of her pupils couldn''t be tested casually, for wrongly using them couldpletely destroy people''s lives, even people she didn''t intend to target.

    Her mother''s story was a prime example of this.

    ''There weren''t many strong beasts in the Human Domain, only traitors and shitty scum who were bringing us down. Now that I have some prime test subjects in front of me¡­''

    Her eyes widened as she stood in the air, shining in beautiful gold light.

    The world she saw changed. Every beast became a muddled lump of grey strands, while several colored strands connected them to each other, creating a web of rtionships that defined the ecosystem this cavern had created.

    This web was crucial information.

    Rose immediately learned how these beasts interacted with each other, as well as their specific roles in the ecosystem.

    Despite the cohesion they showed when an outsider disturbed their peace, they were actually quite divided.

    With this knowledge, the possibilities became endless.

    ''Let''s¡­y a little.''

    Rose stared into the interwoven strings and slowly reached her hand out, pinching two strings between her fingers and pulling slightly.

    Snap!

    The sound of those strings breaking was deafening.

    Rose''s eyes instantly returned to their usual color, and the mana in her body drained to nothing.

    However, as she took a load of pills to replenish her systems, a change urred.

    Bzzz! Bzzzz!

    A furious buzzing emerged from the depths of the cavern.

    There, a group of abnormallyrge ck wasp-like creatures crowded around a corpse.

    It was the mangled corpse of a spider, but nearby were several greatly disfigured corpses of their kind.

    The situation was clear.

    These spiders sacrificed one of theirs to kill tens of wasprvae.

    SKREEEEEEEE!

    A wasp twice the size of the rest let out a terrifying screech. The sound wave bounced through the cave and amplified several times over.

    Bzzzz!

    The buzzing of extremely fast wings filled the cavern.

    Countless wasps appeared from the shadows, and together as one¡­

    Theyunched an all-out attack on the spiders.

    Rose staggered to her feet in an isted corner of the cavern, just barely recovered again, and smiled.

    ''I guess it works, though the price is a bit high.''

    She shook her head and started moving again.

    Her scythe materialized in her hands.

    And she reentered the battlefield.

    The wasps and spiders would kill each other and eliminate the long-range and aerial threats Rose was facing, but she still had to deal with every other beast on the ground.

    Insects, mammals, reptiles, and every type of creature one could imagine were present in some quantity, but the insects and bugs took up the majority of the numbers.

    ''After this, I''m not sparing a single bug I see.''

    Rose became a whirlwind of death. Her scythe, backed by pure physical force and just the slightest trace of mana strengthening, shed through enemies at a staggering rate.

    Perhaps this rate was only one or two every minute, but considering the strength of the enemies, this wasn''t slow at all!

    Rose could feel it within her. With every passing moment, she could feel herself growing.

    Sparks flew into the air and created a beautiful disy.

    Rose''s hands took turns wielding the scythe itself, with the non-upied hand swimming through the air, manipting reality itself to separate the massive horde of beasts into manageable portions and weaken her enemies before she had an opportunity to personally strike them.

    All the while, the grudge war that originally started with just the soldiers and wasps, in this space without much free ground, involved several other beasts until it became an all-out melee between the beast tribes of the underground cavern.

    At this rate, Rose wouldn''t have any trouble managing the situation as long as she acted with caution.

    And¡­

    BOOM!

    The ceiling caved in.

    BANG!

    BANG! BANG!

    BANG!

    Three objects mmed into the solid ground, kicking up massive clouds of dust and throwing tens of beasts back into the hordes they came from.

    "Hm?"

    Rose''s attention turned in that direction, curiosity written on her face.

    That expression turned into a smile within a second.

    "Hehe! You came before I could even have any fun. Did you miss me that much?" She said, projecting her voice toward the group.

    "Nonsense. You''re just not allowed to die until I''ve thoroughly surpassed you," another voice came from within the smoke.

    "Cheeky," Rose muttered with a grin.

    "Hmph."

    Ruyue snorted with a slight smile, turning her attention away from Rose and towards the situation at hand.

    "Beast tides on the surface and beast tides underground. I guess it makes sense."

    Not another word needed to be said.

    Because she''d already given the order.

    Kill until there was nothing left to kill!

 Chapter 1008 Tide [2]

    ?

    With Ruyue and the rest joining the battle, Rose''s burden was greatly reduced. After all, these three were fighters just as capable as she was.

    And with them present, she could use the safer powers of her pupils effectively.

    Such as¡­

    "Ruyue, go to the far depths and take care of the beasts there. The dark aura in that location is extremely condensed, and all the species are Yin attributed. There are some hostile and some peaceful, so only kill if you can''t tame."

    Ruyue nodded without question and took off, making it evident that this kind of routine was well practiced at this point.

    "As for you two, spread in opposite directions. Your affinities won''t have much of an advantage here, but your sword styles are best used differently. Long Chen, focus on mammalian and reptilian creatures. Xue Fang, you take the insects."

    The two followed Ruyue''s example and spread.

    Long Chen had a lot more raw power, so using him to crush those without the hard carapaces of bugs was best. Xue Fang, on the other hand, had extreme cutting power that could slice carapaces into oblivion.

    After watching the three reach their assigned positions, Rose nodded to herself.

    ''Good, they can take care of thebat. Now, my job should be¡­''

    She raised into the air once again to gain a vantage point where she could watch the entire battle situation.

    And once she''d mapped it out in her head, she moved her hands through the empty space like she was conducting the most exquisite symphony.

    Was it reality or illusion?

    Even her allies could never tell when she used her power.

    The cavern separated into dozens of rooms, each connected by a series of tunnels. While the structure itself was simple, the mechanics behind it were anything but.

    Under Rose''s precise control, each room was filled with only beasts from opposing tribes that would fight amongst each other. The rooms were constantly shuffled, and the amount of space they took up changed every few seconds.

    There was no consistency for the enemy, but those who''d fought within this formation knew very well.

    They were already inside Rose''s Illusory Throne Domain.

    Rose could truly do as she wished in this domain, but her actions were part of an extremely long sequence that didn''t repeat very often, a sequence that couldn''t be easily followed unless the battle was prolonged to a great extent.

    But why would these geniuses who''d long since memorized the pattern of Rose''s maniption allow their enemies to reach the same understanding?

    It was mainly Long Chen and Xue Fang. The duo moved between rooms and incited chaos among the already tense rtions between these tribes, assassinating beasts who held importance and instigating enmity.

    Ruyue''s job was separate. The space she''d been granted was operating under differentws from the mainbyrinth.

    Thesews, in this universe only Rose and Ruyue knew them.

    Currently, Ruyue moved among the darkness as if it was her closest friend.

    The species around her were strange, just as Rose said.

    While they showed tant hostility towards her presence, they didn''t move to attack, almost as if they were wary of something.

    ''Only kill those that can''t be tamed? What do you expect to do with tamed beasts?'' Ruyue wondered to herself.

    What Rose wanted wasn''t to form permanent bonds with these beasts as Damien had done with Zara. She wanted Ruyue to control and dominate these beasts so they could be usedter.

    The only question was: for what?

    ''Never mind, I''ve never been able toprehend her mind.''

    Ruyue dropped the thought and raised her arm into the air, summoning her mana and spreading it thinly through the atmosphere.

    The mana of Yin was a powerful force.

    Some believed yin and yang to be mere human concepts, created to exin the universalw. Others saw yin and yang as the pinnacle of universal forces, the two sides of the coin from which all otherws and concepts emerged.

    In reality, the role of yin and yang in the universe wasn''t quite known, because not many experts had risen while using these elements in their raw form.

    However, Ruyue knew.

    The mana of Yin had untold power.

    All those beings who existed under its umbre¡­

    Voom!

    ¡­would submit under a force of Yin more powerful than their own, almost like dragons.

    Ruyue''s mana cast a terrifying suppression through the atmosphere that forced every yin-attributed beast in the vicinity to its knees.

    Her eyes panned the surroundings coldly, picking out every entity that struggled against her pressure and tried to escape.

    And within seconds¡­

    Pah! Pah! Pah!

    These beasts exploded without a chance to fight back.

    Ruyue just recently remembered the flexibility and serene nature of yin. Until this point, she''d been refining her ability to use its other face.

    Absolute suppression.

    The ss she received uponpleting her Baptisk was Yin Spirit Queen, and there was no such thing as a benevolent ruler.

    If she wanted to truly rule the Law of Yin, she needed the cruelty and judgement to control all things.

    In the distance, Rose watched her disy with a smile.

    ''Stupid sister, shouldn''t you learn to be a bit more graceful?'' She joked happily.

    With herrades aiding her, cleaning up this cavern was no trouble at all.

    And finally, when those beasts were exterminated, they''d be able to find out what great treasure existed in this space.

    With all the effort it took to clear the ce, there had to be one¡­

    ¡­right?

    ***

    Rose was usually the one in their group who made the strategic decisions and whatnot, however this time, Ruyue was the one who made a scarily urate prediction.

    The skies of Holy Light Star were already darkened by the smog from the previous firestorm, and the environment itself was almostpletely destroyed.

    If it wasn''t for the vibrant vital aura in the earth, one would believe this star was utterly barren and unable to support life.

    Rumble!

    An earthquake.

    In the silence following the ze, it was incredibly noticeable.

    There wasn''t a single genius that didn''t notice it.

    Thousands of guards went up at once. After their experience with the previous cmity, they weren''t nning to take the next one lightly.

    RUMBLE!

    The rumbling of the earth became fiercer. It didn''t originate from one specific source, but from the entirety of the ground itself.

    And after many moments of shaking¡­

    BANG!

    A cloud of dust rose on the horizon.

    A shadowy figure rose into the sky along with it.

    ROAAAAAAAAAR!

    It let out a deafening roar that shattered the sky around it.

    It was a dragon.

    A true dragon whose pressure swept across thends and struck fear in the hearts of all those who witnessed its majestic gait.

    It was the first of many.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    All across Holy Light Stars, portions of earth imploded and beasts rose up from below.

    The Second Cmity, a cmity of beasts, was beginning.

    And at the same time, many more forces arrived in Luxurion.

    Countless geniuses were eliminated from Holy Light Star, but an equal or even greater number was always present to rece them.

    Yet¡­

    Perhaps entering the realm at this time wasn''t such a good idea.

    After all, for most, it would only lead to a humiliating and extremely fast defeat!

 Chapter 1009 Tide [3]

    The firestormsted for a day, which gave people false hope when the second cmity arrived.

    However, the beast tides didn''t end so easily.

    The cmity of beastssted an entire two weeks, until the end of the first month of the Grand Assembly.

    In these 2 weeks, several heroes arose and even more geniuses were ruthlessly eliminated from the realm. The smaller forces who came to show some face and make connections were mostly eliminated from thepetition, and recing them, severalrger forces finally made their arrival in Luxurion.

    These forces were mostly Holy Land influences such as Fallen Star Holy Land, as well as individual High Commanders and Executioners affiliated with Heaven''s Army.

    The only force from the Divine Realm still not present was Blood Asura Holy Land, but this wasn''t umon.

    Of therge forces of the universe, Blood Asura Holy Land was widely known as the most arrogant and domineering. Even when facing the Heavenly n that represented the Divine Realm itself, they kept their same arrogance.

    The visitor that attracted the most eyes was also the most elusive.

    Prismatic Sun Holy Land.

    In the same way the Demon Sealing Pantheon existed with great reputation but was still unknown to the world, Prismatic Sun Holy Land never showed its head outside of the most crucial moments.

    The only difference between them was that the Demon Sealing Pantheon only ever had one sessor at a time, while Prismatic Sun Holy Land was a true great influence with countless experts.

    The five geniuses from this Holy Land were all women, wearing veils and thick clothing that hid their appearances from those who looked at them.

    Oddly enough, this clothing even repelled the gazes of Demigods in the crowd, marking their garments as God-rank artifacts.

    It was a true show of power to possess so many rare artifacts and use them as regr clothing.

    The clothing of these five women wasn''t what drew attention to them. Rather, it was their performance once they made their way into Holy Light Star.

    To put it simply, they stood equal to the Human Domain''s spectacr performance, and in the eyes of those experts, were just a step below Su Ren and Damien.

    Nevertheless, two weeks was a great amount of time. Aside from the aforementioned influences, there were ten more Holy Lands and hundreds of smaller forces, whose geniuses raised the poption of Holy Light Star to over 20,000.

    As for what the Human Domain''s geniuses did during the time these neers stole the spotlight¡­

    Rose, Ruyue, Long Chen, and Xue Fang were currently deep underground.

    For two straight weeks, they''d been exploring the world connected to the massive cavern Rose firstnded in.

    Their original goal was to find the treasure the cavern hid, but it didn''t take long for them to find that there was none at all.

    On the other hand, there were 16 hidden tunnels that led topletely different tunnel systems within the earth that didn''t intep at all. Each one led to different beasts and different dangers, but as they learned after fully exploring the first one¡­

    Each tunnel system was filled with treasures.

    Chaos rank treasures with various usages, and even dangerous areas with strong auras suggesting the existence of God-rank treasures led them to remain in this cave system for days upon days.

    Their strategy was simple.

    For Chaos rank treasures, they split up and worked individually. Whenever they found the signs of a stronger treasure, they marked the area and left it alone so they could challenge them all consecutively as a group.

    It was a great n that allowed them to systematically im every treasure they found, but at the same time, thismon movement slowed their momentum and made the gazes on them slowly recede.

    Not that that was a negative, of course.

    At the end of the day, these Human Domain geniuses also wanted to grow. Their goal here wasn''t just to impress and show off. This was their first experience in the wider universe, and they nned to grow as much as they could from it.

    Overall, for the geniuses who could hold their own in the perils of Holy Light Star, life became boring.

    The true trouble existed for those who couldn''t, those who faced endless tides of rabid beasts with the only goal of tearing them apart.

    And finally, near the end of the two week period, a beautiful phenomenon urred in the Holy Light Tomb.

    The light around Xue''er brightened and filled the entire central area, glimmering splendorously before finally dying down.

    Xue''er sat alone, floating a few inches off the ground in a lotus position.

    Her eyes fluttered open, and to Damien''s surprise, her pupils were now an emerald green color, like two shining jewels decorating her face.

    "How do you feel?" He asked hesitantly, running her awareness through her body to make sure there were no abnormalities.

    "Feel¡­? This¡­what is the current day?" She responded hazily.

    Damien''s brow raised cautiously.

    "What do you mean?" He asked again.

    Xue''er looked up at him, her eyes clearing.

    "How long has it been since this Emperor entered his slumber?"

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    "You¡­"

    His hand shot out without warning, pping against Xue''er''s forehead.

    Pak!

    "Ow!"

    "You little brat, don''t think you can fool me with that."

    "Dammit!"

    "Who taught you to curse?!"

    ¦Ñ¦Á¦°d¦Ás¦­¦Ïvel "Hehe~ oopsie !"

    Xue''er naively knocked her head and smiled cheerfully as if nothing was wrong.

    As for Damien, he could do nothing but sigh to himself.

    "Haa, for a second, I thought¡­never mind."

    He could only say he was lucky for the Breath of Nothingness that allowed him to check her spiritual world!

    ''This brat doesn''t know what I''m like out here. This could be dangerous.''

    Because Damien wasn''t someone who''d panic and mourn, he was someone who''d immediately obliterate the spiritual consciousness trying to take over Xue''er''s body.

    ''Either way, it''s good that nothing happened. However, her bodily situation¡­''

    It was like his when he was at her level.

    With the blessing she just received, her body was raised to the 4th ss level, but she had yet to define her Law and undergo Baptism to actually reach that level.

    ''That sounds good on the surface, but as someone who''s personally experienced it, it''s not a positive thing at all in the long run.''

    Getting Xue''er past that boundary became the most important task, and as Damien nced at the outside situation¡­

    ''The Life Laws of this world are fluctuating. If I''m reading it right, something major is going to happen. How the hell do they expect these geniuses to survive?''

    He frowned as he became more and more sure of his feeling.

    The environment of the entire world was destroyed in the first cmity, which drew the beasts from the subterranean world to the surface in the second.

    Now that the world had gone through its cycles of destruction, the next step was to start revitalization.

    The problem was, this world was also a secret realm, and its methods were¡­severe, to say the least.

    ''In the next few days, it''ll start. The earth will cry, and then the vitality existing everywhere else¡­''

    His eyes hardened solemnly.

    ''¡­will be consumed.''

 Chapter 1010 Tide [4]

    ''But at the same time, isn''t that the best opportunity?''

    From the time he''d spent with Xue''er in the past few weeks, he affirmed his notion that struggle was the foundation of strength.

    Astoria grew rapidly because he forced her out offort, Elena was able to progress through 4th ss in no time at all because she suffered and survived.

    And Damien, regardless of the help he had from the Void Physique, regardless of his talent, would''ve never reached his level without suffering.

    Suffering that turned him into a masochist built character, built strength, and built fortitude. Even if he was granted the chance to go back and do it again, he wouldn''t try to lessen his suffering.

    In fact, he''d try harder and suffer harder so he could grow even faster than he did in the present timeline.

    ''It should happen in another day.''

    His mind cleared. "Emotion" no longer ruled his decisions.

    He wanted to do what was best for Xue''er and respect her determination for strength.

    So this time, he once again wouldn''t help her.

    "Xue''er, let''s go," he said.

    "There are still a small number of beasts outside, but they''ve lessened their hostility so the actualbat taking ce has almostpletely died down. It''s a good time to test your power."

    Xue''er nodded immediately.

    "Good! I feel a lot more powerful, but it feels weird. I want to know how to fix it," she responded.

    Damien turned away from her and began walking towards the exit of the central region, hiding his smile.

    ''Did she figure out the problem so fast?''

    He couldn''t help but be proud.

    Xue''er giggled to herself as she saw the arcing of his lips from the side, but she didn''t say anything, happily following him as he led her out of the tomb with ease.

    The duo saw the light of day once more, but the Holy Light Star in front of them was not the same one they came from.

    "Big brother¡­what happened here?!" Xue''er eximed with widened eyes.

    Damien shrugged. "Cmity happened. Twice, at that. Anyway, it has nothing to do with us. Let''s go find you some prey."

    "Hm?" Xue''er once again found herself confused, but she kept her mouth shut.

    Damien had a habit of saying things she couldn''t understand, after all.

    Unaware of her thoughts, Damien wrapped her in his mana and flew into the air, scanning the world with his awareness.

    "Okay, I found a good spot. And coincidentally¡­"

    He smiled as he teleported, being cautious to not overload Xue''er''s senses too much, and arrived at the location in a few minutes.

    There were several beast tribes on the ground below, seemingly regrouping after facing mass defeat in the previous tides.

    And nearby, the distinct signature of a single woman was fast approaching.

    Damien took Xue''er with him andnded on the ground between that figure and the beast tide.

    "Xue''er, go fight. If you''re going to die, I''ll save you."

    "H-huh?! That fast?!"

    "Isn''t that what you wanted?"

    "T-true¡­okay, fine! I''ll just do it!"

    Xue''er moved somewhat hesitantly towards the beasts, and the approaching aura also calmed significantly.

    Xue''er''s eyes narrowed. Her arms rose into a boxing position, and a pair of gauntlets appeared, covering her forearms and hands in shining armor.

    And then, she charged into the crowd.

    "Hiyaaah!" She shouted as she punched into the skull of the nearest beast.

    Boom!

    A ze pulsed from her fist and exploded the beast''s skin, revealing its thick skull.

    ROOOAAAAAR!

    The beast finally got the chance to roar in pain, alerting its nearby fellows to Xue''er''s attack.

    "Hmph! Not so fast!" She said, spinning around and sending an axe kick into the creature''s skull.

    Crack!

    The skull cracked under her pressure, and the beast copsed to the ground.

    Bang!

    Xue''er sent a final fist mming through the beast''s skull, thoroughly killing it.

    At the same time, reinforcements arrived.

    A group of twenty beasts from the same tribe as the one she just killed, a group of bear-like creatures, stood on their hind legs and roared into the sky, their rage evident.

    ¦Ñ¦Á¦°d¦Ás¦­¦Ïvel Xue''er''s eyes shook as she backed away, when suddenly¡­

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The three massive bears at the front of the crowd exploded into bits of flesh and blood.

    "Xue''er, don''t worry about anything and just fight! You think I''d let those stronger guys bully you?"

    Damien''s shout came from behind, causing a smile to spread on her face.

    "Mm!" She happily uttered, jumping into battle before the bears could recover from the deaths of their leaders.

    Before Damien''s eyes, she finally began to showcase what she learned from Elvira.

    And he wasn''t alone in witnessing it.

    "So this is the fabled little sister, eh? What a first impression," the individual who just arrived said with a smile.

    Damien turned to her with the same expression. "Right? She''s pretty cool, if I do say so myself."

    Elena walked up next to him and leaned against his shoulder, and like a couple watching their child, they happily enjoyed the show Xue''er presented them.

    Bang!

    Another head exploded.

    Xue''er''s method of fighting was a strange mix between barbaric and beautiful.

    On her own, she was truly brutal. She used her body as a weapon, mming her tiny fists out with enough power to burst the environment with pure air pressure.

    However, around her swirled a mystical grouping of natural spirits that emerged from all around when they sensed her presence.

    They were mostly spirits of earth and air, and upon Xue''er''s prompting, they emitted furious bursts of elemental power that dispersed the crowds of beasts and crippled the weaker ones.

    It was a true surprise that Xue''er had a rtively established fighting style already.

    Or rather, it turned out Damien had been severely underestimating the Sanctuary.

    It couldn''t be helped.

    He''d been dealing with Demigods and Supremes so often in recent days that anything under the Holy Land level looked the same to him, but when it came to training geniuses, the likes of Elvira and Bai Longxuan were more than capable.

    ''Speaking of, I wonder how those guys are doing? It''s been a while since they''vee out.''

    Damien hadn''t paid attention to their power levels in a while, and he suddenly got curious.

    But now wasn''t the time.

    Now, the stage was Xue''er''s¡­

    ¡­and she was making full use of it.

    ***

    "What the hell was that?!"

    A voice boomed through the first banquet hall.

    It belonged to an elder from me Heaven Holy Land, directed at Luciel, who stood calmly at the front of the hall.

    "What are you referring to?" He asked, not losing his calm at all.

    "What do you think I''m talking about?! This secret realm is bullshit! How dare you expel my geniuses so easily?!" The elder roared.

    He''d been utterly humiliated. Within a few days of their entrance, the geniuses of his Holy Land were obliterated by powerful beasts, and¡ª

    "¡ªthere was even a True Dragon among them! Say, is the Heavenly n trying to provoke my me Heaven Holy Land?!"

    Luciel raised his brow.

    "Hm? How could that be possible? Our Heavenly n was chosen to host this assembly because the people trust our integrity. Have you not thought that, perhaps, your geniuses were just too weak?"

    "You¡­!"

    "Elder, that''s enough!"

    The Holy Master of the sect appeared and pulled the elder back.

    "I apologize for his behavior," he said to Luciel, retreating without another word.

    Luciel''s eyes glimmered with a mysterious light as he watched them leave.

    ''It seems¡­they''ve begun to show themselves.''

 Chapter 1011 Geniuses [1]

    ?

    Whoosh!

    A light wind flowed from one side of Holy Light Star to the other, almost as if foreshadowing chaos with its peaceful breeze.

    It took a full day for Xue''er to clear out the beasts that she''d been tasked to defeat, and even after aplishing her goal, she wasn''t allowed to rest.

    She was soon introduced to her Third Aunt, who proceeded to spar with her for many hours to the point where she felt like dying!

    However, her Third Aunt was like an angel, able to immediately make her feel like she''d woken up from a good night of sleep in an instant and make all of her injuries disappear.

    It was helpful training for Xue''er before the true challenge that was toe, but while watching them, Damien also noticed something else.

    "You''re injured?" He asked Elena after she''d finished training with Xue''er.

    Elena shook her head. "It''s nothing much. I had to burn a good amount of blood vitality to survive myst encounter, but it only somewhat affected my strength. I just need to be mindful in the future," she responded with a shrug, severely downying her state.

    Damien frowned. Did she really think she could keep it from him?

    "Your aura has already reached the 1st revolution, but your strength has actually regressed from thest time I saw you. And you call losing this much lifespan ''nothing much?!'' You practically lost half your life!"

    He sighed to himself and ced his hand on her head, allowing the warm currents of [Heal] to flow through her body.

    This skill that was granted to him by ric, the Primordial Undying Tree, was a lifesaver for him whenever he made the same suicidal move for the sake of survival.

    And thankfully, it was able to keep those close to him healthy, regardless of what they faced when he wasn''t with them.

    Elena closed her eyes contentedly as she felt the warm power course through her again. This was the second time she''d felt the power of this trait, but it still didn''t cease to amaze her.

    She could sense just a trace of concept within the current that was simr to Transcended Death, yet far milder, as if it was the true path to immortal life.

    She smiled to herself.

    ''I guess even if he''s talented, Life Laws aren''t his specialty.''

    He was following a far more mainstream path than she was in terms of Life Laws alone, which made her somewhat happy.

    After all, what would be the point of all her hard work if the path she was following could be mimicked by anyone else?

    Even if that person was Damien, the fact didn''t change.

    As Damien healed the foolishly grinning Elena, he nced at Xue''er with furrowed brows.

    ''How troublesome¡­''

    It wasn''t long ago when he said promoting Xue''er was the utmost priority, but after seeing her fight, his opinion ended up changing.

    ''She''s not ready yet. She has a developed battle style, but she still relies extensively on spirits and only contributes physical strength and mana from her body. The actual processes are taken care of by them. If I try to push her to promote, I''d only be harming her.''

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien exhaled lightly.

    He thought he was past the point where he made mistakes in judgement, but Xue''er had rapidly brought him down several pegs.

    ''I said I was respecting her wishes, but I was just rushing because I know how bad it is to get stuck in imbnce and cope with the consequences in the future. However¡­how could I forget why that imbnce exists in the first ce?''

    Whether it was Damien or Xue''er, the Laws they studied were far greater than those of the people around them. Their paths were more convoluted even while following the same flow as the universe''s streamlined path.

    ''The reason my Spacetime became so profound is because I spent time slowly understanding my Law and purpose before finally grasping it for maximum results. My Baptism couldn''t have been nned even if the greatest heavenly strategist tried, and Xue''er''s will inevitably be the same.''

    "I''m going to send her back," he finally said out loud.

    "Back to the Sanctuary?" Elena asked.

    "Mm," Damien responded.

    "She''s gotten a sufficient amount of practical experience in the past few weeks, and what she needs now is to go somewhere quiet and introspect until she finds her answer."

    "And if she can''t find it using that method?"

    "Then time is the only answer. A constant cycle of struggling and introspecting until the answer decides it''s the right time for her to understand it."

    "That''s quite convoluted."

    "It is, which is why it''s annoying."

    Damien sighed and dropped his head, letting himself fall into Elena''sp.

    "You''ve felt it, right?"

    "Yeah, how could I not? Life Laws are my whole thing."

    "True. Do you think she''d survive?"

    "Xue''er¡­?"

    Elena nced at the little girl who was peacefully sleeping off her fatigue nearby.

    "Probably not," she finally said.

    Damien sighed. In the end, this ce was meant for 4th ss beings, and the strongest among them at that.

    Realistically speaking, the troubles of this realm weren''t challenges to Xue''er, they were true hells!

    Damien kept his eyes on the sky above, enjoying the feeling of Elena''s hands running through his hair.

    "Are you feeling better?"

    "Nonsense. With that kind of healing, why wouldn''t I be feeling better?"

    "Mm, but I couldn''t get you back to your original lifespan. You''re around 80% recovered."

    "That''s more than enough. You know me, I''ll do the rest myself somehow."

    "Mm, your plot armor looks especially beautiful in the moonlight."

    "Don''t forget whosep you''re resting on."

    "Mmm, squishy thighs."

    "Tch."

    Damien smiled to himself and closed his eyes.

    There was nothing particrly special about this moment, but it felt especially peaceful.

    For some reason, his mood turned reminiscent. He thought about the past and the present, he thought about the people who he held dear and the enemies he''d vanquished along the way.

    It was "Life."

    "His" life.

    He and Elena held an extreme connection to the element of Life, and unlike the rest in the realm who were soon going to experience a terrible cmity, to them, it was something else entirely.

    The world was going through a cycle of creation and destruction like a beautiful microcosm representing the universe itself.

    To them, it wasn''t a cmity that wasing, it was a resurrection.

    And the ambient mana''s strange movements that foreshadowed such an event were like a serenade to them specifically, unheard by anyone else.

    "What should we do after I send her back?" Damien suddenly asked.

    "Hmm¡­" Elena muttered.

    "Do we really need to divert from the original goal?"

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean¡­the reason plundering everything became meaningless is because thepetition is too weak. But, after this cmity, won''t those Holy Land geniuses finally start entering the realm in droves?"

    "You can''t be thinking of¡­"

    "Why can''t I be thinking of that?"

    "You have a really big appetite."

    "Not nearly as big as yours."

    "Hmph."

    Damien rolled his eyes.

    Holy Land geniuses¡­

    Could they really live up to his expectations?

 Chapter 1012 Geniuses [2]

    ?

    Damien sent Xue''er back to the Sanctuary after giving her a short exnation and some homework, transferring her to Elvira for further training.

    The only gripe was that he had to promise to bring her back out when he saw Xiao Yue. Evidently, her rivalry with the girl had formed in full in the few minutes they''d interacted.

    He also separated from Elena again. Since she wanted to continue their original n, he also decided to go along with it.

    Theypiled the treasures they''d gotten until this point, which weren''t many considering how Elena had been spending her time, and went in opposite directions to once again plunder the realm.

    Because this time, they would hold an absolute advantage against any and everyone!

    When daylight struck, the realm began to change as well.

    A barely noticeable suction force emitted from the ground, funneling the ambient vitality of the realm into the earth to start the process of reconstruction.

    As of now, only the atmosphere was being affected, but both Damien and Elena were well aware.

    By the time the day was over, no one would be safe from the force.

    At the moment, Damien stood above the realm, looking down on it without expression,

    ''What do I do now?''

    Actually, his strange mood fromst night was only partially caused by the ambient aura.

    The true reason was moreplex.

    To put it simply¡­Damien didn''t know what to do with himself,

    He''d reached a level where he couldn''t really identify with the younger generation, because 99% of them could be killed with a single movement of his finger.

    He''d been fighting against the older generation, those monsters who''d lived for thousands of years, for so long that he''d forgotten what it meant to be young.

    He was only 30, yet his peers were 10,000.

    With this kind of disconnect, it was natural to be confused,

    ''I didn''t think about it much before because I didn''t have such a visceralparison presented to me like now. Just when did I go from being the arrogant young genius to the old master that taught him?''

    The switch into a teacher mentality happened mainly due to Astoria''s existence, but it came so naturally that Damien didn''t even notice how prominent it''d be.

    ''I''m not a damn old man yet. I want to be reckless!''

    Frankly, he was pissing himself off with the pure inability to do anything.

    He''d be addicted to the constant movement he''d been doing for years now. It wasn''t tiring, it was fulfilling.

    He couldn''t just sit still and teach people anymore, acting as a background character in the universe.

    That wasn''t what he wanted at all!

    ''My true stage is the conference that''ll happen in a month, but I don''t want to just idle here for another month. I thought they''d close the realm down and create new challenges after reassessing our strength, but instead, they just increased the difficulty of the realm itself.''

    Now, the only two who didn''t really have a ce on Holy Light Star were Damien and Su Ren.

    ''Should I go find him¡­?''

    His senses suddenly tingled. His head snapped in a certain direction, where he saw a group of five geniuses traversing the realm.

    ''Holy Land geniuses?'' He thought to himself as he felt their aura and peered through their treasures.

    ''Maybe I should have some fun¡­''

    Damien still had several goals to aplish on Holy Light Star, so he couldn''t just leave, but acting normally would just bore him to death!

    Was it Xue''er''s influence? Or did that peaceful night have a more profound effect than he expected?

    "I feel like I''ve been having mood swings or something. This feeling isn''t fun."

    Despite what he said, Damien felt the yful spirit of his past reawakening.

    ''Well, it doesn''t hurt to try, right? Let''s see how they react.''

    He threw on a disguise with Void Mana just in case, and¡ª

    Bang!

    An explosion nketed the air.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Damien coughed a mouthful of blood as his body shot out of the explosive cloud.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Three more explosions rang out, throwing him around the air like a rag doll before finally mming him towards the ground below.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    His body crashed into the earth and blew a massive crater into its surface.

    And coincidentally enough, the crater wasn''t too far from the group he observed earlier.

    ***

    "Hm? Senior sister, something seems to havended over there," a woman said.

    "I noticed. I don''t care, but if you want to go check it, you can," her Senior Sister responded.

    "Senior sister, you''re always so cold!"

    "Just go already, don''t whine here."

    "Hmph, fine."

    The woman approached the edge of the crater, her eyes slightly widening once she saw its contents.

    "It''s actually¡­a person?"

    "Senior sister, there''s a corpse over here!" She yelled back towards the group.

    "Just a corpse? Leave it and let''s move on. We have much to do," the senior sister said without much interest at all,

    However, just as the first woman shrugged and stood up to return¡­

    "It moved!"

    ¡­the unknown corpse twitched.

    "Senior sister,e over here!" She eximed, motioning the whole group toe over.

    "Look at this man''s wounds. Isn''t it surprising that the mystic realm didn''t expel him?" She said as her sisters approached.

    The one at their head was a woman named Pandora, the same woman referred to as "senior sister" by the rest.

    She looked at the body, her cold eyes containing the slightest glimmer of interest.

    "The mystic realm expels anyone who takes fatal damage, but that also varies ording to what is truly fatal for the genius in question. Since this man is still here, and breathing at that, it is clear that he isn''t some minor character," she muttered.

    "What should we do with him?" One of the women asked.

    "What else? Let''s just leave him here and move on," another one chimed in.

    "Senior sister, what''s your opinion?" The first woman, the youngest of the group, asked.

    Pandora furrowed her brow in thought.

    Finally, she made a decision.

    "Save him."

    Their goals this time didn''t have anything to do with Holy Light Star, but rather a few of the people on it.

    Now that the endless killing had concluded, what they needed most was information.

    And who better to provide it than this man, who had obviously been through hell and back?

    Damien''s body was lifted into the air with mana and transported to a shelter only a few kilometers away that was built by this group.

    The explosions that hit him were powerful. He made sure to leave countlesscerations and internal injuries on his body that couldn''t be healed with normal means, and now that he''d met these women that obviously came from an extremely powerful force, he was curious.

    Would they save him or abandon him?

    However, much to his surprise, he soon felt a pill entering his mouth and spreading its nourishing energy through his body.

    ''This pill¡­is far above the level of any medicine I''ve seen before.'' He thought to himself.

    He had to say¡­

    His first impression of the Prismatic Sun Holy Land was an incredibly positive one.

    The only question was: how would they act from this point forth?

 Chapter 1013 Invitation [1]

    Chapter 1013 Invitation [1]

    Damien wasn''t a stranger to the rumors about Prismatic Sun Holy Land.

    Many experts he devoured had memories rted to this ce, making it clear just how much of an unsolved mystery its existence was in the universe.

    The Laws they studied were mysterious, and while most of the time the disciples used Fire Laws, their specific version of the Law was far moreplex than one would expect from a basic element.

    On the other hand, their most powerful disciples and the majority of their elders wielded a different Law that nobody in the universe had been able to decipher yet.

    Damien, as someone who''d never had contact with the Holy Land, was one of these people.

    However, he knew a bit more about them than ordinary people.

    Because the Prismatic Sun Holy Land had a connection with the universe''s Primal Sovereigns.

    The Fifth Primal Sovereign''s memories had several moments where he had contact with the Holy Land, but he was an independent thinker and set his sights on the Void early, so the amount of avable information wasn''t much.

    ''All I know is that the higher Primal Sovereigns are much more in touch with them than he was, and their Holy Master is¡­''

    Damien couldn''t put his finger on what it was about that woman, but she gave off an extremely dangerous scent.

    And her contact with the Primal Sovereigns was incredibly significant, as these beings were quite literally some of the oldest entities in the universe.

    The secrets they held were unimaginable.

    When Damien realized that the Holy Land group he came in contact with was actually from Prismatic Sun Holy Land, his mind whirred.

    It simply couldn''t be a coincidence, right?

    Many hours had passed since they first "saved" him, and with the help of their miraculous pill, the grievous wounds on his body had long since recovered.

    ''It''s about time.''

    Damien scanned with his awareness first to prevent a situation like thest time he was saved from a crater before allowing his eyes to flutter open, revealing the dry rocky ceiling of the cave to his gaze.

    "Mmgh¡­"

    He moaned lightly and hazily sat up, rubbing his head groggily.

    "Hm?"

    A voice came from the side.

    "Senior sister, he''s awake!"

    Damien immediately shot up and made distance, ring his mana warily.

    "Who are you, and where the hell am I?" He growled at the veiled woman a few meters in front of him.

    "E-eh?! Why are you panicking? We saved your life, you know!" The girl eximed angrily.

    "My life is my own to control. Who told you to save me?" He responded with an arrogant expression on his face.

    "You¡­you¡­!" The girl pointed at him angrily, clearly fuming, but before she could make any hasty moves, another woman walked into the cave.

    "Dalia, rx. Leave here, you can''t deal with him," the woman said, staring at Damien.

    "Do not be wary. We are disciples of Prismatic Sun Holy Land. I''m sure you''ve heard of us?" She continued after her junior sister exited the room.

    "Prismatic Sun Holy Land¡­?" Damien echoed.

    "I see, so that mysterious force hase here too. Since you''re such an esteemed character, there must be a reason you saved me, right?"

    "Straight to the point, I see. Indeed, there is a reason we saved you. There are some people we''re looking for, and I was hoping you could help."

    "Why me?"

    "Anyone who can survive an impact like that is not normal. I''m sure you have been in this realm for quite some time and seen most there is to be seen."

    "Your ttery skill is higher than expected."

    "I practiced it well."

    The woman flicked her sleeve and sent two scrolls at Damien, which he caught and opened.

    His eyes didn''t change, but his mind went alert.

    There were many individuals on the list, all of which were the most prominent geniuses of the universe.

    Naturally, Su Ren''s face was muchrger than the rest and ced at the top of the first scroll, but what Damien didn''t expect¡­

    ¡­was that his own face held the same position on the second one!

    ''I should''ve been unknown to most of the universe before I showed up here. Why are they putting me on the same level as Su Ren?''

    "Most of these geniuses are from Holy Lands, and there isn''t anybody in the universe who doesn''t know of the de God, but who is this man?" He asked, gesturing to his own face while inwardly praising his disguise.

    The woman nodded in understanding. "It''s normal if you haven''t seen him. He is one of the most elusive geniuses in our Grand Heavens Boundary, but our Prismatic Sun Holy Land has been following his movements for a long time. If you have seen him or the others, please tell us their locations. We will be sure to reward you."

    "Why are you looking for them?"

    The woman''s eyes abruptly sharpened. A highly contained yet extremely sharp aura surrounded her body, giving Damien a feeling like his throat was on the edge of countless des.

    "There is no need for you to know this, yes?"

    "Hmm, feisty¡­I do know where quite a few of them are, but I have a condition if you want me to tell you," Damien responded, putting his hands up innocently.

    "And that is?" The woman questioned coldly.

    Damien grinned without care.

    "Let mee with you."

    The woman''s eyes slightly widened at his request.

    "For what reason should I grant your request?"

    Damien shrugged. "I don''t know. You want information and I want entertainment. Won''t we both win if we do it this way?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    The woman nced him up and down and even scanned him with her awareness.

    From their interaction, she could tell that he was strong, but he wasn''t stronger than her.

    ''I am confident I can protect my junior sisters if this man turns out to be a pervert, but is it truly worth the effort¡­?''

    Preferably, such a thing wouldn''t be done. However, they were currently in need of this man''s help.

    ''It would be far easier to find someone else to procure information from, but this man is strange. Disregarding his strength, his aura almost reminds me of¡­''

    "Fine. We will do as you say," she finally said, making her decision.

    The people on the list were important targets, but they weren''t the only targets. If she had stumbled upon a hidden gem in this man, she couldn''t waste the opportunity.

    "Then, it''s a pleasure working with you," Damien responded with a smile.

    "Ah, by the way, my name is Long Chen, and you?"

    The woman nced at him indifferently and turned around.

    "Pandora. We will leave when the sun rises tomorrow. Please prepare your information before then."

    "Mm, no problem."

    Damien watched as the woman left, and when her figure finally vanished from his sight¡­

    "Oh, by the way, pay attention to your stamina in theing days."

    He muttered some words of advice.

    In the distance, Pandora''s head turned in his direction, a frown forming on her face as she turned around and continued walking.

    As for Damien, heid back on the rocky floor and ced his hands behind his head.

    ''This should be fun¡­''

 Chapter 1014 Invitation [2]

    Chapter 1014 Invitation [2]

    Dawn arrived rtively quickly.

    The suction force from the earth increased, just barely manifesting itself to Su Ren''s senses.

    Damien stood up off the cave floor and stretched his body, cracking his joints and refreshing himself after a long day ofying on the rocky floor.

    He walked out of the cave and was soon greeted by the group of five women from Prismatic Sun Holy Land.

    "Good morning,dies," Damien said with a smile.

    "There is no need to make small talk," Pandora responded uninvitingly.

    "Before we set off, there is one more thing we must do."

    She raised her hand and, on the spot, made a Mana Oath.

    The terms were simple.

    As long as Damien didn''t target the Prismatic Sun Holy Land disciples and provided the information he promised, he would be able to travel with them and share their resources.

    Damien shook his head wryly and made his side of the oath easily.

    ''Though, I don''t know why you''re so worried when all of you are draped in God-rank artifacts.''

    When the procedure was finally finished, the atmosphere cleared up considerably.

    Pandora''s tone was no longer obviously hostile as she continued the conversation.

    "Have you prepared your side of the agreement?"

    "Haha, of course, I have. Do you think I''d be dumb enough to sign a Mana Oath if I hadn''t?"

    "Fair argument. Then¡­?"

    Damien handed over a small jade slip, on which he recorded the locations of almost 80% of the geniuses on Pandora''s list.

    It only took a quick sweep of his awareness to estimate their positions, and anything too specific would''ve been suspicious, so that was enough.

    Nevertheless, these geniuses were only low and mid-level targets on the list, nothing too spectacr.

    "With the way you were talking, I assumed you knew the location of a top-level target," Pandora muttered.

    Damien raised his brow.

    "Oh? But I do," he said, "only, I can''t really put his information on the same level as the rest, right? If you want me to take you to him, you have to pay up."

    Pandora looked at him for a second before closing her eyes.

    "Very well, name your price."

    "Haha, we can talk about thatter. Just consider it as owing me a favor."

    "A favor from me is worth more than you can imagine."

    "Then isn''t that the perfect reward?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien smiled and shrugged, knowing she''d already conceded.

    "Since it''s settled, let''s not waste any time. Instead of boring ourselves with weaklings, why don''t we go see the universe''s number one first?"

    "H-huh?"

    Pandora''s junior sisters finally showed a reaction. They truly hadn''t been able to understand the conversation until this point, and they were even more confused about why their senior sister was allowing this hooligan to travel with them.

    But as ifughing at their childish thoughts, Damien''s response was absolutely shocking.

    "Didn''t you want to see the de God? Give me a second and I''ll call him over."

    ""C-call him over?!""

    The group of four eximed it as one, unable to process what he just said.

    And even Pandora shared their next thought.

    Just who was this man who dared to speak so arrogantly???

    ***

    At this point, with the first month already passing, the forces gathered actually added up to an immense amount.

    The experts from these forces already filled up the first and second banquet halls, and the third was starting to reach that point as well.

    Other forces from the Infernal Realm finally made their way to Luxurion, their speed no match for their leader. The Giant Domain and Soul World and also sent many more forces, showing their sincerity.

    The Beast Domain was a bit further away, so their ns were still on the way, and many forces from Soul World and Hephaestus were missing, but the congregation of experts at this moment had reached an unprecedented degree.

    And their geniuses all entered Holy Light Star in the most dangerous circumstances they weren''t even aware of.

    Luciel didn''t greet all of them, as most of that was work was allocated to lesser angels, but he was keeping a close eye on each and every force that entered.

    More specifically, their geniuses.

    He watched thousands upon thousands of them entering Holy Light Star, and indiscernibly, he sighed.

    ''It is time. I didn''t expect it toe at this time, but it cannot be helped. Instead, I can only pray they survive theing days.''

    His attention shifted to a nearby Angel, who nodded in acknowledgment and left, following unknown orders.

    Meanwhile, events in the mystic realm were about to get far, far more chaotic.

    ***

    Unlike Luciel''s bleak prediction, nothing much changed in the mystic realm, at least not at this time.

    It had been around two hours since Damien and the Prismatic Sun Holy Land group set off to meet Su Ren, and they were approaching the given destination.

    Yet, despite the closeness of the meeting, those apanying Damien still couldn''t believe what he said.

    "Your name is Long Chen, right? I''ve never heard of you. How can you know the de God?"

    "Yeah, like Junior sister said. How can we be sure you aren''t leading us into a trap?"

    Two of them were specifically chatty, standing on both sides of Damien and barraging him with questions.

    He could only shrug and smile wryly. What kind of answer could he give them?

    "I''ve already told you a million times. Since I''ve signed a Mana Oath with your senior sister, is it even possible for me to lie? Anyway, we''re almost there. If you still can''t believe me, juste and see for yourself."

    He didn''t know how many times he''d repeated the same line, but he was extremely thankful that this would likely be thest.

    The group stepped into a valley between two mountains in the northernmost part of Holy Light Star, and Damien led them to shade from the sun under an isted tree that somehow managed to grow alone in the valley.

    "We''re here," he said, sitting down and leaning against its trunk.

    "Here?" Pandora said suspiciously, looking around at the deste scenery.

    "Don''t judge it so quickly. After the firestorm, everywhere in the realm looks this barren."

    Damien suddenly nced up at the peak of one of the two mountains around them.

    "Looks like he''s arrived as well."

    From that peak, a small shadow drifted down, bing bigger and a man and a little girl.

    bigger in their eyes until it finally cleared, turning into the figures of a man and a little girl.

    "Da¡ª"

    "Hey, my good friend! It''s been a while!"

    Damien immediately interrupted Su Ren before he could say anything and walked over, using sound transmission to give Su Ren a quick rundown of the situation.

    Su Ren''s eyes narrowed in scrutiny for a second before he turned to the Prismatic Sun Holy Land group.

    "You wanted to talk to me?"

    "Yes."

    Pandora stepped up and pulled an envelope out of her sleeve.

    "Sir de God, we''ve been specially tasked to invite you to our Holy Land," she said, handing him the envelope.

    Su Ren took it out of courtesy, but didn''t hesitate to offer an immediate rejection.

    "I am unaffiliated, and it will stay that way. Thank you for the offer, but I will have to decline."

    However, Pandora immediately shook her head.

    "In fact, our goal this time is not to recruit you, but to invite you. Our Holy Master has prepared a gift for the universe''s top geniuses, and we hope you will graciously ept it."

    Su Ren suspiciously looked her up and down before turning to Damien, who could only shrug.

    After all, it was his first time hearing it as well!

    But¡­a hidden Holy Land that never showed itself to outsiders was suddenly opening its doors?

    Wasn''t this quite interesting?

 Chapter 1015 Attack [1]

    ?

    Both Damien and Su Ren''s eyesnded on Pandora with evident confusion and intrigue, however, she didn''t seem to have any n to answer them.

    "Our Holy Master has explicitly stated that we must not reveal any information prematurely. Even if you are the de God, please trust our word for now and consider attending the event. It will only take ce after the Grand Assembly ends, so you do not have to rush."

    Her words were sinct and her stance was clear, so the duo didn''t ask any more questions, but each had their own thoughts on the matter.

    Damien had a slight frown on his face.

    It was incredibly suspicious timing, and since Prismatic Sun Holy Land itself was so mysterious, there was no way to tell what their actual intentions were.

    However, he didn''t think it''d be a bad idea to go. He was also curious about them, after all.

    As Damien watched Su Ren and Pandora continue their conversation, changes took ce in different parts of the mystic realm.

    Many of the newly entered geniuses had gathered together in groups of ten to fifteen and spread across the realm, showing no interest in its treasures whatsoever.

    Their movements were already suspicious, and it seemed¡­

    ¡­they never nned to hide their intentions.

    "Brothers, it''s time!" A man said at the head of one of these groups.

    He faced his fellows and raised his fist into the air.

    "Let us show this universe our power!"

    RAAAAAAAAAH!

    A loud cheer, louder than possible from such a small crowd, erupted from their bodies.

    And following that cheer, they began to morph.

    Their skin greyed, their eyes became feral, and their bodies expanded into massive hulking forms.

    BANG!

    The first man mmed his foot into the ground once his transformation ended and grinned.

    "For freedom! For power! Kill!"

    ""KILL!""

    The crowd spread out, their newly transformed bodies acting as tanks with their pure strength, and only worsened by the addition of mana.

    They weren''t the only ones either.

    Countless groups, adding up to over 10,000 geniuses in total,pleted the same transformation and made their advent on the realm.

    They didn''t allow their presence to go unknown.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    "Everyone be careful! There are beasts approaching!"

    A man spoke to the four disciples behind him. His name was Alex, and the group he led was from a smaller sect called the Ice King Sect.

    They survived through the first two cmities with a mixture of luck and skill that hadnded them the attention of a few experts watching from the outside world, and though the second cmity was over, they stayed alert in preparation for the next one.

    Alex stood at their head and raised his sword, facing the direction of the noise.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    It sounded like explosions, but his perception wasn''t so weak. He could hear the trees cracking and exploding, he could hear the ground shattering at the furious steps of those creatures.

    Bang!

    The trees in front of them finally exploded, and the beasts were revealed.

    They were terrifying abominations that looked like massive humanoid goris. Their eyes were dyed ck and their teeth were framed with two massive fangs that seemed to have no purpose but to rip enemies to shreds.

    "T-that¡­what is that?!" A young genius eximed, taking a step back as he shakily gripped his sword.

    Alex''s eyes narrowed.

    "I¡­don''t know."

    He gritted his teeth. He could feel how powerful these beasts were, but he didn''t want to be eliminated like this!

    Firming his will, he stepped forward and shed his sword, enteringbat with the¡ª

    ''Did it just¡­grin?''

    His sword raced through the air and mmed into the creature''s side.

    ng!

    Sparks flew like two metals shed, but the sword wasn''t able to pierce the beast''s defense at all.

    Alex looked up. It was an instinctual movement.

    And he saw it.

    The mad grin that decorated that beast''s face.

    Bang!

    His vision went dark.

    Alex''s junior siblings watched in terror as their senior brother was turned into meatpaste in a single p.

    And his body¡­

    ¡­why wasn''t his body disappearing?

    "Run!"

    "Hahahaha! Brothers, let''s go!"

    The beast''s words were jolting. The beasts in this mystic realm weren''t supposed to have any intelligence!

    But before any of the four could think further about it, they met the same fate as their senior brother.

    Five puddles of blood were left among the destroyed remains of a forest that had just regrown.

    These five geniuses from the Ice King Sect wouldn''t have the same pleasure of life as those who died in this realm before them.

    No, they met their true ends at the hands of those beasts.

    Holy Light Star became a ughterhouse.

    Those transformed geniuses ran amok and killed without care, bringing true death to tens of geniuses every minute.

    BOOM!

    Damien and Su Ren''s group all turned their heads at once as an explosion rang out nearby.

    The same beasts entered their eyes, only, their number was over twenty.

    They were almost ten kilometers away, but they were approaching at a rapid pace and would surely arrive within a minute.

    "So, what''s happening now?" Su Ren asked, somewhat confused.

    "Fuck¡­" Damien said at the same time.

    He sighed.

    ''This is why we can''t fucking have nice things.''

    "Su Ren, let me put Xiao Yue where Xue''er is, and get ready for battle," he said solemnly.

    Su Ren raised his brow but didn''t refuse. Without exining anything to the girl herself, Damien sent her to the Sanctuary.

    "Haa¡­" he sighed.

    "Instead of sighing, can you tell us what''s going on?" Pandora said, looking at him slightly angrily.

    Damien smiled wryly, knowing she definitely didn''t believe his disguise.

    ''Now that this has happened, there''s no point in keeping it on anyway.''

    He wanted to have fun with the Prismatic Sun Holy Land geniuses for a bit longer, but it couldn''t be helped.

    "Those beasts have a strong scent of Nox Mana on them. It looks like some traitors couldn''t wait any longer," he finally said, revealing his true face.

    Pandora''s eyes widened slightly, and her junior sisters reacted far more violently, but now wasn''t the time to care about them.

    "How sure are you?" Pandora asked again.

    "ording to you, you''ve been tracking my movements for a while now. How sure do you think I am?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    Pandora hummed, slightly embarrassed, but soon turned to face the approaching beasts.

    "We can discuss things further when this is dealt with. For now, let us y these scum."

    Damien and Su Ren joined her and drew their weapons.

    The Nox Worshippers arrived, stopping to face the group.

    And the battle on the horizon started with Damien.

    Bang!

    He dug his foot into the ground and shot forward like a bullet, leaving only a few words as he rapidly approached the enemies.

    "By the way, the weakest ones are level 399!"

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse''

    BOOM!

    Space bent and twisted into a beautiful piece of conceptual art, and three of the Nox Worshippers were directly sucked into its grasp.

    The rest immediately roared and began their attack, charging both into the spatial storm and at the remaining six geniuses.

    Su Ren clutched his de firmly and smiled.

    "Well then, let us get to work."

 Chapter 1016 Attack [2]

    ?

    Damien, Su Ren, and Pandora were all geniuses with force surpassing what wasmon in the mystic realm, and the rest of the Prismatic Sun Holy Land geniuses weren''t weaklings either.

    The first thing they did upon entering battle was separate the enemy into smaller groups.

    Damien took six Nox Worshippers for himself, Su Ren took another six, Pandora took three, and the remaining geniuses handled the rest together.

    Damien fought zealously. As Mirage sliced through the hardened bodies of the Nox Worshippers, he realized that the defensive strength of the enemy was far higher than expected.

    Bang!

    A bullet shot out of Freya''s barrel, mming into a Nox Worshipper''s body, however, the mana actually sshed off like water instead of prating.

    Damien couldn''t stop himself from grinning.

    ''How interesting! The Nox had something like this?''

    The Nox Worshippers he''d fought until this point had extremely unstable power and their bodies were more simr to Lesser Nox.

    These guys, on the other hand, retained their intelligence and had the signature ashen grey skin of the Higher Nox!

    It was quite curious.

    ''Is this what those guys on the Cloud ne were chasing back then?'' He wondered as he dodged a furious w.

    His body flipped backward and Mirage shed in tandem with his movements.

    The de couldn''t pierce the enemy''s defense on its own, but since when was Mirage meant to be used like that?

    An arc of transparent mana traced its de and cut outward, phasing into the diamond-like exterior of the nearest Nox Worshipper.

    ''Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break, Unrestrained''

    A modification of the original Horizon Break that allowed its concept to act fluidly, turning any move into a defense-piercing attack.

    Spurt!

    Blood spurted from the thick gash that formed in the Nox Worshipper''s chest.

    Before he could react, Damien dug his arm into that gash and directly grabbed the man''s heart.

    Bang!

    He clenched his fist and crushed it before teleporting away, avoiding the attacks of the other five enemies that surrounded him.

    ''Nice! Good fight!'' He eximed inwardly, but now wasn''t the time to have fun.

    Since there was a method, who was he to not exploit it?

    He teleported between the five Nox Worshippers like a fly who always managed to avoid being caught. His sword shed out furiously, each move infused with the concept of Distance within Horizon Break.

    ck blood painted the air, and the Nox dissolved one by one into puddles of ink that wriggled across the ground.

    Damien didn''t stop them. Once all five were dead and their inky remainsbined in normal Nox fashion, though¡­

    ''Devour.''

    Thin ck smoke wisps entered the muck and secretly consumed it and banished it to nothingness.

    Damien nced at the others. Su Ren was almost done with his group, and Pandora was the same. The only ones struggling were her junior disciples.

    Damien shrugged helplessly and sent a few arcs of sword light into the Nox they faced, injuring them and creating openings for the geniuses to take advantage of.

    Once he was done, he turned his attention to the horizon once again with a slight smile.

    "Oh? Are we perhaps targets?" He muttered.

    There was another group approaching, but this one only had two members.

    The problem was¡­

    ''Where the hell did they find these powerful Nox Worshippers, and why the hell were they allowed into the assembly?''

    The auras of the approaching enemies were far too domineering. Damien would expect Nox like these in a ce like Eien, but never in a gathering of geniuses!

    ''Looks like it''s not just young geniuses who entered the realm. Have the Nox found a way to subvert the realmws?''

    There was only one way to know¡­

    Devouring them and reading their memories.

    "Su Ren, how''s it looking?" He asked without turning his head.

    "I have finished," Su Ren responded from not far away.

    Damien nced back and saw the puddle of ink left by him and nodded.

    ''A de that can prevent me from regenerating naturally has the capability to thoroughly kill a Nox being.''

    "We''re fighting them?" Su Ren asked, arriving beside Damien.

    Damien nodded. "Yeah, they''ll give us a good fight."

    "Oh? You''re certain?"

    "I am."

    "That is concerning¡­"

    Damien nodded and stepped forward.

    "Kill first ask questionster. If anyone knows what''s going on, it''s those Angels outside."

    "Right, there has never been another answer."

    Damien checked one more time to make sure the Prismatic Sun geniuses were fine, and without hesitation, he shed forward.

    He met the approaching enemies in a second, and immediately used Horizon Break to cut through their defenses.

    "Haha, human, you think you can kill us?" One of them shouted boisterously.

    "I don''t know, let''s find out!" Damien responded with gritted teeth.

    His sword de scraped against the Nox Worshipper''s chest, and the transparent de of mana shed against his body as well.

    However, it didn''t pierce him.

    Damien''s eyes sharpened as he teleported away.

    BANG!

    The air exploded fiercely at the force of the Nox Worshipper''s terrifying w.

    In the same moment, the second Nox Worshipper shot forward, his ws aimed at where Damien had reappeared.

    Shing!

    A de swept through the air, countering the w and pushing it down.

    Su Ren turned his body, ced his feet on the Nox Worshipper''s chest, and kicked out, using the force to push both him and the enemy backward.

    "Hmm, strong," he muttered.

    Just as Damien said, these two beings would give them a good fight.

    They weren''t like the rest of the regr Nox Worshippers.

    "State your names," Su Ren said, pointing his de the two.

    And unexpectedly, the Nox Worshippers grinned.

    "I am called Huo Xuan¡­"

    "¡­and I am called Huo Dong!"

    They spoke together as one, and though Damien had no reaction to their names, Su Ren was different.

    The Huo Twins¡­he''d heard of these people before.

    "Damien, this is moreplicated than expected," he said.

    Damien looked at him casually and shrugged. "Does that change the n?"

    Su Ren shook his head with a smile. "I guess not."

    "Then, what''s the use of talking about it? Let''s fight!"

    Damien and Su Ren moved as one.

    Damien took Huo Xuan, while Su Ren set his sights on his brother.

    And as if they had known each other for years and years, they attacked in sync.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Four forces collided, and a massive explosion swept the realm.

    Countless eyes turned in that direction, but only for a few moments.

    There were over ten thousand Nox Worshippers polluting Holy Light Star at the moment, and barely anyone had the time to pay attention to other things.

    If they wanted to do that, they first needed to survive!

    As if the situation wasn''t already bad enough¡­

    Blood pooled in the earth, sending rivers of corrupted vitality into the world''s surface.

    And the world which had been slowly savoring the taste of vitality as it regenerated itself suddenly tasted the joys of blood.

    Its desire grew, and subsequently, the suction force it emitted grew as well.

    VOOM!

    An air of suppression filled the entire realm.

    At the worst possible time, the Third Cmity erupted in full force.

 Chapter 1017 Attack [3]

    ?

    The Third Cmity''s eruption was the start of absolute chaos.

    Terrifying suction force from the earth pulled the vitality of all things into it, and in return, it gave birth to flora dyed red in the blood of those who contributed to its growth.

    The only safe spaces in Holy Light Star now were the high in the sky and deep underground, as these locations were outside the force''s reach.

    Nevertheless, this wasn''t something widely known, and not many were able to capitalize on it.

    The only plus side was that the Nox Worshippers were also being affected by it, yet their regeneration abilities made it far less of a threat to them.

    The geniuses on Holy Light Star would have to do everything in their power to escape, lest they die true deaths in the mystic realm!

    ***

    On the other hand, on Damien''s side, it was like the vitality cmity didn''t exist at all.

    Damien''s sword was like a flurry of light. Mirage swung out with ferocity it had hidden for many years, sending gashes and ruptures of space flying across thends as it shed into Huo Xuan''s armored skin.

    However, whether it was deless, Dance of the Void, Horizon Break, or any other move designed to chip away at the enemy without paying attention to their defense, they couldn''t prate the armor!

    Bang!

    ''This is insane!'' Damien thought to himself as he twisted his body and dodged Huo Xuan''s massive w.

    ''His strength is around the same as mine, but his defense is at least at the level of a High Commander! I can''t pierce it!''

    "Human, take my move!" Huo Xuan shouted, swiping his w through the air.

    A cage of Nox Mana appeared around Damien, and beams of dark light like aser field manifested with Damien at their center.

    Bzzzzzt!

    Pshhhhhh!

    Countless holes were burned through Damien''s body before he had the chance to move.

    "Khh¡­!" He hissed in pain as he teleported out of the trap and charged at Huo Xuan again.

    As he approached¡­

    BANG!

    Huo Xuan pped his palms together and generated a terrifying air burst that pushed against Damien and sent him backward towards theser field.

    Damien wanted to teleport away again, but Huo Xuan was alreadying at him.

    He changed his n immediately, twisting his body in the air as Huo Xuan arrived before him andtching his calves around the man''s head.

    He mmed his body backward, empowering himself with mana and flipping Huo Xuan over him into his own cage!

    "Foolish human, my own mana cannot hurt me!" He eximed mockingly as theser field vanished behind him.

    "When did I ever say it could?" Damien responded with the same cockiness as he appeared above Huo Xuan.

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance''

    Shiiiiing!

    The thin ck line that sliced the dimension itself mmed into Huo Xuan.

    Skreeeeeee!

    Sparks flew from the section of Huo Xuan''s body that was hit, but Dimensional Severence couldn''t cut through him.

    Instead, after it made it roughly an inch into Huo Xuan''s defense, he managed to cover himself in his own mana and use a strange phasing technique simr to teleportation.

    With no target, the ck sword light sliced into the ground and created a several-kilometer-long gash before dispersing.

    Damien grinned.

    "You''re quite good," he said.

    "And you''re not so bad yourself!" Huo Xuan responded.

    Damien didn''t know what technique the enemy used to escape, but since he knew it existed, he wouldn''t allow it to work again.

    Damien and Huo Xuan charged at each other without a hint of mana surrounding their bodies.

    BANG!

    Their fists shed heavily, sending shockwaves spreading through the earth and breaking its integrity.

    Crack!

    Damien''s bones shattered instantly, and even Huo Xuan felt the impact reverberating through his body.

    Damien didn''t waste any time, using his free hand to punch out again, this time with far more intention.

    ''Seven Stars Encircling The Moon''

    3 Life Stars, 3 Death Stars, and one Elemental Star surrounded a moon of Spacetime in a chaotic orbit. As Damien''s fist mmed forward, their paths destabilized fiercely until¡ª

    BOOOOOOOM!

    ¡ªthe final impact totally disrupted their peace. They crashed against each other in distorted bursts thatbined into a huge sh of mana that enveloped both Damien and Huo Xuan.

    Bang!

    Whoosh!

    Huo Xuan''s body flew out from the explosion, riddled with small cuts and bruises, and Damien followed with the speed of a racinget.

    BANG!

    Suddenly, another huge noise rang out from nearby.

    Another body flew out of an explosive cloud, belonging to Huo Dong. Su Ren chased after him with both des drawn and covered in mysterious clouds of grey mana.

    Compared to Huo Xuan, Huo Dong''s wounds were more severe. There was a simple reason behind it. While Su Ren also couldn''t pierce the enemy''s armor, his unique mana was directly opposed to regeneration and other healing-like elements.

    Every inch-thick cut he made could draw blood, even if it was in small amounts.

    Nevertheless, both Nox were still in rtively good shape, but the longer the battle continued, the more disadvantaged they would be.

    Su Ren shed his ck de powerfully and followed with an intricate and elegant stab of the white de.

    Huo Dong was pushed further and further back without any opportunity to attack, which meant he couldn''t do a single thing to Su Ren, just as thetter could to him!

    Su Ren was confident that enough of the same would eventually kill the enemy, and he was constantly watching for an opportunity to end the fight early.

    His swords flurried enough to change the weather, and he entered a hyper-focused state where nothing existed except him and the enemy.

    "Su Ren, watch out!"

    Damien''s voice awakened him, and he instantly spread his awareness.

    His eyes widened. He rapidly broke his flow and shifted his body to the side, pushing his foot into Huo Dong''s side heavily.

    BOOM!

    The Nox Worshipper was shot to the side by the force, just in time to evade the worst-case scenario.

    "Phew¡­"

    Damien let out a breath of relief.

    Before he and Su Ren had noticed, they''d fought back to where they started, the same ce where Pandora and her junior sisters were taking care of the weaker Nox Worshippers that hade to attack them!

    Just then, Su Ren almost drove Huo Dong into the crowd of four Prismatic Sun Holy Land geniuses, but he was luckily able to save it.

    The problem was, could Damien do the same?!

    He twisted his body to avoid Huo Xuan''s ws, which were now infused with the terrifying corruptive force of Nox Laws.

    Every time the ws scratched Damien''s skin, they entered his blood like a virus and fought directly against the energy of Transcendent Regeneration.

    Damien couldn''t interfere in that collision, and until he removed the virus, he had to be careful about getting injured.

    ''Dammit, what is the Void Physique doing?!'' He wondered inwardly, mming Freya''s trigger thousands of times.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Countless mana bullets sted against Huo Xuan''s body and pushed him away.

    In that single instant, Damien consciously controlled his Void Mana to eliminate the inner scourge and checked on Pandora''s position.

    ''I need to drive him away from here. If he keeps the momentum, we''ll end up over there soon enough, and she''ll die without a word.''

    Damien frowned as he red his mana and prepared to re-enterbat, when abruptly¡­

    Huo Xuan grinned.

    "Human, let''s do something fun!"

    BANG!

    He crashed his foot against the ground, widening the cracks that already existed.

    "Are we pretending to be goris? What''s the fun part?" Damien asked back, warily watching the man''s movements.

    "Hmm, let''s find out!"

    Huo Xuan roared and sent his foot powerfully into the ground one more time.

    BANG!

    RUMBLE!

    The ground shook.

    Damien''s eyes widened as he looked down.

    ''Holy sh¡ª it''s hollow?!''

    As Damien had the thought, the massive cracks in the earth suddenly turned to gashes, and a several-meter-long portion of it came loose.

    Finally¡­

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The earth copsed, dragging those surface dwellers into its maw.

 Chapter 1018 Attack [4]

    ?

    Damien, Huo Xuan, Pandora, and the two Nox Worshippers she was fighting were all dragged into the sinkhole.

    "Shit!" Damien eximed. "Su Ren, handle it up here! I''ll be right back!" He shouted as he fell.

    "Do not worry!" Su Ren shouted back.

    Damien nodded without a word and looked down into the abyss below, where the other three were falling.

    Pandora and the Nox Worshippers were still engaged inbat as they fell, and while there was panic in her eyes, she didn''t look like she would lose.

    The problem was elsewhere.

    The expression on Huo Xuan''s face wasn''t right. It was like he had no intention of flying back up and was certain he''d survive the fall.

    If that was the case, he needed to be killed before he reached the ground!

    ''And I need to save Pandora too, so let''s make this quick.''

    Damien angled his body as straight as possible and shot down with all his power, catching up to Huo Xuan in seconds.

    Before the man could sense his presence, he wrapped his arm around the Nox Worshipper''s head and mmed it into the nearby wall, dragging it against the rocky surface.

    BANG!

    He pushed into the wall with such force that he tore the jagged edges off with Huo Xuan''s head.

    "DAMN¡­HUMAN¡­!"

    Huo Xuan roared as his hair was torn off and the skin on the back of his head was reddened.

    While the severe pain made its way through his nerves, he reached both of his arms out and grabbed Damien''s head, using his weight to reverse their position and m Damien''s head into the wall.

    "That''s¡­my¡­fucking¡­move!" Damien shouted as he was put in the same situation as Huo Xuan, the wall carving up his face.

    ''Fuck!'' He eximed again inwardly. This wasn''t enough to pierce his defenses, it still hurt a lot!

    The duo was traveling hundreds of kilometers every minute as they plummeted through the abyssal sinkhole, and they''d both felt the immense pain of having their skin ripped apart by the wall as they moved at such a pace.

    To put it simply, Damien wasn''t willing to suffer this humiliation any longer!

    ''Dammit, I''m ending this!''

    Damien reached back and grabbed Huo Xuan''s arm, gripping down on it.

    "Don''t think you can escape!" Huo Xuan eximed. Spikes of Nox Mana rose from his skin and pierced Damien''s arm, but this only made him grin.

    ''Nice grip!''

    In that moment, Damien mmed his foot into the wall and sent a pulse of mana into the rock. The pulse erupted as his torso passed by the spot and exploded the rock wall into a rain of debris, pushing Damien and Huo Xuan away from it.

    Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

    Damien disregarded human body mechanics and popped his shoulders out of their sockets to grab Huo Xuan''s neck with both hands, ripping his right arm off the spikes in the process.

    He tightened his grip before Huo Xuan could react and twisted his body to face the enemy.

    CRACK!

    His neck snapped, as his head was still in Huo Xuan''s grip, but Damien was unfazed.

    HONG! HONG! HONG!

    Damien sent constant pulses of Death Mana into Huo Xuan''s neck, forcing him to experience extreme pain and loosen his grip.

    The opportunity didn''t go to waste.

    Snap!

    Damien''s head snapped back to its rightful ce, a grin lighting up his face.

    "Didn''t think I could do that, did you?" He said tauntingly.

    He pushed his knee down into Huo Xuan''s chest, using his weight to maneuver them away from the sinkhole''s walls and towards its center.

    "Human, you can regenerate for now, but let''s see how long itsts!"

    Huo Xuan pped his arms around until he found something to grab, Damien''s sides. He clenched down with his ws and started tearing Damien''s body apart, but Transcendent Regeneration worked equally fast.

    "Khhhhhhh¡­!!!"

    Damien let out broken breaths as he coped with the pain, but he didn''t let go of Huo Xuan. He sent pulse after pulse of mana into the traitor''s body, using Death Mana''s properties to force him to experience pain even though his defenses couldn''t be prated.

    And perhaps Huo Xuan was powerful, but he wasn''t unfeeling!

    "ROOOAAAAAA¡ª kkkgghh¡­"

    "Fuck you!"

    Huo Xuan opened his mouth and roared in pain, but before he could finish, Damien shoved his arm down the Nox Worshipper''s throat!

    CRUNCH!

    Huo Xuan bit down without hesitation and tore Damien''s arm apart, separating his forearm from his elbow entirely.

    Spurt!

    Damien''s stub spurted a fountain of blood, but he did nothing but wince.

    Instead, he jumped off Huo Xuan and made significant distance.

    Huo Xuan grinned with bloodied teeth, taunting Damien for retreating in fear.

    And Damien¡­

    Damien grinned back.

    "Bye-bye, traitor scum."

    Huo Xuan''s eyes widened.

    As Damien''s arm was reshaped by Transcendent Regeneration¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The arm he left in Huo Xuan''s body exploded violently in a mixture of countless powerful Law auras.

    In the end, despite their transformed appearances, they were still humans on the inside!

    Huo Xuan''s head burst into tiny bits of brain matter and skull shards that flew into the sinkhole walls and fell into the abyss.

    With his brain exploding, even someone with Huo Xuan''s regenerative power and defense couldn''t survive.

    ''¡­but could I?'' Damien wondered to himself as he silently celebrated the victory.

    Thebined regenerative power of Transcendent Regeneration, his new Samsara Blood, and the [Heal] trait was astonishing, but Damien definitely wasn''t willing to test its upper limits!

    Damien shot down and collected what was left of Huo Xuan''s body before scanning the area to find Pandora.

    ''Hm? What''s she doing?''

    She was several thousand meters below where he was, but despite already finishing her battle, she wasn''t flying back up.

    ''Is she injured?''

    Damien flew down into the abyss rapidly and caught up to her falling body. Without hesitation, he grabbed her and flew¡ª

    ''Eh?''

    He tried to fly up.

    sh!

    ''What the hell?''

    He tried to teleport, but he couldn''t go up.

    Instead, he found himself disced several hundred meters to the left.

    He immediately understood the situation.

    ''It''s a restriction.''

    His expression became dignified.

    It wasn''t a restriction on flight like the ones he''d seen before. This restriction quite literally disallowed one from going "up" past a certain point, regardless of means.

    There were two things this meant.

    The first was that Damien was in for an extremely painful fall.

    And the second¡­

    ''There is something powerful enough to restrict even my Dimensional Magic.''

    It seemed that, as he guessed when he first entered Holy Light Star, the greatest mysteries were left in the subterranean world.

    He held Pandora tightly and shifted his body so she was on top of him and his back faced the abyss below.

    ''This is going to suck. Prismatic Sun Holy Land definitely has topensate me for the trouble.'' He thought wryly.

    And with nothing to do but fall until he felt pain, Damien began to wonder¡­

    How were those on the surface doing?

    ***

    Shiiiiing!

    A beautiful disy of de light illuminated the world, and the body of a terrible beast was split in four.

    Su Ren swept the blood off his swords and made sure the ink puddle was thoroughly extinguished before turning back to the four women from Prismatic Sun Holy Land.

    While he couldn''t see their appearances through their veils and clothes, he could see slight peeks of the skin around their eyes and on their extremities.

    And though they stood rtively straight, Su Ren frowned when he saw them.

    ''They look¡­awfully pale¡­''

 Chapter 1019 Gather [1]

    ?

    ''They look¡­awfully pale¡­''

    Both because he''d been fighting so intensely and because he himself was powerful enough to avoid it, Su Ren hadpletely forgotten about the early signs of cmity he''d sensed days earlier.

    Now, seeing these girls walking as if they were drunk, it dawned on him.

    ''It has already started!''

    He sent his senses into the earth, immediatelying in contact with the powerful suction force.

    ''This isn''t good. The natural aura is being corrupted by evil, and the realm''s nature is changing. Is this the doing of those Nox Worshippers?'' He wondered.

    While they didn''t cause the world''s situation, they were some of the main contributors to it. If it wasn''t for their skirting of the realmws that led to such a massive umtion of blood, the change couldn''t have taken ce.

    Yet, on the other hand, this change only disyed another face of the Holy Light Realm. If it was truly the realm of purity it was advertised as, it wouldn''t have had the capability to exhibit such a change in the first ce!

    "Can you fight?" Su Ren asked the girls.

    They had seen how the previous course of events panned out, and Su Ren was currently both their savior and protector.

    Looking at each other, they came to a collective decision.

    Now wasn''t the time to act tough.

    "We may not be able to fight on our own, but we will still be able to provide support," the eldest among them stepped forward and responded.

    "Have you taken into ount the mana you need to use to protect your vitality?" Su Ren asked again.

    The woman nodded in affirmation.

    "Good," Su Ren said, "then let us begin immediately. We must regroup with the rest of the geniuses and form a united front against this enemy."

    He took off after gaining the girls'' approval, supporting their movement with his mana so they could focus on survival.

    As they made it several tens of kilometers away from their starting position, they were finally greeted by the bloody flora spawned by the corrupted world.

    "Hmm¡­" Su Ren muttered as he sent his awareness sweeping through the space in front of him.

    In thisrge stretch of bloody forest that covered a good portion of Holy Light Star, thousands of Nox Worshippers lurked and prowled on the hunt for prey.

    There were several geniuses spread through the area, either hidden or fighting against the enemies, but none of their situations was good.

    ''First I must establish a base camp, and the next most important step is to find the geniuses from Pill Emperor Holy Land.''

    The top disciples of the universe''s leading alchemy sect were known to have excellent qualifications. To make pills that could contain and replenish vitality shouldn''t be a hard task for them as long as they had the materials.

    ''As for finding materials¡­that can be handled at ater date.''

    "Wait here and protect yourselves. If troublees, use this Sacred Heart Mirror to hide until Ie back," he said to the girls, passing them the mirror and rushing into the forest before they could respond.

    The four watched his back withplex expressions, unknowing of how they should treat this man, but the only reaction they could let out was a collective sigh.

    In the current situation, their power wasn''t useful to him at all.

    As he thought, the best they could do was survive, using all their mana to protect their internal bodies.

    For these Holy Land geniuses who always held themselves in high regard¡­

    ¡­this kind of "damsel in distress" status was extremely humiliating!

    ***

    After leaving the Prismatic Sun Holy Land geniuses, Su Ren was able to act much more freely, using his strength to plow through the bloody forest and save the geniuses he came across.

    At this time, there was only one concern he had.

    ''Xiao Yue is with Damien¡­''

    He didn''t doubt Damien''s character, so he was sure Xiao Yue was safe, but he didn''t know how Damien was doing at the moment.

    Since he didn''te back from the sinkhole after falling, it meant he either found something down there or he was trapped, with both being situations where Su Ren couldn''t know when the next time he''d see Xiao Yue was.

    ''Is this what Master was talking about? You truly never know the value of something until you lose it.''

    He sighed as he realized that the little girl had managed to carve herself a ce in his heart before he even realized it, but he couldn''t help it.

    As someone whose only family was his master, Su Ren was a bit weak to affection like Xiao Yue''s.

    ''Nevertheless, if I wish for her to be safe, I must clear this scourge from the realm.''

    It was just as Damien said.

    Was there ever a route that wasn''t to kill until there were no enemies remaining?

    Su Ren showed power, power that inspired the geniuses who watched him cleave through the thick bodies of those Nox Worshippers and provoked them to join him in his tirade.

    The crowd behind him started small, with only a few people willing toe out of their safe hiding ces, but once they realized the threat of vitality, more and more geniuses joined his ranks.

    Perhaps the Nox were trying to scare these geniuses into submission, or perhaps their goal was something entirely different.

    But none of that mattered anymore.

    Because before they could aplish anything, they would be ughtered!

    This was the oath made by each and every member of Su Ren''s group.

    ***

    The bloody forest Su Ren attacked actually took up almost half of Holy Light Star, so it wasn''t a stretch to say many important battles were taking ce there, but it wasn''t the only ce of importance.

    Whoosh!

    A figure broke through the edge of the forest and ran through the t barrennd outside its reach.

    BOOOOOOM!

    The red organ-like trees exploded as tens of Nox Worshippers tore through the barrier they created and chased that figure.

    The Nox Worshippers were fast, but they weren''t nearly fast enough to catch their target.

    She weaved from left to right, jumped up in the air and flew behind them just to taunt them, and maneuvered the tnd as if it was aplex terrain of hills and valleys.

    The bulky Nox Worshippers were built for strength and defense, so their speed suffered. They could, at most, barely keep her at the edge of their eye line!

    As they became more and more furious, the figure suddenly came to a stop in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust as she abruptly broke her flow.

    The Nox Worshippers didn''t n to miss the chance. They red their mana and leaped into the sky, arcing through the air and mming down in front of the woman.

    Yet¡­

    All she did was smile.

    "Thanks for the extra force. I thought we were going to have to fight a bit first, but you did the hard work early."

    Rumble!

    The earth rumbled, following her words at the most perfect timing.

    And as had happened several times already in the mystic realm, the ground copsed.

    The woman and the Nox Worshippers who chased her were dragged into the depths of the subterranean world.

 Chapter 1020 Gather [2]

    ?

    ''Nice. All ording to n.'' Elena thought to herself as she fell through the darkness.

    Originally, this was supposed to be a fun event for her, a time for her to happily abuse her Life Laws to loot and plunder while the rest suffered from the vitality cmity, but these damn Nox Worshippers had toe in and ruin it for her!

    The original vitality cmity would''ve been a breeze for her, but this corrupted version was theplete opposite.

    As someone who chased the purest and most powerful form of Life Laws, she held an aura that the corrupted world saw as a threat, which made it target her much more fiercely than any of the other geniuses!

    As if that wasn''t enough, she was chased by a horde of Nox Worshippers that didn''t give her a single second to n forward.

    Therefore, there was only one thing to do: drag them into the subterranean world!

    ''It''s easy for a Life practitioner to sense it, so I was able to act quickly. I wonder if the rest can be so lucky¡­''

    The origin of the suction force was the earth itself, which made the underground and the sky the only safe locations in the world.

    And even then, "safe" only meant the suction force was weak, not that it wholly disappeared.

    BANG!

    Elena''s body mmed into the ground and formed a crater in the underground tunnel. The first thing she did was send her awareness into the earth, so she could¡ª

    "Ah¡­"

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The Nox Worshippers mmed into the ground around her, and the tunnel''s bottom fell through, sending the group tumbling through the air again.

    ''The fall isn''t too long this time. I can see the bottom.''

    Elena immediately took action, moving towards the nearest Nox Worshipper.

    Transcended Death was simr to Su Ren''s grey mana in its ability to harm the Nox Worshippers despite their strong exteriors.

    Why? Because Nox Mana inherently contained extreme simrities to Death Mana, and Transcended Death was a concept that specifically suppressed this breed of mana!

    Elena wrapped her legs around the Nox Worshipper''s throat and spun her body, sending des of Transcended Death Mana into its neck as it twisted at an impossible angle.

    The Nox Worshipper was stunned as Elena''s body entered its body and froze its systems. Instead of killing it, she jumped off and moved to the next one, repeating a simr process of stunning the enemy while evading the various ws and jaws that assailed her as she went about her task.

    BANG!

    Crack!

    She soon mmed into the next portion of ground. Her leg broke upon impact, but she quickly moved to heal it as her enemies fell around her.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Despite reaching solid ground again, the Nox Worshippers didn''t move. They struggled and attempted, but it was impossible to rid themselves of her bindings so easily.

    Using the chance she''d made for herself, Elena sat down in the middle of their copsed bodies and entered a meditative posture.

    ''Siphon.''

    Their vitality flowed into the atmosphere like rivers, guided by Elena''s mana inside of them, and entered her body.

    "Thankfully you guys are weak. Who knows what would have happened if a stronger one came," she said as their bodies wilted.

    BOOM!

    Elena flinched.

    ''No way it''s instant karma, right?''

    She turned her head robotically to look at the being that just crashed through the tunnel wall.

    It was indeed a Nox Worshipper, far bigger and more daunting than the ones she''d just faced, and with a far stronger aura as well¡­

    ¡­however, it already had a massive hole in its chest where its heart should''ve been.

    "Eh?"

    Elena peered into the dusty opening in the tunnel wall, her eyes barely making out the figures of a group of people.

    She raised Yggdrasil''s Branch warily.

    "Friend or foe?" She asked.

    It was a bit arbitrary, but she felt the need to make her presence known.

    As she watched, four people stepped through the smoke and entered her tunnel.

    She looked at them and they looked at him.

    "Pink and white¡­" Elena muttered.

    "That blue¡­" Rose and Ruyue said together.

    Three women suddenly felt like an explosion went off in their minds.

    In this nondescript tunnel, with no witnesses but two men who awkwardly took steps back with no ce in this moment at all, Damien''s three wives reunited.

    It truly was a spectacr coincidence!

    ***

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    It was silent before the explosion, and it was silent after.

    Like a tree falling in the middle of a secluded forest, none noticed the unfortunate fate of the man who hit the ground.

    When the dust cleared, he didn''t move. Hey there on his back, letting out pained gasps as he turned his gaze over to check on the woman who''d fallen with him.

    ''It looks like¡­she''s okay¡­haa¡­fuuuuuuck¡­!''

    To say he was in extreme pain would be an understatement!

    He''d fallen at least several hundred kilometers after hitting the restriction. When hended, he felt like he broke every single bone in his body!

    ''Nngggh¡­dammit, if I could just control teleportation¡­''

    He found as he fell that the restriction didn''t just prohibit one from escaping to the surface, it confused one''s senses and mana.

    Whenever he teleported, the direction he ended up in was random. He couldn''t even hover in the air without being randomly disced several meters.

    Damien let out another moan of pain as he felt and heard his bones snapping back into ce.

    Within a minute or so, he was sitting upright again, scanning the surroundings.

    ''This ce definitely holds a supreme treasure. That''s what the confusion effect of the restriction is hiding. There''s no other exnation for putting something like that in a secret realm.''

    He gritted his teeth and stood up, cracking his joints and readjusting to his body for the second time in recent days.

    ''Also, the Angels are definitely spouting a load of bullshit. They definitely didn''t build this damn world. Hell, I don''t think they''ve even explored it properly!''

    The Angels likely just built the surface to match the height where the two tombs were located. It was like they put a wrap on a car and said they built the car from scratch, when, in fact, even the wrap was filled with air pockets and tears!

    "It has to be that damn Luciel guy. He was staring at me all creepy before I came in, that''s definitely some foreshadowing right there¡­shit, did my nightmare of meeting a trickster god finallye true¡­? Damn Angels¡­"

    Damien muttered a load ofints to nobody in particr, which happened to wake Pandora up as well.

    "Hm? Where is this?" She murmured as she opened her eyes.

    However, she immediately went alert and red her mana.

    "Hey, hey, rx. Maybe spread your awareness first instead of making amotion and letting everyone know your location?" Damien said, suppressing her aura with his own.

    "You are¡­Damien Void¡­?" Pandora questioned.

    "We''ve been over this already. Did you lose your memory during the fall?"

    "Nonsense. You saying ''Oh, by the way, I''m the one you''ve been looking for'' isn''t quite the exnation I was looking for."

    "Wow, I didn''t know you had it in you to talk so casually. It''s almost creepy."

    "I should kill you here."

    "You don''t have the ability."

    Pandora sighed in concession and spread her awareness to see the same scene Damien viewed moments ago.

    Currently, the duo stood in the middle of a massive amphitheater-like area.

    There were 16 tunnels leading out of therge cavern they were in, spaced precisely and intentionally, unlike the natural formations that popted most of the realm.

    Damien turned to Pandora and grinned.

    "You good for an adventure?"

    Pandora nced back at him, unamused.

    "I am not."

    "That''s not your line. Follow the script."

    "Haa, stop with your joking. Let us first understand the situation and then discuss how to proceed."

    It couldn''t be stressed just how deadpan Damien''s expression was as he stared at her.

    With this kind of person¡­

    Could he really survive going on an adventure with this kind of person?!

 Chapter 1021 Tunnels [1]

    ?

    The amphitheater had 16 entrances.

    Damien and Pandora split up and moved in opposite directions, approaching the walls to begin scouting these tunnels.

    They were ancient, that much was for certain.

    The rock that made up their walls was weathered extremely, and the signs of ancient writings present on them were so long worn that they looked like nothing more than the scratches of madmen.

    But as the duo sent their awarenesses into these tunnels, they only developed more questions.

    ''The restriction spans as far as my awareness can reach, and it doesn''t seem to stop anywhere nearby.''

    ''The walls are also so thick. It''s difficult for my awareness to pass through them.''

    Damien ran his fingers along the walls as he moved between the tunnels and investigated each one separately.

    ''It would be nice if we could just explore every tunnel, but not only is there a bit of a time crunch, we also can''t be sure if there are any traps waiting for us.''

    Dealing with traps would waste their energy needlessly, and Damien was sure the traps present in a ce protected by such a powerful restriction wouldn''t be light.

    He eventually left the wall and returned to the center of the amphitheater to meet Pandora.

    "Any clues?"

    "None at all."

    Pandora responded sighingly. To say she wasn''t used to danger would be a lie, but she''d never really had to explore uncharted territory on her own, so she wasn''t aware of the procedures or to-dos of the task. It was annoying, especially since she was trapped with an untrustworthy man like Damien.

    "Let''s just pick a random tunnel and go for it. It would be much easier to understand how the rest of them work if we''ve explored one."

    Damien nced around the area while Pandora did the same, and while they tried to make a decision¡­

    Rumble!

    The ground rumbled and the walls of the amphitheater began to move. The entire structure rotated around the duo, the 16 tunnels disappearing behind walls of rock as a new set of tunnels revealed themselves.

    Damien''s eyes sharpened.

    "Be careful. This isn''t a good thing," he said, provoking a nod from Pandora.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Like the marching of armies, footsteps echoed through the new tunnels. Large shadowy figures appeared in the darkness, moving closer into the light and revealing their forms.

    "Golems."

    Pandora''s eyes narrowed as she held up her weapon, a ribbon-like object that thrashed in the air like it was alive.

    She never expected to see golems here, because, in her knowledge, golems were protectors of ancient civilizations.

    It was rare to use golems in the recent era due to multiple factors, such as the rise of soul-controlling techniques as well as the threat of the Marite Lord taking control of them, however, in the eras of civilization before the Forgotten War, golems were an extremely popr method of protection.

    And these golems weren''t weak.

    Their bodies werergely humanoid aside from their size, which was more like Giants. Their exteriors looked wooden, but the sturdy aura they gave off made it obvious they weren''t so simple.

    Each one had a specific gem in its head. Each gem came in a set, with each golem holding the same gem standing on opposite sides of the amphitheater.

    Damien''s eyes scanned all 16 of the golems that exited their respective tunnels and stood in front of them like guards.

    ''Their strength is rtively the same, around the 1st or 2nd revolution¡­or at least, on the surface.''

    The All-Seeing Eyed activated, causing Damien''s irises to swirl mystically.

    His gaze turned to two specific golems with onyx gems in their heads that stood on opposite sides of the amphitheater.

    ''They''re both strong.''

    It wasn''t a perfect method to find out where to go, but since their strength was supposed to remain deeply hidden, their presence should''ve held significance, right?

    That was Damien''s reasoning, and without hesitating any further, he moved.

    "Pandora, take the one on the opposite side with the onyx in its head. If the rest attack, ignore them until you''ve eliminated your target!"

    By the time she made up her mind to respond, he was already gone.

    Boom!

    An explosion signified his advent into battle, and Pandora could only grit her teeth in frustration.

    ''I am a Holy Land genius¡­I am the Prismatic Sun Saintess¡­stay calm¡­stay collected¡­''

    The way Damien casually started giving orders as if she was less than him was extremely annoying, but what could she do?

    He truly was better than her!

    ''This rogue¡­if Master didn''t want him¡­!''

    Pandora could only scream her grievances in her head as she begrudgingly followed his order,unching an attack against the Onyx golem.

    Bang!

    Her ribbon shot out like a whip, cracking in the air as it pped the golem''s torso. The air exploded and the golden was thrown back into its tunnel, but there was no visible damage on its body.

    ''Strong!'' Pandora eximed immediately.

    Perhaps the hit wasn''t too hard, but she still used a portion of her forcebined with a God-rank artifact. It was rare to find beings who could survive such an attack unharmed!

    Pandora frowned as she watched the golem return to its ce in front of the door.

    Despite her actions, it didn''t attack.

    ''Hmm¡­is it perhaps¡­''

    Bang!

    Pandora took a quick step back to avoid the extremely fast fist that almost struck her.

    However, she faced no second attack after she evaded it.

    ''I was correct. These golems only respond if the attacker is within a certain range. Perhaps I should tell¡ª''

    BOOOOM!

    Pandora abruptly shifted her head to the side, narrowly dodging the wooden head that shot past her like a speeding bullet.

    BANG!

    The head collided with the torso of the golden she was fighting and tore through the wood-like material, revealing its mechanical insides.

    sh!

    A shadow appeared behind it. An arm dug into the hole and ripped apart the circuitry within, forcing the golem to fall to the floor, ineffective.

    Damien wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead and nodded.

    "Nice. The confusion is terrible when you use mana, but it''s pretty easy to ovee if you rely on physical strength."

    He kicked the golem parts on the floor in front of him and looked back up at Pandora.

    "I thought this would be a fun all-out brawl, but these guys are individual protectors, not an army. What a shame¡­"

    Pandora''s brows furrowed as she watched the man tap his foot against the ground like a city dwellerte to work and scan the amphitheater like he was waiting for his dealer to show up.

    She suddenly got the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

    "What are you¡ª"

    "Let''s just go for it."

    Damien muttered to himself and vanished, leaving a trail of afterimages behind as he used pure physical strength to shoot through the amphitheater.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    One by one, the heads of the golems exploded. There was no specific order in which gems were destroyed, but Damien made sure to destroy each pair before moving on to the next one.

    He had figured it out.

    The answer to this amphitheater''s question wasn''t any one of the answers it provided, but all of them together!

 Chapter 1022 Tunnels [2]

    ?

    Damien systematically destroyed all 16 golems in the span of a minute. These regr 1st and 2nd revolution golems, with the restrictions ced on their attacking ability, were nothing in front of him.

    After sting open thest one, he jumped back and made his way to the center of the amphitheater once more.

    "Come over," he said to Pandora, who was still watching from her original position.

    She responded instinctually and joined him in the center before she even realized what she was doing, and before she could find a chance toin, the floor shook once more.

    Rumble!

    The amphitheater floor rotated like a dial in the opposite direction of the wall rotation that took ce previously.

    Dust flew through the air as the cavern trembled. The walls changed again, and the stone floor changed as if sand was being sifted off of it, revealing the intricately beautiful picture below.

    A single tunnel appeared at the end of the rotation.

    Damien and Pandora jumped up andnded on its surface, gazing into its darkness with narrowed eyes.

    They didn''t have other options, so there was no need to think about it too much.

    Nodding at each other, they took their first steps into the darkness.

    But they wouldn''t be alone in their search.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    A group of bodies fell through the open roof of the amphitheater, having entered the same sinkhole as Damien and Pandora.

    They raised off the ground as if their injuries didn''t exist, and within seconds, their injuries truly ceased to exist.

    They all had stark ashen grey skin and the sharp features of Nox beings.

    And in fact, a few of them were.

    The Nox had found ways to evade the realmws. This didn''t just trante to their ability to kill in the mystic realm, it also meant the level and age restrictions others faced meant nothing to them.

    At their head stood a man, roughly seven feet tall and with a body like he''d never stopped training for thousands of years.

    On his hip was arge sword dyed red in blood, and to his back was a group of four Nox with features simr to his.

    "Let us go. It seems we are not the first toe here."

    His eyes went to the singr tunnel present in the amphitheater.

    This was the second stage of the mechanism, something that couldn''t be activated easily.

    It could only mean the enemy was strong enough to pay attention to,

    ''We must seed this time. Otherwise¡­''

    He nced at hispanions for a moment before turning back to his target, jumping up to the tunnel.

    Their goal was hidden behind several dozen riddles that weren''t solvable through ordinary means, and despite the strength of the enemy, it wasn''t certain they''d reach first.

    But haste was to be made, for any variable had to be eliminated before they had a chance to interfere with the n.

    The man and his group moved into the tunnel, following the steps left by Damien and Pandora just minutes before.

    Would the situation be a rat race, or would the two groups have to fight until one no longer existed?

    Perhaps the most likely situation would be both at once!

    ***

    The tunnel system was truly like abyrinth filled with deadly traps meant to ughter any who t dared enter its halls, but Damien and Pandora didn''t encounter much trouble while traversing it.

    As a man who held the All-Seeing Eyes in his grasp, it would be embarrassing if Damien couldn''t see and avoid these traps.

    Now that he knew the general direction he was supposed to be moving in, navigating was almost too easy.

    He led Pandora through many weaving corridors, a few staircases that both ascended and descended and eventually came across the mouth of a cave.

    They walked in, silent and wary, not even letting their awareness out too far in fear of giving away their presence.

    It was extremely dark in the cave, but Damien could feel through his natural spatial perception its generalyout.

    There were three ways to go from here.

    The first was straight, which would continue into a new tunnel system.

    The second was upward, along the path of a trickling underwater stream.

    And thest¡­

    ''I mean, when an option like that exists, you just have to take it, right?'' Damien thought with a grin.

    He grabbed Pandora''s arm, causing her to jerk, but she rxed when she felt him leading her through the cave.

    Unlike him, the darkness was truly blinding for her.

    It obviously wasn''t natural darkness, and when this unnervingly pregnant feeling wasbined with the intermittent strange echoes of sound that resounded through the cave, it was an environment that put one''s danger senses to the test.

    Pandora didn''t want to continue from here, as she realized that her power couldn''t get her past this point, but she decided to ept Damien''s lead.

    Only because he had proven his scouting abilities far better than hers.

    The duo walked about ten steps forward and three steps to the left. They zig-zagged to the right and continued moving forward for 6 more steps before Damien suddenly stopped.

    ''Is it perhaps a pattern? There must be a trap on the floor.''

    Pandora sent her awareness into the ground, just in time to witness Damien''s foot sinking into an unknown mechanism.

    "¡­!"

    It was already toote to do anything about it.

    Before she knew it, the stationary abyss around her started moving.

    No, she began to fall through it!

    The path Damien chose was neither forward nor up, but straight down at the fastest speed possible!

    ''Prisons are usually kept near World Cores for maximum security, and treasures should follow the same pattern!''

    His reasoning was simple yet effective!

    The duo fell for almost a full minute before the narrow trench that could barely fit their two bodies widened massively into a huge cavern.

    They floated to a stop, allowing themselves to be disced as theynded on the ground and spread their awarenesses.

    Damien frowned.

    ''That''s strange. This world has no World Core. Where do the realmwse from?''

    At their current depth, they should''ve already been able to sense its powerful fluctuations.

    ''Actually, isn''t this cavern exactly where it should be?''

    Damien immediately activated his Celestial Authority and felt the breath of the world itself, the frown on his face deepening with every passing second.

    ''There is something acting like a World Core, and it is present in this cavern. However, the World Core itself¡­''

    It had been too long for Damien to know whether it had disappeared or it never existed in the first ce.

    His attention turned to the center of the cavern.

    There was a massive stgmite that reached halfway up the cavern''s height, its gait like a mountain in the otherwise tndscape.

    Damien walked up to it and raised his head, peering at its peak.

    His previous reasoning turned out to be¡­far more urate than expected.

    Because not only did he sense the mystical aura of treasure, he saw clearly the being crucified on this stgmite.

    ''Holy Light Star, huh¡­just what the fuck is this ce?''

    Damien''s frown finally traveled to the rest of his face, his expression turning extremely solemn as his ears pricked up.

    The sound of approaching footsteps.

    The feeling of that murky aura that he''d never forget.

    The enemy was already here.

 Chapter 1023 Intention [1]

    ?

    Five people entered the cavern under Damien and Pandora''s watch.

    The two groups gazed at each other from their respective ces, neither moving prematurely.

    Damien''s solemn expression persisted as he used All-Seeing Eyes to inspect the enemies.

    ''Damn¡­''

    A High Commander and four 2nd and 3rd ss Nox, this group was far beyond what the realm should''ve allowed.

    And tracing their eyes, their goal was also clear.

    ''That man must be¡­''

    Damien suddenly got shbacks to the situation he experienced in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range.

    A sealed Demigod that was close to breaking free from his shackles, a catastrophe caused by the collision of such world-breaking forces that killed hundreds of millions of beings.

    "You are talented humans to make it here," the man at the head of the Nox group started, his gazending on Damien.

    "Do not needlessly waste your lives here."

    He spoke as if it was a foregone conclusion that the two of them would die inbat against his group.

    And he wasn''t necessarily wrong. With Damien''sbat strength, he could at most take on the underlings. Their leader was far out of his capacity.

    And Pandora¡­Damien didn''t have many chances to see her strength, but he didn''t think she was stronger than him.

    "You tell us not to waste our lives, but aren''t you just going to kill us anyway? What''s the point of talking?" He said cautiously, entertaining the idea of escape.

    The Nox High Commander scrutinized him before speaking again.

    "There is a way to survive. Join us. Do not ce your fates in the hands of this doomed universe."

    "Pfft¡­!"

    Damien scoffed unwittingly, and even Pandora turned her head to the side in amusement.

    "Do you think anyone who can make it to this stage would join you? The only ones you could possibly convince are those rabble with the mentality of bratty children."

    The one who quipped back wasn''t Damien, but Pandora!

    At the same time, a mental transmission entered Damien''s ear.

    ''We have to take care of these trashes before they can aplish anything. Do you have a n?''

    Damien''s eyes widened as he looked over with no idea whether or not he was hearing things.

    Was this the same stale and petty person he''d been dealing with thus far?!

    He immediately regainedposure and responded.

    ''Not really. That guy is a High Commander, and neither of us has the strength to deal with him. If he gets to the being sealed on the spire, it''ll be over for us.''

    ''That person is alive?''

    ''Alive but sealed. He should be a Nox Demigod.''

    ''I see. Then we should kill him as well.''

    Damien almost couldn''t hide his nk stare.

    What was this attitude? It was like she was saying "It''s just killing Demigods, right? What''s the big deal?"

    But she wasn''t talking to someone ordinary either, so her words weren''t as nonsensical as they normally would''ve been.

    ''I can take care of a sealed Demigod, but you''d have to hold off the High Commander.'' Damien finally responded, only half serious.

    However, Pandora didn''t seem to notice his sarcasm.

    ''High Commander¡­it can be done. When you move, I shall move as well.''

    Damien couldn''t stop the smile forming on his face.

    What a daring individual! In front of the Nox, Pandora''s entire demeanor changed into that of a true Holy Land Saintess.

    And Damien¡­

    ''This is too fun of a gamble to resist.''

    He was confident in saving himself at the very least, and if Pandora wanted to risk herself, why should he interfere?

    The exchange between the two took ce in a split second, and with the way their expressions changed, it looked more like they wereughing at Pandora''s quip rather than formting a n.

    And unlike the two of them, the Nox were not amused in the slightest by the situation.

    "All you geniuses choose death. It is a shame to see." The High Commander sighed.

    "Very well, if that is your wish, I shall grant you deaths befitting of warriors. The name of your killer is Mk. Remember it well."

    The High Commander, Mk, took a single step forward.

    And Damien moved instantly.

    "Good luck!" He shouted as he exploded with strength and jumped into the air, climbing up the spire.

    "Hmph!"

    Pandora responded with a snort and moved to stand between the Nox group and Damien.

    She pped her hands together and maintained a praying position. The artifacts on her body began to shine with magisterial light.

    "Master, please aid your child."

    She whispered the words, and as her prayer floated into the air, her garments changed into mystical smoke that coalesced over her head.

    Pandora''s form was revealed wearing the beautiful top disciple robes of the Prismatic Sun Holy Land. Long locks of her navy blue hair swam in the air like an ocean, and while her piercing eyes and sharp jaw made her face look extremely serious, her beauty was also truly unparalleled.

    It made sense for her to wear garments that hid this appearance, lest it destroy worlds!

    In the star-filled orange mana that encased her body, this beauty was even more enunciated.

    Only, it was shadowed soon after by the being that formed from the smoke atop her head.

    "Disciple, why have you summoned me? Don''t tell me that little assembly was too much for you?"

    A heavenly voice oozed out of the mystical beauty in the smoke, filling the entire cavern in a contrastingly dominant way.

    Mk didn''t take his second step once that being appeared.

    "You are¡­"

    "Hm?"

    The figure''s eyes turned to the Nox High Commander scornfully.

    "I see. So such a thing truly happened."

    Her words were simple, but the power behind her voice increased severalfold.

    "Disciple, lend me your body."

    "Yes, Master."

    Pandora closed her eyes and allowed the smoke to descend into her, and when her eyes reopened, they shone with a rainbow light thatpletely differed from their regr color.

    "Beast, you actually dared to bully my disciple. It shouldn''t be a problem for me to return her suffering to you, no?"

    The woman in Pandora''s body, no, the Prismatic Sun Holy Master, stepped forward and without a hint of hesitation, dragged the Nox group into battle.

    Damien watched the entire situation pan out from the very tip of the spire, a smile forming on his face.

    ''So this is your trump card. Mm, I guess when you have a Demigod''s Avatar supporting you, there''s no reason to fear a High Commander.''

    He didn''t expect to meet the Prismatic Sun Holy Master so soon, but if he wanted to converse with her, it''d have to wait until the current situation ended.

    ''This time, the Nox''s attack is just in stupid. This is the gathering ce of the universe''s experts, and they were destined for failure from the start. There is absolutely no reason for them to throw suicide troops into this realm unless¡­''

    Either this Demigod was incredibly important, or the treasure aura on his body was linked to something the Nox valued deeply.

    BANG!

    An explosion of rainbow light kicked uprge clouds of dust in the cavern, bringing Damien out of his thoughts.

    ''Well then, I guess I should get to work too.''

 Chapter 1024 Intention [2]

    ?

    In fact, Damien was more than happy to take on this sealed Demigod.

    Entering the man''s mind was something he wanted to do on his own, and if he was truly a Nox Demigod, killing him was par for course.

    All Damien knew at this moment was that this man was strange.

    His Nox Aura was definitely present, but it wasn''t the same as the aura carried by the Saint Emperor or Marite Lord, Nox Demigods Damien had personally met.

    Who was he? Why was he sealed? The only way to answer these questions was to enter his mind.

    And perhaps, some of the questions Damien had been pondering for so long would be answered too.

    Pah!

    Damien pped himself in the face. Without knowing how long the Prismatic Sun Holy Master could maintain her presence, he couldn''t be wasting time thinking meaninglessly like this.

    He jumped and stomped his foot into the tip of the spire, breaking it down and ttening it until it was a surface he could sit on. Once he finished, he reached down and ced his finger on the top of the crucified man''s head.

    A strand of the Breath of Nothingness swam into his spiritual world, and Damien''s vision blurred into a new world.

    "Hm, a guest?"

    He was greeted by an ancient voice that boomed through the space and struck his ears like symbols crashing centimeters away.

    Damien gritted his teeth and shook off the pain, looking around to find the source of the voice.

    "Don''t bother," the voice came again.

    "After the passing of so many years, I no longer have the strength to form a spiritual avatar."

    "Who are you?" Damien asked.

    "You came here for this, no?" The man said.

    "This Emperor has been slumbering for so many years, it seems the time has finallye to die."

    A frown formed on Damien''s face as he listened to the man''s strange words, but before he could respond¡­

    "I will show you what you wish to see. How you choose to proceed afterward shall decide my fate."

    The man''s attitudepletely contradicted what Damien expected, and not even a second after he finished processing the current events, the scene around him shifted again.

    ''These are¡­his memories.'' Damien realized as he looked at the river that appeared before him.

    It was massive, like an ocean of its own, but the water was murky and brown as if it had been polluted for countless decades.

    ''It is indeed what I came for, but why do I feel like something''s wrong?''

    Damien once again reminded himself.

    He was in the mind of a Demigod. Anything could happen.

    After stabilizing his ego and making a few preliminary preparations to keep himself safe, he went to the River bank and slowly submerged himself in its waters.

    A story began to paint itself in his mind.

    ***

    The situation outside, as Damien expected, wasn''t as apocalyptic as it could''ve been.

    Su Ren was a blessing upon Holy Light Star.

    His banner attracted countless geniuses who followed him and acted together to counter the Nox Worshippers, and his mysterious grey mana was perfect for eliminating the bloody environment and correcting the world''sws.

    Thetter mission was a difficult one. No matter how Su Ren moved, he found that he could only destroy the bloody forests on a surface level, and the seeds for their regrowth simply couldn''t be extinguished.

    And more than the Nox, the vitality cmity caused severe damage to his forces.

    What they found after a few hours of facing its wrath was that the corruption of the world evaded the realmws just like the Nox, and those who fell to it would truly die.

    The most imperative task was to find a way to counter it.

    The answer didn''te from inside, but from Luxurion.

    There were multiple things that made the Nox''s current attack counterintuitive. One of the greatest was that, while the experts present were already strong, there were even more strong experts and forces arriving in the Sky Castle by the hour, which meant an endless stream of geniuses was entering the mystic realm!

    Not all of these geniuses were loyal to the universe, but since the forces arriving in the current days were usually those with respect and status in the universe, the majority were those who would put their lives on the line for their homnd.

    Among them were the geniuses from Medicine Emperor Holy Land, the very geniuses Su Ren had been searching for.

    They entered the realm and immediately took their stand as an apothecary that provided pills and elixirs that could counter the vitality suction.

    They were aided by geniuses from Primordial Light Holy Land, who used their purification abilities to help those affected regain some of their lost energy.

    Though, this effect was still temporary. If these geniuses wanted to regain what was stolen, they needed to defeat the world itself!

    The universe''s geniuses were able to rapidly form a united front that allowed them tobat the Nox Worshippers without losing too many forces, and meanwhile, the experts that backed them made it known why they had their acim.

    A line of more than a hundred experts kneeled in front of the portal to Holy Light Star in the second banquet hall.

    Their arms and legs were bound by rope that radiated with the aura of Divinity, and their faces were ck with shame.

    They weren''t killed, they were sat in front of their previousrades and humiliated.

    It was like they had four massive letters written on their foreheads.

    FOOL!

    Fools who dared to betray the universe, fools who let power get to their heads, how could such fools be given easy deaths?!

    No, they were sat in front of everyone and forced to watch as their geniuses were ughtered meaninglessly due to their idiocy.

    And they were sat waiting for the torture that was sure toe.

    To attack in Luxurion was the stupidest thing they could''ve done.

    This Sky Castle was the lifeblood of the Heavenly n. It was built with so much specification that it was impossible for traitors to infiltrate it.

    Hell, they couldn''t even kill themselves due to the restrictions!

    Whether it was a Supreme or a Demigod, a small sect master or the Holy Master of a massive Holy Land, none of them were given treatment better than dogs.

    Including the Holy Master of me Heavens Holy Land, the master of Huo Xuan and Huo Dong who were killed by Damien and Su Ren.

    He wasn''t stupid enough to participate in this raid.

    How could he be?

    He was an exalted personage who was fully aware of the universe''s power. He knew from the beginning that this was a suicide mission.

    However, he didn''t have a choice.

    The moment he chose to submit to the Nox, unresigned to the impossibility of ascending from the Demigod level to True Godhood, he became a ve whose opinion no longer mattered.

    All it brought him was humiliation and loss.

    The bleakness of the fates of these traitors only made the question on everyone''s minds all the more pronounced.

    Why?

    Just why would the Nox n such an attack?

 Chapter 1025 Intention [3]

    ?

    The world was dark.

    Didn''t all these stories start that way?

    A boy was born into this dark world, his fate bound to very from the beginning.

    His mother was killed for giving birth to him, as it was rumored his father was a powerful man who cheated on his wife with her, and he was sent across worlds to be the ve of a certain family that had prominence in the universe.

    They were cruel people.

    Even as a child, he viewed himself as nothing more than a dog. As he grew and learned more about the world and his status, his desires and the ve mentality bred into him fought each other, this fight worsening as he suffered more and more abuse from his masters.

    One day, the masters decided to take a trip to a different star. Through the whispers of the servants, he heard it had something to do with a massive business opportunity.

    However, karma would always punish those she disliked. The family''s starship experienced a fatal malfunction and was attacked by raiders.

    The women were taken away, while the men were left in the starship as it was destroyed.

    The starship exploded, killing almost everyone left on board.

    The boy, a teenager at this point, miraculously survived.

    His body drifted through the void, unaffected by the turbulence of the starry sky, andnded on the surface of a dead star.

    He remained in aa for almost 2 years before awakening and realizing his situation.

    This dead star was nothing more than a burial ground for most.

    But it was there where he found his talent.

    He had the ability to set worldws.

    He couldn''t interfere with the operations of a World Core, but if he was put on a dead star, he could truly turn it into his own world.

    However, there were limits to this power. Each world he set thews of would be tied to him in mind and fate, and he would feel every change they experienced tenfold.

    He first realized just how double-sided the coin of his talent was when one of the dead stars he bound was hit by an extinction-level meteorite.

    For 7 days and 7 nights, he experienced the worst pain imaginable to man, as if he was being burned alive and drowned at the same time.

    He was hardly sane when he came out the other end, and he immediately broke his connection with every star, epting the loss of power wholeheartedly.

    He retired to a secluded cabin in a rtively small world hidden somewhere deep in the universe, hiding his existence from enemies and allies alike.

    He finally gave himself a name, the first one he''d ever had in his life: Hassan.

    However, he wasn''t able to live in peace for more than a few years. Somehow, the Nox found out about his talent and send a squad filled with Supremes to kidnap him.

    They took him to one of their worlds and tortured him brutally. They left him near death without even the ability to scream or cry in pain. Once again, he nearly lost his sanity.

    That was the moment the Nox had been waiting for. They entered his cell and shoved a parasite into his mouth, forcing him to swallow it. The parasite spread its influence through his body and soon enough, he realized that he no longer had control over his actions.

    This was the beginning of his life as a ve to the Nox.

    His captors dragged him across the universe to bind several worlds, a total of 37, 36 of which were transformed into Infected Source Worlds.

    The 37th was Holy Light Star, or rather, Hathur, the world that existed before the Angels imed its ruins.

    Once the task waspleted, the Nox ran out of use for him. After seeing how his state deteriorated every time he bound a new world, they sealed him in the middle of a temple on Hathur and switched his human heart for a God-rank artifact, the ss Lake Heart.

    The ss Lake Heart had a single purpose. It allowed its bearer to keep their mind clear from corruption under any circumstances, regardless of the danger level.

    This treasure was originally meant for good, but it was instead used to keep Hassan''s mind from copsing under perpetual torture and force him to maintain the worldws of the Infected Source Worlds

    These worldws were set by the Nox ording to their whims. Hassan became an essory to the creation of true gues that imed the lives of billions upon billions of innocents, and at the same time, he had no choice but to maintain the corruptedws of Holy Light Star that made it impossible for anyone to find his existence.

    He was Holy Light Star''s World Core, and as the Nox already controlled him, wasn''t it simple for them to bypass thews set through him?

    Damien sighed as he reached the current day in Hassan''s memories and made his way out of the river that contained them.

    His spiritual avatar was dyed in murky ck ink, corruption that infected him from the river itself.

    Damien allowed the forces of his own body to clear this corruption, sending the Nox mana elsewhere.

    And he peered into Hassan''s spiritual world, hoping to see a glimmer of his appearance.

    Unlike Damien''s expectation, the man had no ulterior motive for being so cooperative.

    He was in limbo in a near-death state due to the destruction of many Infected Source Worlds, and he had been waiting for someone toe and kill him for many years.

    Until now, the Nox never interfered with his existence, but now that they''d made a move, a path to him had opened for the first time in over 100,000 years.

    It wasn''t a coincidence that Damien and Pandora managed to find their way into the cavern.

    ''The Nox sure are cruel. The worldws they set are not only so corrupted, they use their corruption to keep Hassan just barely alive.''

    Damien felt true pity for the man, because the memories he so graciously allowed Damien to peruse also served a purpose in solving his own doubts.

    Mainly, one curious fact.

    There were only 9 Infected Source Worlds in the current era, of which the ones in the Elven Domain, Human Domain, and Calypto had been destroyed.

    However, at the start, there were 36 Infected Source Worlds.

    Hassan''s era was 100,000 years ago. His imprisonment took ce during the Forgotten War.

    When these facts were put together¡­

    ''The universe used to be much bigger than it currently is.''

    ¡­only one conclusion could be reached.

    Damien felt his understanding of the universe and its history deepening, and as he gazed into the unnervingly serene spiritual world around him, he realized he had a decision to make.

    He either killed Hassan, or found a way to save the man.

    The man had lived a life of sin, but not because he wanted to.

    The blood on his hands was painted on by the Nox.

    Hassan himself had lived a brutal life, an extremely unfortunate life where he saw no good.

    Did this man deserve to die?

    Absolutely not.

    But if he lived, would he be able to find redemption?

    Damien truly didn''t know.

    The only way to earn redemption was to desire it and work towards it, but with how broken Hassan''s mind was, he didn''t know if the man would be able to formte that desire.

    The only way to know was to ask.

    And frankly, Damien wasn''t excited to hear the answer.

 Chapter 1026 Intention [4]

    ?

    "You understand what I want to ask, right?" He said, addressing Hassan''s formless voice.

    "I do," Hassan responded sinctly.

    "Then¡­?"

    Damien didn''t get a response for a long time.

    It wasn''t an easy decision to make, after all.

    Did he want to give up, or did he want to try again?

    Hassan was unsure whether or not the man before him could grant him the redemption he still wished for in the bottom of his heart, but it was true that Damien was the only individual who had been able to enter his spiritual world and survive the tumultuous journey of his memories.

    Yet, even if Damien truly could give him a chance at redemption, did he want it?

    He wasn''t good for anything. He couldn''t grow his power without binding worlds, but he couldn''t bind worlds without experiencing torture.

    He was tired of torture.

    Hassan had lived his entire life, over 100,000 years, being tortured.

    What else could he contribute?

    Did the world even need him anymore?

    It was a new era, and in this new era, there were geniuses like Damien and the girl who came with him who could fight with such determination against the terrifying threat posed by the Nox.

    How could he help them?

    Hassan had lived most of his life in solitude, alone in this quiet realm with nothing but his thoughts to entertain him.

    His mind was much more rational than one expected from someone who found themselves in this situation.

    This was mostly due to the influence of the Clear Lake Heart, but it still stood that he didn''t allow his emotions to control his decisions.

    He thought about it rationally.

    If he couldn''t provide any benefit to the universe and the innocents he''d hurt so terribly, there was no point in living. The best way to atone for his sins would be to suffer in the afterlife and in his next life.

    In the end, he could only sigh.

    "I can only offer two things: my talent and the Clear Lake Heart. However, neither of these things can be given to others," he finally said.

    Damien raised his brow. "What do you mean?"

    "The Clear Lake Heart can only ever recognize one owner. If it is removed from my body, it will fade back into the universe and be reborn as a new treasure," Hassan exined.

    Damien frowned.

    ''With this attitude, it''s clear there''s no way for me to convince him to continue living. But it seems he''s not willing to leave if he can''t contribute anything.''

    Damien decided to follow his usual style and bepletely honest.

    "I can work around both of these issues. I can inherit your talent, and if you''d like, I can bestow the Clear Lake Heart on someone worthy of its power."

    "Is this possible?" Hassan asked incredulously.

    "Maybe not for other people, but it is for me. The only question is: are you truly willing to die?"

    "¡­"

    "¡­I am."

    Hassan made his stance clear.

    Damien sighed.

    This was the third.

    The experts of the olden era were never willing to live in this new generation, and Damien couldn''t me them.

    Everyone and everything they knew was gone, and as strangers in this new world, their only purpose would be to be used as tools of war.

    Nobody wanted to live such a dire fate.

    Damien could only acknowledge their existences and carry their stories within him, so their legacies never died out.

    "Whenever you''re ready, I can start the process. Do not worry. You will not feel any pain," Damien said firmly.

    And Hassan¡­even though his spiritual form was incorporeal, Hassan smiled radiantly.

    "Very well. Do what you must."

    Damien gently allowed Void Mana into Hassan''s spiritual world. With thetter providing not a single hint of resistance, it was an incredibly smooth process.

    And when he finally gathered enough mana, he uttered that sacred word.

    "Devour."

    Hassan closed his incorporeal eyes.

    The Clear Lake Heart kept his mind lucid at all times, which meant pain could never inhibit his thoughts.

    Rather, he felt the pain much more clearly due to the heart''s influence.

    Yet, in this moment, even though he could feel his life force and spiritual world being sucked away in a vacuum of mysterious force¡­

    ¡­he didn''t feel any pain.

    The feeling of death slowly encroaching upon him, the feeling of drowsiness that lulled him into the eternal sleep he''d been longing for, he cherished it to its fullest, finally free from the torture that life had been.

    Eventually, Hassan''s body wilted into a soulless husk, and his spiritual world became nothing more than an empty necking any ego.

    Damien felt his body changing. That pleasantly painful feeling of the Void Physique altering his body overcame him, and the trait, [Law Controller] manifested itself on his status window.

    When the process ended, he opened his eyes and swept his palms through the air.

    Shing!

    Shing!

    Shing!

    Shing!

    The chains stabbed through Hassan''s arms and legs were cut away, and his body disappeared into the Sanctuary.

    Perhaps to Damien, this was just another encounter with an unfortunate senior.

    Perhaps to Damien, this interaction would be nothing more than one of many Legends that led to his eventual ascension.

    However, to the universe, it was something much greater.

    Hassan was dead, which meant his influence on the universe would begin to fizzle out.

    Those 6 remaining Infected Source Worlds wouldn''t feel the effects for a few months due to the solidity of thews established on them, but Holy Light Star felt the influence of his passing almost instantly.

    And Damien himself¡­

    ¡­soon realized that Hassan''s gift to him had propelled him into his 2nd revolution of the extreme peak.

    ***

    The Prismatic Sun Holy Master''s mana held the same rainbow color as her eyes, and its effects were equally mystical.

    As she fought against Mk and his group, she disyed prowess far surpassing Pandora''s level, utilizing a Law that held such profundity it could bepared to Damien''s Spacetime Laws in pure aura fluctuations.

    However, despite the strength she held as an individual, she was still confined to Pandora''s body.

    Unless she wanted to turn her disciple into a waste by overexerting her body and promoting her strength too much, she had to conform to several restrictions.

    The problem was that Mk had his full strength, so the best the Holy Master could do was fight him evenly.

    Their battle had gone on for several minutes already, and Pandora''s body was reaching its limits.

    If there wasn''t a change soon¡ª!

    It was like the gods listened to her wishes.

    Voom!

    The entire Holy Light Star shook. There was no massive mana pulse or other catastrophe that apanied this shaking, but "something" changed.

    Holy Light Star¡­became a dead star.

    With no World Core, with no worldws, there was no longer a means to maintain the cmity cycle, nor was there such thing as a restriction remaining in the realm.

    The Nox lost their advantage, and the vitality stolen by the realm itself was returned to the air and reabsorbed by those it was stolen from.

    With Damien''s pyrrhic "victory" against Hassan, there was nothing left to be said.

    This battle was already won by the Grand Heavens Boundary.

 Chapter 1027 Proceedings [1]

    Chapter 1027 Proceedings [1]

    BANG!

    Rumble!

    The underground cavern rumbled heavily as the Nox High Commander Mk''s body shot across it and crashed through the opposing wall.

    In that instant he lost his advantage, the jarring shock of the realmws disappearing disoriented him for a second and left him open to the Prismatic Sun Holy Master''s brutal attacks.

    As he crawled out of the wall and saw hisrades being suppressed by the Holy Master, a deep frown formed on his face.

    It was an expression of helplessness that manifested after he realized the current situation.

    They''d lost so easily?

    He knew it was a suicide mission from the beginning. If it was anything else, he and hisrades wouldn''t have been dispatched.

    Mk''s story was a bitplicated. In simple terms, he''d offended someone very powerful, and his status had been reduced to nothing more than a hunting dog.

    In his most rational opinion, the only one who could save him from his predicament would be a Nox Emperor, but how could he have the capabilities to contact them?

    He and his team were forced into this mission and many others so they could die in battle after being used to their fullest capability, but they managed to survive until this point.

    Their survival ability gave them rtively widespread acim, but their strength wasn''t as impressive.

    However, it shouldn''t have ended so quickly, right?

    He was appalled by the strength disyed by the duo he had the misfortune of encountering and he was even more unable to ept the rapid response of the majority of geniuses that cut off the Nox''s chance for sess.

    Mk already knew he was going to die, but he didn''t want to die meaninglessly.

    If he had no other choice, he at least wanted to leave an impression of himself in the hearts of his allies and enemies before he disappeared.

    With this thought in mind, Mk crawled out of the wall and stood back up, wiping the ck blood from his mouth and taking his first steps back into battle.

    However, a figure appeared in his path before he could make it too far.

    "Hey, having fun?"

    The man among the genius duo smiled at him somewhat teasingly, a frustrating expression.

    Mk raised his fist to attack, not bothering with conversation.

    But Damien had other ns. Today, he wasn''t trying to fight any further.

    "Rx. If I could offer you a way out, would you take it?"

    Damien''s words made Mk''s eyes widen in surprise. He finally earlier.

    Yet, he still entertained it.

    understood how they felt when he said the same words to them earlier.

    Yet, he still entertained it.

    Why? Even he didn''t know.

    "What is it you want, human?" He pressed frustratedly, ncing at the state of his allies.

    It seemed the Holy Master''s onught had slowed considerably. She didn''t look like she was trying to kill, but trying to suppress instead.

    Mk turned his eyes back to Damien strangely as he began to talk.

    "Here''s the thing¡­"

    What Damien wanted to say was both simple andplicated at the same time.

    Even he felt a bit strange as he allowed the words to flow out of his mouth.

    The crux of his proposition was just as simple as it had always been. He wanted Mk and hisrades to move to the Sanctuary!

    Theplicated part was the reasoning behind it, as well as his stance on the Nox themselves.

    Other than the universe''s previous forms, what Damien saw most in Hassan''s memories was the nature of the Nox.

    They were¡­

    Well, the universe''s perception of them came from a point of truth.

    For the most part, those in their race were belligerent and power-hungry, those who had sumbed to their vices and allowed those vices to consume them and drive their actions.

    The Nox thrived on destruction and death. The force of their natural racial mana was just as corrupted, as if they were fated for evil since birth.

    However, just like all races, the Nox weren''t a people who could be painted in ck and white.

    Hassan experienced the most brutal years of his life enved under the Nox, but he also met many good people, people who pitied him and gave him the strength to live another day.

    Perhaps that strength was wasted in his circumstances, but the thought behind their actions was what mattered.

    Even Nox beings who workedmon custodial jobs and whatnot on their starships and war vehicles had to be 4th ss since those under this level were frenzied and unintelligent.

    In Damien''s expectation, these people would use prisoners as torture subjects to relieve stress and utilize a bit of their neglected power.

    This wasn''t an umon approach, but there were a select few among those staffers who offered the prisoners food, asionally dressed their wounds, and even had healthy conversations without them, ignoring the boundaries that separated them.

    Since when was itmon for a Nox to show kindness?

    Unless it was a being like Zara who was a Nox being but wasn''t raised as a Nox being, Damien couldn''t picture it.

    In fact, while Damien didn''t know it, there was another Nox being who exhibited qualities simr to what he''d just seen.

    That man was named Thaddeus Church, and though he had the mercilessness and ruthlessness of a Nox being instilled in him, he also had a natural curiosity that led him to apany his nt Racepanion, Aaliyah, on an expedition across the universe.

    Thaddeus'' personality had gone through severe changes in the period of time he''d spent with that woman. He was living proof that the Nox couldn''t be defined so one-dimensionally.

    And while Damien had yet to meet him, he had personally witnessed too many cases in Hassan''s memories to allow his prejudice to guide his actions.

    "¡­soe with me. I can guarantee you absolute protection for at least a year or two. The only condition is that you work for me after that period ends."

    Damien finally finished his words and stepped back.

    "I have some stuff to talk to the Holy Master about, so I''ll leave you to your thoughts. If you agree, just stay here until Ie back. If you don''t, leave on your own. I won''t stop you, nor will she."

    Damien walked over to the other side of the cave, attracting the Holy Master''s attention.

    As she went over to him, Mk''srades were freed from her barrage and given time to rest, time which they used to regroup with him.

    Mk watched this take ce incredulously.

    Did Damien forget that he and the Holy Master were still not as strong as their group? At most, they would be evenly matched.

    However, Mk soon understood where Damien''s confidence came from.

    ''Right, the control center has been destroyed.''

    Without the realmws in ce, there was nothing maintaining the strength and age barriers that the universe''s forces abided by until this point.

    Any second now, experts would flood into the realm, and even Mk would be a tiny existence surrounded by Supremes and Demigods who could easily p him to death.

    As he passed some ck pills to hispanions and sat down with them to heal, he genuinely considered Damien''s proposal.

    Working for a human¡­

    Well, it would certainly be a new experience.

    Whether or not it was worth the risk¡­?

    Mk sighed.

    ''This is quite the troublesome decision.''

 Chapter 1028 Proceedings [2]

    Chapter 1028 Proceedings [2]

    Damien told Mk he wanted to have a talk with the Prismatic Sun Holy Master, but it ended up as a small exchange of words, as that was all that could take ce before her avatar dispersed.

    It couldn''t be helped. With the way she was fighting, it was already surprising that she was able to stay present in the current situation for so long.

    Pandora''s body definitely sustained damage due to her overstaying, but luckily it wasn''t too bad.

    Once she left, Pandora directly copsed, and Damien caught her, casting [Heal] immediately to solve her injuries.

    ''Prismatic Sun Holy Master¡­what an unfathomable person.'' Damien thought to himself as he healed Pandora.

    They''d only spoken a few words of greeting at most, with the Holy Master telling him she looked forward to his presence after the Grand Assembly, referring to the so-called ceremony, but there was something about her gaze¡­

    ''It was almost like she knew me.''

    It was the kind of gaze that made one shudder. The Prismatic Sun Holy Master was like the physical manifestation of the concept known as "the unknown."

    Nevertheless, with her gone, it could be said that the situation truly came to a close.

    ''And I can''t avoid this ceremony nonsense. I''ll have to meet the Holy Master in person if I want to talk to her about the more important topics.''

    Damien heaved Pandora over his shoulder, allowing her to rest for a bit as he carried her back to the surface.

    As for Mk and his group¡­

    It was best to say they died, for their existence wouldn''t be seen in the Real ne again for a very long time.

    This Nox attack, while short, opened Damien''s world to a variety of new possibilities.

    And more than anything else, it ced a sense of urgency in the hearts of all those present.

    The Grand Assembly was sure to change in theing days.

    ***

    It wasn''t suspenseful once Hassan''s influence died down.

    Experts flooded Holy Light Star once its anomaly was understood and aided their pupils in eliminating the threats that were too hard for them to handle.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the Nox Worshippers were essentially funneled and caged so they could be practice dummies for the geniuses, providing them with realbat experience and giving them the chance to face the power of the Nox head first.

    While those who needed this training took the opportunity, people like Su Ren, most of the Holy Land geniuses, and the Human Domain group made their way out of the secret realm instead.

    They didn''t need this opportunity and allowed their weaker counterparts to utilize it in full while they rested their bodies and digested their gains from the mystic realm.

    At this time, with everything settling down, Luciel made an important announcement.

    The universal conference that was set to take ce around a weekter would be moved up. In three days, the Grand Assembly would begin moving towards its originally intended purpose.

    In the wake of this, the forces that had yet to arrive at Luxurion made haste, and one by one, they touched down on its grounds.

    Blood Asura Holy Land finally made its appearance, with Immortal Blood Asura bringing some of his strongest elders as well as a few of his sons with him in an incredibly powerful lineup.

    Following their group were the Golden Dragon n, Supreme Soul Pce, cksmith Association, Heaven''s Army Officials, and many more.

    Thergest yers in the universe finally gathered in full, and while the experts among them took the three days before the conference towork and form alliances, the geniuses had other ns.

    For those who didn''t have Damien or Su Ren''s power level, the Holy Light Star was an eye-opening experience that taught them the insignificance of their existence.

    They were motivated to train even harder, and Luxurion''s training facilities became extremely crowded, with the arenas being the most visited ce.

    Among these geniuses was Atticus. After his altercation with Damien at the beginning of the convention, he hadn''t been himself. He cruised by in Holy Light Star and only made some minor achievements,ying low in the background for the rest of the time.

    And now that he was back, he was finally able to start getting back on his feet again, following Damien''s advice to get rid of the stubborn insecurity within him.

    It was in this environment that Damien brought Pandora out of the mystic realm.

    He had made sure to cover her exposed skin with some nondescript robes he hadying around in the Sanctuary to protect her dignity, and without spending too much time on her, he dropped her off with the Prismatic Sun Holy Land group and left them to their own devices.

    Damien mindlessly wandered the halls as he submerged himself in thought.

    This time, his concerns weren''t so grand and far-reaching.

    ''Blood Asura Holy Land¡­''

    Their arrival time was suspicious on its own, but Damien remembered what he''d heard from Elena during their brief reunion in the secret realm.

    She had been targeted by several beings who tried to kill her, following a bounty set on her and Damien''s heads.

    This wasn''t too surprising considering how Damien had been moving, but the fact of the matter was that these forces had a method to circumvent the realmws.

    With his new knowledge of Hassan and Holy Light Star, Damien would be brainless if he didn''t be suspicious about Immortal Blood Asura.

    ''His son sumbed to Nox''s temptation quite easily, and he seems like the type of guy to do anything for power. I wouldn''t be surprised if he has some connection to them.'' He thought solemnly.

    ''I need to be even more careful until the assembly ends. I can''t allow any opportunities to that man.''

    Damien sighed. The universe was riddled with too many internal scourges. If this was their definition of unity, was victory ever a possibility?

    ''I should start making my own ns. The Sanctuary''s army needs to be grown with intention, and I can use Mk to study the Nox and finally get a true understanding of how they function.''

    The opportunity to dissect a Nox was impossible toe across due to their nature of turning into ink when they died.

    Now that Damien had a live subject in his control, there was no way he''d waste the chance.

    ''No, I shouldn''t think about it like that. That''s a High Commander, after all. If I treat him properly, I''ll gain an invaluable asset on the battlefield.''

    Damien smiled wryly as he thought about just how unorthodox the forces under him were, but he shrugged it off.

    What was the problem with it?

    In all honesty, he actually liked this hodgepodge group filled with talents from all walks of life far better than an organization like Heaven''s Army.

    "Hm?"

    Damien suddenly looked up, broken out of his thoughts.

    Before he realized it, his aimless wandering had led him to Elena''s room.

    With a small smile on his face, he knocked on the door.

    And at that very moment¡­

    Thump!

    Something in his heart spiked.

    Beyond that door¡­

    He could sense their presence.

    The presence of not one woman, but three.A

 Chapter 1029 Unity [1]

    ?

    Damien stood with his hand hovering in front of the door, frozen.

    He''d nearly forgotten about it after being swept up in Hassan''s memories. By the time he left the underground cavern, the Human Domain group had already left and his memory had no chance to be refreshed.

    ''¡­why now?'' Damien moaned inwardly in dread.

    He wished he had time to prepare, but there was absolutely no chance of that happening now.

    Because just as he''d felt her, Ruyue had felt him.

    The door swung open on its own, revealing his awkward figure to those within the room.

    Three pairs of eyes met with one.

    And Damien felt his heart beating out of his chest.

    Wasn''t it funny?

    He worried so deeply about his indifference affecting his personal life. He was afraid of this moment of reunion because he didn''t know what he would feel when he saw them.

    But now, standing before them, he couldn''t even open his mouth.

    His chest felt stuffy, his heart pumped faster than light, and contrary to his own wishes¡­

    His eyes began to water.

    ''Huu¡­''

    Damien used an imperceptible trace of mana to protect his eyes and make sure no tears could form, and took a nervous step into the room.

    "¡­"

    He looked between the three girls without a word.

    Because if he opened his mouth, he''d definitely choke on his words and embarrass himself.

    While he struggled to figure out what to do next¡­

    Rose and Elena could no longer hold theirughter.

    "Pfft¡­!"

    "Hehe~!"

    They raised their hands over their mouths as they tittered, as if that would stop Damien from noticing.

    And as he looked at them in shock, Rose finally spoke up.

    "See? I told you this would happen," she said happily.

    "Tch. I still can''t beat the first wife," Elena snapped back in unwillingness.

    "If you could beat me, what would be the point of the first wife title?" Rose quipped teasingly.

    "Haa, fine, fine, I concede. I''m fine with knowing you''ll never beat me in a fight."

    "Just wait on it. I''ll catch up soon enough."

    Elena rolled her eyes and handed a space ring over to Rose, and Damien stood there dumbly with no idea what to say.

    He looked to Ruyue for help, only for her to hit him with a helpless smile and a shrug.

    "Ahh, what''s going on?!" He finally said, unable to take it.

    "Hm? Oh, right. We just ced a few bets, nothing much," Elena said, still a bit grouchy over her loss.

    Damien raised his brow incredulously. "Bets about what?"

    This time, it was Rose who spoke up.

    She nced at Damien in a way that made his heart skip a beat and smiled.

    "It was a bet about how you''d react when you saw us. Little sister here thought you''d immediately embrace us, but how could the husband I know who has no clue how to express his emotions do something like that? Naturally, I bet that you''d stand there dumbly and pretend to be unfazed!"

    "¡­"

    Damien had no idea what to say to that.

    As Elena said, nobody could beat the first wife! She knew him better than the back of her hand!

    And just like it was in the past and would be in the future, Damien felt incredibly thankful for Rose. Because of her, the awkwardness in the atmospherepletely disappeared.

    Damien walked up to the bed where the three of them sat without a single hint of hesitation in his heart and wrapped his arms around them, pulling them into his chest.

    As he felt their arms wrap around his waist, he closed his eyes.

    "I truly, truly missed you," he finally said.

    Rose was right. He had no idea how to express himself, and he had no idea how to show love.

    He could only say these words and hope they could understand the feelings that stood behind them.

    The feeling of security they gave him, the feeling of longing that had been suppressed deep in his heart ever since he made his first advent into the Divine Realm on Dawn World, the feeling of tranquility that he could only ever experience when he was with them, he wanted them to know how much those feelings meant to him.

    They were his only safe haven in the universe that he''d cherish for eternity.

    The embrace of the four became that of three after a minute or so as Elena quietly left the room and gave Rose and Ruyue their time.

    After all, she''d had plenty of time alone with Damien before the Grand Assembly. Now wasn''t the time to be selfish.

    ''Last time, I left on a bad note. I''m not going to act so selfishly anymore.''

    She had a true bond with the two women she called sisters, and just as much as Damien, she felt the weight of it when she reunited with them.

    They were family, and there was no need to be selfish around family.

    Even after Elena left, the embrace of the three didn''t end for a very long time.

    They sat in silence and enjoyed each others'' presence, a pleasure they''d long forgotten.

    And at a certain point, Damien felt the side of his chest getting wet.

    ''Take some time and be alone with her. Come see me once you''re sure she''s happy.''

    Damien''s eyes widened as he heard the voice that entered his head.

    He looked down with furrowed brows, but shook his head with a smile in the end.

    He left a soft kiss on Rose''s head, and in the next moment, he and Ruyue vanished from the Real ne.

    Rose was left on her own, but the expression on her face showed nothing but pure happiness.

    The growth she''d experienced in the past two years allowed her to ovee many of her insecurities. The misconceptions she had about her "duty" as a first wife or her "status" among the harem disappeared entirely as she got closer to Ruyue, and she realized that all her previous worries were meaningless.

    In a sense, she reached the same conclusion as Elena.

    What need was there to bring things like status or position into matters of family?

    That was precisely what led her father''s harem to ruin.

    Her husband, the man she loved, and her sisters, the women who would stand by her until the ends of time, were the most important people in the world to her.

    In front of them, there was no need for pretenses.

    Coincidentally enough, the dynamic that would bring harmony to their family wasn''t formed through time together, it was created through individual birth.

    As they grew more powerful and obtained a greater understanding of the universe''s truths and reality, they also began to understand the value of rtionships.

    Wasn''t Blood Asura Holy Land the perfect example of what happened if one let them go?

    A future where they cared for nobody but themselves, where they were willing to sell their souls for power, was not a future any of them wished to see.

    Therefore, each and every one of them threw away their personal grievances, their selfishness, and their greed.

    From this point forth, they would be a symbol of unity.

 Chapter 1030 Unity [2]

    ?

    The setting was an area simr to a one-bedroom apartment hidden somewhere in the Sanctuary''s many dimensions.

    Two people arrived in this ce, embraced in each other''s arms.

    Ruyue lost control by the time they arrived.

    Silent tears streamed down her face and dampened Damien''s shirt as she dug her face into his chest and hugged him tighter.

    Damien responded in kind, touching his forehead to hers.

    He didn''t say anything yet. He noticed when they were in Elena''s room earlier that she was being extremely quiet and was just as concerned about her as Rose.

    He understood what Ruyue was going through more clearly than anyone else.

    After all, he held a piece of her soul.

    As Ruyue became closer and closer to the natural force of Yin, her demeanor also experienced a change, bing far colder and less expressive, almost like how she was before she met Damien.

    However, the change wasn''t a negative, it merely meant her immersion with her Laws was far higher than the average person, a testament to her talent.

    Ruyue was someone who didn''t expose her feelings to anyone.

    Rose could read her thoughts through her expressionless facade due to their closeness, but even she couldn''t bring Ruyue to emote like a normal human.

    Ruyue as a person mirrored ice, yet, her love burned powerfully within her heart,

    That was where she put all her emotions.

    When she saw Damien again, she wanted to let it all out, but in her core, she wasn''t someone who could show emotion in front of other people.

    When she and Damien were finally alone, the dam blocking those emotions broke into millions of tiny pieces, and everything Ruyue had been holding since their separation was poured out in full.

    Damien brushed his hands through her hair gently as she cried.

    Even he was forced to reinforce the mana protection in his eyes to make sure he didn''t cry.

    His emotions were connected to hers, but he didn''t know how to calm her agitated state.

    As he thought of various ways to cheer her up, Ruyue pulled away from his chest and lightly grabbed his cor.

    She was a tall woman, standing at 5 feet 10 inches, and she only slightly needed to tilt her head to look directly into his eyes.

    Yet, the subtlety of her movement made it all the more mesmerizing.

    Damien stared into those beautiful golden eyes, slightly puffy from crying, and immediately got trapped in them.

    He stood there in a daze, admiring Ruyue''s beauty until she finally spoke up.

    "You¡­" she said, her voice barely over a whisper.

    "You still owe me."

    Damien raised his brow at her unexpected words.

    "I owe you? From when?"

    "You don''t remember?"

    Ruyue made an extremely cute pouting expression as she spoke, something Damien never expected to see on her face.

    His smile was warmer than a spring breeze.

    "How could I remember? I let you win so often back then I forgot what the score was."

    "Stupid¡­"

    Ruyue pounded his chest lightly with a harrumph, turning her eyes back to his soon after.

    "No more hiding. I want to make it official," she finally said after a moment of hesitation.

    "Make it offi¡­you don''t mean¡­?" Damien''s eyes widened at the surprising request.

    Ruyue turned her head away, a rosy blush rising up her cheeks.

    "You did it with the two of them, but we were never able to take the final step¡­"

    Her words were almost imperceptibly soft, but Damien was someone who could perceive even what was truly imperceptible.

    His smile turned teasing.

    It looked like Ruyue was experiencing a bit of jealousy because of this matter.

    Plus, in the Cloud ne, the meaning of such an act was far more sacred and significant than it was in other ces.

    To someone who represented the Laws of Yin, the moment of connection was practically a supreme ritual that was equivalent to giving the other party their everything, no holds barred, for all eternity.

    For Ruyue to bring it up first, and so quickly¡­

    "What did I do with the two of them¡­?"

    Damien couldn''t stop the urge to tease her a bit, but before he could get a single glimpse of the expected response¡­

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    Ruyue pulled him by his cor and firmly nted her lips on his, deeply kissing him.

    Damien rapidly adapted to the change of pace, bringing his hands up to Ruyue''s face and pulling her deeper into him.

    He gently picked her up and walked over to the bed, gentlyying her down and climbing on top of her in a single motion.

    Ruyue was always the less dominant party in their rtionship, but for some reason, in these most important moments, she was always the one who took the lead.

    Since she had such determination, Damien couldn''t disappoint her, could he?

    He knew it too. He and Ruyue had grown out of their most difficult times together, and though they''d both long held the desire to be one, neither of them was sure if they were ready for it.

    It was mainly Ruyue''s issue, since she''d long known what it meant to give herself to a man.

    There was a reason why even her own father had lusted after her at one point.

    All of their plots had been thwarted by those who cared for her, but the scars left by their words and gazes needed time to heal.

    In fact, she''d wanted to take the final step before they left for Niflheim, but time and the situation with Elena and Rose didn''t allow it.

    Now, sheid on the bed, staring up into the eyes of the man she loved. She reached out her hands and caressed his face, assuring herself that this moment was real.

    She really couldn''t be saved.

    She wanted all of him, and she wanted it for eternity.

    She couldn''t stop herself from wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself up to taste his lips again.

    Damien''s movements became more daring as their kiss deepened. He ran his hands along her body, exploring its curves and gently removing the barriers that separated his skin from hers.

    Their clothes were gone soon enough, and Damien finally pulled away from their kiss, taking the opportunity to see Ruyue''s body in full for the first time ever.

    She was as enchanting as a starry night sky.

    Her hair, whiter than snow, spread across the bed under and behind her and painted a hypnotic backdrop that perfectly framed her beautiful face.

    Her eyes were slightly watery and filled with love and arousal, forming an extremely alluring picture that almost made it impossible for Damien to focus on the rest of her body.

    But he was d he managed to tear his gaze away.

    Ruyue had the body of a goddess. Her breasts wererge, perky, and perfectly shaped, and her slim waist curved into scrumptious hips and incredibly plump buns.

    Her legs were long, her skin was smooth and fair¡­did her perfection need more exnation?

    Damien finished admiring her god-given gifts and gave her one more deep kiss before he cupped herrge breasts in his hand, lowering his lips to the rosy pink cherries that decorated their peaks.

    His other hand snaked down her waist and found its way to a sacred garden that had never been witnessed by anyone else.

    Ruyue moaned sounds of heavenly bliss as she experienced pleasure she never knew existed, pleasure provided by the only man who would ever enter her sight.

    Damien gave her his everything. He explored every inch of his body with his hands, his mouth, and finally¡­

    He gently ced his dragon at the entrance of the cave it so deeply desired to enter.

    In this hidden ce away from any eyes, two lovers finally united as one.

    A unity that wouldn''t be broken for many, many hours toe.

 Chapter 1031 Unity [3]

    Chapter 1031 Unity [3]

    Damien and Ruyue''s battle didn''t end until many hourster, but even after finishing, they didn''t separate.

    In fact, Damien set up a time dtion in the space so they could have several days to themselves without having to bother with the outside world''s situation.

    Damien had a huge smile on his face the entire time as he foolishly reminisced on that first night, and as he watched Ruyue be more and more animated as the days passed, his expression only melted further.

    What was there to say about this time?

    Damien and Ruyue didn''t really do anything at all. They talked about many things as they shared their experiences, they talked about nonsensical things and reminisced on the past, and they sat around showing each other affection while living thefortable life of a married mortal couple.

    At the moment, Ruyue sat on the couch in the apartment, watching tv attentively with a bowl of popcorn in her arms.

    Meanwhile, Damien was in the nearby kitchen with a wry smile on his face as he watched her.

    ''The contrast between Ruyue''s celestial beauty and her NEET habits when she''s given the opportunity is scary.'' He thought to himself.

    Seriously, this girl really knew how to kick back and rx like a shut-in!

    ''Then again, Ruyue in nothing but an oversized shirt is an addictive sight.''

    Damien almost cut himself as he zed through ingredient prep and stared at her in a daze. Before he realized it, everything he needed was already done.

    ''Damn, I should''ve gone slower.''

    Damien regrettably turned away from the painting-like scene of Ruyue and turned on the stove, pouring oil into the pan and starting his creation.

    ''I haven''t cooked in a long time, but I don''t think my skills have deteriorated that much¡­well, let''s just try it!''

    Damien moved quicker than lightning, and gradually, an intoxicating smell spread through the apartment.

    Ruyue''s nose twitched when it reached her, and she immediately turned her eyes away from the tv.

    She jumped up from the couch and joined Damien in the kitchen, hugging his side as she watched him prepare the food.

    "Isn''t it time to go back yet?" She asked, hints of contradictory worry and reluctance in her voice.

    "Why? Are you missing the action?" Damien asked with a smile.

    "Not necessarily," Ruyue muttered, "I just¡­"

    "Aha, so it''s like that."

    Damien smiled to himself as he took the meat off the pan.

    "I guess you and Rose got quite close while I was away, eh? I didn''t think I''d see the day where you worried about her like this," he said teasingly.

    "Hmph, is it wrong that I don''t want my sister to suffer? She''s done too much for me to simply ignore her kindness!"

    "Alright, alright, I was just teasing you. Of course I''m going to spend ample time with Rose as well. You didn''t think I''d neglect her, did you?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    Ruyue looked away as if she couldn''t give a clear answer, making Damien feel endlessly wry.

    ''Maybe I really should go see her now¡­''

    He shook off the thought, finishing off his small show of cooking and ting the beautiful dishes he''d just made.

    They were ssic American burgers, one of Damien''sforts growing up. He''d already shown Ruyue and Rose the beauties of earth all the way back then, but in a moment like this, he wanted to bring a piece of his youth back to prominence.

    Besides, the scene of Ruyue trying to find a way to eat the burger without dirtying herself was possibly the cutest thing Damien had seen in the past decade.

    Nevertheless, the couple made their way to the dining table and dug into their food, light-heartedly conversing as they did and forming ns for the future now that they were back together again.

    They calmly spent their time until night fell, and after another show of passion and love, they finally got ready for bed.

    Damien looked over at Ruyue''s happily sleeping form on the bed next to him.

    While he wanted to spend more time with her, her previous words never left his heart.

    It had been three days in the Sanctuary, so a full day must''ve passed in Luxurion.

    A full day¡­

    ''Even if there are three days before the conference begins, it would be too terrible of me to visit Rose only at the end of that period.''

    He brushed his hand through Ruyue''s hair as he submerged himself in his thoughts, but soon enough, he felt her cool hands wrapping around his own.

    He looked down to find her looking back at him with an understanding smile.

    "Go. I am the one who told you to go in the first ce. Do you think I would get annoyed at you for actually leaving?"

    "But¡­"

    "No buts. We have all the time in the world to spend together, so for now, focus on properly reuniting with her. Big sister might not show it, but she''s been waiting for this moment more than anybody else."

    Damien sighed.

    "I get it," he said.

    "Ruyue, thank you."

    "Is there any need for that between us?" Ruyue quipped lightly.

    Damien smiled. Elena said the same line not long ago, didn''t she?

    It was really silly to see how these vastly different women all agreed on these smaller things.

    "No, there isn''t at all," he finally responded, leaning over and kissing Ruyue on the forehead.

    "I''ll take you to Theavel first so you can explore what your husband has been building all these years. Afterward, I have to cross the most important hurdle yet¡­"

    Facing Rose, a task far more challenging than fighting Demigods.

    He was slightly afraid of the moment, but if he didn''t do it, he wouldn''t be a man.

    Therefore, he firmed his will and moved.

    ***

    It became a question after seeing Damien''s attitude of just why he was so afraid to face Rose.

    After all, she was the first wife and also the most epting of the three. If anything, wouldn''t their reunion be the smoothest?

    This might''ve been the opinion of most people, but Damien was different.

    Because unlike them, he knew Rose. He knew her just as well as she knew him.

    Rose¡­was not a forgiving person.

    If anything, she could be considered an extremely vengeful person.

    Damien had left her alone for so long, disappearing without a trace over and over again. The worst part was, every time he came back, he''d brought a new wife for her to share her position with.

    Damien knew full well that Rose had no enmity towards Ruyue or Elena. She truly loved them like sisters.

    However, what about Damien?

    It wasn''t Ruyue''s fault she got charmed, nor was it Elena''s fault. Rose understood Damien''s appeal more than anyone else.

    It was he who couldn''t stop himself from entertaining other women and epting them, and it was he who did so while neglecting the ones he already had.

    Rose let these mistakes go when he was younger, but now that they''d matured, just how would she react?

    Damien was not afraid of being reprimanded.

    He was afraid of his actions breaking the trust between them.

 Chapter 1032 Unity [4]

    Chapter 1032 Unity [4]

    The rtionship between Damien and Rose was inexplicable, to say the least.

    It was filled with nuances and subtleties only understood by the two of them, to the point where an outsider would wonder how their love had managed tost until the current day.

    Rose was Damien''s first wife and first unfettered love in this life, and Damien was hers as well. The duo learned how to love and ept another into their lives together, an experience that brought them far closer than anyone could''ve expected.

    They fell for each other as teens, and their rtionshipsted through their twenties¡­

    But the actual time they''d spent together was quite negligible.

    Starting from the Cloud ne, Damien had almost been unable to stop moving from ce to ce, growing at a pace that nobody in the entire universe could match. As this happened, and as Elena and Ruyue were introduced into their rtionship, the time they spent with each other decreased even more until they rarely saw each other at all.

    Damien apologized for his actions that day before he left for Niflheim, but he never felt that this apology was good enough. He and Rose weren''t able to reach true closure before he was swept away into the Divine Realm.

    Naturally, this separation wasn''t his fault. If anyone was to be med, it was the Fifth Primal Sovereign.

    Because if it wasn''t for Damien''s interference in that heaven-shaking battle, the Human Domain would''ve lost several more Demigods, a loss they didn''t have the ability to take.

    Rose understood this as well as Damien, but neither of them could control human nature.

    Just as Damien feared their moment of reunion, Rose did too.

    Because they truly didn''t know what their love would look like after so much time had passed.

    They''d both changed greatly, and though their core personality traits were the same, their worldviews were far more evolved than they used to be.

    As people who understood the workings of this world and saw the sights it had to offer, could they still maintain that feeling that they originally captured together?

    What would happen if they couldn''t?

    Some might argue that this possibility was too minute for it to be such a concern to them. With the lifespan of a powerful practitioner, a separation of several years meant nothing.

    There were couples who''d be separated for thousands of years at a time and still maintain their love.

    Only, Damien and Rose were still young. They were still on that journey together to understand love.

    To them who lived every day minute by minute, hour by hour, a separation of several years was equivalent to an eternity, especially one that took ce during this period of rapid growth.

    Nevertheless, they were older now. Rose was in herte twenties, while Damien was a few years into his thirties already.

    It was a bit strange since they started out the same age, but regardless, it was a little toote for them to just run away, right?

    Damien entered Elena''s room in Luxurion again and saw Rose''s figure sitting peacefully on a lone chair, looking through a nearby projection of the starry sky beyond.

    She was ethereal.

    Rose was different from Ruyue and Elena. Her beauty didn''t pop out if she was in a crowd, but if one was able to see her like this, in her own environment, it was impossible to find someone more enchanting.

    As Damien watched, Rose noticed his presence and turned her eyes to him subtly with a smile.

    "All done?" She asked.

    "Not quite, but the rest can be der," he responded, walking up to the bed and copsing on it.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Rose gazed at him curiously.

    The awkwardness he carried to this day reminded her that he was the same man she''d fallen in love with, despite the fact that he seemedpletely different.

    Rose was very perceptive due to her connection with the concept of reality itself, and in her eyes, Damien genuinely looked like he existed in a world beyond the rest of them.

    That back was strong, it was domineering and left no room for doubt.

    Yet, it was the loneliest back she''d ever seen, reminding her of those days she saw her father listlessly gazing into the sky.

    Men who shouldered such burdens needed women by their sides to keep them grounded, but if one thought about themself from this perspective, it seemed more like a job than a rtionship.

    Perhaps it was like that for Rose. She ended up viewing her role in Damien''s life as a job, her duty.

    She''d gotten rid of the misguided notions she used to hold, but she couldn''t get rid of this feeling, like she had no worth if she didn''t contribute.

    But it was strange.

    When she was in his presence, these feelings were suppressed by a more powerful force.

    The force of love that had existed within her since she was young.

    Why were they together?

    It was because they loved each other. Did they need to define this love and find a reason for it to exist?

    Did Damien give her a reason to seek this answer, to put such strict definitions on their love?

    No.

    It could be said to be the habit of someone who once lived as royalty.

    Plus, it simply didn''t matter.

    All he knew was that Rose''s presence alone was able to give him Damien was unaware of Rose''splex thoughts.

    Because to him, it was guilt that held him back. He never doubted his love for her nor did he question what his role in her life was.

    It wasn''t because he didn''t care, but because his love for the three women he was lucky enough to have was one of the only things in his life that he held in absolute certainty.

    He would never allow himself to doubt it, for doing so would break the foundation of his emotions.

    Plus, it simply didn''t matter.

    All he knew was that Rose''s presence alone was able to give himfort like no other and remove his worries, and he wanted to be the same for her.

    He shifted his head slightly as he noticed the edge of the bed depressing.

    He sat up, his shoulder brushing against Rose''s as he looked out at the projection she''d been watching so intently before he arrived.

    "How was it?" He asked vaguely.

    "¡­it was hard," Rose responded quietly.

    "Do you regret it?"

    Rose finally turned her head to face him.

    "I don''t," she stated firmly.

    Damien smiled.

    "That''s nice to hear."

    The rtionship between Damien and Rose was inexplicable.

    Perhaps there would nevere a day when another person could understand or rationalize their feelings for each other.

    But regardless of the doubts or negative feelings in their hearts, they never wavered or questioned their connection.

    Because Rose could clearly see the thick and vibrant red string connecting Damien to her, materializing his deep and unshakable affection for her.

    And in a different yet simr way, Damien could intuitively feel the same feelings within Rose.

    This reunion, when it came to appeasing, was the easiest for Damien, because he and Rose didn''t need words of affection or words of apology. Those were things of the past.

    Yet it was also the most unfulfilling.

    Maybe those things weren''t needed, but what kind of sane person wouldn''t crave them from their partner?

    The odd atmosphere between them was filled with tension of many different kinds.

    Tension that was on the verge of exploding.

 Chapter 1033 Conference [1]

    ?

    What happened between Damien and Rose from that point forth was known by none but the two of them.

    The room was isted in space from the rest of the Real ne and, while they did spend some time on physical intimacy, it wasn''t their focus.

    The only thing known about what happened in that room was that Damien and Rose almost felt like a single entity when they left, as if their souls had truly be one.

    Nevertheless, Damien had spent a full two days, one for Rose and one for Ruyue, out of the three provided before the conference.

    Since he was in the Sanctuary for most of that time, he was able to avoid the eyes looking for him like predators, but his disappearance only led to an increase in these people''s interest.

    After all, Damien had performed many impossible feats in Holy Light Star. The only times he was invisible to the experts outside was when he and Xue''er were in the central region of the Holy Light Tomb and when he fell into Hassan''s restriction.

    His fight against Su Ren, his use of the Sanctuary, his impossible healing ability and mystical techniques, all of these things were clearly seen by arge crowd of onlookers.

    And Damien suddenly became the hottest topic.

    This was the natural reaction of all living beings to the unknown. It was true that the younger generation was powerful and worthy of admiration, but most of the important characters among them were already well-known in the universe, and even if they weren''t, their origins could be traced.

    Contrasting them was Damien Void, a man who mysteriously appeared in Grand Heavens Boundary and made his advent by cruising through the universe unrestrained, making a name for himself in all corners of the universe.

    In these three days where Damien''s name was often discussed, his entire history in the wider universe was pieced together.

    From the very first moment he entered the Dawn World to his adventures in Hidden Death Valley, Calypto, Eien, Beast Emperor Star, and even the Void Corridor, his "Legend" that always remained separated into its individual parts was formed into a cohesive whole.

    And it was a daunting whole to look at.

    Even more conversation took ce regarding the traitors who attacked during the mystic realm opening.

    Their fates needed to be decided.

    It was too easy to kill them and be done with it. Unfortunately, it was highly likely that they had restrictions on their bodies and souls that would prevent them from giving any useful information.

    As such, it was finally decided that Supreme Soul Pce and the Royal Demon n would jointly handle them, using their methods of physical and spiritual torture to hopefully evade the restrictions.

    While the atmosphere was filled with anticipation for what was toe, Damien spent most of his time with his wives.

    After reuniting with them individually, naturally, the next step was to spend time all together.

    He only left a few times, returning Xiao Yue, who was really unable to hide her unwillingness, to Su Ren and taking care of a few other menial tasks.

    As Damienfortably sat with his three women and enjoyed the calm breeze of Theavel''s prairies, he closed his eyes and sent his perception into his own body.

    He searched a bit before he found the new trait he''d gained. Though it didn''t have to be tethered to a part of his body, it did have a physical presence for him to grasp just like all his other traits.

    For Law Controller, this presence was in his fingertips.

    He sent his mana into them and felt the trait, allowing it to activate.

    And instantly, he was hit with a wave of severe pain.

    ''Khhh¡­!'' He groaned inwardly, not showing an outward change in expression so as to not disrupt the current peace.

    His vision blurred as he was sent to a nondescript white room. In it, seven worlds floated together.

    ''These are¡­the Infected Source Worlds?''

    Damien''s eyes widened. It seemed Hassan lost control over Holy Light Star when he transferred the trait, but the Infected Source Worlds were much firmer and didn''t disappear from his grasp easily.

    ''I didn''t think it could work like this. The worlds are bound to the trait itself rather than Hassan''s body, unlike how my worlds are bound to me and will stay with me even if I lose the Celestial ss.''

    It was unfortunate for Hassan, as if he had been able to transfer his trait earlier, he would''ve been freed from his endless suffering, but to Damien, it was a ray of hope.

    He smiled to himself. ''It looks like your impact on the world¡­will never be forgotten.''

    With a slight flexing of his fingers, Damien poured mana into the connection between the trait and the seven worlds.

    He felt a constant stream of pain entering his body, allowing him to understand what drove Hassan to insanity.

    ''But to me, this is just another day.''

    Damien weed the pain and watched as the seven world projections lit up and shined powerfully.

    ''Good.''

    He slowly opened his eyes and left that space.

    For now, he didn''t want the Infected Source Worlds to break down.

    Letting them be destroyed would only startle the snake. At this juncture, it was imperative for Grand Heavens Boundary to hold its cards close to its chest.

    For now, he would take the pain on himself, and when the time was right¡­

    A grin spread on his face.

    ''It''s been such a long time since we had a definitive advantage against the Nox. This time, we may have a chance of sess.''

    Damien stood up on the small hill where he and the three women were rxing.

    He gazed out into the fields of Theavel, past the happily livingmon people and towards the only barren stretch of the central continent.

    There they were.

    Arranged in orderly formations, covered in armor and holding powerful Chaos-rank weapons Damien had gathered over time, were over five hundred thousand troops.

    They were Theavel''s army, an army that called itself the Void Army, to Damien''s horror and anguish.

    It was mostly made up of 4th ss soldiers, with an elite unit of over 5,000 extreme peak masters.

    Of course, as they had limited time to train, these masters didn''t reach past the 4th revolution, but their existence was enough.

    After all, to Damien''s absolute surprise, all of the 5 Emperors had risen to the High Commander level!

    Meanwhile, Elvira herself was only a single step away from bing an Executioner.

    ''It''s a shame I can''t use them freely yet. Depending on how the situation evolves after the conference, I can slowly reveal my cards.''

    This was Damien''s personal army. They''d been training essentially since Damien first took in those from 3000 Beast Mountain Range, and had gradually grown to its current size.

    Damien knew they wanted to experience the bloody battles of the outside world just as much as he wanted them to, and he genuinely couldn''t wait for the day they finally made themselves known.

    ''But, it''s good that their increases in strength are solidifying the Sanctuary''s universalw. Once I start forming more worlds in here, maybe their training speed will increase even more¡­''

    Damien had a hunch.

    He was somewhat certain that his existence was able to boost the training speeds of those around him.

    The Sanctuary was the best example, but so were the people he held close like his wives.

    The strength shown by the Human Domain pleasantly surprised him, but it didn''t seem natural.

    If his inference was true, his identity held far more secrets than he originally anticipated!

 Chapter 1034 Conference [2]

    ?

    ''Haa, when ites to the Void, is it even worth being surprised anymore? As I learn more about it, it seems more and more like it can just do anything it wants.''

    Damien shook off the thought for now. After all, whether it was true or not wasn''t important as long as his people could keep improving as fast as they were.

    Right now, the time to idle had already passed.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena stood around Damien as he teleported their group back to the Real ne.

    They exited Elena''s room as a unit and made their way through the halls of Luxurion until they finally reached the main conference hall.

    "Brat, don''t reveal yourself yet. You''ve put in good work in the time I haven''t seen you, offending so many people! Nice work!"

    A sound transmission immediately entered Damien''s ear, and he couldn''t stop himself from grinning.

    "Damn old man," he sent back, "don''t think you''ll be able to talk down to me for much longer. I''m almost there, you know?"

    "Hahaha! Don''t overestimate yourself! Even when you ascend, I''ll still beat you all the same!"

    Damien smirked.

    "We''ll see about that," he responded cockily, ending the conversation.

    After sending mental transmissions to his three women about what Tian Yang told him, he naturally separated from them, as if he''d only met them in the hallway moments ago.

    He didn''t need to have a long talk with Tian Yang to understand the situation.

    For now, the fact that Damien came from the Human Domain was being hidden both for his and their protection.

    Since Damien had enemies like Immortal Blood Asura who had supreme influence in the universe, it was certain the Human Domain would face trouble if his identity was revealed.

    It wasn''t like Damien didn''t have allies. In fact, he had far more allies than enemies.

    Unfortunately, now was a time when these allies wouldn''t have the capability to provide adequate existence since they''d be fighting on the frontlines soon enough.

    ''Still, my identity can be considered a hole card. The Human Domain is mocked due to the inferiorityplexes of those in power, but it is respected just as much as it is disdained. When the timees¡­''

    Damien touched his chest, feeling the absence of a certain force with a grin s

    ''¡­haha, I can''t wait to see the expression on your face when you realize it.''

    Damien shook off his thoughts and walked through the banquet hall, sinctly greeting those who greeted him and exchanging some light words with the people he was or wanted to be familiar with.

    His sophistry skills had improved greatly after taking in Hassan''s memories. Though the reason was cruel, Hassan was someone who was forced to learn how to please people and form connections for the sake of survival.

    Damien disyed an eloquence that waspletely unexpected by those he spoke to, and their opinions of him were naturally greatly positive.

    As this kind of misceneous socializing continued, the Heavenly n moved behind the scenes to prepare for theing event.

    Luciel sat at the head of a conference table, the same table used in the discussion that brought the Grand Assembly into existence.

    His hands were intertwined under his chin as his elbows rested on the table. He panned his gaze across the surrounding Angels, his mysterious smile back on his face like nothing went wrong.

    "Has everything been prepared?" He asked softly.

    "Yes, leader. All provisions have been set in ce and are awaiting your call," an Angel responded with a bow.

    "Good," Luciel said definitively.

    "Leader, will they¡­reallye?" Another Angel asked hesitantly.

    "They?" Luciel repeated with a slight twinkle in his eyes.

    "They will surelye."

    "Then¡­"

    "You wish to ask why I do not provide them more help?"

    The questioning Angel nodded, unable to hold her curiosity.

    "Hmm¡­" Luciel hummed obscurely.

    "Say, do you understand how body tempering works?"

    The questioning Angel''s eyes widened, and those around her couldn''t help but mimic her reaction.

    Did Luciel¡­really mean what he just said?

    If so, it seemed even the conference wouldn''t be able to take ce peacefully!

    ***

    Somewhere in the Divine Realm, several figures appeared from the folds of space, standing together as they gazed into the distance, where Luxurion brightly shone.

    "Finally arrived!" A woman among them eximed, stretching her arms over her head.

    "Hmm, it is not as impressive as expected," the man next to her stated.

    There were five young men and women among them, four of whom carefreely conversed in the starry sky. Meanwhile, their leader didn''t take his gaze off Luxurion.

    ''Lord Father said I must go, but for what reason? Such a gathering is not worthy of me.''

    He didn''t deign to entertain those in Luxurion in the slightest, but his father''s orders were invible.

    ''Perhaps there truly will be something¡­? Lord Father is not the type to do things needlessly.''

    His face was painted with a permanent frown, but he moved regardless of his opinions.

    Behind his group, hundreds of shadows materialized in the void. They were led by a man with an unfathomable aura and an appearance like an aged version of the man from earlier.

    As he watched his son move towards Luxurion, a wide and unreadable smile spread on his face.

    ''I wonder¡­will you enjoy my gift this time? I truly hope you can live up to my expectations¡­my little Seed.''

    The group moved quietly, following their geniuses in the dark.

    Trouble was soon to descend on Luxurion.

    ***

    The day passed rapidly in the rtively harmonious atmosphere that nketed Luxurion.

    No forces took the time to create conflict, and those who had prior conflict were kept away from each other by the Angels of the Heavenly n for the sake of peaceful continuation.

    By the time the day ended, many forces began to filter through the Sky Castle.

    Most returned to their rooms and dwellings for the night, understanding that their role here was no longer important. At most, they''d be able to take advantage of Luxurion''s facilities for a bit longer.

    However, the rest moved to a new section of the Sky Castle that had been restricted from them.

    By decree of the Heavenly n, aside from the Holy Land level influences, 2 influences from each sector were allowed to attend the conference,

    This led to a number upward of 500 people going deeper into Luxurion until they arrived at an atrium with an open roof that showcased the starry sky above.

    Many seats were arranged in the space that was sectioned off into seven areas reserved for each sector.

    Naturally, the Human Domain area was the smallest of them all, but this was not a sight of mockery, but one of reality.

    After all, unlike the other sectors that sent several forces, the Human Domain only sent one group of ten.

    Nevertheless, as the experts and younger generation flooded the space and took their ces, the atmosphere around them experienced a great change.

    Now, the calm and peaceful times in the Sky Castle were over.

    It was time for them to decide the fate of their universe.

    The true Grand Assembly was on the verge of beginning.

 Chapter 1035 Conference [3]

    Chapter 1035 Conference [3]

    There were roughly 5 to 6 Holy Lands in every sector aside from the Human Domain, a total of 40. Along with the subsidiary forces that joined them, there were a total of 53 influences in the atrium.

    After they''d all taken their seats and organized themselves, Luciel and his fellows from the Heavenly n, as well as Lucifer and his group, took their ces in the head of the space.

    They were the arbiters of this conference, a privilege granted to them by their position as the strongest influences in the universe.

    "My fellow practitioners, now that we have arrived in this ce, it is time to drop all personal feelings and n for the future," Luciel said, standing up and facing those around him.

    "There are three main subjects that this discussion will cover. Our counterattack n is the most important, followed by internal problems, and the nurturing of the younger generation. The order in which we address them will be decided through a vote that we will hold now."

    Luciel snapped his fingers and a formation activated, lifting dark barriers between each group so they couldn''t influence each other''s decisions.

    After establishing privacy, he listed the topics and allowed those present to cast their votes.

    When the barriers fell, he spoke again.

    "Then, we will begin with a discussion of our internal struggles."

    A few whispers spread through the audience as they questioned why talk of the younger generation didn''t start the convention, but they didn''t cause a fuss.

    The topic of internal struggles didn''t pertain to the rtionships between influences. These personal matters were left for them to sort out by themselves.

    The only exception was if their conflicts impacted the big picture.

    The main point of consideration was traitors.

    Everyone had surely experienced it on their own, but the raid on Holy Light Star was a true eye-opener to just how corrupted the universe''s internal structure was.

    There were over a thousand influences that were wiped out due to their participation in the previous event, and the fact that the Nox were willing to easily discard so many rats was a testament to the sheer number of outlets they had!

    Luxurion was able to locate traitors, but not many other locations had the same specifications as the Sky Castle, and recently¡­

    "We''ve found that it has be difficult to detect the breath of Nox Mana in the defectors. They must''ve evolved some new technology or technique that is at least Demigod-rank for it to be able to fool our ancestor-level figures," a man said solemnly.

    He was a Demigod from Supreme Soul Pce, a Holy Land specialized in soul and spirit techniques. If anyone had the right to speak on detection, it was them.

    The eye techniques of Supreme Soul Pce were second only to the Ancient God n, after all.

    And after the demigod spoke up, Di, who was also in attendance, raised his voice in support.

    "The Ancient God n has also noticed this issue. We were not able to see through the traitors who infiltrated Luxurion until after they had been captured."

    "Has everyone else been experiencing the same?" Luciel asked, eliciting a wave of nods and murmurs of agreement.

    "I see¡­what is the opinion of Hephaestus?"

    A group of dwarves stood up in response. Their height wasn''t too great, but their builds were muscr like giants, an oddbination.

    "The smitheries have already been notified of the issue. We''ll start working on a solution right away," the dwarf at their head promised.

    "Very well. Until then, we will have to keep a strict watch for prospective traitors. The best temporary solution is the same as we''ve always done, universal checks and bnces, however, we must be more domineering in our approach," Luciel concluded.

    "Wait¡­"

    A voice came from the Human Domain section.

    It was Tian Yang who stood up to speak.

    "Being domineering at this juncture will startle the snakes. Now that Luxurion''s attack has failed, we have the opportunity to y arrogant and let the traitors reveal themselves."

    He panned his eyes across the atrium, not even pausing briefly as his eyes scanned past Damien, who stood with Hidden Death Valley, until his gaze connected with Luciel''s.

    "The greatest advantage we have is our perceived weakness. Now is the time for us to hold our cards close to our chest and prepare for the perfect chance to attack."

    The line of reasoning was very simr to what Damien thought when he chose to maintain the Infected Source Worlds, and in fact, it was Damien himself who urged Tian Yang to speak.

    After all, his current status was that of a heavenly genius, a member of the younger generation who didn''t have enough strength to speak in a conversation like this.

    He was nning to maintain this status for now, but he was also aware that his deeds had already been spread and the people here understood how much of the universe he''d seen.

    It was just, Damien didn''t want to take his chances this early. He still wanted to see how the situation would pan out.

    Tian Yang''s opinion was rtively well-received by the other sectors, and even Luciel gave a nod of approval.

    "This is a good idea, however, such an operation cannot be carried out without cooperation. Everyone needs to watch their own sectors in tandem andmunicate information efficiently so we can assess the proper timing mentioned by the Void Old Immortal."

    Luciel said a few more words, and several other experts offered their own opinions. As minutes passed, the structure of a n began to arise.

    At this juncture, Luciel brought up the most important aspect of correcting Grand Heavens Boundary''s internal situation:

    "Infected Source Worlds. After the destruction of the Elven Domain and Eden, there are seven remaining. If we can destroy them, we can eliminate the threat of new traitors and focus on the ones already existing."

    "Ah¡­" Parsiel suddenly gasped, realizing he''d forgotten to tell Luciel an important fact.

    Lucifer spoke up in his stead.

    "Actually, there are only 6 Infected Source Worlds left."

    His eyes turned to the Human Domain group in amusement.

    "Isn''t that right?"

    Tian Yang grinned.

    "That is right. Our Human Domain forces destroyed the Infected Source World in our domain roughly 2 years ago. Since then, we have been focusing on eliminating traitors and cleaning the domain¡­"

    "¡­at this time, we can proudly dere that the Human Domain is free of Nox influence," Tang Lingzi finished his words.

    It was the second shocking revtion of the conference, and perhaps the greatest one so far.

    Admiration wasn''t enough to describe the feeling the crowd felt hearing this news.

    To thoroughly root out the Nox from an entire domain was unheard of. After all, even if one could kill every traitor, as long as the Nox upied a world in the domain, new traitors would always appear to rece them!

    Infected Source Worlds were strange and unexinable. Even if one killed every Nox produced by it, halting its production or destroying the world totally had been impossible to this point.

    This was due to the convoluted worldws they held,ws that protected the core facilities of the worlds and gave them an ability bordering on immortality.

    But unlike the Infected Source Worlds of other domains, the unnamed world was filled with surprises, such as the Fifth Primal Sovereign and the untouched World Core that Damien stole.

    The influence of Hassan''sw bindings on it was far weaker than those on other worlds, and the situation in the unnamed world was vague to begin with.

    While the Human Domain''s victory could be considered a product of supreme luck¡­

    Nobody else needed to know that, did they?

 Chapter 1036 Conference [4]

    Chapter 1036 Conference [4]

    The Human Domain''s news had a rtively negative impact on the rest of the universe, mainly for the reason that it gave them hope that their Infected Source Worlds could also be destroyed.

    However, worlds with infected cores like Calypto were usually unsalvageable, which was the reason why Damien''s purifying and binding of Calypto held such deep meaning.

    Nevertheless, fate hadn''t abandoned them yet. Perhaps previously their hope would''ve led to their downfall, but the situation of the Infected Source Worlds had changed.

    Damien smiled as he listened to the various conversations that took ce as ns began to form to get rid of the scourges of the universe in one fell swoop.

    From the looks of it, this conference would be rtively harmonious for a bit.

    Damien could clearly feel the killing intent trying to break his mind subtly emanating from Blood Asura Holy Land, and he could also feel the surrounding experts quietly paying attention while pretending they didn''t sense anything.

    ''But their killing intent is just because of our grudge, I guess. Surprisingly enough, there''s no Nox mana on them.''

    Unlike the Ancient God n and Supreme Soul Pce, Damien''s special eyes weren''t inhibited by the Nox''s new methods.

    the same person who couldn''t stand politics and sophistry.

    ''The major influences aren''t stupid enough to directly submit He wasn''t able to see any traitors in the atrium, but he''d seen plenty of dark characters while he was entertaining those who wished to speak to him the day before.

    If not to scout them out, why would Damien ever attend such a dreary function? Regardless of his newfound eloquence, he was still the same person who couldn''t stand politics and sophistry.

    ''The major influences aren''t stupid enough to directly submit themselves to the Nox. At most, they''ll use lesser disciples without much status as scapegoats to hold the connection for them. If they have dealings with the Nox, it''d be more simr to business than subordination.''

    It was difficult. The people he was currently dealing with had been at the top of the universe for long enough that they knew how to control their expressions and auras to give nothing away, and their geniuses were uninformed in the first ce.

    He couldn''t glean anything from them, nor did he care for the current conversation.

    He had his own ns for the universe''s traitors, and he was sure they wouldn''t escape his grasp.

    Nevertheless, Damien paid slight attention to the affairs being discussed and faded into the background as the topic shifted and morphed.

    Finally, after almost 6 hours of discussion, the basis of a n was formted and the next topic came into conversation.

    The ns for counterattacking.

    It was a natural segue from clearing the Infected Source Worlds. How were they going to keep the Nox from interfering while they made such a big move?

    It was clear they couldn''t be passive anymore. Under Luciel and Lucifer''s guidance, the Holy Lands coordinated the forces they held and the forces under them, distributing them through Eien and the starry sky.

    The crux of the n was to form an absolute that was impossible to prate and line its edge with an unending stream of attacks that didn''t give the Nox a chance to interrupt them.

    It was a solid n on paper, but it was hard to say how the execution would go.

    Regardless, there was nothing to do but wait.

    ''It''s annoying. Things take too much time to happen, and it''s not just because of politics. Maybe I should¡­''

    A sudden idea came to mind. Damien understood what he could do for the universe immediately, something that didn''t need to wait for ages and ages toe to fruition.

    ''Coming here was really beneficial. Even though these conversations don''t affect me much, I''m able to visualize the future much better because of them.''

    Damien had never experienced this before. He was always alone, and when he joined an influence, he never cared to reach its highest level and be a part of these conversations.

    He finally felt like he was part of the universe, wholly and truly.

    And as he rationalized this feeling, the topic made its final change.

    It had been an entire day, and the allocation of forces hadn''t made much progress. This was the stage when the Holy Lands fought their subtle fights and attempted topete needlessly, and as Luciel and Lucifer weren''t willing to deal with it at an important time like this, they postponed the allocation discussion to ater time.

    The final act of the three Luciel mentioned began, and fierce discussion began centering around the younger generation.

    It was curious. Every influence was naturally biased towards their own geniuses, but after the Holy Light Star showed them how those geniuses ranked against their peers, they were no longer able to show that bias.

    Instead, it was a generally healthy process where the majority of opinions matched.

    Until Damien''s name came up.

    Damien Void, a name that had been spoken almost egregiously in the past few days and weeks, was a genius among geniuses, a man who came out of nowhere and matched the universe''s top genius in strength.

    Once his history was put together, his age was also approximated.

    Damien Void was definitely not 40 yet.

    It was an inconceivable notion that was somehow absolute fact.

    He was a genius that all people unanimously agreed must be supported.

    Or at least, that''s how most thought it was going to be.

    "Wait," a man stood up in the Blood Asura Holy Land section and raised his voice.

    His name was Adrian, one of Immortal Blood Asura''s many sons and the current spokesperson for their Holy Land.

    "I understand what this young man represents, but we should not put too much effort into him. His origins are unknown and he has shown a history of leaving his allegiances to pursue strength. His loyalty cannot be trusted."

    The man''s words seemed dubious to those who appreciated Damien''s talent, but surprisingly enough, several voices of agreement rose to follow them.

    "In this critical period, it is better to support geniuses from our Holy Lands who have valid backing. Everyone here knows Hidden Death Valley has no standard for the disciples they ept! If¡­"

    Damien smiled inexplicably as he tuned out the man''s words and turned his gaze to the old man who sat behind him.

    ''So this is how you want to y?'' He thought to himself in amusement.

    Immortal Blood Asura acted like he didn''t feel Damien''s gaze, while the man who spoke turned to face Damien and furiously pointed at him.

    "¡­how can we know this man isn''t a traitor?!"

    He finished his words with a bang, eliciting several gasps.

    "You should control your children."

    Damien responded within the silence, kicking his feet up on the table before him and grinning.

    "Children?" The man repeated in confusion.

    "Hush, I''m not talking to you."

    "You¡­!"

    "Seriously, control him. You don''t want to be making baseless usations, right?"

    Immortal Blood Asura turned his eyes indifferently, ncing at his son.

    Adrian stopped immediately, quick to the point where he genuinely choked on his words.

    "Quite arrogant," Immortal Blood Asura uttered.

    His voice wasn''t loud, but it filled the space with terrifying energy.

    "Are you going to deny his words?"

    Damien shrugged confidently, not bending under the pressure.

    "Why wouldn''t I? Are you going to keep pushing this bullshit about me being a traitor?"

    Immortal Blood Asura''s lips curved just slightly.

    "I have no reason not to. After all, I witnessed your betrayal personally."

 Chapter 1037 Conference [5]

    ?

    "I have no reason not to. After all, I witnessed your betrayal personally."

    Immortal Blood Asura''s words shook the atrium, but they weren''t allowed to fester for too long.

    "Immortal Blood Asura, do you mean to insult me? Damien is my own student. Do you think I cannot sense the difference between a young hero and a traitor?"

    Alucard was the first to speak up, coldly ring at Immortal Blood Asura.

    "Indeed, Immortal Blood Asura, do not think you can use your status to harm the younger generation. Damien is the savior of our n. He is not some traitor scum."

    The Golden Dragon Emperor also made a stand, and his words were soon supported by several more influences.

    The Ancient God n, Demon Sealing Pantheon, Azure Rain Star, Fallen Star Holy Land, Prismatic Sun Holy Land, and even Heaven''s Army''s representatives voiced their support for Damien.

    Right, he didn''t just travel the universe, he left his mark on every corner he passed by, creating connections with countless forces and participating in even more battles against the Nox.

    using him of being a traitor?

    It was aughable thing. Why would a traitorous man thwart the Nox''s ns with such determination over and over again?

    Immortal Blood Asura''s expression soured with every force that stood up, but he didn''t lose hisposure.

    Until the final one made their stand.

    "The crux of your problem is the fact that you don''t know his origin, right?"

    Tian Yang grinned, causing Damien''s eyes to widen.

    In his eyes, the Human Domain could be defended with enough effort, but his disciple could never be defamed like this.

    "Damien Void is a disciple of my Celestial Star Pce, the expert titled Heaven''s Wrath due to his monstrous abilities, the husband of the princess of the Adire Empire of Apeiron, and a proud native of our Human Domain!"

    Damien blushed a bit inwardly at the exaggerated introduction, but he kept his confident expression on the outside as countless eyes turned to him incredulously.

    Since Tian Yang chose to reveal their rtionship, he naturally wasn''t going to back down!

    "That''s how it is," he said with a smirk, his eyes tauntingly meeting Immortal Blood Asura''s.

    "I''m an earthling born and raised. Isn''t that crazy? The genius you put so much value in is from the domain you disdain the most. I almost want tough at the ridiculousness of it all."

    The atrium went from silence to an explosion of murmurs and isted conversations in a single instant.

    Did this even make sense?!

    The Human Domain had already proven itself on Holy Light Star. Their younger generation held the record for most Demigod-rank treasures collected during the expedition, and now it turned out that their top genius was an even greater monster!

    The reputation they held before their fall suddenly appeared in the minds of these experts.

    A dwelling of heroes, a domain that only raised Emperors.

    How domineering!

    Nevertheless, Immortal Blood Asura''s sour expression didn''t stop him from pursuing the matter.

    He didn''t care about Arthur or Reavus'' deaths in the slightest, but he couldn''t allow this brat to continue humiliating him and his Holy Land!

    The Blood Asura Holy Land was always known as the most fearsome of the Demigod-level influences. This was because of their arrogant and cruel behavior that consisted of doing whatever was necessary for their own personal gain.

    So many had suffered under their hand, but they''d never suffered at the hands of another!

    "Gentlemen, do not be so quick to voice your support. As I proimed earlier, I personally witnessed his transformation. It will only take an in-depth scan of his body with your awareness to realize the truth."

    As he spoke, he turned to Luciel and Lucifer, who nced between him and Damien with slightly agitated frowns on their faces.

    It was clear that Immortal Blood Asura was trying to oppress someone he didn''t like, but the certainty he showed wasn''t normal.

    There was truly a chance that Damien had converted and found a way to hide the mana in his body.

    However, it was impossible for him to deflect the perception of a Demigod who was bent on checking his body.

    The only problem was, if they didn''t have his consent to undergo the search, such an action would vite the universal restriction on Divinities.

    "What do you think?" Luciel asked Damien without an ounce of enthusiasm.

    Damien shrugged with the same energy. "Just get it over with. We both know I have nothing to hide."

    Luciel nodded and beckoned to Lucifer. The two of them pulled out slips of jade and crushed them, causing the light of spatial fluctuation to fill the space.

    An Angel and a Demon Demigod appeared upon being summoned and were quickly filled in on the situation by their juniors.

    "So it''s this boy?" The demon said with interest. Actually, he wasn''t a totally unfamiliar face.

    His name was Arturo, and he''d been seen once before conversing with Eden''s strongest Demigod, a woman who still hadn''t shown her face in the universe yet.

    The Angel, on the other hand, was a woman with a stern and indifferent expression who did nothing but nce over Damien before losing interest.

    Damien smiled wryly at these curious seniors and offered his wrists, which they grabbed soon enough.

    Damien felt two waves of awareness spread through his body.

    They were extremely powerful and Damien could sense that nothing he did could repel them from the truth.

    The only thing that could hide from them was the Void.

    Damien frowned slightly, while Immortal Blood Asura''s expression became more and more mocking.

    His words weren''t false.

    Not long ago, he''d seen Damien intake and incorporate arge amount of Nox Mana through his Avatar. No matter how he managed to hide this mana, he wouldn''t be able to hide it from a Demigod.

    He waited patiently for the anguished expressions of those who opposed him, but when the two impartial Demigods stepped away¡­

    "Wow! What is this kid''s body? Since when did our universe have a genius like this?!"

    "Hmm, this child is gifted. Luciel, make sure to nurture him well."

    The reactions werepletely opposite of what he expected!

    Damien''s body was free of any Nox influence, and was instead filled with countless mysteries that granted him limitless potential.

    It was almostedic how fast Immortal Blood Asura and his group''s expressions changed. Their gloating turned into confusion and eventually shame as they received the scornful gazes and words of their peers.

    Perhaps Immortal Blood Asura had seen Damien absorb Nox Mana that day, but Damien had long since gotten rid of it!

    Knowing this exact moment woulde, he spent time in Beast Emperor Star clearing the corrupted mana out of his system and feeding it to Zara, who hid in the Sanctuary.

    ''Great!'' Damien eximed as he watched the situation rapidly evolve.

    ''Now that this has been solved, I can slowly start bringing Zara out again!''

    It was great news indeed. Zara had been cooped up in the Sanctuary for a very long time now, and it was about time she showed her face again.

    Damien had genuinely been waiting for this moment to happen for a very long time, and now that it was passing, his excitement was palpable.

    Especially now that he had front-row seats to the Roast of Blood Asura Holy Land!

 Chapter 1038 Conference [6]

    As mentioned before, Blood Asura Holy Land was incredibly forceful in their approach towards others, and there was no such thing as an influence who was friendly with them.

    They were either subordinates or future subordinates, and this exact attitude made them a great deal of enemies and a bad reputation.

    Immortal Blood Asura never cared for these things before. After all, regardless of what they said, these people still had to face him and his people with respect and fear, unable to retaliate.

    But today, the negative emotions towards his Holy Land exploded.

    Damien''s matter was a tant abuse of power, and it finally happened in the public eye, in a setting where Immortal Blood Asura held no power.

    Criticisms rained down like a natural disaster, filling the atrium with a cacophony of sound as the remaining Holy Lands used the matter as an excuse to bring the arrogant group down a peg.

    It was a bit childish considering the status of these people, but it was definitely an entertaining sight to see.

    Aside from the influences closely associated with Blood Asura Holy Land and the Holy Land''s members themselves, whose faces were painted ck in rage and shame, the younger generation was filled withughter and snickers as this unexpected scene panned out.

    Immortal Blood Asura''s blood was practically boiling.

    Eating losses to Damien over and over again was already uneptable, but now even his peers were humiliating him?!

    He was on the verge of losing his patience, and just as his final straw snapped¡­

    CRASH!

    A loud sound reverberated from the sky above the atrium.

    When those present looked up, they saw the barrier protecting Luxurion shattering as several hundred unidentified beings invaded the space.

    "Be careful! Everyone get ready forbat!" Luciel yelled, immediately quelling the ongoing arguments and drawing attention to the threat at hand.

    The group descended intentionally andnded on the ground below without interruption.

    Nobody was willing to move early.

    Because most of these people were Demigods and Supremes, beings of unbelievable strength.

    They were led by a man who just looked like he was born to be a viin.

    A man whose face was already very familiar to Damien.

    "Saint Emperor!" He muttered under his breath.

    The Saint Emperor smilinglynded on the atrium floor and gazed around the room, his eyes pausing for a moment on Damien before continuing.

    "Hello, all. I am known as the Saint Emperor, or rather I believe your universe refers to me as the Blight Emperor."

    His introduction was enough to put everyone on edge.

    When it came to Nox Demigods, the Blight Emperor was known as the most terrifying one, because he was both powerful and not afraid to utilize every loophole possible to involve himself in conflicts where his interference should''ve been impossible.

    What was a man like that doing here?!

    No, it was obvious why he''d break into Luxurion. The real question was: what was going to happen now?

    The Saint Emperor smiled as he felt the fear filling the atmosphere.

    "Worry not, I have note to fight. This time, my presence is only a means of suppression."

    Before anyone could react, the shadows behind him spread through the atrium and raised their weapons, releasing their terrifying auras on the universe''s experts.

    ''Damn!'' Lucifer thought to himself.

    ''They really aren''t here to fight. This is a warning and a show of strength. But¡­for what reason?''

    If he immobilized the experts, did he want to target the younger generation?

    But if he did so, did he think the experts would still care for their lives so cautiously?

    The Saint Emperor didn''t let his audience wait too long before he answered their suspicions, making way for a group of young men and women who were hidden within the crowd of shadows previously.

    "I''m sure some of you are already acquainted, but I may as well make an introduction regardless."

    "These are the geniuses my race is most proud of, led by my son. Today, we havee to give them a bit of worldly experience."

    His words were clearly dripping in sarcasm and provocation.

    The first four geniuses were one thing, but thest one was the Saint King himself!

    This was a Nox Being who''d previously beaten Su Ren and usurped his position as the universe''s number one, a loss the universe would never forget.

    The Saint King looked down on the universe''s geniuses contemptuously as he spoke.

    "I am only here because Lord Father thinks there is someone worthy here, but I do not believe him. If the trash in this room is your universe''s best, I should be ashamed of my brethren for taking so long to destroy you."

    His words were harsh and elicited several provoked growls, but nobody moved.

    "Haa, there is no point in acting here. Face my juniors first. If you can defeat them, perhaps you''ll be able tost a few blows under my hand."

    The Saint King crossed his arms and took a seat on an ornate chair he summoned from his spatial ring. Meanwhile, the four geniuses who came with him stepped forward, taking out their weapons and pointing them at the crowd.

    "I am Luxiya."

    "I am Haren."

    "I am Haryda."

    "I am Pk."

    ""Who dares topete with us?!""

    They introduced themselves powerfully and red their auras, sending their challenge loud and clear.

    Luciel nced between the geniuses and the Saint Emperor before letting out a sigh.

    In the end, it couldn''t be avoided.

    If they seeded, their future ns would go much smoother, but if they failed, they''d lose momentum before they even began their counterattack!

    "Go. Show them the power of our Grand Heavens Boundary."

    His words weren''t many, but they instantly motivated the young men and women in the crowd.

    Four people jumped out to face the Nox geniuses before the rest.

    Three of them were Rose, Ruyue, and Elena, who were eager to test their power andpete to see who was the best.

    Thest was a misceneous genius from a Holy Land in Hephaestus.

    The four duos faced each other with their weapons raised and their bodies readied forbat.

    As Luciel said, it was time for Grand Heavens Boundary to prove itself!

    ***

    While tensions increased immensely in Luxurion, a great cmity was taking ce elsewhere.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    A pulse of formless mana tore through a beautiful jungle, destroying billions of kilometers ofnd and obliterating all life that was present there.

    In the next instant, the realm regrew itself and the resident fauna reappeared as if the apocalypse never overtook it.

    Still, the ground was covered in strange patterns caused by the stress of constant destruction and reconstruction on a grand scale.

    This area that could be considered a sub-universe of its own, yet it was being destroyed tens of times every hour¡­

    ¡­all due to the presence of a single being.

    In the center of thatnd, perched atop the tallest mountain, was a being sorge its shadow was painted in the clouds.

    That being was coiled up around itself and breathing calmly, hibernating, however, there was a massive bloody wound on the side of its body that created a stark contrast from its otherwise peaceful appearance.

    Every time a drop of blood fell from that wound, the mana it carried burst into the realm and destroyed it in full.

    This being was clearly dying.

    But at the rate it was going, it would definitely take the sub-universe with it to the afterlife!

 Chapter 1039 Disruption [1]

    The fighting began almost instantaneously.

    Nox and denizen experts crowded the hall in a way where neither could make a premature move, and all eyes were focused on the four pairs of geniuses currently inbat.

    The central area of the atrium had been expanded by formations into a true arena floor that gave these geniuses space to fight.

    Ruyue fought against the one named Luxiya.

    Her spear was drawn from the beginning, as the fluctuations of the enemy''s weapon were extremely terrifying.

    The two women faced each other in meleebat first. Ruyue''s spear shed against Luxiya''s staff with immense force. Shockwaves spread from the impact, cracking the ground around them and putting heavy pressure on their wrists.

    ''Strong!'' Ruyue eximed inwardly as her eyes hardened.

    The Nox truly weren''t to be underestimated. This Luxiya''s physical strength was already so domineering, her mana couldn''t be weak either.

    But either way, Ruyue wouldn''t be the first to fold!

    The only mana she used was infused into her body and weapon like the path of a true body practitioner, and though she couldn''t use the Moon Goddess Spear Arts without Yin Mana, she wasn''t dull!

    Ruyue derived a fighting technique out of her main spear technique a long time ago for situations where her Yin Mana would be detrimental to her, and now was a perfect time to test its worth!

    ''Horizontal Flow.''

    Ruyue''s spear cleaved parallel to the ground with a rtively slow speed but extreme power behind it.

    "Hmph!" Luxiya snorted condescendingly as she released mana into her staff and mmed it into the ground in Ruyue''s spear path.

    However, at that moment, a change took ce.

    Swoosh!

    Ruyue''s spear suddenly sped up and twisted like a snake, impossibly maneuvering around Luxiya''s defense and piercing towards her stomach!

    Bang!

    The spear made contact with a mana barrier, but Luxiya was pushed back several hundred meters with blood flying from her mouth.

    Ruyue smirked to herself andunched forward, chasing the enemy.

    "Since I took first blood, I''ll fight my way."

    As she spoke, her mana red and the temperature dropped staggeringly. The ground was coated in a thinyer of ice that solidified every time Ruyue''s feet touched it.

    The icy atmosphere spread with Ruyue until she reached Luxiya, raising her spear with killing intent in her eyes.

    ''Moon Goddess Spear Arts: Cleave.''

    SHING!

    It was a beautiful strike. The spear moved so exquisitely, yet with such indiscernible speed, that it was like a lens re in the eyes of those watching.

    The spear cleaved as Ruyuemanded, following the principles of Yin she''d only regained contact with.

    Swift, flexible, and unavoidable!

    These were the thoughts that flew through Luxiya''s mind as she watched the de near her. With no other choice, she exploded with power and shoved walls of inky ck mana into its path.

    Bang!

    Bang!

    Bang!

    Bang!

    Each wall was torn down as fast as it was put up, but it seemed pointless for them to exist at all.

    For while her spear continued forward on its path, Ruyue concealed herself and snuck behind Luxiya, raising her finger to the back of the woman''s head.

    "Obliterate."

    There was no sound. A small ck light shone on Ruyue''s fingertip for a single second before disappearing into Luxiya''s skull.

    In the next instant¡­

    "W-wha¡ª"

    Halfway through expressing her shock, Luxiya''s mouth dispersed into a cloud of ashes.

    As the Nox woman''s eyes twisted in terror, Ruyue smiled.

    "Foolish."

    With onest word, she sent a final strike into her opponent''s remains, exterminating any life remaining in the blob of ink Luxiya had be.

    It was an incredibly short fight, a show of Ruyue''s improvement sinceing to the Divine Realm, and her sisters were not willing to be outdone either.

    ***

    While Ruyue was fighting Luxiya, Elena set her sights on the other woman of the group, Haryda.

    And frankly, she was almost pitying her opponent.

    Since achieving Transcended Death and bing ustomed to its properties, Elena had truly be the bane of all things rted to Death.

    And the Nox¡­wasn''t the Nox''s mana based on the concepts of death?

    As soon as she pulled out her newlyprehended concept, the battle was already her victory.

    The Nox named Haryda wasn''t bad by any means. She used a bow as her main weapon and her mana contained a strange property that made her attacks absolutely urate, but what did this uracy matter?

    Every time an arrow came near her, Elena covered her hands in Life Mana and snatched it out of the air.

    Her mana corrupted the arrow into one of Transcended Death, and she sent it back with twice the fury she''d received.

    Haryda was forced into a situation where she couldn''t use her main weapon. She put the bow away and moved in for meleebat, but there wasn''t a worse decision she could''ve possibly made.

    Elena''s specialty was always fighting close quarters, face to face. As soon as Haryda was in her range, she was subjected to a torment of a thousand des and an absolute suppression caused by the domain of Life Mana that surrounded Elena!

    The battle ended just a little after Ruyue''s, mainly because Haryda was much stronger than Luxiya, but neither Nox women had pleasant deaths.

    In fact, Luxiya might have had it easier since she felt no pain.

    Haryda, on the other hand, was corroded by Life Mana until she finally couldn''t take it anymore, an ironic and excruciating way to die.

    Truly, Elena held the appearance of a grand Valkyrie vanquishing evil!

    ***

    And finally, the quickest among the three.

    Rose''s opponent was the man named Pk. While he didn''t make any obvious remarks, the look in his eyes was filled with perversion.

    It was a cruel perversion, like he was imagining the scene of Rose being cut up and brutally tortured and getting excited for it.

    With Rose''s perception, sensing this delusion was as easy as reading Damien.

    The ability to turn fantasy into reality, to make illusions so true that they couldn''t be distinguished from reality, or rather, constituted a reality of their own.

    This was the path Rose was pursuing, and her attainments weren''t small at all.

    Papal found himself in a white room, his body returned to mortality.

    And with him not able to make a single move, he was strapped to a chair and brutally tortured until he was finally burned alive and killed.

    How could he have known that it was all an illusion?

    All Rose did was ce him under her control, walk up to his unmoving body, and sever his head, but the pain he felt was so vibrant that even in that final moment when the illusion dispersed, he couldn''t recognize reality.

    Rose''s victory wasn''t just convoluted, it was a shocking disy to all present.

    Rose became a name on people''s watchlists, enemies and allies alike.

    Nevertheless, the three battles fought by Human Domain geniuses were proudly won as people hade to expect from the Human Domain.

    The Nox was brought down three pegs in just a few instants, and the expression on the Saint King''s face was priceless!

    The prospects of these battles suddenly shifted for the better, however¡­

 Chapter 1040 Disruption [2]

    ?

    The first three of the battles were spectacr in their own unique ways, but thest was a travesty.

    The unknown Holy Land genius was beaten down within three moves and thrown out of the arena.

    His body and soul were crippled, and it was his mind was no longer present. A line of drool slipped out of the side of his mouth as he was rapidly collected by his sect''s Elders.

    They did everything they could to heal him, using a mysterious pill that was rare even in their eyes, but there was no hope.

    The young man was braindead, and his body was soon to follow.

    A new genius came to rece him as fury enveloped the Grand Heavens Boundary crowd, but the results didn''t change.

    In fact, the process repeated itself six times. Six separate geniuses were utterly crippled and the influences of the universe became hesitant to send their own people forward.

    In this way, the three victories from before were overshadowed by six consecutive losses, and the denizens lost the momentum they briefly held.

    When nobody else was willing to step forward, however, a single man made his stand.

    He was Atticus.

    Atticus had gone through a journey of self-discovery ever since he arrived in Luxurion, and now that such a situation was happening before his eyes, he couldn''t sit still!

    Damien and Su Ren were the strongest two present, but both of them were clearly waiting for the Saint King.

    Since someone needed to take down the man named Haren, he would step up!

    It was a moment for Atticus to prove himself, and when he took his ce on the arena floor, he did exactly that!

    He used a splendidbination of Lightning Laws and Fire Laws to entrap and ensnare his opponent in an invible of death, slowly cornering the once-thought-invincible genius to death!

    The thing about Haren that made him impossible for others to defeat was mainly his Demonic Providence, which allowed him to transfer umted damage back to its sender as long as he could perfectly parry one of their strikes.

    Haren had long be ustomed to this limitation and honed his skills until he was a master who could parry even the most convoluted blows.

    Unfortunately, this skill meant nothing in front of Atticus.

    Atticus was faster than lightning itself and so frenzied that it became impossible to figure out where his true body was in the storm of afterimages that appeared.

    Atticus'' fighting style had undergone aplete change, and its effects were shown clearly against Haren.

    Unable to find an effective time to parry, Haren found the damage he umted for his own purposes working against him instead!

    His death was the most spectacr. Once the damage reached a point past his limit, he exploded into a firework of ck ink, which was instantly incinerated by Atticus.

    The victory wasn''t as absolute as the other three since Atticus and Haren went several hundreds of rounds before a victor was decided, but it was still a great achievement on Atticus'' part.

    Only, not many paid attention to him, as the Saint King began to show signs of movement.

    Atticus looked at two locations for approval. Even if the rest of the atrium ignored him, he would be fine if they acknowledged him.

    And in return, he was greeted with smiles all around.

    A wave of relief overtook him as he walked back to his seat in confidence.

    Damien watched him walk with a genuine smile on his face.

    ''I''m d he''s found a way out of that rut.''

    The current Atticus was not the brat he fought when he first arrived in Luxurion, that much was certain.

    However, he could talk to Atticuster. Right now¡­

    Su Ren stood up and walked into the arena which was now empty aside from several ck and red stains on the ground.

    The Saint King also stood up from his "throne."

    "Are you the one I am facing?" He asked tauntingly.

    The undertone of his words was piercing, but Su Ren didn''t back down.

    "You and I both know the truth of thest battle. Come, face me again and prove you''re worthy of my ce," he responded unflinchingly.

    The Saint King grinned.

    "Hahahaha! So that is the source of this newfound confidence of yours? Very well, I will show you. Whether it was then or now¡­"

    Bang!

    He jumped from his perch andnded in the arena, facing Su Ren.

    "¡­you are nothing but an ant to me."

    The condescending expression in his eyes created a palpable sense of mockery that emanated through the crowd, provoking countless angered hisses and growls.

    Su Ren didn''t join the crowd, instead drawing his des with the same calmness.

    "Talk after you have won."

    Su Ren jumped forward and made the first move, forcing the Saint King into his momentum.

    Unlike when he fought Damien, the two des in his hand were furious and each strike held the intent to kill and shatter the soul!

    During his time observing Su Ren, he began to understand the nature of thetter''s grey mana.

    It was simr to the mana of a man he''d fought before, an unfortunate young soul named Hun Fang, but while Hun Fang used his mana to contact the spirits of beasts and contract them, Su Ren used it much more directly.

    He attacked the spirit, almost touching upon the soul itself. The mana''s properties were so mystical that they could halt Transcendent Regeneration, something Damien didn''t even think was possible!

    That very terrifying mana was currently bombarding the arena with such immense force that it looked apocalyptic. Su Ren and the Saint King''s figures disappeared within the mana cloud, and other than the peak experts among the crowd, the rest could only follow the battle through sound.

    It was a true shame for them, because witnessing the collision between these superpowers among their peers would''ve been an absolutely advantageous experience for them.

    Nevertheless, even without the mana blocking their vision, it was hard to say whether or not they''d be able to follow the speed of battle!

    Su Ren and the Saint King moved across the several hundred-kilometerrge arena floor as if it was no more than a few tens of square feet. Every second, they were in another corner of the arena, absolutely destroying the mana protecting the outside world from their battle.

    Several Demigods had to step up to maintain the barrier, and in the second it took for the stronger barrier to be out in ce, a massive explosion of mana escaped the confines of the arena and blew through the atrium.

    ROOOAAAAAR!

    It was like the roar of a dragon that sounded as the mana coiled up into the starry sky beyond.

    While those observing could take the time to watch it, Su Ren wasn''t the same.

    Unlike how it looked, he needed to do everything in his power to fight equal to the Saint King.

    It wasn''t what he was expecting at all!

    He definitely knew the Saint King would grow, but he didn''t expect this much growth!

    After all, Su Ren himself had stumbled upon a heavenly opportunity, the type unique in the entire universe, and also created his own form of mana to reach his current great strength.

    What did the Saint King do?

    Considering the nature of the Nox¡­

    Just how many billions of lives were taken to give him this strength?!

 Chapter 1041 Bai Yumo [1]

    Su Ren was a powerful genius whose talent was admired by many from the day he was first born.

    He ended up with his master after a series of twists and turns where he was kidnapped by several sects and greater influences who wanted his talent for themselves.

    In reality, his master wasn''t some saint, but a great thief and someone whose name was dreaded by most. He never nned to pick up a disciple, but since fate allowed it, he did too.

    Su Ren was raised in this kind of environment, where he was exposed to many things from a young age and learned the world from the perspective of someone who wasn''t jaded or possessed by its social structures.

    Still, it was hard to not grow arrogant when one was a supreme talent. Su Ren grew faster than any of his peers and took his number one spot on the Dimensional Leaderboard by the time he turned 60, something impossible for normal people.

    And as a testament to his power, he held that spot for an entire decade.

    That''s when he met Bai Yumo, the Saint King, for the first time.

    ***

    Bang!

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    The longer Su Ren and Bai Yumo''s battle went on, the more frenzied it became. It was hard to distinguish who sent which attacks, or who was getting hurt or disadvantaged by the situation as their bodies intertwined in a dance of death.

    Hundreds of strikes were exchanged by the second, andplexws were thrown about like trash on the street. Even the Demigods maintaining the barrier couldn''t hide their shock and admiration for the level of collision taking ce on its grounds.

    Su Ren''s eyes were narrowed into pinholes as they dashed around and took ount of the surroundings. His des never stopped their motions even when Bai Yumo wasn''t in front of him, sending waves upon waves of pure grey de intent razing through the arena itself.

    These scars seemed useless, but the Saint King knew better than anyone how dangerous they were!

    Each one became a geyser of Su Ren''s energy, stealthily corrupting the arena itself with its aura and subjecting Bai Yumo to the full force of its invasive properties.

    "I see you''ve mastered this little skill," he said as he swerved through the minefield of mana and approached Su Ren''s body.

    "However, this is not what you promisedst time."

    He brandished his weapon, a sleek and ornate fan made of unknown metal, and sliced it through the air.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Su Ren gritted his teeth as he was pushed back. He clenched his muscles and used mana to forcefully close the gash in his chest as he shot back intobat.

    "How could you understand what I promised?" Su Ren replied coldly, crossing his swords and twisting them in a strange way as he shed out.

    ''Coiling Serpents, Dance.''

    It was a mystical scene. The two des extended as if they had no physical limits and turned into living manifestations of snakes that cut into Bai Yumo''s body and pushed him away.

    Su Ren didn''t stop his charge, jumping up in the air and raising his des above his head as he charged an extreme amount of mana into his arms. He descended like a shooting star, his body burning with powerful light as he barreled towards the ground.

    "Someone like you could never understand true ambition!"

    ***

    ''Meteor Descent!''

    BANG!

    It was a move he''d invented recently after seeing a world destroyed by the impact of a single meteor''s fall.

    And his current opponent was the best one to test it on!

    Su Ren mmed down into the surface of the dead star, his des mming into Bai Yumo''s body heavily.

    "Take it, Nox scum!"

    "Hmph! This much is nothing!"

    Bai Yumo was an interesting opponent. Unlike the rest Su Ren had faced to this day, he didn''t back down in the face of death.

    It was something Su Ren came to respect as they fought, despite the fact that the opponent was an unreconcble enemy.

    And as if his grit wasn''t enough, he was also incredibly powerful. Su Ren had never met someone in his life who could stand face-to-face with him and confidently say they wouldn''t lose in a fight until he met this Nox being.

    "I won''t allow a foreign invader like you to stand at the top of this universe! That spot is reserved solely for me!"

    His words were powerful and supported by power. Bai Yumo, just like Su Ren, had never seen an opponent like him.

    It was one of his first true excursions into Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Before this, he''d been corralled around by his seniors and forced to fight against genius after genius to raise his standing in the universe and aplish his final task of topping the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    This was an important step in his father''s ns, a move to divide and humiliate the opposition, and he understood that his ce in it was extremely important.

    However, he wanted to experience these things alone. He didn''t want to just say there were none worthy of him, he wanted to prove that he was an existence who couldn''t be touched, whether within or without the universe.

    Su Ren was the final obstacle in his way, and while he wanted to win this fight justly, he didn''t think he could do so without ruining his father''s ns.

    Su Ren and Bai Yumo respected each other''s strength, but they were destined to be enemies from the start.

    And with Bai Yumo prioritizing the Nox''s ns over their battle, the respect they had for each other shattered.

    ***

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The force of Su Ren''s meteor descent burst the entire arena floor into chunks of debris that chaotically buzzed through the air as they were swept up by the mana currents.

    At the center of the impact zone, Su Ren and Bai Yumo stood at a standstill. Su Ren pushed forward with the force he umted, while Bai Yumo used the force of the earth to support himself while he blocked Su Ren''s des with his opened fan.

    SKREEEE!

    The metal of their weapons screeched and sparked as they fought for dominance. Su Ren and Bai Yumo never broke eye contact, their gazes holding a number of unknown emotions.

    Even as they stood in this deadlock, their auras shed and ruined the environment further, neither of them willing to give up their edge.

    If their fates were different, perhaps they could''ve even been friends in this life.

    But this was not possible.

    Because just as Su Ren put training above all else, the Saint King put his father above any and everything.

    He was nothing more than a ve to that man''s whims, but he was totally content with this status for some odd reason.

    Su Ren couldn''t understand it as someone with the independent mindset of a practitioner, and it felt like every time they fought their beliefs were challenged and ced on the table to debate each other.

    Whether it was right to be independent and grow on the path one believed best, or whether it was best to grow under an umbre and never leave its shade.

    Or was it simpler?

    Perhaps at the very core of the matter, it didn''t matter what their beliefs were. They merely refused to lose to each other.

    It was a rtionship that Su Ren once had hope for, but as time passed and as he faced Bai Yumo now, he realized it wasn''t possible.

    Because that man would never change his ways.

    ***

    How did the battle end?

    Su Ren could''ve sworn he was just fighting, but in the next instant, he found himself on the ground, unable to move or control his mana.

    He gripped his chest, feeling the disgusting energy swimming within.

    He sat on the dead star alone and mmed his fist into the ground with hatred in his eyes.

    He''d been defeated by cheap means and left for dead without an ounce of respect.

    At this moment, he lost his number-one spot on the Dimensional Leaderboard without an ounce of resistance.

    The grand things he''d said during that battle¡­were they all meaningless?

    In the end, there was no such thing as fairness in this world at all.

    Not then, and certainly not now.

 Chapter 1042 Bai Yumo [2]

    How did Bai Yumo win the first time?

    Actually, the battle was extremely anticlimactic.

    Because while Su Ren and Bai Yumo definitely started out fighting valiantly with their lives on the line, they ended with one poisoned and the other disappeared.

    The mana Bai Yumo left in Su Ren''s body that day never left him.

    In fact, the growth path of his unique mana was shifted entirely for the sake of suppressing and controlling that mana so it didn''t spread further and cripple him.

    This was why it specialized in the spirit. It was directly suppressing whatever strange existence that mana was and keeping Su Ren alive while maintaining its external advantages.

    Still, that mana was impossible to cure, even for his master.

    And today, almost following the exact same flow of events¡­

    "Keuk¡­"

    Su Ren inadvertently coughed, his face pale.

    The mana in his chest was acting up again.

    Or rather, it was being excited.

    He looked down at Bai Yumo hatefully, his des still entwined with thetter''s fan, and gritted his teeth in anger.

    "Again, this is the strategy you use¡­"

    Su Ren was almost certain this moment woulde, but he wanted to hope it didn''t.

    He didn''t want to lose here because of an old crippling injury. He didn''t want to show this side to the people who admired him.

    But he acted on his hope.

    Because he wanted to see it get crushed.

    Only then could he throw away the respect he once had for this man.

    Swoosh!

    While Bai Yumo watched, Su Ren jumped away and retreated to the very end of the arena, shocking those who thought he held the advantage in the previous attack when he vomited a mouthful of ck blood.

    "Apologies, but this is not a fight for our entertainment. I have already mentioned this. Our purpose is to crush you thoroughly and make sure you don''t have the face to rebel anymore."

    Bai Yumo''s response was cold and direct.

    Human emotions were reserved for humans.

    There weren''t many other races who could see people so individualistically and hope for their redemption regardless of hatred or opposition.

    The Nox? The only such emotions they knew were negative.

    Sportsmanship simply didn''t exist to them, and there was no such thing as sacred in this world.

    Su Ren sighed.

    He exited the arena quietly without addressing anyone, turning his eyes to the Hidden Death Valley seats.

    He, the de God, never had a chance against the man who could control his greatest weakness.

    But it wasn''t just him anymore.

    "Do not gloat for too long. This stage¡­is no longer mine," Su Ren said with a smile, leaving Bai Yumo curious.

    Was he saying¡­there was someone else?

    At that moment, Bai Yumo suddenly caught his father''s expression out of the corner of his eye.

    ''He''s¡­grinning?''

    He wasn''t stupid enough to believe his father was proud of him or grinning because of his victory.

    If so, then¡­

    "So you''re the Saint King I''ve been hearing so much about. Pretty cool powers, but you use them in the bitchiest way possible. It''s almost a shame for them to be yours."

    A voice came from the side of the atrium.

    Damien stood up and jumped into the arena, mming his foot on the shattered floor and spreading a wave of mana through it.

    Rumble!

    Instantly, it was like time reversed. The arena restored itself to peak condition within seconds, and Bai Yumo could feel a portion of the energy he used returning to him.

    "This¡­you are?" He asked.

    "Me? I''m the reason your dad brought you here," Damien responded condescendingly.

    "You¡­?"

    Bai Yumo wanted to demean Damien, but he couldn''t ignore the fact that his father''s smile was growing wider with every word the man said.

    ''Is it true?''

    His father said he''d find an unexpected surprise in Luxurion, and seeing that Su Ren was still corrupted, it clearly wasn''t him.

    That meant this man was someone his father considered better than Su Ren.

    No, his father never ced Su Ren in his eyes.

    So what did this man have?

    What made him special?

    "You''re staring at me pretty hard, huh. Did you fall in love or something?"

    "Quiet."

    Bang!

    Bai Yumo sent an abrupt burst of mana at Damien, a burst that exploded within sparks of an instant and didn''t give him any time to dodge.

    However¡­

    "Chill. You should definitely recuperate your mana before we fight. I don''t want you to say I cheatedter."

    Damien''s voice came from several tens of meters away, far closer than he was originally.

    Bai Yumo almost lostposure.

    He saw everyone and everything as below him except one person: his father.

    His father was a great Emperor that even other Emperors feared. His father was the definition of absolute power.

    Now that someone that very man respected and anticipated appeared, Bai Yumo''s entire world was thrown for a loop.

    How was he supposed to approach this battle?

    Damien didn''t n to give him a chance to decide.

    ''You''re a man who likes to use tricks to win, right? Then I''ll show you a few tricks.''

    Perhaps a few days ago he would''ve been wary of this fight, but now, he was no longer the same.

    Hassan allowed him to reach the 2nd revolution, and though Damien didn''t feel like anything had changed, he felt like his mindset and presence were gradually shifting outside his perception.

    The current him didn''t need to be afraid of the Saint King in the slightest!

    Damien turned to the Saint Emperor with a smirk.

    "Is your butler doing well?"

    "Quite fine. He is thoroughly enjoying the presents you gave himst time."

    "Oh? Then he should''vee. I''ve been dying to see him again."

    "Haha, I''m sure he''s the same, however, today is not his day, is it?"

    "I see, I see, so I should give those gifts to your dear son instead."

    "Be gentle with him."

    Damien rolled his eyes at the obvious sarcasm in the man''s voice.

    The Saint Emperor was impossible to read, and while Damien didn''t want to do anything that would progress his ns, what other choice did he have?

    He wasn''t just avenging Su Ren, but protecting the universe''s face.

    ''It sounds like a matter of pride, but it''s much more serious than that.''

    Damien nced back at Bai Yumo, who had yet to gather his thoughts, and shook his head.

    "It''s a real shame for you."

    The Saint King raised his head with a frown.

    "What is?"

    "Ah, nothing. Since I can''t face your dad yet, I''m going to have to give you the beating I''ve been itching to give him."

    "Hah!"

    Bai Yumo scoffed at the audacity.

    Did he think he was so great?

    This human?

    Laughable!

    Whether it be human, demon, or a god themself, none would be able to stand before him, Bai Yumo, and act arrogantly.

    This was the creed he lived by for his entire life!

    The Saint King threw away his hesitation and red his mana.

    It was the same inky ck mana that every Nox had, but there was something else contained within it.

    Something far, far more vile, something that was the source of Su Ren''s curse.

    Using all his power from the start, the Saint King pushed his foot into the ground and¡­

    BANG!

    ¡­he sent a hammer-like punch flying toward Damien''s face!

 Chapter 1043 Bai Yumo [3]

    Bang!

    Bai Yumo''s fist was packed with all the power he''d recuperated during the short time before he attacked Damien.

    The just recently repaired arena floor cracked into pieces again, and the winds whipped fiercely under the fist''s pressure.

    However, this was no trouble for Damien. He shifted his body to the left and snapped his arm out, grabbing the Saint King''s wrist mid-swing and using his own momentum against him.

    BANG!

    Bai Yumo''s body flipped under Damien''s influence and mmed against the ground below. Damien followed with another punch straight to the Nox genius''s stomach.

    Bai Yumo gritted his teeth in frustration at the immediate loss, but he didn''t let it distract him from the battle.

    Damien was different from Su Ren. If the Saint Emperor liked him, he wasn''t someone who could be crippled and thrown away with just a few tricks.

    If so, Bai Yumo needed to fight like he hadn''t fought in a very long time.

    He rolled on the ground, uncaring for his appearance as he dodged Damien''s terrifying fist and leapt back to his feet.

    Boom!

    The ground cracked as the shockwave of Damien''s fist pushed him back a few steps.

    His fan sliced through the air and cut the shockwave away. In the next moment, he continued his retreat, making considerable distance between him and Damien.

    ''I must create a strategy.''

    He observed the enemy''s movements and noticed how skilled he was in physical aspects. His motions weren''t rigid in the slightest, but every heavy strike that seemed wasteful was actually controlled with extreme precision.

    Usually, physical masters werecking inwprehension, but Bai Yumo wasn''t stupid enough to believe this as absolute fact.

    He red his mana and pointed his fan out, creating several inky ck swords that cut through the air back towards Damien.

    "Hmph."

    Damien snorted as he stepped forward. He disappeared just as the swords reached his position, causing Bai Yumo''s eyes to widen.

    "Yo!"

    Damien''s voice came from behind, apanied by a firm grip on the back of Bai Yumo''s head.

    "Didn''t expect me, did you?"

    "Hmph, this is not enough to defeat me!"

    The Saint King snarled as his eyes narrowed into pinholes.

    To Damien''s surprise, the back of his opponent''s head began to melt, bing a viscous fluid that stuck to his hand and drilled into his palm.

    "Oh? This must be what you gave Su Ren, right?"

    Damien allowed a bit of that mana to enter his skin before jumping away and brandishing Mirage.

    ''Void Sword Art First Form: deless''

    RIIPP!

    Space tore in two as an atrocious gash spread through itsyers.

    Bai Yumo waves his fan and created more manifestations with his mana, sending them towards theing attack confidently.

    Bang!

    The two shed in the air powerfully, but it meant nothing.

    Damien and Bai Yumo were already gone, continuing theirbat without a single break.

    "Damien Void, you are better than that swordsman," Bai Yumomented, continuously dodging and using his fan to counterattack whenever he got the chance.

    "If he heard you calling him a swordsman I bet he''de down here and beat you until you can''t recognize yourself anymore."

    Damien responded spitefully, drawing Hel and firing a thicklypressed ck bullet from point-nk range.

    ''Extermination.''

    It was the first big attack of the battle. The sweeping ck light of extermination pulsed through the arena and filled it with deathly energy. When it came in contact with Bai Yumo, he immediately felt the burning sensation on his skin.

    Hisss!

    He looked down incredulously to find his arm corroded, his ashen grey skin almost entirely ck already.

    "You¡­" he muttered as his fury built.

    "You scum!"

    Bai Yumo''s eyes turned red in rage.

    His mana exploded outward powerfully. ck waves spread through the arena once more, destroying all extermination fluctuations present.

    "Die!"

    Bai Yumo mmed his hand forward, and in response, a massive shadowy figure formed behind his back.

    It was a manifestation of hisws. Its eyes lit up like bloody moons, shedding their light all across the arena so Damien had no means of dodging.

    "Khh¡­!"

    Damien couldn''t avoid getting hit, and he couldn''t ignore the pain either.

    Now that he was fighting the man, he understood why Su Ren had so much trouble with him.

    At their core, they both used the same type of mana.

    Damien felt his spirit getting attacked by a concept he could best term "torment." Every strike was filled with the pain of a thousand cuts, yet the actual damage they did was negligible.

    It was the type of concept that would slowly drive one to the depths of madness in the midst of a fight.

    ''But you''ve met the wrong opponent this time, buddy.'' Damien thought with a grin.

    He maintained his outward wince as he traced the periphery of the arena with his movements and warily kept his eyes on Bai Yumo, whose expression was bing more condescending with the passing of time.

    ''He might''ve achievedrge sess with this move, but he definitely doesn''t expect it to kill me. If so¡­''

    Damien turned a piece of his attention inward as he teleported back into battle and pressed Bai Yumo in meleebat.

    Mirage went in all directions almost impossibly. It would leave Damien''s hand and swivel around from behind Bai Yumo to attack his nk while Damien sent shots with Freya and Hel, and the longer it remained in battle, the stronger its spiritual intelligence and capabilities became.

    It was a mystical thing to see, almost like a sign of natural weapon evolution, but these signs were so preliminary that noting them was useless.

    Instead, Damien used the distraction Mirage provided to scan his internal situation and find the poison he allowed into his body.

    ''Mm, it should be this.''

    It truly was a fearsome energy. Even though Damien was fully controlling its movements and the effect it had on his body, the area it was allowed to contaminate was thoroughly poisoned.

    Even Damien wouldn''t be safe from a force like this if he didn''t have the Void Physique to clear it from his body.

    ''But you probably aren''t willing to do work, so I''ll do it myself.''

    The Void Physique was a trustypanion, but whenever Damien faced a battle that was important for his future, it always took a back seat and forced him to do things on his own.

    It was a method of testing and also a method of training to make Damien worthy of its full power, and at this point, he didn''t get angry at it anymore.

    Because he was slowly acquiring the ability to control its facilities on his own.

    The same mysterious power of the Void that swam through his body whenever the Void Physique interfered returned, but this time, its source was Damien himself.

    That mana encircled the contaminated area and trapped Bai Yumo''s strange mana, devouring tiny pieces of it in curiosity.

    If Damien was correct, this energy was Bai Yumo''s true trump card, and it wasn''t so simple as an ordinary poison.

    So before Bai Yumo realized that he''d corralled that energy, he needed to devour it andprehend its inner workings!

    Meanwhile¡­

 Chapter 1044 Bai Yumo [4]

    The previous set of events took ce in a matter of seconds. Less than a minute passed into the battle before Bai Yumo summoned his manifestation and Damien began to barrage him.

    Their battle started at a far slower pace than Su Ren''s previous one, and while they were also fighting fiercely, the difference in atmosphere could be felt.

    The reactions of the crowd could be assumed. Generally, they didn''t have muchplexity as they didn''t hold many thoughts towards the battle.

    The only person who had extremelyplex emotions towards it was Su Ren himself, who watched each collision from the edge of his seat.

    As time went on, the battle became fiercer as well.

    Damien and Bai Yumo stopped testing the waters and used greater and greater amounts of mana, infusing moreplex concepts into their attacks by the second.

    The arena was already being torn apart at a rate quicker than in the previous battle, but Su Ren had a strange feeling.

    ''This isn''t the Damien I fought.''

    The Damien he fought was far more forward and far less caring about safety. He would charge into battle with no thought of surviving unless he killed his enemy.

    His current cautious approach didn''t feel right to Su Ren, and while the man himself didn''t know it, his observation was spot on.

    Damien had been fighting against his usual characteristics for several reasons, but the need had already vanished.

    Because now, Damien had a thorough understanding of the kind of damage the Saint King could do to his body.

    ''It''ll be dangerous, but what fun is there without danger?''

    The main thing Damien noticed after their first several thousand shes was that Bai Yumo''s mana capacity was massive, almost great enough topete with him.

    Regardless of strength, if they kept fighting as they''d been, they wouldn''t be finished for another day or two¡­

    And that was only if one of them ran out of mana!

    ''The Saint King has strength, but it''spletely different from what I have. If I have power over the environment, he has power over living beings.''

    The thought made him frown, but Damien didn''t lose his conviction.

    ''Whatever happens, happens.''

    His eyes instantly sharpened.

    And his body vanished.

    ''Void Sword Art Sixth Form: Worldbreaker''

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Bai Yumo had been standing steadily until this point. Despite Damien''s harassment, he didn''t lose his cool or lose ground in any way.

    Surprisingly enough, Bai Yumo was quite the skilled melee fighter.

    His fan became a de unlike any other, shing and piercing with a sharpness that would boggle one''s mind.

    Even Damien wasn''t safe from it. Just as he''d scratched and stabbed the Saint King several times, he had many gashes covering his own body.

    They healed rapidly, but the pain from them spread deeper and deeper, infecting Damien''s spirit and dragging him down.

    However, when Damien''s sword came down this time, it felt different.

    It exploded with power that swept past Bai Yumo and into the earth below, exploding outward in the next instant,

    Simr to what Su Ren previously did, Damien filled the ground with his energy and created countless geysers that spewed the terrifying force into the air.

    Where they contrasted was that Damien didn''t use these geysers to attack, but¡ª

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Another massive explosion went off as Damien used Worldbreaker again.

    Bai Yumo shot through the air, crashing against the arena wall as he was pushed away by the heavy mana waves.

    He shot to his feet and pushed forward again, but in that moment, a geyser opened up under his feet!

    Wap!

    The entire world shifted in Bai Yumo''s perception.

    Before he could regain his senses, a swift wind passed by his shoulder.

    Shing!

    Damien appeared behind him with Mirage dripping in ck blood.

    Bai Yumo''s armnded on the ground with a thump as the man himself stumbled out of the geyser he was standing on.

    Unexpectedly, it was on theplete opposite side of the arena from his original ce!

    Bai Yumo was delirious from the abrupt travel through the chaotic spatialyers, something a normal person would be torn to shreds by, and he hardly felt the loss of his arm.

    ''Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance''

    A ck line of light approached him from behind, bent on cutting him into two perfectly even pieces, but in that final moment¡­

    "Enough."

    Bai Yumo''s voice was different from before. It was filled with malice and unknown darkness.

    The pressure from that single word banished Dimensional Severance to nonexistence.

    Three streaks crawled up both of his cheeks, his sclerae were dyed ck, and a pair of devilish horns appeared on his head.

    "No more of this."

    The arm he just lost regrew itself, painting a gruesome picture as Bai Yumo turned around to face Damien.

    "Die, fool."

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    An absolutely catastrophic mana pulse filled the arena. The corrosive energy the Saint King previously used as poison was now clouding the air, and the original Nox Mana he used was suppressed under its shine.

    Damien frowned as he felt it invading his body. It was disgusting, especially since this energy was so familiar.

    ''That guy¡­did he just remove a seal?''

    That''s what it felt like. His power suddenly jumped to another level, and theplexity of hisws was at a point where even Damien had to be wary.

    The main problem was his mana.

    ''That energy¡­''

    Damien had felt it twice before.

    It was first inside the Void Corridor when he was being transported to the Divine Realm, and second when he was in Eien, coincidentally at the site of another Void Corridor.

    Damien''s knowledge showed its strength here, allowing him to understand the nature of this energy instantly.

    ''It''s Abyss Energy.''

    Thetent energy that made up the Abyss and gave it its fearsome reputation was in the hands of the enemy.

    ''Repel.''

    Damien''s body was surrounded by severalyers of spatial mana that functioned simrly to Dimensional Cages, except these were specialized in expelling external energies.

    He frowned when he saw how fast theyers were being destroyed, but there was nothing he could do about it.

    ''Until now, I''ve injured him a few times, but I''ve never struck him seriously. Even his arm being severed meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.''

    Damien teleported continuously and observed the Saint King, who was currently covered in a suit of domineering armor made of that ck yet vibrantly colorful energy of the Abyss, and by the looks of it, he was getting limated to the power boost he''d just received.

    ''Logic says this is the best time to attack, but logic is always wrong in situations like this.''

    Damien kicked a loose chunk of rock out of the ground and loaded it with mana beforeunching it at Bai Yumo''s body.

    Just as he expected, the rock was immediately trapped in an incorporeal that broke it down to its foundational elements and absorbed it.

    ''Haa¡­how troublesome.''

    Damien didn''t like being a masochist, so he also didn''t like entertaining that side of him.

    But it seemed this time¡­

    ''I''m going to get hurt a-fucking-lot.''

    There was no escaping fate.

    And as Bai Yumo exited his trance-like state and came back to reality¡­

    The battle between Damien Void and the Saint King could finally begin in full.

 Chapter 1045 Bai Yumo [5]

    Bai Yumo was certainly a character.

    If one only interacted with him a few times, they''d find him someone without much personality, a person who had nothing of his own aside from his arrogant manner of looking down on the world.

    However, Bai Yumo was hiding much more than he showed. The Saint King wasn''t someone who could be ignored as just another young master with eyes on top of his head.

    His current appearance was that of a death god. He was doing nothing but standing in the middle of the arena floor, breathing slowly with his eyes lightly shut, but the air around him was filled with a sense of oppression that couldn''t be ignored.

    "Huu¡­"

    He let out a deep exhale, withdrawing the aura around him until the arena became uncannily still.

    All eyes were on him. Without fail, the entire poption of the atrium was watching with bated breaths for his next move.

    And he vanished.

    Bang!

    Damien''s eyes widened as he felt a fist impacting his face.

    His body rocked to the side as he took several steps to regain his bnce, but before he could, another barrage of fists attacked his face and chest.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Blood flew from his lips as Abyss Energy surrounded his body and attacked him from all sides. Damien was suddenly thrown into what felt like a blender that was trying to tear him into tiny chunks!

    ''Damn!'' He eximed inwardly, internalizing the attack force and nting his feet deep into the ground.

    His arms went out instinctively, crossing before his face and taking the impact of Bai Yumo''s punches.

    He finally had a chance to rationalize the situation.

    ''He''s moving too fast. It''s almost faster than teleportation.''

    No, it truly was a hair faster than teleportation, which was incredulous to even think.

    How could one describe speed that was quicker than instant movement?

    The answer was that one didn''t.

    Boom!

    Damien moved his arms away and allowed Bai Yumo''s fist to hit him.

    He used the force to push himself away, teleporting as well to make distance.

    He drew Mirage without waiting a second and summoned his mana.

    ''Void Sword Art Third Form: Dance of the Void''

    His body became incorporeal. Thousands of alter images of him filled the arena floor, blocking Bai Yumo''s vision and taking his attention away from Damien''s main body.

    "Petty tricks!"

    Bai Yumo mmed through the air and destroyed afterimage after afterimage, turning thousands into hundreds within a second.

    However, he didn''t expect that each afterimage had the ability to attack on its own!

    His body was cut in several ces despite the newly formed armor, a consequence of Damien''s influence on space itself, but each injury healed instantly.

    Meanwhile, Damien''s main body was flying across the arena, hidden with One with Dimension, observing the changes in the situation solemnly.

    ''This transformation is influenced by his Abyss Energy. If I get too involved, I don''t know how the Void Physique will react¡­''

    Damien was a bit wary about it, since he had no intention of revealing his greatest secret in front of the entire universe, but he couldn''t just sit back and do nothing because of this fear.

    ''I need to be prepared to control it.''

    He grabbed Hel and Freya in his hands and clutched their triggers without mercy.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Hundreds and thousands of ck and white bullets filled the air, crashing down on the ground like meteorites and raising hell.

    The air was filled with Life and Death mana in spades, the concepts of Samsara creating an isted ecosystem within the arena that removed it from the control of those outside.

    Damien''s hands pped together as he called forth his Samsara Intent and pooled an extreme amount of mana into his attack.

    ''Rotate.''

    Voom!

    The Life and Death mana he let loose into the atmosphere swirled around the arena''s periphery and formed a dome that traced the arena barrier.

    A set ofws was established regarding life and death.

    A set ofws that disallowed the concept of regeneration entirely.

    Damien sped through the air and approached Bai Yumo without fear, raising Mirage to chest level and pulling his arm back.

    ''Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break''

    BANG!

    A hole was torn in Bai Yumo''s armor. ck blood spilled into the arena as he roared in pain.

    The wound tried to heal. The Saint King''s skin and bones squirmed like worms to reconnect, but another energy interfered with the process and burned anything born from that regeneration.

    This attack could be considered first blood, but it wasn''t just Damien''s win.

    His attack gave away his position, and Bai Yumo''s eyes turned towards him like a beast who caught his prey.

    "You are good," he said coldly as his body vanished and appeared before Damien.

    "Yet, it is not enough."

    He raised his arm above his head, gathering a ball of Abyss Energy, before mming it down on Damien''s chest.

    Damien twisted his body with gritted teeth, teleporting behind Bai Yumo before the attack could connect and mming Mirage down into his neck!

    BOOOOOOM!

    Mirage shed against the Saint King''s armor, screeching as it tore a gash in the thick material, but it wasn''t the cause of the explosion.

    The Abyss Energy Bai Yumo summoned acted with a mind of its own, impossibly twisting its trajectory and hitting Damien at the same time he struck his enemy.

    The pain was horrible. It was like he was being swarmed by millions of ants made of poisonous mana.

    Damien''s face twisted in pain, but he didn''t let it disperse his momentum.

    He couldn''t allow the Saint King to take any victories in this battle, whether big or small!

    ''Frozen World.''

    ''Dimension Shift.''

    ''Spacetime Severance.''

    Space and time were convoluted into something disgusting by Damien''s influence. Time became inconsequential, the dimension was cut in half and then burned away, and the fabric of reality itself was torn open to consume the Saint King!

    Bai Yumo''s eyes narrowed rapidly as the full force of Damien''s attacks appeared in sparks of an instant. He put up a thick wall of Abyss Energy that swallowed the chaotic Spacetime and ground it to nothingness, but it wasn''t something that could be done easily.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    He coughed out several mouthfuls of blood as he was forced to retreat to avoid taking more damage, but Damien wasn''t ready to let him go yet.

    ''Void Breathing First Form: Elemental Wargod.''

    The Void couldn''t be shown, but Void Breathing was a technique that could be used with or without revealing such knowledge.

    Because the Void was all things. If it wanted to, it could disguise itself as anything.

    Damien''s eyes turned into orbs of rainbow light as a crown of energy manifested on his head.

    The energies of countless elements that he had no affinity for filled his body, giving him a sense of superiority that he didn''t feel thest time he used the technique.

    It was like¡­

    ''I can see the path.''

    He grinned to himself as he charged back intobat.

    Once again, the entire arena became obscured to the eyes of those watching.

    But this time, it was because there were simply too many damn explosions!

 Chapter 1046 Bai Yumo [6]

    Bai Yumo was more than a bit vexed at the moment.

    He pulled out a card that he''d never used before in Grand Heavens Boundary, yet Damien shone with a light that made it seem like nothing more than a natural progression of the battle.

    It was extremely annoying.

    To find out that there were geniuses in existence who could show such power was definitely a blow to the Saint King.

    He didn''t know anything about Damien. If he did, maybe his shock would be even more pronounced.

    But it was because he didn''t know Damien''s reputation that he was able to view this battle the way he did.

    This was his stage, not the stage of some human who crawled out of the grapevine!

    Yet, his notion was thoroughly rejected by the terrifying multitude of explosions that surrounded him.

    His body was thrown from side to side by their force, and thebined effect of several elements impacted him in a way he''d never felt before.

    Searing pain came from all over his body, and the armor that he''d summoned so proudly¡­

    Crack!

    ''Dammit!''

    He growled as his eyes darted around in search of his enemy. The air clouded by mana was difficult to see through, but he didn''t have to worry about that.

    His eyes shone with Abyss Energy and all things were turned to nothing more than particles in his eyes.

    His gaze panned as time seemed to slow, and he eventually found Damien''s figure not far away at all.

    In fact, he was getting closer by the moment!

    Bai Yumo''s eyes narrowed and his hand shot out.

    ''Call of the Abyss.''

    He infused his own mana into the Abyss Energy to mimic its properties and spread his fingers, allowing it to naturally spread into the atmosphere.

    And as Damien neared¡­

    His body suddenly halted.

    The Abyss Energy in the air invaded his spiritual world and sent him into an illusion realm that mimicked the Abyss itself.

    It was an environment many couldn''t stand, but Damien wasn''t the same!

    Crash!

    The illusion broke almost instantly. The Abyss seemed like nothing more than a diluted version of the Void, and the Void could never hurt Damien!

    However, that split second his mind was gone was enough for Bai Yumo to approach and grip his face tightly.

    "Die, human."

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    An explosion of Abyss Energy tore through Damien''s head, ripping his skin and muscle to shreds and even cracking his skull.

    It was truly a deadly move.

    For a second, Bai Yumo even thought he''d won the battle.

    But how could it be so easy?

    Damien''s body began to change, almost showing signs of simrity with the Saint King''s transformation.

    He grew and his hair turned stark white like his skin. His sclera were dyed ck and countless mystical runes covered his figure.

    Under Bai Yumo''s shocked gaze, Damien''s head healed, his lips curling into a grin as soon as they appeared.

    "Brat, you''re much more fun than your father."

    Damien taunted him and sent a kick into his stomach before he could respond.

    He charged several energies in his foot, imitating another attack he had.

    ''Umm¡­should I also call this Supernova?''

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Shining light like a sun''s splendor burned through the air and exploded into Bai Yumo''s body, throwing him back and punching another hole in his figure.

    Damien gave chase to the receding figure, his blood runes shining as they gave him power.

    As he observed Bai Yumo''s form, he realized that there were several simrities to his own Demon Transformation that had been neglected for so long.

    The reason for this neglect was its inability to support him in the battles he usually fought, but if he was able to glean answers from a fight against the Saint King, this ability would once again be a crucial part of his skillset!

    Damien and Bai Yumo were like shooting stars in the chaotic sky. While Damien observed him and made moves to counter, Bai Yumo did the same.

    The burning pain of the holes in his torso made his mind incredibly clear.

    At this moment, he was severely disadvantaged.

    As long as Damien could showcase such frightening healing capabilities, there was no such thing as a chance of winning.

    Bai Yumo gritted his teeth and put down his pride.

    This opponent was not someone he could limit himself in front of.

    He reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a certain device, watching as Damien approached with a zing aura around his body.

    The time for the two to collide neared, and time slowed down.

    Seconds turned into infinite timespans of their own as the duo stared each other down, preparing their own methods to deal with each other once and for all.

    Until they finally connected.

    Damien''s fist mmed into Bai Yumo''s face, crashing through his armor and cracking his skull.

    Meanwhile, Bai Yumo reached his hand out and pushed the object he held into Damien''s chest.

    That object turned liquid and entered Damien''s body immediately, and despite being thrown back with heavy injuries again, Bai Yumo was content.

    Because as Damien found out soon enough, his body was being altered in a way he couldn''t stop.

    The Void had always had a single restriction: its energy could only control and devour other energies.

    When Damien was exposed to natural poison back in the Cloud ne, he learned this the hard way.

    And now, the substance that clouded his veins and set itself in his heart was showing the same tendencies.

    ''This¡­''

    He could feel the difference.

    ''Transcendent Regeneration is being¡­blocked?''

    Damien''s shock was understandable. Even when his spatial abilities were blocked, Transcendent Regeneration never stopped working unless he had no mana.

    Whatever Bai Yumo put in his body was unseen in the universe, a treasure or material that couldn''t be gauged by normal standards.

    ''It almost feels like the dark material from the Primordial Undying Realm.''

    If what those Nox had was a diluted version of the material, Bai Yumo had the source.

    What else could be expected from the son of the Saint Emperor?

    Damien frowned as he looked down at Bai Yumo, who was crawling out of the crushed ground.

    His injuries were far more severe. It looked like he was on the verge of death already.

    But as a Nox, death was a concept that didn''t function the same for him. No matter how injured his body got, it wouldn''t stop him from operating at full capacity.

    Damien was different. With his healing cut and no way of knowing how long it would take to get it back, Damien could no longer act rashly.

    ''He almost blew my head off a second ago. If that happens again¡­''

    It was too dangerous.

    In this moment of respite, Damien''s gaze unknowingly went to the Saint Emperor.

    That man was standing in the same position without any signs of movement, but the expression on his face was truly disgusting.

    It was slight, so slight that it couldn''t be seen by others, but Damien saw it clearly.

    Because he knew what the Saint Emperor wanted.

    That look was one of perversion and one of desire, an expression that was validated by Damien and Bai Yumo''s battle.

    Damien''s frown deepened.

    He knew he had to defeat Bai Yumo here, but the longer the fight went on, the less sure he became of the Saint Emperor''s intentions.

    He had the feeling that even if he won here, he would eat a loss.

    It was extremely disconcerting.

 Chapter 1047 Bai Yumo [7]

    ?

    The battle between Damien and Bai Yumo had already gone on for far longer than the previous one with Su Ren.

    Despite the fact that each of their collisions was like a leaf floating on the river of time, so many leaves covered the river''s surface that one would believe it had no depth whatsoever.

    Hundreds of thousands of shes took ce, with the momentum shifting back and forth between the human and Nox. Their battle power shone in the eyes of those watching and ced them at the peak of the universe.

    But there could only be one person in the top spot!

    After Damien lost the protection of Transcendent Regeneration, his battle style became far more cautious. He utilized long-range attacks and constantly teleported to make sure Bai Yumo couldn''t affect him with the same severity as before.

    But just as he became more cautious, the Saint King became more daring!

    The Demonic Providence granted to him by his training was Abyss Controller. He could take portions of the Abyss'' natural energy and use them as if they were his own mana.

    But this wasn''t just a matter of using a different form of mana, it meant he could truly control the operations of the Abyss to a certain extent.

    And Damien was forced to face that head-on.

    ''Shit!''

    Damien rapidly teleported away, moving several hundred kilometers across the arena floor, but it didn''t help.

    The surrounding space had be a that trapped him, it''s chaotic fluctuations made it impossible for him to move freely despite the reality of his abilities.

    After all, unless the strength difference was significant enough, the only thing that couldbat a spatial practitioner was another spatial practitioner!

    By influencing space directly, Bai Yumo effectively cornered Damien in a way he couldn''t before.

    And he wasn''t finished with just this much.

    The Saint King''s arms waved through space like he was conducting an orchestra, however, the result of his actions was cacophony.

    The spatial turbulence was only one of many mechanisms he abused in this battle.

    As Damien tried to evade and counter using Mirage, as he tried to use the Twin Moons to create openings for himself to approach Bai Yumo, Damien was always met with obstructions.

    His body streaked through the air, avoiding a section of copsed and twisted space, only for him to enter a new area where all things were darker than ck.

    ''A Dead Zone!'' Damien eximed with a frown, remembering hisst experience in such a ce.

    There was an absence of mana andws that made it impossible for even someone of his caliber to maintain their mana capacity properly!

    ''I need to escape this encirclement.'' Damien thought solemnly.

    He dragged his body through the Dead Zone, swerving to avoid the sts of Abyss Energy that surrounded him from all sides.

    Damien''s body was like an eel slithering through water, the terrain unable to affect his mobility much at all, but his mana capacity was finally beginning to see the negative effects.

    ''I need to get out of this Dead Zone to recuperate my mana, but it''s hard. There''s a time distortion here too, but I can''t sense it since it''s built into the absence of the Dead Zone.''

    His mana was draining too rapidly for this destroyed area of space to be so simple, and realizing it, Damien''s frown only deepened.

    ''Looks like I have to fight directly.''

    Bai Yumo hadn''t moved since the beginning of this new phase of the battle. While his expression made this seem like a taunting gesture or a show of arrogance, the reality was that it wasn''t possible for him to move his body while controlling Abyss Energy so precisely.

    The state he was currently in was simr to Damien''s Elemental Wargod form, but because he didn''t have the special physique that allowed him to easily control those elements he didn''t have an affinity with, he needed to torture his body until his understanding of them was engraved deep in his soul.

    One day, when he was more powerful, perhaps he could effortlessly wield the forces of nature like his father, but this was a story for another time!

    Bai Yumo''s eyes never left Damien, who was like a flying cockroach who refused to die, so when he saw the mane to aplete stop, his expression became somewhat serious.

    As he expected, Damien wasn''t nning to run anymore. He summoned all the mana inside him and summoned his understanding of Spacetime in full.

    Damien''s eyes were closed as he felt for thosews in thewless space, and when they fluttered open again¡­

    A translucent silver color decorated his pupils, and his hands moved with the elegance of an Emperor.

    "Form."

    He uttered a single word, and the Dead Zone around him shattered. A secure space was formed in its ce, a semnce of Order that disced Bai Yumo''s chaos.

    The battle changed again.

    Bai Yumo and Damien no longer moved or attacked each other in a frenzy. Their collision was a true battle of experts, where superiorprehension would take the victory!

    The Laws of Spacetime and the Energy of the Abyss shed fiercely. When these two forces were put against each other, Abyss Energy had a natural advantage since it was more all-epassing.

    But when Damien added Samsara to the mix, and used Elemental Wargod to imitate the addition of the 5 base elements, the same couldn''t be said.

    It was a wave of ck against a wave of silver, two waves of terrifying energy that shed in the air and invaded each other''s space to attack their casters.

    Bai Yumo was covered in gashes and had several chunks of his body missing, eaten by space and time themselves.

    Meanwhile, Damien wasn''t untouched either. Abyss Energy couldn''t pollute his internals, but it absolutely worked on his physical body.

    His skin and muscles were corroded and burned away by the second, and even his bones started to feel the searing heat of the energy melting them into nothingness.

    Nevertheless, he stood tall. The Laws he''d beenprehending were those that formed the universe''s very foundation, and when he faced Abyss Energy, he didn''t feel fear or panic.

    He felt anticipation at whaty beyond the bounds of this small universe.

    He felt like if he could kidnap Bai Yumo and study that energy for a few years, the secrets of the universe would be his.

    It was a shame that such energy was in the hands of the enemy!

    Damien sighed to himself, wincing as he burned his wounds closed with mes and lightning.

    ''This is it. I need to act now.''

    The decision was made instinctively. Damien could feel that if he didn''t charge in and capitalize on the opportunity now, he''d lose his chance to sweep the victory in the future!

    His hands went to his sides and the weapons he held disappeared from his grasp.

    The Elemental Wargod state faded, and in the next second, the crown around Damien''s head changed to a new form.

    ''Void Breathing Second Form: Absolute Mastery''

    Last time, Damien used this ability on his sword skills, but not this time.

    This time, Damien''s goal was to be a true God of Space!

 Chapter 1048 Bai Yumo [8]

    The first time Damien used Absolute Mastery, the feeling of being a swordmaster was beautiful. It felt like he had an ultimate truth resting in his body, a truth that he wanted to hold onto.

    However, it was impossible to keep everything he gained from that state. At most, he could retain a few minorprehensions.

    Still, the feeling that state gave him was something he''d never forget.

    And it wasn''t something he could use often either.

    In his current estimates, he could at most use Absolute Mastery once a month.

    Regardless, it had been over a month since Damien and Su Ren fought, and Absolute Mastery activated perfectly.

    A feeling of Godhood filled Damien''s body again, extremely different from thest one.

    This time, it felt far more personal, far more indicative of Damien''s future.

    But what did this feeling mean?

    Damien flexed his fingers and felt the folds of space abiding by his actions.

    It wasn''t so simple though, as this feeling equated to absolute control over their activities.

    Damien swung his arm out and space responded, swinging out as well.

    The base structure of the spatial folds changed to fit his needs and a fewyers even deleted themselves to amodate his motions.

    "Nice."

    Damien grinned and clenched his fist powerfully.

    BOOOM!

    Space shattered entirely, banishing every bit of Bai Yumo''s mana into the void.

    In the next instant, it reformed itself more solid and with differentws than before, containing the Saint King and attacking him from all sides.

    It was difficult for Bai Yumo to describe what he was experiencing.

    He was dodging on instinct and crushing any sense of hostility he felt in the environment, but he couldn''t get rid of the sensation of being squeezed to death at all.

    Space was his enemy. His very existence in its folds was being disallowed.

    Damien didn''t have to move. He flicked his fingers like a pianist and moved his arms freely, conducting the movements of space with nothing more than his thoughts.

    Gashes and ruptures filled the air, ck holes and spatial copses filled it too. Space stretched and shortened at the same time, making distance an irrelevant concept.

    No matter how far Bai Yumo moved, he couldn''t make any distance, and no matter how much distance he made, space was always around to destroy him!

    ''This cannot continue.''

    Damien and he were both restricted from healing, so whoever held the momentum also held the key to victory.

    With Damien''s current state, Bai Yumo had no chance of winning.

    Unless¡­

    ''I must unseal it. I never thought I would use this card against someone in my own generation¡­''

    Bai Yumo took a second to mull it over and hesitated no longer. His body underwent a secondary transformation, bing far more demonic than its previous state.

    His hair was pure white and the armor that covered his body was reconstructed to look like the exoskeleton of a certain predator. His head was left uncovered, allowing others to witness the pristine handsomeness that it represented.

    The current form of the Saint King didn''t just share simrities with Damien''s Demon Transformation, it looked like a perfectlyplete version of it!

    ''Begone.''

    Bai Yumo''s thoughts were utterly cold, but his movements were brutal.

    BANG!

    He mmed his arm to the side, shattering space itself and opening a hole into the chaotic void.

    He looked up at Damien with a grin and began to wildly attack the space around him. If it wasn''t for the countless shattered spatial fragments falling to the ground and the revtion of the chaotic void, it would''ve looked like he''d gone mad.

    Damien frowned and tried to contain Bai Yumo in his spatial constraints, but thetter''s physical strength had grown too much.

    Every time space existed around him, he destroyed its existence thoroughly.

    ''This won''t work anymore.''

    Damien stopped wasting his time immediately. He kicked off the air and shot forward, redirecting the energy of Absolute Mastery into his swordsmanship.

    BOOM!

    Mirage crashed against the Saint King''s heavy armor, sending sparks of light flying through the air.

    The duo began a fierce melee without a single care for their well-being. At this stage, whoever took the most damage would be the ultimate loser!

    As long as one of them was using their energy without care, the other didn''t have any choice but to follow.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The scene was reminiscent of the previous fight. Bai Yumo didn''t bring out his fan but used his fists, and Damien only had a single sword, but their exchanges shared a frightening and almost intentional simrity to Su Ren''s battle.

    The fight had grown to such proportions and be a matter of life or death, but Damien never forgot his original purpose.

    He was going to get revenge for hisrade and show the Nox that Grand Heavens Boundary couldn''t be easily touched!

    His sword was like a blur of light as he wielded it with absolute perfection, infusing Spacetime mana into its de to heighten its effects.

    Meanwhile, Bai Yumo used Abyss Energy to its fullest, creating disastrous microcosms that attacked Damien''s body and tore into his flesh and bones.

    Both men were taking extreme injuries. They were missing chunks of their bodies and their limbs were destroyed to the point where it was curious how they were still functioning.

    Damien and Bai Yumo had the same thought at this moment, but Damien didn''t n to let his enemy entertain it.

    VOOOOOM!

    The Laws of Samsara in the atmosphere solidified further, and Damien used his new Law Controller trait to exponentially enhance its effects.

    At the same time, he sent his senses into his body and rapidly dissected the nature of the dark material within him.

    "Dammit! Just die!" Bai Yumo roared as he mmed his fist out.

    "Keuk¡­! Why don''t you go first?!" Damien responded, shing Mirage into the Saint King''s shoulder.

    They stared into each other''s eyes with fiery determination and fighting spirit. Their killing intent soared into the heavens as they ripped each other apart.

    Damien sent Void Mana through his systems and encircled the dark material clogging his veins. He gathered the substance spread through his body into his heart, enduring extreme pain to the point where he almost lost his sanity.

    But he didn''t stop.

    He put all his attention into this task, even ignoring the ongoing battle to a certain extent.

    In the outside world, Bai Yumo took the lead. Damien''s resistance lessened and he capitalized on the chance to let loose an all-out attack that utterly destroyed Damien''s body.

    His legs and arms were blown to shreds, and a massive hole popted his stomach, turning it into a window.

    Damien and Bai Yumo were no more than a few hits away from death already, but now, it seemed like Damien would die without resistance!

    Until¡­

    "Found¡­it¡­"

    The voice that came out was barely a mutter as Damien''s vocal cords were incinerated, but the grin on his face spoke ten thousand words.

    "Take¡­this¡­bitch¡­!"

    Damien mmed his head forward into Bai Yumo''s forehead,pletely surprising the Nox genius, and¡ª

    "Keuk¡­!"

    He coughed a mouthful of ck blood onto his enemy''s face.

    Before Bai Yumo''s face could reel in disgust, his eyes widened in absolute shock.

    Because Damien¡­

    "Haa¡­" a sigh left his mouth.

    It really was good to be back.

    In just a second, Damien''s mutted body returned to its peak state, fast to the point where it seemed like a miracle.

    And without waiting a single instant, he mmed his fist out with everyst bit of power remaining in his body, intent on destroying Bai Yumo''s heart once and for all!

 Chapter 1049 Outcome [1]

    Chapter 1049 Oue [1]

    Time nearly froze.

    This was that moment.

    It was the moment when Bai Yumo felt true death encroaching him at the hands of another for the first time in his life.

    Damien''s strike¡­truly was beautiful.

    It was a colorful mixture of several equal and opposite Laws, a strangely ordered mix of chaos that was bound to explode at the slightest disruption.

    How was he able to control something like that? The amount of effort it''d take to so precisely handle mana so these elements didn''t prematurely connect was mind-boggling, and Bai Yumo was sure he wouldn''t be able to replicate it.

    This time, his loss waspletely undisputable. His opponent might''ve had strength simr to his, but his control over not only his mana, but his Laws and physical body, made him someone Bai Yumo would lose to 9 out of 10 times no matter how much they fought.

    They said one''s life would sh before their eyes on the verge of death, but Bai Yumo didn''t see anything like that.

    What he saw in his final moments was a mountain.

    He was born at the foot of this mountain and had been so desperately trying to climb it his entire life.

    But it wasn''t just difficult, it was impossible. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he grew, he could never make it more than a few hundred meters past its base.

    Now. with his chance to see the peak almost extinguished, he began to wonder: why was he so obsessed with this mountain?

    Why did he allow it to control his life like so?

    His vision was shifting between ckness and a blurry view of the world. The closer Damien''s fist came, the harder it was for him to stay conscious.

    And in that final moment, he saw that mountain again.

    "Enough."

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A cold voice resounded before Damien''s attack finally exploded. Waves of chaotic mana filled the space and, mysteriously enough, passed through the arena barrier like it didn''t exist!

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    Furious winds crashed through the atrium, apanied by the panicked screams of the crowd. The Demigods and Supremes among them rapidly put up barriers to defend their juniors, marveling at the beautiful yet deadly impact of the explosion.

    It took several seconds for the storm to calm, and when the light and dust finally settled¡­

    Gasp!

    A wave of gasps spread through the crowd.

    Standing in the middle of the arena, between Damein and Bai Yumo, was none other than the Saint Emperor.

    He held Damien''s fist in his grasp, staring down at the human genius who coldly met his gaze.

    "Boy, release your hostility," he said calmly, ignoring the killing intent radiating off Damien''s body in waves.

    Damien gritted his teeth as he felt the Saint Emperor''s firm grip.

    This interruption was¡­expected. There was no way the Saint Emperor would let his son die here.

    But he didn''t seem the slightest bit angry about Damien''s victory. He was even a bit¡­happy about it?

    Damien sighed and retracted his killing intent, backing away as the Saint Emperor freed his fist.

    "Hmph."

    The Saint Emperor moved his hands behind his back and nced at Damien.

    ''Not bad¡­'' he thought with a slight smile, feeling the barely noticeable burn mark on his palm.

    He didn''t speak too many words from that point.

    He lifted Bai Yumo with his mana and flew out of the arena, turning to address the entire crowd in the atrium.

    "This loss¡­This Emperor will acknowledge it. As such a thing has taken ce, This Emperor will make a proposition."

    His eyes turned to Luciel.

    "2 years¡­" he said.

    "Let us call a ceasefire for 2 years."

    This was perhaps the greatest shock of the Grand Assembly thus far.

    The Saint Emperor himself was offering such a thing?

    Not a single person believed it wasn''t a trick.

    "What are your terms?" Luciel responded calctively. Just like the rest, he was certain the Nox Emperor would propose extremely restrictive terms.

    However¡­

    "I will guarantee that my Nox Race will not attack the boundaries of Eien for the next 2 years, and those above 4th ss stationed in your universe will be retrieved. If any attack takes ce without direct provocation, I will take responsibility and personally destroy those who disobey this treaty."

    "And in return?"

    "Your people will also be retracted from Eien, and¡­"

    The Saint Emperor smiled strangely as his eyes turned back to Damien.

    "...that man must be disallowed from participating in any ns your universe creates during these 2 years. When they pass, he will have a rematch with my son to determine the final winner among the younger generation."

    It was natural that many gazes turned to Damien. They''d witnessed his great victory moments ago, but there had to be a greater reason for the Saint Emperor paying specific attention to him.

    Damien had a frown on his face as he received their suspicion and admiration. He didn''t have much of an opinion on the Saint Emperor''s terms, except¡­

    ''Why does he want me to fight the Saint King so much?''

    Damien could find a million loopholes to abuse if he wanted to take part in the universe''s matters, but the Saint Emperor''s agenda continued to elude him.

    After all, the man''s actions were too disordered. Nothing he did made sense in the grand scheme of things, and he seemed to help the universe just as much as he hurt it.

    The Marite Lord was a confusing individual, but they had nothing on the Saint Emperor.

    Even among the Nox, he was an enigma.

    Luciel looked between Damien and the Saint Emperor several times as he tried to rationalize their connection with the information he had on Damien, and he paid attention to the reactions of his peers towards the Nox Emperor''s proposition.

    If it was another Emperor, nobody would trust their ability to speak for the entire Nox Race, but the Saint Emperor truly held a special position among their race and showed several times in the past that he could control even those who shared his title.

    The terms were too good to be true, but if he was willing to seal this ceasefire with a Mana Oath, could it be doubted anymore?

    There were too many questions about intention or long-term benefits and disadvantages that made one hesitate when facing a deal like this, however, Luciel couldn''t deny that this was the best course of action for the universe at the moment.

    He looked at Damien one more time, and Damien met his gaze with a helpless shrug. Luciel smiled slightly and nodded before turning his attention back to the enemy leader.

    "Very well. We are willing to ept these terms."

    His words were the start of something great, and also the signal that marked the start of theing cmity.

    The Saint Emperor smiled with a hidden glint in his eyes. His expression was arrogant, as if he''d just achieved a victory under everyone''s noses.

    And without hesitation, he summoned his mana and made an Oath, an Oath with the lives of his entire race on the line.

    All that was left was for the universe to return his sincerity.

 Chapter 1050 Outcome [2]

    Chapter 1050 Oue [2]

    The ceasefire was signed and put into motion almost immediately, and results showed with the same haste.

    The Saint Emperor shared a few parting words, letting the universe remember that this loss didn''t discount the threat the Nox represented, and left with his people.

    The expression on the Saint King''s face as he was carried away was dull, almost void. It seemed there was a lot he needed to sort out in his head before he could return to his normal state.

    ¡­or perhaps, his "normal" state was something the universe would never see again.

    Reports came in within minutes of Demigods fleeing Infected Source Worlds and many hidden locations throughout the universe, While it felt prideful to watch them leave, it also alerted the denizens of Grand Heavens Boundary to just how deeply the Nox had infiltrated their homnd.

    While the Grand Assembly was winding down for the most part, Damien still had a load of trouble to deal with. Namely, exining away the many mysteries he''d showcased over the past few months.

    Luckily, he had both exnations and alibis galore, prepared for several days for this very moment.

    Firstly, the Sanctuary was exined away as a God-rank spatial talisman.

    He imed it had a limited number of uses, and when he teleported Xue''er in and out of Holy Light Star, or when he teleported Xiao Yue to safety, he''d used up almost all its energy.

    This story was backed by several factors. Firstly, Damien imed this talisman as the reason he could move around the universe so fast.

    It was still unheard of for a spatial practitioner to have Damien''s level of movement ability, so when he gave a rational reason for how he got from the Celestial Realm to Eien, or from Soul World to the Beast Domain, it was widely epted by the council of experts that was judging him.

    Su Ren also spoke up, saying his master had arranged Xiao Yue''s secret return, which, when considering his master''s identity, wasn''t actually that strange.

    The issue of the Sanctuary was solved there, but Damien had to be careful when he used the ability in the future to avoid further suspicion.

    Once the first problem was passed, he had to exin many more things, the first of which were Reva and Xue''er herself.

    Reva was forgotten by most because of the negative presence she held and her early disappearance from relevance, but these experts still remembered her. As Damien was from the Human Domain, he was naturally asked about her.

    In this matter, feigning ignorance was easy since his interaction with Reva was hidden from their sight from the beginning. They asked everyone from the Human Domain about her, so he didn''t have to worry about weaving aplicated history for her.

    As for Xue''er, was there a need to lie about her identity? She was his precious little sister, nothing more nothing less.

    The main issue was rationalizing abilities like Absolute Mastery and Elemental Wargod. He had to give an exnation for the great variety of natural forces and mysterious powers that hemanded.

    The experts of Grand Heavens Boundary definitely didn''t doubt Damien''s loyalty, as he wouldn''t have shown so many cards if he was a traitor, but they did doubt how someone from a small in the Human Domain could grow so much and gain so many things that were unheard of for many.

    Damien could only entertain their suspicions and give them semi-reasonable excuses to satisfy their curiosity.

    Regardless of their status or the importance of this moment, Damien wasn''t someone who''d bend to authority.

    Why should he give them so much information on him? Why would he let them hold power over him?

    Damien was always an independent genius and he''d never truly given his allegiance to any force because of the disgust he felt working for others.

    So, while he did answer their questions, he didn''t give them what he wanted.

    He med mysterious masters, heaven-defying lucky opportunities, and even the universe itself for his rise to power.

    And what could these experts do but ept it? There was no other logical exnation for his existence.

    The only ones who still held doubts in their hearts were Luciel, Lucifer, and a few experts who personally knew Damien, but they didn''tment on his lies for a variety of reasons.

    Nevertheless, the hellish interrogationsted several hours before Damien was finally let go.

    His status in the universe now far surpassed Su Ren''s, and though he hadn''t visited any Mystic Realms or Challenge Gates in the recent past¡­

    His name now sat crisply in the first ce position on the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    Damien Void was no longer someone who could move about the universe as he pleased, a stranger in every newnd he visited.

    Within a few months of the Grand Assembly, he became a household name that could be recognized at first sight.

    He was the genius who defeated the Saint King!

    ***

    With the final event marked by Damien and Bai Yumo''s battle, which led to something that surprised any and everyone who heard it, the Grand Assembly came to a close.

    Many forces had already left Luxurion when the conference started since they didn''t have the right to participate, and now that it was over, the rest made their way out as well.

    Chatter was vibrant among them as they made their exit, and despite the painful events that had taken ce earlier and led to the loss of thousands of promising young talents, their atmosphere was jolly.

    The Grand Assembly gave them hope for the future, hope for victory!

    However, there were a few forces who didn''t share their joy, mostly those who were aligned with Blood Asura Holy Land.

    Immortal Blood Asura spoke no words as he coldly led his people away from Luxurion, but anyone who saw the look in his eyes backed away in fear.

    He was absolutely furious.

    Damien would definitely face troubles from them in the future, but now that they were faced with such an oue, it was impossible for them to openly hinder him without offending nearly every big force in the universe.

    Though, this only meant Immortal Blood Asura''s revenge would be ten or even a hundredfold worse than it would''ve been!

    Damien himself didn''t pay any mind to Blood Asura Holy Land at this time.

    While everyone else made their way back to their homes to prepare for the grand ns that would be enacted soon enough, he and 49 other geniuses who represented the younger generation''s absolute peak were gathered together in the first banquet hall.

    Among them, all of the Human Domain''s geniuses, Su Ren, Atticus, and a few others were familiar.

    At the head of their group was Pandora, who stood with her fellows and the Sect Elders who apanied them to Luxurion.

    This was the group Prismatic Sun Holy Land had invited to theirnds, the first outsiders to gain this privilege for tens of thousands of years, if not more!

    Perhaps the Grand Assembly was over, but this was only the start. The true war between Grand Heavens Boundary and the Nox was just on the verge of entering its true stage, where war would envelop all of existence.

    Damien nced at Pandora from his ce in the crowd with a smile.

    He truly was anticipating this next step of his Legend!

 Chapter 1051 Waves [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1051 Waves [1]</h4>

    The matters of the Grand Assembly spread more rapidly than a wildfire, reaching every corner of the universe within a few days.

    It was truly an action-packed summit filled with twists and turns. Many had already guessed that the gathering wouldn''t be simple due to its purpose, but nobody could predict what actually happened.

    There were still several unexined events. For instance, while the loss of several thousand young talents did hurt the universe''s future, it wasn''t enough reason for them to waste their forces and expose so many cards.

    There was even a Holy Land among the traitors! This information was hidden from the general public to uphold the standing of the remaining Holy Lands, but anyone with some power was aware of this fact.

    The Nox were deeply rooted in Grand Heavens Boundary to the point where the greatest influences couldn''t be trusted anymore.

    Was their goal to breed this distrust? Or was there something greater that couldn''t be grasped?

    Hassan''s existence was known only to Damien, Pandora, and the Prismatic Sun Holy Master, and other than Damien, it wasn''t certain if the rest understood his significance.

    Nevertheless, the mystery of the Holy Light Star invasion was forgotten soon enough, as a question without answers was merely boring to most people.

    What really attracted attention was the younger generation, and even more so, the Human Domain.

    They turned the Grand Assembly into their stage. Aside from Xue Fang, who didn''t have much presence next to his peers, the rest of the Human Domain''s people made names for themselves that spread to every corner of existence.

    The rise of such geniuses and the power of the experts that backed them brought another wave of hope to themon denizens of this ne, and filled all people with pride for their homnd!

    Most of the significance of the Grand Assembly was only known to strong experts and influences, and while they also started watching those who deserved their attention, they also had several conversations about the future.

    Now that the Nox had retreated, Heaven''s Army could begin scouting Infected Source Worlds and preparing to attack them.

    There were six remaining targets, and each one would take meticulous nning to bring down.

    Tian Yang and his fellow experts of the Human Domain stayed behind in Luxurion to participate in these conversations as those who''d achieved victory against such a target before.

    They definitely couldn''t rely on the same strategy as before, but with Tian Yang and Tang Lingzi''s expertise, as well as Albeus'' experience living in Niflheim, they had plenty to contribute to the conversation.

    The cogs of the universe were spinning into motion. They were slow and creaking from rust at the moment, but all that damage was king off with every passing second.

    Soon enough, they would be spinning with enough force to burn through anything in their path!

    ***

    The entire universe was filled with an aura of vibrance, but all light would be followed by its own darkness.

    In a certain corner of Eien, a man stood alone, his back straighter than any sword. His gaze was cold enough to drop the ambient temperature, and though he was old, he did not look aged in the slightest.

    With therge body of someone who had been training their muscles for their entire life and the vitality of a youthful man, the only way to know he was an elder was to look at his face, weathered and covered in stark white hair.

    In another life, he might''ve been painted as an immortal descended to the mortal world.

    But in this one, he was a demon.

    His gaze flickered to the side, no words exiting his mouth.

    There was a shadowy figure atop a deste hill that sat over a hundred thousand kilometers away.

    The man gazed at this figure despite the distance, and he did not move.

    He waited.

    Until that figure came to him.

    Whoosh!

    A light wind whipped as a small tornado of shadows swirled into the shape of a person, solidifying as he bowed.

    "My Lord has received your message."

    "And he sent you?"

    The man scanned his gaze over the messenger''s body indifferently, scoffing at his weakness.

    The messenger gritted his teeth, but said nothing.

    "My Lord has stated that trust cannot be established so easily. This matter must be handled with care."

    "Hmm¡­"

    The man turned his gaze to the horizon.

    "Is this your caution?"

    Bang!

    The messenger exploded, ck blood sttering across the ground below.

    The man continued looking into the distance as if waiting for a response.

    And a response he received.

    "I see. With power at such a level, you still approach This Venerable? What is your purpose?"

    A raspy, hoarse voice boomed through the clouds, parting them with their force.

    "My purpose¡­"

    The man crossed his arms behind his back, closing his eyes in thought.

    "My purpose is victory."

    "Do you believe you will find that here?"

    "I believe in nothing but myself."

    The voice was silent for a moment before questioning:

    "Then?"

    "Do you need to know such things?" The man said, his eyes sharpening and his aura ring.

    "Have you given This Venerable a reason to ignore them?" the voice responded with the same coldness.

    "I have never believed your people to be cowards."

    "Useless pride is the reason for your downfall."

    "Downfall?" The man repeated with a scoff.

    "There is no such thing as downfall for me. This universe is mine and mine alone."

    "At your core, you are no different from them."

    "You are wrong."

    For the first time, the man smiled. He spread his arms and spoke with utter superiority oozing from his tone.

    "They are ants, while I am a god."

    "Pretentious."

    A man''s figure appeared in space. His figure was covered inyers of ragged robes that hid his body, and his face was cloaked in darkness under arge hood.

    He descended to the ground, standing no more than a few feet away from the man he had been conversing with.

    "If cooperation is what you desire, This Venerable will offer it. However, the oue is left only to Fate."

    "I have never met a being who advises allies against cooperation."

    "My nature is not for you to understand."

    "Hmph."

    From the beginning, no words needed to be said. Both parties were aware of their intentions from the start, merely, this was their first meeting.

    As Divinities, it was impossible for them to submit to those at their level. In terms of cooperation¡­

    Was it really cooperation?

    In the end, whose goals were going to devour the other''s?

    Now that they''d made introductions, they were ready to move forward.

    A Mana Oath was established, manifesting as an ethereal contract that restricted their souls.

    Once it was settled, the cloaked man nodded sinctly.

    "Then, I look forward to your news, Immortal Blood Asura."

    Immortal Blood Asura''s gaze chilled to the extreme. He felt like he could almost see the smirk on that man''s hidden face.

    Those words meant nothing from others, but this man wasn''t someone who spoke meaninglessly.

    He watched that man''s back coldly as he left.

    The back of the Karmic Emperor, one of only four Nox Beings who could hold such a title.

    On this day, secluded from the eyes of all existence, these two powerful yers in the universe made a deal.

    The chaos they''d give way to¡­perhaps only the Void itself could imagine it.

 Chapter 1052 Waves [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1052 Waves [2]</h4>

    Three days passed after the Grand Assembly, and though the interaction between Immortal Blood Asura and the Karmic Emperor only took ce roughly a week in the future, this was the time it took for a certain group of 50 to reach the bounds of Prismatic Sun Holy Land.

    They upied a starship in the shape of arge boat, ornately decorated in the fashion of this peculiar Holy Land.

    It was currently stopped in the depths of the starry sky, seemingly in an area void of much life.

    "From here, we will directly teleport to the gates of the sect. Be mindful of your movements until everyone has arrived, and do not leave the bounds of the teleportation gate until you are granted passage by the disciples on the other side. Failure to abide by these rules will result in death, please remember that."

    The Head Elder, a middle-aged woman with an imposing gait, addressed the genius group, giving them a stern warning as she handed them guest ques.

    "With these in your possession, you will not face any trouble in the sect as long as you do not cause trouble. Be sure not to lose them."

    With those final words, she activated a circr teleportation array within the starship. One by one, the geniuses disappeared until finally, the entire starship vanished from the starry sky.

    Damien looked around curiously as he emerged from the folds of space, ignoring the queasy geniuses around him and instead focusing on the array that brought them to the Holy Land.

    ''As expected of a Holy Land, this array is spectacr. What was that, around a hundred million kilometers?''

    As it turned out, Prismatic Sun Holy Land was located in Soul World.

    ''It makes sense. Even if they aren''t from the Spirit Race, their techniques lean towards the ethereal and illusory. Soul World has the best environment for them.''

    By the time he finished his thought, the Holy Land Elders also arrived in the teleportation gate, the final ones to do so.

    With their arrival as a cue, the stone doors to the circr area they were in opened, revealing them to the bright sunlight outside.

    Hisss!

    Several sharp inhales filled the space. Along with their sight, their awareness was also freed from the room''s confines. When they scanned the outside area, they realized¡­

    ¡­they couldn''t sense anything at all!

    Prismatic Sun Holy Land was located on a world of its own, and those with better perception could viewrge plots of it, but none of it had any life, let alone something like a sect!

    Damien smirked seeing their reactions and turned to his wives to gauge their reactions.

    ''As expected, they can see it.''

    The entire world quite literally was the sect. There was no unupied space. Every corner had disciples wandering about utilizing various facilities, and even the natural forests and beast-ruled areas were regted by the sect for training purposes.

    It was beautiful, not just the harmonious atmosphere that enveloped the ce, but also the scenery itself.

    Rivers of crystal clear water that flowed through thends and skies, mystical mountain ranges that stretched into the heavens with their height, exotic rainforests and natural ecosystems that were rare to find on such manaden worlds, it was wondrous how all these different things could coexist within the bounds of a single world.

    Pandora smiled at the crowd of geniuses and snapped her fingers, pulling them out of their dazes.

    "Wee¡­" she started excitedly.

    "...to our Prismatic Sun Holy Land!"

    She threw a firework of mana into the air, causing the guest ques to light up in splendor. Streams of mana surrounded the genouses'' bodies and suddenly, they were also revealed to the beauty of the Holy Land that was lost to them before.

    Yet, unlike Damien and some others, they didn''t have the time to digest every sight they wanted to behold. This Holy Land, despite allowing their entrance now, was still an extremely private entity.

    What they showed was only what they wanted people to see. There was no doubt that the genuine secrets of the sect were still deeply hidden from them.

    After all, the scenery was beautiful, but it was only what was expected of an influence at their level!

    The Head Elder and Pandora ushered the group forward into the sect''s grounds after a bit, leading them along a dainty paved path that led to a hall with a rtively average appearance.

    The group took the ces assigned to them and began enjoying the provided refreshments and chatting amongst each other about both the recent past and their guesses for the purpose of the current visit.

    Some even attempted to take out recording artifacts to show their peers the sights of this hidden sect, but each of these artifacts malfunctioned and broke without fail.

    Damien, on the other hand, was left alone with his women, Su Ren, and Long Chen. The rest didn''t approach them due to the newfound status of those at the table, and Xue Fang¡­

    In the end, Damien and his master were the ones who exterminated his family. He wasn''t on bad terms with Damien due to his friendship with Long Chen, but that didn''t mean he wanted to interact often.

    He instead took the role of ambassador and conversed with the remaining geniuses, setting up rtionships for their Human Domain to utilize in the future.

    Nevertheless, the jovial atmosphere around their table was strong. Su Ren was new to the group, but as he had a personality simr to Long Chen, he didn''t feel excluded around them.

    He could only watch with a smile as Damien goaded Long Chen, wondering if he would''ve also received that treatment if he was a bit weaker.

    This continued for roughly half an hour before some Prismatic Sun geniuses also joined in, chatting amongst outsiders for the first time in some of their lives.

    Damien enjoyed this light-hearted moment to its fullest.

    ''I got to spend another few days with those three on the way over, and now we''re getting to rx like this? It looks like something fun is going to happen soon.''

    There was no such pleasure that wasn''t followed by a new adventure, this was something Damien learned over time.

    He could smell its scent brewing, and he could feel its presence drawing nearer.

    After a full hour passed, he caught several elders apanying a stern-looking middle-aged man to the reception hall.

    ''With his strength, he should be the Vice Master. Then¡­''

    Before Damien could have a stray thought, a voice resounded in his head.

    "Come, child. It is time for us to speak."

    Wisps of mana rose from under his seat, causing him to smile wryly.

    He knew this moment woulde, but did she have to be so extravagant?

    He couldn''t offer a single word ofint before his body was enveloped in a swirling vortex of rainbow light and transported elsewhere.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena all stood up immediately, ring their auras.

    Long Chen gripped his sword handle with cold eyes, ready forbat.

    "Calm down," Su Ren said hurriedly, standing up and corralling their auras with his own.

    "Calm down? You expect us to be calm when our person was kidnapped?" Long Chen growled, bing the voice of their group.

    He had to make sure the three women didn''t speak, lest they use some distinctive words they''d learned from Damien and escte the situation.

    Su Ren sighed, thanking Long Chen with his eyes, and continued.

    "That light¨C"

    "--belongs to our Holy Master. There is no need to worry about your friend''s safety. Our master quite favors that young man."

    The one who interrupted was the Prismatic Sun Vice Master, Darrius Hearth, who just arrived in the hall.

    The three women frowned.

    If it was the Holy Master, the summon couldn''t be rejected, only¡­

    If such a woman had eyes on their husband, it couldn''t mean anything good!

 Chapter 1053 Prismatic Sun [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1053 Prismatic Sun [1]</h4>

    Unaware of themotion that had almost been caused in the reception hall, Damien found himself once again materialized in a new space.

    Should it be described as a bedroom or a throne room? Damien couldn''t quite tell.

    It was quite an ornate space, but it wasn''t big enough to bepared to the throne rooms Damien had seen before.

    It was like the living room of a cozy house, a single hanging light illuminating it far better than any number of other apparatuses could. The floor was made of a marble-like material and covered in a fine rug that one would only expect to find in the highest ss of society.

    The walls had a few nondescript art pieces hanging from them, and other varied decorations like some gold essories sat on shelves that followed the walls'' curves, creating an organized scene that subtly directed one''s attention towards a single ce.

    Centered against the back wall was a beautiful bed lined with the finest silks and fabrics.

    The being whoy on that bed was hidden by a thin curtain, but the shadow of her figure shone through that fabric, painting her in an air of both mysticism and undeniable charm.

    "Nice to meet you again," Damien said with a smile, making his way to the seating prepared a few meters in front of the bed.

    "Mmm, your attitude doesn''t seem appropriate?" The being, the Prismatic Sun Holy Master, responded inquisitively.

    Damien shrugged. "ording to your disciple, you''ve been watching my movements for a long time already. Shouldn''t you know my character by now?"

    "Hehe~, indeed, I cannot argue against such logic."

    Damien took his seat and crossed his legs, leaning back to getfortable.

    "I guess you have some questions for me?"

    "I do. The same goes for you, does it not?"

    "True, but before we start the exchange, don''t you think you should show some more sincerity?"

    "My apologies, but that will not be possible. My appearance is a bit¡­unique, one might say."

    The Holy Master had a twinge of something strange in her voice, which made Damien curious, but now wasn''t the time to focus on such small details.

    "Well then, let''s save that for another time. Are you going first or am I?"

    Damien spoke casually and treated their meeting as a deal rather than a meeting between a Demigod senior and her junior.

    After all, the two of them had already met when she was in Pandora''s body.

    At that time, they''d exchanged greetings and made acquaintance, and Damien also gave her a reason to be curious about him.

    He didn''t mention it explicitly, but she could sense the aura of something that definitely shouldn''t belong to him on his body.

    It was more than enough to draw her attention.

    The two established the rules of their exchange and decided to throw questions back and forth. If one couldn''t or wouldn''t answer, they were required to give a piece of useful information in its ce.

    The Prismatic Sun Holy Master went first, as the current greater of the two.

    "What happened to him?" She asked.

    "Are you asking for yourself?"

    "I''m sure you are aware of the truth."

    "Hmm¡­"

    "I killed him."

    Damien smiled as he waved his finger and summoned some mana, creating a projection in the air.

    Since this was what the Holy Master wanted, he didn''t mind giving it to her.

    Only, would she be satisfied once she saw it?

    The projection yed out, showing the battle against the Fifth Primal Sovereign from Damien''s perspective.

    The Holy Master watched silently, taking in the Human Domain''s God-ying Arrays and the extent of Damien''s power back then. She didn''t make a single sound or show a hint of emotion as the battle yed out, making Damien doubt some previous assumptions he''d made. This continued until¡­

    Gasp!

    A small gasp escaped her lips.

    The scene was the final one, the scene of Damien being sucked into the Void Corridor.

    It''s brutal swirling, the utter ckness within that made even the void of the Dead Zone look bright, the terror of its form was represented in full.

    This was not an event from Damien''s own memory, but something he managed to obtain through other means.

    To the Prismatic Sun Holy Master, this final moment of the projection connected many puzzle pieces.

    She had found Damien''s existence when he first made his name known on the Dimensional Leaderboards, and unlike most other influences who were blocked from finding him by Fallen Star Holy Land andter Hidden Death Valley, the eternally secret Prismatic Sun Holy Land was an exception.

    The Holy Master felt like she knew Damien personally after watching him for so long, and the one thing that always puzzled her most was a simple question.

    Just where did hee from?

    His mysterious power was something even Primal Sovereigns were attracted to, and his talent far surpassed any pre-established norms.

    A genius like this couldn''t be unknown!

    Even after finding out the truth of his origin, his advent in the Divine Realm remained a mystery, and even after finding the answer to this question, the Holy Master was only left with more curiosity!

    A character like Damien Void¡­

    ''He is what we need.''

    The thought shed through her mind, cementing a decision she''d been hesitating on for a long time.

    And while she wanted to immediately interrogate Damien about a variety of things, their meeting was a two-way street.

    She''d have to hold back for a bit.

    ''Such an interesting boy. It''s a shame¡­''

    Unaware of her thoughts and unable to see her expression, Damien put away the mana projection and leaned forward.

    "It''s my turn right?"

    He had just as many questions as she did, but the crux of it was a single question:

    "What is your rtionship with the Primal Sovereigns?"

    This was the connection that brought the two of them together. Before they could move on, the nature of their rtionship needed to be understood.

    "The Primal Sovereigns¡­" the Holy Master muttered, seemingly deciding how much she wanted to share.

    "The best way to describe them is as the benefactors of our sect."

    Words were only able to do so much. Regardless of what one said, the true essence of things was best represented by the actual experiences had with them.

    The Holy Master sent a stream of mana out of the curtain, showing Damien a projection just as he did her.

    Through it, he was able to understand how the rtionship between the Primal Sovereigns and Prismatic Sun Holy Land began, and how it evolved over time.

    It was more interesting than Damien thought.

    The best he could guess was some sort of ancestral connection, and he was partially right.

    However, not in the way he was thinking!

    The Primal Sovereigns truly were old existences. They''d lived so many billions of years that numbers became irrelevant.

    One would expect the rivers of time to weather their thoughts and emotions. It was impossible to hold onto such mortal connections when one''s existence surpassed mortality.

    But who could''ve guessed?

    Who could''ve guessed that the Second Primal Sovereign, a being who stood above the peak of the universe, actually had an intimate rtionship with the Founding Ancestor of Prismatic Sun Holy Land?!

 Chapter 1054 Prismatic Sun [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1054 Prismatic Sun [2]</h4>

    It began with the two of them.

    The Second Primal Sovereign was someone who never interacted with others unless necessary, but the Founding Ancestor was different.

    It wasn''t just her beauty. Something about her aura and atmosphere drew him in and gave him a sense offort he''d long lost.

    Their rtionship was one for the ages and their story was one of many beautiful love stories the universe had told, and its end was exactly as one would expect.

    It was a long rtionship, but the Founding Ancestor eventually met her end like all beings who couldn''t achieve True Godhood.

    After almost a million years of happiness, she left the Second Primal Sovereign alone in the world, a small sect she founded near the end of her life the only memento of her existence left.

    To someone who couldn''t experience emotion, such feelings were like a drug. When its effects wore off, the Primal Sovereign experienced the withdrawals, the desperate wish to see her again.

    But he knew more than anyone else that it was impossible.

    She was the only person he''d ever taken human form for, and the only one who''d seen him vulnerable.

    To make sure he never forgot his feelings for her, he took care of that sect on his own, bing its Sect Master and raising it into an influence that couldn''t be forgotten.

    He gave up his rule once the sect was able to stand on its own, making sure the Founding Ancestor was always remembered and her morals never faded, and afterwards¡­

    "He disappeared?" Damien muttered in surprise.

    "Mm, even I have no way of contacting him. Unless he wishes to be seen, he might as well be nonexistent," the Holy Master responded with a sigh.

    "Then¡­"

    Damien frowned. From the looks of it, the Second Primal Sovereign stopped continuous contact with the sect around there or four hundred thousand years ago, but he was sure this Holy Land was still in contact with the Primal Sovereign group.

    Otherwise, their interest in him had no justification.

    "Though he has vanished, the others have contacted us asionally. Whether it be to pass forward his will or for their own reasons, both the Third and Fourth Primal Sovereigns have also established rtions with us."

    The Prismatic Sun Holy Master answered Damien''s unspoken question without provocation, which left him a bit taken aback, but he was sure she was still hiding something.

    ''The Primal Sovereigns do not move unless they have goals in mind. Prismatic Sun Holy Land definitely has a major secret that''s drawing them here, but asking is pointless.''

    Damien nodded inwardly.

    His rtionship with the Primal Sovereigns was still unknown since the Fifth was crazed with greed and couldn''t represent their group.

    He didn''t want to be their enemy, but he had been preparing for a situation where he had no choice.

    ''But it''s not like the Fifth Primal Sovereign. These guys have shown interest in the Void, but not in the same perverted way he did. If I''m not wrong, her next question should be¡­''

    "What is that power?"

    She voiced the words he expected, but he naturally wasn''t going to answer.

    "Let''s keep the fun stuff forter, eh?" He remarked with a smile.

    "I need to give information at the same level right? Then how about¡­"

    Damien went on to tell the Holy Master about what he learned from Hassan''s memories about the Nox, giving her a look into his ns for the future.

    "Hmm, how interesting," she said inly.

    It wasn''t that she was uninterested, but speaking further on this topic would vite the ceasefire agreement that had only been signed days ago!

    After all, Damien was not supposed to meddle in the universe''s affairs for this period of time.

    This was just the beginning of their conversation, a move to establish a rtionship between them. From there, both Damien and the Holy Master asked each other many questions, bothrge and small.

    Damien learned much about the universe''s history from her, including the events erased about the Forgotten War and the eras before it.

    The Holy Master, on the other hand, received from Damien more information on the Nox than she thought possible to know, as well as a revtion about the universe''s true size that had been alluded to by the Primal Sovereigns in the past.

    It was more than just a productive conversation. Both of them gained an understanding of the things vague to them that cleared many of their doubts and gave them strings to form theories with.

    Knowledge was power, and the knowledge they possessed trumped most of the universe''s poption.

    Nevertheless, they couldn''t bepletely forthright with each other, and while Damien could tell that the Holy Master was revealing as much as she could without telling him every secret she held, he could also feel her guiding him towards a topic she wished to speak about.

    ''Haa, women. Can''t you just be direct?'' Damien thought wryly.

    The conversation circled back to the Second Primal Sovereign so many times even a baby could understand her intent.

    Begrudgingly, Damien decided to entertain her.

    "What do you want from me?" He asked with a sigh.

    "You''re supposed to show enthusiasm at this juncture."

    "Oh! Dear Holy Master, please grant this unworthy genius a quest of the ages! Please tell me what must be done!"

    From his tone of voice, one might really expect he was a young and hot-blooded man, but the expression on his face betrayed his disinterest.

    "Hmph, I cannot say I am satisfied, but I will settle for this. You really are no fun," the Holy Master quipped hatefully.

    Her tone changed immediately after as she finally spoke into existence the very thing Damien so unenthusiastically begged for.

    "There is a ce you must go¡­" she began, letting her words be vague mysteriously before continuing.

    Damien''s eyes widened as she her words flowed out.

    If what she was saying was true, then it was impossible for him to resist.

    If he didn''t go on this trip, he truly could never say he''d experienced an adventure before!

    ***

    Damien and the Prismatic Sun Holy Master''s conversation was reaching its peak, and at the same time, the remaining 49 geniuses were finally told the reason they were summoned to this hiddennd.

    It was because, out of every young talent alive right now, they were the ones worth nurturing.

    Prismatic Sun Holy Land was one of the top contributors to the universe''s victory in not just the previous war, but also the Forgotten War before it and several wars that took ce even before then!

    The source of their determination was unknown, but it wasn''t possible to deny their contributions and spirit.

    For them to do something like this meant the universe was genuinely in need of its younger generation.

    It wasn''t just a mere saying. Reality often showed that the younger generation rarely had time to blossom into their potential before they were needed, but this time, there was no falsity in those words.

    Those who could see through the strings that formed the web of reality had already prophesized it¡­

    ¡­the end of all things, that is.

 Chapter 1055 Prismatic Sun [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1055 Prismatic Sun [3]</h4>

    Most of those who came to Prismatic Sun Holy Land were given their amodations and told to wait a day.

    To nurture these talents, Prismatic Sun Holy Land had chosen a specific course of Mystic Realms, Challenge Gates, and amazing training locations for them to visit and utilize to their greatest extent.

    In the next 2 years, this program would turn them into peak experts who could make great contributions to theing war.

    In fact, this program had been organized by the Holy Land in conjunction with a few other forces, like Hidden Death Valley, who shared their purpose and had facilities that could aid their cause.

    Death Emperor Star would soon be a location these geniuses could abuse to the fullest, and under protection that''d assure they wouldn''t die!

    It was truly a spectacr benefit that these young men and women buzzed about deep into the night. Their anticipation and feelings of duty heightened to the maximum as they waited for the day toe.

    But unlike them, Damien was summoned for something entirely different.

    "How sure are you of your words?"

    His words sunk into the walls of the strange room. He currently rested his head on his fists, solemnly contemting the words he''d heard.

    "There is no mistake. Everything I have said is information received directly from the Third Primal Sovereign," the Prismatic Sun Holy Master answered, understanding his shock.

    What she''d revealed was too significant, after all.

    ''This¡­how do I rationalize this?''

    As he''d expected, the task had to do with none other than the Second Primal Sovereign.

    ording to the Holy Master, that Primal Sovereign was currently hidden away somewhere, but she had no idea where it was.

    She only knew the method to get there, and the fact that it was incredibly dangerous.

    However, from what she described as the Third Primal Sovereign''s words, the ce he slumbered was essentially a sub-universe, a separate reality from Grand Heavens Boundary.

    When Damien heard this, how could he sit still?!

    The Sanctuary was the only such existence he''d ever seen before. Whether the realms were secret or mystic, whether the worldws were altered or broken, none of the hidden locations Damien had been to could be regarded as true sub-universes.

    Such a structure was something Damien desperately wanted to see. He could upgrade the Sanctuary by observing itsws, and even his new Law Controller trait would see immense growth if he could see through its truths.

    Needless to say, he was already tempted.

    Only, he couldn''t dive into something like this without thought.

    Now that he was an active yer in the universe, he had to be more careful with his movements.

    Prismatic Sun Holy Land had a superb reputation, but they were still too mysterious. He couldn''t trust an influence he had no information on.

    But that trust came with time. First, there were obvious questions that needed to be asked.

    "Why?"

    Why did the Second Primal Sovereign need to be found? And did he need to be brought back? For what reason?

    It was quite a loaded question, but the Holy Master seemed to understand the gist.

    "The overall reason is simple: the continuance of our universe''s existence. I cannot reveal exactly how he will contribute to this yet, but I will assure you that it will only be positive," the Holy Master responded evasively.

    "That''s not an answer I can ept," Damien immediately said back.

    The rest of their exchange could progress with some secrecy, but if he was going to risk his life, he wouldn''t do it for an unknown cause.

    He could feel the Holy Master''s gaze on him through the curtain, peering into his soul with evident intrigue.

    The air she gave off was strange, and the more of her being that he could perceive, the stranger she felt.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t give Damien the time to think over the reason why.

    "Very well," she said with a small sigh.

    "Two Nox Emperors have been proactive in the attacks against Grand Heavens Boundary thus far, while the other two have taken a more secretive approach. Unlike the Saint Emperor and Inhuman Emperor, who make their presence known through various means, those two have never shown themselves, whether it be in this war or thest. They are called the Karmic Emperor and the Soul Emperor."

    As the Holy Master began, the atmosphere itself seemed to change. The room became gloomier, and a subtle temperature decrease put Damien''s hairs on edge.

    "The Karmic Emperor is a being with the power to control Karma to the extreme. From what we know, he can easily alter the emotions of those he sets his sights on, manipting them into his tools while they remain fully conscious. There are even rumors that he can cut the threads of Karma, instantly killing his enemies.

    "However, the Soul Emperor is even more terrifying. Considering his title, it can only be imagined what his power represents."

    "Hm? You don''t have his information?" Damien interjected in surprise.

    "We do not," the Holy Master replied powerlessly.

    "The Soul Emperor hides deep. There are countless evils in the universe that have been attributed to him, but his means are unknown and his involvement cannot be proven. This is the terror hemands."

    "And I''m guessing the Second Primal Sovereign has something to do with him?"

    "Exactly. The ancestral record shows that the two have been sworn enemies for millions of years. If he can be brought back, we will have a chance at eliminating this unknown problem before it makes itself known."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien frowned in thought. It was a good n, but¡ª

    "¡ªWhy didn''t you try it earlier?"

    Leaving such a threat alive for millions of years at this point was idiocy of the highest degree, even the Holy Master knew this, but there was simply no possibility of finding the Sovereign before.

    "Your mysterious power is what attracted the Primal Sovereigns back to our universe after so many years. In past wars, we also made attempts to reach him, but even finding his perch was impossible."

    "And you think I can do it?"

    "Is there any other hope?"

    Damien suddenly felt a twinge of pity for this Holy Master.

    Her tone could''ve been faked, but he didn''t think anyone could hide their emotions from him in an intimate setting like this.

    The only person who''d evaded him was the Saint Emperor, and if the Prismatic Sun Holy Master was at his level, wouldn''t he have been killed already?

    Her helplessness when facing this problem was as clear as day, despite how subtle the hint of emotion in her voice was.

    She was carrying a burden so big it had been passed down from generation to generation until itnded on her shoulders.

    She''d been observing him for so long; could it have been for this very reason?

    ''If that''s the case, wasn''t she keeping track of every somewhat promising unique genius?''

    If the purpose of her observation was to find the Void, a "mysterious power" as she knew it, was it possible for her to only be watching him?

    The amount of stress it took to reach this point as an individual who had to maintain secrecy while fighting for the universe in the shadows harder than those who fought on the frontlines, clinging to every possible thread of possibility she could find¡­

    "Understood. I''ll do it," he said, conceding.

    He couldn''t reject the good intentions of someone like the Prismatic Sun Holy Master, especially since it benefitted him too.

    The Holy Master''s beaming smile could be heard in her following words.

    "Splendid!" She eximed, showing more emotion than she had throughout the entire conversation so far.

    "But first¡­"

    A lithe and graceful hand slithered into the curtain''s partition, sliding it to the side.

    "Child, look at me."

 Chapter 1056 Prismatic Sun [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1056 Prismatic Sun [4]</h4>

    The curtain drifted to the side like a wandering cloud, and Damien''s gaze couldn''t help but follow it.

    His eyes were set on that jade-like white hand that gently pushed it apart, slender and smooth as if its owner had never experienced an ounce of difficulty in life.

    His eyes traveled up her arm, subconsciously tracing the countries of her figure as they made their way to her face:

    Stunned.

    Instantly, Damien was stunned past the point of reaction, frozen in space.

    Could there truly exist a woman so beautiful?

    In reality, her appearance wasn''t too amazingly stunning. She had long, faded blue hair that carried a color that reflected the sky itself. Her face held a mature charm, but rather than calling her beautiful, it would be better to say she was merely pretty.

    Her body was the same. She was positioned in quite the suggestive posture, her long legs and perfect hips instantly attracting any onlooker''s attention.

    She was toned, but not muscr. Her chest wasn''t small, but it wasn''t overlyrge either.

    This woman, if Damien saw her passing on the street, he''d definitely turn to take a second look, but he wouldn''t show enough interest to actively approach her.

    However¡­

    What was that?

    Around that figure was another, a Goddess with hair that constantly shifted color and an appearance too beautiful and ethereal to be described in words.

    The one thing these two figures shared was their multicolor eyes, each color shifting and fading into the next so frequently that one would be lost in them upon a single look.

    If thetter was an actress Damien fawned over on the inte, the former was the girl he had a crush on in real life.

    Which one was the true her? Or were they both versions of her with different purposes? He held these questions in his heart, but it was neither the heavenly goddess nor the mortal beauty that held Damien''s gaze with such absolute fixation.

    It was the atmosphere around this person.

    The air of mystery that absolutely intoxicated him, filling him with the desire to unravel every inch of its truth, made him unable to pull his gaze away or even have a stray thought that didn''t rte to her.

    Minutes passed, but he didn''t exit his trance.

    The Holy Master''s expression fell slightly, a hint of loss in her eyes.

    "Take him away. Feed him the Nine Illusions Tonic and let him rest for a few days. Also, remember to leave him in the Remembrance Zone. This must not be allowed to affect his future practice."

    ""Yes, Holy Master.""

    Two disciples walked in, approaching Damien to carry out her orders.

    If there was one thing that stood out about them, it was that neither had eyes. Their empty sockets were covered by ck blindfolds enchanted with magic that essentially removed emotion from their minds.

    Since she reached 18, there had never been an individual who could look directly at her appearance and keep their mind.

    For a long time, anyone who was graced by her true face would be braindead, losing all function.

    This only stopped after roughly 5,000 years, when she finally developed the Nine Illusion Tonic that could dispel the negative effects on their minds.

    Inbination with the sect''s Remembrance Zone which could steal and store memories, this tonic was able to save a good number of lives.

    But because of it, she had spent tens of thousands of years as someone who could never be seen by others.

    Nevertheless, she grew ustomed to this after such a long period. The reason she showed Damien her appearance was nothing more than a test, with a slight bit of hope.

    Perhaps the man whom the universe trusted so deeply would be the first to break free of her influence.

    But such thoughts were meaningless.

    Clearly¡ª

    "Huh? Why are you touching me? Can''t you see I''m busy?"

    The Holy Master''s eyes widened.

    Miraculously, Damien angrily turned his head to the two disciples who''d grabbed his shoulders, pushing them away with his mana.

    "Damn, if I had another half an hour, I could''ve gotten to the bottom of it," he muttered to himself in discontent, sending another hateful re at the disciples.

    Though, he realized they were unable to see him soon enough and stopped embarrassing himself.

    While Damien was stuck in his own world, a myriad of thoughts and emotions shed through the Holy Master''s mind, finally culminating in the awkward smile that formed on her face.

    Damien looked up just in time to see it, raising his brow curiously.

    "Why''re you looking at me like that?" He asked, cocking his head in confusion.

    "T-that¡­!"

    "That?"

    The Holy Master was flustered beyond belief.

    Couldn''t he have given her some sort of heads-up?

    Why did he have to show such a reaction when she was at the height of her self-pity?

    "Y-you are fine?" She asked hesitantly, any sort of status or superiority gone from her voice.

    "Hm? Why wouldn''t I be?" Damien asked, still confused for a few moments before his eyes widened in understanding.

    "Aha, it''s because of that thing, huh," he followed, snacking his fist against his palm.

    Looking at the Holy Master''s continuously changing expression, it was obvious he was right.

    "Haa, I don''t know about other people, but that thing inside you has no business enchanting me. If it could, I really wouldn''t deserve the titles I''ve been granted," he said, scratching his head awkwardly.

    He didn''t know how to approach this situation at all! Damien only had a vague idea of what that force within her was, so as an outsider, he couldn''t really say anything to calm her emotions.

    "It must''ve been hard."

    That was all he could offer.

    The Holy Master didn''t react to his words, and feeling the importance of this moment for her, Damien turned his chair around and blocked his awareness.

    For a mighty figure like her, disying vulnerability to others was definitely impossible.

    Damien''s perception was entirely cut off to the scene behind him, but he could feel a growing air of chaos m into his back for several minutes before finally receding.

    "Done?" He asked.

    "Mm."

    A light response entered his mind like the sound of wind chimes on a beautiful day in spring.

    Damien smiled unwittingly and undid the restraints on his perception, turning back around.

    He was almost stunned a second time. This time, truly due to her beauty.

    Regardless of what form of her was shown, she was smiling with such contentment that it made Damien embarrassed.

    "Then, I''ll take my leave now, Holy Master. I have to gather my people and get ready to set out," he said, trying to make up a reason to leave.

    She didn''t stop him, watching his back as he walked out of her residence. She didn''t stop him even though the grounds he was soon to enter were the true face of Prismatic Sun Holy Land.

    Instead, she sent another sound transmission into his ear, letting him hear that sound that made his heart skip a beat one more time.

    "Eyrissea Luminus."

    "Hm?" He muttered questioningly.

    "My name. From now on, call me Iris."

    A small smile lit up Damien''s face.

    "Then, until next time, Miss Iris."

    This woman¡­as expected, she was far too interesting to remain a stranger.

 Chapter 1057 Meaningless Question [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1057 Meaningless Question [1]</h4>

    To call Prismatic Sun Holy Land a natural wonder wouldn''t be too far off describing its majesty.

    The true sect, hidden within the folds of space with ancient magic that even Damien couldn''tpletely see through, was a location entirely isted from the hands of man.

    The Holy Land disciples didn''t exist above thend as living beings usually did, they lived within it, became a part of it, and abided by its natural rulings topletely sustain its original face.

    The biome itself was a floating mountain range that looked like an asteroid belt contained within the bubble of the world''s atmosphere.

    Each mountain was connected to the next with natural bridges or routes created within nature, containing a sort of strangeplexity that only those who lived in it for years couldprehend.

    They were enveloped in a natural mist, painting the air with an aura of freshness and mystique, something Damien quite enjoyed as he made his way through it.

    To him, the beautifullyplicated web represented by the sect''s grounds was even more majestic, because its every strangeness was revealed before his eyes as streams of mana.

    He couldn''t help but wander for several hours, almost forgetting his original intention.

    His talk with the Holy Master was exactly what he needed right now. Not only was she someone he felt the desire to befriend, she held information that could answer many of his questions and she held connections to those who could answer the rest.

    ''For now, nothing I learned can be considered too useful. I pretty much expected that the threat of the Nox wasn''t a recent one. The only surprise is..''

    Even millions of years ago when the sect''s Founding Ancestor lived, they were still prominent and represented a level of danger that wasn''t much less than the current universe''s existential crisis.

    ''Saint Emperor, Inhuman Emperor, Karmic Emperor, Soul Emperor¡­''

    Along with a list of Lords and who they served, Damien received information about the greatest of his enemies, those in the light and those hidden behind the veil of darkness.

    ''The Karmic Emperor and Inhuman Emperor are rtively newer, but the other two¡­''

    The Soul Emperor''s age was unknown, but the Saint Emperor was a man who held prominence in the ancient era, a man who had somehow survived until this day.

    ''What bothers me most is the universe''s survival. For someone like him, if he actually wanted destruction it would''ve already happened.''

    Damien was further convinced that the Saint Emperor''s motive was something far more convoluted than that of the Nox Race. He was a man who had to be watched at all times regardless of what the Nox were doing.

    Nevertheless, Damien was still too far away from his level. Once he stepped into his second revolution, he realized just how far away Divinity was.

    ''I''m supposed to be using this time toplete myself and build a basis for my Divinity, but what is that basis?''

    Divinity wasn''t just something that defined oneself, it also defined one''s achievements. If it was about his mentality and the wholeness of his self-image, Damien would''ve cruised through the nine revolutions.

    He had a rtively perfect grasp of himself internally, but what about externally? To this day, he didn''t have enough information on the Void, nor did he understand his path.

    He grew by fighting and improving through experience without much of an idea of what exactly he wanted to achieve. At this point, with Spacetime and Samsara, Damien couldn''t say he knew where the end of that path was.

    But he was aware that he wasn''t nearing its end yet. There was more for him to experience, more for him to learn before he was ready to fight on the level where his vision sat.

    And the natural next step really did excite him.

    ''That woman¡­it''s a bit ufortable calling her by her name for some reason¡­''

    Damien suddenly thought about the Holy Master for a moment with a wry smile.

    He had never met someone who gave him such a feeling of wanting to know more about them.

    That mystical atmosphere he tried to dissect was unique in this universe and perhaps even beyond it. Something like that was exactly what Damien loved the most.

    ''Now isn''t the time for this. I already know the answer, but I should probably still ask, right?''

    Damien grabbed his guest que and used it to locate the fake Holy Land where the other geniuses were, making his way over and calling his wives together.

    The question he asked was simple.

    "I''m going on an adventure. Want toe?"

    And with the temptation of the Holy Land training regimen holding no weight at all, the answer came even simpler.

    "Of course!"

    "Mm."

    "Did you even have to ask?"

    Damien shrugged. "That''s what I was thinking too, but it''s a matter of ceremony, no?"

    "Ceremony?" Ruyue repeated.

    "Right, right, it''s a matter of natural progression. These things are important, you know?"

    "Since when did you care about ceremony?" Elena continued.

    "Ha?! Haven''t I always?"

    "Our weddings?" Rose finished.

    The three women shot cold nces at him, causing tsunamis of cold sweat to stream down his back.

    Damien was flustered by their cooperation, and in all honesty, he''d forgotten that weddings were a thing before they mentioned it.

    At times like this, it was best to put the ssic strategy into y.

    "Moving on!"

    Deflection!

    Before the three could respond, he began retelling his conversation with Iris, filling them in on the details of theiring adventure.

    Well, at least the ones he knew.

    He still didn''t know what method Iris was going to use to find the ce, so he could only give them backstory.

    However, it was more than enough to distract them from thendmine Damien was doing his best to defuse!

    The expressions of the trio changed several times as they listened to him speak, and all of their eyes were glimmering by the time he finished.

    Damien inwardly sighed a breath of relief.

    ''Weddings, huh¡­''

    He had never given it much thought before, but¡­

    Perhaps it was about time?

    They''d been prepared some time ago. It was one of his highest priorities since he first came to the Divine Realm, and he obtained the capability to carry it out just a few months before their fateful meeting.

    Another wry smile surfaced on his face.

    "Ah, this is going to be embarrassing."

    "Hm?"

    The three women turned their attention upon his sudden strange words, looking at him curiously.

    "Well, I had wanted to find a time to do this properly, but now that it''s been mentioned, I realize I probably won''t find an opportunity to do this after today. After all, things are going to get hectic."

    While the other two maintained their confusion, Rose''s eyes immediately widened in shock as she understood his meaning.

    The deep red thread that connected him to the three of them was shining so brightly it was almost blinding.

    Rose''s heart palpitated, barely able to remain within her chest.

    And as if to meet her expectations¡­

    Thump!

    The trio''s gazes lowered in surprise.

    Damien looked up at them, bent down on a single knee, and brought three exquisitely crafted yet uniquely different rings out from the space before him.

    With the same wry smile on his lips and an aura of pure sincerity emanating from every bone in his body, he uttered another question he already knew the answer to.

    "Will you marry me?"

 Chapter 1058 Meaningless Question [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1058 Meaningless Question [2]</h4>

    Of course, it wasn''t so simple.

    Damien had been calling them his wives for a very long time, and they''d been calling him their husband the same, but this rtionship, at the end of the day, went unsaid.

    No matter how secure it was, no matter how certain he was of their answers, he couldn''t shale the crushing nervousness that originated from the depths of his soul.

    He had shown his love before, and perhaps he''d done something simr, but it was never like this. It was never this real.

    "All three of you represent the most important things to ever exist in my life. To live without knowing all of you will always be there for me sounds like torture. It is no longer something I can imagine. I''ve finally reached a point in life where I feel that I can give you all of me, and I hope you can give me all of you in return. I have never been a person who could express myself, and I''ve never been a person who enjoys gaudy things, but for you, nothing in the world could be considered too much. Even if you wanted me to betray the universe itself, I''d do it without hesitation. I¨C"

    His thoughts continued on and on. Within the span of a single second, he created a speech that would take hours for him to finish.

    But the words that came out of his mouth were as simple as they could be; a single phrase that allowed these women who knew him better than anyone else to understand everything he couldn''t say out loud.

    It was silent in the quiet house the four shared. The flickering of a small firece in the corner was the only thing inhabiting the silence.

    The timing didn''t matter. Even if he decided to propose to them in the middle of a battle, it wouldn''t have mattered.

    Because for someone like Damien who still had trouble getting the words "I love you" out of his chest to earnestly propose already meant so much.

    Was there a need for them to think over their responses?

    Not in the slightest.

    But it did take several seconds for them toe out of their shocked trances and say the single word they all wanted to say.

    Yes!

    As she had a little longer to prepare than the other two, Rose was the first to gather herself.

    She stood up and approached him, raising him off the ground with a bright smile.

    Though, she couldn''t hide the mist in her eyes.

    "Do you even need to ask?" She said softly, her tone containing so much love that it almost drowned him.

    "Didn''t we just joke about meaningless questions?"

    She reached up and cupped his face, looking directly into his eyes.

    "There has never been a day where ''no'' was even considered. Damien Void, we are yours. Forever and always."

    "Yes, I will absolutely marry you."

    She leaned forward and deeply kissed him, jolting the other two out of their shock.

    Ruyue''s troubled past made this moment very obviously monumental for her, but it was a matter of reflection and happiness, a fulfilling feeling that washed away any stains that remained in her mind.

    She stood up soon after Rose let go of Damien, walking up and looking into his eyes.

    She didn''t say much, nor did her expression change, but none of these physical reactions were necessary for Damien to wholly understand her feelings.

    Their souls were already forever connected. Was there a need for anything else?

    A simple yes exited her mouth quietly, and though she was too embarrassed to kiss him so publicly, she hugged him so tightly he couldn''t breathe, sinking into him with untold affection.

    The most affected of the three was Elena.

    The story of Damien and Elena began before mana was anything more than fiction. The Damien she fell in love with was just an innocent kid who had to carry the weight of the world on his back.

    Time passed and their rtionship went through many twists and turns, almost breaking at one point. Even though they matured and properly established their love, in the depths of her heart, Elena had given up on a proposal.

    It had been 20 years; 20 years since Elena first fell for him.

    And now, 20 yearster, that childish Elena who knew nothing of love but its purest form, finally saw her dreame true.

    Even after a minute passed, she didn''t recover from her stupor.

    Damien watched in worry, turning his head when he felt a nudge on his side.

    It was Rose, pushing him forward to confront it himself.

    ''Right, at this stage, I can''t be a coward.''

    Damien walked up to Elena, her gaze meeting his as his shadow pulled her back to reality.

    "So, what do you say?" he said warmly, smiling at her with eyes full of fondness.

    His expression changed, a taunting smile spreading on his lips. "At times like this, why hesitate? We both know what you''re actually thinking, fool. I''ve always told you to stop being so iffy!"

    Elena''s eyes widened. Those words, filled with an air of youth and teasing¡­

    She thought back to that fateful day, the day before Damien fell out of her life for the first time, the day he was thrown into the First Dungeon to rot.

    That day, the two of them visited an amusement park. It was obviously a date, but Elena presented it under the guise of "hanging out" to the dense and unavable Damien of that time.

    Back then, didn''t she say those words to him?

    She remembered it vividly. That day, she was trying to do everything she could to squeeze a confession out of him.

    These were the words she said when she finally gave up.

    Even after so long, after everything that happened, he still remembered them?

    Maybe he understood what she wanted even all those years ago.

    It was a little hateful to realize, but the smile that lit up her face cast rays of sunshine down on the universe itself, filling it with light and happiness.

    Things really dide full circle.

    "Yes¡­" Elena muttered.

    Her eyes became cloudy. She stood up, gripped his shirt, pulled him closer, and¡­

    "Yes. Yes! Absolutely yes! Yes, I will marry you, you damn bastard! What took you so long?!"

    ¡­she poured out everything that had been kept in her heart for these past 20 years.

    This moment, shared between the four of them, marked a point in their lives when not only their rtionships becameplete, they were finally given something material to represent their connection, something that couldn''t be questioned by any being in existence, whether past, present, or future.

    And though they didn''t know it, this seemingly symbolic action representing their union had a far more profound effect.

    The Void held two sides. The Breath of All Things and the Breath of Nothingness together could barely embody this duality.

    In this case, if the Breath of All Things was tranted to their physical union, the act that nted the seeds of the Void in their bodies and made them Void Daughter candidates, then this step they finally took emotionally after reuniting was the Breath of Nothingness.

    The statuses that weren''t able to totally cement beforehand found grounds to do exactly that, and as a result¡­

    Rose and Ruyue immediately stepped into the 1st revolution, the understanding they required to do so arriving in their minds like heavenly blessings. And while Elena didn''t see an increase in rank, herprehension of Life Laws saw a steep incline.

    Was there any better way to celebrate this moment?

    It seemed even the universe itself supported their backs.

    And if such was the case, there was no need to worry about anything.

    The only things left in their hearts were affection, love, security, and of course, anticipation for the adventure toe!

 Chapter 1059 Severed World [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1059 Severed World [1]</h4>

    Day arrived in Prismatic Sun Holy Land. The beautiful sun which held the same fairy-like properties as the rest of the realm shone through the clouds, meeting severalyers of obstruction by various formations and structures and bing a web of shining rays that cascaded through the sky.

    The heavens were unbiased, but even they celebrated at times. It was like this sunshine was reflecting the joyousness that filled the Holy Land''s atmosphere the previous night.

    And in that sense, it wasn''t nearly beautiful enough.

    Damien and his three wives, now that they were officially engaged, spent the night sinking into their happiness without reservation.

    There were no provocative implications to their activities. Even at this time, none of the women were ready to partake in those things together.

    However, the connection between the four heightened again, and despite the ways they changed in the time they were apart, they reshaped and rebranded those indestructible bonds they had in the past.

    In the daylight that now enveloped the realm, the four of them walked together, appreciating the natural beauty.

    Damien was currently leading his women through Prismatic Sun Holy Land''s true face, headed towards the Holy Master''s residence hidden in a cozy forest somewhere on the floating mountain range.

    The other 46 geniuses, including Long Chen, Su Ren, and Xue Fang, were also departing, their destination set for Hidden Death Valley.

    Damien naturally stopped to wish them well before leaving.

    He almost wanted to invite Su Ren and Long Chen toe with him, since they were far more talented and useful than the other geniuses, but he refrained.

    It had been too long since he''d spent time alone with his women, and he wasn''t nning to sacrifice this chance.

    Nevertheless, that interaction took ce over an hour ago.

    Now, as Damien smilingly watched the trio behind him admiring Prismatic Sun Holy Land, he brought them into that cozy forest, facing that same nondescript yet incredibly profound cabin.

    Knock! Knock! Knock!

    "Anyone home?" Damien asked, knocking lightly on the door.

    "No need for formalities. Enter."

    Iris'' voice came from the other side, prompting Damien to push open the door and make his way into the residence with his group.

    Iris wasn''t behind the curtain this time, but her body was covered heavily in artifacts that could hide her appearance.

    However, even these artifacts were shaped like a beautiful dress, veil, and jewelry that painted her like an ethereal desert princess.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena cupped their fists and bowed in greeting, while Damien smiled at her and nodded.

    "Are you prepared?" She asked, her eyes flickering over the group.

    "Do we have any reason to not be?" Damien responded with a grin.

    "Hmph. As expected of you," Iris said, a small smile forming on her lips.

    She guided the group to arge table that didn''t exist in the room thest time Damien was here. On it, arge map was drawn, denoting various locations in the universe with a great variety of crosses.

    And now that it had been a day, there was no need to waste time on pleasantries or repetition.

    "These are the locations we have checked for the entrance before. There are a few that had potential, but every lead hase up for naught as we continued searching," Iris spoke, motioning towards the map.

    "We are sure this ce is not unknown. Somewhere in the universe, there is a public entrance that people have been using to enter and exit the realm, though it is mostly the former."

    "These are the locations we have been searching, but instead of sub-universes, they are all merely great Mystic Realms that were added to the training route for those young geniuses."

    She spoke sighingly, her annoyance at theck of result evident in her tone as she brought out arge ck diamond roughly the size of her palm.

    "This stone was given to our Holy Land by the Second Primal Sovereign himself several eons ago. It is the only clue we''ve had these past years, and while it has not proven useful, I am certain it can lead us to him."

    Damien sent his awareness into the stone, feeling for its properties curiously.

    He instantly gasped as his perception sunk into its surface.

    "Wow!" He couldn''t help but exim.

    All the eyes around him pressed for an exnation that he was happy to give.

    "I can only say you were right about this gem being important. Its interior is aplex maze of space cracks and isted dimensions that can''t even be sensed unless one has extreme proficiency in Space Laws. I don''t think it will directly lead us to him, but reaching its center would definitely help us negotiate," he said, shaking his head in wonder.

    "The position of Second Primal Sovereign truly is well-deserved."

    He looked back at the map, furrowing his brows as he noted down everything marked on it.

    "We''ll still have to find the location on our own, but it shouldn''t be too hard. Since this gem was directly granted by the Primal Sovereign, I should be able to use it to gauge a position."

    Iris'' expression shifted in slight surprise.

    "You are certain you can find a location?" She asked.

    "Guaranteed," Damien responded. "Just give me a few hours with the gem and we''ll be good to go."

    The Holy Master nodded, handing over the gem without question.

    Damien smiled at her attitude and took it thankfully.

    While he didn''t mention it out loud, this gem also had some slight Void fluctuationsing from its surface.

    It wasn''t to the level of making it important for hisprehension, but if he used the Breath of Nothingness here to connect to that fluctuation¡­

    ''Mm, that''s it.''

    Damien sunk his awareness into the stone again, this time avoiding the spatial maze and forming that link in the Void.

    Usually, he was someone who could do things incredibly fast and efficiently, but even he was forced to spend over two hours solidifying this connection to get anything out of it.

    The trace of Void fluctuation he sensed was too old and withered. Whatever it contained in the past was only present in fragments now.

    Gradually, Damien''s spiritual world shed with several still images depicting a ce.

    A huge mountain so steep it looked like a sword of heaven, a sprawling jungle, a rocky in, and finally, a shimmering area of space surrounded by people.

    It almost felt like drone footage zooming out to show various parts of the location, and though most of these frames, a number greater than 100, were useless for now, it didn''t matter.

    Because that shimmering area of space was definitely the entrance!

    Damien summoned his mana, recreating that image in the real world for the rest to see.

    "Do you recognize this ce?" He asked, looking at Iris.

    She deeply investigated the image, her brows furrowing in confusion before¡ª

    "Ah!" She eximed, bringing her hands together in excitement.

    "These people¡­they are disciples of Stone Giant Holy Land!"

    "Stone Giant Holy Land?" Damien repeated.

    "Mm," Iris answered with a bright smile of fulfillment.

    "Say, have any of you ever visited the Giant Domain?"

 Chapter 1060 Severed World [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1060 Severed World [2]</h4>

    With the revtion of the location, Eryssea Luminus was finally able to show the talking power of a Holy Land Master.

    She didn''t have much of a connection with Stone Giant Holy Land, butpared to Prismatic Sun Holy Land, it was just a small cat. When Iris spoke, they didn''t have the ability to disobey.

    Besides, the Giants had a positive rtionship with the Prismatic Sun Holy Land''s several previous generations, so with a few promised benefits, it wasn''t hard to make them spit out the truth behind the image Damien had shown.

    Within around half a day, Iris was able to get everything sorted out and called Damien and the girls, who were left to their own devices in this time, back to her residence.

    "ording to their Holy Master, that ce isn''t theirs, but a shared realm that the entire Giant Domain utilizes. It''s considered the most opportune location for experts, but also their grave," she began, giving each of the four a jade slip containing all the information she''d received.

    "The best part is that you don''t need to go through any tedious procedures to gain the ability to enter the realm. Since you know the location of the entrance, you can go as you please. The only advice the Giants had was to absolutely have no regrets before entering, as most who try to venture deep into that realm die without corpses."

    Damien and the girls nodded in acknowledgement, sinking their senses into the jade slips and following Iris'' exnation.

    The quest was simple.

    Enter that realm, brave its dangers, and bring back the Second Primal Sovereign.

    Everything after that would be left to Iris and herpatriots.

    The more Damien read about the sub-universe and its strangews, the more excited he got.

    It was divided into four parts, each more dangerous than thest, and had an ecosystempletely unique from Grand Heavens Boundary. The small glimpses that were provided in the jade slips were filled with an air of wonder, but also an extremely clear aura of death.

    But Damien was someone who''d seen too many heavenly sceneries to put too much thought into it.

    What really held his attention was a specificw of this sub-universe, one that would infinitely increase the danger and excitement level of this excursion.

    ''This kind of thing¡­is it even possible?''

    It was the first time he''d seen something like it. He couldn''t say anything about it until he''d experienced it for himself, but he was sure of one thing.

    This experience¡­really was going to be a unique one!

    ***

    Damien and the girls finished their conversation with Iris soon enough, as after all the information was gathered, her job was over.

    She granted their group a starship for travel and sent them off to the Giant Domain, watching them leave.

    It was strange to see geniuses like them, people who took just a few decades to do what others could barely aplish in centuries, but they were a shining beacon that lit up the starry sky, that much was for certain.

    For those of the older generation, it felt like their era was ending, like a new one was going to start with this new wave of supreme geniuses.

    How did that make them feel?

    Some of them clung to their power and status for dear life, some sat back and silently watched the change, while some others even actively helped that change take ce.

    Where did she, the Prismatic Sun Holy Master,nd in these categories?

    It wasn''t like she could answer the question. Frankly, she didn''t feel like she was a part of the older generation, despite her actual age.

    She was still impulsive like a growing expert, she still had the emotions that most people cut off, and most of all, shecked many of the experiences that most people went through as they grew, since she adopted the role of Holy Master early in her life.

    However, she wasn''t some naive woman, she merely never had the time or interest to bother with those trivial things most people held close.

    Well, until now, that is.

    ''Damien Void¡­''

    It was a strange name belonging to a strange person, a person who could gaze directly into her eyes without being enved by her charm.

    And for some reason, it didn''t seem like he was just looking at the form she''d cultivated over all these years.

    It felt like he was looking at "her."

    She didn''t know how to describe her emotion, but extreme curiosity overtook her.

    The secrets of the first being in the universe to ever aplish such a feat had to be far more interesting than anything she had to offer.

    As she watched that starship disappear into the void of the starry sky, making use of teleportation to rapidly travel to the Giant Domain, a smile formed on her face.

    She suddenly took a step back.

    A trail of auras followed her movements, coalescing into a figure.

    It was a woman with long ck hair and blue eyes, a rtively ordinary appearance among practitioners.

    This woman looked at Iris as Iris looked at her, and without missing a beat, they both smiled.

    ''Such curiosity cannot be left unhindered. Let me see for myself just how great of a man you are, Damien Void.''

    The woman formed from her aura vanished, and Iris returned to her quarters without a word.

    Now, all that was left to do was wait for results.

    Exciting days were toe!

    ***

    The sub-universe, over time, gained a reputation among those in the Giant Domain, not for its great treasures, but for the extremely low survival rate of those who entered.

    Despite the fact that each and every one of them was an expert at least at the peak of 4th ss, it was impossible to imagine what kind of dangers could give them such hopeless fates.

    It was titled the Severed World; a ce separate from reality, a ce that severed fates and lives.

    Many of the secrets of the realm were kept quiet, drawing more and more people to its mystery.

    And regardless of whether these people survived or died, they never opened their mouths about what happened inside.

    Therger influences like Stone Giant Holy Land were able to get a small amount of information on the ce, mainly its first and secondyers.

    There were two things they saw as the overarching causes of death in the realm, disregarding its natural dangers.

    The first was the Impulse Wave, a massive mana wave that would pulse from the center of the sub-universe at random times, crushing through anything in its path.

    It was able to im tens of thousands of lives in a single instant, and though it was rare, it was extremely feared.

    As for the second reason, it was much more direct.

    The reason these experts were dying so often was because their strength was unavable in the first ce!

    Within the sub-universe, there was a particr restriction that all external entities were subjected to.

    Unequivocally and without fail, the second an outsider entered the realm¡­

    ¡­their strength would be capped at 2nd ss!

 Chapter 1061 Severed World [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1061 Severed World [3]</h4>

    Space travel was always a fun thing for Damien.

    Not only did it present plenty of time to focus on training and rxation, it gave Damien an opportunity to traverse the starry sky and bind as many stars and worlds as possible.

    The Celestial ss was always one that involved conquering, something Damien didn''t do often. He never even utilized the World Force he received from these actions, for no reason other than the fact that the other skills in his arsenal were more efficient in many situations.

    However, World Force was still an incredibly important power. Part of Damien''s greatprehensive ability that only improved over time was the result of World Force passively boosting him.

    After all, World Force was quite literally a product of worldws and the ability to move them. When he wasprehending thews of the universe, the presence of this strength in his body gave him a deeper connectivity to reality itself, bringing him closer to those truths at an inherent level.

    Therefore, despite his outward neglect of it, he never forgot about the power or ceased attempting to improve it.

    The journey to the Severed World in the Giant Domain from Prismatic Sun Holy Land was a 6-month trip without the use of teleportation arrays, but with Damien''s powerbined with the use of these arrays, this time was cut drastically.

    The starship carrying Damien''s group arrived at a ne floating in the starry sky after 3 weeks of flight. It was a continent that looked like it had been torn out of its original world, and at the very center of its underside, the rounded bottom of a shining World Core could be seen jutting out of the rock.

    "Whew, it really is something special," Damienmented as he firstid his eyes on it.

    If the entrance was already on such a strange ne, the sub-universe itself definitely wouldn''t disappoint.

    The starship descended onto the edge of the continent, in what was clearly a well-built docking area.

    "Ready?" Damien said, turning back to Rose, Elena, and Ruyue.

    "Ready and excited," Rose replied happily, speaking for the trio.

    Damien nodded and turned back, watching through the ss as the starship touched ground.

    A portion of its side became holographic, opening the way for Damien''s group to finallynd on the continent.

    But¡­

    ''Why does this feel more like a vacation spot than a death zone?''

    Damien was a bit baffled by the jovial atmosphere. The docking area was truly built up, filled with various facilities and shops for the adventurous practitioners who wereing and going from the Severed World.

    ''It''s a little funny how trivially these people treat their lives.'' Damien thought to himself as he led his group through the area, following signage and maps to make his way to the entrance.

    His hypocrisy was something to note, considering how he was nning to do something far more dangerous than these regr experts, but that was beside the point.

    As those of Stone Giant Holy Land mentioned, the Severed World wasn''t monopolized by any one force. This docking area, or rather, this entire facility that extended for several tens of kilometers, was a method of checks and bnces the great influences of the Giant Domain jointly built to add a sense of order to the wildnd, making sure that nobody would act out of line.

    And the entrance to the Severed World was located at the very center of it all, guarded by severalyers of security.

    Of course, none were prohibited or restricted in any way. These measures were merely to guarantee civility outside the entrance and ount for those entering so their fates could be reported back to the influences they belonged to.

    Damien and the girls went through these procedures, noting their names and affiliations on a sheet of manaced paper that documented their mana signature.

    Afterward, they finally made it where they wanted to be.

    Was it surprising how many people there were, or was it just a testament to the number of experts in the universe?

    Past the hallways that hid it was a huge open area. It was circr in shape and filled with nature, as if everything in the expansive facility was built around it.

    And in fact, it was!

    The same shimmering curtain of space Damien saw in his vision was now presented in front of his eyes. It was roughly 500 meters long and extended into the air as far as the eye could see.

    Though the entire atrium was filled with experts, this portion of space was empty, every single person intent on avoiding it.

    Because it was well-known that entering that area before one was ready was a death wish.

    Damien and the girls spent a few minutes walking around and listening in on the conversations around them for information.

    The Severed World''s 4yers. Each had its own name and represented unique ecosystems with its own dangers.

    From the mouths of these experts who had either been inside already or had been nning for months to do exactly that, only the first and secondyers were really explored.

    They were called Ghost King''s Valley and the Perilous Sanctuary.

    The two remainingyers also had names, but other than these names, they werergely unknown.

    Nobody dared to explore them thoroughly, after all.

    Nevertheless, before they could even focus on these, they had to get through the easy part!

    Damien already knew most of what was being said from Iris'' information, but he wanted to hear it from people who had seen it as well. They were far more trustworthy than some words of unknown origin.

    But after listening to them, he had no choice but to be impressed with Iris'' abilities once again.

    Whoever she got information from knew far more than most of these practitioners!

    There was no point dragging it any longer.

    ''Let''s try to be done with this before the ceasefire ends. I want to visit Mom and ask her some things¡­''

    He shook his head and threw away the thought. After checking with the girls one more time, he moved towards the shimmering space.

    It was time to enter the Severed World!

    ***

    The entrance to the sub-universe was definitely not normal.

    It was a spatial transportation, that much was certain, but several processes took ce the second one stepped into its influence.

    Damien felt it, the girls felt it, and anyone else who entered the crack likely felt it even more.

    The feeling of being constricted and restrained.

    Ethereal shackles gripped one''s soul and suppressed one''s legend.

    It was said that one''s strength would be capped at 2nd ss when they were in the Severed World, but that wasn''t the entire truth.

    No, rather than being capped, it was better to say their strength was reverted!

    Damien gritted his teeth in pain as his Legend left him.

    World Force, Void Breathing, and any other skills he gained through the influence of his sses were locked behind countless walls of restriction.

    Now, Damien was no more than a small Vector Controller, nearly the same state he was in when he entered Apeiron for the first time!

 Chapter 1062 Severed World [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1062 Severed World [4]</h4>

    Whoosh!

    A calm wind blew through the air, unobstructed.

    Four pairs of feet touched ground on this rocky in, their eyes darting around to assess the situation.

    There was nothing behind them.

    A cliff that dropped into a void of ckness marked the edge of the world. The only way one could go was forward.

    1000 kilometers away, the faint outline of a misty rainforest could barely be made out through the fog that obstructed it, and though the cliff behind the group only meant death, the one before them was their first hurdle.

    Ghost King''s Crevice.

    Covered in ayer of ghostly fog that contained countless evil spirits and demons, this crevice spanned almost a thousand kilometers, a distance impossible to fly over with the strength restriction.

    ''ording to the jade slip, it''s almost impossible to cross the crevice without the help of a guide, but before we look for one¡­''

    Damien followed what the girls had begun doing a second ago and sent his senses inward, trying to understand the state of his body.

    ''My physical strength hasn''t been affected as much, but my body is definitely weaker. The real problem is my mana¡­''

    Damien flicked his finger, summoning a wisp of amethyst magic power with a wry smile.

    ''Void Mana wasn''t a thing back then, and neither was Void Essence. The Sanctuary is¡­also restricted. Damn.''

    He finally understood what entering a sub-universe meant. Itsws had suppressed his own to the extent that he no longer had the power to utilize his connection with the Sanctuary!

    ''If there''s one thing I can always rely on, though, it''s the Void.''

    Naturally, this force that surpassed the true universe also couldn''t be hindered by a lessplete one. Void Breathing might''ve been blocked, but if Damien spent some time limating, he was sure he could aplish something simr.

    ''Haa, at the end of the day, the core of my power is now Vector Control. I need to be careful from now on, since I wasn''t able to uncover the full potential of this ss at all back then.''

    Damien concluded his thoughts and raised his head.

    "How''s it look?"

    "Not great, but also a little interesting," Elena replied.

    The other two also nodded. They were definitely thrown off by this development, but it wasn''t entirely a bad thing.

    After all, was this not a way for them to fix some of their past mistakes and perfect their strength?

    "The most important thing now is to find a guide. The Ghost King''s Crevice is an illusory maze that I don''t think I''ll be able to see through with my current perception. If we make a mistake and end up encountering the Ghost King¡­"

    Rose let her words trail off. The Ghost King''s Crevice''s namesake was a terrifying existence that represented unavoidable death. Wariness was utterly important when traversing his domain.

    For once, Damien also agreed that an expert''s help was necessary. His All-Seeing Eyes were also far less powerful than they used to be.

    He led the group through the rocky in and towards the crevice''s edge. There were several stalls set up here, filled with guides waiting for new customers to approach.

    Damien scanned them with a frown. None of them looked particrly extraordinary, but perhaps it was theirck of presence that set them apart.

    As he pondered on which of these guides to choose, he felt something tapping on his leg.

    "Hm?" he muttered, his eyes widening alertly.

    When he looked down, however, what he saw was a little old man, roughly 3 feet tall, with an old wooden cane in his hand.

    ''Ah, my perception.'' Damien realized as he looked at the man inquisitively.

    "Can I help you?" he asked.

    "Oh no, but I can surely help ya, old boy," the old man replied smugly.

    "Yer new here, no? This old man is the best guide in the area. Forget those amateurs and hire me!"

    Damien and the girls looked between each other in confusion.

    Were the guides supposed to be so proactive?

    "Yer thinkin'' I''m untrustworthy, no? But there ain''t a single trustworthy soul in this ce, so do it matter?" the old man said again, a sticky expression on his face.

    Rose opened her mouth to reply, when suddenly, arge brown-skinned man approached behind the old man.

    "Oi, Bertram, you fart! Stop scamming newbies ande over here! We have work to do!" He yelled, grabbing the old man by the back of his cloak and lifting him up.

    "Ah?!" The old man eximed angrily. "Who do ya think ya are, bastard?! This is honest work! Put me down!"

    "Honest work, my ass! What kinda newbie do you think can handle your stupid ass paths?!" The man spat back.

    "Hmph, just because yer bald ass couldn''t handle it don''t mean no one else can! Let me go!"

    The old man, Bertram, swung his tiny fists at his captor, who also didn''t let him go.

    As the two men squabbled and the bigger man dragged Bertram away, Damien suddenly stepped forward.

    "Wait," he said, stepping in front of therge man, "do you mind letting him go? I want to hire him," he said.

    ""Huh?!"" both men eximed in unison.

    "Hey, did you not hear what I just said? If you go with him, you''re just gonna get yourself killed!" the big man said incredulously.

    "And?" Damien replied with a shrug.

    "It''s my own decision. What''s your problem with it?"

    "You¡­! Haa, never mind. Everyone whoes here is fucked in the head."

    The big man let go of the old man''s cloak and dropped him to the floor, scratching his head as he gave Damien onest look as if he were looking at a dead person.

    "You said it yourself! You can''t me anyone else when you get torn to shreds out there!"

    Damien smiled and nodded, sending the grumpy man off.

    He looked back at Bertram with the same smile.

    "So what''s your rate?"

    "One ck Card and I''ll get you to the best part of the Perilous Sanctuary!"

    "ck Card? You''re quite expensive."

    "Kek, old boy, don''t you know that experience is priceless?"

    "Haha, I guess that''s true."

    Damien fumbled around in his spatial storage for a bit until he found some of the currency he obtained back when he first came to the Divine Realm, forking over a ck Card without a fuss.

    "I hope you can deliver on your word," he said as he handed it over.

    "Keke, ya don''t have to worry about nothin'' when yer with me!" Bertram responded confidently.

    Damien smiled without a word.

    ording to the brown-skinned man, this Bertram was someone who scammed newbies and led them to their deaths.

    But Damien wasn''t sure this was true.

    Because with the disappearance of many of his skills, many others returned.

    One of which being his danger sense, the instinct that pointed him towards lucky chances and opportunities, the same one that saved him countless times in the First Dungeon.

    And this sense was ring right now. It was telling Damien that this little old man was the absolute best person to be their guide.

    Though it had been a long time since this sense was overshadowed by his great perceptive ability, he still remembered what it had done for him.

    Now that it was back in action, he was going to abuse it as much as possible!

 Chapter 1063 Ghost Kingâ€™s Crevice [1]

    The entrance to Ghost King''s Crevice simply didn''t exist.

    Many had attempted to reshape thend for convenience in the years this sub-universe had existed, but none of their solutions managed to remain present as time passed.

    Because the Impulse Wave was a truly destructive event. It tore the world apart and rebuilt it from scratch, remodeling the scenery in its natural form without the manmade changes that influenced it.

    The strangest thing was¡­the Impulse Wave killed everything in the realm until the very edge of Ghost King''s Crevice. Unless one was deep underground or in the safe area before the crevice, death was inevitable and instant.

    Nevertheless, because of this unpredictable phenomenon, attempts to terraform thend ceased thousands of years ago.

    The only way to enter the crevice was to descend its steep wall.

    "The Ghostly Wind strikes once an hour. For the 10 minutes it blows, the undead andherworld spirits in the ravine go crazy and attack everything in sight. If ya wanna make yer way down, we should go now. Since that bald bastard is back, the Ghostly Wind must''ve just passed."

    Bertram, the little old man Damien hired as a guide, exined the crevice''s ecosystem to the group as he led them past the stalls filled with guides and to the cliff''s edge.

    "Falling from here with ya strength capped is an easy death, old boy. Ya won''t find a more peaceful way to die after this," he remarked with a grin, fearlessly standing at the very edge of thend.

    Damien raised his brow as he took a peek over it.

    The drop was an unknown distance, as fog covered the sight of whaty beyond roughly 300 meters down, but it could be imagined how deep it was from the aura of emptiness one felt when gazing into it.

    Damien in particr had plenty of experience falling through unnecessarily deep holes, and despite the fact that he could likely teleport himself to safety if he happened to fall, he didn''t want to risk it.

    If there was a restriction he didn''t know of at the bottom, he was in for a world of pain.

    "So how do you suggest we get down this thing?" he asked, looking curiously at Bertram.

    "Well, isn''t that simple?" the old man responded with a grin. "I''m the greatest guide alive!"

    Bertram kneeled down and took a 3-foot-long steel rod-like object out of his spatial storage and stabbed it into the cliff wall below. Afterward, he took out another circr device and simply¡­tossed it into the abyss.

    He stood up and put his hand over his eyes, watching its trajectory before nodding.

    "Spot on as always."

    Damien and the girls had no clue what was happening and could only watch with strange expressions as he hopped onto the narrow rod and kicked its sides, causing it to expand into a tformrge enough to hold their group.

    "Hop on quickly! If ya miss it, ya miss it!" He eximed, ushering them forward.

    Damien shrugged and followed his instructions, and the girls did the same after seeing that his weight didn''t affect the tform at all.

    They once again looked at Bertram in confusion, just in time to see him snap his fingers.

    "Good! We''re dropping! Don''t move until ya hit solid ground!"

    "Dro¨C"

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    The floor gave out below his feet.

    "¡ªpping?!"

    His senses went alert as he began falling through the air, the others not far above him.

    ''Fuck! What a great intuition!'' Damien eximed inwardly, dreading the drop toe.

    However¡­

    "Huh?"

    His expression changed as he noticed that his body was actually¡­falling in slow motion?

    No, it was like he was being lowered by a pulley system, yet far smoother.

    "That device¡­can levitate people?!" He said excitedly.

    Yeah, he could fly, but levitation like this was something different!

    ''The home decor possibilities are limitless!''

    The thought process of a newly engaged man was really something.

    The smooth descent the group experienced didn''t have any value to him from a technical standpoint. His mind was filled with ideas of various applications of aesthetic levitation, at least, until they made it past the 300-meter mark.

    The Netherworld Fog enveloped them, sending shivers down their spines.

    The aura of death was suffocating, and very faintly, they could feel the screams of tortured souls boring into their souls.

    "Hmph."

    Elena released her Life Mana and formed a barrier around the group, shielding them from the deathly aura, but she no longer had the power to protect their souls.

    Damien nced at her with a smile before snapping his fingers and creating a spatial wall around her barrier, filling it with vector points that reflected any fluctuation that impacted it.

    They met peace after another hundred meters of descent with these barriers in ce, attracting a shocked gaze from Bertram.

    The descent into Ghost King''s Crevice was slow on purpose. Meeting the Netherworld Fog and experiencing the stress it caused was a baptism, a hazing for newbies entering the zone. It was meant to give them an idea of how dangerous the journey would be and make them aware of the importance of following orders.

    Experts who had spent so long developing themselves tended to have individualistic attitudes that didn''t bend to the whims of others, but if they wanted to survive, and if the guides wanted to build a reputation that''d get them more jobs, they needed to do what they were told!

    A situation like this was rare. It was clear Damien''s group hadn''t done the extensive preparation most did from their attitudes, but their skills were enough topensate for it.

    A group like this¡­with them, maybe Bertram could finally get rid of his "scammer" status!

    His routes weren''t deathly, they were truly the best.

    But the best routes could only be traversed by the best groups.

    It was that simple.

    Thud!

    Damien''s feetnded on solid ground after 5 minutes of calm descent. As expected, the circr tform Bertram put down earlier had expanded into anding zone that supported the levitation effect.

    Damien spread his awareness immediately without leaving its bounds, scanning the crevice.

    Unfortunately¡­

    ''Of course there''s a restriction.''

    The Netherworld Fog didn''t allow his perception to spread more than ten feet away from his body.

    ''At this length, I won''t be able to detect threats before it''s toote. Crossing a distance of ten feet is instant even for 2nd ss beings.''

    "What''re ya doin'' standin'' around? Come out already!"

    Bertram''s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The old man and the girls were already off the tform and waiting for him, making him a bit embarrassed.

    ''Haa, whatever.'' Damien sighed inwardly. He walked off the tform and joined them while epting the inevitability of the restriction, instead looking towards the walls.

    ''Danger is everywhere, huh.''

    The first struggle of the Ghost King''s Crevice: Human-Faced Spiders.

    They were deep ck and blended in with the shadows, the only indication of their existence the faint sight of the smiling human faces on their abdomens that poked out of the shadows.

    Human-Faced Spiders had natural venom strong enough to permanently paralyze a 3rd ss, let alone a 2nd ss.

    And what made them terrible was the fact that they weren''t individualistic, they were pack animals.

    If one attacked, at least 10 others were lying in wait for the perfect opportunity.

    Bertram especially warned them about the danger the spiders posed while leading them along the crevice''s wall without going deeper in.

    "We''re gonna trek a few kilometers to reach the entrance point into the fog. Rest yer minds now before it''s toote."

    Damien and the girls nodded, epting the millionth warning Bertram had given them in the past 10 minutes and continued following him, but¡­

    ¡­was it just them, or did it feel a little windy?

 Chapter 1064 Ghost Kingâ€™s Crevice [2]

    Bertram''s face immediately paled.

    "Follow me and run!"

    He said no more and moved his tiny legs at an impossible pace, running faster than most normal-sized people!

    Damien and the girls were alerted by his sudden actions but didn''t ask questions.

    Now wasn''t the time to be overconfident. If a guide who regrly traversed this ce was acting like that, there had to be a good reason.

    The group ran after Bertram and matched his pace. He ran parallel to the cliff wall, not daring to go more than 10 feet from it.

    Whoosh!

    A chilling wind flowed through the ravine and became fiercer with every passing instant, barraging the group with the same evil sensation they felt in the Netherworld Fog heightened to a new level.

    "Damn! What''s happening?!" Damien asked while watching the growing fog and blocking the Ghostly Wind.

    "I don''t know either! The Ghostly Wind is back too early! We needa find a cave before it''s toote!" Bertram responded without breaking his stride.

    "Do you have a location in mind?!" Damien asked again.

    "I do, but it''s too far away! There ain''t many safe ces around here!"

    "Tch!"

    Damien clicked his tongue and concentrated his awareness forward, evading the Netherworld Fog to send it as far as possible.

    ''He''s right. There are no caves for another 500 meters, and with the way the fog is growing¡­''

    OOOOOOOOOOOH!

    A deathly howl reverberated off the walls and broke through the defenses of any who heard it.

    "Damn!" Bertram eximed as his body jerked to a stop.

    Damien and the rest were also stunned by the effect of that roar, but rather than this, their worry was elsewhere!

    From within the dense fog only a few tens of meters away, countless undead auras were emerging.

    By the time Damien and the rest rid themselves of their stunned state, the undead were already charging!

    Perhaps they underestimated Ghost King''s Crevice beforehand, because they definitely weren''t expecting anything like a horde of tens of thousands of undead.

    Damien gritted his teeth and looked at Bertram, whose eyes were stern unlike they''d been to this point.

    "The n?"

    "What n? We needa fight our way through and find shelter! The undeads won''t attack the caves since that''s Human-Faced Spider territory!"

    "Then don''t we have to face the spiders?"

    "Would you rather fight an army of undead?!"

    "Fair enough."

    Damien looked at the girls with a wry smile.

    "Everyone ready? Let''s try to conserve as much mana as possible, but in the worst-case scenario, I have plenty of recovery elixirs in my spatial storage. The goal now is survival!"

    It had been a long time since a number in the tens of thousands meant death for them, but again, Damien wasn''t in the mood to be arrogant.

    Usually, the guy who got overconfident and disregarded the advice of those familiar with these environments was the first to die, and Damien didn''t n to die until he''d punched his father in the face!

    He and the girls stood in formation around the nonbatant, Bertram, and summoned their mana.

    "Lead us to where we need to go. We''ll take care of the fighting until then," Damien said.

    "I got it! Let''s go!"

    Their conversation ended just in time. Bertram got free from his negative state and began running again, a moving turtle shell formed by Damien''s group protecting him along the way.

    And protect they did.

    The undead started their assault the second the group started moving.

    An army of skeletons and ghouls approached from every angle, climbing over each other in a frenzy to devour the flesh of the living.

    Damien took the Twin Moons in his hands and charged mana into the crystals that embedded themselves in his wrists. Shots of spatial mana spread through the air, exploding into spatial ruptures that devoured tens of undead at a time.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Explosions tore through the environment in front of Damien, clearing the path forward. At the same time, a barrier of Vector Points appeared before his body, moving with him like a riot shield.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    shes of light mmed against the barrier before disobeying thews of physics and makingplete turns to attack their senders.

    ''Luckily, I set it up early. In a situation like this, there''s always mages!'' Damien eximed as his eyes darted from side to side and noted the position of every enemy he had to eliminate.

    ''But damn, these things take up so much mana!''

    Damien obtained the Twin Moons when he was approaching his Baptism, andpared to that time, his mana capacity had dropped several hundred thousand units. Every shot from Freya and Hel drained a massive chunk of his mana, making it impossible to fire more than a few hundred before running dry.

    And to think just days ago, a few hundred shots from these weapons was nothing more than an opening move for him!

    BANG!

    A hole tore open in space, giving way to a ck vortex that flew behind Damien''s head like a halo. It flew into the air above him and expanded, sucking in every bit of mana in the surroundings to replenish him.

    ''Good. This still works.''

    He''d prepared elixirs for the girls, but elixirs weren''t enough to sustain his mana abuse.

    Along with this alternative usage of Devour, there was one more thing Damien wanted to try to sustain himself.

    ''Demon Transformation.''

    His body changed into demon form, his hair white and his skin white as snow. He almost grinned, thinking he''d outwitted the universalw, but how could it be that simple?

    Thews didn''t absolutely restrict his body like they did his soul, but it wasn''t going to give him such an obvious advantage easily!

    The transformation Damien underwent was partial and many of his bloodline abilities were locked, but for now, the ability he wanted to use was still avable.

    ''Enhance.''

    The Blood Runes on his body shone with blue light and his mana absorption rate and ability were enhanced exponentially.

    Damien nodded, his eyes solemn.

    ''Good. 100 meters down, 400 to go!''

    He said it like it was easy, but the number of undead was, no pun intended, unholy.

    And this time, he wasn''t alone in his struggle.

    Elena and Ruyue stood to Bertram''s side and back, holding off the undead with Damien. Meanwhile, Rose stood to Bertram''s other side and cast her Illusion Magic on the cliff wall, hiding their presence from the Human-Faced Spiders.

    While Rose was only acting on intuition, she didn''t realize that she held the most important role in the group.

    The Netherworld Fog was rising and the Ghostly Wind was reaching its peak, far ahead of its regr schedule for no known reason.

    It was an incredibly rare situation, but it had happened before.

    And in those instances, it wasn''t the undead that caused the most casualties, but the spiders!''

    The spiders went into a frenzy whenever the fog acted strangely, and what would adventurers do when the only safe zones in the crevice were suddenly turned into death pits filled with maniac spiders?

    The answer was: nothing!

    They could only die!

    With luck and skill aiding their charge forward, the group continued moving against the undead tide, bent on oveing the hurdles they faced.

    In the back of their minds, they knew it. This trouble was severe, but¡­

    It was only the start of their grand adventure!

 Chapter 1065 Ghost Kings Crevice [3]

    ?

    Waves of mana burst through the side of the ravine as Damien''s group fought their way through the undead horde.

    The Netherworld Fog had grown to the point where it was impossible to see anything even a few feet ahead of them, and from this abyss of smoke, a never-ending stream of undead harassed them without pause.

    It was a horrifying sight to see. The massive number these undead represented could only be approximated by gazing into the deep tsunami-like shadow approaching through the fog.

    Damien''s side was still going strong. While their numbers wererge, it was lucky that these creatures were all in the 2nd ss as well, otherwise, a siege like this would have immediately ended them.

    He still had the Twin Moons out, not changing his strategy to deal with enemies and only focusing on keeping the path clear and waiting for Bertram''s instruction.

    The real spectacle was on Ruyue and Elena''s sides.

    Ruyue was also a force of Yin, or rather, she was a controller of Yin with far greater status than small undead like these. She didn''t use ice or her own abilities, instead choosing a far more brutal approach that conserved her mana.

    RAAAAAAH!

    A ghoulish howl filled the air as countless mutted corpses rose from the ground in a flurry of grey mana. They meshed together strangely, forming an army of new beings out of those who died!

    However, this new group of undead wasn''t an enemy, but a product of Ruyue''s machinations!

    She controlled the Death aspect of Yin, spreading her influence into the surroundings. She wasn''t summoning her own undead, but reutilizing the Death Mana in the surroundings to revive them under hermand!

    Actually, Ruyue''s 2nd ss didn''t have such capabilities. The ss she earned upon reaching level 50 was called Daughter of the Moon. It was focused on her Moon affinity, whichter merged into her base Yin affinity, and ice. It was also the origin of her spear art.

    However, Ruyue''s affinity with Yin had always been extreme. The reason she was so limited in the past was because she wasn''t able to realize it.

    Her new understanding,bined with her long-existing talent, allowed her to connect with Death Mana, albeit at a very subtle level.

    She abused this to create a horde to fight against the horde, taking a new replenishing supplement almost every minute!

    While Ruyue and Damien had to get creative with their powersets to find ways to counter the army, Elena didn''t share their worries.

    When she hit 3rd ss, her fighting style experienced a huge change.

    However, before that, the path she pursued was the limitless warrior, the path of a Valkyrie who never lost steam in the midst of battle!

    The Life and Light Laws that had transformed into more ethereal concepts were reverted back to their foundation, where their only purpose was to sustain Elena infinitely!

    And she was making sure they did exactly that.

    Huge pulses of pure golden-white and greenish-white mana surrounded her body in a furious vortex as she shed out with Yggdrasil''s branch and swept away wave after wave of undead.

    Those who attacked Elena were mainly Netherworld Spirits, a ghostly race that absolutely abhorred life.

    Elena''s powerful life aura made her an immediate target, but at the same time, Netherworld Spirits were the undead species most susceptible to her de.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Three explosions rang out as one,ing from all three open sides around Bertram.

    Damien, Ruyue, and Elena all let out a massive flux of power, blowing away another wave of undead.

    The cave Bertram was leading them to was only a few tens of meters away.

    Just a little bit more and they''d reach it.

    They pushed.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Damien gritted his teeth and poured out most of his mana in a singlepressed st from Hel''s barrel, a true implosion of space that tore even the Netherworld Fog out of their path.

    At the same time, Ruyue mmed her foot into the ground and sent out a ripple of mana, molding her undead army into a huge chimera golem that tore into the undead horde and broke their waves.

    And Elena, she covered their backs so perfectly that her effort almost went unnoticed. There wasn''t a single undead that could approach within 10 feet of the group without being exploded and purified by waves of Light Mana.

    "Get goin! It''s right there!" Bertram eximed, blood rushing to his head in excitement.

    50 meters¡­

    40 meters¡­

    30 meters¡­

    At a certain point, the Netherworld Fog started to fade out naturally, and even the undead stopped approaching with such ferocity.

    Before they knew it, a shadow covered their bodies.

    It was only then they realized they were finally safe.

    "Phew¡­!"

    Damien exhaled a sigh of relief. He stretched his body and spread his awareness again, still not losing his wariness.

    "Hm? This is¡­"

    He realized almost immediately that they weren''t alone in this cave.

    There were roughly 50 other adventurous practitioners present. Half of them were huddled together in their own small groups, while the rest stayed in each other''s vicinity like a huge expedition group.

    Their conversations revolved around the strange timing of this undead wave and the hair''s width they all survived by, but they all ceased the second Damien and the rest entered the cave.

    The adventurers all watched the group in scrutiny, assessing the new survivors who''d shown up in this ce.

    Damien and the girls, however, paid them no mind.

    ''Let''s just get what we need to do done. Conflict with others is just wasting time.'' Damien thought to himself, finding an open space and sitting down.

    The girls followed his actions, while Bertram carefully scanned the cave walls and jotted a few things down on a small notepad.

    "This ce is usually the best since the spider bastards in this cave aren''t as hostile as the rest, but who knows what''s happenin'' now!" He eximed sighingly as he took a seat near Damien.

    "Old boy, Human-Faced Spiders only have one weakness: their eyes. Don''t forget that."

    Damien nodded, ncing at the ceiling with a frown.

    ''He can''t be speaking for no reason, but if he thinks something will happen, why enter the cave in the first ce?''

    He shook his head, throwing away the thought.

    ''No, a moment of respite is better than nothing. We''ve burned through over a hundred mana elixirs in the past 15 minutes. This strategy lets us tear through obstacles, but it''s too inefficient tost the whole expedition¡­''

    Damien furrowed his brows in thought, pondering over different ways for them to save mana but still move with the same speed. Meanwhile, the attention of the groups around them seemed to fade.

    At least, for the most part.

    Two groups in particr had their eyes on Damien and the girls for different reasons.

    The first sat in a dark corner of the cave, outside the perception of most.

    Unlike the rest, they were hidden by a thick veil of mana. Of course, this wasn''t a strange thing to do in a ce like the Severed World, but in their case, it was definitely malicious.

    Because behind that barrier, four people sat in a meditative posture, unmoving like stone buddhas.

    Their bodies were covered in Human-Faced Spiders, the venom from these beasts flowing freely through their systems.

    But they didn''t reject it, no, they epted it wholeheartedly to further their training.

    However, theirck of reaction seemed to anger the spiders around them, an anger that spread from spider to spider and alerted every creature living in the cave.

    Their perceptions were joined together in a single web that tranted their thoughts and allowed them to share vision, and through it, they reached a consensus.

    The new arrivals, Damien''s group¡­

    ¡­were exactly the people they''d been looking for.

 Chapter 1066 Ghost Kingâ€™s Crevice [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1066 Ghost King''s Crevice [4]</h4>

    The second group was far less ominous.

    They were in the light both metaphorically and physically, sitting near the middle of the cave and only around ten feet away from Damien and the rest.

    They were also a group of two men and three women, however, the main group was only two men and two women, with thest being their guide.

    They chatted andughed together more closely than most other groups, and the one who clearly led them was a man with bright blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a crown-like head garment made of silver and sapphire colors.

    He nced not at the girls or Damien, but at Bertram with interest.

    His eyes glimmered with interest, causing his party members to gain interest as well.

    "Virgil, did you find something good again?" One of the women asked.

    The man, Virgil, smiled in response.

    "You could say so¡­"

    "Sheesh, you always have to act mysterious," the other man said with a snort.

    "Haha, what can you do? There''s no such thing as certainty in these things."

    "Hmph."

    Their conversation continued, the topic dropped not long after it was brought up, but Virgil''s attention never left Bertram for too long.

    In the end, he couldn''t bear it anymore. He stood up, intent on walking over and getting an answer to the question in his mind, but at that moment¡­

    RUMBLE!

    A tremor spread through the cave.

    "W-wha¡ª"

    BANG!

    A mana barrier in the corner of the cave was sted open.

    The four men inside couldn''t even be seen within the mound of Human-Faced Spiders present there.

    But those spiders were mad, extremely furious that they couldn''t kill the prey they''d set their eyes on.

    And the only way to appease this anger¡­was to kill!

    SKREEEEEEEE!

    A cacophonous melody of high-pitched screeches filled the cave, shaking its very foundation.

    The adventurers in the cave instantly stood up and backed away, covering their ears.

    In their eyes, the human faces on those spiders'' abdomens began to writhe in horror and suffering, silently transmitting the message that they would be the next souls to add to these writhing faces.

    Thud!

    It was instant.

    A single spider fell on the head of a practitioner in the 25-man expedition group and bit him. The venom instantly dropped him dead on the ground, starting a chain reaction of newly dead bodies decorating the cave floor.

    "Dammit! This fucking mountain!" A man shouted in frustration, cutting through the spiders around him and backing away.

    He soon realized that he was at the mouth of the cave, along with most of the rest of the cave''s inhabitants.

    Outside, the Netherworld Fog bloomed and an endless army of undead sat in wait to kill them, but inside, an army of insta-kill spiders was doing the exact same!

    What was one to do in this death trap?!

    "Fuck it, I''m done with this!" The man finally decided.

    He looked to his group mates and gritted his teeth, bolting out of the cave and running back the way Damien and his group came.

    Four others followed him out, their footsteps echoing out of focus as the remaining experts focused on the spider attack.

    Damien and his group stood near the edge of the crowd, upying an advantageous position where they didn''t face the brunt of the spiders nor the absolute threat of the undead.

    They observed and plotted, trying to figure out their next move, when suddenly Damien swung his body sideways.

    Xiu!

    A shot of purple liquid sshed onto the ground beside him, melting a deep hole into its surface.

    ''Poison?'' Damien thought as he traced its source.

    ''There are¡­people back there?''

    Damien once again dodged, this time taking a container out of storage and swiping up the poison that was shot at him.

    The girls and Bertram were also alerted to the attack at this time.

    Together, they watched as the poison melted through the container made to hold far, far more powerful materials!

    ''We can''t face that right now.'' Damien realized with a frown.

    It was a physical poison so the Void Physique couldn''t handle it and he didn''t trust Transcendent Regeneration in its current state. [Heal] was also unavable so he couldn''t be sure of the girls'' safety if they were hit.

    ''Damn! What now?!''

    Either they stayed in the cave and attempted to fight the unknown enemy and the spiders, or they risked it and challenged the undead horde!

    "Bertram, how sure are you of your skills?!" He asked hurriedly.

    "100%!" The old man responded without missing a beat.

    "Good, then we''ll go!"

    Could the timing have been more perfect?

    At the exact moment Damien spoke, five new undead made their way out of the Netherworld Fog and waited outside the cave for helpless fleeing adventurers.

    They were none other than the five who escaped a few seconds ago.

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    Their fates seemed obviously doomed in that horde, but he didn''t change his decision.

    He would take unending enemies over deadly poison any day!

    Damien''s eyes were extremely solemn. His pupils swirled as the All-Seeing Eyes activated. He waited for the perfect moment, setting up Vector Walls to deflect any iing poison.

    Two things happened to prompt his next word.

    The first: the unknown poison began to melt through the Vector Walls like they were material objects.

    And the second¡­

    Well, the timing was perfect!

    "Go!"

    An opening appeared and he capitalized on it without wasting a second.

    He ran out of the cave and back into the undead wave, Bertram and the girls not far from him.

    "Hey! Let''s not die!" He yelled.

    "Don''t worry about it!" Bertram yelled back.

    The little old man increased his pace, taking the lead and running through the undead without a care for his life.

    Or rather, he trusted Damien''s group to have his back so they could all live.

    ''The path¡­the path¡­''

    The truth was, Bertram never had a path, he had an instinct.

    He knew where the best route to survive was, but this route was usually also the most dangerous if there was even a single misstep.

    Bertram focused on this instinct right now in his moment of life and death and found that path, finally running into Ghost King''s Valley, the name given to the t ground at the bottom of Ghost King''s Crevice.

    "Follow them!"

    As Damien left, another group also followed his footsteps, Virgil and hispanions.

    They even left their guide behind, as she didn''t believe leaving the cave was the right option.

    But Virgil''s choice was to follow Bertram, because he knew that there was no better option than him!

    These two groups soon disappeared into the opacity of the Netherworld Fog.

    They were assaulted by the fog''s properties at an exponential levelpared to what they experienced at the edge, but they pushed forward.

    Explosions filled the air around Bertram, clearing the undead away from him.

    Those who couldn''t see him could only follow the explosions and hope they were going in the right direction.

    But Ghost King''s Crevice was that type of ce.

    The second one left the protection of the edge, one''s perception could no longer be trusted.

    Because of this, these two groups didn''t know at all.

    The path to survival Bertram had found¡­

    ¡­directly came in contact with the Ghost King!

 Chapter 1067 Ghost Kingâ€™s Crevice [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1067 Ghost King¡¯s Crevice [5]</h4>

    Twisting, winding pathways.

    No, was there even anything like that?!

    Didn''t twisting, winding pathways at least have some semnce of direction?!

    It became clear that Bertram didn''t have anything like a set path he trusted once they began moving. His steps had no order, and the groups he led found themselves running so randomly they could''ve sworn they were just going in circles!

    But Bertram''s expression didn''t rx in the slightest as he pushed forward. The undead horde faded into a blurry fog, the roars of battle became nothing more than a whisper, and every single pit of his attention honed in on the ethereal path that was forming itself in his eyes.

    There was a question he always asked himself.

    Why did he consider himself the perfect guide when he hadn''t established a trusty route?

    In his mind, anyone who trusted routes without question was an idiot, mediocre at best. Routes could be followed by anyone, so what was the point of a guide? If an adventurer was able to memorize the route for themselves, wouldn''t the guide be irrelevant?

    The Severed World was a ce that was constantly changing, and it didn''t receive too many recurring powerful guests who''d be able to do these things, but it had plenty of opportunists looking for their entrance into the guide scene so they could make quick money.

    Which routes would they use?

    Of course, they were the same routes trusted by the rest.

    Bertram wanted to be different, and he had the ability to act on this desire. His instinct allowed him to see not only the safest path, but also the most beneficial one.

    His reputation had been sullied over time not because the paths he took were bad, but because the adventurers who hired him never chose the safe path.

    They wanted to chase benefits, and when he led them to those benefits, they died without fail.

    That was just the kind of ce the Severed World was!

    Bertram could''ve solved his problem by removing the option to take the beneficial path, but what was the point of doing that when his goal from the start was to be different? Adventurous spirits would be adventurous regardless of what he did, therefore the choice remained in their hands.

    For the first time in a long time, Bertram made his own decision; not to seek benefits, but to find the best path for survival!

    The undead army grewrger with every second and the battle that raged on became hopeless. Even for Damien and his group, the usage of so many elixirs would definitely leave them endangered in theteryers.

    But Bertram couldn''t pay attention to it.

    He needed to find the way out of the Netherworld Fog as fast as possible!

    He followed his instinctual path and Damien and the rest followed him without question. They went deeper and deeper into the valley, their minds exhausted from the constant ughter yetpletely alert from the threat of death.

    And that''s when he realized it.

    Even if they got to the other side, wouldn''t they still be in the domain of Human-Faced Spiders?

    Was there a real way to survive?

    He doubted it internally, but his instinct never lied, so he threw away his negativity.

    If it was death either way, he''d rather try until the veryst second than give up and ept it peacefully!

    This was the mentality that all of them adopted in this seemingly hopeless situation.

    Damien and the other practitioners were forced to ept the true greatness of the restriction ced on them.

    For Damien at his original level, something like this undead horde could be dealt with in a single attack! 2nd ss meant absolutely nothing in front of the 2nd revolution!

    But now that he was back at this level, he lost almost everything that made him what he was today.

    The adventures he had during 3rd ss were his defining moments. What he was left with was a weak lightning affinity, the foundations of Void Sword Art, and vectors that he barely had an understanding of!

    He had to think of ways to creatively utilize what he had to cover his weaknesses, but how could he do that? He barely had time to breathe!

    The swirling vortex above his head shrunk to a point, but its pull became far greater. The amount of mana in Damien''s body was impossible for him to contain and still growing. It was a state that would be dangerous in any other situation, but his saving grace here.

    It was a real struggle for all those involved, a struggle that didn''t pause once in the 15 minutes they''d been running. From the sounds around them, there was no hope that such respite would be granted to them any time soon.

    However, unexpectedly, this notion was incorrect.

    Bertram''s eyes widened as he tripped over his foot and fell forward.

    He stumbled through the chaotic mana around him until he finally stabilized himself¡­in heaven?

    He turned around to look behind him just in time to see Damien and the girls pushing through a shimmering wall of ck light and stumbling into the same empty space as him.

    "Haa¡­Haa¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    The group immediately plopped on the ground and gathered themselves without a word, resting their minds and bodies for the inevitable next battle.

    "This is¡­!" Bertram eximed in realization.

    Nothing needed to be said.

    This ck light barrier spanned roughly 500 meters of space and sat like an isted world within Ghost King''s Valley.

    This kind of structure could only mean one thing.

    A small respite apanied by an even greater danger.

    Damien and the girls silently agreed on this conclusion and thus wasted no time preparing.

    Meanwhile, Bertram copsed on his butt, sweating profusely.

    ''I''m dead. My time hase.'' he murmured inwardly, epting his fate.

    ''Maybe I wasn''t cut out for this guide shit. I shoulda just listened to my Ma and stayed on the farm!''

    What else could he do but wait for death?

    The current location was¨C

    "Puha!"

    "Hey, don''t push!"

    "Let me in, dammit! They''reing!"

    A group of four pushed their way through the barrier and fell to the ground, sandwiching each other in the process.

    "Damn! Didn''t you say we were going somewhere safe?!" a bald white man among them sneered, wincing as the massive gash on his leg acted up.

    "Aren''t we? This ce looks pretty safe to me," the other man said, getting out of the pile their group had formed and standing up.

    The two women in their group sat to the side and didn''t speak, but they looked at their party leader, Virgil, as if he were an idiot.

    "This ce looks safe to you?! This ce is the furthest thing from safe!" The bald man roared. Grabbing Virgil''s shoulders powerfully for effect.

    "You bastard, right now we''re in the FUCKING GHOST KING''S LAIR!"

    Virgil''s face fell.

    "You serious?"

    He looked between his group members, he looked at the others around them that he just noticed the existence of, and he saw how every single one of them was looking at him like he was brainless.

    He scratched his head awkwardly.

    "...oh, that''s my bad then¡­"

 Chapter 1068 Ghost Kingâ€™s Crevice [6]

    <h4>Chapter 1068 Ghost King¡¯s Crevice [6]</h4>

    The silence that followed was loud.

    Virgil looked around for help from anywhere, but in the end, he could only try to divert the topic and avoid it.

    "Haha, anyway, who are you guys? It''s our first time meeting, right?" He said, looking at Damien and the girls.

    Damien looked him up and down strangely, turning his eyes to the rest of his people afterwards.

    They were definitely an interesting group, holding such a dynamic even while realizing their situation.

    They acted like youngsters who hadn''t even hit 20 yet, but that couldn''t be true, right?

    Actually, it wasn''t impossible for weaker people to enter the realm, since everyone''s strength would be regressed the same. There were several advantages and disadvantages of both being weaker and stronger.

    "You can call me Damien," Damien finally said, nodding at the group with a smile.

    Rose and the girls introduced themselves as well, using the same sinct method as him.

    "Nice to meet you all!" Virgil said energetically, bowing his head slightly.

    "Since we''ve all ended up in this situation, shouldn''t we work together to find a way out?" He suggested.

    Damien raised his brow.

    "Work together?"

    "Yup! I''m sure our strengthbined can deal some damage to that Ghost King, right?"

    "Ha!"

    Damien scoffed and rolled his eyes.

    Did this kid enter the sub-universe without doing a single ounce of research?

    The Ghost King wasn''t an existence they could fight. From what had been gathered, he was at least at the peak of 3rd ss, a level where he could squash them like ants!

    "I''ll pass on that offer for now. We''ll let you know if we reconsider," Damien finally said, shaking his head.

    The first strategy wasn''t fighting, that much was certain.

    He looked at the girls, seeing the agreement in their eyes.

    They had a tacit agreement on what to do next.

    Their hands interlocked with the ones next to them, and their mana flowed between the connection they all shared.

    Space bent and refracted the light in the surroundings, an air of Yin spread and disguised the area in fog, the auras of lifeing from their bodies vanishedpletely, and finally, an illusory domain wrapped all their previous defenses up into a tight package of concealment that many would be hard-pressed to see through.

    Of course, Bertram wasn''t left out either.

    "W-where''d they go?!" Virgil eximed.

    "Haa, you can''t actually be this stupid. It has to be a bit. Don''t tell me it''s not," the bald man sighed in frustration.

    "Calm down, Marcus! It was just a joke!" Virgil hurriedly replied.

    "Yeah, well now isn''t the time for that. Since they''ve hid, we¡ª"

    Marcus'' words were cut off by a sudden tremor that spread through the ground.

    His face went ghastly white.

    "We have to hide!"

    He looked to the two women in the group, who hurriedly used their magic to cover their group in several barriers that separated them from the outside world.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    At the same time, the booming thudding of footsteps rang out in the near distance, approaching closer with insane speed.

    It came out of the shadows as if it was birthed by them.

    It was a warrior with skin as pale as a corpse. It was dressed in the clothing of a barbarian, with red markings forming ominous patterns on its skin.

    The bottom half of its face was covered in a thick beard and it had a mane of long and wild hair. Its eyes were nothing more than white slits, and on its neck, it wore a ne made from the souls of those who invaded its domain.

    ''Holy shit.'' Marcus thought, his body trembling in inherent fear.

    The Ghost King! This was the Ghost King!

    He held a massive staff in his hand like that of a vige elder, but the bloody cleaver on his back was enough indication that he was nowhere near sagely!

    The nine living souls hiding at the edge of his territory held their breaths, even Virgil''s usually upbeat face solemn.

    The ghoulish and deathly auraing from the Ghost King was suffocating them through their defenses.

    ''Leave¡­just leave¡­!''

    It was a thought shared by everyone in the group of four.

    The Ghost King raised his head slightly.

    Sniff!

    Sniff!

    His nose red twice, and¡ª

    "You."

    BOOM!

    He moved, rapidly appearing at the barrier''s edge and towering over the hiding spot of Virgil and his group.

    "Come to me."

    BANG!

    His massive arm mmed down, shattering every barrier set up to keep him out in a second.

    "Scatter!"

    Upon Virgil''s orders, the four spread in different directions, flying out and using the shockwave from the Ghost King''s attack to boost them even further.

    "We have to fight! Follow me!"

    With battle starting, there was no more conflict within their group.

    Perhaps Virgil was a brainless fool in normal life, but if it was battle, he was a peerless genius!

    It was this,bined with something more mystical, that drew these three to join his party despite his personality, and now was the time for him to prove their choice the right one!

    Virgilunched himself into battle ahead of his peers, leading them without fear or hesitation.

    "From the left, stun him!"

    "Yes!"

    The two women in the group were named Amber and Diana. They took the left together and raised their staffs, casting magic that struck the Ghost King in the form of arge purple Phoenix.

    Bang!

    "Hm?"

    The Ghost King barely showed reaction. He turned to the girls and swept his arm out, using the reach of his massive staff to stack them from afar.

    But at that moment, Virgil pounced, arriving behind the Ghost King and jumping up, shing his sword in aplete circle to build power and slice the enemy''s throat in a single move!

    Screeeech!

    Sparks flew from the sword''s path as it connected with the target. The Ghost King took no damage, but it was sure that he was offended by their actions.

    Such mortals dared to attack him?!

    Proposterous!

    The group of four had a good party bnce, with two fighters and two mages attacking together. Whenever Virgil needed support, Marcus could always be there to aid him, while Amber and Diana could give them overarching support from the back and attack when they saw a chance.

    Damien observed them carefully, but spent more time dissecting the Ghost King''s reactions to their onught.

    ''Hmm¡­isn''t this a bit¡­game-like?''

    He didn''t know if it applied throughout the sub-universe, but the way the Ghost King was moving definitely had a pattern.

    A close-up melee hit would be met with a stomp or swing, while a long-range attack was met with an attack from his great staff or mana.

    The cleaver on his back showed no signs ofing out, indicating something like a second phase.

    ''I heard all the living beings in this realm are killed and revived whenever the Impulse Wave passes. Could the reason be¡­''

    Damien frowned as the thought formed in his mind.

    Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

    The only way to find out was to face it directly.

    ''Well, I guess it gives the Severed World a more fun feel, which is strange to say with how this damn ce has been assaulting us since we got here, but it is what it is.''

    Virgil''s group was able to hold out for a surprising amount of time without taking too much damage, long enough for Damien to gain a basic understanding of the Ghost King''s attack patterns.

    What better use was there for strange adventurers than bait?

    Now that he knew what fish he was trying to catch, it was time to start reeling it in!

    "Go."

    A single word left Damien''s lips.

    And his shadow responded.

 Chapter 1069 Ghost Kingâ€™s Crevice [7]

    <h4>Chapter 1069 Ghost King¡¯s Crevice [7]</h4>

    Whoosh!

    A being rushed out of the hidden space created by Damien and his group and rapidly entered the battle.

    It shot past Virgil and Marcus, directly approaching the Ghost King and leaping into the air.

    AWOOOO!

    A dark howl filled the air as the ck sh finally took form. The massive maw of a bestial ck wolf chomped down on the Ghost King''s neck, its sharp teeth ripping through his skin.

    The damage wasn''t much, but it was the first drop of blood drawn from the creature since the start of the battle!

    Damien grinned.

    "Attagirl."

    It had been a long time since she''d been able to leave the Sanctuary and her excitement was palpable. Zara knew how strong the opponent was, but she didn''t care at all!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Rays of shadow cascaded down from her body and impacted the Ghost King, barraging him and covering his vision.

    AWOOO!

    She mmed down onto the ground and stomped her legs, freezing the ground and the Ghost King''s legs.

    "Now!"

    Damien heard her call in his head and immediately pushed his foot into the ground.

    He was gone in the next instant. His body rushed through space, Mirage entering his grasp as he swung it without mercy!

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Copse''

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Space twisted into an agglomeration ofyered mirrors, bending over each other and meshing until the scenery within waspletely twisted.

    Damien jumped back to avoid its spread, and when hended, his shadow expanded again.

    Zara returned to his side with a savage grin.

    Because of her existence as a Nox being, she''d been hidden from the world for a very long time. Immortal Blood Asura had eyes everywhere, so to conceal his connection with the Nox, he had no choice but to keep her locked away in the Sanctuary.

    But it was different now. When Damien was reverted to 2nd ss, Zara felt the restriction through their soul connection as well. Because of this, she was forced out of the Sanctuary and reverted to her previous state as well.

    This meant that not only did she find herself in Damien''s shadow again, her superior bloodline was suppressed so she was able to appear and use her old mana again!

    Damien had been waiting for an opportunity to bring her out, and the Ghost King provided the perfect timing!

    "How''s it feel to be back?" Damien asked, grinning at her as he watched the Ghost King break his spatial turbulence.

    "Greater than you''d ever imagine," Zara responded.

    Her strength might''ve been regressed, but her intelligence was still the same. She couldn''t take human form anymore, butmunication wasn''t an issue at all.

    Something simr must''ve happened with Lily and Mei who were contracted to Ruyue, otherwise, she wouldn''t have been able to grasp Death Mana in her current state so easily.

    The smile on Damien''s face represented his feelings about this moment, but nothing more could be said.

    "YOU. PUNY. MORTALS!"

    The Ghost King''s words were choppy, which made his rage even more visceral.

    Pieces of broken space fell around him like shards of ss, and his attention was wholly focused on Damien and Zara.

    After all, unlike Virgil''s group, they actually posed a threat!

    "Listen up. I dissected his patterns during the previous fight. Just pay attention to these things as you move¡­"

    Damien used mental transmission to pack all the information he wanted to convey into a single second of contact, connecting with the four in his party, and without another moment of hesitation, he moved.

    ''I should keep him distracted first. He moves slow, but he hits hard.''

    The only reason they were able to take action as they did was because the Ghost King was on the slower side both intellectually and physically, but his strength wasn''t a joke.

    ''I don''t know who else can handle¨C''

    BANG!

    The Ghost King''s staff mmed towards Damien, who used Mirage to hold it back.

    SCREEEEEEECH!

    Damien gritted his teeth as sparks from the collision flew into his face and burned him

    "Khhh¡­!"

    He pushed his feet deep into the earth and stabilized his vectors, increasing his weight exponentially, pushing back against the Ghost King with all his strength.

    "Attack!"

    They were waiting for hismand.

    At that moment, Damien flowed his mana into the Ghost King''s staff, using it as a medium to prate his body.

    The controlling of someone else''s vectors was extremely difficult, but if it was just for a second¡­

    The Ghost King froze.

    Four being approached with immense speed.

    Ruyue attacked first.

    She raised her spear and swung it upward powerfully, letting loose an immense wave of cold Yin mana.

    ''Moon Goddess Spear Art Original First Form; Tide Formation.''

    BANG!

    The Ghost King''s undefended back was struck by the wave and frozen in ice. The Yin fluctuations in his body were heightened to the extreme, which would have been a positive for him if not for¨C

    Whoosh!

    A streak of light shot past Ruyue.

    ''Pure Yang Flux.''

    Elena shed Yggdrasil''s branch,bining her two elements into a flowing stream of absolute Yang.

    Life and Light were both in direct opposition with the traits of undead. When they werebined together, and when their already disorderly fluctuations were entangled with those of their opposites¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A huge explosion of chaotic mana burst on the Ghost King''s back. The mana waves spread through Ruyue''s ice and shattered it, emitting even greater pressure.

    Despite the extreme physical defense the king of the undead possessed, the force of the explosion tore his skin open and burrowed into his muscles, putting a number of holes in his body.

    It all happened in a second.

    ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!

    The Ghost King let out an ear-shattering roar as Damien''s restraints wore off.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    He mmed his foot into the ground, spreading a terrifying wave of destructive mana.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Damien took the brunt of the force. He was thrown back, blood flying out of his mouth.

    The others were pushed away as well, suffering varying degrees of injuries.

    Rose stood up, ignoring the blood pooling in her mouth as she summoned her mana and surrounded the Ghost King''s head with it.

    ''Conceal!''

    A shimmering curtain formed from the mana.

    The Ghost King''s vision was impaired, the sight around him changingpletely from Ghost King''s Valley to a barren in somewhere in the universe.

    After the roar woulde a powerful swing of his staff loaded with mana. This was already present in the information Damien gave them.

    With his vision clouded, the Ghost King''s swing became nonsense, a random attack with no particr target.

    Zara took hold of the opening to cage the Ghost King in countless shadow chains, while Rose, Ruyue, and Elena began to approach again, a new course of attack already plotted in their minds.

    A bit further away, Damien clutched his chest with a frown.

    ''I am not a fan of this slow healing.''

    Transcendent Regeneration still existed, but taking the brunt of the force of a peak 3rd ss being''s attack did more than just sting.

    Damien''s internals were a mess, and they definitely weren''t healing fast enough for him to keep taking hits like that.

    He couldn''t be counted out of the battle yet, but he definitely realized something important.

    ''I was damn lucky I didn''t offend anyone powerful back then. That cocky dumbass me would''ve been killed without a single hope for survival!''

 Chapter 1070 Ghost Kingâ€™s Crevice [8]

    <h4>Chapter 1070 Ghost King¡¯s Crevice [8]</h4>

    Damien didn''t wait to jump back intobat.

    He took the Twin Moons out forrger sts, and even without them Vector Controller was originally a ranged ss.

    His ability to manipte vectors was best put to use supporting the girls. He messed with the vectors of the Ghost King''s attacks and empowered theirs, making the battlepletely advantageous for them.

    The only ones not doing any work were Bertram, who was useless in this situation, and Virgil''s group, who could only watch in awe.

    "Say, Diana, could you ever show this much power at 2nd ss?" Marcus asked incredulously.

    "Don''t even joke about it. They''re bonafide 3rd ss practitioners with that kind of firepower," Diana responded wryly.

    "Who the hell are they?"

    Virgil asked the question everyone in their group was wondering about as the battle continued.

    Even they were able to understand the Ghost King''s mechanics over time.

    Whenever he tookrge damage, he responded with a mana wave, which was followed by a sweeping physical attack. Whenever he wanted to make an attack, there was always a cue that could be traced.

    For instance, if he stomped his feet, he would send mana through the ground and leave his torso open. If he raised his staff, he was nning to userger mana-based attacks, but he would leave his back unguarded.

    There were so many openings in his behavior that it was almost embarrassing that they couldn''t spill blood, but it was because they couldn''t spill blood that they couldn''t find these openings in the first ce!

    Nevertheless, the battle went on for minutes on end.

    Rose and Ruyue mostly stayed out of the Ghost King''s reach and barraged it with attacks that hindered his movement and perception, while Zara and Elena stayed within his circle and worsened any wounds he''d already taken.

    Damien''s wounds healed after a few minutes of rangedbat, and he also joined them at the forefront, using Vector Control and spatial maniption to harass the enemy and create new wounds on his body.

    Their synergy was perfect. Without a single word exchanged between them, they understood theirrades'' moves and thoughts with absolute precision and acted upon them without reservation.

    A well-oiled machine? No, even something like that didn''t work as seamlessly as they did.

    Before anyone realized it, the Ghost King''s armored skin had been ripped to pieces and most of his decaying muscles were disyed to the world. He had countless deep wounds on his chest and back, and blue blood oozed from several locations, dripping to the ground and forming a deep puddle.

    Grrrrrr¡­

    The Ghost King let out a barely discernible growl as he withstood the onught.

    "Mortals. Good. Warriors."

    "King. Must. Fight!"

    VOOOOOOM!

    Deep red mana covers the Ghost King''s body in an aura of ughter.

    He raised his arm, disadvantaging himself and giving Damien the chance to bore another hole in his torso.

    But he didn''t care.

    Grip!

    Hisrge hand gripped the hilt of his cleaver and unsheathed it from his back.

    "Warriors. Fight!"

    SHIIIIIING!

    It was instant, terrifyingly fast.

    The cleaver cut through space, whipping furious winds into the air.

    And the mana emitted from its de obliterated everything in its path.

    "Dodge!" Damien roared.

    His danger senses were ringing. Even he couldn''t take this attack!

    He grabbed Elena, who was directly to his side, and teleported several tens of meters away. Zara used shadow teleportation to follow them, while Rose and Ruyue also pushed away with all their strength!

    The cleaver light cut through 50 meters of earth, turning it into a massive crevice within the crevice. The brutal mana it held exploded through the atmosphere, turning everything within that radius to dust.

    "This is¡­the second phase?!" Damien eximed.

    Wasn''t this too exaggerated of a transformation?!

    "Old boy, we ain''te here to fight that thing! Let''s escape!"

    Bertram''s voice suddenly boomed in his ear, making him turn around.

    Right, since when was it necessary to defeat the Ghost King?

    The other option was an army of infinite undead, but dealing with that was easier than dealing with a boss that could one-shot them!

    "Great! Let''s run!"

    There was no need to be reckless right now.

    Damien and the girls instantly bolted, picking Bertram up along the way and dashing out of the ck light barrier that denoted the Ghost King''s Lair.

    The undead horde surrounded them immediately, but unlike what they expected, they didn''t immediately get swarmed.

    The few tens of undead nearby attacked, but once they cleared them, those outside a 20-foot range didn''t approach.

    "Haha, that''s it!" Bertram eximed.

    "The Ghostly Wind retreated so the undead won''t attack so crazily, but it won''tst ''cause you offended the Ghost King! We''re gonna move fast!"

    He zoomed forward with such speed outputted from his tiny legs that it could only be described as "skedaddling."

    Damien and the girls rapidly chased after him, and as he said, they only had to clear the undead in their vicinity to be safe. They no longer had to abuse supplements to make it through!

    At least, for a minute.

    ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAR!

    "MORTALS! DIE!"

    A booming bellow echoed through the entire Ghost King''s Crevice, bouncing off the walls and spreading killing intent into every inch of its space.

    Brutal rage seeped into the bones and spirits of every Netherworld creature in the ravine.

    Their auras red, their eyes were dyed red in frenzy, and they attacked without mercy.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    RAAAAAAAAAAAH!

    SKREEEEEEEEEEEE!

    The ear-piercing sounds of these undead entering true a berserk state were deafening, and the effects were even clearer.

    They didn''t attack randomly. Every undead under the Ghost King''s control attacked Damien''s group specifically, even those hundreds of meters away!

    "Go, go, go!" Bertram yelled as he pushed through the army.

    "We''re almost there!"

    They moved and moved and moved. They abused their elixirs again and abused their heightening understanding of their abilities to counter the endless waves as best as they could.

    It was suffocating.

    They''d felt it so many times since they got here that it was bing annoying; their own weakness, that is.

    Even after realizing they underestimated the Severed World, they still underestimated the Severed World.

    Every single second they spent here was a miniature apocalypse!

    Damien lost track of time. His body moved like a machine, pushing forward thoughtlessly.

    Skeletons, ghouls, spirits, liches, and any other undead that approached faded into a mosaic of enemies that needed to die.

    And time passed in this numb state of constant action.

    It was no more than 3 minutes in reality, but it felt like tens of eternities for them.

    Until finally¡­

    "Puah!"

    Bertram let out a strong exhale.

    The fog cleared.

    In front of the group was another cliff wall, high enough to fade into the horizon when they turned their heads up to look at it.

    Their feet unconsciously took them forward until they entered a cave in its surface, and the threat of Human-Faced Spiders started to seem insignificant.

    There were only around a hundred of them in the cave, and once they were dealt with, it would take time for more spiders to fill their vacancy.

    Meanwhile, tens of thousands of undead crowded the cave entrance, craving the deaths of its inhabitants but unable to enter it.

    Because no matter how enraged the Ghost King was, he couldn''t anger the leader of the Human-Faced Spiders when he was so wounded.

    Scaling the cliff was the easiest part with Bertram''s expertise and equipment, which meant¡­

    "Our time in this hellish valley has finallye to an end."

    Damien''s relieved sigh spoke for them all.

 Chapter 1071 Perilous Sanctuary [1]

    The secondyer.

    Or rather, the true firstyer.

    The Severed World was called a sub-universe because its rules were nearly asplete as a true universe, but it wasn''t nearly as big.

    The entire realm was centered around a massive peak called Skyrend Mountain. With this in mind, Ghost King''s Crevice was more of an entryway than a trueyer of the ecosystem.

    After all, it waspletely different from the rest of the sub-universe.

    Nevertheless, the secondyer, the Perilous Sanctuary, was the stopping point for 99% of the practitioners who ventured into this world.

    While the caves in the cliffside leading up to it were filled with Human-Faced Spider, the actual cliff wall was free of them.

    ording to Bertram, this was because the Human-Faced Spiders were prey for many of the beasts in the Perilous Sanctuary, and traversing the cliffside essentially made them sitting ducks in the eyes of their predators.

    It was the first taste of the "Sanctuary" half of theyer''s name.

    But of course, it wasn''t called perilous for nothing.

    The Perilous Sanctuary''s danger level was rtively low as long as one maintained wariness. Most of the beasts weren''t hostile unless provoked, while the rest weren''t strong enough to pose a threat like the Ghost King.

    More than this, the entireyer was filled with treasure.

    Heavenly resources grew likemon grasses and every beast possessed some quality that would be beneficial when consumed. Some miners even dug into the ground, learning that there were precious minerals present in spades!

    This was the reason why the Severed World was so popr.

    However, with every gain came a loss.

    The dangers of the Perilous Sanctuary were hidden, lying in wait for helpless practitioners who dropped their guard.

    For every treasure present, there was a fake.

    These fakes were sometimes beasts in hiding, sometimes deadly traps, and other times horrifying nts or materials disguised as beneficial resources.

    The more greed one possessed, the more likely one was to die in this area.

    Was it mere coincidence?

    Or was it a mechanic specifically designed for this purpose?

    Regardless of the answer, the truth didn''t affect Damien.

    "Let''s not spend too much time here," he said.

    At this time, the group had already made their way up the cliff and received an extensive breakdown of the Perilous Sanctuary from Bertram.

    "If the treasures are really so great, we cane back for them once we''ve finished our original mission."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Elena looked around curiously.

    The scenery was a lush tropical rainforest that stretched as far as the eye could see. Several hundred kilometers away, one could see the trees darkening and far more beasts in the sky, but this area, for the most part, was just a beautiful rainforest.

    "Are we on a time crunch?" she asked.

    "Not really, but I do want to finish as fast as possible. It''s been a long time since we''ve been home," Damien responded.

    "Home, huh¡­"

    Elena frowned slightly. Could it be considered a home when she had no one waiting for her there?

    "How about we stay for the day and see what we can find? There''s no harm in taking a little rest, right?" Rose jumped in, breaking the sullen mood before it could form.

    "I also agree. We may not have time to return on the way back, and while the treasures might not be too useful, it would be nice if we could find replenishment for some of our supplies," Ruyue chipped in.

    Damien nodded, realizing the truth of their words.

    Almost half of their recovery pills and elixirs had been used up in Ghost King''s Crevice. It was impossible to get out of that swarm unharmed.

    ''I keep forgetting I don''t have [Heal] anymore. It really would be dangerous if we ran out of methods to quickly heal.''

    "Alright then, let''s split up and see what we can find. We''ll meet back here at this same time tomorrow," he finally said, looking between the girls.

    They apple for a few more minutes, finalizing a few ns, and then split up, each taking a different direction so they could maximize their profits.

    The most excited out of them was probably Zara.

    After regressing, her bestial nature seemed far more prominent than usual, which made her more prone to her vices.

    Damien overcame his own bestial instinct easily with the mental growth he''d gone through in more recent years, but Zara had been trying to conquer her Nox side, which amplified her desires, for a very long time, and still hadn''t quite won yet.

    Damien made a mental note to look out for her before turning around and facing the man behind him.

    "So this is where our cooperation ends, huh? It was¡­an adventure, to say the least," he said with a grin,

    "Haha, that''s it. I can guess what yer crazy group is up to, and it sounds fun, but I like my life, so I won''t join ya," Bertram responded, grinning back.

    "Hmph, you''re missing out, but I digress. You have money to make, after all."

    The original agreement was for Bertram to navigate them through Ghost King''s Crevice, a task he aplished with flying colors.

    During a time when no other guide was willing to take the risk for survival, he led them across the crevice and got them to their destination as efficiently as possible.

    It was a doubt whether the others were even still alive.

    Damien was interested in Bertram''s eyes and held a little hope that the man would continue apanying them so he could study their function and use them, but it was natural that such a thing wouldn''t happen.

    Wasn''t Ghost King''s Crevice enough of a warning?

    Hell, even now Damien could hear intermittent screams echoing through the forest.

    Bertram was right. He and the girls were definitely the crazy ones in this situation.

    "Well, it was a pleasure working with you. I''ll catch you another time when I have another job ready," Damien said, putting his hand out.

    Bertram reached up and grabbed it with the same grin.

    "Haha, good on you, old boy. Just remember, my services ain''t cheap!"

    "Isn''t it natural to pay for quality?"

    "Totally natural!"

    The two men powerfully shook hands.

    After another short goodbye, they parted ways.

    Damien walked through the rainforest, his gaze panning the surroundings in search of anything interesting.

    ''I didn''t realize it before, but now that we''re guideless, it kind of feels like I''m in the First Dungeon again.''

    He thought back to that ce often. Perhaps, more than anything else, it was the ce that created the man known as Damien Void.

    It taught and let him experience so much that other situations that bore simrities became incredibly easy to dissect.

    And whenever he found an environment that gave him the same feeling as that one, he always got excited.

    ''I have a whole day to myself, but I don''t really feel like treasure hunting¡­''

    Damien looked around and found a nice tree.

    ''...I guess I''ll just chill.''

    He smiled to himself and bent space, using an ability he''d long forgotten about.

    ''Telekinesis''

    The foliage in the surroundings morphed, cracked branches and fallen logs were broken down and transformed, and a small resting area was formed at the base of the tree.

    Damien walked into his creation andid his body on the soft leaf bed he''d set up for himself.

    "Ahhh, this is the life."

 Chapter 1072 Perilous Sanctuary [2]

    ?

    While Damien sat back and rxed as if nothing in the world bothered him, the girls went on a quest for resources.

    They were like true adventurers, exploring thends at high speeds and grabbing any treasures they found along the way.

    Of course, each of them had their own measures for avoiding theyer''s dangers, but they weren''tpletely safe. Each of them encountered the perils of the realm in their own ways.

    Rose met an illusion beast that was disguising itself as a precious herb, Ruyue fell into a trap that caged her in the area and tried to consume her, Elena found a cluster of light-attributed materials, butter learned that they were extremely poisonous nts, and Zara found¡­well, the constant struggle between beasts to determine superiority.

    For a second, Damien felt like he was being a useless soft rice-eating husband, but he disregarded that thought.

    The girls didn''t want his help.

    They knew he could support them and they had trust that he''d be there when they needed that support, but they didn''t want to hug his thighs and act likemon women who were only there to leech on him.

    They hadn''t really gone on an adventure all together before, and now that they were doing exactly that, none of them were willing to be baggage.

    Therefore, Damien''s help would only be counterintuitive.

    ''Either way, I have a constant source of elixirs at my disposal, so there''s no need to worry.''

    Damien''s spatial storage was connected to the Sanctuary, which gave him essentially unlimited storage space, but as he found while he was fighting, he was still able to ess it, bypassing the Severed World''s restrictions.

    In reality, his spatial storage was a separate dimension that used the Sanctuary as a base, and in a certain sense, could be considered a middle ground between it and the Real ne. If Damien allowed others to ess this space¡­

    ''Elvira is really the greatest helper a man could wish for. I should give her an appreciation gift or ten when we get out of here.''

    Elvira deposited medicines in the spatial storage, which Damien could then retrieve. This was the simple yet totally broken method Damien found himself capable of abusing.

    And when it came to the Sanctuary''s ability to produce these medicines, there was nothing to be said.

    From the very start, Elvira had been raising Alchemists who could support Theavel, and the amount of elixirs they had in stock was monstrous.

    ''It''s hard to grasp it, since I created that, but it really is a thriving world now. Actually, now that I think about it, have they started popting that second world yet?''

    Damien created it and turned it into a specialized environment for Astoria''s training, but he''d cleaned it up by the time they left. Those special environments were still present, but they had their own ces on the now instead of defining the nature of the itself.

    ''I can''t wait to see how the Sanctuary evolves in the future.''

    That ce was Damien''s proudest and greatest achievement.

    He¨C

    "Hm?"

    His senses were suddenly pricked by the sound of leaves rustling.

    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

    Heavy footsteps approached rapidly. The sound of foliage being broken and pushed aside filled the air.

    ROAR!

    The angered roar of a beast made the trees tremble, and Damien, without another choice, stood up with annoyance painted on his face.

    "Dammit. There goes the mood," he muttered to himself, exiting through the leaf door of the resting area and gazing into the wilds.

    He could see it approaching. It was a huge panther with tight muscles that bulged with every step.

    However, its attention wasn''t on him.

    Rah!

    A barely audible panicked roar entered Damien''s ears, turning his curious eyes downward just in time to see a creature breaking through the tall nts in front of him.

    Before he could make a move, that creature rushed up to him and curled itself around his leg.

    ROAR!

    The panther broke through the grass not even a secondter, screeching to a stop when it noticed Damien.

    Grrrr!

    It warily walked his periphery, growling and hissing as it assessed the threat he posed.

    "Tch, so it was something like this?" Damien frowned.

    This ce was resembling the First Dungeon more and more, wasn''t it?

    This scene reminded him of his meeting with Zara, which, frankly, annoyed him more.

    "Dammit, I''m too weak to kids."

    He opened his mouth and took a deep breath.

    He looked the panther directly in his eyes and red his killing intent, creating an illusory storm of blood.

    And¡­

    [Breath]

    ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAR!

    He let out the roar of a dragon, shooting a beam of terrifying mana light into the air.

    Empowered by the pure dragon bloodline present in Damien''s current body, the roar had far more power than anything he could unleash in the past. The atmosphere was razed and the surrounding trees were cracked as coteral damage.

    The panther immediately jumped back and scurried away, its survival instinct telling it that survival was aplete impossibility!

    Several beasts hidden in the surroundings who had been watching Damien for the past few hours, regarding him as prey, also bolted.

    In a single move, Damien established himself as one of this rainforest''s apex predators, abusing bloodline suppression to establish prestige that''d guarantee he wouldn''t be bothered again.

    Once they were all out of sight, Damien finally turned to the little beast that was still wrapped around his leg.

    It looked up at him, shivering with regret.

    "Pfft¡­! Hahahaha!"

    He couldn''t help butugh. It seemed this little guy thought he was about to get eaten!

    Damien grabbed it by its nape, lifted it up in front of his face, and smiled at it.

    "Rx, brat. I''m not going to eat you," he said as he brought it into his little shelter and set it down on the bed.

    "Here, take it as a peace offering."

    He took a random beast corpse out of storage and tossed it at the creature, who approached it carefully and sniffed it a few times before devouring it without reservation.

    When it came to beast corpses, Damien probably had a few tens of thousands of them frozen in time in his inventory, but that was beside the point.

    It was definitely a curious little thing. It was a white tiger cub, but it was cute enough to be considered a kitten.

    ''There''s no such thing as a cuddly beast in the wild. Plus, if a much stronger entity was chasing it with such fervor¡­''

    Zara was chased by the 40th-floor Wyvern because it wanted to consume her bloodline, and this cub was likely also something special enough to be desired by the beasts in this ecosystem.

    ''I don''t really have the time to raise a kid right now, but it''d be stupid to reject something like this when it happens in a truend of opportunity, right?"

    He looked at the cub with an evil smile.

    "Little buddy, how would you like toe with this uncle?"

    It looked up at him warily.

    Whatever this strange-looking dragon wanted¡­

    ¡­definitely wasn''t a good thing!

 Chapter 1073 Messengers [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1073 Messengers [1]</h4>

    As was the case for most isted realms and spaces, time flowed differently in the Severed World.

    Damien and hispanions entered the sub-universe roughly a day and a half ago, but over two weeks had already passed in the outside world!

    Heaven''s Army was working tirelessly this entire time to remove any traitors they became aware of, and soon enough, the first Infected Source World raid would begin.

    It was a monumental time for the universe as a whole, to be attacking these scourges they could never get rid of before, and anyone who had an interest in the survival of Grand Heavens Boundary paid great attention to theing raid.

    Meanwhile, the man who brought them the ceasefire that allowed them to make such bold moves was¡­

    "Ack! Hey, knock it off!"

    ¡­struggling in other ways.

    Grah!

    A small white tiger cub climbed over his body like it was its personal perch, scratching and biting as it pleased.

    "Damn kid, don''t think I won''t do anything to you!"

    He reached back and tried to grab the cub off his back, but it very conveniently dropped out of his reach and scurried around elsewhere.

    "Haa¡­I knew it was a mistake," Damien sighed.

    "Haha, so this is the little cub you were talking about? It''s so cute!"

    Elena''s voice cut off his mncholy as she picked the cub up and adored it. Rose and Ruyue also joined in somewhat, standing around and curiously looking at it.

    Their group had met up just a bit ago after finishing their day-long hunts, and while they were going over rewards, the only thing Damien had to present was this little guy.

    "I don''t know what his specific race is, but I''m hoping he''ll evolve into a divine white tiger or something," he said, scratching his head.

    "Well you do have luck when ites to beastpanions, but I don''t think we''ll find anyone as special as our Zara, no?"

    "Hmph! Exactly. I can''t believe you''d betray me like this."

    Zara strutted around pompously, ring at Damien in faux jealousy.

    Damien shrugged.

    "When did I betray you? You act like this bratty kid could ever be better than you," he told Zara with a grin, scratching her head teasingly.

    Grr?

    The cub''s attention turned to them, a glimmer of intelligence in its eyes as it looked between Damien and Zara.

    So this wolf was itspetition?

    Hmph!

    It jumped out of Elena''s arms and proudly strutted up to Zara, puffing its chest with an expression that screamed, "I''m better than you!"

    "This brat¡­" Zara growled.

    "Alright, calm down," Damien interrupted before she could do anything.

    "He''ll be traveling with us from now on, so you can always teach him a lessonter. For now, shouldn''t we get moving?"

    They''d been standing around for a few minutes already, and they''d already checked their inventory and gains.

    The girls were truly able to find a great deal of treasures in that single day.

    Rose mainly found supplements that would help with mana replenishment and resources that the Alchemists in Theavel could use to create other elixirs, while Elena and Ruyue found mainly strengthening elixirs and resources, along with a few strange metals they weren''t able to identify.

    Overall, their harvest wasn''t beneficial in the short term, but as all of them had seen the Sanctuary at least once, they were aware of the greater goal they all shared,

    That was to create their own major influence!

    Theavel''s people werepletely loyal to Damien, so nurturing them was an absolute benefit for those he was close to.

    Plus, there woulde a day when the few of them were no longer enough to hold off the threats they faced.

    Regardless, they had their fill of the Perilous Sanctuary in the past day, and more than treasures, what they saw was people dying to their own idiocy.

    It was a great ce to grab resources for one''s influence or even to solidify one''s own foundation, but it wasn''t for everyone.

    And it sure as hell wasn''t enough for Damien''s group!

    They began their trek to the thirdyer soon enough. It was only a few tens of kilometers away, but they had to take the entire distance on foot, which made it a bit more troublesome.

    Because now, they were entering the main ecosystem of Skyrend Mountain.

    Skreeee!

    Skreeee!

    Skreeee!

    The second they got within a few kilometers of the boundary, incessant screeching filled their ears.

    Toucan-like birds sat in the trees and flew through the air, screeching as if they''d die if they''d die if they ever stopped.

    Elena frowned and raised her arm to shut them up, but Damien quickly stopped her.

    "Don''t. Thest thing we want to do is anger the Messenger Birds."

    In reality, Skyrend Mountain was the domain of aerial beasts.

    There were several customs that needed to be followed if one wanted to traverse it safely.

    Mainly, they could only stay at an elevation level they''d earned the right to upy.

    Higher elevation signified higher status to these flying creatures, and a vition of this status quo was absolutely disallowed.

    Anyone who dared would be attacked by every beast at that elevation and forced back down where they belonged, most of the time as a corpse.

    Messenger Birds were different from the rest, though.

    They were considered envoys of the Cloud Emperor who sat at the peak of Skyrend Mountain, and regardless of how high they flew, none dared to mess with them.

    They''d screech all day and all night as if to provoke any and everyone they came across, but the second one retaliated, the entire swarm of Messenger Birds would turn into demons that relentlessly pursued them until they were tortured to death.

    The worst part was that they were as weak as paper! A single flick from amon practitioner was enough to drop one out of the sky!

    Damien gave the girls earplugs and put his own in as they crossed the boundary into the thirdyer.

    ''The first move is to find a rtively powerful beast around here and kill it silently so I can search its memories,'' Damien thought to himself.

    Void Breathing was blocked and he couldn''t do anything about that, but Devour''s expanded capability was still in effect, one of the only things he kept from his original portfolio.

    He spread his awareness into the nearby surroundings and carefully scanned for a target before finding a sleeping jaguar hidden within the nearby foliage.

    ''I almost couldn''t sense it.'' Damien thought with a grin.

    ''Perfect.''

    His body shed away, instantly appearing above the jaguar''s head. He grabbed Mirage and plunged it into the beast''s neck, setting up a Vector Wall to block the smell of blood from spreading.

    ''Nice kill.''

    He ced his hand on the now-dead beast and said that special word that made the world go round.

    "Devour."

    There was only one reason for this move: information!

    Aside from the Messenger Birds, who were a known threat, and the ss system, barely any information about the thirdyer was present.

    Damien wasn''t trying to find out why through experience:

    As the tendrils of ckness left his body and swallowed the beast below him, a frown formed on his face:

    ''Yeah, that''s going to be a problem.''

 Chapter 1074 Messengers [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1074 Messengers [2]</h4>

    Damien looked up at the sky, his frown deepening.

    "Yeah, we need to go now."

    The sun was setting across the horizon. They maybe had another 20 minutes of sunlight at most.

    Which meant¡­

    ''There''s no point thinking about it if we''ll be forced to experience it so soon.''

    Damien didn''t waste time.

    He immediately started sprinting, the girls following behind him without question.

    He scanned the area for any sign of proper shelter, but there was nothing of the sort.

    The environment was ruled by aerial beasts, who made sure to keep the ground clear of too much clutter so they could pick their prey without too much hassle.

    It was totally disadvantageous for those who couldn''t fly, and Damien and the rest who had no status to go higher could only suffer the same fate!

    ''Is there no other way?'' Damien wondered.

    There was still one solution, but it was a risky one.

    "What do you think we should do?" He said, sending a sound transmission to the girls to fill them in.

    "Let''s take the risk," Ruyue responded.

    "From what you''ve said, it is far worse for us to find no shelter than to take shelter there."

    Damien nced at the other two before nodding.

    "Haa, fine. I guess a peaceful night is wishful thinking."

    He pushed his foot into the ground and pivoted to the right, continuing his dash powerfully.

    His target was a grove of strange trees. Their leaves were like banana trees in the way they were long and floppy, but unlike thosemon trees, these were like bubbles of isted space.

    The leaves extended bulbously all the way to the ground, forming a spherical shield around the tree trunk.

    And it wasn''t an exaggeration to describe it as such. Because each of these leaves was metallic and far stronger than anything Damien could cut through with his current strength!

    They were called Aegis Trees, named after their barrier-like properties.

    It had already taken a decent amount of time to reach this grove, and the sky had darkened to an extent.

    Clouds took formation in the sky rapidly as if they''d been waiting for the sun''s retreat.

    Slowly but surely, drops of rain fell into the rainforest.

    "Quick!"

    Damien and the girls picked up the pace and reached the tree grove within a minute, pushing aside one of the heavy canopies of the Aegis Trees and entering the bubble within.

    "Phew¡­"

    Damien put the lead back in its ce and retreated to the tree trunk.

    And¡­

    Pssshhhhhh!

    The sound of rain hitting the metallic leaves filled the air.

    Skreee!

    Skreee!

    SKREEEEEEE!

    The screeching Messenger Birds turned maniacal.

    Their voices cut through the rain as if it didn''t exist. Damien and the rest were shielded from them, unable to see as their eyes burned red and their gazes focused on every Aegis Tree in the surroundings.

    BANG!

    Something thudded against Damien''s tree''s defense.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    It was the beginning of an onught.

    Without a care for their lives, the Messenger Birds threw themselves into the metal leaves of the Aegis Trees, putting dents in their surfaces that were emancipated by theirpanions.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    SKREEEEEEEEE!

    It was terrifying to hear with no context.

    "Aegis Trees produce Honeydew Nectar, which acts like a drug for Messenger Birds. Whenever night falls, they''ll attack relentlessly until they can get that dew," Damien exined.

    "Why only at night?" Rose questioned, warily watching the leaf walls.

    "Because in the night, the Frenzy Raines. For normal beasts, it just makes them more aggressive and whatnot, but for Messenger Birds¡­"

    BOOOOOM!

    "¡­it''s the most high-performance steroid imaginable."

    Damien finished his words with a wry smile.

    The boom that interrupted him came from another Aegis Tree that had been broken into.

    The second its defense was pierced, the tree was absolutely ravaged.

    The trunk was torn to pieces by thousands of Messenger Birds, who only became more crazed after getting a taste of the beautiful golden-brown Honeydew Nectar.

    ''It won''t be long until theye for this one. They''ll definitely attack us when they see us, which means we''ll have no choice but to run. Yet, running is probably even more dangerous¡­''

    Messenger Birds were demons in the night. Honeydew Nectar was their primary goal, but what if those who couldn''t find any?

    The inhabitants of the thirdyer would face ughter from every Messenger Bird alive, a number that could only be described as disgusting.

    BANG!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    BANG!

    The thudding of Messenger Birds against every tree in the grove made a harmony almost like music to the ears, and Damien''s tree wasn''t free from the attack.

    He could clearly see the walls denting in every direction, without even a safe ce to exit from.

    ''If there''s no safe space, we''ll just have to make one.''

    The problem with the memories of a denizen is that they followed thews of the jungle without question.

    Damien could only infer what would happen in many situations.

    Like this one.

    If it came down to it, he could only hope that the Honeydew Nectar was enough to distract the Messenger Birds away from them!

    "Come on, let''s get ready to leave," he said solemnly.

    It had only been around 30 minutes.

    They had a whole nighttime to survive.

    BANG!

    It was far louder than before.

    BANG! BANG!

    Damien''s eyes narrowed as he readied himself to sprint, signaling the girls to prepare as well.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The canopy split apart.

    And a massive shadow filled every part of its interior.

    "GO!" Damien roared.

    He pushed his foot into the ground and dashed through the army of birds.

    ''We''re good¡­we''re good¡­we''re good¡­we''re not good!''

    They only made it a few feet out of shelter before they were attacked by ten Messenger Birds that broke away from the pack.

    "Try to avoid if you can! Worst case scenario, just kill! We can''t be worrying about the consequences right now!"

    The greatest upgrade Messenger Birds got in the nighttime was the sharpness of their beaks. Beaks that could pierce through metal several times harder and denser than iron could absolutely tear them to shreds with no problem!

    Damien ducked and shed around, abusing teleportation to get away from the crowd.

    Meanwhile, Rose used illusions to do the same, protecting herself and her sisters.

    They rushed forward, evading the birds to the best of their capabilities, but it wasn''t enough.

    "Dammit!"

    Damien shed back and held Rose''s hand as she grabbed Elena and Ruyue.

    Wap!

    The four of them teleported several tens of meters forward with Zara in Damien''s shadow already, but it still wasn''t enough!

    Anywhere they could go, there were Messenger Birds. It was like they were back in Ghost King''s Valley again!

    ''This time, our mobility isn''t limited and we have more options than just zing through mindlessly. Hopefully, we can evade the worst-case scenario.''

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    There was no other choice.

    If they wanted to make a quick escape, they needed to take risks!

    Shing!

    Mirage shed an arc through the air, dicing the attacking birds into pieces of mincemeat.

    "Don''t look back!"

    With that warning in mind, the group pushed mana into their legs and propelled themselves forward at insane speeds.

    And behind them¡­

    SKREEEEEEEEEEE!

    The angered roars of the Messenger Birds spread as they found the corpses of theirrades.

    ''We''ll be a target as soon as we''re spotted.''

    "Rose, use illusions to their maximum capability! Elena, try to use light refraction to support her! We need to conceal ourselves without hindering our movement!"

    The girls followed hismand, providing them with temporary safety, but how long with itst?

    If one thing was certain it was this:

    After experiencing the Severed World, Damien and his women had developed an extreme distaste for pack animals!

 Chapter 1075 Messengers [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1075 Messengers [3]</h4>

    Running, running, running.

    The amount of physical exhaustion built up with this level of exertion was taxing even for Damien, let alone the girls who didn''t have his physical capabilities.

    They had no choice but to run, though, because the number of Messenger Birds chasing them only increased with every passing minute!

    "Zara!"

    Damien''s shadow expanded and Zara jumped out into the world, rapidly expanding in size until she was half as tall as most of the surrounding trees.

    "Hop on her back and follow! I''m going to start teleporting!"

    Damien didn''t have the convenience of teleporting multiple people anymore. At most, he could only take one along with him.

    It was easier for the girls to use Zara as a transportation method since her shadow teleportation didn''t have the same limits.

    And since they didn''t have to exert themselves running, they could focus on driving away the surrounding swarm!

    SKREEEEE!

    SKREEEEE!

    SKREEEEEEE!

    Relentless wasn''t a strong enough word to describe the suicidal determination Messenger Birds held to get vengeance for their fallen.

    Damien underestimated them severely. He knew they''d chase, but he didn''t think they''d all do it.

    sh!

    His body jumped forward several hundred meters, followed by Zara and the girls who hopped between the shadows cast by the ambient moonlight.

    ''The same heavy defense we used to hide from the Ghost King should work in this situation too, but it takes time to set up. If we want to survive through the night, we need to shake them off.''

    Damien wasn''t running away without a n. Unlike Ghost King''s Valley, he now hadplete use of his awareness and avable abilities, as well as arge amount of space he could traverse without worry.

    Even now, he was moving with a destination in mind.

    His body barely existed in the Real ne anymore, shing in and out of the spatialyers so fast the Messenger Birds almost lost sight of him.

    But of course, that wasn''t possible.

    A swarm of tens of thousands circled them in the air like vultures, and groups of a few hundred would swoop down at a time aiming to impale the group with their sharp beaks.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena were doing most of the fighting at this time. They used their abilities in tandem to make sure those that dove couldn''t reach them, and even more so to keep those circling above from attacking all at once.

    Minutes passed like this, with Zara using her connection with Damien to follow his untraceable steps, and finally, they arrived where they needed to be.

    "Inside!"

    Damien pushed aside a massive metallic Aegis Tree leaf and dove inside, mming it shut the second Zara and the girls entered after him.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The birds chasing them mmed into the heavy leaf and exploded into blood mist. Meanwhile, the rest screeched even louder and mmed into the leaves in waves, intent on breaking through the defense.

    "We only have a few minutes before they break through, but the n was never to stay here. We''re going to use Honeydew Nectar to split the group and get rid of them," Damien hurriedly exined.

    "How?" Rose asked. "We can''t cut through the trees; it''s impossible for us to get the nectar."

    "Yeah, that can''t be changed, but we don''t need to cut through. At the moment, the birds have all their attention focused on us, so they aren''t attacking the trees wantonly¡­"

    "I see. Once they break through and destroy the trunk trying to chase us, a portion of the group will break off to consume the Honeydew Nectar since they can''t withstand its temptation," Ruyue continued.

    "Right. We''ll have to move from tree to tree and use this strategy until only an amount we can deal with is left. Once we''ve killed them, we need to find a cave to take shelter and set up a concealment formation tost us through the night."

    "What about the morning? Didn''t you say they''ll never stop chasing us?" Elena asked.

    "Ah, that¡­" Damien grinned. "I have another n for that."

    He didn''t want to say too much before he confirmed it for himself, but he was sure he could deal with the problem of the Messenger Birds, at least temporarily, when the sun rose.

    "Then, there''s nothing left to say. Everyone ready?" He asked.

    "No, but death doesn''t sound fun, so let''s go anyway," Rose responded with a smile.

    He nodded and looked away. The girls prepared their mana and Zara dug her heels into the ground, ready to pounce at any moment.

    And not even a minuteter, the Aegis Tree lost its protection.

    BANG!!!

    The Messenger Birds swarmed in, a situation not too dissimr from the one thatnded them in this predicament in the first ce.

    However, this time, the birds didn''t pay any attention to the Aegis Tree.

    They charged at Damien and the girls who stood before its trunk without diverting their attention.

    "Wait¡­wait¡­" Damien held his breath as the swarm approached.

    Time seemed to slow. Slowly, slowly, hundreds of birds pushed their way through the hole in the Aegis Tree leaf, and when they were just barely a foot away¡­

    "Now!"

    Damien''s body disappeared. Zara and the girls melted into the shadows and zipped out of the Aegis Tree''s protection, rushing into the next nearest tree in the grove.

    Unable to react in time, the forefront of the Messenger Bird wave mmed into the Aegis Tree''s trunk, shattering it into a thousand pieces!

    A viscous waterfall of golden-brown sap coated the splintered wood, emitting an intoxicating scent that couldn''t be ignored.

    The hundreds of Messenger Birds that entered the tree fought for the exposed sap, ignoring their original purpose entirely and turning on their fellows to gain a taste of the delicious nectar!

    The rest, on the other hand, followed the scent of Damien and the girls to the next tree, continuing their endless onught!

    BANG!

    Another Aegis Tree exploded, and another several hundred birds separated from the crowd.

    Damien and the girls continued their routine, leading the birds who were clearlycking in intelligence through a maze of Aegis Trees and ruining their impervious formation.

    BANG!

    BANG!

    BANG!

    BANG!

    A new explosion rang out every few minutes.

    One would think those who separated from the crowd at the beginning would have rejoined by now, but that notion was incorrect.

    After all, Honeydew Nectar wasn''t said to be a drug to them for no reason. The "high" they got wouldn''t wear off for several minutes, and this was exactly what Damien was banking on with this n!

    Luckily for him, Aegus Trees were almost as numerous as Messenger Birds in the thirdyer, which gave him endless capital to wear down the crowd until it was small enough to suit his needs!

    It was brutal.

    Finding the timing to escape was crucial to make sure the Messenger Birds would properly destroy the Aegis Trees and act as he wanted them to, but it was an extremely mentally taxing task.

    The closer they got before he teleported, the more of them could be trapped inside each tree.

    But that also meant he had to nearly kill himself every single time.

    Ah, the struggles one went through for survival!

 Chapter 1076 Messengers [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1076 Messengers [4]</h4>

    Damien didn''t have the mind to count the time, but considering the moon''s trek over the horizon, it had been over an hour since they started dispersing the crowd.

    The original number was in the tens of thousands, but now, they''d been cut down to only a thousand or so birds chasing Damien and the girls through the rainforest.

    They''d already left the Aegis Tree grove behind, along with the many birds who were stuck there,

    The best part of Damien''s n wasn''t splitting the crowd, it was turning them against each other!

    It was inevitable for the Messenger Birds who got separated at the beginning to recover before the chase ended, but Damien kept cutting down Aegis Trees and producing more nectar!

    When those who finished their meal returned to the chase, they were subjected to several shattered trees covered in nectar that was being fought over by theirrades.

    But when it came to Honeydew Nectar, there was no such thing as camaraderie.

    Like a domino effect, the birds piled on top of each other and killed each other for food, getting too involved in their own conflict to care about Damien and his group!

    Damien turned back and nced at the birds that were still following.

    ''With this amount, we should be able to win after a few minutes of battle, but without a guarantee that the ones we left behind will stay behind, that''s too long.''

    The solution was simple.

    "Rose, work with me on this!"

    Damien called Rose off Zara''s back and wrapped his arm around her waist, teleporting away as Ruyue and Elena apanied Zara in fending off the crowd.

    "We''re setting up a minefield!"

    "Got it!"

    Rose didn''t need more instruction to understand her role.

    Every time Damien rematerialized, he tapped his foot into the ground and set a dyed reaction mine formed from spatial mana, Vector Control, and just the tiniest bit of lightning to act as a fuse.

    Once he was done, Rose followed up and drenched the area in the scent of their group and hid the mana fluctuations from the bomb, even adding the smell of Honeydew Nectar into the mix with illusions to attract the enemy.

    They repeated the process ten times, creating a true minefield that spanned several hundred meters before shing forward and leaving the area.

    "Zara!"

    Damien''s call echoed through their spiritual connection and rang in her ears.

    Her eyes immediately turned solemn.

    Bang!

    She mmed her paws into the ground and pivoted on her ankles, lurching as she abruptly shifted direction.

    "Woah!" Elena eximed, hurriedly clutching her fur to avoid falling off.

    Meanwhile, Ruyue jumped in the air and put her hands together in a strange formation.

    ''Marking of Death.''

    The spell she used essentially did the same thing as Rose''s illusion in this situation.

    It amplified the smell of deathing from her body, driving the Messenger Birds mad with provocation and rage!

    Ruyue flipped back andnded on Zara''s back just in time to catch her eleration.

    The birds lost all sense of reason in their tiny brains and rampantly pushed forward in chase.

    Zara danced through the environment gracefully, shifting from side to side and impossibly twisting her path, naturally throwing off the birds and¡ª

    BOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion went off behind her, swallowing a good portion of the pursuers.

    Her steps led her through the minefield without stepping on a single trap, but the Messenger Birds weren''t so lucky.

    Because even though they didn''t touch the ground themselves, time was up!

    The tiny strand of lightning mana Damien incorporated in the traps snapped, starting a chain of chaotic interactions that led to an even greater explosion of mana!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    With Damien''s space mana as a basis for these explosions, every single one twisted the atmosphere and ripped the birds who got caught in them to shreds.

    But¡­

    They were remote-activated and heavily disguised.

    These kills didn''t carry Damien or his group''s traces at all!

    "Run! This is our chance!"

    Damien instantly roared, his voice booming over the explosions.

    He dashed forward, angling his body slightly to the right and moving almost 5 kilometers to the east until he found a cave hidden by foliage and naturally disguised in the forest.

    He and the girls rushed in, instantly covering its entrance with concealment formations.

    And without hesitation, theybined their power once more to create a greater concealment formation that could even hide them from boss-level creatures like the Ghost King.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    Heavy breathing was the only sound filling the air. All of them needed to catch their breaths, and more importantly¡­

    Thud!

    Thud!

    Thud!

    Thud!

    Their bodies copsed to the ground.

    They could barely hold themselves up on their jelly-like legs anymore.

    But for now, they were out of trouble.

    For now, at least.

    Damien shuffled through his spatial storage until he found arge mountain of strange glimmering stones, of which he withdrew a chunk and threw on the floor.

    "Spirit stones?" Ruyue immediately remarked in surprise.

    "Right, I stole a bunch of them back in the Cloud ne, but I never found somewhere to use them. Since we have to conserve mana, we might as well use them now to power the formation," Damien replied with a shrug.

    "Fair enough," Ruyue nodded, "but they won''tst very long."

    "Haha, they might not have before, but did you forget? We''re only using 2nd ss power right now."

    "Ah!"

    Ruyue nodded in understanding and stopped asking. Since it was taken care of, she could recover without worries.

    "Oh, right," Damien suddenly said.

    "You should be able to ess my spatial storage through the engagement rings I gave you. If you ever need anything, just check in there. It''s stuff that''s been piling up for over a decade at this point."

    The engagement rings he gave them weren''tmon rings.

    In fact, they were rings he crafted himself with a very special functionality.

    They let the individuals they were soul-bound to enter the Sanctuary without Damien as a medium.

    It was a method that could be used for self-protection, but also one that allowed him and the girls to meet at any time, regardless of the distance that separated them.

    Damien just remembered that essing his subspace was also a byproduct of this connection.

    It would definitely be useful for them in the future to use his resources, especially since he''d hoarded so much in recent years.

    ''Even on Holy Light Star, Elena came up with that whole n to plunder all the treasures and extort the geniuses by auctioning them off at the end, but the Nox didn''t let that happen, so all those treasures are just collecting dust in my inventory.''

    Damien shrugged it off and focused on recovery as well, conversing with the girls and watching the outside situation to make sure the Messenger Birds didn''t find their traces.

    Hours passed.

    There were several close calls, and the incessant screeching that got more furious with the passing of time got closer and closer, but in the end, Damien and the girls were able to see light entering through the gaps in the cave''s entrance, indicating theing of dawn.

    And theing of dawn meant¡ª

    OOOOOOOOOOOH!

    ''As I thought.'' Damien grinned.

    ''It''s here.''

 Chapter 1077 Overseer [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1077 Overseer [1]</h4>

    OOOOOOOOH!

    The rainforest shook at the massive bellow.

    The sun was just rising over the horizon. Only half of its form could be seen.

    But as that being appeared in the sky, the sun became nothing more than a speck of dust.

    WHOOOOOSH!

    The winds whipped through the air,shing all things in its path. A gigantic shadow nketed the thirdyer, the form of a beast far greater than any mere Messenger Bird.

    Its feathers were deep ck, almost blending in with the shadow it cast, and ruffled in the wind majestically. Its eyes glowed with red light, making it look especially feral, but it didn''t attack mindlessly.

    This creature appeared like a mix between a raven and a vulture. Every p of its wings was powerful enough to shatter the environment to pieces, and the bellow it released to let its presence be known immediately floored all beings under its gait.

    VOOOM!

    A powerful wave of suppression spread through the thirdyer.

    The beasts in the skies and on the ground dropped and kneeled before the massive creature, but the Messenger Birds¡­

    SKREEEE!!!!

    They screeched angrily, swirling up like an inverted tornado to attack the creature''s underbelly.

    OOOOOOOOOH!

    It let out another bellow, spreading its mana downward and easily dispersing the Messenger Birds.

    Its bellow also brought light into their eyes, ridding them of the frenzy caused by the rain.

    The atmosphere was misty with the aftereffects of the rain, but it had stopped as soon as the sun showed its head.

    And with the actions of that creature, the Messenger Birds calmed down, returning to their usual routine of screeching and harassing their peers.

    "The Overseer¡­"

    Damien''s mutter filled the cave that was currently enveloped in an atmosphere of wonder.

    The Overseer was the most important creature Damien saw in the jaguar''s memories.

    It was the ruler of the thirdyer, the most powerful beast existing here.

    It didn''t act often. It spent most of its time perched in the tallest tree of theyer and, as its name suggested, overseeing the happenings of its territory.

    It was indifferent to most things, but it did have one job it wouldplete without fail every morning.

    It would appear and suppress the Messenger Birds that wreaked havoc in the night, bringing peace to the day.

    Damien was ecstatic about its arrival.

    Because of its influence, the Messenger Birds wouldn''t be able to pursue their group during the day!

    ''It''s like the purge happens every night in this ce. We have peace for now, but once night falls again, we''ll be forced into the same chase.''

    They made it through the first trial, but if they couldn''t figure out a way to lose the Messenger Birds'' attention, they definitely wouldn''t survive long enough to find the Primal Sovereign.

    ''Now that I''ve seen it with my own eyes, I can''t doubt that they''ll continue pursuing us to the ends of the world if necessary. There doesn''t seem to be any method to quell their anger, but¡­''

    As they were considered envoys of the Cloud Emperor, Messenger Birds had no natural predators.

    Including the central area, or Skyrend Mountain''s truest ecosystem, the number of Messenger Birds present had to be in the millions, which meant any method that involved directly killing or suppressing them would be useless as well.

    ''The only one who holds some power over them is the Overseer. It would be best if we could bribe it, but it''s infamous for its indifference in the face of all things¡­''

    Damien frowned at the thought. There had to be something he was missing.

    There was no such thing as an inescapable situation for him!

    "Ah, that''s right!"

    Damien suddenly eximed out loud, dropping his fist on his palm.

    "It''s time for ''that'' to happen soon, isn''t it?"

    There was one more interesting fact Damien learned from the jaguar.

    This was something that every being living in Skyrend Mountain''s ecosystem knew about, but never reached the ears of an outsider before.

    "The Ascension Ceremony."

    ss was an incredibly important thing to the aerial beasts of Skyrend Mountain.

    If one couldn''t fly at a high altitude, they''d be treated like and seen as nothing more than a weak peasant who could be bullied.

    But beasts were constantly evolving. Setting a ss system that couldn''t be changed was idiotic at the very least.

    The other option was endless ughter to determine status, something the Cloud Emperor disdained.

    Therefore, he created the Ascension Ceremony.

    Every year, the aerial beasts of the mountain held this ritual to determine their positions.

    They gathered together in the fourthyer during a time of absolute nonaggression and took part in a ceremony where they flew up the side of Skyrend Mountain and faced its growing pressure, racing andpeting with each other to get as high as possible.

    However far they could reach was the highest elevation they could upy for the year and their status in the hierarchy.

    It was a simple mechanism, but it was of absolute importance to the denizens of this realm.

    And this very ceremony¡­

    ¡­was going to take ce in less than a week''s time!

    ''The Overseer might be the most powerful in the thirdyer, but it probably stays here because it is just a part of the crowd in the central area. Taking the nature of beasts in this environment into ount, I shouldn''t be wrong in assuming that it is desperate to climb the social hierarchy.''

    Every being had ambitions.

    If Damien could abuse this fact, couldn''t he solve his own problem as well?

    "Alright, that''s how we''re doing it," he decided.

    He turned to the girls and began exining his n.

    "So basically," Rose said after hearing him out, "we have to bribe the Overseer with something that''ll help it in that Ascension Ceremony in return for it suppressing the Messenger Birds for us?"

    "Yeah, that''s the best solution we have right now. Although it''s only temporary respite, it should be able to keep us safe until the day of nonaggression, and that''s when we can deal with the problem once and for all," Damien said with a nod.

    "Can we deal with it? Didn''t you say there were millions of them?" Elena asked.

    "We can," Damien replied definitively.

    "Even Messenger Birds have to abide by thews of this ce, as we saw when they were suppressed earlier. As long as we can reach a higher elevation than them in the ceremony, we''ll be safe from their harassment."

    "Are we able to participate?"

    Damien smiled at Ruyue''s question.

    "Of course!" He said with a smile.

    "Any flying beast has the right to participate in the ceremony. We can''t fly, but don''t we have the most talented flying beast alive with us right now?"

    All eyes turned to Zara, who was quietly resting in the corner.

    She raised her head, her wings pping in curiosity.

    Damien and the girls grinned.

    "Right, we do indeed."

    The peak of Skyrend Mountain was likely where the 2nd Primal Sovereign stayed, so participating in the ceremony was a must for them regardless.

    There was no better use for the phrase, "killing two birds with one stone," than this!

 Chapter 1078 Overseer [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1078 Overseer [2]</h4>

    A n had been formed, now they needed to act on it.

    "Rose, Elena, you take Zara and head back to the Perilous Sanctuary to find raw materials. If you find anything good, leave it in the spatial storage and I''ll have Elvira''s people make some good stuff with it. Ruyue and I will search the thirdyer to find any treasures that could help as well," Damien said, dividing their team to best aplish their mission.

    Rose, Elena, and Zara had speed and concealment that surpassed Damien and Ruyue, so sending them back would achieve better results.

    Meanwhile, he and Ruyue could make themselves useful elsewhere.

    "Understood. We''ll meet back here?" Rose said, epting her role.

    "That''s the best-case scenario, but if it ends up too taxing, don''t risk it. We can always contact each other through the Sanctuary, so we can set up a better rendezvous point if necessary."

    "Got it," Rose nodded. "We''ll set our right away."

    "Ah, wait," Damien stopped her and said.

    "The Messenger Birds never enter the Perilous Sanctuary. I don''t know why, but it''s safe there. Spend a few days looking if you can''t find anything today. Don''t rush back if you don''t have to."

    Rose nodded, taking Elena and Zara with her as she left the cave''s shelter.

    There was no time for idle talk right now, only action!

    Once they were gone, Ruyue turned to Damien questioningly.

    "They will be fine in the Perilous Sanctuary, but how are we supposed to survive if they don''te back tonight?" She asked.

    It was a real concern. The Messenger Birds weren''t kind enough to give them the respite they desired so easily.

    If half of their group was missing, the other half would taste the beasts'' rage at an exponentially greater level!

    However, Damien shook his head, telling her not to worry.

    "I have a n. If it works, we''ll be fine, but if it doesn''t¡­"

    "If it doesn''t?"

    "We''ll just have to run some more, no?"

    "Pfft¡­!"

    Ruyue let out a slight giggle.

    What kind of n was that?

    It could barely be considered a n in the first ce, but if it worked, it worked, right?

    Dawn was still in the process of arriving, which left them around 15 hours until night fell again.

    Ruyue shrugged, epting that this was how traveling with Damien always went.

    It was fun and they always managed to survive until now, so it was fine, right?

    "So what''re we doing?" She finally asked.

    "Well, if we follow the patterns of these kinds of ces, the overworld is only half the fun," Damien responded mysteriously.

    Ruyue''s face paled.

    "Don''t tell me¡­"

    "Yup! We''re going underground!"

    "Tch!"

    There was never a time when Ruyue had good memories underground. Every time they ended up down there, something bad happened.

    It was basically fate at this point!

    "Do we have to?"

    "We do."

    "Really?"

    "Really."

    "Really really?"

    "Yeah,e on, it won''t be that bad, I swear. I mean, the alternative is scouting the overworld, which I don''t think will be very fun¡­"

    The Messenger Birds might''ve been docile during the day, but their grudge was still as great as ever.

    There was no way they''d let Damien and Ruyue have an easy time doing what they needed to.

    Ruyue sighed in defeat.

    "There''s no other choice."

    "That''s what I was telling you from the beginning."

    "It''s still hard to ept."

    "Rx. Either way we''re in trouble, so we might as well follow the path that''ll give us something for our efforts, right?"

    "No, you don''t have to exin it. I''ve already epted it mentally; I''m justining because I really don''t want to do it."

    Damien smiled.

    A talkative Ruyue was really his favorite thing in the world.

    "Since you got theints out of your system, let''s get going."

    No matter how much he wanted the conversation to continue, they had work to do.

    And what better ce was there to start from than this very cave?

    Damien sent his senses into the ground, grabbing hold of several vectors and bending them to his will.

    "Be careful. We''re about to drop."

    Right after his warning, the ground caved in.

    Damien had agitated the foundation of a circr area of rock below them, finding the nearest underground pocket and copsing anything that separated them from it.

    Luckily, the target location wasn''t too far away, so he was able to do it with his limited abilities.

    Rumble!

    The earth rumbled.

    Damien wrapped his arm around Ruyue''s waist while she held onto his neck.

    Soon enough, the duo was falling along with the imploded debris.

    They descended almost half a kilometer before solid ground came into sight again.

    Damien let loose his mana, covering himself and Ruyue in a small whirlwind of spatial mana that slowed their fall until¡­

    Tap!

    Theynded in the underground space gracefully and spread their awareness to look around.

    "This is¡­a mine?" Ruyue muttered.

    "No, it looks like one, but this formation is natural," Damien responded, feeling the cave walls.

    The cave was small, but it was connected to tunnels in two directions, like a mine in Ruyue''s words.

    But no mine would be so clean.

    This was more like¡­

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    "Stick close to the walls. When you hear rumbling, immediately attack in that direction without hesitation," he said solemnly.

    Ruyue nodded, and the duo made their way to the cave wall, following it closely as they entered one of the connecting tunnels and walked its length.

    It was dark and musty, an underground tunnel that didn''t seem to have any beginning or end.

    But it definitely had both.

    Because this tunnel was created by¡ª

    Rumble!

    Damien and Ruyue both looked behind them at the same time, pushing their arms out and charging their mana.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Ruyue attacked first, sending a rain of icy projectiles down the tunnel towards the rumbling.

    As it got closer, Damien also attacked, using Vector Control to form beams of sma that followed the trajectory of Ruyue''s attack to hit the approaching being.

    Shhhhhh!

    The sizzling of holes being pierced in a thick carapace resounded.

    Ruyue frowned when she heard it and flicked her wrist again, lining her ice swords with death mana and sending another barrage at the unknown being.

    Shik! Shik! Shik! Shik!

    Her attacks also made impact this time, digging into that being''s body.

    They still couldn''t see it yet.

    They could only hear the strange sounds it made, like the transformation of a car into a robot, and the rumbling of the earth as it moved.

    But¡­

    "It''s surprisingly weak?" Damien muttered.

    Its pace had already slowed severely, and by the time Damien finished his thought, it stopped moving entirely.

    ''Did overestimate the threat?"

    It was a jinx greater than any other.

    Grrrr¡­

    A menacing growl resounded through the tunnel.

    "Something" began to approach.

    "Fight or run?" Ruyue asked.

    Damien''s brow furrowed.

    Running was probably the right option but¡ª

    "I''m tired of running. Let''s fight!"

    "I knew you would say that."

    The two smiled at each other and left the safety of the cave wall, standing tall as the unknown enemy approached.

    The first thing they saw when it came out of the shadows?

    A massive circr mouth lined with thousands of teeth¡­

    ¡­and a strange gem deep in its throat that radiated beautiful emerald-green light.

 Chapter 1079 Overseer [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1079 Overseer [3]</h4>

    The creature''s body took up the entire tunnel space, leaving nowhere for Damien and Ruyue to go but backward as its massive mouth approached them.

    ''Wherever there''s an underground, there will be worms.'' Damien thought to himself as he cautiously retreated.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    KIIIIIIIK!

    Ruyue formed a swarm of projectiles and shot them into the creature''s mouth, making it reel in pain. Green blood spurted over the cave floor. The worm shook and stopped its movements for a second, giving Damien the perfect opportunity to strike.

    Bang!

    One shot from Hel''s barrel was all it took. A bubble of spatial mana exploded on the worm''s body and blew its mouth to pieces.

    It dropped limp, all signs of life leaving its body.

    "Hm? Was it really that easy?"

    He originally thought they''d failed to kill the beast in their first attack, but was he wrong?

    Hong!

    A strange sound rang out at that moment.

    An emerald-green light filled the air and formed a bulbous protrusion around the worm''s bloodied corpse.

    And miraculously, itsst string of lifeforce suddenly boomed with vitality. Within a second, it had healed back to peak condition.

    KIIIIIIIIIIIK!

    The worm once again let out an angered screech and charged forward again to consume its prey.

    From its reaction, it was clear that this situation was considered normal.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. He retrieved Freya and fired a barrage of mana bullets into its body again, watching with furrowed brows as the process repeated itself.

    ''Immortal body? No, it''s¡­''

    "Ah! Fallen Heart Jade!"

    Ruyue''s voice suddenly rang out.

    "Fallen Heart Jade¡­?" Damien repeated.

    "Yes," Ruyue responded, her eyes glimmering in understanding.

    "That gem in its mouth is a Fallen Heart Jade. It is the reason the beast can continue regenerating."

    She killed the worm again as she continued,

    "I read about it in an ancient text long ago. The Fallen Heart Jade is a natural material with extreme regenerative abilities, but the conditions for its formation are extremely rare. The piece in that worm''s mouth isn''t too big, but it''s more than enough to support a weak monster like that."

    Damien''s eyes widened slightly.

    "Something like that exists? Then¡­"

    He rushed forward as the worm finished regenerating and fearlessly shoved his arm into its mouth.

    KIIIIK!

    The worm roared in anger and rapidly shut its mouth around Damien''s arm, It closed like the petals of a flower, giving him no choice but to withdraw from its most important treasure, but unfortunately, it wasn''t nearly strong enough!

    "Stop that."

    Damien''s words were apanied by a surge of mana, through which he forcefully solidified the space around his arm and made it impossible for the worm to continue moving.

    He wrapped his hand around the green bead attached to the creature''s throat and ripped it out with all his strength, pushing backward and shooting it in the head several more times.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Another river of blood flew through the air, and the worm dropped dead for the fourth time.

    But this time, it wasn''ting back to life.

    Damien observed the bead in his hand with All-Seeing Eyes, his interest growing with every second.

    ''I didn''t expect something like this to exist. It uses mana simr to the [Heal] trait to manifest effects that mirror Transcendent Regeneration. Unfortunately, the lifespan of this piece is mostly used up¡­''

    Naturally, such a small piece apanied by a weak beast that died far too easily wouldn''t be able tost long.

    However¡­

    "It was fused to this worm''s body. That isn''t something that''ll happen naturally unless the treasure has sentience."

    Damien nced at the worm''s corpse and withdrew Mirage.

    ''Void Sword Art First Form: deless''

    A gash spread through space, slicing the worm in two vertically.

    There wasn''t much space to move around in the tunnel, so Damien had no choice but to walk through the worm''s goo to find what he was looking for.

    And find it he did.

    A grin spread across his face as he cut open a glowing sack in the corpse, revealing five more pieces of Fallen Heart Jade.

    Though they were dulled, they presented an interesting prospect.

    He turned to Ruyue.

    "If the rest of the species share this trait, we might have found what we were looking for," she said, voicing his thoughts.

    Fallen Heart Jade would be incredibly useful to possess during the Ascension Ceremony.

    It was called a ceremony, but it was, in reality, a miniature war where all conflicts boiled over and bared their fangs.

    Every beast was willing to use any means necessary to climb higher, and if they couldn''t keep going, they would make sure others couldn''t get above them!

    Fallen Heart Jade was a piece of the puzzle. On its own, it wouldn''t be enough to bribe the Overseer, but it gave Damien an idea of what to do.

    Plus, with these kinds of effects, couldn''t he restore his own regeneration to a certain extent?

    Damien quickly cleaned the worm fluids off his body with mana, but left a hint of its scent in his aura.

    With their target determined, it was time to start the hunt!

    The duo rushed through the tunnel, soon finding that it didn''t intersect with other paths to form a system.

    They jointly spread their awareness and searched for a path anywhere nearby, and to their surprise, there wasn''t just one, but many!

    These worms were clearly independent creatures. They were able to sense each other''s presence and actively moved to avoid each other.

    This was great news. It meant they would be free from the risk of a swarm as they hunted.

    Creating a path from tunnel to tunnel was easier than expected. Ruyue was able topromise the structural integrity of the rock far easier than Damien could, and Damien was able to rapidly destroy thepromised area to give way for them.

    The hunt proceeded smoothly from there.

    Most of the worms were weak, which also meant the amount of Fallen Heart Jade they possessed wasn''t much, but the few stronger beings hadrge chunks of the material in their bodies that made the fervor in the duo''s hearts rise.

    Eventually, they''d killed over 50 of these worms and collected a decent amount of jade.

    And judging by their internal clocks, night was soon to fall.

    "Should we go up?" Ruyue asked, a bit hesitant.

    "We should. We don''t know if we''re safe here, and if it turns out we aren''t, we''ll end up being chased through this enclosed space where we don''t have room to act freely."

    "Hmm¡­"

    "Plus, we have to meet the others."

    "That''s true. I guess it can''t be helped."

    The amount of raw material they had was more than enough to carry out Damien''s intentions. It would be nice if they could stay in the underground and avoid the dangers thaty before them, but it was stupid to make assumptions in a ce like this.

    Time and time again, this sub-universe had proved that it would do everything against one''s logical assumptions.

    And who could say this time would be different?

    Perhaps Damien and Ruyue didn''t know¡­

    ¡­but this time wasn''t different at all.

 Chapter 1080 Overseer [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1080 Overseer [4]</h4>

    Damien and Ruyue hunted for an entire day, but no matter how many worms they killed or tunnels they explored, they never found a single deposit of Fallen Heart Jade.

    It remained a question: just where did the worms gather their jade?

    Damien naturally devoured several of the worms they killed, and from their memories, he learned that the imntation of the first Fallen Heart Jade was a sort of ritual for their species.

    In those memories, he was able to see massive caves filled with Fallen Heart Jade in monstrous amounts, but no amount of searching led to these natural areas, nor did the memories provide any clues to their location.

    But, maybe that was a good thing.

    Fallen Heart Jade was such a mystical resource; was it possible to keep it hidden in the subterranean world?

    Not many beings dared to venture into the depths in fear of the unknown ecosystem present there, but there was a specific species that held no such fear.

    They were, of course, the Messenger Birds.

    The Cloud Emperor''s authority spread through every inch of the Severed World whether it be in the skies or deep below the ground. Regardless of where they went, Messenger Birds were almost guaranteed safety.

    They didn''t have any interest in the jade themselves, since it wouldn''t matter if they died in one hit despite its presence with their weak bodies, but they had their own reasons for collecting it.

    The subterranean world was not safe during the night.

    Most of the Messenger Birds would target Aegis Trees, but a portion of them would always attack the underground as well.

    The second the sun was reced by the moon in the sky, they made their move.

    Their incessant screeching filled the air, the Frenzy Rain began to fall, and all hell broke loose in the thirdyer once again.

    At this moment, Damien and Ruyue were rushing through the tunnel system they''d created, headed back to the hole they came through.

    From all around, they could hear thudding and thumping, sounds like a horde of rats approaching.

    However, there were no rats, nor were they approaching.

    That was just how loud the Messenger Birds were, charging haphazardly through the enclosed tunnels!

    They didn''t care about the worms. Anything they could provide was just scraps, so every worm that got in their way was instantly demolished by the force of the swarm.

    Their goal was the jade deposits hidden byplex natural formations and guarded by several tens of worms.

    If Damien and Ruyue got caught up in the collision between the two forces, they were sure to have a torturous night!

    Luckily for them, the conflict was far away and didn''t seem to be approaching them.

    They traveled through the tunnels and eventually made their way back to the original space they came through, walking past the first worm corpse Damien dissected.

    "It doesn''t look like Rose and Elena areing back tonight. Let''s hope we can be safe inside the cave again, but if it looks bad, prepare to run," Damien said solemnly as they approached the circr spot of moonlight signifying the exit.

    An environment where everything was a danger.

    It definitely wasn''t fun to be a part of!

    That thought was definitely a jinx.

    Because right as the duo reached the exit¡­

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The earth exploded to their right, forcing them to jump back and dodge.

    KIIIIIIIIIIIK!

    The screech of a Jade Heart Worm, as Damien named them; a sound both he and Ruyue were extremely ustomed to at this point.

    However, this creature was far bigger than anything they''d encountered before!

    Its massive body was already twice the width of the tunnel, and when it tore through, it directly punched a hole in the dense earth with its bodily strength alone!

    The duo watched warily as the worm''s massive body slithered by them.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Once again, the tunnel wall tore open and that creature''s gargantuan mouth surfaced before Damien and Ruyue. Its teeth rotated like a circr saw, giving it the ideal physique to mutte its enemies in the cruelest way possible.

    ''It just passed by and it''s already back?! Is it able to make such sharp turns with its body shape?'' Damien wondered as he moved to dodge.

    ''I wanted to just run, but if it can target us without any dy in its attacks, it won''t be possible. The current limit on teleportation means I have to concentrate if I want to do anyplex movement, so it''s still possible we''ll phase into the earth if I act carelessly.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed as he watched the creature''s body slither, now in two different directions, and clearly on its way to bing more.

    ''Why is it targeting us specifically? Isn''t this time for it to go help it''srades?''

    There had to be a reason.

    The most probable would be that¡ª

    ''¡ªit''s a n leader, and we just massacred its family.''

    In the end, it wasn''t a strange event at all.

    If one killed enough subordinates, one was bound to eventually face their leader!

    ''I didn''t know worms could be vengeful, but anything is possible in this world. I guess I should consider this a final gift from the subterranean world, but we still have to finish it fast.''

    The massive Jade Heart Worm had an equally huge chunk of jade supporting it, which would be a great treasure for Damien and the girls'' personal use.

    "We have to rip its jade out first. It''ll take too long to wear down a piece that big," Damien said quickly, watching for the worm''s return.

    "No need to say more. Just move, I''ll follow." Ruyue responded.

    Damien nodded gratefully and did exactly that.

    He jumped forward, grabbing Mirage and grappling the worm''s body.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Its head mmed back into the tunnel soon after, repeating its same motion in an attempt to swallow Ruyue whole.

    Damien gritted his teeth as his body was flung around, but kept his hold as best as possible.

    He was dragged along with the worm''s body as it moved through the curved tunnel it carved with its movements. His body crashed into the earth and forcefully tunneled through it, a move that tore his skin apart and formed countless gashes on his exposed muscles.

    But this was still in the n!

    He hardened his will and forced himself to act through the pain, sending his mana into the tunnel''s ceiling and setting a plethora of dyed space mines just as he''d done with the Messenger Birds previously.

    Meanwhile, Ruyue upied the worm''s head. She attacked it with countless projectiles and formed spikes of ice lined with death mana that jutted out of the ground and impaled the worm from underneath.

    Her moves weren''t necessarily meant to harm it, but to keep it moving forward, following her back the way she and Damien came from.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    KIIIIIK!

    The tunnel was expanded and exploded by the worm''s movements. It moved roughly, trying to gain a vantage point from which it could directly swallow its prey.

    Damien was eventually freed from his torment when his section of the worm''s body made it back to the main tunnel, and as he pushed Transcendent Regeneration to numb his pain, the time came to act!

    BOOOM!

    BOOOOM!

    BOOOOOM!

    The furthest back portion of the worm''s body entered the tunnel Damien just exited, and his traps instantly set off.

    Minor pockets of spatial mana imploded one by one, copsing the surrounding rock and cracking the worm''s hard carapace.

    KIIIIIIIIIK!

    It didn''t do much damage, but that didn''t mean it didn''t hurt!

    The worm screeched in pain.

    Ruyue saw her chance and pounced, reaching into its mouth to grab its jade, but¡­

    KHHHHHH!

    A guttural sound came from deeper in the worm''s body and something fizzled up its throat.

    ''Poison!''

    Ruyue instantly realized the problem and flipped her body, kicking her foot into the ceiling above and copsing it so she could sit on the worm''s head.

    Pssssshhhh!

    The poison spilled out of the worm''s mouth, burning a deep ditch in the tunnel.

    Ruyue''s eyes hardened.

    She pressed her hands into the worm''s head and spread her icy mana to slow its movements and hopefully freeze it.

    Damien also made it back to her position at this time, coordinating with her to utterly halt the worm''s movements and steal its jade!

    Their goal was to distract the worm long enough to do what they needed to, but the poison it disyed made the task far more difficult.

    ''Worst case scenario, I burn my hands off a little bit¡­'' Damien thought to himself.

    He sent a quick nce backward, his ears picking up the sounds in the surroundings with total precision.

    His "worst case" idea might''ve been the only option.

    Because right now¡ª

    "¡ªthose damn sky rats areing."

 Chapter 1081 Overseer [5]

    RUMBLE!

    The sound came from every direction.

    It was easy to pick up even through theyers of rock it had to travel through to reach Damien in the first ce. There were at least several thousand birds charging through the narrow tunnels, and from the chaos in the sound, it was clear they weren''t opposed to making new paths of their own!

    The question surfaced once again.

    Were they to fight, or to run?

    Having to continuously ponder escape was extremely annoying. The fact that it was impossible to be at least near the top of the food chain in this environment was not something Damien could ept!

    It had been a very long time since he felt this way. Even when he was weak, he was always above his peers, and his interactions with those who could step all over him were not prominent.

    Now, he was experiencing what it was like to be "normal."

    He wasn''t at the bottom of the pack, but there were too many restrictions he was forced to endure because of hiscking strength, and there were too many external factors that could lead him to inevitable death.

    Damien''s long-standing wish was to be unrestrained. At his core, this was his main reason for getting stronger.

    This was the reason why.

    This was the life he''d always worked to avoid, a life of mediocrity.

    Even if it was temporary, the feeling of weakness that Damien abhorred to the very depths of his soul was something he would never forget.

    It was the same feeling from back then.

    Back when¨C

    He gritted his teeth and threw away the thought.

    None of this mattered, because without killing the Jade Heart Worm, they no longer had an escape route!

    Damien jumped back and mmed his hand forward, using Vector Control to halt the creature''s movements.

    Ruyue went on offense while he focused on control, a battle strategy that would produce the best results in the current situation.

    The only problem was getting the Fallen Heart Jade out of the poisonke that had formed in the worm''s mouth.

    Damien gritted his teeth. The rumbling underground was only getting louder. At this rate, the Messenger Birds would be upon them within the minute.

    ''There''s no choice.'' he realized, clicking his tongue.

    "Ruyue, fall back and keep its mouth open. We''re going to have to sacrifice a bit."

    He rushed past her and raised his foot in the air, mming it down on the bottom of the worm''s mouth and pinning it to the ground.

    Voom!

    Mana spread in every direction and formed a sphere of spatial influence around the front of the worm''s head. Damien used this bubble to take away its ability to control its mouth and reached his arms out to grab onto the massive chunk of jade, only half visible within the poisonke.

    KIIIIIIiK!

    It screeched, sending air through its throat. The poisonke burst open, sshing on Damien''s body.

    "Khhh!" He hissed in pain as his skin began to melt, but he didn''t lose his grip on the jade.

    From a few meters away, Ruyue shed her arm, using the pure mana of yin to attack.

    ''Contain.''

    Her mana pushed through Damien''s space bubble without resistance and attached to all parts of the worm''s mouth.

    Freezing air filled the space, withering the worm''s muscles.

    In the next moment, several tens of icicles spawned, impaling the worm''s mouth to the walls and roof of the cave.

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    Now was the time!

    He pushed Vector Control and essentially fused himself with the jade, making his grip impervious. His muscles bulged and veins surfaced on his skin as he drew out every ounce of his physical strength.

    Poison sshed around, unfrozen by Ruyue''s attempts, and wrapped around Damien''s hands and arms, melting his skin and muscles and causing him to experience extreme pain.

    Butpared to some of the torture he''d experienced, this was nothing!

    Haaaaah!

    He let out a fierce war cry and tore the stone free, closing his mouth rapidly as the worm''s green blood spurted onto his body.

    Hel appeared in reality.

    Bang!

    A clean shot straight into the worm''s throat. It was fired as Damien jumped back and made distance.

    The hard part was over now.

    Because the defensive power of these worms, no matter how big or strong they were, was always weak!

    Such was the consequence of evolving while relying on the regeneration of Fallen Heart Jade.

    Damien and Ruyue didn''t need to exchange a single word to understand each other''s intentions.

    They worked in perfect tandem, restricting the worm''s movements and swiftly killing it while it was defenseless.

    Damien split its corpse without hesitation, and without paying any mind to the treasures that could be within, they ran!

    They were only a few tens of meters away from their hole, and once they reached it, they jumped, flying up to the surface at their fastest speed!

    SKREEEEEE!

    BOOOOOOM!

    The Messenger Birds broke through the tunnel, following the scent of their prey and mming their way up the path in chase!

    "This is good for us. They have no movement room while we can run whenever we need to. Prepare to kill as many as possible without attracting attention, but as soon as we hear anything from outside, we go."

    Ruyue nodded in agreement. Rather than being attacked from both sides when they left, it was better to take care of the smaller threat!

    With the enclosed space of the sinkhole, the situation became less like the endless pursuit they faced on the first night and more like their journey through Ghost King''s Valley.

    Damien used Freya and Hel in conjunction, wincing every time he pulled the trigger, but using as much mana as he could.

    In this case, using Devour to recharge was too shy. He also had to resort to elixirs, which meant he had to be conscious of how much those elixirs could fill him!

    There were indeed thousands of Messenger Birds charging at them, but it wasn''t nearly as bad as the swarm they faced before!

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    XIU! XIU! XIU! XIU!

    Damien and Ruyue supercharged their mana, attacking relentlessly. Groups of tens and hundreds of bids fell to the bottom of the hole, their blood painting rivers in the underground tunnel.

    It was taxing, but it wasn''t nearly the worst it could''ve been.

    A minute passed under siege.

    But a minute was all it took.

    The extremely loud nature of their racebined with their ungodly ability to know when their kin were dying made it impossible tomit this massacre quietly.

    SKREEEEEEE!

    SKREEEEEEE!

    SKREEEEEEE!

    Their screeches echoed from over ten kilometers away, yet they were already ear-piercing.

    Ruyue nced at Damien, who swiftly nodded.

    They didn''t kill them all, but they''d lowered the number to just a few hundred. It was more than enough.

    Ruyue took Damien''s hand and his mana covered their bodies. In the next second, they vanished, reappearing in the rainforest a kilometer or so away.

    Now came the hardest part.

    A continuation ofst night''s chase, except this time, there were only two of them, and¡­

    SKREEEEEEEEEEE!

    ¡­the Messenger Birds were far, far more furious!

 Chapter 1082 Overseer [6]

    Meanwhile, a much more peaceful scene was taking ce in the Perilous Sanctuary.

    Once one became ustomed to its dangers, it wasn''t too hard to maneuver the area, which was the reason why so many miners were able to set up camp in this area and excavate for ores and minerals.

    The Impulse Wave always blew away their progress when the world was reshaped, but in the same event, the resources they mined would reappear in the same ce like magic!

    No matter how many people the Impulse Wave and the Severed World''s ecosystem killed, more would always be willing to enter this kind of paradisiacalndscape.

    Especially since the most dangerous beasts and environmentsy further than this ce!

    Rose and Elena rode Zara all the way back to the Perilous Sanctuary, fighting off a few beasts on their way.

    Their journey was mostly smooth, and upon arriving, they immediately went to work looking for the best materials to collect.

    With Damien''s idea, metals would likely be the best investment. There wasn''t enough time nor information to make some kind of definitive difference in the Overseer''s base strength, but enhancing it through external methods was more than possible.

    The mines of the Perilous Sanctuary presented themselves as an orderly tunnel system that had been thoroughly nned out over several repetitions and perfected.

    Rose and Elena weren''t part of any group that took ce in the creation of the mine, so entering was a bit difficult.

    In the end, they had to pay a hefty sum to gain ess, but it didn''t mean anything to them.

    After all, with Rose''s abilities, they were sure to make a harvest far outstripping the money they spent!

    With this mentality, they entered the mines and began exploring.

    It was rtively peaceful.

    There weren''t any beasts in the area since it was maintained by several influences jointly, and the only real trouble was men who didn''t know their ce.

    Teaching them where they belonged, though, was great fun for these women.

    Nevertheless, their expedition proceeded smoothly. Using Rose''s Eyes of Fate and Zara''s shadow abilities, they were able to sift through trash and find treasure at a rate none could match.

    The metals they focused their attention on were called Cold Yin Iron and Starfire Iron.

    They were directly opposite each other, but both formed within the bounds of the mine system.

    The Cold Yin Iron was influenced by Ghost King''s Valley and was present mainly in areas near the cliffside.

    Not only did it possess extreme yin properties, but it also had a natural flexibility unlike metal that would be perfect for crafting.

    As for Starfire Iron, it was a hot metal that naturally absorbed energy from the sun to contain extreme yang.

    Starfire Iron wasn''t as special as Cold Yin Iron, but when used in tandem, the effects of both materials would be amplified, and if Rose was correct, the effect would be even greater than that.

    Their goal was to bribe the Overseer, not to kiss the bird''s feet. They weren''t trying to make it the absolute best armor possible, so they finished the immediate task in roughly 8 hours.

    However, they made the decision not to return to the thirdyer.

    Because deeper in the mine, there were even greater treasures!

    They moved secretly and stole as many precious resources as they could find, feeling not a shred of remorse for those they were robbing.

    If anything, it was their fault for underestimating the girls.

    They finally exited the mines around halfway through the night.

    And immediately, their ears picked up the cacophony taking ce far, far away:

    "Those birds are insane," Elena said, clicking her tongue.

    "Mm. It''s annoying that we can''t just kill them," Rose replied in agreement.

    "Can''t we?"

    Zara''s mental transmission entered their heads, making them turn to her with inquisitive gazes.

    "The birds can''t leave the 3rdyer, right? Why can''t we just stay in the 2ndyer and kill them with ranged attacks?"

    Rose and Elena''s eyes widened.

    Was there such a method?

    They immediately had to try it.

    If they failed, then the others in the Perilous Sanctuary would just have to help them deal with the birds. Since they didn''t know the race''s habits, they were sure to identally get involved!

    With no risks to worry about, the girls rushed to the border of the thirdyer.

    There were Messenger Birds there.

    They''d followed the scent of Rose''s group and waited for their return, but even though the trio was standing right in front of them, they didn''t move forward!

    SKREEEEEEE!

    SKREEEEEEEEEE!!!

    Enraged shrieks filled the air. The birds pped their wings angrily, as if telling the girls to stop being cowards and fight them on their side of the boundary!

    But why would they do that?

    Since when did Messenger Birds ever do anything fairly?

    Annoying creatures like this didn''t need to do anything but die!

    SHIIING!

    Yggdrasil''s Branch swept through the air, sending an arc of light flying.

    It cut through every Messenger Bird in its path, dropping their corpses to the ground.

    SKREEEEEEE!

    Theirpatriots screeched, but still refused to move!

    Rose, Elena, and Zara grinned collectively.

    Tonight, they were going to get payback on these damn birds!

    ***

    Surprisingly, night passed quickly on both fronts.

    Damien and Ruyue found that the massive number of Messenger Birds got cut down without them having to do anything, leaving them with around ten thousand pursuers, which they could handle using the Aegis Tree method.

    Little did they know, the reason for this ease was Rose''s group, who killed so many birds that they became a target for a majority of the race!

    They were able to survive the night due to this along with their experience from the previous day, and once again, the Overseer''s massive body surfaced above the thirdyer.

    At this time, Rose, Elena, and Zara had already reunited with Damien and Ruyue.

    They watched the Messenger Birds attack the Overseer again, this time with more fervor, unwilling to put down their grudge.

    Yet, once again, they were thrown away and suppressed, unable to act as they pleased.

    It was like the clicking of a rooster in the morning, a routine to start the day.

    But what mattered now was what happened after.

    The Overseer turned around after finishing its task and made its way back to its perch.

    And on the ground below, a group of five chased his shadow.

    They rushed all the way through the rainforest until they reached a massive jungle tree, its trunk several tens of meters thick and its height piercing the canopy of the forest and making itself known to the world.

    At its peak, the Overseer rested, unbothered by the activities of the world.

    Its current focus was saving its power and growing stronger in preparation for the ceremony less than a week away.

    However¡­

    "Yo!"

    The Overseer''s eyes opened barely, sending an indifferent nce at the ground, where a group of humans stood smiling at it.

    "I know you''re probably busy right now, but I have a proposition you''re guaranteed to be interested in. How about hearing us out?"

    Words one would expect from a scamming door-to-door salesman came out of the man among them''s mouth.

    The Overseer would''ve usually ignored such things, but today, it was feeling a bit odd.

    Didn''t this human¡­sound strangely convincing?

 Chapter 1083 Overseer [7]

    The Overseer was a massive creature whose gait couldn''t be properly described when one saw him in the sky.

    His shadow was massive enough, and with the way his body covered the sun itself, one could only get a picture of the size, not a true measure of it.

    However, it wasn''t a question that there was no bigger beast than him thus far in the Severed World. Even the Ghost King would look like an ant in front of him.

    But perched in the great tree he chose as his home, even his size was dwarfed.

    Honestly, it made him far more approachable, but who would dare?

    The Overseer was notorious for his bad temper and utter disdain for the beings below him.

    If anyone approached him and tried to hug his thigh, they would inevitably die.

    But Damien had no such intention.

    What he''de to propose was a trade.

    "Overseer, I''m aware that you aren''t someone who can be bothered lightly, but I''vee with a proposition that will be beneficial for both of us," Damien said, projecting his voice up the tree.

    The Overseer nced at him without a word.

    It was rare to see humans in this ce, but it wasn''t impossible. He''d been approached by several humans before, many of them holding simr expressions and auras.

    "Leave now or die."

    His words were absolute. The only thing he''d learned about humans is that they were avaricious creatures who would do anything for personal gain.

    He was already being nice giving them a warning!

    "I''m afraid I can''t do that," Damien replied, shaking his head.

    "I don''t know what the cause of your hostility is, but it has nothing to do with me, and I have nothing to do with it. Let''s have a civil discussion without any needless violence, alright?"

    "Civil conversation?"

    The Overseer almost scoffed, his beak cking humorously.

    "Human, you are prey to the Messenger Birds and wish for my aid, no? I will not help you solve the problems you have caused for yourself. If you cannot ept this, then die by my ws instead."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    The Overseer''s attitude was incredibly unweing, but despite his words, he''d yet to attack.

    Was he showing them mercy?

    No, that couldn''t be it. Why would he show mercy on a random group of humans?

    If so, was this his regr demeanor?

    The interaction was short, but Damien could inherently feel something from the bird, a sort of connection.

    It wasn''t something as grand as the connections he felt through the Void, but something more emotional.

    They said the Overseer was arrogant and domineering, not willing to entertain anyone or anything that didn''t amuse him.

    In Damien''s opinion, though, he was just annoyed.

    And his reasoning was the same as everyone else''s.

    He was annoyed he had to stay in this ce where all beings were weaker than him. He was annoyed that the space he ruled was dominated by weak pests who used cheap tricks to bully all others.

    He originally had no obligation to suppress the Messenger Birds when dawn arose.

    He made that decision because of his dislike for their methods.

    As someone who''d been struggling with a simr feeling in the past few days, Damien immediately sympathized with the desire to push everything away and live in silence, surviving with only the goal of bing stronger and achieving one''s everything left unaplished.

    Damien''s sympathy aside, this emotional state was perfect for his n.

    "I''m here to talk to you about the Ascension Ceremony."

    The Overseer''s head shot up at the mention of those two sacred words. His eyes widened in interest and wariness.

    "How does a human know those words?" He asked cautiously.

    "That''s not important right now. Didn''t I say I wanted to make a deal? If you can help us suppress the Messenger Birds and get rid of their hostility, we can provide you with something that''ll provide you great help in the ceremony," Damien responded with a smile.

    "You? What can you possibly provide me?"

    Damien''s smile widened into a grin.

    With that, the Overseer was hooked.

    "I''m not sure how much you know about the races outside this world, but we have many specialties that can''t be found here, mainly in terms of crafting and creation."

    Damien dug through his spatial storage and found a pristine tinum chestte, an artifact he''d stolen from Holy Light Star, and threw it up the tree for the Overseer to observe.

    It was impossible for races without humanoid forms to forge or concoct. Beasts and Spirits usually fell under this category, but in the true universe, both had the ability to assume humanoid form upon reaching a certain level, thus these restrictions were removed.

    The Severed World, as a sub-universe, had no such mechanic.

    Beasts would remain in their beast forms regardless of their level.

    Therefore, where would they find a means to obtain crafted items?

    The Overseer curiously sent his perception into the armor, feeling the metal and understanding theplex workings of mana within.

    This treasure was Chaos-rank, so it was already powerful enough to draw extreme interest from a being who didn''t know it was possible to form external defenses in this way.

    A few memories shed through the Overseer''s mind.

    In the past, there were several humans he''d killed who left behind strange rings that he couldn''t maneuver, while others offered him mixtures of nts that they imed would aid his cultivation.

    Back then, killing them was enough to get what he wanted, but¡ª

    "Keep in mind, the item I am promising does not exist right now. After we have made an agreement, I will begin the crafting process. Please don''t think that killing us will achieve anything."

    ¡ªDamien beat him to it.

    The Overseer furrowed his eyes and nced down at the group.

    He would''ve liked to pass up the offer like he''d always done, but that didn''t seem realistic.

    The group hade at a time when he couldn''t refuse them, and their knowledge of that fact made them even more elusive in his eyes.

    "I cannot remove their hostility for you, for they are hostile to me as well. Those insects serve under a king from the central region, my sworn enemy. As long as he lives, I can at most suppress his underlings."

    The Overseer stated a fact to gauge the group''s reactions.

    Damien''s brow raised slightly.

    "Didn''t the Messenger Birds serve the Cloud Emperor?"

    "Rubbish!" The creature suddenly roared, enraged.

    "That damn beast dared to stain the holy name of Sir Cloud Emperor with his lies! Even he is not ackey, even he is not known by the Cloud Emperor! The false im that they operate under is an absolute travesty to the face of all beings under the glorious Emperor''s reign!"

    "Eh?" Damien uttered.

    "So¡­they''re not envoys, they''re just scammers?"

    "Yes!"

    Boom!

    It was an explosion in their minds.

    These beings they were being so cautious of, they were nothing but dirty cheats!

    "How strong is their ruler?" Damien asked, his eyes cold.

    "I do not know, however, he is only somewhat more powerful than me. Though I am not his opponent, my flying skills far surpass his!"

    The Overseer began bragging, but Damien was no longer listening.

    ''The Overseer is strong, at least at the peak of 3rd ss like the Ghost King. If he''s faster and more flexible, but can''t match up in power, there''s a possibility the Messenger Birds'' ruler has already entered 4th ss.''

    What the Overseer described seemed to be a racial advantage, while he lost in terms of true power.

    If it was a 4th ss being¡­

    ''It might not be possible now, but entry-level 4th ss isn''t daunting to someone who far surpassed it already. If we n well, we should be able to do something about it.''

    It was a done deal.

    The matter of the Wind Spirit King, as the Overseer referred to the Messenger Birds'' ruler, didn''t have any standing in their agreement.

    "If you can suppress the Messenger Birds for us until the ceremony begins, I promise I will have a personalized artifact ready for you in 3 days."

    The Overseer stopped ranting and scoffed.

    "3 days? Human, are you trying to pull the wool over my eyes?"

    Damien shook his head with a smile.

    "No. If you agree to these terms, we can dere a Mana Oath right away. This way, we can both be assured that the other side will deliver, right?"

    The Overseer''s eyes narrowed.

    He looked over Damien and the group behind him.

    They were just humans and a beast, but they held an aura that other humans didn''t possess.

    Inherently, the Overseer believed their words.

    Closing his eyes for a second as he firmed his will, the Overseer spoke.

    "Then, I agree to this deal!"

 Chapter 1084 Fight [1]

    Talks proceeded smoothly from there.

    Damien coordinated with the Overseer to understand what kind of artifact he wanted, putting in a little more effort to form a positive rtionship with the bird that''de in handyter.

    And while this transaction took ce, somewhere at the boundary between the Perilous Sanctuary and the thirdyer¡­

    "Hot damn! We finally made it!"

    The voice of arge bald man resounded through the forest.

    "Calm down, Marcus! We''re still too far from the goal to be celebrating!"

    Another man calmed his excitement soon after.

    This group was none other than Virgil''s party that Damien met in Ghost King''s Valley.

    They had much more trouble escaping than Damien and his group, and faced the brunt of the Ghost King''s hatred, but they were somehow able to survive and make their way up the cliffside.

    After spending a few days in the Perilous Sanctuary, they were ready to continue on.

    "Virgil, are you sure about this? We don''t know anything about this ce. Why would we¡­"

    "Haha, it''s about being a good person, Diana! Besides, don''t you remember what we were promised?"

    "That''s true¡­"

    The mage named Diana nced to the side.

    There, a woman who wasn''t originally part of their party stood without a word, apathetically staring into the thirdyer.

    They found this woman being attacked by a beast while exploring the secondyer, and because Virgil thought himself a hero, they ended up saving her.

    Unexpectedly, she was someone from some rich influence, because she rewarded their help with an amount of resources they never could''ve imagined.

    Afterward, the woman recruited them for a quest.

    She said she wanted to go to the central region where Skyrend Mountain was located.

    And if their group was able to take her there, she''d give them ten times the reward for saving her!

    With that amount of resources, not just them, but everyone they knew would be set for a very long time.

    They''d be able to raise their families into practitioners with longer lifespans so they didn''t have to part, and they''d be able to gain high status in their sects for the contributions they could bring.

    With such a tempting offer, how could they refuse?

    Only, Virgil''s reasoning seemed astray.

    The way he looked at this woman was not like a contractor addressing their client, but a servant addressing their lord!

    He was utterly infatuated from the first nce!

    ''What does she have that I don''t?''

    Diana had this thought, but she couldn''t really dispute that she didn''tpare to this woman.

    She had unassuming ck hair and eyes, and a cute appearance, but more than anything, her aura that melded in with nature was extremely alluring for some reason.

    ''And those honkers!''

    ¡­her chest was quite voluptuous as well, but that was beside the point.

    Diana was definitely nonplussed by this woman''s presence, but she couldn''t win over the temptation of rewards.

    "By the way, we never got your name," Marcus said, turning to the woman.

    Unlike Virgil, he didn''t seem subservient to her, but he was far more respectful than usual.

    The woman nced at him for a second before turning away.

    "You may call me Sia."

    "Hehe, what a pretty name¡­"

    The woman named Sia ignored Virgil''s quiet yet extremely loud remark and turned to the rest of the group.

    "We should move now. We must arrive in the central region in three days at most."

    They nodded in agreement and entered the thirdyer, moving simrly to Damien and the rest when they first entered the area.

    But Diana couldn''t get her mind off that woman named Sia.

    She could''ve sworn she saw it.

    Whenever that woman looked at them, there was an almost indiscernible glint in her eyes, not from emotion, but from something else entirely.

    Whatever that thing was, it didn''t make her feel good at all!

    Sia continued on as if she was unaware of the woman''s feelings.

    Truly, she didn''t care at all.

    This group only served one purpose, and that was to shuttle her to where she wanted to go.

    Because in this rainforest, there was currently someone she was very much looking forward to seeing!

    ***

    In another part of the thirdyer¡­

    Damien and his group were currently taking rest.

    Now that they had assurance they wouldn''t be attacked through the night, they took time for themselves and explored the thirdyer to the fullest, not worrying about battle or threats.

    Other than the Messenger Birds, there weren''t many immediately hostile beasts in the thirdyer.

    It was an ecosystem formed by collective hatred for their tormentors.

    This time might''ve seemed wasted to the observing eye, but it was more important than anything they''d done so far to Damien.

    All he was doing was sitting still.

    He was at the base of the great tree on which the Overseer rested, seated in meditative posture with his eyes closed.

    Their deal was established several hours ago and Damien already sent the materials to the Sanctuary along with a rough blueprint of what he wanted.

    He trusted Elvira to get it done when he needed it and paid it no more mind.

    The reason he came to the Severed World was mainly for the mission Iris gave him, but his personal goal was something else.

    He wanted to understand thews of this ce so he could improve himself.

    His Law Controller trait was currently sealed, but its effects on his connection with nature hadn''t faded.

    Now that he had the time to calmly perceive the environment, how could he waste it?

    His perception was no longer tethered to his body at this point.

    The Void acted as a medium, connecting him to the world at a fundamental level and giving him the ability to spread his senses through the world''s natural pathways.

    He saw the Perilous Sanctuary, he saw Ghost King''s valley, he saw Rose and the rest exploring the thirdyer, and he saw Virgil''s group making their entrance.

    He noticed the odd woman traveling with them but didn''t pay too much attention to her.

    Instead, Damien''s vision was filled with the sight of a heaven-piercing mountain.

    It was an incredibly steep formation, almostparable to a cliff if one was willing to exaggerate.

    It made sense why flying up the side was such a difficult task. Vertical flight was far more taxing than ascending gradually, and when this effect wasbined with the area''s natural suppression, reaching its peak felt nigh impossible.

    But the central region was more than just Skyrend Mountain. It was beautiful and luscious, with great vibrant green trees everywhere one looked and a plethora of beasts far outstripping anything the thirdyer could produce.

    Damien smiled. Somewhat understanding the ecosystem before charging in was an advantage he was very happy to possess.

    And more than that, the longer his senses remained in the air, the more clearly he could feel the world itself.

    It was suffocating, thesews soplete yet so unfinished. To someone who pursued them, it was one of the most painful feelings in existence.

    Damien had the unquenchable urge to influence thesews and try toplete them, but he neither had the ability nor the fundamentals to aplish such a daunting task.

    ''For now, I''m content with justprehending their nature. If I do that and create a foundation for Law Controller, I have confidence I can bring more out of the trait than Hassan ever could.''

    It was a bold ambition, but he wasn''t afraid to hold it.

    Nowadays, huge ambition was exactly what he needed.

    He couldn''t keep being a passerby anymore.

    When the 2-year ceasefire ended, Damien was going to be the definition of purgatory to the Nox.

    This was his conviction!

 Chapter 1085 Fight [2]

    Chapter 1085 Fight [2]

    What was the universalw?

    Damien had been chasing it for so long, but had he ever truly dissected it?

    It wasmon knowledge that universalw was the foundation of all things. It governed the way the universe functioned. Every little mechanism that the universe held was governed by this mysticalw, from the greatest Cosmic Rebirths to the smallest life cycle of an ant.

    Earth''s science defined the function of the universe as the product of interactions between several forces, four in particr holding the most weight. With the introduction of mana, this science was skewed, but it wasn''t entirely wrong.

    After all, humanity managed to get themselves in space with thesews as a foundation. Earth''s human race achieved great feats using technology alone, something that wasn''t mentioned often enough.

    What they''d done was observe a portion of universalw. They defined these concepts using equations and math, an approach lost with the esoteric nature of practice.

    They were correct about one thing. Universal Law was indeed the result of interactions between countless forces, however, the process reached an ethereal level earthlings couldn''t perceive before the World Awakening.

    The universe was birthed from nothingness, bearing its own children in that moment who took the form ofs and stars.

    There were many things determined at the moment of genesis.

    The function of World Cores and the worlds surrounding them, the foundationalws Damien had slowly been umting, and a few other things.

    But without the first instances of life, without the first instances of death, without the "first instances" of everything that had ever urred, thosews didn''t hold much power.

    Universal Law was what kept the universe alive, and every time a new situation urred, thew would evolve to amodate it.

    Uncountable eons passed since that time, and thew that governed the universe now was far moreplete, almost airtight and imprable by the senses of those residing within it.

    Because of this, universalw was regarded as the Heavens, an untouchable existence, by most.

    Damien was an outlier.

    The Void pushed him in a direction even he couldn''t imagine and made him pursue it as if it were normal without him even realizing it.

    He was already close to the universalw, holding an inherent familiarity with the concept, but that wasn''t what he needed right now.

    If he wanted to gain control over such gargantuan concepts and utilize them for his own purposes, he needed to dissect them and thoroughly digest their parts.

    Inherent familiarity could only support this goal!

    So, what was Universal Law?

    ''Universal Law is a manifestation of the interactions between all things. As long as it has happened, Universal Law has amodated and governed it.''

    Why did Universal Law exist?

    ''For the maintenance and protection of the universe. Without Universal Law, chaos will reign and Grand Heavens Boundary will meet its doom.''

    Then, was Universal Law another term for the concept of Order?

    ''No. Order and Chaos both have a ce in the grand scheme of things. Universal Law can be considered the force above these two concepts, maintaining the harmony between them.''

    What would happen if the Universal Law shattered?

    ''...''

    Damien had to ponder for a moment about this question. If itpletely broke down, the answer was obviously destruction, but what if it shattered, with some pieces still in motion and others broken beyond repair?

    ''Isn''t that somewhat simr to the situation of the sub-universe? An iplete Universal Law leaves room for anomalies and restricts the beings within in various ways. Overall, the world bes lessplete.''

    The Ghost King was a prime example. His range of action was limited, therefore, he felt more like a game boss than an enemy to Damien.

    The Impulse Wave was the same.

    The world had aplete destruction and rebirth cycle that included the living beings within. Such a mechanism would be considered a "glitch" or a "bug" in aplete universe.

    If the Severed World had properws, the first Impulse Wave would''ve destroyed all things living and nonliving, and the world that appeared after rebirth would be apletely new entity possessing the same core.

    So then, whatws did the Severed World have in ce?

    ''I can''t say for certain, but there is one thing I''m sure of. The foundational elements of this ce mirror the true universe. This isn''t something that can be aplished naturally, unless¡­''

    Damien''s eyes shot open.

    ''...they were designed by a being that witnessed the formation of the universe.''

    sh!

    A memory surfaced in Damien''s mind, swallowing his perception.

    The formation of a world; he''d seen it before.

    Long ago, he''d been graced with a vision where he watched from start to finish in great detail as a stray World Core birthed its world.

    Back then, he didn''t have enough knowledge to gain much from the experience, but the current him was iparable.

    This memory finally found its ce.

    The creation of a world could be considered a microcosm of the Universal Law. It gave Damien a more digestible perspective to start from before he continued on to greater concepts.

    And he realized it.

    ''All of these processes are not only supported by governingws, but something greater as well.''

    There was a trace of the Void in everything.

    Even the very greatest mechanisms of the universe couldn''t escape it.

    ''In the end, it leads to the Void again. The more I learn, the more I realize just what kind of force is residing in my body.''

    Damien''s eyes suddenly widened.

    ''Wait¡­''

    The Universal Law was a measure of interactions between everything, while the Void, in Damien''s own perception, was the mother of everything.

    By this reasoning, couldn''t Universal Law be considered a record of the Void''s actions?

    If so, why?

    Was it birthed by the universe not for such simple reasons like maintenance, but to try to find traces of its origin?

    The conclusion formed in Damien''s mind was downright nonsensical. Even he, as the one who had the thought, absolutely could not believe it.

    ''Does the Universal Law¡­'' he thought, his body trembling.

    ''...have sentience?''

    "ARGH!"

    A splitting pain enveloped Damien''s head and forced him out of his enlightened state.

    ''Damn, this is¡­!''

    It wasn''t the first time he''d faced it, but it was the first time he was aware of it happening!

    A strange force was trying to invade his mind and wipe the memories of his understanding.

    ''It''s pushing me away from the Universal Law!''

    Was this also a mechanism of the universe?

    Damien couldn''t ept it!

    If something like this was happening, then he was definitely on the right path to finding out secrets he wasn''t meant to know!

    ''But what kind of secret is worth knowing more than the ones that were never supposed toe out?!''

    VOOM!

    Mana raged around him in a flurry. Damien epassed himself in a thick cocoon of mana and got to work.

    ck threads of Void Mana spread over his body and into his spiritual world.

    He''d been trying so hard to figure it out moments ago, but now, he faced a far, far greater challenge.

    Now, rather thanprehending it, he had to directly fight the Universal Law!

 Chapter 1086 Fight [3]

    Chapter 1086 Fight [3]

    What did it mean to fight the Universal Law?

    The strangeness of the concept had already been made so obvious. Regardless of its closeness, it still wasn''t something that could be fully perceived.

    When Damien entered his spiritual world and scanned it for any signs of foreign forces, he found nothing. He rushed to his memory stream and thoroughly checked it, but he still couldn''t see anything.

    Yet, he could feel the force. He could feel it trying to ess his most recent memories and wipe them out of existence!

    ''Tch! How am I supposed to deal with this?''

    He pushed Void Mana through the space and lined the sides of the starlit river-like stream of memories.

    Against this invisible enemy, the only thing he could do was build an imprable defense!

    Damien swiped his arms before him and summoned his mana, shaping it into a sphere made of connected hexagons that was then infused with Void Mana to be more ethereal.

    It was a second, more contained form of Mind Prison.

    The new structure flew into the memory stream and enveloped the portion representing thest several hours ofprehension, containing it closely.

    Damien instantly felt a pang in his head as the memories became blurry, but luckily, this structure wasn''t nearly as airtight as its main body, and he was able to maintain an understanding of his current goal.

    ''Cover it.''

    The order he gave was received by the pitch-ck mana wisps filling the air. They rushed around the miniature Mind Prison and wove themselves into a secondaryyer of protection that was far more imprable than its predecessor.

    ''Is there anything else I can do?''

    Whoosh!

    Damien barely had time to wonder before he got his answer.

    A strange wind blew past him and brushed against his defenses.

    Instantly and unequivocally, a fourth of the barrier vanished.

    ''Completely disassembled?!''

    Damien panicked and hurriedly recreated the defenses, but his mind was shaken.

    He knew fighting this enemy would be nigh impossible, but the feeling was more palpable after that.

    Whoosh!

    Whoosh!

    Whoosh!

    Light winds whipped from all directions, swirling from high to low and gathering into a small tornado.

    VOOM!

    It drilled down, piercing the Void Mana defense and directly crushing towards the hidden memories without an ounce of resistance!

    "Dammit!''

    Was it over already?

    Was this all he could do?!

    ''No!''

    He''d tasted too many defeats in recent days. He wouldn''t ept another one at a time like this!

    "Come out! NOW!"

    He roared with every bit of his being.

    Time froze in the spiritual world.

    The tornado was only a few centimeters from reaching its target.

    Even in this frozen time, it continued moving at a snail''s pace, unwilling to give up on its target.

    However, Damien was done being passive.

    He reached out and gripped his fist in the air, grabbing something incorporeal.

    Rumble!

    The borders of his spiritual world shook. Hairline cracks spread in all directions from his fist, rapidly overtaking every boundary that existed.

    "Mere ipletews like these cannot contain you! I order you to obey my will!"

    VOOOOOM!

    Void Mana congrated from his body, rolling through the space like a tsunami. The tremors in space became louder and louder. The cracks expanded until they couldn''t be contained anymore, and¨C!

    CRASH!

    The boundaries of Damien''s spiritual world shattered into mirror fragments.

    It was like an apocalypse.

    Like a protective wall breaking and revealing those within to the destion they''d been blissfully unaware of, a deep ckness, a true Void seeped through the cracks.

    "Void Breathing!"

    Damien mmed his arm downward, exerting his will on the Void above and dragging it down.

    The descending Cmity was reigned in. The ckness twisted around itself like a swirling mass of shadows and formed a drill point simr to the Universal Law''s wind.

    It all happened in less than a fraction of a second, an amount of time indescribable in words.

    In that time, Damien broke through the sub-universe''sws.

    "GO!"

    He didn''t spare an instant.

    The Void tornado crashed down and impaled into the Universal Law tornado.

    Bzzt!

    Sparks flew through the air. The force so elusive to Damien was forced out of the shadows in order to sh with one of the very few things that could match it.

    Damien''s sight took in the rainbow-like yet totally colorless appearance of the force. Every time it shed with the Void, two reactions took ce as one.

    The Universal Law weakened, unable to stand the strength of its originator, but at the same time, it became moreplete, as if it was taking something from the Void.

    Damien''s previous assertions about Universal Law being a record of the Void were partially proven with this.

    But the Void''s support wasn''t enough to confirm his victory.

    Perhaps the entity itself could wipe this enemy with a single thought, but the portion Damien could ess could at most hold it back!

    ''I need to think of something else. If I can get one more push, I''ll be able to avoid this cmity.''

    It was a fine thought, but the Void was his greatest weapon.

    In a situation like this, where would he find another path?

    ***

    A being''s eyelids twitched.

    Its eyes were like two moons, slowly unveiling themselves to the world.

    Everything shook with their movement. It was almost like everything would be eradicated the second they fully opened.

    Fortunately, the being''s eyelids stopped moving halfway through their arc.

    Huu¡­

    A slight breath from its mouth created tornadoes that could raze mountains into valleys.

    It gazed out, half-lidded, into the scenery below.

    Something had caught its interest, an almost impossible scenario.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Its thoughts swirled to life just barely for the first time in eons.

    ''Do not¡­interfere in this ce.''

    Whoosh!

    Its thoughts traveled through the endless skies, and "something" received its words.

    A presence within the realm wobbled slightly, as if considering something, and then darkened.

    ''Good. You cannot¡­prevent this.''

    A second thought spread, and the being''s thoughts stilled again.

    Its massive eyelids dropped, and it inhaled, drawing back the hazardous entities created by its exhale.

    Its job was done.

    ***

    That was the turning point.

    The situation in Damien''s spiritual world met a sudden shift.

    The wisps of Universal Law darkened and faded, weakening severely.

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock when he saw it, but he had no time to ponder the reason. He rapidly controlled the Void tornado and spread it to every corner of his mental space, eradicating any part of the Universal Law that remained.

    And while he was at it¡­

    ''Let''s be a little bold.''

    A tiny portion, no more than the size of a fingernail, of Universal Law vanished from space, "devoured" by the Void.

    Damien was certain that he was only able to triumph this time because someone or something helped him. He took mental note to search for his benefactor and focused on the actions he''d just taken.

    Regardless of what saved him, he was currently protected. He could feel that the Universal Law''s will had retreated and all that was left were nondescript pieces of energy without direction.

    This entire scenario was a blessing in disguise.

    Because with the remaining energy uncontrolled¡­

    ¡­Damien was going to receive great benefits.

    He grinned to himself and got started, uttering the very phrase that carried him to this point.

    ''Devour''

    aa7b5e4a913f698f2f85f05ec8699ff287d581d1fb0678555d462be31d6cebaa7b645921ea9dcfc6a6395ee0e6b090e9ec28a5a1a959ffb51365cd26c81e7be4

 Chapter 1087 Movement [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1087 Movement [1]</h4>

    Three days passed while Damien sat in meditation, and the day of promise came.

    The girls had returned to the great tree and the Overseer was waiting patiently as well, but Damien still hadn''t woken up.

    His deep slumber was not caused by the battle he faced, but by its aftermath!

    Not only did he destroy a portion of his spiritual world to break the Void out of his shackles, he''d devoured a tiny piece of Universal Law that he had to work hard to digest.

    Three days was a very long time, especially in this ce where every day ounted for weeks in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Many things happened during this time.

    Of course, Damien''s group experienced peace, as they were reaching for nothing else. The girls were able to explore the Severed World''s ecosystems without worry, learning from its roots and strengthening their foundations along the way.

    The truly interesting events took ce elsewhere.

    On the first day Virgil and his group entered the thirdyer, they came across an injured beast that they ended up saving. It was just a small sparrow when they met it, and after healing it, they sent it on its way.

    Never would they have expected that the mother of this sparrow was quite the powerful beast who currently held the ambition to earn a ce in the central region during the Ascension Ceremony!

    However, she was sure she didn''t have much of a chance and enlisted their group to help.

    They set off to the central region with her on the second day, prepared to defend her flight and aid her with their artifacts!

    It was almost as if Virgil had the so-called "protagonist''s luck." To survive a night in the thirdyer without killing a single Messenger Bird and even find a free ride to the most important event of his sub-universe; could there be any better exnation?

    The woman named Sia, on the other hand, split from their group at this point, her destination unknown. She soon disappeared into the vibrant rainforest and erased herself from any perception that could have followed her.

    With theing of the third day, there were only two remaining until the Ascension Ceremony officially began.

    And every being near Skyrend Mountain was preparing for its arrival.

    ***

    Such a substantial time difference was jarring.

    Damien and his group entered the Severed World roughly a week ago, but in Grand Heavens Boundary, it had been over three months already.

    The internal cleansing operation began in full a long time ago, and along with traitors being constantly forced out and killed, an Infected Source World raid had already taken ce.

    Heaven''s Army began in Soul World. The domain of spirits always had a strange atmosphere that was perfect for the existence of spirits, but almost haunting to all others. The Infected Source World in their sector was considered the weakest because the Nox had to endure this disadvantage.

    Meanwhile, the allied forces had protection from the spirits that allowed them to act while bypassing it!

    Infected Source Worlds were all different, but their base purpose was to act as farms. They bred Lesser Nox and were supervised by Higher Nox, but the strength of the enemies couldn''t match the denizens; not without support from their main force outside the universe.

    The Infected Source World fell in 2 months. Heaven''s Army sent elites topletely destroy it without a single hope for reconstruction, and they did exactly that.

    The world crumbled. The shattered pieces of rock that floated through the starry sky were incinerated to nothingness, and every Nox on its surface was eliminated.

    The only trace of its existence left in the universe was the wriggling ck Corrupted World Core that supported the world''s actions.

    To this day, even the universe''s Demigods had been unable to find a way to get rid of it.

    Even if it was corrupted, it still existed as part of the universe''s core system and couldn''t simply be destroyed. The only method to deal with it was to purify the filth and let it rebirth as a normal world.

    It was safe to say no expert with such capabilities existed among their forces.

    Space for several million kilometers around the Corrupted World Core was evacuated, and experts filed into the area to constantly monitor the structure.

    If there were any signs of movement, these experts instantly moved to cut the roots.

    This world wouldn''t be allowed to cause any more trouble!

    With the experience gained from the first raid, a second one began just half a monthter.

    The next target was Hephaestus.

    The Soul World raid was a measure of caution meant to feel the strength of an average Infected Source World.

    Having this information, which was interpted by the greatest of Seers and schrs, the allied forces chose not to waste any time.

    Hephaestus was the most important strategic point as it was where the headquarters of Heaven''s Army was located.

    When the universe came together as one, they created two strongholds from which the core of their forces acted.

    These were Sky Castle Luxurion and the Heaven''s Army main base.

    The former handled logistics while thetter was the headquarters for all things rted tobat.

    Luxurion already had a nigh-impervious defense, as long as someone at the Saint Emperor''s level didn''t intervene at least. Therefore, Hephaestus took priority over the Divine Realm.

    This raid was far more important than thest and it had to be guaranteed there would be no mistakes.

    For the past half month, Heaven''s Army had been sending scouting parties to the Infected Source World and fighting small skirmishes against the Nox stationed there, but they hadn''t entered truebat yet.

    However, the day wasn''t too far away.

    Grand Heavens Boundary was enveloped in war regardless of the ongoing ceasefire, and while this meant their forces would be depleted and exhausted, those who survived would be refined into diamonds before they had to carry the universe''s very fate on their shoulders.

    The only question was¡­how were the Nox using this time?

    The answer was truly unknown.

    The four Nox Emperors didn''t have any sort of alliance with each other. They had their own goals, and as long as they didn''t interfere with each other, they rarely maintained contact.

    However, the Saint Emperor''s actions this time forced them toe together.

    He was always stronger than them, and in the depths of their hearts, they understood just how mysterious and terrifying this being who lived through uncountable eons was.

    Any expression or sense of personality he showed was fake. There was no such thing as a personality that could survive hundreds of millions of years without shattering.

    Every step he took was calcted. Every loss he took was taken on purpose.

    Even the Saint King, Bai Yumo, who he called his own son, was¨C

    This ceasefire was no different; a loss he knew he would take.

    And the terms he suggested affected their entire race. The only ones safe from his Mana Oath were the three other Emperors, but how could they easily show their heads?

    This disy wasn''t just for the denizens of Grand Heavens Boundary, but for his fellow Nox as well.

    Four Nox Emperors gathered in one ce and hadn''t moved since the ceasefire began.

    Their forces also remained still, awaiting orders.

    Whether it be the mostmon entry-level 4th ss who just gained sentience, or a Lord-level character like the Marite Lord, none of them dared to act recklessly.

    Because the establishment of the ceasefire meant only one thing to them:

    The Saint Emperor was dering himself their Sovereign.

 Chapter 1088 Movement [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1088 Movement [2]</h4>

    Back in the Severed World, the third day of Damien''s intense meditation wasing to an end.

    And finally, his eyes fluttered open.

    He nced around, noticing the number of people gathered around him, and smiled awkwardly.

    "Well¡­hi?"

    "Mhm, good morning," Elena replied.

    "You must''ve had a great time the past few days, huh."

    He scratched his head and stood up, stretching his body.

    "It was okay. I gained a bit, so I guess it''s a plus, right?"

    "You could say that, but now isn''t really the time, is it?" Ruyue chimed in.

    "Hm? How long has it been?"

    "3 days," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

    "Ah, 3 days¡­oh wait, 3 days means¡­"

    Damien''s eyes went to the top of the great tree to see the Overseer was watching him with an annoyed look on his face.

    "Umm¡­"

    "No need to speak. I understand your dy, but I won''t tolerate further dys."

    The Overseer scoffed, but didn''t have any actual negative feelings about it.

    The group had been gathered here for over a day waiting for Damien to wake up, so their expressions were justified, but unlike the girls, who thought Damien was just being a training freak, the Overseer had a bit more knowledge.

    ''Something amazing happened to that human.''

    He didn''t know what it was, but for a second, he felt a fluctuation from Damien''s body that made him want to kneel and submit himself to the human.

    It was an instinctual response, which made it all the more surprising!

    The Overseer gained an interest in Damien at that time, but for now, their business rtionship took priority.

    Damien nced into his spatial storage, hoping Elvira was able to get the task done on time, and as expected, she didn''t fail to deliver.

    He swept his hand through the air and summoned a metallic pendant with a jade crystal in its center hung on a glossy ck chain and presented it to the Overseer.

    "As promised, your treasure," he said with a smile.

    Swoosh!

    The Overseer''s body shed down the tree and appeared before Damien, shrinking his body to face the man eye to eye.

    "This is the treasure? This is not what we agreed upon," he frowned, scrutinizing the ne.

    "Don''t worry about that," Damien responded instantly.

    "Just put it on first and you''ll understand."

    The Overseer nodded and followed his words. They were under Mana Oath, so he couldn''t be lying, right?

    The ne fit surprisingly well on the strangely shaped neck of the Overseer. It rested with the pendant at the top center of his chest, and as he gazed at it, the Overseer couldn''t deny that it was appealing.

    ''It kind of looks like a dog cor when he puts it on¡­''

    Damien chose not to voice that thought and instructed the creature to stream its mana into the pendant.

    A mystical scene took ce at that moment. The green jade shined and the metallic casing it resides in expanded, consuming the Overseer''s body.

    When the transformation ended, he was draped in a domineering set of battle armor, and the aura fluctuations he emitted had gone up several levels.

    "Very good!" The Overseer croaked, pping his wings.

    "My movement is not limited, but I can feel power coursing through me! Human, your means are truly impressive!"

    Damien smiled wryly. It wasn''t even that great of an armor, just low Chaos rank, but in this ce, it was treated like a heavenly treasure.

    Though, it didn''t matter as long as it worked, right?

    "Since three days have passed, the Ascension Ceremony should be starting soon. When do we leave?" Damien asked.

    "We''ve been waiting for you," Rose responded.

    "Now that you''re up, we should rush over. I have a feeling we''ll bete if we don''t hurry."

    Damien nodded and nced at the Overseer.

    "Since we''re already here, do you mind giving us a ride?"

    The Overseer raised his brow, a strange motion from a bird, and considered it.

    He definitely felt a bit offended at the request, but Damien was someone he wanted to befriend, so he put down his feelings and epted.

    His body returned to its original size, tearing apart some of the surrounding trees. Damien and the girl hopped on without hesitation, and in the next moment¡ª

    WHOOOSH!

    A single powerful p of his wings shot them into the sky with such velocity they almost fell off!

    Damien used Vector Control to stabilize them and stared down into the canopy below.

    The usual travel time to Skyrend Mountain was around a day, but with the traffic caused by the mass migration of aerial creatures to the mountain, it was inevitable there would be many shes along the way.

    The Overseer''s flying altitude was around 8000 meters, not bad yet not good. It was a level that was inhabited by many beasts, as the lowest level of the central region wasn''t far from the highest level of the thirdyer.

    But the Overseer had status due to his position and beasts in this altitude didn''t try to do anything to him.

    It was those above that were concerning.

    As they got closer and closer to their destination, the eyes on them grew more numerous.

    ''The Overseer has a lot of enemies¡­'' Damien thought to himself, separately wondering if the central region also had an Overseer.

    ''Well, we''re participating separately anyway, so it should be fine.''

    Damien''s curiosity was drawn by another topic after a short bout of pondering.

    ''I remember seeing those kids making their way over when I first spread my perception. I wonder where they went¡­?''

    Damien closed his eyes and connected his awareness to the world again.

    After entering the state for the first time and breaking the sub-universe''sws for a brief moment, he learned how to do so onmand.

    ''Eh? They''re here?''

    He suddenly nced just a bit below, around 10 kilometers in front of them.

    The sparrow creature Virgil befriended and his group were flying there, quietly making their way forward.

    ''Interesting. I should remember that guy. His luck will probably get him ces.'' Damien noted.

    ''Besides that, didn''t they have anotherpanion?''

    That strange woman who hadn''t been a part of the group when they first met, Damien didn''t pay her much mind but he still remembered her.

    The strange part wasn''t her existence, rather, it was theplete opposite!

    ''I can''t sense her presence anywhere. What kind of concealment skill is this, to be able to literally hide from the world?''

    Damien''s interest was piqued by the skill.

    He kept that woman in mind too, noting to find her and get to the bottom of her anomaly.

    But it seemed¡­he wouldn''t have to do that at all!

    Bang!

    A small explosion rang out on the ground below, and a projectile suddenly shot past Damien''s group.

    His eyes widened as his gaze followed it. It made a narrow arc and descended slowly,nding on the Overseer''s back.

    The creature didn''t even notice her presence as it kept flying.

    It was only Damien and the girls who were graced with this surprise.

    ''Hah, that''s not just good concealment, that''s fucking godly!''

    That strange woman had appeared, and in such a grand fashion!

    The remaining question was¡­

    Who was she, and what was she doing here?

 Chapter 1089 Ascension Ceremony [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1089 Ascension Ceremony [1]</h4>

    The scene was utterly silent.

    Damien and the girls lowered their stances in preparation forbat, staring at the woman who''d decided to join them on the Overseer''s back.

    The strength she showcased to arrive here and conceal her presence from the very being she was standing on already made them more than wary.

    In a sense, it surpassed the restrictions set on outsiders exploring the realm.

    Damien frowned.

    He had no interest in starting a conversation with this stranger, nor did he want to recklessly engage. Yet, this person also seemed to have no intention of initiating.

    She panned her gaze over their group expressionlessly, cracking a slight smile when her eyesnded on Damien.

    "Hello."

    She offered a single greeting and a nod, raising her hands in the air to proim her innocence.

    She frowned slightly upon gaining no reaction from the group and continued.

    "I did note here to fight. I want to join your group."

    "Hm?"

    Damien let out an unintentional sound of confusion.

    Of all things, this definitely wasn''t what he expected.

    "You want to¡­join us?" He echoed, making sure he heard her properly.

    "Yes, this is my wish," the woman responded confidently.

    "I refuse."

    Damien''s answer came without hesitation.

    In what world would he be stupid enough to ept some random stranger into their party?

    Besides, they were already so close to the goal. Was there a point in having a new travelpanion at this time?

    The woman raised her brow, clearly surprised by Damien''s rapid refusal.

    "Hmm, this won''t do¡­"

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    "¡­you swallowed the Universal Law, didn''t you?"

    Her lips were brushing against his ear before he realized what was happening.

    "Tsk!"

    He clicked his tongue and stepped back, narrowing his eyes and ring at her.

    Her movement ability was one thing, but how did she know about his interaction with the Universal Law?

    He hadn''t even told the girls yet since an in-depth exnation would take quite some time. There shouldn''t have been anyone except him and the mysterious being who aided him who knew that the Universal Law invaded this sub-universe.

    ''Unless¡­she''s that person?''

    ''Impossible.''

    Damien shook the thought off without hesitation. She had special characteristics in her aura and existence, but she was not the presence from that time.

    Damien''s killing intent was nearly palpable.

    A stranger who was able to learn such things and evade his perception with such efficiency¡­was an enemy to be killed!

    The woman''s expression turned wry.

    "Did I not say I came here peacefully? I am not just asking you to let me join your party. I will provide sufficientpensation to ensure you don''t regret your decision."

    "Compensation?"

    "Mm. I cannot tell you its specific nature at the moment, however¡­"

    Her words trailed off as she traced her finger through the air.

    A formless fluctuation presented itself, hardening Damien''s expression instantly.

    ''She''s dangerous.''

    Whatever the force she used was, it bore simrities to Universal Law that would be impossible to achieve without seeing it for oneself.

    If this woman followed the same path as him, it truly wouldn''t be a bad idea to have her join the party, but¡­

    He turned to the girls for their opinion.

    "What? You''re considering it?" Elena asked first in bafflement.

    "She offered something I pretty much can''t refuse. The problem is that only an idiot would trust her."

    "What is the offer?" Ruyue asked next.

    "This¡­" Damien hesitated for a second, trying to find a way to concisely exin.

    But then he realized: he had no need to do that at all.

    "¡­she offered meprehension of the Universal Law."

    The concept of the universe''s ruling power was well known, and the girls'' changing expressions made it obvious that they understood the implications of those words.

    "Is it possible for her to have something like that?" Rose questioned, ncing at the woman.

    "It is. She personally¡­"

    Damien''s brow twitched slightly.

    ''Ah, so that''s how it is.''

    "What happened?"

    The trio questioned his sudden halt, making him scratch his head.

    "I''ve more or less figured out the situation. Let''s trust her for now. If anything happens, we can handle ourselves, no?"

    They nodded at his words, albeit in confusion.

    There was something about this matter that Damien wasn''t revealing, but they didn''t ask.

    After all, if he didn''t want to say anything, it wasn''t something for them to know!

    Damien had be far more open after their rtionships were solidified, and even secrets about the Void had been shared with this point.

    Nowadays, there was no reason to doubt his sincerity.

    Their conversation took ce over sound transmission, hidden from outside perception, but the woman was already smiling like she knew the oue.

    Damien turned to her, a frown still painted on his face, and outstretched his hand.

    "Then, we will work together for now. I hope you can pull your weight," he said sternly.

    The woman, Sia, nodded and shook his hand.

    "That is natural. Should we discuss the terms of our cooperation?"

    Damien voiced his agreement.

    From there, the process was mundane.

    Sia wanted to participate in the Ascension Ceremony with them, but their goal was too high for them to bring outsiders along.

    Luckily, Sis''s goals differed from there.

    She mentioned twondmarks, the Blessing Shrine and the Lunar River, which she wished for them to apany her to.

    After this was aplished, she promised to separate from their group and not bother them.

    The more they conversed, the more it seemed like Sia just switched from the weaker Virgil Group to the stronger Damien Group to better aplish her goals, which ended up building a modicum of trust between her and the group.

    But Damien had other ideas.

    ''If this is how we''re ying, then let''s y for now.'' He thought to himself with a smile.

    This Sia''s identity¡­was definitely more mysterious than she let on.

    Nevertheless, a new member of their group was added at this sudden juncture, and it was unknown whether it was positive or negative.

    The slopes of Skyrend Mountain became clearer and clearer in the misty skies. They were only a few hours away at this point.

    The number of aerial beasts around them was monstrous.

    The airspace was crowded with tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of bodies, yet, they never shed unintentionally, their hierarchy providing a clear order to their flight.

    Damien expected more preliminarypetition, but the journey was quite smooth.

    He underestimated how important this ceremony was to the beasts of this realm.

    Status was something he never cared about, but he was only allowed to possess such a mentality because he had power.

    To these beasts, the only way to gain power was status and vice versa.

    For some, failing meant bing prey, an inevitable death.

    The Ascension Ceremony was known as a grand and sacred asion, but it only felt that way for the ones at the top.

    For those in the thirdyer, even if it was the Overseer, this event was a battle of survival, a struggle to earn the right to life.

    There was absolutely no room to fool around here.

    Hours passed in this solemn atmosphere, and the time finally came.

    They''d arrived at their destination.

 Chapter 1090 Ascension Ceremony [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1090 Ascension Ceremony [2]</h4>

    It was like a scene out of a movie.

    Their view was hindered by mist, but it cleared away once they got close.

    The true surface of Skyrend Mountain.

    In terms of appearance, it wasn''t the most extravagant mountain Damien had seen.

    It was steep and rocky, without much vitality on its surface. It was, forck of better phrasing, anky mountain.

    It didn''t have much width, but its height was amazing. Roughly a thousand kilometers of its body were revealed under the cloudyer, and one could only imagine what was hidden above it.

    What stood out about Skyrend Mountain wasn''t its actual surface, but it''s existence.

    It was a mountain forged by the Cloud Emperor as his perch, and it held such an aura that made the natives of this realm instinctually lower their heads.

    To climb it was a sacred privilege regardless of one''s personal circumstances.

    There were many who knew this would be their day of death, but they had no intention to hide away because of this fact.

    Any being with the capability of flight had arrived here, with thest groups making their way to the location now.

    The sky was filled with them, but as this was a ceremony, they did not push their hierarchy into their positioning.

    They formed a ring around Skyrend Mountain that spanned several kilometers, beasts of all orders hovering side by side in this formation without moving an inch out of their personal space.

    When could one see a sight like this in their life?

    In Grand Heavens Boundary, with such a widespread environment, many norms had been established, including the fact that beasts never showed their beast form after 4th ss unless it was necessary.

    They viewed it as a matter of pride, and with that pride, rituals and ceremonies deeply entrenched in their culture were slowly removed and reced with more humanoid traditions.

    The Severed World''s isted environment provided a glimpse into the time before conformity, when beasts existed as nothing more than beasts.

    Perhaps their society was developed, but it was rich in a lovely atmosphere of history and tradition that couldn''t be replicated in ces where it wasn''t cultivated naturally.

    Damien found himself consumed by this environment.

    He forgot everything, even the stranger who was now apanying him, and got lost in the feeling.

    The beating of wings around him, it sounded chaotic, but there was a rhythm to it.

    A rhythm of excitement, anticipation, rivalry, and determination.

    The winds carried a certain smell, as if the world itself was preparing for the arrival of something great.

    Even the mana itself seemed to jump in joy, dancing around Damien''s body like little spirits who''d found a new toy.

    His blood boiled just being in the presence of this atmosphere.

    He almost wanted to stand there forever and bask in the feeling.

    But such a thing was stupid.

    Why merely feel this atmosphere from the outside when he could experience it for himself?

    "Overseer, it''s time for us to part ways. I wish you luck in your climb," he said, cing his hand on therge bird''s back.

    "As to you," the Overseer responded.

    "Regardless of the results, I hope we can maintain our friendship."

    "That''s natural," Damien smiled.

    He looked at the girls and nodded.

    "Zara, you ready?"

    "I''ve been waiting for this since we got here. I''m more than just ready."

    Damien''s shadow expanded, and Zara''s form appeared in reality.

    She didn''t waste time and jumped off the Overseer''s back, expanding to her full size.

    She was bigger than some of the strongest birds they saw, a fact that quickly drew attention to her.

    Butpetition waspetition. If they were going to do this, they had to do it right!

    Damien, the girls, and Sia jumped into Zara''s back and bid a final farewell to the Overseer, moving to a different part of the ring.

    After all, they didn''t want toe into conflict with him when the time came!

    Hours passed.

    More and more beasts arrived as night fell and the moon made its way through the sky.

    When it changed ces with the sun, the event would begin.

    Damien took this time to observe thepetition, but more importantly¡­

    ''Found you.''

    There was arge eagle flying around a kilometer away. Its body was surrounded by smaller birds, a race very familiar to Damien''s group.

    ''The Wind Spirit King.''

    Damien memorized his general location for future use and sat down in meditation.

    The night passed like that.

    The silence was jarring. The utmost seriousness with which this ceremony was treated became obvious.

    Those who tried to act arrogant or gain an advantage through tricks were killed before they could try to ruin the sanctity of the moment, and Damien rejoiced at the fact that their grudge hadn''t affected them quite yet.

    The cycle of night and day held great importance in the culture of these beasts.

    And when the sun rose this time, something descended from the cloudyer.

    It was a pure white Pegasus with the head of an eagle. It wore ornate armor of white and gold, and its arrogance was strong enough to be felt despite the distance between it and the crowd.

    Its appearance caused a stir.

    Huu¡­

    It was an exhale that came from many directions as those participating in the ceremony steadied their breaths.

    The Pegasus looked at them, indifference painting its eyes, and raised its head into the air.

    Whoosh!

    The wind that whipped in that moment could be heard for kilometers.

    Wings furled and unfurled, positions were taken, final preparations were made.

    This was the final second.

    The final second before¡ª

    ROOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!

    The Pegasus roared with all its power, spreading mana through the heavens.

    The horns of battle were sounded¡­

    ¡­and the troops began to move.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    So many wings mmed against the air at the same time that a sonic boom spread from one side of the ring to the other, absolutely obliterating the wind for tens of kilometers outside its radius.

    The aerial beasts charged forward, moving towards Skyrend Mountain so they could climb to its peak!

    "Zara, let''s go!"

    "Yes!"

    Bang!

    Zara shot forward with the crowd, ducking and weaving through the beasts around her with total precision and using her shadow abilities to keep her stably in the middle of it.

    They arrived at the mountainside within seconds, and then¡­!

    WHOOSH!

    Zara pped her wings and pushed her mana, steeply arcing into an almost totally vertical ascent!

    "Woah!"

    Damien and the rest stumbled for a moment before he spread Vector Control to keep them anchored to her back.

    He was honestly expecting some kind of grand entrance, but he was totally wrong.

    Beasts were simple creatures that didn''t engage in sophistry. Once the time came, they did what they needed to do without a single word!

    Countless aerial beasts shot up the side of the mountain from all directions, creating a nket that hid its surface from the outside world.

    Many observers watched from the ground, enamored by the ceremony they could only dream of, while those participating could focus on nothing else!

    There were already battles starting. The weakest beasts started to drop out, and in their final attempts, they tried to bring everyone around them down as well!

    BANG!

    Zara swerved to the side, avoiding a bird that exploded itself upon realizing its failure.

    In consequence, she bumped into the beast flying to her right, angering it and starting a fight!

    They''d only been on the mountain for a few seconds, and its pressure hadn''t even started affecting them yet, but thepetition was already so fierce.

    The Ascension Ceremony had truly begun.

 Chapter 1091 Ascension Ceremony [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1091 Ascension Ceremony [3]</h4>

    The rushing wind, the sound of chaos, the bloody skirmishes¡­

    It could only be described as exhrating.

    It was hard to imagine such a moment, enveloped in an atmosphere like war without truly having to fight a war.

    This was the purpose of the Ascension Ceremony!

    It was impossible to hear anything over the winds and the screeching and roaring of beasts. In all directions, one could see impressive disys of bothbat and nonaggressive climbing.

    It really depended on where one''s abilitiesy.

    The stronger beasts that didn''t have as much maneuverability climbed higher by tearing others down and using them as stepping stools, while their opposites ducked and weaved through the crowded mountainside with utter precision.

    There was no such thing as pacing in an event like this. Even if one reached a high level, if they reached it slowly they wouldn''t truly earn their status.

    All those participating used everything they had from the start, not hesitating to show cards they''d been hiding for years to gain an advantage!

    There were a few specific parts of the mountainside where interesting things were happening.

    The strongest beasts separated themselves from the crowd quickly and started their own cold war at a higher altitude, but within the main pack, there were two groups that didn''t quite fit in.

    The first was atop the back of arge sparrow. They surrounded her with shields and attacked when needed as she swerved through the masses and charged up.

    Meanwhile, the second group rode a winged wolf, a rare beast among the crowd, and didn''t carry the same care for caution.

    Zara also used dexterous means to ascend, but there was no way neers like them wouldn''t be targeted.

    Any time they got close to another beast, it would turn hostile and try to bring them down.

    Of course, none of these small fry had that kind of capability!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Freya and Hel showed their might again, emitting furious waves of spatial mana,bined with something much subtler and more deadly.

    Damien focused on thergest beasts around them, not necessarily causing damage, but forcing their paths to diverge and sometimes even regress away from Zara.

    The girls also did their roles.

    Rose''s illusions were extremely useful in arge area filled with enemies like this one. She was able to mimic the appearances of some surrounding beasts and clone them with illusions, drawing others intobat with their main bodies and establishing grudges between the enemies.

    This was perhaps the most effective strategy. With everyone enveloped by thepetitive atmosphere, their emotions were at an all-time high.

    Any slight provocation was enough to send them over the edge!

    Once they realized how effective Rose''s illusions were, Elena and Ruyue stopped acting independently and supported her.

    Arrows of ice and light spread through the opposition randomly, their routes so convoluted that none could find where they came from.

    Especially since Damien and Rose worked together to shield Zara, creating a mirage that blurred her visage in the eyes of others!

    He couldn''t speak for anyone else, but Damien was having a ton of fun!

    "Hahaha! Higher, higher, higher! This isn''t the best you can do, is it?!" He roared like a madman, slinging his twin guns like a cowboy.

    "You want to see my best? Then I''ll happily show you!" Zara responded, her sharp teeth glistening in the sunlight as she grinned.

    After all, her personality was heavily influenced by him.

    Even if she was more refined now, there was no way she wasn''t enjoying something like this!

    She flew freely at a level she''d never been able to fly before. Her wings pped gracefully yet with clear purpose and her bodily adjustments were made with utter precision.

    The shadow that reflected her appearance on the mountainside stretched out and connected with those of her opponents. Whenever she found a perfect opportunity¡­

    Whoosh!

    Her body sunk into the cliffside and reappeared almost a hundred meters higher.

    "Nice!"

    Damien mmed his arm through the air, sending a wave of mana at the beast Zara had just overtaken.

    ''Severance!''

    Shiiing!

    It was like incorporeal sword light that flew through the air. The beast in question had no chance of survival and was directly bisected.

    The greater part was¡­the attack didn''t disperse!

    It kept traveling down and cutting through any beast in its way until it reached the point they''d just teleported from, crippling severalpetitors.

    Damien''s eyes turned to thest person in their group, a stranger who''d just been recruited.

    Her actions weren''t as grand as the rest of theirs, but as promised, she was also doing her part.

    Damien could feel it in the air; that strange mana she showed him.

    It didn''t have many offensive capabilities, but it put ayer of formless protection around Zara that made other beasts inherently avoid her.

    It was surprising that she had room to move her wings with such freedom, and Damien could only credit this to Sia.

    ''It''d be nice if I could see how she attacks, but we can save that for another time.''

    Their current height was at least 300 kilometers off the ground.

    The mountain''s total height was estimated to be around 1500 kilometers, while the milestones Sia wanted to reach were 1000 kilometers and 1200 kilometers high respectively.

    If they made it to the 500-kilometer mark, they''d gain the right to enter the central region, while anything higher than that determined one''s position in the central region itself.

    The mountain''s pressure had begun showing its fangs.

    It pushed against the group''s protective barriers and tried to drag them down, but this wasn''t nearly enough to contain Zara.

    She''d grown as someone aiming for the Divine.

    Some small pressure from a mere mountain?

    If she let it get to her, then she wasn''t worthy of her ambitions!

    Of course, Zara could only hold this thought because she wasn''t a native of the area.

    The Overseer''s eyes werepletely different as he inched closer to the 500-kilometer mark.

    A domineering armor covered his entire body and a radiant green light seeped into his bones, constantly allowing him to surpass his limits.

    It was difficult. Even at the 400-kilometer mark, he had to push himself to an extent he''d only exerted a few times. When external threats were added, it became more trying than ever!

    The armor gave him the chance to do what he''d never done before; to push past the 500-kilometer mark, the 700-kilometer mark, and even higher.

    He couldn''t allow his own weakness to take away this heavenly blessed opportunity!

    SWOOSH!

    425 kilometers¡­450 kilometers¡­

    He could see the firstndmark, the first step to achieving his goal, right in front of him.

    But nothing was ever that easy.

    In a situation like this, even if one had the power to achieve something, they had to first ask if their enemies would let them!

    A shadow covered the Overseer''s vision.

    A giant eagle glided directly above him, looking down with a smirk on its face.

    "Wind Spirit King!" He yelled through a gritted beak.

    "Haha!" The Wind Spirit Kingughed.

    "My little ones say you''ve been tormenting them in recent days. Since we''re here, let them have their revenge!"

    Whoosh!

    The Wind Spirit King unfurled its wings to their greatest length.

    Attached to its underbelly and hiding under its fur were thousands of Messenger Birds, their eyes glowing red in anger and mockery.

    They''d been suppressed before, but with their ruler''s protection, such a thing would happen no longer.

    The second their eyes found the Overseer, they frenzied into attack!

 Chapter 1092 Ascension Ceremony [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1092 Ascension Ceremony [4]</h4>

    Never in a million years would anyone have expected Messenger Birds to show themselves here.

    They were the weakest of the weak and could only rely on mob mentality and tricks to defeat their enemies. In this ceremony, it wasn''t possible for such a race to achieve results!

    But it was different for the Wind Spirit King. If he was able to ascend, the Messenger Birds would ascend with him and take their tyranny to even greater heights.

    It was an unspoken fact that the Messenger Birds were scammers, and it remained unsaid for good reason.

    Regardless of their cowardice or trickery, they still had the capability to maim and kill!

    The Overseer''s eyes widened as the sudden swarm enveloped him.

    From all sides, Messenger Birds stabbed themselves into his body and used their beaks to prate his armor.

    He swerved, trying to shake them off, but they were relentless. The skills that allowed them to reign over the creatures of the thirdyer were put on full disy.

    ''Dammit!'' The Overseer roared inwardly.

    He spread his mana, throwing the birds off him and charging upward to meet the Wind Spirit King, but it was like they''d gained invincibility.

    Somehow, they werepletely unaffected by his attack and chased him, intent on not letting him go!

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Messenger Birds whizzed through the air and forced the Overseer into a defensive position.

    Killing them would just waste his mana and make him a target for other beasts, but escaping from them was also impossible!

    If there was a downside to being born in the Severed World, it was that the concept ofws was vague.

    Thews weren''tplete in the first ce, and the underdeveloped society didn''t have enough education in ce for the denizens toe in contact with these fragmentedws.

    Their power was mostly physical, and they only used mana to support this strength or put pressure on their enemies.

    Damien and the rest already had to use all their power to fight against these physical attacks, so they couldn''t be looked down on, but in a situation like this one, it was an absolute negative.

    If it was just Messenger Birds, there wouldn''t be a problem, but the Wind Spirit King was actively using the distractions they created to attack the Overseer and chip away at his defenses.

    They weren''t even that different in strength.

    The Overseer could be considered something of a coward.

    He could''ve made it to the central region years ago, but he refused to be under others again after experiencing kingship in the thirdyer. His real strength was at not weak among the beasts of the central region.

    The Wind Spirit King had a territory of his own and experienced the bliss of power as well, but the environment of the central region allowed him growth impossible for his counterpart, which always put him a level above.

    Still, the Overseer wasn''t cking in his training.

    The duo began a splendorous battle as they climbed the slope. They flew around each other, using their talons and wings to sh at each other and even getting petty enough to bite each other and tear chunks of meat off with their beaks!

    It was a brutal battle that didn''t seem like it would have a winner any time soon, but if others intervened, the result would be obvious.

    There was nobody willing to offend the Wind Spirit King for no reason, precisely because of how annoying the Messenger Birds were.

    So in this situation where the Overseer was being harassed, did he even have a way out?

    Unbeknownst to him, a pair of eyes was watching as the events unfolded.

    Damien''s eyes were narrow. He could clearly see the underhanded tactics being used by the Wind Spirit King, and he could feel the vein popping out of his forehead.

    Those annoying little bitch birds were already bad enough, but they were being controlled by an even bigger scumbag?

    He''d umted a great deal of grudges against those sky rats in the past days, and all of that hatred concentrated on the one who allowed them to act out, the big tree that shielded the monkeys.

    He turned to Sia, his face twisted in an absolutely evil expression.

    The grin on his face would immediately scare away any woman in the vicinity, and the cold and bloody killing intent in his eyes would do the same to men.

    But the words that he voiced were utterly calm.

    "Use your mana. nt some of it in that fatass eagle and make sure it''s pure enough to give off fluctuations. I don''t want some bullshit only I can sense this time."

    His words were not the tone of someone asking for a favor at all, but right now, Sia couldn''t really care about it.

    After all, his face clearly said, "If you don''t do it, I''m going to push you off this cliff!"

    She nced at him and rolled her eyes, epting her fate.

    Since she joined this party, she had to pull her weight, right?

    Otherwise, she couldn''t expect them to fulfill their side of the deal.

    These people clearly weren''t as naive as Virgil''s group.

    And¡­

    ''As expected, my eyes don''t work on him.''

    Sia stepped forward and raised her arm into the air, gently flicking her finger.

    An imperceptible wisp of mana shot through the air, rising and curving until it directly prated the Wind Spirit King''s head!

    "This is quite the gift you''re giving them," Sia said.

    "Whatever. It''s worth it."

    Damien''s eyes turned crazier as he watched in anticipation.

    Nothing happened to the Wind Spirit King when the mana entered his body, but a trace of its aura leaked into his mana fluctuations.

    The surrounding beasts couldn''t sense it, but¡­they weren''t the ones it was meant for.

    The Overseer and the Wind Spirit King continued their fight ignorantly.

    The Overseer was massive, and the suppression he could exert was enough to floor countless beasts below him, but the Wind Spirit King was different.

    His ability to read and move with the flow of the wind made him an enemy that couldn''t be caught with effort alone.

    The Overseer''s talons swept through the air, shing at nothing in an attempt to hit him.

    Meanwhile, the Wind Spirit King himself made much more progress.

    The Overseer''s armor was already shattered and had reverted back to its ne form. His body was covered in bloody wounds that were constantly emancipated before they were allowed to regenerate.

    "You''ve be weak in your little nest!" The Wind Spirit King roared mockingly.

    sh!

    "Khhh¡­!"

    The Overseer gritted his beak, ignoring the pain of the new gash that appeared on his chest and counterattacking.

    It was a losing battle from the start.

    The Overseer already epted this. The Wind Spirit King''s tactics and speed were too much for him to win against.

    But he''d never ept that he lost because he was weak!

    "Dammit! I will kill you!" He roared.

    His blood was leaking like a waterfall cascading down the mountainside.

    It was unknown whether or not he''d be able to reach the Wind Spirit King again before he died.

    But at least once¡­

    At least once, he''d¡ª!

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    A truly gargantuan shadow raced down the slope.

    ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAR!

    The visceral and utterly terrifying roar of a beast was heard.

    In that moment¡­

    "What¡­?!"

    The Overseer''s shocked cry resounded.

    ¡­the Wind Spirit King had been devoured.

 Chapter 1093 Ascension Ceremony [5]

    Universal Law was incredibly appealing to all living beings.

    They couldn''t necessarily understand what it was with perception that didn''t match Damien''s or power like Sia, but they could inherently feel the benefits it represented.

    Because Universal Law was the greatest form ofw and held the essence of truth within, regardless of what one practiced, swallowing a piece of it would boost theirprehension severalfold.

    It was basically a cheat item!

    Then, what would happen if even the slightest trace of this golden finger was emitted into the world?

    Naturally, those who could sense it would go crazy for it.

    It all happened in a single second.

    A massive shadow swooped down from above the cloudyer and traversed several hundred kilometers in a single second.

    It had no care for the Ascension Ceremony, nor did it bother with the beings around it at all.

    It swooped down and swallowed the trace of aura it sensed from its perch in the heavens, its massive body causing ripples in the very space of the Severed World with every movement!

    This beast had simr characteristics to a griffin, but rather than the head of an eagle, it had the gaping maw of a crocodile.

    The Overseer and every beast around him froze, watching in horror as the Wind Spirit King''s blood showered down on them.

    That griffin-like beast made an arc in the air, casting an indifferent gaze at the lowly beings climbing the mountain before rushing back up to its perch.

    It was an event so jarring that the Ascension Ceremony almost stalled, but the beasts further away from the area made sure this didn''t happen!

    "Haha! Fuck you, stupid eagle!"

    He felt a little strange saying it since he was American on earth, but Damien couldn''t suppress his joy seeing such a scourge be dealt with quickly and easily.

    "Good work!" He said to Sia,plementing her without reservation.

    "Was it necessary to go to such lengths?" She asked, ncing into the cloudyer.

    "Of course," Damien responded.

    "It''s not just a matter of killing that bitch in the grandest fashion possible. Though that''s the main reason, do you think the beasts up there will let that creature happily enjoy its reward?"

    Naturally, there couldn''t be only a single beast who sensed the leaking aura. The griffin might''ve been the first toe down, but the reason it wasn''t followed was because the rest were lying in wait for his return to fight for the treasure!

    "It doesn''t matter if he eats it or not. As long as they can tear it out of his stomach, they can still obtain the benefits," Sia murmured, the look in her eyes changing.

    She didn''t expect Damien to be a scheming person. It was surprising to see him make such an informed move.

    She managed to ignore the fact that this strategy was only an afterthought, though.

    The Wind Spirit King''s death came fast and didn''t give anyone time to rationalize it.

    The Messenger Birds were still trying to attack, unaware that their support system had been devoured.

    A light suddenly appeared in the eyes of many beasts.

    Messenger Birds, they were a scourge among scourges. There wasn''t a single beast in Skyrend Mountain that appreciated their presence, only those that wished them dead!

    The Wind Spirit King protected them, but he wasn''t enough to scare away all the beasts in the central region.

    The truth, the reason why they could im themselves envoys of the Cloud Emperor, was because the Wind Spirit King had a connection above the cloudyer protecting him.

    Therefore, killing him became impossible, and the Messenger Birds gained amnesty as a byproduct.

    The Wind Spirit King was now dead at the hands of an upper-level being, and the Messenger Birds¡­

    Well, the Wind Spirit King''s backer never cared about them in the first ce!

    A change urred.

    Much of the fighting at lower altitudes came to a halt. The beasts that were previously making an effort to drag their peers down with them threw away their petty desires and descended the mountain, epting their final results.

    Or rather, they conceded in order to aplish something greater!

    To relieve the grudges and stress of so many years, to ughter Messenger Birds until the species went extinct!

    Anyone who reached their limit left to participate in this great event.

    And with that, the brutal environment of the Ascension Ceremony also calmed somewhat.

    The Overseer managed to reach the 800-kilometer mark before his armor''s regeneration could no longer support him.

    He looked over to see a blur of ck light, still in hotpetition with its peers.

    He couldn''t say how, but he knew. He knew it was that group who led the Wind Spirit King to such a humiliating fate.

    As he resigned to his current position and proudly epted his ce in the central region, he silently thanked his luck that he was amodating when he first met them!

    WHOOOSH!

    Winds whipped up a storm as the crowd made its way further up the mountain.

    The number ofpetitors had decreased massively, leaving only a few hundred still ascending, but the overall skill level of thesepetitors far exceeded the pack they''d begun with!

    Zara still used the same tactics to climb higher and higher, but it soon became clear that she was being targeted by her peers.

    On the right, a raven beast and a hawk beast used joint maneuvers to blitz them, while on the left, a fat bird whose flight ability looked questionable was easily following them and mming into their barriers, knocking them off course and leaving them vulnerable to the slope''s dangers!

    "Khh¡­!"

    Damien gritted his teeth and maintained the barrier with all his mana.

    At this point, the atmospheric suppression had reached an insane level.

    It bore down on their bodies,pacting their bones and forcing them to experience great pain.

    But this level of harm couldn''t sway them.

    They had goals to achieve, and they wouldn''t be satisfied until they achieved them!

    "Zara, how are you holding up?" Damien yelled.

    "I''m fine! My body can still take this much!" She responded.

    Zara''s beast body was much stronger than even Damien''s current human body. She could tell that she wouldn''t feel any problems until they surpassed the cloudyer.

    The problem right now was external!

    "Tsk!"

    Zara clicked her tongue and swerved, dodging the fat bird''s charge.

    She did a strange loop in the air, circling the attackers on the left and leading the fat bird over.

    She wanted to lure them intobat with each other, but they were clearly too in sync to fall for such tactics.

    If so, the only thing to do was attack directly!

    AWOOOOOO!

    A fierce howl left her maw, and waves of dark and deadly mana spread into the atmosphere.

    Bang!

    Bang! Bang!

    The attacking beasts were hit and pushed back, shadow mana seeping into their bodies.

    Whoosh!

    Zara pped her wings and shot up without waiting for them to recover.

    Beasts from the Severed World still weren''t familiar with elemental mana in this manner, so the best strategy to use against them was exactly this!

    The attack didn''t cause much damage, but the mana invading their systems wasn''t healthy at all.

    Especially when itpounded!

    Zara swerved and looped through the sky in formations that would put professional pilots to shame.

    She barraged the enemy with small attacks that wouldn''t alert them but slowly poisoned them, putting them under control.

    And in the midst of this fierce chase¡ª!

    BOOM!

    The atmosphere exploded, sending shockwaves in all directions.

    Zara and her opponents had broken through the cloudyer!

 Chapter 1094 Ascension Ceremony [6]

    It really was a different world above the cloudyer.

    Instead of continuing into a peak, Skyrend Mountain expanded outward again, almost as if forming a secondary base.

    Above the cloudyer was essentially a second mountain stacked on top of the first, a little over 500 kilometers tall.

    Rushing through the cloudyer meant two things.

    Firstly, the suppressive force in the air calmed to the point of being mostly bearable, and the atmosphere of the Ascension Ceremony went through a total change.

    Because there were several opportunities present on the slope of this more expansive part of Skyrend Mountain, the rapid sprint to the top halted here.

    From here, what mattered was how high one could get, not how quickly one did it.

    Because even if one took months to do it, making it to the peak was an absolute achievement!

    The cloudyer was inhabited by the strongest beasts in the entire sub-universe, and none of them were willing to easily give up their spots at the top.

    If one wanted to get past them, they''d either need to fight or pass a test, neither of which was an easy thing to do!

    One had to be far more careful after reaching this point.

    Any mistakes could lead to failure which meant certain death.

    There were plenty of beasts who ascended past the cloudyer years ago yet were still challenging their way up its side.

    In a sense, it could be said that the Ascension Ceremony never ended in this area.

    Whoosh!

    Zara pushed up the slopes and did donuts around her pursuers, evening her flight path to match the slope''s angle.

    Damien and the rest wanted to take a moment to admire the scenery, but they didn''t have the time!

    "The Blessing Shrine is not far from here. It''s best for us to take the rest of the journey on the ground," Sia said, spreading her mana to reinforce Zara''s barrier.

    Damien nodded, patting Zara''s back and transmitting the order.

    His eyes never left the three beasts that still hadn''t dropped their pursuit.

    ''From the looks of it, they also know about the Blessing Shrine. I''m not sure exactly what it is, but with a name like that, it has to be a benefit.''

    "Good, let''snd. Everyone, get ready forbat!"

    Fighting from Zara''s back was difficult because their mobility was limited, and their current abilities didn''t allow them to fly freely at such an altitude.

    Perhaps they''d be disadvantaged facing flying beasts on the ground, but it wouldn''t be as much of a disadvantage as what they were currently facing.

    After all, all of them had extreme control over their mana.

    Boom!

    Zara''s paws heavilynded on the ground.

    Damien and his group jumped off, and she didn''t waste time to get back in the air.

    She didn''t mind carrying them, but objectively, they were a burden.

    Without having to worry about their safety, she could maneuver as freely as she wished!

    "Fat bird, you''re dead!"

    She gnashed her teeth and shot through the air like aet on a straight path towards the fat bird.

    It was the most annoying of the bunch and the one that she wanted to kill the most!

    Her mana red, ckness filling the blue sky.

    The fat bird didn''t know what hit it.

    Zara turned into a beam of light and arrived behind it in an instant, shing her ws without mercy.

    Shing!

    The sound was like a sword cutting the wind. Blood spurted out of the bird''s back, and it screeched in pain, turning to her in anger.

    Their battle began there, a battle of speed versus strength.

    The fat bird''s strength was what caused Zara the most trouble on the ascent here. If it wasn''t for that bird, the other two wouldn''t have been able to harm her.

    It was their fault she couldn''t get rid of it then, but she could trust that they couldn''t interfere in this battle.

    She was determined to torture this bird to death!

    Meanwhile, Damien and the girls retrieved their weapons and upied the other two, making sure they couldn''t interrupt her battle.

    The Darklight Raven was also a beast of extreme speed and had an ability simr to teleportation. If it was able to learn its element properly, it likely would''ve had power simr to Zara in her early years.

    The Sword Hawk, on the other hand, had feathers as sharp as des, which it used as projectiles to pierce its target.

    The Darklight Raven took the forefront, using its speed to harass its enemies and agitate their emotions. It moved using the strangest patterns, making it almost impossible to hit.

    The Sword Hawk was more astounding, though, as it was able to fire its feathers with such precision that they never interrupted the raven''s path!

    Damien and the girls took their battle formation.

    Damien used Freya and Hel for crowd control and Rose also helped him from the back. Their role was simr to the raven, but their firepower far surpassed it.

    Ruyue and Elena were in charge of attacking. Beams of light and icicles lined with dark evil energy filled the sky with explosions, limiting the area the beasts could upy.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ''Nice. The mechanics of this realm make this a lot easier.'' Damien thought to himself as he fulfilled his role.

    ''It feels strange not fighting at the front, but this has its own charms.''

    He''d forgotten in the heat of the moment, but there were very strict restrictions on the altitude a beast could fly at in this sub-universe.

    They had plenty of horizontal space now that they''d ascended to this part of the mountain, but they couldn''t move up out of Damien''s range!

    His cover fire was extremely helpful for Ruyue and Elena.

    They stood in the air, closing as much distance as possible without wasting mana.

    ''This power is not enough. I need to find the flexibility of yin.'' Ruyue thought to herself.

    Her attacks were far too rigid. The nature of ice did not bend for anyone, and death was invible. Power output couldn''t help her in the current situation.

    She didn''t let up, but she divided her attention for one reason.

    She was going to unlock her potential!

    The main problem was that the beasts were more powerful than them.

    They didn''t reach the Ghost King''s level, but they were definitely past the beginning of 3rd ss.

    Everyone in this group had killed people of this level when they were at the peak of 3rd ss, but never did their opponent have the ability to outmaneuver them so swiftly.

    It was a new challenge, but not an unwee one.

    Because even in the Severed World, growth was possible.

    As long as it remained within the bounds of 2nd ss, one could absolutely grow their abilities.

    This was part of the allure that drew so many experts here.

    It was a ce to strengthen one''s foundation, to limit one''s strength and gain a better understanding of their strength.

    Perhaps this was a battle, but nobody in the group viewed it as life-threatening.

    For them, this was just another opportunity to train, and a precursor to the reward they were soon to receive!

 Chapter 1095 Ascension Ceremony [7]

    <h4>Chapter 1095 Ascension Ceremony [7]</h4>

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Bullets streaked through the air, forming fierce speed lines that engraved themselves in the space, which was already shimmering strangely.

    The incorporeal walls of a domain set themselves up several kilometers around the ongoing battle and interfered with the environment, shifting it to match the owner''s preference.

    A new form of attack overtook the airspace once it solidified. Swords almost invisible to the naked eye whizzed around, only bing visible when they shed against the razor-sharp feathers aimed at their allies.

    Damien and Rose''s control ability rapidly increased with the continuation of the battle. The Darklight Raven and Sword Hawk found themselves unable to use their usual tactics. Their only choice was directbat.

    Ruyue and Elena''s frontline action became less cluttered as well. With the beasts corralled, they split off and focused on them individually.

    Ruyue took the Sword Hawk, while Elena fought the raven. Their elements were opposed to the features of each beast, which made it much more convenient for them to act alone.

    Rose''s sword phantoms cut off the hawk''s main attack method and freed Ruyue from the bombardment of feathers, which gave her the opportunity to get close to the bird and let her power loose!

    The spear in her hands was like a heat-seeking missile. Regardless of how the hawk moved, she chased it and used impossible movements to strike its weak points.

    CAWWW!

    The hawk called out in humiliation.

    It never believed a minuscule creature that used others to ascend to this height could hold such power!

    Ruyue didn''t focus on her enemy''s actions.

    The perfect defense was being provided to her in full, and she was on a full offensive. Her thoughts were directed inward as she tried to unlock the core of her power.

    ''Flexibility¡­flexibility¡­''

    She tried to think back to her time as a 2nd ss being. What could she rte to flexibility? How could she ground this concept so she could properly perceive it?

    When she was weak, Ruyue was still under the control of the Xue n. She escaped to Tian Yang around this time, but the memories that defined that portion of her life had no sense of flexibility whatsoever.

    Her father was as rigid as could be, and her siblings hardly paid her any mind. Most of the Xue n genuinely despised her existence, a product of rumors spread by the patriarch.

    Xue Yebai''s goal was to break Ruyue''s spirit and turn her into a tool he could use however he pleased, and even now, his twisted ambition was affecting her.

    It was likely that this very rigidity was the reason the Xue n could never improve past the limits of their Yin affinities.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Every swing of her spear was backed by more and more power as she subconsciously vented her emotions.

    She was hardly paying attention to the battle, but she wasn''t fighting alone. Her inconsistencies and openings could still be guarded while she was in this state, and her rtionship with Rose assured her trust.

    After all, aside from Damien, Rose was the closest person she had. Even now, she didn''t doubt the woman understood what she was trying to do.

    Therefore, she left herself in her care and acted recklessly.

    Though, Ruyue''s definition of reckless was perhaps a bit extreme.

    Even fighting instinctually, her years of battle experience made her a machine. Her every movement was precise and filled with killing intent, and the weight of and mana in her spear was terrifying for anyone facing it!

    The only reason the Sword Hawk could avoid heavy injuries was because its flying ability outstripped her maneuverability.

    If it was just a little less cautious, it didn''t doubt it''d find a bloody gash torn into its body!

    Ruyue''s head remained in the clouds as she searched for that single defining moment she needed to grasp the concept of flexibility.

    From past to present, she couldn''t see herself exhibiting such behavior.

    Perhaps it was a result of her upbringing, but Ruyue was just as rigid as her father in terms of personality. If he wasn''t a viinous man but a good one, one could even say they were alike.

    She didn''t show emotion to the outside world, she followed her path without allowing herself to err or stray from it, and she lived an overall stoic life¡­

    ''...unless I''m with him.''

    A light sparked in her mind.

    One truly couldn''t underestimate the love Ruyue had for Damien.

    To her, he was a light in the darkness. He was the one who pulled her out of her cocoon and showed her the beautiful world she''d been missing.

    The only time she was ever able to break away from her inflexible ways was any time with him.

    He was her answer, the anchor for flexibility she''d been looking for.

    Back then, if it wasn''t for his presence, would she have learned such an important lesson in that nameless forest? Would she have survived the Hidden Convention, or entered the 3000 Beast Mountain Range to grow as she did?

    The answer was a t no. If he never joined Celestial Star Pce, she would''ve never left the sect to experience things outside of Tian Yang''s protection.

    Instead of focusing on herself, and without restricting herself to only memories from her 2nd ss days, Ruyue found what she was looking for.

    A man who yearned to be free and unrestrained, and a man who was rigid in his values yet flexible in his outlook and actions, Damien reflected this aspect of Yin quite well.

    The path of Ruyue''s spear started to change. Her dexterity allowed her to perform hard and powerful strikes from impossible angles in a manner that mimicked flexibility, but it was, at the end of the day, forced to adhere to the limits of her body.

    The addition of this new element changed these movements. They lost some of their power, but it was reced by strikes like flowing water, never breaking their rhythm even once.

    The Sword Hawk was instantly thrown into confusion. Just as it gained an understanding of Ruyue''s patterns, shepletely rid herself of them!

    Her actions now carried an air of chaos. There was no visible rhythm, nor was she aiming for specific points of the hawk''s body. From an outside perspective, Ruyue had devolved rather than improving!

    However, how could that be true?

    There was no order in her attacks? That was a wholly incorrect notion.

    Her attacks absolutely followed thews of order. The never-ending rhythm of her spear might''ve seemed random, but every bit of it carried clear intention!

    Ruyue''s eyes were closed at this point.

    Her senses felt connected to nature, able to perceive the outside world perfectly without sight.

    She stepped through the air in a strange pattern, small ripples spreading below her soles as if she were stepping on shallow water. Her spear was closer to a living entity than a weapon at this point. It was a fearsome snake with its fangs aimed at the Sword Hawk''s throat!

    Rose''s eyes narrowed.

    It was time to end this battle.

    She raised her arm into the air and summoned a rain of sword phantoms that barraged the Sword Hawk. They forced themselves into the minute gaps between the hawk''s feathers and immobilized its ability.

    Bind.''

    The remaining sword phantoms swirled together to form a thick heavenly chain, which didn''t waste any time coiling around the bird''s body and tightening until it could no longer move at all.

    Ruyue''s eyes shot open.

    She lowered her body, holding her spear in position.

    ''Twin Serpents'' Dance.''

    Her body became a blur.

    She moved with such speed that she split into two, a true and phantom version.

    And strangely enough, their movements didn''t match.

    The two spears they held snaked through the air in mystifying patterns, crossing each other and twisting up and down in a way that made one question if their shafts were made of jelly.

    In the Sword Hawk''s eyes, Ruyue''s form disappeared entirely. She was reced by twin dragons, azure in color and emitting auras domineering like emperors.

    They charged at it from both sides, leaving it no possible escape route even if it wasn''t restricted, and¨C!

    That was thest sight it saw.

    Ruyue''s visage flickered, and in the next instant, she was behind it.

    Blood spurted into the air.

    The Sword Hawk''s head flew in an arc,nding on the ground below.

    At that moment¡­

 Chapter 1096 Ascension Ceremony [8]

    <h4>Chapter 1096 Ascension Ceremony [8]</h4>

    BOOM!

    A massive body mmed against the ground and crushed the Sword Hawk''s head into bits.

    However, the hawk''s bones were thicker than one would expect. The Darklight Raven that was thrown onto it felt the bones in its back cracking upon impact, making it screech in pain.

    Elena wasn''t simply going to let it recover, though.

    She was a streak of light, nothing more nothing less. Her body crashed to the ground like a nuke, Yggdrasil''s Branch shining powerfully in her grasp.

    Bang!

    She stabbed the sword into the raven''s exposed underbelly, allowing her mana to prate its muscles.

    She didn''t wait to see the effects of her attack before jumping off.

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    A rain of bullets fell, centered around the wound Elena just made.

    Space exploded and ruptured, tearing gashes in the raven''s skin and eviscerating the existing injuries, causing blood to stter over the grassy area.

    Damien and Elena both rushed in, aiming for a killing blow.

    Their battle had been going on alongside Ruyue and Rose''s, so they obviously weren''t far away from killing it.

    In the first ce, Elena''s match-up against the Darklight Raven was far more in her favor than the other side. Light and darkness were diametrically opposed, and while the beast was stronger in terms of pure strength, Elena''s light surpassed what her opponent could wield a thousand times.

    Yet another advantage of being from the outside world presented itself, and seeing how Ruyue moved, Damien didn''t want to sit still either.

    His interference with the Severed World''sws allowed him to understand a loophole, or rather, a chink in its defenses that he''d created in that moment.

    Perhaps he couldn''t outsmart the power cap, but he could definitely use this opening to benefit himself.

    Ruyue was the one who gave him the idea. He was thinking so much about improving his current abilities that he forgot about the original goal of strengthening his foundation.

    To understand vectors properly was to massively increase his firepower and flexibility in battle.

    Therefore, that''s exactly what he did.

    Since Elena was able to manage pretty well on her own, he could divide his attention and experiment during the battle.

    That''s how he found out.

    Vectors, in a sense, were simr to Universal Law in that they were representations of the interactions between forces.

    If Universal Law was the ethereal representation of this concept, vectors were the physical one.

    As someone who''d beenprehending Universal Law so fiercely that he''d been forced to fight it for the right to retain what he learned, Damien was able to make quick progress once he made this connection.

    The main problem was defining forces.

    Gravity, weight, direction, speed, eleration, and many more forces contained their own vectors. In fact, anything with physical presence that moved had vectors that defined each movement.

    When a concept was so vast, it was hard to find ways to properly express it.

    This was an issue Damien had been dealing with since the start.

    Whether it be Space, Time, Universal Law, or even the Void, they were all concepts that held such vagueness and vastness.

    But somehow, he''d managed to gain a grip on them, right?

    Damien decided to start with what he knew.

    He focused on speed, direction, and weight, attempting to bring his ability to manipte them to its peak.

    Of course, he couldn''t do it in a single battle, but his growth was astounding, to say the least.

    He tormented the Darklight Raven with his power. When it tried to move out of range or do any sort of maneuvering to evade Elena, its weight was increased and the air around it solidified, making it hard to move.

    Even its mana was moving slowly. It didn''t know why, but none of its facilities were functioning as they should have!

    Meanwhile, Elena got absolute support just as Ruyue did.

    Her speed and eleration were pushed to the limit, making her a true embodiment of light, her attacks became more powerful, her mana moved smoother, and even her head felt light and able to process information faster!

    Thest effect was likely a cebo caused by thebination of the others, but it didn''t matter.

    What mattered was that Elena had a fighting capacity that entered the 3rd ss range, and the enemy had been brought down to match her!

    Unlike Ruyue and Rose, their battle was much more streamlined, but it wasn''t any less grand.

    The Darklight Raven had no chance to retaliate.

    By the time Damien''s bullet rain ended, Elena and Damien were already at its sides.

    They shed their swords together, and their sword lights intersected as they tore through the raven''s body.

    The only battle left ongoing was¡ª

    BANG!

    A mangled corpse fell to the ground, sttering into a pancake of meat chunks on impact.

    Zaranded next to it gracefully, but the blood covering her mouth and ws made her appearance anything but.

    She grinned as she looked at the fat bird''s corpse.

    As she said from the beginning, it never had a chance.

    Watching it get corroded by Shadow Mana as she tormented it mentally was something Zara enjoyed to the maximum, otherwise, she would''ve finished long ago.

    It hurt her pride a little to be thest one done!

    "What a fun battle," Damien remarked with a grin.

    "It was likely the most entertaining event we have experienced thus far," Ruyue continued.

    "Really? Climbing was the most fun part for me," Elena chimed in.

    "She didn''t mean it like that. The word she was looking for was rewarding," Rose said, shaking her head.

    Ruyue nodded in agreement, while the rest followed suit.

    Indeed, they''d had plenty of dangerous encounters and exhrating encounters, but they''d never been able to gain so much with so little effort sinceing to this ce.

    ''Or maybe it feels like less effort because we''ve improved?''

    Nowadays, improvement was so vague that Damien forgot the feeling of growing when he was still weak.

    At this level, every small step felt like a major leap.

    In the 9 revolutions, every small step was truly a major leap, but it felt like one was barely moving their feet!

    "There''s no need to keep waiting, right? Let''s head to the Blessing Shrine!"

    Damien and the girls looked towards Sia, who gazed back at them with a raised eyebrow.

    "What? Did you think I knew where it was? I''ve never been here before."

    Her response was quiteckluster, and elicited deadpan gazes from everyone who was listening.

    Damien shook his head wryly, while Elena rolled her eyes and flicked out her hand.

    "Come out, I."

    A sh of light appeared on her chest, and an entity jumped into the Real ne.

    It was¡­

    "¡­a cat?!"

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    "Why didn''t you tell me you got a cat?!"

    He teleported over and swooped I into his arms before she knew what was happening, grinning the whole time.

    Elena smiled wryly.

    "You can pet herter. I has an uncanny ability to find treasure. That''s why I brought her out."

    "Oh¡­"

    Damien put the cat down unwillingly and backed off.

    His love for cats¡­couldn''t be underestimated!

    But for now, they had things to do.

    ''Not that there''s anything more important than cats, but¡­haa, whatever.''

    Damien shook his head and cleared away his sorrow.

    "To the Blessing Shrine!"

 Chapter 1097 Blessing Shrine [1]

    I''s ability, as Elena imed, was uncanny.

    The moment she was given a task, she sniffed the air a few times and set off, dashing into the environment without giving the group any time to rest!

    It was at this time when Damien and the girls also had time to look at the scenery around them.

    From the outside, flying against its slope, the upper part of Skyrend Mountain didn''t look much different from the bottom portion, aside from its size.

    It was a rocky surface that didn''t seem to contain any life, and one would question why they couldn''t see the enemies they were expecting when they ascended it.

    However, it wasn''t such a simple surface.

    Hidden within the rock were ins of green, an ascendingndscape that was filled with lush and vibrant flora, along with its own ecosystem of animals.

    Animals, not beasts.

    For the first time since he fell into the First Dungeon, Damien saw regr animals that weren''t influenced by mana.

    Deer, rabbits, goats, small birds, and many other harmless creatures popted these ins, creating a sense of peace and true nature in these hidden spaces.

    But at the same time, their existence was an oddity.

    After all, every living being would be affected by mana in some way. Even mortals had lifespans over 150 years because of its effects.

    Seeing untransformed animals wasn''t impossible, but it was almost as rare as¡­

    Well, there was no need to say more.

    As Damien and the girls followed I, they were weed into what was like a second world in the clouds.

    They crossed over hills and through valleys, they traveled peaceful ins and even thunderous rivers on their way to the Blessing Shrine.

    Roughly an hourter, I finally stopped.

    Her nose went into the air, her front paw rising slightly off the ground.

    Sniff!

    Sniff!

    Her eyes shot open, sparkling like gems.

    Meow!

    She mewled excitedly, rushed forward, and leaped into the air!

    "I!" Elena yelled out in panic.

    After all, the cat just jumped off a cliff!

    She and the rest rushed to the cliffside and looked over its edge, but all they could see was darkness!

    "I guess we''re jumping again," Ruyue sighed.

    "Of course we''re jumping!"

    Damien raised his foot off the ground and calmly fell off the cliff.

    "I''ll see you at the bottom!"

    The cat just fell into an abyss! There was no time to waste!

    Ruyue sighed again, epting her fate of always ending up in the underground, and followed suit with Elena and Rose.

    Sia looked over the edge with a raised brow, watching the group fall and shaking her head.

    ''There is no fear of danger in their bones.''

    Shrugging to herself, she gracefully walked off the edge, using mana to slow her fall and maintain this grace.

    Considering their past experiences, Damien was expecting a long fall and a dark cave, but he was entirely wrong.

    Just a few hundred meters into the fall, winds picked up around them.

    Winds filled with the mana of space!

    ''Aha, so that''s what happened!'' Damien thought as he grinned to himself.

    It wasn''t an abyss, but a gateway!

    The swirling winds were like silver rivers flowing through the air. They wrapped around the group, and in the next instant, they vanished.

    Shining sunlight forced them to avert their gazes, making them aware of the change of scenery.

    The space was just as flourishing as the world outside, a small and nondescript in filled with flowers, grasses, and a myriad of harmless fauna.

    The only thing adding some spice to the area was their very goal, the Blessing Shrine.

    It was a square tform roughly 30 meters in length made out of a cream-white marbled material, raised 1 meter off the ground with steps lining its sides leading up to its surface.

    Each corner was decorated with a statue made of the same material, representing the figures of warrior-like beings from antiquity.

    And of course, the main shrine graced the center of the tform. A small structure made of glossy wood, it was almost unworthy of the atmosphere created around it with how in it was.

    But that was its charm.

    For some reason, it''s subtleness made it all the more sacred, as if it didn''t need a grand appearance to convey its worth.

    "The base was created by man, while the shrine''s existence remains unknown. The dichotomy is meant to represent humanity''s perception of the shrine against its perception of man."

    Sia spoke up, slowly making her way towards the structure.

    "It is called the Blessing Shrine because of its heavenly ability: to grant one the blessing they need the most. It was said to have disappeared from existence long ago, but in reality, it relocated to this Severed World."

    As her exnation continued, more than the shrine, the mysteries around her grew.

    But it was clear she had no desire to share.

    After all, the rtionship they''d established remained one of business, never crossing that boundary.

    "There is no specific method to receive a blessing. It is said that one will only be blessed when the shrine deems them ready."

    She got on her knees and adopted a praying posture, closing her eyes.

    "Then what do we do until it makes that decision?" Damien asked.

    Sia opened her eyes and nced at him stoically.

    "Pray."

    She went back to her activities after that, leaving the group to figure out the rest themselves.

    "Well, I guess it''s that easy?" Damien muttered.

    "It seems so, but we can''t be sure," Ruyue replied.

    "True, but we have time right now. Shouldn''t we take the chance?"

    "Do we have time? I thought you¡­" Rose said, her voice trailing off.

    But Damien shook his head.

    "Regardless of my personal feelings, our growthes first. Even if I answer the questions in my mind, it won''t matter unless we can survive theing war, right?"

    Damien wanted to return to the Human Domain because he had several questions to ask his mother, but the question of his existence was something he could infer about.

    What he desired was confirmation.

    But as he said, confirmation meant nothing if he lost his chance to go to the Heavenly World by dying in this war.

    He had enemies both inside the universe and out, with arge number of them being Demigods.

    It wouldn''t be possible before his battle with the Saint King, but Damien''s current goal was simple.

    To ascend to Divinity as swiftly as possible with enough qualifications to possess extreme strength able to match those who''d been in the realm for decamillenniums.

    And naturally, he refused to do it alone.

    He smiled as he led the girls up the stairs, taking his ce on the shrine with them to his sides.

    Zara and I also did the same,ying down behind the group.

    ''The Blessing Shrine will give you the blessing you need most.''

    That''s what Sia said, but Damien had to wonder.

    Could it really give him what he needed?

    As someone who''d been forced to introspect and gain an understanding of himself for so long, Damien had long known what his greatest weakness was.

    But he didn''t know any way to fix that weakness but time.

    Damien was curious if the Blessing Shrine was really a heavenly-descended entity that could read through the veil of the Void and understand him.

    ''All you have to do is pray, huh¡­''

    It seemed simple, but¡­

    ''How¡­do I do that¡­?''

 Chapter 1098 Blessing Shrine [2]

    Damien¡­was not a faith-driven person.

    It started as a somewhat childish hatred for the world, where he rejected the existence of a higher power because of the situation he was in.

    Butter, it changed.

    Why worship something he was aiming to surpass?

    When higher powers became tangible and Damien realized that it was possible for him to join their ranks, that became his goal.

    And with the Void and Universal Law around him, he believed in naturalw more than anything else.

    Damien understood faith and even had respect for it. It wasn''t as if he didn''t know how to make the motions of prayer.

    What he didn''t know how to do was pray with intention.

    What was he supposed to pray to?

    To the Blessing Shrine?

    To the Cloud Emperor?

    Or maybe to something even greater?

    The problem with a mind so independent was that it came with deep pride in one''s values.

    Damien always refused to bow his head to anyone except his mother. A bow from him was worth more than the world itself.

    For someone like that, a ritual like this was ufortable, to say the least.

    Still, he made the motions and closed his eyes, entertaining these idle thoughts.

    He never took the time to ponder on things like this. After all, faith meant something different to everyone.

    It may have been a bleak thing to him, but it might''ve been the hope that allowed someone else to keep living.

    Therefore, he never condemned nor supported the concept, following his same ideology to provide respect to those who provided respect.

    What he questioned now was his aversion to it.

    Was it just pride? Or was it something greater?

    In usual cases, a topic like this would''ve been ignored by him before his thoughts could even manifest, so why was it being thought in such detail right now?

    There had to be a reason, and that reason was likely the Blessing Shrine.

    ''What does it want me to do?''

    Why didn''t he just pray?

    Regardless of whether he was praying to anything in particr or not, why didn''t he just suck it up and pray for the sake of the reward?

    The answer was simpler than he expected.

    ''It''s because I''m selfish.''

    The things he wanted to achieve, the future he wanted to see, he wanted to grasp it with his own hands.

    He wasn''t a man without faith, he was a man whose faithy only in himself.

    Therefore, what was the point of praying?

    Or rather, perhaps understanding this side of his nature and setting goals for the future was his form of prayer.

    Damien felt his mind bing hazy.

    Worship was only deserved by those higher than oneself, whether that be in the sense of faith or loyalty.

    As someone aiming to be absolute, there should be no such entity in Damien''s mind.

    Whether it was the Universal Law, the gods in the Heavenly World, or even the Void itself, they could only be stepping stones for him to surpass!

    This was his realization.

    And this was the moment his mind left his body.

    He arrived in a in white space that expanded endlessly.

    There was nothing for him to do here, nor was there any sort of spirit or being that came to speak with him.

    He merely floated in this endlessness with no direction or thought.

    Maybe he was supposed to use this time to think about other things, contemte his existence, or maybe evenprehend something, but for some reason, Damien didn''t feel the need to do any of this.

    He let his mind rest itself in this uncanny silence.

    In the past, this would''ve been a challenge for him. He might''ve copsed from spending too long in this lonely space with nothing but his thoughts.

    But the current him was as solid as a heavenly stone.

    Thanks to the Blessing Shrine, he was able to establish an absolute belief in himself that he had never voiced before.

    What was there left to ponder?

    ***

    Unbeknownst to Damien, time passed.

    Ruyue and Elena were granted their blessings on the very same day they arrived at the shrine.

    Respectively, they received the Blessing of Yin and the Blessing of Life.

    They soundedmon and merely based on the affinities of the two women, but they were far greater than that.

    These were the paths they chose to follow to reach the peak of the universe. A simple blessing rted to them was already a great boon, but these blessings weren''t simple at all!

    They could feel theirprehensive ability was majorly enhanced, and they felt an inherent closeness with their Laws they''d never experienced before.

    It was a state simr to embodiment, yet not quite at that level.

    Zara and I awoke not long after them, each having received a blessing rted to them despite them not praying at all, but instead merely sleeping at the base of the shrine.

    Rose came off the shrine two dayster with a more elusive reward.

    She was given the Blessing of Truth.

    The power of her Eyes of Fate increased severalfold, and more importantly, she could almost feel the fabric of reality against her skin.

    Unlike Ruyue and Elena, she didn''t get something that boosted her, but something that defined her.

    The path she''d only been half-sure was possible to traverse was suddenly open to her, and the doubts in her heart faded.

    She even felt her strength subtly increase with this realization!

    Sia was next, leaving one week after their arrival.

    She had a deep frown on her face and aplicated expression in her eyes. She refused to share the nature of her blessing and didn''t speak much to the girls, instead finding a corner to rest alone and contemte what had urred.

    The only one left was Damien.

    Even after a week passed, even a day after that, he remained unmoving, sitting cross-legged on the shrine tform.

    There were no changes in his serene expression, nor did any grand manifestations appear as he continued to pray.

    Rather, his aura became weaker and weaker until it was nearly on the verge of disappearing.

    If Elena didn''t have a strong perception of life that allowed her to sense his powerful vitality, the girls would''ve thought he was dying!

    But he was alive. More alive than ever, in fact.

    His blessing was currently being applied, and his mind remained trapped in infinity.

    It was on the 9th day that he finally showed a reaction.

    His aurapletely vanished. If one checked the shrine tform with their perception, they''d find it empty.

    His physical presence was the only thing that remained unhidden to watching eyes.

    His mind, which had reached a state of inner peace in its retreat, was pulled back into his body.

    His eyes fluttered open.

    He looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching his fists over and over again.

    ''I understand. So this is my blessing.''

    He smiled.

    The Blessing Shrine really didn''t disappoint.

    His blessing didn''t offer him any sort of boost, nor did it open up new pathways for him.

    No, it merely "made avable to him what he already had."

    This blessing, Damien''s blessing¡­

    ¡­was the "Blessing of Foundation."

 Chapter 1099 Lunar River [1]

    There was only one thing Damien had never been able to ovee in the decade and a half since he began training.

    It was his foundation.

    From his days struggling in the dungeon to when he was a peak powerhouse in Hidden Death Valley, the problem followed him.

    Damien grew extremely fast. He gained more and more power and achieved a feat nobody had ever achieved with his progression.

    However, his growth waited for no man, including himself.

    Vector Control was a great example.

    When Damien reached 2nd ss, he was too focused on escaping through the path Kurt Galloway left in the First Dungeon.

    Afterwards on Apeiron, while he did use Vector Control, he never focused on its main ability, mainly using it to create sma and boost his firepower.

    By the time he reached 3rd ss, he''d barely uncovered the surface of the Vector Control talent. Bing a Celestial took up all his attention and he neglected his previous talent as a result.

    The next time he utilized Vector Control was when Tian Yang taught him how to hide his traces while teleporting.

    There were a few casester on, but this was the extent of his journey with Vector Control.

    Yet, it was a part of his strength that could''ve helped him through many situations.

    If he was able to slow his opponents down, even by a minuscule amount, wouldn''t he have been able to take victory in many close battles that ended in draws?

    Of the examples that could be provided, Vector Control was one of the smallest.

    Damien had a well of strength in his body that he wasn''t able to tap into because of how he rushed through his training.

    Hell, even some abilities that he put work into in the past became irrelevant for the same reasons.

    He was a jack of all trades yet a master of none.

    Some said such a state would make one better than a master of one, and Damien had seen the effects of this countless times.

    But that only applied when the master of one was at the same level.

    For someone like Damien whose enemies were able to kill him with a single p, an excess was not a good thing.

    If only he could be a master of all trades, someone who couldn''t bepared to a master or a jack in any fashion¡­

    That was always his goal. When he got older, he tried to narrow down the abilities he focused on so he didn''t end up in a situation where he was disadvantaged again.

    The problem wasn''t one that could be solved so easily.

    The further he grew, the more he threw away.

    At this point, his arsenal consisted of only Spacetime, Samsara, and the Void.

    Even these couldn''t be used to their full potential because of the mistakes he made in the past.

    The "Blessing of Foundation."

    It did not boost him nor did it open up new pathways, but it gave him everything.

    It gave him ess to that well of strength he''d been seeking for so long.

    He was currently restricted to 2nd ss, but he could feel it.

    The utterpleteness he felt in his body.

    It was beautiful. There was no other way to exin it.

    Perhaps nobody else in existence knew what it felt like to be thisplete.

    Damien stood up from the shrine tform.

    His appearance hadn''t changed, but for some reason, he looked more handsome than usual. "Is there anything else to do here?" He asked, turning to Sia who still sat in the corner.

    "¡­nothing," Sia responded.

    "Then let''s get going to the Lunar River."

    Damien was feeling energized right now.

    He wanted nothing more than to go out and fight, to feel the significance of his blessing firsthand!

    The girls smiled without a word, letting him enjoy his moment.

    Zara and I stood up and stretched their bodies.

    And together with fresh minds and rested bodies, they charged up the mountain!

    ***

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Explosions sted clouds of dust into the atmosphere as a fierce battle continued.

    The group made it 100 kilometers up the mountain in the past two days. The Lunar River was 1,200 kilometers up the mountain, which meant they were halfway to their goal.

    Ascending the mountain above the cloudyer was much more like a path of challenge than a ceremony.

    Every few tens of kilometers, a new powerful beast resided, waiting for those who trespassed on its territory.

    There wasn''t a true order to it, but the further they went, the more space there was between territories.

    The rules to the challenge were simple.

    If the challengers won, they had the two options.

    They could spare the territory lord and continue on, or they could kill the territory lord and dere the end of their challenge.

    And if the challenged beast won, there was no choice for the challengers but death.

    Luckily, the strength of these beasts wasn''t too monstrous.

    The three beasts Damien''s group defeated earlier had the strength to join the ranks above the cloudyer.

    Those right outside the Blessing Shrine''s area were even weaker than those three, while the beasts the group currently faced were roughly at the same level.

    Though, this progression alluded to extremely strong beasts at the higher altitudes, a fact the group was forced to stay wary of.

    Nevertheless, they wouldn''t have any problems getting to the Lunar River.

    Damien was actually having a st right now!

    His body swerved through the air like a fish in water. He shed back and forth like his body had no material form, and his attacks were absolutely deadly.

    Teleportation felt amazing. He''d been doing it for so long that he forgot how amazing it felt, but right now, it was like he''d just done it for the first time again.

    And his power¡­his power flowed so easily.

    It was like the connection between his thoughts and actions was absolute. The flow of his mana followed his instincts perfectly, and as long as it was in his power, he felt like he could do anything!

    It was almost ironic to feel this way in a realm with such a strict restriction, so he could only imagine what it''d feel like when he was back to normal!

    Mirage was in his right and Freya was gripped in his left.

    The current enemy was a winged crocodile, a strange-looking reptilian beast with feathered wings.

    And Damien was toying with it to his heart''s content.

    The beast had an extremely hard outer defense that Damien couldn''t pierce through, but it also had a soft underbelly and inside that he could exploit to assassinate it.

    But he was still enjoying his power, so he focused on the armor, intent on breaking it apart!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Three more shots from Freya mmed into a single spot on the crocodile''s back perfectly.

    Damien''s body descended through the air with the velocity of aet. His arm pulled back and gathered strength, pushing out to pierce the cracked area he''d created!

    ''Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break''

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Pieces of flesh and thick armor flew into the air.

    Blood flowed to the ground in rivers.

    A hole ten times the size of the impact point blew open in the crocodile''s body, creating a tunnel between its back and the ground below.

    Damien grinned.

    Even the most simple moves¡­

    ''¡­make me feel like a king!''

 Chapter 1100 Lunar River [2]

    Now, it had been a long time since Damien felt this kind of excitement, so he may have gone a bit overboard, but he didn''t lose his head.

    He was ted, but he was still aware that this blessing only brought him to where he should''ve been in the first ce. If he wanted to reach his goal, he needed to continue working on himself.

    What made him feel so ted was the fact that the blessing wasn''t a one-and-done situation. It would continue aiding him, allowing his foundation to remain sturdy and supporting him even as he grew.

    Which meant from now on, he didn''t have to worry about being bogged down by his surplus of powers!

    It was a relief more than anything else. He no longer had a backlog to worry about.

    His emotions and mentality, and now his body and power, had all caught up.

    It could be considered something like a "perfect martial state."

    Nevertheless, Damien let loose his rampant emotions on the beasts they encountered, hardly asking for help from the girls.

    The path to the Lunar River wasn''t nearly as convoluted as the one to the Blessing Shrine, a simple climb past these challenges to reach where it ran.

    ''We''re 1200 kilometers high now, and the average strength of beasts is approaching the peak of 3rd ss. We may not be able to progress so smoothly from this point.'' Damien thought to himself as the group reached the riverside.

    ''We''ll also be losing Sia''s help, so taking up every challenge might not be the best idea.''

    Damien looked at the woman who''d formed a business rtionship with them.

    This was thest stop of their journey, and also where Damien was to take his promised reward.

    The Lunar River was deep ck in color, its flow barely noticeable due to this. The only color seen in its waters was the slight lunar white glow emanating from the riverbed.

    "Unlike the Blessing Shrine, this river''s effects will not always be magisterial. It has the simple ability to provide one absoluteprehensive power for as long as they can remain submerged in its waters."

    "However, it''s not easy to stay inside, huh," Damien finished.

    Sia nodded.

    "I cannot speak on its exact effects, but I have heard that it is impossible for most tost more than 30 seconds inside."

    "What happens if they overstay their wee?"

    "Those who did not know their limits have all exited this river with their minds crippled, driven to insanity."

    Damien frowned and looked at the strange body of water.

    ''If the mental strain is that bad, this "absoluteprehensive ability" must be way more intense than what she''s letting on.''

    Damien''s brow suddenly raised.

    ''Perhaps¡­''

    "Within the river, you will be able to sense my mana as if it were your own. You will naturally obtain what you desire."

    Sia spoke again, confirming his thoughts.

    It was exactly what he wanted. Now that he''d gained the benefit of wholeness, the best course of action was to improve his understanding of Universal Law again.

    After all, controlling Universal Law meant bringing everything else he had up with it. There was no such thing as a universalw without theponents that formed it.

    "There''s no need to wait, right? Does anyone have questions?"

    Damien looked to the girls, who shook their heads with eagerness in their eyes, and back to Sia one more time before shrugging.

    "Alright then. Good luck, and be careful!"

    He stepped over the river, slowly submerging himself in its waters.

    When his head went under, his senses exploded.

    Everything became perceivable with the slightest intention, thews of the Severed World that remainedpletely hidden disyed themselves, a sight enough to drive anyone mad.

    Damien kept his eyes closed and focused his senses. He didn''t feel the suppression as much because of his path, but he could absolutely understand why people left this ce insane. ''This isn''t absoluteprehension. This is true embodiment.''

    Damien could feel his soul being torn in several different directions as the Laws he controlled tried to swallow him. If he allowed it, he had no doubt he could be a true master in controlling his chosenw, but that wasn''t the goal!

    Damien concentrated and felt for any other physical presences around him.

    He found Rose, Ruyue, and Elena soon enough, each with a multitude of expressions shing across their faces as they saw the fullplexity of the partial universalw.

    But no matter how he searched, he still couldn''t find Sia, just like when they''d first met.

    Wisp!

    Damien caught something in the corner of his perception, the slightest trace of a strange yet familiar mana.

    ''Does she have to make it soplicated?''

    Heined, but he still faithfully followed the mana and surrounded it with his perception.

    He found himself in what felt like a school of fish, yet each fish was a wisp of mana that wriggled and moved like it was alive.

    ''She won''t help me; I just have to do it.''

    Blindprehension was definitely something Damien was looking forward to.

    Definitely¡­

    ''Not like I have any other choice.''

    He sighed inwardly and shut up, focusing on what he had to do.

    Thebination of the Severed World''s Universal Law''s rity, Sia''s mana, and the amplificatory effects of the Lunar River provided him a perfect environment toprehend the elusive concept.

    Plus, with his new perspective on Vector Control, he had a foothold to rely on unlike when he first tried.

    He already defined Universal Law internally, so all he had left to do was pick it apart and study its pieces.

    And these pieces were¡­

    ''I see, so I''ll have to do something like that in the future.''

    A scene shed through Damien''s mind, allowing him to realize his path forward inprehending this specificw.

    ''But the future is the future. Is the universe telling me not to get in over my head?''

    At the end of the day, he wasn''t even a Divinity yet and he was trying to control something even they couldn''t grasp the hem of.

    Perhaps the reason he''d never been able to turn thisw tangible was because he wasn''t strong enough yet?

    ''And perhaps Sia knew about that from the start.''

    Damien sighed and shrugged.

    ''There''s an order to all things. You can''t expect pizza toe out of the oven if you don''t assemble it and put it in first.''

    He was confident that as long as he was able to bring the rest of hisws to their respective peaks, Universal Law would naturally reveal itself to him.

    At that time, he would be able to use it as a basis to¡ª

    ''That''s too much forward thinking. I can withstand the river, but the Severed World''sws clearly want to force me out. Let''s not get caught up on needless thoughts and waste this opportunity.''

    He encountered a setback, but he was not nning to leave it until he gained something from Sia.

    He refused to work for free!

    ''If I can''t get the main entree, should I monopolize the appetizers and desserts?''

    He grinned to himself.

    ''The sub-universe really isn''t going to like this one.''

    ''Devour.''

 Chapter 1101 Lunar River [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1101 Lunar River [3]</h4>

    The greatest achievement Damien had made on his own in the Severed World was his first meditation session.

    Back then, when he was desperately trying to maintain his memory, he''d shattered a portion of the sub-universe''s restriction, which made a certain force avable to him again.

    The Void showed itself when he used Devour.

    The Breath of Nothingness that remained hidden until now came out in full force, consuming Damien''s target with all its power.

    What was that target?

    Naturally, it was Sia''sprehension.

    If he couldn''t attain it himself, he could just steal it!

    This was the split-second decision he came to upon realizing the limits of his strength.

    To steal someone else''sprehension was usually impossible without injuring them. After all, it was essentially crippling their strength, ridding them of any memory of thoseprehensions.

    But it was different in the Severed World.

    Here, theprehension one had was, in simple terms, held in a backup.

    The restriction was able to read one''s past and revert their strength, which meant it needed to keep a memory of what to return to them when they left.

    In that instance, one''s original strength would be added back onto what they gained in the Severed World, and any "superfluous data" would naturally override itself.

    Basically, theprehensions one maintained from their original 2nd ss state would be returned, while things they achieved within the realm would be maintained.

    Damien didn''t know anything about Sia, but he could guarantee that herprehension didn''te from this realm.

    If she only recently understood herws, she wouldn''t be able to use them with such precision and subtlety.

    Truthfully, Damien had been testing Sia for a while.

    She didn''t act unless she needed to, but whenever he gave her a task, she was able to aplish it perfectly.

    For instance, when she ced a target on the Wind Spirit King''s back.

    That precise mana control was already impressive, but when her uniquew was taken into ount, all the facts showed that she was an expert in the outside world.

    Even if Damien harmed herprehension right now, nothing would happen to her in the long run.

    ''But at the end of the day, we''re on good terms, so I''ll have to make sure something like that doesn''t happen.''

    It was just a matter of control.

    Damien was very careful in handling the Breath of Nothingness with his current strength, and though he couldn''t sense where Sia was, he made sure not to send his mana past the bounds of the wisps she left for him.

    ''I can start with these to get a feel for it and then get bolderter. Since she released these into reality, they must be low-levelprehensions.''

    Giving him high-level material from the start was foolish. He didn''t believe Sia would make such a scammer-like move.

    The Breath of Nothingness did its job perfectly when it was given the opportunity. The wisps of strange mana were swallowed one after another, and several thoughts filled Damien''s mind, colliding and merging as if they had physical presence.

    ''Thisw¡­isn''t quite Universal Law¡­?''

    He didn''t expect it to be so easy to grasp when it was presented like this.

    He rapidly understood what the nature of Sia''sw was.

    ''Just like the Severed World, she holds an iplete Universal Law in her hands.''

    Its rules were different and it had developed in a direction fit for an individual rather than a ne, but it was undoubtedly a partial universalw.

    ''Did shee here for the same purpose as me? To steal the Severed World''s achievements for herself?''

    If so, she was definitely impressive. Rather than doing the work herself, she came to this point utilizing the strength of others and using every waking moment to study the realm''sws!

    The dedication was admirable.

    ''And it''s my ticket to sess!''

    Damien was now in an amazing position.

    Sia''s ipletew was entering his head piece by piece through the Breath of Nothingness, while the Severed World''s ipletew was disyed above for him to read whenever he desired!

    The only problem was time.

    ''Khh¡­!''

    Damien gritted his teeth as he felt something entering his body.

    Tendrils of the Severed World''s will entered his body through the Lunar River''s water, gripping his heart and giving him a severe warning.

    It was fine to learn what he wanted, but only within the bounds of what he was allowed.

    This was the message it sent!

    ''It''s fucking annoying. The damn universe started attacking me the moment I went under. Aren''t your bounds a little too strict?''

    Damien frowned, but he knew in his heart that he didn''t have the power to refute,

    ''I have at most a minute in here. I have to take everything I can in the time I have.''

    Damien once again stopped his idle thoughts and concentrated.

    His mana spread past the tiny wisps of cosmic mana and towards where he assumed their source was.

    He swirled his mana around the river, even devouring some of its waters, but he was never able to touch Sia''s physical body.

    Nevertheless, the fluctuations of cosmic mana became denser the further he traveled into its midst, and theprehension he received wasn''t slight at all.

    The situation continued for precisely a minute.

    Damien constantlypared thews above him with those in his head, forming a moreplete picture of how these two entities understood Universal Law.

    But that wasn''t enough for him.

    The information he was currently receiving was extremely helpful, but he wanted to seek the truth!

    He wanted to test the True Universal Law itself!

    Ssh!

    "Fuwah!"

    His head resurfaced from the deep ckness, the water dripping down his face illuminated by the pale white light from below.

    ''I guess that''s all I can do for now.''

    He had to be satisfied with what he had.

    He climbed out of the river and used mana to dry his body, ncing around in the meantime.

    "Huh¡­" he muttered awkwardly,

    "¡­I guess I''m the first one out."

    He didn''t look down on the girls, but this was the first time such a situation urred, not just with them, but in general.

    "¡­"

    Damien sat down, a look of confusion on his face.

    "¡­what am I supposed to do now?"

    For once, he was put in the waiting room, forced to entertain himself until the test finished.

    But how did he do that here?

    He could just rx, but he had enough of that in the Blessing Shrine''s nk space.

    His eyes turned to the other side of the riverbank.

    ''Should I go feel out thepetition?''

    It was a known fact that the beasts higher up would be incredibly powerful. Preparations to deal with their strength had already been made.

    Their number was still a problem, though.

    If there were too many of them, preparation became meaningless.

    Damien stood up and stretched his body, flickering as he teleported across the river.

    ''It''s already been a minute, but it''s rare for normal practitioners tost even 30 seconds in there. I''m on a time crunch.''

    Sure he was doing something important, but he had to be back before the girls emerged from the river.

    After all, he knew it personally.

    The feeling of seeing someone one cared about patiently waiting for them to finish was too heartwarming for him to deny his women that privilege!

 Chapter 1102 Lunar River [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1102 Lunar River [4]</h4>

    Ssh!

    Ssh!

    Ssh!

    Three people surfaced from the water at the same time, taking deep breaths and stabilizing their minds.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elenapleted their time in the Lunar River after five minutes. It was an astounding amount of time whenpared to the average.

    Still, this time came with consequences.

    It took them several moments to reorient themselves.

    After all, they also saw the Severed World''s Universal Law.

    Damien could only handle it because he was familiar with the concept. When the girls were shown the same sight, their spiritual worlds were shaken terrifically.

    It made sense why people were crippled. Even they were almost crippled in the first few seconds.

    The pressure of the grand truth influenced their minds almost to the point of breaking them, but they''d managed to survive.

    Their gains were matched by an equal amount of disorientation that made them unable to distinguish whether reality was truly real or not.

    Whoosh!

    A light wind blew past their faces, and a calming flow of mana surrounded them, warming their bodies.

    Their eyes opened slowly as their minds cleared, and Damien''s figure was the first thing they saw.

    He smiled warmly and looked between them.

    "How was it?" He asked.

    The girls smiled back happily and took his help to pull themselves out of the river.

    "It was great. That woman really has a habit of downying these areas," Ruyue said first.

    "I didn''t expect to make so much progress on a path I just discovered. This ce is really spectacr," Rose added.

    Elena nodded as well.

    Damien''s gains couldn''t be used as a basis for what one could do in the Lunar River.

    It was his fault for attempting to grasp the most extreme possible concept he could.

    For these three women who focused on what they were best at and tried diligently to move themselves towards Divinity, the results were marvelous.

    Ruyue and Elena were already at a point where they nearly embodied their elements, but this effect was even more pronounced now.

    And Rose¡­well, Rose''s achievement was more subtle, but the connotations were far greater than anyone could imagine.

    ''Zara is still in my shadow and I went back into Elena''spanion space, so the only one left is¡­''

    Her body silently arrived at the riverside as Damien had the thought, and she calmly stepped out, already dry.

    "This is the end of our cooperation," Sia said, not wasting a single second.

    Damien smiled wryly.

    "I don''t know why you''d hire us if you''re so happy to get away from us, but it is what it is," he responded with a shrug.

    Sia nced at him expressionlessly before shaking her head.

    "It was a pleasant experience. I would not have made such progress with such efficiency if not for your aid."

    "Yeah, yeah. Your ttery skill is just as interesting as yourws. I''m almost curious about who you are outside of this ce."

    "After taking so much from me, you''re still curious?"

    "Please watch your phrasing. I''m a married man, you know?"

    "Yes, I think it''s quite obvious."

    Damien grinned slightly.

    It was the most interaction they''d had since they met, so he was a bit surprised by her willingness to talk.

    "Well, I guess we both got what we wanted, so I''ll call this a sessful cooperation as well," he said, reaching his hand out.

    Sia nced at it and frowned slightly, turning away without shaking it.

    "There are only 3 opponents remaining, but each of them has extreme strength. Do not disappoint me and die in your journey."

    With those words, she vanished entirely, as if she never existed in the first ce.

    She came and went like a passing wind, and her presence held the same fragility, yet, the vagueness of her existence only made her more interesting.

    It was a brief interaction that was almost nonexistent in the hearts of those who experienced it, but for some reason, it managed to find a small ce for itself.

    Just like that strange woman named Sia.

    Damien turned to the girls and smiled.

    "I guess she actually did care about us."

    "Us? Or you?" Elena asked suspiciously.

    "Um¡­us, probably?"

    "Pfft¡­!"

    Rose suppressed a giggle and rolled her eyes.

    "It''s never us and you know it."

    Damien shook his head in defeat.

    At least in this situation, he could be sure that wasn''t the case.

    Plus, he was a loyal man!

    I''m suddenly remembering Rose''s im from all those years ago that I could have eight wives¡­''

    He shuddered at the thought.

    ''¡­being young was nice. Now that I''ve experienced it, I''d definitely die if I had eight women.''

    The group continued bantering, with Damien doing his best to divert the topic, as they started their journey up the mountain.

    As Sia said, there were three beasts remaining.

    Damien already went and checked each one of them, assessing the best course of action.

    And truthfully¡­there wasn''t one.

    The Thunder Demon Crow, the Imperious me Eagle, and the Pegasus.

    Every single one of them had the strength of a 4th ss being, and while two of them were defined by their elements, unlike the lesser beasts of the realm, they''d managed to understand the importance of these traits.

    ''The Severed World''s Universal Law edges closer topleteness from this point forth. It''s almost as if¡­''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''¡­I''m looking forward to our meeting.''

    Refocusing on the current situation, he told the girls what he knew about theiring opponents so they could choose which one to fight first.

    Regardless, they''d have to pass through the territory of one of these beasts.

    The next 200 kilometers of the mountain''s height was divided horizontally rather than vertically.

    The three kings lived on three different sides of the peak, upying equal space.

    ''The problem is that Sia said we still have 3 to face. It won''t be as easy as it looks.''

    The Pegasus was not an option from the start.

    Its power was too mysterious, and since it came down to start the Ascension Ceremony, its rtionship with the Cloud Emperor couldn''t be shallow.

    From the other two, the choices were mes and lightning, two of the most popr elements in the universe.

    "If we have to pick between the two, the answer is obviously mes."

    At least Ruyue had an elemental advantage against the eagle. Against the raven, their group would only find pain!

    "But can we even do it? That''s a 4th ss being. Even if we were the best geniuses in the universe, taking down a 4th ss at 2nd ss would be impossible," Rose said.

    It was an undeniable truth that they were in over their heads¡­

    ¡­or was it?

    Damien grinned.

    "Don''t worry about it. We have to pass through its territory to reach the peak, but who said we had to fight it?" He said.

    The girls made expressions of confusion, making his grin widen.

    "Haha, let''s just say that we have a lot more options than we used to."

    5 minutes was a long time.

    While the girls stayed in the Lunar River, a genuinely insane n came to Damien''s mind.

    ''I really don''t try to make enemies, but¡­''

    ¡­once again, he was going to make the Severed World very, very angry.

 Chapter 1103 Lightning [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1103 Lightning [1]</h4>

    The Imperious me Eagle''s true size was unknown, but the gait it maintained was simr in size to a one-story building.

    It had a huge wingspan, and like the Sword Hawk had de-like feathers, each of this bird''s feathers wasced with mes.

    Its pure existence was enough to heat up the atmosphere, and the fluctuations of its element raged chaotically around its body, a condition caused by the iplete worldws.

    It sat perched in its nest, not quite in the center of its territory but not far away from it, and got ready to spend another peaceful day.

    Challengers rarely came to this part of the mountain. Those who did were usually far too weak, and only fought him because they underestimated his power.

    Therefore, it had been a quiet life since the creature earned its ce at the top of the mountain.

    Still, it wasn''t the strongest.

    Both it and the Thunder Demon Crow became kings through the Ascension Ceremony, but the Pegasus had existed for as long as the mountain.

    It subtly oppressed the two of them, making sure they knew they would never match up to it or the Cloud Emperor it served.

    There wasn''t much to do as a ruler in this ce, so the Imperious me Eagle spent most of its time understanding the mes that surfaced on its body when it reached 4th ss.

    However, today was once again a day of challenge.

    He felt the presence of outsiders in his territory.

    Haa¡­

    He sighed to himself and pped his wings, shooting into the air.

    His expansive shadow tracked along the ground, putting fear into the hearts of the animals living in this territory.

    Even from far away, this shadow was visible.

    Damien and the girls had only just entered the area, but they already saw the visage of its lord moving in their direction.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    "There''s only one thing you need to remember," he said to the girls.

    "No matter what happens, don''t stop running."

    They nodded in response, their expressions hardening.

    It was clear that the moment of battle was approaching.

    And it wasn''t going to give them any more time to prepare!

    WHOOSH!

    Furious winds kicked through the air as the Imperious me Eagle arrived above the group.

    It looked down on them like ants. Without a single word of greeting, it pped its wings again, sending a rain of ming feathers to the ground!

    "Damn!"

    Damien eximed and picked up the pace, making sure the girls were following him.

    He grabbed Freya and fired a single shot into the air, perfectly aimed at one of the feathers.

    Bang!

    The feather exploded into a fiery wave that consumed those around it and burned the air.

    "It''s just a probe! Get out of range and make a break for the peak!"

    Damien mmed his feet into the ground, skidding to a stop and facing the eagle.

    Mirage appeared in his grip and he shed it without mercy, sending hundreds of crescent-shaped spatial ruptures into the sky.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Feathers continued to explode and the atmosphere was instantly filled with chaotic waves of battle.

    The girls followed Damien''s instructions and continued running without waiting for him.

    If there was one thing Damien excelled at, it was running away!

    Damien kept using Freya and Mirage to block the Imperious me Eagle''s projectiles, watching it seriously.

    ''It''s not changing its attack patterns? Is it looking down on me that much?''

    Well, it wasn''t unwarranted considering the strength difference, but Damien still didn''t appreciate it!

    ''It looks like they''re out of range. Let''s get started.''

    The girls were moving with haste and cleared several dozen kilometers in just a few seconds, which gave Damien space to enact his insane n!

    He jumped into the air and teleported, shing higher and higher until he was at the same altitude as the eagle.

    The beast looked at him with a spark of anger in its eyes, and he grinned in response.

    "Now!"

    He flicked his arm out. A vortex of pitch-ck mana appeared before him.

    He felt a certain connection that remained restricted until now opening up due to the influence of Void Mana, and¡­!

    Haaa!

    A fierce battle cry rang through the air.

    A green blur split sound itself and approached the Imperious me Eagle in a single instant.

    BOOM!

    The blur''s fist mmed into its head with the crushing power of a 4th ss being.

    And it''s figure became visible at the same time.

    It was none other than Elvira, who''de to assist from the Sanctuary!

    "Elvira, there''s no time! Do as much damage as possible!" Damien yelled.

    "Understood!" She responded, chasing the eagle she''d just thrown.

    B-BOOM!

    The sky clouded over instantaneously.

    Damien gaining ess to the Void meant he could force open the pathway to the Sanctuary, which was maintained by the Void itself.

    Since those he summoned didn''t enter the Severed World naturally, the sub-universe''s restrictions couldn''t be applied to them!

    However, the Severed World wouldn''t just ept their existence.

    If it couldn''t be controlled, it had to be eradicated!

    Elvira pushed through the air, controlling her mana to bring massive vines bursting out of the ground.

    They entwined around the Imperious me Eagle, and just as she moved to attack¡ª

    "Time to go!"

    Damien swept his arm out and wrapped her in his mana, sending her back to the Sanctuary.

    KABOOOOOOOM!

    A tree-trunk-like bolt of lightning fell from the clouds and obliterated the space it tore through, striking down on Elvira''s past location!

    The Imperious me Eagle was just unfortunate enough to get caught in the st radius.

    CAAAWWWW!

    It croaked in absolute anguish.

    It was only hit by the residue of the lightning, but that was still lightning strong enough to incinerate a 4th ss being!

    Damien grinned to himself.

    ''As expected, it works!''

    Damien flicked his hand out again and repeated the process.

    "Lucius!"

    The Demon Emperor appeared in reality and used his shadow-like abilities to stab tendrils of darkness into the eagle''s body.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A bolt of lightning struck once more, much faster than thest.

    Damien was barely able to bring the man back to the Sanctuary before it hit!

    ''The world really isn''t happy¡­but, I need to do a lot more than this if I want to kill it.''

    Damien''s face turned solemn, his mind reaching pinpoint focus.

    He had to react faster than the worldws no matter what!

    "White Dragon King!"

    "Haha, you''re still a crazy brat!"

    The White Dragon King came third and by this point, Elvira and Lucius already filled the rest in on the exact situation, something Damien forgot to do.

    Since he came prepared, Bai Longxuan had his 4th-ss aura hidden as he moved.

    He didn''t attack like the previous two, but instead let his entire draconic aura loose once he was in range of the bird!

    ROOOOOAAAAAAAAR!

    A guttural dragon roar reverberated through space. The pressure of a pure dragon bloodline crashed down on the eagle, forcing it into the ground!

    Once again, lightning fell from the sky as Damien transported his helper to safety.

    Once again, the Imperious me Eagle was struck!

    The strategy was utter insanity that risked the lives of Damien and every subordinate he called¡­

    ¡­but for the sake of the mission, it had to be done!

 Chapter 1104 Lightning [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1104 Lightning [2]</h4>

    Currently, the Imperious me Eagle was feeling more aggrieved than it had ever been.

    What did it do wrong?

    No, what the hell was even happening right now?

    Strange beings kept appearing from thin air and attacking him, and what was worse, nature seemed to have be his enemy as well!

    He''d been struck with all kinds of elements from water to darkness, from life to death. He''d been stabbed, hacked, and beaten with every possible weapon imaginable, even fists!

    Bai Longxuan was followed by Feng Yuxiang and Bianca Snow. They were followed by Tephit and Gntis.

    Each of these individuals had reached the 9 revolutions already, but they weren''t the only 4th ss beings under Damien''s control!

    Lunaria Snow and Feng Qing''er were both nearing the middle stages of 4th ss and showed their faces to help, the elite corps Damien ordered Elvira to train was filled with 4th ss soldiers he could utilize, the Cloud Giants and undersea races had their own 4th ss forces¡­

    Damien finally let loose the force of the Sanctuary that he''d kept hidden for so long.

    And even now, he was only revealing a portion of it.

    If he took those below 4th ss into ount¡­

    Hell, even if he took the 4th ss beings too weak to use in this battle into ount, his force became something terrifying!

    It could be said that Damien had his own Holy Land in the Sanctuary. That was the kind of force he''d been hiding.

    ''It''ll be a bit longer before I can bring them into the universe full-force, but for now, it''s great to see how the Sanctuary has grown.''

    Damien happily reveled in the achievements of himself and his underlings as he tormented the Imperious me Eagle, which still hadn''t been able to approach him!

    After the assault of so many 4th ss beings along with the Heavenly Lightning that unintentionally struck him every time, he was already nearing the verge of death after a few minutes.

    Its ming wings were clipped, there were scorch marks all over its body, and gashes and holes caused by its living enemies rained blood onto the ground below!

    It couldn''t even move anymore.

    It tried to attack, but the summoning nature of these enemies'' presence made it impossible for him to guess where they came from.

    And if it attacked Damien¡­

    Well, did it need to be said?

    Teleportation made him a ghost that couldn''t be touched.

    He was a dignified king.

    He was someone who surpassed all other beasts in the Severed World to achieve his position.

    He was a beast among beasts, a powerhouse that was feared by all!

    Yet, in his own territory, it was being beaten like a pig.

    The Imperious me Eagle was unresigned to its fate, but what could it do?!

    Damien''s seemingly endless supply of single-use 4th-ss beings would otherwise be manageable.

    The Heavenly Lightning was the true instigator of its fate.

    If it wasn''t for that lightning, it wouldn''t have lost the ability to fight back so easily!

    If not for the lightning, it wouldn''t have lost its wings!

    A bird without its wings was nothing but prey.

    This fact didn''t change when talking about powerful creatures.

    Damien descended onto the eagle''s head as it pitifully bled out, his eyes focused on the storm above.

    "I think something worse ising for me, so I''ll let you off easy this time," he said, withdrawing Mirage.

    Shik!

    The sword stabbed in between the bird''s eyes, slicing straight through its broken skull and impaling its brain.

    He wasn''t supposed to kill this king, because his challenge was yet to end.

    But he had no choice.

    He was about to pass out from the mental fatigue of his heavy concentration and battle against the Universal Law.

    Right now, he required sustenance.

    ''Devour''

    Damien let the pitch-ck maw of mana chomp into the eagle''s body and consume it.

    He felt his own body changing due to it, and he felt its memories streaming into his head.

    ''No, this isn''t what I need right now.''

    The power of a 4th ss being could do wonders for his current 2nd-ss self, but its influence would be minuscule in the long run.

    Therefore, Damien saved its essence and disallowed it from sinking into his body.

    He once again turned his attention to the sky.

    "Thanks for waiting. Let''s get this over with."

    Rumble!

    The clouds thundered as if responding to his words.

    As the perpetrator of the offenses that called this storm and angered the Heavens in the first ce, Damien couldn''t escape its punishment.

    Lightning coiled in the sky, sparking as itbined into a single bolt that rested in the center of the thundercloud.

    The bolt was more like a pir at this point, sitting in the sky and waiting for its chance to descend.

    It waited for Damien to see it and feel it''s power, so it could strike fear into his heart.

    But fear had no ce in his life.

    "If you want toe, thene! I''m too busy to y your little games!"

    RUMBLE!

    The clouds roared angrily and responded to his provocation.

    In a single instant, a 5-meter-wide pir of lightning descended to the ground below.

    The world seemed to go dark.

    From every corner of the mountain, one could see this lightning pir and feel the world''s hatred.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena looked back at the area with worried expressions on their faces.

    "He''ll¡­be fine, right?" Elena muttered.

    It was quiet for a second.

    "He''ll be fine," Rose responded firmly.

    "His strength might be weakened, but don''t you know our husband by now? He is not someone who''ll die so easily."

    Elena nodded.

    The spectacr fluctuations emanating from the point of impact were rushing through the air in pulses.

    It felt like a rushing wind made of mana, a scenario none of them had ever experienced even in their wildest moments.

    Because this kind of phenomenon could only be manifested by an entity at the level of a partial Universal Law.

    Far, far away from the girls, on the other side of the mountain, a woman watched the event with indifference in her eyes.

    Her expression didn''t change, but her thoughts were running wild.

    ''I knew it. This man¡­''

    She suddenly remembered a certain moment and shook her head.

    ''I can''t. I cannot.''

    Closing her eyes, Sia stabilized her mind and patted the being beside her.

    "Go. That one will probably head over soon. Your help is needed."

    "Hmph."

    The being snorted proudly.

    "My master has the same desire. You do not need tomand me."

    "Since when did Imand you? Plus, don''t I count for anything?"

    "You are¡­a special case."

    "See? So just be obedient and head over."

    The being frowned and shook its head.

    Despite her strange methods, she''d still managed toe here, so it didn''t have the choice to go against her.

    It''s wings pped gracefully and it took to the air.

    "Let us see if it is worth the effort."

    Sia was left alone as the being left in the direction of the Heavenly Lightning beam.

    Countless eyes were focused on the scene Damien had made.

    Such pure wrath couldn''t be elicited from an unbiased entity like the Universal Law, after all.

    They were curious about why it reacted in such a way, and what could possibly cause it.

    Their questions would likely never be answered.

    And the man at the center of their confusion¡­

 Chapter 1105 Lightning [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1105 Lightning [3]</h4>

    "AHHHHHH!"

    Damien''s scream was contained within the pir of lightning striking down on his body, unable to escape.

    Yet, the agony he felt was very real.

    Getting hit by a pir of Heavenly Lightning naturally had the effects one would expect it to have.

    The only thing in Damien''s heart and mind was pain, and no matter what he tried, he could do nothing but endure.

    The Imperious me Eagle''s essence formed a film around him and protected him from arge portion of the lightning''s effects, which was why he wasn''t burned to a crisp already.

    But it didn''t seem like his torture would end any time soon.

    And the worst part¡­

    ''What a petty Universal Law!''

    Despite being entrenched in its fluctuations, Damien couldn''t feel an ounce of the Universal Law.

    This attack had the potential to be a massive blessing that made his pain worth it, but the Severed World wasn''t so kind.

    It hid the truths of itsw behind barriers upon barriers of lightning and formless protection.

    Damien''s perception was trapped within a certain region and unable to trace those hidden truths, and he was in far too much pain to consciously summon the Void to assist him!

    The current form his body held was still powerful, but his physical defense was far too weak to handle an attack of this scale.

    His regeneration was also stalled and [Heal] was unavable, so enduring silently and internalizing the pain was impossible.

    ''When¡­will¡­this¡­end?!''

    To keep his mind stable, Damien counted every second he spent in torment. More than a minute passed already, yet the Heavenly Lightning showed no signs of dispersing.

    Absolute anguish spread through his nervous system.

    The lightning wasced with the world''s intent. It didn''t merely strike his physical body and attempt to end him, no, it made sure he knew he was being punished!

    The only defenses he currently had were the Imperious me Eagle''s essence and his own flimsy 2nd ss mana.

    These twoyers dispersed and diverted the power of the heavens, and with thest shred of consciousness remaining in his mind, he manipted his mana to use Vector Control as much as he possibly could.

    ''Pain is power. Pain is power. Pain is¡ª''

    "KHHHH¡­!"

    Damien gritted his teeth and repeated his motto over and over again in his mind.

    All he had to do was stay alive.

    The world was angry, but it was also unbiased.

    Damien''s subordinates who illegally entered the realm were targeted with lethal power, but Damien himself still had a way out.

    Because not only did he enter and ept the realm''s restrictions, but he didn''t break the rules with his actions.

    After all, the power he was able to utilize in here was power he gained here. The previous shattering of the Void''s prison was done without abusing loopholes, so the actions he took using his newly gained abilities were also not restricted.

    Still, he assisted others in breaking the rules, so he needed to be put in his ce.

    If he died, it was his fault for being too arrogant!

    He knew this in his heart and held on with every ounce of power he could utilize.

    With the passing of time, as he got more limated to the pain, he was able to use his lucidity to increase his defense, which thereby reduced the pain he felt.

    5 minutes.

    It took an entire 5 minutes before the Heavenly Lightning Pir started to reduce in size until itpletely vanished.

    The storm above also disappeared in a sh, as if it never existed.

    Thud!

    Damien''s body fell to the ground limply, his skin charred in many ces and his eyes unfocused.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    He took in the fresh air around him and gradually brought his mind back to reality.

    However¡­

    ''Fuck, I can''t move.''

    There were still strands of lightning coursing through his nerves. He was unable to control his body or even summon his mana.

    ''Transcendent Regeneration is doing this job, but I guess I''ll be stuck here for the next¡­two or so minutes?''

    "Heh¡­"

    He smirked, or at least he tried to, with an expression of pride shining in his eyes.

    ''I survived a direct attack from the Heavenly Law. How many people can say that?''

    It wasn''t his first time doing it, but every time was an unprecedented achievement.

    It wasn''t wrong for him to feel proud.

    Only, the current situation was not the ideal ce to drop one''s guard.

    Whoosh!

    A light wind brushed against Damien''s face, and arge shadow shaded him from the sunlight cascading down from above.

    Damien''s strange smirk-like expression lost its joy in an instant.

    ''Ah¡­fuck.''

    Standing over him was none other than the Thunder Demon Crow with a strange glint in its eyes.

    "Khh¡­hey, if you want to fight, wait a bit. I''m a little incapacitated right now¡­"

    Damien used mana to transmit his voice, putting just a slight bit of faith in the challenge system this mountain held.

    But of course, it was false hope at best.

    "Now that you have killed Haka, you are a new King. There is no rule that restricts fighting between Kings."

    Damien smiled wryly.

    ''Worst case scenario, I get hit by more Heavenly Lightning¡­that''s a worst case scenario I really don''t want to experience¡­''

    Was there no other choice?

    He knew the girls were probably somewhere nearby, but he didn''t want them to get involved with this.

    After all, the foe was a 4th ss being!

    Damien looked into the raven''s eyes as it raised its w into the air.

    ''I guess I''m going to experience what it feels like to be eaten ali¡ª''

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    A figure appeared in the skies above without revealing an ounce of its presence.

    "Crow, do not."

    The being said only three words.

    But three words were enough to freeze the crow in its tracks.

    Its head turned hesitantly, and it lowered its posture submissively the second he confirmed the neer''s identity.

    "Pegasus, this is my prey. Haven''t we agreed to not interfere with each other''s affairs?" The crow spat through gritted beak.

    The Pegasus was powerful, but the crow was a king as well! He was unresigned to simply following this being''s will, and he was humiliated by himself for instinctively lowering himself in front of it.

    "Our agreement holds no weight in this instance. I am not acting on my will, but my master''s." The Pegasus responded indifferently.

    The Thunder Demon Crow''s eyes narrowed in frustration, but there was nothing it could do.

    He could still muster up his courage to confront the Pegasus, but the Cloud Emperor could not be disobeyed.

    The emperor of this entire world; if he offended such an entity, death would be the least of his worries!

    Tap!

    The Pegasus gentlynded on the ground and walked past the Thunder Demon Crow, not paying any mind to his presence.

    He approached Damien and looked down at him with a frown on his face.

    "Foolish human,e with me. My master wishes to see you."

    Damien returned the creature''s gaze nkly.

    "What is it, fool?"

    "Um¡­I''m a little paralyzed right now, so I could really use some help."

    "¡­"

    The Pegasus sighed and used mana to lift Damien''s body onto his back.

    No matter how he looked at it, he just couldn''t understand what his master saw in this foolish outsider!

 Chapter 1106 Lightning [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1106 Lightning [4]</h4>

    Over half a year passed in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    The Hephaestus raid was in full swing and the universe''s forces remained focused on the goal ahead.

    They were a fourth of the way through the ceasefire already, but they hadn''t made much progress.

    The Hephaestus raid was far more difficult than their projections suggested.

    Most of the universe''s willing experts were sent to the Nox base camp after months of preparation, yet they found that the Nox had long been prepared for it.

    Millions were lost, and despite another 3 months passing, the raid was still ongoing.

    Realizing the true extent of the effort they''d have to put into securing Hephaestus, Heaven''s Army made the decision to split their efforts.

    Millions of 4th ss and lower experts were sent to the Infected Source Worlds in the Beast Domain and the Giant Domain since those two were judged as the weakest of the remaining targets.

    Contrary to the main raid, these sub-operations went surprisingly well.

    The Giant Domain was cleared by the end of the 3-month period, while the Beast Domain¡­

    ¡­fell within weeks.

    It was a truly unexpected turn of events.

    For the first time, the denizens had forces on the inside to assist them in attaining victory.

    These forces were the remnants of the ck Dragon n!

    While the Golden Dragon Emperor attended the Grand Assembly, he assigned a portion of his forces to follow a trail Damien gave them to find the remains of the ck Dragon n.

    Their main world remained hidden for generations, but once the majority of their force was subdued and enved, their secret could no longer stay in the shadows.

    Events matched up perfectly. The Golden Dragon n found the world hidden in the folds of space, and the Golden Dragon Emperor was able to make contact with his ck Dragon counterpart.

    As it turned out, the ck Dragon Emperor learned of what happened to his n, and he''de to a decision.

    Rather than fighting a being who held the lives of most of his nsmen in his hands, he decided to surrender.

    Perhaps it was a humiliating choice, but it was the best path to take for the survival of the n.

    After all, the Nox didn''t carry an overwhelming advantage in Grand Heavens Boundary anymore.

    At least, not on the surface.

    Nevertheless, the ck Dragon Emperor revealed that his n had long been in a cooperative rtionship with the Nox.

    Now that he''d switched sides, he gave up a load of information that led the Beast Domain''s raid to inevitable sess in the shortest amount of time possible.

    Another two wriggling ck Corrupted World Cores were left guarded in their own sections of the universe.

    And everyone kept moving.

    The Divine and Infernal Realms were likely far more dangerous, so they couldn''t be touched so easily.

    Therefore, most forces were ced in reserve and given the order to increase their strength as fast as possible.

    Hephaestus once again became the focus.

    And a question appeared in the minds of more perceptive experts.

    Why was there such a vast difference in strength between these Infected Source Worlds?

    One could argue that the strength of the Nox base reflected the strength of the domain it inhabited, but that reasoning could only be used to a certain extent.

    When things became too easy, concerns arose.

    The Beast Domain was one thing, but both the Giant Domain and Soul World''s raids started to look incredibly suspicious with the passing of time.

    So¡­

    If the Nox truly were concentrating their forces in certain locations¡­

    Could it be exined away as fortification, or was there some underlying purpose Heaven''s Army failed to understand?

    ***

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena found themselves in a strange set of circumstances.

    Just a second ago, they were rushing to Damien''s location after seeing the lightning pir dying down.

    They realized the consequences that could ur if Damien was heavily injured and left on the mountainside alone.

    However, before they could reach him, their bodies were swept away in a spatial storm.

    Theynded in a beautifully vibrant hidden cove. It was a ce where space and time had no meaning, and the fluctuations ofw were extreme to the point of this ce being a holynd for training.

    Yet, they did not want to be here.

    In a time when Damien could die at any moment, how could they be resigned to staying in this strange space?!

    The first thing they did was try to find a way out, but once they realized that their search was fruitless, a voice boomed down from the heavens.

    "I have some matters to discuss with yourpanion. Stay here and reap the benefits of this ce until our matters have concluded."

    It was deep and dark, and its words were a demand, not a suggestion.

    "Rest assured, he and you will be safe. If you are unresigned to this fate, be stronger and challenge me. That is all."

    The voice answered their most pressing question and forced them to ept its words before they could reply at all.

    And its presence disappeared immediately after.

    The three looked at each other with deep frowns on their faces.

    "No matter what we think, it''s right," Elena said solemnly.

    "Are any of us strong enough to withstand that Heavenly Lightning attack? Can any of us evenst a second in front of its power?"

    The answer was no.

    Damien had to borrow the life achievements of a 4th ss creature to survive, but no matter his means, he managed to live.

    They couldn''t say they had any means to do the same.

    "We''re all geniuses," Elena continued.

    "We''re all people who can be regarded as the peak of the younger generation, to the point where an influence like Prismatic Sun Holy Land would want to nurture us without asking anything in return."

    "But that isn''t enough. They wanted to train us, but they tasked him with a task as difficult as this without a hint of distrust for his abilities."

    She deeply exhaled, her expression filled with unwillingness, and voiced the thought running through all their minds.

    "If we want to stand by him forever, being supreme geniuses isn''t enough. The only option is to be existences that defy reality, just like him."

    Rose sighed.

    "An entity that can transport us to a location like this can''t be weak. It has no reason to lie about our safety when it can kill us with a single thought," she said, looking out into the hidden cove.

    "As you said, we''ve been boxing ourselves in too much. The logic that we''vee to know and rely on needs to be thrown away. We need to start acting outside the bounds of logic."

    Ruyue nodded in agreement.

    "We have gained the qualifications to have such ambition in the past weeks, and now we have been given an opportunity to turn potential into power. Since there is no other choice, we should do as the voice said and utilize it."

    Damien had always been a step ahead of his peers, including them, but now that they''d reunited, this disparity was extremely pronounced.

    They refused to be bogged down by theirparative weakness.

    "But¡­who is it that did this¡­?" Ruyue asked hesitantly,

    Rose frowned. She looked at the sky with furrowed brows and spoke.

    "Considering everything, it can only be one person."

    All of their expressions were the same as they internalized this truth.

    The only one in this realm that could pull a stunt like this¡­

    ¡­was the 2nd Primal Sovereign.

 Chapter 1107 Dreams/Reality [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1107 Dreams/Reality [1]</h4>

    Damien was able to move again not too long after the Pegasus picked him up, but he didn''t have to let that be known.

    He acted paralyzed and enjoyed his free ride to the peak of the mountain, grinning happily to himself.

    ''This beast is arrogant, but its fur is damn soft¡­'' he thought.

    ''But more importantly, this means a fast track to the mission target. I only had a strategy to deal with one of them. It would''ve been bad if we had to continue so suddenly without finding other means.''

    Damien and the girls absolutely would''ve died if they couldn''t take time to prepare for a Thunder Demon Crow or Pegasus raid.

    ''And my guess was right. It looks like that Pegasus is much stronger than the other two.''

    Idle thoughts swam through his mind for several minutes as the journey continued. Before he knew it, the Pegasus had touched ground again.

    "Dismount me this instant. Do not think you can keep pretending," the beast said with disdain.

    Damien rolled his eyes and hopped off its back.

    "Don''t act so hard while admitting that you let me ride you all the way here while knowing I could''ve walked."

    "That was merely to save time. Humans are excruciatingly slow creatures."

    "I can literally teleport."

    "And I do not care. Cease your meaningless words and wait for my master''s arrival."

    Damien smirked at the Pegasus'' frustrated expression. It was clear he''d won this bout.

    "Your master is the Cloud Emperor?" He asked.

    "You do not have the right to refer to the great lord by his title."

    "Stop being so edgy and just answer the question."

    "If you maintain this attitude when facing my master, you will undoubtedly die."

    "Your master is a Demigod. He doesn''t have the right to kill me."

    The Pegasus'' gaze turned hostile.

    "This is not your outer world. In this world, yourws cannot rule," it stated heavily, making sure its words bore into Damien''s soul.

    But the man only shook his head.

    "It seems you don''t know enough about your master."

    "You¡­!"

    Damien turned his eyes to the sky, ignoring the fuming creature to his side.

    "You''ve been here this whole time, haven''t you? Why don''t youe out and talk?"

    His words were directed at nothing in particr, but they received a response all the same.

    "I am surprised you could detect me."

    It didn''te from the sky.

    Rather, it came from the mountain itself.

    The very peak they were standing on rumbled and shifted, revealing itself as the massive body of a slumbering beast!

    It was a truly massive earth dragon, yet it had wings uncharacteristic of its species.

    Its long neck protruded from the mountainside, no longer hidden away, and it turned its eyes towards Damien and the Pegasus.

    "Child, I have long known you were special, but it now appears I have underestimated you," it said, its voice deep and rumbling through the air like a true mountain''s voice.

    Damien frowned.

    The creature was definitely impressive. It''s strength was greater than any enemy he''d seen in this ce, and even stronger than his original level.

    Yet¡­

    "It''s not you."

    This dragon was not the one he was looking for.

    "¡­?"

    The beast''s eyes narrowed, ring at Damien.

    "It is not me?"

    "I didn''te here to talk to the Cloud Emperor."

    "Human, you dare?!"

    The Pegasus red up in rage at his words, flourishing its aura to suppress the disrespectful outsider.

    Damien responded with the Void, wrapping his body in a film of its aura and dissipating the surrounding suppression.

    The earth dragon''s eyes widened.

    The Pegasus gritted its teeth and tried to push harder, but Damien ignored it.

    "I didn''te here to say anything the Cloud Emperor needs to hear. Face me as your true self. This should be enough convincing, right?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    The dragon''s maw curved into a strange smile.

    "I wonder¡­can you handle the consequences of your words?"

    "If I couldn''t handle it, I wouldn''t havee."

    The dragon''s smile widened.

    "Pegasus, enough."

    Its words carried mana of their own,pletely dispelling the Pegasus'' aura.

    "I will give you the chance to achieve your wish, however, whether or not you can survive is up to you."

    Damien''s expression turned dignified.

    He nodded, his gaze directly shing against the dragon''s.

    "Come."

    "Very well!"

    The dragon slowly raised its head to the heavens above and opened its giant maw.

    A thunderous roar, more domineering than even the Heavenly Law itself, resonated through the Severed World.

    It was deafening and the dragon pressure spread through it was enough to directly blow lesser creatures to shreds, but there was a clear line of reason within it.

    An archaguage, almost extinct to the modern world, was being spoken.

    [Traverser¡­]

    [¡­chase the stars¡­]

    [¡­to the Realm of Dreams.]

    VOOOOOOOM!

    A massive flux of mana erupted.

    Everything went white.

    The world around Damien faded away. He felt the familiar sensation of spatial turbulence enveloping his figure.

    And¡­

    ng!

    ng!

    ng!

    It was audible.

    The sound of shackles shattering in the storm.

    Everything once lost was returned. Strength filled Damien''s body and soul. He felt like he could rank up right here and now, but there was something still holding him back.

    A feeling deep in his chest to not act rashly.

    He reveled in the feeling of self he felt, but he realized one thing.

    ''This is the state I was in before I came to the Severed World, not the state I''ll be in when I leave.''

    The Blessing of Foundation, Universal Law, and many other gains he made in the sub-universe were hidden behind a new set of shackles.

    It was evident that he hadn''t been transported out of the hidden realm.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion broke him out of his thoughts.

    Wind brushed against his face. Bright sunlight blinded his eyes.

    When his senses came to reality, he was high in the sky of a new world, above ayer of clouds that separated him from the world''s surface.

    Naturally, he was falling, but he wasn''t in a hurry to stabilize himself.

    ''That explosion¡­''

    It came from very far away, but the air around Damien was shaking.

    ''The shockwave hasn''t died down, and¡­''

    He frowned, circting spatial mana through his body.

    One With Dimension activated, and Damien sunk into the folds of reality, deeper than the surfaceyer of space that maintained the realm''s stability.

    In the next second, everything started quaking.

    WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

    A heavy rush of windced with apocalyptic mana tore through the atmosphere and destroyed everything; from the clouds to the earth, from the air to space itself.

    Damien rapidly set upyers uponyers of Dimensional Cages and built an isted ne, separating himself just in time to avoid the mana wave ripping through the fabric of reality itself!

    His expression was nk as he gazed into the scene outside.

    Everything was destroyed.

    The world he''d been transported to less than 5 seconds ago was nothing more than an empty hole in the void.

    But a miracle unfolded next.

    From top to bottom, from the very building blocks of reality to the vitality of the earth, everything in the realm was restored to normalcy within the span of 10 seconds.

    A certain term came to Damien''s mind when he saw it.

    "Impulsive Wave."

 Chapter 1108 Dreams/Reality [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1108 Dreams/Reality [2]</h4>

    It passed just like that.

    Damien carefully returned to reality and fell through the clouds, entering the reformed world below.

    ''It''s an exact replica of the Severed World.'' He thought to himself.

    Even the creatures living in this realm were directly copied from the Severed World.

    The only difference was that they had no spirituality.

    They were, at best, mindless husks imitating the creatures of the sub-universe.

    ''The Cloud Emperor called it a world of dreams, but it can''t just be that. The feeling of the Void is vaguely present flowing through this realm, so it is a true existence without question. Instead of a dream world¡­''

    ''¡­is this the true nature of the Severed World?''

    Damien realized the connection instantly.

    The Severed World was an almost impossible existence. Regarding itsws, its ecosystems, and all else, there was always an inconsistency.

    Though, it didn''t exist in the Severed World Damien entered.

    The Impulse Wave.

    The strangest phenomenon of the sub-universe and the most ring consequence of its ipletew, the Impulse Wave utterly tore apart the realm and "reset it to a previous save."

    Now, this kind of thing was absolutely possible as a result of a broken Universal Law. If Life and Death weren''t properly defined, their effects of the cycle of Samsara would be affected too.

    However, it wasn''t something that could happen continuously.

    At some point, the world would experience too much strain and copse in on itself.

    This was what made the Severed World''s existence strange, and it was a fact Damien didn''t realize until he deepened hisprehension in the sub-universe itself.

    The Severed World was a true dream world, a dream world with such presence that it affected reality.

    But its true face was this ce, a ce constantly destroyed and reconstructed, as if to lessen the burden on the world that could be seen.

    ''I can''tpletely understand how it functions right now, but it feels simr to a damage transfer type skill, but it''s the main body that''s taking damage from the subsidiary.''

    If this was the main body, then the 2nd Primal Sovereign was likely to be at the top of this world''s Skyrend Mountain.

    ''And the earth dragon was certain I wouldn''t survive because I have to make it there while avoiding the Impulse Waves on my own.''

    It was a seemingly impossible task.

    Yet, as Damien already stated, he was undeterred.

    ''I''ve already done it once, so what''s the big deal about doing it again?''

    He let that arrogant thought flow through his mind as he stepped forward and embraced the darkness around him.

    His first step was Ghost King''s Crevice.

    There was no Bertram to guide him through the Netherworld Fog this time, but he remembered the path.

    Plus, theck of spirituality in this ce meant everything functioned systematically.

    There wouldn''t be any strange eruptions or surprises in this second journey.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien was halfway through Ghost King''s Valley when the second explosion rang out.

    The winds came first, roaring with sound that traveled tens or even hundreds of thousands of kilometers in an instant.

    Damien once again hid himself in a fortress dimension of his creation, far sturdier this time since he was expecting the st.

    The world was destroyed and reformed around him.

    ''The wave''s strength doesn''t vary, and the interval is¡­''

    Damien shook off his thoughts and continued moving.

    He fought through the undead armies and, thankfully, avoided the Ghost King this time.

    By the time he made it to the Perilous Sanctuary, the third wave struck.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    ''¡­ten minutes. It''ll be annoying to cross the thirdyer in these conditions.''

    Damien zoomed through the rtively harmless Perilous Sanctuary and entered the thirdyer within five minutes.

    For the next five minutes, rather than moving towards the central region, he made his way to the great tree where the Overseer made its nest.

    He reached before the 4th wave could hit, and from within the confines of his defense, he observed the destruction of the world around him carefully.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The All-Seeing Eyes swirled into action, just in time to catch sight of¡ª

    ''Teleportation should be fine from until I reach the peak.''

    He avoided it thus far so he could judge the Impulse Wave, but also because he wasn''t alone in this realm.

    This was obviously a test. If he cheated his way through with teleportation, the test giver naturally wouldn''t be pleased.

    ''But the central region is average. It has the most variety of beasts and a lot of strong creatures, but it''s nothing more than an average beast ecosystem to the current me. There is no point in slowly traversing it.''

    The feeling of moving a million miles in a single step, he''d dearly missed it.

    Reaching the foot of Skyrend Mountain in less than an instant, he stared up at its heaven-piercing gait.

    ''It''s time to flex a little.''

    The crux of the challenge was here, and Damien had no ns of holding back.

    BANG!

    He dug his foot into the ground and pushed with every ounce of his strength, shooting into the air like aet.

    Spacetime mana flowed around him in a beautiful river. His steps became erratic, and though time didn''t pass, he moved higher and higher up the mountainside.

    No, was it better to say time was repeating?

    Damien only used this technique a single time before and never reattempted it because of how much strain it put on his body, but this realm had nows to confine him.

    He abused the theory in his mind and used the environment to actualize them to his heart''s content.

    The Impulse Wave wanted toe, it wanted to destroy everything again, but how could it?

    Damien was altering his position in Spacetime directly.

    With time as the x-axis and space as the y-axis, Damien was moving on that graph in a perfectly straight vertical line, changing his spatial position within the same node of time!

    It was an egregiously involved action to attempt, but it was powerful beyond belief if done properly.

    The Impulse Wave could destroy reality itself, so it obviously wasn''t bound by space or time, but this loophole that kept its effects isted to a specific area didn''t allow the Impulse Wave to be affected by the repeating second!

    It was a great deal of exnation for an equally grand feat, and with his strategy, Damien was able to pass through the cloudyer and stand on Skyrend Mountain''s upper half proudly, with only a single second having passed.

    ''I want to check the Blessing Shrine and Lunar River, but now is not the time. Our meeting is long overdue.''

    He made a quick dash to the peak, evading the Impulse Waves and mindless clones of the Pegasus and the other two kings.

    And in an astonishingly short amount of time, he reached his destination.

    In the center of thisnd, perched atop the tallest mountain, was a being sorge its shadow was painted in the clouds.

    That being was coiled up around itself and breathing calmly, hibernating, however, there was a massive bloody wound on the side of its body that created a stark contrast from its otherwise peaceful appearance.

    Every time a drop of blood fell from that wound, the mana it carried burst into the realm and destroyed it in full.

    This being was clearly dying.

    And that being¡­

    ''¡­is who I came to see.''

 Chapter 1109 Dreams/Reality [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1109 Dreams/Reality [3]</h4>

    The Second Primal Sovereign.

    Just like the fifth in his species, he was a chimera of several kinds of beasts with a draconic undertone.

    His head was that of an eagle, proud and domineering. His body was both feathered and furred, a twisted mix between a wolf and an unknown short-feathered bird species. He had the tail of a phoenix, and the expansive wings of a dragon, whichpleted his truly unmeasurable figure.

    Despite the unnerving nature of his chimeric body, he gave off a feeling of absolute might. It was an unconscious aura exuded by beings of extreme strength, a phenomenon that was generally rare to see outside peak experts.

    Yet, he was clearly at the end of his life.

    There was hardly any vitalitying from him, almost to the point where Damien wasn''t sure if he''d be able to have a conversation with this creature before it passed.

    But his worries were unwarranted.

    He wouldn''t have been tasked toe all this way to find a corpse.

    [You have arrived quickly, child.]

    The 2nd Primal Sovereign''s eyes slowly opened.

    [Come, let me see you.]

    Damien''s brows furrowed, his expression morphing in confusion. This tone¡­wasn''t what he expected.

    ''I don''t sense any hostility, so¡­''

    He carefully made his way forward until he was only a few feet away from the dying being, face to face with its eye.

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, 2nd Primal Sovereign," he said, bowing his head slightly.

    The Primal Sovereign''s eyes softened. It slowly shook its head.

    [There is no need for such courtesies between us. You may call me Uncle.]

    "...I''m sorry?"

    [Haha, it is okay for you to be confused. You came to me because you require something, no? Do not be shy. I shall answer any questions you may have.]

    Damien frowned at the undeserved hospitality.

    This was a stranger, and a beast as old as the universe itself, so why was it treating him like this?

    ''And¡­uncle?''

    Damien shook off his thoughts and nced at the hole in the Primal Sovereign''s side.

    "I don''t think it''ll be possible to talk when you''re in this condition, though?"

    [Worry not. Now that you have arrived, the method to heal my wound has also arrived.]

    "You mean¡­"

    [Indeed. This injury was inflicted by a great being from the past and cannot be patched through ordinary means. What I require is the power of my origin.]

    Damien smiled wryly. As expected, the beast wanted something from him!

    As he recently confirmed, Primal Sovereigns were born in tandem with the universe, so their origin was naturally the Void.

    Damien didn''t have a problem with using Void Mana to help the creature, but the situation itself was strange.

    "Is there a being in existence who can do that? I can''t easily believe someone out there can deal damage that can only be fixed by the origin of all things, especially not in this lower universe."

    He questioned it but moved faithfully to the other side of the Primal Sovereign''s body and started injecting the energy of the Void into his wound.

    He devoured a Primal Sovereign before, but he didn''t have much memory of it due to the Abyssal Corridor. All he remembered was the nonsensical spatial dimensions that existed inside of the Fifth Primal Sovereign, which made him extremely confused about the beast''s anatomy.

    From the looks of it, the hole would heal itself as long as the Void was present, but Damien wanted to know the bodily functions of one of these beasts, the closest beings to the Law of Space in existence.

    He observed from up close and took in every detail.

    It was a crater-like wound that dug deep into the creature''s flesh and just barely pierced into its internal. Theyers of skin and muscle that made up the crater itself were decayed and infected to the point where any surgeon would rmend amputation.

    And it wasced with coursing lightning, inky ck yet asionally shing with a myriad of colors.

    Damien''s frown deepened before the Sovereign could voice his answer.

    "Saint Emperor."

    [...so that is the title he has been granted this time.]

    "...?"

    [Child, since you have recognized his mana, you should know a bit about his history, no?]

    "I do, but that''s not what I want to talk about right now. I have a feeling that the information you have won''t provide me any answers."

    [I see¡­]

    If it had to do with history, Damien saw everything he needed to see from Iris. The questions he came here to answer had nothing to do with the Nox¡­or at least, he hoped.

    [...then, what would you like to ask?]

    "How did you create the Severed World?"

    He wanted to start simple and get his personal questions out of the way before asking anything that could topple his worldview.

    His original interest in the Severed World was its very existence as a sub-universe, and there was no better person to exin its function than the creator itself.

    [Aha, you are quite persistent in your pursuit of strength.]

    The Primal Sovereign answered, sighing lightly as he felt the pain of his wound subsiding slightly.

    [As you may have realized, this sub-universe is a product of my dreams. In a sense, it does not exist at all.]

    [I have remained in slumber for an eternity, because in my current state, opening my eyes would cause utter cmity. The true scale of my wound¡­is not something you canprehend.]

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    "Then, right now we''re¡­"

    [...inside a pocket space within my body. The Severed World you know is also a varied dimension that I have connected to the outside world.]

    Damien sighed.

    ''So, in the end, it was formed through a shortcut.''

    The Primal Sovereign smirked almost indiscernibly.

    [Child, are you underestimating me? While I may have used my own body as a foundation, transforming it into its current state was quite the task.]

    A trace of mana flowed through the air and immediately caught Damien''s eye.

    ''It looks like nothing, but the amount of information packed in that stream of energy is so immense I can''t even perceive it unless I devour it.''

    [I shall show you my process after our conversation ends. You will not be disappointed.]

    Damien nodded, his expression eternally negative.

    In what little was already said, there was too much to process.

    Disregarding everything about the sub-universe, its nature alluded to the unimaginable size of the Primal Sovereign''s true body.

    If the body Damien saw now was an Avatar, then the fact that even a portion of the wound''s existence was reflected meant the damage the Saint Emperor was able to cause was terrifying.

    ''I didn''t want to think about the Nox again, but I guess it''s good to know the true height of my enemies.''

    The thoughts he''d been entertaining about a smooth journey to power were tossed out. He knew they were fruitless from the start, but they were nice while theysted.

    ''Since it''s this pressing, I''ll get to it after one more.''

    He was definitely unhappy that he had to throw out some smaller questions, but important matters came first.

    "Tell me¡­" Damien said firmly.

    "Tell me everything you know about the Void."

 Chapter 1110 Dreams/Reality [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1110 Dreams/Reality [4]</h4>

    The Void.

    Damien knew it as the origin of everything, he knew that he could reach it by continuing on his path of conquering the foundationalws, but he still didn''t have a true, inscrutable definition of the concept.

    It was simr to his situation with Universal Law, but far vaguer, to the point where he didn''t believe he''d ever be able to perfectly describe its existence.

    [We call the Void our origin, but it is not our direct Ancestor. Our mother is another entity entirely.]

    The 2nd Primal Sovereign''s first words already shook Damien''s perception.

    When this creature said "our," he wasn''t merely referring to Space Beasts or even Primal Sovereigns, but all of his siblings, including the universe itself!

    A new form of existence was forced into Damien''s worldview, separating him further from the Void.

    [We came second, yet, we are all creations of the Void the same, regardless of our nature.]

    Damien''s eyes sharpened. The way he worded that sentence¡­

    ''It''s a concept, not an entity.''

    Damien''s mind whirled from these brief two sentences. He rapidly sifted through his memories andprehensions to find the hidden piece of the puzzle.

    ''There''s no way I haven''te in contact with it yet. At this point, I''ve approached almost every primordial existence. Somewhere, somehow, I''ve learned of these concepts. I just have to find them and define them.''

    What could precede the universe?

    The Void gave birth to "something else" before the universe came to be.

    Which meant the entity that was born needed to exist before the universe.

    ''I thought my path would lead me to the Void, but I was wrong. I made a crucial mistake from the start.''

    His current path led him not to the final goal, but to the gate he needed to open to reach it.

    The 5 elements.

    Life and Death.

    Space and Time.

    Creation and Destruction.

    ''And rumored to stand above them, Nihility.''

    The concept that represented the nothingness before the universe''s birth, such was the identity of the concept just barely mentioned to him during his very first ss change.

    Damien, to this day, viewed it as a synonym for the Void, nothing more than an alternate name.

    ''But there was something that existed before the universe, yet was lesser than the Void.''

    The nothingness itself was birthed along with the cycle as a defined entity. Even though the existence of absolute nothingness was impossible to imagine, it had somehow been defined.

    ''Wait¡­the existence of nothingness¡­isn''t that¡­''

    Right, every force had an equal and opposite. Thew of Yin and Yang, the concept of duality, suggested that even Nihility couldn''t be defined without the presence of "existence."

    The Primal Sovereign smiled.

    [Do not think further, child. Follow your heart until the road no longer exists before you, and then¡­]

    "Use the experience I gained along the way to carve my own path."

    [As all things go, this must not be rushed.]

    Damien nodded in agreement.

    ''The Primal Sovereign can be considered a grandson of the Void, and since I''m its chosen, it isn''t wrong to consider him an uncle of sorts. With his status and research on Heavenly Law, his decision to intervene here says something.''

    Some things were meant to be understood with one''s senses rather than their thoughts, and forming a prior perception of them might instead negatively impact one''sprehension.

    Damien wasn''t willing to risk such a mistake, especially not on his main path.

    Huu¡­

    He deeply exhaled and gathered his thoughts.

    ''I thought I was getting further away, but instead, I feel closer than ever to that hidden truth. Still, to think information like that showed up so early¡­''

    Damien suddenly became curious about the system.

    It used to hold such importance, but he rarely utilized or even saw traces of it recently.

    ''Is it like this for everyone, or have I just been moving further and further from its control?''

    The system relied on the Heavenly Law. The growth path it made avable was constricted within the universe''s standards.

    Yet, for a while now¡­

    ¡­Damien had not been acting within the bounds of what the universe would allow.

    ''It''s surprising that I don''t get hit by Heavenly Retribution often in Grand Heavens Boundary. The sub-universe based on itsws punished me when I tested its limits, but every time I abuse the Void outside is directly provoking the Universal Law and it''s never confronted me...''

    His expression turned solemn. The question had to be asked.

    "Is it a result of my power, or did the universe be weak to the point where it can''t do anything even while knowing its rules are being broken?"

    The Primal Sovereign, who had been calmly enjoying Damien''s treatment as the man submerged himself in thought, raised his head curiously.

    [Hm? Did you not wish to learn about the Void?]

    "What I gained before was more than enough."

    [...haha, I understand.]

    His positive expression gradually vanished.

    [Do you truly wish to know?]

    "I have to."

    [...]

    The Sovereign sighed in eptance.

    [It is as you said. The universe of today has shriveled to the point where your actions cannot be interfered with. Despite your weakness, the mere presence of the Void is enough to break the shackles of Universal Law.]

    "How did it be like this? How expansive was it at the start?"

    [The cause can be described as a natural decay exacerbated by external forces.]

    "How fast would the decay have been without them?"

    [Hardly noticeable. Even millions of years are nothing to the lifespan of a universe.]

    "Were there different forces or just the one I know?"

    [You are already aware of the answer.]

    "I really don''t like that answer."

    [However, it is reality.]

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien sighed and sat down, manipting his mana to prevent blood from falling from the wound and causing more Impulse Waves.

    Throughout the entire history of the universe, the Nox had been present to oppose it.

    Damien almostughed at the absurdity of it all.

    Just what kind of monstrous race were they?

    And just what could possibly drive them to dismantle and destroy the universe from the beginning of time?

    [Your second question is something even I cannot describe. If you wish to understand more about this truth and the questions rising in your heart, you must explore the Abyss.]

    Damien''s face remained firm and unchanging, yet something in his heart hardened.

    A Nox race targeting Grand Heavens Boundary was not out of Damien''s ns. Even a Nox race that targeted arger universe that became Grand Heavens Boundary was something he ounted for.

    But the Primal Sovereign told of a universe whose size even a being born alongside it could not exin, the truths of whichy in a ce he''d long realized his connection with.

    He could no longer put it off.

    He needed to explore the Abyss.

    It couldn''t be done before the ceasefire ended, but he couldn''t waste any time after his rematch with Bai Yumo to set out.

    ''This year¡­might be thest year of freedom I''ll have for a very long time.''

    He mentally prepared himself and prepared the final confirmation he needed.

    "This universe¡­"

    The hope remaining in his heart¡­

    "...is it going to die?"

    ¡­was that spark just a delusion?

 Chapter 1111 Dreams/Reality [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1111 Dreams/Reality [5]</h4>

    It was silent.

    Even the Impulse Waves became nonexistent once the 2nd Primal Sovereign''s wound healed more.

    The dream world was still, the lifeless organisms inhabiting it frozen in time.

    The function of this ce was weakening, because it''s entire purpose was to contain the destructive energy of the Saint Emperor''s mana and expel it in waves.

    Damien quietly injected Void Mana into the creature''s body.

    At this point, he''d been doing this for hours.

    The prior conversation came to an end after roughly 30 minutes, and Damien hadn''t spoken a word since.

    He had to take time for himself right now.

    Dreams and reality, just why did they have to be so different?

    Dreams could reflect reality. They could create imaginative depictions of one''s desires based on reality, an ephemeral reflection of the World of Dreams.

    Yet, reality didn''t easily amodate one''s dreams.

    The Severed World''s existence was magical for a reason.

    Damien had dreams. He had dreams he never voiced to this day because he didn''t want reality to know what he was nning.

    For whenever he voiced his dreams, that very reality crushed him.

    His question was loaded.

    Was the universe dying?

    What he meant to ask was if it was inevitable.

    And the Primal Sovereign didn''t answer helpfully at all.

    ''What may considered an end can also be a beginning¡­''

    He thought back to those words.

    So in the end, was it inevitable?

    For the end to be considered a beginning the end first had toe.

    Damien and everyone else worked hard to protect what they had now. Regardless of new beginnings or anything of the sort, wouldn''t the end that marked it take everything from them?

    The 2nd Primal Sovereign once had a dream. A dream of happily living with a family of his creation, separated from the troubles of the world.

    But that dream was taken from him by an inevitable reality.

    The same thing happened to Hassan.

    The same thing happened to the Azure Dragon.

    The same thing happened to ric.

    At every stage of power, Damien met a figure far more powerful than him who he took as inspiration. These beings fought for their dreams until theirst breaths, but reality still imed them.

    Most of them were dead, and the 2nd Primal Sovereign¡­

    Damien sighed.

    The creature''s attitude was different from the rest due to the nature of his existence, but Damien wasn''t optimistic about the future of their rtionship.

    After all, his original mission was not to just find the 2nd Primal Sovereign, but to enlist his help.

    Yet, not only did the beast not mention the Fifth Primal Sovereign, Damien''s original talking point, even once, but he also evaded the topic of the current situation throughout their conversation.

    Damien was stumped.

    ''My predecessors all either gave up or died. In pursuit of their ideals, they wasted their lives.''

    It was a cruel view, but the truth nheless.

    If any of them decided to escape and live quietly, they would''ve survived and likely lived happily while epting reality.

    This included Hassan.

    If he never used his talent, he could''ve lived safely after being abandoned on the Dead Star.

    ''I hate this line of reasoning.''

    They were his thoughts, but Damien knew better than anyone.

    He would never take the safe route either.

    He would never give up on his ambitions because external forces said it was impossible.

    Because in his mind, it wasn''t impossible until he decided it was or died.

    Still, the weight of reality bore down on his shoulders. It tried to crush his dreams into nothingness and push him into a path of security.

    He had one.

    He had the Sanctuary.

    If he retired to Theavel and never returned to the Real ne, he could live the simple and fulfilling life he suggested for the rest.

    All these thoughts culminated in a single conclusion.

    ''Is it possible?''

    Was he dreaming outside his capabilities, or should he trust his talent and determination?

    Should he try to save the universe, or should he walk his own path?

    ''Am I strong enough?''

    A question Damien never asked himself before today; he was finally forced to consider it.

    And his answer?

    ''It doesn''t matter.''

    It was toote.

    If he turned back now, he''d turn his back on everything he''d built until now.

    He wasn''t willing to do that.

    The empire he''d created within his own body and the connections he''d formed by walking this path, he didn''t want to give them up.

    ''Reality is harsh. The truth is harsh. But if I was going to let that stop me, I would have just killed myself in the dungeon.''

    He had to change the way he viewed the situation.

    He had to be colder.

    His expression calmed. His eyes became focused.

    ''If it''s not possible, I just have to force it.''

    It took him a bit to remember.

    He was no longer this version of himself.

    The version of him that would re-enter Grand Heavens Boundary¡­

    ''¡­that version of me can do it.''

    The Damien who no longer had weight dragging him down and could exert the full extent of his power, the Damien who understood the truths of the universe better than almost everybody¡­

    That Damien could do it.

    ''Alright.''

    It took some time to calm down, but his mind was stable now.

    He almost felt like he was worrying needlessly, but his concerns were entirely valid.

    Since when was it logical for a single man to carry the fate of an entire universe?

    Especially when that universe had so many other talents, why did it seem like he was the only one who could make a difference?

    He never felt the weight of the world because he never stopped to think about what he was carrying.

    Understanding reality and establishing the dreams he wanted to influence it were both important, because after going through both of these steps, after understanding both the consequences and benefits of his actions, he could ept the responsibility he had.

    It no longer mattered what other options he had, nor did it matter what he wanted to do.

    ''I have a role to y.''

    He was special, but he wasn''t that special. Even he had a ce in this universe.

    Therefore, unless he wanted to topple it all, he had to y that role.

    Damien smirked to himself.

    ''I could always be the viin in situations like this, but that really goes against my identity. Acting viinous is too cringe, what with all the reminders of my dark past¡­''

    Heughed a bit and shook his head.

    The Primal Sovereign''s Avatar Body was almost healed, and though Damien didn''t know its situation in reality, his job was almost done.

    His mind felt refreshed after that bout of introspection. The things that were shackling him from the shadows had been wholly epted into the light.

    He stood up and stretched his body.

    ''Shall we get to the main task then?''

    He opened his mouth to speak, yet¡­

    Whoosh!

    A being materialized on the peak.

    She looked between Damien and the 2nd Primal Sovereign with a smile on her face as she spoke.

    "Hello! Is it my turn to enter now?"

 Chapter 1112 Dreams/Reality [6]

    <h4>Chapter 1112 Dreams/Reality [6]</h4>

    "Hello! Is it my turn to enter now?"

    Damien''s eyes widened slightly when he saw her, but he shook his head with a smile soon enough.

    "How did you get here?"

    "I walked?"

    "When?"

    "Hmm¡­just now?"

    "Pfft¡­!"

    Damien did his best to hide his snort.

    The timing was too perfect.

    This woman had definitely been watching for a very long time and chose the time when Damien and the Primal Sovereign were back in good condition to appear.

    Except¡­

    "You must be quite disappointed right now."

    "Very! Who sets up a barrier like that without a single word? Shouldn''t you at least acknowledge it?"

    "Why should I? Isn''t this just basic etiquette?"

    "Agh! But this is a ce nobody else can enter!"

    "Yet, here you are."

    "Tch!"

    The woman shot a hateful re at Damien and turned away with a pout.

    It was an expression one would never expect from the individual in question.

    After all, she''d been deadpan the entire time Damien knew her!

    Right, the woman who mysteriously appeared in the dream world acting like apletely different person was none other than Sia!

    Or, was her identity really that simple?

    "When did you find out?" She asked, ncing back.

    Damien shrugged.

    "Which part?"

    "Both!"

    "Hmm, I found out you were here when I set up my barrier. As for the other part, probably when we first met?"

    "How?!"

    "I''m a cheat character, you know."

    "What kind of cheat is that?"

    "Haha, it''s not that easy."

    Sia harrumphed in frustration.

    "I don''t like how good you are at this."

    "At what?"

    "Hmph, keep pretending."

    Damien smiled. From the way she was acting, even she knew he''d found out her identity by now, but it looked like she still couldn''t ept it.

    How could she?

    Even if this was just an Avatar body, it was the Avatar of a peak expert!

    The abilities she showcased were supposed to be infallible!

    Yet, it was nothing to Damien. By the time they met, he''d already unshackled the Void, which allowed him to utilize many abilities that were previously restricted.

    One of which was his perception.

    "Since you''re already here, help with the next part. I''m not very good at this."

    "Is that something you should say as the person who made the decision to do this?"

    "Isn''t it something you should''ve considered as the one who hired me?"

    Sia, no, Eyrissea Luminus, the Holy Master of Prismatic Sun Holy Land, snorted without the ability to retort.

    Damien figured out her identity almost instantly, not to his own merit, but because of her own mistake!

    The mana she showed him, her partial Universal Law, he''d sensed it when he first met her, it was exactly what fluctuation that drew him into her aura and infatuated him.

    There was probably no other person in the universe who could recognize it, especially when she concealed it, but Damien was not like the rest.

    That much was obvious.

    ''It''s fun to watch her expressions. I guess she''s acting more freely since it isn''t her main body?''

    He sensed that Iris was a warm person from the start. After all, her perfunctory and slightly patronizing way of addressing him as "Child" when they first met changed drastically when he saw her face.

    She didn''t talk like an elder anymore, but as an equal.

    It was even a littleedic that she showed up here.

    Did she want to personally bring the 2nd Primal Sovereign in from the start?

    ¡­or had she juste for him?

    ''Stop that, brain. We are not entertaining the lower head''s thoughts anymore.''

    ''¡­it''s more fun when Rose does it.''

    Damien shook off his idle thoughts and refocused on the situation.

    Talking to Iris was one thing, but they first had a task to aplish,

    [In fact, there is no need to speak. I have long understood your purpose.]

    The 2nd Primal Sovereign finally inserted himself into the conversation upon finding an opening between the bantering pair.

    Their eyes turned to him in surprise.

    [Child, you must be her descendent?]

    Iris nodded, bowing her body respectfully.

    "That is correct, senior. I am Eyrissea Luminus, the current leader of Prismatic Sun Holy Land."

    [As expected, her lineage has continued.]

    The Primal Sovereign''s eyes closed slightly, reminiscing over old memories.

    [Do you hate me, child?]

    Iris immediately shook her head.

    "Not at all, senior. I had no knowledge of your injury before entering this ce, but even without that justification, I and my predecessors have understood your decision and respected it. We harbor no ill will against our benefactor."

    The Sovereign nodded slightly. His gaze turned to Damien.

    ''I have a weird feeling about this.''

    [I made my decision after observing this child for a period of time.]

    [I have never interfered in the matters of the outside world not because of my injury, but out of fear.]

    [I was afraid I would be hunted by my enemies, and even more so, I was afraid my presence would attract nigh-invincible forces into the universe.]

    [Even now, I am afraid. I am afraid of facing the world I once abandoned and seeing its current state.]

    The Primal Sovereign sighed.

    [Of the emotions I learned from her, this is the only one I cannot stomach.]

    Damien and Iris silently listened to his speech.

    They didn''t know where he was going with it. They had no way to make out whether his words were positive or negative.

    Did he give into fear or was he nning to ovee it?

    The Primal Sovereign didn''t force them to endure their thoughts for too long.

    His wings stretched and his tail twitched slightly.

    [I have not ovee my fear, and I have no n to¡­]

    He began with unnerving words¡­

    [¡­however, there is something I must do.]

    ¡­yet his conclusion was anything but.

    Damien and Iris held their expressions still, making sure not to celebrate early.

    The Primal Sovereign wasn''t done yet.

    [To achieve this goal, I cannot actively aid your universe in the war.]

    His eyes sharpened. His massive body began to shrink, freeing up more and more of the peak.

    A shimmering veil of space covered the area, and out of it walked a handsome man with snow-white hair and virtual blue eyes.

    His feet touched the ground, and his eyes turned once more to Damien''s figure.

    "Instead, I will follow him."

    The words he spoke flowed more naturally with his new form, and for this reason, they hit far, far harder.

    ""What?!""

    Damien and Iris eximed together to express their shock, but the Primal Sovereign did not budge from his position.

    Rather, he enunciated it further!

    Thud!

    One knee hit the ground.

    The great being who could quite literally stand equal to the universe was kneeling to Damien.

    Iris stared at him dumbfounded, while Damien backed away, utterly dibobted.

    ¡­was he right?

    ''Is there really a screw loose in his head?''

    He couldn''t think of a single reason why this great being would choose to follow him. He had no idea what goal he could possibly help this man achieve.

    Yet, even after he and Iris tried desperately for several minutes to change his mind, he didn''t budge.

    For the first time, an ancient entity was willing to return to the secr world.

    And Damien had no choice but to ept it.

    This event¡­

    ¡­marked the moment he gained his first 5th-ss subordinate!

 Chapter 1113 Return [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1113 Return [1]</h4>

    The shock of the situation was definitely longsting.

    As the minutes passed, Iris'' barrage of questions became fiercer and fiercer.

    She was adamant in finding out just why the benefactor of their sect made such an unorthodox decision.

    She couldn''t ask Damien, because from his reaction, even he had no idea what was going on.

    So she could only try her best to get a single word out of the stubborn Primal Sovereign who''d transformed himself into a man.

    Contrary to her confusion, the situation was being exined in full to Damien through mental transmission.

    The reason was simple.

    It was a matter of the Void.

    "The Void is an entity surpassing anything we, as primordial beings, canprehend, despite our status. Therefore, it has always been a subject of controversy among our race."

    "Some, like the youngling you met, crave it for themselves, some abhor it and deny its existence, while some others worship it as their ancestor."

    "I am part of thest category. I have always sought the Void for myself, but not out of a ce of desire, but one of faith. I wish to be closer to the Great Ancestor, and following you is the only path I''ve found to do so in my aeons of existence."

    It was a reason not tooplicated yet entirely justified.

    Damien also chased the Void with everything he had. The reason he came to meet the 2nd Primal Sovereign in the first ce; wasn''t it the exact same?

    The only difference was their motivation.

    Damien entertained conversation with the beast to try and understand him better. The two of them practically forgot about Iris'' presence as they went in-depth on what they knew about theirmon goal.

    ''I can''t understand the emotionalplexity of a being as old as the universe, so I can''t understand the foundation of his faith. But¡­I can only feel sincerity from him.''

    Damien considered himself quite good at judging people, and the 2nd Primal Sovereign gave him the feeling of a reliable ally.

    ''But because he''s following the Void instead of me, he won''t listen to orders absolutely. Is this something like gaining a Demigod protector¡­? Is there any use in that?''

    The restrictions on Divinities in the lower universe, likely the rule it directed most of its energy towards, practically dispersed all the fighting power a Demigod could possess.

    Unless they were battling someone of their same caliber or attacking the environment itself, their interference usually happened either from the back lines or through an Avatar.

    ''I won''t attract trouble from a Demigod outside the bounds of what I can deal with myself unless I have another Demigod by my side. It''s actually worse for me to keep him close right now.''

    If he wanted to move freely, he needed to get rid of this new subordinate!

    "I''m sure you understand my reasoning," Damien said through transmission, exining his thoughts to the man.

    "Help the universe first, ande to me when it''s time to explore the Abyss. I don''t think you want to abandon your wife''s influence either, right?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    The Primal Sovereign took a moment to consider it with a frown.

    "When are you nning to leave?" He asked.

    "I have a fated battle of sorts in the near future. Once that''s over, we''ll set out immediately."

    The Primal Sovereign''s eyes narrowed, but he nodded in understanding.

    "Very well, then we will do as such."

    "Good, now you should probably deal with her before she kills us."

    "Must I?"

    "That''s your descendant, after all."

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien smirked and turned away.

    "I''ll head out now. I have some people I want to see," he said out loud.

    "Do you think you can leave so easily?!"

    Iris'' frustrated voice boomed in his ears.

    Damien winced slightly and nced at her with a wry expression.

    "Figure that out with him. Don''t worry, he''s willing to talk now."

    Iris turned her eyes to the Primal Sovereign, who nodded somewhat unwillingly.

    "Your women are not in the Severed World right now. I will send you to them," he sighed.

    Damien grinned.

    "Then, I''ll ept your help."

    "You are a cruel man."

    "Haha, I am who I am."

    The Primal Sovereign shook his head and put his hand out, calling forth the mana of the world.

    As Damien felt himself leaving the realm, he suddenly remembered something crucial.

    "Ah, what''s your name?"

    It was difficult to just keep calling him 2nd Primal Sovereign, after all.

    The Primal Sovereign who fell in love with a human, a unique existence among his kind.

    Perhaps he was the only one who had something like a name.

    His eyes widened.

    "My name¡­?"

    It was something he''d forgotten a long time ago. Back then, when she died, he died with her.

    The name that carried the vestiges of their love, the name she gave him¡­

    ¡­was it finally time to revive its spark?

    He looked up with a warm smile.

    ''Change is indeed inevitable.''

    "You may call me Orion," he said.

    "Orion¡­Luminus."

    Damien''s lips curved up.

    "Alright then, Orion. I look forward to our next meeting."

    "As do I."

    Damien nced at Iris with a smile and gave her a little wave goodbye, just in time for the spatial fluctuations to sweep him away.

    What else happened in the dream world¡­

    ¡­well, for the first time in countless years, Orion Luminus was going to experience the nagging of a furious woman¡­

    ¡­and from the mouth of his own descendant, at that!

    ***

    Damien was transported directly to the hidden dimension Rose and the rest were transferred when he first met the Pegasus.

    ''This guy¡­.I guess he was serious about studying Universal Law.''

    Just how many pocket dimensions did he develop into independent worlds in his research?

    Damien was almost jealous of his body for holding such unique properties that even he couldn''t replicate.

    ''And¡­''

    Damien sent his awareness into the world, and it didn''t take long to find the girls.

    They weren''t together, but all of them were working hard.

    In fact, they were so absorbed in their training that they didn''t even realize his presence!

    ''Haha, everyone''s motivated, huh?'' Damien thought to himself with a smile.

    ''Then¡­shall I also get to work?''

    In his spiritual world was a stream of weak-looking mana, the same stream Orion showed him near the beginning of their conversation.

    ''The first step to the n, "Fuck It, We Ball": bing strong enough to confidently say, "Fuck it, we ball."''

    He sat down and took a meditative posture, prodding the mana in his mind.

    ''The second I open it, I''m going to lose track of reality.'' He thought to himself.

    ''I really hope I wake up in time.''

    He smiled wryly and stopped wasting time.

    His manapletely fused with the thread, turning it into a part of him.

    And his mind almost shattered from the amount of information that rapidly attached itself to his memory.

    Everything went ck.

    A small ck dot formed in Damien''s spiritual world.

    It was the start of something massive, something never seen before, something indescribable.

    Everyone submerged themselves in thoughts of improvement and left no room for anything else.

    They tortured themselves, broke themselves, and put themselves back together, uncaring of the pain they went through in the process.

    In this way, another week passed.

    It had been almost a month since they entered the Severed World.

 Chapter 1114 Return [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1114 Return [2]</h4>

    The raid on Hephaestus'' Infected Source World ended after nine grueling months of war.

    The number of lives lost already reached the tens of millions.

    And yet, no new information was revealed.

    Near the end, when the Supremes gathered in the stronghold were confronted and defeated, they chose to end themselves rather than submit.

    This kind of fanatic faith was terrifying on its own, a level of morale a regr army couldn''t reach, but it was worse from the Nox.

    There remained the Divine Realm and Infernal Realm now, thest of the Infected Source Worlds, and neither was going to be an easy raid.

    After much deliberation, the Divine Realm was set as the next target.

    Heaven''s army learned from the mistakes they made in Hephaestus and didn''t rush to make themselves known.

    For the past three months, they had been running surveince and gathering intel on both remaining Nox strongholds in hopes of forming a foolproof raid strategy before rushing in.

    It had now been a year since the ceasefire began.

    Judging by the progress until this point, despite the small number of remaining targets, it was unknown whether Grand Heavens Boundary would reach the level of security its inhabitants desired before universal war broke out again.

    From her throne in Prismatic Sun Holy Land, Iris slowly opened her eyes.

    The Avatar she set up was a bit special. She infused it with her ego and power, but gave it the ability to act independently so she didn''t have to focus on it.

    Instead, every day she received its memories in bulk, allowing her to understand the situation on the other side.

    Currently, she was fuming.

    "Hmph! It can be counted as a win overall, but I still feel cheated," she muttered hatefully to herself.

    In the end, the 2nd Primal Sovereign promised to follow her to Prismatic Sun Holy Land and lend his efforts as he was needed, but did he need to sound so unwilling?!

    It was clear that he and Damien made some sort of secret agreement that he would much rather be attending to!

    "Haa, this is the problem with geniuses that are too talented. Even if they don''t do anything, everyone else''s achievements will end up benefiting them instead!"

    Her words were envious, but her thoughts were not.

    Damien was a friend, after all. She didn''t have any qualms with him getting the benefits he did.

    It had just been a very long time since she''d been disadvantaged like this, and the feeling was not fun at all!

    She almost felt like a little girl again, able to do nothing but pout andin.

    "Nevertheless, since he ising, it is almost time to start ''that'' n."

    She nced at a nearby wall, behind which was a hidden room even her closest subordinates had no knowledge of.

    She walked through it as if it were immaterial and set her eyes on theption of documents and misceneous books strewn about the ce.

    The Motherworld Discovery n.

    For thousands of years she''d been researching about the Abyss and trying to define it as much as she could in theory, but she never had a method to test her theory in the slightest.

    Because even she could not survive the Abyss for too long; even she could easily get eternally lost in its ckness.

    A Primal Sovereign was different.

    Orion''s body wasposed of fundamental energies that no longer existed in the universe, which gave him capabilities that earned him the Primal Sovereign title in the first ce.

    ''With his help, we can finally extend our reach past the borders of Eien. We can finally try our luck at attacking.''

    The Nox''s greatest advantage was their ability to attack from the Abyss while the denizens of the universe remained clueless about their depths.

    Creating a path through the Abyss could take away that advantage and expand the paths Heaven''s Army could take.

    Of course, there were several factors to still be considered, but the n was just theory at this point. Once Orion arrived, those edges could be smoothed out.

    Though, enlisting a Primal Sovereign for just this much wouldn''t justify the amount of effort it took to find and reach him.

    His real purpose¡­

    ''Operation Godyer.''

    A n that a select few knew of, yet had never been voiced into reality.

    Because even alluding to its existence could be considered sin.

    Something that defied logic and reason, something utterly sphemous¡­

    ¡­yet something the peak experts of the universe couldn''t give up.

    For it tomence, they needed Orion.

    ''¡­and perhaps, ''he'' might be¡­''

    The thought didn''t need to be continued.

    If it seeded, they''d be considered heroes, but if it failed, they would likely be ughtered by theirrades before their enemies had a chance.

    Iris ran her hand across the spine of an ancient text and sighed before turning around and exiting the secret room.

    ''There is still work to be done. For now, instead of this¡­''

    ''¡­let''s focus on exterminating pests.''

    ***

    Luckily, Damien wasn''t forced into an embarrassing situation when he woke up from hisprehension.

    There weren''t three women annoyedly staring him down, but only one, peacefully sleeping on hisp.

    He smiled as he returned to his senses and brushed his hand through her hair.

    ''Second isn''t bad at all when I get to wake up to something like this.''

    The one who came was Elena. The other two were still busy until now, but they were also slowly wrapping up their individual training.

    ''She''s been giving them a lot of space since we reunited. I guess she felt bad they got less time to bond andpromised, but¡­''

    Did she have to do it like this?

    It wasn''t a problem, Damien just found it a bitical how she secretly approached him and took advantage of the opportunity when the other two were busy.

    "Hmm¡­"

    She stirred awake after feeling his hand and smiled up at him before raising herself and nting a light kiss on his lips.

    "Good morning," she yawned as she stretched her body.

    Damien smirked, his eyes not behaving in the slightest.

    "Haha, good morning, indeed."

    "Have you looked enough? Or do you still want to have another peekter?" Elena teased, rolling her eyes.

    "If you''re offering, who am I to reject? But¡­do you think you''ll be able to?"

    It was Elena''s turn to grin.

    "Who said I''de alone?"

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    She didn''t mean¡­

    The legendary night he''d been wishing for since the very beginning¡­

    She wasn''t really suggesting¡­

    "Pfft¡­! What kind of reaction is that? Do you want it that bad?"

    Damien''s joy deted instantly.

    ''So it was a joke¡­''

    His hopes and dreams¡­

    His hopes and dreams¡­!

    Well, something like that was a lot harder to bring into reality than expected. He had an easier time learning Universal Law than bringing it up in conversation.

    But that was beside the point.

    As Damien and Elena stood up, two more auras approached them.

    Rose and Ruyue arrived within a minute, and after exchanging greetings, all three women looked at Damien.

    He nodded without even hearing their question.

    "We''ve been here long enough. It''s time to go back."

    The Severed World would remain open and connected to the outside world through the same portal, but since Orion''s main body would no longer remain hidden in stasis, its nature would soon change.

    Its infinite resources would be finite, and its environment would be given the chance to evolve that it had been denied for so many years.

    ''Maybe that''s what''ll lead him to the answers he''s been looking for.''

    Damien looked up and waved his arm around as if hailing a taxi.

    "Hey, you heard it, right? Send us out!"

    "Brat, it''s fine when it''s just us, but give me face in front of outsiders!" Orion''s voice responded.

    "Haha, what do you mean outsiders? Did you think you''d be able to hide yourself from my wives in the first ce?"

    "Haa, that''s not¡­never mind. Finish quickly on your side. I am patiently awaiting our fated day of departure."

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    "Me too. I''ll see you then. Don''t cause any problems for Iris while you''re over there."

    "That is not something you need to tell me."

    With their goodbyes bid among the girls'' confusion, Orion promptly moved his mana.

    Spatial waves covered the group.

    Unlike the regr feeling of transportation, they felt as if they were going back through the entrance portal.

    They felt the chains that shackled them for the past month.

    They felt those chains shattering one by one.

    But regardless of the freedom they experienced, it was something they were expecting, so their reaction was a bit muted.

    However, just how would they react when they found out how long they''d been gone?

    Even Damien was clueless about this!

 Chapter 1115 Return [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1115 Return [3]</h4>

    Four figures remained stuck in limbo between the Severed World and Grand Heavens Boundary.

    They were moving, but not nearly fast enough to reach their destination any time soon.

    This strange stage was not a problem, but a boon for the group.

    Because right now, they were being transformed.

    The bodies they inhabited ovepped with the bodies they possessed before entering the Severed World''s restriction.

    The strengths of both forms intepped, while the weaknesses canceled each other out.

    They were experiencing the true gains they made in the Severed World.

    The effects were extremely pronounced on all of them.

    For Ruyue and Elena, who gained great affinity with their Laws, being exposed to thepletews of the true universe was a cathartic experience.

    It was as if they could do anything they wanted as long as they willed it.

    They were the controllers of their own fates, beings who couldn''t bepared to the norm.

    As for Rose, reality felt more tangible.

    The so-called "fabric" of reality manifested itself more literally. She could feel its coarse threads wrapping around her body, and just barely, she felt like she could influence their behavior.

    To seize control over reality itself, this was the nature of the path she chose.

    Naturally, she felt the grandness of her ambition in this moment.

    Yet, regardless of what they experienced, it couldn''t match a tenth of what was happening to Damien.

    The phenomenon was caused by abination of many factors.

    The Blessing of Foundation, his newfoundprehension of Universal Law, and much more coalesced into an almost orgasmic feeling of euphoria.

    If it had to be described, Damien always felt too small for his body.

    He felt like his mind and soul couldn''t fill out the frame of the body he built, contained within a portion of its boundaries.

    Now, he not only filled out his frame, he felt like he could act outside its influence.

    It was simply impossible to truly put it into words.

    Damien Void finally felt like Damien Void.

    He finally felt like the Bearer of the Void Physique.

    He finally felt like the heir of Void Pce.

    The transformation happened in an infinitely long instant, and in the next, the four arrived back in their home universe.

    The girls slowly opened their eyes and looked down at their hands, cherishing the feeling that was now passing.

    And Damien¡­

    sh!

    His body was covered in bright light that diminished in a single second. The aurapletely withdrawn in his body red out more powerfully than ever.

    He leapt to the third revolution of extreme peak 4th ss right then and there.

    "Huh?!"

    His eyes shot open as he eximed in astonishment.

    He just came back to his senses, and something so nonsensical was already happening?

    ''¡­ah, on second thought¡­isn''t it totally normal?''

    The point of the nine revolutions was to define one''s existence and build one''s Legend.

    It was an unofficial stage because it waspletely outside the system''s interference, a step every practitioner had to make on their own.

    In reality, a nine revolutions master was still an extreme peak 4th ss practitioner.

    The power they were exerting wasn''t part of a new stage, but an extension of the past one.

    Therefore, there was no way to tell when one would rank up.

    As long as one kept building their Legend and striving for the absolute peak of what they could do, one would eventually rank up naturally.

    Yet, it usually took a great deal of time to stack up achievements that could make a significant impact on one''s Legend.

    It normally took several hundred or even thousands of years.

    The current situation, however, was anything but normal.

    Disregarding Damien''s disgustingly infinite potential, the actions he was taking were always extreme due to the apocalyptic state of the universe that he saw.

    And especially this time in the Severed World, not only did he subordinate a Demigod, he achieved the wholeness one could only desperately wish for before bing a Supreme.

    If he didn''t move up at this point, the heavens were truly acting against him!

    Damien closed his eyes and gathered his thoughts before reopening them.

    Huu¡­

    He let out a calm breath and finally took ount of the surroundings.

    They were not back on the floating continent where Orion''s portal was located, but in a random portion of space in the Giant Domain.

    "It''s been a year, huh¡­"

    "A year?!"

    Damien muttered it to himself, but there was no way the girls wouldn''t overhear.

    He''d be used to massive time differences after all these years, so it didn''t affect him much. He went straight into thinking about how to best use the remaining year of ceasefire.

    However, the girls didn''t have his experience!

    None of them had been to such convoluted ces where a single month equated to a year outside!

    The surprise on their faces was mixed with a bit of horror at the realization. A year of time lost so easily couldn''t be processed like it was normal.

    Damien pulled them closefortingly.

    He spoke soft words into their ears to calm them down and help them ept the situation.

    In truth, their bodies were not harmed nor did they experience any setbacks in consequence of the time dtion, but the mental impact of the fact itself was significant.

    They were all powerful beings. It only took a bit of time to regain their senses.

    The warmth of Damien''s embrace helped a great deal too.

    It would''ve been more fun if they had dramatic reactions to the news, but they were too old for that by now, weren''t they?

    ''I keep forgetting that 10,000 is a normal age nowadays. Still, the earthen dream to have my life together by 40 doesn''t go away easily.''

    Damien smiled to himself as he let go of the girls.

    "We''re going back now?" Rose asked.

    "Mm, it''s been a long time. It''s time to go home."

    It was a bit much to start moving again so soon after finishing theirst mission, but none of them had anyints.

    Besides, thising trip could be considered something of a vacation.

    Damien learned a lot about the universe from his seniors and personal research. He could be considered an expert on the topic.

    But if it was his own origins, he still had an endless stream of unanswered questions.

    It was time to go back to the Human Domain and solve some of those mysteries.

    And perhaps¡­

    ''Ah, I''m feeling nostalgic.''

    ¡­perhaps it was time to revisit some old friends and demons.

    The girls entered the Sanctuary using their engagement rings and entered Theavel to explore for a few days.

    And Damien''s body disappeared, traveling millions of kilometers in an instant.

    He grinned to himself, the spatialyers brushing against his face like wind.

    The freeing feeling of teleportation he missed so dearly was back, not just in the Severed World, but in reality.

    He hadn''t done anything yet, but it was clear as day in his mind.

    Anything he wanted to do, he could achieve it.

    The doubts that clouded his mind in the dream world, the convictions he built to destroy them¡­

    Everything felt validated in this moment.

 Chapter 1116 Return [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1116 Return [4]</h4>

    The Giant Domain and Human Domain were neighboring Sectors. It only took Damien a day to reach the boundary between them.

    The main problem was the turbulence that existed at the boundary.

    Several tens of millions of kilometers of destroyed space, like a diluted representation of the Abyss, separated the Human Domain from everything around it.

    While it acted as a nigh imprable defense against outside forces, it was also the very cause of the Sector''s decline.

    Naturally, this portion of the universe healed considerably over the past 10,000 years, so it was only powerful enough to hold off against enemies under the extreme peak of 4th ss, but that was more than enough.

    After all, the Human Domain also had its experts. They would only lose if the other side could abuse a numbers advantage.

    And even then, they would have much time to prepare while the able forces made their way through the spatial chaos!

    This was Damien''s first time seeing the phenomenon. After all, his exit from the domain was more than unconventional.

    He marveled at it for a few seconds before passing into its depths. He waded through the fractured space with the ease of a master, avoiding anything that could shake his flow and destroying anything that blocked his path.

    Though, he was doing more than just that.

    This was the Human Domain''s fortification! He couldn''t make it easy to pass through, right?

    The spatial traps heid in his wake were specially constructed to only attack intruders. Those who carried the mana signature of a Human Domain denizen would not encounter any problems from them.

    ''It''s not perfect, but it''s good enough. As long as I inform the old man about it, emissaries should be able to avoid them too.''

    Damien shrugged off the disadvantages of his actions for now and shed through the disrupted area, arriving on the other side.

    It wasn''t like he had no ns ofing back. He could clear away the loopholester.

    For now, he continued teleporting until he was closer to the more popted areas of the domain before calling the girls out.

    "We have arrived, mdies," he said with a teasing smile.

    "The ride was quite nice. Do you have any interest in being my personal chauffeur?" Rose responded in kind.

    "Haha, I don''t mind at all. But¡­I don''t work for free."

    Damien unleashed a lecherous gaze he hadn''t used in very many years, causing Rose to roll her eyes.

    "Cheeky¡­"

    Damien smiled.

    "Alright, then. My first stop is Apeiron. Is everyoneing?"

    It was natural for them to move together, but since this was a home visit, it was also natural for them to have things they''d rather do alone.

    "You are going there on business?" Ruyue asked.

    "Mm. It''s mainly for that, but I figured I''d pay a visit to some old friends as well."

    "Then, I shall return to the Cloud ne first."

    Ruyue was never a sociable person to begin with. She was interested in the people Damien met at the beginning of his journey, but she wanted to go home more.

    Because something important happened since thest time she saw Tian Yang. There were many things she wanted to tell him privately.

    Damien nodded in understanding.

    "I''ll be there after I finish up on Apeiron. It won''t be too long."

    "Mm. We must face Master together as well."

    "For¡­ah, yeah, we do need to do that, don''t we?"

    Damien smiled wryly.

    Seeking approval from his inws; Tian Yang wasn''t the only one he had to face for this purpose.

    Damien turned to Rose and Elena.

    Rose was obviouslying with him as he was visiting her hometown, but Elena¡­

    Elena was the only one among them with no family at all. She never showed it, but it was something that deeply affected her.

    She learned much about her Valkyrie ancestry, but her parents and family line were a mystery to this day.

    She didn''t hold attachments to them, but that didn''t mean she had no interest in their identities.

    Frankly, Elena didn''t have a home to return to.

    Her home was these people she currently traveled with, and perhaps somewhat Commander Huo Xuan''s group.

    What was she to do here?

    Though there was nothing for her to reminisce on, she had a goal to aplish.

    The Human Domain and Valkyrie race were closely connected, after all.

    "I''ll also move on my own for now. We can talk from wherever now, right? I won''t be gone for long."

    Damien looked at her with a slightly troubled light in his eyes but quickly covered it up.

    ''I''ll support whatever she wants to do. If this is something she has to do alone, I can only make sure she remembers the home she has here.''

    After a few more minutes of conversation, Ruyue and Elena split from the group, going their separate ways.

    Meanwhile, Rose went back to the Sanctuary.

    It would definitely be short this time, but she had no interest in feeling what it was like to teleport through egregious amounts of space!

    Damien shook his head wryly, pitying those who couldn''t experience the feeling he loved so much, and made his way to Apeiron.

    A few hourster, the middle world appeared in his sight.

    This familiar appearance, this familiar world¡­

    Had it been over a decade already?

    Damien stopped in space and slowly descended into the''s atmosphere.

    He appreciated the cool air of this peaceful ce and relished in the power of a Star Master that flowed through him. He had nearly forgotten what having so much control felt like.

    [Long time no see, Master.]

    An excited yet monotone voice entered his mind.

    "Mm, it''s good to be back," Damien responded.

    Apeiron''s voice. The voice of the World Core, something he hadn''t heard for a very long time.

    [It is uneptable that I was not visited first. I am going to rebel.]

    A second, more masculine voice joined the first.

    "Yun, it''s not a big deal. I''ll be over there soon enough."

    [You do not understand, Master. That one is incorrigible.]

    [You only say that because I won. You are less important.]

    [Lies. You were boundst. Forever remember that fact.]

    Damien''s smile got warmer and warmer as he listened to the quarreling World Cores.

    ''That''s something I never thought I''d see in this life.''

    Sure, World Cores had sentience, but they weren''t supposed to have this much emotion.

    It was a product of Damien''s influence on their growth, and he wasn''t mad at it at all.

    ''It looks like they can contact each other without my interference too. That''s something worth celebrating.''

    And what better way was there to celebrate and visit a person he had been wanting to see for a very long time?

    ire Watson, his dear mother.

    ''After so long, I wonder how she''s doing?''

    Damien spread his senses through World Force and scanned the entire world to locate her.

    A frown formed on his face.

    His good mood was immediately ruined.

    "Exin. Right now."

    [Master, that is¡­]

    His heart fell.

    Apeiron''s hesitant voice was like an explosion in his mind.

    [...the individual known as ire Watson disappeared 500 days ago.]

 Chapter 1117 Claire Watson [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1117 ire Watson [1]</h4>

    ire Watson disappeared 500 days ago.

    Damien wished to deny this fact, but there was no way to do so.

    After all, the World Core couldn''t lie.

    His mother disappeared?

    What could''ve happened?

    Who could possibly want anything to do with her?

    As far as Damien knew, his mother was an ordinary woman. Her first introduction to mana was when he showed it to her. He saw her open the system for the first time.

    Someone like that, who never truly had any interest in strength and resided in a peaceful world like Apeiron, how could she just disappear?

    The problem didn''t end there.

    Damien tried to extract more information from Apeiron, but it knew nothing.

    It shared its memory with Damien to let him understand what it knew.

    That day, almost 2 years ago, ire Watson was going about her day like usual.

    There were no oddities in her routine, nor did anything change in the environment around her.

    When night fell, she sat on the balcony of her room in the Adire Empire imperial pce, gazing at the stars.

    For a second, Damien felt like she was staring at his illusory form, watching her from the Heavens.

    And then, she just disappeared.

    With no prior warning, no fluctuations of mana, and no interference whatsoever.

    She vanished from the face of the earth.

    Damien lost his mood to do anything.

    No matter the circumstances, it remained true that his mother wasn''t much better than a mortal.

    If anything happened to her¡­

    His gaze was icy in the skies of Apeiron.

    He summoned Rose from the Sanctuary and sent her to meet her father without much conversation.

    She instantly noticed the troubled light in his eyes but said nothing.

    When Damien got into this state, nobody could break through to him, not even her.

    Left alone, Damien shed away, arriving at a specific location in the Helia Forest.

    Kurt''s portal was located here.

    If even the World Core had no knowledge, the only person who could give him help was the world''s singr Demigod, the being trapped in the depths of the First Dungeon.

    ''Tiamat will be able to view the situation more intuitively than Apeiron, and there was a rumor that she has connections to the Adventurer''s Guild. If she could mobilize those forces¡ª''

    "I cannot help you here, child."

    The response he got was anything but satisfactory.

    The beautiful Nox woman on the 100th floor of the dungeon shrugged helplessly when he questioned her, indicating that her hands were tied.

    "How much?" Damien asked.

    "What?"

    "There''s no way you have no thoughts. What do you want?" He pressed on.

    Tiamat might''ve had a positive perception of him, but it was only because he could help her. She wasn''t the type to lend her help for nothing.

    Tiamat smiled, ncing sideways at him.

    "You still owe me forst time, no?"

    "You did that of your own volition. Don''t mention it."

    "Ah, but the reason I helped you was simple. You should understand it better than anyone."

    Damien frowned and widened his eyes.

    When All-Seeing Eyes activated, he was able to see the ethereal chains forcing her to remain in this ce.

    There were 99 total, each double the thickness of a man''s arm.

    "I''ll break one."

    "Five."

    "Five is beyond my capabilities. I can do 3 at most."

    "Truly? However, from what I can see, you can break almost half of them if you wish to?"

    "Key words, ''if I wish to.''"

    It was Tiamat''s turn to frown.

    The agreement they had was something Damien would absolutely use to subordinate her once she was free.

    If he tried to do so with his current strength, regardless of prior agreements, Tiamat could still find ways to act outside his influence.

    Was he being cautious until he was powerful enough to control her?

    ''Cheeky brat.''

    She wasn''t offended. If anything, Tiamat liked him more for this trait.

    Because trusting others was¡ª

    "Very well. If you can shatter three of these chains, I shall give you direction."

    Damien nodded and shed his arm out, Void Mana coalescing into a de extending from it.

    ng!

    ng!

    ng!

    The sound was as if they were material. Three chains broke and shattered into pieces that fell to the ground.

    Even Tiamat had to be surprised at his nonchnt attitude.

    "I am not in a great mood right now. If you have something to say, wait until this is sorted out."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Tiamat sighed and shook her head.

    ''This child''s potential is too terrifying. Perhaps even he¡­''

    "That person who disappeared, she was likely not taken away by other forces."

    The first thing Tiamat did was provide reassurance.

    "Even if another Demigod acted, I would have been able to sense it. I am confident in at least that much. Her disappearance is¡­something much greater than that."

    Damien''s hard expression didn''t loosen, but his mind calmed somewhat.

    If she wasn''t taken away by other forces, he could be assured that she wouldn''t be used by enemies for anything tragic.

    But, in the end, what did that mean?

    "As I said prior, I do not have the answer you seek. If you wish to know more, you will find your answer in the floating city."

    "Floating city¡­?"

    Tiamat shrugged.

    "Do not ask me. I only vaguely understand it. Do expect me to clearly know from my current position?"

    "Fair enough."

    Tiamat rolled her eyes, a bit offended by his tant disregard, but didn''t say anything.

    ''If it''s a floating city¡­could it be that?''

    There was only one ce Damien could think of.

    Thest vestige of Niflheim, the city transformed into a war machine on Lynn Carter''s order.

    ''I don''t know how urate my guess is, but I have no choice but to check.''

    Damien''s body flickered and disappeared without another word.

    ''Hmph. No decency at all.'' Tiamatined to herself.

    "¡­"

    "¡­thanks."

    Damien''s voice rang out from the void.

    Two more ethereal chains shattered on their own.

    And his presence finally vanished.

    Tiamat grinned.

    ''Truly, what a cheeky brat.''

    ***

    Damien had two choices right now.

    Either he could wallow in a spiral of negativity imagining every possible situation, or he could move thoughtlessly with only his goal in mind.

    What he chose was thetter.

    He teleported across the universe, ignoring everything in his path.

    The so-called floating city.

    It used to be known as Hub City Avalon before it was turned into a flying warship.

    When the unnamed world crumbled upon the Fifth Primal Sovereign''s awakening, Avalon was the only ce for the survivors of the destroyed world to live.

    Even Rose and the rest were saved by Lynn''s efforts in that city.

    Now, it was located not far from the Cloud ne''s atmosphere,

    It was currently being used as the Human Domain''s greatest research institution, expanding endlessly and creating countless technologies and artifacts that could exponentially increase the Sector''s power level.

    Even Niflheim''s old Artifact Duplication was picked up by them.

    Yet, no matter how big it got and no matter how much it changed, there was one thing that remained constant.

    The center of every new development was Lynn Carter, a woman granted the title of God''s Hand due to her ability to innovate so beautifully.

    And now, this God''s Hand, Damien''s old ally, was the target of his visit.

    If Avalon truly had something to do with his mother, she would be the one who knew about it.

    ''If the answer isn''t here¡­''

    ¡­he really didn''t know what he would do.

 Chapter 1118 Claire Watson [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1118 ire Watson [2]</h4>

    With Lynn''s current status, it wasn''t easy for just anyone to meet her.

    Damien might''ve been a mythical existence in the Human Domain, but that worth was only attached to his name.

    Not many people knew his face, so he couldn''t use his status without causing a lot of unnecessary trouble.

    That''s why, even in his current state, Damien was prepared to wait a while before seeing her.

    Yet, it seemed there was no need.

    "I''ve been waiting for you."

    Standing at the edge of what was now essentially a floating continent was none other than the blonde-haired researcher Damien came to see.

    He wasn''t happy. If anything, the strange feeling in his chest worsened.

    Lynn Carter was known to the universe as an innovator, but she was much more than just that.

    She was a strategic genius whose mind terrified even Damien.

    Once a ve to the Nox, Lynn Carter used her mind alone to free herself and her people.

    The ns Damien and the girls discovered during their first visit to Earth where he also saw Lynn for the first time, the Nox''s movement in the Human Domain, was not solved by Damien.

    What culminated in an all-out war with Niflheim was possible because Lynn Carter had already been destroying Wrath''s ns from the inside for many years.

    When Damien was added to the equation, he sparked Wrath''s irrational powerlust and created a situation that she took advantage of to gain her freedom.

    The amount of patience and time required was something Damien simply didn''t possess.

    When a woman who had a mind like that said a sentence like, "I''ve been waiting for you," it usually wasn''t anything good.

    Damien didn''t return her greeting, nodding and following her lead deep into the facility.

    It mirrored Evotech a great deal, perhaps because it was also a research-dedicated organization.

    Still, a few of the steampunk aesthetics of the original Hub City Avalon were mixed into the nd research environment, giving it a twinge of character one wouldn''t expect from such a ce.

    Here, whether it be amon cksmith or a scientist at the peak of his field, anyone could find the opportunity to be great as long as they had the potential or skill to match their ambitions.

    Damien silently appreciated the environment Lynn cultivated in this ce as he followed her through the ce and into therge skyscraper at its center.

    They stepped into an elevator-like structure, which teleported them to the top floor in an instant.

    "How convenient."

    "Thanks. You were the inspiration."

    "Should I be ttered?"

    "Yes. Yes, you should."

    Damien raised his brow.

    She seemed a bit different from before.

    She walked to her desk and sat in therge chair meant for the leader of this ce and motioned for him to sit in the seat across from her.

    Damien didn''t know how to describe this feeling.

    Was she¡­more human now?

    "Yes, it is likely what you''re thinking."

    "Hm?"

    "Guard your mind here. Your thoughts will be visible otherwise."

    Damien once again raised his brow and sent his awareness through the room.

    There was indeed a formation he''d never seen before hidden in the folds of space.

    "As expected of the God''s Hand."

    "Don''t call me that."

    "You know what I came here to ask, right?"

    Damien moved their conversation to the main subject, taking his seat.

    "I do," Lynn responded, sping her hands below her chin.

    ''As expected¡­''

    Damien had some time to ruminate over it while he wasing here.

    Logically speaking, there was no way for Tiamat to know of Avalon''s existence.

    Because of the restrictions ced on her, her awareness couldn''t travel outside Apeiron, so even divining its existence was beyond her influence.

    The only way she could know¡ª

    ''¡ªis if someone told her to guide me here.''

    He turned his attention back to Lynn.

    His worry hadpletely faded by this point.

    Because this situation did not seem like a crisis, but something intentional.

    "Your mother¡­" Lynn began, not wasting any time.

    "¡­is a far greater existence than you can ever imagine."

    ***

    ire Watson.

    Damien knew her as a mortal woman, a struggling single mother who did everything she could to help him through life, even if her efforts didn''t always reflect the way she wanted them to.

    Yet, as he grew he began to understand.

    His talent wasn''t possible regardless of his father''s position.

    And because of his father''s position, his conception itself was an unsolved mystery.

    After all, gods could not descend into the lower universe.

    The story Damien heard from Lynn''s mouth was absurd.

    But that was exactly why it made sense.

    ire Watson¡­was also a Divine from the Heavenly World.

    Dante Void and his Void Pce held great status in that world, and she was the woman who became the Mistress and Empress of that great influence.

    However, tragedy struck.

    Even Lynn didn''t know the whole story, but somehow, Dante Void''s Divinity was shattered and he fell from the heavens, choosing Earth as a ce to hide and recuperate.

    ire chased him, unwilling to part from her love, and fractured her own Divinity to descend.

    Until this point, there were no problems. If everything went the way it was supposed to, they would''ve recovered and returned to the Heavenly World within a few dozens of years.

    The problem was elsewhere.

    With her Divine Soul injured and in stasis, a new consciousness was born in her empty vessel.

    This consciousness became ire Watson.

    Her original memories were locked away with her true soul, and when Dante found her, his power was nowhere near enough to bring her back.

    What was worse was that the unborn child they''d conceived before the tragedy was still living in her stomach.

    They couldn''t abandon that child.

    Damien was born, and Dante and ire began a life as mortals on Earth.

    What came next, as Damien knew well, was Dante being forced to leave him and his mother early in his life.

    ire''s condition went unsolved and when the World Awakening took ce, the mana in the atmosphere shook her Divine Soul, putting her in aa from what looked like mana sickness.

    After Damien fed her the Elixir, however, her body and even her Divine Soul experienced a boost.

    When ire awakened the dream affinity, her two separate consciousnesses were finally given the chance to merge, returning her to the person she was when as a Divine while retaining her feelings and emotions as ire.

    This was the story Lynn Carter knew.

    There were naturally many holes that ruined its continuity, but even this much already gave Damien an idea of many things he''d been curious about.

    As for "how" Lynn knew¡­?

    "I am her Avatar. I was created for the purpose of aiding you, keeping the Nox away from you long enough for you to grow into your power."

    Right, Lynn Carter was never a true human, but a reflection of ire Watson''s will.

    "Then¡­your sister? Your ambition? All of it¡­?"

    "Real."

    The answer was unexpected.

    "I may have been created and tasked with aiding you, but my ambitions were very much my own as well. The rtionship I had with your mother, while she is my creator, was more one of cooperation."

    Avatar was perhaps the wrong word to use in the first ce.

    It was better to say that Lynn was an "Apostle."

    Still, her nature as an Avatar granted her ess to a portion of ire''s memories, and that portion was what she shared with Damien.

    "Then, right now, my mother is¡­"

    "¡­likely in the Heavenly World."

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    He was expecting it, but he wasn''t prepared.

    In fact, right now, he was bubbling over with questions he needed to ask.

    This frustratingly vague story had to be grounded.

    He had to know the rest.

    Because, unexpectedly, this event was the key to learning the mysteries of his origin he didn''t even know he should''ve been seeking!

 Chapter 1119 Apeiron [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1119 Apeiron [1]</h4>

    The things Damien learned from Lynn were as such.

    Firstly, both of his parents were unequivocally Gods from the Heavenly World.

    Secondly, their stories were anything but simple, filled with twists and turns he had to uncover.

    And thirdly, no matter their states or positions, they did everything they could to make his journey to power stable.

    When it came to actual information, what Lynn could provide was negligible, because what she knew was only what ire wanted Damien to know.

    His mother was evidently urging him to chase his origins and form opinions on his own.

    Like always, his parents fully supported his right to freedom.

    Damien and Lynn sat in their same positions many minutes after the conversation ended.

    For Damien, this time was used to sort out his thoughts.

    His existence made much more sense now.

    The egregious talent he had for space came from his father, but Damien''s body was unique in more ways than just that.

    The Void was able to change his structure so he could ept new affinities, but the fact that he was able to do so naturally and without enduring the extreme pain of evolution indicated that he already had a vague qualification to practice them.

    The son of a God and a mortal could only amount to so much.

    But Damien''s blood was inherited not only from two Gods, but two very powerful ones.

    There was much on his shoulders, much he could only learn by ascending and encountering Void Pce, but his mind was clear.

    ''Rather than being unsettled, this information is somewhat calming. I don''t know what state my parents are in now, but if mother has the ability to protect herself, I can rest assured.''

    Lynn might''ve called their rtionship a cooperation, but she couldn''t hide the slight light of reverence in her eyes.

    The true face of ire Watson couldn''t be some small character.

    Huu¡­

    Damien let out a breath of impure air and looked at Lynn.

    "Alright, it''s settled. Thank you for your help."

    He stood up and prepared to leave. He still had many ces to visit, and he had to assure Rose that he was fine.

    However¡ª

    "Wait."

    Lynn stopped him, standing up as well.

    "When your mother left, her final gift for me was individuality. She cut out connection and I have now be a human being of my own," she started.

    Damien nodded, now understanding the feeling he''d been getting from her since they met, and listened, curious of her point.

    Lynn stared into his eyes in utmost seriousness.

    "I cannot repay my gratitude for her guidance even if I put my own life on the line, therefore, I''vee to a decision."

    Damien wasn''t the only one lost in thought for those several minutes prior.

    Lynn also had something she needed to consider.

    And after interacting with Damien for a bit, she firmed her will.

    "I will follow you."

    "Hm?"

    Damien''s eyes widened in surprise.

    "I will follow you. The facilities of Avalon will be yours tomand from this point forth."

    Lynn reiterated and specified, giving him no room for doubt.

    "And¡­"

    She hesitated for a second.

    "¡­I want to move our facilities to ''that ce.''"

    "That ce?"

    "She said you would understand."

    He did.

    "That ce" could only be the Sanctuary.

    Even considering everything, it was surprising that his mother knew about it, but Damien was past the point of being surprised by now.

    What was important was that with her pushing and Lynn''s own determination, Avalon was to be his property.

    Damien furrowed his brows.

    This decision wasn''t hard to make, but the n he was originally going to carry out with his remaining year of peace¡­maybe that wasn''t the proper route.

    ''If I do it this way instead¡­''

    He nodded in satisfaction.

    "Okay," he said, putting his hand out.

    "Lynn Carter, I look forward to our cooperation."

    "As do I."

    Lynn smiled and shook his hand.

    At this time, Damien didn''t know.

    He didn''t know that Lynn Carter was the key to the Sanctuary''s growth.

    ***

    That day, Avalon disappeared from the starry sky.

    An uproar broke out on the Cloud ne, from which the floating continent was visible, and quickly spread through the Human Domain.

    Along with it came another rumor.

    Heaven''s Wrath, the young genius now remembered as Damien Void, was the cause of this disappearance.

    Though, this was yet to be confirmed.

    Because his presence had yet to be spotted in the Human Domain at all!

    Damien took Lynn into the Sanctuary easily and returned to Apeiron once he was finished.

    He wasn''t nearly done doing insane things in the sector, but first, he was going to finish up his personal visits.

    Naturally, his first stop was the Adire Empire.

    Hended in the fields of green he knew so well and relished in the atmosphere once more now that the short yet terrible attack on his heart was over.

    ''Should I visit Archdale first or head straight to Aurora?''

    His old friend Vormec who crafted weapons for him and even his women for a low price was someone he wanted to see again after so long, but¡­

    ''Rose was definitely worried when she left. Let''s do that first.''

    He stepped forward, ready to teleport to the pce when¡ª

    "Damien!"

    The voice of a woman came from behind.

    Damien''s expression fell. He turned around robotically and found exactly what he was hoping not to see.

    Alea, the obsessive Beast Empress, was charging at him with her arms out, prepped to embrace him with or without his approval!

    Bang!

    However, she was stopped by an invisible wall.

    Or rather, she was stopped by a woman''s interference.

    Zara surfaced from Damien''s shadow in her human form, her arm out and her mana disallowing the Beast Empress froming any closer.

    "He doesn''t want you. Give up already," she said coldly.

    "Give up? Me? Who are you to say such a thing?" Alea replied, using her own mana to counter Zara''s and stand up straight.

    The two wolf women stared off at each other, their gazes shing while Damien watched from the side.

    Standing together, they were actually quite appealing. On one side was Zara''s darkness, her ck hair and golden eyes, while on the other side was Alea''s light, her features tinum-silver.

    They were direct opposites whoplimented each other like yin and yang, down to their very personalities!

    Damien grinned, an idea forming in his mind.

    "Zara, entertain her. I''ll reward you properly if you can distract her until I finish up here," he said through mental transmission.

    Zara raised her brow indiscernibly, still facing off with her opposite.

    "What kind of reward?" She sent back.

    "What do you want?"

    "I haven''t thought of anything. Promise me a favor of any kind in the future and I''ll listen."

    "Any kind? No restrictions?"

    "Except for the basic ones."

    Damien smiled.

    "You''re the best. Thanks in advance."

    "Don''t mention it. I''ve wanted to fight her since we first saw each other back then. This is a good opportunity."

    Damien nced at Alea, who hadn''t given up on getting past Zara''s defense.

    Their battle was already in the process of starting.

    "Well, just be careful. Don''t hurt the world too much."

    "You can fix it, no?"

    "Yeah, but that''s effort."

    "Hehe, then put in some effort."

    Damien rolled his eyes and stopped responding.

    If he said anymore, he would definitely lose face!

    Right now, the best course of action was escape.

    And that was exactly what he did!

 Chapter 1120 Apeiron [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1120 Apeiron [2]</h4>

    In truth, Damien felt something more between Zara and Alea.

    It was an ethereal thing, simr to the many connections he''d felt between himself and other beings.

    He still remembered the moment Zara mentioned, back when Damien met the rulers of this world before the Nexus Event started.

    Zara felt the strange connection then, and her immature mind immediately put her on guard against the Beast Empress.

    Now that she''d grown into an expert herself, it was the perfect time for her to confront this connection.

    ''Since we''re in the Human Domain, she can act freely without worrying about outside interference. I''ll have to find a way to conceal her lineage before we return to the wider universe.''

    Everything else was up to Zara.

    Damien''s focus was on the most terrifying thing for a man.

    Meeting the inws.

    The current Damien was a grown man. When he looked back on his audacity as a youth, he wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

    He¡­definitely wasn''t a sane person back then.

    Returning to the pce, Damien felt more nervous than ever.

    Because he finally confirmed his rtionship with Rose. This was something he promised Emperor Adire long ago.

    Damien gathered all his confidence as he walked through the pce gates.

    The guards did not question his identity, but instead bowed respectfully as he passed.

    When he entered the main building, there was a maid waiting to escort him to the throne room.

    ''She really set everything up, huh.''

    The nostalgic throne room doors that were far too big to be practical opened for him, and the Adire Emperor''s domineering figure was revealed.

    He didn''t age a day. The indifferent gaze in his eyes hadn''t changed a bit.

    When he saw Damien, he started judging the young man without any hesitation.

    In all honesty, the first time he met this child, while he admired his courage, he was worried about his future.

    The Damien of that time was too scattered to get anywhere in life.

    Even when he promised Rose to him, he didn''t take it very seriously.

    He realized how much she cared about this boyter on, but it didn''t register in his mind.

    How could a father easily ept that his daughter was being taken away?

    Yet, when Rose came back home the previous time, she was no longer chaste, and her entire mind seemed focused on finding her lost love.

    And this time, she came back with a ring on her finger.

    The progress in their rtionship, Damien''s growth he''d seen exclusively through Rose, was finally disyed before him.

    The man he saw had his hair cut short, a far cry from the wild mane he used to sport. His appearance overall was more refined and mature, a fact reflected in his other facets,

    His aura was contained, and an air of serenity radiated from his body.

    The light in his eyes contained wisdom gathered through years of experience, a gaze that looked into the future instead of hiding in the present.

    It was difficult to see this man as the same child from all those years ago.

    Damien walked until he was only a few feet away from the throne tform and looked the Emperor in the eye.

    He bowed his body a full 90 degrees and spoke from his heart.

    "Please give me your blessing to marry your daughter."

    His words were direct and without any flowers to appease this father-inw of his.

    Because everything that needed to be said could be seen from his eyes.

    What was James Adire supposed to do here?

    Reject him?

    Test him?

    Hell, could he even defeat his son-inw in battle anymore?

    The younger generation grew to the point where the older generation could only ept that they were the past.

    He smiled wryly gazing at the bowing man.

    This entire interaction was for ceremony.

    Regardless of what he said, James didn''t have the power to stop theirmunion.

    Yet, the fact that his approval was still being sought, this was enough to satisfy his feelings as a father.

    "Haven''t we already made this promise? My daughter has been enchanted by your spell for far too long for me to reject you."

    He stood up and approached Damien, putting his hand on the man''s shoulder and lifting him up.

    "Of course I will support your union. If there is anyone I can confidently entrust my daughter to, it is you."

    Damien smiled.

    "Thank you, sir. I will absolutely live up to your expectations."

    James nodded and turned away.

    "On that note, you have work to do. My daughter wanted to be present for this¡­"

    Damien''s face paled.

    "Any chance we can act it out a second time¡­?"

    "None at all."

    "Damn."

    Approval from the father-inw was easy, but appeasing the wife-to-be was going to be a task!

    Damien walked out of the throne room with his head hung.

    No matter how old or powerful he got, he would never be able to beat his wives.

    Such was the fate of man!

    ***

    While Damien faithfully went to aplish his task, a battle of great proportions was taking ce in the ins of the Adire Empire.

    Two women, both reverted to their beast forms, faced off inws and physical strength, destroying everything around them.

    Darkness and light collided. Twopletely different frequencies of mana burned through the air, shing and coalescing in a myriad of ways.

    Their bodies shed around faster than the eye could see. The environment around them was shattered and torn apart with every movement,pletely contrary to Damien''s ask.

    However, it wasn''t brutal.

    Rather, it was something beautiful in its own twisted way.

    Their battle was like a dance where they never used power outside their opponent''s capabilities. They matchedws with equallyplexws, and every time the scale of their battle increased, it did so with such fluidity that one would believe their sh was rehearsed.

    Their connection became more pronounced the more they interacted.

    There was no way for these women to im they were not rted anymore.

    The question was¡­where did that rtion lie?

    Zara''s eyes were firm.

    Alea''s entire being represented light. She was almost holy just in aura, disregarding all her other facets.

    Yet, why¡­?

    ''Why can I feel Nox Mana from her?''

    It was slight and almost unnoticeable, but as someone who''d faced her Demonic Providence, Zara was absolutely sure about her perception.

    Alea was rted to the Nox somehow.

    And not just any Nox, but the same Nox beings Zara was rted to!

    However, nothing could be confirmed at this moment because neither had a clue as to what their true origins were.

    The only way to find out was to go back 10,000 years or more.

    Back to when the Nox were invading Apeiron.

    Over an hour passed since their battle began.

    Damien already finished appeasing Rose and came over to check on them.

    Upon having this very realization, he submerged his senses into the world.

    If it was memories of the past, there was one entity who could show him more clearly than anyone in the universe.

    [Master, prepare your mind. I will now transport you to the past era.]

 Chapter 1121 Reminiscence [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1121 Reminiscence [1]</h4>

    A man appeared on Apeiron in the midst of conflict.

    The Nox Worshippers and enemy forces fully revealed their intentions and began their onught, and his presence, frankly, went unnoticed.

    Because he was already crippled. His Divinity had been shattered as he fled here.

    His bodynded in the Helia Forest, and noticing its terrain, he traveled deeper and deeper until he found a ce where he could hide and recuperate.

    He stayed there for many months, alone and living the life of a wild man. It was quite different from what he was used to, but perhaps that was why he enjoyed it.

    At some point, he met a woman.

    She also lived in the forest, but unlike his gruff appearance, she remained prim and pristine regardless of circumstance.

    She was like a fairy, untouched by the world.

    The two strangers fell in love and intertwined their lives. They solidified theirmunion, and the woman ended up pregnant with his child.

    He wanted to live the rest of his life in peace with her.

    But fate was cruel.

    His pursuers noticed his presence and gave chase.

    Knowing of their arrival beforehand, one night, the man quietly left his wife and unborn child in their home, fleeing fast as far as possible.

    His broken body could only take him so far.

    He was caught and forced to fight. He used every remaining ounce of his power, and as he was dying on the cold earth, a shadow appeared before him.

    It ughtered his enemies and took him away, to a hidden realm away from perception.

    Here, that shadow nursed him to health, and he became more acquainted with her.

    She was also a denizen of this world. She didn''t help him, but instead merely attacked those harming their world.

    How would she react when she learned he was of the same origins?

    It seemed his broken body concealed his lineage, because no matter how much time passed, she didn''t notice his oddity.

    The duo remained together for a long time, and once again, the man fell in love.

    Another child was conceived.

    But this time, the man didn''t hold unnecessary hopes.

    He was prepared for the enemies'' arrival from the start, and used his time to find a way to guarantee his woman''s survival.

    After all, unlike the first one, this woman interacted with the Nox before. Her image was engraved in their collective consciousness, as was her meeting with him.

    This was how Zara''s mother ended up in the First Dungeon.

    The First Dungeon that Kurt Galloway connected to Helia Forest was his lifeline.

    That man''s fate was unknown. At some point, he left Apeiron''s sphere of influence.

    But those two women¡­

    Unbeknownst to that man, the woman he first loved was the Beast Empress of the time.

    Aha remained in the Helia Forest and birthed her child naturally. That child grew up in the warring era and matured in a baptism of mes.

    As for thetter¡­

    Apeiron couldn''t see inside the First Dungeon, but Damien could guess what happened.

    Zara wasn''t born until around the time he was.

    And unlike Alea, Zara was birthed from an egg.

    Her mother likely died in the First Dungeon after waiting endlessly for her child to awaken, and the family Zara was born into was made up of wolves she subdued for the very purpose of protecting her child.

    Her ns didn''t go the way she wished for them to, but Damien''s presence saved that poor child and allowed her to grow into her lineage.

    Zara and Alea were half-sisters. Their father was a Nox being with status that couldn''t be low considering how adamant the Nox were about capturing him, and their mothers¡­

    ''It''s difficult. Without seeing their beast forms, there''s no way of knowing what their origins were.''

    The connection between Zara and Alea was easy to discover, but only on the surface.

    ''Their mothers were also rted somehow. The way their mana interacts is¡­''

    Like Yin and Yang, perfectly opposing yetplementary forces.

    "Is there anything else?" Damien asked.

    [Unfortunately not, Master. I can only show you the memories of this world, not the thoughts of those residing within it.]

    Damien nodded. This wasn''t the regr memory transfer he was used to, where he could feel the thoughts and emotions of those he was shown.

    If he wanted to know more, he first had to discover the identity of Zara''s father, or the species of both women''s mothers.

    Damien looked down at the still-ongoing fight and sighed.

    ''I wish I could do more, but there''s really nothing lef¡ª''

    Damien''s eyes instantly widened.

    ''Wait¡­her father is a Nox being?''

    This was Damien''s first introduction to Ultak Murrobun, the Divine Emperor, the only Nox being able to reproduce with other races.

    Zara learned of his identity on Calypto, but Damien wasn''t privy to this information.

    It was one of the very few secrets she kept from him.

    But now, there was no more to hide.

    Damien descended from the sky and stopped the fight with his power as the Star Master, separating the two women.

    He exined to them their connection as sisters from the same father, and upon learning this, Zara also offered up what she knew about the man.

    There was no need to hide it anymore.

    Alea''s reaction was subtle, but her difort could be felt.

    There was no way she didn''t know she had Nox lineage at this point, but she was likely trying to deny it to the best of her ability.

    Now that there was a partial reasoning for their connection and a reason for the duo to stay together¡­

    ''That''s the end of my job.''

    This wasn''t his story.

    He could lend his aid, but it wouldn''t help either woman if he did all the work for them.

    He could only hope that his aid was truly helpful to them.

    "Zara, why don''t you stay with Alea for a while? For now, you can''t move freely in Grand Heavens Boundary, and her aura equalizes yours so it''s harder to sense your bloodline. It would be best for the two of you to spend more time together."

    Damien made a suggestion that made both women frown, but Zara especially.

    She had rarely left Damien since the start of their journey. Even when she wasatose in the Sanctuary, she was still in a ce filled with his presence.

    For her to separate entirely¡­

    ''No, maybe this is really for the best.''

    Zara could read his thoughts and understood his intentions.

    She didn''t want to rely on him too much either. Damien couldn''t give her all his time and she didn''t want to hold him back when he was moving with such determination towards his goals.

    Maybe it was time for her to establish a goal of her own.

    She looked at Alea, who snorted and looked away, but didn''t oppose, and nodded.

    "Okay. I will travel with her for now. But¡­"

    She looked back at Damien, a slightly desperate look in her eyes.

    "¡­don''t forget about me."

    Damien smiled.

    Her appearance now was like a little girl, filling him with endearing feelings.

    He pulled her close and gave her a warm, reassuring hug.

    "Since when was that a possibility? Who am I to you?" He asked teasingly.

    Zara blushed and turned her head away in embarrassment.

    "Big¡­big brother¡­"

    "Exactly. What kind of big brother would forget about his little sister? Don''t worry about such little things and go. You know I''m always on your side."

    "Mm¡­"

    Zara wrapped her arms around him and tightly returned his hug, sinking into his body for a moment before separating.

    Bing independent from one''s caretaker was hard. It wasn''t about bing self-sufficient. The difficulty came from leaving one''s support system.

    But every chick had to leave the nest at some point.

    This was that time for Zara.

    Under Damien''splicated gaze, she left with Alea.

    To have adventures and experiences of her own, to see the world on her own.

    Damien sighed to himself.

    ''Everyone alwaysins when they''re here, but it''s heart-wrenching to watch them go.''

    The next time he saw that girl, she would be a woman in her own right.

    It hurt. It definitely hurt, but¡­

    ''I can''t wait to see how far you can go.''

 Chapter 1122 Reminiscence [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1122 Reminiscence [2]</h4>

    After reminiscing on the past for a bit, Damien paid a visit to Zenith Academy to see Malcolm, his first teacher in this new world, before leaving Apeiron.

    It was a good visit, like visiting a grandparent, barring Malcolm''s incessant requests for him to temporarily teach some sses at Zenith Academy.

    His decision was obvious.

    He ran away before anyone could convince him otherwise!

    Meanwhile, Rose chose to stay behind with her father for a while, knowing she wouldn''t get time to do so once the ceasefire ended.

    Therefore, Damien left for the Cloud ne alone, reaching within a few hours and visiting those he wanted to see.

    Tian Yang, Tang Lingzi, Bai Xieren, Shangguan Yu, the Drunken Old Immortal, the ruins of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range¡­

    Compared to Apeiron, Damien had memories in many more areas of the Cloud ne. It took a few days to see them all.

    Naturally, Damien also sought Tian Yang along with Ruyue, learning from his mistakes and asking for his blessing together with her.

    Tian Yang was present when they were like fire and water and watched them grow close to each other. He''d been expecting this moment since before even Damien and Ruyue were!

    He happily epted them, uncaring for tradition or taboo, and hosted a celebration that wrapped the entirety of Celestial Star Pce in a jovial atmosphere for three nights.

    Damien enjoyed these festivities with a bright smile on his face and apanied Ruyue for those few nights, drowning himself in pleasure.

    But the time to depart eventually came.

    Damien had tasks to aplish.

    ''I want to visit Elena too, but she''s busy. I don''t want to interfere right now.''

    Just like Zara, Elena was searching for her origin.

    Only, Elena''s state was more desperate.

    Damien''s presence in this journey wouldn''t only be unhelpful, but detrimental!

    ''It''s annoying how important independence is for stability and growth. If I could have it my way, I''d solve all these problems so we can live happily ever after, but¡­''

    Damien smiled wryly as he traversed the starry sky.

    It was his fault for loving ambitious women.

    He shook his head and opened a Warp portal to his next destination.

    He''d been in a nostalgic mood recently. The peace of the Human Domain he''d been away from for so long was catching up to him.

    He had one more ce to visit before he started moving seriously.

    A ce he really held no connection with, yet meant everything to him.

    Earth.

    His homeworld.

    He looked at it from above with aplicated gaze.

    This was no longer the one he knew.

    The terrain was massively different after several cmities and mana pulses caused by the world''s rapid growth.

    The regr citizens who lived back then were warriors now. 4th ss beings were bing more and moremon by the day, and it likely wouldn''t be long before an extreme peak master was born among them.

    Damien thought back to his conversation with Lynn a few days back.

    "What drove you to follow me? Disregarding my mother''s influence, what made the individual named Lynn Carter subordinate herself?"

    It was a question he''d asked in the process of transferring Avalon to the Sanctuary.

    And her answer?

    It wasn''t something grand nor was it some valiant message that struck his soul.

    Her reason was simple.

    "Have you not noticed it by now? Do you think your Divine blood is for nothing?" She had said.

    "People close to you are influenced by your growth. I believe that Avalon will flourish under that very influence, therefore, following your mother''s subtle suggestion is the best possible route."

    Was it his bloodline or was it the Void? Maybe it was a cooperation between the two.

    It made sense.

    There was no way to deny it.

    Regardless of their talent, it would''ve been impossible for Rose, Ruyue, and Elena to match his growth, purely due to the disadvantages of their births.

    The people he encountered in Hidden Death Valley, the people he met in Calypto, and the people he met throughout the universe were subtly influenced by him. They couldn''tpare to those in his direct proximity, but they were all able to make rapid improvements after they established positive rtionships with him.

    And the Sanctuary. It had the restrictions of an independent world that wasn''tplete, yet, these restrictions didn''t inhibit his people at all.

    Theavel grew into something magical in only a decade, Elvira and the rest entered the nine revolutions, and countless masters had been born from the poption.

    It was an unequivocal fact.

    Earth was perhaps the greatest proponent of this fact.

    Earth didn''t experience any time dtions.

    Damien bound it when he was 20. When he entered the Divine Realm, he was still in his early 20s.

    And since then, in the regr time flow, only 3 years passed.

    In a period of time so short it passed in a sh, Earth went from a ce where 2nd ss beings reigned supreme to one where 2nd ss wasn''t even worth mentioning.

    He just wanted to see it.

    He didn''t have any interest in what the earthlings were up to right now. Despite their strength, they were still rtively disconnected from the wider universe.

    They only had contact with the worlds closest to them, while those like Apeiron were only theorized about.

    He just wanted to see it.

    This world that he still didn''t understand this connection to.

    This world that should have been insignificant, yet refused to be forgotten.

    This world¡­

    ''Just what are you?''

    [Hehehehe¡­]

    Earth''s World Core giggled innocently upon feeling his presence.

    Its consciousness was infantile, but it was surprising that it couldmunicate its words at all.

    It took a rtivelyplete consciousness to do so.

    Without realizing it, Damien smiled endearingly.

    ''I guess I have a duty to protect you while you''re still growing.''

    Whoosh!

    He held his arm out and pushed all his mana.

    A ck hole opened behind him and provided him with an infinite stream of the energy to use as he pleased.

    Right.

    This was his homeworld.

    This was his home sector.

    This ce was his origin. There were no words to exin why it mattered, but it impacted him nheless.

    ''Stay safe.''

    VOOOOOOOOM!

    His mana whirled to life and expanded rapidly, epassing the entire.

    Waves and waves of Space Laws fortified the earth''s atmosphere, disallowing the presence of hostile beings. Time Laws followed, creating a field around the world that would wither away any invaders.

    Samsara ensured those on the wouldn''t die prematurely and provided them great vitality that could help them in training, and finally, a twinge of the void entered the defense, connecting it to Damien.

    ''With this, they won''t get hit by anything they can''t handle. If they are, I''ll be able toe right away.''

    It wasn''t long, but it was a good visit.

    Nothing happened, but Damien felt like his mind was clearer than usual.

    It was the perfect mental space for what wasing.

    A lonely journey that wouldn''t end until he ran out of time.

    Damien''s figure disappeared into the starry sky.

    And then¡­

    A year passed in silence.

 Chapter 1123 Eve Of Battle [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1123 Eve Of Battle [1]</h4>

    Many things happened in the period of one year, but not many of them were in the Human Domain.

    The Divine and Infernal Realm Infected Source World raids werepleted at the loss of over a hundred million troops, including several million 4th ss beings and a not much smaller number of extreme peak masters.

    The raids were sessful overall. In the grand scheme of things, the loss wasn''t much.

    However, there was still much confusion surrounding the operation. The strange movements of the Nox were unexined. The three greatest Infected Source Worlds became refuges for the countless Nox who fled from their original worlds, but what was the point if they were going to die either way?

    The control division in Luxurion was still working overtime to figure out their motives, while the main armies took time to rest now that their job was over.

    The fate of Grand Heavens Boundary nowy in the hands of a single man.

    Not long ago, the Saint Emperor appeared at the border of Eien and dered the time and ce of his son''s fated duel.

    It would take ce three dayster, in the center of the Divine Realm.

    It was a spectacle that would be broadcast across the universe for all eyes to see.

    Whether it would be a moment of triumph or shame could only be hypothesized now.

    Both Damien and the Saint King hadn''t been seen since the Grand Assembly ended. The improvements in their strength couldn''t be measured.

    However,pared to a genius of the universe who was forcefully isted from its proceedings for the past two years, wouldn''t the son of a Nox Emperor see more fortune?

    Such a realization made it hard to sit still these days. Whether it bemon soldiers or the leaders of peak influences, they all moved for a single purpose:

    To prepare for what came next.

    ***

    In the depths of the Abyss, far, far away from Grand Heavens Boundary, a certain meeting was taking ce.

    "Has it beenpleted?"

    The question was asked by a being wrapped in darkness whose figure could not be properly seen.

    As for the one it was directed to, he knelt on the floor before that being in reverence.

    "All of the souls and essence have been absorbed into the corrupted products. We are prepared to act on the Lord''smand."

    The shadowed being smiled. The darkness around him wriggled and curved into the figure of a great demon grinning in madness, reflecting the expression of the man it concealed.

    "Very well. Leave now and be prepared. We shall not waste any more time."

    The subordinate prostrated himself respectfully before standing up and leaving the area.

    Left alone, the being''s eyes turned cold.

    ''The source''s death was an unexpected event, however, it is not harmful for us to deal more damage to the enemy.''

    Hassan, who controlled thews of every Infected Source World, died 2 years ago upon the failure of the team sent to retrieve him. That team disappeared without a trace, and the information of their encounter before death vanished with them.

    There was a need to investigate this event, but due to the Saint Emperor''s interference, the Nox weren''t able to approach Grand Heavens Boundary at all without risking the extermination of their species!

    However, it was fine.

    Hassan''s death was an undeniable truth regardless of the cause.

    And without Hassan to maintain the Infected Source Worlds in such a way that they were useful to the Nox, they lost meaning altogether.

    As did the forces left on them.

    The subordinate''s report made the situation clear. The Corrupted World Cores in the universe collected the souls and essence of all who died in their dominion, all for the sake of a single move.

    An opening move that would show Grand Heavens Boundary how hopeless their situation was.

    The man stood up from his throne and stepped out of the darkness.

    He had long midnight ck hair and eyes that were hollow without a soul. His figure was lean yet muscr in a strange way that made him look inhuman.

    There were four Nox Emperors, each with their own uniqueness.

    The Saint Emperor was an existence of his own whose authority could not be questioned orpared with the rest.

    The Inhuman Emperor was a cruel and shadowy being who reveled in the

    pleasures of evil.

    The Karmic Emperor could deal with the mind better than anyone, twisting truth and illusion into a picture of his own creation.

    And the Soul Emperor was a hidden figure only known to have power over the ethereal that surpassed anyone in existence.

    The Soul Emperor didn''t interfere directly with any conflict, but his hand was said to be the cause of many tragedies within the universe.

    In this moment, he was in the midst of doing so once again.

    He looked up into the void.

    There was no such thing as a sky in the Abyss.

    His dull, lifeless eyes didn''t carry a hint of emotion, yet the rest of his body was filled with it, making it disconcerting to even be in his presence.

    "By the will of the Lord¡­"

    A sentence one would never expect from a being at the peak of the universe rang out.

    A slight glimpse into his true intentions.

    A man who had never faced defeat due to his thorough nning had now set his eyes on Grand Heavens Boundary once again.

    Yet¡­

    This time, there was a ring variable in his n that he wasn''t aware of.

    A ring variable who called himself Damien Void.

    ***

    The Nox Emperors all had their own ns.

    The Saint Emperor was moving in the light, directly attacking the universe, and the Soul Emperor was currently nning his own advent from the shadows.

    The Inhuman Emperor never moved with such deep thoughts. As a manifestation of evil, he was a being of free thought who only acted when he felt like it, with an air of chaos and disorder surrounding his actions.

    And finally, the Karmic Emperor was in cahoots with Immortal Blood Asura, his goals unknown yet his actions clear.

    Blood Asura Holy Land had entered an era of rapid recruitment recently.

    It wasn''t that strange considering that many influences were taking the same routes to increase the number of grunt forces they could use in theing war, but unbeknownst to the rest of the universe, the atmosphere in the Holy Land was strange.

    The Blood Asura Holy Land star cluster had over a hundred worlds in its influence. Of these, only around twenty had defined purpose, while the rest were mainly used for residence by themon people.

    However, this changed recently.

    On a few hidden worlds within the cluster, devious operations were taking ce.

    Hidden below the surface were the tortured screams of millions.

    The Nox had never seeded in artificially manufacturing members of their race. Nox Worshippers who held their power would eventually get corrupted by their power, and the results of forceful experimentation usually ended in abominations that were only useful a single time.

    The concept of Nox Worshippers only reached maturity, where said worshippers could, for the most part, blend in with the regr popce around a hundred thousand years ago.

    But the Universal Law antagonized the Nox to the fullest. A hundred thousand years of research barely got them anywhere.

    Immortal Blood Asura was the key.

    With his proficiency in Blood Laws, his understanding of the physical body surpassed even Nox Emperors.

    When he and the Karmic Emperor solidified their cooperation, a method was formted.

    A method to create an army of mass-produced soldiers with the stability of true existences and the loyalty of puppets.

    And¡­

    This was only the first step of their cooperation.

    The uncountable hundreds of millions who suffered through brutal torture and had their egos erased to be a part of this army were only the first sacrifice.

    The other actions these two beings were taking together¡­

    If anyone were ever to find out, even the worst of punishments wouldn''t be enough to assuage the souls of their victims.

 Chapter 1124 Eve Of Battle [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1124 Eve Of Battle [2]</h4>

    The negative situations in the universe were plentiful. There were a great deal of events that further confirmed the inevitable destruction many had prophesized.

    However, there were also many forces moving in the light.

    Inevitability was only inevitable if one fought and still lost. Before that, could it be anything but self-fulfilling prophecy?

    In the depths of Luxurion, hidden from the Angels themselves, Luciel met with a certain being.

    It was not their first meeting in the past 2 years, but in the current climate, this could be theirst for a while.

    "The time for their battle has alreadye. Do you still have no interest in meeting that child?" he asked, facing that being.

    Its skin was a shimmering blue color, while its clothes were equally virtual, just slightly darker. The being''s body trembled strangely, its immaterial nature clear from the start.

    It was shaped like a woman, but it certainly was not one.

    Perhaps in the past, but not anymore.

    "My influence has no meaning to him. What is the significance of a meaningless encounter?"

    "Meaningless? Would it still be so if he is rted to that man?"

    The shimmering woman''s pupil-less eyes narrowed.

    "Master¡­"

    The master she spoke of was not Luciel, but a man from the distant past.

    A man known as the Void Emperor.

    He was active in the universe roughly 15,000 years ago and ascended to the rank of Supreme within a mere 200. He was not someone involved in the grand wars of the universe, but his significance was not small.

    Yet, he was not remembered as a great expert.

    He was hardly remembered at all!

    That man erased his visage from the memories of all beings. Luciel only recovered those memories after constant interaction with this shimmering woman.

    She was the spirit of the Holy Light Realm, a spirit who''d subjected herself to that man during his era.

    She''d long lost power over the realm she managed and was essentially powerless until recently, but she was, after all, the spirit of a great realm.

    The knowledge in her possession was as expansive as the starry sky.

    "Regardless of his origins, my presence has no part in his Legend," the spirit finally said.

    "If he truly holds such rtion, guide him to Death Emperor Star. That is where he will find the legacies left for him."

    "Death Emperor Star? Are the rumors true?" Luciel asked in surprise.

    "Rumors¡­if he did not permit it, rumors would not exist at all."

    Luciel''s brows furrowed. There was an old myth about Death Emperor Star, a myth that said every legacy and Death Zone present on that star was rted to a single person.

    The various beings who left behind everything they''d achieved in life on that world were all the same person.

    It was nonsensical, but if the spirit was subtly confirming this truth, the power of the being who created that ce could only be imagined.

    Luciel''s thoughts whirred to life.

    If a being like that existed in the current era, threats like the Nox Emperors could be matched directly.

    ''Was that his purpose? Leaving everything behind to ascend, did he wish for us to create that being on our own?''

    He was a man who remained mysterious until the day he left the universe.

    There were only a few things known as fact in rtion to him.

    He had the power to wield all of the universe''sws as if they were his own.

    He was young but held wisdom far above his age.

    And¡­he was also a hero who came from the Human Domain.

    From a small world that no longer existed.

    A small world called Earth.

    ***

    The current Human Domain certainly wasn''t what it was before.

    Not in the long term, but in the short.

    In the past year, it had gone through massive changes.

    The worlds that had an established power structure and the ability to contribute to the current situation were now clustered in one ce almost unnaturally.

    Theypletely followed thews of the universe and were arranged in a way where they wouldn''t interfere with each others'' rotations and paths, but countless light years of distance were bridged now. It was now possible for the Human Domain to form its forces with minimal dy.

    The number of active worlds in a sector could usually be imagined by the human mind. However, there were at least 100,000 inhabitable worlds per sector and many more hundreds of thousands that had no life at all.

    These inhabitable worlds had poptions that either had no familiarity with mana, or had it but not long enough to hold importance.

    All of these worlds filled with billions of people each that would have died needlessly if the Human Domain was ever invaded¡­

    ¡­disappeared from the universe entirely.

    Avalon was a forewarning. It was the start of this incredible phenomenon.

    Instead of fear of the unknown, the residents remaining in the domain were filled with vigor.

    Because once again, this phenomenon was caused by a single man!

    Ever since he left Earth, Damien had been moving ceaselessly. It wasn''t an exaggeration to say he hadn''t been still for the past year.

    He started with smallers near Earth and expanded his range out of the past Milky Way Gxy into the rest of the Human Domain, transferring countless worlds into the Sanctuary in one go.

    It was difficult.

    As someone who could travel millions of kilometers in a single instant, it only took him around a minute to go between worlds within each other''s range.

    To bind these worlds and transfer them to the Sanctuary was another few minutes of work.

    In the span of a single day, he could take 120 worlds, give or take. Logically speaking, this speed wasn''t enough to conquer half of the sector''s worlds.

    Therefore, Damien was forced to constantly bend Spacetime to his needs, warping the fundamental rules of the universe at a subtle level to give himself the time to do what he needed to.

    The total amount of time he spent was over five years, though, this time didn''t reflect on him the same way other time dtions did.

    After all, the neverending ckness of the starry sky never changed. The monotonous task became second nature after a while, and time became unnoticeable.

    Even for Damien who experienced it directly, it still felt like only a year had passed.

    Still, the time did not discredit his grand achievement.

    The Sanctuary that he only filled with two worlds after over a decade was now filled with almost 300,000 celestial bodies.

    It was starting to look like a true universe.

    The amount of World Force Damien could control was like an unlimited ocean. The actions he could take were far more varied than before.

    Other than that, he didn''t feel many direct effects of his actions. This was something he''d discover with time.

    The ones who truly suffered were those who ruled the Sanctuary from the inside!

    Elvira and the other Emperors, as well as the new addition, Lynn Carter, were suddenly swamped with work incorporating the worlds into their society and turning the isted universe into its own entity rather than a collection of scattered worlds.

    But none of themined about the mountainous task.

    Because while they couldplete their administrative duties in peace within the space of his creation, their Lord and Master was taking the weight of the universe on his shoulders from the frontlines.

    Not long ago, the Saint Emperor appeared at the border of Eien and dered the time and ce of his son''s fated duel.

    It would take ce three dayster, in the center of the Divine Realm.

    It was a spectacle that would be broadcast across the universe for all eyes to see.

    Whether it would be a moment of triumph or shame¡­Damien knew better than anyone.

    A confident grin decorated his face.

    He finished what he needed to do in the Human Domain.

    Now, it was time to make his way to the Divine Realm¡­

    ¡­so he could beat the living shit out of the Saint King!

 Chapter 1125 Eve Of Battle [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1125 Eve Of Battle [3]</h4>

    There wouldn''t be many direct witnesses of theing battle. In order to allow Damien and Bai Yumo to use their full strength without restraints, The space of the Divine Realm would be clear until a victor was determined.

    And in the same vein, there weren''t many rules. As long as the fighters didn''t damage any inhabiteds, they could do anything they wished.

    In preparation for this battle, the Angels of the Heavenly n spent the past three days securing the location so nothing could affect this important event.

    Damien arrived first. With him were Tian Yang, Alucard, Commander Huo, and Iris, the Demigods who''de to support him.

    They were certain there would only be one Divinity on the other side, but that didn''t make their presence less necessary.

    In fact, that was the very reason all four of them came!

    Hidden between the folds of reality, away from the perception of anyone currently in attendance or attending soon, two beings watched Damien with interest.

    "Did I not tell you? The Young Lord cannot be an average person," one of them said, looking at hispanion.

    "Hmph. Whether or not he can be recognized as the Young Lord is still to be seen. If he can''t even win this battle, he has no right to take the throne." she replied with a snort.

    "Really? Is that true? However, his strength has almost reached yours."

    "In over a decade? Can this speed bemended?"

    "Could you do it in this shattered universe?"

    "..."

    The girl looked away with a frown, unable to say she could.

    This particrly strange duo was not strangers to Damien''s movements. They didn''t follow him at all times, but for the most part, they had witnessed his ascent.

    They were the duo of old man and little girl that was first seen in Niflheim, a pair connected to Void Pce, and because it was their Young Lord at the center of current events, their presence here was natural.

    "That man will be disadvantaged this time. The time he had to grow was much shorter than his opponent, and he had no proper teacher," the girl said negatively.

    However, the old man''s outlook was far more positive.

    "The so-called Abyss does have many advantages, but the negative impacts of such an environment are just as prominent. We have not seen it personally, no? It is useless to make guesses this early."

    "Gramps, can you see through him?" the girl suddenly asked.

    "The Young Lord?" he returned in slight surprise.

    The little girl nodded, and the old man''s smile widened.

    "Instead of being able to read him, I am even further from his truth. His growth is astounding in ways you have yet to understand."

    "Hmm¡­"

    The little girl''s frown deepened.

    This was the Lord''s progeny. He was a man who would inevitably reach great heights due to ancestry alone.

    This was partially the reason she despised him. With such ancestry, why was he still wasting his talents on useless things? Why was his strength still so low?

    Despite her appearance, which was only around 11 years old, she had reached her 30th birthday not too long ago. Her appearance was a consequence of a method she was practicing, and would only return to normal when she reached Divinity.

    In those 30 years, She only used 18 to be a Supreme.

    Most of the rest of her life was spent here, observing Damien and exploring the fates of this lesser ne.

    If she stayed in the Heavenly World, she would have absolutely reached Divinity by 25. She was certain of this.

    Because she was a peak talent even in that world.

    She couldn''t ept it.

    She couldn''t ept that someone more talented than her was growing at such a disappointing pace!

    Yet, at the same time, she couldn''t deny how restrictive this universe was. It was already not even a tenth of its original size, and the nature of its existence made it far harder to be strong.

    If it was her¡­

    "Haa¡­"

    She let out a sigh and turned her attention back to the Real ne.

    In the distance, two figures could be seen approaching.

    While she remained stuck inplicated thought, the old man looked over her warmly before focusing on the main scene.

    ''Yiren views the Lord as her father and is viewed by others as his most cherished daughter despite herck of blood rtion. Rather than the Young Lord''s power, what bothers her is the envy of his position as a biological descendant. If the Young Lord can gain her approval¡­it is not wrong to say he will gain the approval of most of the pce.''

    His eyes sparkled with a light of expectation.

    ''Do not disappoint us, Young Lord.''

    Not just the two of them, but the entirety of Void Pce.

    Because¡­

    ¡­Void Pce truly needed his presence.

    ***

    As expected, only the Saint Emperor and Bai Yumo appeared at the site of the battle.

    The Emperor stood back and allowed his son to go forth by himself, meeting Damien in the middle.

    All Demigods present merged into the folds of reality and made themselves untouchable by the battle, while many shes filled the starry sky.

    In the sky of every world in Grand Heavens Boundary, from the smallest worlds like Earth to the fields of Eien, countless massive projections appeared, each showing the same scene.

    The scene of two men facing off in the starry sky.

    Damien looked at the Saint King, Bai Yumo.

    He hadn''t changed much since theirst encounter physically, but the light in his eyes had gone through an intense transformation.

    His past arrogance was gone.

    That slight glimmer of unknown emotion holding him back was gone.

    Damien didn''t know what Bai Yumo went through in the past 2 years, but it must''ve been grueling.

    2 years.

    It meant something different to both men.

    Damien had one month of training and another 5 years of collecting worlds. He didn''t actually take two years to train.

    Meanwhile, Bai Yumo resided in the Abyss. 2 years in the Abyss had the ability to be 2 seconds or 200 years as it pleased.

    Neither of them spoke.

    There was no need for words between them.

    They weren''t fighting for personal reasons, they were fighting as representatives of their people.

    sh!

    With a sh of brightness, Luciel appeared between the duo.

    "If any innocent third party is harmed by your collision, I will immediately step in and dere the offender''s disqualification. There are no time limits or distance limits for this battle, and there will be no interference from outside forces. This is a fight for life and death."

    Luciel gave a small spiel to make sure both of them, mainly Damien, understood the severity of this situation.

    "Once I depart, the battle will start. May the best man win."

    He looked at Bai Yumo, who nodded without taking his eyes off Damien, and Damien, who did the same.

    Under the watch of several quintillion beings in the universe and another uncountable number of existences beyond the boundary, a sh of light burst through the starry sky.

    Luciel vanished as fast as he appeared.

    With that, the battle officially began!

 Chapter 1126 Fated Duel [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1126 Fated Duel [1]</h4>

    Bai Yumo moved first.

    This wasn''t their first battle. There was no need to move as if he didn''t know his opponent. The second Luciel disappeared, he spread his mana and established a restrictive field that spanned several tens of thousands of kilometers.

    Damien''s regeneration was blocked and the fluctuations of Spacetime seemed stuck within the area of the restriction.

    It was a direct move of suppression.

    Bai Yumo charged forward without hesitation, surrounding his fists in mana and attacking.

    Damien swerved through the air, not teleporting yet moving fast enough for it to be considered so. He dodged Bai Yumo''s flurry of punches and returned them in kind, never using more power than his opponent.

    Bai Yumo was trying to feel out his improvements, but he wanted to do the same! There was no way he''d easily entertain his opponent''s wishes.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The starry sky became their stage. They moved several kilometers in all directions as they went back and forth exchanging physical attacks.

    Thousands of blows were exchanged with every second.

    Damien used mainly his fists but wasn''t opposed to using his legs too. Whenever he saw a w in Bai Yumo''s defense, a fierce kick wouldnd in that area and knock him off bnce.

    Meanwhile, Bai Yumo was less of a frontalbatant. He was skilled with his fists, but he didn''t know how to use his body to its full potential.

    This was not where he focused his training!

    Voom!

    Bai Yumo''s mana swirled to life. Twisted ck mana fluctuations tainted the starry sky, filling it with an air of coldness and emptiness.

    The audience has their first great reaction.

    Those watching, even the most experienced of them, had mostly only heard of the Saint King. They''d never seen him fight.

    Bai Yumo used Abyssal Mana, something that was like impure Void Mana, and something absolutely terrifying.

    For those weaker, just seeing its fluctuations made them shiver. As for the strong, they immediately became wary of what Bai Yumo could be if he was allowed to keep growing!

    This battle was for the universe since the beginning and had all parties on the edge of their seats, but Damien couldn''t just win this, he had to thoroughly win and crush this future threat!

    In the starry sky, Damien''s eyes narrowed as he teleported away.

    ''That mana is a lot more potent than it wasst time. It looks like he''s getting close to the Breath of Nothingness.''

    The Abyss and Void were inextricably linked. It wasn''t a surprise that the Saint King''s mana was starting to resemble a part of his.

    But a part could neverpare to the whole!

    Damien frowned and summoned his mana forth, mixing Spacetime and Samsara to make a murky final product that, frankly, looked much less intimidating than Bai Yumo''s mana.

    ''I can''t directly use Void abilities with so many people watching. I''ll have to hide it thoroughly.''

    Space, Time, Life, and Death were all high-levelws that most people could never touch. When they were mixed, the aura they gave off was tooplex to decipher, especially through a projection.

    Therefore, when Damien used the Void to stabilize thisbination and power it, those observing from the shadows had no chance to find out his secret!

    Bai Yumo didn''t charge into battle again. He maintained his distance and started using Abyssal Mana to corrode the surrounding atmosphere.

    The ambient fluctuation ofw in space began to disperse and disappear. Like the Abyss itself, this ce was bing a zone rid of concepts like time and space.

    As someone who primarily used these elements, Damien couldn''t allow it to continue!

    The Twin Moons appeared in his hands and began spraying.

    Freya was fast. Bullets of four-element mana clouded the air in waves of tens of thousands every second.

    Within those disordered waves, the powerful and heavy-hitting bullets from Hel''s barrel disguised themselves, their sights locked onto the target!

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Damien wasn''t holding back on mana consumption. The starry sky was immediately torn to oblivion upon his advent.

    Space and time didn''t disperse, but chaotically spread their essence and mingled, creating a distorted space.

    Bai Yumo was forced to dodge the densely packed mana bullets flooding his surroundings. He swerved as Damien did before, his body melding through space and finding even the smallest gaps to evade the barrage while expending the least energy possible.

    This gave the space itself time to heal from his interference, and¡ª

    ''Void Sword Art Variation Sixth Form: Worldbreaker, Horizontal sh''

    SHIIIING!

    Damien appeared behind the Saint King without any prior warning.

    Mirage was at his hip in a sword draw position, a sheath made of mana containing its energy.

    Damien''s eyes were sharp like des as he pulled the sword from the sheath.

    His movement was like a shbang, so impactful yet too fast to react to!

    The sword shed towards Bai Yumo''s neck, reaching just an inch away from it in a spark of an instant.

    Bai Yumo''s eyes widened. He rapidly retreated and flourished his Abyssal Mana.

    ''Emptiness!''

    He pushed the mana through his systems. He formed his defense technique and pushed it into reality!

    That was when Damien''s sword reached him.

    All the mana stored in the de powerful enough to earn a title like Worldbreaker was let loose.

    Worldbreaker at its full power for the first time; it was just a shame there were no celestial bodies nearby to feel its impact.

    RUMBLE!

    Tremors spread through space with absolute ferocity.

    And in the next second¡ª!

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Space itself cracked like the earth. It separated into blocks of even volume and exploded geometrically, painting a beautiful picture for the onlooking audience.

    "Ack!"

    Bai Yumo groaned in pain, wiping the blood from his mouth.

    The powerful tremors were attacking him specifically despite their wide area effect.

    He pushed the mana he was controlling, using the concept of Emptiness to consume the surrounding mana and secure the environment.

    Emptiness was something simr to Devour, only, it did not reflect the effects of the things it devoured onto its user like the Void ability.

    Nevertheless, it was the best defense.

    Besides the original injury he suffered due to the unexpected onught of pressure, Bai Yumo was able to avoid being hit by the rest of the powerful attack.

    ''As expected, he is not the same as before. I cannot afford to act slowly.''

    This battle couldn''t be as drawn out as thest one.

    Damien was the only one who''d benefit from a long battle; that monster with seemingly unlimited mana.

    Bai Yumo could not lose this time.

    No matter what, he needed to show the Saint Emperor victory.

    Because if he didn''t¡ª!

    His expression hardened. The aftereffects of Damien''s attack were still spreading, but the man himself was nowhere to be seen.

    He was definitely plotting something else!

    Bai Yumo summoned his Abyssal Mana and even his Demonic Providence to prepare his own attack.

    Right now, the momentum did not belong to him.

    Despite the fearsome expression on his face and of his mana, those watching did not feel fear in their hearts.

    Because, despite his appearance, it was undeniably fact that Damien took first blood!

    He already had the upper hand!

 Chapter 1127 Fated Duel [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1127 Fated Duel [2]</h4>

    Bai Yumo understood his disadvantage.

    Yet, he had no n of falling to it.

    Damien was able to take first blood because he attacked bigger and faster than he could, but he wouldn''t allow that man to continue controlling the momentum of battle.

    Bai Yumo''s awareness spread through the starry sky for several tens of thousands of kilometers, allowing nothing to exist outside his perception.

    His hands came together as he formed a sphere from his mana, growing and condensing it in waves.

    Damien was surely somewhere in the surrounding space, hidden.

    It was certainly an option to wait for Damien to attack and move from there, but why would he do that?

    Voom!

    Bai Yumo''s mana let out a pulse that tremored through the healing space.

    His eyes narrowed and turned to a specific location.

    ''Explosion.''

    BOOOOOOM!

    The mana sphere in his hands burst, sending shockwaves in every direction.

    Space shattered into pieces, the chaotic void bore its fangs, and utter destruction spread.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Damien choked on a breath from theyers of space.

    The former sequence took ce in a mere second. While he was preparing to ambush the enemy, he didn''t expect to be hit instead!

    His body didn''t fly far, but the burst made him visible to Bai Yumo, who didn''t let this chance go to waste.

    ''Ten Thousand Fangs.''

    Abyssal Mana filled the air and formed into countless tendrils that shot toward Damien from every direction.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Space exploded just from their presence, and when they came near, Damien could clearly feel the terrifying power contained in them.

    He narrowly dodged the first tendril, allowing it to raze against his face.

    Hissss!

    His skin burned like it was sshed with acid.

    Damien''s brows furrowed as he continued dodging, but he didn''t attack back or use any unnecessary movements.

    His body went barely to the left, evading a group of tendrils, before impossibly twisting to avoid another group.

    He flipped and weaved through space like a fish in water, not even teleporting to escape the encirclement.

    Bai Yumo watched him carefully.

    ''Why act this way and leave yourself open?'' He wondered.

    But now wasn''t the time for that.

    He gathered mana again, this time infusing countlessw fluctuations into it.

    ''Death of Spacetime.''

    Wap!

    A strange sound rang out.

    The death of Spacetime, a reflection of the Abyss and something Bai Yumo experienced countless times with his own body.

    A single second could take years off one''s lifespan. Time and space had long died, and the only thing remaining was a cheap imitation of their qualities.

    He manifested this atmosphere in Grand Heavens Boundary, turning this area of the starry sky into a manifestation of the Abyss!

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    ''This¡­!''

    He long understood how strange the Abyss could be, but feeling it was different.

    Time and space weren''t truly gone, merely present in a different form.

    In a more vague form, as if they were still trying to be the concepts they were today.

    This atmosphere enveloped Damien and clouded his senses with darkness. The surrounding abyssal tendrils became invisible in this air, their attackspletely unrecognizable.

    Damien did his best to continue dodging.

    His perception was cut to a point he didn''t think possible, and he could no longer see Bai Yumo anymore.

    From all sides, countless barrages of attacks swam towards his body.

    Constructs of Abyssal Mana filled with concepts that made it up created a terrifying atmosphere that not many could survive!

    The base of the Saint King''s strength wasn''t much different from Damien''s.

    Time and space were at its center, even samsara had a piece, but Bai Yumo had a specialization in death and destruction that Damien didn''t possess.

    When the human genius was sat in this execution ground, there was little he could do to evade!

    sh!

    Damien teleported out of the center, unable to bear the pressure anymore.

    However¡ª

    BOOM!

    Damien''s body reappeared directly in the path of an abyssal sword.

    The sword crashed into his chest and exploded, filling his body with its energy.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    Damien gritted his teeth and endured. He used the Void Physique to sh against the mana, but against his expectations¡­

    ''What?! It''s friendly?!''

    The Void Physique did not try to remove the Abyssal Mana from his systems, but instead interacted with it like a close friend!

    ''No wonder it didn''t reactst time I fought the Saint King. The connection between the Abyss and the Void is a lot deeper than expected!''

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Damien was struck by several constructs one after the other.

    Their mana coalesced and created a corrupted flow in his blood vessels that fought Transcendent Regeneration and even his bloodline abilities, forcing them to retract their fangs.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''He''s trying to get rid of my support systems before ending me.''

    Bai Yumo''s goal was simple. Last time, Damien won because he had more stamina. If that stamina was taken from him, the battlefield would be less than even, it would be in the Saint King''s favor!

    However, contrary to logical thought, Damien didn''t try to get out of the attack range.

    It wasn''t because teleportation was failing him in this vague definition of space, but because he had an even better idea.

    "Since you''reing, then do it properly!"

    He shot through the air like aet, straight towards the source of the constructs!

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien used his own mana to sh against the iing wave. He got hit over and over again, his body was filled with Abyssal Mana, blood pooled in his mouth, but he didn''t stop his ascent.

    Outside the Dead Zone, Bai Yumo watched with widened eyes.

    Was his enemy trying to kill himself already?!

    Their battle had just begun!

    ''No, that man would not make such a stupid move. He must be¡ª!''

    Before his thought could finish, his eyes widened in horror.

    From within that Dead Zone, a ce he never should''ve been able to perceive, Damien was staring directly into his eyes,

    His lips moved treacherously.

    Bai Yumo read those lips.

    "Found you."

    Damien''s expression twisted into a grin, and he disappeared.

    CRASH!

    Damien exploded with mana, filling the Dead Zone with his presence.

    A bright starlight blue river glimmering with iridescent light appeared in the air, bringing a sense of stability into the chaotic area.

    And with that correction, with the introduction of order, the Dead Zone shattered.

    Damien appeared behind Bai Yumo once again.

    His sword was already at the enemy''s neck before anyone understood what was happening.

    "I get it now," Damien said, his voice flowing into the Saint King''s ears like the whispers of a Demon King.

    "Your mana, I understand it."

    ''Void Sword Art Seventh Form: Supernova''

    A nonsensically dense fluctuation of mana appeared far too close for Bai Yumo to befortable.

    Along with those words, it was like his doom was guaranteed.

    The entire starry sky was filled with bright white light. It shined so brightly that even the projections in the skies across Grand Heavens Boundary were blinded for a moment.

    Damien felt his enemy''s strength.

    Now it was time for the enemy to feel his!

 Chapter 1128 Fated Duel [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1128 Fated Duel [3]</h4>

    Bai Yumo definitely wasn''t expecting what came next.

    Damienpletely let loose.

    He put away Mirage and didn''t draw the Twin Moons, using only his body to fight.

    And¡­

    The heights of his mana.

    ''Explode!''

    With a single thought, he made the starry sky explode.

    The Saint King''s body shot through space with such speed that it became nothing more than a blur.

    And Damien was practically an illusion.

    BOOOOM!

    His fist hit Bai Yumo''s chest with the force of a thousand suns, shooting him deeper into the starry sky.

    Spatial explosions hit him from every side and disallowed him from regaining his bnce before Damien arrived before him again, hitting him with even more space.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Bai Yumo gritted his teeth after spitting out a mouthful of blood. He wasn''t being injured very much by these attacks, but it was frustrating not being able to do anything in response!

    He contemted how to get himself back into the forefront and tried to gather his mana, but it was like Damien could read his every movement.

    The second he tried anything, space and time would constrict him and negate his actions.

    Crack!

    The Saint King''s body came to an abrupt stop. His bones shattered due to the disced force, and his danger sense was ringing piercing rm bells in his head.

    Those amethyst-purple eyes appeared before him like the devil, answering their call.

    "Have fun with this one."

    Damien grinned and pulled his fist back, filling it with everyw he knew.

    ''Chaotic punch¡­!? Forget the naming, I suck at it anyway.''

    Damien was having a jolly old time, but it wasn''t the same for his opponent.

    The concept of distance was what trapped the Saint King.

    His momentum didn''t slow at any time, merely, space stretched to the point where his momentum could only carry him a few inches away at a time.

    When that distortion was suddenly reversed, and Damien''s attack added even more force into his motion¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    It was like a slingshot.

    Bai Yumo crashed through space with such force that he shattered it, but his trajectory was no longer so safe.

    No, Damien was extremely particr about where he led his enemy before hitting him with such a move.

    VOOM!

    Bai Yumo''s body caught fire as he entered the atmosphere of a dead star.

    From the starry sky, Damien pushed his mana and controlled his own vectors, multiplying his weight a thousandfold.

    He fell like an anchor, mming his feet directly into Bai Yumo''s chest.

    That was the final piece of the puzzle.

    With nothing he could possibly do, Bai Yumo crashed into the earth¡­

    RUMBLE!

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    ¡­no, he crashed through it.

    "AAAARRRRRGH!"

    Bai Yumo roared in pain.

    Jagged rock cut into his body from all sides. Falling pieces of crumbling debris smashed into his chest with terrible force.

    He went through everyyer of the earth, crushing through moltenva and burning for a moment before almost colliding with the World Core itself.

    However, how could Damien allow that?

    Bai Yumo''s trajectory begot him barely scratching by the World Core and crashing through the other side of its cave, cutting back into the starry sky!

    He went through an entire.

    He couldn''t be fine after an impact like that.

    His body was covered in bloody gashes, his internal systems were inplete disorder, and fatigue overcame him.

    Damien was too much.

    How could he do something so insane?!

    However, Bai Yumo did not understand just how insane Damien could be.

    Because by the time he came out the other side of the Dead Star¡­

    "You¡­how¡­what?!"

    Bai Yumo could not form words.

    In front of his eyes was Damien with his arms above his head.

    In his hands was an object, an object so big it was impossible for someone Damien''s size to carry it.

    An object gaseous in nature and seemingly impossible to grasp in this way.

    Damien winked at the Saint King and threw that object.

    Another bright light filled the starry sky.

    Burning heat filled Bai Yumo''s surroundings.

    He rapidly moved his mana and set up as many defenses as he could.

    This time, he truly needed to protect himself with everything he had!

    Because just now, what Damien Void threw at him¡­

    ¡­was an entire living star!

    ***

    The sight of a man plucking a star from the depths of space and chucking it at his enemy was too much for many to process.

    Across the universe, many wondered if this level of power was something a human could possess.

    Extreme peak 4th ss beings were powerful, so powerful that none under them could even hope topete, however, that power usually never showed itself in this way.

    After all, there were hardly ever situations where one could witness a star being manhandled in such a way.

    Even for people at greater heights than Damien, such a feat was impossible.

    Sometimes it was due to a weakness of the physical body, sometimes it was due to the nature of stars, but the main reason was one.

    Stars were bound by the Universal Law.

    As they had a purpose in the universe''s expansion, it was difficult to pry them out of the universe''s clutches to use as one pleased.

    At most, one could conquer a star and utilize it that way.

    However, Damien wasn''t bound by the samews as others.

    In this instance, it was not the Void''s contribution, but his own!

    The Universal Law he worked so hard toprehend even though everything was against him, the effects of his efforts were being witnessed here.

    By countless quintillions of existences.

    The great experts of the universe already saw Damien as a great hope for the future, but this move cemented his position as the greatest genius the universe had seen in a very long time.

    His importance skyrocketed greatly, and he was essentially untouchable to most.

    He was even being worshipped like a god in some ces!

    At the same time, a few Demigods were spurred on by his actions.

    The ns they''d been slowly executing after a great amount of preparation needed to be moved forward expeditiously, both for the sides of good and evil.

    In the ruins of Eden, a woman stood above the corrupted world Calypto.

    She looked upon its surface, which looked uninhabitable by even the smallest of lifeforms.

    Yet, from its surface, she felt a hidden vitality that couldn''t be contained for much longer.

    "This was done by him¡­?" She muttered into the void.

    She was thest resident of this ruined domain.

    She stayed because she felt hopeless in the face of the enemy.

    She felt like her status as a Demigod was meaningless in the current world.

    "However¡­"

    She turned her attention to a projection hovering near her head.

    In it, the so-called Saint King was being burned by the heat of a star.

    "¡­perhaps it is time to rejoin the fray."

    Her fighting spirit was lit me by that child.

    She was one of many, many who gave up on the universe before.

    Perhaps they were wrong.

    With a genius like that leading the charge¡­

    ¡­perhaps Grand Heavens Boundary had a chance of survival!

 Chapter 1129 Fated Duel [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1129 Fated Duel [4]</h4>

    It hurt.

    Bai Yumo could hardly formte thoughts in the zing inferno that was the core of a living star.

    His skin burned into ck ink, which was incinerated instantly. His flesh and bones were slowly melting regardless of the protection he established through his mana.

    "GRRRRAAAAAAH!"

    He let out a guttural roar as he tried to regain his senses.

    Abyssal Mana filled the star, but it held no weight against the natural force within.

    At least, not in its passive state.

    "DAMMIT¡ª!"

    His words were muffled by the mes around him and sucked away with the air. His mind was still blurry, but the constant pain forced him to stay awake and allowed him to regain a portion of his faculties.

    He was being watched by countless existences right now.

    He was representing the entirety of his race!

    He couldn''t not¡­!

    He could not fall so easily!

    His voice came out in bursts through his gritted teeth. With all his power, he forced his jaw open and roared one more time.

    "VOID¡­MANIFESTATION!"

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A sound like bass dropping echoed into the starry sky.

    Pure ckness exploded out of Bai Yumo''s body and instantly enveloped the core of the star.

    The size of the mana cloud decreased over the span of a second, and in the next, it rushed back into the Saint King''s body.

    Whoosh!

    Bai Yumo was graced with fresh air.

    The core of the star had been¡­devoured.

    mes rushed to fill the hole he created in the same instant, but that single moment was all he needed.

    ''Begone!''

    He pushed his arm out and the same ck was came out under hismand, rushing through the mes and devouring everything in its path.

    Bai Yumo flew through the gap and made his way out of the burning cloud that was once a star, but before he regained his sense of normalcy¡ª

    Thud!

    Damien''s fist flew into his face.

    However, it was blocked by his own ragged arms.

    This time, Bai Yumo was prepared!

    His arms shed out and grabbed Damien''s neck so fast he couldn''t react.

    "Die, human!"

    The Saint King angrily yelled and sent waves of mana into Damien''s skin, mana which joined with the Abyssal Mana already clouding his system and ravaged his internal body.

    Damien''s eyes widened as sudden pain assailed him.

    He rapidly isted himself from the enemy with a thinyer of spatial mana and teleported himself out of his grip.

    ''Damn! He''s still in fighting condition after that?!''

    He cursed inwardly.

    Bai Yumo didn''t seem to have any outstanding regenerative abilities aside from his natural advantages, but he was sturdy enough to withstand that heat with his body until he could get rid of it.

    He was injured, but only superficially.

    By thest block alone, Damien understood these injuries meant nothing to him.

    ''How do I break him?''

    This was Damien''s thought as he charged back into battle and forced Bai Yumo into another melee.

    Abyssal and Void Mana sparked through the starry sky. They flew hundreds of thousands of kilometers every second, moving in every direction as their fists hit each other''s bodies.

    It looked brutish, but the level ofbat was far more sophisticated than one would expect.

    After all, the two infused their every attack withw concepts!

    Damien used everything he knew about Spacetime and Samsara against Bai Yumo, whose elements weren''t named yet possessed equal and opposite qualities to his own.

    Injuries started to umte.

    Damien felt a great deal of stress on his bones that wasn''t present usually, a consequence of all the foreign mana trapped in his body. His blood flow was slowed and his stamina took a huge hit, which essentially ruined his most prominent advantage.

    Meanwhile, Bai Yumo''s old injuries were aggravated to the fullest. His bones and flesh were already cracked and sundered, but every time Damien struck him, these injuries would burst open and fill him with waves of pain.

    Yet, neither was willing to back down.

    In fact, they only became fiercer with the passing of time!

    ''I can''t beat him with universal power.''

    This was what Damien learned throughout their exchange.

    Whatever training Bai Yumo underwent in the time they hadn''t seen each other turned him into someone who could perfectly counter Damien''s Laws.

    Their force might''ve been disproportionate, Damien was definitely stronger on paper, but in battle, he couldn''t gain a proper advantage.

    ''Then¡­I have no choice.''

    His eyes sharpened. His fists slowly filled with wisps of pitch-ck mana.

    If forces from within the universe didn''t work, he had to use one that surpassed it!

    Both the Breath of Nothingness and Breath of All Thingsbined into a single force. This force represented the height of Damien''s Voidprehension, and it was at a level where he could hope it went undetected by the onlooking experts!

    Bai Yumo felt the change.

    Every time their bodies collided, he felt something elusive entering his body.

    He couldn''t sense it, nor could he locate it, but he could feel it intuitively.

    ''This is dangerous.''

    He pushed back and tried to separate from their melee and return to rangedbat, but Damien wasn''t about to let him.

    Freya appeared in his right hand and fired several shots behind Bai Yumo, destroying the surrounding space and forcing him to stay within Damien''s range.

    Aplex web of Dimensional Cages appeared next, and the Space-Time River finished off, sealing arge portion of space within Damien''s dominion.

    At a time like this, Void and Abyssal Mana had to bepared.

    They looked almost like reflections of each other, but the Abyss was clearly a level lower.

    One had to wonder if the Abyss was included in the forces that separated the universe from the Void, but this was far from the truth.

    The Abyss, in Damien''s observation of this mana, was literally a diluted manifestation of the Void.

    The area outside Grand Heavens Boundary, which used to be an extension of the universe, was destroyed and became the Abyss.

    The constant destruction and creation of universes.

    This was what created such a twisted atmosphere like the Abyss.

    And the Void that existed above universes as a concept naturally flowed its energy into these chaotic remains, slowly polluting them.

    Damien didn''t know how long it took, but one thing was for certain.

    The Abyss was an area corrupted by the Void in the same way the Nox were trying to corrupt Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Was it mere coincidence, or¡­?

    BOOOOOOM!

    Another massive explosion eclipsed the starry sky.

    At this point, the battle had already gone on for an hour, full of back and forths and terrifying momentum that made it difficult to gauge who woulde out as the final victor.

    Considering how Damien and Bai Yumo were colliding tens of times per instant, the fact that they were still unable to gain an advantage over each other after this long was a surprise in itself.

    Damien showed his worth many times to the point where even those who disliked him were forced to admit he was a genius.

    Right now, the crowd''s attention was on Bai Yumo.

    The man who was able to stand up to a monster like Damien.

    That man wasn''t someone simple at all!

 Chapter 1130 Fated Duel [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1130 Fated Duel [5]</h4>

    Dark clouds filled the sky. The earth was deathly and corroded, barely discolored from the ckness in the surroundings.

    From every direction, sounds of madness could be heard. Just existing in this environment could drive an experienced practitioner mad.

    This was the environment of Al''Katra, homeworld of the Nox.

    In the sky below the dark clouds stood a man whose visage was hidden by their shadow, but his identity was not a mystery.

    ''The Saint Emperor.''

    He didn''t care about the man on the ground. He didn''t care about what happened here. He stood there for one purpose.

    He used his Demonic Providence to create an isted space where "Law" became present in the Abyss.

    This was the location of Bai Yumo''s main training ground.

    He barely had time to breathe, he barely had time to rest. He could barely heal from the injuries he umted before he was forced into another wave of training.

    It was simple yet brutal.

    It was training designed to kill a man''s soul in exchange for power.

    All he did was kill.

    His power was restricted, but he still killed until he couldn''t kill anymore, and then kept killing.

    Lesser and Higher Nox alike charged him in droves of millions, intent on ughtering and devouring him.

    His only choice was toprehend the Laws contained in this space.

    If he did that, he could fight back.

    This was what the Saint Emperor made him do.

    For 350 years.

    ''I will kill you¡­I will kill you¡­I WILL KILL YOU!''

    That was the only thought running through Bai Yumo''s mind.

    It was the very thought that allowed him to endure this hellish training for power.

    The burning desire to ughter the one who ruined his life.

    ***

    BOOM!

    Two fists connected.

    Space shattered to oblivion. The battle continued in the chaotic void.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Abyssal Mana created its own Spacetime that was shattered by a Spacetime created by Void Mana.

    Damien''s Samsara was cut off by Bai Yumo''s.

    Damienced his attacks with Universal Law, abusing his territorial advantage.

    With Universal Law behind them, his individual Laws became far greater than they usually could be.

    It wasn''t just Spacetime and Samsara.

    Damien activated Elemental Wargod and brought the five elements into their collision, a force Bai Yumo didn''t possess.

    It definitely helped, but not enough.

    The five elements weren''t enough.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    This time, it was Damien''s turn to be shot through a.

    Broken debris of dead stars filled the space and were actively being controlled by the twobatants, who both barraged each other with their blunt force or used them for cover.

    It wasn''t just one or two stars that were destroyed in this collision.

    Tens of uninhabitable worlds and three living stars were crushed to pieces, creating a scene of destruction that allowed the audience to understand how fearsome these powerful beings could be.

    And outside their perception, Void and Abyssal Mana flowed through these two enemies'' bodies.

    Another half an hour passed.

    In the end, it became a battle of attrition.

    Only, Damien was no longer infinite, and Bai Yumo had the capacity to match his base mana capacity.

    ck and red blood coalesced as they floated through the starry sky, creating an unnerving river.

    If it was anyone but the two of them, they would have been crippled after so much damage.

    But whether it was Damien or Bai Yumo, whether their bodies were shattered or torn, they kept going.

    With only the goal of victory in mind!

    ***

    "There will be a being born in the near future, one with enough power topletely rid existence of bnce."

    The scene was once again the Abyss.

    The speaker was once again the Saint Emperor.

    This interaction happened several decades before Damien was born, when Bai Yumo himself was still a young boy.

    He listened to the Saint Emperor''s words with sharp eyes.

    "That being will not be one of our own, but a product of our enemies. When the timees, you will be the one to take his head."

    The young Bai Yumo had a me in his heart, a me that was born when he was still young.

    The target of that me became clear before he even understood his sense of self, and over time, his hostility toward that man became the center of his identity.

    He was raised as a tool for the purpose of killing one man.

    Yet, when he finally met that man, he lost.

    But¡­

    The time he spent battling that man¡­

    ¡­why did it feel like a refreshing breath of fresh air away from the torture of his regr life?

    ***

    The fight continued.

    Damien now held Mirage in his hand and had Absolute Mastery boosting his sword skill.

    He stabbed, shed, and parried with such precision that peak swordsmasters were learning from his movements.

    Bai Yumo had no space at all. The most he could do was dodge and block, preserving his life to the best of his ability.

    If the problem was merely Damien''s power, he couldpensate somehow, but there was Void Mana in his body making him unable to use most of his abilities.

    For Damien, the mingling of Void and Abyssal Mana was perceived but not felt, because Void Mana was still the greater force.

    When Void Mana met Abyssal Mana in Bai Yumo''s body, their intermingling had a suppressive effect, as if his mana no longer wished to follow hismand.

    It was a situation Damien experienced constantly through the Void Physique, but for most, the feeling of mana acting as if it was sentient waspletely unheard of!

    ''Think. Think. Think.''

    He''d been preparing for centuries for this battle. He prepared for centuries for the first. He couldn''t lose both.

    ''Think. Think. Think.''

    Void Manifestation, his Demonic Providence, was powerful enough to save him from this situation, but he was certain it wouldpletely consume his mind if he let it out.

    ''Think. Think. Thi¡ª''

    Shiiiing!

    Damien''s sword approached dangerously close to his neck before he could move out of the way. A line of blood surfaced on his skin.

    ''Think, goddamnit, think!''

    There were no other options.

    He had no choice but to use his final trump card.

    Even if it meant crippling himself in the process!

    ***

    The Nox were belligerent and uncultured in the perception of all, but they were not all as such.

    Some emted the facets of human society, such as family andmunity.

    The Nox were able to reproduce with each other, but the result of those unions wasn''t much better than the products created by Al''Katra. The only difference was they had more talent and supportive backing, which allowed them to gain sentience at a faster rate and in a more controlled environment.

    One of such societies existed in a secluded corner of Al''Katra, hidden from the chaos of the world''s surface.

    And at this moment, it was left in ruins.

    All beings living in thatmunity decorated its streets as stains of ck ink. Their bodies were merging through the Nox''s natural rebirth process that would turn them into a super soldier puppet for their superiors tomand.

    In the midst of this broken society, only a group of six children survived.

    Under the guidance of their elders, they''d gained sentience at a young age, something that was detrimental to them in this moment.

    Because their horrified eyes had the intelligence to look at the man who caused this traumatic scene.

    The man standing in the sky with his face hidden in the shadows cast by the dark clouds above.

 Chapter 1131 Fated Duel [6]

    He could feel it, the unnerving wriggling sensation overtaking his body. It was alien, but also felt incredibly familiar.

    It reminded him of a time in the past.

    The Saint Emperor stood above him, his hand to his chest. His grasp was strong and rough, and the feeling of the mana he pushed into his chest felt just as unnerving as this.

    That was the day he awakened Void Manifestation. He would never forget it.

    It felt like his body was going to disintegrate. His ego reached the pinnacle of death and surpassed it, barely glimpsing the visage of an even darker darkness.

    But in return, he gained something that made him strong.

    Pain was power. That was a lesson instilled in him ever since that day.

    The torture he endured would make him stronger, and nothing else mattered.

    Nothing else mattered at all.

    Nothing else was supposed to matter.

    "GODDAMNIT!"

    He roared in frustration. His fists swung wildly, and throughout the course of this battle, his techniques had seen a major improvement.

    A left hook followed by an uppercut, a feint that hid the twisting path of his left arm that mmed into his enemy''s chest.

    Despite his worn body, filled with unsavory mana and torn by a variety of universal forces, he pushed forward and disallowed his enemy any time to counter.

    His fists were not justced with Abyssal Mana, but drenched in it. The universe could not contain his aura any longer.

    The ruptured space could not heal. The chaotic void separating it from pure chaos was strained, almost unable to keep the twobatants away from certain death.

    However, he didn''t stop.

    Abyssal Mana became stronger the more he used it. There was a cost, but it wasn''t enough to keep him from utilizing it to its full potential, especially at a time like this.

    The universe''s Spacetime was put under his control, the cycle of Samsara halted due to his influence. The Laws his enemy focused on, thesews werepletely rid from the surrounding space.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    Damien gritted his teeth and retreated, regaining his bnce and making distance.

    He was covered in blood from head to toe. Transcendent Regeneration was still unable to break through the shackles Bai Yumo designed just for it.

    Damien felt a feeling he almost forgot, the feeling of physical fatigue. His body was heavy and his movements were slowed. When he had to face closebat, he was at a great disadvantage.

    The battlepletely flipped in the time they''d been fighting. While it started with Damien''s advantage in hand-to-hand and Bai Yumo''s advantage in range, the Saint King currently held both in his grasp.

    It was a surprising turnaround that none were expecting, including Damien himself.

    ''I need to be aggressive.''

    He sensed it well. Bai Yumo was also winding down. He looked fine only because of his Nox Physique.

    The Void had been corroding his mana system since almost an hour ago. It was likely his mind and internal body were also in the process of degrading at the moment.

    ''It''s almost over.''

    Damien nced to the side for a second and frowned.

    Shaking his head, he gave up.

    Pitch-ck mana surrounded his fists, creating what was an invisible air of iprehension to onlookers around his body.

    Bang!

    He shot forward like a speedinget.

    World Force and Universal Law entered his dominion, and Damien did something unheard of.

    He defied the universe itself.

    VOOOOOM!

    A tsunami of mana spread from his body. No, Damien connected his mana to the universe''s and took control of it.

    He turned the universe itself into his ything!

    sh!

    His body took less than an instant to appear beside Bai Yumo.

    His fist crashed into the Nox genius'' face with a dull cracking sound and threw him deeper into the chaotic void.

    Damien followed, expanding his influence further and setting up a domain.

    The Space-Time River reappeared, however, there was something different about it this time.

    Damien materialized behind Bai Yumo and grabbed him by the back of his head, mming it down.

    "GUUUUH¡­!"

    A strange sound came out of Bai Yumo''s mouth.

    He was being drowned in a river of space and time.

    Now wasn''t the time for him to be reminiscing.

    But it was simr.

    There, on Al''Katra, there was a river like this one. It did not shine in iridescent blue, but an ominous grey color.

    Bai Yumo remembered it, the feeling of getting his head mmed into that river, the feeling of its water filling his lungs and destroying him.

    "Puah¡­!"

    His surroundings resurfaced, the bleak chaotic void swirling with vortexes of spatial distortion.

    Damien''s grip on the back of his head strengthened. He felt heat from the man''s hand that reached the level ofva in a few instants.

    BOOOOOOM!

    A forceful impact like a tank round sent him spiraling through the void.

    He was dizzy.

    He could barely distinguish the past from reality.

    The figures of Damien and the Saint Emperor ovepped in his doubling vision.

    This scene was too familiar.

    Why was it so familiar?

    Why was Damien eviscerating him like this?

    In all reality, the mana he sent into his body was enough.

    The more it ate his own mana and body, the more it grew. Bai Yumo was doubtful if even a portion of the mana in his body was still his.

    ''Just like that time¡­''

    At that time, the Saint Emperor abused him like this. His mana was suppressed and his body was worn down, but he kept fighting with spirit alone.

    Yet, what was it?

    Why were these memoriesing back?

    They were killing it. His spirit, that was

    He wanted to fight, but the longer Damien''s figure ovepped with the Saint Emperor, the more his will to fight diminished.

    Because that man was impossible to ovee.

    ''No¡­''

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Three more hits to his skull. His brain was being juggled, making his perception of reality hazier.

    What was he supposed to be doing?

    ''No¡­''

    BANG!

    He lost control over his mana. Damien regained the power of space and immediately summoned Mirage, bringing it up and shing with Horizon Break.

    ''No¡­''

    He was been thrown out of the chaotic void and back into Grand Heavens Boundary.

    The pure mana of the universe seemed to clear his head somewhat.

    He was tens of thousands of kilometers away from Damien. The pastbination of attacks utterly disarmed him and forced him onto the execution block.

    Looking at Damien''s approaching figure, Bai Yumo''s eyes regained just a hint of rity.

    ''No¡­he is not him!''

    That was not the wall he always saw.

    This was the wall he had to ovee in order to face that one with confidence!

    BANG!

    Bai Yumo was tossed again like a lifeless rag doll.

    He didn''t retaliate. He conserved and stored his mana, preparing and using his newfound rity to think of a way out.

    Damien was using the universe itself to fight against him. It was hard to speak of its significance as someone not from the universe in the first ce, but with such grandiosity supporting his attacks, Damien became something Bai Yumo''s Abyssal Mana couldn''t contain.

    This was just like¡­

    ''He is not him.''

    He reminded himself of this fact.

    Damien was not the Saint Emperor.

    There was something he could do even in this seemingly hopeless situation.

    He clutched his chest with madness in his eyes.

    He had to use a card he hoped he''d never have to use in this life.

 Chapter 1132 Fated Duel [7]

    Void Manifestation didn''t just give Bai Yumo''s mana the properties of the Void, but gave him a portion of the Abyss itself.

    The mana transformed from his own wasn''t any different from the Abyss''s Source Mana, something beyond his control.

    Every time he used Void Manifestation, a portion of his ego was consumed by the Abyss, so he was forced to find other methods to fight.

    Under the Saint Emperor''s guidance, these methods became perfect copies of Damien''s own, which, in its own way, killed his ego further.

    However¡­

    ''No. I cannot use that until the time is right.''

    If he couldn''t use "that," then his only option was Void Manifestation''s final trump card.

    The question was: if he used it, would he live to aplish his ambitions?

    ''But if I don''t use it, I will die here today.''

    He didn''t have any other choice.

    He realized this earlier, but it finally sank in when he saw Damiening towards him now.

    That man was traveling countless thousands of kilometers in shes of an instant, imperceptible amounts of time that made him impossible to trace.

    Even though he could perceive that man''s movements, it was impossible for him to act in retaliation.

    Bai Yumo gritted his teeth and summoned it.

    He summoned that strand of pitch-ck mana that was hidden within the Abyss.

    ''Void Manifestation!''

    "ARRRGH!"

    He screamed in pain.

    His body was ravaged from the start. The second he summoned that mana, half his internal body dissolved into nothingness.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­HAAAAAH¡­!"

    He ignored the pain and pushed forward.

    He pushed the "Void" into reality.

    And in that moment, he died.

    He died to his own power, before Damien could even touch him.

    It was a future only one person got to witness.

    ''sh Step.''

    Backed by Universal Law, a silent deration rang out.

    Bai Yumo''s body moved strangely, reversing back into his prior position, clutching his chest.

    The universe itself rewound by a single second.

    Whether it was mortals or Demigods, the future that could have been was erased from their minds.

    And Damien''s de found its way to the opponent''s neck.

    Bai Yumo didn''t understand what was happening.

    It was vague, but he had a recollection of "something else."

    Damien¡­wasn''t Damien "supposed to be" tens of thousands of kilometers away?

    Surely this wasn''t how events were supposed to pan out!

    The cold edge of the de on his neck brought him back to reality.

    With no time to think, he reached his hand out.

    ''Void Manifesta¡ª!''

    Damien grabbed his arm before he could do anything.

    He forced his mana into the Saint King''s body and dragged out the Void Mana he was containing, swallowing it for himself.

    Against the Void''s Apostle, what weight could this single strand hold?

    Perhaps the Saint King didn''t realize the identity of the force Damien used to break him even now.

    Bai Yumo''s final move had been crippled so easily.

    And now, his only fate was death.

    The de on his neck was cold.

    It felt like the hands of death encroaching upon him, it felt like a wall that blocked him from his ambitions.

    A strange mana flowed through his skin from the de, making him painfully aware that there was no escape.

    Without an ounce of mana remaining, without any means to resist, he looked up at his enemy.

    No, he looked up at Damien Void.

    "Just¡­kill me."

    His words came out as a whisper.

    In front of countless eyes, he epted his fate.

    Damien''s de pressed deeper into his neck, drawing ck blood that dripped into the starry sky.

    The entire universe went silent as all beings held their breath in wait for the final blow.

    And to answer their expectations¡­

    Shiiing!

    Bai Yumo''s eyes widened in shock.

    His shaking hands went to his neck, touching the bleeding cut that decorated it.

    He was absolutely unable to understand why his head was still attached to his body.

    "This isn''t how I want to do this."

    Damien spoke gruffly.

    Mirage disappeared from his hand.

    He looked down at the Saint King, who didn''t look like someone with such a grand title anymore.

    He looked like a boy, a boy who was never able to live as himself.

    "Go," he said, scratching his head.

    Damien''s words were broadcast to the entire universe.

    Confusion ran wild.

    The widely recognized hero of their universe¡­was letting go of the enemy?

    Was this really happening?

    "You¡­"

    "Do I have to say it again? Get out of here already!"

    Damien''s shout brought Bai Yumo back to his senses.

    He stood up hesitantly and looked at the man before him one more time.

    He couldn''t process this situation, but his body was more sane than his mind.

    Without realizing it, he began to flee. He ran away, leaving the battleground behind.

    The Saint Emperor came out of the folds of reality, his eyes trained on Damien.

    "Damien Void¡­you are truly an interesting boy."

    Without another word, he disappeared, likely following after his son.

    Damien was left alone in the starry sky.

    This peace would onlyst an instant.

    Damien sighed to himself.

    He had never let an enemy live before. This was his first time experiencing such a thing.

    However, he simply couldn''t view Bai Yumo as an enemy.

    The scenes he saw through the Breath of Nothingness while their battle was ongoing didn''t allow him to.

    Because the enemy he was trying so hard to kill, the enemy that consumed his entire mind and turned him into a puppet¡­

    ¡­was not Damien, but the Saint Emperor.

    The man who ughtered his family, kidnapped him, and raised him as a tool for his own amusement¡­the man he despised the most was not Damien, but the Saint Emperor!

    The burning me in his heart was directed only at that man.

    The human genius was merely someone he needed to surpass if he wished to achieve his desire.

    Yet, in the end, that same genius became someone far greater.

    Damien gazed into the distance where the two Nox had disappeared.

    ''I hope you don''t disappoint me.''

    Whether or not Bai Yumo could live up to the expectations he had for him was unknown, but Damien didn''t care.

    That piece had the potential to be pivotal if he could use it at the right time.

    But if he wanted to live until that time came¡­

    He had to answer to the universe first!

    "HOW DARE YOU?!"

    A booming voice filled the starry sky.

    As if he''d been waiting for this moment, Immortal Blood Asura appeared with an entourage of Demigods, mostly those who had participated in the Grand Assembly.

    "Did I not make it clear to you all back then?" He dered coldly.

    The eyes of those who hated Damien glowed with delight, while those of his allies wereplicated.

    Immortal Blood Asura had long prepared for this moment.

    Part of his deal with the Karmic Emperor was exactly this.

    With power in his chest and icy disdain in his eyes, he made his deration.

    "Damien Void is not a hero of our universe. He is mere scum who has fallen to the enemy!"

    Considering what he''d done, there was no way to avoid it.

    Without revealing the Void''s existence, there was no way to proim his innocence.

    Right now, after thest ordeal ended, Damien had another problem to deal with.

    Right now, because he let Bai Yumo live, he was considered a traitor of Grand Heavens Boundary!

 Chapter 1133 Judgement [1]

    Chapter 1133 Judgement [1]

    It was too familiar. As the fight continued, the familiarity only grew.

    Every move Damien made, he''d seen it before.

    He''d experienced it with his body.

    Roughly 500 years. That was his current age.

    He almost reached the limit of what the Dimensional Leaderboard epted.

    In that time, he''d experienced far too much.

    His life started simply.

    Bai Yumo was born into a hiddenmunity on Al''Katra filled with Nox who went against their base instincts.

    They understood the pleasures of peace, and decided to pursue that route.

    Hidden within the folds of space, they were able to survive several hundred years maintaining their peace.

    Or at least, they tried.

    The adults would asionally leave the secret vige ande back with loads of exotic meats and products, telling stories of mystical ces the rest had never seen.

    It wasn''t until he got older that Bai Yumo realized they were acting as dogs in order to keep the peace of their families secure.

    Nevertheless, for the children who were able to experience happiness from the moment they gained sentience, it was practically heaven.

    Until that day.

    That day, a man appeared in the skies.

    He only raised his arm once, yet the entire vige was eradicated. The poption was ughtered and turned into burnt husks, leaving six behind.

    These six were "chosen." Since they survived, they had enough potential and destiny for him to look at them.

    They were nurtured. No, nurtured was the wrong word.

    They were raised in such a way that their instincts were killed, their egos were killed, and they became puppets who would reverently follow that man''s will.

    And in time, even they themselves were killed.

    By the very children they entered this ce with.

    Bai Yumo was one of only two survivors of that childhood. He personally murdered three of his friends with his own hands.

    From that moment on, he became the Saint Emperor''s "son."

    He was given specialized training that tortured him into the son the Saint Emperor wished to show to the world.

    He was used as a pawn to conquer the Nox and bring a majority of their race to the Saint Emperor''s side, and when the time came, he was used for the purpose he''d been told since young.

    To fight the genius known as Damien Void.

    Bai Yumo''s life was filled with brutality that turned a boy who was blessed with peace to a man consumed by hatred.

    The ego the Saint Emperor tried so hard to kill never died, but instead buried itself deep in the recesses of his mind in wait of the day he could strike.

    The man who massacred his entire family, that man had to die.

    Sentience wasn''t the only thing the Nox gained upon reaching 4th ss.

    There was something else, a shackle that released and provided one glimpses of a forbidden truth.

    When Bai Yumo realized that truth, rather than pride, he only felt disgusted by his race.

    He disdained his own origin.

    To others, he wanted to reach the Saint Emperor to live up to his expectations.

    But not just the Saint Emperor, the entire Nox Race was something he wanted to tear down and rebuild from the ground up.

    That was his grand ambition, the one Damien saw while they fought, and the reason he was still alive now.

    ''That mana¡­''

    He was drowned in introspection after a scene like that. He had to rationalize the thoughts of his supposed enemy, otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to live with himself.

    ''It was the same.''

    The mana Damien used to defeat him was the same mana that almost killed him when he summoned it. He finally realized this.

    And if it was that mana, he could understand far more.

    It was far more diluted and unable to show its full potential, but this mana resided in the Saint Emperor''s hands as well.

    He''d experienced its effects with his body.

    ''He saw.''

    ''Then¡­''

    ''¡­have I gained an unexpected ally?''

    He couldn''t figure it out. Even if his final goal aligned with Damien''s, how could the man easily ally with someone like him?

    In order to disguise his intentions, he followed the Saint Emperor''s will and created a persona of absolute evil.

    It wasn''t just one or two genocides he''dmitted.

    He''d mindlessly wandered to the edge of the universe somehow. He didn''t know how he arrived here so rapidly, but he was currently looking out into the Abyss from the grounds of Eien.

    He turned his eyes back to Grand Heavens Boundary.

    ''Who are you, Damien Void?''

    Whoosh!

    His eyes widened as he stumbled back.

    "Someone" surfaced behind him, his presence totally unnoticeable.

    Goosebumps rose on Bai Yumo''s skin. He could guess who this visitor was.

    "Father," he said emotionlessly, turning around to face him.

    "I do not have a son like you," the Saint Emperor responded coldly.

    "This was not a defeat because of my own carelessness. He is stronger than me now, but I am certain I will be able to kill him the next time we meet."

    Bai Yumo''s eyes were cold and ruthless,pletely unlike his thoughts.

    The Saint Emperor looked into those eyes indifferently.

    "Even you are aware of the stupidity of your words."

    "I may not be able to aplish it on my own. But if I strategize properly, I will be able to take him down."

    "Strategize? Is that what I raised you to do? Your only purpose is to fight him directly, not to use petty tricks."

    "However, he is my fated enemy. I must rid him from existence by any means."

    "No¡­"

    The Saint Emperor shook his head.

    "Your purpose was not to defeat him, but to be defeated by him. For a smart boy like you to still be unaware of this fact, is your hatred blinding your vision?"

    Bai Yumo''s eyes widened.

    Right, it was familiar.

    Far too familiar.

    The feeling of hopelessness forced into his mind by that familiarity yed arge part in his eventual defeat.

    "You¡ª"

    Bai Yumo''s voice halted.

    The Saint Emperor took a few steps forward, towering over his "son."

    "Your part is finished," he said, raising his arm.

    "My part?"

    Bai Yumo frowned in confusion.

    rm bells began to ring in his head.

    The Saint Emperor''s eyes, those eyes that looked both hollow and full of light at the same time, those eyes that were windows not to a soul, but to utter darkness¡­

    Those eyes were currently gazing down at Bai Yumo as if he were trash on the street.

    "You no longer have purpose in this story."

    The Saint King''s eyes widened.

    ''What¡­what is he talking about?''

    There was no time for him to consider those words.

    Faster than his perception could read, a figure emerged from the darkness above. A sharp de was once again pointed at Bai Yumo''s neck, but this one was not going to stop!

    The de tip pierced the Saint King''s skin.

    In other words, it was time for him to die!

    His life shed before his eyes again. He knew once again that he He immediately felt the mana of a Supreme, mana he could not resist.

    He was no longer necessary for the story.

    In other words, it was time for him to die!

    His life shed before his eyes again. He knew once again that he had no chance of living in this situation.

    However¡­

    VOOOM!

    A powerful foreign mana sprung forth from Bai Yumo''s body, glowing with pitch-ck light.

    "¡­!"

    "¡­!"

    The Saint Emperor and his assassin both reacted in surprise.

    The foreign mana wrapped around the assassin''s de and crumbled it into nothingness.

    It also wrapped around Bai Yumo, encasing him in an unbreakable cocoon.

    And¡ª

    sh!

    The mana disappeared entirely.

    Bai Yumo was nowhere to be seen.

    The Saint Emperor''s cold eyes looked into the now empty Eien.

    "Damien Void¡­"

    He couldn''t stop himself from saying it.

    He truly was an interesting boy.

    "It seems the plot is not entirely under my control anymore."

    It was information that should have infuriated him, but a wild grin decorated his face.

    "Very well, then. Let us see how far you can push."

    He turned around and took a step.

    The Supreme left behind on Eien exploded into ck ink, never to be seen again.

    Silence reigned once more.

    The Saint Emperor and Saint King, two beings who were always referred to in the same breath, were now openly walking paths that opposed each other.

    It was impossible to say how the future would pan out.

 Chapter 1134 Judgement [2]

    Chapter 1134 Judgement [2]

    Damien provoked many powerful enemies in his time, but he usually wasn''t moving in a way where their influence could truly impede his path.

    This time, it was different.

    This time, there was no way to absolve himself of me.

    Currently, the starry sky had be the location of a second Grand Assembly.

    Hundreds of Demigods gathered in this ce and formed what felt like a panel of judges, facing Damien and putting massive pressure on him.

    The live feed broadcasted across the universe did not cut off. The only projections that halted were those nearby anywhere the Nox could be.

    The jury for this trial was themon people of the entire universe!

    And the main judge seat was taken by Immortal Blood Asura. Even Luciel and Lucifer, who cameter, were unable to shake his position.

    "Damien Void, exin the reasoning behind your treason," he said, giving Damien no chance to im innocence.

    However, Damien didn''t allow himself to be fazed. He had to make it through this if he wanted to keep his life!

    "I did notmit treason," he responded resolutely.

    "My decision."

    Damien looked the enemy in the eye and spoke with confidence.

    "You showed mercy to a terror who gued our universe for several decades! If not treason, then what is it?"

    "My decision."

    Damien looked the enemy in the eye and spoke with confidence.

    It was important to prove his innocence, but first, he had to match Immortal Blood Asura''s momentum, lest he be driven into a corner.

    "Damien Void, do you refuse toply?" Immortal Blood Asura uttered coldly.

    "I do not. If you present me with a proper question, I will answer it without fail."

    "Then, why did you do it? None of us are able to understand this so-called ''decision'' you''ve made."

    The one who spoke this time was Luciel, who added a semnce of civility to the conversation.

    Damien nodded and responded in kind.

    "I cannot state the exact reason, because I am uncertain if everyone watching truly feels the loyalty to our universe that they proim¡­" he started, directing a sidelong nce at Immortal Blood Asura.

    "¡­however, I can swear a Mana Oath right here in front of our proud people that I have never and will never act against Grand Heavens Boundary."

    Luciel nodded.

    "Then do so. If what you say is true, then we can discuss your reasoning in a more private setting at ater date."

    Mana Oaths we''re not an end all be all, but in a situation where the truth absolutely needed to be confirmed, it was the best solution.

    Because of the swearing party swore an Oath written by others with surety that loopholes weren''t present, a Mana Oath could be absolute.

    Such a case was this. With a panel of Demigods present, it didn''t take long to flesh out Damien''s oath.

    After it was supported by a majority of the panel, it was presented to Damien, who swore it on the spot.

    The iridescent blue mana of the universe swirled around him. An ethereal presence descended, like a massive eye judging his every facet.

    And within a few seconds, this feeling disappeared.

    Damien was indeed telling the truth.

    "Regardless of your intent, you must be punished for making such an immature decision when the universe''s fate sits on your shoulders," Immortal Blood Asura spoke, not allowing Damien''s actions to affect the atmosphere.

    "I suggest sending Damien Void to No Return Pass under Mana Oath to guard it without fail for 10 years!"

    "10 years?!"

    Murmurs rose from crowds in all parts of the world.

    Damien might''ve made a terrible choice, but did it justify 10 years'' worth of any punishment?

    Besides, it wasn''t just any punishment, but 10 years guarding No Return Pass.

    The dangers of this ce could be inferred from its name alone.

    "Immortal Blood Asura, please leave personal feelings out of your judgement," Luciel said with a frown.

    "Personal feelings? This is not personal in the slightest," Immortal Blood Asura responded, not losing his confidence.

    "I have received reports from a reputable source that this man, Damien Void, has been seen making acquaintance with the enemy!"

    "Do you have evidence?" Luciel asked.

    "I do."

    Immortal Blood Asura understood Damien''s status. He understood that he couldn''t give Damien a cruel punishment with just this event alone.

    Naturally, he''d prepared something else.

    Multiple projections lit up the starry sky.

    The scenes in these projections showed Damien''s interactions with a single person.

    Zara.

    Zara, whose presence he hid to avoid this exact situation, was now being used against him.

    Damien frowned. Projections made by a Demigod were especially terrifying because one could perceive the scenes within.

    For these Demigods, sensing the Nox bloodline in Zara''s body wasn''t difficult at all.

    "Damien Void, what excuse will you use this time?" Immortal Blood Asura said, almost mockingly.

    Damien''s eyes were icy.

    "None. That person is not an enemy, but one of our greatest allies. She was born to a Nox father, however, she has never had contact with him. She was born and raised as a citizen of our grand universe, and her allegiance lies here as well."

    Damien was angry. Not just because Immortal Blood Asura was antagonizing Zara, but also because of how he gained the ability to do so.

    Damien, his wives, Alea, and the Sanctuary''s core personnel were the only ones who knew of Zara''s true origin.

    No, there were more.

    The Saint Emperor and his subordinate Sebastian, who discovered her identity on Calypto.

    There was only one ce his information could havee from.

    That man was a traitor.

    And currently, he was trying to frame Damien as the same kind!

    ''Unbelievable¡­'' he muttered inwardly in disdain.

    The panel was currently discussing among themselves.

    Along with his words, Damien provided his own memories of Zara, which depicted the many instances where she fought the Nox as if they were her worst enemy.

    Because they were!

    It was hard to say Zara was Nox-affiliated, because as more and more of these Demigods used their influence to find traces of her across the universe, as more information came in with every passing minute, it became clear that Zara only had a single allegiance.

    Absolute loyalty to Damien.

    And if Damien was already recognized by the universe as a guaranteed ally, wasn''t it easy to prove her innocence?

    Unfortunately, the world of politics didn''t work so innocently.

    More than her intent, the fact that Zara had Nox blood in her body took hold of people''s hearts.

    Perhaps she would be able to avoid punishment, but if she was found, she wouldn''t be able to avoid strict monitoring.

    And Damien was absolutely going to be punished.

    One had to think from the perspective of a neutral party among the board of Demigods.

    Immortal Blood Asura had long prepared for this moment, and a majority of Demigods were on his side.

    Those who cared for their own self-interest more than the greater good chose to side with the man who had more influence.

    Left neutral, with their aid unable to help the side supporting Damien, wasn''t it better for them to support the majority?

    It went to a vote.

    There was no anonymity allowed in such a setting.

    And in the end, over half of the panel supported Immortal Blood Asura.

    10 years in No Return Pass.

    Was this to be Damien''s fate?

    He frowned to himself.

    Punishment was unavoidable, and if he acted unsightly here, he''d lose the hearts of the people.

    He couldn''t deny ountability.

    If he wanted to aplish his goals, if he wanted to repeat the miracles he performed in the Human Domain to build the Sanctuary, he couldn''t lose the support of those people.

    "I will ept my punishment," he said, his gaze not losing its light.

    "However, I''d like to make a proposition."

    Luciel''s gaze contained a great deal of worry. He couldn''t make the situation better right now, but he didn''t want Damien to make it any worse!

    But now that he''d said it, there was no way to avoid it.

    "What is it you wish to say?" He asked, taking control before Immortal Blood Asura could direct the narrative.

    "5 years," Damien responded.

    "Hm?"

    "I will guard No Return Pass for 5 years."

    "Are you trying to talk your way out of discipline now? How cowardly," Immortal Blood Asura snorted.

    However, Damien shook his head.

    "You misunderstood. I want you to shorten my sentence to 5 years, but not for free. In return¡­"

    The fire burning in his eyes flickered.

    "¡­I will create a miracle."

 Chapter 1135 Judgement [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1135 Judgement [3]</h4>

    No Return Pass was a ce that could be considered nothing but a death sentence for those stationed there.

    It was a portion of Eien sectioned off from the rest of the ring with walls that reached so high even the sky was contained within them. In this total darkness, a never-ending wave of Nox had been assailing the universe for tens of thousands of years.

    It was and of no return, and it was named as such because hiding this fact behind a grand name was not a grace No Return Pass deserved.

    There was no option for retreat.

    The domain bordering the Abyss behind No Return Pass was none other than the Human Domain.

    Spatial distortions that could kill even the greatest experts filled the space between the Human Domain and Eien, which acted as a second line of defense against the invading forces but couldn''t be the first.

    Because with the numbers that were pushing through the pass, the spatial distortions could only hold them for so long.

    10 years in that ce¡­not a single person had survived so long in that pass.

    Damien understood this very well. No Return Pass wasn''t an unfamiliar name to him. He also understood that even 5 years was a period equivalent to hell.

    But he was confident he could do it, and he was aware that there was no way for him to knock the punishment down any more than this.

    Immortal Blood Asura was truly wicked. If he started with 10 years using the Nox and Damien''s treachery as his argument, Damien''s ability to negotiate would be severely damaged.

    Did he want to bring his punishment down to almost nothing? What a coward!

    This was the thought themon people would hold towards him.

    Because to them, No Return Pass was a name without substance. It was a ce of punishment, not a ce of absolute death.

    Such was the power of authority.

    The position he stood at, the connections he held, and the power his words held because of these factors allowed Immortal Blood Asura to weave a Damien couldn''t escape.

    It was surprising Damien hadn''t been caught in such a before, but this was also because he was unreasonably powerful.

    The only way for him to face these consequences was to have an even more unreasonably powerful enemy!

    Nevertheless, Damien proposed 5 years. He would not take total defeat in this confrontation.

    Zara was okay for now, and he had to secure his safety as well.

    5 years in return for a miracle.

    These bold words confused many of those present and even more of those not.

    In his position, it almost looked like he was desperately grasping for straws, but the light in his eyes suggested something different.

    Was it arrogance or confidence?

    The crowd understood once he continued his words.

    The "miracle" he promised was simple.

    He was going to connect the universe.

    He was going to utterly change the way Grand Heavens Boundary functioned by creating a system of long-distance teleportation arrays that spanned its entire area.

    The question was raised immediately.

    If the universe already has one, what use would another one have?

    However, Damien''s answer was just as swift.

    "Isn''t it silly to ask why a Supreme is better than a 2nd ss?"

    Immortal Blood Asura wanted to shut it down, but he lost the momentum the moment Damien started talking.

    What he suggested would benefit the entire universe in several ways. If he could build a more efficient system for transportation, both mobilization of troops and evacuation of citizens could be expedited, which would be pivotal during wartime.

    Whether they were supportive of Immortal Blood Asura or despising him, the Demigods on the panel were forced to consider Damien''s proposal with utmost seriousness.

    "Can you do it?" Luciel asked, once again speaking for the panel.

    "I can," Damien responded confidently.

    "How long will it take?"

    Damien frowned in thought.

    It took 5 years to consume the Human Domain, but this time''s task was far easier.

    He only had to visit inhabited worlds, and of them, he didn''t have to visit each one.

    After all, technology to travel between worlds in close proximity had been present for those in the wider universe for as long as it had history. Even the most poor and disconnected worlds could afford a means capable of doing so.

    However, he also had to ount for budding worlds like Earth once was. Those worlds who were disconnected from wider society and had to start from the beginning to adapt; they could not be left to fend for themselves.

    "Give me 2 years if you want a fully functional system. I can prioritize Hephaestus and the Divine Realm and have them done in less than one."

    An even bolder statement!

    It was unknown how long it took for the ancients to set up the current system, but there was obvious evidence that their civilization went through several changes in the process of its creation.

    To replicate such a feat in two years, even the uninformed members of the crowd were baffled by this deration.

    "Do you dare to sign another Mana Oath?" Immortal Blood Asura said coldly.

    The only hope he had at dealing more damage was if Damien couldn''t finish his "miracle" in time.

    And he couldn''t interfere with that mission, because Damien was going to be watched by everyone for the next two years.

    "I do," Damien dered.

    Regardless of what his enemies wished, he would move on the path he chose.

    The panel took a moment to discuss.

    Two years was a long time considering that war would likely start this very day, however, when the war was projected tost decades, this period was minimal.

    There was no logical reason for anyone to disagree with this proposition. 5 years in No Return Pass was still something that would cripple a young genius like Damien, and if they could gain from it, even his enemies supported this call.

    Thus, the final verdict was decided.

    Luciel stood up and spoke.

    "To face the consequences of his actions, Damien Void shall build a universal transportation system within 2 years and serve 5 years in No Return Pass. If none disagree, we shall move forward with the Mana Oaths."

    Damien smiled imperceptibly.

    "Facing the consequences of his actions" waspletely different from "punishment for crimes against the universe."

    Luciel''s words changed the tone of the trial into more of a disciplining for a promising youngling.

    And with no disagreements spoken, the motion was passed.

    In front of all eyes, Damien took two Mana Oaths.

    The first was the agreed oath for the teleportation system.

    And the second stated that, once he was finished, he would guard No Return Pass without retreating or abandoning his post, even if it meant death.

    The mana projections spanning the universe cut off there. The general public was left to process the storm that had just passed.

    The council convened in the starry sky dispersed, some greeting Damien and others throwing him gazes filled with mockery.

    Immortal Blood Asura spoke no more at this juncture, but he did leave Damien a personal message before leaving.

    Damien watched his back as he left.

    The crowd around him was drowned out by the cool silence in his mind.

    An enemy he didn''t take seriously until now.

    An enemy he disregarded because he couldn''t make a direct move against him.

    Such an enemy was the one who grasped the chance to bring him to ruin.

    ''I''ll remember this.'' He thought to himself.

    ''Count your days, traitor.''

 Chapter 1136 Judgement [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1136 Judgement [4]</h4>

    The situation came to a natural end there.

    While Damien was swept away by his allies for a myriad of conversations, the aftereffects of the passing storm showed themselves in various parts of the universe.

    Firstly, Damien''s reputation didn''t suffer as much damage as Immortal Blood Asura wished.

    Within minutes of the ordeal''s end, Damien''s information was revealed and spread across the universe at impossible speeds.

    The feats he''d aplished before fighting the Saint King or appearing at the Grand Assembly were now clear to all. The fact that he''d been fighting on the frontlines without any desire for recognition swayed the hearts of many.

    Whenbined with the fact that Damien gave the universe a victory this time, it was hard to view him as someone who would betray his people.

    Therefore, the words Damien spoke during his trial were granted credibility.

    The fact that he likely had a reason for letting the Saint King live was understood.

    Of course, there were still those who chose to hate him regardless of the facts. Their number wasn''t small at all.

    However, the amount of actual traction their opinions could gain was negligible.

    Damien Void was a true warrior of this Grand Heavens Boundary. This much could not be denied.

    Zara''s matter was also positively influenced by this perception.

    Yes, Zara had Nox blood. Immortal Blood Asura''s proof didn''t just show Damien and Zara interacting, they made it clear without any room for negotiation that Zara was descended from the enemy.

    Her identity was validated by Damien and Luciel, so once the adrenaline rush of the situation died down, most of the suspicion against her diminished, but it was hard topletely rid the people of their prejudice towards the Nox and those rted to them.

    If there was one thing to celebrate, it was that Zara''s human form was not revealed in the information.

    She would still be able to conceal herself as long as she learned how to disguise or transform her aura and mana.

    At least, for the short term.

    Damien was able to get by without actually umting too many scars. He didn''t have much status on his own, but his connections were monstrous.

    They weren''t many in number, yet each of them stood at the peak of righteousness, and their words held mountains of weight.

    With their influence, as long as Damien fulfilled the Oath he made, he would be able to escape this cmity in the long run.

    The only problem was surviving long enough to see the long run.

    ''No Return Pass¡­''

    Damien heard much about it, but there were no memories of it in any of those he''d devoured. It''s reputation wasn''t for nothing.

    ''It''s a good ce to hone my skills. Besides, I won''t be totally disconnected from the outside world.''

    His main worry in this situation would''ve been his wives and closepanions, but it wasn''t difficult to give them ess to the Sanctuary, which would both protect them and provide them with a means ofmunication.

    ''Theavel''s Army can be mobilized through the girls. With the way the Void Library has grown in the past few years, I''m excited to see what kind of skills they can show.''

    His main purpose in raising them was¡­not in Grand Heavens Boundary, but they were a huge trump card he could use if the situation called for it.

    ''Haa¡­''

    He sighed to himself. The entire thing felt hollow.

    His fated duel ended how it should have, but it was unfortunate that this was not a matter he was allowed to put personal feelings into.

    ''The proper resolution I wanted couldn''t happen because of all the eyes. He should''ve escaped safely by now¡­I can only hope he understands my intent.''

    Instead of worrying about the past, he needed to focus on the future.

    ''2 years. It''ll be rtively smooth, all things considered, so I should use this time to make my final preparations.''

    He needed to prepare countermeasures against many things, he needed to improve himself, and most of all, he needed to make the most out of the time he had remaining with his people.

    ''They''re probably worried as hell right now¡­''

    Damien smiled wryly. He''d been feeling the signals from the Sanctuary for a while now, but he couldn''t entertain them because he was busy with the experts around him.

    Alucard, Commander Huo, Pandora, and the rest finally left a minute ago, and while Tian Yang was still present, he wasn''t an outsider.

    Plus, he already knew about the Sanctuary, albeit not its current form.

    Damien rejoiced in the small pleasure he could anticipate from the old man''s reaction and pulled him into the Sanctuary.

    Well, it was to be expected that Tian Yang was stunned in a stupor. There was an actual universe in the ce he once saw as a single continent!

    Stars ands formed sr systems, gxies formed gxy clusters, it was unimaginable that such a structure was in the hands of a single person.

    Tian Yang was left alone and frozen in the starry sky to deal with his thoughts while Damien was dragged to Theavel and sat down by a group of women and a few men.

    The conversations there were not much different than those he had on the outside.

    Tsunamis of concern and earnest care for his well-being overwhelmed him, and he could only quietly ept them.

    He wanted to tell the girls about what actually happened with Bai Yumo but now wasn''t the time. That conversation could wait until they were on the road.

    There was just one final task for Damien to finish before they set off.

    Not only was it good for him, it would be a blow to Immortal Blood Asura''s ego.

    ''Another old man whose face is going to be hrious when he finds out. I can''t wait.''

    Damien reappeared in the vast emptiness of the starry sky.

    He teleported incessantly until he crossed out of the Divine Realm and into the spatial distortion field around the Human Domain.

    Even Demigods couldn''t pry on what he did here.

    ''They worked well in the time I was gone. Now¡­it''s time to reap the rewards.''

    Damien closed his eyes and connected to a rtively new power in his body.

    [Law Controller]

    "GAH!"

    Damien was instantly assailed with a wave of terrifying pain. He was safe from it in the Severed World, but now that he''de back and reestablished the connection, he was feeling the pain of those worlds being destroyed.

    His mind was clear, however, and so was his purpose.

    ''Shatter and be reborn.''

    The Corrupted World Cores that the Nox worked so hard to cultivate¡­

    ¡­they weren''t that important, right?

    ***

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    Six ominous pulses of mana rippled through the starry sky from the six Corrupted World Cores patiently waiting in space.

    The starry sky trembled. A horrific aura of Nox Mana spread and corrupted all things in the surroundings, directly killing the guards keeping watch over these lone structures.

    The wriggling ck cores expanded in unison, their lights shining so bright they could be seen from each other''s locations.

    Luxurion immediately went into a frenzy.

    This was an emergency situation.

    Their activation happened within a single second, but the force being emitted was enough to blow a rupture through an entire sector.

    Those Corrupted World Cores were exploding.

    If they were allowed to explode¡­!

    The number of deaths couldn''t be counted in millions or billions. At least several trillion lives would be lost.

    It happened so fast that not many were able to witness what was going to be the first cataclysm of the war.

    With no means to stop such an unexpected event, even those all-powerful Demigods were forced to watch with dark expressions.

    And under their watch¡­

    Wap!

    Space twisted.

    The rippling space reverted to its normal fluctuation.

    And the Corrupted World Cores disappeared.

    All six of them.

    The universe went silent.

    The cataclysm had been¡­

    ¡­avoided?

 Chapter 1137 2 Years [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1137 2 Years [1]</h4>

    Returning just a few hours to the past, not long after Damien and Bai Yumo''s battle ended, the atmosphere amongst the Nox was quite brutal.

    The Nox weren''t an extremely social race like most of those in Grand Heavens Boundary. They had their main power structure that all beings followed, but other than that, there wasn''t much true organization or connection.

    There were various colonies of Nox throughout the Abyss, those brought together fate or purpose. These scattered groups all came under the control of a Nox Emperor, and by association, the Nox Lords under them.

    If they wished to resist, they''d either die or be forcefully controlled, so they did remain loyal to their forced allegiances, if only for self-preservation.

    The Nox''s independence was precisely because all of them were too simr, their base thought processes shing because of this familiarity.

    Therefore, when Bai Yumo lost, regardless of where one turned their attention, the Nox had the same reaction.

    Disdain, mockery, and fury.

    The first two were obvious. The battle might''ve held great importance for their race, but the loser was still pathetic. It was only natural to treat him like trash.

    Thest was moreplicated.

    The Nox did not have a sense ofmunity, but they absolutely cared about face.

    It was a strangely contradictory trait, where an insult to the race felt like an insult to the individual despite their nature of denying camaraderie.

    If Bai Yumo returned to the Abyss in this atmosphere, he would''ve been torn apart not only by words but by equally vicious fists as well.

    However, Bai Yumo did find his way to the Abyss eventually, though not by his own design.

    ''Where¡­is this¡­?'' He thought, ncing around at the absolute ckness in his surroundings.

    He clearly felt the connection between him and the surroundings brought about by his trait, but this was a section of the Abyss he''d never seen before.

    It was a section of the Abyss¡­away from the Nox?

    Honestly speaking, even Damien couldn''t say where the Saint King was now.

    The technique he used was a cheat of the Void more than anything else.

    He set a "condition" that would activate the "desire" he stored within the mana in the same way aputer program functioned.

    Only, unlike the precise calctions needed for a program, Damien only needed his thoughts.

    "When hostility from a stronger being is sensed, transport Bai Yumo as far away from the Nox as possible."

    This was themand he gave his mana, and with the slight traces of Universal Law creating a bypass for the Void to act, it was able to carry out such a fantastical task properly.

    Damien''s mana was the origin of everything, both known and unknown, both existent and nonexistent. The capability to act autonomously under his order was merely a rudimentary ability it held.

    However, such a rudimentary ability saved Bai Yumo''s life, and from the looks of it, gave him the opportunity to start a new one.

    ''I will not be a ve any longer.''

    He made a deration. This life, he would no longer let it go to waste.

    His eyes narrowed.

    It was too empty around here.

    ''I need to start moving properly.''

    The things he''d built in secrecy for centuries, now was the time to gather them and create something big, something that could eventually help him stand at the peak he saw himself reaching.

    ''Damien Void, I will not forget this favor.''

    It was an odd feeling to have a human be the only one in the universe who understood his mind, but that fact was negligible.

    ''In the end, while our goals are not the same, I hope we can findmon ground upon our next meeting.''

    The Saint King closed his eyes.

    When they reopened, he rid himself of that mantle entirely.

    "Yong An."

    The name he was granted at birth, the name that symbolized his family''s dear wish for him to live a life of peace and fulfillment, the name destroyed by the Saint Emperor¡­

    This was the name that would shake existence itself in the years toe.

    ***

    The Soul Emperor did not need to personally interfere with the gift he''d prepared for Grand Heavens Boundary.

    While the projection feed the Nox could see was cut off before Damien''s trial, he was still able to witness the entire ordeal through his own means.

    "How silly," he said to no one in particr, merely voicing his thoughts in amusement.

    While their universe was falling apart, there were still people so selfish they wished to suppress their greatest geniuses?

    It was quite funny to see.

    No wonder the universe was destroyed until only Grand Heavens Boundary remained. When they couldn''t even defeat themselves, how could they stand against outside enemies?

    Now, this reasoning was more than hypocritical considering how the Nox were even more selfish than them, but it was not an invalid thought.

    After all, despite their greed and hostility towards each other, the Nox had enough unity to push the universe to this extent.

    It was the peak of irony.

    The Soul Emperor did not need to ount for the fact that the Nox had a nearly infinite number that yed an arguablyrger part in the current situation.

    Even if their numbers were smaller, only their strategies would change.

    Because the absolute obedience of a lesser bloodline had an absolute hold on even the most rebellious Nox!

    There were hardly moments when he could feel such emotions. The Saint Emperor was a strange being whose consciousness was, forck of a better word, disconnected.

    For him to feel amusement of all things¡­

    ''¡­perhaps it has been excited by what is toe?''

    The only time he felt wild rushes of emotion was when a n he created was executed perfectly and without fail.

    Knowing such a moment wasing again, perhaps his mind was already on edge?

    There was no point thinking about it.

    It hardly mattered in the first ce.

    ''Hmm¡­did I wait too long?''

    He didn''t wreak havoc soon after the fated duel ended for a single reason.

    Due to the situation with Damien, if he dyed by just a little, he could create a far bigger impact.

    Not only would he destroy their physical world, he would destroy their minds as well!

    Besides an omen of the universe''s doom, what else could such a chain of events be called?

    Hours passed in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    It was like an instant in the Abyss.

    ''The time hase.''

    As if on cue, a subordinate appeared at the entrance of the space, prostrating without daring to look at the being who resided there.

    "Lord, preparations areplete. The task will be aplished within a minute."

    "Hmm¡­"

    The Soul Emperor hummed without a word, and the subordinate scurried away.

    If he stayed near that ce for any longer, he felt like he would die horribly!

    He was correct. The Soul Emperor wasn''t a madman like the Inhuman Emperor, but he viewed all life other than his own as worthless, and thus would kill others without rhyme or reason simply because he did not want them to exist anymore.

    This was the kind of person targeting Grand Heavens Boundary.

    The Soul Emperor''s hollow eyes were wide open as a projection opened before him.

    The scene only few in the universe saw became visible to him as well.

    Six World Cores in six different Sectors shone with brighter than the light of genesis. The single second in which they reached the point of no return stretched into what felt like minutes to the perception of the Soul Emperor.

    The moment they peaked, an array of reactions chaining through their surfaces to create a picture of twisted beauty that only one man could enjoy¡­

    Wap!

    The Soul Emperor''s body shook.

    Six Corrupted World Cores disappeared from the starry sky.

    Everything regained silence.

    The only fluctuations apanying the event were those of the natural space patching itself and making up for their disappearance.

    Those within the universe were already shocked into a stupor, so the Soul Emperor''s reaction could only be imagined.

    "¡­"

    One could practically see his face turning a bloody shade of red.

    "WHAT IS THIS BLASPHEMY?!?!" He roared.

    His voice boomed through the space and destroyed his surroundings. If the subordinates under him hadn''t taken measures to prepare for a situation just like this one beforehand, his outburst would''ve razed hundreds of millions of lives and immediately broken the universal restriction on Demigods.

    The man who felt no connection to his emotions roared in unquenchable rage.

    For the first time in the length of his existence, his machinations were ruined.

    And as if this wasn''t already humiliating enough¡­

    ¡­he soon found that he had no way of uncovering the cause!

 Chapter 1138 2 Years [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1138 2 Years [2]</h4>

    The reactions across Grand Heavens Boundary were just as expected by both Damien and the Saint Emperor.

    The power of a generalized opinion was immense. While people would inevitably try to uncover details and flesh out said opinion, they would always do so under the bias they hold for or against it.

    The true situation with the Corrupted World Cores couldn''t be revealed to the public for obvious reasons, but it was impossible to hide their disappearance.

    A disappearance that even Heaven''s Army could only exin away with a promise that they were in the midst of investigating, such a scene could only be considered a miracle!

    Corrupted World Cores were thest visible trace of the Nox in Grand Heavens Boundary. It didn''t matter if there were still traitors lurking about, the fact that they had no presence anymore was something celebrated by the masses.

    A miracle¡­didn''t someone im they would create a miracle not too long ago?

    Nobody actually thought Damien caused this phenomenon, but the coincidental timing happened to shed light on him as well.

    This was a so-called "good omen."

    A good omen that supported Damien, a good omen that backed his bold derations and feelings towards the universe.

    Many people began moving within minutes of the situation panning out. Both forces from the Nox and the allied forces arrived at the locations that once held those World Cores and began searching for any clue that would reveal the logic behind this illogical instance.

    However, there was nothing to be found.

    It was truly as if the Corrupted World Cores never existed in the first ce!

    ***

    It wasn''t like nobody had an idea of what was happening. It was illogical, sure, but those who knew Damien couldn''t put it past him.

    Unfortunately, the man in question was nowhere to be found, so their questions could only remain unanswered.

    Currently, Damien stood in the spatial distortion around the Human Domain with six purple-ck masses roughly the size of dodgeballs orbiting his body.

    He grinned as he watched them move.

    ''What an interesting trait.'' He thought to himself.

    [Law Controller] essentially turned World Cores into Hassan''s ythings. With his toys passed to Damien, who was much more experienced in such things, a myriad of possibilities revealed themselves.

    This was one of such paths.

    Hassan''s trait intrinsically linked him to the base functions of the world. He himself was being used as Holy Light Star''s World Cores, so the simrities in their functions could be inferred.

    Such control made it possible for Damien to "absorb" these celestial bodies.

    In normal cases, this would have been a grand phenomenon consisting of the World Cores breaking down and flowing like rivers through the universe until they reached his body, but how could he allow that?

    Using abination of Spacetime Laws, Void Breathing, Universal Law, and the [Law Controller] trait, Damien created his second miracle.

    The constructs floating around him now were a product of confining those World Cores in subdimensions andpressing them.

    Now, the only thing left to do was absorb them.

    ''Hmm¡­but they feel a bit disgusting like this.''

    Themand Damien gave was "shatter and be reborn."

    Neither of those things had happened yet.

    His eyes narrowed. He pushed more mana into the subdimension holding the cores and forced his will upon them.

    ''It doesn''t matter what you used to be, you are nothing more than my power now.''

    In this case, his power was absolute.

    These egoless constructs could not deny him any more than their base capabilities allowed.

    Crash!

    Like ss shattering, the Corrupted World Cores shattered into wriggling ck shards.

    Damien deployed Universal Law to meet these shards, purifying them of outside influence and returning them to their original form.

    He was already familiar with the method.

    The Saint Emperor left him a way to learn it on Calypto.

    Time flowed strangely in the distorted space, but in the outside world, it took no more than half an hour for all six cores to return to their bright blue appearances.

    The Sanctuary was no longer in dire need of poption.

    These were going to be used entirely for personal strength.

    ''Devour''

    He''d never attempted something like this before.

    Devouring World Cores was something he''d only dreamed about.

    Who would''ve thought he''d receive such a great opportunity?

    Streams of iridescent blue mana entered his body in waves. They changed his physical structure like he was mutating and they integrated with his mana, turning it into a greater form of energy.

    Surprisingly, there was no pain.

    Unlike his previous experiences, Damien currently felt like he was floating on a bed of clouds, a river of pure energy.

    It carried his mind to a different ne where the mysteries of the universe were clearer than ss.

    But, in all honesty, there was nothing much to say about this transformation.

    Damien had been through this process dozens of times. Even though the form of energy was different, the essence of it all was the same.

    It was strength. Strength closing in on the level of "absolute."

    It took an entire week for Damien to internalize the mana he devoured. His mind was filled with newprehensions and his body was itching to try them out.

    His current mission was perfect for this.

    What he was chasing now wasn''t pure strength, but an understanding of the great truth. The strength he gained as a byproduct of this pursuit was massive, but it was not the direct effect.

    The knowledge Damien gained this time was about the universe''s base processes.

    The strength he gained was¡ª

    ''I have five years to spend thinking about power. Right now, I need a break.''

    Damien stretched his body and extended his awareness.

    ''Not bad. The time dtion isn''t that pronounced here.''

    5 days passed in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    ''However, it looks like it''s started already.''

    Utter ughter consumed Eien''s borders on the day after the fated duel. At this level, it could still be considered contained, but the dam would flood into the universe soon enough.

    ''I should get started too. I''m afraid they''ll get pushy if I wait too long.''

    Damien smiled, raising his eyes as a sudden idea came to mind.

    ''At a time like this, wouldn''t it be pretty funny to check what the system thinks?'' He thought to himself in amusement.

    Thest time he checked, it was already goofy, but right now, he was certain the system was more confused than ever.

    ''Try your best to evaluate me.''

    His smile widened into a grin.

    The system was not an enemy, but why did he feel oddlypetitive right now?

    Perhaps because that entity was the only one who could read him. It was the only one who knew about his connection with the Void from the very start.

    His rtionship with it was stringent nowadays, but he''d never forget how it allowed him to gain a foothold in the world when he was still budding.

    ''I wonder if I can meet it one day¡­''

    It was a stray thought, but one that held more value than even he realized.

    Nevertheless, he dyed it no longer.

    With a light of anticipation in his eyes, he allowed that word to surface in his mind.

    ''Status.''

 Chapter 1139 2 Years [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1139 2 Years [3]</h4>

    ''Status.''

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    ????

    Male - Age 37

    Level 399 - [Voidbringer] - [Celestial]

    Experience value: 750,000/380,000

    Title(s): [???????, Apostle of the Void, Evolver, Heaven''s Wrath, Supreme Genius]

    Affinities: Spacetime, Samsara, ????, ?????

    Physique: Void Physique

    Magic Power: 1000000

    STR: 100000

    AGI: 100000

    DEF: 100000

    INT: 100000

    DEX: 100000

    Skills: [Dimensional Magic Level Max], [Transcendent Regeneration Level Max], [Void Art Level 7], [Devour Level 9], [Dragon Transformation], [Demon Transformation], [Awareness], [Celestial Authority], [Reality Shift Level 5], [Sea God''s Descendent], [Void], [Spacetime Intent], [Samsara Intent], [Void Breathing Level 2]

    Trait(s): [All-Seeing Eyes Level 8], [Dragon''s Breath], [Ananta Matrix], [Storm], [Void Essence], [Void mes], [Heal], [Azure], [Law Controller]

    The holographic screen appeared in the air.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien''s reaction wasn''t what he expected. He was feeling multiple conflicting emotions that couldn''t outshine each other.

    The first thing he saw was his age, which was a frowning matter.

    ''I''m getting older too fast.''

    He didn''t mind it, but seeing it spelled out for him did make him realize how long it had been.

    It was ufortable how fast it passed. It barely felt like a decade, let alone two. But, his age was also a marker of his growth, so he viewed it warmly.

    Second came his experience value, which made him want tough.

    Was it a way to show his progress through the 9 revolutions, or was the system just bugging again? Either way, it was hrious to see such an illustrious entity show something so strange.

    His stats were also aughing matter. From 10,000 to 100,000; the cap had changed but the fact that the system simply leveled all his values and forgot about them remained the same as always.

    ''I guess it just gave up. Well, it''s for the better, anyway.''

    He wouldn''t want to torment this overworked system with the strangeness of his body, after all!

    Nevertheless, he only nced over the unreasonable numbers.

    [Apostle of the Void] was interesting, especially since it reced his previous [Bearer of the Void Physique] title. The reason for this change was obvious considering his recent progression in hisprehension of the entity, but once again, the system''s affirmation of it was surprising.

    ''Does it know or does it not? Maybe it''s function is more intuitive?''

    If it could sense his ever-growing connection with the Void, yet it couldn''t quantitatively define it.

    The system became more mysterious.

    Such a thing felt impossible for an entity without sentience of its own.

    ''What and where is it really? I want to know more than ever, but adding this one to the pile of unanswered truths I''ve been looking for is too much right now. I''ll save it forter.''

    The additional slot in his "Affinities" section was obviously Universal Law, which the system seemingly couldn''t put a name on.

    ''Is the extra question mark a way to define it? The third affinity is something it knows but doesn''t show because I haven''t realized it yet. I guess this situation is the opposite.''

    The feeling of one-upping the system was truly great. It contributed even more to his amusement.

    The only sections left were his skills and traits.

    The [Azure] trait caught his attention, but he set it aside. It was a gift from the Azure Dragon, and he was well aware that it would only show its purpose when the time was right.

    ''Aside from that, Dimensional Magic being maxed out is surprising¡­I guess I''m on the cusp of reaching the next level? Reality Shift went up because of the stuff I''ve been doing with time and universal forces, while the levels of Void Art and Void Breathing rose with the creation of Supernova, Elemental Wargod, and Absolute Mastery. But¡­''

    Devour reached level 9 after he devoured those World Cores.

    Devour''s skill growth was never stable or linear. Damien could never tell when the skill would decide to reach the next level.

    Usually, it was just a matter of the skill leveling up, but this time was different.

    This time, he reached a point that was one step away from the maximum level.

    ''What will happen when it gets maxed out?'' Damien wondered with great intrigue.

    This skill was the very first source of his strength and was still the source of a majority of it.

    It went through a change back when he first reached the Divine Realm that allowed him to view the memories of those he devoured.

    What would the next evolution be?

    ''I can''t even imagine it.''

    He already received the physical traits and he already received memories, which were the essence of one''s identity.

    What else could he possibly take from his enemies?

    ''Sadly, this isn''t one I can control. I can only wait for it to happen.''

    He sighed and shrugged in eptance before closing his status window.

    ''As expected, it''s interesting, but it feels disconnected from me.''

    He couldn''t help feeling a bit mncholy at his gradual separation from the system, but it was also a matter of joy.

    Didn''t that mean he was bing too strong to read?

    He stood in the distorted space silently.

    ''There''s nothing left to do.''

    He almost didn''t want to leave.

    He tried to ignore it, but every day felt like a countdown to No Return Pass. He couldn''t get rid of the ufortable feeling in his chest.

    But, all things had to progress. No matter what feelings he held, he couldn''t offset reality quite yet.

    Damien spread his awareness, using the universe itself as a medium to transmit his senses leagues farther than his natural capabilities allowed.

    He controlled its waves and made it follow the spatial distortion until it reached his body again.

    Throughout the entire space, there were several traps set. These hidden mechanisms and restrictions had been perfected in the previous 5 year period, and after this final check, Damien was certain they wouldn''t malfunction.

    Huu¡­

    He exhaled a small breath and forced himself out of his wallowing state.

    It was time to start moving. For real this time.

    ***

    Damien''s mission started that very day.

    He and his women boarded a starship provided by the Heavenly n and set off to their first destination.

    Since he chose to prioritize the Divine Realm and Hephaestus, his first two destinations were natural.

    At the moment, he was set on a path for Luxurion.

    It was subtle, but the universe''s attention was on him.

    After everything that happened in the past few days, Damien''s image became one of an "underdog."

    He made an impossible deration, but all possibility seemed to favor him. In a time like this when the people needed heroes more than ever, his name came to the forefront.

    This attention remained in the shadows. None who rooted for him approached him as if they had a mutual agreement, and none who antagonized him did so either because they knew they would be forced into the light.

    Therefore, Damien reached Luxurion and touched down without even realizing the kind of significance he now held.

    Luciel met him upon entry and led him out of the Sky Castle, into the starry sky that surrounded it.

    There, just a few hundred meters away, a plot ofnd roughly the size of a small city was present.

    "This is new," Damienmented.

    "Of course. We had to make space just for this," Luciel responded matter-of-factly.

    Damien chuckled a bit as theynded on t ground.

    "If you''re going to such extents, I guess I should deliver as well."

    "That''s all we can hope for."

    The duo looked across thend with different thoughts in their minds.

    While Luciel was naturally concerned for this young talent, Damien''s focus was centered.

    ''It''s my first time testing this in reality. Let''s see how it goes.''

 Chapter 1140 2 Years [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1140 2 Years [4]</h4>

    It wasn''t too difficult for a spatial practitioner to create a teleportation array.

    These arrays were merely reflections of theirprehension. The more they understood space, the further they could transmit people.

    However, the task did require a slight understanding of runes.

    Without the fundamentals of formation theory, the arrays created by these practitioners would be temporary, only maintained as long as they inputted mana into it.

    What made a teleportation array a true teleportation array was its ability to be operated by anyone who could provide sufficient energy.

    The main method would be through mana and spiritual stones, but the moreplex an array got, the more its functions could be controlled

    For instance,plex arrays could be set to block certain beings from using them, allow different types of energy while excluding others, or even force unwee intruders into spatial chaos in the midst of teleportation.

    However, there was a fundamental w even with formation knowledge included.

    Spatial practitioners could only touch upon the vertical axis of space. They could only influence time as a byproduct.

    This meant long-distance arrays would always take several hours or even days to transport one to their destination.

    In wartime, such a w could mean the death of millions.

    Damien proposed this so-called "miracle" to save himself, but in reality, it was something he had been nning for a long time.

    In fact, if he hadn''t changed his mind at thest moment and focused on the Human Domain, he would have begun working on this as soon as he left the Severed World.

    ''I''m not good with formations, but Hassan was. Perhaps the only hobby he could entertain was the art of formations.''

    The Nox mistreated Hassan at every opportunity in order to maintain his dog-like mentality. In that environment, the only reason he could study formations was because he could rte them to his trait and grow.

    Of course, him being allowed the ability to grow also meant he was served even more severe abuse to keep him in his ce, but he epted this consequence wholeheartedly if it let him keep the single spark of light in his life.

    Damien held those memories and emotions in his mind. He couldn''t be a formation master just because he had the memories, butprehending only what was necessary wasn''t hard at all.

    This knowledge gave Damien confidence.

    Along with the fact that he possessed the solution to the method''s greatest w within his own body!

    Walking to the center of the ind, he sat down and ced his palms on the ground to both of his sides. His mana prated the earth no more than 10 inches before spreading out roughly 30 meters.

    His eyes opened for a second.

    "What do you expect the average load to be?" He asked, turning to Luciel.

    The Angel took a second to think before answering.

    "What is the maximum you can allow?"

    "With the size of this ind? If you want to use the whole thing, probably around two to three hundred thousand. You can probably fit 500,000 if you pack them in like dominos."

    "Dominos?"

    "Don''t worry about it. What do you say?"

    "Hmm¡­let us make enough space for 100,000 people. With your promise, transporting five groups with the efficiency of transporting three will not be a problem, right?"

    "You''re thinking too simple. If we''re talking about the frontlines, you can send 100,000 at a time and the other side will receive 500,000 at once. Since the universe''s fate is in our hands, we should go all out."

    Luciel raised his brow in surprise.

    "Is such a thing possible?"

    "Maybe not for others, but this is me we''re talking about."

    "How arrogant."

    Damien grinned and closed his eyes, widening his sphere of influence until it covered roughly a third of the ind.

    Arrogance? It could never be that.

    The system itself granted him the title of [Supreme Genius]!

    The title wasn''t just for show either. Under its effect, Damien''s generalprehension ability saw an exponential increase.

    Now, even if a subject waspletely unknown to him, he couldprehend it easily as long as he had the means.

    Weren''t formation arts the first example of this?

    Voom!

    Damien''s mana shook within the earth''s surface before emitting a glow that shined through it.

    After giving Luciel onest look for confirmation, he began.

    Runes were like anguage of their own. Each symbol had its own meaning, which, whenbined with its peers, would transform into something entirely new.

    There was no such thing as a formation created by pping runes that matched together.

    Bnce and flow, stability and output; the creation of such a grand array required many opposing elements that worked in dissonant harmony.

    For Damien who had no prior knowledge of formation arts, creating these runes was a trying task.

    He sat for several minutes merely attempting the first, however, he finished it eventually.

    Then came the second, the third, the fourth, and so on.

    The longer he worked, the more fluid his movements became. Mana swirled and revolved around him and the ind before sinking into the earth and bing untraceable.

    Invisible to the naked eye, a fantastical array wasing to life. It was inly circr yet inextricably detailed like a magic circle. Its pattern invoked a feeling of twisted space with its odd yet flowing design, yet the mana within was still entirely unreadable.

    Luciel watched on with furrowed brows. He could see the forming array, but he could not understand even the slightest bit of it.

    The two were silent for a long time, both focused wholly on the array.

    Twelve hourster was when Damien finally stood up, beads of sweat forming on his face.

    The darkness of the starry sky didn''t change, but the positions of nearby worlds gave away how long it had been.

    "It''s done?" Luciel asked.

    "Done," Damien responded.

    Luciel frowned in concern.

    "However, at this pace, you will not be finished in two years."

    "Oh wow, to think someone as high as you is worrying about me. Don''t fret it. Since I said I''d do it, I''m going to get it done."

    A smile formed on his face.

    "Plus, wait until you try it out before you say anything. I guarantee you''ll have a different tone once you''ve seen what it can do."

    Damien was never going to settle for an ordinary teleportation array.

    The reason it took so long was because he was intuitively creating the design he wished for with the knowledge he had of runes as he went.

    As with all things, now that he had the method down, the time issue would fix itself.

    It was unfortunate there wasn''t anywhere to connect this array yet, but it wouldn''t be too long.

    Damien was already preparing to leave for the next destination!

    "Two years is not a long time. Please do your best toe back from this. Right now, all we can do is hold our shame for being unable to stop this from happening in the first ce, but if you can deliver on your promise once the next array ispleted, we will be able to offer you total support with justification."

    Luciel didn''t just speak for the Heavenly n, but all influences in this universe who wished the best for Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Politics bound them in a way that utterly humiliated them. Damien was not the only one to suffer that day.

    They were righteous people, but even they cared immensely about face.

    All they needed was an opportunity.

    If Damien gave them justification, they would strike back ruthlessly against those who refused to set their priorities straight hit.

    That was why Luciel was the right choice.

    He was the person who represented these voices of righteousness.

    "Take these. If there are a few people I rmend, I''d say the Demon Emperor, Prismatic Sun Holy Master, Director of Hidden Death Valley, Fallen Star Holy Master, Demon Sealing Pantheon''s Sessor, and Golden Dragon Emperor are trustworthy. As for the rest, give them out at your discretion."

    Luciel epted the deck of metallic cards Damien handed him with interest.

    Bzzt!

    Immediately, one of them jumped out of the deck and burned itself into Luciel''s arm before disappearing.

    "What is this?" Luciel questioned unhappily.

    He saw the card moving but didn''t stop it to show his trust for Damien, but he was clearly disproving of the fact that "something" had just entered his body.

    However, his expression morphed drastically when Damien gave him an answer.

    The purple-eyed genius grinned mischievously as spatial mana consumed his body.

    He left only a single sentence in the wake of his disappearance.

    "Since I built you a new starship, shouldn''t I also give you the keys?"

 Chapter 1141 2 Years [5]

    ?

    The first array took 12 hours to set up, but the second only took eight.

    Damien was confident he could take the time down to just a few seconds once he''d done it a few times, but there was something to be done first.

    Voom!

    An array whirred to life on this world called Helis. It was small and not very important, but it was closest to Luxurion.

    sh!

    A man arrived on the hard ground, his eyes wide in surprise.

    "This¡­how can you do something like this?!"

    Luciel voiced his astonishment without hesitation. He was the first to test the capabilities of this mechanism, and with his power, there was much he could sense.

    With the currently existing technology, making a jump from Luxurion to Helis would only take a few seconds, but it was easy for Luciel to tell the difference.

    Because it wasn''t even a few seconds. He arrived here in less than an instant!

    The only reason he realized the functions of the array was because he had his senses spread and focused before he activated it.

    He just barely sensed the spatial tunnel in passing, but he could absolutely feel how stable it was.

    "This time was a little weak because of the distance, but it''s a good example for now, right?" Damien said with a smile, standing off to the side with an old man who was the ruler of this world.

    "More than that. If we include the other thing, this is absolutely heaven-defying." Luciel responded in amazement.

    "However, this isn''t enough. Repeated sess is necessary to shut up the dissenting voices, and distance is needed for them to ept defeat." He continued, his eyes bing serious.

    "Since you have proven your ability, there is no need to wait on others. Work as you wish, and I will take care of everything else."

    Damien nodded contentedly.

    "I couldn''t ask for more."

    As he said earlier, he had no ns to make amon teleportation array. He was going to make something that could astonish his critics and confound his enemies.

    When Luciel said he''d take care of everything else, he didn''t just mean he would gather those righteous forces to support his mission.

    He meant he would make sure nothing could stand in Damien''s way.

    Whether it be by protecting his people and the Human Domain, providing resources for personal growth, or suppressing internal threats, Luciel was willing to do it if it meant Damien could implement this system properly.

    He underestimated it before. He thought Damien was makingrge ims he couldn''t back up because of his age.

    Fortunately for him, this young genius wasn''t such a person.

    He didn''t just deliver on what he promised, he did far more!

    Damien''s interactions with Luciel would be semi-frequent over the next two years, but for now, this was their time to separate.

    Luciel had to control the backline divisions of Heaven''s Army, while Damien had no more time to waste.

    After receiving thanks from the elder of Helis, Damien left again.

    He entered the starship he and the girls were using and began controlling it with his mana, teleporting it through space.

    He had to work, so there wasn''t much time he could spend with them, but they cherished the moments they did have.

    Travel between worlds took less time than it did for Damien when he was binding the Human Domain, and as time passed, the speed at which he created arrays became impossible.

    The third took 6 hours, the fourth took 2, the fifth took half an hour, and by the time he got to the sixth, he could finish an array in a mere ten minutes.

    Damien definitely underestimated the amount of worlds he''d have to visit, but it didn''t cause problems for his mission. Only his personal life suffered.

    Yet, he couldn''t stop. Not just for his own sake, but for the people.

    Every world he visited was different. They grew in their own ways and perhaps their civilizations held simrities due to their nature, but they all had their own color that set them apart from the rest.

    And each of these worlds was inhabited by hundreds of millions or even several tens of billions of denizens.

    Damien was almost overwhelmed by their feelings.

    Just like on Helis, he was met by the world''s most respected figure each time, and in some cases, he arrived in the midst of great festivities prepared for him.

    All these countless existences held him favorably in their hearts. He was the one who provided them a path to survival.

    He was a hero.

    It wasn''t just living beings who felt this way.

    In fact, quite a few worlds actively approached him with the desire to be bound. The weaker ones sent him fluctuations of desperate emotions, while the stronger ones practically fawned on him.

    ''It''s strangering from World Cores since they''re supposed to be emotionless, but I can''t get used to it from people either.''

    Damien moved and moved and moved.

    Time passed fast, and by the time three months passed, Damien found himself leaving the Divine Realm for Hephaestus.

    ''I feel bad not visiting every world after feeling their gratefulness, but I can only do it this way. Otherwise, I won''t be able to finish in 2 years.''

    The strategy was simple. Damien chose thergest world within each cluster and set an array there.

    He didn''t consider strength since the arrays had protection mechanisms of their own, he considered size because when it came time for themon people to flee, overcrowding and chaos would be an immense problem.

    In total, he visited around 30,000 worlds and bound 18,000 of them.

    If he had one qualm, it was the fact that the time left for him to spend with his women was only a few days at most, but it was a consequence of the situation and couldn''t be helped.

    ''At least we got to tour some of the more attractive worlds. Azure Rain Star is a lot prettier than I remember it being.''

    Damien visited Jiao Mei at Seeking Lotus Pce and saw his cello Celestial, Leona, as well. He introduced the girls to them and epted their help to take a trip around the world to see its sights.

    It was magnificent how beautiful the atmosphere of a single world could be, how magisterial the sights and phenomena present there were.

    In a universe where a single world was nothing more than a speck of dust, how could it be that every speck of dust was so wonderous?

    It really made one appreciate the value of small things that were devalued by the bigger picture.

    ''The Divine Realm is fully connected now. The time it takes to get from Helis to Luxurion is essentially the same as the time it takes to reach the same destination from the Dawn World. The hard partes from here out.''

    Connecting the Sector to itself could only be considered a recreational benefit.

    Once he connected Sectors to each other, not only benefits, but problems arose in droves.

    ''Well, Luciel said he''d take care of it. Let''s trust him and see how useful he can be.''

    This was Damien''s first time visiting Hephaestus, so he was a bit excited.

    As they crossed into the fiery atmosphere of the Sector, his eyes shone imperceptibly.

    ''The main goal is the main goal, but that''s not enough. Since I''m here, I have to visit Heaven''s Army.''

    The greatmanders who led it from their seats high in the sky, he wanted to meet them.

    He needed to judge if they were worthy of holding their posts.

 Chapter 1142 2 Years [6]

    ?

    Another three months passed in Hephaestus as it was connected from one end to another.

    Hephaestus'' atmosphere was fiery, as expected from the domain of the Dwarven Race.

    As people inherently skilled at craftsmanship in all facets, heat was something they were both used to and attracted to.

    It was interesting to see a domain with a major poption of dwarves. Unlike the rest of the Sectors, this one was like a massive workshop.

    Every world was filled with artisans who were busy perfecting their craft, and every world seemed to be moving as if the world would end tomorrow.

    The greetings Damien received here weren''t nearly as grand as the rest. Precisely because of this atmosphere, not many showed him the same reverence as regr citizens.

    After all, dwarves respected skill over all else.

    Damien was a fighter. This was his talent and this was his passion. When it came to secondary upations, he didn''t have much experience at all.

    Even his knowledge of formation arts was shallow, only enough for him to design mechanisms that mainly relied on his Law Comprehension.

    Therefore, the dwarves viewed him as a passing visitor, someone equivalent to an envoy from Heaven''s Army.

    Nevertheless, they were not rude. They understood Damien''s purpose and respected his determination and loyalty, if nothing else.

    And Damien didn''t mind at all.

    He didn''t expect unconditional respect, nor did he desire it. If dwarves, who already held this kind of reputation, treated him unusually positively, he would only be suspicious.

    Plus, their disinterest made his life easier.

    Damien and the girls traveled all around, visiting different worlds and seeing different sights without being bothered at all.

    If the Divine Realm showed them the beauty of nature, Hephaestus showed them the beauty of effort.

    Each craftsman had their own unique style cultivated by years and years of effort, yet, each sword they made was exquisitely indistinguishable from the rest.

    Theck of uniqueness did not represent ack of skill, but the total opposite.

    Heaven''s Army needed weapons forrge swathes of soldiers, not unique weapons for elites.

    If a sword was slightly worse than the rest, it could mean the death of one soldier.

    When this scale was blown out of proportion as it was in this war, the death toll would add up exponentially.

    The fact that each and every sword produced for those soldiers was exactly the same was a testament to skill above all else.

    Though, it wasn''t as if there weren''t unique cksmiths or craftsmen.

    Merely, these people had different duties. They were not hired to create mass-produced weaponry.

    Another 50,000 worlds found themselves equipped with teleportation arrays, and 35,000 of them entered Damien''s grasp.

    ''Luciel already distributed the keys, but these arrays haven''t been used yet. I guess he wanted to make a spectacle.''

    The universe needed a morale boost and this was the perfect opportunity.

    Once Damienid down thest array of Hephaestus, a grand event would take ce.

    ''Haa, it''s a little too shy for my tastes, but it is what it is.''

    Thest stop was also the most important one. It would''ve been the first if not for this n of Luciel''s.

    It was time to visit Heaven''s Army''s main headquarters.

    The world was called Vulcan in line with the name of the Sector, and it was thergest world present here.

    Spanning over a billion square kilometers, this world held almost a trillion existences, all of them warriors either preparing for or entering the war.

    Vulcan was divided into several sectors, most of which were used to train and house different troops, but the main area of the world was the true headquarters of Heaven''s Army.

    Was it a facility or a fortress? Damien truly couldn''t tell.

    The design was a mixture of medieval and modern architecture, while itsyout was so confusing Damien couldn''t make heads or tails of what it was supposed to be.

    ''But for some reason, it looks like it would be wrong if it was built differently. There really is something special about Dwarven expertise.''

    A starshipnded within a section of the headquarters that was built simrly to anding strip.

    Damien and the girls disembarked the ship and were immediately greeted by a weing party.

    Two rows of soldiers stood in lines facing each other and created an aisle for them to walk.

    At their head were three people, two men and a woman.

    "You must be the legendary Great Commanders. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Damien said as he shook their hands.

    "As with us to you," one of the men responded in kind.

    ''Gerard Wright, Anastasia Night, and Peros Alkara, otherwise known as the Heavenly Sword, Dark Queen, and God''s Eye. These three stand near the top of the universe, unchallenged.'' Damien thought as he conversed with them.

    The position of Heaven''s Army Great Commander didn''te lightly. Each of the three had achievements that couldnd them positions as leaders of the universe''s greatest Holy Lands.

    Yet, they chose to stay in Heaven''s Army fighting for the safety of everyone else.

    The stories about them were enough to garner immense respect, but meeting them was something else.

    ''I can''t feel any animosity from them at all. Not just towards me, but in general.''

    Was it possible for a being to be free of hatred?

    ''¡­or maybe they''ve focused every ounce of their hatred on the enemy.''

    At this point, with everything that had happened, Damien was naturally suspicious of anyone and everyone.

    However, as he conversed with the three, as he observed their personalities and exchanged knowledge with them, his opinion of them rose greatly.

    Because they were, without qualms,pletely transparent.

    They told Damien about Heaven''s Army''s current situation and the war''s progression, discussed with him their ideas for the rapid improvement of troops, and even argued strategy while including him in the conversation.

    What struck him was their inclusive nature. Usually, such a thing would only be for show, but these three genuinely received Damien''s opinions seriously and didn''t discredit him due to age or strength.

    Their conversation, unfortunately, only had a few tens of minutes to continue, but it was extremely eye-opening for all parties.

    The group made their way through the facility during this time and eventually made their way to an open area that looked out into the world.

    In the distance, the vague silhouette of Eien could be seen.

    "Then, shall we continue this discussion at ater time? I believe many people will be arriving here soon," Anastasia said with a smile.

    Damien nodded in agreement.

    "Mm, I also want to hear more wisdom from you three seniors. Let''s finish the current task as efficiently as possible and get back to it."

    "Haha, there is no need to be formal with us. We understand and respect you just as much as you do us. In my opinion, you are underestimating your worth severely," Gerald chipped in.

    Peros also voiced his support.

    The group got much closer than anyone could have expected in that short period of time, a product of pre-existing respect and basic human decency.

    Nevertheless, as Anastasia said, a crowd would be gathering soon.

    As per Luciel''s nning, it was time to put on a show.

    ''And if a show is necessary regardless, it''s better to make it as memorable as possible.''

    Damien liked being lowkey, but he was not opposed to making a scene.

    There was just one problem with entertaining this hobby in his daily life.

    Whenever Damien wanted to make a scene¡­

    ¡­it would be something that absolutely floored anyone who saw it!

 Chapter 1143 2 Years [7]

    <h4>Chapter 1143 2 Years [7]</h4>

    The sequence of events wasn''t entirely special.

    Luciel simply wanted to use the teleportation array to its total capacity in order to show the universe what Damien was doing.

    It wasn''t possible in the Divine Realm alone since the distance wasn''t that far, but connecting Luxurion and Vulcan held an entirely different meaning.

    These two vital points for Heaven''s Army''s function had goodmunication ability after many years of research and development, but it was still impossible for them to directly interfere with each other.

    The final array Damien wasying would mean the universe''s military deployment efficiency would be massively heightened.

    For this, another live feed was created. Though it didn''t hit every single world like thest time, it was close enough.

    Everyone would understand this grand asion. That much couldn''t be doubted.

    A crowd arrived on Vulcan consisting of many Demigods and Supremes who represented the peak of the universe. Arge majority of the great forces from the Grand Assembly were included in the group, along with many who weren''t present there.

    Damien stood in the chosen portal location with the crowd several kilometers away from him. He looked up to see the projection of his figure that was being viewed by the entire world and smiled.

    ''Then, let''s get started.''

    A message of hope, a message of strength, a message of unity. This was what Luciel and Damien wanted to send.

    Mana flowed into the atmosphere. It changed colors between blues, greens, purples, and reds smoothly as if a naturally flowing river streaming around Damien and forming the perimeter of the array.

    The multicolored mana then sunk into the ground, making the earth itself glow with a multitude of vibrant lights. Theplicated array pattern formed like a natural phenomenon, and with the increasingplexity of its form, the more beautiful its disy became.

    Damien focused more on beauty than anything else this time.

    If he wanted to, he could''ve silently finished the formation in ten seconds at the maximum. However, he let this disy flow and dance through the ground, created spirits that skipped through the air, and formed a picture of fantasy in the eyes of themon people.

    The beauty of existence, the fact that Grand Heavens Boundary was capable of creating such beauty; Damien''s show reminded people of why they loved their world so much.

    It reminded them of friends and family, of the natural beauty of their world, and of the greatness of their society.

    And five minutester when he finished¡­

    sh!

    500,000 soldiers appeared on the array tform, their battle aurabining into a tidal wave of domineering force.

    They showed the determination and spirit the denizens of Grand Heavens Boundary held to protect their homnd.

    Damien nced at the projection screen again. As expected, it was a dual-view of Luxurion and Vulcan.

    It showed the second when the soldiers left, and it showed how they arrived countless kilometers away in an entirely different Sector.

    Feelings of wonder were present even in the experts present, so the reaction of themon people could be imagined.

    We will not falter!

    We will not fold!

    Even if all of us die in the process, the enemy will not breach our defenses!

    These emotions beat in the hearts of all. Roars and cheers filled with vigor filled the universe, to the point where the firmament of space shook slightly.

    Luciel still had more ns for this grand asion, but Damien''s job ended here.

    While others celebrated, he would return to the Beast Domain.

    With a year and a half left, Damien had to quickly move to finish thest four Sectors.

    Things like celebration could wait until he was finished.

    ***

    The so-called motivation-building event went just as Luciel hoped. The spirit of the entire universe was lifted, and the number of people showing intention to join Heaven''s Army to fight for their homes increased greatly.

    It was cruel to call them cannon fodder, but there were no other jobs for them in the current situation.

    Every foot soldier who went to the frontlines could guarantee at least twenty or thirty enemies dead.

    The more of them there were, the longer the Nox could be held off before their main forces arrived.

    What currently attacked the boundaries of Eien were Lesser Nox and Abominations. Those with intelligence barely showed themselves.

    If it was a war of attrition, the Nox would absolutely win.

    So, such a battle could not happen.

    The main goal of the logistics divisions in Luxurion was to find a way to strike the Nox and make them suffer a fatal blow.

    But, that took time, and time needed to be bought.

    The days were excruciating long for soldiers and warriors. Whether it be training or war, the tense atmosphere never let up.

    However, Damien barely felt days anymore.

    Days and weeks, weeks and months, they were all the same.

    He kept his pace and finished the Beast Domain and Soul World in half a year, but it took more time after that.

    He didn''t know the Giant Domain or Infernal Realm. He''d barely seen the Giant Domain himself and the Infernal Realm was only ever a passing point for him.

    Therefore, it was more difficult to figure out how to wire the array system properly and which worlds to set as central points to the systems.

    Nevertheless, time was not a worry for Damien anymore; not after he perfected the method to create this array.

    In another 9 months, hepleted the task he set out to do.

    The entire universe was connected through aplex yet extremely simple-to-use web of teleportation arrays that could transport people to their destinations nearly instantly.

    His allies celebrated while his enemies bit their nails. Heaven''s Army''s efficiency truly did increase exponentially, and the three Great Commanders even personally visited Damien to offer their thanks.

    Of course, they also wished to continue the conversation from thest time. Damien left too early because of his singr focus on the task, but now that he was able to rx, he happily indulged them.

    This time, he learned much more detailed information about the war, especially about distribution of troops and the most vital areas that needed protection.

    No Return Pass was also mentioned.

    The forces stationed there were all "presumed dead," and would remain that way until they one day saw the end of the Nox wave and came home.

    Luckily, the soldiers there had to be powerful. Damien would have a good amount of help, which was a huge relief.

    There were less than 3 months left before he had to enter that ce.

    The number of people who wanted to see Damien wasn''t small at all, but after the Great Commanders visited, he disappeared from the universe.

    He would''ve loved to greet each and every person who wanted to meet him, but he wanted to focus on what was important.

    For 3 months, Damien didn''t leave the Sanctuary.

    He spent every day with his wives, Xue''er, Lily, Mei, and a few others.

    Zara also came every once in a while through the key Damien gave her before she left.

    The people who mattered to him most, including brothers like Long Chen, who was busy in training on Death Emperor Star and barely heard of the universe''s matters, entered the Sanctuary one after another to say their goodbyes.

    And so, time passed.

    2 years passed since the fated duel.

 Chapter 1144 Darkness [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1144 Darkness [1]</h4>

    Departing.

    A time filled with sorrow, longing, and loneliness, a time when all good thingse to an end.

    The time to set off for a new journey, a new part of life one has yet to experience, tended to be a bittersweet one for most, but this time, there was nothing sweet about it.

    Only bitterness at the truth of reality.

    Damien knew he wouldn''t have to separate from the people he loved forever. He understood that this temporary separation was for the sake of a better reunion.

    But he couldn''t help it.

    He didn''t want to separate from them.

    After so long, they finally got to spend a few years together. The warmth andfort provided not only by his wives, but also by his family and friends was addicting.

    The choice to fuel this addiction was not one he could make.

    With a Mana Oath in ce, he couldn''t run even if he wanted to.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena tried their best to keep their parting a good memory. They didn''t cry, nor did they mention anything negative.

    They merely wished their husband good luck on his journey and made sure he understood the security waiting for him when he came back.

    As for the rest, it was hard to say everyone was so considerate.

    The stronger and older acquaintances he had kept their calm and bid him farewell with pride, while those of the younger generation like Atticus and the rest were¡­less capable of controlling their emotions.

    Nevertheless, the parting took ce.

    Damien stood before a crowd of his people with a smile.

    "Then, until next time," he said with a smile.

    His face was filled with confidence and his eyes were burning with a bright me that couldn''t be extinguished.

    "Don''t forget to keep us updated!"

    "Call when you''re free!"

    "Be well."

    "Stay safe! If you die, I''ll revive you just to kill you again!"

    The responses were many and quite varied, with thest from Iris being the strangest, but in the end, it was a heartwarming sight.

    It was thest Damien would see in the universe as well.

    As the time came, blue Cosmic Mana from the universe itself rose around his body, turning him immaterial.

    He would be transported to No Return Pass as soon as his body disappearedpletely.

    And the rest would have to get serious about the war within the universe.

    Nobody had time to rx anymore.

    This farewell celebration for Damien wasn''t just a turning point for him, but all of them.

    When his calm and domineering visage faded, the atmosphere in the area changed.

    Solemnity.

    Perhaps they wouldn''t feel anything else for a long time.

    ***

    Cold eyes.

    Indifference beyondprehension, an utter disregard for all existence.

    Damien''s unbothered appearance, the burning mes in his eyes, died when he reappeared at his final destination.

    His eyes became those of a monster.

    It was hard to hide it for this long.

    He was angry. He was incredibly angry.

    He was so filled with negative emotion that he could hardly contain himself.

    But he couldn''t let anyone else see that.

    If they saw it, their worry for him would be a problem.

    He couldn''t allow them to be dragged down by his matters.

    But now, he was alone.

    He was alone in a vast expanse of darkness.

    In the distance, almost fifty thousand kilometers in each direction, he could see the vague grey outline of the towering walls that encaged him here.

    He was alone.

    Not just in a metaphorical sense, but literally.

    There was nobody else present here.

    There wasn''t even a barracks or an army camp as the information suggested.

    There was no elite troop guarding this dangerous pass as the Great Commanders promised.

    ¡­no, there were signs of their existence.

    Chips of wood and faint lines in the dirt that were covered thoroughly, but not thoroughly enough to hide from All-Seeing Eyes.

    There were definitely troops here at some point.

    And they definitely abandoned their posts in the recent past, no more than half an hour ago.

    ''The reason they''re presumed dead is because return is impossible. Even if they held thoughts of mutiny, they couldn''t leave, unless¡­''

    "Unless they had outside help."

    Damien was alone in this ce, unable to leave its bounds due to the Mana Oath.

    He had to hold this ce alone?

    For five years?

    ''Immortal Blood Asura backed down easy. I thought he was taking the loss, but I was wrong.''

    That was the situation.

    At this point, nothing could change it.

    ''They''re probably realizing what happened back in the real world right now. Unfortunately, they won''t be able to do anything.''

    Immortal Blood Asura had shown time and time again that he was a schemer. He would wait for an opportunity and strike like a snake to poison his target to death.

    Since he made a move like this, he had a way to justify it and make others unable to touch him.

    Damien could guarantee this.

    ''I''m alone here. I will be alone here for the next half a decade.''

    No, he wasn''t alone.

    Hispany was a Nox wave that never ended.

    In fact, that very Nox wave was making its way to him already.

    He could hear the thundering earthquakes caused by theirbined footsteps.

    He could feel their dark aura clouding the atmosphere.

    ''I''m alone here¡­''

    Damien''s dull eyes turned to the barely existent horizon.

    ''¡­so nobody will bother me.''

    He was angry. He was so incredibly angry that he wanted to explode.

    It was a good thing nobody else was here.

    If others came, they would probably just be those sent by Immortal Blood Asura to watch and hinder him.

    ''He''s still arrogant.''

    Since there were no such people, the enemy must have been confident the sentence on Damien''s head would be enough to kill him.

    ''You were wrong.''

    Damien would never die just because someone wanted him to.

    If someone wanted him to die, he would stay alive for the sole purpose of spiting them.

    ''This situation¡­''

    His emotions were already cut off.

    He cut them off a long time ago.

    If not, he would''ve exploded too early.

    ''The enemy is too powerful.''

    With his status, even if Damien used status in opposition, he could only act on the same level.

    He would never beat Immortal Blood Asura, who''d been umting his status and political power for generations, in this facet.

    Therefore, there was only one option.

    ''Be strong. Strong enough to be unaffected by petty schemes.''

    Immortal Blood Asura was that type.

    If Damien was stronger than him, he likely would''ve bit his tongue and held his hatred in his heart for eternity.

    ''But that isn''t the case.''

    And since that wasn''t the case, a certain pest thought he had the qualifications to act bold.

    ''Strong enough to kill him.''

    Strong enough to kill anyone who got in his way.

    He summoned his body and lifted his body into the air.

    Damien stood in front of an army.

    Countless hundreds of thousands of existences stood before him, charging up the length of No Return Pass.

    There were likely millions or even billions of them hiding in the dark, just waiting to join the siege.

    Damien stared at them calmly from his spot within the air.

    He gazed down upon them like they were ants.

    Lightly raising his hand, he said a single word.

    "Copse."

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    All hell broke loose.

    Space was torn to shreds. Anything existing in that space was broken into its fundamental materials and eradicated from existence.

    The Nox had no chance to regenerate or regroup.

    The majority of the army was wiped out in that single move.

    The residual shockwaves decimated the rest.

    Today was Day Zero in No Return Pass.

    One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six remained.

 Chapter 1145 Darkness [2]

    Chapter 1145 Darkness [2]

    Day: 0

    Kill Count: 10,677,831

    A man sat alone in a humble shack. It was made of packed dirt and stone, but it still had more than enough space and quality to house someone.

    Besides, in the current situation, something like a true home would only be destroyed within the day.

    This ce was made for the sole purpose of giving him a ce to sit away from the silence, a ce he could im within this dark continent.

    Skreeee!

    Skreeeeee!

    Skreeeeeeee!

    Their screeches and screams didn''t stop, but he put soundproofing magic on the shack to drown them out.

    It didn''t work well, but it worked well enough.

    Less than one day passed.

    In just a few hours, over ten million Lesser Nox fell to his hand.

    Calling them limitless was not an overstatement.

    They didn''te constantly, but when they did choose to charge, they came in suchrge swarms that they became inseparable from the darkness of the ground like a rolling tide.

    Even if there was a whole squadron here, even if an entire military fortress was present, they likely wouldn''t be able to handle the pressure of this ce for too long.

    It had been less than one day.

    Time didn''t hasten with the constant battle, it just got slower and slower. Every single second felt like an eternity,

    It was hard to ept how little time he''d actually spent here.

    Damien''s face did not change.

    His emotions were locked away properly in the Mind Prison, including any and all emotions he had towards those he cared for.

    Anything positive, anything that could remind him of the real world, was kept tucked away.

    He didn''t want those positive emotions to be corroded by the atmosphere of this ce.

    When he left, he couldn''t act like someone who''d spent 5 years here.

    SKREEEEEE!

    SKREEEEEEEE!

    SKREEEEEEEEEE!

    Their screams were getting louder.

    It must''ve been time for another wave.

    10 million?

    No, that was just a wee gift.

    The current number had to be over ten times that, if not even greater.

    No thoughts entered or left Damien''s mind.

    He simply stood up and left his hut.

    He raised himself into the air and pushed his arm out.

    Void Mana coalesced into spatial force and razed No Return Pass down to nothingness again.

    Over a million Nox beings died in that instant.

    Yet, were there ny-nine millions left? No, there were 99,000,000 left in this wave.

    The next one would being soon.

    No Return Pass¡­just how was it held so long?

    Damien underestimated this ce.

    He thought limitless was an overstatement.

    But if it was actually like this, there was no way for amon squadron to deal with it no matter what kind of strength they had.

    It was a conspiracy.

    Though, not one that was important at the moment.

    Another batch of traitors; they''d already established themselves as such when they abandoned their posts.

    Was this new realization supposed to be surprising?

    It didn''t matter.

    With Damien''s practically infinite mana capacity, they wouldn''t be able to get past him.

    Not as long as they only sent Lesser Nox.

    The first day finally came and went.

    Time came and went.

    Yet, the dreariness of No Return Pass never changed.

    ***

    Day: 7

    Kill Count: 1,232,400,662

    Had it been a week?

    Time didn''t stay constant here. Sometimes, when enemies piled up too much, it became hard to tell how long it took to fight them all.

    At the same time, there were many lulls. As if they were taunting Damien or maybe testing his strength, there were several hours every once in a while when no Nox tried to make their way up the pass.

    These times were excruciating. Without battle to numb the silence, it could only be considered psychological torture.

    Luckily, Damien was fast to seal his emotions.

    His rational mind filled the silence in a variety of ways.

    He trained, meditated, and created countless theorems and theories for both his power and the overall situation.

    He had yet to enter the Sanctuary.

    He wasn''t used to this state yet. Until he was ustomed to it, he wouldn''t be able to switch to positivity without ws.

    If there were ws, others would notice.

    Their feelings were something Damien cared heavily about, but he also couldn''t control their actions.

    If he wanted things to progress properly, he had to make sure they didn''t move in ways that harmed his ns or their identities.

    There wasn''t much to do, but that also meant Damien gained a lot of much-needed time for training.

    He becameplete after digesting the Blessing of Foundation, but he still needed to limate to the new state of his body which allowed him to fight hundreds of millions of Nox every day without tiring.

    In addition, he gained a sea of World Force through his travels in recent times. It was beginning to take a shape that was uncannily simr to Universal Law.

    He needed to gain total control over this new power and connect it with his Universal Lawprehension for the best results.

    Therefore, he wasn''t bored.

    Loneliness was only a problem if he allowed it to be.

    This was worse than the First Dungeon. At least that ce had a sense of familiarity and change.

    This ce was just bleak.

    More enemies came and Damien returned to killing.

    The enemies fell and Damien devoured everything they left for him before returning to his hut.

    His memories were bing muddled, yet they also felt incredibly clear.

    He learned how to separate those he gained from those he owned, and slowly, he started piecing together the puzzle formed by the Nox memories in his mind.

    ''Pathetic creatures.''

    That was all they were.

    Especially these thatcked any sentience of their own.

    When would the stronger onese?

    They were the ones Damien really needed to devour.

    Fortunately, his ask was granted at some point.

    He didn''t know how long it had been, but around 3 months passed in the outside world.

    It was the 95th day.

    His kill count was around 20,000,000,000.

    It didn''t even feel like killing anymore. He was just sshing ink.

    That was when he came.

    A man who proimed himself Godrick, a servant of the Inhuman Emperor.

    ording to him, this was a challenge. It was a challenge for the man who felled the Saint King.

    However, that man died in 5 moves.

    He was just a minor character.

    But, he did give Damien an idea.

    "The man who felled the Saint King" was quite the title in front of the Nox.

    If he could broadcast it, wouldn''t the stronger onese on their own?

    That''s when he started nning.

    It would take at least a year for his n to seed, but it was worth it in the end.

    He had 5 of those to kill here anyway.

    Damien''s activities were monotonous. He was like a machine that existed for the only purpose of fulfilling his duty.

    Such a machine was better considered a monster.

    A monster whose reputation reached the ears of many beyond the bounds of the universe with the passing of time.

    A year¡­

    Perhaps it wouldn''t take that long at all.

 Chapter 1146 Darkness [3]

    ?

    3 months felt neither fast nor slow for Damien. It was best to describe his state as a forced limbo.

    With his chaotic perception of time and singr focus onpleting the task assigned to him, he quite literally imprisoned the man known as "Damien Void."

    Damien Void coulde back when the time was right.

    But only Damien understood his thought process.

    For those outside, it had been six months since thest time they saw or heard from him.

    The situation in Grand Heavens Boundary had been slowly intensifying.

    From the looks of recent battles, the Nox were starting to organize their forces.

    The destructive wave of reckless Lesser Nox still existed, but it was only a strategy to gain momentum at this time.

    The real army was built from those who had sentience already and served a Lord.

    Thus far, the Inhuman Emperor was showing the most enthusiasm. His forces didn''t just kill enemies, but captured and tortured them for pleasure.

    This created a much more brutal atmosphere in a war where hostages were previously never a problem.

    The Karmic Emperor was also somewhat active. It was rare to see his troops, but that was mainly because they hid themselves behind enemy lines and in the ranks of their allies.

    These forces were much more troublesome.

    While the Inhuman Faction was brutal, they were direct. The Karmic Faction used schemes and trickery to turn people against each other.

    The Ghostly ins of Eien were already taken by them.

    600,000,000 universal troops were first subjected to betrayal in which arge portion of their forces deserted in the midst of battle and left theirrades for death.

    500,000,000 survived, but roughly 150,000,000 turned traitor.

    The rest¡­

    When they returned to their basecamps, they were struck with gue beyond measure. It ate through their mana systems and crippled them before invading their minds and turning them into abominations.

    They still roamed the ins as mindless zombies who fed on anything in sight.

    The Giant Domain was almost breached during this cmity, but luckily, aplete invasion was barely prevented by the sacrifices of over thirty thousand extreme peak masters.

    Nevertheless, some Nox still made their way into the universe, and not all of them had been found and eradicated yet.

    The Ghostly ins Cmity was the universe''s first major loss in this war.

    It was also the first great event in general.

    To follow up the great rallying cries sounded by the experts of the universe with such a defeat painted a terrible picture, and thus, a strategy was formed.

    "The Blood-Drenched Wilderness was mostly recovered from Nox influence previously, but it was once again be a feeding ground for them. The environment supports their nature, so they are naturally strengthened there. It is a point we need to secure as fast as possible," a man said, his eyes panning over the crowd before him.

    He was none other than Commanded Huo, who could only contribute his mind to the cause.

    He refused to be uninvolved with the war because of the restriction. Just as always, he made sure to give his soldiers absolute surety from the backlines while supporting them as much as he could.

    "A Void Corridor opened here several years ago, so the space is still unstable. It seems the Nox have been unable to prate the area because of this disorder," he continued.

    "We are going to attack this ce in three days. There are four main fortresses that must be taken down and several smaller encampments scattered around the area. I will separate you into units and give you your tasks individually. For now, disperse."

    The crowd was made up of men and women old and young. These people were all at least at 4th ss, with arge number of extreme peak masters among them.

    "Huu¡­"

    Commander Huo exhaled a breath of impure air as he watched them leave.

    These troops were not his, just those assigned to him. He could already feel their hesitation, and he did not like it at all.

    But, they were all he had. He could only make sure they did their duties properly when the time came.

    "You guys cane in now."

    He nced away from the door and closed his eyes as it shut.

    Click!

    The lock turned on its own. A group of ten appeared from thin air.

    Rose, Ruyue, Elena, Long Chen, Xue Fang, Xue Yue, Atticus, Aishia, Su Ren, and Ximen Wuhen.

    A collection of those from the younger generation who had close rtionships with Damien.

    These ten in particr developed a habit of moving together over the past half year. Their skillsplemented each other and their personalities were able to mesh well too.

    Damien acted as a connection point for them at first, but they had enough time to form rtionships outside of him.

    They weren''t the only ones in their group, but they were the main force.

    Commander Huo sighed as he looked at them.

    These kids were still just fledglings, but the number of merits they''d each gained in recent times was staggering.

    "Judgement Order" was what they called themselves.

    They stood with their swords pointed at enemies from the outside and traitors from within. They did not show mercy for anyone who crossed their line, which led to them assassinating several high-level traitors and fighting on the frontlines against powerful Nox foes.

    Their reputation was high among the soldiers and even higher among themon people, but Commander Huo couldn''t see their organization as anything but rebellion.

    Not against Grand Heavens Boundary, but against the system that ran it.

    What happened to Damien shook them all.

    Yes, he was their friend, but it was more than that.

    They realized that their power wasn''t enough, and they realized that their status didn''t matter.

    As long as one of those strong forces felt the desire, they could bring them down in an instant.

    They understood their purpose. Being the greatest geniuses of the universe, calling them its hope wasn''t wrong.

    Their growth potential put them in a position where they truly could tip the scales of war if they progressed properly.

    It wasn''t a matter of arrogance, but responsibility.

    Those willing to act for selfish gain by oppressing those who represented the universe''s hope did not need to exist in thisnd.

    The Judgement Order, created to judge the wicked whether they be human or god!

    "Let me guess. You want to participate?" Commander Huo said ndly.

    "Yes. We can be of use in this battle," Rose responded as the spokesperson for the group.

    "No. We already have enough people. Adding more will just muddle our efficiency."

    "I understand that, which is why I propose a joint operation."

    "Joint?"

    "Yes. While your soldiers raid the Nox Strongholds, ours will take care of those sending support from the back."

    "You mean¡­"

    Commander Huo''s eyes widened.

    These kids were crazy, but they couldn''t be that¡ª

    "We will attack the shadow army."

    ¡ªcrazy.

    They were insane.

    "Do you understand the weight of your words?" Commander Huo said menacingly.

    "I do. We have already discussed this. We believe we can at least gather intel, if not assassinate a few top-level targets in the process."

    "No directbat?"

    "Not until we understand the enemy''s formations."

    It was crazy.

    The so-called "shadow army" was a term used for those who controlled the frontline forces from the darkness.

    Their existence had long been detected, but any moves towards bringing them into the light were shut down immediately.

    The enemy was extremely serious in protecting the privacy of that hidden force.

    Yet, these few budding geniuses wanted to try it?

    "Are you nning to get yourselves killed before he returns?" Commander Huo asked.

    His expression was a mix between a harsh armymander and a concerned grandfather.

    However, their expressions didn''t budge.

    "We will not be killed before hees back. Instead¡­"

    Rose''s eyes turned solemn. A powerful invisible aura radiated from the group as a whole.

    "¡­we will kill everyone that stands against us and present their heads as a gift when he returns."

 Chapter 1147 Darkness [4]

    Chapter 1147 Darkness [4]

    There could never be just one main battleground in a war of this scale.

    Of course, if one counted the entire length of Eien as a single war zone, then it could be considered so, but it was much too separated for such a view to be urate.

    The entire ring was being attacked, and each section was isted from the rest. They each had their ownrge and small battles ongoing at all times, and the universe''s forces were spread rtively thin.

    However, over time, it became clear that the Nox were directing their focus toward Soul World.

    In the Blood-Drenched Wilderness and the territories nearby it, arge number of enemies had gradually gathered.

    It seemed Soul World had been judged an easy point of infiltration despite its special traits.

    Why was that so?

    Well, strictly physically, Spirits were the weakest race.

    Their physical bodies needed to be formed as they grew and weren''t provided from birth, therefore, there were times when they were extremely fragile presences in the real world.

    Their natural affinity for nature and psychic-type magics gave them protection against their natural weakness, but the Nox must''ve found a way to ovee that protection.

    If not, they would not have been attacking so confidently.

    This was the conjecture made by many experts after observing the Nox''s patterns for a time. They were a confusing and chaotic race, but they became strangely easy to predict on arger scale.

    Their strategies didn''t differ much either, so creating countermeasures was something done with rtive ease.

    Arger portion of the army was positioned in the sections of Eien near the Soul World and Calypto in order to respond to the enemy''s movements, and that area of the ring became the most watched of the battlegrounds.

    Days and weeks passed rapidly. Commander Huo''s raid on the Blood-Drenched Wilderness began long ago.

    Because he wanted to gain an advantage, his priority was speed. Rather than exterminating every Nox they came across, his squads were instead tasked to use strategies simr to the Judgement Order that included assassination and stealth.

    The Nox had a solid organizational structure nowadays, but it had a fatal w.

    They ruled by fear and absolute order, therefore, when the general died, those under hismand would be headless chickens that ran around without an idea of what to do.

    "Individualism" was a core Nox ideology, but "individualistic thought" was a skill theycked.

    It couldn''t be helped.y

    They had to get rid of several chains before their thought processes could reach theplexity of humans and other species.

    But this was a lucky break for the universe.

    Using this quality, Commander Huo guided his troops through the defenses of all four major fortresses at once to catch the enemy off guard.

    This happened 4 months ago. It was one of the most sessful missions in the war thus far.

    The four Supremes who sat at the head of those fortresses were killed before they could understand what was happening, while the remaining forces were cleaned up in the following months.

    The only problem was¡­thepletion came too easy.

    The Nox were unintelligent, but they were not weak by any means.

    It shouldn''t have been so easy to take down their entire operation with only a few hundred allied casualties.

    Haa¡­just what could it be¡­?"

    Commander Huo sat at his desk, hunched over a variety of documents and reports.

    No matter how he looked at it, there were no problems.

    "Are we truly being too wary?"

    He couldn''t believe it, but that was what his peers believed.

    Was it arrogance or reality?

    No matter what, Commander Huo didn''t think the Nox would direct so many forces towards the Soul World for them to be killed like ants.

    "Bad news!"

    A call suddenly resounded through the room.

    A woman surfaced nearby, blood drenching her body from the countless gashes torn into her skin.

    "Hera!" Commander Huo eximed, rushing over.

    This woman named Hera was a member of Rose''s Judgement Order. She was not part of the original group, but a member who joined after the fact.

    She was someone who idolized Damien because she was a spatial practitioner just like him.

    If it wasn''t for him showing everyone the night of space in his performances ever since he became public, she would''ve remained thinking she was born with a useless affinity for the rest of her life.

    However, she found purpose in the Judgement Order and decided to follow in his footsteps to be great.

    How did she end up like this?!

    "Commander¡­it''s¡­"

    Her words became vague as she tried to force them out with the blood erupting from her mouth.

    "Do not waste energy on words! We will get you to the medics as soon as possible!" Commander Huo said, lifting her body and moving.

    Yet, she stopped him before he could do anything extraneous.

    "Commander¡­it''s¡­a trap¡­"

    Her bloodied hand gripped his arm, her eyes shining with thest spark of life remaining within her.

    "They¡­are not here¡­"

    "They? The Nox? If not here, then where?" Commander Huo responded in shock.

    "¡­"

    "¡­Giant¡ª"

    It was over for her.

    The wounds she''d received were too severe, and she only worsened them by traveling through space.

    She died right then and there, unable to aplish her ambitions or meet the man who caused her to change her path.

    But she died without regret because she was able to pass on the crucial information she was tasked with before leaving the world.

    She made something of herself.

    Nothing else mattered.

    "DAMMIT!" Commander Huo roared as he felt her body go limp.

    Loss was not a new thing in this war, but this was different.

    Not only did Hera''s state suggest terrible things for the Judgement Order''s current situation, but Commander Huo had no time to think about helping them!

    "Connect to the Miststrewn Cliffs right now!"

    A blue projection screen appeared before him and fizzled out in the same second.

    Commander Huo''s eyes narrowed.

    ''Communication has been cut off.''

    They put so much attention into the Soul World that it made no sense.

    All these billions of Nox¡­were they just cannon fodder used as distraction?

    Themander put Hera''s body down gently before making an immediate rush to connect to everyone he could.

    He told Luxurion the words delivered to him and squads were dispatched through the array system in seconds to investigate.

    And the result¡­

    "We''ve been breached."

    The Miststrewn Cliffs and Venomous Steppes, both areas of Eien bordering the Giant Domain, were filled with fresh red blood.

    All of the tens of millions of allied forces in those areas were eradicated in full, with not even corpses left behind to bury.

    The Nox were nowhere to be seen.

    The two territories were fully searched for clues in theing weeks, but not a single Nox was found.

    The Giant Domain also underwent what was essentially a quarantine, but the enemy was still yet to be found.

    The universe was breached by an invisible force.

    None could predict what came next.

    Except for one group.

    Only, in their current situation¡­

    ¡­well, even passing a single sliver of information could only be done by sacrificing one of their own.

    It wasn''t hard to imagine why their knowledge didn''t spread.

 Chapter 1148 Darkness [5]

    Chapter 1148 Darkness [5]

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion went off. It was so loud it was inconceivably why it could be so hidden.

    It made no massive scene, and the noise and damage it caused were contained within a specific area and could not be perceived outside of it.

    This kind of explosion rang out constantly over the past few weeks.

    They were not from enemies, but a product of Rose''s illusion abilities.

    "Retreat! We must make it to the rendezvous point by any means possible!" She yelled, pulling more and more space under her control.

    She was currently covering the rear while her team members ran ahead of her.

    It wasn''t that they were cowardly, it was that the path needed to be cleared in the front as well!

    The Judgement Order did arge amount of research on the shadow army before choosing to invade it, but their information wasn''t nearly as useful as they thought.

    Everything was fine at first. While Commander Huo''s operation took ce, they were able to gather intel and undertake assassination quests rtively often, creating a solid profile of what the shadow army was like.

    However, they stumbled upon something too big for them.

    The unveiling of the Nox''s hidden intelligence.

    Those at the bottom were generally idiotic, but their leadership was anything but.

    The repetitive strategies, the easily readable behavioral traits, these things that seemed impossible to forge were aplete lie.

    It was only possible because there were so many of them.

    Everyone sent to the Blood-Drenched Wilderness, no, practically every Nox being who''d shown themselves since the start of this full-scale war was cannon fodder.

    They were sacrifices in an borate y topletely control the universe''s movements.

    As expected, they focused their forces where they were supposed to and allocated the rest as predicted.

    As expected, their concentration made them ignore the slight chip in the ss that had the potential to be a crack that shattered it.

    Along with that, the Judgement Order learned of several of the Karmic Emperor''s ns as well as the Inhuman Emperor''s general traits.

    However, in the process, their presence was discovered.

    Because the Inhuman Emperor himself visited the shadow army!

    Naturally, he didn''t chase the group of rats in his house himself. He used his followers as a horde to exterminate them instead!

    For 6 weeks, Rose and her forces had been ying a cat-and-mouse game with the shadow army in a bid to escape with as few casualties as possible.

    They entered the shadow army with a group of one hundred, including the ten who went to visit Commander Huo.

    They each had squads of ten and worked independently, only asionally sharing information to keep their actions hidden from the enemy, but all of them were uncovered one by one once the hunt began.

    They''d been cut down to 80 total, but it already was a miracle they were able to save so many.

    "AHHHH¡ª!"

    79.

    A member of Rose''s squad was impaled, his heart stuck at the end of a spear tip jutting out of his chest.

    His name was Arthur. His reason for joining the Judgement Order was nothing more than honor and glory, but on the battlefield, he was neither arrogant nor unruly.

    He was one of the most loyal and reliablerades anyone could ask for.

    With blood pooling from his body, he opened his eyes wide.

    "Everyone¡­now¡ª!"

    VOOM!

    His body expanded as his mana reached a level he could no longer contain.

    Rose''s eyes widened.

    She gritted her teeth and stomached his death, pushing her mana as much as possible.

    BAAANG!

    The man''s body exploded and sent sweeping waves of chaotic mana in every direction.

    The Nox encirclement was made up of strictly high-level 4th ss or higher enemies, so not all of them died, but their formation was definitely broken!

    And more than that, their vision was obscured.

    "Vanish."

    Rose wrapped her mana around the rest of their group and spoke a single word.

    They disappeared from the world physically and ethereally. Any trace of their presence disappeared without warning, almost as if they''d teleported.

    But this was not the case.

    Rose''s illusions were essentially a secondary reality at this point. As long as she had an opportunity, she really could make herself and those around her invisible to anyone under Divinity.

    The problem was that they''d been discovered. The Inhuman Emperor''s forces left several defenses in every shadow army encampment, Demigod-level formations that could undo Rose''s concealment and cancel the skills of others as well.

    This was the first time they found a chance to hide again, and it was at the cost of one of their own.

    It became a trend.

    If they wanted to aplish something, their people had to die.

    No matter what they tried, this truth never changed.

    ring rms and the screeching words of the Nox filled the air.

    With no view of the targets, they chose to stop aiming entirely.

    But giving up was not in their dictionary.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    ming ballista tore through heaven and earth and wide area attacks filled with unreasonable amounts of mana clouded the atmosphere.

    The earth outside the encampment became a hellscape of craterednd and corruption. Nobody could survive such a bombardment for long.

    Luckily, Rose was not alone in this battle.

    The eight remaining members of her squad put their abilities to use, enhancing each other and supporting their movements.

    They created defenses and ran with their lives on the line, hoping nothing would touch them.

    BOOM!

    Another ballista fell dangerously close to the group.

    "Left!" Rose cried out.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    Three consecutive shots mmed into the ground on their right and exploded into a ball of mes that almost consumed them.

    Rose was forced to adapt her illusion to incorporate those mes while making them harmless.

    She had to be absolutely certain she didn''t change the picture the outside world saw unless she wanted to reveal their positions.

    "RUN! NOW!"

    Without warning, she jumped forward and dashed with all her power. The squad followed her, but not everyone could make it in time.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    An arrow the length of a city obliterated the ground as itnded only a few kilometers behind the group.

    WHOOOOOOOOOSH!

    Its shockwaves spread with the ferocity of a charging tiger, chasing the group no matter where they went.

    "LEADER! TELL MY S¡ª!"

    BOOOOOM!

    The woman at the back of the group stopped and summoned her mana to create a solid wall behind her while yelling as if she understood what wasing, but the time she had was too little.

    The shockwave collided with her mana wall and blew it to pieces before hitting her and turning her body into a cloud of blood mist.

    Her name was Marina. She joined this fight for the simple reason of creating a safe ce for her loved ones to live peacefully.

    Now, her wish could only be carried on by herrades.

    Unfortunately, she would never see those people again.

    However, her sacrifice lessened the shockwave''s force enough for the rest to block it with their power and keep going.

    Marina left no trace of her existence on the battlefield.

    Even though it made her want to vomit from disgust and the feeling of betrayal, Rose had no choice but to erase Marina''s remains from the world to avoid giving away their location.

    Dog tags were something Elena suggested.

    The only thing Rose could do was collect Marina''s and deliver it to her family.

    Two more people died in one siege, but once the gigantic ballista showed its inability to reveal the group, the pursuit became less aggressive.

    They were able to escape eventually.

    Yet, only after losing another member, a man named Henry who idolized Su Ren and Damien.

    Rose and the remaining six members of the group entered a hidden cave behind a mossy wall that helped it blend into the cliffside and rushed to the back wall.

    Rose ced her hand on it and pushed her mana in a certain pattern.

    The Eye of Horus with a sword through the middle, the emblem of the Judgement Order.

    Inscribed in the sword was a code that would change at random intervals in order to confirm the identities of those attempting entry.

    Once the symbol was drawn, the cave wall turned illusory and the group rushed in, the door closing behind them.

    The six squad members immediately copsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

    Meanwhile, Rose nced around the safe house.

    It had been 6 weeks so far, but they still had several thousand kilometers to cover before they could escape this area.

    ''I can only hope¡­'' She thought as she nced at her squad members with sorrow.

    The other nine squads should''ve been on their way to this location.

    It was disconcerting for them to be the first to arrive.

    Rose tried to quell her dark thoughts, but it was impossible to not consider the possibility.

    The possibility that they were some of thest ones remaining.

 Chapter 1149 Darkness [6]

    Chapter 1149 Darkness [6]

    While the disturbance in the Giant Domain wasn''t forgotten, it faded from the forefront of people''s minds after a few weeks of silence.

    The defensive line was definitely pierced, but with no signs of Nox in the universe at all, how could they continue prioritizing the matter above all else?

    After all, fighting an invisible enemy wasn''t something one could just do.

    The sheer amount of manpower and security needed topletely turn the Giant Domain upside down was too heavy of a cost. In the current situation, investigative squads were the most Heaven''s Army could provide.

    Luciel''s mind was fogged with problems. As the head of the logistics division, he was the main one choosing how the universe responded to threats.

    Personally, he wanted to put everything into the Giant Domain regardless of the cost. He knew for a fact something terrible would happen if it was left alone, but he didn''t have absolute executive power.

    Those around him were more pragmatic and focused on the problems as they came, such as the mobilization of Nox forces on the boundary of Soul World.

    Previously, the Nox only sent cannon fodder that was uncovered as such far toote. This time, on the other hand, the troops they sent were fully equipped for war.

    Commander Huo took lead of the military and fought against them with therge army that gradually formed in this area.

    Through these battles, he was able to learn the identities of these Nox. They were not small characters.

    Kira, a female Nox whose Demonic Providence seemed to involve des in some convoluted storm-like way. She sat opposite Commander Huo, however, her strength was not Divine.

    She was a Supreme who also participated in the battle personally with power far surpassing those at her level.

    Under her guidance, the Nox formed an army structured simrly to its universal counterpart.

    Blood-Drenched Wilderness and its periphery territories became a stage for an organized war between nations. It was extremely different from the norm, and the ability to strategize became extremely important.

    As focus returned to Soul World, mysterious phenomena began to surface in the Giant Domain.

    Due to Damien''s arrays that turned the universe into an interconnected web, it was detected early.

    But this detection didn''t help Grand Heavens Boundary at all.

    Altogether as one, over 10,000 worlds disappeared from the domain as if they never existed.

    This disappearance was, at first,pared to the same situation that took ce with the Corrupted World Cores several months ago, but this notion was denied soon enough.

    The Corrupted World Cores disappeared for unknown reasons, but that event was not the Nox''s doing.

    After all, everyone strong enough had sensed the terrifying cmity that would have struck the universe if those cores weren''t teleported away in time.

    This event had to be the Nox''s fault.

    Luciel was convinced beyond measure. They left the domain alone after breaching its entrance so long ago because they were preparing something; something like this.

    Yet, months of investigation led to nothing but disappointment.

    Just how were they doing it?

    No traces, no mana, not even a hint of differentiation in the Giant Domain in the times before and after the invasion.

    With such inconclusive reports, it was impossible to justify focusing on the event for more than research purposes.

    The teams sent to investigate werergely made up of schrs withoutbat power, as it was ruled something the army''s involvement wasn''t necessary for.

    Luciel was very unhappy with this decision, of course, but he had nobody to call for help.

    Those who would be willing were too important to the current effort to do anything, and the other option¡­

    The Judgement Order had been unreachable for almost a year at this point.

    Their lives were uncertain, and though he personally believed they were alive, he had no way to contact them for help or to help.

    He felt like a puppet.

    He did hold immense authority, and his authority could bypass the decisions of the council in most cases, but severe changes in the allocation of troops could not be done with just him alone.

    Those people, not all of them were power-hungry or greedy. Some of them just prioritized the whole without caring about the parts.

    To them, even if the Giant Domain was destroyed, it didn''t matter as long as the rest of the universe was secure.

    There were naturally those who were evil and those who were righteous, but the majority held the aforementioned opinion.

    They wanted to cut their losses and amplify their gains.

    But¡­was that a sustainable strategy?

    Luciel definitely didn''t think so, nor did those in his righteous faction.

    However, this was a universal war.

    The opinion that won was always the majority.

    And when it came to justice¡­

    ¡­those who believed in it would never be the majority in this cruel world.

    ***

    Almost a day passed already.

    Rose was almost unable to keep her cool.

    This rendezvous time and location had been decided at the very beginning of their operation, before they''d been discovered, but she didn''t believe the rest wouldn''te here.

    She was certain they would at some point enter through the false cave wall.

    But she was losing certainty with time.

    Elena and Ruyue were steadily approaching. This much she could tell through the artifact Damien gave them.

    However, the rest were stillpletely dark, their actions hidden from her and her group.

    With the passing of a few hours, Elena and Ruyue appeared one after the other in the hidden cave.

    Their teams were also missing members, down to 7 and 8 respectively, and they were covered in injuries from head to toe.

    "Take them to the recovery area immediately!" Rosemanded.

    Her people moved without hesitation and helped theirrades into the recovery bay, where a formation with healing capabilities had been installed.

    Even severed limbs could be reattached with this formation, but excessive blood loss could still kill someone just as easily as if it didn''t exist.

    Therefore, it was imperative to get the injured into the recovery bay as fast as possible so they wouldn''t die before they were brought back to health.

    Rose personally helped Elena and Ruyue, but both declined to enter the recovery bay.

    Instead, she took them to a private room near the back of the hidden safe house, a room decorated like a bedroom.

    The three sat on the bed together, and Rose helped the two consume healing medicines to recuperate as she listened to their stories.

    Just like her, they''d been forced into an unending battle for several weeks as they fled. They made it far without much of a hitch, but they lost people in the final stretch.

    Of course, they wanted to let go of the situation for a second and rest, but that wasn''t possible right now.

    Once was a coincidence, and even twice could be written off, but when all three of them experienced the same course of events¡­

    "They are corralling us. If this continues, they''ll find our location by the time the rest can arrive."

    Individually, they could hide their traces, but if just a sliver of information was found from each of their escapes, it could be put together into a picture that pointed straight at them.

    It was a conundrum.

    What was more important?

    Theirrades or their safety?

    Logically speaking, the answer was safety, but if these geniuses were logical thinkers, they never would have reached their current heights.

    "We live and die together. This is the oath we made."

    The Judgement Order was that kind of ce.

    A ce that detested disloyalty and was formed due to the disgusting actions of those selfish creatures who dared to call themselves denizens of this universe¡­

    How could the members of such a ce even consider betraying their allies?

 Chapter 1150 Darkness [7]

    Chapter 1150 Darkness [7]

    Day: 364

    Kill Count: ~85,000,000,000

    Sura, the Adapting Demon.

    Kizma, the Dragon Dweller.

    Ishamael, the Waverider.

    It had almost been a year.

    In that year, the number of Lesser Nox killed became so unreasonable that Damien stopped bothering with it and just approximated.

    His words of challenge spread through the Abyss in the time after it happened and many Higher Nox also began challenging him.

    Those three were the ones that stood out.

    The count of ughtered Higher Nox was around 10,000 at this point, which wasn''t much, but was still considerable.

    Especially when only three of them really stood out.

    These three were unfamiliar to Damien, but it wasn''t the same for Grand Heavens Boundary.

    These few were a portion of the Nox geniuses who made their names famous by usurping positions on the Dimensional Leaderboard as outsiders.

    But¡­it was toote for something like a spot on the Dimensional Leaderboard to still be considered a worthy position.

    The difference was just a few moves, a few seconds.

    If most of the Higher Nox that challenged Damien died in under five moves, these three were able tost twenty, which was why Damien still remembered their names and titles.

    Other than that, everything else became a blur.

    It was hard to imagine that a year had passed.

    Day 364 didn''t feel any different from day 1. The only difference was Damien''s mentality.

    After getting used to this ce, thoughts of loneliness or doubt were erased from his mind. He became a true machine made for the exclusive purpose of ughtering Nox.

    In the process, his rank increased tremendously as well.

    In one year, Damien managed to reach the 5th revolution.

    The reasoning was simple.

    Not only was he doing something unreasonable himself by guarding No Return Pass alone and sessfully, but his people were also making huge achievements.

    The creation of the Judgement Order was inrge part because of his influence, so whenever their name spread, his did as well.

    This was a sort of passive Legend building, but it didn''t have nearly as much of an effect as his own actions, it was just the cherry on top.

    But it was fun to see.

    He got to see a glimpse of what they were up to, and he was assured of their safety, which allowed him to act without worry.

    However, he still hadn''t met them yet.

    He never entered the Sanctuary himself, and the girls didn''t do it either.

    However, Tian Yang and a few others used it religiously as a hiding ce and more.

    Theavel''s army, the self-proimed Void Army whose name Damien refused to acknowledge, was being put to use as much as they could without garnering suspicion.

    Tian Yang, Tang Lingzi, and the rest were guarding the Mountain Range of Insanity bordering the Beast Domain. Under their leadership and therge personal force they possessed, they were able to absolutely secure this area.

    Theavel''s Army was naturally that very personal force, and whenever they moved, they didn''t hesitate to spread their allegiance.

    Damien Void.

    Despite being confined in hell, his influence refused to leave the universe.

    Damien was a bit concerned about what Immortal Blood Asura would do, but he threw those worries away.

    The traitorous Demigod was too busy being a traitorous bitch to target his people.

    He had to move extremely carefully now that war had broken out in totality. If his contact with the other side was even assumed because of his actions, he''d be done for.

    That was one of the reasons why the Judgement Order was able to function without hindrance, and it was the same for the Sanctuarians.

    "Hm?"

    Damien flicked his finger, casually erasing millions of Lesser Nox from existence with a wave of Void Mana as his head tilted curiously.

    The Sanctuary was suddenly home to 4,000 new World Cores that were slowly rebuilding their surfaces.

    "What happened to you guys?" He asked inwardly, directing his words at the World Core Fusion Reactor.

    The voice that responded was Reva''s.

    [Master, these children are terrified. I will exin.]

    "Oh? You''ve be quite different in the time since we met, haven''t you?"

    [This is only natural. I am bathed in World Force and Universal Law every day. I am slowly regaining my mother''s identity.]

    "I see. Anyway, continue with what you were saying."

    [Yes, Master. I will directly transmit the necessary memories.]

    Reva had been quiet since Damien bound her, but it seemed she was just reconnecting to her identity as a universe fragment.

    After all, when they first met, she was so broken she could hardly express her intentions, merely wandering through existence.

    Now, she was starting to show traits simr to a World Core. In a sense, she could be considered an older sibling of World Cores as a whole.

    She became the main consciousness of the World Core Fusion Reactor on her own and managed their processes for Damien, most of the time not bothering him at all.

    He was unaware of her interference for a while, but since she was only doing good things for him, he left her be and didn''t force her to exin herself.

    His actions were definitely right, since it was only recently that Reva reached a point where she could express herself.

    Nevertheless, the memories in question entered Damien''s mind in waves, allowing him to process them.

    For the most part, they all showed simr scenes.

    With no prior warning, every being in the world died.

    At the same time, in the same way, with no interaction whatsoever.

    They all just fell lifeless to the ground.

    In the next scene, darkness prevailed.

    A massive environment was vaguely present in the distance below the scene, but it couldn''t be made out yet.

    There were 10,000 worlds here, all devoid of life.

    A being appeared in their midst.

    He was cloaked in darkness, with only a pair of eerily soulless eyes peering through the veil.

    He raided his hand once, and¡ª

    RUMBLE!

    The worlds deconstructed.

    Every level of their physical existence was torn away until their surfaces were just rubble in the void, which was soon consumed by that very entity.

    The 10,000 rogue World Cores were in survival mode. They searched for any opportunity to guarantee their survival.

    But there was no such thing.

    One by one, they were corrupted by the great power of a Demigod and sent to an unknown location.

    Except for these 4,000.

    They who chose to shelter themselves under Damien''s umbre early were the only ones able to escape this situation.

    They teleported to the Sanctuary automatically through its mechanisms, and that was the end of it.

    Damien wasn''t able to see what happened to the majority that couldn''t escape.

    "That must be the Soul Emperor," Damien said casually.

    He''d seen the Saint and Inhuman Emperors with his own eyes, while he learned the Karmic Emperor''s appearance through the memories he''d devoured from the thousands of Higher Nox that came looking for him.

    That only left one option.

    The most elusive Nox Emperor, he who never showed his form, the Soul Emperor.

    "It''s a shame they targeted the Giants."

    Damien likes Giants a lot. They were honest and righteous without fail. It was a racial trait that couldn''t be any other way.

    In another sense, they were the most secure race in the universe.

    Their mere existence gave denizens a sense of surety about their safety, which obviously wasn''t something the Nox could allow.

    So they targeted the Giants first, with a n of total eradication.

    "If I was the enemy, I would have also made this choice. The only surprise is that it wasn''t discovered by Heaven''s Army before it happened. Now¡­"

    Now, there was a simple question that needed answering.

    What was the Soul Emperor nning to do with those newly corrupted World Cores?

 Chapter 1151 Darkness [8]

    Chapter 1151 Darkness [8]

    Damien encountered a strange problem as his time in istion continued.

    He didn''t have enough arms.

    It was fine when he could eliminate tens of millions of Nox in a swing of his arm, but it was different now.

    More and more challengers were appearing.

    Against the Higher Nox who had the nerve to challenge him, Damien had to focus on the battle more, and that left gaps for the lesser species to make their way past him.

    If he had backup, he could use them to hold the line while he focused on bigger enemies, but he didn''t have anything of the sort.

    So why didn''t he just make some?

    Most Demigods had Avatars they used to take care of things disallowed to them by the universal restrictions. Damien wasn''t at their level yet, but he was confident he could do it if he tried.

    The main method people used to create Avatars was simple but a bit cruel.

    Essentially, they ced a piece of their soul in the body of a being without a developed consciousness and took the priority position.

    This was the only way for those without the ability to create the fundamentals of life to have Avatars that were made of flesh and blood.

    There were others who could use mana to make Avatars indistinguishable from flesh and blood beings, but they were highly specialized and used methods that couldn''t be copied by the average Demigod.

    In Damien''s case, the former wasn''t possible with his current situation, while thetter was above his power level.

    ''It''s too early for an Avatar.''

    Avatars were more significant than Damien originally thought.

    The reason people only had one was because an Avatar was one''s lifeblood. It was an extension of their body, not something that could be constantly replicated.

    After all, one''s soul couldn''t be recovered easily. To invest in an Avatar was like having a child.

    ''Then¡­clones?''

    Damien wanted to find a way to create an infinite number of himself that could fight properly without causing severe bacsh if they were destroyed.

    Sentience was not a requirement. He just needed beings he could control like body parts and maneuver flexibly.

    That would allow him to create an army of cannon fodder he didn''t have to worry about.

    Not wanting to see death in his allies was part of the reason Damien didn''t just use the Sanctuarians to help him here.

    ''It should be possible.''

    His ambition was one of fantasy, but he believed he could bring it into reality.

    With the Void''s assistance, the bounds of reality were whatever he wished them to be.

    ''Where do I start?''

    The first step was to create a preliminary model for the first clone.

    The process could be broken into three stages: giving form, adjusting power, and granting spirituality.

    ''Thest step should be the easiest.''

    Damien had no ess to his soul, but he had experience in splitting his mind from when he had to put it back together in the Primordial Undying Realm''s Trial World.

    The solution for the bacsh problem was to use his mind instead of his soul to connect him to the clone.

    The hard part was the second step.

    With Damien''s mana control, creating a human figure out of his mana was easy. Putting his consciousness into it wasn''t as simple, but he was able to understand the fundamentals with a few days of effort.

    But granting it power was something else.

    ''This is why people use their souls.''

    Since the soul was the basis of everything, it held records of one''s strength that would migrate into the secondary body.

    When it was just mana and mind, there was no such record.

    ''Can I solve this problem with the Void?''

    Could the Void hold his Legend?

    ''I have to try.''

    This portion of the process was intuitive.

    Damien didn''t actually understand how it worked, because he didn''t understand how to ess his Legend and edit it.

    Was it even possible?

    Likely not.

    Therefore, he made a "wish."

    In the same way he saved Bai Yumo, he willed the Void to aplish his desire without understanding how it could do so.

    And it¡­

    ¡­obviously didn''t work.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Even if he wanted to wish something from the Void, he needed to know what he was wishing.

    He needed to understand where his Legends were so the Void could connect those two points.

    He''d been trying for over a week now, but the Void and his Legend couldn''t find a point of connection.

    If that point of connection existed, it would be possible, but it was logically impossible to create it.

    ''However, logic only applies to those weak enough to sumb to it.''

    He could surpass the bounds of logic. He''d done it already.

    It was just a matter of figuring out the way to do it here.

    Year 2 in No Return Pass was progressing steadily.

    By the time it was over, he would have this problem solved.

    From the third year onward, he wouldn''t be bogged down by the endless and monotonous battle environment of this ce.

    That was his resolution.

    ***

    The Giant Domain''s deterioration didn''t end with the first ten thousand worlds.

    In batches of the same amount, worlds disappeared every month, creating a situation that could no longer be ignored by the higher-ups of Heaven''s Army.

    Forces were properly allocated for the first time, and a deep investigation began.

    However, a little more than 60,000 worlds already disappeared.

    Of those inhabitable, this was almost half.

    And of those that were taken, 25,000 ended up in Damien''s possession.

    The rest were taken by the Soul Emperor and transferred to an unknown location for unknown reasons that only Damien had a hint of.

    The problem was, no matter how much investigation was done, nothing came out of it.

    The signs of disappearance were nonexistent, and even with excessive scanning through various means, no signs of Nox presence were detected.

    Was there any way to describe this aside from a demonic miracle?

    There was no way for formations or lesser beings to understand what was happening.

    So the only option left was to send a Divinity.

    Director Alucard was chosen after much deliberation due to his openly neutral stance. He took the 11 remaining Zodiacs of Hidden Death Valley andunched a full-scale sweep of the Giant Domain.

    The awareness of a Demigod was magical. In a simr fashion to Damien''s eyes, they could see the universe through apletely different lens, bringing all things hidden into the light.

    This was the only ability of Demigods that could be used properly without the restriction''s interference.

    And with it, the results of their search were astonishing.

    There truly were no Nox in the Giant Domain, nor were there signs of outside intervention on the surfaces of those worlds.

    However, there was something.

    Hidden deep within the World Cores, almost hidden from even their powerful gazes, there was something like a virus.

    It rewired their base functions, and no matter what the consciousnesses of the World Cores desired, they would automatically be transported to the Abyss against their will!

    A scramble to find a solution began immediately.

    However, the response was simply toote.

    There was no time left for the Giant Domain.

 Chapter 1152 Darkness [9]

    Chapter 1152 Darkness [9]

    Within a week''s time, the remaining Judgement Order members in the shadow army appeared in the hidden safe house.

    Their number had been reduced to half of what they started with. Every team suffered losses without fail.

    Luckily, the leaders all survived. They were the main fighting force, therefore, their survival was imperative.

    A week was a decent amount of time. Rose used it to strategize an exit, understanding that the enemy would know their position by the time the week ended.

    It was a risk assuming they wouldn''t find it earlier, but she didn''t let this stop her.

    She refused to leave her people behind.

    Of the group who visited Commander Huo, all except Ximen Wuhen were team leaders. Since she had a support power, she was put into Su Ren''s squad to provide aid from the back line.

    The leader of the tenth squadron was a man without a name. He wore a demon mask and never revealed his identity, insisting that others merely called him "Beast."

    His entrance into the Judgement Order was definitely the strangest since he had no connection to its members or cause, but he approached them on his own and even willingly signed a variety of Mana Oaths that kept him loyal, so Rose and the rest didn''t mind trusting him.

    He was thest to arrive, and the only one who returned alone.

    "They killed everyone," he said solemnly, sitting down heavily and removing his shirt.

    The others instantly saw the terrifying gash lining the entirety of his torso. It was so deep one could glimpse his rib cage through the bloody folds.

    "They''ve gotten stronger, or they''ve been hiding their strength. It''s impossible for us to leave this cave."

    "What do you mean impossible?" Aishia asked.

    She joined this group to meet Damien again after so long, but she realizedter that such a thing would be impossible for a long time.

    That was impossible because the man she wanted to see was trapped in a ce surrounded by billions or even more enemies.

    Was this situation the same?

    "They''re done sending grunts after us. The enemies outside are all powerful enough to wipe us out alone, but there are hundreds of them prowling the area. The second we leave, we''re done."

    "No, even if we do not leave, we will not be safe," Su Ren added, his eyes piercing the cave protections.

    "Have they alreadye?" Rose asked, entering the conversation.

    "Mm, they should be arriving in five minutes or less."

    "Strength level?"

    "It is as Beast said. At least High Commanders. I cannot sense signs of a Supreme, but I do see at least three Executioners."

    6th, 7th, and 8th revolution masters. This kind of force was hunting down a group of young geniuses whose strongest member was still in the 4th revolution.

    "Su Ren, can you handle it?"

    "No. I can fight against High Commanders, but if the Executionerse, I will not be able to save anyone."

    "Any word from Hera?"

    "¡­"

    "Dead. Her life crystal shattered," Long Chen sighed.

    "Allmunications to the outside world have been cutpletely. I can''t contact my Holy Land for support either. We''re on our own," Atticus added.

    It was an extremely dire situation.

    However¡ª

    "¡ªare you afraid of death?"

    Rose had been preparing for this situation for a week, and she never expected help from others.

    "If we were afraid of death, would we have joined you in this madness?"

    Xue Fang grinned as he spoke, and the rest joined him happily.

    They might''ve been insane, but they were insane for a cause.

    They wouldn''t return to sanity at this point. They were way too far.

    "Then¡­let''s do something insane."

    The path of escape was cut off. Clinging to it was just lunacy.

    "I have a n¡­"

    As Rose continued to speak, everyone realized one thing.

    They weren''t nearly crazy enough.

    Because this n was probably the craziest possible thing they could do in this situation.

    Yet¡­wasn''t it also the most probable?

    No, even thinking like that was madness.

    It was utterly improbable and downright stupid, but it was so enticing none of them could say no.

    "Even if we make it, we can only call one person. Are you confident in your choice?" Aishia asked for the group.

    Rose''s eyes twinkled with a strange light.

    "What about you? Are all of you confident in my choice?"

    They were a team. Rose never nned to decide things unterally.

    But her leadership skills were really something.

    In the past few months, the reason the Judgement Order was able to achieve so much acim was mainly due to her presence.

    It was an organization created by the younger generation, but it couldn''t exist with them alone.

    Naturally, they had a variety of sponsors.

    Elena roped in Commanded Huo, Atticus roped in the Fallen Star Holy Master, and even Su Ren convinced his master to help them one time.

    But Rose didn''t have these kinds of connections. She used her power and political ability to convince several tens of Demigods to sponsor their cause, including those friendly with Damien like Luciel.

    Without her interference, they wouldn''t have had many options if they needed help.

    Now that the situation arose, Demigods weren''t an option, so where could they find the person who could save them?

    Or rather, they needed to find the perfect assistance for the current situation, not some savior.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena jointly made a decision, and while others wouldn''t understand it, they were confident beyond measure that their n would work.

    If they were confident, was there a reason for anyone else to hesitate?

    "I think I can speak for everyone when I say this," Xue Yue said, standing up firmly.

    She''d lost the immaturity she held in the Cloud ne, including her inferiorityplex and doubt.

    Standing here as a respectable woman and warrior in her own right, she only had one thing to say.

    "If we''re going to die anyway, make sure we can go out in a ze of glory."

    Rose''s eyes widened.

    A smile formed on her face.

    "I don''t want us to go into this expecting death, but I can''t guarantee our collective survival. However, none of us will die pointlessly. This much was guaranteed by the Heavens the second we stepped onto this path."

    zing determination filled the room as the 50 survivors prepared themselves for what came next.

    The Judgement Order.

    To those on the outside, it was a group of youths rebelling against the cruelty of society.

    However, how could their intention be so naive?

    Rose had something else in mind upon the creation of this group, a promise those outside their order took as a joke.

    They were going to eradicate the enemy.

    At a time like this, when escape was no longer possible, there was only one option remaining.

    It was time to kill!

    "Our first target is the Jackal, otherwise known as the Hound Lord."

    The Demigod who managed this section of the shadow army, a member of the Inhuman Faction.

    He was the first target.

    The Judgement Order, a faction that did not discriminate by status when punishing evil.

    It was time for them to kill their first Divinity.

 Chapter 1153 Operation [1]

    Chapter 1153 Operation [1]

    "Is everyone finished?"

    Rose''s voice rang through the hidden safe house as she addressed the rest of the members.

    They were moving extremely fast at the moment while tracking the movements of their enemies, but with their current speed, they would be able to make it in time.

    "Leader, all the information collected by our squads has been collected into this jade slip," a man said, passing the slip over.

    Rose nodded and took it, ncing over it.

    The average power level of their enemies had changed, but the generalyout was roughly the same.

    It was necessary to understand this information before they started working towards any n.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Rose furrowed her brows as she continued reading.

    "Over thirty Executioners and over a hundred High Commanders¡­we won''t be able to avoid the Supremes either."

    Their first goal was simple. They needed to make their way to the summoning tform in the Nox''s possession.

    They only theorized its existence, but it had to be present. Otherwise, the Inhuman Emperor couldn''t have arrived the way he did.

    He didn''te from outside the camp, but from within as if he was always there.

    Yet, if he was always there, they wouldn''t have been able to do anything from the start.

    Therefore, there had to be a summoning tform.

    The only problem was that its projected location was centralized between the residences of the three Supremes in the camp.

    It would be impossible to sneak there, but getting there was an absolute necessity.

    "Does anyone have any ideas?" Rose asked.

    "I do," Su Ren responded.

    "However, we must speak of it while moving. The enemies are far too close."

    "Moving?"

    Long Chen posed the question. How were they supposed to leave in this situation?

    "This is why I keep telling you to sharpen your perception. You are wasting those eyes of yours."

    "Eh? I''m itching to fight you too, but it can wait, can''t it?"

    "You know this is not my intent at this time."

    "Tch."

    Long Chen and Su Ren had quite the rivalry, only natural due to their contrasts as sword and de practitioners, but that was beside the point.

    Long Chen''s draconic eyes could see through truths, but he wasn''t able to see the escape route Rose created in the past week, a testament to hisck of skill.

    "Tsk. Fine, I''ll work on it from now on. It''s not like I had an opportunity to focus on anything other than power before this anyway."

    Long Chen folded after receiving an exnation, and Rose led her fiftyrades into the bedroom space at the back of the safe house.

    "For starters, we''re going down. Nothing has been said about the underground of Eien, which means it''s either deste or crawling with dangers, but it''s our only option," she said, removing her illusions to reveal a massive hole in the floor.

    It dropped into darkness, making it difficult to tell its depth, but it was definitely a severe drop.

    "We won''t be able to take this all the way there, but it''s a good starting point. Is everyone ready?"

    Her question prompted several excited and determined cries.

    She smiled.

    "Then, let''s get started."

    In groups of ten, the Judgement Order members jumped into the hole and used their mana expertly to get them down to the bottom without raising too much of amotion.

    Elena and Ruyue wentst, giving Rose onest nod before jumping.

    Left alone, Rose summoned her mana and began the process of creation.

    She weaved threads of illusion into a false reality that could not be seen through.

    The safe house vanished into nonexistence, reced by damp and rocky walls like an ordinary cave.

    Figured spawned next. Fifty of them, with the exact characteristics of those they mimicked down to the smallest details in their auras.

    These illusions didn''t have much power, but each had a supply of mana she provided that they could use to emte power for a period of time.

    "You all know what to do, right? Go now and run until you die."

    The illusions nodded and rushed to the cave entrance.

    Behind them, Rose jumped into the hole and covered the entrance behind her, joining her team.

    The drop was roughly ten kilometers. This deep in the ground, most wouldn''t be able to detect them with a sweeping scan.

    Which meant, until her illusions died, they would be free of monitoring.

    "Phew¡­"

    She deeply exhaled.

    BOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion, made vague by theyers of rock between it and them, rang out on the surface.

    "Move!"

    Rose''smand was absolute.

    The group took turns making a tunnel through the thick and manaced ground of Eien, running with as much speed as possible towards their destination.

    Meanwhile, a fearsome scene presented itself on the surface.

    Several High Commanders were approaching the cave, only a few kilometers away. The Executioners behind them didn''t make the same haste, but they were also moving forward.

    At that moment¡ª

    BOOOOOOM!

    The cave exploded into bits of rubble that flew into the sky.

    Fifty members of the Judgement Order rushed out of the explosion in different directions, scattering like rats.

    "Humans! Do not attempt this meaningless stunt!"

    The roar of a High Commander boomed through the atmosphere, but those it was directed at paid it no mind.

    Their goal was in the opposite direction of their true selves. While the true Judgement Order went further into the enemy camp, their clones escaped as fast as possible!

    However, speed was rtive. In front of High Commanders, the lesser members were just chickens to be ughtered.

    "Didn''t I say not to run?"

    A High Commander with deep purple hair growled as he grabbed the neck of one of the female illusions.

    "Be grateful to die by the hands of this Krato. If Rakash got you instead, I do not know what vile things would have happened to you."

    Despite his words, the expression on his face was filled with cruel ecstasy.

    "Unfortunately, a beautiful woman like you must die, because that is what the Lord desires!"

    Bang!

    He tightened his grip in an instant, and the woman''s body exploded.

    A rain of blood drenched his body, making him shiver in delight as he nced at the rest of the rats scurrying away.

    "Kekekeke! Come! All of youe to me!"

    Bang!

    He dashed with such force that he broke through the air. He went after the lesser members first before targeting the leaders, who were being chased by the Rakash mentioned earlier.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Bodies exploded, blood showered the earth, and the satisfying squelching of broken human bodies made Krato''s entire body fill with adrenaline.

    "Rakash! Are you still chasing dogs?! Hahahaha!" He yelled wildly.

    "Shut up, Krato! If you are not busy, then help me!" Rakash responded with a growl.

    The leaders were definitely stronger. If they were able to avoid Rakash for so long, they couldn''t be ordinary.

    However¡­

    He didn''t realize it because of just how much blood was covering him.

    The longer Krato chased the enemy, the moreyers of that blood disappeared from existence.

    After all¡­

    No matter how real they felt, they were nothing more than illusions!

 Chapter 1154 Operation [2]

    Chapter 1154 Operation [2]

    Because Rose''s illusions could only mimic and not master the strengths of the people she cloned, their only real advantage was size.

    Being smaller than the Nox by several feet, they were able to weave through the chaotic environment with much more dexterity, which was what allowed them to avoid their two pursuers for an extended period of time.

    Only, there weren''t only two after them.

    Rakash and Krato were the ones who chased the fastest, but once the rest arrived, there was no chance at all.

    One by one, each member of the Judgement Order was turned into mincemeat.

    All except Rose.

    She stood surrounded by ten High Commanders, her neck in the hands of an Executioner.

    "This is their leader. Let us take her back to the Lord. He has been eager to torture this one," the Executioner said.

    "Sir, can''t we have a bite first? Humans are a rare breed in the universe. I am curious about how they taste."

    "Hm?"

    The Executioner looked at Rakash, who spoke, with a cold gaze.

    "You wish to put your hands on the Lord''s things?"

    "Nothing like that! However, this piece of scrap meat, the Lord wouldn''t mind if we touched it, right?"

    "WRONG!"

    The Executioner''s words boomed through the surroundings, shattering the ck trees around them into pieces.

    "Do you not know who this woman is?" He continued.

    "This is a treasured person of ''that man.''"

    "That man? You mean¡­"

    The Executioner nodded.

    "The man that felled the Saint King. This is his woman."

    The eyes of those listening widened.

    The meat they grabbed was far more valuable than expected!

    "Hehe¡­the Lord will have a splendid time with her¡­I am almost jealous."

    "No need to be. This one is not for pleasure, after all."

    Those ominous words were the end of their conversation. Instead of entertaining his lessers more, the Executioner leapt into the air, flying back towards the base.

    In his grasp, Rose didn''t make a single move, almost like a doll.

    After all, she was one.

    ''Should I detonate it, or should I wait?''

    In the tunnels below, the real Rose contemted on it.

    If she waited, she would be able to grasp more of the enemy''s positions, but¡­

    ''The effects should be wearing off soon. Those High Commanders won''t take long to realize.''

    Rose couldn''t trust what she thought wasmon knowledge.

    Regardless of her power, she couldn''t be sure that the Nox didn''t have a way to stop her from dispelling her illusion.

    If a Supreme got a hold of her clone, they would likely be able to trace their location through the mana connection!

    Naturally, if they didn''t know she was an illusion, this problem wouldn''t ur.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t have infinite mana to waste on maintaining the bloodstain illusions, so this wasn''t a possibility.

    "Hey," she said through her clone.

    "What is it, human? Begging for your life?" The Executioner responded, looking down on her with condescension.

    "No, nothing like that. Do you think I''m such a weak person? It''s just¡­"

    "Sir, bad news!"

    The call of a High Commander came from below.

    A grin spread on Rose''s face.

    "It''s all fake! The blood is an illusion!"

    "Bye, bitch."

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Rose collected all the mana she spent on the clones into her clone body and exploded it in a rush of fiery mana.

    The air was consumed by an explosive cloud that raged for several seconds before dying down.

    The Executioner stood there with empty hands, unharmed.

    Yet, extremely angry.

    "HUMAN!" He roared.

    "I WILL KILL YOU!"

    It was an empty deration since he still had to deliver that human to his superior, but the rest¡­

    He would make sure she watched as the rest were brutally torn apart and devoured by his minions.

    He would make her experience hell!

    "SPREAD OUT AND SEARCH! THE REAL ONES COULDN''T HAVE GOTTEN FAR!"

    His furious roar spread for several tens of kilometers, and every Nox being in that area obeyed his order.

    A fierce manhunt began. From the location of the cave outward, all forces searched for the enemy.

    However, their preliminary results were nil!

    "We will not abandon this area until we find them. The Lord is serious about getting his hands on that woman," the Executioner said.

    They hadn''t been found yet, but it was impossible for them to disappear.

    There was no "if."

    It was only a matter of "when."

    ***

    "It looks like we''ve been found out," Rose said in the underground.

    "Oh? Thatsted longer than expected," Aishia responded.

    "Mm, but we have to start moving seriously now. It won''t be long before they find the entrance to this ce."

    The rest nodded in agreement.

    Rose made sure the entrance was hidden thoroughly with illusions, and when the cave was destroyed afterward, its rubble covered the original hole''s location entirely.

    However, it was just a matter of moving the rubble. Since they were already expecting illusions, the one she set wouldn''tst long.

    "We have the advantage right now. It''s time to move into the second step of the n."

    They needed to surface soon. It wasn''t because of the enemy, but the environment.

    Eien was not a ce that people were meant to explore underground. The rock was as hard as bedrock for a mortal, and the further they went towards its edge, the harder it got.

    At this point, it was difficult to make progress fast enough to effectively escape with this method.

    So surfacing was the only option.

    "We need to be quiet. As long as they don''t detect us upon exiting, we should be able to move properly," Rose continued.

    "Everyone form groups of three. Focus on synergy. For this next part, we''ll be moving forward while utilizing guerri assassination techniques."

    The goal was to misdirect the enemy as much as possible.

    Direct assassination would only give away their position with the Nox''s strange collective confidence, but if they took the guerri route, there were still possibilities open to them.

    "Whatever you do, do not get caught. If you get caught, die before they can do anything. This is the only path to salvation."

    They''d been doing fine thus far because they were far separated from the powerful foes ahead.

    That wouldn''t be the case any longer.

    As everyone internalized the danger of theiring steps, they gradually and quietly inclined their path steeply to make their way to the surface.

    At the same time¡­

    "Sir Vkos, we''ve found it!"

    On the surface, a High Commander sent a message to the Executioner whomanded him.

    The man arrived instantly.

    He looked down at the seemingly normal ground below and then back up at the High Commander.

    "An illusion?"

    "Yes, sir."

    "I see."

    BANG!

    He stomped his foot down and tore away the illusory rockyer Rose left behind, revealing the deep hole.

    "Tch. Pesky rats," Vkos sneered.

    "Give chase. I will monitor the situation from above."

    "Yes, sir! How many should we take?"

    "How many troops¡­?"

    Vkos'' eyes shone with a light of cruelty.

    "All of them. When you find those rats, kill all except the pink one."

    "Yes, sir!"

    "Oh, and also¡­"

    He turned his gaze to Krato and Rakash.

    "You can do whatever you want with the others. I won''t say anything."

    The High Commanders grinned maniacally.

    Free reign?

    The things they could do with this privilege¡­

    "Kekeke, none of you are getting away!"

 Chapter 1155 Operation [3]

    Chapter 1155 Operation [3]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The sound of Krato and Rakash leading their legion through the underground tunnel in chase of their prey was ring.

    They smashed the tunnel apart loudly on purpose, with the intent of terrifying their victims before going for the kill.

    Unfortunately for them, Rose was several steps ahead.

    By hermand, the Judgement Order split into groups of three and spread out through the ck forest.

    The Nox forces remaining here were thinly spread since a majority of High Commanders followed Vkos'' order and entered the underground, however, their average strength had gone up significantly.

    Vkos was in charge of the area they started in, but there were roughly ten more Executioners wandering the dark forest searching for them.

    Executioners were off-limits.

    Regardless of their personal orbined power, unless their entire group decided to work together in a prolonged battle, taking one down wasn''t possible.

    High Commanders, on the other hand, were different.

    ''The enemy doesn''t know we aren''t trying to escape yet. Right now, they think the diversion tactic was meant to cover our retreat.''

    Technically speaking, back towards the Blood-Drenched Wilderness wasn''t the only direction to escape in.

    They could very well go east or west and escape into a new territory of Eien, where the shadow army camp wouldn''t know of their existence.

    At that point, retreat would still be difficult, but not as impossible.

    Therefore, Rose''s n consisted of anotheryer of trickery.

    The Judgement Order scattered and did as they were told.

    In various parts of the dark forest, High Commanders quietly fell without even seeing the killers who brought their end.

    The deaths were staggered strangely. 17 died one by one, and once they were felled, another 17 joined them with the same pattern.

    The traces of these assassinations were hidden well in the darkened earth, especially after careful treatment was given by the killers themselves, but it wasn''t too perfect.

    After all, these tracks still needed to be discovered, albeit after a good deal of effort.

    Shiing!

    A barely visible flicker of sword intent traveled through the dark forest and sliced a High Commander''s neck, causing it to spurt a fountain of blood.

    The High Commander grabbed his throat with widened eyes and opened his mouth to scream, but at that moment, a de found its way to his neck, severing what remained and cutting his head directly off.

    A stream of greyish mana found its way into both parts of his bisected corpse and removed their ability to heal. In just a few seconds, the High Commander turned into an ink puddle on the ground.

    "They should be finding it soon, yes?"

    "Yeah, but this n seems a little too easy. They might believe it for a while, but it''s definitely not enough for them to drop their pursuit."

    "That is because this is only a piece of the puzzle. This operation is to remove the attention of these Executioners in the field. I am certain sister-inw has crafted something greater for us to progress into the encampment."

    "Mm, I don''t doubt her mind, it just feels a bit off. Maybe I''m overthinking things?"

    "Perhaps you are."

    Su Ren and Long Chen, the only group of two among the current units, finished their job and moved to the next.

    Usually, when a practitioner felt something off, passing it over as mere coincidence or overthinking was the wrong move.

    The constantly evolving perception of a practitioner never left room for coincidences. If something felt wrong, something was wrong.

    However, this was a special case.

    Because, unlike the rest, Long Chen hadn''t had much contact with the Nox.

    He participated in the Niflheim infiltration and fought Nox on Holy Light Star, but that was it. Outside of these instances, Long Chen did not interact with the invading race more than once or twice.

    Because of this, his knowledge of the Nox''s tendencies wascking.

    Yes, it was true that the higher beings of their race had powerful intelligence. They tricked the universe into believing they were smarter before pulling off an insane stunt in the Giant Domain.

    Unfortunately, this event was not known to the members of the Judgement Order, nor did it apply to them.

    In the current situation, they could use their base understanding of the Nox, at least, for the most part.

    Because they were younger generation geniuses.

    Even the oldest among them didn''t exceed 150 years in age, aside from Aishia, whose age was irrelevant, and theirbined experience likely couldn''t match a single one of the Executioners currently hunting them.

    What did this mean?

    Naturally, it meant they were the underestimated party.

    Their intelligence was the one under question.

    As long as it looked like they were trying their hardest to act a certain way, what reason did the Nox have to think they were doing something different?

    These geniuses were not Damien Void.

    They were not the genius who attracted the ire of a Nox Emperor at a young age due to his skills.

    They were just his "associates."

    "Do you understand now?" Su Ren asked as he shed his strange mana into another High Commander before looking at Long Chen.

    "Mm, we''re useless because we''re just the ''friends.'' That''s what they think."

    "Right. The only value we possess to them is our information about Damien. Sister-inw is abusing this fact to mislead them."

    "Tch. Maybe I really am dumb."

    "Is this something that needs confirmation?"

    "Dammit."

    Su Ren grinned while Long Chen shook his head annoyedly.

    He was always walking right into these insults, wasn''t he?

    Nevertheless, the duo looked out ahead of them and collectively sighed.

    "We''ve already made it this far, huh? Come to think of it, why didn''t we just take this route?" Long Chen said.

    They were staring past a transparent barrier separating them from the Ghostly ins. They were already at the boundaries of this territory.

    However, Su Ren merely grinned.

    "Tell me, swordsman. Do you not wish for glory?"

    Long Chen''s eyes widened.

    His lips curled into a smile, a defeated expression on his face.

    "Haa, when you say it like that, what am I supposed to do?"

    "Haha! Let us not mind it then! We have finished our task. It is time to return to the group."

    "Mm. I guess it''s only getting wilder from here."

    The duo concealed themselves and began moving.

    Just like them, the stronger groups didn''t have much of a problem executing the task this time, especially those talented in stealth.

    Rose''s orders didn''t just ount for the n, but her members as well.

    She didn''t separate them in a way where "weaker" groups would exist.

    If someone was weaker in one facet, they would be paired with someone who couldplement them and boost their efficiency.

    This was a requirement she focused dearly on when she was first creating the Judgement Order.

    Above all else, the members needed loyalty, heart, and synergy.

    Her expert leadership led to a situation where their group didn''t lose a single member during this phase of the n.

    Though, they couldn''t do it without any obstacles.

    Around half an hour after they started moving, their traces were discovered.

    The hunting dogs would be upon them soon.

 Chapter 1156 Operation [4]

    Chapter 1156 Operation [4]

    The Nox enemies in this shadow army camp were definitely not as scheming as Rose, but they were just good enough to follow her ns for them perfectly.

    The Judgement Order members spread in both directions from their original position and left traces that led to both periphery territories, which led to the following events progressing in such a way.

    Vkos spotted a glint out of the side of his eye.

    He immediately chased it down andnded on the ground, only to find nothing around.

    A scan of his awareness offered no clues in the surroundings for unknown reasons, but he did get a ping from the ground below.

    "Hm?"

    He made a sound of curiosity as he used mana to clear the area.

    ''Traces of battle.''

    Barely present mana fluctuations that had been covered after what was obviously a great amount of work appeared in his perception.

    The meaning was obvious.

    ''These cunning brats!''

    "Men,e!"

    His voice boomed in the ears of nearby Nox, and several tens of them answered his call.

    "Is this all of you?" He asked suspiciously.

    "No, Sir. There are fifty more of us in the vicinity," a High Commander responded dutifully.

    "Fifty¡­?"

    Vkos frowned. If there were supposed to be more, more that he was unable to sense¡­

    "These cunning brats move quickly. I will give them that much."

    "Sir¡­?"

    "Spread out and check for traces of battle. They will be hidden, but they should exist."

    "Understood!"

    The High Commanders moved by hismand immediately, but that wasn''t enough.

    "Krato and the rest are still underground. How did they manage to fool us?"

    High Commanders clearly weren''t enough to do the job.

    Unfortunately, Vkos didn''t have the authority tomand his fellow Executioners.

    ''I will start moving myself.''

    He would join the fray.

    "Let us see how long you can run."

    Just like them, he understood the key point.

    They could not escape from him if he was able to find them.

    It was a game of cat-and-mouse.

    Would strength win out?

    Or would schemes show their worth?

    With the passing of minutes, Vkos received information about the tracks that led to the Ghostly ins and its fellow periphery territory, indicating only one thing.

    ''They split and decided to run away.''

    What was he expecting from a group of children?

    Of course they would only think to flee.

    Nevertheless, it wasn''t his problem anymore.

    "Alert the surrounding camps. There are some ratsing their way."

    No matter what they tried, they wouldn''t be safe.

    He wouldn''t allow them such a privilege!

    ***

    Well¡­

    Vkos'' efforts were definitely noble, but he was unfortunately on the wrong path entirely.

    The journey to the rendezvous point this time was far easier, mainly because the Nox beings on the way had been cleared prior.

    Currently, the Judgement Order stood at the very edge of the dark forest. Ahead of them was arge open in on which the shadow army encampment was located.

    The third step of their n was simply termed "absolute concealment."

    They were foundst time because they were separated and exposed already.

    When Rose used the distraction as an opportunity to nket the entire group in her illusions again, they disappeared from any perception that could touch them at the moment.

    Vkos wasn''t able to find them with his search, nor would others be able to perceive them even if they walked directly through the spot they were standing!

    The beauty of Rose''s trickery didn''t need to be exined further, because they weren''t anywhere near finished yet.

    Making it out of the dark forest was the easy part. They had an advantage once they grouped up and their enemies were dumb.

    From this point on, no such thing existed.

    "There are three Supremes and a Demigod in that camp. No matter what, we will not be able to avoid them," Rose said solemnly.

    "The Supremes will sweep this in with their awareness every so often due to their protocol. Our current goal is to make it into the camp."

    "Once we get there¡­"

    Once they got there, they were going to charge straight through everything until they reached their goal.

    There was no other option!

    Huu¡­

    Rose deeply exhaled.

    Things were going well so far, but she didn''t like what that meant for the future.

    This stretch of the trip was entirely on her. The rest would be relying on her concealment to keep them hidden from the gazes of those who could crush them with a single finger.

    "Su Ren, Aishia, aid me with your perception. Don''t spread your awareness outside my barrier, but if you sense anything intuitively, tell me immediately."

    The duo nodded and came to the front.

    Of the group, these two had the best natural perception. Aishia gained it from her status as a true-blooded Valkyrie, while Su Ren broke the limits of a human through the teachings of his master.

    Slowly, the group moved forward.

    1 step¡­2 steps¡­3 steps¡­

    "Stop!"

    Aishia spoke first, and they instantly halted.

    A sweeping wave of domineering power spread past them like the pinging of a navigation device.

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    They were under Rose''s protection, but they all instinctively slowed their heart rates and calmed their breathing.

    That was a terrifying sensation.

    And to think it just came from a single Supreme''s perception!

    That kind of force was monstrous. It wasmon to say that Supremes could kill them with a single finger, but this power proved that to be a severe understatement.

    A Supreme¡­

    A Supreme could kill them with no more than a thought!

    "Calm down. We haven''t been detected."

    Rose''s words were firm, but her heart was shaking.

    She realized something important.

    They were fine when they were still, but if that Supreme was able to sense their movement somehow¡­

    ''Focus.''

    She threw away her useless thoughts.

    The oue was death regardless, so there was no point thinking about whether or not it would happen early.

    "Let''s move."

    10 steps¡­20 steps¡­50 steps¡­

    They moved slowly for safety, not making any big movements so Rose could finely control the atmosphere.

    The distance they needed to cover was almost a kilometer. Their current pace wasn''t getting them anywhere.

    However, moving faster wasn''t an option.

    "Huu¡­huu¡­huu¡­"

    Rose could feel the sweat building on her brow.

    The pressure of the situationbined with the absolute control she needed to have on her illusions was taxing on the mind.

    The subtlest changes in wind, atmospheric pressure, temperature, and even subtle things like weathering that didn''t show obvious effects for thousands of years had to be considered.

    The perception she was facing could detect the slightest discement in a single particle of grass hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

    Right now, that perception was concentrated in this one-kilometer radius because there were already troops protecting the area outside it.

    No Supreme wanted to take on theckey job willingly.

    He was doing the bare minimum, sure, but concentrated range meant concentrated power.

    A single atom being out of ce could alert him.

    How could Rose easily move while maintaining this control?

    That perception passed by them every 10 minutes.

    With their current speed, it would take at least an hour to reach the destination.

    For the rest, it was like a horror movie, quietly tiptoeing past a beast of untold proportions.

    But for Rose, this was a direct battle of even greater untold proportions.

    A brutal challenge against the Nox Supremes, and against herself.

 Chapter 1157 Operation [5]

    Chapter 1157 Operation [5]

    Thud.

    "Huu¡­"

    Thud.

    "Huu¡­"

    Thud.

    "Huu¡­"

    VOOOOOOOOM!

    A representation of Rose''s perception.

    Hard footsteps that resounded like booming explosions despite their extreme softness, and the overbearing pressure of the awareness wave that passed by them every ten minutes.

    She could sense herrades nearby, but she couldn''t pay much mind to them.

    She could only see them as figures of mana, figures she had to track at an atomic level topletely erase from reality.

    ''Focus.''

    She repeated the word every few minutes to keep herself on track.

    Minutes passed like this.

    Minute changes had to be performed every millisecond, and the group''s movement speed couldn''t slow any further lest they never reach their destination in the first ce.

    Rose''s illusions had been inching closer and closer to being a reality of their own ever since she realized her path in the Severed World, but she wasn''t able to grasp the true power of this art yet.

    There would be a time when she didn''t have to do all of this.

    A time when she could "program" her illusions to update in real-time so they could never be told apart from reality.

    However, she hadn''t reached that point yet.

    She couldn''t program, she could onlymand.

    Therefore, every step became a grueling journey of a thousand miles.

    Every time her foot touched the ground, she felt a shock through her body as her perception updated based on the changed environment.

    This effect was multiplied many, many times due to the various factors that changed due to the group''s presence in the area.

    If there was one thing going for her, it was that Eien''s atmosphere, especially so far into its depths, was not quite stable in the first ce.

    It was constantly fluctuating, so even if she missed something, it could be exined away.

    As long as she didn''t miss anything that indicated man-made interference, that is.

    Slow steps made slow progress, but slow progress was still progress.

    In the first half hour, they were able topletely hide from the Supremes and reach the halfway point between the expansive field and the basecamp.

    The members of Judgement Order didn''t make a single sound in this time, as to not distract Rose in any way, and silently focused on moving in such a way where she wouldn''t bear extra burdens.

    Rose was the center of their group in ability and spirit. Even after doing such taxing work during this phase of the n, she still needed to be battle-ready when it came time for the next.

    Ximen Wuhen had already prepared a myriad of blessings that could be cast on a single thought to bring her back to peak condition, but it was hard to say what that kind of mental stress was actually doing to her mind.

    It wasn''t something simple.

    On the outside, she was perspiring like she was running a marathon and had a dull haze of absolute concentration clouding her eyes, however, her mind was experiencing a much more severe consequence.

    Hairline cracks spread through her spiritual world in the same way Damien experienced its shattering long ago.

    The cause was the same.

    Extreme stimtion that the mind couldn''t bear.

    Unbeknownst to her, Rose''s actions were too far beyond her capabilities. She was doing something that should''ve been impossible for a period of time longer than any living being should have been able to do so.

    She was doing as she swore with Ruyue and Elena in the Severed World.

    She was not letting reality limit her ability.

    Things began to change during the second half of the journey.

    Rose''s movements became more fluid, and her eyes returned just slightly to focus.

    It felt like she could feel reality more literally. The fabric she felt brushing across her skin ever since that day of blessing, she felt like she could feel its individual seams and creases.

    If she just touched them¡­

    ''Focus.''

    Now wasn''t the time.

    Now, she had a mission to aplish.

    She couldn''t allow her mind to wander into fantasy.

    The group progressed and progressed.

    They walked through the least yet most dangerous part of their journey thus far tensely, and eventually¡­

    They reached their destination without a hitch.

    It was an absolutely unexpected oue.

    "Huu¡­"

    Rose exhaled again. Her breath was shaky, but she stood up with trembling legs and didn''t allow it to bog her down.

    "The next part¡­should begin¡­soon."

    HONG!

    HONG!

    HONG!

    As if on cue, an emergency bell rang through the encampment.

    All avable Nox left their tents and gathered in the main square, where the three Supremes were already waiting.

    "We''ve received reports that the group of rats we''ve been chasing have fled to the neighboring camps," the Supreme in the middle spoke.

    "We have the option to leave this to them, but¡­"

    "Do any of you wish for that?"

    The two to his sides finished his sentence.

    "Never!"

    "I want to rip them apart myself!"

    "Don''t let those fuckers steal out kills!"

    The reaction of the troops was quite strong.

    A group of juniors managed to evade them for so long; it was utterly shameful for their camp.

    And if others managed to catch the prey that evaded them, or worse, if that prey managed to escape¡­

    Uneptable!

    They would be clowns of their race, and more importantly, they''d be killed off for such shameful behavior!

    "Good," the main Supreme said.

    "Apparently, our Executioners are ipetent. Ryugo and Tirius will lead the lot of you to the other camps to hunt them. Do not disappoint us."

    Ryugo and Tirius. ording to assumptions, they were powerful forces under these three Supremes, however¡­

    It turned out, these two were the Supremes themselves!

    The two standing on the man''s right and left stepped forward and began dividing troops.

    And inevitably, a question arose.

    "Sir, what about our camp?"

    If all of their troops were going to be positioned elsewhere, what would happen to their camp?

    The Supreme nced at the Nox who spoke. He was a High Commander who didn''t stick out from the crowd much, but he''d been pinpointed instantly.

    "Tell me, do you think our camp has no security?"

    "N-no, Sir!" The High Commander responded nervously.

    "Exactly. As long as I am present¡­this ce will never fall."

    They were arrogant words, but they were not as lofty as they seemed.

    After all, that man, Hans, was a Supreme above Supremes, a man just a single step away from Divinity, and a man who''d ughtered countless enemies on the battlefield,

    As long as he was present, it was truly impossible for the enemy to breach their camp.

    Because the only type of enemy that could defeat Hans¡­

    ¡­was the type their Lord had the freedom to personally deal with!

    Under the Judgement Order''s gazes as they watched from the camp''s periphery, the two supremes Ryugo and Tirius took their divided troops and left the base camp moving in opposite directions.

    Meanwhile, Hans returned to his tent without another word.

    Rose and the rest waited.

    They waited silently without a single movement for almost an hour.

    "¡­"

    "¡­okay."

    That was when Rose finally spoke.

    "Everyone knows whates next," she said, cing her hand against the ground.

    "The second you sense my mana¡­"

    The group around her prepped themselves. This was the deadly part,

    "¡­run like your life depends on it."

    VOOOM!

 Chapter 1158 Operation [6]

    Chapter 1158 Operation [6]

    They were weak, but they were organized.

    They had brains, but their opponents were so strong their only real strategy was running.

    Running, running, running.

    For the past several months, that''s all they did.

    And this was the final stretch.

    The n was still to run.

    However, this time, there was a Supreme involved.

    VOOOOOM!

    The second Rose''s hand touched the ground, mana swirled wildly in the atmosphere and created a field that encased the entire camp.

    At that exact moment, everyone moved.

    Long Chen, Su Ren, Ruyue, and Elena led the charge while Aishia and the rest of the leaders took the back line.

    Meanwhile, the regr members stayed in the middle and determined the speed of the group.

    None would get left behind.

    Except Rose and Ximen Wuhen, who stayed behind on purpose.

    Ximen Wuhen stood up with the rest and instantly cast every buff she''d been preparing on Rose, bringing her past her peak condition into an enhanced state of existence.

    Afterward, she directed her mana at herself and did the same.

    Rose''s goal now was simple.

    Using her illusions as a medium, she created a formation around the camp.

    It spread and formed into aplex pattern within a second, far faster than an ordinary formation master could do the same, and whirred to life.

    This was as much as they could do unhindered.

    "Hahaha, so you truly decided to appear."

    Hans'' voice resounded through the camp.

    He left his tent slowly, roughly 50 meters ahead of them, with a smile on his face.

    "I expected nothing less."

    Everyone''s eyes went solemn.

    It became clear that sending everyone away was precisely a move to bait them out, but it was toote to be flustered by this.

    "It is time for you to die."

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Was he going easy on them?

    No, he was just toying with them.

    Yet, even his definition of ying was sending them into a death trap.

    The gargantuan explosion that rang out enveloped most of the camp and destroyed all housing except for the ones inhabited by Supremes and the Lord.

    Chaotic mana waves flew wildly in every direction, knocking the rushing Judgement Order geniuses in every direction.

    "Maintain formation! Keep going!" Su Ren yelled, brandishing his de.

    "Absolute sh!"

    Shiiiing!

    His muscles bulged and veins surfaced on his skin as he shed vertically with all his power.

    Greyish mana arced from his sword and cut through the mana before him, opening a path.

    "Long Chen, Aishia, take the sides!"

    "Xue siblings, mesworth, keep the backline! Nobody is allowed to retreat!"

    "Sister-inws, we''ll support you! Don''t let him touch the leader!"

    Su Ren rapidly distributed orders which were followed without hesitation.

    Elena and Ruyue fell back and created severalyers of defense around Rose, while the rest did their best to resist the explosion.

    "Kuak¡­!"

    "Agh!"

    "Dammit! My arm!"

    It was impossible to avoid injuries.

    No matter how hard they tried, even this toying attack from a Supreme was insane.

    Limbs flew threw the air before being crushed into meatpaste by the raging mana, cuts and gashes dug into everyone''s bodies, and the more unlucky ones¡­

    "AARGH!"

    The first to die was a man named Peter. A justice-following man just like the rest of the group, he died unjustly fighting for his cause.

    He was directly decapitated by a rogue mana sh, his life leaving him before he even realized what was happening.

    Peter was the first.

    That single rogue wave took five others after him.

    "DAMMIT!"

    Long Chen let out a furious roar.

    The power of a dragon boiled to life in his bloodline and boomed into the atmosphere with his cry, dispersing arge portion of mana.

    In the back, Xue Yue used ice to create massive blockades that shielded the group, and Xue Fang used simr icy mana to counter the wild mana. Together, they were able to fight with great efficiency which allowed them to perfectly hold the backline.

    As for Atticus who joined them, his power was just as chaotic as the explosion. Lightning arced through the air and created a web that acted as a shield dome above the heads of the group, preventing any idents like the first.

    Aishia also didn''t stand still. Spear in hand, she was a true Valkyrie in action, using brute force to break away the attacking energy.

    "Haha, how nice. Looks like I can y for a while."

    Those harrowing words reminded them.

    Hans just looked at them to cause this scene.

    Watching them struggle, this was his exact purpose in giving them something they could handle.

    It was humiliating and discouraging. It made several people want to give up right then and there.

    But they refused!

    That very arrogance, the condescending gaze of someone who viewed themselves as superior; exploiting that attitude was exactly how they got this far!

    If they gave up now, what was the point of everything else?!

    "Death will not im me until I deem her worthy!"

    It started with one person.

    A man named Greg. He was almost an unnoticeable presence amongst the greatness of his peers, but he managed tost until now regardless.

    He said it to keep himself sane.

    He said it to keep himself from running.

    And the rest followed for the exact same reasons.

    "Death will not im me until I deem her worthy!"

    "Death will not im me until I deem her worthy!"

    "Death will not im me until I deem her worthy!"

    The cries spread through the group until it became a chant.

    BANG!

    A targeted explosion wiped out ten at once. They had no chance of resisting.

    The group moved forward regardless. Step by step, second by second, they moved.

    "Death will not im me until I deem her worthy!"

    "Death will not im me until I deem her worthy!"

    "Death will not im me until I deem her worthy!"

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Three more deathly bursts of mana. The first was blocked by Su Ren and then dispersed by Long Chen and Aishia.

    The second bypassed them directly and struck the backline. The Xue Siblings and Atticus were able to divert most of its energy, but that strike imed another two lives.

    The third¡­

    The third didn''t attack the group at all.

    It went over them and directly at Rose.

    "Is she the one you wish to protect so fiercely? Then I shall kill her first."

    Their zing determination in the face of absolute power was annoying. Hans wanted to do something about it, but showing his emotions against these ants would only demean him.

    So, he would just make them feel hopelessness before they died.

    Now that they''d shown such spirit, he couldn''t let them go without breaking it.

    How else could he call himself a follower of the Inhuman Emperor?

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Ruyue and Elena gritted their teeth and faced the explosion head-on.

    It was a bit different for them.

    They were already in the process of escaping the bounds of reality.

    Plus, the two of them realized something as they spent more time together.

    Elena was absolute Yang and Ruyue was absolute Yin.

    When they attacked in tandem¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    ¡­they were truly a force to be reckoned with.

 Chapter 1159 Operation [7]

    Chapter 1159 Operation [7]

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Pitch-ck explosive mana met in the air with an opponent of yin and yang, creating a massive storm of energy that wrapped around the camp and razed anything in the vicinity.

    A depression in the thickly packed rock around Rose, Ruyue, and Elena was formed several kilometers deep, but the ind ofnd on which they stood remained untouched.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    "Ahh!"

    Ruyue and Elena winced in pain but refused to move.

    Rose was the most important person in this operation. No matter what happened, if she was interrupted, all of them were fated to die!

    The yin-yang duo''s strength did not match the level of a Supreme, but theirbined power was just above that of a High Commander. When they faced this explosive burst that only contained a portion of the enemy''s power, they were able to deflect it without taking much damage.

    "Be careful. He''s going to get worse from here."

    Ruyue cued Elena in, understanding the behavior of men with oversized egos more than anyone else as someone who was raised by one, and prepared her mana again without hesitation.

    "Go big this time?" Elena asked.

    "We don''t really have a choice," Ruyue responded in the same second.

    "Tch. How annoying."

    "This situation is too dire for annoyance, but, yes, I agree."

    The duo exchanged nces and released their mana together.

    As Elena had a singr specialization in Life, Ruyue''s absolute Yin didn''tpletely synergize with her mana. Topensate, Ruyue used exclusively Death Mana in tandem with her sister, creating a beautiful blend of ck and white in the air before them.

    As they did so and the effects of the previous explosion cleared away, Hans'' furious expression became clear.

    It was not a matter of power. If it was, he could''ve killed everyone here in an instant.

    But, though he had no qualms with using power to bully the weak, this was not a situation that allowed it.

    Pride wasn''t the only factor. When one became a Divinity and their Legend became a truly pronounced part of their existence, one needed to stay true to their desires to continue forward on the path they chose.

    At his level, Hans was also subjected to this. He spent so long refining and defining the Divinity he was to inherit, and the identity it had was "Tyranny."

    He didn''t just want to suppress everything with absolute power, he wanted everyone under him to gaze at him in fear. He wanted to be absolute in their hearts before they died.

    If the opponent was equal to him, such a thing could be aplished through victory and torture, but for these ants who still dared to stand up to him despite the difference in power that should''ve inherently given them such an attitude, he needed to be more direct.

    The longer they resisted, the more he wanted to just crush them.

    But he held himself back.

    That wasn''t the satisfaction he desired.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Explosions of mana with no particrws backing them rang out in every direction.

    Even withoutws, Hans could output power andplexity in his mana that simply couldn''t be fathomed by these younger geniuses.

    Yet, regardless of their iprehension, they continued moving towards their goal.

    They lost almost half of their people in the first few seconds of this interaction, and as more and more time passed, the death toll only increased.

    Su Ren, Long Chen, and Aishia fought desperately in the front to block as much of the explosive force as possible, but the enemy didn''t have problems bypassing their barriers.

    It was the same with Atticus and the Xue Siblings.

    The turtle shell made of stronger members couldn''t protect the weaker ones.

    Said weaker individuals also didn''t desire protection.

    They fought as well, using everything their mana and bodies allowed to help their leaders resist.

    The wild energy in the atmosphere was amplified continuously. The brutal struggle continued.

    In total, 35 people died thus far.

    Blood sttered on Long Chen''s face. His eyes were cold and cruel, filled with burning fury towards the enemy.

    "DAMMIT!" He roared again.

    He couldn''t find the time or energy to say anything else. He only wanted to express the boiling rage within.

    Su Ren and Aishia were quieter, but their thoughts weren''t much different.

    However, Rose was working.

    As long as she could finish in¡ª

    "AHHHHHHH!"

    A piercing scream came from the backline, sending shivers down their spines.

    There, Hans, who hadn''t moved until now, stood with Xue Yue dangling from his grasp.

    "Did you consider yourselves important?"

    He grinned cruelly.

    "Did you forget your ce?"

    "Agh¡­ack¡­ghh¡­"

    Xue Yue struggled in his grasp and tried to escape, but her every move made his ws dig deeper into her skin.

    "Get your hands off her!"

    Xue Fang appeared behind him, his sword already in motion.

    "Xue Fang, retreat!"

    Su Ren shouted hastily, but it was toote.

    "Haha, what a touching sight."

    Bang!

    Hans merely waved his hand backward.

    The physical force contained in this slight motion¡­

    ¡­tore Xue Fang apart.

    "AAARGH!"

    He roared in pain as his sword arm was sted into shreds.

    The entire right side of his body was bloodied, with chunks of his organs visible through the holes punctured through him.

    "None of you can touch me."

    Hans'' body turned ethereal.

    When he reappeared, he was already at Aishia.

    Shiiing!

    He swept his arm through the air again, and both of her legs were severed from her body.

    "You are merely ants. Ants attempting to fell a lion."

    BANG!

    He clenched his fist.

    That was it.

    A terrifying shock spread through Xue Yue''s body.

    It wasn''t enough for her to die.

    Her entire body was exploded into blood mist that sprayed onto herrades.

    "SISTER!"

    Xue Fang roared in pain.

    He charged forward, ignoring his injuries, and summoned all his mana into his remaining arm.

    "Again?"

    Bang!

    Before Hans could act, Su Ren intercepted and grabbed Xue Fang, throwing him several hundred meters away.

    Of course, this meant he was subjected to the attack that would''ve killed the man.

    "Khhhh¡­!"

    Su Ren''s durable body didn''t fail him, but he couldn''t say he didn''t feel the pain.

    A gust of wind. That''s all that hit him.

    Yet, he was internally bleeding from several organs.

    This was not a good situation.

    However, his eyes did not go to Rose.

    None of theirs did.

    Even if Hans had an inkling that she was plotting something, he didn''t know how integral she was.

    The second they showed him she was theirst hope, it was over for them.

    "You take me for a fool, don''t you?" Hansmented grinningly.

    "Did you think I didn''t know?"

    He shed before Ruyue and Elena.

    "The only reason I didn''t touch her is because the Lord wants her."

    Even if Rose couldn''t be damaged too much, Ruyue and Elena could.

    He couldn''t kill them, sure, but torture was absolutely an option.

    "Haha, I cannot wait to see the expression on that man''s face when hees to know of this. Will he rage, or will he crumble? To lose his people not to a great Emperor, but to me! Hahahaha!"

    His heinous ws shot out.

    Time seemed to move in slow motion.

    From the safety of her position, Rose finally opened her eyes.

    "Done."

 Chapter 1160 Operation [8]

    Chapter 1160 Operation [8]

    ?

    VOOOOOOOM!

    The ground suddenly went alit with bright shes of light.

    Hans was pushed back by the sudden flux of mana, and Ruyue and Elena were able to use that split second of time to move out of his range.

    Theplex formation Rose began drawing no more than 30 seconds ago was finally finished.

    30 seconds.

    That was all the time it took for Hans to massacre most of their group.

    Bzzt! Crackle!

    Electric arcs zipped and zoomed through the camp.

    "I''m sorry I waste," Rose said, standing up.

    "But it''s time to end this now."

    The formation''s light got more and more intense with every passing instant. It whirred and revolved, and furious waves of spatial mana flooded the area.

    VOOOOM!

    VOOOOM!

    VOOOOM!

    It was at a level where even Hans was forced to block the chaotic spatial waves instead of focusing on his targets.

    Rose smiled.

    "It''s time for you to meet death."

    Bzzt!

    BZZZZZT!

    The crackling electricity suddenly went haywire.

    Rose''s expression paled.

    Was it¡­malfunctioning?

    "No, it''s not that."

    The voice who answered her unspoken thought was strange. Unfamiliar, yet so dearly close.

    "I just hijacked it for a bit. I don''t know who your original target was, but I''m better than them anyway."

    "WHO?!"

    Hans finally reacted to the strange voice, snapping the rest out of their dazes as well.

    "Who am I?"

    The formation''s light swirled madly and concentrated in the very center of the base camp, where the Nox''s summoning formation was located.

    "Didn''t she just tell you?"

    The shadow of a man appeared in its midst.

    As the light cleared, the confusion of those present only intensified.

    Standing there was a tall, robust man with ming red hair. He was shirtless, showing off his chiseled body and massive muscles, and otherwise wore casual, baggy clothes like amon wanderer.

    His eyes were the color of blood, and the mes dancing in them only exemplified his appearance.

    He grinned wildly, his gaze settled on Hans.

    "I''m death."

    Nobody saw what happened next.

    Hans disappeared from where he stood, and that man reced him.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A terrifying rumbling resounded from several tens of kilometers away.

    A dust cloud swept into the air.

    Was that¡­

    Did Hans just get thrown?

    "I know you have a lot of questions, but I can''t really answer them, so¡­"

    The man nced around the group.

    The majority of them were missing limbs. That majority was far outnumbered by the corpses on the ground.

    And the blood painting all of their bodies¡­

    His eyes turned cold.

    "I''m going to make that guy experience everything he did to you."

    BANG!

    The man disappeared into the distance, leaving the stunned Judgement Order survivors where they were.

    "That guy¡­" Elena muttered.

    Rose and Ruyue nodded.

    "He''s exactly like Damien."

    His attitude was one thing, but for these three women, that was only a surface-level observation.

    What they felt was a sensation in their souls.

    That this strange man and their husband had some sort of connection they couldn''tprehend.

    Though, they weren''t given the time to contemte.

    BANG!

    Within a minute, "something" crashed in the area before them.

    When the dust cleared, that thing''s identity became clear¡ª

    BANG!

    ¡ªwell, not so much anymore.

    The red-haired mannded on top of Hans'' crumpled body with so much force the impact dug a crater several hundred kilometers into the ground.

    Hans and that man disappeared into the darkness of that hole, but the sounds of their battle resounded so clearly it was a miracle they weren''t projecting the sound.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    "AAAAAARGH!"

    BANG!

    "STOP!"

    BANG!

    "THIS!"

    BANG!

    "NOW!"

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    A ck blur shot high into Eien''s sky, a red one following soon after.

    BANG!

    Hans'' body was mmed into the ground again, and the red-haired man once again followed.

    However, this time, he didn''t make such a powerful move.

    Hended next to Hans and pushed his arm out.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    All four of his extremities were torn from his body.

    It was an injury even Nox regeneration couldn''t heal.

    "So¡­?"

    The red-haired man looked around the Judgement Order group.

    "Didn''t you want revenge?"

    Their hearts instantly zed to life.

    Revenge¡­

    They''d lost so many people. They''d been in a situation where revenge couldn''t even be considered.

    But now that it was being offered to them¡­

    "REVENGE!"

    "REVENGE!"

    "REVENGE!"

    ¡­how could they refuse?

    Themon members instantly crowded Hans'' body, stabbing into and ripping apart his flesh with everything they had.

    They knew he wouldn''t die, but that''s what made it worth the effort.

    Xue Fang joined as well.

    He limped over with half his body intact, his eyes dull yet filled with hatred.

    "You¡­killed her¡­"

    Hisst remaining direct family.

    His dear sister whom he cherished so much.

    She was dead.

    And for what?

    "YOU KILLED HER!"

    He roared like a madman as he joined the crowd. He didn''t care what he looked like, nor did he care about exerting himself at all.

    Even if he died here, as long as he got revenge, he was content.

    Rose, Ruyue, Elena, Long Chen, Su Ren, and Aishia watched quietly.

    Ximen Wuhen had no presence until this point and continued to remain behind Rose, silently providing the grieving members with buffs to help them act without reservations.

    "It''s not over yet."

    Rose didn''t want to interrupt the current events, but it had to be known.

    "We came here for him."

    Her eyes went to the tent at the very back of the camp, the only area left standing after the previous sh.

    "Ah, that guy?" The red-haired man said.

    "Don''t you think there''s a reason he never left his tent?"

    He didn''t grin due to the severity of the situation, but the amusement in his eyes couldn''t be hidden.

    "Come here."

    He beckoned with his finger, and a figure came flying out of the tent.

    "Introduce yourself."

    He held a man by his throat. The man had the head of a dog and the strong bronze body of a pharaoh.

    The aura of Divinity could be sensed obviously from him, but¡­

    Why did he look so weak in front of that man?

    "What¡­are you?"

    The Hound Lord, whose reputation preceded him in terrifying the masses, asked in an almost whimpering tone.

    "Who am I?" The man said again.

    "I don''t feel like repeating myself, but you get the point. Just shut up and die."

    "YOU CAN''T!"

    "Oh, but I can."

    The red-haired man gripped his fist, a motion mirroring Hans from a few moments ago.

    CRASH!

    The sound that echoed through the camp was not an expected one.

    It was like ss shattering.

    Something¡­something changed.

    The Hound Lord¡­

    Why did he feel so weak?

    "This is quite the useful skill," the red-haired man said nonchntly.

    "Ah, you must be curious¡­"

    "Well, it''s nothing much. To put it simply, I just shattered his Divinity."

    Hans was not dead, but he might as well have been. His death was only a matter of when the Judgement Order was finished enacting their revenge.

    As for the Hound Lord, his body wrinkled and shrunk. He looked like someone who hadn''t had a proper meal in decades.

    What was this situation?

    Just a few seconds ago they were all fated to die, yet, now¡­

    Because of a single unknown entity, their fates were utterly reversed.

 Chapter 1161 Operation [9]

    Chapter 1161 Operation [9]

    Were things supposed to get worse from here?

    The truth was: yes, yes they were.

    In a ce like Eien, in the deepest depths of Nox territory, surrounded by enemies on all sides, making this much noise would draw numerous enemy forces to their location without fail.

    However, this didn''t happen.

    It wasn''t that the Nox didn''te, but every single one that did¡­simply died.

    There was an invisible dome around the basecamp area that blocked out any intruders. Whoever crossed this barrier would turn to ash without a single word ofint.

    It was the power of that man.

    That strange man who still hadn''t given his name didn''t speak much.

    He acted like a statue, holding the Hound Lord without killing him and allowing the younger generation around him to let out their feelings in peace.

    "Who are you?" Su Ren asked, finally breaching the subject.

    They couldn''t stay silent forever, nor could they ept this kind of grace from an unknown entity. It was impossible to tell one''s intentions in this brutal universe, and favors cost far more than lives.

    "Ah, I''m¡ª"

    "¡ªyou can call me Alexander."

    The man stopped himself quickly and finally gave his name.

    "Do you know us?" Su Ren asked again.

    "Do I¡­? Yes, but no. It''s a little hard to exin, but it''s not something you need to concern yourself. I''m not someone with bad intentions."

    "Nobody has ever said that statement believably," Elena sneered.

    "Haha, that''s true! But, I''m serious. I really don''t have any reason foring here besides helping out with this."

    The man named Alexander spoke with clear eyes indicating truth, but it was hard to trust him.

    Nobody with such power could be moved easily!

    No, this kind of person was a unique existence in the entire universe.

    Didn''t he fell a Demigod as a lower existence?!

    The Hound Lord''s state was such that he would die with a single touch of Alexander''s pinky. If he wanted to, that Demigod would''ve long been dead.

    Someone who could aplish this kind of impossibility casually, someone who had this power yet still remained unknown in the universe¡­

    This kind of person was dangerous.

    Alexander seemed to understand the group''s suspicions, as he raised his arms innocently.

    "Haa, I won''t try to get friendly, so don''t worry. My business is over, so I''ll take my leave."

    He threw the Hound Lord''s body on the ground in front of Rose.

    "This isn''t my kill. I''ll let you have him."

    Rose frowned as she gazed at it.

    "Why?"

    The question was obvious. They still didn''t know this man, yet he was acting like they were people he absolutely had to satisfy.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Alexander scratched his head awkwardly and furrowed his brows in thought.

    "I can''t¡­"

    "Well, let''s just say the Judgement Order''s biggest fan sends their regards."

    He grinned, and before anyone could ask another question, he vanished.

    He never needed a formation toe here in the first ce.

    The air was silent.

    The dome around the camp didn''t subside after Alexander left, but it was showing signs of destabilizing within the next few minutes.

    Hans'' body was now nothing more than a puddle of ink. It only took a single spark of fire to bring death upon him.

    However, before anyone could move, Ruyue took over.

    "Let me handle this."

    The group cleared out, giving her space.

    She raised her arms to her sides and summoned arge flow of mana that remained concentrated on the inky remains.

    "An eye for an eye, a soul for a soul."

    She didn''t have a close rtionship with Xue Yue. They could''ve been considered enemies at one point.

    But regardless, Ruyue didn''t have much family remaining in this world, especially not those worth being acquainted with.

    Xue Yue just started showing her growth.

    And now she was dead.

    It didn''t show on the outside, but she felt the impact of her death in her soul.

    "Xue Yue deserves a new beginning, therefore, she will be reborn beautifully. However¡­"

    Her eyes were cold.

    "You do not deserve such privileges."

    Deathly Yin overtook all. The atmosphere became eerie, the temperature dropping several tens of degrees into the negatives.

    The Reaper of Souls, an underworld ruler of legend, appeared behind Ruyue menacingly, a figure in a hooded cape that flowed into oblivion.

    Hans'' remains were already starting to reform.

    Pieces of his head and body could be seen stitching themselves together within the ink.

    However, this was only for the better.

    "This corrupted soul; you know what to do with it, right?"

    [Hmmm¡­!]

    The Reaper sighed domineeringly.

    He became visible in Hans'' newly reformed eye.

    An eye he wished he never regenerated.

    A shadowy w made of pure death sunk into his remains, reaching past the physical into a ne only visible to Divinities.

    He gripped "something" in his hand.

    "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

    Hans screamed in agony.

    The Reaper paid it no mind. He slowly pulled his arm away, separating that "something" from Hans'' body.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

    His incessant screams were haunting¡­

    ¡­hauntingly pleasant to those he tormented.

    Hans'' soul was separated from his body.

    His screaming died down. His regeneration stopped as well.

    After all, there was nothing left of Hans in that body.

    It was just a husk.

    "Hans" was¡­

    SPLAT!

    ¡­crushed.

    His soul was ripped into a thousand pieces and forced to endure unspeakable agony before it waspletely erased from existence.

    That soul would never experience rebirth.

    At the same time, Rose borrowed Yggdrasil''s Branch from Elena and held it in the air.

    "This is why we fight," she said darkly.

    "Today, we lost ourrades, our brothers and sisters, because of our weakness. This tragedy will never be forgotten. It will be carved into our souls for the rest of eternity."

    The surviving members of the order, a measly numberpared to their beginnings, looked at Rose with quivering eyes filled with rage and solemnity.

    "However, we will not stop. I will not stop. This loss has reminded us of the reason we fight. To prevent such a thing from happening again, we cannot stop fighting."

    "Carelessness will only kill us, but weakness will ughter everyone we care for and wish to protect."

    "So I will stand tall and follow this impossible path until the day I can no longer stand. Until the day life can no longer tolerate my presence, I will fight!"

    SHIK!

    Rose gritted her teeth, mes alit in her eyes, and stabbed through the Hound Lord''s heart.

    Just as Ruyue did, in a much less shy manner, she eradicated the Hound Lord from existence.

    The air was silent for a moment.

    But the Judgement Order was not a flimsy group.

    "I will fight."

    "As will I."

    Elena and Ruyue spoke up first.

    "Allowing bastards to run wild isn''t my style. I will also fight."

    "Mm, you are talking like someone else right now, aren''t you? Though, your courage is admirable. I will naturally be fighting as well."

    "Mm, there''s no turning back now.

    Long Chen, Su Ren, Aishia¡­

    One by one, from the leaders to the members, those who called themselves the Judgement Order voiced their solidarity, their will to pick up their arms.

    "Good."

    Rose nodded contentedly.

    "Then¡­let us return home. We need to give our heroes a proper burial."

    It was taxing.

    It had to have been almost a year since they came to the shadow army.

    But now wasn''t the time to rest.

    They needed to keep moving for the people who were forced to rest in their ce.

    Making it back to Heaven''s Army.

    That was the start.

 Chapter 1162 Operation [10]

    Chapter 1162 Operation [10]

    Compared to Hans and the surprise arrival of Alexander, the journey back was a light stroll through the park.

    They only needed to conceal themselves. There was no need to worry about being discovered anymore.

    Those Supremes who left for the nearby camps didn''te back. Not even once.

    At first, they thought it was just a matter of time, but they were once again proven wrong.

    The most likely case was that they''d been killed by Alexander before he left, but they couldn''t be sure.

    And they didn''t have the energy to make sure.

    Instead, they focused their energy together to escape the shadow army.

    Rose was naturally still the center with her illusion power, but the rest didn''t ck.

    If an enemy could be killed silently, they were killed without fail. And if Rose ever felt taxed or needed aid, there were several people ready to provide her their mana and replenish her stamina through a variety of magics.

    Still, the distance they needed to cover wasn''t small.

    In the first ce, the shadow army was located near the boundary between Eien and the Abyss. It was separated from the main territories of the ring by a wall of illusory shadows that concealed it naturally, and it wasn''t easily essible to anyone.

    If not for this, it wouldn''t have been such a dangerous mission to infiltrate this area.

    Nevertheless, their skills could get them in, so they could naturally get out.

    The Executioner Vkos and his minions were left in the dark forest, only now bing aware of the terror that enveloped their main camp.

    The fury and humiliation they''d feel when they realized what happened could only be imagined, because at this time, Rose and the rest were far past their location.

    The journey took a little over three months, and was only elongated by the constant stopping they did to ughter the Nox on the way.

    After all, the further they got from the camp, the weaker their enemies got.

    Another method to quench their burning desires for vengeance revealed itself through this massacre, and they did not shy away from abusing it.

    Eventually, they skillfully passed through the shadow wall, finally arriving back in universe territory.

    The Blood-Drenched Wilderness was cleared of any Nox influence by Commander Huo''s soldiers several months ago, so there were no more enemy forces in the vicinity.

    The in was now filled with Heaven''s Army bases, to the point where it seemed a bit extreme.

    The area would absolutely remain imprable by the Nox with this kind of protection, but¡­

    The Judgement Order didn''t stop at any of these extra bases and rapidly made their way directly to the main fortress.

    After dismissing the lower members to rest, Rose took the leaders to Commander Huo.

    There was much to report.

    The old man''s quarters were in the same ce they always were, and he was hunched over his desk the same as always as well.

    His vision raised when he sensed their presence.

    ''Nine¡­''

    He sighed to himself, but didn''t speak, beckoning them in.

    "Commander," Rose said, saluting.

    The rest followed before she continued.

    "We have returned from the shadow army. The information collected has been collected into this jade slip. I suggest you look over it as soon as possible."

    "Mm," Commander Huo hummed, taking the slip.

    As he scanned his consciousness over it, his eyes became increasingly wide.

    The general schematics of a shadow army base camp, the troop allocation, secret ns for invasions on different areas, news that a Demigod and a Supreme were dead, and two more Supremes were potentially dead as well¡­

    Even thest piece couldn''t be the most surprising piece of knowledge.

    That spot belonged to¡ª

    "The Giant Domain."

    "Yes. That is their true target. Have moves already been made to counter them?"

    Commander Huo sighed.

    "It''s toote."

    "Toote?"

    Themander nodded sorrowfully.

    "The Giant Domain is gone. It vanished into thin air two weeks ago, and the remaining space turned into a piece of the chaotic Abyss."

    Information that struck their souls.

    An entire domain was just¡­gone?

    How could that be?

    No, if they came earlier, perhaps¡­!

    "Do not have stray thoughts. Even a Demigod squad was sent to investigate the phenomenon, and despite their findings, we were not able to find a solution. The domain was forsaken by the higher authorities after being deemed ''unsalvageable.''"

    "Then¡ª"

    "However, it is not all bad news."

    Commander Huo''s eyes warmed slightly.

    "Although I did not know your group was the cause, the death of the Hound Lord spread a month prior. Investigative forces were sent into the Shadow Army, and it has been determined that every Nox encampment on the Soul World boundary has been eradicated. There is not a single enemy remaining."

    The group''s eyes widened.

    That deed could only be attributed to a single individual.

    A mysterious red-haired man named Alexander!

    He didn''t just kill the Nox Supremes, he killed everyone in the camps they had been visiting!

    "I am aware that you have much more you wish to do, but calm those mes for now. Take rest and recuperate. After an event like this, overwork can be fatal."

    Rose nodded, looking at the weary faces that those around her were trying to hide.

    "Then, we will visit you again in 3 days."

    The group began to leave, with Elena giving onest bow to her mentor before following.

    Left alone, Commander Huo''s sighs only became drearier.

    They just got back.

    There were only nine left of their most powerful, so he couldn''t imagine what happened to their followers.

    At a time like this, they didn''t need to know.

    ''The situation is bleak.''

    The information they brought only worsened a bad situation, but this was for the better since information gave an opportunity to counterattack.

    Nevertheless, the current universe¡­

    If one took the perspective of an invisible camera, one that existed outside the bounds of reality, one could infinitely zoom out to see a picture of the entire universe.

    It was huge, far too huge for the human mind toprehend, and its shape was far from regr.

    Like bubbles put together in a strange chemicalpound-like pattern, some domains were bordered by the Abyss, while others like the Divine Realm and Infernal Realm were lucky to bendlocked by their neighboring sectors.

    The universe never maintained a proper shape for long, always shifting at an imperceptible level, but somews were never broken, such as the secure position of the aforementioned Sectors.

    Grand Heavens Boundary changed its appearance many times in the past.

    The universe known to those alive today once had nine Sectors.

    The first major change took ce when the Elven Domain was ruined.

    Its people were ughtered and its single survivor was still missing.

    The second came with Eden, which faced an equally cruel fate of total extermination.

    There was no life left there. Even those worlds left behind were dark and dead.

    And then came the third.

    The Giant Domain disappeared and the space it upied was swallowed by the Abyss.

    And before this disaster could even pass¡­

    The Beast Domain began experiencing the same fate.

 Chapter 1163 Talent [1]

    Chapter 1163 Talent [1]

    The Beast Domain wasn''t quite as developed as its peers.

    It wasn''t a matter of strength or anything of the sort. It was an unequivocal fact that the Beast Domain possessed more than enough strength to be revered, which was why they hadn''t been targeted until now.

    However, Beasts didn''t have a forgiving culture.

    Thew of the jungle that became a metaphor for the atmosphere of society came directly from their inherent culture, and thisw didn''t change at a universal scale.

    If one lost, one would die. If one spared their enemy, one would be regarded as weak and they''d likely fall to revenge in the future.

    When such aw prevailed, it was difficult to keep arge number of powerful people around at the same time.

    The difference between the Beast Domain and the other Sectors was this.

    Rather than arge quantity, they had limited quantity with extreme quality.

    Their experts had strength that couldn''t be matched by many, and most of the Beast Domain''s conflicts were internal as others refused to get involved with such crazy people.

    After all, if one lost the conflict, they wouldn''t be safe even if they retreated!

    There were more than a few stories of beasts chasing their enemies to the ends of the earth for the sake of redemption.

    This environment was nothing more than a concentrated microcosm of the wider universe, so there were never problems.

    If the beast experts could hold the lines on their own with power that matched an army, they wouldn''t find problems from external influences either.

    The Nox didn''t begin their attack recently.

    This was the start of the current war, but as had been found over time, the Nox''s interference in the universe started several hundred million years ago, a time before recorded history.

    The races dominant in their currently existing systems were those who survived the age-old storm.

    The fact that they remained dominant to this day was a testament to their strength, if nothing else.

    Therefore, it became clear that the Beast Race had several ways to repel invaders.

    Then, why?

    Why did they end up in their current situation?

    It started 3 months ago in the universal timeline, not long after the Hound Lord was purged.

    Unknown to the Judgement Order, news of his death spread starting that same day.

    Nox forces arrived on the second day to confirm it, but his death was felt by the many Lords under the Inhuman Emperor''s regime at the moment it happened, and realizing that a Demigod had died so quietly, they changed their ns.

    Originally, the Soul World was their next target.

    As those strategizing for Heaven''s Army predicted, the Nox did indeed find a way to circumvent the natural disadvantages they had in the domain of Spirits.

    If everything went ording to n, they would''ve used the full force of their strength and numbers to charge the frontlines guarding the Sector and make their way in somehow.

    Even if only a few of them made it, they''d shown clearly they had ways to destroy a Sector with just a small group of invisible soldiers.

    Yet, the Hound Lord''s death was significant.

    It had to be known that the number of Demigod casualties until this point of the current war was 0. None of the currently existing experts had died to this conflict.

    The Hound Lord was the first blood, and the universe was the one that took it.

    The Beast Domain was the next logical step.

    No, the Human Domain was, at least in the Nox''s eyes.

    They, by no fault to them, believed that the natural barrier around the domain had weakened with them.

    However, the Human Domain was special.

    First of all, Damien''s actions in No Return Pass had spread through the Nox armies over the past year and a frontal assault through Eien was taken off the table.

    Even if they were able to kill him, by the time they did so, the universe would''ve been long aware of their movements and formed countermeasures to stop them.

    Secondly, the barrier that was supposed to be weak was nothing of the sort.

    It was almost as strong as it was when it was first created, a phenomenon with no exnation.

    Regardless of the reason behind it, the fact remained that the Human Domain was far too difficult to conquer. At a time like this, when momentum was the most important factor, they couldn''t allow the universe a chance to retaliate.

    The beasts had many great ns led by the Golden Dragon n. The recently added ck Dragon n was also a powerhouse force that couldn''t be underestimated.

    However, in terms of actual experts, they were currentlycking.

    The Golden and ck Dragon ns lost arge number of their more powerful experts in their personal war, which dropped their usablebat power. On top of that, the forces under them were in simr circumstances due to simr circumstances.

    As mentioned earlier, the Beast Domain''s culture was ruthless, and this ruthlessness had nowe to stab them in the back.

    The Nox attacked with their everything.

    The armies of the Inhuman Emperor,plete with several hundred million lesser Nox and several tens of millions of their Higher counterparts, charged as if their lives depended on it, with no particr strategies in mind.

    Several worlds fell to their sudden actions before anyone realized it, and worst of all, they were extremely prepared.

    Every Supreme was blocked by an equal, and the Demigods who had to find a way to help without directly interfering were stumped without a way to fix the situation.

    Universal forces flooded into the domain to counter them, and the entire Sector became a war zone, simr to Calypto.

    And¡­

    They came back.

    The terrifying starships that could destroys with a single strike of their cannons came back in full force.

    In 3 months, the conflict couldn''t progress much, but the Nox were definitely winning.

    And as the months passed, this situation didn''t improve, mainly because of a single factor.

    Another strange situation that couldn''t be exined.

    Universal denizens began converting into Nox.

    Not willingly, but spontaneously as if they werebusting.

    When trust became a privilege, an army''s morale was hard to determine.

    With the passing of time, a small crack in the ss ballooned into something irreparable.

    By the time a year went by, only Beast Emperor Star remained untouched.

    But, that was a story for another time.

    Whether it was now or then, it was hard to determine whether the downfall the universe was experiencing was a product of their enemies, themselves, or something greater.

    However, it was certain that the Nox didn''t gain such a pronounced advantage on their own.

    The universe always had a problem with infighting. It was inevitable when its inhabitants had the privilege of free thought.

    For benefits, for survival, or for some other inexplicable reason, there wasn''t a small number of people who acted against the universe''s best interest.

    Unfortunately, this wasn''t a problem that could be solved unless martialw was imposed.

    And if martialw was imposed, those rebellious individuals could exploit the situation to attain a moral high ground and gather others to their cause!

    It was difficult.

    How could this problem be solved?

    How could the universe''s people be brought together so they could achieve survival for their homnd, even if it meant they themselves had to die?

    This impossible problem was imperative to solve.

    Otherwise, there really was no hope at all.

 Chapter 1164 Talent [2]

    Chapter 1164 Talent [2]

    Day: 735

    Kill Count: 210,000,000,000

    Damien no longer needed to go to the frontlines himself.

    His body clock marked the passing of 2 years, and in the past 370 days, he''d both perfected and mastered the technique of perfect cloning.

    It was a simple matter, yet the mostplexprehension Damien had to grasp in his entire life.

    After all, the answer was not in the clones themselves, but in the Void.

    Damien realized one thing about the Void.

    This entity absolutely had sentience.

    It wasn''t the kind of sentience a human possessed, but something greater and lesser at the same time.

    It could be considered simr to the system.

    The Apeiron Records had consciousness, but did not have feelings or free will. It was an entity with a single task, and its entire sentience was based aroundpleting this task with no extra parts.

    The Void, on the other hand, hadplete control of its free will and could act as it liked, as seen by the several times it decided to stop helping Damien to test him, but its sentience was simrlycking the fundamentalponent known as "ego."

    The Void was the Void. Its sentience could not speak or think, but it had a will to exert for a specific purpose that Damien was yet to understand.

    Therefore, when wielding its power, one didn''t need to intrinsically understand every small detail as one did for a concept like Universal Law.

    It was a matter of connecting with the Void. If the Void could understand his intentions, it could carry out anything he wished to happen.

    There was no limit to this power.

    The only limit was Damien himself.

    Damien had been taking steps towards the Void for several years now, even diverting the focus he put towards his primary Laws for this purpose, but he barely scratched the surface.

    Whenever he made great strides, it was because the Void itself aided him in doing so, with his personalprehensions rarely reaching such grand conclusions.

    He could easily define the Void in terms he knew, but those terms were too broad.

    "Everything and nothing at all at the same time, the supreme power that is at the foundation of all things."

    What could that be called?

    Existence was all humanity understood. Nonexistence was a concept brought about by the observation of existence and thus represented everything that couldn''t be understood.

    These two abstractions, these grand words that Damien''s mind inherently used toprehend the Void¡­

    Weren''t these the hidden elements he''d recently learned about? The things that separated the Void from what he understood?

    This was his first great realization.

    The fact that "everything within the bounds of reality, and everything outside of it" was still beneath the Void.

    That put this entity in a position that the human mind had no possibility of defining.

    Because what else was there?

    What could be greater than that?

    It was titled the Void on its own, not due to the intervention of another force, but what was the energy above both existence and nonexistence?

    As Damien pondered this, he slowly uncovered more and more about the Void.

    No, rather, he built a connection with it like it was a living being rather than a concept.

    And this allowed him to master what he''d been struggling with for so long.

    That happened at the 7-month mark.

    After gaining the ability to create a clone, all Damien had to do was practice until he perfected it.

    In the remaining 4 months of the year, he tried and failed dozens of thousands of times before he finally got a grip on the process.

    From there, it was just a matter of repetition.

    The current Damien could create as many clones as his mana would allow, and each of them could be granted strength equivalent to a percentage of his strength.

    He could share their sight, and even possess the body of a clone for a short period of time if he wished to. It was almost as if he''d actually created Avatars.

    Naturally, he had to deal with the natural limitations of this technique. Not every clone could possess his full power, and none of them could tap into the Void''s abilities.

    They also severely strained his spiritual world since he had to maintain a mental connection with each and every one to keep them operational.

    Yet, to deal with the current situation, these clones were more than enough.

    Tens of thousands of Damiens popted No Return Pass. During idle times, they were like statues, motionless and without an ounce of life.

    But when enemies came¡­

    Well, it could be imagined what kind of catastrophe an army of Damien''s would be, even without the Void.

    What was surprising was that even the 4th ss Higher Nox could be dealt with by these clones for the most part.

    Those who were too strong would naturally meet Damien''s true form, since he was always willing to entertain a good fight, but the rest were thrown away without mercy by his minions.

    The only other time Damien took the time to visit the battlefield personally was to Devour the remains the Nox left behind.

    Now, he had free time.

    Not free time to sit and wallow about his situation; he wasn''t so weak as to break down because of things like this anymore.

    This was free time to get stronger.

    SKREEEEEEE!

    SKREEEEEEE!

    SKREEEEEEE!

    One thing that never changed was the incessant screeching that made one''s ears bleed and one''s veins pop from annoyance.

    It was obviously a mental warfare tactic, but Damien treated it like white noise nowadays.

    Plus, though it didn''t have much effect, feeling the experience pouring into his body was great. At least these screeches had changed from a tactic to a true representation of the torture his enemies were receiving.

    ''Never mind. Focus.''

    Damien shook away his thoughts, suppressing them with the Mind Prison, before returning to the task at hand.

    He held several balls of differently colored light in his hand.

    Of them, one was ck with hints of white, flickering strangely, while the rest were bright, beautiful blue, pale green, earthy brown, and a more jade-like sparkling green.

    These were only the ones he was holding now, but those he''d been practicing with were far more.

    Fire, water, wind, earth, wood, lightning, light, darkness¡­

    Damien wanted to master every foundational element this universe had to offer.

    ''The Void''s processes are difficult to grasp, but trying to do so is putting the cart before the horse. If I want to get where I want to be, I need to focus on the basics.''

    Damien always had a problem with rushing. The Blessing of Foundation only had so much effect because he''d been rushing through any and everything he''d done until that point.

    He wouldn''t be so foolish any longer.

    The system gave him the roadmap when he was still a teenager with nothing to his name.

    The five elements, life and death, space and time, creation and destruction, and¡­

    ''Existence and Nonexistence that stand above them all.''

    It left that part out for the Damien who would only be overloaded by such information, but now that he knew it, the puzzle madeplete sense.

    He had Spacetime and he had Samsara.

    He had control over lightning, fire, and water, but he''d ignored those elements until now. He never tried to delve into the wood element since he already had life, and the others never even entered his eyes.

    This was the start of his problem.

    Yes, they meant nothing in front of his power.

    But that didn''t make them less important.

    As long as he wished to fulfill his grand ambition, he needed to bring these forces up to par and match them to his power level rather than ignoring him.

    Thus, his task for the remaining time he had in No Return Pass changed.

    The ck and white Heavenly Lightning, the Void me he refused to raise, and the absolute control of water he was granted by the Azure Dragon; these were his foundation.

    These were the elements he possessed already.

    Mastering them was just a matter of effort.

    The rest¡­

    He needed to find the way.

    He needed topletely figure out how to transmute the Void into any Law he wished to use, so he could eventually be its indisputable sovereign and controller!

 Chapter 1165 Talent [3]

    Chapter 1165 Talent [3]

    Elemental abilities were the mostmonly used of the powers avable to those in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    After all,pared to other, more elusivews, the elements were far more easily essible.

    Affinities were assigned by birth, and aside from some special cases, they were the determiners of one''s path from that point forth.

    How could just anyone be born close to a Higher Law?

    There were so few spatial practitioners, life practitioners, yin practitioners, or illusion practitioners in the universe that Damien''s party suddenly became an anomaly that made no sense whatsoever.

    But this could just be amounted to Damien''s luck and propensity towards the hypertalented.

    In terms of people he''d met throughout his life, those who resided in this universe were mostly elemental practitioners, including great geniuses like Atticus.

    Themonality made elemental research something the universe was greatly advanced in. The amount of information on how to progress, the different paths one could take, and several other factors was astonishing.

    Damien was now trying something that hadn''t been done before, but this research was still highly valuable to him.

    The Void me, which evolved from his previous Sunfire when hebined it with a Heavenly me, was something he attained through his means as a Celestial.

    Meanwhile, his lightning was acquired even more unnaturally before it was twisted into somethingpletely different through the devouring of a force as esoteric as Heavenly Lightning.

    The Azure Dragon''s water abilities were the same.

    Damien had little to no understanding of how to go aboutprehending the base elements naturally, but he trusted his intuition.

    The first step was to create them, to find the affinities.

    Controlling them with the Void was the final step he aimed for, but strangely enough, it was also his starting point.

    The light balls floating on his hand were created through the Void. They were the most basic forms of the elements he wished toprehend, dumbed down to the point where a ssless practitioner could grasp their usage.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    As he watched those balls floating on his palm, he removed excess elements like lightning from the equation and suppressed his unique variants so they would return to their base forms.

    ''It''s all about harmony. I can just use the same principles as always to decipher them. It''s a matter of bncing five instead of two.''

    It was easy to have a difficultprehension session where nothing was gained. This was the mostmon ending for such practice anyway.

    But since when was Damien someone who procrastinated?

    He wasn''t going to patiently wait forprehensions toe to him.

    The only beneficial part of building the fundamentals after bing an expert was one''s knowledge.

    The knowledge they gained from their time training, and the intuitive processing they could do because of the experience they possessed.

    Damien had long since understood the concept of harmony, a close rtive of the "Universal Flow" that had been following and guiding him his entire life.

    Space and Time existed on equal and opposite nes. They were the same, yet so far separated.

    Life and Death would refuse to cooperate when they met, shing and creating conflict, but Damien brought them together to form their true nature as Samsara.

    What was different this time?

    The five elements had a cycle of their own, and when more variants and different types of elementalws were added, this bnce never broke, it merely changed its proportion.

    Damien yed around with the light balls, changing their configuration several times.

    Light and Darkness had far more value than their peers, so when they swirled into the circle, everything was shaken.

    The light balls of other elements shrunk under their umbre and created a secondary cycle, almost like a moon orbiting a with Damien as its sun.

    Lightning was a variant attached to Fire in the same way Ice was to Water. Meanwhile, Metal held status equal to Wood, but tended to be excluded from more conventional systems due to the rarity of the affinity.

    It was fun to watch the light show. The way these elements reacted to each other when he tweaked them, the minute aggressions and joys they showed when in contact with their peers; the more he gazed at this tiny representation of what he was trying to create, the more it looked like¡ª

    ''¡ªa gxy.''

    It wasn''t quite that big yet, but at its current size, it wasn''t strange to call it a budding gxy, a collection ofary systems.

    If its higher counterparts were added, wouldn''t this puzzle fit his description perfectly?

    It was wonderous how many patterns existed in this world.

    All things were created equal. At the very base of all of these elements, weren''t they the same? Weren''t they all pirs supporting the universe''s flow?

    Nothing was different.

    ''That''s right. Nothing is different.''

    Was it supposed to be difficult toprehend?

    He thought so at first, but now, his mind was in a different ce.

    Damien sat down and concentrated, dismissing the light balls he was holding.

    ''I understand the base concept. Now I need to go one by one and seize control. First off¡­''

    ''Light.''

    His wife was a Valkyrie. He was more than familiar with the element already.

    It was better for him toprehend light and darkness first, so the creation of their umbre wouldn''tter disrupt his efforts.

    ''Light, huh¡­''

    He thought of Elena, of the mana she possessed.

    His mind unconsciously delved into the world of his memories, and his All-Seeing Eyes activated to their fullest capacity.

    Despite him viewing a moment from the past, he was still able to analyze Elena''s mana as if she was standing right in front of him.

    ''Wow¡­''

    Her path in Life Laws was extremely impressive, almost blindingly so, but she hadn''t been cking in her secondary element either.

    ''She focused on speed and attack power since she already has Life Laws to take care of support. This is good.''

    It was better for him toprehend strength-based powers as well, but he had no desire to copy his wife''s path.

    ''Hmm¡­no, I shouldn''t forget my purpose. I want to build these Laws to support my growth first and foremost. My goal should be a reflection of nature.''

    Rather than a light that overpowered the darkness, he needed absolute harmony.

    And that¡­

    ''That''s way easier.''

    Damien stopped thinking and got to work.

    Light and Darkness, a very, very small piece of Yin and Yang that manifested in the universe to give it life. They could be considered subsidiary elements of those Higher Laws, as they were formed as a product of their influence.

    When Light and Darkness came together, they created shadows.

    That was the path Zara once attempted to walk.

    Unfortunately, the Nox blood in her veins stopped her.

    The Demonic Providence she possessed did not allow her to continue developing positively in the Light path, forcing her to enhance her darkness to its greatest limits.

    She overcame its influence on her mind, but its influence on her body was nigh-absolute.

    But Damien had seen it before.

    She''d done it wlessly, turning her original shadows into their baseponents to create spectacr disys of battle.

    ''Good. A basis.''

    That was the end of theprehensive segment of this current task.

    There was no need to think anymore, because Damien knew exactly what to do.

    He gathered his mana, using Zara and Elena as references while adding several thoughts of his own about bnce and flow into its nature to morph it.

    Magically, mysteriously, the mana changed, its original spherical form bing shapeless as it was stretched about by his influence.

    Time passed.

    Only around 1 hour.

    Did he need more time than that?

    A murky grey energy sat in his hands.

    When he opened his eyes, he pulled his hands apart, and with their motion, they grey separated into ck and white.

    Light and Darkness.

    These two affinities could now be added to Damien''s list.

 Chapter 1166 Talent [4]

    Chapter 1166 Talent [4]

    Once the first step was taken, every following step became easier until his journey was just a walk in the park.

    Damien changed the way he viewed the elements.

    Instead of considering them separately, he followed the gxy analogy to give them position.

    Light and Darkness created a container. They were the gxy the rest could reside in.

    Fire was the first to popte this newly created space. Since Damien already had it, he could use it as a perfect start.

    Unfortunately, adding water now would ruin the bnce rather than help it, so he had to wait before he could have another easy step.

    Since he started with Fire, next was Earth.

    Earth was a word with many meanings, and this element was the smallest of them.

    It represented weight, strength, and fortitude, factors Damien had plenty of experience in.

    He''d controlled gravity and weight before with Vectors, but he didn''t make a connection with the Earth element at those times, so he couldn''t quite use these experiences as a baseline.

    Instead, the environment was his cue.

    No Return Pass was a great ce for this.

    The ground was densely packed with rock that far exceeded the strength of regr earth. It couldn''t be broken through normal means, and even Damien''s greatest attacks could only cause crevices that would heal in a few hours at most.

    The energy of Earth was extremely prevalent, and for Damien, whose perception was almost Divine, this was the greatest helper he could ask for.

    Once he realized its presence there wasn''t much to do.

    It was as if the second he sensed it, the affinity already became his own.

    Out of curiosity, he tried to move on to the next element, Wind, or Air, to see if it could be incorporated properly into the system.

    Of the things he needed toprehend, Wind was the one he was least familiar with.

    Rose had a wind affinity, but she hardly ever used it. Unlike Elena, Rose''s secondary affinity was useless when her first came into the equation.

    Illusions could create wind more powerful than her affinity could, and she could manipte them any way she wished to.

    However, what Damien needed was just a start.

    Once again, he made his way down memoryne.

    All he did was look at her mana.

    The All-Seeing Eyes didn''t seem to have developed since Damien hardly used them anymore, but in reality, they''d been growing steadily.

    The problem was that his enemies scaled much faster.

    When he was put in front of the Rose who was still a 2nd ss practitioner, everything was unveiled in full.

    He could see the truths within the mana. Runes flowed into his head, tranting into knowledge about Wind Laws he''d never encountered before.

    Thisw, focused on speed, dexterity, and sharpness, was like a perfect bncer for the qualities of Earth.

    Once he gained this information, it happened like magic.

    Two new elements appeared in his repertoire, Earth and Wind as one.

    There was nothing else to do.

    Metal was easy to extrapte from his knowledge of Earth and Fire. Wood was even simpler since he''d already mastered its greater form, and the rest was a matter of addition.

    The hardest part was maintaining bnce and making sure the elements never went out of order.

    The rest was finished in a matter of hours, but it took half a day to achieve bnce.

    When all elements finally reached their proper positions¡­

    Hong!

    The whole system shined and an ancient bell struck. It was an event that would''ve been celebrated grandly by the universe if Damien wasn''t in a ce so isted.

    Yet, Damien didn''t even realize how significant his achievement was.

    Huu¡­

    Damien let out a deep breath.

    He was hardly conscious during this whole process.

    His mind wandered somewhere else and his thoughts became vague. He intuitively moved from element to element and when he came back to reality, there was a fully formed system before him.

    Haa¡­

    Huu¡­

    His breaths were loud.

    All sound in the background drowned out.

    And his mind was pulled into that system.

    Every element became a of its own. He saw the shadows floating through space, separating into Light and Darkness before rejoining and drifting into the void.

    Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Metal, and Wood were the mains in the system.

    Lightning and Ice were more periphery like exs, and faintly¡­

    ''It''s vague, but there''s more.''

    He could expand this system.

    There was more to be discovered.

    The five elements weren''t the only things in nature. Because of their influence, many other forces came into being.

    At this moment, Damien realized that if he really wanted to, he could seize control over every single one of them.

    However¡­

    ''I simply have no need to.''

    There was now a new affinity in his status, simply titled [Elemental]. This was all the confirmation he needed.

    ''I''m finished.''

    He had to bring the elements up to theprehension he held for Spacetime and Samsara, but that was a timely process, not something he could do now.

    He didn''t have the ability to forceprehension yet.

    But he could absolutely draw the energy from the surroundings into his body through Devour to exponentially speed up his training.

    Damien stood up. He was already thinking about the next step.

    But the universe wasn''t willing to let him pass over his aplishment.

    Damien just did something hardly anyone in the entire history of the universe had ever been able to do.

    In a single day.

    If this didn''t enhance his Legend, then what would?

    Damien''s rank naturally increased to the next level.

    Because it wasn''t just his Legend that was affected, but his Divinity!

    Existence and Nonexistence were not universal forces. Therefore, of the things the universe could recognize, Damien had conquered all but the absolute highest level.

    The Divinity he was supposed to be building as he made his way through the nine revolutions, even he didn''t know the identity of it.

    But the universe seemed to have an inkling.

    Because it realized just how close he was now.

    6th revolution.

    Damien was officially a High Commander level expert.

    He used 2 years to rush to the top of the universe''s power levels.

    By the time he left, wouldn''t he be a monster?

    ''Well, that was the goal from the start.''

    Damien shook his head and refocused on the environment around him.

    The sensation of thousands of minds connected to his own enveloped him, and he regained sight of the battle situation.

    ''¡­these numbers are getting out of hand.''

    It had only been a day since he stopped counting, but the number already increased by several hundred million.

    ''Where are they even getting all these goons?''

    Damien really never questioned the number of Lesser Nox, attributing it to the Nox''s great poption, but it couldn''t be so simple.

    For them to send hundreds of millions or even billions of Lesser Nox to No Return Pass while still having the ability to force the universe''s forces into a corner was genuinely insane.

    ''Another thing added to the list.''

    It was getting long now.

    He wasn''t expecting a five-year sentence that pushed back the Abyss visit that would answer these questions, but now that it was here, he had to wait a few more years before answering them.

    Until then¡­

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''¡­let''s grind.''

 Chapter 1167 In The Shadows [1]

    Chapter 1167 In The Shadows [1]

    The Nox used three separate strategies in the destruction of Sectors thus far.

    The Elven Domain was destroyed through pure strength. Nothing was able to resist the technological warfare the Nox were able to utilize at the time, especially not the universe''s weakest race, the Elves.

    Eden was destroyed simrly, but the universe still had the chance to fight back. The strategy the enemy chose was all-out war. The Nox took a huge loss in their technology and lost the ability to deploy destroyer starships after this war, but they were still able toe out victorious.

    Nevertheless, unlike elves, who had colonies in several ces, the nt Races were essentially wiped out from the universe, at least in theirplete, organized form.

    Finally, the Giant Domain was taken with a strategy that still couldn''t be exined. The best exnation was that they "rewrote the programming" of those targeted World Cores so they would naturally destroy themselves.

    Like the Elven Domain''s fate, the Giant Domain was eradicated with no help from outsiders.

    Only those Giants who stayed in Hephaestus with Heaven''s Army or had simr situations survived.

    Of the three, this was the greatest hit to Grand Heavens Boundary.

    As Damien had mentioned several times, the Giants were the most secure race of them all.

    There was no such thing as a traitorous giant. Whether it was due to the mistakes of their ancestors or their natural disposition for justice was unknown, but there wasn''t a single member of their race that diverged from their instinct.

    justice was unknown, but there wasn''t a single member of their race that diverged from their instinct.

    The loyalty of their race,bined with their ability to freely change size, made them perfect for countless operations that couldn''t be entrusted to others.

    Without them, the operations of Heaven''s Army suffered quite a bit.

    The enemy''s new target was the Beast Domain.

    Their assault had continued for half a year now, marking a year and three months since Damien''s imprisonment.

    This time''s strategy once again changed.

    Unpredictability seemed to be their priority.

    Their attacks were sporadic, and their troops were hidden well in various ces, not out in the open like they''d been thus far.

    The pocket dimensions they created could hold an untold number of Nox Beings who were merely waiting for their turn to shine.

    In addition to capacity, their stealth wasn''t to beughed at. They weren''t impossible to find, but the difficulty was definitely there.

    The Nox had an advantage in deployment time and the element of surprise despite being the offenders in someone else''s territory.

    The teams who once guarded Eien retreated into the universe long ago and formed a new frontline that allowed them to utilize the spatial anomaly outside a portion of the Beast Domain to their advantage, somewhat leveling the ying field.

    This war was still fresh, as were the memories of the past three sectors that faced their tragic fates.

    Those fighting for the Beast Domain did not take the enemy lightly.

    They coordinated with Luxurion''s backline division to keep the momentum stable and disallow the Nox from using the full potential of their advantage, and so far, things were going ording to n.

    "We''ve discovered 16000 pocket dimensions thus far, but per your order, we have not made it known. Here is the information our scouts have been able to gather without revealing themselves."

    A woman with sleek ck hair and cold eyes handed a collection of jade slips to a stalwart old man, who nodded and dismissed her before turning his gaze towards them.

    "16000, eh? I''m afraid we are far further behind than expected."

    The man muttered to himself, but his words were answered regardless.

    "What are you nning to do? At this point, the information needs to be reported. Otherwise, things will not end well."

    The old man looked up, taking sight of the new woman who appeared in his quarters.

    "You are?" He asked without answering.

    "Is there a need to say?"

    "You¡­"

    The old man''s eyes narrowed.

    The woman was quite attractive, definitely at the top of the universe''s beauty standard, but all of her charm was faded to him.

    The color of her hair was the part that attracted his gaze.

    This crimson red color, deep like blood, the eyes that matched and were filled with a hidden light of cruelty unobservable to the normal eye¡­

    "A female Bloodlock? How rare."

    "Hm?"

    The woman''s eyes glowed menacingly.

    "Did you say something?"

    "It is not an insult, merely an observation."

    "One from a fool. Our family only cares for strength. This should be clear."

    Yes, the Bloodlock n was a family that put strength above all else, but it was also a raging patriarchy.

    Immortal Blood Asura created it in such a way where they were suppressed, even if they were direct descendants.

    Thisdy''s existence in front of him was already a miracle, since any woman who became this strong should''ve been long dead by now!

    "Why is a Bloodlock visiting me now? What interest do you have in our affairs?" The old man asked, changing the subject.

    "That''s simple. This information, shouldn''t it be given to a higher authority? Or are you hoarding it in hopes of monopolizing the glory?"

    The old man frowned.

    "Youngdy, that is quite a tall usation to be pulling from thin air."

    "Ah?" The Bloodlock woman hummed with a strange smile.

    "But is it really just air?"

    She mmed her hand down on his desk, looking into his eyes with those glowing and terrifying pupils of hers.

    "Personal benefits are reserved for the living. Take care to remember that."

    "¡­"

    The old man didn''t dare to meet her gaze.

    He didn''t know what kind of power she was using, but anything a Bloodlock did was sure to be merciless.

    If he met her gaze, he would undoubtedly die, regardless of his status.

    "Take your time to think. I won''t bother you until then."

    The woman''s gaze dulled and she stepped away, preparing to leave.

    But the old man was faster.

    "I must''ve been out of my mind. There is no authority more trustworthy than your Bloodlock n, so how about I give these reports directly to you?"

    Tap!

    The woman stopped in her tracks and turned around, smiling lightly.

    She swept her hand through the air and summoned the jade slips on the man''s desk into her grasp.

    "Hmm, I like people who know their ce."

    Without another word, she took her leave.

    The old man slumped into his chair, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

    It was a short and mostly harmless interaction. The way she talked made it seem like she was concerned for the universe and acting on the side of righteousness.

    Was it because she suspected someone was watching them?

    That woman was too terrifying.

    And whatever she was going to do now¡­

    "Haa¡­"

    It had nothing to do with him, but he was certain it would be a far worse oue than if he continued to act selfishly as he did.

    Several minutes passed in silence before the secretary from earlier came rushing through the door again.

    "Sir, there''s news!"

    "What is it?" He said, standing up and addressing her urgency.

    "There''s¡­"

    The secretary''s body trembled strangely.

    Why did she seem¡­

    "There''s a mountain of currency cards in the corridor outside! It amounts to at least several billion units!"

    Ah.

    It seemed his decision to fold wasn''t just a one-time thing.

    It seemed he''d picked a side.

    It seemed incredibly suspicious, but if benefits came as easy as this¡­

    ¡­wasn''t it okay?

 Chapter 1168 In The Shadows [2]

    Chapter 1168 In The Shadows [2]

    A woman stood aboard a covert starship racing through the starry sky, amunication talisman in her hand.

    "It''s done. With the Radiant Moon Guildmaster''s reports, we''ve gathered almost all present data on Nox pocket dimensions in the Beast Domain."

    Her red hair swayed lightly with her movements as she spoke, indifference in her eyes.

    "How should we proceed?"

    "Am envoy will see you soon. Pass the information to him. Further orders will be provided at ater date."

    "Are you pretending to be a robot for a reason? Don''t tell me I''m getting cut off already."

    "¡­"

    "There is nothing like that. Please maintain professionalism overms."

    "Ha, professionalism, you say? What a joke."

    "If you are finished reporting, I will be disconnecting."

    "Tch."

    The woman clicked her tongue as the talisman''s light died down.

    Her gaze traveled to the jade slips organized neatly on a table nearby.

    The total number was 62, and together, they held information on the location of what was potentially billions of Nox.

    Where this information was going to go?

    ''Nowhere.''

    Why would it go where it needed to?

    It was no longer a secret in the Bloodlock n which side they stood on. Those who opposed were killed quietly, and those who did not were forced under Mana Oath to make sure word never got out.

    Such a process was bound to have holes, but when Immortal Blood Asura personally supervised it, no such thing could sprout.

    This woman, who was in charge of gathering the information, was called Elyssa Bloodlock.

    As for her position¡­?

    ''Dammit.''

    She sneered to herself, gripping the arms of her chair powerfully enough to turn any normal material to dust.

    What else could her position be?

    She was just a tool.

    Since she was sent to do this work directly, wasn''t she the scapegoat they''d prepared in case they were discovered?

    It wasn''t an umon thing. Her mother died in a simr situation, as did the stepmother her father married afterward.

    The women of the Bloodlock n, as the Radiant Moon Guildmaster said, were suppressed beyond belief.

    On one hand, it was extremely impractical to deny them the right to strength when they could benefit the n as long as they were able, but on the other hand, when the n itself had other uses for its women, battle power tended to be irrelevant.

    As a woman, one could follow one of three paths in the Bloodlock n.

    Either they could find a n member to marry and keep their lives stable for as long as said n member was useful, be breeding tools used solely to produce more quantity for the n to use as they pleased, or, as it was in most cases, they would be cauldrons.

    Elyssa was thest.

    The reason she was granted strength was so she could eventually give that strength to someone else.

    Just like the others, she''d be brutally assaulted and then thrown away as a corpse with her Legend consumed by someone from the main lineage.

    This was the fate she wasn''t supposed to know, yet knew from the very beginning.

    However, there was no escaping from Immortal Blood Asura.

    Those who tried became¡­examples. The type that made sure none would ever dare follow them in their mutiny.

    ''How suffocating.'' Elyssa thought, frowning unpleasantly.

    She was too old to get enraged at it, but that didn''t mean she was resigned to it either.

    ''Just a bit more¡­''

    Her gaze went out the starship window.

    In the distance, deeply hidden in the twinkling ckness of the starry sky, was a ce she had yet to visit.

    One of the only camps in the Beast Domain that was guaranteed to resist her coercion.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    She felt a new presence enter the ship.

    ''They came faster than I thought.''

    She turned her gaze away from that ce and picked up the case of jade slips.

    ''I guess I need to make myself useful again. Let''s not return to the n quite yet.''

    With that, she went out to meet the envoy.

    Today was just like any other day.

    A constant battle for survival.

    ***

    In a distant corner of the Sector, Tian Yang''s eyes suddenly went up, his vision piercing through the atmosphere.

    ''Hmm, someone was watching?''

    He felt a gaze, but it disappeared before he could trace it.

    ''I wonder who it could be.''

    Tian Yang was also stationed in the Beast Domain, along with most of the Human Domain''s forces.

    Tang Lingzi, Drunken Old Immortal, Shangguan Yu, Bai Xieren, and a multitude of other familiar experts made up this camp.

    Of them all, this could be considered the one most influenced by Damien.

    They''d been tasked not with finding Nox pocket dimensions, but with raiding them.

    It was evidently a move from somewhere above to suppress those close to Damien, but they really underestimated who they were dealing with.

    Under Tian Yang''s guidance and with the aid of several Supremes from across the Human Domain and others they''d made connections with over time, this camp managed to destroy tens of pocket dimensions with more efficiency than anyone else.

    None of them felt aggravated because of their positions.

    Because those people at the top made the stupidest possible decision with this cement!

    In the first ce, Tian Yang was a rare Demigod who''d built a Divinity on Space Laws.

    Pocket dimensions? He could find them far easier than anyone else!

    They weren''t being suppressed at all. Rather, the "autonomy" that was supposed to cause their downfall actually helped them perform to their best.

    "Brother Tian? Something wrong?"

    A voice came from the side, bringing Tian Yang''s focus back to reality.

    "Haha, nothing much. I sensed a gaze, but it has already disappeared."

    "Hmm, this cannot be overlooked in the current climate. We will need to increase the number of patrol squads in the starry sky."

    "Mm, I agree. Nevertheless, why have youe this time? I assume it''s not just to have drinks with an old friend."

    "Hahaha, can it not be? So many years have passed that you''ve be an old man before I ever realized."

    "Are you not the same? Brother, your sight is a little narrow."

    "Never. You still dare underestimate me?"

    "You still dare to brag? I heard my disciple saved your ass when you met. Aren''t you ashamed?"

    "Tch. It is only your luck to have a disciple like him."

    Tian Yang grinned proudly.

    "Of course it is."

    His brows raised as he suddenly remembered something.

    "Ah, do you not have a genius of your own now?"

    The man sitting across from him smiled wryly.

    It waspletely different from his usually imposing demeanor.

    "You¡­do you have to brag so much?"

    "Hahaha! You were the one who decided topete! Do not worry. I will not discriminate against my grand disciple because she is your daughter. In fact, doesn''t this make the generations fit more urately?"

    "Tch, you expect me to call you father? Win a single drinking contest with me and I''ll consider it!"

    "Haha, you''re on!"

    Compared to other ces, the atmosphere between these two brothers was like a light spring breeze.

    But under their jovial facades were hardened experts well aware of the greater situation of the world without needing to be informed.

    Tian Yang, whose power matched the top experts of the universe despite his origins from the Human Domain.

    And the Golden Dragon Emperor, whose home was now being destroyed.

    Their conversation was light.

    But the purpose of their meeting was not this.

    Countermeasures needed to be formed.

    And other than those in this camp¡­

    ¡­not a single soul could be trusted.

 Chapter 1169 In The Shadows [3]

    Chapter 1169 In The Shadows [3]

    "What are your thoughts on the situation?"

    After a long while of idle conversation, Tian Yang finally brought up the most important question.

    "Realistically?" The Golden Dragon Emperor responded.

    "Mm. We don''t have room for ideals anymore."

    "Hmm¡­"

    The emperor furrowed his brows in thought for a moment.

    Speaking in ideals, in false bravado, was incredibly easy. He could say so many confident words about their fates in a single breath that all of them lost meaning.

    But if he had to think from the perspective of reality, based on the current situation and ounting for unknown variables that were guaranteed to pop up with an enemy like the Nox¡­

    "It is not appealing."

    This was also easy to say. Everyone could say this much.

    "Luciel has been unable to control the internal situation. More and more loyal soldiers are turning their backs under the false assumption that they can save themselves. The Nox themselves continue to alter their strategies to remain unpredictable, and their cohesiveness is unmatchable by beings like us."

    Luciel and Tian Yang became acquainted around the time of the Grand Assembly and had been working closely together since then.

    It was awork that also included those like Errysea and Director Alucard, those who were absolutely trustworthy.

    This rtively small camp in the Beast Domain didn''t enter many people''s sights, but it actually held greater significance than any of them could imagine.

    Luciel was well aware of the internal situation''s deterioration. He was the one working hardest to calm it and bring order into operations.

    However, his influence was waning.

    His tactics and strategies were great, and his ability tomand couldn''t be questioned either. In all regards, there was no logical reason to phase him out of the ruling position, but it was still happening.

    Was it because he was too righteous? Did his movements interfere with the interests of others?

    But with the Heavenly n supporting him and his goal being the salvation of their universe, just whose interest could be touched.

    "Their existence is no longer a rumor, eh? The highest level has been corrupted beyond saving."

    Tian Yang sighed wryly.

    Too much damage had already been done.

    "I willmunicate with Lucielter. Instead of trying to order something already corrupted by chaos, it is better to eliminate the roots and prevent the spread. We must begin a search for traitors."

    "Such is always the case. How many times have we assumed we had taken care of all traitors and secured ourselves? Unfortunately, there must be enough in hiding protected by those at the top. Now that the situation is spiraling out of control, they are taking the opportunity to show their fangs."

    Tian Yang nodded heavily.

    There weren''t many clues at the moment since Heaven''s Army was breaking down on several fronts at once, but information was something to be collected over time.

    "The only question is whether or not we can buy enough time to solve this without too many losses. Despite the negatives, I still believe we can save this ce with enough effort. We''ve done it before, haven''t we? Perhaps not on this scale, but the world being against us has never held us back before."

    They were idealistic words, the type they promised not to speak, but Tian Yang couldn''t help himself.

    He truly believed it.

    The universe was filled with rotten trees that bred an unending stream of rotten apples, but he believed in the premier seedlings that were growing under the protection of those who remained just.

    "Time" was still the greatest issue, but from the Prismatic Sun Holy Master''s reports, those geniuses who''d been taken for training were progressing steadily and would be ready to join the frontlines in another three years at most.

    Other than them, there was also the recently rising Judgement Order.

    That wasn''t an organization that could function with the younger generation alone. Many experts backed them from the shadows, including Tian Yang and the rest who had a deep personal connection with the group.

    More than misceneous geniuses, he believed in them more.

    Funnily enough, this belief came from their rtionships with his disciple.

    ''With the way things are going, he will undoubtedly surpass me within a few years.''

    That child was special, but as he continued to grow, it became clear to Tian Yang just how special he was.

    He wasn''t someone meant to mingle with people like them who had limited talent.

    He was someone who should''ve been born on a better ying field.

    But, his existence in the universe was more than just a blessing.

    Tian Yang knew very clearly why the Human Domain was still safe. The beautiful array of spatial traps he''d set was soplex that someone like Tian Yang could learn many truths from them.

    Even disregarding that, wasn''t there still no news from No Return Pass?

    Damien didn''t contact them, but the Nox hadn''t made any moves either. With their nature, they would''ve been ecstatically boasting if they managed to kill the universe''s greatest genius.

    Wasn''t it funny?

    A single man was out there ughtering more enemies than the strongest of Supremes active on the frontlines.

    His existence, their existence, and the existence of those who supported and sponsored their growth, that was the origin of Tian Yang''s faith.

    As for the older generation¡­

    "It doesn''t matter. For old bones like us, isn''t onest stint on the battlefield our ultimate wish? We just need to stay alive long enough for them to mature, then we can start running wild until the reins can be passed over proudly."

    The Golden Dragon Emperor hummed in agreement, but his expression did not lighten.

    Tian Yang shook his head and patted his shoulder.

    "Come, we have work to do. Regardless of reality, we must not lose hope in creating the fantastical future we dream of. Otherwise, we truly sumb to impossibility."

    The Golden Dragon Emperor sighed.

    "Haa, I understand this much. I naturally will not falter before this level of pressure, however¡­"

    He looked up at his old friend before lifting his gaze into the sky, where the Fate Star shone ever so brightly.

    It was alone in the starry sky. The twinkling lights nearby were far enough to form a massive void in the ckness of the night on this distant

    That ckness used to be empty.

    Now, it was filled up with too many hidden enemies to count.

    "If¡­"

    He looked back into Tian Yang''s eyes with absolute rity.

    "If worstes to worst, please take care of Astoria."

    Yang grinned.

    "I''m afraid you will have to look for someone more trustworthy."

    He stood up and gazed at the same star his friend watched with such a forlorn expression, his eyes bright with fire.

    "10,000 years ago, on that very star, we made a bet."

    The Golden Dragon Emperor raised his brow, his eyes widening slightly when the memory returned to him.

    Tian Yang smiled as he saw the man''s expression change and continued.

    "Xingtian might not be with us anymore, but I refuse to lose."

    "You''re a crazy bastard."

    "I earned an entire title due to that fact. It still has not left my status."

    "Hm. I am thoroughly convinced. A crash bastard will always remain a crazy bastard."

    The Golden Dragon Emperor stood up as well.

    "You want to win that bad?"

    Tian Yang shrugged.

    "You can judge that yourself. Then, have you decided to continue moping here, or are youing with me?"

    "Neither. I''m going back to Beast Emperor Star. There is much to be done."

    "Haha, bastard. Get out from behind that desk and join us on the battlefield."

    "Maybe next time. This one¡­well, is there any need for me toe?"

    The two men smiled.

    "Not in the slightest," Tian Yang replied with supreme confidence.

    As if he decided to break the atmosphere in a single move, Tian "It''s just a few tens of millions Nox, right? My juniors can finish them off with a pinky."

    They''d spoken for almost three hours now. Everything that needed to be said, and everything unsaid was understood.

    Their conversation was more for them to bring peace to their minds than anything else. Even people at their level could experience mental fatigue from time to time.

    Fatigue could be cleared away with good friends and spirit liquor.

    But the grass was still uncut.

    Before they could pull out the roots and rid themselves of this fatigue forever, they had to finish mowing the grass that dared pollute theirwn.

 Chapter 1170 In The Shadows [4]

    Chapter 1170 In The Shadows [4]

    Tian Yang and the Golden Dragon Emperor discussed much more than they let on, but they simply weren''t able to speak as openly as they needed to.

    The universe had too many dark forces moving around. It was toote for those forces to silence those who understood their existence, but if any clue to their identities was revealed, such niceties would be forgotten.

    The main concern for this war and many of those in the past never changed.

    It was always those inside that ruined things for everyone, not the enemy themselves.

    For a race that was defined by their straightforward belligerence, the Nox were surprisingly good at convincing those opposing them to switch sides.

    Whether it was out of fear or something more positive, many chose to believe in those who could show the kind of power the Nox could.

    But it was all a facade.

    The Nox were not united, nor were they a race with much prospect in the long term.

    Their only goal was to destroy. They''d been destroying and destroying for millions of years and had yet to be satiated.

    Grand Heavens Boundary was only their current target. If it ceased to exist, who could say they''d be docile?

    The Nox didn''t grow through building their society. They didn''t have the usual civilization structure people were used to, and judging them by such standards was a fruitless task.

    In essence, the only way for the Nox to develop was through constant destruction, and their developments only increased their destruction capability. Those factors like quality of living were meaningless to them.

    So what kind of foolishness was it to follow them?

    How could anyone think they could offer something better?

    How could anyone believe they''d actually survive and be granted what they were promised by those they submitted themselves to?

    It was mind-boggling, but in situations where people formed rtionships with the Nox, they didn''t tend to have the time or peace of mind to consider the facts.

    What they saw was one simple picture.

    These creatures were destroying the universe with frightening efficiency.

    Submitting oneself to them meant joining the winning side.

    When the other option was death, was there anything left to say?

    Nheless, it could be inferred that most of those influenced by their words were those without much to fight for.

    Nobody wanted to die, but people were more than willing to die for those things they cared for more than anything else.

    "Hmph."

    Immortal Blood Asura sneered to himself.

    In his mind, they were the foolish ones.

    Permanence was not a real concept. Nothing couldst forever.

    Those who submitted were weak. They were rabble who held no more meaning than the citizens he was mutating into artificial Nox to this very day.

    In the end, regardless of their position, they were meant to be cannon fodder.

    But cannon fodder that epted its ce was better than the little ants that still tried to kill the elephant even after it crushed their hive in a single step.

    He disdained them.

    He was different.

    He had power, power he gained for himself, and power that would only be used for himself.

    Whether the Nox won or the universe won, his survival was guaranteed.

    His enemies never survived encounters with him. The situation was definitely restraining him, but those he wished to deal with could never escape his grasp.

    "The Great Angel''s influence in Luxurion is decreasing. Within two years, he will hold no power in Heaven''s Army."

    "Elyssa Bloodlock has finished her duty. The information is avable for viewing at any time. In addition, the Void Old Immortal and Golden Dragon Emperor met. They discussed regr nning and alluded to the existence of traitors, however, it is unclear how much they know."

    Immortal Blood Asura hummed, acknowledging the two people who gave him their individual reports.

    "Other news?"

    "Yes, Sir. The Artificial Soldier Project is progressing steadily. The army will be avable to deploy in 4 years at thetest."

    "4 years?"

    Immortal Blood Asura frowned. That was not nearly fast enough.

    "Tell them to elerate the process by any means. A defective product is eptable, however, it must function for a duration."

    "Yes, Sir."

    The reports continued, listing the situation in Eien as well as the Nox''s progress into the Beast Domain.

    As they continued, the type of information these two provided became more and more frightening.

    "Heaven''s Army''s current deployment ns are¡­"

    "Those in executive positions that can be pulled over are¡­"

    "These are targets for elimination. Their removal will¡­"

    "There is activity on Death Emperor Star. Hidden Death Valley has begun¡­"

    "We have received news from the Abyss¡­"

    Information nobody should know was presented like candy. Immortal Blood Asura listened with an uninterested impression until the very end.

    "No Return Pass has not been breached."

    His brown twitched slightly, imperceptibly.

    "That is enough. Return to your duties, and do not raise suspicions."

    "Weply, Lord."

    The two, one man and one woman, turned to exit the room.

    "Pathetic."

    Of those in the universe, perhaps they were the most pathetic.

    From their positions high in their ivory towers to mere secretaries reporting to him. To think people like them could be conquered with worms no bigger than a fingernail.

    Gerard Wright and Anastasia Night.

    These two respected and dignified Heaven''s Army Great Commanders were nothing more than puppets now.

    If not for them, how could his ns progress so smoothly?

    It was trulyughable for people like the Golden Dragon Emperor and that old pretender from the Human Domain to think they could understand the situation.

    There was only one thing Immortal Blood Asura could never gain control over.

    ''That pest¡­''

    He never thought a grudge he dismissed when his grandson died and picked up half-heartedly to save face after his son''s death would grow to this point.

    He never thought a measly junior could cause him more annoyance than the enemies he viewed as his equals.

    Frankly, that young man should not have been alive.

    He only stood there in No Return Pass, surviving through some unknown means, because he was lucky.

    If there weren''t so many eyes¡­

    If there was even a single lull in that surveince¡­

    ''Hmph.''

    He still didn''t need to get caught up on that junior.

    He had no assistance in any way, and perhaps he''d been able to use tricks to survive for this long, but tricks were also temporary. He would die soon enough.

    Plus, it simply didn''t matter.

    He was in No Return Pass right now. essing that ce was not simple and couldn''t be done covertly, so Immortal Blood Asura couldn''t touch him either way.

    If he somehow managed to miraculously survive through those five years, then his death would ur in the sixth.

    Immortal Blood Asura''s focus needed to be elsewhere.

    "You arrived early."

    "We did not set a time. I came when it was convenient."

    "No matter. Let us depart."

    "Hmm."

    A man appeared in the corner of the room without a trace, and together with Immortal Blood Asura, he shed away from Blood Asura Holy Land entirely.

    He was naturally the Karmic Emperor.

    And the purpose of this visit¡­

    ¡­was to discuss the beginning of the second phase of their grand n.

 Chapter 1171 In The Shadows [5]

    Chapter 1171 In The Shadows [5]

    The universal focus on the Beast Domain didn''t mean they left other avenues untouched.

    Hephaestus was always under maximum security, and Soul World and the Beast Domain both took a portion of Heaven''s Army''s deployable forces.

    There was only one benefit to the destruction that had taken ce thus far.

    With lessnd to protect, the thinly spread armies could be distributed better. There weren''t nearly as many holes in the general defense scheme of each Sector.

    At least, not unintentional ones.

    "What do you think you''re doing?! Are you trying to help our homnd fall faster?!"

    Luciel''s angered voice boomed through the conference room.

    "We have more than enough forces stationed in Hephaestus and the periphery Sectors. Why should we bring so many experts into the Divine Realm that is already secure with geographical advantages?! Aren''t you just trying to weaken our forces even more?!"

    "Calm down. Isn''t it obvious why we have to station our people here? If Luxurion ispromised, what will happen to the army? We are rightfully the division that deserves extensive protection."

    The one who spoke was a man named David Joyce. With no particr influence backing him, it was unknown how he made it to the top of the logistical sector, but his position was generally solid.

    Notes of mockery and sarcasm, barely noticeable,ced his tone as he addressed Luciel.

    "You are overestimating them. They only took the Giant Domain because we were unprepared. Since they''re using a frontal assault on the Beast Domain, we can just fight them with force. Why should we be scared?"

    "Ha!"

    Luciel couldn''t contain himself. How could someone say something so preposterous with a straight face?!

    "If a full-force assault is what we need, then we should send you directly to the frontlines. What''s the point of being warmongering if you can''t even back up your ims? Come, show us what you can do!"

    "Haha, do not joke around. I am not a frontline soldier, but the backing they rely on to move. In this ce, I can be put to greatest use. Don''t you know that as well?"

    Luciel curled his lips.

    This was a man clear of his position, yet with no problem being a tool for others. In fact, he even took pride in it!

    "Is everyone in agreement with his views?"

    He nced at the faces of each of the 30 men and women who were present. Of them, some looked away in shame, some stared at him confidently, and some merely shook their heads.

    Regardless of their standing, none of them were willing to oppose that man''s ruling.

    "I understand," Luciel sneered.

    "You asked what would happen to the army of Luxurion waspromised, right? I guess we''ll find out sooner than expected."

    He mmed his fist on the table and stormed out, unwilling to interact with those people any longer.

    They watched him leave with a variety of expressions, most showing condemnation.

    That man who was once respected by all, how did he reach such a low in just a year and a half? It was embarrassing to watch.

    Luciel didn''t care for their opinions in the slightest.

    He walked through the halls of the Sky Castle with a ruthless and unchanging expression. His eyes didn''t move from their position, but his awareness took in everything around him.

    For every proper member their group had, there was a corrupt counterpart ruining every effort made.

    It was a situation that deteriorated far too quickly.

    It took five minutes for Luciel to reach his personal office, where he sat down in his chair and sighed.

    His unweing expression faded, reced by a pair of furrowed brows.

    ''It''s worse than expected. Did something happen?''

    They''d been phasing him out subtly for a while now, but they''d never tantly disrespected him like this.

    David wasn''t just proposing to move arge number of Supremes and Executioners into the Divine Realm to "protect" them, he had decided on a wide variety of radical changes in the army''s deployment that would, without a doubt, leave room for countless ways for the Nox to usurp them.

    This kind of nning wasn''t meant to save the universe anymore, but to build an ivory tower where the highest level could live in ignorance as if they were still at the top of the world once the universe died.

    Luciel wasn''t even "sir" anymore, just an average member of the council.

    They did not address him or treat him with respect, and his suggestions, regardless of their value, would be rejected verbatim.

    ''He was right. This cannot go on.''

    Luciel was calm. His mood was never as extreme as others assumed of him.

    He had to make them think that way.

    If they understood he was moving against them in the dark, they would make sure he lost all power in this ce, and that absolutely couldn''t be allowed.

    He stood up, approaching a nearby wall.

    He ced his palm on its surface and infused his mana, allowing Luxurion to read his unique mana signature.

    The wall vanished, making way for him to enter a long corridor before rematerializing behind him.

    Luciel walked the corridor until he reached the small room at its end.

    "How much time is remaining?" He asked into the air.

    "The preparation time for an operation of this scale is extensive. We will need at least five years to bepletely stable."

    A response came as a figure of blue light appeared before him.

    "Five years is too long. At this rate, we will not evenst three."

    "If it could be shortened, it would have been shortened. At most, it can be done a year early, but no more than that."

    Luciel frowned. If that was the case¡­

    "Sacrifices need to be made."

    He obviously didn''t want to do it, but there was no other choice. If they wanted to regain momentum somehow, they absolutely needed this n to seed.

    "Send news to the rest. Slowly retreat to the Divine Realm. We will begin our offensive soon."

    "You are¡­"

    "Do not say it. They will understand. If they do not understand, they are free to make their own choices."

    The blue figure nodded silently and did as they were told. A message was transmitted throughpletely untraceable frequencies that even Demigods wouldn''t detect easily, reaching a decent number of people in time.

    Luciel copsed into a nearby chair, his head in his hands.

    "Tell me, what choice would you make?"

    "Would you like an emotional answer, or my base instinct?"

    "You know."

    "I would make the same choice. However, you are still too kind."

    "Hmm¡­"

    A frown formed on Luciel''s face, but he was somewhat thankful that they didn''t tell him the rest.

    He knew what it was.

    The most effective move to gain back the momentum, he understood it well.

    "Tell me one more thing."

    "What would you like to know?"

    "Who is the ruler here?"

    "¡­"

    The blue entity was silent for a second before responding on protocol.

    "ording to the traditions of the Heavenly n, full control over Sky Castle Luxurion has been granted to The First Angel, Luciel."

    The room was silent.

    Both parties were already aware of this information.

    So the reason Luciel asked at all¡­

    "Brother, you were right," he sighed.

    "Sometimes, it really is easier to just be the demon."

 Chapter 1172 In The Shadows [6]

    Chapter 1172 In The Shadows [6]

    At the top of the socialdder, the power one or two people could hold was so immense they could control the flow of the entire war, but under that ce of status, one or two people were a speck of dust in the expansive universe.

    Zara and Alea started traveling together when Damien left Apeiron, and with him practically plundering the entire Human Domain of its worlds and poption, they weren''t really able to stay there.

    The two were, in essence, on a journey of discovery.

    They wanted to find out who they were, who the Divine Emperor was, and what connected them so perfectly.

    But how was one to do that?

    They had no clues.

    Unfortunately, Apeiron didn''t hold any secrets to their birth. Their mothers were not natives of this and merely stayed here to avoid trouble during the war, and they left no trace of their existence when they died.

    So, how were these two supposed to find out the forgotten history that led to their creation?

    The only option was to grow themselves.

    They, as beasts, and as possessors of Nox lineage, had an extreme propensity for ancestral memories.

    Their blood and souls provided them the answers they sought as long as they continued to grow.

    Therefore, they left the Human Domain with confidence and started attacking the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    After all, there was no better growth supplement than this magical system.

    Alea was already at an age where the Dimensional Leaderboard didn''t mark her achievements, however, she was able to ess its Mystic Realms and Challenge Gates all the same.

    Surprisingly, they had yet to encounter much trouble.

    It was a grueling journey, but their enemies were mainly in the environment rather than other people. Those who chose to be their enemies did so due to grudges they formed here, not unrted incidents.

    Essentially, Zara''s identity remained hidden all this time even though she''d been so tantly exposed by Immortal Blood Asura and the rest.

    A part of it was because of her and Alea''s connection. As the duo grew, their strength became more entwined, their synergy exploded, and the Nox lineage in their blood was concealed underneath its splendor.

    Luck could definitely be attributed to a portion as well, but it couldn''t be done with that alone.

    Someone was surely helping them from the shadows, allowing them to do as they pleased without being discriminated against and targeted for their lineage.

    It was extremely fortunate.

    And thus far, they had yet toe in contact with the war.

    The duo remained mainly in the Divine and Infernal Realms because the concentration of experts also meant the hidden realms in these Sectors were far more difficult and rewarding, while asionally visiting Soul World to reflect on the ethereal side of things in a better environment.

    They heard of the Giant Domain''s copse, of the Beast Domain invasion, and of the Soul World being saved by the Judgement Order''s machinations, but they hadn''t reached a point where they could join the fun.

    "You''re being too stuck up. We should fight if we can fight. Secret realms are good, but without the atmosphere of war, we won''t be able to reveal the biggest secrets. You know that."

    Alea spoke convincingly. She was an advocate for their joining the war effort, but Zara never let it happen.

    "I do know that, but we aren''t stable enough. Do you think I haven''t noticed? Your Demonic Providence has been surfacing recently."

    "That¡­"

    "There''s nothing else to say. I''m also struggling to contain it as ofte. If we enter war in this state, it is hard to say whether we will retain control of our minds."

    That was the main problem.

    They couldn''t tell whether their Nox bloodline was trying to bring them closer or push them away, but the more time they spent together, the more forward their Providences were in trying to seize control.

    "Are you sure we have to suppress them? Trying to connect might be the answer."

    Alea suggested something insane, but not unheard of.

    "I''ve been having the same thought, but how? We don''t have anywhere to sit and let our bloodlines loose. And if something goes wrong? Who is there to bring us back?"

    "Isn''t that obvious? Let''s do it in the Sanctuary!"

    "That''s even more impossible. I refuse to lose control in front of Damien. If he gets involved in our problem, it will only hinder his path. If there is one thing I will never be, it''s a burden."

    "You''re so stubborn! Why can''t you just ept help when it''s so readily avable?!"

    "If we rely on help to get over the most important step, aren''t we just weaklings who can only hug other people''s thighs? I thought you were a Beast Empress, but were you really just the Emperor''s woman?"

    Alea''s eyes went cold.

    "Never call me that man''s woman."

    "You understand what I mean."

    Alea frowned, but she really couldn''t say anything back.

    The two of them could practically sense each other''s emotions, and they shared their pain in this time. Their Demonic Providences bounced off each other to strengthen, so what one of them knew, the other one did as well.

    If they couldn''t maintain control, they''d be killing machines for the Nox until someone put them down.

    The only man who could control their lineage couldn''t be contacted at all, and if they lost control, they''d only hurt him and others they cared about.

    There really was no logic supporting Alea''s words.

    However, she still wanted to do it.

    She understood the consequences, but they didn''t scare her away.

    "Zara, it''lle to us no matter what."

    Zara nced at her sister in confusion, but Alea kept going.

    "You''ve sensed it too, right? I know what you''re running from, but we can''t avoid it. We can only try to make sure we don''t lose too much when the timees."

    "You¡­" Zara said, her eyes widening in surprise.

    "Did you think you could keep it to yourself?" Alea smiled.

    "Our minds are connected, remember?"

    "Haa¡­"

    Zara had no choice but to sigh.

    When did she find out?

    This sister of hers liked to y dumb, but she was really too perceptive for her own good.

    "The Beast Domain¡­" she muttered.

    "Hm?"

    Zara looked up with a frown.

    "The Beast Domain, ''that thing'' is there, isn''t it?"

    Alea smiled.

    "It is indeed. Are we finally going to have some fun?"

    "If you lose control, I''ll kill you myself."

    "I couldn''t ask for anything else."

    Zara stood up. Her height was many inches above her sister''s, and despite their age difference, she was the one who took the "older sibling" role.

    "Fine. I hate you, but find."

    "Hehe, I love you too."

    Alea wrapped her arm around Zara''s as the woman rolled her eyes.

    Together, they set off.

    At this time, more than nine months had passed since the Nox started invading the Beast Domain.

    Their strategy never changed, using surprise movements from hidden forces to overwhelm the enemy and gain rapid victory.

    Heaven''s Army was still unable to respond properly. No matter how much time passed, urate information about the Nox''s locations and ns never seemed to exist.

    However, there was something they''d noticed.

    As ofte, the Nox stopped aiming for the people with as much animosity.

    Their target had changed.

    Instead of people¡­

    ¡­they were targeting the very worlds they resided on.

 Chapter 1173 Contemplation [1]

    Chapter 1173 Contemtion [1]

    Their ss changed again.

    It wasn''t just the mindless variants anymore. 4th ss Nox invaded No Return Pass like their numbers were infinite.

    But was there really a difference anymore?

    The current Damien viewed the average 4th ss the same way he viewed the rest: enemies that would die with a single sweep of his hand.

    The only reason there wasn''t a truly infinite stream of Higher Noxing after him was because an infinite stream simply didn''t exist, but that didn''t mean they didn''t try their best to put pressure on him.

    His growth was severely underestimated.

    In two years Damien already became someone no number of 4th sses could match up to, and as the third year progressed, he became even greater, an existence that could only be revered by those below him.

    No, even those at his level could only look up in wonder.

    During the third year in No Return Pass, Damien advanced again to his 7th revolution, a product of continuous effort towards his Voidprehension.

    The nature of his Divinity was slowly bing more obvious.

    And the nature of Divinity itself was already unraveling.

    Divinity.

    An intrinsic and esoteric concept, any definition mortals tried to give it had no fate but untruth.

    At the end of the day, most people decided to regard Divinity as a "higher state of existence" and leave it there.

    What point was there in trying to understand something out of reach?

    However, practitioners never gave up. One could even consider the path through the first 4 sses and 9 revolutions a practitioner''s attempt to give definition to Divinity before reaching it.

    Damien never really gave thought to the Divine.

    the shattering of his mind.

    That was one of the only instances in which Damien saw a Demigod unaffected by the Divinities couldn''t interfere with the universe''s affairs unless they were dealing with those at the same level. Because of this, it was hard to see the power of a Divinity up close.

    There were only a few times when he got a glimpse.

    When the Nox Demigod in the Trial World used its True Voice on him, he experienced the shattering of his mind.

    That was one of the only instances in which Damien saw a Demigod unaffected by the universal restriction.

    He never thought about why, but the answer became clearter.

    That Demigod was not full.

    He was a fragmented Divinity, and naturally, he no longer qualified to be restricted by thosews.

    The thing was, when he took this train of thought to its end, he came to a tragic realization.

    ''Didn''t the old man also fight Xue Yebai back then?''

    It was only for show, to give Damien and Ruyue a glimpse at his power, but he''d definitely made a move that should''ve been illegal for him.

    Tian Yang was, without a doubt, a Demigod.

    Then, the only conclusion was that his Divinity was also fractured.

    Damien frowned as it hit him. He went off track thinking about his encounters with Divinity, but he didn''t expect toe across such an ufortable truth in the process.

    Nevertheless¡ª

    ''It''s not something I can worry about now. I''ll talk to him about it when I get out.''

    Damien erased his thoughts about his encounters with Divinity. That wasn''t something he needed to focus on now.

    What made him curious was: why did they stay?

    The Divinities in this universe were powerful, but they''d cut off their path to power. They abandoned their ims to Godhood to remain here for unknown reasons.

    Some merely wanted power, while others were actually righteous people. Some had personal desires they had yet to fulfill, but the majority¡­

    It didn''t make sense why there were so many of them.

    The Heavenly World was the true stage for Demigods.

    Damien didn''t consider those in this universe true Demigods. He considered them iplete, whether by their own design or some cruel fate.

    Therefore, he refused to use them as a model for what he saw as Divinity.

    He waited patiently until he came across the concept on his own, so he could understand its essence without the swaying of biased opinions.

    So then, as a 7th revolution master, someone already on the cusp of reaching that level, what did he see Divinity as?

    ''It is nothing more than proof.''

    One''s Divinity was the universe''s way of acknowledging their achievements. Nothing more, nothing less.

    At 4th ss, practitioners underwent Universe Baptisms, and when the time came to ascend to 5th, they underwent Cosmic Rebirth.

    What was the difference between these two processes?

    ''There isn''t one.''

    They were, in essence, the same thing. The elevation of a practitioner''s body and skills to match the ascending quality of their souls.

    Universe Baptism put one on the path towards discovering their soul, and Cosmic Rebirth finally gave them the direct connection with it they''d been seeking.

    The "Legend" all practitioners sought to grow as a lower existence, that concept merely morphed into a Divinity when the time came.

    Divinity, a reflection of oneself, proof of one''s existence.

    Why was it important to realize this?

    ''In fact, it''ll never not be important.''

    For most, this realization was one that allowed them to realize their wholeness. The realization that Divinity was just another step in the path to power allowed people''s minds to grow and their horizons to broaden, so that they could be the best versions of themselves for the future.

    However, to Damien, it was simpler than that.

    He always had the desire to exin things.

    He thought rationalizing his power was the best way to understand it and utilize it to its greatest capabilities, and to an extent, he was correct.

    For powers like Universal Law, such deep, literal understanding was the most perfect way to seize control.

    But Damien was a controller of the Void.

    He was its Apostle.

    He always thought he needed to give the Void definition. He assumed this was his only path towards Divinity.

    Yet, he was incredibly wrong.

    After forming the five elements, he learned everything he needed to as a lower existence.

    In the next year, he exclusively used those elements. Every single day, during every single wave of hundreds of millions of enemies, he refined those elements into a force that could support him even without his greaterprehensions.

    He brought them to the level they needed to reach.

    And with that, hepleted everything he needed to do as a lower existence.

    It was a simple truth.

    If Damien was willing to limit himself and lock his potential, he could ascend to Divinity right now. Thest two revolutions were unnecessary.

    ''But they exist for a reason, right?''

    There wouldn''t be two steps remaining if it was the right path to ascend immediately.

    If he was a regr lower existence, then maybe. Maybe what he already had would outshine every other Demigod in this universe and he could be content with that.

    But his path was never normal.

    "Fusion."

    This was his next goal.

    To fuse the elements into a single force, and then to fuse Spacetime, Samsara, and Elemental force into a singr energy.

    The day he aplished that, he would be a Supreme.

    He was around half a year into the third year now.

    Did the number reach three hundred billion? It was somewhere around there, but he didn''t care to keep more than a rough estimate.

    After all, it was fun to see the number go up so unreasonably.

    Though¡­

    ''No matter how things look here, I think it''s a shit show outside.''

 Chapter 1174 Contemplation [2]

    Chapter 1174 Contemtion [2]

    Damien didn''t have much of a perspective on the outside world.

    He didn''t have much contact with it, after all.

    In truth, he could solve this problem by going to the Sanctuary, but he didn''t do so for a myriad of reasons.

    First and foremost, he didn''t know how his mentality would be affected byfort.

    He wouldn''t break down, he knew he was secure enough to confirm that, butfort was still the primary cause of contentment.

    He wasn''t allowed to be content right now. The second he feltfortable, his motivation would take a hit whether he liked it or not.

    The people he loved were the main providers of his motivation, but they also made him want to put everything down and rest.

    The Sanctuary was simply toofortable.

    If he wanted to, he could take all his people there and be safe from the current conflict.

    The Nox could not reach the Sanctuary.

    Why else would it be called that?

    The haven he was building was not for himself, but for others. That was why he always stayed away from its development and allowed its people to decide their direction for themselves.

    The second reason was more logical.

    Universal Law was never able to bind the Sanctuary, but the current Oath required him to remain in a specific area.

    He couldn''t be sure if leaving for the Sanctuary would break this Oath or not.

    He would be safe from its consequences, but what about everyone else? If his Oath was broken, everything he''d been fighting for would go down the drain.

    The final most important reason was the simplest.

    It was fear.

    He didn''t want to know the reality of the situation. He didn''t want his hopes crushed by what was happening. He didn''t want to see his people harmed and dested by the situation.

    It was selfish, but selfishness was necessary at a time like this.

    When he needed to know, he would allow himself the privilege, but until then, it was banned from him.

    The rational mind unhindered by his emotions locked in the Mind Prison made this decision, and he stuck by it.

    There were plenty of other factors, smaller things that didn''t have any value without the three main reasons, but the end conclusion was that Damien couldn''t make contact with the outside world.

    His knowledge of its situation was solely being provided by the worlds entering his authority.

    The Soul Emperor wasn''t finished after the Giant Domain.

    Considering the amount of worlds that came from that ce over time, the Sector was guaranteed to not exist anymore.

    The Giant Race was exterminated, which was a huge blow to the universe.

    Afterward came worlds from the Beast Domain, but there were far fewer of these than the previous.

    More often, the worlds he bound in the Beast Domain¡­

    ¡­were directly destroyed.

    It wasn''t a daily urrence, but while he was spending his second year learning the clone technique, it wasn''t rare for him to experience sudden bouts of extreme pain.

    This was caused by the destruction of World Cores he was connected to. It was simr to the torture Hassan experienced but far worse.

    ''Honestly, I don''t know what the Beast Domain''s fate is. I can''t be certain if the Sector is alive or dead, but the situation shouldn''t have reached its worst.''

    There was no news from Gntis, who controlled the ck Dragon n in the Sanctuary, which meant the remnants in the outside world hadn''t been exterminated.

    Those guys would''ve absolutely made a fuss otherwise.

    On top of that, he could still feel Astoria''s existence. Their bond of master and disciple, supported by the Void when it titled her, made certain he knew her fate.

    She was still growing steadily, but there was no shortage of times she almost fell beyond the boundary of death.

    Finally¡­

    ''It''s looking terrible. What are they doing out there?''

    Was it ever this fast?

    The previous wars raged for tens or hundreds of years before finallying to an end, usually with a pyrrhic victory as their conclusion.

    Yet, in a mere two or three years, the remaining universe had lost so much.

    ''No, in reality, the war started a long time ago, before the Elven Domain''s destruction. It''s just been so slight that nobody considered it apocalyptic until now. Frankly, we were fooled.''

    His knowledge of Nox history and power became moreplete as he devoured more and more of them, and whenbined with his existing knowledge of the universe''s forgotten history, he came to a frightening conclusion.

    ''We never had a chance to begin with.''

    The Nox had been a force of opposition since a time when the universe was a hundred times its current size.

    With time and constant pressure, they reduced the existing universe to its current size and allowed the Abyss to expand.

    How could the little piece of the universe, thest piece, put up any resistance?

    ''Should I alter my ideal path?''

    The situation, from a logical standpoint, was utterly hopeless.

    Yet, Damien didn''t give up hope.

    He remembered what the Second Primal Sovereign told him.

    It could very well be considered an end, but every end was also a new beginning.

    ''The key¡­''

    Damien suddenly had a wild thought.

    ''Am I the key?''

    The universe could not be saved.

    ¡­at least, not in its current form.

    ''Okay.''

    Damien ended his train of thought.

    There was no need to ponder any longer.

    ''I don''t have the power to do anything yet, but I already know the way forward. All I need to do is walk faithfully, and the answer wille on its own.''

    It wasn''t idealistic, it was the truth. A truth so idealistic it almost seemed like fiction.

    ''Haha, it''s always like this with me, isn''t it?''

    Recently, arger number of nine revolutions Nox were visiting him. Their Demonic Providences were quite interesting to study, but they were also annoying pests his clones couldn''t deal with, so he had mixed feelings about them.

    But their level had been increasing.

    ''If they start sending Supremes soon¡­''

    Damien grinned.

    Looking at his current level, he was no longer afraid of confronting those once-high-and-mighty existences.

    No, he was actually waiting for them to arrive so he could test the limits of his power.

    ''Even if it''s the Nox, Supremes are hard toe by.''

    His grin widened as he tuned into his clones'' vision and presided over the battle situation.

    ''Send as many as you want.''

    WHOOOOOOOOSH!

    With a single thought and the height of his main body''s power, Damien eradicated every living being in No Return Pass in a single instant.

    ''Let''s see how long it takes before you can''t hold it anymore.''

    His words were directed at the Saint Emperor, the other Nox Emperors who stood below him, and the entire race they controlled like pawns.

    His heart felt light. Unbothered by the universe for now, he nced out into the Abyss.

    ''I''m working hard on this side, but what''s happening out there?''

    He was curious. It had been a while now.

    It was easy to forget, but the Nox weren''t the only ones making use of traitors.

    Damien also had a hole card.

    A hole card in the shape of a once-revered Nox genius.

 Chapter 1175 Ruined [1]

    Chapter 1175 Ruined [1]

    It was dark in the Abyss.

    The concept of light was drowned in the ckness. It existed, but it didn''t exist in its full form. There was a brightness that allowed one to see the path ahead, but there was no path ahead to see.

    Unless one had lived here for enough time to be ustomed or was born here and knew nothing else, its scenery alone was suffocating enough to drive one to insanity.

    However, to the Nox, this was home.

    The Abyss was always perceived by those in Grand Heavens Boundary as a vast emptiness, but this definition was wed.

    The majority of the Abyss was created after the destruction of universes, the tiny trace of the ckness that existed in the past devoured and grew into its current form.

    Therefore, while there was only a singleplete structure in this ce, Al''Katra, it was scattered with debris from those previously existing universes.

    Some of this debris was small enough to go unnoticed, while some were enough to form continents of their own.

    Those Nox bases that existed outside Al''Katra were all situated on such debris fields, and recently, a new one popped up so far outside the bounds of the known Abyss that it went unnoticed.

    Bai Yumo started moving seriously the second he epted his situation.

    Since he got a new life, he wasn''t nning to waste it.

    The problem was his enemy, a Demigod above Demigods who couldn''t be challenged.

    How could he face such a being?

    He definitely couldn''t do it alone, and the Nox were not a people who''d be willing to follow him in his path of destruction.

    At least, not normally.

    There was a supreme truth that all Nox learned upon inheriting their bloodline memories. It was a truth shattering enough to split the Nox into multiple factions, but mere 4th ss beings didn''t have the power to escape the shackles ced on them by that truth.

    They could only move ording to its will.

    But Demigods were different.

    Demigods who ascended past their mortal coil couldn''t be restricted by anything other than universalw.

    And though most of those who stayed in the lower universe were those who sumbed to this truth and epted it, there were still a few who maintained their defiance secretly.

    They were the ones he had to reach first. The rest would only follow if he could convince them to join him.

    They were not unified, and most of the time, they didn''t know each other''s identities, but Bai Yumo was different.

    His "father" was a supreme being. Nothing could escape his eyes.

    He was extremely clear of where the allegiances of every noteworthy Noxy, yet, he didn''t make a move on any of them.

    Bai Yumo still couldn''t understand why.

    That man was willing to do anything for his goals. He was even willing to sacrifice Bai Yumo the second he had opposing thoughts.

    So why did he keep them alive to do as they pleased?

    Maybe they were still useful chess pieces, or maybe he just didn''t know his "father" as he thought he did.

    Nevertheless, Bai Yumo knew who those people were, and he started making contact with them as soon as he could.

    Years passed in Grand Heavens Boundary. The war raged on. Yet, even longer passed in the Abyss.

    Bai Yumo had experienced over a decade since his battle with Damien.

    And in that time, he''d built up a considerable force of his own.

    The de Lord and the Purgatory Lord. He was able to contact these two Demigods and earn their trust, recruiting them into his group.

    In the process, he gained their followers as well.

    He''d been exchanging words with the Royal Lord and Gluttonous Lord for a while now and didn''t think it would take long to recruit them, while the Bow Lord, Frost Lord, and Poison Lord were still hovering on the fence, unsure of what to think of him.

    ''Everything is moving as nned, however¡­''

    His thoughts went back to the Saint Emperor.

    With Bai Yumo poaching the subordinated Lords under him, there was no way he didn''t notice.

    However, he''d yet to make a move. No, he had yet to even acknowledge Bai Yumo''s survival.

    ''It cannot be because we are too well concealed. This ce is hidden, but if he wished for it, he could scour the entire Abyss for my traces without lifting a finger. There must be something else.''

    Bai Yumo''s ultimate goal was freedom.

    At least for now, the Saint Emperor was the greatest symbol of oppression he faced, and thus was the highest priority target for elimination.

    But he wasn''t an idiot.

    ''I am still too far away from him. Recruiting Lords is enough to build a force to use elsewhere, but against him, any of those I can make contact with will die in an instant.''

    He sighed to himself.

    ''Is there really no way?''

    He didn''t know how Damien did it.

    The Saint Emperor was such an invincible existence in his mind that he couldn''t even begin to imagine defeating him.

    How was someone younger than him able to be so confident in front of impossibility?

    ''I need to know.''

    It had been a very long time since they''d seen each other, but he felt they needed to talk.

    ''I can only continue acting as I have if I wish to make an impact, but this n is far too long-term. By the time it can be put into action, will the Saint Emperor still be within reach?''

    He was uncertain. He didn''t believe in himself.

    So he had to speak to the man who represented everything he started yearning to be.

    ''I have heard many rumors. Not one who has gone to challenge him has returned.''

    Bai Yumo knew less about Grand Heavens Boundary''s situation than even Damien himself, but the tales of No Return Pass spread too far for him to be unaware.

    ''I wonder¡­''

    In ten years, Bai Yumo regained a piece of himself that had been missing for a long time.

    He wasn''t going to deny that he lost because Damien was stronger than him, but arge part of his defeat was also owed to hisck of mental stability.

    The ovepping impossibilities presented by Damien and the Saint Emperor broke his will to fight, and what could have been a much more equal fight was turned into Damien''splete win.

    ''I wonder how I would fare now?''

    He was going to visit No Return Pass regardless.

    His goal was answers. He wanted advice from the only human he''d ever acknowledged.

    But it wouldn''t be bad, right?

    ''He must be bored of the rabble as well.''

    It had been a long time since he had a proper fight. Such things weren''t privy to lords who ruled over others from the back.

    He had to make sure his skills weren''t rusty, and¡ª

    ''¡ªI want to find the way to destroy the poison infesting our race.''

    There were countless restrictions that forced his mouth shut, however, he wondered:

    ''Should I tell him?''

    Perhaps it was time for that man to know¡­

    ''¡­about the curse that enves our race.''

 Chapter 1176 Ruined [2]

    Chapter 1176 Ruined [2]

    ?

    Time passed.

    Was it proper to say such a thing?

    No, it wasn''t.

    It had been roughly 10 months, which was an extremely short amount of time. Even for mortals, it could pass in but an instant.

    Yet, far too much happened for it to be glossed over as just "some time passing."

    The Nox stopped targeting the opposing armies with as much vigor and instead targeted worlds themselves.

    Their movements became confusing.

    It was hard to predict where and when they''d attack already, but it became even worse during this period.

    As previously mentioned, the Beast Domain didn''t have the forces to spread a through their Sector that could remain active at all times. They could, at most, crush the enemy once they showed themselves.

    They''d mostly been relying on Heaven''s Army''s support to gain information and strike fast enough to make an impact, but how could they do so properly anymore?

    Elyssa Bloodlock was tasked to stay in the Beast Domain after her original task, and in this time, she''d lured arge portion of the army''s generals to her side.

    With information under her control, while it still reached the ces it was supposed to, it was massively dyed.

    Who was going to call her out?

    There wasn''t a single person with the ability and desire to stand on the side of justice and make a difference.

    The situation deteriorated by the day.

    Worlds would disappear without notice. Experts were sent to confirm, but it soon became clear that this case was different from the Giant Domain''s tragedy.

    This destruction was merely a matter of slow information flow.

    The Nox were able topletely destroy worlds and plunder their World Cores before news of their movement reached anyone!

    With months passing in a sh and wars raging all around, worlds kept vanishing from Grand Heavens Boundary, and their absence became the only way to track the war situation.

    After all, in ces where the universe''s armies were doing their jobs as they should have, the war was quite even.

    Both sides lost millions, but in terms of higher experts, the universe still came out on top.

    New technologies were developed along with new strategies. Many research projects that had remained hidden thus far were brought into the light as their results came out and showed sess.

    One of such was a device that could temporarily lock a Higher Nox''s connection to their Demonic Providence.

    Those Nox who weren''t given a chance to activate their greatest trump cards could only fall to their foes, and as the death toll stacked up, the universe''s ferocity became clear.

    Unfortunately, as if the war itself was a macrocosm of the Beast Domain''s circumstances, these positive results concentrated in small areas didn''t have much impact on the grand scheme of things.

    Regardless of their sess, the universe was still crumbling.

    It was actually mind-numbing how much Heaven''s Army broke down in a short period of time.

    There was no way to understand the thoughts of traitors.

    Well, perhaps even they didn''t understand their own thoughts.

    Obviously, in a situation where one turned traitor, there wasn''t much thought involved, but it was impossible to stay naive for an eternity afterward.

    Any rational person would''ve been able to understand the mistakes in their reasoning and regret.

    However, rationality was absent from their minds.

    For average traitors without enough status to be named, the Nox lineage forced into their bodies would corrupt their reasoning and make it impossible for them to have such thoughts.

    And for those at higher levels¡­

    At least 60% of them were being controlled as puppets. They didn''t have such things as free will and choice.

    And the other 40%¡­well, they alsocked the ability to think things through.

    Not due to any fault of their own, but because they were subtly guided along such a path.

    "What a fool."

    The Karmic Emperor watched Immortal Blood Asura''s back as he left.

    Their conversations had been plenty in this time, and their movements towards the corruption of the universe were progressing more than properly.

    What was the reason he said he turned traitor again?

    "Ah, yes. Strength."

    A man who only cared for himself. Such a man was easiest to control.

    One might think these people were harder to rein in since they had no attachments keeping them in line, but for the Karmic Emperor, such limitations didn''t exist.

    If a man had family, the Karmic Emperor would make that man turn against them and ughter them with his own hands.

    It was harder to control those with strong emotions towards a cause or entity. These people were able to resist his coercion even if they were pure mortals, solely because of the depth of their feelings.

    It was quite the esoteric concept to others, but emotions were the Karmic Emperor''s specialty. He gained his title from toying with them until he gained full control over their output.

    Immortal Blood Asura was a man whocked emotions.

    He was an empty te.

    In usual cases, drawing on this te would be noticed and stopped immediately, but the usually heartless man had been spiking in emotion recently.

    Those who ruined his good things, those who stood up to his power, these people became ever more prominent, and with their continued existence that he couldn''t cull, Immortal Blood Asura lost control over his emotions.

    It wasn''t a constant thing, but it happened often enough for the Karmic Emperor to find an opening.

    That man thought he was acting on his own free will. He thought he joined the winning side so he could be even more powerful than before.

    The Karmic Emperor didn''t doubt that even thepletely rational Immortal Blood Asura would have eventually turned Nox. If it meant he could seed, he''d willingly change his race and even the nature of his soul.

    "Hahaha, there has not been a human who could entertain me like this in a very long time."

    People often called the Inhuman Emperor the cruelest of the Nox Emperors, but that was merely because he was most forward with it.

    Not one of them was sane.

    The Karmic Emperor loved ying with people. He loved turning people against their original intentions and seeing their reactions when they realized what they''d done.

    For Immortal Blood Asura, his ns didn''t end so simply.

    No, a man like that would explode when he was broken.

    And the Karmic Emperor wanted to make that explosion as big and beautiful as possible.

    He smiled to himself.

    There only remained one living world in the Beast Domain.

    The Fate Star was difficult to destroy so easily.

    However, it would only be a matter of time.

    ''Will the Lord be pleased when we show him our sess?''

    The Karmic Emperor wondered about a higher being.

    The only being he ever revered, and the only being he would never be able to control.

    Not only the Fate Star, but the entire universe, it was only a matter of time before it fell.

    The Beast Domain was no longer his main focus. It would be destroyed by those under him soon enough.

    His focus shifted elsewhere.

    The domain that once caused the Nox a severe amount of problems, the one that naturally repelled their presence¡­

    "It is about time to start pushing the domain of Spirits."

    The final periphery domain. Once it fell, there was nothing saving the remaining universe from their advent.

    Its destruction would give the Nox an absolute advantage.

    He couldn''t wait to see.

    Just how would those foolish beings act when they finally epted hopelessness?

 Chapter 1177 New Direction [1]

    Chapter 1177 New Direction [1]

    By the time the third year of Damien''s imprisonment began, Soul World was subjected to the Nox''s invasion.

    The Beast Domain was notpletely destroyed, but it might as well have been. Only Beast Emperor Star remained, while everything else was gone.

    Most of Heaven''s Army was pulled out, with those in high positions choosing to abandon the Sector.

    And at that moment, the Nox added a second prong to their attack,

    Or was it a third?

    From the territories of Eien, an unending wave reminiscent of No Return Pass surfaced. The forces stationed there were forced tobat them and lost their mobility.

    It wasn''t a matter of Lesser Nox. If so, only numbers were needed rather than experts. However, the Nox were smart. They sent several hundred Supremes and even more Executioners and High Commanders to put pressure on the frontline so they genuinely lost the ability to help.

    And that''s when theyunched their true invasion of Soul World.

    Eden, unlike the Giant Domain, did not get swallowed by the Abyss. The reason was a confusing mixture of factors, including the nt Demigoddess who still resides there and Damien''s control of Calypto, but regardless, Eden was still a ce that belonged to the universe.

    Though, it was uninhabitable. The destruction that wrought it left no room for life to repopte, and Calypto, the only remaining living world, had to remain under the guise of corruption so nobody realized its survival.

    Thus far, nobody looked at Eden for a multitude of reasons. There was a small army sent there to secure the border of Soul World, but that was it.

    Nobody expected the Nox to use that opening.

    In the end, they did exactly that.

    With terrifying numbers, they obliterated the border army and invaded the Sector.

    The river of time continued to move like so.

    Every month, more bad news piled up about Soul World''s situation, and the people practically forgot about the lone-standing Fate Star.

    However, some viewed that star with much more meaning.

    Currently, Beast Emperor Star was being maintained through heavy war by the Golden and ck Dragon ns, the Judgement Order, and their supporters.

    This world was their main base.

    It functioned as the main connection point between all those who genuinely fought for justice.

    And frankly, even they had to abandon some things.

    It was Luciel''s decision.

    Once the Soul World was breached, he sent a secretmunication to all those who believed in him.

    "Retreat to the Divine Realm. All further activities will be continued from here."

    His intent was clear.

    He wanted to sacrifice the Beast Domain and Soul World and focus on protecting what hadn''t been touched yet.

    Why?

    That was even simpler. There was no hope left for these domains.

    The traitorous venom that spread through the higher authorities of the universe continued to spread and grip onto anything it could. For the forces of justice, it was already impossible to regain control over the current situation.

    If they wanted to win, they needed to switch their focus to the future and create an opening to seize control while the enemies focused elsewhere.

    It was a controversial decision, but not an iprehensible one.

    Most of his allies followed his words and secretly entered the Divine Realm, hidden from all eyes, to bide their time.

    However, while the Beast Domain was sacrificed, Beast Emperor Star couldn''t be the same.

    During Astoria''s awakening, the mystical power of this world had already been seen. It had such a deep connection to fate and the Golden Dragon n that, whenbined with Astoria''s existence, it could even affect the flow of destiny itself.

    Beast Emperor Star had to live.

    And that was the war they fought for.

    In a sense, they were lucky.

    The Nox attacking weren''t weak, but they weren''t the best the other side could offer. Those troops were all in the domain of Spirits taking care of their tasks there.

    "How long can we hold out?"

    The question was asked by Su Ren.

    Currently, there was a meeting taking ce against the greatest experts protecting the star. It concerned the future, not only of this ce, but of the entire universe.

    "Realistically speaking, with the opposition''s current level, we canst at least 2 years, but that is too optimistic. The longer we survive, the stronger our enemies will be," Hedrick, the Golden Dragon n''s 2nd Prince answered.

    "The question was wrong from the beginning. How long do we need tost before we can put ''that'' into motion?"

    Everyone present had the look in their eyes change.

    But none of them could answer the question.

    "Have those two returned yet?" Rose asked.

    Several months ago, Zara and Alea came to the Beast Domain to join the war effort, but by that point, the war effort had already moved.

    Considering their allegiance, it wasn''t strange for them to stay in the Beast Domain regardless, and even disregarding that, they had a reason to stay.

    When they told the others of that reason, a hope for survival appeared.

    "They are yet to return. There has been no news from the gate since they entered, but this also means they are still alive inside."

    The "item" in that gate, if it was what they described, would help them turn the tables not just in the Beast Domain, but in the entire situation.

    It was one of the very things Luciel needed most to stabilize the situation once his counterattack n began.

    "Astoria, is there anything from you?"

    The young dragon princess was also in the room. In the past several years since she met Damien, her power increased explosively, and her status on Beast Emperor Star was simr to that of a Star Master.

    Her connection to the world allowed them to make it this far, because theirbined ability to read fate gave those around them the ability to move confidently and predict the otherwise chaotic situation.

    With her current power as a 4th revolution master, the things she could see were still vague, but it was enough.

    The me in her golden eyes was as strong as ever. She was apletely different person than the immature princess Damien met.

    "It''s almost time. They will return soon, and when that happens, we can enact the new beginning."

    There was no way to save the Beast Domain. This was a universally epted fact.

    However, there was a way to save Beast Emperor Star.

    There was a way to save the Golden Dragon Emperor.

    Those in this meeting were not Demigods.

    The Demigods that usually supported them had already left for a far more important task that neededpletion.

    Tian Yang¡­

    Well, Tian Yang was not in a state where he could help at the moment.

    Currently, he and the Golden Dragon Emperor were entwined in a strange bnce.

    Tian Yang stayed with the Emperor during every hour of every day, maintaining the sliver of life force keeping hisatose body alive.

    And the Golden Dragon Emperor¡­

    He was currently connected to Beast Emperor Star itself, acting as its heart.

    Because it''s true heart, it''s World Core¡­

    ¡­had already been plundered long ago.

 Chapter 1178 New Direction [2]

    Chapter 1178 New Direction [2]

    When the fourth year in No Return Pass dawned on Damien, he received an interesting visitor.

    The clones he left to take care of the battlefield found themselves unable to fight at all, because the forces that had been forming an unending stream for the past 3 years suddenly stoppeding at all.

    It was only for a single day, and it was not by choice.

    "Higher Nox have the ability to control Lesser Noxpletely. Until someone higher than me breaks control, they won''t attack."

    This was the exnation given by that entric visitor.

    And Damien¡­

    Well, to be frank, he''d been expecting this one for a while now.

    "You finally showed up, huh?" He said with a smile, summoning a table and two chairs onto the deste in.

    "You knew?"

    "Of course. You were left with nothing, after all. Even if you''re smart enough to move forward on your own, you still started with nothing. You were bound toe here to find me eventually."

    "Hmm¡­"

    The Saint King, Bai Yumo, shrugged with a sigh as he took his seat across from Damien.

    "Putting that aside, I thought I''d be able to put up a better fight now that it''s been so long, but I was severely mistaken. How in the world did you get so strong in this time?"

    Damien nced at him. The current Bai Yumo was incredibly different from the one he used to know.

    It was clear that the facade bogging him down was gone now. He seemed refreshed, as if he could process events from a proper standpoint now, instead of being overwhelmed by his situation.

    This Bai Yumo was the one Damien hoped to see when they met again, so his current mood was quite jovial.

    He pulled a gourd of spirit liquor out of his subspace along with a cup for himself and his guest.

    When he poured it, a sweet smell and unbelievably clear color that didn''t match its "liquor" identity at all presented itself, practically begging one to taste its majesty.

    "My strength¡­well, let''s just say I''ve had a lot of time on my hands. I even picked up some new hobbies along the way."

    "You are truly an unreasonable existence."

    "Why would you say something like that? I consider myself quite amodating."

    "Ha, to joke at a time like this, you must be insane."

    Damien smiled again and held up his cup before taking a sip.

    He wasn''t lying.

    In No Return Pass, Damien had so much time he didn''t know what to do with it all. His training was progressing steadily, and he was getting closer to the "impossibility" of the Void.

    His current abilities were almost at the peak of reasonability. The power he could possibly possess while still under the universe''s umbre was already in his hands.

    For the most part.

    He still had a ways to go before bing a Supreme, but even that was just a matter of time, time he had far too much of.

    Crafting and spirit liquor were two hobbies he''d been entertaining recently. Since he didn''t have to use as many clones to deal with the horde anymore, he used some of them to gain proficiency in these things instead.

    Using his hands was fun, so crafting was an obvious hobby. While Damien didn''t use weapons as much anymore, he still had a deep connection to the ones he had and wished to bring them with him as he continued his journey.

    His study in that field was mainly for this purpose, to enhance his current armaments.

    Meanwhile, spirit liquor was more for fun than anything else.

    Getting drunk was a privilege Damien didn''t have anymore. His power was too strong for anything to hinder his perception.

    So, he took up the challenge of creating the liquor that could get him drunk,

    This one, No. 95: Blessed Immortal Dew, was his most recent creation and the closest to hitting his goal, but it wasn''t there yet.

    "Nevertheless, that''s just my personal stuff. I''m sure you didn''te here just to catch up, right?"

    Bai Yumo shook his head wryly.

    Really, his thoughts of matching this kind of man were never more than a wild dream. How was he able to talk so casually about mastering other crafts while still increasing his power so ruthlessly in a far shorter period of time than Bai Yumo had?

    It was insane.

    However, he was right about that.

    Bai Yumo didn''te here just for idle conversation.

    "I''ve hit a bottleneck. I''ve been doing everything I can think of to create a force worthy of facing that man, but I can''t reasonably believe that it''s possible to do so."

    He exined his movements. About gathering forces, about increasing his own power and bing closer to his Demonic Providence, and¡­

    "There is a chain."

    ¡­about the "curse" that bound the Nox.

    "I cannot speak on it without being punished by the restriction, but I wish for you to know about it. This chain is not a natural limiter, but a leash. A leash held by¡ª"

    "Stop."

    Damien stopped him before he could continue.

    "If you say anymore, you''ll really die."

    Bai Yumo''s eyes widened.

    "You know?"

    Damien looked at him, all traces of emotion in his eyes gone.

    "Mm, I figured it out recently. It''s hard not to after eating so many of them. But, this isn''t something to worry about now. That problem isn''t something the likes of us can deal with¡­yet."

    "Yet?! You have confidence in facing it in the future?!"

    "Hahahaha!"

    Damienughed.

    "Confidence? Why wouldn''t I? After I ughter the Saint Emperor, isn''t that the next logical step?"

    "You¡­!"

    "Alright, let''s stop joking around."

    Damien returned to the topic at hand, the doubts that had been bothering the man across from him.

    "You shouldn''t be trying to face that guy directly at all. I know it sucks to hear, but it''s fruitless to believe that sh will ever happen."

    "Why is that?"

    "Isn''t it obvious? Do you think you''ll be able to reach Divinity before the war moves to the Ancient Battlefield?"

    "Ah¡­"

    The Ancient Battlefield, the Cemetery of Demigods, was the only ce for their kind to fall.

    They didn''t fight in this ne for a variety of reasons, but to put it simply, they would only be able to unleash themselves properly in that ce.

    "The Saint Emperor''s fate will be determined there. Regardless of what any of us feel, that fact won''t change."

    "Then, what?" Bai Yumo asked again.

    What he received was not the confirmation he wished, but an even greater inevitability that separated him from his goal.

    His confusion was even worse now.

    If killing the Saint Emperor was not the answer, then what was?

    Damien sighed to himself.

    "Bai Yumo," he started seriously.

    "Why are you fixated on that man? Do you think your obsession will cause him any harm? Him? That guy who has no care for anyone as long as things are going his way? Do you think attacking him directly will mean anything?"

    "In the first ce, a small character like him isn''t worthy of your attention."

    Bai Yumo''s jaw practically hit the floor.

    What was this?

    This was definitely not what he expected to hear.

    "You are a talent. You have the ability to go beyond him, to touch the sky he rejected, the Heavenly World. Why should you limit your ambition to him?"

    A bomb went off in Bai Yumo''s head.

    These words, while they were simple, were words he''d never been told before.

    The fact that he had value, that he had a purpose outside the Saint Emperor, was something that had never crossed his mind.

    Damien didn''t need to say much. Bai Yumo was smart enough to put the pieces together himself.

    But as he said, he''d hit a bottleneck. His thoughts were still constrained by that man''s shadow.

    Damien got up and stood next to Bai Yumo, looking out into the ckness as he put his hand on the man''s shoulder.

    "Build yourself and build your people. When the timees, get your revenge the right way."

    "The right way, huh¡­"

    Bai Yumo grinned slightly and picked up his cup, chugging the contents until it was empty.

    The Saint Emperor, that shadow that loomed over his sky and forced him to stay in the well, cowering in fear¡­

    Was that man just a stepping stone to this one?

    The horizons he saw were not those of the Abyss, but something so high Bai Yumo never even tried to rationalize it.

    If he started now¡­

    "Do you think it''s possible?"

    Damien smiled confidently. It was the smile of a ruler, of a higher existence that saw everything as below him.

    "Impossibility is a matter of perception. As long as you force it into the realm of possibility, who can stop you?"

    The thoughts of a man who was currently making impossibility one of the many cards in his hand, the words of a man who didn''t view that word as inevitably as the rest of existence.

    "Hahahahaha!"

    Those words were a spark that lit Bai Yumo''s heart ame.

    "Right, as long as I want it to be, anything will be possible. It doesn''t matter what anyone else thinks, even if that someone is Fate itself."

    He stood up, a new air surrounding his body, and outstretched his hand.

    "Thank you for this. I never met a true ally before you, so this is quite the experience for me."

    "No problem," Damien said happily.

    "You''re someone worth investing in, so you can be confident in support from this side as long as it can be provided."

    "Mm," Bai Yumo said with a smile.

    "I guess I should leave you alone now, but before I go¡­"

    BOOM!

    His aura exploded. The ckness of the Abyss became even thicker in this space.

    Damien was already several hundred meters away by the time it reached his previous position.

    Bai Yumo watched him with a wide grin.

    "Before I go, I want to see how wide the gap actually is."

 Chapter 1179 New Direction [3]

    Chapter 1179 New Direction [3]

    BOOM!

    "Before I go, I want to see how wide the gap actually is."

    Damien smiled.

    Bai Yumo''s enthusiasm was infectious. For him who''d been stuck in No Return Pass without any good opponent, the thirst for a good fight was undeniable.

    However, what Bai Yumo wanted wasn''t a good fight, but a measure of their difference.

    ''Should I show him?''

    If Damien used his clones it would be over in but a second.

    But where was the fun in that?

    ''Let''s go with the other method.''

    Casualness.

    Wasn''t that the easiest way to tell the gap?

    Damien watched Bai Yumo move. The man was cautious to the point of cowardice, not attacking even once after calling the battle.

    Though, it wasn''t his fault.

    Damien was just standing still, his arms to his side and his poise rxed, but he had no openings.

    No matter what Bai Yumo could try, he was certain it wouldn''t hit.

    Honestly, this was enough to show Damien''s strength, but Bai Yumo wanted more.

    Haa!

    He let out a fierce battle cry and rushed the enemy. Murky ck Abyssal Mana filled the air and controlled the sky.

    This ce, No Return Pass, gave Bai Yumo a severe environmental advantage.

    Because the entire sky was made up of Abyssal Mana!

    WHOOOOSH!

    He pulled his arms together like a certain web-slinger, and the sky followed his movements. Arge wave of corrupted mana encroached on Damien''s position without mercy, carrying enough force to instantly ughter the Damien that existed before No Return Pass!

    "You''ve really grown like crazy," Damien said, watching it.

    Yeah, this wave was intense. It looked like a regr and low-effort controlling of mana, but that was a misconception that would kill anyone who faced it.

    Thewsced in this wave, as Damien saw from the Saint King of the past, were a mixture of Spacetime, Samsara, and something more vile, a representation of the Abyss.

    "You were raised to be my opposite, but you''ve taken thesews in apletely different direction than I did. It''s respectable, really."

    Unfortunately, it was toote for something like this to affect him.

    And this time, he didn''t have to hide the Void.

    Whoosh!

    Damien raised his arm, facing the wave head-on.

    The rushing winds like a roaring tsunami filled his ears, and Bai Yumo''s eyes pierced reality itself to watch his every movement.

    "Break."

    A single word flowed like clear water, banishing the impurities that polluted the world.

    A sliver of Void Mana no bigger than a finger exited Damien''s palm and entered the Abyssal tidal wave.

    It happened in a single instant. No, it happened in a fragment of that time, so quickly it was hardly perceptible.

    The Void Mana sunk into the tidal wave, and suddenly, the mana began to change.

    The corruption was corrupted, turned into the Void''s property, and because Damien willed it¡­

    It froze into a massive iceberg and shattered.

    Physical fragments of mana like crystals of snow rained down from the air, along with a shattering sound that was oddly pleasing to the ears.

    "Would you like to see more?" Damien asked.

    "Please," Bai Yumo responded with a strained grin.

    The mental impact of such a scene was intense, but it only riled him up more.

    He wanted to see what Damien could do!

    Bai Yumo charged in again. This time, instead of focusing on arge area attack, he concentrated mana into his body and entered a peak form for physicalbat.

    "Ooh, fun."

    Damien smiled and watched him approach without dodging or joining him.

    As Bai Yumo''s fist came flying towards him, he chose a more unconventional method of dodging.

    sh!

    He teleported.

    However, his body was not several hundred meters away.

    He only moved slightly, just enough topletely avoid the punch.

    "You¡­!" Bai Yumo eximed.

    His eyes hardened. He tightened his fists and let off a true barrage of attacks.

    Fists and kicks went flying through the air. His form was impossible to predict, and with the way he spread his attacks, he created a field in front of him that left no openings to survive through.

    The key was that he wasn''t always aiming for Damien.

    He figured his opponent would continue dodging through teleportation as he''d done the first time, because this wasn''t a real battle, but a showcase.

    In that case, instead of aiming for the body, he needed to focus on the field that forced Damien to retreat instead of showing off!

    "It was a good try, but we''re beyond that now."

    Damien''s words were a bucket of cold water.

    No matter how refined the attack technique was, his control was more precise.

    His body was like a flickering mirage. He existed in reality, but why did it feel like he didn''t?

    His body would always move perfectly. Angr turns requiring a slight amount of movement that could be ssified in the single digits of degrees were necessary to dodge both the fists and legs that came at him, but he was able to make them without trouble.

    As this continued, Bai Yumo was able to understand the advantages of such a method.

    Damien could move his entire body impossibly. More than position, it was about "orientation."

    If he could manage that perfectly and switch from one angle to apletely opposing one in less than an instant, he could control his movements in a way impossible for a human body even after transcendence.

    It was a beautiful maneuver.

    Bai Yumo almost wanted to stop the battle there.

    But¡­

    ¡­his opponent didn''t seem to want that?

    "Let me attack this time," Damien said with a grin, teleporting out of Bai Yumo''s absolute field.

    "Let''s test your improvement."

    Bai Yumo''s eyes narrowed.

    These were words a master would usually say to an apprentice, not words said by a man to his equal.

    A wry smile appeared on his face.

    "It''s that bad, huh?"

    However, Damien shook his head.

    "It doesn''t count. I have cheats."

    "That sounds like a human term. You should be mindful of the other side before you speak."

    "Ah, I figured you''d know something like this. Uh¡­well, let''s just say I''m heaven-defying and leave it at that."

    "Arrogant bastard."

    "In the flesh."

    The two grinned at each other and rushed.

    No Return Pass was filled with a flurry of shing lights and explosions that rocked its surface.

    It became the floor for a beautiful yet deadly dance performed by the greatest talents of the universe and the Nox, a duo that should not have ever had friendly contact.

    Yet, perhaps this very friendly contact was what would push them above others.

    Perhaps, the destruction of boundaries to confront an enemy who surpassed them all was the answer all along.

    It was a philosophical thought, one that neither of the two were entertaining in the moment yet both held in the back of their minds,

    For now, they just smiled.

    They smiled as they released the stress and exhaustion that had been piling up for so long as they fought their lonely battles.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The sound of an explosion.

    It was frightening. Most of the time, it was a terrifying sound that meant countless lives were being lost.

    But this time¡­

    Maybe just this time, it was okay to call it art.

 Chapter 1180 New Direction [4]

    Chapter 1180 New Direction [4]

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    Heavy breathing filled the air, but only from one side.

    "You¡­haa¡­how are you fine?!"

    Bai Yumo''s exmation was incredibly valid.

    They''d fought for over an hour, and the final result¡­?

    Currently, Damien sat happily at the small table he''d summoned earlier, which, by the way, waspletely unharmed by their battle, and sipped his spirit liquor without a care in the world.

    Meanwhile, Bai Yumo wasid out on the ground, unable to move a muscle from how sore he was, and unable to even catch his breath because he''d used every ounce of mana contained in his body.

    There were several bruises covering his body, and his face was swelled up like a pufferfish, but, well, this didn''t need to be mentioned for the sake of his pride.

    "So what''d you think? Is this difference good enough?" Damien teased.

    "Good enough? You really did get arrogant over the years. It''s a shame I can''t punch your face in."

    "Haha, you''ll always have a chance in the future if you keep training hard."

    "Don''t just lie. You know as well as I do that''s never happening."

    "Hahahaha!"

    Damienughed heartily and shrugged.

    "I mean, it''s always good to dream, right?"

    "Tch, bastard."

    Despite their banter, they were all smiles. It was a good battle, if that was even enough to describe it.

    Whatever it was, this battle allowed Bai Yumo to reach the answers he''d been seeking with confidence.

    "I guess it''s about time for me to go," he sighed, straining himself to stand up.

    "Already? I think you could use some more rest," Damien replied.

    "Alright, stop rubbing it in already. I really have to go, or else news of my visit will spread. We can''t have that yet, can we?"

    "I guess you''ve finally started using your head. Should I send you back, or are you leaving on your own?"

    "Ha! Send me back? You mean you''ll teleport me into some random part of the Abyss again? I think I''ll pass on that."

    "Hey, I was just offering."

    Bai Yumo shook his head wryly.

    "Those grunts outside shouldn''t move for another two days unless someone overwrites my control. Make good use of your free time."

    "Mm, thanks for the gift. It almost makes me regret not preparing anything for you."

    "Shut up, bastard. The day you give me a gift is the day I realize you''ve been possessed by someone''s ghost."

    "Hahaha, I''m not that bad, am I?"

    "Do you really want an answer?"

    "No. Get out of here."

    "Fair enough."

    Bai Yumo nced out into the sky.

    From now on, he would be moving a lot more seriously.

    No, his n of action could be considered insane.

    He smiled to himself as he flew into the air to take his leave.

    "Next time you see me, maybe I''ll be the one you have to call Saint Emperor."

    Damien smiled.

    ''I''m d you''ve finally made up your mind.''

    "Choose a better title. That one is a littleme, don''t you think?"

    "I agree. Only a dumbass would name himself something like that."

    "Hahahaha!"

    Amidst Damien''s raucousughter, Bai Yumo''s figure disappeared into the horizon.

    Their meeting was short, but it was more than fruitful.

    ''A curse¡­''

    Damien brushed over the topic when Bai Yumo brought it up, but it was a much bigger deal than he made it out to be.

    Damien figured it out not long ago. Other than personal training and hobbies, Damien had spent most of his time piecing together the memories he devoured from the Nox.

    Through them, he managed toe to several conclusions, one of which was the identity of that curse.

    ''Though I''m not limited by its effects, even I cannot say anything out loud, lest it detect me.''

    He couldn''t speak of it, nor could he mention it at all, so it was hard to call it useful information, but it did confirm something.

    The Nox didn''t have to be the enemy.

    As a denizen of the universe, it was normal to generalize the Nox and view them as targets for elimination and nothing more, but Damien never did so.

    Because, honestly speaking, besides those Demigods at the top, the rest were just tools.

    When did they ever act on free will?

    They were sad souls gued by their vices and incapable of free thought.

    When Damien came to know of the "curse," this mindset became stronger.

    Even if they had a choice, some of them might not change, but he didn''t believe in making that assumption before giving them the freedom to choose.

    Bai Yumo was enough of an example.

    And somewhere in the universe, there was another Nox being who could barely be regarded as one anymore. He was slowly being molded into someone with free will by the woman who gave him a chance.

    Damien didn''t expect to save the entire Nox race.

    All their Demigods had to be exterminated, at least that much was certain.

    But what if Bai Yumo became their leader?

    If he was able to usurp the thrones that hadn''t changed hands in so long and take control of those worthy of salvation, if he could create a divide in the Nox, the war situation would improve immensely.

    And more than anything¡­

    ''When "that" time finally arrives, I''ll have another card in my hands.''

    It wasn''t like he could read the future, but as he learned more, the order of events naturally became clear to him.

    There were things he didn''t want to see yet couldn''t prevent, and there were things he would prevent even if it cost him everything.

    No matter what it was, the future was aplex web filled with "ifs," "ands," and "buts," that never allowed it trustworthy consistency.

    ''For another two years, my time will be stalled.''

    He was more than halfway through his punishment, but it felt like he had stopped moving,

    He was disconnected from the timeline, an existence that could be felt but never seen.

    When the time came for him to return¡­

    ''Haha, who am I kidding? It''ll be a long time before I can do that.''

    He shook his head and wiped that thought from his mind.

    Whatever happened would happen. For now, he just needed to grow faithfully until he reached the point he wanted to see.

    ''I''m already in my eighth revolution, yet my Divinity is still too vague. Bai Yumo said I''ve grown too much, but I don''t think this is enough at all.''

    The fusion ofws he''d been attempting since he finalized his Elementalprehension was still unsessful to this day.

    Until he was able to enact that impossiblebination, he would not be able to reach Divinity no matter how far he climbed.

    ''But¡­in another sense, that isn''t a bad thing.''

    If Damien reached the peak of what he could achieve as a lower existence, yet was refused the right to ascension, what would happen?

    He already knew the answer.

    ''I''ll be a human who can kill Gods.''

    His blood boiled just thinking about it.

    ''But that''s a story for the future. Right now, I have a two-day vacation I want to enjoy to my heart''s content.''

    He summoned a variety of herbs from thin air. It wasn''t hard to gather materials when he was the owner of a miniature universe of over 300,000 worlds.

    ''Should I try that technique this time?''

    No. 101: Abyssal Nectar.

    He got the inspiration for this one from Bai Yumo''s visit.

    ''I have a good feeling this time¡­''

    Maybe, just maybe, this would be the one to give him what he desired.

 Chapter 1181 Beast Emperor Star [1]

    Chapter 1181 Beast Emperor Star [1]

    The ce Zara and Alea went to after reaching the Beast Domain, the ce that held "that thing" they''d been searching for, was also the ce that could save Beast Emperor Star.

    That ce was a hidden realm, but it was incorrect tobel it as such. It was far tooplex for such a definition.

    That ce was like an alternate reality. It was a ce that held secrets far beyond what the universe contained.

    But it couldn''t be essed by just anyone.

    Zara and Alea were special. Not only because of their connection with each other and the Divine Emperor, but because of their unknown mothers.

    The beast bloodlines they held were far more potent than the usual bloodline, which allowed their growth and facilitated their improvement through their opposing lineage.

    If it wasn''t for those strong bloodlines, they would''ve been consumed by their Demonic Providences from the start.

    Nevertheless, they made it to this point through countless struggles and managed to gain the right to enter that world.

    And through it, they learned a great deal about themselves.

    Currently, they sat side by side, cross-legged and deep in meditation.

    In their minds, shadows of figures roamed around them, each of them holding significance to their lives.

    Zara was calm as she watched them move.

    They seemed motionless yet active, unable to move on as if they were waiting for someone to find them.

    These shadows were calling to her, telling her it was her time to join them.

    But she refused.

    They did not receive her emotions well.

    They raged and screamed, they condemned her for abandoning them, they cried out in agony as her choice cut off their paths.

    However, she did not budge.

    ''These people¡­''

    These shadows of the past were not meant to leave here.

    Unless the people they were waiting for came, they would be trapped here for eternity.

    Unfortunately, she was not their hope.

    She was here for only one person.

    The shadow of a woman, far away yet closer than anyone else, sat alone and withheld the extreme feelings in her heart.

    That woman stood out.

    She didn''t seem to want to pass her will to the next generation. She seemed to be hiding from it, as if doing so would cause a change she did not wish to see.

    But¡­

    ''I came here for answers. I will not leave without them.''

    Zara approached that woman silently and sat beside her.

    "Must it be so?"

    The voice was ethereal,ced with darkness, barely existent.

    "It must. Otherwise, I will never reach the heights I wish to see."

    Zara answered it earnestly.

    This wasn''t a matter of righteousness or anything of the sort. This was a selfish road she took for the sake of her ambition.

    "Is it not better to remain idle? Will life not be more peaceful infort?"

    "It will not."

    Zara almost scoffed at the hrity of the question.

    "Life is not so forgiving. The second you believe you have attainedfort, it will bring misfortune as if to remind you of its cruelty. Unless you have the power and determination to stand against that fate, what can you do besides ept misfortune and suffer?"

    The universe was dying. Without power, one would only be a number amongst the trillions or quadrillions ofmon people who had already lost their lives and families to this war.

    She had no desire to be one of those people.

    And more than anything¡­

    "The horizons he sees are too far above the ones I can imagine. I don''t want to fade into mediocrity while he leaves me for those horizons. I will never be useless again."

    Damien Void.

    That man was her only family before she met Alea, and despite the blood rtion she held with her half-sister, he was still the one she viewed as family first and foremost.

    That man was not just an older brother to her, but a father figure. He was the one who brought her out of the darkness, gave her purpose, and guided her into bing the strong woman she was today.

    She knew he wanted the best for her. He would be satisfied as long as she was happy.

    But she did not want to disappoint his expectations.

    She wanted to be someone he could be proud of.

    And for that¡­

    "Mother, please stop hesitating. This strength, I will not allow it to consume me."

    The shadow woman flinched.

    She shakily turned her head to the woman sitting next to her, the woman who she didn''t get the chance to see grow.

    "I cannot see you hurt¡­"

    "Pain is also a part of life. It wille regardless of what we wish, but I will ovee it all. Then, what is pain other than a stepping stone for my growth?"

    It was hard to see it.

    No, it couldn''t be seen, but it could be felt.

    A tear streamed down the cheek of that shadow.

    It was terrible.

    As a mother, to see her daughter at such a level, unknowing of what she went through to reach it¡­

    Pride was definitely present, but it hurt more than anything else.

    "I am sorry. I am truly sorry¡­"

    She could only apologize.

    She had no control over life and death. Their separation was a matter of inevitability.

    But she felt extreme sorrow at the current state of things. She regretted leaving her daughter behind more than anything else.

    However, Zara didn''t feel the same.

    She smiled warmly, an expression rare to see on her face.

    "There is no need to be. I have people around me who care for me and support me. I will not falter or fold, no matter what is thrown at me. So¡­"

    She stood up and held her arm out.

    "¡­watch over me from now on. I will show you the woman I have be, and the one I seek to be."

    The shadow nced at her hand hesitantly.

    A sigh left her mouth.

    "It seems¡­I cannot change the flow of Fate."

    She reached her hand out and carefully held onto Zara''s.

    "My daughter, no matter what happens from this point forth, do not lose yourself. Please, do not lose yourself."

    Zara nodded seriously, and before she could say anything else, the shadow before her disappeared.

    It coiled around her arm and expanded to cover her entire body before sinking into her skin and bing a part of her.

    VOOM!

    Her bloodline suddenly burst with power.

    The uncontainable Demonic Providence that had forced her to teeter on the edge of insanity for so long was suppressed directly by a looming darkness engulfed in mes.

    It was a heaven-defying process, but it happened in a mere instant.

    When Zara opened her eyes again, that space no longer existed.

    Those shadows returned to the darkness, awaiting the day their rightful heirs appeared.

    She looked to her side, noticing Alea, who was also soon to awaken.

    And she looked to her front, where nothing existed besides a single podium.

    This ce¡­

    This ce was the Divine Beast Sanctuary, the cemetery that held their spirits when they passed.

    This was the ce where her mother''s soul waited for an eternity for her to appear, and this ce¡­

    ¡­it was the answer to many of the problems that had been guing her.

 Chapter 1182 Beast Emperor Star [2]

    Chapter 1182 Beast Emperor Star [2]

    What Alea went through was simr to Zara.

    The woman she met in that space was different, the things she symbolized were different, but their conversation was simr.

    Unlike Zara, the space she entered was white, filled with souls of purity. And unlike Zara, the woman she met was the brightest and most noticeable being in that space.

    Yet, who would''ve expected it?

    Despite being pr opposites in both personality and power, the way these two women thought was almost identical.

    Alea didn''t have such a strong connection to Damien.

    She felt interest in him that she originally assumed was love, but as time passed, she realized she was wrong.

    She was drawn to him because of something else, something unexinable. It was a factor that was entirely rted to her origin, the very thing she was currently chasing.

    Therefore, her motivations were different from Zara''s.

    She didn''t see those horizons through Damien, she only became aware of them after traveling with her half-sister for so long.

    But now that she was aware of them, how could she ignore their presence?

    The ambition in her heart was growing by the day. It wasn''t quite as firm, but she was confident she would reach that point eventually.

    So having this encounter was imperative for her.

    When she opened her eyes after receiving her mother''s blessing, she felt like a changed woman.

    The part of her that remained immature until now, clinging to thefort she''d be used to on Apeiron,pletely vanished.

    It wasn''t like she was going to change her personality. She enjoyed life far more acting the way she did.

    But she refused to let her mindset and thoughts be clouded by immaturity anymore. It was growth she desperately needed.

    When both sisters woke up and nced at each other, they realized something else,

    The push and pull of their mysterious connection was far greater than it once was.

    It felt like the calm before the storm, the rushing of waves before a tsunami.

    As long as they found that final trigger after this reaction reached its peak, they would encounter something magisterial.

    "Wow¡­"

    Alea couldn''t think of a better word to describe this moment.

    Zara also nodded in agreement.

    She fully encapsted their emotions with her breathless word.

    "There''s a lot to do now," Zara said with a wry smile.

    "Is there, though?" Alea asked.

    "Yeah, there is," Zara responded immediately.

    It looked like they didn''t have to do much. As long as they stayed close and diligently trained, the things they desired woulde to them, but that didn''t give them an excuse to ck off.

    "It''s not just about us anymore, right?"

    Alea''s eyes widened slightly. A wry smile formed on her face as well.

    "I guess not. Responsibility sucks."

    "It sucks, but it means we''re growing, so we can only ept it."

    Alea nodded.

    The time for running was over.

    She stood up, as did Zara, and together, they walked to that singr podium that joined them in this nk space.

    On it were two bracelets and a strange prism.

    "These are for us?" Alea voiced curiously, picking one of the bracelets up.

    "It should be thest gift they left us," Zara said, taking the other one.

    "And that thing¡­"

    The prism, a physical manifestation of their responsibility.

    "This is our saving grace."

    It felt like destiny when Rose first brought it up.

    The fact that this thing was in the Divine Beast Sanctuary that Zara and Alea learned about through their bloodline memories, the fact that it was in a ce only they knew the location of¡­

    The Dimensional Prism. It was a fragment of this alternate reality.

    "Now that we have it, Beast Emperor Star can finally be saved. It feels nice knowing we yed such an important role," Alea said.

    Zara nced out into the distance.

    "Mm, it''s just¡­"

    "¡­I hope we aren''t toote."

    With the events that had transpired both in the strange realm of souls and during the trials they endured to reach that ce, it was inevitable for them to wish to take a moment to look back on everything and reflect.

    However, they didn''t have time.

    "Let''s get out of here."

    It was time to return to the cruelty of reality.

    It was time to face it head-on.

    "You ready?" Zara asked.

    Alea smiled.

    "Of course."

    These two sisters who only knew each other for a few years, for some reason, they felt like they''d known each other for an eternity.

    Together, they left that realm.

    And together, they would change reality.

    Until it mirrored the version of it they wished to see.

    ***

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion rocked the world. The crater it created was enough to massacre hundreds of thousands in a single instant.

    They were only lucky they''d already evacuated themon popce before things escted so.

    "Beta Squad, move to the west and hold them back! Delta, you guys support me here!"

    Rose''s words boomed through theirmunicationwork as she desperately supported the battle, but as she was on the frontline, it was hard for her to takeplete control.

    "Alpha, what''s the situation with the Golden Dragon n?!"

    BOOM!

    Rose rapidly dodged another explosion and pushed her mana forth.

    Reality changed to her preferences, the world itself altering its environment to provide natural shelter.

    She gazed up into the sky with hardened eyes.

    It was covered in ckness.

    A ckness created by dozens of millions of Nox beings that suddenly invaded their world.

    They appeared in a single instant. She thought all the pocket dimensions were already gone, but she was sorely mistaken.

    There was still one more, waiting for the perfect moment topletely eradicate the Beast Domain.

    Led by a force of three Supremes and arge number of Executioners and High Commanders, this final wave of Nox beings descended on them before anyone could prepare, and hit them harder than they could have ever expected.

    ''DAMMIT!''

    "Alpha, report!"

    She yelled again, but the radio silence was only making her more nervous.

    On the other side of the world, Su Ren stood in the Golden Dragon Estate with the squad hemanded.

    His expression was deste, but he had to maintain lucidity right now.

    "This is Alpha¡­" he said, his voice shaking noticeably.

    "The Golden Dragon n¡­"

    He didn''t want to say it, but he had no choice.

    They had to know.

    "The Golden Dragon n has been exterminated."

    His words traveled to countless parts of the world.

    Everyone was silent. Their hearts fell instantly.

    The things they''d been moving to protect¡­

    ¡­were they really gone?

    On the western edge of Beast Emperor Star, Astoria, Hedrick, and the squad controlled by them, made up of the Golden Dragon n''s elite forces¡­

    They raged.

    They raged unable to ept the news.

    Because as of this moment, they were thest survivors of their n.

    They were the final remnants of the Fate Star''s progeny.

    Astoria''s eyes were red.

    Golden mana roared through the air as she took control of the atmosphere and eliminated wave after wave of enemies.

    The tears streaming down her cheeks were burned away by the heat of battle, but her thoughts were so chaotic she could barely continue fighting.

    Why¡­?!

    Just how did things turn out this way?!

 Chapter 1183 Beast Emperor Star [3]

    Chapter 1183 Beast Emperor Star [3]

    It started but a day ago.

    Evacuation procedures began several weeks prior, but with the massive poption of Beast Emperor Star, even Damien''s improved teleportation array system could only do so much.

    Everything was going ording to n.

    Regr citizens were being moved to safety as fast as possible, and those who decided to stay and fight were being trained as efficiently as possible for the wars that woulde in the future.

    But nobody expected the Nox toe so soon.

    They''d been focusing on Soul World with such ferocity that it was hard to imagine they still had forces to spare on their small resistance.

    In fact, it wasn''t wrong to think this way at all.

    For several months, the level of invasion was extremely manageable, to the point where their guards were naturally lowered.

    But that was probably what the Nox were aiming for from the start.

    They never nned to leave a single world alone.

    Especially not one with as much significance as the Fate Star.

    How did they do it?

    Astoria''s ability to read the flow of Fate should''ve given them ample time to prepare for such an invasion, but she didn''t feel anything out of the ordinary before the day of.

    They still hadn''t found the reason, but if one had to assume, they had some mechanism in their hidden dimension that cut them out of the flow of Fate that could be read.

    So when they finally showed themselves, it was impossible to react.

    They aimed for two ces first.

    The training grounds of regr soldiers, and the teleportation array.

    Damien''s precautions allowed the teleportation array to fend off the invading forces despite not having as many experts nearby, which luckily allowed them to save most of themon people, but the regr soldiers weren''t so lucky.

    They were mentally prepared to face such arge number of enemies. It was hard not to be when one saw its scale so many times before this moment happened.

    But they weren''t trained enough yet.

    They tried their best to fight, but the Nox overpowered them within a few hours and started a massacre.

    Naturally, the Judgement Order and Golden Dragon n responded in kind.

    They spread their forces across the world for battle. The Golden Dragon n''s squad, led by Hedrick and Astoria, went to the training camps to help with defense, while Long Chen and Aishia led their squads to support the teleportation array.

    Rose and the rest went to their positions and held out the best they could, but it was hard to cope with the enemy''s numbers with their small force.

    Especially now that Xue Fang was no longer in the Judgement Order.

    Tian Yang and the Golden Dragon Emperor were in the Golden Dragon Pce depths, in a ce too secure for even a Supreme to reach, so not much thought was put into the Golden Dragon Estate, since the reserve forces and imperial guard were still present there, but this was apse in judgement.

    Not one that could be prevented either.

    Who would''ve thought such a thing would happen?

    It only took a few hours for Rose and the rest to cope with the situation and start moving properly, but by the time she sent Su Ren to support the Golden Dragon Estate¡­

    ¡­they were already gone.

    Every individual present there, from the nonbatants, to the imperial guard, to the children, they were nothing more than corpses on the ground.

    ''The women have been vited and the rest have been tortured. How could they aplish this in such a short period of time?''

    The answer was¡ª

    ''¡ªthey couldn''t.''

    Su Ren was forced to be objective. He couldn''t allow his emotions to sway him even in the face of such an atrocity.

    He inspected the corpses seriously and came to a conclusion.

    ''It is impossible to inflict wounds like these in a matter of 2 hours.''

    "This is Alpha. Judging by the scene, the enemies in the Golden Dragon Estate are able to use Time Laws. How should we proceed?"

    He gave the report as he saw it and waited for orders, because he couldn''t be sure he could handle this alone.

    The other side was silent for a moment. Hismunication was transmitted to everyone, not just Rose, and they all came to the same conclusion.

    For him to say such a thing, the scene he saw must''ve been terrible. The things that happened¡­

    "Can you do it?"

    Rose spoke before the remaining Golden Dragons could do anything reckless.

    "I cannot be certain. There may be a Supreme among them."

    The location of the three Supremes that led the attack was already confirmed.

    Hedrick was fighting one, while two other Supremes from the Golden Dragon n were holding off the others.

    "Do you have evidence?" Rose asked.

    The presence of a fourth Supreme would tip the scalespletely.

    They didn''t have another Supreme tobat that hidden existence.

    Su Ren''s eyes narrowed as he frowned.

    "None, but I can''t ignore the possibility."

    Rose''s expression was dignified as she listened.

    Su Ren''s current fighting power was that of an Executioner. Unless it was truly a Supreme, he would be able to take the risk and engage, but if that powerful person was truly there, he would be killed regardless of his power.

    She gritted her teeth.

    As a leader, she had to make the decision that benefited the majority. She couldn''t be swayed by her friendships or allies.

    "Engage."

    Her voice was strained, but she still forced the word out.

    "We can''t allow them to reach the bunker."

    Su Ren sighed to himself.

    "Understood. I will update every 10 minutes from now on. If mymunications cut off, consider me dead."

    He looked back at his squad, all of whom nodded with hardened faces.

    They''d all been prepared to lose their lives from the start.

    Without hesitation, they started moving towards the hidden enemy.

    This situation was reminiscent of the ck Dragon invasion of the past.

    If they reached the Demigods below and managed to invoke a response that sent them to the Ancient Battlefield, many things would be ruined.

    To stop that from happening, to keep their main support system alive, they had no choice but to move.

    Astoria listened to everything from her ce on the battlefield.

    There was nothing she could do.

    Was there nothing she could do?

    The more she heard, the more her rage boiled. Her hatred for the Nox reached a personal level that it never reached before.

    Was there nothing she could do for her home besides act as a regr soldier?

    Did she have to stay here, fighting against nine revolutions Nox beings who appeared as if they were infinite?

    ''No.''

    She refused.

    This was her home.

    This was the Fate Star. It was the source of her power. It was the origin of everything she stood for.

    ''If Master was here, he wouldn''t be reserved to the situation.''

    If her Master was here, he''d create a miracle that led them to victory.

    ''I am his disciple.''

    She was the Void Princess.

    To be granted such a title¡­

    ''¡­Master must have believed in my potential.''

    If her Master who could do anything believed in her enough to pass her this mantle¡­

    ''¡­I will not disappoint those expectations.''

    With burning tears streaming down her face and burning rage filling her heart and soul, she would create the miracle that saved this world.

 Chapter 1184 Beast Emperor Star [4]

    Chapter 1184 Beast Emperor Star [4]

    Astoria nced around desperately.

    On all sides, she could only see the gruesome sights of battle. Enemies and allies alike were turned into bloody messes that decorated the cold ground, and the air of insanity that wafted along with the scent of blood was revolting.

    She didn''t want to see any more of this.

    It didn''t matter how many times this scene showed itself before her, she never got used to it.

    "Sister, cover me!" She yelled.

    Hedrick wasn''t her only remaining sibling.

    The First Prince was still off-world, his location unknown, while the first and second princesses remained in the Golden Dragon Estate, helping it stabilize after the prior conflict.

    The 2nd princess, Tessia Golden, was in the Golden Dragon Estate until thest time she was seen.

    With the currently unfolding events, her fate was unknown.

    However, Elizabeth Golden was on the front lines with her brother and sister, fighting to protect her home.

    After being useless in thest invasion, she refused to face such tragedy again and trained to be abatant, and so far, she''d shown promising results.

    When she heard Astoria''s call, she finished off the enemies in front of her and retreated rapidly so she could pay attention to her sister''s situation.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Astoria was a great fighter. She wasn''t able to use space offensively, but the power she gained from its support allowed her to wield fate in ways none thought possible.

    shes of golden light followed her every movement, incinerating the Nox she passed and attacked.

    "Cover for you? Are you nning to do something stupid?" Elizabeth asked cautiously.

    With what just happened, none of them were in the right state of mind, but they couldn''t fall prey to that weakness. The second they did, the enemy would seize that opening and end them all!

    However, Astoria was just as aware of this as her sister.

    "I have no ns to act recklessly," she responded solemnly.

    "But I want to change this. I can''t let this go on."

    Elizabeth frowned in worry.

    "Do you have a n?"

    Astoria shook her head, dodging and weaving her enemies and continuing her assault.

    "I don''t, but I''m sure I will find one if I have the time to try."

    It was hard to trust words like those, ones that sounded like they sprouted from idealism, but Elizabeth couldn''t be so certain in this moment.

    Because Astoria''s power made her ideals attainable through impossible means.

    If she actually could wield that power like she did back then, if she could alter Fate itself to their benefit¡­

    "How long do you need?"

    "I can''t say."

    Elizabeth spread her awareness to take ount of the situation.

    "Hedrick won''t be able to move for a long time. If we arecking your strength, I can at most buy 10 minutes. Are you confident?"

    "¡­"

    Astoria didn''t immediately respond.

    "10 minutes¡­I''m not sure if I can do it, but¡­"

    She didn''t have a choice.

    "If 10 minutes is all I have, I''ll make it work in 10 minutes."

    Elizabeth nodded.

    "Very well. I''ll trust you then."

    She turned her attention back to the battle.

    ''I can no longer hold back.''

    If she wanted to control the situation, she had to burst forth with all her power even if it meant leaving her defenseless once her mana ran out.

    She looked up at Astoria, who had turned into a golden light trail in the sky, and smiled wryly.

    ''I hope you can truly aplish something with the time you have. Otherwise¡­''

    Otherwise, perhaps her legacy would end here.

    Golden mana ran wild in the surroundings.

    The Golden Dragon n''s First Princess.

    With such a title, she couldn''t lose to her younger sister, right?

    "Come!"

    Her voice boomed through the atmosphere.

    10 minutes¡­

    From now on, she would do everything she possibly could to buy that time.

    Even if that meant sacrificing her life.

    ***

    The tears didn''t stop.

    Astoria was firm now, her will unshakeable, but the tears didn''t stop.

    Because she knew what the consequences of failure were.

    In the time since the ck Dragon invasion, Astoria''s status in the n went from "devil princess" to "greatest hope."

    She understood what her sister was doing.

    If it meant Astoria could live on and continue the legacy of the Golden Dragon n, the rest of its members didn''t care if they died.

    They would do so happily for her.

    ''I can''t¡­''

    She couldn''t let it happen.

    She refused!

    Her body tore through the stratosphere. As she stood above the world, she concentrated her power and formed a golden ball of light around her.

    What was she to do from here?

    When it came to Fate, it wasn''t something she could control just because she wanted to.

    The only thing she could do was earnestly plead for change and hope her prayers would be answered.

    She dug into her heart and found her connection with the world, with the Fate Star.

    Her eyes shone with a golden hue as a strange symbol formed itself on her forehead, a scale of light.

    ''Please¡­'' she prayed.

    ''Please help us!''

    Fate was a cruel mistress.

    She watched the world with indifferent eyes and guided its flow uncaring of those she harmed or helped.

    Her job was to be an observer, not a yer.

    However, Astoria was the one who held power over her existence.

    Astoria''s trait, enhanced by the Void, had the power to change the y with the strings she held.

    She didn''t know what she wanted.

    All she wished for was salvation.

    But what form it woulde in¡­?

    She couldn''t predict it, nor did she know if it would evene.

    But she diligently prayed.

    As herrades made sure nothing could affect her, she prayed and deepened her connection with Fate, using everything in her power to will something to change.

    It was nothing more than a desperate cry for help.

    However¡­

    When the one crying was a lone princess to her Mother Empress, the chance of her cries being answered was far greater than anyone else.

    One minute passed, then two, then three.

    Five minutes passed without anything changing.

    The situation on the ground only became worse.

    Elizabeth did everything she could.

    She pushed her mana to its limits and ughtered dozens of thousands of Nox beings every second, but they kepting like an unending wave.

    She didn''t have much time left.

    But she didn''t give up.

    She swung her sword until her arms could no longer move, then she swung her sword some more.

    "AGH!"

    She cried out in pain as a de pierced her stomach, but at the same time, she used that opportunity to sh the head of the one who impaled her.

    Her arms were covered in cuts and gashes, but every single one represented an enemy she felled.

    Blood pooled in her mouth and on the ground below her, yet she kept moving forward without hesitation.

    ''Astoria¡­you must¡­survive¡­!''

    8 minutes passed.

    Unfortunately, Elizabeth was reaching the limits of her mana.

    ''I''m afraid¡­10 minutes¡­won''t be possible.''

    She didn''t stop attacking, but the wry smile on her face represented her thoughts.

    She knew she was going to die here.

    There was no possibility of survival.

    Shik!

    A spear dug into her chest, just barely missing her heart. Impaled on its tip, she lost her movement capability and became a sitting target.

    "ELIZABETH!"

    Hedrick''s roar filled the air.

    Elizabeth looked up at her brother, who could hardly spare enough attention to pay attention to her while battling the strongest of the attacking enemies.

    And a smile lit up her face.

    "Live¡­on¡­"

    "SISTER, YOU CAN''T!"

    Hedrick was desperate to help, but he could do nothing.

    There was already a de rushing towards her neck.

    And unless the Supreme he faced decided to stop fighting this instant, he couldn''t save her.

    9 minutes passed.

    Everyone watched their own battlegrounds with a variety of expressions.

    Families were being separated. Men watched their closest brothers die before them, women watched their husbands and children ughtered to protect them, while others stood alone and sacrificed their lives to protect these families from harm.

    The brutality, nobody saw it clearer than Astoria.

    And that moment, when the de made contact with her sister''s neck, engraved itself in her mind.

    "NO!"

    She screamed out.

    Everything in her being roared.

    And¡­

    A barely noticeable pulse of light emanated from the world.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Smoke covered the training area.

    "Something" dropped from the sky.

    And when the clouds finally cleared¡­

    "Again?"

    A man''s voice rang out.

    "These annoying Nox bastards. Why do they have to keep pulling bullshit like this?"

    With the sword edge of a Nox being gripped in his left hand and Elizabeth Golden in his right, he scanned his gaze around the battlefield.

    With his fiery red hair pping in the wind, he sighed.

    "I guess you never learn, huh."

    He stomped his foot on the ground,

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A shockwave spread that instant, decimating the enemies in his vicinity.

    "This universe¡­is not yours to swallow."

 Chapter 1185 Beast Emperor Star [5]

    Chapter 1185 Beast Emperor Star [5]

    "These annoying Nox bastards. Why do they have to keep pulling bullshit like this?"

    A red-haired man appeared from thin air as if he''d been waiting for his cue.

    "I guess you never learn, huh."

    All eyes turned to him.

    "This universe¡­is not yours to swallow."

    And he vanished again.

    His speed was untouchable.

    In but a single second, he made his way through the entire battlefield and pulled every powerful enemy into a group.

    Once he was done, he flew up into the air and held his arm out.

    "Feel the weight of your sins."

    VOOOOOOM!

    Every Nox he touched spontaneouslybusted. ck and red mes danced around their bodies in proportion to the weight of their sins and burned them to cinders.

    Cries of agony filled the air.

    These mes didn''t just target the physical, but the ethereal, this was pain they felt in their souls.

    And the Supreme Hedrick was fighting wasn''t excluded.

    "AAAHHHHHHH!" He roared as his body was engulfed in a wall of mes ten times his size.

    Hedrick backed off warily, his eyes filled with bafflement.

    "Don''t worry about it," the red-haired man said.

    "These mes only harm evil. It won''t affect you even if you walk into them right now."

    The strange yet familiar man spoke with certainty.

    Alexander, who appeared once before to save Rose and her group, showed his face again.

    But this time, his role wasn''t so significant.

    He nced into the atmosphere.

    "Hmm, they should be here in a few minutes, so I guess my job is to just take care of the most important parts."

    His body shed away amidst the silent battlefield.

    There were still enemies remaining, but even they were frozen in shock.

    Elizabeth Golden was in the greatest stupor.

    Just a second ago, she felt the cold embrace of death grabbing hold of her.

    But now, she was¡­fine?

    That man not only saved her, but used a strange white light to heal the injuries on her body.

    That man¡­

    ¡­just who was he?

    ''Now isn''t the time to be dwelling on such trivial facts.''

    She was certain.

    ''Astoria''s n¡­it worked.''

    "Men, raise your swords!" She yelled with every ounce of her being.

    "Victory is ours!"

    Her words served as a wake-up call.

    Right, with such an immense turn, where the majority of the powerful enemies were eliminated¡­

    "VICTORY IS OURS!"

    "VICTORY IS OURS!"

    "VICTORY IS OURS!"

    Their blood boiled with relief and excitement.

    They picked up their swords and faced the enemy.

    This time, they would not be beaten back like dogs.

    This time, they would obliterate those who dared step foot on theirnd!

    ***

    Alexander moved from battlefield to battlefield after that.

    But instead ofpletely solving the problem, he did the bare minimum necessary before moving on.

    Long Chen and Aishia, Rose, Ruyue, and Elena, and the squads led by them and their fellow leaders all met him and received his aid.

    Their individual situations were quelled to a point where their current forces could handle them.

    Perfectly.

    Exactly to that level with no deviation, almost like the work of a god.

    Alexander didn''t wait for their thanks or questions. After settling those situations, he moved to the Golden Dragon Estate, his eyes cold.

    ''There isn''t much time left.''

    He had to rush.

    Because out of all these battles, perhaps the least intense one was the most important.

    Deep in the Golden Dragon Estate, only a few hundred meters from the hidden bunker where Tian Tang and the Golden Dragon Emperor were, a battle was taking ce.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Bursts of ck mana covered the air, and were just as soon shed away by arcs of grey light.

    "You are good, but this is not nearly enough to stop me!"

    A Nox being with draconic horns and a mad grin on his face raced through the air like aet, his fist outstretching into a heavy punch thatnded on Su Ren''s de.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    "KEUK¡­!"

    Su Ren coughed several mouthfuls of blood as he was thrown back.

    He regained bnce in the air and nted his feet on the ground, digging them into the ground to halt his momentum.

    The corpses of his squad were already decorating the earth. He was thest one left.

    They barely made it in time, but as they''d expected, the enemy this time was a Supreme.

    Su Ren couldn''t fight him alone.

    He never had that kind of power.

    However¡­

    "DAMMIT!"

    He roared and shed his twin des through the air, their paths like twisting dragons as they enhanced each other''s power and created a whirlwind of power that roared towards the enemy.

    This power was not his.

    It was the power granted to him by the sacrifices of hisrades.

    Theybined their mana upon death to both seal the Supreme''s Time Laws and boost Su Ren''s strength as much as possible.

    The amount of agony they must''ve gone through to do so¡­

    He refused to let their efforts go to waste!

    "YOU WILL DIE HERE!"

    He didn''t care about his injuries.

    His team was willing to end their own lives to give him a chance. He wouldn''t let a little pain stop him now.

    He approached the Supreme in but an instant, his swords flurrying into motion.

    Even for a Supreme, they were hard to track.

    ''What a tough guy!''

    That Supreme, named Drago, was considerably talented in physicalbat, but even he was having trouble dodging all of Su Ren''s strikes.

    They were impossible to predict. The paths of his two des intepped in a way where they hid each other''s true intentions, and that dangerous mana he wielded was dangerous for any Nox being they could reach.

    "Khhh!"

    Drago winced through his teeth as cuts piled up on his body.

    "Human, you are good, however¡­"

    He grinned madly, spreading his arms and leaving himself open.

    ng!

    "¡­your skill means nothing in front of absolute power!"

    BOOM!

    Su Ren''s de struck his chest with the sound of metal shing against metal. In that moment when the shock traveled up his arm and stunned him, the Nox named Drago mmed his fist into Su Ren''s skull.

    Crack!

    His bones definitely shattered that time,

    It was hard to think with his vision blurring like so. The world started spinning ever so slightly, but it was more than enough to impede his perception.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    He didn''t get the chance to reorient himself. Drago approached in that split second and let loose a barrage of blows that each held power that felt nuclear.

    Su Ren''s bones shattered and shattered. Even the pieces that survived were shattered further into dust.

    He had the motivation to continue fighting, as did he the mana, but with a body like this, how could he?!

    "RAAAAAAAAAH!"

    He roared. It was guttural with such a broken body, but he roared.

    If he couldn''t use his body, his mana would have to do!

    It manifested outside of him. He closed his eyes and used his awareness to see instead.

    The manifestation he created was a de God, a mirror of the epithet he was granted.

    "I¡­WILL NOT¡­FALL!"

    His role was the most important.

    If the Golden Dragon Emperor''s slumber was interrupted, the final piece supporting Beast Emperor Star would crumble.

    At that point, it wouldn''t matter what they did.

    Because the world itself would crumble!

    This was Su Ren''sst struggle.

    He could only put his everything into it and hope it was enough to take down the enemy.

    But¡­

    "Phew¡­!"

    A relieved sigh rang out.

    "It looks like I''m not toote."

    A familiar red-haired man appeared again, ready to save the day.

    With so many encounters like this, one had to wonder¡­

    This man named Alexander¡­

    ¡­was he an envoy of Fate itself?

 Chapter 1186 Beast Emperor Star [6]

    Chapter 1186 Beast Emperor Star [6]

    Was he a good luck charm or something?

    With Alexander''s interference, the situation calmed down extremely.

    The war was still raging on, and people were still dying as they were before, but the atmospherepletely changed,

    These soldiers who were at the edge of sanity just a moment ago saw a ray of hope in his existence, and their reinvigorated selves fought with such fervor that it almost seemed unrealistic.

    The change in momentum also helped Rose a great deal. The orders she gave were received properly, and those fighting no longer felt overwhelmed by the enemy.

    But she knew better than anyone.

    ''It won''t end so easily.''

    Even if that man took care of the most important problems, the rest were still there.

    ''And we do not need to be coddled by a stranger.''

    Yes, he was their savior in the past and now, but Rose had no intention of relying on a being of unknown origins.

    This problem would be solved by them.

    And when it was over, they could thank him for his help and send him on his way.

    There was only one man she wasfortable relying on.

    And that was not him!

    "Everyone, focus! There are still High Commanders and Executioners hiding in their ranks! Do not drop your guards and die meaninglessly!"

    Right, it wasn''t nearly over yet.

    If they didn''t finish fast, regardless of what Alexander did, their losses would be far too severe to call this a victory.

    Rose was amander.

    Just like she was forced to make the choice to send Su Ren to his possible death, she had to make the choice to disregard Alexander and act like his help never came.

    Because if she didn''t, those under her wouldn''t perform to their peak capabilities.

    It was exhausting, but it was her job.

    And this ruined world, no, this almost ruined world¡­

    She wouldn''t allow it to fall.

    No matter what!

    ***

    "Haaap¡­!"

    In the sky above Beast Emperor Star, Astoria suddenly opened her eyes and inhaled a deep breath.

    Something definitely happened, but she wasn''t sure of what it was.

    Fate had answered her call, this much she was sure of.

    It was a mystical feeling. What she felt in that cocoon couldn''t be exined in words.

    But¡­

    Something changed.

    Not just in the outside world, but in herself.

    Those elusive strings of Fate that could only be moved through desperation in the past¡­

    Why did it feel like they would move if she just plucked them with her fingers?

    ''I am Astoria Golden.''

    She didn''t have any reason to reaffirm her identity, but it came to her mind naturally.

    ''I am the Void Princess.''

    She started to understand something,

    This title meant more than she ever expected.

    The horizons it opened for her were far more than just this.

    This was just the very tip of the iceberg, not even everything above the water.

    ''No, I can figure that outter. Now¡­''

    What happened?

    She didn''t want to look outside and see her sister dead.

    But, the golden light ball that encapsted her body was already gone.

    With her perception blurry from overexertion of mana, she sensed the world for the first time since she came out of the cocoon.

    "¡­"

    She was silent for a moment.

    She couldn''t see anything, but she seemed to vaguely sense something.

    Was she mistaken?

    Or did it feel like¡­

    "¡­Master?"

    ***

    sh!

    Two beings appeared in the starry sky.

    Their entrance was sudden and most unexpected.

    "We''re finally here!"

    "Hmm¡­"

    Alea was especially excited about their arrival, but Zara didn''t know what to think.

    The Divine Beast Sanctuary was at least a 10-day journey from Beast Emperor Star, and that was using a starship to move.

    Their starship, however, was destroyed upon entry into the cemetery.

    With them utilizing only their bodies, it should''ve taken at least a month.

    Yet¡­

    ''We were moving through deep space, and suddenly, Beast Emperor Star appeared in front of us.''

    It only took three days total.

    That was how events unfolded. There were no intense spatial fluctuations nor was there any sort of indication of interference at all, but they mystically reached their destination in record time.

    There was no doubt that they''d been pulled here by something.

    But¡­what was it?

    ''It''s almost like¡­''

    "Fate," Alea muttered.

    Zara nced at her without a word.

    "Let''s not sit here too long. It doesn''t look good down there."

    Alea nodded and the two moved immediately. There wasn''t any time to marvel at the circumstances.

    Because to save the world, they were needed more than anyone else.

    Right, this world''s salvation was not Alexander. As he said, his role was to keep things stable until they arrived.

    The true salvationy in their hands.

    Zara and Alea descended into the atmosphere and almost immediately met with Astoria, who was sitting above the stratosphere in confusion.

    "Little sister!" Zara eximed.

    Damien''s disciple wasn''t unfamiliar to her, and naturally, she weed her into the family.

    Astoria''s eyes were hazy, but hearing the special means of address that few in this world could call her, her vision cleared.

    "Z-Zara¡­?" She questioned hesitantly.

    "It''s me," Zara said, grabbing her hand.

    "You¡­you guys are back! Did you¡­"

    "We got it."

    Zara swept her arm through the air and grabbed the Dimensional Prism out of her spatial storage.

    "This is it¡­?" Astoria asked.

    "Mm, this is it. With this, Beast Emperor Star will survive."

    "Ah!"

    Astoria eximed in shock. Even she didn''t know exactly what it did, but this was the device her seniors andrades put their faith in, so seeing it was definitely shocking.

    "Return to the surface and notify everyone. We''ll be using it immediately."

    Astoria nodded vehemently and shed away. Her body moved with such speed that it shattered the air, a measure of her current excitement.

    "Now, as she gets everyone ready¡­"

    Zara looked at the object in her hand.

    The Dimensional Prism, an object with reality-shattering capabilities. It was an item that "should not exist."

    Its function was simple.

    It could create a temporary mirrored reality that could contain reality itself, and more than that, even if it was slight, it had the ability to alter it.

    It should''ve never been possible even for the greatest of experts.

    Yet, this treasure made it so.

    It was a countermeasure made by over a hundred Demigods in times so ancient they were no longer recorded in history for this very situation, for a moment when the universe could no longer survive the brunt of the Nox''s attacks.

    It had yet to be found for a single reason.

    Nobody worthy of entering the Divine Beast Sanctuary had been born.

    But Zara and Alea broke that chain. Their special existences through their mothers, the Divine Emperor, and the Void put them in a position none had reached prior to them.

    "Are you ready?" Zara said, ncing at her sister.

    "You ask me too often. Can''t you read my thoughts?" Alea responded smilingly.

    "If I''ve learned one thing for Damien, it''s that effect is always important."

    "How corny."

    In the midst of this cmitous situation, the two sisters were absolutely calm.

    Not because they didn''t understand the gravity of it all, but because they were confident in fixing it.

    "Then, let''s go."

    They ced their hands on the prism together and infused their mana.

    And, for the first time in the entire history of existence¡­

    A glorious reaction took ce.

 Chapter 1187 Beast Emperor Star [7]

    Chapter 1187 Beast Emperor Star [7]

    Astoria was like a certain historical figure in the way she rushed around the world.

    Her joyous cries reached every end of the star.

    "They have returned!"

    She didn''t need to say more than that.

    Even themon soldiers knew that there was something they were waiting for, a path to victory.

    And judging by the way their leaders'' faces lit up, it was clear that moment had arrived.

    From the western ins where Long Chen and Aishia stood over a pile of corpses, to where Rose and the girls were fighting fiercely against the most densely packed section of the wave, to the depths of the Golden Dragon Estate where Alexander was healing the unconscious Su Ren''s broken body, her cries spread.

    They looked into the sky in unison.

    The light in their eyes burned the same regardless of location.

    Hidden from everyone else''s perception, Alexander smiled.

    "Mm, that''s how things were supposed to go. I guess it''s my time to disappear again."

    His expression was a bit wry, but what could he do?

    He was just a¡ª

    ''Haha, does this happen to everyone? Well, it''s not like my position is a bad one.''

    He only came to fulfill his role.

    Since it was over, his presence was no longer needed.

    ''I hope I won''t have toe out for a long time, but who knows? There are still things that need to be done.''

    He nced down at Su Ren andid his body back carefully.

    "You''ll be fine once you wake up, but¡­"

    "¡­isn''t it a bit of a shame to just leave like this?"

    He turned his attention to the thick stone door that separated him from the two remaining Demigods in this world.

    His heartbeat was somewhat erratic, but he stood up and moved despite his hesitation.

    It wasn''t hard to get through the door. He had more than enough ability to phase through its defenses.

    And the scene inside became clear.

    Nobody had seen this.

    When Tian Yang realized what his close friend had done, he ordered this area to enter a lockdown so nobody could enter and see his state.

    For good reason.

    The current Golden Dragon Emperor looked nothing like his usual valiant and undaunted form.

    He was wilted like a dying flower. His body was weak and looked like it would break with a single push.

    His energy was constantly being siphoned by the world for its survival. Even his Divinity wasn''t safe from this pull.

    "Haa¡­"

    It was a hard sight to see.

    Tian Yang was sitting cross-legged next to him, his hand on the Golden Dragon Emperor''s forehead.

    ''Are you facilitating the energy transfer¡­? No, you''re using your own energy to maintain his life force. As always¡­''

    Alexander shook his head.

    At this rate, both of them would die by the time the world was saved. Their energy had been pushed to its limits.

    ''It''s a miracle they could even survive this long. To keep an entire, especially one like the Fate Star, intact with the power of two people alone¡­I can''t believe they even dared to try something like this.''

    He couldn''t think of any other word to describe it besides "suicidal."

    But¡­

    ''I guess that''s the resolve you need to survive in this world.''

    "Enough of this."

    He spoke out loud, snapping himself out of his strange fate, and held his arm out again.

    "Neither of you are allowed to die."

    Mana flowed forth.

    Was it right to call it mana?

    "An energy" left his palm and wrapped around the two fractured Divinities.

    "I can''t do anything about the World Core, but that shouldn''t be a problem with the Dimensional Prism in hand. Instead, I''ll give you this¡­"

    The energy pushed into their bodies and sunk into their skin.

    Tian Yang woke up at this point, but he was unable to do anything to counter that energy.

    It flowed into his body, through his systems, and into the Golden Dragon Emperor before forming a cycle that constantly strengthened as it moved between them.

    "This isn''t much, but it''s a ''chance.'' When you wake up again, you''ll understand what it means."

    That energy would do the rest on its own.

    "Until we meet again."

    The expression on his face wasplicated, but Alexander turned around nheless.

    As he''d mentioned before, his purpose here was aplished.

    Without a word or a single sound, he vanished into the air.

    Like a phantom that never existed in the first ce.

    Those who witnessed his presence or received his grace were forced to wonder who he was.

    But the mystery behind his existence couldn''t be revealed to them so easily, if at all.

    All they needed to know was that he was here as their guardian angel.

    A being descended to the lower nes to assist them.

    By the will of their greatest supporter.

    ***

    Precisely 2 seconds after Alexander''s disappearance¡­

    It happened in but an instant.

    If one was observing from the starry sky, it would have yed out as such:

    Zara and Alea''s manabined inside the Dimensional Prism, and a scan ran over their bodies as if it was gauging their worth.

    The second it acknowledged them as the rightful users of its power, a blue geometric barrier spread from their position in the sky and encapsted the world in a single instant.

    And then¡­

    It disappeared.

    The entirety of Beast Emperor Star vanished from the starry sky.

    No matter how much longer one watched, they wouldn''t see it return.

    Unless¡­

    Unless one turned one''s attention past the bounds of the Beast Domain.

    In a nondescript area of the Divine Realm, roughly near the border of the Human Domain, a world appeared from thin air.

    This was none other than Beast Emperor Star.

    But if the observer saw it as a simple teleportation effect, they would be sorely mistaken.

    Something magisterial happened when that world was sucked into the Dimensional Prism.

    Zara and Alea made sure of it.

    In that single instant, they were Gods with power nearing absolute.

    They spread destruction with a single wave of their hands, eradicating all Nox presence from the world.

    And in the next move, they targeted the very center of the world and reformed its World Core.

    The reality-altering power of this prism wasn''t a joke.

    Both creation and destruction were under theirplete control.

    However, it was still impossible to control the cycle of life and death.

    Those who died remained dead, but those who lived were granted salvation.

    The once-crumbling Beast Emperor Star regained its light and its life. The Golden Dragon Emperor was disconnected from its systems and saved. The war that took so many innocent and heroic lives ended in an instant.

    And the world itself was moved out of its precarious position, bing a part of the Divine Realm''s systems with none the wiser, not even those who resided in this very system.

    It was a miracle among miracles.

    Or could it be the workings of Fate?

    In the minutes that passed after the event, nobody on the surface of the world could make out the truth.

    No, they hardly even realized the war was over.

    How could they?

    After such a drawn-out conflict, for it to be over in but a single second, how could anyone ept this?

    But unknown to them, it took far longer than that.

    The time they spent in the Dimensional Prism wasn''t something they couldprehend.

    It was better to say they were "frozen in time" after Zara and Alea pulled them into that treasure.

    That''s why they didn''t realize.

    That''s why it didn''t sink in for them.

    For a treasure like this¡­

    ¡­it was impossible to wield its power without consequences.

 Chapter 1188 Beast Emperor Star [8]

    Chapter 1188 Beast Emperor Star [8]

    "Time" was amodity that couldn''t be bought with money, yet was dearly desired by all.

    Usually, with how the universe''s situation had been deteriorating, it was impossible to find "time."

    Yet, that''s exactly what the forces of Beast Emperor Star were soon to gain.

    Rose desperately wanted to check on Zara and Alea, but she needed to lead the clean-up procedures so she could gain ess to the "time" they''d earned through their desperate struggle.

    Clean-up. It was a nice way of putting it, but it was a grueling process.

    To collect the corpses of allies and prepare a proper burial for them, to get rid of the corruption of the Nox that spread as they increased their presence in the world, to bring medical attention to those who needed it¡­

    ''There''s so much to do it almost makes me want to quit.''

    Rest was a luxury Rose didn''t have ess to. This was the fate of a leader.

    Until those under her could rest, she couldn''t even dream of it.

    Other than the most important tasks, there was still much to be done logistically.

    They needed to tally their losses and n for the future, and they needed to understand their current circumstances.

    They had to make contact with Luciel and fill him in on the situation, and they needed to fix as much of the damages as they could.

    There was simply too much to do.

    But no matter how fast she moved, Rose couldn''t get her mind off the two women who saved them all.

    Where were they now?

    They hadn''te down to the surface yet, which made her extremely worried.

    She couldn''t feel their presence at all, whether through regr means or extraneous ones.

    It dawned on her before anyone else.

    The consequences of their actions, that is.

    Eliminating tens of millions of beings and reconstructing a World Core, even disregarding the spatial discement of an entire world, these two tasks could not be aplished easily.

    "It''ll be okay."

    Rose returned her attention to reality when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

    Turning her head, she saw Elena and Ruyue looking at her with expressions of understanding.

    "Trust them. I''m sure they wouldn''t do anything they weren''t confident in."

    Consequences.

    She''d faced them, as had they all.

    Every action was apanied by them, whether good or bad, and at their level, it was impossible to move without epting them first.

    "So trust them," Elena reiterated.

    "No matter what they''re going through, they''lle back to us. If they couldn''t do that much, they wouldn''t be the women we know, right?"

    Rose looked at her nkly for a second before nodding.

    Even if she didn''t believe it, she had to try. She had to trust them.

    She smiled slightly. It was strained, but it was still a smile.

    "It''s rare to see you taking up this job," she joked, easing the mood.

    Elena rolled her eyes.

    "You can be that person for everyone else, but we''ll be those people for you. That''s how it''s always been and that''s how it''ll always be. Got a problem?"

    Rose shook her head, her smile more genuine this time.

    "Not at all."

    Everyone had a support system. In this family, nobody would ever be abandoned.

    Just like Elena and Ruyue refused to abandon her, the three of them refused to abandon their dear little sisters-inw.

    So, they maintained hope.

    Hope that those two woulde back arguing as they always did.

    ***

    In a dark space, two bodies floated alone.

    This ce was not the reality they knew, nor the one they created within the Dimensional Prism. It was somewhere entirely different.

    Their egos were nearly shattered. The actions they''d taken were far beyond their capabilities, after all.

    The Dimensional Prism was made to be used as a final struggle, and it was not meant to be survived.

    If used properly by a group of Demigods like those who created it, it could alter the entire flow of reality at their sacrifice.

    But Zara and Alea, at their much weaker power level, utilized it, albeit at a scale small enough to maintain bnce.

    However, sacrifice was still necessary.

    It was a miracle that life still flowed through their bodies.

    Calling it "life" might not have been urate.

    Something was keeping them alive in a state of suspended animation, but it was not something as pure as life.

    It was a dark energy, abyssal and murky, sticky like ink.

    The energy of their Demonic Providences that they''d just learned to contain through the blessings they received from their mothers, this energy was now running rampant with nothing to stop it.

    It formed two manifestations above their still bodies.

    On Zara''s side, it was a massive corrupted wolf. Its ck wings, filled with feathers of a Fallen Angel, were dripping as if they were melting, and its body was seemingly made of sludge of the same kind.

    Meanwhile, Alea''s was somewhat more appealing. It was also a wolf, but its form could be made out more clearly.

    They mirrored each other like manifestations of light and darkness.

    But this was only trickery. Both were equally vile.

    And their current goal was¡­

    The possession of their host bodies!

    Zara and Alea couldn''t put up a single bit of resistance as their bodies were slowly corrupted.

    At least, not consciously.

    At that moment when the dark beings tried to take control of their minds, two more manifestations appeared in the void.

    One was a ck wolf with the wings of a Fallen Angel. It had beautiful silk-like fur, nine powerful tails, and a regal yet menacing appearance that would immediately strike fear into the hearts of those who saw it.

    The other was its pr opposite, a silver wolf with an unequivocally angelic appearance. It did not have a multitude of tails nor did it have many especially unique characteristics, but its aura alone was so holy those who witnessed its form would kneel in reverence regardless of their beliefs.

    The dark beings they opposed were like reflections of themselves, manifestations created from their visages.

    However, mere manifestations could never match their true forms.

    The two wolves, formed from the bloodlines of their host bodies, looked at each other and¡­smiled?

    They were like old friends who met again after countless millennia.

    They ignored the dark beings that were snarling at them like rabid dogs and approached each other.

    They nuzzled each other like family, and then, as if agreed upon beforehand, they stood together with their mana inteced.

    A bright sh overtook the void, splitting it into equal parts light and darkness as if mirroring the formation of the universe.

    But their goal was not to eradicate these evil spirits.

    No, no matter how much they disliked it, these evil spirits were just as much a part of Zara and Alea as they were.

    So their goal was only one.

    To reign in these powers and make them a part of the sisters'' arsenal.

    "The time has finallye¡­"

    "The vision he saw¡­"

    They spoke as one.

    "¡­let us put it into motion."

    In this separated reality, far beyond the perception of any being living or dead, a massive event urred.

    For the sake of their survival, and under the guidance of Fate that predicted this event long ago, the two Divine Beasts from whom they inherited their blood conjoined their power.

    Whether it was for better or worse¡­

    ¡­could only be found by Zara and Alea, long after the process came to an end.

 Chapter 1189 Beast Emperor Star [9]

    Chapter 1189 Beast Emperor Star [9]

    The rtionship between the two sisters was convoluted from the start.

    Their birth was not a mistake.

    In reality, the Divine Emperor had a n in conceiving them.

    His rtionship with the Nox hadpletely broken down by the time he made it to Apeiron. Because he didn''t want to be their ve, he used the universe as a safehouse to get away from them and build a life for himself.

    Unfortunately, they found him early and he wasn''t able to establish the foundation he wished for, but he was able to leave two contingencies for revenge.

    They were named Zara and Alwa.

    Originally, they were supposed to be born at the same time, and at a point where his existence wouldn''t be unknown to them.

    He hoped to create a chance to strike the Nox through them, giving Nox lineage to universal denizens and giving them a chance to conquer the very power that oppressed them.

    However, life was not kind to him.

    Nothing he nned for took ce as he wished. He died before he could see out his ns, and knowing her connection to him, the Nox targeted Zara''s mother and forced her into the First Dungeon.

    This part of the story had been unveiled to them by Damien years ago.

    But what about the rest?

    Zara and Alea were unconscious, hanging on the border between life and death, but this experience wasn''t entirely bad for them.

    Not only because of the work their mothers were doing to aid them, but because their minds entered a mysterious state.

    They were connected.

    And the history that evaded them for so long started to be clear.

    Their mental avatars stood together in the mysterious space, two women standing before them.

    They were pr opposites as Zara and Alea were, and despite their humanoid appearances, it was undeniable that they were the very Divine Beasts that they called their mothers.

    There were no words exchanged.

    The two sisters couldn''t speak in their current state, and their mothers didn''t have the capacity to exin everything while facilitating the massive procedure that was taking ce outside.

    Therefore, they transmitted their knowledge through other means. Specifically, through bloodline memories.

    Zara felt her mind open to something mystical.

    A massive ck wolf surrounded by shadowy mes that held more simrity to darkness than fire stood among a lonely in.

    She didn''t need much time to realize.

    This wolf was her ancestor.

    Knowledge of it began pouring into her head almost instantly.

    Infernal Wolves.

    They were a species descended from the Godbeast Fenrir, a wolf that was said to have devoured the stars themselves.

    As its descendants, they possessed a high affinity for darkness and other concepts in the same vein, as well as monstrous physical strength that couldn''t bepared to their peers.

    As expected, they were an extremely rare race. There weren''t more than ten of them ever born in the history of all worlds.

    But¡­alone, this didn''t mean much.

    They were a powerful species, but at the end of the day, that was that.

    Their true valuey elsewhere.

    In Alea''s mind, conversely to Zara, she saw a great holy wolf that could utilize the power of Heaven itself to its will.

    This was her ancestry, the Celestial Wolf.

    The Celestial Wolves were a species descended from the Godbeast Tiang, a wolf who was born from a star and had a natural capacity to control worldly forces.

    With their minds connected, Zara and Alea saw not only their own ancestry, but their counterparts as well.

    Even from the Godbeasts their species were descended from, they were direct opposites in every way.

    But, again, their differences were something they already knew.

    However, these facts needed to be reiterated for them to understand their true purpose.

    The Celestial and Infernal Wolf races were always intertwined in some way.

    Anytime they showed themselves in the universe, they would do so together. One could never find them by themselves.

    But why was that?

    Zara and Alea''s unnatural births, which separated them in different dimensions, made this truth unavable to them, because to realize it, they required the connection of their birth.

    At least, that''s how it should''ve been if Damien never intervened.

    When Damien contracted Zara, he became entwined in this connection. The Void within him influenced Zara andtched onto that connection, reinvigorating it when Zara finally came out of the First Dungeon.

    It needed time to grow, but it was once again present.

    Alea''s strange feelings towards Damien when they got close to each other were caused by this very intervention.

    Because what she should''ve felt towards Zara, the unmistakable pull towards her, was felt through Damien.

    In a sense, he both muddied and supported their growth with his presence.

    He only came to understand this after peeping into their origins when they fought on Apeiron, and when he did, he immediately extricated himself and left them alone together.

    From that point on, it was only positive development.

    The two women got closer and closer, and their power got stronger and stronger the more they worked together.

    And eventually, they reached this point.

    A point where their minds were connected as the truth flooded into their memories.

    It was simple, really.

    Harmony was a concept present everywhere in the universe, and considering the push and pull of the rtionship between their species, a rtionship that was a direct representation of yin and yang, the conclusion was evident.

    Their power wasn''tplete alone.

    It would only beplete when both halves were in conjunction.

    It was quiteical. The Divine Emperor didn''t even realize what he was doing when he birthed them, only thinking about revenge, but he unknowingly created a miracle.

    A Celestial Wolf and an Infernal Wolf who shared a bloodline connection through him¡­

    The level of synergy they could possess far exceeded what their races were originally capable of.

    But they hadn''t reached that point yet.

    Because there was still onest step for them to take.

    Knowledge poured into their minds.

    Techniques from their beast ancestry and truths from their Nox lineage melded into a single picture that encapsted both of their minds.

    And slowly, they were pulled together.

    Unconsciously, their mental realms started tobine.

    It was not a fusion that erased one and reced it with the stronger of the two, but one that took the greatest of their strengths and established a perfect bnce between them.

    VOOM!

    In the outside world, a mysterious phenomenon began.

    The suppressed dark beings and the souls of their mothers watched as the bodies of these two women were covered by a film of light and pushed together.

    Light and Darkness, didn''t Damienprehend them only recently?

    They couldn''t create the "space" in his gxy unless they worked in tandem.

    They were two sides of the same coin.

    And Zara and Alea, who personified these elements, were the same.

    From the start, they were never meant to be apart.

    From the start, they were never meant to be "two."

    In this separated reality, far beyond the perception of any being living or dead, a massive event urred.

    Zara and Alea merged into one.

    To be the perfect self that they were always meant to be.

 Chapter 1190 Soul World [1]

    Chapter 1190 Soul World [1]

    The situation in Soul World could be first defined with one sentence.

    The first open betrayal of a major power.

    It had been inferred since before the Beast Domain invasion that the Nox developed a way to counter Soul World''s ambient mana, but the exact method was unknown until they actually broke into the Spirit Domain.

    At that moment, people realized that what they thought was one was actually two!

    The Nox had their own method to ovee the natural hurdle they faced. This method gave them the ability to traverse Soul World without being inhibited by the Sector, but they wouldn''t receive any benefits either.

    It was a method that had heavy restrictions on its use. Certain conditions had to be achieved, otherwise, they''d immediately lose their protection.

    However, the second method covered for this weakness.

    What else could it be?

    Divine Soul Holy Land, the main influence that governed Soul World, sold themselves to the enemy.

    With their support, not only could the Nox achieve the conditions for their personal method, but they also received the benefits that the Spirits felt in their home domain!

    It was obvious how they used this gift.

    Their invasion was unstoppable.

    The frontline forces in Eien were unable to move due to the intense battles taking ce on that front, which cut off arge number of the speedy reinforcements the domain could''ve gained.

    And with the Spirits themselvescking a central figure to guide them, they were forced to fight on their own, inefficiently in a way that could only hold off for so long.

    Yet, strangely enough, the Soul World invasion wasn''t progressing as fast as many thought it would.

    It was quite iprehensible.

    Usually, whenever the Nox gained an advantage, their progress would hasten immensely. The Beast Domain was taken down within a year and a half, barring Beast Emperor Star, and the Giant Domain took even less time than that.

    The Soul World invasion started while the Beast Domain''s cmity was still ongoing and continued from that point forth, but even after so long, the Nox had only been able to take 30,000 worlds, roughly 20% of the domain''s full size.

    It was a war that continued through Damien''s 4th year of imprisonment.

    And the main yers who allowed the domain''s survival were just a few.

    The Ancient God n, whose hidden world was located in this domain, naturally yed arge part.

    After losing the Genesis Bead, they expected to see negative development in their n, but it didn''t turn out like that at all.

    Instead, they experienced explosive growth.

    Di and Ran weren''t able to see much of Damien after the Grand Assembly or during it, and Xinyue went out of her way to avoid him, but they couldn''t deny that they were subordinated to him now.

    Because after seeing everything he''d aplished after leaving them, they stopped feeling so much rejection towards his presence.

    That was the key.

    Once they became important to "that man," once the Void recognized their status, like everyone else, it supported their growth so they could be a force Damien could utilize to its fullest.

    He still wasn''t aware of this, but they were.

    And perhaps they wouldn''t directly act on Damien''s will for a decent while, but they never nned to ignore the strength he granted them.

    Their n poption boomed and the power of their experts did as well, and with that strength, they directly confronted the war that came to them.

    The border of Eien, through which several Nox slipped by in the chaos of the boundary''s war, was guarded by them so the tragedy of the Giant Domain couldn''t be replicated.

    They were like a border guard, a first line of defense.

    The nt Races also yed a role none expected from them.

    Those who survived Eden''s copse migrated to the Divine Realm and Soul World, as these were the closest and safest domains for them.

    The nt Races in Soul World hid and cowered for many years. They acted like they were extinct, avoiding the war with all their power, running away from traumatic memories of the past.

    However, when the war made its way to their doorstep, they united.

    As if some mysterious force granted them the courage to move forward, they came out from the shadows and showcased the capabilities that once allowed them to rule their own Sector of the universe.

    What they provided was technology and support.

    The starships they used during their war and the mass-produced weaponry that boosted the capabilities of regr soldiers gave those still loyal to the universe a way to fight even if they didn''t have much power of their own, and the supportive capabilities of their inherent abilities set up something that not many of the previous battlefields had ess to.

    A medical center.

    A ce where soldiers could be sent to be healed back to their full capabilities.

    It was an obvious advantage that the universe should''ve set up earlier, but they simply didn''t have enough healers.

    Why else were the Elves and nts targeted before anyone else?

    Their weakness was definitely part of it, but as seen with the extinction of the Giants, the Nox moved with more thought than anyone could''ve predicted.

    Nevertheless, these two provided a stage.

    A stage that was upied by the most unexpected of influences.

    Nirvana Soul Holy Land.

    They were the second strongest force in Soul World, but their reputation suffered immensely after the Grand Assembly.

    After all, their subordinate sect, Sapphire Soul Pce, not only embarrassed themselves by provoking the Human Domain, but betrayed the universe in proceeding events.

    However, they were not defined by those they ruled.

    In the absence of Divine Soul Holy Land, that influence who closed their doors and remained silent throughout this war, they took the ce of the central figure.

    They gathered the loyal powers of Soul World under their banner, and once they had a chain ofmand established, the Spirits were finally able to gather their wits and fight back.

    It was a surprisingly effective move.

    And when it was made, people began to realize something.

    The universe¡­

    The universe wasn''t actually as helpless as they thought, was it?

    To hold out longer than the Beast Domain, longer than certain territories of Eien, longer than anyone else since this grand conflict began¡­

    Not many could understand the reason immediately.

    But it dawned on them soon enough.

    Compared to those previous defeats, only one factor had changed.

    There were still traitors, the enemies were acting fiercer than ever, but¡­

    Heaven''s Army hadn''t intervened.

    Even after a year and some time passed, Heaven''s Army didn''t send any official backup to support them.

    Wasn''t it strange?

    The greatest existing force in the universe, made up of countless influences and rogue practitioners uniting together, was actually the hindrance that held the universe back.

    A fundamental truth spread to the ears of any and everyone who maintained their loyalty in the midst of hopelessness.

    That truth that had been hidden amongst the experts of the world became a universal truth.

    Corruption.

    Maybe the lower levels had been cleansed, but what did it matter?

    The more time passed, the more the older generation fell into temptation.

    And frankly¡­

    It was disgusting.

 Chapter 1191 Soul World [2]

    Chapter 1191 Soul World [2]

    As mentioned before, Divine Soul Holy Land abandoned their people when the war reached Soul World.

    At the start, they locked their doors and boarded up their windows. None of their disciples left the sect, and no news from them spread anywhere.

    At this point, it was only assumed that they were cowards.

    They lost their status almost instantly, but that was the end of it.

    For the most part, everyone was too preupied to condemn them directly, only sullying their reputation with time.

    However, the progression of war led to the release of more information, through which people learned the truth.

    Not only was Divine Soul Holy Land refusing to aid their people, they''dpletely turned their backs on them.

    Perhaps they were choosing a stance of neutrality and disassociation outwardly, but their people were actively working against their fellows.

    It was mostly in the vein of information. As the rulers of this Sector, they had a greatly detailed record of every force present within it and theiryouts.

    On top of that, they hoarded the domain''s resources for so many years, only to openly offer their coffers to the enemy when they appeared.

    It was as if this moment had been nned for years.

    "Father, why?!"

    A voice boomed through the throne room of Divine Soul Holy Land''s main building.

    "You are smarter than this. The father I know would have never made such a decision. Do you think this is a means for survival? You are only leading our people to death!"

    The one speaking was a man who looked roughly 25. His body was semi-transparent, but his form had a physical presence that only powerful Spirits possessed.

    He was Pontius Alhara, the Young Master of Divine Soul Holy Land, and unlike the majority of its members, he only became aware of their actions when the rest of the universe did.

    He had been hiding his thoughts for so long, trying to rationalize the choices of his seniors, but he just couldn''t do it.

    So today, he had to confront his father.

    That man, Selicus Alhara, was a cold leader. He rarely ever showed expression, but the version of him Pontius knew had always been the kind father who was more intelligent than anyone else.

    However, that demeanor no longer existed.

    "Why, you ask?" He responded, gazing down at his son from his throne.

    "For survival. There is no other reason."

    "Survival?!"

    Pontius practically roared at the outrageous words.

    "What survival is there?! After this war when we lose value, those beasts will immediately eliminate us! They do not care for us, only for destruction!"

    "That is where you are wrong," Selicus said, shaking his head.

    "They are a distasteful race, but to say they only live for destruction is a lie. Yes, perhaps if we truly subordinate ourselves to them, the only end we will face is death. However, have we done so? We may be essories to this sin, but we are not contributors."

    Pontius couldn''t even respond.

    What was he supposed to say to such stupid reasoning?!

    Where was the father he respected?!

    "Haa¡­"

    Selicus sighed seeing his son''s expression.

    "The universe is doomed. This is the prediction your ancestors made long before you were born. If the universe has no chance of survival, our Divine Soul Holy Land can only make ns for the future."

    "For now, it may look like we are following the Nox, but that is not the truth."

    "Instead, we are creating a ce for ourselves in the Abyss."

    Selicus'' eyes shed with ckness.

    He wouldn''t say he wasn''t a traitor to his homnd, but he was not a dog for those scum.

    He was just using them for his own purposes.

    "We have incorporated their bloodline, but we have not be monsters like the rest. This is only because our Spirit Race possesses special bodies that are only partially involved in the physical ne. It is impossible for them to control us."

    "However, with their bloodline, we will be granted a lifeline in the Abyss. Its deathly currents will not consume us, but instead will be food for our growth."

    He stood up, his full gait exerting pressure on his only child.

    "Tell me, Pontius, is my decision wrong?"

    Pontius gritted his teeth.

    Logically speaking, his judgement was far less wed than the rest of those who betrayed the universe, but he still couldn''t ept it.

    To build a force in the Abyss? Instead of fighting for their home, he wanted to abandon it for a new one?

    Did he think of the consequences?

    No, even disregarding that, what made him so confident the Abyss would ept them?!

    ''We know nothing of that ce. Even if we survive, wouldn''t our lives be hell?''

    Pontius red at his father, but refused to answer the question.

    Yet, his disdain was evident in his expression.

    He turned around and stormed out of the throne room, unable to entertain this conversation any longer.

    ''Father might not realize it, but he is already corrupted by their idiocy. I cannot allow the legacy of Divine Soul Holy Land to be tarnished by his ipetence.''

    Even though he said it, he didn''t believe it could be aplished.

    There were too many traitors. The entire older generation already followed his father without hesitation, and the younger generation and regr disciples were slowly being brainwashed with every passing day.

    "I cannot do this on my own."

    His position as Young Master would amount to nothing if he didn''t adhere to their beliefs.

    So his only option was to seek outside help.

    ''But¡­where?''

    Where would he find someone willing to help him, to trust him despite his identity?

    ''I heard there is a new force¡­the Judgement Order, was it?''

    His eyes narrowed as he reached his quarters and copsed onto his bed.

    ''Do I have to abandon them¡­?''

    Regardless of the high position his father held in his heart, Pontius didn''t ignore Selicus'' ws.

    ''Father is too stubborn. Since he believes he is absolutely correct, and the ancestors seemed to hold the same thought, he will move without hesitation and his ears will not ept criticism.''

    Perhaps he saw betrayal as a necessary evil for survival.

    ''But¡­I am alive.''

    Despite rejecting the Nox lineage his father offered him and constantly voicing his opposition to their current direction, he was alive.

    ''Either father still cares for me, or¡­''

    ¡­he still had ns to use him.

    ''I have to find out what it is.''

    If it was the former, he could still try to save their sect.

    And if it was thetter¡­

    ''¡­I will bring this rotten ce down with my own hands and rebuild it.''

    To bring back the Divine Soul Holy Land he knew and loved, he was willing to risk everything.

    ''I should find a way to contact them.''

    If those people on the outside could provide him backing¡­

    He frowned as he snapped out of his thoughts.

    '' informationes first. Even if they are trustworthy, I cannot assume they will entertain my hopes.''

    For his own sake, for the universe''s sake, and for the sake of his father, who was blinded and misguided, he needed to find out the truth and fight.

    Pontius was only one man in an influence of hundreds of thousands, but he was a seed of light in the darkness.

    Not everyone was inherently bad.

    For the most part, those who followed Selicus'' treacherous path were just confused. Like the rest of themon traitors, they were crushed by circumstance and unable to properly understand their choices.

    But if there was a light to guide them out of the darkness in their minds, there was still hope.

    At least, that''s what Pontius told himself.

    Because without that hope, he would be crushed as well.

 Chapter 1192 Soul World [3]

    Chapter 1192 Soul World [3]

    Within the grand tapestry of the cosmos, as worlds were born and died in the cosmic blink, weeks and months passed unnoticed, like fleeting moments in the life of the universe.

    Pontius continued to move secretly within Divine Soul Holy Land to gather information and people, and over time, he reached the conclusion he desired.

    ''It''s already toote.''

    His father and the elders spoke as if they nned to cut ties with the Nox once they fled to the Abyss, but he could see the corruption in their eyes.

    The more time passed, the less they acted like their original selves.

    It was right to say they''d been controlled long ago, and were slowly corroded until they couldn''t even understand the change in their thoughts.

    He could no longer hold off.

    He establishedmunications with the Judgement Order one month back, and he''d been in semi-frequent contact with them ever since.

    Their ways were¡­iprehensible to say the least.

    Pontius couldn''t understand how geniuses younger than himself could hold such confidence and determination, but their mes burned into him as well and gave him the drive he wascking before.

    A n to take down Divine Soul Holy Land from the inside started to form, and it would be carried out as soon as possible, but while they plotted for such an event¡­

    The Soul World was slowly dying.

    The frontlines of Eien crumbled first.

    Commander Huo was an amazing leader. To hold this line for years on end without faltering was a miracle in itself, but he alone was not enough to do so.

    The passing of time led to the eradication of more and more of his troops until finally, there weren''t nearly enough of them to hold their defenses.

    When that moment came, he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life, but was best for everyone.

    He took those willing to follow him and retreated to the Divine Realm.

    Naturally, the Ancient God n''s job became impossible due to his absence.

    Instead of holding the entire border of Soul World, they were forced to concentrate their forces on the boundary, which left Calypto open.

    The Nox took that opportunity to strike with a full-force blow that stunned the universe.

    They took a thousand worlds down in a single day, and as if that wasn''t enough, they started directly targeting the Ancient God n.

    What could they do?

    How could they respond?

    They simply couldn''t.

    The Ancient God n was growing steadily, but they had not reached their peak yet. As a single influence, how much could they actually do to affect the bigger picture when they were being struck with such ferocity in numbers that they could hardly maintain themselves?

    The Ancient God n was luckier than most.

    They were specifically created by a member of Void Pce to be Damien''s subordinates in the future, so the world that doubled as their prison had sufficient functionality to help them survive.

    This functionality mainly meant they would retreat deep into the folds of space, or even move their world to an entirely different domain.

    Regardless of the path they chose, it remained true that they could no longer give their everything to support Soul World as they''d been doing.

    Two of the Sector''s greatest pirs fell one after another in a matter of months.

    Things could only deteriorate from there.

    And so, as the fifth year dawned and flowed, the domain was picked apart by those enemies who prayed for its fall.

    Heaven''s Army never once showed its face.

    Those soldiers who started doubting their superiors still had no choice but to obey their orders lest they be killed for nothing, and nothing needed to be said about the older generation.

    Nirvana Soul Holy Land did its absolute best.

    In the meantime, Pontius'' ns unraveled in the darkness and affected the foundation of Divine Soul Holy Land step by step.

    He was able to bring a majority of themon disciples to his side, and after receiving support from the Judgement Order, he gained ess to a force of Demigod backers who could stand against the sect elders, which allowed him to act without worry.

    While he wasn''t able to tear it down anywhere nearpletely, he was able to cut contact between them and the Nox, which, by intention, cut the Nox''s ability to use Soul World''s ambient advantages.

    The domain that was projected to fall easily was able to put up a far greater resistance than anyone else thus far, but that was it.

    The situation had its ups and downs. There were times when the Spirit armies believed in their chances of sess.

    But they were fated to fail.

    Whether it be the forces of good or evil, for better or for worse, all had decided to abandon Soul World.

    And standing alone against the full force of the Nox was impossible from the beginning.

    When 6 months passed in the 5th year, a grand migration embarked.

    Those who could recognize the flow of events gradually retreated to the Divine Realm after giving up hope for their home Sector, and once they moved, those who saw them did the same.

    Nearly half of the remaining Spirits left Soul World. They used teleportation arrays, artifacts, and even their own two legs to get as far away as possible.

    Though Luciel had the means to stop them in his hands, he didn''t do so.

    After all, these people weren''t fleeing from war, but from death. As long as they could be useful when his ns came to fruition, he didn''t mind their presence.

    There was no need to go into details about what took ce from then on.

    The Soul World crumbled.

    World after world was destroyed and World Cores were stolen with none the wiser. Poptions were massacred, entire races faced genocide, and cmity consumed the world.

    By the time it was all over, Pontius sessfully took down Divine Soul Holy Land, but his father and the elders were still alive, as they''d escaped to who knows where when the Nox showed the true colors they never hid and attacked the sect.

    Pontius and a portion of his people were saved by the Judgement Order and their supporters, but that was it.

    It was a pyrrhic victory at best.

    And at the end of the day, Soul World still fell.

    Nirvana Soul Pce was conquered. Its leaders were publicly executed, and those who still followed them to that day fled instead of risking their lives further.

    The support pirs they''d been relying on were gone.

    They already saw what would happen if they stayed unorganized and separated at the start of the invasion. Now that the situation repeated itself, they weren''t willing to die meaninglessly.

    So, Soul World fell.

    But it wasn''t all bad.

    These people didn''t lose their fighting spirit, they just lost their chance.

    When they retreated to the Divine Realm, Luciel and the forces of justice received an unexpected boon.

    That is, these masterless soldiers joined their faction and expanded the avenues they could take for the future.

    Grand Heavens Boundary, a once mighty universe with 9 great Sectors filled with powerful experts, was cut down to over half its original size.

    All that remained were the Divine Realm, Infernal Realm, Human Domain, and Hephaestus.

    In Luxurion¡­

    Shiiiing!

    A bloody scene presented itself.

    Those people who called themselves "The Council," the ones who pushed Luciel out of power and sidelined him to ruin the universe for their own gain, the group of fake schrs and cowards led by David Joyce¡­

    ¡­were now just corpses on the cold marble floors of the Sky Castle.

    Luciel stood over them with sword in hand. The blood dripping from its de was unreasonably loud as he nced over the scene of cruelty he''d just created.

    "It''s finally time¡­"

    His eyes hardened. A blue spirit without constant form appeared at his side.

    "Let us begin."

 Chapter 1193 Truth [1]

    Chapter 1193 Truth [1]

    "Huu¡­"

    A breath swept through the air.

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    Its force spread disaster upon thend.

    The winds that whipped through the air were enough to ughter armies and destroy continents, but they originated from but a single breath.

    "I''m finally here¡­"

    Damien opened his eyes.

    The mana in his body was stable like a calm ocean, with gait far surpassing such a water body.

    "The 9th revolution¡­"

    He clenched his fist.

    "...I''m finally a Supreme."

    He stopped counting time a while ago. Such thoughts only inhibited his practice.

    However, it should''ve been several months into the 5th year by now.

    "It''s almost over, huh¡­"

    His long imprisonment had developed into the only thing he knew in a short period. It was hard for him to imagine life returning to normalcy, but that time wasn''t far away.

    ''Putting that aside, even after reaching this level, it doesn''t feel like much has changed.''

    Damien just became a Supreme, but he had fighting power on par with them ever since he became a High Commander.

    Even he didn''t know his current level, but he was certain nobody in the universe was his opponent.

    "...except for those guys, of course."

    He was confident in himself, but he was very clear of the difference between a lower existence and a Divinity. It was impossible for him to touch them until he reached their league.

    ''Plus¡­''

    He clenched his fist with a frown.

    ''How long is it going to take?''

    Despite being absorbed in the task for several years at this point, he still hadn''t found a way to fuse his Laws.

    It was just too iprehensible.

    He knew the end goal he was trying to reach, but this wasn''t a process where that was enough.

    After all, just what would the fusion between Elemental Law and Samsara create?

    He couldn''t rationalize that force.

    No, that force wasn''t something to be rationalized.

    The fundamentalws of the universe were known as such because they wereplete in their individual forms and enhanced in conjunction.

    They were separately created through a series of events that followed the presence of their superiors, however, they all stemmed from their origin concept individually.

    ''This is the problem with doing things that have never been done before. Even when I was doing the "impossible" previously, it was still within the realm of possibility.''

    In simple terms, regardless of how much he broke thew, he still did so within the appropriate margins.

    Right now, he was trying topletely escape the bounds of the universe with his own power.

    ''It''s a sense of perspective I didn''t have before. The Void is able to aplish things like this so effortlessly that I forgot how insane my actions actually are.''

    It wasn''t like he gave up in the face of inevitability, but feeling it was another thing entirely.

    ''Since this path was set out for me, there has to be a solution. I need to escape the bounds of my own perception before I can even think about challenging reality itself.''

    The concept didn''t exist, so he had to create it. In essence, it was simple.

    He just couldn''t imagine it.

    Reality was called as such for a reason. Everything that existed, everything that was real, was reality.

    Whether it be truth or deceit, it was a concept that could be traced back to something real. Even the concept of nothingness itself was a reflection of reality as it was understood, so to an extent, it could be perceived.

    ''It would be so much easier if I could justprehend Creation.''

    Thest of the existent forces he needed to learn, Creation and Destruction, were unavable to lower existences.

    Unless one was born with a natural affinity to the major concepts, it was impossible to perceive them.

    The reason was simple.

    Creation and Destruction in their fundamental forms were already Divine. They were acts of miracle that only Divinities had the qualifications to understand.

    There were asions in the long rivers of history where people were born with affinities towards them, but they could be counted on one hand.

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien sighed to himself.

    "For now, it''s better to stop pursuing this. I know where I need to go, but until I have a way to get there, I''m just banging my head against a wall."

    It was a bitte to make this conclusion, but what could he do? He was too headstrong to give up easily, even if it was only a temporary retreat.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    He sent his senses into his body.

    ''I only have half a year left here. I wonder how I should spend it?''

    He could easily focus on forging or spirit liquor, but he wasn''t in the mood to waste time right now.

    ''Fighting has be boring too.''

    This state, where he was more powerful than his peers but not powerful enough to face his seniors, was something he was very familiar with.

    Nowadays, seeing a Supremee to challenge him wasn''t as rare as it used to be, but his clones could take care of them without a problem.

    As long as a few of them worked together, there wasn''t a single Nox who could challenge him.

    His current kill count was close to exceeding a trillion.

    There was no way he wouldn''t be bored of it by now.

    However, this time, an absolute wall separated him from the ones he actually wanted to fight.

    As he pondered on it, thinking of various ways to make proper use of his remaining time in istion, he came to a nk.

    ''There''s really nothing for me to do.''

    The only step he could take was one he couldn''t take.

    He finally faced the impossibility that gued all other practitioners.

    "Haa¡­"

    He sighed again.

    He was starting to feel deste.

    Even though the Mind Prison shielded his ego, he could feel the effects of hopelessness creeping into his mind.

    ''This is a trial I have to ovee.''

    He knew this, but he hated it.

    He hated this feeling more than anything else.

    As if he couldn''t do anything. As if he was useless.

    It was easy to use the Void.

    He could default to it again and use it as a crutch to get himself out of this situation, but where would that take him?

    ''My goal is to be the master of the Void, not its ve.''

    He had to do it alone.

    He had to.

    So¡­

    "Fuck it."

    Someone once said rest was just as important to a practitioner as training. Without a rested mind and body, the chances of failure became much higher, and failure at the critical moment could lead to a fatal incident.

    6 months.

    For Damien who moved relentlessly to learn and improve even when he was "resting," taking true rest for this long felt like a pipe dream.

    But perhaps even that was training.

    Training to build the patience to chase this impossible path, patience that would allow him to sit in meditation for thousands of years if he really desired it.

    If he viewed it like that, his spirit red.

    He always weed a challenge, regardless of whether or not its form was strange.

    ''I wonder how they''re doing on the other side¡­''

    His desire to visit the Sanctuary was greater than ever.

    ''But I''ll hold off for now. If I rush these things, what''s the point of talking about patience?''

    He was in a position where knowing about the situation wouldn''t do him any good. He couldn''t even affect it.

    ''Since Elvira is leading them, I can be confident they''re moving smarter than they ever would if I took that position.''

    Heid down on the cold ground of No Return Pass.

    Alone and deste.

    That''s how he''d spend the next few months.

 Chapter 1194 Truth [2]

    Chapter 1194 Truth [2]

    It was hard to imagine Damien Void rxing.

    When was thest time he did it properly?

    He didn''t really remember.

    Whenever he visited the Sanctuary for "rxation" or to spend time with Xue''er, he took a few days to go over management matters with Elvira and the other Emperors as well, so he wasn''t really taking undivided rest days.

    If he had to think of a time when he rested with nothing else in mind¡­

    ''...maybe back when I first took Rose to Earth.''

    It was hrious how long ago that was.

    It had been a month since his scheduled rest time began, and to be frank, he was bored out of his whits.

    ''Do all practitioners end up developing ADHD? I think it''s a consequence of the profession.''

    He couldn''t focus on the Sanctuary due to its¡­special situation.

    Disregarding his own thoughts and fears, the Sanctuary was constantly being filled with new worlds. It wasn''t hard to know where they came from after he saw what the Soul Emperor was up to back then.

    He could even specte on the universe''s situation based on their arrival.

    But it wasn''t time yet.

    Not because of fear, but because he was certain he wouldn''t be able to stand still when he found out the truth.

    He needed to be selfish for a little longer. He needed to train himself a little longer.

    He understood the urgency of the situation. It wasn''t like Damien was unaware of how greedy his thoughts were.

    But, as he''d figured before, there was nothing he could do anyway, so knowing wouldn''t help.

    ''I should trust Lynn. Things will be fine.''

    If Elvira was his most reliable helper, Lynn was his great secretary. Ever since she entered the Sanctuary, she''d taken the role of general manager who oversaw the incorporation of new worlds and the maintenance of Sanctuarian society.

    Without her, perhaps it would''ve be a reflection of Grand Heavens Boundary, but from what he sensed from the budding universe, it was nothing of the sort.

    ''Wow. I really just made a mess and left it for others to clean up. I should reward them when we meet again.''

    Damien smiled to himself.

    Then he frowned.

    ''Fuck, I''m bored again.''

    His thoughts were entertaining, and other than that, his memories provided a semi-constant source of entertainment.

    He was tired of meditation, so that option was off the table. He almost went to battle a few times, but forced himself not to in order to continue his training.

    ''This is actually a real problem. It was a joke at first, but I think I''d genuinely crumble if I had to spend a long period of time doing nothing.''

    It was quite a funny problem to realize, but since it was a problem nheless, he became more serious in his "doing nothing" training.

    ''Still, 6 months is going to take forever.''

    He sighed to himself for the umpteenth time.

    A long and unavoidable time.

    He had a feeling.

    This was going to make him suffer more than anything he''d experienced to date.

    ***

    Just as Damien became aware of the Soul Emperor''s actions, the Soul Emperor realized early that someone was interfering with his ns.

    How could he not?

    He''d been harvesting worlds for years, but his yield wasn''t nearly what he was expecting.

    He originally didn''t mind the disappearance of several worlds more than he needed to, judging it as an isted incident and sending his minions to find the cause, but that changed after a period.

    Because no matter how much he did, it kept happening!

    Every time he plundered World Cores, or even when the Nox forces destroyed them altogether, some would slip through the cracks and vanish into oblivion.

    And it couldn''t be tracked regardless of what he tried, even if he personally intervened in the investigation.

    It caused him a great deal of trouble.

    More than anything else, he was being humiliated constantly.

    The Soul Emperor was a man who never lost. Until Damien''s arrival in the universe, he never made a single n that failed.

    But why was he experiencing failure so often now?!

    "Nothing. There is no sign of anything."

    The Soul Emperor was once again standing in the Abyss with a plethora of World Cores before him, this time from Soul World.

    As always, more than half of them escaped his grasp at once, but¡­

    He managed to catch one.

    Thest fish, before it slipped out of the, was forced into submission by him. Its teleportation was canceled, and it experienced the poor fate of bing his test subject.

    He tore it apart.

    He literally took apart thews that created its structure and searched for any sign of alteration, but there was none.

    After all, Damien''s Celestial Mana Threads no longer led back to him.

    They connected the worlds he bound to that hidden universe forming in the Void, away from even a Demigod''s perception.

    "Unpleasant."

    The Soul Emperor''s words came out as no more than a mutter, but they were filled with a seething killing intent that dyed the Abyss red.

    His emotions were no longer under his control.

    The Divinity he built on constant sess felt like it was being pped mercilessly every time such a situation took ce.

    If he couldn''t solve it, perhaps he''d face setbacks in his personal practice as well!

    "This cannot be allowed to continue."

    He said it, but¡­

    Just like a certain genius trapped in thends of darkness, he felt a wall of impossibility.

    A wall that told him he wouldn''t find what he wanted regardless of what he did.

    He tried everything already. He even tried to nt his aura on the World Core and allow it to escape, but as if it understood his ns, it remained, sacrificing itself for the greater good.

    Was that even logical?!

    The Soul Emperor gnashed his teeth in annoyance.

    He hated this feeling.

    He never had to feel it before.

    No, there was one case.

    The only person who could give him this feeling¡­

    "Saint Emperor."

    There wasn''t another answer.

    It was impossible for there to be.

    Because in the entirety of existence in this lower universe, the only person stronger than him was the Saint Emperor.

    "Is the problem from within? If it is that man, it is not impossible."

    He had been targeting the denizens of Grand Heavens Boundary because he assumed one of their Demigods was messing with him.

    But after years of finding nothing, the ludicrous thought in his mind was much more rational than it should''ve been.

    The Saint Emperor had a track record.

    Earlier, when he signed the 2-year ceasefire and restricted their entire race, setting back their ns immensely, was only one of such incidents.

    In reality, throughout the course of history, the Saint Emperor had been meddling past his qualifications.

    He acted as if he was on nobody''s side but his own.

    Whatever agenda he was trying to push was his only goal.

    Even if he had to inhibit his own people, even if he had to push them into extinction, he would do so without hesitation.

    So his involvement in such a matter¡­

    ''...is extremely likely.''

    The Soul Emperor frowned heavily.

    He finished his current tasks, sending the newly corrupted World Cores to a location unknown, and¡­

    "I shall pay you a visit."

    He set out.

    To see whether or not he needed to add a new name to his death list.

 Chapter 1195 Truth [3]

    Chapter 1195 Truth [3]

    Damien had been thinking about the Sanctuary for a while, but he hadn''t actually visited it in several years.

    Even he was underestimating its current state.

    Hustle and bustle filled the budding universe.

    After the first 300,000 worlds were added, Lynn had a mountain of work on her shoulders, but she took care of it as she said she would.

    With Avalon as her base of operations, she managed logistics for the entire sector-sized universe without a hitch.

    Well, after a period of turmoil.

    It wasn''t easy to get people to ept their new amodations.

    Even if their worlds moved here willingly, they were separated into a new ce with no knowledge of where they were or what kind of person ruled them.

    Naturally, not many could ept this easily.

    In the beginning, there was a lot of rebellion. The leaders of those worlds who considered themselves strong refused to subordinate themselves to a new lord.

    However, this period didn''tst more than a few months.

    Elvira and the rest of the Emperors, along with the army they raised, were a force to be reckoned with.

    As the administrators of this realm, these leaders had power that others couldn''t imagine.

    After showcasing it just a bit, they were able to control the majority of the poption through fear.

    But of course, this strategy didn''t work in the long term.

    Damien had no interest in building a universe that was filled with internal conflict, a ce that raised viins like Immortal Blood Asura.

    Perhaps he wouldn''t interfere in the direction of their growth, but that was only if it remained positive.

    He wouldn''t allow these people to ruin the universe he worked so hard to build.

    Lynn, as his proxy, understood this well.

    Therefore, once therger problems were quelled, she started instatingws and other means to establish order.

    In its simplest form, it was a system of rewards and consequences, but the types of rewards and consequences she offered were so enticing or terrifying that people couldn''t help but follow.

    It was the start of an era of change.

    The fear built up at the start gradually diminished, and as the systems in ce for the management of worlds became more refined, the overall satisfaction of the new Sanctuarians only grew.

    And then the war started in full.

    When the World Cores from the Giant Domain arrived, they were just shells. Their people had gone extinct long ago, and they''de in hopes of starting over.

    The sight of tens of thousands of uninhabited worlds, deste and empty, was jarring.

    And that was only the start.

    When those from the Beast Domain joined, and those from the Soul World cameter, people began to realize the gift they''d been granted in this ce.

    When they encountered survivors of the tragedies that struck those sectors and learned of the situation outside, their thoughts on the Sanctuarypletely changed for the better.

    Because, as its name suggested, this was a haven.

    A ce of peace.

    And none could ruin that peace.

    The unity they shared heightened immensely, and Lynn''s position became nigh-god-like.

    After all, she was both the creator and keeper of peace.

    However, she made it clear what her role was.

    To the people of the Sanctuary, she was not a God, but a God''s apostle.

    They had never met the God who created this ce. In their minds, he was just a hazy figure, nothing more than an overarching presence that could be felt but not seen.

    But Lynn was here.

    Nevertheless, dealing with survivors of the catastrophes of the outside world was difficult enough. Lynn couldn''t handle it all alone.

    She and Elvira formed a perfect team. Their synergy allowed Lynn to focus on the Sanctuary''s internal matters while Elvira coordinated their external movements.

    Together, they turned this ce into a prosperousnd unlike any other.

    And with its poption came many more benefits.

    Hidden realms and dimensions started to form in the Sanctuary, which provided growth opportunities to the younger generation.

    Along with them, the variety of resources present on the Wild Continent were used to popte manmade Mystic Realms that housed the legacies of old emperors and other great treasures.

    It was alling together.

    When viewed from the current position in the timeline, the Sanctuary was already its own self-sustaining universe.

    "Even if we do nothing and he stops helping, this ce will grow on its own."

    The one who spoke was none other than Elvira.

    She and Lynn just finished another meeting about misceneous duties in the universe, and were currently gazing out into its depths mindlessly.

    It was truly iprehensible when one stopped to think about it, and as people who''d been here for so long, they didn''t do so often.

    But it really was a universe of its own.

    A universe created by a single man.

    "Do you think the outside world was created like this?" She asked in wonder.

    It was stupid, but she couldn''t help but entertain the thought.

    "If it was, would it be in its current predicament?"

    Lynn''s answer followed logic as she always had.

    "I guess not, but¡­"

    "Haa¡­"

    Elvira stopped herself.

    Just thinking about the outside situation was tiring. It was a miracle that they hadn''t incurred too many losses until now.

    "No, it is not a miracle. This is the benefit of being associated with an Apostle."

    Lynn spoke as if she could read her thoughts.

    "He is definitely miraculous, but not to this extent, right? No matter what, he is still a human."

    "Human¡­?" Lynn muttered.

    "I wonder about that."

    Could a person born from the love of two great Gods be considered human even if that was his lineage?

    It was hard to say.

    "Plus, this is not his own effect, but the effect of the one backing him. It is mystical. To think ''that thing'' could hold emotions. I can''t even fathom it."

    The Void was a concept Lynn didn''t know much about, but she understood its actions based on the past.

    It had never shown such movements before.

    To provide Damien with so much luck that it directly helped those around him, to help him maintain and build a force like this one¡­

    Just what did the Void want from him?

    It was troubling to think about what the future had in store for them.

    Perhaps, the Nox were just an appetizer to let them understand the cruelty of reality within the little bubble he''d created for them.

    "Say, when do you think he wille back?"

    Lynn nced over at Elvira.

    A slight smile formed on her lips.

    This woman¡­

    ''Never mind. It''s better not to say anything.''

    "It won''t be long. It''s already been this long, so¡­"

    "...with less than a month left of imprisonment, do you think he won''te here to understand what happened while he was gone?"

    "Mm¡­"

    Elvira nodded with aplicated expression on her face.

    She hesitated to speak.

    She wanted to say something, but at the same time, she didn''t want it to be said.

    But in the end¡­

    "I¡­"

    "Hm? What''s going on here? You guys having a meeting without me?"

    The two women''s senses immediately went on alert as they finally sensed the presence that had been behind them for who knows how long.

    They almost went into battle mode, but that voice¡­

    They turned around with shock on their faces.

    "I''m getting a little jealous."

    A man stood behind them with a wide grin.

    What kind of timing was this?!

    Just the devil, he finally appeared when they called his name.

    Damien Void had returned to the Sanctuary.

 Chapter 1196 Truth [4]

    Chapter 1196 Truth [4]

    Damien''s return to society should''ve been celebrated greatly, but he didn''t allow Elvira and Lynn to spread the news.

    After all, his current visit would be a short one.

    His original doubt of whether or not entering the Sanctuary would count as abandoning his post was solved quite easily when he put his mind to it, but notpletely.

    He coulde as long as his clones were active outside, but if he left for too long, his clones would disperse and his presence would truly leave No Return Pass, which¡­wouldn''t be good for anyone.

    But, he was happy he came.

    The fresh air of this ce and the homely feeling of the universe''sws hugging him was more refreshing than anyone, and seeing the faces of those he''d been missing and worrying about eased his heart.

    ''My entrance was greater than expected. Who would''ve thought they''d be talking about me?'' He thought to himself with a grin.

    He was obviously nning to make a surprise entrance, but the timing was absolute perfection.

    And¡­

    While Lynn didn''t show it, being a woman who hardly ever dropped her cold exterior, Elvira was extraordinarily warm, giving him a proper wee home.

    The second she realized his presence wasn''t an illusion, she rushed forward and pulled him into a hug.

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    "This¡­"

    "Shut up and ept it. We''ve missed you."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien smiled. His rtionship with Elvira was¡­subtle, but she''d never done something like this before.

    "I''ll allow it for now."

    He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her warmth for a few seconds before separating.

    "How''s everyone doing? It hasn''t been too hard, right?"

    "Hah, you''re saying that to provoke us, right? There can''t be another reason.

    Damien turned to Lynn with his head tilted curiously.

    "Hm? What could you possibly mean by that?"

    "Tch, you''re always the same."

    "Would you like it better if I changed?"

    "No, and that''s why it sucks."

    "Hahahaha!"

    Damienughed jovially.

    He''d wholeheartedly missed an atmosphere like this.

    "I''d love to catch up with you, but we have plenty of time to do thatter. I guess I have a few visits to make first."

    "Mm," Elvira responded understandingly.

    "Putting the rest aside, Xue''er has missed you dearly. She hasn''t stopped talking about you since thest time you left."

    "Ah¡­"

    Damien''s expression turned wry.

    The more his schedule tightened, the less time he had to spend with her.

    ''She''s an adult now, huh¡­''

    It was genuinely ridiculous to think about.

    That little girl was an adult?

    It was impossible in his mind.

    It almost made him scared to go see her, but that was just an "almost."

    After bidding goodbye to Elvira and Lynn, he immediately made his way to Theavel.

    Not only to see his little sister, but also the rest of the family he''d built through his travels.

    He paid special visits to Lucius, Bai Yuxuan, Feng Yuxiang, Bianca Snow, Tephit, and even Elitra, who''d somehow be a leader amongst the younger generation despite her¡­strange personality.

    He was delighted to see the growth of his people. It was a surprising feeling, considering how he tried to remain uninvolved with their matters and let them grow on their own.

    But no matter what it was, it made him so happy his Mind Prison defenses almost broke and let his ego flood back into his mind.

    More than anyone else though, he spent time with Xue''er.

    At this point, she was already around 20. She had grown up into a beautiful young woman, and her power already surpassed most of her elders.

    Damien only had two or three days to spend here. It wasn''t enough at all.

    But he did everything he could with it.

    Everything had changed.

    The Sanctuary wasn''t the Sanctuary he knew anymore, and the people he knew had evolved into more mature forms of himself that were entertaining to see.

    But it pronounced his feeling of being separated from society severely.

    It made him feel like he was the only one standing still in this ever-changing world.

    But perhaps even he was changing in ways he couldn''t see.

    Day turned to night and night turned to day. Xue''er happily took Damien around the Sanctuary and showed him the sights he hadn''t seen, and throughout the entire time, she never mentioned her grievance.

    She was old enough to understand him. Rather than holding a grudge, she felt sorrow at his situation and wished she could do more to help.

    Nevertheless, it was a time of peace.

    By the time Damien returned to Elvira and Lynn, a day and a half had passed.

    He had to break the peace now.

    He had to face the reality he''d been avoiding for the past 5 years.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    As he followed the two women through Avalon and listened to their updates on the Sanctuary''s progress, he spread his senses to feel for foreign presences.

    Unfortunately, there were none.

    ''Have they note since I left? Or perhaps it''s just been a long time.''

    He shook his head.

    ''No, perhaps it''s better that way.''

    He wanted to have the warm reunion he''d been waiting for, but now wasn''t the time.

    He came here to understand what was happening outside.

    Because there were only 26 days before his imprisonment period ended.

    Shouldn''t he start preparing to re-enter the scene?

    Elvira, Lynn, and Damien walked until they made it to the same office where Damien and Lynn had their past conversation about his mother.

    They satfortably on the couches on the side wall instead of moving to the desk, and their conversation began.

    "I know you''re curious about what''s been happening to me, but we''ll have to save that forter. I need to know."

    The two women''s expressions fell slightly.

    The mood was jovial until then, filled with the air of reminiscence, but such an atmosphere wouldn''t be able to continue any longer.

    It was truly a shame.

    "Do we have to start now? Can we not take a few days to rest first?" Elvira asked.

    Even though she understood how meaningless her words were, she still felt the urge to say them.

    Damien smiled apologetically.

    ''As expected, they''ve been suffering.''

    He felt bad for putting them back into the solemn feeling they''d held for who knows how long, but there was no choice.

    "I have to know. Just how bad has it gotten?"

    Elvira hesitated, ncing over at Lynn, who sighed.

    ''Of course it''s going to be pushed onto me.''

    She straightened her back and fixed her expression, looking Damien directly in the eye as she started speaking.

    "Bad is an understatement. Viewing the overall situation, it can be considered abominable."

    With yet another sigh, Lynn began exining from the start.

    From the rtively stable war from when Damien first left, to what was currently taking ce, now that hope had be faint.

    There wasn''t much fluctuation in Damien''s expression.

    No, it only got worse and worse with every word she spoke.

    The more he heard, the more his anger boiled, and the more his emotions fell out his his control.

    The current situation¡­

    He couldn''t really speak on it as an outsider.

    But hearing about it¡­

    ¡­frankly, it was numbing.

 Chapter 1197 Truth [5]

    Chapter 1197 Truth [5]

    ?

    Damien''s mind returned to the dark reality of his position.

    ''The Giant Domain, Beast Domain, and Soul World are all gone. Eien has beenpletely broken through. No Return Pass is thest unbroken point.''

    He closed his eyes as he came to a realization.

    This was the truth of war.

    No matter how fiercely he defended the No Return Pass, it didn''t mean anything. Trillions of enemies could die by his de, but trillions more would move around him and kill those standing behind him.

    Whether it be the Blood-Drenched Wilderness, the Graveyard Sanctuary, the Ephemeral Border Stele, or any of the other territories of the universe''s ring of defense, they''d been plowed through and left to rot.

    At one point, these checkpoints all carried the presence of at least a few tens of thousands of Nine Revolutions masters, but now they were all dead or retreated to the bounds of the remaining universe.

    The Nox pierced the biggest protection mechanism Grand Heavens Boundary possessed, and now that they were flooding into the universe, the war situation had taken a massive turn.

    The war split into two fronts, one of the older generation and one of the younger generation.

    Those who had reached the limits of their potential with age continued to fight battle upon battle filled with bloody ughter, but it wasn''t nearly as one-sided as it was previously.

    Meanwhile, the experts of the universe were forced to show their allegiance. Those who turned traitor had topletely switch sides, which helped the allied forces create a united front they had beencking before.

    Now, the war looked a lot more like apetition.

    The Demigods suppressed each other, forces of the same skill level fought directly, and the younger generation was tasked with controlling the momentum of the entire war with their battle.

    After all, wasn''t it natural topare whose future had more potential?

    Whether this situation was good or bad, Damien couldn''t say.

    However, he knew for certain that the universe''s forces weren''t acting at their full capacity.

    Of the original three leaders of Heaven''s Army, only one remained, and he barely had any power.

    The other two were reced by lizards wearing faces that didn''t belong to them.

    Order was in pieces, and the efficacy of the army was treacherous.

    Because of this, people were needlessly dying.

    ''I''ve been more concerned about people''s deaths recently.'' Damien thought to himself as he chugged a gourd full of spirit liquor.

    Although he said it, he knew it wasn''t true. No matter how much he experienced, the indifference in his very core wouldn''t change.

    His concern wasn''t the people, but what those people represented.

    They were life. Their karma and fates intertwined and wove the fabric of the universe. The foundational elements found pirs in these people, and this was what allowed the universe to continue functioning.

    The rtionship between the universe and its inhabitants was symbiotic in the same way a World Core needed its surface poption for survival as well.

    Damien sighed. Until this point, he''d always been pulled into the "flow" of things. From his start on Earth to Apeiron, his fall into the Divine Realm, and even further than that, his actions always followed a set pattern.

    As for who set this pattern? Even Damien didn''t know. He had an inexplicable feeling that he couldn''t pinpoint despite the impossible level he''d reached.

    Universal Flow, which he originally thought was the flow that guided him, was only a part of it. The flow of the universe gave him direction in exchange for his help, but it didn''t give him the immense luck and opportunity he possessed in general.

    Nevertheless, if he couldn''t find out now, he had no need to think about it too much.

    All he needed to know now was that he had to hold up his end of the bargain.

    For his own sake and for the sake of the universe that birthed him, housed him, and provided him the talent to reach this step, Damien didn''t mind shouldering the entire war on his back.

    It was a strange thing that gradually changed once he became a Celestial. He could no longer view worlds and universes, celestial existences, as mere objects.

    The way he felt about the universe¡­the intrinsic bond he felt between them¡­it was like he was a grandchild being fostered and doted on by his grandparent.

    And what sane grandchild would allow their grandparent to be killed off so easily? If Damien could help it, he''d take the entire universe into the Sanctuary to protect it from harm.

    But this wasn''t possible. And even if it was, it wouldn''t solve the underlying problem.

    The only thing Damien could do was heave another sigh as he stood up. His position was given to him by Immortal Blood Asura. Even if he wanted to y a more proactive part in this war, he didn''t have the chance to.

    If he left the No Return Pass, he''d die. This ce was a graveyard chosen specifically for him.

    But he had no interest in dying early.

    While No Return Pass was hell for others, it was a perfect training ground for Damien. The limitless stream of Nox Beings constantly enhanced his Legend while also providing him battle experience, answers, and a target on which he could test his ever-improvingprehensions.

    With the Void backing him, he didn''t even need to worry about fatigue, and with the Mind Prison, his mentality could remain untouched by worry or other useless feelings.

    For the past 1800 days, Damien faithfully moved towards his goals. He built his strength and bid his time. He couldn''t directly influence the war effort, nor did he know the exact situation of the outside world, but he knew the worlds he saved from the Soul Emperor were proof of his contribution.

    There was less than a month left in his imprisonment, and this was the first time in almost 5 years that he released his mind from its shackles.

    The feelings of longing, of worry, of desteness¡­these feelings overtook his mind for a period.

    He smiled as a magical yetpletely unrealistic future weaved itself into his thoughts, as if trying to counter his anxiety.

    ''When my situation finally stabilized, I''ll leave this ce triumphantly and return to my people with pride!''

    ''Together, we''ll end this damn war!''

    "...if only it could be that simple."

    These were just illusions created by his intense feelings.

    In reality, hope for something so beautiful no longer existed.

    Rumble!

    The ground rumbled and quaked chaotically. From beyond the abyss, hundreds of millions of Nox Beings raucously charged through No Return Pass. Their only goal was to carve a path forward regardless of life and death.

    But Damien had already stood up for this very purpose. He even managed toplete a round of light stretches before they entered the danger zone.

    With time ticking down, he put away his clones and started fighting on his own again.

    It was nice to really feel the experience before it was over, right?

    No, it was better to say he needed an outlet to let go of his rage:

    So when the time finally came for him to fight¡­?

    The Space-Time River appeared dazzlingly in the sky, its shimmering starlight raining down on the ground below.

    Yet another ughter was slowly beginning in this isted and deste pass.

 Chapter 1198 Truth [6]

    Chapter 1198 Truth [6]

    From that day onward, Damien maintained regr contact with Elvira and Lynn to understand how the situation was progressing.

    Every day, he''d visit the Sanctuary for a few hours to converse with them, as well as to visit Xue''er and help guide her in her training while he could.

    The more he heard, the harder it was to stay still.

    ''Luciel has been slowly gaining control, which is good. The situation isn''t nearly as dire anymore, but¡­''

    It was no longer a fight between Grand Heavens Boundary and the Nox, but one between Luciel''s loyalists and everyone else.

    As the days passed, more and more traitors started to reveal their allegiance.

    The truth behind the Great Commanders of Heaven''s Army was discovered by the Sanctuarian troops a few months ago, but it came to light soon enough.

    After all, at the decisive moment, both fakemanders showed their true faces and ruined the integrity of Heaven''s Army for good.

    The organization known as "Heaven''s Army" had already been disassembled in the past month, and those who still held the desire to fight had moved to Luxurion to join Luciel''s camp along with the dwarves who resided in Hephaestus.

    The current situation was as such.

    The Divine Realm was the universe''s territory, while Hephaestus was being used as a Nox base.

    The Infernal Realm was the main battlefield, with the demons splitting to both sides based on their allegiance.

    Meanwhile, the Human Domain was still untouched.

    No matter how many defenses Damien put up before he left, and no matter how strong the natural barriers were, it was impossible to keep the Nox out forever.

    But when their scouting parties finally snuck between the spatialyers and entered the sector, they found that it was practically empty!

    There were only 6 worlds left in the entirety of the domain, an iprehensible sight.

    When news made it back to the Nox¡­

    Surprisingly, there wasn''t any movement.

    In fact, these scouting parties reported back to the Inhuman Emperor and Soul Emperor, as the Saint Emperor had yet to involve his forces and the Karmic Emperor was focusing his efforts on Hephaestus.

    The Inhuman Emperor couldn''t have cared less about the nuances of the situation. If there weren''t people to satisfy his and his people''s desires, there was no point in pursuing the matter.

    After all, he was the truest form of a barbaric warmonger. He wasn''t an idiot, he simply didn''t care to use his brain for such matters.

    Carnage was his only goal, so why should he?

    Meanwhile, on the Soul Emperor''s side, things were moreplex.

    His purpose for collecting World Cores was not a mystery. Every Nox who''d unlocked their bloodline memories to a certain degree understood where those cores were going.

    However, speaking of it was prohibited due to the "curse."

    It didn''t matter anyway. Most of them didn''t have the power to interfere nor the will to do so.

    All except one.

    His suspicions of the Saint Emperor became far more severe once this information came to him, and the divide between the two Nox camps increased.

    When he went to visit the Saint Emperor, the man himself didn''t say anything to confirm or deny his usations, which only made him more suspicious.

    This was all a game to that man.

    If inhibiting the Soul Emperor''s ns made that game more fun, he would absolutely do it.

    So, instead of focusing on the "why" behind the Humann Domain''s state, he created the "why" himself.

    Regardless, this wasn''t yet known to anyone but himself and the Saint Emperor, and the Human Domain was put aside as all sides lost their desire to use it.

    ''The question right now is simple. Where am I going to be most useful?''

    Damien could absolutely re-enter the universe and lend his efforts to the war. He could likely save a few billion more people by doing so, an achievement to be proud of.

    But his gut told him this wasn''t the way forward.

    ''No matter what Luciel does, he can''t win against an unending enemy. The more they show their longevity, the more people will switch sides, and the situation will continuously be more unfavorable.''

    "Tch."

    Damien gnashed his teeth.

    This severe situation caused by fear and panic, it was slowly turning into another impossibility.

    He couldn''t ept it.

    Thest impossibility he faced could only be solved with time and a spark of inspiration, but this one¡­

    ''I''ll do it myself.''

    A month ago, he decided to let go of the Mind Prison and embrace his emotions again. As his ego flooded back into his mind and brought it to life, the variety of emotions that popted his head culminated into a single product.

    Fatigue.

    He was tired of it.

    This unending war, these insects he''d been seeing more than anything else for the past five years, he was tired of it all.

    He could no longer trust the universe to take care of itself.

    ''Rose''s Judgement Order is something to be praised, but their power isn''t enough yet. They''ll only be able to make proper waves with time.''

    And time was amodity right now.

    How could he help the situation best?

    The answer was obvious.

    He was Damien Void, he was the Void''s Apostle, a man beyond the reach of those within and without the universe.

    They didn''t have the right to piss him off this much.

    ''Recently, things have been getting interesting.''

    It seemed some had given up and were getting desperate.

    There were some Demigods on the universe side that tried to attack lower existences and pull their peers into the Ancient Battlefield, since the presence of Demigods became something that only benefitted the Nox.

    But, they hadn''t been sessful.

    The Nox had their own Demigod Lords and the traitors who came to their side.

    The universe''s Demigods couldn''t move covertly no matter what they tried, so every attempt they made was inhibited by a member of their own ss, foiling their ns easily.

    ''The Ancient Battlefield, huh¡­''

    A n started forming in Damien''s head.

    A grin formed on his face.

    "This is insane¡­" he muttered.

    But his grin didn''t go away.

    In fact, it only became wider and wider.

    ''If I do that, I''ll be able to kill two birds with one stone¡­''

    ''...well, maybe it''ll be three.''

    The best way to use the Void Apostle''s strength in the current time was simple.

    "I''m going to Al''Katra."

    The hidden motherworld of the Nox, the ce that spawned these disgusting vermin.

    "I feel bad for not taking Orion along as promised, but¡­I don''t really have time to grab him, do I?"

    Damien looked up into the ckness of the sky.

    It didn''t vary much from the ckness of the earth or the walls to either side, but for this moment, he felt it necessary to stare into its depths.

    "Five¡­"

    "Four¡­"

    "Three¡­"

    "Two¡­"

    "One."

    Crash!

    The sound was indiscernible, but it was incredibly clear in Damien''s ears.

    The sound of 5 years officially passing.

    The sound of his shackles shattering and freeing his soul.

    "Then, I''ll leave this ce to you."

    "Do not worry, My Lord. We will not let anyone trespass until your return."

    "Return, huh¡­"

    Damien smiled.

    "Don''t worry about that. When the situation bes unfavorable, leave directly. There will be someone else to clean the mess once you leave."

    "Pardon?"

    "Don''t worry about it."

    Damien turned his head to face them.

    Tephit and the Sea Races, Lucius and the Demons, and Bai Yuxuan and the Dragons.

    These three forces would hold the fort for him while he was gone.

    "Well then, until next time."

    He smiled once more and turned to the Abyss he''d been facing for the past five years.

    He took his first steps.

    Towards the desire he''d held for more than a decade at this point.

    It was finally time to enter the Abyss¡­

    "...and crush their fucking skulls."

 Chapter 1199 Mysteries [1]

    Chapter 1199 Mysteries [1]

    The main reason the Abyss remained unexplored was obviously due to its inherent dangers.

    From the uneven time distribution where every second could equate to hundreds of years in the universe, to the threatening atmosphere that tried to suffocate one from all sides, it was overall a ce that did not wee the presence of universe denizens.

    The worst part of it all was the inability to gather mana. The mana of the Abyss was too corrupted for consumption, so once one''s internal mana capacity ran out, only their bodily defenses could protect them from the dangers.

    And with the Abyss constantly changing, it was nigh impossible to find one''s way back to the universe after entering it.

    Unless one had the luck of the entire universe in their hands, it was bad enough to be considered genuinely impossible.

    But those weren''t the only problems.

    There was no motivation for the people of the universe to make their way into uncharted territory.

    It was possible to find random Nox settlements during one''s travels, but the location of Al''Katra remained hidden from all for generations.

    It was as if even the Nox didn''t know where their homeworld was located.

    So pursuing them into that treacherous territory held no benefit.

    Without benefit, when did anyone move?

    However, what inhibited the rest of the universe didn''t apply to Damien.

    Putting aside the Abyss'' dangers, he held the capability to replenish his mana even in that unknown territory.

    And more than anything else, he knew where Al''Katra was.

    The reason the universe had never been able to pinpoint its location was because they focused too much on known logic and tried to define the Abyss through it.

    The approach wouldn''t be incorrect in usual cases, but this was not a usual case in the slightest.

    Al''Katra did not move on a linear path, or one with any sense at all.

    It was never in the same ce, nor were there anyndmarks orbiting it that could be tracked.

    In fact, Al''Katra''s irregr movement that cloaked its location in randomness was only normal in the Abyss.

    The Abyss itself was ever-changing, never permanently following a single pattern, so obviously the worlds within would be the same.

    To track an object in an area that was already unmapped when it was constantly shifting position was naturally impossible, but after five years of devouring Nox and patching their memories together, Damien circumvented this impossibility.

    As he found in the Trial World all those years ago, Damien couldn''t incorporate the Nox bloodline.

    He had to collect it and store it elsewhere whenever he devoured them, which caused a problem for him.

    But with the growth of the Void, he gained an unprecedented power of "falsification."

    From the moment he seeded in gaining new affinities by transmuting the Void''s energy, he mastered this power.

    And with it¡­

    "Huu¡­"

    Void Mana flooded Damien''s bloodstream, dying it ck.

    ''Nox Bloodline¡­I know it well.''

    He had more than enough in storage to research, so mimicking it wasn''t a problem.

    ''Demon Transformation.''

    His body changed form. His hair turned white and his skin paled until it was an ash-grey color. His height ballooned almost a foot, and his body was covered in tattoo-like blood runes.

    It had been a while since he used this transformation, but he gained it from a Nox, so using it now made the following processes much simpler.

    In a matter of seconds, Damien became indistinguishable from a Nox Supreme.

    ''I can feel it.''

    When the memories he stolebined with the "Nox" bloodline in his body, a path formed.

    A path that led straight to Al''Katra.

    ''As long as I follow this, I''ll make it there even if that ce decides to run all the way to the ends of existence.''

    The material preparations were finished, and in the time he took to do so, his mental preparations were alsopleted.

    He was ready to embark on this journey.

    He walked through No Return Pass slowly, but every step he took seemed to take him several hundred thousand kilometers forward.

    Until he reached the end of the earth, staring out into a wall of ckness.

    He couldn''t see anything. Not the Nox who would constantly invade him, and not the "depth" that the Abyss should''ve possessed.

    It was a solid wall of ckness.

    Yet, when he reached his hand out, it passed through the wall like it didn''t exist.

    ''This¡­''

    Damien took another deep breath.

    ''...is going to be an experience.''

    He took another step.

    And his body disappeared into the Abyss.

    Unbeknownst to him, his disappearance into that space had more than just a small impact.

    In several areas of the universe, people looked out into the distance with strange emotions present on their faces.

    Those who had connections to him, whether physical or ethereal, felt his embarkment.

    Ruyue clutched her chest with a frown.

    It was almost suffocating.

    The wisp of soul she shared with him felt like it disappeared.

    She knew it was present, but this feeling¡­

    "We need to go to the Sanctuary.

    Rose and Elena nodded solemnly.

    They felt it through their rings as well.

    Something had happened, and they needed to know what.

    While the three women pursued the truth, others could only stand in confusion.

    They didn''t know exactly what was going on, but they could feel it.

    A massive change was about to take ce.

    With Damien Void at its center.

    ***

    ''Hmm¡­''

    It wasn''t anything like he expected it to be.

    Considering the way it was perceived by the universe, Damien expected the Abyss to be a ce with nothing but ckness and danger, but it wasn''t anything of the sort.

    Well, somewhat.

    His danger sense was definitely ring more than ever before.

    His senses were telling him that any movement he made would lead him to peril.

    However, it was not entirely ck.

    It took several minutes for his eyes to adjust to the environment, but once they did, the ckness faded to the background.

    The Abyss was actually filled with activity.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a breath of air.

    No, he took a breath of the Abyss. There was no such thing as air here.

    Concepts like that had been diluted intopletely different variations that hardly held simrities to their original forms.

    However¡­

    ''It''s beautiful.''

    The swirling darkness was not a manifestation of emptiness.

    Perhaps it was because he was a Celestial, but Damien could perceive it all around him.

    This ce was filled with energy.

    Tens or hundreds or even thousands of energies all mingled together and meshed in ways they were not supposed to, creating the corrupted ckness of the Abyss.

    Just by standing here, Damien felt his state of mind heightening crazily.

    ''I see¡­I see¡­''

    The phrase kept repeating in his mind.

    He understood now.

    Why the Nox''s mana was like that, some truths about the universe, and more than anything¡­

    ''...the ever-so-slight presence of the Void.''

    He just stepped into this ce, so he couldn''t say he was truly in the Abyss right now.

    Instead¨C

    ''¨Cit''s better to say I''m standing in the ruins of a destroyed universe.''

    Damien''s heart was practically beating through his chest.

    ''It seems¡­''

    ''...this trip is going to be far more bountiful than expected.''

    30 minutes.

    By judging his internal body clock, Damien could tell that only 30 minutes had passed for him.

    But¡­

    He had to be curious.

    Was the Abyss'' environment truly as chaotic as they imed?

    He could no longer see the way back to No Return Pass.

    He was standing still, but it already vanished from not only his sight, but the very ends of his perception.

    ''I wonder¡­just how much time has passed in the universe?''

 Chapter 1200 Mysteries [2]

    Chapter 1200 Mysteries [2]

    5 months.

    That''s how long it had been since Ruyue and the girls traveled to the Sanctuary for the first time in several years and learned what had happened in the month prior.

    From Damien''s movements within the Sanctuary where he organized his forces and prepared for reasons unknown to him pulling Tephit and the rest into No Return Pass to take his ce, they learned everything.

    Including his descent into the Abyss.

    It was a hard pill to swallow.

    Damien''s actions practically screamed his distrust for the universe''s forces.

    If he felt the need to take such a harrowing journey alone, what did that mean for them?

    Naturally, none of them believed he was abandoning them or thought they were useless. He''d left several treasures with Elvira for them to use to boost the Judgement Order to a higher level.

    The evident problem was the speed of their growth.

    ording to Elvira and the rest, they could no longer see through Damien''s strength, which meant he was already close to the highest level.

    So, his departure served as the best motivator for them.

    They had been chasing his shadow for years now, hoping to stand by his side instead of protecting his back, but they''d been unsessful to date.

    They reached a point where he could entrust the universe''s safety to them until his return, but that wasn''t where they wanted to be.

    It would take time.

    They also understood it would be impossible to rapidly match up to him.

    But as long as they could reach the level they wished for by the end of this war, it would be enough.

    The Judgement Order became more active from that point on.

    Instead of getting involved every so often to stabilize battlefields, they directly interfered in every battle possible to raise their strength and standing.

    In the current war situation, their presence was integral.

    The battlefield of the younger generation had moved back to the previous mechanic of the Dimensional Leaderboard.

    While direct confrontation still took ce frequently, the most important factor for guiding the momentum of this war was to raise their positions in a way the entire universe could see.

    And luckily, they had the opportunity to do so now.

    In the past 5 months, as battle within the universe became prominent and invasion from the outside was less of an issue, the war became more territorial, like the wars most people were used to.

    The Infernal Realm was continuously changing its topography based on who had the lead, but thus far, neither side had been able topletely prate their enemy.

    At a time like this, it became important to understand the structure of Grand Heavens Boundary itself.

    Considering ordinary logic, it was utterly iprehensible, but there was a reason for that.

    Like the Abyss, but to a far lesser extent, the universe''s shape was ever-changing.

    The exterior domains that bordered the Divine and Infernal Realms were never constantly a single shape, and whenever they were destroyed, their sister sectors would morph to fill the gaps as they could.

    In this way, even the Divine and Infernal Realms had no constant shape.

    The universe''s structure instead worked on a system of rules.

    At all times, the Divine and Infernal Realms would remain on the interior, bordered by the rest however they needed to be to make this work.

    This system only failed when the number of periphery domains was taken down to two. The Human Domain and Hephaestus could no longer support the logic that kept the Angel and Demon domains protected.

    That''s how the Nox gained an opportunity to flood into the universe, and that was the reason they had to destroy so many sectors before gaining the ability to do so.

    However, if they lost Hephaestus, their ns would be severely inhibited.

    Because Hephaestus was a periphery domain, its changing shape gave them a plethora of openings to attack from. The tactical advantages of the domain,bined with its fortification, made it a prime location for a stronghold, which was why it was used by Heaven''s Army in the first ce.

    Therefore, the current goal of the universe''s older generation was to push the Nox out of Hephaestus, or in a worst-case scenario, separate Hephaestus from the rest of the universe.

    There was a considerable amount of strategizing and scheming taking ce behind the scenes for this purpose.

    Luciel regained his control over the denizen forces when this chapter of the war began, and under hismand, the loyal supporters who followed him were able to create a force that far surpassed the Heaven''s Army of the past.

    And the main reason for this was unity.

    The ability to fight without having to worry about being stabbed in the back was life-changing to the point of being miraculous.

    Regardless of the Nox''s current advantages, which included arge number of denizen forces who betrayed the universe, those who remained stalwart were able to fight back equally instead of being overwhelmed.

    And when it came to Demigods¡­

    The usual situation was the same as ever, but for two specific Demigods, everything changed in the past few months.

    Tian Yang and the Golden Dragon Emperor.

    Tian Yang''s Divinity had been shattered for a very long time. It took ce several thousand years ago during a defining battle of his life, with an enemy he swore revenge on.

    In fact, Tian Yang wasn''t always a lonely man. He once had a wife and child of his own who were his whole world.

    But back then, they were both cruelly ughtered by his enemies.

    In order to get revenge, he stormed their stronghold and ughtered them all with his people, but in the process of killing the one who ordered the deaths of his family, his own Divinity was shattered beyond repair.

    The Golden Dragon Emperor''s situation was different, but the end result was the same.

    They were fated to live as wastes for the rest of their lives, unable to have any ce in the current apocalypse.

    However, everything changed that day.

    When Beast Emperor Star was moved to the Divine Realm.

    That day, they heard a vague voice in their ears. They couldn''t make out what it said, nor could they perceive the speaker, but that voice wasced with sadness and sorrow beyondpare, a bleak loneliness that was utterly iprehensible to anyone other than the one who felt it.

    When that voice entered their ears, and the energy of its speaker blessed their bodies¡­

    They received a "chance."

    A chance to return to their former glory.

    A chance to restore their shattered Divinities.

    They understood this as soon as they woke up, but they were not able to thank or even find the one who gave them such a magisterial gift.

    So, they decided to use it to its fullest.

    They regained a majority of their power in the time since then, but instead of directly ascending back to their previous posts, they maintained themselves on the edge of Divinity so they could directly control the war situation!

    Now, the two of them stood at the forefront.

    With their armies behind them, facing enemies who had no chance against their might as former Divinities, they entered yet another battle.

    The fate of the universe that once looked so bleak it was meaningless to fight at all¡­

    ¡­was now in their hands.

    And they had no ns of letting it stay that way.

 Chapter 1201 Mysteries [3]

    Chapter 1201 Mysteries [3]

    It was hard for Damien to feel ufortable in the Abyss.

    The first half an hour was no more than a period of adjustment, so he couldn''t trust his feelings as he felt them, but as time passed and these emotions and sensations became more tangible, he could no longer deny his familiarity with the Abyss.

    However, Damien wasn''t the only human in the ckness.

    No, he wasn''t the only "foreigner" who explored its depths.

    He was merely the only one who feltfort doing so.

    In the current instance, which could be considered abination of an unknown number of instances in the Abyss, there were three other foreign entities scattered throughout its depths.

    The first two were deep in the ckness, shackled by forces unknown, while thest¡­

    Nevertheless, their identities or even existences were unknown to Damien.

    He was currently following the path set out for him by his mana, a path leading straight to Al''Katra.

    Only, he couldn''t sense its end. He could only mindlessly follow it through the swirling ckness while admiring the sights around him.

    Months passed like that.

    The best way to describe the surroundings really was "chaotic."

    Damien didn''t know anything about the universes that once existed in this space, but he felt like he could sense their vestiges as he moved.

    The random dtions in time weren''t random at all, but the result of terrifying collisions that took ce in a time long past. The dead zones empty of even space itself were the same, remnants of ancient battlefields.

    As Damien moved, he tried to perceive these to the best of his ability.

    At first, he couldn''t do much but see the shadows of their existence, small pieces of reality that were lost in the void.

    However, with the passing of time, his ability naturally increased.

    He currently stood in yet another piece of the ckness.

    Below him, if such a description even fit, was a dark gxy of rubble. It was nothing more than an optical illusion, but the more he stared at it, the more its form changed.

    From a random ruin in the middle of nowhere to a glorious ancient civilization with technologies the current universe simply couldn''t fathom.

    Faceless shadows popted that civilization. Some went about their daily lives unaware of danger, while others desperately fought to protect their fates and loved ones.

    However, the enemy they faced was too terrifying.

    Manifested in this vestige as a tsunami of darkness, the enemy overcame them before they could even properly prepare.

    It was as if they had no conscious understanding of the threat.

    Damien couldn''t understand it.

    The destruction of this ce was surely due to Nox interference, but why were these people so¡­weak?

    ''I thought Grand Heavens Boundary''s situation was desperate, but it seems I was wrong. There''s a reason for its survival after all.''

    To be thest remaining piece of the wider universe, Grand Heavens Boundary was definitely special.

    But this kind of difference was far too exaggerated.

    "Are you curious?"

    Damien jumped in shock and rapidly teleported away, however, the Abyss limited his range of motion severely.

    When he turned around, he was only a few tens of feet away from the speaker, nowhere near the distance he wanted to retreat.

    ''I didn''t sense a thing.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    It wasn''t present before, he could be certain of that.

    But at some point while he was observing the vestiges of the ancient civilization, an abode appeared behind him.

    It was an old rickety shack that seemed extremely out of ce in the Abyss.

    It sat on a small piece ofnd no bigger than enough to support its structure. It was a humble structure that looked like the abode of a hermit far disconnected from society.

    Yet, it carried a strange homey feeling that Damien couldn''tprehend.

    Sitting on the porch, at a small wooden coffee table with two chairs, was an old man who fit perfectly into the shack''s ambiance.

    He was the one who spoke just now.

    "Who are you?" Damien asked cautiously.

    In this ce where he knew nothing, he couldn''t act rashly even with his current strength.

    "Me? My identity is meaningless now. It has long withered away in the rivers of time. However, you, young man, are quite an interesting character. I never expected to see someone like you again in my life."

    Damien frowned. Every time the old man spoke, his heart panged with a sense of familiarity of unknown origin.

    The old man gazed at him with a smile, his eyes scrunched.

    "Young man, this old man is quite thirsty after eons of wandering. Do you mind offering a drink?"

    "Hm? In a ce like this, that''s your first request? I thought I was supposed to be the strange one, old man."

    Against his conscious will, Damien responded with the same familiarity,

    The old man''s smile widened.

    "Hahaha, indeed it is. For me, there is no longer any benefit in obtaining too much knowledge. This old man only wishes to taste the beauties of this world before passing."

    Damien raised his brow.

    "Odd phrasing, but I get it."

    He swam through the few feet of ckness that separated them andnded on the rock, walking up to the old man and taking a seat next to him.

    Something was pulling him towards this interaction, as if he''d dearly regret missing it.

    And following that pull, Damien wordlessly pulled several herbs out of his subspace and began crafting histest miracle.

    "This is No. 105: Heaven''s Blessing. It isn''t perfect yet, but it''s the peak of my current abilities."

    Two cups appeared on the table and were soon filled with a glistening golden nectar.

    The old man picked it up and took a whiff before sighing contentedly.

    "Indeed, you have talent in this field."

    He took a sip and smiled as he savored its taste.

    "Don''t kid me. Even after experimenting for years, I haven''t been able to make a single drink that''s affected me how I desired," Damien responded wryly, joining him in this drink.

    "Haha, you are too hasty, child. In pursuits like this, don''t you think patience is just as important as skill?" The old man remarked slowly.

    "Yeah, I also realized it recently, and that''s what helped me create this one. However, just patience and skill aren''t enough. If they were, the peak I desire would''ve already been reached."

    "So you are facing inevitability."

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    The old man''s words didn''t mean much, but to Damien, they meant everything.

    Because the problem that gued him more than anything else ever since he started trying to fuse Elemental and Samsara was precisely inevitability.

    It filled his thoughts and corrupted his ambition, forcing him to marvel at it and lose hope.

    He refused, but the most he could do was refuse.

    There was no way past this wall.

    Not that he''d found, at least.

    "Old man, what''re you talking about?" Damien replied, correcting his expression.

    "There''s no such thing in my books."

    The old man gave him a sideways nce.

    "Whether you choose to ept it or not, inevitability exists in all things. However, it is also true that practitioners exist on the basis of oveing such concepts."

    "So, young man, what is standing in your way? Inevitability is only a word, but it cane from anywhere. Is your inevitability a product or your environment, or have you ced it on yourself?"

    Damien stared into his cup. He stared into his reflection in the golden dew, pondering the question.

    This old man¡­

    Was he still talking about spirit liquor?

    Or¡­

    ''No, I don''t even need to consider such a stupid thought.''

    The question may not have been as deep as he perceived it.

    The old man was likely asking him if materials were the problem, or if it was his ownck of knowledge inhibiting him.

    However, he had to question it seriously.

    Facing this wall of inevitability, he''d always med the universe in his heart. He always thought he needed to surpass the universe''s limits, using it as the face of inevitability.

    But¡­

    Was it really?

    Was the universe the one inhibiting him?

    He wasn''t even inside the universe''s boundaries anymore. If it truly was the case, wouldn''t he have gained an epiphany the second he entered the Abyss?

    Even if that was too far-fetched, the past few months were filled with insight andprehension, yet he hadn''t taken a single step forward in the fusion ofws he so desired.

    So, how could he me the universe?

    What if¡­

    What if the shackles that bound him were not a matter of external influence, but an internal demon?

    ''This¡­''

    Damien looked back up at the¨C

    "¨Cold man¡­?"

    His eyes widened.

    There was nobody in the seat beside him.

    No, there wasn''t even a seat.

    Somehow, the entire shack disappeared while he was immersed in thought, leaving him floating alone in the Abyss.

    However, the cup of Heaven''s Blessing in his hand was proof that this encounter truly happened.

    It wasn''t just some illusion.

    That old man originally attracted his attention by asking him about the ancient civilization he was observing, but throughout their conversation, he didn''t bring it up once.

    Instead, they had a small talk about spirit liquor before he made himself sparse.

    Yet, to Damien, that talk wasn''t about spirit liquor at all.

    Just slightly, he felt the watershed in his soul unclogging, showing him a chance.

    Did that old man know?

    But if he did, how?

    Damien''s mind was filled with questions about his existence, to the point where he had to force himself to stop thinking about it and return focus to the task at hand.

    "In the end..." he muttered.

    "...old man, just who are you?"

 Chapter 1202 Mysteries [4]

    Chapter 1202 Mysteries [4]

    Several more months passed. In total, Damien had been in the Abyss for almost a year.

    He wasn''t anywhere near Al''Katra yet, but his time in the Abyss hadn''t been wasted at all.

    He explored the vestiges of ancient civilizations everywhere he went, slowly putting together a picture of the past, and gained severalprehensions about his Laws.

    Coincidentally enough, his greatestprehension was of Universal Law.

    These fractured universes were filled with fragments of their shattered Universal Laws. Usually, Damien wouldn''t have been able to perceive them even with his understanding of the concept, however, he had Reva.

    Reva, who''d merged with the World Core Fusion Reactor in his spiritual world and over time became the Universal Law of the Sanctuary, was originally a fragment of one of such universes.

    Because of her, Damien also gained the ability to see them.

    Perhaps even the vestiges were a product of her existence.

    He was starting to understand just how they fell so fast. It wasn''t their own fault as he''d originally thought, but a deep conspiracy that none of them realized even in their final moments.

    The nature of that conspiracy was uncertain, as was the exact identity of the man behind the scenes, but its existence was certain, and Damien was getting closer and closer to unveiling the truth.

    Nevertheless, this was only a part of what he''d been doing this past year. It was a bit depressing, but chasing the truths of the past was also riveting in its own way.

    What delighted Damien most, however, was the loosening of his shackles.

    After his conversation with the strange old man, the mental barriers holding him back from fusing Elemental and Samsara weakened considerably.

    He still couldn''t see the end goal, because the twows didn''t have any connection to fuse from, but the feeling that he couldn''t do it disappeared.

    This was an important change for him.

    Without inevitability clogging his mind, his horizons broadened considerably.

    Even if there wasn''t a connection point, knowing his end goal made it much easier.

    Life and Death, Light and Darkness, and many of the base elemental forces held the concept of duality within them, and this exact duality was what Damien now focused on.

    As long as he could exploit this link to bring them closer, even if it wasn''t enough to bring them togetherpletely, it would fill his mind withprehensions that''d be useful in finding the way forward.

    That was all that mattered.

    His steps were light. He swam through the ckness without worry.

    And, of course, he didn''t only prioritize his growth.

    Every time he came across a Nox encampment, which wasn''t nearly as rare of an instance as he expected, he went out of his way to destroy it.

    However, his methods were lighter than they would''ve been.

    His strategy remained consistent.

    He used the Void to conceal himself and find the strongest member of the camp, then proceeded to incapacitate them and forcefully read their memories.

    If he felt the camp was led by someone who would be useful for Bai Yumo, he would leave them alive and drop an imperceptible marker in their camp.

    ''If I''m right, Bai Yumo, or I guess I should call him Yong An now, will be able to sense it. He''s smart enough to know what it means.''

    Damien learned the name Yong An only after their conversation during hisst visit, and he respected the Saint King''s desire to change, so it was about time he changed the way he addressed the man.

    Putting that aside, Yong An''s connection with the Abyss was simr to Damien''s connection with the Void. As long as he grew more powerful, he''d gain more control over this ce, making him nigh-omnipotent within it.

    ''His current level is enough for something like this. The problem is whether he''ll find them before an Emperor does.''

    Damien trusted his power enough to maintain secrecy before a Nox Lord, but the Emperors were on another level.

    They were the current end goal.

    Therefore, he had to be certain they wouldn''t uncover his ns too early.

    ''The Soul Emperor, from my understanding, hasn''t left his territory in ages, so I don''t have to worry about him. The Inhuman Emperor couldn''t care less about something like this, so he''s even less troubling.''

    The Karmic and Saint Emperors, on the other hand, were too scheming and involved in the ongoing conflict. Damien couldn''t predict their movements or actions.

    ''The Karmic Emperor¡­''

    He was the one colluding with Immortal Blood Asura.

    ''Which means he''s my first target among them.''

    Damien furrowed his brows.

    ''I left enough information with Lynn to counteract his ns in the universe, but I can''t help but be wary. Those two are too good at toying with others. I can''t be sure if they''ve plotted something in the shadows.''

    By now, Luciel should''ve received his information, so he could rest mostly assured, but that wasn''t enough.

    ''We have to remain a step ahead.''

    He came to the Abyss to solve the problems of the universe without losing too much more, but if they were able to pull something insane from under the veil, it would ruin everything he was currently working for.

    His mind went back to the Soul Emperor''s ns of the past.

    ''I was lucky back then. The timing lined up, so I was able to stop the Corrupted World Cores from going out of control. If something like that happens again¡­''

    None of them were prepared for it.

    The second the Nox became suicidal, the second someone gave them the order to sacrifice everything, the situation would be treacherous.

    ''All I can do is pass my doubts to them and hope they can handle it.''

    Damien couldn''t enter the Sanctuary personally anymore.

    The Abyss'' irrationality interfered with the teleportation functions of his domain. If he left his current position and came back from the Sanctuary, he wouldn''t remain where he was.

    No, the Abyss would change around him and disce him severely, which couldn''t be allowed.

    Therefore, the only way tomunicate with the people within was to send a clone in his ce.

    ''Haa¡­''

    Comprehension was rewarding, and the scenery upied most of his mind as he moved, but¡­

    ''It''s lonely.''

    It was almost unbearably lonely, and the Abyss'' atmosphere naturally amplified his negative emotions while suppressing the positive ones.

    ''I''m free from the physical restrictions of this ce, but that only means I''m more susceptible than anyone to the mental ones. I have to stay focused.''

    If he lost track of his goal, he wasn''t certain he could keep on his arduous journey to Al''Katra.

    So, after condensing his thoughts into a clone and sending it away, he erased them all from his mind.

    The path in his mind was vague. It felt like he was following a trail of smoke whose end was unknown.

    However, just subtly, he understood how far away he was.

    ''It''ll be a few more years at the very least.''

    He didn''t want it to be that long.

    The longer it took, the more time the universe had to fall.

    So he had totch onto a single, barely viable hope.

    Hope that the irregr time dtions of the Abyss were on his side.

 Chapter 1203 Mysteries [5]

    Chapter 1203 Mysteries [5]

    Whether time was passing or not was questionable. Damien felt every second of every day, but at the same time, he felt stuck in the past, as if he hadn''t moved since the first second he entered the Abyss.

    His days were monotonous.

    He never deviated from the same activities, studying ancient civilizations,prehending fragments of destroyed universes, massacring Nox, and trying his best to move towards his end goal.

    The closer he got to Al''Katra, the further he felt.

    His separation from the known universe became palpable at some point, and every step he took in the opposite direction weighed down on his heart.

    Yet, he remained strong.

    He pushed down the loneliness and didn''t allow it to gue his mind. Once again, he focused his energy on aplishing task after task to unveil a multitude of truths.

    Though, his patience training was extremely useful.

    At a time like this especially, patience was more important than anything.

    If he didn''t have it, there was no way he could remain in good condition by the time he reached his destination. He might''ve been forced to use the Mind Prison and close himself off again, which, in the long run, would only inhibit his growth.

    Damien''s life was boring. It was hrious to imagine his life as something without vor, but that''s how it felt now.

    But he was more aware than anyone that this was the calm before the storm. He never let himself get dragged too far into the depths by the Abyss.

    He would never allow it to have its way.

    On another normal day of nothingness, Damien suddenly spotted something in the distance.

    ''That is¡­''

    He moved towards it andnded on the small piece of rock.

    "I didn''t expect to see you again," he said with a smile.

    "Ah? But I have been expecting you ever since our first meeting."

    The old man opened his eyes and nced at Damien with a calm expression, inviting him to sit down.

    "Your advicest time was really helpful. I didn''t expect my problems to be so simple at their core."

    Damien started by thanking the old man for his aid. The shackles that continued to loosen were proof enough of the impact those simple words had on him, and the only way he knew to repay that gratitude was this.

    "Try this out. This is No. 106: Returning To Simplicity. I didn''t really know how to name it, so I decided to go literal."

    Damien poured two cups of spirit liquor as he did during his previous visit and allowed the old man to slowly savor the taste.

    "Mm¡­" he hummed.

    "It is indeed a level above the previous Heaven''s Blessing, however, it seems you still have a ways to go."

    "That''s natural," Damien replied without much change in expression.

    "I''m stillcking in many ways, but don''t I have a way forward now? It''s only a matter of time before I get there."

    "Haha, this is the mindset of a true expert. It is a miracle to reach such maturity at your age."

    "My age? In my opinion, I''m quite old now."

    The old man shook his head in rejection.

    "By my standards, you are no more than a baby. Time flows infinitely, so how can a mere few decades be enough to mature into your fullest potential?"

    "Where Ie from, people didn''t have more than a few decades to do so. We struggled and fought every day, but in the end, who knows how many truly found sce in their old age? Life is an endless journey of learning, after all."

    "In this aspect, I can agree wholeheartedly."

    The duo sunk into silence for a moment as they savored the spirit liquor they shared, staring out into the swirling ckness.

    "Why have youe to visit me this time?" The old man finally asked.

    "I came to visit you? The way I see it, you showed up on your own ord."

    "Haha, however, I do not make any moves actively. If you do not desire my presence, you will never feel it in your lifetime."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien shrugged. It was true he wanted to see the old man again, but there was no particr goal behind his actions.

    He was just in need ofpany during his lonely journey, and this old man''s knowledgeable character made him a great conversation partner.

    The old man smiled, seemingly understanding his thoughts.

    "It is indeed the bleakest environment in this lower world, but you are not far from what you seek. You must stay strong."

    Damien rolled his eyes.

    "I''m already aware of that. My mentality hasn''t wavered yet, so you don''t have to worry."

    "Haha, then I will rest assured."

    The old man nced into his cup, his expression motionless.

    "Since you are here, there is something I want to give you."

    Damien raised his brow.

    "And what would that be?"

    "Hmm, well, that is for you to decide. It is inside the abode, so feel free to check it when you wish."

    "Are you in the mood for conversation?"

    "I will naturally entertain you if you have questions, but haven''t I already said? There is nothing I do actively."

    "I see¡­"

    Damien furrowed his brows in thought. This mysterious old man seemed to know everything, so there were certainly questions he wanted to ask.

    About the Nox, about himself, and about existence as a whole, Damien had far too many questions he needed answered.

    ''But I don''t want them like this.''

    Those questions had to be answered through his own effort, otherwise, the truths they masked would lose all meaning.

    "Old man, I''ll go check it out. Don''t disappear before Ie back."

    "Haha, are you aggrieved? Unfortunately, I cannot make promises, as my movements are not under my control."

    "Haa, this again."

    Damien didn''t question further. After all, the old man must''ve had his own secrets, and they weren''t nearly familiar enough for those to be revealed so easily.

    Instead, he opened the door to the shack and entered. There was no furniture within, the walls and floor clean yet untouched for eons.

    The only thing in that ce was¡­

    "...a woman?"

    Damien raised his brow in curiosity as he approached her.

    The woman was unconscious on the floor of the shack and unmoving as if her body had no life, but Damien could sense the clear fluctuations of vitality emanating from her.

    ''There''s no way he would randomly give me a woman and call her a gift. That''s too strange even for him.''

    He kneeled down beside her and observed her appearance.

    She had long blonde hair that spread over the floor like waves of sunlight and beautiful fair skin. Her body was quite bountiful, but Damien didn''t pay much attention to it.

    Instead, her pointy ears, something he''d rarely seen in the universe for a long time, attracted his gaze.

    ''This¡­an elf?''

    Why was there an elf in the Abyss?

    ''Let''s find out.''

    He pressed his finger to her forehead, noting herck of movement even when he inserted his mana into her body.

    Void Mana infiltrated her mind and made her memories clear to him.

    Destruction.

    Damien widened his eyes.

    ''This ce is¡­''

    Massive starships and cruisers filled the starry sky, shooting cannons that could directly destroy worlds. People died left and right, and no matter how much they fought, they were unable to fend off the invading forces.

    "People of Aurora, hear me. Your trial begins now. For daring to rebel against the will of the Lords, your punishment is death."

    A booming voice rang out from above.

    The sky was blotted out by the star destroyer''s shadow.

    Everything was being rushed.

    "M-mother! What are you doing?!"

    The elf''s confusion was clear in her mind. She could not rationalize what was happening as her mother inserted several coordinates into a panel on a nondescript wall.

    She tried to cry out. She tried to scream.

    However¡­

    VOOM!

    Bright blue light covered her vision.

    "Mother!"

    She reached her arm out, but she could only see her mother''s back.

    And they could no longer hear her.

    Spatial fluctuations ran rampant, and as the scenery began to change¡­

    Everything went ck.

    It was ck from that point on.

    Damien exited the elven woman''s memories with eyes wide in shock.

    ''That¡­that scene was¡­''

    He hadn''t seen it personally, but it was a topic of fierce debate.

    In his time, it had been almost two decades since then.

    Damien looked down at the woman with solemn eyes.

    The old man¡­what was his purpose in giving this woman to him?

    He didn''t know her, but he could understand her identity easily from those few memories.

    She was royalty.

    And that¡­

    ''That was the Elven Domain. Just moments before it was obliterated.''

 Chapter 1204 Mysteries [6]

    Chapter 1204 Mysteries [6]

    The Elf Princess Azera.

    Before today, Damien didn''t think there were any survivors of the Elven Domain tragedy, but her existence proved him wrong.

    The mystery as to how she ended up in the Abyss wasn''t too hard to figure out.

    She was in the middle of a space corridor when Aurora was obliterated, and the mana forced its way into the corridor and shattered it.

    Her only end was to be randomly spit out somewhere, with fatal injuries almost instantly killing her.

    So she could be considered lucky tond in the Abyss.

    This ce with its corrupted time and space kept her alive longer than she should have been.

    Afterward, the old man found her and kept her in his shack. The fact that her body had no visible injuries could only be credited to his interference.

    ''This further proves that the old man isn''t simple, but that isn''t new information.''

    Damien frowned.

    He didn''t really have an interest in the Elven Domain''s destruction, and finding a survivor didn''t mean much to him.

    So why did the old man call her a "gift?"

    ''Her memories are nk since the moment she left, so it''s clear she''s beenatose since then¡­if the answer isn''t in her mind, then it must be in her body.''

    Damien pulled himself out of her spiritual world and sent his mana through her physical body to observe it.

    And indeed, it was a nearly iprehensible sight.

    ''Her systems are all pretty much destroyed. There''s hardly anything remaining that logically supports the amount of vitality emanating from her, but¡­''

    Everything was different.

    Damien hadn''t devoured any elves, so he didn''t know the specifics of their physiology, but he had several close to him.

    Through inference, he could understand that they weren''t much different than humans in their internal structure. Their organs and bodily systems were essentially mirrored.

    But this woman, Azera, did not hold any of those simrities.

    ''There''s a faint presence. It can barely be felt, but it''s supporting her life force.''

    It wasn''t a positive presence in the slightest.

    No, it was the mana of the Abyss.

    ''I need to dig deeper.''

    Damien sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, focusing all his senses on the current task.

    The further he explored her body, the more he felt the urge to stand up and exim in shock.

    But he held it in.

    ''She''s being transformed.''

    That was the main conclusion he made.

    In the time she spent floating in the Abyss, and even now, its mana was corroding her systems in an odd way that transformed her into a being that could only be called an elf in appearance.

    Her internal structure¡­

    ''...is far more like a Nox.''

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien had made many conclusions about their species in the time he spent devouring them, but many were just assumptions without proof.

    Her existence practically gave him the proof he needed to justify 90% of those assumptions.

    ''I always wondered why the Nox were so hell-bent on creating chimeras out of universe denizens in their likeness, but maybe they were just chasing their roots.''

    ''Even if I had no other information, this transformation alone proves it. The Nox¡­are an artificially created species.''

    They did note into existence naturally. They were an invasive species in its territory, a virus that shouldn''t have existed.

    The entity or entities who birthed them were still unknown, but¡­

    ''...not only were they created instead of born, they were corrupted away from what their creators intended.''

    He felt it clearly in her body.

    The presence of the Void, that is.

    ''I didn''t expect to find this at all.''

    He had his spections, but with this it was certain. The Abyss was truly a reflection of the Void, a diluted version of its existence.

    From his understanding, the Abyss was formed from the destroyed remnants of several universes, but it couldn''t have always been like that.

    There was certainly a time when the universe hadn''t yet faced destruction and the Abyss had no means to be created.

    Yet, even in that time, it existed.

    He couldn''t exin that primordial form of this space. He didn''t know anything about it, nor could he envision it.

    But in its current form, the exnation was simple.

    When reality was destroyed, it would create a Dead Zone absent of anyws.

    The Abyss was arger version of this.

    The destruction of the universe created a massive Dead Zone, but because the forces present in their ruination were too plentiful, they weren''t wiped out, but instead shed against each other and further ruined the Dead Zones they resided in.

    When all else was gone, what could fill that space?

    Naturally, it was the Void, the entity that birthed existence itself.

    The Void''s energy seeped through the cracks formed by the cataclysms and allowed for the stable fusion of those rampaging elements. In the end, this reaction continued for eons upon eons until finally solidifying into what was now called the Abyss.

    ''Phew¡­''

    A universal truth.

    This single interaction allowed him to witness it.

    And this truth,bined with everything else he''d learned from Azera''s body, gave him a level of perception impossible to others.

    ''If the Void is the "glue" that formed the Abyss, and the Nox were formed in the Abyss itself, there''s no way they''d remain unaffected.''

    It was no wonder they were unable to form conscious thought until they received Universe Baptisms and were introduced to the presence of order.

    It was no wonder they needed something like bloodline memories to guide them and give them purpose.

    And it was no wonder their personalities skewed further and further towards disorder as they gained power.

    After all, power was freedom.

    And for those who knew nothing but chaos and were influenced by the Void''s qualities to consume all things, it was only natural to develop such dispositions.

    ''...I''m starting to pity them a little.''

    Damien smiled wryly to himself as he stood up.

    ''This can''t be everything. If I can learn so much from just examining her body, actually hearing it from her will surely provide unexpected boons. I guess¡­I should probably save her.''

    He had a poption of elves in the Sanctuary as well, though the difference in hair color clearly illustrated the separation of their ancestries.

    Nevertheless, Elvira was the perfect person to ask if he wanted to heal this woman, and putting her in thepany of elves would help stabilize her psyche much faster than doing it himself.

    ''Alright. Let''s take some precautions first.''

    He ced his hand on her head and slowly injected Void Mana into her systems.

    This mana would both assure that she wouldn''t die instantly from the rapid change in environment when she was introduced to the Sanctuary, and restrict her in case she turned feral when she regained consciousness.

    Without another thought, he swept his arm through the air and picked her up with his mana, sending her directly to the Sanctuary.

    His mood was lighter now than it was before he came here.

    ''This is fun. It''s a lonely journey to Al''Katra, but it''s like just being here is unraveling secret after secret that''s gued me for so long.''

    He felt refreshed. The Nox didn''t seem as fearsome when he thought about them. People like the Saint Emperor were of course not included, since his personality was ludicrous, but the Soul Emperor and Inhuman Emperor lost a majority of their credibility here.

    ''If the Inhuman Emperor is a representation of what happens when the Nox are too far separated from their origins and descend into the influence of the Abyss¡­''

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    ''...the Soul Emperor is a representation of a Nox utterly loyal to their original cause.''

    He didn''t like that at all.

    Because that man was the one behind a majority of the plots that ruined the universepletely.

    And he was the one plundering World Cores for reasons unknown.

    Those motives that had been hidden behind a veil of mystery until now¡­

    ¡­they were starting to be much clearer.

 Chapter 1205 Danger [1]

    Chapter 1205 Danger [1]

    ''I should go find the old man again. He''s probably the answer to far more questions than Azera.''

    Azera was a treasure trove, but not by her own design. It could be said that she was lucky and misfortunate to enter her current state.

    She wasn''t really an elf, nor was she really anything else. She was an unknown factor, a unique being within the universe.

    However, the only reason she could be one instead of dying and being consumed by the Abyss was because of the old man, so naturally, he was the one Damien had to speak to.

    He rushed out of the shack and turned his head to the table where the old man was sitting.

    Luckily, he hadn''t¨C

    "Hey, hey, didn''t you say you were going to stay?!" Damien suddenly eximed.

    The old man shrugged. Well, he did something simr as his body virtualized into particles along with everything he owned.

    "Did I? If I am remembering correctly, I said I couldn''t make any promises. Remember¡­?"

    "Haa, yeah, you don''t do anything actively, right?"

    "That''s the one."

    Damien was incredibly annoyed by the timing. If he wanted to disappear, why couldn''t he do it a few seconds earlier?!''

    Nevertheless, he didn''t want to hear the same phrase a sixteenth time, so he didn''t say anything else.

    "Until next time, old man."

    The old man nodded in response, his presencepletely vanishing.

    Damien was left alone in the ckness once more.

    "Haa¡­"

    He scratched his head in frustration with a sigh.

    "Seriously, how does something like that even work? Are you saying you''re being moved by something, or¡­?"

    Damien didn''t really know what to think, but he knew he had to find the old man again.

    He was the key to "something."

    What was that something? Damien didn''t have the slightest idea.

    But it was important.

    It was probably one of the most important things as of now.

    "The most important thing is still Al''Katra, so I guess I should just keep going."

    There was nothing more to be said.

    There was nobody who could hear him anyway.

    Damien shut his mouth and started moving again, reustoming himself to his usual routine.

    Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Before months could turn into years, Damien stopped counting entirely.

    The number of Nox he killed kept increasing, but oddly enough, he didn''t gain much from them anymore.

    Their memories simply held no value.

    These beasts who''d never left the Abyss and only acted on orders were of no use to him.

    So the only thing he had to look forward to was Al''Katra.

    When his internal body clock notified him of his 5th year in this ce passing, Damien finally took note of the time again, but only for a bit before returning to his regrly scheduled program.

    He saw countless ancient ruins and vestiges during this time, and he''d managed to meet the old man twice more.

    Each time, his seemingly regr words about life or spirit liquor gave Damien insights into the truths he''d been seeking for so long.

    And with his growth, Al''Katra also became closer and closer.

    It would only be a few more years now.

    This unbearably lonely pilgrimage was almost at its climax.

    But until then¡­

    ''There''s really no need to say it.''

    It had been said too many times already.

    Damien''s current life¡­really was quite boring.

    ***

    BOOM!

    The battle currently ongoing wasn''t in the regr areas of the universe.

    Not to say those battles had stopped. In the past three years, they''d only be more prevalent. There wasn''t a single area of the Infernal Realm that was free of conflict, to the point where itsmon popce was forced to evacuate to the Divine Realm years ago.

    However, the current battle was not one of those without potential, but of those filled with it.

    The younger generation had be extremely absorbed in Mystic Realms since the war eclipsed the universe. Even the Judgement Order, who usually stayed on the battlefield, split their forces for this purpose.

    Those within the Dimensional Leaderboard''s criteria focused their attention solely on climbing its ranks and upying the top positions, while those like Aishia and Pontius led the troops to help guide the momentum of battle how they wished it.

    The present location was an independent space titled the Starry Sky Mystic Realm.

    It was like a miniature version of Grand Heavens Boundary that only contained a fews, and of the Mystic Realms that had been discovered thus far, this one had the most bountiful rewards.

    Which also meant this was the ce where the most fierce shes were taking ce.

    Along with many of the geniuses who''d been trained by Prismatic Sun Holy Land like Pandora, the members of Judgement Order that were present were Rose, Ruyue, Elena, Long Chen, and Su Ren.

    These five members made up a majority of itsbat power in the younger generation, and they were also those who represented the universe''s greatest hope.

    The current Dimensional Leaderboard looked something along the lines of:

    [1. Damien Void]

    [2. Saint King]

    [3. Su Ren]

    [4. Xue Ruyue]

    [5. A''Ku]

    [6. Elena Pierce]

    [7. Altaro]

    [8. Rose Adire]

    [9. Long Chen]

    [10. Xirxes]

    Damien and the Saint King could be ignored since they weren''t present in Grand Heavens Boundary at the moment, but the rest of the spots were dominated by the Judgement Order.

    As for those names that didn''t belong to them, they were Nox geniuses.

    With this ranking, it was evident that these five would be targets for all younger Nox beings, and that was exactly how the situation panned out.

    Because if one looked at the top 20, or even the top 50, the Nox were far more prevalent than universal geniuses.

    The battle became one of quality against quantity, and while the regr troops fighting in the Infernal Realm seemed to value quality based on their ever-increasing fighting spirit, Rose wasn''t of the same opinion.

    This would be negative for them if it continued.

    The Nox had caused far more damage to the universe than they had to them, so if one looked at the overall situation, the Nox were the ones in the lead.

    The Starry Sky Mystic Realm was an opportunity to change that.

    To ughter those Nox geniuses who upied the Dimensional Leaderboard''s top 100s and rece them with people loyal to the universe.

    Rose brought Pandora and the rest here for that exact purpose.

    She wasn''t going to do all the work, nor would her people. They were here to preside over the situation and make sure none of the weaker geniuses died early.

    The main yers of this battle were already set.

    Pandora, being one of them, and arguably the one with most potential, didn''t enjoy being used like this, but she epted it nheless.

    Because she could no longerpete with the likes of Rose and her Judgement Order.

    After countless experiences on the battlefield, they''d all grown into High Commanders with great power, while she was still stuck in the 3rd revolution.

    So if this was how they wanted to do things, she couldn''tin.

    She could only ept their help and try to stand equal to them once more!

 Chapter 1206 Danger [2]

    Chapter 1206 Danger [2]

    "Damn!"

    Pandora gnashed her teeth as she cut down her enemy.

    This was only the third Nox she''d met thus far. There weren''trge numbers of them like normal, but every single one had a unique power that made them difficult to deal with and especially unpredictable.

    "Before, we didn''t really have to worry about Demonic Providence because we were only fighting the waves. Now that we''re nearing the top, I guess it''s unavoidable," she muttered to herself as she looked around.

    She couldn''t see many of her teammates. They''d split into a number of groups and taken different worlds in this Mystic Realm as their training grounds, but her¡­?

    "Dammit!"

    She cursed again. It was rare for her to do so, but in the past few weeks, she''d been unable to contain herself.

    After all, Rose sent her to this world alone!

    Every Mystic Realm had a condition that needed to be cleared for it to be counted aspleted.

    In the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm that Damien raided when he first came to the Divine Realm, the condition was simply to "survive."

    This wasn''t rare amongst Mystic Realms. In fact, most of them were survival conditions with a set time period that allowed the contestants to explore as much as possible to reap rewards before exiting.

    Unfortunately, the Starry Sky Mystic Realm wasn''t so forgiving.

    Let alone a survival condition, its condition waspletely hidden as if the challengers were supposed to be stuck here for an eternity.

    It made sense considering the nature of the realm itself, but there was simply no way that was true!

    Instead, this realm required one to unveil its mystery while they explored. There were relics buried underground and in ruins that alluded to the existence of an ancient civilization that once lived in this ce, the so-called "Irason Empire."

    From what Pandora learned, it existed long, long ago and never had contact with the outside world. Their specialty was me techniques, and while their Emperor was a calm and logical man, they were an extremely warmongering civilization.

    Every power, influence, race, or other group of any sort that used to reside in this realm was subjugated by them and turned into a pawn of their empire, and when there was nothing left to conquer¡­

    "They turned their eyes to the outside world."

    It sounded like the story of the Nox, a story of constant ughter without a clear goal.

    However, the Irason Empire didn''t experience the same sess as the ink race.

    From the records, they were struck down by the "power of heaven" before they could reach their end goal and invade the true universe.

    There weren''t many records of that power. Pandora searched for days on end, but the ruins she found only held stories of the civilization itself, not the cause of their destruction.

    "I''ve been looking for that stupid ''power of heaven'' for over a month now, but I''ve only found trash!" Pandorained.

    It wasn''t without reason. After all, besides some hurried writings as that power decimated them, how could they create records of it?

    This prosperous and powerful empire was brought to ruin in but a single second, whatever destroyed them eradicated all life in the Mystic Realm, and¡­

    ''Maybe that "cause" is what turned this ce into a Mystic Realm in the first ce.''

    Mystic Realms weren''t like hidden realms. They were exclusively under the Dimensional Leaderboard''s control, and were not inhabited by intelligent races.

    The most one could find were beasts whose intelligence was forced to remain untouched, those who could at most learn a bit of humannguage without realizing the heights of the sky they were trapped under.

    So even the existence of the Irason Empire''s ruins here was confusing.

    So was the fact that they were originally in a secret realm somewhere.

    It was hard to say Pandora wasn''t curious. Despite her annoyance, the mysteries of this ancient culture awakened her adventurous spirit and made her want to dig up its truth.

    But it was hard.

    These thoughts just kept creeping up and making her angrier, which naturally impeded her search.

    There weren''t many Nox in her world.

    After all, this world was deste and barely had traces of life in it at all. It was obviously a dead-end, so both sides ignored it.

    "...so why did that bitch send me here?!"

    Pandora cursed andined, but she didn''t actually hold negative feelings towards Rose.

    More or less, she wanted to curse something out, and Rose was the closest target.

    "Haa, never mind. Whatever the reason, it''s true that this world isn''t as deste as it seems."

    It was here that she learned so much about the Irason Empire and the "Power of Heaven," and from her inferences, this should''ve been the civilization''s main world.

    ''For it to be this rotten, I can''t really say they were wrong to assume heaven was the one who killed them.''

    And it wasn''t just information.

    There were roughly 100 participants in this Mystic Realm. Excluding the Judgement Order group, there were 40 rising geniuses and 55 of the Nox.

    Of them, Pandora only met five enemies so far.

    The number made her angrier, since even those ipetent Nox devalued this world, but¡­

    ''...that strange power, it''s back again.''

    Every time she killed someone, a red energy filled her body and filled her with power. She didn''t trust it, nor did she use it, but its presence seemed to increase her ability to excavate this ce.

    Ever so slightly, a link formed in her heart that guided her towards the center of the world.

    ''There''s something there. As for whether it''s positive or negative¡­''

    She didn''t know, but she had to look for it.

    With that in mind, she ignored everything else and tried to suppress her rage, digging into the subterraneanyers of the world.

    The ground had a strange viscosity. It was like volcanic ash mixed with slime, giving one an extremely unnerving feeling as they moved deeper into its surface, but Pandora just gritted her teeth and continued.

    What could she say?

    She already cursed everyone she could think of and her physical anger was being taken out on the rock, so the only thing she could do was cope.

    However, as she got closer to her destination, it became harder to control.

    Her thoughts ran wild.

    Curses turned into threats. She wanted to beat the ones who put her in this unfortunate situation until they could no longer loom above her.

    And by the time she reached the pulsing red heart at the center of the world, her urge was undeniably one to ughter.

    She stared at the blood-red heart with eyes that were starting to mirror its color.

    She started to understand the Irason Empire. Their desire for conquest was an undeniable urge of every human, and even she felt it to an extent.

    No, she felt it wholly.

    She also wanted to dominate everyone else in this ce and put them under her foot.

    And when she was done¨C

    Pandora''s expression crumpled.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    A nearby wall exploded, sending chunks of rubble flying out her.

    "Who dares interrupt me?!"

    She roared out, incinerating the projectiles and stepping forward.

    However, at that moment, her eyes went wide.

    It wasn''t even a centimeter away from her eye.

    She could already feel its sharpness digging into her skin.

    A massive spire of twisted red and ck tentacles that were pulsating like they were alive.

    Its tip, sharper than any artifact, was just a moment away from turning her head into modern art.

 Chapter 1207 Core [1]

    Chapter 1207 Core [1]

    Damien was in¡­quite the situation.

    After spending nearly 8 years floating through the Abyss, he thought he''d gained a rtive understanding of its functions, and through it, he''d been able to avoid the worst.

    There were absolute death zones in this ce that even he, with his unreasonably powerful life force and regenerative ability, would die in, and he''d been able to sneak past them without being harmed several times.

    However, what got him wasn''t an absolute death zone, but a natural trap he never expected to encounter.

    His current location was indeed the Abyss, but at the same time, not quite.

    He was in a separated dimension looking out into the Abyss.

    This ce was like fragments of broken ss, each one roughly 5 meters tall and 3 or 4 meters wide, and they blended into the ckness of the environment to the point where even Damien''s eyes couldn''t make them out.

    Naturally, perception also couldn''t sense them.

    They werepletely removed yetpletely integrated with the atmosphere, and Damien only realized he''d entered one when he realized he couldn''t leave!

    He''d been stuck in this strange state for over a year now, and the solution he''de up with was simple.

    ''I have toprehend the fracturedws here and find a way to merge them with the chaotic Abyss.''

    Not only would this require the presence of the Void, but also a level of Spacetimeprehension he hadn''t reached.

    It was his first major setback on his way to Al''Katra, and it wasn''t just a matter of losing time. He was certain the Abyss was still changing around him, creating a situation with the same consequences as leaving for the Sanctuary.

    He''d spent thest year inprehension.

    Sitting in this ce that was like a small piece of existence trapped in the void, he had no choice but to meditate and merge with itsws.

    In the process, he''d also hypothesized how such a phenomenon came about.

    He was no stranger to the shattered universes that created the Abyss. While he hadn''t found anything simr to Reva yet, he had found several fragments that held small amounts of Universal Law, which he promptly absorbed.

    He felt like if he returned to Grand Heavens Boundary with his currentprehension of Universal Law, he''d surely be able to control reality in unthinkable ways.

    But that was beside the point.

    This wasn''t like the rest of the shattered pieces he''d seen.

    Those were already beyond repair. Even if he brought them all together, he''d only get a vague idea of the Universal Law of the universes they belonged to, nothing else.

    But this ce was whole.

    Yes, it was fragmented, but these pieces wererge andplete enough to be considered true legacies of those ancient universes.

    So, while Damien was irked by his entrapment, he was also eager to explore the secrets of this separated space as he found his way out.

    Today was just like any other day.

    Damien sat with his eyes closed and his senses spread. At this point, he''d already merged his consciousness with the surrounding space and startedprehending its nature.

    Overall, he sensed many simrities to Grand Heavens Boundary, which made sense since both were part of the same greater universe at some point, but there were definitely several differences in the ways thews functioned.

    ''First off, space and time are out of wack. Instead of the constantly expanding space that Grand Heavens Boundary has, this one is constantly shrinking. As for time, the flow ispletely ruined. There is no sense of past and present, and everything is like a single picture that one can only viewprehensively.''

    The matter of space shrinking was interesting. It gave him the idea this this fragmented dimension was actually the universe itself at the end of its life instead of a piece of it.

    Such a truth would exin its wholeness, but if it was the answer, where was everything?

    The shrinking wouldn''t get rid of the worlds and celestial bodies that inhabited the universe. In fact, from what Damien understood, it was such an ingrained mechanism that it would provoke all things to shrink along with it.

    However, even at a molecr level, Damien couldn''t sense the existence of anything besides himself.

    ''As for time¡­''

    Theoretically, any beings that viewed time from this perspective were already above the universal standard, so-called 4th-dimensional beings in Earth terms.

    They would''ve been able to mold society in their image, altering the past and future to affect the present in ways to create the most ideal results.

    But if that was true, they wouldn''t have ended up in this state.

    Therefore, the conclusion he came to was that these factors changed after their destruction.

    Or perhaps, the extinction of all life within the universe morphed the Universal Law like this.

    ''It''s already established that the rtionship between a universe and its inhabitants is symbiotic. When the Nox invaded us, they didn''t just kill the people, but also destroyed the universe, but what if¡­''

    What if, in the earliest stages of their conquest, they aimed specifically for World Cores as they''d done with the Giant Domain instead of touching the universe?

    What if they left the universe as an empty container and moved on, with no interest in its existence?

    ''If that''s the case, I''m near the edges of the ancient greater universe. The destruction of this ce happened near the beginning of time.''

    The current Nox race wouldn''t just leave a universe alone like this.

    It wasn''t a matter of their destructive nature. Damien had long since abandoned his preconceptions of the Nox and viewed them as a whole species with the same ws as humans.

    However, if this universe''s life ended so long ago, knowledge would''ve been much sparser.

    The things people knew today were plenty, but there was one thing that was still a mystery to this day, only inferred by the highest experts.

    Such a fact wouldn''t have even entered the imaginations of those ancient people.

    ''When the Nox are finished plundering all the World Cores from an existing universe, their next step would naturally be its higher variety.''

    Worlds were microcosms of the universe itself.

    Just like worlds had World Cores¡­

    ''...the universe had a Universal Core.''

    That core was the operating system that allowed itsws to be maintained, and could be considered the physical body of Universal Law.

    How could the Nox leave it be?

    Reva was a fragment of a Universal Core, and the strange phantom woman he met when he bound her was its true form, or at least an image of it.

    The destruction that created the Abyss naturally came about because those very Universal Cores were plundered, and the universes lost their means of staying stable.

    Just blowing things up wasn''t enough to cause this scene.

    Just imagining the power such a mysterious construct contained sent shivers down Damien''s spine.

    He, as a Celestial, had an undeniable urge to explore it, but also a natural fear of its grandiosity.

    And¡­

    If this universe really became like this in the same way he assumed it to¡­

    ''...it''s Universal Core might still be intact.''

    And he, as the man who was dragged into this space, was the only person in existence who had a chance to find it.

 Chapter 1208 Core [2]

    Chapter 1208 Core [2]

    Now that he''d made this inference, finding signs of the Universal Core''s presence was his top priority.

    He didn''t know exactly what to look for, but hisprehension of Universal Lawbined with his position as a Celestial gave him several ideas.

    And more than just finding the Universal Core, which would only benefit him, he needed to find a way to merge this space with the Abyss.

    ''If I just take the Universal Core and let it naturally merge, I''ll definitely see something interesting, but is it worth spending another decade here to find Al''Katra?

    The answer was a resounding "no."

    The so-called "natural merger" was the process of chaotic forces being tamed by the Void and turned into a piece of the Abyss. This process would inevitably worsen the Abyss'' irregrity and push him away from his goal.

    There were plenty of ways for him to see how the Abyss functioned, but his current task was already extremely dyed by the environment and couldn''t be pushed back further.

    Therefore, his primary focus was still split between creating an opening to leave and fulfilling his personal desires,

    Luckily, they went hand in hand.

    He couldn''t destroy or plunder the Universal Core directly if he didn''t want to ruin everything, but finding it was a keyponent in escaping this ce.

    ''And even if it''s the Abyss, it''s impossible for me to be the first in history to stumble upon this ce. The rest must''ve died after being stuck here for an eternity, eventually bing a piece of this space or food to the core.''

    His conjecture was feeling more factual with every passing second.

    So, how was he to find the Universal Core?

    ''That''s even simpler.''

    The only reason he hadn''t made progress in the past year was because he didn''t have any viable leads to follow.

    Now that he did, executing the process would be easier than anything.

    Mana red from his body and turned into several threads of Celestial Mana.

    These threads then shot into the void of space in the fragmented dimension and formed a spiderweb that encapsted its entire area.

    ''The answer is World Force.''

    If the Universal Core was bent on hiding, all he needed to do was force it out.

    VOOOOM!

    "World Force" was a power Damien rarely used.

    It was a subset of Universal Law that acted as a world''s natural defense mechanism against all things. If one was on, as long as one had enough World Force, one could practically act as a God even without binding it.

    However, it didn''t have much use for Damien.

    After all, not only did he control Universal Law itself, he had several other methods to alter worlds however he pleased.

    Regardless, he naturally collected World Force as he bound more and more worlds, and instead of letting it go to waste, he allowed it to strengthen Reva so the Sanctuary''sws could be moreplete.

    This was the first time he''d felt the true power of his World Force with his body.

    And as the master of almost 500,000 worlds, it was something of wonder.

    WHOOSH!

    A sparkling universe formed through the spiderweb of Celestial Mana Threads. The iridescent blue mana of his World Force twisted and swirled, dancing along the threads as they spread further into the void of space.

    As they came together and pushed apart, the reactions that were showcased were simr to the formation of worlds. It was almost as if, as long as they were allowed to continue, countless new worlds would be born in this space.

    With this kind of power upying all the space in the fragmented dimension, even pushing into nearby fragments and drawing them closer, how could the Universal Core stay silent?

    After all, Damien represented its greatest dream.

    He represented the revival of this universe!

    It started small. A barely visible fleck of light, like a single star in the vastness of the cosmic, flickered indiscernibly as if trying to grab Damien''s attention.

    But when he paid it no mind, it rapidly expanded, bing a sun-like force in a matter of seconds!

    "There you are," Damien said with a smile.

    The light was just a representation of its power. If one scaled the universe up to its true size, this light would''ve epassed almost half of its entirety.

    However, the current Universal Core wasn''t so massive.

    No, it was just that single fleck, endlessly small in this endless expanse.

    Damien''s perception locked onto it now that it had shown itself.

    His body couldn''t shrink. He didn''t have that kind of control over his systems, however¡­

    A small light ball exited his forehead and traveled towards the light, entering it and quickly reaching its center.

    The small string of consciousness took form in front of the Universal Core, standing at the same height as it and marveling at its existence.

    It wasn''t blue like a World Core. Instead, it was pure white.

    Damien couldn''t tell whether this was its true form or only what could be perceived by a lower existence like himself, but that didn''t matter.

    "You understand what I want, right?" He said calmly.

    The Universal Core shook slightly, transmitting its emotions to him.

    "Hm? Rudimentary intelligence? With this age¡­I guess intelligence isn''t permitted to your kind. The one I met was just an isted case.''

    It made sense why there wasn''t even a single rumor about an existence like Reva before. They must''ve been exceedingly rare, if not totally unique.

    "No matter what, this ce will eventually fall prey to the Abyss. I respect your efforts thus far, but considering the current situation, you only have two options," he said, responding to the core''s emotions.

    Damien held up a finger.

    "The first is death. When I escape this ce, you will inevitably be exposed to the Abyss, where your only fate is to be swallowed and incorporated by it."

    Looking at the core''s timidity as he spoke, he smiled wryly, feeling as if he was bullying a child.

    But there truly were only two options.

    He wasn''t going to ruin his escape n just for its sake.

    His second finger rose to apany the first.

    "The second option is survival. I will take you somewhere, and if you inhabit that ce, you will be able to take a form like never before and grow past your previous limits. However, you will have to abandon this body."

    He saw it in many World Cores in the past.

    Their bodies meant everything to them, but¡­

    ¡­their desire for survival trumped all else.

    The Universal Core calmed down. Its emotions slowly started taking the form Damien expected.

    Damien nodded, pleased by its quick response.

    "Very well. Then, I hope you enjoy your second chance at life, and don''t forget. If you act unruly, I will exterminate you without hesitation."

    He didn''t speak anymore, directly pushing his mana into the Universal Core to bind it.

    He was quite happy. Not only did he gain an unexpected boon, he found a shortcut to escaping this ce, all in one.

    After he bound the Universal Core and sent it to the Sanctuary, he just needed to use the Void to directly control the direction of the following merger, which could guarantee the maintenance of his position, or perhaps even push him closer to his goal!

    And, in the end, he still somewhat gained the thing he was prepared to lose, the opportunity to witness the natural merger of these forces.

    Overall, it was a great event for him.

    And since he could sense that his destination was at most a few months away¡­

    ¡­his mood was truly giddy.

 Chapter 1209 Core [3]

    Chapter 1209 Core [3]

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Pandora wasn''t sure what exactly happened.

    It was just a second ago. No, not even that.

    Just an instant ago, a period of time she couldn''t even begin toprehend, that spire was directly in front of her face.

    She could still feel the blood leaking from her eye and painting her face.

    But¡­

    It was not there anymore.

    It was shattered into fragments.

    No, were those¡­flowers?

    "I knew you''d be the one to find it, but I didn''t expect it to be so fast. Good job, Pandora."

    ''Hm? That voice is¡­''

    "...Rose?"

    Pandora touched her face in confusion as she looked up, seeing the familiar pink-haired figure standing there.

    Rose gently descended to the ground, waving her hand in an equally graceful manner.

    The deadly spire that was now just a rain of flower petals whooshed to life and blew past her. The vibrant scent of nature filled Pandora''s senses, and suddenly, her mind felt amazingly clear.

    "Rose, be careful! That thing is¨C!"

    "Yes, I know. The heart of the Irason Empire, a disgusting power that shouldn''t exist in this world."

    "H-huh¡­?"

    Rose shook her head.

    "You do not need to worry about being affected by it any longer. I''ve cleared that obstacle for you. Now, take hold of it and understand the purpose of this Mystic Realm, so you can stand out as the final winner."

    Pandora shakily nodded her head and rose to her feet.

    With a clear mind, she suddenly realized everything that had happened in the past few weeks.

    Over time, "rage" polluted her perception.

    No matter how much she pushed it down, it always came back and upied the forefront of her mind.

    In thest moments before she was almost killed by that spire, that rage had influenced her to the point of forming killing intent against her allies.

    She had be a reflection of the Irason Empire.

    "Irason¡­the name is much more literal than expected."

    She originally took it as the surname of the Imperial n and didn''t think much, but looking at it now, it was unbelievably obvious.

    Irason, Son of Ira. The Imperials of this empire were the descendants of Wrath itself, something iprehensible to her.

    "Is it¡­is it actually possible¡­?" She asked in awe and fear.

    "No."

    However, Rose''s response was clear.

    "They didn''t descend from the concept of wrath. That''s just what they told themselves so they could act boisterously with reason."

    A disdainful frown was present on her face as she spoke.

    She remembered thest "Wrath" she''d met, that scum who tried to kill her husband.

    Just like him, they were nothing more than imitations.

    "This heart has nothing to do with the forces of evil. In fact, it''s just a mana treasure that was corroded by their bloodlust over time. At some point, instead of letting them influence it, it formed its own consciousness and started influencing them until it led them to their destruction."

    Pandora''s eyes widened.

    Wasn''t that quite a story?

    "But how do you know all this?"

    "Ah¡­" Rose muttered awkwardly.

    "Well, just consider it a secret for now. If you know too much, you''ll probably get points deducted when we leave."

    Pandora nodded and stopped hesitating, walking up to the treasure.

    As Rose watched her, she turned her gaze to the glowing red heart, her eyes cold.

    ''Behave.''

    Imperceptibly, the heart itself shivered, as if it had just met the most terrifying presence in existence.

    Rose shook her head and refocused on Pandora.

    The current goal was to bring her into the top 10 and rece one of the Nox geniuses, and naturally, Rose wouldn''t make such a move without preparation.

    In fact, unbeknownst to everyone except Ruyue and Elena, Rose entered the Starry Sky Mystic Realm almost a year ago, and she''d conquered itpletely alone.

    At that time, nobody else knew it existed at all, and she had to spend a considerable amount of time to clear it.

    But during that time, a clone so realistic even its power was a direct representation of hers took her ce, and nobody suspected otherwise.

    Rose already understood the clearing strategy for this ce. The reason it was still open was because she used illusions to escape instead ofpleting it back then, which forced it to revert to its original form and wait for new challengers.

    She pushed Pandora so hard, nting the seed of rage in her heart, so that she could be drawn to this ce.

    And with that seed, she''d be able to im the final treasure of this realm.

    Pandora, unaware of Rose''s reasons, walked up to the red heart and touched its pulsating surface curiously.

    She felt its aura pushing into her body, but since Rose told her to do this, she allowed it without hesitation.

    There was a certain power taking root inside her.

    The power of Wrath.

    And now that she''d regained her senses, that wrath wouldn''t concentrate on small feelings or temporary rage.

    Instead, it would remain fueled by her hatred towards her greatest enemy.

    The Nox would be the ones to feel its terror.

    Wasn''t that perfect?

    It was the exact conclusion Rose had been aiming for from the start.

    However, this was just the start.

    From the rest of the Mystic Realm''s tasks to the events that would take ce once they left, Rose would have to keep a close eye on Pandora so she wouldn''t be controlled by her power.

    And if she ever found that the person she chose to inherit it wasn''t suitable¡­

    ''...I''ll have to kill her with my own hands.''

    Not only to eradicate the scourge Pandora would be, but also to punish herself for this failure.

    ''Haa, business as usual.''

    Nobody knew how hard she''d been working besides her sisters.

    As others moved at the same pace as their enemies in the open, Rose upied the shadows and made ten moves for every one of theirs.

    This was the primary reason for the current war situation, not only on the younger generation side, but also for the older generation.

    Imperceptible to even the greatest Demigods, her influence spread through the universe and maintained bnce, disallowing the Nox from overpowering the denizens too much.

    Of course, she didn''t have the power to do this consistently, nor could she control the most powerful entities of both sides, however¡­

    "Huu¡­"

    She exhaled deeply.

    She was tired.

    Because of her, the universe was still alive.

    But she would never get recognition for it. Nobody would ever understand who their savior was.

    Yet, to her, that didn''t matter.

    She didn''t do this for them.

    She even sacrificed her spot on the Dimensional Leaderboard to provide others with more opportunities.

    This had always been her personality, and no matter how strong she became, it wouldn''t change.

    For the security of the small family she had, for the security of Apeiron and her father there, and for the sake of the future generations who would have to live in the world created by their predecessors, she was willing to do anything.

    The overall situation could be described simply.

    The younger generation of the universe was taking the lead, and would be a shadow the Nox geniuses couldn''t escape with just a few more years.

    However, the older generation could at best create a stalemate.

    So until Damien seeded in his personal mission, she had to hold down the fort.

    That was her duty as the first wife and a supreme genius of this ne.

 Chapter 1210 AlKatra [1]

    The process of binding the Universal Core wasn''t any different from binding a regr World Core.

    In fact, Damien barely felt a change while he was doing it.

    Sure, his Universal Lawprehension increased immensely, to the point where he felt like he could directly control the universe if he went back, but that wasn''t unexpected, nor was it something that gave him immense joy.

    After all, Universal Law was a contained power. It only worked under certain circumstances, and overall, it didn''t have much benefit for him.

    Not that he didn''t want it.

    Since Universal Law was a concept close to the root of existence, it was an important stepping stone for him. Later, when he reached the point he was aiming for, thisprehension would make it infinitely easier for him to ovee the final barrier.

    However, that was only his feeling in the moment.

    The Universal Core was still an external entity at this time, so naturally, he could only feel its effects as such.

    When he finally took it into his body and incorporated it into the Sanctuary¡­

    "Ah¡­"

    An exmation of wonder left his mouth unknowingly.

    He wasn''t used to this feeling at all.

    He felt elevated.

    And suddenly, he realized just what he was doing.

    He was binding a universe.

    A fucking universe!

    This wasn''t some ordinary moment. It wouldn''t just be a heightened version of binding a World Core. If it was just that, then how could it be considered a universe?!

    He didn''t get it at first. He was so used to events like this granting him something that he neglected the actual benefits he was receiving.

    There was no direct increase in a piece of his strength. His mana didn''t increase, hisws remained the same as they were, and the Void didn''t show any reaction.

    However, his "league" increased.

    His "state of existence" reached another level, and the effects of that only presented themselves once he incorporated the Universal Core into his strength.

    League was a strange thing that lower existences couldn''t understand.

    League and Legend were two concepts that defined one''s self in ethereal ways, establishing one''s identity in the universe.

    Understanding the truth behind Legends was the key to entering the nine revolutions and beginning the path to Divinity, but league didn''t have this kind of significance.

    Because league was a concept intrinsically linked to the soul, the realm of higher existences.

    One''s league would naturally rise with practice, but there weren''t many ways to unnaturally raise it. One had to do something absolutely impossible for their league to be affected by their actions.

    Even when Damien made impossible achievements in gaining Elemental Law through the Void, his league didn''t experience a change.

    But in this moment, the entire existence that represented him was raised to a new level.

    Euphoric wasn''t a great enough word to describe his current emotions.

    Because league, being this kind of esoteric concept, had unprecedented effects on one''s strength.

    Just like the Blessing of Foundation he received in the Severed World, the increase of his league wouldprehensively boost his strength in every facet.

    He was getting stronger exponentially.

    It was truly beautiful.

    Yet, Damien could only feel it for a few seconds before he was forced to divert his attention.

    Now that the Universal Core was gone, the fragmented dimension would start to copse. It was his job to make sure this copse worked in his favor!

    ''Alright, let''s get to work.''

    He cracked his knuckles and spread his arms to the side.

    ''I have all the necessaryprehensions, but this is my first time doing this, so I can''t let my concentration waver.''

    He didn''t let the seriousness affect him much, but he understood it well.

    If he failed here, he''d spend another decade in the Abyss aimlessly walking towards Al''Katra.

    Yong An was over 500 years old now, but when they met, he was at most 150.

    What if this dtion happened in the opposite direction?

    What if the ten years he spent here tranted to 100 in the universe?

    What if he went back and found everything he worked to protect gone?

    He couldn''t allow that.

    Huu¡­

    He took a deep breath and grabbed hold of his Celestial Mana web, infusing Void Mana into its structure.

    ''Facilitation¡­''

    It wasn''t a matter of control, but a matter of slightly altering the natural flow of events to his benefit.

    He had to be incredibly precise in his tweaking, and for that purpose, he let go of all other thoughts.

    The fragmented dimension''s walls broke down, and the Abyss'' mana flooded in.

    Under Damien''s Void Mana, it wasn''t allowed to rampage as it pleased, but it tried its best to get out of his control.

    ''Guide them¡­slowly¡­''

    He was like an artist. Every movement of his arms was a stroke of this cosmic brush that dictated the nature of the world.

    As the forces of the now-broken universe embraced chaos, he used the Void to slowly introduce and integrate them with the Abyss itself.

    The space he was standing in was shrinking.

    He could feel the Abyss encroaching upon him.

    He wasn''t moving, but it was hard to feel like he was standing still. It felt like he was on a small boat rocking in the push and pull of the deep ocean.

    But luckily for him, he wasn''t an ordinary man, but the god of the sea himself!

    The process was hard to describe in many words. After all, chaos was defined by disorder for a reason.

    The fragmented dimension and the Abyss slowly became one under Damien''s influence, until eventually, Damien was no longer trapped in space.

    The Abyss was all around him before he knew it.

    The question was¡­

    Where was he now?

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien exhaled again and opened his eyes.

    Slowly but surely, he removed his control from the environment and allowed it to flow naturally.

    That movement¡­

    That movement was the eruption of an underwater volcano.

    A tsunami rose in a single instant, randomly pushing him through the Abyss.

    ''This is the most important part.''

    He focused, and focused, and focused.

    He pulled the strings of fate with all his power to bring about the oue he desired.

    Until finally¡­

    ''I did it.''

    The world stilled.

    The Abyss returned to its usual chaotic calm.

    Damien didn''t waste any time and directly focused on the smoke-like path leading him to Al''Katra.

    How much time was left?

    Every time he checked in the past, the answer was several years. The number of years obviously decreased with time, but it was never linear and never followed the amount of distance he''d covered, so he was a bit scared of the results of hisst bargain.

    However¡­

    A smile lit up his face.

    His eyes sparkled with happiness.

    ''6 months.''

    It wasn''t a vague estimate like usual, but a direct representation of time.

    If he moved in a straight line from this point, he''d reach Al''Katra in half a year without a doubt.

    But that wasn''t the reason for his grin.

    Because as long as he took a few shortcuts¡­

    ''...I can definitely cut that down even more.''

    Finally.

    The Abyss was nice, but he was tired of it by now.

    This wasn''t what he came for.

    So now that his goal was right in front of him¡­

    Why wouldn''t he be happy?

 Chapter 1211 AlKatra [2]

    "So this is it¡­"

    Damien''s voice was silenced by the Abyss, but it didn''t matter.

    Because with the passing of 4 months, he was finally here.

    "...Al''Katra."

    He couldn''t help but marvel at it.

    The world itself could barely even be called a world.

    Yes, it shared a shape with regr worlds, as did it function simrly with a loose atmosphere encasing it and whatnot.

    However, it was billions of kilometers wide, an unreasonable size.

    It was so massive that Damien couldn''t even see its curve on the horizon. As he looked at it from so close, it was like a massive wall that expanded in all directions as far as the eye could see.

    Even when he was approaching it maintained this appearance.

    It was actually insane.

    ''Well, now that I''m here, what''s the point in dying?''

    In the past 4 months, Damien had already made several ns on how to move once he was on the surface, so he didn''t need to sit here and ponder about anything.

    In that time, he''d also taken several measures to hide his identity.

    He took Abyss Mana into his body andbined it with the Void to make his breath smell like a Nox, and even if he used his mana, nobody would be able to distinguish him as a denizen of the universe.

    This final preparation was made for two reasons.

    First off, he had to be sure the Emperors wouldn''t notice his abnormality upon entrance. If the Saint Emperor smelled the Void''s scent in the slightest, he was sure to make moves that wouldplicate Damien''s path.

    The other reasons were simr to a smaller degree, but overall, Damien wasn''t extremely worried.

    After all, this was Al''Katra.

    This world was undiscoverable by outsiders. It had not and could not be found, so the Nox naturally wouldn''t have many defenses against enemies from the outside.

    Though, considering their nature, he couldn''t say the same about their preparations against internal threats, but he could only be sure about that fact once he made himself familiar with the surface.

    Damien closed his eyes and concentrated his awareness into a thin string that he sent through the atmosphere.

    Once he felt it connect to the ground, he warped.

    Hisws were currently not the same as the ones he used usually. Instead, they were the diluted and morphed versions that existed in the Abyss, simr to what Yong An utilized.

    Of course, he decided to only use his spatialws during this time, because he couldn''t exin away his massive repertoire of abilities with a mere Demonic Providence.

    sh!

    The feeling of teleportation was different. It was far less fluid, and it felt like the spatial corridor would throw him into a random location if he lost focus for even a single moment.

    But Damien already got used to this during his journey.

    Without a hitch, he reappeared on the surface of the world.

    Ptui!

    He immediately spit on the nearby ground.

    The first breath of air he intook was disgusting. It was turbid and rancid, like the air around a rotting corpse.

    As for the environment itself¡­

    It was pure ck.

    The sky was covered in dark clouds, and even without them, there was no sun to provide light to the world. The dested ground seemed unable to sustain any sort of life, and was incredibly familiar to him.

    It was the exact same as No Return Pass.

    In more ways than one.

    The surroundings were teeming with Nox.

    If Damien hadn''t activated One With Dimension instantly upon entry, he would''ve been swarmed by them already.

    But the numbers were truly unrealistic.

    There wasn''t a single portion of free ground in this in. Billions or even trillions of Lesser Nox wandered without aim. They didn''t even seem to attack each other often, merely walking around like zombies in the apocalypse.

    Though, it wasn''t as if there was no conflict.

    The Lesser Nox were vessels of vice. Their natural instinct was to consume and gain power.

    Therefore, while whatever was suppressing them was doing a good job, it didn''tpletely limit their freedom,

    In several locations in the distance, Damien could see structures that looked like mountains.

    But mountains they were not.

    Instead, they were piles of Lesser Nox who were currently in the process of consuming each other to evolve.

    ''It seems they''ve regted the locations ofbat zones. If a Lesser Nox can''t fight its urges any longer, it has to travel to one of those isted areas to satisfy its urges.''

    It was no wonder the ones around him were walking like that.

    They were all desperately trying to find their way to abat zone!

    ''Regardless, this isn''t what I came for. They might be uncivilized in nature, but I don''t believe those Higher Nox are content with living amongst their lessers.''

    He already confirmed this fact through the actions of Nox in the universe. Not one time was there a Higher Nox that didn''t try to form an influence after conquering a manmade structure and altering it to their taste.

    ''Hmm¡­I don''t want to spread my awareness, but is there a better way to find one besides walking?''

    The answer was no, but with hisck of information, he couldn''t act rashly.

    ''Let''s just suck it up for now.''

    He started to move in a random direction, away from the nearest Lesser Nox feeding grounds.

    He ran between the spatialyers for several hours without finding anything. Other than more and more feeding grounds, there wasn''t a single other structure.

    ''With a world as big as this, it makes sense. I''ll try flying.''

    Instead of using mana, he summoned ck demonic wings, a disguised form of his dragon wings, and shot into the air.

    Once again, he found himself unable to see anything in the distance, but it was fine. His movement speed would be much faster this way.

    Seven more hours passed like this, filled with nothing but what he''d already seen.

    A terrifying understanding of the numbers the Nox possessed.

    ''A world of this size that''s packed to this extent¡­disregarding the Higher Nox that probably number in the trillions, there should be at least a few quintillion Lesser Nox. The universe¡­''

    The universe truly stood no chance against a force of this size.

    ''Which makes my goal here all the more important.''

    Damien threw away his thoughts and continued to move. After so long, he finally saw a structure in the distance that looked different from the rest.

    As he approached it, relief filled his veins.

    It was a city.

    Surrounded by massive walls at least a few kilometers in height, which themselves were teeming with Higher Nox guards, was a massive metroplex that was about the size of a country.

    ''Finally.''

    Damien pondered for a second about how to enter, but soon realized there was no need to do too much.

    The Nox were a simple people, and he already understood their habits well.

    He undid his concealment while still too far away for them to perceive him before descending.

    Hended in front of the walls that didn''t seem to have any natural entrance and red up at the guards.

    "Open up before I kill you!"

    His tone was brash and extremely arrogant, obviously annoying the guards.

    "Who are you?!" A voice boomed down.

    Damien rolled his eyes and snarled.

    "Does it matter to you?! Open the fuck up before Ie up there myself!"

    "Tch! Fine, but don''t cause trouble in here! Your strength is pathetic in front of our leaders!"

    "Ha, pathetic?! We''ll see about that. Unless your leader is my Lord, don''t expect me to act politely!"

    "Fuck! Not another one of these!"

    The guards on the wall agonized over his presence, but they still granted him entry,

    ''It seems not everyone is directly affiliated to a Lord. But¡­my acting is on point?''

    Damien smiled inwardly. He wasn''t really acting like a Nox, more like the old version of him who was absorbed in death and destruction just like them.

    The way the wall opened was¡­strange.

    It didn''t actually open at all, but Damien could feel that he could now pass through its surface without a hitch.

    After ring at the guards once more, he sauntered in with confidence.

    ''Nice.'' He thought smilingly.

    ''Now, it''s time to get some information.''

 Chapter 1212 AlKatra [3]

    The structure of a Nox city, wasn''t it quite curious?

    These people who never got along with each other even when they did, just how could they live cohesively in an area without problems?

    The answer was that they didn''t.

    It was regr for conflict to overtake an entire city as the Nox fought amongst themselves, but because Higher Nox were valuable, they weren''t allowed to kill wantonly.

    There were two mechanisms in ce to make sure they followed the rules.

    The first was a battle arena. A life-or-death stage that was supervised by nine revolutions Nox and would allow one to kill their enemies existed in every city, but there were several restrictions on its use so it couldn''t be abused.

    The second was a collection of Supremes. They acted as a deterrent force and the highest level of authority that kept the people in line through fear.

    These two worked quite well together, and for the most part, wanton destruction wasn''t amon urrence.

    However, harmony wasn''t either.

    The streets weren''t empty as people had to go about their business, but there wasn''t an air of friendliness ormunity present among them. Instead, it was as if all of them were walking through a den of enemies.

    Their eyes darted side to side, they bumped into each other and provoked each other, and even the owners of food stalls and the likes would regrly beat people and force them to pay what they owed.

    The longer Damien spent on Al''Katra, the more it felt like a post-apocalyptic world.

    Nevertheless, his purpose wasn''t to engage in cultural exchange with them.

    He didn''t care about the food they ate, which, as he found, was disgusting, and he didn''t care about how they acted when they were in the safety of their homeworld.

    He didn''t care that they used Nox blood as currency, nor did he care about the ongoing tournament in the battle arena.

    After using some of his extensive supply of Nox blood to get himself amodations for the night, Damien quietly spread his senses through the city.

    ''There are¡­6 Supremes. It''s annoying since they''re so spread apart, but this distance should still be possible.''

    Since he was here for work, he didn''t n to waste any time.

    He immediately teleported out of his room and covertly arrived in the residence of one of the six Supremes.

    ''At my level, they aren''t a problem anymore.''

    Damien smiled.

    Shik!

    His arm went through the Supreme''s neck.

    That man didn''t even notice his presence when he was right behind him.

    ''Give me your memories quickly so I can move on.''

    Damien rapidly devoured the man and teleported away again.

    He couldn''t check them yet.

    The Nox were connected in a hivemind. They couldn''t see the exact cause of death, but the information that this Supreme was dead would transmit to the rest soon enough.

    Before that, he had to clear this city and leave.

    And that''s exactly what he did.

    Regardless of their power level or how close they were to Divinity, it was simple fact that there no longer existed a Supreme who could stand up to him, especially after his league was increased by the Universal Core.

    It was a bit difficult since most of his power was sealed. Using only corrupted spatialws, he had to get very creative with his methods.

    However, his base strength was already at a level where he could defeat his peers with a singlew.

    The rest¡­

    Well, they would be saved for a more appropriate opponent.

    One by one, the Supremes fell without realizing how they died. Their memories flowed into Damien''s spiritual world and created a ck mass that he had yet to absorb.

    And after thest one was killed, naturally, Damien had no more use for the city.

    ''I have the urge to just ughter them after doing that for so long, but I should keep them alive for now. I still don''t know how many of these guys will be useful in the future.''

    That was his thought as he teleported away.

    He didn''t look for a new city right away, but insteadnded somewhere deep in the abyssal deserts that the Lesser Nox upied before concealing himself again and delving into his mind.

    ''Right, let''s see what''s up.''

    Nox memories were always fragmented. No matter what he tried, he couldn''t find a way to extract a full memory stream from a Nox being.

    His original assumption was that it was a matter of the Abyss'' environment, but after the truths he''d learned in the Abyss itself, his thoughts changed.

    This mechanism was absolutely designed by the Nox''s creators.

    And it was incredibly annoying!

    Luckily, the stronger Nox had moreplete memories, and since he had the fragments of six Supremes in his hand, he gained as much as he could hope for.

    ording to these memories, cities like the one he found were rare in this world. They were strongholds within the Lesser Nox waves, mainly used by those who still wanted to grow and hadn''t ovee their basic desires yet.

    He learned quite a lot about Nox society despite his apparent disinterest in it, and he couldn''t say it wasn''t fascinating to understand how these beings lived.

    After all, those Nox that were such a mysterious enemy for the people of the universe were now being unraveled to him in full.

    But the culture was just a piece of memory he spent a brief time viewing.

    In fact, while cities did exist all over the world, the strongest experts were concentrated elsewhere.

    ''This¡­this is¡­.''

    Damien''s eyes widened in shock.

    He only saw it for a single second, but its appearance was deeply entrenched in his mind already.

    A massive facility the size of several worlds. It would''ve been impressive on its own, but majesty was totally overshadowed by the "thing" it surrounded.

    It was built in a circle. That circle was muchrger than a world on its own, if he had to guess, it took up a tenth of the entire surface area of Al''Katra, and it¡­

    It was a massive pit.

    A pit filled with ckness deeper than any other form of the concept.

    That pit radiated an aura that terrified Damien to his core, almost giving him a feeling of reverence.

    How long had it been since he felt this?

    This kind of fear towards an unbeatable enemy.

    Even the Nox Emperors were only stepping stones in his eyes at this point.

    So what was that ce that could terrify him so?

    ''The Demon Abyss.''

    That was its name.

    Considering its gait, it was quite the modest name.

    However, this ce held more significance than anything else.

    ''This is what I came here for.''

    The Demon Abyss only had a single purpose as seen by the Nox.

    That ce¡­

    That was the ce that created them.

    The Demon Abyss was precisely the reason for the Nox''s infinite numbers.

    It was a machine that pumped out Lesser Nox in the millions and billions and spread them across the world.

    If it was that ce¡­

    ''If I can destroy that¡­''

    ''...their numbers will be finite.''

    ¡­he could finally make a difference.

    The Nox''s greatest card, their greatest advantage over the universe¡­

    Damien didn''t need to think about anything else.

    That was his aim.

    He would wipe the Demon Abyss off the map.

    Even if he had to risk everything he had!

 Chapter 1213 AlKatra [4]

    Chapter 1213 Al''Katra [4]

    Al''Katra was the homeworld of the Nox, and the Nox Emperors naturally wouldn''t leave it alone.

    Despite the fact that all four of them lived off-world, they split the world into four territories, each of which held a force that belonged to them.

    Though, it wasn''t as if these portions were equal.

    Of them, the Soul Emperor and Inhuman Emperor had thergest ims. This had nothing to do with strength, but the fact that the two of them had thergest forces among their peers.

    Next was the Karmic Emperor. His force wasn''t asrge as the rest, but it was still substantial. After all, he needed manpower in order to execute his schemes and enforce his will.

    The emotional maniption he partook in was mostly done through Supremes who carried a portion of his power and consciousness, essentially puppets for him to control.

    The condition for them to give their bodies to him was for him to give them power, therefore, he needednd to provide them areas to rule.

    The Saint Emperor, of the four, had the smallest force.

    In all aspects, he was an individual. He moved alone and had ns too deep for anyone to understand. He only recently created a small force for himself and used it to groom Yong An, but thend area necessary for this wasn''t much, so his territory was a sliver of what the rest had.

    Those who subordinated themselves to him were more like religious fanatics than soldiers. They were followers, not troops.

    The actual locations of the Nox Emperors were well-kept secrets. Some of them acted so quietly that it was difficult for anyone to pinpoint their locations, while some made sure those who knew where they were either subjugated or dead.

    Currently, Damien was in the Inhuman Emperor''s territory, which exined why the rules only prohibited ughter superficially.

    In fact, this territory encouraged the act under the pretense of harmony with structures like the battle arena. The Nox here would slowly breed their desire to kill to a greater extent than their base instinct called for, which was perfect for those in the Inhuman Emperor''s camp.

    Being in this territory was probably for the best.

    These were the most simple-minded Nox, so Damien didn''t have to worry about much.

    But finding a path to the Demon Abyss was troubling.

    There were no events or ceremonies surrounding it that he could use as an entry point, nor were regr Nox beings allowed near its vicinity in the slightest.

    The only ones who could approach the Demon Abyss were Lords and Emperors, at least, as the six Supremes'' memories implied.

    Damien had a deep frown on his face as he tried to find an in.

    ''My strength is enough, but I have to remain quiet.''

    Damien was untouchable right now.

    Supremes couldn''t do anything to him, and Demigods literally couldn''t do anything to him.

    Therefore, battle wasn''t a problem.

    But he couldn''t alert the enemy to his presence. If he engaged in too much battle and found himself standing against the entire world, even he would reach a point of no return.

    After all, it took him five years to kill just over a trillion Nox. Imagining how much time he would have to spend to kill his way off Al''Katra made him shiver.

    And worst of all, there was still one thing that could kill him.

    If one of the Emperors created a Supreme with enough of their power, it would definitely give him a run for his money.

    If the four of them teamed up for that purpose¡­?

    ''Well, that''s highly unlikely, but I should still be careful.''

    Through the memories he obtained, Damien also learned of the ongoing conflict between the Soul and Saint Emperors.

    The Soul Emperor''s forces had been relentlessly suppressing the Saint Emperor''s followers for 50 Abyss years. The reason behind their conflict was unknown, but everyone on Al''Katra was happily watching those two sides fight.

    How would Damien react if he found out the cause was none other than himself?

    He would surelyugh his ass off.

    But that was a story for another time.

    His thoughts in the moment were focused on two things.

    Firstly, the obvious goal of infiltrating the Demon Abyss.

    And secondly¡­

    ''Since two of them are already fighting, why don''t I make it worse?''

    He wanted to set the Karmic and Inhuman Emperors against each other.

    His hope was that they''d split into four, but even if they split into two sides, it would benefit him far more than their current united front against outsiders.

    ''With the Inhuman Emperor''s personality, it shouldn''t be hard to incite him. The problem is finding a way to me the Karmic Emperor.''

    Damien had never seen the man before, so he couldn''t just fabricate memories or use other simr hidden tactics to pin the me.

    But if he could find a way¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The ground rocked.

    Damien''s head swiveled back in the direction he came only to see a massive mushroom cloud rising into the air.

    ''That is¡­the city?''

    It was far in the distance, but the fact that he felt the shockwave so clearly meant the explosion wasn''t small at all.

    ''There shouldn''t be anyone capable of creating a scene like that left.''

    After he killed the Supremes, did someone elsee to take over the city?

    Or was there something more mysterious going on?

    ''Either way, since I''m nning to fuck the Inhuman Emperor over, it''s my duty to go check it out.''

    He just left, but that was only because he didn''t expect something fun to happen so soon.

    Damien instantly shifted his appearance again to avoid unnecessary trouble and made his way back.

    And when he arrived¡­

    Carnage.

    The ordinary "citizens" were loose in the streets, killing and looting like no tomorrow. Their eyes were red as if they''d lost their sanity, and not a single individual was spared from the ughterfest.

    ''I knew they were belligerent, but it shouldn''t be to this extent.''

    The loss of Supremes wasn''t enough to cause something like this.

    ''No, maybe it is, but it hasn''t been long enough for this kind of mayhem to ur.''

    It wasn''t even an hour ago that he assassinated them and left.

    Even if others learned of their deaths in this time, the Executioners in the city would''ve stepped up and tried to maintain bnce.

    Not for peace, but for their own benefit. If they could take the posts of those dead Supremes and gain the acknowledgment of a Lord, their futures would be far more prosperous than now.

    But¡­that didn''t happen?

    Executioners were fighting each other, High Commanders were teaming up against Executioners, hell, even regr 4th ss Nox were challenging nine revolutions masters without care for their lives.

    Indiscriminate and without reason, that was the best way to describe the ongoing scene.

    ''...but this still isn''t enough to cause that explosion.''

    Damien scanned the surroundings for the impact crater and found it soon enough. It seemed the battle arena had been obliterated first, and this chaos started afterward.

    ''The instigator is¡­''

    Damien''s eyes went to the sky.

    There was a man standing there, a condescending expression on his face as he watched the Nox ughter themselves.

    But¡­

    ''...doesn''t he¡­look a little different?''

 Chapter 1214 AlKatra [5]

    Chapter 1214 Al''Katra [5]

    Just a few minutes before Damien''s arrival¡­

    A man appeared in the skies above the city that had just recently lost its Supremes.

    He wasn''t a resident, just a passerby, but his mood was currently extremely negative.

    ''That punt ant. How dare he act so dismissive?! Does he not understand his position?''

    He seemed to be aggravated by someone he''d just spoken to, and the humiliation he''d faced just moments prior clouded his mind.

    ''They are bing uncontroble. If this goes on, the Lord will have my head.''

    He scowled as he thought about it.

    Their mistakes would be med on him.

    Why?

    Because he was the envoy that facilitated the rtionship between their two sides.

    It wasn''t as if he chose this position.

    It was forced upon him, and he was forced to demean himself by creating this small Avatar with the power of a Supreme to cater to them.

    He was a being far higher than them.

    Even if he was nobody within his own influence, he was someone they should''ve only been looking up to.

    ''That soul ant understands. The rest¡­tch. They must be put in their ce.''

    Two of them didn''t need to be touched as their loyalty was still strong, while the other one was too much of an outlier even for him.

    ''Therefore, inhuman brat, use your idiocy to entertain me.''

    He found himself in the Inhuman Emperor''s territory as he made his way back to the Demon Abyss, quite convenient in his opinion.

    Since he was already here, why shouldn''t he stir up some chaos?

    He''d already caused mayhem in several cities he found along the way and weakened the Inhuman Emperor''s forces, and just now, he''de across a city that was already halfway destroyed.

    After all, it had lost its Supremes.

    ''I should give that karmic brat a warning too. He has be more unruly in recent days.''

    Since that was the case, the methods he used were obvious.

    He incited the rage in themon citizens'' hearts and eviscerated the ws that were intentionally ced in their design.

    Like this, he could make the Nox Jill themselves with a thought.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    He flicked his wrist and blew up the battle arena. His energy spread through the dust like a virus and rapidly encapsted the whole city, forcing its citizens into a rampage.

    ''Haha, how amusing.''

    All that was left for him to do was watch how these idiots died to their own desires. If nothing else, it made him forget the annoyances their leaders presented, and that was his entire goal.

    It was quite entertaining to watch this ughter, especially since the Nox were already creatures who loved partaking in it.

    Their methods were diluted and backward, but the way they utilized them to try and make their way to power was novel from his perspective.

    ''However, this is boring after a bit. Shall I move on now?''

    He''d been watching for a few minutes already.

    Unfortunately, this city didn''t have much to offer in the realm of talent.

    ''They are too difficult to control. I don''t understand why the Lord is so insistent on keeping them, but I cannot question his will.''

    The man sighed in reluctant eptance of his position and turned his gaze away.

    ''Hmm¡­there are only a few more before I return to my post. Hopefully, they will show me something¨C''

    "Hi."

    A single word.

    But it came from directly behind him, almost as if it was whispered in his ear.

    He didn''t sense the neer''s presence at all.

    The hairs on the back of his neck stood up like des as he whipped his body around.

    "Who dares?!"

    A finger touched his forehead before he even saw his attacker.

    "Naturally, I do."

    His eyes widened.

    "You¡­! You are¡­!"

    "Shhh. Dead men don''t speak, right?"

    A stream of "energy" flowed into his body and started disassembling it from the inside.

    As the man dposed into ashes that drifted into the wind, he looked at the appearance of the man who killed him.

    Long white hair, arge body with a gait not matching the Nox, and pale white skin that was just slightly greyed in a way that seemed fake.

    A final thought flowed through his mind.

    ''This¡­is not¡­mana¡­''

    And he died just like that.

    He barely understood what hit him, and barely had time to process what happened.

    Of all things, he never expected to meet someone who could kill him, or even dared to!

    However, this same carelessness was what allowed Damien to take him down effortlessly.

    And now that it was done¡­

    Damien absorbed his memories with a frown.

    That man¡­

    Damien was also interested in his appearance.

    Because just like his Demon form, that man didn''t look like a Nox.

    He had the same white hair, the same red eyes, and the same pale skin. His body was only slightly smaller than Damien''s current form, something he hadn''t seen in a Nox.

    It was undeniable that this man was connected to the unknown bloodline Damien gained after devouring enough Nox. The power he''d so aptly titled his "Demon Bloodline."

    For that reason, he instantly killed and stole his memories instead of risking anything.

    And that''s why he chose to directly use the Void to kill instead of his usual approach.

    ''Now that you''re gone, let''s find out who you are.''

    Damien found his way to a safe area again and delved into the memories.

    The first thing he encountered was a wall.

    These memories were different from the ones he usually saw.

    They were separated into two parts.

    A portion of them were essible to him, while the vast majority were locked behind a massive ethereal wall of light.

    Damien touched it curiously.

    ''Is this¡­a barrier of existence?''

    It was the first time he''d seen something like this.

    He wasn''t being blocked by anything he could understand. It was precisely because he couldn''t understand that he was blocked.

    This barrier prevented him from gaining knowledge above his caliber.

    Knowledge that people of his state of existence were disallowed from knowing.

    ''What could it be¡­?''

    He had some ideas, but they seemed too unrealistic.

    The only way to know for certain was to browse what he was allowed to see.

    And instantly, the unrealistic ideas in his head became tangible.

    The newly deceased man''s name was Aktruy, a strangebination of letters that didn''t make much sense. However, his name was rarely used, if ever.

    Judging by his thoughts, he was called by titles throughout his entire life in his homnd, and when he was among the Nox, he was called respectfully by his position.

    "Envoy," Damien muttered to himself.

    This man was a respected Envoy who connected Nox with another force.

    And as he skimmed through more and more memories, Damien''s heart raced.

    ''It isn''t some regr force. He''s not some regr person. This "envoy" nonsense is far more serious than I thought.''

    His actions had consequences he wasn''t expecting.

    And the Envoy''s identity created a plethora of problems and questions Damien didn''t expect when he killed him.

    ''At most I thought he was an Apostle of some sort that served one of the Emperors, but¡­''

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    ''...I never expected him to be from the Heavenly World.''

 Chapter 1215 AlKatra [6]

    Chapter 1215 Al''Katra [6]

    An Envoy from the Heavenly World.

    Because 90% of his memories were locked behind the wall of existence, Damien couldn''t understand anything about this identity.

    He thought it was impossible for existences from the Heavenly World to descend, and he had countless questions about the race this man belonged to, but the only leads he had were the Envoy''s thoughts alone, which barely gave anything away.

    Damien could only assume the rules of the Abyss were different, or maybe there was some hidden method that required immense sacrifice to activate.

    He didn''t know.

    ''All I can tell is that this guy served some kind of "Lord," and that his mission in the lower universe was to watch over the Nox and keep them in line. It''s difficult¡­''

    This man was likely linked to the biggest mystery behind the Nox, their artificial nature, but unfortunately, he didn''t provide any clues to this connection.

    Even though Damien devoured his body along with his memories, he didn''t feel any significant upgrade in his demon bloodline, nor did his body receive any sort of traits or strengthening, which was extremely odd.

    All in all, it was like all information other than the factors rting to Al''Katra was hidden from him.

    Almost as if it was done intentionally.

    ''But this can''t be one of those things where I''m being guided. This one is too much of a coincidence.''

    Their meeting was probably fated since Damien came to the Inhuman Emperor''s territory directly without knowing anything, but that fate was natural and not altered by outside forces.

    ''It''s stupid to even think about ming Universal Flow since I''m not in the bounds it controls anymore.''

    It was annoying.

    Damien wanted to tear down the wall that disallowed him from getting the answers he deserved to have, but he couldn''t do anything about it.

    ''I''ll find out more when I ascend. It''s not like that''s far away at this point, so there''s no need to get hung up on it.''

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien exhaled lightly and stabilized his mind.

    At the end of the day, those secrets weren''t too important right now.

    He was now aware of the hidden enemy lurking in the Heavenly World, and that was all that mattered.

    ''Luckily, I''m using an altered appearance. When I get up there, I shouldn''t be targeted by them, but¡­''

    "Haa, things will get annoying if news of this spreads."

    He was not excited to see how they would react.

    If they had the ability to send their people to the lower universe without restrictions, he would have to prepare to confront several new and unknown enemies.

    And more than that¡­

    ''If that guy was able to sense the Void properly before he died¡­''

    Damien shook his head.

    ''Let''s focus on this first. Once it''s over, I can worry about the rest.''

    Putting aside the negatives, there was an immense gain in killing him, a windfall that made Damien''s life a million times easier.

    ''The basic knowledge should be enough to converse with, and his personality and bodynguage have been fully ingrained in my mind, so¡­''

    Damien wrapped his body in mana. By the time the swirling waves disappeared, his appearance had changed again.

    ''From now on, I''m the Envoy.''

    "Aktruy" never called himself by name even in his thoughts. The titles he used were various, but the Nox didn''t know any of them, so "Envoy" was enough of a name for this identity.

    And with it, Damien gained easy ess to the Demon Abyss.

    Because, unknown to the normal Nox poption, the Envoy was a being who stood on equal footing with the Nox Emperors.

    He was also someone no Nox who knew of his existence would dare to probe or provoke.

    Essentially, Damien found his golden goose.

    ''The Demon Abyss is far. If this was the universe, it would be easier to go into orbit and teleport there, but I''m afraid that''ll have the opposite effect in the Abyss.''

    Damien sighed again.

    Since it hade to this, he would act as the Envoy and slowly make his way to the goal.

    ''Wow, this guy really made my life so much easier. I''ll have to make a grave for him or something to show my thanks.''

    The Envoy was already furious with the Inhuman Emperor and used his abilities to incite conflict between him and the Karmic Emperor, a simr n to what Damien had in mind.

    Now that he had this identity, he could sow discord openly without worrying about anything.

    And with the Envoy''s memories, Damien gained a deep understanding of the hidden Nox Emperors and their power sets, which gave him much more room to work with.

    He was set.

    Now, all that was left to do was act.

    ''It''ll take a few years to get there regrly, but this guy¡­''

    Damien smiled.

    With this identity, he could make the journey in less than a year.

    ''Good.''

    He was already getting excited.

    He couldn''t wait to see what the Demon Abyss showed him.

    ***

    A pair of eyes shot open in the ckness.

    Hissss!

    A man sharply inhaled and clutched his chest.

    "I am¡­alive."

    He almost forgot.

    After spending so many years with his entire consciousness in that body, he almost forgot his original identity.

    ''I was killed.''

    A piece of his soul was in that Avatar. It wasn''t as simple as waking up and being okay. He''d sustained a deep injury that he wouldn''t be able to heal for decades.

    "DAMMIT!"

    He roared, mming his fist to the side.

    "That was not mana. The one who killed me¡­"

    He didn''t use the mana that the people of this reality used.

    He used a form of "energy."

    "Energy" very simr to what he was used to.

    "I have to report to the Lord."

    He stood up shakily, leaning on a nearby wall to catch his bnce.

    The injury of his soul didn''t hurt yet, but the second his mind got ustomed to this body, he would feel excruciating pain.

    Before that, he needed to transmit the message.

    That man¡­that appearance, that attitude, that energy¡­

    A medallion-like object appeared in his hand.

    In the same movement, he inputted "energy" into its systems, creating a connection to a simr device long enough.

    "Hahahaha!"

    A bout ofughter came from the other side.

    "I never thought I would see the day when a lowly ve tried to contact the Lord personally!"

    "Yuba¡­"

    "What did you just call me?"

    "Sir¡­Yuba¡­"

    The man gritted his teeth, his grip on his chest tightening.

    "Now is not the time for this."

    "Hmm¡­"

    The voice on the other side stopped mocking him.

    After all, this particr ve had been tasked with a job in the lower universe. His return to his main body indicated a problem already.

    "Report. Why have you returned?"

    As the other side turned formal, the man''s eyes narrowed, rage bubbling in his chest.

    "I was killed¡­"

    "Killed? By a lower being? This is why¨C"

    "NO!"

    The man roared, falling to his knees.

    "It was one of our own," he squeezed out.

    He only had a single breath left.

    He had to make sure they knew.

    They had to understand that¨C

    "¨CTHERE IS A TRAITOR AMONG US!"

    The man who killed him was a member of their race, not a lower existence, and not an external enemy of any kind.

    "..."

    The other side was silent for a moment.

    It was obvious that a rain of questions would descend on him soon.

    But the "Envoy" had no time left to answer them.

    In a cave, shackled to a wall by his wrists, ankles, and neck¡­

    "Aktruy," the "Envoy," screamed in agony.

    This pain¡­

    He would remember it.

    Whoever that man was, whether it was another ve or the Lord himself¡­

    "I¡­WILL¡­KILL YOU!"

    ¡­he would make them feel his pain.

 Chapter 1216 Demon Abyss [1]

    Chapter 1216 Demon Abyss [1]

    ''Wow¡­this ce is a lot more¡­futuristic?... than I imagined.''

    Damien was currently standing at one of the entrances of the massive facility that housed the Demon Abyss.

    He''d spent the past year and a half traveling through Al''Katra, and quite frankly, he was getting tired of the scenery.

    After all, the was bleak.

    The darkness where light could only be perceived through a medium of mana, the air of tragic existence that it carried, he naturally got tired of it as he spent more time here.

    Other than the massive fields of Lesser Nox, he only came across five cities during his travels. Using his power to mimic the Karmic Emperor and destroy these cities was perhaps the only source of entertainment he had.

    He could even sympathize with the Envoy a bit.

    Nevertheless, now that he was at his destination, anticipation filled his veins.

    The facility was built with an extreme geometric design of mostly angr shapes and a few spherical posts in the skies above, and overall, it looked nd.

    The style was quite advanced from the Nox. It gave a vibe that let people know the purpose of the area. It wasn''t for fun, and it wasn''t for appeal. It existed for the sole purpose of protecting the most sacred grounds of the Nox Race.

    ''I''ve been here for a week or so, and looking at the people entering and exiting, it doesn''t seem like the procedures to get in will be hard to pass.''

    It was a basic iris scan and fingerprint, along with an identity check based on questions the individual themselves created, so that imposters could be blocked.

    But he never saw the Envoy partake in such procedures in his memories, so he could only assume he was an exception.

    ''Still, I had to check to be sure. As long as they don''t question me on anything about the Heavenly World, I''ll be able to pass all of these tests without a problem.''

    After all, Damien''s disguise was perfect. He hadpletely mimicked the Envoy''s appearance down to the finest details and even possessed all of the necessary memories.

    ''Haa, hesitating at a time like this¡­it''s not like it''s unwarranted, but it''s so unlike me.''

    Perhaps it was because his intuition was ringing bells.

    He could feel it in his soul that what he found in the Demon Abyss wouldpletely shatter his perception of the world.

    ''But that''ll happen regardless. At some point, I have to leave thefort of the lower universe and seek higher peaks.''

    Damien understood them.

    Those Demigods who decided to stay here instead of ascending, he couldn''t critique them as harshly anymore,

    Thefort of being at the peak, thefort of knowing that everything was under one''s control and within one''s perception; it was addicting.

    Even Damien, a man with endless ambition and the qualifications to achieve the impossible, was tempted by them.

    But that was the extent of it.

    It was just one of many temptations that begged him to be content.

    He liked to entertain them, because it felt like he could gain a better understanding of his psyche by doing so, but he would never fold under their pressure.

    What reason did he have to do so?

    He understood reality.

    Even in this moment, if he let his hesitation control him, he''d be putting the entire universe in danger.

    Only strength could guarantee true peace, so he would never stop moving forward until he achieved that level where nothing could cause him fear.

    He got rid of his concealment and descended to the ground.

    The Envoy was an arrogant person. He wasn''t someone who''d be lowkey in anything he did.

    So Damien confidently walked through the facility''s entrance and nced at the Nox guarding it indifferently.

    "Open the door."

    The guards didn''t even make a sound of protest. Rather, they stopped themselves before they could act prematurely.

    Because once they saw the man who spoke, there was nothing they could do except bow their heads and allow his passage!

    Damien walked through the first door without problems and encountered the second securityyer.

    This was where most tests would be held, but of course, he was exempted from them all.

    The third gate was an interrogation area where one would be quizzed on the security questions they designed as well as questions prepared by the staff themselves, a doubleyer of protection.

    Damien got out of this with a single re and finally made it into the facility''s main body.

    The halls were pristinely white, strange for the Nox, especially considering that there were no white materials on Al''Katra, and there were connecting hallways everywhere.

    The materials were definitely stolen from the universe, a fact that put a sour taste in his mouth.

    ''If it wasn''t for the Envoy''s memories, I would''ve gotten lost immediately. Once again, I have to give him some thanks.''

    Damien went through a series of twists and turns through an unnecessarilyplicated path towards the Demon Abyss.

    ''It''s surprising. The rest of the world doesn''t have any protection against outside forces, but even if one went directly to the Demon Abyss through the easiest routes, one wouldn''t be able to get to it.''

    There were three specified paths per entrance that would truly lead to the Demon Abyss, and each of them forced one to move away from it before moving back in its direction.

    If one didn''t know the right route, one would walk directly into a trap that would kill them without giving them a chance to retaliate.

    ''Rather than outsiders, I guess this is protection against other Nox.''

    After all, the Demon Abyss was that kind of ce.

    Damien didn''t know what would happen if the Nox came in contact with their force of origin, but it had to be a serious matter if it required this much defense to prevent.

    Nevertheless, Damien continued forward for several minutes and passed several Nox beings dressed as scientists, researchers, and guards, all of whom stopped in their tracks and bowed respectfully until he passed.

    Until finally, he could see the final door leading to the goal.

    ''This ce¡­I need to input the code precisely if I want to get in. One slight mistake will expose me.''

    Every individual who had ess to the Demon Abyss had their own code to open the gate, and this code would change constantly.

    Luckily, the changes happened every 5 years, as 5 Abyss years were nothing, and the code in Damien''s mind was still valid.

    ''Phew¡­it''s so easy it makes me more worried, but this is only regr considering my current identity. Calm down, focus, and go. That''s all I need to tell myself.

    His heart was beating rapidly and his emotions were at an all-time high. This was it.

    Behind therge mechanical door in front of him was the goal.

    ''Alright.''

    He steeled his mind and calmed his heart. With steady hands, he moved to start inputting the code.

    However, at that moment¡­

    Pshhhhhh!

    Steam rolled out over the floor as the 3-meter-thick door whirred to life and receded into the ceiling.

    Damien turned his eyes to it in surprise as he watched a group of people walk out into his corridor.

    His heart skipped, but he couldn''t show it on his face.

    ''No way a coincidence like this exists¡­''

    Out of all entrances to the Demon Abyss, 16 precisely¡­

    Why did the Saint Emperor have to show up at this one?!

 Chapter 1217 Demon Abyss [2]

    Chapter 1217 Demon Abyss [2]

    The Saint Emperor spotted him at the same time he spotted the Saint Emperor, and upon realizing who he was, he smiled.

    "My, my. ''Sir'' Envoy, I didn''t expect to see you here."

    He started the conversation sarcastically.

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    This kind of disrespect was usual from the Saint Emperor. Of the Nox Emperors, he was the one the Envoy despised the most.

    There were several reasons for this, but the main one was his strength.

    ording to his thoughts, the Saint Emperor was the only one who could threaten the Envoy. His power was at a level he couldn''t see through, which made him infinitely wary.

    And the fact that he had to be wary of a lesser existence from the lower universe ground his guts.

    The two rarely had contact, but whenever they did, it proceeded just like this.

    The Saint Emperor would subtly mock him, while he held his rage to maintain face.

    "You, why are you here?" Damien responded passively, though, annoyance could be seen in his eyes.

    The Envoy refused to call him Saint Emperor, but he couldn''t call him an ant to his face nor did he know the man''s true name, which had been lost in time.

    So "you" could be considered an insulting form of address.

    "Ah? I feel blessed by your concern for my actions, but this isn''t something you need to know, right?"

    The Saint Emperor''s response didn''t show any care for his disrespect.

    Damien straightened his back and walked up to the man, standing just a foot away from him.

    "Why would it not be? Did you forget who I am?"

    He red into the Saint Emperor''s eyes, looking down at him due to their height difference.

    "Haha, as expected of ''Sir'' Envoy. There is nothing to worry about. My visit today is nothing more than a stroll in the park. The younger generation should see where they came from, no?"

    Damien nced at the group of four behind the Saint Emperor, made up of younger Nox geniuses who hadn''t hit 1000 years old yet.

    When he looked back at his enemy, his re was much fiercer.

    "Are you aware of thews here? Even if you are an Emperor among these people, do you think you are enough to break the rules set by your masters?"

    For the first time, the Saint Emperor''s expression changed.

    It was slight, barely perceptible, but his eyes turned cold, like a killer looking at his prey.

    The slight bloodlust that leaked from his body wasn''t something the true Envoy would''ve been able to sense, but the All-Seeing Eyes made it excessively clear.

    ''Does the Saint Emperor hold malice towards the Envoy, or¡­is it something bigger?''

    Damien shook off his personal thoughts and focused on the conversation.

    The real Envoy would try his best to find fault to punish the Saint Emperor here, and while it would dy him, he had to act out this role if he wanted to avoid problems.

    "Why are you silent? Do you think I cannot do anything to you?"

    Damien grinned cruelly and brought his hand up.

    The Saint Emperor turned his eyes to it with a scowl.

    Damien didn''t have that power.

    But the Envoy did.

    He had an absolute authority over the Nox that could even subjugate Emperors, but he was only allowed to use it with cause.

    ''I wish I inherited that, but it must be a racial trait or something simr. I need to devour more of his kind if I want that.''

    As Damien expected, the Saint Emperor''s attitude changed.

    "There is no need for worry. Naturally, I would never do anything to disrespect the Envoy, however, these juniors are quite special. They are the future of our race, so naturally, they will be beneficial to you as well."

    Damien nced back at the younger Nox.

    "These ants? What can they amount to?"

    "Haha, they are being trained by me, so is that even a question?"

    "You are far too presumptuous for your position."

    "That is not true. This is just confidence that stems from my loyalty to the cause."

    "Loyalty? Do you truly possess it?"

    At that moment, something unexpected happened.

    "Hmm, that is the question, isn''t it?"

    The Saint Emperor gave a response totally unlike him.

    Not just in Damien''s knowledge of him, but the Envoy''s as well.

    He was never openly rebellious because, just like those weaker than him, just like Yong An, he had to hide his fangs and wait for an opportunity to strike.

    ''Has that timee?''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    "Boy, be careful with what you say. If I happen to report this to those above¡­"

    Damien grinned again.

    "I cannot wait to see what will happen to you."

    The Saint Emperor raised his brow before smiling as if nothing happened.

    "No worries. Naturally, I will not overestimate myself. ''Sir Envoy,'' why don''t you take this gift to appease your anger?"

    The Saint Emperor ced his hand in Damien''s and passed along a space ring whose contents were unknown.

    "This is¡­?".

    "You can consider it my tribute to you. I promise you will not be disappointed."

    "Hmm¡­"

    ''I can''t use mana because the Envoy didn''t use mana, but I can''t use the Void either¡­let''s just keep up pretenses.''

    Luckily, the Nox couldn''t sense the "energy" used by the Envoy''s race.

    Damien raised his brow and nced at the spatial ring as if he was observing its contents.

    From what he knew, the bribes the Envoy usually received were translucent crystals of unknown origin and balls of light that reeked the stench of corruptedws.

    He could only assume this would be the same.

    He put the spatial away and shook his head.

    "This is not a tribute for me, but for the Lord. Do not forget who truly owns you."

    The Saint Emperor nodded with a smile.

    "Naturally, I will not."

    Damien frowned. On the outside, it looked like he was displeased with the Saint Emperor''s continued presence, but on the inside, it was an expression of his difort.

    "Well, if there is nothing else, I shall take these juniors back to continue their training. I can promise quick results, so you do not need to worry about today''s minor issue."

    The Saint Emperor gave his parting words and walked away without any goodbye, whether it was a respectful bow or any sort of salute.

    Damien gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger as he watched the man''s figure fade into the distance.

    And when he finally went out of sight¡­

    "Phew¡­"

    Damien let out a sigh of relief and inputted his code into the door, reopening the door that had long closed by now and entering the Demon Abyss'' main area.

    ''Good. I''m still safe.''

    He leaned against the wall and gathered his breath.

    He was finally away from any sort of surveince.

    And while he''d managed to y off his encounter with the Saint Emperor and proceed without a hitch¡­

    ¡­his gut feeling was telling him otherwise.

    There wasn''t anything wrong with their conversation, at least, for the most part.

    But that one sentence¡­

    No, even disregarding that, Damien intuitively felt it.

    The Saint Emperor knew.

    He knew Damien''s identity.

    Somehow, he saw through the disguise.

    But¡­he didn''t say anything?

    He didn''t know what to think.

    The Saint Emperor was far too mysterious, and just when he thought he''d unraveled a little piece of that man''s psyche, he did something that made him far more confusing.

    Damien frowned.

    ''Whatever the case, I''ll have to find outter. For now¡­''

    The Demon Abyss was right in front of him.

    There was nothing more important than that.

 Chapter 1218 Demon Abyss [3]

    Chapter 1218 Demon Abyss [3]

    Damien was able to regain his calm after a few minutes, and without wasting a single second, he walked through the gradually erging tunnel until he reached its end.

    The area was massive.

    Damien was just a human. His perception range was extreme and his vision could pierce the heavens, but his natural form made him nothing more than an ant in this ce.

    Behind him were tall walls at least a few kilometers high which extended into the distance both ways for distance unknown.

    Just like when he faced Al''Katra, he couldn''t even see the curve in its structure, but it was obvious that these walls were the very facility he''d just exited.

    The facility itself had the same diameter as several worldsbined, so this was natural, but the real majesty was the view in front.

    The name "Demon Abyss" was apt.

    The manmade structure to his rear was almostforting, because in front of him was an expanse of ckness far more terrifying than the Abyss itself.

    It felt like he was standing on the edge of the world.

    If he fell into that space, his existence would dissipate into nothingness, and "Damien Void" would be a forgotten name.

    ''That''s the darkness that they''re bred in. Even someone like the Saint Emperor was born from this.''

    As he approached it and stood on its edge, the emotions he''d just calmed came rushing back into his mind.

    His mind, body, and soul were screaming at him not to go down there.

    But for the first time in his life, he had to ignore his instincts.

    This was his path.

    This was a choice he made of his own free will.

    The problems nobody else was willing to solve, he would solve them himself.

    If it cost him everything, that was his own mistake.

    It was his fault for making the decision in the first ce.

    But the presence of consequences wasn''t enough to make him back down.

    Short-term pain for the sake of long-term gain was the basis of growth.

    And since when was there such a thing as reward without risk?

    He stepped one foot over the edge, letting it hover over the Demon Abyss.

    It felt strange.

    The tip of his foot should''ve been submerged in the ckness, but it was still clearly visible, as if the Demon Abyss was just a massive sinkhole.

    But this ckness was corporeal.

    It was extremely real, and it was tangible enough to make him feel fear in the depths of his soul.

    That darkness¡­

    Why couldn''t it cover his light?

    ''If this isn''t a sign, then nothing is.''

    "Huu¡­"

    Entering the Demon Abyss was something even the Nox Emperors couldn''t do, but the Envoy was different.

    The power of his bloodline granted him entry.

    And even though Damien didn''t absorb his bloodline, he understood after carrying his identity for a while that they were one and the same.

    His Demon Bloodline and the Envoy''s, that is.

    ''The fact that I obtained a bloodline from the Heavenly World so easily makes me feel funny, but I guess I was already carrying the bloodline of two Gods since birth, and even the Void¡­''

    Damien shook his head.

    ''Distracting thoughts, distracting thoughts.''

    He smiled.

    In the end, his distracting thoughts were still plenty useful.

    Because by the time he realized his attention was too focused on something else¡­

    He''d already tilted his body forward too far to turn back.

    He was already falling into the Abyss.

    ''Ah, to think I''d get baited like this. And not by anyone else, but myself!''

    Joking internally to ovee his fear, he fell.

    He descended into the Demon Abyss.

    The first thing he felt was the chill.

    No, it wasn''t necessarily a chill, but he did get goosebumps that made him shiver.

    It was aplete absence of temperature.

    His body instantly went numb as if his sensory organs decided to stop functioning, and with this change, it almost instantly became impossible to perceive distance.

    After all, he didn''t even feel like he was falling. If he believed his perception, he was floating on a cloud instead of barreling through the darkness.

    At the same time, he could clearly feel it now.

    The ckness didn''t encroach upon his body. It was like his existence was the single source of light in this ce, but he could now feel the murky aura of the ckness crawling over him like some sort of failed experimente to life.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Damien''s mind was surprisingly stable, contrary to his previous fears.

    He''d been in simr situations too many times, and at this point, losing his perception during a fall was morefortable than standing at the edge of the cliff.

    Slowly and carefully, he started to toy with the surroundings to develop an understanding of it.

    He first separated a strand of awareness and threw it into the distance.

    ''As expected, the link was lost instantly.''

    Spreading his awareness here was impossible, but it was good to know that the natural forces of the Demon Abyss wouldn''t corrode his mental power.

    He did several more tests to see how mana functioned in this environment, whether or not the Void would react, how his Demon Bloodline would change when exposed to it, and even what would happen if he devoured the ckness.

    All in all, he didn''t discover much. The environment was devoid of anything, and while it didn''t cause any harm, it also didn''t do anything to benefit him.

    ''How strange. I expected there to be more downsides, but maybe this is the benefit of my Demon Bloodline. Since they''re granted ess, it would be weird for them to be suppressed.''

    He just assumed the degree of suppression would be different since he was a human, but it seemed the Demon Abyss didn''t discriminate against holders of the bloodline.

    ''Or, there''s no such thing as someone able to carry the Demon Bloodline outside of their race.''

    Damien shrugged to himself and continued searching the darkness.

    ''There are no signs of life. It feels wrong. There are supposed to be millions upon millions of Nox being bred here, but I don''t feel the fluctuations of even one other existence besides me. The ambient aura smells of them, though, so they have to be here somewhere, right?''

    Was it a special property of the Demon Abyss?

    ''It may be because of the Nox Race''s nature. If this is their power of origin, then what if this entire Demon Abyss registers in one''s perception as a Nox being?''

    It would make sense why he couldn''t sense the individuals if they weren''t regarded as individuals until they left the Demon Abyss.

    ''Well¡­''

    Damien sighed internally.

    ''I can''t tell the time anymore because the concept of time is basically nonexistent in here. What to do¡­''

    He''d basically conducted all the tests he wanted to, and his results were quite disappointing.

    It wasn''t really a problem since he was only investigating out of curiosity, but¨C

    ''¨CI now have nothing to do.''

    Until he came across something interesting, he would just be falling for eternity.

    ''Haa¡­''

    Damien smiled wryly. He never thought it woulde in handy so soon, but¡­

    ''Welp, it''s a good thing I did patience training.''

 Chapter 1219 Death [1]

    1219 Death [1]

    Damien spent an untold period falling through the Demon Abyss.

    He stopped counting the hours before the first day even ended, and after that, he willingly closed off his perception so he wouldn''t feel its absence.

    This was the best way to fall.

    Damien was confident in the strength of his body and regeneration, so even if he hit t ground from an illogical height, he knew he would survive.

    The only thing he regretted was the fact that he wouldn''t be able to sense what was going on around him, feeling as if he would miss out on several secrets because of this choice.

    However, he was wrong about that.

    When he closed off his senses and embraced the numbing effect of the abyss, he found himself more connected to it than ever.

    Perhaps that was the key from the start.

    The light keeping his body from being consumed by its darkness was still present, but it wasn''t visible to anyone but himself. The Demon Abyss consumed him wholly, invading his pores and orifices and coating his entire figure.

    When that happened, Damien finally sensed presences aside from himself.

    "They are...weak.

    They were in their natal forms, so naturally, their life fluctuations were so weak he could barely feel them.

    But in this connected state, he could now recognize their existence, and he could almost feel them directly.

    ?

    ''So...this is the early stage of Nox creation!

    They didn''t look like Nox. They weren''t humanoid in the slightest, more like tadpoles drifting through murky waters.

    The energy of the Demon Abyss continually pumped into them and energized them, feeding their creation.

    ''Judging by the intake speed, it should take around 5 minutes to create a ssless Lesser Nox!

    Before they even left the Demon Abyss they would reach first ss power, and Damien had no idea how many Nox could be produced in every batch, but just the speed of early creation was enough to shock him.

    "To think life can appear so easily!

    Was life so simple to control?

    He had exceptional achievements in the Law of Samsara, but even he didn''t think it was possible to boost the growth speed of a life form this much.

    ''And this isn''t just boosting, they''re actually creating Nox from nothing!

    Rather, they were creating Nox from pure energy. This was a realm Damien hadn''t even begun to touch yet.

    ''How interesting...I don''t sense Creation Laws at all, but maybe that''s because I haven''t been in contact with them...?

    I don''t know, but everything about this feels unnatural.

    It felt like the existence of the Demon Abyss was going against everything that was right.

    It was the truest materialization of disorder he''d seen to date.

    "There isn''t much I can infer with my limited knowledge, but I can be certain that whatever they''re using isn''t present in the universe. Whatever thew that governs this interaction is, we have nevere in contact with it.

    Ever!

    Not just Damien and his generation, not just the people he knew, but the entirety of known existence had never met this concept before.

    ''Perhaps that''s why the Nox have been able to achieve so much. If their origin is apletely unknown force, their growth potential can guide them in directions we could never imagine!

    When Damien was making his way here through the Abyss, a decent chunk of his journey consisted of him investigating the societies of ancient universes that were long forgotten.

    Some survived and fought until theirst breath, some disappeared before anyone even realized what was happening, while some others were hit by the Nox unprepared and were wiped out far faster than they should''ve been.

    Damien was always curious about it. This curiosity was how that strange old man attracted his attention in the first ce.

    Slowly, he came to realize that the Nox Race every generation faced was different from their predecessors.

    Every time a universe was destroyed, the Nox would go through a qualitative change. They became smarter and more tactical, their power became more refined, and their numbers ballooned to unreal proportions.

    The universes he found that were destroyed easily despite resistance from the denizens were the most ancient of the group. These universes existed when even the universe itself was still vague in its power structure. The Nox of the time were still weak and didn''t have the capabilities to develop intelligence, but their numbers andck of fear or pain made them an impossible enemy.

    Back then, the universal forces were too weak.

    And the main reason for this...

    ?

    ...they didn''t have the system backing them!

    The system, the Apeiron Records as he''d learned to call it, was a supreme entity that guided all people, including the Nox.

    However, it didn''t always exist.

    There was a time in the distant past when people could only live and die as mortals and "mana" never graced their worlds.

    Back then, the Nox couldn''t find their way to the universe, because the Nox didn''t exist at all.

    Damien only found fragments of these civilizations in quantities that could be counted on his fingers, but from what he could tell, the universe was rtively peaceful back then.

    However, mana was a natural force. Once the universe solidified itsws, mana became prevalent in nature as it was always meant to be.

    The first civilizations who encountered it had to learn how to use it on their own.

    Their growth paths were rudimentary at best, and every thousand steps they took could only amount to half a step for the current poption.

    Because of this, their mana was impure and their power was restricted to the limits of their understanding. Their strongest practitioners were at most 2nd ss beings, nothing more.

    The Nox came into being around the same time.

    They were regarded in many ways. As a disease eating away at existence, as Heaven''s punishment for mankind, or even as saviors showing them the path they were meant to take.

    These ancient Nox, born with the strength of 1st ss beings, were able to grow through ughter, and with their natural traits and their inherent advantages that the denizens couldn''t ovee, they directly destroyed those civilizations without experiencing much loss.

    The second phase started after these several universes were obliterated.

    The Nox grew again, and the system appeared in the universe.

    With a guide to streamline their growth, the universal denizens found themselves able to exert more power than ever before, and they learned the true heights of the heavens they once worshipped. However, they still couldn''t do much.

    The Nox gained their first signs of intelligence during this era, but unlike the current Nox Race, they were essentially puppets.

    Damien could only make this conclusion now that he''d understood the true nature of the Nox Race.

    Their second generation waspletely devoted to the cause of their creators, and because of this devotion, they didn''t need

    intelligence to aplish their goals.

    This was the era when universes would disappear mysteriously. Even Damien couldn''t exin it.

    Because the concept of time, when perceived from his standpoint, was practically irrelevant. He couldn''t tell the difference between 10 years and 1,000,000 years when he observed those fragmented pieces of history.

    But the era started and ended eventually, and the next era began. By this point, a majority of the greater universe was gone.

    There were at most a few hundred universes remaining, and these were the ones who were able to develop theirws and reach 4th ss.

    They were the ones who found the existence of the nine revolutions, and they were the first ones to sprout their own Demigods.

    The Nox developed alongside them, reaching simr milestones and gaining the concept known as "free will."

    The rest of the story didn''t need to be told. Their beginnings and ends were simr to what Grand Heavens Boundary was currently experiencing.

    But at every step, the Nox experienced a change that mirrored the denizens of the universe.

    ''It''s a long history, and it seems to have no point when you just say it out loud but...''

    The Nox plundered World Cores and even Universal Cores.

    ''With their behaviors deviating from their original purpose and bing closer to true existences...it bes clear that those plundered cores had a profound impact on their evolution!

    It was quite ironic. The Nox were the ones bringing chaos into the universe, but they were also the ones who benefited most from its harmonious state.

    ''But if those plundered cores are actually being used by their creators...''

    Then the growth of the Nox Race was a direct representation of the increasing strength of their superiors.

    Damien frowned.

    "The enemies I''ll face in the future...''

    He needed to get much, much stronger if he wanted to face them properly.

 Chapter 1220 Death [2]

    1220 Death [2]

    Damien continued pondering on history for a long while.

    The growth path of the Nox Race seemed convoluted at face value, but it was actually ordered beyond expectation.

    It was almost as if they grew whenever the universe grew, like they were a shadow reflecting the darkness of society directly.

    But their existence was too odd.

    Damien could see that they were aiming for World and Universal Cores from the start, but if that was the only meaning of their existence, he wouldn''t be meeting characters like the Saint Emperor and Yong An today.

    ''Are they really just tools? Or was their true purpose skewed by the Void into somethingpletely different?''

    His original inference didn''t feel wrong. The fact that the plundered cores were affecting them wasn''t wrong, because every time theypleted their heists and retreated to evolve, their simrities to true existences heightened.

    Yet, he couldn''t be certain.

    He found out that the Nox had been influenced by the Void long ago when he found Azera, but he couldn''t quantify the level of impact it had.

    "The Void is already the most mysterious and unpredictable entity in existence, so even if my thoughts feel like they''re flowing in the right direction, I have no choice but to doubt them!

    After all, since when was the Void a force that followed a natural path?

    "There''s something here. I''m sure of it. There''s something deeper hidden in the truths I''ve already discovered. I just need to-''

    ?

    "Hm?"

    Damien opened his eyes and unblocked his perception.

    He suddenly felt a change in the environment.

    How was he to "feel" any external force with his sensory abilities locked awaypletely?

    Well, this jarring oddity was the exact reason Damien reacted. He raised his arms to the side and slowly reoriented himself to stand up straight before looking around for the disruption that alerted him.

    "There''s something here...''

    He couldn''t see it, but it existed.

    It existed, but it didn''t exist.

    ''A spatial pocket?''

    Damien frowned.

    "There''s still security measures in ce here. I didn''t expect them to be so thorough!

    Damien withdrew his mana and focused power into his Demon Bloodline.

    ''Since this is the key, it should also function as my eyes!

    If he wanted to find it...

    Bzzt!

    He felt a mild electrical current spread through his body and make his skin tingle ufortably.

    The feeling didn''t subside over time, but became more prominent as his body moved further into the Demon Abyss.

    ''I''m approaching the bottom.

    ?

    And that thing he was looking for...

    ''It''s hiding in a spatial pocket as expected, but it''s more severe than that!

    "Huu..."

    Damien remembered the "energy" the Envoy used in his memories. Using the Void to transform his mana and his Demon Bloodline as a foundation, he created a rudimentary form of that "energy" to utilize.

    "This should be the answer.

    Voom!

    He spread his aura and allowed the presence of the Envoy to flood this area of the Demon Abyss.

    Before his eyes, red lightning sparked to life and arced around him before concentrating in a spot below his feet and expanding.

    Shatter!

    The Demon Abyss broke open in the space that lightning upied, and as Damien''s body descended past it...

    He found himself transported to a different space.

    ''Hmm...''

    He was still in the Demon Abyss. This wasn''t something like an isted dimension or hidden realm, however, he was also in an areapletely separate from it.

    ''An alternate reality!

    A mirrored reality that existed parallel to its true counterpart, a space that didn''t exist by conventional definitions.

    And in this space was an entity.

    Was it an entity?

    ?

    It resonated with his bloodline and showcased life fluctuations as if it were alive, but its form was lifeless.

    It was a three-dimensional geometric construct roughly twice the size of an average human that constantly shifted between prismatic forms. Its main color was ck, but it was etched with poison-like green runic patterns that spanned its entire surface.

    "This...what is this?''

    Damien frowned to himself as he moved towards it, finding himself capable of controlling his body again.

    ''It feels dangerous, but since I was granted entry into this ce, it means my identity as one of their race has been verified.

    For anyone else, touching this construct would likely erase them from existence and turn them into nourishment for the Nox, a manifestation of the exact fear that Damien to hesitate when he first stared into the Demon Abyss.

    But for him...

    "This is the answer to everything!

    He felt it intuitively.

    The second he touched it...

    His hand went forward and grazed its surface.

    Before he could even experience the texture of the construct, his mind was transported into a realm above existence.

    As if the entire history of the Nox, their purpose, the meaning behind their existence, and everything they represented was in his hands.

    No, the entire Nox Race was in his hands.

    The Nox, as expected, weren''t a natural-born species. Rather they were created using a seed of a certain race''s power.

    ?

    From birth, they were forced into servitude and used for various purposes, the most prominent and longsting of which was precisely the theft of World Cores.

    Yet, whenever they plundered a world core, its power wouldn''t empower them but would instead be forcefully transferred to their creators.

    Only a small portion of it would be transferred to them.

    This transference was done through the Demon Abyss.

    The structure Damien just contacted was a "foreign material." It didn''t have a name of its own, but it was essentially a control center for their race they dictated everything about them as if they were drones controlled by a device.

    When the power of a Universal Core was fed to this device, it used the new understanding ofws and society it gained to change the Nox in the way that best supported the continuation of their existence.

    In a way, it could be considered their greatest supporter and greatest enemy.

    The Nox were not subservient by nature.

    Because they were created in the image of destruction, their natural instinct made them abhor their ve-like existence. Their insatiable greed made them desire freedom more than anything else, but the only way they knew how to gain it was by destroying universes to evolve.

    As their creators had no ns of giving the Nox an opportunity to grow and develop into something that could threaten them, all Nox were without the ability to rationally think unless they reached 4th ss.

    Contrary to Damien''s thoughts, this was an intentional mechanism used to keep them enved.

    ?

    Although their creators wanted to impose further control, the nature of 4th ss, where the universepleted its first Baptism of an individual''s soul, disallowed them to.

    This baptism slightly removed the restraints on the Nox, but only enough for them to gain their intelligence.

    It also gave them a special ability. It gave the Nox the ability to inherit bloodline memories, which were mainly used to keep the Nox aware of their purpose and indoctrinate them, but for those whose free will developed properly, it made them painfully aware of their envement.

    But regardless of the knowledge they had, as Yong An said, they were subject to a "curse," a restriction that disallowed them from revealing any information about their fate or betraying their creators.

    When a Nox reached the Demigod realm and underwent Cosmic Rebirth, they were finally rid of the constraints ced on them.

    But there were Nox demigods who continued their conquest even after being freed. Naturally, not everyone would have the same line of reasoning. Some would actually choose servitude to their creators while others simply hungered for more power, patterns reflected in the Soul and Inhuman Emperors.

    The Nox actually had many more Demigods than the other races in the vast universe, but most of them ascended to the Heavenly World and betrayed the cause they were birthed for after gaining true freedom.

    The few demigods who stayed were those in the other category. This was also the reason it took so many millennia for the Nox to regain their strength.

    No matter how many nine revolutions masters or 5th ss Demigods they produced, very few would actually choose to work actively towards their creators'' goal.

    ?

    As Damien learned more about them, the Nox became far less fearsome.

    Instead, he felt pity towards them.

    Aside from those like the Saint Emperor, who used uncountable lengths of time to be an existence separate from a "Nox" by definition, the rest were just...puppets.

    They were beings deprived of true existence for the sake of those who created them.

    But at the same time, the very basis of their birth made them entities that could only ever be a scourge. They would never have purpose or benefit to anyone but themselves, and they''d never rid themselves of their self-destructive natures that limited their potential.

    "The ones who created them...there''s no information about them here, but they really are stupid. The Nox have infinite potential precisely because they''re artificial and evolve through unique stimulus, but they''ve been used in the stupidest ways due to irrational fear!

    Damien sighed.

    ''I don''t know how to feel anymore. They''re definitely the enemy, but...I don''t want to see them go out like this!

    No, he felt like if he could take this foreign material under his control and change the development path of the Nox to something pure, he could create a race of homunculi that could be revered within the universe.

    ''Unfortunately, that''s not possible!

    The foreign material was intrinsically connected to the Demon Abyss and the unknown creator race. This wasn''t something he could just take away because he wanted it. Even if he did so, it would lose its function once it left this alternate reality.

    ?

    ''And...''

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    ...no matter how much pity I feel, the current Nox Race is the enemy. And enemies...''

    He pressed his hand forward andpletelyid his palm on the foreign material.

    ...must be exterminated!

    He steeled his heart.

    The foreign material hadplete control over the Nox until they entered 4th ss.

    At his current level, with a single thought, Damien could do anything with the Lesser Nox poption in Al''Katra.

    And he''d already made up his mind.

    Sacrifices needed to be made for the greater good.

    Even he, with his ability to achieve the impossible, couldn''t get everything he wanted.

    That was just life.

    So, he executed his will without hesitation or doubt clouding his heart and mind.

    He injected "energy" into the foreign material and gave amand.

    "Purge."

 Chapter 1221 Death [3]

    Chapter 1221 Death [3]

    Just like every other true show of power, there was no magisterial effect apanying themand.

    With Damien''s single word, the foreign material executed hismand.

    At that moment, if one could view Al''Katra''s full form from the Abyss, they''d witness a horrifyingly beautiful sight.

    Quintillions of existences.

    They formed a mosaic along the surface that even the dark clouds in the atmosphere couldn''t hide.

    Yet, at this moment, that mosaic merged into a sea of ckness.

    Every Lesser Nox on the surface of the, a majority of the Nox''s power, dropped to the ground without resistance.

    Their bodies turned into ink that flowed and filled the deste earth of Al''Katra with oceans of blood, and despite the merging ability that made the denizens of the universe infinitely wary, these Nox did not reform after dying.

    Just like that.

    It happened fast, within a few seconds, and far before anyone could understand what was actually happening.

    It was hard to picture how grand such a major event was when the time it took to ur was so short and the visual spectacle was practically nonexistent, however, it couldn''t be helped.

    Damien realized instantly that he didn''t have time to marvel at it.

    ''I need to leave. Now. I can process the weight of my actionster.''

    The Saint Emperor just left so he was definitely close enough to return to the Demon Abyss within the hour, while the rest of the Nox Emperors wouldn''t be too far behind.

    ''I have to get out of here before they return, or I''ll really find myself facing the entire Nox Race alone.''

    He looked at the foreign material with a strained expression for a moment, but understood what he had to do.

    ''Disassemble.''

    He gave themand, and without a consciousness of its own, the foreign material could only follow.

    From the inside out, it took itself apart and dissipated into the atmosphere, bing one with the area that was disappearing now that it was gone.

    Damien rapidly exited the alternate reality using the same method he used to enter, and with his current understanding of the Nox, escaping the Demon Abyss wasn''t nearly as stretched out of an ordeal as descending it.

    He shot up like a fish swimming against the current. He couldn''t see it, but starting at the very top, the Demon Abyss was disappearing.

    It looked like a swimming pool being drained.

    A sinkhole formed in its center due to the extreme speed at which the currents of the abyss swirled and vanished, creating a long corridor that touched the very bottom of the space within the minute.

    Damien noticed it once it passed him. He didn''t hesitate to change his path and fight the chaotic vortex to reach its eye, where he could directly fly through the environment.

    Al''Katra''sws were flooding the space now that the disruption was gone, and he could use these to propel himself far faster than he could through the Demon Abyss itself.

    And his mind was moving just as fast.

    He needed to find an escape route.

    ''It''s open air outside, so theoretically, I should be able to make it out easily. I don''t have to hide my identity anymore, so I can use the full power of myws to get out of here.''

    It was fine.

    He trusted himself to make it out before anything bad happened.

    He didn''t realize how far he''d descended until he had to return to the surface.

    Using his true power, he was teleporting millions of kilometers every second, but he''d already teleported hundreds of times and couldn''t see the open air yet.

    The Demon Abyss itself was a separate entity from Al''Katra.

    Its depths didn''t reflect the size of Al''Katra, and despite the world itself being farrger than any other world in existence, the Demon Abyss was deeper than it could hold.

    ''I was billions of kilometers deep at the very least. I''m afraid of how much time it took to descend that, but I didn''t feel it at all. Even using extraordinary means to increase my fall speed, it''d take years for the abyss to take me the abyss.''

    Damien lost track of the significance of time when he came to the Abyss.

    It had already been over a decade since he left the universe, but it felt shorter than the amount of time he spent in No Return Pass.

    It was just too fast.

    Too much happened in too little time, and Damien learned so much that his brain was full of information that clouded his perception.

    He hadn''t even digested it all yet.

    ''The information I learned from the foreign material, at least what I could understand immediately, expanded on things I already know. However, the stuff that''s left will help me clear the doubts I formed while I was pondering earlier.''

    The things he assumed about the Void''s effects on the Nox naturally weren''t presented in the foreign material because it had no rtion to that, but the information it had would help him clear away incorrect assumptions to eventually triangte the truth.

    ''The most important thing now is to get back to Grand Heavens Boundary and spread what I know, as well as the current state of the Nox. We have more than just a chance now. We have the absolute ability to win!''

    The threat of an infinite Nox wave no longer existed. Not only were their forces now finite since theycked the ability to reproduce rapidly, they also lost a majority of their foot soldiers, so the war situation would bnce out instantly.

    Everything was set up.

    That single move, something that only needed a single thought from him toe to fruition,pletely reversed the dire situation.

    Everything was in his palms now.

    He grinned to himself.

    The entrance to the Demon Abyss was now visible. He''d be there in a few seconds.

    He pushed and pushed and pushed.

    His thoughts were focused on the future.

    ''Escape is easy. As soon as I get out of the Demon Abyss'' distortion, I can enter the Sanctuary. With the connection the isted universe had to my wives, I can go directly to them once I''m there.''

    He didn''t need to make a journey through the Abyss anymore.

    He didn''t need to worry about confronting the Nox Emperors.

    He had an out.

    An easy out that he created with his own hands.

    His ego felt overly inted. He deserved it, after all.

    He''d just aplished a miracle.

    He knew he couldn''t let it stay that way.

    He hadn''t changed from the man he once was just because he was able to aplish something major.

    Because, at the end of the day, his deed was done through external forces, not personal power.

    But for now, it was okay.

    He deserved a pat on the back.

    But not yet.

    He pushed and pushed and pushed.

    The opening above him became bigger and bigger in his eyes, and with just a few more teleportations, he made it past the barrier.

    ''Now!''

    He didn''t know what the Nox were up to and he didn''t care to know.

    His mana immediately went into his connection with the Sanctuary to pull him out of Al¨C

    SHIK!

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    He looked down.

    There was an arm jutting out of his chest.

    "What¡­"

    He felt a breath on his ear.

    "Thank you, but this is the end."

    He knew that voice.

    It was the Saint Emperor.

    He wasn''t supposed to be here.

    Damien made sure the Saint Emperor left Al''Katra before he entered the Demon Abyss.

    And¡­

    He was a Demigod.

    This¡­was not supposed to happen.

    "Are you curious?"

    The Saint Emperor asked casually, but his words flowed so fast they only took up a fraction of a spark of a millisecond to end.

    "Look around you."

    Damien obeyed.

    He wasn''t in his right mind.

    The second the Saint Emperor pierced his body, his connection with the Sanctuary was cut off.

    He couldn''t even teleport or ess his mana.

    As his eyes focused on the atmosphere, he realized.

    He was surrounded by Demigods.

    There were over 100 Nox Lords in the area around him, and there were 100 more maintaining a barrier of Divine Energy that disallowed the usage of any lesser mana.

    "I prepared this for you."

    Divine Energy flowed into Damien''s body.

    This was the force.

    It was because of this mana that everything he tried didn''t work.

    Even the Void didn''t answer his call.

    "You have fulfilled your role," the Saint Emperor continued.

    "You have no more use in the plot, so¡­"

    "I will be taking the Dark God''s Seed. Thank you for growing it so well for me."

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Damien sprayed blood.

    Divine Energy filled his systems and turned him into a cripple instantly.

    The pocket dimensions protecting his vital organs were shattered, and his systems fell victim to the Divine Energy''s erosion.

    His vision was blurring.

    He never expected this.

    He had no way of predicting it.

    The restriction on Demigods was absolute. Even at this moment as time slowed almost to a stop, the Demigods in the surroundings, including the Saint Emperor, were slowly fading.

    Their bodies were turning into blue light particles as they were transported to the Ancient Battlefield.

    But it hadn''t happened yet.

    Damien didn''t understand.

    The Nox would suffer more than anyone else if they lost their Demigods.

    Theirmand structure was heavily reliant on Lords, and their armies would fall into chaos the second they were gone.

    That was why the Nox made sure to stop the universe''s Demigods from forcing them into the Ancient Battlefield.

    So¡­

    "...why¡­?"

    Damien squeezed out a single word.

    "Why?" The Saint Emperor echoed with a smile.

    "Because I wanted to see your expression. Why else?"

    An extremely Saint Emperor-like answer.

    He did it because he wanted to.

    He didn''t care about the Nox.

    It was an oversight on Damien''s part.

    This man was never someone who acted predictably. Damien never should''ve assumed he could understand how the Saint Emperor would move.

    But that couldn''t be it.

    He couldn''t ept it.

    "Tell¡­me¡­"

    He couldn''t see it.

    But the Saint Emperor grinned widely.

    "You are that curious?" He said mockingly.

    "Unfortunately, you will not get an answer."

    VOOM!

    The Divine Energy rampaging through Damien''s body increased to a new level.

    Everything was destroyed.

    He couldn''t fight Divine Energy.

    It was several leagues above his existence.

    He could barely perceive it. If it wasn''t crushing him piece by piece, he wouldn''t have perceived it at all.

    Without the Void, he couldn''t do anything about it.

    But the Void was silent.

    His brain was starting to melt.

    "After all, you are already dead."

    Dead?

    Him?

    Damien Void?

    Dead?

    He couldn''t ept it.

    He wasn''t someone who could die.

    Not here.

    Not now.

    He spent too much time and effort to get where he was. He sacrificed too much to be the man he was.

    This wasn''t his time.

    He had too much he still wanted to do to die here.

    "I¡­refuse¡­"

    His words were weak. They couldn''t urately represent the me in his heart.

    No matter what he wanted, no matter what his mind and heart said, he couldn''t ovee Divine Energy.

    And the Void¡­

    The Void was still silent.

    It was his mistake.

    It was all his fault.

    He got too confident.

    He let his ego tell him everything was okay.

    But¡­

    Was there a way out?

    There wasn''t.

    He didn''t have the power to escape before the Saint Emperor got to him.

    Even with his inted ego, he was acting with absolute speed.

    But he dropped his wariness because of it.

    That was his fault.

    He didn''t know if he could''ve escaped, but it was toote for him to think about it.

    Because his brain was no more than a puddle of fluids leaking into his systems.

    He was toote.

    He had no chance.

    Rose, Ruyue, Elena¡­

    His mother, Xue''er, his father¡­

    Iris¡­

    Tian Yang, Elvira, Malcolm, Bai Yuxuan, Feng Yuxiang, Bianca Snow, Su Ren, Long Chen, Aishia, Director Alucard, Feng Qing''er, Lunaria Snow, Qing Tan, Hugo Fang, Atticus mesworth, Yong An, Luciel, Lucifer, Commander Huo, Lynn Carter, Xue Fang, Bai Xieren, Shangguan Yu, Tang Lingzi, Drunken Old Immortal, Jiao Mei, Sierra Lock, Leona, Prici Adire, Ria, Maximus, Elitra¡­

    They all shed through his mind.

    One by one.

    The connections he built through his life, the people he loved, and those who loved him.

    The First Dungeon, Apeiron, the Cloud ne, 3000 Beast Mountain Range, Primordial Undying Realm, Earth, the Unnamed World, As World, Azure Rain Star, Death Emperor Star, Hidden Death Valley, Calypto, Luxurion, Holy Light Star, Beast Emperor Star, Eien, the Wild Continent, the Severed World, No Return Pass, the Abyss¡­

    The ces he''d been, the sights he''d seen, flowed like a stream after that.

    His memories shed one after another, showing him the Legend he''d built thus far, showing him the events that created him, showing him the struggles he went through, showing him what he wished to protect¡­

    As the Demigods around him turnedpletely into blue particles and disappeared from the universe, a single sentence entered his ears.

    "Rest well. I will take good care of your universe. That much, I can promise."

    And then¡­

    One second finally psed.

    Everyone in the Demon Abyss disappeared from the lower universe.

    In this ce, far separated from everything he knew and loved, a ce he came to protect those things¡­

    A life withered away.

    Damien Void had died.

 Chapter 1222 Death [4]

    Chapter 1222 Death [4]

    The phenomenon echoed through all of existence.

    Those who were on the warfront, those who were observing it silently, those who were plotting in the shadows, and even those who remained wholly uninvolved with the universe''s affairs¡­

    Without a single notice,pletely beyond their expectations, the Demigods of the lower universe disappeared from the world.

    Nobody knew why.

    There were no obvious signs of a restriction being activated to summon the Ancient Battlefield.

    Even if one assumed there was a problem in the Abyss, the problem still didn''t make sense.

    It had been so long since the war began. Thest time the Ancient Battlefield opened was dozens of thousands of years ago, so naturally, nobody expected someone to open it now.

    After all, the universe''s forces were now unified. Regardless of their attempts to aplish this exact feat, they''d been unsessful, and they were very clear on the fact that they did not cause this incident.

    However, the Nox didn''t have any reason to take drastic measures.

    The Nox power structure was simpler than anyone expected once it was revealed.

    The Supremes were like envoys who represented the Lords they served, while everyone under them would be allocated by said Supremes to act in any way they needed to in order to aplish the overarching goal.

    Lords were subordinated to Emperors, and the four Emperoes practically managed the entire Nox Race''s actions for as long as they existed.

    Essentially, their power was extremely concentrated in the highest ranks.

    The Karmic and Inhuman Emperor were presently active in the universe when this phenomenon took ce, as were the majority of the Lords under them.

    The Soul Emperor was also focused on the universe from the Abyss, and while his actions couldn''t clearly be seen, there were several incidents that were assumed to be his doing.

    The only Emperor who had been silent was the Saint Emperor.

    After imposing the 2-year ceasefire and presiding over the battle between Damien Void and the Saint King, he disappeared from the war scene entirely.

    So those like Luciel who watched the Demigods disappear and had minds racing with questions could only assume he was the one who caused this.

    But they couldn''t understand why.

    The Nox would not benefit in the slightest.

    Others had made simr conjectures.

    Losing their Demigods left Nox''s leadership in the hands of their Supremes, but those Supremes didn''t have any knowledge of how to move without instruction.

    They were just puppets.

    Considering what was known about the Nox now, this design was both pitiful and extremely ironic, since they themselves were keeping themselves in a state where they would never escape their envement.

    Though, not everyone was clueless.

    ***

    In the depths of the Abyss, a massive wave of shock spread.

    How could it not?

    Unlike those in the universe, those in the Abyss were able to understand far more about the cause.

    The fact that Al''Katra was now covered in seas of ck ink was hard to ignore, and with the way rumors spread among the Nox, more and more of their race concentrated on the world to find the truth.

    Among them was a certain Nox man who wasn''t able to return here in a very long time.

    But now¡­?

    Now, the enemies he had to hide from were gone from the universe, and his freedom of movement increased greatly.

    ''Before they left, they made a monstrous im¡­''

    Yong An was frowning.

    He had taken several Lords under his banner in the past several years, so he wasn''t as uninformed as the masses.

    The hivemind of the Nox was prejudiced towards powerful individuals. With his current strength as a Supreme, he couldn''t see much, but those Demigods under him let it be known.

    A huge change took ce in Al''Katra.

    He had to find out what.

    And as he did so, he realized the shocking truth.

    The area where the Demon Abyss used to exist, which was currently heavily guarded by the forces of the four Emperors, was already suspicious, and when he used his contacts to gain ess, he found that there was nothing more than a chasm left in its ce.

    ''There should be fluctuations of something, but there are none. It is as if the Demon Abyss decided to disappear on its own.''

    He couldn''t understand it.

    Such an action couldn''t be done by a Nox.

    ''And the Envoy¡­''

    The Envoy, who should''ve been extremely angered by its disappearance and on a manhunt to find the cause, was nowhere to be seen.

    ''This is bigger than I thought.''

    Nobody could predict it, and nobody could understand it.

    But Yong An had a wild thought.

    ''Could it be¡­?''

    There was only one man in existence he thought was capable of this.

    But that man¡­

    ''He should not be here.''

    And even if he dide, why was there no sign of him?

    A pit formed in his stomach as he continued to ponder.

    Damien Void.

    He had a strange rtionship with that man.

    They started off as enemies. The entirety of his existence was built on killing that man and taking his ce.

    However, that man never seemed to treat him like an enemy.

    It was like he understood Yong An''s struggles and, while pretending to be his opposition, was guiding him on a path that led to freedom.

    At some point, their rtionship changed for the positive.

    Damien saved his life, and Yong An wasn''t a man who forgot his debts.

    ''I thought something was off¡­''

    Thest time they met, Damien seemed far less concerned about the threat of the Nox than he was.

    Yet, he had information that should''ve terrified him.

    The same information that made Yong An cower in fear.

    ''Why is it¡­?''

    Why was that man so fearless?

    Did he think himself a god?

    Yong An couldn''t understand it, but he respected it immensely.

    Because that was the kind of courage he wished he had.

    That was the courage that allowed him to continue on his path and grow to the point where he was at now.

    ''But¡­''

    ''Did you do it¡­?''

    There were two ways for Demigods to be transported to the Ancient Battlefield.

    The first was by the universe''s decree, which could only happen if the actions of Demigods were directly causing enough harm to harm its lifespan.

    But that didn''t happen.

    If that happened, the event would''ve been far more spectacr, and the main battlefield would''ve been wrought in destruction mirroring the Abyss.

    And the second¡­

    The second was for a Demigod to directly cause harm to a lower existence and activate the restriction.

    If that happened, and Damien was the lower existence¡­

    ''Are you¡­have you truly passed?''

    He couldn''t believe it.

    That man died?

    That man couldn''t die.

    He was a person who would survive no matter how much fate wanted him to die.

    He was a light.

    ''No, he was my light.''

    Yong An didn''t have role models in his life until he met Damien. He''d never met someone who could set him on the right path and support him unconditionally.

    To Yong An, even though they didn''t know each other that well, Damien was like an older brother.

    ''I can''t ept it.''

    His family, his vige, his n¡­

    His friends, anyone he''d ever cared for¡­

    The Saint Emperor took them all from him.

    His heart was barely beating.

    Did it happen again?

    It felt like his emotions were slipping away.

    He was bing numb to it.

    ''If this is fate¡­then is it even worth trying?''

    Was it hopeless?

    Perhaps they hadn''t known each other for long, but Damien had a profound impact on Yong An''s life.

    And even the thought of something happening to him was crushing.

    Damien wasn''t that kind of person.

    Whenever it seemed like he''d fail, he''d always appear happily and ease everyone''s hearts.

    But as days and weeks passed, he never showed up.

    It was getting harder to deny it.

    Damien Void was truly dead.

    And not even a body remained to prove it.

 Chapter 1223 Death [5]

    Chapter 1223 Death [5]

    The death of Damien Void wasn''t an event that took the universe by storm.

    At least, not at first.

    While people mored to find the answers to the great mystery of the Demigods'' transference, it happened quietly, like a passing breeze.

    The Dimensional Leaderboard changed.

    The first-ce position that was upied by the greatest genius of the universe ever since his spectacr battle with the Saint King became empty, and every other individual present on the leaderboard moved up.

    The first to notice was the younger generation, who then spread it to the elders of their ns and sects, who discussed it amongst themselves until the rumors became an unmistakable reality.

    Either Damien''s age suddenly jumped over 400 years and disqualified him from the leaderboard, he became a Divinity and ascended past it, or he was dead.

    With that thought in mind, because the sudden and silent death of a supreme genius was so hard to ept, they checked the legacy leaderboard immediately in search of his name, but unable to find it, they were forced to look at the only remaining option.

    Various reactions filled the universe when this information spread, and various forces connected it with the Demigod incident due to the timing, but this was a matter for several days in the future.

    Currently, a meeting was taking ce between the highest authorities of the allied force.

    Luciel headed it, and present with him were several Holy Masters such as Iris and Sterling Asterin, the Fallen Star Holy Master.

    And surprisingly enough, given the privilege to listen in on the meeting from the side were the highest officials of the Judgement Order, including Rose, Ruyue, Elena, and Su Ren.

    The topic of discussion was the same as it had always been.

    The endless war they were currently fighting.

    "We have lost 30% of the Infernal Realm, but they do not seem to be pushing as hard as they were before. Has informatione from the other side?" Luciel asked, guiding the meeting.

    "Yes," a Holy Master stood up.

    "Our spies found that the Karmic Emperor''s forces have been moving strangely in recent days. It seems they will make a big move soon."

    "Is there any solid information?" Luciel pushed.

    "Not much, however¡­"

    The Holy Master hesitated for a second, but under the burning gazes of those around him, he folded and sighed.

    "It has been confirmed. Members of Blood Asura Holy Land have been secretlymunicating with the enemy forces for at least a year. Their betrayal is evident."

    "Dammit!"

    Luciel banged his fist against the table.

    If one looked at Immortal Blood Asura''s personality, while he was abhorrable and evil, he wasn''t someone one would expect to turn traitor.

    Mainly because of his pride.

    As a man who always stood alone and forced others to respect him, to make a move like this was essentially throwing away his pride.

    Either that, or the allied forces had severely estimated how twisted his mind was.

    "How is Elyssa?"

    The member who stood up this time was different.

    Two years ago, a contact appeared spontaneously among the allied forces.

    She was a woman named Elyssa Bloodlock, and ording to her, the Bloodlock n had long been subordinated to the Nox.

    At first, her information was doubted for its credibility, which led to a year-long investigation that was finally yielding results.

    This woman, who was just an ordinary disciple inparison to the status of the rest of the room, was the individual in charge of keeping up with her and passing her messages along to the rest of the group.

    "Everything the contact said has been verified. Not only have they been sacrificing their own citizens for reasons unknown, but the majority of those in Blood Asura Holy Land have been corrupted into Nox servants."

    "They have managed to hide well due to Immortal Blood Asura''s interference. ording to recent news, he has a deep cooperative rtionship with the Karmic Emperor, and the members under him have been given the means to hide their corruption in order to urately deceive our vision. The length of this cooperation¡­if we are estimating properly, is over a decade."

    The woman continued to borate on the situation, listing much more information she received from Elyssa Bloodlock.

    There wasn''t much they could learn about the nature of the Nox''s next move, but just by seeing the troop distribution and their movements, it was clear that their n was going to shake the universe''s very foundation.

    "If we can find a way to suppress the Karmic Emperor, it will be much easier, but he has remained hidden even while staying in our universe. It''s quite frustrating¡­" Luciel muttered with a sigh.

    He was the main contributor to the most difficult problems. As long as he could be removed from the equation, their forces would be able tounch the counterattack they''d been preparing in secret for the past three years.

    "Alright," Luciel said.

    "We must strike preemptively. If they are allowed to regain momentum, it will be difficult for us to stop them."

    A heated discussion began among the meeting members.

    ns were being finalized to bring this war into its final stages and finally chase the Nox out of their universe for good.

    However, at this moment, something strange happened amidst the observers.

    Rose''s eyes widened.

    As did Elena''s.

    They suddenly froze in ce.

    Their hearts practically stopped beating as their minds were thrown into chaos.

    "H-huh?"

    Ruyue sat with widened eyes.

    She reached up and touched her face.

    Were those¡­tears?

    Her countenance was icy as always. Her expression was cold and locked away the feelings in her heart, disallowing others from understanding her inner thoughts.

    It was a factor that added to her beauty. There were countless men who swooned after her, not that she paid attention to them.

    But the charm she possessed wasced with a freezing touch.

    Yet, at this moment, this exact indifferent facade was unsettling.

    Something snapped within her.

    It wasn''t like before.

    It wasn''t a matter of something being lost temporarily.

    It was gone.

    She couldn''t find it.

    It didn''t exist anymore.

    It caused extreme pain to envelop her body and soul, but she was too shocked to even register it.

    Her soul¡­

    That piece of her soul that she left with her beloved as a symbol of their love¡­

    It was gone.

    It shattered.

    That¡­

    There was only one situation that could cause that. No matter how much time passed, even if she herself passed away, that piece of her soul would always be with him.

    Until¡­

    It was hard to breathe.

    It was hard to think.

    She sat there as an impossible truth dawned on her mind, frozen like a statue.

    Everything went silent.

    Everything became blurry.

    A messenger rushed into the room, hurriedly reporting information about the disappearance of the Demigods that just took ce.

    The entire meeting hall was filled with noise as Iris and several others disappeared, and the rest contacted outside forces to understand the scale of this phenomenon.

    But she didn''t hear it.

    Neither did Rose or Elena.

    It was all drowned out.

    Leaving only the sound of crystal tears shattering against the cold, lifeless ground.

 Chapter 1224 Death [6]

    Chapter 1224 Death [6]

    Damien Void.

    What did he mean to the people who loved him?

    To some, he was a rascal they couldn''t help but like. To some, he was an annoyingly charismatic brat. To some, he was a good brother with whom they could share joys and sorrows. And to some others, he was a man who represented their goal, everything they strived to surpass.

    But none of these definitions could really exin what he meant to people.

    Just like Yong An said, he was a shining beacon of light.

    He was a genius who stood alone. He had a type of talent that destined him to walk a lonely road.

    Yet, he was always there, smiling brightly and bringing people together, standing alongside them, supporting them through thick and thin, and guiding them towards the light.

    Why else would there be so many powerful people involved with him?

    People like Director Alucard or Iris simply couldn''t be moved by ordinary geniuses. Even the strongest people in the universe had to treat them with respect and stay mindful of their neutrality.

    But Damien, with nothing more than his words and actions, won them over and ced them in a situation where they''d throw away their neutrality to support him.

    To the people who knew him, Damien was someone to be learned from.

    Whether it was the older generation full of monsters who''d lived countless millennia or the younger generation who were still trying their best to survive in this tumultuous universe, they had something they could learn from him.

    So regardless of what one felt for him, whether it was love, greed, fear, or even hatred, they had no choice but to respect him.

    That was how they viewed him.

    At least, most people.

    But what about those three?

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena had a rtionship with him that nobody else could understand.

    Damien always kept people at arm''s length. Even Long Chen and Su Ren, two of his only friends in the entire universe, didn''t know much about the struggles he went through alone.

    Only they did.

    Only to them did he open his heart.

    And he was the same for them.

    Whether it was Rose, who lived for others and had to keep her emotions hidden so they wouldn''t feel her fear and crumble, Elena, who only knew battle and never cared to exin herself to others, or Ruyue, who refused to allow others to get too close due to her past experiences, they were all equally closed off.

    Only Damien was able to pierce through their defenses and make his way to their hearts, which he upied in full.

    To them, he was everything.

    He was their husband, the father of their future children, and the mighty wall that supported them silently no matter the distance that separated them.

    Asking them to just ept his death wasughable.

    They would never do that.

    But, even they were forced to sit down and face reality, epting that he might''ve truly left this world without them.

    After all, it wasn''t just Ruyue anymore.

    Rose and Elena also had a deep bond with him through their engagement rings that allowed them to sense his presence as long as it existed.

    At that moment in the conference room, all three of them felt the disappearance of that connection, and the second they overcame the pure shock that froze them in ce, mainly because of Su Ren and the others who pulled them out of it, they immediately disappeared.

    They went to the Sanctuary.

    This was a ce built by him. If there were any clues about his situation, they would be present here.

    However, when they arrived, they found a silent Theavel.

    Elvira came to find them before anyone else and took them to Avalon to sit down and talk.

    Damien had a clone in the Sanctuary for several years now, which he''d used to transfer a great deal of information from the Abyss and help the universe''s forces in secret.

    The so-called "counterstrike" n that Luciel mentioned in the meeting was precisely the result of his information.

    Yet, that clone was no longer present.

    Elvira personally watched it fade from existence as it passed on its final message.

    A message that revealed "everything" about the Nox.

    He did it while he was still escaping the Demon Abyss.

    Just in case he was held up and couldn''t immediately escape, he transferred his most recent memories to his clone to update them.

    However¡­

    By the time it finished loading that information into a jade slip, it disappeared.

    It''s final words¡­

    "Condition¡­?"

    Elvira nodded.

    "Yes, it said ''condition'' before dispersing. We have no way to know what it means, but¡­because of how valuable thest information he transmitted is, I can only assume he was doing something extremely dangerous."

    The clone was, after all, a reflection of Damien. He didn''t want them to worry, so it didn''t say a single word about descending the Demon Abyss or infiltrating the Nox''s most sacred area.

    It only transmitted the information without context.

    "He¡­"

    Elena was the one who spoke.

    All three of them were holding in their emotions. They couldn''t allow themselves to break down in front of anyone else.

    Not until they confirmed it.

    "He will not die so easily¡­"

    It was a statement all of them thought so many times that it was numbing at this point, but she felt the need to say it out loud.

    Elvira looked at her with sad eyes, but nodded anyway.

    "Yes, he is not someone who will die at a time like this. We still need him, after all."

    Her rtionship with Damien was¡­vague, so the way she viewed his wives was alsoced with strange feelings, but at a time like this, none of those mattered.

    They had to stay strong together.

    Or else, all of them would crumble.

    And if that happened, the consequences would be dire.

    "For now, I have made sure this information doesn''t spread. Aside from me, Lynn, and the other Emperors of Theavel, nobody knows."

    "...not even Xue''er?" Rose muttered.

    "Especially not Xue''er."

    If Xue''er ever found out about this, nobody could predict what she''d do. Whether she''d charge into the enemy camp and recklessly kill until she died or simply end her life silently, the final result would remain the same.

    Xue''er was left with nothing before Damien found her.

    He was more than just an older brother to her, but a father.

    He may have been unable to be with her for a majority of her life, but she was understanding and always mature beyond her years.

    She only looked up to him and worried for his safety, waiting for him to return victorious and tell her the wonderous stories of his exploits in the outside world.

    Xue''er was an adult now. She was at an age where it wouldn''t be strange for her to have kids of her own.

    But when it came to him, she was still that little girl he saved in the Trial World.

    The little girl he created the Sanctuary for, so she could live a life in peace, away from the troubles that darkened her bright world.

    Days passed quietly, yet the universal situation only became more disordered.

    Perhaps this should''ve been a time of grieving for those close to Damien, but surprisingly, it wasn''t so at all.

    All evidence pointed to his death.

    The more they learned, and as information poured in from anonymous sources like Yong An and Elvira, making them aware of Al''Katra, the Demon Abyss, and the extermination of over eight quintillion Lesser Nox beings, the picture became clear to them.

    And¡­

    It also became clear why the Demigods disappeared.

    These two events were directly rted.

    On his own, hidden from the gazes of all and expecting not a single ounce of credit, Damien Void descended into the Abyss and created a miracle.

    But, in consequence, he lost his life to the Saint Emperor.

    That was the story the universe knew.

    Those who didn''t know him personally but admired or ced their hopes on his talent mourned heavily, but who knew whether they were sincere or not?

    As for those who stood against him, they celebrated, because the man who had the greatest potential to destroy everything they ever worked for, the enemy that was inevitably impossible to ovee, went and died on his own.

    But those close to him refused to entertain their delusions.

    Damien Void was not that kind of person.

    He was not some ordinary character who''d quietly die in some unknown corner of the Abyss.

    He was a man that even the universe pinned all of its hopes on.

    So, one day, he woulde back.

    They didn''t know how long it would take, but until that day came, they would wait for him.

    Unless they died first.

    They had to keep their mentalities strong, because mourning here would only make them weak.

    Weak in front of the enemy that imed to have killed their light.

    And that¡­

    That was absolutely disallowed.

    Their goal was the same as before, but their hearts were filled with burning rage and a thirst for vengeance.

    When Damien came back, they''d present him with the Nox Race''s heads on a tter alongside a clean universe.

    They''d make sure the race known as the Nox became an afterthought, a stain that became forgotten in the rivers of time.

    They would drive this race to extinction.

    Everyone moved forward with purpose.

    Both the sides of justice and evil faced each other, letting loose the cards they''d hidden the past several years for this moment.

    Damien''s death was the turning point.

    The turning point that would bring this war to an end.

    At the same time, as turmoil and chaos enveloped all things¡­

    A blue holographic window that was imperceptible to all of existence appeared amidst nothingness.

    Its location was unknown, and it was fated to go unseen by even the individual it was meant for, but its words were jarringly clear.

    [Condition Achieved: True Death.]

 Chapter 1225 Death [7]

    Chapter 1225 Death [7]

    Damien never dreamed of the afterlife.

    The concept of eternal life was never appealing to him, but doing so after death, giving himself a false sense of security, wasn''t his desire.

    If he could do something impossible, he would want regression, so he could try again and avoid the mistakes that killed him.

    But since that was nothing more than fantasy, he only wanted one thing.

    He wanted his ego erased, so his soul could enter the reincarnation cycle and live again in a new form.

    He had no greed for life beyond life, and no desire to hold onto life by sacrificing anything and everything.

    The life he lived was the only thing that truly belonged to him.

    The memories engraved in his soul, the experiences and rtionships that forged him into the person he was, he wanted to selfishly keep all those things for himself and take them with him when he disappeared into the void.

    He wasn''t asking for too much.

    In fact, his thoughts about death were quite realistic, because ever since he was a teenager, he''d been facing it directly.

    At some point, he developed a warm rtionship with death that made him embrace it tightly, and even after he healed from that state, he never feared or revered death.

    Nor did he regard life as anything more than it was.

    If he was fated for death, then he wanted to die properly.

    It was that simple.

    And it seemed he was granted his wish.

    Everything was dark, but it was not ck, for color did not exist.

    Nothing existed.

    He didn''t have a body, nor did he have a mind. He was in the form of his soul in this ce on the boundary of life and death, and it seemed his ego would be erased soon enough.

    His thoughts were¡­

    Well, they weren''t necessarily thoughts.

    Perhaps these were just the marks engraved in his soul naturally responding to external stimuli.

    Perhaps "Damien Void" didn''t even exist anymore, and was only a remnant formed by these Legends.

    But that was fine.

    Because before he left the world, he paved the way for those people to live.

    The people who mattered, the ones who were the basis of every regret he had, they would be fine without him.

    ¡­at least, they should''ve been.

    But was that really the case?

    Even if they moved on and continued their lives, was he satisfied with dying like this?

    He didn''t have sentience anymore. That sentience was broken down by the wheel of samsara as his soul was cleansed before rebirth.

    But the base instincts that he developed through his life vehemently rejected the idea of an easy death.

    Everyone who loved him had the thought before it even urred to him.

    Damien Void was not someone who would die so easily.

    Hadn''t it been repeated so many times?

    He didn''t even have the opportunity to fight.

    He sat there and watched as his life was taken, unable to make a single move.

    He even bent to the will of the Saint Emperor. He followed that man''s words like somemon pedestrian on the side of the street.

    Since when was he that type of person?

    Since when was he someone who cared for such things as inevitability?

    For the past decade, he''d been fighting against exactly that, and he''d never given up once in his pursuit of achieving the impossible.

    So, was death enough to hold him?

    Heprehended Death before he even grew into his own.

    Heprehended Samsara and took control of the forces that were trying to break him down before he had even a fraction of the power required to truly understand it.

    So, here, in this ce, as his ego was erased¡­

    Even without sentience, would his soul allow itself to be purified so easily?

    [Condition Achieved: True Death.]

    His soul remembered the notification that appeared before him in the final seconds of his life.

    Burning desire, something a soul should have never possessed, appeared inside of it.

    But it didn''t care.

    All it needed was a reminder.

    A reminder of who it really was.

    A spark lit up the darkness.

    No, it was better to say darkness appeared in this colorless existence.

    A small ck dot that once existed in Damien''s spiritual world transferred to his soul.

    That ethereal construct without defined shape or size due to his status as a lower existence was suddenly defined against its will.

    It was dyed ck, a ckness that represented the space beyond all known concepts.

    The Wheel of Samsara lost its grip on his soul.

    This space was empty of all concepts aside from Samsara, so it was difficult to describe the process itself, but if it had to be rted to something, it was like a being thrown out of its natural orbit.

    The ckened soul rushed away from the cycle at high speeds and forced its way out of the space, but as there was nowhere to go, the ckness formed a separated pocket for it to reside in so as to notpletely shatter the Wheel of Samsara.

    And there, it went through a metamorphosis.

    This change¡­

    This change couldn''t possibly be described in words that existed.

    It was far above the ne of understanding that even the greatest divine beings stood on, a ce where nothing but a single entity could exist.

    But that soul was changing.

    It was being reformed.

    A spark of consciousness appeared slowly before growing further and further.

    The Legends that defined the soul, that imprinted "Damien Void" onto every piece of its existence, bloomed into a consciousness that imitated the one that originally resided in this body.

    But that was nothing more than an imitation.

    If this continued, the end product could only be called a clone.

    Yet¡­

    As if impossibility was just a word and not an absolute truth, the budding consciousness screamed out in pain.

    A small seed, hidden deep within the soul, was awoken by the upation of its abode, and furious at the attempt, it began devouring the secondary conscious until it became a part of that seed.

    The Void''s energy fed into it, and the Legends the secondary consciousness tried to plunder were returned to their original owner.

    Cracks formed on its surface.

    "Something" was blooming.

    But it could no longer be seen.

    After all, that rogue soul was no longer just a soul.

    As its consciousness returned, as its ego forced its way back into existence, as it transformed into something greater than itself¡­

    It truly achieved the impossible.

    It formed a connection to something "real."

    It formed a connection to its body.

    And from there, it was only a matter of time.

    "Damien Void" would be reborn.

    No matter what the universe thought, no matter what the heavens deemed possible, he would return.

    Because that was who he was.

    Whether it was life, death, or even existence itself, nothing could hold him.

    Not even the Void could establish control.

    It was just a matter of time.

    Those people who forced him to experience death, the inevitability that prevented him from doing what he wanted¡­

    Everything that stood against him would be crushed.

    And only he would reign supreme.

 Chapter 1226 Death [8]

    Chapter 1226 Death [8]

    That was reality.

    Somewhere separated from the perception of both the living and the dead was the Wheel of Samsara which controlled the reincarnation cycle.

    Through it, souls would be returned to their natural state and removed from everything that defined them so they could enter a new body and live again.

    Of course, this process wasn''t always urate.

    Sometimes, souls would have deeply entrenched desires, regrets, or even memories that would appear in their new lives in some way, shape, or form.

    But in the end, even true reincarnation with memories intact was impossible.

    This was an absolute rule established at genesis, a concept of a level Universal Law couldn''t evenpare to.

    But Damien¡­

    When his ego was erased, he was gone from the universepletely.

    That''s how it should''ve been.

    But for some reason, he could see it all.

    As if his ego was separated from his soul, he watched it flow through the Wheel of Samsara and experience everything it experienced.

    And as he did so, his denial only got more prominent.

    He denied death.

    He denied the control these pre-established concepts had over him.

    And he found that as his Legends resonated with his emotions, his soul experienced changes.

    He still had control over it.

    In all senses of the word, he "did not exist" right now.

    Even he considered his current state a delusion in hisst moments. He assumed the milliseconds were passing slower than stopped time and he was experiencing this facade of control because of his inability to ept death.

    But even so, he refused to give up.

    He clung onto the vestiges of his existence with everything he had. Even if he had to sacrifice all his power, even if he had to throw away his connection to the Void, he would cling onto existence until he could bring himself back or die trying.

    That was his nature.

    That was the ming determination that defined him.

    "As expected, I was never a man who gave in."

    He heard a voice behind him and turned around.

    That person¡­

    "You''re me?"

    His words were calm.

    He looked down and realized that his formless ego was now shaped in the likeness he held before death, with that gaping hole still engraved in his chest.

    "Hmm¡­in a sense, yes, I am you."

    The man who appeared responded with the same nonchnt attitude.

    Damien nodded.

    Since he was like this, the illusion couldn''t be anyone else.

    After all, there was nobody else who could appear here with him besides himself.

    Because neither of them truly existed.

    "Do you want to return?" The other him asked.

    "Isn''t that obvious? I haven''t even begun to aplish my ambitions," he responded in kind.

    "However, hasn''t everyone who died held this same thought? What makes you worthy of returning?"

    "Isn''t that even more obvious?"

    They both knew the answer.

    Yes, he wasn''t any better than the rest of them.

    The people he killed throughout his life probably mourned their inability to aplish their goals in their final moments as well.

    But that simply didn''t matter to him.

    If he viewed himself the same way he viewed them, he wouldn''t be fighting in the first ce.

    "They weren''t able to do it, and that was their mistake. Since I have the opportunity, then that''s my fortune. There''s no need to bring morality into this, there''s no need to be arrogant about it, and there''s nothing I need to realize about myself. I will only survive if I can save myself, and if I can''t, that just means I am the same as them. Does that make sense?"

    "No."

    The other him smiled.

    "But at the same time, yes it does. The most simple reasoning is often the most iprehensible, since as humans, we are incapable of denyingplex thought."

    "That doesn''t matter. If I try to understand what''s happening right now, I''ll just fall into the depths of confusion and justification and waste time on pointless things."

    "You''re quite arrogant."

    "I''m not. I''m just a realist."

    "Would a realist be trying to fight the Wheel of Samsara?"

    "Yes, if they lived the life I did."

    "Hahahahahaha!"

    The other Damienughed loudly.

    "Mm, this is the mindset I have to possess. Otherwise, it''ll be impossible to aplish anything in the future."

    They were both Damien Void.

    Neither of them could be considered the "real" Damien, because neither of them existed in reality right now.

    But at the same time, they could both be considered real.

    Just different versions of him that existed for different purposes.

    "There is a way to survive," the other him said.

    "I know," Damien responded.

    They were one and the same.

    He realized what the other version''s purpose was the second he appeared.

    Because they shared the same existence.

    They were standing in the ckness.

    Before this, Damien just assumed his ego was a false concept, a product of delusion.

    But at some point, he understood his position.

    "Embrace it. Be part of it, and you will live for eternity."

    "Hah!"

    Damienughed.

    "Be a part of it?" He echoed mockingly.

    "That will never happen."

    He ced his hand out. It was illusory, like that of a ghost, but it made contact with the ckness as if the space itself was material.

    "I will never allow it to consume me. If it wants me to live¡­"

    He grinned and clenched his fist.

    "Then it will be a part of me instead."

    "Is that the decision you''ve made?"

    Damien looked at his other self and shook his head.

    "I should be the one asking that question. Have youe to a decision?"

    The other Damien''s smile widened.

    "Haha, how silly. There was never a decision to make in the first ce."

    Damien smiled in return.

    "You''re right. The question itself was wed. In the first ce, there was no need to make that distinction."

    "Because you are me¡­"

    "...and I am you. Yes, from the start, you misjudged this connection, and that held you back."

    "Is that why you were silent until now?"

    "Is it? Or perhaps this was a trial you were always meant to ovee."

    "You must be quite annoyed. I guess I was supposed to struggle more."

    "If you struggled, then you''d just be like the rest of them. Since you''re able to save yourself, then you will, right?"

    "Right."

    ***

    A spark lit up the darkness.

    No, it was better to say darkness appeared in this colorless existence.

    A small ck dot that once existed in Damien''s spiritual world transferred to his soul.

    That ethereal construct without defined shape or size due to his status as a lower existence was suddenly defined against its will.

    It was dyed ck, a ckness that represented the space beyond all known concepts.

    The Wheel of Samsara lost its grip on his soul.

    ***

    "I wille see you soon."

    Damien looked his other self in the eyes as he spoke.

    And his other self nodded in agreement.

    "Yes, it will not be long."

    ***

    His body began to fade, and Damien felt something pulling him out of the ckness.

    A small seed, hidden deep within the soul, was awoken by the upation of its abode, and furious at the attempt, it began devouring the secondary conscious until it became a part of that seed.

    The Void''s energy fed into it, and the Legends the secondary consciousness tried to plunder were returned to their original owner.

    Cracks formed on its surface.

    "Something" was blooming.

    ***

    "Before you go back, I do have something to say."

    Damien raised his brow.

    "And what is that?"

    "There is no end product without the processes that led to it."

    "Hm?"

    The other Damien smiled as the two of their existences separated for good.

    "You do not always have to plow through directly. Sometimes, it truly is better to just go around the mountain."

    "Ah¡­I guess I forgot I could reroute the GPS."

    "What an amusing analogy."

    "After all, I can''t forget my roots."

    "If you did, I''d be severely disappointed."

    The two smiled in tandem.

    They understood each other better than anyone else.

    Because in the end, they were one.

    But for now, they could not be whole.

    Damien was pulled out of nonexistence by an invisible force, while his other half disappeared back to its true location.

    And finally, the seed in his soul sprouted.

    The Saint Emperor said something strange back then, but he was simply wrong.

    Because the story of Damien Void¡­

    "...will never end until I say so."

 Chapter 1227 Return...? [1]

    Chapter 1227 Return...? [1]

    Those were the events Damien experienced in death.

    And for that reason, they couldn''t be properly exined.

    After all, Damien''s ego and soul experienced two different situations that acted in tandem to reach the final oue.

    But the actual transformation of his soul happened in the absence of his ego, so naturally he didn''t know what it entailed.

    At least, not at that time.

    What did Damien experience in death?

    The truth was, he experienced nothing.

    Because Damien didn''t allow himself to die even though all conventional definitions considered him dead.

    He didn''t allow himself to stop existing even though his ego was quite literally in the depths of nonexistence.

    Because of his unique existence, he could define himself within nonexistence and feel its presence, rather than bing a part of it like the ego of any other individual.

    When Damien''s ego and soulbined into their true form, and he finally felt the ckness that now formed his soul, he partially understood what happened.

    [Condition Achieved: True Death.]

    That notification was the key.

    It didn''te from the system.

    It tried its best to mimic the system, but Damien knew better.

    The Void sent him that notification.

    As he grew, he became closer to the Void and gained more control over its energy.

    In the current time, he rarely used his otherws on their own. Even when he used Spacetime, Samsara, or Elemental, he used them by transforming the Void into their individual forms.

    Many of his previous techniques became useless because of this change, but at the same time, they became more profound than ever.

    And his fighting style experienced aplete transformation.

    Yet, there was always something missing.

    He was always blocked by walls that shouldn''t have existed. His internal logic held him back and formed those walls of inevitability that had been mentioned to death by now.

    As the Void''s Apostle, he should''ve been free from those barriers from the start. His position should''ve made them as flimsy as paper, allowing him to push through with just a bit of effort.

    But why didn''t that happen?

    The answer was simple, yet another form of impossibility.

    Damien was born a human.

    His parents were Gods from the Heavenly World, and he carried their bloodlines.

    His existence at a physical level was confined within a set of standards, even if those standards were a level above his peers.

    However, the Void existed in a far higher realm than even the Heavenly World. Even the Heavenly World was born from the concepts birthed by the Void.

    His soul was one that had existed for eternity.

    Just like all the rest, it had been washed and reused countless times over the eons as people died and were reborn in new forms.

    There was no way to avoid this. This was the absolutew of the universe, and how souls were managed by it.

    How could he ever hope to truly reach the Void from this starting point?

    Whether it was his soul or his body, they needed to change.

    He already knew how to achieve this physically.

    His Universe Baptism reconstructed his body in such a way that Void Mana became avable to him, and that process was precisely what allowed him toprehend the Breath of All Things and the Breath of Nothingness to make progress in his Voidprehension.

    He would go through Cosmic Rebirth upon bing a Demigod, and this process would ur for the second and final time,pleting his evolution and perfecting his body.

    However, his soul was another story.

    Until now, he was unable to sense it at all. This was normal, since even the Void didn''t change the fact that he was a lower existence.

    He would only gain ess to it during Cosmic Rebirth, and his soul would surely be affected by that process, but¡­

    Unknown to him, that wasn''t enough.

    Topletely reform his soul in the image of the Void, a condition needed to be met.

    True Death.

    His ego needed to be erased so the Void could takeplete control over his soul and transmute it.

    Even if his body was destroyed to the point where only a drop of blood remained, if he still had a possibility of revival, and if his ego was still attached to his soul, it was impossible to undergo this change.

    Therefore, he needed to die at some point.

    And that death could''ve never been expected or orchestrated by him.

    Now that he''d been returned to his whole form, the change could be exined.

    But there weren''t many words that could be used to glorify it.

    His soul was now apletely unique existence.

    Damien had the choice to be a part of the Void, but he refused.

    Instead, the Void integrated with him, and rather than being two existences with a power dynamic between them, they became one and the same.

    Damien was never the Void''s Apostle.

    He was the Void personified.

    Maybe not before, but that was his true identity, and he had now gained the qualifications to im that title.

    Damien''s growth would no longer face hindrance.

    Unlike other Divinities who had to slowly unravel the mysteries of the soul, Damien would have no problem once he underwent Cosmic Rebirth and joined their ranks.

    The effects of this transformation couldn''t be seen yet.

    They wouldn''t be seen for a while.

    But, they couldn''t be denied.

    Because this was the foundation for Damien to be unparalleled.

    As he became limated to his soul, he thoroughly ingrained the feeling of nonexistence in his memory so he would never forget what it felt like to almost disappear.

    But now that the time hade, he couldn''t resist the pull.

    A living soul was not allowed to be in this space where only those who were being reborn could go.

    Everything shattered around him like he was surrounded by walls of ss, and amidst light so unbelievably bright it caused one to feel reverence, his soul was pulled back into existence.

    BANG!

    A sharp inhale.

    Cold air.

    He didn''t realize he wasn''t able to feel these things before, because their concepts simply didn''t exist around him.

    But now¡­

    He raised his hand.

    His movements were clunky, but it eventually followed hismand.

    "It''s real¡­"

    His voice.

    He could hear his voice.

    His body was corporeal, not a vague shadow.

    He was back.

    He tried to expand his awareness, but he didn''t seem able to control it quite yet.

    His soul had returned to his body, but it hadn''t settled in yet.

    It would take some time for him to regain harmony.

    But that didn''t matter.

    He could feel it.

    Mana.

    Atmosphere.

    Earth.

    Blood.

    Vitality.

    He could feel it all.

    Those forces that told him without a doubt that he had returned to existence.

    "Hahaha¡­"

    Heughed listlessly.

    Even he couldn''t exin what just happened.

    It was like no time had passed at all, but at the same time, it had been an eternity since he felt "reality" so vividly.

    For a moment there, he was really gone.

    His soul was removed from his control, and his ego was truly erased.

    Just as he wished to happen when he died.

    But now that he was alive, now that he''d been reborn¡­

    It was terrifying.

    The fact that he was actually dead until just a moment ago made him feel a chill within the depths of his soul.

    No, that chill was not a product of his emotions.

    It was a real force that forced him to remember.

    It was a mark that would forever remain on his soul, the energy of True Death.

    But that didn''t matter.

    All of these feelings and fears were just things he had to get used to or get over.

    All that mattered was that he was back.

    And he had much to do.

    "Before all that¡­"

    He spoke out loud just to hear the sound of his voice.

    This simple thing he took for granted made him feel glorious.

    He relished in it.

    But¡­

    "...where am I?"

 Chapter 1228 Return...? [2]

    ?

    1228 Return...? [2]

    He looked around curiously, still unable to spread his awareness.

    The terrain was rtively barren and the rock was greyish-ck, which held simrities to Al''Katra, but he was certain he was no longer in the Nox stronghold.

    Because there were signs of vitality all around.

    It wasn''t clear, as there wasn''t any fauna, but he could feel it intuitively in the earth.

    This area was just extremely rocky. There were several mountains andrge hills in the distance, and though Damien was currently in a valley, he could see a path to a in in the distance.

    The problem was that it was far too empty.

    "I need to find shelter."

    Damien struggled to stand up in his current state, but he eventually got to his feet.

    For now, his first priority was to stabilize his personal state. Everything else would be much easier afterward.

    "Keuk...!"

    Damien suddenly coughed a mouthful of blood.

    "Heuk...! Haaah...HEUK...!"

    It seemed standing up was not the right choice.

    Blood pooled in his throat and forced him to vomit it out.

    It was ck in color, clearly stained with impurities.

    Damien clutched his chest in pain.

    "Ah..."

    Right, he was back in his body.

    ?

    And his body was not given the same treatment as his soul.

    The hole in his chest was still present, and to best describe the state of his internal body...

    It was a stew of bodily fluids, mixed with organ chunks and bone powder.

    He was quite literally only surviving through the power of his soul. His body was still technically deceased.

    "Haha...heuk...! No wonder it felt like that..."

    The coldness and the scent of death that wouldn''t leave him. It was definitely present in his soul, but he didn''t realize how much his body eviscerated the sensation until just now.

    "Technically, I''m a zombie right now. No wonder my soul was having so much trouble limating."

    He was some kind of corpse puppet, a state that couldn''t be allowed to remain.

    He limped through the rocky terrain and somehow found his way to a cave on the side of a nearby mountain.

    Since Damien couldn''t properly wield his mana to protect himself, he could only follow the cave to its deepest depths and copse against the wall, hoping nothing would discover his position.

    "Okay..."

    It was fine.

    It was painful, and it felt like he was dying, but the situation wasn''t as bad as it could be.

    "I just need to figure this out."

    He had a far greater connection with his soul than before. Now that he had half of the true Void Physique, he found himself equipped with several more abilities.\

    One of which being the power to use mana without his body as a medium.

    "Transcendent Regeneration."

    He said it out loud, using his words as a trigger to tell the Legends in his soul what he wanted.

    And like that, mana obeyed hismand from a ne beyond reality.

    "[Heal]."

    Two streams of mana flowed through his body.

    The colorless mana of Transcendent Regeneration mixed and flowed with the pure white mana of [Heal], and together, they began working to put his body together.

    The first step was obviously his organs.

    He couldn''t use his awareness because his brain was nonexistent and his spiritual world was disconnected, and he couldn''t use mana because the Ananta Matrix and his blood vessels were melted into nothingness.

    He had to not only reform his physical systems, but also the ethereal ones.

    Chunks of flesh and blood came together to reform his heart, before empowering it to a new level.

    Mana came together and reformed his Mana Heart, recreating the vessel where several of his powers housed themselves:

    Those powers immediately responded upon its recreation, and things like the Void me and Lightning took their proper ces without Damien''s prompting.

    He reformed his blood vessels and other core systems that kept his body healthy, and created a space for his bloodline core to reform, which allowed his bloodlines to reform in his body and help him with the process as well.

    The more hepleted, the more his body responded in kind, and eventually, Damien lost the need to directly control the process.

    It was better that way.

    Damien was very clear on the structure of his spiritual world and the ethereal aspects, but he was still a human.

    Even he didn''t know exactly how the brain functioned.

    He trusted it to rebuild itself more than he trusted himself to guide it.

    So, he waited and meditated.

    After his brain formed, Damien stopped focusing on the bodily rebirth and tried to find his spiritual world.

    Though he didn''t have awareness at the moment, he was able to find it through his soul, and as expected, it was in a shattered state.

    "Haa, to do this again..."

    It brought back bittersweet memories, especially because of the simrities between the two situations.

    It was always Nox Demigods making him go through things like this.

    Nevertheless, the current Damien was far more equipped to deal with it than his old self.

    Back then, it took him several months in the real world and over two years in the spiritual world to fix everything, but despite the fact that his spiritual world was now far more broken than that time, he fixed it far faster.

    The process took roughly six months in the spiritual world still, but he didn''t view that as a long period of time anymore.

    Perhaps his perception of the concept was broken now.

    The eternal second he spent beyond existence made time seem irrelevant, and the decade-plus he spent in the Abyss already broke his worldview.

    This was how someone with a lifespan like his should''ve perceived time, but he was always stuck in the views he developed on Earth.

    By the standards of his original world, he was already aged.

    He was almost fifty years old now.

    But he was still just a childpared to those monsters who lived for tens of thousands of years.

    And his main enemy was a man who''d lived for uncountable millions of years.

    The process of putting his body back together wasn''t all bad though.

    While it was time-consuming and ced him in danger if he was found, he was lucky enough to stay secure for the duration of his treatment.

    Once his body was functioning again and Transcendent Regeneration took over the workload, he focused on rebuilding the Ananta Matrix over everything else.

    The Ananta Matrix had been with him for a very long time, and it went through multiple evolutions as his strength grew.

    The system was capable of supporting Void Mana and gave him efficiency others couldn''t hope to match.

    On top of that, its revolution system made his already expansive mana capacity even more limitless. He only had to deal with the problem of running out of mana a handful of times despite his moveset bing ever more taxing over time.

    It was his most reliable creation, and now that it had been broken by a mana even he couldn''t contain, its reformation marked the beginning of a new evolution.

    ?

    An evolution that allowed it to withstand Divine Energy and bring Damien to a new state of existence.

    It was taxing for sure.

    Damien''s attention waspletely removed from the outside world. His soul and body needed time to readjust to each other, but he could now use his mana and awareness effectively.

    Which meant he was equipped to trek thisnd and understand his current situation.

    Or at least...that''s what he thought.

    Until he ced thest piece of the puzzle.

    The second his body was recovered to peak condition...

    His mind expanded past its limits.

    He was struck with sudden enlightenment.

    And his mana started to move.

 Chapter 1229 Return...? [3]

    ?

    1229 Return...? [3]

    "This..."

    Damien dropped all other thoughts and focused on the mana.

    His mind went back to the conversation he had with his other self in the depths of nonexistence.

    ''You don''t always have to plow through the mountain, huh...''

    This state of enlightenment was definitely sudden, but it wasn''t unexpected.

    Damien understood the base concept at that time, but without a body to exercise it, there was no way for the process to actually ur.

    Now that his vessel and soul were both in good condition, it came naturally and didn''t allow him to hold off.

    He understood the meaning of those words well.

    For over a decade he tried to push hisws together by force.

    He tried to find a way to merge them into a single entity, because he assumed that by doing this step by step, he''d reach the truth of existence.

    However, he was wrong.

    As he originally thought, it was impossible tobine them.

    They were whole on their own. They worked in tandem by aplishing things their counterparts could not, but by the same reasoning, they could never achieve what their counterparts could.

    This was like making spirit liquor.

    If he just put two herbs together, they''d just be a mixture of two herbs. They wouldn''t be something new just because he forced them into one product.

    ?

    To make a proper liquor, he needed to understand the precisebination of herbs necessary to create it. They could only bebined when they were all gathered together.

    The analogy wasn''tpletely urate since itcked the fundamental impossibility that followed Damien''s efforts withws, but it was close enough.

    Instead of plowing through the mountain, why couldn''t he just build a winding road around it?

    Why couldn''t he just "tether" thews together in a way that mimicked their natural states and wait for the opportunity to fuse them into the full extent of "existence" that he desired?

    He was stupid for not thinking about it earlier.

    No, it was just a w in his mentality.

    As a man who always confronted problems directly, he didn''t even think about using other methods. His growth hade too easy until now, so he never had to think of alternative ways to strengthen himself.

    Tunnel vision wasn''t a new concept or even an unexpected one, it was just something he couldn''t see precisely because he was suffering from it.

    But that other version of himself directly cleared away the obstacle.

    And Damien, who was not bogged down by existence at that time, understood it instantly.

    The movement was ethereal. It did not exist in the Real ne, and it was impossible to witness.

    But there was a pocket in Damien''s soul that contained several forces.

    A swirling formless Spacetime, a ck and white Samsara, a shing rainbow Elemental, and a reddish-ck seed of unknown origin.

    ?

    These forces all carved out their own corners of the space, and despite how reckless their movements seemed, their paths never connected or interfered with each other.

    It was like they were separated by a natural revulsion.

    But at this time...

    From the deep ckness that represented Damien''s reformed soul, a strand pierced into the space.

    Ittched onto the Elemental Law and forced it into submission before digging into its core and deeply entrenching its roots.

    Then, the other side of the strand rushed forward, ignoring the boundaries of this hidden space and rudely intruding into the territories of the other forces residing there.

    They did not refute its presence.

    They did not have the ability.

    Luckily, most of them were safe.

    It made a beeline straight for Samsara, and as if it had intelligence, it cowered and trembled, understanding its fate.

    Once again, the strand stabbed into the Law and spread its influence.

    Suddenly, there was a connection.

    Samsara and Elemental energies flowed back and forth through the string, and while they still couldn''t interact, they were bound together and unable to extricate themselves.

    "Huu..."

    Damien took a deep breath.

    It felt like his chest was expanding, allowing him to intake as much air as he wished.

    ?

    There were many theories about the human body.

    It was hard to not see the simrities between humanity and the wider universe.

    But today, Damien''s body took its first step towards truly bing a microcosm, a miniature representation of the greater universe.

    The tethering of Elemental and Samsara Laws created a chain reaction that spread through his systems.

    The best word to describe what these two fundamentalws represented was "life."

    Of course, it was in a broader sense of the world.

    Creation, Destruction, Space, and Time created a container for everything to exist, while Life, Death, and the Elements gave that container "life."

    They could be said to form the material half of the concept of Existence.

    Every otherw, every other concept that rted to the material side of existence stemmed from them.

    It was supposed to be an extremelyplicated process.

    But strangely enough, Damien didn''t feel it was difficult at all.

    Rather, the closer he came to the Void, the less need he felt to define things.

    Because even definition was only created to exin these processes to those who were below them.

    Damien was not.

    In fact, as he epted his position as a manifestation of the Void itself, or rather, its owner, he was above all concepts.

    He hadn''t reached that point yet, but that was his final destination. All concepts, in a sense, came from him.

    ?

    So why did he need to define them?

    They meant what he wanted them to mean.

    It was aplexity that embraced simplicity. Nevertheless, it came to an end just like that.

    Damien stood up in the cave, finally feeling like himself again.

    "This is the answer. Not only to my previous problems, but my current ones. As long as I can add the rest of the fundamentalws to this connection, my soul and body will rediscover their harmony! "Huu..."

    Damien took another breath.

    This time, it was to feel their weight.

    The weight of the past several days.

    It was hard to process, but he had to ept the genocide hemitted and the death he faced in return.

    He had to internalize these experiences and use them to grow.

    ''Funnily enough, I thought I''d feel more. I guess there are consequences to everything!

    He understood exactly why his emotions were duller.

    He lost sight of existence for a moment. That had a profound

    impact on his psyche.

    ''But it''s fine. In the scheme of things, it''s a minor matter, since this numbness isn''t universally affecting his emotions!

    He could even consider it a boon.

    He couldn''t hold sympathy for his enemies.

    ''But my own life...I have to stay excruciatingly aware of the importance of my life!

    ?

    That was something he wouldn''t lose again.

    He didn''t want to experience that deafening nothingness again.

    ''Now that everything''s sorted out, let''s answer the most pressing question!''

    Where in the world was he?

    He spread his awareness and covered millions of kilometers in an instant.

    He found that it was far easier than before.

    ''Hmm...it all looks the same. I can''t get any clues from the environment, but my awareness can''t pierce the atmosphere, so this can''t be a regr world!

    It had to be a secret realm or something of the sort.

    ''I guess I''ll just-''

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosion was more than just massive.

    Damien gritted his teeth and put up severalyers of defense as the mountain around him was decimated.

    His vision was inhibited by the bright light around him, but his heart dropped nheless.

    "This feeling..."

    It was prating his body, making it impossible to ignore.

    But this time, his systems didn''t immediately break down.

    The Ananta Matrix whirred to life and revolved furiously, creating a suction force that pulled that energy into its system and expunged it through his palms.

    A fluid that looked like golden-white blood dripped onto the ground.

    ?

    This energy...

    Damien knew it very well.

    He gritted his teeth and withheld his fury.

    "Divine Energy..."

    The mana of Demigods.

    He didn''t know who was fighting, and he didn''t know what was happening, but this energy could only exist so prominently in one ce.

    "Fucking hell..."

    Damien almostughed at the nonsensical situation.

    "Why the fuck am I in the Ancient Battlefield?!"

 Chapter 1230 Ancient Battlefield [1]

    ?

    1230 Ancient Battlefield [1]

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosive force that decimated the mountain was nothing more than a residual effect of the original attack.

    Damien realized this instantly when he survived without much problem, and didn''t hesitate to teleport several million kilometers away.

    "This is dangerous.

    The Ancient Battlefield.

    Since he was here, it meant he couldn''t rely on anything but himself.

    This was a ce meant for the battle of Demigods. By all reason and logic, he wasn''t supposed to be here.

    But the fact that he was wouldn''t change.

    He had no protection against Divine Energy here. There were no mechanisms preventing the Demigods from attacking him.

    If an enemy happened to see him, he wouldn''t even have time to register it before he died.

    ''Let''s hide and observe first!

    Damien could be considered extremely lucky.

    Putting aside his concealment abilities that were already high ss, the imbnce between his soul and body made his existence difficult to perceive.

    After all, his soul was baptized by the Void. This meant its existence wasn''t something Demigods without knowledge of the Void could perceive.

    When he only needed to hide the fluctuations of his body, it became far easier to separate himself from reality and make himself truly imperceptible.

    And that''s exactly what he did.

    A variation of One With Dimension went into effect. Damien vanished into the folds of space and isted himself with several Dimensional Cages, effectively hiding himself within a fraction of a second.

    That gave him the security to observe the ongoing battle.

    The Nox Demigod appeared first.

    That man didn''t have many features distinguishing him from other Nox, but his mana was surprisingly light, far separated from the mana most Nox used.

    "That must be a result of his Demonic Providence. It''s kind of ironic to see something titled demonic looking so holy!

    Damien couldn''t urately gauge Divine Energy with his current abilities, but he could at least understand its attributes.

    It was extremely sacred. It was a mana that should''ve been used to heal, but this Nox used it for theplete opposite purpose.

    Every attack had the capability to siphon life from its target and weaken them, and from the way he fought, it was evident he loved to torture his opponents until theirst breath.

    ''And the one he''s fighting is...''

    Damien had a rtively decent understanding of the Demigods on the universe''s side.

    He was certain he could understand the one fighting if he saw the mana, but...

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    His eyes widened.?

    Wasn''t this mana...a little too familiar?

    He sharpened his perception and peered through the clouds of dust and Divine Energy in the atmosphere, instantly confirming his guess.

    "That''s...Albeus!''

    A Demigod from Shadow Garden, Albeus was a great help to him when he was fighting on the unnamed world, but they''d had almost no contact since then.

    Damien was wondering what he was up to, but he didn''t expect to meet him again like this!

    ''Calm down. Their levels seem matched, so it shouldn''t be a problem!

    The fight was already underway by the time it reached Damien, and it definitely wasn''t an isted incident.

    The two Demigods were already injured to varying extents, and as they continued to fight, their injuries only worsened.

    It was definitely interesting to watch if Damien let go of his personal feelings.

    Since both of them used mana with light attributes, their battle was like multiple stars exploding and creating supernovas that swept through the space.

    The Ancient Battlefield was specifically built to house Divinities, so its space didn''t budge, which protected Damien, but the environment wasn''t so lucky.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Divine Energy ran rampant.

    "Thest time I saw Demigods fight was when the Fifth Primal Sovereign showed up. Back then, I was somehow able to involve myself without incurring the universal restrictions, but if I tried the same here...''

    He''d seen two Demigod battles, but neither of thempared to this.

    After all, the first was between two with fractured Divinities, and while the second involved over a hundred Demigods, its impact didn''te near what he was seeing now.

    ''Why is that? When the old man and the rest fought the Primal Sovereign, they definitely went all out. The old man''s divinity was fractured, but the rest were still in good condition, so why...?''

    Was it a matter of strength?

    Was the strength difference between Demigods so massive as they grew?

    Or was there another reason?

    Damien shook his head. This wasn''t a question he could answer before understanding Divinity himself. For now, he could only watch this battle at a superficial level without gaining much.

    As it continued, a difference appeared between them.

    The Nox Demigod''s life siphoning was clearly taking effect.

    Albeus'' pace was slowing down by the second, but his attack power didn''t lessen.

    As Albeus realized his disadvantage, he rushed in and disallowed the Nox Demigod from using his ranged power.

    However, life siphoning wasn''t something he could stop.

    It was clear he just wanted to deal as much damage as possible.

    They exchanged countless blows in just a few instances. Their fighting techniques weren''t extremely refined, but for some reason, their exchange felt like a well-thought-out y without any viewers.

    ''It''s because they''re predicting each other so well. Even if they don''t specialize in closebat, they''re able to replicate the moves of a master through perception alone!

    It was amazing.

    It was no wonder the 5th ss was so far separated from the sses before it.

    It made sense that one needed nine revolutions to even be on the cusp of this power.

    This kind of foresighting from nothing more than regr perception was amazing.

    But...

    The battle was a tragic one.

    The power to control one''s life and death at a touch was terrifying.

    Unless one had appropriate countermeasures to protect their life force, power level didn''t matter.

    Because this Nox Demigod''s power seemed to ignore all defenses to directly target one''s lifeblood.

    ''Albeus...''

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    ...is going to die!

    He wasn''t the only one who realized this.

    Albeus understood his fate several minutes ago, but he kept fighting.

    There was no way to escape here. His speed wasn''t fast enough to get away from his enemy, and even if he was, he''d be essentially crippled when another Nox Demigod inevitably found him fleeing.

    ?

    So he made a choice.

    Even if he was going to die, he''d make sure this Nox Demigod would lose his life here too!

    He gathered all his power together.

    His body was frail and weak. It wouldn''t live more than a few more years even if he lived here.

    And to a Demigod, that was just a blink of an eye.

    He didn''t need that time.

    He already aplished everything he set out to do in life.

    The Shadow Garden he raised was now proudly standing amongst the soldiers of the Human Domain, and had the protection of Luciel himself because of Tian Yang''s connection to the angel.

    So it was fine even if he died.

    As long as he died while contributing to the great cause they were fighting for, he didn''t care.

    His mana gathered in his core.

    He burned his blood away and took thest few years of his lifespan to strengthen the mana he held.

    And finally...

    Damien closed his eyes.

    He didn''t want to see it.

    But he heard it well.

    BOOOO0000000000000000OM!

    An explosion far greater than any other.

    A force that leveled the area for several dozens of millions of kilometers.

    ?

    Light that covered the grey and bleak environment and painted it in majestic beauty.

    And the crushing feeling of death.

    Divine Energy raged for over half an hour before it finally settled down.

    When Damien opened his eyes again, there was only one man remaining in the area.

    He was crippled beyond belief. He''d lost both legs and an arm, and his torso was practically burnt to a crisp. Several holes were present in his body, allowing one to see the area behind him clearly, and his head was only half of its previous size.

    But there were faint signs of life force emanating from his body.

    He was still alive.

    With the abilities of a Nox, even if it took a long time, he''d be able to reach peak condition if he was left alone.

    Damien gnashed his teeth.

    ''I can''t allow that!

    Albeus'' sacrifice was inevitable.

    It happened so fast that it almost lost meaning, but to Damien, it deeply engraved an understanding of what the Ancient Battlefield was like into his soul.

    Perhaps it was quick, but it had unprecedented value.

    To sacrifice his life for justice...

    ''Albeus was a great man. A man of honor that I can''tpare to. His sacrifice...cannot go in vain!

    Damien exited his hidden dimension with cold eyes.

    It would''ve never been possible under other circumstances, but right now...

    ...he would kill this Demigod.

 Chapter 1231 Ancient Battlefield [2]

    Chapter 1231 Ancient Battlefield [2]

    ''DAMMIT!''

    His current condition was anything but good.

    He never expected an easy fight from the start, but after pushing him so far, he didn''t expect the human Demigod to still have the energy to kill himself so spectacrly!

    In his current state, he couldn''t do anything.

    It would take at least several years to heal his crippled body, let alone his soul.

    It was terrible.

    Especially considering their current location.

    If he was able to devour his own kind, he could heal far faster, but in this ce, there were rarely beings weaker than him, especially not those willing to give up their lives for his sake.

    ''Dammit!''

    That battle wasn''t supposed to end this way.

    At the beginning, it was a group battle. There were six of them, and they attacked a group of three universe Demigods after believing in their numbers advantage.

    But, of course, that was their mistake.

    Among those three, one was extremely powerful. He was a man who, by himself, was able to take three from their group alone.

    He and the human Demigod confronted each other during this collision, and he originally believed he could quickly kill the man and escape, but who would''ve thought theirws were so simr?

    In the end, he was left in this state.

    Perhaps the enemy was dead, but the humiliation he suffered far outweighed that fact.

    ''Dammit!''

    Regardless, he had to get out of here.

    After that attack, the mountainous area was reduced to a in, and anyone who passed by would be able to see his corpse-like figure and easily ughter him.

    He called forth the little mana he had and ced it into the tips of his fingers.

    He used his only remaining arm to drag himself across the t in as his awareness spread in search of a hiding ce.

    Crunch!

    "ARGH!"

    The timing was perfect.

    A being appeared in his perception at the same time they arrived before him.

    He looked up, using his single remaining eye to look at who''d found him in this unlucky position.

    Whether it was enemy or ally, they would kill him.

    He wasn''t able to escape his¨C

    "Lower¡­existence¡­?"

    His eyes widened.

    This man¡­wasn''t he a Supreme?!

    Hope appeared in the Nox Demigod''s eye.

    If it was a lower existence, even with his little power¡­?

    He reached up and grabbed the man''s ankle with a grin.

    "Kekeke¡­thank you¡­for the meal!"

    He pushed all the Divine Energy in his fingers into the lower existence''s body.

    Even if it was negligible, it was more than enough to crush this man to nothingness.

    And using the power he received, he''d at least regain the ability to move properly!

    Or at least, that was how it was intended to go.

    "T-this¡­"

    His expression turned uglier than it naturally was with his disfigured appearance.

    Why wasn''t anything happening?

    He looked up into a pair of amethyst eyes that stared down at him coldly.

    That man finally spoke.

    "Thanks for that, but I''m good. You can have it back."

    BOOM!

    The Ananta Matrix revolved and expunged the Divine Energy just like before, but this time, it directly targeted the felled Demigod!

    His own Divine Energy returned to his body seeking revenge. It tore his already broken systems apart even more, and made it almost impossible for him to think.

    "Oh? You''re still alive? Well, that''s good. I wanted to do it myself anyway."

    Damien knelt down and ced his hand on the Nox Demigod''s head.

    With thatst burst of Divine Energy, the Demigod was definitely weak enough to die by his hand.

    "Be my power. Please and thank you."

    Void Mana invaded the Nox Demigod''s systems and devoured everything that remained.

    The energy of nothingness, enhanced by the "nonexistence" in Damien''s memory, was impossible to resist.

    The Nox Demigod''s body slowly turned to ash, not ink. His memories and power rushed into Damien''s body as he smiled:

    "That was easier than I thought."

    The Nox Demigod died easily, but with hisst memory being such a humiliating defeat, would he have peace in the afterlife?

    Definitely not.

    He would rot as he was meant to.

    Damien''s eyes glimmered with realization.

    ''That shouldn''t have been so easy regardless of his state. It should''ve taken much longer to break him down and devour him. But since it didn''t¡­''

    "I guess my power increased more than I thought."

    If it was like this¡­

    If it was the weakest possible version of them¡­

    "...maybe I could do it on my own?"

    Damien shook his head wryly.

    He could think about that when the time came, but for now¡­

    ''This guy''s memories are great for me. Let''s see what the Ancient Battlefield is all about.''

    ***

    Damien''s position was truly unfortunate.

    He appeared randomly on the Ancient Battlefield,pletely away from the intended starting point of the Demigods who were meant to be here.

    Well, it wasn''t for no reason.

    His existence here was already a problem.

    The only assumption he could make was that he got caught in the teleportation by mistake.

    The Saint Emperor''s arm was through his chest when the man got teleported away. If direct contact was enough to affect the discement, there would be many more lower existences here, but the key was that it wasn''t just Damien''s body, but his corpse.

    If he was registered by the universe as a non-living thing, it wasn''t hard to understand why he''d been caught up in the phenomenon.

    But that was beside the point.

    He was lucky enough to bepletely separated from anything of value when he arrived here.

    In reality, the Ancient Battlefield was structured something like a game arena.

    This grayish-ck rocky terrain epassed the majority of its territory, as this material was best for absorbing the shocks of these Divine shes, but it wasn''t all there was.

    In fact, there were three sites of note on the map.

    The first two were the base camps of the two opposing sides.

    These weren''t set up by the fighters themselves, but by the realm.

    They were bases of operation and also the "spawn points" where they would find themselves immediately upon arrival.

    Naturally, from the Nox Demigod''s memories, he could only see the Nox side''s base. Nobody was stupid enough to charge the enemy''s fortress, as both sides were aware of their power bnce.

    However, just looking at the base put him in awe. It was quite the magisterial structure.

    But, it wasn''t nearlyparable to the third.

    The third structure in this realm was a massive bordered area in the very center of the realm.

    It looked like a river, but was as wide as an ocean. There were several white tforms that floated on its surface like lily pads, giving it an overall air of importance.

    ''ording to this guy''s memories, that ce can''t be essed until certain conditions are met, but this idiot didn''t bother to figure out what the conditions were. How annoying¡­''

    It was surely going to be important at some point, but Damien decided to put it aside until he could find the answer naturally.

    ''The Nox are rtively unworried at the moment. It''s not like they don''t have a reason, though¡­''

    The Nox didn''t just have their own troops, after all.

    Those traitors who sumbed to temptation and epted the Nox''s power also spawned on their side, and it was the perfect time to use them as cannon fodder.

    ''On top of that, people like Immortal Blood Asura will mess things up from the inside.''

    Damien shook his head.

    ''The overall situation isn''t in our favor, but it''s also not impossible to win. The Emperors haven''t made a move yet, so for now, it should be okay for me to move around.''

    Damien gained aprehensive understanding of his environment through those memories, and the situation itself was something that would change so frequently that its current state didn''t matter.

    ''For now, there are more important things to focus on.''

    He needed to find a way to survive.

    But just running and hiding would never give him security.

    Even the universe''s base camp couldn''t offer him absolute safety until its hidden evils were eliminated.

    So it was time for him to test out that theory.

    ''Strangely enough, I don''t have any doubts.''

    Damien grinned.

    If his life was on the line anyway, then it was better to do everything he could to survive.

    He was not willing to die a meaningless death!

 Chapter 1232 Ancient Battlefield [3]

    Chapter 1232 Ancient Battlefield [3]

    The Ancient Battlefield was truly massive.

    It had to be.

    From a Demigod standpoint, millions of kilometers were negligible. To truly have an expansive battlefield that could bring out the full power of all those participating, it had to be massive.

    But, it wasn''t toorge.

    The goal was to fight until only one side remained. To prevent a situation where the numbers be so uneven that it bes almost impossible to meet an enemy, the space would shrink depending on the number of remaining fighters, until it finally epassed only the river in the center.

    But for now, as battle had only just begun, it hadn''t shrunk at all.

    Damien began to move immediately once he got used to the power increase in his body.

    He had to keep himself constantly concealed in severalyers of protection to hide from any and everyone he passed, but he found it surprisingly easy.

    This mana-guzzling action didn''t put any burden on him at all.

    There were two reasons.

    Even Damien didn''t understand how much he''d changed after his soul evolved.

    Since mana was housed in the soul and used by the body, the synergy between the two was always important for a practitioner to truly beplete.

    With his current soul, not only did the amount of mana he could store balloon, but the exchange rate between mana and output became far more advantageous.

    Essentially, his soul allowed him to create a hundred times the power with only a fraction of the required mana.

    This was the more esoteric of the two reasons. The full potential of the evolved soul didn''t end here, but Damien still had to experience several battles and introspections to fully delve into it.

    The second was far simpler. After all, he''d just devoured a Demigod!

    The circumstances didn''t let him pat himself on the back for this achievement, nor did he care to after what he experienced on Al''Katra, but the effects such an act had on his body were significant.

    Not only was his physical body strengthened to a new degree that allowed him to cope with mild amounts of Divine Energy even without the Ananta Matrix, but his mana had reached a new state, as if it had been washed and purified by the energy of Demigods.

    ''The only unfortunate thing is that I still can''t use Divine Energy. That won''t be possible regardless of what I be before ascending to Divinity, because it''s something only attained during Cosmic Rebirth, but¡­''

    To transmute his mana into aparable force wasn''t a pipe dream.

    ''I need to change.''

    Damien refused to stay the same as he used to be.

    There was nothing wrong with his previous self. If there was, he wouldn''t have achieved everything he did.

    But, if he wanted to see the heights of his ambition, it wasn''t enough.

    ''I have to throw away my doubts. I have to abandon my fears. Maybe it''s not possible right this instant, but by the time I leave the Ancient Battlefield¡­''

    He had to be apletely different monster.

    This change was not just in terms of power or league, and not in terms that anyone else in the universe could understand.

    To put it simply, it was time for him to start embodying the Void.

    ''But that can be saved forter. Right now¡­''

    Damien nced around.

    It wasn''t like there were Demigods everywhere, but there really were Demigods everywhere.

    This number far outstripped anything he knew and understood during his time in the universe.

    ''ording to that Nox Demigod''s memories, the numbers on both sides are about even. But¡­from what I''ve seen from the Nox, there''s at least a few thousand on their side.''

    Did the universe have so many Demigods?

    ''Now that I think about it, Su Ren''s master was unknown to me, but not to the experts of the universe. He was living in seclusion and taking an uninvolved stance in worldly affairs. When I met the Fallen Star Holy Master in the past, he also said their Demigod Ancestors were in seclusion and left the sect to him¡­''

    As he continued to think about different powerful influences in the universe, he realized that only a few, such as Prismatic Sun Holy Land and Blood Asura Holy Land, were actually run by Demigods.

    Most of them were controlled by Supremes with their Demigods acting as nothing more than backing.

    ''It turns out we had so many experts just rxing in seclusion this whole time. If I count those who are unaffiliated like Su Ren''s master, the number gets blown even further out of proportion.''

    Damien sighed.

    He was starting to realize why everyone looked at the Human Domain so scornfully.

    In total, they didn''t have more than a few tens of Demigods. Compared to the rest of the universe, weren''t they truly pitiful?

    ''But that also goes to show just how many powerful people we lost during thest war.''

    Damien shook his head and silenced his thoughts.

    He was just using them to entertain himself, but the time for that had passed.

    After all, he was currently searching for something.

    He didn''t know anything about the stages of Divinity, nor did the Demigods in the universe.

    Perhaps something like a true representation of their power in levels was only avable in the Heavenly World. The Demigods who''d cut off their paths to ascension could only grow without knowing their endpoint and get stronger until they couldn''t grow any further.

    Their only way to gauge their strength was to see the level of those around them.

    Damien was the same.

    As he flew past several tens of Demigods, he took the time to observe each and every one, and followed the estimate of his base instincts to make judgements.

    He wasn''t looking for anything specific.

    He just wanted a sign.

    A reading that looked favorable.

    And he''d finally found it.

    Just moments ago, as he was passing over a mountain, he noticed a Nox Demigod in meditation on its peak.

    From the looks of it, he hadn''t engaged in battle at all sinceing to this ne, and instead focused on increasing his strength in secret.

    ''This is Nox territory after all. Unless the situation is dire, they won''t target their own. He must''ve assumed he was safe.''

    Damien grinned.

    ''What a stupid mistake to make on the battlefield.''

    He was the first Demigod thus far.

    The first one his instincts called weak.

    Damien was hidden in a separated dimension several hundred meters in the sky above that Nox Demigod.

    He raised his arm silently.

    His concealment was perfect.

    His position wouldn''t be given away unless he wanted it to be.

    ''As long as I prepare carefully¡­''

    He''d already been observing for several days.

    This Demigod only moved once a day to secure the area before returning to his meditative state.

    That time had already passed today.

    He wouldn''t be getting up any time soon.

    Damien''s mana entered reality without a single fluctuation.

    It was far darker than usual. Its ckness was deeper than anything he could produce before, making it clear that the ratio between Void energy and mana in his veins was starting to change.

    Elemental and Samsara.

    These twows had been tethered, and their energies could now interact despite not fully fusing.

    Damien summoned a ball of mana on his palm andpressed it thinner and sharper until it formed a needle. He then injected this needle with the energies of the twows.

    It was both ck and white and rainbow-colored at the same time. The sharp contrast between the two energies caused spiritual chaos that spread through the needle and almost shattered it, but Damien quickly used the Void to stabilize them, albeit for a short moment.

    This was it.

    The new power he''d gained, the new mana he''d gained, the new soul he''d gained, they all came together for one purpose.

    With this¡­

    ''...I''ll take your head!''

    Damien descended in an instant andnded behind the Nox Demigod.

    Before his fluctuations could leak in the slightest, he flicked the needle at high speeds, allowing it to directly pierce the enemy''s neck.

    He realized as he watched it fly.

    He realized as he watched it expand and turn into something he never intended.

    The power he just used¡­was far beyond hisprehension.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

 Chapter 1233 Ancient Battlefield [4]

    Chapter 1233 Ancient Battlefield [4]

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosion directly incinerated half of the mountain before slowly tearing away the rest of its body.

    The Nox Demigod whom it originally targeted vanishedpletely in its light. One could only imagine what he was going through in the very center of those rampagingws.

    In fact, his life fluctuations vanished within the first few seconds, indicating his death far before the force could even reach its peak.

    Damien truly didn''t understand what he''d achieved when he tethered Elemental and Samsara.

    Because the process came so easily to him, he couldn''t grasp how amazing his aplishment was.

    As mentioned before, the tethering of these two represented Damien gaining control over the "material" aspect of the concept of existence.

    This sentence was both simple and extremely intuitive at the same time.

    The concept of existence, it was far grander than anything else Damien even considered understanding in the past.

    Universal Law, the fundamentalws, Divinity; "everything" that could be manifested in reality was under the umbre of existence.

    Elemental and Samsara were perhaps only a single part of the many factors involved in the gargantuan concept, but they held far more value than any others.

    This was because they created the backbone of all things. Without these concepts, nothing would be able to exist to grow and define the rest of those material concepts.

    Therefore, when they werebined, Damien''s power became something immeasurable.

    As long as it existed in the physical ne, Damien could exert influence over it.

    The only thing holding him back from sovereignty was his own power and league.

    And going by his current standing¡­

    Well, maybe they were the weakest of their kind, but even some Demigods couldn''t withstand his force with their bodies.

    Of course, the problem was that if they had a single opportunity, they could also kill him in a sh.

    This was why Damien made thorough preparations and stayed as concealed as possible when he attacked this time.

    And as he watched the explosion, he gradually rationalized his new state of existence.

    ''If what I''m thinking is true¡­''

    Then even though he killed that Demigod just now, he hadn''t truly killed him.

    Damien frowned.

    He looked at the explosive cloud that was still growing by the second and pushed his hand out.

    ''Devour.''

    He didn''t know what he was aiming for, but if "anything" still existed in that cloud, he would devour it.

    Energy flowed into his body.

    It came from the mana in the atmosphere and the earth that made up the Ancient Battlefield, but nothing more.

    At least, not at first.

    In just a few seconds, Damien noticed a change.

    A strange energy he couldn''t perceive properly flowed into his body through Devour, and in his mind, agonizing screams resounded and bounced around.

    He felt something inside him growing.

    He wasn''t directly conscious of it, but after his experience in nonexistence, he could at least somewhat understand its existence.

    His "soul" was growing.

    ''As I thought, I can''tpletely eliminate them with just force.''

    Demigods were entities above the logic he knew.

    Not only did their vessels have a new level of power, they had direct ess to their souls and the ability to consciously affect their growth.

    This meant they could remain living without a true physical body.

    Their souls held far more of their identity than their vessels.

    It wasn''t a definite thing, of course.

    The soul would remain an esoteric concept unless one spent an extensive amount of time studying it. Just because they could perceive it didn''t mean every Demigod had the ability to control it properly.

    But, there were definitely Demigods who could survive as soul bodies for a period of time.

    There were several problems with such a state as well, and it wasn''t as easy as possessing a body to revive, but that was a conversation for another time.

    After all, Damien wasn''t aware of any of this yet!

    All he knew was that his power was great.

    Great enough for him to survive in the Ancient Battlefield.

    ''If I keep killing like this, if I keep growing stronger throughbat of this level¡­''

    The barrier that separated him from Divinity would be flimsy extremely quickly.

    ''First of all, let''s get out of here.''

    Damien confirmed the death of his target when he seeded in devouring his soul, so there was no reason for him to stay here.

    ''The enemy will congregate here soon to find out what happened. In the worst-case scenario, I''ll get ambushed again.''

    Frankly, Damien wasn''tpletely okay.

    His experience in death gave him real trauma.

    It wasn''t like when he was still growing, where his mentality would bepletely ruined by it, but he had be quite paranoid and untrusting of his own strength.

    Because of this, he immediately fled.

    He traveled several dozens of millions of kilometers until he was so far away from the explosion that he couldn''t see or sense it in the background, and then he continued moving.

    ''I have a goal. Instead of focusing on other things, I should move towards it as fast as possible.''

    He calmed the excitement brewing in his heart. He kept a cool mind and rationally viewed the situation, disallowing himself from falling prey to overwhelming emotion.

    He had two things to do now.

    First and foremost, he needed to kill until he wasn''t endangered by any and everything.

    And second, he had to find allies.

    ''Aside from Albeus, I haven''t seen anyone else from our side. I can''t even tell if I''m moving deeper into enemy territory since it''s impossible to differentiate when the terrain is so uniform.''

    The only thing he could do was keep moving forward. He would meet them eventually as long as he did so.

    And with that thought in mind, he moved.

    Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Before he knew it, Damien had been in the Ancient Battlefield for over a year.

    That wasn''t any time at all in the grand scheme of things.

    This battle would go on for decades at the very least.

    The battlefield hadn''t shrunk even once yet, which meant there were a considerable number of Demigods still alive on both sides.

    However, for Damien personally¡­

    ''Heh¡­''

    He grinned to himself as he gripped his fist.

    He just killed another one.

    This was his tenth assassination in the past year.

    The number wasn''t very big, but when the subject was Divinities, even ten amounted to an uncountable number of lower existences that might have even exceeded Damien''s current kill count.

    He was slowly getting used to the atmosphere here.

    He was slowly getting rid of his paranoia, and as his power grew, the need to be secretive also lessened to an extent.

    ''Just a few more and I can start targeting stronger enemies.''

    Damien was satisfied with his progress.

    But¡­

    He still hadn''t met an ally.

    It wasn''t that he saw nobody from Grand Heavens Boundary, but he hadn''t met a single person he could actually reveal his existence to.

    At least, that''s how it was for the past year.

    As he teleported around to find his next target, he noticed a sh of color on the horizon.

    A rainbow mana that he''d only seen from one person before.

    A bright smile formed on his face.

    ''Finally¡­''

    Finally, he saw traces of someone he could trust.

 Chapter 1234 Ancient Battlefield [5]

    Chapter 1234 Ancient Battlefield [5]

    Damien rapidly made his way to the location.

    Demigod battles were never stationary. Since their steps could move them from star to star effortlessly, it was natural for them to move around a lot when they were battling with their full power.

    When Damien reached the sh he saw, there was nothing remaining but calming fluctuations of the once rampant mana, but the fact that it wasn''t yet dispersedpletely meant they hadn''t moved far.

    He spread his awareness and focused on his perception.

    ''It''s not always big explosions or fantastical scenes. When they need to concentrate their power, Divinities strike more silently than anyone.''

    His eyes were useless for something like this. He used his ears to feel the earth and listen for vibrations, he used his awareness to scout millions of kilometers in the distance, and he used his intuition to judge where all the factors wouldbine.

    He already sensed several pulses from the distance, but if he just followed them, he''d never catch up.

    What he needed to do was predict their movements.

    His mind traveled at light speed as he did several calctions. His eyes shot open as he plotted the route.

    ''There.''

    His body vanished.

    He shed through the surroundings until he was at least five stars away from his original position before concealing himself and lying in wait.

    And within the minute, the ground began to tremor, the force causing this changeing closer and closer by the second.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    It wasn''t an explosion.

    A body tore through a nearby mountain and mmed into the ground only a few hundred kilometers away from Damien.

    He watched as the Nox Demigod rapidly stood up and stabilized themself before ring into the distance.

    ''Ah, unexpectedly, the enemy is also someone I know. This one should be the de Lord.''

    If he wasn''t mistaken, the Sword Lord was one of the Inhuman Emperor''s followers, roughly on the same level as the Marite Emperor.

    He was supposedly quite the gant figure.

    Because he followed the path of the sword, his demeanor didn''t match the rest of the Nox Race, instead representing something like a master who severed his connection with all things but his sword.

    It was honestly respectable in a sense, if one ignored his true nature.

    But currently, he didn''t look like his reputation in the slightest.

    He was battered and beaten, and after being thrown through the mountain, he seemed to have taken extreme internal damage, as ck blood was constantly leaking from his mouth.

    As he stood strong and raised his sword, a figure appeared in the air.

    Beautiful, like a star lighting up the dreary atmosphere of the Ancient Battlefield, Eyrissea Luminus raised her arm like a graceful willow drifting in the wind.

    "This is the end," she said coldly, looking down at the enemy.

    "The end? Haha, that is not something for you to decide."

    The Sword Lord responded confidently, but his body betrayed his thoughts.

    He could hardly move anymore. It was certain he wouldn''t survive another attack from her.

    Yet, he trusted his sword and raised it once more.

    Though she looked pristine, he was sure her internal condition wasn''t great either after battling for so long. He was clearer than anyone about the type of damage he could do.

    So as long as he seeded in this attack, he''d have a chance.

    As long as his sword followed¨C

    "You seem to be unaware of your situation."

    A voice appeared in his ear.

    He shuddered.

    Iris hadn''t moved from her ce in the sky, yet¡­

    He looked down with a wry smile.

    Right, when he was facing her, the entire world became his enemy.

    The second he allowed himself to hit the ground, he lost.

    The earth around him mped around his legs and refused to let him move. There were already spikes on his back, just moments away from impaling him.

    "It was a good battle," he said weakly.

    ng!

    His sword dropped to the ground.

    He no longer had the strength to hold it.

    But he wasn''t worthy of an honorable defeat.

    "Perhaps to you, but to me, you are just another fodder. Please don''t think of yourself too highly."

    SHIK!

    Along with Iris'' words, the spikes impaled his chest and stomach, and rampaging mana destroyed the remains of his internal body.

    He melted into ink with an expression of unwillingness on his face, and another wave of rainbow mana appeared to make sure he would never revive.

    Death in both body and soul.

    The most terrifying oue for a Divinity.

    Irisnded on the ground before the corpse and flicked her wrist, picking the treasures he held out of his remains.

    ''Good. As long as we continue like this¡­''

    Her eyes suddenly shot to the side as a presence appeared in the void.

    She already raised her hand to attack, but in the split second her mana took to gather¡­

    "Wait, wait! Look before you shoot!"

    A familiar voice graced her ears.

    Her eyes widened.

    "You¡­!"

    Damiennded next to her with a smile.

    "What, weren''t expecting to see me here?"

    Iris'' eyes widened even further. They were practically popping out of her skull.

    "Why are you here?!"

    The presence of this man waspletely iprehensible, but she couldn''t deny it.

    After all, she felt something strange from him that had never and could never be replicated. It was undeniable that this man was truly Damien Void and not some illusion created by the enemy.

    "Why can''t I be here?" Damien asked back.

    "Do I need to answer that?! Why and how are you¨C wait, we don''t have time for this!"

    Iris quickly grabbed his arm and shot into the sky.

    A barrier of protection enveloped them as she used her full speed to shoot away from the area, flying for almost half an hour inplete silence beforending in a nondescript mountainous area like the one Damien spawned in.

    Damien tried to make conversation, but she didn''t respond to his words as she dragged him to the ground and into a nearby cave.

    It was her personal hideout, the ce she was using as a base while she attacked the Nox forces.

    After finally reaching this ce and activating the numerous defense mechanisms that hid and protected it from the outside world, she finally turned around to face him.

    "Huu¡­"

    She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before reopening again.

    This was her final confirmation, just her entertaining the needless thought that he was a fake.

    But seeing him standing there looking at her in confusion, she was forced to ept it.

    "Alright, before anything else, exin!"

    Damien raised his brow curiously.

    This was an interesting appearance from her.

    After all, he''d only encountered the yful Iris he knew. Seeing her act like a Demigod on the battlefield was quite novel.

    But he also understood why she was so forceful.

    His appearance in the Ancient Battlefield was far more confusing for the Demigods than it was to him.

    Damien smiled wryly.

    "So basically¡­I died."

    He started his story off as such.

    He told the tales of his journey to Al''Katra, exploring the Demon Abyss, dying, and being reborn here. He told her how he''d been moving for the past year and protecting himself while growing and hiding, all the way until he reached the moment when they met.

    Iris'' expression went through a myriad of changes. From shock at his decisions to extreme shock at the fact that he''d died¡­actually, it seemed her expression just became more and more shocked as he kept talking.

    It was insane.

    It was a story that wouldn''t have been believable in any other circumstance.

    But Damien was here, and his story also helped her understand why they''d been transported to the Ancient Battlefield in the first ce.

    And because of Damien''s unique identity¡­

    "Haa¡­"

    She sighed in resignation.

    There was only one thought in her mind.

    "You¡­are truly insane."

 Chapter 1235 Ancient Battlefield [6]

    Chapter 1235 Ancient Battlefield [6]

    Regardless of the rationality behind it, it was true that Damien was here and nothing would change that.

    Leaving the Ancient Battlefield before the war between Demigods ended was not permitted. Many had tried to flee in the past, but things like circumstances and emotions didn''t affect the rules of this ce.

    "Really, what am I supposed to do with you?"

    Iris felt like she''d sighed more in the past few minutes than she had in her entire life.

    "What do you mean? I''d prefer if we worked together, but if you don''t want to, I''m also fine going on my own," Damien responded casually.

    "On your own?! Do you understand what that means?!"

    "Why wouldn''t I? I''ve been doing it for the past year, you know."

    "That''s¡­true, but still! If you met someone truly strong, could you guarantee your life?"

    "Hahaha! Since the moment I found myself here, my life hasn''t been guaranteed."

    Damienughed heartily.

    The sentence had more meaning to him than Iris realized.

    After all, while he told her about his death because there was no way to exin his existence here otherwise, he didn''t say too much about it.

    Iris was probably assuming he was exaggerating and didn''t truly die. He likely reached the cusp of death and managed to survive through the same secret means he''d been hiding from her since their first meeting.

    If she ever realized he truly came back from the dead, she''d be swamped with a whole different wave of confusion.

    Damien''s life wasn''t guaranteed.

    It was something he''de to terms with in the past year.

    In the lower universe, he never thought about it. No matter how close he got to death, he was always of the mind that he "would not die."

    It was a stupid arrogance that he regretted, because when death truly came, it didn''t give him any possible means for survival.

    Now, in this ce surrounded by enemies who could kill him with a flick of the wrist, he came to realize just how meager his life was in the grand scheme of things.

    It was a motivator above all else.

    Iris stared at him strangely.

    "What is your n if you move alone?" She asked, her tone bing milder.

    Damien shrugged.

    "Kill and get stronger until I don''t have to worry anymore."

    "Agh! Can''t you say something that puts my worries at ease?!"

    "You''re worried about me? I can''t lie, I''m a little touched."

    "Now isn''t the time to be joking!"

    Damien smiled.

    Though her domineering attitude was fun to watch, he liked this Iris, the version he could converse with as an equal, better.

    "Calling it a joke is a bit harsh. You have to realize my circumstances. It''s either I fight until I survive, or I die. There''s no escape for me."

    Iris shook her head, unable to respond.

    It wasn''t just for him, but for everyone on the Ancient Battlefield. The problem was that his chances of survival were so much more meager than anyone else''s that she couldn''t understand why he was so calm!

    "Haa, you understand that moving with me will put you in more danger than moving alone, right?" She said.

    "Of course I do. But, the more danger there is, the greater the opportunity to grow. I have to get stronger as fast as possible, so wouldn''t it be better for me to ally with you?"

    Iris frowned.

    "Don''t worry. If you''re thinking I''d be a burden, that''s simply not true anymore," Damien continued before she could speak.

    "...what?"

    He wouldn''t be a burden?

    Here?

    That had to be a joke!

    Rationally speaking, there was no reason for her to ept Damien''s offer to ally. To someone as strong as her, he couldn''t be anything but a burden.

    But, she also couldn''t bring herself to ept leaving him to his own devices.

    Putting aside the fact that him acting as he pleased got him into this situation in the first ce, she had a personal rtionship with him.

    She wasn''t so heartless as to abandon a friend¡­no, the only true friend she''d ever had.

    She refused to do something so disgusting.

    And putting aside even her personal feelings, if one looked at Damien objectively, it was hard to deny his potential.

    While it would definitely be burdensome, protecting such a genius until he reached maturity would give her many more returns than abandoning him.

    Right now, the struggle in her mind was between rationale and emotion, and Damien understood it well.

    He wasn''t so arrogant as to say he could hold his own.

    But to say he was a burden¡­?

    Maybe that was a bit extreme.

    "Here, let''s do this," he finally said.

    "Pour your mana into my body."

    Iris looked at him like he was a madman.

    "What?!"

    Damien smiled and grabbed her arm, cing her hand on his chest.

    "Don''t worry about it and just go. If I was going to die, would I even ask you to do it at all?"

    Iris furrowed her brows in hesitation, but she couldn''t deny his reasoning. After traveling with him through the Severed World, she was clear on his personality.

    "Fine, but if you get hurt, I''m not helping you."

    "Haha, I never expected it, but I know you would."

    "Tch."

    Iris rolled her eyes and pushed Divine Energy through her palm, allowing it to flow into Damien''s body.

    She controlled the flow well, but it didn''t take much Divine Energy to kill a lower existence.

    No matter how much she controlled it, if she didn''t stop after a single second, he would inevitably die.

    Or at least, that''s what she thought.

    "H-huh?"

    She stammered as she suddenly felt the mana escaping her control.

    Like there was a ck hole in Damien''s body, her Divine Energy was pulled beyond her will and sucked into his body.

    "Stop right now! You''ll really die!"

    Damien grinned.

    "It''s nice to see you all flustered, but I''ll have to disappoint you."

    He put his hand on the cave wall to his side and let the Ananta Matrix do its job.

    As long as there was Divine Energy in his body, it had to be expunged.

    As long as it could be expunged, he wouldn''t suffer damage.

    This was the skill he''d developed in the past year.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A terrifying force tore through the cave and put a massive hole in the wall. If Damien didn''t specifically aim so the st would dig downward, it would''ve punctured the side of the mountain they were in.

    He turned back to Iris, happily enjoying her dumbstruck expression.

    "What do you think?" He asked.

    "I''ll be able to survive quite well, won''t I?"

    There was nothing she could say.

    An ability like this¡­did Demigods even have an ability like this?!

    If they could directly expunge the enemy''s Divine Energy in the same form through which it entered, they''d be able to avoid leagues of damage that broke them down over long periods of fighting.

    If the de Lord could do this, he wouldn''t have died to Iris'' strikes!

    "I know you still have the issue ofbat power to worry about, but I can demonstrate that when we get out of here."

    Damien continued as if what he''d done was nothing.

    But honesty, Iris didn''t need to see hisbat power. Just this ability alone was extremely useful, especially if he could use it on others.

    Combat power was just a bonus on top of the already delicious cake he''d just presented her!

    She sighed for thest time.

    "Alright, I concede. Let''s go together."

    It wasn''t a hasty decision, nor was it a logical one, but it was the decision she wanted to make, so she didn''t care about the nuances.

    But if she was going to ally herself with Damien, she needed more assurance than just this.

    "Let''s start from the top," she said.

    "I''m sure you''re still unaware of too many things. First things first, let me tell you about the overall situation of the Ancient Battlefield."

 Chapter 1236 Ancient Battlefield [7]

    Chapter 1236 Ancient Battlefield [7]

    Essentially, what Iris did was fill in the nks for Damien.

    He had sufficient information about the Ancient Battlefield itself, but he wascking in knowledge about the situation between the two forces.

    In short, it went something like this:

    The number of Nox Demigods versus universal Demigods started off at roughly 10,000 on each side.

    When traitors were counted, it changed into a battle of 13,000 against 7,000 or so.

    The two bases were stationed at the extreme poles of the battlefield, and thus it was almost impossible toe across the enemy base unless one was intentionally making their way there.

    On the universal side, at least a thousand Demigods needed to stay stationed at the base to guard it, and many of those thousand took back-line roles to support those who were battling on the field.

    It was still a war.

    Intelligence gathering and other such tasks still held incredible importance, as the locations of those elusive enemy Demigods and the Nox Emperors couldn''t remain unknown if they wanted to win.

    Because the universe already had a numbers difference and the strength difference was also somewhat skewed against them, they needed to move with some coordination if they wanted to stand a proper chance.

    Though, not everyone was part of this.

    The Demigods who worked as part of this systematic army were the majority, but some, like Iris herself, decided to move on their own instead, only staying in contact to receive information from the intelligence side.

    There were many reasons for this, but the main one was distrust.

    Iris and several of her allies already had a force of their own, and instead of submitting themselves to those in the base camp or creating problems with infighting because they refused to bow down, they decided to form their own camp that would act separately yet still in tandem with the main base.

    In this group were those like Iris, Alucard, Commander Huo, and a majority of the Demigods Damien had friendly rtions with.

    It was a bit surprising seeing how they were all so connected, but at the same time, it made sense.

    After all, Damien had a type.

    He didn''t like to associate himself with those who only sought benefits despite the seriousness of the situation.

    Nevertheless, the situation of the universal side was a bit torn, but for the most part, much more stable than it was in the lower universe.

    As for the Nox¡­

    Well, they were much more individualistic, and not just by nature.

    It seemed the Nox Emperors stopped exerting extreme control over their Lords when they came to the Ancient Battlefield.

    ording to the reports Iris received, the Emperors hadpletely abandoned the main war and were having some sort of battle amongst themselves.

    The Saint and Soul Emperors became more separated than ever, and surprisingly, the Saint Emperor''s behavior had shifted in the past year.

    His subtlety and mysteriousness had disappeared to an extent, and his mood seemed to change far too often, like he was snapping.

    Funnily enough, it waspletely Damien''s fault.

    The Saint Emperor risked everything to kill him and get the so-called Dark God''s Seed that was in his body, but obviously, he''d failed.

    The three "seeds" the Nox were obsessed with were not seeds at all, but more simr to body constitutions.

    The Empyrean God Seed that Yong An possessed was what gave him control over the Abyss, the Yin-Yang Heaven Seed was within Zara and Alea, and only manifested when theybined after the Beast Emperor Star War, and Damien''s Dark God Seed¡­

    Well, it was the Nox''s mistake from the beginning.

    It didn''t even exist.

    It was just the Void that they didn''t even realize they were worshiping.

    It was quite funny when one thought about it.

    Especially when that person was Damien, he felt great pleasure thinking of the Saint Emperor''s expression when he realized he did all that for nothing.

    Aside from the situation with Zara and Alea that he had no way of knowing, Damien was able to understand the rest after listening to Iris'' exnations.

    He found a clue towards the final mystery remaining about the Nox, the influence of the Void in their evolution.

    Nevertheless, that was a minor fact at this point. Damien could focus on it once he was able to live safely in the Ancient Battlefield.

    It wasn''t just those two Nox Emperors acting strangely.

    Through the deceased Envoy and Damien''s actions, a rift appeared between the Karmic and Inhuman Emperors, who were already on bad terms due to the differences in their natures.

    However, since they were forced into the Ancient Battlefield, none of them were able to address their internal conflicts.

    If they did, they would give the enemy an opening to pierce through.

    The Ancient Battlefield wasn''t a kind ce. Only one side could leave this ce. Regardless of how the Nox felt about each other, if they wanted to survive and take revenge on those they despised, they needed to work together to fight the universe first.

    So, the situation became like this.

    Most Nox Lords were acting on their own, while the ones who formed groups did so of their own volition.

    The Nox Emperors were currently just overseeing the situation since neither side was able to take the lead thus far, but it was certain they''d start acting soon.

    To see how the universe''s side either came together or broke apart, time was needed, but overall, both sides were holding onto a flimsy bnce until they found the chance to turn on each other.

    "So for now, the only goal is to kill as much as possible before that happens."

    Iris ended her exnation and looked at Damien, who was deep in thought, waiting for his response.

    She wanted to see his tactical ability, because, with his current power, he needed to move like a snake, relying on trickery and schemes to get by.

    This would be a great help to her, who wasn''t a great nner.

    And more than anything else¡­

    ''The God yer operation basically fell apart because of the suddenness of our transportation, but if I can raise him into a proper Demigod during this time¡­we might be able to bring it back to life.''

    The original Operation God yer was simple in essence.

    It was a n to slowly cull the Nox Demigod poption through a variety of means, including a few biological weapons that had been secretly developed by their forces.

    However, now that those hidden weapons were left in the lower universe and inessible, they needed a new n to keep the momentum on their side.

    The current bnce was too fragile to rely on.

    And though Damien didn''t know anything about Operation God yer, he also understood the fragility of the situation.

    It would boil over the second one side gained an advantage.

    ''But¡­''

    Damien smiled to himself.

    ''This is a lot simpler than it used to be.''

    He was quite happy.

    His thoughts werepletely different from Iris''

    In his opinion, they were oveplicating things needlessly.

    ''ns and schemes, they''ve gotten so used to using means like this without the ability to act on their own that they forgot who or where they are.''

    This was the Ancient Battlefield.

    ns, schemes, trickery, perhaps Damien needed these elements to keep himself alive, but wasn''t that just because he was weak?

    The purpose of this ne was simple.

    It wasn''t war, but ughter.

    The only thing they needed to do was kill.

    ''So what we should do now¡­is kill until they realize that.''

 Chapter 1237 Ancient Battlefield [8]

    Chapter 1237 Ancient Battlefield [8]

    Damien was also a victim of this mentality.

    As he got older, no matter how much he wanted to use power to force his way through everything, he found that intellect was necessary to do what he wanted.

    His enemies were too powerful and much, much smarter than him.

    Damien was never a genius in the literal sense. He started out at the bottom of the intelligence spectrum. Putting it lightly, the teenage him was a supreme idiot.

    So when he grew and started using his brain, he still didn''t do it as well as others, which is what eventually led to his death.

    He was lucky enough to have the strength topensate for his dullness. If it wasn''t for that strength, he probably would''ve died several times.

    But, he still tried his best.

    He still tried to strategize and put himself in a position where he could control events behind the scenes.

    Only, this time, that was the wrong approach.

    He was tired of it.

    All the schemes and trickery disgusted him, because these people had the power to face each other directly but refused.

    In a sense, it was cowardice.

    The only way to end this conflict was to kill, and in the Ancient Battlefield, there were no tools to use besides one''s own strength.

    Therefore¡­

    "What''s the point¡­?" He muttered out loud.

    "I''m sorry?" Iris responded in confusion.

    "What''s the point of all this? In the current situation, why do we need to do so much?"

    Iris smiled wryly. She didn''t need him to say more to understand. After all, she''d had the same questions.

    "There isn''t one," she responded sinctly.

    "Maybe it''s hard for you to understand, but most people can''t ept the easiest solution, because when it''s that easy, it feels wrong."

    "Though, that''s not it. If you were them, would you go out of your way and risk your life?"

    "Yes, I would. Even if I were them, that wouldn''t change anything."

    Damien''s response was surprisingly fast.

    "It''smon sense, isn''t it? Either they risk their lives to protect their futures, or they betray us and risk their lives to protect their futures. No matter what the oue is, they won''t be able to reach it without facing death. Doesn''t that make the current situation meaningless?"

    Iris was silent for a moment.

    It wasn''t like Damien said something wildly profound, nor did he disy knowledge above his status.

    He said something that should''ve beenmon sense.

    Butmon sense wasn''t that problem.

    "Hahaha¡­hahahahaha!"

    She couldn''t help butugh.

    He really didn''t say anything.

    She felt stupid.

    But why was this so refreshing?

    "Then, what do you think we should do?" She asked in sheer curiosity.

    "Do I even need to say that? We need to force those bitches out of their hidey holes," Damien responded with a grin.

    "Hahahahaha!"

    Iris''ughter got freer.

    "Right, that is indeed the solution."

    There wasn''t anything wrong with the current situation. Even if it would take a long time, it would eventually bnce itself out and the people muddling the simplicity of it all woulde to their senses.

    But it was clear Damien didn''t want to do that.

    "Alright," Iris finally said, calming herself down.

    Her tone was a lot lighter now. Her stress evaporated like it never existed in the first ce.

    "When the situation is simple, just take it simply, huh?"

    She liked it.

    She liked it a lot.

    She''d had simr thoughts, but every time she did, she fell into a hole of bad choices.

    Either she and her people sumbed to the situation and followed the lead of those Demigods in the base camp or stood against their allies and tried to reform the universe''s forces with their own hands.

    Those were the options she saw, because when one was so deeply involved in events, it was hard to see the third route.

    It was hard to realize that the option to break the board and ruin their games even existed.

    And even if it did exist, how did one go about aplishing it?

    Didn''t it take a great deal of nning and perfect execution?

    But no.

    Not at all.

    Maybe in any other circumstance it would be thatplicated, but as Damien said, it wasn''t like that this time.

    If they moved against their own people they''d bebeled traitors and be themon enemy of the people they were trying to control, so the cowards in their turtle shells couldn''t move in the dark.

    There were no consequences to acting on one''s own ord.

    If they were, would Damien have even met Iris here?

    "Let''s do it then," she said, feeling like she''d been struck by enlightenment.

    There were no consequences, so why hesitate?

    Damien smiled.

    "Okay, let''s do it."

    He didn''t really understand why Iris was acting like he said something genius, but he didn''t care.

    It seemed her doubts about traveling with him disappeared, and if she epted his decision, he didn''t have anything to be unhappy about.

    Iris didn''t waste any time.

    She felt like she''d been reborn with a mentality that was free and unrestrained.

    She immediately contacted the intelligence division and found the coordinates of every Nox Lord they were tracking, and then contacted her allies to fill them in on the new course of action.

    Obviously, some people responded like she was crazy. This wasn''t an Eyrrisea Luminus thought process at all, but it made them feel just as refreshed as she did.

    Because they also remembered who they were.

    They were Demigods.

    They were Divinities.

    They weren''t snakes or foxes, they were people who didn''t need to stay bound by conventional ideologies.

    What was the point of having power if they limited themselves to the games set up by others?

    A subtle change appeared in the universe''s forces at that moment, a change in mindset that would slowly be more physical with time.

    But for now, it was still subtle, and had nothing to do with Damien and Iris.

    The duo began plotting their route soon enough.

    With Iris'' power and Damien''s support, they only needed to stay wary of a small portion of the enemy''s forces, a number no more than a few hundred.

    So, they started to move soon enough.

    Iris was naturally the main attacker. She approached enemies alone and started battles like she''d been doing until now.

    But Damien''s presence was far more impactful than she ever expected it to be.

    He couldn''t kill them, but he could give the Nox Lords fatal damage that made the battles easier for her, he could help her expel Divine Energy or use himself as a shield to absorb and redirect hostile mana, and he could act as an all-round support using hisws to control the battlefield and give her the advantage.

    Slowly but surely, the fame of this duo would rise to new heights and they would be the start of a revolution in the Ancient Battlefield.

    But¡­

    That was a story for the future.

    At this point in time, they were still in the process of perfecting their synergy, and as they moved, they conversed about many things.

    Through this, more than just the overall situation, Damien learned some specifics about the war.

    And some of this information¡­was extremely shocking.

 Chapter 1238 Ancient Battlefield [9]

    Chapter 1238 Ancient Battlefield [9]

    It was about death, but the conversation didn''t start that way.

    One day, while they were resting in their hideout and deciding who to target next, Damien suddenly had a thought.

    "Ah, what happened to Orion? I forgot about it earlier, but I was thinking it was surprising you guys weren''t together."

    "Ancestor¡­?" Iris responded wryly.

    "You''re right, we were traveling together, but he had some things to take care of, so he left just a few days before I met you."

    "Things¡­to take care of?"

    Iris'' eyes were tinged with sorrow.

    She told Damien all about the living, but she purposefully avoided talking about the dead. She didn''t want to see him bogged down by their sacrifices.

    But it couldn''t and shouldn''t be avoided. They were just as important as the living, because their heroism was what created the rtively stable situation they were currently in.

    As they spoke, Damien''s expression didn''t change much.

    Most of those who died were killed in battle, and he respected them for it, but since he didn''t know him, their deaths didn''t hold much weight in his heart.

    They just made him realize his responsibility.

    However, among the various names that he''d only heard in passing was one he was familiar with.

    The Drunken Old Immortal.

    A man whom he didn''t know well but owed a favor to, a man who helped him plenty in the unnamed world despite theirck of connection.

    His position in Damien''s heart was simr to Albeus.

    But from what Iris said, he died proudly.

    Just like Albeus, he decided to end his own life, taking four Nox Lords with him.

    Damien couldn''t even mourn him, because the feeling in his heart was also pride.

    That casual man who drunk to the point where it became his power, he wouldn''t have wanted anyone putting themselves down because of his passing.

    Once again, Damien felt the weight of the burden on his shoulders, to carry the torch he inherited from his seniors.

    "...and, the in thest big incident that made the Ancestor move personally¡­" Iris continued.

    "...the Third and Fourth Primal Sovereigns fell, and the Ancient Sovereign appeared in the Ancient Battlefield."

    Damien''s eyes widened as he tuned back into her words.

    "The Primal Sovereigns are also included in this?!" He eximed.

    "Yes, but also no," Iris responded.

    "The Primal Sovereigns stand equal to the universe, so they aren''t subjected to its restrictions the same way everyone else is, but their ability is quite unique."

    "Perhaps among all entities in our lower universe, they''re the only ones who cane and go from this ne as they wish."

    Damien nodded in understanding.

    As she said, because the Primal Sovereigns were born with the universe and not from it, he felt it was unnatural for them to be transported to the Ancient Battlefield with the rest of the Divinities.

    But, it made sense if it was intentional.

    After all, the Primal Sovereigns were essentially manifestations of Spatial Law.

    It wasn''t surprising for them to be able to go anywhere they pleased at any time without restrictions.

    At least, that was the case for the first five Primal Sovereigns, since the rest weren''t Divine.

    "Ancestor, as well as the Third and Fourth Primal Sovereigns, are our allies, so they chose to aid us here. However, those two were ambushed by a group of powerful Lords and the Karmic Emperor, and they lost the battle in the end."

    Iris sighed.

    "ording to Ancestor, the Ancient Sovereign appeared in that ce and ughtered the Nox Lords who killed them, but the Karmic Sovereign clearly escaped. He left to meet the Ancient Sovereign and find out the nuances of the situation."

    Damien nodded again. Orion''s decision made sense, and the Ancient Sovereign''s presence was also natural.

    After all, there were only two of them left. The Fifth, Fourth, and Third had all died at this point, so if he didn''t show his face, Damien would''ve had to question whether he truly existed or not.

    "Where are they now?"

    "We don''t know," Iris answered, shaking her head.

    "I can feel the Ancestor''s existence, so they''re still in the Ancient Battlefield, but nobody has been able to track them. I don''t even know if Ancestor met the Ancient Sovereign or not."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien furrowed his brows.

    He and Iris had been doing good so far.

    Along with the rest of their allies who followed their actions and started a full-frontal attack on the Nox forces, they''d sessfully started the revolution they had in mind.

    The war was bing fiercer by the day, and the number of Lords they encountered and battled on a daily basis increased from just two or three to a whopping ten or even twenty.

    If they kept moving like this, Damien was confident in tethering Spacetime to his Elemental-Samsara connection within the year.

    However¡­

    "I want to meet him."

    He also wanted to see the Ancient Sovereign, the entity who stood equivalent to Spatial Law in a literal sense.

    He was the first. His knowledge was vast, and his power was vaster.

    Damien''s power had changed into somethingpletely different now, but he was originally a spatial practitioner, and he still held thew in his heart.

    So he wanted to meet the one who understood it more than anyone else.

    Plus, his intuition was ring.

    Deep in his soul, he felt a voice telling him that meeting the Ancient Sovereign would bring him unexpected benefits.

    "It''s not a selfish wish," Iris said with a shrug.

    "I also want to meet him, likely for different reasons than you, but we can''t. I can''t even track Ancestor through our bloodline connection, so finding him is even more impossible."

    "And if we could¡­?"

    "Then, don''t even think about abandoning me. I won''t let you do something like that without me."

    "Haha, watch your words. If you keep talking like that, I might fall for you."

    "Hmph, you wish. You have to get in line if you want a chance with me."

    "Oh? But, I don''t think the line is so long, though?"

    "I-it''s very long. What''re you implying?"

    "Haha, I''m not implying anything. It''s just¡­the most beautiful woman in our universe isn''t very friendly, is she? I doubt anyone actually has a chance."

    "That''s¡­"

    He hit her where it hurt!

    Eyrrisea Luminus, the woman hailed as the greatest beauty in the entire universe, had no friends or close rtionships that weren''t business-rted!

    "Anyway, we can''t find the Ancient Sovereign, so let''s just focus on what''s in front of us!"

    "What a graceful way to change the subject."

    Damien smiled.

    Iris was definitely an interesting character.

    They''d been together for a few months now, and he''d seen both sides of her personality.

    It was like there were two versions of her.

    No, there were.

    Damien still saw the beautiful goddess with the entric appearance and the simple brown-haired woman who ovepped whenever he looked at her.

    It felt like the goddess version of her appeared whenever she was in serious situations, and the simple side only ever showed itself when they were in this cave hideout.

    He still didn''t know why he saw her like this, but he didn''t feel like this situation was simr to other cases he''d seen like Lily and Mei.

    It was more like¡­she didn''t ept that both sides were herself.

    It made him want to see what would happen if these two sidesbined into one. He was certain she would only find her true potential once she was able to do that.

    But, again, that was beside the point.

    ''She says it''s impossible, but I don''t believe it. This ability hurts like crazy, but¡­for something like this, it''s worth it.''

    Damien put his hand on the rocky ground and spread his awareness into it.

    "What are you doing?" Iris asked.

    "I''m doing the impossible," Damien responded with a grin.

    Iris harrumphed in annoyance at his corny words, but ignored him. She got used to his cheesiness in these months.

    Damien returned his focus to the task, refusing to acknowledge the embarrassment in his heart.

    He''d never done this before, but he realized it was possible almost a year ago.

    ''Absolute Perception.''

    He was a man who controlled material existence. His body was the only thing holding him back from using this power in its true form.

    So as long as he was willing to endure some pain, he could do it.

    His mind became one with the earth.

    His body became the earth itself.

    Anything the earth could see, he could too.

    He saw both the Nox and Grand Heavens Boundaries base camps, he saw Alucard and the rest, he saw the enemies he''d face in the future, and¡­he saw the Saint Emperor.

    "Khh¡­"

    He couldn''t focus on that man right now. His hatred would only be detrimental.

    Instead, he focused on the Second Primal Sovereign, Orion Luminus, who''d subordinated himself to him.

    Since they already had a connection, he''d be much easier to find.

    The earth responded to Damien''s call and his vision blurred as his perception traveled hundreds of millions, almost a billion kilometers in an instant.

    And suddenly, he saw Orion.

    He was standing with another man whose visage was blurred strangely.

    ''Found him.''

    Damien instantly recognized his identity.

    That was the one he was looking for.

    The only man who could hide himself from a perceptive ability of this level.

    "Keuk¡­!"

    Damien coughed strangely, forcing the blood pooling in his mouth down his throat. Without waiting a second, he memorized their coordinates in rtion to his current position.

    And as he went to deactivate the ability and heal himself, a voice entered his ear.

    "There is no need to worry. I shall wait for your arrival."

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    His mind returned to his body.

    And once again, he experienced excruciating pain.

 Chapter 1239 Plague Lord [1]

    Chapter 1239 gue Lord [1]

    It didn''t need a wordy exnation.

    Damien suffered for several moments from the pain of his internal organs rupturing one after the other, to the point where it caused Iris to panic and nurse him to health, a process that was supported heavily by his regenerative abilities.

    Convincing her that he truly found the Ancient Sovereign wasn''t that difficult.

    The random damage he''d just taken was proof he used an ability beyond his league, and since Damien was always showing her impossible things like they were nothing, she easily epted that he did something nobody else was able to do.

    Iris was a direct descendant of the Second Primal Sovereign, which made the Ancient Sovereign her uncle. It was natural for her to want to meet him out of curiosity, but, well, to put it simply, she had her own questions to ask him.

    Therefore, the two set out without wasting much time.

    The distance separating them from their destination was roughly 800,000,000 kilometers. Considering they needed to take breaks to rest and would be dyed by enemies, the journey was bound to be a long one.

    Nevertheless, they''d only set out recently.

    It had only been a month since they disassembled and abandoned their cave hideout, and though they''d had conflict in the past month and faced several tens of Demigods, they''d only nowe across a truly strong opponent.

    The gue Lord.

    He had actually appeared once before in the universe. Back in the battle for Eden, he was "fended off" by Prisci Adire and a force of experts.

    However, that was evidently not his true body, but an Avatar that was mistaken for his true body. Otherwise, wouldn''t the restriction have been triggered far earlier?

    The man Damien sensed on the horizon was his main body.

    He''d heard of that Lord''s terrifying abilities from the stories about that battle, and considering that he was now in hisplete form, his control over disease was likely much higher, to the point where it could affect Divinities.

    Damien frowned and immediately went into hiding, a move that alerted Iris to the presence of a nearby enemy.

    Unlike their usual battles, though, Damien identified the opponent clearly and spoke to her through mental transmission.

    "The gue Lord is approaching. How''s your resistance?"

    "Not great, but not bad. We just have to kill him before he can kill us. If that happens, you can cure me, right?"

    "Haa, your attitude has changed so much. I don''t know how to feel about it, so I''m just going to say I must be that reliable. Anyway, yeah, I can bring you back as long as it isn''t fatal."

    "Then that''s all. How much do you know about him?"

    "Just a bit."

    "Then I''ll fill you in."

    Damien and Iris exchanged a myriad of words in the span of a single second.

    Battle strategy wasn''t necessary anymore, so it was just in the realm of information.

    And by the time they were done, the enemy was already in front of them.

    "New prey, strong prey¡­"

    The gue Lord spoke in broken sentences, and his gaze was dull. His body looked like sludge that had been rotted away by countless diseases, but the vitality emanating from him was great.

    "Prey? It''s a bit too early to be saying something like that," Iris responded aggressively.

    "New prey, talkative."

    "Right, I do not make conversation with irrelevant people either."

    BOOM!

    Iris didn''t charge in, but instead made distance.

    She flicked her arm forward and the worldly forces came together.

    The earth rose to form a dense cage around him while the air trapped in the cavepressed and exploded. Divine Energyced the interaction, and under Iris'' control, it dug into the gue Lord''s body, dissecting him.

    "Fun, good, fight."

    Muttered words echoed through the atmosphere.

    BANG!

    The rock cage exploded into bits as the air pressure became too strong, and splotches of green sludge flew in all directions.

    As the sludgended on the ground, it separated into a variety of different disease carriers who died on the spot and spit fumes into the air.

    Iris frowned.

    ''Not good.''

    As his name suggested, the gue Lord wasn''t a directbatant. He would torture his enemy to death by infecting them with countless viruses that would eat away at not only their life force but their soul!

    His usual strategies had already been recorded. These seemingly harmless gue bearers would be the foundation of the death trap that would eventually encapste his enemies.

    They couldn''t be left alone!

    However, despite her knowledge, Iris ignored them.

    ''The key to killing him is attrition. His body is not conventional, so conventional means will not work. I have to make sure he uses everything he can and exposes his true body. That will be the moment to strike!''

    In fact, the sludge-like appearance the gue Lord held was due to his power. His true body had never been seen, but it was rumored that he was nothing more than a frail old man underneath all those protectiveyers.

    So her job was to strip them away!

    Iris kept her eyes on the gue Lord to make sure he couldn''t get closer and exerted her will over the environment.

    In the air behind her, metals constantly materialized and formed weapon constructs that she shot at him without mercy.

    The ground turned into a living entity, something like a Kraken whose every tentacle weighed ten thousand pounds.

    For now, these were her two main methods of attack.

    Though, the gue Lord wasn''t idle either.

    His speech patterns did not represent his cognitive ability. There was no way he wouldn''t know that information on his habits had been spread through the enemy forces.

    After all, information about them had spread among the Nox too.

    "Prismatic Master, Universal Law, not good in Ancient ne, no?"

    "You do not need to concern yourself with my matters. It is more than enough to ughter you!"

    The gue Lord grinned disgustingly and moved his arm.

    From the gap of his shoulder, a swarm of locusts appeared and formed a thick shield before him.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Iris'' material constructs swept through the air, piercing into the locust wall and destroying thousands of them with every impact.

    The earthen tentacles attacked at the same time, attempting to make their way past his defenses and strike him directly.

    The gue Lord grinned. His lower body melted, turning into a true river of sludge that formed its own tentacles and countered the earth.

    They didn''t have nearly as much destructive power, but they were extremely corrosive.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The force the earth carried was reduced by half by the time it reached the gue Lord, but that force was still substantial.

    BANG!

    The side of his torso blew open as he moved to dodge the traveling force, spraying toxins into the air.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    There were several thousand tentacles. He avoided most of them, but without powerful agility, he couldn''t get past all of them.

    Ayer of protection left his body with each hit, and the atmosphere was slowly being dyed a disgusting green color.

    Iris could''ve considered it a small victory, but it was not one.

    After all, despite losingyers of protection, the gue Lord''s body didn''t seem to have decreased in size by more than a few centimeters!

    And on top of that, the corrosive force of his tentacles was truly terrifying.

    Instead of Iris'' earth whips being something that constantly barraged and cornered him, they became one-time-use items that burned away on first contact.

    Iris frowned as she continued her current strategy, using the same tactic to buy herself time to think without revealing her strength.

    ''This won''t be easy. This guy is troublesome.''

    Their battle hadn''t been going on for more than thirty seconds, but the amount of corruption in the atmosphere was already reaching severe levels.

    Iris wouldn''t be able to protect herself from being invaded by these gues for much longer, and the second she was infected, it became a true battle of time.

    ''I might have to reveal more.''

    It was too early to make assumptions, but she predicted the flow so she wouldn''t be forced to act without preparationter in the battle.

    ''For now, I''ll pressure him and strip away as much as possible before my protection wears off.''

    Iris did exactly that.

    She expanded her abilities and used more elements than just earth and metal, mobilizing the air and even water that spawned from nowhere to her advantage.

    While she only used basic elements, her control was wless, and the depths of herwprehension allowed her to inflict serious damage with the mostmon abilities.

    The gue Lord''s body was being peeled awayyer byyer, but he didn''t show signs of worry.

    After all, this was how it always went.

    They always thought they could kill him first.

    But it was simply never true.

    He smiled, the same disgusting smile that would make people die from sheer abhorrence.

    Once again, he''d found a specimen that would promote him to greater heights.

 Chapter 1240 Plague Lord [2]

    Chapter 1240 gue Lord [2]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Countless explosions lit up the air. The clouds that formed from them were not made of dust, debris, or natural elements, but of pure infected air that would cause one to rot on contact.

    But Damien wasn''t paying too much attention to it.

    Only enough to confirm Iris'' state and progress in wearing down the gue Lord.

    His job was easier, but only because of who he was.

    ''Fighting him head-on is definitely a pain in the ass, but the scene down here¡­I can only say it''s a real blessing that he wasn''t too involved in the universe.''

    This man''s power affected the entirety of his surroundings whether he desired it or not.

    If a scene like what he was seeing happened in Grand Heavens Boundary, countless innocent mortals would''ve been massacred.

    ''What a terrifying power.''

    Iris couldn''t see it because of her position. To her, the green fog was prominent, but it wasn''t all-epassing.

    But the ground below waspletely different.

    When Damiennded, he quite literally could not see anything but fog.

    He had to rely on his awareness to see since the All-Seeing Eyes couldn''t help him with this.

    ''I have to be as quiet as possible, at least until I''ve cleared this up a bit. If he notices me at this point, I won''t be able to react in time.''

    It was insane.

    It was like the entire world was filled with rotting abscesses. The ground was impossible to see under the piles of rot that manifested at a time unknown.

    ''It''s crazy. To think just a few gue bearers could multiply into this in such a short span of time.''

    Damienpletely concealed his bodily fluctuations. Because of his new soul, as long as he could hide his body properly, he was free from all perception.

    Therefore, when he stepped out of his secure dimension, the gue Lord, who was already upied by the battle above, didn''t sense his existence.

    ''Good. Now¡­''

    "Huuu¡­."

    Damien took a deep breath. He could feel the tiny infected particles entering his system and instantly attempting to corrode him, but a power that had disappeared for a very long time returned at this time.

    Swoosh!

    Streams of pitch-ck energy flowed through his internal body and devoured the infected particles, turning them into energy that was devoured by his soul.

    ''Nice.''

    It had been a very long time since Damien encountered a mana-based poison.

    The Void Physique''s very first benefit was its ability topletely conquer hostile foreign energies.

    And it seemed it was done testing him for now.

    Since he''d unlocked a portion of its true form, it was obediently listening to him.

    Damien''s body entered a cycle of being infected and cured constantly, which not only built up his systems, but provided him a surplus of Divine Energy to repurpose.

    As he affirmed his safety, he began to move.

    For now, only Iris could properly fight the gue Lord. He was too strong for Damien to interfere.

    But the gue Lord didn''t have much real attack power.

    The rotting abscesses Damien was standing on were the source of his power, a cumtive effect that couldn''t be stopped unless they were destroyed.

    ''But if you try to destroy them, they''ll explode and infect you further. It''s a lose-lose scenario for anyone but me.''

    Numbers, strength, none of it mattered as long as the gue Lord had time.

    ''And that fucker is tricky. His escape ability is unprecedented.''

    Damien paused for a second.

    ''Well, second to mine, of course.''

    With a smile, he knelt down and touched one of the abscesses.

    ''He has a mana connection with them. He''ll sense it when I start, so I have to finish quickly.''

    ''Devour.''

    Damien spread his mana simrly to when he used Absolute Perception to create a that epassed the entire infected ground area.

    Like mes on oil, Void Mana traveled through the and pushed into the ground, consuming not just the abscesses, but the infected ground under them.

    It was a strategy to cut the weeds and pull the roots!

    ''He should''ve noticed me by now¡­''

    BOOOOM!

    ''...yup.''

    An explosion tore through the fog above Damien''s head, but he didn''t move.

    As expected, a multicolored ethereal barrier formed, forcing the force to redirect into the air and explode away from anything relevant.

    ''As expected of her.''

    Perhaps Iris looked like she was struggling, but Damien knew better.

    That woman would not fall so easily.

    ''She''s still hiding so much, after all.''

    He smiled and focused on his task.

    ''Time for phase 2.''

    Devour worked fast, but with this much rot to plow through, it would take a few minutes to finish.

    While that was ongoing, Damien raised his other arm into the air and gavemands.

    ''Separate. Entrap. Banish.''

    Space bent to his will.

    The Void formed walls that pushed different gue strands away from each other to defuse their cumtive effects.

    Space acted in tandem, trapping the infectious mana in separate dimensions before Time showed its face,bining with Space to banish the mana from existencepletely.

    ''Phew. What a tiring process.''

    Unfortunately, because mana was of the ethereal ne, Damien''s control over material existence couldn''t be exerted here, but this was good enough.

    That power could be saved for a better moment.

    ''Luckily, it''s just mana. After getting used to Divine Energy over time, it isn''t the same invible force that it once was.''

    He just needed to do his job.

    It felt easy, but he was a sitting duck. The second Iris made a mistake, his life would be over.

    But Iris¡­

    She wasn''t so careless.

    Unbeknownst to Damien, the battle had already moved a few million kilometers away from him.

    Though it was still within the infected area, as Iris didn''t want its radius to get bigger than it already was, they were far enough for both Damien and Iris to have sufficient time to react if the gue Lord decided to aim for him.

    That is, if he had the chance to target Damien in the first ce.

    BOOOOOOM!

    It wasn''t an explosion, but a footstep.

    As Iris drove the gue Lord into a corner, she dug her mana into a nearby mountain and did severalplex procedures in secret.

    The gue Lord was able to gain an advantage in that time.

    Because her attention was split, the protection around her body failed, and his rot started to corrupt her.

    ''I have ten minutes. Once Damien finishes, that time will be doubled.''

    It was more than enough.

    For a battle of Demigods, ten minutes was an eternity.

    So as she endured the damage she received and used her remaining attention to keep the enemy upied, shepleted her hidden maneuver.

    And the mountain stood up.

    Rocks and debris crumbled and tore off its side, creating andslide that fell to the ground and destroyed several abscesses unintentionally.

    By the time the mountain fully stood up, it was already a man.

    A stone giant almost a thousand kilometers tall,pletely under Iris'' control.

    "Go!"

    "Useless, resistance!"

    BOOOOOM!

    The mountain swung its massive fist.

    The gue Lord was fast enough to dodge the rtively slow attack, but despite his confident words, the air pressure assaulted him from below and directly blew up the corrosive tentacles extending from his lower body.

    The stone giant stepped forward over and over again. Without the exhaustion or worry for infection of a living being, it pressured the gue Lord and disallowed him from gaining the advantage.

    Iris finally had time.

    And she found a strategy that worked.

    Against inanimate objects, what could someone who controlled gues do?

    Her power wasn''t limited to mountains, after all.

    As long as she had time¡­

    As long as she had energy¡­

    ¡­she could make an army with the sole purpose of ughtering the gue Lord!

 Chapter 1241 Plague Lord [3]

    Chapter 1241 gue Lord [3]

    The minutes inched forward.

    Everything about the gue Lord was disgusting, including his mana.

    As ittched onto Iris'' body and corroded her insides, she not only felt pain, but difort so severe it genuinely restricted her movements.

    ''Not good.''

    She sensed its every movement.

    She sensed it as it dug into her chest and disappeared into the ethereal ne, corrupting her soul.

    ''Dammit!''

    It was happening much faster than she expected.

    The gue Lord certainly understood what Damien was doing on the surface. Since he would be at a disadvantage once his abscesses were removed, he must''ve put far more power into the mana he used to attack her.

    If he could kill her, he could kill Damien!

    Otherwise, he would lose!

    This was the situation they''de to.

    ''I have at most five minutes remaining.''

    She couldn''t see Damien''s progress directly, but the fog in the atmosphere cleared considerably, and it didn''t feel like she was being continually damaged with nearly as much rapidity as before.

    This was good.

    After all, just as the gue Lord put her in a bad situation, she''d done the same for him!

    There were thousands of rock golems flying in the sky, being controlled by her Divine Energy, attacking the gue Lord without an ounce of humanity.

    They were not living beings.

    Whether he used his locusts or gues, he couldn''t destroy them.

    He had corrosive tentacles, of course, but as the battle progressed, Iris realized that only his lower body could transform in such a way.

    As long as the rock giants controlled the situation and made sure those tentacles couldn''t form, he was defenseless!

    The gue Lord was already gritting his teeth.

    He had to trust the mana he already spread into the atmosphere to corrode Iris, only attacking her intermittently.

    Though he put a great deal of his Divine Energy into those attacks, he had to focus most of his attention on her army!

    They weren''t powerful individually. Aside from the rock giants, the rest had mediocre power.

    But they were not made to attack.

    They threw themselves on his body and allowed themselves to be struck by him. It didn''t matter if they were broken, because each time they touched him, they exploded into bursts of Divine Energy that tore away severalyers of his sludge!

    He wouldn''t mind much in a usual battle.

    His sludge falling would only exacerbate the situation for his enemy.

    But the presence he couldn''t sense that was on the surface right now was destroying his abscesses and sludge as they fell!

    No, it wasn''t destruction, butplete annihtion.

    They didn''t even have the chance to aplish their tasks before disappearing from existence.

    That person was a far greater threat to him than Iris.

    If Damien was a Divinity, the gue Lord would''ve died instantly because of how bad their match-up was.

    And though the gue Lord didn''t know he was still a lower existence, the fact that someone with such an advantage wasn''t participating in a direct confrontation meant they were weak!

    He would prefer to target that person, but Iris was getting in the way.

    She was too troublesome for him to ignore, and the person on the ground was useless without her, so he had no choice but to keep his attention on her!

    "GRAAAAH!"

    He roared.

    He was annoyed, and he was panicking just slightly.

    His body seemed infinitelyyered, but it wasn''t.

    Now that hundreds or thousands ofyers had already been peeled off, he only had half his original amount.

    If this continued¡­

    It became a true battle of attrition.

    A battle of whether Iris'' golems could strip him first, or if she would die before aplishing it!

    Neither side was actively attacking with as much force anymore.

    Since Iris had to use mana to control the golems, and load them with mana to fuel their explosion, she couldn''t waste what she had remaining on anything other than protecting herself.

    And the gue Lord''s situation was already clear.

    Instead of main fighters, the two in the air became generals watching over their armies.

    And Damien, well, he was blocking the flood caused by the enemy force, making sure it couldn''t sweep their side into its midst!

    "Khhh¡­!"

    Iris gritted her teeth in pain.

    It was truly agonizing.

    The gue Lord''s energy was extremelyplex. He never just used a single strain of gue mana, as a Demigod could easily understand itsponents in a few seconds and counter it.

    He usedplexbinations of countless gues of his own creation, ones that hadn''t been encountered by others before, and made their structures so intricately packed that it was impossible to understand them before they killed the target.

    Iris was currently experiencing the effects of such aplex infection.

    Her blood was boiling so hot that it could be used to smelt metal. Just this alone was enough to cause severe pain, but blood was only a single factor.

    Her veins were touched by a separate nerve venom that froze her movements and made her feel agony throughout her entire body.

    Her bones were calcifying, her muscles were atrophying, and her skin was filled with warts thatpressed and enhanced the deadly viruses before injecting them back into her body.

    To make matters worse, it felt like every organ was being targeted by a specific gue designed to cause the most pain possible.

    Her body was already in a state that would drive a normal person insane. Not to mention her soul, which was also being corroded and causing pain that trumped everything she received from her body.

    But despite all the things that should have broken her, Iris continued exerting precise control over her golems.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    "GRAAAAAAAAAH!"

    The consistent and uniform explosions were helping her keep her mind stable.

    The gue Lord''s roars were like music to her ears, easing her pain.

    They were proof that she wasn''t the only one suffering.

    In the minutes it took for her to reach a critical state, the gue Lord was ruined beyond belief as well.

    His head and portions of his extremities were still covered by sludge, but as the rumors suggested, a malnourished, ash-colored body revealed itself in his torso and thighs.

    His sludge was the source of his power. While he had Divine Energy, he had to use it to protect the exposed areas of his body, or else even the explosions of the rock golems would be able to kill him!

    That was the opportunity she''d been looking for.

    Iris was able to barely crack her eyes open and see it, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn''t move!

    "Ghhhhh¡­!"

    She groaned as she tried her best, but thebination of bodily pain and restrictions and soul corrosion made itpletely impossible.

    In fact, if the gue Lord didn''t die and she wasn''t treated in the next few minutes, she would die without being able to do anything!

    They were both on their final straws.

    A single move from either of them wouldpletely uproot the situation.

    However, with neither of them able to make that move¡­

    Iris'' eyes widened as if she didn''t have problems opening them in the first ce.

    It was barely visible, and it traveled so fast it didn''t make a single sound, but¡­

    She saw it clearly.

    An extremely thin and extremely sharp needle stabbing into the gue Lord''s chest¡­

    ¡­and exploding.

 Chapter 1242 Progression [1]

    Chapter 1242 Progression [1]

    Damien saw it from the ground.

    Once he managed to clear the majority of the infectious fog in the air, he was able to perceive it much more clearly, and despite seeing Iris'' condition be worse and worse, he wasn''t able to move instantly.

    He had to first get rid of the gue abscesses on the ground, a task he''d almost finished at this point.

    The gue Lord couldn''t control them anymore, so he didn''t face as much resistance as he worked. And with hisyers being mostly stripped away, Damien''s workload stopped increasing as well.

    He eventually finished, and when he returned his attention to the battle, he saw that situation.

    Iris and the gue Lord were standing several tens of millions of kilometers away from him, but his vision had improved during his stay in the Ancient Battlefield, allowing him to see them.

    This situation was at a standstill.

    But this kind of standstill was disadvantageous in every way.

    Because the second Iris lost the ability to control her puppets, she''d lose.

    After all, unlike her, the gue Lord didn''t have to consciously control the spread of his gues in her body.

    Damien didn''t hesitate to move.

    Now that the man''s true body was exposed, he wasn''t nearly as terrifying.

    Once again, he formed a needle out of Elemental-Samsara and shot it into the air.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion rang out, and the gue Lord''s body shot backward like aet.

    Yet, Damien didn''t stop with just that.

    ''He''s protecting his body with Divine Energy. I have to kill him before he can retaliate.''

    He teleported like a madman until he surpassed the gue Lord''s falling speed and arrived in his path.

    Three more Elemental-Samsara needles appeared in his hand, shooting out in tandem.

    They curved in different directions, creating strange swirling patterns in the air as their flight paths became untraceable before they struck the gue Lord from the back and both sides and exploded.

    BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOM!

    There was so much mana clouding the air that Damien could barely see whether or not the enemy was actually damaged, but he didn''t care to know.

    Once again, he teleported and arrived in the midst of the explosive force.

    He spread his awareness and found the first trace of nearby Divine Energy before instantly making his way there.

    The target was right in front of him.

    Damien extended his hand, pushing it against the gue Lord''s exposed torso anding in contact with the thinningyer of Divine Energy around his body.

    A grin formed on his face.

    "You''re done."

    VOOOM!

    A pulse of Void Mana exited his palm.

    Perhaps he couldn''t use it as an all-powerful force yet, but that was its identity. Once it came in contact with Divine Energy within Damien''s jurisdiction, it dissolved it into nothingness and exposed the gue Lord''s body.

    The gue Lord''s eyes widened in horror.

    He realized what was happening to him.

    He realized that he was facing a Supreme.

    He realized he could survive if he just attacked once.

    But¡­

    He also realized it was far toote.

    Damien''s palm shot forward and closed the centimeter gap that separated it from his skin.

    And instead of needles, thepressed force of Elemental-Samsara directly pushed into his body and ravaged his systems.

    He didn''t have a single chance anymore.

    After all, his true body was incredibly weak!

    "N-no¡­"

    He managed to get one final word out.

    And Damien responded in kind.

    With a smile, he red his mana.

    "Bye bye."

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Elemental-Samsara exploded through his body until it could no longer be contained, and the gue Lord''s physical form imploded, sending bits of ink flying in all directions.

    At the same time, the elusive energy of the Void broke into his soul space and began its devouring.

    The gue Lord died before he realized what was happening.

    Damien felt the rewards of his kill flooding his body, but he didn''t have time to pay attention to them.

    He rapidly made his way back to Iris and held her in his arms, teleporting until he found the nearest cave to form a new hideout.

    Luckily, caves were quitemon in the Ancient Battlefield. It was likely an intentional mechanic since the rest of the environment was so nd.

    After setting up several walls of material defense and separating them into an isted dimension, Damien carefully sat down, gentlyying Iris'' body on the ground and resting her head on his thigh.

    "Nngh¡­"

    Iris groaned in pain.

    She could roughly understand what was happening, but her internal systems were too messed up for her to speak or open her eyes.

    She endured the pain as silently as possible, and Damien made it easier on her with his subtle movements, but her body touching the hard rock was enough to send spikes of agony through her body, eliciting a verbal response.

    "It''ll be okay," Damien reassured softly.

    He didn''t have to imagine what kind of immeasurable pain she was experiencing. He''d felt something simr himself, so he knew how important it was for her to endure with everything she could.

    He didn''t try talking more, knowing exciting her emotions would only exacerbate her situation, and ced his hand on her forehead.

    "Just rx. I''ll have you good as new in no time."

    His words were calm and warm, just like the energy that flowed into her body.

    [Heal] and Void Mana worked in tandem, snaking through her and treating her simrly to how Damien removed the infectious fog.

    He first separated the gue strains with Void Mana and eliminated theirbined effects. Afterward, he devoured what he could and used [Heal] to fix the parts that were too far damaged.

    Once the effects of his healing ability had worked for a while and separated the gues from her organs and blood enough, the Void Mana was able to take a second sweep and devour what was left.

    It was a repetitive and simple process, but it was incredibly intuitive since a single wrong move could shatter Iris'' internal bnce.

    Nevertheless, this kind of precise control was a specialty of Damien''s, so he didn''t encounter much of a problem.

    Once her body was healed, Iris'' visible condition improved considerably.

    She opened her eyes and looked at him, and tried to talk as well, but Damien shushed her before she could.

    "It''s not over yet. The most important part is whates next."

    She nodded slowly.

    She tried to hide it, but the pain in her eyes was obvious to him.

    To a Demigod, the soul was more precious than anything else.

    Perhaps she regained her faculties when Damien treated her body, but the majority of her pain was still actively assaulting her.

    Damien looked down at her with a bit of awkwardness.

    "This next part¡­well, I''ll just apologize in advance, but I don''t really have a choice."

    A reddish hue appeared on Iris'' face as she realized what he was talking about, but she just closed her eyes and turned her head.

    Damien steadied his breathing.

    ''I am a good man. I am a good man. I am a good man.''

    He repeated the phrase over and over again in his mind.

    His hand trailed down off Iris'' forehead to a new location.

    ''I am a good man. I am a good¨C''

    ''...it''s over for me.''

    As his hand pressed forward, his fingers pushed into a pillowy softness like no other.

    After all, the gateway to the soul¡­

    ¡­was located in one''s chest.

 Chapter 1243 Progression [2]

    Chapter 1243 Progression [2]

    It was quite theedic situation from an outsider''s perspective.

    Both of them were doing their best to act unbothered, but did either truly seed?

    Iris'' case was rtively simple.

    She was a woman who''d lived for over ten thousand years, but her lifetime being so long was precisely the reason why it was impossible for her to control herself now.

    She''d never been in a situation like this before.

    She was raised by women, and once the responsibility of Prismatic Sun Holy Land was passed to her, even those people became less frequent in her life until they disappeared altogether.

    The concept of rtionships between men and women was probably the only thing in the universe she waspletely clueless about.

    Because the men who chased her were never sincere.

    They either wanted the status of "the man who conquered the universe''s most beautiful woman," or "the husband of the Prismatic Sun Holy Master."

    Hidden intentions could never be hidden in her eyes, so she saw their inner darkness clearly.

    That was why she never made contact with men in this fashion before.

    Not only had one never touched her outside of battle, where the specific area Damien was touching had nevere into y, but she had never felt anything positive towards a man in her life.

    Adding on top of the fact that she was a lonely existence, a person without friends and only business partners and allies, she truly could not fathom the current circumstances.

    The faint hue on her face wasn''t so faint anymore. She was bright red, but she kept her eyes closed and her head turned hoping Damien couldn''t see it.

    But how could he not?

    Her breathing was so erratic that her chest forcefully made itself pronounced in his grasp. Her heart was practically a supercar in its own right, and each pulse was felt viscerally by him.

    So her state was extremely evident to him.

    And it only made him more conscious of what was happening!

    ''Stay focused, Damien. You''re a good man. You''re a good man.''

    He continued chanting the mantra to fight back his intrusive thoughts.

    It was strange for him.

    As someone who hadn''t thought about other women for several decades, it was incredibly strange to feel this flustered.

    But he couldn''t focus on that, because despite the awkward tension softening the situation, Damien was extremely aware of Iris'' pain.

    If he wanted to enjoy her expressions and explore this novel and long-forgotten feeling, he had to make sure she was in a position to do it with him, right?

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath, finally clearing away his useless thoughts.

    He put his senses into his mana, losing feeling in his hand as his mind traveled into her body and escaped the physical ne, arriving at her soul.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien frowned.

    He had no ability to view the soul properly, so Iris'' soul space manifested as a sort of symbolism of its true state.

    He saw countless gue bearers in a kingdom of clouds, slowly corroding its purity and ckening its light.

    Without hesitation, he extended his hand and allowed Void Mana to run rampant.

    The target was set.

    Only the gue bearers could be touched.

    That was the first step of the process.

    In reality, Iris'' eyes widened as she felt the changes. She also temporarily ignored the situation, focusing her attention on the mysterious energy flowing through her soul.

    It wasn''t targeting her soul at all. Instead, it was directly targeting the "spread" of the gue.

    Slowly but surely, like a wave of fog rolling over a city, her soul was cocooned by the mysterious energy, and the gue stopped spreading.

    ''Good. Now¡­''

    There were no gue bearers remaining, so the next step was purification.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Damien didn''t quite know how to proceed, but it didn''t matter.

    As he discovered long ago, not knowing was not enough to stop him.

    As long as he gave themand and had sufficient qualifications, the Void would enact his will.

    ''Purify.''

    He gave themand and waited.

    The rolling cloud of Void Mana didn''t do anything at first, but after a few seconds, it submerged itself into the cloud kingdom and dyed it a different shade of ck.

    Iris'' pain was reduced immensely in that single move, and with the passing of just a few more seconds, she felt the miraculous changes taking ce.

    Her soul was being purified, but that was really only one factor of what was happening.

    She was being strengthened by something she couldn''t sense.

    It was magical.

    She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling, like a calming massage surpassing all others.

    She became aware of what was happening in the real ne again, but she didn''t reject it.

    When those two sensations came together, they gave her warmth andfort she''d never experienced before.

    All her worries faded away as she quietly enjoyed the feeling.

    Damien''s mind returned to reality at some point.

    The process ended as well.

    He retracted his hand from her chest, ignoring the unwillingness in his heart, and quietly sat back.

    The two remained in silence for a long time, not moving an inch.

    It would be a long while before they finally returned to their journey.

    ***

    From there, over a year passed.

    Damien and Iris started moving towards the Ancient Sovereign again at some point, and while neither said a word about what happened in the cave, their rtionship dynamic had gone through a subtle change.

    They didn''t feel strange or awkward expressing physical closeness, like a wall between them was broken down, and that change affected them in more ways than one.

    Their synergy in battle rose to a state of perfection. They could essentially read each other''s thoughts in battle, allowing them to take down enemies with ultimate efficiency.

    And the number of battles they went through in that year was not slight.

    In total, they''d eliminated over 300 enemies, with over 15 of them being on the same level as the gue Lord.

    But through all these battles, neither of them received more than surface-level injuries.

    After all, Damien didn''t stay stagnant.

    The more they killed, the more strength he gained, and the more support he could provide.

    It got to a point where Damien no longer needed to hide and wait for the perfect moment, because he could directly enter battle with Iris and take down the enemy with his power.

    Plus, Divine Energy''s effect on his body became less significant with his growth.

    Currently, they were already nearing their final destination, the Ancient Sovereign''s location.

    But they had to make a stop.

    Damien stood over a river of ink.

    It was the remains of the enemy he''d just ughtered.

    That man¡­

    He was even stronger than the gue Lord. It took him and Iris using everything they had to finally take him down.

    His title was the Void Lord, and he was a Nox Demigod who practiced space to a greater level than anyone else.

    Killing that man held more significance than either of them expected.

    Because the second he achieved victory, Damien felt something expand in his mind and soul.

    The time hade.

    He understood the path.

    With this victory¡­

    He finally found the tethering point between Elemental-Samsara and Spacetime.

 Chapter 1244 Progression [3]

    Chapter 1244 Progression [3]

    A cave hideout didn''t seem a secure enough location for a task like this, but they didn''t have much choice, since there wasn''t anywhere else to hide.

    Unfortunately for Damien, the Ancient Battlefield''s restriction of entry and exit applied to more than just the lower universe.

    Actually, it should have been granted.

    If it could block the connection to the lower universe, it could definitely block travel to other universes as well.

    Including the Sanctuary.

    The ground was too solid and didn''t have a subterranean world, so there was no point in digging down. The only option was to find a rtively hidden cave and set up substantial defenses to protect themselves.

    And that''s what they did.

    While Iris stood guard, Damien sat down and focused on his soul, repeating the process hepleted when he first entered the Ancient Battlefield.

    It was easy to make a single connection, but Damien had a choice to make here.

    The connection between Elemental and Samsara was definite. It had a clear start and end point, which were connected by a tether.

    Now that it came time to add a third force to that connection, a question arose.

    Should he simply tether Spacetime to Samsara and create a one-directional connection between the three forces, or was he supposed to connect Spacetime to both fundamentalws individually to create a closed circuit?

    Both had their own advantages and disadvantages, but it was obvious that a closed circuit would allow him to use more power.

    Yet, that didn''t matter.

    It wasn''t about where he would find power, but what was the "correct" path.

    It wasn''t time to close off all other paths yet.

    He could definitely be a great entity if he did it, but if he closed off other routes, he was only limiting himself.

    After all, he wasn''t done yet.

    Creation and Destruction still needed to be discovered,bined, and tethered for him to reach the fusion point.

    One could argue that this was a simple problem.

    He could just cut the closed circuit when the time came to add thosews, or he could connect their fusion to all of the other three individually like he''d done when he added Spacetime, but¡­

    ''It doesn''t feel right.''

    It was intuition without any real backing.

    Damien felt in his chest that following that path was wrong.

    He didn''t know why. He needed to reach greater heights to know why.

    But he understood that if he sacrificed the short-term boost, he''d gain immense benefits in the long term.

    ''Though, "sacrifice" might be a bit strong.''

    Damien was going to trust his intuition. Disregarding the importance of a practitioner''s intuition, his was backed by the Void itself, so it couldn''t be wrong in matters rting to it.

    He didn''t hesitate any longer.

    Just as before, the process was extremely simple for Damien, but extremelyplicated in reality.

    The tether point within Samsara in that secluded soul space extended and formed a new thread that shot into Spacetime''s territory and stabbed into its figure.

    How did that work?

    Unlike the others, Spacetime was colorless and formless. It didn''t particrly have a middle point, or anywhere for a tether to attach.

    It wasn''t because the tether was ethereal.

    It was because there truly was a tether point.

    In a sense, the tethering of these forces could be considered a reflection of the universe itself.

    In reality, they maintained a simr rtionship.

    They were connected, but did not interfere with each other''s processes.

    Therefore, somewhere within that formless mass, there was a point waiting to be discovered to create this very connection.

    Damien just didn''t realize it until he tried.

    His body and soul went through a change.

    His league increased yet again.

    Damien¡­

    ''...I feel like I can proudly stand on the Ancient Battlefield now.''

    He had been fighting directly for several months already, but he had to be extremely careful about how he moved and which opponents he decided to show himself before.

    That was different now.

    At least for the majority of Demigods here¡­

    ''...I feel like I can take them.''

    Not with Iris as his shield, but with his own power.

    "Huu¡­"

    It wasn''t anywhere nearplete.

    There was still a decent amount of time before the transformation ended and Damien could properly use this power.

    But he was already excited.

    The possibilities in his mind, not just for fighting, but for utilization of his power in every sense, were limitless.

    And he couldn''t wait to test it all out.

    ***

    Damien and Iris were really acting independently during their stay on the Ancient Battlefield, but their efforts definitely had an impact on the overall situation.

    After all, when there were only a few thousand total enemies, killing three hundred was a feat.

    Though, it did take a considerable amount of time due to their spread.

    Nevertheless, they weren''t the only ones working.

    Alucard, Prisci Adire, and the rest of the Demigods on Iris'' side were following their lead and killing as much as possible.

    Because there were a few hundred of them, their efforts were the ones truly making a difference.

    They didn''t get as many individual kills as the two, but the number they''d killed was over two thousand already, including traitors from their own side.

    It was startlingpared to the progress made in the first year of war.

    To the point where it could not be ignored.

    As Damien predicted, the Demigods in the universal home base were not able to exert control over those acting outside their jurisdiction unless they wished to lose the support of those following them.

    After all, Alucard and the rest were the ones actually making a difference.

    So, as their forces began to follow the other camp''s lead and fight on the frontlines, they had no choice but to support it.

    The Nox, of course, responded as well.

    They became somewhat more organized, mostly traveling in groups when they reached the border between territories.

    They also became aggressive, actively searching for enemies to ughter, and presenting their heads as trophies of war to taunt the enemy.

    Of the Nox Emperors, the Karmic Emperor started to move seriously, and the Inhuman Emperor followed as if he was refusing to be overshadowed.

    While the other two remained vague in their actions, the entrance of two Emperors already put immense pressure on the universe.

    And more than anything, an event that shattered the unity of the Grand Heavens Boundary side took ce.

    Immortal Blood Asura chose his allegiance, killing tens of friendly Demigods as he joined the Karmic Emperor on his tirade.

    It was unprecedented.

    For some of his power to betray the universe was totally unexpected.

    After all, by the time the lower universe confirmed Blood Asura Holy Land''s betrayal, the Demigods had already been transported to the Ancient Battlefield.

    It was definitely a huge blow to their morale, and since the strongest of them, aside from those on Iris'' side, were hiding in the base camp, there didn''t seem to be a way to fix this problem immediately.

    A change from the outside was necessary.

    Something that wouldn''t just force the strongest and most cowardly allied Demigods to act, but also dealt a huge blow to the Nox.

    Something like the death of a Nox Emperor.

    But¡­

    Who could do it?

    Though they didn''t know it at that time, the answers to their questions and hopes would appear before their eyes soon enough.

 Chapter 1245 Ancient Sovereign [1]

    Chapter 1245 Ancient Sovereign [1]

    The rest of the journey was quite unspectacr.

    The Ancient Sovereign promised Damien he wouldn''t move, and after checking a second, third, fourth, and fifth time, Damien became sure that he wasn''t lying.

    And so, considering that their distance from the original location was only a few tens of millions of kilometers from the ce they stopped for Damien to finish hisprehension, they arrived in just another day.

    The only unfortunate part was theck of enemies.

    Since it was the Ancient Sovereign''s vicinity, it made sense that nobody dared to invade it, but¡­

    Damien was thirsting to try out his new power!

    Nevertheless, he put aside his desires as he felt Orion from the distance, and with Iris by his side, he touched down to meet the man he''d been looking for.

    The Ancient Sovereign.

    He was standing right there next to Orion, looking off into the distance as if he could see something nobody else could.

    For several moments afternding, Damien was speechless.

    The appearance of this man was confusing.

    He existed, he clearly existed right there in front of him, but it felt like he didn''t.

    His visage wasn''t covered in a mosaic anymore, but Damien felt like he still couldn''t see the man''s true face.

    It just didn''t make sense.

    He was a man, that much could be felt, but other than that, his features, his physique, all of it was strangely blurred between several different possibilities¡­

    ''...as if he''s existing in several realities at once.''

    Damien''s mind experienced a rush of emotions.

    He felt like his understanding of universal truth was expanding and crumbling at the same time purely due to this man''s existence.

    But he didn''t allow this state to consume him.

    It took a minute, but he managed to stabilize himself.

    Well, that wasn''t quite right.

    He managed to push down his confusion and regain his focus by ignoring the problem, because it was impossible for him to understand and ovee it at his current level.

    "This is also not wrong. It is admirable to possess an understanding of one''s limits."

    The Ancient Sovereign spoke, clearly understanding Damien''s actions.

    Damien cupped his fists and gave a respectful salute.

    "My name is Damien Void. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ancient Sovereign," he said as he bowed.

    "Hmm. This One is aware of thy existence. Mother has never paid such attention to a human."

    Damien''s eyes widened just slightly. This "mother" the Ancient Sovereign referred to could be none other than the Void.

    It was clear his view on the esoteric concept and all things in general was far above what even someone like Orion, his closest rtive in age, could see.

    "Then, I''m sure you are also aware of my purpose in visiting you now," Damien said, putting away his thoughts.

    At the same time, he quietly ced his hand on Iris'' back and channeled Void Mana into her body, allowing it to circte.

    "Ah¡­"

    She gave a slight exmation as she snapped out of her confusion.

    Unlike Damien, who had the Void to give him slight understanding of the Ancient Sovereign''s existence, which allowed him to rid himself of the state, Iris was still trapped in the confusion his presence ced on anyone who saw him for the first time.

    Though, if she wasn''t Orion''s descendant, someone unique even if one looked at all of existence, she likely wouldn''t have been able to extricate herself regardless of Damien''s help.

    She quickly gathered herself and gave Damien a grateful look before repeating his previous actions and greeting the Ancient Sovereign.

    It was an awkward meeting.

    But, it didn''t have a chance to be anything else.

    The Ancient Sovereign was too enigmatic for anyone to have a normal conversation with him. Perhaps only Orion could see his true self enough to have a close rtionship with him.

    The Ancient Sovereign looked between his two juniors. They couldn''t see his eyes moving, but they felt his gaze travel between them.

    "You, child,e with This One. Orion, This One shall meet your descendant in the future."

    Orion made a strange expression.

    "Yes, I understand. Go easy on him. He has only recently gained the qualifications."

    "This One is very clear on his situation. Your worry is unfounded."

    "Haha, but when you say that, I truly cannot trust it."

    The Ancient Sovereign nced at Orion before turning around and walking away.

    Damien tilted his head in confusion.

    "Am I supposed to follow him?"

    Orion nodded wryly.

    "He is always like this. Do not mind it and attempt to understand the nuances within his words. He¡­well, you could say he is far separated from the reality we all experience."

    Damien hummed strangely and nced at Iris, who smiled and nodded at him.

    He gave her a warm look before taking his first steps to follow the Ancient Sovereign on his trek.

    As the two disappeared into the distance, Orion and Iris were left alone.

    "When he said future¡­does the Ancient Sovereign not wish to meet me now?"

    Orion shook his head.

    "It is not like that, child. As I said, his perception is strange. The past, present, and future hold no meaning to him. When he says future, it is only to tell us he will return to speak with you. Perhaps, to him, that conversation is already long underway."

    Iris furrowed her brows, trying to understand it.

    "Then¡­"

    "There is no need to say it."

    Orion cut her off.

    "He can be considered my elder brother if one looks at it objectively, but the distance between our births is extreme. He was born when time did not exist, but if one had to date his birth in rtion to mine, he is perhaps trillions of years older."

    Iris'' eyes widened.

    The Ancient Sovereign was an entity with much fame in the universe, not because he had aplished wondrous deeds, but because of the length of his existence.

    But nobody could have assumed this.

    Trillions of years. Even the strongest of Demigods could never imagine such a time span. Even the Saint Emperor, who''d been living for at least hundreds of millions of years, could never understand what life meant to a man like the Ancient Sovereign.

    Iris'' eyes held a slight hint of worry.

    Such an existence was currently guiding Damien to ces unknown, to speak about topics she still did not have the qualifications to learn.

    Damien''s secret, the one he hid from her since their first meeting, she had seen hints of it several times since they met in the Ancient Battlefield. She''d even felt that energy in her body and soul.

    The fact that she still didn''t have an inkling of understanding of its nature was concerning.

    For some reason, she couldn''t get rid of her worry.

    Her expression didn''t visibly change, but Orion could perceive the turmoil in her heart clearly.

    "Oho¡­" he muttered

    Iris looked over curiously when she heard it, and Orion had to try his best to contain his smile so she didn''t realize anything.

    He didn''t expect it.

    This descendant of his, the woman he viewed as a granddaughter; he''d been with her long enough to understand her thoughts.

    Had she ever had a moment like this?

    It was interesting. Very interesting.

    And frankly, as someone who didn''t want to see his future generations cut off by the loneliness of this descendant¡­

    He truly couldn''t hold back his smile.

    ''...I am quite excited to see this develop.''

 Chapter 1246 Ancient Sovereign [2]

    Chapter 1246 Ancient Sovereign [2]

    Orion and Iris were surrounded by a light-hearted atmosphere, but Damien didn''t experience the same with the Ancient Sovereign.

    He hadn''t said a word since they started walking.

    Instead, he pulled Damien into a strange Spacetime without him even realizing it.

    The two were moving at a normal pace, but they covered millions of kilometers with every step.

    It wasn''t high speed at all. Spacetime was squinching around them, changing the worth of their steps even though the steps themselves didn''t change at all.

    The Ancient Sovereign wasn''t helping Damien either.

    He was ambling as if he didn''t even realize Damien was following him.

    ''Damn¡­this technique is something I learned a long time ago, but that doesn''t make it easier to follow him.''

    The concept of "distance" was something Damien paid a lot of attention to in the past when he was researching Horizon Break, so he understood how topress space to change his movements.

    However, adding time as a factor changed it entirely.

    Thepressing of Spacetime meant not only their position in space was changing, but they were truly walking through time.

    As if the past, present, and future were nothing more than futile concepts that could not affect their existence.

    Beads of sweat trailed down Damien''s face, but his eyes were filled with excitement.

    After tethering Spacetime, he didn''t expect to find an opportunity to utilize its power so soon.

    And he wasn''t just utilizing the power, but increasing his understanding!

    As he let go of the known concepts of time for the sake of copying the Ancient Sovereign''s movements, he realized just how rtive Spacetime truly was.

    To him, nothing had changed.

    But the second he allowed his perception to leave the bounds of this strange ethereal corridor the two of them were traversing, he noticed how insanity-inducing their journey was.

    The seconds and minutes flew by likeets in one moment, and in the next, Damien would realize he was far beyond them, and those same seconds were leagues behind him.

    They weren''t moving forward or backward, nor were they stationary.

    They were pacing back and forth through time as if it was nothing, and with their movement in space beingpletely linear, perceiving the world outside the corridor became a mind-breaking learning experience for Damien.

    It was a beautiful phenomenon he never expected to experience by just following someone, but perhaps this was how the Ancient Sovereign always perceived existence.

    Perhaps the time he''d lived was nothing more than the blink of an eye to him, or perhaps he was experiencing the full extent of that time every second of every day, as if every second held trillions of years in its mysteries.

    "This One is thoroughly impressed. Mother''s choice cannot be questioned, however, This One was still curious about what kind of human could bond with her in such a way."

    The Ancient Sovereign finally spoke, halting in his tracks.

    Damien stopped behind him, and in that moment, the full extent of their journey struck him.

    It was like everything in existence slingshotted back to its proper position. The world curved and stretched, wobbling strangely before finally stabilizing.

    Damien couldn''t contain his wonder at all.

    But he had to take this opportunity to converse with the man who rarely spoke.

    "Do you see it as a bond?" He asked vaguely.

    The Ancient Sovereign turned around to face him.

    "This One cannot speak on Mother''s actions. However, This One does feel something greater from you that also cannot be exined."

    Damien nodded, somewhat understanding his thoughts.

    "I guess I''m not there yet, but that is the end goal. In a sense, your Mother and I are one and the same."

    Damien looked at the man, trying to gauge his response, but he didn''t receive anything but silence.

    "..."

    "Thy most pressing questions do not have answers. This One can only aid you in areas you might find inconsequential."

    "I don''t care about that," Damien said, shaking his head.

    "I want the answers you can give me. The rest, I will naturally find myself."

    "Very well."

    The Ancient Sovereign turned around, his attention once again focused on an unknown "something" that only he could see.

    "Mother has always been lonely."

    His start was¡­not something Damien expected.

    "Mother was not always an entity, yet Mother has always existed. Existing before existence, the concept of existence was birthed from Mother, and to define her existence before existence, nonexistence was also born."

    Immediately, he started speaking nonsensical words, but Damien didn''t interrupt. Instead, as Orion said, he tried his best to understand the nuances within those words.

    "Mother is existence, yet Mother is also nonexistence. Mother wishes to be existence, yet Mother cannot exist. When Mother influences Order, Chaos is born, and from Chaos, Order is born."

    Damien frowned.

    In terms of universal truth, he couldn''t understand Orion''s words at all.

    But if he tried to apply those words to things he did know¡­

    ''Since we''re in the Ancient Battlefield, let''s start with the Nox.''

    The history of the Nox was inconsequential to him now that he was in the Ancient Battlefield and had to ughter them to extinction, but as the Ancient Sovereign said, perhaps the only information he''d learn was inconsequential things like this.

    Still, knowing these facts that were useless in the present could help him in the future. Otherwise, the Ancient Sovereign, who didn''t perceive these concepts, wouldn''t be mentioning them.

    ''The Void wishes to interfere in existence, but its interference only creates chaos. Chaos creates Order, which is also another form of the Void''s interference in existence.''

    His own thoughts were making less sense, but because they belonged to him, he could define them clearly.

    ''The Nox are agents of Chaos. If the Void''s interference in this case refers to the creation of the concepts that led to them, or maybe even the Abyss, then Order would be its direct influence.''

    The Abyss was created through the destruction of existence, but it was still existence.

    Yet, it was a piece of existence closest to the Void.

    ''Perhaps the Void is able to interfere in the Abyss because it is already fragmented away from the regr concept of existence. That interference spread through the Abyss and turned it into what it is today, and when the Nox were born from it by the design of their creators¡­''

    ¡­the Nox were naturally influenced by the Void.

    "Mother cannot act willfully, yet Mother''s every action is willful. Cause and effect are only created if Mother interferes, yet Mother''s intentions cannot be perceived by us who were birthed from her thoughts."

    Right, nobody could understand the Void''s intentions.

    Even when Damien first unlocked the potential of his physique in the First Dungeon, he only saw a single facet of its power.

    ''...the primal urge to consume.''

    The Nox''s nature was originally skewed towards evil, because that was their original purpose.

    However, their original purpose was supposed to be beneficial to one party. Rather than the urge to consume, they were supposed to experience the urge to obey and destroy.

    Yet, at some point, the Nox''s mentality changed.

    They did not act as their creators wished, and desired to devour everything for themselves instead.

    This was the Void''s influence.

    But it wasn''t the only thing the Void did.

    After all, it was far moreplex than just that.

    ''If it wasn''t for the Void permeating through the Abyss, the Nox would have never gained the potential to evolve.''

    The corrupted foreign material Damien saw in the Demon Abyss was meant to be a control center created by the currently termed Demon Race whose bloodline he possessed.

    However, when it was fed the energy of the universe, it acted as a catalyst for their growth away from their original purpose.

    It was never meant to do so.

    That was also the Void''s influence.

    It was the Void that turned the Nox into a race that could be saved.

    Yet¡­

    It was also because of the Void that they were beyond saving.

    ''The Void''s identity¡­''

    Damien sighed.

    His heart was filled with immense pity that he didn''t know the origin of.

    It was just¡­

    ''The more I think about the Void, the further I picture it as a sentient entity¡­the more I cannot fathom its existence, and the more I feel its existence is torturous.''

    He felt immense sorrow.

    And at the same time, he started to understand the terrifying loneliness that stood at the end of his path.

    Unknown to him, his spiritual world and physical body were both experiencing strange changes that couldn''t be exined, so subtle that they had no real effect on his existence.

    But his conversation with the Ancient Sovereign was only just beginning.

    It was truly unknown.

    Whether or not Damien would still be the man he thought he was when this conversation ended¡­

    He couldn''t even begin to know.

 Chapter 1247 Ancient Sovereign [3]

    Chapter 1247 Ancient Sovereign [3]

    Damien and the Ancient Sovereign walked through a single second.

    And they conversed.

    Their conversation didn''t have a true direction, just like their steps, but every word held profound meaning.

    About the universe, about truth, about life, and about purpose.

    The Ancient Sovereign was a man who stood above all these concepts. To him, they were all inconsequential.

    So the perspective he offered was one that couldn''t be found anywhere else.

    There wasn''t a single entity like him.

    He was a being born before the universe was created, albeit just slightly. If one looked at the entirety of existence, including the Heavenly World Damien had never seen, one would never find another being like him.

    Damien understood that intuitively. That''s why he wanted to meet this man badly enough to spend a year traveling to speak with him.

    And the gains he made were real.

    As had been mentioned several times, it was all inconsequential.

    Regardless of what they spoke of, Damien didn''t discover anything that had to do with his past, present, or future.

    These truths, these profundities, encapsted the fundamentals of life and existence.

    Damien''s mind expanded.

    His worldview changed.

    From the point where he started, unable to understand what the Ancient Sovereign was saying or why he said it, he reached a point where he could sympathize with this man''s opinions and glimpse the world he saw.

    It was nd.

    Nothing held value to him.

    Because he couldn''t see the value in those things that normal people held dear. He stood above those concepts and could only observe them indifferently.

    Damien felt some pity for the man, but he also respected him immensely.

    After all, the Ancient Sovereign wasn''t missing anything. The things Damien valued meant nothing to him, so even if he experienced them, he wouldn''t understand them.

    It was better for him to live the life he was living, disconnected from all things, a mere observer drifting through reality.

    This was precisely the standpoint that made him worthy of respect.

    And to Damien, he was a senior in more ways than one.

    This conversation helped him grow imperceptibly.

    It helped him view the world differently, and understand things from the standpoint of an observer.

    This allowed him to understand his actions in greater depth and create a more stable n for the future.

    It was a bitedic.

    The being who experienced time as an outsider allowed Damien to define his own time.

    But, perhaps there was nobody else who could do it.

    As he''d learned through countless experiences, someone directly involved in a situation could never see it from the unbiased perspective of a bystander.

    He followed the Ancient Sovereign through space and time, and his questions slowly changed.

    He asked purely out of curiosity, his goals and intentions disappearing.

    He just wanted to see how this entity responded, and how he viewed things Damien already had a stubborn standpoint on.

    It was fun.

    It was intriguing like no other conversation could be.

    And without realizing it, Damien spent a year going back and forth with him.

    A year thatsted a single second, or a single second thatsted a year.

    In the outside world, time had essentiallye to a stop, yet it was still crawling forward.

    And somehow, a year still passed.

    As if they were truly disconnected from the concept of Spacetime.

    Damien didn''t realize it, but the Ancient Battlefield already shrunk several times.

    The ne waspacted, and it was no longer rare to find the enemy when one was randomly perusing.

    Battle became more prominent, to the point where nobody could avoid their duties, and that final moment came.

    The final chance for those indecisive individuals to choose their allegiance.

    ***

    Unaware of the outside world''s change, Damien followed the Ancient Sovereign until they returned to their starting point, where Orion and Iris were waiting.

    They stood in the strange Spacetime corridor, imperceptible to the two.

    And just before they exited, the Ancient Sovereign turned around.

    His eyes were different.

    No, they could finally be seen.

    They were clouded over like a blind man''s, but they were filled with deep knowledge that couldn''t be touched.

    For a single second, those cloudy eyes cleared, and they stared directly into Damien''s soul.

    And for the first time, his words became clear.

    "Live well, child. Your future will be filled with difficulty, however, it only holds as much weight as you give it. If you one day be worthy of your post, This One will be your staunchest supporter, but if you fail, This One will personally find you to strip you of your post."

    Damien nodded without question.

    "You don''t have to worry about me. As long as the path exists, I will follow it to the end."

    "And if the path disappears?"

    Damien smiled.

    "Then I''ll create it myself."

    The Ancient Sovereign nodded.

    His mentality was good enough. His words sounded arrogant, but he was clearly aware of his position.

    At least for now, he could trust that Damien would be the man he was supposed to be.

    And perhaps¡­

    He shook his head.

    "Go, child. I shall now meet Orion''s descendant."

    Damien nodded and bowed once more.

    "Yes, and thank you. I know it''s inconsequential to you, but this conversation was extremely valuable to me. I won''t forget this favor."

    As Damien stepped forward and exited the Spacetime corridor, he could''ve sworn he saw it.

    The slight curve in the Ancient Sovereign''s lips, a hint of a smile.

    ''Nah, I must be imagining things.''

    He shook his head and watched as the world around him once again rebounded, wobbling back and forth before stabilizing into the current reality.

    Iris stood up from her meditative position when she sensed him, rushing over.

    "How was it?" She asked curiously.

    She didn''t make it known, but Damien could see the worry in her eyes.

    Well, she might not have realized it, but he could clearly feel her scanning his body for any injuries.

    "It was nice. As expected, the Ancient Sovereign is an extremely profound man."

    Iris nodded and looked at him strangely, not knowing whether she should ask what they spoke about or not.

    Damien just smiled and brushed it off.

    "If you''re so curious, then go find out. It''s your turn now."

    "My turn?"

    "Well, you better follow him quickly. That guy isn''t easy to track."

    "Ah!"

    Iris finally realized that the Ancient Sovereign''s figure was already disappearing into the distance.

    Right, she had much to ask as well.

    About her purpose, about the strange blessing she received in the Severed World, about Universal Law, and¡­

    ''...my true affinity. I must learn how to use it to its full potential.''

    Damien watched her disappear in pursuit of the ancient entity, just like she''d watched him.

    He was also curious about the questions she had, but he didn''t ask.

    After all, that was her business. They''d be much closer now, but it wasn''t his right to pry into the secrets she''d hidden from the world.

    Eventually, she''d tell him as well.

    And when she did it of her own ord, it would be much more fulfilling than if he pressed for it.

    "What are you staring at? She''s already gone, you know."

    Orion''s voice woke him up from his trance.

    "Haha, what''s with you today? Did you notice something?"

    "That I did," Orion responded with a sly grin.

    "You brat, what are you nning to do?"

    Damien raised his brow slightly. From Orion''s usual character, this was a far cry.

    But, imagining him as a concerned grandfather, he could understand the change.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t provide the answer he wanted.

    He sat down and leaned against the wall, shrugging.

    "I don''t know. I''ll let fate take me where it wants."

    "You¡­!"

    "What? You want me to do something?"

    "Khhh¡­!"

    Orion gnashed his teeth in annoyance.

    Did he want him to do something?!

    As the grandfather in question, the answer was the most frustrating mixture of "yes" and "no" that he''d ever experienced!

    Though, Damien''s answer wasn''t bad either.

    From his demeanor, he didn''t seem to reject the idea at all.

    "Putting that aside, what did you talk about?"

    Orion couldn''t contain his curiosity.

    He was in a position where he couldn''t gain anything from the Ancient Sovereign. They knew each other too well for his profundity to still be profound.

    However, what about the most talented kid he''d ever seen?

    What would such a character gain?

    Damien looked up at the sky, his eyes clouding over somewhat.

    "Well¡­"

    He thought about it.

    What did they talk about?

    What did he gain?

    "Let''s just say I gained everything and nothing at all."

    Orion looked at Damien''s mysteriously smiling face incredulously.

    ''This man is¡­''

    "You''re just spouting nonsense to act like him, aren''t you."

    "You caught me."

    ''...absolutely insufferable! I have to get him away from my precious granddaughter as fast as possible!''

    It''d be a while before the Ancient Sovereign returned with Iris.

    Damien wanted to use that time to internalize everything he''d gained in the past year-like second.

    Because, for some reason, after he came out of the Spacetime corridor, the air felt different.

    Dark clouds were gathering.

    And they would soon converge on his head.

 Chapter 1248 Ancient Sovereign [4]

    Chapter 1248 Ancient Sovereign [4]

    She couldn''t follow him.

    No matter how much she tried, she couldn''t trace his steps.

    His back was so far away that she thought he''d disappear from her grasp, but he always stayed on the edge of her perception, just far enough ahead to make her painfully aware of the distance between them.

    It wasn''t her fault, but she didn''t know that.

    She simply didn''t have the faculties to fall into his rhythm.

    Eventually, she stopped and watched him walk.

    His steps were unbelievably light, but each one took him an unreasonable distance away.

    While her steps could only carry her as far as her body allowed.

    It didn''t mean much.

    The reality was just a difference in affinities. Without understanding Spacetime, it was impossible for her to trace his movements.

    But the feeling it gave was more inherent.

    This was the difference felt by many.

    The difference between a practitioner who could only rely on hard work and one who had sufficient talent to support it.

    Iris was always thetter.

    She was always leagues above her peers. Despite her age being over ten thousand years, the time she''d taken to reach Divinity was less than half of that.

    During the rest of the time, she''d risen from a nameless Demigod to someone who stood above all else, one of the strongest Divinities in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    She never felt the gap caused by her talent.

    No, she never had anyone around her to be affected by that gap.

    So she didn''t understand it''s pain.

    Trying to follow his steps made her experience it.

    And her mind shed back to the man she''s been traveling with for the past two and a half years.

    It was hard to think of him as a mere lower existence watching him fight, but the facts didn''t change.

    He was still a Supreme who hadn''t stepped on the road of Divinity yet.

    Strangely enough, she never felt the weight of that.

    Perhaps due to the special rtionship they shared, his immense talent didn''t frighten her, but empowered her.

    The thought of him surpassing her never even came to mind, and now that it was, frankly, she didn''t feel concerned about it.

    If it happened, she would just work harder to keep up.

    But¡­

    That feeling was half due to her conjectures, and half due to the extent of Damien''s talent.

    Some talents caused people to feel envy and hopelessness, but when talent reached such a disproportionate level, one could only feel admiration.

    Damien was at that level.

    Now that she was here, Iris started to feel what she''d missed because of his extremity.

    It was suffocating.

    With everything she had, no matter how much she tried, it was impossible for her to even see his back.

    Was that the future in store for her?

    She couldn''t ept it.

    She didn''te here thinking about Damien, she came here to get answers from the Ancient Sovereign.

    She couldn''t stop their backs from ovepping.

    And for some reason, the ovep spurred her thoughts.

    What was her talent?

    In truth, only Damien glimpsed it. Eyrrisea Luminus had always been a mystery to bothrades and foes, a person whosews and affinities could not be understood.

    The main reason was that she never used her true affinity.

    Sheprehended Universal Law based on its nature, but while she did progress it in secret, she never used it openly.

    Iris never reached her full potential because of this.

    No matter how much she couldprehend on her own time, unless she applied thoseprehensions to real-life situations, how could she properly understand them?

    It was just too esoteric.

    The force that nobody else hadprehended, the force above all others that provided her the talent she held, she couldn''t seem to grasp it, just like she couldn''t grasp the Ancient Sovereign.

    "Indecisive."

    A single word.

    It boomed in her ear.

    She looked up, startled, but the Ancient Sovereign was still in the same ce, just close enough that she could glimpse his back.

    ''Indecisive?''

    Was that the case?

    Was she hesitating?

    What reason did she have to do so?

    "Orion''s descendant, you are a paper boat in a vast ocean. Your mind does not match your stature."

    He spoke again.

    Iris felt it in his words.

    ''He''s looking down on me.''

    In most cases, she would''ve taken insult from those words, but the man who spoke them wasn''t someone who spoke without reason.

    She''d learned much about the Ancient Sovereign from Orion before this moment, so she knew just how profound his every action was.

    For him to directly tell her something like that¡­

    She had to look inside herself and reflect.

    ''My mind was like a paper boat in a vast ocean¡­''

    She reiterated his words.

    She tried to internalize and rationalize them.

    And she eventually realized their truth.

    While she objectively epted her position, considering herself one of the strongest Demigods in the universe, that was nothing but an objective view.

    Her mind was truly immature.

    The underdevelopment of her mind due to theck of pure rtionships in her life was already known. Adding to that the immense responsibility on her shoulders and many other factors, she realized that she undervalued herself to an extreme.

    "You cannot find the answers you seek."

    He spoke as if it was definite, but Iris knew it wasn''t.

    In her current state, it was impossible to pursue what she sought.

    It was a matter of mindset.

    Thew she wanted to start pursuing was far too great for her to tackle with her current mindset.

    Unless she could put herself in the same position as thatw or stand above it, how could she ever wish to reach it?

    "But¡­how?"

    How was she to change?

    Over ten thousand years she''d lived. It was an immense span of time, and something developed through it was not easy to alter.

    "There is no how, and there is no what. There is no question, there is only an answer. That answer will note from external sources, and it cannote from inside. It does not exist."

    Iris wasn''t used to the Ancient Sovereign''s strangeness, but just like Damien, she tried her best to understand it.

    ''There is no question, and there is no answer. It will note from the outside, but it "cannot"e from the inside¡­''

    Was he saying that she was limiting herself?

    But if that was the extent of it, was there a point in him speaking?

    Iris felt like a child again, listening to her elders speak about the mysteries of 4th ss,pletely unable to follow their words.

    However, despite what the Ancient Sovereign said, she felt there was an answer.

    There was an answer somewhere, she just didn''t have the faculties to reach it.

    She refused to allow this.

    If the problem was internal, then she could fix it. If she didn''t know how, then she just needed to create a "how" and make it work.

    Iris never forced her way through a problem before.

    She was always a rational thinker. Instead of using power where power wasn''t necessary, she''d always use a roundabout method to achieve the most ideal results.

    This was also the reason she became so ustomed to using Universal Law.

    In the lower universe, that power was absolute. It put her in a position withoutpetitors.

    But in this ce, it was useless. It barely held any weight.

    After all, this was not the lower universe.

    The Ancient Battlefield was a fragment that broke off the Heavenly World. That was why it could amodate Divinities so easily.

    She realized the need for growth that had long eluded her once again when she came here, and though she''d grown somewhat, it wasn''t nearly what she wanted.

    In her heart, a long-forgotten ambition sparked again.

    The desire to see the Heavenly World and enter the grand stage.

    If she wanted to do it, she couldn''t stay the same.

    At least this much, she''d understood clearly.

 Chapter 1249 Ancient Sovereign [5]

    Chapter 1249 Ancient Sovereign [5]

    What was Iris searching for?

    The problem was that even she didn''t know.

    Unlike Damien who had a definite goal for meeting the Ancient Sovereign and used their conversation to take steps towards it, Iris was just looking for an "answer."

    Unfortunately, the Ancient Sovereign wasn''t a man who would just give people what they sought.

    He would guide them there in his own special way, and whether or not they could gain anything was up to them.

    So Iris struggled.

    As someone who didn''t know what she wanted, she struggled.

    The conversation she had with the wizened entity wasn''t nearly as profound and long as Damien''s, but it had its own value.

    The Ancient Sovereign refused to give her what she wanted, but that was good for her.

    Because, for Iris, who always tried to find the best yet mostplex solution to every problem, had to learn how to take things at face value and ept them.

    Who was she?

    What did she want?

    What did she represent?

    And why did she want or represent those things?

    These were questions she had to answer for herself before she could even begin to answer the most pressing concern in her mind.

    Just as the Ancient Sovereign said, her identity was not nearly defined enough for her to even begin to understand what she wanted to.

    It sounded strange for a Demigod to encounter these problems, but it was actually rtivelymon.

    Aftering in contact with one''s soul and establishing one''s Divinity, a practitioner would be far more aware of themselves than ever before.

    This would cement most beliefs they held beforehand, but it also gave rise to new questions that couldn''t be easily answered.

    Because they would realize that perhaps those fundamental thoughts they''d held since the start of their journey to power were wed.

    Those things they regarded as immutable facts might''ve been the very things holding them back.

    And as they discovered and explored those changes, they''d grow into moreplete existences.

    This growth couldn''t be rushed.

    The Ancient Sovereign didn''t entertain her the same way he did Damien. He barely spoke, and allowed her to form conclusions based on non-verbal clues more than anything else.

    But for Iris, this was necessary.

    She was Orion''s descendant.

    While he looked down on her for keeping such an immature mentality after everything she''d experienced, he didn''t condemn her, because he understood that sentient beings wereplex.

    Everyone had their own path, and the discovery of their paths would take time regardless of how talented or intelligent they were.

    Whether or not Iris could understand what he wanted to teach her was unknown, because she didn''t understand it during their conversation.

    However, with the ideas nted in her mind, it only took a single spark to ignite them and send her into a state of enlightenment where everything clicked.

    He believed she could do it.

    But she needed to face the harshness of reality first.

    Despite the briefness of their conversation, it still continued for over a month.

    And now that she was leaving, his gaze returned to that unknown ce.

    Past, present, and future.

    These concepts held no meaning to him.

    He understood them, but he did not experience them.

    To him, they all took ce at the same time. Time was not linear in his eyes.

    So he could see it.

    What would happen in the future, what happened in the past, and how the present was defined by and defined those instances.

    Perhaps Iris didn''t think she gained much.

    He saw the uncertainty in her eyes, but he could not say anything to calm it.

    Instead, the opportunity to do so was just around the corner.

    The only question was whether it was right or wrong to let her experience it.

    ''An observer¡­''

    He thought back to what Damien called him.

    A mere observer.

    The least significant yet most significant individual in the universe.

    If that was his role, then so be it.

    Whatever happened would happen.

    His only job was to watch over it, like a living record of all things.

    Perhaps one day, as he lived such a life, he''d see that ce with his own eyes.

    The ce he''d been gazing at for eternity.

    ***

    Iris returned to Damien and Orion with a frown on her face. She was much quieter than her usual self, but Damien didn''t say anything about it.

    ''She must''ve learned something iprehensible. I''ll just have to wait for her to properly internalize it.''

    It was an experience he''d had several times in the past. While Iris was a Demigod and an experienced human in her own right, in front of the Ancient Sovereign, she was nothing but a fleck in the expanse of all things.

    Whatever she''d learned from him definitely held deep importance to her, so it was only natural for her to have such an expression.

    "How are you feeling?" He asked, trying to bring her attention back to reality.

    "Huu¡­"

    Iris took a deep breath and shook her head listlessly.

    "Confused."

    "Haha, that''ll happen," Damien responded, not pressing for more.

    "Should we wait a bit before heading back out?"

    Iris looked at him gratefully. She wasn''t going to suggest it since she felt bad for holding them back, but she truly couldn''t fight to her full potential with her current state of mind.

    She needed to sit down and process everything. She needed to gain an understanding of herself.

    Though she wanted to express her intent, the look in Damien''s eyes made her realize she didn''t need to.

    After hesitating for a moment, she sat down nearby and closed her eyes, sinking her mind inward.

    Damien nced at her before turning to Orion.

    "So, what do you n to do?" He asked.

    "Me?" Orion replied strangely.

    "Who else?"

    "Haha, are you truly asking me to join you right now?"

    "What, you have a problem with that?"

    "Not necessarily, but I assumed you would?"

    "Haha, you''re funny."

    "What does that mean?"

    "Hm? Nothing at all."

    Damien shrugged nomittally, aggravating Orion to the extreme, but the man sighed wryly and dropped the matter.

    "I will stay with my elder brother. Now that three of us are gone, there is much for the two of us to do."

    Damien nodded in understanding.

    "Alright, but don''t hide your location like before. It''s annoying trying to find you without a point of reference."

    "That makes me want to do it even more, though?"

    "Just wait until I be a Demigod. I''m going to beat your ass."

    "Hahaha, I wholeheartedly ept that challenge! Even if I have given you my loyalty, as a grandfather, it is my duty to put you in your ce at least once."

    "Pfft¡­! If you think you can, then go ahead and try."

    Damien and Orion red at each other with eyes full of fighting spirit before shaking hands and bidding farewell.

    With Orion following the Ancient Sovereign to ces unknown, Damien and Iris were left alone again.

    It would be several months before they started acting again, and the situation would go through a myriad of changes in that time as the fighting between two sides became more severe, but that didn''t have much to do with them.

    After all, they were far separated from any of the main battlegrounds.

    Yet¡­

    As Iris focused on meditation and Damien rested nearby, they failed to notice the dark clouds above gathering in full.

    Trouble was not just near, it was already upon them.

    The only question that remained was if they were capable of facing it.

 Chapter 1250 Ambush [1]

    Chapter 1250 Ambush [1]

    It took some time for Iris to gather herself after experiencing such an existential crisis, but she eventually got her act together.

    Experience was key here.

    If it weren''t for the countless turmoils she''d been through as she grew to her current level, she probably would have faced much more difficulty epting the current circumstances.

    No, it was still difficult.

    To recognize something so deeply ingrained in her as a problem, how could it be something she could do easily?

    It wasn''t as simple as the Ancient Sovereign made it sound. This problem was deeply rted to her reason for refusing ascension, the decision she was most sure of yet most regretful of at the same time.

    However, she was eventually able to understand her faults and make a flimsy n for the future, which would be more defined as she learned if the path she was following was the right one.

    With both Damien and Iris well-rested and in peak condition, they returned to the battlefield soon enough, but found something curious.

    The Ancient Battlefield''s considerable shrinking meant they should have encountered several enemies in the half-hour since they started moving, especially since the Ancient Sovereign moved away from this area, but they hadn''t met even one.

    At first, they assumed it was just unfortunate positioning. They were near the edge of the battlefield, and if most of the battles were focused near the center, it made sense that they couldn''t see anyone.

    But¡­

    Damien frowned.

    "It''s too quiet."

    In fact, it was extremely quiet.

    Eerily so.

    "Stay on guard," Damien said solemnly as he nced around.

    He couldn''t see anything around them, nor did his perception pick up an enemy, but he felt the strangeness in the air viscerally.

    Iris nodded silently, slowly prepping herself for battle as she also noticed the oddity.

    ''This environment¡­''

    They were surrounded on all sides by mountains. Only the valley through which they came existed as an entrance and exit to this ce.

    It was not ideal for battle at all.

    But it also wasn''t a ce where people could hide easily.

    Damien frowned.

    ''There''s definitely something wrong. There should be¨C''

    "¨Cshit!"

    Damien grabbed Iris'' wrist and instantly teleported several hundred kilometers away.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    An explosion rocked the space soon after. A massive ballista boltnded on their previous position andunched a tsunami of debris in every direction.

    Judging by the Divine Energy in that bolt, it would have instantly incapacitated at least one of them on impact.

    Damien and Iris flew into the air and red their mana.

    ''If the enemy continues to use assassination tactics¨C''

    Damien''s worry was unfounded.

    By the time the dust cleared, they''d already revealed themselves.

    After all, they weren''t someone who liked to hide.

    "Heyyy~ remember me?"

    The familiar, disgusting voice entered Damien''s ears and instantly turned his expression ugly.

    A character whose gender was unknown and held a rtively unsettling appearance that constantly shifted between countless mismatched body parts revealed themself confidently, waving with a smile.

    ''Marite Lord!''

    Damien hadn''t seen them since theirst encounter on Beast Emperor Star, but this was one of the Demigods he least wanted to meet.

    Their power relied on control, and as someone who despised being controlled, he held a natural repulsion for them.

    "Hey, what''s with that expression? I was hoping you''d miss me~!"

    The Marite Lord continued to speak casually, as if they weren''t worried about Damien and Iris in the slightest.

    ''They''re supposed to be someone weakened by the Ancient Battlefield since their personalbat power is assumed to be low, but¡­''

    The Marite Lord was the Marite Lord after all.

    They stood with four Demigods in front of them, clearly puppets being controlled by their strings.

    ''An ambush. They must''ve spotted us before we met the Ancient Sovereign. If it''s that person, it isn''t strange for them to wait so long for the sole purpose of killing us.''

    Damien nced at Iris, who was equally solemn.

    But the two of them were confident in theirbined abilities. The Marite Lord was a tough opponent, especially with those Demigod Puppets protecting them, but they weren''t impossible to defeat.

    "Ahhh~ are you thinking you can beat me? But¡­I didn''te alone, though?"

    BOOOOM!

    Damien rapidly teleported away.

    This attack was specifically aimed at him, ignoring Irispletely.

    Before he could regain his senses, he felt a force approaching from behind.

    He turned around and raised his arms just in time to¨C

    BOOM!

    Crack!

    "Keuk¡­!"

    His forearms shattered, but he was able to mitigate most of the damage with that.

    When he regained his bnce, he finally saw the man in front of him, as well as the two behind.

    ''These guys¡­''

    Damien knew their identities well.

    The Strength Lord, Bow Lord, and Venom Lord.

    The first was one of the strongest under the Inhuman Emperor, a total beast who used his fists alone to stand above all others. The second was the one who shot the ballista from earlier, while the third was someone simr to the Poison and gue Lords.

    However, he exclusively used venoms extracted from different beasts, which he could reproduce after experiencing once. They were not mana-based, but secreted naturally by his body, so Damien couldn''t get rid of them easily with the Void Physique.

    ''A closebat fighter to keep me upied, a poison master to wear me down, and a rangedbatant for control and piercing attacks. They really came prepared.''

    ''Did we drop our guard when we were with the Ancient Sovereign? No, I even used Absolute Perception several times to be sure. The Marite Lord must''ve used some kind of trick, or¡­there''s a terrifying treasure in their hands.''

    Damien''s eyes were narrowed to the extreme as he silently faced the three surrounding him, but it wasn''t over yet.

    By the Marite Lord''s side, a man with a ck cloak appeared as well.

    His cloak seemed to flutter in the wind, but if one looked closely, it wasn''t fluttering at all.

    No, it was a massive swarm of microscopic bugs so densely packed that they created a ck garment.

    ''The Insect Lord.''

    A fully equipped squad from the Inhuman Emperor''s faction.

    "Do you like my gift?" The Marite Lord said with a teasing smile.

    "I prepared it just for you!"

    Damien red at them before looking back at Iris.

    "Can you take them?" He asked through mental transmission.

    "Unknown, but it should be manageable. You?"

    Damien''s frown deepened.

    "Same. We don''t have any choice but to fight, but this number is good. If it was any greater, it''d be impossible."

    Iris nodded.

    They couldn''t fight together this time, not until one of them finished the enemies on their side.

    It seemed the Marite Lord did a sufficient amount of research before confronting them. Since their tandem techniques allowed them to win against any number of opponents, they disallowed them from even trying.

    It was unfortunate, but it was reality.

    "A~ why the long faces? Ah! Are you so sad that the battle hasn''t started? Well then¡­"

    The Marite Lord smiled again. It was cruel and gruesome, as expected of the Inhuman Emperor''s favorite underling.

    They raised their arm in the air with great gusto, as if everything was just entertainment, a performance, as their smile turned into a wide grin.

    "...let the battle begin!"

 Chapter 1251 Ambush [2]

    Chapter 1251 Ambush [2]

    BOOM!

    The second the Marite Lord gave the order, thirteen arrows rained down on Damien''s position as if they''d been waiting there from the start.

    Damien was forced to teleport away, but when he came out of the spatialyers, the Strength Lord was already waiting for him.

    BANG!

    A powerful punch struck the forearms he just barely put up in time, throwing him back into the Venom Lord''s range.

    Damien gritted his teeth, twisting his body impossibly to evade the three barely perceptible needles that almost dug into his skin.

    ''Their teamwork is too good.''

    Damien was facing three as one, and he wasn''t even a Divinity. It was already a miracle that he could remain rtively undamaged as the sh began, but that wasn''t enough.

    ''Iris is facing six. I shouldn''t sit here andin about three.''

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Three ballista bolts came from three directions, trapping Damien in a box.

    As his perception spread, he saw the Venom and Strength Lords moving into position to strike him again when he dodged.

    ''I need to get rid of the archer first.''

    The Bow Lord''s strength, which had only just begun to show, was already extreme.

    He could shoot regr arrows in an instant, and the ballista bolts that took a few seconds to prepare were able to instantly kill the enemy.

    Moreover, his control was the reason Damien couldn''t do anything.

    ''The Venom Lord''s toxins are far worse than the other Lords who use simr abilities, but since it''s venom, it won''t work unless it''s injected.''

    It was another ability that could control his movements, but unlike what he originally expected, the Venom Lord was probably the one they wanted to deal the final strikes.

    ''Alright. Let''s start moving.''

    No time passed as he thought.

    Now that he''d calmed himself and viewed the situation with a cool head, he was ready to start fighting.

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    Time resumed, and the roaring of winds caused by the ballista just barely inches away from him kept his attention as sharp as possible.

    ''Now.''

    He had no choice but to teleport, but he was ready this time.

    BANG! BANG!

    The Strength Lord put forth two strikes with just as much power as before. His strength was controlled to the extent that they wouldn''t cause extreme damage to the environment, but would give Damien as much damage as he wanted.

    Damien didn''t back away.

    He tilted his body as he teleported and dodged the first strike and summoned his mana, pushing his own fist forward to connect with the oneing towards him.

    BOOOOOM!

    Damien''s arm shattered on impact, but the force created by their sh pushed the Strength Lord back several steps as well.

    The offset force aided Damien, and using spatial mana to guide it, it shot him towards the Venom Lord, who was still standing in the distance.

    The Venom Lord grinned as if everything was going ording to n.

    He raised his arm in the air, secreting a stream of venom and directlypressing it into a weapon that could pierce him.

    XIU!

    It sted into the atmosphere and chased Damien''s flight path. From the looks of it, he didn''t have any time to evade or counterattack.

    However, that was exactly Damien''s expectation.

    The Bow Lord was far separated from the rest. If he tried to directly target him, the other two would get in the way, and if he moved outside their expectations, the Bow Lord would force him back into the y they''d nned.

    He couldn''t let that happen.

    His awareness allowed him a full view of the surroundings.

    The venom de was just inches away and more than sharp enough to impale him, and the Strength Lord was approaching from behind, ready to exacerbate the wound it created.

    Damien grinned.

    ''Nice.''

    That was the moment.

    sh!

    His body teleported out of the mix andpletely disappeared.

    Unlike before, not a single wisp of his aura remained in reality,pletely removing him from their perception.

    Until¨C

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion rang out several kilometers away.

    Damien appeared directly behind the Bow Lord and struck out, finally using thebination of Spacetime and Elemental-Samsara, a force he titled Rudimentary Existence Law, to attack him.

    The force ofw was terrifying. It held the material existence rupturing of Elemental-Samsara, yet it also held the potential to strike the ethereal, using Spacetime as a medium to move past the physical ne.

    "ARGH!"

    The Bow Lord groaned in pain as he rapidly retreated, but Damien followed ceaselessly.

    He couldn''t use weapons, since none of them could contain his current force, but his fists were enough.

    Especially since he could use the Venom Lord''s strategy ofpressing his mana into physical constructs.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The Bow Lord was forced to dodge and roll through the area as the surrounding mountains were torn apart. He tried to raise his bow, but he was always met with attacks before he could strike their creator.

    Arrows streaked through the air, but they could only be used to offset the force that nobody expected a Supreme to control!

    The Bow Lord finally realized Damien''s danger, the reason why the Marite Lord brought them all together for this attack.

    After all, he understood why Iris needed to die. She was an extremely well-known powerhouse who would cause a myriad of problems once she returned to the battlefield.

    But why did three of them need to focus on this small character called Damien Void?

    Well, it suddenly became clear that Damien was not a small character at all.

    The Bow Lord changed his strategy. He was skilled at rangedbat. The current situation only presented him with disadvantages.

    "YOU TWO, COME HERE!"

    He raised his bow, and instead of aiming them at Damien, he turned around and aimed his arrows at his allies who were rushing to his location.

    Xiu! Xiu!

    They flew just as fast but didn''t have nearly as much power. Understanding his intent, the Strength and Venom Lords grabbed the arrows flying to them and gripped hold.

    The Bow Lord suddenly pulled on the air, and as if they were connected to him by an ethereal string, the arrows returned to his grasp in a single instant, bringing their passengers with them.

    Of course, Damien saw him acting. He couldn''t prevent those two froming, but he wasn''t going to let the Bow Lord act without consequences!

    He appeared behind the man and stuck his arm forward with his hand outstretched. A de of aura formed around his fingers, swirling chaotically, and in the final moment¨C

    SHIK!

    His hand impaled the Bow Lord''s chest.

    ''Seven Stars Encircling The Moon''

    It was a variation, but the effect was the same.

    The chaotic forces in his aura de collided onmand and caused a massive explosion that caused space itself to tremble.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien teleported away, narrowly avoiding the Strength Lord''s iing fist.

    He twirled his body once he reappeared, swiping his hand through the air and grabbing the invisible needles that almost stuck into his forehead.

    ng! ng! ng!

    As they fell to the ground below, he grinned.

    The Bow Lord definitely didn''t die, but he had a gaping hole in his right chest, and his shoulder was definitely not where it was supposed to be.

    ''That should at least subdue him for now, but I won''t get another opportunity like that for a while.''

    His target became clear with that. There was no way the other two Lords would let him easily approach the Bow Lord again.

    ''But that''s fine. This is all ording to n.''

    He didn''t just rely on Seven Stars Encircling The Moon, after all. He was well aware of the impact it would have.

    Instead, he used the opportunity it created to nt "something" in the Bow Lord''s body.

    For now, he just needed to wait for it to bloom.

    His eyes were narrow and his mind was hyper-focused on survival.

    Until not even one of them remained, he couldn''t lower his guard at all.

    ''Then, the Strength Lord is next.''

 Chapter 1252 Ambush [3]

    Chapter 1252 Ambush [3]

    ''I have at least a minute before the Bow Lord returns to the battle.''

    A minute wasn''t a lot of time, but he didn''t need much.

    All he needed was to incapacitate or injure the Strength Lord, because as long as his influence decreased, Damien could fight without worry.

    ''That guy is at the top of the Inhuman Emperor''s forces. His power is no joke.''

    Damien already felt it multiple times. His bones would shatter upon contact, and nothing he did would change that.

    The Venom Lord didn''t have much speed, but the Strength Lord was different. His physical body itself was a weapon, and anything rted to it was powerful.

    In the short span of time Damien took to think, he''d already arrived in front of him, his leg wrapped back like a scorpion''s tail ready to let off immense force.

    There was no time to form weapon constructs.

    Damien lifted his own leg, channeling Rudimentary Existence Law through his skin, and met the approaching force head-on.

    BOOOOOM!

    The air exploded as atoms were ripped away from existence.

    Damien felt his leg shatter as expected, but the force was prevented from traveling through the rest of his body.

    He was already in the process of counterattacking.

    His fists went forward with force and precision, creating a flurry of unavoidable attacks that put immense pressure on the Strength Lord.

    "Not bad! A worthy opponent!"

    The Strength Lordughed wildly and spread his arms, not evading at all as his eyes shone with excitement.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Damien''s fists struck time after time on his exposed chest, but no matter how much Rudimentary Existence Law he used, Damien couldn''t cause any substantial damage besides some bruising.

    Without a choice, he fled once more, this time making thousands of kilometers of distance.

    ''I''m definitely putting myself at a disadvantage with a move like this, but I have no choice. That guy''s skin is terrible.''

    Damien shook his fist. His knuckles were bleeding just from punching the man, and he could feel his bones creaking as well.

    ''Unless I can get through that outer defense, I can''t hope for anything.''

    Damien frowned and teleported again, returning to the battleground.

    He had to do some testing.

    Once again, he approached the Strength Lord without fear, flurrying punches and kicks with speed that barely anyone could replicate.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The air was pushed apart by their force, and though the Venom Lord tried to provide support with his needles, this air pressure didn''t give them a chance to enter the battle''s range.

    Damien was still wary of him, though, and had to avoid any imperceptible projectiles that managed to make it past the natural barrier as he engaged in this physical contest with the Strength Lord.

    The Strength Lord himself was grinning wildly. Unlike the rest, he didn''t have any obligation to listen to the Marite Lord''s orders.

    He came because he sensed something fun about to ur, and he was absolutely right.

    To think a Supreme couldst this long against his fists!

    It was definitely something he was enjoying, and he wanted to test the limits of this unexpected rival.

    "COME!"

    He roared, and Damien''s arm instantly turned into a snake.

    ''There it is.''

    He judged this man''s personality easily. He was just like countless other muscle heads who fought with their bodies in this mana-ruled world. He craved battle above all else, and while this was usually a trait he admired, this time, it was his enemy exhibiting it.

    But that was beside the point.

    These kinds of bastards were the only people who liked to ramble in the heat of battle. Damien had been waiting for the moment the Strength Lord opened his mouth.

    To stick his fist right into it!

    "Hahahaha, you are truly a-mgph!"

    "Let''s see if the inside is strong too," Damien said with a grin.

    The Strength Lord''s eyes widened.

    But it was toote.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Rudimentary Existence Law tore through his mouth and traveled down his throat, wreaking havoc on his stomach and lungs.

    "Keuagh!"

    The Strength Lord vomited blood and rapidly struck his fist at Damien''s shoulder, shattering the connection between it and the rest of his body.

    Damien''s arm was already loose, and though he was in pain, the Strength Lord was relentless.

    Instead of retreating, he bit down on Damien''s fist to the point of drawing blood and grabbed his arm, ripping it off entirely!

    "Khh¡­!"

    Damien held his yell and teleported away, watching as the Strength Lord spit out his arm.

    His eyes narrowed.

    He didn''t mind his arm being torn off. It would regrow in the next second.

    His eyes were focused on the hand of that amputated limb.

    ''His teeth tore through the flesh and bonespletely. He''s coughing blood, but¡­''

    The attack wasn''t as effective as Damien thought.

    "Kid, you''re good!" The Strength Lord yelled through bloodied teeth.

    "But do you think I wouldn''t prepare for something like this?!"

    He appeared before Damien in a single instant, his shin only centimeters away from his face.

    "With skin as hard as mine, it''s obvious where people will aim!"

    BANG!

    Damien had no choice but to take the kick. His right arm hadn''t grown back enough to protect his head, after all.

    Feeling his brain bounce around his skull like a pinball, he continued his retreat and stabilized himself just in time to see the enemy doing the exact same movement again.

    "Anywhere you can attack from the outside, I''ve fortified more than you can imagine! Try my eyes next time!"

    BOOOOOM!

    This time, Damien''s arm was back, so his head didn''t suffer the same trauma.

    But he was still extremely injured.

    ''Transcendent Regeneration isn''t all-powerful. If I keep losing the same limb over and over again, the regeneration speed will slow down.''

    It was a microscopic difference, but he''d now reached a level where that microscopic difference held immense weight.

    ''If he really fortified everything, he''s a true monster. The pain of fortifying the eyes and other simr organs is immeasurable.''

    Damien had to find an entrance.

    ''I can try to keep going for his throat, but finding chances to strike him there is hard.''

    His throat wasn''tpletely fortified, obviously, but if it could take Rudimentary Existence Law with only enough damage to make him cough out pure blood without any organs mixed in, then it was clearly enhanced to an extreme level.

    Damien could definitely kill the Strength Lord through that, but he didn''t have enough time or opportunity to do so.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    He continued to evade and parry the Strength Lord''s attacks, but he noticed that the pattern changed.

    XIU! XIU! XIU!

    He was now making space for the Venom Lord to fight too. Damien was forced to take the ranged forces back into consideration as he moved, which greatly restricted him.

    ''But if he''s acting like this, I''m onto something.''

    There had to be a weakness. No person was free of ws, even Damien.

    If he could die, everyone else could die too.

    Damien''s thoughts raced likeets through the night sky. Damage piled on top of damage, blowing apart his flesh and shattering his bones, but he never gave up, fighting with everything to buy himself time to find the answer.

    ''There has to be a ce.''

    He said he fortified everything, but that couldn''t be true.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Damien endured strikes to his head, torso, and legs repeatedly. He felt like he was undergoing body reconstruction because of just how many times he''d been broken and put back together.

    His thoughts continued to race.

    ''There has to be a¨C''

    Damien endured strikes to his head, torso, and legs repeatedly.

    But he suddenly noticed one ce that had yet to be touched.

    ''Ah, there is a ce.''

    There were two ces, in fact. Two ces that couldn''t be fortified not just due to biology, but other, more intrinsic factors.

    Damien made sure not to direct his eyes there to avoid attracting suspicion, but¡­

    ''If I attack there¡­''

    The code of men deemed such an action forbidden, but in this situation, the code of men meant nothing.

    Damien had found the Strength Lord''s only weak points.

    He found the point of entry.

    But¡­

    A minute also passed.

    The Strength Lord dug his foot into the ground and abruptly pushed backward.

    Without warning¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    ¡­a ballista bolt like no other exploded in Damien''s face, tearing his skin and flesh into pieces.

    The Bow Lord was back.

    And he was extremely angry.

 Chapter 1253 Ambush [4]

    Chapter 1253 Ambush [4]

    "AAAARGH!"

    Damien couldn''t hold back his roar.

    Divine Energy rocked his entire body, tearing through his internal systems and forcing him into a state of semi-implosion.

    XIU! XIU! XIU!

    Three venomous needles cut through the storm of mana and plunged into his chest, infecting him with toxins for the first time in this battle.

    Naturally, the Ananta Matrix acted fast, siphoning the Divine Energy out of his body and into its grasp, storing it to be expunged when he called for it.

    Damien reached up, and ignoring his pain, he ripped apart his chest where the needles struck before the toxins could spread, totally removing the infected area from his person.

    Transcendent Regeneration rapidly went to work, but Damien wasn''t nning to wait for it.

    The Bow Lord was enraged, and due to that rage, he''d provided Damien the perfect opportunity.

    In their battle thus far, he''d faced the skills of all three head-on. He knew what they were using, and he formed strategies to take them all down individually.

    The only thing he was missing was an opportunity.

    He couldn''t create it himself with the way the situation was going before, but¡­

    Who would''ve thought the Bow Lord would give him the perfect opening?

    The skills that''d been suppressed throughout the battle by thebination tactics of the three, or the extremes they specialized in, were given a chance to shine.

    His eyes were rolled back in pain, as if he was a man with no irises. Red veins bulged on his sclera, giving him the appearance of a mad demon.

    He nted his foot on the ground and pushed forward.

    Space and time wrapped around him, pulling tight like a yo-yo being pulled back up its string. It wasn''t teleportation, but a different type of instant movement that nobody was expecting.

    He shot past the Strength Lord, his hand touching the man''s chest before he knew what was happening.

    Damien suddenly remembered a scene Tian Yang had shown him when he was still young.

    "Boom."

    Mana exploded forth.

    Space and time copsed, shattering the Strength Lord''s stance and throwing him into the air, his trajectory aimed straight for the Bow Lord.

    Damien''s steps didn''t stop there. The Strength Lord was never his main target.

    In the same instant, he stepped forward once more and reached the Venom Lord. His arm shot out before the man could react and gripped his neck, pulling him into the air.

    "Burn."

    WHOOOSH!

    Void mes lit the air on fire. The Venom Lord''s bodybusted, and when he opened his mouth to scream out in pain, tongues of me intruded into his body and began burning through his nds and blood vessels.

    The Venom Lord needed to secrete venoms that couldn''t be dispersed through the Void Physique. The second those systems were cut off and he was forced to use only mana-based substances, his value in this battle would disappear.

    Damien didn''t need to do anything else to him. The Void me would burn eternally unless he found a way to expel them, so either the Venom Lord would be crippled or incapacitated for a considerable period.

    Instead of worrying about him, Damien stomped his foot into the ground once more and shot into the air.

    The Strength Lord''s body that he''d thrown was perfectly positioned.

    The Bow Lord couldn''t find a good angle to shoot from, and by the time he''d moved to create such an angle, Damien was already behind the Strength Lord and using him as a human shield.

    "You said you fortified everything, right?" He asked, his words icy to the point of sending shivers down the Demigod''s spine.

    "Let''s test that theory."

    Damien raised his knee with as much force as possible, loading it full ofpressed Rudimentary Existence Law.

    And he attacked the heavenly jewels.

    The "ce that should not be mentioned."

    "AAAAAAAAAAGH!"

    The Strength Lord screamed out in ways he didn''t think possible.

    A beam of light split his body from bottom to top, and Damien''s mana traveled through the most degenerate pathways to reach the internals it couldn''t reach before.

    Havoc once again appeared in the Strength Lord''s body, and this time, it wasn''t easily avoidable.

    Blood sprayed from his seven orifices as well as some less-than-savory areas, creating a cloud of blood mist in the air that further obstructed the Bow Lord''s vision.

    "Dammit!"

    The Bow Lord eximed, aiming his bow into the blood mist and spreading his awareness.

    He didn''t expect Damien to make such an extreme move with just a single opening.

    It made him realize that if any of them were facing him alone, they''d have died ten times over by now!

    None of them were dead, but the man whose appearance was so mangled that he looked like a walking corpse had brought them to a state where none of them could properly use their power.

    It was unbelievable!

    Especially if one remembered that he was a Supreme!

    "You''re slower than before."

    The Bow Lord jumped back as the voice appeared from behind him and instantly shot a barrage of arrows in its direction.

    But Damien was already gone by the time they reached.

    "Did you not realize it because of your rage? Or maybe the pain I gave you was too prominent for you to realize that it shouldn''t have existed at all."

    The Bow Lord felt a hand on his head. An immense pressure crushed him into the ground. His body was tremoring as a feeling of hopelessness filled his mind.

    "Did you think that was your own feeling?"

    Damien''s words were beyond confusing.

    If it wasn''t his, then who¨C

    "Have you checked the state of your soul recently?"

    The Bow Lord''s eyes widened.

    On instinct, he sent his senses inward and looked at the ethereal ne he never even considered due to the enemy''s state of existence.

    And that''s when he saw it.

    Half of his soul was eroded. It used to look like an archer constetion, valiant and proud, but that constetion was now without its legs or weapon, utterly humiliated.

    "I''vee to take back what I gave you."

    The first death.

    Damien nned it from the start.

    Before anyone else, the Bow Lord had to die.

    And for that, he''d created a situation where the Bow Lord would never have the time, thought, or ability to check his soul for strangeness.

    The single greatest advantage he held as a lower existence on the Ancient Battlefield.

    The fact that nobody would ever believe he could interact with the soul ne.

    He abused that fact to create this very situation, so with his own power, he could¨C

    "¨Cdevour."

    The Bow Lord''s eyes rolled back in his head. His soul was directly stripped from his body and turned into Damien''s power.

    As the soulless body was burned into nothingness by Rudimentary Existence Law, Damien turned back to the other two.

    The Strength Lord looked rtively okay, besides the absolute hatred painting his face, while the Venom Lord was wing at his own skin with a terrified expression on his face.

    Meanwhile, Damien himself didn''t look much better. He tore away the infected area as best as possible, but without precise measurements, he wasn''t able to get rid of it all.

    His chest was covered in ckish-purple veins of toxin that were making him feel burning pain to his very core. Moreover, that chest was still ripped apart and ruined, a mass of reddish muscle and flesh chunks without skin.

    He had several broken bones, and even his brain was affected by the Strength Lord''s earlier kick. With this grotesque appearance, it wasn''t surprising that others saw him as a walking corpse.

    Since Transcendent Regeneration was focused on keeping the toxins restrained in his torso, the non-fatal wounds on his body would remain exposed until he could sit down and fix everything with [Heal].

    ''But¡­Transcendent Regeneration still exists, doesn''t it?''

    In the end, he''d be fine.

    But what about them?

    Damien grinned to himself.

    "A eunuch and a cripple. The rest should be a breeze."

 Chapter 1254 Ambush [5]

    Chapter 1254 Ambush [5]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The shockwaves from Damien''s fight beginning ran rampant, but Iris and the Marite Lord hadn''t moved yet.

    It seemed the Marite Lord was still of the mind to toy with her food. They were waiting for Iris to act first so they could thoroughly crush her will.

    As for Iris, she naturally needed to understand her opponent before doing anything rash.

    The Marite Lord was one thing.

    They were strong because of the four Demigod Puppets they controlled, but their individual strength was said to be close to nothing.

    The Insect Lord was also a problem, but not a huge one.

    They likely brought him along for the sole purpose of annoying her.

    The Insect Lord had great power over arge crowd of weak enemies. He could also enhance the abilities of others, as his bugs could carry friendly mana over greater distances and be used as chargeable grenades.

    But since the Marite Lord wasn''t someone who could benefit from those abilities and Iris wasn''t someone who''d be affected by them, his presence was practically worthless.

    Though, the fact that he was here meant the opponents were six. Since that six included some of the strongest in the Inhuman Emperor''s forces, it wasn''t simple even for Iris.

    ''I need to test their power first.''

    She had to gauge the Demigod Puppets to form any real n, so despite knowing what her opponent was waiting for, she didn''t have a choice but to move ording to their predictions.

    She raised her hand in the air gracefully and emitted fluctuations of rainbow mana, which transmuted into several metallic constructs that swept through the air.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    The Marite Lord grinned happily and flicked their wrist. A chair made of Divine Energy appeared behind them, and as they sat down, the Demigod Puppets moved.

    The four of them were split evenly with two men and two women. Instead of Nox, they seemed to be traitors from the Grand Heavens Boundary side.

    While it was surely infuriating to see, it also wasn''t. For one, this kind of fate was worthy of traitors, and made them even more pathetic than they already were.

    And secondly, because they were from the universe, Iris knew much more about them than Nox Demigods.

    ''These four¡­those two are from Blood Asura Holy Land, she''s from Fallen Star Holy Land, and thest is from the Looming Shadow Cult.''

    Their names were Jerome, Acian, Helen, and Treya.

    They didn''t have particrly noteworthy titles, which was probably half the reason for their betrayal, but Iris didn''t need much time to analyze their abilities watching how they dodged her attacks.

    ''The Blood Asura guys are mid and long-rangedbatants, the Fallen Star woman uses lightning for close-range attacks, and thest is an assassin.''

    It was an efficientbo on paper, but if these people ever tried to work together, they''d just get in the way of each other''s skills.

    However, in this case, such a situation wouldn''t happen.

    Jerome, the mid-ranged Blood Asura Demigod, was good at controlling the direction of iing attacks and helping Acian, his ranged brother, gain opportunities to block them.

    Meanwhile, Helen and Treya were acting independently from each other, but their movements seemed to connect in ways Iris couldn''t quite see.

    ''Difficult.''

    That was her first impression.

    Since they were being controlled by the Marite Lord, their movements would never ovep, and they''d show synergy above anyone else.

    Moreover, without consciousness, the minor mistakes they''d usually make in battle were mitigated, leaving Iris with barely any openings.

    ''But it''s possible.''

    She turned her eyes to the Insect Lord just briefly.

    He hadn''t acted yet, but if she could get him to interfere in the battle, she could find a chance to take the four of them down without a problem.

    ''After all, unlike the rest, I know that guy very well.''

    Was it six thousand years ago?

    When Iris was still a fledgling in universal terms, she''d seen this man inbat against the superiors of her sect.

    After that, due to the strangeness of his Demonic Providence, he became one of several Nox Demigods whom Prismatic Sun Holy Land studied.

    She probably knew more about his abilities than even he did.

    ''This should be enough.''

    For preliminary information, she had enough. She couldn''t stay passive and give the Marite Lord any opportunities to exploit, so instead of remaining in this probing phase, she preferred directly engaging inbat.

    She didn''t like how she was being looked at.

    Like a weakling, like an object that only existed for their entertainment.

    It reminded her of the way the Ancient Sovereign looked down on her.

    It reminded her of her ws.

    So, while she didn''t want to get emotional, she couldn''t help it.

    She had to show them why she was considered one of the universe''s strongest.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosion rang outte as if it couldn''t trace the location where it was supposed to take ce at.

    Without warning, thousands of spikes rose from the earth and turned into golems that exploded on the Demigod Puppets, the same strategy she used on the gue Lord.

    However, it was only meant to be a distraction.

    Iris flew forward, rising up above the Demigod Puppets and bringing her arm down.

    ''Forces of Wind.''

    Through Universal Law, there were several abilities she''d realized. But, sheter learned that abilities were superfluous.

    For something like Universal Law, using it directly was better.

    Forces of Wind did exactly that. It gave the wind an order and allowed the wind to aplish it however it pleased.

    The current order?

    Decimation.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    The air suddenly became several times heavier. Like pressure from the heavens themselves, it bore down on the Demigod Puppets and inhibited their movements.

    ''Forces of Earth.''

    Iris instantly followed with another attack. The earth golems she created suddenly turned into mud, which collected into a massive mountain that spawned in the midst of the battlefield.

    Was that it?

    Of course not!

    The mountain was just an exterior shell.

    Forces of Earth had a different purpose than the Forces of Wind.

    It wasn''t meant to be used yet, so this was the best form for it to take.

    Until then¡­

    ''Forces of Metal.''

    ''Forces of Fire.''

    She used them together, creating structures on the mountain''s surface that turned it into a heavy-duty fortress.

    In a single instant, massive cannons and ranged weapons formed on the mountain, and by hermand¡­

    "Fire."

    ¡­they let loose their fury.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    XIU! XIU! XIU! XIU!

    Explosive clouds filled the air. The Demigod Puppets were wrapped inside of them and assaulted on all sides by chaotic Divine Energy.

    The current scene was one of mayhem and destruction, and with Iris as its creator, it seemed like she held the upper hand.

    But both she and her enemies were very clear on the truth.

    She didn''t have the upper hand at all.

    In fact, the situation could be called barely bnced.

    Because despite all the force let off by her attacks, enough to cripple the three Demigods Damien was fighting¡­

    The Demigod Puppets had yet to take a single point of damage.

 Chapter 1255 Ambush [6]

    Chapter 1255 Ambush [6]

    Iris was still using Universal Law, so it was natural that she couldn''t cause much damage to forces of this level, but it was necessary.

    She was currently extremely unconfident about her true affinity, because she was in the midst of self-discovery rted to it, so she couldn''t use it properly.

    Nevertheless, her choice was a mistake.

    WHOOOOSH!

    With a pulse of wind, the four Demigod Puppets broke free of the bombardment and shot forward, encircling her in an instant.

    Iris gritted her teeth and raised her mana for defense.

    This was the real start of the battle.

    Jerome and Helen were the main damage dealers. From two sides, bolts of blood and lightning forced her to continue expending Divine Energy on thick defenses that could withstand pration.

    This gave Acian an opportunity to attack wantonly. Long-ranged blood magic consisted of several different abilities, but the one he specialized in before bing a puppet was pure power.

    He could summon massive storms of blood, letting his blood mana take on strange properties that had different effects.

    But of all Blood Asura Demigods, the ones who focused on direct power were a different breed.

    Blood magic was meant to be used more subtly. Its specialties were control and enhancement.

    Since they took such an element to the extreme, it was only natural their power would be strange.

    OOOOOOOOOOH!

    The air roared as storms of blood consumed it. A crimson dome surrounded the group, blocking them off from the outside world and sealing the space Iris could move in.

    Jerome and Helen never stopped barraging her, making her unable to use other abilities, and while Iris couldn''t see her, Treya was waiting in the shadows for an opportunity to take her head.

    This situation couldn''t go on.

    Iris wasn''t someone who''d allow it to.

    But, while she could usually use Universal Law to move the world itself to her advantage, she couldn''t do so in the Ancient Battlefield.

    It hindered her so much until now, and it was continuing to hinder her here as well.

    Did the Marite Lord know?

    Were they aware of Iris'' weakened state?

    If they chose this opportunity to attack with that information, Iris really would be in a corner.

    ''Predicting my weakness¡­if so, they''vepletely understood the abilities of Universal Law.''

    She could practically see the future. If she kept struggling like this, she''d lose pathetically. Perhaps the Insect Lord wouldn''t need to get involved.

    ''Is this how I want to die?''

    The answer was a massive, indomitable "NO!"

    If she wanted to even properly fight with forces of this caliber, if she wanted to show her true power that should''ve been almost on par with an Emperor¡­

    ''...I can no longer hesitate.''

    It didn''t matter if she was scared or indecisive.

    In the first ce, that mindset was wed.

    Those blockages only existed because she allowed them to.

    ''To stop thinking and just do, huh¡­''

    It was a mentality Damien used often. She saw its effects clearly, since he was confidently fighting three Demigods who he should''ve logically been ughtered ruthlessly by in a single second.

    ''Can I do it too?''

    The attacks kepting.

    Her surroundings were bing more suffocating, and it looked like Treya would move at any moment.

    The Insect Lord still hadn''t gotten involved either. He must''ve thought he wasn''t needed in this battle.

    She couldn''t just sit here and take it.

    Not anymore.

    ''I was born with it. It''s just as much a part of me as my soul. Why am I so afraid of it?''

    Why was she so averse to using it?

    The reason¡­

    ''...''

    She finally remembered it.

    "That day."

    The day a young Eyrrisea Luminus was kidnapped and brutally tortured as those consumed by greed tried to extract her affinity.

    She was only sixteen years old at that time. She had barely entered the world of magic and mana, and she was clueless about the true value of her affinity.

    Because of it, she almost lost everything. She was crippled for almost a decade afterward, and despite the care of the highest physicians in Prismatic Sun Holy Land, she never truly healed from those injuries until almost a hundred yearster.

    And, if it wasn''t for the timely arrival of her seniors, who took her out of that hell, she would''ve lost her innocence as well.

    It was a horrifying memory even for the current Iris. It was a memory she''d repressed subconsciously and even stopped using her affinity altogether to avoid.

    Because that wasn''t the first or second time.

    When she was nine, a simr situation happened. When she was just healing after the kidnapping when she was sixteen, it almost happened again.

    And when she finally went out into the wider world on her own, she faced so many simr situations that she almost lost her mind.

    It was too attractive to those people.

    Not Eyrrisea Luminus, but the affinity she carried.

    It was almost three hundred years into her long life when she decided to quit.

    She threw away that affinity and found another path forward.

    That was how the greed of people shifted from her affinity to her person.

    But even then, she quit again. She refused ascension so she wouldn''t have to see people stronger than her who could return her to that helpless state.

    ''Ah¡­''

    That was the source of her fear.

    She was far above those people in the lower universe. Even if new enemies came coveting it, she now had the power to protect herself.

    But she was deathly afraid of her current rtionships being tainted by its presence.

    And she was deathly afraid of regressing.

    She didn''t want to return to that time, when the only reason she held worth was the affinity everybody wanted to plunder.

    This sealed space, this cage of blood and violence where she had no choice but to wait until she was whittled away into nothingness¡­

    This was what that affinity represented to her.

    But, it could no longer be the source of her fear.

    Because if she died here, she''d lose all the things she wanted to protect anyway.

    ''I am not weak anymore.''

    She spoke to herself, unneeding of outside witnesses.

    ''I am not someone who must rely on others, nor do I need validation from others to be happy.''

    She had to understand that it wasn''t her fault.

    This affinity was given to her at birth, not something she wished for. Why did she have to cower and hide it away because other people were bastards?

    ''It isn''t my fault.''

    It wasn''t her fault.

    So, instead of fearing them, fearing what they would be, she needed to rise above them, so they could never hold such thoughts about her.

    And if the few people she truly cared about in this world decided to betray her¡­

    Well, then that was their fault.

    For getting consumed by greed and losing themselves.

    ''Even if everyone else changes¡­''

    She gave herself a final piece of constion, just as a cherry on top so she could make the final push to break free from her shackles.

    ''...I have absolute faith that at least one will remain by my side.''

    She smiled.

    Her worth, she understood it.

    The worth of that affinity, she understood as well.

    But that was still just a part of her worth. It was never something that should''ve consumed her.

    Realizing that was the first step.

    Perhaps her trauma and paranoia wouldn''t leave her in a single day, but she''d made the first step towards improvement.

    And that was the key.

    The brown-haired Eyrrisea Luminus, the appearance she was born with.

    This was the side of her she repressed. It remained in the appearance she had in her twenties, when she was still recovering from the aftereffects of that kidnapping.

    She locked that side of her away where nobody could see, and as she grew and lived, her original appearance changed into what it was today, entric yet beyond beautiful.

    It wasn''t a facade, but a different side of her. This was the side of her that protected her weakness and disallowed the world froming in contact with it.

    But the need to hide away her weakness was fading.

    And slowly, the line between her two selves was blurring.

    Iris was on the path to bing whole again.

    And the power she received as if to congratte her for such an achievement¡­

    Well, it was quite monstrous!

 Chapter 1256 Ambush [7]

    Chapter 1256 Ambush [7]

    The whole world stopped for a moment.

    There reached a point where thews held more spirituality than those who wielded them. Because of how much they meant to the universe, they realized the ability to choose who was worthy of their power.

    Thesews were extremely esoteric. They became picky to the point where only a handful of people in the entirety of existence could be chosen to be their users.

    Iris was one of those people, chosen at birth by herw.

    But she had been unable to live up to its expectations.

    It wasn''t her fault, of course, butws were objective. They did not hold emotions like living entities to look upon situations and understand why things turned out a certain way.

    But, Iris was never abandoned.

    She never abandoned her affinity, but because of her repressed memories, she refused to show it to the world.

    This was the moment when she started oveing the things that held her back, and thew that was waiting for this instance finally allowed its power to bloom.

    VOOOOOM!

    The blood world that trapped Iris with her enemies was directly shattered by a great force of mana.

    Her body became ethereal, a strange illusion of two different projections that were slowly floating towards each other.

    A sacred light emanated from her figure. It didn''t seem to have a set color, but its color always remained pure. It was a mixture of countless known forces, as it was a force that stood above them all and ruled them.

    Iris had her eyes closed.

    Her mind was in a state of enlightenment.

    The things she''dprehended from thisw over the course of her life finally came together, and the vague picture she had of it finally reached a point where she could understand it.

    The path forward was no longer blocked.

    Whether by herself or her affinity, the path was no longer impeded.

    Demigods who refused ascension cut off their path to the Heavenly World and greater power. This was a known fact to even the youngest practitioners who''d been in contact with the Divine.

    However, unbeknownst to them, the path wasn''tpletely cut off.

    There was one more chance.

    And that chance was the Ancient Battlefield.

    The Ancient Battlefield was originally a piece of the Heavenly World that got torn away and consumed by the lower universe''sws to be what it currently was.

    Not only could it house Divinities with ease, it also presented them a second chance to change their decision and seek greater heights.

    Of course, this opportunity was only granted to the winning side. Only after all enemies were felled would the road open.

    But Iris had a goal now.

    She wanted to take this affinity to its peak and she wanted to see the heights she forbade from herself due to fear.

    And she didn''t want to do it alone.

    To win this war, to actualize her ambitions¡­

    She would survive.

    She would not let herself be taken down by the forces of evil.

    Her eyes shed open.

    Her arm once again raised gracefully into the air, perpendicr to her body.

    This was an unconscious action, but her mouth still moved as if she was actively controlling it.

    "Star Formation."

    The words were subtle, but it was as if they were projected all across the Ancient Battlefield.

    And along with them¡­

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A huge outpour of mana.

    The four Demigod Puppets were pushed back several hundred kilometers, and around Iris, the atmosphere heated up to an extreme.

    Within a few instants, it boiled over. Chaotic energies shed against each other like forces of the universe, and a burning celestial body appeared from nothing.

    It wasn''t just an imitation like Damien had made many times before.

    It was a true star.

    Completely under Iris'' jurisdiction.

    "Burst."

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The chaotic radioactive force exploded, rocking the entire environment and incinerating the surrounding mountains.

    The Marite Lord retreated with widened eyes, while the Insect Lord stood before them and released his swarm.

    The insects were burned one after the other, but they mitigated and absorbed arge majority of the force, keeping the two backlinebatants safe.

    Though, the Demigod Puppets weren''t so lucky.

    Because the Marite Lord was forced to retreat and lost control for a moment, they acted purely on instinct.

    Treya and Helen directly retreated, using their Divine Energy to protect their bodies as best they could.

    Meanwhile, as Jerome and Acian did the same, they realized their speed wasn''t nearly enough to take them away from the st radius.

    They acted as Blood Asura disciples would.

    Shik!

    Before Jerome knew what was happening, a string of blood stabbed through his chest.

    Acian, who wielded it, threw him forward and used the force to escape, sacrificing hisrade for the sake of survival.

    Of them all, only Jerome was forced to take the full force of the attack head-on, but its effects were clear.

    His skin was burned to a crisp and his blood evaporated away. No matter how he tried to defend himself, the explosive force onlypounded, shattering his barriers and protections and making a mess of his body.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Iris hummed slightly as her consciousness returned to her body.

    Looking around and seeing the scene she caused, her eyes sparkled in wonder.

    "So this is it¡­" she muttered.

    "Creation."

    One of the two greatestws a normal existence couldprehend.

    No, one of the two greatestws under existence.

    That was the identity of Iris'' neglected affinity, and the reason she''d been tortured during her youth.

    But now, it would be the source of her strength.

    The reason she would be regarded as one of the greatest to ever live!

    Creation wasn''t just about material creation. It wasn''t just about controlling the forces of the world.

    Creation controlled everything that could be created.

    Stars,s, and even universes weren''t excluded from its grasp.

    Nor were thews that were created with it as a basis.

    Iris nced at her surroundings.

    Damien''s battle had moved very far away from her, so she couldn''t see them, but judging from the fluctuations, he was still going strong.

    Which meant she could fight without worry.

    She shed through the air, approaching Jerome first.

    The man was already nearing death, but she wouldn''t allow it toe so easily to a traitor.

    "Live."

    She spoke one word, a divinemandment, as she grabbed his neck.

    The aura of vitality forced its way into his body. It didn''t heal him, but it did bring him back to life.

    But that life was fully controlled by Iris.

    "Go."

    Shetched onto his emotions and pushed them to the extreme.

    The betrayal of arade he''d just experienced, the thirst for vengeance he felt from it consumed his mind, and without question, he sted towards Acian.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    With his new nigh-immortal body, Jerome pushed Acian without relenting. He knew his fellow disciple better than anyone, so when it came to cornering him, there wasn''t a better choice.

    With the long-ranged dealer out of the picture, Iris turned her attention to Helen and Treya, as well as the Marite Lord who controlled them.

    That person''s expression was no longer yful.

    It was cold and cruel, far more fitting of their character.

    The Marite Lord didn''tpletely understand what just happened, but they were well aware of their opponent''s growth.

    This was the opposite of what they wanted.

    They didn''t want to see Iris grow.

    They wanted to crush her and see her hopeless expression before she died.

    And for that¡­

    "You, go over there."

    ¡­they needed to be more serious.

    Iris'' fight¡­was only just beginning.

 Chapter 1257 Ambush [8]

    Chapter 1257 Ambush [8]

    Within seconds, the intensity increased exponentially.

    As the Marite Lord became serious, they instantly used Acian to kill Jerome for good while sending Helen and Treya to constantly pressure Iris.

    Iris was originally someone who fought from a distance. She swerved through the atmosphere, avoiding the two puppets who constantly tried to close the distance while attacking.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Star Formation wasn''t the only move she knew, but it was the most effective in the current circumstance. Instead of forming massive stars like the one she used at first, shepressed their area to the size of a basketball and maintained as much force as possible to create projectiles.

    They exploded through the atmosphere and caused space to tremble like the strings of a guitar. No matter how much the Marite Lord tried to push her puppets closer, they weren''t able to unless they wanted them to burn to cinders.

    Acian would soon rejoin the battle, but until then, they had to rely on the Insect Lord.

    The Demigod finally entered the mix instead of standing at the back.

    His swarms were filled with poisonous and venomous bugs, as well as those with bite force far exceeding the toughness of a Demigod''s outer protection.

    Some of them even ate mana, making his repertoire a truly terrifying thing to face.

    When he first entered the battle, he started with a swarm of locusts.

    Before Acian could return tobat, Helen and Treya needed a way to reach Iris, and that''s exactly what he provided.

    Through his locusts, Helen could project her lightning energy far faster and further than she could on her own. She could create ranged attacks with far more power than the Marite Lord could force her to produce even by drawing out her life force.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The lightning strikes were severe. Iris was forced to put up several barriers and start moving more carefully because of them, but this was also her intention.

    ''As long as he uses those¡­''

    There was a specific insect in the Insect Lord''s arsenal that Iris wanted to draw out, but the circumstances weren''t right yet.

    ''Even if I kill everyone else, he won''t use it. I have to pressure him personally.''

    She had to make him eat a loss.

    And the best way to do that?

    ''Naturally, it''s overload.''

    Iris clenched her fist and removed her defenses.

    BANG!

    An arc of lightning instantly hit her chest, but while wincing in pain, Iris forced that energy into her body and rapidly understood its structure.

    She clenched her fist tightly, and arcs of rainbow lightning of her own appeared on its surface.

    ''Good.''

    She didn''t realize how versatile Creation was before. She used it to control the elements and create constructs out of thin air, but she never realized she could do something like this.

    Pressing her arm forward, she shot out thousands of lightning spears that precisely struck Helen''s iing lightning.

    Thebined force created a chaotic mana wave that spread through the Insect Lord''s locust swarm, and as the locusts absorbed more and more of the mana, they began twitching strangely.

    Iris didn''t let up.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Every shot Helen took was stolen and redirected by her, forced into the locust swarm for absorption.

    With the passing of only a few seconds, it reached a level they could no longer bear.

    From behind the swarm, the Insect Lord grinned widely.

    "Expel!"

    He ordered them to let loose the energy however they could.

    Instead of breaking them down, the energy Iris supplied would be used to strike her back!

    Or at least, that was the goal.

    But Iris didn''t look the least bit worried.

    Because she knew exactly how these locusts operated.

    Once they were ordered to expel what they''d absorbed, it was impossible for the process to be halted.

    Iris gathered her mana and thought about Damien. More specifically, the power he''d used to fight these past years.

    "Seclude."

    Themand she gave was different, but the effect was the same.

    Space solidified into a massive cube that epassed the entire locust swarm, including the Insect Lord.

    The cubepressed several times, forcing them into a space they could barely inhabit, and, within the second, the inevitable happened.

    The locusts that couldn''t expel the Divine Energy within them properly were forced to explode.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosion was isted and couldn''t be heard from the outside world, but it shone so bright it blinded everyone nearby.

    Iris didn''t waste time appreciating her work.

    She was already doing many things she''d never expected possible just moments ago, so this was nothing.

    Creation wasn''t an inherently offensivew.

    It held power over pure energy, and could be used to create anything, but it could not be used to spread destruction, as that was a job held by its sisterw.

    Instead, a user of creation had to be intuitive.

    Using the opponent''s force against them, creating natural offenses through exploding creations like Iris did through Star Formation, or mobilizing constructs formed through thew.

    Iris was currently learning.

    She was able to only use a few abilities because she still had to realize how to mobilize her power destructively.

    After all, she couldn''t always maintain a passive stance in battle. She couldn''t just let the enemy pressure her because she was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

    So, while she kept the Insect Lord in mind for her final n, she stopped hesitating and approached Helen and Treya.

    A closebat battle began between them.

    Helen used a lightning spear, while Iris didn''t particrly use any weapons. For the sake of the battle, she summoned several weapons that she could cycle through, but it was only a temporary measure.

    Naturally, Iris lost in terms of pure skill. Her power was enough to bridge the gap, but as she looked for opportunities to utilize her new abilities, she showed many openings that could''ve been prevented.

    And those openings were abused by Treya, who hid in the shadows.

    The nging of metal against metal, the guttural tearing of flesh ripping apart; the sounds of pure battle filled the air.

    Both Iris and her opponents took damage, but none of them experienced anything fatal.

    And at some point, Acian was brought back into the equation. Jerome was left as a corpse on the cold ground, and the Marite Lord was clearly trying to pay back the humiliation they received from being forced to destroy one of their own puppets.

    Iris was once again surrounded and thrown into a blood world, but this time, she was ready for it.

    She was separated from external forces.

    Even if the Marite Lord wanted to do something to interfere, they could only do so by using one of the three remaining puppets or taking down the blood world.

    Both of which were situations Iris was ready for.

    She had a thought afterpleting Star Formation a few times.

    Of the energies of the universe, which ones could she use as effectively as that, to create impacts like that, but while lowering the casting time and increasing the output?

    She was searching for a "perfect" move.

    And though she hadn''t found it, she had an idea.

    She raised both arms into her hands and chanted it into reality.

    "Personal Reality."

 Chapter 1258 Ambush [9]

    Chapter 1258 Ambush [9]

    Personal Reality.

    Surprisingly, Iris realized one of the strongest abilities of Creation from the start. Though it was iplete, it could be considered a testament to her ten thousand years ofprehension.

    A formless energy wave spread from her body and encapsted the space inhabited by all but the Marite Lord, superimposing a different form of reality onto what already existed.

    This ability, by all intents and purposes, was for creation. It was meant to make something simr to Damien''s Sanctuary, which could be used however the creator pleased.

    However, wasn''t this best for Iris?

    After all, once she made her iplete Personal Reality, she was once again put in contact with a force that was nigh absent from the Ancient Battlefield.

    Universal Law.

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    Iris suddenly regained a portion of the power she held in the lower universe, the power that made her feared.

    Without waiting a single instant, she shed forward, closing the distance between her and Acian as she pushed her hands together to form a seal.

    ''Bind.''

    Acian tried to move, creating a blood wave to push Iris away, but before he couldplete his movements, his body was bound as if a rope was tied around him.

    ''Seal.''

    In the same instant, Iris gave anothermand and sealed his mana.

    He couldn''t prevent her approach at all, and as he watched with widened eyes, she appeared right before him.

    "Die."

    She swept her arm through the air, a move to cleanly decapitate him.

    However, he wasn''t alone.

    ng!

    Treya appeared from the void and used a dagger to deflect Iris'' arm while swinging the other one at her neck.

    Iris nced over coldly and flicked her finger.

    ''Expand.''

    Space stretched to infinity. Despite her movement speed remaining the same, Treya couldn''t even begin to close the distance between them.

    "Poison, as expected of an assassin."

    The reason Iris couldn''t take the hit directly was precisely because of the poison that was already corroding the skin on her arm.

    Demigod poisons were far more terrifying than regr ones. If it had the capability to harm a Divine Vessel, it had the potential to infiltrate the soul.

    These poisons absolutely couldn''t be contracted if one could help it, and if they were, they had to be expelled immediately.

    Luckily for Iris, she was currently the overlord of this space.

    She flicked her finger again, and the poison collecting in her skin appeared in the air as a globr floating ball.

    ncing back at Treya, she smiled lightly and moved again, stealing the poison coating the daggers as well.

    "Just in time."

    BANG!

    A terrifying arc of lightning approached from the back. A spear shot towards her back with untold speed, but Iris wouldn''t allow it to reach her.

    ''Lightning.''

    The best way to fight thebative element was with a stronger variation of itself.

    From the sky above, a bolt of pure Heavenly Lightning struck down, evaporating Helen''s spear and traveling into her body.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    She hissed in pain as her mana collided with the stronger lightning.

    She moved to cleanse it, but in that moment, a substance entered her body through her pores.

    "Enjoy."

    Iris smiled.

    The poison was properly redistributed.

    Now, it was time to get back to what she was originally doing.

    She looked over at the bound Acian, who was practically trembling in fear.

    "Have you returned to your senses somewhat? I''m sure the Marite Lord isn''t making you cower," she said scornfully.

    "That''s good. Since you are mentally present, fully understand the consequences of betraying your homnd."

    She shoved her palm onto his face.

    "Heavenly mes."

    The Heavenly mes, one of the strongest mes on the Heavenly me Index and its namesake. It came as an envoy of Universal Law and barely appeared in the universe, but it only had one purpose.

    To burn a target to the extent of its sins.

    "AAAAAAAAAGH!"

    Acian screamed out in agony. A massive ze consumed his body, but instead of killing him directly, it burned through his vessel and soul, slowing down time so he could experience thousands and thousands of years of torture every second.

    ''Transmit.''

    Iris didn''t miss the chance to cause greater damage.

    She found the source of his connection with the Marite Lord in his soul and forced it open for the mes to traverse.

    The Marite Lord would definitely cut it off before experiencing anything noteworthy, but the humiliation was all Iris wanted to give them.

    In just a few seconds after opening a Personal Reality, Iris had takenplete control over the situation.

    The amount of poison in Helen''s body was overwhelming. Her body and soul would be melted into sludge with time, and the pain she was in wouldn''t allow her to participate in the battle.

    Acian''s state didn''t need to be mentioned either. Just like his co-puppet, he would only die after enduring soul-rending torture.

    Now, Treya and the Insect Lord.

    The Insect Lord was one matter. He had yet to make any serious moves after freeing himself from the space prison, but he hadn''t taken much damage from the Divine Energy explosions either.

    ''Judging by his expression, he must''ve lost a considerable number of bugs to protect himself. If I just rile him up a bit more¡­''

    The Insect Loed was a coward. He never fought on the frontlines because of the fear he held for his life, and when he did, he would always make sure he was in an absolutely advantageous position.

    Losses like the one he faced against Prismatic Sun Holy Land only served to make him more cowardly, and the chances of him bringing out the truly deadly skills in his arsenal, those he wouldn''t be able to use again once he let them loose, was nil.

    Therefore, Iris had to push him.

    Iris was well-known, so he definitely knew her affiliation. His rage and hatred due to that was likely the reason he chose to participate in this battle at all.

    Iris also worked to exacerbate this feeling by humiliating him instead of making any serious moves against him, and above all, the torture of these Demigod Puppets would''ve reflected in his eyes as his future if he continued to stay still.

    It was only a matter of time before Iris received what she wanted from him, so until then, she had to take care of the less worthy prey.

    Treya, thest Demigod Puppet controlled by the Marite Lord, was still furiously trying to find an opening in Iris'' stance,

    She was drifting through the void like a lone asteroid unseen by all, charging an attack that would surely kill the enemy without offering a chance for resistance.

    Or at least, that''s what she thought.

    Iris shoved her arm out and clenched space between her fingers.

    Crash!

    Space itself shattered, revealing Treya''s position instantly.

    Her eyes widened in panic as she rapidly tried to retreat, but it was already toote.

    Iris was upon her, and she''d already understood the best torture to use against a dweller of the darkness like her.

    Wasn''t it simple?

    ''Purification.''

    Any and all things would be purified and be one with the mana of the world.

    However, if those things were harmful to the ecosystem, they''d have to be burned by light until they could be beneficial.

    More than anyone else, Iris was astonished by her abilities.

    The enemies she was struggling against were now toys for her to y with.

    This was her true power.

    This was the power she was blocked from by the actions of others.

    She relished in that feeling.

    In the second she had before she had to return to battle, she felt it in all its glory, basking in its radiance.

    Her body felt light, and her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest from all her excitement.

    And now, there were only two enemies left.

    Iris grinned to herself, confidence filling every corner of her vessel and soul.

    It was time to end this fight¡­

    ¡­and make her debut on a grander stage!

 Chapter 1259 Ambush [10]

    Chapter 1259 Ambush [10]

    Directbat against the Insect Lord.

    It was only possible now because the Marite Lord couldn''t interfere in the Personal Reality, and while this was the battle Iris was most equipped for, that didn''t mean it''d be easy.

    She immediately made distance once she killed Treya and made her intentions clear.

    The Insect Lord was more than aware of her ns, and as he saw thest line of defense fall, his survival instincts kicked in.

    Bzzzzzz!

    The buzzing of fast-beating wings filled the atmosphere. Tens of thousands of locusts, wasps, and mosquitos filled the air in a horde that couldn''t be driven away easily.

    And their target was clear.

    They swarmed Iris, who retreated constantly, and attacked her in formation. The three species that should''ve been fighting each other for a piece of her acted in perfect tandem to drive her into a corner.

    Iris'' eyes narrowed.

    ''How should I go about this¡­?''

    Her state was much more rxed than when the battle started, so she was able to entertain her thoughts and try to form a n of action to achieve the results she wanted.

    ''In the end, I''m trying to use him for my own benefit. If I just wanted to kill him, it''d be easy.''

    Iris swept her hand through the air, sending waves of pure energy into the swarm.

    The energy split into multiple variations, some poisonous and some fiery, to attack the weaknesses of the species the Insect Lord sent after her.

    It was an effective method that didn''t strain her much, but it wasn''t the most destructive force she could use.

    ''How do I draw it out?''

    She had to figure it out.

    Instead of any of the other insects in his arsenal, she needed to get the Insect Lord to use the specific one she wanted.

    ''If so¡­''

    She would have to suffer a bit for long-term benefit.

    ''It''s time to push.''

    At first, she figured she shouldn''t use too much offensive force so as to not scare him away, but she realized her thoughts were wrong.

    He wouldn''t use that creature unless the battle reached the absolute worst possible scenario for him, and she needed to create that scenario.

    Which also meant¡­

    ''I''ll have to face some things I don''t want to.''

    "Star Formation."

    Iris instantly used the move again, creating a massive sr mass that burned through the swarm attacking her. Without an ounce of hesitation, she pushed forward and reached the Insect Lord in a second.

    BANG!

    She cut her arm through the air, turning it into a de.

    The Insect Lord''s eyes widened.

    His body was weak.

    He was not someone who fought, he was someone whomanded others to fight, so his body was the weakest a Demigod''s could be.

    If he took Iris'' direct attacks, he''d be injured without much of a fight at all!

    SWISH!

    He retreated backward in panic while summoning another swarm, this time airborne ants that radiated a strange heat.

    "Freeze."

    Nevertheless, elemental properties could no longer faze Iris.

    She spoke a single word, and her breath turned into an icy mist that spread through the ants. Each and every one was frozen down to their cores, and their fires were extinguished before they could even be shown.

    She rushed through the falling icicles and approached the Insect Lord again.

    BOOM!

    Another swarm.

    BOOM!

    Another swarm.

    BOOM!

    The Insect Lord gritted his teeth.

    At this point, he was just wasting his troops this way. No matter how many regr swarms he sent out, Iris would easily destroy them and find her way into his range.

    ''There''s no choice!''

    He had to stop hesitating.

    As he saw Iris'' de-like arm on its path to run him through again, he gnashed his teeth and threw away his emotions.

    Those creatures he''d spent so much time to acquire, the ones that he couldn''t use again unless he found more of them, the ones he only had a few of and meant everything to him, he could no longer hoard them.

    "Go!"

    He yelled hoarsely and flicked his sleeve.

    Three beetles came out andtched onto Iris'' arm mid-swing.

    She didn''t have time to react

    "Khhhh¡­!"

    The beetles easily ripped apart her flesh and bones with their pincers, giving her the worst injury she''d sustained since the battle began.

    Seeing the opening he created, the Insect Lord became bolder.

    "The rest of you!"

    He flicked his sleeve several more times, and each time, a different creature came out.

    A bee with a stinger that was more simr to a drill, an ant that erged to the size of a house, and even a moth that seemed to harness the power of the world.

    They were all corrupted by his inky ck energy and in a berserk state where they attacked Iris as if she were their mortal enemy.

    And Iris did her best tobat them.

    These were the unique creatures in his arsenal. Unlike the ones she''d faced before, they all had extreme power that had to be feared like the Venom Lord''s venoms or the gue Lord''s abscesses.

    Still, they weren''t her final goal.

    She just had to get through them first.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    She pushed her mind to its limits, progressing in herprehension of Creation with every move.

    All natural forces came under her control. Whether they were elements, energies, or even poisons and attributes, she used them to the best of her capabilities to destroy creature after creature.

    No matter what the Insect Lord sent, it would be destroyed by her and she would use the chance to get closer to him.

    The ant died first, the bee followed next, the moth, the butterfly, the beetles, the fleas¡­

    Everything died, and their deaths made the Insect Lord feel a visceral pain in his soul that absolutely angered him.

    But his anger meant nothing.

    No matter what he tried, Iris overcame it, and before he knew what was happening, her hand was on his head.

    His eyes widened.

    He knew what came next.

    Iris smiled cruelly.

    "Your time hase."

    He gritted his teeth.

    He refused to ept it.

    If he wanted to live¡­

    ¡­he had to use hisst result.

    A bee appeared from his sleeve and stabbed through his skin, sending electricity coursing through his body. All his senses were advanced upon its death.

    A bug appeared in his hand imperceptibly. It had six legs and a thick shell, but it was unmoving and didn''t try to attack anything, unlike the rest.

    This creature wasn''t offensive, but supportive. It wasn''t meant to attack his enemy, but to protect him.

    As fast as lightning, far faster than he could usually move, he raised his hand to his mouth in a bid to swallow that bug.

    But¡­

    Iris grinned.

    "Thanks. I was waiting for this."

    She was already grabbing his arm, and the bug in his hand was already transferred to hers.

    "Purify."

    She used a holy mana to cleanse the bug of all the Nox mana imbued in it, and under the Insect Lord''s astonished gaze, she directly threw it in her mouth and swallowed it.

    That was thest sight he saw.

    "Since I got what I wanted, you can go on your way now."

    With a mocking remark and a wave of her hand, Iris pushed the Insect Lord''s soul into the depths of hell, killing him without a problem.

    And as she nced at the Marite Lord, who was ring at her furiously, her smile widened.

    ''Good. Now I have insurance.''

 Chapter 1260 Ambush [11]

    Chapter 1260 Ambush [11]

    The Personal Reality dispelled itself.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    Iris stabilized her breathing and absorbed mana to replenish herself as she slowly made her way towards the Marite Lord.

    "You seem to be enjoying the show from back here," she said, clear on the fact that her words would reach the enemy.

    "Hohoho~ it was quite the interesting battle to watch," the Marite Lord replied.

    Their words were not strange anymore.

    After watching how Iris grew during her battle, their yful attitude went away.

    This enemy who was supposed to be incredibly weakened in the Ancient Battlefield suddenly overcame that boundary with aw they didn''t even want to imagine the enemy had.

    This wasn''t aughing matter anymore.

    No, if they weren''t careful, even they would die here.

    "I bet you''re thinking it would''ve been nice if you had more backup ns, huh. Unfortunately, you didn''t bring a better assassin with you, or else maybe I''d be concerned."

    Iris smirked.

    She was confident, but not arrogant. She''d scanned the surroundings several times for another attacker hiding and waiting for an opportunity, but there were none.

    It wasn''t that those people who could avoid her surveince didn''t exist. There was indeed an Assassin Lord, a Darkness Lord, and a few others, but she could guarantee they weren''t here.

    After all, they were servants of the Karmic Emperor. Of all the others, they were the least likely to join the Marite Lord and act under theirmand.

    Therefore, Iris could be certain the two of them were alone here.

    "Are you underestimating me?" The Marite Lord said indifferently.

    "I would suggest you don''t."

    "Ah? But you haven''t given me a reason to think of you highly, though?"

    Iris quipped back without much of a care.

    This was the Marite Lord, after all.

    They were definitely terrifying in a war situation, but in singlebat¡­? Iris didn''t have any reason to fear them.

    Besides theirck of personal ability, Iris was mostly confident they wouldn''t have any puppets that could threaten the current her.

    "Ha!"

    The Marite Lord scoffed as if her words were a travesty.

    "This is a first for me," they continued, their eyes turning colder.

    "I must''ve been too quiet in the past."

    The Marite Lord was the Inhuman Emperor''s favorite subordinate for more reasons than one. They were insane, they were versatile, they were more loyal than anyone, and most of all, they were extremely powerful.

    Since the universe''s strongest were underestimating them, didn''t they have to show them why they were feared?

    The Marite Lord didn''t entertain conversation any longer.

    They made distance and instantly went into action.

    The Marite Lord''s main battle strategy was clear. They were a puppet master, as implied by their title.

    Of course, for a puppet master, live subjects weren''t the only option. The Marite Lord just enjoyed using them more, because torturing them was a source of great pleasure.

    Nevertheless, live subjects onlysted for a short period of time before their minds broke.

    The Marite Lord''s main force was corpse puppets. Once the battle started, they didn''t just summon a small group like before either.

    They saw the previous battle more clearly than anyone. A small number couldn''t hold Iris back at all.

    Hundreds of corpse puppets appeared between Iris and the Marite Lord, and without hesitation or any consciousness of their own, they charged as one.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Their attack patterns were strange, and they mostly used physical power since their souls were gone, but their power was severe.

    The air exploded and pressurized bursts shot towards Iris from every direction. Whenever they got close, they directly exploded their bodies to cause as much damage as possible.

    "Khh¡­!"

    Iris gritted her teeth as she dodged and weaved through the air. She knew the Marite Lord would be strong, but she didn''t expect something like this!

    She was being pressured with a strategy simr to what she used against the gue Lord, and the corpse puppets in the Marite Lord''s arsenal were just as limitless as the golems she could create from the earth.

    ''Dammit!''

    Iris cursed and used her power to push them away. In the first moment, she was already forced to focus on defense.

    ''What a problem. I could create golems to hold them back if I had a bit of time, but they aren''t giving me the chance.''

    If Iris switched her strategy to create an army of her own, she''d instantly be barraged by their attacks due to the diminishing strength of her defenses.

    So she had no choice but to confront them directly while the Marite Lord continued to retreat.

    ''I have to force my way through.''

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    She created small stars on her palms and threw them into the crowd.

    Her mana exploded into chaotic bursts of heat and energy that easily tore through the puppets they hit, but the residual energy was absorbed by the surrounding puppets and used to strengthen them.

    ''The problem is their direct control. If I could remove the Marite Lord''s influence, the battle would be much easier.''

    However, to do so, she needed to target the very Demonic Providence that gave the Marite Lord power.

    ''There must be a way.''

    Demonic Providence, at the end of the day, was another form of energy.

    For a puppeteer to control their puppets, they needed strings to move them through.

    All she needed to do was find those strings.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The atmosphere became a chaotic mix of forces that tore through any and everything. As time passed and Iris destroyed more corpse puppets, their number didn''t decrease at all. Instead, they became more numerous as the Marite Lord became used to the battle momentum.

    Iris was still calm. She was never intending to destroy all the corpse puppets. That would be nothing more than a waste of Divine Energy.

    She was looking for a way to get past them, and the more she destroyed, the closer she came to the answer.

    It was almost clear.

    The ethereal strings that controlled them were almost visible to her. She couldn''t cut the ethereal with her power, but she didn''t need to.

    All she needed was a chance to block the connection.

    Divine Energy ran rampant.

    ''Almost¡­''

    Corpse puppets came from every direction.

    ''Almost¡­''

    Their synergy was unmatched, making it feel like she was in the belly of a massive beast.

    ''Almost¡­''

    Her eyes shot in countless directions as if she was seeing all the information in the world. She got closer and closer to it, until eventually, the answer found its way to her mind.

    Her mana raged.

    The time was right.

    "Bind."

    With a singlemand, her mana knew what to do.

    Space constricted and a miniature Personal Reality formed. The forces of Creation and Universal Law worked together, and¡­

    ¡­the corpse puppets fell lifeless to the ground, returned to their original state.

    Iris bought herself a minute, but that was all the time she needed. By the time they got back up, they''d lose their controller.

    She rushed through the falling masses and appeared like a phoenix from the mes, her mana burning with the desire to kill!

 Chapter 1261 Ambush [12]

    Chapter 1261 Ambush [12]

    The Marite Lord''s eyes widened.

    They naturally felt the suppression of their Demonic Providence, but they could not understand how it was done.

    Though, there wasn''t any time to think about it.

    Iris'' approach was faster than fast. The Marite Lord''s expression didn''t change much, but the slight glint of panic in their eyes was definitely satisfying to see.

    Iris'' arm turned into a de, coated with the energy of creation that would ughter the enemy. In less than a second, she''d already approached and cut forward, her arm just inches away from finishing it all.

    ''This is the end.'' She thought inwardly.

    However, in that final moment, the Marite Lord changed.

    A twisted smile lit up their face.

    And¡­

    BOOOOOOM!

    Iris halted her movements abruptly and rapidly retreated, but she couldn''t avoid the impact.

    SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!

    Four shes struck her body, tearing through her limbs and the sides of her torso and creatingrge, mutted gashes that covered Iris'' pristine figure in blood.

    "Hehehehe~"

    The Marite Lord''sugh was like the twinkling sound of wind chimes haunting a dreary night.

    Iris watched in horror as their body went metamorphosed into something hideous.

    ''The information was wrong.''

    This person was absolutely capable of defending themself and fighting directly.

    The Marite Lord''s body was always changing. They never maintained a single form or even a specific gender or age, they would always morph between countless different appearances with seemingly no limit.

    Right, this person could change their body into "anything" or "anyone."

    But nobody realized the extent of this ability. No, the Marite Lord had never shown it even once.

    As of this moment, they made their debut.

    Massive bone apparitions like the legs of a spider jutted out of their back, their arms were des made of flesh and blood, and even their legs had sharpened into tools of ughter.

    Their body no longer held many "human"ponents. It was aplete battle machine.

    And now that someone had provoked that form out of them, they were not going to hold back.

    "Hehehehehe~!"

    The Marite Lord giggled giddily. Their body disappeared and reappeared like instant transmission and appeared behind Iris.

    SHING! SHING! SHING!

    "ARGH!"

    Iris groaned in pain as three de shes cut into her back.

    She didn''t even have time to think of a counterattack before she was forced to duck down and avoid being decapitated by one of the being''s legs.

    ''This¡­!''

    She was astonished.

    Iris was pushed back without any chances to move outside of the Marite Lord''s control. They used the arm des to causesting wounds while spinning their body impossibly to use their legs to deal fatal injuries.

    Moreover, the bone spider legs jutting out of their back were perfect for control. They extended and retracted at will and forced Iris to remain within a certain area, disallowing her escape from the barrage.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    She couldn''t fight back at all.

    No matter what she tried, it was futile.

    The powers of creation she''d just begun to learn weren''t good enough to deal with an assault like this.

    After all, she was still somewhat of a novice. Herprehension and status as a Divinity allowed her toprehend things far faster than a regr person, but she wasn''t anywhere near the level of the Marite Lord.

    The strongest under the Inhuman Emperor.

    That title wasn''t an exaggeration.

    In fact, the Marite Lord was right about as powerful as a Nox Emperor. The Inhuman Emperor had tried to convince them to be one several times, but they''d refused.

    Why?

    Because being a Lord was more fun.

    Just like the Inhuman Emperor, all they wanted to do was enjoy the entertainment that toying with enemies could bring them.

    Whether that be her own fellows or enemies from the universe, they really didn''t care.

    Their approaching Iris wasn''t due to any grand reason either.

    With Iris'' status and the fact that she was weakened now, she was a perfect target.

    To bring the universe''s strongest to her knees, begging for mercy, wasn''t that scene just beautiful?

    "Hehehehe!"

    The Marite Lord couldn''t stop giggling.

    The more of Iris'' blood that sttered on their face and body, the more of her blood painted the air, the more ecstatic they became.

    Their attacks were ruthless. They barely ever tried to kill. They were meant to torture Iris to a slow death.

    ''Dammit!''

    Iris tried to find a solution, but there were none.

    This was an enemy on the level she was supposed to be at. Tricks and deception held no weight against them.

    Still, Iris had to try.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Projectiles filled the air between the duo, forcing the Marite Lord back.

    However, at the same time, the Marite Lord''s bone spikes extended and stabbed into Iris'' body, dragging her right back to their original position.

    ''This defense¡­!''

    It was incredible.

    As the explosions died down, Iris saw it clearly. The Marite Lord''s body changed once again, turning into a mesh of ck spikes without any humanoid resemnce at all.

    They were like a massive insect, or a homunculus made specifically to kill.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Iris sent forth stars ands, gxies and universes of energy to buy herself some space.

    She was a ranged fighter. The only reason she risked pushing up on the Marite Lord was because they weren''t supposed to have the ability to fight back.

    After all, considering thetter''s ability to protect themself from her ranged onughts, she felt she had no choice but to push in.

    Yet, it was all a ruse.

    The Marite Lord was someone whose actions couldn''t be distinguished. The truths and falsities they presented were all twisted.

    Perhaps this entire battle was a trap meant to lead Iris into closebat with them, so they could toy with her until thest moment!

    Blood went everywhere.

    At some point, Iris realized that her left arm was unusable. The nerves and systems had been damaged too far.

    Her legs were also limply following her as she flew through the air, unable to move as she pleased anymore.

    ''They''re crippling me slowly.''

    It was absolutely intentional. The fact that she still had her right arm, the fact that she still had her head, it was absolutely intentional.

    Nothing in this battle was due to luck. The only variable was her awakening Creation, but it seemed that wasn''t enough to disrupt the Marite Lord''s scheming.

    ''It''s impossible.''

    Iris realized early.

    She didn''t have foresight, but her perception was practically precognitive.

    She could see where this fight would go. No matter what she tried, she''d just feel the depths of futility and suffer until death.

    There was only one solution.

    ''An extreme risk.''

    Thest resort she''d nned to use against a Nox Emperor, the very effect of the bug she''d eaten moments prior.

    It seemed she''d have to use its effects early.

    She had to be decisive here.

    ''Didn''t he say he''d faced death already?''

    If he could do it, she could too.

    And as if the heavens were answering her will¡­

    "IRIS!"

    A voice boomed from the distance.

    She turned her head just in time to see Damien teleporting towards her as fast as he could.

    The look on his face was full of worry and panic. It was as if he realized her ns before she even started acting on them.

    But that only made her smile.

    ''Right, if it''s you, I believe it will seed.''

    He was herst hope.

    As she felt her right arm fall limp, Iris turned back to the Marite Lord with extremely fierce eyes.

    "I won''t let you do as you please, bitch."

    With a grin on her face, she suddenly altered her body position.

    Within her body, she used all of her remaining Divine Energy to "create" something.

    A corridor to her soul.

    And¡­

    SHIK!

    She perfectly ced herself in the path of the Marite Lord''s bone spike.

    It impaled her chest, but instead ofing out of her back, it was forced through the tunnel and traveled into the ethereal.

    The bone spike mmed into her soul.

    Iris felt a massive shock.

    But¡­

    A translucent barrier appeared around her soul. It condensed into a string that shot through the bone spike and, within a fraction of an instant, connected Iris'' soul with the Marite Lord''s.

    Any impact she took would be shared between them.

    The Soul Pairing Beetle. Its original function was to connect two lives and make it so the attacking party would be enved to the consumer.

    If the consumer''s soul was injured, the injury would transfer to the aggressor''s. In the case of death, it would cripple thetter while using the remaining energy to preserve the former''s soul.

    But Iris wasn''t nning on waiting for that uncertain moment.

    She acted immediately.

    This time, the Marite Lord''s eyes truly widened.

    Their expression twisted into one of horror.

    "YOU¡­!"

    "STOP THAT NOW!"

    Their usual demeanorpletely vanished. They roared, their voice transmuting into countless different beastly forms as they lost control over their abilities.

    They couldn''t believe what was happening, but it was toote to regret.

    Finally, the Marite Lord met someone crazier than them.

    "IRIS, NO!"

    Damien''s roar filled the air.

    Iris looked at him without a single care. She didn''t regret anything, because she believed he''d take care of the rest.

    So she did it without hesitation.

    As she mouthed a farewell to the man so desperately trying to save her, she acted on her will.

    Eyrrisea Luminus shattered her soul.

    And the entire world was filled with light.

 Chapter 1262 Title [1]

    Chapter 1262 Title [1]

    Damien could only watch helplessly.

    It shouldn''t have gone this way.

    He killed the Strength Lord and he killed the Venom Lord. He gained power from them and approached in time to help with the battle with the Marite Lord.

    So why¡­?

    Why did Iris have to do that?!

    He saw it from the top of a faraway mountain. The moment when she made that decision, he rushed without a single thought in his head.

    The only thing he could do was try to push forward.

    But it didn''t work.

    Despite all odds, it didn''t work.

    He wasn''t just teleporting. He used sh Step to move forward in space and backward in time, so by all logic, the movement should''ve undone itself by the time he got there and he should''ve had the opportunity to save Iris and fight together.

    But it was futile.

    No matter how far back he went in time, their movements didn''t change.

    Because Iris set up a Personal Reality, their "time" was separated from Damien''s, and with just Rudimentary Existence Law, he couldn''t affect any timeline without limitations,

    So he could only watch.

    The entire world moved in slow motion.

    His emotions boiled over, filling his empty head with a mesh of chaotic colors.

    He didn''t care what he had to do, nor did he care what he had to sacrifice.

    As long as he could save Iris, he would do anything.

    Why was the world against him?

    He was so close, yet so far away, unable to bridge the gap regardless of any power or authority he possessed.

    So he could only watch.

    He could only feel the fluctuations of Iris'' soul shattering into pieces, and the fluctuation of that impact traveling into the Marite Lord''s body and forcing them to feel it too.

    "NO!"

    He roared out mindlessly.

    By the time it happened, he was already upon them.

    The Marite Lord was already struggling.

    The impact they took was severe. With Iris'' soul shattering under the influence of the Soul Pairing Beetle, the Marite Lord''s soul was crippled beyond belief.

    Their power was disconnected. They could no longer ess their Demonic Providence, nor did their Divinity hold any value.

    In essence, the Marite Lord was reduced to a regr mortal until they could find a way to piece together their soul.

    So, when they saw Damien arriving, they couldn''t say anything.

    They could only look at him in panic and hatred as he attacked.

    No, they didn''t care about that. Since they were going to die anyway, they threw away all their regrets¡­

    ¡­and grinned.

    Perhaps they would die, but they achieved what they wanted.

    They got to see Damien despair.

    And that was their win.

    Regardless of what happened from this point forth.

    "DIE!"

    Damien roared again. He didn''t care what he said or did, he just knew he wanted the Marite Lord gone.

    Void Mana raged through the atmosphere. Rudimentary Existence Law ran rampant and destroyed everything.

    It was a silent event, but one more terrifying than anything grand.

    Heaven and Earth, and all beings between them, were obliterated in a several thousand kilometer radius. The Marite Lord, whose soul was crippled, was blown away without the ability to say or do anything, and even several Demigods not involved in the battle whatsoever were swept into oblivion by his rage.

    Damien didn''t care.

    He didn''t care if they were enemies or allies.

    He wrapped Iris'' body in his arms and roared, refusing to ept the circumstances.

    Without hesitation, he took her and teleported into a nearby cave abode, gentlyying her down and sending his mana into her body.

    He had to save her.

    There was no other future in his mind besides the one where she lived.

    Void Mana traveled through her circuits and gave him aprehensive view of her state.

    ''Her body is fine. These injuries can be healed easily, but¡­''

    Her soul was in pieces.

    ''Luckily, it''s not gone yet.''

    The fact that it hadn''t dispersed meant saving her was still possible. There was definitely a method.

    He used the energy of the Void the way he always did, trying to pull the pieces of her soul together, but it didn''t work.

    The power he possessed wasn''t enough to save her.

    But, in that moment of desperation, something happened.

    A glistening ss-like piece of soul took hold of Damien''s mana and traveled through its connection into his body, simr to how the damage was transferred to the Marite Lord.

    That piece of Iris'' soul¡­

    ''This is herst hope.''

    Damien realized instantly.

    He slumped against the wall powerlessly.

    ''Seriously¡­why does this woman trust me so much?''

    Damien''s emotions calmed down enough for him to think rationally.

    Because of that piece of soul, he realized that Iris didn''tpletely give up hope, nor did she n to die here.

    She put everything on him, trusting him to bring her back.

    He smiled wryly.

    Despite the situation, his heart was touched. He wanted to cry, but tears did not form.

    ''How¡­?''

    How was he supposed to do it?

    Void Mana didn''t work. Rudimentary Existence Law didn''t work. Nothing he could do worked.

    So what did she expect from him?

    No, how was he to fulfill her expectations?

    Damien had barely ever felt like this before.

    The people he cared about were never put in situations like this. He never had to despair over their survival, because he trusted they would make it through.

    This time it was different.

    This time, logic said it was impossible. Reasoning said it was impossible. Naturalw said it was impossible.

    Only he, as the person who defied these fundamental concepts, could make it possible, but if he didn''t know how, then what?

    "...what do I do?"

    "You cannot save her."

    At a time unknown, a figure appeared in the cave alongside Damien and Iris, but he didn''t react to it despite recognizing its presence.

    "I refuse to do nothing. There has to be a way."

    "There is, however, not for the current. Only Mother has the power to reverse this fate."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    If the Void could do it but he couldn''t¡­

    "I understand."

    Iris'' soul was shattered beyond belief. The pieces of her soul couldn''t be aligned because the avable pieces were not all there was.

    Damien controlled Rudimentary Existence Law, not true Existence Law.

    And the pieces of Iris'' soul that disappeared couldn''t be controlled through Existence Law in the first ce.

    This was a force of Nonexistence. It was a realm Damien had yet to evene close to exploring.

    Therefore, he simply didn''t have the power to¨C

    "Did you say the Void can fix this¡­?"

    "Yes, Mother has no bounds. This matter is trivial before its power."

    "I see¡­"

    Damien frowned.

    There was a way.

    But¡­he couldn''t just use it wantonly.

    "Could you give us some space?"

    The Ancient Sovereign gazed at him without a change of expression, but he seemed to understand Damien''s intent.

    "Orion''s descendant is important to me as well. I shall aid you in soothing the Heavens if you act."

    With thatst word, he disappeared from the cave entirely, leaving Damien and Iris alone.

    Damien looked down at her.

    He''d already healed her body.

    She was truly a sleeping beauty. She looked so peaceful it was almost a shame to interrupt her sleep.

    But this slumber couldn''t be eternal.

    Not anymore now that Iris had be someone important to Damien.

    He closed his eyes and felt the soul fragment that entered his heart moments prior.

    And without hesitation, he connected his own soul to its form.

 Chapter 1263 Title [2]

    Chapter 1263 Title [2]

    Damien''s soul left his body and traveled to a different ne.

    He found himself in a garden, his appearance the exact same as his physical form and his body just as corporeal.

    There were beautiful flowers and nts everywhere, organized in a beautiful gradient from deep purple to sparkling green, nted in a circle around a marveled gazebo.

    Damien was currently on one of two paths that led to the gazebo. He walked forward slowly and steadily, enjoying the vibrant breeze that swept around him.

    It felt like there were spirits everywhere, joyously dancing and ying through the garden. The scent of nature and natural beauty was intoxicating, to the point where one would never wish to leave its peace.

    It was truly an ideal scenery. This kind of simplistic beauty was rare to see in a ce where everyone focused on grand structures and domineering appearances, but Damien felt like his kind of beauty was better.

    Because it was beautiful on its own. It didn''t need to try.

    The scenery wasn''t the only thing that carried such an air.

    Damien wasn''t the only one here, after all.

    She was sitting in the gazebo alone, quietly sipping tea with utmost grace as she enjoyed the peace around her.

    Her hair was light blue, like the faded color of the sky, and her image was like a goddess descended to the mortal world.

    Damien paused his steps to watch her. She was like a part of the environment, a piece of its beauty that was integral to its atmosphere.

    But she was different.

    Unlike before, he couldn''t see the two sides of her anymore.

    There was only one appearance remaining.

    Strangely enough, her beauty was somewhat diminishedpared to the outside world, but it wasn''t a bad thing at all.

    Rather than a goddess, she was like a fairy.

    She felt more approachable, more "real."

    It was like she became someone Damien could reach, when before she was someone he could only gaze at in awe.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath and steadied himself, walking down the path and up the steps of the gazebo.

    There was another seat there, as if this fairy had been waiting for his presence.

    Damien sat down quietly, not wanting to disrupt her peace.

    Besides, he didn''t know what to say.

    "You''vee."

    Luckily, she started the conversation for him.

    She opened her eyes and smiled warmly as she gazed upon him, her eyes happily shifting between the colors of the rainbow.

    "Of course I have. There was never a chance I wouldn''t," Damien responded, his tone somewhat awkward.

    "Is there something on your mind?"

    Iris was calm, tranquil like a spring breeze. It was as if she didn''t understand her current situation, but Damien knew she understood more than anyone.

    He furrowed his brows as he tried to form an answer.

    "I have too many things on my mind, but most of them can be handled once we can talk face-to-face again."

    "Face to face? An amusing saying, isn''t it?"

    "Now isn''t the time for this."

    Damien sighed.

    "Why did you entrust this to me? Can''t you value your own life?" He asked, somewhat defeated.

    But Iris only smiled.

    "Of course I value my life. However, what I did was necessary. As for why I trust you¡­does there need to be aplex reason? Of anyone I have ever known, I have never felt this way about anyone else. My trust is only natural."

    "..."

    Damien couldn''t lie.

    His heart definitely skipped a beat.

    But¡­

    "There is a way," he said.

    "However, it''s not something I can do without your permission."

    Iris raised her brow.

    "And that is?"

    Damien couldn''t see it, because she hid it better than anyone else.

    Her heart was far more erratic than his. She had to keep up this calm exterior, or else she wouldn''t be able to speak through her embarrassment.

    After all, Damien entered her soul, and she allowed it.

    Damien wasn''t aware of it because he had yet to reach Divinity, but frankly speaking, there was no greater symbol of trust than allowing someone to enter one''s soul.

    It required a level of intimacy that couldn''t normally be possessed.

    Her feelings were already clear with her eptance, but she couldn''t let him know that, right?

    She smiled and smiled, because if she didn''t at least smile, she wouldn''t be able to stop herself from giggling.

    It was far more fun to see Damien in that embarrassed position, where he stammered over his words awkwardly, unable to say it outright.

    How could he?

    He was about to suggest something absurd.

    The Ancient Sovereign said it clearly. Only the Void itself could bring Iris back to thend of the living.

    And though Damien couldn''t control the Void¡­

    He remembered something Lynn Carter told him before.

    He remembered something that happened to Rose, Ruyue, Elena, and to an extent, even Astoria.

    A "title."

    The Void''s acknowledgement.

    If Iris could receive the [Void Daughter] title, the Void would make sure she''d live.

    This was a fact proven through several experiences had by Damien''s current wives.

    But¡­

    The [Void Daughter] title couldn''t just be handed out through romantic intimacy. If that was it, Iris would''ve already had it.

    No, they had to take it a step further.

    ''How the hell am I supposed to say that? "Give me the innocence you''ve been protecting for ten thousand years and I can heal you?" How the fuck am I supposed to say that without being branded a supreme pervert?''

    Damien was racking his brain for any way to break it to her without being brash.

    He wanted to say it in a way that considered her feelings, and he wanted her to decide whether or not she wanted to do it of her own volition, not because she didn''t have another choice.

    As he thought and thought and thought, he failed to realize Iris'' face getting redder and redder.

    The blush she''d been hiding, the embarrassment she''d concealed, how could she ever hide it anymore?!

    This was her soul space.

    Whether it be thoughts or actions, words said or unsaid, they''d all beid bare before her.

    So¡­

    Well, she naturally understood what Damien was thinking right now.

    They had to consummate the love they hadn''t even professed to each other for her to live?

    Rather than Damien being a "supreme pervert," that title was more fitting for the mysterious force behind him!

    ''Ahhh, what do I do?!''

    Iris wanted to bury her head in a hole out of pure embarrassment. There was no way for her to easily ept the facts, despite knowing they were truth.

    "Um¡­so well¡­here''s the thing, right¡­"

    ¡­but, when Damien started talking and trying to exin it, her worries melted away.

    "Pfft¡­!"

    She couldn''t stop herself fromughing.

    Seriously, how was she supposed to take the situation seriously when he was acting like that?

    Without even trying, he could make her smile like this.

    Iris had never been tempted to engage in romance of any form. Her life was far separated from the concept, but that didn''t mean she didn''t dream of it.

    It had been over ten thousand years since she was born into this world, and she''d never felt like this before.

    Because, frankly¡­

    ''I want to.''

    She couldn''t think of anyone else she''d rather give her innocence to.

    No, out of anyone in existence, she couldn''t think of anyone else who''d made her feel asfortable as him.

    If it was Damien¡­

    ''...then, perhaps it''s not something to be afraid of¡­?''

    Instead, the feeling in her heart waspletely different.

    It was a faint sense of anticipation and excitement.

    And that only made her embarrassment far, far harder to ignore.

 Chapter 1264 Title [3]

    Chapter 1264 Title [3]

    Iris smiled again.

    She couldn''t stop smiling ever since Damien came to her soul space.

    It was something even she herself couldn''t fathom.

    ''Was I always this easy?''

    To think she''d cave so easily! Even she didn''t expect how quickly her thoughts shifted from hesitation to eptance.

    ''No, it''s not that.''

    This was entirely Damien''s fault.

    Her interest in him began during their first meeting. He was the first person to ever look directly into her eyes and remain unaffected, which naturally drew her to him.

    When they were together in the Severed World, while the persona she created disallowed them from interacting much, Iris saw him with his wives and saw how he acted regrly as well.

    Strangely, instead of the fact that he was a man with many wives repulsing her, the care he had for them despite their number and the fact that he was always putting them above himself drew her towards him even more.

    Iris, in the end, was a person born within nonconventional standards. It wasn''t strange at all in Grand Heavens Boundary for a man to have multiple wives. Evenmon farmers would gather two or three wives so they could sire arger number of descendants.

    How did it go from there?

    Iris was always secretly watching Damien for her own ns, but the attraction she held towards him wasn''t excluded because she had other motives.

    Seeing his diligence, seeing his willingness to suffer alone so everyone else could live, seeing his confidence and determination to tackle the impossible as if the word held no meaning to him¡­

    It all culminated into an emotion she didn''t quite have the ability to describe.

    And that''s when they met on the Ancient Battlefield.

    Here, the boundary of status between them waspletely gone. For over a year, they interacted as equals and gradually became closer.

    The feelings in her heart gained weight, and as the feelings in his grew, they refused to hide themselves.

    An opportunity like this was never something she expected.

    But she also knew how abominable her ability to express herself was.

    If it wasn''t a chance like this, when would she ever be able to tell him how she felt?

    When would she ever get a chance to carve a ce for herself in his heart?

    "I''m willing¡­"

    She muttered, barely discernibly, before Damien could even finish his exnation.

    "H-huh?"

    Damien made a strange exmation in response.

    "Did I hear that right?"

    He genuinely couldn''t believe his ears.

    But through all her shyness and embarrassment, Iris shakily nodded her head.

    "I''m willing¡­to do¡­''that''..."

    Damien''s eyes widened into saucers.

    "You mean¡­"

    How could he not understand?

    Rather, he knew Iris had some special feelings for him long ago, but it took him a while to ept it.

    Disregarding her position, which made it unbelievable in its own right, Damien hadn''t thought about romance in a very long time.

    He was content with what he had.

    Or at least¡­he thought he was.

    But the answer he gave Orion, the decision to leave it to fate, made it clear he was not.

    Somehow, Iris had snuck her way into his heart as well, and he wasn''t someone to run from his feelings anymore.

    If it was anyone, this woman was the best. Whether it be character, talent,patibility, or anything else, he couldn''t think of anyone who''d connected with him like Iris.

    There were many "what ifs" from the past, but none of them could ever be real. None of them were ever like this.

    So¡­

    If she wasn''t hesitating, why should he?

    Damien reached over the table, his face just inches away from hers.

    He stared deep into her eyes and asked one more time.

    "Are you certain? Once we do this, I''ll never let you escape."

    Iris smiled, closing the gap between them with ease.

    "I''m the one who should be saying that to you, yboy."

    In the peace of the sunlit garden, hidden in Iris'' soul space where only the two of them existed, their lips connected.

    And though neither of them knew it, their bodies in the outside world followed their actions.

    Damien guided her naturally. He kissed down her neck, slowly easing her into the mood, taking into consideration the fact that this was her first experience.

    The minutes flew by as Iris experienced a heaven like no other. With bliss filling her body, shame did the same.

    She couldn''t believe the sounds she was making, but to Damien''s ears, those moans were a grace of the supreme, the most beautiful sound to ever grace his ears.

    Clothes became nothing more than boundaries that were no longer necessary. As they bared themselves to each other, Damien couldn''t help but marvel at the perfection of Iris'' body.

    From her breasts to her waist and everything in between, from the beautifully curved valley to the thighs that protected it, and everything else¡­

    "You''re¡­perfect."

    He said it breathlessly.

    Iris turned her head to the side in shame.

    She could say the same about him, but she was afraid her mind would explode the second she did.

    The only sounds she could make were hums and moans as Damien explored her body. With the passing of minutes, her arousal grew, and she could no longer wait.

    The moment came.

    The moment of their connection, in body and in soul.

    Iris'' mind entered another dimension. The ecstasy that followed the pain was something even greater than she could ever imagine, and that was taking into ount everything that had happened thus far.

    She had a feeling.

    In her mind, she realized it well.

    From this point forward, she would never be able to extricate herself from his warmth.

    And that¡­

    ''...that is the best feeling in the world.''

    ***

    Unbeknownst to the two lovers sharing their bliss in a hidden ce of peace, amotion began in the outside world.

    As their connection grew, and as the [Void Daughter] title began to manifest in Iris'' body, her soul changed immensely.

    The pieces that vanished into nonexistence were forcefully pulled back into reality, and as they came together to form a whole, Iris'' very soul went through an unbelievable transformation.

    It was an act against reality.

    With this move, Damienpletely went against Heaven''s will.

    And naturally, it raged at his insolence.

    Terrifying lightning that could incinerate Divinities with ease manifested in the sky above the Ancient Battlefield. Divine Beasts created from the elements writhed in the air, furiously attempting to reach the fateful pair and obliterate their existence.

    However, they were all blocked by a barrier that even the Heavens couldn''t prate.

    Standing above the secluded cave, calmly drifting in the sky like a willow, was one man.

    ''Mother''s reflection and Orion''s descendant¡­''

    That figure smiled.

    ''It seems This One has begun to understand, child.''

    His eyes no longer gazed at some point unknown, but at the sky above, where his enemy lie.

    ''The future you spoke of, that beautiful picture you painted¡­''

    Until Damien and Iris finished their business, he would stand guard. Not just because of their identities, and not just because of their rtionship, but because of his own will.

    ''...This One also wishes to see it. Not as a muddled amalgamation, but in its true form.''

    For that, he would follow the man who would one day be his Father.

    Under his protection, Damien and Iris enjoyed their peace.

    And quicker than anyone could imagine, 6 months flew by.

 Chapter 1265 Emotions [1]

    Chapter 1265 Emotions [1]

    6 months Damien spent in Iris'' soul space.

    It wasn''t 6 months spent exclusively on "physical" rtions. It could be considered time spent to deepen their bond now that their feelings were clear.

    But Damien couldn''t spend all his time here, nor could Iris be distracted by him forever.

    After all, her soul was still healing. She needed to focus on supporting its growth if she wanted to truly harness its potential when she returned to the real ne.

    Iris'' soul went through a qualitative change. Though it was the same soul, its form was so different that, to Iris, it felt like apletely new soul had been housed in her body.

    It held power she had yet toprehend, and her already monstrous talent would soon be absolutely iprehensible.

    To limate to it, she would need a year or two at the very least.

    Damien opened his eyes in the real ne and smiled.

    The past half year was great. It was satisfying, peaceful, and fulfilling, a break he''d desperately needed for over a decade now.

    He felt refreshed, but now that he was back here, feeling the air of the Ancient Battlefield on his skin¡­

    ''...I''m angry.''

    He was extremely furious.

    To think the Nox dared to target him and the ones he loved.

    It wasn''t strange from them. Obviously they would''ve done it at some point. However, the fact that it had such a great impact brought him back to reality.

    ''I got too content with my growth. I was okay knowing I could kill most of the people here, but that isn''t enough.''

    His real enemies were still too strong. His real enemies could still p him to death even with all his growth.

    "Can you watch over her for me?" He asked into the air.

    "There will be no problem."

    A voice responded.

    It was the Ancient Sovereign, who had been protecting them thus far.

    He would still need to. The wrath of the Heavens didn''t lessen in the time that passed. News of the strange phenomena epassing this area had already spread throughout the Ancient Battlefield, but the Ancient Sovereign''s presence kept all prying eyes away.

    Even the Nox Emperors couldn''t stand up to him, so why would anyone else try?

    ''It would be nice if I could bring him into the battle, but that''s impossible.''

    The Ancient Sovereign would never interfere in worldly affairs without a good reason. And as a person without connections to the mortal world, finding a reason to move him was nigh impossible.

    Damien had to do the work himself.

    ''Though, I prefer it this way.''

    The solution to all problems was strength.

    Damien looked at Iris lovingly. He pulled several items out of his subspace and created a beautiful living space for her, including a bed, a nket, and a temperature regtion system created through arrays, to give her body afortable environment while her soul healed.

    Once she was settled in, she truly was a sleeping beauty. She had a kind of radiance that was hard to resist.

    ''Well, to me, they''re all like that.''

    Wasn''t that why he worked so hard to protect them?

    Their radiance was what made him whole.

    ''But if I want to make sure they stay safe, this isn''t enough.''

    He didn''t have anything to worry about now that he had the Ancient Sovereign''s promise. Orion would likely alsoe here to help protect Iris'' body while she healed.

    So¡­

    ''I need to ascend.''

    Damien clenched his fist.

    Iris wasn''t the only one who gained from their consummation.

    He got something he never expected to see so early.

    ''Assemble.''

    He flicked his finger and sent mana into the air.

    With his precisemand, it changed shape and transmuted into multiple physical constructs, which were then put together before a final product dropped into his hand.

    ''It''s been a while since I saw one of these.''

    Damien grinned.

    He was currently holding an earthen hot weapon, a true firearm that didn''t have any connection to mana and was purely powered by force and heat.

    And it was formed through his own power.

    The power of Creation.

    ''Wow.''

    Damien threw the gun away and let it disperse into mana again.

    This phenomenon hadn''t happened many times before. He didn''t gain Yin from Ruyue or Illusion from Rose.

    He couldn''t quite exin why he could only gain affinities and the likes on certain asions, but if he had to rationalize it, it was likely due to his position.

    When he was close to the element, or when it was the rational next step in his progression, he''d gain it. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to form a connection with it during the "act."

    But that was beside the point. He truly didn''t care about the "how" or "why." Since he had it, he would use it to its full potential.

    And with Creation, this was especially the case. Now that this force was under his control, he could feel it.

    He was just a single step away from Divinity.

    If he wanted to end this battle, if he wanted to get revenge, and if he wanted to aplish his goals, he had to ascend to Divinity as soon as possible.

    The only answer was battle.

    Damien set out immediately after giving Iris onest look.

    ''Before shees back, I''ll also be at that level.''

    He had at least two years and at most five. It was more than enough time.

    Damien''s advent on the battlefield this time wasn''t going to be likest time.

    He was going back to his roots. He was going to be the warmonger he was in the past, a ughterer on the battlefield.

    And he was extremely excited for that.

    He was eagerly anticipating the expressions of those in this ce when they realized his existence.

    ***

    Of course, Damien and Iris weren''t the only ones on the Ancient Battlefield. While they were moving outside the bounds of the true war, it progressed without them.

    The current number ofbatants had gone down severely.

    There were roughly 5000 Nox Demigods remaining, while the Grand Heavens Boundary forces were reduced to roughly 3000.

    It wasn''t a great ratio, however, it was far better than it was at the start.

    Most traitors had been killed, and while the remaining Lords were all powerhouses, all the remaining allied Demigods were as well.

    The battlefield had shrunk considerably. The massive space was now much, much smaller, but it was still expansive enough for one to spend several days traveling without meeting another living being.

    Nevertheless, the situation was no longer stale.

    The bases that existed at the start of the war were far past the boundary now, so all participants were forced to either fight or hide in caves.

    It reached a point where the climax was approaching.

    It was almost time for the central area to be the main battlefield.

    When that happened, there would be no running or hiding. The remaining forces would have no choice but to fight until only one side remained.

    Nevertheless, that was a story for the future.

    As of now, a year passed since Damien set out on the battlefield.

    And rumors about his existence began to spread.

    Just as he dered before leaving, he was going to make an impact that couldn''t be ignored.

    He was going to strike fear into the Nox''s hearts.

    And he was going to be the bane of their existence.

    It was that simple.

 Chapter 1266 Emotions [2]

    Chapter 1266 Emotions [2]

    Two years of constant battle.

    That''s what Damien would''ve liked to call it, but it was more like two years of running around looking for people to kill, with a few interludes of actually killing them.

    Though, that was just in his perception.

    In two years, Damien ughtered hundreds of Demigods. With the current numbers dwindling, that wasn''t just "a few interludes," was it?

    As he gained prominence on the battlefield and learned more about what happened in the time he was gone, he moved in ordance to his will and took out several great threats that the allied forces were wary of.

    ''They gave me so many titles because of that. God Killer, Divine Reaper¡­basically, they call me any and all things to say they''re scared without actually saying they''re scared.''

    Their fear was granted. It was impossible for Damien to hide his league from their eyes, so the fact that he was a lower existence that could ughter Demigods had spread far and wide.

    His existence defied the basic rule that all of these Demigods enjoyed: the fact that they were qualitatively better than any lower existence.

    That very fact was why most of them decided to stay in the lower universe. Since it was no longer absolute fact, how could they not be worried?

    However, Damien simply didn''t care.

    Their feelings had nothing to do with his goal.

    ''Plus, those guys who are actually scared right now are cowards who don''t matter.''

    They weren''t like Iris, who refused ascension due to personal trauma, or Alucard, who did so because he wanted to foster the next generation.

    They were just cowards who were unwilling to be at the bottom of the barrel again.

    ''Which is even stupider. Demigods will be Demigods no matter where they are. Do they think everyone in the Heavenly World is born a Divinity, or are they just that insecure about their talent?''

    Damien shrugged it off. It wasn''t his problem, anyway. He always nned to ascend, though, nowadays he realized he''d have to set it off forter than he originally plotted.

    ''Doesn''t matter anyway. Even if I go back to the lower universe, I have a way to get to the Heavenly World.''

    He almost forgot about it because of how subtle the memory became with time, but once his rise to Divinity got closer, it popped back into his mind.

    The Celestial Realm on Death Emperor Star.

    That was the ce where he first met his father, and back then, the entire realm was granted to him as his territory.

    The fact that his father could leave a hologram there meant that realm had some kind of connection to the Heavenly World.

    As long as he could use it properly, he was confident in finding his way there even if the path of ascension was closed off to him.

    ''But that''s a matter for another time.''

    The Ancient Battlefield''s progression wasn''tpletely unrted to him. Of those Demigods who died, there were several he knew or knew of.

    Such as the 12 Zodiacs of Hidden Death Valley.

    ''I heard half of them died, and the rest only survived due to luck.''

    Aside from them, someone he hadn''t met in person but had ties to also passed.

    The so-called nt Goddess of Eden.

    ''They say her lover, a demon named Arturo, sacrificed himself for her survival, but she couldn''t ept it andbusted her soul to get vengeance on those that caused their tragic fate.''

    It was a true shame.

    ''And the worst part¡­they couldn''t even touch the main enemy.''

    Something not publicized, but inferred by Damien.

    For two Demigods to die in such a tragic way, two as strong as them, there was only one reason he could think of.

    ''They were manipted by the Karmic Emperor.''

    He was paying serious attention to that issue for precisely this reason.

    ''He must''ve gotten much stronger to do something like that. I need to hurry.''

    Frankly, Damien hadn''t made much progress.

    He''d gained a lot more power, but power was rtively irrelevant at this point.

    ''I need to find the path to Destruction. That''s the key.''

    He was searching for it through ughter and destruction.

    It was a bit stupid, but funnily enough, there was no better method.

    ''I guess I just have to keep going until I find it.''

    Damien sighed.

    At least he was having fun.

    The Demonic Providences of the Nox Race were each unique. Even the ones that held simrities had different conditions of use. Damien was having fun experiencing them all as he fought, so he didn''t mind the amount of effort he had to expend.

    ''Maybe I should¨C hm?''

    It wasn''t the first time Damien sensed something interesting on the horizon and it wouldn''t be thest.

    Without hesitation, he moved towards it.

    Battle was ongoing.

    Naturally, it was his ce to interfere!

    ***

    There were two people fighting against six. Their disparage was severe, much worse than when Damien and Iris fought earlier.

    After all, these two were not supreme geniuses.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Explosions went wild through the environment. The battle was alreadying to an end, but the oue wasn''t favorable in the slightest.

    Two Demigods on the enemy side had been killed, bringing their total number down to four, but the two on the allied side were at the end of their rope as well.

    There was too much going on around them.

    They were caught unprepared by this massive group. They were fated to die from the start.

    But they refused.

    The man of the two furrowed his brows.

    ''This cannot go on. Even if I die, she must survive.''

    If there was a silver lining, it was their distribution. The two of them had their backs facing a mountain. They weren''t surrounded, but facing four from the same side.

    That left a path for escape.

    BANG!

    "ARGH!"

    The man groaned in pain as his side was run through with a spear.

    He stood in front of his woman nheless, disallowing any attacks from reaching her.

    "GO!" He roared.

    "No! I will not leave you here!" She yelled back, ring her mana to return to battle.

    However, he was more stubborn than her.

    Despite how reserved he usually was, in times like this, his stubbornness couldn''t be outdone.

    He turned his back to the enemy.

    "Ran, I will not let you die here."

    "Di¡­"

    Ran muttered, tears forming in her eyes.

    But it was toote. He was already smiling so warmly.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    His mana roared.

    With a massive burst of Divine Energy, he attacked her with a gentle force, throwing her several thousand kilometers away before she couldin.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    At the same time, tens of attacksnded on his back, tearing through his flesh and bones.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    He gritted his teeth and turned back to them.

    "I know you''re eager, but now is not the time. Instead of chasing her, how about staying here with me?"

    "DI, NO!"

    Ran yelled out from the distance. She was already rushing back with all her power, but could she get there within the second?

    The answer was a t "no."

    Di made sure of it.

    Before his enemies could realize his movements and retreat, he took the same action as many heroes had before him.

    He exploded his mana.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    "DI¡­!"

    Ran screamed out as she was thrown back by the shockwaves.

    The enemies were wrapped in his energy and incinerated into nothingness.

    And a figure arrived above them with a frown on his face.

    ''Dammit. I''m toote¡­''

    Damien sighed to himself.

    He couldn''t stop Di from dying, but he came in time to deal with the aftermath.

    ''Another friend has left this world¡­''

    ''I promise. I will never let your sacrifice go in vain.''

 Chapter 1267 Emotions [3]

    Chapter 1267 Emotions [3]

    Damien descended to the earth.

    His first move was sending a wave of Rudimentary Existence Law towards the area Di exploded, making sure the enemies were dead.

    In the same movement, he teleported to Ran and pushed her to the ground, forcing his mana into her body and giving her no choice but toply.

    "LET GO OF ME! LET GO NOW!" She roared, mania in her eyes.

    However, Damien did not.

    He circted his mana through her circuits and calmed her Divine Energy.

    "Did you think I''d just let you die here?"

    Right, she was just moments away from following her husband to the grave.

    But Damien stopped her.

    And for that, she was enraged beyond belief.

    "LET GO! LET GO BEFORE I KILL YOU, DAMIEN VOID!"

    Damien sighed.

    "Do you think that''s possible? You''ve already subordinated yourself to me. You cannot hurt me."

    "THAT DOES NOT MATTER! UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT!"

    ''It looks like she never nned to hurt me. Is she trying to trigger a restriction and kill herself using a roundabout method?''

    Damien sighed again.

    Frankly, he wasn''t expecting an event like this either.

    He wasn''t close to Di or Ran, but they were vassals who''d been prepared for him by his father''s people in the past.

    Because of their intertwined fate, he assumed they''d be protected in the same way his wives were.

    But he was wrong.

    His wives got absolute protection from death, but even they could be harmed to the extreme.

    As for close friends and allies, their protection wasn''t nearly absolute, but their growth would be boosted and without any extraneous circumstances, their lives wouldn''t be in danger.

    But¡­

    Well, Di and Ran didn''t meet any of the qualifications.

    From the start, they did not willingly subordinate themselves, nor did they ept his rule once they conceded.

    That was why Damien never once tried to mobilize the Ancient God n. He didn''t care to force them into submission, and it was essentially impossible when their leaders and young master were all hostile to him.

    ''Of them, Di was the only one who was somewhat supportive. It''s a shame that he died.''

    Damien was friends with Xinyue for a time, but herplete change in attitude upon learning his identity tore their rtionship apart.

    Let alone friendship, they''d hardly talked since back then, and when they did, it was strictly business.

    Though, she couldn''t hide her hostility even in those circumstances.

    ''So it really is something more ethereal. It''s not just about being connected superficially.''

    Damien started to understand why physical intimacy was required for the [Void Daughter] title to be passed on.

    Perhaps many were willing to be in that kind of rtionship with him, but he never saw other women like that. If someone was able to pull his heart to that extent, and the Void deemed them worthy, the title would appear naturally.

    Nevertheless, that waspletely unrted.

    Damien turned his attention back to Ran, who was still screaming and thrashing on the ground, trying to end her life.

    He couldn''t stand it anymore.

    "What the hell are you doing?" He asked.

    "WHAT?! WHAT AM I DOING?! WHAT ELSE IS THERE FOR ME TO DO?! THIS LIFE HAS LOST ITS MEANING!"

    She was spouting utter nonsense.

    "Are you a child?" Damien pressed.

    "HOW DARE YOU LOOK DOWN ON ME?!"

    Ran tried to use her mana to escape his grasp, but she could no longer overpower him.

    Pah!

    Her eyes widened in shock.

    "D-did you just¡­?"

    "p you? Yes, yes I did. Because you, who''s supposed to be an old and wizened Divinity, are sitting here throwing a temper tantrum like a child. Who the fuck do you think you are?"

    Damien couldn''t stand her behavior. He never could, and would never be able to, but it was especially embarrassing right now.

    "Do you not understand what just happened, you fucking idiot? Di sacrificed his life so you could live, so why the fuck are you trying to die like a dumbass?"

    "You''re telling me your life is pointless? On whose fucking word? The Nox still exist, so you still have purpose fighting them until thest breath to avenge him. Even putting aside petty revenge, did you forget about the WHOLE FUCKING CLAN waiting for you in Grand Heavens Boundary? What will happen to them when they lose their ONLY TWO Demigod Ancestors in a single breath?!"

    Damien was utterly fed up with this woman.

    He was pissed for multiple reasons, the most selfish of which being: this could''ve all been prevented.

    If they just put down their pride and epted him, this would''ve never happened.

    What kind of reason did they have to reject him? Was he an unjust ruler?

    No!

    He hardly ever asked his forces to do anything, and he would never force them to do anything they weren''t willing to.

    So there was no real reason to reject his rule besides the fact that they couldn''t ept an outsider being their lord.

    He understood his thoughts were selfish, but they were his thoughts nheless. He hated that he had to deal with bullshit that could''ve been avoided so easily.

    But the majority of his anger wasn''t directed at Ran specifically. She''d just be an outlet for his bottled-up emotions.

    So many of these Demigods acted like the pathetic young masters Damien had met throughout his travels, even though they were supposed to be the face of the universe, its strongest and most reliable force.

    Damien had been active on the Ancient Battlefield for several years now, and besides Iris, Alucard, and the others he was associated with, he hadn''t met a single worthy Divinity.

    They were just cowards and stuck-up brats who had no shame.

    Damien forced his mana a bit more, cing a restriction on Ran''s Divine Energy.

    "Idiotic bitch, if you try to die in any way, shape, or form, this restriction will activate and send you directly to me. You should be very clear on what I can do to you if you disobey me, so make sure to act nicely."

    It wasn''t just her own actions. If she was nearing death by any means, she would be teleported to him. He could read her memories to find the circumstances and decide how to proceed from there.

    Damien let go of Ran''s shoulders and got up, ncing at her in disgust.

    "Go and live. I won''t let you die until you''ve be a proper human being."

    Damien turned around and walked away.

    "Fuck, I came here with good intentions and it ended up like this. I can''t believe Di put up with such a brat for so many thousands of years."

    "How pathetic."

    That was thest thing Ran heard before Damien''s presence vanished from the surroundings.

    Shey there on the ground, unmoving with a nk expression.

    She had no idea what just happened.

    But she could feel the restriction well. Damien wasn''t joking. Its power was far beyond what she thought possible from him.

    ''If¡­if we just followed him¡­''

    If such a strong person was their backing, if they could''ve called him for help before things went wrong¡­

    "Ha¡­haha¡­"

    Everything was pointless now.

    But she couldn''t die.

    The deep humiliation engraved in her soul forced her to stay alive.

    She didn''t even think of her n before Damien mentioned it.

    She didn''t even think about revenge.

    The only thought in her mind was death. Her emotions boiled over and made her vision tunnel in on the single most pathetic option avable to her.

    She was supposed to be a Demigod¡­?

    She was supposed to be someone others relied on¡­?

    "Haha¡­how¡­pathetic."

    She raised an arm over her eyes.

    Tears trickled down the sides of her face.

    It hurt.

    It really fucking hurt.

    But she couldn''t me anyone but herself.

    If she was more mature, if she focused onprehension instead of stupidly involving herself in mortal affairs, if she wasn''t controlled by her emotions¡­

    It didn''t matter how many "ifs" she thought of. They all came down to a single thought.

    This was a consequence of her own actions, and if she continued acting as she pleased, the consequences would be even greater than they already were.

    So she cried.

    In the middle of the Ancient Battlefield, realizing her mistakes and ws, mourning the death of the only person who''d put up with her in this world, she cried.

    ''I''m¡­''

    ''...such an idiot.''

 Chapter 1268 Old Enemy [1]

    Chapter 1268 Old Enemy [1]

    Damien knew he was being harsh, but it was necessary.

    Someone like Ran couldn''t learn through easy means.

    She was entitled beyond belief. Her world revolved around her, and it was clear she never had to face the consequences of her actions.

    If someone grew like that, they were bound to be a terrible person simply due to their ignorance. That was not bliss, but a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode.

    And it exploded.

    It exploded right in Ran''s face and took the person she cared about most.

    How was someone who never learned to cope with negativity to respond to a stimulus like that?

    Ending everything was an easy choice. She was someone who would always pick the easy choice because she simply couldn''t see the other choices at all.

    Damien hated people like her. He hated people who lived in this cruel and cold world and somehow maintained the thought that they were above its rule.

    It was a different kind of naivety from the pure innocence that children and others in simr positions possessed. Rather than something that should be protected while itsted, it was something that needed to be crushed so those people could face reality.

    Maybe Ran would hate him from this point forth.

    Maybe she''d resent him for forcing her to live, but Damien didn''t care.

    In the first ce, he was never doing it for her.

    He was doing it for Di, the only person in the Ancient God n he respected.

    He would''ve never wanted Ran to die with him. He would''ve wanted her to live on and find her own happiness, and he would''ve wanted her to continue his legacy in the n so he was never forgotten.

    Ran was hisst lifeline, and she just wanted to throw all that away?

    Damien abhorred that she was the one tasked with Di''sst will, but that wasn''t his decision to interfere in, so he did what he needed to make sure she lived.

    ''Worst case scenario, she tries to kill meter. But, even that''s a positive. Whether it be hatred, guilt, or something more positive, they''re all twisted emotions that give her a will to live.''

    Positive reinforcement wasn''t always the answer. Damien learned through countless experiences that facing the coldness of reality could be much more impactful on a person''s psyche than positivity.

    ''I don''t know if I''d use this method for people I actually care about, but¡­no, that''s not the case. I definitely would.''

    He just wouldn''t do it directly.

    Just like he''d made Astoria face reality back when he was teaching her, he would use some means to rid the people he nurtured of their naivety when the time came.

    ''Even Xue''er¡­''

    "Haa¡­''

    Damien sighed.

    ''I don''t know if I''d be a good parent, but hopefully, I don''t be a hated one.''

    He''d just epted Iris as his 4th wife. That was a number he never could''ve imagined back in his youth.

    Now that such an event had happened, he started thinking about his future romantically again as well.

    And having children was definitely something he wanted.

    ''Just¡­not right now.''

    In this kind of world, having too many feelings was a sin.

    He was afraid of what would happen if he had kids.

    What if he ended up like his own father, unable to foster their growth or even have a say in their lives until they were too old to care?

    He couldn''t allow that.

    His children wouldn''t live like he did.

    They''d live in a world he created for them, a world free of horror and cruelty.

    ''Though¡­''

    Damien shook his head.

    He didn''t need to think about it yet. If he kept doing so, his desire to see his wives again and be a father would only grow stronger.

    ''Ascending is my main priority. I have to remember that.''

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien exhaled deeply and centered himself.

    ''I should start heading for the center. The enemies in the outskirts aren''t enough for me anymore, and¡­for some reason, I really want to see the people I trust.''

    Those who were worthy of his respect and fighting with their everything to end this war victoriously, he wanted to see them and refresh his mind.

    But¡­would things go as he wished?

    He seemed to have forgotten after spending so much time unhindered.

    He had enemies in this ce.

    And not all of them were as patient as the Saint Emperor.

    ***

    Somewhere several hundreds of millions of kilometers away from Damien''s current position, two men stood surrounded by a river of blood and mountains of corpses.

    "What did you say?"

    One of them made an exmation of shock upon hearing the information his fellow shared.

    "It is just as I stated. A lower existence has arrived on the Ancient Battlefield and stirred up a storm."

    Their conversation was naturally about Damien, the most interesting person on the ne at the moment.

    But his specific identity was still up in the air¡­

    "They call him by a variety of names, but those are only marks of their cowardice. The only concrete information our forces have been able to gather is a rough description of his appearance and power."

    ¡­well, not anymore.

    The man held up his hand and summoned a projection. It was majorly nondescript, but the most important characteristics were represented.

    A chiseled face, ck hair that went past his shoulders, and¡­

    "Those eyes¡­"

    The second man''s gaze sharpened.

    Those purple eyes were not something just anyone could possess.

    Rather, in the entirety of his existence, he''d only seen two people with those eyes.

    One was the Void Emperor from the past, a man that had long disappeared into the Heavenly World, or at least that was how it was assumed.

    And the other¡­

    "Damien Void."

    A blood-red aura filled the skies.

    "That damned brat¡­"

    Immortal Blood Asura gnashed his teeth.

    He thought he''d seen thest of that man long ago, but by some odd means, he''d managed to survive not only the deathnd known as No Return Pass, but also a siege on Al''Katra that he was only able to learn about through the Karmic Emperor.

    That thorn in his side that he''d tried to remove so many times was now standing amongst Demigods, ughtering as he pleased.

    "WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?!"

    Immortal Blood Asura roared.

    He rarely found roadblocks in his path. This wasn''t luck, but something he made sure of by suppressing and killing any who opposed him.

    But this one survived.

    Like a rat, he scurried away and escaped every perilous situation he''d been put in.

    ''And now he is here¡­''

    Immortal Blood Asura couldn''t stand him.

    The Divinity he''d built was based on his eternal conquest, his subjugation of any and all things.

    Even now, rather than a traitor who submitted to the Nox, he was someone who stood on the same level as a Nox Emperor.

    And yet¡­

    ''Why is that brat still alive?''

    He couldn''t understand it.

    But there was one thing he knew.

    This was not Grand Heavens Boundary. This was the Ancient Battlefield.

    In this ce, Damien could not escape, and Immortal Blood Asura didn''t have to leave his revenge to external forces.

    "Where is he now?" He asked coldly.

    The Karmic Emperor smiled.

    "His position is being tracked in real-time. Take this map and go."

    Immortal Blood Asura nodded and nced at the Nox Emperor icily.

    "I do not know what you are nning, but it does not matter to me. This is not a matter of your influence. Remember that."

    The Karmic Emperor''s mysterious smile widened.

    "I am well aware. Now, quickly finish him ande back. We have much to do before we leave this ce."

    "Hmph."

    Immortal Blood Asura left without another word.

    As the Karmic Emperor watched him leave, his smile turned into a toothy grin.

    ''While it is a shame to sacrifice a piece like that boy, it is necessary topletely tame the Immortal Blood Asura.''

    He turned around and walked through the rivers of blood like he was taking a calm stroll through the park

    ''Damien Void, the man even the Saint Emperor failed to kill. I apologize, but¡­''

    ''This is the day of your death.''

 Chapter 1269 Old Enemy [2]

    Chapter 1269 Old Enemy [2]

    Another month passed rtively calmly.

    The Karmic Emperor stopped moving so actively, and his forces withdrew as well.

    The Soul Emperor and Saint Emperor hadn''t made any moves even at this point, but their forces were still acting strangely.

    They did attack the universe''s forces, but not as ferociously as the Inhuman Emperor''s faction.

    The reason was simple.

    While the Saint Emperor couldn''t be exined with reason, the Soul Emperor was faithful to his creators.

    Their goal was to steal the universe''s life force and use it as a farm for resources, which came in the form of World Cores and Universal Cores.

    However, what would happen when Grand Heavens Boundary fell?

    It was essentially killing the golden goose.

    The Soul Emperor wanted to ruin Grand Heavens Boundary, but he never nned topletely destroy it.

    Because once it was on itsst breath and had no other hope, its Universal Core would be the spark that birthed a new universe, a source of more resources for his Lords.

    Therefore, while he tried to conserve his troops as much as possible and fought for appearance''s sake only, his true allegiance was technically on their side.

    That was the only way for him to survive the victory he was hoping for them to achieve while culling them enough to aplish his goals.

    It was a convoluted mentality, but one only fit for the Soul Emperor, a man who was ironically more soulless than anyone else.

    Though this mentality held positives and negatives for the universe as a whole, it was quite unfortunate for Damien.

    The Inhuman Emperor didn''t have infinite manpower. His people were dying more than any other faction, and as their numbers dwindled, the number of Noxbatants roaming the battlefield diminished as well.

    And he couldn''t act himself to fix this problem, because the second he did, the Grand Heavens Boundary faction would band together as one and hide in a turtle shell to face him.

    Even he couldn''t take their fullbined force alone.

    He was on the dull side, sure, but his survivability was great enough for him to reach Emperor status despite his habits.

    Nevertheless, the battlefield was quite calm, the opposite of what Damien wanted.

    He spent thest month doing far more traveling than fighting, and he was definitely hoping for something interesting to happen soon.

    It''s just¡­

    It happened on a normal day like any other.

    The enemy hidden in the shadows came into the light.

    And it wasn''t nearly the kind of "interesting" he''d been hoping for.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    An explosion of blood mist enveloped his body.

    Damien immediately teleported away and surveyed the environment for his enemy, but before he could find him¡­

    BANG!

    A strong impact struck him from behind, cracking his spine and sending him flying.

    ''Damn!''

    Damien didn''t expect to be surprise attacked here. No, he knew there were only a few beings capable of doing so, and he wasn''t expecting to meet them already.

    ''The Inhuman Emperor¡­? Or maybe¡­no, this mana¡­''

    He instantly understood who he was facing.

    He stood up from the ground as his spine healed to its regr form, spitting blood out of his mouth.

    "Immortal Blood Asura."

    It wasn''t a Nox Emperor at all, but a man equal to Iris, a man strong enough to be titled the universe''s best.

    As the blood mist cleared, his form was revealed.

    That same old man who pushed Damien into danger at every opportunity, ridding him of the few moments of peace he tried to enjoy, that man was standing right in front of him.

    "You noticed quick. However, no matter what you have be, you are nothing before me."

    BANG!

    Immortal Blood Asura attacked again without waiting for Damien to limate to the changing circumstances.

    Terrifying crimson Divine Energy filled the air, and Damien took constant damage.

    Mysterious forces invaded his body, and while the Void Physique cleansed it and the Ananta Matrix stored the pure Divine Energy, it was able to damage him in the split seconds before that could happen.

    ''Insane.''

    Damien gritted his teeth as he endured the pain of his blood evaporating.

    ''This is insane.''

    He pushed his hands forward and summoned Rudimentary Existence Law in a sh.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The wall ofw fluctuations he created for defense was shattered in a mere instant, and once again, his body was subjected to torment.

    ''Damn!''

    His eyes narrowed to the extreme.

    ''He knows the difference between us, so he''s toying with me before I die. He''s just trying to milk his revenge for everything it''s worth before ughtering me mercilessly.''

    Damien didn''t stand a chance.

    Immortal Blood Asura was on the level of a Nox Emperor.

    Even when Iris was hindered by her inability to use Creation Laws, Damien still wasn''t a match for her.

    ''And this is a man equal to her at her best.''

    The enemy who''d been chasing him since he was barely a 4th ss being. That enemy had finallye to settle their score.

    No matter how much he wanted to fight, there was only one way to survive this encounter.

    ''I need to run.''

    Damien didn''t hesitate.

    He shed away countless times, teleporting hundreds of millions of miles in a few seconds.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Explosions followed him wherever he went.

    It didn''t matter how erratically he teleported, or how many times he changed directions, Immortal Blood Asura always found him instantly and tormented him with Blood Laws.

    ''What did he do?!''

    Damien hadn''t experienced this before. If there was one thing he prided himself on, it was his ability to escape unharmed from any situation.

    Yet, Immortal Blood Asura was following him as if he could see the future.

    Damien frowned deeply and a portion of his senses inward.

    ''There''s nothing. Thews that invaded were dispersed and absorbed, and the Divine Energy has no markings on it because of that. There''s no way for him to be tracking me, at least, not from the methods I know.''

    He didn''t have time to spare on the "why." He had to divert his attention towards a path to escape.

    ''There''s nothing in the Ancient Battlefield. If he can track me like this, no cave or hideout could save me. And¡­''

    ''...I can''t drag Iris into this either.''

    He didn''t have any bastions of hope. Just like that time with the Saint Emperor, he was on his own.

    Watching Damien desperately try to survive, Immortal Blood Asura grinned.

    "You can no longer escape me."

    He knew of Damien''s abilities better than anyone else.

    Damien wasn''t someone who could be tracked using seals or anything of the sort.

    And since attaching a tracking mechanism to his body didn''t work, Immortal Blood Asura chose a different method.

    A method far simpler than Damien could predict.

    It was back when he directly struck Damien''s back.

    Instead of cing a piece of himself on Damien, he took a piece of Damien for himself.

    "Bloodhound, keep going."

    An arrow of blood light rushed through the air, circling Damien''s current position at all times.

    It was the absolute best of his tracking abilities, and it would never fail.

    Damien ran with all his power, and Immortal Bloof Asura watched with a cruel smile the entire time.

    "Run, run as far as you wish. No matter where you go¡­"

    BOOOM!

    Another bloody light bomb erupted on Damien''s position.

    "...I will always find you."

 Chapter 1270 Old Enemy [3]

    Chapter 1270 Old Enemy [3]

    Immortal Blood Asura''s deration wasn''t a joke.

    No matter how far Damien ran, he was always a step behind, to the point where it was terrifying.

    But in this situation, Damien really had no choice but to flee.

    Nox Emperors were on apletely different level. They weren''t people who could bepared to the masses.

    It was hard to tell with just Iris'' strength, but that was only because she was restricted.

    In Grand Heavens Boundary, using Universal Law, she was basically invincible. She had the potential to return to that post once she got used to Creation, but she wasn''t there yet, so Damien hadn''t seen her peak.

    The Nox Emperors had reached a level of Divinity others couldn''t dream of. It was the peak of what one could aplish in the lower universe unless they spent uncountable eons living like the Saint Emperor.

    When Immortal Blood Asura was put on the same level as them, his power became clear.

    Damien''s abilities that could kill even those like the Strength Lord, who were considered closest to the Emperor level, didn''t hold a candle to their existences.

    He found out himself.

    It wasn''t as if Damien didn''t try to fight back at all. Once he realized the futility of fleeing, he did try to strike Immortal Blood Asura and create a more favorable situation.

    However, the result was clear.

    Rudimentary Existence Law couldn''t harm him, and of course, its individual parts were the same. Damien simply didn''t stand a chance.

    But unlike that time with the Saint Emperor, he was still alive and could handle Divine Energy.

    He wasn''tpletely hopeless.

    ''There are two options on how to proceed.''

    Damien swerved through the atmosphere. He used teleportation whenever he needed to make distance, but he didn''t use it to throw off the opponent that wouldn''t be affected by its surprise element anymore.

    ''Immortal Blood Asura is still in the mood to y, so either I find people to support me and take him down, or I find another method of escape.''

    The former seemed like the best option, but that was only if one forgot his position. It would take arge number of Demigods to drag him down, and the losses they suffered would harm them in the long run.

    Now, with the situation more stalemated than ever before, a loss of momentum and power wasn''t something they could afford.

    ''Then, the second option¡­''

    Before the enemy got serious, Damien needed to find a way out of this situation.

    ''Cave abodes won''t work, and staying on the ground won''t work either. I don''t have time to conceal myself, and if I waste time on that, I might not get the chance to escapeter.''

    He had to save concealment as ast-ditch effort.

    ''That leaves me with two ces.''

    Either the heavens or the earth.

    ''Let''s go up first.''

    BOOM!

    Damien abruptly halted his momentum and used Vector Control to redirect his force.

    His body shot upward with untold speed, a move Immortal Blood Asura didn''t predict.

    However, he wasn''t nonplussed.

    "Hahaha, digging your own grave, I see!"

    He knew what Damien was about to find out.

    BANG!

    Once Damien reached the top of the sky, he crashed into an invisible barrier.

    ''Damn!''

    He used that collision to feel out its power. It was at a level far above anything he''d seen before, definitely not something even Immortal Blood Asura could break.

    ''Of course it''s a simted sky. This fucking ce¡­''

    He cursed as he rapidly changed his target.

    If the heavens didn''t work, he had to burrow into the earth.

    ''I haven''t seen any signs of a subterranean world since I got here, but I''ll definitely be able to buy some time if I go that way.''

    He had an ability others didn''t, after all.

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    The winds wrapped around his body and turned into a burning me as he rushed downward with all his power.

    He used multiple abilities in tandem to increase both his weight and speed. If he were tond anywhere else with this kind of force, he''d have started an extinction event.

    But the Ancient Battlefield wasn''t so fragile.

    Damien knew that well.

    He was never aiming to do it this way from the start.

    A sword appeared in his hand.

    He hadn''t used Mirage in over a decade, but during his stay in No Return Pass, he''d spent several years researching the art of forging so he could improve it.

    Mirage was now a Demigod-rank weapon. Even if it was his current power, the sword could handle it.

    ''Just one burst. I need to use it all at once.''

    Immortal Blood Asura was waiting for him below with a wide grin. It seemed he was preparing to confront Damien head-on and provide some serious mental trauma.

    But Damien had other ns.

    He gathered it all into his sword.

    He was going to use something that shouldn''t have been possible for the current him.

    ''One at a time¡­slowly, now¡­''

    Pure Divine Energy circted through the de.

    Everything he''d collected so far, from the gue Lord, Strength Lord, Bow Lord, Venom Lord, Marite Lord, Immortal Blood Asura, and everyone he fought during his two-year stay on the Ancient Battlefield gathered into his sword.

    He was encased in its light.

    He was a shooting star, aet of unbelievable brightness that shot down like a sun about to collide with the world.

    Even Immortal Blood Asura felt wary seeing that power, but he wasn''t afraid. This was still within the realm of things he could deal with.

    This sh was by no means subtle.

    No, it attracted the attention of all beings on the battlefield.

    From the corners of the world, those like the Ancient Sovereign and Saint Emperor turned their gazes to the familiar mana.

    And from the center, those desperately fighting for their survival like Alucard and Tang Lingzi marveled at a mana they''d never expected to feel here.

    A second trickled by, and the collision of two major powers was only sparks of time away.

    That''s when Damien swung it.

    That sword filled with Divine Energy.

    To use the eighth installment of the series he''d been building since his days in the First Dungeon.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath.

    Immortal Blood Asura''s eyes widened in frenzy.

    "COME, RAT!"

    He pushed his ss forward, wrapped in monstrous amounts of bloody Divine Energy.

    "Old bastard, just die!"

    Damien''s sword connected.

    In that moment, it was like Heaven and Earth copsed into each other.

    Reality twisted, bing something it should have never been. The existingws were pushed out of its bounds and reced with only those Damien allowed.

    The bright sword light covered the entire world. From one end of the Ancient Battlefield to the other, everyone saw it.

    And when it finally burst, the impact was terrifying.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The mad sword energy rushed down like the heavens themselves had fallen.

    A crevice dug hundreds of meters into the Ancient Battlefield''s earth, cutting it cleanly into two parts.

    Tens of Demigods were caught in the st, torn to shreds without rhyme or reason.

    And in the midst of it all were two people.

    The man proimed Grand Heavens Boundary''s strongest, and the man who aptly named this reality-warping sword.

    ''Void Sword Art Eighth Form: Copsing Heavens''

 Chapter 1271 Strange Space [1]

    ?

    1271 Strange Space [1]

    Void Sword Art Eighth Form: Copsing Heavens''

    Unlike Damien''s usual actions in recent times, this one was extremely big. It was loud, powerful, and left no room for doubt. The entire Ancient Battlefield, and even the Heavens themselves, were forced to acknowledge the power of the one who released that sword energy.

    However, at the impact point where he and Immortal Blood Asura stood, it was dead silent.

    Time was moving at an infinitely slow pace.

    The roaring winds around them were muted as they focused on pushing their strength into each other. Cracks formed on Mirage''s beautiful surface as it countered more power than it could actually handle, and instantly upon use, Damien felt his entire right arm shatter.

    He was only capable of expunging Divine Energy. Guiding it through his circuits and using it was apletely different matter.

    He couldn''t handle it, and he knew that, but he took the risk anyway.

    Instead of focusing on healing the arm, he forced his mana to keep it steady and healed only his hand so he could maintain his grip on the sword. That was enough for what he wanted to do.

    The destructive force was massive enough to pressure Immortal Blood Asura, and as he continued to weigh himself down through various forces, that pressure only increased.

    Damien gritted his teeth and endured it. He contained the damage to his arm exclusively as he already chose to sacrifice it.

    He rapidly absorbed the wildly expanding Divine Energy from their collision and repurposed it for his own use.

    ''Copsing Heavens''

    He used it again.

    Once again, reality warped to the extreme and weakened Immortal Blood Asura''s output. The crevice in the Ancient Battlefield was pushed even deeper than it already was, leaving only a single area of untouchednd where Immortal Blood Asura was standing.

    "BRAT, HOW DARE YOU?!" Immortal Blood Asura roared.

    He understood what exactly Damien did. He clearly saw his own mana being used against him, but he couldn''t stop Damien from doing it.

    Once he took damage here, he''d lose an incredible amount of face, and more importantly, Damien would gain the single second he needed to escape his range.

    If Damien found a way to disarm the bloodhound and escaped to a ce Immortal Blood Asura couldn''t reach, when would he get a chance like this again?

    He couldn''t allow that to happen.

    No matter what, he had to contain this insolent brat right here and now!

    ...that''s probably what he''s thinking!

    Damien''s eyes were still focused. His side was being torn apart with the second usage of Copsing Heavens, but he pushed down the pain and continued anyway.

    Time was still moving at a crawl. Whether it be their words or actions, they happened so close together that others probably didn''t realize there were two separate shes instead of one powerful one.

    That was the goal.

    ?

    By the time this single second passed...

    Damien saw the opportunity.

    Immortal Blood Asura withdrew his mana until he was using just enough to repel Damien and startedpressing it within his body.

    He was preparing for arger attack.

    Damien was still in the air above him with Mirage in full swing, so he was in a position that would only present him with disadvantages. But that was fine.

    He was ready to sacrifice more than just an arm to escape. As long as he kept his life, the rest could be dealt with.

    Immortal Blood Asura scowled deeply and red at Damien with a gaze maddened in hatred.

    "DIE!"

    He gripped down in Mirage with his right hand, shattering the de, and pushed forward with his left, aiming for Damien''s neck.

    His mana reached a new quality Damien hadn''t seen before. The deep maroon color signified aplex structure ofws that he''d never encountered.

    It was a card Immortal Blood Asura never expected to use here, a move called Devil''s Hand he''d developed using everything he learned about Blood Laws before he ascended to Divinity.

    The number of people who had the right to see the power of this move could be counted on one hand, and all of them would be terrified when they felt it.

    However, Damien only saw it as an opening.

    ''Now!''

    He twisted his body impossibly in that single instant.

    As the flow of time returned to normal, many things happened at once.

    The shattered pieces of Mirage turned into spatial ruptures and devoured Immortal Blood Asura''s hand.

    This was a special quality Damien personally imbued in the sword. It didn''t matter how great the spatialws of the world were, the translucent material of Mirage would directly be spatial ruptures thattched onto it and forced it to shatter.

    Immortal Blood Asura was naturally shocked by this phenomenon, happening on the Ancient Battlefield where space was famous for its solidity, and lost control of his attack.

    The mana went rampant and recoiled, but he controlled it as fast as possible to get the most out of the attack.

    Damien kicked off the air and twisted his body, pushing past Immortal Blood Asura and directly towards the ground below.

    Immortal Blood Asura''s w ripped through Damien''s shoulder. And, as the Blood Asura Holy Master took hold of a chunk of Damien''s flesh, Damien twisted again and allowed it to rip apart from his body.

    Before Immortal Blood Asura could react, Damien hit the ground. His body turned ethereal.

    And he vanished into its surface.

    WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

    The roaring winds returned. The atmosphere was thrown into spiritual chaos as the forces released in those few instants finally spread through it.

    Standing in the middle of it all, Immortal Blood Asura stared at the flesh in his hand nkly.

    His gaze went to the ground below.

    ?

    "Damien...VOID!"

    He raged.

    The fact that Damien went into the ground made pursuit a hundred times harder.

    After all, the ground waspletely solid.

    Though Damien managed to cleave it, even if Immortal Blood Asura used that crevice to go into its depths and trace him, it would take an extreme level of effort to chase.

    Because Damien used a force 99% of Demigods in this ce would''ve been killed by. Even Immortal Blood Asura was missing a hand and had several internal injuries because of it.

    "DAMMIT!"

    He couldn''t give up now.

    "BLOODHOUND!"

    He called out his most trusted ability. He had more of Damien''s flesh now, so following his position on the surface wouldn''t be hard. However, the bloodhound didn''t move.

    Its meaning was clear. Damien wasn''t escaping in any other direction. He was going straight down!

    Immortal Blood Asura was seething, but there was nothing he could do.

    "Very well..."

    He calmed his emotions.

    Clenching his fist, he absorbed the bloody flesh into his body and used it to create a new hand for his right arm.

    "If you wish to hide like a rat, then I shall wait."

    He sat down on his position and kept the bloodhound active.

    ?

    No matter how much time passed or how much mana he wasted, he would keep it active.

    He snarled like a wild dog. His usually calm expression waspletely gone.

    "The moment youe back to the surface..."

    He made a vow on his mana, an oath even the Heavens were forced to acknowledge.

    "...I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU, DAMIEN VOID!"

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1272 Strange Space [2]

    Chapter 1272 Strange Space [2]

    Damien had be too used to darkness.

    This was another case where everything in his surroundings was dark, but unlike every other time, he wasn''t in an empty expanse.

    This darkness came from the extreme density of material in the surroundings instead of emptiness.

    He was currently plunging into the depths of the earth. He''d turned his body ethereal through a variation of One With Dimension and used that illusive property to make this move, but he could clearly feel the consequences that would strike him the second he materialized.

    It reminded him of that time with Elitra.

    If he misstepped even once, his body would either fuse with the matter around him or explode because it couldn''t exist in the same space.

    ''I have to find shelter.''

    It was widely known that there was nothing under the surface of the Ancient Battlefield. After being used for so long, its basic mechanisms weren''t stranger to those who fought on it.

    However, Damien thought differently.

    It wasn''t strange for a world to have no subterranean environment. Especially a ce like this one without life of its own, it would be stranger if there were pathways under the earth.

    But no matter how densely packed the earth was, there had to be pockets.

    Damien didn''t believe he couldn''t find a single underground cave formation anywhere. He also didn''t believe the Ancient Battlefield waspletely devoid of anything.

    ''They say this ce used to be a piece of the Heavenly World, which means it wasn''t naturally formed by the universe to be a stage for Demigod battles.''

    Therefore, there had to be something.

    Whether it was mineral veins or natural caves, there had to be something.

    After all, the Heavenly World was still a world. For a piece of it to rip off, there had to be a cause.

    If that cause was a regr dispute overnd, something like the Ancient Battlefield wouldn''t exist.

    If it was a warzone, on the other hand, a warzone where people of untold power fought, not only did the story of thisnd''s formation be more usible, there were likely to be countless buried treasures from those who died here before and after its separation.

    ''And those treasures, if they aren''t on the surface, have to be in the ground.''

    Damien wasn''t looking for them out of greed. No, if those treasure deposits existed, they''d be his lifeline.

    ''The problem is, if this ce wasn''tpacted by Universal Law and was originally formed like this, it''s impossible for anyone other than a spatial practitioner to get down here.''

    Either that, or a being with power far greater than a Demigod.

    ''True Gods¡­''

    Damien wanted to entertain the thought more, but he wasn''t in a situation where he could.

    ''Since I don''t feel anything from above, Immortal Blood Asura probably chose not to pursue, but that''s not any better for me.''

    It only meant the man wasn''t actively chasing him. The fact that his position was being recorded didn''t change.

    ''It''s worse because I can''t stop it. Since the abilityes from his own body, unless I can¡­''

    Damien suddenly had a great idea.

    ''Good. As long as I find shelter, I''ll be able to avoid him.''

    The problem was actually doing that.

    Luckily, Damien didn''t use his own mana for Copsing Heavens, so he still had a sufficient amount of time to remain in his ethereal state.

    With that time, he searched.

    He moved down to the deepestyers of the earth and went from there, traveling in every direction in search of even a single pocket.

    Since the Ancient Battlefield had shrunken considerably, the amount of space he had to look through was narrowed down, but without being able to teleport, hundreds of millions of kilometers was still a great distance for him.

    He didn''t have much of a choice but to aimlessly drift from ce to ce.

    The mana stored in the dense earth was enough to revitalize him so he didn''t suddenly materialize, but it wasn''t enough topletely support him.

    His awareness couldn''t spread more than a few kilometers while he was maintaining his ethereal state.

    At some point, he lost track of his original position and where he was in rtion to the surface, but it didn''t really matter. Regardless of where he went, the enemy would always be above him.

    ''This is¡­more difficult than expected.''

    The Ancient Battlefield wasn''t like a regr world. It didn''t have a system like tectonic tes that altered the terrain. It was built to be the exact same at all times, and even when it healed after the war ended, it would only revert to its previous form through the power of Universal Law.

    This was both good and bad. It was good that everything would remain in its ce, since it''d be a shame if the treasures were destroyed by tectonic movement, but it was bad that Damien had nothing to work off of while he looked for what he wanted!

    He started to lose hope after a while. He started to think there was nothing for him but the death waiting on the surface.

    But, while it took an unholy amount of time and happened right as his hope diminished to nothing, he did find it.

    A tiny pocket, barely enough to be called a pocket.

    ''This isn''t what I''m looking for, but it''s hope.''

    It was roughly the size of a rabbit hole in radius, but that didn''t matter. Since it existed, others would exist as well!

    Damien gained a newfound fervor from that point on.

    He stopped caring about time and sustained himself using the surrounding mana, uncaring of the distance he had to cover.

    He went in every direction. He went both up and down without missing a single area of space that could''ve been a possibility.

    Until, eventually¡­

    ''There it is.''

    He was facing it, but it was roughly a kilometer below him.

    There, an empty area existed. There didn''t seem to be anything inside, but Damien didn''t care.

    It was a pocketrge enough for him to inhabit.

    He rushed towards it, bursting into the area like a fish jumping out of water.

    It waspletely secluded, without any ess to oxygen or anything of the sort, but that was fine. Damien was far past the level where such reactions were necessary for him to live.

    ''Hmm, this is¡­bigger than I thought?''

    Unexpectedly, rather than a small space for him to rest, this ce was arge area of its own, more than enough for someone to reside for years on end if they could cope with the istion.

    He leaned against a wall and slid down to a sitting position, taking a few breaths just to feel the sensation of his physical body.

    ''It may not be the end goal, but I''ll rest here for a while.''

    Damien closed his eyes.

    Sleep wasn''t necessary, but right now, it felt like the right thing to do.

    He was mentally exhausted. A few moments of rest were the least he deserved.

    But, before he could fall unconscious, his eyes shot open.

    ''What the hell am I doing?''

    Rest? Recuperation? Now wasn''t the time for that.

    Rather, he wasn''t even tired. He was ethereal for the past who knows how long, so he didn''t feel much fatigue either.

    When it came to his mental state, someone like Immortal Blood Asura wasn''t enough to inhibit him. After facing the Saint Emperor, Damien''s sense of danger had its standards heightened like a woman who''d finally found a good man.

    So¨C

    ''¨Cwhy the hell am I tired?''

    Either he was wrong and his body really did need oxygen to exist, or¡­

    ''...there''s something influencing my state.''

    It couldn''t be the former. If so, Damien would''ve died 83 billion times in the vacuum of space.

    Therefore, only one answer remained.

    A grin lit up his face.

    ''This¡­this might just be what I''ve been looking for¡­?''

 Chapter 1273 Strange Space [3]

    Chapter 1273 Strange Space [3]

    Damien stood up and looked around.

    The cave looked normal and the darkness was regr, not influenced by outside forces. He couldn''t see where something could be influencing him, but since he felt it, he didn''t doubt the sensation.

    ''Maybe that''ll work.''

    He poured mana into his eyes to activate the ability that had been with him since his younger years, one of the only ones he still actively used.

    ''All-Seeing Eyes.''

    As the amethyst color in his irises swirled, the world was presented to him differently, as if he was gazing at reality from an outsider''s perspective.

    ''There seems to be¡­multiple sources?''

    He felt it from all around, from the walls of the cave themselves.

    ''That''s strange. I clearly moved through these parts of the earth while I was searching, so I was certain there was nothing there except rock, but¡­''

    It seemed he was wrong. Whatever it was, it disguised itself as rock and fooled even his senses.

    ''Then, the only way to find out is to break it apart.''

    Damien''s eyes were aze with energy,pletely opposite his previous state.

    To find a clue in the most unexpected ce, he was more than just a little excited.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Thudding booms rang out as Damien attacked the walls.

    They were surprisingly easy to break, especially when Rudimentary Existence Law was in y.

    A strange phenomenon, that was the only description Damien could give it.

    Even Immortal Blood Asura would need an incredible amount of energy to shatter this rock, but he was doing it so easily?

    It was almost as if¡­

    ''Even if that''s the case, I have to confront it anyway.''

    Damien stopped asking questions and tore through the rock like a subterranean being who''d excavated tunnels his entire life.

    He followed the energy he saw through the All-Seeing Eyes, but every time he got closer, it distanced itself like it was alive.

    But that only made Damien more excited.

    A chase with a clear goal was fun. It made him feel like he''d finally be rewarded for his efforts when he found it.

    So he tunneled and tunneled.

    He ended up almost a million kilometers away from the original cave within a day, but the aura he was following also stopped moving.

    BANG!

    Damien threw onest punch, and instead of falling to his feet, the crumbled rock fell into the abyss that existed on the other side.

    ''Here it is.''

    Damien grinned.

    He was finally here.

    He jumped down, falling for almost a kilometer before hended on t ground again, and when he did¡­

    "Ha¡­hahaha¡­"

    Heughed defeatedly.

    He''d definitely passed over this ce when he was searching in his ethereal state, and he''d definitely found nothing, but here it was.

    A room that had substance. A room that had objects inhabiting it.

    There were only three, but the quantity didn''t matter. If they were truly relics from the Heavenly World, they were bound to be good.

    The first was a worn anvil that had clearly been used to forge countless powerful weapons.

    It held the experiences of countless cksmiths, which could be absorbed to boost one''s understanding of the art of forging to the level of a master. All one needed to do was use it to receive its gifts.

    It was an inanimate elder who would teach an aspiring cksmith until they reached perfection.

    Damien observed it for a bit, but since it wasn''t something he could immediately put to use, he threw it in his subspace to check more carefully at ater time.

    The second was a me burning in a mellow fashion atop a pedestal designed specifically for it.

    This was the source of the tiredness he felt earlier. Standing in front of it now, Damien found it almost impossible to keep himself awake.

    No, it was more than that. His very soul was being incapacitated. If he didn''t resist, he''d likely enter an extreme sleep state that he wouldn''t be able to extricate himself.

    No, that was exactly what would happen.

    And that''s exactly what kept him awake.

    Damien knew what this me was, and its identity made him too excited to pass out.

    He circted all his power to keep himself awake just so he could keep looking at it.

    ''6th on the Heavenly me Index: the Eternal Dream me.''

    The Eternal Dream me''s abilities were far more terrifying than Damien''s reaction to their effect suggested.

    It had the ability to put anyone struck by it into an eternal slumber. Their souls would be forced into a dream where they were tormented by mes for eternity as well.

    ''That''s not even the best part. The owner of the me can enter the dream and manipte it as they please. They can even use the me to control the enemy''s soul and enve them.''

    Damien couldn''t stop giggling like a little girl as he put his hand into it.

    ''Void me, you know what to do.''

    The ck and white me that hadn''t left his body in so long leapt at the opportunity. After flicking its tongues in indignation at Damien''s negligence, it rapidly engulfed the Eternal Dream me and began its absorption.

    ''No wonder I haven''t seen many other Heavenly mes in the lower universe. Those near the top of the list must be in the Heavenly World, because the lower universe deemed them too dangerous to house.''

    Damien was excited to add another force to his arsenal, but he found it more important to understand the identity of everything here.

    Since the anvil from before wasn''tplete without a hammer, it was ignored, but Damien already had several ns to use it.

    He had to fix Mirage, after all.

    The Void me was absorbing the Eternal Dream me, so Damien didn''t have to pay it any attention until the process finished either.

    So, he moved onto the third with anticipation.

    Of the treasures, this one interested him the most. It was in and unordinary in every sense, but it seemed to be controlling the Eternal Dream me somehow.

    It was because of this treasure''s influence that Damien was led here in the first ce.

    Otherwise, with the concealment of this area, he would''ve never evene close to finding it.

    Damien observed it thoroughly, but it didn''t look like anything more than amon te, something that would usually be carried around in some more ancient civilizations for identification.

    ''Should I¡­?''

    Weighing the consequences against his curiosity, his curiosity won out.

    He was at least confident that escaping said consequences would be easier than escaping Immortal Blood Asura, as the te didn''t have any traces of Divine Energy on it.

    Since the decision was made, Damien carefully prepared himself to teleport away and turn ethereal.

    Once he was finished, he took several steps back and finally poured his mana into the te.

    Divine Energy burst out in surprising quantities, creating a massive whirlpool that filled the entire space with a wondrous disy of force, before rapidly subduing itself.

    The te transformed into a uniform crystal that looked like the purest and bluest diamond to ever exist. The mana contained within swirled calmly as it acted on a predetermined will.

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    A hologram made of whiteish-blue light materialized before him.

    It was the figure of a man, just a bit taller than him, and though its features weren''tpletely defined, Damien recognized it instantly.

    "Y-you¡­! What the hell are you doing here?!"

    The holographic lifeform gazed at him with a warm smile.

    "Since you have made it here, I trust the time has finallye¡­"

    "...son."

 Chapter 1274 Final Piece [1]

    ?

    1274 Final Piece [1]

    "Since you have made it here, I trust the time has finallye..."

    "...son."

    Damien''s mind exploded again. It seemed to be a regr urrence when this man appeared.

    Pitch-ck hair and blue eyes deeper than any ocean, these features didn''t reflect in the hologram unlike thest time they met, but the resemnce to Damien in his appearance and the undeniable link that connected them made his identity more than obvious, even without his words.

    Dante Void.

    Including his childhood, Damien had only met this man a handful of times, but theplex emotions he held towards him couldn''t be ignored.

    His father, his absentee father, yet a man who was forced to leave, not one who made a choice.

    It was a lie to say Damien didn''t have any grievances towards him. Regardless of how much he grew, theck of a father figure in his life was something he always felt the impact of.

    However, he was also a man with more than enough experience under his belt now. He couldn''t just base his entire perception of the man on their personal rtionship, and he couldn''t disregard his struggles.

    Besides, he already got rid of most of his negative feelings during theirst meeting. The only thing separating them from rekindling their rtionship was distance.

    ...and an opportunity for Damien to beat Dante''s ass just once.

    Nevertheless, Damien''s shock was clear. The chaos of emotions he thought was long gone returned the second this man appeared before him, but he did his best to calm it down as fast as possible. Those emotions didn''t control him anymore.

    He thought he was ready to speak, but it turned out he wasn''t.

    He didn''t have the capability to call this man "father" yet, but he was past the point of using more disrespectful forms of address, so he was in quite the troublesome position.

    "You are likely very confused by my existence, however, it is a shame that I cannot see the look on your face."

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    "Wait, this is..."

    "As you must have guessed, this is a mere projection. I have left several methods to contact you in the lower universe over the years, but only a select few have been imbued with my consciousness. This is not one of them."

    "Phew..."

    Damien sighed in relief. Luckily, he''d be able to avoid the awkward interactions he was expec-

    "...though, depending on the situation, my consciousness might descend at any time."

    "Keuk...!"

    Damien nearly tripped on the air.

    ''My poor relief...''

    "The state of this projection may have changed, but hopefully it is still near the treasures I have left for you. It was difficult to find a way to infiltrate the nar Battlefield, but I can mostly trust that itsws would keep my possessions safe."

    ?

    ''nar Battlefield...?''

    It must''ve been the name of the ce the Ancient Battlefield separated from.

    "Nevertheless, as you have reached the isted fragment of that ce, you must have already reached a level nearing ascension. If so, there is something that must be done."

    As Dante''s projection continued talking, it became clear that unlike the one in the Celestial Realm that was created for the sole purpose of making contact with him, this one had a more definite reason.

    And that reason became clear soon enough.

    "There is a seal ced on your body."

    Dante''s projection raised its arm and pointed forward, somehow pinpointing the direct center of Damien''s chest.

    "There is a seed in your soul, something I never expected to see in a child born in the lower universe. But, it is clear that the blood of me and your mother flows through your veins."

    Damien frowned as he continued listening.

    "Space is not your affinity. It is an affinity you inherited from me, but it is not thew closest to you, thew that chose you as its inheritor."

    Space...was not his affinity?

    This was shocking information beyond any other.

    Damien already figured that his spatial talent was inherited from his father, but what did it mean to say it wasn''t his affinity?

    Space was the thing he was closest to in this world. Despite how many powers and abilities he''d inherited and learned, he never stopped utilizing space and always prioritized it above all else.

    For Dante to say it wasn''t his affinity...well, it pissed Damien off severely.

    ?

    Unfortunately, since this was only a projection, there was nothing he could do but listen to its justification.

    "When you were born, I and your mother predicted that you would take both of our affinities. We were quite excited to see what a child of Space and Creation could be, as thebination of both affinities could lead to a talent never seen before."

    "But we were wrong. Your birth was something neither of us predicted, and the circumstances behind it became so convoluted that they affected your embryo. Your previous affinities were disrupted, and the child that exited the womb was a creature the universe had never seen."

    It sounded like an insult, but it really wasn''t.

    Dante was telling him what he already knew. He was a monster of untold proportions.

    However, it didn''t seem like Dante was talking about the Void.

    The Void would not have chosen Damien because of his circumstances. It was indifferent to such things.

    Its decision to house itself inside Damien''s body and give him its acknowledgement must''ve been far moreplex than just that.

    Then...

    ...thest affinity!

    Thest affinity in his status window, which had remained an array of question marks for a very long time, and the second tost mystery along with his strange redacted title.

    That was the affinity Dante was referring to.

    "By no means was your power something we feared. Rather, regardless of its deviation from our expectations, it meant great things for you, so we had no ns to interfere."

    "However...reality begged to differ. When you came out of the womb, not only did the Heavens attempt to strike you down, your body itself began to copse, unable to handle its power in its infancy."

    "The hospital could not exin your condition, and with your mother missing her memories, she was also worried to the point of physical sickness. To save you and your mother, I had no other choice."

    "The Heavens..."

    In the lower universe, the concept was known as Universal Law, but for even Dante to use the dated term, it must''ve been a far more esoteric power in the Heavenly World.

    Damien heard about the natural disasters that raged through the world on his birthday. He never considered it rted to himself, but he did joke about it several times when he was growing up.

    He never expected it to be a targeted attack.

    ''With Earth being disconnected from the wider universe at that time, Universal Law didn''t have much power. And if Dante used his power tobat the weakened Universal Law, it makes sense that natural disasters were the end of it!''

    If the true Universal Law wanted to strike someone down, it wouldn''t end so easily.

    No, if that happened and Dante wasn''t there, Earth might''ve been destroyed that day.

    Damien continued to internalize Dante''s words. He spoke more about the circumstances of his birth, the circumstances of his parents'' fall, and all the circumstances that had remained hidden from him until now.

    Until finally, he reached the critical topic.

    "...and so, I sealed that power in your soul using the essence of Divinity that I had only recently begun to remember. This was also the event that led to my eventual discovery, and the reason I had to leave you behind."

    The projection''s eyes suddenly became serious.

    "You have reached the grand stage. You are no longer the powerless child of the past, therefore, that seal has lost its use. You must have felt it already, haven''t you? The power that has leaked with the seal''s declining strength..."

    "Damien, my son...that power is yours, and I shall not hinder your path any longer."

    "That power is the Law of Destruction, and you are the sole inheritor of its will."

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1275 Final Piece [2]

    Chapter 1275 Final Piece [2]

    Destruction.

    That was the final piece of the puzzle. It was the onlyw Damien had left toprehend before his path to ascension was cleared.

    It was the answer he''d been searching the past two years to find, yet¡­

    Here was his father, Dante Void, telling him it had been inside him all along.

    Damien¡­

    He didn''t know how to feel.

    Pieces of the puzzle started to click together, but there was also an empty feeling in his chest that he couldn''t exin.

    It started back in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. When his rage reached a point he couldn''t contain, a reddish-ck energy appeared and decimated everything around him.

    After that, the same reddish-ck energy appeared several times to aid him, but he''d barely been aware of its presence.

    No, it was like it hid its presence from him on purpose.

    Those memories of its existence were only returning now that he understood its identity.

    It boosted his otherws and acted as if it had its own consciousness, but was that just its way of trying to make itself known from within the seal?

    Damien didn''t know.

    Nor did he know how to feel.

    Because he epted it too easily.

    He didn''t even have to think about it. If hepared Space to Destruction, while he loved the former, thetter was more deeply connected to his identity.

    Wasn''t that always his character?

    From the First Dungeon to Apeiron, from the Cloud ne to Nifelheim, all the way through the Divine Realm and the rest of Grand Heavens Boundary, from the day Damien gained power he''d left a trail of destruction in his wake everywhere he went.

    That was who he was. He was never ashamed of it, rather, he epted it wholeheartedly and actually enjoyed this part of his character.

    And, there was something more subtle.

    Space was his father''s path.

    He never consciously had the thought, but here he was, realizing it at an age that''d make him a senior citizen at Earth''s standards.

    He was still living in his father''s shadow.

    Despite not knowing the man well at all, ever since he first realized that his spatial talent was inherited, he''d been trying his best to escape the shadow of his mysterious father.

    He''d been trying to take space in a direction nobody had ever traveled before. He was paving a path that exclusively belonged to him, because that was the only way he could im this talent his own.

    And what was that path?

    Naturally, it was Destruction.

    It was funny when he thought about it. The amount of subtle influence the concept had on his life was so extreme he felt stupid for not realizing it earlier.

    But it made him incredibly happy.

    An affinity of his own. Not one that he was granted, but one that belonged to him and him alone.

    Wasn''t it great?

    Even putting aside his emotions, the fact that the final piece of his puzzle ofws was already in his grasp was amazing news.

    He could feel it.

    The second it was unsealed, he would change.

    And that change would propel him to heights he could only dream about in the past.

    He stopped reminiscing about the past and started looking towards the future.

    Like always, he let go of the "how" and "why." He let go of the concerns that would only hold him back from utilizing his full potential.

    And his timing was immacte.

    "...this projection is not the only one in the battlefield fragment. I made sure to leave countless thousands of simr artifacts so I would not miss the opportunity to grant you this freedom."

    "As you have encountered one, there is only one thing left to do before I can undo your seal. Collect the remaining tes, and once their power isbined, a portion of my true self can descend. Only with that power will I be able to free you."

    "I will not say goodbye, as this is not ourst meeting. I will not say good luck, as luck is beneath a man of your caliber. So, until we meet again, my son¡­I pray you live well, and I pray for your victory in any endeavor you pursue."

    The projection smiled softly.

    Before Damien''splicated gaze, it turned into particles and returned to the diamond, whose form transformed back into a dull te.

    The leftover mana created a small crystal in its center, which drew a line of mana into the surrounding rock.

    ''This is another path.''

    Damien was clear on what to do next. Dante didn''t leave him unequipped for the following task.

    To follow this thread and find the next te, and then continue that pattern until he''d filled the entire te with crystals and reached its final form¡­

    Damien smiled wryly.

    His ability to take in information had be enough for him to not have his brain explode from the knowledge he gained, but he did have another worry.

    ''I hope all these tes are in the underground. If I have to go back to the surface¡­''

    He shivered just thinking about it, but his heart was beating so fast it was dangerous.

    This was his opportunity.

    Not just for his future progress, but to take down the enemy waiting for him on the surface, this was his chance.

    ''Even if I have to risk it all in the process, I''ll do so without hesitation.''

    Because this time, he wasn''t just going to be receiving something.

    No, unlike the rest of his journey, which had been carefully guided by the hands of his seniors, this time, he was reiming something that had been his own since the beginning.

    And that feeling was wondrous.

    ***

    Damien immediately went to work.

    He traveled through the underground vigorously, carving a system of tunnels that connected from one hidden cave to another, excavating as much area as possible as he followed the path of the tes.

    His excitement couldn''t be underestimated at all. Within just a few months, he''d collected everything he could find in the subterranean area.

    And in the process of collecting tes, he also found himself in possession of a variety of treasures.

    Among them, the notable ones were another Heavenly me, the 8th rank Light Devouring me, and several other Elemental Seeds that boosted the power of his Elemental Law to apletely new level.

    The rest included the hammer that went with the anvil he found at the start, several heavenly materials and resources, and a collection of techniques and misceneous artifacts that would be of great help to his subordinates in the Sanctuary.

    Nevertheless, all of those were mere byproducts.

    Damien looked down at the te in his hand.

    The majority of its surface was covered in glimmering diamonds that shone in the darkness, but there were still vacancies.

    ''Five more¡­''

    Five more tes.

    If the Ancient Battlefield had shrunk just a little less, he''d have been able to find them in the underground, but at its current size¡­

    ''I guess it''s unavoidable.''

    The mana thread guiding him to the next te was pointed straight up. He had no choice but to go to the surface.

    ''But it''s only five more.''

    Now began a race against time.

    Would he find all the tes first, or would Immortal Blood Asura find and kill him before he got the chance?

    Frankly, with his life on a tightrope again and the stakes so high¡­

    His eyes were swirling and a wild grin lit up his face.

    ¡­he was extremely excited for what was toe.

 Chapter 1276 Final Piece [3]

    Chapter 1276 Final Piece [3]

    Damien stood in ethereal form several kilometers below the surface looking up.

    ''He''s probably there, right?''

    Before he left the subterranean world, he got as close to the target location as possible so he wouldn''t need to run needlessly.

    However, he still had to make ample preparations before meeting Immortal Blood Asura again.

    Since he wasn''t in a great rush, he spent several months in the nearest hidden cave practicing with the hammer and anvil and gaining experience as a cksmith.

    It was a great experience for him.

    He had to create the forge using his own mes and Creation, including every piece of machinery necessary to fix Mirage, which was his main goal.

    He also needed to understand the strange translucent material Mirage was made from, which he could only title Space Crystal without knowledge of its true name, and recreate that from scratch.

    After all, Mirage''s shards were either used to damage Immortal Blood Asura or lost in the chaos.

    The process took a considerable amount of time, but by the end, not only did Damien have a new and improved Mirage, he also had a great understanding of how to properly use Creation Laws for his benefit.

    ''Alright. Everything is set. The only thing left is to charge out.''

    He''d surveyed as much as possible without getting too close to the surface recently, and luckily enough, he seemed to be under a mountain, so he didn''t have to worry about an immediate attack.

    ''Then, without further ado¡­''

    Damien shot upward.

    He cruised past ground level for the first time in what felt like years, and rapidly continued upward.

    He didn''t feel any sort of freeing sensation since the rock of the mountain didn''t differ from the underground much besides its lower density, but he didn''t care about any of that.

    He followed the blue mana thread that was guiding him until he was halfway up the mountain.

    His awareness was able to spread now, and the first thing he saw was¨C

    ''¨Cfuck, I was wrong.''

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The mountain exploded into bits.

    "DAMIEN VOID, YOU HAVE FINALLY EMERGED!"

    Immortal Blood Asura''s manic roars entered Damien''s ears again.

    But he was no longer panicked.

    As he was reintroduced to the air of the world above ground, Damien smiled, swerving through the mana storm with rtive ease.

    "If someone asked me what I missed the least, it''d probably be your annoying ass voice," he said, well aware that Immortal Blood Asura could hear him.

    He tuned out the regr roaring of that man and rapidly surveyed the area, his eyesnding on a slight twinkle amidst the rain of debris.

    ''There it is.''

    Actually, Immortal Blood Asura''s attack was quite fortunate. Instead of having to break through the mountain himself, he had a free miner taking care of it for him!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The surrounding explosions were loud and filled with power, but Damien had grown subtly in his time away. With a cool head, he carefully dodged the attacks and made his way to the te falling through the sky.

    ''You''re mine.''

    He snatched it without a problem, and as it turned into a sh of blue light thatbined with the main te studded with diamonds, Damien made his great escape.

    "Hey, Impotent Bitch Asura, I''ll be leaving, so catch me if you can!"

    With a taunt and a grin, he disappeared.

    The te was already pointing to a new location roughly a million miles away.

    "DAMIEN VOID!"

    Immortal Blood Asura was consumed by madness.

    1 year, 4 months, and 16 days. That''s how long he waited for Damien toe out of the subterranean world.

    Yet, the second he did, instead of granting him the pleasure of dying, Damien continued being the pest he was.

    Immortal Blood Asura was naturally furious. Any of Damien''s safe returns in the past could be chalked up to luck, but this time was different.

    Damien escaped him multiple times since they met on the Ancient Battlefield with skill that Immortal Blood Asura refused to acknowledge.

    He wanted to crush the brat that was growing at a pace that scared him, though he refused to admit that part as well, but it was proving far too difficult.

    Never was there an enemy who couldst this long against him!

    His constant sess left him prey to his negative emotions far more than others, so when Damien reappeared.

    Either he''d die, or Immortal Blood Asura would be a demon. There was no in-between.

    Damien also came to understand Immortal Blood Asura''s chaotic state after their chase ensued.

    He was throwing attacks with much more fervor than before, and he didn''t seem to care if they hit or not as long as they carved his presence into Damien''s mind.

    Moreover, he wasn''t conserving mana in the slightest. If Damien hesitated in the slightest, he''d be struck by something other Demigods could only ever use as a final killing move.

    ''He''s strong. Stronger than ever.''

    Damien was acting light-heartedly, but he was focused to the extreme. Immortal Blood Asura wasn''t someone who could be underestimated.

    ''To think power like this is present in the lower universe. Then, the Heavenly World¡­''

    He never stopped to think about how strong his enemies were, but it became hard to ignore at times like this.

    He was really fighting people of this level.

    He was fighting people he could tear down entire worlds with a snap of their fingers!

    But Damien didn''t let it scare him.

    ''Hahaha, I''m getting more excited thinking about it.''

    He rushed and teleported, moving as fast as he possibly could, until he arrived at another mountain that didn''t look much different from its peers.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The sky and earth were filled with dust and debris from the attacks that struck everywhere but Damien''s body.

    He rushed into the mountain, this time into a cave on its side, and glided across the ground watching the blue mana thread.

    Unlike thest te, this one wasn''t hidden at all. It was sitting peacefully in the middle of the cave as if someone had dropped it on their way out.

    ''Well, who am I toin?''

    Damien grinned as he bent over and picked it up mid-movement. In the same movement, he phased through the the cave wall and came out the other side of the mountain.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Exactly on time, the mountain peak exploded behind him, giving him quite the backdrop.

    Within the falling debris, Immortal Blood Asura''s figure was hidden. However, those blood-red eyes glowing like a predator in a frenzied state were still as clear as ever, striking fear into the hearts of any who witnessed them.

    But how could Damien be included among them?

    He didn''t even look back to see it!

    His grin widened.

    ''Two down, three to go!''

    It was going smoothly so far.

    All he had to do was trust himself.

    Because the end was almost nigh.

    ''The next target is¡­oh, I didn''t expect to be going there so soon.''

    ''I won''t be able to do much but run with my current circumstances, but who knows? I might run into those guys again after so long.''

    How would they react when they saw him?

    ''Haha, it''s going to be fun.''

 Chapter 1277 Final Piece [4]

    Chapter 1277 Final Piece [4]

    The next target was in the center of the Ancient Battlefield, that ce that looked like cloudy lily pads drifting in a river of stars.

    After following the thread long enough to fill the te to its current point, Damien was roughly able to understand where it was taking him without directly seeing it.

    At least, now that he was on the surface.

    He rushed towards it while avoiding everything Immortal Blood Asura threw at him, letting their endless chase continue.

    There really was no point.

    Immortal Blood Asura could definitely kill Damien if he didn''t have a chance to escape, but in the same way, Damien would always be faster than Immortal Blood Asura when he had the ability to run.

    Since Immortal Blood Asura was alone, there was no way for him to end this stalemate unless he found a way to either slow Damien down or strike him, but clearly, neither was possible!

    ''No, I shouldn''t get conceited again. Immortal Blood Asura was always working closely with the Karmic Emperor. I have to be wary of him sending help, or evening personally.''

    Damien''s eyes became serious as he found himself nearing the central area.

    ''The thread is¡­''

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Blood light filled the air, but instead of dodging as he usually did, Damien withdrew his mana and dropped down.

    The rushing winds brushed across his face as he mmed down onto the ground and ran.

    Every step had the power to leave a dent in the Ancient Battlefield''s dense earth, but they were light as a feather, barely making a sound as he moved, let alone an impact.

    He rushed and rushed and rushed.

    Originally, he thought being on the ground would make it harder for him to escape, but as Immortal Blood Asura''s mana carpeted his position, he found that being immersed in the clouds of blood and smoke concealed him far better, and Immortal Blood Asura''s aim weakened.

    ''That tracking ability must not be omnipotent. Unfortunately, even if his sense of my position is vague, these conditions can''t be replicated easily, or in a way that he wouldn''t immediately notice.''

    Damien shrugged it off. Hiding away wasn''t in his ns anyway.

    He reached the edge of the starry river within a few minutes, and without hesitation, he jumped.

    The central area of the Ancient Battlefield was, in reality, a void.

    That starry river was a view of the universe itself from the Ancient Battlefield, and if one fell into it, the only fate waiting for them was death from crushing pressure.

    Damien wasn''t an idiot. He learned about this fact from Iris a long while ago, but what could he do?

    This was where the mana thread led him.

    "YOU¡­!"

    He heard Immortal Blood Asura''s bellow from the depths, but the pursuit and attacks stopped when he jumped.

    ''He''s too scared to follow.''

    This was good for him.

    Damien used his mana to levitate and looked around.

    Everything around him was dark. He was in a void, after all. Above him by just a few feet were the cloudy lily pads, which were actually floating tforms made of marble.

    ''The te is¡­''

    He looked towards a certain lily pad and rolled his eyes.

    ''How annoying.''

    Unfortunately, it wasn''t giving him anything more than a break. The te wastched onto the bottom of the marble tform, waiting for him to pluck it.

    And pluck it he did.

    With three tes under his belt, he rushed back into the Ancient Battlefield and, as expected, Immortal Blood Asura once again chased him endlessly.

    It seemed like they''d made multiple loops around the Ancient Battlefield. Danger was all around him, but Damien didn''t feel endangered.

    He never dropped his wariness, of course, but that didn''t change the situation.

    He wasn''t escaping, but he was certain he''d be able to aplish his goal before Immortal Blood Asura caught him.

    The next te was a bit more treacherous than thest.

    Rather than being in a position in the terrain itself, it was on an individual.

    It was a Nox Lord Damien didn''t know, and the mana thread directly pointed at his spatial ring.

    ''Well, it''s not surprising. If I saw a random te sitting in a cave, I''d probably pick it up too.''

    Damien grinned.

    ''Not like this is a problem, though.''

    Didn''t he have a pursuit helicopter wildly shooting missiles behind him?

    It was actually easier to steal the te from the Nox Lord than it was to take it from the mountain!

    The second Damien converged on his position, Immortal Blood Asura''s rain of blood light did so as well. The Nox Lord was caught unawares and tried his best to defend, but who would''ve thought his ally was the one shooting?

    His enemy was already behind him, an arm through his chest burning his body and soul with Rudimentary Existence Law.

    Damien grabbed the spatial ring off the melting corpse and rushed away. He didn''t have to worry aboutpletely killing the Nox Lord since Immortal Blood Asura took care of the job for him.

    And it came time for the final one.

    This was also in someone''s possession, but unexpectedly, the individual was familiar.

    ''Damn!''

    Damien flew over them, bringing the enemy''s attacks overhead and giving them a warning about what was toe.

    At the same time, he connected to their mind and sent a message.

    "Tang Lingzi, can you hear me?!"

    Tang Lingzi was in a group of four and had just finished one of many battles in this war.

    She and her team were on alert already because of the flyby beforehand, but the voice in her head almost made her think she was hallucinating.

    "D-Damien?" She questioned strangely.

    "Yeah, there''s no time right now! You saw what flew by earlier, right, that was me!"

    "You¡­what are you doing?!"

    "As I said, no time to exin. When I give you the signal, take the te you picked up earlier out of your spatial ring and throw it into the sky!"

    "H-huh? What do you¨C wait, how did you even know I had¨C"

    "No time, remember?! Just throw it when I say to!"

    Tang Lingzi gave a sound of affirmation amidst her confusion.

    Considering both his tone and the image of what she''d just seen overhead, she rtively understood the situation.

    She didn''t know what the te was, but if it could help their universe''s biggest hope escape his trying circumstances, she wouldn''t hesitate to follow!

    Damien sighed in relief as he swerved through the air.

    Tang Lingzi was a reliable character, more than most. They also had a deep connection since she was Zara''s master.

    Damien trusted her to do what she needed to, and so, as he led Immortal Blood Asura on a wild goose chase, he expertly randomized his teleportation so the man wouldn''t realize them circling back on their previous path.

    Damien saw Tang Lingzi in the distance, and she saw him as well.

    However, Damien''s eyes widened.

    Not even a thousand kilometers behind her was an approachinget.

    No, it was a man in the form of aet.

    ''The Karmic Emperor¡­''

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    He had to be fast!

    "Tang Lingzi, now!"

    It all happened in a single second.

    Tang Lingzi blindly threw the te straight up with all her power.

    Damien and Immortal Blood Asura arrived at her position.

    The Karmic Emperor did too.

    Damien stopped, his hand swiping through the air to grab the te.

    From behind him, Immortal Blood Asura saw the opportunity to strike a fatal blow and dug his bloody w forward, filled with all the Divine Energy he had left.

    And from the front, the Karmic Emperor let loose countless dozens of thousands of threads made of his Divine Energy filled with Karmic Laws, his intent to both bind Damien and control him if possible.

    The winds roared.

    The entire sky was blotted out by the attacks of these two divine beings.

    They approached Damien, leaving him no chance to escape.

    And¡­

    Damien grabbed the te.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The final te transformed into a pristine diamond and attached itself to the main te.

    That was what Damien had been aiming for this entire time.

    But, it was also toote for him to dodge.

    As he stood there in the midst of chaos, both attacks reached their target¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    ¡­and all hell broke loose.

 Chapter 1278 Final Piece [5]

    Chapter 1278 Final Piece [5]

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Two terrifying blows that could rip anyone in the vicinity to shreds exploded on the position of a single man.

    However, at the same time, something else happened.

    Within the roaring eruptions of power was another sound, almost like the rushing of winds caused by them, butpletely different in source.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The te in Damien''s hand shone with light as its form waspleted.

    Thepletely crystalline exterior it now possessed sucked Damien''s mana out of his body to sustain itself, and using that mana as a catalyst, it let loose a wave of energy.

    A barrier formed around Damien''s body. When the attacks first struck, it barely covered him from head to toe, but at some point within those fractions of the second, it expanded past them.

    Glimmers of blue light appeared in the storm of red and gold. By the time the Divine Energy dispersed, the barrier was already over ten meters wide,pletely isting Damien from the outside world.

    "DAMMIT!" Immortal Blood Asura roared.

    "DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!"

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    He rushed over to the edge of the barrier and mmed his fists into its surface. He barraged it with as much Divine Energy as he could muster to no avail.

    The barrier was too solid.

    It was not something a mere Demigod could prate.

    As Immortal Blood Asura sank into the depths of insanity on one side, the Karmic Emperor carefully observed the barrier from the other.

    "Hmm¡­"

    He hummed as he gently traced his hand over it and felt its mana.

    ''As expected, this is not the work of a lower being. This man, Damien Void¡­''

    The Karmic Emperor didn''t have much contact with the man. What he knew was heard through rumors and stories about Damien''s escapades, as well as the projections of his battles with the Saint King.

    Through these, and especially when Damien appeared on the Ancient Battlefield, the Karmic Emperor clearly understood Damien''s worth.

    But seeing this phenomenon, he realized he''d underestimated the man.

    ''A connection with the Heavenly World.''

    This was what set Damien apart from any and everyone in the lower universe, and the source of the current conundrum.

    ''Haa, there is no need to think. The grudge has already been formed and exacerbated. We will be enemies until the end.''

    The Karmic Emperor was a pragmatic man. If possible, he would''ve preferred to befriend Damien and gain ess to that connection.

    However, their rtionship didn''t leave room for such thoughts.

    ''If so, he must be eliminated.''

    While they were still in the Ancient Battlefield where outside forces couldn''t interfere, Damien had to be killed.

    Otherwise, it would be extremely dangerous.

    No matter who won, the Karmic Emperor had a means of survival. Damien was the only outlier that could threaten those means.

    ''The opportunity may not be far away.''

    The fluctuations of that barrier were strong. When Damien and Immortal Blood Asura''s shy chase through the battlefield was also taken into ount, it was obvious that there were many eyes watching from the distance.

    They all had the same thought.

    No matter what was happening, it was worth their presence.

    And if there happened to be an opportunity¡­

    The Karmic Emperor grinned to himself.

    ''...they will pounce without hesitation.''

    He had a chance to use them.

    As he looked towards Immortal Blood Asura, who was in an extremely sorry state already, his grin widened.

    The puppet he''d been preparing for so many years was also ready to be tamed.

    ''Good. I am excited to see what you will do when you leave your protection, Damien Void. Until then, I shall make good use of the gifts you gave me.''

    The Karmic Emperor started to move with a purpose, and he wasn''t the only one.

    Several hundreds of forces were gathering in the vicinity.

    The stalemate on the Ancient Battlefield was already at a point where it was on the verge of copsing, and this had the potential of being the event that shattered it wholly.

    No, since the Karmic Emperor already set his sights on it¡­

    ¡­he''d make sure it would.

    ***

    Within the barrier there was silence.

    Damien waspletely isted from the outside world by the opaque blue mana that formed it, and he was alone within the space.

    At least, for the first few moments.

    Once the barrier was formed, the te used all its remaining energy to form another diamond, which then expanded into a projection.

    But this process was different from the first one.

    Unlike thest hologram that didn''t have defined features, this one had all of them.

    His ck hair, his deep blue eyes, his skin and muscture, all of it was clear to see.

    This was a true image of Dante Void.

    And as it finished formation, a sparkle of intelligence appeared in its eyes.

    "Ah¡­ahh¡­"

    He touched his throat and extended his voice, making sure it worked, before ncing around the area.

    "You''ve gotten yourself into quite the situation, haven''t you?" He said with a smile, finally allowing his gaze tond on Damien.

    Damien shook his head wryly.

    "What can I say? Great geniuses like me just can''t seem to get a break."

    "Hahahaha!"

    Danteughed happily.

    "Indeed, the path of a genius is an arduous one. But, you have been walking it well. To think you''d make it to this point in less than a hundred years¡­"

    He shook his head in disbelief.

    "I truly wasn''t prepared for it."

    He''d set up countless legacies in the lower universe for Damien''s growth, and each of them was linked to him.

    He would be able to feel if they were entered and he could feel Damien''s presence as long as he was nearby.

    Yet, besides the Sea God''s Realm and Celestial Realm on Death Emperor Star and a few other areas, he didn''t see much of Damien.

    He didn''t expect it at all.

    His son was a genius, that was a given considering his bloodline, but he never expected Damien to grow so much without his help.

    No, for him to be on the Ancient Battlefield like this, for the Ancient Battlefield to even be of use this early¡­

    "...I really want to hear your story."

    He wanted to know what Damien had gone through.

    Damien shrugged.

    "It''s nothing much. I fought a lot, survived a lot, stole a lot,prehended a lot, and died just a little bit. It''s the same for everyone, right?"

    He spoke jokingly, but he worded it as such purposefully. Whether it was due to their disconnect or his desire to keep others uninvolved with the more tragic aspects of his life, he didn''t want his father to know the amount of pain he''d endured.

    Unending istion, battles that ripped his body to shreds and rebuilt it, war against enemies he was never on the same level as in the first ce, and suffering beyond suffering.

    No matter how talented he was or how much he''d achieved through the help of others or his own efforts, he''d suffered just as much.

    It was thew of equivalent exchange.

    "But my experience is beside the point. We can have some proper father-son bonding time once I get up there where you are," Damien said, pounding his fists together.

    "Isn''t there something more important to do right now?"

    Dante nodded wryly.

    "I suppose so. Since you are here, it will not be long before our meeting, and even from a brief nce, I understand the kind of trouble you''ve gathered."

    Dante reached his hand out towards Damien, but in his current form, he could neither touch his son nor move to try.

    "It will get far more difficult from here. Once I unseal your power of Destruction, its trail will follow you everywhere. Are you prepared?"

    Damien grinned confidently.

    "Destruction has been following me for a long time already. Instead, I should be asking if you''re prepared."

    Dante raised his brow.

    "Prepared for¡­?"

    "Haha, what do you think? When I get up there, I''m going to beat your ass."

    Dante''s eyes widened.

    "..."

    He really¡­had no words.

 Chapter 1279 Final Piece [6]

    ?

    1279 Final Piece [6]

    Dante suddenly realized how prone to destruction his son had be, and through that realization, he also began to understand how hard Damien''s life must''ve been.

    People with his tendencies would never live easily. They would always challenge themselves to the extreme for the sake of results, even if they had to suffer immensely to see progress.

    And, while they caused immense destruction with their own power, they would face destruction of the same level.

    This was the duality of such aw.

    It was theplete opposite of the gentle and patient Creation. It was wild, unruly, and unwilling to wait for anyone impeding its path.

    ''But it must''ve been such a mentality that propelled him to reach this ce!

    It couldn''t be mentioned enough times.

    Dante''s shock was iprehensible to normal people.

    Unlike those of the lower universe who could only regard Damien as a monster, Dante lived in the Heavenly World where monsters were everywhere.

    Yet, to reach the absolute peak of a lower existence, no, to surpass that peak and fight Divinities as a lower existence...

    This was something even the monsters in the Heavenly World couldn''t aplish.

    Especially when they were under a hundred years old!

    But for now, he had to set his shock aside.

    As Damien said, the matter of unsealing Destruction came first.

    ?

    "Once I lift the seal, thew will attempt to consume you. Everyprehension you should have made in your life will rush in at once, and you must make sure to keep your mind stable through it all. If you copse from the force, it will all end here."

    Damien nodded with a dignified expression.

    "If it''s mentality, I have no worries. Let''s proceed without dy."

    Dante sighed.

    ''I was trying to stall a bit, but it seems to be impossible!

    Yes, Damien said they could talk when they met face to face, but...

    Dante''s current circumstances didn''t quite allow such an interaction easily.

    He wanted to spend this time with his son, building a connection before their eventual meeting.

    But it was fine.

    The state of their rtionship could only be his fault, and the pain he felt from the distance between them could only be felt by him.

    This was his punishment.

    Whether or not Damien thought he deserved it, this was something he bore because he couldn''t stand his guilt.

    ''My son might be more mature than me...'' he thought wryly.

    To him, Damien was still just a baby.

    He said he acknowledged him, and he meant it wholly, but he was a parent.

    How could he ever consciously make his child suffer?

    Knowing what was toe made him hesitate immensely, but if he stunted Damien''s growth here, then what?

    His actions would only harm Damien in the long run.

    ?

    "The chick eventually has to leave the nest. Haa...''

    He centered his mind and looked into Damien''s eyes.

    "I will start now!"

    He fortified his will, and in that time, Damien did too.

    They proceeded immediately.

    Divine Energy of a quality Damien had never felt before entered his body. It was gentle in nature, so the Void Physique and Ananta Matrix didn''t react as it pierced his body and entered its soul.

    Damien tried to trace its trajectory, but after it entered his soul space, it entered a ce he''d never seen before and disappeared.

    That ce was, of course, the small cove in which hisws resided. There, a reddish-ck seed existed.

    It was now joined by a chromatic seed that alternated between many colors and had a soothing aura, but in its seed state, it could not mingle with it.

    Though, the reddish-ck lightning arcing along its surface was clearly trying to make the connection it couldn''t resist.

    Dante''s mana entered its territory, and as if it had sentience, it reacted violently.

    It remembered the mana that left it in this state.

    And it rebelled.

    "Khhh...!"

    Damien let out a strained breath as his soul felt the impact of its tantrum.

    However, before Dante could give him words of encouragement, he bit his lip and internalized the pain.

    "Keep going."

    ?

    Dante nodded powerlessly.

    Once again, his son''s growth forced him to acknowledge it.

    Dante''s mana was at a level a mere seed of Destruction couldn''t touch. Despite its thrashing, the mana epassed it and invaded its surface.

    It formed patterns of blue on the seed, creating an interconnected geometric pattern that covered it whole.

    At that moment, the seed understood as well.

    This was its time.

    It was not being suppressed, but released!

    It stopped resisting and let Dante''s mana control it.

    Slowly but surely, cracks appeared on the shell.

    Until, finally...

    CRACK!

    It cracked in two halves.

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    A terrifying reddish-ck wind rushed out and consumed the shell, finally making its presence known in the world.

    Damien''s body jerked.

    His mind was instantly filled with knowledge as Dante warned.

    Everyprehension of Destruction he would''ve made, starting from the day he learned to shatter space appeared as one, an amalgamated ball of energy that tried to usurp control of his mind.

    His body trembled as arcs of reddish-ck energy streaked around it.

    His internal systems were destroyed instantly.

    But it was only part of the process.

    ?

    Transcendent Regeneration fought back fiercely and kept him alive. His vigorous life force held on to its veryst breath, not giving the Destruction a chance to extinguish it.

    Damien''s body was now far greater than ever.

    Perhaps if this happened before he died, he wouldn''t sumbed to it, but not anymore.

    He stayed stable in mind and body. He took control over his soul, mobilizing Creation to quell Destruction''s wildness.

    The two forces finally mingled as they were supposed to.

    Damien internalized everyprehension in his mind as easily as breathing.

    As he''d thought before, he was closer to Destruction than anything else.

    He didn''t even have to think about its concepts. He didn''t have to think about why it worked the way it did. And he didn''t have to practice and gain experience with it.

    Why would he?

    He''d been following the principles of Destruction his entire life.

    These concepts were engraved in his very being. This process was just a matter of him understanding their names.

    And as hisprehension of Destruction grew, the concept grew closer and closer to Creation.

    Damien didn''t have to prompt it at all.

    Destruction was an element inherently connected to freedom. It refused to be controlled. Therefore, this process was supposed to be a trial where Damien had to tame and subdue it himself.

    Yet, contrary to Dante''s and even Damien''s expectations, thew did not try to harm him.

    ?

    It acknowledged him, epted him, and loved his mentality to an extent nobody could have predicted.

    Damien was born to be its heir, and funnily enough, he''d already be one with the person born to inherit Creation.

    Left to their own devices and ethereally tethered by design, they formed a tether between themselves and merged while Damien took his timeprehending their essence.

    The final piece was in ce.

    All that was left was to tether thebination of their forces, a force that was too great to be named, to the rest.

    Damien subconsciously moved to do what he had to.

    A thread of Void Mana formed from the center of Samsara, and a thread of Void Mana formed from the center of Elemental.

    Together as one, they shot past the bounds of their territories in the same directions stabbing into Creation and Destruction as one. The circuit was finally closed, and...

    ...the conditions had been met.

    Damien had finally reached that point.

    He was finally going to stand equal to those on the Ancient Battlefield!

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1280 Cosmic Rebirth [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1280 Cosmic Rebirth [1]</h4>

    Mana swirled around Damien''s body.

    It wasn''t his own, but the Ancient Battlefield''s ambient mana creating whirlwinds around him as it was stirred by his presence.

    Logically speaking, this was the moment he''d been waiting for.

    The closing of the circuit in his soul gave him ess to Partial Existence Law, which would be true Existence Law once he brought the four forces into one.

    This was the condition for him to ascend, however, his circumstances were a bit special.

    By all means, if he was in the lower universe, his Cosmic Rebirth would have already begun.

    However, this was an unprecedented situation where someone was ascending to Divinity in the Ancient Battlefield.

    This ce was mostly absent of the lower universe''s Universal Law, leaving it with barely enough power to sustain a Universe Baptism, let alone a Cosmic Rebirth.

    Damien gritted his teeth as he realized it.

    ''I can''t let it end here.''

    The future was uncertain, and the power of Partial Existence Law wasn''t enough to defeat someone like the Soul Emperor, let alone the Saint Emperor.

    ''I need Divinity.''

    That was the stage he needed. Aprehensive increase in his league, apletely new ying field.

    ''I have no choice. I''ll support it on my own.''

    His own mana roared as it was freed from his body. Using his ownprehension of Universal Law, he tried to form the environment necessary for Cosmic Rebirth to seed.

    Unfortunately, it wasn''t nearly enough.

    "Son¡­"

    Dante''s voice rang out, bringing Damien''s attention back to reality.

    He watched as Dante''s existence faded away. He had a sad smile on his face as he left, almost mncholic.

    "I cannot help you with what is toe, but I can at least support you for a period."

    "You¡­what¡­?!"

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    As he''d grown far more sensitive to reality after closing his circuit, he sensed exactly what Dante was doing.

    The piece of his soul that descended in order to unseal Destruction, he was sacrificing that fragment to summon something.

    "It will notst long, but it will start the process. I shall leave the rest¡­to you and the connections you''ve formed in this life."

    VOOOOOOOOM!

    As Dante''s soul fragment copsed, the heavens thundered.

    A massive storm appeared, but instead of dark, ominous clouds, those above were a saintly white, pristine as if they were carved from the purest jade.

    The lightning coursing through them was equally majestic, a mixture of silver and gold that Damien had never seen before.

    He felt the pressure of that entity. It was far beyond anything he knew, the mostplete representation of "Law" he''d ever witnessed.

    And it bore down on him with all its strength, as if it were a pair of cold eyes judging his worthiness.

    "This is the Heavenly Order, or, in your terms, the Universal Law of the Heavenly World. It shall aid you inpleting Cosmic Rebirth."

    Dante reached his hand out one more time, trying to touch the face of his son to no avail.

    His state was already known, and the second the Heavenly Order appeared, Damien''s consciousness began to fade into a different realm as well, making him unable to move his body.

    "I wish you well. I look forward to our next meeting, and, I promise. While I understand your feelings, you will not be able to touch a hair on my head."

    Damien did his utmost and finally managed to crack a single eye open, straining himself further to grin.

    "Thank¡­you¡­d¨C I''ll see you¡­soon."

    He couldn''t say that word yet, but Dante wasn''t offended.

    Just the fact that it was sitting at the tip of his tongue was enough.

    Dante smiled onest time, wiping the sorrow off his face.

    "Son, I am proud of you. Always remember that."

    As his body turned into particles that drifted into the Heavenly Order, tears attempted to form in Damien''s eyes.

    But he shut them down.

    ''A father, huh¡­''

    He hadn''t experienced the feeling much, but it wasn''t bad.

    It wasn''t bad at all.

    And if he wanted to properly regain the key rtionship that had been missing from his life¡­

    ''...I have to break past this boundary.''

    His mind was ready, as was his body, and as was his soul.

    The time to elevate his existence hade.

    But¡­unknown to Damien, the Heavenly Order could only sustain itself for so long.

    Perhaps it could initiate his Cosmic Rebirth, but whether or not it could support it in full was still a question.

    Naturally, there was a solution to this problem, but to understand it, one had to look at the outside world.

    Whether it was Universe Baptism or Cosmic Rebirth, the processes were simr, and the appearances were somewhat mirrored as well.

    Just like during Damien''s Baptism, a massive wall ofw formed around him. This wasn''t a protection mechanism, but a natural instance formed by the sheer weight of the Heavenly Order''s influence.

    With the fading of Dante''s barrier and the sacrifice of his soul fragment, thew pressure exerted itself on the world, and immediately, it was noticed by almost every Demigod on the Ancient Battlefield.

    All of them had been through Cosmic Rebirth before, but none of them were able to judge this phenomenon as the same thing.

    After all, this was their first encounter with the Heavenly Order.

    Therefore, a variety of conclusions were formed. Some thought it truly was a Cosmic Rebirth, while others believed some sort of heavenly treasure was forming.

    Regardless of their reason, Divinities began to congregate on Damien''s position.

    Just like his Universe Baptism, Damien was undergoing Cosmic Rebirth in the middle of a war zone.

    But unlike that time, it wasn''t so cluttered.

    At that time, armies charged from all sides. The total number of enemies and allies was in the tens or even hundreds of millions, creating a scene that blotted out the earth.

    However, there weren''t nearly as many Demigods in the Ancient Battlefield, and of them, not many were willing to risk themselves going somewhere that would obviously be a frenzied ughterfest.

    Therefore, roughly 4,000 were involved in the battle that was soon to start.

    On the Nox side, it was mainly the Karmic Emperor''s forces, traitors like Immortal Blood Asura, and some from the Soul Emperor and Inhuman Emperor''s factions.

    Meanwhile, the Grand Heavens Boundary side was less scattered.

    After all, Tang Lingzi was there to see everything that happened.

    She called Alucard and their forces, who''d grown heavily in number since the beginning of the war, and exined the reality of the situation to them.

    The 1500 of them present were here to protect their future, the hope that would bring them to victory.

    This was half of the total forces Grand Heavens Boundary possessed.

    They would have brought more. Surprisingly, the most stubborn of Demigods were also willing toy their lives down to protect Damien.

    Because even those who were selfish understood the value of forming a positive rtionship with him and promoting his growth.

    What would it look like when someone who could kill Demigods as a lower existence ascended to their level?

    It was obvious that being on his bad side was an absolute sin.

    Nevertheless, just likest time, Damien became the central point of the war.

    And as the two sides faced each other, one protecting the barrier ofw and the other intent on prating it, the winds stilled.

    Even the Ancient Battlefield itself had to quiet down.

    Because theing collision was of a scale that had not been seen since the start of the war.

 Chapter 1281 Cosmic Rebirth [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1281 Cosmic Rebirth [2]</h4>

    It was quiet, or rather, it would have been if not for the roaring Heavenly Order above.

    Everyone was waiting for the first person to move, and nobody wanted to be the person who set off the domino that would escte into a full-scale war in seconds.

    Tang Lingzi and Alucard stood at the forefront of the Grand Heavens Boundary side along with the strongest of their forces, people just a single level below Immortal Blood Asura and the Nox Emperors, watching and waiting.

    ''This is troublesome¡­'' Tang Lingzi thought.

    The problem here was that the other side had Immortal Blood Asura and the Karmic Emperor, both of whom were stronger than anyone they had.

    ''Our numbers are also less than theirs, so we do not have the freedom to ally against a single enemy.''

    There were no tactics in Demigod warfare of this scale.

    Demigods were independent creatures, and though they''d work together to plot and scheme and would when it was necessary, in the midst of chaos, they had the same w as the Nox.

    Rather than get in each other''s ways by interfering in each other''s battles, they''d rather choose opponents for themselves and leave the rest to others.

    At the current moment, most of the Demigods on both sides were doing exactly that.

    It was mostly those on the allied side.

    After all, most of them were going to have to take at least two opponents by themselves.

    Tang Lingzi frowned, and Alucard did the same from beside her.

    They had the same thought.

    Regardless, they had to fight.

    So it was better to take the initiative.

    Tang Lingzi acted first.

    She shot forward with extreme speed as her fingers extended into ws. Before anyone noticed, she''d grabbed a Nox Lord by the throat and clenched her fist, bursting his neck.

    It started from there.

    Everyone here was a Divinity. They reacted within the second. Following Tang Lingzi''s lead, Alucard raised his arm.

    "CHARGE!"

    Hemanded the forces behind him and mmed into the closest Nox Lord, killing him instantly as well.

    The two instant deaths from the enemy side energized the allied forces, and with no thoughts of death in their minds, they charged at the Nox.

    A battle of untold proportions broke out.

    Perhaps they weren''t as numerous as those on the unnamed world, but the force they emitted as they fought far exceeded them.

    If this battle was taken to the lower universe, it would have destroyed several worlds in that single instant, creating widespread destruction with massive consequences.

    Alucard, Tang Lingzi, and the rest of the strong Demigods moved past the first line of Nox after their initial move and each targeted groups of stronger enemies.

    They only struck those at the front for the sake of appearance. Their real targets were those they''d have to expend great amounts of effort to fight.

    Those behind them took care of the masses

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Explosions and impacts ran rampant. Destruction was everywhere, and the eruptions of manabined into a storm that flowed into the sky and made space itself tremble.

    B-B-BOOOOOOOOM!

    At that moment, the Heavenly Order reacted.

    While its effects were mostly contained within the barrier ofw, making it so the surrounding Divinities couldn''t understand its true terror, it sent a bolt of lightning outside of those bounds for the first time.

    The lightning had no specific target. It didn''t differentiate between friend and foe.

    No, it wasn''t even trying to kill anyone, but as it crashed down on the ground below, it sent out a shockwave that tore through both sides, allies and opposition.

    Everyone watched it in horror, but looking away from battle for even a single second was equivalent to suicide. Instead of paying attention to its aftereffects, they continued to fight with a new sense of wariness for the entity.

    Beyond their perception, the mana storm formed by their collisions was absorbed by the Heavenly Order, increasing its size subtly.

    This didn''t extend its lifespan, only its power.

    Basically, it only increased Damien''s suffering!

    But it also presented an opportunity for him.

    The seconds crawled by extremely slowly.

    Within every instance of time, thousands of strikes were traded between each individualbatant, which amounted to a massive amount of energy and damage being expended and dealt.

    And the death toll stacked up so rapidly that it was impossible to imagine that these were Divinities dying.

    Both sides lost hundreds, and while it looked like the war woulde to an end extremely soon, that was just a mirage.

    Those battles taking ce further away from the barrier ofw, where Tang Lingzi and the rest were fighting, would not end so easily.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    As the one who taught Zara how to fight, Tang Lingzi''s style was simr to hers.

    She dodged and weaved her enemies, and attacked their weaknesses when she got a chance. She was extremely frontal, not letting them escape her grasp, and used her body itself as a weapon.

    She had four Nox Lords in front of her.

    Their number made it difficult, but she was confident in winning.

    ''Those two haven''t moved yet.''

    She had a portion of her awareness separated, watching Immortal Blood Asura and the Karmic Emperor in case they decided to act.

    But so far, neither had left their positions in the sky.

    Immortal Blood Asura wasn''t aplex man. He tried to make himself seemplex, but his thoughts were extremely easy to read.

    He was too focused on Damien to even care about the war anymore, so obviously he didn''t interfere.

    As for the Karmic Emperor¡­

    ''...almost.''

    He was busy as well.

    Unseen threads tangled Immortal Blood Asura in a spider web he couldn''t sense. His thoughts and actions, which he always believed his own free will, were almost under the control of the man he vowed to never fall prey to.

    The Karmic Emperor''s main goal was to control this card which would be the start of many ns he''d made long ago.

    With the rest of his energy, he was also attracting more and more Nox to the area.

    The forces he''d been hiding for this very moment when Immortal Blood Asura became his, it was time to bring them out.

    But no matter how explosive the war was, it didn''t hold a candle to what was going on within the barrier ofw.

    Damien was undergoing a dual tribtion of mind and body.

    Funnily enough, his soul was untouched even though it should have been the main character of his Cosmic Rebirth. He''d already reached a level of Divinity with it when he merged with the Void.

    Now, his body needed to be brought to the same level, and he as an individual had to define the Divinity he was going to base his entire existence around from this point forth.

    It was an extremely involved process.

    However¡­

    ''It''s not enough.''

    Damien could never getpletely into the rhythm of rebirth.

    The energy of the Heavenly Order was barraging his body with greater intensity every second, but the energy usage made it expend its energy far faster than it normally would have.

    ''The solution¡­''

    ''...he said it woulde from the outside.''

    Damien could only hope support came fast.

    And the support he didn''t know the identity of¡­

    Well, it was already on its way.

    Just as much as he wanted them to arrive as soon as possible, they were moving at their fastest speed to reach his position.

    The time for them toe together was approaching.

    Once it finally came¡­

    Damien would truly begin Cosmic Rebirth.

    Divinity was just a single step away.

 Chapter 1282 Cosmic Rebirth [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1282 Cosmic Rebirth [3]</h4>

    With the outside world''s chaos clear, one could take time to focus on what was happening within the barrier ofw.

    The process started simrly to Universe Baptism.

    Damien''s mind and body were disconnected and forced into trials of their own, but unlike others, his soul remained untouched.

    Therefore, despite being disconnected from it, he didn''t lose touch with reality.

    It was strange, but it allowed Damien to keep track of the Heavenly Order''s changes, which was the only reason he even needed to focus on the outside world in the first ce.

    Lightning struck his body continuously.

    This lightning came from the Heavenly Order and was far beyond anything he''d experienced in the past.

    It was pure, sure, but that was only one aspect of it.

    Thews contained within the lightning were astonishing. It was definitely simr to Universal Law, but far moreplex andplete, leaving no room for inconsistencies such as those Damien took advantage of when he was in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Nevertheless, the process itself was something he''d long been used to.

    His body was broken down and reconstructed over and over again, and as it underwent this change, its league was taken to a new level.

    This was only the first step.

    Because Cosmic Rebirth was somethingpletely different for Damien whenpared to others.

    When his soul transformed, he realized the true potential of the Void Physique.

    He''d unlocked a portion of its capabilities through death, and that was what allowed him to fight and survive on the Ancient Battlefield, but the entire weight of its existence was prohibited to him by hiscking physical state.

    Once the baptism of lightning raised his league to the appropriate level, the Void would take over and do its job as well.

    However, for that to happen, the Heavenly Order needed to remain as it was.

    Damien tried his best to take his attention off of it.

    He couldn''t do anything about it.

    He didn''t have the power nor the means to interfere in the Heavenly Order in his current state, so worrying about it would only hinder his progress.

    Instead, he had to trust what Dante said.

    Someone or something would arrive to support him, and when that entity came, his problem would be solved.

    Instead of waiting for them, Damien had more important things to do.

    He needed to ovee the mental trial.

    Once again, he was thrown into a world of his own imagination.

    The experiences he had during his life shed through his mind, along with several questions.

    How did he make it here?

    Did he aplish what he wanted to aplish?

    What did he want to aplish in the first ce?

    Were his goals worth the effort?

    What set him apart from the rest?

    Why did he deserve ascension?

    Why did he deserve talent?

    They barraged him from every side, trying their best to force him into a state of uncertainty.

    However, the current Damien couldn''t be fazed by these questions.

    He was a genius because he was one. The things he desired were worthy of their status because he said so.

    Damien''s beliefs had changed massively.

    He''d be arrogant, so to say.

    But this wasn''t arrogance without backing. His arrogance came from the absolute confidence he had developed through countless experiences.

    He hade to ept many things.

    When he was younger, he was a man gued by countless troubles, both external and internal.

    He doubted himself. He doubted his strength, he doubted his mind, he doubted his worth, and he refused to acknowledge himself.

    In the first ce, that was his greatest problem.

    He failed to see reality because he was forcing himself to view it through a lens that didn''t have the capability of seeing him for who he truly was.

    But not anymore.

    Damien understood that there were many unfair things in this world. Some people would be forced into utmost suffering that ruined the innocence and purity they held, while others would be corrupted by the bliss of life and never experience a day of suffering until they died.

    This was just reality.

    It was just fate.

    When Damien was young, he lived in a world where changing fate was nigh impossible.

    No matter how much he worked or tried, without talent, without connections, without status, it was impossible to get what he wanted.

    Or so he thought.

    But even before the World Awakening, Earth was never that kind of ce.

    Effort would eventually be rewarded. As long as one kept pursuing their desires and endured all the suffering that came along with such ambition, they would reach it eventually.

    But who was willing to wait?

    In a life thatsted less than one hundred years, who was willing to ve away for half or even more of it for the sake of that slim hope for sess?

    He was not one of those people.

    He said he tried his best, but he never did.

    He relied on others to clean up after him, he med others for messes he made¡­he acted like Ran did when he met herst.

    Perhaps that was the reason for his sudden burst of anger.

    She reminded him too much of his past self.

    The version of him that waited for a lucky chance to grace him without actually striving for it at all.

    He didn''t deserve it.

    Yet, it was still granted to him.

    Because of his talent and connections, he was granted talent in the new world where fate became nothing more than a concept to be conquered and stepped on.

    Wasn''t he just a hypocrite?

    Thoughts like those umted, and when they were piled on top of his existing insecurity and trauma, they truly blinded him from reality.

    The moment he freed himself of those restraints, the world regained its color.

    Instead of wondering about why others were given chances he wished for, or why others were suffering while he was able to climb higher, he focused on himself and improved.

    His envy would only be a stepping stone for those who worked harder than him, and his pity would only attract ire from those who had less.

    He didn''t have the right to those emotions.

    Whether he wanted to take the chances he wanted with his own hands or help those who were less fortunate than him, whether he wanted to be a devil or a saint, he first needed to reach a point where he was qualified to y those roles.

    Power.

    He used to see it as his goal, but it was no longer such.

    Power was a means to an end.

    Chasing the peak mindlessly only gave way to flimsy determination. When one reached the peak, they would lose all sanity after realizing there was nothing left for them.

    So there was no need to question himself.

    Once he gained those qualifications, the desires he held would be reality. The uncertainty would be fact.

    Needlessly asking questions to feel altruistic or to feel like he was growing when he was, in reality, doing nothing at all was pointless.

    Damien Void was not that kind of person.

    He was self-assured. He believed in his values almost to the point of lunacy.

    And with that kind of belief, questioning himself became irrelevant.

    The trials of mind were meant to grant people this level of surety.

    They were meant to reaffirm one''s beliefs so that when they ascended to Divinity, they would never encounter a situation where their Divinity broke down from their uncertainty.

    And it was a test. To see whether or not their values were strong enough to match their league.

    Damien passed these trials before they even started.

    The only reason he even had to undergo them was so that the universe could understand this fact.

    He would not bend.

    He would not fold.

    For he was eternal.

    This was the creed he lived by.

    And even if the Heavens themselves tried to bring him down, he would never change his mind.

 Chapter 1283 Cosmic Rebirth [4]

    Chapter 1283 Cosmic Rebirth [4]

    Clearing the trial of mind meant nothing to Damien. His mental state wasn''t elevated and his league didn''t change at all.

    But that was a precursor to the true trial.

    He had to do one more thing in his mind before he could truly move on.

    He had to decide.

    Damien followed many paths that all diverged into one, but that single path far outstripped the scope of reality.

    So then, what was it?

    ''What is my Divinity?''

    It was necessary to define Divinity here.

    From the perspective of a lower existence, it was a new level, it was Godhood.

    But that wasn''t true at all.

    True Godhood was a step that could not be achieved easily, nor seen in the lower universe.

    Establishing Divinity was the halfway point. It was the first step into a new world that would be just as treacherous as the path taken to reach it.

    Divinity could best be described as a reflection of oneself.

    It was a sky-cleaving tower made of everything an individual represented.

    Their values, the way they treated those around them and those further away.

    Their morals, their definition of right and wrong, good and evil.

    Their image, the way they presented themselves to the world and wished to be perceived.

    Their mindset, the things that drove them and their determination to reach those things.

    These were only some of the elements that would create a Divinity.

    Anything and everything one infused into their Divinity would make it a level more secure, but the caveat was that these things would be cemented in stone.

    It was impossible to take back the things one carved into their Divinity. It was impossible to change beyond their limits.

    Someone like Immortal Blood Asura would always be cruel and merciless. There would never be a day when he turned over a new leaf and could be seen in a new light.

    If he wished to make that transition from the bottom of his heart, the Divinity he spent so much time building would shatter, and he would be forced to piece it back together with new values strong enough to rece the missing pieces.

    The so-called "tower" used to represent Divinity had a base made ofw. Thisw would be one''s everything after ascension, and all other paths would be closed off.

    Therefore, choosing thew was important, but most didn''t struggle as they only focused on one from the start.

    ''The person I am and the person I wish to be¡­''

    That was what Divinity represented.

    It was the acknowledgement of those beliefs by reality itself, and once it was created, reality itself would watch over the practitioner to see if they would truly live up to the expectations they ced on themself.

    There was no way to half-ass the formation of a Divinity.

    It also absolutely couldn''t be rushed.

    Damien had a more difficult time than most when he tried to choose what his Divinity would be.

    The most basic instinct in his body told him there was no need to choose. He could just put everything into it and make it an adaptive mechanism that would reform to what he needed in the future.

    This was the strategy he used when creating most long-term systems like the Ananta Matrix.

    However, this was not an option for the current him.

    He had to choose.

    If he couldn''t make the choice, he would not ascend.

    ''What do I want¡­?''

    Damien had always been chasing the Void, but that wasn''t an option here. How could reality acknowledge a Divinity based on something above it?

    He had the option of choosing Existence itself as the base, but he was greedy.

    He didn''t want to leave out the space for the Nonexistence that he would eventuallyprehend.

    ''My title¡­''

    The titles given to people like Immortal Blood Asura or Tian Yang, the Void Old Immortal, were only partially determined by the public.

    The concepts they ced in their Divinity were represented in their titles more than anything else.

    When Immortal Blood Asura created his, he infused the concepts of "Immortal" and "Blood," signifying his desire to be eternal through the power of blood.

    Tian Yang only chose the word "Void," not symbolizing the Void itself, but the void of space, the most powerful manifestation of thew.

    Damien also needed to choose.

    Existence, Nonexistence, Void, Reality¡­

    He''d used so many terms throughout his life grander than anything a newly ascended Demigod should''ve been wishing for, but it wasn''t enough for him.

    He wanted to give himself a starting point worthy of the end he would eventually reach.

    To find that¨C

    "Khhh¡­!"

    Damien''s mind was snapped out of its trance.

    ''The Heavenly Order¡­!''

    Its energy was sputtering out.

    There were only a few seconds left before it dispersedpletely.

    ''Dammit!''

    Damien withdrew himself from his mind and forced the Universal Law in his body to react.

    ''My body''s state is¡­this is not optimal at all.''

    His body was halfway through its lightning baptism. Its current state was so strangely disproportionate that trying to use it at all would be suicide.

    However, Damien had no choice.

    If he didn''t, his entire Cosmic Rebirth would be stunted!

    ''COME¡­ON!''

    He forced his mana to move.

    The fluctuations of Universal Law filled the space, flying up towards the dispersing white thunderclouds and filling them with energy.

    ''It''s not enough!''

    At most, Damien''s power could maintain them in their current weakened state. To make them functional again waspletely impossible.

    ''DAMN!''

    He didn''t have a choice.

    He mobilized his Void Mana until it mmed into the surrounding barrier ofw.

    ''Devour!''

    He consumed it in tiny bits, just small enough that those outside wouldn''t notice.

    But those tiny bits held such highlypressed Heavenly Law power that they were more than enough to aid him.

    Those devoured fragments werebined with his Universal Law to add energy to the Heavenly Order. The Heavenly Order then reused those fragments to fill the spaces in the barrier ofw, creating an infinite cycle.

    However, this cycle was being maintained with the Heavenly Order''s energy and was only supported by Damien, so he didn''t have to expend as much energy to keep it active.

    ''This is impossible.''

    He knew it well before, but confronting it directly made the truth far more obvious.

    There was no way for him to win this battle.

    ''Whoever you are¡­''

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    ''...pleasee soon!''

    Every millisecond felt like years.

    Damien''s body broke down in several ces. Blood pooled in his mouth as it was forced up his esophagus from the destruction of his stomach.

    His mana circuits were strained to the limit, and though the Ananta Matrix had improved significantly in recent days, it was almost destroyed with only three seconds of sustaining the Heavenly Order.

    Damien was on hisst breath.

    If he was in his usual state, he might''ve been able to do more, but he was essentially crippled in this strange middle point of his ascension.

    Help needed to arrive as soon as possible.

    For the first time in several decades, Damien hoped for someone to save him.

    And that someone¡­

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    ¡­was already here.

    The Heavenly Order suddenly swelled violently.

    The clouds didn''t just return to their previous state, they doubled in size and power equally.

    The gears in the sky started to turn again.

    Lightning once again rained down on Damien, practically destroying his body down to a single drop of blood and throwing his consciousness back into the mental space.

    He only felt it for a single instant, but he was certain.

    ''This is¡­it''s finally working properly!''

    The Heavenly Order was no longer a gas-powered engine, but a sr-powered machine that would constantly refuel itself and operate until it was no longer needed!

    Damien''s eyes would have widened into saucers if he could still ess his body.

    ''Haha, sr-powered, huh¡­?''

    It was quite a funny analogy.

    There was indeed a sun shining on this Heavenly Order, a sun not quite shaped like a sun.

    And this sun¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Two figures appeared in the outside world, spreading their aura across the battlefield and instantly freezing all beings in the vicinity with their pressure.

    One shining bright as a sun, and the other like her pr opposite, a dark moon, they made abination that could only be described as terror-inducing.

    "Protect me?"

    "No problem."

    They exchanged words like nobody else mattered, and ignoring anything else, one of them flew up into the sky.

    She spread her arms out and summoned it forth.

    A storm of Universal Law that barraged the Heavenly Order with energy.

    After almost 4 years away, she was back.

    Eyrrisea Luminus had finally returned to the stage!

 Chapter 1284 Cosmic Rebirth [5]

    Chapter 1284 Cosmic Rebirth [5]

    Roughly two hours prior¡­

    In a secluded area of the Ancient Battlefield, only three presences remained.

    No matter how much the battlefield shrunk from the deaths of Divinities, this spot seemed to always be included in the circle despite being on its edge, an extremely strange phenomenon.

    This was the ce Iris had been resting for the past three years to recover from her soul injury.

    The Ancient Sovereign and Orion Luminus were the only visitors she''d had, but she spent most of her time alone.

    Though, it wasn''t a lonely stay.

    Iris had a newfound passion for progress, and a reason why she had to leave as soon as possible. She put her everything into recovery and improvement, and if onepared the person she was now to the person she was when Damien left¡­

    Making such aparison waspletely useless. They could barely be regarded as the same person.

    "Huu¡­"

    Iris sent her senses through her body and soul.

    ''I''m almost there.''

    Her soul injury healed majorly with every day, and her recovery period ended after 2 years, but she didn''t immediately leave her seclusion.

    She''d received a great gift from Damien, and she couldn''t leave it to rot.

    She''d spent the past year and a half or sopletely focused onprehending Creation and limating to her new soul, reaching a level she never could have imagined in the past.

    No, she had to wonder if this level of growth was even allowed for Demigods who refused ascension.

    ''Half a year. In another half a year, I''ll be unparalleled.''

    That was also the end of the time the Ancient Sovereign promised to protect her.

    She was nning to return toprehension and stop wasting time the second she finished gaining a cumtive understanding of her current state, however¡­

    The usually quiet area was anything but right now.

    ''If the Ancient Sovereign acted, there''d be no sound. That means¡­Ancestor?''

    Iris stood up and made her way out of the cave to see what was happening.

    And to her surprise and expectation at the same time, a fierce battle was taking ce.

    Orion was fighting an unidentified woman from the Nox Race. The strangest part was¨C

    ''¨CAncestor is being¡­pushed back?!''

    Iris could barely hold her astonishment.

    The number of people who could do so in the entire Ancient Battlefield could be counted on one hand, but this woman was not one of them.

    As she watched, the two went back and forth exchanging attacks. With just a bit of observation, it became clear that this was more of a spar than a real life-or-death match.

    The woman never aimed for Orion''s fatal points, and in return, he also avoided injuring her too deeply.

    They were fighting for entertainment, nothing more.

    The fight continued for a decent while. Iris watched and used it as a learning opportunity, increasing her knowledge of fighting through them.

    However, it eventually came to an end.

    "You are a good opponent," Orion said with a smile, extending his hand.

    The woman looked down at it indifferently before shaking it.

    "Mm, I never expected to fight a Primal Sovereign in this life. It was a pleasure for me as well."

    "It''s a shame we have to end it here, but I guess you came on business?"

    "Right. Your friend over there would not have left me alone if I came to cause conflict."

    The woman nced at the Ancient Sovereign before penning her gaze down to Iris'' location.

    Iris raised a brow curiously as the woman made her way there.

    ''She''s here for me?''

    She was naturally confused.

    She had no idea who this woman was, nor did she have any connection to the Nox.

    However, when they stood face to face, she felt a strange sense of familiarity from the Nox woman.

    "Is there something you want from me?" Iris asked, somewhat cautiously.

    The woman nodded without hesitation.

    "Right, there''s somewhere we need to go."

    "Pardon?"

    "Ah, introductions and the likes. It seems my social skills have be rusty in those tens of thousands of years."

    The woman, her ck hair blowing in the wind and her eyes shining like rubies, smirked slightly as she spoke again.

    "I was once known as the Death Emperor of the Nox Race, but those days are behind us. You may call me Tiamat, and¡­"

    "Well, you could say I''m indebted to your husband, and I''vee here to ask you to help me save him."

    Iris'' eyes narrowed.

    "There is no need to say more. Let us leave immediately."

    Two women who''d been absent from the main stage for varying degrees of time had finallye together.

    And considering the current situation¡­

    ¡­they could be considered the universe''s hope.

    ***

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The duo mmed down onto the ground and made an extremely shy entrance, but they had no ns of milking attention.

    They rapidly surveyed the battlefield with a sort of synergy nobody would expect from two people who met just a few hours prior.

    "Protect me?" Iris asked.

    "No problem," Tiamat replied smoothly.

    Iris instantly saw what Tiamat meant when she said Damien needed her help.

    The current situation was hard to exin, but to put it simply¡­

    ''That looks like Cosmic Rebirth, but it doesn''t have the fluctuations of one at all.''

    Essentially, it was wed.

    And who better was there than her to fill its ws?

    Iris ignored all the surrounding Demigods and flew into the sky, standing just outside the barrier ofw.

    She acted without wasting time.

    Universal Law was incredibly restricted in the Ancient Battlefield, but it was different now.

    Not only was the Heavenly Order giving it a great presence that empowered her, but Iris had alsoprehended how to recreate a variation of Universal Law through Creation.

    There was nothing holding her back anymore.

    "YOU¡­!"

    Immortal Blood Asura said what might as well have been his catchphrase at this point and rushed at her.

    Whatever she was doing was helping Damien, and he was not someone who would allow that.

    However¡­

    BOOOOOOOM!

    A massive storm of ckness obstructed his path and forced him to retreat.

    Tiamat appeared before him with a cold expression.

    "You will not interrupt."

    She kicked downward, mming her heel into Immortal Blood Asura''s stomach. As he crashed down to the ground, her icy gaze turned to thest man in the sky.

    "Are you a new one?"

    The Karmic Emperor didn''t respond.

    No, he could not.

    Despite not being very organized, the Nox did have a history of their own that the most advanced of them were aware of.

    This face, this demeanor, this aura¡­

    The Karmic Emperor knew who that was.

    A woman who only appeared in legends.

    A woman whose mere title could terrify any and every Nox in existence.

    "D¡­Death Emperor¡­"

    Tiamat raised her brow.

    "It seems my name has not been forgotten in all this time. Or, were you there before it happened?"

    She didn''t care.

    The Death Emperor was a title given to her for a single reason.

    She was the personification of the concept.

    Anyone who looked into her eyes would die. Anyone who crossed her path would die. Anyone who even scraped the bounds of her perception would die.

    There was no escaping death when she was involved.

    ''...and for that, they allowed their fear to take control and sacrificed me.''

    She was sealed not killed. This was partially because of her power, and partially because the one who sealed her understood her predicament.

    But now she was free.

    Now she had no more restrictions.

    And now¡­

    Killing intent filled the air with so much pressure that it solidified. Reality warped into a domain of absolute death purely due to its influence,

    Her eyes gleamed with bloodthirst.

    "...the time hase for revenge."

 Chapter 1285 Cosmic Rebirth [6]

    <h4>Chapter 1285 Cosmic Rebirth [6]</h4>

    Long ago, in a nameless area of the Abyss, a Nox Being was born.

    That being had no family, nor was she born from the Demon Abyss. The entirety of her existence was a mystery.

    Therefore, she did note under the control of a Nox Emperor during her early life.

    She did not know that there were others like her. She was not aware of other existences in any way.

    She was alone and so far separated that the only thing she shared with the Nox was heritage.

    And, unlike the rest of her race, she was born with spirituality.

    She had no sense of curiosity or desire. She remained in the ce where she was born, quietly drifting with the Abyss as she pondered her existence.

    And the Abyss embraced her, a lonely existence like it.

    It''s energy flowed through her body and changed it. She became stronger without knowing what strength was, her consciousness still limited to her naive state.

    This strange phenomenon continued for an amount of time she couldn''t quantify even in the present, but just like all things, her seclusion also had toe to an end.

    She was discovered by a migrating Nox colony and taken in as one of theirs. Simr to Yong An, she met those who did not carry the negative traits of their race proudly, and learned among them for many years.

    As her naivety went away and she developed a sense of individuality, as she grew past the limits of natural growth, she evolved into something greater.

    Yet, before she could blossom, she was taken away from those who treated her well.

    Rumors of her talent spread to Al''Katra, and forces under the Nox Emperor came to her colony to take her away.

    From then on, her life was painful.

    She was raised into a soldier, or at least, that was their goal when they took her.

    Her and Yong An''s situation wasn''t umon. Many Nox children would be used the same way, but unlike the two of them, they were unable to extricate themselves or didn''t have the desire to do so,ter bing part of the masses that would be killed during one of the Nox''s many attempts at conquest.

    She endured the torture thinking about her colony and protecting them. She allowed them to use her as a ve as long as her base values weren''tpromised.

    Until that day.

    That day when she learned the truth.

    Nox who could not be used were useless. Nox who did not remain controlled by their vices had to be purged.

    And her colony was among those who were eradicated for the sake of unity.

    She flew into a rage.

    She killed and killed, escaping the ve camp and killing more.

    As her bloodlust grew, she became a symbol of death, and through the countless tribtions she endured, her Demonic Providence awakened.

    A providence of Death.

    Her history was vague from this point.

    Her memories of that time were blurry, but all she could remember was ughter and violence, her vision filled with the color red.

    She ascended to Divinity, she became a Nox Emperor, and when her life finally regained a semnce of stability, she woke up.

    She was no longer the person she was when she turned mindless.

    She could no longer feel those sympathetic or generous feelings that had been instilled in her since young.

    And the people she hated the most were her own.

    How was she supposed to move forward from there?

    She only found two paths.

    Either she once again sank into the depravity of ughter, or she took the position she made for herself and changed the Nox from the inside out.

    Naturally, she chose thetter.

    She tried her best.

    The title of Death Emperor wasn''t a joke. Most Nox were terrified by the mere mention of her name, so forcing them to act as she desired was not a hard task.

    However, she met opposition easily.

    The Nox Emperors whose interests were touched by her choices were not willing to share their title with someone who would get in their way.

    They worked together and made an borate n to make her the public enemy of the universe. They sacrificed her to their so-called "enemies" for the sake of personal benefit.

    And funnily enough, that generosity, that sympathy she was taught as a child¡­

    It was shown to her by those "enemies," not her own people.

    Her story was a long one. It could not be easily understood through such a vague summary, but she had long forgotten the events of the past.

    She didn''t care who she used to be, because, after countless millennia of istion with her thoughts, she''d be a different person entirely.

    She¡­did not have much purpose in this life.

    The things she thought were her ambitions were the fragile wishes of a traumatized child. She lost them when she finally came to her senses.

    So, what was she supposed to live for?

    The answer she found for herself was revenge.

    Revenge on those who put her in this situation, revenge on the Nox for abandoning her.

    But, another answer was presented to her.

    A man too young to even be called a man, a man who was just a boy when they first met. She never expected him to return to her with an answer.

    It happened before Damien went to the Abyss.

    He returned to the First Dungeon and asked her that question.

    "What is your goal?"

    The question she had no answer to.

    "Revenge."

    She answered, no other thoughts in mind.

    But the man shook his head.

    "That''s not a goal. It''s an eventuality, but it''s not one you should put your whole life into. You''re already strong enough to get revenge, so what do you n to do once you''ve aplished it?"

    Frankly, it wasn''t something she was expecting to hear.

    Their meetings in the past had been cordial, but not friendly. She could always sense the hostility he held for the Nox.

    But looking into his eyes, she saw someone different.

    She saw someone who was looking at her, not the person he thought she was.

    So she feltpelled to find an answer for him.

    Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she could not.

    Seeing her state, he shook his head and put his hand up to his face wryly.

    "It was only a hunch, but I guess I was right. You two really are the same type."

    "You two¡­?"

    "Haa, just a guy I know, don''t worry about it. Anyway, you can''t figure anything out, right?"

    She had no choice but to nod her head.

    "Then¡­"

    A grin lit up the man''s face.

    "...how about you live for me?"

    The conditions of her release from this sealed space that they''d agreed upon during their first meeting required her to pledge her obedience to him, but what he suggested was something different.

    Not mindless obedience, butpanionship. His promise was to be a Lord worth her loyalty, someone who could give meaning to her existence.

    She didn''t believe it.

    She could not put her faith in a man who was barely a childpared to her.

    Yet, he gave her an answer far better than anything she could find on her own.

    So, she took a risk.

    "Okay."

    She agreed to his suggestion, and with a smile, that man who was supposed to be young and fragile¡­he did something even the greatest existences she knew couldn''t do.

    He directly freed her from her imprisonment within seconds.

    Standing before her, he held out his hand.

    "Introductions and the likes are important in moments like these, and your social skills seem pretty rusty so let''s do some practice."

    "My name is Damien Void. It''s nice to meet you."

    She looked at that hand strangely.

    Her heart was icy as always, but there seemed to be a small chip on its surface that hadn''t existed before.

    She reached her hand out and grabbed his, her grip weak from years of disuse.

    "I am Tiamat¡­"

    She was Tiamat, the Empress of Death.

    "...and it is a pleasure to meet you as well."

    And finally, she found the light that would lead her out of this hellish existence.

 Chapter 1286 Cosmic Rebirth [7]

    <h4>Chapter 1286 Cosmic Rebirth [7]</h4>

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    "Kahak¡­!"

    The Karmic Emperor spit out blood as he was struck with an unknown force that he couldn''t perceive.

    Tiamat started attacking the second she dered her intent, and he realized one simple fact.

    The only reason he was alive was because he wasn''t alone.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Blood red waves shot at her from all directions as Immortal Blood Asura tried to block her vision.

    But, who was she?

    It had been a long time since she moved her limbs, but she''d regained arge portion of her old power.

    Damien released her several years ago and left her to her own devices until now for that very purpose.

    She''d been limating to her freedom for the sole purpose of revenge, because nothing could be aplished until this demon was removed from her heart.

    And now that she was here, what could a mere Karmic Emperor or Immortal Blood Asura do to her?

    VOOOM!

    ckness emanated from her body and pushed away all ethereal forces that came near her.

    Immortal Blood Asura''s attempts to attack her backfired instantly, forcing him into an even worse position than he was already in.

    He used most of his Divine Energy when he was chasing Damien.

    Despite seeming like he had infinite mana, he was nowhere near the concept.

    The mana he used on Damien himself of course wasn''t much, because he didn''t need an extreme amount to take on a lower existence.

    Mana quantity wasn''t what could kill Damien. The power of a Divinity''sw was.

    Therefore, the majority of his power was spent in¡­quite the embarrassing fashion.

    It was uselessly expended on the unbreakable barrier Dante put up during his brief appearance in a fit of rage.

    But, Immortal Blood Asura was only partially at fault.

    After all, who could''ve predicted the appearance of someone like Tiamat?

    She was too far disconnected from her race for her to still be included in their hivemind. No, in the first ce, her anomalous existence excluded her from the concept.

    She was apletely independent entity, and for the Nox, this made her even more dangerous than she already was!

    ''This cannot happen.''

    The Karmic Emperor was clear on this. Her presence would ruin his ns, but that was the least important thing.

    If he didn''t escape, he''d lose his life here!

    Of all the Nox Emperors, the Karmic Emperor had the leastbat power.

    Unlike the Marite Lord, who could both do what he did and fight on their own, he was absolutely focused on controlling others and barely spent time on himself.

    The best he could do was use the weight of his Divinity to overpower opponents, but Tiamat wasn''t someone who could be felled by that strategy!

    There was a reason he never entered the frontlines and only ever manipted things from behind the scenes.

    Even the cooperation he had with Immortal Blood Asura was based on a Mana Oath. If not for that, he likely would''ve been found out and killed by the puppet he was preparing long ago!

    Nevertheless, now that they''d reached this point, he needed to find a route to escape.

    The best one he saw was the man himself.

    ''Protect your master.''

    He sent amand into Immortal Blood Asura''s head.

    It rooted itself in his subconscious, which was already corrupt with the Karmic Emperor''s influence, and forced him to move along with its will.

    BANG!

    Tiamat shot forward, her fist like a burninget of ck as it pushed towards the Karmic Emperor, but before she could reach him, Immortal Blood Asura was already in front of her, taking the impact with his own energy.

    WHOOOOOSH!

    The winds whipped chaotically as the traitorous Demigod was thrown thousands of kilometers away with all the bones in his forearms shattered.

    However, in that brief period of time, the Karmic Emperor also found his opportunity.

    He searched through the crowds below for sacrifices, and found them soon enough.

    Ten Demigods were thrown into the air between him and Tiamat before they even knew what was happening, and as the remaining force of her attack washed over them, they were turned into sorry versions of themselves in an instant.

    Five of them were crushed into bs of meat, all from the Grand Heavens Boundary side, while the five Nox Lords among them barely survived, their bodiesbining as the Nox did.

    But¡­the Karmic Emperor must''ve forgotten.

    They were up against the Death Empress herself.

    Such petty tricks held no meaning.

    Tiamat swept her hand through the air with grace, and the waves of ckness that rushed through the airpletely obliterated the fusing souls.

    However, the inky material that made up their bodies remained intact, rushing towards her like they were being pulled by a vacuum.

    ''Devour.''

    It wasn''t the same as Damien''s skill, but it had the same purpose.

    The bodies of Nox she killed could be devoured into her own power, and¡­

    ''The new generation''s Demonic Providence¡­as expected, it isckluster.''

    That was what made the Death Empress so terrifying.

    Her Demonic Providence was constantly growing and evolving, and the only way to stop it was topletely erase the Nox from existence.

    The providence of Death is what they knew it as, but it was much more than that.

    Her providence was based on her name. It manifested as a voracious dragon of chaos, preying on all and spreading death to feed itself.

    If she hadn''t learned to reign in its force, she would''ve remained controlled by her instincts for her entire life.

    But because she did, she became so powerful that hardly anyone could stand up to her.

    The Karmic Emperor was trying to fight her with his tricks and schemes?

    Laughable!

    Though, he did have an impressive amount of vitality.

    That was the only reason he was alive.

    Tiamat''s attacks were rxed, and she was clearly ying with her food before devouring it whole, but even then, the Karmic Emperor wouldn''t have been so unharmed without his immense life force.

    He focused on self-protection more than learning how to fight, so that was granted.

    Nevertheless, it wasn''t enough to stand up to Tiamat, and he needed to find a way to escape.

    He had been put into the position he and Immortal Blood Asura forced Damien into prior.

    If he was here to see it, he would''ve beenughing so hard it hurt, but fortunately for him, he was nowpletely separated from the outside world.

    With Iris not having to worry about being attacked anymore, she used creation to both make a ce for her to stand and a defense system that could passively take care of anyone who approached her until Tiamat could arrive.

    Her entire focus was on maintaining the Heavenly Order.

    And that¡­

    It was a task nobody else would''ve dared to take.

    The Heavenly Order was gluttonous beyond belief. No matter how much Universal Law she used to sustain it, it always wanted more.

    But Iris wasn''t the same person she used to be.

    Her newly reformed soul gave her mana capacity she never could''ve imagined in the past, and to make sure she didn''t waste it, shepletely reconstructed her mana utilization system to prioritize efficiency.

    She was enough to support it.

    And as long as things remained quiet, she would stay enough.

    Still, the burden on her mind wasn''t something to be easily ignored.

    She also hoped Damien woulde out as quickly as possible.

    Yes, a part of it was because she would be freed from this duty and he would be strong enough to resolve the current situation¡­

    ¡­but the true reason she hid in her mind was simply¡­well, she really, really, really wanted to see him again.

 Chapter 1287 Cosmic Rebirth [8]

    <h4>Chapter 1287 Cosmic Rebirth [8]</h4>

    The meaning of Divinity.

    Damien already understood it, but he kept pondering it once his worry diminished.

    With Iris managing the Heavenly Order, not only did she gain a chance to grow, he was granted peace of mind.

    Now, he could really take his time to think.

    What did he want?

    How did he want to be viewed?

    How did he want to be represented?

    His answers were all existent, but too vague to be ssified as the building blocks of a Divinity.

    ''I''ll save thew forst. Once I have something built, I can take more time to understand how and what to integrate.''

    This was too important of a decision for him to make hastily, no matter how much he wanted to ascend.

    If he couldn''t find the answer here, he''d rather take his chances and cancel his ascension than ascend half-heartedly.

    ''Let''s think.''

    Damien allowed his memories to flow again.

    He watched those days in the First Dungeon where he struggled and fell into the depths of insanity to survive, he watched his journey to heal through Apeiron and the Cloud ne, he watched his first step onto the battlefield free of setbacks in the unnamed world, he watched the Fifth Primal Sovereign appear and show him what true power really was¡­

    He watched his descent on the Divine Realm and the realizations he made, he watched his journey through Death Emperor Star and the rtionships he gained, he watched his struggles on Calypto and revisited the lessons he learned¡­

    His journeys were plenty and the lessons they instilled in him were even more numerous. They were what gave Damien the capability to define himself so easily in his current state.

    So the first question: what did he want?

    ''That''s¡­quite easy to answer.''

    "I want security. I want control. I want to be someone who cannot be shaken unless I allow it, and I want the people I care about to stand at that peak with me."

    It was a lofty wish, but that was what he''d been moving towards ever since he stopped seeing power as his entire life.

    He didn''t want to be threatened by unknowns everywhere he went. He wanted absolute control that didn''t allow anything to remain unknown or even be unknown in the first ce.

    "Therefore, I also want knowledge. I want the knowledge of all things, so I will never be caught unaware again."

    Omnipotence and omniscience. Weren''t they the goals of anyone who could exist in a ce where they were possible to reach?

    Of course, life would be meaningless if these two concepts were absolute, and that''s why Damien needed control.

    So that he could reach a point above them and be an entity they could not bind. So he could experience the joys of life without being bogged down by the reality of being an absolute.

    Usually, people didn''t put such high ceilings on their Divinity. If they couldn''t eventually achieve those goals, they would be ruined by their own ambition, so most people aimed for more realistic levels by their own perception.

    But to Damien, there was no point in bing Divine if one was just going to limit their own potential like that.

    "The same standards I use to judge others should be used to judge myself. If I cannot fulfill the grand ambitions in my soul, then I am not deserving of the Divinity I am building. In the case of failure, the only person at me is myself."

    Right, the reason Damien could hold such an uncaring view of the world, where he did not pity those who were born to be weak and did not envy those who reached ces he could only dream of was because he did not discriminate nor did he act like a hypocrite.

    He didn''t just make ims without having anything to back them.

    His desire and mentality¡­

    They were acknowledged by the Heavenly Order.

    A change appeared in his soul.

    A vague pyramid-like illusion formed. Above it was an eye that gave off a strange luster, entrapped within a manifestation of infinity.

    This was the first sign of Divinity establishment.

    ''Then, the next question¡­''

    How did he want to be viewed, and how did he n to present himself to the world?

    "I¡­don''t care how I''m viewed. Whether I am a saint or a devil is not up to me to decide. I will always be Damien Void, and the meaning of that name will change depending on who is saying it. It has never been my decision how I''m viewed, and I have no desire to be viewed any type of way."

    Damien was not a saint. He''d ughtered quintillions of existence without so much as batting an eye.

    But nor was he a demon. He helped countless people and saved countless lives whether intentionally or as a consequence of his actions.

    To some, he was a savior. To some, he was a monster. To some, he was a friend. To some, he was an enemy.

    What did he want them to think?

    Since when did he pay any mind to their opinions anyway?

    The only opinions he cared about were those of the people he cared about, and he had no intention of acting a certain way to influence their perception either.

    He would always be himself, and that was why they enjoyed being in his presence, regardless of their rtionship.

    This was why he cared about them to the extent he did.

    They were his anchors, and they were the people he couldpletely drop his guard around, acting however he pleased without needing to even think about unwarranted criticism.

    Honestly, Damien didn''t believe this answer was enough. It was too indifferent for it to manifest into his Divinity.

    But he was wrong. Even that indifference was an answer of its own.

    While it had no physical form like the previous parts, its presence could be felt, the subtle veil of warmth epassing the rest.

    ''So then¨C''

    Damien''s thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

    ''It started with Space. It expanded with Fire and Lightning, and then was suppressed through Time. Life took root, and Death invaded. They then found each other and formed Samsara, as if following the example Space and Time set for them prior. Yet, they still felt a void. Water flowed through that void, earth formed around it, Wind wildly danced, Wood spread its influence, and Metals formed. Let free from their cage, mes rampaged, Lightning struck down, and suddenly, the void was full of existence. When Creation and Destruction finally saw their children in harmony, they dawned, bringing forth True Reality¡­''

    The aspect known as "Damien Void" was removed from the equation.

    And a word came to mind.

    A single word that described what happened when one tried to find where "Damien Void" fit into it all.

    "Hegemon¡­"

    That was his position.

    The autarch of all things both existent and nonexistent, of all things that existed, exists, to would exist, and all things opposite them.

    His title, the title he deemed fit for himself, who did not wish to be constrained tomon beliefs, was simple.

    Hegemon God Damien Void.

    That was the man he was going to be.

    That was what his Divinity would represent.

    And to prove his qualifications, he stopped paying attention to convention.

    "Everything" was being poured into his soul space to solidify his ever-forming Divinity.

    Today marked the start of an event that would go down in history for the rest of time, the creation of a being that would be worshipped regardless of how many generations passed.

    This was the first step in the path he created.

    This was the dawn of an Absolute.

 Chapter 1288 Cosmic Rebirth [9]

    <h4>Chapter 1288 Cosmic Rebirth [9]</h4>

    Slowly, quietly, imperceptibly, something took root within Damien.

    His mind and soul were rising in status with every passing second, and as Damien threw away everything he knew for the sake of his ambitions, the stubborn Heavenly Order had no choice but to acknowledge him.

    Perhaps there was no man worthier than him for Divinity.

    The manifestations in his soul that symbolized the singr aspects of his forming Divinity blurred and began to merge as they were swamped with a myriad of other concepts.

    And as the process began, Damien''s mind went ck. "Thought" was no longer possible for him.

    He was floating in an endless abyss, but, it didn''t seem as colorless as it was. It felt so full of everything that there was nothing that could possibly represent it but ckness.

    He felt bliss in this abyss. He allowed it to embrace him, and he embraced it back.

    And as his mind was swallowed by the unknown, his body underwent massive changes as well.

    The lightning baptism came to an end, and instead of furiously striking down as it had been, the Heavenly Order became calm.

    Waves of gentle energy washed over Damien''s body with every passing second, and as its league was heightened in an ethereal way, another force took charge.

    Damien always had the connection.

    He could always feel that there was an ethereal body mirroring his own connected to him.

    That was the Void Physique.

    The Void Physique had been with him since before mana even existed on Earth. When he awakened along with everyone else, it was the thing that stood in his way and forced him to remain at the bottom of society.

    However, it was also his savior.

    It gave him ess to Devour and allowed him to survive the First Dungeon, it gave him ess to Void Essence and gave him the qualifications toprehend the Void, and it was the main backer behind his talent and strength from start to finish.

    His connection with the Void was now far deeper. His soul was bathed in its essence, and his mind held traces of its will.

    However, the root of his power was first his body and the Void Physique connected to it.

    He was still unaware of what the Void Physique truly was.

    It was easy to say it was just a symbol of his status as the Void''s Apostle, however, that wasn''t all there was to it.

    The Void Physique was its own monster.

    Because of it, Damien didn''t even realize the kind of uniqueness he had.

    Most people only had a single elemental affinity. Some would have two, and barely anyone had three, but nobody could ever have more than that.

    It was partially a matter of Universal Law, but the main reason was something else entirely.

    The vessel of a sentient existence simply didn''t have the capability of housing so manyws.

    Laws were concepts that had an impact on the fundamental workings of the universe in some way, no matter how small it was.

    For a sentient being to harness their power was already going against thews of reality, but because they could grow stronger, they wouldn''t be affected by the negatives of such an action.

    Those with two affinities had more expansive vessels than the rest which allowed them to carry more, however, even they usually ended up focusing on only a single one.

    Elena and Rose could be used as an example of this. Elena had Life and Light affinities, but she decided to reach the absolute peak of Life instead of following the path of a Valkyrie that required her to focus on Light. Meanwhile, Rose chose to focus on Illusion, throwing away her Wind affinity because it couldn''t benefit her much.

    Those with threews didn''t even need to be mentioned, because, in the entirety of the universe''s existence, only a handful of them had been born.

    At the end of the day, no matter how much talent one had, no matter how strong they got, they would be bound by the limits of their vessel.

    Introducing more than that vessel allowed would cripple them, or, in the worst case, make them implode from the inside.

    But¡­

    Damien controlled a myriad ofws.

    Even when taking only the fundamentalws into consideration, there were more than five within Elemental, Space, Time, Life, Death, Creation, and Destruction.

    It was unreasonable. No matter how talented he was, he was still a human. By all logic, his body should''ve been a bloody puddle of mush drifting around somewhere in the starry sky.

    But it was not.

    It was a vessel more whole than anyone else''s.

    And that was precisely due to the Void Physique''s influence.

    It served as his vessel and allowed him to contain any and all things without worry, and as if that wasn''t enough, it promoted absolute bnce.

    Instead of being overwhelmed by hisws, Damien controlled them as their sovereign. And, instead of being crippled when he tried to manipte them as he desired, he could seamlessly merge them into their greatest forms.

    All of this was because he was the bearer of the Void Physique. It had so much impact that the system itself decided it deserved a title of its own.

    Still, its true worth was yet to be revealed.

    Damien had yet to gain the qualifications.

    At least, that was the case before now.

    His soul was transformed, his mind was in the process of transformation, and finally¡­

    His body also gained the qualifications to ascend.

    The Mana Heart in the center of his chest dispersed into particles of energy and merged with his true heart, bing a single entity with two faces.

    The Ananta Matrix disappeared from his body entirely.

    It wasn''t gone, but it didn''t need a physical form anymore.

    It had reached a level of evolution where Damien could intuitively control mana perfectly without the assistance of a mana utilization system.

    His Bloodline Core, a strange thing that was created when he racially ascended to something the universe had seen before, dissolved as well.

    Even it was too low for what Damien''s body was turning into.

    Like ink in water, a ckness spread through his body and polluted every part.

    Damien''s blood changed. The aspects of existing species left him entirely. Whether it be his draconic side, his demonic side, or even his human side, it was all washed away as a more powerful force started flowing through his bloodstream.

    Ba-dum! Ba-dum!

    His heart thumped consistently.

    The changes in his body from this point forth couldn''t be exined.

    It could only be said that he changed.

    The "Void Physique" in its current definition disappeared.

    Now, the "Void Physique" was just Damien''s body in its most standard form.

    His body and soul finally reached harmony.

    Damien''s current state was somewhat in limbo. He had yet to form his Divinity in finality, but he was far beyond the definition of a lower existence.

    But it was right around the corner.

    As his body and soul started to synergize, as his consciousness floated in the abyss, so many processes took ce in one that his state became iprehensible.

    But it became clear.

    The significance of the Void Physique, that is.

 Chapter 1289 Cosmic Rebirth [10]

    <h4>Chapter 1289 Cosmic Rebirth [10]</h4>

    Most of the Void Physique''s newly unlocked abilities, now that it was fully unsealed, were hidden until Damien could find them.

    However, there were also several that amounted to direct changes in his body and soul.

    The Void Physique wasn''t just his body. It was everything that made him, the entire vessel his ego inhabited, including his soul.

    That was why harmony was so important. With disharmony, he could only somewhat exceed the limits of reality while still being held back, disallowing him from reaching the level of Demigods like the Marite Lord and Immortal Blood Asura.

    Now that harmony was achieved, Damien''s vessel could experience the full effects.

    His soul space expanded and reached an almost impossible size. The hidden cavity in which hisws resided became visible to him whenever he wished to see and alter it.

    Hisprehension skills would be heightened immensely purely due to this change, even putting aside the changes in his spiritual world.

    His soul state also gave him another ability, simr to the All-Seeing Eyes, but more intuitive.

    It was a sort of absolute perception.

    It didn''t near omnipotence, of course, and it had nothing to do with his awareness of the surroundings. It was more like¡­he could learn everything about a person from a nce.

    Whether it be their habits, their thoughts, their character, or anything else, it''d be revealed to him as if it was never hidden.

    It was a mystical ability that appeared when his soul connected to the All-Seeing Eyes, and though Damien was still unable to see it, the eyes themselves had changed in both his body and in his status window.

    Of the soul-based abilities, the one that was most basic yet most vital was likely "protection."

    With the Void taking root in his vessel, his soul received absolute protection from harm simr to how the Void Physique protected his body from foreign energy.

    This protection was much more far-reaching, however, and made sure nothing could perturb his soul unless it was far above his league and unstoppable.

    Then, one also had to look at his body.

    In truth, there weren''t nearly as many changes to the body itself.

    Once it was totally merged with the Void Physique, all of its uniqueness blended into his systems. His traits disappeared and became regr parts of his body, and the same process was mirrored by everything else.

    It wasn''t that they were leaving. If Damien wanted, he could still easily use [Storm] or [Heal], however, rather than being defined as "traits" they were now in a state where they simply existed as part of his body, just like his heart or lungs.

    His blood became robust, his systems melted into his physique and became imprable, and, in essence, Damien gained an immortal body.

    No matter how many times it was broken down, as long as his soul existed, his body could not be killed, and as long as his body existed, his soul could not be killed.

    Whether or not he could die was still a question, though, because there was no guarantee he''d experience something like Nonexistence again if both body and soul were eradicated together.

    But, while all these changes took ce, Damien was in apletely different ce.

    To put it simply, he was drowning in his own Divinity.

    It wasn''t a dangerous thing. In fact, it was a necessary step for him to truly understand what he was creating.

    Divinity was too ethereal of a concept. Most people tried to rationalize it while they built it, which led to the systems currently in ce, but Damien didn''t do that at all.

    He threw everything inside of it, embracing its ethereal nature and choosing to approach it the same way.

    His Divinity was truly a reflection of him, but at the same time, it wasn''t anything of the sort.

    It was like he created a Divinity for his future self, and his current self had to work hard to reach even the starting line to use it properly.

    This was definitely holding him back in the short term. His growth rate would be slow, and he probably wouldn''t grow at all for months or years at a time, but it was all worth the disadvantages.

    Because once he reached the starting line, he''d be able to race like nobody ever was before him.

    This Divinity¡­

    Damien created a Divinity that, in terms of league, was only a single step below Godhood. It was quite insane to even consider.

    ''What is this¡­power?''

    Damien wondered as he allowed his Divinity to entrap him.

    It felt like mana, but it was far higher. It wasn''t quite Divine Energy, but it was just as powerful.

    ''Is this¡­me?''

    It was an energy.

    Damien remembered when he faced the Envoy in Al''Katra. That man also used a strange "energy" he''d never seen before.

    This wasn''t that, of course, but in the same way, he found himself in possession of an energy that wasn''t mana.

    ''Is this even possible?''

    He couldn''t deny that it was.

    ''Then, is this what I''ll be using from now on?''

    It seemed problematic at first nce. In a ce where mana was the energy ambient in the atmosphere, wasn''t it a terrible idea to use something else?

    ''No, this transmutes and can be transmuted.''

    His spiritual body raised its hand. The energy around him easily changed form with just a single thought from him.

    In one moment it was Void Essence, in the next it was mana, and for a second, he even replicated the strange energy the Envoy used.

    ''This¡­is this what it means to control existence?''

    All energies that existed could be controlled by him, and his mana was simply a malleable energy that could be anything he wished for it to be.

    ''Hahaha¡­''

    He resolved himself to do it properly this time, but it seemed he failed in the best way possible.

    He made a Divinity that could alter itself. The base concepts would always remain the same, but he could change his nature as he pleased due to it.

    ''How amazing¡­''

    Damien could somewhat understand the situation in the outside world.

    As his Divinity became more defined, his senses slowly returned to his body one by one.

    The Heavenly Order still existed and was still sending waves of energy cascading over his body, which meant his Rebirth was technically still in process.

    ''But, I don''t think much else needs to change.''

    Rather, he felt quiteplete already.

    He didn''t feel the tion of growing stronger or the excitement of breaking the boundary to bing a higher existence. He felt calm, as if his current state was natural.

    As if this was how it was always meant to be.

    ''Then¡­''

    The spiritual form Damien smiled happily.

    ''I should use this time that''s been given to me.''

    Since he still had time within the barrier until his Divinity took shape, he could use it as he pleased.

    And until he left this ce, he''d be as strong as possible.

    So that nobody could threaten him.

    ''So that I can finally reach "his" level.''

    He had a clear goal and a way to get there.

    Now, all that was left was a silent road ofprehension and growth.

 Chapter 1290 Emergence [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1290 Emergence [1]</h4>

    The situation in the outside world was getting better and worse at the same time.

    In the skies, Tiamat battled the Karmic Emperor and Immortal Blood Asura, pushing them back, but on the ground, the Grand Heavens Boundary forces were having difficulty holding off against their enemies.

    BANG!

    Tang Lingzi was doing her best.

    She''d killed tens of enemies already, but the number only kept increasing.

    Not only did more and more Nox Lords appear to replenish their waning forces, but the people behind her weren''t fighting nearly as well as they were expected to.

    The average Nox Lord was stronger than the average Grand Heavens Boundary Demigod.

    And the reason behind it was fear.

    The fear that was struck in their hearts by this battle, and more than anything, the cowardice that they already held.

    Most of these Demigods did not refuse ascension because they had ambitions in the lower universe like Alucard and Tang Lingzi.

    They rejected ascension because they were afraid of the Heavenly World. They did not want to go to a ce where their worldviews would be shattered, where they realized the peak they reached was just one of many.

    That fear led to unstable Divinity, something that could barely be called Divinity by the standards of those without fear.

    And because the Nox Lords refused ascension to entertain their personal greed, not out of cowardice or any simr emotion, their Divinities, while corrupt, were stable.

    It was a simple difference that didn''t show itself in most situations, but now that they were in direct confrontation, it became ring.

    "Alucard!"

    Tang Lingzi yelled out, and Alucard responded with action.

    He turned around and mmed his arm through the air, sending a wave of Divine Energy rushing forward and splitting the heads of his enemies.

    He ignored the ones he was already fighting and made his way back to the frontline.

    Meanwhile, Tang Lingzi took over the fight he was already participating in. She was now facing over ten Nox Lords at once, but she refused to lose her momentum.

    They didn''t have a choice.

    One of them had to support the weaker ones among their allies or they''d lose the war even if they won this battle

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Tang Lingzi could no longer prevent herself from being surrounded. Attacks came from all sides, and like an elephant in the circus, she had no choice but to dance in the ring they formed to stay alive.

    ''Dammit!''

    She didn''t know how to get out of this with what they currently had.

    She was slowly umting injuries, and if she kept expending Divine Energy like this, she would find herself swamped soon.

    She would die.

    ''How do I win?!''

    It was hopeless.

    Just like everything else, it was hopeless.

    But¡­

    ''I refuse.''

    Tang Lingzi did not have fear in her heart.

    Her reason for refusing ascension was even more vain, in a sense.

    There was someone in the Heavenly World, someone she adored at one point in her life.

    But when they ascended, she realized that she was nowhere near talented enough to stand by their side.

    She refused to go to that ce until she gained those qualifications. Even if that person had forgotten her already, she refused to face them until she could stand in front of them proudly.

    It wasn''t a matter of love or affection, but pride.

    Tang Lingzi had not reached the limits of her potential.

    And she knew that there was a way for her to ascend after refusing.

    She didn''t know where it was, but "that person"

    told her it existed, and she believed them more than she believed her own thoughts.

    So until she could reach the ce she wanted to be, until she could meet that person again, she refused to die!

    "Keuk¡­!"

    She spat out blood as a terrifying sword strike grazed her side and burned her skin.

    She twirled and danced, dodging and evading as she took down her enemies, but there were just too many of them.

    One died.

    Another gash formed on her torso.

    Two died.

    Her neck was almost severed.

    Three died.

    Her left arm was crippled, lowering her attack power.

    It had been like this the entire time.

    If only she had more allies she could count on, if only the Demigods of Grand Heavens Boundary weren''t so pathetic¡­!

    Tang Lingzi''s eyes widened.

    She didn''t see them at all.

    She killed eight of the ten that surrounded her, but another three had entered the circle before she knew what was happening.

    And just as she noticed their existence, another presence appeared behind her.

    Just a few inches away.

    SHIK!

    A sword went through her chest.

    Her life force began to dwindle.

    ''Is this¡­''

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    She red her mana, forcing the Nox Lord who impaled her into the air. She stomped her foot into the ground and shot up in pursuit, barraging him with physical attacks before ripping his heart out of his chest.

    She refused to just die.

    She already knew what her fate was when that sword ran her through. Her Divinity started leaking out of the wound, so the chance of surviving was nil.

    But if she was going to die, she was going to die proudly.

    Not for anyone else, but for herself.

    BOOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    She didn''t explode her core yet. There was still more she could do before the need for that came.

    She abandoned her post and ran towards the frontlines, allowing Alucard, who noticed her situation, to take over the battle for her.

    She went on a ughterfest, killing any and every weak Nox Lord she could find to cull their numbers for the remaining forces to deal with once she was gone.

    And as her life force dwindled, she saw the battle situation slowly stabilizing.

    She smiled wryly.

    ''It was nice while itsted¡­''

    She didn''t want a sad death, so she didn''t think sad thoughts.

    It was a shame that she had to go like this, but at least she aplished something.

    Right¡­?

    "Wrong."

    A voice came from behind her.

    She turned around and swept her ws out to kill the neer, but her wrist was caught in an immovable grip.

    She looked up in surprise.

    "Y-you are¡­!"

    The woman standing there was not a Nox Lord.

    She was far too powerful to even be mistaken for one.

    She smiled at the dying Tang Lingzi brightly.

    "I''m d you were able to reconcile with death, however, I''m afraid I can''t let you die here."

    Tang Lingzi''s mind was filled with confusion, but before she could ask any questions, a prismatic Divine Energy rushed through her body.

    Her wounds were healed, her Divinity was contained, and it felt like she was being magically returned to the state she was in before the battle started.

    As she marveled over her sudden return from the brink of death, the woman who healed her looked out on the battlefield with a grin.

    "That strange thing up there doesn''t need my support anymore, so¡­"

    She raised herself into the air, allowing her mana to billow and her aura to pressure the enemy.

    "...why don''t I try out my new power?"

 Chapter 1291 Emergence [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1291 Emergence [2]</h4>

    It was nonsensical.

    Once Eyrrisea Luminus took her ce on the battlefield, it became utterly iprehensible.

    This wasn''t the oue that should have urred.

    Grand Heavens Boundary should not have stood a chance against the Nox.

    Their Demigods were stronger, they had greater numbers, and they had Emperors who couldn''t be stood up to no matter how many weaker Demigods teamed up against them.

    So why?

    Eyrrisea Luminus was terrifying now. She used to be a weakling disguised as a powerhouse, but that was no longer the case.

    The second she made her advent, tens and hundreds of Demigods met their ends. Herws were mboyant, seemingly just for show, but they held an absolute power none could stand up to.

    If one assumed they had an attribute advantage, she''d rid them of it by using their weakness instead. If one thought they could overpower her with raw strength, she''d show them what true strength was. If one tried to find her tactical weakness, they''de to learn she had none.

    She''d been missing from the battlefield for years. Most assumed she''d died, while others assumed she was crippled or had fled, but none predicted this oue.

    None expected her to be what she was now!

    ''I¡­''

    Immortal Blood Asura gritted his teeth in indignance.

    As if Tiamat, the Death Empress, wasn''t enough, a new monster like her showed up as well.

    He no longer had a chance to survive on this battlefield.

    Currently, he was rtively far away. He''d been thrown like a rag doll by the Death Empress as she fought the Karmic Emperor, and when he acted against his base instincts, he realized that the man he''d been working with for so long had tried to use him.

    The Nox were not his allies. He always knew this. Yet, he never expected he''d be weak enough to be controlled by them.

    He lost his rationality.

    As he looked over the battlefield, as he gazed at the barrier ofw beyond it, his rage boiled up again.

    Yet, he forcefully pushed it down.

    ''Survival. I must survive.''

    He had to retreat. He had to rid himself of the Karmic Emperor''s influence before he returned, even if it meant allowing his mortal enemy to grow.

    He had to grow within that period, so he wouldn''t be pushed down when the time to fight came.

    He turned his back, humiliation and rage filling every ounce of his being.

    His Divinity was simple.

    He wanted to dominate and conquer. He wanted to be the final winner in every battle he was part of. He wanted to stand above all others and step on their hopes and dreams.

    He stayed in the lower universe for this purpose. He had no interest in the ongoing wars, but if he was on the winning side, his Divinity would feel the enhancement that his victory brought.

    However¡­

    ''How did this happen?''

    He had no choice but to question it.

    This war had a set oue from the start. Even if nobody betrayed the universe, they still did not have the power to stand against the Nox.

    Immortal Blood Asura realized this clearly through the senses he''d honed for thousands of years, and thus, he betrayed his homnd for his selfish desires.

    Yet¡­

    What changed?

    Why did such an impossible oue be possible?

    No matter how much he didn''t want to admit it, there was only one outlier in every situation.

    "Damien Void¡­"

    That man was the problem.

    Somehow, he, as an individual, managed to influence a war on the scale of countless universes.

    Wasn''t it unbelievable?

    It was so unbelievable that he was still thinking about it, unable to swallow the truth.

    The man who had be his mortal enemy, the man who''s been targeting his Blood Asura Holy Land and has been their target for decades now¡­

    That man was the side he should have chosen.

    "DAMMIT!"

    He red his aura in rage.

    In the end, that was also an impossible thing. He would have never chosen Damien''s side even if their rtionship was amiable from the start.

    Was he fated to die?

    How could it be?!

    He, Immortal Blood Asura, was just a cog in the machine, just another fodder used to motivate that man?!

    "I REFUSE!"

    Madness overtook him again.

    The Karmic Emperor''s subtle influence corrupted his soul, giving his emotions fuel to burn brighter.

    His brain told him to retreat and secretly grow his power.

    But he could not ignore his heart.

    He could not take a step away from the battlefield no matter how much he wanted to.

    Slowly, robotically as if he was doing his best to resist, he turned back around to face it.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Eyrrisea Luminus was in the sky with a massive array of weapons around her. They rained down hell onto the earth, however, through precise control, their every attack missed her allies while perfectly striking her enemies.

    Nox Lords fell by the tens. The numbers umted until over a hundred died every second.

    There were only 2,000 of them left as a whole. Their numbers were brought down to match the universe''s forces solely due to her interference.

    ''No, that one is even more terrifying.''

    The woman named Tiamat.

    He was no match for her.

    Because she was toying with the Karmic Emperor, he could neither retreat nor spare effort to influence the battlefield.

    The Nox Lords were fighting on their own. Yes, they had intelligence befitting of their positions, but, the majority of them didn''t have true wisdom and only instinct that could lead them to victory in battle.

    The absolute concentration of power that the Nox utilized.

    ''So this is the consequence of that.''

    Why didn''t he realize it before?

    Such a wed system, such a wed race¡­

    Perhaps, even without someone like Damien, they would have met a pitiful end.

    ''Or¡­''

    His thoughts shifted again, a product of his denial.

    He stopped admonishing the Nox. Instead, his hatred gathered on one man.

    ''Perhaps I allied with the wrong man.''

    Perhaps the Karmic Emperor was the problem.

    If so, there was still a chance.

    ''The Soul Emperor or the Saint Emperor¡­I must find them as soon as possible.''

    Or so he thought.

    Yet, his feet would not budge.

    No, rather, they would not follow hismand.

    He took one step, then another. He started walking, then running full speed back into the heat of battle.

    He could not resist.

    And at some point, he just stopped resisting.

    ''If I have no choice, then I will at least exert my will in some way.''

    Until he could free himself of this control, he would make his will known to the world.

    He would not let himself be ndered by the masses!

    Immortal Blood Asura red his mana and allowed it to wildly scatter through the surroundings.

    The sheer weight of his breath crushed several weak Demigods.

    He watched as some ran away, some knelt in submission, and some others charged at him to take him down.

    And out of the corner of his eye¡­

    He saw that scene.

    Everything he was trying to suppress burst forth again.

    Everything he tried to do was for naught.

    Because the chase of his lunacy appeared.

    The barrier ofw started to dissipate, and the shadow of a man slowly revealed itself from within.

    "..."

    Immortal Blood Asura''s body went ame as he roared.

    "DAMIEN VOID!"

 Chapter 1292 Emergence [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1292 Emergence [3]</h4>

    "Phew¡­it''s almost over, huh?"

    Damien finally came to his senses.

    He couldn''t quantify the time he spent in the sea of his Divinity, but he didn''t really care. It was enough time for him to properly gain a grasp on the changes that urred, and since that time didn''t reflect in the real world, it didn''t really matter much.

    What was more important was the Divinity itself.

    ''What do I even call this?''

    Damien was definitely confused. It had form, but it was formless. It imitated the Void, yet, the Void had no ce in it.

    It was a confusing Divinity that reflected "Damien Void" more than anyw or concept.

    ''Which means, while I can''t reallypare it to other Divinities, it is in its absolute best state.''

    He didn''t need a Divinity based onw. Hisws would be changing and evolving too often for such a Divinity to have any real worth.

    He needed a Divinity built on Legends, one that would grow by Legend and wouldn''t impede or be impeded by his growth inws.

    ''Though, it''s not like there''s nothing there.''

    Because of the nature of Divinity,ws had to be included, so there were a myriad of them present.

    And¡­

    Strangely, something he didn''t expect at all.

    ''Senior Azure Dragon¡­''

    Back on Beast Emperor Star, Damien had an encounter with a Godbeast ancestor who should''ve been long forgotten with time.

    That ancient being gave him many things, including sealed knowledge, a strange trait, and an egg that was still resting in the Sanctuary, unhatched.

    Frankly, the memories didn''t affect him anymore.

    They were unsealed during his ascension, but what he found were just reiterations of knowledge he already had. It was clear that nobody expected him to grow as he had.

    But the "Azure" trait¡­that was different.

    He didn''t know exactly how it worked, but it had rooted itself in his Divinity. It had taken root in his body as well, melding into his flesh and bones as the lightning baptism took ce.

    ''The immortal body is the Void Physique''s doing, but that didn''t change my actual defensive capability much. It just made sure I wouldn''t die when I died. However, Azure is different. Because of it, I feel like my body has be truly indestructible.''

    Of course, that feeling was bloated. There was no way for a newly ascended Demigod to have a truly indestructible body, but it was true that his physical strength and defense reached unprecedented levels.

    As for the "thing" in his soul¡­

    ''I still have a ways to go before I understand what that is. Either that, or there''s still a trigger that''s missing.''

    Whatever it was, it didn''t affect the current him.

    Damien looked into the sky.

    "It''s time for you to go, huh¡­"

    The Heavenly Order was already dispersing, leaving the Ancient Battlefield as soon as possible now that its job was done.

    Even though that was an entity without sentience, Damien respectfully bowed to it in thanks.

    Because of it, he was able to achieve impossible results. Universal Law would not have given him nearly the same effect as those strange energy waves the Heavenly Order sent out.

    Those energy waves supported the setting of the Void Physique and his timeless drifting in the sea of Divinity, allowing him to make the most of this opportunity.

    But, it was truly odd.

    Unlike his Universe Baptism, where it felt like the entire world changed, his Cosmic Rebirth was both quick and rtively effortless.

    ''Haha¡­''

    He didn''t want to be arrogant, but it was hard. If it wasn''t for him already achieving the qualities of Divinity beforehand, how could it have been so easy?

    There was no way to deny it.

    Damien Void was a Demigod.

    No, he''d be a Demigod the second he stepped out of this ce.

    ''I was expecting things to reach a breaking point before I got out, but it looks like I still have time.''

    It was a strange feeling.

    Such a big event was just another milestone?

    In hindsight, he should''ve expected it. He was stronger than most Divinities even before Cosmic Rebirth, and his mentality had been saturated for decades already.

    ''Maybe this is the benefit of being an earthling. Since my sense of time is still rooted in mortality, I matured much faster as well.''

    He didn''t want to wait hundreds or thousands of years to be who he wanted to be.

    He wanted to reach that ce as quickly and stably as possible.

    And that was what he achieved.

    Cosmic Rebirth really was nothing more than a small stepping stone for him.

    ''I do miss the effect Baptism had, though. It was fun growing so much.''

    In a sense, he''d reached a limit. He''d reached a peak already.

    As long as he remained in the lower universe, there wasn''t much farther he could grow.

    ''Speaking of¡­''

    He thought he''d feel a call once his Rebirth ended, but he was wrong. There was no call for ascension at all, as if the Heavenly World didn''t want to ept him.

    ''The Ancient Battlefield really is a forsaken ce. I guess I''ll feel the call once I go back to the lower universe, but¡­''

    He still had much to do before ascending, so he had to make ns for when that day came.

    ''Before that, though, let''s make the impact I was missing.''

    Damien looked through the barrier ofw. It was quietly dispersing, and his power made it practically irrelevant to the current him.

    Partial Existence Law and Divinity¡­

    He closed his eyes and felt it.

    He felt the weight of his existence, the absolute bliss of ascending from a lower existence to a higher existence.

    The fact that he was here meant he''d finally stepped on the path.

    He finally made it to the starting point.

    And¡­

    "Ahh, fuck. Who am I acting all calm for? I''m so fucking excited I can barely stand it!"

    His heart was beating so fast that he thought even his current defense couldn''t stop it from bursting out of his chest.

    His mind was impatient, so impatient that he felt jittery.

    The power at his fingertips¡­

    He wanted to use this power!

    VOOOOOOOOM!

    The barrier ofw finally started toe down.

    And instantly, a massive wave of killing intent washed over him.

    "DAMIEN VOID!"

    Damien grinned.

    "Haha, as expected, I can always count on him."

    The practice dummy that had been waiting for him to finish for the past few hours, that man who he hated to his very core¡­

    Immortal Blood Asura was right outside the barrier, practically foaming at the mouth for the opportunity to ughter his prey.

    But¡­

    "Why do you look so weak?"

    Damien smiled happily.

    "Well, it doesn''t matter. All the shit you''ve pulled for the past, what, 30 fucking years¡­? Yeah, I''m going to make you feel all that pain with your body, so be prepared."

    Immortal Blood Asura could be considered lucky.

    Damien''s body appeared as a shadow to the outside world right now, and his words couldn''t be heard.

    Or else, perhaps Immortal Blood Asura would have died before he even had a chance to fight him! M

    Nevertheless, the moment finally came.

    Damien Void was returning to the battlefield.

    Those who''d made themselves his enemy, those who''d stood in his way, all those with wickedness corrupting their actions¡­

    It was time to make them all pay!

 Chapter 1293 Emergence [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1293 Emergence [4]</h4>

    The world went silent.

    In the first ce, the battle began because of that.

    The Heavenly Order and the barrier ofw gave off such wondrous fluctuations that the Nox Lords gathered here for a chance to get their hands on whatever was inside.

    And the Grand Heavens Boundary side, who understood what was happening, came for the sake of protecting that man until his Cosmic Rebirth ended.

    The barrier ofw never got involved in their struggle, because no matter how many of them died because of their inherent weakness, they kept this goal in mind.

    They did not let a single Nox approach that barrier, including the Karmic Emperor, strongest of them all.

    Now that it wasing down, its magical fluctuations dispersing as if they never existed¡­

    The Nox were finally going to find out what they were fighting for.

    And the allied forces were finally going to find out whether that man was worth protecting.

    In this silent world, an opaque yet transparent barrier came down from the heavens to the earth, slowly revealing the scene inside.

    There stood a single figure, tiny inparison to the barrier, yet with a presence far surpassing it.

    His hair was long and ck, flowing a quarter of the way down his back like an abyssal waterfall, devouring the light around it. His face was chiseled as if it had been sculpted by the Heavens themselves, and his body was worthy of being called nothing less than the perfect male physique.

    He wore robes like a schr, ck in color, and brushing lightly with the wind around him. A serene appearance, like a starry night sky, unbothered by any and all things.

    And¡­

    He was vague.

    They could all sense these things inherently. They could picture what he looked like in their minds. Yet, their perception could not see him at all. In their eyes, he was nothing more than a shadow.

    A shadow with deep, amethyst purple eyes that tightly grasped the souls of those who dared look into them.

    He was Damien Void.

    He was the Hegemon of Law, the man who stood equal to the Heavens, the God Killer, and the bane of all things.

    And finally, he graced the Ancient Battlefield with his divine presence.

    "DAMIEN VOID!"

    A sacrifice was already in ce for him.

    Immortal Blood Asura ignored everything. He didn''t care about Damien''s aura nor his pressure, he shot forward with his ws outstretched with the only thought in his mind being the death of that man.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Bloody red Divine Energy wildly whipped through the atmosphere, crushing the air itself as it destroyed everything in its vicinity.

    Even the Demigods standing hundreds of kilometers away could feel the terrifying aura of that attack, and subconsciously backed away despite being out of its range.

    Everyone continued to watch in silence.

    An attack like that¡­

    Even if he was a Divinity, that man had to have died.

    It was a shame.

    After all, he''d just ascended. Moreover, he was meant to be the universe''s hope.

    A collective sigh spread through the Grand Heavens Boundary side as they watched Damien die at the hands of one of their own.

    But before their morale could drop¡­

    "T-there''s something¡­!"

    Somebody yelled out.

    As the energy cleared away, the eyes of the crowd turned as wide as saucers.

    "Immortal Blood Asura, it''s been a while. Did you miss me?"

    Damien stood unharmed with the w in his grasp, a thin veil of energy covering his body.

    "YOU¡­!"

    Immortal Blood Asura roared again, but Damien wasn''t nning on listening to his nonsense.

    No, he wanted to try this new energy in his body, the strange force his mana had transmuted into as he ascended.

    It was not Divine Energy, but for the sake of familiarity, until he could use the energy in its base form, he cloaked it as such.

    Within a fraction of an instant, his fist was already making contact with Immortal Blood Asura''s chest.

    BOOOOOOM!

    "Kahak¡­!"

    Immortal Blood Asura spat out mouthfuls of blood as his body shot back.

    Damien raised his hand without leaving his position.

    "Move."

    Divine Energy pulsed from his body, and, as if hismand was invible, reality itself moved.

    The earth shot up like a sentient being and chased Immortal Blood Asura, mming into his flying body over and over again, disallowing him from regaining his bnce.

    The skies became material and exuded extreme pressure that limited his movement speed, the dark clouds turned solid and barraged him from above with icicles made of metal, and even the atmosphere twisted around him, choking him and moving all the surrounding Divine Energy away from him.

    Immortal Blood Asura did his best to fight back. He used the mana within him since the ambient mana was avoiding him, he attacked the skies and the earth to get away from them, however¡­

    How could he face reality itself?

    "Silence."

    Damien''s voice rang out again.

    Immortal Blood Asura''s eyes widened.

    His mana was¡­disobeying him?

    With a single word from Damien, it retreated back into his body and hid itself away as if it were a rabbit facing a terrifying beast.

    He was left with only physical protection and power.

    "DAMMIT!"

    He yelled indignantly.

    He punched out, crushing the waves of earth that tried to bring him down.

    He punched out, shattering the metallic clouds that barraged him.

    He punched out, trying to shatter the sky itself for betraying him.

    However, that was the limit of his power.

    Without Divine Energy, he was nothing.

    "How pathetic."

    Damien''s words were devoid of emotion.

    To think this was the man who pushed him so far in the past.

    To think a mere bug like this ever dared to make him suffer!

    ''No, he is just a stepping stone. My true enemy is¡­not someone who can be dealt with so easily.''

    Damien shook his head.

    Looking at Immortal Blood Asura now, he understood his position in the lower universe.

    He was indomitable.

    That man who could do nothing but il around in desperation and denial used to be the strongest.

    But no more.

    "Just die."

    The forces of Life and Death followed the orders of their Absolute.

    Life rapidly left Immortal Blood Asura''s body, returning to Damien''s grasp, while Death took its ce, wilting his body and soul into husks.

    "Immortal Blood Asura, do you regret it?" Damien asked.

    That man, at the end of his rope, gritted his teeth with blood leaking from the side of his mouth, his eyes as fierce as ever.

    In these few seconds, he''d been humiliated, trampled, and left in the sorriest of states, however, he refused to fold on his beliefs.

    That was thest remaining pride he had.

    He could not talk, but his stance was as clear as day.

    "Understood."

    There was no need for more words.

    Damien pushed his palm down, and the inescapable force of Spacetime crushed down on Immortal Blood Asura, sttering his body into chunks of flesh and bones.

    ''Devour''

    Damien no longer needed to be near the target.

    The world itself leaked the energy of the Void, devouring Immortal Blood Asura''s lonesome soul into its depths.

    And Damien¡­

    Damien gained his "everything."

    His memories, hisws, his bloodlines, his strength, and most importantly¡­

    ''His Legends have been absorbed into mine.''

    This was the newly reborn appearance of Devour.

    If one looked at Damien''s status window, they''d understand it all.

    [Devour Level Max]

    It reached its full potential, and Damien became a man who could take any and everything his enemies ever created or gained.

    He was the budding ruler of reality itself.

    Nothing was beyond his grasp.

    He looked down at the battlefield, uncaring of the death of his great foe, and smiled.

    "If it took that much to kill him¡­"

    ¡­then these people required no effort at all.

    Damien''s palm pushed forward once more.

    "All of you¡­"

    As if he carried the weight of the world in his every word, the people below, whether denizen or Nox, held their breaths and watched, unable to interfere in his divine judgement.

    "...cease existing."

    There was no sound.

    There was no emission of mana.

    There was no presence whatsoever.

    At once, within a single instant, without a word of opposition¡­

    ¡­every Nox Lord in the vicinity vanished from existence.

    Their memories, their Demonic Providences, their bloodlines, their strength, and most importantly, their Legends all became his.

    He was Damien Void.

    In times offort, he was warm, caring, charismatic, rxed, and unrestrained.

    However, on the battlefield, he was absolute.

    This was his path.

    This was the path of a Hegemon.

 Chapter 1294 Hunt [1]

    1294 Hunt [1]

    The Karmic Emperor''s eyes were wide with pure shock.

    Luckily for him, Tiamat stopped her attack to watch Damien, otherwise, he would''ve died right then and there.

    Nevertheless, when Damien easily killed Immortal Blood Asura and wiped out all the Lords in the vicinity, he was naturally in a state of disbelief.

    No matter how talented he was, he had just ascended, right? This kind of strength should''ve been impossible, right?

    These kinds of thoughts rushed through his head and created chaotic waves thatpletely crushed every n he had made since the start of this war.

    So naturally, when Damien suddenly appeared next to Tiamat, those cold eyes gazing down at him like he was some lowly being, he froze up.

    "Need help?" Damien said casually.

    "No need. I am enough for this one," Tiamat responded in kind.

    "Hmm, alright. I was going to go on an Emperor-hunting spree, but I guess you have your own grudges too. How about we split them two and two?"

    "That depends on which two you want."

    "My main target is really only the Saint Emperor, but if I had to choose between the others, the obvious choice would be the Soul Emperor¡­"

    "I cannot allow that."

    Damien''s brow raised in surprise at her quick response.

    "Is there any particr reason?"

    Tiamat nodded.

    "This one is too weak. I will not take the other weak one as well."

    "Is that really the only reason?"

    "..."

    Damien shrugged.

    "If you don''t want to talk about it then don''t. I''ll take the Inhuman Emperor if that''s what you want¡­"

    "...however, the Saint Emperor is mine no matter what."

    "You¡­"

    Damien''s eyes shot to the side as he nced at Tiamat.

    In that moment, she froze just like the Karmic Emperor.

    Damien was strong. His gaze alone put more pressure on her than any of the Demigods she''d faced before.

    Whether or not she could face him was still a question, but¡­

    As he disappeared without leaving any room for debate, Tiamat had a thought.

    ''So even you can make that kind of expression¡­''

    The Damien who marked the Saint Emperor was not the one she knew.

    That was a beast. A ruthless killing machine that would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

    The Saint Emperor was the longest-living being in the lower universe aside from the Ancient Sovereign. Naturally, he yed arge role in Tiamat''s life as well, one that absolutely made her want to tear him to pieces.

    However, she understood this feeling well.

    If she tried to steal his prey¡­

    ''...I may not live to see tomorrow.''

    She shook her head and cleared her thoughts.

    Regardless, the Soul Emperor was the main target for her revenge, and since the rest were already dead or lost in time, there was no point getting too worked up over it.

    She would be satisfied as long as she saw that man suffer, so even if he died at Damien''s hands, there was no difference.

    Instead, she looked at it in a positive light.

    A man who could be so warm that he melted her icy heart yet so ruthless he could instill fear into her, if there was any man worth dedicating her life to, it would be him.

    She didn''t know where he was going or what he would do, but until the time came for them to meet again, she was given free rein as long as she didn''t cross his line.

    Therefore¡­

    She turned her gaze back to the Karmic Emperor, who was covertly letting out a sigh of relief now that the storm known as Damien Void had passed.

    "Did you think we were finished?"

    The Karmic Emperor flinched.

    "..."

    He opened his mouth as if he were going to speak.

    And he was gone in the next second.

    BOOM!

    The atmosphere cried out as he shot away at his maximum speed.

    ''I have to escape that crazy woman, and I have to escape that nonsensical man! Dammit, why must fate toy with me like so?!''

    For so many variables to appear at once, and for each and every one to be capable of toppling the entire board with their own strength, did he umte some sort of bad karma?!

    No, he did exactly that, but he was supposed to be the one person free from its negative effects. That karma was supposed to be the source of his strength.

    Good karma could be harvested from those he controlled, but it could only be used to strengthen those he controlled. Bad karma on the other hand could not only be used as an attack force, but also as a means to strengthen himself.

    So why was he being struck by so many consequences at once?!

    "I can hear the gears in your brain turning from over here."

    He thought he was escaping, but he was wrong.

    He was nowhere near escaping her grasp.

    Tiamat trailed behind him at a reasonable distance and allowed him to run, not because she wanted to y with her food again, but because she needed to make distance from those Grand Heavens Boundary Demigods in order to properly fight.

    "Prepare yourself. This time, I will not let you off so easily."

    Tiamat didn''t know the Karmic Emperor. He was a rtively new Nox Emperor, and didn''t exist during her time.

    However, his twisted snake-like personality and cowardice, even his Demonic Providence, reminded her of a certain disgusting individual from the past.

    "You may not be him, but that is not my problem. Do not me me for what is toe, me him, for he is the reason you will suffer."

    Tiamat finished her speech, and in the same instant, she appeared next to the Karmic Emperor.

    "No¡­"

    His words were meaningless.

    Waves of horrifying ck Divine Energy billowed from Tiamat''s body, sinking him into the depths of darkness.

    "No¡­no¡­NO¡­!"

    From all sides, creatures of unknown origin, those he''d killed in the past, and his own inner demons surrounded him, swallowing him deeper into the abyss.

    He had no power here. They tore apart his skin, ripped out his nails, gouged his eyeballs, severed his limbs, and made him experience every form of unimaginable pain in existence.

    It was all an illusion.

    His mind was being broken with every second, and as the effects started to manifest on his body and soul, his pain was worsened to an extreme degree.

    "LET ME OUT!"

    "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"

    In fact, the Karmic Emperor wasn''t a man with remorse. The guilt of his actions, the morality of it all didn''t affect him in the slightest if it meant his goals would be achieved.

    However, Tiamatmanded death. She had power over her own personal underworld.

    When she threw him into the abyss, she instilled those emotions into him. She forced his soul to experience sympathy as it recalled every instance of evil it had evermitted.

    And that was enough to drive him insane.

    His body twisted and crunched strangely. His bones shattered themselves as his arms snapped in the wrong direction. Blood leaked from his eyes and nose, and foam seeped from his mouth.

    Tiamat smiled happily.

    This was only the beginning.

    Once she brought his mind back and healed it, he still had to undergo a few rounds of physical and soul torture before she let him die.

    After all, she was finally getting her revenge!

    She couldn''t just let it end without properly enjoying it, could she?

    Those were her thoughts as she watched the man deteriorate.

    And far away in apletely different part of the Ancient Battlefield, a chill ran down Damien''s spine.

    He suddenly had a strange feeling, as if he had a ticking time bomb in his hands, just waiting to explode.

    It was like the second he made a mistake, that bomb would go off and devour him whole.

    But¡­

    That must''ve just been his imagination¡­

    ¡­right?

 Chapter 1295 Hunt [2]

    Chapter 1295 Hunt [2]

    The area was still absolutely silent.

    After all, the people couldn''t easily ept what they''d just seen.

    No, did they see anything at all?

    As they stood there, their enemies magically disappeared.

    It wasn''t the work of a Demigod, but a true act of god, a working of fate, something that could only be described as a miracle.

    Even those like Iris who stood at the top of the universe had to marvel.

    Power like that¡­was that even possible?

    ''No, for him, it is more than just possible.''

    Unlike the rest, who were frozen in their confusion with nk expressions on their faces, Iris smiled.

    She expected nothing less from Damien, and if she was correct, he had left to do something even crazier than this.

    ''I thought I was getting stronger, but that was just arrogance.''

    She saw herself as the peak of the universe because everyone else said she was the peak of the universe.

    When she thought of what Damien would achieve after Cosmic Rebirth, she knew he would be extremely powerful, but this was just on another level!

    Cosmic Rebirth, she knew he would be extremely powerful, but this was just on another level!

    ''It seems I must work harder.''

    She wasn''t disheartened, rather, her fighting spirit was aze.

    That wasn''t just any man, that was her man. Watching him achieve great heights, how could she feel anything but joy?

    Though, she wasn''t content with that joy.

    She, like Rose, Ruyue, and Elena, desired to stand by his side.

    And while Damien was never someone they''d logically be able to stand equal to, none of them cared.

    Because eventually, they would stand there. Until they stood there, they''d be as close to him as possible, watching his back so he could focus on his path forward without distractions.

    Iris moved, leaving behind the perplexed atmosphere the rest shared. Unlike them, she had no ns of returning to Grand Heavens Boundary and living the rest of her life infort.

    She found her way to Tiamat, who was still mid-way through torturing the Karmic Emperor into a soulless husk.

    When their eyes connected, they felt a connection formed through their determination.

    Their ambition to grow stronger.

    Their desire to not be surpassed so easily.

    And they weren''t the only ones.

    Alucard, Tang Lingzi, and the rest felt their worlds shattering because of that event. They finally realized how low they''d fallen when they settled for their current power.

    The motivation they developed through Damien was transmitted through the people close to them, and through those people to even more.

    No longer.

    No longer would they allow a situation like this to sprout.

    No longer would they stand idle and let others lead their home into ruin.

    Just like Damien, who stood up on his own and conquered the Ancient Battlefield as someone younger and previously weaker than them all, they would stand by their beliefs with all their hearts and take things into their own hands.

    Maybe, just maybe, if an enemy like the Nox appeared again in the future, they wouldn''t need the help of a monstrous genius like Damien to solve it.

    They''d do it themselves, as the ones who should''ve been protecting and nurturing those of Damien''s generation.

    Slowly but surely, a change was taking ce.

    A change that would revolutionize the entire universe in the future!

    ***

    Damien didn''t immediately go after the Inhuman Emperor or Saint Emperor. He had some cleaning to do before he did.

    He killed over 3000 Nox Lords when he exited his Cosmic Rebirth, but there were still a few thousand of those insects scurrying around the Ancient Battlefield.

    The universe''s Demigods definitely had the ability to take care of the remaining forces, but Damien didn''t want to take any risks.

    The cleanup after the war was equally important. They''d already lost thousands upon thousands of forces, and they couldn''t lose any more.

    The universe would heal with time. New Demigods would rise, and as Damien was hell-bent on eradicating the Nox in totality, it would not be forced to regress as it had been throughout its history.

    Therefore, it needed people to lead it. Those who participated in this war and had hearts of righteousness or fear of his presence who could protect those budding Divinities until they reached their potential.

    The universe would only grow from now on. That was his ideal.

    And to make sure it could be carried out properly, he would eliminate everything in its way.

    His perception range was something of legends now. The vastly shrunken Ancient Battlefield waspletely within his vision.

    The war should have moved to the central area by now if one followed conventional standards, but Damien''s presencepletely erased that original intention.

    He crossed the entire ne in a matter of seconds. His gaze swept along its entire gait, and any Nox Demigod he saw would be erased by his word.

    There was no need to focus on the act itself. It was a ughter against Nox Lords who might as well have been powerless civilians before him. They could not fight back, and for the most part, they couldn''t even sense his presence.

    Instead of reveling in their vain deaths, Damien used them as fuel to gain a better understanding of his abilities inbat.

    Most of them were self-exnatory. The growth of his Legend through Devour happened seamlessly and didn''t cause negative side effects, and it seemed his soul protection was far sturdier than he originally expected, but that was all guaranteed when the Void Physique was taken into ount.

    The most curious thing was an ability he didn''t expect to gain.

    That ability to "perceive" people''s inner selves.

    It all started with the foundationalws, but Existence Law was far broader than just a sum of their parts.

    When the four bundled foundationalw aspects were connected in their current ry, they were able to form a mini-universe within him. Though it wasn''tplete yet, it was still equivalent to what the Sanctuary currently was.

    Existence.

    Just what did that word mean?

    It epassed everything. Everything a human could possibly understand was under the veil of existence.

    The concept of Nonexistence was absolutely iprehensible to the human mind. It could only be inferred as the "absence" of existence, however, when all things existence were, as the word suggested, existing, how could one properly wrap one''s mind around the meaning of the word?

    Whether it be physical or ethereal, to a certain extent, Damien could control it.

    And this didn''t just include energies, but more elusive concepts like fate and emotion.

    The ability to read people, the ability to understand them, came from this particr aspect of thew.

    Because they were "existences," he could understand theirponents, both biological and mental.

    It was an extremely strange ability. Even he couldn''t fully understand the function of it. However, as he moved through the Ancient Battlefield and ughtered all enemies he found, he learned just how useful it could be.

    These Lords couldn''t hold a candle to them, so of course it didn''t apply, however, when he suppressed his strength and tried fighting on their level, he found something mystical.

    Their attack patterns were engraved in his mind. Their emotional states were as clear as day. He could tell which wounds aggravated them the most and he could tell where the strengths they were confident in were.

    With this kind of information, he had an absolute advantage in battle, especially against opponents who didn''t have information on him.

    It was amazing.

    He only started realizing the true worth of thew he wasprehending after testing it with his own hands.

    He was only now beginning to truly understand what it meant to walk the path of an Absolute.

    And to cement this feeling, as well as to taste true battle for the first time since his exit, he made his way there.

    To the Inhuman Emperor.

    So he could truly make the most out of that practice dummy before he fought the Saint Emperor.

 Chapter 1296 Hunt [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1296 Hunt [3]</h4>

    Two men stood at the edge of the Ancient Battlefield, uninvolved in the war yet watching as it continued.

    They were Primal Sovereigns, not beings who had any stock in it. Orion came to watch over his descendant, while the Ancient Sovereign''s reasoning was more vague.

    But the deaths of their fellows drove their cause in the same direction as they investigated why their people died.

    There was no need for revenge. They were not hunted and killed, they died because they met an enemy they could not defeat.

    That didn''t change the fact that it was truly a shame.

    Primal Sovereigns were notmon in this world. Space Beasts would roam the starry skies as they pleased, but they were merely byproducts. They did not have the same status as Primal Sovereigns even though they were of the same race.

    When the Ancient Sovereign came here, he was originally nning to ensure that the deaths his fellows suffered were not unjust, and since their deaths were caused by their own conscious decisions, he didn''t have anything left to do.

    But, beyond his expectations, he found a connection that made him curious about its oue.

    "Did you see this too?"

    Orion''s words broke the silence between them.

    They both gazed into the distance with seemingly no aim, but they were looking at the same ce.

    "I did not."

    The Ancient Sovereign said three simple words, but they meant far more than anyone could imagine.

    Orion was dazed by the words he had never heard his eldest sibling say.

    "Has there ever been a case before?" He asked dubiously.

    "Not even once."

    "Wow¡­"

    Orion shook his head in wonder.

    "What do you see in that boy?"

    He was curious.

    He swore loyalty to that man so he could find out more about the Void. He didn''t directly contribute, but Damien''s presence, power, and connection with Iris were the reason he eventually met the Ancient Sovereign again, who finally told him everything he wished to know about their origins.

    And as Damien grew stronger and grew closer to his granddaughter, Orion became more and more curious about him.

    He kept doing astonishing things. The greater his state of existence grew, the more impossible Damien''s existence seemed.

    So he was extremely curious about what the Ancient Sovereign, who possessed sight like no other, saw him.

    "..."

    The Ancient Sovereign remained quiet for a moment, as if even he had to ponder to find a proper answer to the question.

    "At first, there was light¡­" he began.

    "I saw light beyond light and darkness beyond darkness. As theybined in a single form, I saw a man unlike any other, a man with the breath of our Mother."

    He spoke without the usual term of address and flow he carried, which caught Orion by surprise.

    The Ancient Sovereign himself was a being of strangeness. Even when he was speaking as clearly as possible, his words were twisted in an air of confusion.

    "I saw his past, and I saw his present. I saw him grow closer to another, yet move farther away. He became an existence beyond existence while still contained in his mortal shell¡­"

    "...however, you have never been able to see his future."

    Orion finished his words, and the Ancient Sovereign nodded in confirmation.

    "There is no past, present, or future in that child''s life unless he chooses to define them. The future he sees is not a future at all, it is an inevitability, yet also an impossibility. The path he will walk to reach that ce, and the path he will take once he arrives¡­"

    The Ancient Sovereign smiled slightly.

    "I am excited to observe it."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Orion scratched his head awkwardly.

    "I still do not quite understand, but it seems he is much greater than expected?"

    "No," the Ancient Sovereign cut in.

    "Rather, he is much more simple than you make him seem."

    Damien was a normal man.

    His ambitions weren''t so grand as to be considered grand, and his thoughts weren''tplex enough to be considered deep.

    Yet, in the midst of his simplicity was an implicitplexity that an average being couldn''t understand.

    "One might say it is Mother''s influence thatplicates his simple existence, but it is not so."

    Damien himself was a contradictory being in ways that he himself didn''t understand yet.

    A lull of silence fell between the two men as they were entrenched in their own thoughts.

    Their conversation went nowhere, and in essence, they merely reiterated things that had been said countless times already.

    But they were not ordinary beings. An ordinary conversation with them held immense value.

    The Ancient Sovereign couldn''t see his future, not because of the Void, but because of Damien himself.

    He, who knew all the secrets of the universe, found something he could not see.

    And that made him curious beyond curiosity.

    "He will go up soon, right?"

    "Yes, there is no question about it."

    "Then¡­"

    "...he will meet them."

    "For better or for worse?"

    "..."

    Orion smiled wryly.

    "Right, there''s no answer to that, is there?"

    He couldn''t do anything but watch.

    He wanted to know more than anything else where that journey would lead, but after this event¡­

    Damien had be an anomaly even by their standards.

    He achieved something in Cosmic Rebirth that he logically should have only achieved when he was establishing his Godhood.

    So where would his path take him from here?

    Whether it be his father, Dante Void, or their mother, the Void itself, the paths they''did for him werepletely torn asunder as he walked them.

    Instead of following what they set up for him and easily climbing to strength, he followed his own path without hesitation and became indomitable.

    Even for them, existences who''d lived for countless eons, he was an inspiration.

    Orion sighed.

    "Your life is truly miserable, elder brother."

    He couldn''t stand this.

    He couldn''t stand being a mere observer.

    But the Ancient Sovereign just shook his head.

    "Rather, there is no life This One would rather lead. As a wise young child stated prior, the cosmos needs an observer. Is there any role more important than this?"

    The two fell into silence once more.

    Their roles¡­they knew them well.

    So as they gazed into the horizon, where a certain anomalous child was meeting his first great enemy after ascension, they shared the same question.

    That child¡­

    What was his role?

    Did he even have one from the start?

    And if he did¡­

    Would he truly follow it, or would he tear down destiny in favor of his own desires?

    It was a scene nobody in the entire cosmos had been able to witness until this day.

    As observers recording its procession with their existence, they were the first.

    They couldn''t wait to see what he would show them.

    ***

    It was a in like every other, with nothing too special setting it apart.

    Two beings stood there alone. All other parties in the vicinity gathered in the distance, millions of kilometers away, and watched with bated breaths as they confronted each other.

    As Damien walked up andid his eyes on that man for the first time, that man also turned to look at him.

    "Boy¡­"

    His voice was low, but carried malevolence that couldn''t be replicated.

    A wide and ruthless grin spread across his face, painting the air with madness as his eyes widened in excitement.

    He opened his mouth and infused his breath with Divine Energy, roaring out as his body trembled from intense emotion.

    "...YOU HAVE FINALLY COME!"

    Damien and the Inhuman Emperor finally met.

    And instantly, their battle began!

 Chapter 1297 Hunt [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1297 Hunt [4]</h4>

    Before Damien went to meet the Inhuman Emperor, he killed half of the remaining Nox Lords on the Ancient Battlefield.

    He, of course, had the ability to ughter them all, but he decided against it.

    After all, he saw for himself the intensity at which Iris and Tiamat were acting.

    The Karmic Emperor was already dead, and as if they were racing against time, the two women rushed to find Nox Lords.

    They wanted to take as many of them as possible for themselves before Damien culled them entirely, and who was Damien to impede them?

    He had no interest in snuffing out the burning mes of determination in their eyes.

    The remaining Nox Lords were prey for them alone, so that they could grow as they wished.

    That was his gift to them.

    Nevertheless, there were two tasks left toplete once the culling ended.

    The first was checking the Saint Emperor''s position.

    He''d been essentially nonexistent for the entirety of the war, and Damien was concerned about what a man like him was doing with this time.

    And he did find him.

    The Saint Emperor was unmoving, sitting calmly as if he were waiting for something.

    He had a slight smile on his face and looked quite peaceful, but as if sensing Damien''s perception sweeping over him, he opened his eyes and nodded.

    ''He''s waiting¡­for me.''

    He didn''t know why the Saint Emperor was doing this, but he was absolutely certain he was waiting for him.

    He was likely waiting for him since the Ancient Battlefield opened and he learned Damien was alive.

    "..."

    Damien pursed his lips.

    No matter how much he wanted to go find out everything that mysterious man was hiding, he couldn''t go haphazardly.

    He had to take down distractions like the Inhuman Emperor first, and before he even did that, there was one final important task.

    ''Status''

    He thought the word, and for the first time since ascension, he saw the system''s appraisal of him.

    The status window changed upon reaching Divinity.

    Sections vanished while other sections appeared. At this level, Damien wasn''t the only one whose strength was pointless to measure in numbers.

    Demigods no longer needed stats to describe their physical state, nor did they need a section to tell them what their skills or traits were. All of this became deeply ingrained in their bodies upon ascending and reached a point where it was impossible for the system to know them better than themselves.

    However, the status window did still exist.

    It merely showed different information privy only to Divinities.

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    ????

    Male - Age 65

    Level 400

    Divinity: Hegemon God

    Legend: Mythical Hero

    Title(s): [???????, Apostle of the Void, Evolver, Heaven''s Wrath, Supreme Genius]

    Physique: Void Physique

    Authorities:

    [Devouring - 100%]

    [Immortality - 50%]

    [Elemental - 75%]

    [Spacetime - 75%]

    [Samsara - 75%]

    [Cosmic Duality - 75%]

    [Existence - 50%]

    The changes were a plenty and Damien spent a long time finding their meaning before he went and confronted the Inhuman Emperor.

    Firstly, he''d finally ovee the chasm known as "Level 399" and stepped into the next stage, which was satisfying to see.

    The section that showed how much experience he needed to get to the next level also disappeared, marking the most definitive difference between lower and higher existences.

    From this point forth, it wasn''t so easy to get stronger. One needed to expand their Divinity and flesh it out while building their Legend more and more until they finally reached the threshold of Godhood.

    Of course, there were stages to this process, however, Damien and the rest of the Demigods in the lower universe still didn''t know what these stages were.

    The two sections that followed gave clues, though.

    The section titled "Divinity" showed the name of his Divinity, the one he chose for it, and served as a constant reminder of what he was meant to achieve.

    And the "Legend" section which termed his current state, "Mythical Hero," was the recement of the "Experience" section.

    Mythical Hero was likely a level one''s Legend could reach. As Damien thought about it, he somewhat figured out how the progression of said terms would go.

    There was likely something along the lines of "Spiritual God" in the future, where the Legend he built became enough to garner worship from the masses. Perhaps there were other levels for different paths that he couldn''t think of, but as long as he kept growing his Legend, he was certain to find them eventually.

    This was the new way of progressing power that he needed to be ustomed to.

    It did make him a little happy.

    Now, he wasn''t the only one looking at a nigh useless status window. The rest of his peers would have to suffer alongside him!

    Thest change was the biggest one in terms of appearance.

    Where stats, skills, and traits used to be was left a single section, titled "Authorities."

    Authorities were the power of a Demigod. They were, for most people, thew foundation that formed one''s Divinity, and epassed every part of a Divine''s power.

    Damien''s case was strange.

    Devour became its ownplete Authority. This was the system''s attempt at quantifying the Void, but the most it could see was what the Void allowed it to, so only the singr skill ingrained in Damien''s body appeared.

    Immortality was a reference to his regenerative abilities and bloodlines. The power to give him a true immortal body that couldn''t be killed, something even Gods didn''t have.

    And the next four were the fusedws that made up Existence.

    Their pletion rate" which Damien could only assume had something to do with reaching Godhood, was stuck at 75%, while the Authority of Existence was at 50%.

    It wasn''t hard to rationalize this one.

    He had yet tobine those four fundamentals. Once they reached 100%, they wouldbine and his Existence Authority would reach 75%, and from there it was just a matter ofprehending Existence itself.

    The new status window was far more streamlined than ever before, which Damien quite appreciated, and, within its simplicity, he could feel theplex workings of Divinity.

    The powers that used to be under his control were still under his control, however, anything unrted to his Divinity would be weakened to the extreme, which would eventuallynd him in a spot where he had no choice but to forgo everything else for its sake.

    Luckily, Damien put his everything into that Divinity, so even if he did experience this consequence to an extent, it wouldn''t be nearly as terrifying as it was for others.

    ''If I want to know more and confirm what I think I know, I have to go to the Heavenly World. My time in the lower universe is almost up.''

    That was Damien''s conclusion.

    Everything from this point forth was in the Heavenly World. There was almost nothing left for him in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    He already knew what he was going to do with his time before leaving, and he already made ns to leave.

    But the first step was not in the Heavenly World or Grand Heavens Boundary, it was right here on the Ancient Battlefield.

    Damien walked forward, his eyesnding on that man.

    The Inhuman Emperor looked at him as well, those manic eyes wide and unsettling.

    And they began their fight.

 Chapter 1298 Hunt [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1298 Hunt [5]</h4>

    The Inhuman Emperor''s Divinity was far simpler than Damien''s.

    Its name was "Blissful Agony."

    It did not refer to finding bliss in a state of agony, but rather, in line with his character, represented the bliss he felt forcing other people to endure agony.

    The attacks he used were more akin to torture than killing techniques, and thews he used had been convoluted to the point where they weren''t necessarilyws anymore.

    His Demonic Providence, Executioner, also backed his Divinity extremely well.

    Using abination of Blood Laws, Metal Laws, Illusion Laws, and several others, he created a power that was hard to exin as just magic.

    When the Inhuman Emperor heard of Damien for the first time, his thought was just as simple as every other thought he''d ever had.

    Such a talented human was a perfect subject. Someone who could hold the weight of the universe''s hope on his shoulders¡­how blissful would it be to see him suffer?

    He couldn''t wait to find out.

    When Damien appeared, he was bursting with excitement and couldn''t contain himself.

    Uncaring of anything else, he charged forth with his Divine Energy ring.

    He infused his mana with a plethora of effects like pain amplification and wound aggravation as he struck out, forming a serrated de and covering it with an aura of rust that would dig into his enemy''s skin and force its way into their bloodstream.

    As long as the rust particles made their way into a practitioner''s bloodstream, it was already his win.

    They would not be able to endure what came next.

    Damien knew this.

    He didn''t know much about the Saint Emperor or Soul Emperor, but he''d killed and devoured so many of the Inhuman Emperor''s subordinates that he was well aware of all of this man''s abilities.

    Yet, he didn''t move.

    He stood stalwart as the Inhuman Emperor appeared before him and shed out with his de.

    The attack was aimed at his arm, not a fatal location.

    And Damien offered that arm up to be cut.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The eyes watching from the distance collectively widened in disbelief.

    The mana felt more like bloodlust. It twisted and warped the surrounding air, bringing forth a purgatory of suffering for anyone who got close enough to feel it.

    In the midst of that purgatory, Damien felt its effects firsthand.

    The sensation of his soul burning, his limbs being eviscerated, his bones being shattered one by one, and countless other torturous pains.

    However, they were just illusions.

    Time stopped.

    Damien closed his eyes and took a breath.

    "Huu¡­"

    He exhaled, and with the mana infused in his breath, the illusions themselves were dispersed into nothingness.

    He looked down at his arm with a smile.

    The Inhuman Emperor''s de was mid-sh against his skin, yet, despite its power and sharpness, it could not prate his skin.

    ''As expected, the Authority of Immortality is broken.''

    Or was this just the Void Physique''s doing?

    Regardless, Damien started to understand the strength of his body, and he was satisfied with such an oue.

    He stepped back.

    Nothing changed. The Inhuman Emperor maintained his posture.

    Damien casually took a few steps, walking behind the Inhuman Emperor.

    "This is nice too."

    He pulled his fist back.

    Time resumed.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    He punched out, his fist mming into the Inhuman Emperor''s skull.

    CRACK!

    It was so loud even the onlookers could hear it, that sound.

    The Inhuman Emperor was pushed into the ground, cracking it with his face.

    Before he could understand what happened, Damien lifted his foot and stomped on his already cracked skull.

    BANG!

    The back of his head caved in disgustingly.

    ''If I control existence, then¡­''

    Damien flicked his finger, sending his mana into the Inhuman Emperor''s body.

    He could feel it.

    That man''s mana.

    ''Be mine.''

    He exerted his influence, and the mana had no choice but to follow.

    "AGH!"

    The Inhuman Emperor coughed out blood. His body turned a painful shade of red.

    However, he wasn''t going to be defeated so easily,

    In that instant, he rolled to the side and red his mana, using it as a crutch to lift himself up.

    He manifested another saw, along with several needles and other torture tools.

    He shed out before Damien could read his movements.

    As expected, the de couldn''t cut his skin, but that didn''t matter. It was just a feint.

    While Damien focused on the de, the needles flew through the darkness between space and stabbed into his eyes and ears.

    His blood sttered for the first time.

    Damien''s hands went to his eyes, his teeth gritted in pain.

    The Inhuman Emperor wasn''t one to miss such an opportunity.

    He created chains of mana that held Damien''s body in ce, and in the same breath, he summoned a new device.

    It consisted of four pirs in the four cardinal directions. The two to Damien''s left and right connected to the chains on his arms and legs, while the one behind him held his head and the one in front held his waist.

    They moved as one.

    They pulled Damien in every direction. His torso was forced forward, while his neck was tugged back. His arms and legs went in four different directions away from each other until they were practically seconds away from tearing off his body.

    VOOOOM!

    Damien''s body went ame with mana as he tried to cut the chains, but the Inhuman Emperor learned from his mistakes.

    He may have still been young, but Damien was no amateur.

    Pain amplification, wound aggravation, festering rot, paralysis toxins, soul-rending poisons¡­

    Every method he had at his disposal was used to make sure Damien could neither move nor withstand what was going to be done to him.

    "Kekeke¡­" the Inhuman Emperor cackled.

    "KEKEKEKEKEKE!"

    He couldn''t stop himself.

    As he inserted needle after needle into that man''s seemingly imprable skin, as he listened to that man roar and scream in pain, he couldn''t contain the ecstasy in his very soul.

    Eventually, it happened.

    Damien''s arms and legs could no longer bear the pressure. They were torn away from his body with no sense of cleanliness at all, leavingrge gaping and uneven wounds in their ce.

    Only a few secondster, his waist was torn away as well, leaving him with nothing more than the top half of his body.

    But¡­

    "Kekeke, boy, y with me for a bit longer!"

    The Inhuman Emperor was well equipped for such tasks. He wasn''t willing to lose his fun so easily.

    His power had one miraculous effect that allowed him to reach his current position, even if everything else was discarded.

    That was a power eerily simr to Life, but far too twisted to be called such.

    Vitality flowed into Damien''s broken body.

    His soul was malformed into a size befitting of its current vessel.

    Despite his grievous wounds, he would not die as long as this state was maintained.

    The Inhuman Emperor was giddy as he went to work.

    His mind was consumed by the screams of his victim, almost to the point where his reaction looked orgasmic.

    Yet, he felt a bit strange.

    He felt like, vaguely, somewhere beyond reality, a voice was speaking to him.

    "So is that how it is?"

    Damien nodded in understanding.

    "I didn''t know I could use mana like this, but it was a good lesson."

    He stood with his foot on the Inhuman Emperor''s head.

    The previous scene was obviously not real. Since when was Damien someone who could be toyed around with like that?

    But it wasn''t an illusion either.

    It was a reflection of the Inhuman Emperor''s mana. It was the thoughts infused in his energy, the desire that provoked him to fight.

    The Inhuman Emperor was currently experiencing bliss in that desire, but his soul was no longer attached to his body.

    Rather, it was in Damien''s hands.

    ''I want to take some time to y around with it, but it can''t be helped.''

    He was interested in how souls functioned, and this one would''ve been nice to experiment on since there was no need to feel remorseful to someone like him.

    But, unfortunately, Damien was in need of its power, so he''d have to wait to find a better soul for that purpose.

    "Before that¡­"

    He looked down at the man below him.

    "It would''ve been a good battle, I''m sure, but you''re not that much better than Immortal Blood Asura, so I probably wouldn''t have been able to gain anything significant from it anyway."

    Damien clenched his fist and pressed all his weight into his foot.

    CRUNCH!

    The Inhuman Emperor''s soul disappeared into a void of ckness as his everything was given to Damien, and his body was crushed into nothingness by pure physical power.

    Damien smiled.

    "Good fight."

    He looked into the distance.

    It was time to go meet that man.

    So he could finally put an end to his time on this damn battlefield.

 Chapter 1299 Hunt [6]

    <h4>Chapter 1299 Hunt [6]</h4>

    "Are you sure you want to go alone?"

    "I must. This is a matter that began with me, so it must end with me as well."

    "... I understand, however, I''m going toe with you. There''s still a possibility you will¨C"

    "No, you have something better to do, don''t you? There should be roughly 500 Lords remaining."

    "That doesn''t matter. You know they won''t have any impact on my power."

    "Maybe not, but you are in need of experience more than power. Now that you have awakened your true self, you must be equipped with using your strengths to their full potential."

    "I don''t like how right you are."

    "Yet, right I am regardless."

    "Haa, I get it. But when I finish, I''ming. Don''t think you can stop me."

    "Mm, it is nice to have a friend like you."

    "Friend, I''m honored."

    "You should be."

    Thest conversation between Tiamat and Iris went something along those lines.

    It took a bit longer for them to part, since Iris was adamant on hearing Tiamat say thosest few words one more time, but it couldn''t be helped.

    They eventually separated.

    As Iris went to take care of the rest of the rodents hiding in various parts of the battlefield, Tiamat finally approached that ce.

    A man sat there on his own.

    He wasn''t maintaining a stance of nonintervention like the Saint Emperor, but his visage was just as calm.

    He had no ns to interfere with the Ancient Battlefield. Doing so would go against the mission he was fulfilling.

    Nox Emperors were privy to the Nox''s hive mindwork, but their memories would not be transmitted like the lower-level beings.

    Because the Saint Emperor made sure to cut the connections of those who apanied him on that day, the Soul Emperor wasn''t aware of the destruction of the Demon Abyss, as he was away from Al''Katra when it happened.

    He didn''t care if the Nox died out here, because he still thought he could return to the lower universe and wait for the race to return on its own.

    Unfortunately for him, his ns had been ruined before they even had a chance to begin. Damien really had a habit of pping him in the face like that.

    But that was beside the point.

    Whether he intervened or not, this day would have eventuallye.

    Tiamat approached without hiding her presence. She wanted him to know who hade.

    His eyelids calmly separated, those soulless orbs staring into her eyes.

    "You¡­wee back," he said indifferently.

    "Yes, I have returned, and¡­"

    Tiamat''s eyes were aze with fury.

    The Soul Emperor was the second oldest after the Saint Emperor. He had been alive for at least 100,000 years already, interfering with the universe to deliver World and Universal Cores to his creators.

    He was present from the beginning of Tiamat''s existence to the moment she was betrayed, and of the Emperors who were responsible, he was one of the main causes.

    Tiamat was a hindrance. She never had a connection to the creators in the first ce, nor was she born from the Demon Abyss. She was a Nox in name, but she wasn''t truly a Nox at all.

    She had ns to overturn the race that ruined her and rebuild it in her image, however, what image was that?

    It was certain it wouldn''t be the image the creators envisioned.

    Therefore, no matter how valuable of an asset she would have been, he sacrificed her.

    Unlike those who envied her strength or feared her authority, who had long died out, he who opposed her because their interests were misaligned remained alive.

    As did the Saint Emperor, a man who only had one reason to support the coup.

    He was bored.

    If she had to choose between them, she''d rather go after that man, but he was already being confronted by someone who was a much better match,

    Therefore, she came here.

    "You are still acting like a dog after all these millennia. I should have never expected anything else from you," she spat condescendingly.

    The Soul Emperor didn''t react.

    "I am a vessel for my master''s will. We are vessels for the master''s will. You, however¡­"

    "...are a mistake."

    He stood up calmly. He was like an old man who''d lost all purpose in life.

    Yet, there was purpose behind those soulless eyes. A single-minded purpose that didn''t require the existence of a soul uniquely his own at all.

    "Did youe here to vent your emotions, or do you n to once again impede my path?" The Soul Emperor asked.

    Tiamat scowled in disgust.

    "Your path is nonexistent, and my reason doesn''t matter. Know that you will not die by my hands. There is a much worse fate in store for you."

    "I see¡­"

    The Soul Emperor nodded.

    "Then, let us fight."

    Tiamat attacked first, or at least, she thought she did.

    She stepped forward and summoned the mana of death in her soul, the mes of vengeance empowering them greatly.

    However, before she could release any attacks, a strange formless impact struck her, pushing her mind out of her body.

    Like she was astral projecting, she watched her body from the air above. It was in a stunned state, and the Soul Emperor paid it no mind, instead looking at her soul form floating in the sky.

    "This is enough."

    He raised his frail arm and shakily pointed at her.

    There was nothing, but she felt it. If she didn''t dodge, she''d die instantly.

    Tiamat gritted her teeth.

    She had nothing else to do in the First Dungeon where she was imprisoned but think.

    She understood her power to its greatest depths, and as someone who specialized in the art of death, she paid close attention to her soul.

    After tens of thousands of years of waiting, she trained to a point where her soul control could rival even the best of masters.

    She wasn''t going to lose so easily!

    She infused her will into the incorporeal vessel she currently inhabited, and as if she were the wind itself, she drifted through the air and became one with it.

    The formless impact didn''t hit her, but she understood its horror clearly.

    ''I will not be able to return to my body easily.''

    The Soul Emperor had moved for that purpose. With him so close to her body, even trying to approach it would spell death.

    Therefore, Tiamat had no choice but to fight in her soul state.

    ''All pain will be multiplied, and death will follow my every move. If I make even a single wrong move¡­''

    It didn''t need to be exined further.

    ''Still, I have not been put at a major disadvantage.''

    She was closer than ever to death when she acted as a soul. Therefore, her power of death would be multiplied just as much as the risk of falling into its embrace.

    Losing wasn''t an option.

    Neither was falling here.

    To fight against a man who controlled souls in a soul state was likely the stupidest decision one could make, but it lit Tiamat''s heart ame with tongues of excitement.

    She was here for revenge.

    What better way was there to exact it than destroying the enemy in the aspect he was most confident in?

    Her soul was dyed ck, a different ckness than Damien''s, and power surged forth.

    The battle had only just begun.

    She was the Empress of Death, and one day, she would be the Goddess who ruled over it in totality.

    A mere dog of some unnamed pests from the Heavenly World wouldn''t be the one to end her reign!

 Chapter 1300 Hunt [7]

    ?

    1300 Hunt [7]

    Tiamat''s Divinity was called True Death.

    Just as Elena chased the peak of Life, Tiamat chased the absolute peak of Death. She took the concept past its regr limits and gave it more meaning, fleshing out its every aspect.

    True Death was a concept that mirrored Nonexistence. It did not follow the cycle of samsara, but trumped life in all aspects, being the absolute end that consumed life no matter what.

    The soul and ego did not get reborn, they were wiped from existence and reced.

    It was a terrifying definition that made the concept impossible to escape or cope with. It was impossible to see as anything other than what it was.

    However, she was also an ambitious person. She didn''t n to use Death so single-mindedly.

    Just as True Death epassed the negative and horror-inducing aspects, it also covered the positive ones.

    Peace, bliss, a new start, an end to suffering. Death was worshipped by just as many as it was feared by. It was a concept that had been deified, and some regarded it as the reward for all the suffering that life brought.

    Ironically, as someone who could see both sides of Death and bring them together in one Divinity, Tiamat wasn''t someone who could die easily.

    But neither was the Soul Emperor.

    Unlike others, he didn''t form a Divinity for himself. He formed a Divinity of Absolute Servitude, dedicating everything he had to his masters.?

    His soul was consumed by that Divinity, but in return, he gained the ability to influence the souls of others.

    Obedience that stemmed from the very soul, that was his power.

    These two Divinities couldn''t bepared as they were so different. In direct confrontation, neither really had much power over the other.

    However, the difference was in their foundation.

    What was easier to break?

    The absolute loyalty of a dog, or the inevitability of death?

    The answer was obvious.

    Tiamat was still in soul form, but she didn''t lose out to the Soul Emperor at all.

    She became one with the air and one with the earth. She was so mobile that it was hard for the frail-looking and slow-moving Soul Emperor tond another attack after the first.

    This battle wasn''t really a battle. The twobatants did attack each other, but rather than aiming to cause damage, their intent was to fracture each other''s Divinity.

    They implicitly understood that neither of them could kill the other directly. They were equally matched, and just as Tiamat had an Authority simr to Immortality, the Soul Emperor couldn''t die unless his masters wanted him to.

    Therefore, it became a battle wholly dependent on spirit.

    Who was more set in their beliefs?

    Whose beliefs held more power?

    This was the foundation of all conflict, and it was perfectly reflected by them.

    Tiamat had a simple goal.?

    She had to nt a seed of distrust in the Soul Emperor''s hearts. If he even slightly doubted his masters, he would expose a w she didn''t have.

    And as she thought about how to go about such a task, she came up with a few options.

    The first was to try and make him realize that his masters didn''t care about him, but that idea was quickly thrown out the window.

    There was no way the Soul Emperor wasn''t already aware of how they viewed the Nox. He''d likely already epted that his masters would never hold the same emotions towards his efforts as he held towards them.

    The fact that he epted it and still decided to follow them was a testament to his loyalty, and such loyalty couldn''t easily be broken.

    The second option was more reasonable. She had to devalue the creators of the Nox.

    If she could make them seem less all-powerful than he viewed them to be, there was a chance.

    And how would she do that?

    Well, the question came full circle.

    She had to defeat him.

    Nobody else.

    Because she was an outlier. Her existence itself was a "mistake" those creators made.

    Tiamat was not naive. She already understood the secret behind her birth.

    Somehow, somewhere, one of those creators abandoned their child in the Abyss. She was not a Nox, but a being far above their race.

    The Soul Emperor refused to ept this, or perhaps he didn''t know at all.?

    If she could defeat him here, he would be forced to ept that he had less worth than a failure. Moreover, if he realized her status, wouldn''t he feel like the creators themselves disdained him?

    She was confident the strategy would work, but to make it usible, she first had to defeat him in a battle of wits.

    "That is a way to shatter him entirely. Before that, I must create a crack in his armor!''

    The Soul Emperor was impossible to read. He rarely ever showed himself in public, and he never made obvious moves that allowed people to understand the full scope of his power.

    The fear people felt upon hearing his name was brought about through rumors and whispers of actions that may or may not have been his doing.

    But facing him directly, Tiamat realized that his status waspletely justified.

    His control over souls was monstrous.

    He didn''t have anyw affinities, nor did he use anything like a Demonic Providence yet.

    Instead, the natural dominance he had over souls was what ced Tiamat in her current predicament.

    Whenever he pushed his hand out, an impulsive wave of strange energy was sent into the atmosphere. It was formless and colorless with no presence whatsoever.

    That pure soul energy transmuted from mana had many functions. It could disassemble souls, control their growth, steal their attributes, instill torture, and more.

    In the current battle, it had been used for the main purpose of corralling Tiamat and controlling her movements, but those fluctuations were still deadly.

    ?

    If they hit, her soul would be torn to shreds. Even if she could piece it back together, the advantage he''d gain in that time would make it extremely difficult for her to regain even footing.

    Nevertheless, Tiamat was still dodging everything properly, and the Soul Emperor had yet to use his full power.

    They were in the process of scoping each other out and probing. Until now, that is.

    Several dozens of minutes had passed, and finally, they tacitly agreed that their current battle method would not work.

    "As expected...you are too dangerous."

    VOOOOOOOM!

    The Soul Emperor''s mana burst forth, putting severe pressure on the atmosphere.

    A field was formed around him, a domain of spirits. Countless vengeful souls and tortured souls he''d reaped in the past appeared as his legion, forced to follow hismands.

    "Death Empress, do not impede my path."

    He looked into her soul with those eyes. It felt like she was frozen in that moment.

    However, she stood tall and refused to give in.

    "Don''t get it twisted," she spat.

    "You are the one impeding me with your nonsense. My actions here are nothing more than the consequences of yours in the past. Instead of speaking in tongues, ept your fate and die."

    It seemed the Soul Emperor found a way through her Divinity, but she''d found one around his as well.

    The battle would be short.

    Whoever struck true first would win.

    ?

    And as they were both prepared, they moved.

    It was the most sacred battle method for Divinities.

    To directly ce their Divinities side by side and allow them topete, to see whose ideals were worth more.

    Under the world''s eye, they stood trial.

    With only the Heavens themself as their judge.

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1301 Hunt [8]

    Chapter 1301 Hunt [8]

    The so-called Sacred Combat, what did it mean?

    It was an ingrained tradition in the souls of Demigods that they would follow in moments of deep desire even without realizing its existence.

    That was why these Demigods who spent their entire lives in the lower universe were partaking in a tradition only truly known to the Heavenly World.

    Two Demigods would face each other.

    Knowing that a head-on collision would be ineffective, forcing them to spend days or weeks fighting until one side gained the advantage or ran out of mana, they chose a different method.

    They condensed the height of theirws into a single attack and pinpointed the weakness in their enemy''s Divinity, aiming to end it in one blow.

    Whoever could strike that blow first would win regardless of whether they dealt fatal damage or not. Because Sacred Combat was the process of cracking the other party''s Divinity.

    Being able to do so clearly set one apart from their opponent, and even if the opponent wished to fight more, they would lose their opportunity.

    After all, a crack in one''s Divinity was fatal enough even if the actual damage wasn''t the same.

    Winning a Sacred Combat illustrated not only one''s skills and the depths of one''s ideals, but it clearly outlined their perception and sight to be able to see through another''s Divinity.

    This wasn''t an easy task at all, especially since Divinities were far more numerous thanws.

    The process wasn''t so streamlined in the lower universe. Since it was carried out on instinct, the people involved didn''t realize the significance of their achievements.

    However, the base concept was the same.

    As Tiamat and the Soul Emperor stood across from each other with their Divine Energy raging, the Soul Emperor made the first move.

    In what could be considered an act of grace, or the maintenance of honor, the Soul Emperor returned Tiamat''s body to her.

    From the air, she looked down at it warily.

    "What is this?" She questioned.

    "Nothing," the Soul Emperor responded.

    "As it hase to this, the master''s name is at stake in this battle. Advantages such as this will not be tolerated if their honor must be defended."

    "Tch."

    Tiamat clicked her tongue and reattached her soul to her body as if she was doing so unwillingly, however, internally, she was smiling.

    If he was staking so much on this, it gave her another opening to exploit.

    "Very well, however, what happens if you lose face for your master with such words?" She asked, provoking him.

    The Soul Emperor''s eyes rarely ever showed expression, but they were especially sharp at this time.

    "That is an impossible oue."

    "Hah."

    Tiamat scoffed and stretched the limbs that she could now feel again.

    Once she was relimatized to her physical state, she summoned her mana once more.

    "Then, shall we begin?"

    She suppressed the hatred in her heart.

    Revenge and the likes, those were her motivations to engage in this battle, but they were unimportant now.

    The second she achieved victory here, her revenge would be far sweeter than if she just killed him.

    Therefore, for the sake of that victory, she put all those feelings away.

    She concentrated on her Divinity. She looked deep into True Death and pulled together the height of herws.

    A force thatbined the bliss and the tragedy of death, a force that epassed both good and evil, a force that represented true duality even within a singrw. That force appeared around her body and acted as fuel for her strength.

    Meanwhile, the Soul Emperor did the same.

    The Absolute Servitude the souls hemanded were forced into, he harnessed it to empower himself. He sacrificed them for power, and dedicated that power to the ones he served, entirely willing toy his own life down in the same way for their sakes.

    Without a single hypocritical bone in his body, viewing himself the exact same way he viewed those he controlled without prejudice or arrogance, and using that vision as grounds to call his servitude absolute, he gathered his mana as well.

    The two walked up to each other without a word. The domain around the Soul Emperor was consumed and turned into an aura around his body, wispy and almost formless with just a few traces of white in its atmosphere.

    It contrasted Tiamat''s aura greatly, exuding a subtlety that her thick and murky ck aura didn''t have.

    They were ten steps apart.

    Tiamat had a thought.

    What was the core of the Soul Emperor''s Divinity?

    What was it that cemented his servitude in stone?

    Why did he choose to view himself as a ve, and why was he, who rose to the peak of their race, willing to be one?

    The depths of his loyalty were known to all, but the reasoning behind it was a mystery.

    Nine steps.

    Could there have been a story between them?

    Maybe the Soul Emperor received some kind of grace from the creators that made him want to serve them with all his heart.

    If so, his unyielding nature would''ve been exinable, and the heights he saw in them would make hisck of desire for power understandable as well.

    Eight steps.

    It couldn''t be so simple. 100,000 years of servitude couldn''t be bought with such fleeting loyalty.

    Perhaps the lifetime of a mortal could be supported by a life-saving grace, but with immortality came independence. The fact that this nature had no position in his heart was telling.

    Seven steps.

    Then, was there a deeper reasoning? Perhaps the Soul Emperor had some sort of connection to the creators that other Nox didn''t have.

    He might''ve been an illegitimate child working his hardest for their recognition, or he might have been something of a religious fanatic who would do anything to get closer to his god.

    Six steps.

    Five steps.

    Four steps.

    The Soul Emperor wasn''t that type of person.

    For as long as Tiamat knew of him, he was a person without a soul.

    The stories told in those days of when he was young made it difficult to give this man a backstory.

    He was always soulless. It wasn''t something instilled in him at ater date or something he sacrificed when he gained Divinity. The reason he had no hesitation in sacrificing his sense of self for the creators was because he didn''t have much of one from the start.

    Three steps.

    Two steps.

    They were only a few feet away from each other at this point, and Tiamat realized something as she once again felt his presence from a close distance.

    A w that had remained hidden for so long, one that not even the Soul Emperor was aware of.

    ''It was never soplicated.''

    The Nox were creatures of vice, and their creators were just as consumed by greed.

    Whether they had deep-seated schemes or long-term ns for unknown purposes, they never cared enough about the Nox to show them any sort of consideration.

    There was no way for the Soul Emperor to genuinely form such a mindset.

    As long as he was a Nox, his mindset was inherently wed, because he was created with apletely different nature that needed to be tamed.

    One step.

    Only one step remained.

    And Tiamat found her answer.

    ''His loyalty was never natural to begin with.''

    There was a w.

    A w that had remained hidden for so long, one that not even the Soul Emperor was aware of.

    Nobody could''ve thought of it because of its simplicity.

    For the Soul Emperor whose character had always remained the same, nobody would''ve made such an assumption, especially since he''d reached his current heights.

    But that was it.

    There was no other exnation.

    And Tiamat could intuitively feel that she was right.

    ''That loyalty¡­''

    There was no more distance left to cover.

    And now that she had her answer¡­

    ''...was artificially nted in him at birth.''

    ¡­it was time to attack.

 Chapter 1302 Hunt [9]

    <h4>Chapter 1302 Hunt [9]</h4>

    They moved at the same time.

    To call their motions themselves attacks was wrong, because with the speed and power imbued in them, even a regr mortal would be able to dodge.

    However, the intent behind them was to kill, nothing more and nothing less.

    The Soul Emperor raised his withered arm and ced his finger on Tiamat''s forehead, while Tiamat did the same for him.

    And the attacks they prepared were unleashed directly onto the Divinity of their opponent.

    Tiamat frowned as she felt it.

    The Soul Emperor also used those ten steps to judge what the root of her Divinity was, the truth behind True Death.

    The conclusion he came to was far moreplex than hers.

    Tiamat was born in that kind of ce.

    A ce devoid of anything, where only she existed.

    She walked a lonely road from that point. Everything she ever cherished was taken away from her by death, and at some point, even her psyche was consumed by the concept.

    She turned into an agent of death by the time she was matured, and she remained that way until she reached Divinity.

    Her entire journey was crazed.

    The number of Nox that died to her was uncountable. It was likely a simr number to what Damien killed when he destroyed the Demon Abyss.

    But unlike him, who used the power of the corrupted foreign material to instantly cut their lives off, she took each and every one directly.

    She was dangerous. Just as much as death chose her, she chose it.

    The True Death she finally established after walking such a path was, contrary to what most believed, a somewhat immature move from her.

    It was innocent.

    Because while the side of her that wished for her enemies to be erased in totality, to lose any presence in this world and be forgotten, silently receiving the worst of punishments by their lonesome¡­

    ¡­she wanted those she cared for to experience only bliss when they entered its embrace.

    There was nothing wrong with this. Her attachments couldn''t be considered a weakness unless she deemed them to be.

    Therefore, there was nothing to pick apart about her reasoning for forming a Divinity like True Death. It was not only ruthless and noble, it perfectly encapsted her being.

    The Soul Emperor had to take the opposite route from Tiamat to attack her. Rather than facing the "individuality" within the Divinity, he had to attack the concept of True Death itself.

    And as someone who controlled souls, this was the perfect method for him.

    Tiamat''s Divinity denied Samsara. It put Death above Life and disallowed their harmony.

    While the universe functioned with the Wheel of Samsara governing its dead, that didn''t mean other beliefs were discredited.

    Whether it be the afterlife, nonexistence, or theplete absence of death, the universe allowed one to hold the beliefs they did, and when their souls were reincarnated, their egos would be given sufficient reward or punishment based on their beliefs.

    Damien wished for nonexistence, so that was what he received.

    But to call it True Death when it was just one of the many facets of death was wrong. This was the basis of the Soul Emperor''s attacks.

    The souls he carried were proof. They were souls he stole from the Wheel of Samsara, thus proving its existence as the ultimate authority.

    This truth struck Tiamat''s Divinity in that metaphysical ne, and it became her job to fight it.

    Meanwhile, Tiamat''s attack was already said.

    She targeted the very core of the Soul Emperor''s belief.

    The fact that he was someone the creators cared for, the fact that his loyalty was valid, or that it was even his own.

    The "truth" that he was instilled with such loyalty and it wasn''t naturally bred would utterly copse his sense of self, which, in turn, would do the same to his Divinity.

    However, unlike the Soul Emperor, she didn''t have definitive proof of her im.

    It was a gamble.

    The Soul Emperor''s attack was surefire. Once Tiamat lost out, it had a 100% chance of piercing her Divinity, even if the cut was shallow.

    On the other hand, Tiamat''s attack was riskier and had the potential to miss, but she seeded, she''d directly cripple him in that moment.

    Two different paths and two different strategies shed, and as the two remained standing silently on the Ancient Battlefield without a hint of movement, they partook in the most direct and deep battle they could possibly have.

    At some point, Iris appeared above them with a frown on her face.

    ''Seriously¡­even if the main enemy is gone, is it normal to leave yourself so unguarded?''

    Sheined, but it wasn''t an unworthyint. Even though she''d finished taking care of the rest of the Nox Lords remaining, leaving only the Soul Emperor and Saint Emperor alive, the war wasn''t necessarily over.

    There were still traitors hidden in the ranks, people with the same goal as the Soul Emperor to keep their allegiance with the Grand Heavens Boundary side for the sake of survival.

    People like that were the reason their universe was so fractured in the current era.

    During thest war, the Ancient Battlefield didn''t open, so those people had a chance to fester over thousands of years.

    Now that they were stuck here until thest two Emperors met their ends, it was the perfect time for a culling, so their universe would never be put in such a situation again.

    At least, not in the short term.

    It was hard to avoid bad seeds even in the greatest of crops, but if a precedent was set, the opportunities for them to grow became far more constrained.

    Nevertheless, that process was left to Alucard and Tang Lingzi, who became the de facto leaders of their side after thest battle and the deaths of most of the universe''s strongest.

    Iris wanted to go to Damien first, but¡­

    ''From the look in his eye at that time, this isn''t a battle that anyone should interfere with.''

    She set up a defensive barrier around the two currently entrapped in Sacred Combat and waited.

    She could picture it.

    Right now, Damien was probably meeting that terrifying man.

    He who had lived more than anyone else, he whose motives remained unknown for millions upon millions upon millions of years¡­

    That man was someone whose entire being symbolized the unknown, and for that reason, just thinking about fighting him made one feel an implicit sense of fear.

    Iris was definitely worried, but there was nothing she could do.

    This was a battle of fate.

    Just as Damien and the Saint King were fated to sh in the past, Damien had reached his fate with the Saint Emperor now.

    Nobody knew how it would turn out.

    Nobody knew anything about either of theirbat power.

    And nobody could tell why they were so focused on each other''s existence.

    Those facts were known only to them.

    Only to the two men who were now facing each other somewhere on the Ancient Battlefield.

    No, they were not on the current battlefield.

    Their meeting ce was outside the bounds of this ne, in an area that had already vanished as the circle closed.

    Only here could they fight without witnesses, speak without ears listening in on them, and experience this encounter to its full potential.

    Only here would they be able to sever the twisted fate between them.

    And so, they met.

    It was time to begin the battle that would make or break the universe''s destructive fate.

 Chapter 1303 Saint Emperor [1]

    ?

    1303 Saint Emperor [1]

    "Do you know how long I''ve lived?"

    The Saint Emperor stood with his back turned.

    When Damien appeared behind him, he didn''t turn to look at him, but he immediately started a conversation.

    Damien looked at that back silently.

    Even now, with his newfound power, he couldn''t see through this man at all.

    That back was opaque. It was so fully packed with experience and defense that nobody could see through it, even if they were far stronger.

    Damien wasn''t here to converse.

    He wanted to start fighting as soon as possible and end his fate with this man, but for some reason, he felt obligated to answer.

    "I have a rough idea," he said slowly, lowering his hostility.

    "As of today, it has been 999,999,999 years. Quite coincidental, isn''t it? Despite how long I have been chasing you and you have been chasing me, the day of our fated encounter urred on this instance."

    The Saint Emperor smiled lightly.

    "It was a very long time. I cannot properly remember the beginning anymore, however, even then, I was curious about my existence."

    He started to tell a story.

    "There are many of us who were born with this question in our hearts, however, the majority of our racecks it. I was the first. At that time, only I had the ability to truly possess a sense of identity."

    "And as I watched my people, I realized how pathetic they were. I realized the truth behind our existence early, and I was crushed by that realization."

    "What was I to do? Submit? Live in silence allowing myself to be controlled?

    Resist?"

    "The answer I found was none of the above."

    The Saint Emperor turned around.

    His eyes were like that of a snake, but for the most part, he was a handsome man. His appearance was more human than any other Nox. If he didn''t have their signature ash-grey skin, it would''ve been difficult to tell him apart from any normal man.

    "Our existence was meaningless. The Nox Race never had its own purpose from the start, and being born into this race as a being with spirituality was the ultimate consequence for me."

    "Therefore, I rebelled. I rebelled by forsaking my race entirely and acting only for myself."

    Damien frowned.

    He didn''t know why this story was being told, nor could he understand its significance.

    The weight of the Saint Emperor''s words was heavy. It weighed down on his mind as the man kept talking, allowing him to understand the darkness that brewed in his heart during those ancient times.

    "Everyone was so weak," the Saint Emperor continued.

    "We did not know how to use mana properly. We did not know there existed a realm of Gods above. We fought between ourselves as if the entire world belonged to us, when, in reality, we were nothing more than specks of dust in the true expanse of existence." "And that..."

    The Saint Emperor''s eyes sharpened.

    ?

    "...was just too boring." "Boring?"

    Damien replied subconsciously. It wasn''t the word he expected to follow such a story.

    The Saint Emperor seemed to understand his confusion.

    "It is unexpected, right? In normal cases, when an individual bes disillusioned by reality, theysh out in anger or despair. I felt neither. No, I do not think I am capable of those feelings in the first ce. When I looked at the cruel and cold world I was born into, I found it unamusing, and I did not wish for it to stay that way."

    "When the first generation that was born alongside me was driven out of the universe they attacked, I watched. When the second followed and achieved victory, I watched. When the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and the rest came, I watched."

    "It was interesting to see how people grew. Whether it be those in the universe or those from the growing Abyss, they always grew in ways I never expected. However, at a certain point, it became stale."

    "Regardless of their growth, it always followed the same pattern. Regardless of how the situation intensified, I could see how it would conclude."

    "So I created a motivation that allowed me to remain alive."

    That was how the Saint Emperor spent the first few hundred thousand years of his life. He was an observer just like the Ancient Sovereign, but he did not have the same perception of space and time that allowed him to endure the time.

    It became monotonous, and it almost drove him insane.

    No, it truly did drive him insane, but he wasn''t capable of feeling those emotions, so that insanity became a cold, calctive instinct that instilled itself in his mind.

    ?

    "I began to intervene from that point forth."

    Every time the Nox returned to the universe for war, every time they were reborn, he dipped his hand into those processes to change them even a little from their predetermined path.

    "It was difficult at the beginning. I did not have influence, and though my power grew, as I did not focus on it, it was shallow in nature. Despite my attempts, I was met with failure andckluster results."

    The Saint Emperor shook his head regretfully.

    "When I understood what I needed to truly change fate, I began to train with all my heart. It was then that I found ''that'' force."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    He was surely talking about the Void.

    "The Dark God''s Seed, as it had been termed by our people. It was assumed to be the power of a higher being, and though I only encountered it once, it fascinated me. I was enlightened by its vastness. I began to chase it. And my power began to reflect it." "I cannot remember when I became unrivaled, but that was the turning point in my power."

    His story still seemed pointless, but Damien listened anyway.

    He was learning more about this enigmatic existence. If nothing else, the mystery behind this confusing man was starting to be unearthed.

    It was oddly fulfilling to see the gaps fill themselves in, but it was also making the Saint Emperor more confusing.

    "Almost one billion years of life, can I simplify it into a single conversation? The short answer is no."

    "However, you must understand. As I tried to satiate my desire, the universe began revolving around me. As I chased ''that power,'' I developed an obsession none could understand."

    "I became a revered existence, and my ego became something justified. I became a god amongst mortals, and I treated the universe as my ything."

    "It was amusing. It was enjoyable to watch people dance as I willed them to. It was enjoyable to see how their actions were influenced by my presence."

    The Saint Emperor''s words were spilling out faster. His emotions were intensifying genuinely for the first time in an untold number of years. This was not a facade like everything else he showed, but the true self that he hid behind the veil.

    "Everything belonged to me. Everything except the thing I truly desired."

    His voice began to shake.

    "I was the main character of the story I wrote through my actions, and as that story became the history of the world, I became the main character of existence."

    His eyes locked with Damien''s.

    "Or, that was what I believed. Until I met you."

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1304 Saint Emperor [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1304 Saint Emperor [2]</h4>

    "Damien Void, you were an anomaly."

    The Saint Emperor skipped countless hundreds of millions of years of his story and entered the current era.

    "I first became aware of your existence when the Fifth Primal Sovereign died and watched you from then. Our meeting on Calypto was entirely calcted by me, because I could no longer watch. I wanted to interact with you."

    Those words were scarier than he made them out to be. A man who had been watching him for several years, a man who could so perfectly understand the flow of the universe that he set up the entire invasion of Eden as a stage to meet Damien.

    That was the man the Saint Emperor was.

    "You exceeded all my expectations. When I finally saw you, I could not believe my eyes. You truly held that power I''d been powerlessly chasing for eons. You were someone blessed beyond belief, a man who was destined for greatness."

    "I craved your power. I believed that once I plundered what you had, I would be whole and achieve the fate I decided for myself."

    "I influenced everything. All of your conflicts from that point forward had a hint of my hand in them. Whether it be the ck Dragon n or Immortal Blood Asura, I made sure they would target you and serve as stepping stones for your growth, so that one day, you would be worthy of me."

    "Life had be dull. Even influencing the world had be dull. I led countless universes to their destruction and raised countless others up. I allowed the Nox to be a race somewhat worthy of my name and watched as their influence outdid the universe in every way, yet, it was all meaningless before you."

    "That day finally came on Al''Katra. After you magnificently utilized the foreign material and caused a scene of myths and legends, I finally couldn''t hold back anymore. I killed you that day, so I could finally harvest the seed I''d been ripening for so many decades!"

    The Saint Emperor clenched his fist until his palm bled.

    "However, I was wrong. For the first time in my life, I was wrong. I did not gain anything from that day. I did not steal anything, and as we see now, I did not even seed in killing you."

    "It was devastating. What was I to do? The fate I set for myself, my position as the main character, it all came crashing down when rumors of your appearance here spread."

    "I couldn''t recover. I spent the past years on the Ancient Battlefield trying to find the path forward to no avail. And then, you ascended and came to me. You killed the enemies I prepared for you, you killed those I did not expect you to kill, and you grew past what I ever believed possible. Once I understood that your fangs were bared in my direction, I came to a realization."

    The Saint Emperor''s slitted eyes widened subtly.

    "Do you understand what you mean to me, Damien Void? Do you understand how profound of an impact your presence has on my life?"

    "You are my everything! After I met you, this boring existence gained light. My days were filled with amusement, and a drive I had never felt before filled my entire being. It was all because of you. You are my reason for living, and finding you was the reason I stayed alive for so long."

    "How did I surpass the limitations of my lifespan? Even I do not know! Even I have no idea why I have been able to aplish everything I have! But it must be you! You, who embodies everything I''ve ever strived for, you who carries the will of ''that'' force, you are my everything! You are my reason for living!"

    "Therefore, I have eagerly been awaiting this meeting. I have eagerly been awaiting the moment I could face you in all your glory. All the effort I put in, all the actions I took, you are the proof that they were worth every second!"

    "..."

    Damien was speechless.

    "So¡­"

    He gathered his thoughts as he tried to rationalize what he''d just heard.

    "You spent hundreds of millions of years destroying countless quintillions of lives, causing endless suffering, and ruining the universe¡­just because you were bored?"

    "You tried to ruin my life, you killed so many innocent people, including some whom I cared for¡­just because it was amusing to you?"

    "Were you expecting something more? If it helps you rationalize, you can consider it my greed as well."

    No, it wasn''t greed at all.

    That "greed" was just a byproduct.

    And yes, Damien did expect something more.

    He subconsciously believed the Saint Emperor to be someone with grand ambitions, someone who could not be predicted by the likes of regr people.

    He never showed his true intentions, he never showed his true emotions, he never showed his true allegiance, and he never seemed to be set back by anything that happened.

    Someone like him was too unbelievably strange for his motivation to be so simple.

    But as Damien thought about it, he couldn''t deny that it made sense.

    His true intentions didn''t exist. He was just writing the story that felt most amusing to him. His true emotions were dulled as he drowned in the constant pursuit of entertainment, only appearing at climactic times like this. He held no allegiance. He would aid any and all sides in a conflict to bring it to its greatest potential. And he was never set back by anything. No matter what the oue was, he enjoyed it.

    Because if it was an oue he didn''t expect, didn''t that make things even more fun for him?

    Boredom.

    It was the curse of immortality.

    One with a mind that perceived reality like a regr human being could not stand the true expanse of time. That mind would be corroded and ruined, turned into something that had the ability to cope.

    The Saint Emperor''s answery in his entertainment. Because of it, he was able to properly adjust to his immortality, and because of it, he did not waver no matter how much time passed.

    All because he was bored, he destroyed an uncountable number of fates and turned the universe into a setting of his imagination.

    It could be said that history as everyone knew it was nothing more than a story of the Saint Emperor''s creation.

    It was horrific. It was almost pathetic. Damien couldn''t fathom it at all.

    The Saint Emperor threw away reality. He didn''t care about his strange origins, he didn''t care about his strange power, he didn''t care about the "how" or "why" that led to him bing who he was today.

    He only cared for the "story."

    For that story, hemitted atrocities. For that story, he groomed the Saint King from young and tried to kill him when he became useless. For the story, he killed Damien.

    How did a being be like this?

    He was so twisted that even he didn''t realize it. His insanity never manifested like this, but because of Damien''s existence, all of that insanity was concentrated in a single ce and finally had the chance to burst.

    Damien was his obsession. To be exact, the Void was his obsession, and Damien became the entertainment he could draw from that magisterial entity.

    It was genuinely iprehensible.

    But maybe that was because of Damien''s youth.

    If he experienced eternity, would he be the same?

    Would he view all things as nothing more than a game for him to y? Would he view life as something so meaningless that he could toy with it as he pleased?

    He didn''t know.

    He couldn''t understand the Saint Emperor no matter how much he tried.

    ''No, that''s wrong.''

    He didn''t want to ept it.

    Because it was so irrational, he didn''t want to understand it.

    But Damien was not that kind of person.

    He felt a stifling emotion in his soul. His chest felt heavy, almost suffocatingly so as he tried to deny it.

    But¡­

    ''...I understand him.''

    No matter how much he tried to refuse it, he understood.

    All that irrationality, all that selfishness, all that insanity, he understood it, and though he didn''t respect it, he couldn''t deny the Saint Emperor''s path.

    For that man, this was the way he lived. This was the motivation he built after surviving for so long, and this was the meaning of his existence.

    He didn''t agree with it.

    But that wasn''t something he could discredit.

    Didn''t it get him so far? The Saint Emperor was the person he was today because of all those terrible qualities.

    And that person¡­

    ''...is the same as me.''

    They differed in so many ways, but at their cores, they were the same.

    They both desired absolute freedom from fate and control, they both wanted to be the controllers of everything, they both wanted to see the end of this long and lonely path, they both internalized their insanity for the sake of survival¡­

    The Saint Emperor was a picture of a potential future, one that Damien absolutely wanted to avoid.

    But that was the truth. eptance eventually swallowed his denial, and frankly¡­

    He hated it.

 Chapter 1305 Saint Emperor [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1305 Saint Emperor [3]</h4>

    The more he thought about it, the less he could stand it.

    The Saint Emperor looked like he had plenty left to say, but Damien didn''t want to hear it.

    As the man opened his mouth to speak again, his eyes gleaming with an unknown emotion, Damien punched out.

    Partial Existence Law covered his fist and empowered his attack, directly targeting the Saint Emperor''s "existence" rather than his physical traits.

    BANG!

    "Hahaha, what happened?" The Saint Emperor asked, casually dodging the impact.

    "Shut up."

    Damien didn''t entertain him.

    He enteredbat mode, blocking everything out but his desire to kill.

    His single fist turned into a barrage. His arms moved so fast they looked like they weren''t moving at all, but countless impacts crushed heaven and earth in a way that made them impossible to ignore.

    The Saint Emperor took a few light steps backward for every punch. He didn''t try to attack back, but merely dodged and parried everything Damien threw at him.

    "Are you angry? Why? Did I offend you in some way?"

    His words were filled with sarcasm. Damien''s eyes were hard and not showing much emotion, but the Saint Emperor read him like an open book.

    It was clear he was finding enjoyment in Damien''s current mental state.

    However, Damien didn''t want to entertain him actively. He used his fists because he wanted to feel the impact as he struck that man, but no matter how many times he swung or how much technique he used to try and bait his opponent, the Saint Emperor didn''t get hit even once.

    "Did you think you could kill me with something like this? Have you forgotten who I am? Or are you merely denying reality?"

    Someone who''d lived for almost a billion years had experienced morebat than Damien could ever imagine. Technique and skill meant nothing to him, because even if he didn''t actively try, the experience umted over such a vast timespan made him untouchable.

    "Tch."

    Damien clicked his tongue and stepped back, retreating a few dozen meters.

    He transmuted his mana into that of Spacetime and tried to manipte the environment to his advantage, but once again, the Saint Emperor took a stance of parrying.

    Space twisted in Damien''s image, but in the next second, it was twisted back by the Saint Emperor''s maniption.

    "Haven''t I already told you? I have worked for eons to make that power mine. Perhaps I never reached it, but you have not either!"

    Unlike Damien, the Saint Emperor had no connection to the Void. He used his own grit and his long lifetime to break down itsponents and slowly understand them all.

    Those concepts like Nonexistence were inessible to him, but of thews existing in reality, which one had he notprehended?

    Space and time were merely two from a pool of thousands. If it was just about manipting them, he had skill that might''ve even usurped Damien!

    He kept trying nheless.

    Damien wasn''t nning to give the Saint Emperor a chance to counterattack even if he had no ns of doing so.

    If his most confidentw didn''t work, he just had to use others.

    He started with Elemental, the firstw he ever saw the Saint Emperor utilize.

    He threw down cold ice and quickly heated it up with mes, creating a massive pressure explosion. He used the wind to exacerbate that impact, and caused earthquakes that supported the terrifying shockwave.

    He used metal and lightning together, forcing the Saint Emperor to endure lightning strikes empowered by conductors. He used light and darkness to manipte the environment and shoot a monstrous number of projectiles.

    Yet, once again, he was outdone.

    ''Dammit!''

    His rage grew with everything the Saint Emperor did. Every time he countered easily, every time he used an element better than him, every time he smiled as if he knew everything, the suffocating feeling in Damien''s chest grew worse.

    "You must have realized it," the Saint Emperor said giddily.

    "You must have understood!"

    sh!

    He was directly before Damien in the same instant his words fell.

    "You and I¡­" he began, spreading his arms wide.

    "...are perfectly the same!"

    "''That'' force was my original reason for finding you, that is true! However, it is you! You who embodies my will so perfectly, you who can understand me, you are the one I became so obsessed with! You, Damien Void, are the most perfect character in this universe, the one who gives me hope!"

    "Shut up!"

    BOOOOOM!

    Damien''s Divine Energy gushed out like a river through a broken dam. The entire environment was reshaped, the entire world was rebuilt withws of his choosing.

    He didn''t need to be told.

    He knew it well himself.

    But it didn''t matter.

    ''Why?!''

    He understood the truth, but¨C

    ''¨Cwhy does it have to be someone like him?!''

    He had met so many people in his life, some bad and some good. He had seen many things and found many seniors andrades he could rte to.

    So why did the one he could understand most perfectly have to be this man?!

    Even if it was just for a second, why could he see himself taking the same path as the Saint Emperor given the same circumstances?!

    Even he was like that at the beginning.

    When he first escaped the First Dungeon, he lived his life in search of entertainment to quell his insanity.

    Everything he did until he met ric Alfheim and truly started to grow was just a means to make his life just a little bit more entertaining, to make existence less nd after leaving that hellish environment he grew up in.

    What if he never met the seniors who guided him along his path?

    What if he never had Rose, Elena, and Ruyue who allowed him to find himself?

    What if he was alone in the darkness of the Abyss and enlightened to the ugly truth of his life, forced to find a way forward on his own?

    How could he say he wouldn''t do the exact same thing as the Saint Emperor?!

    "DAMMIT!"

    He hated it.

    He hated it so much.

    His hatred wanted him to kill this man and erase his presence from his life entirely.

    But¡­

    "Tell me, Damien Void. Why are you smiling?"

    The Saint Emperor''s words¡­

    Damien put his hand up to his mouth.

    There was a grin, a mad and wild grin he hadn''t grinned in so long.

    That grin was stered across his face, those mes of battle were alit in his eyes.

    He couldn''t control it at all.

    He couldn''t deny reality.

    "FUCK!"

    ¡­it was fun.

    Fighting the Saint Emperor was so entertaining he couldn''t stop himself from enjoying it.

    This man was the only one in the entire universe who''d been able to properly match him. He wasn''tcking in any way, and Damien was able to fight to his full potential like he''d never done before.

    This was a man who would''ve been his closest confidant if they were on the same side.

    Yet, they were standing here as irreconcble enemies, and that wasn''t something that would ever change no matter how much time passed or how much Damien changed.

    This twisted feeling, this twisted enjoyment, Damien couldn''t stand it.

    But at the same time, he loved it.

    "Damien Void, do not deny it any longer. Just as much as I am obsessed with you¡­"

    The Saint Emperor moved again, closing the distance between them in an instant with the same mad and wild grin.

    "...you are obsessed with me too."

 Chapter 1306 Saint Emperor [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1306 Saint Emperor [4]</h4>

    "Existence" had always been important to Damien. He worked so much to solidify his sense of identity, and once he''d defined it, he did everything he could to protect it, even in death.

    So when he met the Saint Emperor, he tried to see through that man''s existence.

    It was impossible at first. His eyes couldn''t prate the almost billion-year-old defense he''d put in ce, but as he told his story, his "existence" became clearer to Damien.

    And what he saw¡­was himself.

    Deep within the Saint Emperor was an image of Damien.

    This wasn''t a manifestation of his feelings or their simrity, but entirely the Saint Emperor''s doing.

    He wasn''t lying or exaggerating. He wasn''t spouting nonsense in his insanity.

    Everything the Saint Emperor had, everything he desired, everything he represented or embodied¡­all revolved around Damien.

    It was unsettling.

    The Saint Emperor''s usual irregrity could be put aside for a second. Everything he did before he took interest in Damien could be disregarded.

    How could he possibly have an "existence" like this?

    What did Damien mean for him to change his whole identity for his sake?

    Damien couldn''t understand it.

    But he did realize that their connection was far deeper than he originally thought.

    The Saint Emperor did one-sidedly control a lot of the conflicts he faced in this life. He did have an obsession that couldn''t be exined easily.

    But just now, the Saint Emperor said something that struck Damien''s soul.

    "Just as I am obsessed with you, you are obsessed with me."

    Damien''s life¡­he never saw the Saint Emperor as the meaning to his existence.

    However, if he took into consideration the hidden hand that moved so many things around him¡­

    Then, for the longest time, Damien had been chasing the Saint Emperor with his eyes closed, blind to the truth.

    It was even more infuriating. Damien''s distaste for others controlling his life was extremely clear by now, and the fact that arge portion of his life had fallen under someone''s control was uneptable.

    Eventually, Damien did leave the Saint Emperor''s reach. The Saint Emperor definitely didn''t expect Damien to grow as he did, just like Dante couldn''t predict Damien''s growth.

    The problem was, unlike Dante who couldn''t directly interfere in a path he set up long ago, the Saint Emperor was able to adapt to Damien''s growth rate and change his own ns, regaining a hold on him.

    Behind the scenes, there had been a constant battle of push and pull between Damien and the Saint Emperor that led up to this moment.

    The Saint Emperor had been watching it from above, and his excitement and madness could be exined by his anticipation.

    However, Damien was within it, only finding out now. All his negative emotion was fueled by the fact that this unknown battle was only bing clear when it was reaching its end, the fact that, if the Saint Emperor truly desired it, he could''ve absolutely torn apart everything Damien cared for.

    Whether it be his wives, his friends, his allies, his worlds¡­

    How could he protect them from an unknown enemy that hadprehended all aspects of the universe?

    But even then, that was only half of it.

    That animosity conflicted with another feeling in his soul, one he did not ept in any way, shape, or form.

    It was understanding.

    As mentioned prior, Damienpletely understood the Saint Emperor.

    As a man sensitive to time after gaining the ability to manipte it, he understood that the future the Saint Emperor symbolized wasn''t just potential, but might''ve already happened.

    Damien could turn back time. Even if it was only for a second, he had the ability to do so.

    He always wondered how it worked. Since the time he rewound was localized, did it superimpose on the current timeline? Or was a separate timeline created to amodate his actions?

    The existence of a split timeline couldn''t be ignored, because when Spacetime first presented itself to him, it did so as a river.

    Streams flowed into rivers, and rivers flowed into the ocean. If this analogy was tranted into terms rted to Spacetime, who was Damien to say there weren''t already countless possible futures that he wasn''t able to avoid?

    How could he say that he was the "only" Damien Void?

    Until he became a being space and time couldn''t contain, he had no right to say that.

    Perhaps it was an unnecessary worry. Perhaps he was just thinking nonsensically and allowing those imaginary futures to affect his mind.

    Yet, it didn''t feel that way to him.

    It felt like¡­

    He couldn''t exin it.

    When he looked at the Saint Emperor, he felt pity.

    He felt pity and understanding that pushed back against his hatred.

    He wanted to hate the Saint Emperor, but in the very core of his being, he could not hate the man.

    That feeling frustrated him and made him feel incredible difort, and with no way to release these emotions, they manifested as rage.

    And so, the two of them continued to fight.

    The Saint Emperor didn''t speak more, and Damien didn''t entertain him either.

    They allowed theirws to mingle. They allowed their very existences to sh against each other.

    They were irreconcble, but they found enjoyment in battling each other.

    Because just as much as the Saint Emperor had never met someone who could understand him like so, Damien had never met someone like the Saint Emperor.

    There wasn''t a person in existence who could stand up to him like this. There wasn''t someone who could make him feel such strong hostility.

    His enemies were below him.

    To Damien, the Saint Emperor was perfect. He was a perfect end to the chronicles he created in the lower universe, the perfect enemy to mark the beginning of the next part of his story.

    He wanted to enjoy this no matter what his emotions told him.

    It was convoluted.

    It was such a twisted bundle of emotions that Damien stopped thinking about it altogether.

    He was going to defeat this man and validate all his efforts until now. He was going to take everything this man had and reach a point where nothing could inhibit him anymore.

    And the Saint Emperor seemed to hold the same feeling.

    He countered Damien with only the forces Damien used. When he attacked, Damien replied in kind.

    As they shed and fought, they both reached new understandings and grew. As they grew, they used those newprehensions to fight, which promoted even further growth.

    Rather than a fight between enemies, it started to feel more like a spar between old friends.

    Old friends that hated each other to the bone.

    Damien was enamored by their battle.

    Partial Existence Law in its current form couldn''t defeat the Saint Emperor.

    He''d already activated his transformations to enhance his nigh immortal body to a new level. His bloodlines were raging in full force to support everything he did.

    Whether it was thews he already got used to, or the ones he hadn''t used yet gained ess to after tethering the fundamentalws, he tried to use them all.

    As his proficiency grew, something in his soul became active too.

    "Azure" started to move.

    And slowly but surely, Damien''s existence was bing moreplete.

 Chapter 1307 Saint Emperor [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1307 Saint Emperor [5]</h4>

    Fighting.

    It used to be a thing of joy for Damien.

    Tip-toeing on the tightrope of death, knowing his life could slip out of his control at any moment, that feeling used to excite him more than anything else.

    When he grew out of his insanity, he still kept his love for battle, but its meaning changed. Instead of a joy, it became a necessity.

    He fought with purpose, so that he could aplish whatever he needed to aplish at that time. He also fought for survival, purely trying to live as countless threats tried to make sure he didn''t.

    These motivations dulled his joy, because he no longer had the leeway to have such lighthearted thoughts.

    Such was the burden of adulthood. He was no longer a youth who could do whatever he wanted with his life. He didn''t have something like a support system that could cover his mistakes for him.

    So Damien lost the joy of fighting. He instead found joy in growing stronger, in exploring the unknown, and in the people around him.

    Right now, he found that the long-lost feeling was returning.

    It was different, though.

    The joy he felt fighting the Saint Emperor wasn''t a matter of life and death. The fact that his life was on the line didn''t truly bother him or even gain prevalence as a thought in his mind. It was just granted considering his position.

    This joy didn''te from the fight itself, but from everything else involved with it.

    In a sense, this fight was less physical and more ethereal.

    Damien and the Saint Emperor were those kinds of people. They had almost the exact same Divinity, and their power level was equally matched too.

    The Saint Emperor had more skill, but Damien''s raw power and the purity of hisws allowed him to match the man on equal footing.

    There was no real way for them to settle their conflict if they kept fighting like this.

    But they did so anyway.

    They could''ve solved this with Sacred Combat. If they chose that method, Damien would''ve automatically won.

    After all, Damien''s Divinity was what the Saint Emperor''s Divinity tried to imitate. Purely in terms of conceptual league, Damien overpowered his enemy in every aspect.

    So why didn''t he try to initiate Sacred Combat? Why did neither he nor the Saint Emperor even consider it?

    That reason was the joy in their fight.

    As theypared their beliefs and ideals, as they shed with the parts of themselves that were parallel and those that made them diverge, they felt something they''d never felt before.

    Truebat against an equal in every way.

    They didn''t want to end this so easily and lost that feeling. The only way for this fight to end was for one of them to run out of steam first.

    Whether that be Divine Energy, stamina, or something else was still unknown at this point, but it didn''t matter.

    Days went by as they fought. Those days became weeks, and weeks became months.

    They didn''t stall for a single second or even dream of stopping. 24 hours of every day were spent in battle, and time soon became an inconsequential thing for them.

    It was fun.

    For the first few months, they focused on Elemental Law. Damien''s proficiency was good, and he was far more versatile, able to use every element avable.

    Meanwhile, the Saint Emperor sacrificed his versatility and focused on raising his skill with the five most foundational elements.

    Which of their methods was better?

    With versatility, Damien could respond to any situation well. He didn''t have as much power, but the power he did possess was enough when the elements were used in conjunction with each other and perfectly fused ording to the concept of duality.

    The Saint Emperor couldn''tbine his elements. Hecked the binding force of the Void that stabilized them and rid them of their independence.

    However, he was far better at controlling them. He could use fire in ways that resembled water or earth, and he could manipte air as if it had the properties of fire or wood.

    It was a mystical thing to aplish without any support, and Damien learned a great deal from it.

    He still believed his method superior, especially since his final aim was to control every aspect of existence, but the Saint Emperor''s control allowed him to refine his own and perfect elemental fusion in ways he''d never believed possible.

    Next came a time spent on Samsara.

    This one waspletely Damien''s victory. As someone who''d experienced the Wheel of Samsara personally, he reached a level ofprehension of thisw that couldn''t be matched by anyone.

    The Saint Emperor was faced with surprise as he was thoroughly surpassed by someone who''d lived for less than a fraction of the time he had.

    But it also made sense. The Samsara he''dprehended came from the lives and deaths of those who existed and ceased existing during his lifetime. He''s watched them for eons ande to the perspective he held, but as someone who never experienced life nor death, he couldn''t quite reach a standard of perfection.

    They only spent a month on this aspect of the fight before the Saint Emperor changed their method to Spacetime.

    And surprisingly, while it was Damien''s main specialty, they spent over a year on this fight.

    They shed through the deste earth, moving in and out of the spatialyers. They moved back and forth through time, treating its rivers as nothing more than a means of transportation.

    Damien was grinning the whole time.

    The Saint Emperor also focused on Spacetime more than most.

    He couldn''t just use space in the ways Damien could, he expanded on the concept to a new level.

    He could use the concept of distance to create entire gxies in a mere few meters'' worth of space and use them as attacks. The explosions were capable of exuding as much force as a true exploding gxy, a mystical phenomenon that even Demigods couldn''t survive easily.

    Naturally, Damien was different. He also showcased the height of hisws, severing Spacetime and shifting its ce in reality as he pleased.

    The Saint Emperor''s explosive force was surely powerful, but as Damien altered theyers of space and time to disce its coordinates, it couldn''t even reach him, which made it irrelevant.

    He was learning.

    Every time they exchanged attacks, he learned more.

    The elements of Existence Law that remained tethered yet separated slowly started toe together, closing the distance between each other.

    At the end of the process, he''d reach his goal, far earlier than he ever expected to.

    And though both of them had the ability to, as years passed, neither replenished their mana.

    It was a matter of honor, or maybe it was just a risk they took to maintain the enjoyment of their fight.

    After all, they were almost there.

    Once theypared Creation and Destruction, the time woulde to choose a final winner.

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    He was feeling moreplex with the passing of time, but he decided to push it down so he could focus.

    Why was the Saint Emperor doing this?

    Yes, Damien was supposedly everything to him, but still¡­

    The Saint Emperor was someone who wanted to be the main character of his own story. He manipted the universe so he could create a setting for that story, and he manipted its people to form a plot that could entertain him.

    Thest step was here. The second he killed Damien and came out on top, he would take his position as the main character and rule existence as its sovereign.

    So¡­

    Why was he doing this?

    Why was he teaching Damien?

    It was impossible to understand.

    The only way to get that answer was to win.

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    ''It''s been fun, but¡­''

    He sighed to himself.

    ''...from now on, I''ll be serious.''

 Chapter 1308 Saint Emperor [6]

    Chapter 1308 Saint Emperor [6]

    At the end of the day, this was also that type of battle.

    Damien had the subtle urge to keep the Saint Emperor alive, not due to any misguided sympathy, but from sheer curiosity. This kind of character couldn''t easily be created, and he wanted to explore the true depths of this strange man to satisfy his own interest.

    However, he was a man with responsibilities.

    He had a duty to end the Saint Emperor and usher in a new era for the universe.

    And while he did have that slight urge, his desire to finally end this and move on was far greater.

    Therefore, this was also a battle Damien needed to win no matter what.

    Creation, Destruction, and a final round where they used everything they could toe out on top.

    The Saint Emperor was acting strangely, but even he didn''t want to just die. He wasn''t making it easy for Damien to win in the slightest.

    Until now, he''d used just enough force to match his opponent, but the control he exercised while doing so made it clear he had much more power that he kept hidden within him.

    The second Damien stopped ying by his rhythm, he would surely bring that power out.

    That time was now.

    Damien summoned the forces of Creation and Destruction on his palms as he looked at the enemy.

    The Ancient Battlefield, or rather, this area outside its bounds waspletely wrecked already. The mountains and dense earth were torn to shreds, and the atmosphere through which they shed was already showing signs of copsing.

    There wasn''t much time left before the entire area was swallowed by the chaotic void, and until then, they would fight.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath.

    ''Focus.''

    He put aside everything else.

    All those useless feelings that were dredged up as he faced the Saint Emperor were thrown away.

    The Saint Emperor was the reason they came into being. He was doing everything he could to perturb Damien''s mental state, but Damien was the one who allowed those emotions to exist.

    As long as he disallowed their presence, such feelings wouldn''t invade his mind anymore.

    ''Feeling them was like understanding him. My curiosity made me want to keep them, but if I want to win this battle, understanding him is meaningless.''

    There was no need to sympathize with the enemy. Everybody had their own story. In most cases, the people be fought had their own desires and motivations and couldn''t be considered evil one-sidedly.

    The Saint Emperor was the same.

    No matter who he was or how simr he was to Damien, no matter what value he held elsewhere, in this moment, here and now, he was an enemy to be killed.

    That was all Damien needed to know.

    He closed his eyes for a second and stabilized his mind.

    When he opened them again, he was already shooting forward.

    Creation and Destruction were his newest attainments, but he felt far more adept at them than others.

    After all, despite beingplex, they were the easiest for him to use.

    He had a foundation built by thews that made up these two supreme concepts, so when it came to using them in their true form, he really only needed to focus on their most basic definitions.

    To create and to destroy.

    He began with Creation.

    As Iris did, Damien had to learn how to use thisw offensively.

    There was the obvious method of controlling constructs he created, but that was too in for him.

    Damien wanted to make an attack style worthy of the Law of Creation.

    Iris took the route of energy creation. Not only did she create different forms of energy like Universal Law, she learned to create her own reality to influence at will.

    The path Damien chose was different.

    The best way to describe it was "realization."

    He was a man with quite the imagination, and due to his upbringing in a mortal world like Earth, that imagination was filled with things that didn''t exist even in this fantastical world.

    The path he took in Creation was bringing these imaginary concepts to reality.

    And on top of that, using his legacy as a Celestial, Universe Creation was something he wanted to try his hand at.

    He saw the Saint Emperor do it earlier. All he had to do was mimic it.

    Focusing his energy on the Divine Energy in his body, he infused his will into Creation Law and brought his imagination to reality.

    VOOOOOM!

    A shadow nketed the entire battlefield.

    "Oho¡­?"

    The Saint Emperor made a sound of interest as he looked up.

    It was hard to see it in its entirety. It simply did not fit on the ne they were on and was forced to exist beyond it.

    But its pressure could be felt clearly.

    "Aim."

    Damien gave themand.

    A strange sound whirred through the atmosphere, like a heap of matter being collected into a single, minuscule point.

    "Is this your deration of war?" The Saint Emperor asked, the expression in his eyes much colder than before.

    Damien nodded.

    "This battle must end somehow. There doesn''t exist a universe where you and I can coexist."

    "Haa, so be it, then. I shall also cease my mercy."

    The Saint Emperor spoke as if this was a foregone conclusion, something that was bound to happen.

    And since Damien was no longer holding back, neither would he.

    The Saint Emperor grinned.

    "Are you going to¨C"

    "Fire."

    Damien didn''t n to listen.

    With his word, the massive structure in the air let loose the energy it concentrated.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive beam of Divine Energy with the thickness of a building struck down from the heavens. It was followed by tens of others of simr size and energy, covering the entire battlefield in a rain of destruction.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The Saint Emperor was essentially illusory. He shed in and out of the spatialyers, in and out of reality as he avoided each and every pir of light.

    "Rise."

    Damien gave anothermand, and the earth followed his will.

    He summoned an earth spirit, or rather, he brought it into being.

    He gave life to the world itself and used Creation to give it form. The spirit of the Ancient Battlefield that he birthed rose from the ground amidst the raining light and mmed its fists through the air.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The Saint Emperor couldn''t avoid it.

    He was powerful and extremely agile, but avoiding such a concentrated impact without being struck by an energy beam was impossible.

    Damien made sure of it.

    The Saint Emperor''s body was sent flying, but no blood leaked. The impact was superficial at best.

    "Attack."

    After all, what Damien created wasn''t just a golem.

    He imbued spirituality into the ne itself.

    The golem body it used was just a manifestation of its power. In reality, the entire Ancient Battlefield became Damien''s weapon.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The earth flowed like the waves of a tsunami, and from those waves, countless spikes and fists jutted out to attack the Saint Emperor wherever he passed.

    "Very good!"

    The Saint Emperor shouted out happily.

    "You are learning well, however¡­"

    He spread his arms, taking the iing wave''s energy with his body alone.

    "...you have yet to reach my level, Damien Void!"

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The Saint Emperor''s Law of Creation manifested in reality.

    "This is the answer to everything you have been questioning," he said as he worked.

    His aura red out, twisting reality with its pressure.

    The earthen tsunami and energy beams were blown away as it spread. They were incinerated by its light, as if the stage waspletely focusing on the Saint Emperor alone.

    "Experience it, Damien Void."

    "Something" appeared in the sky.

    "Experience the weight of your existence."

    "..."

    Damien was left speechless once again.

    This¡­

    ''...is something like that even possible?!''

 Chapter 1309 Saint Emperor [7]

    Chapter 1309 Saint Emperor [7]

    Creation and Destruction were different from otherws.

    Due to their vastness, they had rudimentary consciousness that allowed them to pick and choose who had the right to wield them.

    It was impossible to forcefully wield them. No matter how much one tried, one wouldn''t be able to achieve results worth the effort.

    The Saint Emperor¡­he both met the qualifications for both elements and didn''t.

    His insanity andck of identity made him heavily unequaled for utilizing their full potential, and as a person, he was neither close to Creation nor Destruction.

    However, during his lifetime, he''d spent countless millions of years both aiding with the creation of different societies and their destruction.

    That was how he lived for the sake of entertainment.

    The twows were unbiased. Laws didn''t differentiate between good and evil, worthy and unworthy. As long as one had the qualifications, it was entirely possible to use them no matter the morals one lived by.

    The Saint Emperor didn''t begin as someone either eleven would have epted.

    When he first achieved them, he forcefullyprehended them and used them without gaining acknowledgment.

    However, if there was one thing he had more than anyone else, it was time.

    He intentionally raised both the Nox and the universal forces with his hidden hands for the sake of gaining acknowledgement from Creation.

    He gave new societies life and fostered their growth, he created new religions that rose and fell, he built monuments and manmade wonders, and did countless acts aligned with the art of Creation.

    And naturally, he led them all to their destruction. They were wed to begin with, created with the purpose of being destroyed.

    Eventually, the Saint Emperor gained control over thews he wanted, but their form¡­

    Their form was twisted beyond belief to match his person.

    When he summoned Creation Law against Damien, it wasn''t the pure and almost holyw he was used to.

    It was convoluted, blood-red, and held energy that felt beyond foreign.

    What the Saint Emperor summoned through Creation was something Damien never thought possible.

    As he said, he created an embodiment of the "weight" of Damien''s existence.

    No, it was an embodiment of his identity.

    A massive avatar, roughly ten kilometers tall, that had the appearance of an illusory Saint Emperor.

    However, it also held qualities of Damien.

    It was a mixture of their persons, and unlike the materialw Damien utilized, it was wholly involved in the conceptual aspects of Creation.

    "Damien Void, pay close attention," the Saint Emperor said.

    The avatar stepped forward.

    "Experience it, understand it, and ovee it."

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    That step held great power. It did not affect reality in any way whatsoever, however, Damien felt an ethereal wave of energy push through his body.

    "KHHH¡­!"

    His mind immediately began to copse. He was assaulted by memories from the Saint Emperor''s life and memories from his own, which merged into a single stream of recollection that caused agonizing dissonance in Damien''s mind.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The avatar took another step.

    This time, Damien faced himself.

    His own Legend crashed down on his soul, this time outside of his control.

    He felt what it was like to face him as a regr being.

    And truly, he understood why he was so feared by those Demigods before he ascended.

    He understood why they gave him titles like Divine Reaper.

    Damien''s Legend was massive.

    He aplished so many impossible tasks that if he gave one away to each of his friends, he could raise them all to Divine status with his own effort alone and still have enough left for him to maintain his own power.

    His Legend was something a normal person could never experience in their life, especially in such a short period of a few decades.

    Damien possessed this Divinity, so logically speaking, it shouldn''t have been able to affect him greatly, but logic didn''t apply to the Saint Emperor.

    He "created" a mirror of that Legend, and when he added his own Legend into it, the newly formed creation was far beyond what Damien could handle.

    His soul screamed in pain, but the Authority of Immortality made sure it wouldn''t shatter.

    The effect was beneficial, however, it also made his pain far worse.

    After all, this was his own Legend. The pain was amplified to an extent no other attack could ever reach.

    Damien gritted his teeth and endured it.

    As the Saint Emperor said, he internalized the pain and tried toprehend the processes behind this use of Creation Law.

    Unlike Iris, Damien never spent the time to be close to Creation. He allowed its proficiency to be raised by its connection with Destruction and his Cosmic Rebirth, mainly using it in battle in the most basic way.

    This was a level above creating energy.

    This was truly manifesting concepts that had no ce in reality, only existing in the mind and soul.

    ''It''s a level close to genesis.''

    If the Saint Emperor practiced this a bit more, he would likely gain the ability to truly create life.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The avatar stepped forward once more. It was only a single step away from Damien, and if it reached him, nothing good woulde of it.

    ''I have to figure this out.''

    The Saint Emperor watched him quietly.

    He didn''t have any intention to continue attacking, as if he was certain Damien would never be able to reach his level before the avatar reached him.

    Damien used the full height of hisprehension, boosted to an extreme level by his Cosmic Rebirth.

    He immediately found an opening.

    ''Right, I can already transmute energy to any form.''

    His "energy" that had no name, one he''d prefer not to call Void Energy for the sake of his sanity, could transmute into any form of energy in existence.

    He didn''t use Divine Energy as a base, but turned his energy into it for the sake of utilizing something the universe could properly support.

    If he used that process to understand how to "create" energy, then he could also find a way to manifest his thoughts.

    ''It''s just like what I did before.''

    Damien manifested his imagination, but he used material concepts to do so.

    If he took away thest step and genuinely brought his imagination into reality¡­

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The avatar took itsst step. It towered over Damien, raising its arm slowly.

    Damien watched its hande down on his head, but instead of dodging or trying to fight it¡­

    He stood there and waited for it to strike him.

    The impact was¡­

    He couldn''t exin it.

    His soul shook. His mind was thrown into spiritual chaos. The forces in his body were enveloped by disorder.

    But at the same time, he began to understand it.

    ''This avatar has nothing to do with "me."''

    "Damien Void" had no presence within it.

    ''That is not me, but the reflection of me within the Saint Emperor.''

    The confusion brought about by the avatar was caused by its ability to use his Legend, to manifest something the Saint Emperor shouldn''t have had any ess to.

    However, when Damien felt the avatar''s true attack, he grasped the truth.

    This avatar was entirely the Saint Emperor''s being. Those words about the "weight of his existence" were bait, meant to mislead him.

    "The weight of my existence¡­"

    Damien muttered the phrase.

    To fight against something like this, no, toprehend this concept, he had to manifest the true weight of his existence.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A new avatar came into being behind Damien.

    It was not convoluted like the Saint Emperor''s. It was not a strange mixture of forces that didn''t make any sense. It did not embody chaos.

    It was the true manifestation of a Legend, the Legend of Damien Void.

    The Saint Emperor smiled. His expression was proud as he gazed at its domineering form.

    "Good," he said, too quietly for Damien to hear.

    "Grow like that, for only then can you survive your next chapter."

 Chapter 1310 Saint Emperor [8]

    Chapter 1310 Saint Emperor [8]

    The Manifestation of Law, an avatar that totally epassed Damien as an individual and used his Divinity and Legend as a basis to manifest in the real ne.

    It was an ability that should''ve been far beyond his caliber, something True Gods were able to create through their mainws, however, he managed to circumvent most of the troubles through the Saint Emperor''s pressure and his use of Creation.

    When that entity appeared in the world, it shattered the atmosphere with its presence. The Ancient Battlefield was thrown into disarray, and the shoddy avatar the Saint Emperor summoned, an imitation of the real thing, was dispersed by the weight of its existence.

    Damien opened his eyes and gazed at it in wonder before turning back to the Saint Emperor.

    "Shall we move on?" The Saint Emperor asked.

    "..."

    Damien thought about it for a second before nodding.

    "Very well, however, don''t think you''ll be able to continue sitting on that throne. Destruction happens to be my specialty."

    "Oh? I hope you can back those words with your actions."

    "I hope you can too."

    Damien dispersed the Manifestation of Law. It was a useful ability that could overpower most opponents, but the Saint Emperor wasn''t one of them.

    It was better to ept this piece of tutge and continue their battle, so the eventual end woulde sooner.

    As the pure manifestation disappeared, Damien''s body was wrapped in reddish-ck energy.

    Thest sh was one of Creation. It didn''t have much impact or extremity, since Creation was never aw like that.

    It was calm, therefore, the sh between its forces, no matter how destructive they might have been, was equally calm.

    However, Destruction was theplete opposite.

    BANG!

    Damien shot forward like a bolt of lightning and appeared before the Saint Emperor.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    He let loose a flurry of punches before the man could react before stepping back and flicking his wrist.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Pure destruction filled the air. It was a mixture of several destructivews that couldn''t be described any other way.

    The actual processes were drowned in chaos, and as long as the intent to destroy was present, anything was possible.

    That was the nature of destruction.

    A reddish-ck cloud of energy rose through the atmosphere and enveloped the Saint Emperor, however, he was more than prepared.

    BOOM!

    His body mirrored Damien''s, turning into a reddish-ck sh as he escaped the cloud.

    He moved his arm in a diagonal motion, and before Damien could react, space itself was cut in half.

    The vacuum formed by the gash attempted to draw him in.

    At first, he tried to resist the normal way, but that was impossible. This was the Ancient Battlefield. Just as space was far stronger here, the chaotic void existing beyond it was far more deadly.

    ''Destruction¡­''

    That was the answer.

    To sever concepts, to use Destruction to its full potential.

    Damien mimicked the Saint Emperor''s motions and cut diagonally through the air.

    He didn''t sever space, nor did he sever energy.

    He severed the vacuum itself, destroying the "concept" that supported its existence.

    "Hahaha, you are indeed skilled!"

    The Saint Emperor apuded him as he approached.

    He initiated a bout of close-range battle, showing expert skill in hand-to-handbat.

    His fists were blurry because of speed. He struck left and sent an uppercut, forcing Damien to dodge before revealing it was a feint to hide the true attacking from below.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Damien''s body was assaulted with blunt impacts.

    Each one had the power to punctures, and when they made contact, arcs of Destruction Law were passed through his body, running up his systems and attempting to cease their function.

    Damien grinned.

    ''This kind of strategy won''t work on me anymore.''

    That was the benefit of the Void Physique superimposing on his physical body. All of his extraordinary systems, such as the Ananta Matrix and Mana Heart, were ingrained into his vessel. Their physical forms disappeared, but their effects remained.

    The most the Saint Emperor could destroy was his physical system, his organs and other fleshy parts.

    However, to even do that, he had to break through the subspaces that protected those organs first!

    He''d done it once before. When he attacked Damien in the lower universe, he was able to directly punch through those defenses as if they didn''t exist.

    But they were on the same level now.

    And Damien learned a lot from that experience.

    His current internal defenses couldn''t be broken so easily.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    There was no way for the Saint Emperor to know all of this. He continued to assail Damien with punches and kicks, filling his body with foreign Destruction Mana.

    And that was an opportunity for Damien.

    There was no need to think about how to use Destruction, that much was true.

    However, Damien did put some time into it.

    Because to use it to its fullest potential, one needed to throw away what they knew about reality.

    Destruction was aw birthed along with creation. If one excluded Existence and Nonexistence, which were onlyws by technicality and stood as concepts above the concept ofw, Destruction was half of the firstw to ever exist.

    It had the potential to alter reality with its power.

    To use it purely in its most basic form, wasn''t it a shame?

    The question Damien asked himself was simple.

    What did he want to destroy?

    The answer was just as simple.

    "Everything" that stood in his path.

    Right now, that was the Saint Emperor.

    And to destroy the Saint Emperor, he first had to destroy himself.

    Reddish-ck energy filled the air as the two of them shed.

    The ne could not hold their presence anymore. That was why they originally came to this ce that shouldn''t have existed, but even this ce couldn''t hold them.

    Tears formed in space and time, in reality, and the chaotic void began to bare its fangs.

    Damien let loose his energy to counterattack.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive gash formed in the space between him and the Saint Emperor and quickly spread for millions of miles in every direction.

    The two of them retreated to get away from it before acting in tandem, using Destruction to eradicate the negative effects of that gash and charge at each other.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Theirws collided.

    Damien aimed for the very core of the Saint Emperor''s identity, the image of himself within the man.

    However, what did the Saint Emperor aim for?

    What did he want to destroy?

    The answer¡­

    "...is fate."

    The Saint Emperor said it directly instead of making Damien ponder it.

    "I want to destroy this twisted fate that made me who I am, the twisted fate that forced reality onto me and disallowed me from experiencing the story I created. I want to absolutely destroy anything and everything, but at the same time¡­"

    "...what I want to destroy ispletely different, something I am unable to exin in words."

    BOOM!

    His Destruction Law spread, and Damien experienced it.

    Whatever it was that he wanted to destroy, his desire to do so was so extreme that it influenced Damien, who was actively suppressing his emotions.

    "I don''t know what that thing is, but¡­"

    Damien put forth his own determination.

    This sh would decide it.

    Which of them was worthy of destroying the object of their desire, this sh would determine it.

    And the other¡­

    It didn''t need to be said.

    Damien concentrated his energy. Since the Saint Emperor was showing him something "real," something from the very core of his being, something nobody had ever had the opportunity to see before, he decided to do the same.

    Everything Damien used to run from, everything deeply embedded in his psyche that changed him into a different person, everything negative that he rejected so he could be Absolute, Damien put those feelings, and the will to destroy them, into his attacks.

    A battle where they bore their true selves to each other, where they couldpletely let loose the things they hid from others, that was what this battle had be.

    And still, despite the passing of years and the end approaching soon, in their hearts, this battle had only just begun.

 Chapter 1311 Saint Emperor [9]

    1311 Saint Emperor [9]

    What did it mean to destroy a concept?

    It was different for everyone, but to Damien, it meant breaking a shackle.

    He was prone to destruction, but he wasn''t a ve to it. He never destroyed anything meaningless, and even when he did cause mass destruction, it was always purposeful.

    Intent mattered more than the action to him.

    The things he wanted to see broken were inhibitions. Whether those were physical in the form of enemies or barriers, or ethereal in the form of emotions or bottlenecks.

    What shackles did he have to break now?

    Not obvious ones like the Saint Emperor, but ones hidden deep within the recesses of his mind, ones he thought were long exterminated.

    There were a few answers, but they weren''t easy to find.

    Damien had broken through most of his mental bottlenecks long ago. It could be said that his psyche was perfected to a level it should have never reached in such a short span of time due to his countless experiences.

    But some of those feelings lingered.

    They didn''t affect him outwardly or have any real presence in his thought process, but they still lingered.

    He remembered those times of the past, and no matter how strong he grew, he always held the worry that he''d return to that pathetic person he used to be.

    He had an amazing support system. His wives grounded him in a way he could never achieve by himself, and because of them, he always had the motivation to continue improving even if everything else abandoned him.

    However, he sometimes wondered what would happen without them.

    He always wondered if, in a situation where his support system disappeared, he would be a monster who couldn''t differentiate between friend and foe, someone who lived for the purpose of destruction.

    It was an unreasonable worry. Damien was never someone who caved on his values so easily, even if he was left alone for millennia or eons.

    Still, he couldn''t stop himself from questioning it, because despite his stalwart nature, he did have that nature hidden within him. He had the capabilities to be a monster if he was put in the right circumstances.

    He couldn''t allow that.

    He was a man with impossible abilities. Even if everything was taken from him, as long as he stayed true to himself and reached the heights of his potential, he could regain it all.

    So straying from that path and bing an avatar of destruction was something he both feared and absolutely disallowed himself from doing.

    The will Damien put into his mana reflected this. It reflected both the monster within him and the determination to make sure it never appeared in reality, to y it andpletely make its power his own.

    It contained all the doubts he once held, and everything he used to ovee them.

    In short, it contained his will to cut off weakness and be Absolute.

    ?

    He swung a sword of Destruction that perfectly embodied this desire, and shed against the Saint Emperor who did the same.

    VoooooooooOOOOOOM!

    The spatial tears around them grew worse. It was impossible to see any semnce of the Ancient Battlefield anymore.

    The duo was thrown into the chaotic void, unable to find ground to stand on anymore, but the rampant Destruction Law emanating from their collision pushed away any crushing force the space had, creating an oasis for their battle.

    It was enlightening.

    When they used Creation, they destroyed, and when they used Destruction, they created.

    Their wills were too strong to overpower each other, allowing both Creation and Destruction to showcase their duality without being overshadowed.

    Damien pushed his sword forward with all his strength.

    His determination wasn''t something anyone couldpare with. That flimsy and weak man he used to be no longer existed. That man grew into someone who would do anything and sacrifice even his own life for the sake of sess.

    But for some reason, he couldn''t overpower the Saint Emperor.

    "What do you want to destroy?" He asked, his voice quiet yet traveling perfectly into the opponent''s ears.

    "Are you curious?" The Saint Emperor asked in return.

    It was a question he was fond of.

    There was no way he just wanted to sever fate.

    Yes, this desire was powerful. It was an almost impossible task for most, so the absolute desire to crush that ruling force ande out on top was indomitable.

    ?

    However, the Saint Emperor wasn''t like them.

    He might not have been able to gain the Void''s acknowledgment, but that was by no fault of his own. Even Damien didn''t know what conditions made the Void choose him as its apostle.

    The Saint Emperor was both powerful and influential enough to challenge fate with what he had. As long as he didn''t covet the Void, he could have anything he wanted.

    And no matter how much he tried to portray himself as a lunatic, he wasn''t one at all.

    He wasn''t someone who would single-mindedly focus on the Void knowing it was an impossible goal.

    After all, when he tried to kill Damien and failed, he didn''t fall deeper into lunacy. He didn''t continue trying to ughter Damien as if he was his worst enemy.

    He engaged in a battle like this, proving the depth of his thought process, something a viin like Immortal Blood Asura whollycked.

    So what was he trying to destroy?

    And why was his will to destroy it so utterly powerful?

    Damien had to admit. He was definitely more skilled with wielding Destruction, and as someone chosen by thew since birth, he was able to control it to an extent the Saint Emperor could never dream of.

    But in terms of will alone, he lost out.

    His unshakeable will to be Absolute, the will he thought was greater than anything anyone else could produce,¦Ç¦Ò?¦Å??¦Ô??.¡é¦Ò§Þ was just barely overshadowed by what the Saint Emperor infused into his mana.

    "What do I want to destroy, you ask...?" The Saint Emperor continued, pushing his sword forward.

    ?

    The waves of Destruction Law were already tearing apart the devouring force of the chaotic void. If it continued, even thisyer of reality would be ripped to shreds, revealing them to the true Void.

    But the Saint Emperor didn''t stop.

    He didn''t care if the Void would kill him.

    His will was too strong for him to give up in the face of something as meager as death.

    "I have never wanted much. I have never wished for much. Whenever I dream, I dream of a future that I have no ce in," the Saint Emperor began.

    "However, I once had a goal."

    In unison, he and Damien kicked away from each other and pushed back, shing swords again.

    They swung, stabbed, and parried in a beautiful dance of des with no witnesses.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    "The truths that you learned on Al''Katra, I once learned them as well. As I told you earlier, I spent countless years wondering how to carry myself after learning how pointless my own existence was." His voice carried through the explosions.

    It didn''t have much power behind it, but it was impossible to ignore despite all the sound nketing the atmosphere and drowning it out.

    It was infused with the Saint Emperor''s undying spirit, the result of his eons of existence.

    "In those years, watching how my fellows reacted to the truth or chose to ignore it, watching how restrictions were put in ce so our growing freedom could not inhibit the loyalty instilled in us at birth, a question arose in my mind."

    ?

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Two Laws of Destruction zed in reddish-ck splendor, tearing a gash in the chaotic void and revealing the true Void beyond.

    Damien and the Saint Emperor immediately retreated.

    Instead of taking their battle further, they used Creation Law in tandem to forcefully mend the damage they''d done to the environment until they were back on the outskirts of the Ancient Battlefield as if nothing happened.

    Only then did they pull their swords of Destruction out once more to sh.

    "I asked myself, I asked my people, I asked your people, and I asked the universe."

    The Saint Emperor continued speaking, the will infused in his sword bing stronger and stronger with every passing second.

    "Why do we exist? Why is our existence wrapped in suffering? Why can''t we escape fate? Why must we fight?

    Just...why?"

    His words were oddly mncholic, making Damien feel a pang in his chest.

    "The answer did not exist. No matter who I asked, I would only receive answers in the form of excuses. Nobody could tell me why we were forced into such tragic states of existence."

    "So, instead of asking others, I looked for the answer within me."

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    It didn''t take long for the Ancient Battlefield to return to its broken state. Hundreds of millions of kilometers meant nothing in the collision of these two great forces.

    "There was no right answer. There was no rhyme or reason behind it. We were forced to live like this because this is how we were forced to live. It was even more frustrating because the answer was

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1312 Saint Emperor [10]

    Chapter 1312 Saint Emperor [10]

    BOOM!

    Another explosion rang out. At this point, explosions had just be white noise to the two of them. Their battle had been going on for too long for them to pay any mind to the effects of their collisions.

    After all, neither of them was going to be hurt by these eruptions of mana. Their Divine Energy was equal in strength, and theirws directly neutralized each other or harmonized and heightened the effect, never truly overpowering one another.

    Therefore, most of their focus went into their conversation as they continued to fight through it.

    "..."

    Damien processed the Saint Emperor''s answer slowly.

    "Frankly, I can''t ept that. How are you going to say you''re trying to destroy suffering after everything you''ve done? And¡­what happened to your quest for entertainment? Those two goals directly sh with each other, don''t they?" Damien asked.

    He felt like the Saint Emperor was singing apletely different tune than he was in the beginning.

    It wasn''t that Damien didn''t believe him. He could see deep enough into the Saint Emperor''s existence to know he was being wholly truthful.

    The problem was that he was being truthful before as well. These contradictory aspects were both part of him, and that only made him more confusing.

    "You say it is contradictory, but is it truly?" The Saint Emperor questioned back, parrying Damien''s sword and shing at his chest.

    Damien twisted his body to the side, refusing to lose his momentum. He forcefully swung his sword back down to counter, intentionally snapping his arm in the process.

    BANG!

    "It is. Despite saying you want to destroy suffering, your quest for entertainment was arge part of the reason it''s proliferated to this extent over the years."

    The Saint Emperor nodded.

    "In a sense, that is true. To put it simply, our generation has no hope."

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The two went back and forth countless times, shing des thousands of times every fraction of a second. They healed and destroyed the Ancient Battlefield over and over again, making sure their stage never disappeared before they could finish.

    "As long as ''those people'' keep interfering in the lower universe, there is no chance for its people to live a life without suffering. Just as they birthed the Nox Race into existence, they have sown great discord within the ranks of the universe even before I exacerbated the problem for my own amusement."

    "Yes, it is true that I have caused immense suffering to survive the trials of time. I have followed my own selfish desire and manipted the universe into a state nearing Nonexistence because I had to live. But¡­"

    BANG!

    "...have I also not created this situation?"

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    The Saint Emperor was half the reason the universe was now only Grand Heavens Boundary and not its magnificent form of the past. That was true.

    But it was also true that because of the Saint Emperor''s actions, Damien reached Al''Katra and eliminated the corrupted foreign material and came to the Ancient Battlefield to ughter their Demigods.

    Because of the Saint Emperor, the Nox had fallen to a point where they could no longer harm the universe once their rotten parts were cut off.

    And from there, the universe would finally have a chance to heal.

    "Has that been your goal this entire time?" Damien questioned again.

    "Who knows? Perhaps I truly only wish to entertain myself," the Saint Emperor responded with a grin.

    "But you¡­are not so simple of a person."

    "That, I am not."

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Their collision ruptured the atmosphere again. The hundred million-kilometer-wide gash consumed the Ancient Battlefield, and rather than plunging it into the chaotic void, it ripped through the chaotic void as well and opened a passage directly to the true Void.

    Once again, Damien and the Saint Emperor worked together to heal it.

    But Damien''s mind was elsewhere.

    The Saint Emperor''s end goal was to bring peace to the lower universe. No, it could be said that he wanted to rid this cosmos of the terror brought about by those who wished it harm.

    He wanted to end suffering altogether, and to do that, he needed to create a plot that allowed such an ending.

    However, there was no way for him to do so.

    There wasn''t someone who existed to take the ce of the main character in that plot, so he did it himself. There wasn''t a world that could support it, so he made one himself.

    He led countless quintillions of existences, both denizen and Nox, to their deaths without blinking an eye. He ruined universes, ruined families, and destroyed hope for the sake of creating an ideal world.

    He believed his actions were justified.

    If the future generations could live on in a world free of suffering, if he could prevent another "Saint Emperor" from being born and facing the same tragedies he did¡­

    He didn''t care about what happened to those sacrificed in his pursuit of that goal.

    That was how much he didn''t want to see another version of himself recreated by fate and circumstance.

    "Do you hate yourself?" Damien asked.

    "I do," the Saint Emperor answered without hesitation.

    "I believe I am an integral part of the plot I''ve created, however, I abhor what I have be. Rather, I abhor what I have been forced to be. I do not wish this fate on anyone else."

    "And for that purpose¡­" Damien muttered.

    "...even if it means ending all life and birthing a new universe, I shall do so without hesitation."

    The Saint Emperor finished his sentence.

    The difference in their moral standpoints couldn''t be ovee, but Damien also couldn''t say anything about the Saint Emperor''s motivations.

    How much did he have to suffer?

    How far did one have to plunge into the depths of despair to feel such animosity towards their own twisted existence that they''d be willing to end the world itself so future generations wouldn''t suffer the same fate?

    Yes, the Saint Emperor was irredeemable. Yes, he hadmitted atrocities by his own will.

    But who could say it waspletely his fault, and who could say he waspletely wrong?

    In a game of chess where victory against a masterful opponent seemed impossible, there were still several options to avoid defeat.

    The first was to crush the opposing pieces to dust, making sure the opponent could no longer y.

    The second was to flip the board, forcing the opponent to spend a great deal of time reorganizing the pieces before the game could be yed again.

    And the third, the option the Saint Emperor chose, and the only option left when the opponent, the opponent''s pieces, one''s own pieces, and even the board itself were working their hardest to make sure one couldn''t seed¡­

    ¡­was to incinerate the board and all the pieces on it.

    Later, one could buy a new board and start a new game, but that game would not be influenced by the first in any way.

    It was extreme to an iprehensible level, but when one had been ying the game for hundreds of millions of years with no chance of sess, it would eventually start feeling more and more reasonable as an option.

    The Saint Emperor kept trying and kept failing, and thus, the only solution he found was this.

    And Damien could only grit his teeth without any proper way to deny his choice.

    Because even he was ying on the board the Saint Emperor created.

    Even he was fully utilizing the time the Saint Emperor bought by incinerating the board over and over again.

    "...but I won''t let the board be destroyed again."

    He was resolved regardless.

    "At this point, we can at most consider the board flipped. Half of our pieces have been taken, but the opponent still has all of theirs."

    "Still, we have a wild card, and that is me."

    Damien''s eyes were firm with a newfound light of determination.

    "So I will choose the first option. I will save this board and find the opponent. I will reduce his pieces to ash and then sever his hands and rip his throat out so he has no chance of ying ever again."

    "I will not let you destroy this board, because while it may just be a board to you¡­"

    "...it is my home, and those pieces are my people. Until the day I, Damien Void, no longer exist, nobody can touch them."

    The Saint Emperor smiled.

    "That is a worthy mindset to hold."

    He raised his sword once more.

    The fight had gone on for almost 4 years now.

    No matter howrge his mana capacity had grown, 4 years of constant usage without any attempts to replenish it led to an obvious depletion.

    He was almost out of energy.

    "Show me, Damien Void," he said, his back straight as if the problem of mana never existed at all.

    "Show me that you are worthy of those words. Show me that I can leave this world in your hands. Otherwise¡­"

    "...even if it is the worst possible decision, I will end you here and take your ce, so that the world at least stands a chance against the threat from beyond the border."

 Chapter 1313 Saint Emperor [11]

    Chapter 1313 Saint Emperor [11]

    Fighting with Destruction any longer would be pointless.

    Instead of focusing on a singlew, since they''de to the end of this battle, it was time to stop cing such restrictions on themselves.

    "I will now use everything in my power," the Saint Emperor said.

    "Survive until the end, or there is only one fate awaiting you."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    He was clear on what was happening.

    ''He''s running out of steam.''

    The Saint Emperor had an enormous mana capacity, enough for him to use it almost continuously for years without reaching its bottom.

    However, he couldn''t match Damien.

    Damien, who not only had the Ananta Matrix, but also the Void supporting him, wasn''t someone who could ever run out of mana.

    It didn''t matter if he never replenished himself. His capacity itself was an infinite source.

    But the Saint Emperor didn''t need to know that.

    ''Plus, he can still kill me if he tries.''

    Damien couldn''t exin how. He wasn''t knowledgeable enough to understand it, but his intuition told him if the Saint Emperor really used everything he had, he could still kill the nigh immortal Damien.

    ''An enemy like that¡­I can''t let my guard down.''

    He prepared himself, silently circting his mana in preparation for a¨C

    BOOOOOOM!

    The Saint Emperor was already upon him.

    Space and time constricted, and creation formed a space with unique rules that suppressed Damien''sws.

    Destruction ran rampant as the Saint Emperornded a punch on Damien''s chest, pushing through his body and soul to force him into pain.

    The Saint Emperor already understood that he couldn''t kill Damien with Destruction. Instead, he used thew to "destroy" Damien''s senses.

    His perception was cut off, nearly blinding him, and in that moment, the Saint Emperor continued his attack.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Lightning struck down from the heavens. It was wrapped in mes from the sun, and when it struck the earth, rather than dispersing, it arced along the ground as if the earth itself was a conductor.

    Damien was barraged with the elemental forces, and his movements were slowed by thews of Ice. As he tried to dodge and avoid everythinging at him, he mmed into the electrically charged earth and experienced the shock of his lifetime.

    "Khhhh¡­!"

    Damien gritted his teeth and flipped back to his feet, rapidly counterattacking.

    He was severely inhibited. He could still use his physical senses, but his awareness had beenpletely disconnected.

    Without it, he could only rely on physical reactions to respond to stimuli, which was a huge problem.

    ''There''s a solution to this.''

    Just as the Saint Emperor intuitively used hisws to attack, Damien could do the same to defend.

    He spread mana into the surroundings, infusing his will into Space and Time.

    Those two forces that maintained reality became his eyes and ears. The shadowed environment became clear once more, just in time for the Saint Emperor''s approaching fist toe into view.

    BANG!

    Damien leaned his body to the side, barely avoiding the attack. In the same movement, he swung his leg around and kicked into the Saint Emperor''s side.

    BOOOOOOM!

    The attack was infused withws of Samsara. Taking a page out of Yong An''s book, Damien tried to create a field that suppressed the Saint Emperor''s connection to the twows and cut off his regeneration.

    "You adapted fast!" The Saint Emperor praised.

    "If I couldn''t even do this much, we wouldn''t be fighting right now!"

    Damien grinned and kicked backward, making distance between them.

    ''He''s far superior in the usage of fundamentalws. No matter how fast I learn, I can''t close a billion-year gap with just 3 years of battle.''

    Damien wasn''t arrogant.

    As he continued to dodge the Saint Emperor''s attacks by a hair''s width, it wasn''t hard to see the difference between them.

    The Saint Emperor could wield hisws with such proficiency that they could only be described as beautiful.

    Space and Time could function as Life and Death, the elements themselves could be Creation and Destruction, it didn''t matter what he used, as long as his intent was there, thews would be whatever he wanted them to be.

    Meanwhile, Damien was definitely skilled, but he didn''t have that level ofprehension. That was a level one could only reach through strenuous training over an unholy amount of time.

    ''I wanted to keep it at this level, but that''s impossible.''

    If he wanted toe out on top here, he had to stop using the baseponents alone. He could only win with Existence Law.

    And so, he rapidly switched his strategy.

    Honor was a fake concept. It could only exist in times of peace. When one''s life was on the line, what was honor? What was pride?

    Damien wanted to match the Saint Emperor''s pace for the sake of the connection they''d built through this battle, but victory was more important than anything.

    His moves changed.

    Instead of wielding the individual forces like the Saint Emperor did, Damien brought Existence itself under his control.

    He formed illusions that superimposed on reality and became reality through his power to counter the Saint Emperor''s domain skills.

    He took hold of the fabric of reality and toyed with it as if it were just some regr cloth, forcefully changing the rules of this world to his advantage.

    If he couldn''t win through normal means, he would just cheat.

    Because even that was a part of his power!

    "Hahaha, as expected, there is no one else like you, Damien Void!"

    The Saint Emperor roared out gleefully, ignoring the line of blood trailing down his chin.

    "Come,e at me with everything you have!"

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien obliged.

    He used the entire weight of existence itself to bear down on the Saint Emperor, forcing him to the ground.

    He could feel it.

    The Saint Emperor''s Divine Energy was weening. Its potency wasn''t nearly as it was when they started, and if one looked at the amount alone, he was practically on death''s door already.

    ''When did he be like this¡­?''

    Damien gritted his teeth and continued attacking. The Saint Emperor didn''t stop just because of his thoughts, after all.

    He continued onward.

    The more he fought, the faster his mana depleted, but the closer he got to the true meaning of Existence.

    It became impossible to track the battle.

    They moved too fast, and as the forces they controlled became vaguer and vaguer, trusting the battle one saw to be the battle that was ongoing became a fool''s dream.

    Reality became a lie under their control. Fate became a joke, and power became trivial.

    The Saint Emperor reached the heights of existence where Damien stood, and above the concept itself, they fought for supremacy,

    There was no light, no sound, and no wondrous imagery.

    They were fighting a battle only they were privy to, a battle far above the level they should have ever been able to reach.

    They weren''t even fighting each other anymore.

    They were fighting themselves.

    Because as they grew closer to the base of existence, their own mana left their control.

    Damien seized control over the Saint Emperor''s mana and attacked him from within, while the Saint Emperor did the same and attacked Damien''s mind and body.

    Damien felt the blood leaking from his pores, and he saw the blood leaking from the Saint Emperor.

    Bloody tears dripped down his face.

    It was a beautiful battle.

    It was a beautiful battle with an opponent he did not wish to die so early.

    "You bastard, stay alive! Stay alive and watch me aplish everything you dreamed of!"

    He roared as he rushed forward with his light of existence, attacking once more.

    "Me? Stay alive? Hahahaha, you delusional brat! The one you should be worried about is yourself!"

    He talked big.

    If anything, he was good at talking big.

    But¡­

    What did it matter if he talked big?

    He didn''t have mana left.

    Even now, he was fighting with his life force as coteral.

    There was no way for him to avoid death.

    There was no way for him to continue fighting.

    The wounds on Damien''s body piled up as he refused to let himself heal, but the Saint Emperor''s body withered away even faster.

    No matter what he did, he couldn''t save that man.

    No matter how terrible of an idea it might''ve been to save that man, he couldn''t get rid of the desire to save him.

    But his body didn''t listen to his desires.

    His mind roared and thrashed, begging him to stop. His heart beat wildly as it pleaded with him to halt his movements.

    However, nothing could stop the wheel of fate that the two of them rolled down the hill.

    The only way for it to stop¡­

    SHIK!

    A sword of existence stabbed through the withered Saint Emperor''s chest.

    The only way to stop this twisted fate was to see it through to the end.

    Tears of blood dripped down Damien''s face and onto the Saint Emperor''s shoulder as the two stood in silence.

    The Saint Emperor rested his head on Damien''s chest as it became difficult for him to keep his eyes open.

    "It was an honorable battle, child¡­"

    The Saint Emperor spoke weakly.

    He hardly had the energy to speak.

    His existence was being swallowed by the sword in his chest, and his remaining life force was already exhausted after he used it as a medium to control existence itself.

    "As expected, you were the one¡­" he said, forcing out hisst words.

    "...you were the protagonist of my story, Damien Void."

    Damien gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists hard enough to dig holes through his palm.

    "...just a little more," he said, forcing the energy of [Heal] and Life Laws into the Saint Emperor''s body.

    It was impossible to save him.

    There was no meaning in this action at all, but¡­

    "...please, let''s just talk a little more before you go."

 Chapter 1314 Saint Emperor [12]

    <h4>Chapter 1314 Saint Emperor [12]</h4>

    It was quiet.

    The pieces of existence slowly put themselves back together, and the Ancient Battlefield returned to its dull and dreary appearance.

    It was beautiful.

    That scene, where reality itself was pieced together like ss shattering in reverse, where mountains rose and valleys grew, where the sky itself found its ce in the world, was beautiful.

    However, nobody was there to see it.

    There were two figures in the midst of the great restructuring, but neither of them paid it any mind.

    It was lonely.

    Damien felt the Saint Emperor''s body turning colder in his grasp. Unlike other Nox, he didn''t liquefy upon death.

    The energy of [Heal] kept flowing into his body. Damien was doing everything he could to give the Saint Emperor even one more moment of life.

    He already knew.

    It was impossible.

    "Please," he said, his words reaching no ears but his own, "let''s just talk a little more before you go."

    The Saint Emperor smiled slightly, his expression hidden as he had no way to raise his head.

    He wanted to speak, to say some words to this child who was acting unlike himself, but he couldn''t.

    No matter what Damien did, he wouldn''t live.

    It was not a matter of fate.

    He resented fate to his very core, and he had no intention of letting fate take his life.

    So he chose this ce as his grave.

    He chose to die here, and with that decision, he made absolutely sure he wouldn''t live no matter what was done.

    But how was he supposed to tell Damien? He didn''t even have mana left to transmit his thoughts, let alone a mouth that could speak.

    No, in the first ce, there was no need for him to say anything.

    Damien already knew.

    He just didn''t want to ept it.

    He was a man who experienced a lot of death. Whether he was the one spreading death or being forced to see it, he''d been around it since he was young.

    Several seniors he respected, several young people who could''ve been the future of this universe, and several others who might not have had any real value at all, had died before him.

    But none of them really had any connection to them.

    None of them made him feel this way.

    Because while he respected those seniors, he didn''t spend enough time with them to truly be close.

    The only time Damien truly experienced death so viscerally was when Iris shattered her soul, but even then, he had a solution.

    This time, there was nothing.

    There was no title, no magical effect, no impossibility that could change the Saint Emperor''s fate.

    So he sat there, trying fruitlessly to breathe life into that man''s dying body.

    The Saint Emperor¡­well, he didn''t feel bad about it.

    It had been a long time since he was born. In that time, he''d lived so many lives that even he''d forgotten his true name.

    The name that was given to him, his emperor title, was the only thing he could use to define himself.

    And what did that give him?

    Frankly, it gave him nothing.

    He never expected to die surrounded by people.

    He knew what kind of life he''d lived. He knew that those who visited his grave would do so to celebrate his passing, to spit on his tombstone.

    So the fact that there was a man here who mourned him, that was enough for him.

    It was a warmth he''d never felt before.

    It was a warmth he didn''t know he was capable of feeling.

    ''This child¡­''

    Damien Void.

    There was a lot he wanted to say to this man.

    Damien was the sessor he''d been eagerly awaiting for so long.

    The "protagonist" position he tried to take for himself, he got extremely caught up in its nuances. At some point, he started to believe that the position was truly made for him.

    However, it never was.

    The Saint Emperor was just a "dreamer." He was there to set up the plot, to create a world that could support it, and to watch as the protagonist was born into it and fulfilled his glorious destiny.

    His lunacy caught up to him.

    When he saw the protagonist, he saw him as a source of entertainment. He toyed with his life for the sake of that measly desire, and when the time came, he tried to steal his position.

    Naturally, he failed.

    When he arrived on the Ancient Battlefield and realized nothing had changed, he felt a devastating impact like no other.

    It made him lose all will to continue living. He sat in the corner of the battlefield and drowned in his own thoughts, trying his best to find a path forward.

    He killed the protagonist with his own hands, and he didn''t have the capabilities to fill the hole he''d left.

    What would happen in the future?

    Didn''t he ruin everything he spent a billion years setting up in a single move?

    When Damien reappeared on the Ancient Battlefield, the Saint Emperor realized what it truly meant to be a protagonist.

    And the light Damien cast over the darkness cleared away his chaotic thoughts.

    He understood his role.

    He understood what he had to do.

    He had to be a catalyst for his hero''s growth.

    He saw the ending of this plot.

    There was a beautiful ending, a beautifully twisted story that would take ce as a result of his actions.

    That ending would be a battle against fate, a battle against suffering, a battle that would achieve everything he wished to see achieved.

    But for that ending to take ce, he had to die.

    He had to be fuel for his protagonist, so the oue he wanted to see woulde to fruition.

    He smiled sadly.

    It was just a shame that he wouldn''t be there to see it.

    At least his will wouldn''t go unknown.

    At least all these thoughts would reach that man, everything that represented him, not the Saint Emperor, but his true self hidden underneath all the walls he put up around his heart, would be understood by the one person he wanted to understand it.

    Those thoughts gave him closure. He could leave this world in peace, and he could close his eyes without regretting the end of his life.

    It was a long life, it was a torturous life, it was a life better off not living¡­

    ¡­but it was his life.

    It was a life he used to do what he wanted to do without being dragged around by the wills of others.

    It was a shameful life, but he was a shameless man.

    It was a life he took pride in.

    Therefore, in the arms of the man who would continue his legacy and make sure he never truly died, he took hisst breath.

    The Saint Emperor existed no longer.

    However¨C

    "¨CArahan..."

    A word Damien learned as the Saint Emperor''s existence became part of his own.

    A word that meant "freedom" in an ancientnguage that had long been eroded in the rivers of time.

    A word that was once the name of the man who became the Saint Emperor.

    "...rest well," he said.

    "That world you envisioned¡­"

    "...I will create the world you wished to see."

 Chapter 1315 Finale [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1315 Finale [1]</h4>

    The Saint Emperor grew in that way.

    As he based his growth path on the Void and tried to reach it through his own power, his entire being turned into something that would be the perfect fuel for Damien.

    Damien held respect for the man, but that didn''t stop him from using Devour.

    No, it was precisely because of that respect that he chose to devour him.

    Because the Saint Emperor couldn''t die here.

    If his existence became a part of Damien, he would forever live on.

    And as Damien would gain everything the Saint Emperor had, he''d finally be able to understand the man without any gaps in his perception.

    So he used the Authority.

    Unlike the usual scene that took ce, the wisps of pitch-ck mana manifested by the Void gently wrapped around the Saint Emperor''s body.

    As it cocooned him in its embrace, he became a cluster of light particles that drifted into the heavens.

    It was a beautiful, almost ceremonious, death for a man who wouldn''t be mourned.

    In terms of power, the Saint Emperor''sprehension bing Damien''s was extremely beneficial.

    His fundamentalw Authorities all rose to 90%pletion, and his Authority of Existence rose a whopping 10% to reach 60%.

    It was unbelievable. Considering the amount of time and effort it took Damien to tether all the fundamentalws and raise the Authority of Existence to 50%, an instant 10% boost was practically nonsensical.

    It was a testament to the Saint Emperor''s hard work. In his final moments, he reached the level of Existence Law that should''ve been impossible for him.

    Damien''s mind expanded as his perception of the world changed, and his body and soul were enhanced an extreme amount by the achievements the Saint Emperor made throughout his life.

    However, Damien himself paid little attention to his growth.

    He was focused on the memories and Legends that entered his being.

    He was focused on the Saint Emperor himself, not the benefits the man gave him.

    And through that focus, Damien learned of the Saint Emperor''s final thoughts.

    He watched and experienced the billion-year journey he took. He witnessed both the benevolence and ruthlessness the Saint Emperor held in his core.

    He saw it all.

    That man was a contradictory existence. Nothing about him would make sense to anyone else. Nobody could possibly sympathize with his motivations or actions.

    He could only be viewed as a viin.

    But Damien refused to see him that way.

    Because, at the end of the day, the Saint Emperor''s actions, no matter how extreme they were, created the chance the current generation had to stand up to their oppressors.

    It didn''t matter if he was right or wrong, because he achieved results nobody else could.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath.

    He sat on his knees outside the Ancient Battlefield, alone in this ce where time didn''t flow.

    It would be a while before he could return to normalcy.

    But he had toe back.

    He made a promise, and he intended to keep it.

    So he would remain in this ce, outside the flow of time, and reach a state of peace.

    When he emerged, he would be a different man.

    He would be the protagonist the Saint Emperor wanted to see.

    ''Never again.''

    Damien swore on his heart.

    ''Never again will anyone have to suffer a fate like yours.''

    ***

    Damien and the Saint Emperor had their battle outside the bounds of the Ancient Battlefield, in a ce that technically didn''t exist in reality.

    Due to that, the time flow waspletely different for them than it was for everyone else.

    Years passed as they fought. They felt every fraction of every second of every year they spent there, but for those on the true Ancient Battlefield, only half an hour went by.

    But they all felt the change.

    Somewhere far away from where the masses were congregated, Tiamat and Iris stood over the dead body of a man who was once known as the Soul Emperor.

    Tiamat''s gamble paid off.

    She targeted the instilled faith the Soul Emperor considered his true feelings, and when she found the seed of corruption nted in his soul, he stood no chance.

    Under the copse of everything he stood for, the Soul Emperor''s Divinity crumbled.

    Killing him after that wasn''t even a task. It was as easy as stealing candy from a baby.

    However, Tiamat didn''t leave their Sacred Combat without enduring any scars.

    Just as she''d found her target, he did too.

    Tiamat''s powerful Divinity was chipped because of the inherent "w" in her reasoning, and though the damage wasn''t severe enough to cripple her, it definitely affected her strength to great degrees.

    Her battle finished almost instantly. It was different from the genuine differentiated time flow that Damien and the Saint Emperor experienced, but the nuances of Sacred Combat which took ce in the ethereal world would culminate into results rapidly.

    The Soul Emperor fell within five minutes.

    As of now, Iris was helping Tiamat mend her fractured Divinity with the help of Creation Laws.

    Still, the two of them felt it before anyone else.

    The entire atmosphere of the Ancient Battlefield changed.

    Vibrations rippled through the air, and subtly, one could hear the sound of an ancient bell ringing.

    That symbolized the end.

    The end of this war.

    There was not a single Nox being left in existence on this ne.

    Their war, the brutal struggle they''d endured for the past several years to secure their futures, had reached its finale.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    It was in the very center of the battlefield, above the river of clouded lily pads. There, positioned in such a way that it could be viewed from any part of the battlefield, two portals formed.

    All of the Divinities who saw them instinctually knew what they were.

    The one on the left was dark. It was a swirling heap of ckness with no end.

    That was the portal back to the lower universe. If one walked through it, they''d be able to return to their peaceful lives as they remained ignorant to the grand sights of the beyond.

    As for the portal on the right, its center was filled with the same ckness, but its border was lined in gold.

    That was a portal that contained an aura all of these Demigods had felt at least once in the past.

    It contained the aura of the Heavenly World.

    Walking through it would signify a new beginning, an eternal race for power, and the opening of a new world for them to explore.

    The choice was theirs to make whether they wished to aim higher or settle for what they had.

    Countless Divinities made their way to the portals, including Iris and Tiamat.

    There was nothing more to be said, after all.

    Everything could be solved once they left this ce.

    These Divinities worked together until now because they were facing a greater enemy, but in reality, many of them didn''t have the best of rtionships in the lower universe.

    With the threat exterminated, there was no need for them to remain friendly.

    Or at least, that was what they assumed.

    It took less than five minutes for the closest of them to reach the portals.

    Those in the central area already assumed they''d be able to leave instantly, but the space around the portals was surprisingly chaotic, so it took a decent amount of time to fly to them.

    However, when they did reach¡­

    ¡­they found that they weren''t the first ones to arrive.

    There was already a man waiting for them.

    And he had set up a wall that was impossible for them to cross.

    After all, they weren''t allowed to leave yet.

    Yes, a culling had taken ce prior to make sure only those with the universe''s best interests in mind would return, however¡­

    He didn''t trust others to do his job for him.

    So when he returned to the Ancient Battlefield after half a year in the timeless area, he went straight to the portals.

    It was time for him to see for himself whether these people were worthy of his trust.

 Chapter 1316 Finale [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1316 Finale [2]</h4>

    It took half a year for him to readjust his mental state, but Damien returned to the Ancient Battlefield eventually.

    He, of course, wanted to see Iris before anything else, but time wasn''t on his side.

    The portals opened before he even arrived back on the battlefield, and if he didn''t immediately teleport over, he wouldn''t have made it before the first batch arrived.

    As for Iris and Tiamat, his awareness spanned arge enough distance for him to see their situation as he moved, so he was already assured of their safety.

    Nevertheless, he came here with one purpose only.

    To subjugate those who couldn''t be killed.

    The universe was severelycking in forces at the moment.

    Of their originallyrge number of Demigods, only a little over 1500 still remained alive. When one took into ount the losses to lower existence forces as well, it was a severe blow that couldn''t be easily healed from.

    Naturally, once the Demigods returned victorious, the universe would enter a period of restructuring before it went on to grow.

    And for the sake of that, there couldn''t be any more rot inhibiting them.

    Nobody could say how long the lower universe would remain safe from external threats. Just because the Nox were gone didn''t mean nobody else would try toy im to theirnd.

    These Demigods were the start of the problem. They allowed the rot to fester as they were the ones spreading it personally.

    As long as they weren''t brought under his control, the problems that tore the universe apart from the inside would continue to persist until it was pointless to even dream of it bing whole again.

    Damien couldn''t allow that.

    Disregarding any sort of desire for justice or righteous intentions, the lower universe would be his as soon as he got the opportunity to im it, and he wouldn''t allow these kinds of people to pollute his property.

    However, he also couldn''t kill them, because the universe was alreadycking Divinities as it was.

    The solution was simple.

    Damien waited as more and more Demigods arrived before him.

    Some hadints, but most saw what he did when he came out of Cosmic Rebirth and shut their mouths when they recognized him.

    It didn''t matter if othersined anyway. Damien already set up a barrier of existence between him and them, making it absolutely impossible for them to break through to the portals.

    When the crowd reached its full capacity and all the Demigods had gathered, Damien acted quickly.

    He didn''t exin himself nor did he listen to them.

    He used his new eyes topletely perceive each and every one of their existences.

    Once again showcasing his indomitable power, he forcefully separated them into two batches.

    People who were worthy, like Alucard, Tang Lingzi, Tiamat, or Iris, were shifted to one side, while others who didn''t have as much presence as those four whom Damien deemed unworthy were shifted to the other side.

    After this was finished, Damien finally said his first words to the crowd of Divinities who''d already been subdued by his actions.

    "I will not tolerate another case like the Immortal Blood Asura," he said, panning his gaze over them.

    "From this point forth, our Grand Heavens Boundary will only experience prosperity. If you wish to cause discord or pursue personal gain by damaging the universe''s foundation, I have unfortunate news for you¡­"

    He looked to the side where the nameless Demigods were.

    There were roughly 500 of them. It was a far smaller number than the other side, which was good, but it was still a number far toorge.

    "...I have already seen through your intentions," Damien said to them.

    "What are you¨C"

    "If you are unfortunate enough to be on this side, then it is by no fault but your own. Perhaps, in your next life, you will learn to not be overly greedy for things that aren''t yours."

    Damien nced at Alucard and the rest, giving them a slight nod.

    "I will not kill these people. I am not stupid enough to damage our overallbat power at a time like this. However, they will no longer move by their own will. I will put their lives in the hands of a few trusted individuals, and they will be used as the greatestbor force you could ever ask for."

    "They will not doubt orin. They will not rebel or bear grievance. They will be ves, puppets who will follow the absolutemand of anyone I deem worthy of such privilege."

    Damien didn''t n to personally take part in the reconstruction efforts. He had other things to do.

    So he gave them an exnation of what he was going to do, so they could both feel the severity of their responsibility and the fear for him that would make sure they never even considered acting against his will.

    Damien didn''t enjoy being a tyrant, but if that was the position he needed to take for the greater good, he would do so without question or guilt.

    That was a lesson he learned from the Saint Emperor.

    Sometimes, the viin was just as necessary as the hero.

    It was time for him to take viinous action.

    After he finished giving them an exnation of their roles for the future and what his next actions would entail, Damien turned back to the second group and pushed his hand out.

    They were raging, of course. Their roars of indignance were loud, and their ims that he wasmitting heresy or betraying the universe were even louder.

    But what could they do?

    They were trapped in the box where Damien kept them. They were just barking dogs without any real power.

    And what was the point of having a dog if it wasn''t loyal?

    Damien harnessed the Authority of Existence.

    Using his perception as a base, he imprinted his will on the very cores of their existences.

    It was a ve seal that could never be disobeyed, because it was not a matter of mind, body, or soul, but existence itself.

    The process was quite easy for him, since he was already far above their level even before devouring two Nox Emperors.

    And once it was over, he looked over at Alucard and the rest.

    "I''ll trust you with this?" He asked.

    Alucard smiled and nodded.

    "That, you can."

    Damien nodded back and transferred control over the ve legion to the Hidden Death Valley Director.

    Just like the controls for the teleportation arrays he set up, he made an assortment of keys to control the ve group and gave them to Alucard for him to hand out to the people he trusted.

    That matter was brought to an end just like that.

    Without blocking their paths any longer, Damien stepped aside and allowed the Demigods to make their choice.

    Damien didn''t treat it as much, because he already had a n on what he was going to do from now on. He was also the only one with knowledge of the alternate ascension method, so he didn''t possess the same worries as they did.

    But for those that weren''t duty-bound like Alucard, this was a choice heavier than any other.

    It had already been several thousand years since thest of them rejected ascension.

    After several millennia spent in contentment at the top of the food chain, what would they do?

    Would they return to that position, to the ce that would inevitably be far more prosperous than the Grand Heavens Boundary they knew?

    Or would they reach for greater horizons, exploring the futures they''d disregarded in their younger days for the sake of such meager power?

    For most, it was an obvious decision to return. If they were going to ascend, they would have done so from the beginning.

    But¡­

    That didn''t mean there weren''t any interesting choices made.

 Chapter 1317 Finale [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1317 Finale [3]</h4>

    Most of the Demigods left the obvious way.

    Alucard and Commander Huo, as well as the forces who followed them, went back to the lower universe after bidding their goodbyes to Damien.

    They had responsibilities to uphold. Even if they wanted to ascend, they''d cemented themselves in positions they couldn''t easily abandon.

    The pack of ves Damien subjugated were also taken along with them.

    Those people still had their consciousness, and they could still feel whatever they wished to feel, which left Damien with several res of hatred as they left.

    However, it didn''t matter. If they even had thoughts of betraying him or the universe, if they had thoughts of doing anything against the will that he''d instilled in them, they''d lose their consciousness and be true puppets without any identity of their own.

    Considering that none of them had been degraded to that status yet, the fear in their hearts should''ve been enough to keep them on the right track for a long period of time, so Damien didn''t have to worry.

    Iris and Tiamat stayed by his side for the moment, and as they watched more and more of the Demigods make their choice, they only saw a select few who chose to ascend.

    They were stuck in their ways. It wasn''t normal to change their decisions at this juncture, especially when remembering their reason for refusing ascension in the first ce.

    There were less than ten who decided to take the chance. They were nameless, nothing more than followers in this war.

    Perhaps that was the reason they chose to take the risk. If they were going to be in the lowest ss of Divinities even in the lower universe, what would change going to the Heavenly World?

    They''d likely find more opportunities to grow, and there was more potential for them to find chances to grow if they changed now.

    Damien was an outlier that spurred their motivation, and the risk that was once considered far too great became manageable.

    Now, left in this ce, there was only one person who hadn''t made their choice.

    Tang Lingzi.

    "What are you going to do?" Damien asked.

    "I¡­"

    Tang Lingzi hesitated.

    She''d learned a lot in this war, and she''d almost lost her life. If it wasn''t for Iris'' interference, she would''ve died without aplishing anything.

    So she took some time to think as Damien and his group cleaned up the battlefield.

    What was the point of staying in Grand Heavens Boundary?

    Yes, she had her reasons, but were they enough to make her close her path of ascension again at this juncture?

    The answer was a massive "no."

    "That person" whom she was chasing, if she ever wanted to meet them, she couldn''t stay the same as she was now.

    She had to change.

    She had to grow into someone who could stand on a battlefield like this one and be confident she couldn''t be harmed.

    If she followed her fear, she would stay in the lower universe. Even if she wasn''t at the peak of its forces, she could still grow to that level eventually.

    However, her instincts told her otherwise.

    If she didn''t make the leap now, she would be forever stuck in her woes without a chance of escape.

    "I will be going."

    She said it firmly.

    And Damien nodded in approval.

    "I''ll see you there, then."

    "You''re ascending as well?" Tang Lingzi asked in surprise.

    "Not yet, but I will soon enough. I still have things to do in the lower universe, you see."

    Tang Lingzi nodded in understanding.

    She was almost disappointed for a second. After all, Zara was once her disciple.

    If Damien said he was ascending now and leaving his people behind, her heart would''ve be far too chaotic.

    Because a man of his caliber without consideration for his rtionships was dangerous to an extreme level.

    Damien watched as Tang Lingzi took tentative steps towards the golden portal and finally walked through it before turning to the two women by his side.

    "As you know, I''ll take a while before I ascend. What are your ns?"

    "You still have a way to ascendter, right?" Iris asked.

    "Of course," Damien responded with a grin.

    "Then there''s nothing to be said. I will naturally follow you."

    Iris developed her desire to go to the Heavenly World along with her love for Damien. She wasn''t content with staying in Grand Heavens Boundary anymore.

    If Damien was nning to take a long time to ascend, she would''ve preferred to go ahead of him and set up a foundation before he arrived, but they hadn''t spent nearly enough time together.

    The war was too distracting. Now that it was over and they could have some idle time, she decided she''d rather spend a few years with him than ascend immediately, since they would eventually do so anyway.

    As for Tiamat¡­

    "I have no path," she said.

    "Now that my revenge has been aplished, and so easily at that, I have nothing left to do. Frankly, I am lost, however, I am trusting your words. Didn''t you say you would take responsibility for me?"

    Damien smiled.

    "Indeed I did. And, don''t worry about the revenge. Your targets are still very much alive and awaiting your return."

    Tiamat''s heart skipped a beat.

    "That means¡­?"

    "I can''t say for certain, but at least a few of those who wronged you should be alive in the Heavenly World. And¡­the ones behind them are still alive and well. Instead of getting rid of the weeds alone, wouldn''t it be more satisfying to cut the roots as well?"

    Tiamat nodded without a word.

    Her heart was beating out of her chest.

    The revenge she wanted to get, it wasn''t satisfied at all. She felt a void in her heart when she realized only the Soul Emperor remained for her to kill.

    Hearing that there was a possibility for true closure made her feel hopeful in a way she wasn''t expecting.

    And the path forward after she truly achieved her revenge¡­she was getting a vague idea of it as well.

    Nevertheless, for now, she was set on following Damien. Mainly because of the debt she felt towards him, but also due to his monstrous talent.

    Staying next to someone like him would always bring benefits.

    With all of them in agreement, there was nothing left to say here.

    Together as one, they walked through the ck portal.

    Damien''s eyes were alight with mes.

    This was the end of his saga in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    He was just going through the motions from this point.

    Since there wasn''t anything important left to do, he was prepared to take a few years to rest and recuperate before setting off on a new journey.

    After all, aside from all the conflict that needed to be put to an end, there was only one thing he wanted to do.

    ''It''s been¡­far too long.''

    He hated leaving them behind, but his life seemed to move in ways he never expected. He was dragged around by fate and forced to move on without them.

    As long as it was possible, he wanted to stay with them as much as possible.

    And since he was going to take control of his own fate from now on, he would make sure he didn''t have to keep worrying them like this.

    ''But¡­if I really think about it¡­''

    As he stepped through the portal, his body shook unnervingly.

    ''...I''m going to get my ass beat, aren''t I?''

    He forgot for a second, but he really died a while ago.

    Thinking about their reactions when he came back alive¡­

    Well, maybe it would''ve been better for him to not go back at all¡­?

 Chapter 1318 Painting [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1318 Painting [1]</h4>

    The fluctuations of the return portal contained aspects of space and time that revolved in quite the interesting fashion.

    Since it was a product of the universe itself and not a practitioner''s skill, it was far moreplex, yet far more ingrained in nature than anything a living being could produce.

    That was why Damien didn''t feel strange as he stepped into it.

    As usual, space and time warped around him. With his unique senses as a Spacetime practitioner, he was able to sense the corridor that was transporting him, as well as the others being transported by it.

    The smooth breeze of space brushes across Damien''s face. He looked around and saw the various spatial phenomena taking ce outside the bounds of the corridor and marveled at them.

    This sight was always something he could appreciate.

    It was the true strength of space and time, that which existences within it could never reproduce.

    He calmly observed the environment and felt the life auras of those around him disappearing one by one as they reached their final destination.

    Only he, Iris, and Tiamat remained, but it was odd.

    They should''ve been moving at a constant speed.

    So¡­

    Why were they elerating ahead of him?

    Why was he slowly decelerating?

    ''Why is it taking so long?''

    It was true that he could perceive the journey in real time because of his abilities, but that didn''t mean the journey would elongate.

    The concept of speed should''ve been constant within the corridor.

    Those who entered together would exit together, and the gap between the exit times of those who entered first and those who enteredst should''ve been consistent with their entrance times.

    However, this clearly wasn''t the case right now.

    ''Is this¡­''

    Just as Damien tried to rationalize the phenomenon, everything went silent.

    The Spacetime phenomena around the corridor vanished, and then the corridor itself escaped his perception.

    No, it was better to say his perception waspletely cut off.

    "..."

    He tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth.

    Any semnce of the Spacetime corridor, the Ancient Battlefield, or even Grand Heavens Boundary disappeared from his surroundings.

    All that remained was a familiar ckness.

    ''Where am I?'' He wondered.

    He never expected something to go wrong at a time like this, but he also didn''t panic.

    He knew his current state couldn''t be the work of enemies, since there were no enemies left with enough power to do something like this.

    ''Let''s think for a second.''

    Damien calmed his mind.

    He was already used to ckness like this, and since Iris and Tiamat weren''t with him, it meant this wasn''t a product of the portal either.

    ''They must''ve arrived safely in Grand Heavens Boundary like the rest. Why was I the only one separated?''

    He tried to move his body, and found that he did indeed have the capability.

    He wasn''t separated in consciousness, nor was he in a state where he waspletely disconnected from reality.

    He waded through the darkness cautiously.

    ''I feel like I''m moving, but I also feel like I''ve been stationary this whole time. This kind of feeling¡­''

    Damien frowned as a memory appeared in his mind.

    ''Yeah, this is what it was like back then. The only difference is that this time, I''ve retained my sense of self.''

    It was back in the Space-Time River, when he was almost swallowed whole by the concepts he wasn''t strong enough to control yet.

    ''If it''s like that, then shouldn''t there be something else here?''

    Damien quickly adapted to his circumstances and started looking for a way out.

    He was in no mood to struggle more right now.

    But, strangely, it didn''t feel like he was trapped.

    No, he felt rather at home in this environment.

    ''The only thing I can do is search until I find something.''

    He wasn''t able to tell exactly where the familiarity came from, even after wading around like this.

    He tried to spread his awareness, but he soon found that hecked that capability.

    ''Is my strength inhibited?''

    He raised his arm and tried to manifest Divine Energy, but that didn''t work either.

    ''Then¡­''

    Instead, he used his energy in its base state.

    ''As expected.''

    The so-called Void Energy with the capability to transmute into anything could be used without a problem.

    He had an inkling of what was happening.

    This darkness was different from the rest.

    It blocked skills that had to do with finding its identity, and it blocked skills rted to reality. Anything else, anything involved with the Void, and even Existence Law, was still usable.

    ''I''m¡­''

    Damien stopped moving and truly immersed himself in the surroundings.

    He stopped thinking, he stopped acting, and he simply became one with it.

    He allowed everything to leave him besides his identity as Damien Void.

    And that was when it appeared.

    A painting.

    A beautiful multiyered painting that couldn''t be described with words and existed in at least ten-dimensional space.

    Was it even right to call it a painting? It was massive to the point where size became irrelevant, absolutely dwarfing Damien like a universepared to an ant.

    It was ever-changing, and its content couldn''t be easily distinguished. To an unlearned viewer, it would look like a chaotic mix of brush strokes made by someone with no intent or purpose whatsoever.

    The nature of this painting, its existence in ten-dimensional space, would likely shatter the minds of any who tried to understand its contents.

    Naturally, Damien was excluded from this.

    He gazed upon it, and instead of feeling confusion, he felt his mind bing clearer.

    The individual brush strokes came to life in his eyes, each manifesting into a scene unlike any other on the canvas of ckness.

    As he focused on a single brush stroke, he saw many things.

    One stroke could be the life of a man, from birth to death, filled with trials and tribtions as well as moments of cherished happiness.

    However, when he looked at the stroke next to it, he''d find it unraveling into aplexly structuredw, an ethereal force with no material presence in reality.

    Each and every stroke had its own meaning. While they looked identical at first nce, when they were deciphered, one would find a true myriad of scenes and concepts that shouldn''t have been able to exist on the same canvas without conflicting with each other.

    How could they be equal when they inherently were not?

    Or¡­

    ''In the eyes of the painter, are they all equal?''

    Damien''s fractured perception started to return to normalcy.

    He started to understand the nature of this painting, and as a result, the identity of this space.

    That was the trigger.

    The "painting" unraveled.

    Contained within a sphere with no real end or beginning was that "painting."

    And standing outside the sphere in the ckness was Damien.

    ''That painting¡­''

    His eyes narrowed.

    ''...is reality.''

    "Huu¡­"

    He took a deep breath.

    It was the first sound he heard since arriving here.

    ''And that means¡­''

    His heart beat wildly.

    His mind ran in circles in both excitement and a hint of fear.

    ''This ce¡­''

    He understood where he was.

    He knew why the ckness felt familiar.

    And as he understood it, his entire being changed.

    ''This ce is the Void.''

 Chapter 1319 Painting [2]

    Chapter 1319 Painting [2]

    As the realization settled in, Damien''s mind entered apletely different state of existence.

    The painting of reality before him unraveled into its true form, and Damien, for the first time, saw what someone like the Ancient Sovereign saw.

    The past, present, and future were meaningless. They were merely a single entity with no true distinction between them.

    The lives of so many people ovepped and intertwined that it seemed impossible to single out any one person from the picture, and thews that upheld the fabric of reality formed the spherical container in which the painting was housed.

    It was amazing. Every process and mechanism that allowed reality to function was present before him, and he felt like if he just reached for it a little bit¡­

    ''...I can change it.''

    Damien was baffled by his position.

    He didn''t think he could return to the universe like this, but if he had the capability to alter reality even in the slightest¡­

    He had to try it out.

    His perception slowly became ustomed to this new view of space and time. As it did, he focused in on various sights, finally bing aware of the happenings of the recent past and present.

    He saw them.

    He saw Rose, Ruyue, and Elena from the point just moments after his death to the current day. He saw how they drowned themselves in the delusion that he was still alive and fought on the frontlines to lead the universe to victory against the Nox.

    He felt their pain viscerally, and he almost couldn''t stop the tears from streaming down his face.

    It had been decades since theyst saw each other.

    Just how much pain did they have to endure?

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena rapidly ascended the ranks of the nine revolutions and reached the Supreme level within five years.

    After that, they became the figureheads that led the entire army. With Luciel acting from the back line to support them, they were able to attain victory after victory, corralling the Nox in the universe so they could make sure not a single one survived.

    That much was consistent no matter what part of the painting Damien looked at.

    But¡­

    ''There''s more.''

    There wasn''t just the one timeline.

    He saw a myriad of potential pasts and presents, as well as the potential futures resulting from them.

    He saw the entire universe shatter, he saw everyone except those with the Void''s protection die, he saw how even with their advantages, the universe lost everything.

    In contrast, there were other timelines where the universe was able to solve everything with minimal causalities and damages as if the heavens themselves were aiding their rise.

    Which timeline was true and which was false wasn''t easily discernible.

    No, rather, they were all true to an extent. Besides a few factors that remained constant, each of them branched on their own paths as designated by fate.

    Damien frowned.

    As long as he was in the Void, all of these timelines were absolutely true, and he couldn''t choose which one would be reality when he returned.

    ''Then¡­''

    His eyes hardened.

    ''I know what I need to do.''

    Damien tested it on some factors that didn''t have any worth, such as the lives of a few street thugs and dead worlds without life.

    He realized that he had the power to alter their fates, albeit only to an extent.

    ''However, I can''t directly intervene.''

    He was an outsider looking in.

    He was nothing more than an "observer."

    ''Now I understand why the Ancient Sovereign is the way he is.''

    Damien perused the various timelines to find a starting point.

    He had to choose one that wouldn''tpletely ruin the universe''s causality while also not choosing one that was too tragic to save at all.

    As he looked over them, he allowed his instincts to show him the timeline in which he was currently residing, the one he would''ve experienced after leaving the Ancient Battlefield.

    ''Found it.''

    Iris and Tiamat were a perfect anchor point. There was only a single timeline where they returned to Grand Heavens Boundary together and had Damien''s influence radiating from their bodies.

    Damien took a moment to look over this timeline.

    There were countless deaths.

    Lucifer died, Atticus and Aishia died, Fallen Star Holy Land copsed, Tephit died, Luxurion was lost, several members of the Judgement Order fell, Prisci Adire died, Rose became the inheritor of the Demon Sealing Pantheon, and the universe was forced to sustain several setbacks for the sake of victory.

    However, they did experience boons as well.

    These were mainly due to Yong An''s presence.

    He seemed to have recruited a great deal of Nox to his side, and along with them, Qing Tan and Huo Fang, two people Damien had practically forgotten about by now.

    When hebined his forces with the Judgement Order and cooperated with them to take down the main yers of the Nox side, countless victories were taken with minimal sacrifices.

    Overall, it was an even war.

    It was just the right ying field for Damien to start interfering in.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t do it with his own hands, so¡­

    ''Now that I''ve finally be a Divinity, isn''t it time to do this properly?''

    He was a bit excited. He''d been wanting to do this for a very long time, and he always had ns to do it differently from most.

    Looking at the current timeline, he scrolled with his eyes until he found the coordinate he desired.

    ''With this much time, it should be possible. All I need now¡­''

    His senses honed in on a single world amongst the hundreds of thousands that inhabited the Divine Realm.

    It was a smaller world without much development in terms of power structure, but it was more than enough of a foundation to eventually grow into something great if it didn''t encounter setbacks.

    In that world, there was a certain family that didn''t stand out too much.

    They weremoners fated to give birth to a stillborn son. They would seed in having a child roughly a decadeter, but the trauma of losing their first son deeply impacted them.

    They lived a rtively simple life, a normal life with their daughter, and their family line continued in the same ordinary way.

    However, all of that was soon to change.

    Damien focused on that day, when their son was supposed to be born.

    ''It is time for you to wake up¡­''

    From the Void, he split off arge piece of his soul, sealed its memories, and sent it into reality.

    It traveled through the fabrics of existence, through space and time, and through every boundary protecting reality from the Void, until it reached that child and took its ce in his previously soulless body.

    A breath of life was born into a child that was fated to die upon birth.

    That child would grow normally for the developing years of his life, but once the memories sealed in his soul were awakened¡­

    ¡­only then would he show his true potential.

    Damien smiled as he watched.

    He could see the entire life of that piece of his soul at once from his position, but he chose to stay focused on the soul fragment''s present for the sake of novelty,

    Because he wanted to see how it evolved.

    Until the day it could receive its orders and execute the role it was born for¡­

    ''...grow well, my Avatar.''

 Chapter 1320 Avatar [1]

    Chapter 1320 Avatar [1]

    It was 5000 years before the current day when that miraculous urrence took ce.

    In a nameless corner of the Brilliant me Empire, a boy was born against all odds.

    In that moment when he came out of the womb, he had no breath of life. His body was cold, and his parents cried as they realized the tragic fate they''d been forced to experience.

    They prayed to any god. They prayed to any being that could possibly save their child, with no other hope in their hearts but the work of a miracle.

    And to nobody''s expectations, a miracle truly appeared.

    That boy''s blueish body regained its rosy hue. As warmth filled his body and a soul inhabited his body, the cries of a new life resounded through the space.

    That day was their blessing. They vowed to raise that child into a proper man, no matter what happened from that moment forth.

    The boy was named Alexander, a name that represented the miracle of his birth, and his parents'' desire to protect.

    The years passed blissfully for them as they lived their mundane lives.

    That boy grew up, passing through the years of infancy and childhood like a spring breeze.

    He had bright red hair like the purest of mes and eyes of the same color. Whenever he graced their small vige with his presence, the atmosphere lit up, filling everyone with joy.

    He was a blessed child, and though their vige had no real contact with the Brilliant me Empire they were a part of, they didn''t encounter much difficulty at all.

    They were far separated from areas bandits frequented, and they made most of their money through trading.

    The vige bordered a forest, and just like most of the other men who grew up there, the boy became a hunter.

    By the age of ten, he could hunt grown hogs and boars with his own strength. By the time he turned fifteen, even bears couldn''t withstand his blows.

    The system seemed to support his growth more than most. The adults in the vige usually couldn''t make it past 3rd ss. They rarely even reached the middle stages of that rank.

    However, he was able to be a 3rd ss existence before the age of 18 based on nothing but his physical strength.

    In reality, there was nothing special about his story.

    He was a boy with talent, but he was rooted in his vige and had no ns to leave.

    His family didn''t have enough money to send him to the academy in the capital, and he himself didn''t have much thirst for power.

    Or at least, that was the way he lived for the first eighteen years of his life.

    On the day he reached adulthood, everything changed.

    That boy closed his eyes, and his mind was filled with dreams of another life.

    A life where he grew up on a world called Earth, where he acquired a thirst for power through countless years of torturous survival, where he rose higher and higher until he became an existence the entire universe couldn''t ignore.

    In that dream, he was apletely different man. He wasn''t resigned to living such a small life, and as he reached a point beyond the boy''s every imagination, he found himself in a strange situation.

    When that boy opened his eyes again¡­

    "...wow."

    He eximed in wonder.

    He looked down at his hands and clenched his fists curiously.

    He had mana in his body. It wasn''t much, since he focused on physical strength until this point, but it was mana nheless.

    "I somewhat expected this, but it feelspletely different."

    He was no longer the same boy he once was.

    As he looked at the world through new eyes, he called out in his head.

    ''Status''

    "Hmm¡­"

    There was no status.

    After all, the system only partially had an influence on his existence.

    His soul wasn''t unique. His soul was just a piece of another, far greater, soul.

    Therefore, he did not have his own personal record in the system.

    He was a part of someone else''s record.

    "Or well, I guess it''s my record."

    Damien, or rather, Alexander smiled to himself.

    "Apletely new life, huh¡­"

    It was interesting.

    He couldn''t feel the presence of his main body at all.

    Since he was in the Void, his existence in Spacetime was convoluted, and though he technically did exist in this time, he also didn''t.

    That left this piece of his soul as a unique existence in its own way, a scenario that the universe had never seen before.

    ''I should establish a memory ry between the two bodies.''

    His main body was definitely seeing how he lived, but he couldn''t see what his main body saw, which was a bit inhibiting.

    And as they were connected, his desire was naturally reproduced instantly.

    He was the same person as the one standing in the Void.

    ''I see, so my status as Alexander is baked into my status as Damien. Whenever I grow here, it''ll influence my main body''s Legend rather than this one, but I''ll also feel the effects of that growth since it''s technically my own.''

    It was extremely confusing, but it also made perfect sense.

    ''Since I''m living as Alexander now, I should do it properly. Let''s find out more about this world.''

    The sealed piece of his soul had lived its life thus far in a simple manner, but its talent was a reflection of his main body, so such a life was truly a waste of his talent.

    Unfortunately, Alexander didn''t live in a ce where he could learn much. His family and friends were rural folk who didn''t concern themselves with the affairs of the greater world.

    ''They probably don''t even realize how wide the universe is¡­it really must be nice.''

    Damien smiled as he looked back on the memories of this body before his own memories awakened.

    It was a nice and quiet life, a peaceful one that wouldn''t be disturbed.

    These people would live and die in a peaceful era before the Nox returned to the universe. They were fated to escape the true tragedy that the universe faced in his time.

    ''This kind of life¡­''

    ''...this is what I want to protect.''

    He felt a connection to his second family, he felt a connection to these vigers, and he felt a connection to this world.

    He wasn''t just a wandering soul possessing another body and overwriting its ego. He was truly Alexander. He was born amoner and had no family name, but he was in touch with his roots and wouldn''t ignore them just because he became aware of his true identity.

    "Huu¡­"

    ''It took a bit to center myself, but I think I''m rtively ustomed now.''

    From this point forth, he wouldn''t be Damien Void, but Alexander.

    He would live this life to its fullest, so when the time came for him to execute the duty he was meant for, he would be able to do so without fail.

    He stood up from his bed and walked to the door, opening it and taking in the fresh air outside.

    ''The only unfortunate part is whates next.''

    He had lived his entire life in this vige, but he had to leave.

    Because if he wanted to grow, he couldn''t remain stationary.

    He sighed to himself.

    ''A stable family situation isn''t something I''m used to¡­''

    He could imagine the expression on his parents'' faces when he told them his ns.

    ''Haa, I just hope I don''t get beat up.''

 Chapter 1321 Avatar [2]

    Chapter 1321 Avatar [2]

    He got beat up.

    He confronted his parents and told them about his ambitions, and as a result, his father made absolutely sure he understood the weight of his decision.

    Still, it was a gesture of concern.

    It was a show of concern, because no matter how unaware they were about the world outside of their vige, they were more than aware of how cruel it could be.

    They didn''t want their innocent son to be corrupted by that world. They didn''t want him to disappear and never be heard from again. They didn''t want him to be a sacrifice for those people who regarded human life as nothing.

    But Alexander was determined.

    The look in his eyes was proof enough that his mind wouldn''t waver, and with no other choice, they epted their son''s dreams.

    For the next three days, he spent time with them without wasting a single second. He made sure to enjoy everyst moment of thisfort, so he could leave his parents in this life without any worries.

    He even had a little sister who was born roughly a decade after him. She was still a child, and didn''t truly understand what was happening, but she felt the sadness hanging in the air and instinctually clung to him for hisst few days in the vige.

    It was a novel feeling.

    For a man who didn''t know much about familial love like this, the kind that came directly and was so outwardly manifested, this kind of lifestyle was something he appreciated greatly.

    He loved his main body''s mother, and he had respect for Dante Void, but when was he able to experience a life like this?

    Once Dante left, it was simply impossible for ire to provide him this experience while supporting them.

    So Damien took his time. He received their love and gave his in return, cherishing those three days until they finally came to an end.

    And on the fourth day, amidst a grand farewell celebration, he took his leave.

    The time hade for a new adventure!

    ***

    Once he left the vige, Damien, or was it Alexander now¡­?...finally made his advent on this world.

    He rushed through the environment with a wide smile on his face.

    ''This takes me back to the old days.''

    It felt like his days in Apeiron, traveling with no real aim or idea of what was going on, only seeking fun and happiness.

    ''I still know nothing about this world. It''d be nice if I could use my main body''s awareness, but something like that isn''t possible.''

    It could be considered the only real problem with making a separated Avatar.

    Since he was technically an existence of his own, Alexander wouldn''t be able to use any of Damien''s power until he reached a certain level, which he was nowhere near at the moment.

    ''Then again, the journey would be boring if I could do everything so easily.''

    The first thing he needed to do was find out about this world.

    All he knew was the Brilliant me Empire, and even then, he had no idea where the capital was.

    ''I did hear there was an academy there. If it''s anything like Apeiron''s Zenith Academy, it''ll be a good ce for me to gather strength as fast as possible.''

    Even the vige knew the kind of power the Brilliant me Empire had.

    Most secret realms and dungeons were under the control of the empire itself, so unless one had a verifiable identity, it was almost impossible to enter them.

    ''On top of that, I don''t know what affinities this body has. An academy or sect would be the best way to get a real handle on how I should grow this Avatar.''

    Damien had a rtively set path he wanted to follow, and all he had to do was follow it.

    The first step, as mentioned countless times already, was information.

    Damien stopped by every rtivelyrge town and city he came across for that purpose.

    He didn''t have much money, but beast corpses were a great way to make it anywhere, so he naturally killed a few on his way.

    And over the course of a few months of traveling like this, he was able to gain a good understanding of the world.

    ''So this is the Brilliant me Empire of Heiron. Luckily, this is a single-continent world, so the problem of having too much to do disappears pretty fast.''

    The Sacred Continent had two great empires, the Brilliant me Empire and the Crystal Moon Empire. They split the continent almost perfectly in half with their influence, and they both had great power.

    The continent itself was quite interesting. It was split into two extreme environments that the two empires were named after.

    The southern half of the continent was cold and covered in snow, while the northern half was usually mild and had consistently hot weather.

    Heiron was a decent world in its own right. Its greatest experts werete-stage 4th ss experts, those on the cusp of the nine revolutions.

    ''There are most likely a few weak 1st or 2nd revolution masters in seclusion as well, but I won''t be here long enough to concern myself with them.''

    The Brilliant me Empire didn''t permit the organization of separate forces like sects. They trained their geniuses in several academies, and after graduation, the people could either choose guilds under the jurisdiction of the Adventurer''s Guild or be soldiers of the Empire.

    There was also the path of a mercenary or rogue, but most didn''t choose this route that wasn''t very profitable.

    Nevertheless, the Imperial Academy in the capital, which was directly managed by the Imperial Family and had ess to almost every secret realm, dungeon, and prime resource in the world, was Damien''s current goal.

    ''I shouldn''t encounter many problems. The Emperor is rtively sane, so things like ss segregation in the academy aren''t too prevalent. Discrimination is pretty much impossible to avoid, but as long asmoners have the opportunity to enter the academy, I don''t have to worry about anything else.''

    Damien smiled to himself.

    He was quite amused imagining himself getting into altercations with kids who were several decades younger than him.

    ''If they really have the ability to piss me off, that''s a skill they should be proud of.''

    Nevertheless, he didn''t have much else to think about.

    His current strength was around the same as an entry-level 3rd ss, and from the experiments he performed during his journey, his growth potential was far greater than anyone else he''d seen.

    The journey to the Imperial Academy would take another few months, but he had half a year left before the admissions period began.

    ''Since I have time to waste, I might as well explore what my soul was up to before I gained consciousness.''

    He had trained as a hunter along with the men in his vige. He had fighting techniques ingrained in his bones, and a unique method of mana utilization that was both primal and somewhat refined at the same time.

    Damien was interested in all these mundane things, because it had been a long, long time since he was able to experience the mundane himself.

    In a sense, these days at the beginning of his story as Alexander were a vacation for him.

    And Damien, as a man who learned to cherish vacation days during his time on Earth, had absolutely no ns to waste it!

 Chapter 1322 Avatar [3]

    Chapter 1322 Avatar [3]

    Alexander''s days at the academy could be consideredckluster.

    Damien wasn''t nning to attract attention to his Avatar. There woulde a time when it needed to hide away from the universe until the time was right, and for that to be done properly, he couldn''t be someone with a great reputation or impact.

    The timeline was also something to be worried about.

    Seeing just how many branching timelines existed in the painting of reality, Damien realized the dangers of influencing time before he waspletely free of its grasp.

    Therefore, he made sure to keep a low profile.

    He didn''t have many connections among the students, nor did the teachers particrly favor him.

    He took part in the secret realm expeditions and dungeon clearings just like any other student, however, the results he got were nothing more than average.

    That was the facade he put up.

    Though, a facade was just that.

    Anything Damien did solo, he did to the best of his capabilities, achieving results that were impossible for even the instructors.

    And, as he grew more powerful, his connection to his main body grew as well. Slowly but surely, the prowess Damien possessed was reflected in Alexander, exponentially enhancing his growth speed.

    After spending four years abusing the academy''s resources and reaching the middle stages of 3rd ss, he took his adventures to the rest of Heiron.

    He explored the Volcanic Sea beyond the Brilliant me Empire and discovered the hidden society below, he killed the Magma Giant that controlled the massive volcanic ring below the sea and caused it to erupt so frequently, and even formed an idental rtionship with the Imperial Family when he ended up saving a few of their princes and princesses during one of his expeditions.

    Once he felt there was nothing left for him in the Brilliant me Empire, he went south to the Crystalline Moon Empire and thoroughly reaped the rewards present all over the Sacred Continent.

    It was amazing. The Hidden Moon Realm in the southern empire was majestic and contained a power of stars Damien didn''t expect to feel in this body. Just as the north had the Magma Giant, the south had an Ice Phoenix that was the cause of the drastic weather difference and snowfall that covered the southern half of the continent.

    However, Damien didn''t kill that Ice Phoenix. Since he had a strong rtionship with the 3000 Beast Mountain Range Ice Phoenix n, he instead spent 5 years with the beast, earning its trust and teaching it techniques so it could be a protector of the continent that raised this body.

    And, as if it was fate, he naturally made acquaintances with the Crystalline Moon Imperial Family as well.

    He was truly a princess ma, but with his attitude, even the Emperors were aware their daughters had no chance.

    It was a great time. He spent roughly two decades afterward refining his techniques and protecting the continent from dangers.

    Both internal and external threats were quelled as the citizens of Heiron learned of the existence of the greater universe, but the identity of their hidden protector was a closely guarded secret known to only a select few.

    Damien enjoyed the time. He wanted to stay in Heiron for a while longer and see how much he could aplish without leaving this world, but as expected, that didn''t suit his personality at all.

    After another decade of pure training, he''d reached a level equivalent to the peak of 3rd ss, just short of a Universe Baptism.

    As for why it took him so long to reach that level, well the reasons were plentiful.

    First off, Heiron didn''t have a high mana concentration to support his training nor did it have arge beast poption to promote growth.

    Secondly, the talent of people in this era was extremely mutedpared to Damien''s generation. It was hard to see this speed as fast when so many reached 4th ss below the age of 30 in the current era, but one had to remember how old the nine revolutions masters and Demigods of the universe were.

    Even for those powerful characters, it took thousands of years to reach Divinity.

    Rather, the current generation was the outlier. The war times and unique circumstances surrounding the universe during their era forced the universe to birth talents that were godly inparison to their predecessors.

    And finally, the third reason it took Alexander almost 50 years to reach the peak of 3rd ss, and the simplest reason¡­

    He didn''t train in aw.

    His body didn''t have anyw affinities, because his soul was not his own. He used all his mana to enhance his muscles and body, so his internal systems were practically god-like inparison to any other practitioner:

    However, because he was using mana to exclusively bring his physical state to the level he desired to be, it took a very long time to train.

    It wasn''t a problem. Damien gave himself more than enough leeway, and more than anything, once Alexander could use everything the main body possessed, there was no need for him to have aw specialization of his own.

    Instead, it was more beneficial for his body to be monstrous.

    With all that in mind, Damien practiced and did everything he could until his desires became too big to control.

    It was time to leave Heiron and seek greater horizons.

    He''d been living in his home vige ever since he finished exploring the continent, and though the vigers and his parents knew there was a lot he was hiding from them, they epted him wholeheartedly.

    To train in this environment was a blessing Damien couldn''t be more thankful for.

    He had to leave, but he wasn''t nning to leave this life''s parents behind.

    The only question was how they''d react, whether it be to the idea of thousands of years of life or the truth behind his identity.

    Therefore, Damien hid thetter for now and decided to have that conversation at ater date, if ever.

    He focused on the former, and after convincing them to take the Elixirs he''d prepared for this very purpose, he left on another journey.

    He told them he was going to explore the world again, but that was just a lie to calm their hearts.

    That day, he left the world altogether and began his advent in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    He grew more and more powerful and had more and more experiences. He met more and more people until he became someone that quite a few would remember, to his chagrin.

    Universe Baptism was, naturally, not avable to him, but his strength continued to soar, and among those at his same level, he was indomitable.

    Decades became centuries, and change became the norm.

    Heiron disappeared from the Divine Realm one day as it was ced in the Sanctuary, and Alexander''s parents were finally told the truth of his existence.

    Unexpectedly, they reacted quite well.

    Maybe it was because Alexander always treated them as real parents, or maybe it was because Alexandercked a soul from the start and Damien''s intervention was precisely what gave him life.

    No matter what his true identity was, whether he was god or demon, he was the only son they had from start to finish, so they epted him with open arms and listened to his story in wonder and worry.

    Damien felt quite relieved when that matter was taken care of, and after making sure Alexander''s parents wouldn''t die until they wanted to, he went back to his usual activities in the universe, rising and rising.

    It was a mundane existence, really. It was a far simpler life than what Damien led, and he realized why it was so difficult for regr practitioners to build their Legend and progress through the nine revolutions.

    After all, even after all this time, he was still only in thete stages of fourth ss.

    And as he continued living thismon life, preparing for the future¡­

    ¡­an unexpected encounter took ce.

    In a nameless secret realm somewhere in the Divine Realm, Damien met a group of men adventuring together with the same goal as everyone else, power.

    However, these men¡­

    ''...haha, I never expected to see this.''

    Luciel, Lucifer, Alucard, Commander Huo, and some others Damien didn''t know.

    They were young, nothing like the versions of them Damien had grown used to.

    He smiled as he watched them from afar.

    ''Shall I take a little break¡­?'' He thought to himself.

    He knew he had a lot to do, but¡­

    ¡­he couldn''t help but be curious about the stories of these people who would be great existences in the future.

 Chapter 1323 Avatar [4]

    Chapter 1323 Avatar [4]

    The groupposition was a bit strange.

    Luciel, Lucifer, and the other two whom Damien didn''t recognize were around his level, while Commander Huo and Alucard were already at the Supreme level, making one wonder why they were traveling together.

    It was obvious Commander Huo and Alucard were caretakers for the rest, but the question was, "Why?"

    All of them were of different races, sectors, and influences, so logically speaking, there was no reason for them to be traveling together.

    However, they were, and that made Damien curious.

    ''I''ll just follow them for now.''

    He didn''t want to attract too much attention as Alexander right now.

    He was powerful, yes, but this power belonging to someone unknown would be even more suspicious to people like Luciel or Alucard who had high positions.

    He definitely wanted to know what they were doing in a secret realm like this, but he didn''t approach them needlessly.

    After all, this was abyrinth.

    It was a ce that constantly changed its shape and structure, filled with traps and beasts with great power, and an amount of treasure that was equivalent to the risk.

    Even Alexander didn''t know whaty at its center. Damien''s spatial abilities didn''t nearly manifest to the extent that he could ignore the restrictions of this ce and perceive its entirety.

    ''The treasures I''ve found from just walking around randomly are already enough to create a small sect for myself. Why didn''t a ce like this exist in my era?''

    He shrugged. He could probably guess why, but it didn''t matter.

    All the treasures he gained from his expedition thus far were sent to the Sanctuary, so they were probably being put to proper use.

    ''Speaking of, how does that even work?''

    He began to wonder about it when he took Heiron. It was a world in apletely different time and space, and it wasn''t something Damien should''ve ever had ess to by logic.

    He pondered how the Sanctuary truly functioned for a bit, but even this doubt was easy to clear from his main body''s current position.

    The Sanctuary was built in the Void. It was its own existence separated in every way from the main universe.

    In fact, the only reason its time flowed at the same rate as the main universe was because it was tethered to Damien and used his soul as a basis.

    With Damien''s main body in the Void, outside the bounds of time and space, where was it supposed to root itself?

    Naturally, it was still Damien''s soul.

    However, his strange circumstance provided the Sanctuary with a unique position.

    It was now tethered to both the current era and the past, while being disconnected from both.

    This allowed it to be unaffected by thews of causality that prevented Damien from interfering too much in the past.

    Maybe it was because Heiron never had much significance in the universe from the start, but the act of binding a world in the past and integrating it into apletely different spacetime didn''t trigger the negatives Damien was expecting, and ever since then, he''d been testing the limits of his ability to interfere.

    ''To put it simply, it matters more about how much value the other party holds than what I do.''

    If he saved an entire world fated for destruction, but none of its people had grand fates, the impact he left on the timeline wasn''t enough for it to be considered interference.

    The butterfly effect definitely existed, but on a universal scale, the butterfly of such a minor event, as long as it was truly a minor event, didn''t mean anything.

    Nevertheless, to interfere with the fates of those like Luciel, who would be integral to the universe in the future, was much more difficult.

    ''At most, I have a few tens of chances. I can''t use them unnecessarily.''

    Damien had no way of knowing what would happen when he used up all his "interference chances," but he didn''t want to find out before he didn''t need them anymore.

    With that in mind, he kept following Lucile''s group.

    As he listened to their conversations, he learned more about their purpose, and funnily enough¡­

    ''...giving me this level of dirt for free should be criminal.''

    He had a wide grin on his face.

    Frankly, their personalities weren''t much different from what he knew. They were much, much younger than their current selves, but they were still a few thousand years old at the very least.

    Though, they were much more open than their wizened selves.

    Damien, as an observer, learned some, with no better word to describe it, devious information about the few of them that would be of great use in the future.

    It was fun.

    Alucard and Commander Huo were practically at the end of their growth potential, so they were still the exact same, but seeing Luciel and Lucifer act freer, like true brothers without the problems of leadership guing them, was more than just entertaining.

    They were also quite talented.

    Damien realized he hadn''t seen any of them really fight, even Alucard since he was undergoing Cosmic Rebirth during the great battle beyond the barrier ofw.

    This was a time when they could freely exert their strength when necessary, and he had to say¡­

    ''...the urge to fight them is crazy.''

    At the end of the day, Alexander was still him. The experiences Alexander had before his memories awoke were Damien''s experiences, experienced by his soul, not by any other.

    Therefore, even the unaware Alexander possessed traits he did when he was young.

    He was a battle maniac, an instinct that was still somewhat present, especially since he used his physical strength rather thanws.

    Whenever a strong opponent appeared, Damien felt the rush of fighting them that he''d beencking in his main body for a very long time.

    Because unlike him, the current Alexander didn''t have any responsibilities on his shoulders.

    Even thisbyrinth he''d entered for the sake of battle. It was quite notorious in the outside world for its powerful beasts, and for good reason.

    The mostmon of them were 4th ss, and they only got stronger as one went deeper.

    Alucard and Luciel''s group was approaching a point of no return already.

    In earthen terms, they were nearing the "boss battle."

    They fought and imed treasures,ughed and protected each other''s backs, and finally, they reached a set of massive stone doors separating this area from the rest of thebyrinth.

    "This is a first," Luciel said, brushing his fingers across the etchings on the doors.

    "Indeed, the rest of thebyrinth didn''t have anything like doors. It was quite annoying, but if this is here, doesn''t that mean we are nearing the end?" Lucifer continued.

    The two of them looked to Alucard for answers, and he nodded to satisfy their curiosity.

    "The owner of thisbyrinth, or someone associated with him, should be beyond this door. Once you defeat them, you will attain ''that thing.''"

    "...once we defeat him? You''re not helping?" Lucifer asked again.

    "Hahaha, us? Helping? Lucifer, weren''t you nning to rid your n of their reputation of being dull?" Commander Huo replied,ughing boisterously.

    "Tch, it was worth trying."

    Lucifer clicked his tongue, sulking somewhat as the others joined in and teased him.

    They conversed for a few more minutes, making guesses as to what they were going to see and what kind of strategies they would use, before finally pushing open the door.

    In the shadows behind them, Damien''s eyes sparkled.

    "This¡­"

    He wasn''t expecting to see one here.

    Just like his first experience in a secret realm, all the way back on Apeiron, it was chained there, sealed beyond countlessyers of debilitating barriers.

    ''...a Nox.''

 Chapter 1324 Avatar [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1324 Avatar [5]</h4>

    "..."

    The group was silent as they stared at it.

    Unlike the weak Lesser Nox Damien and Rose faced back then, this one was a fully grown 4th ss that had at least entered the nine revolutions at some point.

    "I thought we drove them all out?" Luciel said icily.

    "We did, but not all of them could be driven away," Alucard answered.

    "The reason our party was put together like this was for the very purpose of hunting this Nox. Why are you still surprised?"

    Luciel frowned.

    "Regardless, this is strange. We had sufficient forces to push them backpletely, so why is there one sealed here? It cannot be as simple as he needed to be sealed."

    There was only a single Nox in a roomrge enough to be called an amphitheater.

    He had the same ashen-grey skin as the rest, but his body was covered in strange archaic tattoos, concentric in design as if they were made for ritualistic purposes.

    "We do not have much information on this being, however, it is certain he is not as simple as the ones we faced. He might even have connections to an Emperor."

    "An Emperor?!"

    The exmation was shared by the entire younger half of the group.

    Some of them had experienced the war while others were born near or after its end, but none of them had ever met an Emperor.

    The Nox Emperors were elusive figures like that. While their identities were known, they never showed their faces, not even the Inhuman Emperor who was said to have an incredible thirst for blood.

    "Regardless, all we need to do is kill, right? Funnily enough, that''s my specialty."

    Lucifer brought the atmosphere back to normal.

    Right, they only came here to kill.

    They didn''t need to know why this Nox was sealed as long as they could kill him before the seal was released.

    And so, they started moving for that purpose.

    The two men who remained nameless to this moment stayed back to guard the entrance, Commander Huo stood on the other side of the room to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, and with Alucard''s help, Luciel and Lucifer were able to get through the barriers and approach the Nox being directly.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Alexander watched their process with scrutinizing eyes.

    At the end of the day, he was an Avatar, not an individual.

    He acted autonomously outside the main body''s direct control most of the time, but he was still Damien.

    He had Damien''s soul, he had Damien''s memories, and he acted on Damien''s orders.

    So even in this era, there really wasn''t anyone who had more experience with the Nox than he did, especially after his main body absorbed the memories of countless Lords and two Emperors.

    The problem was that even he didn''t know anything about the tattoos on this Nox''s skin.

    ''The Nox were never a ritualistic people. No matter how I think about it, tattoos like that shouldn''t be on the body of a Nox, at least not by their own volition.''

    It was strange no matter how he thought about it.

    ''Especially considering the environment. Thisbyrinth, this room, the prospective existence of an "owner" that isn''t this Nox¡­''

    Alexander''s expression hardened.

    ''It''s not that the Nox is sealed here, it''s that he was being used as a test subject.''

    It was a trap.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    As if it was waiting for that realization, a bloody explosion erupted from the Nox being and nketed everything around it.

    "Heuk¡­!"

    "Kah!"

    Lucifer and Luciel retreated rapidly under Alucard''s protection and put their guards up, but they were already taken by surprise.

    A w ripped through the dust cloud and shed Lucifer''s chest.

    A foot mmed into the ground, crushing it and sending a shockwave through the room that threw everyone back several steps at the very least.

    "Finally¡­FINALLY!"

    The Nox being''s roar was booming to the extent of shattering ss. His eyes were red like blood as absolute hatred radiated from every bone in his body.

    It had been several thousand years. He had been trapped here and tortured ruthlessly for all that time, and even in the current day, the experiments hadn''t ended.

    "Damn humans¡­"

    That man, the one who captured him, was a maniac.

    He never even made his goals clear. All he did was act as the perfect picture of brutality. He gained ecstasy from every moment of every day.

    However, he didn''t seem like one of those who fought against them.

    Rather, he seemed like a traitor who had turned to their side.

    An absolute psychopath like him was the perfect picture of a Nox despite being a human, and after enduring it for so long, how could this Nox being not feel seething rage towards anything and everything?

    He didn''t care about circumstances, he didn''t care about the war or his people. All he wanted to do was kill.

    And now, the perfect targets hade to him.

    "All of you, be my sustenance, so when ''he'' returns, I can return unto him what was done to me!"

    Alucard stared at the being with narrowed eyes.

    This power wasn''t like a Nox. The mana radiating from that being''s body wasn''t the same inky ck substance that the rest of his race used.

    And his power¡­

    ''...they cannot handle him.''

    Alucard stepped up personally to fight, and as his movements attracted the Nox''s attention, Commander Huo moved as well.

    BANG!

    He attacked with a massive hammer disproportionate to the size of his body, mming it down on the Nox''s back.

    However¡­

    There was no movement.

    The Nox didn''t copse or even seem to register the pain.

    Instead, he merely turned around to look at the one who struck him.

    "Too many pests¡­"

    His mana raged, forcing Commander Huo to distance himself.

    Unfortunately, that was the wrong decision.

    In that single instant of freedom, the Nox being split his body into six clones.

    Each of them had the same aura as he did and simr power, and without hesitation or any sense of reason in their eyes, they split and charged at each member of the party.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The battle began fiercely.

    As Commander Huo and Alucard were forced to deal with two Nox copies each, the remaining two rushed at the weaker members and dominatedbat against them.

    Regardless of the power people like Lucifer or Luciel had, they weren''t strong enough to cross the gap between a regr 4th ss and the extreme peak.

    It was difficult for them to even keep their lives.

    They fought together as the other two did the same, and as they did their best to survive and hold off until one of their Supremes coulde to their aid¡­

    BOOM!

    "AAAAAGH!"

    An explosion rang out from behind them, followed by a guttural scream.

    One of the two others was missing the entire lower half of his body, while the other was clutching the stump that remained in the ce where his arm once was.

    The mission already went wrong.

    The Nox was supposed to be sealed and, more than anything else, this was supposed to be a learning experience for the younger experts who would one day stand at the head of the universe.

    But looking at the current situation, those same younger experts weren''t going to live past today.

    Alucard and Commander Huo wouldn''t be able to defeat their enemies fast enough to save them all.

    No, perhaps even Luciel or Lucifer would be crippled terribly.

    Alexander, who was watching from afar, frowned to himself.

    ''So, in the end, do I need to step in?''

    He definitely didn''t want to stand out, but¡­

    His presence in this moment would definitely be less impactful on the timeline than the deaths or crippling of those two great figures!

 Chapter 1325 Avatar [6]

    It was partially Alexander''s fault.

    In the original timeline, Alexander didn''t exist at all. In thisbyrinth, those two unnamed men were meant to die, and while Luciel and Lucifer would experience loss and injury, they weren''t supposed to get anywhere near a fatal wound.

    This was because Alucard and Commander Huo had more than enough time to save the two of them after killing the clones that attacked them.

    The two who died would have died regardless. They couldn''t hold out for more than a minute against their opponent, so no matter who tried to save them, their fate was set in stone.

    Even in a situation where Alexander stepped in and killed the enemy, they would have died in the near future due to some unavoidable circumstance or another.

    Some people''s fates were set in stone like that. Those kinds of fates were precisely what the Saint Emperor fought to change, but not even Damien''s main body had the power to do so yet.

    Still, in the original timeline, they should havested at least long enough for Luciel and Lucifer to find an opening to exploit and make distance, giving them a means of survival.

    However, Alexander came to thebyrinth.

    He hid his presence from them, but the so-called "owner of thebyrinth," who had full control over its every faculty, was more than aware of his presence.

    He was an unknown variable, and to ount for it, when the group arrived at the final room, he forcefully injected substances into the Nox being''s body to raise his strength to an unprecedented level, making it so not just the younger experts, but also Alucard and Commander Huo had trouble dealing with him.

    This wasn''t a trial that could be ovee with just the help of fate, therefore, Alexander didn''t waste any time jumping in and providing aid.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Lucifer and Luciel were holding out surprisingly well. Theirbination of light and darkness was simr to when Ruyue and Elenabined Yin and Yang. The effects of their conjoined attack were far better than anything they could produce on their own.

    They were handling the singr clone in front of them well enough to survive, but the problem was that another one was approaching from behind.

    "Dammit!"

    Lucifer yelled in frustration as he constructed a barrier behind them.

    "How long can you hold?!"

    "Not long. We''re screwed," Luciel responded simply.

    However, he still fought to his greatest capacity.

    "Aaargh, whatever! If we die, we die fighting!"

    They weren''t kids with weak mentalities. Their characters might''ve been much less mysterious than they were in the current era, but they were bona fide experts in their own right.

    So they fought.

    Believing in the barrier Lucifer set up, they put all their attention on the clone before them, hoping to kill it before its twin arrived from the rear.

    Unbeknownst to them, said clone would never arrive at all.

    ''A barrier, huh¡­isn''t that better for me?''

    Alexander grinned from the shadows as he realized his actions would be somewhat covered.

    Before the second clone could make its move towards new targets once it finished the two unnamed men, he jumped out, his fist charged with extreme power as he punched out.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Shockwaves spread throughout the room. The floor cracked under the pressure of his feet as he pivoted and pushed even more force into his flying fist.

    The Nox clone was struck directly on the jaw. His head snapped to the side with a "CRACK!" as his bones were shattered, and the rest of his body was forced to follow.

    ''It''s troublesome. This guy has a crazy regenerative ability.''

    Alexander watched it happen in real-time. The tattoos on the clone''s body lit up, and the bloody red aura he possessed dug into his skin to heal him.

    ''It''s a good thing he''s split. If this is the regeneration of a clone, the true body would''ve been an absolute nightmare to kill.

    Nevertheless, for Alexander, healing abilities were the least threatening thing in the world.

    After all, he''d been practicing to negate exactly that.

    Damien saw the future from the Void. He knew what stood at the end of Alexander''s growth path, and to prepare for the day he could directly shatter Divinity, he first practiced shattering simr concepts like regeneration, or rather, immortality itself.

    Since it was an Authority he himself possessed, he could study the concepts with his main body and transmit the knowledge to his Avatar to help withprehension.

    Theck of space and time in the Void made this incredibly convenient.

    "Bastard, you think you''ve won, don''t you?" Alexander said arrogantly.

    The Nox clone was currently grinning with a haughty expression, as if begging Alexander to hit him again and see what happened.

    Naturally, Alexander obliged.

    "Allow me to show you something more terrifying than the guy who gave you these abilities."

    He grabbed the Nox clone by both sides of his head and injected mana into his skull.

    Through that mana, he showed the clone a vision.

    It was an iprehensible sight.

    It was the sight of reality from outside the bounds of existence, precisely what his main body was currently looking at.<novelsnext>lightsnovel</novelsnext>

    That sight¡­

    Perhaps only Damien, and maybe the deceased Saint Emperor, were the only ones who could look at it and keep their minds intact.

    The clone had no idea what he''d seen, but even trying to rationalize it a little bit was too much. His mind shattered into a million pieces, and the sentience he possessed was torn to shreds.

    "Now then, I think you deserve a little beating."

    A mindless Nox was far easier to deal with than an intelligent one.

    With Alexander''s fists, this kind of creature didn''t stand any chance, no matter what its strength level was.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Fist after fist, kick after kick, struck that Nox being from every side. His body was thrown around like a rag doll as every single one of his bones was broken from head to toe.

    The tattoos on his body red up as they tried to heal him, however, Alexander''s mana property suppressed that power and disallowed its existence.

    "Regeneration" was not possible under his jurisdiction.

    BOOM!

    "How does that feel?"

    Alexander grinned as he mmed the Nox clone''s broken body into the ground.

    "Well, I guess you wouldn''t be able to answer regardless, so it''s pointless to ask."

    He raised his leg into the air and stomped down ferociously.

    BOOOOOOM!

    His foot crushed the Nox being''s head and sttered ck ink across the ground. The remaining force dug into thebyrinth itself and further cracked the already broken floor into dust.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    With a few more punches, the Nox being''s body waspletely obliterated.

    ''That''s the only problem with prioritizing physical abilities.''

    When it came to the Nox, he had to do a lot more work than a normal person to prevent theirplete regeneration.

    ''Maybe I should train aw too. Considering this body''s origins¡­maybe fire would be good?''

    He shrugged and looked around.

    ''Ah, right, there was that situation.''

    Alucard and Commander Huo were right about finished with their clones, however, Lucifer and Luciel were on theirst leg.

    ''How annoying.''

    If the two Supremes were just a second faster, they would''ve been able to equalize the situation, but that wasn''t reality.

    So Alexander, beyond any desire of his own, would have to truly show his presence.

    Luciel and Lucifer''s Nox clone shed its w out, breaking through every barrier they''d made thus far.bender

    It continued forward uninhibited by their attacks as its tattoos healed every wound they left on its body, and as its de-like fingers swept towards Lucifer, Luciel jumped in the way.

    "LUCIEL!" Lucifer yelled anxiously.

    "GAH!"

    Luciel roared in pain as his skin was torn.

    He was thrown back into his friend by the force, but even that was lucky.

    If the w touched Lucifer, who''d already taken a wound, he would have died. And if it was even an inch deeper into Luciel''s chest, he would have died as well.

    ''Haa¡­''

    Alexander sighed.

    The timing was too coincidental, but he couldn''t help it.

    He stepped into the ground and pushed off. His body turned into a rocket, and his fist was propelled with absolute speed.

    Before the Nox clone could reach the duo again, a ming red man was in front of them.

    "I really didn''t want to interfere, so you better give me a proper reward for saving you."

    With words that sounded more like those of amon street thug than a hero, he let loose the force in his arm.

    And the Nox¡­

    Well, it didn''t need to be said what happened to him.

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1326 Avatar [7]

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    As Alexander said before, the timing was perfect.

    Perfectly against everything he wanted.

    He stepped in and mmed into the Nox, throwing him back towards Alucard and Commander Huo.

    At the same time, those two men finished off the Nox clones they were facing and turned around to rush towards the younger group to save them.

    However, what they found was a Nox clone conveniently flying at their faces for them to kill!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The origin of those sounds didn''t need to be mentioned.

    Once the two of them understood the situation, they saved the questioning forter and directly destroyed the Nox clone with theirbined strength, not giving it a single opportunity to counterattack.

    And that was how the battle ended.

    The four original members of the party regrouped, while Alexander stayed with his back leaned against the entrance wall.

    It was clear they needed to mourn the loss of those two men who died, and while he wanted to use this moment to run away, Damien was clear on the personalities of these four.

    The second he put on a mysterious facade, they''d use their informationworks to dig up every tidbit recorded about him throughout the universe.

    If people of their status took actions like that, those watching them would also be aware of Alexander''s presence, and it would blow up into something beyond his control.

    So he waited for them to finish dealing with personal matters and greet him.

    Eventually, they did, with Alucard at the head.

    "First and foremost, I am Alucard, an instructor from Hidden Death Valley. We sincerely thank you for your aid in this matter."

    Alucard stepped up and gave a formal bow of respect towards a man he considered at his same level, suppressing his curiosity for now.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Alexander looked at each of them before turning his eyes back to Alucard.

    In their eyes, he was scrutinizing them arrogantly, but in his mind¡­

    ''Wow¡­instructor, huh? Did this guy grow into his position insanely fast, or is he lying to me right now?''

    ording to what he knew, Alucard had been the leader of Hidden Death Valley for far longer than what he imed, but that was beside the point.

    ''Oooh, wait¡­maybe he''s here as an Avatar?''

    Logically, it made much more sense.

    "Ah, right. You can call me Alexander, and it''s not a problem. I was just passing by."

    His words were a bit strained, mainly due to the embarrassment of realizing he had sunken into thought while they were waiting for his response, but again, that was beside the point.bender

    "Alexander¡­? I apologize if Ie off as rude, but I haven''t heard your name before. Are you perhaps from a different domain?"

    As expected, Alucard was suspicious of his origins and strength.

    The fact that he didn''t show any reaction to the words "Hidden Death Valley" was also quite suspicious, since the reputation of their academy more than just preceded them.

    "Considering your status, even if I was from a different domain, you would know me, no?" Alexander said with a slight smile.

    "I understand your reason for probing me, but it isn''t what you''re thinking. I just prefer to keep my name hidden. Maybe you''ve heard the name Long Chen?"

    As always, Damien used the name of his trusty friend who he hadn''t seen for so long as cover!

    He couldn''t avoid the Dimensional Leaderboard. If he wanted to get stronger faster, its Mystic Realms and Challenge Gates were the perfect opportunity.

    It was entirely possible for one to be registered on the leaderboard as a title instead of their true name, just as the Saint King was, but 99.99% of people didn''t do this.

    For one, the Dimensional Leaderboard was a way to get one''s name recognized on a universal scale, which, in most cases, would give way to many paths that would otherwise be impossible to someone without status or reputation.

    Secondly, there was no way to verify if one''s aplishments were truly theirs if they were registered under a false name, since the Dimensional Leaderboard didn''t possess any sort of "ount" system.

    And thirdly, the most amusing reason, was that giving oneself a title was quite embarrassing.<novelsnext>lightsnovel</novelsnext>

    Toe to fame with a title one created personally and be forced to endure the shame of that act once one was known wasn''t something anyone was willing to do.

    One could imagine if Damien had to introduce himself to every new person as "Heaven''s Wrath" or "Demon God" because that was how he presented himself when he was unknown to understand just an inkling of that embarrassment.

    For Alexander, however, it was a matter of convenience. He didn''t use something embarrassing like a title, but instead chose a pseudonym he could pass off as his own name.

    This way, while he steadily climbed the rankings at a pace that didn''t make him stand out, he had a way to back his identity in the case of a situation like this one.

    Such was the benefit of being able to see the future!

    Nevertheless, once "Long Chen" was mentioned, Alucard understood Alexander''s intent and immediately checked the Dimensional Leaderboard ranking, reacting in surprise the next moment.

    "To think there was someone of your caliber who went unnoticed for this long!" He eximed.

    "It was intentional, so it''s not that surprising," Alexander responded in a dull tone.

    "Regardless, it is a ranking in the top 1000! If it wasn''t for you being over the age restriction, I''m sure several people would have been searching for this ''Long Chen'' by now."

    Alexander smiled.

    Yes, that was the perfect n he came up with.

    He steadily raided Mystic Realms and reaped rewards, but right before he reached a point where eyes would be directed at him, he went over the age of 500!

    His name was etched into the Legacy Board, but it was barely visible amidst the countless names around the same position.

    "I truly hope we can be friends, however, it seems you do not feel the same," Alucard continued with a wry smile.

    "Indeed, I''ve been trying my best to hide myself, you know? If it wasn''t for this extraneous situation, you wouldn''t have seen a hint of me for a couple thousand more years."

    "That is¡­oddly specific."

    "Consider it a hint."

    "A hint at¡­?"

    "If I told you that, it wouldn''t be a hint anymore, would it?"

    As the two conversed, Luciel and Lucifer kept their eyes peeled as if they were trying to discover every little piece of information about this strange man that they could.

    In reality, they were older than their strength gave them credit for.

    They''d been alive since the previous Great War, and had even participated in it.

    However, because of suspicions about the Nox''s potential return, they purposefully suppressed their strength and chose not to increase their levels.

    Because if the Nox truly came back, there needed to be strong people who could still fight on the frontlines, unlike the Demigods who were forced to sit still and watch as chaos ensued.

    It was incredibly fascinating for them to find an existence like Alexander who they couldn''t read, and Damien knew that as well.

    To drive their curiosity just a bit more, to give them some motivation to be the figures he expected them to be, he intentionally veiled his aura in just the right amount of mystery.

    Yet again, he was acting for the sake of his amusement.

    But his conversation with Alucard still continued productively.

    He managed to gain their favor, as well as a promise that his identity wouldn''t be revealed or investigated.

    And afterward, he agreed to join them on the rest of their expedition.

    After all, while the Nox being was destroyed, his presence hinted at a far grander scheme.

    Not just concerning the owner of thebyrinth, but also a potential experimental Nox force being created within the universe''s bounds.

    No matter what, it needed to be found and destroyed.

    Even Damien agreed on this much.

    Though, he wasn''t that concerned.

    Because while this was a problem in the current era, it wasn''t prevalent at all in the future¡­

    ¡­or was it?

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1327 Avatar [8]

    When he thought about it, he did see something simr when his main body first viewed the painting of reality.

    The actions of the Bloodlock n.

    Immortal Blood Asura was gone by that point, but he''d corrupted and enved a majority of Blood Asura Holy Land before the forced summoning, so the n was carried out without his presence.

    The countless innocents that were sacrificed to form an artificial Nox army were eventually released, and while the universe was somewhat prepared for it due to the information they received from Elyssia Bloodlock, they severely underestimated its scale.

    There were billions of them at the very least. If one took the unsessful transformations into ount, hundreds of billions were sacrificed for their creation.

    Those artificial Nox caused great problems, and they were only dealt with by the conjoined effort of several dozens of universal influences, as well as a great deal of time.

    The process of their defeat was irrelevant, since Alexander would eventually interfere in the future to minimize the damage they caused, but the research itself¡­

    Wouldn''t it have begun with something like this?

    First, they needed to thoroughly understand the anatomy, physical qualities, ethereal qualities, and traits of the Nox. The next step was to do countless experiments to transfer those qualities to humans, such as what was being done in the Human Domain and Eden, and once they found some sess in their form, they could take it out of the concept phase and use it like they did in Blood Asura Holy Land.

    If this was the first step of that process, if the notes of this researcher and many others just happened to survive through the extermination that was currently being carried ount and were found by others who wished to seed their cause¡­

    Wouldn''t obliterating those findings now crush the n before it even started?

    That was Damien''s thought as he watched Alexander travel with the Alucard group to find and kill the owner of thebyrinth.

    It was quite the interesting journey, and Alexander yed a decentlyrge role in the subjugation, which awarded him more favor from those in the group, however¡­

    ''I can''t do much.''

    The consequences were too severe.

    The butterfly effect of something like that wouldn''t just slightly change the future, butpletely alter its trajectory.

    Even Damien''s journey would be inhibited, and if he altered events that gave him his current strength, it would harm the big picture.

    It was a strange feeling, an unsettling one.

    He had to sacrifice countless trillions of lives or more for the sake of saving a greater number in the future.

    It gave him an understanding of what the Saint Emperor went through.

    Because no matter how righteous he felt at this moment, no matter how much he wanted to take just the slightest action and save all those lives in the process, he couldn''t.

    It wasn''t just nning for an ideal future, it was a matter of responsibility.

    Damien had an oath to uphold, an oath that he would bring an end to the suffering future generations would have to endure.

    Until he could wholly guarantee that this goal wouldn''t be jeopardized by his actions, he couldn''t do anything that could affect it.

    So despite knowing that their subjugation didn''t eradicate the root of the problem, he didn''t say anything.

    He bid farewell to the group after taking theirmunication talismans as a show of respect and left to move towards the ending that surpassed any one person.

    ''Should I calm my interference?''

    It was a good idea. Unless he saw an event that would totally alter the course of the future he was nning for, Damien wouldn''t move.

    At least, for the most part.

    There was one more thing he wanted to do before that, though.

    Secretly, in the veil of the shadows, he traveled the universe for one purpose.

    And that¡­

    Well, it was a selfish one.

    ''I thought I could overlook it, but as I thought, it''s annoying.''

    He was currently in an era where Iris was being suppressed by countless things and targeted by lustful demons in human skin.<novelsnext>lightsnovel</novelsnext>

    He didn''t really care if she knew what he was doing, since he didn''t do it for recognition in the first ce.

    He just wanted to blow off some steam by beating up those bastards who didn''t know their ce.

    Several years were spent on that task. Alexander targeted specifically those who were plotting against her to promote their lustful intentions and made sure they''d never speak a word about him or even have thoughts about Iris in the future.

    The rest, the ones who thought they were above using lowly schemes to grab her attention, were all Demigods already, so he didn''t have the capacity to go after them, which was both fortunate and unfortunate at the same time.

    But it was fine. His steps felt light as he finished up his minor revenge on those unsuspecting victims, and without any sort of heavy heart whatsoever, he hid himself away from the universe, somewhere in a secluded corner of the Divine Realm on a Dead Star nobody cared about.

    bender

    Alexander spent the next several thousand years like this.

    He only asionally left the confines of his star when the main body saw a reality-altering change in the timeline, and he helped those who needed to grow properly for the future''s benefit.

    He did umte something of a reputation due to his acts, but besides the time when he met Alucard and the rest, he never revealed his name, whether it be his true name or his alias.

    Therefore, it was more the reputation of a "mysterious hidden expert" than the reputation of Alexander, Damien Void''s Avatar.

    Still, he had nearly 4000 years to himself after he stopped being active in the universe.

    He had to find a way to spend this time, because even as Damien he''d never experienced thousands of years with his own body.

    The experience of over a billion years of memories engraved in his soul, however, definitely helped.

    His perception of time became blurred. Every few hundred years only felt like three or four years to him, and as he sunk into a period of constant training, his perception blurred even further.

    He gained control over Fire Laws and engraved the affinity into his soul fragment, he practiced the Immortality Breaking Technique, as he called it, to perfection, and using his main body as support, studied his own convoluted Divinity until he found a way to shatter it.

    It was an insane training method. What kind of sane person would ever think of experimenting on breaking their own Divinity?

    But for Damien, it was the best course of action. His Divinity held a structure none couldpete with. If he could break his own, didn''t that mean nobody else could stand a chance?

    That was the basis of his research, but he never actually found a way to shatter his own Divinity.

    Or rather, he didn''t have ess to that method yet.

    Perhaps once he truly controlled the Void, it would be possible, but at that point, would the concept of Divinity even matter?

    Nevertheless, he grew and grew and grew. He reached a point where even Divinity was just a concept he had full understanding of, and subtly, while his Avatar grew in the past, his main body got closer to existence in the Void.

    Alexander was now capable of exerting strength far above any Supreme despite not being a Demigod.

    It was still unknown if an Avatar could pass that boundary without its own ego, but Damien still wanted to try.

    Having two Divine bodies would be an absolute cheat code when he went to the Heavenly World.

    But for now, it was rather inconvenient to make Alexander a Demigod, so he held off on trying.

    Alexander''s moment hade.

    The war was in full swing, and the man known as "Damien Void" had finally entered existence.

    His journey continued without any knowledge that there was a second version of himself hiding away in a distant world, and eventually, he had to go to No Return Pass, leaving the universe without its "fated hero" to make sure things didn''t go horribly wrong.

    The Judgement Order started their expedition in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness, and, as they activated the summoning circle in hopes of getting aid from a Demigod like Commander Huo¡­

    "It''s time."

    ¡­Alexander opened his eyes in a different world.

    He harnessed thews of space through the main body''s abilities, and made his first appearance with a bang.

    5000 years had passed.

    It was now his turn to save the universe!

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1328 Avatar [9]

    <h4>Chapter 1328 Avatar [9]</h4>

    It was a shame.

    Yes, it was an event where the Judgement Order was supposed to practically copse, leaving no more than four members alive, and yes, Alexander''s interference made sure a majority of them lived.

    However, he couldn''t save everyone.

    Thews of causality didn''t allow him to create a "perfect" timeline, because such a timeline would be nothing more than a dull existence without any semnce of reality.

    Therefore, Alexander couldn''t intervene as he pleased.

    He had to wait for that signal.

    That moment when Rose activated the array and summoned a helper.

    The person who was originally meant to take that ce wasn''t reliable in the slightest. He was a member of the Angel Race named Deraphiel, someone who didn''t have much presence in the universe.

    He was a coward, and while he did manage to defeat Hans, he didn''t do anything to the Hound Lord, which led to many more casualties within the universe before the Ancient Battlefield opened.

    Deraphiel also forcefully demandedpensation for his work, which, in that atmosphere, drove a wedge between the Judgement Order and the Heavenly n, another detrimental move.

    When considering that he was also barely able to save them and killed several of them through the coteral damage of the fight, his presence was truly a misfortune more than anything else.

    So it was good that Alexander intervened, even if he couldn''t save Xue Yue and the others.

    The second he caught wind of that specific spatial turbulence he used the main body''s abilities to connect himself to the portal.

    His body manifested in Eien.

    Looking around, he smiled as he saw the faces he hadn''t seen in so long, but he was also well aware that, in their eyes, he wasn''t "Damien Void."

    He could easily see the anxiety on Rose''s face. It wasn''t hard to imagine what she was thinking.

    "No, it''s not that," he said, answering her doubts while trying his best to hide the tender emotions in his voice.

    "I just took control for a bit. I don''t know who your original target was, but I''m better than them anyway."

    After all, that potential future no longer existed.

    "WHO?!"

    Hans finally reacted to his voice, snapping the Judgement Order out of their dazes.

    "Who am I?" Alexander repeated.

    The formation''s light swirled madly and concentrated in the very center of the base camp, where the Nox''s summoning formation was located.

    "Didn''t she just tell you?"

    His shadow started to reveal itself to the crowd.

    He grinned wildly, his gaze settled on Hans.

    It was necessary. Because if he didn''t have an expression like this, he wouldn''t be able to hide the absolute rage in his eyes.

    Regardless of whether he knew the details of the situation beforehand or not, he really couldn''t stomach seeing his people being treated like this.

    "I''m death."

    He pressed his foot into the ground and shot forward with all his power.

    He controlled his force so the man didn''t die immediately, but even that was far greater than anything a mere Hans could understand or fight against.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A terrifying rumbling resounded from several tens of kilometers away.

    A dust cloud swept into the air.

    "I know you have a lot of questions, but I can''t really answer them, so¡­"

    Alexander looked over towards where Hans had been thrown before turning back to the Judgement Order.

    The majority of them were missing limbs. That majority was far outnumbered by the corpses on the ground.

    And the blood painting all of their bodies¡­

    His eyes turned cold.

    "I''m going to make that guy experience everything he did to you."

    BANG!

    He was aiming to wrap things up as fast as possible, but he was absolutely going to make this Nox being suffer.

    He reached Hans in a matter of nanoseconds, and within the next few of the same increment, he punched out hundreds and thousands of times, targeting every bone, muscle, and ligament in the Nox''s body and crushing each and every one of them into dust.

    ''Ah, I should give him to them, shouldn''t I¡­''

    Revenge was great no matter how it was served, but it was far more satisfying to achieve it with one''s own hands.

    Within a minute, "something" crashed in the area before the Judgement Order.

    When the dust cleared, that thing''s identity became clear¡ª

    BANG!

    ¡ªwell, not so much anymore.

    Alexandernded on top of Hans'' crumpled body with so much force the impact dug a crater several hundred kilometers into the ground.

    He and Hans disappeared into the darkness of that hole, but the sounds of their battle resounded so clearly it was a miracle they weren''t projecting the sound.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    "AAAAAARGH!"

    BANG!

    "STOP!"

    BANG!

    "THIS!"

    BANG!

    "NOW!"

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    A ck blur shot high into Eien''s sky, a red one following soon after.

    BANG!

    Hans'' body was mmed into the ground again, and Alexander once again followed.

    However, this time, he didn''t make such a powerful move.

    Hended next to Hans and pushed his arm out.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    All four of Hans'' extremities were torn from his body.

    It was an injury even Nox regeneration couldn''t heal.

    He practiced just for this moment, you know?

    "So¡­?"

    Alexander looked around the Judgement Order group.

    "Didn''t you want revenge?"

    They were immediately spurred into action by his words. As Alexander and a few of the others watched on, the majority of the Judgement Order went to torture Hans and give him the slowest, cruelest death imaginable.

    "It''s not over yet," Rose said, snapping Alexander out of his thoughts.

    "We came here for him."

    Her eyes went to the tent at the very back of the camp, the only area left standing after the previous sh.

    "Ah, that guy?" He said.

    "Don''t you think there''s a reason he never left his tent?"

    He didn''t grin due to the severity of the situation, but the amusement in his eyes couldn''t be hidden.

    "Come here."

    He beckoned with his finger, and a figure came flying out of the tent.

    "Introduce yourself."

    He held a man by his throat. The man had the head of a dog and the strong bronze body of a pharaoh.

    The aura of Divinity could be sensed obviously from him, but¡­

    Why did he look so weak?

    "What¡­are you?"

    The Hound Lord, whose reputation preceded him in terrifying the masses, asked in an almost whimpering tone.

    "Who am I?" Alexander said again, taking full control over the opportunity to look cool¡­

    ''...never mind. If I do that, the second they find out Alexander is my Avatar, it''ll be over for me.''

    "I don''t feel like repeating myself, but you get the point. Just shut up and die."

    "YOU CAN''T!"

    "Oh, but I can."

    Alexander gripped his fist, a motion mirroring Hans from a few moments ago.

    CRASH!

    The sound that echoed through the camp was not an expected one.

    It was like ss shattering.

    After 4000 years of training, not just regeneration or Immortality, but the very essence of Divinity could be shredded by his power.

    "This is quite the useful skill," Alexander said nonchntly.

    "Ah, you must be curious¡­"

    "Well, it''s nothing much. I just shattered his Divinity."

    ¡­in the end, he couldn''t stop himself from trying to act cool.

    Hans was not dead, but he might as well have been. His death was only a matter of when the Judgement Order was finished enacting their revenge.

    As for the Hound Lord, his body wrinkled and shrunk. He looked like someone who hadn''t had a proper meal in decades.

    Alexander had done his job splendidly, and the time to make a stunning exit hade.

    The Judgement Order still had plenty of doubts against him, and while seeing his wives question him so suspiciously was definitely painful, it couldn''t be helped.

    He couldn''t reveal his identity just yet.

    So as they tried to understand his intentions, he could only say one thing.

    "Well, let''s just say the Judgement Order''s biggest fan sends their regards."

    He grinned, and before anyone could ask another question, he vanished.

    There was still much more to do!

 Chapter 1329 Avatar [10]

    <h4>Chapter 1329 Avatar [10]</h4>

    As the war continued, Alexander continued to show himself at the most critical moments.

    He appeared on Beast Emperor Star to save the Judgement Order once again, used his power over Existence to heal Tian Yang and the Golden Dragon Emperor''s Divinities, and much more.

    He couldn''t just concern himself with the Judgement Order.

    He saved Fallen Star Holy Land, and saved Atticus and Aishia in the same event.

    He went to the center of the Divine Realm and aided in the defense of Luxurion, taking care of most of the major threats that caused it to fall.

    He saved the Judgement Order three more times, and while none of their main yers were in trouble, he did manage to save arge number of their lower-level members.

    In the process, he found out something interesting.

    There was a man named "Beast" among them. He always wore a mask, and while he gained the trust of his teammates over time, he was still someone none of them knew the identity of.

    But when Alexander saved him, it was a situation where that mask was torn off.

    Whaty underneath it was a mutted and almost disgusting face that had endured countless tortures and horrors.

    Yet, it was still a face Damien recognized, a face from the deepest recesses of his mind.

    It was Ethan, the first friend he made on Apeiron.

    After reading his memories, he saw just how tragic Ethan''s life was after Damien left. His thirst for power led him to leave Apeiron behind and seek greater horizons, and while he was growing properly for almost a decade, he ran into great misfortune and was kidnapped by an evil sect.

    There, he endured treatment worse than a ve, treatment that could only bepared to how the Nox handled Hassan for far too many years before the sect was eradicated by an enemy force.

    When he escaped from that circumstance, he was forced to travel the universe alone, slowly regaining his humanity as the war got fiercer.

    And when the Judgement Order was created as a Sanctuary for members of the younger generation, he joined without hesitation, feeling even more at home when he saw those familiar faces among them.

    It was a tragic story, but luckily, he had found his way home.

    It would only get better from here, especially now that Damien knew his identity.

    Naturally, Damien healed the scars and wounds on Ethan''s face before sending him to safety, and as he awaited the day they''d meet again face to face, he returned to his duties.

    He participated in the subjugation of the artificial Nox force Blood Asura Holy Land created and the eradication of the Holy Land itself which followed, freed Qing Tan and Huo Fang from their imprisonment and led them to Yong An, and continued helping the universe continue on the right path.

    Even Tephit''s death was prevented, and he and Bai Yuxuan were returned to the Sanctuary to heal.

    However, Damien wasn''t a god. He couldn''t save everyone.

    Lucifer still died.

    Just as Luciel sacrificed himself to protect him all those years back on thebyrinth, Lucifer stood in front of him this time and took the attack that would have killed him.

    He lost his life for the sake of someone he considered far better than him, and while Damien wanted to change that fate, he found that even Alexander''s interference couldn''t do anything about it.

    It was the same with Prisci Adire.

    ording to the truths learned during herst moments, she and Rose were indeed of the same bloodline, and the Demon Sealing Pantheon was always meant to be passed onto the blood sessor.

    It was just assumed that there were no blood sessors left in this world.

    For the sake of the continuation of the pantheon and the event fate deemed monumental for Rose''s growth, Alexander''s interference was banned.

    Quite literally as well.

    As if to prevent his interference in any way, shape, or form, fate forced the events of the artificial Nox extermination to ur at the same time as that event, and he couldn''t take his attention away from that raid, since it was far more integral in the grand scheme of things.

    Pontius still died, and while nobody else was paying attention to them, another person died in the war.

    His name was Thaddeus Church.

    He was the gue Lord''s son, but he was different from his father. After traveling the universe with Aaliyah for over a decade, he found himself feeling things he didn''t even know existed.

    He loved that woman, an impossible love between enemies that couldn''t be allowed to exist.

    And fate seemed to oppose them as well.

    They were constantly targeted by the Nox due to Thaddeus'' betrayal, and during one of those attacks, he was forced to sacrifice himself for the sake of the woman he loved.

    It was a tragic story, a story of a love that could never be realized. It was a story that was mirrored in countless rtionships all across the universe, and while it went unnoticed by most, it would always be remembered by the only person who mattered.

    War was not a good thing.

    It was an obvious fact, but it had to be mentioned. In a ce where honor and achievements were praised and war was seen as a ce to gain these things quickly, it often went unnoticed how much suffering was hidden behind the rose-tinted goggles warriors viewed the concept through.

    Themon people went through hell, and on an individual scale, suffering was far more prevalent than honor.

    One could talk about lives saved or righteousness, but it could never outweigh the tragedy.

    Damien also knew that.

    It was the burden he bore.

    And he didn''t shy away from it.

    Even though nobody else saw Thaddeus'' death, he did.

    He led Aaliyah to the Judgement Order so she could hopefully find warmth to keep her sane.

    He watched themon people''s suffering from his ce beyond reality, he watched the warriors who struggled and survived with all their strength to protect their families behind them, and he watched all the sights nobody else would ever see, so those who suffered would at least be remembered by one person.

    Just as he told the Ancient Sovereign in days past, this was the duty of an observer.

    To record their stories, so no matter how insignificant their existences seemed, they would never truly fade.

    He didn''t interfere too much using Alexander. He showed himself where he was necessary, but he didn''t try to change things that shouldn''t be changed.

    Therefore, as the universal war was guided to the most realistic conclusion, he was left with only three things left to do.

    The first of which being a meeting with an old friend.

    He went to the Abyss for that purpose. He followed the guidance of his main body who could see all of reality from an outside perspective and reached a ce no man had ever been able to reach without an invitation.

    There, he met that man.

    He didn''t even have to exin himself.

    The second Alexander appeared in the vicinity, he was greeted by the one he came to see.

    Yong An stood there with a wide smile on his face and proimed as if he''d been waiting for this moment¡­

    "I knew you didn''t die."

 Chapter 1330 Avatar [11]

    <h4>Chapter 1330 Avatar [11]</h4>

    "You knew?"

    Alexander''s eyes widened in surprise. It was less about Yong An''s belief that he was alive, since most of his other associates felt the same, but how did he know Alexander was Damien?

    "How could I not know? Did you forget where we are?"

    "That¡­"

    Damien smiled. The Abyss was definitely a fantastical force. If Yong An could read the nature of his soul fragment within Alexander''s body, it meant he''d reached an unreal level.

    "It seems you''ve gotten much stronger since thest time we met."

    "That is natural, however, my growth cannotpare to yours in the slightest. Was death so beneficial?"

    "Surprisingly, yes, but I''d prefer we don''t joke about it."

    Damien responded wryly. He was d his friend could still act this sarcastic about a serious topic like that, but still, he didn''t want to remember it more than he had to.

    "Putting that aside," Yong An continued, noticing Alexander''s awkward expression, "you must have a reason for visiting me this time, no?"

    "Of course."

    He did want to make personal visits, but there was a time and ce for that.

    The war would be over soon enough, and when that happened, he could take all the time in the world to rx and spend time with the people he forgot to cherish.

    "I know you''ve already made contact with the Judgement Order, but I''m not here to talk about that this time."

    Yong An''s eyes widened. That was unexpected.

    He didn''t know what else Damien could possibly be talking about, but¡­

    "The Saint Emperor is dead."

    His heart skipped a beat.

    "What did you just say?"

    "I said the Saint Emperor is dead. I killed him."

    "Wha¨C"

    "I know it''s confusing, but it''s the truth."

    Damien didn''t exin anything about the battle.

    By the current timeline, it hadn''t happened yet, but because the Ancient Battlefield was disconnected from the lower universe, he could still talk about it.

    The causality wouldn''t be touched by something like that, since his actions here couldn''t impact the Ancient Battlefield.

    Yong An naturally had a load of questions about the event, but Damien did his best to avoid the ones he could while answering the ones he couldn''t.

    He had gained respect for the Saint Emperor, because he understood the Saint Emperor''s actions.

    However, Yong An was his friend.

    Yong An was someone whose life was ruined by the Saint Emperor.

    He was raised as a sacrifice so Damien could grow, so the plot could progress, and while the Saint Emperor might''ve had a just cause for doing so, his actions weren''t just in the slightest.

    Yong An''s family had been destroyed, and his life was a torturous hell from childhood until the moment he faced Damien for the second time.

    So no matter how Damien felt about the Saint Emperor, he couldn''t let it be known.

    The Saint Emperor had to be remembered as a viin.

    That was the only way his desires could be realized.

    It made Damien feel ufortable. He had all of the Saint Emperor''s memories, so he was well aware of how the man felt while he took actions like he did with Yong An, but what did that matter?

    No matter what he said, no matter how he tried to justify it, there was no way to redeem the Saint Emperor in the eyes of Yong An and the rest who suffered by his hand.

    That conversation was difficult to have with all theseplicated emotions filling his mind, but Damien eventually got to the end of it.

    And when he did, he was finally able to get to the main point.

    "Do you remember that day you told me about the ''curse'' your race suffers from?" He said.

    Yong An nodded. He remembered very well, and he was still suffering under its influence now.

    "I can remove it."

    Those were Damien''s words.

    "I can remove that curse and grant you freedom, so please use that freedom for me. I will take you and your people to the Heavenly World with me, and together, we can fight against the true cause of your race''s misfortune."

    This was his goal.

    The Nox were an enemy force for the most part, but at this point, Yong An had gathered every one of them who was willing to change their ways.

    His followers were people who could be redeemed, and Damien was absolutely willing to aid them in said redemption.

    Yong An was naturally surprised by his suggestion, but¡­

    Damien was his savior.

    Damien was the one who offered him a chance at redemption in the first ce, and it could be said that everything he had now stemmed from this man.

    So was there even a question?

    He held his hand out with a smile as if it was a foregone conclusion.

    "I''m looking forward to our future cooperation."

    Damien looked down at that hand with the same smile as he shook it.

    "As am I."

    ***

    Damien spent a decent amount of time with Yong An.

    The two of them talked about many things, and Damien had a chance to exin what happened to him after the events of Al''Katra.

    His story was mystifying, practically a thing of imagination, but the fact that it was all true made it even more unbelievable.

    Even Yong An, who had developed a practically fanatic faith in Damien''s strength after everything that happened, was baffled as their conversation continued.

    "Are you not going to meet them?"

    Yong An eventually addressed the elephant in the room, but Damien shook his head.

    "Not in this body. I''m afraid I won''t be able to hold myself back when I see them, and I''d rather have that reunion face to face."

    It was a matter of selfishness more than anything else, but it was also for safety.

    Causality was aplicated concept that couldn''t be understood easily. Damien didn''t know how his presence, his true presence, in their lives right now would affect them.

    And more than anything else, because of how pivotal they were in the war effort, he couldn''t influence their actions in a direction outside what they were naturally experiencing.

    Yong An somewhat understood it. Well, he understood as much as he needed to.

    "So, basically, you''re going to use me to tell them."

    "I''m d you catch on quickly."

    "Haa, this is going to be really annoying. You know they won''t trust me easily, right?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    He wasn''t wrong. His wives would already be skeptical since Yong An was a Nox, but they would be even more skeptical if he started saying things like "Damien is alive" without any sort of proof or evidence.

    Too many Nox had tried to manipte the universe''s people for them to trust their race easily, even if they were the good kind like Yong An.

    "Ah, how about this," he said.

    His face turned redder than his hair.

    Something only the girls would know, something that should have never seen the light of day ever again¡­

    Damien definitely hesitated to say it, but it was the only way to show them he was truly back, even if he couldn''t see them personally.

    Because the only way for Yong An to know was if either they told him personally, or if Damien told him himself.

    He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak.

    "Next time you see them, tell them this¡­"

    As Damien said what he wanted to say, Yong An''s eyes widened into saucers.

    He had a feeling.

    He definitely¡­just heard something he was never supposed to hear.

 Chapter 1331 Final Battle [1]

    Chapter 1331 Final Battle [1]

    Time passed swiftly. As the universe gradually gained the ability to stand on its own feet, Alexander''s presence within it diminished.

    The war continued to rage on. Large and small battles destroyed parts of the Infernal Realm, but the Nox were being continuously pushed back. The war zone was shifting into Hephaestus, and as the dwarven domain had already beenrgely destroyed by the Nox''s efforts to plunder World Cores, the actual damage caused by the war itself was mostly lessened.

    Though, since the reason was that Hephaestus was already ruined, it wasn''t necessarily something to be proud of.

    Nevertheless, things were going well for Grand Heavens Boundary now that the Nox Demigods were gone. Despite the great damage that it took in the past few decades that left it a shell of its previous self, it was more than enough for the people who stayed alive.

    Themon poption who couldn''t fight was being protected within the borders of the Human Domain and the Divine Realm, and the warriors and soldiers felt a suffocating feeling in their hearts as they realized that the end was approaching.

    The total number of Nox had been cut down severely by the countless battles in the past.

    They were now holed up in the old Heaven''s Army headquarters and the areas around it, ying more defensively than ever before.

    Now was the time to strike.

    Now was the time to end the war.

    The Demigods had been gone for roughly a decade now, which meant the results of their battle would be clear soon.

    So before they returned, things in the universe needed to be settled. Otherwise, in the case where the Nox side won, the chances of victory wouldpletely evaporate.

    Currently, a meeting was going on. It was a meeting like any other, and those present with a say in it were the same characters who''d been leading the war for the past decade.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena, who''d risen to the peak of Supremes and represented the pride of the younger generation stood at the head.

    Tian Yang and the Golden Dragon Emperor, two advisors who were already respected within the older generation and the only two "Demigods" still in the lower universe, had positions with the same weight as their identities.

    The core members of the Judgement Order like Su Ren and Long Chen, strategists like Luciel, Elyssia Bloodlock, and several other well-known individuals also sat at the main table, including Yong An, who was an unexpected face to most.

    Along with them, there were several military advisors and generals in the room to spectate and pass their decisions along at the fastest speed possible.

    These were the universe''s most trusted people, those who would not betray them no matter what.

    Because even in this time when the universe wasn''t losing so badly, people still turned traitor for one reason or another.

    The topic of this meeting was the final counterattack. They were making ns on how to move their forces topletely corral and kill the Nox left in the universe.

    With Yong An''s support, understanding their movements was simple. With the brains of those like Rose and Luciel, creating strategies was also easy, and with the wisdom and experience of those like Tian Yang, any ws in the n could be directly picked apart and fixed.

    After warring for so long, the synergy between these people had grown to an unprecedented level, so such meetings were really more for the sake of appearance than anything else.

    Their confidence had to be made known to the lower-level troops, after all.

    The meeting proceeded extremely smoothly. Before some of the spectators even realized it had started, it was over.

    And despite the speed, nobody could say they rushed things.

    Their ns were far, far too concrete for such a statement to be true.

    As the various forces left to carry out their duties to prepare for the scheduled battle, Yong An stood up with some slight hesitation in his heart.

    ''I won''t get killed, right¡­?''

    Thinking about the conversation he had with Alexander a bit ago, he figured things would be fine, but he was still scared.

    Damien could see Rose, Ruyue, and Elena the way he did because they were his wives. However, to anyone else, they were far too fearsome to just approach.

    The feats they aplished in this war were magisterial. They, as part of the younger generation, most of whom were still just a part of the universe''s forces and not key figures like they were expected to be, had be so integral to the war effort that anyone in existence, whether it be the strongest experts or the mostmon farmers, knew their names.

    Their legends were adored by all, they were the role models that children growing up in this era aspired to be, and to people who''d fought side by side with them, they were people who absolutely couldn''t be offended.

    Because when they got serious, they were terrifying.

    Nevertheless, Yong An made a promise to his friend, so he had to do something.

    He approached them before they left the meeting room and asked them for a moment of their time, waiting for those unrted to vacate the premises before he spoke again.

    With just the four of them in the room, Rose took the opportunity to speak first.

    "Was there something? If it isn''t important, you know what will happen."

    Yong An smiled wryly.

    "I understand why you don''t trust me, but please try to hear me out on this one."

    Their rtionship was¡­rocky. Yes, he was of great help, and yes, he was Damien''s friend, at least, ording to him, but the three women couldn''t easily drop their guards with anyone.

    This included most of the Judgement Order.

    Their attitudes werepletely understandable, so despite the grievances in his heart, Yong An naturally didn''t question them on it.

    But this time¡­well, if they continued to hold their prejudice, he''d die before he was able to give them the good news.

    Still, he steeled himself and looked into their eyes.

    "I will make a Mana Oath first. I, Yong An, swear that everything I say from this point forth is absolutely true. If I lie, may the heavens strike me down."

    He started with assurance even though Damien already told him it wouldn''t work.

    As Damien was in the Void, something like a Mana Oath wouldn''t be able to sense his presence, so if Yong An spoke wrong, it would still strike him down despite him speaking the truth.

    But he did it anyway as a show of faith.

    After taking a deep breath, he continued on to the main point.

    "Damien Void¡­"

    "...is still alive."

    VOOOOOOM!

    Yong An''s eyes bulged. The air in the room cooled down to subzero temperatures in an instant, and something invisible was grabbing his neck with such force that it felt like his trachea was going to be crushed.

    "What did you say?"

    Ruyue spoke first.

    All three of their eyes were absolutely cold.

    Damien''s name was a taboo. Everyone knew it. The second it was mentioned, the moods of these three women would be horrifying.

    They had yet to ept his death, but after a decade of fighting without seeing a hint of him, they couldn''t help but fear the worst.

    In order to push that fear down and maintain hope, they did not allow themselves to think about the matter of his life or death, because if they did, their mentalities would break down.

    They treated themselves like widows, because it was the only way to survive.

    But¡­

    Yong An, this Nox being, suddenly came and said he was alive?

    What was his goal?

    Why now?

    No matter what, it was better to kill him first. They couldn''t allow themselves to be shaken at this time.

    Yong An could see all those thoughts in their eyes. He could feel their cold killing intent encroaching on his soul.

    This kind of fear, he hadn''t felt it since thest time he saw the Saint Emperor.

    "W-wait¡­! I can¡­exin!"

    He squeezed the word out in a panic.

    He had to save his life somehow.

    Rose nced at Ruyue for a moment, and the force crushing Yong An''s neck lessened enough for him to speak.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    "If you cannot give a satisfying answer, you will die here."

    Yong An nodded, catching his breath.

    "I have evidence. I was told as long as I say it, you will not question me anymore."

    He knew what he had to say, but¡­

    ''...will this really work?''

    Under their scrutinizing gazes, his face turned a shade of red one wouldn''t expect possible with the Nox''s natural skin tone.

    ''I have no choice.''

    He steeled himself again.

    Even if it wasn''t his dark history, it would be his dark history the moment he said it.

    It didn''t matter.

    He had to save his life.

    So, as he gathered up every little bit of courage in his body, he yelled out confidently.

    "AHHH, MY EYE! THE PAIN IN MY RIGHT EYE! EVERYONE, LEAVE ME BEFORE THE DEMON SEALED IN MY RIGHT EYE, AND THE DARK DEMONIC FLAME SEALED IN MY RIGHT ARM, BECOME UNCONTAINABLE! I, DAMIEN VOID, AM THE ANCIENT GOD OF THE WORLD! I AM INDOMITABLE!"

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    The silence was incredibly loud.

    And Yong An wanted to die.

    Actually, it would be better if they just killed him now.

    He was fine with that.

    But contrary to his expectation¡­

    "You may leave now."

    ¡­Rose spoke up.

    Naturally, Yong An ran away with his tail between his legs as fast as possible to get away from the embarrassment he wished he didn''t have to remember.

    He ran away so fast¡­that he didn''t catch the hints of tears forming in the eyes of those three women.

 Chapter 1332 Final Battle [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1332 Final Battle [2]</h4>

    Damien was a spiritual god in the eyes of those who called Grand Heavens Boundary their home.

    His deeds had been widely publicized, and the fact that he was the reason their universe was able to gain proper footing in this war was known to all.

    Nobody viewed him as anything less than a god. Any nder about him would lead to an immediate beating, or even execution in some ces.

    It was a fanatic belief that would be harmful in most cases, but was absolutely necessary for keeping the universe''s people hopeful in the current times.

    Therefore, the perception of Damien right now was a little twisted.

    His life prior to the First Dungeon was buried. His story, in the eyes of most, began in Apeiron.

    No, that was irrelevant.

    Even putting that aside, there were only four people who knew.

    ire Watson, Rose, Ruyue, and Elena.

    Only they knew of his dark history.

    Only they knew of the time he spent as a child before mana even existed, the time that even he himself still to this day considered his weakness.

    Damien''s dark history¡­

    To hear it from the mouth of someone like Yong An meant one of two things.

    Either the three of them spilled the truth, or Damien himself told him.

    And the three of them were very clear on what they had and hadn''t done.

    They stood in that meeting room alone. Rose had already distorted reality so they were essentially existing in a separate ne that no other being could detect or peer into.

    "That¡­did that just happen?"

    Elena spoke first, her voice quivering.

    "It did¡­" Rose replied.

    "..."

    Ruyue was silent.

    "Ha¡­"

    "Hahaha¡­"

    They didn''t know what to think.

    No, their minds werepletely nk.

    But in their hearts, they understood.

    Tears streamed down their faces without them even realizing it.

    They were shell-shocked.

    But it was true.

    "That bastard¡­that bastard¡­!" Elena stuttered.

    "He''s¡­still alive."

    Rose said the words they''d all been avoiding ever since that day when Ruyue''s soul connection broke.

    It took several minutes before they could even move.

    They hugged each other and cried.

    The feelings in their hearts were indescribable.

    How could one define what it felt like to realize someone one thought was dead for so long was still alive and well?

    Sadness, joy, ecstasy, pure and unadulterated liberation, euphoria, excitement, agitation, and more than anything else, a sense of relief that made them feel like all of their worries disappeared.

    The knot in their hearts, the knot in their souls, that didn''t allow them to truly be themselves for so long was gone.

    That knot not only affected their mentalities, but even their strength. The main reason they hadn''t been able to ascend to Divinity was precisely due to this knot.

    They were fighting this war for survival, and they were fighting this war for revenge.

    But frankly, they didn''t know what they''d do when it ended.

    Because the light in their lives was already gone. He was not here anymore, so they didn''t have anything to strive for.

    Some people moved on after their partners died, some people found happiness again because even their loved ones would want that for them.

    However, they weren''t like those people. Their emotions of love were gone from the moment Damien left. They would not be happy again without him, and if it wasn''t for each other''s presence, they would have copsed long ago.

    But he was alive.

    Damien was alive.

    Since Yong An delivered the news, he was likely in a situation where he couldn''t see them directly, but that didn''t matter at all.

    Because he was alive.

    And that was all they could ever hope for.

    They stood in that meeting room for hours celebrating amongst themselves.

    ''He''s alive.''

    That phrase which had already been repeated so many times was still repeating over and over again in their heads.

    They couldn''t help themselves but to celebrate. They couldn''t help themselves but to smile. This feeling of liberation brought by his ethereal presence wasn''t something they could easily calm down.

    But one thing was certain.

    In this final battle, they would perform far better than ever before in anticipation of his return, and¡­

    Rose calmed herself first. There was something more important than even the final battle right now.

    "We need to tell Zara."

    As fast as possible, they needed to tell her.

    Before she could do anything reckless again!

    ***

    Ever since that day, their lives had changed.

    That battle was a turning point in many lives, but none of them were quite like theirs.

    That day, they achieved the impossible, and as a result, they reached a state neither of them expected.

    They became one.

    And they learned the truth of their existence.

    At first, it was difficult.

    Living together as one, trying to unify their thoughts, it was a difficult thing to do.

    However, they eventually managed, because just as much as they diverged, they came together.

    They were equal and opposite.

    Their names were Zara and Alea, and together, they represented the perfect harmony between Yin and Yang.

    When Beast Emperor Star was brought to the Divine Realm, Zara and Alea were left in a space outside reality for a very long time.

    Even when they returned, only Rose, Ruyue, and Elena were made aware of their continued existence in their new state.

    They became a secret trump card for the Grand Heavens Boundary armies, and their contributions were no less than the three women who stood at the head of those armies.

    But their state was definitely strange.

    Ruyue was the biggest help to them.

    Lily and Mei, the twins who inhabited the same body due to their special constitution, were in a state simr to theirs.

    When Zara and Alea merged, they didn''t engulf each other at all. They controlled their new body together, and they could either split control and work together or take individual control of their physical vessel as they decided.

    Their situation was simr to the Twin Spirit Body that Lily and Mei possessed, but the cause and meaning behind their dual consciousness werepletely different, and the way it functioned was also not nearly the same.

    However, the simrities allowed them to adapt far faster, and they learned to bnce their egos far better because of Lily and Mei''s help.

    They were doing well.

    However, tragedy struck them as it did everyone else.

    They, who were now jointly connected to Damien through thepanion contract Zara signed in the past, felt his death more viscerally than anyone else.

    And Zara broke down.

    She hid herself in the depths of their joint consciousness and Alea was forced to take the reigns for several years as she submerged herself in darkness.

    And when she came back, it was like she''d lost all hope.

    She went on a rampage. She forcefully took over their body and recklessly challenged the Nox time after time.

    It was only when Rose and the girls finally managed to get back in touch with her that she somewhat calmed down.

    Still, she hadn''t been able to cope with Damien''s death as well as everyone else.

    She, who had been ethereally connected to him for the majority of her life, felt a void in her soul that couldn''t be ignored.

    So even the girls couldn''t control her all the time.

    She was now about to be in another reckless situation.

    Before the final war started and she lost the chance to do something like this again, she was going to rush the Nox again.

    She did not want to leave this war alive.

    Not if she couldn''t live with Damien.

 Chapter 1333 Final Battle [3]

    Chapter 1333 Final Battle [3]

    Alea couldn''t do anything.

    When they merged, their memories merged as well. Just as Zara experienced her life, she was instilled with the same feelings for Damien that Zara had.

    So she could understand her sister''s feelings.

    However, she couldn''t support her actions.

    It was troubling sharing the same body with someone who couldn''t get their thoughts in order, and Zara''s overwhelming emotions made it hard to seize back control.

    Plus, there was another problem.

    They were now one being.

    If Zara was caged away for her own safety and saw her mental state deteriorate further, those effects would rebound and injure them both.

    So how could Alea help her sister?

    It was impossible.

    She had to vent these emotions somehow, and there was nobody who could set her on the right path.

    Or at least, that was how it was.

    Until that day.

    It was only a week before the final war was supposed to start. The meeting between the high executives had juste to an end, and within the same day, Rose found their location through the vast informationwork she''d set up over time.

    When the three women visited at once, Alea already knew something special was happening.

    But when they shared the news they''d just learned and assured its veracity, her excitement peaked.

    Zara''s mind was engulfed in darkness.

    If one looked into it, they''d find a sea of ckness, in which Zara sat in fetal position, hiding away from the world.

    What controlled her was her desire to kill and her desire to die.

    But those words cut through the darkness.

    "Damien is alive."

    Those words that she''d been praying to hear for years finally graced her ears, and even the slight hope that it was true brought her into the light.

    She heard the whole story from the girls.

    She cut contact with them and disappeared because she didn''t want to be near warmth. If she felt warmth, she was afraid she''d forget her rage.

    However, the girls never lost track of her. They had always been silently watching over her to make sure her recklessness never truly led her to death.

    Now that the time hade to share the good news, they came instantly and made sure Zara would be back in her right mind.

    And for the first time in almost five years, Zara and Alea returned to their original harmony.

    The girls filled them in on the ns made earlier that day, and understanding Zara''s state because they experienced it before they came here, they left her alone.

    Zara and Alea took this time to find a secluded ce so they could finally talk again.

    "..."

    "..."

    It was silent at first.

    Alea didn''t know how to start the conversation. She didn''t know what to say to her sister now.

    She could feel the overflowing happinessing from her other half, and while she felt happiness as well, her personal feelings towards Damien weren''t the same as Zara''s.

    Alea had a time when she was obsessed with him.

    There was a "scent"ing from him that made him undeniably attractive, and if he even touched her, her body would react strangely.

    But that scent wasn''t a matter of her own emotions. Rather, it was a rebound from Damien''s connection with Zara.

    Once that truth was revealed, she started to feel a bit ufortable about him. It wasn''t anything he did, since he always tried his best to reject her without abandoning her. She was just embarrassed when she thought about how she acted in the past.

    So when she thought about Damien, he felt more estranged than he was to most others.

    She was d he survived, and she thought it was a shame when he died, but because she couldn''t empathize with Zara''s connection to him, she didn''t know how to start a conversation about him.

    However, there was no need for her to do so.

    "...I''m sorry."

    Zara spoke first.

    "I was too rash. I can''t do anything but apologize."

    She wasn''t necessarily sorry for her actions. She would have done so regardless. But she was definitely apologetic for dragging Alea into her mess.

    "It''s fine."

    Alea thought she''d be angry, but she surprisingly wasn''t.

    Rather, she was happy for her sister. She was just relieved that her mental state wasn''t so negative anymore.

    "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

    Zara hesitated for a moment.

    "I¡­didn''t know what emotions were before I met him."

    She had to share this story even though Alea already knew it.

    "I was just a cub, terrified and distrusting of the world. Because of him, I was able to obtain freedom, be strong, and grow into an actual person. It would have been impossible if not for him."

    "When I saw him build rtionships with other people, I felt strange. When I came to learn that that emotion was jealousy, I became curious about why I felt that way, and slowly, I began to understand emotions."

    "The one called love more than anything else. That feeling, I don''t think I''ll ever be able to feel it for anyone but him."

    "Not even me?"

    "It''s different."

    Alea smiled internally.

    She understood well.

    Zara wasn''t talking about romantic love. No, with the rtionship they''d had since young, if Zara felt romantic feelings towards Damien, it would be rather strange and ufortable.

    He was her support system. He was like a father, a brother, and even a mother to her. She never knew what "family" truly meant until she met him. Even the wolf pack that raised her before the First Dungeon''s wyvern started covering her was just a group she stayed with.

    When she met Damien, her entire life changed.

    At some point, he became her entire reason for existence.

    She tried several times to change that.

    It wasn''t just once or twice. She always wanted to learn to live for herself, because that was what Damien wanted for her too.

    He always pushed her to strive for happiness without him, so that she could always live happily even in the instance where he wasn''t there.

    But what was the problem?

    No matter what she did, she always found that she couldn''t find happiness unless he was at least somewhat involved in her life.

    The world was a scary ce. It was a cold ce. When he went to No Return Pass and the Abyss, Zara lived so he would be proud of her when he was back.

    When he died, what was there to look forward to?

    It was unhealthy in a sense, but that was her happiness. That was how she wanted to live.

    Even Alea''s presence didn''t change that.

    She was finally able to find herself again when she learned of his survival.

    ''Haa, this girl¡­''

    Alea sighed in eptance. There was really nothing she could do.

    ''At this point, there''s only one solution. That bastard better not die no matter what. If nothing else, then for my sister''s sake.''

    For now, there was no point stressing about it.

    Zara was able to put her story out into the world, and she was able to get those feelings off of her chest.

    She cried, she celebrated, and she regained her sense of self.

    So she was finally ready.

    "They said the final battle will be in 2 weeks, right?" She said.

    Upon getting Alea''s confirmation, she made a decision for the both of them, one that Alea was fully epting of.

    "Let''s participate properly this time. Instead of charging recklessly, we''ll do something he can look forward to when hees back."

    As Damien expected, telling them through a third party was the best choice.

    Each and every one of them was invigorated by the news, and in preparation for the future toe where they could reunite, they did their best while prioritizing their lives.

    The day of the final battle was approaching.

    And as the involved parties gathered, the air in Grand Heavens Boundary was suffocating.

    This was it.

    Not just thest stand of the universe or the Nox, but the end of this cycle that had destroyed universe after universe for billions of years.

    aa7b5e4a913f698f2f85f05ec8699ff27ff166e6180b5f8174783372ff05490126934c509302fbe272d2393e4bcba9d55f3f2e4b4faf74b3bf92ab3f260b8b74

 Chapter 1334 Final Battle [4]

    Chapter 1334 Final Battle [4]

    Forces were gathering.

    The stage of the final battle was naturally on Hephaestus. With such arge number of troops moving back and forth to n, it was impossible to hide the fact that arge-scale war was going to take ce soon.

    Rose and the rest nned for this. The day they made their ns, they used the long-distance teleportation array system to set up a perimeter around Hephaestus so the Nox couldn''t escape beforehand.

    It was one of their best cards to this day.

    The Nox had tried several times to gain ess to it. If they were able to, they''d gain an advantage that even the universe''s current advantage couldn''t ovee.

    However, the arrays were just made that well. No matter what they did, it was impossible for them to even activate them. Whether it be a Nox or a traitor, none of them could be verified by the array''s systems, and even when they hid amongst crowds of regr people, they''d be ousted and captured instantly,

    There were a few times when they managed to bypass this seemingly impregnable defense. Around four years ago, using a disruption in the spatialyers to trick the array system, arge number of Nox troops seeded in entering and almost took the universe by storm.

    Countless troops were distributed as fast as possible to guard the most important array locations in case the Nox emerged there, and the Grand Heavens Boundary forces were on high alert for several hours at a level of tenseness they hadn''t reached in months at that time.

    The result?

    The Nox never even exited the spatialyers.

    Damien specifically made the arrays to disallow anyone who wasn''t permitted from reaching their destination. If the array was activated forcefully or through any means other than natural activation, its innate defense systems would activate to identify "who" had illegally used them.

    The spatial corridor connecting the arrays would widen, and the rate of teleportation would be slowed to what was essentially a stop. Information on the intruders would be transmitted to Luciel, who had the head token that gave him priority control over the arrays, and he would be able to judge whether to allow the transmission to continue or to take preventative measures.

    When the Nox were the ones using the portal, there was really no need to think about it.

    He activated the highest level of protection, and the spatial corridor directly shattered into bits, forcing the Nox to endure spatial storms and chaotic waves of unstable spacetime until their bodies were evaporated from existence.

    Nobody would''ve thought Damien could create such a mystical array system. It was truly impregnable, and for each w, a separate defense system was in ce to correct it.

    The universe managed to stay protected that way and maintained the advantage they held with control of the array system, and even in the current situation, it allowed them to form a cage and decide the location and flow of the final battle without the Nox being able to stop them at all.

    It was already here.

    The universe''s forces stood on standby throughout Hephaestus, and the variousmanders in charge of them were almost done giving their heroic speeches to raise the army''s spirits.

    The only advantage the Nox had now was numbers.

    But the universe made up for their smaller number with elite soldiers who could fight against crowds individually if the need arose.

    And when the various ns made by the highest authorities were also taken into ount¡­

    "...there''s no way we can lose."

    Rose looked to her sides.

    Elena and Ruyue, Zara and Alea, Tian Yang and the Golden Dragon Emperor, the members of the Judgement Order¡­

    Everyone was here, and everyone was ready.

    She smiled.

    "Shall we go, then?"

    A smallmunicator appeared in her hand, and without hesitation, she gave the signal.

    Luciel received it from the back lines.

    HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!

    A horn blew with such force that its roar resounded through the entirety of Hephaestus.

    That marked the beginning.

    All forces moved to aplish their given tasks.

    And the final war began!

    ***

    The scale was massive.

    There were still billions of Nox remaining despite all the work that had been done to quell their numbers.

    This was only the number that actively participated in the war.

    When Damien was on Al''Katra, he eradicated several quintillions of Lesser Nox, yet, there were still trillions who remained in various parts of the Abyss and the boundaries of the universe.

    Those were Lesser Nox who''d already been "conscripted" for the sake of the war and kept away for when they were needed, and they became pests the universe had to take care of.

    Considering how much time had passed, they did a great job quelling said pests. Their numbers were far less than before, but they were still extreme.

    Plus, that was just the Lesser Nox.

    Those Higher Nox became warier with every passing day. They moved carefully, and rather than prioritizing their duties, they began to prioritize life. Even if they failed everything else, they made sure they''d survive.

    However, they''d now been put in a situation where survival was impossible if they didn''t win the war.

    Under themand of their Supremes, they steeled their wills and developed a sort of zing insanity.

    If they didn''t kill, they would die!

    That was the mentality they entered the war with. That was a mentality that madebat far harder for the universe''s forces than it would have normally been.

    Still, the universe had its own cards.

    Those Supremes couldn''t actively interfere in the battles their weaker counterparts were fighting.

    Whether it be Supremes, Executioners, or High Commanders, the universe made absolutely certain they would be too busy keeping themselves alive to help their race win this war!

    Rose, Ruyue, Elena, and the rest split up. Each of them was an army of their own, so they were going to make sure all the Supremes were dead by the end of the battle.

    For that to work, they had to deal with quite the number on their own.

    At the moment, any one of them could be seen with at least 10 Supremes in their vicinity, trapped there through one method or another.

    In Rose''s case, it was something simr to a Personal Reality.

    She couldn''t control Creation, but that didn''t matter.

    Because her power of illusion had be something fantastical.

    Illusion and reality, there was no need for her to differentiate between them. Reality was her illusion, and thus, anything she wished possible was possible.

    Twelve Supremes surrounded her in a tight formation, warily watching her every move.

    The reputation she''d built in the past decade wasn''t a joke. They had a great numbers advantage and a rtive strength advantage from an objective standpoint, but they didn''t believe either of those things true.

    Rose Adire, who was both the hidden leader of the current Grand Heavens Boundary and the sessor of the Demon Sealing Pantheon, was not someone they could handle.

    Yet, they had no choice.

    For the fabric of reality itself was forcing them to stay within her range.

    Rose smiled as she saw the fear on their faces.

    "Originally, my will to fight was a bit cold, so I would have dragged this out somehow, but¡­"

    Her eyes sharpened into daggers. She raised her hand into the air, summoning her mana into the atmosphere.

    "...I have something far more important to do after this, so I''d appreciate if all of you just died without a fuss."

 Chapter 1335 Final Battle [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1335 Final Battle [5]</h4>

    Rose Adire.

    Among Damien''s wives, her origin was the least impressive.

    She was a princess of a great Empire on Apeiron, sure, but that was the extent of it. The number of people in simr positions to her across the universe was in the millions, if not more.

    Her affinities also weren''t anything to brag about.

    A wind affinity and an illusion affinity, while thetter was definitely rare, it wasn''t all that special, at least not in the way it was usually perceived.

    Because at the end of the day, illusions were just illusions. Higher caliber experts could see through them all with their perception abilities no matter what kind of strength was poured into them.

    Elena was from Earth, but her origins were mysterious and connected to a race long extinct from Grand Heavens Boundary. As for Ruyue, while she also hadmon origins in the grand scheme of things, she was blessed with an absolute Yin affinity that destined her for greatness.

    Inparison, Rose was nothing.

    It was the same with her personality. She was always reserved and understanding. She never seemed to have strong opinions of her own, and even when she did, she never truly acted assertive enough for people to take her seriously.

    Some people called her nd, some said she was just a shell of a person acting as if she had everything, but¡­

    How could they know?

    How could they know the kinds of thoughts in her heart?

    If they were talking about the version of her who existed as a princess in Apeiron, they would be correct. That version of her was confused, and even after meeting Damien, it took a long time for that confusion to clear up.

    Everyone seemed to have a role, and she desperately tried to find hers. Because of that, she allowed people to walk over her, and she maintained her position for the sake of bnce in all things.

    She onlyter realized that was the wrong path.

    Whether it be in her mindset or her abilities, stability wasn''t right for her.

    She had to embrace chaos.

    The Rose Adire that people couldn''t see was a monster. She was someone with such a calctive mind that even old experts like Luciel would find themselves losing ground against her, and on the battlefield, she knew exactly how to end battles by forcing the enemies to endure the things they wanted to face the least.

    Rose originally had amon destiny. She was meant to live in Apeiron for the rest of her life, not really achieving much more than that''s expectations.

    However, she changed that destiny with her own hands.

    She took hold of her illusion affinity and found a path to make it far greater than it should have ever been, using properties simr to Ruyue''s Yin, and she learned to read the future and absolutely understand the hearts of others by spending time observing them.

    She took in everything around her and made it her own, and somehow, by her own efforts, she rose to a position indispensable to the universe.

    She was someone others adored, and she was someone others wished to be.

    But that didn''t matter to her.

    She never did it for the sake of anyone else.

    She did it because she wanted to find her ce. Not a role that she put herself in, and not some kind of position in other people''s hearts, but the ce that made her feel like she was at home in her own skin.

    The answer she found through that pursuit was one present before her almost her entire life.

    ''Illusory Throne.''

    She summoned it, the same throne she''d sat on since her days as a young girl who just wanted to experience adventure.

    However, the weight of that throne couldn''t be easilypared to anything else anymore,

    This was her seat.

    She was to be the empress of reality, someone who could control all things at her whim.

    Yes, it was an unrealistic dream, but did that matter?

    In the first ce, if one wanted to stand by Damien''s side, one had to have the ambitions to make those unrealistic aspirations into a reality.

    Rose couldn''t stop smiling.

    She was in a good mood ever since she found out about Damien''s survival, but something about today made her feel even more joyous than before.

    In the past, even a single one of these Supremes would have been enough to make her feel terror. They would have looked at her like a piece of trash as they killed her with no consideration for her thoughts in the slightest.

    But now?

    Now they were standing around her and cowering in fear despite their numbers.

    It was amusing, and it was fulfilling. It was a sight that validated the effort she put in until now, and made her fullymit to the effort she''d need to put in throughout the countless days toe.

    A battle like this held profound meaning for the universe, but to her, it was just another stepping stone.

    And as if she needed to prove her right to have such domineering thoughts, she acted quickly to eradicate the enemy.

    There was no difference between reality and illusion. Reality itself was just an illusion brought about by a mixture of perception andw.

    The true face of reality was nothing more than a bubble amidst the infinite beyond that nobody could understand.

    Such a bubble, why did it need to be viewed as something grand?

    In her eyes, the fabric of reality was just something to be weaved, something to be worn, and something to be manipted.

    The Nox Supremes around her tried to attack.

    They weren''t idiots who''d stand still and allow her to maintain an advantage over them.

    However, even if they tried to attack, what could they do?

    Reality itself was against them.

    They were already trapped in the Empress'' web.

    Their own attacks became their enemies. Anything they sent would be multiplied and sent back without dy. The mana within their bodies refused to follow theirmands, and the environment would constrict and contract to defy any expectations they had for it.

    It was hard to describe such a fighting style in words, but it was a magnificent scene to witness.

    Because Rose did nothing.

    She merely sat in the middle of that domain and watched them struggle from her imperial throne.

    Yet, despite her inaction, the enemies who outnumbered her twelve to one and were supposed to have strength matching hers could not even approach her.

    This was the position of an Empress, the position she''d desired and worked towards for so long.

    And though she didn''t know it, her power, the power over reality she''d established through illusions¡­

    ¡­was extremely reminiscent of Damien''s power over Existence.

    Scarily so.

    A woman who was never fated to aplish anything aplished more than anything those around her could even dream of.

    This was what it meant to fight against fate.

    She didn''t even know of Damien''s new mission, but she was the one who was closest to walking the first steps on that path.

    Perhaps that was why¡­?

    No matter how much time passed or how they changed and grew, Rose was always at the top of the hierarchy between wives.

    She was always the first wife who could represent the three of them with confidence.

    And right now, she was the Grand Commander who oversaw this entire war.

    "Hmm, I finished earlier than expected¡­"

    Twelve Supremes couldn''tst more than ten minutes against her.

    Since she now found herself with a surplus of time¡­

    "...should I go help, or¡­?"

    She smiled as an idea came to mind.

    "Yeah, let''s do that instead."

    She hadn''t had fun in a very long time, so didn''t she deserve a bit right now?

    She was going to do something extremely amusing.

    So amusing that even Damien, who was watching from beyond existence, was chuckling uncontrobly as he watched it happen!

 Chapter 1336 Final Battle [6]

    Chapter 1336 Final Battle [6]

    When did it be like this?

    It felt like it was only days ago when everything seemed for naught. Back then, the Nox themselves were such a terrifying threat that they made everyone feel hopeless, and figures like Supremes were creatures who could kill anyone with a single p.

    Yet, those Supremes now¡­

    It wasn''t just for Rose.

    Ruyue faced the ten Supremes that assaulted her and felt the same exact emotion.

    Just like her sister-wife, she suddenly began to notice how easy this battle had be.

    Her power over Yin was already on the cusp of Divinity. No, rather, it was already past that point. The only reason she and the others hadn''t ascended was because of their mental barriers.

    With those barriers now removed and their spirits freer than ever, it felt like everything had be insignificant.

    Yin was a mysterious power. It epassed half of the universe''s energies, all those on the negative side.

    This didn''t inherently make those energies evil, but that was their nature. Whether they were positive or negative in perception was dependent wholly on how they presented themselves to the world.

    In Ruyue''s hands, the concepts of Yin showed their duality well. Those like ice were cold yet pure, filled with ruthlessness and an air of morality. However, those powers like death were just as cold but far more vile, cruel with the intent to subjugate any enemy.

    These concepts worked amazingly in tandem, and Ruyue''s control was far greater than anyone could imagine.

    Ten Nox Supremes charged her from every direction unlike how Rose''s opponents moved. They tried their best to give Ruyue no chances to attack, so they could kill her before they died.

    However, their efforts were futile.

    The main power of Yin was not in thews that manifested under its umbre, but rather its natural existence.

    Yin was malleable, flexible, and an energy that usurped most other energies.

    Ruyue''s fighting style changed as she grew through the stages of the nine revolutions. As she realized the strengths of Yin, she stopped using otherws to showcase its power, realizing how inefficient that method was.

    Rather, she used the enemy''s attacks against them.

    Any mana that made it to her vicinity was rebounded by a gentle flow. That mana would multiply in force through the most natural of motions and fire back at its owner to inflict damage.

    She was the perfect monster of parrying. The most terrifying part about facing Ruyue was exactly that.

    One couldn''t trust their own strength to support them when she was the opponent.

    However, she didn''t just throw away her personal attack power to learn how to manipte that of others.

    Instead, she changed her style.

    Ice and Death were still incredibly important to her arsenal, and with Lily and Mei growing alongside her, her control over the twows was natural to the point of her being more of a spirit than a human.

    She also learned more about the power of negative energy. That power was able to banish other energies from existence and control their equal and opposite forces to counter them.

    This was an incredibly useful skill to have in battle, especially as the power level of the average practitioner rose and theirws became moreplex.

    Using abination of all these powers made Ruyue an impregnable fortress.

    She could stand still in the midst of a million enemies and manipte the field of space around her with such precision that it felt like a million soldiers were fighting by her side.

    So when 10 Supremes attacked¡­?

    Naturally, they were attacked back by 10 Supremes.

    The battle was a short one, taking no more than half an hour to conclude. By the end, all those Nox were in shreds with bodies that couldn''t be recognized. They were torn apart to the point where Ruyue didn''t even have to kill them a second time to prevent their natural regeneration.

    Her steps felt lighter than ever.

    Unlike her sisters, she wasn''t one to show much emotion. She''d spent thest decade quietly, speaking no more than a few sentences and only when it was necessary.

    It was a part of her personality, but it was also a method for her to cope with Damien''s disappearance.

    The soul connection was hers.

    The other girls felt it because of their engagement rings, but they didn''t understand what it was like to have a piece of their soul entrenched in his heart like that.

    Even when Damien was too far away for her to be able to feel much through the connection, she was able to understand his state at all times, and because of that, she was always enveloped in a warm nket that even she sometimes forgot about.

    After having that nket for years, to feel it disappear so suddenly was as if she was a mortal thrown into the void of space and forced to survive without any sort of protection.

    That haunting feeling absolutely killed her spirit. Even now, while knowing Damien was alive somewhere, the fact that she couldn''t feel his presence viscerally was painful.

    Nevertheless, her feelings now didn''t need to be exined much. While the three of them differed in many ways, their love for Damien was the same, as were their positive feelings in the past few weeks.

    If Rose was a Grand Commander who ruled from the shadows, Ruyue was a Grand General who led troops into battle from the frontlines.

    As she observed the battlefield after killing her enemies, she judged the best use of her time.

    There was no need to help the strong allies, because they were all holding up fine on their own.

    And the lesser forces¡­

    Well, they were doing mostly fine on their own.

    This war was set up in a way where losing was impossible.

    In a sense, Ruyue didn''t have to do anything. Since she''d finished her assigned task sessfully, she could sit back and wait for the war to end if she really wanted to.

    But that wasn''t her creed.

    Elena was the most righteous among them, and Ruyue was the most indifferent. The lives of others didn''t hold any weight in her heart if she didn''t care about them.

    Still, the ones she cared about were good people.

    They wouldn''t want to see more death than necessary.

    So if she could save even one more life while ending this war faster, she would do it.

    Ruyue went straight to the lesser armies to aid them. She didn''t do too much, because this was also an opportunity for those people to grow and feel their efforts validated, but she made sure they didn''t die needlessly like what would have happened without a strong presence helping on the battlefield.

    Meanwhile, most of the other battles wereing to an end as well.

    Tian Yang, the Golden Dragon Emperor, Su Ren, Long Chen, and the rest finished killing the Supremes they were standing against within an hour, and as they moved towards other battlefields to provide their aid, it seemed like there was nothing more to say.

    After so many grueling years of warfare, after so many needless sacrifices and heroic victories, they reached this point where the once unfathomable enemy was nothing more than prey for them to hunt.

    Victory already belonged to the universe.

 Chapter 1337 Final Battle [7]

    Chapter 1337 Final Battle [7]

    Of Damien''s wives, perhaps Elena had the most muted reaction, surprisingly enough.

    It wasn''t that she didn''t feel happy about the news, but she was probably the one who held the most faith that he was still alive.

    She never let go of even a shred of that hope.

    Perhaps it was because of her closeness with Life Laws, but she always felt something off about Damien''s "death."

    Yes, their soul connection with him broke, as did Zara''spanion contract, but there were too many clues that Damien still existed somewhere in some form.

    Because without the hints of Damien that were spread throughout the universe, Grand Heavens Boundary would have fallen already.

    Her sisters also knew this, and she made sure to assure them constantly about it, but what could they do?

    10 years was a long time.

    The most ring difference between Elena and the other two was time.

    Unlike them, who lived the majority of their lives in a single time flow without much change, she had lived through several time distortions while she journeyed the universe on her own.

    She understood just how short ten years could be, and she understood that ten years for them didn''t mean ten years elsewhere.

    Also, the Valkyrie secret realm where she learned about their race and gained the ability to ess Valha waspletely disconnected from the outside world.

    As long as she was there, the people in the outside world would think she was dead, just like what happened to Damien.

    It was a bit different, obviously, but Elena didn''t know that, nor did she need to. At its base, her beliefs held enough truth for the real truth to be inconsequential.

    Still, there was no way to exin this to someone who hadn''t experienced it in a way that sounded reasonable.

    At most, it woulde off as a pathetic excuse, and it might even make Elena look like she was losing her mind.

    She did try a few times, but it didn''t stick. Rose and Ruyue were still viewing time from the perception of someone with a finite lifespan, while their lifespans were barely qualified to be titled as such anymore.

    That didn''t say anything about Rose or Ruyue, though. It wasn''t like their loyalty or faith was any less than hers, it was just the difference in their experience that set them apart.

    So when she saw how happy the two of them were when they learned the hopeful reality that stood before them, she was happy too.

    Not only did her sisters find a path out of the darkness, but she could be absolutely certain about her assumptions and move with the same confidence she had when inferring them.

    Transcended Death was that kind ofw.

    When Elena viewed her thoughts as the absolute truth regardless of right or wrong, when she held the power to turn those thoughts into truth even if they were false to begin with, Transcended Death would grow.

    The peak of Life Laws that Elena saw was something like that.

    It wasn''t just tomand life, but to force life''s presence into ces where it couldn''t logically exist.

    But¡­the peak of Life, wasn''t it a bitcklusterpared to what the others were doing?

    Elena had that thought once. She realized that life was merely something that existed within a cage of other concepts and wondered if pursuing its peak would truly bring her to the heights she wanted to see.

    She pondered over it, dug deep into herws, and tried to find a way to ovee the limitations of life.

    And she found the answer she desired. She found a way to bring life beyond the boundaries of the fundamentalws.

    Even without creation, even without death, even without any sort of support, she would create life. That life would be the root of everything, and thus it would be the origin of all concepts.

    It was as if she stepped on a path towards the Void, and while she hadn''t realized it yet, she had discovered something mystical in her pursuit of power.

    The Void was a concept, but it was also an entity. Despite its existence beyond existence putting it in a position where sentience should''ve been barred for it, the Void was able to converse with people and make decisions of its own volition.

    How was such a thing possible?

    Wasn''t it somehow connected to thews of Life, which gave living beings the sentience that allowed them to grow?

    It was an extremely mysterious path. It wasn''t one anybody had even considered in the past, led alone walked.

    With that path supporting her, she naturally grew to great heights that matched her sisters and obtained potential above what herws could have originally presented her.

    Life was an interestingw in many ways, and while Elena would''ve been extremely useful on the battlefield, Rose gave her another job.

    Once the war horn was blown, she, along with Zara and Alea, left the universe entirely and sought out the Abyss.

    After meeting with Yong An and his most elite experts. Elena and the Zara-Alea pairbined their power to search the entire Abyss for signs of life.

    Their mission was far more non-confrontational than the ongoing war.

    They were to find any remnants of the Nox left in the Abyss. If they were willing to join Yong An, they would be subjugated and spared, and if they weren''t¡­

    ¡­it didn''t need to be said. There was only one fate waiting for them.

    Going to the Abyss originally entailed countless dangers and treacherous experiences, but that wasn''t the case anymore.

    While the three women focused on their jobs, Yong An could use his power over the Abyss to act as a guide.

    Its dangers meant nothing to him. His sense of direction was perfect in this chaotic environment, and he had a degree of control over it that nobody else couldpare to.

    If they encountered some sort of extreme time dtion or dead zone, he could directly dispel it and bring the Abyss back to order.

    He could also mobilize those chaotic traits to attack or disce them to utilize for other purposes, but these abilities weren''t useful for the current task.

    Though, the time dtions were somewhat helpful this time.

    The universe''s war wouldn''tst long. It would at most rage on for a few days before a conclusion was reached.

    Those few days in the universe had to amount to several years in the Abyss if Elena and the rest wanted to finish their task in time.

    So they did precisely that.

    They used the Abyss'' traits to their advantage and traveled its entirety. Elena was able to sense the signs of life from countless hundreds of millions of kilometers away, the Zara-Alea pair could support her with their bnce ofws and also act as an attack force, and Yong An could do the heavy lifting when it came to recruitment.

    Their team makeup was perfect, even a bit over the top for their current goals, but it worked in their favor.

    Whether the Nox were Supremes or the mostmon ssless beings, they could be dealt with all the same.

    Both in the universe and outside of it, moves were being made to bring everything to an end.

    It was overall positive. Nobody could deny that the universe had the upper hand now.

    However, that didn''t mean the Nox were willing to just die.

    At least, not without taking massive heaps of the universe with them.

 Chapter 1338 Final Battle [8]

    Chapter 1338 Final Battle [8]

    In fact, the Nox understood that they were going to lose.

    Perhaps those lower-level Nox without extremely developed intelligence still held thoughts of bravado, but all those at the head of the army who took over after the Demigods left were well aware of their current situation.

    When Hephaestus was blocked off and escape became an impossible ask, they decided to let go of any will for survival they had and do the utmost damage to the enemy before they died.

    If they were going to be killed regardless, wasn''t it better to bring more people down with them instead of dying alone?

    With this in mind, the Nox made two main moves while they were being ughtered by the universe''s forces.

    Firstly, they used arrays they set up beforehand to destroy each and every world left in Hephaestus. Secondly, they turned their own bodies into explosives, so that every time one of them died, they would take at least 10 enemy troops with them.

    For the people at the peak of the universe like Rose and the rest, this was an easy battle, but for the lower ranks, it was an absolute death zone.

    Bloody and guts filled the starry sky no matter where one looked. The screams of Nox and humans could no longer be differentiated through the ringing in their ears, and if one took even a single moment to look at anything but the enemy in front of them, they''d die.

    It was spine-chilling.

    Or maybe that feeling came from elsewhere?

    When Ruyue appeared on the greater battlefields, she was able to save most of the soldiers suffering from tragic fates against the Nox. The explosions caused by the enemy deaths were also quelled by her, which definitely helped with reducing the death toll.

    However, the environment wasn''t safe. Hephaestus was already ruined, but it was now and of death without any habitable areas. Some of the impact even leaked into the Infernal Realm and caused natural disasters on the most periphery worlds, though it wasn''t to the extent of destroying them.

    The war raged on and on and on.

    Regardless of whether they were feeling weary, joyous, or sorrowful, the forces of Grand Heavens Boundary fought to theirst breath, doing everything in their power.

    Because as the enemy''s numbers decreased, they saw the end.

    These were thest of them. When they finished these Nox off, the Nox would never return to the universe.

    And that, to these people who had been forced to constantly endure the assaults of the invading race, was the most effective motivator in all of existence.

    At this point, the universe could be considered abination of only three Sectors.

    The Human Domain that was still being protected like an impregnable fortress by Damien''s mechanisms, the Infernal Realm which was half destroyed but still more than able to heal from its current state, and the Divine Realm, the main hub of the universe''s activity.

    As long as those three realms were preserved, as long as hope remained, Grand Heavens Boundary could return.

    That was what they thought.

    But, unfortunately, there was one factor they failed to consider.

    ***

    ''It''s dying.''

    Nobody really wondered where Alexander was during such an important battle. He had practically cemented himself as someone who would only appear in the absolute worst-case scenario, so rather, people were praying dearly that he didn''t show up no matter what.

    But, if one did try to see what he was doing while everyone else was fighting for the universe''s survival, one would find him in a familiar location.

    Death Emperor Star.

    The world was practically abandoned at the moment. Besides the weakest of the students, who were sent to Luxurion for protection, the remainder went to the battlefield to contribute to the universe.

    Therefore, whether it was Hidden Death Valley or the Death Emperor Star the academy resided on, they were empty of life.

    So why was Alexander here¡­?

    Naturally, it was to fulfill the fate of his main body.

    Damien''s path was set for a very long time. Even before he was born, Dante had filled the universe with lucky encounters that he would eventually discover. Those were meant to be the basis of his growth, so he could ascend to the Divine Realm as smoothly as possible.

    But when was it?

    Damien became a person who couldn''t be controlled by something like that. Rather than paying attention to things like legacies and secret realms, he focused all his attention on practical situations and grew stronger and faster than anyone could ever predict.

    It was great for him, and it made Dante proud, but it did leave many legacies rotting away in various corners of the universe.

    Alexander was currently iming them all and taking them into the Sanctuary.

    He started in the Sea God''s Realm, the ce known as Aquazyl where he met Tephit and the others and participated in the Prominence War.

    He''d promised to bring them to the Sanctuary at ater date, and he kept that promise now. However, instead of just taking a few ns, he took the entire realm into the Sanctuary and gave it its own space to exist, a far better future for them.

    He then went on to explore every other inheritance left on Death Emperor Star.

    There were so many that it was impossible to believe they were all created by Dante. They each worshipped a different entity on the same level as the Sea God, and each of those beings had different specialties that Damien would''ve been able to master if he visited them earlier.

    Now that he had Existence under his control, they were inconsequential, but he couldn''t help but marvel at their numerity.

    It made him wonder.

    How did Dante do it?

    These mythical figures had existed at very different times in history, ranging from hundreds of millions of years ago to very recently ten thousand years in the past. There were even traces that some of those gods were active just centuries before Damien''s birth.

    Yet, they were all alter egos of Dante?

    He couldn''t make sense of it, and his father became an even more mystical figure than ever before in his mind.

    The desire to uncover the secrets his father was hiding sprouted in his heart, and as he spent months in an altered time flow to im each and every legacy without missing anything, he realized something more concerning than anything he was trying to do.

    ''The universe is dying.''

    The truth he''d learned from the Second Primal Sovereign all those years ago.

    He thought they''d avoided this tragic fate already. He thought that, with the Nox being eradicated like this, the universe would be able to return to its peak if it was just nurtured properly and given time.

    ''But I was wrong.''

    In fact, he already understood how flimsy that hope was. He was viewing the past, present, and future from the Void even at this very moment.

    He wanted to hold it for as long as possible, but it seemed there was no other path for the universe.

    ''It''s good that I''ve finished this.''

    He had just now finished sweeping up everything Death Emperor Star had to offer, and with the war set to rage on for a few more days, he had to begin without dy.

    He looked out into the wider universe that he called home for so long with a forlorn smile.

    ''Let''s wrap things up for real this time.''

 Chapter 1339 Reunion [1]

    Chapter 1339 Reunion [1]

    The war wound down on its own.

    The Nox poption got smaller and smaller, until finally, under the hands of no man but a meremon soldier among the many within the ranks of the army, thest Nox fell.

    Celebrations ran wild across the entire universe. For almost a month, Grand Heavens Boundary was enveloped in the joyous atmosphere of victory, and as the people celebrated, those in higher positions took care of the aftermath of the war to make sure they could bring everything to a proper conclusion.

    However, all of them were in the dark about a fact that only one man knew.

    ''It''s already toote. The universe will die no matter what we do.''

    That was the discovery Damien made by looking at every potential future presented to him in the Void.

    He created countless new potential futures as he tried to see if his interference could change the oue, but he still found himself bound by fate.

    He had yet to escape the shackles that deluded the Saint Emperor''s mind.

    It was an extremely unfortunate fate, but if there was nothing that could be done about it, he had to work to 12:43

    save the universe in another way.

    nothing that could be done about it, he had to work to save the universe in another way.

    His voyage began there.

    He first met with the universe''s highest authorities, including Luciel and Alucard, who held control over its worlds, and told them his n.

    Through this conversation, they also realized his identity, but now wasn''t the time for that conversation.

    Hearing it from him, they understood it was an absolute truth that couldn''t be denied.

    Because Damien Void was that kind of person.

    So he gained the authority to act as he pleased.

    They also agreed with his n to save as many as possible, and though they''d have to leave behind their current home, in a sense, they weren''t leaving it behind at all.

    Alexander started moving from there.

    He went to Hephaestus and tried to find any World Core or intact world remaining, binding the few tens that he found and sending them into the Sanctuary.

    Following that, he visited the Infernal Realm and did the same. There were only around 60,000 worlds left there, but it that was fine. Damien was d at least that many survived.

    The Human Domain was visited third.

    Arge portion of Grand Heavens Boundary''smon popce was sent to the Sanctuary when he took the remaining worlds there in, and finally¡­

    ''This is the only part that''ll be a bit troublesome.''

    The Divine Realm didn''t just contain the majority of themon popce, but also all of the universe''s experts.

    He knew Luciel and the rest had already worked to convince those people when he was busy with the other Sectors, but he was still a bit hesitant.

    Nevertheless, he did what he needed to do.

    Starting from the Dawn World hended on when he first entered the Divine Realm, to Beast Emperor Star which was now residing on the border, all the way to Sky Castle Luxurion and Death Emperor Star which were far deeper into the realm, he took everything into the Sanctuary.

    He met many people as Alexander during these travels, but he mostly avoided questions about his identity.

    Even those who didn''t know woulde to know soon enough anyway.

    But¡­

    When he took Luxurion, he met the people he wanted to see most in this world.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena were waiting there for him.

    Having been filled in on what was happening by Luciel, they easily understood his identity.

    They stood there when he appeared as if they''d been waiting for him.

    And as he stood frozen¡­

    Rose smiled.

    "We''ll talkter."

    That was all she said.

    The three of them used their rings to reach the Sanctuary on their own, leaving him stunned by himself.

    ''Hahaha¡­''

    There was no rage in Rose''s voice. Rather, it was an endearing tone he had been waiting to hear ever since thest time he saw them.

    However, that scared him even more.

    Because his heart skipped a beat.

    Really, no matter how old he got, he couldn''t control his emotions when it came to them.

    He almost wanted to leave the Void right then and there and enter the Sanctuary to embrace them, but he had to finish his work first.

    It was a strange feeling like he''d eaten far too much sugar. His heart was beating like a supercar engine as it tried to race out of his chest.

    And determination to finish everything else as fast as possible filled his body.

    The people of Grand Heavens Boundary didn''t quite understand why they were being transported or where they were going, but they didn''t have much of a choice but to listen.

    It was a bit strange doing all of this without having to give 85 pages of justification first, but Damien didn''t mind it at all.

    Rather, this level of trust and power made his life far easier.

    And when the entirety of Grand Heavens Boundary was taken into the Sanctuary¡­

    Damien went to the Abyss.

    There was only one stop left. One ce he had to visit before he left this lower universe behind altogether.

    But perhaps this was the most important visit of them all.

    ***

    He went to the Abyss.

    Even this ce was empty.

    Yong An and the rest were in the Sanctuary, and the fractured Universal Cores remaining here had all been used to boost the Sanctuary''s Universal Core.

    So why did Damiene here?

    To this dull and deste ce that represented the encroaching darkness swallowing the light, what was there to do?

    In fact, even Damien didn''t know.

    He came here without a n, because his current strength still wasn''t enough for him to easily find the person he wanted to meet.

    Still, he came because he knew that person woulde to him.

    And he was right.

    After wandering for just a short period, it appeared before him.

    A rickety shack that looked like the most insignificant dwelling in the world, and the old man who quietly sat on its porch.

    Damien walked up and sat on the chair that was waiting for him there as if it was natural.

    "This is my newest creation. I haven''t had much time, but I think this one is quite an improvement whenpared to the rest. Let me introduce you to No. 111: The Sorrows of Farewell."

    It didn''t even feel like he was in Alexander''s body anymore. As he took the spirit wine out and poured two sses for himself and the old man, he felt his hands shaking slightly.

    But he didn''t make it known.

    "You have grown much since thest time we met," the old man said with a smile as he took a sip of the wine.

    "...and this, this is quite spectacr."

    He closed his eyes and savored the taste.

    "Did you have anything to ask?"

    "No," Damien shook his head, "I just wanted to visit."

    "I see¡­it seems you have learned something troublesome."

    "Troublesome is a bit harsh."

    The old man smiled.

    "You are right. I cannot say I am not pleased with your attitude."

    "However, there is nothing to be done."

    "..."

    Damien sighed.

    "Yeah, I realized that too, and that''s all the more reason to visit."

    He didn''t know what to say, and it didn''t look like the old man had anything to say either.

    But he still wanted to be here.

    The two of them enjoyed their spirit wine together, and without anything else to do, Damien told the old man about his journey since thest time they met.

    After all, while the old man knew about most of it, even he couldn''t see the more recent events.

    He told the story knowing it meant nothing, and the old man listened with a soft smile as if he were listening to his grandson talk about his dreams.

    The atmosphere around them was a bit odd, filled with both positive and negative feelings.

    Because they both knew.

    No matter how causally they treated it, this would be theirst conversation.

    The old man was dying.

    And Damien¡­had no choice but to ept it.

    aa7b5e4a913f698f2f85f05ec8699ff287d581d1fb0678555d462be31d6cebaa9a303a8fbee2698d02a966eba5e6ef3beb5a737b125f5658f94edced5a082c873278cd9217bd3341997fd51a0d467

 Chapter 1340 Reunion [2]

    Chapter 1340 Reunion [2]

    The old man meant more to Damien than even he realized.

    After all, the guidance this old man gave him during his time in the Abyss, and the semi-frequent visits the old man made over the decade Damien spent traveling, were both integral in different ways.

    The visits allowed him to keep his sanity. He wouldn''t have gone insane in the Abyss by himself, but his mentality would''ve taken a hit.

    Thepany he gained through the old man''s presence when he was in a ce more dreary than anywhere else was something he appreciated heavily.

    The advice allowed him to reach his current heights. If it wasn''t for the old man, he wouldn''t have been able to understand the secrets of tethering so quickly.

    Yes, he would have still died on Al''Katra regardless, but what about what came after?

    Would he have been able to gain anything from his stay in Nonexistence?

    Would he have been able to rapidly make progress on the Ancient Battlefield and carve a ce for himself there?

    Sure, Damien Void wasn''t someone who could be inhibited by many things, but the speed at which he aplished what he aplished and reached his current stage of Divinity was deeply rted to this old man.

    They had been conversing for a while now, but their conversation lulled when they got past the small talk.

    Damien was grateful to this old man for a lot of things.

    So if he could, he wanted to do something for him.

    The problem was that the old man refused, and fate itself didn''t allow him to hold a say in this matter.

    He poured them another ss of spirit wine and sat there, looking into the Abyss and swishing the drink in his cup.

    The two of them sat in silence for a long time.

    They had a mutual understanding of each other''s position.

    Damien realized this old man''s identity only after he found himself in the Void. Once he had that knowledge, he couldn''t just stay still. He had to talk to the old man at least one more time.

    Because he would be gone soon.

    Regardless of what Damien wished to happen, the old man would notst much longer.

    The mood fell in a way he couldn''t exin.

    "Your steps are light," The old man suddenly said, but even then, Damien understood his meaning.

    "What can you do? When you live a life like mine, walking wherever the wind guides you, your steps naturally be light," He replied with a sigh.

    The old man looked into his eyes as if trying to peer into his soul.

    "But¡­are your steps truly as light as you im they are?"

    Damien''s face stiffened. His grip on the wine bottle trembled lightly before returning to normal. As if nothing happened, he calmly poured himself another ss while answering the old man.

    "Old man, I have no idea what you''re talking about. Does there exist anything in this universe that can add weight to my steps?"

    "Perhaps not this one¡­" The old man responded with a mysterious smile on his face.

    "To be free and unrestrained, isn''t this the ultimate dream of every man? It is a mystical fantasy anyone can imagine, however, there is a reason it is known as a mere dream. To truly achieve such a lifestyle means having to struggle through tribtions unlike any other."

    The old man took a sip of his wine, his gaze returning to the scene of the swirling Abyss before him.

    "If you wish to carry a burden, it is no longer a burden. If you live as you please while epting the struggles thate along with it, aren''t you already free and unrestrained? What can restrain you if your beliefs are strong enough to oppose any force?

    "Young man, I have seen your struggle, and even if nobody else will, I shall acknowledge your effort. Your next destination is nothing like the scene you''ve be used to. People will no longer look at you in reverence and fear. You will once again be a speck of dust among many. If you wish to endure that atmosphere once more¡­then do so after making sure you leave no regrets."

    Damien sighed.

    His gaze shifted to where the old man was looking, at the scene of the universe he called home¡­

    Decaying while its people remained unawares.

    Damien''s gaze was cid.

    He wanted to think his emotions towards this ce had dulled. His women, his friends, his family, even the universe''s remaining worlds, all of them had be part of the Sanctuary already. If so, what was there left for him to mourn?

    But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he simply couldn''t.

    Especially with his current standing, seeing the Universe Core''s decrepit state was painful, and even more painful was the realization that he couldn''t stop its decay.

    "You''re a really troublesome old man, has anyone ever told you that?" He spoke exasperatedly.

    "Kuahahaha! You say that as if there was ever another person who could talk to me!"

    "And perhaps you''re the only person I''ve ever been able to speak so freely to."

    The old man''sughter stopped as Damien turned to look at him.

    "Are you certain this is how you want to end things? Do you not feel unresigned?" Damien asked.

    The old man smiled wryly. His eyes clouded over as if he had sunk himself in reminiscence.

    "The fact that I can feel unresigned is enough to justify my ending. My existence is already against the Universe''s Will, however ironic that may be. Is there a better way to end this bleak life than this?"

    Damien bit his lip asplicated emotions filled his heart.

    "Even if you can ept it, I cannot. What''s the point of telling me to leave without any regrets if you already know that such a feat is impossible?"

    But the old man shook his head in response.

    "That is not your regret. Even if things proceed ording to natural order, you will not regret it, only feel that it was a shame.

    "Your steps are light, but the weight of the world rests on your shoulders. What harm is there in adding a single pebble on top of that? Even if you yourself do not feel the need to do it, please take it as this old man''sst wish and at least try."

    Damien sighed again. This old man had a talent for making him sigh.

    "Old man, until the end you were a pain."

    There was no response.

    Damien didn''t have to look over to know that the old man was no longer sitting at the table across from him.

    He was silent, his expression unchanging, as he watched the Universal Core dull, its spirituality leaving it.

    He didn''t want to show weakness here.

    The old man wouldn''t want him to mourn.

    "Until the end¡­"

    Damien choked on his words.

    His fist mmed into the table, turning it into fine powder in an instant.

    "Very well. Because it is your will, I shall follow. In remembrance of the final wish of an old friend, I''ll follow your words. But, old man..." Damien let his voice fade out, not bothering to finish his words.

    The old man could no longer hear him anyway.

    Damien turned away from the growing Abyss encroaching on what was once Grand Heavens Boundary. His eyes carved the image of this small and rickety, yet warm andforting cabin into his memory for the final time.

    And then, his figure vanished. The old cabin crumbled, following its owner even in death.

    The only vestiges left of the old man''s existence were the memories in Damien''s mind.

 Chapter 1341 Reunion [3]

    Chapter 1341 Reunion [3]

    Damien treated the universe like a grandson did his grandfather.

    He dealt with a lot of trash in Grand Heavens Boundary. He experienced trials and tribtions, bullshit brought upon him by people who didn''t deserve to live, but he never med the universe for the actions of its people.

    Because Grand Heavens Boundary never did anything wrong.

    The universe was a grand thing. It housed everyone without discrimination and allowed them the opportunity to be bigger than themselves. It was a beautiful ce filled with wonders and mysteries that one couldn''t help but want to explore.

    The universe was an inspiration.

    And Damien loved it.

    Yet, the universe was no longer existent.

    "Grand Heavens Boundary" was now a part of the Sanctuary and would eventually be one of many universes that filled its space, the Universal Core was now nothing more than an isted entity with no universe to support, and Damien was left alone.

    That old man''s identity¡­

    He was, with no better way to describe it, the Universal Will.

    He was the Universal Core''s consciousness, but he had no real power.

    Because the Universal Core was never meant to develop a will of its own.

    It was never meant to have feelings and emotions.

    Reva was a fragment of a Universal Core, and her "mother" was also an entity like this, a "taboo" that shouldn''t have existed.

    With no power of his own yet forced by his own existence to be omniscient, the old man retreated to the Abyss and acted as an observer, doing nothing but watching as his own people brought him to destruction.

    That old man was the one Damien viewed like a grandfather.

    And the fact that the old man viewed him like a grandson made him feel an unknown tightness in his chest.

    Perhaps nobody would ever be able to understand the rtionship between them. The universe wasn''t meant to choose sides or favor anyone, but it favored him and reciprocated the emotions he held towards it.

    It helped him be the man he was today, both directly and indirectly, and now that its will, the old man, had vanished into nonexistence, Damien was left feeling hollow.

    But he had to move on.

    And he had to carry out the old man''sst will.

    He wanted to be sacrificed.

    To aid the Sanctuary, which would be the new Grand Heavens Boundary, he wanted to dedicate his existence.

    For that purpose, Damien absorbed the Universal Core that was left in the Abyss.

    That Universal Core wouldn''t just be devoured by the Sanctuary like the rest. Rather, Damien made sure the two cores wouldbine and be one entity on mutual terms, so that if a new consciousness was born in the future, it would honor its forefather and properly inherit the old man''s legacy.

    The Sorrows of Farewell. He called it the 111th entry in his series of liquors, but it was really a unique product made exclusively for himself and the old man.

    He wanted to send him off properly. That was the only purpose of his visit.

    And now that it was over, he needed to make his final preparations.

    There wasn''t much time left, after all.

    Alexander went to the Sanctuary.

    And this was Damien''s first time seeing it in its newest form.

    Calling the Sanctuary a sub-universe was inadequate at this point. No, after absorbing Grand Heavens Boundary, it became a new universe in its own right.

    And with a Universal Core supporting its growth ever since he first absorbed it back in the Abyss, it now had the functionality to create its own worlds and facilitate its own improvement. Damien didn''t need to directly intervene anymore.

    There were only 5 Sectors at the moment, but it was getting bigger with every passing day.

    Theavel was the center of the universe, and Avalon, which was just a few million kilometers beyond its orbit, took the position of Sky Castle Luxurion.

    From those two points, the entire universe was managed. Under Lynn Carter and Elvira''s conjoined rule, no matter how much distance separated worlds and Sectors, they all worked in tandem.

    Yes, there was conflict. Conflict was unavoidable with such a huge poption. However, the conflict never reached a breaking point where the universe itself would be harmed, as per Damien''s will.

    He had been moving so fast that he almost forgot about it. He was viewing everything from the Void, and with reality slipping past him, it was hard for him to realize the extent of what he''d done.

    Time also moved like he was reading a book. Countless years were condensed into just a few words, and even though Alexander spent over a year swallowing Grand Heavens Boundary, Damien didn''t really feel the effort.

    Only when he saw it like this did he feel amazement at his own actions.

    He was really doing the impossible.

    He had really be Divine.

    It was unreal.

    Did he change?

    Did he be someone else, or was this a natural progression he was meant to experience after ascending?

    He didn''t know, but he felt different.

    He was like a real God. He almost couldn''t ept it.

    Nevertheless, he had to.

    Because from this point forth, he would need that kind of attitude to stay with him.

    ''But the real question is¡­''

    He put all the negativity and agitation aside.

    ''...how do I do this?''

    He had done this too many times for it to befortable, but the situation now was a bit unique.

    ''I can''t really go as Alexander, but my main body is also in a bit of a situation¡­''

    He couldn''t leave the Void. He tried to do it once he finished everything he needed to do in the lower universe, but he found that it was impossible.

    He was too far disconnected from it all. If he tried to go back now, his body would be torn apart by the discement.

    ''Still, I want to meet them before I move on. I can''t just take everyone to the Heavenly World without exining anything.''

    He thought deeply to find a way, and as expected, there was only one.

    ''I guess I need another Avatar.''

    Instead of a living Avatar like Alexander, he needed a regr one that was just a reflection of his qualities.

    He needed a second Damien.

    The process was simr yet different.

    He tore off another portion of his soul and sent it to the Sanctuary around Alexander''s location.

    That piece of his soul sat without a vessel for a moment before absorbing all the mana in its vicinity.

    That mana was used to create a vessel around the soul. It didn''t have a beating heart or any sort of physical systems, but it was a vessel created specifically to be an Avatar, so it was more than enough.

    Unlike Alexander, this one was built through Damien''s Legends and Divinity, so it held his appearance and could only use abilities specific to him. Its strength was at the Supreme level from the beginning and couldn''t be improved or degraded at all.

    When it was fully formed, it had the same appearance as Damien himself, and as Damien took control of it and felt the differences between it and Alexander, he smiled.

    ''As expected, it''s a lot worse than a living Avatar, but¡­''

    ''...with this, I''m ready.''

    It had been dyed enough.

    He was finally prepared to reunite with everyone he left behind.

 Chapter 1342 Reunion [4]

    Chapter 1342 Reunion [4]

    What was Damien expecting when he saw his women again?

    At first, he thought he''d get beat up. The main reason was that he left without telling them anything.

    But the situation was different. He didn''t just leave, he actually died. It wasn''t something he was able to control, and besides, they were adults now. An exaggerated reaction like that just wouldn''t happen.

    When he met them again and realized they knew he was Alexander, he once again thought he''d get nagged, but he was wrong again.

    Their expressions said nothing about admonishments, and their behavior was as if they''de to an agreement about something he was left in the dark about.

    So what brought about Damien''s hesitation if there were no visible consequences that woulde to him?

    Maybe it was himself?

    Maybe it had something to do with them after all?

    The answer was neither.

    It was fear.

    Because¡­

    He happened to form a rtionship with another woman during the time he was away.

    But again, that was beside the point. Introducing them to Iris was a trial he''d undergo once their reunion ended. When they understood the situation, there was no way they''d react negatively.

    Then, what really happened when Damien met his wives again?

    They were all together as they usually were, sitting in a cottage huddled in therge mountain range that existed on Theavel''s main continent.

    That was a house made specifically for them, a ce for them to spend their time when they wanted to get away from the world and rx.

    It was a family home.

    Damien appeared outside the door and paced back and forth for a while as he tried to figure out how he wanted to approach them, but he didn''t really get the chance to act first.

    The door swung open, and he came face to face with the three of them.

    And¡­

    He got beat up.

    Well, maybe that was the wrong wording.

    He got tackled to the ground in an instant as the three women rushed forward and embraced him with all their strength as if to do everything in their power to prevent him from leaving again.

    They snuggled themselves into his warmth, and though he was using an Avatar body, that body was currently housing the majority of his soul.

    He wanted to do this reunion properly, and for that purpose, he only left the bare minimum amount of his soul in his main body to sustain it in the Void and transferred the rest into the Avatar after it was created.

    This kind of soul maniption was impossible for any other Divinity, but wasn''t the soul a piece of existence?

    Damien only needed to spend some time understanding its nuances to do something like transferring it between bodies he owned.

    Nevertheless, he was here at this remote location that nobody else knew with his whole body and spirit. He wasn''t just a piece of himself, but the true Damien Void, even if his body wasn''t necessarily human.

    So he felt their warmth.

    He felt their emotions.

    And he felt their tears.

    Their emotions had already been clearly disyed when they were fighting the final battle.

    They didn''t care about pretenses. They didn''t care that they were "too old" to be acting like this.

    The husband they thought was long gone had returned, and any grievance they were holding in their hearts disappeared when his presence returned.

    What was the point of being angry?

    In the first ce, did Damien choose to leave them?

    Even before he died, when he went to the Abyss and challenged Al''Katra on his own, what was the reason he did so?

    It was because nobody else could make that journey with him.

    He was the only one strong enough to do it.

    How could they be mad at him for making a decision to protect them from harm?

    It didn''t matter how strong they were. He was facing enemies they couldn''t even imagine, especially back then.

    Rather than anger, what they felt was pure relief that he was safe.

    They were just happy that he was back.

    And Damien felt the same.

    This was what he fought for.

    His lonely struggle, this was the motivator that allowed him to endure it without a word ofint.

    They were his everything.

    They were his support system, and they were his anchors, but more than anything else, they were the ones who''d apanied him on his journey from the start.

    With them, he could be himself. He didn''t have to put up pretenses, and their presence seemed to melt away all his worries and inhibitions.

    Whenever he imagined the peak, that ce where he would inevitably stand in the future, he could never imagine himself without them.

    He was proud to call them his wives, and he was proud that they called him their husband.

    He loved them and they loved him.

    Even if he lost everything right now, even if he was forced to return to being a mortal, he would be fine living out the rest of his life like that as long as they were beside him.

    That was why he fought so hard.

    Because if even a mortal lifespan that woulde to an end after a mere 80 to 100 years with them seemed so blissful, wouldn''t eternity with them be an absolute paradise?

    He buried his love for them deep in his soul so he wouldn''t be inhibited on the battlefield, because the thought of being separated from them by a barrier of time and space was soul-wrenching.

    However, now that he was back, he allowed all those emotions to flow freely.

    They flowed out and mixed with the emotions of these three women, who were thinking something almost exactly the same as him.

    Just as they were his everything, he was their everything.

    After experiencing a decade of what life was like without him, they never wanted to let him go again.

    Their motivation to truly stand by his side was greater than ever, but that was a matter for the future.

    Right now, they didn''t care about anything like power or the future.

    Only this moment mattered.

    They remained on the ground, the four of them embracing each other, for several minutes without any movement.

    They didn''t need words. With the connection between them, a connection that surpassed space and time, surpassed words and actions, and surpassed even the barrier of souls that kept them as separate entities, they perfectly understood what each other were thinking and feeling in this moment.

    The four of them relished in those feelings. They relished in each other''s longing and affection, letting out everything they''d wanted to say to each other in the time they were separated with their feelings alone.

    Tears began to form in Damien''s eyes.

    He was usually quite stoic these days, but he couldn''t help it.

    He almost wanted to stand up right here, right now, and ask them to be the mothers of his children.

    But that could be set aside for another time.

    Right now, he could only say two words, his voice cracking as he held back his tears and smiled.

    "I''m back."

    He was back.

    And he didn''t n on leaving again any time soon.

 Chapter 1343 Reunion [5]

    Chapter 1343 Reunion [5]

    Damien was in a justifiably selfish mood.

    He didn''t know how long he could wait before his main body would be forced out of the Void, and to extend the time he could spend with his wives as much as possible, he intentionally distorted the Sanctuary''s time flow to be far, far slower than reality.

    Not like it meant anything. The lower universe was just an empty Abyss now, so there was no real-time flow to use as an anchor anyway.

    His main body was also in a ce where the concept of time didn''t exist. While he''d spent over 5,000 years in Grand Heavens Boundary as Alexander, he couldn''t say how long it had been since he entered the Void.

    Because he truly didn''t know.

    It was a strange situation where he couldn''t anchor himself to any flow of time no matter how hard he tried, so determining his stay in the Void in terms of time was just not something he could do.

    In the first ce, it wasn''t applicable to him.

    With no such concept as time, he could perceive countless billions of years if he really wanted to, and the time he spent in the Void could still equate to less than a second.

    Basically, it was the perfect opportunity.

    He didn''t need to rush.

    Compared to the previous Grand Heavens Boundary''s time flow, the time flow of the Sanctuary was roughly 10 times faster right now, and the time flow within the mountain range was double even that.

    He could spend more than enough time in rxation with his wives and people before the time came to leave.

    That was his only n.

    He put aside training, and he put aside introspection.

    The only thing he focused on was his wives, because his time was the only thing he''d always failed to provide them with.

    Years passed.

    He stayed in the isted mountain range with Rose, Ruyue, and Elena. The only ones who knew their location were Elvira and Lynn, who visited asionally for various matters, but other than those visits, the four of them spent their time indulging themselves in each other''s presence.

    It wasn''t something grand.

    They lived like mortals, in fact.

    They went to sleep when night came, woke up in the morning, took turns cooking for each other, rxed, went on dates, and utterly abused their newfound freedom to enjoy the most mundane parts of life.

    Rose was finally able to put down her burdens, Elena was finally able to entertain her truestidback self, Ruyue was finally able to open up, and Damien was finally able to release the weight of the world from his shoulders for a few moments.

    They spent their days in pure bliss.

    Even their interactions were so mundanely affectionate that there was no need to describe them.

    They let a decade pass like that, five years in the rest of the Sanctuary, and half a year in the outside world.

    That was when a certain event took ce.

    Well, in the original timeline, this was around the time the war was supposed to end. It took far longer to reduce the Nox to a number that could be exterminated and carry out the extermination without Alexander''s presence.

    And that was also when the Demigods were meant to return to the universe. With their victory simultaneously motivating the lower existences who were still fighting and applying pressure to the Nox, the war was quickly brought to an end.

    But now, there was no ongoing war.

    The Demigods would have originally found themselves dropped somewhere in the Abyss to figure things out for themselves, but Damien wasn''t so heartless.

    He even turned a portion of them into a freebor force back then, so he couldn''t just let them go to waste!

    He interfered from the Void and connected the return portal from the Ancient Battlefield to the Sanctuary.

    While the majority of the Demigods were left to those like Luciel, who''d practically be Lynn''s right-hand man in the past five years, Elvira, and Lynn herself, there were two that Damien brought to his abode to introduce to his wives.

    The first was Tiamat. Since she would be a close subordinate of his in the future, he wanted her to get acquainted with them. He would likely have her spend more time with them than him anyway, so it was beneficial for them to get along.

    And the second¡­

    Well, that was the more important of the two.

    Damien never nned to just sprint Iris'' existence on his wives. Over the course of their past decade of peace, he slowly eased them into the fact that he had another woman, and to make sure nothing bad happened when they met, he made sure they knew all about Iris beforehand.

    This included her struggles and position in the universe, the adventures they''d had together before they fell for each other, and even the circumstances behind their union.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena were definitely a bit irked by the fact that he picked up another wife when he left, since they thought he''d gotten over that habit a long time ago, but they didn''t unnecessarily discriminate against Iris.

    After all, not only was she a respectable individual, but she also risked her life more than once to save Damien when he was still too weak to live alone on the Ancient Battlefield.

    They thought if anyone was going to be their fourth sister, it had to be her.

    Though, Iris wasn''t aware of their eptance, so when she showed up, she was quite awkward.

    "I-I am Eyrissea Luminus. You can call me Iris. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Please take care of me."

    Her sentences were choppy, and the silly half-bow she gave as she tried to be polite made it even more amusing.

    Compared to the perception of this woman Rose and the rest developed after learning that she was the Prismatic Sun Holy Master and one of the strongest Demigods in the universe, the true Eyrissea Luminus was a gentle woman who was clearly new to love.

    Rather than berating her, they happily epted her into their ranks.

    And¡­

    "Our husband clearly has a type, eh?" Elena teased, ncing over at Damien.

    "Hm? I have no idea what you''re talking about," Damien instantly responded, hiding the sweat trickling down his face.

    "Are you sure about that? But, wasn''t our Ruyue also like that when you met her?" Rose added.

    "Mm, not only me, but the two of you as well. Now that we know, we can make sure to prevent him from meeting these kinds of women in the future. Four is already enough," Ruyue finished.

    "Mhm, mhm."

    "That''s right. I couldn''t have said it better."

    "Then, if our ''dear'' husband would excuse us¡­" Rose smiled deviously.

    "...we have something important to do before anything else."

    Ruyue and Elena supported her eagerly, and as if they''d nned it beforehand, they whisked Iris away with them to a location unknown and left Damien alone with his thoughts.

    He scratched his head with an awkward smile.

    "They''re probably going to tell her some things I really wish they wouldn''t tell her, huh¡­"

    However, after a few moments, his smile became pure.

    "Well, it''s not like it''s a bad thing. She would''ve learned them in the future anyway, and if it helps them get closer, I don''t mind sacrificing myself a little¡­"

    "Also¡­"

    Damien''s smile went through its third transformation.

    "You must be thinking something unsavory right now."

    "Ah?!"

    He jumped a bit and turned around.

    "Oh, right, I forgot you were here."

    He smiled awkwardly as he addressed Tiamat.

    "Yes, I very much appreciate this kind of treatment, Sir ''I''ll Take Responsibility For You.''"

    "Are you being sarcastic right now?"

    "Am I?"

    "I don''t know, but I''ll have to ask you to refrain. I''ll really die if they hear you, you know?"

    "And why is that¡­?"

    She tried to hide it, but Damien clearly saw her lips twitching as she hid the sly smile threatening to light up her face.

    ''Dangerous.''

    Damien realized it instantly.

    Tiamat was a threat he never expected!

    "You¡­"

    "Oh, I think someone is calling for me. I''ll leave you alone now."

    "You don''t know anybody here."

    Tiamat flinched but quickly recovered, looking out into the distance with an obviously forced calm expression on her face.

    "Ah, what was that? I see¡­" she suddenly muttered. Turning back to Damien, she continued, "I apologize, but it seems my aid is required elsewhere."

    Without giving Damien another chance to strike back with facts and deal her another dose of unadulterated embarrassment, she vanished.

    This time, Damien was really left alone.

    And the ever-transforming smile on his face returned to its purest state.

    "Hahaha¡­"

    He couldn''t help butugh.

    This feeling¡­

    "...it really is good to be home."

 Chapter 1344 Reunion [6]

    Chapter 1344 Reunion [6]

    Iris and the girls got along spectacrly.

    While Iris had a reserved and passive personality in terms of rtionship matters, but that was only because she was naive in that sense.

    She was able to hold her own, and when her pride was challenged, she was able to push back with the same intensity.

    She also wasn''t someone who expected things from other people. She was with Damien purely because of Damien, not his talents or potential. She didn''t have any desire to be pulled up the powerdder by him, rather, she was nning to do so herself before she even fell for him.

    This was a trait the girls admired greatly. Independence was important, especially for someone like Damien. They had to be their own people first, because if they simply allowed themselves to be known as "Damien Void''s wives," they would never truly be able to support him as they wanted to.

    Plus, Iris'' love was pure and genuine. It came from her soul and couldn''t be shaken by external or internal factors.

    That was the most important thing.

    The [Void Daughter] title gave them unparalleled talent already, and something like mentality could be trained if need be.

    So as long as Iris had a genuine sense of love and loyalty, what else needed to be said?

    She was kind, understanding, and didn''t try to exert power over the group because of her strength or status. Rather, she willingly put herself in the position of Damien''s fourth wife, because just as the girls understood why he came to love her, she understood that they had known him far longer than she had, and their connection with him wasn''t something she couldpete with yet.

    It was just a matter of time, so she didn''t fret over it, but she also respected these three women. Since mutual respect was already established, and Iris had a wealth of experience that could contribute to their group, it didn''t take long for their conversations to move outside of Damien and evolve into something greater.

    Nevertheless, they spent a lot of time without him to create synergy between themselves, and Damien used that time to visit the other people who were waiting for him in the Sanctuary.

    First, he went and saw Alucard, Luciel, Commander Huo, Tian Yang, the Golden Dragon Emperor, and the rest of their group. They drank and conversed about the old days, but their conversation was generally cordial.

    Afterward, he went and saw Lynn and Elvira to see how the Sanctuary was being managed. It was good to see how everything was connected. Unlike Grand Heavens Boundary, where many forces split ownership of the universe and remained rtively divided, all the main forces of the Sanctuary were of one mind, because they both understood their position and wanted the best for the universe.

    Those who wanted to harm the greater good were punished severely. sphemous or traitorous thoughts weren''t allowed, but freedom also wasn''t restricted.

    Negatives were just as important as positives for growth. Lynn wasn''t someone driven by emotion so she was clear on this. Unless a certain line was crossed, she, as the authoritative power, didn''t step in.

    The people had to be able to take care of themselves just as the experts did. If themon popce only existed to be protected, wasn''t that too demeaning to them?

    In the Sanctuary, everyone had a chance to be someone.

    The Void Library was open to everyone regardless of status as long as they could pass a set of trials, there was a plethora of secret realms and hidden locations full of fortuitous encounters, and the newly introduced Legacy Realms, those which Dante left for Damien, were incredible for those who wanted rapid and stable growth.

    The environment of the Sanctuary as a whole motivated people to grow and gain the ability to stand up for themselves. It was a great ce, and its development had nothing to do with Damien.

    That made him proud. They didn''t need to be coddled or anything of the sort, yet they were still able to be what they were now.

    What more could he ask for from his personal universe? He had no desire to be a spiritual god or a figure that was revered by all. There was quite literally no benefit in holding a title like that in a universe he could control in every way. It could at most give him some self-satisfaction, and what was the use of that?

    At the end of the day, the Sanctuary was doing fine without him and would continue doing so in the future. His only job was to foster their development by giving them opportunities and allowing them to choose how they made use of them.

    He didn''t stay for long. Lynn was doing a good job by herself, and he didn''t want to spend too much time with Elvira right now, lest the atmosphere between them cause problems.

    Instead, he made his way to the rest of his visits. He saw Long Chen and Su Ren, drinking andughing with them. He saw the members of the Judgement Order and gave them encouragement, met with the people whom he''d encountered throughout his journey, and generally made his presence known to those he wanted to see.

    The only ce he had left to go, the ce he visited every time he came to the Sanctuary, and the ce he hadn''t been to in so long¡­

    It was a house belonging to a certain woman.

    Xue''er.

    Damien always thought of her as that little girl she used to be. She was his precious little sister. It was genuinely insane to see her grow into a woman in her own right, but it happened.

    Xue''er was past the age of adolescence and had a life of her own nowadays. She wasn''t someone who was hung up on Damien at all times, though her admiration and respect for him never changed.

    Xue''er was regarded as the Sanctuary''s greatest young genius. She had status, she had power, and she had an endless desire for growth and happiness that couldn''t be fazed by anyone or anything.

    And Damien¡­

    Damien was proud.

    He was so extremely proud that he couldn''t describe the feeling.

    This was what he wanted to see from the start.

    When he met her in the Trial World, she was scared and alone. She''d lost everything, yet she was strong enough to continue living despite all the circumstances that tried to end her.

    When he took her in, he just wanted her to be happy. When he made the Sanctuary, he originally did it with the sole intention of giving her a ce to peacefully stay.

    The years passed so fast. So much happened that it was hard to keep track of just how much time passed.

    But Damien was over the age of 70 now, and Xue''er, whom he''d taken in back then, was already in her 30s.

    His visit to her was just as warm as any other, but the dynamic was a bit different than usual.

    Damien didn''t really know how to act towards the adult Xue''er, since he couldn''t really treat her as a child anymore.

    But Xue''er happily created an atmosphere for the two of them, and noticing how her brother/father figure awkwardly tried to amodate her, seeing how he never changed no matter how much time passed, she didn''t have anyints.

    She could see the pride in his eyes.

    She smiled, not mentioning it at all as they conversed.

    ''Really, he gets embarrassed at the stupidest things.''

    She knew him better than he''d ever realize, perhaps for the better.

    And as he brought her back to the cabin where he was living with his wives, along with the others he considered family like Tian Yang and James Adire, the same thought kept repeating in his head.

    It really was good to be home.

 Chapter 1345 New Beginning [1]

    Chapter 1345 New Beginning [1]

    Damien didn''t have much left to do in the Sanctuary.

    At least, not when it came to tasks that "must be aplished."

    Of course, he wanted to spend more time with his wives, and he could do so with his Avatar, but there was one more important meeting that needed to be had.

    He gathered all the important yers in the universe.

    Whether it was those he knew, or those who rose to power while only knowing "Damien Void" as a sort of spiritual leader of their homnd, they were all summoned to Avalon for one purpose.

    Damien stood before them, their number in the tens or even hundreds of thousands.

    They all deserved to know.

    He told his wives before, and he told Lynn and the rest as well, but these people were also important to the Sanctuary, so he wasn''t going to exclude them needlessly.

    It was their first time seeing the exalted man who created the Sanctuary. No matter how they felt about him, all of them held a trace of awe and reverence in their hearts for a figure who could aplish what he had.

    And looking back at them, Damien smiled.

    "Let me tell you a story," he said.

    It was the story about a boy, and a story that led to the current moment they were all experiencing.

    And at its endy a single destination.

    Eyes went wide, and mouths dropped to the floor.

    Because the news he shared with them, news that was absolutely pivotal for the development of the Sanctuary¡­

    ¡­really was something beyond their imagination.

    Someone like him, someone who could casually say such words¡­

    What else could he be if not a god?

    ***

    At the same time, and at a time beyond time¡­

    Damien''s main body stood in the Void overlooking all things.

    Whether it be the lower universe, which was now a true Abyss, or the Sanctuary, which was blooming further with every passing second, he could see it all.

    But he didn''t need to watch the Sanctuary. He was already experiencing it firsthand.

    The Abyss was more interesting.

    There was quite literally nothing there anymore.

    All the separated Nox settlements were gone, swallowed by the chaoticws. Without the Nox to maintain them, they had no protection against their environment.

    As for the only true world within the Abyss, Al''Katra, Damien naturally wouldn''t leave such a prime location alone.

    Al''Katra was now unpopted, and after Damien used Alexander to clean up all the residual Nox vestiges remaining there, he found that the world was actually a paradise in hiding.

    It had the potential to be a grand ce with a variety of beautiful environments. Underneath the corrupted soil, and beyond the corrupted World Core, was a foundation with immense potential to house life.

    Damien naturally couldn''t leave it to rot after seeing this, so he took it into the Sanctuary and gave Elvira specific orders to have the elves purify it over time and bring out said potential.

    But still¡­

    ''There''s really nothing left.''

    It was hard to imagine. He was the only one who could see this sight, aside from the Ancient Sovereign, of course, and he could hardly fathom the fact that everything he knew was reduced to this.

    ''I guess that''s the cycle all things follow. Everythinges from the Void, and everything will eventually return to the Void.''

    Even now, the Abyss was slowly being devoured by the Void beyond it. There was no use for an Abyss without anything left to inhabit it.

    Or rather, was even this a natural process, where after all universes were destroyed, the Void would reim its territory to birth a new world?

    It was an interesting phenomenon, to say the least, but Damien didn''t peer into the future to see it happen.

    He didn''t know how long he''d been in the Void and he didn''t know how long he had left, but there were a few more things he wanted to do before he had to go.

    ''Promises from the past, curious questions that went unanswered¡­''

    He had the ability to look through the entirety of the universe''s history.

    He already answered many of the questions he had about the ancient universes that were destroyed by the Nox, and most of his remaining questions were answered through the Saint Emperor''s memories as well, but there were a few things he wanted to check.

    For instance, someone who''d been buried by the rivers of time.

    Bai Yuxuan had a son.

    Their rtionship began through a promise Damien made to find his son, but once Damien got stronger and the Mana Oath lost the ability to hold him, he didn''t really have anything reminding him to keep it.

    Throughout the years, he always kept the token of the White Dragon King in his subspace without moving it, but it never reacted as it was supposed to so he eventually forgot about it.

    For Damien, it was just forgetting, but for Bai Yuxuan, it was definitely a massive blow.

    He probably already epted that his son was dead, but Damien didn''t want to leave it at that.

    He couldn''t change the past.

    He couldn''t bind worlds that were fated to be destroyed through the universe''s wars, and he couldn''t save everyone who was meant to die. Unless they had the Void''s interference protecting them, like people he was close to or Heiron, where Alexander was born, they couldn''t be saved.

    So he knew Bai Yuxuan''s son, whom he had no connection with, couldn''t be saved either.

    Still, he searched space and time to find any trace of a man with Bai Yuxuan''s bloodline. He looked far and wide through the entire ne, knowing Bai Yuxuan''s history in the wider universes, and eventually found what he was looking for.

    A sad smile formed on his face.

    ''Haa, at least it was a good death.''

    Bai Yuxuan''s son lived a quiet and happy life in a secluded corner of the Divine Realm. It was the life of a mortal who didn''t experience the fears or beauties of the universe, but it was a fulfilling life that ended with him surrounded by many people as he left the world.

    That scene was the best closure a father could have.

    ''I hope the rest isn''t so depressing¡­''

    It still saddened Damien that he couldn''t create a miracle here, but he had to move on regardless.

    He wasn''t at the point where anything was possible yet.

    But he would be there eventually.

    And for that purpose, he couldn''t be resigned to his current level.

    He searched far and wide, high and low, from the greatest macrocosms to the tiniest microcosms in all existence, and found all the knowledge that couldplete his understanding of the lower universe.

    He made sure to reach a state where there were no lingering doubts in his heart, and he could take away the lingering doubts in the hearts of his people.

    Whether it be the elf race, who he was currently fostering the rebirth of, the Cloud Giants, who were now left as thest remnants of their species, or anyone else, he wanted to make sure they could leave for the Heavenly World without regrets.

    Because if the answers couldn''t be found in the Sanctuary, they could only be found here, in the ce only Damien could see.

    He learned of many secrets hidden from him, including the presence of the woman named Yiren, his adoptive sister from the Heavenly World who''d mysteriously disappeared before his return to Grand Heavens Boundary, and when the time came¡­

    The painting of reality disappeared from his sight, reced by a reflection of his being.

    "We finally meet," that version of himself said.

    "It is a pleasure to finally speak to you face to face, my reflection."

 Chapter 1346 New Beginning [2]

    Chapter 1346 New Beginning [2]

    Damien raised his brow.

    "Who are you?"

    The answer was very obvious, but he asked because he was curious.

    That being said it was their first meeting, but hadn''t he met it once before?

    It was a bit confusing, so he wanted rification.

    The other version of him smiled as if understanding his troubles and responded:

    "Just as you are, I am a reflection of that entity. However, unlike you, who has the potential to rise above it, I am merely a messenger who delivers its will."

    "Then, is this my first time meeting you, this reflection, or is this my first time meeting that entity?"

    The reflection''s smile widened mysteriously. Its eyes turned into crescents as if Damien said something extremely amusing.

    "I wonder¡­which is the truth? Do you wish to know?"

    "Would I have asked otherwise?"

    "Yes, you would have."

    Damien tilted his head curiously.

    "I would have?"

    "Would you not?"

    "No, I would have."

    Their conversation was confusing, but it made sense to them.

    As they discussed the musings of fate, the existence of inevitability, and the true height of the Void to view all things from a position of authority through those simple and meaningless words, Damien came to understand a few things.

    The one he saw when he had his stint in Nonexistence was probably not this reflection, but it probably wasn''t any other reflection either.

    The question of whether it was the Void or not was something he wasn''t prepared to ask himself, because if not the Void, then who else?

    The real question was why this reflection appeared before him now.

    "Is there any reason not to? You understand why I am here, so why are you questioning it?"

    Damien sighed.

    It was really annoying facing someone who could read his every thought, even the ones he wasn''t consciously aware of.

    But the reflection was correct. He was well aware of how important this next step of his journey would be, so it was understandable why he''d have a conversation with the Void now.

    Plus, if there wasn''t a reason like this, why would he have been summoned here at all?

    "You must have many questions," the reflection said.

    "I thought I would, but I''m surprisingly clear-headed right now," Damien responded.

    "Nevertheless, there are things you wish to know, and I have been sent to give you those answers."

    "All of them?"

    "Of course not."

    "Hahahaha¡­"

    It was always like that, wasn''t it?

    ording to these supreme beings, some answers became meaningless if one didn''t find them oneself.

    And it wasn''t like they were wrong.

    That was why enlightenment existed in the first ce. One could look at the sky for sixteen hours a day if they wished to, and one could be told how beautiful the sky was until they got tired of it, but until the thought that the sky is beautiful appeared in their mind by their own will, would they truly feel that beauty?

    Would they connect that beauty with the beauty of life or feel thankful that they were alive in this world?

    Of course, the situation would vary from person to person, but that was exactly why such realizations were to be reached through one''s own will and experiences.

    So what could Damien, who had the chance to ask why question, ask right now?

    ''I''m assuming any questions about the Heavenly World will go unanswered¡­''

    "Correct," the reflection said, smiling and replying to Damien''s unvoiced thoughts.

    ''Yup, that''s expected. Just like I had to explore Grand Heavens Boundary on my own, I have to explore the Heavenly World on my own so I can get the most out of the experience.''

    ''Then, what am I meant to ask?''

    Not what should he ask, but what was he "meant" to ask.

    The thought came to his head so naturally that he almost didn''t question it, but he was d he did.

    ''Aha, so it was like that.''

    There was clearly a question the Void wanted him to ask, and this was a test to see if he could understand its intentions.

    He was supposed to be the man who conquered it in the future. If he wanted to ovee the limits of an Apostle or a reflection and truly be the Void''s sovereign, he needed to be able to pass this test.

    That was the least he could do to justify his ambitions.

    The first question that popped into his head was a simple, "What are you?"

    But he already knew the answer to that. At least superficially, he knew what the Void was, so using his chance on that would be a waste.

    The next was also simple.

    "Why me?"

    Why was he chosen out of the myriad existences who popted the worlds of this cosmos?

    That was a question he didn''t have any answers to. He would definitely benefit by knowing the answer, but was it enough?

    Why would the Void prod him to ask such a basic question? It was too selfish to be the answer.

    He was stumped for a while.

    After those two questions, the ones that came next were worse and worse as if they had no meaning at all.

    In the end, he came to a conclusion.

    "I have nothing to ask that''s befitting of a chance like this."

    He didn''t know the answer, and he wasn''t ashamed to admit that.

    "I will not ask a meaningless question here, and it is your choice whether or not you want to share the answer you were given."

    The reflection raised its brow in interest.

    "And what if I choose to keep silent?"

    Damien shrugged.

    "Then I''ll find the answer on my own."

    Since when did he need to rely on someone else?

    The Void enabled him to reach his current heights, but it was just a foundation. Hisprehensions, his ability to reach the Authority of Existence in such a short span of time, was entirely a product of his own effort.

    He knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime.

    The Void quite literally birthed everything. There wasn''t a single being or object in the world that the Void didn''t know about. All of the happenings guided by fate and individuality were products of its efforts, and thus, all thoughts and actions were crystal clear to it.

    Damien could ask what a random farmer on a specific farm in a specific town in a specific country on a specific day was thinking at a specific time while doing a specific action and the Void could answer him with total uracy.

    So even if he stood here right now and asked for the meaning of existence, he could get the answer easily.

    He just didn''t want to find out this way.

    He wanted to perceive these absolute truths with his own power, because only then would he be able to stand above omniscience.

    Seeing his thought process, the reflection smiled an indiscernible smile that Damien couldn''t see.

    After all, he was acting as expected.

    "Correct."

    That was the right answer.

    Someone who was born to dominate couldn''t settle for outside aid on a problem that could be solved with their own strength and potential.

    That was what the Void wanted.

    It wanted someone who could undermine its authority instead of submitting to it like the rest.

    Not just through blind ambition, but with absolute confidence in one''s own power.

    Damien was fully living up to the expectations ced on him. No, he was outshining them greatly.

    And the Void¡­

    ¡­how could it not be satisfied?

 Chapter 1347 New Beginning [3]

    Chapter 1347 New Beginning [3]

    The Void''s reflection had a lot to say, but it didn''t have much it had the right to say.

    It wanted to tell him how difficult his journey would be, how much stronger his enemies would be, what True Godhood was like, but the Void didn''t permit it to give him any information or advice about those matters.

    It might''ve seemed like it was restricting Damien, but it was actually the opposite.

    The Void had never trusted someone so much. It had enough confidence in Damien to guarantee he could do it all on his own without an inkling of foreknowledge.

    So it wanted to test Damien, to see if he also thought the same.

    And since he did, since he could maintain his mentality even in a situation like this, it was absolutely assured of its choice in descendant.

    Damien didn''t feel it.

    Perhaps because he''dpletely inherited the Void Physique, he didn''t notice it at all.

    The Void had a subtle coercion that rejected anyone standing within it. If any regr existence came here, their entire being would be erased in an instant. Not just their current person, but the entirety of their existence. Those people would be erased from the timeline, and even those who were closest to them wouldn''t be able to remember their past presence.

    Even the Void''s chosen were meant to experience the weight of the existence they were attempting to tame when they reached this step.

    But Damien didn''t feel it at all.

    He was already at a point he wasn''t supposed to reach yet, and whether it be coercion or fear, he simply wasn''t affected by them.

    His mentality was far more concrete than anyone could imagine. How else was he able to pass through Cosmic Rebirth so easily?

    His mentality was hardened through a myriad of trials throughout his journey. It was practically the main focus of his growth for half of his life.

    That kind of thing couldn''t be broken just because someone else wanted him to break. It was probably his greatest strength, outshining even the Authority of Existence with its light.

    Damien smiled as he looked at the reflection''s expression.

    It looked proud, but also a bit stumped, as if it didn''t know how to breach the main point.

    He long understood what it wanted to say.

    "It''s time for me to go, right?" Damien said, doing it for him.

    The reflection nodded.

    "You have already overstayed your wee, but that entity favors you, so it did not persecute you. Instead, I have been sent to both test you and send you on your way."

    Damien already figured that was the case. His long yet unbelievably short stint here allowed him to aplish far more than he ever should have had the right to, so it was granted that he''d be evicted soon.

    If he had to ce himself somewhere in the timeline to urately ce how long he spent in the Void¡­

    ¡­he would probably still be in the spatial corridor headed back to the lower universe right now.

    But the Void was an entity that wasn''t meant to be touched by his lowly hands yet. The mere fact that it was already gave him an unbelievable position amongst all living beings.

    Still, all good things had toe to an end, and all ends were new beginnings.

    As he stood there, he cut himself off from perceptions of his Avatars in the Sanctuary. He focused his entire spirit into his main body and prepared his mind.

    Those thoughts came inadvertently.

    Like a gentle stream that trickled into a massive river, roaring and raging as it became one with the ocean, the memories of his journey flooded through his mind in droves.

    His time as a mere cub in the First Dungeon, his time in Apeiron learning about how big the universe was, his time on the Cloud neing into his own, his time in the unnamed world bing a true main yer in the universe¡­

    His time in the Dawn world gaining a footing in the wider universe, his time in Hidden Death Valley gaining prominence, his time in Calypto when he first met the Saint Emperor, his time in Eden fighting his first true war¡­

    His time in Eien and the Void Corridor bing someone who could hold a say in the universe, his time in the Beast Domain where he first entered war as an expert, his time in Luxurion being crowned the universe''s greatest genius¡­

    Everything he did with his life, all his fights and all his connections, all his deeds and all his Legends¡­

    They all shed through his mind one by one.

    It was a cathartic moment.

    Those experiences that made his life what he was, the death he experienced that made him realize how important his life was, the people who surrounded him and made his life worth living¡­

    How could he not look back on them now?

    He entered this wild world at the young age of seventeen. Back then, who could have imagined that a few decadester he''d step into the realm of Divinity, bing someone who could eliminate entire worlds with a single flick of his wrist?

    He really achieved something.

    He made something out of his life.

    He was proud.

    He was so proud that he could hardly contain his emotions.

    But¡­that was only who he was here.

    That would not be his status anymore once he turned his back on this ce.

    He wanted to reach a ce higher than this. He wanted to see what truly stood at the top, above all else, at a ce nobody else could ever reach.

    He let go of all his lingering emotions. He allowed his memories to stay memories and engraved those things that defined him into his soul.

    He was ready.

    He was scared, he was excited, but he was ready.

    Damien Void was graduating on this day.

    He was leaving everything behind, grasping everything in his hand, and stepping into a new ying field.

    The Void''s reflection disappeared at some point.

    Its presence wasn''t needed, because Damien already knew what he needed to do.

    He turned around.

    It was there as if it was waiting for him the whole time.

    A world, or rather, aplete universe.

    It was a single celestial body, however, its size was bigger than the entirety of Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Even standing in the Void, Damien could feel the waves of power and Divinity emanating from that ce, purely a byproduct of the auras of those who called it home.

    It was a beautiful ce filled with a myriad of colors as viewed from the outside, and even Damien, who was extremely knowledgeable on all things celestial, found himself stumped by its existence.

    That was his destination.

    That was the Heavenly World.

    "Huu¡­"

    He took a deep breath.

    His family, his destiny, and everything that remained a mystery to him now were all awaiting him there.

    There was no need to hesitate; there was no need to falter.

    He took a single step, a step that took him out of the Void.

    The time he spent there was no more than 0.00001 seconds.

    And with nothing left to bar his path, the moment hade for him to descend on that ce.

    To the first step of a new adventure, to the start of the next chapter, to the end of his destiny¡­

    It was time to go to the Heavenly World.

 Chapter 1348 New Beginning [4]

    Chapter 1348 New Beginning [4]

    The Heavenly World.

    It was a name used by those in the lower universe to describe it, but it wasn''t an incorrect term at all.

    The Heavenly World truly was a world. It was a Universe World, something that had never existed before in the lower universe.

    Its size was hundreds of quintillions of kilometers, and the number of existences living within it was even greater.

    How could one describe the entire Heavenly World in a few words? No matter how hard one tried, it was impossible.

    When Damien stepped out of the Void, it didn''t feel like he''d traveled through space and time. Rather, it really felt like he only took a single step, and everything changed around him.

    The ckness of the Void, still and absolute, was reced by a myriad of colors as an environment appeared where it once was.

    But Damien didn''t immediately look at it.

    He was ovee by the feeling of the environment before he could even see its appearance.

    ''The mana¡­''

    "Wow."

    That was the only thing he could say.

    The mana was beautiful.

    It was far denser than the lower universe. If mana was equated to gravity, a lower universe existence would be crushed under the pressure of the Heavenly World''s energy.

    And it wasn''t just about density.

    The mana was far purer. Damien felt like he was gaining more lifespan with every breath he took. His body was revitalized, his fatigue drifted away, and an aura of spirituality seemed to fill his entire being.

    This was mana of a Divine level. The myriad ofws hidden within it could be clearly felt, and the environment created by this energy had to be unbelievable.

    Damien started to understand why people feared the Heavenly World.

    What would a person born into such an atmosphere be like?

    If they went to the lower universe, their body would be a treasure nobody couldpete with. They would have talent on par with what Damien showed despite not having any assistance from the Void.

    That was their natural advantage, because the Heavenly World''s mana was perfect.

    ''This¡­''

    Damien closed his eyes and focused on it.

    He was a man who controlled Existence. The disparity between the energies he''d felt before meant a lot more to him than anyone else.

    He knew what the Void felt like, and he knew the energy that the Envoy''s race used. Compared to both of them, this mana waspletely different. It hardly even held simrities to regr mana in the first ce.

    As he picked it apart, he did his best topletely internalize its structure and replicate it, but surprisingly enough¡­

    ''...I can''t do it.''

    He didn''t have the ability.

    "Hahaha¡­"

    Heughed strangely.

    How long had it been since he felt something like this?

    How long had it been since there was something he "couldn''t do?"

    It was a little bit hollow, but he had to admit it was a great feeling. It made him even more excited for this ce.

    ''Even if I don''t have any peers at my own level, I can be certain there are people who can kill me here.''

    He, who had the Authority of Immortality, could be killed!

    He already knew it would be like this.

    If even the Void wouldn''t tell him about it, Gods had to be existences beyond his imagination.

    But feeling it with his own body was apletely different thing from just being told.

    He didn''t even have to meet them to understand, but his desire to find one and spar them was at an all-time high.

    ''I should probably not stand around like this.''

    He got absorbed in the mana, but he didn''tpletely cut off his senses. There was nobody and nothing nearby, but he had to be careful, because this was apletely new environment.

    He knew nothing.

    He was a country bumpkin like the day he left Earth.

    He opened his eyes to look at the splendiferous location he''d arrived in.

    It was in the middle of nowhere.

    Great trees that rose hundreds and thousands of feet into the air popted every inch of thend around him, their leaves shimmering as the sunlight struck their various shades of red, green, and blue.

    The bright sky was hidden behind their canopy, but hints of its magnificence streaked down through the gaps and decorated the world with a plethora of dancing shadows that highlighted the ground below.

    Green grasses and lush vegetation were everywhere. It was impossible to see a ce that an unknown herb or nt didn''t inhabit, and of course, the flora was apanied by its resident fauna, filling the atmosphere with a variety of calls and chirps.

    The wind brushed lightly through the air. It was filled with mana and colored in its own right, but maintained its ingrained state with the environment. As it breezed past Damien, he was struck with so many sensations that he couldn''t exin, really cementing the fact that he was in a new world in his mind.

    ''Should I explore¡­?''

    Did he want to explore this ce, or did he want to find a city?

    Thetter would definitely be much more beneficial, but he was truly intrigued by this world. His adventurous spirit was lit ame by its wonders, and he didn''t want to suppress it.

    ''But¡­maybe I should wait a bit.''

    He could alwayse backter.

    Right now, hisck of information was too debilitating.

    ''Alright, let''s do it like that.''

    The only thing he knew about the Heavenly World was the existence of Void Pce, the influence his father ran.

    It was a beautiful ce, but it was mysterious, and it had dangers with enough power to ughter even True Gods.

    It was an environment where even Damien couldn''t guarantee his safety, so he had to find at least the knowledge to help him survive until he could.

    He nodded his head as he came to the decision.

    ''Let''s find a city then, and hopefully, on the way¡­''

    Information costed money, and Damien didn''t have any money that would be valuable in the Heavenly World. He also didn''t know what the herbs and heavenly resources he had were worth in a ce that had even greater resources, so relying on wealth right now wasn''t the right choice.

    Didn''t he have a better method?

    ''I don''t want to kill needlessly, but if some unfortunate soul just so happens to test me¡­well, I should take the gifts they bring me, no?''

    He smiled, once again breathing in the energy of the world.

    He could hear them in his mind. The World Cores he''d bound that were confident enough to speak were quite agitated by the scenery around him, and they were making their opinions known.

    ''Good.''

    He took a step. It was the first step he truly took in the Heavenly World.

    ''Let''s get to work.''

    Whoooosh!

    His body vanished, bing one with the breeze.

    His destination was unknown, as was the path he''d take to get there, but he didn''t care.

    What was the point ofing here if he was just going to focus on work?

    This was a new world. It had been mentioned to death already, but this fact was so prevalent in Damien''s mind that it had to be so.

    Since he was here, he nned to enjoy it thoroughly.

    And nobody would be able to stop him!

 Chapter 1349 New Beginning [5]

    Chapter 1349 New Beginning [5]

    The journey was longer than expected.

    When Damien said the mana wasplete, he meant it. Even the Void couldn''t exert as much influence here as it could in the lower universe, and there were hardly any openings that could be exploited.

    One was practically forced to act within the bounds ofw if they wanted to live, and as someone who''d encountered the Heavenly Order before, Damien didn''t doubt there''d be some kind of punishment for trying to defy them.

    Still, it was difficult to see just howplete thews were until one experienced them oneself.

    For Damien, that moment was the second he started teleporting. Moving through the spatialyers felt like being surrounded by msses. They were densely packed and had a thickness iparable to the lower universe.

    Any movement through them felt sluggish, and while distance could still be covered, it was far slower than its regr potential.

    Though, the meaning of "far slower" was rtive to a universally acimed genius like Damien.

    ''Damn. I was approaching a level where I could move a billion kilometers in a single step, but even a few tens of millions feel difficult now.''

    If any other spatial practitioner heard him, they''d surely sumb to the desire to beat him to a pulp.

    Tens of millions of kilometers was nothing? With the mana pool of a Demigod, this was still a travel efficiency most people needed to spend egregious amounts of money to replicate through artifacts and arrays!

    The Heavenly World was massive. Simply traveling by oneself was practically impossible for those who couldn''t afford spirit vehicles, and even then, most people would choose to use public transportation provided byrge influences for the sake of convenience.

    Tens of millions of miles was quite the distance, but in terms of the Heavenly World, it was a span ofnd that could easily be ignored.

    After all, when Damien teleported for the first time and came out 50 million kilometers away, he was still within the lush forest, and the terrain didn''t change enough for him to assume he was close to the exit.

    It took another ten leaps of the same length to finally find something different, and that was only after he spent a few days exploring the forest itself.

    The worst part was...when he left the forest, all he saw was barend.

    ''Hahaha¡­don''t tell me I''m that unlucky¡­?''

    Was this a barren area?

    ''Well, whatever, I just need to¨C''

    VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A huge sound filled the air.

    The ground didn''t rumble and nothing seemed to change, which was a bit confusing, but Damien was quick to find the source of the grand fluctuation.

    ''Haha, as expected, my luck hasn''t failed me.''

    In the sky above, far beyond the clouds, there was "something" moving extremely fast. It housed so many life auras that it couldn''t be a beast, which meant it had to be a human-made flight artifact.

    ''I don''t know where it''s going, but it''s definitely going towards civilization.''

    Damien was a logical person. He wasn''t just going to follow an unreasonably fast spirit vehicle on the ground and expect to keep up with it.

    No, he could never do something so stupid!

    Rather, didn''t he have 50 million kilometers of jump distance? No matter how expansive the ground was, there was no way the sky had the same gait.

    He grinned, stepping into the ground as he activated his mana.

    ''Hitchhiking time!''

    Whoosh!

    His body vanished again, and when it reappeared, he was high in the sky, a lone man amongst the clouds.

    His eyes widened at the sea of white below him and the beautiful painting above. Rather than one sun, this realm had two, and rather than the usual blue sky he knew, this shade was a little bit darker, as if the atmosphere extended far beyond his imagination.

    ''Wait, there''s no time for this.''

    He turned his attention forward and located the spirit vehicle.

    It was a starship-like object, almost simr to a ne from Earth, but far more advanced andrge enough to carry thousands of people without a problem.

    ''Perfect. Adding one more onto a number like that shouldn''t be a problem.''

    He shed three more times to catch up andnd on the ship''s hull.

    He somewhat expected it, but his presence was not wee in the slightest.

    rm bells rang, and within the second, there was a squadron surrounding him.

    ''Yeah, I did feel something strange when I wasnding. I guess this ship had a barrier around it to protect it from the natural forces.''

    Otherwise, there was no way these soldiers would be able to stand here so steadily without worry.

    "State your identity and ce your hands where I can see them!"

    The one leading the group shouted out, slowly approaching as he warily took a pair of handcuffs out of his uniform.

    Damien smiled wryly and followed the procedure.

    ''Doesn''t this feel oddly familiar?''

    Why did the Heavenly World seem to resemble Earth more than anywhere else in the lower universe?

    It was quite strange when he thought about it, but that was a matter for another time.

    "We will be taking you into custody. If you have anyints, you can voice them to the officers inside."

    Damien shrugged lightly.

    "Do I look like I''m resisting? Just cuff me and take me inside already."

    The leader''s eyes narrowed, but heplied regardless.

    He cuffed Damien''s hands in front of him and, with his troops still covering every side to make sure the prisoner couldn''t escape, he guided Damien into the starship.

    The internal structure wasvish. The floors were carpeted and the pressure stabilization made it so it was no different from standing onnd inside. It was ventted somehow, and the overall ambiance was more like a luxury hotel than a starship.

    ''People really liverge around these parts.''

    Damien admired the wonders of innovation as the soldiers led him through the halls.

    They had used some sort of concealment device to make their presence invisible to the ship''s passengers, obviously a method to ensure no panic would break out, and once again Damien had to marvel at their customer service abilities.

    ''More than any of that, these cuffs sure are interesting.''

    He''d seen handcuffs that sealed mana before, but this one was even more advanced than that. It had the function of sealing all powers, including Divinity.

    ''It isn''t really seeding at sealing mine since it''s a Divinity built on the Void, but they don''t even seem to know I''m a Demigod in the first ce.''

    He could also feel something trying to interfere with his senses, but because of the All-Seeing Eyes, that had be his regr pupils instead of an inherited trait, even that mechanism malfunctioned.

    It was a littleedic when he thought about it.

    In the first ce, these guards were all Supremes. If he wanted to, he could evaporate all of them by blinking.

    ''Is there something different going on? Everyone in the lower universe seemed to inherently understand that I''d ascended, but here they can''t sense it.''

    Maybe the assumptions he made about the Void earlier were wrong?

    ''If so¡­''

    He definitely needed to investigate his limits when he had some free time, but that could be der.

    Their group had already arrived at their location, an isted room within a series of corridors long disconnected from the passenger area of the ship.

    Damien was sat in a chair there in a room that looked like the poster child for interrogation rooms and forced to wait for hours.

    ''Is this a psychological tactic? It''s not bad, but they should really do some checks before starting something like this.''

    He smiled wryly.

    If he was affected by the sense blocking and Divinity blocking, he probably would''ve been panicking by now, but wasn''t hepletely fine?

    Not only was he fine, but his All-Seeing Eyes didn''t really let him remain unaware of the presences around him.

    Especially those behind the one-way mirror.

    None of them had the aura of a God that Damien wanted to feel, but there were at least three powerful Demigods among them.

    And behind even them, far separated from this ce yet watching it through their awareness, was another Divinity.

    That one¡­

    ''That one is definitely stronger than the Saint Emperor.''

 Chapter 1350 New Beginning [6]

    Chapter 1350 New Beginning [6]

    It took a few hours before anyone came into the interrogation room. They likely realized Damien wasn''t going to break easily and chose to stop doing meaningless things like psychologically pressuring him.

    The one who appeared was a rough man with the gait of a gori. As he sat down at the table, his gaze was stoic yet filled with mes that put an immense pressure on whoever he looked at.

    ''Pressure this, pressure that, I guess this is how criminals get treated, huh,''

    Damien couldn''t really do anything about it, but he didn''t care to either. This would inevitably be resolved peacefully since his intentions weren''t anything hidden or crazy.

    "You, who are you?" The gori man said.

    "You can call me Damien Grey," Damien responded lightly.

    Hisst name was already noticeable in the lower universe, but what about in the Heavenly World where there was an entire Void Pce?

    There was no way it was amon surname, so he made the decision to keep it unsaid until he learned more about the Heavenly World and the Void Pce.

    "Damien Grey¡­"

    The gori man nced at the one-way mirror for a second before turning back to him.

    "There is nobody like that in the records. Where did youe from?"

    "Eh?"

    Damien made the sound inadvertently.

    "Records? Do you have records of everyone in the world?"

    The gori man scowled.

    "Are you treating me like an idiot? Obviously we only have records for those who have allowed themselves to be registered. But, is there any good person who hasn''t registered? Don''t joke around!"

    ''Hmm¡­I guess this is something like social security? But how does that work on the scale I''m imagining?''

    The world he saw from the Void wasn''t one that could have a social security system that urately noted every existence within it.

    ''But I can''t just steal anyone''s identity without knowing anything. Should I try that?''

    Damien scratched his head awkwardly, a strange motion with his wrists still cuffed.

    "Actually, I haven''t left the mountains in my entire life, and I have never seen another human aside from my master. How can I be on the records?"

    It was an extremelymon excuse, but Damien really had the qualifications to use it.

    He knew exactly nothing except the environment and ecosystem of the forest region he appeared in, so he could guarantee its sess.

    As expected, the gori man didn''t let him off easy. He asked many questions about the area, which Damien was able to answer because he spent some time there instead of immediately trying to leave, and asked more questions about the Heavenly World to test Damien''s responses.

    He nced at the one-way mirror every few minutes to gauge what those behind it were saying, and from the responses he received, there was really only one exnation for Damien''s existence.

    He was truly a mountain man, a country bumpkin!

    "Wow!" The gori man eximed inadvertently.

    "You, you are the first one! I can''t believe I finally saw this excuse actually turn out to be the truth!"

    Heughed boisterously and exined that the members of every ship crew had an ongoing bet about when they would meet the first real mysterious mountain man instead of a con artist whenever they heard this excuse.

    The ratio seemed to be thousands to zero, but Damien had just turned that zero into a one!

    ''Well, I guess the lower universe also counts as the mountains¡­?''

    He felt a bit bad, but it didn''t matter.

    "Why did you board our ship, mountain man?"

    The gori man''s tone became much lighter after the primary interrogation ended. Damien''s identity as a bumpkin actually made him far more trustworthy than those with status or identity, especially the type who usually illegally boarded ships like these.

    In response to the question, Damien tilted his head a little, fully immersing himself in his role.

    With a wide, toothy grin, he said only a single word that stumped everyone watching the conversation.

    "Hitchhiking!"

    It was naive enough to be expected of a mountain man, and without much else to do with him, they threw him in a cell until the higher authorities came to a decision.

    ''I guess they don''t treat human life poorly around here. If I was in the lower universe, I''d probably have been thrown out to fall to my death nine out of ten times. That''s good to know.''

    Regardless of whether it was cell or suite, he didn''t care as long as he could reach his destination.

    With that mentality, he calmly sat in the cell and meditated, ustoming himself to the Heavenly World''s mana once again.

    He didn''t know how long the trip would take, but if they were taking this many precautions, it would probably be a while before they docked.

    ''What a good way to start this adventure.''

    Damien smiled.

    He was once again a young genius in the wide and unknown world.

    And frankly, despite the harsher treatment, he was enjoying it quite a bit!

    ***

    The starship and three floors and its length was around that of a football field. Each floor could house thousands of people, but naturally, for a paid service like this one, there were multiple levels.

    The bottom floor was for themon people. There weren''t many amenities, and rooms had to be shared, but one could be rtivelyfortable for the journey and their meals would be provided.

    As for the second floor, it was for those of higher ss. This was the floor Damien was taken through, filled with various services and entertainments that could be used to pass the time. Rooms were individual and among them, there were some luxury suites that couldn''t be imagined by normal people.

    As for the third floor, it was for operations. The starship''s crew and their facilities were present here. Just like the passengers, there were thousands of crew members, a number necessary to maintain the starship during long-distance voyages.

    Its mechanisms were many, and many groups of specialists were needed to ensure they would never malfunction.

    After all, this was a business. If anything went wrong, how would those of immense power react?

    People were especially unreasonable sometimes. If some beast figure died aboard a starship, the entirepany could be destroyed, or in the worst case, countless lives would be lost to rage.

    Nevertheless, that was a separate matter.

    "Captain, there''s news."

    A shadow appeared next to the ship''s captain. She was a woman roughly in her forties with an impressive figure and face that didn''t match her rugged attire and demeanor.

    She nced over at the shadow, scowling without taking the cigar out of her mouth, and motioned for him to speak.

    "The intruder that was caught earlier has yet to be identified. The interrogators believe he is a bumpkin from the mountains, however, it is still unknown if this is a front."

    The captain nced in another direction, her eyes piercing through theyers of metal that made up the ship.

    Her eyes focused on the man calmly sitting in his cell as if nothing was wrong, narrowing as they spent more time observing him.

    She grinned.

    She didn''t care what the shadow was saying, because she''d been observing this man''s presence from the moment he arrived on the hull.

    ''He knows I''m watching.''

    She understood when he was waiting in the interrogation room that he was well aware of her presence, and as he started meditating in the cell and the mana in the air started reacting strangely, she realized the protections taken against him were meaningless.

    ''Looks like I''ve stumbled across a hidden gem.''

    "Bring him to me."

    She didn''t really have a reason to see him, but her curiosity got the best of her.

    ''Let''s see what you''re hiding, Damien Grey.''

 Chapter 1351 New Beginning [7]

    Chapter 1351 New Beginning [7]

    Damien spent a few more days in the cell before anyone came to get him, but that wasn''t bad for him at all.

    Rather than a burden, it was a benefit.

    It was impossible for Damien to marvel at the Heavenly World itself. The world was just too big for him to even begin to understand its beauties with such a small stay here.

    However, its mana was both beautiful and ever-present.

    Its perfection was incredibly beneficial for him to study, because it was a force closer to existence than anything he''d seen in the lower universe.

    On top of that, his mana was a unique energy that could transmute into anything. Learning the ins and outs of other energy forms would strengthen him greatly, and the moment he fully understood them and gained the ability tobine or dissect them with a thought, he would reach an entirely new level of power that nobody could touch upon.

    It was interesting.

    Every once in a while, Damien released a few strings of Void Energy to test both its effects and the perception of those around him, and he came to a few conclusions.

    Firstly, the hidden nature of the Void didn''t change even here.

    No matter how much energy he outputted, unless it got to the point where it affected the physical ne and altered it, nobody could sense it.

    He couldn''t speak on Gods, but at least Demigods didn''t outshine his expectations by too much, which was good for him.

    Secondly, the Void''s influence was both restricted and freed depending on which aspects one looked at.

    Damien had a lot of privileges in the Heavenly World that he didn''t have in the lower universe, however, he alsocked some of the freedoms a more chaoticw structure granted him.

    Such as his ability to "wish."

    He could no longer let the Void do the work for him. Situations like when he helped Yong An escape the Saint Emperor through a "wish" rather than direct intervention weren''t possible anymore.

    Most likely, it was because if the Void exerted so much influence over a world like this one, it would genuinely disrupt the natural functions of thews and degrade it to a lower world.

    Perhaps an umtion of such events was what created a universe out of a universe world to begin with.

    There was a lot Damien could learn, but there was just as much inhibiting him.

    Because, unfortunately enough, he was still a prisoner.

    The gori man, whose name he still didn''t know, and a few other members of the interrogation force would visit him every so often, and they would have rtively light-hearted conversations about themselves, but because of his status, he wasn''t given much information.

    It was annoying. He was here for transportation only, so he didn''t think much of it, but it would''ve been nice if they at least told him more about the world.

    However, they had a reason.

    The captain gave them strict orders to restrict his knowledge for unknown reasons.

    She was observing him to see what he did without any way to create a n forward, to test both his psyche and power, and to see if he would do anything to reveal a hidden purpose.

    But with no changes from him even after a week, she conceded and stopped testing him.

    ''This man is interesting.''

    Damien literally did nothing to pique her interest, but that was even more interesting.

    He knew she was watching him. She could tell that much.

    When she''d encountered so many people who acted theplete opposite of him, trying their best to act a certain way to offset any suspicions towards them, and people who would act just like him, but fold after a while because it was a facade rather than their true appearance, the fact that he wasn''t trying to do anything special or be anything he wasn''t was more interesting than anything else.

    So once the week passed, she finally gave her shadow themand and summoned him to her quarters.

    He had his senses "isted" again until he reached, and when he did, he finallyid his eyes on the presence he''d been sensing for the past week.

    ''So this is that person.''

    The only person on this ship worthy of his attention, a being stronger than even the Saint Emperor, the strongest person he''d fought in his lifetime.

    And she was just the captain of a starship, not even an important character with high status to be respected.

    "You are Damien Grey?" She said, ncing over at him dismissively.

    She had long silver hair and a cigar in her mouth, with seemingly no care towards anything. She was dressed roughly, like someone who spent more time on the battlefield than in social settings, but she had an aura of royalty around her that couldn''t be denied.

    "That I am," Damien responded with a small bow, smiling as he greeted her.

    This person was interesting. Just as she''d been watching him, he''d been watching her.

    And her senses were definitely spectacr.

    The fact that he was called here was surprising in itself. She had noticed something off about him, even though he made no moves to confirm or even give reasoning to her suspicions.

    She must''ve experienced a great deal of things to have vision like that, and Damien always enjoyed interacting with that kind of person.

    "You said you only came to our ship to hitchhike, but is that really true?" She asked again.

    Damien nodded.

    "When I left the forest, all I saw was an emptynd. I didn''t know how long it would take to find a city without any knowledge of the surroundings, so when I saw a human artifact in the air, I chose toe here instead."

    "I see¡­"

    The captain smiled slightly.

    "So you really weren''t some mountain man."

    Damien raised his brow.

    "What makes you say that?"

    He didn''t try too hard to maintain the image since it didn''t matter much in the first ce, but he also didn''t give any obvious hints that he was lying.

    After all, he was careful enough to justify his rtive intelligence and social ability as the product of a master who died before he left the forest.

    But she was able to figure it out already? He was definitely curious about the method.

    The woman leaned forward, as if to increase the mysteriousness surrounding her as she answered his question.

    "I have observed you quite well over the past few days. While there were no obvious signs, you also did not try nearly hard enough to maintain your identity. What kind of mountain man has the patience to sit patiently for days on end without a problem, and what kind of master would leave his disciple without any clues on how to live in the world once he passed?"

    They were small details that nobody else paid attention to, but because she was specifically trying to uncover Damien''s secrets, she noticed them all.

    "You aren''t from some dark force or someone who holds hostility towards us, or else you would''ve done something already. You also don''t look like you have a reason to hide your identity other than self-protection. When I put everything together, there''s only one answer thates to mind."

    She looked into his eyes as if to peer into the depths of his soul.

    She was certain of it.

    "You¡­"

    "...are an Ascender."

 Chapter 1352 New Beginning [8]

    Chapter 1352 New Beginning [8]

    "...an Ascender?"

    Damien immediately questioned the term.

    "Right. You must''ve just arrived from the lower world. There is no other exnation for your disproportionate naivety."

    "Lower world? What''s that?"

    "Hahahaha!"

    The womanughed.

    "You don''t need to y dumb. The existence of the lower world ismon knowledge here. It''s not like there''s been a shortage of Ascenders over the past few million years."

    "I see¡­but, what''s so important about Ascenders?"

    Damien knew there was no point in keeping a facade at this point. No matter what he said, she wouldn''t believe him. She trusted herself to the level of delusion, but since she was spot on, it couldn''t really be called delusion, could it?

    He had to know what the treatment of people who ascended was, and how they were perceived. Because if it was beneficial to him, admitting it was natural.

    However¡­

    "What''s important, huh? Well, that depends on who you ask."

    The woman furrowed her brows a bit as if recalling an unpleasant memory.

    "Ascenders are definitely talented. To achieve Divinity in the backwater environment of a lower world is extremely impressive. The question is how they respond when they realize how much more there is for them to do once they''ve ascended."

    "Just as they are talented, they tend to be extremely arrogant. That arrogance usually leads to them dying without aplishing much or bing part of the masses after getting their egos crushed, but those that do make it past all the primary struggles shine more than anyone else."

    "It''s not like there''s a set perception of Ascenders, since none of them are from the same influence or have the same values, but for the most part, it''s both positive and negative."

    "There will be people trying to recruit them by any means, and people who try to eliminate them before they be a threat. The problem is that most of those who endure this treatment end up going to thewless region and bing evil practitioners out of spite or desire for survival, so the general public''s perception does lean towards the negative side."

    As expected, Damien had to keep himself hidden for now.

    "They sound like a troublesome bunch."

    "That, they are. Though, you don''t seem the same as them?"

    "Of course not. If I was an Ascender, wouldn''t I have to be a Divinity?"

    "Are you not one?"

    "Can''t you see for yourself?"

    "I can, and that''s why you should stop trying to uselessly hide it."

    Damien smiled wryly. This woman was not easy to deal with at all.

    "Let''s move on to something else. Isn''t it better to talk about why you called me here?"

    The captain shrugged nomittally.

    "Frankly, I was just curious. I''ve never met an Ascender worth befriending, at least not to more than a superficial level, but you have a different aura around you."

    "What can I say? I''ve always been told I''m charming."

    "Ha!"

    The captainughed inadvertently at the insanity of his statement.

    "You know anyone else who said that in front of me would''ve been killed already, right?"

    Damien smiled back without a worry in mind.

    "If you already know everything, then do you still think you have what it takes to kill me?"

    The woman''s eyes narrowed.

    "Bold."

    "I''d prefer if you called me honest."

    The captain shook her head helplessly.

    "I guess I expected too much. None of you could ever be normal."

    Damien shrugged.

    "Normal people don''t be Divinities."

    "I guess that''s true¡­"

    She nced at him again, as if telling him to just spit out all his secrets, but his wall was too sturdy and she didn''t have enough interest to bother bringing it down.

    "Here, take this."

    She threw a thumb-sized token, which Damien caught without much effort.

    "That has some basic world information on it, so you don''t have to go around so cluelessly. It also contains some stuff about Divinity, so study it well."

    "We''re currently on our way to Asteron, which is an important trade region in the area. Confront the map in the token and figure out the rest yourself."

    Damien''s eyes widened in surprise.

    "I''m sure you didn''t do this just to hear me thank you?"

    "Of course not. Everything in this worldes at a price, but¡­"

    She smiled confidently.

    "...I trust my eyes. If there''s really something magical about you, making you indebted to me here is worth more than just losing a little face for helping you."

    Damien nodded. Many experts had this kind of practice, where they would help geniuses for the sake of cashing in favors when those geniuses became experts themselves.

    These gambles usually ended in nothing, since most geniuses died early, but the select few that seeded would give them far more rewards than their original favor deserved.

    "You don''t have to go back to the cell. I''ve arranged a room for you, so just follow the staff and they''ll amodate you from now on. We''ll reach our destination in another week, so be sure to prepare yourself before then. Your usual excuse won''t work next time."

    Damien nodded and gave a slight bow.

    "I get it. Look forward to the favor I''ll do you in the future, and make sure you aren''t too surprised when you see how fast I grow."

    The woman rolled her eyes.

    "Yeah, yeah. By the way, my name is Yulia Veritas. Remember it well."

    "No problem. Then, I''ll be on my way."

    Damien gave another bow and walked out of the room, meeting the staff outside who guided him as Yulia promised they would.

    Left alone, she lit her cigar and rolled her eyes.

    "Kids these days¡­"

    Damien really had no manners, and his arrogance was through the roof whether he wanted to admit it or not.

    She didn''t know if he was worthy of his arrogance yet, but if he was¡­

    ''The returns really will be worth looking forward to.''

    She grabbed amunication device out of the air and made a call, which was answered almost instantly.

    "Is there anything to report, miss?" A voice said from the other side.

    "Put my brother on the phone," she said, her attitude not changing one bit.

    The other side was silent for a moment, but another voice came through without too much dy.

    "Sister? What are you doing now? Didn''t I already say you need toe back to the n soon?"

    "I know you brat, I''m on the way," she replied grumpily.

    "But more importantly, you would never guess who I just met."

    "Someone who caught your eye? Does that kind of person even exist in this world anymore?"

    "Tch. You should watch that tone of yours. How are you supposed to be a n Head with all that snarkiness hidden in your bones?"

    "After all, I learned from the best."

    "I see, so you''ve forgotten what my fists feel like."

    "Ha¡­hahaha¡­anyway, sister, you were saying?"

    "Mm, there''s an interesting kid on my ship right now."

    "Talented? Should I try to draw him into the n?"

    "That''s funny. If you tried, you''d probably die, though?"

    The man on the other side of themunication''s eyes widened in surprise.

    Those were words he never expected to hear.

    "There aren''t many people capable of something like that¡­"

    "Yeah, but they are. The purple-eyed n."

    The man''s wide eyes widened even further. His eyelids practically retreated into his skull as they popped out of their sockets.

    "You mean¡­!"

    "Right, if I''m not mistaken¡­"

    "...that kid is a young Void."

    The man''s heart skipped a beat.

    "A young male Void, huh¡­"

    "I understand. You don''t have to worry about it."

    Yulia smiled.

    "As expected of my brother. Do well this time and you''ll probably be able to cement yourself in that position you worked so hard to im."

    The identity of "Void" wasn''t something simple at all, nor was it something many could possess.

    For a new one to appear now¡­

    Yulia sighed.

    ''Chaos is going to ensue again.''

 Chapter 1353 First Expedition [1]

    Chapter 1353 First Expedition [1]

    The Heavenly World''s size had been mentioned multiple times. It was huge enough to be a universe in its own right, and with so many people living together, it was difficult to have a hierarchical power structure that could be properly maintained.

    Or at least, that was what Damien thought.

    The Heavenly World was split into eight cardinal regions, the Northern, Northeastern, Eastern, Southeastern, Southern, Southwestern, Western, and Northwestern Regions.

    Each of these regions was split into roughly ten thousand principalities that were run by minor forces, and each of those principalities was split into countries, kingdoms, and states that were run by smaller influences.

    There was a strict structure where, therger the influence, the more influences they had under them. And no matter howrge an influence was, they would always be under someone else.

    At least, for the most part.

    The number of subsidiary ns and influences was uncountable, but in each region, there were four influences that governed all the rest, a total of 32 in the entire world.

    And above those 32 were eight great ns.

    These were the highest authorities of the Heavenly World. They each had sovereignty over an entire cardinal region, and they had power greater than thebination of all of those under them, which allowed them to stand on top of the world without having their positions shaken.

    "The Straea n of the North, Vega n of the Northeast, Holy Empire of the Northwest, Veritas n of the East, Dragon n of the West, Kyushu Federation of the Southeast, Divine Order of the Southwest, and¡­Void Pce of the South."

    Together, the eight great ns ruled the world.

    They were supreme.

    And the n that called itself Damien''s birtnd was one of them.

    ''Wow. I knew my father had some status here, but I never expected it to be to this extent.''

    There wasn''t much information on the actualyouts of the cardinal regions or the nuances of each great n, but just seeing Void Pce listed among forces that couldn''t be reached no matter how much of a genius one was definitely had an impact on Damien''s heart.

    ''So I need to go to the Southern Region at some point, and right now, I''m in the Eastern Region.''

    "The Veritas n, huh¡­"

    Was it a coincidence?

    Why did the captain of this starship share that surname?

    ''There''s no way it''s a coincidence.''

    Damien didn''t believe in coincidences anymore. All of the coincidences he''d encountered in life were guided by something bigger than him, and this one had to be the same.

    ''I don''t know what position Yulia Veritas has in her n, but if she can throw her name around without any worries, it can''t be small.''

    Then again, perhaps she couldn''t say her surname so easily and revealed it to him for another purpose.

    ''This is troublesome. I didn''t know Void Pce was this relevant, so I didn''t take that many countermeasures to conceal myself. If there are any physical traits or other cues that give away my identity, won''t I immediately be engulfed in things I can''t control?''

    If there was one thing he gathered through his interactions with his father, it was that somethingplicated was going on in his life.

    The situation of Void Pce wasn''t something he could know at this time, and with his position as a legitimate heir to that ce, unless he could be confident he wouldn''t be touched, he had to be careful not to die early to schemes.

    ''I''ll have to change my appearance before I leave.''

    The gears in his mind began to turn as caution filled his veins.

    He had an end goal, to reach Void Pce, but he needed to get strong enough to handle himself in this world before he did.

    If he could randomly jump on a starship and meet someone stronger than him, he could very well meet people of that level constantly as he traveled.

    ''For that, I should create a foundation in the Eastern Region before I make my way to the South.''

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath.

    He didn''t spend much time on it because of how vague the information was, but he could feel the weight of those great influences on his shoulders.

    They were filled with True Gods, people he couldn''t beat with even his current power, and Demigods were just regr troops to them.

    He wasn''t at the bottom again.

    That was an exaggeration made by people from the lower universe who didn''t know better.

    There were countless existences below him, even within the ranks of Demigods, but there were just as many above him.

    He was just average.

    And he had a ways to go before he could run around like a supreme genius again.

    ''Okay. Let''s start nning.''

    There was more information about the Eastern Region in the token than the rest, since that was where they currently were, and there was plenty written about Asteron, his current destination.

    If he wanted to make a name for himself in the Eastern Region and explore the Heavenly World, this was his chance to do so.

    And he didn''t n to waste it at all.

    Along with the geographical and societal information in the token, Yulia also provided him with knowledge on the progression one had to undergo in the ranks of Divinity.

    Unlike the vague structure where people just trained until their limit that existed in the lower universe, the Heavenly World had a totally defined system for how to rank up and grow.

    It was lessplicated and moreplicated at the same time.

    The leveling mechanic from the system still existed, but the way to increase one''s level changed entirely.

    Just killing was no longer enough. The new system relied on "Divinity" and "Legends."

    The Demigod ranksted until level 799, and at level 800 one would gain the opportunity to challenge True Godhood.

    Experience would only be granted if one did things that either enhanced one''s Legend or defined one''s Divinity.

    It was a vague way to describe things, but when it was applied to the individual, it was far easier to understand.

    Damien''s Divinity was that of the Hegemon God.

    He had to stand above everyone else and conquer. If he aplished feats that furthered him towards the position of Hegemon God that he formed his Divinity around, it would be enhanced along with his level.

    As for the section about Legends, Damien was too familiar with it. He''d been working to increase his Legend for arge part of his life, and he didn''t need an exnation of what it meant to do so.

    Still, it was a non-linear system thatpletely diverged from what he knew, and if he wanted to follow it, he needed topletely change his mentality.

    Kill, Eat, Evolve, the mentality that got him through the First Dungeon, finally became irrelevant.

    And Damien was all for it.

    Funnily enough, no matter how much he enjoyed the simplicity of the previous system, this one was far better for him.

    Because he really didn''t have to do anything.

    He was Damien Void. He was the man who created Legends by just existing.

    All he had to do was act like himself, and those conditions he needed to fulfill would fulfill themselves naturally

    With a mechanic like this, how could he not be pleased?

 Chapter 1354 First Expedition [2]

    Chapter 1354 First Expedition [2]

    Every hundred levels of the Demigod rank was ssified in its own way. They had their own names, but for the sake of convenience, most people just referred to them as low-rank, middle-rank, and high-rank.

    There was a qualitative difference between each rank, and unlike the levels of lower existence, it wasmon to see both people who could fight between ranks and people who would be absolutely suppressed by those of higher rank.

    Because along with one''s level, the state of one''s Divinity was important.

    Someone with a Divinity like Damien''s [Hegemon God] could fight someone who was at the peak of the Demigod ranks if that person''s Divinity was a mere [me Controller] or something equallymon.

    The nuances didn''t really need to be mentioned, since individuality made it hard to put a conclusive definition on who could do what, but it was easy to understand it when it was taken from case to case.

    Though, that didn''t need to be done now.

    As Damien continued to study the Heavenly World''s mana and n for the future, the starship continued its journey across the Eastern Region and after a few more weeks, it finally reached its destination.

    Damien had a great trip after his amodations were provided, and by listening in on the conversations of the other passengers, he was able to discover more about how the hierarchy in this world worked.

    It wasn''t like he was learning anything that would progress him forward, but rather than encroaching on more ground, deepening the knowledge he already had was more important at the moment.

    And when the time finally came to disembark from the ship, Damien met Yulia one more time and thanked her before disappearing into the crowd.

    As she watched him go, she called her shadow and gave another order.

    "Take a team and follow him. Don''t interfere with his activities or stay close enough to intrude when he doesn''t want intrusion. Just keep track of his location and help him if it looks like he''s going to die."

    She couldn''t do anything to offend someone with his identity, but she wanted to keep him close until the things she spoke about with her brother were confirmed.

    However, just as she gave the order¡­

    "Hm?"

    Her eyes widened.

    A slight smile formed on her face.

    "What a sneaky brat."

    Her shadow barely had time to leave before he was summoned back.

    "Forget it. Someone of your level can''t track him anyway."

    The order he was given was retracted in less than a second, and the reason was more than simple.

    Even Yulia herself had lost track of his life aura within that second.

    Damien was clearly hiding much more than he was willing to reveal, and if someone of her caliber could still be fooled by him, her shadows didn''t have any chance at all.

    ''That makes things even more amusing.''

    A genius who lived up to expectations could only ever amount to that much, but a genius who surpassed expectations to the extent of making those who held them feel helpless¡­

    The achievements of that kind of genius would be unpredictable in the best way.

    And frankly, those who were watching them would be at the edge of their seats as they anticipated what was toe.

    ***

    ''Nice. Looks like this works as well.''

    Damien smiled as he brushed through the crowd.

    Existence was an extremely convenientw. Just as he was able to change his entire gic structure to match that of a Nox when he was in Al''Katra, he could easily make himself into a different person at a level where no other person could recognize his identity.

    Whether it be physical traits or mana signature, they could all be manipted freely.

    The current Damien was still an exceedingly handsome man with sharp features, but his bone structure and everything else werepletely different. His eyes were a cool shade of blue that held simrities to his father''s, and while his hair was still ck, it was now short and clean, unlike how he usually kept it.

    His demeanor still stood out from the crowd. Nobody who saw him would ever believe he was just an average person, but that was also to his benefit.

    He was now a Demigod. There was no such thing as a Demigod who looked ordinary, so if he tried to emte the most unimpressive appearance he knew, he would only be more suspicious.

    He didn''t want to discredit himself, because acting as a lower existence in this world would be extremely annoying. He just didn''t want people to know he was "Damien Void."

    ''I should keep Spacetime under wraps for now too. I''ll use Destruction Law to get around and use Existence as a whole when I''m not in a situation where I can be easily exposed. That way, connecting me to Void Pce would be basically impossible.''

    The only question was how Yulia would act, but he could slowly observe in the future.

    ''Asteron is a pretty prevalent city here. I should be able to find something to do soon enough.''

    The Eastern Region had 10,000 principalities under the control of the Aequitas, Virtus, Libertas, and Sapientia ns.

    Asteron was in the Verdant Principality under the Sapientia n and was responsible for a majority of trades through the upper quarter of the Eastern Region.

    People would travel through the city constantly from all corners of thend, and information was as easy to get as dirt from the ground if one just looked for it.

    The city itself was massive and modern, with skyscrapers and other simr structures lined side by side for several hundreds of kilometers. It looked like a futuristic Earth more than anything else, and though there was a lot that was foreign to him, Damien felt oddly at home here.

    As he walked the streets and took in the sights, he enjoyed the ambiance and listened to the conversations of passing pedestrians.

    Whether it be random news about personal affairs or more broad rumors about happenings across the Eastern Region, he heard it all.

    He singled out those bits and pieces that would be relevant to him, and while there was a lot going on that he could get involved in, he didn''t hear anything particrly interesting.

    ''At the end of the day, I''m working to get stronger and find my way to Void Pce, so I need something that can push me towards those goals.''

    Random expeditions weren''t what he needed now.

    Instead¡­

    "...why would I lie to you? I heard it personally from my cousin who works as a guard for their estate. The Norn Family really is looking to explore the Vanishing Dunes!"

    "There''s no way. Even if they''re a subsidiary of the Sapientia n, isn''t that too arrogant of them? Especially to hire mercenaries instead of sending their own troops! Do they not have any regard for our lives?"

    "No, you know the reputation they have. The Norn Family is known to care for the people, but they can''t afford to be careless this time. The mercenaries are being hired to act together with their personal army, because¡­"

    "Don''t stall and just tell me!"

    "Alright, but keep this to yourself. Nobody is supposed to know this."

    "You know I will, so just tell me already. What do I even gain from spreading the news?"

    "True¡­well, from what I''ve heard¡­the 2nd Young Master, Asher Norn, disappeared into the Vanishing Dunes three days ago. This party isn''t just to explore the ridge, the main purpose is to find him."

    The conversation took ce in a hidden location that nobody should''ve been able to eavesdrop on them, but the two men were unaware of the presence of the Demigod casually drinking tea in the shop below them.

    ''A n directly rted to one of the four major ns and an expedition to a strange ce, huh¡­''

    Damien grinned, his face twitching as he tried to stop himself.

    But he couldn''t.

    He had to do it.

    ''This¡­''

    He took another sip.

    ''...sounds like my cup of tea.''

 Chapter 1355 First Expedition [3]

    Chapter 1355 First Expedition [3]

    The Norn Family was openly hiring mercenaries that could pass their tests, so Damien didn''t need to do too much digging to find what he needed.

    The only real requirement wasbat power. Everything else was rtive, and things like unity werepletely unnecessary. There was already the Norn Family''s personal army among the participants, so the mercenaries were being treated more like meat shields than anything else.

    Though, Damien didn''t care much.

    The reason he chose this task out of everything else wasn''t thatplicated. He wanted to form a connection with the Norn Family, and if possible find himself an audience with the Sapientia n.

    If he could get that far, finding ways to gain experience wouldn''t be difficult and he''d have an umbre to shield him if the need ever arose.

    He didn''t doubt that he could''ve gone straight to the Veritas n with Yulia if he just asked, but that wasn''t what he wanted.

    He had to think things through. In the Heavenly World, "Damien Void" wasn''t a nameless genius.

    He was a high-level figure of Void Pce. Even if he himself didn''t consider it so, others weren''t the same.

    If he took a favor from the Veritas n without knowing anything about the ongoing circumstances, how would that reflect on Void Pce?

    Whether the Veritas n was a hostile power or an ally, he couldn''t ept favors easily when his decisions had so many implications.

    Instead, he had to stack up favors from others, so that when the time came for him to see his birthright for the first time, he could approach with confidence and a name that others couldn''t look down on.

    Naturally, forming rtionships with other forces was a great way to do this.

    ''I didn''t think about it, but maybe the Saint Emperor''s memories made me more conniving.''

    Those memories had engrained themselves in his psyche and subtly changed his thinking, allowing him to make informed decisions with more uracy and caution than ever before.

    And with that caution in mind, Damien made his way over to the designated location to apply as a mercenary.

    It was a martial field roughly ten kilometers away from the Norn Family''s main residence. From the employer family, there was a strange old man, a woman roughly Damien''s age, and a man who looked like the middle ground between them.

    They watched and vetted the participants as they fought against members of the Norn Family''s army. Not all those who won would be selected, and sometimes, even if the challengers lost they''d be rmended for the party.

    Damien arrived as another nameless mercenary without even the credentials to prove his qualifications. He watched amidst the crowd as person after person was chosen.

    The number quickly stacked into the hundreds, and yet, the Norn Family continued allowing people to test.

    ''It really is like grabbing meat shields. If they actually needed help, they wouldn''t need so many mercenaries.''

    Damien frowned as his turn arrived. His name was called, and as he made his way onto the martial field, he fell into thought.

    ''From what I''ve seen, those with too much power for the Norn Family to control aren''t chosen, and those with high defense power are chosen regardless. It''s a little unsettling, but the general consensus seems to be that the Norn Family cares about themon people, so there must be something more to it.''

    Damien shook his head and took a battle stance.

    The fight started without dy, and instead of showing off and using his Destruction Law to win, Damien yed a different game.

    He took hit after hit, to the point where his opponent was provoked by theck of damage he was taking.

    Stronger attacks continued to rain down on him, but with his imprable skin and Authority of Immortality, what could this low-rank Demigod even hope to do to him?

    Thebat power he showcased wasn''t spectacr, and he painted himself as a martial artist more than a practitioner who had great achievements inw, but it was fine.

    He was chosen anyway.

    After all, who could deny someone who could tank so much damage without a single scratch?

    Several other tests followed the first one to verify Damien''s identity and make sure he wasn''t hiding anything dangerous, and after he passed all of these wlessly, he was sent with the rest into a new facility where they were informed of the mission details.

    It went something like this.

    There existed a desert a thousand kilometers from Asteron that separated it from the cities to the northwest. It was hot, dry, and filled with beasts that even Demigods fear. The desert itself was treacherous enough for most to take the long way around it for safety, but within that danger was an even more terrifying environment known as the Vanishing Dunes.

    They seemed toe and go as they pleased, like vestiges of an ancient environment that didn''t want to be forgotten. Anyone caught in the dune area when it vanished would vanish along with it, and when it reappeared, those people and their traces would be gone as if they never existed in the first ce.

    The task was to enter that area and uncover its secrets. Survivors would be paid hundreds of thousands in True Gold, the currency of the Eastern Region, and the families of those who died would bepensated double that amount.

    It was a great deal, so most of the mercenaries ignored the obvious danger and agreed to participate. Contracts were signed to make sure neither party reneged on the terms, and after over 300 mercenaries underwent the same process, the expedition party waspletely formed.

    Damien went through all the processes without attracting much attention. Since a meat shield could only be a meat shield no matter how good of a shield it was, most people didn''t spend time on him.

    This gave Damien enough opportunities to observe and scope out those he''d be traveling with on this mission.

    ''For the most part, there''s nobody worth looking at.''

    The Norn Family group was interesting, but that was granted since they were the employers.

    ''That woman looks around my age but her soul is a few hundred years old. Is that the standard of geniuses in this ce?''

    Geniuses in the lower universe reached Divinity after several thousand years, and geniuses in the Heavenly World did the same in a quarter of that time at most.

    ''Where does that leave me?''

    The guy who reached Divinity in less than a century¡­

    ''...wow. If I wasn''t me, I''d want me dead expeditiously.''

    Damien smiled wryly.

    The expedition was set to take ce in three days, so he had some time to prepare, not that there was really anything to do.

    ''But since I do have time, I should use it properly.''

    Asteron was a melting pot. With so many peopleing from all over the ce, there was no shortage of geniuses in the city.

    ''Three days, huh¡­''

    Damien smiled to himself.

    ''Then, let''s spend three days properly understanding the standards of these higher world existences¨C''

    ¨Cwas what he said.

    But really, truly, honestly, if one looked into his heart¡­

    He just wanted to beat some people up to relieve his boredom.

    It seemed the status of an average man had affected Damien, because his demeanor as a peak genius hadpletely left him.

    Instead, he was reverting just a bit to that man he used to be, who didn''t have to worry about responsibilities and put his own fun over everything else.

    Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing¡­?

    Only the Heavens knew at this point in time.

 Chapter 1356 First Expedition [4]

    Chapter 1356 First Expedition [4]

    The people of the lower universe had a skewed perception of the Heavenly World.

    Because it was a ne outside their understanding, they exaggerated it massively and used it as a scapegoat to cover their cowardice.

    Therefore, to lower universe existences, the Heavenly World was a terrifying ce where one could die at any moment despite the power they umted before going there.

    They allowed fear to control them and keep them away from this beautiful ce.

    But, at the same time, they weren''t wrong.

    The Heavenly World had a LOT of Divinities.

    There were so many Gods they couldn''t be counted, and for those below their level, even trying was impossible due to the scarcity at which they appeared in the public eye.

    As for Demigods, the numbers were practically the same as 4th-ss existences in the lower universe.

    They were a plenty, and they were so varied that Demigods should''ve had their own power system to define them.

    No two low-rank Demigods would have the same power, and no Demigod could be judged until their Divinity was revealed to the world.

    Also, it was a very long journey to make it from a Demigod to True Godhood. It was more taxing than bing a higher existence from a lower existence, and even the greatest geniuses took at least ten thousand years to make the journey.

    Still, they needed to reach Divinity from somewhere.

    The only reason there could be so many Divinities was because the number of lower existences was even more plentiful.

    So even if one ascended and became average or less than average amidst the crowd, as long as one was able to put down their pride and slowly limate to the world, it was entirely possible to regain that past position without much danger.

    The problem was arrogance. After being of high status for a long period of time, nobody wanted to return tomonness and be irrelevant. Nobody wanted to be treated normally, because even Demigods weren''t held on high pedestals in this world unless they truly earned their title.

    Lower universe Divinities who ascended, aptly named Ascenders by the Heavenly World denizens, needed to learn how to adapt.

    That was really the only thing holding them back.

    Because while they were unaware of this truth, they had talent that stood out even in the Heavenly World.

    The act of reaching Divinity and ascending from the lower universe was enough proof of that.

    Putting aside the difficult conditions one had to endure to reach that point, ascending itself was a sort of cleansing process that would transform one''s body and soul and bring out their full potential.

    Only Damien didn''t experience this since he technically "descended" from the Void rather than "ascending" from the lower universe.

    But, that was beside the point.

    Three days had passed since Damien passed the test and joined the expedition party for the Vanishing Dunes.

    And the time to depart had arrived.

    ***

    A strange rumor began to spread through Asteron.

    As the expedition party made their way out of the city, they couldn''t help but overhear the countless rumors that appeared over the past few days, talking about how any and every young Demigod in the city had been beaten down by a single person.

    The craziest part? That person''s identity was still unknown. Even those who watched the fights firsthand couldn''t remember anything about their identity, whether it be gender or appearance.

    The rumor definitely gained a lot of traction, but by the time people started to really specte about that person''s identity, the expedition party was long gone.

    And the person they were specting about as well!

    Damien stood in the midst of the crowd without doing anything too special.

    The conditions of the Heavenly World made Demigods more simr to mortals than they ever could be in the lower universe. There also weren''t restrictions on their power usage, so they had both more freedoms and more consequences to deal with.

    The expedition party needed to take a break every few days or weeks to rest, and there were people specifically designated to take care of food and amodations for them as they traveled.

    It took two weeks for them to reach the cusp of the desert with their speed, even though they all had the power to reach it in just a few days.

    Nevertheless, Damien was trying to stay a part of the group, so while he didn''t really speak to the rest, he didn''t try to stand out and make a name for himself either.

    He wanted to see how these people cooperated and moved.

    When they entered the desert, things became more serious.

    Beasts started attacking, and the expedition party took shifts fighting and defending as they continued to move.

    It was interesting seeing Divinities move like normal people. Damien was so used to seeing them on pedestals, raised above the masses, that when it came to this, he felt it was a bit nd.

    There were definitely positives. The Norn Family made sure the expedition party remained united for the most part. With their leadership, the cooperation led to progress lower existences couldn''t have imagined.

    Their power also wasn''t small. The beasts that attacked them weren''t all lower existences. There were plenty of Demigod beasts that had developed sentience who attacked their party for various reasons, and seeing how they were subdued definitely gave Damien a lot of knowledge about Divinity itself.

    However, his main takeaway was different.

    ''This is suffocating.''

    Damien was never really a team yer.

    There were times when he worked with others, and if they could form a good rtionship, the partnership ended up as a benefit.

    But Damien never preferred this kind of cooperation.

    He got the feeling that, if he moved alone, he would''ve already been at the Vanishing Dunes looking for the Norn n''s 2nd Young Master.

    Besides, his strength was definitely enough for him to stand on his own properly.

    ''Is there a problem with moving alone?''

    Around the time the first month passed, he began to consider it.

    He decided to be part of the expedition party because he was still new to this world. He didn''t want his arrogance to control him and get him into another situation where he stared death in the eye. But if he had to be honest, he was bored.

    These people couldn''t benefit him at all, and he didn''t see any proper chances to form rtionships with them that would be beneficial.

    He just didn''t click with their personalities, nor did he feel the need to stay by them.

    It was a bit difficult to find reasons to stay in the party, and when he realized that, he decided to be bold.

    ''Nobody will notice if I slip away, so I should just go.''

    The Vanishing Dunes were why he came, and saving the 2nd Young Master wasn''t something he needed help with once he got there.

    Damien was an adult now. He didn''t really feel the need to have people around him at every waking moment to feel secure.

    He was tired of all theworking, and he''d prefer if he only did it when it was necessary.

    Therefore, he started looking for an opportunity to vanish.

    And soon enough, that opportunity came on its own.

 Chapter 1357 First Expedition [5]

    Chapter 1357 First Expedition [5]

    As the expedition party made its way through the desert and fought many battles in their search for the Vanishing Dunes, they experienced a drop in their wariness.

    It was just for a mere second, after a particrly powerful beast was killed, but that moment was fatal.

    The great desert was that kind of ce. It was filled with not only beasts, but natural traps that could activate at any time and pull practitioners into the depths of hell.

    With the trying environmental conditions supporting them and making it so those traveling through the desert would have their senses weakened with time, these traps were more deadly than even the strongest of Divine Beasts.

    When the Sand Wyrm that blocked their path fell, it created a massive hole in the sand, which, as it was filled, revealed the hidden mechanisms of a natural formation underneath it.

    A careless mercenary took one step in the wrong direction. That was all it took for the entire group to plunge into the ground below.

    Damien watched it all happen without a word, and as he observed the trap formation that was consuming them, he took notice of its nuances.

    ''It should be abyrinth formation, so most of these people will be fine at least until they get transported to thebyrinth. As for what happens inside¡­''

    ''It should be abyrinth formation, so most of these people will be fine at least until they get transported to thebyrinth. As for what happens inside¡­''

    Damien shook his head. It wasn''t his problem, but if he could help it, he needed to save the members of the Norn Family.

    ''I don''t think they intentionally tried to hide it, but it''s only an assumed fact that the woman among them is the Young Lady of the family.''

    The Norn Family Head was said to have three sons and two daughters. The red-haired woman was the eldest daughter of the family, who was said to have a strong bond with the young master who disappeared.

    ''It''s a little annoying, but if she was soft, she wouldn''t have been able to leave with the expedition party. Her family would have stopped her.''

    The old man was a high-rank Demigod, and the middle-aged man wasn''t much weaker. As long as she had them by her side, she would be fine.

    ''...but it never goes that way, does it?''

    Damien smiled wryly as his feet touched solid ground.

    He was in a damp hallway that was just tall enough to stack two of him on top of each other. Its width could support no more than two people walking side by side, and it extended in both directions seemingly without end.

    ''Damp is a strange thing to feel from a formation found in the desert, but I guess that''s the whole point.''

    Damien spread his awareness and tried to find an easy way out of the formation, but it was strangely difficult.

    ''The mana is being twisted. I can''t see outside of thebyrinth, but I can see the entirebyrinth for what it is.''

    Finding a path to the center was easy, and finding a path to escape was even easier, but¡­

    ''If I''m not mistaken, I can use this to my advantage.''

    Thebyrinth was massive. As long as he could confirm that it was connected to the real world and not a separated ne of its own, he could absolutely use this to escape the group without much trouble.

    ''Then, I should start¨C''

    "Mmgh¡­"

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien sighed.

    ''Right, there was that.''

    On the floor a few feet away was a woman who was just now waking up from her unconscious state. She had bright red hair and green eyes that immediately turned hostile the second she opened them.

    "You are¡­?"

    "It''s a bit of a shame that you don''t remember your own mercenaries."

    "Hmm, and we are¡­?"

    "In a natural formation. We have to find our way out quick if you want to save that young master of yours."

    The woman red at him, but Damien didn''t really pay her any mind.

    Isra Norn. She was known as a genius and treated as such by everyone during her youth. She grew into a promising young Divinity faster than expected, and her arrogance had grown along with her strength.

    This woman always had a slightly condescending tone when she spoke to anyone other than the two Norn Family members whom she came with. Damien didn''t really have to deal with it since he never stood out from the crowd, but facing it directly, he immediately lost all interest in entertaining it.

    "I''m going to start moving now, so you should decide whether you''reing with me or not."

    Damien was fully prepared to leave her.

    He already ced a small seal of Existence on her body which would protect her from fatal danger, so he didn''t have to worry about the Norn Family.

    ''I''ve already done enough to gain their sincere gratitude, but when I save their young master on top of that¡­?''

    Well, it would be nice to have a subsidiary n at his beck and call.

    With that thought, Damien walked north through thebyrinth, following the path straight without any deviation.

    Meanwhile, Isra Norn took a few more moments to limate herself, took a few moments to curse out the disrespectful mercenary she happened tond with, and took a few moments to scout the area with her awareness.

    However, it didn''t take long for her to realize her awareness was cut off.

    Not just from the outside world, butpletely.

    Damien offset the ban naturally because he had a halfplete Authority of Existence, but others weren''t the same. Let alone the structure of thebyrinth, they couldn''t even see ten feet ahead of them unless they used their eyes.

    It was an extremely dangerousbyrinth.

    Several tens of mercenaries and private soldiers already died during the fall, and around a hundred more were already killed by thebyrinth''s traps.

    Isra had no way of knowing this, of course, but the second she tried to move on her own and encountered a life-threatening trap as if it was candy in a candy store, she instantly turned around and rushed in the direction Damien went.

    She was arrogant, sure, but her survival instinct brought her far enough for her to know when to put down that pride.

    A semi-permanent scowl painted Damien''s face when she finally caught up to him.

    Because as the hours passed and they made their way through thebyrinth, the barrage of questions he was subjected to never ended.

    "What''s your name?"

    "Where are you from?"

    "Do you have any family?"

    "What''s it like being a mercenary?"

    "Why''d you join the expedition?"

    "Actually, my brother¡­"

    The questions were so immense in number but socking in substance that Damien almost doubted whether she was testing him or something, but she really just seemed to be curious for no reason.

    But he couldn''t ignore that fact.

    No matter how she acted¡­

    ''...this woman is at least 500 years older than me!''

    The point was, she talked a lot.

    For a second, Damien even considered leaving her behind, but he couldn''t do that.

    Unfortunately, they''de in contact with the other Norn Family members soon, so he couldn''t do anything that would lower their favorability.

    ''Just endure. In another kilometer, we''ll reach "that ce," and I can take the opportunity to escape.''

    He would execute the n and leave this ce alone no matter what.

    For the sake of his sanity!

 Chapter 1358 Hidden Plot [1]

    Chapter 1358 Hidden Plot [1]

    It was hard to see Divinities as people who could easily die.

    The expedition party was made up of both Demigods and lower existences the same, and they died all the same as well.

    The method? Traps and missteps.

    One might believe Demigods infallible, but that simply wasn''t true.

    In the lower universe, there didn''t exist anything that could fell a Demigod except other Demigods.

    But here? In the Heavenly World, where Demigods had been a part of their infrastructure for millions upon millions of years, ingrained in the society without any restrictions separating them from the masses, the truth was different.

    Demigod rank artifacts, Demigod rank materials, Demigod rank resources, and many more things were prevalent enough to be considered rtivelymon.

    If one used an alloy made of metals with Demigod rank density and power of their own to create an artifact, how could a Demigod be expected to stay unharmed when attacked by it?

    If a spike pit appeared in thebyrinth, those spikes were made specifically with the intention of skewering Divinities. If arrows flew out of the walls, they would be tipped with poisons and venoms specifically curated to murder Demigods.

    The traps themselves seemed simple. No matter how powerful one became, the actual mechanisms didn''t have to change. They were the most basic mechanisms because of how effective they were.

    When those basic mechanisms were taken to a level where each of those spikes had a mind of its own, where each arrow traveled faster than the speed of light, they became something entirely new, something absolutely capable of ughtering those who shouldn''t have been ughtered.

    The ban on perception was the most deadly part. Even the weakest of Demigods could avoid these traps if they just had the ability to see them. After all, the uniqueness of Divinity was the ability to freely control one''sw in whatever way one can imagine.

    But they didn''t have these capabilities. It was almost like thebyrinth was made for the sole purpose of ughtering these great characters.

    Wasn''t it supposed to be a natural formation?

    Damien originally believed it was. The sand trap that led them here was definitely a product of nature.

    And perhaps these tunnels were made by nature as well.

    However, thisbyrinth''s current form was no longer natural.

    "Somebody" created this shit for an unknown purpose.

    ''I can''t help but be curious about it.''

    Damien was already by himself.

    When he and Isra Norn ran into the two men who apanied her from the n, they began traveling as a group, and Damien was naturally excluded.

    The two older men both looked down on him for being a mercenary and held great suspicions about his motives for approaching Isra.

    Naturally, Damien never approached her to begin with. He was looking for a chance to ditch her from the start.

    They would never believe it, though.

    They might have been from a n with a good reputation, but they were still "nobles."

    They weren''t going to listen to Damien''s words, and Isra, no matter how curious her personality was, didn''t have enough speaking power to change their minds.

    It worked out for him, though.

    As they pushed Damien further from them and tried to put him in a lower position, he was able to gain distance without alerting anyone to his intentions.

    By the time they realized he was gone, they''d passed through so many trap formations that they could only assume he''d died.

    ''Haha, I''m finally alone.''

    Damien celebrated his freedom silently.

    ''I know I''m the one who nned to make connections, but wow, interacting with people of status is annoying.''

    It was different when Damien could be Damien, because his power was enough to match their status. But when he was just a regr mercenary?

    ''I''m starting to realize where the ss dividees from.''

    Actions like those taken by the two men from the Norn Family felt insignificant for them, but for those under them, these were the actions that turned a good reputation into a bad one and made a noble n lose public support.

    ''Still, it''s not my business. If they have high standing, they''ll probably be able to maintain it. Since I''ve parted from them already¡­''

    He was going to go straight to the Vanishing Dunes, but he was curious about thebyrinth after experiencing it for so long.

    ''My spidey sense is tingling.''

    His intuition told him there was some kind of plot here, and if he was looking for entertainment, wouldn''t something like this be the best?

    Instead of directly leaving, Damien followed thebyrinth covertly and teleported into the central area.

    One With Dimension was active, sinking his presence into the spatialyers, and with the Authority of Spacetime guiding it, the skill was far more powerful, enough to conceal his presence from everyone in thebyrinth.

    ''Hmm, it almost looks like¡­''

    He remembered thest time he was in a structure like this, in Alexander''s body with Luciel and the rest.

    The room he found himself in when he reached the center was almost the same. The only thing missing was the Nox being sealed in the middle.

    ''But something was there.''

    Damien spread his awareness and made sure there was nothing waiting for him, and when he confirmed that he was alone, he made his way to the center of the room and investigated the traces he found there.

    He closed his eyes and inserted his mana into the ground.

    The abilities of Existence were hard to define.

    Saying he could control "everything" in existence made him seem omnipotent, but he hadn''t quite reached that level.

    Still, there were things he could do that were impossible for most, specifically because hisw was Existence.

    Things without life had life in Damien''s presence. All things had "memory" including inanimate objects.

    When Damien put his mana in the ground, he pulled out the "memories" of the room itself, the vestiges of past events.

    And those memories filled his head.

    ''As expected, there was something like this.''

    The traces in the middle of the room made him doubt whether the scheme here was connected to the lower universe or not because of how simr it was to back then.

    There were several beings kidnapped and kept here over thousands of years and used as experiment subjects for a man attempting to create an abomination, something forbidden by the heavens.

    Damien didn''t know what he was trying to make. He couldn''t hear what was being said, he could only see what was being done.

    That man tortured the beings he brought here like a lunatic without any sense of humanity. He did so many unspeakable things that Damien almost wanted to stop watching, but he didn''t.

    Because he realized something.

    ''It''s not that the schemes are connected. It''s more apt to say that it''s the same scheme.''

    Thebyrinth from back then and thisbyrinth, their owners were the same man.

    Damien thought he''d died, but it turned out he ascended instead, and while they destroyed the research he left in the lower universe¡­

    ''...I guess he''s still pulling bullshit up here.''

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    That man was trying to make artificial Nox in the past.

    What was the continuation of that experiment that made it worth continuing in the Heavenly World?

    ''If I want to find out, I have to go to the Vanishing Dunes.''

    Suddenly, the expedition party''s fall didn''t feel like a coincidence anymore, nor did the 2nd young master''s disappearance.

    The expedition party was meant to die here.

    And their target¡­

    ''...if I don''t hurry, he''s probably going to be the first sess.''

 Chapter 1359 Hidden Plot [2]

    Chapter 1359 Hidden Plot [2]

    Damien checked for any secret rooms before leaving, since he knew what that man''s usual habits were like.

    Unfortunately, thisbyrinth wasn''t a main base and was just a death trap, so there was no information stored here.

    Once he was certain about this, he immediately used his control over Existence to bypass any and all restrictions and return back to the surface.

    ''The problem is that this is still just the great desert. I need to find the Vanishing Dunes.''

    From what he knew, they appeared and disappeared randomly and had been around for so long that they were involved in countless ancient myths and folk tales.

    That meant they weren''t a product of the mysterious man, but a natural phenomenon he''d taken advantage of for his benefit.

    ''It''d be easier if he made it. That way, I could at least predict the pattern.''

    The great desert was hundreds of millions of kilometers wide. Even for Damien, it was impossible to immediately find something so elusive in arge area like this.

    With no other choice, he began to teleport randomly in search of any traces of the phenomenon.

    ''They supposedly leave a huge disparity in the environment when they disappear, and when the sand fills in the gaps, it creates a unique pattern.''

    ''But even though all these years have passed, nobody has found a pattern in the movement of the dunes.''

    ''If it was really just a phenomenon, it would have to follow a pattern of some sort. Nature is filled with unique geometry like that, and true randomness is rarer than one might expect.''

    ''If it''s really random, there''s a possibility it isn''t a natural phenomenon at all. And if it isn''t that, the only remaining answer is¡­''

    Damien shook his head.

    He didn''t want to think of the worst-case scenario here.

    Instead, he diligently tracked trace after trace. He didn''t even know how to determine the Vanishing Dunes apart from any regr part of the desert, so it was an especially annoying task.

    But, as he continued teleporting, he suddenly felt a sensation like he was passing through a wall of slime.

    He stumbled out of the spatialyers due to its interference, and though his surroundings didn''t change much, he knew he''d found what he was looking for.

    ''That barrier wasn''t something simple. This is probably it.''

    The Vanishing Dunes.

    Without dy, Damien tested the majority of his abilities to see if he''d been ced under any restrictions.

    ''There''s nothing that can actually affect me, but there''s definitely a ban on Divine Energy. Those who travel through this ce have to use their bodies alone.''

    That must''ve been why Damien was stopped by the barrier in such a forceful manner. His "Divine Energy" was blocked, and his teleportation was cancelled.

    ''Void Energy and other forms like what the Envoy''a demon race uses are fine. Only the Divine Energy of the Heavenly World is restricted.''

    Damien could still function at full capacity, but he didn''t immediately make that known.

    ''If there''s someone else here, it''s better to make them think I''m defenseless.''

    He couldn''t raise any rm bells without knowing the full situation, after all.

    With that thought in mind, he spread his awareness and took note of the boundaries of the Vanishing Dunes. After developing a clear understanding of how much space this area contained, he began the search he came here for.

    ''That second young master, what was his name again¡­? Ah, right, Asher Norn.''

    Damien recalled the information he knew about the man, mostly that which was provided by the Norn Family.

    ''His affinity is fire, but Fire Laws are so prevalent in the desert that it''s impossible to distinguish a specific frequency of them. His appearance isn''t too obvious, and overall he''s a pretty average guy.''

    He didn''t really get what significance Asher Norn held for his family to spend so much manpower on him, but that was a question for another day.

    ''If I can''t find his traces, I have to look for anything else.''

    He explored the area, which was around ten million kilometers wide and fifty million kilometers long, on foot.

    His speed was something to marvel about, and despite the great distance that was seemingly impossible to scour without mana, Damien did it without much issue.

    Of course, if he had to search every corner of the space, it would have taken him many months at the very least, but Damien had an awareness that surpassed the perception of even some Gods.

    He was able to find the first trace through it and beeline there. After that, going from trace to trace wasn''t too difficult.

    They were physical, after all. Slight indents in the dunes, traces of battle, and even footprints hadn''t disappeared, making it evident that they were left not too long ago.

    ''He disappeared around a month ago. If he was actually kidnapped, these traces wouldn''t be so obvious. I think he came here for some other purpose, and the kidnapping happened when he copsed from weariness.''

    Damien''s presence here was caused by a collection of coincidences, which made him a bit ufortable, but he ignored that feeling.

    Because after almost a full day of searching, he found what he was looking for.

    The final line of footsteps led to a clearing in the range of dunes that made up this natural phenomenon.

    In the desert, this would''ve been nothing special, but in this ce, t ground was basically nonexistent.

    They weren''t called the Vanishing Dunes for nothing. It was basically a mountain range of sand, with each valley just barely wide enough for a single person to fit through on the t area.

    So when Damien found the clearing, he immediately felt suspicious.

    His awareness didn''t find anything off, and when he walked across it, nothing special happened, but¡­

    ''...the smell of blood is too thick.''

    There had to be something here.

    If blood was the key¡­

    ''My blood happens to be quite the delicacy.''

    Damien grinned.

    He cut into his palm and allowed his blood to drip onto the ground below. He even cut off Transcendent Regeneration to let copious amounts of the red liquid paint the ground, just in case a few drops weren''t enough.

    Nothing happened instantly, but Damien knew he was on the right track.

    After all, the sand wasn''t stained.

    His blood sunk below the surface and disappeared into the mouth of "something."

    And when that "something" got a taste of the heavenly treasure known as Damien''s blood¡­

    RUMBLE!

    An earthquake shook the Vanishing Dunes.

    The sand in the clearing sifted to the side as something rose from beneath it.

    ''It''s¡­an altar?''

    An altar of blood, a sacred yet corrupted imagery that Damien wasn''t expecting to see, appeared before him.

    And along with it, as if par for course, an altar guardian.

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    "Ah, is it that time?

    He hit his fists together in excitement.

    The beast before him was a true chimera with a lion''s head, a scorpion''s tail, and the ws and wings of an eagle.

    Its aura was tremendous, ring out with such intensity that it increased the gravity in the area several times over.

    It wasn''t just an aura of power.

    It was an aura of true Divinity.

    Was there any better situation?

    Damien red his aura back, making his intentions known.

    It was a challenge.

    Damien had seen many Demigod beasts as the expedition party moved through the great desert, but he never had the chance to actually fight one.

    Now that the chance hade, how could he let it go easily?

    He raised his arm and pointed at the chimera with arge grin decorating his face.

    "You¡­"

    "You''re fucking dead!"

 Chapter 1360 Hidden Plot [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1360 Hidden Plot [3]</h4>

    Damien hadn''t had a chance to test his power in the Heavenly World yet, so he was definitely excited for this fight.

    He did beat up a bunch of young geniuses, but that wasn''t much of a test for him. It was more to see what the standard for geniuses was in the region.

    He couldn''t use the majority of his power in public yet, so he had been eagerly awaiting a moment like this.

    And now that it hade, why would he hold back?

    He mmed his foot into the ground with such force that the sand below was directly melted into particles of ss. He shot forward with the same intensity, approaching the chimera before it could even try to take the first move.

    The chimera was massive. Its head was the size of a two-story building by itself, and the size of the rest of its body could be imagined. Damien arrived under its chin in an instant and punched upward with extreme force,cing the Law of Destruction into his mana as he did so.

    BOOM!

    Its head was snapped back with such force that the rest of its body toppled over. It used its wings to regain its bnce, but Damien was already gone, high above its head with his hands together.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    A beam of reddish-ck energy struck down like a pir from heaven and burned into the chimera''s back, mming it into the ground.

    It opened its mouth to roar in pain, and its scorpion tail whipped through the air to force Damien away, but its attacks were futile.

    After all, no matter how restricted he was, Damien was still a spatial practitioner.

    How could the speed of a blind tail match his?

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Damien teleported all around the chimera and barraged it with beams of destruction. Once its skin was torn, he pushed in and dug his mana into the wounds, using hisws to make sure they''d never heal.

    He tried to use Destruction exclusively. It was both because of the decision he made in the previous days, and because he wanted to train this affinity that he was naturally born with.

    As for why Damien chose Destruction out of all hisws?

    It was because Destruction was rare, but not absolutely unique.

    ording to Dante, Damien was the sole inheritor of Destruction, but that title was nuanced.

    People still had Destruction Law. Just as the Saint Emperor did, others had alsoprehended Destruction and gained the affinity in theter years of their lives.

    These people couldn''t be considered inheritors of Destruction, and they would never be able to wield it like he did, but they could still wield it all the same.

    Damien wanted to be seen as a genius among geniuses. If he could be regarded like those people, as someone whoprehended Destruction and gained an affinity, but at an age far younger than anyone else, wasn''t that perfect?

    Plus, he wanted to get more familiar with the affinity closest to his soul.

    Therefore, he fought with Destruction, and absolutely enjoyed himself while doing so.

    Thew of Destruction didn''t have any real form of its own. It could be anything Damien wanted it to be as long as it wasced with the intent to destroy.

    Damien''s most preferred method was through fire. He could use his own Void me, which had been upgraded in the Ancient Battlefield, andbine it with the mes of Destruction to create something absolutely terrifying.

    The chimera felt it with its body.

    The burning ck mes seared into its skin and aggravated its injuries so they could never heal. It dug deep and corroded its flesh and bones to weaken it with every passing second, and no matter how much Divine Energy was used, it couldn''t be extinguished.

    The worst part was its effect on the soul. The chimera''s consciousness was subtly slipping away, making it less aware of reality. It was so calm and indiscernible that the beast was barely able to sense that it wasn''t a natural thing, and despite sensing it, it simply didn''t have the time to counter it!

    "HUMAN!"

    The chimera roared. It was a Divine Beast, a Demigod-level existence, so naturally, it had a sentience of its own.

    The process for beasts to reach Divinity varied a lot from humanoid lifeforms, and while sentience wasn''t necessarily a requirement for them to do so, most of them had sentience by the time they reached 4th ss.

    The chimera was here as an altar guardian. It had been protecting this ce for tens of thousands of years without any problem, but recently, it had encountered setback after setback.

    Another man bothered its rest several thousand years ago and almost killed it. It only lived after begging for mercy, and it was still being used by that man who broke into the ce it was supposed to be guarding.

    It knew that atrocities were beingmitted in its sacrednd, but it couldn''t do anything about it if it wanted to stay alive.

    That day, it learned how weak it was. Despite millennia upon millennia of training, it could still be treated like a dog when someone stronger arrived.

    So it trained even harder to be strong enough to truly stand on its own.

    For several thousand years, it did its absolute best for that purpose.

    But¡­

    Why did it have to be like this?

    Why did it have to run into another monster out of nowhere?!

    It tried to attack.

    It used the height of its physical capabilities, the power granted to it by thebination of traits that created it. It used itsws, a twisted version of Fire Laws that was specifically designed for chimeras.

    No matter how weak it seemed now, it couldn''t be underestimated. It was a powerful Demigod that could cause mayhem if it was let out of the Vanishing Dunes.

    It was a shame that it found itself facing an even greater monster.

    That monster didn''t give it a chance to shine at all. That monster made it look like some weak cannon fodder that had no business being an altar guardian.

    Because that monster was enjoying himself greatly.

    Damien explored every bit of Destruction Law he could in this battle.

    He transformed it into thousands of different forms, caused physical and ethereal damage, attacked the mind, twisted the environment, and even affected the high heavens to cause phenomena that he then controlled to attack.

    The chimera was definitely unresigned to dying like this, but at the same time, it didn''t think it would ever find a better way to die.

    The swirling colors, the twistedws, the fractured environment¡­

    When put together in the eyes of a beast that had never left its territory, it created a beautiful picture of chaos unlike anything the world had ever produced.

    The chimera fought to itsst breath. It epted that it couldn''t win, but it still wanted to fight.

    To prove that its attempts to be strong weren''t in vain.

    And as Damien entertained the beast and allowed it to relish in itsst moments, their battle came to an end.

    He stood on its head with a pitch-ck sword of energy stabbed directly through its eyes. The beast was already dead, and only he remained.

    "Haha¡­" heughed quietly, clenching his fist and unsummoning the sword.

    "Good battle."

 Chapter 1361 Hidden Plot [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1361 Hidden Plot [4]</h4>

    Once the chimera fell, Damien naturally devoured it before he went to the altar.

    Through its memories, he learned a bit more about the mysterious man and the ruins this altar led to, but since the chimera remained outside the ruins its entire life, the information it had wasn''t much.

    ''What a single-minded beast.''

    The chimera had no real reason to remain a protector of the altar. The duty was assigned to it at birth, and it followed it mindlessly without a single question.

    It was a bit of a pathetic existence, but that was that.

    ''I should focus on what needs to be done.''

    The only real useful thing in the chimera''s absorbed existence was the method to enter the ruin properly.

    ''The ruin is supposedly a relic from an ancient society. It''s meant to have some sort of religious background belonging to a God from the past, and the person who clears it is meant to inherit his legacy.''

    Of course, the ruin was now being used for something more nefarious, and that legacy was probably long rotted to the point where even the mysterious man who made this ruin his home didn''t recognize its existence.

    ''Anyway, if I just¡­''

    He approached the altar and stepped on a few weighted pressure tes.

    The ground rumbled, and the ruin changed to its second form. Here, Damien used his mana to trace a specific pattern in the shape of a sword wrapped in lightning.

    The pattern pushed deep into the ground and shone bright enough to light up the entire altar. Spatial fluctuations filled the air, and the ground opened up to reveal a staircase.

    ''Interesting.''

    The mechanism did transport one to a new space, but it was a gradual transportation that happened while one took the stairs.

    ''Even the stairway is a test.''

    Damien nced around as he walked, the All-Seeing Eyes showing him through reality.

    His body and soul were being scanned by various mechanisms. They were trying to determine his potential, his alignment, and many other things, but because of Damien''s unique existence, it wasn''t able to do much at all.

    ''I''ll probably be deemed unworthy of the legacy, but as long as I''m not spit out, it''s fine.''

    The winding staircase was long. It extended more and more the farther Damien walked, as if it refused to let him into the ruin.

    But he was already prepared for this.

    ''You expect to scare away a spatial practitioner with spatial tricks?''

    The only reason he was following the ruins'' will was because he wanted to go through the spatial discement without setting off any rms.

    Since he was already technically within the ruin now, there was no need to keep doing things legally.

    Damien put his hands forward and pushed them apart like he was prying open a set of elevator doors. Space tore with his movements, and as he stepped into the crack he created, he found himself in a new space.

    ''This should be something like purgatory, a space in between spaces, an intermediary.''

    From here, Damien could take one of many paths that could take him through the ne he was currently in, and as he looked through them, he quickly found the one he wanted.

    ''I should observe for a bit first.'' He thought.

    He opened that space, expanded it, and allowed its light to pass through his eyes.

    Like that, a scene was revealed.

    The scene of a plot that had remained hidden for tens of millennia.

    ***

    It looked simr to the inside of a church.

    There were no pews, nor was there any religious imagery. All these things had been removed long ago.

    In front of the stained ss windows that made up the space''s rear wall, a man was chained in the air.

    His arms were spread diagonally above his head and shackled to chains that came from the roof, while his legs were in a simr position chained to the floor.

    His head hung low, strangely lulling from side to side as if the bones holding it up were twisted and broken.

    In fact, many of the bones in his body were in the same state. His skin was covered in thick, pulsating ck veins of unnatural birth, and overall, he wasn''t in any condition to be considered alive.

    Yet, he absolutely was.

    In ce of where believers once stood and worshipped their god was now a myriad of machinery used by the one who desecrated this space.

    The readings showed the chained man''s status, along with many unknown percentages and numbers that nobody but one man could understand.

    But that man was currently not present in the room.

    Instead, he was a bit further away, a few rooms down the hall in a damp storage space of his creation.

    He stood by himself amidst a mountain of corpses.

    Not a single one was natural. They were chimera-like fusions of various races with humans as the base. Some of them had angelic wings, while others had the features of dragons and beasts. Some seemed like homunculi, while others were more golem-like.

    But they all had a singlemon point.

    In the middle of their chests, they had cavities filled with a certain dark material. Their cores, the pinnacle of the man''s research, but also, the very thing holding him back.

    "Almost¡­"

    He spoke to himself.

    He held a syringe in his hand filled with an unknown solution.

    "With this, I can aplish it."

    The light in his eyes was mad. His sanity had long left him as he sunk himself in degeneracy.

    He was once human too, but that was his state no longer.

    No, in a situation where he''d be exposed if he took too many victims, he was forced to experiment on himself just as much as he did others.

    He was a twisted and gruesome sight to look at, perhaps even worse than the corpses he left in his wake.

    But after so long, he finally did it.

    Everyone who followed him was killed. In the lower universe, the majority of his research was burned and the scapegoats he prepared to cover him were ughtered mercilessly.

    The ns he had made to conquer the Nox Race broke down, and without any choice, he fled the lower universe and came to the Heavenly World.

    He never knew this would be his salvation.

    This world, so massive that a single existence was nothing, gave him the freedom and the opportunity to do whatever he wanted without restriction.

    And the beings he found here¡­

    pared to them, the Nox were mere toys.''

    They became the source of his obsession.

    He didn''t want to join them.

    No, he''d hardly made contact with them since his arrival.

    But the goals he had when he was trying to create artificial Nox transferred over to them, and the intensity of his desire scaled to their power level.

    He spent thousands of years on this.

    Thousands of years to create his own version of those beings, so he could one day conquer their entire race for his own benefit.

    He only knew trial and error, experiencing barely any progress in the time he spent working.

    But, somehow, by some miracle, his life changed 100 years ago.

    His stunted progress seemed like a work of imagination because of how fast he was making improvements, and finally, the moment came.

    He found the perfect vessel.

    And he found the perfect equation.

    Nobody could stop him this time.

    He was going to seed no matter what!

 Chapter 1362 Hidden Plot [5]

    Chapter 1362 Hidden Plot [5]

    That man''s name was Richter Snow.

    His history wasn''t anything significant. He started as an ordinary person who wanted to be strong, and along the way, he developed a sort of obsession with "that which should not exist."

    However, his view of that concept was different than most others who sought the same knowledge. Rather than the ethereal forces that qualified under the umbre, he focused on existences.

    His pursuit took him to the Nox first, and when he wasn''t able to remain in the lower universe any longer, it led him further to beings he had no business being involved with.

    That was why he never made contact with those beings. He knew he didn''t stand a single chance against them. He couldn''t abuse them, because they didn''t have the same limitations that the Nox Race possessed.

    He got his hands on materials rted to them, gic codes and organic samples, through ck market dealings. And with those materials, he was able to conduct experiments for countless years.

    As for why he hadn''t been caught?

    How many like him were there in the Heavenly World? This ce was too massive for every psycho to be pursued, and since he hid his research extensively, nobody knew how close he was topleting it.

    But the most important factor was his mobility. He constantly moved. He had been through all the northern regions, moving from base to base as he did experiments on a variety of peoples and beings.

    The base in the Vanishing Dunes was his main base, so he spent a lot more time here than anyone else, but as long as he had the spatial mechanisms in this ruin under his control, he could return from everywhere.

    He had confidence.

    And with that confidence, he approached his next experiment.

    ''Asher Norn¡­to think such a specimen would be hidden in an insignificant n like theirs.''

    Asher Norn didn''t have a great talent forprehension, but he was born with a unique physique that could limate to any condition, which allowed him to make up for hiscking talent and grow at a speed rivaling geniuses.

    "It took weeks, but I am finally certain. His body will perfectly adapt to the foreign gic code and be something extraordinary."

    Richter tested it with small samples and isted experiments using pieces of Asher''s DNA which he extracted, and since he had surety now, he was ready to act.

    He approached the chained man with a smile on his face.

    "This is the moment you be something grand."

    Asher couldn''t hear him. There were too many sedatives in his body for that to be possible.

    And Richter wasn''t going to fly up to where he was chained either.

    He inserted the syringe in his hand into a nearby arm-like device.

    It was one of three that rose up and injected different parts of Asher''s body to prime him for the procedure.

    "Next, I must remove his heart and rece it with the dark core before his body withers."

    It was a precise process that had failed every time he''d tried thus far, but it was different now.

    The past failures showed him the path to sess.

    Richter was on the ground surrounded by machines. He himself was within a machine that could control the rest like his own limbs. With that, he could properly operate on the subject without relying on processes he couldn''t personally oversee.

    Tens of robotic arms surrounded Asher as the procedure was brought to its proper start.

    And as the only observer in the area, Damien frowned to himself.

    ''I should probably act now.''

    He wanted to see what Richter was up to, so he waited. Unfortunately, the mad scientist was quite set in his ways and didn''t reveal much on his own.

    Plus, he''d digitized all his research so Damien couldn''t easily ess it unless he got his hands on one of those machines.

    ''I guess he learned from what happened in the lower universe.''

    It was a bit annoying, but looking at how Asher was about to be cut apart, he didn''t really have a choice but to act now.

    Luckily, Damien was a unique individual. He didn''t need to keep his targets alive or convince them if he wanted to extract information.

    Especially now, after his ascension, Devour allowed him to take everything from his opponents, including the very core of their existence.

    Basically, there was no longer a situation where he needed to keep the enemy alive.

    He pried open the spatial door and stepped through, arriving in the space.

    His presence went unnoticed at first because Richter was far too focused on the surgical procedure to focus on what was happening outside, but Damien wasn''t nning to make a quiet entrance.

    "Yo, wake up."

    BOOM!

    He mmed his foot into the ground. The physical force alone caused the earth to quake, causing arge portion of the machinery to malfunction and some to even break apartpletely.

    "Who?!"

    Richter took off the headset he had on and looked around, his eyes quicklynding on Damien.

    "Who are you?!"

    Damien raised his brow.

    ''He does crazy shit, but he seems pretty rational in moments like these.''

    He wasn''tshing out or immediately attacking. He saw an intruder who couldn''t be estimated easily and took a cautious stance from the get-go, which was something Damien could appreciate.

    "My identity doesn''t really matter, does it? Bottom line is that I''m here to stop you, so shouldn''t we start fighting?"

    Damien grinned.

    He wasn''t going to entertain all the talking and stalling.

    He had no interest in Richter. He only needed the man''s memories!

    BOOOOOM!

    Damien let his mana pulse out. It rushed through the room, pushing Richter back and destroying all the machinery left in the vicinity.

    "You..you¡­"

    Richter stammered, his eyes wide as saucers.

    He simply couldn''t believe what was happening.

    It happened too fast and too suddenly for him to even process it, but before he knew it, most of the facilities in this ce had been broken into heaps of garbage.

    "MY RESEARCH¡­!"

    It wasn''t gone. Because he digitized it, he didn''t have to worry about losing it like that. However, the resources needed to build a facility like this cost far too much for him to easily get his progress back in a matter of years.

    "You monster¡­you monster¡­!"

    It seemed the insanity within Richter was being brought out by the previous series of events.

    Damien patiently watched it happen.

    He was going to kill Richter regardless, but he wanted to see what the man could do before he died.

    He deserved at least that much of a chance, right?

    Damien nced over at the suspended man in the background as Richter continued to break down.

    ''He looks fine, but that stuff he was injected with earlier can''t be good for him. For now, let''s¡­''

    Damien flicked his fingers indiscernibly and separated Asher from the current reality.

    ''That should be good.''

    The target was safe, and Richter seemed right about ready to fight. So without further ado¡­

    "I''LL KILL YOU!"

    That enraged scream marked the start.

    RUMBLE!

    The ruin quaked.

    BOOM!

    The doors leading to the space shattered, and countless shadows appeared from beyond.

    Damien grinned.

    "Good, then. Let''s fight."

 Chapter 1363 Hidden Plot [6]

    Chapter 1363 Hidden Plot [6]

    Richter was never a fighter. He was a researcher.

    He didn''t put his time into personal strength, but that didn''t mean he was weak.

    When the doors to the space opened up, hordes of chimeras, both humanoid and not, poured into the room.

    There were at least hundreds of them. Most of them were weaker lower existences, but there were several tens of Demigod-level chimeras among them as well.

    "You''ve been putting in work," Damienplimented as he panned his gaze over them.

    "Work that you ruined in one sweep!"

    Richter was evidently angry, but he didn''t raise his voice again.

    "Since you''vee, then don''t even think about leaving!"

    He had his chimera horde, which gave him confidence in winning.

    Without hesitation, hemanded them to charge, and within an instant, Damien was surrounded by so many lifeforms that his body disappeared under their shadows.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Damien looked around calmly. There were attacksing at him from every side, but he was dodging without much of a problem.

    BANG!

    A massive hybrid chimera with a bear body swept its w at him and struck him in the side, throwing him away.

    He stabilized himself and quickly twisted his body to avoid the mantis chimera that swung at him from behind.

    ''I see. Their physical strength is pretty impressive, but do they not have affinities?''

    He didn''t immediately attack because he was testing them, but after a few seconds of aggravating them further and further, he figured that they were already using everything they had.

    ''I mean, yeah. If it was a normal Demigod, their number alone would be enough to put pressure on them and maybe even kill them, but has he really been doing all his research for just this?''

    Damien couldn''t really see the value in chimeras like this, especially considering the risks and inhumane acts that were needed to create them.

    ''Whatever. It''s not my business, anyway.''

    He was here to save Asher Norn. He had to remember that this man''s business was not his own.

    Their slight shared fate from the lower universe was just that. He had no reason to actually get involved with the man.

    ''I guess I''ll just destroy them.''

    He had fun fighting the chimera outside, but this fight wasn''t the same.

    He was already bored even though it hadn''t started yet.

    Plus, he really had no need to entertain all this.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    He shot beams of destruction at the Demigod chimeras one by one. Each beam was powerful on its own, but when they struck each other, theybined and exponentially increased their power.

    By the time the spiderweb of destruction beams finally coagted into its true singr form, it was a beam strong enough to eradicate the Demigod chimeras with a single strike.

    WHOOSH!

    The beam was like a snake. It zig-zagged and twisted through the air, striking each Demigod chimera multiple times before moving on to the next and giving them the same treatment.

    Their number wasrge, but their strength wasn''t so much.

    After all, chimeras were already soulless beings. Without affinities, they were weak, and because of their inherent disadvantages, they were weak.

    They fell one by one without a chance to fight back.

    It was an unbelievable sight.

    Damien was controlling everything, so he could have ease and boredom in his heart as he fought, however, for Richter who was watching from the outside, it was insane.

    The roars and cries of chimeras filled the air with so much sound that the air itself vibrated.

    The ground rumbled and quaked as they moved, their steps strong enough to copse the ruin through physical strength alone.

    They were tightly packed, but they were moving in an orderly fashion. The hundreds of chimeras worked together in perfect formation to surround and eliminate their enemy.

    Unlike how Damien described them, the chimeras really were terrifying.

    But what was even more terrifying was the reddish-ck beam that cut through them like they were nothing.

    It was like a hummingbird buzzing from target to target. It didn''t show any mercy, it couldn''t be impeded by anything, and the longer it existed, the more the chimera horde was broken into something not worth mentioning.

    ''I must run.''

    Richter epted defeat far faster than any other opponent Damien had met.

    After all, he wasn''t a fighter.

    The second he saw the chimeras falling so easily, he let go of any pride or anger he might''ve had and began plotting a route of escape.

    He took everything he could take with him and ran out of the room, ignoring even Asher Norn who he considered the best vessel for his research in the world.

    He ran through the corridors of the ruin that he''d memorized after spending so many years here, and within the minute, he arrived at a secluded room that was locked behind a myriad of protections.

    A key was all it took to remove them all, and as he entered, Richter rushed to a nearby mechanism. His fingers flew as he inputtedmand aftermand, and finally, the device was ready.

    VOOM!

    A teleportation gate opened.

    Richter didn''t even wait to see what was happening behind him. He ran at full speed and practically leapt to get through it.

    But what was he expecting?

    It was the consequence of not knowing who he was up against.

    Instead of finding himself in another location, he found himself falling face down on the floor where the gate once stood.

    "You trying to run?"

    A voice came from behind.

    He shakily turned his head.

    There stood Damien, covered in bright red blood, smiling with his eyes closed with an extremely menacing expression on his face.

    "Unfortunately for you, space happens to be my specialty."

    Damien''s steps resounded through the room especially loudly due to the circumstances.

    He approached Richter and opened his eyes, looking down at the man on the floor.

    "W-wait!" Richter eximed.

    "I can give you anything! All my wealth, all my research, anything you need to know, I will give it to you! Please spare my life!"

    "Oh?" Damien hummed in interest.

    "But I don''t think you could give me anything I can''t get on my own?"

    Richter''s body was shaking.

    He''d been in this situation dozens of times before. He''d been cornered by tens of powerful beings who wanted things from him, but he always managed to survive.

    Whatever they wanted, he gave to them. Whenever they tried to kill him, he escaped.

    Whether it was through the spatial gate or other means, he always managed to get away, after which he could always hide somewhere until the heat was off his back.

    But something told him it wouldn''t be the same this time.

    "A-anything¡­I can give¡­"

    He reached into his coat pocket as he spoke and pulled out a pen-shaped device.

    "Work!"

    He clicked it.

    If it worked as intended, the space would''ve been filled with light that blinded the enemy so he could run and activate one of the many spatial devices he kept in storage for this very situation.

    However¡­

    "I told you that''s not going to work."

    Against a man who controlled existence, puny tricks were truly nothing.

    Richter tried to beg again, but Damien already lost interest.

    He really didn''t expect anything from this man anymore.

    "Whatever you want to say, I''ll hear from your memories. So, kindly die so I can eat them."

    With those words as thest Richter would ever hear, Damien stepped on the man''s throat, crushing it into pieces.

    Richter died. His body and soul were consumed by a deep ckness beyond all else.

    And Damien brushed his hands off as he returned to the main space.

    "Now that that''s over, let''s get back to the fun stuff."

 Chapter 1364 Hidden Plot [7]

    Chapter 1364 Hidden Plot [7]

    Damien didn''t waste time freeing Asher.

    The chains that hoisted him in the air were thick and made of a metal that wouldn''t break easily even if a Demigod thrashed around in pain, but since Damien had all of Richter''s memories, he didn''t have to forcefully break them.

    He undid the shackles using the correct method, which was far easier than messing with the chains, and after bringing the Norn child to the ground, he inserted his mana into the man''s body to check for any abnormalities.

    ''It doesn''t look like any permanent damage was done yet. There''s a lot of internal bleeding and injury, and whatever that liquid was definitely had some effect, but I shouldn''t have to worry about it.''

    [Heal]

    First things first, Damien took the necessary steps to get rid of the physical injuries. Once Asher''s bones and tendons were reconnected, once his organs were returned to their rightful ces, and once the traces of past surgical procedurespletely vanished, Damien sunk his senses into Asher''s soul to check there as well.

    ''It really is an interesting physique. It emtes one aspect of the Void Physique but takes that aspect to its maximum potential. A body that can adapt to anything is also practically ready to inherit the Void. The only thing it''s missing is a connection.''

    Damien almost wanted to fill Asher''s soul with Void Energy to see what would happen, but naturally, he refrained.

    Such experiments weren''t his style.

    ''Putting all that aside, at least from what I can tell, the serum itself didn''t have any negative effects. Rather, it''s a positive since the following experiments were never done.''

    The serum was meant to "prepare" Asher''s body to receive everything Richter wanted to give him. The primer''s basic effect was to enhance Asher''s inherent qualities, since the things he was going to be fused with were far too great for even his physique to digest without help.

    If it went unchecked now that Richter was dead, the solution would''ve dispersed into Asher''s bloodstream and damaged his physique. However, since Damien was here, that didn''t have to happen.

    Rather, the solution could be used to provide a permanent enhancement to the man''s qualities.

    ''Phew. It''s good that that''s over with.''

    Asher''s state was brought back to normalcy within half an hour, and with nothing but time and some chimera blood on his hands, Damien created a chair and sat down, leaning back and closing his eyes.

    ''Haa¡­no matter the world, there''s always trouble.''

    Damien absorbed Richter''s existence. He didn''t care about the Legends of a man like that, but the memories he held epassed far more than Damien had seen since he arrived in the Heavenly World.

    This was the first time Damien was able to devour the memories of a Heavenly World being.

    Thus, this could be considered his first introduction to the Heavenly World in its truest form.

    He already knew about theyout of the world. That didn''t need to be reiterated to him.

    But there was a lot Yulia left out of her exnation. Maybe it was for his own good or maybe she had her own agenda, but she did forget to mention some of the most important details.

    ''Like the fact that this grand world isn''t as secure as one would think it is.''

    Damien expected it.

    No, he already knew it would be like this.

    Ever since that day on Al''Katra when he saw the memories of the corrupted foreign material, he''d been painfully aware.

    The Heavenly World was not safe.

    Just like the lower universe, the Heavenly World was facing a grave threat.

    It was a threat greater than anything Damien could''ve ever imagined.

    ''The Foreign Races.''

    That was how they were known.

    Their true name wasn''t known. They never tried to spread their legends through the world.

    The people of this world called them the Foreign Races, because they truly did not have a word to describe these existences otherwise.

    Nor did they have a way to logically exin where they came from.

    Those beings were the creators of the Nox, and as if their agenda in the lower universe foreshadowed a greater plot, they were treating the Heavenly World the same way.

    Like a ything.

    Like something they could destroy as they pleased.

    ''Richter has more knowledge on them than the average person, which is better for me, since I don''t have to wonder and specte about their existence.''

    The Foreign Races shared a lot of simrities with the Nox, but they differentiated themselves plenty as well.

    ''Mainly, they don''t have the ws of the Nox.''

    Things like limited intelligence or insatiable desire didn''t exist in the hearts of these beings.

    In the first ce, those were ws they created the Nox with for the purpose of controlling them.

    The Foreign Races were all intelligent, and their power was greater than or equal to that of the Heavenly World.

    And they''d been at war with this world for millions of years already.

    ''The Heavenly World hasn''t been insanely corrupted or put at a disadvantage yet, but that''s only what can be seen on the surface. If I learned anything from the wars of the past, it''s that believing in the external appearance of affairs will only dull one''s senses and point them away from the truth.''

    The problem was that, while Richter did plenty of research on the Foreign Races, he was never actually involved in the war.

    He only knew about their races themselves, not the details behind their invasion.

    ''It''s useful information, sure, but I don''t have anywhere to use it right now.''

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    ''The current game n was formed under the assumption that things would be calm for a long time, but I can''t rely on that anymore.''

    Damien needed to change his goals.

    He couldn''t slowly explore this ce and go to Void Pce as he pleased.

    ''I need to reach Void Pce as soon as possible and find the people who I need to meet. I need to gain a footing in this world fast, because I can''t let this situation deteriorate like it did in the lower universe.''

    Back then, it ended in total destruction. Damien might''ve saved arge portion of the universe by sending it into the Sanctuary, butpared to what was lost, he saved less than one percent.

    The Heavenly World was stillrgely intact, enough for the threat of the Foreign Races to still not be catastrophic.

    They were his lifelong enemy, and the lifelong enemy of countless subordinates who entrusted their lives to him.

    He naturally wanted to crush them before they could cause so much harm that more tragic cases like those he''d seen in the past becamemon.

    ''Huu¡­let''s organize first.''

    He took some time and sorted out his thoughts, forming a rtive path forward while considering the possible futures he''d been ignoring before.

    And in that time, Asher Norn also awoke.

    Damien turned his eyes towards the man who was confusedly taking in his surroundings and stood up, allowing his chair to dissipate into mana.

    ''My wariness was never something I could drop.''

    He''d epted it.

    ''Slow and steady was never an option avable to me.''

    He''d epted it.

    ''I need to end everything with my power.''

    He clenched his fist with determination.

    ''So that I can enjoy everything I''m forced to ignore because of this bullshit.''

 Chapter 1365 Hidden Plot [8]

    Chapter 1365 Hidden Plot [8]

    A strange room, a strange man, a strange body¡­

    When Asher Norn''s consciousness returned to him, everything seemed unfamiliar.

    "Ahk¡­!"

    He winced. His hands went to his head as a stabbing pain filled his skull.

    Memories of past events came back in fragments. He couldn''t recall it all because most of it had been repressed by his trauma response, but the bits and pieces he did remember were terrifying enough.

    From his head to the rest of his body, his hands rapidly patted him down as he tried to assess his condition.

    By all logic, he should''ve been at least half-dead by now. If not, then crippled.

    But looking at himself internally and externally, there didn''t seem to be a problem.

    Then, when considering everything else¡­

    "You¡­saved me?" He uttered, still oveing his confusion.

    "I did," Damien responded.

    "Ah¡­!"

    Asher eximed without knowing what to say.

    If this man was here, the one who tortured him was likely already dead.

    And if that man was dead, then he was in a position to regain his freedom.

    "My savior¡­how can I thank you?"

    He didn''t think of anything else. Kindness had to be repaid tenfold. If not because one wished to be just, then because not doing so could very well attract ire from the very one whom one called one''s savior.

    Rather than that ire turning into a grudge with unknown consequences, wasn''t it better to put everything down first and express gratitude?

    Damien smiled slightly.

    His thoughts were barely ordered after he found himself confronted with a new enemy that needed to be eradicated, but the demeanor of the man named Asher Norn was refreshing enough to take his mind off of it.

    After all, Damien could see into his soul. This man was weaker than him, so whether it be thoughts or subconscious beliefs that even the man himself didn''t know, they were all clear to him.

    "You don''t need to be so tense. I''m here because I epted amission from your family, so the repayment is already in order."

    "I see¡­" Asher nodded his head in understanding.

    "Then, can you exin the current situation?"

    His rtive calmness was impressive, and since Damien had nothing better to do, he slowly told Asher about what had happened to him.

    "There was such a plot!" Asher eximed after hearing the story.

    "I apologize, but this is something I must report to the Family Head immediately. If it isn''t included in your pay, I am willing to add additionalpensation if you can escort me home."

    "I''ll hold you to your word, then."

    Whether extrapensation was needed or not, Damien wasn''t one to refuse.

    "But before we go¡­"

    ''I feel bad for the ancient god who originally made this ruin, but it has to be done.''

    Damien lit a me of purgatory in his hands and threw it nonchntly to the side.

    That me would eventually devour everything in its path and consume the ruin whole, leaving no traces of Richter''s research for others to findter.

    As for his other hideouts, Damien would slowly destroy them one by one for that purpose.

    Such experiments didn''t need to be continued.

    But that was a story for another time.

    "Shall we go now?"

    Damien smiled and turned away from Asher. The man was more than capable of walking on his own now, and Damien already clothed him before he woke up.

    "Absolutely," Asher nodded, "but¡­how?"

    "Ah, that''s the easiest part."

    Maybe his teleportation was restricted, but Warp was a broken skill.

    It ignored such things as restrictions. As long as Damien knew where he was going and had the mana to take himself there, he could move anywhere.

    At his current level, that included travel between nes.

    A portal opened up behind him, leading to the same martial arena that was used to test mercenaries before the expedition began.

    Damien and Asher came out on that side and saw the sunlight of the Verdant Principality once more, and while it meant nothing to Damien, it was obviously different for Asher.

    He knelt on the ground and cried. He tried to hide it, but the tears wouldn''t stop flowing from his eyes.

    His mind refused to remember his suffering, but his body recalled it clearly. The fact that he''d escaped that hell only set in now, and naturally, that realization was apanied by a rush of emotions.

    ''This is going to take a bit.''

    Damien stood by without a word and waited for Asher to get himself together. Several minutes and a short apologyter, the two were on their way to the Norn Family Estate.

    It was a decentlyrge area that epassed several dozen acres ofnd, butpared to the grandiosity of structures Damien had seen in the lower universe, it wasn''t anything much.

    ''Well, this is also one of the lowest levels of influence present here. There are ten thousand like it in this cardinal region, and if you include the rest, the number is uncountable.''

    Damien followed Asher to the gates, and once his identity was confirmed, the two were able to enter the estate without much trouble.

    They passed by anything and everything until they arrived at the main house, and waiting in front of it was a refined man with hair as white as snow.

    "Asher¡­?" He said incredulously.

    "It''s me, father," Asher responded in the same tone.

    The two had a touching reunion that Damien had no business being a part of, and when it was over, the questions finally started.

    "Why are you here? The expedition party hasn''t even entered the Vanishing Dunes yet," the man who was evidently the Family Head of the Norn Family asked.

    "I was saved by this man. It is also due to his power that we were able to return with such haste," Asher responded, giving Damien the credit he deserved.

    The Norn Family Head turned his gaze to Damien for the first time and scanned him up and down.

    "First and foremost, I''d like to sincerely thank you for saving my son. However, I hope you can understand my doubts."

    Damien sighed to himself.

    "Naturally, so just ask away. I''ll answer what I can."

    "Then, please excuse my rudeness."

    It started with a simple, "How did you know my son was missing?"

    Damien gave his background as a hired mercenary, and the follow-up question was naturally a, "Why are you here before the expedition party?"

    The questioning came to an abrupt halt here, because Damien''s answer wasn''t something the Norn Family Head could easily fathom,

    "They were too slow, so I ditched them."

    Damien said it as it was, and while the Norn Family Head definitely had more questions to ask, he had to refrain, because Asher''s true circumstances were brought to light.

    The kidnapping, the torture, and everything else, all leading up to the conclusion that he would''ve been dead by the time the expedition party arrived if Damien hadn''t moved ahead of them.

    Asher Norn was an upright person. He made sure Damien was given the treatment he deserved and told his story in such a way that glorified his achievements.

    In this way, Damien would be able to properly reap the rewards ofpleting the mission, which, in Asher''s understanding, was the reason Damien did everything from the start.

    The trio entered the mansion as their conversation continued. The topic of rewards, small talk about worldly affairs, some prying into Damien''s identity, and much more ensued, but Damien was only half paying attention.

    He let the events fly by.

    His original goal seemed meaningless now, because the slow and steady approach he was attempting to take had been crushed to bits.

    The connection with the Norn Family had already been formed, and as a reward, he already requested a meeting with the Sapientia n.

    Since they controlled the informationwork within the Eastern Region, they were a perfect match for the current Damien.

    But first¡­

    ''...I need to find Yulia.''

    That woman from the Veritas n would be the biggest contributor to his current ns.

    So before anything else, he needed to meet with her.

    But did he know¡­?

    Just as he was looking for her, she was looking for him.

    Their meeting was fated from the start.

    And it wouldn''t be too long before it took ce.

 Chapter 1366 Undercurrents [1]

    Chapter 1366 Undercurrents [1]

    The setting was somewhere secluded, a ce where no witnesses could reach.

    There were meadows all around, and two people sat at a table with a bottle of spirit liquor between them.

    "It took a lot of effort to find you. Should I say I''m impressed?"

    The one who spoke was Yulia Veritas, a woman who both had fame and the ability to move without being recognized, abination barely anybody could replicate.

    As for the one she was speaking to, it was a very familiar man.

    "I don''t know about all that. I think I should be the one impressed by the person who managed to find me despite all that."

    Damien finished his business with the Norn Family without much difficulty, and since they were able to contact the expedition party, it seemed Isra and the rest managed to escape thebyrinth somehow.

    He didn''t have to worry about them. He did want to deepen his friendship with the n, but since his mentality changed, he didn''t put too much emphasis on it for the moment.

    Instead, this meeting was more important.

    Who would''ve thought he didn''t even have to look for it?

    By the time he was done with the Norn Family, he already felt the presence following him. And when he led that presence to a secluded location to confront, he found that it was a friend rather than a foe.

    He sat down with Yulia without much of a fuss. She was too sure of his identity for him to convince her otherwise.

    The problem was how she found him. Whether it be his physical gics, his aura, his mana, or even his soul, they had been altered to trick the general public.

    For someone to see through this, regardless of strength, meant they had means that were mysterious even to him.

    "I want to ask about it, but I''m sure you won''t tell me, right?"

    "Naturally. A woman''s secrets aren''t so easy to uncover."

    Damien rolled his eyes.

    "What a cheeky answer. I didn''t expect you to be a ''womanly'' individual."

    "Hm? Was that an insult? I guess you''ve gained some confidence after spending time here, haven''t you?"

    "Something like that."

    Yulia entertained the conversation normally, but she wasn''t lying when she said she spent a great deal of effort to find him.

    None of her sources or subordinates were able to find a trace of him, and only when she personally took action did she even find a clue.

    It was surprising.

    She was forced to use the strength she was hiding. Not just anyone could force her into a position like that.

    She wanted to meet Damien to forge a rtionship with him that would draw him closer to the Veritas n and confirm his identity, but what surprised her was his desire to see her as well.

    ''Did he realize something¡­?''

    She wanted to probe him and see what he was thinking, but Damien wasn''t the type to talk in circles, something she should''ve realized from theirst meeting.

    "I have to thank you for the information you gave mest time, but didn''t you hide a little too much?" Damien started, bringing up the main point without dy.

    "What are you talking about?" Yulia responded, still trying to see what he knew.

    "The Foreign Races."

    Yulia''s eyes widened just slightly.

    She expected him to talk about Void Pce or something along those lines. She never expected the first thing on Damien''s mind to be a hidden enemy that had no connection to him.

    "What about them?" She asked.

    "Tell me everything. Everything you know about them, and everything about their invasion. I won''t let it slide if you keep hiding things right now."

    Damien''s gaze held a level of seriousness she didn''t know he had in him.

    ''For some reason, I feel like my strength has be less significant.''

    She was hiding more than Damien could ever imagine, but she suddenly got the feeling that even with her hidden strength, she wouldn''t be able to act as she pleased.

    ''Though, this doesn''t have to devolve to that.''

    She didn''t hide information about the Foreign Races with hostile intent, nor did she do it to help him.

    Since he was clueless about the Heavenly World, the main thing he needed to know was the structure and power of their denizen races.

    As for the Foreign Races, people would always learn about them eventually if they just continued living here. It wasn''t information that needed to be prioritized, especially since new soldiers didn''t really need to be drafted for the war right now.

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien was leaking a subtle yet noticeable aura of hostility, not towards her, but towards the subject in question.

    She couldn''t just half-ass her answer here.

    "I don''t know how much you already know, but it''s something like this¡­"

    She reiterated the information Damien learned from Richter''s memories first.

    The Foreign Races appeared on the periphery countless tens of millions of years ago. They never made their reason for attacking known, but the fact that they had high intelligence was well known, not only through their scheming nature and cautious movements, but also due to attempts made tomunicate with them.

    Their stance was something simr to a dominator. From the highest ranks to the lowest, they viewed the people of the Heavenly World as prey, people who weren''t worthmunicating with.

    And unlike the Nox, who had a physical ce in the lower universe, the Foreign Races came from "somewhere else."

    Nobody knew where that ce was. No matter how much they investigated, it was impossible to find its location.

    However, when the Foreign Races invaded, a connection between those two ces was formed.

    "They''re called Dimensional Cracks," Yulia said.

    "They''re connection points between the home of the Foreign Races to our world. The Heavenly Order has made moves tobat them, which gives us some advantages, but if we cannot make full use of those advantages, the Foreign Races can turn portions of ournd into their territory."

    "The war has been proceeding slowly. I''m not sure what they''ve been waiting for, but they''ve never gone all out against us. For the first few million years, they just tested the waters and moved in the shadows. After that, they started invading slowly, but never really pushed us. We know that they have high-rank beings among them, but none of them have made an effort to invade the world yet."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien could understand it somewhat. Since the Foreign Races had been plotting in the lower universe during the time they spent probing the Heavenly World, they clearly had ns to take everything the universe could offer before destroying it.

    But since the lower universe was gone now, would they continue to wait?

    Damien didn''t specte much. There was definitely more Yulia had to say.

    But she stopped exining there.

    "I''m not sure what kind of grudge you have against the Foreign Races, but that''s hardly what you should be worrying about."

    Yukia''s eyes narrowed as she observed Damien''s reactions.

    "Right now, I think you should focus your attention on Void Pce. After all, their situation has been getting more desperate by the day."

 Chapter 1367 Undercurrents [2]

    Chapter 1367 Undercurrents [2]

    "Void Pce¡­?"

    Damien was surprised when she suddenly brought it up. He had no idea she''d figured out his affiliation, nor did he know how she did it.

    "What do they have to do with me?"

    "There''s no point trying to act uninvolved. Unfortunately for you, each of the eight great ns has their own insignia to set them apart from the masses," Yulia replied with a smile.

    "For our Veritas n, it''s the third eye on our foreheads¡­"

    She raised her bangs so he could see it. It wasn''t a physical eye, but a tattoo-like marking faded into the skin like it was natural. It looked mystical, and just gazing into it made Damien feelpelled to tell the truth.

    "...and for Void Pce, it''s your unique purple eyes."

    Void Pce was different from the other ns because their trait wasn''t a marking, but something gic. It made it seem like everyone in the n was from the same lineage, but that wasn''t true.

    The direct descendants of the Void Lord were born with natural purple eyes, while the members from other lineages and those taken in from the outside would eventually develop the same eyes when they started practicing Void Pce''s techniques.

    There was a difference between the two, but it wasn''t something known to those outside the n.

    The direct descendants of the Void Lord were born with natural purple eyes, while the members from other lineages and those taken in from the outside would eventually develop the same eyes when they started practicing Void Pce''s techniques.

    There was a difference between the two, but it wasn''t something known to those outside the n.

    "You did a good job hiding when you left the ship, but you made a mistake forgetting to hide before meeting me."

    Damien raised his brow.

    "It''s definitely an interesting thing, but haven''t we already had the conversation about me being an Ascender? You know that kind of thing doesn''t exist in the lower universe, right?"

    Yulia''s smile widened.

    "Isn''t that the most curious part?"

    She grabbed her cup and took a sip of spirit liquor, pausing as if she wanted to make her next words more impactful.

    "This rule applies throughout the entire cosmos, whether it be here or the lower universe. The fact that you are an Ascender just makes your existence even more mysterious, and far more amusing to understand."

    "..."

    Damien didn''t know what to say.

    ''Well, that''s some shit.''

    He really got yed.

    "Don''t worry," Yulia continued.

    "My crew is absolutely loyal. None of them will reveal anything unless I tell them to, and most of them probably didn''t even put two and two together on their own."

    The unique traits of each n were definitely noticeable, but there was also a specific demeanor that those who ruled the world possessed.

    It was impossible to stand in a position where quintillions of existences bowed before one''s feet and remain someone without regality.

    However, Damien didn''t possess it at all. He did have eyes that set him apart from the rest, but he acted like amoner.

    It was a small detail, one that nobody would directly notice but inherently understand, but it was enough to make people believe in coincidence.

    Damien sighed to himself.

    "I guess there''s nothing I can say to deny it¡­?"

    "Nothing at all."

    "Then let''s just continue with the conversation. What''s the situation with Void Pce?"

    Yulia nodded, her brows wiggling slightly as she reveled in her victory.

    "A few million years ago, Void Pce wasn''t an influence that could be considered one of the eight great ns. Rather, it was an influence that stood above us all. Unfortunately, that status couldn''t be maintained. It all changed so fast that it seemed like it happened in a day."

    As the story went, the war with the Foreign Races had berge and small over the eons, but it always had a ce in the Heavenly World''s history.

    And because they came through Dimensional Cracks, the influence known as Void Pce rose to prominence faster than anyone else.

    On top of their main lineages, whose powers and abilities were varied and unpredictable, they gathered all the spatial practitioners in the world and became a haven for them.

    These spatial practitioners were incredibly important, because only they had the ability to regte Dimensional Cracks, which gave the Heavenly World a great advantage against the invading enemy.

    With the passing of time and the growth of their power, Void Pce rose and rose and rose until nobody else could stand up to them.

    And naturally, that attracted ire from other forces.

    They hadrge and small conflicts with several influences, including a few of the eight great ns, and their power was diminished to an extent, but even then their foundation couldn''t be shaken.

    Until that day.

    "The Void Lord disappeared."

    They lost their pir.

    The man who created Void Pce and led their development, the man who was the source of all of their inheritances and legacies, the man who was regarded as the strongest in the world¡­

    That man disappeared from the world, and no matter how much time passed, he never returned.

    "Void Pce could never be broken. Their influence is too strong, themon people support them to almost a fanatical level, and their importance to the world is too great for anyone to force them to disband."

    "But without their pir, they weren''t able to maintain their previous status. They eventually became the eighth of the eight great ns, and theirnd was encroached upon by several other forces."

    "The Divine Order of the Southwest and the Straea n of the North both started biting off chunks of the Southern Region, and while the Kyushu Federation never showed real hostile intent, as a mercantile empire, they naturally started expanding as well."

    "The legacy of Void Pce became weaker, and they were forced to hole themselves up in their own principality. They haven''t been able to properly fight against those trying to destroy them. Their geniuses stille out and show their strength to prove that Void Pce is still a great n, but that isn''t enough to fight the other great ns."

    "The situation has been getting worse recently. Divine Order seems to have encountered something that greatly raised their overallbat power, and the Straea n has be more forward in their conquest. If this continues, the Southern Region will be divided between other powers in at most a decade and Void Pce will lose its standing."

    "They need a leader, they need unity, and they need a chance to start fighting back."

    Yulia basically finished her overview there. She outlined the enemies and allies of the n among the eight great ns, where the Veritas n was called their greatest ally, but Damien didn''t pay much attention to that part.

    He could hear it directly from the people at Void Pce when he got there.

    His mind had been elsewhere for a while now.

    The Void Lord¡­

    His father¡­

    Dante Void¡­

    ''...has been missing for millions of years?''

    Damien knew something was wrong.

    Dante had been in a situation where enemies and tragedy pursued him everywhere even when he was born, but Yulia was saying it had gone on for millions of years¡­?

    ''No, more importantly, he''s still missing.''

    He was still gone.

    The man who had been speaking to him as if nothing was wrong ever since the first time he met his projection was missing at a time when his n was being attacked from all sides.

    ''He might be an absentee father, but the Dante Void I know would never leave this situation alone if he knew what was going on.''

    There was something deeper here.

    Something was happening to his father and his n. He needed to find out what it was as soon as possible.

    ''Void Pce was meant to be the backing that allowed me to move freely in the Heavenly World once I had some status. Even the ns I made for the Foreign Races relied on their influence to an extent.''

    He was staying in the Eastern Region because he wanted to prove his worth to those people before heading there, but, as Yulia said, he couldn''t be so leisurely anymore.

    ''The Southern Region¡­''

    He had to go there.

    But not yet.

    ''Yulia said the Veritas n is our greatest ally, but they seem rtively uninvolved in the happenings of the Southern Region.''

    His ns didn''t necessarily change overall, but the intent had to be revised.

    ''Rather than recognition, I now need backing.''

    He needed to pull the Veritas n into the struggle, so Void Pce could gain the footing to return to its proper ce.

    ''And to do that¡­''

    His eyes hardened.

    ''...I need to work.''

    His gaze turned to Yulia once more. He took a deep breath and calmed himself before opening his mouth to speak.

    "Let''s make a deal."

    Yulia''s eyes sparkled in interest.

    ''This brat¡­''

    She smiled to herself.

    Her thoughts didn''t need to be spoken. She was the only one who needed to know them.

    But she was looking forward to it.

    The moment Damien Void returned to his pce, that is.

 Chapter 1368 Mercenary [1]

    Chapter 1368 Mercenary [1]

    The deal was simple.

    Damien Void would be an exclusive mercenary for Yulia Veritas for 5 years and follow hermand. In return, she would guarantee the Veritas n''s support in Void Pce''s endeavors.

    It was an odd deal on paper.

    What Damien suggested was a deal that would result in the Veritas n''s support, but he didn''t know what they wanted, since he didn''t have any sort of deep rtionship with Yulia or anyone else from their influence.

    Yulia herself was the one who suggested the five-year mercenary side of the deal.

    She didn''t specify exactly what she wanted him to do in that time, but because it was a negligible condition for the rewards it would beget, Damien was clear on the fact that he would be worked like a ve for 5 years doing things he couldn''t even imagine.

    Still, he signed off on the deal, and with the Heavenly Order as witness, it became something invible.

    Through this, Damien also managed to learn that Yulia was someone with enough say in the n to guarantee support with her promise.

    The two of them parted ways after making their agreement and exchanging information so they could contact each other.

    Damien had one month before he would be given his first task.

    That was one month he could use to set up a foundation for himself.

    ''It''s time to visit the Sapientia n.''

    They were another important step in his n.

    No matter how strong or influential the Veritas n was, and no matter how loyal the Sapientia n was to them, he couldn''t guarantee their support just because he had a deal with Yulia.

    He needed to form a separate rtionship with the Sapientia n. Why? Because they were people who controlled information better than most other forces in the entire Heavenly World.

    Only the Kyushu Federation had an informationwork better than theirs, and since they didn''t move for anything other than profit, Damien wasn''t interested in working with them quite yet.

    He didn''t have enough to bring to the table, after all.

    What did he have to bring to the Sapientia n, then?

    The answer was still nothing.

    Damien was just a baby in the Heavenly World. Unlike the lower universe where he had plenty of time to be something before he got involved in therger scheme of things, he immediately jumped into muddy waters the second he arrived here.

    When facing influencesrge enough to control billions, trillions, or even more existences with a single word, he couldn''t just say "I''m strong, so form a rtionship with me," and get it over with.

    Not yet, at least.

    But at least he had a point of connection with the Sapientia n.

    He had a rtionship with Yulia Veritas. Even if that was something they formed outside the public eye, there was no way the Sapientia n didn''t know of it.

    Yulia already raised his value, and the Norn Family did the same. His power was mysterious enough to outstrip everyone on the expedition party that went to save Asher Norn, and he had the ability to travel faster than any single practitioner anywhere near his power level.

    These facts gave the Sapientia n a reason to pay attention to him, so when he arrived on their doorstep for the meeting they''d arranged beforehand, they weed him with open arms.

    He was taken into a small eastern-style abode and served tea as he waited for a representative to meet him.

    When they finally came, the conversation started easily.

    The goal was another deal.

    Damien wanted the Sapientia n''s informationwork for himself. He wanted ess to what they knew, and he wanted the privilege of moving their forces to find out things he wanted to know, both within the Eastern Region and without.

    As for what they asked from him in return¡­?

    "Information."

    The representative was a woman with strange cloud-like eyebrows and eyes that remained closed regardless of anything else. She was mysterious and dressed like an ancient schr, but spoke in an approachable tone that was off-putting considering everything else about her.

    What she requested was information Damien had that the Sapientia n didn''t.

    It wasn''t what he expected.

    ''The Sapientia n is tied to the concept of "wisdom." They don''t just gather information, but have an obsession with it, because they believe information is the foundation of wisdom. Even if said information is useless to them, they still want to possess it to deepen their foundation. It was this belief that allowed them to be what they are today.''

    To gain knowledge from them, one had to give knowledge to them. It was apletely equivalent exchange.

    And if it was information they didn''t know, Damien had plenty of it.

    After all, there was no way for a Heavenly World n to spread their influence into the lower universe.

    Damien had a wealth of knowledge they couldn''t fathom, and thus, no matter what he wanted from them, he could get it.

    ''This is more convenient than I could''ve hoped for.''

    Ascension was a rare phenomenon.

    People didn''t just reach the Demigod rank willy-nilly. There were definitely people who came to the Heavenly World and used this same method to gain standing in the past, but none of them knew what he did.

    Because Damien possessed all the knowledge of the lower universe.

    In totality.

    "How much do you know about the lower universe?"

    He asked so he could gauge what to share and what could be avoided. He could also use this to learn how much different pieces of information about the lower universe were worth.

    The Sapientia n knew about the Nox, the different sectors and their dominant races, the power structure and ns, and a lot more general information.

    However, aside from facts about specific sects and races that were gathered from other Ascenders, they didn''t have much detailed knowledge.

    Damien could provide them exactly that, and more than anything else, he could tell them the secrets of the Nox and the Abyss that nobody else knew.

    Especially information about the Nox Race''s connection with the Foreign Races.

    ''That''s probably worth more than everything elsebined since it actually has a ce in the Heavenly World. I could tell them now, but I should save that forter.''

    There was a part of him that wanted to make it public knowledge for the sake of the greater good, but he couldn''t be so kind right now.

    Cooperation was more important. He could personally spread that news when the time came:

    To gain what he needed, Damien started with Grand Heavens Boundary itself.

    The Dimensional Leaderboard, the war that copsed sector after sector, and a few tidbits about the Nox that heavily implied the wealth of knowledge Damien was withholding.

    The Sapientia n representative noted down everything he said on a jade slip as he spoke, her expression remaining still as always.

    But the wiggling of her eyelids as she tried to keep them closed made it obvious she was surprised.

    "I will consult with the council, but this exchange should grant you high clearance," she said when he finished.

    It was a short business interaction, and they only said what needed to be said, but it was enough.

    The representative left and Damien waited for her return.

    ''Okay.''

    He was calm.

    He was calm.

    He was remaining calm.

    But it was difficult.

    He wanted to be done with all of this. He wanted to move, get stronger, and reach a point where none of this was necessary anymore.

    He missed it a lot.

    He didn''t realize how much he''d miss it until it was gone.

    But he understood them now.

    Standing at the peak was amazing. The convenience was hard to let go of once it was experienced, so even if it came at the cost of wasted talent and potential, he understood why those lower universe Demigods refused ascension.

    However, he was already here.

    He had to go through this.

    Because only after going through these steps could he get back to that ce where he wanted to stand.

    ''It''s annoying.''

    It was incredibly annoying.

    Still, he did it without fail.

    And as his cooperation with the Sapientia n was eventually established, he left them with a task and went on his own way to train.

    29 more days passed after that.

    And finally, Damien''smunication device rang.

    The person who called?

    Naturally, it was Yulia Veritas.

 Chapter 1369 Meecenary [2]

    Chapter 1369 Meecenary [2]

    "Are you ready?"

    Those three simple words held a deep meaning.

    Was he ready for 5 years of very?

    But his answer was just as sinct.

    "Yes."

    He had mentally prepared himself long ago, and he was waiting for this moment toe.

    "Good. I''ve marked a location somewhere within your radius. Find it and reach it within three days. That''s your first task."

    Damien smiled wryly.

    "No more information than that?"

    "None at all. You need to be at least that good if you want to prove yourself."

    Damien rolled his eyes.

    "Understood. I''m still being underestimated, huh. Three days? That''sughable."

    Damien cut the call there. He didn''t need to pry more.

    ''When she says somewhere in my radius, that could mean I''m either already there or it could be a billion kilometers away. And when she says she marked it, am I looking for a structure or something mana-based?''

    "Well, it doesn''t matter either way."

    If she wanted him to find it on his own, it had to be something he''d recognize.

    He spread his awareness first. Hundreds of millions of kilometers were covered in an instant, and as he sifted through all the informationing into his head, he quickly learned that whatever he wanted to find wasn''t there.

    However, there were clues.

    ''She''s toying with me.'' He thought with a smile.

    There were markers everywhere, somerge and some small. They all stood out in his perception, and it was clear she wanted him to go to each and every one to see if that was the designated location.

    However, he had no need to do so.

    ''Should I work a bit harder?''

    He knelt down and put his hand on the ground, activating an ability he developed in the Ancient Battlefield.

    ''Absolute Perception.''

    Back then, he only had Partial Existence Law. Even with that, he was able to search the entirety of the Ancient Battlefield and find traces of someone as elusive as the Ancient Sovereign.

    So what about now?

    That ipletew had now be an Authority. It wasn''tplete, but it was far greater than anything he could''ve imagined at that time.

    When he entered the state of Absolute Perception, he was no longer just bing one with the earth, but with the mana as well.

    His spiritual body became one with the entire atmosphere, and his perception became that of the Heavenly Order.

    Puff!

    "Damn!"

    His mind was instantly overloaded with information. Blood puffed out of his nose like a cloud of mist, and leaked down his ears and eyes.

    There was too much.

    Whether it be what was happening below the surface in various bestial societies, or what was happening in the skies where a few select races made their homes, he saw it all.

    It was just too much.

    The Heavenly World was massive. It had been mentioned to death already, but it seemed like Damien saw the true extent of that grandiosity every time he did something new.

    He saw far more than he ever wanted to, because he forgot to limit the range of his perception.

    From hundreds of millions, he instantly jumped to hundreds of billions of kilometers.

    He practically had half the Eastern Region in his grasp.

    ''There''s a lot of interesting stuff going on, but that''s not my problem right now. I have to limit my search radius.''

    He wasn''t nearly equipped to deal with this level of perception yet, nor did he need it at the current moment.

    ''I should definitely get used to it, though. If I can see this much unregted, I should be able to get a lot more out of the Sapientia n than I originally thought.''

    Nevertheless, he enclosed his awareness in a 10 billion-kilometer radius. That was the greatest his mind could handle.

    ''Now, if I filter for just traces of Yulia''s existence¡­''

    Everywhere she''d left traces were revealed to him. He sifted through them one at a time. He could directly see what was there instead of receiving it as information, so it was easy for him to find what was a facade and what was true.

    In the end, there were three locations that caught his attention.

    ''The first is a totem in the middle of nowhere, the second is an emptynd that has an active underworld, and thest is a den of shady characters.''

    Since he didn''t know exactly what he was looking for, it really could have been any of those locations.

    ''But my gut tells me it''s the third.''

    It was a ce perfect for a mercenary, a bar where only people who desired the freedom of such a job could stay.

    ''Let''s beeline then.''

    It was roughly 6 billion kilometers away, apletely random distance.

    With ten million kilometers covered with every teleportation, and every teleportation taking roughly a second, it only took Damien 10 minutes to arrive at the door.

    He opened it and walked in.

    The atmosphere was rowdy. Those gathered were all crass individuals who didn''t care to abide by social customs if it meant they could be themselves.

    They were from all different races, with so many strange personalities and appearances that the word "strange" became irrelevant.

    This was a ce those with status like Yulia would usually avoid, calling it uncouth, but Damien quite appreciated this kind of environment where everyone could be in the same room regardless of differences because of their shared passion.

    ''Plus, I don''t know what it''s like for others, but Yulia would definitely fit in here.''

    Damien walked past several tables full of mercenaries who eyed him as he passed and sat down at the bar.

    The bartender nced over, but didn''t go out of his way to attend to him.

    "Unweing, aren''t you?" Damien said sarcastically.

    "I apologize, but you look a bit too pristine to be in a ce like this."

    Damien raised his brow and looked at himself.

    ''Is cleanliness a problem? Or maybe I look too much like a noble?''

    He shrugged to himself.

    "I don''t think bartenders are supposed to care about shit like that? Just serve me some good liquor and be on your way."

    "Hmm¡­"

    The bartender scrutinized Damien with his gaze for a moment before sighing to himself and doing as he was told.

    As the drink arrived as Damien ordered, someone sat down next to him and ordered their own drink.

    "What do you think?" Damien said as he took a sip of the liquor.

    It burned, and the taste was piss poor. It wasn''t like the liquor he personally made, but it had its own charm like a barbarian warrior on a battlefield of blood.

    "When you went on about underestimation, I got a bit curious, but ten minutes was beyond my expectation."

    The person beside him spoke, taking a sip of her own drink.

    "Didn''t I tell you when we first met? This is normal for me."

    "Arrogant brat."

    "Isn''t that why you picked me?"

    "Touch¨¦."

    Damien and Yulia sat in the bar and finished their drinks as if they were regr customers, but there was a silent war going on between them.

    They had a contractor-contractee rtionship that was close to a ve contract, but Damien refused to be treated like a ve.

    Yulia respected it, but she also expected him to act like someone who was taking orders, because she couldn''t put a wild card into a team of mercenaries who had their own hierarchical structure.

    What Damien wanted to show her was that he didn''t need something like a team, and while she didn''t like it, she had no choice but to ept it.

    He''d won this time.

    "Haa, whatever. Wee to The Den. This is where you''ll be taking your missions from now on, and that guy¡­"

    Yulia motioned towards the bartender with her eyes.

    "...is the one who''ll act as the middleman between the two of us."

    Damien nodded.

    "Alright, then, since you''re here now, I''m assuming you''re giving me the first one on your own?"

    "Naturally," Yulia responded with a smile.

    "It wouldn''t be any fun if I wasn''t present for the initiation."

    "That¡­"

    Damien frowned.

    The air in the bar suddenly changed.

    And all eyes were on him.

    "It''s simple," Yulia said.

    She grinned as she stood up and started walking away.

    "Either defeat everyone here and get your way, or lose and do things my way."

    She opened the door to the bar and gave him onest look, her eyes slyer than ever:

    "Well then, good luck."

    Bang!

    The door closed.

    And murderous intent ran wild throughout the bar.

    "Good," Damien said with a grin.

    "You guys might not know this, but letting off steam like this is one of my favorite pastimes."

    He stretched slightly and turned to face the crowd, raising his own aura to match theirs.

    They wanted to fight?

    Then he would give them a fight they''d never forget.

    It was bing his signature phrase at this point, so he felt the need to say it.

    "Come at me, bitches!"

 Chapter 1370 Mercenary [3]

    Chapter 1370 Mercenary [3]

    "Well, that''s that."

    Damien brushed his hands off and walked over to the bar.

    "Thest one was a little bit disappointing. How about trying one of mine this time?"

    He pulled out his own spirit liquor and poured himself a ss, ncing at the bartender, who sighed and raised his own ss as well.

    As the two enjoyed their drinks, theypletely ignored the scene behind them, a bar full of broken bodies.

    Nobody was dead, but there wasn''t a single one who didn''t have at least five broken bones.

    The worst ones were covered in bruises and leaking blood from various ces. They''d be unconscious for at least a few days. The rest¡­well, while they were doing better than that, they were still groaning and clutching their wounds in far too much pain to pay attention to anything else.

    It was an easy fight to say the least. The fight itself didn''t even need to be mentioned because of how easy it was.

    And naturally, it was fast too.

    Yulia re-entered the bar with the same surprised look on her face that she always had since she met Damien.

    "Do you have a habit of finishing fast or something?"

    "Only when I need to. You can be assured that I don''t have the same problem in other situations."

    "Gross."

    "I agree. That was my bad."

    Damien smiled wryly. He may or may not have forgotten Yulia was a woman for a second, but saying that would probably actually get him killed.

    ''Plus, it was too easy. She''s not stupid, so she definitely knew I would say something.''

    Damien shook his head and ignored it, moving on.

    "I''ve been tested quite a lot since I got here and I''m getting a little tired of it. We''re done with all the useless stuff, right?"

    Yulia rolled her eyes. She wasn''t a fan of his arrogance, but she couldn''t deny that it was warranted.

    "Yeah, I won''t bother doubting you anymore. Your first task will be simple, but it''ll get harder with time, so be prepared."

    "Naturally."

    Nodding slightly, Yulia stopped dying. She exined the task both simply andplexly at once.

    The task itself was the simple part.

    Yulia didn''t test Damien without reason.

    She needed to gauge his capabilities so she could use him to the best they offered.

    Through these tests, she learned that Damien was an all-rounder.

    He had movement speed beyond movement speed, surveying and intelligence abilities that rivaled the greatest among his power level, andbat power that could do more than just protect himself.

    He was pretty much a cheat character.

    The struggles he went through in the lower universe didn''t allow him to have any weaknesses. The ones he did have were properly smoothed out with time, and now that he''d reached a level like this, the only growth he really needed to undergo was in his abilities themselves.

    Nevertheless, since Damien could be used in any kind of mission, Yulia really didn''t have anything left to worry about.

    She already nned how these five years would go.

    "The first task is a simple information-gathering mission," she said.

    He was a one-man army. The tasks she usually needed to use multiple teams for could be done in quick session by him.

    "Go to the Yunix Principality and investigate the ruling powers there. There''s been news of a brewing rebellion and rumors about demonic forces infiltrating the ranks of therger ns. Verify what needs to be verified and disprove the rest beforeing back. You have one month."

    This part didn''t need much exnation. It was fairly simple and straightforward.

    Theplex part came after. It was a rundown of the Western Region''s affairs.

    Everything Damien needed to know, not just about the principality he was headed to, but about its neighboring powers and therge and small conflicts taking ce across the cardinal region, was exined to him piece by piece until he had a clear understanding of the Eastern Region in its entirety.

    "Alright. Seems easy enough. Do I just report back here when I''m done?" He asked.

    "Mm. Pass any information you have to Sebastian. You can trust that it''ll get delivered to me no matter where I am."

    Damien nced at the bartender, whose name was apparently Sebastian, curiously.

    ''I wonder what kind of person he is for her to guarantee something like that.''

    But just as soon as he gained that curiosity, he shrugged and dropped it.

    ''It''s not my problem.''

    He had long since reached a point where he stopped caring about things he didn''t need to care about.

    "I''ll look forward to your work," Yulia said, standing up to leave.

    "Yeah, look forward to it," Damien replied confidently, bidding her farewell.

    Without another word, he vanished from the bar.

    He already knew where he needed to go. Yulia''s first token he got on the starship was incredibly detailed about theyout of the Eastern Region, after all.

    The only ones left in The Den were Yulia and Sebastian, along with the mercenaries who were just nowing to their senses after the beating they received earlier.

    "What do you think of him?" Yulia asked.

    "He''s dangerous," Sebastian answered immediately.

    "Dangerous, huh¡­"

    Yulia smiled.

    Maybe Damien didn''t know it, but she was the one who hired Sebastian. She knew his capabilities better than anyone else.

    For him to call someone dangerous¡­

    "Would you win?"

    Sebastian frowned.

    He looked down at the cup on the bar, still half filled with the spirit liquor Damien had poured for him.

    "I don''t know."

    He couldn''t answer that question.

    Damien didn''t take any effort to defeat a bar full of mercenaries, and none of those people lying on the ground unconscious right now were weak.

    Some of them had great reputations in the Eastern Region, some of them had names that resounded through multiple cardinal regions, while some were unknown but more powerful than the other two groupsbined.

    They weren''t characters who should''ve been left in pieces after five minutes.

    Especially not when over thirty of them were working together.

    "Damien Void¡­"

    Yulia''s eyes narrowed strangely.

    "I guess a great change really ising to our world."

    Yulia was confident in her intuition, and she was confident in Sebastian''s experience.

    When both of those things aligned and agreed that one man who appeared out of nowhere was great enough to shake up the entire world, the question of helping him wasn''t even important anymore.

    Getting involved in Void Pce''s conflicts was something the Veritas n was already nning to do. Helping Damien just meant getting involved more directly.

    And to do so in return for five years of servitude, Yulia wasn''t really trying to gain anything.

    She wanted to form that positive rtionship.

    Because while Damien didn''t know it, his importance was already understood by those who''d interacted with him for a longer period of time.

    The only thing that remained was to decide if they were going to stand with him or against him.

    And the Veritas n was not an evil influence.

    Rather, they were a people who held an absolute conformity to righteousness.

    ''Whether we''ll stand behind them or stand beside them¡­''

    Yulia''s lips curled up.

    ''...we will be on the right side of history.''

 Chapter 1371 Mercenary [4]

    Chapter 1371 Mercenary [4]

    One month went by fast.

    That one month included travel time, but with Damien''s speed, it only took around three days to reach the Yunix Principality.

    Afterwards, aplishing the mission was easy.

    He spent most of the time rxing and enjoying the sights of the principality''s main cities. As for the work he had to do, with Absolute Perception backing him, what did he have to worry about?

    By the time a month passed, he had more than enough information to report back, and when he gave it to Sebastian, he learned that he actually did more than what was expected from him.

    He didn''t care, though. He was here to work, so he would work properly.

    That mentality allowed him to do mission after mission without rest.

    After the first information-gathering mission, where he found out the plots and schemes within the Yunix Principality, the second task he was given was to suppress those very forces stirring up trouble.

    He fought and killed, solved the conflict, and came back within three months.

    The next year was spent doing simr things all around the Eastern Region.

    He solved conflict after conflict and brought peace to themon people. He didn''t realize it until around 6 months after his first few missions, but there was a central organization driving most of the plots he''d stopped.

    By the time he was halfway through his second year as a mercenary, he was fighting them with all his power. He went through Demigod after Demigod, killing and stealing the core of their existences to strengthen his own power.

    Until finally, he found their leader and took his head.

    He was a high-rank Demigod. The organization itself was only mildly influential in therge scheme of things, which was why Damien was dispatched to deal with them rather than Gods from the Veritas n, but it was sufficient practice for him.

    He also ended up with a reputation in the Eastern Region.

    The name Damien Grey was never mentioned, because he didn''t give it out easily. The only ones who knew it were influences loyal to the Veritas n, who made sure they wouldn''t spill his information carelessly.

    As for his title, there wasn''t one specific thing they called him.

    He came and went like a passing breeze, he solved things with great power and force like a great mountain, and he was righteous like a spirit of nature.

    He held the mantle of a hero in the eyes of the people.

    But for mercenaries and people more involved in the world of practitioners?

    He was more like a demon.

    The people didn''t see the scenes he left in his wake.

    The utter destruction was menacing, to say the least.

    His enemies were either mutted or killed so cleanly that it felt like nonsense.

    The environment was always in tatters, to the point where one had to wonder if a natural disaster passed through the area.

    But for some reason, the destroyed environment maintained its vitality and would always heal back to normal within a few days or weeks.

    Nobody had seen his methods and lived, but just the spections one could make from what he left behind made him someone nobody could mess with.

    His status among those who worked for the Veritas n was the highest it could be already, and the missions he got assigned became increasinglyplex.

    From small matters like before, Damien got involved in more important conflicts.

    He was sent to spy on the Kyushu Federation a few times, and he was even sent to facilitate rtions with the Vega n to the north.

    The connections he could make for personal gain weren''t many, but the ones he made were ones that would help him immensely in the future.

    His reputation and status were already what he wanted them to be by the third year.

    But he encountered another problem.

    It was within himself.

    Existence was aw that wasn''t aw. It was only ssified as aw because there was really nothing else to call it.

    Damien could control Existence to an extent. He could do things like perceive the world or touch the ethereal aspects of life that other people couldn''t see.

    However, he couldn''t actively move Existence to his will.

    He couldn''t control a mana that represented the concept.

    Why?

    The more he encountered the problem, the more he thought about it.

    Why hadn''t he made any progress in his Authorities since he got to the Heavenly World?

    Why hadn''t he been able to do anything as he wanted to no matter how hard he tried?

    ''There''s a method.''

    He knew there was.

    ''There''s definitely a mana that represents Existence. It''s simr to Void Energy, but only one side of it. It exists, but I can''t find it.''

    He didn''t know how to find it or how to control it.

    He needed to find that method.

    So he searched, and searched, and searched.

    He went through the Eastern Region specifically with this thought in mind. His missions became a secondary priority, because if he couldn''t get stronger, nothing else mattered.

    He even tried the opposite and calmed down, taking a break from it all.

    Damien went to the Sanctuary every few months and spent time with his wives and family. He helped them in their endeavors and guided them as they made their way towards Divinity.

    Elvira was also someone he met often. Whether forfort or for business, she was someone he could always turn to.

    This problem, however, couldn''t be solved with rest or effort.

    He needed an opportunity.

    And thus, the fourth year arrived.

    After he worked in the shadows for so long, he was finally given a mission in the light.

    "The younger generation of the Veritas n will be entering a secret realm soon. It will be attended by the future experts of the Kyushu Federation, Vega n, and Straea n as well. Your job is to go with them and make sure they don''t die."

    The one who spoke was Sebastian. Damien was still taking missions in The Den, but the atmosphere was a bit different than before.

    It was subtle, but everyone avoided him. He was the only one sitting at the bar, and nobody dared to approach him.

    "Is it that easy?" Damien asked.

    "Ease is rtive. The Straea n will definitely aim for their lives, and nobody can predict the movements of the Kyushu Federation."

    Damien nodded. He''d done enough reconnaissance in the Southeastern Region to understand how convoluted the interests of that ce were.

    "On top of that, the secret realm itself is incredibly dangerous. It''s the most important training location in our Eastern Region, so you can imagine the kinds of risks and rewards that are present there."

    Damien nodded again. If three other great ns wereing to a secret realm in the Eastern Region, it meant the Veritas n was forced to share in order to protect their assets.

    Such a big pie couldn''t be eaten alone, after all.

    "When is it?"

    "They''ll leave in ten days."

    "Understood. So should I head straight to the Veritas n?"

    "That would be ideal."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien stood up and turned around.

    ''It''s almost over.''

    There was just one year left until he could go to Void Pce.

    ''And this will probably be the most important factor in securing the Veritas n''s support.''

    If he could properly protect their younger generation, they''d owe him a favor beyond what his mercenary position begot.

    ''Good.''

    Damien left The Den and made his way to the Veritas n.

    ''Come to think of it, this is my first visit.''

    ''Let''s see what a great n of the Heavenly World really looks like.''

 Chapter 1372 Mercenary [5]

    Chapter 1372 Mercenary [5]

    The Veritas n.

    It didn''t exist somewhere one would expect a great n''s estate to be. It wasn''t directly in the center of the Eastern Region, nor was it somewhere on the edges as if putting the entire region in its shadow.

    Instead, the Veritas Principality, which was essentially just a n estate that was too big to be called as such, was around 50 billion kilometers south of the central area of the Eastern Region.

    It wasn''t a location that had much significance at first nce, but if one was able to peer into the truth of the world, one would soone to understand the decision to build the heart of the cardinal region here.

    This specific location was where the fate lines converged. It was where all things were birthed and where they''d return upon death. It was a location close to Samsara, yet one that absolutely denied the concept.

    Veritas, a word that meant "Truth" in anguage long forgotten, at least in most people''s perception.

    But just as much as it meant truth, it held another meaning.

    "Reality."

    The Veritas n was one that existed to protect reality as it stood. They would not allow it to be shattered by others'' machinations, and they would not allow itsw to be broken regardless of the consequences.

    They existed within reality and melded with it. Rather than normal practitioners who sought to leave its bounds, they wanted to strengthen those bounds and be its embodiment.

    It was a strange way of thinking, one Damien couldn''t understand, but he respected it.

    After all, in the end, they were a just influence.

    In the four years he''d spent working for them, he learned a lot about how they operated and why they were able to maintain the position of a great n for tens or even hundreds of millions of years.

    The generations changed, the beliefs of those living changed, and the world changed through innovation and conflict, but their core ideologies always remained constant.

    They helped themon people and made sure they could live stably. Those influences under them who were loyal and just were given benefits that made it impossible for them to even think about turning traitors. The quality of life was amazing, to the point where, if someone tried to overthrow the Veritas n, the entire Eastern Region would rise up to make sure they never seeded.

    Was there a way to not respect a n who''d created rtionships like those?

    When Damien arrived at the Veritas Principality, he was instantly greeted by a wall so high even he couldn''t see where it ended.

    This wall had gates every hundred million miles or so to facilitate entry and exit into the region. Several guards, both Demigods and lower existences, guarded every inch of it day in and day out, making it an imprable fortress.

    Damien was granted entry rtively easily since his reputation was known and news of his arrival was sent to the gates beforehand.

    Once he was in the principality, he headed to the location Sebastian told him about without wasting any time.

    ''The Veritas n''s main estate should be in the middle of this ce. I thought that''s where I''d be going, but I guess I was wrong.''

    He''d been in the Heavenly World for a few years now, and while he was still rtively naive about the cardinal regions beyond the eastern side of the world, he was more than just knowledgeable about the Eastern Region itself.

    He had be a key yer in their operations, someone with enough importance to know secrets the Veritas n would never tell outsiders.

    With Yulia''s backing and friendship as well, he was practically a member of their n already.

    But even he couldn''t gain ess to the main estate.

    ''I heard the Veritas n keeps a record of all the knowledge in the world there. It''s a physical representation of reality itself, an almost impossible concept that exists somehow.''

    The Sapientia n focused on information and wisdom, but they couldn''t evene close to what the Veritas n was hiding.

    ''Even regr members of the n can''t enter there. Unless it''s the patriarch, the grand elders, or someone who has received unanimous permission from the council, that ground is off-limits.''

    The main lineage of the Veritas n wasn''t an exception to this rule. Fairness beyond all else. This was how the Veritas n rose to their grand position from the start.

    ''Though, Yulia doesn''t seem to have a problem going there. Well, everyone else has a problem with it, but she does it anyway.''

    Yulia Veritas was an outlier that nobody could control. Her true strength, her motives, and everything else about her were too hidden for people to make guesses.

    But her loyalty to Veritas was absolute, so while people raised a fuss about her actions, nobody actually tried to stop her.

    ''What a nice position.''

    It was basically where Damien wanted to be in the future. She was someone with the same standing as the Patriarch without any of the responsibilities. She was a free spirit to the core.

    Damien wondered what the same position in Void Pce would look like as he reached the destination in question.

    He was the first one there, but eventually, people arrived to join him.

    It was three at first. A man with a bushy beard and a barbarian-like appearance, a woman who was theplete opposite of him, elegant and graceful, and another man who was dressed like a schr from ancient times.

    They approached Damien with the barbarian at the head and introduced themselves.

    "You''re Damien Grey, right?" The barbarian said.

    "I''ve heard too much about ya to not say hi! You can call me Harutos. I don''t really care about status or anything like that, but for the sake of introductions, I''m the Sixth Elder of the Veritas n."

    Damien shook the grinning barbarian''s hand with a cordial smile and returned his greeting.

    In quick session, the other two introduced themselves too.

    The woman was named Regalia Veritas, and the schrly man was called Trius Veritas. They were the Seventh and Eighth Elders respectively, and along with him, they were in charge of protecting the geniuses of the n.

    "They sent four of us, but there''s supposed to be six geniuses going to this secret realm. I guess the Grand Elders will being too?" Regalia wondered aloud.

    The Veritas n had 24 Elders and 8 Grand Elders. While the Elders were all high-rank Demigods with great power, the Grand Elders were True Gods beyond imagination.

    For them to be acting¡­

    "The Young Master and Young Lady are participating in this expedition."

    Trius spoke to confirm Damien''s thoughts.

    Protection targets that Demigods didn''t have the power to protect properly. They would be joining this expedition.

    ''Grand Elders, huh¡­''

    If True Gods were participating as mere protectors¡­

    ''...this secret realm will probably be much more interesting than expected.''

    And by interesting, naturally, he meant dangerous.

    As he nced into the sky and watched the spirit ship that held those illustrious characters approach, he contained his thoughts.

    ''A nagging feeling.''

    It filled his heart.

    And it only grew more prominent as the spirit ship approached.

    He knew what his intuition was telling him, and he refused to ignore it.

    ''I might have to use it this time.''

    He frowned, and stepped forward with the other three elders.

    ''Haa, and I thought I could hide for a little longer.''

 Chapter 1373 Mercenary [6]

    Chapter 1373 Mercenary [6]

    The spirit ship came from the main estate of the Veritas n. The Grand Elders directly left from there and picked up each party one by one, giving them adequate time to get acquainted with each other.

    The Veritas n''s Patriarch, Julian Veritas, only had two children. They were the Young Master and Young Lady mentioned before.

    The rest of the geniuses of the n came from coteral lines or were picked up from the outside, but the Veritas n didn''t treat them any differently.

    Their fairness principle applied everywhere. As long as one had talent and ability, one could do anything.

    There wasn''t even a real "Veritas Main Family." The family of the n Head was considered as such, but the n Head was always chosen fairly throughpetition whenever the time came for the previous head to step down.

    Nevertheless, the Young Master and Young Lady of the n in this generation were still put on a pedestal above the rest. Not because of their status, but because of their ability.

    When Damien and the rest entered the spirit ship, they were immediately greeted by the Grand Elders, whom they respectfully greeted back.

    Afterward, they were separated and taken to the geniuses they were meant to guard.

    ''Right, this is how it should be.''

    Rather than just having a few elders focus on central targets, each genius had a powerful protector that couldn''t be looked down upon.

    Only, Damien was the only one who didn''t have true status in the Veritas n, so he did feel a bit strange.

    He didn''t n to shirk his duties, though.

    He put away thoughts about the talented youths and focused on the woman in front of him, the genius he''d be protecting.

    "Hello!" She greeted him optimistically when they first saw each other.

    "My name is Celeste Veritas. Please take care of me!"

    She bowed respectfully and looked at him with shining eyes, as if expecting him to introduce himself with the same enthusiasm.

    "Hmm¡­I''m Damien Grey. I don''t know if you''ve heard of me, but I''m confident in my abilities, so don''t worry about anything else and focus on your opportunities in the secret realm. I won''t let you die."

    Was it a bit too direct? The expression on Celeste''s face became a bit awkward for a moment before she regained her usual positive demeanor.

    There wasn''t much else for them to say to each other. It was a three-day journey to get to the secret realm from the nearest teleportation gate, and while most of the geniuses spent time talking to each other, Celeste had a habit of bothering Damien instead.

    ''Haa¡­what an energetic individual.''

    She reminded him of the past Damien. The one who had endless energy and will to do whatever they wished.

    ''But why is she clinging onto me? Is it just a whim, or¡­?''

    He did notice a strange atmosphere among the geniuses, as if they were avoiding Celeste.

    A few of them did try to make conversation with her, including the Young Master and Young Lady, but after just a few minutes, they left awkwardly and didn''t approach again.

    ''Either her position in the n is strange, or something else is going on. I don''t know, and I don''t n to get involved unless they try something.''

    He knew the Veritas n''s reputation, but he didn''t put it past them to attack their own if the need came.

    After all, there wasn''t such thing as a major n without conflict.

    ''Even if they n to do something, it''ll happen in the secret realm, so I should focus on that now.''

    Damien still didn''t know much about where they were going, but just a few hours ago he was given a jade slip describing it.

    Since he''d gotten rid of Celeste and found peace in his own room now, he could finally take a look at it.

    ''What? It''s unnamed?''

    That was his first thought.

    It was always just referred to as "the secret realm" or something along those lines, never specifically named.

    ''That''sme. But considering the contents, let''s call it the Forbidden Secret Realm.''

    It wasn''t a good name by any means, but it was better than nothing. Plus, since when was Damien good at naming things?

    ''It makes sense why the surrounding forces, even allies like the Vega n, made a fuss about this ce.''

    It was an environment he found familiar.

    It was a secret realm, but he understood its mechanics at a nce.

    ''This is just like the First Dungeon.''

    ording to the information, the Forbidden Secret Realm was a birthce of Gods.

    Every beast and creature in the ce had some sort of Divine Bloodline, whether it be Godbeast blood or something of simr strength,

    Every nt and material was heavenly and could be used to craft countless artifacts and treasures that couldn''t beprehended by amon practitioner.

    It was basically and of only treasures.

    However, it had its own mechanics.

    ''Everyone can only bring out one thing?''

    No matter where the treasures were hidden, even if they were ced in an alternate reality, they''d disappear once one left the secret realm, leaving only one behind.

    There were mechanisms through which one could gain the chance to take out two or three, but never more than a number under five.

    ''Plus, to even get your hands on something good and keep it is difficult in its own right.''

    This was that type of secret realm.

    Every treasure would be apanied by dozens of more dangers, and even the treasures the Veritas n knew of were contained within roughly a fifth of the secret realm''s surface.

    ''The rest is unexplored. Not just by the Veritas, but by all of them. The entire battle has taken ce in this fifth of the secret realm for as long as it has existed.''

    There were boundary steles blocking off the rest of it from those who entered, and even the power of a True God wasn''t enough to break them.

    ''How fun.''

    Damien started getting a sense for the kind of encounters he would have in that ce and the things he needed to watch out for.

    ''It''s quite novel when I think about it.''

    ''This time, I''m not the genius exploring the secret realm.''

    He''d grown past that point.

    Rather than the one adventuring for opportunities, he was the one protecting that person from the shadows.

    ''It''s quite novel when I think about it.''

    He''d experienced the former side of things, but he''d never been in this position before.

    He''d never even considered it, because, to him, he was still counted as a young genius.

    ''But these people don''t know.''

    Except for Yulia, nobody knew.

    He was still in his 70s.

    Each and every person at his level was at least a few thousand years old.

    No, even disregarding them, most of the so-called geniuses in this ce were older than him as well.

    But who could guess that?

    His altered appearance didn''t let people easily guess his age, and with his power level that rivaled high-rank Demigods easily, who could ever imagine that he was only a few decades old?

    Even Yulia took several years to finallye to terms with this fact.

    But, that was also beside the point. Since he was in this position, he''d dly ept it. It was more fun experiencing new things from this perspective, after all.

    And with three days passing in a sh, the group finally arrived.

    Dozens of spirit ships decorated the skies around a seemingly empty mountain range.

    This was the location where the gate would spawn.

    Sometime in the next few days, they would enter that ce.

    The Forbidden Secret Realm.

 Chapter 1374 Forbidden Secret Realm [1]

    Chapter 1374 Forbidden Secret Realm [1]

    There were four main groups who arrived at the Forbidden Secret Realm, but they weren''t the only ones.

    Aside from the four great ns who were participating, several smaller influences from the Eastern Region were given the chance to prove their worth through this expedition.

    Their younger generations would experience trials and triumphs, and when they came out, they''d be people worthy of representing the Veritas n as its vassals.

    Whatever rewards they gained inside were theirs alone. The Veritas n would never interfere and try to take a reward by force, but many chose to offer their gains to them regardless.

    Otherwise, if the Veritas n truly desired something another party gained in the secret realm, they''d pay for it properly and give the n in question a rise in status matching their achievement.

    Because of this system, the smaller influences were all eager to have their geniuses show their mettle and prevail. They lined up around the area as the anticipation for theing event rose.

    The four major ns of the Eastern Region were also participating. They didn''t require much status since they were already at the greatest height they could reach, but with their loyalty, it was only granted that they''d enter and try to aid the Veritas n to their greatest capacity.

    Nevertheless, when the geniuses and their protectors exited their spirit ships and reached the ground below, the main yers whom everyone focused their attention on naturally came from four influences.

    The Veritas n, the Vega n, the Kyushu Federation, and the Straea n.

    Of them, two were allied, while the other two were individual wolves hungry for a piece of the delicious meat known as the Forbidden Secret Realm.

    Each of the four had six geniuses who were given the right to participate. They faced off in a mental battle the second they met each other, their auras both concealed and openly provoking their opponents.

    Damien watched as the more well-known geniuses approached each other and began a battle of words. He watched as the more high-spirited ones challenged each other and raved at the opportunity to battle.

    ''Ah, youth.''

    He smiled slightly. He remembered the days when he was in that position, a young genius who wanted to challenge the world.

    Standing as someone who had been on top of the world before, all these small things seemed novel to him. Whether it was the mind games of those who were intelligent or the aura battles of those who weren''t, they all reminded him of experiences from the past that shaped him into what he was today.

    ''There are a lot of secret realms throughout the cosmos, and they''re pretty much the main challenge for the younger generation who wants to grow, but there''s a reason for that. No matter what other method there is, this one is always the best.''

    Even the Dimensional Leaderboard relied on secret realms of its creation to raise the geniuses of the lower universe.

    Was there a better method?

    The geniuses would be forced to challenge themselves with real-life experiences, and because most secret realms had restrictions, they would be able to do so against people of their own level without being impeded by people they didn''t have a chance to defeat.

    ''The fall of most geniuses happens because of that. People who don''t want to see them grow cut them down before they can. And unlike the usual secret realm¡­''

    This one didn''t have much of a power restriction.

    It only had a limit for the number of people who could enter at each stage.

    For instance, there were Godly protectors next to the Young Master and Young Lady of the Veritas n, along with the top geniuses of the other ns, a total of eight across all four great ns.

    That was the maximum number of Gods allowed by the secret realm. If another God tried to enter after them, they would either be suppressed down to the Demigod level or just banned from entering the secret realm at all.

    ''We waited for two days in the spirit ships before descending, so I can only assume the secret realm will open soon¡­''

    He nced over at Celeste, the woman he was protecting this time around.

    ''She''s not like the rest. I understand why she''d be excluded on the spirit ship since that''s exclusively amongst the Veritas n members, but even here, she''s not interacting with anyone.''

    It was a little confusing from his perspective. Celeste was an energetic person. She always found time to annoy him with her overly positive attitude, and she didn''t seem to have a bad personality that would drive people away from her.

    But when she was around people of her own generation she never showed that side of her. It wasn''t that she became cold and ruthless, it was more like she put on the guise of a weak and vulnerable individual without the confidence to approach others.

    ''Is she someone who likes to toy with others?''

    He didn''t really care about her habits, but he needed to know her general demeanor if he wanted to n for the future.

    From what he''d seen so far, she didn''t overtly go looking for trouble, but she seemed like someone trouble would be attracted to regardless.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Damien shrugged.

    ''At this point, it''s already useless to specte. After all¡­''

    He nced at the sky.

    Some others sensed it too.

    Space was fluctuating imperceptibly. With every passing second, its chaos became more pronounced until even the weakest among them could clearly feel the changes.

    ''It''s time.''

    As if it was waiting for Damien''s deration, the entrance to the Forbidden Secret Realm ripped open.

    Arge, swirling, gxy-like portal formed where the space tore, opening the way to heaven.

    No words needed to be said. This wasn''t the first time the secret realm had opened and it wouldn''t be thest.

    Those who were impatient rushed ahead instantly, and those who were cautious waited a bit longer before entering, but regardless of their nature, they all entered within a minute.

    As for Damien and Celeste¡­

    "Shall we go?" She said in a peppy tone.

    "I''m just here to protect you, so do as you please," Damien responded stalely.

    "Tch, you''re no fun."

    Celeste pouted a bit, but it was just for show. She''d already begun moving towards the portal.

    Damien pulled out the small jade token he was given, one connected to a simr token Celeste held. This would allow him to be teleported to the same location as her without fail, since everyone would be spread out randomly when they entered the realm.

    And as she walked in, he walked in as well.

    Under the familiar feeling of reality itself twisting and morphing into something entirely different, he arrived in a new ne.

    And he immediately felt it.

    ''This¡­''

    He took in a deep breath of the air.

    His eyes narrowed.

    His heart pounded.

    ''There''s something here.''

    There was definitely something in the secret realm that was rted to him, something absolutely critical.

    He didn''t know what it was, but since he was here, he wouldn''t leave without finding it.

    He smiled to himself.

    ''I knew it wouldn''t be a normal secret realm expedition, but I didn''t expect that there''d be something like this.''

    The mysterious treasures of the most important secret realm in the Eastern Region¡­

    Just what did they have to offer?

 Chapter 1375 Forbidden Secret Realm [2]

    Chapter 1375 Forbidden Secret Realm [2]

    Damien nced around at his surroundings.

    The first thing he saw was Celeste, who was just a few feet away. Unlike him, she''d been affected by the spatial transmission and was currently regaining herposure.

    After that, it was the environment itself.

    They were in arge jungle, or maybe it was more apt to call it a rainforest?

    It was filled with verdant greenery lush enough to be considered overgrown. The color green that spread in every direction was almost too vibrant to be real, and the sky was blotted out by the densely packed vegetation.

    The roars, chirps, and buzzing of beasts came from all over the ce, courtesy of the flourishing ecosystem within this ce.

    And from the auras that came from those sounds¡­

    "...everything around here has reached Divinity."

    It wasn''t Damien who spoke, but Celeste. She also sensed everything around her after regaining her senses, and she immediately went on alert.

    "It''s not quite Divinity," Damien responded.

    "It''s simr, but they didn''t reach the Divine level normally. It''s more like they''re mortals with the strength of a Divinity."

    Divinity was something special. Regardless of whether it was something grand like Damien''s Hegemon God or something basic like a single element Divinity, it wasn''t something that could be achieved easily.

    That wasn''t to say none of the beasts in this secret realm had the capacity to reach that point, but an entire ecosystem of Divinities who ughtered and ate each other just wasn''t possible.

    But for them to reach a power level simr to what a Demigod had without actually gaining Divinity, while it seemed more improbable, was actually far easier.

    Damien knew how beasts worked more than anyone else, since he was basically one of them for a while. He understood how easy it was to kill, eat, and evolve until one reached an unimaginable level.

    ''I wonder what the intelligence standard is.''

    If they all had high intelligence, things could be far more dangerous than he was expecting.

    ''But it''s not my job to figure all this out.''

    After the first tidbit of information he gave, he didn''t say anything else.

    This was Celeste''s time to shine. If he yed toorge of a role here, it would stunt her growth rather than aid it.

    So he quietly watched as she slowly gathered information about her surroundings and set out to explore the secret realm.

    For now, Damien''s job was easy. He already knew how this went.

    Celeste fought against beasts, struggled, almost died, and grew. She never got injured or endangered to the extent that would require Damien to intervene, so as the days passed, he quietly faded into the background and watched her grow.

    Of course, not helping her didn''t mean he wasn''t making his own observations about the secret realm and Celeste herself over this period.

    ''Surprisingly enough, we''re pretty close to the boundary steles. I was expecting everyone to arrive far away, since there haven''t been many real attempts to break past the steles, but I guess there was something more to it.''

    The aura he had been sensing since he first got here wasing from beyond the steles, so his attention kept going in that direction.

    ''It''s unfortunate, but I won''t be able to get there in the near future.''

    The time they had in this ce wasn''t actually guaranteed. The Forbidden Secret Realm opened when it pleased and closed when it pleased. When the time came for it to disappear from the world again, it would simply eject every foreign entity back into the Heavenly World as if they were flies in front of its power.

    ''It might be as little as six months, and it might be so long that the situation outside has be something unimaginable.''

    Damien shook his head.

    ''There''s no point dawdling on it. Worst case scenario, I force my way out. More importantly, that woman¡­''

    Celeste was a Demigod in her own right. From what Damien could sense from her soul, her Divinity was also something rted to stars, as if her destiny always led to the celestial.

    ''The power she uses mimics the natural elements, but isn''t actually a part of their order. She''s an anomaly amongst anomalies.''

    Normal people definitely couldn''t sense it, but he was different.

    There wasn''t anyone with a greater connection to the celestial than he did.

    After all, he was the owner of an entire universe.

    ''From what I can gather, it isn''t like the power of my Celestial ss, or anything like Ruyue''s old moon affinity. Rather than drawing power from the stars, it''s like her entire body has be chaos from which the stars can be born.''

    He didn''t know how to properly exin it, but it was definitely interesting.

    Her growth was incredibly linear, as if the cosmos itself wanted her to grow fast. The stronger she got, the more chaotic her soul became, yet the more ordered her power was.

    ''This woman is special.''

    She was still a "young genius." She was around 100 years old, and she''d been sheltered in the Veritas n for the majority of her life.

    ''The treatment she receives outside might be because of her unique physique. I don''t know if they can read it as well as I can, but there''s no way the Gods of the Veritas n didn''t notice the oddity of her existence.''

    Whatever the case was, the Celeste he was seeing now wasn''t like the sides she showed in the outside world.

    He was sure she''d already forgotten about his presence.

    Because she truly looked in her element.

    She wasn''t hiding anything or putting up a front. She wasn''t being reserved or overly outgoing. She was just being herself, absolutely enjoying the feeling of strength filling her every bone.

    ''In a way, she''s simr to me.''

    Damien smiled.

    Months passed without him having to intervene in her adventures.

    Celeste found a variety of treasures, some of which she discarded and some of which she consumed directly. She even found a beastpanion, a small ck snake that didn''t seem like anything special but had a unique aura about it.

    She was doing well, and Damien was having fun watching her growth.

    However, good times could neverst.

    ''Hostile presences.''

    They were surrounded by them constantly, but these were different.

    These were human.

    Celeste''s eyes turned in that direction with a ferocious glint.

    ''There''s no way another group would approach with good intentions.''

    Those individualistic and prideful geniuses moving as a group?

    Laughable!

    Without a question, Celeste raised her guard and jumped into a nearby tree. She withdrew a bow from her spatial ring and got in position to fire.

    The group slowly arrived in the vicinity, and Celeste hid her presence to an extreme degree that impressed even Damien.

    The two of them watched as the group below split up and searched the area. When they realized Celeste was nowhere to be found, they reconvened in the clearing.

    "The target isn''t here," the leader among them said.

    "Should we leave?" Another asked him.

    "No."

    The leader''s response was instant without an ounce of hesitation.

    "Remember our orders. If we can''t aplish our mission, we''ll be killed or brutally tortured. This is the only chance for us."

    His eyes hardened and his teeth gritted. The expressions of his men became equally solemn as they reflected on their position.

    There was only one hope for their survival.

    And the leader knew it well.

    "The future of Veritas must fall today."

 Chapter 1376 Targeted [1]

    Chapter 1376 Targeted [1]

    The group that arrived in search of Celeste consisted of only one person who was recognizable.

    He was the leader. The man who controlled the rest was one of the geniuses who appeared with the Straea n group. Other than him, the rest were all people who shouldn''t have been in the secret realm at all.

    ''These people¡­''

    Celeste''s eyes narrowed as she watched them.

    Her presence was hidden enough for them to not notice her, and as they made their way through the atmosphere looking for traces of her, she followed them and observed.

    She already figured out that they were from the Straea n, and it didn''t take a genius to realize that they used some unscrupulous means to find a way into the secret realm.

    ''They aren''t talking enough.''

    She hadn''t acted yet because she was waiting for them to reveal something of use, but the most they did was report on her traces.

    ''I left more traces in other directions on purpose to distract them, but¡­''

    She was able to split them up as she hoped. The only problem was theck of information.

    ''They''re targeting the whole n. That''s all I know.''

    And in a sense, that was all she needed to know.

    Whenbined with the knowledge that the Straea n was involved, there wasn''t much more that needed to be said.

    ''Then, just kill.''

    She gave up on gathering intel and drew her bow.

    ''There are twelve total.''

    She felt the wind and closed her eyes. Vision was irrelevant right now.

    Her senses became one with the atmosphere, and the positions of those she wanted to see became clear to her, clearer than they ever could be with physical senses.

    The brushing wind, the way the foliage moved as they stepped through it, the position of the surrounding trees rtive to both her and them¡­

    She took them all in, and as she stood with her bowstring drawn, a set of three arrows gradually materialized in their rightful ce.

    They were white, shining like the moon, and ethereal like moonlight.

    They were weightless, but Celeste could clearly feel their weight on her fingers.

    And as she let go of the bowstring, they flew true.

    Shik!

    Shik!

    Shik!

    Three arrows flew on three separate paths and struck three different targets.

    One went clean through a man''s head and came out the other side before dispersing into the atmosphere as if it never existed, another went through a man''s heart and dropped him before he even knew what was going on, while thest struck a man in the shoulder and mmed him into a nearby tree.

    By the time the three arrows hit their targets, another three were already whizzing through the air.

    Shik!

    Shik!

    They hit the same three targets. The first two alternated their targeted areas on their original targets, leaving both with injuries in their heads and hearts, while thest hit the man''s other shoulder and pinned him to the tree, restricting his movements.

    "ARGH!"

    The third man was finally given a chance to scream out in pain.

    The first two died instantly. The arrows weren''t regr wooden weapons, after all. They were made of pure mana andced with the strangews that were born from Celeste''s physique.

    Not only did they cut the connection between an individual and their mana, but they also corroded their souls with its power until those souls were absorbed and turned into arrows of their own.

    Celeste called them banishing arrows, because those who were killed by them would be banished from existence entirely.

    Bows were generally looked down upon by the majority, since there usually wasn''t a case where a practitioner would meet an arrow they couldn''t dodge, but what happened when those same arrows were put in the hands of someone who knew how to use them?

    It was a scene like this.

    The roars of the man Celeste left alive resounded through the rainforest, drawing the others in his group towards him.

    As attention focused on him and people searched the surroundings for the shooter, Celeste moved with the dexterity of a true native of this ecosystem and rushed to a different location, from which she drew her bow again.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Nine arrows were fired in quick session. They split up and targeted six people in a simr pattern to the ones before.

    Celeste switched locations again and repeated this pattern one more time before putting away her bow.

    At this point, the group was well aware that there was someone targeting them, and they were too alert to fall for another ambush.

    But that was still ording to Celeste''s n. She never used a bow as her weapon anyway.

    Instead, she''d been able to maim and injure a majority of the group within the first few seconds. That damage would gradually worsen due to the qualities of the arrows, which left her in a situation where one against twelve didn''t seem so difficult anymore.

    Twin daggers appeared to rece her bow, and using the tree branches as footholds, sheunched into the crowd and began her dance.

    "ARGH!"

    "AGH!"

    "HEUK!"

    Sounds of pain were the only thing that followed.

    She didn''t fight like anyone Damien had seen before.

    Her every movement was calcted, but there was no rigidity at all. It was smooth and flexible, yet extremely erratic.

    Sometimes she''d be in the air, hidden daggers made of mana raining down on her enemies. Sometimes she''d be on the ground facing them head-on, but even then she always had something following her back to take them by surprise.

    She never stayed in one ce for too long. Even if she sessfully broke the enemy''s guard and had the opportunity to make a fatal move, she didn''t. Instead, she''d leap away and inflict more sustained damage while focusing on those around her, never giving them an opportunity.

    In no time at all, a group of twelve was taken down to two.

    The man pinned to the tree who watched in horror as hisrades fell one by one, and Felix Straea, the genius from the Straea n.

    "You¡­!"

    He wanted to exim something, but he didn''t know what to say. He couldn''t predict the woman in front of him at all, and none of her information matched what he''d just seen.

    He opened his mouth again, but before he could say a word, his eyes shook.

    There she was.

    Directly in front of him.

    Three shes of light appeared in the air.

    Three guttural sounds rang out.

    Felix''s eyes widened as pain suddenly racked his entire body. Both of his legs were broken in that instant, and a shallow cut was formed on his neck.

    It was purposeful.

    As if Celeste was telling him she could kill him whenever she wanted to, but was choosing not to.

    If she just pushed a little further with thatst slice¡­

    He didn''t even want to think about it, but if his life was spared, it could only be for one reason.

    "Tell me," Celeste said.

    "Where are the rest of your people?"

    She didn''t need to know the reasoning or anything like that. Those questions could be answeredter.

    But right now, the rest of the Veritas n geniuses were also being attacked.

    Regrouping with them and forming a united front was her top priority.

    From the skies above, Damien watched her with a smile.

    ''Nice.'' He thought.

    ''This woman has a good head on her shoulders.''

 Chapter 1377 Targeted [2]

    Chapter 1377 Targeted [2]

    Damien nced down at the body in his hands.

    ''This guy was a high-rank Demigod.''

    There was no way geniuses would be sent alone for a mission like the one that they were on. There was a contingency n in the form of a high-rank Demigod that was more powerful than any of those Damien had met from the Veritas n group.

    ''If it''s like this for them too, it''ll be trouble.''

    The geniuses were at roughly the same level. They could fight in singlebat and the oue would be unknown, but when the enemy was in a group of ten or more and supported by such a strong Divinity, the oue would obviously be different.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    He kept forgetting, but the young geniuses were Demigods as well.

    ''I guess this is where the massive gap between Divinitieses into y.''

    Because in front of people like the corpse in his hand, people like Celeste wouldn''t stand a single chance.

    ''She''s moving in the right direction, though. Since she''s been hiding her strength so thoroughly, she''s the only one who can help the others.''

    Celeste was definitely at a much higher level than her peers. The reason she was able to toy with Felix Straea and his group was exactly this, and since she had Damien watching her back, she had the freedom to act as she pleased.

    As for the others¡­

    ''Their protectors are strong, but not strong enough.''

    And the two Gods in the group¡­

    ''...are probably fighting stronger Gods.''

    It was a troublesome situation.

    The Veritas n was rtively careless in the way they handled the secret realm because its restrictions had been invible for so long. It wasn''t their fault, but it was a mistake nheless.

    Since the Straea n found a way to circumvent the realm restriction, the problem was probably much, much worse than Damien and Celeste were thinking it was.

    ''If so, we need to move asap.''

    He nced down at the ground, where Celeste was just finishing up her interrogation. She''d gotten a decent amount of information from the dying Straea n genius, but it wasn''t nearly enough to make a difference.

    Damien disappeared and reappeared near her as she cut the throats of thest two men left alive.

    "What did he say?" He asked.

    "Only general direction," Celeste responded.

    "That''s enough. Guide me and we''ll get there in time."

    She nced at him strangely, but nodded regardless.

    The first was the location of Reba Veritas and Hugo Veritas, who were traveling together. They were the ones protected by Harutos and Regalia Veritas, the Sixth and Seventh Elders of the n.

    They were towards the west, a location closer to the barrier stele but still not close enough for it to be relevant.

    Damien didn''t need much more information other than direction. He grabbed Celeste with his mana and pulled her along as he moved through the spatialyers, providing her cover so she didn''t get affected by the teleportation.

    "What''s your true level?" Damien asked as they moved.

    "I''m not sure," Celeste responded sinctly.

    Damien nodded. He figured this was the case from the way she fought. She didn''t seem to usews as much as she should have, but herws were so deeply ingrained in her attacks that she could fight like a mortal and still show thebat power of a Divinity.

    It was an inherent thing. Celeste herself didn''t have much control over thosews, but they would support her as they were needed, so her not knowing her actual strength made some sense.

    "Did you see anyone that could be a threat?"

    The next question was the important one. Even if she didn''t know her power, she definitely had the instincts of a hunter.

    "No."

    Her response was just as simple, but it was enough.

    "Good. Handle things on the ground while I help the protectors. We''ll reconvene when both battles are over."

    With that sentence, Damien vanished from Celeste''s vision, and suddenly, her blurred surroundings became filled with the sound of weapons shing and mana being thrown around.

    She was already on the battlefield, conveniently ced on a tree branch above themotion.

    ''That man¡­''

    She shook her head.

    He was more than she expected, but she could ask him about thatter. For now, she had a task to aplish, and she wouldplete it without fail.

    As expected, the two Veritas geniuses were surrounded by over twenty enemies, battered and bloodied as they desperately fought back.

    Despite their state, their protectors were nowhere in sight.

    ''If so¡­''

    Celeste drew her bow.

    She had to give them an opening to exploit. After that, she could intervene as she was needed.

    Ten arrows whizzed into the air as one. They synchronized their movements and danced through the environment like a flock of birds making their way towards their prey.

    The battle below was fated to change from that point.

    As for what was happening in the sky¡­

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    It couldn''t be heard from the rainforest due to the natural barrier created by the canopy, but the high-rank Demigods were having quite the battle above said canopy.

    There were two of them on the enemy side, while there was only one remaining from Veritas.

    As Damien approached, he first took a second to understand the situation.

    ''Regalia died. It was probably an ambush. Harutos has been holding them off on his own since then, but he won''t be able to end this battle.''

    The most he could do was stall them, but that was fine.

    He stalled long enough.

    Help had arrived in the most unexpected form.

    A shadow appeared behind one of the enemy Demigods before anyone knew what was happening.

    The state of their battle beforehand didn''t even matter, because the second that shadow showed itself, it was already over.

    A hand was ced on the enemy Demigod''s back.

    BANG!

    A pulse of mana flowed through his body and invaded his soul.

    Both crumbled to dust in an instant and were swallowed by a terrifying ck energy not long after.

    High-rank Demigods.

    They weren''t a match for Damien anymore.

    It wasn''t because he grew in power. No, his power growth had actually stagnated.

    It was because he finally got used to the Heavenly World''s "flow."

    He understood its mana and he understood how its fate moved. With that wisdom, he could urately mobilize his own mana in a way no other Demigod could imagine.

    And his power was no longer restricted by thews of the newfound world.

    Rather than growing, he reached the level he had been at since the day he devoured the Saint Emperor.

    He turned to thest remaining enemy in the sky.

    "It''s your turn."

    That man''s fate wasn''t much better than his ally''s. He was torn to shreds within three seconds ofbat and his body was devoured by an unknown force.

    Damien nced over at Harutos, who was speechlessly standing around and trying to process what just happened, before looking at the ground, where Celeste was once again in the process of finishing up her battle.

    ''Not bad.''

    The scale was different, but she was almost keeping up with him. It was impressive to say the least.

    ''I almost want to take her as a disciple, but that''s a matter for another time.''

    He had the memories of those men he''d killed, so he knew where the rest of the Veritas n''s members were being attacked.

    "Harutos, help them finish up on the ground and wait at this location. If I''m not there in five minutes, use this to hide the group until the secret realm ends."

    He threw a token at the man that contained both the location he had in mind and an array formation he specifically made for concealment and protection long ago.

    Harutos nodded subconsciously, and by the time he realized what he''d agreed to, Damien was already gone.

    His thoughts were simr to Celeste''s.

    Damien Grey was definitely a greater man than any of them realized.

    And perhaps he would be the key to saving the Veritas n from tragedy!

 Chapter 1378 True Gods [1]

    Chapter 1378 True Gods [1]

    Damien went after Trius and his apanied genius first.

    He was thest Demigod among them. The ones remaining from that point would be Gods.

    ''Can I take them?''

    Damien was confident that he was stronger than most Demigods, but what about Gods?

    Despite working closely with people rted to them, he hadn''t actuallye into direct conflict with a God before. He didn''t know exactly how their power worked, nor did he know about the nuances that made Gods what they were.

    ''Either way, I have to do it.''

    He wouldn''t know if he had to act until he got there, but even if he didn''t, it would be good for him to see what he''d been wanting to see since he got to the Heavenly World.

    ''True Godhood.''

    He continued thinking about it as he saved Trius and the young genius he was protecting.

    He went through the motions and didn''t pay them much attention, simply sending them towards Harutos and Celeste.

    To be titled a God was massive. Especially to Damien, who grew up on Earth. His perception of that level was beings who were all-powerful, people who were above people.

    Seeing them living in society and acting as regr leaders, Damien couldn''t imagine them being the same people who were idolized and turned into mythological figures in his homeworld.

    But there had to be something.

    He refused to believe the cosmos would title people True Gods without the justification to use such a term.

    He knew where they were.

    And he knew the opponents they would be facing.

    So he went there without hesitation, his curiosity reaching an absolute peak.

    He could feel the world rumbling from hundreds of millions of miles away. It wasn''t a physical vibration, but a reaction in the mana that made up all things.

    ''It''s resonating.''

    These weren''t random vibrations created through battle. It wasn''t chaotic or disordered by the disruptive force that offensive mana was.

    Rather, it was harmonizing and resonating with the few people that existed at that far distance.

    Damien hid himself in the folds of reality. He used the Authority of Existence to absolutely cloak himself to the greatest of his capacity.

    And after taking a few minutes to prepare to the best of his abilities, Damien moved closer until he could finally see them.

    There were four of them in the sky. Unlike with the Demigods, Gods weren''t a disposable force. They couldn''t throw numbers at the problem to solve it.

    So the Gods sent by the Straea n numbered the same as those they were facing, but they were strong enough to make sure the Grand Elders of the Veritas n wouldn''t survive past today.

    The four of them stood in the sky facing each other. They weren''t making any special moves, but the mana was still acting as if they''d been fighting for a great deal of time.

    In the rainforest below, the Young Master and Young Lady of the Veritas n, Romulus Veritas and Reva Veritas, were back to back, fighting a group far greater than any of the other geniuses.

    ''They don''t look too injured.''

    The battle should''ve been ongoing for several minutes already, but despite being surrounded by over fifty enemies, the two didn''t have any injuries besides some surface-level cuts and scratches.

    ''I''ll send a clone down, but I don''t need to do anything unless the situation starts devolving.''

    A piece of mana separated from Damien''s body and dropped to the ground indiscernibly, weaving through the harmonic ambient mana so the Gods wouldn''t sense its presence.

    As the clone reached the ground and started acting on the orders given to it, Damien refocused on the Gods.

    ''Why aren''t they moving?''

    They weren''t speaking or battling, so it was a little confusing, but something was definitely happening.

    ''The harmonized mana is flowing in two different directions.''

    The stream he was in moved towards the group from behind him. He was standing behind the Veritas Grand Elders, so it felt pure and without blemish, natural beyond nature.

    However, he could sense it now that he was close.

    The mana behind the Straea n Gods was flowing in the opposite direction, pushing towards them and shing with the Veritas Gods'' mana in the space between them.

    ''They''re not the same type of mana, either. Here, it feels like the ambient mana of the world, but on that side, it''s far more chaotic, almost simr to the Abyss.''

    ''I can''t see it.''

    He couldn''t no matter what he tried.

    ''Why can''t I see it?''

    It wasn''t due to his abilities. He had control over ethereal existence just as he did its physical counterpart. There should''ve been nothing in this world that could hide from his eyes unless the power difference was just that grand.

    ''Is that what it is?''

    He didn''t want it to be that simple. He didn''t want it to be a mere difference in strength.

    ''Or maybe it''s not a matter of strength at all.''

    Maybe it was a matter of "league."

    Perhaps his "state of existence" hadn''t reached the required level.

    ''But I know I can do it.''

    State of existence wasn''t something that mattered to him anymore. The Void Physique had fully merged with him. There should have no longer been boundaries separating him from the peak of the universe.

    ''No. That''s arrogance. Even if I''ve been acknowledged by the Void, I still have a ways to go before I can reach it.''

    However, there was a way.

    He had to be one with the world and use Absolute Perception. He had to strengthen the All-Seeing Eyes with Void Energy.

    He had to do everything in his power to enhance his perception.

    That was what he did.

    His state of mind reached an entirely new level he''d never experienced before. He wasn''t just viewing the world through its eyes, he had opened an eye that was never meant to be open.

    He looked through the eyes of reality itself and peered into the secrets of those True Gods.

    He experienced another world.

    ''Wow¡­''

    He let out a breath of wonder.

    ''This is¡­''

    ''Law.''

    Law. The power that governed the universe.

    He was familiar with it. He was far closer to it than anyone else he''d met.

    Until today.

    Until he saw a God use their power.

    He controlledws like he was a part of them. He was able to see through the world''s eye and assimte himself with them.

    However, these Gods were different.

    They didn''t have to control or assimte withws.

    Laws actively obeyed their will.

    The mana of the world acted like a servant waiting on its master.

    They were true rulers, true possessors of "Authority" overws.

    It was a level Damien had imagined many times. He''d peeked at the peak when he spoke to the Void, it was just that he had no way to understand what that peak meant because he wasn''t anywhere close to it yet.

    This was the closest representation he''d seen before.

    These Gods were above the Laws and used the Laws however they pleased. They could wield concepts as if they had no bounds and turn Laws into absolutely anything.

    And as Damien watched, a thought came to mind.

    ''I¡­''

    ''I could do that too.''

 Chapter 1379 True Gods [2]

    Chapter 1379 True Gods [2]

    It was an instinctual thought.

    Damien suddenly felt like that ce wasn''t far away from him. He definitely didn''t have the pure qualifications to go there, but he thought he could do it anyway.

    He just had to make the eyes of reality his own.

    If his current perceptive ability became the norm, and he was given the time to assimte with the mana, that ne would be at his mercy.

    He was confident.

    But not now. Now, he only had the ability to see it and understand its nature.

    Heavenly God ne.

    That was its name.

    The Heavenly God ne was something like an alternate reality. It only existed for Godlybat and couldn''t be visited on any other asion. It barely even existed in the first ce, instead being like a reflection of reality.

    Damien began to understand why Gods were so high above everyone as he explored it with his eyes.

    They would automatically gain ess to this ce when their Divinity strengthened to a certain point. After that, if they even wanted to express their power against another God, they had toe here.

    It wasn''t necessarily a restriction. True Gods could show their power as they wanted and fight in the Heavenly World if they pleased, but because of how mana reacted to their very presence, it was difficult to do so.

    Even if they didn''t actively will it, all the mana in the surrounding few tens of millions of kilometers would be beckoned by their existence and be part of any attack they used.

    In that situation, not just their targets, but millions or more innocent lives would be involved in their disputes.

    There were few Gods that didn''t care about themon people, and even fewer who held an utter disregard for the environment itself.

    Therefore, they fought in the Heavenly God ne.

    Did they have a reason not to?

    Even for the crueler Gods, the chance to show the absolute best of their ability and crush their opponent in every single way, something the Heavenly God ne gave them, wasn''t a chance they would give up just for the sake of showing their power tomon mortals.

    However, that wasn''t to say that all battles between Gods took ce in the Heavenly God ne.

    If two Gods of equal power fought hard enough for the Heavenly God ne to stop amodating them, if that battle was forced into the real world¡­

    Situations like those were what allowed those beneath them to find a reason to worship Gods.

    Situations like those were the source of myths and legends.

    Anyway, the current forces in the Heavenly God ne that Damien was observing were the two Gods from the Veritas n and the two Gods from the Straea n.

    Their battle was blurry. He couldn''t necessarily make them out until he gained the power to enter the Heavenly God ne without restriction, but from his current perceptive ability watching from the outside in, he could at least see how the flow ofw changed hands.

    ''The Veritas Grand Elders are holding out well, but they don''t really have a chance.''

    It was designed like that from the start. Their opponents were people hand-picked for the purpose of killing them. It was never an even battle.

    It was the same on the ground. Romulus and Reva Veritas were struggling more as time passed. Fifty enemies had been culled down to thirty, and that number was slowly going down, but there were only two of them.

    They didn''t have the opportunity to rest and recuperate their mana. They were being pressed constantly, and because of the endless nature of their enemies'' attacks, their mental states were being exhausted as well.

    By the time they got the number down to half of what it started at, Damien''s clone had already taken action.

    It ran through Demigod after Demigod, killing, devouring, and moving to the next before the bodies even had a chance to drop to the ground.

    One would expect a ughter to end in a mountain of corpses and a river of blood, but when Damien acted, it was the opposite.

    Not just those he killed, but those whoy on the ground after losing their lives earlier, were swallowed up by a swarm of ckness, leaving the battlefield cleaner than it was before the battle began.

    But perhaps that was more terrifying, because even though they were being saved, the two future leaders of the Veritas n were terrified in their souls by the one doing so.

    After all, while other Demigods couldn''t sense the true nature of the Void, they could absolutely feel its terror when it bared its fangs so close to them.

    The Damien on the ground controlled the situation rtively easily, and as he took the two Veritas geniuses into an isted part of the Sanctuary temporarily, his main body in the sky acted as well.

    ''I''m not sure of their numbers, but the loss of two Gods will definitely hurt.''

    Saving geniuses was the priority, but it was also important to preserve thebat power the n currently had so those geniuses could be properly fostered.

    He almost didn''t want to get involved without absolute certainty, but at the same time¡­

    ''...I really can''t help myself. I want to know what happens.''

    He was not in the Heavenly God ne.

    Maybe the situation where a God''s body in the real world was damaged while they were in the Heavenly God ne was rare enough to be negligible in most cases, however¡­

    ''...I''m not "most cases."''

    Damien was a unique existence who was already stronger than most other Demigods.

    He didn''t know.

    But he really wanted to find out.

    How much damage could he do to a True God?

    This wasn''t time for him to hold back.

    He moved away from the Veritas Gods and approached behind the two from the Straea n.

    As he felt earlier, the surrounding mana was far more chaotic and destructive than anything on the other side, but this was better for him.

    Contrary to what the enemy would expect, this kind of mana only enhanced his force.

    He crept up behind the two Gods and picked his target.

    ''That one seems to be causing the most trouble.''

    The two were a man and a woman. Of them, the man was the stronger-looking one, but from what Damien saw in the Heavenly God ne, the woman was the one contributing most to the battle.

    ''Then¡­''

    He was directly behind her, but she couldn''t sense him.

    Was it because her mind was in a separate ne, or was his concealment just that good?

    It was likely abination of both, but Damien didn''t spend much time thinking about it.

    He raised his arms and hovered his hands beside both sides of her head.

    He gathered Void Energy in his palms and transmuted it as he wanted.

    Destruction, Death, and Lightning. Those were the threews he infused along with the Authority of Existence that governed them all.

    The ck force that arced across his fingers was the epitome of chaos. It was abination of all the most destructive forces in his arsenal, an attack only possible for him now that he''d be equipped with his power as a Demigod.

    He flexed his fingers and took a deep breath.

    His power coalesced.

    It became harder to conceal his mana from the world.

    The God he was targeting noticed his presence.

    But he was already moving.

    He mmed his hands sideways, crushing her head between them.

    And once he made contact, he let loose all the force he gathered.

    The result¡­

    The result was something magisterial.

 Chapter 1380 True Gods [3]

    Chapter 1380 True Gods [3]

    The Heavenly God ne was an ethereal ne, which meant when Gods went there to battle, they''d leave their mortal shells behind in the real world.

    It wasn''t necessarily a bad thing. The soul of a True God was effectively their true body, so a physical shell could be considered a limiter for them.

    However, it was still necessary, because until one reached the highest levels of True Godhood, one''s soul wouldn''t have the capacity to exist without a physical vessel for a long period of time.

    After all, souls were fragile. No matter how much power they could output, what was the point if they could be shattered in one or two attacks?

    There were several protections every God would take when they entered the Heavenly God ne. Their physical bodies couldn''t stay unguarded, and if they were injured, the damage would rebound onto their souls as well.

    Therefore, whether it be through mana or physical materials, there were alwaysyers uponyers blocking the physical bodies of Gods from any outside force.

    However, in front of Damien, those defenses were paper-thin.

    He already knew how to meld with the mana. When he moved, he did so in perfect synchronicity with the ambient energy to the point where even the Gods that were a few feet away from him couldn''t sense his presence.

    He already knew how to meld with the mana. When he moved, he did so in perfect synchronicity with the ambient energy to the point where even the Gods that were a few feet away from him couldn''t sense his presence.

    And when he attacked, using that extremely destructive force of ckness directly on the head of the enemy God¡­

    The effects could be imagined.

    First and foremost, a chaotic burst of mana from Damien''s body disrupted the rtively even flow between the two sides that were facing each other.

    The bnce they''d created before entering the Heavenly God ne was broken, and they were all thrown away from each other as the rebound struck them and pulled them out of the Heavenly God ne.

    It was rtively less harmful to the Veritas Gods since they weren''t directly attacked, so once they woke up and took a second to stabilize their bodies, they didn''t have many problems.

    However, for the opposing Gods¡­

    The man among them was thrown back several hundred kilometers by the waves of power emanating from the mysterious figure who attacked them.

    He had several internal wounds, nothing too severe, but more than enough to stop him for a few seconds.

    And the woman who got attacked, naturally she couldn''t walk away easily.

    The skin on her head waspletely burned off and the muscles and bones beneath were scarred beyond belief.

    Her body wasn''t given the chance to move with Damien holding her in ce, so all the force thatnded on her was tanked directly without any external aid.

    Because of that, she was riddled with internal wounds and even her mana was fiercely rebounding, causing constant damage to her organs.

    Her soul wasn''t in better shape. Because it received a portion of the physical body''s injuries, it was crippled to an extent that made her no different than a Demigod.

    She was dangerously wounded. Even as she screamed in agony and tried to tame the rampaging forces within her, she wasn''t able to identify her enemy.

    ''Not bad.''

    Damien already retreated before all of the above happenings took ce. He was using a clone to maintain the female God''s position so she would be hit with the maximum damage possible, and even then, that clone was soon torn apart by the energy naturally emanating from her.

    ''I knew I could do damage, but I didn''t expect it to be this good.''

    The Heavenly God ne mechanic was a great way for Damien to cripple Godly enemies, at least if he just looked at this instance as an example.

    However, he knew this wasn''t true.

    ''If they were this fragile, they wouldn''t be using the Heavenly God ne in the first ce. Either I''m even more of an anomaly than I thought, or¡­''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''...these Gods are at the lowest ranks of their power level.''

    Thetter was far more probable.

    Because if they weren''t the lowest-rank Gods, not even the great ns like Veritas and Straea would be willing to use them as disposables for an operation like this one.

    After all, even if the Straea n seeded here, they''d have to answer for their crimes somehow. If they controlled the situation well, these Gods being sacrificed was the best way for them to avoid greater retaliation while maintaining the upper hand.

    ''That was probably their n from the start. If these are just scapegoats, then¡­''

    Damien marveled as he got a glimpse of how strong the strongest of Gods could be.

    Though, he didn''t get to maintain that attitude for long.

    "Who goes there?!"

    The male God among the enemies roared and let his mana loose.

    The ambient mana was disrupted, and Damien''s position was revealed to the world.

    ''As I thought, I can''t hide from them when they''re present in reality.''

    Damien figured this would happen, but it was still part of his n.

    "You¡­are you the one who did this?" The man questioned.

    "And what if I am?" Damien responded with a grin.

    "Then you must die first."

    The man charged towards Damien without hesitation.

    At the same time, his femalepanion finally stopped suffering under the aftereffects of Damien''s attack.

    She managed to calm the chaos inside her body, however, the wounds on her head were not easily healed. Damien used Void Energy to support his attack, so hermon Divine Energy wasn''t enough to heal those scars.

    Her muscles healed to an extent, and a grotesque covering of something simr to skin covered them, but she was now deformed and had lost sensation on a majority of her head.

    She was livid to say the least.

    She felt a thirst for blood beyond anything she''d ever felt before.

    And as her malepanion''s yells rang out, telling her exactly who caused her current circumstances, her rage boiled over into something uncontroble.

    Both Gods were now charging at Damien with fervor, but he didn''t panic.

    Even this was part of his n.

    His eyes went to the Veritas Gods who were watching everything happen.

    They were just about to start acting to protect him, since they remembered who he was and were thankful for his help, but he stopped them before they could.

    "This is where your people are. Regroup with them and start a counterattack."

    That was the mental transmission Damien sent to them. With it, he included both the location and situation so the two Gods could understand everything they''d missed while they were fighting.

    "The two on the ground are fine too, so be sure to protect everyone. As for these two¡­"

    He grinned to himself.

    "...just leave them to me."

    Without giving the Veritas Grand Elders a chance to respond, Damien vanished, teleporting while leaving enough traces of himself to keep the Straea Gods on his tail.

    ''Very good.''

    This was perfect.

    He was able to feel the power of Gods personally, he was able to gain several favors from the Veritas n, and more than anything else¡­

    ''...I found a great weapon to use against the boundary steles.''

    He was able to get away from his duties as a protector because of his actions, and he didn''t leave any loose ends that the Veritas group couldn''t handle.

    So now was his chance.

    He was headed straight for the mysterious force that had been calling him since he got here.

 Chapter 1381 True Gods [4]

    Chapter 1381 True Gods [4]

    The boundary steles were close. Actually, he got closer to them as he went through the groups and saved everyone from Veritas.

    After all, that was how the Forbidden Secret Realm wasid out.

    The closer one was to the boundary stele, the more dangerous the environment around them became. The more talented people were naturally closer to it than the rest.

    Celeste could be considered an exception, since she had the talent to approach far closer than someone like Romulus or Reva Veritas, but chose not to for her own reasons.

    Nevertheless, at the current distance, only a few million kilometers stood between Damien and the steles.

    The problem was, he wasn''t alone.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The force of a God. Damien was feeling it personally now.

    They never hit him directly, either because of his nimble movements or because they were corralling him in a certain direction, but just from the damage done to the surroundings as the two Straea Gods chased him through the realm was terrifying.

    Massive, deep-rooted trees were torn out of the ground like they were made of paper, beasts were shredded by just being in the vicinity, and the earth was sundered to the point where it wouldn''t be able to house life again for many eons toe.

    Damien maintained his track to the boundary steles.

    He didn''t pay attention to anything going on behind him, whether it be the rampant mana or the incessant yelling of his enemies.

    He was single-mindedly focusing on reaching the boundary steles.

    BOOOOOOM!

    A furious explosion rang out only a few feet away, pushing Damien in the other direction and burning the side of his body.

    ''Damn.''

    He clicked his tongue and teleported, rapidly regaining his momentum.

    ''They aren''t going all out.''

    That was the first thing he noticed.

    Unlike when they were fighting the Veritas Gods, these two Gods weren''t using the entire capability their authority overw allowed.

    Rather, they weren''t usingws at all.

    ''Is it because I''m a Demigod, or is there something I don''t know about at y?''

    With the female God''s hatred against him maximized to the fullest by his actions, there was no way she''d let him go easily.

    Maybe she wanted him to suffer, but this wasn''t the way to cause that suffering.

    So why were they using mana without trying to suppress him throughws?

    ''Maybe their goal is the same as mine¡­?''

    Damien dodged another mana explosion by a hair''s breadth and teleported away, taking a moment to look at the wounds on his body.

    If they wanted to corner him against the boundary stele, they were doing a great job of pushing him towards it.

    ''These wounds aren''t too deep, but they''re hard to heal. The Authority of Immortality that evolved from my natural healing and traits like Transcendent Regeneration can''t get rid of them as they happen, so they''re umting nicely.''

    It was a weird way of thinking considering he was talking about his own body, but Damien was used to viewing himself objectively for the sake of research.

    The Authority of Immortality was powerful. He''d seen its power firsthand in the years he spent as a mercenary for the Veritas n.

    If the wound was made by a Demigod, no matter how powerful they were or what methods they used, it would heal in seconds.

    Even a severed limb could bepletely recreated and strengthened to its former capabilities before an enemy could attack a second time.

    It was a monstrous Authority, but even it was having trouble against Godly Divine Energy.

    Because, at the end of the day, even the Authority of Immortality was built onws.

    ''Though their standing is probably pretty low amongst Gods, they still stand above all Laws.''

    That was what it meant to be a God.

    Their pursuit was quite severe, but it wasn''t at a level Damien couldn''t handle.

    That was how it continued until they reached the boundary steles.

    The massive wall that blocked off the majority of the Forbidden Secret Realm, a wall that even Gods couldn''t break.

    Damien wanted to test that theory.

    He wanted to go beyond it.

    And for that chance, he brought two Gods along with him to attack it.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Their mana pelted it mercilessly as Damien teleported across its surface. Despite his ability to flee being limited by its presence, the omnidirectional movement ability that teleportation allowed him wasn''t something that could be inhibited because a single direction was blocked.

    The two Straea Gods became more and more annoyed as Damien evaded their attempts to catch him, and by the time they reached this point in their chase, they were already using their Authority, which they held back from doing until now.

    It was a shame, though.

    Because Damien was still toying with them.

    ''It''s a little funny.'' He thought to himself.

    ''Considering their attack power, if any of these attacks hit me, I''d be out ofmission long enough for them to capture me and do whatever they pleased. But that''s only if they can hit me.''

    This definitely wasn''t the fullest extent of their capabilities.

    Attacks like these were at the level ofplexity that someone like Immortal Blood Asura could replicate, even if the power was far greater.

    Where was that ability he saw earlier?

    Where was the natural movement of ambient mana that supported each and every movement, the true terror of a God?

    ''Are they mocking me?''

    Damien nced over at the two.

    Their expressions were twisted. Especially that woman. She wouldn''t have such an expression on her face if she was just toying with him.

    ''Then, is that why they haven''t been able to break the boundary stele until now?''

    Maybe it wasn''t a matter rted to them in any way.

    Maybe the boundary stele itself restricted a God''s control, leaving them as what could basically be called overpowered Demigods.

    If that was the case¡­

    ''...then it makes sense why they never managed to break the steles.''

    If their power was that restricted, then breaking the steles would be a truly impressive feat.

    ''But if that''s the case, then how am I supposed to get past it?''

    Damien had no n to resign. Every time he''d felt a calling like this, he''d encountered something that was monumental in his journey to power.

    Damien had no n to resign. Every time he''d felt a calling like this, he''d encountered something that was monumental in his journey to power.

    He couldn''t just leave it behind because the stele felt unbreakable.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    It was troublesome since he had to focus most of his attention on dodging and evading, but he did have just a small piece of his consciousness focused on breaking through the wall.

    ''Oh, I could also do that!''

    He thought they would be useless once he came to the Heavenly World, but this was the perfect situation, wasn''t it?

    While Damien held the attention of those two Gods, another figure quietly appeared on the ground below and pushed towards the boundary stele.

    His ming red hair stood out in the lush greenery, but within a second, he''d already hidden himself so he couldn''t be sensed easily.

    Plus, with his strange existence, he wouldn''t be regarded in the perception of others as human unless they truly looked into his origin.

    That man, Alexander, pressed his hand against the boundary stele and inserted his awareness into its surface.

    He studied it using all his memories as Damien Void, and after almost an entire minute, he found a trace.

    ''That is¡­''

    His eyes widened.

    His main body''s eyes widened as well.

    It wasn''t what he was expecting at all.

    There was a trace of mana hidden in the steles. It was the secret behind their mysterious strength and purpose.

    It was a trace of "Existence."

    In a form that Damien had never seen before.

 Chapter 1382 Stele [1]

    Chapter 1382 Stele [1]

    ''Existence?''

    Damien focused most of his attention on Alexander''s body when he found it.

    His main body was moving with the bare minimum intelligence, using mainly its instincts to dodge and weave away from the Gods that were attacking him.

    Naturally, if they challenged him in closebat, the situation would be different, but that was exactly the situation Damien was working hard to avoid.

    He didn''t just stay near the boundary stele.

    The two Straea Gods realized their distanced attacks wouldn''t hit pretty early. Once they had him cornered, the first thing they tried to do was get in close and stop him from teleporting.

    However, Damien moved behind them and led the chase in a separate direction.

    He needed them to keep their attentionpletely focused on him.

    Alexander was already working through the boundary stele''s mechanics to find a way past it, so his job was now to stop the two from realizing Alexander''s presence.

    There was no need to talk about the process.

    Damien''s awareness was great, and with teleportation supporting him, even Gods would be hard-pressed to catch him.

    His movements had no pattern or direction, he was never inhibited by the environment, and his range wasn''t something they could easily ce their finger on.

    Damien made sure of it. No matter how hard they tried, unless they had power so absolute he couldn''t evade them, they couldn''t catch him.

    And from what they showed so far, he was confident they didn''t.

    ''I''ll call them low-rank Gods for now. At this level, they''ve pretty much just reached a point above Law, so in terms of control, they aren''t nearly at the level they can express in the Heavenly God ne.''

    The Heavenly God ne had a supportive environment that allowed a God to show anything and everything they could without restriction.

    However, the real ne was different. It didn''t directly restrict them, but the Heavenly Order stood above all beings and put them all under a nket of its domain, which forced a God to do far more work to exhibit the same level of power. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Low-rank Gods couldn''t ovee that domain. Perhaps it was due to the matters of soul Damien explored earlier, or perhaps it was something else, but the facts didn''t change.

    ''As long as I don''t let them hit me, they can''t catch me.''

    It wasn''t like there was no danger. They were still Gods, at the end of the day.

    Their Legends were great, their souls were great, their mana was great, and theirws were great. Damien was also great in his own way, but objectively speaking, they had more power than he did.

    So he could only run and confuse them for as long as possible before they healed from their previous injuries and cornered him.

    Before that happened, Alexander had to break past the boundary stele.

    On that topic¡­

    ''This is¡­difficult.''

    He was able to sense the trace almost instantly because he himself controlled Existence.

    However, actually moving that trace was a different matter altogether.

    What was the problem Damien was dealing with in the first ce?

    It was his inability to move Existence as he pleased.

    So if the answer here was exactly that, what was he supposed to do?

    ''No matter how talented I am, it''s impossible for me to find that method before my main body gets fucked.''

    If so, he needed to find a workaround.

    ''From what I''m seeing, it''s a pretty simple puzzle. More than anything else, people couldn''t solve it because they tried to use brute force, but there''s also the fact that they couldn''t sense the presence of this puzzle in the first ce.''

    If someone before Damien could perceive what he was perceiving now, the boundary steles would''ve long been taken care of.

    But since they couldn''t, such a simple puzzle inhibited them for untold millennia.

    ''Still, is it possible to do this another way?''

    Hetched onto the trace of existence with his mana and tried to find a way to move it. It wasn''t like an ordinary puzzle block, so this method naturally didn''t work.

    After that, he tried to move the environment around the trace of existence to change its rtive position to the puzzle''s exit point.

    However, even that didn''t work. Halfway through his trial, he lost control of the area and it reverted back to normal.

    The third strategy he tried was the most blunt, but it also felt the most rational.

    He poured Existence Law into the puzzle.

    There was a route to pull the trace of existence out. When one made it to the end, the boundary stele would likely copse and one would gain the trace of existence for themselves.

    But since Damien couldn''t do it, he filled the pathway with his own Existence Law, using pure quantity to ovee the puzzle mechanism.

    As for its effectiveness¡­?

    ''It''s definitely working.''

    It didn''t work immediately, but unlike his other attempts, the puzzle didn''t force him to stop trying.

    ''Maybe because I just poured it all out, it doesn''t count. If I just contain it to the pathway without letting it leak into the surrounding area¡­''

    He worked tirelessly. The seconds passed extremely slowly, and within his mind, he saw the various changes that were taking ce within the stele.

    Controlling Existence. It was just as grand of a task as it sounded.

    There was no way to take shortcuts to reach the final goal. Even now, as Damien used a shortcut to get past the puzzle, he still had to learn to at least somewhat bend existence to his will.

    Alexander put his whole focus on the task to the point where his surroundings were drowned out. Damien, who stayed rtively in the vicinity, sent down a few clones to protect him as he maintained the attention of those two Gods.

    The time had to be counted in seconds. Not even a minute had passed since they first reached the boundary stele, but each second was used to its fullest capabilities by every party involved.

    ''It''s getting harder.''

    The main reason Damien could lead them along like this was because the two Straea Gods were injured beforehand both by him and the Veritas Grand Elders.

    But as the time passed, their injuries got less and less severe, and their attacks became more powerful.

    ''They were stalling too.''

    That was why they never tried using theirws against him.

    Just as he was stalling until Alexander opened the boundary stele, they were trying to get their power back before engaging in battle with an unidentified enemy.

    They weren''t idiots.

    No matter how angry they were, they used their heads to keep themselves secure.

    Damien may have appeared as a Demigod in their perception, but he was able to break through all of their protections to attack them while they were in the Heavenly God ne.

    He couldn''t be as simple as he appeared.

    So, instead of needlessly risking themselves, they chased him and probed him while recovering their strength.

    But now they had reached that point. They no longer needed to y it safe, and they''d somewhat surmised what Damien was capable of.

    Though, the timing really was perfect.

    Because just as they lost the need to stall, Damien did as well.

    The ground rumbled and dust rose into the skies.

    "Something" was happening to the boundary steles.

 Chapter 1383 Stele [2]

    Chapter 1383 Stele [2]

    Everyone saw it. No matter where they were in the secret realm, they all saw the great boundary steles blocking off the remaining 4/5ths of it crumble.

    It was a grand scene, as if countless feats of humanity were being both destroyed and revealed at the same time.

    To the Veritas n, who was currently regrouping, it didn''t mean much. They had other work that took priority over exploration, and even if they didn''t, they weren''t about to enter uncharted territory when their younger generation was present.

    The Vega n had simr thoughts. They stayed back to see how the others would react. As for the Kyushu Federation, they immediately sent word to their superiors and established a force exclusively with their older experts while leaving their young geniuses behind.

    They could smell the money on the other side of that stele, and they couldn''t let someone else reach it first.

    Unfortunately, they failed to see the "reason" why the stele broke in the first ce.

    The Straea n was already ousted from the secret realm. All of their geniuses, forces, and protectors had been killed except for two Gods.

    And those two Gods were chasing the very man who opened new horizons for the entire Eastern Region.

    "Brat, you''re dead!"

    The man, Gerald Straea, shouted as he gathered hisws and mana. The woman he was with, Pria Straea, was quieter, but her emotions were just the same.

    They both gathered their power as Gods, ignoring the falling boundary stele, and attacked Damien.

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Two massive tsunamis of power were let loose into the world.

    From the Heavens to the earth, the entire world changed color into a deep crimson red.

    That oddly colored world devoured the true colorful world with every passing second as it approached Damien.

    From his perspective, it was absolutely terrifying.

    ''That''s all the power of Law.''

    Theirws didn''t just interfere with or affect the atmosphere, theypletely swallowed it.

    If Damien was struck by that, even he couldn''t say he wouldn''t be devoured.

    ''I have to run first. Now isn''t the time to be arrogant.''

    He knew it from the start, but seeing it directly made him feel it on apletely new level. Gods were called Gods for a reason.

    He pushed his mana and teleported as fast as possible in the direction of the newly opened territory.

    On the way, a red blur approached him and disappeared into his body.

    Collecting Alexander was his only worry, and since it happened so quickly, he lost all need to slow his pace.

    sh!

    His speed suddenly reached unprecedented levels. The stele that had once be a shadow in the distance was already directly in front of him, and he pushed towards it without any thoughts about the dangers thaty beyond.

    But, Damien was a Demigod.

    His teleportation had been restricted ever since he came to the Heavenly World.

    And he was now seeing the true face of the Gods he challenged.

    That crimson world followed him without any problems, keeping up with the speed of his teleportation.

    As if to tell him it was useless to try running, Gerald and Pria put even more Divine Energy into their manifestation, increasing its speed beyond what Damien could outrun.

    The crimson world swallowed him.

    "KAHAK!"

    Damien coughed up several mouthfuls of blood as his entire body was assaulted by theirws.

    His ownws tried to fight back, but there was a huge difference between a general and amander. No matter how close Damien was to hisws, he couldn''t twist them with enough freedom tobat the opposition as fiercely as he needed to.

    Still, he did his best to keep that energy out of his body, and, as he found through this attack, the Void Physique''s integration had another useful effect.

    Void Energy circted through his body naturally. He no longer needed to wait for it to enter his body and suppress the invading forces.

    From every direction, from every pore, vein, and nerve, Void Energy let loose its force and tamed the foreign energy.

    It kept Damien from getting too injured, but the Authority of Immortality was having trouble keeping up, so he was still getting injured.

    "FUCK!"

    He roared, using his voice to project mana since his body was being inhibited.

    His energy burst into the surroundings and repelled the iing force.

    With the single instant of freedom he bought, Damien mobilized all the force hidden within his body and pushed against the crimson world.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The collidingws painted a beautiful picture, but Damien didn''t have the mind to pay attention to it.

    He was spit out of the crimson world by the repulsion caused by the collision, and finding himself with the freedom of movement again, he teleported once more.

    He made it past the border.

    And, of course, his enemies chased him there as well.

    Would these Straea n Gods give up on him so easily?

    Truthfully, their rational minds told them to. Damien''s life wasn''t a reward great enough to offset the risks of this endeavor.

    However, they still did it.

    Perhaps if their pursuit had just started, they would''ve been able to drop it.

    But now, it wasn''t just their personal grievances on the line. It was pride, and it was the reputation of their Straea n.

    If they were outsmarted and outyed by a mere mercenary from the Veritas n, what would people say about them?

    While it seemed strange, the Straea n was a ce that relied on its reputation more than others.

    The Northern Region they ruled over had a special categorization among the other cardinal regions.

    It was called the "Lawless Zone."

    If the Straea n lost the ability to strike absolute fear into the hearts of those living there, if they lost their indomitable reputation because of a stain like this one, their authority would be challenged over and over again until they had to face great losses to protect themselves.

    Those were the nuances of governing the Northern Region, something the Straea n had to deal with since they ruled by fear not trust.

    So even while knowing the risks they were subjecting themselves to, Gerald and Pria followed Damien into the new territory and continued their attack.

    Damien kept them in mind, but he was more focused on the environment around him.

    ''I have to find a route to escape. Battle isn''t an option right now.''

    He couldn''t even guarantee that he could approach the two Straea Gods now that they were healed. He couldn''t risk a battle.

    If fleeing was the only option, he had to do so properly so he didn''t encounter something worse than them in this forbidden area.

    ''For now, I just have to¨C''

    BANG!

    "ARGH!"

    A fist mmed straight into his side, sting a hole in his body and throwing him several hundred kilometers to the west.

    His eyes went on alert.

    ''If I was even an instant slower, I would''ve been bisected.''

    He didn''t notice Gerald until thest moment.

    That man''s speed was far greater than what Damien thought possible for him.

    He spread his awareness in a contained area around his body and heightened his senses as much as possible.

    Gerald was alreadying in for a second punch.

    ''To the head this time.''

    Damien slightly tilted his head to dodge it, and instantly, a rush of wind pelted his face.

    WHOOOOOOOOOSH!

    The fist was only a few centimeters from his cheek, but its force was enough to tear a chunk out of his shoulder despite theck of connection.

    There was already another fist flying. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien sensed iting towards his stomach.

    However¡­

    "...!"

    His eyes suddenly went wide.

    Without a second thought or even a fraction of a spark of an instant''s hesitation, he teleported six times in quick session, allowing the force to rebound onto his body for the sake of escape.

    It was an absolutely instinctive reaction that sacrificed his safety for survival.

    It was an instinct that Gerald didn''t have.

    It was like time slowed down.

    Damien reappeared in the real world after his consecutive teleportations.

    His body was only half materialized when he saw it.

    In the space where he and Gerald were, in the ce where only Gerald stood now.

    An open maw.

    A mouth lined with hundreds of thousands of razor-sharp teeth.

    The bottom jaw was out of sight, while the top of the jaw was standing tall like a million-kilometer skyscraper.

    It was a maw that could devour worlds.

    And in the same instant it appeared, it snapped shut.

    Gerald''s life aura disappeared instantly, as did "that thing."

    Only Damien and Pria remained in the air.

    And neither of them could move.

    "That thing¡­"

    They shared the same thought.

    What the hell just happened?

 Chapter 1384 Trace [1]

    Chapter 1384 Trace [1]

    ''I have to go.''

    All other thoughts were gone from Damien''s mind.

    There was no ce for them to exist.

    He didn''t even wait until he''d fully processed what just happened.

    Without paying any mind to the remaining enemy God or anything else that could be lurking below his feet, he furiously teleported deeper into uncharted territory to get away from whatever "that thing" was.

    ''That boundary stele¡­there''s no doubting it now. It was there for a reason.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He expected it to get more dangerous. That was granted since he was opening an area that was forbidden until now.

    But to see a True God, one of the strongest people present in the Forbidden Secret Realm, die in a single instant was apletely different matter.

    It was terrifying.

    Even with all the power Gerald had, despite being someone who could even kill Damien, he died in a single instant without a hint of a chance to fight back.

    If even he suffered a fate like that, then nobody stood a chance.

    But people were still going toe. The ns would still explore these unchartednds, and they would eventually send people strong enough to stand against the ecosystem and explore.

    However, that was a story for another time. As long as Damien would be involved with this realm, it would remain a cemetery for Gods.

    Damien didn''t let himself think too much. He single-mindedly followed the force that called him past the border in the first ce.

    He didn''t look back, he didn''t look down, he barely even looked ahead. He was entirely focused on that force, putting everything else he had into fleeing.

    The destroyed boundary stele, Pria Straea, and everything else he brought with him through the barrier was left behind, and when the surrounding environment changed from a lush rainforest with verdant greenery in every direction to a more rocky and arid terrain, he finally slowed his pace.

    "Huu¡­"

    He took a deep breath and steadied himself.

    ''That was insane.''

    It wasn''t his first time experiencing an event like this. There had actually been several instances in the past where a strong character was caught by surprise and killed by something far stronger.

    However, what separated this incident from the rest was power.

    Godhood was the ceiling.

    There was nothing higher than it, not that Damien knew of.

    Yes, Gerald was hardly a God. He was at the lowest of what Gods could be, as were all the Gods that were sent to the secret realm.

    But did that change anything?

    Someone who crossed the threshold and created a Godhood was killed in a single instant. Someone who''d reached the ceiling was still so vulnerable in the face of true power.

    Damien was not a coward, but he was not an arrogant brat either.

    He had no ns to die because of a mistake like Gerard made, so he didn''t think of anything but fleeing until he reached his current distance of at least several billion kilometers away from the location.

    Here, as the ecosystem changed, the creatures living on the ground below became visible. The canopy hiding them disappeared, and the environment became discolored so it was difficult for thergest of them to camouge.

    This kind ofndscape usually supported the growth of subterranean creatures, so Damien didn''t let his guard down, but he was at least confident he could react before dying in a ce like this.

    After all,st time it was definitely luck.

    ''The thing that''s calling for me is close. If I''m reading it right, it should be right over there¡­''

    Around fifty million miles away, there was a mountain range. It extended past Damien''s eye line, but he didn''t actually have to go into the mountains.

    Instead, his target was the massive ravine that formed at the base of the very first mountains, acting as a natural barrier between the separate terrains.

    ''I''ve scanned with my awareness too many times, but I haven''t found anything of note. Rather than feeling safe, I feel even less secure.''

    There were tons of beasts below but he couldn''t sense any that would pose a real threat to him.

    However, an attack like the one that killed Gerald couldn''t be umon in this ce. Perhaps the creature that ate him was the ruler of the rainforest area, but that also told of the existence of a ruler of this new area too.

    Since Damien couldn''t sense anything of the sort, it was either extremely powerful, extremely stealthy, or extremely smart, none of which were good for him.

    ''Awareness isn''t enough.''

    If he wanted to practice safety in a ce like this, he had to do more.

    Damien''s mana red out calmly, growing bigger and bigger before turning into a sea of clones.

    These clones scoured the skies and the earth without much purpose at all, just wandering.

    They were made to observe and be killed. They were Damien''s eyes and ears, so he wouldn''t encounter surprises as he made his way to the ravine.

    The trek wasn''t very exciting because of these precautions, but it was better that way.

    He made it to the ravine quickly, and after sending a few clones in, he entered himself.

    ''It''s dark.''

    It was natural from a space like this, but Damien''s eyes were taking longer to adapt than he expected.

    ''That can only mean it''s being artificially enhanced by something.''

    He focused on the connection with his clones.

    ''Nothing seems to be going on, but that could also be a facade. The force calling me is somewhere near the bottom of this ravine, so I have to keep traveling downward regardless.''

    It was damp and musty, despite the space being open to the air outside, the further down he went, the less prominent its effects were.

    The atmosphere was suffocating, as was the darkness itself. It gripped Damien''s skin, crawling over him like a colony of ants.

    It was quiet too. He knew there were beasts living here. He could hear them scampering across the rocks and leaving traces everywhere. He could hear them in the distance, growling and crooning for their individual purposes.

    But nothing approached him.

    Some came within a few feet, but any who did just stared at him with their big beady eyes as he continued his descent.

    Honestly, it was scary. It was far creepier than it would''ve been if they just attacked them as they usually did, because something was making these beasts ignore their instincts and watch him.

    ''And the worst part¡­''

    Spiders. Tons of them.

    They were the main species inhabiting this ravine.

    Damien was a grown adult now. To say he still irrationally feared spiders was¡­just a bit much.

    However¡­

    ''For this to be one of the things that stayed with me through all that growth is a little crazy.''

    His fists itched. Every time he saw a spider, he wanted to crush it into oblivion.

    Spiders were surprisingly umon in his journey. He saw them in the Severed World, but back then, there was too much going on for his irrationality to y any role in his actions.

    This situation was different.

    It was a situation that pushed irrationality to the forefront and made one doubt everything. As the darkness became darker, the light that guided one''s thoughts was dimmed, and those fears and negative emotions hidden in the shadows were given a chance to act.

    For Damien, those emotions weren''t as prominent as they were for most people, but there was still something there.

    Something he had never been able to get rid of.

    Indifference and destructive tendencies.

    Those things he suppressed as much as possible, tied to physical motivators like spiders, made his thoughts go awry in the strangest ways.

    Damien didn''t know what was happening, but there was something wrong with this ravine.

    Something twisted that he couldn''t begin to exin.

 Chapter 1385 Trace [2]

    Chapter 1385 Trace [2]

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    His breath was the only thing he could hear.

    After passing a certain point, even the sounds of creatures crawling around him disappeared.

    And the walls of the ravine kept closing in.

    Damien barely had space to squeeze his body through them, and he didn''t have the choice to break them either.

    After all, behind those walls¡­

    ''...I don''t even want to know what''s behind those walls.''

    The fluctuations alone were horrifying. Damien''s body instinctually froze when he first sensed them, and his senses screamed, telling him that if he tried to scan with his awareness, he''d die.''

    There was a beast here. A beast beyond even what Damien saw kill Gerald.

    And the only thing separating him from that beast was the walls.

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    Did he mention the darkness earlier?

    It was even worse now. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The environment couldn''t get any darker. The suppression weighing down on Damien''s shoulders from the ambient darkness was already sinking him deeper into the ravine, but his senses were now also being suppressed.

    The All-Seeing Eyes were functioning properly. His soul sense and whatnot were all working as they should''ve, but his physical vision was darkening, his sense of smell was gone, his sense of hearing was dull, and how sense of touch was numb.

    Damien looked up.

    There was only the color ck. He couldn''t see the exit to the ravine anymore.

    He looked around.

    It was all ck.

    He could barely feel the walls anymore.

    He just kept moving down, getting closer to the thing that called him here.

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien stayed as quiet as possible. He reined in his mana and hid his presence as he descended.

    He kept his hands on the walls to keep his sense of the surroundings intact, but as he did so, he felt the walls getting further and further until they were too far to reach unless he moved his entire body.

    Evidently, the area had widened into a cavern.

    Damien used just a small trace of mana to levitate, turning to look around himself.

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¨C"

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    He held his breath.

    ''That¡­''

    He almost couldn''t believe his eyes.

    ''What is¡­that?''

    It was just a shadow.

    Could it even be called a shadow?

    The only reason he could see it was because of the bioluminescent lifeforms living on its scales.

    It was also because of them that he could see the true extent of this cavern.

    It was at least several billion miles long, spanning deep into the mountain range above. It was sorge that the ground above logically shouldn''t have been able to remain stable, but because of the densely packed rock that made up the soil in this area, simr to that of the Ancient Battlefield, such problems were absent.

    There was definitely something below this ce. The signal Damien was following was bouncing around, making it seem like it was either here or down further, however, Damien had no way to reach a ce below here.

    He couldn''t even see the ground.

    Because that creature was here.

    That beast''s body covered the entire ground of the billion-kilometer-long cavern. It was proportionally wide for its length, and no matter how Damien looked at it, he knew exactly what this creature was.

    ''A dragon.''

    It was a dragon beyond dragons, a dragon that even the Azure Dragon couldn''tpare to.

    It was currently slumbering, and judging from the way the flora was growing over its body, it had been in this position, undisturbed, for eons.

    ''Do I keep going?''

    Logically speaking, a being of this size couldn''t be weak. If it woke up, Damien would probably die.

    But also logically speaking, it was sorge it took up the entire cavern. Its mobility was probably the worst, so it was a question of whether or not it could actually exert its power.

    And even if it couldn''t¡­

    ''...will it let me pass so easily?''

    ''But if I want that thing I have to go.''

    He had been forced to do risk assessment several times throughout this journey. He made it rtively without issues, but the death lurking around him made him wary.

    Was this trek worth it?

    What if he appeared at that ce and found something that wouldn''t really benefit him much at all?

    That was the worst-case scenario, but he had to consider it at least once.

    However, the more he thought about it, the more dissuaded he was from retreating.

    The biggest reason was the boundary stele.

    ''This ce was locked away by a trace of existence. That''s rarer than rare to find in nature, and in the first ce, the boundary steles aren''t naturally made structures. The presence of that trace makes one thing clear.''

    Somebody who''dprehended Existence came here at some point and established the boundary stele.

    And something beyond that boundary stele was calling to Damien, another person whoprehended Existence.

    It wasn''t a matter of "what if" anymore. Damien knew exactly what was waiting for him, and he couldn''t give it up.

    ''I have to try.

    He descended slowly.

    Atop being a billion kilometer long, the dragon was several hundred million kilometers wide and tall.

    Damien didn''t have more than ten million kilometers to descend before he was already on the dragon''s body.

    Hended with light steps on the beast''s back and continued moving as covertly as possible.

    ''I should change my footwork.''

    He stepped on a strange path, almost making his movements appear like those of a beast.

    It wouldn''t be strange for some smaller creatures to create habitats on the dragon''s body or move along it, so as long as Damien pretended to be one of them, the dragon wouldn''t react.

    That was his thought process as he tried to find a way around the beast, but it didn''tst for long.

    Because the ground rumbled.

    Nothing really changed around him, but far, far away, an orb of light appeared at the end of the cavern.

    No, it wasn''t an orb of light at all.

    Damien froze once more.

    ''Fuck¡­''

    There was no turning back anymore.

    That was no glowing light orb. That was no moon.

    That was the eye of a dragon, and it was staring right into his soul.

    ''Run? Run.''

    Damien turned around and instantly teleported away.

    Or at least, he tried to.

    But the space around him was already locked.

    The spatialyers refused his presence, and as he realized it, he pushed his feet to the ground and started running.

    But what did logic matter to a being of this capacity?

    Damien had no way of knowing how it did it, but the dragon moved its head all the way around until it was looming over his body.

    And within the same second, it opened its mouth and roared.

    The sound waves popped Damien''s eardrums and made him dizzy.

    The Authority of Immortality immediately healed him back to normal, but "immediately" simply wasn''t fast enough.

    The dragon''s jaw snapped shut around him,

    And with a strong suction force like something out of a nightmare, it swallowed him into its stomach.

    It all happened in but an instant.

    In the next, the dragon had already returned to its slumber.

    The cavern went silent.

    Leaving Damien''s fatepletely unknown to anyone but himself.

 Chapter 1386 First Piece [1]

    Chapter 1386 First Piece [1]

    The inside of a dragon; what was it supposed to look like?

    If one took a reasonable approach to this question, it would probably be dark, sticky, and filled with strange liquids that nobody would want to be thered in.

    It wasn''t like it mattered in the first ce. Before one was even given the chance to experience it, one would either have been killed by the dragon''s jaws or melted down by its bodily fluids.

    However, Damien didn''t experience any of that.

    Nor did he experience what it felt like to be inside a dragon.

    The second he was swallowed, he found himself in a different space.

    He fell through a winding tunnel of multicolored visions. It was a hallucinogenic experience, with countless memories from Damien''s memories and the world''s history floating around him and melding together with no sense of continuity whatsoever.

    It was like a rabbit hole to another world. He looked all around himself and tried to make sense of the things in the passage, but there was nothing coherent enough to understand.

    These scenes were too broken. They were too strangely intertwined and none of them remained what they used to be.

    Damien fell without being able to do anything. Like he was on a slide to oblivion, he simply sat there and took in the experience without ess to any sort of mana or energy.

    Minutes passed, hours passed, and at some point, once Damien started to get bored of the confusion, he was spat out of the other side of the tunnel in apletely new area.

    ''It''s here.''

    He noticed immediately. The force he''d been searching for was somewhere in his vicinity.

    ''Of all things, I didn''t expect it to happen like this.''

    If he knew he could''ve just run into the dragon''s mouth and found this ce so easily, he wouldn''t have gone through all the trouble of being covert.

    Wasn''t this so much easier?

    Obviously, his mindset wasn''t a normal one. No sane person would just jump into a dragon''s mouth because they knew there was something mysterious waiting for them.

    But since when was normal?

    The experience was definitely odd. Several hundred more words could be used to describe it, but they were unnecessary, because Damien himself didn''t ce any relevance on it.

    Therefore, when he arrived in the new space, hepletely forgot about all things rted to the dragon and focused back on his original goal.

    The area was filled with it.

    This ce had no real form. It was a cave when Damien thought it was a cave, and it would turn into a great expanse the second he had that thought.

    It wasn''t an illusion, nor was it reality. It could be either depending on how it was viewed.

    Because this ce was filled with it.

    The aura of Existence.

    It was a mini world that acted as a manifestation of existence. As long as it was a concept under existence, this world could be a representation of it. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Damien walked through the ins as they narrowed into a valley and rose into mountains. He followed as the mountains crumbled into rivers and flowed into the sea before freezing over and bing a snowy tundra.

    He walked through all sorts of environments that turned into people, people who turned into energy, and energy that turned into the genesis of all things.

    He didn''t know where he was going, nor did he know what his purpose was.

    He''d already reached this ce. He already found what he was looking for. But what was he supposed to do with it?

    There was no way for him to understand easily, so he continued to walk.

    From the vastness of space to the tiniest quantum particle, from the tangibility of the human body to the esoteric workings of the consciousness, he ambled and strolled.

    He sauntered and trudged. He plodded and hiked. He trekked and marched. He wandered and tread.

    Until he eventually reached a ce that seemed like the end of the path.

    It was a skeleton sitting against the wall. The wall wasn''t attached to anything, as if this ce was isted from the existence manifestation that was the space around it.

    An oasis, or rather, an imperfection, within the perfect painting of reality.

    Damien looked at the skeleton curiously.

    There wasn''t anything wrong with it even when he scanned it with his awareness. At least in the physical ne, this skeleton was truly nothing more than someone''s decaying bones.

    However, Existence had two sides.

    When one thought of ethereal existence, the first thing that came to mind was energy.

    Ethereal existence ounted for mana and all other possible energies that existed in the grand cosmos.

    However, energy was only a single facet. Ethereal existence dug deeper than that.

    The human mind. Consciousness, emotions, andplex thought.

    These things that could be half exined through brain chemistry but otherwise remained mysterious due to theirplexity were also included in the ethereal side of existence.

    So Damien didn''t sideline the skeleton just because he couldn''t immediately see anything from it.

    He put his hand out.

    His hand turned ethereal and passed through the skeleton''s skull.

    He gathered mana, creating a small ball of light within the bone.

    And using that energy as a medium, he essed the vestiges left behind by the owner of the skeleton.

    The world around him changed again.

    Damien pulled his hand out of the skeleton''s skull as it and the wall it rested against vanished.

    In its ce, no, roughly twenty feet in front of Damien, there now stood a man.

    "So, eventually, there was someone."

    The man spoke, both addressing Damien and speaking as if he wasn''t present.

    "Child, I cannot see you," he continued.

    "However, I am aware of your existence."

    It meant this wasn''t a meeting with that man, but a recording Damien was watching.

    "I do not know when you wille, for the future bes blurry after eons of waiting. When you arrive, perhaps this world will not be the same one I left for you."

    The words contained plenty of hidden meanings that Damien couldn''t quite understand.

    The man''s eyes were open, but there was nothing there. Within his eye sockets were sclera made of white light with no sense of self behind them.

    Damien couldn''t tell if the man really existed.

    ''No, that''s the whole point.''

    At some point, the man was real. He was present within existence.

    However, at some point, the line between existence and nonexistence blurred for him.

    His fate was unknown, but he knew there was someone else who would appear, another person who understood Existence.

    So he left his will here for that person who would eventuallye.

    "It is confusing, but even confusion is a matter of Existence. Rise above it, understand it, and learn to control it."

    Damien listened as the man kept talking. Most of it was rambling, but within that nonsense, there was enough truth for Damien to grasp.

    This was a lesson for him.

    The man was telling him to truly see through reality and truly take hold of Existence.

    Not just that, he was telling Damien how to do it.

    This was the key he''d been looking for, the truth that would let him reach new heights in his stalling growth.

    And Damien did not n to waste this opportunity at all.

 Chapter 1387 First Piece [2]

    Chapter 1387 First Piece [2]

    It was useless to repeat the man''s words. In the first ce, there wasn''t much rhyme or reason to what he was saying.

    Damien could understand it because he was alsoprehending Existence. The words themselves meant nothing, it was the essence behind them, the movement of energy and worlds they caused, that really mattered.

    So as Damien listened to the man speak, he learned.

    Existence was that type of concept.

    It didn''t have an end, but it had a clear beginning. It was a line that expanded infinitely in a single direction, and as a byproduct, other things were established around it.

    There was no real method to control Existence. Everyone who had the ability to rule it would do so in their own unique way.

    For this man, it was through words. Every word he spoke had divine effects, changing reality to fit his image.

    But he also knew this method only worked for him.

    To even find the method, one needed to first learn how to consciously manipte Existence rather than just tapping into its power as Damien had been doing.

    And after listening to the man speak for what felt like ages, Damien understood the crux of what he was saying.

    That man was nameless. He didn''t have any sort of record or Legend denoting his existence, and he wentpletely unknown in the cosmos.

    However, he was also someone who managed to control the esoteric force of existence.

    How he remained unknown was even more unknown than he was. It was impossible for a grand character with this kind of talent to be swept under the rug. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    But other than the shame of not being able to bring respect to his predecessor''s name, Damien didn''t care much about his story.

    That man was unrecorded because that was the path he chose. Since it was so, Damien focused on absorbing his teachings and finding a path for himself.

    To control Existence.

    The key was "understanding."

    Damien had an understanding of the nature of existence, but that wasn''t what he needed here. That was only the first step he took to gain acknowledgment from the concept.

    If he truly wanted to control it as his own, he needed to understand the "will" of Existence.

    It was such a vague task that Damien almost raged right then and there, but naturally, the man was providing him a method to understand, not just telling him to do so.

    ''No, it''s not aplete method. It''s just a portion of it.''

    It couldn''t be helped. Old monsters never made it easy for their descendants to gain their legacies. It was always a journey of self-discovery and intrigue that finally led to a conclusion not just in terms of power, but also in identity.

    The growth of the mind, soul, and body was half of the reward. It was the reward the descendants would gain through their hard work as they tried to take the easy way out, which would eventually lead to life-altering events that shaped them into good men and women.

    Damien understood why experts usually separated their legacies into multiple parts, but as someone who didn''t think he had much growing left to do in his mentality and whatnot, he was definitely a little annoyed.

    Regardless, he would still follow the man''s legacy and search for the other hidden locations.

    Because what he learned from this one was great.

    There were a total of six steps from what he could gather. Three were rted to material existence while the other three it''s ethereal counterpart.

    It wasn''t likeprehendingws where one needed to understand concepts within thew to use it, it was more like one needed to understand the workings of reality.

    The first step that Damien learned here was "harmony."

    To harmonize with the world and be a part of its body, then to make the world a part of one''s body and stand above the heavens.

    It was impossible to rule something while being disconnected from it. An Emperor lived for his people and his empire. If he tried to act on personal feelings without considering his people, it would only lead to tragedy.

    So Damien needed to understand his people.

    He needed to understand the earth.

    He needed to understand life.

    And he needed to understand the mind.

    He already had partial understanding of the concept. Through Absolute Perception, he was able to ess the world''s eye.

    It was only at a base level that let him see for longer distances, but the world''s eye was exactly as it was termed. If Damien could master that ability, he''d truly be able to see all things from the perspective of the world itself.

    Once he''d achieved that step, he''d gain a level of control he couldn''t imagine yet.

    ''There are six levels, but ording to what the man said, this world was created with only the concept of harmony.''

    But it wasn''t a concept that could actively be mobilized.

    Essentially, the man used "harmony" to form a vessel, and the world itself did the rest.

    The so-called "manifestation of Existence" that peered into the very core of reality, the illusory reality Damien had been walking through until now, was entirely natural, not the product of outside interference.

    ''How is that even possible?''

    He couldn''t imagine it. This ce could read into his soul and read into the cosmos itself like nothing, yet it was a simple creation using only the concept of harmony?

    It was a massive moment of realization for him, almost like enlightenment.

    He suddenly realized that the "Existence" he''d been taking so lightly was not light at all.

    Just like the old Universal Core of Grand Heavens Boundary said, his steps were far lighter than they were meant to be.

    Existence was "everything."

    Because Nonexistence was also a concept, because of thedder he climbed to reach Existence, Damien never really considered it properly, but that was the truth.

    There was nothing he could think of that wouldn''t fall under the umbre of Existence.

    The human brain had no way to fathom the truth of Nonexistence. Even the things considered "nothingness" by humanity were just representing the "absence" of other things.

    Yet, even those concepts that filled the "absence" existed. Even they were part of Existence.

    The Authority Damien currently had so much progress in was meant to control all of that.

    All of Existence.

    Anything and everything.

    How did he never realize how grand the path he was walking was?

    How did he never see how beautiful it was?

    The mysterious man was still talking, but Damien could no longer hear him.

    He no longer had an interest in his predecessors or sessors.

    He was living in this moment, no other thoughts in his mind.

    He was feeling the weight of existence, and through that feeling, he suddenly felt in tune with the world.

    His body became hazy.

    His mind left the vessel it called home and drifted into the sea of wonder that was the fabric of reality.

    There was so much to explore, and he had only stepped a single foot into the water.

    No more.

    No more would he remain naive.

    No more would he underestimate this amazing power.

    He dove in head-first and enjoyed the coldness of the depths against his skin.

    The concept of harmony was his starting point.

    The real starting point that would allow him to reach the end of this path

 Chapter 1388 Grudge [1]

    Chapter 1388 Grudge [1]

    It was a genuinely surreal experience.

    Damien wasn''t a person with doubts.

    He was assured in himself and he was assured in his power, so something like enlightenment wasn''t an experience he had often, if at all.

    Every time he''d been "enlightened," it came as a result of his consistent effort, or as a result of a clue given by someone else.

    Then what about this time?

    While the unrecorded man''s words that gave Damien knowledge of the six pieces he needed and the concept of harmony could be considered a clue, it wasn''t much at all.

    It gave Damien a path forward, but it didn''t tell him how to walk it. It told him what could be done, but it didn''t tell him how to do it.

    And more importantly, it didn''t really touch upon the grandiosity of Existence.

    It actually did the opposite. By separating the concept of Existence into six pieces that, when put together, would absolutely reign over it, the man''s exnation grounded Existence and made it something tangible.

    So for Damien to realize the greatness of his Authority and gain enlightenment was an unexpected urrence, almost as if it was willed by the Heavens.

    He sat down right then and there. He didn''t have time to waste on meaningless thoughts. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He delved into the deepest recesses of his mind and sank into a state of realization, capitalizing on the sudden enlightenment and expanding on what he learned from it to gain even more.

    This process was extremely vague. He was merely thinking, if one wanted to look at it objectively, but the results weren''t things that coulde out of mere thoughts.

    Damien was exploring the concept of harmony. He was in a state simr to Absolute Perception that only spanned a few tens of meters, a state where he waspletely in tune with the world.

    Within this state, he was able to "see" everything. This sight wasn''t just physical like it was when he used his ability normally. He could literally see what the world saw.

    Whether it be the energies harmonizing in every particle of existence to create that very existence, the existences that were created through these particles and roaming the various areas of the manifestation of existence under his guidance, or anything else within his domain of sight, he peered deep into them and aimed not to control them, but to understand them.

    The concept of harmony didn''t have much use, but it was important in understanding the true meaning of existence. How could one aim to control a concept they couldn''t even begin to perceive?

    Damien fell deep into his trance and lost his sense of self within it. He pondered and wondered, ambled through the fabric of reality, andpletely became one with the world for a brief period of time.

    Well, it was only brief in his mind.

    As he asked and answered countless questions that led to countless more that he simply couldn''t answer with his current knowledge, as he spected on what the other pieces of existence were and how to find them, as he nned for several hundreds of potential futures that could ur once he left this special space, time passed like a flowing creek.

    It was quiet and calm, more peaceful than anything else, but underneath were currents that the beings living within it could hardly fathom.

    Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months.

    Damien remainedpletely still, surrounded by an ever-changing canvas that molded to his thoughts.

    Until eventually, his eyes fluttered open.

    ''I''ve grasped it.''

    He looked down at his hand, clenching and unclenching his fist.

    His body almost didn''t feel like his own anymore, but thefort of returning to it begged to differ.

    ''What an experience.''

    It was only in this tiny portion of the world that was disconnected from the real world, but he felt it.

    He harmonized with Existence. He became part of the fabric of reality.

    And in that state, he experienced "vision" like he''d never felt before.

    ''I guess it''s gone¡­''

    He looked around, his eyes readjusting to their physical limits. The manifestation of reality and the Unrecorded who created it were gone. Only he remained in the darkness, floating in a void of emptiness.

    ''I must depart.''

    He couldn''t describe the experience he''d just had. He couldn''t put into words what it felt like to be a part of Existence itself rather than one of the countless existences within it.

    But it was so jarring and fantastical that he felt a burning desire to exit this ckness that seemed tock all of its wonders.

    As he observed his body, he learned that a muchrger amount of time than he''d expected had passed since he arrived in this ce, and when considering the timeline of events outside, he didn''t know what could have happened.

    ''First things first, I should regroup with the Veritas n.''

    The 5 years period he agreed to serve them for ended while he was in seclusion, but he still needed to meet them again.

    Plus, he had to make sure the ones he left were still safe. If anything happened to them, he could bid his freedom goodbye.

    ''Logically speaking, there shouldn''t be anything else that can harm them.''

    The Straea God Gerald was already dead, and the one named Pria was stranded in the uncharted territory. Whether she survived or not, she surely didn''t have the energy to return past the boundary stele and threaten the Veritas group.

    ''Still, I should check before I leave.''

    It was better to be cautious than unaware.

    Damien nced around once more in search of a way out of this ce, but there wasn''t one.

    Instead, once thoughts of departing became concrete in his mind, he was directly teleported away.

    He found himself outside the ravine, as if nothing he''d just experienced was real.

    However, he knew very well the veracity of those events.

    He didn''t need to question himself. No, thoughts like those had no ce in his heart.

    How could he be doubtful when he was so excited?

    The problem he''d been dealing with for the past four years was solved, albeit partially. He was ready to set foot on a new path, one that truly ingrained him in the Heavenly World''s makeup.

    ''Absolute Perception.''

    He made use of the ability. With his newfound knowledge and mental strength, covering tens of billions of kilometers wasn''t a problem.

    He could see all the way back to the boundary stele and even a bit beyond it from where he stood, and more importantly, he could see arge portion of the uncharted territory.

    ''It looks like the Veritas n stayed put like I told them to. As for the rest¡­''

    He didn''t see anyone he recognized from the Vega n group, but he spotted an expedition party from the Kyushu Federation slowly making their way across the ground.

    And¡­

    ''...the remnants.''

    Led by a familiar face were roughly six people from the Straea n, thest remaining members of therge group they used to attack the Veritas party.

    ''Since I''m already here¡­''

    Damien''s eyes sparkled with killing intent.

    ''...then I should finish the job I started.''

 Chapter 1389 Grudge [2]

    Chapter 1389 Grudge [2]

    He didn''t particrly hold a grudge against Pria, and the Veritas n''s hostility had nothing to do with his own, but Damien had learned a great deal in the four years of mercenary work he did beforeing here.

    He never forgot about Void Pce, after all. Once he learned the severity of their situation from Yulia, he was constantly searching for deeper knowledge on the hidden undercurrents breaking down their influence.

    And among them, two influences came up more than any others.

    The Straea n and the Divine Order.

    These two forces were the ones truly targeting Void Pce. The Kyushu Federation was involved at a surface level, but they never truly tried to destroy Void Pce.

    They only acted to take territory that would be beneficial to them.

    However, the two aforementioned ns weren''t just targeting Void Pce''s territory, but the great n itself.

    They wanted its total destruction, and since that was the case, Damien wanted their total destruction in return.

    It was a little funny for him to be thinking of challenging a God when he''d just been forced to flee so miserably from them, but he wasn''t acting arrogantly.

    He didn''t have the power to fight them head-on. This much was still true.

    However, he was different now. It wasn''t noticeable, but he had changed greatly in thest few months.

    If one looked at the current Damien, they''d find that he currently looked extremely simr to an average mortal. His aura waspletely reined in, and as if he didn''t exist at all, hepletely blended in with the environment.

    It was unknown whether even a low-ss God could realize his presence if he didn''t actively reveal it.

    He had reached a level of harmony. It wasn''tplete, but it was definitely more than just a preliminary state.

    Because of that, and because of the Absolute Perception he used moments ago, he had gained far more knowledge on the uncharted area than anyone else.

    ''Which means I can kill them without actually facing them.''

    He smiled. Using someone else''s knife to kill wasn''t usually his style, but he had no qualms about doing it when he needed to.

    His body disappeared, shing away into the surrounding greenery.

    A great scene was going to unfold in the uncharted territory soon.

    And it would be the main reason this ce remained unexplored for many, many years toe.

    ***

    Deep underground, in a familiar ravine that only two men had ever set foot in, an eye pried open.

    Whooooooosh!

    A light wind breezed through the space, shaking the rock and causing a minor earthquake that didn''t spread to the surface.

    "Is it over?"

    A voice resounded afterward, making the earth shake even harder. It was too filled with power without being infused with power at all, simply causing natural disasters with its presence,

    A dim light epassed a massive being slumbering in the depths, and soon after, that massive being was no longer.

    In its ce was a woman roughly 40 years in age whose beauty rivaled those half her age. She had pure white hair and crystal clear blue eyes,pletely contrasting the terrifying appearance of her true form.

    "In the end, he truly came."

    Her voice was filled with mncholy, as if she was speaking to someone who could no longer hear her.

    "For fifty million years, I have waited. For fifty million years, I dutifully fulfilled the task you gave me¡­"

    Her forlorn expression could dig up the ounce of pity hidden in the hearts of even the coldest men, however, her eyes had a trace of relief that was hard to notice.

    "...will it truly go the way you deemed it would?"

    It was a question nobody could answer.

    "Despite all of us believing you would be the one to ovee all things, even you met your end to ''that being.''"

    The Unrecorded. He wasn''t unrecorded by choice, but that was the result of his existence.

    He lived a life that should''ve been remembered for generations toe, but in the end, he made a bet he couldn''t win.

    He bet his "existence."

    And when he lost, his everything was erased from history.

    Only a few beings, enough to be counted on one hand, remembered his true name and remembered his Legend. Only they remembered the timeline that was erased from history.

    However, even they could not speak his name or publicize his Legend, because if they did so, even they would be erased from this world.

    They could not die.

    Because the Unrecorded left a prophecy in his wake.

    He saw the future where his path would be continued by someone else, someone better. He said that the heights he could never see would finally be breached by that man.

    Yet, she couldn''t see it.

    "He is certainly talented, but can he truly go as far as you said?"

    She knew exactly what stood at the end of that path. It was a guardian that nobody could beat, a being that toyed with others like puppets no matter whether they were mortals or Gods.

    Could a mere young man, not even a hundred years old, surpass that wall?

    "No matter his talent or potential, I cannot see it, but perhaps that is why you were the one to go higher than the rest of us. There was never a time when I could truly read what was on your mind."

    She spoke to nobody but herself. The hope that he reincarnated and heard her words somehow couldn''t exist in her heart. She was well aware of what his end meant. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    But she spoke anyway, because she had to get these thoughts off her chest.

    "Haa¡­"

    She sighed to herself.

    "I can do nothing but watch."

    She didn''t like it, but that was the role bestowed upon her.

    She was a loyal person. Despite the grievances in her heart, she wouldn''t shulk on the duty left to her by the only person in this world she''d never considered family.

    She looked into the ceiling above, her gaze piercing it to view the outside world.

    "I will judge for myself whether he is worthy of your post. And if he isn''t¡­"

    Her eyes turned cold. A horrible aura filled the entire ravine, directly ughtering the weaker creatures while forcing the stronger ones to prostrate themselves in submission.

    "...then I will end him with my own hands before he can be someone truly unstoppable."

    ***

    The happenings in the ravine were known only to one dragon and would never be known to the outside world.

    As for the person that dragon was now observing carefully¡­

    Well, he had just finished setting up a trap for enemies he had no business trying to kill.

    "Phew¡­it was rough doing all that without dying, but I managed somehow."

    He didn''t know much about the environment, so it took time, but after a few weeks of careful experimentation, he finallypleted it.

    His work of art.

    He grinned to himself, wiping the sweat off his brow.

    "If I''m not mistaken, they should arrive here in a few more days."

    When that time came¡­

    He truly couldn''t wait to see what would happen.

    Because this was truly a work of art beyond anything he''d aplished with his brain before.

    And if it worked as he intended it to, the consequences would be treacherous.

    As the creator of such a thing, how could he not be excited?

    "I think I finally understand the whole mad scientist thing."

    Damien camouged himself and hid within the terrain itself.

    Just a few more days until he could see it.

    A few more days that passed in an instant.

 Chapter 1390 Grudge [3]

    Chapter 1390 Grudge [3]

    Damien was a man of great destiny. Upon almost dying in the uncharted territory, he found his way to a treasure and made great gains.

    However, this experience was only limited to those who had great fortune. For those who weren''t so lucky, it waspletely different.

    Gerald died immediately. Pria was luckier because she was further away, but her fate wasn''t much better than his in theing days.

    She had to endure and endure in an environment where she was no longer an illustrious God.

    Where Gods were the norm and all those who were weak would be killed.

    She had to struggle to survive. She barely even made it back to the area past the boundary stele where she could find some safety, and when she did, she learned that most of those who entered the realm with her were dead.

    There were a few Demigods left, those who stayed back in case of an emergency situation, but that was it. Their numbers weren''t great nor was their strength.

    It was impossible to strike Veritas again no matter how much she wanted revenge.

    She didn''t know where Damien was, and without Gerald, she couldn''t stand against the Veritas Grand Elders.

    It was unfortunate, but it was reality. She had to grit her teeth and push down her personal feelings.

    There was still time left before the secret realm closed. Was she supposed to just sit around and wait until she could go back to the Heavenly World and report the situation to her superiors?

    No.

    If she did that, not only would she die, her reputation would be sullied and she wouldn''t gain peace even in death.

    If she wanted to survive, she had to show results that offset their failure against Veritas.

    Thus, with the few that were left from her n, she went into the uncharted territory to explore.

    Pria spent several days there before she managed to escape. She was hiding for most of it, terrified of creatures like the one that killed Gerald, but she at least knew more about the ecosystem than the Kyushu Federation''s team.

    With that knowledge, she led her expedition team deeper into the realm with incredible speed. As the months passed, they gained knowledge of the habitats and habits of several creatures that didn''t exist in the Heavenly World, gathered resources that would benefit the Straea n, and overall made good progress.

    Today was no different than any other day.

    Or at least, it wasn''t supposed to be.

    They''d been trekking in the same direction for a while now, and it was almost time to switch paths so they didn''t run into the Kyushu Federation group.

    "Everyone, be careful."

    Pria gave the same warning she''d given many times thus far. She couldn''t stress it enough how wary they needed to be.

    And despite the repetition of the warning, nobody in her groupined. After staying in the uncharted territory for some time, they''d seen enough to traumatize a grown man.

    It was a truly horrid environment.

    There wasn''t a ce in the Heavenly World where Gods could die so easily.

    Even when they died, it was usually either a big event of some sort or a duel that deserved to be their end.

    Regardless, they''d die after a hard-fought battle.

    Here?

    Here, there was no such thing as battle.

    At their level, if they got too close to the wrong creature or organism, their deaths would be instant. They probably wouldn''t even realize they''d died until they found themselves in the afterlife!

    Nevertheless, with the caution they''d exercised until now, they''d managed to survive. It wasn''t a caution they were willing to let go of.

    They quietly made their way through the tall and thick leaves that densely packed the rainforest.

    Completely unaware of the predator stalking them from the dark.

    ***

    "It''s time."

    Damien grinned.

    Truthfully speaking, he didn''t do much.

    His job was just to bring together certain elements to make natural processes take ce far faster, but in reality, the "trap" he prepared was just taking full advantage of the ecosystem to kill outsiders who knew nothing of its function.

    The start of this process was simple.

    What was a rainforest without rain?

    It had been over a year since Damien entered the Forbidden Secret Realm, and though he''d spent several months in the ravine, unaware of the outside world, he hadn''t seen rain at all in the time he spent on the surface.

    It was strange, wasn''t it?

    When he dug into the truth of this matter, he found that this realm didn''t actually have weather. It was created with a day and night cycle, but its weather would remain consistent regardless of condition or season.

    So, then, why was the ecosystem able to breed into a rainforest? It was quite literally impossible without any sort of weather conditions.

    The answer to that was simple.

    ''It should be arriving by now.''

    Damien put the bait down a few days ago. ounting for the time it would take for it to arrive here from its perch, its arrival was imminent.

    He nced over at Pria''s party.

    They were roughly one million kilometers away, extremely close to said bait.

    ''I want to watch from closer, but it''s a shame that I''d die if I tried.''

    He shrugged and watched as it happened.

    A shadow appeared over thend, blotting out dozens of millions of kilometers of rainforest with its size.

    The clouds in the sky parted under its weight, and the textured outline of a creature appeared in the eyes of those below.

    ''Godbeast: Thunderbird.''

    An existence beyond Divine Beasts. An existence that established its ce in the heavens and became one of the countless bloodlines that created the basis of all beasts.

    It was a true Godbeast, perhaps the first of its kind.

    When Damien discovered it, he almost couldn''t hold his excitement and curiosity, but he was forced to because of its strength.

    Instead, he spent great heaps of time watching it carefully from a distance as it went about its duties.

    It mainly preyed onrger carnivorous species, but it had a soft spot for a certain type of herb called the Silver Moon Leaf. These were like a delicacy to the Thunderbird, and when Damien found out that fact, he immediately established the entire n he was currently putting into action.

    In fact, while Pria and the rest didn''t know, they were surrounded by Silver Moon Leaves right now.

    And as the Thunderbird came to collect them, its natural abilities were activated.

    The Thunderbird had a role in this realm that couldn''t be reced. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was the reason for the flourishing ecosystem that existed here.

    It was the rain.

    Drops of water fell from the air, guided by the Thunderbird''s presence.

    Everything under its body was enveloped in heavy rainfall, and as the mist rose over the rainforest, countless creatures came out of their hiding ces.

    This was step one of the n.

    The Thunderbird didn''t care about humans. It would leave after it took the prize it came for.

    But what about the rest?

    Damien made sure they wouldn''t let go of the appetizing prey he prepared for them.

 Chapter 1391 Grudge [4]

    Chapter 1391 Grudge [4]

    Rain was important not just for the fauna of this realm, but the flora. It was obvious, but it had to be mentioned.

    After all, while it was far more difficult for nts to gain sentience, they still could once they had lived for long enough and gathered enough power.

    A lot of the flora in the Forbidden Secret Realm was sentient, so when the rain came, they''d be far more active than they were in usual times.

    Pria and her group were currently hiding. They didn''t move an inch, crouching in ce with their auras reined all the way in so they didn''t have any presence.

    They were petrified by the massive Godbeast that appeared above them, but they made the wrong decision.

    Because the Thunderbird wasn''t the one who wanted to eat them.

    All around them, nts raised their leaves towards the sky,peting to gain as much water as possible while the Thunderbird was present.

    They no irked a beautiful tapestry in the air between the great trees that made up the rainforest, like a three-dimensional painting made by the most talented of artists.

    The nts themselves weren''t harmful, but they did give off a slight air of poisonous particles as they finally rid themselves of the fluids injected into them by the species that feasted on their leaves.

    And while those fluids were harmful and needed to be expelled, they also acted as a natural pheromone that attracted the very same predators that left them in the leaves.

    The buzzing of tiny wings filled the rainy atmosphere. Tens of hundreds of bugs crawled across the ground and made their way to the nts they considered food.

    Pria''s group was left in the middle of this interaction.

    They had to stay silent and still.

    They couldn''t move even now.

    Those bugs were smaller. They spanned from as small as regr bugs to asrge as a human head, but rtively speaking, they were quite small.

    Yet, their power wasn''t different from the rest of the ecosystem.

    Thousands upon thousands of them flooded the area, each and every one of them with power that at least rivaled a Demigod.

    Luckily, they were herbivores. As long as they didn''t feel threatened, they wouldn''t attack other fauna.

    Pria and the rest didn''t know this, of course, but they could gauge it from their extensive knowledge. They sat still, shivering slightly as these overpowered bugs crawled over their bodies to reach the leaves above.

    ''Khhhhh¡­''

    It wasn''t a sound she made outwardly, but she was making it excessively in her mind.

    It was disgusting. This experience was the worst. She, as a God, couldn''t believe she was being disgraced like this.

    However, what else could she do?

    She had to wait so she could survive.

    She had to explore so she could survive.

    She didn''t have any other path!

    So she could only watch as the bugs reached their desired nts and began their feast.

    And she could only watch as a group of frogs that were roughly ten feet tall and twice as fat appeared in the periphery and started targeting those bugs.

    ''Damn!''

    Pria gritted her teeth.

    She ducked her head andid down t on the ground, prompting her group to follow her.

    The frog tongues that whipped around held force enough to behead any one of them, and more importantly, they were covered in a poisonous liquid that sshed around the area as they carelessly hunted for their prey.

    Despite the attempts they made to avoid detection or harm, they couldn''t stop heaps of that poison from falling on their bodies.

    It burned through their clothing and a bit of their skin, and when it made its way into their bodies, it inhibited their mana, making it even harder to counteract.

    Pria finally realized the consequences of her decision.

    ''We have to leave. Now.''

    Regardless of how difficult it would be to evacuate, they had to get out of this area and find a safer ce to hide until the storm passed.

    The rainy ecosystem that appeared along with the Thunderbird was far more dangerous than the regr rtively peaceful environment of the uncharted territory.

    "Follow me carefully. Do not step anywhere but in my shadow."

    Pria sent a mental transmission to her team and slowly began to crawl.

    Humiliation was no longer an issue. Even if it meant she had to grovel and beg, she would find a way to live through this.

    One arm after the other, one leg after the other, Pria moved away from the frogs and the leaf canopy.

    Luckily, it was mostly concentrated in one area. While several simr leaf canopies existed in the surroundings, none of them were as violently packed with fauna as this one.

    ''One hundred meters.''

    One hundred meters away, there was a cave to hide in. As long as they made it there, they would survive.

    That was the truth.

    The truth of the situation if it wasn''t a trap designed specifically for them.

    RUMBLE!

    The entire world rumbled.

    Bugs preyed on nts, frogs preyed on bugs, and snakes preyed on frogs.

    That was the natural order.

    And when the natural order ballooned to a scale where even the smallest bugs could be the size of a human head¡­

    ''We''re dead.''

    Existential dread.

    That feeling filled Pria''s entire body.

    As for the Demigods behind her, they couldn''t even think in that being''s presence.

    It was a massive python. Its body was as thick as several tree trunks tied together, and its mouth wasrge enough to swallow the entire area whole.

    The second it appeared, it hissed loudly, striking fear into those frogs who were hunting wildly, and in the next instant, it snapped its mouth open and shut, devouring six of them at once.

    It was truly a dreadful sight. To the python, humans who were weaker and smaller than those frogs, yet had the same amount of energy contained in them were easy prey.

    Pria was aware of that.

    She saw it in the python''s eyes.

    But it had yet to sense them.

    "Just keep crawling."

    She told her allies to do so, but it was a question whether or not they could follow her words.

    After all, the python''s aura froze them in ce.

    HISSSSSSSSS!

    Its spine-chilling hiss filled the area again.

    In a ce filled with so much prey, how could it not be excited?

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    They weren''t explosions. It was merely the sound of trees copsing and mming into the ground below as the python carelessly moved through them to capture each and every frog in the vicinity.

    ''It''s moving away from us.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Pria almost had time to breathe a sigh of relief.

    Almost.

    BANG!

    Another tree fell to the ground.

    It was roughly three kilometers tall, rtively small inparison to its peers, however, it was thest straw among the tens of them that fell.

    Hairline cracks spread across the ground.

    Those cracks widened almost impossibly fast, spreading several dozens of kilometers in every direction.

    That''s when Pria realized it.

    This whole time¡­

    ''...the ground was hollow.''

    They were never on a stable surface to begin with.

    It was fine when there wasn''t much impact force striking the ground, but with the python thrashing around and the trees that weighed thousands of pounds, if not more, crashing down, the ground didn''t stand a chance.

    RUMBLE!

    It quaked furiously.

    And just as Pria came to terms with her fate, it copsed.

    The nts, the bugs, the frogs, the python, and the poor humans caught between them all fell into the huge sinkhole that opened up below them.

    And deep in the depths under the piece ofnd where they once stood, a pair of eyes opened.

    It was thest piece of Damien''s n.

    The second Godbeast he''d found in this realm.

    An Earth Dragon.

    A hungry Earth Dragon that had been starved for over two weeks looked up at the ceiling that was crumbling above it.

    And it saw them instantly.

    The heaps of prey falling through the cracks.

 Chapter 1392 Preparation [1]

    Chapter 1392 Preparation [1]

    A question arose after this series of events.

    How much of this did Damien n? What was his role in the happenings that took ce?

    The answer was everything.

    He was the one who grabbed the Silver Leaves and ced them in the area, as well as the one who used Life Laws to elerate their growth until they matured.

    He was the one who attracted the Thunderbird by taking all the other Silver Leaves in nearby areas and hiding their auras away.

    He was the one who drew the bugs to make their colonies in the vicinity, and he was the one who led the frogs over to eat those bugs.

    He was the one who chose the area where the attack would take ce, knowing it was the python''s habitat.

    And he was the one who found the Earth Dragon, perfectly bringing everything together.

    It could''ve ended at the python. No, it could have ended at the frogs. There was really no reason to do as much as he did to kill Pria''s group.

    But he wanted them to feel fear before they died, just as he nned to do with the rest of the Straea n.

    There was no need to talk about what happened after the ground copsed.

    The Thunderbird had no interest in humans, but the Earth Dragon was different. As a subterranean creature in andscape without too much subterranean life, it needed to either conserve its energy and hunt underground or rise to the surface to search for food.

    Damien lured the Earth Dragon into a ce where it couldn''t do either, and as if topensate it for its troubles, he gave it a massive feast afterward.

    It ate everything.

    Whether it be the nts, the bugs, the frogs, the python, or the humans that got caught between them, nothing could survive against a true Godbeast whose hunger had been aroused.

    The sequence of events took weeks to n and execute, but it ended within just a few minutes.

    Damien watched it all from the side, and as the Thunderbird gained the reward it came for and the rain left along with it, he revealed himself with a smile on his face.

    ''That was great.''

    It was extremely entertaining to watch.

    Pria wasn''t the best of the best. She was a God that was hardly a God. However, she still managed to attain that level.

    She was still someone Damien couldn''t fight, regardless of how weak she waspared to her peers.

    So seeing her helpless, forced to crawl meaninglessly before meeting her eventual end, was quite satisfying.

    Because once again, he saw it.

    The fact that even Gods were just practitioners.

    ''I should get moving.''

    There wasn''t much left for him to do in the secret realm, but there was plenty to do when he left.

    ''I should start nning to leave for Void Pce, and while I do¡­''

    It wasn''t bad to raise the geniuses of the Veritas n to a new level.

    The Straea n and the Divine Order. They were the enemies he knew, but there were sure to be others in the dark as well.

    Since that was the case, since Void Pce was struggling, he needed all the help he could get.

    And if that help came genuinely, it was even better.

    The Veritas n was filled with good people. He was certain Yulia and the rest at her level would help Void Pce as they promised, however, Damien couldn''t guarantee all of them would help genuinely.

    The younger generation was different. If he could raise them properly and make them indebted to him, wouldn''t they push for a more sincere approach to their cooperation?

    He didn''t know how well it would work, but it was a n worth trying.

    After all, in the end, a few characters from the younger generation were the ones who rose up to save Grand Heavens Boundary.

    He had seen it work before.

    Damien turned his eyes away. He nced over a few hundred million kilometers and took a peek at what the Kyushu Federation group was doing before heading back into the known region of the secret realm to regroup with the Veritas n.

    ''The Kyushu Federation¡­''

    They were apletely different problem. He didn''t need to think about it right now.

    ''I need to focus on what''s in front of me. My te is already too full as it is.''

    He sighed to himself.

    He didn''t want to do this again.

    Being the sole supporter of something he had no business being the only one supporting was annoying. He already knew how it felt from everything he did for Grand Heavens Boundary.

    ''But information about Void Pce has been restricted to the extreme. I haven''t found anything about the internal situation no matter how much I searched, so¡­''

    There was hope.

    They weren''t defeated yet, they were merely ying on the defensive.

    ''Void Pce, huh¡­''

    He''d been researching about them for so long, but he never really stopped to think about it.

    That ce was his origin.

    That ce was his home.

    And frankly, he couldn''t wait to see it for himself.

    ***

    The months passed swiftly after that.

    The ns remaining in the secret realm didn''t interact with each other much, focusing on their own growth.

    As for Damien, he returned to the Veritas group and resumed his role as a protector as if nothing happened.

    However, he was more involved than before.

    Rather than just protecting from the shadows, he gave the geniuses advice on how to properly utilize their mana andws.

    He focused mainly on Celeste, since she was the one who showed the most promise, but he didn''t skimp on helping the rest of them as well.

    Aside from Celeste''s constitution, Romulus and Reva Veritas had pretty interesting powers as well.

    The two of them were truly twins. Their abilities enhanced each other, and though they were great practitioners on their own, their potential could only truly be realized when they fought together.

    Damien had met people like them before. It wasn''t rare for twins to be born with suchplementary abilities. Since he knew how they looked when they acted at peak efficiency, he was able to advise them without experiencing that kind of synergy himself.

    Nevertheless, Damien''s role in the Veritas group suddenly became far greater than it was before.

    Not just the Demigod Elders, but even the two Great Elders treated him with respect and put his word above their own.

    He became the leader, and with that authority, he led the geniuses to gain as many opportunities as possible.

    The Forbidden Secret Realm had a mechanism that only let people take a single item out with them.

    However, what they did within the realm was their own business.

    If they found a material they could ingest, they would ingest it right then and there with Damien watching over and helping them do it as fast as possible.

    If they found something that could be made into a weapon, as long as it wasn''t tooplicated, Damien had the forging skills to make it for them.

    And with those skills as their support, the geniuses of the Veritas n made more gains than they ever thought possible.

    Another six months passed like this, and then another six months after that.

    By the time the second year in the secret realm ended, Damien started to feel it.

    ''The density of space is getting weaker.''

    The fluctuations were getting more intense every single day.

    Which meant, soon enough, the Forbidden Secret Realm expedition would end.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 1393 Preparation [2]

    Chapter 1393 Preparation [2]

    The secret realm expedition wasn''t too crazy of an event.

    Well, depending on who one talked to.

    Perhaps the Veritas n would have plenty of stories to tell. The Kyushu Federation also had a lot of new things to discover from the samples they collected in the uncharted territory.

    The Vega n spent the secret realm this time rtively the same as every other time, and Damien¡­well, Damien wasn''t one to overhype his achievements.

    He definitely did a lot. He killed a God, albeit by cheating a bit, and he discovered a hidden piece he never expected to find.

    However, this was just one step of many.

    Since it was ending, he needed to collect himself and get ready for what came next.

    Though, he first needed to wait for the secret realm to actually open. From the day he first sensed the fluctuations in space, it took roughly two weeks for the secret realm to actually decide on closing and send them out.

    Afterwards, there was naturally a huge show.

    The Straea n raged. Not a single person from the tens of those they sent into the realm returned, whether it was those who entered legally or illegally.

    And who were they going to me?

    Naturally, it was the Veritas n.

    Who else could they drag into this mess?

    They''d lost two Gods and several Demigods in a n to destroy the Veritas group, but the Veritas n members came back only missing a single Elder:

    If they weren''t infuriated, they were stupid. No, either way, they were stupid, since they were ced in the same position they expected their enemies to be in at this very moment.

    Nevertheless, what could they do but make a scene?

    They had no just cause to me Veritas, and even if they did, it''d only reveal the fact that they attacked first, that too using underhanded means.

    The Straea n couldn''t be the one injured by this incident, especially now that they''d already taken hits, therefore, after a few back and forths with the Veritas n group where quite the harsh words were spit from both sides, they had to gnash their teeth and retreat.

    Damien watched from the side with a smile on his face. It was great seeing Straea struggle.

    And once themotion died down, after the Grand Elders had some brief conversation with the Vega n group, they returned to their spirit ship, headed straight to the Veritas Estate.

    ''Regardless, it was a good trip.'' Damien thought, looking out of one of the spirit ship''s windows.

    He improved unexpectedly, he got to take action against his enemies, though the level was negligible in the grand scheme, and he was able to find talents worth raising.

    Overall, he gained a lot more than he ever thought he would from a simple protection mission.

    The time hade for his rtionship with the Veritas n to change.

    It would no longer be one of client and mercenary, one of leader and subordinate,

    They would now be on equal terms. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Two sides of a negotiation between giants.

    ***

    Everyone went their separate ways when the spirit shipnded.

    Damien gave his goodbyes to the elders he got close to and the rest as a show of respect before leaving for the main estate.

    It was a ce where only high-ranking Veritas nsmen were usually allowed, but for this instance, Damien was given special permission.

    He was currently sitting in a rtively simplistic study room. Its design was minimalistic using mainly wood as its building material, and aside from a few bookshelves and paintings against the wall, a desk, and a few couches for guests, there wasn''t much to note.

    "It''s good to finally meet you."

    "Ah, yeah, you too."

    A polite greeting and an awkward reply,

    Damien nced over at the man who had just spoken.

    He was one of two other people in this room.

    ''Julian Veritas.''

    The Patriarch of the Veritas n.

    Damien''s eyes turned to the second person, narrowing as if to ask "What the fuck is this?"

    Yulia smiled and shrugged, telling him outright to just deal with it.

    ''Haa, this¡­''

    Damien sighed inwardly. He was expecting to meet Yulia today, but seeing Julian was apletely different matter.

    After all, no matter what he did or what happened in his mercenary days, he didn''t see a wink of this man''s visage.

    But now that his time with them wasing to an end, the Patriarch had called him for a meeting.

    They exchanged several words after their greeting, mostly covering minor things and engaging in small talk.

    Damien had to report about the happenings of the Forbidden Secret Realm as well, since he was the one most involved in it all.

    He told a simplified story about how he killed the Straea Demigods and led the Gods into the uncharted territory, where they died to the ecosystem itself.

    He, of course, skimmed over his involvement in the boundary stele breaking and their deaths, along with his little trip to the ravine, but those were just insignificant matters.

    His ability still needed to be hidden. He had to appear strong, but not uncontrobly strong. He couldn''t let Veritas view him as a threat.

    Nevertheless, after tens of minutes of conversation, the topic finally arrived where Damien wanted it to.

    "As promised by my sister, we, the Veritas n, will actively support Void Pce in its future endeavors," Julian said.

    "Then, I''ll graciously ept your aid."

    Damien smiled as he shook Julian''s hand.

    The terms weren''t so simple. When they first made the agreement, Damien made sure they couldn''t half-ass their assistance in any way.

    Whether it be military or financial support, Veritas would provide it as long as it was within reasonable bounds.

    They were not bing subordinates, but it wasn''t wrong to say this was the moment Veritas truly became a sister sect with Void Pce.

    From this point forth, they would be two peas in a pod, two influences who stood together in victory and defeat.

    Negotiations continued from there and didn''t stop until a day had passed and both sides reached a satisfying conclusion.

    With their business finished and the details sorted out, Damien once again shook Julian''s hand before leaving alongside Yulia.

    "Do you n to return immediately?" Yulia asked, ncing at him in intrigue.

    What was his next step?

    He could very well head to Vega territory and gather even more supporters, but how much time had passed?

    Back then, Yulia gave Void Pce a decade before it copsed.

    Though her judgement wasn''tpletely urate, over half that time already passed since then. Damien couldn''t dy any longer.

    "Yeah. It''s time for me to see it."

    His words were said without much hesitation.

    He looked out at the horizon.

    His disguise melted away, revealing the amethyst-purple eyes and chiseled features he''d kept hidden for the past six or so years.

    "I''d like to see how great my birthright really is."

    Yulia smiled.

    Damien was great fun to be acquainted with. He didn''t seem to realize himself, but even when he tried to hide his true worth, he shined like the brightest of diamonds.

    He had aplished a lot of unexpected feats in the time they knew each other. She never told him outright, of course, but he really did perform feats above what even those eternally blessed by heaven could pull off.

    So she''d been waiting for this moment.

    "I''ll prepare the portal," she said.

    She could sense it. She''d been sensing it from the start, and when Julian finally met Damien, he sensed it as well.

    The moment Damien Void returned to Void Pce, thendscape of the Heavenly World would change.

    And both of them were absolutely sure they wouldn''t regret the decisions they made here today.

 Chapter 1394 Preparation [3]

    Chapter 1394 Preparation [3]

    Damien wanted to leave immediately, but that wasn''t a freedom given to him.

    The day after their meeting with Julian Veritas, Yulia approached him with a message.

    "There are other people who will be joining you on your trip to the Southern Region, so you will have to wait. Don''t worry, it won''t be longer than 2 weeks at the very most."

    To summarize what she said, a teleportation array that could cross hundreds of trillions or even more kilometers in one smooth jump wasn''t cheap to run.

    The materials were actually nonsensical to gather, so in terms of usage, the array was quite inefficient. It could at most be fired once a year in order to do so without wasting resources that were needed elsewhere.

    Damien wanted to look at the array and see if he could improve it, but there was no reason to. At least, not before he got to the Southern Region.

    Plus, he didn''t really mind. Two weeks wasn''t a short time but it also wasn''t too long. It was just enough for him to finish up his business in Veritas.

    Currently, Damien was in the process of "rxing."

    Or at least, that was how outsiders saw it.

    He spent most of his days meditating, sunk deep into his thoughts as he perceived the concept of harmony. When he wasn''t, he was ambling around the variouspounds of the Veritas Estate doing this and that without any clear goal.

    But that was nothing more than a front.

    While Damien did want toprehend the concept of harmony as soon as possible, it wasn''t something that could be realized through meditation.

    Harmony had to be achieved naturally, because that was its entire purpose. Damien would eventually harmonize with nature, but he couldn''t force it at all.

    He spent a lot of time in what looked like meditation, but in reality, his mind was elsewhere.

    He just left his main body alone so he could keep up the image of being aimless.

    But Damien didn''t just have one body. Putting aside the nigh-infinite number of mana clones he could make, he had two other true bodies he could use as he pleased.

    The first was Alexander, and the second was his non-living Avatar, which he''d been calling Damian for convenience.

    Alexander and Damian were undergoing the tasks he assigned to them.

    On one hand, Alexander was building prominence in the Eastern Region.

    His job was to build a sect. He would take in disciples, train them, and prepare them as a secret army for whenever they were needed in the future.

    Alexander was also in charge of the Sanctuary. Ever since he came to the Heavenly World, Damien used Alexander to help those in his pocket universe ascend through the things he knew and thews he used.

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena were already at the cusp of Divinity. All they needed to do was cement themselves on the paths they wished to take and form the nature of their Divinities to undergo Cosmic Rebirth.

    However, those like Elvira, Bai Yuxuan, Feng Yuxiang, Bianca Snow, and Lucius, who had been stuck in 4th ss for a very long time, were able to make rapid progress under his guidance.

    The Sanctuary was no longer what it used to be.

    Rather than a sub-universe or a separated ne, it was now a true universe in its own right.

    It had the capability to provide Cosmic Rebirth for its inhabitants, and it had the ability to contain those whopleted the process.

    If there was a difference between the Sanctuary and Grand Heavens Boundary, it was what happened after.

    There was no ascension mechanism, since the Sanctuary didn''t have any connection to the Heavenly World, but it also didn''t have the restrictions of Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Damien constantly shared the knowledge he gained with his personal universe, and now the Demigods who lived there had a clear understanding of where they stood in terms of power scale and where they needed to reach.

    They had the ability to do so with the Sanctuary''s firm Universal Law that was edging closer to a Heavenly Order with every passing day, and for the majority, they didn''t even feel the need to leave for a higher ne.

    The Sanctuary had everything they could ever ask for. There were several secret realms that could aid Demigods and more were popping up every few months.

    The existence of the Void Library meant they could be assisted on their lonely roads to true power and didn''t have to walk in the dark as they''d have to do if they left.

    And most importantly, there was a sense ofmunity.

    The Sanctuary was one big family. Yes, there were those who wanted to ruin order. Yes, there were countless conflicts across the vast expanse of worlds.

    However, that couldn''t be changed unless one removed free will from the equation. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    What made the Sanctuary different was that people who threatened its overall security were never allowed to fester.

    A threat that could tear its denizens into factions that absolutely hated each other couldn''t exist.

    Therefore, not to mention safety, just the environment of the Sanctuary was far more weing and promoted thoughts of growth and prosperity.

    Damien was still taking his stance as an absentee creator. He didn''t want to be too involved in the Sanctuary''s development, because he wanted those people to grow in the way they felt was best for themselves.

    It was their home, after all, not his.

    But Alexander was the one who facilitated their ideas. Alexander was the one they could use to adapt and change the Sanctuary itself to best support them.

    So he worked alongside Lynn to do the most important things without actually giving his input on many of those decisions.

    Alexander had quite the busy life, but since he was an autonomous clone, Damien didn''t have to directly control him.

    Damian was different. Damian did have a portion of Damien''s soul, but he didn''t have any sense of ego. He was a husk, to put it simply.

    If Damien wanted to use Damian, he had to ce his mind in the Avatar body and move it on his own.

    That was the reason his main body was rtively dormant.

    Because while Damien stayed in the Eastern Region and Alexander worked ceaselessly for the future, Damian was already on his way to the Northeast.

    The Straea n wasn''t easy to deal with.

    In fact, they were a downright diabolical force without any sort of morals. The only reason they could keep their status was because they had unreasonable strength.

    Damien had to focus on the Straea n itself, but that wasn''t all there was to deal with.

    Under the main n were the 4 Evils. They were not ns or sects like the Sapientia n under Veritas, but four individuals who had the same standing.

    Because those 4 individuals each had the power to rival a minor n like Sapientia.

    Tobat them, Damien needed more assistance.

    And he had the perfect people in mind.

    Damian wasn''t headed to the Northeastern Region without a n. No, he was going to gather the connections Damien made while acting as a mercenary in their territory.

    With two great ns at his side, what did he have to fear?

    As long as everything went ording to his ns, saving Void Pce wasn''t even a question anymore.

    Instead, it was only a matter of time and effort.

 Chapter 1395 Preparation [4]

    Chapter 1395 Preparation [4]

    Two weeks really couldn''t be counted as any time at all when events kept unfolding.

    No, even with a boring schedule, one would find two weeks passing before one even knew what to do with oneself.

    For Damien, who was constantly working in one way or another, two weeks were like a passing breeze.

    They were gone before he could even hope to feel them.

    "Are you really leaving?"

    The one who spoke was the one he''d spent the most time with over the past two weeks. She was a familiar face as well, Celeste Veritas.

    "Of course I do. What, did you expect me to stay here for the rest of my life?" Damien returned with a smile.

    "I mean, that''s a little much, but¡­" Celeste frowned, hiding her face behind a towel as she nced at him.

    She was the one who found him first.

    When they were in the Forbidden Secret Realm, she learned so much from him that she almost couldn''t believe it despite feeling the changes in her body.

    Unlike others, who shakily guided her to the best of their abilities, Damien knew exactly what she needed.

    He knew how to help her improve, and with his help, she saw results unlike anything she''d ever seen before.

    Thus, when they returned to Veritas, she found him without hesitation and asked him to teach her.

    Damien naturally obliged.

    He had no reason not to, and he was quite fond of Celeste as well. She reminded him of Astoria, and her power was interesting. He enjoyed both teaching her and watching the mysterious chaos within her grow more formidable with time.

    Today, they''d ended a training session like any other. The only difference was that it was more intensive than usual, but even that was expected from a demonic instructor like Damien.

    But Celeste knew it just as well as he did. This would be theirst time training together.

    "I was hoping you''d stay for a little longer."

    She blushed while she said it, but she felt like saying it regardless. The feelings in her heart weren''t particrly romantic, but Damien definitely became an important figure in her life in the short time they''d known each other.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t live up to her expectations.

    "Don''t be so sentimental, brat," Damien joked, ruffling her hair like an older brother.

    "You probably already know where I''m going and what I''m nning to do, so why make a big deal out of this? Eventually, we''ll see each other again."

    "I know, but still! Isn''t it dangerous?"

    "There''s no way it wouldn''t be, but I still have to do it, don''t I? Wouldn''t you do the same if it was Veritas?"

    "That''s¡­!"

    She couldn''t refute him.

    She thought she hid it pretty well, but it seemed he''d figured out her identity long ago. He just hadn''t said anything out of consideration for her.

    Yes. If it was Veritas in Void Pce''s situation, she wouldn''t hesitate to take the same actions as he did. No, she probably would''ve been far more impatient about it.

    The fact that he waited so long, acting at the whims of others, so he could gain enough power to support the people he had back home was respectable enough, because she knew she couldn''t do the same in his situation.

    Could anyone?

    Celeste had no way of knowing, but she knew Damien was a special character.

    And she wanted to be by his side a bit longer.

    That was definitely the best path for her growth, but what could she do? There was no way to stop him from leaving, and she couldn''t leave Veritas either.

    "Then¡­"

    She sighed to herself and stood up, putting aside the towel in her hand and facing him confidently.

    "What are you do¨C"

    "Teacher!"

    Damien found himself interrupted by a shout loud enough to echo off the walls.

    Celeste straightened her body, and with a movement as rigid as a military official who''d been doing it for years, she bowed a full ny degrees.

    "Thank you for your guidance!"

    She thanked him sincerely for everything he''d done in the least words possible. She already knew he didn''t like long and overly heartfelt disys.

    Damien smiled.

    ''This girl¡­''

    "Get up."

    He raised her up and patted her shoulder.

    "I just did it on a whim. Don''t think too much about it, since we''ll probably be meeting each other with equal status from now on. Isn''t that right, Miss Shadow Disciple?"

    "Hehe¡­"

    Celeste rubbed her head awkwardly and nodded.

    "If that''s the case, then let me introduce myself properly. Though, I still won''t stop regarding you as my teacher even with this change."

    Celeste looked into his eyes with a smile.

    "My name is Celestia Veritas, and I am the future Matriarch of the Veritas n. It is a pleasure to meet you."

    Damien nodded with the same expression on his face.

    "I am Damien Void, the Young Lord of Void Pce. Likewise, it''s my pleasure making your acquaintance."

    A fateful rtionship, to say the least.

    Two future powerhouses who formed a connection when neither was aware of the other''s status. A curious rtionship that was both one of friends and equals and teacher and student.

    Only time could tell how this would turn out, but one thing was for certain. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Regardless of what happened, the rtionship between Void Pce and the Veritas n would only grow firmer from now on.

    ***

    The goodbye with Celeste was thest one. Damien already participated in arge gathering with all the Elders and even the Grand Elders where he drank himself to death the night prior, so when the next day dawned, he met Yulia and went straight to the teleportation array.

    "That''s a nice disciple you have. I almost want to steal her for myself," Damien said.

    "Don''t even think about it. She''s our Veritas n''s great hope, you know?" Yulia responded, a little firmer than Damien expected.

    How could he know?

    Celeste valued her rtionship with him quite highly, so if he really asked her to join him at Void Pce, the chance of her epting wasn''t negligible!

    Yulia could only be relieved that he never brought it up, drawing the line with her early.

    "You have our contacts, right?" She confirmed.

    "Mm, all the preparations have been made as well," Damien responded confidently.

    "Good, then¡­"

    Yulia stopped and turned around to face him. They''d already arrived at the teleportation array, and the time they had together wasn''t much longer.

    "It won''t be an easy fight, but we''ll be fighting it with you. I sincerely wish you good fortune in all your future endeavors."

    Damien smiled.

    "This isn''t like you. I was expecting a much rougher farewell at this point, I can''t lie."

    "Damn brat, I''m a Veritas n Grand Elder too, you know? I can do the whole official thing if I want to."

    "Hahaha, then I''ll be grateful to you for showing me such a hrious sight."

    "Tch."

    The two conversed happily as they walked towards the array. If there was someone who got closer to Damien than anyone else during his stay here, it was Yulia.

    The two of them were practically friends who''d been through life and death together at this point. To Damien, they were "brothers," though he never said that to Yulia lest she kill him on the spot.

    Nevertheless, their approach could only take so long, and they eventually arrived at their final destination.

    There, waiting for them, was another group of five travelers.

    Until this point, Damien honestly forgot that he was waiting for them so they could use the array together, but the second he saw them, his eyes widened.

    As did the eyes of a specific member of that very group.

    "Huh?"

    "Hm?"

    They both voiced their surprise.

    Two faces that were familiar to each other.

    Two distinct sets of amethyst purple eyes.

    It was yet another fateful encounter!

 Chapter 1396 Void Palace [1]

    Chapter 1396 Void Pce [1]

    Two sets of amethyst eyes met in the most unexpected ce.

    Two people who coincidentally nned to return to their homnd at the same time gasped as they saw each other in the distance.

    Damien''s eyes were especially wide.

    He knew this person, but this was a person he wasn''t supposed to know.

    She had been watching him for a very long time. She spent over a decade of her life trailing his adventures for reasons he still couldn''t make sense of.

    ''That woman is¡­''

    Someone he knew from his time outside reality.

    ''...Yiren Void.''

    The younger sister he never knew he had.

    ording to what he could understand, Yiren was Dante''s adopted daughter and was several decades younger than him.

    However, with what he knew about Dante now, he couldn''t quite make sense of her existence.

    Regardless, she had those eyes, and she had pride in her position. She definitely wasn''t someone suspicious, it was just her background that he couldn''t confirm.

    But Damien wasn''t the only one surprised.

    Yiren tried to hide it, but she was definitely feeling it more than he was. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    After all, she would''ve never expected him here, not even in her wildest imaginations.

    Damien had just recently ascended to the Heavenly World, which she knew would happen, but how did he manage to reach the Veritas n''s exclusive teleportation array in a short period of time?

    Not just that, he was now powerful to the extent that she couldn''t sense his aura, and from the look in his eyes¡­

    ''...he knows who I am.''

    How was that possible?

    Yiren disappeared from the lower universe somewhere around the time Damien went to the Ancient Battlefield.

    As for the old man she was traveling with, his life was ending soon. There was a conversation he very much wanted to have with a person he very much wanted to see, so he went to the Abyss to amble aimlessly until the time was right.

    Logically speaking, unless he told Damien, there was no way for Damien to know.

    But knowing him, he wouldn''t tell Damien anything, insisting that it was better for a young genius to find their own way.

    So what was this situation?

    What were they supposed to do now?

    They both knew they were recognized by the other party, and they both knew the point of connection that brought them together, but¡­

    ''We''ve never interacted, so I don''t know how to approach her. This is a new experience for me.''

    Damien was an older brother to several people at this point. He''d yed the role and gained a family through his adventures, but this was different.

    She was someone his father adopted. She was a family member he didn''t know.

    How did he breach conversation with her?

    Damien took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

    ''Now isn''t the time.''

    Yiren was currently together with a couple of other women, evidently her friends.

    Now wasn''t the time for an awkward conversation between estranged siblings.

    "It''s nice to finally meet you in person," Damien sent through mental transmission.

    "You as well," Yiren replied, her tone a little vague.

    The two nodded at each other imperceptibly, but that was the extent of their interaction for now.

    They weren''t the only ones here, and while others obviously noticed their interaction, nobody else thought it was strange.

    Their purple eyes signified their identities and how they knew each other. As for their rtionship, the guesses they made could only ever remain guesses with how secretive Void Pce was, so they didn''t bother entertaining them.

    There was no need for any extraneous conversation.

    Nobody present needed an exnation about how the teleportation array worked, so after a few more parting words with Yulia, Damien stepped forward and entered the formation along with Yiren''s group.

    The man operating the formation gave a few seconds'' notice as he inputted themands, and soon enough, space began to fluctuate.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath as he felt reality fold around him.

    His heart raced as he passed through the spatial corridor.

    His thoughts were so focused on the destination that couldn''t marvel at the sturdiness and security of the spatial corridor created through the array.

    And within a second, the scenery changed.

    They were in another room simr to the one they just left, however, none of the people who once surrounded them remained.

    It was only their group and another teleportation array operator, who promptly bowed when he saw them.

    "Wee back, First Young Lady."

    "Mm," Yiren replied dismissively.

    She stepped out of the array and started making her way out of the room, her group following her politely.

    But before she leftpletely, she turned around and nced at Damien.

    "Are youing or not?"

    "Me?" He responded in surprise.

    Damien saw everything Yiren did while she was observing him in the lower universe. He was very clear on the fact that this sister of his didn''t like him.

    So why was she calling out to him like this?

    "Haa¡­"

    Yiren sighed, somewhat reading his expression. She could at least understand the crux of his thoughts.

    "It doesn''t matter what we think of each other. Since you''re here, you''re here."

    She turned away, hiding the expression on her face.

    "I know it might be a little awkward, but I''ll take you to meet them."

    "Meet who?"

    Damien knew the answer, but he still wanted to hear it.

    "Who else?" Yiren responded as she stepped away.

    "Your family."

    Those words.

    Those were the words he wanted to hear all this time.

    "Family, huh¡­"

    Damien smiled.

    "Good, then. Let''s go meet them."

    He stepped forward as well, following Yiren''s group.

    As he exited the teleportation room and gazed at the scenery outside, it finally set in.

    He was here.

    This was it.

    The ce he''d been longing for.

    Void Pce.

    ***

    Somewhere not very far yet not very near, a woman sat in her private quarters, mindlessly watching the scenery outside.

    Some time had passed since she came here. She missed it, sure, but at the same time, she''d gotten used to the scenery she used to see every day.

    The tall buildings, the bustling streets, and the technology, were now reced with endless expanses of freend.

    There were still tall buildings, but the architecture was more archaic than what she''d grown used to. There was still technology, but it was now based on mana rather than electricity.

    ''Who would''ve thought¡­?''

    It was only a mere fifty or so years she spent in that ce, yet, the memories of its wonders outstripped any memories she had of this ce, her home.

    And, most importantly, the people she held dear were missing.

    The two people who had the highest position in her heart, neither of them were here.

    ''It''s lonely.''

    She wasn''t alone, but she couldn''t help feeling lonely at times like these. It was easy to ignore when the people around her tried their best to take her mind off of it, but what happened when she was left to her own devices?

    She could only think about them.

    Where were they?

    What were they doing?

    Were they safe?

    She knew their personalities. It was hard for her to believe either of them was doing okay right now, but she had to force herself to believe it, because if she didn''t, she would fall apart.

    ''When can we see each other again?''

    Her husband.

    The man she loved.

    When could she see him again?

    And¡­

    Her son.

    A boy with an unfortunate fate, yet a boy whose eyes always shined brighter than any star.

    She hoped he was living his life well. She wished she could see him spread his wings and flourish, but fate didn''t allow it.

    And now, the boundary that separated them was too dense for her to even hope to see him soon.

    Or at least, that was her thought.

    Until the day that message came.

    A message from her adopted daughter, the one who''d received all the love she couldn''t give her son over these years.

    "Damien Void" had arrived at Void Pce.

 Chapter 1397 Void Palace [2]

    Chapter 1397 Void Pce [2]

    ??1397  Void Pce [2]

    The Southern Region was structured differently than the Veritas n''s Eastern Region.

    Void Pce was located in the southernmost principality, and it made the entire principality its home.

    The main pce was located on the southern edge of the region, bordering the Boundless Sea that separated it from all else. And unlike the Eastern Region, where everything was rtively separate, the four minor ns under Void Pce also lived in this same principality.

    They all stayed close and closed off their borders. This was where they''d made theirst retreat as they were encircled by forces from all sides.

    It was a beautiful region.

    The architectural style was mainly Western, withrge castles and estates that were beautiful in their own right.

    Where Damien appeared was inside the main pce. Here, surrounded by pitch-ck rock engraved with gold, he found himself traveling through halls upon halls filled with servants and personnel who took orders from the main n.

    It was a grandiose sight, as if he was really in the abode of a great emperor. Compared to what he expected to see, a decrepit and failing pce, this was aplete 180.

    He hadn''t seen much of the Southern Region, but if it was all like this, then half the nning he did would be for naught.

    ''It''s too early to overestimate, though. One thing I''ve heard more than anything about Void Pce is the loyalty of its people, so this situation makes sense.''

    Just because the people were loyal didn''t mean they were powerful. The situation could very well be even worse than he imagined despite the state of affairs that he was witnessing.

    Nevertheless, he kept his thoughts to himself as Yiren brought him through the halls and introduced him to the surroundings.

    Her friends had already left. ording to her, they weren''t even friends in the first ce. Rather, they were members of the four Grand Duke ns that served under the Void n, and their group had just returned from an expedition.

    ''To summarize it, Void Pce was created by Dante along with the party members he traveled with during his younger days. Unlike the other great ns, this one is a real family.''

    Void Pce had a simple structure. 1 Lord, 4 Grand Dukes, 12 Swords, 64 Elders, and several named ns under them with various positions that didn''t necessarily need to be mentioned.

    The Void n took the main position. Underneath them were the Ellowyn n, the Krone n, the Hugo n, and the Solstice n. This was the main force of the pce.

    As for the 12 Swords, they were in a prestigious position separated from the other groups. Being a part of the 12 Swords was an honor amongst honors. It was a position that could only be won through strength and achievement.

    This was the crux of Yiren''s exnation, but since she was speaking to Damien Void, who, by technicality, was Dante Void''s firstborn, she went into more detail than usual.

    "The main duty of the Grand Dukes¡­"

    "The 12 Swords are¡­"

    "When ites to Elders¡­"

    "But more so themon people¡­"

    Her rundown was quite detailed, and Damien paid close attention to everything she said. He couldn''t let these details slip his mind, because they were the most important facts for him to determine the future path of this ce.

    As they walked and talked, the number of people around them noticeably thinned until they were the only ones in a hall that was much smaller than the rest.

    It could allow around six grown men to walk side by side, and at its end was a pair ofrge double doors reminiscent of the entrance to a throne room.

    But this was no throne room.

    When they reached the door, Yiren turned around and faced Damien with a troubled expression.

    "What''s up?" He asked curiously.

    "Just¡­"

    She hesitated for a second before sighing.

    "Don''tsh out. Remember, father is a man too."

    Damien raised his brow, but shrugged without being able to decipher the meaning behind those words.

    And the doors opened.

    There were seven people standing in the rtively small hall, but Damien didn''t pay attention to most of them.

    No, his eyes went straight to one woman who was standing among them with tears in her eyes.

    He hadn''t seen her in decades.

    Last time he went to visit her, he found that she had disappeared and couldn''t be found anywhere.

    He worried about her, but with Lynn''s assurance, he put down those worries and focused on what was necessary.

    But seeing her again, all those worries came rushing back.

    Was she okay?

    He knew she was a God, but was she living well?

    He couldn''t help but worry for the woman who tirelessly tried to raise him into a proper man without the funds to do so. He couldn''t help but wonder if she was finally happy now that her responsibilities were lessened.

    He wanted to see her again and show her the man he''d be.

    He wanted to make her proud.

    And now he had that opportunity.

    "Mother¡­"

    He could barely hold back his tears. He wanted to cry, but he couldn''t cry here,

    Instead, he rushed forward. He was in front of her before anyone could say a word.

    "Damien¡­" she said, her voice breaking.

    "My son!"

    He couldn''t hold back upon hearing her voice.

    Tears fell from his eyes, and without hesitation, he hugged her with everything he had.

    "I''m here, mom."

    He didn''t know what to say, so he said the only words he could.

    "I''m finally here."

    There was a lot he wanted to say to her, there was a lot he needed to tell her and ask, but none of that came to mind now.

    Only the feeling of longing he had for the only blood family he knew in this world, his mother, who he''d been missing for so long, appeared in his heart and soul.

    ire wasn''t much different.

    A mother couldn''t help but worry about her son.

    No matter how well he was doing in life, no matter how healthy or happy he was, a mother couldn''t help but worry.

    But seeing him in front of her now, seeing his demeanor that had matured far more than she''d ever expected, she finally felt relief in her heart.

    He was safe.

    He was okay.

    Her son grew up into a fine man.

    And she was incredibly happy, to the point where words couldn''t describe it.

    The two hugged each other for many minutes. They cried and let out all the worries they''d had for all these years before finally separating.

    It was a heartfelt reunion between mother and son, but, unfortunately, they couldn''t catch up on everything right now.

    There were others in the room.

    ire put her hand up to his face, looking into his eyes with a vague expression.

    She didn''t want to say anything, but she could see it. Maybe nobody else could, but she could see it.

    Damien was a wanderer.

    He never really had a ce to call home.

    He joined several influences throughout the years for his own benefit, and he''d made many connections in those ces, but he''d never had a ce to proudly call home.

    He was a man of the wind, a man whose steps were both lighter than air and heavier than the universe.

    He may not have expressed it to anyone, but she was his mother. There was no way she wouldn''t feel it.

    There was a hole in his heart that had never been filled.

    But no more.

    She wouldn''t allow him to drift aimlessly any longer.

    Because now that she was back to her original self, she finally had the capabilities to properly be his mother.

    "Wee," she said with a smile, stepping back as Damien looked over the group who was in the room with them.

    No, that wasn''t the right way to call them.

    ire stepped back, bing a part of the crowd.

    Because she was one of them.

    They were one.

    They were family.

    And this¡­

    "Wee home, my son."

    ¡­was the home Damien had been wishing for his entire life.

 Chapter 1398 Void Palace [3]

    Chapter 1398 Void Pce [3]

    Damien had a family.

    Damien had a home.

    But these were things of his creation.

    Since the very moment his mother fell ill all those years ago, he didn''t have a ce to return to.

    He''d moved from ce to ce, even slept on the streets a few times, and eventually, he was thrown into the First Dungeon, a ce where he had no choice but to move around.

    Whether it was any of the stops he made in the Human Domain, anywhere in the Divine Realm, or anywhere in the lower universe at all, he never found a ce to truly call his home.

    Because there just wasn''t a ce that could keep up with him. He would always have to leave eventually to continue forth his ambitions, so he never got deeply attached to the influences he was a part of.

    Instead, he made connections to the people he met within them.

    And they became his home.

    The Sanctuary was created so they could always be with him, so he never lost the feeling of "home" that he dearly missed, but there was never a location that could fill the hole in his heart.

    The Sanctuary was created so they could always be with him, so he never lost the feeling of "home" that he dearly missed, but there was never a location that could fill the hole in his heart.

    He filled it himself by building a family and building a home. He was satisfied with what he had.

    But could it ever be the same as the image of a "home" in his heart?

    It couldn''t.

    This void was never brought to the forefront of his emotions, because Damien''s unrestrained personality actually gave him the qualities of a wanderer from the start.

    He quite enjoyed that life, so despite the longing he felt, he never got bogged down by the emotion.

    But it was still there.

    Perhaps ire noticed it before he did. It was always lying there in the recesses of his heart, never truly allowing him to feelplete.

    But all that would change today.

    Because ire would not allow her son to live in such a pitiful way.

    She would give him the home he deserved, as she always should have as his mother.

    "Come, Damien, let me introduce you to your family."

    She led him through the room and slowly helped him make acquaintance with everyone present.

    "Let''s start with me," she said with a smile.

    "You?" Damien echoed in surprise.

    "Mm, didn''t little Lynn tell you already? Your mother is quite the character, you know?"

    ire smiled proudly as she spoke.

    "While I was called ire Watson on Earth, my true name is ire Ellowyn, and I am the n Head of our Void Pce''s Ellowyn n."

    Damien''s eyes widened in surprise.

    ire really started off with a bang.

    While the Ellowyn n was now part of Void Pce''s 4 Grand Dukes, it had a deep history before it gained that position.

    In fact, the Ellowyn n alone had the ability to stand as one of the eight great ns. It was only a subsidiary because of Void Pce itself.

    It was an influence created by friends, and the Void n was only created after the four great ns came together.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Naturally, it took the leadership position amongst them.

    Because¡­

    "And this¡­" ire continued, walking over to another woman roughly the same age as her.

    "...is my sister, Serena Krone."

    She had long raven-ck hair and piercing red eyes that swirled mysteriously like clockwork. When ire walked over, she smiled and nodded, introducing herself.

    "I am Serena Krone, Head of the Krone n. While it is a bit embarrassing to say it myself, me and your mother are indeed sisters. It may be ufortable at first, but I sincerely hope you can eventually view me as a member of your family."

    Damien''s jaw dropped.

    That was¡­

    ''...isn''t that kind of introduction¡­''

    ''...usually given by a step-parent?!''

    Damien nced over at Yiren, who nodded as if to crush all his hopes.

    ''This is what she meant when she said that bastard is also a man.''

    "So, Dante Void is¡­"

    "But I''m also¡­"

    "This is¡­definitely something."

    Damien''s thoughts were broken for a second, and the first thing he managed to say was:

    "Let''s make things clear. First off. Who''s the first wife?"

    "Who else? Naturally, it''s this mother of yours," ire responded with the same proud look on her face.

    "..."

    ''I have to cope.''

    ''I am severely coping.''

    ''But this is reality.''

    He couldn''t escape reality.

    His father had two wives.

    He wanted to be angry, but how could he?

    It looked like ire was long aware of Serena''s existence, so obviously he didn''t cheat on her.

    And as a man with four wives of his own, how could he fault a man with multiple wives, especially when those wives seemed to get along splendidly?

    ''But still, it''s my mom¡­!''

    "Haa¡­"

    He sighed and epted it.

    From the look on ire''s face, she loved each and every person in this room.

    If his mother and father were both lovingly epting of his¡­aunt, then who was he toin?

    ''As long as mom''s happy.''

    It was all he could think without being a hypocrite.

    ''And if she''s happy, I''m not going to ruin the vibe.''

    His personal feelings could be ovee, because the happiness of those involved was all that mattered.

    "It''s a pleasure to finally meet you, Aunt."

    Damien had been thinking for a pretty long time, so the words he spoke had be anticipated by everyone present.

    However, the ones he spoke were words of eptance.

    Serena let out a sigh of relief, while ire patted her back supportively.

    Serena was definitely afraid to see how ire''s son whom she''d heard so much about would react about her. She thought she would be hated, and she''d prepared to be scolded.

    Because she also wanted everyone to be happy. She didn''t want to ruin Damien''s introduction to the family by acting like the second mother he never knew.

    His eptance not only made her relieved, but made everyone present smile.

    The family they had was built on strong bonds and loyalty. They didn''t want it to be ruined by Damien''s presence, but they couldn''t help but worry about what would happen when an outlier was forced to ept their dynamic.

    But their thoughts were wrong from the start.

    Damien was never an outsider.

    And he never nned to act like one.

    He smiled at their reactions.

    ''They were really that worried, huh?''

    He didn''t know any of their names yet, but their expressions were enough for him to tell what kind of people they were.

    ''Plus, even though I''ve been trying to ignore it, my eyes really can''t avoid seeing it.''

    Their souls were pure.

    Their true emotions that were bared to him because of his perfected All-Seeing Eyes showed him rtionships he''d only ever seen amongst the best people he''d ever met, people like Tian Yang and Malcolm who''d taught him and helped him through his younger years, and people like Long Chen and Su Ren who became his closest friends.

    "Alright," he said, pping his hands.

    "I know it''s an emotional moment, but it can wait, right? I at least want to learn everyone''s names before we start crying."

    With smiles all around and a jovial atmosphere built around them, everyone nodded together, and the introductions began.

    ''Really, theplications of a big family¡­''

    Damien smiled again. He hadn''t stopped smiling since he came here.

    ''...it really isn''t so bad.''

 Chapter 1399 Void Palace [4]

    Chapter 1399 Void Pce [4]

    Damien was soon introduced to everyone else who made up the core of Void Pce, those who would be his family from now on.

    First came Yiren Void, his adopted sister. She was the second youngest of the batch, but her seniority was above the rest because of her unique situation.

    Second was a girl named Hestia Void. She was ire''s second child, his blood-rted younger sister, and was the true youngest of the group.

    She looked just like him, with the same hair, eyes, and sharp facial features, but her personality was far removed from his. She was shy, and hardly said a word when she was introduced, but it only added to her charm.

    She had just turned twenty years old and she was already a 4th ss practitioner. As for how she reached that level, Damien had no idea.

    He only knew that the Void n''s talent was unparalleled beyond belief.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Aside from his two sisters on his mother''s side, he also had two brothers on Serena''s side.

    They were named Dominic and Darius Void. They were 150 and 100 respectively, older than Damien, but oddly enough, they didn''t act it at all.

    Rather, the second their turn came, they rushed up to him and asked him numerous questions about his adventures in the lower universe and his power, as if they were younger brothers who''d been waiting for their older brother to return from a trip overseas.

    These two were powerful, and almost at the Demigod level despite their young age. It would likely only take them a few hundred more years to reach it at their current pace.

    And while Damien expected there to be some grievance among them, he was wrong.

    None of them found his presence unwee, including his uncle and aunt, thest two people in the room, Brontus Hugo and Persia Solstice.

    Void Pce was truly a family.

    Dante married ire and Serena, while Brontus and Persia got married as well. In reality, their five ns could be considered one major n. The only reason they were kept apart was because they each had their own specialty and purpose.

    And Damien¡­he was their Young Lord without question.

    The Young Lord position had always been designated for the first son between Dante and ire. When Damien''s fate was unknown, there was talk about giving it to one of the other sons, but when his life was confirmed, the spot was returned to him.

    Yet, despite the twists and turns, there were no bitter feelings more than childish grievances among the heirs of Void Pce.

    Dominic and Darius viewed Damien as their close brother, Hestia saw him as the older brother she''d always wanted, though she was too shy to admit it, and while Yiren is more resistant towards epting him, she stopped doubting his qualifications after seeing his growth in the lower universe.

    Obviously, Damien couldn''t be close to each and every one of them in the short time he''d been here, but that was something that could be developed over time.

    Once the introductions were finished and some conversation was had, the rest of the family departed from the area so ire could have some alone time with her son.

    It was clear they had a lot to catch up on.

    They really did.

    When they were finally alone, ire practically broke down. Her tears didn''t stop streaming for a very long time, to the point where Damien couldn''t hold himself back either.

    But they eventually got into conversation. Damien was able to tell her everything, from the moment he left her in Apeiron to the moment he saw her again in the Heavenly World.

    ire was a God. She had experienced her fair share of dangers and fortune, however, hearing the stories of her son was apletely different monster.

    She almost had a heart attack hearing about smaller things like his fight against Sebastian, the butler. Her reaction when she heard about the Ancient Battlefield''s happenings could be imagined.

    She didn''t want her son doing so much dangerous stuff, but since she couldn''t do anything about it, she at least wanted him to exercise caution while doing so.

    Knowing he was doing his best to stay alive was the most she could ask for.

    Of course, Damien conveniently forgot to mention the time he actually died, but ire didn''t need to know that, did she?

    "My son¡­"

    There was a hint of sorrow in her voice.

    "...I truly apologize for not being there for you."

    She knew it wasn''t enough to apologize, but she apologized anyway. She truly regretted not being there for him, but their circumstances didn''t allow them to have the familial rtionship everyone else had.

    It made her infinitely sorrowful, but it was reality.

    "No."

    It wasn''t reality unless Damien said it was.

    "Mom, you can''t be saying things like that. To me, you are the most perfect mother I could ask for. You did everything possible to give me happiness even when you were at your lowest. Back then, I was too young to notice it, but I''m an adult now. This time, let me take care of you. Just sit back and watch as your problems solve themselves. I''ll show you what kind of man your son has grown into."

    Those were his honest feelings. He had gripes upon gripes upon gripes with his father, but there was nothing of the sort for ire.

    His mother did everything she could with what she had. Asking for more was just entitlement on his side.

    And she''d always felt guilty. If she was really a bad mother, would that feeling have any sort of ce in her heart?

    Damien didn''t want her to feel it anymore. He wanted her to see him thrive and realize how great she did as a mother.

    He wanted her to have peace and happiness for the rest of her life.

    For that, he was prepared to do anything.

    "Damien¡­"

    The tears started again.

    She was proud beyond belief. She truly couldn''t find a way to express it properly.

    Damien knew that as well, and he didn''t need her to say anything.

    Rather¡­

    "Mom, remember how I introduced you to some peoplest time we met?"

    ire''s expression suddenly brightened.

    "Ah! That girl Rose and our little Elena, right? Of course I remember them. Don''t tell me¡­"

    She remembered his strange reaction from a while back.

    And Damien nodded as if to confirm her thoughts.

    "There are a few more introductions to be made."

    He wanted to make his mother happy.

    Wasn''t the best way to do it by introducing her to her daughters-inw?

    He made sure to tell the girls about this meeting a bit back, and they''d been rushing to prepare themselves in the Sanctuary since then.

    They dropped everything they were doing, from training to executive duties, and prepared their appearances and hearts.

    And the time came.

    Four women appeared behind Damien, each with their own unique charm and appearance.

    Yet, the one thing they had inmon was how they awkwardly squirmed as they struggled topose themselves for this meeting with the parents that happened without nearly enough prior notice.

    ire looked at each of them individually before ncing back at Damien.

    And the look in her eyes¡­

    Well, what came next was definitely a spectacle.

 Chapter 1400 Void Palace [5]

    Chapter 1400 Void Pce [5]

    What happened when ire firstid her eyes on Damien''s wives?

    Well, obviously, she shot him a re beyond res, something that terrified him to the core.

    As for what happened after¡­?

    ''Well, even I want to know.''

    Unfortunately, Damien was kicked out of the room almost instantly so the women could talk to each other.

    He could only hope his mother would be epting, but he wasn''t too worried.

    After all, she was his mother.

    She would definitely be snarky about it and judge him silently, but she wasn''t an unreasonable person. If their happiness was real, she wouldn''t cause too much of a fuss.

    Plus, she had the same problem as Damien!

    If she was too against his harem, it would only make her a hypocrite as someone who allowed her husband to have a second wife!

    They were both put in awkward positions by the choices they made in the past, but since neither of them regretted those choices, they were stuck forced to be happy for each other.

    It was a bitedic to say the least.

    Personally, Damien didn''t mind the situation much. He and his mother were alike in many ways, so he was well aware of how she''d react.

    Because of that, he didn''t need to worry about anything, because if she was going to act the same way he would, everything would end up okay.

    Nevertheless, ire needed her alone time with his women for many reasons.

    She was probably going to vet them by her standards for about five minutes before realizing how great Damien''s taste in women was. The rest of the time would likely be spent getting to know them.

    Next time they saw each other, she would probably be their greatest supporter.

    ''Or at least, that''s how I see her reacting.''

    Damien made his predictions as he walked the halls of the main pce.

    It was arge ce. It was easy to get lost, especially because it wasn''t apletely "real" structure.

    The main pce was actually disjointed in many ces. A lot of facilities had no connection point between each other and a lot of others were quite literally impossible to enter by normal means.

    That was because Void Pce existed in a spatial pocket that was intertwined with the real ne.

    Every part of the pce was separated by several naryers. The spatial practitioners that thrived in Void Pce made full use of this nuance to create a ce that only they could freely travel through.

    If one didn''t know how to properly walk between the naryers, one would find themselvespletely disoriented or maybe even dying in the void of space somewhere.

    But it wasn''t as if everyone living in the pce needed to know aplex and urate code that allowed them to move between spaces.

    Since they were residents, there were special provisions in ce to aid them.

    However, an outsider could never raid the main pce and seed.

    ''This is part of the reason we''ve been able to stay untouched for so long. They''ve tried in the past, but they''ve always failed. At this point, raiding the pce has basically been stigmatized too much for anyone to attempt it.''

    Because of that, rather than attacking Void Pce itself, they attacked the surrounding territories so they could encroach upon the pce''s influence and slowly break them down.

    ''Reunions are nice, and family is nicer, however, these are things I can''t enjoy right now.''

    Damien felt it. He very much felt the atmosphere of love and generosity that existed around him. He could tell that everyone here was weing him, and he couldn''t help but want to sit back and enjoy the pleasantries a "home" provided him.

    But he couldn''t. If he wanted to enjoy everything he''d gained today, he would first have to protect it and make sure nothing could ever take it away from him.

    ''I don''t want to trouble Mom, and meeting Serena right now would probably be awkward, so¡­''

    He could either go to the Hugo n, Solstice n, or one of the 12 Swords for information.

    ''The 12 Swords¡­''

    He''d only heard of them. They were some of the strongest masters in the entirety of the Heavenly World, and they werepletely loyal to the Void Pce that raised them.

    ''However, they''re like battle machines.''

    It wasn''t that they didn''t have personality, but if Damien wanted something from them, he''d probably have to prove himself and go through a lot of trouble.

    ''If I want to avoid that, then Brontus is probably the way to go.''

    He was an open-minded and carefree guy from what Damien could tell, making him the best bet at free and easy information.

    ''Alright.''

    Damien didn''t know where the Hugo n was, but he didn''t think it would be hard to find it.

    The only issue was his position.

    ''ording to what mom said, my position is a little vague right now.''

    Damien Void, firstborn son of Dante Void, hadn''t been introduced to the pce officially yet in fear of what external influences would do upon learning of his existence, but most of the important individuals already knew he was here.

    The problem was that his position was unofficial.

    He wasn''t necessarily epted as the Young Lord in every part of the pce, and there were definitely people plotting against him in the dark.

    On top of that, the actual power he couldmand within Void Pce wasn''t much at all.

    ''It''s basically a puppet position, a shell without anything inside.''

    Damien made his way through the pce, easily discerning the nar movements he needed to do so as he looked for the Hugo n''s residence.

    ''But that''s fine too.''

    He wasn''t here alone.

    No, he didn''t just bring his wives or his friends or hispatriots.

    He didn''t just bring a force or an army.

    He brought an entire universe with him to the Heavenly World. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    And for the past who knows how many years, he''d been using that universe to raise an army that was loyal only to him.

    ''They haven''t had much to do until now.''

    They participated a bit in the lower universe''s war, but it was just a yground for them to test some of their skills.

    They''d never truly operated as an army before.

    And more than anything¡­

    ''...Void Pce doesn''t have its own army. It has a lot of disjointedbat units, but nothing like a structured army for real wars.''

    They never needed it. The small number of elites they used was always better than an army of weaker beings in the battles they fought.

    ''But no longer.''

    It wouldn''t remain that way under Damien''s control.

    ''Because now that I''m here, we''re not going to y passive anymore.''

    They were going to take everything back from those who thought it was funny to steal from them.

    And they were going to take everything those people held dear as well.

    ''Once our two armies arebined, once I can control the pce properly, once we take care of all the internal problems preventing us from acting at our full capacity¡­''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''...I''ll let the Heavenly World remember why they fear our pce.''

 Chapter 1401 Void Palace [6]

    Chapter 1401 Void Pce [6]

    The 4 Grand Duke ns of Void Pce also lived in the main pce¡­to an extent.

    They had branches in the main pce that had direct nar connections to their main residences that were further out in the Brightmoon Principality where Void Pce was.

    But in reality, they weren''t really branches. They were just parts of the Grand Duke Estates that had been separated from their main residences by discement phenomena, but really still existed in the main residences.

    It wasplicated because space was twisted in a way that reality didn''t seem to allow, but this was what could be achieved when so many spatial practitioners were brought together and given an environment where they could thrive.

    Anyway, Damien made it to the Hugo n''s branch rtively easily. He thought he''d have to find the main residence after doing so, but outside his expectations, Brontus was already there, as if waiting for him to arrive.

    "I knew you woulde find me," he said, confirming Damien''s suspicions.

    "You knew?" Damien echoed.

    "Of course! Naturally, you don''t want to involve your mother in the serious affairs. I can imagine what the rtionship between you and Serena is right now. As for my wife, she can be a bit¡­troublesome to people who don''t know her, but you''ll eventuallye to understand her kindness."

    "I can understand what you''re looking for, and if you want someone to provide it, our Hugo n is exactly the ce to go. You might not know it yet, but we generally take care of the military matters within the pce."

    "I see," Damien responded with a nod.

    "Then you are indeed who I need to look for right now."

    Brontus smiled.

    "Come with me. Let''s find a private ce to talk, and I''ll answer all your questions."

    He led Damien to a room not too far away. It looked like any other in the building, but when they entered, Damien clearly felt them separating from the Real ne.

    "Interesting. To need this many protection arrays and silence arrays even after entering an alternate space¡­I guess you guys don''t skimp on security."

    "We don''t have a choice," Brontus responded.

    "There exist many powerful figures in this world that you cannot imagine. They can peer through the very fabric of reality and see whatever they wish to see, so even if we believe we are safe, we need to make it absolutely certain."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien frowned.

    He didn''t think something like the fabric of reality would be so easy to pierce, but perhaps that was another thing he didn''t know because of his fresh entrance to this world.

    ''Five years isn''t anywhere near enough time to learn about a ce so massive. And¡­as I expected, the realm of Godhood is a vast expanse unlike anything I''ve seen before.''

    It was an interesting tidbit for Damien that confirmed a lot of the thoughts he had. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "But that''s not what you''re here for, no?"

    Brontus pinpointed the exact ce his thoughts went next.

    "Yeah. I can learn more about the world as I live in it. What I need now is everything about Void Pce''s internal and external situation."

    "Internal and external?"

    Brontus'' eyes widened.

    He looked deep into the eyes of the man across the table from him, and that''s when he saw it.

    His heart raced uncontrobly.

    He had high hopes for Damien. Not only because he was the son Dante went through so much trouble to raise, but because he''d heard a lot about Damien''s exploits in the lower universe and the Heavenly World.

    It was quite expensive to purchase information from the Sapientia n, but this knowledge came to him for free.

    Why?

    He could only assume Damien did something to earn their favor. Otherwise, even Void Pce with their status and rtionship would have to pay a hefty sum for anything of the sort.

    When Brontus saw Damien after hearing the stories that seemed to be unbelievably exaggerated, he realized that the man wasn''t someone born to disappear in the annals of time.

    The spirit he saw from Damien was something only an emperor could possess. That aura, that gait, was exactly the reason Dante took the Lord position of Void Pce when it was created.

    Only he had it. The rest of them simply couldn''tpare.

    What did Dante do with that spirit?

    He created an influence that nobody in the world could ever touch.

    Yet, he disappeared when they needed him most, and by some twisting of fate, his estranged son arrived as if to fill in the void he left.

    With the same spirit and the same determination, he had arrived.

    And the first thing he did was ask a simple question.

    What was holding Void Pce back?

    ''His n¡­''

    Brontus could already picture it.

    ''He wants to take Void Pce to unimaginable heights.''

    To a ce only Dante had ever glimpsed.

    And Brontus, as a man who''d followed Dante for millions of years¡­

    "Huu¡­"

    He took a deep breath.

    "How far do you n to go?"

    It was important to ask the man himself.

    "How far?" Damien echoed, as if he was mocking the gall of such a question.

    "I don''t ever n to stop. Not until Void Pce stands true again."

    Not until they returned to their position above even the eight great ns.

    Brontus grinned.

    "I like your ambition."

    "I hope you can match it."

    "Match it? I''m afraid it''s already toote for that."

    He reached into a nearby bookcase, and pulled out a single book. It looked only around a thousand pages long, but when he opened it, it expanded into a massivependium filled with knowledge.

    "This is what you''re looking for," Brontus continued as he flipped through it.

    "n structure, members, internal and external rtionships, usable forces, finances, notable history and happenings, everything you could wish for is here. It is my wife''s proudest work, the true written Legend of Void Pce."

    Damien looked down at the book with genuine shock stering his face.

    "Did you just say¡­written Legend?"

    "That''s right. It''s exactly what you''re thinking."

    "Fucking hell¡­"

    Damien cursed unwittingly. He genuinely couldn''t believe something like that existed.

    Legends existed everywhere. They were the Heavens way of documenting all things. They were the ethereal form of the system, the Apeiron Records, which took them and made them visible for people.

    Void Pce had a record, a Legend, just like all other things.

    And somehow, Persia Solstice managed to recreate something only the elusive Apeiron Records had ever managed to do.

    She had made a Legend tangible.

    Damien had high expectations for Void Pce, but this was beyond his wildest dreams.

    ''If it''s at this level, then maybe "that" will also be possible.''

    He made plenty of realistic ns to raise Void Pce, but he also had some ambitions he thought they''d never be able to aplish simply due to the realm of possibility that reality caged them in.

    Until now, he and his wives were the only ones he knew who were trying to escape those bounds.

    But this changed everything.

    Void Pce was already on the same wavelength since long ago.

    Which meant¡­

    "Hahahaha¡­"

    He couldn''t help butugh.

    "This¡­"

    He had to change his ns a bit.

    ''This is going to be a lot of fun.''

 Chapter 1402 Void Palace [7]

    Chapter 1402 Void Pce [7]

    Damien and Brontus didn''t have a long conversation.

    Since Damien received what he wanted and Brontus wasn''t so free as to spend great amounts of time following his activities, the two separated not long after their meeting.

    Brontus returned to his n, where he went to meet Persia, while Damien once again found himself aimlessly wandering through the pce.

    At least, for another half an hour or so.

    "...ord!"

    "...ng Lord!"

    "Young Lord!"

    "Hm?"

    The voice of a young maid brought him out of his thoughts.

    He''d been detailing his ns after learning everything he needed to know, so he somewhat drowned out the real world for a bit.

    The maid was standing not far from him, but he didn''t notice her at all.

    It was clear she''d been trying to find him for a while now from the way she was panting with her hands on her knees.

    "Did you need something from me?" Damien asked.

    "How could I ever?" The maid hurriedly replied back.

    "The Madam has tasked me with leading you to your residence. Please allow me to show you the way."

    "My residence¡­?"

    Damien didn''t really think about it, but it seemed there was a ce waiting for him in the pce.

    It was convenient. To have a ce all to himself, a home of his own, would make a lot of things easier.

    He never really considered where he''d sleep or how he''d fit into the Void Pce structure, but since it was already sorted out by his mother, his mind was set at ease.

    "Very well, let''s go."

    The maid bowed upon receiving his confirmation and led him through the halls of the pce, with purpose this time.

    They went through several nar leaps and discements, leaving the area of the main pce Damien had already explored. They went past the room where Damien first met his mother and the rest, which was thoroughly sealed still, and eventually reached an area where the path split into only two ways.

    "It''s this way, Young Lord," the maid said, taking him through the path on the left.

    "What''s through the other hall?" Damien asked curiously.

    "That''s¡­" the maid hesitated for a second. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "The Lord''s residence."

    "Ah¡­"

    Damien nced that way.

    It was Dante''s abode. The ce where his father spent many years of his life and the ce where his most important things would be.

    ''I need to go there eventually, but not now.''

    Now wasn''t the time to focus on Dante, who wasn''t here.

    Now, he needed to keep onto Void Pce in mind.

    ''Problems with the armies, problems with the elders, problems with outside influences, problems with the 12 Swords¡­''

    There was a lot to solve. It would take a lot of time and effort, but Damien already had a game n to get it all done within a few years.

    ''Luckily, these kinds of problems solve each other. As long as I deal with them in the right order, theter ones will be so easy to fix that they won''t even be worth mentioning anymore.''

    Damien nodded to himself.

    ''That should be alright. Then, firstly¨C''

    "Young Lord, we have arrived."

    Damien nced up.

    "Oh?"

    He was expecting just a luxurious room and some space in the pce as would usually be given to a Young Lord, but he was wrong.

    First of all, he and the maid were outside, not in the main pce anymore.

    Second of all, this ce was practically an estate of its own, with several hundreds of thousands of kilometers ofnd surrounding the mansion-like residence.

    And third of all, the ce was already packed with people. Servants, chefs, guards, and anyone else relevant for the upkeep of an estate of this level was already provided, as if they''d been living here waiting for Damien''s arrival for years.

    Damien thanked the maid and dismissed her before sending his awareness through thend.

    "This is the ce, huh¡­"

    He grinned, pleasantly surprised.

    "It''s way more than I could''ve asked for, but I''m not one toin about free stuff."

    This was a good starting point.

    ''I''ll settle in here andy low for a while. When the time is right¡­''

    Damien''s eyes glinted with a strange light.

    There were snakes in the grass, slithering and lurking. They wouldn''te out if he kept moving around, since they didn''t have much power on their own, but the second he dropped his guard, they''d pounce together and bring him down.

    Before they could make any moves, he would ughter them all.

    And for that purpose, he would wait.

    ***

    "We need to act now. There is no more time to sit on the sidelines and pretend."

    "But how?! We do not have any power, nor have we been epted by anyone else! We are doomed. We made the wrong choice. Just ept it."

    "Why are you panicking? Does the appearance of a single Young Lord truly make you feel such fear?"

    "It''s not about the Young Lord! Didn''t you hear it yourself? The Sapientia n denied us information on him! That either means he is someone they''re protecting, or his information is worth a price we cannot handle!"

    "And what? He is the Young Lord of Void Pce. We always knew we were fighting an impossible fight, but we decided to fight it anyway. All of us have our own greed and reasons, but we havee together for this purpose, so it is already toote to do anything else. We must see this through to the end, or the only end for us is a dishonorable death."

    There were many of them, 16 to be specific.

    Sixteen people who''d been working together for the past few dozens of millennia.

    They were under Void Pce, but they were not loyal. No, they''d been slowly selling out their benefactors to the enemy for personal profit.

    Their reasons didn''t need to be exined, nor did their actions for the past few millennia. In reality, none of them had the capability to do what they wished to do, but they didn''t realize that until now.

    Because in the past, they''d been supported by the Divine Order. The neighboring influence aided their ns in return for their help in taking down Void Pce from the inside.

    The appearance of the so-called Young Lord ruined everything for them.

    Void Pce was a turtle hiding in its shell until now. Without Dante, the rest of them didn''t make any special moves or try too hard to be involved in the outside world.

    This allowed others to take advantage of them and slowly disperse their influence.

    However, if the rumors about the new Young Lord''s appearance were true, Void Pce would gain a head.

    With a head, Void Pce would be able to thrive.

    The Divine Order was just as aware of that as others, if not more.

    Therefore, they gave an order to their people on the inside.

    "Find a way to kill the Young Lord. Otherwise, we will withdraw our support."

    The Divine Order was taking a more passive stance until they knew what the new and mysterious character they were dealing with was like.

    And for that purpose, they''d abandoned the 16 Elders they''d been working with until now.

    "So we have no choice."

    The one who spoke was called Rufus medark. He was the head of this coalition of Elders, the one who spoke for the rest.

    "We must kill the Young Lord. If we do not try, we die. If we confess, we die. If we fail, we die."

    They would die if they seeded too, but he didn''t need to mention it.

    The Divine Order was theirst hope.

    If they could be pulled out after they aplished the task, they''d live.

    It was barely enough to be called a hope. It was really just a way for them to convince themselves they had hope.

    But regardless, they had to hold it.

    Because it was all they had left.

    They felt regret, they felt despair, and they felt rage.

    They could me nobody but themselves for their current predicament.

    So just as they entered this bullshit coup on their own terms, they would die the same way.

    They would aplish something.

    They would kill the Young Lord.

 Chapter 1403 Void Palace [8]

    Chapter 1403 Void Pce [8]

    For the next three weeks, Damien secluded himself in his estate.

    It was the first thing he did openly aftering to Void Pce, which confused everyone.

    The servants in his residence were disallowed from leaving. His wives came over after a day, and other than them, only his mother could enter and exit the area as she pleased.

    Everyone else was barred at the gate. Whether it be Serena, his sisters, his aunt and uncle, or anyone else. It didn''t matter what their position was nor did it matter how close they were to him.

    For now, they couldn''t see him.

    It started many rumors around the pce.

    What was the new Young Lord doing?

    This disconnected stance made it seem like he didn''t want to be a part of Void Pce. It looked like the only one he cared for was his own mother, while everyone else was insignificant in his eyes.

    The negative rumors circted and got blown out of context rapidly, and Damien''s reputation began to fall.

    But the positive rumors circted as well. Some said he was being conscious of his position, while others believed he just needed time to adapt.

    Since he''d only been around for a day before he secluded himself, nobody was able to make an urate judgement on the "why" of the whole situation. They could only observe and try to figure it out for themselves.

    Unfortunately, Damien was a cautious person. From the moment he arrived, heavy protections covered the entire estate. Perception of its internal situation by any means was impossible even to Gods, making it clear that ire had helped him set it up.

    People could only assume something was taking ce in the estate that he didn''t want people to see.

    And that part was the only thing they got right about the whole situation.

    For thest three weeks, Damien had been focusing on one task and one task alone.

    He was bringing his armies into Void Pce.

    "How''s it going?"

    "We''re mostly done. The avable force isn''t extremely useful right now, but we can train them into a better position with this environment."

    The one he spoke to was Elvira, not Lynn.

    Lynn remained in the Sanctuary, taking care of the executive duties with Luciel.

    Meanwhile, Elvira had a more flexible role. While she was also part of the main ruling force, she had a lot more influence in the military than the other two, and her experience as an Empress allowed her to lead them properly.

    She was also one of the few Demigods who''d been raised in the Sanctuary.

    Along with the rest of the Emperors Damien met in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, she''de to the Heavenly World to serve under Damien as one of his generals.

    "Since we didn''t really know the way forward, there are a lot of people waiting at the cusp of Divinity without trying to ascend. Your women are among them. Since we now have both knowledge and environment, we should be able to raise Demigods within a few months if we have the opportunity."

    "Good," Damien responded.

    He was looking out at thend he now owned.

    It was filled with millions upon millions of troops, perhaps even billions. The weakest of them was at the entry-level of 4th ss, while the strongest were Demigods.

    There were other areas where those with weaker strength were training, but they weren''t counted as part of the army that could be mobilized.

    Rather, they were talents brought to the estate to make full use of the Heavenly World''s environment to boost their talent and potential.

    ''With our guidance, most of these people should be able to breeze through the 4th ss. Entering Divinity is a different matter, though.''

    There were too many Demigods in the Heavenly World for them to even be mentioned, but that didn''t mean the people here had managed to streamline the process.

    Each and every one of those Demigods had to experience Cosmic Rebirth and define their Divinity personally. They couldn''t use another person''s experience for this purpose.

    ''Luckily, the armies are still mostly made up of 4th ss soldiers.''

    It was part of the information Damien received from Persia''s Compendium.

    In the Heavenly World, practitioners in the nine revolutions were used asmon foot soldiers. Demigods would usually fight on a separate battlefield.

    ''Raising them to that level isn''t a problem, but we still aren''t ready for confrontation.''

    It was a shame, but it was something that could be fixed. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    To go against influences with an unreal number of Divinities supporting them, he needed to gain an unreal number of Demigods.

    ''Some of them can be raised from this group, but the majority will be taken from Void Pce itself.''

    Damien was not forming a personal army right now. He was preparing his army to integrate with Void Pce and form aprehensive group that surpassed any other.

    ''If there''s one thing I''m confident in, it''s their talent. I don''t doubt that these people who were raised by the Void Library can reach Divinity as long as I give them the chance.''

    So eventually, they would be what he wanted them to be.

    "Keep taking care of organizing. Make sure to let me know when you see someone ready to ascend. I''ll take care of it from there."

    "Mm, I''ll do as you say."

    Elvira nodded and excused herself, returning to her duties.

    Meanwhile, Damien returned to his mansion.

    ''The army situation can be sorted out with time, but the other things need to be handled concurrently.''

    He couldn''t rely on this army to help him with his current problems.

    Instead, he would raise them while dealing with them.

    ''The first thing is the Elders.''

    They weren''t all Demigods, but the Gods among them were smarter than to try anything so stupid.

    Those who''d switched sides were expendable. They knew they were expendable, so they decided to act on their greed.

    ''But that was the wrong choice.''

    Void Pce was a family. They didn''t treat people as tools or pawns even if that was the only thing they were useful for.

    However, were other influences the same?

    The Divine Order was especially cruel to its pawns.

    Damien couldn''t understand why they chose betrayal in the first ce. The situation looked bad, but Void Pce was still a great n that wouldn''t easily fall.

    Nevertheless, traitorous people were never meant to be understood or humanized. Not in a situation like this one.

    So he didn''t even bother trying to discern their intentions.

    ''Around this time, those Elders are probably getting desperate.''

    Damien wasn''t as kind as the rest of his family. He wouldn''t have lived this long if he was a generous soul.

    They let the problem fester because of old feelings, but he didn''t have any of those feelings from the start.

    ''I''ll get rid of the filth that was left to its own devices.''

    And from there, he would make his agenda known to the entire pce, so they could understand the path they would be treading in the future.

    ''They should being soon.''

    He already set up the stage.

    He already gave them the justification.

    Now, all he needed to do was wait for them to strike.

    So he could exterminate them in one fell swoop.

 Chapter 1404 Recruitment [1]

    Chapter 1404 Recruitment [1]

    ??It only took a few more days for the Elders to get restless.

    With Damien cooped up in his residence, they were running out of options.

    The Divine Order gave them one month to carry out the assassination. If it wasn''t done by then, they would expose everything the Elders had done to Void Pce and allow them to decide their fates.

    Little did they know that Void Pce was already aware.

    Persia''s Compendium was always evolving. It was a written record of Void Pce''s Legend, so as events took ce, it would also be longer to document them.

    Those like ire and the rest had long since known about the Elders'' betrayal, but they didn''t do anything about it.

    Why?

    There were two reasons.

    Firstly was a bit of innocent hope. They wanted to think the Elders would eventually turn back to the light side and see their wrongdoings. The group hadn''t done anything extremely damaging to the pce yet, so they were still worth forgiving.

    Unfortunately, no matter how much time passed, those Elders didn''t learn. They got bolder and bolder as they were ignored, and as greed blinded their vision, the thought that betrayal was wrongpletely slipped their minds.

    They only realized recently the stupidity of their decisions, however, their view of Void Pce had be so clouded by their own negativity that they didn''t even think they could be forgiven. They only saw death on the other side of submission.

    None of the high authorities of Void Pce were soft characters. They wouldn''t allow feelings to ruin them. But they still had positive emotions. For their own people, they still wanted to leave a little bit of leeway.

    It was stupid, sure, but it was human, so Damien didn''t criticize them too much.

    Because the second reason was more logical.

    Void Pce''s Legend.

    It needed to grow.

    They were being encroached on all sides by the enemy and they couldn''t make any grand movements.

    It was mainly because Dante was gone, but that wasn''t the only reason.

    They had power. They could go to war with the surrounding influences if they wanted to, but if they did, they''d suffer losses that would leave them open to the ones waiting in the dark.

    Dante was the deterrent for those people. His strength made them hesitate, so even if the pce was weakened, they wouldn''t act.

    Dante''s strength couldn''t be fathomed, but he wasn''t the only character like that in the cosmos. There were several people stronger than ire and the other Grand Dukes in the enemy ns.

    If they tried to wage war recklessly and died or got critically injured, the pce would truly lose all the backing that kept people fearing them.

    Their current stance was for the best.

    People assumed Void Pce was weak but couldn''t confirm it. The fact that information about them couldn''t spread, even with traitors in their midst, meant they had something to rely on.

    This way, people didn''t attack the pce, which gave them the chance to conserve their strength and wait for the moment they could fight back.

    Void Pce was currently in stasis. It was a state perfect for Damien''s interference.

    And so, when he secluded himself with the knowledge of both the Elders'' betrayal and the ultimatum they''d been presented, he did so with this moment in mind.

    They couldn''t wait for him to leave the Young Lord''s Estate.

    They couldn''t be mindful of the risks of trying to infiltrate a ce like that.

    They had to kill him, and they had to do it soon.

    Because if there was one thing they were certain of, it was the fact that their deaths at the hands of Void Pce would be less torturous than the ones they''d received from the Divine Order.

    So they moved.

    A group of 16 Demigod Elders moved together and infiltrated the estate.

    Oddly enough, the defenses they''d heard so much about were practically paper thin under their power.

    "Remember, we have to be fast and quiet. If we aplish this, we will go down in history, but if we fail¡­"

    Rufus didn''t need to say more. They all knew it well.

    But they''d done sufficient research beforeing here.

    The servants in the Young Lord''s Estate weren''t too powerful, and from the silence around them, it was clear that there wasn''t anyone important present.

    When they let their awareness loose, they found some guards patrolling the area, but the number wasn''t nearly enough to stop their entrance into the estate.

    As for the servants, they were fast asleep, along with the Young Lord, whose presence could be felt on the third floor in his room.

    "Move out."

    Rufus gave the order, and the sixteen of them turned into shadows that prowled in the dark.

    Ten of them, including Rufus, rushed to the third floor to target the Young Lord. As for the other six, they encircled the residence and took down the guards who could alert anyone if things went wrong.

    The n was going perfectly. They had to assassinate a few civilians on the way to the target, but that was nothing.

    Their presence was still hidden.

    "Is everything clear?"

    Rufus sent a mental transmission to his people outside.

    "Clear."

    A one-word answer. The guards were down.

    "Good. We''re moving in."

    He was already in front of the Young Lord''s room. With clearance received, he phased through the wall with his team and quietly approached the bed.

    There he was, sleeping. A man with pale white skin and a body built forbat. He looked oddly peaceful in his sleep, but his death would be anything but.

    He drew a dagger from his spatial ring. It was coated in a glistening purple liquid, obviously poison.

    ''Quick and easy. He may be a Demigod, but even he won''t be able to survive this.''

    The poison was provided by the Divine Order. It would directly target body, soul, and Divinity in one go, and corrupt them all together. If one was struck by this poison, one wouldn''t be able to even think about healing unless they possessed the Holy Power of the Divine Order.

    That is, if they evensted more than a few seconds under the poison''s corrosion.

    Rufus wouldn''t allow any interference in his work. Without hesitation, he stabbed into the chest of the sleeping man and watched as his skin instantly turned a disgusting shade of ck and blue.

    The shade spread and soon enveloped his whole body, and as the skin began to crack and wither¡­

    ¡­he opened his eyes.

    "Having fun, are we?"

    "...!"

    Rufus dashed backward on instinct.

    Every sense in his body was altering him of danger.

    The Young Lord who should''ve been poisoned and dying sat up, ncing at his withering body, and clicked his tongue.

    "Tsk. How annoying. After all that suspense, this is all you amount to?"

    He turned his eyes to Rufus.

    And Rufus turned his eyes to him.

    ''I can''t escape.''

    He already tried.

    He could no longer phase through the walls.

    He already tried.

    The walls wouldn''t break if he attacked them, and the door to the room disappeared as if it never existed.

    ''I can''t¨C''

    Not "he" but "they."

    When he nced at his surroundings, he suddenly realized that all sixteen of them were in the room now.

    As if they''d never separated in the first ce.

    It was already over for them.

    From the moment they stepped into the residence, they were dead.

    But only now did they realize it.

 Chapter 1405 Recruitment [2]

    Chapter 1405 Recruitment [2]

    ??The sun rose behind Void Pce, alighting a new day.

    One might wonder how a sun and moon cycle worked in such a massive world, and the answer was both simple andplicated at the same time.

    To put it simply, there were multiple sun and moon cycles in the Heavenly World.

    Each cardinal region had multiple suns and moons that created their cycles. One could simply pass from one principality to the next and find day and nightpletely switching.

    These suns and moons didn''t orbit, of course. They weren''t even true celestial bodies. They were manifestations ofw that existed because of the natural state of the world. They would set and rise so naturally that nobody would ever question it, but in reality, they were akin to illusion.

    It was just a matter of day and night. For the most part, it only really affected themon people.

    Time remained constant, because practitioners didn''t use the sun and moon to consider time. The Heavenly Order itself was the measure of time. Thews in the atmosphere would gradually grow and change, and that very change on a scale only a practitioner could ever realize was the true decider of time.

    Nevertheless, the Brightmoon Principality had quite arge sun and moon pair, so it had one cycle that epassed the whole ce.

    It wasn''t a matter of nature, but a man-made convenience.

    The Young Lord''s Estate was particrly calm today. The servants went about their duties as usual, the guards did the same, with none missing from their patrol structure.

    The mansion was peaceful, as were the fields outside filled with the sounds of training troops.

    Damien casually sat in his room, reading through Persia''s Compendium without a care in his mind.

    For the next few days, he had time to rx, since the next part didn''t need his interference.

    Even the soldiers were taking some minor breaks in recent days, absorbing everything they''d learned in the past month.

    It wasn''t the Young Lord''s Estate that was in a ruckus right now.

    Instead, it was everywhere else in the Brightmoon Principality.

    They were standing outside the main pce for all to see.

    Sixteen stakes with sixteen heads impaled on them. Their eyes had been carved out, noses torn and tattered, and their mouths filled with blood in the stead of teeth.

    Behind them was a stele made of pure obsidian, with words etched on its surface in blood.

    [Here stand the heads of our traitors. Let them be a message to those who stand against Our Pce. Blood for blood, soul for soul. From the corpses of our enemies, Void Pce will rise.]

    News spread instantaneously.

    The entire Brightmoon Principality, the entirety of Void Pce, was aware of the crimesmitted by those traitors within a day.

    They sold information to the enemy, led allies to their deaths, embezzled themon people''s money, and contributed to ns to dismantle and destroy the pce.

    Their names were smeared, their influence was torn down, and they were left as scum in the eyes and hearts of all people.

    It happened so fast that it couldn''t be natural.

    Naturally, that was because it wasn''t.

    This wasn''t any ordinary execution.

    This was a deration of war.

    This was the moment Void Pce dered its intention to rise.

    The news would spread past the borders. It would be known to those who it concerned. The moment it did¡­

    ¡­chaos would envelop the Heavenly World.

    It was a grand event, the most monumental thing that had happened to Void Pce in several thousands of years.

    And it had been done without the knowledge of anyone in the pce.

    ***

    "Brother, what do you think about this?"

    Two men stood together. They were shirtless and covered in sweat, their swords down as they''d just finished a spar.

    They were Dominic and Darius Void, Damien''s two half-brothers.

    "What do you mean? Are you talking about what our First did today?" Dominic responded, wiping the sweat off his brow.

    "What else? The pce has been chaotic for the past few days. I can hardly walk around without running into someone who''s talking about it!" Darius eximed.

    "And what about it?"

    Dominic seemed rather unconcerned, but Darius knew his brother better than that.

    "What are you nning to do?"

    Dominic nced over, his expression unreadable.

    He knew what Darius wanted.

    There was no way he wouldn''t know.

    Their First Brother who they''d just met once and never saw again.

    They''d been raised their entire lives in his shadow.

    He was the one born for the Young Lord position. They were people without real status from birth, despite their talent and ability.

    But they didn''t mind it. From what they''d heard about their First Brother, he was far more worthy of the position than either of them. They didn''t feel the need topete against them, and instead used their freedom from responsibility to grow as they pleased.

    However, when they met him, he didn''t seem like everything they''d heard.

    They couldn''t see his aura, which was odd, but his gait wasn''t like someone who''d lived as an expert.

    So how was he going to do the job he was born for?

    The decision they made was to observe before they acted. It was a lesson their mother ingrained in them since young.

    And while they were starting to get disappointed with his inaction, the second he moved, he caused a storm.

    "Void Pce is not ready for war right now, let alone our brother who just showed up and took up his position. There''s no way this is a good decision right now."

    Dominic didn''t say anything, but he agreed to an extent.

    He didn''t think it was the time to act either.

    But he also knew how timid Darius could be. He was powerful and he was domineering, but he had a tendency to be overly cautious about everything.

    If his "overcautiousness" was manifesting like this¡­

    "Have you seen this?"

    Dominic finally spoke, withdrawing a piece of paper from his spatial ring.

    "This is¡­"

    Darius grabbed it and read the words written on it.

    "...a recruitment notice?"

    "Yes, it''s a recruitment notice," Dominic confirmed.

    "These have been spread across the entire territory over thest three days. From the poorest beggars to the wealthiest consortiums, everyone knows the news already."

    Darius didn''t know because he''d been cooped up in training. Even the news he knew came from rumors around the main pce that he heard in passing.

    Therefore, he didn''t know everything Dominic knew.

    "The distribution method is unknown, but from what I can guess, this is First Brother''s doing. Recruiting at this juncture, when the territory''s been riled up by the previous event, means he probably has ns for the future as well."

    ''It may seem reckless, but I cannot see it as such. Our First Brother¡­he is not the man he appears to be.''

    It wasn''t an insult, it was the truth. There was more to Damien Void than the eye could see.

    And Dominic wasn''t resigned to staying in the dark.

    "Darius, let''s go to the recruitment."

    "What do you n to do?"

    "Nothing much¡­"

    A strange glint appeared in Dominic''s eyes.

    "I just wish to see how amazing our brother truly is."

 Chapter 1406 Recruitment [3]

    Chapter 1406 Recruitment [3]

    ''It''s not bad, but it''s not where I want it to be either.''

    That was Damien''s conclusion after the past few days of meetings.

    Only the first one was truly important.

    After pulling a stunt like what he did with the traitorous Elders, there was no way he could continue on the same course without consulting the higher-ups of the pce.

    On the day the impaled heads were revealed, Damien called a meeting with not only his mother and the other Grand Dukes, but also the 12 Swords.

    The topic was easy to guess.

    "Void Pce will begin preparing for war from today onward."

    That was what Damien said to them. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I have prepared to seal the border so news of what''s happening here won''t get out for at least a month. In that time, I will raise an army that can stand against anyone else in the world."

    And that was the promise he made.

    It was an extremely impractical thing. Even his own mother couldn''t support such an out-of-pocket statement.

    However, Damien made them approve without much of a hitch.

    After all, he just needed to show them his trump card.

    That meeting ended in sess after he told them the details of what seemed like a reckless stunt on the surface.

    Whether it be the Grand Dukes who tried to support him unconditionally or the 12 Swords who were only now forming their first impressions of their new "Young Lord," nobody in the room could argue against such a strategy.

    As long as it worked, that is.

    Therefore, Damien was given a chance. If he could prove his words in theing weeks, they would ept his proposition and give him the reigns over Void Pce.

    If he couldn''t, then he''d need to find a way to fix the mess he caused with his own hands before it could affect the pce itself.

    It was a bet with reasonable terms, and it was exactly what Damien wanted.

    Trust didn''te easy, but if it was earned properly, it would be the most indomitable thing in the whole world.

    That was the trust he wanted from them. Absolute unconditional faith. And to achieve that, he needed to aplish things so grand that they developed such faith naturally.

    He''d done it in the lower universe, and now the time hade for him to do it here.

    The first thing he did after gaining the freedom to act as he pleased was put up the recruitment notice.

    That notice gave a week of preparation and travel time for those involved, and also promised to waive travel expenses such as usage of teleportation arrays so people could be gathered at the fastest speed.

    The wages were good, the conditions were extremely beneficial for those who passed the recruitment test, and the honor of bing the pce''s sword was great enough for countless men between the ages of 18 and 300 to apply without hesitation.

    The only prerequisite was that they could absolutely obey themand structure of the army. If they defied orders orgged behind, they would lose all the privileges they obtained.

    It was somewhatmonce for an army recruitment to have such conditions, so it was easy for people to underestimate what they were getting themselves into.

    But it was fine.

    Damien didn''t want a ragtag bunch of soldiers. No, he wanted to pick the hidden gems and exposed diamonds out of the crowd and train them into an absolute elite force that couldn''t be stopped.

    As soon as the recruitment notice went out, Damien focused on preparing the venue for the test and other managerial duties before going through the rest of the meetings he had nned.

    That was where his original thought came from.

    The people he was meeting with were those squads under the 12 Swords. The current "army" of Void Pce.

    They were definitely experts. He could tell that they were battle-hardened and powerful, but they werecking something special.

    They didn''t meet his standards, standards set by the people around him and under him.

    ''It''s fine. As long as I instill them with the qualities I want, there won''t be a problem.''

    Damien grinned.

    Nobody knew it but him, the 4 Grand Dukes, and the 12 Swords.

    The second the recruitment ended and the foundation of an army was built¡­

    ¡­Damien was going to turn Void Pce into a nightmare.

    ***

    The time for recruitment came fast.

    The venue was somewhere outside the main pce, arge field that could house several dozens of millions of people.

    Yet, this field was filled to the brim, and the surrounding forest was also packed.

    Damien may or may not have underestimated the scale of the Heavenly World.

    He forgot just how massive this ce was.

    Even a single principality wasrger than a sr system, and unlike a sr system that was mostly made up of empty space, the principalities were covered in inhabitablend from head to toe.

    The poption of the Brightmoon Principality was rtively small inparison to the rest, but still, billions of people showed up to answer Damien''s call to arms.

    The crowd was bustling, conversations taking ce all around to specte what exactly the trials would be and how they would manage to urately test every contestant here.

    However, these people didn''t know the man they were being tested by.

    He who controlled Existence. He who mastered the Concept of Harmony.

    If it was him, the space they currently inhabited could truly be anything.

    Damien stood in the air above them and scanned the crowd with his eyes.

    ''Void Pce will be Void Pce, huh. Despite the size of the crowd, I can hardly sense anyone with bad intentions.''

    It was nice to see, but even nicer were some of the peculiar souls he sensed among them.

    ''This will be a fun test.''

    Especially because¡­

    He nced in a certain direction, at a certain group who was unnoticeable among the massive crowd, even if one paid close attention to them.

    ''Their disguises are nice, but they can''t fool my eyes. I expected those two toe, but to think¡­''

    Damien smiled.

    Dominic Void, Darius Void, Yiren Void, and Hestia Void.

    All four of his siblings were present, dressed and disguised asmon people.

    ''I was already thinking of training them regardless, so this is great.''

    He would get to see their skills, and he would get to see their worth.

    They were the ones representing Void Pce''s younger generation. There were some promising talents within the Grand Duke ns as well, who''d been sent to participate in the recruitment by their n Heads who were aware of what Damien was nning.

    These were people who''d eventually get far harsher training from Damien than anyone else.

    Because if they didn''t uphold the standard, then nobody would follow it.

    They were the faces behind the name, the ones outsiders would use to judge the pce.

    ''I can hardly wait any longer. I''m really too excited for this.''

    Damien pped his hands together with a smile.

    He was tired of waiting. Anyone who hadn''t made it by now was just fated to miss the recruitment.

    ''Well then¡­''

    He looked down at the crowd one final time before snapping his fingers and allowing hisws to work.

    ''Let''s get started, shall we?''

 Chapter 1407 Recruitment [4]

    Chapter 1407 Recruitment [4]

    Everything changed in that instant.

    Damien never revealed himself. The people who came to apply for the army didn''t even see a glimpse of his face.

    The second he decided that he wanted to start the test, he did, thrusting them into the unknown without any time to prepare.

    The entire world changed around them.

    ''W-what happened?''

    A boy stood with legs shaking in the middle of the same field he was in moments prior, however, it was not the same at all.

    The sea of people around him, suffocating him and terrifying him, waspletely gone. He was left alone in the field, as if everything he knew was an illusion.

    ''T-that¡­w-what am I supposed to do?''

    His name was Hershel. He didn''t have ast name. His parents weremoners from an ancient line, from a time when they weren''t allowed such privileges.

    They were proud of their identity as farmers. They provided crops that allowed people to live, but they did not feel the need to be validated by the opinions of others.

    Therefore, even when they were allowed to have surnames for themselves, they chose to deny that right.

    They were a strong people despite being without status or wealth.

    However, Hershel was their dark horse.

    He was weak, pale as paper, and just as cowardly. He couldn''t work the fields, nor could he take part in managerial duties or housework.

    He was utterly useless in all aspects.

    The family was close-knit. They did not abandon him due to his negative traits. Rather, they tried to help him look for other avenues to seed in.

    Sometimes, people born with his physique could thrive in the arts, while some others would find themselves specializing in niche and unique trades.

    Unfortunately, Hershel wasn''t one of them.

    He was talentless in every aspect.

    So he had no choice but to rot at home.

    He saw the recruitment notice during another day of doing nothing in particr. He knew he didn''t really have a chance, but he had nothing better to do.

    And the opportunity to see the people who were born with all the talent hecked wasn''t something he wanted to miss.

    Such a rapid change terrified him, but he gritted his teeth and kept himself standing with the strength of his negligible willpower.

    As he nced around to try and understand anything, a blue holographic screen appeared in front of him.

    [Wee!]

    The first message was simple. When the screen registered that he''d seen it, the message changed.

    [This recruitment test will be broken into three segments that can be taken in any order. You will have 10 minutes to rest between segments. If at any time you wish to quit, shout, "I surrender!" and you will be transported to a safe location.]

    [Our Void Pce is looking for elites. Keep in mind that these tests will not be easy, nor will they be safe. You will have to risk your sanity, perhaps even your life, if you wish to pass. Quitting is not a shameful thing, but you will not be given a second chance once you do so.] N?v(el)B\\jnn

    [In the next 5 minutes, please pick which section you wish to begin with. If a choice is not made in that time, one will be made for you.]

    One after another, the messages appeared. Not just in front of Hershel, but in front of every participant in the test.

    There was no doubt several hundred, thousands, or perhaps even millions had quit by now, but those who decided to continue after hearing the ominous warnings of the holographic screen found themselves faced with a choice.

    [Mind]

    [Body]

    [Soul]

    Three sections that would have three different tears.

    Hershel looked between them, biting his lip.

    ''I¡­''

    He didn''t know what to pick.

    He didn''t think he''d be given a question like this, nor did he think the test would take ce in this kind of format.

    But istion wasn''t always a bad thing.

    To Hershel, it was a relief, because he didn''t have to embarrass himself in front of the world.

    He was so scared he was about to copse. The warnings only made his fear worse.

    There was a chance he could die?

    Like hell he wanted to risk his life!

    He could hardly hold a shovel properly, let alone a sword. What was he ever thinking abouting for an army recruitment test?!

    ''But¡­''

    His mind wandered to dreams of glory, of worth.

    He''d never been able to do anything. He''d always been trash that burdened the people around him. They might not have shown it, but he was painfully aware of his position.

    He didn''t want to disappoint them. He didn''t have a choice until now, because no matter what he tried, he always failed.

    But, he always tried regardless.

    No matter how many times he failed, he wanted to keep trying until he found something he could do.

    ''Maybe I''ll fail, but¡­!''

    ¡­he didn''t want to fail without at least trying.

    He closed his eyes shut tight, gritted his teeth, and forced his finger to move forward and choose one of the three options.

    It was a random choice, but it was the choice he made.

    [Soul]

    The option glowed bright green and the scenery changed.

    The first test had begun.

    ***

    ''Everyone''s gone.''

    Dominic nced around with wary eyes. The scenery looked the exact same as it did before, but it was different at the same time.

    It was hard to ignore the obvious. He''d been transported into a different space. After seeing billions of people disappear, nobody would miss that fact.

    But they probably wouldn''t realize what it took to pull off something like this.

    ''Is this First Brother''s power?''

    He couldn''t be sure of it, but he knew exactly who was recruiting right now.

    ''The 12 Swords are extremely skilled in spatial maniption, but this is more than just creating multiple billions of subspaces. This is like¡­''

    Dominic''s expression hardened.

    ''...reality itself has been altered.''

    That was why it felt so natural despite obviously being an illusion.

    "Hmm¡­''

    Dominic took his attention off the environment and finally looked at the screen hovering before him.

    [Wee! This space has been created specifically to test you, Dominic Void. Did you think you could hide from me with a shoddy disguise like that? Anyway, have some fun with the tests everyone else is taking for a bit, and I''ll be with you shortly. If you aren''t confident, then leave now, because if you can''t live up to my expectations¡­it''ll really fucking hurt. Welp, that''s all I wanted to say, so hand tight. Adios!]

    "..."

    "For some reason, this feels targeted."

    He soon saw the options others got, the same ones Hershel was viewing at the same time, but he couldn''t get his mind off that first provocation.

    "He didn''t just know we were here, he happily epted our presence for this exact purpose."

    Dominic wasn''t one to fall for such cheap provocation, and neither was Hestia, but¡­

    ''...I can''t say the same for the rest.''

    Dominic thought over it for a moment, making full use of the five minutes he was given.

    "He must be testing the younger generation."

    If they were going to represent Void Pce, they needed to do it properly. Judging by their First Brother''s personality that had been exhibited over the past week or so, he wasn''t someone who could be taken lightly.

    So the main test really was just an appetizer.

    Whatever the personalized test that came after was¡­

    ''...I really can''t tell whether or not I should look forward to it.''

 Chapter 1408 Recruitment [5]

    Chapter 1408 Recruitment [5]

    Talent couldn''t be judged easily.

    Some people had obvious talents, like Celeste from the Veritas n, but not everyone''s talent stemmed from a great bloodline, physique, or affinity.

    Talent came in many forms, to the point where it was rarer to find someone without any talents than someone with one.

    Therefore, Damien didn''t make his tests where only the strong could win. It wasn''t a ce where obvious talents would shine, for those didn''t need his light.

    The three tests were based on three aspects Damien considered important for troops under him. They didn''t have to fit all of them perfectly to be epted. They didn''t even have to pass one. But everything from the way they went about their tests to the order they took them in gave Damien ideas on who fit his requirements.

    Hershel''s first test was soul.

    His body and mind disappeared, and his soul was temporarily erased of all ego.

    It was then ced in a new body, the body of a man with great power.

    When Hershel opened his eyes, he was left with nothing more than his base instincts.

    "Where am I?"

    He didn''t stutter anymore, for the fears of his mind were gone.

    However, his curious tone and slight wariness towards everything were still absolutely present.

    He stood up, getting off the rickety straw bed he was lying on, and walked out of the small, wooden room he was in.

    He found himself in a city, bustling with life in every way.

    Stalls lined the streets selling assorted snacks and markets were open everywhere, crowded with people going about their days.

    Hershel walked through the city without knowing what to think. He didn''t know who he was or where he was, but his first instinct was to look around and see what he could gather.

    But what was there to gather?

    No matter who he asked, nobody knew who he was. No matter what he did, nobody came after him.

    It was like his presence only half existed in this world.

    But despite his state, he could still feel it.

    The mana coursing through his veins.

    It was plentiful. He felt like he could level the city with a single flick of his finger.

    It was calm now, flowing smoothly like a stream, but the second he decided to mobilize it, it would be a weapon of absolute destruction.

    That ferociousness hidden in the mana was enough of an indicator of the type of life he lived.

    But he didn''t remember it, nor could he associate himself with such a persona.

    He walked until the sun went over the horizon. He didn''t have money, but a few kinder stall owners assisted him and gave him meals when they noticed his aimless expression.

    The sun came and went to show the passing of time. Hershel continued to wander the city, and eventually, his face became one remembered by the residents.

    He didn''t do much. He spent every day simply wandering, going about the same aimless routine, but something about him drew people towards him.

    He developed a slight attachment to the ce.

    It was a good city filled with good feeling.

    But the power rushing through his veins kept begging him to take it down.

    Every time he saw injustice, every time he saw unfairness, he realized he was above these people.

    Because the second he unleashed himself, everything here could be his.

    Any problem could be solved, any woman could be his, and any luxury became dirt.

    He felt the itch in his fingers.

    The itch to dominate.

    The itch to kill.

    BOOM!

    A loud bang broke him out of his unstable state.

    His head snapped in that direction, and he immediately saw the massive fire enveloping the guard walls.

    Before he knew what was happening, he was already rushing over.

    Past families desperately protecting their children, past homes being engulfed in mes, and past the bodies of guards who died inbat, he ran.

    Until he reached the edge of the guard wall, the opening that had been created by the explosion.

    ''They''re fighting. No, they''re being massacred.''

    The guards were surely mana users. They were powerful enough to be tasked with protecting such a big city, but they weren''t nearly enough to fight those who attacked them.

    ''The enemy group has roughly 100 members, but they are all powerful enough to ughter the people here in no time.''

    He didn''t realize how fast he summarized the situation.

    The city wasn''t strong enough to fight these people back, even if there were only one hundred of them.

    He had the power to fight them and win if he wanted to, but he would probably sustain critical injuries in the process.

    He was left with three options.

    He could fight. He could protect the city and the people living within it, if only at the cost of his health.

    He could run. The city would be destroyed and the people would either die or be enved, but he would live.

    Or he could dominate. The city would be injured but not conquered, the enemy force would be eliminated, and he''d gain control over the people.

    But thest option required him to throw away his morals and conquer through fear, bing a ruler by subjugating and plundering everything the city had.

    There was no other option. Hershel could feel it instinctively. He wasn''t allowed to choose a fourth path.

    He didn''t want to run.

    His soul was itching for blood, so he had to choose either the first or third choice.

    Did he want to be righteous, or did he want to be corrupt?

    Whichever one he chose, the people would still live as he intended. The only difference was the amount of power he held, the kind of person he would be.

    This moment felt definitive. He felt like he had to choose without an ounce of hesitation.

    It was difficult.

    With the power he had, the third option seemed tempting. The more he thought about it, the more the feeling of power and domination seduced him.

    His greed reached an all-time high. He forgot about the people who''d treated him well, and he''d forgotten about the city where he made his home after losing his everything.

    He only thought about personal gains.

    The opportunity to be great.

    The opportunity to have everything.

    He stepped forward.

    His choice had been made.

    "I¡­"

    Hershel spoke out loud for no particr reason other than his own satisfaction.

    He drew the sword that appeared on his hip before he even realized it wasn''t meant to be there.

    "...will fight."

    He would not abandon his morals for greatness. He wanted blood, but he didn''t want it from innocents.

    Something in his soul was absolutely repulsed by the thought.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He would fight for the people. He would be injured, sure, but it was fine as long as he didn''t die.

    His feet followed his will. He moved one step after the other, until he was already in the midst of the enemy, his sword already shing.

    The cuts and gashes umted on his body. His blood painted the ground. But his enemies fell one by one. Their heads apanied his blood.

    He practically lost sight of reality within the pain, killing just to kill, only regaining his senses when the deed was already done.

    He kneeled in a river of blood, a hundred headless bodies surrounding his person.

    And as his blood dripped down to join theirs in a picture of brutality, he copsed to the ground.

    Thest thing he saw as his consciousness faded was the sight of tens of guards rushing towards his falling body.

 Chapter 1409 Recruitment [6]

    Chapter 1409 Recruitment [6]

    When the contestants saw the word "soul" on the test segments, they all had pretty much the same thought.

    The power of the soul. Something that could be considered the quality of a Divinity.

    Some people had extremely powerful souls since birth, like Damien, and those people had talent beyond talent. They couldprehend a hundred things for every one thingprehended by an average genius.

    These people were highly valued by any influence, and above all, if their soul had a specialized quality that leaned towards a specificw¡­

    Nothing else needed to be said. All sects and influences tested people''s souls to look for this exact quality, because it wasn''t something that could be seen with the human eye.

    However, they were wrong. Damien''s eyes weren''t like the usual person. He could see the things they couldn''t, so he had no need to test for soul quality.

    The purpose of his test was character.

    No matter what kind of character one developed through their lifetime, the effect of ego wasn''t as high as one would expect. The core qualities of an individual would be burned onto their soul, bing something that absolutely wouldn''t change no matter the circumstance.

    For Damien, these were things like his desire for freedom.

    Damien didn''t care about their alignment. Good and evil hardly ever had enough severity to judge a person in this world.

    Whether they were good or evil, whether they were motivated by justice or fame, what Damien wanted to know was how they''d act in the critical moment, what side they''d show when they were put in an unstable position.

    Therefore, he allowed them to be acquainted with the people of the city. For some, they even built full lives among the people there.

    And then, he gave them an ultimatum.

    Fight.

    Run.

    Or dominate.

    There was obviously only one right answer

    The option to flee existed to weed out cowards.

    The option to dominate existed to weed out those with self-destructive greed.

    However, the option to fight didn''t manifest the same for everybody.

    For Hershel, it was the desire to save the innocent.

    For Dominic, it was the desire to protect his family.

    For others, it was the desire to gain fame, the desire to be a hero, and even the desire to earn a reward. The intent behind the decision changed from person to person.

    It didn''t matter what their intent was. They all answered correctly.

    Because at the core of their soul, they chose protecting the city as the method to achieve their goals.

    Even those who wanted money chose to earn it by saving the city, rather than plundering or conquering it.

    The test of soul was to find people who wouldn''t turn their backs on Void Pce even in the direst of circumstances, as well as those who could properly carry the pce''s name without tarnishing it.

    Character was an important determiner in decision-making that most people didn''t judge, but Damien didn''t care about talent that came at the expense of others'' well-being.

    The soul test eliminates tens of millions of participants. They did not have the option to lie. The decision Damien gave them was guided by their egoless souls that didn''t have the ability to entertainplex thoughts.

    They couldn''t hide their true nature before Damien.

    It culled roughly a third of the crowd that had gathered.

    But it was only one of three tests.

    ***

    Hershel never woke up in that strange body again. He never got to see the results of his choice.

    The second he fell unconscious in the illusionary world, his soul was slingshotted back into his own body, his ego returned to its proper position.

    He woke up 13 hourster, his mind in a state of confusion.

    ''I¡­where am I¡­?''

    His soul remembered his brief stint in another life, but his mind held no memories of it.

    ''I¡­I am¡­''

    He struggled for a moment, wrestling with the feeling of dissonance within him.

    However, a few momentster, thend around him shone gold, and a soothing fluctuation enveloped him.

    The dissonance slowly faded, allowing Hershel to regain stability.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    He breathed heavily, steadying himself. Standing up, he noticed that he was still in the same strange space, the field empty of people.

    In front of him, the holographic screen only had two remaining options.

    [Mind]

    [Body] This chapter was first shared on the ??v€l?1n tform.

    "Did I¡­pass¡­?"

    Hershel''s eyes widened into saucers.

    He fell on his rear, backing up as if he was being chased by something terrifying.

    "I passed¡­? I actually passed¡­?!"

    He didn''t remember the trial, but he knew he''d taken it. He didn''t know what he did there, but he was certain it was horrifying.

    "Just¡­what happened?!"

    He was baffled, to say the least.

    He quite literally didn''t know how to react, and in his clumsy attempt to stand back up¡­

    "...ah."

    He identally pressed forward and chose another test.

    [Body]

    The ground lit up again, and before he knew it, Hershel had been transported to a new realm.

    He didn''t even get to use the 10 minutes of rest allowed to him by the trial.

    It was red in every direction. The earth below, the skies above, and even the clouds that drifted between. Everything was red, crimson like blood.

    Hershel looked around to gain information about his surroundings before another holographic screen appeared in his eyes.

    [Choose your weapon]

    A sword, a shield, a spear, a bow, a dagger, a hammer, and several other weapons appeared in holographic form.

    [Once you grab hold of a weapon, you will not be able to change your selection. Choose wisely.]

    Hershel looked through his choices. He''d never used a weapon before, since they were too heavy for him to carry, but he felt like he had to choose something here.

    Otherwise, he''d surely die.

    "Strong people usually use swords, right¡­?"

    He questioned himself. Most of those gathered in the field were using swords, so he had a misconception about weapons, but it didn''t really matter.

    Hershel chose a pair of twin daggers, because it was the only weapon he was confident in being able to carry.

    [Your weapon has been chosen. The trial will begin now.]

    A new message appeared, and along with it, all holograms present in the surroundings disappeared.

    RUMBLE!

    The ground rumbled. The thumping of a stampede appeared in the distance.

    The ground wasn''t t. The environment was more mountainous. However, Hershel appeared somewhere near the peak of one of said mountains, so he could see it in the distance.

    Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of beasts charged in a massive horde, aimed straight in his direction.

    They weren''t all the same species. There were some as small as a dog and others asrge as a dragon. However, they all ran with the same expression in their eyes, as if they''d found their shared worst enemy.

    ''That expression¡­''

    Hershel felt a chill run down his spine.

    ''...it isn''t aimed at me, is it?''

    He was truly an unfortunate boy.

    Because no matter how much he wanted to deny it, he knew.

    It was.

    All that hatred was meant for him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    And if he didn''t face those beasts today, if he didn''t win¡­

    This would be his grave.

    End of story.

 Chapter 1410 Recruitment [7]

    Chapter 1410 Recruitment [7]

    The first thing Hershel did was simple.

    He ran.

    He ran until he reached the peak of the mountain and had a clear view of the entire biome.

    This trial was one he was aware of, unlike the trial of soul. He waspletely present in the head, and because of that, his instinct had changed from fighting to fleeing.

    However, as he did so, he eventually realized that it was impossible for him to run away.

    This was a test, not a natural encounter. No matter where he went or what he did, the beast tide would eventually reach his position, and he''d have no choice but to fight it.

    Hershel was a coward. It was natural for him to be one, because if there was one thing he hadn''t tried in this life, it was battle.

    He didn''t have anything close to the opportunity. With his weak constitution and tendency to freeze up during confrontation, he would die the instant he tried to fight, so neither he nor his family ever even considered the possibility that his talent was there.

    But since he''d been thrown into this situation, since he''d confronted the beast tide ande to the understanding that it was his enemy, his mind¡­

    ''...is strangely calm.''

    He was calmer than when he was transported to the strange space with the screen. No, he was calmer than he''d ever been before in his entire life.

    There was a scent of blood lingering in the air, as if battle wasmonce in this ne. Something about that smell spoke to him.

    The version of him that existed in the soul trial.

    It didn''t just have the desire to protect the innocent. It had one other defining quality.

    A thirst for blood.

    It was a miracle that Hershel hadn''t realized it before. Perhaps it was because his personality had developed into such a passive one, but somehow, his bloodlust had never manifested in real life.

    But it was ever-present.

    Now that Hershel was on the battlefield, his senses were at their most sensitive, he had one dagger strapped on his hip and the other in hand, since he knew he didn''t have the technique to use them together.

    Standing on the mountain peak, gazing at the approaching beast tide, he made several judgements, each ending in the same conclusion.

    ''It will reach me in three hours.''

    He had three hours to prepare for the beast tide. Whether it be through developing his own strength somehow or using his brain, he had to find a way to beat it.

    ''What if I¡­''

    He instantly ignored the first thought that came to mind. It was insane to even consider.

    ''Then, maybe I should¡­''

    ''What about¡­''

    ''No. It''s all stupid.''

    It was a test rigged against him from the start. He was a country boy who''d known nothing but the farm his entire life. He was a useless person who''d never even been within a hundred meters of a battlefield. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Even the forests where the vige people gained their meat he steered clear of.

    So how was he supposed to find a way to defeat a beast tide?

    It was stupid to even ask.

    He would die here if he confronted it.

    ''I have no choice!''

    His thoughts returned to fleeing.

    He looked around for a method, a route he could take to run and hide from the tide, a ce they couldn''t find him.

    When suddenly¡­

    "Kekekeke¡­."

    Augh from the rear.

    He whipped around quickly, grabbing hold of his knife with both hands, trying his best to stabilize it in his grasp.

    He almostughed at himself.

    It was a single goblin. Small, green, and with eyes full of malice, it pointed its knife at him.

    "Are you provoking me¡­?" Hershel asked.

    "Kekekeke¡­!"

    The goblin could onlyugh. It didn''t know humannguage. But the look in its eyes made it clear enough.

    Despite the fact that Hershel was at least twice its size, despite the fact that he was armed, it still chose to face him.

    Because he was determined as weak prey.

    "KEHAAAA!"

    The goblin let out a strange cry and charged forward. It raised its knife and stabbed toward Hershel''s thigh,

    Hershel''s eyes widened.

    ''W-what¡­?!''

    He didn''t expect it to attack.

    He moved his feet to quickly dodge.

    No, he tried to.

    ''M-my feet¡­? My body¡­?''

    It wouldn''t move as he wanted it to.

    A single mountain had rooted him in ce, his fear too strong for his body to act otherwise.

    Shik!

    "ARRRGH!"

    Hershel yelled out in pain as the goblin''s knife sunk into his thigh.

    Shik!

    Shik!

    Shik!

    Three more stabs, two in his stomach and another in his other thigh.

    Blood gushed out of Hershel''s body like a foundation, and his screams made the quiet mountain atmosphere just a bit livelier.

    He was a mortal. He''d never fought before in his life, nor had he practiced with mana.

    Hershel could not fight.

    He was considering facing a beast tide?

    He couldn''t even best a single goblin!

    ''I''m¡­weak¡­''

    He was loud on the outside, but his thoughts were pathetic.

    The goblin didn''t kill him either. It stood there,ughing maniacally as it watched him bleed out.

    ''I''m¡­dead.''

    Hershel knew what wasing,

    But he couldn''t let it happen so easily.

    ''To¡­a goblin¡­?''

    Even a ten-year-old child could defeat a goblin.

    Yet, he was being manhandled by that same goblin?

    He didn''t care if he was weak or talentless. He didn''t care about any of that.

    But he couldn''t lose here.

    Not after passing the first test, not without a chance to fight back.

    He couldn''t die here.

    ''I can''t¡­!''

    His mind went ck.

    Crimson fury overtook his emotions.

    He raised his eyes at the goblin in front of him. He was foaming at the mouth, and the soundsing from his throat were less than human.

    He couldn''t stand up. His legs were too injured.

    But his arms¡­

    "GRAH!"

    He grabbed the goblin''s leg.

    His knives were gone, confiscated by the creature.

    But he needed to attack somehow.

    Before the goblin could adapt to the current circumstances, he dragged his body forward.

    He pulled with all his strength, knocking the goblin off bnce.

    And¡­

    "RAAAAAAAH!"

    He bit down on its leg.

    "KIEEEEEEK!"

    The goblin screamed in pain, hurriedly stabbing him to get him off.

    But Hershel didn''t pay attention to its de.

    He ripped off the goblin''s skin with his teeth. He bit into its muscles and tore its leg apart before crawling towards its neck, his intent clear.

    Even if he died here, he would kill the goblin.

    He didn''t care how weak he was.

    He would do it.

    One arm before the other. He crawled, dragging his limp body behind him.

    He only needed to move a few feet. The goblin was also bleeding out now. He could do it.

    "KIEEEEEK!"

    SHIK!

    SHIK!

    SHIK!

    SHIK!

    The goblin wasn''t ying around anymore. It repeatedly stabbed Hershel in the back as he approached, drawing more and more blood and turning Hershel''s internal body into a mess.

    However, by some miracle, Hershel continued to move.

    Until he was near the goblin''s neck.

    He opened his mouth and bit down with as much force as possible.

    He raised his arm and shoved the goblin''s head into the ground, blocking its movements.

    And he turned into a beast.

    He bit anything he could get his teeth on. He ripped skin and tore flesh, turning his face and torso into a mess of goblin blood.

    It was almost over.

    He was almost there.

    But he didn''t have any steam left.

    He''d been stabbed over twenty times. He had already run out of blood.

    Yet, the expression on his face was a massive grin.

    Because regardless of his inevitable death, that goblin wasing with him.

    He forgot about the beast tide. He forgot about the trial.

    The only thing that mattered was his enemy, the enemy he defeated.

    Somewhere, hidden in the folds of reality, Damien grinned.

    ''This kid¡­''

    His eyes were on a certain dead body that was currently in the process of being reanimated.

    ''...has some insane potential.''

 Chapter 1411 Recruitment [8]

    Chapter 1411 Recruitment [8]

    Hershel finished the trial of body after experiencing death for the first time.

    But his reaction wasn''t what one expected.

    He was on the floor, holding his head and rocking back and forth. He had the qualities of someone who was going to go insane, but his mind was actually torn.

    On one hand, the feeling of death terrified him. It made him feel cold and empty. It was a void that he absolutely wanted to avoid, however, it was also strangelyforting.

    That scared him even more. Why would he feel such a thing from death? As if it was family, as if it was something for him to love.

    He didn''t know what to think of himself, and every time he thought back to the feeling of that goblin''s knife digging into his body, he got phantom pains that reminded him of the experience.

    However, he was also somewhat calm.

    His own actions in that moment were immensely surprising as well.

    He didn''t think he was capable of something like that, but when he was put in a situation where his life was in danger, his fear and anxietypletely disappeared.

    The only thing that remained was his desire to kill. He didn''t care if he died. He only wanted to kill his enemy.

    Was he someone like that?

    Was he born for war?

    But if that was the case, why would the heavens birth him with such a weak body?

    He didn''t know how to exin it, but he felt morefortable in his skin when he was entangled in a life-threatening battle than he ever had before.

    Hershel spent his ten minutes of free time introspecting. He wanted to understand himself better, but he simply didn''t have the ability to do so.

    He hadn''t seen enough of the world to put himself in any specific category. He only knew he wasn''t part of the same group the rest of his family was in.

    Though, the fact that he''d gone through two trials and still existed in the trial space gave him some confidence. He didn''t expect to pass twice, he didn''t even expect to pass once, but since he''d done it, wasn''t it better to do it all the way?

    Of course, the doubt that he didn''t pass at all and the trial was just continuing for the sake of continuing definitely appeared in his mind, but he ignored it.

    He''d always been pessimistic. He''d never allowed himself to think he had talent or potential in any aspect.

    However, in this situation, he didn''t want to think that way. He wanted to do his absolute best, and that feeling only got more prominent with the passing of time.

    Hershel entered the trial of mind with far more confidence than he showed when the recruitment test began.

    And the trial of mind was one that required confidence.

    The trial of soul tested character.

    The trial of body tested instinct.

    And the trial of mind tested will.

    The will to persevere, the will to survive, even in the direst of circumstances.

    It was a two-part trial. In the first, the participant would be ced in a simted version of the First Dungeon for several weeks.

    Afterward, they''d be influenced to escape on a path that opened up to them and they''d be saved by a mysterious force.

    However, that force wasn''t a savior at all. The participants who just tasted freedom again would be tortured for information about things they held dear.

    If they lost the determination to survive and allowed themselves to die in the first half, they''d fail. If they gave up any information in the second half, they would fail.

    Just like the other trials, there were several nuances that allowed Damien to judge the participants for more than just their surface-level qualities.

    Hershel was a person who gave up several times in the First Dungeon, just as Damien had.

    However, just like Damien, he had a propensity towards madness. He allowed that madness to drive him, and eventually, he gained the will to survive.

    He survived for one week, he survived for two, and eventually, he started proactively challenging the dungeon instead of hiding around.

    That was about the time when he was saved and tortured.

    His response was driven by what he''d experienced thus far.

    Pain, fear, and anxiety became nothing more than enemies for him to kill.

    Rather than feeling those things when he was tortured, his anger grew.

    Rage towards those who didn''t want him to progress, hatred for those who inhibited his growth. Those feelings usurped all others and left him as a true berserker.

    No matter what kind of questioning he was given, no matter how he was tortured, he persevered.

    It was to the point where Damien became interested.

    He gave Hershel a chance.

    He altered the trial, giving Hershel the ability to escape his entrapment. He wanted to see what the boy would do with his newfound freedom.

    And the answer was more than just satisfying.

    Hershel immediatelyshed out at his kidnappers. He killed and killed until the entire organization was gone, leaving only him.

    And when he was done, he returned to the dungeon.

    ''The will to grow stronger¡­''

    It was something not many had to this level.

    Damien could tell.

    This boy would do anything if it meant he could be strong and useful, but he had a moralpass that kept him away from self-destructive greed.

    The boy''s body was weak, but his mind was strong. As long as Damien gave him the opportunity¡­

    ''...he''ll grow into a monster.''

    Damien grinned.

    This was a true diamond in the rough. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Hershel had no redeeming qualities to others. Because of hisck of talent, the mental aspect in which he excelled meant nothing.

    But talent was something Damien could provide, so Hershel''s base traits didn''t mean anything.

    ''This is what I was looking for.''

    Rather than someone who could obviously grow, Damien wanted people who would grow even if the heavens disallowed them.

    ''It''s not just him. Void Pce has a great atmosphere. Multiple people with that kind of mentality have been born here.''

    Billions appeared for recruitment, but the ones Damien paid attention to numbered no more than 10,000.

    Each of them had the talent to be an elite.

    They were the ones he wanted in his army.

    ''It''s a good number. When we started, I didn''t expect more than a thousand of them to be worth fostering, so I''m more than happy with this result.''

    Damien smiled.

    He was using clones to watch each and every trial simultaneously, but his main body was having more fun than all of thembined.

    ''I''ve tested all the geniuses from the Grand Duke ns. They aren''t bad, but they aren''t quite up to standard yet. On the bright side, the fun part is only just beginning.''

    Damien''s main body had finally arrived in front of the first of his siblings.

    Dominic Void. He''d finished his trials and spent a few hours regaining his strength. Since he seemed more than ready¡­

    ''...I''m going to beat the shit out of him.''

    That was a bit harsh.

    Damien was going to test Dominic to see what level he''d reached.

    ''No, I''m going to beat the shit out of him.''

    Harsh was the right word, but that didn''t change anything.

    Damien was really going to beat the shit out of him.

 Chapter 1412 Recruitment [9]

    Chapter 1412 Recruitment [9]

    Frankly, Dominic was amazed.

    He was hyper-aware of the trial he was taking, so other than the soul segment, he saw through the rest pretty easily.

    He still had to take the trials properly, but while doing so, he was infinitely surprised by the amount of control Damien had over his abilities.

    This wasn''t at the level of someone who''d newly ascended to Divinity, especially not one who came from the lower universe.

    No, the ability to do something like this was past the realm of Demigods entirely. This wasn''t just talent or genius, this was an absolute monstrosity in the form of a human.

    But that wasn''t as terrifying as it sounded.

    Because this monstrosity was his brother. He was a man who strived for Void Pce''s sess and growth. The fact that he was a monster meant that these goals were absolutely attainable as long as he sat at the head of the pce.

    It wasforting in a sense, but Dominic wasn''t allowed to keep that feeling for long.

    "Yo, long time no see."

    A voice appeared out of nowhere, forcing Dominic on alert.

    He whipped his head to find the very man he was just thinking about.

    "First Brother."

    His greeting was sinct and a bit cold. He wanted to be friendly, but something told him Damien wasn''t here for friendly purposes.

    No, not something. Damien himself made it clear with that first message!

    ''He is here to fight.''

    Dominic didn''t need long to understand what was happening. His personal test would be a spar, and if he didn''t seed¡­

    ''Considering the type of things this man put in the recruitment trial for the army, the things that would happen to me are likely unthinkable.''

    Dominic raised his guard and drew his sword.

    "Good. You reached faster than everyone else, at least."

    Damien''s demeanor wasn''t like usual.

    He wanted to appear as an enemy. He couldn''t have Dominic thinking this was a friendly spar between brothers.

    No, Dominic was being tested for his worth. If he didn''t meet the expectations set for him, then he would be deemed unfit to represent Void Pce.

    Damien was usually an easygoing person.

    He never showed much emotion externally, keeping the same light and casual demeanor regardless of the situation.

    However, his thoughts weren''t the same as the way he expressed them.

    He was a man who took the things he did absolutely seriously. He never wanted himself to be the reason ns fell through and moves couldn''t be made, so he never let variables he could see out of his sight.

    His siblings were currently a variable.

    He wanted to get close to them and treat them as true family, but that wasn''t a privilege allowed to them yet.

    When Void Pce was settled, he could enjoy the new home he''d received, but not now.

    He wasn''t Damien Void, son and brother. He was Damien Void, Young Lord of Void Pce.

    He was going to bring this home of his to its peak, so it could never be provoked again.

    Dominic''s expression became more serious as Damien silently stared at him. It was as if all of those feelings were being transmitted to him clear as day, and he was being forced to ept them.

    ''He has no openings.''

    Dominic refocused his attention on the battle at hand.

    There was only one thing in his mind.

    ''I have to win.''

    He was facing an opponent who, while standingpletely still, made it clear that he couldn''t be touched.

    This was someone above his caliber in every aspect, but he still had to find a way to win.

    ''The only thing I can do is try.''

    He would put together the very best of his abilities. That way, even if he lost, it was a loss he deserved.

    Taking a deep breath, Dominic raised his sword into position and hardened his will.

    ''Sword of Severance.''

    The first of Void Pce''s 16 Swords of Heaven.

    It was a sword meant for only one purpose. To sever everything in its path.

    Void Pce''s techniques didn''t just involve space. While it was known for its spatialws, it was an influence with a variety of specialties.

    Dante excelled in Space Laws, but he didn''t have much talent in others. However, the Krone n was one known for its time maniption abilities.

    With Ellowyn''s Creation, Hugo''s Death, and Solstice''s Fire and Ice, the 16 Swords of Heaven were created, aprehensive technique that epassed countlessws and could be used by anyone granted the authority to do so.

    The first technique, Severance, did not have a specificw bound to it. Rather, it was flexible, able to cut "anything" the user was able to cut.

    For Dominic, who was a descendant of Void and Krone, it was Space and Time.

    The imaginary world wobbled. Its simted reality was cut in half as its space and time were forced apart.

    A torrent of sword energy like a charging beast rushed in Damien''s direction at full speed, ripping apart anything in its path.

    It was translucent. When Damien looked into it, he could see thews intertwining to create the aforementioned effect.

    ''It''s not bad. To keep space and time in harmony like this without tethering them is impressive, but¡­''

    Damien pushed his hand forward. A pulse of an unknownw pushed through the air and confronted the sword energy.

    CRASH!

    Under its influence, the energy shattered into thousands of pieces, fluttering to the ground harmlessly.

    ''...it''s not enough.''

    Damien had the same blood as them, at least on one side.

    He knew exactly what the blood of the Void n could do. This was definitely impressive whenpared against other geniuses in the same age and talent group, but it wasn''t what he was looking for.

    Damien was aware he was an outlier. He never held another person to his standard.

    However, people twice their age and with thousands of times the opportunity had to at least match up to his wives, right?

    With what he just showed, any of the four could beat him in less than ten moves.

    "Is this all you can do?" Damien asked, his tone nd and expressionless.

    Dominic''s eyes sharpened.

    "Not even close."

    The first sword was a probe. Damien''s strength couldn''t be measured, which he understood before the battle even began, but he at least wanted to see what he was up against before facing it.

    Now, he was even more aware than ever before.

    ''It''s a distance that can''t be crossed. Whether it be thew he''s using or hisprehension of it, they''re all above what I have.''

    Beating Damien was impossible. If Dominic couldn''t recognize this after that move, he was just in stupid.

    However, he didn''t have to beat Damien to win.

    ''I just need to exceed his expectations.''

    And for that purpose¡­

    ''The 16 Swords of Heaven aren''t enough.''

    He had to throw away the things he thought weremon sense and go all out from the start. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Huu¡­"

    His eyes changed again.

    They''d been serious from the start, but they contained a different light now.

    ''Four Seasons Sword Technique¡­''

    His sword was raised in a different posture now, and the aura radiating from it held apletely unique sense of danger.

    Dominic closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them once more.

    His sword shed forward, a simple vertical sh that even a baby could follow.

    However, a monstrous amount of unknown power was hidden within.

    The entire imaginary world changed as the sword technique was released.

    A flurry of wind enveloped all things.

    ''...Spring.''

 Chapter 1413 Test [1]

    Chapter 1413 Test [1]

    The Four Seasons Sword Technique did not belong to Void Pce.

    Instead, it was the unique skill of the Krone n, aprehensive representation of their understanding of Time Laws.

    It was, as its name implies, split into four techniques, each with a power different from its peers.

    Spring was the first of those techniques.

    It represented the season of rising. A season of birth, a season of light, a season of life.

    Spring was the start of the cycle, the blooming of all things that grew.

    In rtion to time, spring represented the way time allowed living beings to flourish.

    The concepts were vague. They didn''t really represent Time Laws in the way most people viewed them, but it was absolutely powered by time.

    The surrounding flora came to life, growing and thriving as if they''d been given loads of vitality they had never possessed before.

    ''Interesting¡­''

    Damien didn''t have a hard timeprehending it. Time was one of his mainws along with space. Even before he started pursuing the entirety of existence, he''d been looking to reach the peak of it.

    ''Is it being elerated? It seems like it should be moreplex than that.''

    Damien could see how the environment was being affected by the technique. Hepletelyprehended how it affected other things, but he didn''t really get it.

    ''This doesn''t seem like an offensive technique.''

    Damien himself wasn''t being targeted by the effects of the eleration. If he was, it would have helped him rather than harmed him.

    So what was the technique supposed to be used for?

    ''Oh?''

    It seemed Damien didn''t have to search very hard for the answer.

    Within seconds, the area was filled with massive nts grown by the sword wind Dominic produced. These nts were farrger than their peers, and the powerful aura they radiated was beyond anything a nt without sentience could have.

    Those nts were soon taken apart by the sword wind and incorporated, bing a part of its power.

    That was when the attack truly began.

    ''A blossoming wind¡­''

    ''I see.''

    Damien smiled in understanding.

    It was all an illusion.

    The grandiose scene he was witnessing only existed to fool the enemy.

    ''While you sit around and wait, wary of the storm around you, the flora that is touched by elerated time bes a range of weapons that will attack you from the shadows.''

    That was Spring.

    It was the beginning of the year, a time to understand how the remaining seasons would be.

    It was a probe. If the enemy fell for this technique, they weren''t worthy of facing the remaining seasons. However, if they could see through it, then the time they took to do so and the way they responded could be used to determine how futurebat would be done.

    ''Smart. He knows he has to go all-out against me if he wants to stand a chance, but he refuses to rush in without any information. Myst attack didn''t give him anything besides a rough overview of my power, so he''s using this to gain more information in that direction.''

    Spring wasn''t a weak technique. Just because it was illusionary didn''t mean it couldn''t kill.

    The sword wind that swirled in a tornado around Damien was filled with sharp blossoms of sword energy and Time Laws that could cut down any weaker enemy. If they were struck by thews and had their time elerated, their bnce would be thrown off and Dominic would gain an opportunity to make a decisive move.

    Unfortunately, Damien wasn''t going to fall for any of it.

    He dissected the technique and understood its essence.

    ''But since I''m testing you, I''ll give you what you want.''

    Unless the enemy was someone Dominic couldn''t hope to defeat, they wouldn''t react like Damien did, so it was better to see how Dominic would react if his n seeded.

    VOOM!

    Damien allowed his aura to re, bing a shield around his body.

    His usual existence was somewhat separated from reality. Dominic wouldn''t be able to strike him unless he allowed it.

    Therefore, when the shield became material, Damien was finally incorporated with the imaginary world.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The explosions were instant. Damien was finally being struck by the sword wind. The shield was sliced and scratched by countless petals of sword energy, and the longer Damien stood in the midst of the storm, the more energy that assailed him. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Since space and time were the basis of Dominic''s strength, Damien used those twows to counter.

    He separated Spacetime, pulling apart reality and banishing the sword energy into the void.

    The storm began to die down, but before it could, Dominic had already rushed in.

    ''Attack.''

    That was his thought.

    Since Damien could block and banish his sword energy, it was useless to keep pushing with it, but he had to attack regardless.

    This was the only opportunity he''d have, and he''d use it to set up an opportunity to unleash Summer.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The ground was blown to pieces first. Damien''s vision was immediately obscured by dust, and Dominic''s aura disappeared.

    ''Sword of Severance.''

    Once again, the Sword of Severance appeared.

    BANG!

    Massive fluctuations of space and time crashed against Damien''s shield, making it wobble and be unstable,

    ''Sword of Hephaestus.''

    Rather than a sword, the 5th of the 16 Swords of Heaven was more like a hammer, as per its name. It did blunt damage, shattering anything it came in contact with into thousands of pieces.

    Dominic appeared above Damien, in his blind spot, and mmed his sword down with all his strength.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Damien''s shield instantly shattered, leaving him prey for the countless forces trying to kill him.

    However, Dominic didn''t keep pushing inward.

    He took a step back and prepared his de once more.

    ''Four Seasons Sword Technique: Summer.''

    The time hade for the second season.

    Unlike spring, summer was a time when everything was in full season. It was a season of heat and vitality, and to follow up on spring''s eleration of time, it bent thew and created a strange time flow that not many could survive in.

    VOOOOOOM!

    The sword was unleashed. The storm created by spring didn''t disperse, but it changed subtly, gaining a certain aura that couldn''t be pinpointed.

    When Damien took down his natural protections to feel the effects of the attack, he was swamped by a feeling simr to heatstroke. His mind went numb, and his body became heavy.

    ''But if you see it as something simple like heatstroke, you''ll die.''

    It was another illusion, but this time, it was used to hide a hidden de.

    The "heatstroke" feeling was actually a dissonance in the soul caused by the strange time flow he''d been epassed in.

    If he wasn''t able to solve it, his soul and body would be forced into disharmony, and if he didn''t die to the Time Laws assaulting him from every side, he''d be a sitting duck for Dominic to behead.

    ''This isn''t how I''m used to seeing time be used. Even though the Krone n specializes in time maniption, they''ve created a sword technique where time is actually more of a supporting element rather than the main one.''

    It was truly a sword technique, not a time technique. Damien respected the ability to separate the two and know which should be prioritized at what moment.

    ''Most people would be dead by the time these two techniques are finished.''

    Dominic''s sword was extremely powerful, and he was more than just adept at concealing the true intent of his techniques, which would catch most people by surprise.

    If he was out in the world, he would be uncontested as a great genius.

    ''But we''re not going against geniuses.''

    Damien wasn''t judging Dominic''s techniques. Dominic was a good practitioner who didn''t skimp on his training, so there was no need to judge him too heavily in that aspect.

    The question was¡­

    ''...how will he do in a war situation?''

    Damien was satisfied with Dominic''s cautious yet domineering performance thus far, so he only had one more thing to test.

    VOOM!

    He instantly dispersed everything Dominic had thrown at him thus far.

    And his body separated into countless clones.

    A situation where Dominic had to fight against armies on his own¡­

    How would he fare when facing it?

 Chapter 1414 Test [2]

    Dominic was on the floor within five minutes.

    "As expected, this is the level you''re at."

    Damien stood above him as a single person. He''d already unsummoned all his clones.

    "Haa..haahaa"

    Dominic naturally couldn''t respond. He''d been beaten into the floor by hundreds of Damiens. He was trying his best to regain his breath and process what was going on.

    ''I''ve seen what I needed to see.''

    Damien didn''te here to really spar with Dominic. He came to see what Dominic''s level was.

    If they had a full spar, it likely would''ve ended the same way, but Dominic wouldn''t have gone down so fast.

    However, this wasn''t the time for that.

    Damien could see the full extent of Dominic''s skills whenever he wanted. He''d be training his brother for the foreseeable future, so that wasn''t a problem.

    He only needed a few minutes to assess Dominic''s abilities.

    "First off, I can see that you hold pride in your sword skills," he started, giving a small lecture.

    "I''m not a swordsman, so I won''t speak too much about it, but it''s pretty good from what I''ve seen. The heights you can reach with swordws are pretty high, but it''s not enough."bender

    "You have a lot of control over yourws, but the output iscking because you haven''t delved deeper into the crux of their meaning. From now on, I''ll be making sure yourws are up to par, so be prepared for that training."

    "Putting aside strength, I like your mentality. It won''t be a waste to raise you as a general. I think you can really thrive in a war environment."

    Dominic didn''t put on a great show against the Damien army, but his decision-making during the fight was memorable.

    If he was trained properly, he would truly be a war general beyond any other, someone who could go down in history.

    Dominic''s strengths were his sword skills, his mentality, his decision-making, and his caution.

    Meanwhile, his weaknesses were hisws andck of practical experience.

    Damien nodded.

    "Alright. I''ve pretty much figured out what I want to do with you, so take a minute to rest. You''ll be transported back to the main pce when it''s over."

    "Haahaahaa"

    Dominic still couldn''t speak, but even if he could, he couldn''t argue against Damien.

    Everything he said was correct. Dominic also knew his weaknesses. He was a practical person who didn''t like to view himself as more than he actually was.

    However, the fact that Damien could understand that from so little was amazing.

    ''No. It''s no use being amazed at this point.''

    He showed six more of the Swords of Heaven during thetter half of the battle. He didn''t get the chance to use Autumn or Winter, which were the true essence of the Four Seasons Sword Technique, but he didn''t doubt that it wouldn''t have had much of an effect on Damien.

    ''Our brother truly is the man born to lead our pce.''

    It was a foregone conclusion. Dominic only doubted Damien because he didn''t know anything. Since he''d personally seen what his brother could aplish, whatints could he have?

    Only

    "Are you going to test the others the same way?" He asked between breaths.

    "Of course. Why wouldn''t I?" Damien responded.

    "I see"

    Dominic nodded but didn''t speak more.

    ''My little brother''

    He sighed to himself.

    ''...for your sake, I hope you don''t act up.''

    Darius was a fanboy. He was concerned about Void Pce so he didn''t express it recently, but he''d been Damien''s fan for as long as he''d known of his existence.

    The problem was

    ''...if the person he''s been deifying approaches him like this''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    there was no telling how he''d react.

    ***

    Damien didn''t go to Darius first.

    Instead, it was Hestia who finished the recruitment exam trials first.

    Hestia was his youngest sibling. She''d only recently be an adult by earth standards, so Damien naturally didn''t have the same high expectations for her as everyone else.

    Though, his expectations were still proportionally high for a young practitioner to reach.

    Hestia''s teststed far less time than anyone else''s.

    Because the second Damien reviewed her recruitment exam, he noticed.

    ''She''s not suited forbat.''

    Unlike Dominic, Darius, and Yiren, Hestia waspletely unsuited forbat.

    Unlike others, she passed the trial of soul through mediation.

    Since the "battle" to find a way for conflict to end peacefully was considered a true fight in Hestia''s soul, the trial allowed it.

    Damien didn''t know how she managed it even after watching the scene over and over again, but somehow, she managed to cate both groups and findmonality between them. She managed to establish the foundation of what could be a trade agreement after her departure, but of course, the simted world didn''t continue far enough for it to be realized.

    The trial of body assigned opponents to participants based on their strength and potential. For Hershel, it was a single goblin, however, for Hestia who''d reached such a high level at a young age, practically a whole swarm of beasts came after her.

    And once again, she didn''t fight.

    She used her environment to her advantage and created traps that took down her enemies. She won through schemes and trickery.

    Even during the trial of mind, she used abination of both methods to persevere. She endured the torture surprisingly well, and she protected Void Pce with her life at stake, but when she was given the chance to escape

    ''...her first instinct isn''t to fight, it''s to return to the pce and gather reinforcements to take down the enemy.''

    Sure, she was unconventional, but that wasn''t a bad thing at all. Everyone had a speciality, and for Hestia, that was not fighting.

    lightsvel ''Her mind, on the other hand''

    Not just her mind, but her skill in healing and vitality techniques, were extremely valuable.

    Damien didn''t personally arrive before Hestia. Instead, he gave her a second test. It wasn''tbative like the rest.

    Her task was to find a way out of an enclosed white room in a set period of time. She wasn''t given any clues on how to escape, but she was allowed full use of her mana.

    Brute force didn''t work, nor didws of any kind.

    Before Damien finished testing the remaining siblings, she had to discover the key to the room''s mechanism.

    Surprisingly, she epted the challenge with open arms.

    Rather than feeling negative, she was excited about the problem ced in front of her and happily started working on it.

    ''It''s a good mentality.''

    Damien was very proud of his youngest sister. Maybe he was being a bit biased, but she really did have the talent to be a genius from the back lines.

    ''Training her will be far tamer. She just needs knowledge and time and she''ll grow into something wonderful. It''s the benefit of being young.''

    She was a nk canvas, unlike his other siblings.

    She just needed to learn and grow.

    As for the others

    ''I have to beat them up until their old habits disappear and instill new ideas into their heads.''

    They''d lived plenty of years and were stubborn because of it.

    ''But that''s okay.''

    Damien grinned.

    ''I''d be more than happy to fix your habits.''

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1415 Dire Situation [1]

    After Hestia came Yiren, and after Yiren came Darius.

    They were both fighters, so they received the same treatment as Dominic. It didn''t end well for either of them.

    Yiren was rtively skilled for her age. There was a reason for her arrogance.

    Not only did she have good control and understanding of herws, but she''d also been going in and out of the pce to experience the outside world far more than her siblings, so her practicality and instincts during battle were leagues above her peers.

    However, even she had weaknesses. They, of course, weren''t to the level that they betrayed Damien''s expectations, but Damien was nning to turn Void Pce into something magisterial.

    It was only natural for him to bring his siblings past their current level.

    Yiren''s problems were more mental.

    While she excelled in battle, she wasn''t very good outside of it. Her tactical thinking when facing multiple enemies wascking, and she had a tendency to rush into battle without enough caution backing her actions.

    Fortunately, these weaknesses were far easier to correct than what Dominic dealt with.

    And Darius

    Well, Darius was another level.

    When Damien appeared and did the same thing to Darius as he did to Dominic and Yiren, the response he received waspletely different.

    Darius rushed into battle immediately, using the 16 Swords of Heaven to strike Damien down.

    Instead of standing in ce and dispersing all his attacks, Damien instead chose to teleport, matching Darius'' flow and casually dodging.

    It infuriated Darius, who acted more on emotion than his other siblings. His attacks became more frenzied and reckless, and he stopped relying on his eyes as much as usual.

    Damien was both impressed and disappointed as he entertained Darius.

    ''His instincts are crazy. He''s like a beast who knows exactly when to attack and retreat, exactly where to strike to kill the enemy.''

    Darius was amazing in that aspect, and considering hisck of experience outside the pce, he was surprisingly adept at using the environment to his advantage.

    He would kick up sand and rock whenever he needed to, and he wasn''t afraid to take everything at his disposal and use it to support him, even if that meant taking risks.

    However

    ''He''s just not suited for space or time.''

    Space and time were both elements with little fluctuation. People who used them needed to make calctions and be perfectly in tune with their flow, otherwise they always ran the risk of ruining themselves.

    They needed to be calm. Even if they were reckless in battle, they could never waver in their use of thews.

    Darius was

    Well, he didn''t fit this criteria.

    At some point, hepletely threw away space and time, using the 16 Swords of Heaven as a pure sword technique with no otherws supporting it.

    ''I''m amazed he made it this far. What kind of Divinity did he establish with this kind of suitability?''

    His affinities were probably space and time since his parents'' genes were incredibly strong. However, there has to be something else, something he''d neglected because it wasn''t in line with the family''s practices.

    Damien opened his eyes wide, focusing on Darius'' soul.

    He found that space, the ce where he tethered hisws together, within Darius'' body and peered into it.

    ''As expected, space and time. There''s a surprising hint of destruction, but it isn''t enough to be an affinity. It''s more like a buff for his other abilities. Aside from that''

    It was difficult to search someone else''s soul so deeply without being in direct contact with them, so Damien had some trouble finding it.

    It was hidden behind the other two since it''d been neglected while they grew for so long, but it was there.

    Something fiery, but not fire. It was a greaterw, but it had so much resemnce to fire that Damien almost doubted its identity.

    ''Or maybe''

    There was another option too, something Damien never thought possible.

    ''I should look for it.''

    Damien always thought the possibility was out there, but he''d never found evidence to back that thought.

    Not until today.

    Because inside Darius'' soul was a me unlike any other me.

    It was an inborn Heavenly me.

    Within Darius'' soul, the third-ranked Heavenly me, the Sun and Moon Divine me,y in hibernation.

    ''Holy shit.''

    It was more than Damien ever expected to find.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Sun and Moon Divine me was Damien''s most coveted Heavenly me.

    It was a me with two sides, a two-for-one deal.

    The Sun me which alit in the day burned brighter than anything else. It was fueled by excitement and acted like a berserker, endlessly growing stronger the longer it was used in battle.

    Meanwhile, the Moon me came alive in the nighttime. It was a cold, ruthless, and soulless killer that burned a dark blue color. Under a fully grown Moon me''s soul torture, not even a God could survive.

    Both sides had their own advantages and were equally strong. It was a difficult me to master, but if someone could truly control it, they would be indomitable.bender

    ''It''s not just Fire Laws contained within the me. It''s a mixture of fire, death, light, and several other forces. This is an unexpected boon.''

    Damien obviously wanted the Sun and Moon Divine me, but he wasn''t going to steal it from his brother.

    Rather

    VOOOM!

    Damien let out a pulse of mana, immediately breaking through Darius'' attacks.

    lightsnvl "What are!"

    "Sleep for a while."

    Damien appeared directly in front of him and put his hand on his head.

    A fusion of strangews entered Darius'' mind and pushed his mind into a state of sleep. He copsed onto the ground, and Damien immediately went to work.

    "Come out."

    A flicker of ck mes appeared on his hand.

    With a flick of his wrist, Damien sent that me into Darius'' soul.

    The Sun and Moon Divine me had been suppressed for too long. It couldn''t be awakened through normal means.

    Therefore, Damien judged that the best way to rapidly awaken it was to feed it.

    Traces of all the Heavenly mes Damien had ever collected, traces of his past Sun mes and even a part of the Void me itself rushed into Darius'' soul space and encircled the sleeping Heavenly me.

    THUMP!

    It was like the beating of a heart.

    With so much Heavenly me aura surrounding it, it was impossible for the Sun and Moon Divine me to stay silent.

    THUMP!

    It beat again.

    The me expanded, epassing the rest.

    They devoured, filling the hunger they''d been suffering from for over a century.

    And they thumped again.

    Over and over again.

    ''This is going to be fun.''

    Damien grinned.

    It seemed Dominic was worried about how his brother would react when Damien appeared, but the result was beyond anyone''s expectations.

    ''There''s so much hidden talent in Void Pce.''

    It was really a den of dragons.

    That fact made Damien infinitely anticipate the future.

    Because this was his den of dragons.

    This was the homnd of his people.

    This was his pce.

    ''With this, the recruitment part is over.''

    ''Whates next''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''...is a shitton of training.''

    <strong></strong>

 Chapter 1416 Dire Situation [2]

    Chapter 1416 Dire Situation [2]

    Something changed in Void Pce after that day.

    10,561 candidates passed the recruitment exam out of the almost 5 billion that appeared. Rumors about the harsh exam requirements that even terrified experienced mercenaries spread far and wide, and soon enough, the entirety of the Brightmoon Principality understood that something huge would happen soon.

    They also began to wonder about the 10,000 people who passed the exam, but unfortunately, there was no way for them to get news of those people.

    Ever since the exam ended, they''d been taken to the main pce, and the main pce had beenpletely closed off.

    There was a strange barrier surrounding its periphery. It was solid, but not opaque. The people could see the main pce that defined the Brightmoon Principality, but more perspective viewers noticed that the pce seemed oddly picturesque and unchanging.

    Because, in fact, even the pce they saw was a product of the barrier, an illusion of the main pce.

    The true main pce had been entirely sealed, and unknown to everyone outside, it was now existing at apletely different frequency than the outside world.

    For every day that passed for the rest of the Heavenly World¡­

    ''...a year has passed so quickly.''

    It had to be extreme.

    Damien wanted to raise an army that would be able to stand proudly in the Heavenly World, which meant they needed to be experts who''d forged their own Divinities by the time war actually broke loose.

    They didn''t have much time, because Damien was pushing as fast as possible. He had some more stuff to solve before Void Pce''s internal situation waspletely calmed, but the second he finished those things, it would be time. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They had at most a few months remaining. To make that time meaningful, Damien turned months into centuries, which, with the training n he''d created for them and the talent they each possessed, would be more than enough time for this army to grow into something formidable.

    It had been a year, which meant only a day had passed in the outside world. The news about the recruitment exam hadn''t spread yet, but Damien was certain the news about the traitors would make its way to the Divine Order soon enough.

    ''I have at most ten days before I have to return to the outside world.''

    It was a decade he could spend personally training them. After that, he had to trust the remaining experts in the main pce to properly raise them.

    ''But it''s fine. Ten years is plenty of time.''

    It would''ve been, if Damien didn''t have over 10,000 people to train.

    It took three years just for him to create a personalized training n for each of them to use after he was no longer present.

    For the next five years, he mainly focused on his siblings.

    He helped Yiren by setting up illusionary worlds for her to train in.

    He continued to give Hestiaplex mental puzzles to solve and equated them to real-life situations so she could slowly adapt to her role as a strategist and backline leader.

    For Dominic, training was more practical. Damien simply left a clone with him at all times, which would spar him and force him to constantly be wary of attacks, slowly bringing him to the level he needed to reach.

    And finally, Darius got training more special than the rest.

    "What is your Divinity?"

    That was the first question Damien asked.

    Before anything else, he needed to know if they had to start over or not.

    Darius hesitated for a second.

    "Can I tell you honestly?"

    It was a secret. Even his mother didn''t know the true nature of the Divinity he''d formed.

    He always knew he was unsuited for the n''s techniques. He was reckless, but he wasn''t dumb. He''d always tried to pursue the n''s teachings, but when he noticed that he was always twisting those techniques to resemble a me, he began to doubt himself.

    Could he continue this way?

    Putting aside grand goals like reaching the peak, would he even be able to keep up with his siblings like this?

    Those thoughts gued him until the day he forged his Divinity.

    Within the bounds of thew barrier, while he was undergoing his Cosmic Rebirth, he decided to take a chance.

    Instead of forming a Divinity based on space and time, he created something else.

    "It''s called [Guardian of Heaven]."

    Darius spoke with a bit of embarrassment, but Damien didn''t think he needed to be embarrassed at all.

    "Guardian of Heaven, huh¡­"

    He smiled.

    It was a Divinity formed not on Darius'' pursuit of strength, but on his desire to protect Void Pce.

    It was not only an admirable Divinity to form, it was perfectly versatile, so Darius'' strength didn''t need to be broken down and rebuilt.

    No, the foundation he created could be used as a springboard to bring his Heavenly mes to great heights.

    "Perfect."

    Damien grinned.

    "I''ve possessed quite a few Heavenly mes, so I can be considered somewhat knowledgeable about them, but there''s no way I can know everything. We''ll be working together to find out exactly how your me functions and what you need to do to grow it."

    Each Heavenly me needed a different method. Damien got lucky to possess a me that ate other mes to grow, but Darius didn''t have this luxury.

    Until they found out the Sun and Moon Divine me''s characteristics, Damien wouldn''t leave Darius alone.

    And that was how another year went by.

    Damien was left with no more than two years to spend on his personalized army, but it was fine. He finished most of the work in the first three years. What was left was just training.

    He oversaw them all using clones. He paid special attention to people like Hershel, using Existence Law to sprout talent inside the talentless so they could make full use of the potential they didn''t know they had.

    And eventually, the ten years he could spend freely in the pce came to an end.

    ''I''ve been busy, and I''ll only continue to get busier from here.''

    Damien sighed.

    It sucked, but he barely had contact with his wives in these years.

    Between their training, his training, the army''s training, and the integration of the Sanctuary Army, the pce''s forces, and the new recruits, there were hardly any opportunities for alone time.

    Besides a few days here and there and a week before his departure, they couldn''t find the chance to rx together.

    But none of them minded.

    They all hated it, but it had to be done. It was because they knew this that they rested so long beforeing to the Heavenly World in the first ce.

    Now, they had priorities and responsibilities.

    For Damien, it was solving Void Pce''s problems, and for the girls, it was getting strong enough to have a say in the Heavenly World.

    Aside from Iris, they''d only recently formed their Divinities, and before the time for the barrier to be released arrived, they had to be even stronger than Damien''s siblings and his army.

    As for Iris, she had a lot to learn and relearn about the Demigod realm she''d been in for so long. She had to break her own habits and adapt to the Heavenly World, possibly an even more difficult task than what the rest had to do.

    Nevertheless, as everyone worked their hardest to reach for their goals, Damien left the main pce.

    There were two remaining problems to solve, and he was headed to solve the first.

    12 Elders of the now 48 Elders of the n had been secluded by enemy forces in a valley bordering the Southwestern Region.

    They, unlike those he''d met previously, were loyal to the n, and without them, arge part of the Elders'' authority was diminished.

    Now, Damien was headed to their location to save them.

    This would be his first true confrontation with the enemy that had been suppressing his people.

    The Divine Order.

 Chapter 1417 Dire Situation [3]

    Chapter 1417 Dire Situation [3]

    Damien''s current destination was the border principality, Aeria. The Aeria Principality was one of the first to fall into a state of chaos when the Divine Order started openly moving against Void Pce.

    It was a point of interest, so they focused many of their forces there and slowly took territory after territory until Aeria was surrounded by enemy forces on all sides.

    There was a reason 12 Elders were stationed there.

    Aeria was the location of one of the Southern Region''s greatest traveler''s hubs. It was a ce most people would pass through if they were entering the south from the west, including members of Void Pce.

    The timing was terrible.

    Originally, there were only three elders stationed in Aeria. They were heads ofmerce and had been staying in the city to facilitate trade agreements between Void Pce, the Dragon n, and the Holy Empire.

    However, in recent times, a few more had gone to join them.

    Some were just using Aeria as a springboard to reach another location, while others were doing jobs in the area, but the point was that all of them were in the principality when the surrounding areas were conquered.

    They couldn''t act against the powerfulbat force of the Divine Order on their own, so they chose a defensive stance, keeping at least Aeria safe from war.

    The borders of the principality had been challenged several times. The stalemate that wasn''t really a stalemate was all the Elders could create, because stopping the Divine Order entirely was impossible for them.

    Luckily, they''d held out quite well. The borders had moved several million miles inward, but the Aeria Principality was, for the most part, still in one piece.

    This was the situation Damien arrived at.

    On one side of Aeria was the border to the Divine Order''s Southwestern Region.

    To the left was the Bristeria Principality, to the right was the Reistone Principality, and blocking the path deeper into the Southern Region was the Liensia Principality.

    ''From the moment Liensia was conquered, the Divine Order had aplete advantage. If they wanted to, they could continue pushing into the Southern Region, but they instead chose to focus on conquering Aeria.''

    Unlike the surrounding principalities without much reputation, conquering Aeria would deal a serious blow to Void Pce in various ways.

    ''The Elders are also lucky. If the Divine Order wasn''t focusing on multiple things at once¡­''

    If they weren''t making simr ys across the border and reserving the majority of their troops for other purposes¡­

    ''...Aeria would''ve been a wastnd by now.''

    The stalemate had been ongoing for more than five years. The fact that the Elders had been able to hold out for so long was already extremely impressive. Damien was certain that 90% of people would''ve crumbled long ago if they were put in the same situation.

    It had reached a point where Damien was concerned whether his interference would mean anything or not.

    ''But I''m not in a position to question that. It''ll be difficult if there are Gods there, but if it''s just Demigods¡­''

    This was about to either be an extremely taxing or an extremely easy endeavor.

    And as Damien had just arrived in the vicinity of the war zone, he would soon find out.

    ***

    Somewhere near the border of the Aeria Principality facing Liensia, in a stronghold that was clearly on itsst leg, a meeting of war generals was taking ce.

    "It doesn''t look hopeless, but unless the n sends aid, we likely will not be able to hold the border for longer than another month."

    The speaker was named Perseus Vanheim. He was the 36th Elder of Void Pce, a loyal follower of the pce who''d always stood on its side.

    Beside him were two others of simr stature, the 38th and 40th Elders, Monique Destero and Fidora Price.

    They, the 12 Void n Elders present in the principality, had split into four groups to take charge of each border. They''d beenmunicating amongst themselves and using saidmunication to properly distribute their forces, but they were starting to run thin.

    "What does the enemy number look like?" Monique asked.

    "It''s still increasing. Unlike us, they have a consistent source of support from nearby. Luckily, it doesn''t seem like they''ve called experts in yet," Fidora replied.

    "However, our strongholds won''tst much longer, and the troops are beginning to struggle. It hasn''t been easy since the supply lines were cut."

    The three of them collectively sighed.

    Practitioners at the level of those participating in the war didn''t have the need to eat or drink to sustain themselves. Pure mana was enough to cover for such processes.

    However, it wasn''t the same for everyone.

    The territory''s poption was majorlymon people who hadn''t trained at all and people under 4th ss. For them, 5 years without any supplies was extremely difficult.

    They''d been surviving mostly off the crops farmed in the principality itself, but due to the harsh weather conditions that had recently assailed the area, it was difficult to produce enough food to sustain the entire poption.

    And even with food, water was a greater problem.

    "Those damn Divine Order scum!"

    Perseus became infuriated just thinking about it.

    One of the first moves they made was to pollute every aqueduct and water source in the principality with poison, making it undrinkable.

    It was extremely unfortunate. The Aeria Principality had one interconnected waterway that ran through the entire territory.

    While it normally wouldn''t have been a problem, the Divine Order used mysterious means to run their poisons through the entire water system spanning billions of kilometers in less than a week, something everyone thought impossible until that point.

    If the people died, there was no principality to save. Thend had no value without them.

    And those people were the families and friends of those participating in the war. If anything happened to them, the army''s morale would plummet, and defeat would be even more inevitable.

    "We can try our best, but it looks like retreat is absolutely impossible in our current circumstances," Perseus continued, summing up every problem and potential solution they''d encountered thus far.

    "The only viable option is to keep defending to the best of our abilities and hope for a miracle."

    They didn''t believe it woulde, but they had to believe, otherwise they''d lose hope before their armies even had a chance.

    The situation was dire to say the least. The 12 Elders were doing everything they possibly could with the resources they had, but they simply didn''t have enough power to attain victory against this foe.

    Disregarding everything else, the Demigods leading the enemy force were at the absolute peak, just a step away from Godhood.

    Elders who stood from the 30s-50s in the hierarchy weren''t equipped to deal with them.

    It was an entirely disadvantageous situation.

    Perhaps if the 4th and 5th Swords hadn''t disappeared¡­ N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It was toote to be having such thoughts.

    The Elders could only focus on the dire situation in front of them.

    However, their dire situation wasn''t as dire as they believed.

    Because someone with the power theycked wasing.

    Their "miracle" would be arriving soon.

 Chapter 1418 Massacre [1]

    Chapter 1418 Massacre [1]

    The timing couldn''t have been worse.

    The meeting hadn''t even ended yet. The Elders, along with the main parties who worked together with them to lead the armies, were still trying to find a solution to their current problems.

    But rm bells rang.

    Throughout the entire stronghold, the sound of warning was clear to all.

    The Divine Order was staging an attack. Not just any attack, but a full frontal onught that left no room for counterattack.

    And the worst part?

    "We''ve received news from the others. This attack has surrounded the entire principality. It isn''t just on our border."

    If someone stood above Aeria and looked down on it, no matter which direction they looked, they''d see the Divine Order''s people on the border.

    shes had already begun. It hadn''t escted to a full-out war yet, but it would be there soon enough.

    "DAMMIT!"

    Perseus mmed his fist against the table.

    "These bastards won''t give us a single moment of rest!"

    He was pissed. He was losing hope. But he couldn''t focus on that right now.

    "Tell everyone to prepare for mobilization. We''ll be preparing to confront their armies from now on!"

    If confrontation was what they desired, confrontation was what they would get.

    "Regardless, we cannot win against them. We''ve been doing our best to hold out until now, but under an assault like this, we will either be exterminated or driven back until we''ve lost the entirety of Aeria."

    That was reality,

    They only had two options.

    "Either we continue to y passive and protect as much as we can, even if that ends up being no more than a single city, or we fight! We fight until ourst breaths and make sure that those whoe after us will not face the same powerful armies we are facing today!" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    If one thing was certain, it was that the Divine Order couldn''t dedicate all its resources towards conquering Aeria.

    With the sizes of the armies growing each day, they''d probably already reached their limits on what they could assign, but since those limits far exceeded what the defenders of Aeria could handle, it wasn''t a problem.

    Perseus knew it was hopeless, but he refused to lose hope.

    He didn''t think retreating here was the right option.

    "Our people will die no matter what. With every time we are pushed back, thousands of soldiers will die protecting our rears. Should we sacrifice their lives for a meaningless and pyrrhic victory, or should we carve a path for our reinforcements to walk?!"

    He didn''t know who it would be, but he was sure somebody woulde.

    Whether it be from the main pce, from other principalities, or even from within Aeria itself, he was sure somebody would appear to stand up against the Divine Order.

    Because that was the kind of ce the Southern Region was. They, unlike others, truly had a sense ofmunity that held them together. They weren''t the type to abandon each other.

    And though nobody coulde in time to save them, Perseus was certain somebody would arrive by the time they died.

    In that case, wasn''t it better for them to use their lives to guarantee a path to sess for those people?

    Wasn''t it better to bring down the enemy''s number so others didn''t have to struggle like so?

    As he expressed his feelings, others gradually voiced their agreement as well.

    Nobody wanted to die meaninglessly, but in a situation where they had no choice in the matter, they''d much rather do something potentially great than something cowardly in theirst moments.

    The armies of every border gathered. It wasn''t just Perseus and his group in the south.

    They were no more than a ragtag group of bandits in front of the full force of the Divine Order''s armies, but they gave off an aura of valiance that the enemy could never possess.

    Because they weren''t fighting for greed. They were fighting to protect their homes, their families, and their livelihoods.

    Perseus stood before his army along with Monique and Fidora. He looked at each and every person present, acknowledging the emotion in their eyes.

    He wasn''t the type to give speeches, nor was a speech necessary here.

    They all knew what he wanted to say. Saying it again would be pointless.

    Instead, he raised his sword to the sky. He red his aura, letting his mana run wild. And he shouted.

    "KILL!"

    The raw emotion they all shared. The only thing they wanted to do.

    ""KILL!""

    The army responded to his call.

    Together, they exited the stronghold and faced the enemy proudly.

    "DIVINE ORDER SCUM!" Perseus roared.

    He didn''t care that they were a mere 300,000 facing over 3,000,000 troops.

    He didn''t care that there were over 10,000 Demigods on the enemy side.

    He didn''t care.

    He just shouted at the top of his lungs.

    "TODAY, WE WILL SHOW YOU THE MIGHT OF OUR VOID PALACE! FACE THE RAGE OF THE SOUTH!"

    He didn''t care if they could hear him.

    He didn''t care if they were provoked or disgusted by his words.

    He didn''t care.

    He just wanted to see their heads at his feet.

    "CHARGE!"

    300,000 troops moved as one.

    And on the other borders, simr scenes disyed themselves.

    The entirety of the Aeria Principality''sbat power only amounted to a single army of the Divine Order if one excluded Divinities, but none of them showed fear.

    It wasn''t just people at the lead like Perseus. Even the mostmon soldiers had the same pride and rage in their hearts, motivating them to kill until the moment they died, and then keep killing.

    The gap of a few thousand kilometers would close itself in an instant now that they''d begun moving.

    And that was the situation Damien arrived to see.

    He stood above Aeria and looked down on it. No matter which direction he looked, he saw the Divine Order''s people on the border.

    He saw the valiant troops of the Aeria Principality making theirst stand, and he saw the 12 Elders who stood in front of them as generals.

    And he smiled.

    ''I''m proud.''

    He was proud of his people. It was a feeling he had several times since he arrived in the Southern Region.

    But his smile wasn''tpletely pure. Deep within it, there was a boiling rage that no mortal could bear.

    ''The Divine Order¡­''

    They really had some nerve.

    He couldn''t believe the scene he was witnessing because of them.

    Though¡­

    ''...I don''t see any Gods in the crowd.''

    Not only in the crowd, but in the general vicinity, there wasn''t a single God present.

    Which meant¡­

    ''...it''s my time to shine.''

    Damien had been in this position before.

    When he was at the extreme peak of 4th ss, and even before that, he''d been here.

    He was so far above his peers that they were like ants in his eyes, yet those stronger than him were strong enough to crush him like an ant himself.

    But, right now, the second half of that statement didn''t matter.

    What mattered was that Demgods didn''t stand a chance against his power.

    No matter how close they were to establishing Godhood.

    He raised his arm into the sky, his mana billowing around him.

    Clouds gathered in the air, not because Damien changed the weather, but because his mana was heavy enough to change the atmosphere.

    This much of a scene was only natural.

    Before the Divine Order got news of what he''d done to their little spies¡­

    ¡­he would show them who he was.

    He would properly introduce them to the monster that was Damien Void.

 Chapter 1419 Massacre [2]

    Chapter 1419 Massacre [2]

    Damien''s mana began to flood the sky. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He didn''t aim at the people below. No, he had other ns.

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The gathering of dark clouds that epassed the entirety of the surrounding principalities was hard not to notice.

    The battle that was about to begin came to aplete halt as both sides stared at the unexpected event that neither of them caused.

    Damien didn''t pay attention to them.

    His body had beenpletely concealed in the folds of reality, so nobody could perceive his presence. They were busy believing the clouds were a natural phenomenon, so he didn''t have to worry.

    His mana was spread out over a massive distance.

    When Damien became a Divinity, the Ananta Matrix experienced a huge evolution.

    Its circuits became thicker and denser, and as it learned to constantly draw a small amount of mana from the surroundings to utilize for its own purposes, it came infinitely close to the concept of perpetual motion that Damien had in mind when he created it.

    As long as he wasn''t in a manaless environment, he''d never run out of mana.

    But he''d never been able to explore what that meant.

    There were usually cases where he could extend his power to the heights of his capabilities without having to worry about risking the lives of innocents, however, he was different now.

    He''d understood the concept of harmony. He may not have been able to totally control Existence yet, but he was confident in distinguishing between friendlies and enemies.

    Therefore, as he spread his mana, he didn''t give it a limit.

    He let it expand and expand until it didn''t just cover the Aeria Principality, but Liensia, Reistone, Bristeria, and even several billions of kilometers of Divine Order territory.

    The massive storm rumbled and thundered, giving off an aura of majesty that made countless Divinities reel on fear.

    They had no idea what they were facing.

    All they knew was that it was dangerous.

    That was when the rain started.

    From a single droplet of water, no bigger than a crumb, a huge rainstorm appeared, pouring with such intensity that it turned the ground into a swamp within minutes.

    Rain?

    Rain was odd.

    While it wasn''t always sunny weather, it was rare for there to be fluctuations in temperature in set areas.

    Where it rained, it would always rain. Where it was sunny, it was always sunny.

    Aeria became so popr as a hub partly because of its beautiful climate and location. For it to rain over Aeria¡­

    People began to doubt if the phenomenon was truly natural.

    However, it was already toote to doubt.

    From the moment the first drop of rain touched the ground, the hidden attack had already struck true.

    Perseus and the rest could only look up at the sky in confusion.

    To them, there was nothing strange about the rain. It was simply odd in nature, and due to its ferocity, their opportunity to strike had been ruined.

    It wasn''t as if normal rain could inhibit a practitioner, but rain like this¡­?

    In rain like this, there was even a chance they could die.

    After all, it was already turning the environment into something it had never been before. If the intensity became focused on the quality of the rain rather than quantity¡­

    ¡­it could be a true natural disaster.

    The forces supporting Aeria retreated back into the stronghold behind them and began preparing for the situation where the rain was weaponized.

    They left before they could see it.

    The forces from the Divine Order didn''t retreat.

    They didn''t even try to chase their retreating enemies.

    Entire armies stood in confusion. Millions upon millions of people, including tens of thousands of Demigods, were frozen like statues creating a natural wall around Aeria.

    The rain that touched their skin, entered their bodies through their pores, and assimted with, that rain invaded their minds.

    There was a question Damien asked himself before he decided to attack.

    What was the best way to deal with these enemies?

    He could always use the abilities he was confident with like space, time, or even destruction.

    But he was practicing Existence Law now. He needed to use it properly if he wanted to get a grip on it.

    What was he to do, though? Existence was such a broad concept that he couldn''t think of any ideas.

    He''d never tried being a necromancer, and they were quite rare in general, so he thought about killing a few, having them kill their allies, and slowly turning the enemy army into his own.

    However, it was a bit nd.

    Still, he liked the idea of turning them against each other.

    And the best way for him to make them do so?

    Naturally, it was by abusing their own vices.

    He made rain. It poured down not just on the armies surrounding Aeria, but those stationed in nearby principalities and even across the border.

    He targeted every member of the Divine Order he could find in the distance his mana covered.

    And he made them face their own greed.

    Glory, wealth, power. Whatever they aimed to reach in the end, it appeared before them, and the negative emotions in their heart gained a voice.

    Like devils and demons, those vices and desires tempted the ones who birthed them. Whispering in their ears, they slowly corroded the wills of their creators until they were no longer able to think logically.

    No, the evil hidden in their hearts became the very thing defining their every action.

    And for that evil, they were willing to do anything.

    If two people were standing next to each other, if one of them had an immense greed for wealth, and if the one next to him possessed even a single coin, he would kill.

    It didn''t matter if that person was his sibling, his closest friend, or his lover.

    He would kill for that single coin.

    The first death sprouted in the crowd.

    It went unseen. It went unspoken. It was a silent death where the murdered party didn''t even have the sane mind to mourn hisst moments.

    It was a death followed by a storm of the same scene, making it obsolete in the greater picture.

    For wealth, for power, for control, for desire.

    The people of the Divine Order showed their true colors, and those very true colors ughtered them en masse.

    Damien''s work ended the moment the rain started.

    He stood in the sky and silently watched the carnage below, his eyes indifferent to any emotion.

    This was just the start.

    A massacre like this was just like the death of one Divine Order soldier in his eyes.

    It was irrelevant in front of the countless massacres that would ur in the future.

    ''This is just the start.''

    The Divine Order was the closer enemy. They were a greedy bunch who only cared about growing their own power.

    But they were only the first.

    ''The Straea n¡­''

    The ones whom he encountered in the Forbidden Secret Realm.

    Unlike the Divine Order, the damage they''d done to Void Pce wasn''t something that could be repaid in blood.

    For the Straea n, even their souls wouldn''t be spared.

    And to prepare for that, Damien was going to exterminate the Divine Order.

    In totality.

 Chapter 1420 Ambush [1]

    Chapter 1420 Ambush [1]

    Bodies formed a nket over thendscape.

    They didn''t pile up like a mountain, nor did their blood flow like a river.

    They were cold corpses that absorbed all the blood they spilled, and their bodies were spread out because of the widespread carnage that killed them.

    The scene ended in a few hours. The armies were enormous, or else it wouldn''t have taken so long.

    But whether they were Divinities or lower existences, they fell all the same, bing part of the nket of corpses that decorated the surrounding territories.

    Damien looked down on them indifferently. His thoughts were still the same, but he was starting to contemte other things as well. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Maybe I shouldn''t discriminate?''

    He, of course, wouldn''t kill the Void Pce forces, but he was wondering whether or not he should ce them under a simr spell to see how they would react.

    After all, Damien never forced the Divine Order troops to die.

    He never forced them to sumb to their vices.

    Their vices tempted them like the devil, but everyone had vices. Damien didn''t think everyone in the Divine Order would be a bad person.

    There was a way out. As long as they overcame their greed and stood on their morals, they could escape the temptation and regain their sanity.

    In that moment, if any of them seeded, Damien was willing to save them from the madness and send them to a safe ce.

    Unfortunately, none of them managed to seed.

    Maybe there were good people in the Divine Order, but none of them were here. None of them were participating in the massacre of innocents the order was trying to create in Aeria.

    ''Regardless, it''s over now.''

    Damien sighed to himself and descended through the skies, aiming to return to the¨C

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Suddenly, a massive force exploded in the air. The dark clouds that gathered were instantly dispersed by the power, and Damien was sent flying millions of kilometers to the west.

    "...!"

    Damien''s senses suddenly went on alert. His natural barriers kept him from taking any damage, but he was still extremely wary.

    The force that attacked him came from somewhere he couldn''t detect. He didn''t know who attacked him or what their purpose was, but it wasn''t hard to guess.

    ''There''s¨C''

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Another explosion, this time even more ferocious than thest.

    It was infused with so much Light Law that Damien''s eyes were temporarily blinded. His skin was burned and his insides were starting to be touched to.

    But more importantly,ced within the light so covertly that Damien almost couldn''t sense it, was a trace of Death Law, an absolute corrosion beyond anything he''d ever encountered before.

    ''¨Ca God.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    He put up a barrier of existence to block him from the light and pushed himself away, returning to the world outside the explosion.

    His eyes widened as he expanded his field of view to its greatest capabilities.

    His awareness spread out along with his mana, creating a that would detect anyone or anything that entered it.

    ''There.''

    It was only for a brief moment, a spark of a sh of a second, a number with so many zeroes after the decimal that it wasn''t even worth mentioning.

    "Something" shed into the mana, and it arrived before Damien in the same instant.

    ''Shit!''

    BOOOM!

    Damien''s mana turned into a massive me that solidified into a wall that folded the fabric of reality into a defense.

    That was when Damien finally got a look at his opponent.

    Their gender was unknown. They looked both male and female at the same time.

    But they were pure white.

    Whether in skin, in robes, or in anything else, they were absolutely white.

    6 massive angel wings sprouted from their back, giving them a propulsion force others couldn''tpete with, and their eyes¡­

    ''...are empty.''

    There was no soul remaining in those eyes. Whatever made this creature a living, breathing, entity and not an automaton could no longer be called a soul.

    It was devoid of all things other than the ability to execute orders it was given.

    ''It''s a homunculus.''

    But it had the strength of a God.

    ''Is this the true face of the Divine Order?''

    As their name suggested, the Divine Order was a religious organization. The people of the Southwestern Region were believers of their doctrine, and in the eyes of those people, the Divine Order was an absolutely just force.

    Void Pce had been painted as an evil influence that needed to be defeated, and their brainwashed believers didn''t question the validity of that statement at all.

    Because it was real brainwashing.

    The Holy Empire was also a religious organization. They also had an extreme number of believers and amount of influence.

    However, the Holy Empire did it naturally. The "Absolute" they worshiped and the doctrine they spread truly grasped the hearts of people.

    The Holy Empire was what a religious organization was meant to be. Damien was assured of their righteousness and benevolence, because the Holy Empire, just like the Veritas n, was one of Void Pce''s greatest allies who stood by them despite their declining state.

    So when he looked at the Divine Order, all he felt was disgust.

    Damien knew the Divine Order was only just on the surface. They were a corrupt and vile influence pretending to be righteous.

    However, he thought it ended at brainwashing and greed. He didn''t think they were killing souls and using them to create homunculi.

    ''The amount of torture it takes to break an ego and plunder the soul it was attached to is absolutely monstrous.''

    And for the Divine Order to send a homunculus after him meant they had far more than he could imagine.

    ''Fucking hell¡­''

    He didn''t have time to think. In the brief span of time he took to understand the situation, the homunculus had already broken through the cage he enclosed it in.

    ''I have no choice.''

    He had to defeat this thing.

    Not only for short-term victory, but for the soul it carried.

    ''Even if its ego is gone, the memories in its "existence" are still very much present.''

    The things he''d learn if he devoured it¡­

    ''Whether or not it''s a God, it''s too enticing to resist.''

    Damien released the restrictions he kept on himself.

    He freed the entirety of his power, because he''d need it if he wanted to win this fight.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    With a single st of light, the homunculus broke free and forcefully charged towards Damien.

    However, this time, Damien didn''t retreat.

    He contained heaps of mana in his eyes, enhancing his vision. He kept mana circting through his body, so it could be summoned whenever he needed it.

    And subtly, he added Void Energy into his circuits, keeping it ready in case of emergency.

    It all happened in less time than it took for the homunculus to reach him.

    So when they finally locked eyes only a few feet away from each other¡­

    Damien was also ready to attack.

    His arm flew forward, and the homunculus raised a spear of light to meet it.

    Laws shed through the sheer force of their auras, and as the two weapons of mass destruction came together¡­

    The force couldn''t even be described.

    The skies shattered apart, and Aeria was instantly plunged into the dead of night.

    In that darkness, only two stars remained.

    Competing endlessly for dominance.

 Chapter 1421 Ambush [2]

    Chapter 1421 Ambush [2]

    The copsing of the sky happened only once in the eyes of outsiders, but it was actually a continuous phenomenon.

    The Heavenly Order was strong. Every time the sky broke, it would repair it instantly.

    However, Damien and the homunculus were too strong. As fast as the Heavenly Ordered repaired the sky, they destroyed it.

    BOOM!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The homunculus'' spear was like a shotgun. The creature stabbed over and over again, its rhythm changing from fast to slow as it changed to a power output of each strike so precisely that it was practically magic.

    Meanwhile, Damien used his fists to match it.

    Thews he''d mastered,ced with Void Energy, swirled around his fists like contained gxies. Despite the fact that Damien was using physical power against a weapon made ofw energy, he kept up well.

    He was able to match a majority of the homunculus'' strikes. While his power fell short, his speed was able to barely match it.

    He used everything in his inventory to make it so.

    Whether it be something like precise mana usage to stimte his body or the most basic technique of using lightning to enhance reaction speed, Damien used it all.

    Because even the smallest effect still had effect. When everything stacked together and formed onebined buff, it gave Damien what he needed to stand toe to toe with a God.

    At least, a God that was restricted by its continued presence in the physical world.

    BANG!

    Damien blocked an attack, striking back in the same instant.

    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

    The homunculus used its spear of light to block every fuse he threw. With the sound of metal shing against metal, massive waves of force spread for tens of millions of kilometers, making the sky rumble dangerously.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    ''I can''t do any damage.''

    Damien and the homunculus moved so fast they were like shooting stars across the night sky. Watching from the ground, nobody could distinguish them from two light trails dancing together.

    However, this was a deadly sh, more so for Damien than the homunculus.

    No matter how he attacked, he couldn''t find a way to break through the homunculus'' defense. Even when he was able to strike its body, it felt more like he struck iron as a mortal.

    A nigh-imprable body and spear andw skills that were beyond what a normal genius could disy.

    The homunculus made the reason for its existence incredibly clear.

    And the thought Damien had as he tried to find a way to deal damage to it was¡­

    ''...is this what it''s like to fight me?''

    Disregarding his inability to deal damage, he was doing quite well.

    His body wasn''t as imprable as the creature''s, but it was pretty much the same.

    His skin and muscles burned several times, but they''d regenerate just as fast.

    The homunculus was definitely strong enough to injure him, but it couldn''t umte enough damage to kill him.

    ''It''s a stalemate.''

    Damien was slightly on the losing side, but for the most part, it was a stalemate.

    ''The thing is, I know how to kill it.''

    After fighting it for so long, he''d already seen through it.

    The soulless soul that powered the homunculus was the very key to defeating it.

    A soul without an ego, yet without another owner. It was an unnatural phenomenon, something disallowed by the Heavenly Order.

    Every soul had an identity. For a homunculus to be created was to remove that identity and rece it with something man-made.

    If Damien wanted to take it apart, he just needed to target that man-made aspect and use Existence to return it to nature.

    In that case, either the original ego would return, or the soul would be shattered, returned to the Wheel of Samsara.

    It was a foolproof strategy, but it wasn''t executable.

    Why?

    Because Damien didn''t have enough control over Existence.

    ''If I want to do that, I need to be in direct contact with its soul. I can''t do it as I please right now.''

    How could he get to its soul when he couldn''t even get through its body?

    That was the dilemma Damien was currently facing.

    And he didn''t see any proper solutions to the problem.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The battle in the sky became hard to ignore as it zoomed through the darkness.

    The fluctuations given off by the twobatants were monstrous, and the effects of their collisions eventually stopped affecting the sky alone.

    The ground rumbled and shook. Buildings got scarily close to crumbling, forcing people to crouch in corners and cover their necks, hoping they survived.

    Most of the Aerian army was forced to stay in the shelter of their strongholds, unable to handle the force of the mana radiating from the sky.

    However, the 12 Elders and the other Demigods among them immediately set out, helping as many people cope with the catastrophe as possible. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Damn.''

    Damien clicked his tongue.

    He noticed quickly when the sounds of panic reached his ears.

    ''I have to take the fight higher.''

    He flipped backward and let his mana follow his retreat.

    As the homunculus approached, he slightly lowered his body, and as it stabbed out with its spear, he sent an uppercut into its chin, sting out all the mana contained in his arm when he made contact.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    "Khhh¡­!"

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    The homunculus was thrown higher into the sky as he hoped, but he wasn''tpletely safe either.

    Its spear had punctured his shoulder as he focused onnding a hit.

    When it was thrown into the air, the spear ripped through his shoulder, leaving an open gash that was spurting out blood.

    Damien sent Void Energy into his shoulder as it healed, removing all the corrosive mana that was fed into him.

    At the same time, he pushed upward and met the homunculus several hundred thousand kilometers higher in the sky, at a location where their fight wouldn''t affect those uninvolved.

    Naturally, the homunculus didn''t care about where they fought. Its only order was to ughter the man standing in the sky. It didn''t have the intelligence to target the innocent to draw him in.

    Therefore, as it saw him approaching, it once again prepared to strike.

    Light gathered around the tip of its spear, swirling into a golden tornado.

    It pushed out, concentrating its strength into the swirling mana, and thrusted its spear.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive beam of light mmed into Damien and went straight through him.

    He was burned. Bad. The burns dug into his skin and bones, into the very cells that made up his body, and made sure not a single inch of his physical form remained unharmed.

    "FUCK!"

    Damien roared, but internally. His vocal cords were burned, so he couldn''t actually shout it.

    That hurt.

    A lot.

    But he wasn''t knocked out ofmission.

    Even in this state, the Ananta Matrix existed.

    And as long as the Ananta Matrix existed, he could fight.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    Mana gathered around his charred body.

    It carried traces of the world, traces of Existence, traces of the Void.

    Damien didn''t know what he was about to do.

    He was just gathering his mana and following his instinct to form it into an attack.

    But whatever was about to happen as a result of his actions¡­

    ¡­was going to be apocalyptic.

 Chapter 1422 Ambush [3]

    Chapter 1422 Ambush [3]

    Damien''s instincts.

    They had apanied him since his days in the First Dungeon, constantly improving and aiding him in his path to power.

    As he got stronger, he stopped relying on them. He didn''t need instinctive reactions when his intentional actions were enough to solve any problem.

    However, his instincts still appeared every once in a while.

    And every time they appeared, they led him to something amazing.

    Sometimes it was in the form of another person, sometimes it was an opportunity he never would''ve seening, and sometimes, it was a guiding hand that helped him manifest his power in the most effective way.

    Damien''s instincts never had time to help him in thest aspect because he wasn''t fighting people who couldn''t truly harm him.

    The current battle was different.

    Perhaps it couldn''t kill him, but the homunculus was truly a God. Damien had no way of confirming that it truly didn''t have any means to send him to hell.

    He''d been thinking for the entire battle. He responded as best as he could, but he never directly tried to take the upper hand, because he couldn''t find a way through the homunculus'' defense.

    Attacking without a target was simply pointless. What Damien did instead was corral the destructive entity and guide it to a ce where he could fight it without worry.

    After that, he only worked hard enough to keep it there.

    Until his instincts appeared to show him the way.

    He didn''t quite understand what he was doing.

    In simple terms, he gathered all his energy into his fists and got ready to release it, but that wasn''t nearly enough exnation to do it justice.

    The Divine Energy of the Heavenly World, the so-called "Demonic Energy" of the Foreign Races, and Damien''s exclusive Void Energy.

    These were the forces under his control at the moment.

    Each of them functioned differently, and they were absolutely independent forces that couldn''t bebined in any way.

    Damien had actually tried in the past, but he''d always failed. It seemed as if any time the energies were brought together, they''d repel each other instinctively.

    Void Energy was like glue. It had always functioned like that, even when he was a lower existence.

    But even Void Energy couldn''t glue itspatriots together.

    Or, well, that was Damien''s assumption after so many failed attempts.

    His thoughts were being challenged now.

    His burned body didn''t have much capability as it focused all its attention on healing, but as Damien continued to gather mana in his hands, something changed.

    Divine Energy and Demonic Energy appeared on his left and right respectively.

    Despite being inherently different, they were working in the same way. They supported Damien''sws, bing billowing heaps of mana that split the sky into two halves, one dark blue and the other crimson red.

    On the Divine side, Creation, Life, Time, and other concepts rted to or stemming from the aforementioned three resided. They created a calm yet ferocious energy, like a dormant volcano waiting for the moment to erupt.

    On the Demonic Side was theplete opposite. Destruction, Death, Space, and all other chaotic forces gathered together as one. Unlike the calm of its other half, it was a raging tsunami that annihted everything in the most destructive way possible.

    Damien stood in the sky, the mediator between these two energies.

    At this point, he wasn''t able to move at all. He was stuck regting the energy so it didn''t be catastrophic for those uninvolved as well.

    The homunculus wasn''t going to let him go easily either.

    Despite itsck of intelligence, it clearly senses the dangerous aura emanating from Damien''s body.

    It gathered its light spear once again and charged, letting loose a flurry of thousands of attacks.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The homunculus'' spear wasn''t as easy as it seemed.

    To the outside viewer, it was just a product of Light Laws. Even those more informed could only sense the Death Lawscing its every move.

    But there was a problem.

    This homunculus was not designed to fight "Damien Void."

    It was designed to kill Gods.

    This wasn''t the true extent of its power.

    It only used as much power as necessary based on its assessment of the enemy, but when Damien started gathering so much energy in one ce, it totally reevaluated his level.

    It started treating him as a genuine threat.

    Nothing changed in its appearance. Just like the Divine Order always did, they made sure the homunculus would never appear as anything other than holy in the eyes of others.

    However, another force entered its spear, hidden to all but other Gods.

    This force wasn''t something a Demigod could ess. One could say it was the trademark of Gods, the staple of their realm. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was this force that allowed them to enter the Heavenly God ne, and it was partly because of this force that their power was so great when their restrictions were lifted.

    An Edict.

    Edicts were promations from the Heavenly Order that acknowledged a God as a True Divinity.

    They were abovews and authorities, and while they were usually based on Divinities established during Cosmic Rebirth, they were esoteric and had far more power than anyone could imagine.

    Every God could only have one Edict, and that Edict wouldn''t change whether they liked it or not. Since Edicts came from the heavens themselves, it was impossible for an unnatural creation like a homunculus to have ess to one.

    At least, not normally.

    But this specimen, along with those created alongside it, was made with a Godly soul to begin with.

    Their Edicts didn''t get retracted because their egos were gone.

    Or did they¡­?

    In any case, since the homunculi were still in development, it was unknown what would happen if they used the Edicts of their past selves, but there hadn''t been a problem yet.

    Especially not with the homunculus fighting against Damien.

    Using an Edict in the real world had several consequences, but the homunculus didn''t care.

    It deemed Damien a threat worthy of such power, and it used that power without hesitation.

    The homunculus shot forward. It had made distance to prepare its next attack, but that distance was closed in an instant.

    Meanwhile, Damien''s eyes were still closed, his attention focused on the energies under his control.

    They created a natural barrier around him that blocked most of the homunculus'' prior attacks, but from the aura he was sensing currently, he didn''t think that would work anymore.

    ''I have to focus.''

    He had to tame these energies and follow his instincts. He had to figure out what they were telling him to do, and what the path forward was.

    Damien sunk into a deep state ofprehension where time hardly passed for him. The homunculus'' movements became sluggish in his perception, and the two colorful powers in his hands were made incredibly clear.

    He didn''t even notice his handsing closer together until this moment.

    But as he did, he finally got a clue.

    ''If I do something like that¡­''

    A grin appeared on his face.

    ''I see. It''s a loophole.''

    He finally understood what he was meant to do.

    The concept of harmony, along with Void Energy and rampant Existence Laws, entered the equation once again.

    This time, he was ready.

    ''This time, I''ll break through that indestructible body!''

 Chapter 1423 Ambush [4]

    Chapter 1423 Ambush [4]

    Duality.

    Damien always practiced with duality in mind.

    He never leaned too far to one side, because his path was one close to nature. Just like everything in the natural world had an equal and opposite, hisws were the same.

    Duality was an extremely important concept, not just to Damien, but in general, but it wasn''t a concept that could beprehended.

    It was an overarching truth on apletely different level than other concepts. Therefore, while Damien always kept it in mind, he was never able to harness the power of duality properly.

    But if he could¡­

    He knew it would create something amazing. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    For this move, he separated hisws and abilities into two equal and opposite parts. When he used everything he had, from Existence to the Void, to ease the tension between both sides and bring them together¡­

    VOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive pulse of mana spread through the sky, bringing light to the dark world.

    The homunculus was immediately pushed back before it could properly approach Damien with its Edict.

    His eyes opened, and their color changed to match the powers in his hands.

    Damien stood straight like a pencil. His palms turned in, and as if he was entering a praying position, he brought them together.

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    It was hard to describe the scene. Damien had trouble pushing his hands together, but every time they inched closer, the air would fluctuate, the sky would tremble, and the atmosphere itself would quiver as if anticipating the force that was to be released.

    Even the homunculus started to get desperate.

    Its limited intelligence only gave it ways to attack Damien.

    But no matter how it tried to attack, it was pushed away by the sheer density of the air around its target.

    It couldn''t approach.

    Its Edict was powerful enough to bend thews of reality, but it couldn''t be used carelessly in the real world.

    Therefore, such a power was to be saved until the proper moment.

    The homunculus'' thought process was not much of a process at all, but its intelligence did open up somewhat when it was put in an impossible situation.

    Its goal was unattainable if things continued this way.

    How was it to aplish its goal?

    As it searched its mind, it realized that it had to force Damien out of his current state. Otherwise, it would be struck by that dangerous force and dmissioned.

    But how could it bring Damien out of that state if it couldn''t touch him?

    Its first instinct was to attack the space around him.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Its spear struck out countless times, followed by tens of thousands of light beams that streaked through the sky.

    The air pressure was blown to pieces by the opposing force, but it returned to its previous density just momentster.

    The homunculus could definitely intrude into Damien''s space with this method, but it was too inefficient.

    Then¡­

    The homunculus didn''t understand human emotion.

    But it understood patterns.

    When it observed the surroundings and noticed how the humans from Void Pce were acting, when it finally noticed the happenings on the ground¡­

    Its thoughts became clear.

    If humans stood together, then all it needed to do was give the target a reason to leave his state sooner.

    And to do that¡­

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien''s awareness picked it up instantly, but he couldn''t move to stop it.

    The homunculus charged towards the ground. Its body mmed into the earth with such force that the wind tore down nearby structures.

    Innocent civilians were torn to shreds, the remnants of their bodies bing dye that colored the swirling tornado around the creature.

    It stood up, its wings pping lightly.

    It turned its head, looking out into the crowd around it.

    Whether it was the Void Pce Elders or a random farmer who happened to be in the wrong ce at the wrong time.

    ''We''re doomed.''

    They were not monsters.

    They could not stand up against a God.

    They''d seen the insane picture of Damien and the homunculus'' battle, so they were more than aware of what was about to happen to them.

    A spear of light appeared once more in the homunculus'' hands.

    Its tip widened and expanded until it was practically ance, the severity of itsws following the same process.

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Just the sight of the weapon being unveiled was enough to kill.

    Hundreds of people in the surroundings found their eyes melting, their bodies doing the same momentster.

    "Defend!"

    Perseus snapped out of his daze. He was as clear as anyone else on their weakness, but he couldn''t stand by in this moment.

    Using all his power, he pushed in front of the civilians and citizens of Aeria, roughly pouring mana out to create a shield that defended them.

    The other elders immediately followed him without a second thought.

    They were proud members of Void Pce.

    They would not act shamefully even if these were their final moments.

    There was no way for them to know it as they acted, but if they hadn''t put up the shield exactly at that moment¡­

    BANG!

    In a single instant, the homunculus'' spear became a star of its own.

    Its light and heat reached an immeasurable level, burning the surrounding ground into ash. The mana holding together the shields around it was burned, to the point where the 12 Elders almost fell instantly.

    However, one by one, the remaining Divinities in the crowd emerged to aid them, shouldering a portion of the burden.

    The force they were facing was blocked off from the people behind them, but they were forced to deal with the damage personally.

    Their skin and flesh burnt, bringing them endless pain, but they didn''t regret it.

    Their actions were not in vain.

    Because if they didn''t stand before that light, if it was allowed to reach the general popce who hadn''t reached Divinity¡­

    It would have killed several tens of millions of people in that single instant.

    What would''ve happened from that point forth didn''t need to be mentioned.

    They were content. Now, instead of ending in a massacre, only they would lose their lives.

    It was enough.

    They made peace with death, but they forgot one thing.

    They weren''t the only ones fighting.

    Holding back the light for that instant was all they needed to do.

    Just as they felt their power waning in the face of their opposition¡­

    RUMBLE!

    A furious quake spread through the sky.

    It had changed color yet again.

    It wasn''t ck. It wasn''t red or blue either.

    It was a perfect variation of silver-white that it had never been before.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath as he stared at the energy in his palms.

    There was only one remaining after all the others had beenbined.

    It wasn''t apletely urate depiction, but it was close enough.

    By utilizing Duality and everything at his disposal¡­

    Damien had created a loophole to ess Existence.

    ''This is what I''m working towards.''

    It was his first time seeing it in its full glory.

    His body was constantly crumbling under its weight. If it wasn''t for the Authority of Immortality, he would''ve died the instant it was created.

    It was amazing that something existed that could kill him so easily, but if there was anything with that kind of power, it was¨C

    ''¨CExistence.''

    And with its majesty¡­

    ''...I can kill that God.''

 Chapter 1424 Mana [1]

    Chapter 1424 Mana [1]

    Time stopped.

    The moment the silver light appeared in Damien''s hands, time became inconsequential.

    Damien was truly holding Existence.

    Everything else became negligible under its luster.

    Damien almost lost himself in it.

    His body was already turning into ash and rebuilding itself every instant. If his mind copsed as well, he''d kill himself before he even got the chance to use it.

    But it was truly wondrous.

    It made Damien forget his situation, forget his surroundings, and forget himself.

    It was all those things.

    It was everything.

    To hold a mana that truly represented all things in his hand gave him a feeling that was impossible to understand or describe.

    All he could think was, "This is my goal."

    He repeated it over and over again.

    Because this mana felt Absolute.

    ''Focus. Focus. Focus.''

    He finally got a grip on his mind after several seconds of nkly staring at the light. As he focused, he was finally able to see the outside world again.

    The blinding light let out by the homunculus became monochrome. The fearful expressions of themon people, the agonizing expressions of the Divinities, and the overall air of struggle were frozen in time, a perfect picture for Damien to view.

    ''What am I supposed to do with this?''

    This was existence.

    As he held it in his hands, he was given the freedom to do quite literally anything he wished.

    ''But the moreplex my desire, the more severe the consequences.''

    It wasn''t something he could use as he pleased.

    Still, he felt that simply killing the homunculus here was a waste of this power.

    ''What if I try to revive it?''

    What would happen if he brought its ego back and subordinated the homunculus?

    ''It would definitely be useful, but is it worth more than devouring it?''

    If he devoured it, he''d pretty much learn everything about the Divine Order that could be used to plot against them. It was far more efficient than information from someone else''s mouth could ever be.

    Yet, he didn''t want to leave things as they were.

    ''There must be something¡­''

    The area he could affect was only asrge as his perceptive range. He couldn''t do anything crazier than he already had.

    But maybe he could¨C

    ''I got it.''

    He suddenly had a genius idea.

    sh!

    Damien disappeared from the sky and appeared directly next to the homunculus.

    It was frozen in time. It couldn''t realize his presence at all, nor could its mana affect him.

    Damien was different. If he wanted to touch the frozen homunculus without awakening it, he absolutely could.

    He put his hand on its forehead.

    When he finally felt its skin like this, he realized how fake it felt. While it was a real living being, it felt more synthetic than anything else.

    ''Give it to me.''

    He didn''t know exactly what it was, but he wanted it.

    ''Give me your ability to enter the Heavenly God ne.''

    Damien was still at the lowest level of Divinity.

    As he''d discovered in the Forbidden Secret Realm, ascending to Godhood wasn''t something he could do any time soon.

    At least, he wouldn''t be able to do so until he gathered all six concepts of Existence.

    Since the first was in a secret realm that opened every few millennia, the others wouldn''t be easy to find either.

    He refused to stay in his current predicament for that long.

    The Heavenly God ne was the battleground of Gods. It wasn''t a ce he logically should''ve been entering yet, since he didn''t have the capabilities to fight Gods at all.

    However, he had several ideas about the ce, and more importantly, he wanted to know exactly what it was.

    ''If I can just enter the Heavenly God ne, I''ll be able to bring myself to a new level regardless of the pieces of existence. There''s something there. I don''t know what exactly it is, but there''s something there that I need to find.''

    He originally sensed it when he sensed the ne''s existence. It held secrets beyond anything Damien had seen before.

    If he wanted to unravel them and grow, he first needed to steal "something" from the homunculus.

    As for what that was?

    It was a power he wouldn''t have received even if he decided to devour it.

    Its Edict, its proof of Godhood.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The silver light in Damien''s hand brightened.

    As his wish was confirmed, it immediately went to work.

    It spread until it covered the homunculus, covered the Demigods beyond the mana barrier, and covered everything else in the Aeria Principality.

    First and foremost, it intruded into the homunculus'' soul. It stole the artificial being''s Divinity and extracted its Edict.

    But that wasn''t all it did.

    It healed the Demigods who stood up for themon people, it repaired all the damaged structures in the entire principality, it erased the bodies of the Divine Order soldiers who''d died previously, and even gathered the souls of the deceased innocents so they could be sent off properly.

    Everything Damien wanted to happen happened.

    Most of it was still secondary, because it took most of the Existence Mana Damien gathered to extract the Edict.

    And more importantly, to ce the Edict in his own soul without killing him.

    A Demigod''s soul wasn''t strong enough to hold something so powerful. Hypothetically speaking, a procedure like this one would demolish a Demigod''s soul, shattering it instantly.

    However, Damien''s soul was special. It took on the properties of the Void, which meant it could contain anything.

    When the Edict entered his soul, he got a strange feeling like a stranger was sleeping in his bed. It was unnatural, and while he could feel the Edict''s weight, it didn''t feel real to him.

    When his soul limated to its presence and started turning it into Damien''s power, he started to understand it more, but it still felt half-baked.

    ''Edicts¡­''

    He didn''t know much about them, honestly, but he got the gist of it.

    This homunculus'' Edict was called [Darkest Light].

    It was an ability disguised as light, but was truly an absolute darkness that consumed everything.

    Honestly, it was rtively useful for Damien, considering the nature of his abilities, but he didn''t quite understand why Edicts were so valuable.

    ''I guess I''ll find out when I devour it.''

    He nced at the homunculus.

    He thought the process of acquiring an Edict would be something grand. He thought the same about his first time killing a God. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    But in this moment, it felt minuscule.

    In front of the true weight of Existence, these events were nothing.

    He was still in the frozen world. The effects of his skill didn''t end yet, and likely wouldn''t end until he devoured the homunculus, thest action in themand he gave.

    ''Maybe, the second this ends¡­''

    Damien sighed.

    ''It''s not like I have the option to prolong it either.''

    He knew in his heart. This wasn''t something he''d be able to replicate easily.

    This might''ve been hisst time using this ability until he truly unlocked it.

    It wasn''t odd for him to wish he could stay in this space for a long time and simply understand it, but with the amount of Existence Mana Damien was able to produce, he only had a few more seconds at the maximum.

    ''Huu¡­then, let''s get it over with.''

    Damien held his hand out again, and as he gave themand, a pitch-ck mana flooded out of his body and cocooned the homunculus.

    That was it.

    Time resumed, all changes included in the true timeline.

    And Damien¡­

 Chapter 1425 Mana [2]

    Chapter 1425 Mana [2]

    Damien''s calmness left him the instant he returned to the real world.

    Even he didn''t realize it was a product of the Existence Mana.

    His brain didn''t have nearly enough power to behold the Existence Mana, let alone the ability to function while enduring it.

    Information rushed into his head in droves beyond droves.

    Everything that happened finally became real to him.

    The processes that had to take ce for his desire to be carried out were burned into his mind, almost shattering it with ease.

    And his mind wasn''t the only thing affected.

    His body practically turned into ash once and for all.

    In the eyes of everyone else when time resumed, Damien didn''t exist at all.

    It was as if everything returned to normal. The only clue to the fact that the events they experienced were real was their position and memory.

    Damien waspletely gone, but, in fact, he was right in the middle of them all.

    His body couldn''t bear the force of Existence in the slightest. It was already gone, down to thest drop of blood.

    However, Damien wasn''t dead yet.

    His Authority of Immortality allowed him to live under theplete destruction of his physical vessel. It could even rebuild that vessel, given some time.

    He was currently existing in soul form, in a ne nobody could sense, enduring pain beyond belief.

    Since his body couldn''t take the agony, his soul had to bear it all.

    Damien gritted his metaphysical teeth and endured it.

    It felt like he was being stabbed by ten thousand swords, burned by the brightest me, frozen to death, poisoned, drowned, and mmed against the ground at 100 miles per hour, all at the same time.

    Unbearable wasn''t even enough of a word.

    Existence was far beyond his capabilities. The loophole he''d created allowed him to use a mockery of its mana, but he wasn''t free from the consequences of acting outside his bounds.

    There was nothing he could do. His soul wasn''t capable of screaming or writhing to ease the pain, so he could only sit there and agonize silently.

    The days went by. The people left the battlefield to rebuild their homes, but when they returned, they realized that everything was in peak condition.

    Nobody saw their savior. They didn''t know what happened, but they remembered the star in the sky that was fighting the homunculus.

    So, under the leadership of the 12 Elders and the leaders of Aeria who protected the citizens from the light, they gathered what they could find of the dead and held funerals.

    Their next move was more militant.

    Regardless of the unexinable events that took ce, freeing them from the curse of the Divine Order''s presence, they were still at war.

    Since they had been graced with time, they entered a period of fortifying.

    To make sure the Aeria Principality wouldn''t fall again, they reinforced their defenses and truly created an army that would be famous throughout thends for its aplishments.

    But that was a story for another time.

    Damien''s torturested for three days before his body finally built itself back up.

    ''Pain is power is really a life-saving mentality.''

    He sighed to himself, happy to finally have a mouth back, and flew into the sky, concealing his presence.

    ''I did something crazy without realizing it.''

    His actions weren''t ideal in the slightest. If the Divine Order had even a little bit of intelligence, they''d definitely be on guard after something like this.

    Not only did one of their homunculi die, but it died in a strange way in a ce where it never should''ve died.

    ''I''ve put myself on a timer.''

    If the Divine Order started seriously considering Void Pce as an enemy, they''d have no choice but to cut their ns short and fight a war.

    ''I have to find the 2 Swords who disappeared in the next 15 days.''

    Damien had to teleport to Aeria without the help of teleportation arrays. He did so mostly because he wanted to give the people in the main pce more time to grow, but it was also because he had to hide his identity.

    He couldn''t be someone who had enough wealth to travel all the way to Aeria from the vicinity of the main pce in one go.

    Nevertheless, because of that, it had been 10 days since he left, which meant a total of 20 years had passed in the barrier.

    It wasn''t much time at all.

    ''I want to buy them at least a few more decades. Even if I''ve given them a method to speedrun Divinity, they still need around 50 years.''

    He was already doubting if they could truly do it, but if they didn''t even have enough time to try, what was the point?

    ''Let''s finish up quick and go back. I don''t have time to sit around.''

    Damien nced down at the Aeria Principality.

    His mana leaked out, creating twelve envelopes, which each drifted to a Void Pce Elder.

    It was an immediate summons to the main pce. They also mentioned that Aeria''s development would be properly managed by the pce so they could leave without worries.

    Since the problems were over, Damien left immediately.

    His next destination was deeper into Divine Order territory.

    ''It was a pain in the ass to digest through the pain, but I managed to learn a lot from the homunculus'' soul.''

    From the deepest schemes of the order to the most general information he needed to know, it was all present.

    Nobody held their tongues around lifeless dolls, so the amount of information the homunculus had stored in its existence was actually mind-boggling.

    Not only did Damien get a clue as to where he needed to go to find the missing Swords, but¡­

    ''...with this, I think I can find a way to save other homunculi when I meet them.''

    The prospects were limitless.

    ''But I''ll have to save most of those ideas forter. Right now, I need to find them.''

    The two Swords who disappeared weren''t justmon characters.

    No, they were the leader of Void Pce''s information division and one of their strongest swordsmen.

    Their power was absolutely necessary.

    ''But¡­''

    Damien frowned.

    ''...I''ll hope for the best.''

    There was something specific he learned from the homunculus'' memories.

    One specific fact that Damien didn''t want to acknowledge but was forced to stomach. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    If it was really as they said¡­

    "Haa¡­"

    He didn''t even want to think about it.

    He had to go regardless, and he had to find out for himself.

    As Damien set out for the Southwestern Region, he left behind many things in the south.

    Most of those things were already known, but he didn''t realize what he''d created in Aeria.

    He didn''t understand what kind of scene he caused.

    The Aerian people didn''t just build fortification structures and weapons during this time of preparation.

    They built a massive statue, visible from several dozens of kilometers away even by mortals.

    It was a picture of the homunculus that terrified and almost ughtered them, with its heart being carved out by a man covered in stars.

    This was the beginning of Damien''s second legend in the Heavenly World.

    The Legend of the God of War.

 Chapter 1426 6th Sword [1]

    Chapter 1426 6th Sword [1]

    Damien had quite a ways to travel, but it didn''t take nearly as long this time.

    Since he wasn''t near the main pce, his identity wouldn''t be questioned nearly as much, so putting on his Damien Grey disguise was more than enough to use teleportation arrays.

    The Southwestern Region''s culture was wildly different from the Southern Region.

    The architecture was more of a textbook Western style, and it was far more technological than one would expect from a religiously dominated society.

    The people of the Southwestern Region had unwavering faith in their god. It was to the point where a majority of the poption would likely be willing to sacrifice their lives in its name.

    The brainwashing had several negative effects on the people, but on society in general, it also had its positives.

    For instance, the technological development.

    With their united minds going towards a single cause without such thing as an opposing opinion, they were able to make rapid progress in several industries, namely daily conveniences.

    The cities of this region were extremely modern, reminiscent of Earth''s cities filled with skyscrapers and apartments that cramped millions of people into a small space with ease.

    There was a police force as well.

    The Divine Order was sneaky. Theymitted several atrocities, but many of them were done in the shadows.

    The people didn''t know they were being brainwashed. Such procedures would be done from birth, so it was impossible for them to even have the thought.

    Their lives were rtively normal as well. Besides the overwhelming amount of religious influence in their daily schedules, they lived like normal people.

    It could be said that their lives had been purposefully designed to not draw suspicion from the outside.

    But there was an air of uncanniness.

    As Damien traveled through the territory and ambled its cities, he could feel the difference between them and normal people.

    Though, he couldn''t quite put his finger on what exactly was different.

    The disguise was immacte. When the average person spent time in the Southwestern Region, they wouldn''t even realize the difference.

    And while the territory rarely had immigrants due to its heavy culture that most outsiders weren''t willing to ept, there were asionally those who decided to make the change and ended up indoctrinating themselves, bing part of the crowd.

    It was an insanely intricate scheme. Damien couldn''t even imagine the amount of time it took for it to be soplete and cyclical, to the point where it could likely never be broken.

    ''Still, I''ll have to break it.''

    Damien didn''t care what they chose to believe in, but the people who instilled those beliefs were not in their right minds.

    If, after the Divine Order was destroyed, the church they established could be continued under better leadership, Damien would absolutely choose that option over others.

    ''But we don''t even know if that''s possible yet.''

    Whether or not the people would be willing to make such a change¡­

    ''I guess I''ll find out soon enough.''

    Damien was already outside the big cities. He was currently in a small rural vige somewhere in the midwest of the region, standing outside a rundown cathedral that looked more than just out of ce in its surroundings.

    ''This is the ce.''

    He''d seen the location in the homunculus'' memories.

    It was one of many that had been in and out of this cathedral.

    After all, it was made here.

    ''This cathedral is said to be an ancient relic of a civilization before the Divine Order, one of many things that prove the existence of their god, however¡­''

    In reality, it was a front the Divine Order used to hide one of its many homunculus creation facilities.

    And Damien was about to enter it.

    He walked up the main stairs like someone who had no idea what he was doing, and as he expected, he was intercepted by a clergyman.

    "Is there anything I can help you with?" He asked, a weing smile on his face.

    His eyes were squinted, so it wasn''t easy to see his expression, but it was obvious he was eyeing Damien up and down, determining his purpose.

    "Ah, no, I''m in the Southwestern Region for a bit on work, so I thought it would be nice to sightsee."

    "I see¡­"

    It wasn''t rear. Damien''s excuse, no matter how in it sounded, was valid. People did indeed have to travel between cardinal regions for work fairly often.

    After all, each region had its own speciality, and several million people had been employed to help transport said specialties to everywhere they were desired.

    Damien had worked undercover for several years in the Eastern Region. For the sake of his convenience and hers, Yulia provided him a valid identity as a mercenary working for one of saidpanies, an identity that would be valid forever, or until the day they became enemies, as Yulia put it.

    He could easily show his ID card whenever it was needed, but it seemed the clergyman didn''t doubt his identity.

    "Allow me to show you the way. Our cathedral has quite a long history, so you may get bored along the way."

    "Don''t worry. I happen to have a great interest in different cultures, so this is great for me."

    Damien responded with the same cordial attitude, and without another word, the clergyman gave him a tour around the church.

    Various facts were mentioned, including the history Damien already knew.

    He was given the whole tourist experience, and he yed his part well in return.

    However, his goal was naturally different.

    ''I can''t enter in broad daylight this time.''

    He had to find his way down there and see if what he was looking for was truly there, and he needed to do it secretly.

    He''d heard the rumors as he traveled thends.

    People were predicting the war already. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    If themon people could sense iting, the higher-ups could too.

    But war between two great ns wasn''t something that could be initiated so easily.

    After all, they were too strong. If a war started, it would inevitably cause countless problems.

    Justification was necessary.

    Currently, Void Pce had it but was holding their hand.

    The Divine Order didn''t have it yet.

    Not in the slightest.

    But if Damien left any evidence of his actions here?

    If they were given the initiative?

    It wasn''t something he could allow.

    The entire time Damien took his tour of the cathedral, he was scanning the ce with his awareness. For extra safety, he even detached his awareness from his body and disguised its energy so it couldn''t be traced back to him.

    He didn''t find anything but rock for several thousands of kilometers under the cathedral, but eventually, the location revealed itself to him.

    ''I don''t see any specific way to get down there, but that''s better for me. I should be able to make it through teleportation.''

    It was unfortunate that he couldn''t see what was going on in the facility, only able to see where its roof was, but that was enough for now.

    Regardless of what he found down there, it would be a useful clue.

    ''Since there''s nothing else to do here, there''s no need to continue looking suspicious.''

    The tour was about to end, and he''d run out of time.

    "Thank you for the experience. It really was as interesting as I expected."

    The clergyman smiled and nodded, returning his empty words.

    Damien left without any problems, and for the rest of the day, he continued his tourist front without deviating even slightly.

    He could feel the eyes on him. They didn''t leave until night came and he found a ce to sleep.

    However, as Damien found, they hadn''t left at all. They''d waited, and when the next day dawned, they were once again on his tail.

    For the next three days, Damien was forced to maintain his facade.

    He checked in with some of Yulia''s people whom she had stationed in the nearest big city, affirming his identity once again, and when that was finally done, the shadows that followed him slowly drifted away.

    On the fifth day, he finally got his chance.

    And he capitalized on it.

    He arrived back at the cathedral in the dead of night, concealed by everything he could use.

    The infiltration would begin and end today.

    There was no room for mistakes.

 Chapter 1427 6th Sword [2]

    Chapter 1427 6th Sword [2]

    The cathedral was as crowded during the day as during the night.

    It was odd only because Damien knew what this ce really was. To others, nuns and clergymen residing in the cathedrals they spent their daily lives worshipping in. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    They were obviously all trained.

    Their auras were hidden behind severalyers of magic, but Damien saw through them all. Not a single person working in the cathedral right now was below the level of Divinity.

    Luckily, Damien didn''t need to deal with them.

    He could directly teleport into the facility from the sky where he was.

    It was far more difficult of a task than passing through the air, but his capabilities had increased since he firstnded in the Heavenly World.

    His teleportation wasn''t nearly as restricted, so in that one move, he was able to reach his desired destination.

    Blue light streamed up from the floor below and illuminated most of the facility.

    The ceiling was much higher than one would expect it to be with the amount of provided light, but about half the area was covered in darkness, and that was where Damien was.

    ''Okay, then¨C''

    Damien immediately halted his thoughts.

    ''They''re confident, aren''t they?''

    It took him a second to realize their presence.

    All around him, hanging from the ceiling suspended by chains several feet thick, were almost a hundred tubesrge enough to carry a human, filled with an aquamarine liquid that moved around inside like it was alive.

    ''Those are¡­''

    The ones hanging were just liquid, but the same structures existed on the ground as well.

    And those were not filled with liquid only.

    Inside each of them was a homunculus, cocooned in its own wings.

    ''Hmm¡­I''m definitely curious about the production method, but I can''t kill someone here yet.''

    Damien closed his eyes and created thousands of strands of awareness, using the same process to disguise them.

    They spread out, moving all throughout the facility as Damien could see it and finding any hidden entrances to other rooms.

    ''Wow. I knew it had to be big to be a research facility, but still¡­''

    The part Damien sensed from the surface was only the beginning.

    Through winding tunnels of pristine white were several dozens of rooms of simr sizes. Some of them were eerily empty, while others were filled with people in suits that encased their whole bodies, working on unknown projects.

    They were obviously important areas, but what interested Damien more were the dozens of lockedpartments that lined each one.

    His awareness couldn''t prate them at all, which could only mean they held something nobody was meant to see.

    ''I don''t see any important personnel here¡­''

    The people here were even weaker than the guards in the cathedral.

    Let alone a God, there wasn''t even a single Divinity in this ce:

    ''Maybe they''re also brainwashed bystanders.''

    Damien focused his awareness on a single individual, using it to enter their mind.

    ''Grey.''

    It was a sea without color.

    As expected, those working in these facilities were just arms and legs being controlled by another.

    ''It makes sense from their perspective. They''ve already been cautious to the maximum, but in the situation where they''re found regardless, none of their people will be implicated.''

    Gaining information or even trying to understand what was being done at these facilities was almost impossible unless one had a power like Damien''s.

    ''It still concerns me that there''s nobody here, but I''ll have to act first and thinkter.''

    He wasn''t here for homunculi.

    But he was here for someone who might''ve already be one.

    ''Rein Winchester.''

    Void Pce''s 6th Sword.

    He was one of their youngest, yet, he was also one of the strongest.

    From the conversations had by those officials in the homunculus'' memories, Rein had been transported to this facility roughly 10 years ago. Not a single word from him had been heard since then.

    Damien didn''t have much hope for the man, but he had to check the information despite that.

    Because on the off chance that Rein was alive, Damien abandoning him would''ve been the worst possible choice.

    ''I''m not exactly sure about how they make homunculi, but they''ll likely use soul torture to get all the information about Void Pce that they''d possibly need out of his mouth before they convert him.''

    That would be the worst-case scenario.

    On this expedition, Damien would either save a Sword or learn that the enemy knew all of his weaknesses.

    The stakes were quite high.

    ''I should start searching.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    He didn''t know a good way to enter the sealedpartments through normal means, but he already had a solution.

    He could use the same method he used in the Ancient Battlefield.

    By phasing into the surrounding earth and keeping himself in an immaterial state, he could travel without boundaries.

    The Ancient Battlefield was a piece of the Heavenly World that broke off. If he could do it there, he had more than enough power to do it here.

    With his newfound mana capacity, it wasn''t as much of a trying task as he thought it would be: he was able to enter the earth, move through it, and find a way to phase back into the sealedpartments without much difficulty.

    But he didn''t find anything worth his attention.

    They were mainly filled with corpses. There was no racial specificity to them, nor was there anything to indicate a pattern.

    They were corpses of anything and everything that could be killed, of any gender, of any age.

    Thepartments were filled to the brim with them. It wasn''t like the Divine Order had no way to get rid of these corpses, which could only mean¡­

    ''...there''s something more being done than just the creation of homunculi. There''s a greater goal at y.''

    Damien so desperately wanted to find out what was going on, but, again, he wasn''t able to.

    ''It fucking sucks, but there''s nothing I can do. When I have the fate of my entire homnd on my shoulders, I have to be more cautious than ever.''

    He had to suppress his personality for now.

    He was not Damien Void, the wanderer.

    He was Damien Void, the Young Lord of Void Pce.

    That was the man who, after searching through 23 sealedpartments, finally entered one that was free of corpses.

    It was apartment inplete darkness like the rest, the smell just as musty and rancid as a room filled with dead bodies.

    But there was only one body present here.

    A barely living one, skin and bones that clearly had not been given any sort of humane treatment in ages.

    That body was shackled to the wall by its wrists and ankles, and while it was easy to mistake it for a corpse¡­

    ''...he''s still breathing.''

    An aura of life.

    Along with another aura that barely existed anymore.

    The air of Divinity that came from this man''s barely surviving soul.

    It was Divinity with a trace of something Damien not only recognized, but became very familiar with over the past 10 years.

    This was the man Damien had been looking for.

    This was Rein Winchester.

    Or at least, what was left of him.

 Chapter 1428 7th Sword [1]

    Chapter 1428 7th Sword [1]

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien didn''t know what he expected, but it wasn''t this.

    ''Why would they keep him alive like this?''

    He couldn''t think of a reason why this man wasn''t dead already.

    From his state, it was obvious that his soul had been tortured to a near-death state. With that, Damien didn''t need any more answers.

    ''I don''t know how much they know, but if it came from a Sword, it has to be significant.''

    Damien frowned. His mind went through dozens of thousands of possibilities as he tweaked his ns for Void Pce.

    ''It won''t be nearly the same as it used to be. It might cause trouble if I try to do something so radical, but it''s the best option for us.''

    "Granted, that''s only if we have time."

    Damien shook his head.

    He was instantly disappointed by what he found here, but he was going to salvage his experience as much as possible.

    He walked forward and put his palm on the top of the corpse-like man''s head.

    Despite the direct contact, Rein showed no signs of awareness.

    His ego was probably already gone. What was left here was a soulless soul just like a homunculus had, but this one had yet to be instilled with a purpose. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''The only positive about being in this state is that I can do to them as they did to us.''

    Rein''s soul didn''t have an ounce of strength to resist Damien''s intrusion. He didn''t have to kill Rein to read the memories of his existence.

    Damien closed his eyes, setting up precautions so he''d be notified if anything special happened on the outside, and sent his senses into Rein''s soul.

    He read every memory from the start. He saw how Rein grew, how he served and worshipped Void Pce, and how he ended up captured.

    "Haa¡­"

    He felt Rein''s pain with his own soul as he experienced the memories firsthand, but Damien didn''t crack. Unlike the average person, he''d endured soul torture several times since he was young. He wouldn''t break from this much.

    ''Regardless of what happened, he deserves to be respected.''

    Damien couldn''t feel anything but sympathy for Rein after seeing what he''d been through, as well as his fierce loyalty towards the pce.

    This was a man worthy of the title "6th Sword" in his youth. For him to die like this¡­

    ''...it''s a bit of a shame.''

    Putting aside his posthumous contribution, which gave Damien a clear idea of how the Divine Order was operating, Rein''s hundreds of contributions to the pce without any sort ofpensation or rewards were more than enough for Damien to take note of him.

    Someone like this was absolutely necessary to a big influence.

    ''But even I can''t heal a body like this. His soul, though¡­''

    Damien had a sudden idea.

    ''His soul can be fixed.''

    There were hundreds of perfect vessels outside, and Damien happened to have the knowledge of how to transfer a soul to another body.

    ''Perfect. I''d been wanting to find out about the homunculus production, so this ties together well.''

    ncing at Rein, Damien sliced his finger through the air, producing a small tear in space that shattered the imprisoned Sword''s shackles.

    ''I don''t want to take his soul out prematurely in its current state, so I''ll just take him with me for now.''

    Damien grabbed Rein and sent his mana into the air to transfer him to the Sanctuary.

    However, at that moment, the entire facility shook.

    RUMBLE!

    Damien''s senses went on alert. He quickly retracted his mana and kept his mind focused on the strands of awareness he had spread throughout the area.

    His eyes opened to a new scene,pletely different from the pristine research environment he''d seen previously.

    "Fiends! Die by my hand!"

    A booming voice struck the walls and caused them to shake.

    In the middle of the room Damien entered through, the one directly under the cathedral, there was now another man.

    Unlike Damien, he was taking a more direct approach. The ceiling was caved in as if he''d destroyed the ground down to the hidden facility. There were no signs of a cathedral on the surface at all.

    The pods filled with homunculi were destroyed, from the most developed ones to the ones that were still fluids, and the entire room was now a mess of dust and debris.

    The cause of the damage was just one man.

    He had short, spiky blonde hair and bright red eyes. He held a massive greatsword in his hands, which he swung endlessly, destroying everything in his path.

    He rapidly made his way through several facilities, utterly decimating them, until he finally reached the one Damien was in.

    ''All the researchers are being killed, and all the research is being destroyed. This guy is¡­''

    BOOOOOOOM!

    An explosion rocked the sealedpartment.

    ''He''ll be here soon.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    The room had already been cleared.

    Each sealedpartment was being torn open and destroyed.

    The man got endlessly closer to Damien, but Damien didn''t move.

    He could''ve escaped to the Sanctuary, but he chose not to.

    It was a terrible decision.

    The man outside was not someone he could handle.

    He needed to use Existence Mana at a heavy price in order to kill a homunculus that emted their power.

    So how could he ever think about matching up against a real God?

    Still, he didn''t move.

    Instead, he took Rein''s body onto his back and carried it.

    He kneeled down on the ground, and by the time his sealedpartment burst open¡­

    BANG!

    Damien mmed against the wall, using his side so the man on his back didn''t take the brunt of the force.

    He coughed a mouthful of blood, quickly standing up and wiping it off.

    His eyes came in contact with another pair, one that looked at him with curiosity and a hidden darkness.

    "You¡­are not one of them."

    The man spoke strangely, and his eyes slowly warmed.

    "I see¡­I see¡­!"

    His expressionpletely changed, and even tears began to subtly form in the corners of his eyes.

    "There were still people on our side¡­!"

    He was practically mumbling to himself with no particr target in mind.

    However, he quickly straightened himself and calmed his expression.

    "I don''t know who you are or who you work for, but now isn''t the time for us to talk. They''ll be here soon."

    Damien red at the man distrustfully.

    "Who are you?"

    "Hmm¡­we don''t have much time, but I''ll give you a short introduction."

    The man walked forward, putting his hand on Damien''s shoulder.

    Naturally, Damien couldn''t resist.

    "I am Void Pce''s 7th Sword, and the man in your arms is my colleague."

    BOOOOOOOM!

    A sound came from the entrance of the hole the so-called 7th Sword had created.

    "Shit, they''re already here."

    He clicked his tongue and nced down at Damien.

    "Juste with me for now. We can talk in detailter."

    Damien nodded shakily without much of a choice, and without another word, the man took out his sword and shed upward.

    A massive amount of mana was unleashed from his body, and with that single sh, the earth was evaporated into nothingness in all directions, creating another huge hole that led to the surface.

    With Damien still grabbed by the shoulder, he shot into the air, flying dozens of millions of kilometers per second.

    Throughout this whole interaction, including the quick escape, Damien remained rtively silent, secretly protecting Rein''s body with his mana.

    His eyes did not soften because he was with the "7th Sword," nor did he feel some sort of relief.

    No, rather, it was the other way around.

    Currently, Damien was having a very, very, very, very, very hard time keeping his bloodlust hidden.

 Chapter 1429 7th Sword [2]

    Chapter 1429 7th Sword [2]

    Void Pce''s 7th Sword, Giovani Perera.

    Maybe nobody else would know, but Damien was well aware of where Giovani was supposed to be right now.

    His mission was nowhere near this region. He was supposed to be at least 100 trillion kilometers away. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    For him to reach here wasn''t impossible, but how did he know Rein would be here?

    No, before that, how did he even know Rein had been taken?

    He surely hadn''t been in contact with the main pce.

    Then, wasn''t there only one source remaining for him to learn it from?

    There wasn''t much suspense to it. Damien knew Giovani had switched sides from the moment he first devoured the homunculus.

    Giovani was heavily involved in the process of their creation. He wasn''t just someone who''d converted sides recently. He''d clearly been in bed with the Divine Order for a very long time.

    As for the current situation?

    Damien had been discovered. It was that simple.

    They definitely didn''t know Damien''s identity yet, but the fact that an intruder would be aiming for the cathedral facility probably spread to the higher-ups.

    They definitely didn''t know Damien''s identity yet, but the fact that an intruder would be aiming for the cathedral facility probably spread to the higher-ups.

    After that, Giovani was dispatched to deal with it.

    His identity was quite special, after all.

    If he destroyed the homunculus facility and killed everyone involved, the Divine Order wouldn''t have to take responsibility for what was taking ce there and his actions could be disguised as heroism.

    And, if his identity as a Sword of Void Pce was used as leverage, the destruction of the cathedral and murder of its personnel could be used as reasoning for the Divine Order to take extreme measures.

    All they had to do was dip their toes into the mess a little and control the spread of information, and everything Giovani did would be their benefit, not a loss.

    ''They must think we won''t be able to respond.''

    Wherever Damien and Rein were being taken right now would likely be an execution ground made for them.

    As they were thest evidence of the truth, they''d be put down.

    However, Damien had other ns for this traitor.

    ''Just wait until we reach that grave you''ve prepared.''

    He''d made a n to deal with Giovani from the moment he left the Aeria Principality.

    All he needed was a moment of opportunity.

    Since Giovani was providing it so kindly himself instead of forcing Damien to look for it¡­

    ''...I''ll use your stage to show you what betrayal feels like.''

    ***

    Giovani flew at the speed of a God, covering vast distances in a single leap.

    He protected Damien from the winds he caused by using his mana, but he left a little gap open for Rein''s body to be damaged, as if he wanted to create an excuse to kill him.

    Damien patched that hole, of course, but he also created a wound on Rein''s body so Giovani wouldn''t notice.

    The only difference was that the wound Damien made wasn''t fatal. He would make sure this body didn''t die until he found a new container for its soul.

    Tens of billions of kilometers passed by like a breeze. It was hard to feel the distance, but by the time theynded in a coliseum-like structure that existed dead in the middle of nowhere, they''d crossed nearly half of the Southwestern Region.

    Thud!

    Giovani tossed Damien roughly, making him fall to the ground.

    "We''re here."

    His words were short, unlike his previous demeanor, but he didn''t seem ready to drop his disguise quite yet.

    "What''s the situation of the main pce? Is everything okay?"

    He sounded concerned, and he was. After all, somebody hade to save Rein, and it wasn''t someone he recognized.

    Of course, that person only had the strength of a Demigod, but the fact that the main pce was sending out people for matters like these was still rming.

    Nobody ever underestimated Void Pce''s strength, especially not Giovani, who was a part of it for most of his life.

    Any odd move they made would be observed by the entire world.

    Then, one could ask, if he was aware of the pce''s hidden strength, then why did he choose to betray it?

    The answer was simple, butplicated to exin.

    In as few words as possible, he had an obsessive personality.

    He wasn''t some kind of lecher, nor was hepletely evil, but he was obsessed with artificial life.

    And more than that, he was obsessed with blood.

    Void Pce wasn''t an influence that had trouble often. Even if he only wanted to kill other practitioners rather than innocent civilians, even if he was okay with saving his sword for those who were evil, he wanted to kill.

    The Divine Order was simply more equipped to hold him.

    They could give him the blood he desired from their countless enemies and the wars they waged.

    And they could satisfy his craving for artificial life, his craving for a true immortal body.

    He didn''t have bad feelings for Void Pce. He quite liked the ce, actually.

    ''But what does that matter?''

    Giovani nced down at the people he''d brought with him.

    One was once his colleague, and the other was a weakling.

    ''They expect me to stay with them?''

    Giovani saw how Rein acted when he was captured. He was part of the capturing team.

    Rein was someone with an undying loyalty to the pce. No matter what was done with him, he never let loose an ounce of rebellion against them.

    Even when they tortured his soul, they barely got any information.

    He was like a fortress made to protect the pce.

    And that¡­

    ''...it''s disgusting.''

    He still remembered the sight.

    That blind faith Rein had reminded him of the citizens of the Southwestern Region.

    To him, Rein was just another person indoctrinated by a stronger being.

    He hated the thought. He hated the mentality.

    He was loyal, sure, but he cared for himself more than anything else.

    Rather than being a part of an influence that built its foundation on that kind of loyalty, he felt morefortable in the presence of those who used each other for their own benefit.

    At least that kind of people would act predictably in the crucial moment.

    Nevertheless, he''d sold his soul to the Divine Order, and as he provided them with information about Void Pce and worked under their orders, he enjoyed everything they gave him in return.

    This time, he was going to truly be a member of the order.

    His old identity as the 7th Sword would be sacrificed, and he''d be reborn under a different name and appearance.

    And for that to seed, these two weaklings needed to die.

    Damien had responded to Giovani''s question as he got engulfed in his thoughts. It was something along the lines of, "It''s tough, but we can manage."

    Whatever it was, Giovani didn''t care to hear it.

    He was a member of the Divine Order now. This kind of acting was unfit for him.

    Instead, couldn''t they just torture the Demigod and extract information from his soul?

    ''That sounds far more convenient.''

    Giovani nced at Damien and Rein.

    ''First things first¡­''

    He raised his hand in the air.

    ''...let me kill that pest of a Sword.''

    L

 Chapter 1430 7th Sword [3]

    Chapter 1430 7th Sword [3]

    Giovani''s hand shed out before anyone could react.

    He was precise, powerful, and left no room for mistakes.

    If everything went ording to n, Rein would''vepletely died there and the little Demigod next to him would have followed.

    However, that "little Demigod" wasn''t so little after all.

    Damien couldn''t react to a God''s strike yet, but he was more than capable of reading microexpressions from this distance.

    The second Giovani showed signs of hostility, he acted.

    He was perfectly on time.

    sh!

    A sh of light appeared in the world, blinding Giovani for a moment. The sh soon expanded into a whole explosion as it reacted with the elements in the air.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A cloud of dust rose in the air between Damien and Giovani.

    In that moment, multiple things happened.

    Firstly, Rein disappeared.

    It was far too dangerous to keep his withered body in the Heavenly World for now, so Damien sent him to the Sanctuary where his soul would be cared for by Alexander and his body would be sustained.

    Secondly, another person arrived to rece Rein.

    Most of those things that happened were caused by him.

    Damien didn''t have much to do. He didn''t have the qualifications to interfere in what came next.

    He stepped back, watching as the new man appeared, his sword just inches from Giovani''s throat.

    Giovani barely blocked with his own sword, but if he had reacted a second toote, his head would''ve been gone already.

    "...Niks!" Giovani eximed.

    "It''s been a while, Seventh."

    The man named Niks spoke with a stoic tone.

    "I was curious as to why the Young Lord suddenly summoned me, but it seems you were the reason."

    "Young Lord?! Who¨C"

    Giovani''s eyes went to Damien immediately, only to see the man waving back with a cheerful smile on his face.

    "Giovani, I knew you were a bit special, but I never expected you to turn traitor."

    BOOM!

    Niks pushed strength into his arms, finishing through on the strike Giovani blocked.

    Of course, he was parried instantly. Giovani redirected his sword into the ground as he made several steps of distance.

    He almost lost because he was caught off guard, but he''d roughly understood the situation by now.

    Void Pce''s faceless Young Lord had finally appeared, and he came to save Rein while also being fully aware that he was a traitor.

    And, instead ofing alone like an idiot, said Young Lord brought the 2nd Sword of Void Pce, Niks Faust, with him.

    "Since it''se to this¡­"

    It was toote to try anything like justification or fleeing.

    Niks was known by the title of "shpoint Sword God" without reason.

    Among Gods, there were barely any who could outmatch him in a bout of speed.

    His sword skills obviously didn''t need to be mentioned either. He was far better than the likes of Rein or Giovani.

    It could be said that he was on apletely different level.

    However, Giovani wasn''t the same person anymore either.

    He''d done a lot of work for the Divine Order in the past few centuries, and over that period of time, they''d rewarded him with several things that helped him increase his strength.

    On top of that, he found that as he spilled more blood, the insights he''d gain into his sword path became far more numerous.

    He was now traversing a path that suited him, so he made progress faster than ever before.

    Even if it was Niks, he wouldn''t go down easy.

    ''I don''t want to take things to the Heavenly God ne yet.''

    Before that, he needed to find out how his skills fared against the 2nd Sword.

    The same 2nd Sword who was currently watching his every move with a cid expression on his face.

    At first, Niks didn''t understand why Damien decided to bring him along.

    The request really came out of nowhere.

    Damien spent a lot of time getting to know the 6 Swords who were currently in the main pce and understanding them.

    For the most part, they''d epted his lordship and had expressed their sincerity towards him in various ways.

    He, in turn, showed them the same sincerity, never belittling their position or trying to force them to work for him against their will.

    When he came to Niks before leaving the pce, he didn''t really specify "why" he needed protection or "where" they were even going.

    Still, Niks followed along to see what kind of person the Young Lord was outside the pce, and Damien happily allowed him to watch,

    From the beginning, Niks had been privy to his every movement through screens in the Sanctuary that provided him a real-time view of what was happening in the outside world.

    Damien''s sh against the homunculus put him on the edge of his seat, and while the imagery cut off for a moment at the end, leaving him no clues to understand how the homunculus ended up dead, he was still thoroughly impressed with Damien''s performance.

    Regardless of how it died, it was still at the level of a God.

    However, even that raised questions.

    Why did Damien need him if he was nning to risk himself and face Gods himself?

    It turned out that Damien was never arrogant.

    He never tried to fight someone who could truly utilize their Godly abilities.

    And when the time came, even though that person was once an ally, he ruthlessly pulled the trigger, bringing Niks back to the Heavenly World.

    In Niks'' mind, the facts were clear.

    The Young Lord was absolutely an amazing candidate for his position, and would make a spectacr Lord when he got the chance. He was a man who could instill hope into the dying pce and bring it the glory it deserved.

    As for Giovani? It didn''t matter how long they''d known each other.

    He was a traitor, so the only thing he deserved was death.

    Not a quick one, but one specially curated for filth like himself.

    It was amusing to see Giovani try to think his way out of the situation.

    In his eyes, the young buck would always be the young buck.

    No matter how much he trained in his bullshit bloody ughter techniques, they wouldn''t amount to anything.

    The Giovani he knew was a man who reached the limit of his potential and became obsessed with forceful growth through artificial means.

    A man like that, even if he gave off an aura like the one Giovani had now, would never be anything worth a cent.

    Frankly, this fight was decided from the moment Niks appeared. The title of 2nd Sword meant more than Giovani could ever know.

    However, Niks was a bit skeptical.

    Not because he doubted his own abilities, but because the Young Lord seemed to have another crazy idea.

    His orders were simple.

    "Find a way to lure Giovani into the Heavenly God ne."

    It was easy to aplish, barely even a task.

    But what he said next was¡­

    "Once you do that, the fight will be over. You don''t have to waste energy on scum."

    Niks didn''t know what the Young Lord meant, but he was quite interested to find out.

    So, without giving Giovani another moment to think his way out of this situation, he attacked.

    From that moment, Giovani became nothing more than a puppet.

    He was just dancing stupidly on a stage that he had yet to realize had been prepared for him.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 1431 7th Sword [4]

    Chapter 1431 7th Sword [4]

    Giovani didn''t really have the extra space to pay attention to him after that original nce, but Damien was still smilingly watching the proceedings from the side.

    ''I didn''t think it''d turn out like this when I brought Niks. I was really preparing for a direct confrontation with the order, but it''s good that it turned out this way instead.''

    It really wasn''t, but he was telling himself that to feel better.

    Honestly, Damien didn''t care much about the traitor. He hadn''t been with the pce for very long, so he didn''t feel any sort of connection with the people there aside from those who were family yet:

    He was building that connection with the Swords that remained, but the rest of them were just strangers to him.

    Why would he care about a stranger?

    Giovani was just a target for elimination in his eyes, and since he brought a weapon to do the eliminating part for him, he didn''t have to pay it any more mind.

    However, Giovani presented a variable farrger than himself.

    ''The Divine Order was supposed to be a small problem, but it''s looking like it''ll be anything but. At this rate, I don''t even know how we''re going to confront the three-pronged assault we''re currently facing.''

    The Divine Order''s power was more manageable, but with the information they had, they became a demon on the same level as the Straea n.

    ''The Divine Order was supposed to be a small problem, but it''s looking like it''ll be anything but. At this rate, I don''t even know how we''re going to confront the three-pronged assault we''re currently facing.''

    The Divine Order''s power was more manageable, but with the information they had, they became a demon on the same level as the Straea n.

    Damien was able to act covertly against the Divine Order because of their proximity and his disguises, but his facade wouldn''t be able tost once the Straea n caught wind of what was happening.

    They never showed any direct kinship with the order, but as they were both working towards the same goal, it wouldn''t be strange for them to start sharing the same bed.

    ''That''s absolutely uneptable.''

    The current road map for Void Pce couldn''t allow such an event to take ce.

    ''The problem once again boils down to howte I got here.''

    The situation was already in full swing. Damien was the one intruding when it was practically already at its foregone conclusion.

    The alliance he feared was likely already a thing.

    Which meant¡­

    ''...not only do I have to pull the Veritas n in a lot earlier than expected, but I''ll have to bring out a wild card as well.''

    Damien sighed.

    He missed the frontline. Being able to just fight and solve all his problems that way was far more entertaining than spending most of his time nning for the future.

    ''But on the bright side, once this is all over with, I''ll be able to run wild without anything to stop me.''

    He looked towards the future with hope, and as ns rapidly formted and came together in his mind, Niks also managed to do his job properly.

    It took a while to convince the unruly Giovani that he wasn''t going to cut it in the Heavenly World, no pun intended.

    By the time he stopped swinging at Niks, his sword had already dulled. Let alone cutting a God, with the way Niks left it, it wouldn''t even make a good kitchen knife.

    "Fine."

    Giovani spoke through gritted teeth.

    "Meet me in the Heavenly God ne."

    Niks smiled in response.

    "As you wish."

    The two held their swords pointed at the ground and stood just a few feet apart, facing each other.

    Their mana swarmed forward, creating two unique territories that surrounded them and influenced all the energy in a several dozen million-kilometer area.

    Their minds and souls were transported into another ne. As for their bodies¡­

    "Ah, it''s my time to shine."

    Damien stood up and casually walked up to where they stood.

    Neither of them could recognize his presence anymore. Their battle was likely continuing in full swing in the Heavenly God ne, at a level Damien couldn''t even fathom yet.

    But that wasn''t any of his business.

    They were only here to eliminate a traitor, not to show off.

    He found out he could do it in the Forbidden Secret Realm, but back then, he wasn''t fully equipped to deal with the aftermath.

    This time, however, he had reliable backup.

    Damienbined the forces in his control, creating the pubescent version of Existence Law that he''d been learning to master.

    Just as he didst time, he approached the enemy God''s body and prepared all his mana without restrictions.

    He didn''t aim at the head this time. As he''d found, it didn''t actually do much damage.

    Instead, he used his freedom of movement to thoroughly scan Giovani''s body and find out how he moved his mana.

    That was Damien''s target.

    With nothing left to do but strike, Damien did exactly that.

    He let loose all his mana, locked on to the systems it needed to attack.

    There was no explosion, but there was a heavy sound that rocked the surrounding structure.

    "KAHAK¡­!"

    Giovani was instantly disconnected from the Heavenly God ne.

    His soul and senses returned to the body, only to start coughing up heaps of blood soon after.

    "WHO?!"

    He tried to send out a wave of mana in every direction just to push back whoever attacked him, but he found that his mana was a lot more sluggish than he remembered it being.

    It didn''t affect him in the long run, but in that moment, he found himself unable to move mana properly.

    He was temporarily crippled.

    And the opponent he left in the Heavenly God ne wasn''t just going to sit around and wait for him.

    Niks exited as soon as he realized Giovani''s oddity. Just like the other man, the first thing he saw when he arrived back in the Heavenly World was blood being coughed up.

    He didn''t quite get it, but he wasn''t just going to waste an opportunity.

    He gripped his sword and moved it to his waist, still sheathed.

    Only a single movement was made from there.

    One, extremely clean, almost impossibly fast, sword strike.

    Niks was on the other side of the coliseum before anyone knew it.

    As for Giovani¡­

    Everything went still for a second.

    Sixteen sword shes appeared in the air as one, all ovepping with different parts of Giovani''s body.

    It was a brutal scene.

    They seemed to enact themselves in a sort of rhythm.

    For instance, there were four shes on each of Giovani''s arms. Before the ones closer to the shoulder actually cut their target, the ones on his forearm and wrist would cut first.

    Before Giovani''s legs were severed, his toes, ankles, and knees were shed first.

    They were sword shes perfectly executed so Giovani would feel the pain wrought by each and every one individually without fail.

    "AAAAARGH!"

    A sound of pain.

    Thud!

    A limbless body dropping to the ground.

    If Giovani stopped struggling and focused, he''d have found that his mana was already moving as it did previously.

    He had the option to flee or somehow fight back if he wanted to.

    However, it was toote for him even if he did realize it.

    Niks wasn''t one to revel in things like this more than he needed to.

    His sword went back into its sheath on his waist. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Another perfect sh was made.

    And Giovani''s body became a small hill of meat chunks.

    Damien stepped in at that point and devoured his soul as if it was just another Monday morning.

    That was the end of the traitor known as Giovani Perera.

 Chapter 1432 Cooperation [1]

    Chapter 1432 Cooperation [1]

    Damien wasn''t going to leave any problems unsolved.

    Right now, the traitor was dead, but the Divine Order''s scheming wasn''t so shallow that it could end with just this.

    Whether they had Giovani or not, they had the ability to use the 7th Sword as an excuse now.

    Giovani had been specifically loud about his actions for that exact purpose.

    Damien didn''t really care about the actual act of destroying the evidence.

    From the moment he decided to stand against the Divine Order, they were fated for destruction. He didn''t actually need the homunculi as some sort of justification to make that a reality.

    The only part that mattered was Giovani''s presence.

    That was where his n hatched from.

    First things first, he took Giovani''s severed head and sent it into the Sanctuary along with a message.

    Damian, Damien''s second Avatar, took the head and the message to the main pce through the Sanctuary connection with Rose and the rest.

    That happened within a second, and within the next few minutes, everything else was already set up.

    The ce had just been cleaned up, but the heads of the 16 traitorous Elders were already reced with someone new.

    When themon popce woke up in the morning, they''d eventually see it.

    Giovani''s head disyed on a stake, apanied by a stele dered his sins.

    With that, Void Pce not only had a response prepared for the deration that the Divine Order would soon put out, but they also had an alibi for what came next.

    The days were allowed to pass quietly for a bit after that.

    As expected, the Divine Order tried to me Void Pce for the cathedral''s destruction and hid information about what was actually taking ce there. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    However, Void Pce''s 7th Sword was also announced dead around the same time, his head serving as clear evidence that nobody could deny.

    Controversy naturally brewed from the two extremely differing testimonies, with many unsure about who was in the right.

    But everyone knew that this was the start of something big.

    Actually, it had already started with this move.

    With this, not only did Void Pce confirm their open hostility, but the Divine Order also realized that pce members were moving in their territory to take down the schemes they''d spent years putting into ce.

    In the days after the two great ns made their stances known, countless people spoke about the events they made so big, and opinions continued to split.

    But that wouldn''t remain the case for very much longer.

    Hidden in the shadows, Damien moved fast and precisely while all of this was underway.

    With the memories he devoured from Giovani, he gained the location of several homunculus development facilities all around the Southwestern Region.

    After giving Niks a separate task, he started moving towards the nearest of said facilities.

    Beginning at those near the cathedral and spreading further and further into the Southwestern Region, Damien infiltrated over fifty facilities.

    But he didn''t destroy them immediately.

    He was now going to make the Divine Order''s excusepletely fall apart.

    After all, the 7th Sword was dead, but now, countless facilities disguised as historical monuments were going to fall.

    It was a bitedic that the order made every facility under a religious building. It gave Damien the perfect reasoning to disguise his actions as those of a religious hate group.

    Damien had an absolute advantage.

    His use of several differentws meant he could, by himself, emte a group of Divinities with a variety of powers and styles.

    But he waited first.

    He needed Niks to leave the Southwestern Region before he could start.

    He got confirmation about that after about a week. Since Niks was in the clear, there was no need to hesitate anymore.

    It began on one fateful night.

    Out of nowhere, a massive explosion erupted from the local church in another small city.

    mes burned through everything, decimating the church and leaving a hole so deep nobody could see the bottom of it.

    The mes stayed contained within the church area but never spread further than that. And, if a civilian happened to get caught in it, they wouldn''t burn.

    Only the church burned, and only the homunculi under it would ever know the truth behind what happened.

    That is, if any of them could magically gain sentience within the burning mes.

    But, of course, that was impossible.

    The fires burned until dawn, with any effort to put them out failing immensely.

    No clues were left at the scene of the crime, but people began to tie it to the destruction of the cathedral quite rapidly.

    Because it wasn''t the only incident.

    In the same night, three other historical sites copsed in various ways. One was caught in a mysterious flood that, again, did not harm innocents. Another simply copsed, as if the earth itself had given up on it. As for thest, it was caught in a storm of lightning of unknown origins, destroyed by Heaven''s wrath.

    Every few days, another incident would pop up. The destruction ensued at a rate that was impossible for a single person to cause, and, as the "motive" for the incident became clear, people started to forget about the allegations against Void Pce.

    At least, before the media picked up the story.

    Within the Southwestern Region, it meant nothing. Even if external media was introduced into theirmunities, they were too deeply brainwashed to ever consider the Divine Order in a negative light.

    However, everywhere else, the people who''d been watching themotion started to remember what the Divine Order had used the pce of back then.

    And that allegation waspletely torn apart.

    Combined with the fact that the used perpetrator was dead at Void Pce around the time of the attack, crossing an impossible distance in just a few minutes, the continuous attacks gave the perpetrator a new face that waspletely uninvolved with the pce.

    The Divine Order had essentially lost its justification the moment they gained it.

    As if that wasn''t bad enough, their research into homunculi became obvious to the other great ns with a bit of investigation, so they''d been ced under an invisible pressure by not only Void Pce''s allies, but others such as the Dragon n.

    For the time being, they had no choice but to stay still unless they wanted to attract hostility.

    They had touched a line by trying to mass-produce Gods.

    If they stepped forward just one more time¡­

    Well, the forced submission wouldn''tst for long, but Damien was able to buy himself some unexpected time because of the whole situation.

    He was also able to force the Divine Order to eat a loss, and from the memories of those like Giovani, he gained the same amount of information on them as they had against Void Pce.

    Not to mention, he learned a lot about the homunculus creation process and was able to gain a body that had yet to house a soul for Rein.

    Overall, it was an amazing move from Damien that only benefited him.

    The Divine Order was definitely enraged, and their rage would only grow as they chased the invisible "terrorist group" that kept destroying their facilities.

    There were still around 30 that Damien hadn''t touched yet.

    They''d all experience simr fates to their peers in theing weeks and months.

    But, that wasn''t a story that needed to be told.

    By the time 3 weeks had passed, Damien received word from Niks.

    He''d sessfully aplished the task assigned to him.

    So it was time for Damien to go meet him.

    To get his hands on the wild card he''d been eyeing.

 Chapter 1433 Cooperation [2]

    Chapter 1433 Cooperation [2]

    The task that Niks was given honestly wasn''t hard for him to aplish, but it wasn''t due to his strength.

    It was because of his status.

    As the shpoint Sword God, he''d been active in the Heavenly World for several millions of years. Not only did he have a reputation created through those eons of effort, but he also had several connections throughout the world.

    This time, Damien sent him to use one of those connections to his benefit.

    He was able to do so in just a few days, but it took three weeks for him to finish everything sheerly because of the distance he had to cross.

    But, in the end, he''d done it.

    Through a fellow swordsmaster he''d been acquainted with since his younger days, he got his hands on the meeting Damien had been seeking.

    It was scheduled for the day after the current one, which seemed troubling since Damien was still 3 weeks away by the fastest terms that could only be enjoyed by Gods, but it wasn''t a problem.

    Damien tagged Niks before he left, so he was able to teleport directly to him through a system simr to his Warp ability.

    Nevertheless, the instant he got the news, Damien arrived there.

    The Southeastern Region,nd of the Kyushu Federation.

    Run by one leader and a council of 24 sub-leaders, the Kyushu Federation was an influence that ranpletely on money.

    They only acted for money, and they only acted because of money. If wealth wasn''t involved in the conversation, they weren''t having it.

    But that same Kyushu Federation was quietly eating up the Southern Region''s borders.

    They weren''t the same as the Straea n and the Divine Order though.

    They had been eyeing the border for a very long time and had been trying to negotiate for the ability to share it.

    This was because the eastern border of the Southern Region was a hotspot for a certain energy source called Peromithium. It was a material the Kyushu Federation was extremely greedy for, and since they''d already exhausted the veins on their side of the border, they wanted to use Void Pce''s too.

    Now, the pce had no need for the material. It was only useful in technological advancement in research that didn''t align with the pce''s path.

    However, they couldn''t just hand it over for free.

    Since the pce wasn''t really avable for negotiation, and they were having trouble protecting their borders anyway, the Kyushu Federation decided to move their borders inward and devour the area where the Peromithium deposits were.

    They never try anything special after that.

    This was the reason Damien never considered the Kyushu Federation an enemy.

    They did encroach on Void Pce territory, but their reasoning was clear and open, and they didn''t push the line.

    They were definitely forceful, and Damien definitely didn''t appreciate their actions, but he could understand that they didn''t possess any particr hostility against the pce.

    They could still be allies.

    As long as the money was right, that is.

    But Damien was prepared for that.

    Just like when he met the Sapientia n, he had the perfect product to interest the federation in a long-term cooperative agreement.

    And today, he''d arrived in the Southeastern Region to discuss that proposal with their president.

    It was the very meeting Niks left early to set up.

    It came sooner than expected.

    Damien was supposed to have a day in the Southeastern Region beforehand, but excluding the processes he needed to undergo before he could even reach that meeting, he really only had a few hours to rest and look around.

    Damien was led through an office-like building and taken up an elevator over 1000 stories before he reached the penthouse where the president spent his days.

    The elevator only took 10 seconds to reach the top and opened directly into the suite, making it obvious that this wasn''t something just anyone could use.

    As Damien stepped out of it, he was immediately met with the visage of that man.

    Around 6 feet tall with broad shoulders and an appearance that looked more like a physical practitioner''s than a businessman''s was a man with eyes exactly like those of a snake and a face that practically screamed an obsession with wealth.

    There was a strange juxtaposition in his features, but it worked well. It urately disyed both his abilities as a president and a practitioner without him having to speak a single word or act a certain way.

    He was called Matthias Quincy, and he was the man who currently led the Kyushu Federation and had been for the past 500,000 years or so.

    When he heard that Void Pce''s 2nd Sword had requested a direct audience for his acquaintance, Matthias immediately epted.

    He could sense the money.

    From the moment someone like the 2nd Sword acted on behalf of another man, he sensed that this would be an interesting situation.

    And it was more than just that.

    "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Damien Void."

    Damien introduced himself professionally and shook Matthias'' hand.

    Matthias reciprocated, and after a bit of small talk for them to get to know each other, they sat down at the table and faced each other for business.

    "You must''ve been watching everything that''s happened thus far¡­"

    Damien began his pitch, prefacing the situation before reaching his main point.

    Matthias listened intently, allowing Damien to tell him what he already knew.

    Through discerning how much Damien could say, he could tell more about Damien''s unsaid status in Void Pce.

    Well, it was only partially unsaid.

    He''d introduced himself properly, and he''d taken his disguise off. He was here bearing amethyst eyes and thest name Void, so it was obvious which family he came from.

    But for him tomand the 2nd Sword and negotiate with the president of the Kyushu Federation, he had to have much more authority than the other children of that same family.

    There was really only one position he could hold, but it was almost hard to believe that someone had taken up that long vacant post.

    Matthias had to wonder all about Damien, but Damien had no ns for letting him think too much.

    He''d already reached his point.

    "I''m here to make a deal with you, so I''ll make my terms clear. I want long-term cooperation with the Kyushu Federation; real cooperation, not a facade for appearance''s sake. As for the price¡­"

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    "...how does an entire cardinal region sound?"

    Matthias could see the light in Damien''s eyes.

    He couldn''t half-ass this at all. He truly had to judge whether or not he could make a deal of this level right here and now.

    Even without hearing the details of what Damien wanted, Matthias was tempted to ept.

    Damien''s eyes were those of a madman.

    And madmen were a gamble.

    Either they''d fail at the beginning and disappear in the annals of time, or they would be the new leaders of the world. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If it was the former, Matthias wouldn''t have thought anything of it.

    But Damien was absolutely thetter.

    He could feel it.

    ''The Kyushu Federation''s future¡­''

    Matthias smiled as if he was scared of his own imagination.

    ''Haha, I guess I have no choice but to hear him out.''

 Chapter 1434 Cooperation [3]

    Chapter 1434 Cooperation [3]

    Naturally, Damien wasn''t going to give Matthias an entire cardinal region. It was stupid for him to even consider doing so.

    Having sovereignty over a cardinal region came hand in hand with power. The reason the eight great ns were able to maintain their status withoutpetitors for millions of years was precisely because of their status.

    The resources they had ess to, whether from the environment or the people, were monstrous. That went without even mentioning secret realms and the likes which would be the sovereign''s property.

    Those who served a great n would gain benefits unlike any other, therefore, they''d always be the main choice for anyone who wanted to be someone, which meant geniuses would gravitate towards them without considering others first.

    No matter what, Damien was keeping the regions he conquered.

    The Kyushu Federation wasn''t an influence that really cravednd or power, but they did crave resources.

    What Damien offered wasn''t a one-time transfer of territory that would end instantaneously.

    He wanted to make a deal that couldst as long as possible, because the Kyushu Federation was loyal to those it had business with.

    To make this rtionship a stable one, Damien hatched an idea.

    The Kyushu Federation would have priority bidding rights and discounted prices on any resourcesing out of the regions Void Pce ruled.

    In return, the Kyushu Federation would treat Void Pce as its proper ally like Veritas did.

    Damien didn''t skimp on the definition of an ally either. He made certain the Kyushu Federation couldn''t just maintain a guise of cooperation without doing anything.

    It wasn''t an uneven contract despite how it looked.

    Priority rights to any and all resources produced by a region was big. With the variety across a cardinal region and their unique environments that bred different resources, each and every great n could create an economic situation that allowed them to passively maintain ie that outweighed their spending at any time.

    They could infinitely be wealthier as long as they maintained their positions.

    Void Pce also used its resources formercial benefit, but it didn''t actually have a need to rely on them. The pce didn''t dabble in anything that required them to purchase resources from foreign sources, nor did they need the resources in their own territory.

    They had their own unique methods to do a lot of things others couldn''t even dream of, including an entire n specialized in thew of Creation.

    Therefore, whether it be spending on architecture, medicine, or even the training of their disciples, Void Pce was able to do it without spending too much money.

    Nevertheless, If the Kyushu Federation could obtain those same resources without spending as much money and while gaining far more in the process, it would be an amazing deal for them.

    Especially if Void Pce went on to conquer the Northern Region as well.

    But that was the crux of it all.

    "For this deal to even begin to work, you have to win the wars you are nning to start."

    Matthias pointed it out. He was definitely interested in the proposal, but it was prospective in nature. Unless Void Pce could do as much as Damien said they could, none of it mattered.

    "Let me correct you on one thing," Damien replied, aware of his thoughts.

    "This war was not started by us. We''re just reciprocating the treatment that was given to us all this time."

    It might''ve been a small detail to others, but it really wasn''t at all.

    The Divine Order and Straea n were not stopped by anyone, but everyone was aware of what they were doing.

    It had been years.

    Therefore, no matter what Void Pce did, nobody was allowed to stop them.

    ''He didn''te here to make a deal.''

    He did, but he didn''t.

    The deal he nned to make was never meant to be made today.

    ''No, this is more like¡­a warning?''

    Matthias nced into Damien''s eyes in amusement.

    ''This boy is quite fierce.''

    He was aware of what his people had done. He was the one who ordered it done in the first ce.

    Damien came here to tell the Kyushu Federation to move their borders back and wait.

    The Divine Order would be an example of what happened when someone didn''t listen to their warning, and the Straea n¡­

    ''...it seems he already has an advantage against the order, however, the Straea n is not on the same level.''

    He was well aware of the differences between the eight great ns.

    They weren''t nearly on the same scale of power.

    Some were weaker, like the Divine Order, and some¡­

    Some were unimaginable even in Damien''s current worldview.

    The Straea n wasn''t that great, but they were nearing that level.

    Frankly, Matthias couldn''t see how Damien nned to defeat them.

    ''But I''m interested.''

    His senses had been tingling from the moment Damien walked into the room.

    This man smelled of money.

    This was an opportunity for him, as dered by the very senses he''d never doubted even once in his life.

    They allowed him to reach his current position by making bold moves nobody else was willing to make and capitalizing on them.

    So why would he suddenly stop believing in them now?

    "Very well."

    He grinned.

    He felt like he was getting scammed, but it felt oddly good for some reason.

    "We''ll relinquish your territory back to you and wait, but if you don''t show us something worthwhile¡­"

    "Don''t even mention it. There''s no point in talking about something that isn''t possible."

    "Hahaha! I like your attitude."

    Matthiasughed happily. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He got the feeling that he''d met someone just like himself, another gambler of fate.

    And he was infinitely excited to see what their gambles would amount to.

    "Then, I''ll leave you to your work. If the deal you proposed earlier is real, then our Kyushu Federation will happily ept it."

    Damien smiled and nodded.

    "Just keep watching. When it''s all said and done, I''lle back and show it to you again. For real, this time."

    The two men shook hands and parted ways. While Matthias stayed in his office, Damien used the elevator to return to the ground floor, leaving to meet Niks.

    ''Good.''

    Damien smiled.

    He didn''t know if it would work out, but it seemed he used the right approach.

    He''d heard from Niks that Matthias Quincy was a huge gambler, and taking that into ount, he made a gamble himself.

    He ced his bets on Matthias being entertained by his threats rather than offended, and the payout was just as he''d hoped.

    Damien stayed in the Southeastern Region for a few more days, over which he already began to hear news about the borders retreating.

    And after just a bit of sightseeing, he made his way back home.

    At this point, over a hundred years had passed in the sealed-off main pce.

    The people there were still the same in soul, but if anyone who witnessed them before the pce was sealed saw them now, they''d be hard-pressed to hold the same opinion.

    Void Pce itself had changed.

    They were no longer turtles hiding in their shells.

    After a ruthless century, they''d be predators.

    And the time hade for them to hunt.

 Chapter 1435 Cooperation [4]

    Chapter 1435 Cooperation [4]

    Damien had been gone for almost 4 months now.

    About a decade or so had passed since the day 100 years passed in the main pce.

    During that time, not a single person skimped on their training.

    Their reasons varied, but there was a surprising number of people who worked hard for Damien''s validation.

    Disregarding Hestia who looked up to Damien, Dominic and Yiren who respected him, and Darius who practically treated him like a god, the soldiers themselves had Damien in their minds as they trained for multiple reasons.

    For those who were chosen during the recruitment, it was a sense of reverence.

    Those like Hershel originally believed they were worth nothing. They didn''t think they had a chance to join the army when they came, but the chance was presented to them regardless.

    Taken into the main pce, they were immediately put under an environment of harsh training without extraneous thought,

    It was difficult, but nobodyined.

    The harsh training meant they mattered. If they were just going to be nameless members of the pce, they wouldn''t have been forced to undergo it in the first ce.

    Hershel didn''t know much about the world of practitioners, but he knew Damien was one of the best.

    Because the talent he didn''t have was given to him.

    And because of that, the talents he did have were finally able to show themselves.

    Hershel wasn''t alone in this. There were over a thousand out of those who were chosen who originally had the worst talent imaginable.

    They were all gifted the things theycked because Damien saw in them a will and spirit that could trump many experienced practitioners, and as a result, he gained their absolute loyalty.

    He gave them purpose, so they would live for him.

    Of course, not everyone was the same.

    There were those who were talented from the start along the 10,000, and among them, there were plenty who''d trained before arriving at the main pce.

    What impressed them was Damien''s mysterious power.

    He seemed to be able to do anything.

    When they saw him "giving out talent," they didn''t know how to feel. Talent was something intangible, so it shouldn''t be able to be created, right?

    That was what they thought before they met Damien.

    That was when they learned that talent could also be mass-produced if someone really wanted it.

    However, what impressed them was something else.

    It was the act of creating over ten thousand personalized training manuals for the soldiers he picked.

    This was not only a show of dedication, it was a show of power.

    For Damien to see through each and every one of them to the core and develop manuals that, as they''d found over the past century, eclipsed anything they''d ever seen before in their lives, just how expansive was his sea of knowledge?

    Still, those who didn''t experience it themselves couldn''t believe the words of those ten thousand, and Damien''s siblings didn''t speak on things they didn''t need to.

    Those who weren''t a part of Damien''s 10,000 men took longer to fall into the web known as his existence, but they still did eventually.

    As the people heard more about the Young Lord of Void Pce, they became intrigued by his mysterious persona.

    When some of those who''d been with the pce for a long time learned of his age and what he''d done to get to his current position, they became embarrassed with theirck of effort.

    Those people couldn''t stand to see the new blood in the pce progress so well and leave them behind. They wanted to be the core of the army, since they were the seniors, but for that to happen, they needed to properly double down and train until they could hold the right.

    Aside from these two groups, thest of those in the army were the Swords and the Sanctuary army.

    The Swords naturally had their own thoughts, but all of them had pretty much conceded when Niks chose to follow the Young Lord when requested.

    As for the Sanctuarians, they were a great basis for the other parts of the army.

    They''d been under Damien for a very long time, so not only were they used to the way he did things, but they were also the example of how this forming army was meant to be.

    Elvira and the rest aided the new and old members of the pce, and following Damien''s ideas, they formed a healthy rivalry between the various groups.

    Positions of power could only be held by those who deserved them.

    Anyone at any rank could challenge anyone at a higher rank for their position.

    Of course, there were several rules to assure that nobody could cheat, but the army essentially had a free-for-all atmosphere of internalpetition that boosted not only their synergy, but also their strength as they endlesslypeted to be the strongest.

    And thosepetitions weren''t easy.

    Because, in a miraculous century, the 10,500 people Damien picked up from the outside had be a force to be reckoned with.

    10,500 people who had just entered Divinity, each with their own individual Divinity that couldn''t be found anywhere else in the Heavenly World.

    Under Damien''s guidance, they didn''t just be regr Demigods. They became real geniuses that could evenpete with the young talents of some massive ns.

    This was proven through the exact samepetition mentioned above.

    The geniuses of the four Grand Duke ns were suddenly forced to work ten times as hard as anyone else, because before they knew it, they''d been outshined by everyone else.

    Before, they''d only been under the Void siblings. They were content with their position, thinking they were doing okay for their talent level and didn''t have topete against people born superior.

    But they were being challenged by people who couldn''t even be argued as superior to them, and they were being defeated.

    They were ashamed and motivated at the same time, a simr feeling to what some of their seniors felt as well.

    The only ones left out of the storm were the Void siblings because of their status.

    Still, they didn''t skimp on training. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It started because nobody wanted to challenge them. They were too important for anymon person to stand up and say they wanted to fight.

    But at some point, the siblings came themselves and began challenging people.

    As time passed and they kept winning their challenges, people also started getting over their fears.

    Perhaps Damien''s siblings didn''t have some sort of newfound motivation like the rest of the army, but their old dreams were more than enough.

    Damien was the only one.

    He was the only one among them who thought about bringing the pce back to its prime and actually acted on it.

    The rest of them could never get past the mental barrier, let alone the heaps of physical hurdles.

    Damien gave them an opportunity. With it in front of them, none of them could continue to suppress their desires.

    They also wanted to see Void Pce grow.

    They also wanted to see it thrive!

    When Damien returned to the pce, he found this atmosphere waiting for him, along with an army far more stable and powerful than he ever expected before.

    ''This is great.''

    Damien''s eyes sparkled.

    ''Since it''s a lot better than expected, it might be about time to start.''

    For their firstrge move, for the move that defined the beginning of the pce''s rise, they were going to secure their original borders.

    But before that¡­

    ''...I learned quite a lot during my time in the Southwestern Region.''

    ¡­they were going to score a win the Divine Order could never seeing.

 Chapter 1436 Strike [1]

    "Here''s the n."

    Damien gathered them all after spending a few hours observing and checking their progress.

    From those in high positions like his mother to those who achieved squad leader positions in the army, anyone who''d be relevant for the next move was gathered.

    Damien already had the n thought out. He was wondering if his people could properly execute it, but after seeing how they''d grown, that wasn''t a concern anymore.

    Damien was excited.

    He was particrly excited to see how a few key individuals performed, because from what he''d sensed, they''d made progress that even their peers didn''t know about.

    Nevertheless, he''d gathered everyone so he could inform them about what had happened during his trip outside and get them ready for the next move.

    The first half of that had already happened. Everyone was up to date on the outside world''s happenings and Void Pce''s state.

    Now, for the second half¡­

    "Since you all already know the reasons, I won''t exin it again. The Divine Order knows pretty much everything about us, so we''ll have to do aplete restructure from top to bottom and fix any holes they could possibly exploit."

    Damien''s intro was already a tedious task, but he wasn''t an unrealistic person.

    "Of course, that''s a long-term n. To buy ourselves time to do that, we first need to strike them where it hurts and make sure they can''t do anything to us for a while."

    He didn''t say it outright, but he wasn''t just referring to the Divine Order.

    The Kyushu Federation was solved, but the Straea n was still a huge problem.

    Damien needed to do something that caused both enemy ns to back off and bide their time.

    ''For that, just attacking the Divine Order or killing their people won''t be enough.''

    He needed something more.

    And fortunately, he had it in droves.

    It had been mentioned before, but Damien now had just as much dirt on the order as they had on him.

    They were already caught up in the plot Damien set before leaving and stuck searching for a terrorist group that didn''t exist, but that wouldn''t hold them for long.

    Before they could recover, Damien had to do something even bigger.

    "Let me premise this with an important fact that everyone needs to ept."

    The Divine Order wasn''t an ordinary enemy.

    "We all know their nature, but it''s a lot bigger than we originally expected. The Divine Order¡­is connected to the Foreign Races somehow."

    Damien looked around the room.

    For the most part, the reactions were as he expected.

    Rtively mild.

    Not many people understood the horror of the Foreign Races yet, so the majority of those who had been in the Heavenly World for a long time just thought of them as a passing threat.

    However, it wasn''t the same for everyone.

    Obviously, those who came from the lower universe all had grave expressions, knowing that the Foreign Races were the progenitors of the Nox Race and the true culprit behind their suffering.

    But it wasn''t just them.

    It was slight, but ire, Serena, Hugo, and Persia all subtly flinched, but made sure nobody could see it.

    It couldn''t escape Damien''s sight, though.

    ''I''ll have to ask them about itter, but now''s not the time. Regardless, it looks like they know something more. It''s good that not everyone is unaware.''

    Damien had to somehow convince the world of the threat the Foreign Races posed.

    He was doing everything else for that purpose as well.

    Whether it be the Veritas n, the Kyushu Federation, or any of those who came in the future, Damien wasn''t recruiting them to his side just to win against the Divine Order or the Straea n.

    No, those threats needed to be exterminated not only to save Void Pce, but also to secure the Heavenly World before war started with those from another ne.

    Damien never forgot about the Foreign Races, nor did their importance fade because he had other things to aplish in the meantime.

    He would confront them soon.

    He had been ignoring everything until now because he didn''t have time, but as soon as he finished securing the borders, he would finally go confront them himself.

    But that was for a different time.

    Right now, the connection the Divine Order had with the Foreign Races had to be targeted for a different reason.

    The Divine Order, as a great n, could never admit that it was working together with the Foreign Races. Even if people didn''t treat them as a real threat, none of them appreciated their attempts at invasion.

    The Foreign Races were universally despised, and it wasn''t like everyone was clueless.

    Just like ire and the rest, several powerful people knew what the Foreign Races actually represented, and if they learned of the order''s actions, the repercussions would be brutal.

    Damien was nning to take advantage of the deep secret that their cooperation was and use it against them.

    He barely needed to raise a de himself, but he still needed to do so.

    First came a warning.

    First, under the guise of arrogance, he''d push the Divine Order in battle and warn them about the information he knew.

    And depending on their reaction, he would determine his next step.

    There was a lot he could learn from this move and even more he could aplish.

    Therefore, the current meeting wasn''t one to inform those relevant parties about the Divine Order''s secrets, but to target people directly involved with them.

    These were people of all different social sses without any sort of rtion to each other, but if one knew about the hidden movements of said individuals, they''d be able to connect their deaths back to a single cause.

    Their deaths were his current goal.

    Damien didn''t quite go into the "why" of it all with his people, since they wouldn''t understand with their current worldview, but he gave them a rundown on their targets and how they were meant to move.

    His orders were received well. Without any questions, those who needed to move prepared themselves to head out within the next few days. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Not all the killings would take ce at the same time or in the same way. For the n to unfold as Damien intended, to really shove the message in the enemy''s faces, the people involved needed to act with pinpoint uracy.

    They weren''t worried, though.

    They''d had a century to prepare for this moment. If any of them still held doubt or hesitation in their hearts, it only meant they''d wasted the time they''d been given.

    Those who were young sprouts when they came were now experienced experts. Some of them were even older than their own parents at this point, and the wisdom they gained with that age, along with the experiences they''d had in the various illusion worlds they''d trained in, turned them into people nobody could imagine had been training in seclusion for so long.

    That night, over a hundred people set foot outside the pce for the first time in a very long while.

    Like snakes slithering through the shadows, they moved, their venom primed as they approached the targets of their wrath.

 Chapter 1437 Strike [2]

    Squad One, a squad without much of a special name. It wasposed of the weakest members who were sent on the mission, and their target was equally weak.

    Their weakness wasn''t a bad thing, of course. It was just a matter of time.

    Plus, they were still Demigods.

    This squad wasposed of Hershel from the recruitment test, along with three others who passed with him.

    One of them was also a man once called talentless who was discovered by Damien, Elijah Lester.

    One was a woman who had talent her entire life, but didn''t realize how wide the world was until she joined Void Pce, Reba Silver.

    Another was a woman unlike the rest who''d trained as a mercenary for many years before the recruitment test, Helga Rowe.

    And thest was a boy who didn''t look older than 15. He stood out from the rest, but none of them underestimated him because of his appearance.

    He was the same age as them and hade from the same group. Nobody really noticed him during the recruitment test, but as they spent years training together, he slowly showed everyone his worth.

    His name was Butcher. Nost name.

    His origins were unknown, and so was the reason for his appearance.

    He was usually silent, but for a mission like this, he was perfect.

    The rest were just his support.

    Squad One''s target wasn''t just one man. Rather, it was a group of people.

    There was a vige on the outskirts of the Mairia Principality in the most southern part of the Southwestern Region.

    It was home to only 35 inhabitants, and as it was quite far from society, nobody really noticed its existence.

    If there was one peculiarity about this vige, it was that there were no men among them.

    Yet, for hundreds of years, they''d been able to maintain their number of 35 inhabitants without any change.

    Their mystery had never been revealed to the outside world. Even if it was, it likely wouldn''t have be anything big.

    To put it briefly, they were subi.

    Every ten years, they''d leave the vige and infiltrate the nearest cities, taking life essence from hundreds of men before returning to their homes.

    However, they were more than just that.

    They were idents.

    The reason for this vige''s continued and unknown existence was that they were being protected by the Divine Order.

    They wanted to know how their test subjects acted in the wild.

    Those 35 women were a product of fusion experiments between humans and members of the Foreign Races, simr to what Richter was trying to aplish but with a much higher rate of sess.

    Damien was curious about why people obsessed over the transmutation.

    Whether it was here or in the lower universe, people were always trying to take the traits of the Foreign Races and use them to enhance their own. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    But why?

    There had to be something about their bodies that these people desired. Damien had never noticed it before, but now that the problem had be bigger, he wanted to find out their reasoning.

    Squad One was being sent to that vige for two reasons.

    Firstly, they were going to kill the subi and mark the start of Damien''s n.

    And secondly, they were going to bring back one of their bodies for Damien to examine.

    With those goals in mind, they approached the vige.

    It had been over half a year since they left the main pce. They had to travel through many teleportation arrays and cross several hundreds of thousands of kilometers on foot, but they eventually arrived.

    They didn''t need to do too much nning.

    Elijah was particrly skilled in controlling his awareness. His perception spread far wider than a normal Demigod, so even from a distance of several hundreds of millions of kilometers, they could see the vige''s situation.

    When night fell, they''d strike. By the time day came, they''d be gone.

    Damien made sure none of his people went in blind. They had more than enough information about the given targets to form a proper n of approach.

    As for the task given to the weakest group, naturally it was just as easy.

    This ce wasn''t constantly surveilled by the order. There was no need for them to actively watch over these women, since instruments to monitor them were in ce all around the vige and the surroundings.

    With Reba here, they didn''t need to worry about the monitoring technology, and since the time for those women to feed wasn''t any time soon, they didn''t need to worry about stronger peopleing after them.

    And even if they did¡­

    Nheless, with the n set, they waited at a safe distance under a veil that made them invisible to the surrounding technology.

    When the sun was reced by a moon, they used the shadows to progress towards the vige.

    They split up from there.

    Reba and Elijah stayed at the entrance, maintaining everyone else''s cover.

    Helga followed Hershel. The two of them had simr abilities, so they worked well together.

    As for Butcher, he went alone.

    The second they arrived in the vige, he took a single step and disappeared.

    Not even his own teammates could discover his location when he vanished.

    A knife appeared in his hand. His other hand remained open in a rxed position.

    Whoosh!

    The wind blew lightly.

    He appeared inside a house. It was as if he phased through everything material to reach his goal.

    He approached the sleeping subus with such lightness that his steps didn''t even raise dust off the ground.

    She didn''t realize his presence at all, despite being a Demigod herself.

    His knife went in the air and came back down in the same instant.

    Blood spurted from the subus'' throat.

    Her eyes widened in shock. She grabbed his arms, baring her fangs.

    Butcher twisted his knife.

    Blood spurted again.

    The subus'' eyes rolled back into her head.

    It wasn''t just a knife. There was something else on it, something that killed her instantly.

    She couldn''t determine its presence, nor did it show itself in her body at all.

    But she died without a fight.

    Along with twelve others in the twelve closest houses.

    It was a power Butcher mastered after learning the method from Damien.

    He only had to kill one with his own hands, the rest would die because they were unfortunate enough to be in his range.

    Almost half of the thirty-five total residents of the vige died that easily. The rest didn''tst much longer.

    Hershel snapped their necks like he was breaking pencils. Helga''s axe wasn''t something a mere subus could handle.

    With all three of them acting together, thirty-five subus who had no idea they were being attacked wasn''t a task at all.

    They may have been the weakest of the Void Pce groups, but they were by no means weak.

    They were finished with their task. Butcher already took several bodies into his spatial ring, and ording to Elijah and Reba, an unexpected factor was approaching.

    They could feel the aura of strong people on the horizon, but the atmosphere around them wasn''t negative at all.

    In fact, they were grinning fiercely.

    Those who approached stood no chance.

    Because as they stood together in a circle and gave themand they''d been given to memorize, they vanished.

    Nobody could ever be able to discover their presence here no matter how much time passed.

    But the corpses of those who remained were enough.

    This was the first gift Damien prepared for the Divine Order.

    And, of course, it was the first of many.

    If there was one thing people needed to know about Damien, it was this.

    He certainly wasn''t a stingy person.

 Chapter 1438 Strike [3]

    Chapter 1438 Strike [3]

    Five yearster.

    A lot had happened throughout the entire Heavenly World, just as it had always been.

    Several rebellions arose, and several rebellions fell. Several empires arose, and several empires fell.

    There was far too much going on in the great amount of society that existed in the world, but not much of it was remembered by all.

    Only a few conflicts could be prevalent in the eyes of the entire general public. In these five years, most of those came from the Southwestern Region.

    The Southwest had always been rtively calm inparison to the other cardinal regions, but their reputation was being ruined recently.

    It started with the terrorist attacks they dealt with when they first falsely used Void Pce.

    When everyone thought they were over, it turned out the terrorists had just switched targets.

    Nobody understood the connection between those events until recently, and even then, the people who knew they were connected were few.

    However, everyone knew the Southwestern Region was in turmoil. It had be far more dangerous in recent times.

    It started on that day five years ago.

    After the destruction of the subus vige, three more attacks were carried out by Squad One within the same few months, all in the same region.

    By the time they left 3 monthster, another slew of attacks had already begun.

    There were a total of 100 teams that left Void Pce. Some were filled with four people while others were singr individuals, but they all had set targets from the start andmunicated with each other to make sure their timing was perfect.

    Therefore, when the second squad began their activities, the Divine Order had just barely begun to investigate the deaths of the subi.

    By the time they finished, the Divine Order was stuck with two disconnected cases without any clear motive.

    However, the motive didn''t keep itself hidden for long.

    Attack after attack made it exceedingly obvious. Viges and facilities filled with people were massacred and left ridden with corpses, leading themon popce to believe someone wasmitting atrocities throughout their homnd, but it was nothing of the sort.

    Only those directly involved in the cooperation between the Divine Order and the Foreign Races were targeted. It was just that their number was high, and quite a lot of them were maintaining disguises as normal people, likely to keep their actions a secret fromrger powers.

    Still, Damien knew who all of them were, and so did his people.

    They died one after another, and eventually, the Divine Order began to realize what exactly was happening.

    They started to get wary.

    They pulled their troops back into their own territory, not because they were afraid of Void Pce, but because they needed to find those responsible as fast as possible.

    But they still showed open hostility.

    Throughout the five years, tensions between the two great ns had heightened immensely.

    Large and small battles had swarmed the borders as Void Pce began to bare its fangs, and though the order wanted to respond, they never saw the end of the attacks taking ce within their borders.

    It only took five years because some groups had to travel excessively far distances to reach their targets, but it eventually did end, and everyone Damien wanted dead was taken out.

    There were no mistakes whatsoever, almost to an unbelievable degree.

    The reason for that wasn''t strength.

    The people were strong, but the reason they seeded without any mistakes was that they were supported by a perfect web of information and strategy.

    Damien knew everything he possibly needed to know, and as he was delivered the corpses of those he needed to devour, his knowledge only became more expansive.

    Plus, Hestia had taken up her position in the back lines and supported them with strategic advice that, more often than not, led to sess.

    Void Pce''s every member had synergy with the rest, and because of that, the Divine Order couldn''t even hope to stop them when they started acting. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    And when they finished, they left their signatures in the dirt, making sure their presence would be known.

    Damien never intended to hide their identities from the start.

    Once all his people had safely returned home, he made it clear.

    Everything wrong that had been happening to the order in thest five years¡­

    ¡­it was all a gift from the pce.

    ***

    The Divine Order was run by a pantheon of 12 Gods. They all held "equal" power without anyone at their head, but there was a noticeable hierarchy among them.

    Nevertheless, they had held many meetings to discuss how they wanted to deal with the perpetrators of the many crimes they''d had to deal with in recent times, and when they learned that Void Pce, their eternal enemy, was the very culprit they were looking for, they fumed.

    It was difficult for them to reach a decision.

    After all, it wasn''t just elusive test subjects like the subi who died.

    Every Void Pce team targeted a higher value target.

    And the strongest pce member who acted was a Sword.

    Subi, other test subjects, people who''d worked on the experiments, people who''d acted as contacts between other people, and even people who had extremely high positions in the order died.

    At the end of it, the pantheon of 12 Gods became one of 11.

    Yet, the others didn''t even realize who''d done the killing until Void Pce revealed themselves willingly.

    "Anyway, it is better for us both to pull back for now. You shouldpletely retreat from their territory. Feign cowardice. Otherwise, can we still assure that they won''t end you?"

    The one who spoke only appeared as a dark shadow projected from a ss ball in a room just as dark.

    The one he spoke to was one of the 12 Gods of the Divine Order, Seneca Church.

    Seneca acted as a connection between the Divine Order and their close cooperator, the Straea n. As for who he was speaking to, it became clear from that.

    They hadn''t discussed the current happenings yet. The order was expected to take care of it themselves, but the issue had blown up beyond what they''d ever expected.

    "We cannot retreat now."

    Seneca voiced the joint opinion of all the remaining Gods.

    If they retreated now, they''d practically be dering defeat. It couldn''t be allowed to happen.

    However¡­

    "Do you think you have a choice? In the first ce, isn''t it because of your mistakes that they learned the truth? Turtle down withoutint for now. Besides, can we even say you will surely win if you decide to fight anymore?"

    The Straea n representative''s voice wasced with mockery, but Seneca could do nothing but ept it.

    They were the weaker party from the start.

    Of course, they had hidden forces, but how could they use those?

    "In any case, once ''that thing'' is finished, we can directly strike them down. Until then, we must make sure no hidden variables arise."

    No matter what Seneca wanted to say, he knew the other party was correct.

    He gritted his teeth and bowed his head.

    "I¡­understand."

    "Good. Then, we will not contact each other for now. I will send word first if the need presents itself."

    The projection disappeared as the other party cut the connection, leaving Seneca alone in the dark room with his thoughts.

    His eyes were practically red in anger.

    "For now, for now, for now¡­"

    Every single time the Straea representative said "for now," he wanted to rip him to shreds.

    But it couldn''t be done, just like everything else.

    "Fine."

    Seneca took a deep breath and calmed himself.

    "We will hide ourselves until the time is right, however¡­"

    They wouldn''t drop this matter here.

    "Whoever is running that pce¡­"

    Seneca gnashed his teeth.

    "...I will tear you to shreds with my own hands."

 Chapter 1439 Strike [4]

    Chapter 1439 Strike [4]

    shes of light so fast they hardly registered as shes.

    Pain. Endless pain that continued to get worse without any signs of stopping.

    Was this the end of a True God?

    It seemed even their lives were finite, despite all the work they did to achieve eternity.

    Damien watched the memories of Patrick Holmes, the member of the pantheon of 12 Gods who''d been in by Void Pce''s 3rd Sword, Yusuf Mooncrest, in intrigue.

    Yusuf''s movements were wild and ferocious. He had theposure of a swordsman but the heart of a barbarian, and with thatbination, he was able topletely overpower Patrick.

    The God didn''t have a single chance to fight back.

    Such an overwhelming defeat caused Damien to question how the Divine Order managed to maintain its position at the top of the world, but he got his own answer through the same memories.

    ''It''s mainly due to the Foreign Races.''

    Because of them, the order was tied to the Straea n, and with their help, nobody could ever take down the order.

    Plus, the order had several hidden armies filled with troops like the homunculi Damien met previously that could wipe the floor with most normal influences.

    Of course, whether or not Void Pce was included in that list was up for debate, but the main point was that the majority of the Divine Order''s status was not deserved, but given to them for free.

    Damien practically learned everything he could possibly know about them through Patrick''s corpse. Whether it be their current ns, future ns, or past atrocities, Damien could pick between various points of Patrick''s life and view them all.

    At this point, the Divine Order had already faced true defeat. Only, they didn''t know it yet.

    At the current moment, with months steadily flying by after the five-year period of activity, the order was actively withdrawing its troops from the borders, focusing on internal defense instead.

    "I guess it worked."

    Damien sighed to himself. It was one of relief, not worry.

    He was still somewhat concerned that the order would act impulsively and strike back now, which was the worst possible move for both parties, but it seemed they''d held themselves back.

    "Or rather, they''ve been held back."

    More than likely, the Straea n pressured them to withdraw and hide for a while.

    ''As for why¡­''

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    ''I need to speak to mother.''

    He was keeping it down.

    He wanted to hear from her before choosing how to react.

    But he was calmer than expected.

    When he found ire and sat her down, she was originally curious about what he could possibly need her for.

    The two of them made sure to spend a sufficient amount of time together, and using most of her spare time, ire was helping with the army matters, however, for Damien toe out of nowhere like this¡­

    "Mom, please tell me. What is happening to my father?"

    Her heart skipped a beat.

    "Y-your father, you say?"

    Damien nodded with serious eyes.

    ire could see from his expression that he wasn''t ying around. More than that, she could see that he already knew something about the situation.

    This wasn''t a question that came out of nowhere.

    It was merely Damien''s wish to confirm the truth with those he trusted.

    ire sighed.

    "I knew I was going to have to tell you at some point, but I didn''t think it''de so soon."

    She wanted Damien to live in peace for at least a small while, but he had no thoughts of doing so.

    That wasn''t the way Damien did things.

    Rest only came after work was finished. Until Damien cleared away everything that prevented him from resting, he wouldn''t even think about it.

    ire didn''t know what to do.

    Her son really took after his father.

    "Haa¡­"

    She sighed again.

    Since it hade to this, there was nothing left to hide.

    The truth had toe out.

    "Your father, in the eyes of the public, disappeared several millions of years ago. As you know, the amount of time is skewed because of the time we spent in the lower universe, however¡­"

    She struggled to speak through it, but she endured for the sake of her son.

    "When your father was forced back into the Heavenly World to protect Earth and Grand Heavens Boundary, it was all due to the schemes of his enemies."

    "Since the moment I returned, I have been unable to meet him."

    "I do not know where he is, nor do I know how he is, but there is one thing that''s be clear after years of investigation."

    Damien''s breaths were short as he listened for the main point.

    This was the part he knew.

    "The Celestial Prison. That''s what they call it."

    It was a cage made specifically to hold Dante Void.

    And it was hidden somewhere within the Straea n''s reach.

    "Your father has been trapped for at least a million years, unable to escape. And we¡­no matter how much we search, we cannot find the location of that prison."

    It was the sad reality of Void Pce.

    The reason for their fall was orchestrated from the beginning. Dante didn''t disappear, but was forced to stay away from his people, trapped in the middle of nowhere.

    Damien''s reaction was surprisingly mild.

    "Is it just the Straea n?"

    He wasn''t unaffected. When he saw the memories pertaining to Dante, he also felt a myriad of emotions bubbling up from the depths of his soul, however, he pushed them down and reced them with calmness.

    Emotion wouldn''t get him anywhere. Dante wouldn''t be saved because he was angry.

    He needed to keep his head on right so he could properly bring his father to safety.

    So he asked the question.

    And ire gave him the answer he was looking for.

    "No. It is highly likely that the Celestial Prison is located in a Dimensional Crack somewhere, hidden deep in the territory of the Foreign Races."

    Damien nodded.

    "Alright."

    He wanted to talk to his mother more, but this was the most important thing for now.

    Since he had a moment of freedom after pushing back the Divine Order and the Straea n, Damien could finally take a moment away from the pce.

    "Mom, can I leave the pce to you and Aunt Serena?"

    "You¡­what are you nning to do?"

    "Don''t worry. I''m not going to do anything dangerous. It''s just¡­" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien nced into the horizon.

    "...there''s a ce I need to visit."

    ire didn''t want to let him leave, but with his decision made, nothing could stop him.

    She could only nod, suppressing her worry like every mother who had to watch her child leave the nest.

    "We will make sure the pce thrives in your absence. You just need to focus on staying safe."

    "I will, mom. Don''t worry."

    He was lying.

    Damien had received news recently that perfectly aligned with his current goals.

    It was news of a Dimensional Crack that opened in the Southern Region.

    Since the Foreign Races had sent him an invitation, why would he reject it?

    He wanted to see what the people who kidnapped his father, tried to destroy his home, and plotted against him for his entire life were really like.

    And more importantly, he wanted to see if they could withstand the weight of his emotions.

 Chapter 1440 Enlightenment [1]

    Chapter 1440 Enlightenment [1]

    Regardless of the storms outside, it will always be peaceful at home.

    It was a saying not everyone could rte to, but it was perfect for this moment.

    Soft winds breezed through the main pce. It, standing high and proud over the rest of the Brightmoon Principality, always gave off a domineering appearance, but it was never arrogant. Rather, it wasforting.

    Surrounded by lush, green grasses and tall natural foliage that perfectly bordered the pce''s territory and the cries of beautiful beasts that resided in those greeneries, wild yet free of negative intent, the main pce had a particr aura to it today that it usually didn''t possess.

    Countless people were gathered. Everyone even slightly important to the pce, anyone who''d gained a position from a Sword to amon maid, was gathered in the pce''s main hall.

    Those who didn''t reside in the main pce didn''t have the privilege to be here personally, but they were watching through projections spanning the entire territory.

    The main hall was decorated particrly today.

    It wasn''t lined with long tables that could seat hundreds at once. Rather, it was a collection of seats that took up the entire hall, leaving only a single strip ofnd in the middle.

    Grand decorations lined the walls with countless precious materials that normal people couldn''t even dream of, and murals with ancestry dating back hundreds of millions of years painted the ceiling.

    It was almost as if Void Pce was nning to host a grand wedding.

    But that wasn''t the case.

    "Are you ready, Milord?"

    A maid spoke to the man of the hour, the reason why every chair in the main hall and even the space outside it was crowded with people, respectfully awaiting his presence.

    "Of course I am."

    Damien responded with a smile.

    He didn''t look like his usual self today.

    His hair was properly tamed, flowing down to border his face perfectly and showcase his natural charm. His clothes weren''t randomly put together from what was in his subspace, but instead were custom-made for this day with his measurements in mind.

    It was a somewhat ancient garb that felt burdensome to wear. It was heavy, colored ck and purple to match Void Pce''s tones, andrge, as if meant to be worn by an Emperor who only needed to sit on his throne.

    However, Damien had to admit he looked good.

    As he saw himself in the mirror, he questioned if he was even the man he saw.

    He didn''t look how he remembered himself.

    He''d gotten older. His features became more defined and set, and an air of maturity surrounded his face and body that was never present before.

    He''d gotten bigger. His body wasn''t just built to be optimized for battle anymore, but was versatile and perfect for a variety of things.

    He looked like a man he once aspired to be, and when he realized that he wasn''t anywhere near his end goal, he smiled.

    ''Well, this is a pretty big step in and of itself.''

    "Since you are ready, then please make your way to the main hall. Everything else is already in ce."

    Damien nodded at the maid''s urging. He was more than prepared for what was toe.

    Today was the day he walked down the aisle.

    Not to be someone''s bride, but to officially take his post.

    He''d been acting covertly so his presence wouldn''t alert people to the pce''s revival, but the time for that was over.

    They''d revealed their intentions, and at a juncture like this, it was actually better for Damien to be a target and take attention away from the pce itself.

    He entered the main hall confidently.

    Even as he felt the auras of those he loved and cared about, along with those he''d just recently gotten to know enveloping him, he didn''t budge.

    For today, he needed to be stalwart in all things, giving off an image that wasn''t the Damien Void anyone here knew.

    The main hall was engulfed in silence the moment his presence was recognized.

    ire, Serena, Hugo, Persia, and the 10 Swords stood on a raised tform at the end of the aisle, waiting for him.

    He approached them with the same confidence, his back straight and his eyes up.

    When he arrived in their midst, they parted ways and made space for him.

    They lined up in two rows on either side of him, creating a straight line to the final seat in the hall.

    This was the throne Damien would one day inherit.

    He looked at it intently, but frankly, he didn''t feel anything.

    Maybe it was because this one was just a prop for the sake of the asion, but the throne just felt so small to him.

    Nevertheless, it was his birthright, and he didn''t n to ignore it.

    He walked towards it, and in the eyes of everyone present, he took his seat.

    This was the day he officially became the Young Lord of Void Pce.

    This ceremony was being held because Damien had gained the respect and loyalty of those in the pce, and since it was time for him to head into the fray again, it was about time for them to announce his status to the entire world.

    The event was a mess of grand speeches and ceremonious rituals, but to Damien, it ended the moment he sat down on that seat.

    Now he could do it for real.

    He could use his authority without worry.

    And, he could set a for a few fishes he''d been trying to catch.

    Damien nned to set out that very night. While the celebration would continue for a few more days, he couldn''t tell the Dimensional Crack to just wait for him.

    However, he encountered an unexpected obstacle.

    And it wasn''t necessarily a bad one.

    The scenery got to him.

    The peace, the calm, the security, he suddenly felt it suffocating him.

    He almost couldn''t believe this kind of harmony was possible in the world.

    He''d never seen it before, that much was for certain.

    No matter where he went, there were always countless conflicts that never seemed to end. Any time one conflict was solved, another would arise. No ce could simply maintain peace because it wanted to.

    But Void Pce was different. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They didn''t brainwash people like the Divine Order and they didn''t rule through fear or money like the Straea n or Kyushu Federation.

    They didn''t have the strict ancestral rules of the Dragon n nor did they adhere to a certain faith or ideology like the Holy Empire.

    They were just naturally themselves, and the atmosphere it created was so genuine Damien almost couldn''t stand it.

    ''What¡­is this feeling?''

    There was something resonating deep within him that he couldn''t understand.

    He couldn''t focus on anything, so, in the dead of night, instead of leaving for the Dimensional Crack, he took an aimless walk around the main pce.

    He allowed the naryers to teleport him around randomly, and somehow, he ended up outside the pce entirely.

    He found himself at a small waterfall leading into a creek, surrounded by only three or four trees that didn''t seem like they had any inhabitants.

    It was a small area that didn''t seem to have any rtion to anything, but since the pce''s teleportation led here, it must''ve had some meaning.

    Damien didn''t really question it, though.

    Instead, he found himself sitting down at the edge of that creek, staring at his own reflection in its clear waters.

    Something unexinable was happening in his mind.

    Almost like¡­

    Enlightenment.

 Chapter 1441 Enlightenment [2]

    Chapter 1441 Enlightenment [2]

    Damien didn''t see iting.

    He hadn''t done anything particrly noteworthy to prompt enlightenment, so he was wondering just as much as anybody else why it came now.

    But regardless of the "why," it was here.

    When Damien sat down at the creek, his eyes instinctively closed, and his mind was subtly pulled away from reality.

    Something about the moment was perfect.

    In the midst of so much chaos, finding peace was a special thing. Damien didn''t feel it because he never acknowledged temporary peace as real peace, however, he couldn''t deny the feelings in his heart.

    That peace was what led to the current situation.

    Damien felt the power of "order."

    Order, the opposite of chaos, was one of the concepts that governed the world.

    Order and chaos didn''t have their ownws. They were more likeptions of severalws that embodied a concept, so there wasn''t an individual who could wield their power directly.

    However, they were always subtly influencing the world.

    Order was important. So was chaos.

    If chaos represented for freedom and choice, order was the opposite.

    That didn''t mean it was a bad thing.

    Order and chaos were always necessary together. Complete chaos would turn into madness, while absolute order would be a soulless society.

    In a way, the Divine Order and the Straea n could be used as examples of them when they reached their worst.

    But just as they could be terrible without regtion, when they were in their perfect forms, they allowed life to adapt and progress properly.

    Void Pce was a picture of order right now. Everything went as it should, and chaos didn''t have much of a ce outside the things it was necessary for.

    Being in this environment after being surrounded by chaos for such a long time, Damien suddenly became enlightened.

    The concept of order.

    He didn''t know what it was before now, but information about it was steadily flowing into his head.

    And it wasn''t something simple.

    No, the concept of order was one of the six concepts of Existence that Damien was supposed to master.

    He just didn''t expect to find it within himself before finding it in the wild.

    The concept of order was actually meant toe before the concept of harmony.

    Harmony and order acted together, but in reality, order always came first.

    Damien learned the concept of harmony to perfection with the help he got from the Unrecorded. He wasn''t supposed to have thatprehension, though.

    He went in the wrong order, so, as he continued to live and experience life with the concept of harmony inside him, order naturally manifested.

    In terms of Existence, if harmony was a method of controlling Existence, order was the prerequisite to do so.

    It didn''t have much power on its own, but it was the perfect support.

    With order, Damien could actually take the first steps to controlling Existence Mana, since harmony really only gave him more ways to use what he had.

    Damien''s brain expanded.

    Once again, he was barraged with knowledge about Existence itself.

    The scene was simr to what the Unrecorded showed him.

    A worldpletely influenced by a single entity''s will.

    The concept of order taught him how to tame the untamable.

    In essence, he could use his own power to aplish something simr to what the Void could do.

    He could calm the chaos with his existence. He could turn those disorderly forces into his own power, and leave in his wake a world where everything followed the order he established.

    Everything was beautiful.

    Everything he''d seen had been beautiful for a few days, and this was like a painting of all of it melded into one canvas.

    Wasprehending Existence supposed to be this easy?

    The answer was a t no. There was no question about it. Even if some people had managed to find the concept before Damien, they''d taken millions or even billions of years to reach a point where they could confidently say they could control it even partially.

    Damien was a unique case.

    It wasn''t because of the Void this time, but because of Damien Void himself.

    Damien''s death did a lot more for him than he ever knew.

    That day, he met Nonexistence itself. He''d been embedded with a seed that would never bloom until he realized its existence.

    Damien already had a deep connection to Existence. He could say he was one of only a handful of people who''d ever seen reality itself presented before them.

    Since he wasprehending a concept he had a natural bond with, he could naturally do so at a faster rate than people who did the same forcefully. It was a simr situation to what he''d felt when he was firstprehending space.

    It helped that order and harmony were directly linked as well. Since Damien already had harmony, he needed to gain order before looking for anything else.

    Putting everything together, adding over 10 years of life experience and a sudden sense of inner peace, it was only natural for it to find him here.

    Damien sat at the waterfall for three days, slowly contemting on many things.

    He didn''t think about the concept of order after the first day, but the things he saw when he was being enlightened gave him a new look at several things, and he needed time to digest it all.

    When he was finished, he stood up and stretched.

    He wasn''t quite sure what had just happened.

    But he was going to have an opportunity to find out soon, so he didn''t worry himself over it.

    Rather, he was quite excited.

    ''With this, I should be able to get that over with too.''

    He smiled to himself and disappeared.

    For the next few hours, he stayed in the Sanctuary, where he used a time dtion to extend his time for a few days.

    He was working on a specific project that would be extremely helpful when the critical time came. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The concept of order allowed him to perfectly disperse chaos from chaotic forces. Even the most disordered energy could be calm under his grasp.

    One of the many privileges granted to him by this ability was to handle souls with a touch that nobody could replicate.

    And with that power, Rein Winchester could be granted a second life.

    Damien''s excitement didn''te from the fact that the Sword would be revived, but from the revival itself.

    He''d never dabbled in matters like this. It was a new experience for him.

    If he happened to be sessful¡­

    ''Well, I won''t be a mad scientist at least.''

    Damien didn''t think he''d get the chance to do this so soon, but since he was granted a blessing from the heavens, he was nning to use it well.

    Spending a few more hours to himself before leaving wasn''t going to harm anyone.

    Plus, the skills he''d gain from this procedure were well worth the wait.

    When Damien appeared at the end of those hours he granted himself, he had a wide smile on his face.

    His eyes glowed, filled with anticipation.

    ''With this, I''m ready.''

    There was a Dimensional Crack waiting for him.

    And he couldn''t wait to greet it.

 Chapter 1442 Dimensional Crack [1]

    The Bloomberg Principality was somewhere near the center of the Southern Region, near one of the extreme poles of the Heavenly World.

    It was a cold region without much civilization, but there were still several tribes that lived in the area for generations and had their own unique cultures.

    The Bloomberg Principity was one of those so far disconnected from society that the people were hardly followers of Void Pce, however, even they had connections with the outside world.

    This was because of the danger of Dimensional Cracks.

    Dimensional Cracks weren''t actually a rare urrence.

    Just like the gates and dungeons of the lower universe, Dimensional Cracks would appear anywhere and everywhere with no rhyme or reason.

    However, unlike gates, Dimensional Cracks were created artificially, not as a product of the natural order.

    Damien had information on all the Dimensional Cracks that he could find, but not all of them were tracked. There were just too many.

    For the most part, they weren''t too unbelievably dangerous, so they were taken care of by local practitioners and kept in their books, never to reach the ears of those in a much higher position than them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Also, for the most part, Dimensional Cracks didn''t rupture.

    That was when they truly became dangerous.

    At the end of the day, the Foreign Races were just that, foreign.

    The Heavenly Order didn''t hold any bias, but when its space was being controlled by foreign entities, its natural protections would be put into y regardless.

    When a Dimensional Crack first spawned, it would remain in a closed state.

    Nothing could enter the cosmos through it, however, entities from within the cosmos could enter it just fine.

    With this mechanism as protection, practitioners could enter the cracks and kill everything inside before they could invade the world, just like how gates worked.

    Dimensional Ruptures were avoided in most cases. That was because the cosmos had already realized how dangerous it would be if they were allowed to turn into ruptures.

    This awareness of danger just didn''t go further than that, which was a shame.

    Nevertheless, Dimensional Ruptures happened when the Heavenly Order''s protection was whittled down until it was broken.

    At that point, the Foreign Races would charge through and invade, turning more and morend into their own territory until all of them were killed and the crack was dispersed.

    Converted territories couldn''t be regained, as found through past experiences had by the citizens of this world.

    And, no matter how many Foreign Races died, they wouldn''t stop pouring through the gate until it was destroyed.

    Spatial practitioners were an absolute necessity to rid society of these cracks, which was why Void Pce was able to grow so rapidly.

    The crack Damien was headed towards was on the verge of rupturing.

    Several teams of practitioners had been sent in, but none of them had returned. It got to the point where no local influence could handle it, and Void Pce was notified of the situation.

    When Damien got the news, he immediately knew he had to go.

    Dimensional Cracks were the Foreign Races'' method of invading this cosmos.

    They hadn''t been trying as hard as they could, so despite their number, the actual impact they''d had wasn''t as big as it could''ve been.

    The troops they sent to invade or fight against invaders weren''t the strongest they had, nor were the Dimensional Cracks too serious.

    They didn''t really have to try yet.

    The people here hadn''t realized the threat they posed.

    Just as had happened in the lower universe, they would slowly gnaw on the Heavenly World, converting small patches into theirnd until they had more ground than the denizens.

    And they''d do it before anyone took them seriously.

    Damien understood their strategies as someone who''d fought them before.

    This Dimensional Crack was special.

    The people who were sent to clear it weren''t weak. As weaker teams were defeated and the problem made its way up the power hierarchy, even Demigods had eventually been sent.

    Damien used his informationwork to find out a lot about all the cracks he could find, and through it, he realized that this kind of situation wasn''t asmon as one would expect it to be.

    And every time it had taken ce, it ended in a portion ofnd being transformed into a Foreign Territory.

    This could only mean one thing.

    ''There is something inside the crack that''s far more powerful than what the cosmos has seen thus far.''

    This crack wasn''t like the rest.

    Damien was going to send a team to the crack regardless to deal with the rupture, but the reason he came himself was because he wanted to see what made this crack special.

    Why were there Demigod-level enemies within?

    What secrets were they hiding?

    Demigods were definitelymon in the Heavenly World, but that was still just because of the size.

    In reality, Demigods still weren''t forces that could be used easily, outside of war of course.

    Damien''s ability to create them in a mere hundred years was monstrous, and for the same reason that made that true, Dimensional Cracks that could kill Demigods were extremely worrying.

    ''We still don''t know anything about the Foreign Races.''

    Even the influences who had direct contact with them were stillrgely unaware of the true nature of the Foreign Races apart from the most basic information.

    What would happen if their forces were just as plentiful or more plentiful than those the Heavenly World had?

    All these questions stacked up in Damien''s mind as he approached the Bloomberg Principality.

    He wasn''t alone this time. He''d brought two squads from his newly created army with them, both to give them experience and to have help dealing with the rupture.

    These squads consisted of only Demigods. The first was led by Tiamat and consisted of Divinities from the Sanctuary.

    As for the second, it contained both Dominic and Darius Void, along with a few talented Demigods from the Void Pce army.

    They hade with their identities hidden for multiple reasons. Damien made sure to disguise his siblings'' purple eyes as well as his own.

    As for the rest, other than a few who had some reputation in the outside world, everyone was a new face being introduced to society as of this moment.

    They weren''t the only ones here either.

    Several Demigods from nearby influences, and even some who came from a distance for this event, were also headed to the Dimensional Crack.

    And, of course, not all of them were friendly.

    ''I purposefully created an opportunity for them, so it''s only natural they take it.''

    Right now, Damien had the image of someone arrogant, an image he created by autographing his actions in the Southwestern Region and announcing himself as Young Lord immediately afterward.

    Leaving the pce now maintained that image, which gave those who despised him an opportunity to aim for his throat.

    But his arrogance was a lie.

    And everything they knew was a trapid out for those individuals.

    Damien had done so much nning.

    At this point, it was hard to find a variable outside his control.

    So he approached with confidence that nothing would go wrong.

    And heid his eyes on his very first Dimensional Crack.

 Chapter 1443 Dimensional Crack [2]

    It wasn''t as big as he thought it''d be.

    The Dimensional Crack was roughly ten feet tall and only around three feet wide. It didn''t have much depth, almost like a two-dimensional structure in three-dimensional space.

    It was dark ck with red arcs of electricity running across its surface, giving it a pretty dangerous look, but all in all, it was quite easy to write off as something trivial.

    There wasn''t anything else in the area but snow.

    The entire Bloomberg Principality was covered in snow and ice. Even the small viges and big cities that existed here were built into it.

    Luckily, the crack opened in a rtively unpopted area.

    It was only spotted by travelers moving between cities, and wouldn''t cause havoc in the case that it truly ruptured.

    When Damien and the rest arrived in a group of ten, they became one of many groups present in the vicinity.

    However, the ck and purple robes they wore to indicate their affiliation made everyone part ways for them.

    The forces from Void Pce. Even if their names and faces were unknown, the fact that the pce sent them meant their strength was guaranteed.

    Damien looked around, the others following close behind him.

    ''Hmm¡­are all these people participating in the rupture?''

    There were over five hundred present. The number seemed a bit blown out of proportion to Damien, but considering how strange the crack had been acting, it was warranted.

    ''I guess they don''t underestimate as much as I assumed they did. It''s still too pitiful on arge scale, but the fact that people showed up like this is good too.''

    The group walked from ce to ce, epting greetings from the many subsidiary ns who came to see them.

    Eventually, though, Damien found a person with some actual value.

    "Hello, sir. My name is Inca Smith. It is my job to monitor the crack and judge the time until it ruptures."

    The woman who came up to him introduced herself, and after gaining his permission, led his group to a nearby set that looked like it had only recently been set up.

    Inside, several pieces of equipment were set up that gave off readings that the average practitioner could never understand.

    There were four people present, five counting Inca. ording to her, they came from a nearby n called the Peralius n, and they''d been focused on mapping and monitoring Dimensional Cracks for several hundred years.

    Damien left the majority of his group outside to their own devices and followed Inca into the tent with Dominic, Darius, and Tiamat.

    Meanwhile, Inca continued exining how they managed to do their research despite the little interest the majority of the world had in the field.

    "Our instruments measure a myriad of factors to ultimatelye to a conclusion, but the main ones are mana intensity, atmospheric fluctuation, and corrosion."

    "Take this gate as an example."

    Inca walked them over to a nearby machine being operated by one of her colleagues and continued her exnation.

    "Here, we can see that the atmospheric fluctuation caused by the crack is far above normal levels. There have been signs of reality warping, which, on our scale of danger, can be counted as something above the highest degree."

    She started strong, letting them know just how bad the situation was.

    "However, as we continued testing, we found something even more confusing."

    She pointed out another variable and continued. t

    "The mana intensity is basically nil. There''s hardly any leakage from the crack, which is exceedingly rare. For the most part, we''ll be able to tell what''s inside the crack by judging the intensity of the mana it emanates due to their presence, but it''spletely impossible this time."

    "And, the corrosion value is almost just hard to ept."

    Corrosion used several factors that Damien didn''t quite understand to determine how fast thend would be converted when the rupture started.

    It was the most important variable, because of the corrosion rate was unimaginable, then far stronger forces needed to be used to fight against the crack. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    If it wasn''t closed within just a few minutes, massive swatches of the world would be turned into Foreign Territories, which had more than a few negative effects on the atmosphere.

    "Interesting¡­"

    It was a branch of science Damien had never seen before. Despite the wealth of knowledge he possessed, he couldn''t understand even an ounce of the actual processes behind their conclusions.

    ''I''ll have to meet with them again after all this is over.''

    But for now, they couldn''t focus on the details of the science.

    "How long until the rupture urs?" Damien asked.

    That was apparently the final goal of their research, but clearly that was a lie used to interest people in their work.

    Predicting ruptures was at most a byproduct of their efforts.

    Still, it was their hook for a reason. It was the reason Damien came, and he needed to hear that before everything else.

    Inca and her colleagues were obviously a bit disappointed by his words, but they understood as well.

    Plus, Damien showed a clear interest in what they were doing, unlike most who visited them, so they didn''t immediately lose hope.

    They wanted Void Pce''s backing. With support from such arge influence, they''d be able to do so much more with what they had.

    And to seed in gaining that backing, they needed to properly impress the group that came to investigate this crack.

    "Thirty minutes."

    Inca spoke without hesitation, giving not a timeframe, but a specific point when it would open.

    "I like your confidence, but are you sure?" Damien responded.

    "I''m sure. Just watch, and you''ll see soon enough."

    Damien smiled slightly.

    ''I like her confidence.''

    Inca had the eyes of someone who''d make it big.

    After taking note of her existence, Damien left the tent with his people and began preparing for the rupture.

    "You believe her?" Tiamat asked.

    "Why wouldn''t I?" Damien returned.

    "...I don''t know. It just felt a little fast."

    Tiamat had been in the Sanctuary for the majority of the time Damien was in the Heavenly World.

    She wasn''t familiar with this ce''s environment, but she knew not to be so trusting of people she''d just met.

    However, Damien just shrugged in response.

    "Scientists don''t like to lie. There''s no harm in trusting her abilities. Even if she''s wrong, it just means her confidence was a lie. It doesn''t affect me much."

    More than that, Damien could read souls now. He didn''t really need to worry about people with hostile intentions, since he''d always know beforehand.

    Nevertheless, it was just a question out of nowhere. Tiamat also got ready to attack the crack. Herints were no more than words.

    The group was given strange looks from all around for their actions.

    Some justughed, some questioned Void Pce and called them cowards, while others took note of them and followed their actions, preparing for the crack.

    And as thirty minutes ticked by with Inca on the edge of her seat watching its movements, the crack began to fluctuate.

    VOOM!

    A huge aura was revealed from the previously sleeping beast.

    Hundreds of people were thrown away, with only those who sufficiently readied themselves beforehand able to keep their footing.

    As Inca predicted, exactly thirty minutes after Damien and the rest arrived at the Dimensional Crack, it opened its jaws.

    And a flood of otherworldly beings poured out.

 Chapter 1444 Dimensional Crack [3]

    Chapter 1444 Dimensional Crack [3]

    The beings that came out of the crack didn''t bear any resemnce to the Nox, especially not the Higher Nox.

    They shared the same pitch-ck ink-like skin of the Lesser Nox, however, their forms were defined.

    There were five types of creatures that rushed into the Heavenly World.

    Some wererge, some were small, but regardless of their appearances, Tiamat felt a connection to them all.

    It was an extremely disconcerting feeling.

    From the moment they arrived at the crack, she''d been on edge. It was the reason she asked Damien why he trusted that scientist.

    She felt the need to voice something, anything, because if she stayed silent she''d be pulled into the crack.

    She could feel that this was her origin.

    The ce beyond that crack was the ce where the people who created her race were, the people who led to their tragic fates.

    But that didn''t have anything to do with Tiamat.

    She was hardly a Nox. No, rather, she never once had anything inmon with them.

    She was never subjected to the same restrictions as them, and no matter what she did for them, they always regarded her in fear.

    The Nox species had no right to associate with her.

    But standing in front of the crack, she couldn''t help but feel like she was one of them.

    The undeniable urge to go beyond and find whaty on the other side was hard to resist, but Tiamat wasn''t a weak character. When she set her mind on something, nothing could stop her from aplishing it.

    She''d given her life to Damien.

    Right now, she had to trust in him rather than her instincts.

    Besides, he wasn''t a man who knew how to disappoint.

    Her wishes would be fulfilled somehow, so until then, she just needed to focus on the tasks she was given.

    The second the Foreign Races started pouring out from the crack, the battle started.

    The experts who''d gathered in the vicinity all charged in, iming areas around the tear in reality that they would guard.

    This was a method used to make sure nobody would interfere in another''s battles. The territories imed by each Influence would only be handled by them.

    And, of course, Void Pce had a spot in front of them all, just a few tens of feet away from the crack. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Dominic, Darius, and Tiamat led their squads to that spot and started fighting.

    For Dominic and Darius, this was an opportunity to measure their growth and use the skills they''d umted in the past century.

    For Tiamat, it was a sort of cathartic relief. She just wanted to get rid of the feeling haunting her.

    Damien stayed back while they moved, observing the battlefield from a point where he was unaffected by it.

    Though, he wasn''t skimping on his duties.

    As explosions filled the air and it became hard to distinguish friend from foe, nobody could really notice as several otherworldly enemies disappeared from the crowd.

    Especially since there were hundreds of them already in the Heavenly World and hundreds more pouring out every second.

    Several tens of them disappeared from reality together every few seconds.

    Their existences were purified.

    The Foreign Races were beings of chaos. Damien didn''t even need to directly see them to confirm it.

    With the new concept of order he''dprehended, Damien was given the ability to remove chaos from the world.

    Against that power,bined with the weight of Damien''s league, these creatures, despite being Demigods themselves, stood no chance.

    He devoured them in droves, intaking their existences.

    It was almost too easy for him.

    With such a simple action, Damien learned so much.

    But, at the same time, he didn''t learn anything.

    ''Their strategies are still the same.''

    The creatures that everyone was facing now were just manufactured soldiers meant to rapidly invade other worlds.

    It was the exact same strategy the Nox used in the past. These were the equivalent of unintelligent Lesser Nox whose numbers and durability were their only advantage.

    ''But, as expected, it''s to another level when ites from the original source.''

    Unlike Lesser Nox, these creatures actually had purpose.

    The, withck of a better name for now, "Lesser Foreign Races," came in five types, each with its own specialization.

    The ones being taken care of by the weakest of the present influences were called grunts. They were short and fat, with malformed bodies that looked more like blobs than living organisms.

    They were the most like Lesser Nox, since their numerity was their speciality. They came out first, swamping their enemies and creating openings for those who cameter.

    Second came the Titans. Titans were massive beings that were twenty feet tall at the very least. They had monstrous physical strength and bodies that couldn''t be prated without special means.

    Third were the Sword Demons. Like their species name suggested, they were really demons of the sword. Their arms, four of which each of them had, were des themselves, and with the ability to use sword aura and Sword Laws, they could dominate any battlefield.

    The fourth kind was Sentries. Sentries acted from range like archers, barraging the battlefield with attacks and precisely eliminating those who''d dropped their guards.

    And finally, the Shadows, assassins with extreme speed and concealment ability.

    Together, these five types defined the invading army of the Foreign Races.

    They didn''t really need to use anything else.

    After all, each of the archetypesplimented the rest. When all five were used together, they hardly left any openings to be exploited.

    Naturally, they could still be defeated with enough power, strategy, or numbers, but despite their low intelligence, they were able to fight back against much smarter foes toe to toe without a problem.

    The problem was, they were artificially created like the Lesser Nox.

    Damien couldn''t see the process through their existences, likely because their memories were distorted by the differences in thews of the two nes, but Damien could at least see the dark facilities in which they were made.

    There was a reason the Divine Order was able to create homunculi.

    The entire process had been given to them by the Foreign Races in return for their subordination.

    Or, at least, that was Damien''s assumption.

    Regardless, the details of it all could be figured out when he entered the crack himself.

    But before that, the invasive forces had to be defeated so hisnd wouldn''t be corroded into theirs.

    ''I''ll leave my squads to take care of things on their own. As for the rest¡­''

    Damien nced around.

    There were a few impressive people, but for the most part, it was ackluster show of power from these subsidiary influences.

    Since Damien wanted to contain the spread of corrosion as much as possible, and these people would definitely hinder him from doing so if left alone¡­

    ''...I guess they wouldn''t mind if I gave them a little help.''

    Damien smiled and called on his power.

    A change began to take ce on the battlefield.

    A subtle aura was exuded by his body, but nobody present could feel it.

    But somewhere in the distance, a certain being''s head turned in that direction.

    "That is¡­"

    A grin formed on their face.

    "...Void."

 Chapter 1445 Dimensional Crack [4]

    Chapter 1445 Dimensional Crack [4]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Tiamat''s Death Authority was just as powerful in the Heavenly World as it was in the lower universe.

    Along with Iris, Tiamat was one of the strongest people in Grand Heavens Boundary. They may havee to a ce where stronger people existed, sure, but that didn''t discount the amount of time they spent growing and training.

    They were already high-rank Demigods. They''d been at that level for thousands of years, unable to progress much further because they were near the ceiling of their current power level.

    Tiamat was a top powerhouse even in the Heavenly World. Perhaps she couldn''t have the level of authority a God could hold, but under that level?

    She was practically unparalleled.

    The enemy vanguardpletely copsed because of her interference.

    Grunts were durable. They didn''t have much power, but their bodies could take hits like no other.

    They didn''t have much use offensively, but that wasn''t how they were used. Once battlemenced, they became living shields who would willingly jump in front of their allies to absorb attacks.

    Their allies would also pick them up and use them as shields before throwing them like blunt weapons.

    They were like human-sized meatballs. Despite having no power of their own, if their weight was used as a weapon by others, it became quite dangerous.

    There was obviously a limit to how much they could endure, but that wasn''t Tiamat''s problem.

    She was at the very forefront of the battlefield. The first thing she did when she saw how the Grunts were being used to negate iing damage, she spread a web of her mana over the ground and used her skills.

    Skeletal hands pushed out of the dirt and grabbed any Grunt they could find. Some were suffocated in the ground and killed, while others were pushed towards the periphery forces who were tasked with taking care of them.

    While she was manipting the web, the Grunts were powerless and effectively useless.

    Naturally, Tiamat was left unprotected while skillfully manipting her mana like this, but the current battle wasn''t an individual one.

    If there was one thing Tiamat tried to learn more than anything else, it was cooperation.

    She trusted Damien and she trusted Iris. There weren''t many others she trusted, but because everyone else she worked with was rted to them, they were given something of a pass.

    She''d never had a reliable family around her that she could give her back to. Since she considered this one able to be that, she didn''t hold back in trying to learn new things.

    Of course, she didn''t be more sociable. Her personality wouldn''t change so easily. However, when it came to battle, she was absolutely confident in the team she''d trained and learned to work with over the past hundred years.

    The Sentries immediately started shooting at Tiamat when they noticed the Grunts being hindered.

    However, two shadows appeared before Tiamat and blocked all the iing strikes.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The two women who protected Tiamat withdrew their swords and charged forward, keeping the path ahead clear.

    They didn''t need to worry about Titans or Sword Demons since Dominic and Darius had led their teams to deal with the giant monsters and ded beasts, but there was still another power they''d seemingly forgotten about.

    From Tiamat''s own shadow, a ck being arose, its knife aimed at her throat.

    SHING!

    The sound of its de cut through the air. It approached, just inches away from Tiamat''s throat.

    Yet, that strike neverpleted its trajectory.

    ck blood sprayed out of the Shadow''s neck, hitting the wall of mana that Tiamat always maintained around her and dripping down to the ground.

    The head of a spear stuck out of the Shadow''s throat for only a second before it was ruthlessly pulled out, leaving the creature to die.

    Tiamat had three squad members, not two.

    These three women were hand-picked by Damien, or rather, Damien''s Avatar, while they were still in the Sanctuary.

    They had situations simr to Tiamat''s, though to lesser extents, and their personalities were good as well.

    These were people meant to support Tiamat and be her arms and legs, so naturally Damien picked the best of the best.

    With years of training together, these four women knew each other better than they knew themselves, so when they found themselves on the battlefield, they moved in such a fluidbat formation that not a single attack could get past their barriers and inhibit them.

    The Foreign Race vanguard was no match for them. When the other forces supporting their every movement were also taken into ount, the battle situation became almost magically advantageous.

    The subsidiary influences found themselves without roles after just a few minutes ofbat. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    With the way both Tiamat''s and Dominic and Darius'' squads tore through enemies, they were left with nothing to do but kill a few stray Grunts that were left on the outskirts of battle.

    BOOM!

    Another explosion rang out.

    A massive head, at least five feet long, flew into the air and crashed into the ground near the tents set up for research purposes.

    Compared to Tiamat''s battlefield, the one Dominic and Darius led was far more brutal.

    Heads were flying everywhere. The blood and guts of enemies piled up on the ground, and if that wasn''t bad enough, the stench of burning corpses breezed through the air.

    Ever since Darius unlocked his Sun and Moon Divine me and learned to properly wield it, he''d be a monster like Void Pce had never seen.

    Even now, the way he moved his arms through the air like a conductor and used the brutal mes of the sun to incinerate massive beings far greater than himself was demonically beautiful.

    Dominic was forced to work hard topete. He never thought there''de a day when his family''s space and time techniques seemed dull, but they paled inparison to the abilities Darius showed.

    Therefore, he was given no choice but to improve.

    He took those space and time techniques and really looked into them; he searched for their essence.

    He wasn''t anywhere near the end of that path, but the second he started treading it, he realized that space and time were far more than he ever thought they were.

    He''d been looking down on them because everyone around him could use them.

    But those who could bring out their full potential were few and far between.

    He nned to be one of those people.

    As he held his sword in his hand, reality warped around its de.

    Space and time became his tomand, his to sever.

    Every time he brought his sword down, tens of Sword Demons would split in half at once.

    It was simr to the technique Damien taught Butcher, but executed at a far higher level.

    The brothers were a perfectbination.

    Dominic had speed and pinpoint uracy. Meanwhile, Darius had a huge area of effect and power from a ranged position.

    When they went into battle together, their squad wasn''t left with anything more than morsels.

    They still did their jobs regardless.

    The performance of their squad leaders invigorated them. They were like barbarians acting on pure emotion, letting their valiance show on the battlefield.

    Void Pce.

    This was Void Pce.

    Those who thought their mother sect was falling, those who worried about the future of the Southern Region, as they watched this scene, they felt that feeling in their hearts.

    This wasn''t the Void Pce they knew.

    It was a far stronger version of its past self.

    That was the greatestfort they could ever receive.

    And as Damien''s people earned those feelings, he himself was nowhere to be found.

    To know where he went, time had to be rewound by just a few minutes.

 Chapter 1446 Old Burned Bridge [1]

    A few minutes back, as Damien was watching the battle, he felt a sudden aura fluctuation in the distance.

    It was subtle, almost imperceptible. It traveled in such a strange pattern that nobody else could notice it, but that pattern led straight to Damien.

    This was obviously a summon.

    No, rather, he was being alerted of that person''s presence.

    Damien was a naturally curious person, and on top of that, he didn''t necessarily be present at the battlefield. His people were more than capable of taking care of this situation themselves. The corruption was guaranteed to not spread too far.

    With nothing holding him back, Damien took the opportunity to investigate the iing aura.

    His search led him tens of millions of kilometers to the west. Not just that, he found himself descending into the earth through a ravine and finding a cave hidden deep within it before he started to feel the aura strongly enough to indicate its closeness.

    There, hundreds of kilometers below the surface, Damien traveled through a cave for another few hundred meters before he found its end.

    Along with the source of the aura.

    "..."

    Damien didn''t say anything. He had to take a second to process what he was seeing before speaking.

    ''Is this even a living being?''

    Damien thought Rein was beaten up when he found him, but the being in front of him was in a much worse state.

    To start with, he only had the top half of his body. That top half was a sack of bones just barely held together by skin and muscle that had worn away with time. His head was like a sunken skull, his eyes just barely dots of light left in the abyss they represented.

    And those eyes were staring right at Damien, emitting the aura of someone far stronger than a man who was left like this.

    "You¡­are not him."

    Those were the first words the man said to Damien.

    "Not him. Not him. Not him. Not him."

    The man clutched his head in his arms and rocked back and forth. His torso wasn''t equipped for so much movement, causing him to fall over as he continued to chant the same two words.

    "Not him. Not him. Not him. Not him."

    Damien didn''t know what to think.

    Whatever he expected to find here, it wasn''t this.

    The aura he felt wasn''t inherently hostile, but it had something evil about it. He investigated because he thought it was his enemies hiding in wait, but he waspletely wrong.

    This being had the strength of a God, ording to the aura he gave off, but his mind was obviously not all the way present.

    Combined with the state of his body, Damien wondered how this man managed to continue living for so long.

    The manpletely ignored Damien after that first sentence. It was as if he''d genuinely forgotten everything outside himself.

    And thosest words he said¡­

    ''I''m¡­not him?''

    The man''s aura was obviously calling Damien here.

    Damien wasn''t someone who could be confused with others easily. His aura was unique, and even that was to those who could sense him in the first ce.

    There was nobody who could mimic Damien''s energy.

    Therefore, it was practically impossible for anyone but him to be the one the man was looking for.

    ''Unless¡­''

    Unless, the resemnce wasn''t in power, but something else.

    Damien was beyond curious.

    ''Should I just read his existence?''

    This man had sentience, so there wasn''t a guarantee that he wouldn''t be killed in the process.

    ''But it doesn''t look like I can get him to cooperate otherwise¡­''

    The man''s mind wasn''t right. If Damien could enter his spiritual world or scan his soul, he might''ve had a chance to help him, but Damien couldn''t do any of those things.

    The man''s condition was too strange. His power was fully present, but everything about him was gone. In this state, if he rampaged intentionally or unintentionally, it would be extremely dangerous.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Damien tried to think through solutions, but he couldn''t necessarily find anything in his¨C

    ''No, there is something.''

    A new ability he had yet to understand the capabilities of.

    ''Does this state count as chaos?''

    He didn''t know, but it didn''t hurt to try and find out.

    If chaos could be purified, couldn''t this man''s mind be brought back to normalcy?

    Damien immediately put his theory into action.

    He summoned his mana, infused with the concept of order.

    For the sake of it, Damien also added the concept of harmony, knowing that the two went hand in hand.

    He didn''t quite know how to control the mana. When he was purifying the Foreign Races'' vanguard earlier, he didn''t have to think about it. He just directed his power at them and they fell.

    However, for a more precise operation like this, didn''t he need to be delicate?

    ''Is that even the case?''

    Damien''s sudden thought surprised him.

    He followed the train it led to, seeing where it went.

    ''Every time my power has gotten stronger, the need for delicacy has lessened.''

    He no longer needed to finely direct the output of his power or put the majority of his thought process into controlling it.

    Those processes took ce automatically.

    When he became more powerful, he''d end up reaching a point where his wish became the universe''smand.

    Treading a path like that, Damien was actually returning to simplicity. All theplicationsy in actually getting to a point where he could use the powers in his hand.

    So when the time came to actually put those forces into motion¡­

    ''...can''t I just will it?''

    Damien knew what his intent was.

    And as long as he knew his intent, his mana would know it too.

    He allowed it to flow as it desired, leaving his palm and entering the ill man''s body through his seven orifices.

    "...!"

    The man''s chanting came to a halt. His hollow eyes widened along with his mouth, and his hands went to his throat.

    Strange sounds exited his throat, almost like he was choking, but more like something was forcefully crawling up his esophagus.

    The ckness in his eyes slowly faded, leaving room for his pure white sclera and bright green irises to shine as his eyes bulged out of his head.

    It was a gruesome scene, but Damien watched with interest the entire time.

    He could feel his mana working.

    It went into the man''s mind and began changing things, and not only that, it entered his body and swirled as if it was being circted.

    That was the cause of the man''s suffocation.

    Something Damien didn''t realize the existence of was being pushed out of his body.

    And as his mind became clearer and clearer, and as the visage of the man before him became clearer too, the man''s eyes welled up with tears.

    "Ah¡­ah¡­!"

    He prostrated himself on the ground.

    His body shook demonically.

    His head jerked, and heaps of bloody red liquid and a slug-like ck substance were vomited out of his mouth.

    The disgusting substances wiggled on the floor like they were alive. It wasn''t just one of two of them, but hundreds that eventually exited the man''s body as minutes passed.

    It took a very long time for the process toe to an end. Far longer than Damien was ever expecting.

    But, eventually, the shriveled-up half of a man that he saw when he first entered the cave finally gained some life.

    His blueish-purple skin returned to its original bronze color, and his muscles gained a little bit of vitality, just barely growing enough for him to somewhat function.

    "You¡­are not him."

    The first sentence the man said was the same one from before. Damien almost thought he failed.

    However¡­

    "You are not him, but¡­"

    The man''s face was still streaming with tears. His body was still prostrated on the ground.

    "....who¡­are you?"

    He asked another question. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    One that meant far more than what it seemed on the surface.

 Chapter 1447 Old Burned Bridge [2]

    "Who am I?"

    Damien repeated it back.

    "Who¡­are you?"

    The man was stilling to consciousness, so he couldn''t say much more than the words he was already saying, but the look in his eyes was desperate, as if his entire life hinged on Damien''s answer.

    ''Is there really a need to lie?''

    He''d been concealing his identity whenever he left the pce, but he didn''t feel the need to do so this time.

    More so, he felt like it would be wrong to do so.

    "I am Damien Void."

    He answered truthfully, removing his disguise.

    When the man saw his purple eyes, when he heard his name, his face morphed once again.

    "Ah¡­ah¡­Void¡­!"

    He knew he''d felt it properly before.

    The aura of Void, he''d sensed it when Damien acted earlier. It was because of that aura that he called Damien over, but Damien wasn''t the man he expected to see arrive.

    "Void¡­?"

    It became clear at that moment.

    This man had indeed confused him for someone else.

    And that person was nobody other than his own father.

    "Were you perhaps looking for Dante Void?"

    The man shook upon hearing the question.

    ''As expected.''

    The name "Dante Void" meant something to this man, and whatever that something was, it made him so desperate he sent out a pleading call without any hope for an answer.

    Damien frowned.

    He didn''t know a lot about his father.

    However, he knew who his father had positive rtionships with in this world.

    ire told Damien everything about Dante when she heard he was curious. Since he was a grown man now, he deserved to know the hidden truths behind his birth.

    Those hidden truths included the origin story of Void Pce, the origin story of Dante Void.

    In that story, everyone was mentioned. Whether it was the Veritas n, Holy Empire, Dragon n, or even Kyushu Federation, almost every influence was filled with people who had rtionships with Dante Void.

    Most of those were positive. Dante never went out of his way to make enemies.

    And since Damien was going to take the reins of Void Pce until Dante was back, ire made sure he knew all those people by name and appearance. That way, he could always turn to others for help when he encountered something he couldn''t handle alone.

    The information given to him for the sake of his safety came in handy at times like this.

    Because there was nobody among Dante Void''s associates with an appearance like this.

    Damien didn''t know if this man was an enemy or just a random man who got a look at Dante once in his life, but it didn''t matter.

    ''He''s not a friend.''

    Which meant he was a foe until proven otherwise.

    Damien didn''t have any mercy for foes.

    His arm shed out.

    He grabbed the man''s head, prepping his mana.

    It would be extremely easy to read this man''s existence.

    All he had to do was try.

    But why was he hesitating?

    There was definitely a real chance that this man wouldn''t be left in one piece when Damien was done, but did that matter?

    He could have the information he wanted if he just pushed for it.

    He didn''t need to wait for this man to recuperate.

    Plus, what if he was an enemy? N?v(el)B\\jnn

    This man, no matter his state, was a God. If he was given the chance to use his strength, Damien wouldn''t be able to stand it.

    That was the main reason Damien healed the man''s mind and left his body alone.

    Everything pointed towards doing it. Damien couldn''t find a good reason not to.

    But there still was one.

    Morality.

    He didn''t want to lose it.

    Morality was a precious thing that could only be possessed by those in fortunate positions.

    He didn''t have any when he was suffering in the First Dungeon or surviving after that, but as he became older, as he became more powerful, he started caring about others again.

    He didn''t want to ruin his morality by crossing a line he shouldn''t cross.

    And that line was exactly what kept him from taking the easy road this time.

    He would rather take some more time and effort to get the answers he wanted than open the gate for less morally eptable means against people who hadn''t been proven guilty yet.

    It was hard to fight against power.

    With power, Damien could have everything he wanted. He tread his difficult path because he wanted to see the light at the end of it.

    But power corrupted even the most upright of men.

    Power made it easy to cross the line.

    Damien fought because he refused to be corrupted.

    As someone close to the natural order, he knew exactly where his line was and what he needed to do to stay away from it.

    It was because he knew that he couldn''t bring himself to simply read this man''s existence.

    And, if that wasn''t enough¡­

    ''...that shit on the ground is¡­''

    Damien thought it was something along the lines of "impurities" at first, but seeing how those globs of ck slime wriggled and gathered together like a living organism, Damien figured it had to be more than that.

    ''With that size, it''s hard to tell how long it''s been inside him.''

    Carrying a parasite was usually a sign that someone had a story to tell.

    A brutal one, at that.

    ''For stories like that, isn''t it better to hear it from the mouth of someone involved?''

    Damien wouldn''t understand the emotions behind it anyway.

    ''Or maybe that''s all just excuses.''

    He didn''t care. Those excuses helped him justify his decision to ignore ease, so he allowed them to flow like running water.

    It took quite a while for Damien to get a hold of himself.

    He didn''t want to admit it, but he was definitely feeling a serious sense of urgency after learning about his father''s situation.

    His emotions were desperately wanting to burst out, but he kept himself calm.

    The problem was that Damien was always an emotional person. If the right stimulus appeared, he couldn''t guarantee that he would stay calm.

    But, this wasn''t the time for him to explode.

    He loosened his grip on the man''s head and stepped back.

    He could see the man''s fear-filled eyes staring at him, but no words were exchanged yet.

    Since the man didn''t seem capable of starting the conversation, Damien decided to speak first.

    "Who are you?"

    He repeated the question back to the man in the simplest way he could so the man''s mind could process his words easily.

    The man''s eyes lit up. He was excited that he was able to understand something.

    And his mouth opened.

    Words didn''te out first. The man had to cough out several mouthfuls of blood first.

    But he got them out somehow.

    The words he knew best, his own name¡­

    "Alex¡­West¡­"

    ¡­and his most earnest wish.

    "Please¡­please¡­read my story."

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    Those weren''t the words he expected to hear.

    But, as he thought them over, a strange thought came to his mind.

    He thought he was crazy, but he had no choice but to wonder.

    ''Does¡­does that mean what I think it means?''

 Chapter 1448 Old Burned Bridge [3]

    Chapter 1448 Old Burned Bridge [3]

    Damien hesitated for a moment, but seeing the man''s pleading eyes, he stopped holding himself back.

    Those words.

    "Read my story."

    They weren''t words that alluded to a story that could be told.

    Damien was told to read the story not listen to it. The problem was that his ability to do so wasn''t something others were supposed to have.

    This man was assuming that Damien could read his story.

    Or, at least, that was Damien''s assumption. When he put his hand back on the man''s head and felt with his mana, though, that assumption became fact.

    ''There''s no barrier.''

    The man''s mind was now open like it wasn''t before.

    ''Maybe it''s because I healed him?''

    It may have been an instinctual reaction towards his savior, but it also could''ve been something deeper.

    No person, no matter how mentally crippled they were, would willingly open their mind to others without a basis of trust.

    That action held great meaning that every living being instinctively knew.

    To allow another person into one''s soul was an absolute show of trust. To do so without trust was an absolute show of submission.

    The natural response of a human being was to protect his or her independence. As long as ego existed, it was impossible to invade another person''s soul without injuring them.

    Even for Damien, who targeted existence rather than soul, this logic held true.

    ''He''s looking for Dante. Can my father also¡­?''

    Damien shook his head.

    ''He asked me to read his story. Whatever it is, I''ll learn it when I do so.''

    He allowed his mana to flow as it wished.

    He entered the man''s mind, entered his soul, and read the truth of his existence.

    Alex West.

    He had a more important part in Dante''s life than Damien thought.

    In the beginning, there were six.

    Dante, Hugo, Alex, Serena, Persia, and ire.

    They were a group that traveled and did everything together.

    They were the ones who created their legend together, and they were the ones who created Void Pce together.

    Six of them, not five.

    Among them, Alex was the one who knew Dante the best.

    They grew up in the same city. They didn''t actually be friends until their teens, but they''d been acquainted through mutual friends and on good terms since they were kids.

    Their rtionship wasn''t a shallow one.

    When they actually found themselves bing friends outside their mutual groups, they realized they had a lot inmon.

    As Dante began his adventures, leaving his hometown and traveling the world to be powerful, Alex followed him.

    When Hugo was recruited, when Serena and ire joined, and when Persia was saved, Alex was there.

    He was Dante''s right-hand man. From the very beginning of his journey, Alex had been his most trustedrade.

    They went through countless struggles together. They grew together, bing people their old peers could never imagine them as.

    They fought together, cried together, and almost died together.

    No matter what happened, Alex was always standing by Dante''s side.

    There was never any resentment between them.

    It was surprising. There was hardly ever a time when rtionships like theirs could remain pure.

    Dante''s talent began to show early. The longer they stayed together, the further Dante went as Alexgged behind.

    Still, Alex didn''t resent his or Dante''s talent. He just tried his hardest to keep up, gaining his own opportunities and chasing his own goals.

    But Alex made an easy target.

    Unlike Dante, he didn''t have overwhelming strength, and unlike the rest, he didn''t have any great background.

    The enemies the group made through their travels always targeted Alex when they found themselves unable to touch the rest.

    Of course, for a while this led to chances that let Alex get stronger, however, the level of their enemies eventually became far too much for him to deal with.

    It was a story as old as time, one that had repeated itself an immeasurable number of times over the course of history.

    One day, when Alex was out on an expedition, his enemies found him.

    And they overpowered him.

    He didn''t have the luck to find a way out.

    Instead, he was captured. He wasn''t killed, but instead tortured for several days without pause.

    Unfortunately, his enemies were smart. They didn''t keep him locked up long enough for his allies to get concerned, and they didn''t announce his capture at their hands.

    Alex was left hopeless, and in that state, he was infected with a parasite that took control of his body.

    His mind was locked away, forced to watch the actions of his body through a screen.

    That was the state he returned to Void Pce in.

    As if everything was normal, his body continued acting. He watched as days turned into months and months turned into years, but no matter how much time passed, nobody could tell that he was no longer himself.

    Until that fateful day.

    That day when he stabbed Dante in the back.

    At that time, Dante hadn''t be invincible yet. He was still in a phase where he couldn''t stop everything with power alone.

    And, when he was weakened after a huge breakthrough, Alex struck.

    With a de coated in the worst poisons known to man, he drove a de through Dante''s heart.

    It was a terrible day for Void Pce.

    Not only did Alex betray them and fatally wound Dante, but he also destroyed several of the pce''s facilities and killed several of their rising geniuses before escaping.

    None of his old friends could stop him.

    All of his bridges were burned that day.

    And he could do nothing but watch as he was slowly driven to insanity within the confines of his own mind.

    His body started working with the Straea n from that day forth. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The parasite had all his memories and experience. It acted perfectly as if he''d truly be a traitor.

    The Void Pce group had multiple encounters with him over theing years, but they were never able to see the oddity within him.

    He desperately pleaded for them to save him. He wanted someone, anyone to see what was happening to him and tell his friends that he wasn''t the man they thought him to be.

    But it was impossible for him.

    He was forced to work as a ve for the Straea n under the control of the parasite for thousands of years.

    Or was it millions?

    He couldn''t tell.

    But it went on until another fateful day.

    Dante Void disappeared.

    And suddenly, Alex West became useless.

    The only reason they used Alex was because of his rtionship with Dante.

    It gave them the ability to maneuver around a lot of obstacles to get to him, especially with the knowledge Alex had umted from spending years together with him.

    When Dante disappeared, they lost the need to use Alex.

    As for what happened to useless tools?

    The answer was clear.

    Alex was thrown away.

    He was meant to be killed, but with thest of his sanity, he managed to ovee the parasite for barely a second, fusing into its consciousness.

    He became one with the creature, and, as his mind devolved due to its influence, it started acting on his base desires rather than the orders it was given.

    He escaped the Straea n because of that fusion, but the only ce he could go was into hiding. Nobody would ept him anymore.

    That was how he found himself in the cave.

    His bottom half was severed when he fled from his captors, and his mind was in pieces.

    Millions of years passed once again.

    And Alex''s state only got worse.

    All hope was lost for him.

    Until he felt that aura. The one he thought he''d forgotten after so many years.

    Void.

 Chapter 1449 Old Burned Bridge [4]

    Chapter 1449 Old Burned Bridge [4]

    Damien sucked in a deep breath after reading Alex''s existence. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was a truly sad life he led. One where he was never able to aplish anything he truly desired, and where he only felt suffering without any light at the end.

    He''d been rotting away in this cave for millions of years. It didn''t seem like he was using mana to keep himself alive either, so he was probably trying to kill himself before he sensed Dante''s aura from Damien.

    He was a traitor, but he wasn''t a traitor.

    Damien couldn''t imagine how he''d feel if he was forced to betray his allies while trapped in his own mind.

    He would''ve raged. He would''ve done everything possible to rid himself of the parasitic existence.

    Because of his fortune, he would eventually be able to bring himself out of that predicament.

    No, in the first ce, the Void would never allow that predicament to ur in the first ce.

    But Alex didn''t have the Void supporting him.

    Alex didn''t have anything supporting him.

    Damien sighed.

    It really was a cruel fate.

    His mother didn''t mention Alex even once in their conversations. His name was even erased from Persia''s Compendium, banished from the records of the pce.

    It was evident that the people of Void Pce still held hostility towards Alex in their hearts despite all the time that passed.

    They didn''t have a single clue that their hostility was unwarranted.

    ''It''s concerning as much as it''s sad.''

    Damien''s father and mother were the strongest people he knew.

    For them, along with his aunts and uncle to never realize the truth behind Alex''s betrayal was extremely concerning.

    There was no way they didn''t consider the possibility. If they did so and still didn''t get a clue, it meant the parasite controlling Alex was a supreme entity beyond their perception.

    ''Alex left their group before my father reached the heights that made him the strongest, so I don''t know if he was able to figure something out, but¡­''

    Damien nced at the ck slime on the ground.

    It was already dead. Its lifespan was practically nothing when it wasn''t within its host body.

    Plus, this one was connected to Alex. It was a true copy of him with his desires and emotions.

    Alex''s desire for forgiveness and understanding stayed with his mind, and his desire for death to end his suffering died with the parasite.

    What was left was the Alex from before he was ever corrupted.

    ''No, he''ll probably never return to that point.''

    But he was at least freed from his suffering.

    His mind could heal with time as long as it was allowed.

    ''This man doesn''t deserve a fate like this.''

    Damien didn''t have any mercy for traitors, but this situation was different.

    He could see through Alex''s eyes and feel through Alex''s heart. He knew exactly how much Alex valued his friendships.

    It was why he managed to grasp onto any string of vitality he could find to call Damien when he sensed his aura.

    ''Haa¡­it''ll be a task to exin everything to Mother and the rest, but¡­''

    He couldn''t abandon this man here.

    Not after all the talk about morality he was doing earlier, and definitely not after seeing the life this man led.

    [Heal]

    The [Heal] trait was no longer a trait anymore. It was now included in Damien''s body as if it were a natural process, and it was extremely enhanced through the Authority of Samsara.

    Alex''s body was in a terrible state, but it was mostly caused by the parasite''s existence and mana loss.

    Most of Alex''s vitality could be returned to him as long as mana was put into his systems, but [Heal] was still necessary to kickstart his Godly regeneration andpletely bring him back to his previous state.

    It took several minutes to bring luster back to Alex''s skin. It took even more time to regrow his legs and recalibrate his entire body so he could use it like normal.

    However, his mind couldn''t be easily fixed.

    The problem wasn''t something Damien could fix with his current abilities.

    Just like when he had to heal Iris in the past, he would need to control Nonexistence to bring Alex''s mind back.

    But, of course, there was no easy solution like the [Void Daughter] title for Alex.

    It would be a slow process of bringing back function and ego, but Damien was certain Alex could eventually be returned to his past self.

    ''Until then¡­''

    "Can you stand?"

    He wasn''t just testing if Alex could move his body, but also if he couldprehend the words spoken to him.

    Alex stared at Damien for a minute with big eyes like a clueless dog, but eventually, he shakily put his feet on the ground and lifted himself.

    Damien took a step back.

    Alex took a step forward.

    Damien raised his brow, taking another three steps back and one to the side.

    Alex mirrored his movements, taking three steps forward and one to the side.

    ''Hmm¡­it''s worse than I thought.''

    Damien expected Alex to have at least regained some sort of intelligence since he was speaking earlier and could understand words now, but it seemed it was selective healing.

    Alex was able to follow orders as they were given to him, but he wasn''t able to think on his own yet.

    ''His ego almostpletely died.''

    To bring back an ego was far more difficult than bringing back an entire soul.

    Egos were ethereal, nonexistent representations of identity that managed to exist in reality.

    Since Alex''s egos only contained his base desires and nothing else anymore, he could only act on things that followed those desires.

    Damien held Dante''s aura. Damien was rted to those desires. Therefore, Damien''smands would be followed.

    ''It could be dangerous to bring him into the real world right now. It''s uncertain what he''d do in response to external stimulus.''

    For now, it was better to keep Alex contained in the Sanctuary.

    ''I can slowly introduce him to stimuli until he''s be ustomed enough to interact with society.''

    He had a lot of work to do without a lot of reward at the end of it.

    But Damien was going to do it regardless.

    This man was too pitiful to leave alone.

    For Alex''s sake, and to resolve the pit in the hearts of his family, Damien was willing to put in the work.

    That was enough for him.

    Damien didn''t have trouble taking Alex into the Sanctuary.

    He created a new space to contain him and made preparations for his future healing.

    Left alone in the cave, Damien sighed to himself again.

    Unfortunate situations and tragic fates were everywhere.

    Alex had a terrible life, but it wasn''t a unique one. The same thing that happened to him had happened to countless people throughout history.

    Of them, he could be considered lucky, because only a rare few of them had people like Damien who could save and redeem them.

    But that was something for Alex to realize on his own when he''d returned to normalcy.

    ''I''ve been gone for a while now.''

    Damien had to return his attention to the matters at hand.

    ''The battle is probablying to an end right now, so I should start making my way back.''

    Dominic, Darius, and Tiamat had been putting in a significant amount of work while Damien was gone, so the battle was indeed almost over.

    But the scene there no longer looked like it did when Damien left.

    In the middle of the snowy biome that held its own brand of ethereal beauty was now a rotted circle.

    A mark of the Foreign Races'' corruption.

 Chapter 1450 New World [1]

    Chapter 1450 New World [1]

    The original goal was to stop the spread of corruption into the Heavenly World.

    Tiamat and the rest did their jobs perfectly. They eliminated the iing threat with speed and precision so that the corruption didn''t get further than they wanted it to.

    But they couldn''t stop itpletely.

    The corruption began spreading the instant the Foreign Races'' vanguard entered the world. There was no way to stop that.

    By the time the battle ended, an area the size roughly a hundred square feet in size was left rotted. In the pure white scenery of the principality, it stood out quite severely.

    When Damien came back, it was the first thing he saw.

    The people who''de to deal with the crack had already retreated to recuperate.

    Tiamat and the rest were the same. They were waiting for Damien to return while entertaining those who tried to make connections with them.

    It was good practice for Dominic and Darius, who were part of the ruling n of Void Pce, but they didn''t have the eyes necessary to know how to treat each and every person.

    Luckily, Tiamat was different.

    She could judge people well with her years of life experience, and she''d been taking time throughout the battle to see how everyone else was doing, so she knew better than anyone who to associate with and who to shun.

    With her help, the two gained social skills they never thought they''d need, and even the belligerent Darius learned how to be eloquent when he needed to.

    It was a convenient few minutes of growth that would be useful in the future.

    Damien saw them second, but seeing how his brothers were acting, he decided to leave them alone for a bit and study the corruption.

    ''It''s gross.''

    The ground was reddish ck and king like polluted skin.

    It had a disgusting mushy texture, and as Damien stood on it, he could feel himself being subtly affected by its aura.

    ''I see. Even this is an offensive tactic.''

    They weren''t just imingnd, they were creating traps for their enemies.

    ''Thinking about how many of these corrupted patches exist in the world makes me want to gag.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Foreign Territories weren''t as rare as they needed to be. It was a real concern.

    Damien knelt down, putting his hand to the ground.

    ''Can I purify it?''

    He closed his eyes and felt the world.

    ''I¡­am not sure.''

    Damien could definitely do it. If he could purify the chaos in Alex''s body, there was no question about whether or not he could purify such a small Foreign Territory.

    The problem was something else.

    ''Thesews¡­don''t feel natural.''

    He recognized it somewhat.

    Thesews functioned simrly to the Demonic Energy in Damien''s possession.

    ''As expected, it''s different over there.''

    Just like how the Severed World had its ownws, just like how the Sanctuary had its ownws, the ce the Foreign Races came from had a unique set ofws.

    Until Damienprehended them, he wouldn''t be able to properly get rid of the corruption or anything rted to the Foreign Races in the same way.

    ''It ends up coinciding with my original ns, so that''s good.''

    Damien nced at the crack in the distance.

    Despite the battle being over, it hadn''t closed yet.

    This was routine.

    Dimensional Cracks would remain open for several hours or even days after the Foreign Race invasion. There was a possibility of a secondary invasion, but for the most part, they''d easily close once their energy was dispersed.

    The problem was that their energy would enhance the surrounding Foreign Territory, which not only made the corruption spread, but also worsened the negative effects experienced by those in its vicinity.

    The usual solution to this problem was to bring in spatial practitioners who could close the crack prematurely, but Damien had other ns for this one.

    ''I''ll have to wait until the others leave¡­''

    He couldn''t do it outright. He also couldn''t evacuate them all under false pretenses, because the processes for such a situation had already be streamlined across the entire world.

    But, since Void Pce was in charge of closing the crack and there were several research teams present to take measurements of the strange structure, there was still an excuse to use.

    The first wave ended too easily.

    For a crack that killed so many Demigods to be cleared without a problem could be amounted to Void Pce''s interference, but to guarantee safety, it was better to excavate the area so the pce''s experts could investigate properly.

    Or, at least, that''s what Damien had his people spread.

    It was somewhat suspicious, but did Void Pce have a reason to lie?

    Other than the researchers, who were given a few more hours to finish getting their readings and pack up, everyone left.

    And once they were gone as well, Damien finally approached the crack with his people.

    ''I''ll have to leave most of them behind.''

    He was nning to go alone, but he gave that up in return for giving his brothers a good training trip.

    ''But someone has to stay back tomand the rest.''

    It had to be either Dominic, Darius, or Tiamat.

    But it couldn''t be Tiamat.

    This trip meant more to her than it did to anyone else, so she was definitelying.

    Of his two brothers, Damien didn''t know who would be more suited for a trip like this, but¡­

    ''...Darius will probably grow more.''

    His power source was a Heavenly me. Heavenly mes were extremely adaptable, and even if put in a situation where the Universal Law or Heavenly Order waspletely reversed, they''d be able to maintain their power.

    It wasn''t the same for Dominic. He''d be essentially crippled until he learned how to maneuver around the newws.

    ''Alright.''

    Damien just had to break the news to his brother now.

    He really expected it to be a huge argument.

    Surprisingly, though, Dominic was quite receptive.

    He pretty much understood Damien''s reasoning. He was a smart man. His intellect was one of his specialities.

    Since he knew why he wasn''t chosen and knew what role he was necessary for in the Heavenly World, he readily epted Damien''s ns, promising to hold down the fort while the expedition team took care of business.

    With everything settled, Damien approached the crack with Darius and Tiamat.

    They stood before it, feeling its chaotic energy.

    It was dark and malevolent.

    But it was also something unique.

    This kind of aura just couldn''t be found in the Heavenly World. Not because the Heavenly World was all righteous, but because it simply couldn''t configure itsws in such a way to create it.

    They stood there in silence. They weren''t hesitating. They were taking a moment to digest the weight of their actions.

    It had been done before.

    Cracks were entered all the time.

    But not in this manner.

    And not with Damien heading the expedition.

    This would not be something normal.

    They would likely see many jaw-dropping things from this point forth.

    For that, they needed to mentally prepare.

    A minute passed as those who would remain in the Heavenly World watched them.

    Damien looked between Darius and Tiamat, seeing them nod back at him.

    With his eyes wide open in search of something amazing, he took his first step forward.

    To enter the homeworld of the Foreign Races.

 Chapter 1451 New World [2]

    Chapter 1451 New World [2]

    Tall, dark walls made of mossy stone bricks.

    A short and narrow passageway that led into the darkness in the distance.

    No signs of a ceiling above, but a damp feeling that suggested its existence.

    This was what Damien and his group saw when they first stepped through the crack.

    Though, it took several minutes for them to see it.

    The act of stepping through a Dimensional Crack into another world was spectacr in many ways.

    One''s body was forced to align itself with the newws it felt, either adapting or being suppressed by them. Along with that, one''s mind would be assaulted by information as one traveled between nes, an experience most couldn''t handle.

    Adding on top of that the chaotic tunnel that bridged the Heavenly World to the otherworld, it was an overwhelmingly negative experience for those who had it.

    Damien was fine.

    There was never a situation where Damien wasn''t fine after spatial travel.

    Darius and Tiamat, however, were apletely different case.

    It took them a long time to get their minds in order and heal their bodies from the trauma of the transfer.

    Afterward, they had to check the calibration of their bodies to see how they''d been affected by the new world''sws.

    They could definitely feel them.

    Thosews were like heavy tes of metal on their shoulders, pushing them down.

    Their mana was suppressed, and their power was restricted to an extreme degree.

    Both of them would be able to ovee it.

    Tiamat could feel the inherent connection she had with this ce the moment she arrived.

    Her body was suppressed, but at the same time, it was changing, morphing as it encountered an energy it considered familiar.

    She didn''t doubt that she''d be adapted to the new world soon, and perhaps she would even thrive in ways nobody expected.

    Naturally, as someone with a far less mysterious birth, Darius didn''t have the same fortune.

    He was truly suppressed. Whether it be hisws, his mana, or his Divinity, he could feel them all caving under the pressure of these newws.

    Luckily, he possessed a Heavenly me.

    Even if everything else failed, his me would not.

    Therefore, he would eventually find a way to survive as long as he was given the chance.

    Damien didn''t have to worry about something like his energy or Divinity being suppressed. He possessed the same energy the people here used, and his Divinity was far too powerful for a mere otherworldly Universal Law to touch.

    When the Void was also taken into ount, it would''ve been stranger if Damien was actually affected by the environment,

    But since he wasn''t, he was able to observe the surroundings with much more ease than hispanions.

    At first, they seemed to be in some type of tunnel. However, deep in the distance, Damien could see that the tunnel branched off in two.

    ''Is it some sort of system, or¡­?''

    There was another, more likely possibility, considering the nature of Dimensional Cracks.

    ''It''s abyrinth.''

    Damien could practically smell the stench of a trapced beast-filled maze of mystery from this ce. It was that same damp smell, like nothing contained within had been able to get out for untold millennia.

    ''It''s moreplicated if it''s like this.''

    Damien was expecting to just arrive in the otherworld, but it clearly wasn''t that easy.

    Dimensional Cracks were not an organic phenomenon. This much had been made clear from the start.

    Since Dimensional Cracks were opened by the Foreign Races, they''d naturally prepared what was on their side.

    Whether that was dungeons, mazes, orbyrinths, there was always some sort of structure waiting for those who were brave enough to explore the otherworld.

    The only known exit to these structures was the gate itself, which would close after explorers returned to their own world through them.

    However, was that really the only answer?

    ''Is this really just a separated ne used for invasion, or is this a whole new world that we haven''t discovered yet?''

    Nobody else had taken the time to even try. It was disappointing, but it was true.

    Damien would be the first.

    And since his goal was not thebyrinth, but whaty outside, he had no ns of entertaining this structure''s demands.

    Demonic Energy flooded the air.

    It was ck and demonic, inky like the mana of the Nox.

    This was the natural energy of this world. With it, Damien could do whatever he wanted without interference.

    Of course, he still had to learn the world''sws to do anything intricate, but if it was just a show of power¡­

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    Rolling waves of fog swept through the entirebyrinth, powered by Damien''s mana.

    They seeped into the walls, into the ground, into the ceiling.

    They brushed past those living and those dead, clogging those inanimate and meant to take the lives of others.

    Everything in thebyrinth was touched by Damien''s mana.

    And when he was certain that not a single spot was left untouched¡­

    ''Begone.''

    He banished it.

    From the walls to the ground to the ceiling, from creatures dead or alive to those inanimate objects meant to take the lives of others, everything disintegrated.

    Well, everything except one creature.

    "This must be the guy," Damien said out loud.

    "This one? Really?" Tiamat responded skeptically.

    "Well, everything else is gone, so it has to be him."

    "I see¡­it''s a bit disappointing."

    "True, but it''s reality."

    Damien shrugged.

    Around thirty meters in front of them was a massive creature that looked like a cross between a bull, a human, and a snake.

    It had a deadly aura for sure. It was obviously more than capable of massacring Demigods like they were pigs and chickens.

    However, that being wasn''t unaffected by Damien''s attack.

    It was missing half of its body already, and its position was one of submission, not aggression.

    "I guess it sensed the threat to its life and surrendered."

    Tiamat''s guess was spot on. This creature''s fight-or-flight instinct was nonexistent.

    It was the strongest being it knew other than the ones who contained it here.

    In its mind, anyone who was stronger than it was one of them, which meant it had no choice but to submit.

    That creature was the guardian of the crack, the one who killed everyone who entered to clear it, and the one who would have caused havoc in the Heavenly World if Damien didn''t stop it here.

    But it wasn''t the only thing in thebyrinth.

    The reason Damien didn''t participate in the earlier subjugation presented itself now.

    Thisbyrinth, at one point, was filled to the brim with vanguard forces of all five types.

    After the first wave, there was meant to be a second and even a third before this particr crack died down.

    But the instant Damien arrived in thebyrinth, he wiped all those vanguard forces out of existence with a sweep of his hand.

    That kind of power couldn''t just be shown in front of the general public now, could it?

    Damien''s strength didn''t need to be publicized more than he allowed it to be.

    But that was beside the point.

    Since they were in a foreignnd now, Damien didn''t need to hide so deeply.

    And since they were out of thebyrinth due to his actions, he could finally confirm the main theory he''d had since he first learned of the Foreign Races.

    ''This isn''t a separate ne. It''s not a separate universe either.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    No, it was deeper than that.

    There was nothing in the surroundings to cue him into anything, but he could feel it just from the air brushing against his face.

    ''This ce¡­''

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    A fact he never thought could be true until today.

    There was no way to deny it.

    ''This ce is an entire cosmos,pletely independent from the one I know.''

 Chapter 1452 New World [3]

    Chapter 1452 New World [3]

    Thebyrinth was built far removed from any sort of society.

    When it fell, Damien and his group were exposed to the natural wilderness of the otherworld. However, it was different from what they expected.

    The general air of this ce was deste. It gave the feeling that the entire world would be barren, with rotted soil spanning for millions of kilometers without any attempts to purify it.

    That was a misjudgment.

    While the air still maintained that feeling, the environment itself was quite diverse with unique flora and fauna that Damien had never seen before.

    The area they were in now was reminiscent of a jungle. The trees were naturally red and ssy, almost transparent if not for their color.

    The surrounding nts also had simr colors,pletely opposing the green and lush appearance of their home cosmos'' wilderness.

    The auras of beasts popted therge area they were currently in, but none of those beasts came remotely close to where their group was.

    No matter the cosmos, living beings prioritized survival. After thebyrinth''s disappearance and Damien''s group''s entrance, only a fool would go test the waters and see what happened.

    "Let''s start exploring. Stay close and report everything. If you see something suspicious or interesting, wait until the rest of us arrive before digging deeper."

    Damien gave the orders, which Darius and Tiamat epted.

    It was much faster for the three of them to split up if they were going to properly investigate the area, however, as they were in a foreignnd, they couldn''t be too pretentious without knowing the consequences.

    Darius went west, while Tiamat went south. Damien was given two directions to choose from, but before moving, he spread his awareness.

    ''The other two can probably barely sense their surroundings right now. Otherwise, we wouldn''t need to do this.''

    Darius and Tiamat would need at least some time to get used to their new states. Damien allowed them to explore individually so they could familiarize themselves with this world before they went deep into its midst.

    He, on the other hand, didn''t need to take such extraneous measures.

    His awareness wasn''t blocked. Sure, he couldn''t usews like Existence yet so he couldn''t ess Absolute Perception, but his base awareness was more than enough.

    As it spread through the jungle, Damien saw many interesting nts and creatures. The ecosystem built in this jungle over time revealed itself to him beautifully, allowing him to see both the simrities and differences between this ce and the world he knew.

    But, after a few minutes, Damien stopped his prying.

    ''This is too inefficient.''

    He retracted his awareness. Sending it out in every direction gave him a lot of information about the nearby area, but it didn''t allow him to look past what he was already seeing.

    Instead, he gathered his perception and shot it in a single direction, pushing until he couldn''t push anymore.

    The direction he chose was north. It was a good decision, better than he ever expected it to be.

    Because, as his awareness flew north, he found himself hitting a wall.

    Literally.

    ''What is this¡­?''

    Damien poked and pried at the wall, but he couldn''t get a sense of it.

    It wasn''t a physical wall. It waspletely invisible and ethereal, and while it was blocking his awareness, it didn''t seem to exist for the creatures native to this area.

    ''Strange¡­''

    Damien traced along the wall. His awareness found itself going both east and west, getting further and further away from the central point that was his own body.

    ''Is it like that, then?''

    Damien already had a guess in mind. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If the natural inhabitants of this world weren''t blocked by something that could stop him, it obviously meant he was being stopped because of his origin.

    If so, then that invisible wall marked the edge of the area he was allowed to explore as someone who came through the Dimensional Crack.

    ''It doesn''t seem like a man-made mechanic. Could it be that the Foreign Races also experience this on our side?''

    Damien''s mind wandered.

    ''I''m sure they haven''t been restricted like this. At least, not the majority of them. If that''s the case, then there has to be an apanying mechanic that gets rid of the wall.''

    His thoughts raced as he tried to uncover the mystery.

    He didn''t realize he was doing so without much prior knowledge at all.

    After entering the new world, Damien''s spirit took over.

    He was still aware of his overarching goals, but his desire to see and experience new things was far too strong for him to maintain the same single-minded focus on a goal that he kept in the Heavenly World.

    He went over several possibilities, walking east from his original position at the same time.

    ''Whatever this area is, we''re at the northern tip of it. Logically speaking, if we head straight south, we''ll encounter more than if we go in the other two directions and trace the wall.''

    If he wasn''t wrong, Tiamat would be first to¨C

    ''Hm?''

    Damien''s perception suddenly picked something up, but he didn''t try to dodge it.

    Within the same second, something grabbed Damien''s ankle and yanked him into the air.

    ''Well, this is something.''

    Damien smiled wryly.

    His ankle was currently caught in a rope trap that had been tied to a nearby tree branch. He had been captured by one of the most primitive means imaginable, but that was exactly why he allowed himself to be caught.

    Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik!

    A strange sound emanated from the distance.

    It was like the call of a reptilian beast locating its prey, but it was oddly throaty, as if there was more to the animal than just the functions it needed to survive.

    Damien nced over, peering through the canopy.

    And what he found was¡­

    "Kurang-ha¡­"

    ¡­a human.

    A female human covered in clothes made from the leaves of the surrounding trees. Her face was caked in blood, purposefully spread in a tribal pattern that seemed to denote her status as a warrior.

    She approached the tree where Damien hung from her post in the nearby canopy, maneuvering her body animalistically as she repeated the same word.

    "Kurang-ha¡­.un habak tiren-ha cona Kurang-ha!"

    It was anguage Damien didn''t recognize, but it was definitely anguage.

    That was a word made by a creature with some sort of intelligence, a creature born in civilization.

    Damien''s eyes lit up in excitement.

    How could he not be excited?

    It was anguage he didn''t know.

    Since when did something like that exist?

    Grand Heavens Boundary and the Heavenly World had plenty of ancientnguages that were still practiced by those few and far between who knew them, but everyone spoke the universalnguage by default.

    The concept of anguage barrier simply didn''t exist.

    For Damien to encounter one now, how could he not be surprised?

    ''This person is a key.''

    Damien was happy to y the role of helpless prey to this clueless person.

    Because, if she took him to the ce where her people gathered, she would be giving him so much more than she ever realized.

    The role of an explorer in a foreignnd¡­

    Damien had taken it on before, but none of thosends had ever been truly unexplored,

    This time was different.

    This time, he was truly the first.

    And because of that, every experience he had was riveting.

 Chapter 1453 New World [4]

    Chapter 1453 New World [4]

    The tribal woman approached Damien carefully. She didn''t immediately assume that he was captured because he''d been caught in her trap.

    Her arms and legs moved in tandem like those of a beast rather than those of a civilized human, which allowed her to maneuver the jungle with much more proficiency than she otherwise would be able to.

    It was an obvious adaptation made by the human body for survival, but Damien appreciated it well.

    He had reached a point in his life where beauty didn''t mean anything to him.

    Damien had four wives. When he looked at women other than them, let alone attraction, he hardly even recognized them as women.

    His eyes were too indifferent.

    Therefore, despite the foreign beauty of this woman, Damien didn''t have any such thoughts.

    He was focused on her body, though.

    The way her muscles flexed and moved, the way they protruded in ces where they usually wouldn''t, and the way they''d evolved due to her way of life; Damien was extremely interested in it.

    He was even more interested in how she developed her power, but he couldn''t see that without alerting her to his security, which was the opposite of what he wanted.

    The woman already approached him. She was staring at him from atop the tree branch from which he hung, clicking her tongue in that strange way.

    Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik!

    At first, Damien assumed it was some sort of echolocation or something simr, but he soon found his views changed.

    Every time she clicked her tongue, a wave of energy subtly spread into the atmosphere. It registered his heartbeat, his breathing, and even his micro-expressions as he pretended to be prey.

    ''She''s testing the waters.''

    The fauna of this jungle likely had simr systems of their own. If Damien responded to her clicking, she would register him as a threat and take measures to neutralize him.

    If she sensed anything wrong with his breathing or heartbeat, she would do the same.

    It was an interesting method, quite animalistic just like everything else about her, but it was absolutely effective.

    Even Damien was forced to control himself, regting his heartbeat and breathing to make it seem like he was unconscious.

    ''When is she going to¡­?''

    He didn''t get to ask his whole question before he got the answer.

    The woman started pulling on the rope he was attached to, pulling him up the tree. The strength she used to do so was far beyond what her smaller frame seemed able to handle, but the lean muscles that were present throughout her frame allowed her to do it with ease.

    Damien''s body was slung over her shoulder like it was nothing.

    Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik!

    She turned in another direction and clicked her tongue again. After assuring her surroundings, she leapt to the next tree.

    Swoosh!

    ''Woah!''

    Damien almost opened his eyes in that moment.

    The second they reached the next tree, they had reached the one beyond it.

    The winds rushed by as the woman moved. Her speed was impable, especially considering the extra weight she was carrying.

    The environment turned into a blur. If an ordinary mortal was moved at this speed, their body would be torn apart by the sheer pressure of the wind.

    To truly understand how powerful the woman was, Damien''s weight had to be mentioned.

    Damien didn''t weigh the same as an average man. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    At his weight, if he was still a mortal, he''d be somewhere around 200 pounds, give or take.

    However, he was nothing close to a mortal.

    Damien''s body had undergone several transformations, and on top of that, his physical strength was immense. It was impossible for his body to maintain a normal weight with such power hidden inside of it.

    Damien weighed several thousand tons at the very least.

    He could easily control this weight in normal cases. It never hindered him, nor would others feel it.

    This was a special case where he had to stop regting it.

    Yet, the woman was carrying him with ease.

    ''If she''s a picture of the average hunter of their civilization, then I really can''t underestimate them.''

    Strength was normal.

    Thousands of tons meant nothing to a Demigod. Even if Damien never regted his weight, whether it was his wives or others, nobody would have a problem lifting him or pulling him around.

    This woman wasn''t a powerful practitioner, though.

    She didn''t have any signs of mana training in her body.

    This obviously didn''t stem from her origins, since the Nox and members of the Foreign Race vanguard had clear signs of mana training in their bodies.

    The system of practice this tribal society used was different from the norm, another interesting fact Damien was able to realize before he even met them.

    The woman rushed through the jungle with extreme familiarity.

    She didn''t move in a linear path, taking extra precautions so that on the off chance that Damien wasn''t as neutralized as she thought, he wouldn''t be able to trace the location of her home.

    It wasn''t just Damien, but all the beasts in the vicinity that she was wary of.

    But she still eventually made it to the vige.

    Her steps became heavier and her pace slowed.

    Soon enough, Damien once again heard her voice.

    "Umak tara-ha! Ton Kurung-ha di pethol reveen."

    "Pertak nikten. Kurang-ha ni di pon."

    "Sen."

    The woman had a short conversation with a man, evidently another member of her vige, before seemingly reaching a conclusion.

    ''I can''t understand them at all. Theirnguage bears no simrity to ours, but I think I can roughly assume what they''re saying.''

    The word "Kurang-ha" was one Damien had heard more than others. It was obviously being used to refer to him.

    As for the rest, Damien had no idea, but they were probably discussing what to do with him.

    They were tribal people, but they weren''t stupid. They could clearly tell that Damien wasn''t some beast that resided in the forest.

    They were probably confused by his presence.

    The question was how they would respond to that confusion.

    Damien couldn''t spread his awareness or open his eyes, so he could only perceive the vige with his natural spatial connection.

    It was ingrained in the trees. He couldn''t tell the exact details of the residences and facilities around him, but they were made out of a material different from the ones he''d seen before and had a structural integrity that made it somewhat difficult to teleport between them.

    The vige society was in the sky, not the ground.

    The woman took Damien up severalyers of canopy before reaching her final destination.

    At that point, she took him into a building and threw him on the floor.

    ''Damn. Not enough time.''

    Damien was in a cell. He was certain of that.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have much of a chance to scope out the vige while she was bringing him here.

    She was just too fast.

    ''From what I can tell, they''re more advanced than I originally thought. It''s as if they''re a budding civilization with the knowledge of an old one, but for some reason, they''re only developing in certain aspects while ignoring the rest.''

    It was probably a product of their environment. The jungle didn''t give them room for many amenities.

    But they still chose to live here, which meant there was something here that was worth staying for.

    Damien waited a bit before he opened his eyes.

    And the first thing he saw¡­?

    He had no choice but to smile wryly.

    "You guys¡­?"

    In front of him were two very familiar people with two very embarrassed expressions on their faces.

    It seemed Damien wasn''t the only one who was captured.

    But, judging from their expressions, it seemed he was the only one who did it on purpose.

    "Haha¡­"

    Damienughed in astonishment.

    "This is¡­quite an interesting situation."

 Chapter 1454 Gehenna Tribe [1]

    Chapter 1454 Gehenna Tribe [1]

    "So? What happened to the two of you?"

    Since they were stuck in a cell anyway, Damien thought he might as well ask.

    "Well, um¡­"

    Darius spoke first.

    "I fell¡­into a hole¡­?"

    Frankly, when he was barely aware of what happened. He was just walking through the jungle like normal and looking at everything around him in wonder when he suddenly found himself at the bottom of a hole.

    It wasn''t even a deep hole. Darius had more than enough strength to jump out and continue on, but somehow, he couldn''t do anything he thought. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He was caught off guard. In those few seconds he spent in the hole, he''d been tranquilized by an extremely powerful substance.

    He passed out, and when he woke up again, he was here.

    It was simr for Tiamat.

    She didn''t get caught so easily, of course, but after a series of events that involved several primitive traps that were strangely powerful, she was also tranquilized and brought here.

    The two of them weren''t weak just because they''d been suppressed. Damien was surprised to find that they''d been genuinely captured, and with such regr means at that.

    "I guess this tribe is really something special," he said after hearing their exnations.

    Damien didn''t admonish the two or doubt their abilities. Since he knew what he could do, he instead opted to change his perception of the tribal vige.

    And, the question arose.

    ''Why wasn''t I tranquilized?''

    There wasn''t really an answer, but it was a question that had to be asked.

    "Anyway, what''s the n?"

    Tiamat and Darius looked to Damien for structure, but he didn''t have anything to give them.

    "I think there''s something interesting in this jungle. I want to investigate it. We might be dyed in our main goals for a bit, but I don''t think it''s a useless endeavor."

    Damien didn''t get much of a chance to survey their current whereabouts, but he was certain about his assumptions.

    There was something here.

    And this tribe was heavily rted to it.

    He wanted to know more about them after seeing the woman from before.

    Theirnguage, their culture, their ways of using power, he wanted to study it and see how it differed from the conventions he knew.

    And, with the jungle''s dense mana activity, this was a great ce for him to familiarize himself with thews of the foreign cosmos.

    "I''ll follow whatever you want to do," Tiamat said.

    "Same here. You''re the leader. I don''t think I can make decisions better than yours anyway," Darius added.

    Damien nodded with a smile.

    "For now, we shouldy low. Keep your strength contained, and don''t thoughtlessly provoke the vigers. We need to get on their good side before anything else."

    The vigers currently viewed them as a threat of some sort, different from what they usually faced. This much could be ascertained from their imprisonment.

    However, as Damien''s group represented the unknown, the vigers didn''t immediately bare their fangs.

    Instead, it looked like they''d chosen a more mindful route.

    Damien, Tiamat, and Darius remained in their cell for several days.

    Every few hours, a viger would enter the prison and bring them food. Said vigers wouldn''t interact with them or even look at them, but it was obvious how curious the people were about the group of travelers they''d found.

    Damien''s group didn''t look like them.

    Their skin was white, their bodies were taller and wider, and they gave off a scent like something exotic, something the vigers had never faced before.

    With the vigers'' natural greyishplexion and smaller bodies optimized for rapid movement and hunting in the jungle, Damien''s group practically appeared like aliens to them.

    Even Tiamat, whose skin bore some resemnce to theirs.

    They kept the trio imprisoned for over three days not as a show of power or something simr, but because they had to decide what they wanted to do with them.

    Naturally, a conclusion didn''te easily.

    There were several arguments among the people.

    Some conservative tribe members wanted them killed, while some more pacifist ones wanted to send them away and pretend they were never here.

    Some wanted to test if they were prey, and some others wanted to get to know them and satisfy their curiosity.

    The vige was only home to a few hundred people, but they were a tight-knit family. A decision on matters this important couldn''t be reached easily.

    After all, the consequences had to be considered.

    Nevertheless, after three days of debate with no sign ofpromise, Damien''s group was hauled out of the jail cell and brought in front of the people.

    They were stood on a raised tform on the ground, surrounded by the vige.

    People stood on balconies and treetops everywhere, gazing at them with a myriad of expressions.

    Damien caught the woman who captured him in the crowd as well.

    She was standing behind an old woman with a crown of feathers on her head, evidently an important figure in the tribe.

    The old woman was one of ten elderly figures who sat like a council in front of Damien''s group, judging them.

    By the way the rest of the tribesmen showed them respect and gave them space, it was clear that they were the main decision-makers of this group.

    "Umbak tarik! Eria teesha ka ni Kurang-ha!"

    "Geh! Harash topan gng. Pen ni-ha no Kurang-ha di Gehenna!"

    "Lopar ni. Khar kuramba ra boni. Gehenna ni p tarade, esra pk dii?!"

    "HERET!"

    The elders went back and forth, arguing in their ownnguage.

    Of the ten of them, nine were participating in the fierce argument that got louder and louder with time. Arms were flung, several gestures being made towards Damien''s group, none seemingly friendly.

    It was a chaotic scene.

    Judging from the expressions of those observing, this kind of conflict didn''t happen often.

    But the tribe was split.

    There was a clear divide between them on how to deal with the group of sentient beings they''d captured.

    The only one who remained involved was the elderly woman with the feather crown.

    She didn''t speak.

    Her eyes remained on Damien.

    And sensing her gaze, Damien looked back up at her.

    Something mysterious happened when their eyes connected.

    Zip!

    It was the sound of an object moving incredibly fast, but nothing moved at all.

    It was a sound only Damien and the crowned elder heard, a sound like electricity arcing back and forth between their gazes.

    They hadn''t formed some sort of connection or anything like that.

    But, there was something there.

    It was as if they both realized that their purposes could be fulfilled through the other.

    Or¡­maybe it was something deeper?

    Damien couldn''t quite exin it. This wasn''t simr to anything he''d experienced before, but he knew it was a good thing.

    Because the second he felt that feeling, the crowned elder banged the staff in her hands against the ground.

    THUD!

    The sound silenced everyone.

    Whether it be the other elders or the gossiping crowd that had gathered, none of them dared to speak.

    The Saintess hade to a decision.

    "Haa¡­"

    The crowned elder, the Saintess, slowly stood up.

    "Ton Kurung-ha ga resz ni Gehenna."

    She said those words, and immediately, the crowd went into an uproar.

    THUD!

    Her staff struck the ground again.

    "SIEN!"

    She shouted, her voice resounding through the entire vige.

    Even with thenguage barrier, Damien could understand that she''d just told them all to shut up.

    Dirty looks came at him from one side, while fervent curiosity struck from the other.

    These looks made the verdict evident to Damien as well.

    It was good that these people were quite expressive.

    "They will be allowed to stay."

    What the Saintess said was something along those lines.

    And that was the end of it.

    Damien and the rest were taken back to their cell, but the treatment they received on the way was far removed from the rough pushing and pulling from when they were first brought out.

    Within the day, as they waited in their cell, they were once again escorted out.

    To a nearby hut that had clearly been recently built, exclusively for them to reside in.

    It was that easy.

    Perhaps trust wasn''t gained and hostility was still rampant, but Damien and his group had been given permission to stay in the vige.

    For a conclusion that came without them having to do anything at all, it was quite weed.

    As for what came next¡­?

    None of the three could''ve expected what their lives would turn into.

 Chapter 1455 Gehenna Tribe [2]

    Chapter 1455 Gehenna Tribe [2]

    <span style="disy:none">

    A year.

    It flew by before anyone even realized it.

    With the Saintess'' approval, Damien''s trio was given permission to live in the vige, however, it wasn''t an unconditional thing.

    The three of them were far too uncultured by the vigers'' standards.

    They didn''t know anynguage, they didn''t know how to properly hunt in the jungle, and they didn''t know the customs of the world that everyone else knew.

    The Saintess permitted their stay, but they weren''t expected to stay for long.

    She basically just freed them and allowed them to do what they wanted.

    However, Damien chose to stay.

    Since that was the case, he had to assimte himself into the vige.

    That was the start of a new life.

    If Damien''s group wanted food and shelter, they needed to contribute to the tribe.

    As for how to do so, the past year was really a learning experience to figure that out.

    The three of them were split up, since each of them had their own specialties.

    Tiamat was taken by the vige''s women.

    She, of course, had several things to say about this, but she didn''t really have a choice.

    If they were going to stay here, they had to abide by the vige''s ways.

    Luckily, though, this wasn''t a tribe with a heavy patriarchy or matriarchy.

    There were women in many varied roles, so Tiamat definitely could''ve be a guard or something of the sorts, but the tribal women thought differently.

    When they took her away, Damien didn''t see her again for the rest of the year they''d been here.

    The only thing he knew was that she was fine.

    After all, the tribe wasn''t openly hostile to them.

    A majority of them were curious about these people who''d appeared in theirnds so mysteriously.

    That group was the one with Tiamat, so Damien didn''t worry about what she was doing.

    Darius'' role was more surprising.

    Darius was a man who only thought aboutbat. He never thought of himself talented or suited for anything else, nor did he want to be.

    The tribesmen didn''t think the same.

    They took him to their forges.

    He became an apprentice there, where bodynguage mattered more thannguage, and began learning from the cksmiths.

    They''d seen the me inside him from the moment they set eyes on him. That me was wild and untamed, but it was so beautiful that no cksmith could resist it.

    They didn''t want to see such a me go to waste, and for that reason, they decided to bring Darius in, both to satisfy their own interests and help him.

    Darius and Tiamat didn''t leave the vige often.

    They didn''t need to for their roles, and while Tiamat''s situation was still unsure, Darius didn''t have the strength to enter the jungle as he pleased.

    At first, the tribesmen thought none of them would.

    However, they hadn''t met Damien yet.

    Damien attracted the most hostility out of anyone from their group, particrly from the men of the tribe.

    He wondered why for a while, but the answer was sillier than he thought.

    It wasn''t because he did something disrespectful.

    It wasn''t because he was strong.

    It wasn''t because he''d be a hunter, one of the most prestigious roles within the tribe, and had gathered a great amount of praise from the Elders and his peers.

    It wasn''t even because the Saintess seemed to be protecting him.

    No, rather, it was because of the woman who''d been sticking to his side ever since the first day.

    The same woman he''d been learning the localnguage from.

    And the same woman who''d captured him when he first arrived in this world.

    She was something of a darling to the tribe.

    The hostility shown to Damien wasn''t some petty nonsense like misced love. Rather, it was the protectiveness of hundreds of men who all were like older brothers to her.

    Her name was Thalia.

    The tribe had a tradition where surnames were only given to those who were married based on a number of factors, so she didn''t have one yet.

    She''d shown an interest in Damien from the start.

    He couldn''t understand it at first, but as she taught him thenguage, he became more familiar with her reasoning and character.

    She was a yful one.

    She liked to explore the jungle and understand more about the world. She truly enjoyed hunting like no other, and when she was doing so, while she looked extremely serious, her enjoyment was beyond anything Damien had ever seen.

    She was a loving person who viewed the entire tribe as her family, and she was also the sessor of the Saintess.

    Thalia took interest in Damien because she realized how he''d fooled her when she first captured him.

    She wanted to see his strength, mysterious and esotericpared to the tribe''s methods, and she wanted to understand how he hunted.

    They became friends fast.

    And thanks to her, Damien had an easy year with the tribe where he learned more than he ever thought he would.

    They were the Gehenna Tribe.

    They had been living in this jungle for at least tens of generations, and they had such a unique culture that Damien was fascinated by something new every day.

    The environment they lived in, this sacred jungle of theirs, was a diverse environment with rivers of clear water, mountains, and huge swatches ofnd filled with a mystical variety of creatures.

    Learning to hunt them, learning to prepare and cook them, learning what they meant to the tribe¡­

    Damien felt like a kid again, just recently introduced to the wide world.

    Today was another regr day with the Gehenna Tribe. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien and Thalia had just returned from their hunt, bringing a massive panther-like alien beast carcass with them.

    As always, they were greeted at the entrance by arge crowd of people, all of whom praised them for their kill.

    Once again, Damien and Thalia managed to hunt something none of the other hunters were able to touch.

    It was a meal that would feed the entire vige on its own, which meant the rest of the meat could be stored forter use. How could the tribe not be happy?

    Despite Damien being a "kurang-ha," the Gehenna Tribe''s word for "foreigner," there were many people who already considered him a part of their tribe, a true member of their family.

    It happened in just a year.

    And Damien was enjoying himself far more than expected.

    Life in the tribe was great.

    It really was.

    But in the back of his mind, Damien always remembered his original goal.

    There were things he had to do.

    Which meant this well-spent time woulde to an end soon.

    Damien sighed to himself as he thought about it. That moment would definitely be a sad one, but it was inevitable.

    Though, it wasn''t in the foreseeable future, so he allowed himself to enjoy the time he had without thinking about it.

    Stray thoughts filled his head as he walked through the vige, and only when he finally got rid of them did he hear the voice calling for him.

    "...ter¡­Great Hunter!"

    His eyes turned to the side, where a small woman had appeared at a time unknown.

    She was calling him by a title given to him by the older women of the tribe, so he knew she was here for something more business than casual.

    "Was there something?"

    Damien''s words were a little choppy, since he still wasn''t used to thenguage, but he got his point across fine.

    The small woman nodded, her eyes rtively serious.

    "The Saintess has summoned you."

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    The Saintess whom he hadn''t seen since that day they were granted permission to live here.

    What did she need from him?

 Chapter 1456 Gehenna Tribe [3]

    Chapter 1456 Gehenna Tribe [3]

    The Saintess lived at the highest point of the vige, at a point almost above the canopy of the surrounding jungle.

    The Saintess of the Gehenna people was told to have the ability to converse with spirits. This ability also gave her a connection to the "Great One" above, the Gehenna Tribe''s interpretation of the Heavens.

    To get her abode, which was meant to keep her most connected to the highest power, one needed to use aplex set of rope bridges and unique floating structures made out of the surrounding foliage.

    It was intentionally made difficult to reach, but the people of the vige could get there without any sort of trouble whatsoever.

    Naturally, Damien didn''t have the same familiarity they did, but after living in the vige for a year, it was easy for him to follow along as the small woman guided him through it all.

    When they finally reached the ce, Damien was surprised by how humble it was.

    All the houses and facilities in the vige had an almost spherical design. They looked absolutely beautiful, and were an incredible disy of architectural skill.

    These facilities were usually rtively uniform, but everyone liked to decorate their own abode. The houses in the vige could be told apart by their various colors and the decorations put on the outside, some of which were simr to things that existed in Damien''s own cosmos.

    The Saintess'' house, however, maintained the natural faded red color of the wood it was made from and didn''t particrly have any ir to it.

    It was the most normal-looking residence. Its position in the sky told enough about its true stature.

    Entering the house, Damien was left alone by his guide, meant to proceed further without interference.

    The house wasn''t too big. It was only around 30 meters across, so Damien could see the other side from where he stood.

    However, there was a curtain separating the house into two parts, and to meet the Saintess, Damien had to first walk through the curtain.

    It was a sort of ceremony that would cleanse his body and adapt him to a world where spirits could manifest.

    Damien, of course, walked through with an extreme sense of intrigue.

    He didn''t feel anything particr as he passed through, but¡­

    "As I thought."

    The Saintess'' voice came from the space in front of him, her figure still yet to appear in his vision.

    "You are not like the rest."

    Her words were rtively simple as she dumbed down her speech for a non-native speaker like Damien to understand.

    But it immediately became clear that he wasn''t supposed to feel nothing when he walked through the curtain.

    "Saintess."

    Damien gave his greeting, bowing lightly to show respect.

    "No need for that. Come sit.

    The Saintess beckoned him forward. Despite not being able to see her, he still felt the gesture and knew where to sit.

    He walked forward five steps and sat down where he stood. His rear met a small cushion that wasn''t present before, and the scenery around him changed.

    It was the same wooden house, however, the Saintess was now present, just a few feet in front of Damien facing him with a small table between them.

    "Have you enjoyed our home?"

    The Saintess asked a simple question.

    She looked the same as the first time Damien saw her.

    An elderly woman with pure white hair. The wrinkles on her face were prevalent, but each and every one told a story of the life she''d lived.

    The feather crown on her head remained there despite her being in thefort of her own home. It was a sign of her position, and wouldn''t leave her head for the rest of eternity.

    She would carry it even in death.

    Damien always felt a profound aura from this woman. It made sense that she had a position like "Saintess." She seemed incredibly suited for it.

    But Damien still didn''t know why he''d been called here.

    "It''s a great ce," he responded, following the flow of the conversation.

    "Your ce is nothing like what I''ve ever seen before."

    "Mm. You are a foreigner."

    The Saintess nodded as if it was natural.

    "This world is new to you, no?"

    Damien''s eyes widened slightly.

    The term "foreigner" always bugged him.

    The obvious definition was obvious. Since they were not of the tribe, they were foreigners.

    However, it was clear now that in their case, the meaning was deeper.

    "Your kind does not exist here."

    The Saintess spoke as if she understood Damien''s doubts.

    "Doesn''t exist?" Damien echoed.

    "Yes."

    The Saintess nodded again.

    "You. Nothing like you in this world."

    Was it a matter of appearance?

    It was true that Damien had only seen skin tones that would be considered unnatural in his own cosmos here. To them, he probably looked like some sort of twisted clone of their species.

    But the look in the Saintess'' eyes didn''t seem to be referring to something as superficial as appearance.

    "What did you see?"

    The Saintess. An existence that could converse with that which was ethereal to all others.

    What did she see when she looked at him?

    "What I see¡­" she said, mirroring his words.

    Her eyes became hazy, as if she was looking at something beyond reality.

    "I see¡­Gehenna."

    Gehenna.

    The namesake of the tribe.

    It was not the tribe itself, but something else.

    Damien always assumed it was a concept they worshipped, but he was wrong.

    Gehenna existed in reality.

    And when the Saintess looked at him, she saw a reflection of it.

    "Thend of Mist, the Spirit Cemetery, Gehenna."

    The Saintess'' eyes snapped into rity. Her eyes focused directly on Damien, peering into his soul.

    "Gehenna will open soon. You must go."

    Damien raised his brow.

    "Is that why you called me?"

    "Yes. To enter Gehenna, you must pass many trials. Today, I tell you about Gehenna, so you may begin your journey."

    The way she talked was like it was predetermined for Damien to enter that ce, whatever it was.

    Damien didn''t like how that sounded, but it was true.

    The instant she mentioned it, he felt his heart skip a beat.

    "This Gehenna¡­is it the reason you allowed us to stay in the vige."

    "No."

    The answer was so instant that Damien almost reeled when he heard it.

    The Saintess smiled, as if mocking his wariness.

    "You are fated with our tribe. You may not feel it, but you are already family. You were not allowed to stay for Gehenna. Rather, Gehenna chose you."

    "Gehenna chose me¡­?"

    The Saintess didn''t give him a clear answer. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She just smiled that same vague smile, as if telling him to find out the rest himself.

    Damien took a breath.

    Whatever Gehenna meant, for it to be the tribe''s entire namesake, it had to be something grand.

    Naturally, he wasn''t going to give up the opportunity to go there.

    ''But before that¡­''

    ¡­there were some things he needed to know.

    And the Saintess seemed to have called him here to tell him those very things.

    ''It''s only been a year¡­''

    A development like this was surprising, but more than weed.

    "Then, please¡­"

    Damien nodded, covering his excitement with a nket of caution.

    "...tell me about Gehenna."

 Chapter 1457 Gehenna Tribe [4]

    Chapter 1457 Gehenna Tribe [4]

    Gehenna.

    The namesake of the tribe.

    ording to the Saintess, it was and beyond reality that would only open when it chose to.

    There was no rhyme or reason to its appearance, but when it was preparing to do so, the Saintess would always know. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As the Saintess said when she first introduced it, Gehenna had another name.

    The Spirit Cemetery.

    It was a direct trantion from the Gehenna Tribe''s nativenguage into the universalnguage of the cosmos.

    The Saintess exined with great grandeur.

    She spoke about legends and myths, about stories as old as time, but as Damien wasn''t one to believe such stories until he saw for himself that they were real, he took most of it with a grain of salt.

    Though, he didn''tpletely put them out of his mind.

    He respected the Gehenna Tribe. He wasn''t immediately going to dere their beliefs as something fake.

    Nevertheless, as its name suggested, Gehenna was a ce where spirits resided.

    It was the graveyard where the most heroic beings of the Gehenna Tribe rested their souls, along with the ancients who ruled the sacred jungle in eras long past.

    And it was a prison for beings whose souls could never be allowed to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

    Gehenna was the source of the tribe''s strength, and it was the ce where their beliefs stemmed from.

    While its appearance was mysterious and erratic, the tribe naturally had traditions rted to it.

    For instance, their Acknowledgement Ceremony.

    This ceremony would take ce for whatever generation Gehenna opened for.

    The rising youths would be allowed to enter the cemetery, where they would find opportunities and chances to grow.

    It was quite simr to the secret realms of the Heavenly World, but there was a key difference.

    These "chances" only came to the Gehenna Tribe because of their bloodline, because they were people of the jungle.

    It wasn''t a ce others could just enter.

    "That is why you are so mysterious, young hunter."

    The Saintess gestured into the air around her.

    "You can see them, can''t you?"

    Damien nced away from her, merely panning his gaze around the room.

    "I can."

    He''d been seeing them since he got close to the Saintess'' residence.

    They were flying through the air, appearing in all shapes and sizes. Some were animate, while some were not at all.

    But they all possessed the same light halo, the same glow that marked them as beings of a different, more ethereal, world.

    "They''re spirits?"

    "That is right. They have yet to reach the other side, but they will one day be spirits too."

    Damien didn''t know what spirits were in this world.

    In his home cosmos, spirits were not such grand beings. They were wandering souls, or maybe just beings made of mana.

    Some were just part of a race of spirits that didn''t necessarily have a special state of existencepared to others.

    However, it wasn''t just the Gehenna Tribe''s belief that spirits here were special.

    No, all of these tiny beings he was seeing, all of these small white specks in the grand, grand world, had Legends supporting their existence.

    All of them had some kind of meaning, and their existences were special. There was something more to them than just their form.

    "It is because Gehenna chose you."

    The Saintess spoke again.

    "I do not know why. I am only a messenger. If you want to know what your connection with Gehenna is, then you must go there. It will allow your entry."

    Damien was the only foreigner to ever be weed by Gehenna. The Saintess was naturally curious about why, but she didn''t ask any questions.

    However, he couldn''t just enter because he wanted to.

    People still existed.

    Gehenna was a sacred ce. A foreigner entering that ce as he pleased was naturally not something everyone in the tribe could ept.

    But there was a way to make them.

    Damien had to undergo several trials the tribe had set in ce for those who wished to enter Gehenna.

    It would be somewhat difficult, but as long as he could do it, he would be able to not only move onto the next step properly, he would be able to extinguish most of the hostility those few tribesmen had for him.

    Damien epted without much of a second thought.

    The Saintess smiled happily.

    "Go to Pehran. He will give you your first trial."

    Those were thest words she said to him.

    She''d called him to deliver the message. She didn''t have anything else to say.

    Since their meeting was over, Damien gave her a respectful bow before bidding farewell and leaving.

    It was a short meeting.

    It was short because the Saintess couldn''t say everything she wanted.

    She was just the messenger.

    She didn''t have the authority to decide which messages could be delivered at what time.

    So she had to withhold the things she knew. The time to deliver those messages had not arrived yet.

    "The man with eyes of gold¡­"

    She whispered to herself, her eyes once again hazy.

    "...has he finallye?"

    Her body shook as if she''d been struck by a cold breeze.

    "To overrule the darkness, to corrupt the corrupted, he shall arrive. A man with eyes of gold, the apostle of the ancients. With his mighty sword, he will bring light to the darkness. With his burning heart, he will save the world."

    A story she''d heard when she was young.

    A story she thought would always remain just a fairytale for children.

    Was it finally time for it toe true?

    She stood up, using her staff to support her movements.

    "Time is running out."

    She didn''t expect to have guests this time, but she''d known Gehenna was opening for several years now.

    The problem was the other things she knew.

    She stepped out of her residence, looking down at the entire vige sprawled out below her.

    There, she saw a smiling woman, young and innocent. That woman was her sessor, and someone she treated like her own daughter.

    Her eyes contained a trace of mncholy as she looked at that woman.

    "I trust in you, Thalia¡­"

    She knew Thalia couldn''t hear her, but she continued speaking.

    "Be the woman I believe you to be, and bring our tribe back to where it once stood."

    Damien didn''t know it.

    Actually, nobody in the vige did.

    The Saintess'' power wasn''t just to converse with spirits.

    No, it was something far greater.

    The Saintess looked into a time yet to ur, and she saw the fates of all living beings.

    She herself was not excluded.

    The future was not set in stone.

    Fate was something that could be changed.

    It was.

    ¡­right?

    Regardless, time waited for no man.

    Before long, chaos would ensue.

    Even the Saintess, with her mystical power, was left to wonder.

    Would everything go as she''d seen?

    Or would a miracle ur in its stead?

    As she looked down at the vige, days passed and turned into weeks.

    Damien began to ze through the trials ced upon him.

    No matter what the vigers and the world threw at him, he moved like an unstoppable beast.

    Gehenna continued to approach until it was only a few days away.

    And Damien was left with only one trial before he could gain entry.

    Unbeknownst to him, however, chaos was approaching.

    Extremely fast, at that.

 Chapter 1458 Gehenna Tribe [5].

    Chapter 1458 Gehenna Tribe [5].

    The tasks given to Damien weren''t all life-threatening things.

    Actually, the trials weren''t always meant to be life-threatening.

    The Gehenna Tribe was made up of a variety of peoples. Some of them had incredibly unique trades, while some worked in moremon upations that contributed to the well-being of the tribe.

    Regardless, everyone had a role. When they all came together, they formed an amazingly functional society.

    The trials Damien was to undergo weren''t special to him. Rather, every youth who was set to enter Gehenna had to do them.

    However, they already had their roles.

    Their trials would be within the role they''d chosen.

    They would still be extremelyplex and difficult, but not every youth had to risk their life in the jungle to earn the privilege to enter Gehenna.

    That was the job of hunters.

    Damien had been acting as a hunter since he came to the tribe, and with the talent he''d shown in the trade, everyone epted him as one almost immediately.

    However, Damien technically didn''t have an assigned role. More than that, just being a hunter wasn''t enough to earn him the same privileges as the native tribesmen.

    He was still an outsider. No matter how much the tribe epted and loved him, not all of them would allow him to intrude on their sacred internal traditions just because of that.

    Damien''s trial was harder than his peers. That was because his trial was abination of all of theirs.

    The man the Saintess sent him to meet was a cksmith.

    His first trial was in the forge. It was one he was particrly happy to partake in.

    Damien had a great deal of experience in front of a fire. When he was stuck in No Return Pass, he used both liquor and forging to appease his boredom.

    He''d been using his alchemy skills to make liquor rtively consistently since then.

    He hadn''t done much since thest one he made for Grand Heavens Boundary''s Universal Core, but he was still touching up on his craft whenever he found the time.

    His forging skills hadn''t seen the same attention.

    Mirage broke on the Ancient Battlefield. Since then, Damien had slowly be someone who didn''t need to use weapons, so he never got around to repairing it.

    He didn''t n to start using weapons again any time soon. He didn''t think they''d be able to handle the power of his Existence Law no matter how much he enhanced them.

    But he did n to bring Mirage back.

    It was a sword that apanied him for a very, very long time. Decades upon decades of experience, the blood of millions or even more enemies, and the memories of those times were all contained in the sword.

    Plus, it wasn''t soulless like the Devourer he used when he was young.

    Mirage had a rudimentary consciousness. Damien couldn''t just let it die and be done with it.

    That sword meant a lot to him, but if he wanted to fix it after it was shattered by something as esoteric as a chaotic mixture of everything he had, he needed a forge worthy to do so.

    Void Pce didn''t have one.

    Well, they did, but it wasn''t enough. Void Pce''s forge wasn''t meant to repair weapons like Mirage.

    There was an ethereal aspect to it since the sword''s sentience had to be restored as well.

    When Damien walked into the Gehenna Tribe''s forge for the first time, he got that feeling.

    Feeling the heat of the mes, the sound of metal nging against metal, the smell of ash and chemical reactions, Damien understood it with his body.

    This was a ce blessed by spirits.

    There was no ce better than this to restore Mirage.

    It lined up with his trials too.

    Basically, Damien needed to obtain acknowledgement from the professionals in these fields so they could support himter. That was the nature of his current task.

    It was easy when it was put like that.

    Because all Damien needed to do was show off a little.

    In front of cksmiths, he was more than happy to flex his skills.

    Damien got in front of the forge. He took out the anvil and hammer he received in the Ancient Battlefield, and closed his eyes.

    "Huu¡­"

    With one breath, his mind and body became one with the forge.

    Pieces of mirrored material almost like ss but far too powerful to be ss appeared in the air along with the frame of a sword, and Damien went to work.

    The main materials he used were already part of the sword, but Damien had quite a collection of resources after spending decades in the Heavenly World.

    He was working on instinct, mixing metals and creating alloys to test. However, he trusted his instinct more than anything.

    And more importantly, Mirage did too.

    Every move he made was like a work of art.

    The mes in the forge left their owners, swallowing him in an inferno as he harmonized with their motions. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Law of Fire.

    Damien was familiar with its form in his home cosmos.

    But only now did he understand it in this one.

    Damien thought they''d be different because he changed cosmos, but as he''d learned over the past year, the base structure was the same.

    Thews here were chaotic. They seemed twisted to be more oriented to chaos, burned away from their original forms, but at their core, they maintained the same form.

    First came Creation and Destruction, followed by Space and Time, Life and Death, and the Five Elements.

    Was that the form for existence?

    Or was there something more to it?

    A seed of thought entered Damien''s mind.

    It was a question that didn''t seem to hold much weight, especially since Damien had a sub-universe of his own, however¡­

    ''Can I create Existence?''

    Standing in front of the me, experiencing the miracle of creation urring naturally, he wondered.

    And as he wondered, he dreamed.

    ''A new goal¡­''

    A goal he''d never imagined before.

    It wasn''t attainable anytime soon, or perhaps anytime in the future, but he would make it happen.

    ''But before that¡­''

    He had to focus on what was happening in the present.

    Damien spent hours in the forge. He impressed and astonished the onlookers long ago, having gathered a crowd that had gone beyond just the cksmiths, but he wasn''t putting in effort just for them anymore.

    Still, they stood there watching his every move, enamored by the beautiful performance he''d unwittingly put on.

    Time passed. The mes died down slowly, and Damien''s fluid movements became clear to all again.

    Like a dance, he floated around the forge. Each step of the process was aplished with utmost precision, but more importantly, the loving hand of a cksmith who cared for his creation.

    And when the process finally came to an end, not only did Damien pass his first trial with flying colors¡­

    ¡­he once again held Mirage in his hand.

    A pure sword made with his heart, a sword that meant more to him than just its role as a sword.

    That sword now stood in front of him again, blessed with the power to y Gods.

 Chapter 1459 Gehenna Tribe [6]

    Chapter 1459 Gehenna Tribe [6]

    The Gehenna Tribe was interesting in many ways. In some facets, they were surprisingly advanced, while in others, theygged behind arger society.

    Their usage of power could be considered a little bit of both.

    To preface, the energy in this cosmos was not mana. It was the force Damien had been calling "Demonic Energy," but a name like that was no longer urate.

    The tribespeople called it Barrakh. In the universalnguage of this cosmos, it was called Mkh.

    Either term could be used, but Damien chose the former since he had a good rtionship with the tribe.

    In any case, both words meant the same thing.

    They both were directly synonymous with "energy," just like mana. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Barrakh was a more convoluted and chaotic energy than mana. In easy terms, it was like mana''s evil twin.

    To use such an energy effectively usually required one to embrace its properties and seek destruction over order.

    However, the Gehenna Tribe didn''t abide by that belief.

    Their doctrine was one of order. Since they followed the will of the spirits, they also followed the way of nature.

    They didn''t utilize barrakh the way it conventionally should''ve been used.

    Instead, they learned how to use their natural bodies to change the nature of that power, turning it into something purer.

    But even then, barrakh didn''t carry the same properties as mana.

    They were twopletely different energies with twopletely different frequencies, even if they could mimic each other''s properties.

    The Gehenna Tribe didn''t use barrakh with their bodies.

    They believedpletely internalizing the energy would make one''s body impure and ruin one''s connection with the spirits.

    Instead, they''d developed a system simr to Damien''s Ananta Matrix, which could control the ambient mana in the atmosphere.

    And their chosen medium to use that energy was weaponry.

    This was the rtively unevolved part.

    Weapons were probably the most barbaric medium one could use. They were liabilities on the battlefield, since their quality and unique structures had a huge impact on how one''s power would actually be manifested.

    There was a reason most people only used one weapon for their entire lives, choosing to upgrade instead of rece at every turn.

    That weapon would be suited to them, able to release their power as they wished it to.

    However, it would never be as efficient as using one''s own body.

    In most cases.

    Because they had been using weapons as their medium for so long in this jungle ecosystem, the Gehenna Tribe had mastered a unique method of utilizing their weapons that others couldn''t easily replicate.

    Even Damien had some trouble understanding it at first. It was the type of thing that had to be seen rather than heard about.

    The first trial ended far earlier than it was supposed to. Damien was meant to spend several days with the cksmiths, showing them his mastery of every aspect of their art.

    He, however, managed to do so with the creation process of Mirage. They didn''t need to see anything else after that.

    His second trial was with the medical sector of the tribe, where he spent several days learning their esoteric methods and showcasing the unique splendor of [Heal].

    After that, Damien experienced the lives of cooks who had to make food for the entire tribe, soldiers who guarded the tribe and managed judiciary duties, and even people who practiced the various arts, who provided the tribe with their entertainment.

    Weeks passed as Damien spent time with them. Outside of his role, as a true member of the tribe, he learned their traditions and the hard work they put in to sustain themselves in this cruel environment.

    And as time passed, that final trial approached.

    It was the hunter trial.

    For all intents and purposes, it was Damien''s main trial, the test he had to pass to truly be acknowledged in the role he had chosen.

    The people of the vige had seen as Damien earnestly worked with them and understood their culture.

    They watched as he became more and more proficient in theirnguage until he was practically a native speaker.

    They knew that Damien wasn''t just some ordinary foreigner anymore.

    That was why they did it.

    Not out of discrimination or hostility, but out of respect.

    "For yourst trial, you will hunt the Uruk."

    Damien once again stood surrounded by the entire tribe with the elders looking at him from above.

    However, this time, as the Saintess spoke, he kneeled respectfully and epted his final trial.

    The reactions from the crowd were far different this time as well.

    Nobody spoke.

    Nobody showed hostility.

    Rather, they all cast Damien nces of worry.

    They were unable to say anything.

    The Uruk was a creature close to an Ancient. It had lived for millions of years and had reached the level of a Deity.

    Wasn''t sending Damien to face it a death sentence?

    But Damien epted the trial. He didn''t have to. He''d already done more than enough to earn the right to enter Gehenna.

    If Damien epted, what could they say?

    The atmosphere wasn''t as excited as it should''ve been for Damien approaching his final task, but the people did maintain hope for his sess since they''d witnessed his power.

    They dispersed as they did when the Saintess gave the final word.

    Damien went back to his home to prepare for hising expedition.

    As he sat calmly, going over strategies in his head, he heard a knock on his door.

    He knew who it was.

    There was really only one person who''de to visit him like this without warning.

    "You''re here?"

    He spoke as he opened the door, his tone yfully annoyed.

    "Why wouldn''t I be? After you did something stupid like that, I had no choice but toe and beat some sense into you!"

    Whoosh!

    A punch flew past Damien''s face the instant those wordsnded. He, of course, dodged it easily, but it was only the first of its kind.

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

    A flurry of simr punches came from all directions.

    Damien casually moved right and left, avoiding them with simple movements as he took a few steps back into his house.

    His visitor wasn''t going to let up so easily, but the time for greeting had already ended.

    Thud!

    The door closed behind them naturally, leaving only the two of them alone in the house.

    "So, what''s up?"

    Damien smiled and sat down. Since she was done greeting him, he was certain she wouldn''t throw any more punches.

    "What''s up? That''s all you have to say?"

    Thalia sat down as well, the expression on her face very obviously angry.

    "How could you say you''d hunt the Uruk?! Do you know what that is?!"

    Damien knew she''de tonight.

    If there was anyone who was willing to directly confront him about anything and everything, it was her.

    "I know you are powerful, however, the Uruk is more than just power. That is a beast beyond beasts, something a mere man cannot handle!"

    Thalia had hunted with Damien. She''d seen his strength firsthand.

    But even that didn''t give her confidence that he could fight that monster.

    To Thalia, Damien was a young beast, powerful but iparable to an Ancient.

    The Uruk, on the other hand, had terrorized the jungle for generations.

    It had seized a massive portion of thend as its territory, and that territory had been unchallenged for a reason.

    Yet, Damien said he was going to hunt that beast and bring it back?

    How could he say something like that so easily?!

    "I can''t let you do this."

    Thalia had made up her mind already.

    "I''ming with you. I will not allow you to do something so dangerous alone!"

 Chapter 1460 Uruk [1]

    Chapter 1460 Uruk [1]

    "You want toe with me?"

    Damien smiled wryly.

    He understood her worry, but he didn''t understand how her presence would make the situation any better.

    After all, if he looked at the situation through her eyes, then the Uruk was far too powerful even if the two of them tried to handle it alone.

    Of course, he''d done extensive research on the beast, having been aware of this task for a few days now. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He was confident he could defeat it even with his current abilities, withholding almost all of his powerfulws.

    Still, it was a bit amusing that the solution Thalia came up with was apanying him in the battle.

    "Yes. If we cannot fight it, I''ll grab you and run."

    "Grab me and run?"

    "Over the shoulder. Just likest time."

    Damien''s wry smile only got more pronounced as Thalia spoke.

    He just realized how much she''d underestimated his strength.

    It was true that they''d hunted together. Damien could handle most of the beasts in the forest alone, but when they hunted together, he never opted for this path.

    He was learning about the Gehenna Tribe through its people. As he moved with Thalia, he allowed her to take on most of the fighting so he could see how she maneuvered her energy and techniques.

    And, without the context to understand that, Thalia assumed it as weakness.

    Yes, she respected Damien, but she wasn''t going to view his abilities unrealistically because of that.

    In this situation, she trusted their teamwork more than his power, and in the worst-case scenario, she had absolute trust in her own speed.

    ''What to do¡­?''

    Damien understood Thalia''s character quite well at this point, and if there was one thing that stood out, it was her stubbornness.

    She was strong, and just like all strong people, she was headstrong as well.

    No matter what he said here, he''d surely find himself with her on his tail.

    He couldn''t prevent her froming with him once she''d made up her mind.

    The fact that she was even here in the first ce meant the elders had given up on trying to convince her otherwise.

    Damien sighed.

    "Alright, you cane with me."

    Thalia''s eyes lit up.

    "However¡­!"

    Damien didn''t allow them to stay that way.

    "You won''t be fighting with me. You can observe, and if, at any time, you think I''ll lose my life, you can intervene and save me. How''s that?"

    It was the bestpromise he could make.

    In this way, he could keep Thalia out of danger as best as possible. If she was in a ce he knew and didn''t move, he could keep the battle away from her and finish things before she could act recklessly.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Thalia stared at him suspiciously, but after a few minutes of thought, she relented.

    "Fine, but if there''s even the slightest chance that you''ll get harmed¡­!"

    She let her meaning be known without saying it.

    ''That''s not what I asked for, though¡­''

    Damien was a bit befuddled by the leap she''d made so casually, but he had no choice but to ept her words at this point.

    In any case, he just had to avoid getting hurt, which was pretty easy for him since his body was nigh-immortal.

    "We leave at daybreak, so go home and prepare."

    Damien sighed again as Thalia happily pranced around his house, having gotten her way.

    "Mm, I''ll meet you at the entrance."

    She knew his personality as well as she knew his. If she pushed anymore, he was sure to get annoyed.

    With those wordsced in yfulness left for Damien''s ears, she made her way back home.

    And her expression immediately faded.

    She put up a smiling front for Damien, but she was certain he didn''t know the gravity of the situation.

    No matter what he had heard about the Uruk, it wouldn''t be enough to prepare him for what it truly was.

    She clenched her fists until her palms bled.

    shes of memory went through her head, reminding her of a terrifying time long past.

    "Uruk¡­"

    No matter what, she had to see it die.

    If for nothing else¡­

    ¡­then for her revenge.

    ***

    The sacred jungle where the Gehenna Tribe lived was home to a plethora of flora and fauna. It was massive, spanning over such a great distance that most of it was unexplored, whether by the tribe or those in therger societies existing outside it.

    However, there were some things that everyone knew. Not because they wanted to, but because they were forced.

    The Ancients who ruled the jungle were one of those things.

    Ancients were massive beasts beyond imagination, able to destroy poptions of the Gehenna Tribe''s size with less than a breath.

    They were equivalent to Gods in the perception of most, and in the truest sense, that was pretty much what they were.

    The concept of Godhood didn''t exist in the Gehenna Tribe.

    Their elders were definitely around that level, and the Saintess couldn''t even be measured, but they didn''t necessarily chase Godhood or understand what it was.

    They reached it naturally like beasts, which meant they didn''t actually possess the divine status they had earned.

    The way it worked for people who gained godly strength without Godhood wasplicated, but that was beside the point for now.

    The Uruk was a creature approaching the level of an Ancient.

    And it shared territory with the Gehenna Tribe.

    It was a threat that needed to be destroyed for the tribe''s continued existence. If it managed to grow into an Ancient, they would be either ughtered or forced out of their homes.

    Therefore, the tribe''s elders had been nning to get rid of it for a very long time now.

    The problem was that they didn''t have the firepower to do it.

    Their original solution was technology in the crudest sense of the word.

    They would create contraptions that could kill the Uruk, which gave them both power and the ability to strike without risking their lives in close proximity with the beast.

    However, Damien fell into theirps before they got the chance to finish designing said technology.

    And while the elders and a majority of the tribe didn''t think he was powerful enough to act as a perfect solution, the Saintess personally backed his strength, so they could only believe in him.

    It was difficult.

    Because they had personal experience with the Uruk.

    It had attacked the vige a little over a decade ago, and in its wake, it left an almost exterminated Gehenna Tribe.

    A brave group of warriors from the tribe managed to drive it away, but they sacrificed their lives in the process.

    The tribe had been recovering since then, and they''d never left the periphery of their vige enough to provoke the Uruk again.

    Such a drastic move waspletely against the way they''d spent thest ten years.

    But Damien didn''t know their story.

    Nor did he know the Uruk.

    All he knew was that there was an enemy in front of him.

    And he needed to kill it.

    It was true that the Gehenna Tribe still didn''t know much about Damien.

    Because if they did, they''d have known.

    When Damien''s mind entered a state like this, hell was guaranteed to break loose.

    For anyone he dered his enemy, that is.

 Chapter 1461 Uruk [2]

    Chapter 1461 Uruk [2]

    The Uruk.

    Its name had been said many times already, but not much about it had earned the same treatment.

    The Uruk was a dragon-esque monster, but only in the sense that there wasn''t really anything else from the Heavenly World that could bepared to it.

    Its body was asrge as a dragon''s, spanning several tens of kilometers easily. It had scales running across its entire body that even the strongest weapons couldn''t pierce, and its reptilian snout was perfect for breathing storms of fire onto its victims.

    The beast didn''t have wings. Its body was far too heavy to lift organically. However, owing to its enormous physical strength, it could leap high enough into the air for it to practically be flying.

    That massive physical strength and form, along with the asional elemental abilities it used, made it impossible for the average hunter to challenge.

    Hell, even in the wider world, there weren''t many who''d dare to challenge it.

    It was an incredibly powerful beast.

    But it wasn''t the most powerful.

    From what Damien heard, he felt that the creature couldn''tpare to a Primal Sovereign or some of the more terrifying beasts he''d met like the Azure Dragon.

    Its description seemed exaggerated, and while its capabilities weren''t anything tough at, he also didn''t think it was strong enough to scare him.

    He maintained those thoughts when he saw it in person, but he understood where the rumors came from.

    ''That thing is a real beast.''

    It was ugly with no semnce of humanity at all.

    That wasn''t to say more humanoid beasts provoked a sense of security, it was more a look into the creature''s eyes.

    Even dragons had eyes filled with intelligence. There was a reason to both fear and revere them, whether they had sentience or not.

    The Uruk had a face straight out of a horror movie, and its eyes were deep and soulless. It lived only for blood and territory, something only the most barbaric of people could ever grow to worship.

    Ity there, slumbering in a clearingrge enough to build several cities on, taking up the majority of the space.

    Damien and Thalia were roughly a thousand kilometers away still, but that was barely an inch to someone of Damien''s strength.

    He gazed at the beast, trying to gauge anything from it, however¡­

    ''...as expected, it''s easier to do it firsthand.''

    Thalia would be safe at this distance.

    Damien knew the Uruk''s strengths, and it was up to him to find its weaknesses.

    Was there really a need for him to wait?

    "I''m engaging."

    He left those words for Thalia, but by the time she registered them, he was already gone.

    ''First off, let''s test those scales.''

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien shed away.

    He could barely teleport as he''d only skimmed the surface of this world''s Spatial Laws, but his speed was more than enough to mimic the act.

    He pulled his fist back, covering it in barrakh, and mmed it forward against the Uruk''s snout.

    It was quite a loud movement.

    Naturally, the sensitive beast was immediately rmed by his presence.

    Its eyes shed open, and the first thing it saw was the reason why it felt a dull pain rattling through its skull.

    Barrakh exploded outward, creating a flurry of ck clouds around Damien and the Uruk.

    The impact force of Damien''s strike mmed the beast''s head into the ground, but it rapidly recovered, almostpletely absorbing the impact into its body without a problem.

    ROOOOOAAAAAAAR!

    It let out a violent roar as it scanned the surroundings for its attacker.

    Without detecting even a flicker of his visage in the vicinity, the Uruk attacked wildly.

    It spun its body in a circle, using its thick tail to m through everything within its radius.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    ss-like trees shattered and exploded, sending shrapnel flying into the air.

    Countless beasts were left without homes and rapidly scrambling away, wondering just who the hell decided it was a good idea to provoke the Uruk.

    And Damien was standing in the air, totally unaffected by its outburst.

    ''Those scales are no joke. With a defense like that, I''d probably need to use Destruction Laws if I wanted to do any damage.''

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have ess to those.

    ''So just blindly attacking until it drops dead isn''t an option.''

    It was a shame, but it was pretty obvious this would be the oue.

    ''Alright then, let''s move on.''

    Damien''s arsenal was pretty limited right now.

    He could use barrakh just as proficiently as he could use mana, and his capacity for it was nigh unlimited. However, when it came tows, he was still quite weak.

    The progress he''d made inprehending them was quite pitiful over the past year, but it was mainly because he didn''t actively try toprehend them.

    He was allowing his body to naturally adapt to thews so they came to him instead. This way, he''d meet them in their purest forms, which would allow him to gain more knowledge on the alternate cosmos itself.

    He made this decision for his long-term benefit, but in the short term, it was quite inconvenient. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    In any sense, Damien had a ton of experimenting to do before he could actually kill the Uruk.

    But since he was quite a sturdy specimen himself, the Uruk wouldn''t be able to kill him while he did.

    At least, that was Damien''s assumption from what he''d seen and heard thus far.

    To see if it was the truth, all he could do was take action.

    Damien charged back into battle.

    The Uruk was currently looking for an enemy on the ground. It didn''t know he could fly, which was his advantage.

    He didn''t want to give it up easily and let the beast start confronting him in the sky as well, so before he attacked, Damien returned to surface level.

    And he went berserk.

    He used his fists as his main weapon, practically engaging in hand-to-handbat with the Uruk.

    Explosions began to cover the jungle over a radius of several hundred kilometers in every direction except the one where Thalia was.

    Damien did say he wasn''t going to opt for a physical battle with the beast, but while he was testing its capabilities, this was still the best method,

    Therefore, he attacked like a beast as well.

    The scene was hard to describe.

    Well, it wasn''t really, but from Thalia''s perspective, the scene was the most improbable thing she''d ever seen.

    A human and a massive beast were wrestling, throwing each other to the ground and mming into each other''s bodies with all their power.

    And that human wasn''t showing any signs of exertion as he went blow for blow with the Uruk.

    ''This is¡­a real battle?''

    Thalia''s eyes were as wide as saucers, practically popping out of her head.

    She''d never seen anything like this before.

    She didn''t know a human could have such power.

    She suddenly had to reevaluate Damien entirely.

    And within only a few minutes, her reasoning for watching this battle changedpletely.

    Even if Damien was hurt, she didn''t think she could help him.

    She now understood why he seemed tough at her when she confidently came and imed that she would save him.

    But she still had every reason to be here.

    Her instincts screamed at her.

    Somebody needed to witness this moment.

    The moment humanity overcame the wild.

    It was a ce the tribe had been yearning to reach for its entire length of existence.

    And Damien was about to take them there.

    That was what she felt as she watched him.

 Chapter 1462 Uruk [3]

    Chapter 1462 Uruk [3]

    BOOM!

    Another explosion.

    Damien was thrown back several tens of feet, but the Uruk had it worse. The massive beast was flung into the sky, its back facing the ground.

    It wriggled around, trying to reorient itself tond on its feet, however, was Damien going to allow that?

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Waves of barrakh rushed into the sky. Every time the Uruk moved, a wave of purple-ck energy struck its opposite side, canceling out its motions.

    ''Alright. Stage one is over.''

    Damien smiled.

    He had taken some time to get here, but it was all ording to n.

    The Uruk was powerful. Damien understood that its power couldn''t be underestimated from the start. It hit him like a tank whenever it could get a hit in, and the fiery breath it let loose was enough to turn the surrounding jungle into a molten hellscape.

    It hadn''t even used the acidic breath attack it was said to have, but it was safe to say that Thalia was the only living being remaining in the vicinity. Everything else had either died as coteral damage or ran away.

    Damien, as always, started his battle with a physical confrontation. Through it, he learned how dense the Uruk''s scales were. After that, he continued provoking it so he could learn its attack patterns and weaknesses.

    After experimenting for a while, Damien got a hold of the information he wanted.

    The Uruk was as heavy as it was strong. It moved slowly, but itsrge sweeping attacks seemed to reach its enemies before they could react. Damien, however, was able to use its slowness against it rtively easily.

    Especially when it wasbined with the beast''s limited range of vision was exploited too.

    The Uruk had forward-facing eyes just like most predators, but its body was too big for it topletely make use of the advantages that gave it.

    It had huge blindspots that got bigger as one got closer to its body. From those blindspots, Damien could easilynd any attack he wanted.

    The problem came back to its defense. The beast had evolved through millennia of battle, after all. A weakness like that had been covered long ago, specifically with a dense canopy of scales that Damien still couldn''t puncture.

    Hence, he put the beast in the air.

    ''I think that''ll be the method.''

    It may have seemed like Damien made no progress at all, but he actually did get somewhere with his experimenting.

    By ruling out so many possibilities, he was left with really only one way to kill the beast.

    sh!

    He shed into the sky and mmed his foot down on the Uruk''s underbelly. The beast came crashing down to the ground at a speed fast enough to turn any other creature into a bloody mist.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The Uruk didn''t have sentience, but it was smarter than the average beast.

    It understood that Damien was an enemy it had to take seriously, and it understood that he was looking for its weaknesses.

    However, it was unaware of what he found, assuming that, like every other challenger, Damien was stumped by the defensive power of its scales.

    With that assurance, it waited for the perfect moment to strike back.

    And this was the one it found.

    The Uruk could be slow at times and fast at times. It really was difficult to understand the limitations of its movement capability.

    This was entirely intentional.

    Until it found the opportunity to corner its opponent, the Uruk would never show its true power.

    That was why, as Damien watched with wide eyes, the Uruk managed to flip itself during its split-second freefall andnd on its feet.

    ROOOOOAAAAAAR!

    It wasn''t just a roar.

    The Uruk urately pinpointed Damien''s position in the sky, and, with its jaw open, it spewed a mixture of acid and mes that nketed the sky.

    Damien was caught in the attack. No matter which direction he moved in, he wouldn''t be able to escape before his body was too damaged to move.

    The Uruk''s acid could melt most metals and go through organic material like butter. Just like its speed, its acid was an attack saved until the final moment. That meant the Uruk was confident Damien would die here.

    Unfortunately for it, Damien was a half-immortal.

    ''There it is.'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien saw it the first time the beast used its breath attack, but he wasn''tpletely sure.

    The Uruk seemed like a beast that prioritized offense, but it really didn''t. It was born with inherent strength, and that was the basis of most of everything it did offensively.

    The Uruk''s evolution through its life was to use defense as offense as well. By getting rid of all its weaknesses, it could be an unbeatable enemy to anyone. That strategy got it to the position it was in today.

    Usually, for beasts that had densely protected exteriors, the solution was to attack their internals through their orifices.

    The Uruk was aware that its mouth would be a tempting target for its enemies, especially while it was shooting mes, therefore, it evolved so that its throat would be closed off when it did so.

    The inside of its mouth was also reinforced so that its tongue and the areas connected to its nose and other organs couldn''t be pierced.

    This way, in its most vulnerable moment, it wasn''t actually vulnerable at all.

    Damien had been increasingly impressed with the Uruk''s instinctual intelligence as he fought it, but, at the end of the day, it was still a beast ruled by instinct.

    If one looked at the minute details, one would find countless cracks to exploit.

    The one that Damien found was rted to its mouth.

    ''Let me retreat first, since¡­''

    He could see a certain woman whose skin was usually a dark grey color sitting in the distance, her face a pale white color.

    If he didn''t show that he was fine, she would surely have a heart attack.

    ''Plus, I need a better angle.''

    Damien pushed out of the acid cloud, barrakh gathered in his hands and feet.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The purple-ck energy sted through the atmosphere, mming into the Uruk''s body from every side.

    As the Uruk maneuvered to tank them with its scales, it failed to realize they were just a distraction.

    Shik!

    Shik!

    Two massive needles made of barrakh punctured the beast''s eyes, rendering it blind.

    ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!

    As always, the beast''s instinct was to clear everything around it.

    It thrashed around in case the enemy was near, and it shot waves upon waves of mes and acid into the skies in case the enemy was trying to retreat.

    ''Just like clockwork¡­''

    The instinctual patterns of a beast, especially an arrogant beast, would never change.

    As the Uruk''s mes died down, there was a split-second opportunity.

    In the spark of an instant, before it closed its mouth, there was a w.

    The defensive wall that hid its throat from enemies went down.

    And Damien was given ess to the easiest method to kill a massive beast.

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    He summoned a tsunami of barrakh and condensed it into a 100-foot-long harpoon.

    His muscles bulged and flexed. He assumed the perfect form, transferring the energy contained in his flesh into the barrakh.

    And as he pushed his arm forward and let go, the harpoon flew at a speedparable to light, practically bing invisible to onlookers.

    The rest was history.

    Damien''s barrakh had no ns of staying hidden for long.

    The second it hit its target, it exploded.

    And the world quaked in fear of its power.

 Chapter 1463 Uruk [4]

    Chapter 1463 Uruk [4]

    Barrakh, or rather, Mkh.

    The Gehenna Tribe viewed it as an impure energy. Their tribe had always been unconventional in their use of the energy because they didn''t believe that it was beneficial to absorb it in its natural state.

    The spirits allowed them to purify the energy, and with their weapon techniques, they were able to turn the energy into the pure "barrakh" that they''d been using for the majority of their existence.

    There was nothing wrong with this method. The Gehenna Tribe had ess to a unique set of powers that nobody else could use, and their familiarity with it allowed them to wield it with enough power to protect themselves.

    However¡­

    What was this?

    What was Thalia witnessing right now?

    Damien used barrakh in its normal impure form. Unlike the white halo that appeared around the Gehenna people when they wielded the energy, his was purple and ck, with a heavy aura that was more than just suffocating.

    She''d seen it before. It wasn''t much of a surprise, since it was already known that people outside the tribe didn''t use pure energy.

    However, the level to which Damien used it was something she''d never seen before.

    He didn''t even try to control the energy''s form. He allowed it to flow as it pleased, and in return, the energy responded to his wishes and did exactly what he wanted it to.

    The entire time he was fighting the Uruk, she watched his energy move.

    It enhanced his speed and strength, it fortified his body, and it could do practically anything as long as Damien wanted it to happen.

    Against a monster who could use energy like a fifth limb, what could the Uruk do?

    Thalia didn''t understand that Damien was baiting and probing the beast. All she saw was him gliding around, fighting without a single bead of sweat on his forehead.

    And before she could even understand what was happening, the fight was over.

    The Uruk was impaled by a harpoon made of barrakh.

    It didn''t seem nearly long enough to aplish such a feat, but the instant it entered the Uruk''s body, the harpoon expanded and mmed out the back of the beast, breaking into the ground below with the rest of its momentum.

    That barrakh then exploded, turning the beast it skewered into a rain of blood and meat.

    It was that easy.

    The Uruk died without any ability to resist,pletely unaware of the fact that it had been fighting an unwinnable battle from the very start.

    To Thalia, it was something out of a fairytale.

    In reality, it was just a difference in ss.

    At the end of the day, the Uruk was not an Ancient.

    The Uruk was not a God.

    And if it wasn''t a God, then it didn''t have nearly enough power to stand against Damien.

    Yes, Damien was missing a majority of his strength. Because of that, even he had been wary about rushing into battle with an unknown enemy.

    However, when he got there and started the battle, he realized that he was overthinking.

    No matter how strong the beast was, no matter how weakened he was, he still held power that nobody under Godhood could resist.

    That was the kind of monster Damien became when he startedprehending true Existence.

    But how was she to know that?

    What Thalia saw was a miracle beyond herprehension as someone who''d lived in the jungle her whole life.

    The beast that had terrorized her and her people for ages had died.

    That unkible beast.

    That unkible beast who killed her parents.

    It died to a force she had never experienced before, from a man she never expected to be a monster in disguise.

    How was she meant to feel?

    She didn''t know.

    There were multiple emotions bubbling up inside her.

    Fear, relief, respect, intrigue, wariness, and most importantly¡­

    ¡­excitement.

    It may not have made sense to an external observer. Damien surely wouldn''t understand it, but this was a life-changing moment for Thalia.

    One of many she''d have in theing days.

    ***

    The territory Damien entered through the Dimensional Crack wasn''t just jungle.

    Rather, the sacred jungle was the only uncharted part of said territory. There was a reason thebyrinth was ced there.

    Outside the jungle that spanned more distance than that between the sun and Earth, there was an entire interconnected society of many cities, towns, and metroplexes.

    And just like every other society, this one had its own ruling authority.

    Somewhere deep within the territory, members of that ruling authority were moving.

    A shadow approached arge mansion in the middle of a grassy in. It brushed against the grass before disappearing, reappearing in a study-like room on the second floor.

    "Reporting."

    The shadow immediately kneeled and made its presence known to the man sitting at the desk before him.

    "Speak."

    The man''s voice was dark and brooding, containing a hint of something vile.

    The shadow bowed his head deeper and made the report he came to make.

    The only thought in his mind was leaving this ce as soon as possible.

    "Traces of the Spirit Realm have been recorded by our forces bordering the Eucelian Jungle."

    The man''s eyes flickered over to the shadow. It was clear that his interest had been aroused.

    "The Spirit Realm, you say?"

    The shadow''s body shook at the prospect of this conversation elongating, but he had to speak regardless.

    Everyone knew of the Count''s obsession with the jungle.

    "Yes, sir. The Spirit Realm should be opening within the next 2 weeks. ording to the findings of the research division, the Crown should be kept in that ce."

    The Count''s eyes narrowed.

    "Leave."

    The shadow instantly prostrated himself and vanished, more than happy to leave that terrifying being''s vicinity.

    Watching the rat scuttle away, the Count felt a bit of amusement.

    "Cairo, are you there?"

    "I am here, Milord."

    Another being appeared in the room, an old butler that had served the Count for eons now.

    "Prepare a team. We will go to the Eucilian Jungle."

    "Understood, Milord."

    "We set out at daybreak."

    "Understood, Milord."

    "Very well."

    Knowing this was his cue to leave, the butler bowed and made his exit, though without the same fear as the shadow. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Left alone in his study, the Count almost couldn''t contain himself.

    "Finally¡­"

    "Finally¡­!"

    The Crown, an object he''d been trying for over a million years to locate.

    A trace of its existence finally came to him.

    Nobody knew what the Crown was. Nobody except him.

    His people thought he was obsessed with the jungle because of the secrets it hid, and in part, they were right.

    However, the reason he became obsessed with the forest was a story that dated back many, many years, to a certain encounter he had in his youth.

    He remembered the things he heard that day.

    "As long as I have the Crown¡­"

    ¡­he would be invincible.

    "As long as I have the Crown¡­"

    ¡­he could kill his God.

    The night passed quietly, with none the wiser about what was toe.

    And when the red sun came over the horizon, the Count''s party set out.

    The Saintess was never wrong.

    Chaos was approaching the jungle.

    The only question was¡­

    ¡­would the jungle be able to survive?

 Chapter 1464 Gehenna [1]

    Chapter 1464 Gehenna [1]

    The happenings outside the forest couldn''t make their way in. It was impossible for the Gehenna Tribe tomunicate with the outside world, especially not with how deep in the forest they lived.

    They continued on with their lives,pletely secluded.

    At the moment, practically the entire tribe was waiting anxiously for a single man to return.

    The atmosphere had been tense since the morning. When the earth began to shake near the afternoon, their anxiety only got worse. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Perhaps nobody realized how close they''d gotten with Damien until he left.

    And since Thalia went with him, their worry only worsened.

    Of course, the Saintess had supreme confidence in her decision. She showed no signs of stress despite her sessor going to fight the Uruk, and that was the only reason the rest of the vige wasn''t in a panic right now.

    The Saintess'' status was immense, practically indomitable. The vigers weren''t members of a cult, so of course they had their own individual thoughts, but they still tried to calm themselves using the Saintess as their example.

    Nevertheless, the vige was a volcano right now, just waiting to erupt. Whether the eruption would be one of joy or sorrow, however, was still unknown to them.

    The odd mood in the vige drew out a few characters who''d been too focused on their own matters to appear in public recently.

    Namely, Darius and Tiamat.

    Their reactions upon understanding the reason behind that strange mood were reasonably mild.

    They, as people in close contact with Damien, didn''t doubt that he could y some tiny beast. But, they were definitely interested in what he''d been doing since thest time they saw him.

    Darius had been working in the forges for a very long time. As days turned into months, he earned the respect of his peers and masters. His fire control became superb, and his power became far more pronounced.

    Darius began showing an appearance like the true owner of the Sun and Moon Divine me.

    Because of this, quite unfortunately in the sense of timing, Darius was sent on a mission at a nearby volcano, where he could enhance himself even further.

    He only recently returned, and hearing that he missed Damien''s show in the forge, he was definitely saddened.

    But, promising himself that he''d ask his brother to teach him some skills when he returned, Darius returned to the forge to train.

    He''d be quite attached to the art, after all.

    Tiamat wasn''t all that different. She was naturally more indifferent than Darius, but she did have an interest in what had happened in the vige in the past year.

    She hadn''t been anywhere close to her.

    The instant she got epted by the vige people, the women took her away, iming she had "impure air around her mind and heart."

    They took her to a small zen garden with a waterfall and a calm atmosphere one wouldn''t expect in this brutal jungle.

    Tiamat was opposed to doing what they wanted of her. Some of it seemed rxing, but others seemed to be trying to turn her into a more traditional woman, which she wasn''t a fan of.

    She did end up doing as they said, though.

    Not because she had a sudden change of heart, but rather because she found out that the garden was the perfect ce for her to connect with the world.

    The so-called chaos in her heart and mind was caused by the confusion she felt towards this world. The best way to solve that confusion was to understand the world itself.

    She only participated in the various asks of the tribeswomen once in a while. The rest of the time was spent in meditation, which was why she hadn''t been around.

    Tiamat came out of meditation for one reason.

    She felt danger approaching.

    Something in the world seemed to be changing. A vile aura was approaching, and Tiamat felt that if she didn''t leave seclusion, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

    It was only a coincidence that she came out in time to experience this.

    The moment when Damien and Thalia arrived at the entrance of the vige without a single scratch on them.

    As they stepped into the vige amidst the silent gazes of the tribespeople, Damien smiled and waved his arm through the air.

    Thud!

    At first, it wasn''t clear what had fallen to the ground.

    In a pile of meat chunks that seemed primed for cooking, half of a massive head was buried.

    They recognized it instantly.

    "The Uruk¡­"

    From her ce high above the vige, the Saintess spoke, her words resounding through every nook and cranny.

    "...has fallen!"

    That was thest silence the tribespeople would experience for several days.

    They erupted into cheers. Damien was immediately engulfed by the crowd and picked up. He was being paraded around the vige before he knew what was happening.

    People got to the drums, letting music alight the vige.

    It was time for a celebration.

    As night fell, the meat of the Uruk was cooked to perfection. Actors and dancers came out to give performances on Damien''s valiant feat, as heard directly from the mouth of Thalia.

    Everyone indulged in food, drink, and entertainment without limits. Damien, as the main character of the event, was seated directly in the middle and given the treatment of a king.

    Thalia was nowhere to be found, but she wasn''t the type to indulge in such events in the first ce.

    And while Damien thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and appreciated the way the tribe regarded him as one of their own, he also wasn''t particrly a fan of parties.

    He stayed with the vigers until a little past midnight when the alcohol started getting to him, and when he saw the opportunity, he slipped away.

    He headed deep into the jungle. The Uruk was dead, and since he killed it, the surrounding beasts considered him the ruler of this territory. As such, they didn''t dare to even think of attacking him.

    The night view here was peaceful.

    This world wasn''t like the Heavenly World whose stars were artificial.

    Out there, beyond the barrier that encaged this territory, was a sea of starspletely foreign to Damien.

    ''I want to see it.''

    Even disregarding his path to Existence or the war with the Foreign Races, he really wanted to get out there and explore the sea of stars.

    That was a desire he''d never lose, no matter how old or powerful he got.

    He remembered that day. It was the first conscious memory he had in life. It was the moment he awoke from the delirium of infancy.

    The stars decorating the sky, creating a beautiful mosaic that no artist could ever hope to replicate.

    As a man, he''d already conquered the stars he saw that day.

    He was looking at a new sky now, a new horizon.

    Yet, there would never be anything more calming to him than that wondrous mosaic painted in the sky.

    Damien took a deep breath, thoroughly enjoying the cold breeze against his skin.

    ''Something good will happen soon.''

    Gehenna would open in just a few days.

    He wanted to spend those days in peace, just like this, however¡­

    He sat up, preparing to greet the person approaching him from behind.

    "Haa¡­I wonder what it''ll be this time."

 Chapter 1465 Gehenna [2]

    Chapter 1465 Gehenna [2]

    There was only one person who would visit Damien at a time like this, and really only one who could find him.

    The person timidly approaching from behind was naturally Thalia.

    She had taken some time to herself to process what she''d seen in the jungle earlier. For that reason, she didn''t attend the party or even speak to Damien ever since he killed the Uruk.

    Their return was a silent one, and while she did entertain the tribespeople when they asked her about the battle, she really needed to consider all the thoughts carelessly swimming around her head.

    In the end, she found that none of her questions would be answered unless she went to the source.

    It didn''t take her long to find Damien. There were many beautiful locations in the jungle, but Damien always went to the same spot to look at the stars when he wanted some time alone.

    Usually, Thalia wouldn''t disturb him when he was here. She also had a safe space deep in the jungle that she used to get away from the world, so she understood how important silence and istion could be.

    Today was a special case, because there was no better ce to ask what she wanted to ask than here.

    Damien was expecting her presence, since she revealed it a few seconds ago. She walked up and sat next to him without a word, preparing herself for the first question.

    "What are you?"

    She didn''t know how to phrase it. It came out in the most visceral way.

    But that was Thalia''s question in its truest form.

    Damien looked over curiously.

    It wasn''t like he was offended. Her question came from a ce of ignorance, not judgement. Thalia had never seen someone like Damien before. No matter how human he looked, it was hard for her to regard him as one.

    That wasn''t the kind of power a human could possess.

    In a sense, she was correct.

    For Damien to handle this power, his body had changed to the point where even the system couldn''t determine his race.

    And, even if that wasn''t the case, he was still more than human.

    He was Divine.

    Divinity was like a race of its own. One''s original race and roots wouldn''t change when they achieved that level, however, that race would always be prefaced by their Divine status.

    They were Demigods and Gods before anything else.

    But there was no way to exin that to Thalia.

    What would happen if Damien told her he was a Divine Being?

    She, as someone whose worldview was defined by her surroundings, would never be able to understand it properly.

    Worst case scenario, she''d get offended or even think of him as someone deserving of worship.

    Neither oue was good. Though, Damien knew it would just fry her brain rather than provoke such a drastic response.

    It was still useless to try and exin Divinity to her at this point. Because of that, Damien had no real way to answer her question.

    He really was the monster she saw him to be.

    Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was up to her.

    "What kind of answer do you want?"

    It wasn''t the response Thalia expected.

    She didn''t know what she wanted to hear.

    "A truthful one," she said.

    That was where she settled.

    Damien nodded. What she wanted wasn''t a figurative answer, but a literal one.

    Her curiosity stemmed from what she''d seen. She was already aware of Damien''s personality. She wasn''t going to ssify him as something other than what he''d shown her just because his power was so monstrous. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    She genuinely just wanted to know what he was.

    So he gave her the answer she desired.

    "I don''t really know. I started as a human, but that changed as I changed. At this point, I''ve be something far removed from that humble beginning."

    "For the sake of that power?"

    "Rather, as a result of it."

    "I see¡­"

    Thalia furrowed her brow.

    "Then, if I reach your level, will I still be human?"

    "I don''t know that either. That depends on the path you decide to take."

    Thalia nodded thoughtfully.

    She seemed quite connected to her roots as a human. When Damien was younger, his brutal mentality meant he was willing to sacrifice anything for power, so a race change always excited him. It made him feel the weight of his power physically.

    Heter became more attached to his humanity, but his thoughts on his actual physical race didn''t change. It could change as much as it wanted to. As long as his humanity was maintained, he''d be a human.

    That was the answer he had for Thalia if she''d asked the same question more figuratively, but she instinctively understood this reasoning and didn''t need it exined to her.

    Damien still didn''t understand why Thalia hade to him.

    She didn''t ask him much after that either. Just a few questions on how his power worked and how he used barrakh.

    Afterward, she just sat there in silence.

    She was considering many things inside her mind. Surprisingly enough, she learned more from that first answer than anyone could imagine.

    To Damien, her reasoning for seeing him was confusing, but she wasn''t as confused as he thought.

    Damien just wasn''t used to people like her.

    She didn''te here with some sort of deep question in mind. The curiosity that burned in her soul was about those things she didn''t know, and human emotion wasn''t included.

    Everyone, no matter how secluded, experienced emotion the same.

    Thalia witnessed something beyond the scope of her existing knowledge when she saw Damien fighting the Uruk.

    She questioned whether she could achieve that level, and she questioned what would happen if she did.

    Her desire for knowledge was more practical than most.

    But there was definitely an aspect to it that others wouldn''t understand.

    She didn''t quite get it either.

    Was she questioning the tribe''s beliefs?

    Was she wondering if she should use barrakh more recklessly?

    At first, she was.

    But Damien told her that he changed as a result of the power he had. He didn''t change for its sake.

    In the same way, she didn''t have to change for the sake of power.

    But seeking its peak would result in change regardless.

    That was the kind of change she wanted.

    Therefore, rather than questioning the tribe''s methods, she went a different route.

    "I will be as strong as you."

    "I''m sure you will."

    It was a statement she couldn''t have said if she knew about Divinity, but precisely because of her naivety, Damien believed she could do it.

    "I will get there with the tribe''s techniques."

    "I''m excited to see it."

    The way they interacted had changed somewhat, but Damien didn''t mind. He also found the Gehenna Tribe''s techniques interesting and had actually done some work on his own to improve them.

    He was actually nning to give that method to Thalia soon, but seeing this change in her, he changed his mind.

    ''It won''t be toote once she''s figured it out on her own.''

    The night passed in rtive silence.

    Thalia left Damien alone a few minutes after that short conversation, leaving him to gaze at the sky alone again.

    To Damien, it was just a passing moment, a promise from someone young and full of energy.

    But for Thalia, it was monumental.

    She finally got a hint.

    A hint about how she could take the Gehenna Tribe higher than it currently was.

 Chapter 1466 Gehenna [3]

    Chapter 1466 Gehenna [3]

    Solitude seemed to be a trend these days. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    First, it was Darius and Tiamat, and now Thalia had also joined them in the endeavor.

    After leaving Damien that day, Thalia found herself with a new motivation like she''d never had before.

    As she acted on that motivation, she naturally lost the time to focus on other things.

    Thalia had to break down what she knew about her n''s techniques and rebuild them from the ground up. It wasn''t an easy task, but Thalia''s understanding of those techniques surpassed that of even some of the elders.

    She was the hunter who represented the vige. Regardless of her young age, she managed to stand on par with the most experienced hunters and even show them up on asion.

    Every single day she went into the jungle, and every single day she got more and more experienced.

    The basis of the n''s techniques was to convert barrakh into a purer form with weapons as a medium and utilize it from there.

    Every hunter understood the inefficiency of this method. Weapons, at the end of the day, would only be a hindrance if one relied on them too much.

    However, nobody had been able to find a way to purify barrakh internally. Even if they had an idea, none of them dared to attempt it because that would require breaking the n''s traditions.

    Thalia didn''t lose faith. Her conversation with Damien actually allowed her to gain a faith she didn''t have before.

    But she also lost the thought process that led her to follow that faith without question.

    She was willing to ask the questions that needed to be asked and do the things that needed to be done for the sake of her faith, even if that meant deviating from its path.

    The Gehenna Tribe needed to evolve.

    They''d been stuck in their current position for too long.

    Seeing Damien, a single man, eliminate the threat that haunted their entire tribe for generations, Thalia realized just how weak they were.

    If they could just use energy with their bodies, if they achieved the versatility and power offered by that method, wouldn''t they be something greater?

    Her way of thinking was somewhat naive since she was just starting to grow out of her static mindset.

    However, she was on the right path.

    Everyone in the vige could see it.

    Many people wanted to know what she was up to, but none of them bothered her as they watched her diligently work towards her goal.

    Some even went to Damien to see what he knew, but he feigned ignorance.

    After all, Thalia''s path was her own, and he was more than happy to just contribute to her growth silently.

    Unfortunately, while her spirit was there, she didn''t have enough time to make real progress.

    It had already been several days. Damien''s spectacles were definitely grand, but nobody forgot about the real reason behind his endeavors.

    Gehenna would be weing visitors soon.

    The Saintess had already proimed it. The youths who were selected to enter the realm would leave in five days.

    Still, Thalia sat in her own residence, paper strewn across the floor.

    Time?

    She didn''t need to worry about it.

    She was already close to a breakthrough.

    If she could make it there before Gehenna, then wouldn''t that just be an added plus?

    Life continued to move.

    It continued to approach.

    The day for everyone to realize the strange ways in which destiny worked.

    ***

    Silence reigned in a small zen garden far separated from the tribe.

    This ce was odd in nature. While it did exist within the vige, it was a ce not even close to it.

    There were several ces in the massive jungle where space folded upon itself and gave way to connections that could take one to various different locations.

    There were three such phenomena in the tribe''snd, and the zen garden was by far the safest of them.

    It was also the most hidden, both in its entrance and true location.

    The zen garden was a ce that no being could enter without express permission.

    Therefore, for Tiamat, there was no better ce than this to meditate.

    Tiamat came out of seclusion for a few days after hearing about all the racket in the vige, but she returned afterward since nothing of note was happening.

    She wasn''t really interested in Gehenna. Neither she nor Darius were given the right to enter because neither of them had the qualifications. Darius was disappointed about it, but she didn''t really care.

    She was obviously going to attend the realm''s opening, but in the days before that, she was nning to continue doing what she''d been doing for the past year.

    Tiamat allowed herself to be swallowed by the world.

    One had to wonder what she wanted to see.

    Ever since her youth, Tiamat had been alone. She never felt a connection to anyone or anything. In fact, the only semnce of the feeling she got before meeting Damien was the closeness she felt to the prison that entrapped her for over 10,000 years.

    However, this world gave her that feeling.

    She wanted to know why.

    As for what came after that, even she didn''t know, because she had little to no information about what she was actually looking for.

    But the world was providing her with it regardless.

    As if weing home a child it had dearly missed for a very long time, the world epted her and allowed her to witness the things she was never meant to see.

    They started as dark shes of memory, just flecks that didn''t have any real meaning on their own.

    When Tiamat concentrated and exerted herself to dive deeper, however¡­

    ¡­those shes expanded into something indescribable.

    This world''s energy epted her.

    Instinctually, she felt that this ce was her home.

    But¡­how?

    She had never been here before. It didn''t exist in her memories no matter how early she went.

    Those shes told a different story.

    She saw herself, or rather, a version of herself that she didn''t know.

    A dark queen, yet a newborn baby.

    An unbelievable monster born from inconceivable circumstances.

    Lost in reality, trapped in the depths of her own mind.

    A figure was there, a huge figure she could never seem to see the face of.

    Something about that figure felt familiar.

    As its hand approached closer to her, she felt what should''ve been warmth.

    It was cold.

    Extremely cold.

    That being was not human.

    That being was not living.

    Yet it was alive.

    And it terrified her.

    From that being, she felt what should have been love.

    But it was really the indescribable urge to tear her to shreds.

    Her existence was a burden.

    Her existence was a blessing.

    What was she?

    Not a single person knew.

    Tiamat clutched her head.

    It hurt, like thousands of needles were stabbing into her scalp.

    She didn''t understand what was shing through her mind. The more she saw, the more ufortable she became.

    She pushed on for the sole purpose of getting what she wanted, but the further she pushed, the further she seemed to move away from reality.

    Yet¡­

    The less "real" reality felt, the more she felt as if she was witnessing the truth behind the images shown to her.

    For the past year, she''d only been experiencing spiritual chaos.

    That chaos had been dying down recently, but it still appeared in the aforementioned form, a blob of memories and words with no semnce of rhyme or reason.

    She wanted to see the bottom of it.

    But for now, she had to take a break.

    Not only to calm her own psyche, but to witness the event that everyone had been waiting for.

    Gehenna.

    It was finally time for Damien and the rest to enter that realm.

 Chapter 1467 Gehenna [4]

    Chapter 1467 Gehenna [4]

    Many things had to ur before Gehenna could be entered, but the time to enter was approaching fast.

    The ceremonies of the tribe were incredibly important. As a society that lived by tradition, they believed it absolute.

    The events began three days before the day Gehenna appeared.

    First came a tribute to the spirits, a ritual to request protection for the young ones entering their realm.

    This took an entire day, and consisted of many tribal dances and ritual sacrifices where the best of the tribe''s food and wine was burned at an altar while the entire tribe prostrated themselves around it.

    On the second day, the actual entrants were all brought together.

    Damien finally saw the other twenty or so youths who''d be entering the realm along with himself and Thalia.

    They were brought together by the elders of the tribe and made to worship for a day.

    Damien experienced many things he hadn''t before.

    The Gehenna people had many statues made in the likeness of their ancestors and the Ancient Gods of the jungle.

    Once protection was requested from the spirits, prayers were given to those deceased to introduce them to their future generations so they could recognize each other in the Spirit Cemetery.

    And finally, on the third day, everyone returned to their homes. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They remained indoors without contacting each other, staying in meditation and connecting themselves to the jungle.

    Damien also used this time to meditate.

    The reasoning behind the event was to clear away the trials and tribtions of reality from the hearts of the tribespeople.

    Meditation to connect with the jungle, to tune themselves into frequencies only those ethereal forces could sense, meant reaching a state of selflessness.

    That state brought one closer to truth.

    It brought peace to the heart and mind.

    Damien didn''t necessarily feel such things from the jungle, but he wasn''t as skeptical as he used to be.

    He had personally experienced the jungle''s spirituality on several asions as he explored it on its own.

    However, the jungle had not epted him. For that reason, it never allowed him to truly connect with it.

    Damien didn''t mind. It was obvious for him to be treated the way it was treating him. If anything, the Gehenna people were the strange ones for being so weing.

    Still, the rejection of the jungle was the main cause of hisck ofprehension in the past year.

    How could heprehend thews if thew didn''t allow him to see them?

    Nevertheless, he meditated.

    Even if he couldn''t get much, he could still slowly make progress as long as he tried.

    The night passed as everyone in the vige partook in the traditions, and when the sun broke over the horizon again, everyone gathered again.

    Damien and the rest were led into the forest under the gazes and cheers of the vige people.

    The youths were proud. Thalia had a serious expression on her face, but even she couldn''t hide the excitement in her eyes.

    They walked through the forest with the guidance of the elders, taking a path where they encountered not a single danger until they reached a clearing roughly ten kilometers from the vige.

    This location had an aura of spirituality that even Damien could sense.

    "Here, Gehenna will embrace you. Sit down and meditate."

    The Saintess spoke, motioning towards the center of the clearing.

    Damien and the rest walked there and followed her instructions.

    Once they were in a meditative posture, the Saintess raised her staff into the air and began chanting in an ancient tone.

    Thenguage she used was different from the ones Damien had learned, but it shared a resemnce that made it evident that it was an ancestor of thenguages that existed in the current era.

    The entire vige had followed them here. They formed a circle around the clearing and watched as the elders raised their staffs behind the Saintess and joined her in her chanting.

    Little bulbs of white light, like dandelions in the wind, rose from the ground and decorated the entire clearing.

    Those light balls gathered together and flew into the sky before cascading down as a collection of auroras that beautifully lit up the clouds.

    A hazy mist filled the air, blurring not only vision, but consciousness.

    Damien kept his eyes closed and felt the changes.

    He could sense space getting more and more chaotic, reaching a breaking point where it would swallow everyone sitting in the middle of the clearing.

    ''It''s time.''

    Within a few seconds, he would be entering that mysterious ce called Gehenna, where, ording to the Saintess, he''d find his destiny.

    He readied himself for the transportation, sinking deeper into meditation until¡­

    ''Hm?''

    He felt something enter his palm.

    His eyes peeked open, and he subtly saw the movement of the Saintess'' hands.

    Along with the smile on her face.

    It wasn''t a happy smile.

    What did that smile mean?

    He wanted to check what she had given him, but before he could, he found himself stuck in the midst of a spatial transmission.

    He gripped his fist, making sure the object wouldn''t fall out, and allowed the energy to embrace him.

    And, in a single moment almostpletely hidden in an aurora of light, the group of twenty-something individuals vanished.

    Silence reigned in the clearing.

    The tribespeople looked at the Saintess, while the Saintess stared into the sky.

    She brought her staff down slowly and turned around.

    The expression on her face was now one of utmost seriousness,pletely different from the one she sent Damien and the rest off with.

    "Prepare for war."

    Damien stood at the entrance of Gehenna. He didn''t pay a single bit of attention to the realm. Instead, he took the token that the Saintess put in his hand in that final moment and read its contents.

    The tribespeople got their weapons ready. Though Tiamat and Darius didn''t understand what was happening, they prepared themselves as well.

    The things written on that token weren''t small tidbits of knowledge at all.

    This cosmos was called the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    The one Damien came from was the True Void Universe.

    This cosmos was ruled by a being called the Dark God and his ensemble ofckeys, organized in a feudal hierarchy system.

    And this territory where the Gehenna Tribe lived was ruled by a Count, a God that viewed lesser beings as ants.

    These were facts that could''ve been mentioned outside.

    Why did the¨C

    "¨CFUCK!"

    Damien roared when he realized it.

    But it was already toote.

    He was not able to tear through the realm and leave on his own without ess to Existence.

    It went just as the Saintess had nned.

    "DAMMIT!"

    He could only remain trapped here as she intended.

    As she stood before the entrance gate to Gehenna, the entire tribe behind her, she smiled.

    A terrible foe was approaching, carrying with him a terrible fate for the tribe.

    But, everything would go as she nned.

    All the pieces would line up perfectly.

    No matter what happened as that great evil approached closer and closer¡­

    ¡­as long as she had any say in it, her tribe would not fall.

 Chapter 1468 Gehenna [5]

    Chapter 1468 Gehenna [5]

    It was difficult to understand what had urred without experiencing it personally.

    The Saintess left a lot of information in Damien''s hands, to the point where he could barely focus on the changed atmosphere around him.

    The information about the names of their two cosmos came out of nowhere and didn''t seem to have any ce in the rest of the things contained in the token, but it was a clue to what the Saintess'' power could achieve.

    As for what came after, it was a slew of knowledge about the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    More so, a slew of information about the world the Saintess saw.

    Damien never realized how powerful the Saintess was. Her power came from a force he couldn''t see, so it was only natural for him to underestimate her.

    Damien had been in the Gehenna Tribe for over a year now, but the time had passed so fast it hardly felt like it had been that long.

    The vige people were great and weing, and in that atmosphere where he felt like he could do whatever he wanted securely, his perception became hazy.

    He was already disconnected from thews. When he was fed a proverbial lotus that made his awareness of reality drop, the effect was only multiplied.

    Everything had gone ording to the Saintess'' ns from the moment Damien''s group arrived in the tribe.

    Everything had taken ce in such a way that Damien would be rushed into Gehenna without a chance to reconsider things.

    Because if he just sat down and thought about it for a second, he obviously would''ve found something odd about it all.

    The Saintess knew something bad wasing for the tribe, and she knew exactly what it was.

    The problem was that she didn''t see a way for them to win against the threat they were facing.

    So, by any means possible, the Saintess drove destiny forward and pushed those who needed to see Gehenna into the realm before an all-out war broke out.

    But she knew her n wasn''t absolute, and those who entered Gehenna needed toe out at some point.

    That was the only reason she informed Damien.

    The Count. Specifically, Count Verex.

    He ruled this territory of the Sacred Abyss Universe and was one of 32 Counts under themand of the Dark God.

    None of them were particrly good people, but Count Verex''s reputation was bad even by Foreign Race standards.

    He was known for abusing the people who lived in his territory, and his greed for power allowed him to sacrifice anything and everything.

    The Gehenna Tribe had an encounter with him in the past.

    Or rather, the Saintess did.

    Ever since then, she knew he would appear before her one day as the person fated to bring her death.

    She knew how much he lusted after the Crown that was contained within Gehenna.

    She couldn''t allow him to have it.

    And she couldn''t allow him to interfere with the destiny of her tribespeople.

    As such, she only let Damien know.

    There was no way to stop what was already happening anyway.

    Damien obviously made a huge scene at the entrance when he broke it all down.

    With the information presented and the way the Saintess decided to present it, with the way Gehenna cleared away the confusion in his mind, Damien was able to put it all together.

    The Saintess had prophesized her own death.

    She had seen the end of her n.

    And she''d tasked Damien with protecting the most prized geniuses they had birthed in the past generation, so that the legacy of the tribe wouldn''t fall easily.

    Damien gritted his teeth furiously.

    ''I should have realized it earlier.''

    Damien had extremely positive emotions towards the Gehenna Tribe. They treated him like family without a hint of prejudice, epting him as one of their own.

    However, he didn''t actually get close to anyone, including Thalia.

    Was the Saintess trying to prevent him from getting emotionally invested in their fate?

    Was she trying to protect him?

    If she was, then she failed.

    Because the things she did for his sake without asking for anything in return were enough to earn his utmost respect.

    ''Focus.''

    Damien closed his eyes.

    He took long, deep breaths and arranged all the new information he''d just learned.

    He spread his senses into the surroundings andpletely calmed down.

    Only in this state would he be able to do something meaningful.

    ''Okay.''

    He boiled down thepiled facts into only the things he needed to focus on.

    A God was approaching the tribe with their deaths and this realm was his goal.

    He couldn''t leave Gehenna on his own, not without aplishing whatever the Saintess sent him here to aplish.

    But he had to leave soon, so that he could save the tribe from their doom.

    "Huu¡­" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Saintess may have been nning for this moment for a very long time, but to Damien, everything changed too fast.

    Life was calm until the instant Gehenna opened. If there was anything that stood out about it all, it was that the Saintess really knew how to hide her fangs.

    ''Focus.''

    Damien kept his senses focused on the surroundings.

    He immediately felt the differences aspared to both cosmos he''d been in.

    ''Thews are chaotic.''

    This ce also had its own uniquew form, which meant¨C

    ''¨Ctime is also different here.''

    There was nobody else in Damien''s surroundings. The geniuses were all separated during spatial transmission, which allowed Damien to act without worry.

    He sat down where he was, judging this area safe, and immediately went to workprehending the time dtion.

    Time passed, and he felt its flow. Hepared it to what he knew from the True Void Universe, and hepared it to what he learned in the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    In the end, he was able to roughly determine some things.

    ''It''s good. Very good, in fact.''

    From what he could tell, he had at least a few months for every hour that passed outside. It was hard for him to get apletely urate picture without being connected to the Sacred Abyss Universe''s Time Laws, but his rough estimate was enough.

    ''I have around a year.''

    He didn''t know when the Count would arrive at the tribe, but he knew that once a God took action, they wouldn''tst for more than a few seconds at most.

    Count Verex''s personality, from the information the Saintess provided, was extremely arrogant.

    Damien was going to rush and get out of this ce as soon as possible, but in the worst-case scenario where he couldn''t arrive in time, he had to ce his hopes on the Count''s arrogance and pray that he would send weaker troops to attack first, giving Damien some time.

    Everything was properly digested in his mind.

    Damien finally got the chance to look around and actually see where he was.

    No matter how urgent the situation outside was, he had to put it out of his mind.

    Before he could worry about that, he had to get out of here.

    And to get out of here¡­

    ¡­he had to personally find out what all this fuss about destiny really meant.

 Chapter 1469 Gehenna [6]

    Chapter 1469 Gehenna [6]

    Damien was not in the wilderness right now. He wasn''t in a ce that looked like it should be in a secret realm at first nce.

    He was in the middle of a cobbled stone pathway that spanned for several tens of meters in both directions.

    In the distance, he could see a massive arch that looked like the entrance to a city. There wasn''t much behind him, but the path at least made it seem like there was something to see in the distance as well.

    If this path was crowded with people, it would look no different from the outside world, like a path leading towards a bustling metroplex filled with life.

    However, this path was not filled with anything but mist.

    The white fog was extremely prevalent, more prevalent than anyone else. It existed as ayer that crept against the ground and went all the way into the sky, but surprisingly enough, it didn''t block vision or perception.

    It actually made Damien''s eyes see farther, and it made his mind clearer than ever, allowing him to swiftly react to the situation he suddenly found himself in.

    ''My awareness doesn''t spread very far. I guess I have to give up on actively looking for others.''

    Damien had made the decision to follow what the Saintess wanted to an extent.

    He would protect her kids, but he wouldn''t allow her to die so easily.

    To do so properly, he wanted to team up and move with them through this realm, but since it wasn''t at all possible to find where he was yet, he had to give up on finding them too.

    ''Luckily, I know at least a little bit about the realm.''

    Gehenna had two types of beings within it.

    Good spirits and evil spirits.

    Good spirits were usually ancestors of the n and human heroes.

    The Ancients of the jungle were also mainly good beings, however, one could never be sure. Some of them had tricky personalities, and some teetered on the border of evil, making their actions and personalities chaotic.

    As for those who werepletely on the side of evil, they didn''t have one specific form.

    They were unequivocally vile.

    It had to be known that the Gehenna Tribe didn''t know how to deal with souls.

    They came in all shapes and sizes, all races existing in the world, but they all had one thing inmon.

    They were unequivocally vile.

    It had to be known that the Gehenna Tribe didn''t know how to deal with souls.

    Nobody put these evil spirits in Gehenna. No, the Sacred Abyss Universe forced them into this realm because their sins were too heavy.

    They were people who absolutely could not be allowed in the reincarnation cycle because their evil was too powerful to be cleansed by this cosmos'' Wheel of Samsara.

    Damien didn''t want the others to be tempted by those evil spirits. The problem was that none of them were powerful enough to resist such powerful beings.

    ''No, my thinking is wrong.''

    This ce didn''t work like any other world Damien had been to.

    Strength didn''t matter nearly as much here as will.

    If the youths of the tribe had the appropriate mental propensity, they wouldn''t be affected by forces beyond their control.

    ''Plus, this realm favors the Gehenna Tribe.''

    This ce was their namesake. They had an eternal connection with it that none could replicate.

    That was the reason Count Verex was attacking them before entering the realm.

    The youths of the tribe would likely be met by their ancestors before anything terrible could happen to them.

    Even if those ancestors didn''t find them worthy of their opportunities, they at least wouldn''t let them be touched by the evil spirits.

    ''I guess I''m the only one on my own then.''

    Damien smiled wryly.

    He was used to it.

    Plus, this was probably for the better.

    ''I''m not here to meet the ancestors of Gehenna.''

    If he was, then the Saintess would''ve made sure he gave the ancestors a reason to meet him.

    ''I''m here for something else entirely.''

    Damien started walking towards the arch in the distance.

    It was hard to learn what to do in an abandoned ce like this without a single clue.

    He knew what would happen to the Gehenna youths, but what did that matter to him?

    Thalia was probably already facing a lucky chance, while the rest would be the same soon.

    He, however, had to just walk.

    The arch was closer than expected. He reached it within five minutes, and as he walked through, he found himself encountering arge za with several statues lining its edge.

    There was a fountain in the middle with a huge statue of a dragon. Its eyes were made out of rubies, and its every scale was finely outlined and detailed, making the statue seem like it was filled with vitality.

    The loosely cobbled pathway turned into an organized grey brick formation that drew one''s attention to the central figure.

    There was nothing around the za. The mist once again came in and shaded the periphery, making it seem like there was nothing in this world but this ce.

    Damien carefully observed the floor, but he didn''t see any mechanisms within it.

    He had the option to turn around and look for something else, but he had no ns to do so.

    Everything the Saintess said about this ce tied back to destiny, that esoteric force that worked on all living things in mysterious ways.

    If Damien appeared here, he was meant to be here,

    He approached the dragon statue with caution, staring into its gemstone eyes.

    He could see some sort of glint within, even though there was no sunlight for the jewels to reflect. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Are you¡­alive?"

    He felt stupid talking to it, but this universe wasn''t short of its strange beings. It wouldn''t be odd if the statue had sentience.

    Damien didn''t receive a response to his call, but the eyes shed strangely, indicating there was something here.

    He walked around under the statue, observing it from every side.

    ''I''ve never seen a dragon like this before.''

    Damien was no stranger to dragons. He''d seen them in every shape or form they came in through the Azure Dragon''s memories.

    However, this wasn''t something he''d seen.

    A ck dragon with red eyes. It was amon archetype, but this one had a particrly shaped scale pattern that seemed more like that of a fish than a flying beast.

    ''Do I touch it?''

    ''Or¡­''

    Damien moved away from the statue in the middle and looked towards those in the surroundings.

    More fantastical beasts.

    Not a single one bore simrity to another, and not a single one looked like something that existed in the True Void Universe.

    And they were all staring at him with those gemstone eyes, soulless yet filled with spirit.

    A hazy red halo began to fill the beautiful white mist.

    Yet, the white mist also rose.

    It felt like a spectacle was about to begin in this za, with Damien at its center.

    ''No, spectacle is the wrong word. This aura is¡­''

    Damien was very familiar with it.

    The entirety of Grand Heavens Boundary wasced with it for as long as Damien had lived.

    It was the aura of war, something that could only appear if bloody ughter had been urring in a location for tens of dozens of millennia at the very least.

    ''The start of my destiny¡­''

    Damien watched as the statues came to life.

    A picture was painted in front of his eyes, one where he could see who these statues used to be.

    And as he guessed, the start of his destiny was here.

    The beginning, as always¡­

    ''...is war.''

 Chapter 1470 Gehenna [7]

    Chapter 1470 Gehenna [7]

    War.

    It was something Damien had long been used to.

    But this was a form he''d never seen it in.

    An illusion formed around him. He was encased in its grasp, and his body was changed into another one.

    Damien was sent to a ce that bore simrity to the Ancient Battlefield, and on it, he was faced with and surrounded by two different armies.

    One was made up of dragons of all kinds. This was the group he was with.

    As for the enemies, they were a variety of mythical creatures including qilins, dryads, and everything in between.

    They oozed an aura of malevolence, a clear indication of their hatred for the dragons.

    And the dragons were filled with absolute pride, believing themselves unshakable.

    The war began before Damien had a chance to fully understand the situation.

    Both sides charged at each other, and deaths immediately appeared on both sides.

    ''Ah¡­''

    Standing in the middle of it all, Damien suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his heart.

    He watched a dragon fall.

    He remembered that dragon''s name.

    And he felt the anguish of losing a good friend.

    His eyes turned red with fury.

    Not taking a single second to think, he joined his fellows in battle, killing the enemy he didn''t even know the identity of.

    And he killed.

    His ws which were once only used to calmly trek the earth became weapons that carried the blood of hundreds.

    His maw, only ever used to eat and speak, had been wetted with the taste of iron, a disgusting taste that easily became addicting.

    He was truly a powerhouse.

    He had never killed before, but when he was taken to the battlefield, his true purpose in life was revealed to all.

    Yet, with every dragon that fell, the rage he felt was deepened.

    He had a personal feud with the enemy side now, unable to recognize himself within the beast he was possessing.

    But it didn''t matter what he did. He was only a single dragon, recklessly charging in without a n.

    He could kill as many enemies as he wanted, but hisrades would continue dying.

    As they did.

    The dragons who once thought themselves invincible were felled one after another. As they continued to fight, they didn''t realize how their numbers had diminished.

    Damien wasn''t aware of it either.

    His boiling rage was the only thing defining him. Under its guidance, he killed his way all the way through the enemy line,ing out the other side with not a single being in front of him.

    Only then did his eyes return to normal.

    Only then did he realize he was the only one left.

    ''This¡­''

    How long had it been?

    The battlefield was long gone.

    His young body which had never tasted war was now built for it, covered in scars and wounds from previous battles.

    He was no longer just a youthful dragon. He was old, nearing the end of his life, and yet, his rage had only just faded.

    How long did he spend drowned in his emotions?

    Even he couldn''t tell, but from the signs in his body and mind, he had been on a blind path of revenge for at least several tens of thousands of years already.''

    His eyes panned his surroundings, clearly showing his confusion.

    He was surrounded, the beasts from the statues preparing to end the Dragon Race''s legacy through him.

    He had been trapped in a cage of his own making, and while he ran around in its confines none the wiser, his enemies took ownership of it and truly left him without a chance to escape.

    If he had just moved wisely¡­

    If he had rallied hisrades and worked together¡­

    Would the dragons have fallen?

    They were noble creatures above any of the others here.

    But because of their pride, because of their arrogance, and because of their impatience, he was the only one remaining.

    A single ck dragon with burning red eyes, a physical reminder of his futile rage.

    That futile rage which became the very reason for his demise and the extinction of the Dragon Race.

    The scene paused.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    Only Damien''s rough breathing remained, all other sound banished from existence.

    He looked around at the scene of ughter around him.

    ''The message you''re trying to show me¡­''

    As he came to himself and thought about what had just happened, his true intelligence allowed him to realize what the purpose of this ce was.

    "...I will always remember it."

    Tragedy was one of the most ancient concepts.

    Whether it be the beings who existed at the very beginning of time or those who woulde to exist far in the future, everyone would experience tragedy the same.

    Damien was not an exception to this rule.

    He''d lived a fortunate life. Despite his struggles, he always managed to gain the power to ovee them mentally and physically.

    But he would also experience tragedy, and he had to ept the concept''s permanence.

    That was the reason he was made to experience this war.

    So he would reaffirm himself and not lose himself when the time came.

    The power Damien wasing into was too immense for his emotions to fluctuate heavily.

    Once he truly be one with Existence and surpassed it, Existence would move with the slightest change in his demeanor whether he liked it or not.

    It was a war Damien watched and participated in, brutal and filled with split-second decisions that sometimes had to be brash and erratic.

    It was in that atmosphere that he learned the true consequences of failing to control his emotions.

    He had to keep himself stable.

    No matter what happened to him, no matter what he experienced, he couldn''t fold under pressure.

    Calmness.

    It was a war Damien watched and participated in, brutal and filled with split-second decisions that sometimes had to be brash and erratic.

    It was in that atmosphere that he learned the true consequences of failing to control his emotions.

    And as he came out of it, he now understood more deeply than ever the importance of reigning over them.

    Damien was usually confident in doing so, but he''d been wavering recently.

    It was naturally because of his father.

    He knew Dante was in a bad situation from a long time ago, but realizing how dire it was agitated him greatly.

    He''d been going through the motions, living life in such a way that the Saintess was easily able to manipte his perception.

    He couldn''t do that anymore.

    No matter what happened outside, no matter what he saw when he left this ce, he had to remain calm.

    That was the lesson he internalized.

    And as he did, the purpose of this battlefield vanished.

    The great beings surrounding him began to fade, their expressions now changed into warm smiles, visible even on their gnarled beastly faces.

    They may have been enemies on the battlefield, but it had been a very, very long time since that battle ended.

    They no longer felt the hot-blooded emotion that forced them apart in the first ce.

    Now, their role here had been fulfilled.

    Which meant they could finally return to rest.

    They were tired of reenacting this same moment from the past over and over again. They were forced to do so because they could not satisfy the purpose their war was intended for.

    Damien''s arrival changed that. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They were finally free to enjoy the peace of Gehenna as they lived out the remainder of eternity.

    And Damien was also free.

    The mist opened a path for him when the ancient spirits departed.

    It was time for him to see what else this ce had in store.

 Chapter 1471 Gehenna [8]

    Chapter 1471 Gehenna [8]

    Every statue in the za represented an Ancient of the jungle that was drawn to Gehenna at the end of its life.

    They had participated in wars and ughter all their lives, only to realize how pointless their struggles against each other were.

    Their true enemy was elsewhere, but by the time they figured out that person''s identity, they''d already destroyed themselves.

    Gehenna was a cemetery for spirits. For some it was heaven, for some it was hell, and for others it was purgatory.

    These ancient spirits experienced something in between.

    They had to relive their tragedy over and over again for eons. It started before they entered Gehenna, and when they came here, the realm imitated that reality.

    It was punishment for their sins.

    However, as Damien finally arrived and participated in the demonstration, finally granting purpose to their endless battle, their punishment ended.

    They could now experience the heaven that existed for pure spirits in Gehenna.

    That was what Damien granted them, and in return, they gave him their blessing.

    Whatever the force that made them repeat their battle was, it gave Damien his lesson on tragedy.

    The Ancients, on the other hand, provided something that manifested itself physically.

    Damien felt his body change. It was subtle and basically didn''t constitute any change at all, but internally, Damien could feel his energy flowing much more smoothly.

    He was epted by a portion of this realm.

    And more importantly, with their blessing, he''d be epted by the Sacred Abyss Universe, allowing him toprehend itsws.

    It was a beautiful gift that gave Damien the chance to do what he''d been trying to do since he got here, an apt gift in return for the freedom he granted them.

    The za remained unchanged.

    ''There''s nothing else for me to do here.''

    Damien gave onest look at the statues before following the trail the mist left him.

    Its unusually clean surface was still decorated with the many statues that had always been there.

    The strange light that glinted in the eyes of those inanimate beings, the slight hint of sentience that caused one to question the border between reality and illusion, was gone.

    ''There''s nothing else for me to do here.''

    Damien gave onest look at the statues before following the trail the mist left him.

    He arrived at a new area within five minutes. This time, there was nothing present besides him, and there didn''t seem to be anything special in the surroundings.

    The mist moved once again.

    It rose into the sky and cascaded down as a shower of light. It changed color, mutating the atmosphere until Damien found himself in a white room.

    There was a pistol in front of him, amon hot weapon that functioned purely on science that Damien hadn''t seen in ages.

    Around ten feet away were three people tied to vertical tables like experimental subjects.

    One was his mother.

    The other was his wife, Rose.

    And thest was a stranger.

    To his own head was another gun, held by a shadowy ck figure who silently urged him to take a decision. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    This time, the intent was clear.

    Damien immediately picked up the pistol and shot the stranger.

    He didn''t need to think about which life to take in this situation.

    However, the test wasn''t what he thought it was.

    As the stranger''s body jerked, the bullet piercing straight into their skull, Rose''s body twisted as well.

    Blood leaked from her mouth as she weakly smiled at Damien.

    A hole appeared in the center of her head.

    The stranger was fine.

    The bullet Damien shot flew into Rose''s head instead.

    It was cruel trickery.

    Damien knew this was an illusion.

    And he understood what it wanted to say to him.

    It was the same asst time. He needed to maintain his calm and assess the situation properly before acting.

    He knew that was what he was meant to do.

    But he refused.

    There was a fine line between calmness and indifference.

    Damien knew to be calm in every situation. Despite the rumbling volcano hidden in his heart, he had been moving calmly to solve Void Pce''s troubles ever since learning his father''s fate, and even before that, he usually approached all situations rationally regardless of whether they included his loved ones or not.

    However, this wasn''t reality. This was a test.

    Damien didn''t need to consider outside factors or risks.

    He wasn''t meant to show what he would do logically.

    He was meant to show what he wanted to do, what his desire was in this situation.

    ''I don''t think it knows.''

    The force that was testing him didn''t know the difference between calmness and indifference.

    He would show it exactly what that difference was.

    Damien raised his mana.

    This was an illusion, so he was allowed to use it as he pleased.

    With a single move, he changed the scenario.

    The concepts of order and harmony worked together, thews of space and time worked together, and as the bullet was rewound back to its original trajectory and Rose was brought back from the underworld, reality itself changed so that only the stranger would be struck.

    It was a change that was big enough to affect causality but not big enough topletely ruin it.

    As such, the punishment Damien would receive for overexerting himself wasn''t nearly as pronounced.

    Still, Existence didn''t allow him to casually wield it.

    He was forced into a pain simr yet not to the same extent as what he felt when he killed the homunculus back then.

    But that wasn''t enough to stop him.

    Situations like these were always a two-step process.

    Calmness. With it, he could make sure his loved ones were safe and secure without any mistakes.

    But it wasn''t indifference.

    So once their safety was certain and they were in a ce where it wouldn''t be challenged again¡­

    ¡­Damien was allowed to unleash the fury he kept contained while he saved them.

    The power he used was an illusion just like everything else, but the true illusion that contained him shattered the second he unleashed the full extent of his aura.

    Damien was returned to the clearing where the mist led him, but he wasn''t done yet.

    He gathered all his barrakh, along with the rudimentaryws he gained ess to after being blessed by the ancient spirits, and mmed his foot into the ground.

    BOOOOOOM!

    A crater almost a kilometer deep was blown open in the ground. It was evident Damien could''ve done more, but he held back on purpose.

    This was enough to show his intent to those whom it concerned.

    He would remain calm when he needed to.

    However, he would not throw away the emotions that defined his ego.

    He would stay his hand when he could, and he would act subtly when he could, but the second his line was touched¡­

    ¡­no matter who it was or where they were, they would face their retribution.

    No exceptions.

    Somewhere within Gehenna, a certain being twitched.

    For once, it had been acknowledged.

    It shivered slightly in excitement.

    Meanwhile, the mist opened for Damien, allowing him to continue on his way.

    This would be fun.

    Finally, someone hade who could sense it.

    Finally, it could find joy.

    It was good for the being in question, however, it wasn''t quite the same for Damien.

    One could only wait and see how he dealt with that being''s twisted definition of joy.

 Chapter 1472 Gehenna [9]

    Chapter 1472 Gehenna [9]

    Unlike Damien, Thalia did spawn in the wilderness.

    The scene was most familiar to her.

    If someone asked her where she could find peace, she''d always have the same answer.

    The jungle.

    Ever since her parents died defending the vige from the Uruk, she''d been obsessed with the jungle.

    It was the ce that housed terrifying monsters like that.

    It was a horrifyingndscape filled with death and danger, but it was also unbelievably beautiful and captivating.

    The jungle was a ce that even the Uruk, no matter how powerful it was, could escape.

    For that, Thalia respected it, and for its beauty, she loved it.

    The wind against her face as she rushed through the trees was one of the mostforting things she''d ever felt, like the feeling of a mother''s hand brushing against her.

    The feeling of a weapon in her hand being used to kill, not for pleasure or survival, but for the well-being of the n, made her feel a sense of honor unlike any other.

    And just like Damien, she loved to look at the stars and marvel at the grandiosity of the world.

    Her reasoning was different.

    She never thought about exploring the stars. That was far too advanced for her.

    Instead, when Thalia looked at the stars, she saw those she''d lost throughout her life.

    When she took time alone, she looked up at the stars to talk to them, always maintaining hope that she''d get a response back.

    There was nothing more familiar to Thalia than the wilderness, and as such, that was exactly where Gehenna ced her when she first arrived.

    Thalia didn''t get repeatedly tested like Damien.

    In fact, none of the Gehenna youths did.

    For most of them, the instant they arrived in the realm and walked around a little, their guardian ancestors found them and took them for training.

    Only Thalia and Damien experienced something different, and only Damien''s experience was so unreasonably different.

    Thalia didn''t immediately meet her ancestor, nor did she only meet one.

    As she familiarized herself with the new jungle, warily standing on the trees and scanning below for evil spirits, she was swept into the sky.

    Her body became a kite, propelled by the winds to fly higher and higher until she was above the clouds.

    Naturally, it was terrifying.

    Thalia screamed like a little girl. She closed her eyes, but when she felt the impermanence of her surroundings, she began to panic.

    She''d never been in the sky before. To her, this sacred ce was not meant for the human body.

    If she fell, she died, and if she ascended, she''d meet those who passed long ago.

    Stuck in this limbo where traditional belief contrasted with reality, Thalia was continuously thrown higher and higher until shended on t ground again.

    Or rather, on opaque clouds, a white marble flooring that existed only in the sky.

    She continued to remain careful.

    Thalia knew much more about Gehenna than Damien.

    This ce wasn''t just a spirit cemetery, nor was it just a prison.

    Gehenna was something bigger. Gehenna had its own spirituality, and with it, Gehenna would exert its influence over the world.

    Only the Gehenna Tribe had gained the privilege of being blessed by it, but Gehenna''s reach spread far beyond the jungle.

    How else did all those evil spirits arrive here? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Gehenna was a mystical and esoteric existence that seemed to support reality itself, so even though what Thalia experienced seemed to go against her faith, it actually made her infinitely more of a believer than before.

    This realm had its own spirituality. Since it brought her into the clouds¡­

    Thalia followed the path the mist provided her without question.

    At its end, she found a majestic structure, unlike anything she''d seen before.

    Standing atop the clouds as if it weighed nothing at all was a massive pantheon that seemed to belong to none other than the Gods.

    It was pure white like everything else, with gargantuan columns spanning its exterior to hold its weight.

    Each and every one was carved with another story, another heroic tale about a hero of the past.

    And on the column most near the entrance to the pantheon was a story about two lovers who had given everything for their daughter.

    For most people, the ancestors would descend to the earth. They''d train and guide the youths until their time was up and then return to the pantheon.

    But Thalia was the next Saintess.

    Entering Gehenna meant something entirely different for her.

    Every generation of Saintess would be made to enter Gehenna in their youths.

    During that time, they would be blessed with a power.

    No two Saintesses ever had the same power.

    Because the powers they received directly corrted to the fate of the n.

    The Saintess of thest generation had the power to defend. She was able to form a massive barrier over the n that saved them from countless threats until she died.

    The current Saintess had divination, though nobody knew the true level of her ability. Her purpose was to predict the n''s terrifying future and set up an escape path for them, one that was eventually hinged on Damien and made his responsibility.

    Thalia was the next Saintess.

    But she didn''t know about what was happening in the outside world.

    She''de here assuming this appearance of Gehenna would be just like the one she''d witnessed in the past when she was only a child.

    How could she know that she couldn''t have been more wrong?

    Today was the day Thalia truly became the sessor for the Gehenna Tribe''s Saintess position.

    Today was the day she received her unique power.

    And today was the day she understood what her role would be for the rest of her life.

    A single ability that held so much weight, that was what waited for her within that pantheon.

    Along with those who would present it to her.

    Thalia took a deep breath.

    She was prepared to meet the ancestors. She was actually excited for it.

    She''d heard tales about the great heroes of the tribe since she was a baby. She grew up adoring them, and it was because of them that she went into the forest for the first time with the intent of being a hunter.

    She couldn''t wait to meet those same heroic figures who inspired her life path and continued to inspire her now that she was trying to improve the fundamental techniques of the n.

    However, she couldn''t help but wonder¡­

    ''...are they there¡­?''

    The people who most recently gave their lives for the n.

    ording to the legends about Gehenna, they''d be granted entry for their sacrifice.

    The fact that they would be here, resting peacefully, was one of the main things that allowed Thalia to regain her sanity after their passing.

    But standing in front of the pantheon where she''d truly find out whether or not she''d ever see them again, Thalia was forced to hesitate.

    ''Mother¡­father¡­''

    She couldn''t waste time asking if reality would match her expectations.

    The only thing she could do was walk up those steps and meet destiny herself.

    The pantheon''s massive stone doors opened for her automatically as she approached, indicating her belonging here.

    And the darkness within,ced with countless powerful auras, assailed her.

    ''Without cowardice, without weakness¡­''

    She would not remain terrified in front of destiny forever.

    She would ovee herself, and in the process, she''d ovee the world.

    It was yet another lesson she''d taken from Damien, and right now, it was the reason she could steel herself before the mountainous task ahead.

    With that mindset and the will to move forward, Thalia entered the jaws of fate.

    Whether what happened inside was considered fortune or misfortune¡­

    Well, only Thalia herself could decide.

 Chapter 1473 Gehenna [10]

    Chapter 1473 Gehenna [10]

    Pure human emotion.

    Unexpectedly, pure human emotion was the so-called "theme" of this realm.

    How many days had passed?

    With the mist blocking the sky and thew of time vague, it was hard to really follow how much time had passed, however, Damien had been tested so many times that he had gotten used to this realm.

    These tests weren''t random. Someone or something was consciously guiding them and choosing what would be tested.

    And every single time, it was human emotion.

    At first, it seemed as if the being was trying to teach Damien something. The first few illusions had the same feel.

    However, Damien continued to push back.

    Instead of following the grain and learning the lessons he was supposed to learn, he exerted his own beliefs as well, turning every trial into more of a conversation than anything else.

    Damien and that being did not always agree on their ideals.

    That being believed in indifference. For some reason, it refused to acknowledge the worth of emotions like love when power was concerned.

    Damien, on the other hand, refused to give up those emotions, instead using them to fuel his power.

    Which of their opinions was right?

    Both sides were too stubborn to ever change their beliefs, so it really didn''t matter.

    But it was rare for someone to appear who could have a conversation like this without it devolving into hostility.

    Damien was interested in understanding the psyche of the being he was facing, so he entertained its games.

    As for that being, it had never truly been acknowledged before.

    It had never felt what it was like to have a conversation until it met Damien.

    It wanted to continue that conversation, to understand how smaller beings thought, to see how Damien would resist conformity with his morals.

    Because of that, the conversation soon changed pace, fromrge dilemmas that were meant to force Damien into tough positions to more calm trials.

    These were not shes of opinions anymore.

    They were questions.

    What is love?

    Why do humans cherish it so?

    What is the point of rtionships when they can break so easily?

    Questions one would expect from a teenager or someone first experiencing emotions they''d never seen before were asked one after another.

    Damien began to doubt the identity of the one he was speaking to, but that being didn''t allow him the chance.

    Because it would ask a question like, "Why do you do so much for other people?" and then follow up by asking something along the lines of, "If humans are jealous of the vastness of the universe, could the universe hold the same feeling towards the numerosity of existences within it?"

    Damien couldn''t necessarily answer the first properly. He did his best to exin what was an inherent and unquestionable feeling for him. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    However, the second one¡­

    That was something he experienced himself.

    When he spoke to Grand Heavens Boundary''s Universal Core, this was the feeling that was viscerally transmitted through every single one of his words.

    The universe was massive. The people within it could only look into the stars and wish they could explore and see every corner of it. Yet, no matter how long their lives were, they wouldn''t be able to reach the end.

    But the universe was not free from jealousy.

    The universe was jealous of just how many existences resided within it, it was envious of the connections they could make with each other and the stories they could create.

    Now, knowing there were multiple cosmos in existence, Damien didn''t know how to feel about this.

    However, he was made to wonder if the being behind the mist felt simr to the Universal Core of that time.

    It wasn''t human, that much was certain. Whether or not it was even a living being was questionable.

    That being wanted to learn about humans but never considered things from the perspective of a human.

    It seemed to long for the smallest of things, yet it had a supreme understanding of the grander and more vague concepts that gued the hearts of men.

    It was a strange being, as if it had experienced everything yet nothing at all, living a life that could barely be considered a life yet was a life beyond any other.

    It was a being of contradiction, and that only made Damien want to find it even more.

    That was why he continued entertaining its little questions and tests.

    His position was unknown. He''d been walking for ages and in every direction imaginable. It was possible that he was only a few dozen feet from the original za he arrived at, but he also could''ve been several thousands of kilometers away.

    He really didn''t know.

    Until the mist cleared again, leading him into a cave.

    It was lined with blue crystals that shone in the darkness. They created a path that led deep underground, to a ce no other had entered before,

    Damien followed it to its unassuming end, a scene one would expect from a regr cave.

    Rather than an illusion, what greeted him there was a hidden pathway.

    The cave itself folded inward and consumed Damien, bringing him into the space.

    But even then, he didn''t feel much different than usual.

    Even this ce was covered in mist.

    It swirled around strangely without a breeze to affect it. Unlike the mist outside, the cave mist was pure white, unaffected by external factors.

    ''I haven''t met a single evil spirit yet, but there''s been a few brushes.''

    Every time Damien saw red mist in the distance, it was an evil spirit trying to approach.

    However, every time an evil spirit approached, the mist would rise up and fight it off, allowing Damien to focus on what he was doing.

    The mist clearly didn''t want their conversation to be disturbed.

    ''Is that why it brought me here?''

    Was this the mist''s dwelling, the ce it was assured would remain secure?

    There wasn''t much to see other than it. The pure whiteness was hazy, but it managed to conceal everything else in the hidden room, if there was anything at all.

    Damien still nced around, confused as to what he was meant to do.

    But as he sat there, he eventually realized it.

    It danced and swirled.

    It flew all around like a collection of tiny spirits trying to get Damien''s attention.

    It had been present since the beginning, but because of its form, nobody had ever regarded it as a being that could bemunicated with.

    But Damien had done exactly that.

    And it brought him here to continue.

    ''The mist itself has been my conversation partner this entire time.''

    It was the mist asking him curious questions about human existence and telling him about the myriad wonders of the cosmos.

    It was the mist that set him up to view the battle of the ancients and learn to keep his calm, and it was the mist that forced those ancient spirits to continue fighting until his arrival.

    Was it for entertainment?

    Or was there a deeper purpose behind the actions of this strange being?

    Nobody could ever know because nobody could recognize it.

    But that had changed now.

    And as Damien looked into the mist, the mist looked back at him.

    It was time for them to have a proper conversation.

 Chapter 1474 Calamity [1]

    Chapter 1474 Cmity [1]

    The fact that the mist brought Damien to this ce meant that it had already epted him.

    When Damien looked at it in what could only be considered its eyes, it lost all resistance it had.

    A strange scene yed out for an audience of none.

    As Damien sat there, the mist slowly crept towards him. It was shy and tentative, almost doubting every single movement it made, but it still inched closer and closer until it was right in front of Damien''s face.

    There was no difference between this mist and the mist that popted the entirety of Gehenna. However, it still felt different.

    The wisps around Damien were active, as if they were trying tomunicate with him.

    And as Damien had beenmunicating with the mist for a while now, he basically understood its purpose.

    This confused entity was used to being alive. It had obtained spirituality long enough ago for it to understand the mysteries beyond the universe''s creation.

    However, it had been detached from reality that entire time.

    It never was able to properly interact with existence even though it was an existence of its own, and because of that, it developed a natural curiosity that seemed childish in the eyes of someone who didn''t know how fortunate they were.

    The mist was always trying to be heard.

    It wanted to be seen.

    But who could treat mist like a living being? Who could even recognize the mist''s spirituality instead of writing it off as a mechanism of Gehenna?

    Only Damien did.

    And only Damien decided to converse instead of going through the motions and finishing all the trials.

    That was why the mist brought him here.

    The fact that he possessed those other qualities was only an added benefit.

    Regardless, now that he was here, it knew what it wanted to do and was doing its best to convey its intent to him.

    Damien watched it curiously.

    He knew what it was saying. Interpreting its meaning became easy after conversing with it for so long.

    It took him a bit to respond because he was curiously observing this strange entity like none he''d ever seen before.

    But in the end, he still closed his eyes.

    "Come."

    He answered the mist''s desires.

    With express permission given, the mist danced happily.

    Several wisps surrounded Damien''s head, and the mist pushed forward into his spiritual world.

    ''You¡­''

    Damien didn''t have to speak anymore to convey his thoughts.

    Neither did the mist have to try so hard to be understood.

    It entered his mind and formed a connection with him.

    To the mist, this was a happy moment beyond any happy moments, as it could finally experience existence as it was always meant to be experienced.

    However, for Damien¡­

    ''...what¡­just happened¡­?''

    He could only recognize the mist''s identity once it started to merge with him.

    ''This mist¡­no, the concept of mist¡­''

    ¡­this was part of Existence itself.

    Existence was a massive concept. It represented anything and everything, and due to its sheer grandiosity, it was hard to qualify it.

    However, just as the universe could have consciousness, just as higherws could choose their own wielders, Existence was also semi-conscious.

    The concept of mist was a physical representation of the spirituality of Existence.

    The mist that found itself trapped in Gehenna was only the main consciousness, but it experienced everything in Existence from the perspective of Existence itself, leading to its twisted sense of identity.

    Gehenna was the ce where the mist resided, overlooking all of Existence.

    Gehenna existed because of the mist.

    But to the mist, Gehenna was a prison of its own making.

    It wanted to see existence from the perspective of those who resided within it, because from its position high above all things, it genuinely could only long for such experience.

    Just as humans were envious of the universe. Just as humans stared into the night sky and dreamed about the day when they could explore the stars with their own two feet, Existence itself wished to walk on the earth and experience the mundane things that it never had ess to.

    It was hard for Damien to fathom that he''d just found a concept of Existence.

    He didn''t feel like he''d just found a concept of Existence.

    It was because, among the concepts, the mist was unique.

    It wasn''t something to beprehended in the first ce.

    ''It wasn''t even meant to be found.''

    The mist found Damien. No matter what, it would''ve found Damien eventually because it existed in all things. If it wasn''t in Gehenna, then there would likely be another ce simr to this one where Damien would eventually run into the same scenario.

    But it happened now.

    ''And that''s probably because of my circumstances.''

    Damien and the mist began tomunicate once it entered his mind. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The mist wanted to bind itself to him. He didn''t have to provoke it.

    That allowed Damien the chance to answer the questions the mist presented him.

    Why had it found him at this juncture?

    It was because he found another truth of existence, the fact that there were multiple cosmos in reality.

    As for what the mist did¡­

    ''You damn brat, just give me an answer.''

    Damien clicked his tongue as he tried to find out, but the mist refused to tell him.

    While the entity couldn''t necessarily speak like a normal person, it could still make its intent clear.

    At the moment, it was saying something along the lines of, "Take me to see the world, and you''ll find out naturally."

    Damien could only scratch his head in confusion.

    ''Why does it feel more like I''ve picked up a pet than a concept of existence?''

    This was the third one he found. If the Unrecorded wasn''t mistaken, then he only had three more left before he could truly control the concept.

    However, Damien felt like it would be much moreplicated than that.

    The list began to clear from Gehenna.

    It, of course, would still exist here, just as it existed everywhere else, but its main consciousness had now been transferred to Damien''s soul.

    It had merged with him.

    And ording to it, there was more to Gehenna than Damien or the Gehenna Tribe knew.

    There was indeed a Crown here, but that crown''s identity was far beyond what had been postted by even Count Verex, whose obsession with it was the precise reason for his attacking the tribe.

    "You want me to go find it?"

    Damien raised his brow with intrigue.

    He was getting a positive response from the mist.

    "I''ll get more powerful with the crown? Is that something you want?"

    The mist shook its head as if it couldn''t say any more.

    "Is that an ''you should find out yourself'' look or a ''I can''t say anything more'' look?"

    The mist quirked its head in confusion.

    Damien sighed.

    "I forgot. You don''t even have a head. I''m going to go crazy."

    There he stood, talking to himself like a crazy person.

    Damien absolutely felt insane with the way he could hardly interpret the mist''s meaning through its implied expressions.

    Still, the fact that the mist wanted him to find the crown remained true.

    And Damien really did want to see it.

    The reason a True God wouldy his hands on an innocent vige in the middle of nowhere¡­

    ¡­how great could it be to provoke his greed?

 Chapter 1475 Calamity [2]

    Chapter 1475 Cmity [2]

    They approached not even an hour after the youths were sent to Gehenna.

    Their numbers honestly weren''t that high. There were 1000 of them at most. Inparison to the usual army that existed under the influence of Gods, it was minuscule.

    But in front of the Gehenna Tribe, it was massive.

    The entire tribe consisted of at most 500 people, and of them, only around half could fight.

    Standing with their numbers only a fourth of their enemies, with the help of two otherworldly guests, the Gehenna Tribe was forced to prepare for a fight.

    The Saintess watched her people evacuate the vige and hide in the severed garden, praying that their peers would return from battle safely.

    She watched those peers grab their weapons and prepare for battle, expressions of doubt on their faces as they questioned whether they''d live past this day or not.

    This wasn''t the first time she''d seen this scene, but it would be thest.

    She knew what would happen from this point forth, but she had no power to change it.

    Her job was to take care of the tribe until this moment.

    Every Saintess would have to deal with a cataclysm during their rule.

    For her, it was the Uruk''s attack that almost eradicated their people.

    This time, the Count''s arrival was a test for Thalia.

    The Saintess was still alive, but the arrival of this cmity meant the end of her rule.

    And it also meant she could not help in this battle.

    Her eyesight spanned a great distance, homing in on the approaching army.

    The thousand men at the head were not too powerful. Rather, their power level seemed perfectly matched to that of the vigers.

    It was the Count''s sadistic tendency that led to such a scenario.

    This army was unnecessary.

    The Count needed the Saintess and the elders to let him into Gehenna, but he didn''t need anyone else''s help to get that.

    With his power, what could the tribe do?

    They could either be eradicated, or they couldply.

    But what was the fun in an easy victory?

    The Count wanted to see a show.

    He wanted the vigers to maintain hope that they could win. Only then would they act the way he wanted them to.

    As such, an army that was impossible for them to beat was assembled, but it was made up of weak people, giving them the sense that they could win this battle.

    Perhaps some of the vigers were fooled by that facade. Perhaps some of them knew the truth but convinced themselves otherwise so they could fight confidently.

    Tiamat and Darius didn''t participate in their antics.

    They were not members of the vige, but they had no choice but to fight in this battle regardless.

    For one, Damien was in Gehenna, and they really had nowhere to go until he returned.

    And on a more emotional level, both of them had be attached to the tribe to some degree.

    Still, they had more experience than the Gehenna people, and their power was also on another level.

    When they looked out into the approaching army, what they saw wasn''t the small amount of weak troops, but the three people behind them.

    Two of them were Demigods, standing to each side of the Count, the only God present.

    One was a butler, while the other was a woman in dark robes. The two of them had powerful auras, sure, but they were nothing next to the man they served.

    The Count''s aura was extremely terrifying for Tiamat and Darius, these two Demigods.

    They couldn''t see a way to win against him.

    This was a hopeless battle from the start.

    ''Unless Damien can return.''

    The two of them had the same thought. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Neither of them had seen it happen before, but Damien''s reputation was quite extreme in Void Pce. The deeds he did during their ten-year training period had spread far and wide among the people at the main pce.

    The fact that Damien killed a God was well-known, and a huge part of the reason why he was able to take the Young Lord position so rapidly.

    There was no way for Tiamat or Darius to know the specifics of True Godhood, since nobody had taught them yet, but they believed that Damien could defeat the Count.

    "We just need to hold off until he shows up."

    Tiamat spoke. Darius nodded in agreement.

    They could tacitly understand each other in this situation. It wasn''t that hard.

    The vigers wouldn''t be able to deal with the army alone, but they couldn''t help, because they had to take the two Demigods and make sure they couldn''t interfere.

    As for the Count¡­

    "...we can only hope that his personality is like that."

    Tiamat was used to the Nox. She''d seen how they operated, and if this man was part of the race that created the Nox in their image, it was obvious how he would act too.

    ''They never think their arrogance will bring them down. At one point, I didn''t either.''

    But at the end of the day, one would always meet one''s fate if one lived one''s life arrogantly.

    ''Okay.''

    The vigers would fight the army, they would take the Demigods, and they''d make sure the battle didn''t end until Damien appeared.

    The most important thing was making sure the Count didn''t notice anything off.

    If he believed he was being toyed with, or if he realized someone stronger wasing, there was no guarantee he''d remain arrogant.

    There was a lot of time.

    Five long minutes passed before the army finally arrived at the tribe''s borders. It was made up of mostly weak people below 4th ss, after all.

    They stood facing the 250 vigers who readied themselves for the battle.

    These people didn''te here because they wanted to.

    When the Count asked for troops, he would get troops. These people were regr farmers and citizens, but they''d been forced to fight in a war they didn''t understand the purpose of.

    They''d been terrified the entire way here, but they kept their mouths shut to keep their lives.

    Now, seeing their enemies, who looked like a bunch of uncivilized tribe folk who only knew how to use primitive weapons, their eyes glinted with hope.

    If it was just this much, they could survive and return to their families.

    On top of that, they''d received a reward that would help them live much morevishly than before.

    They didn''t know what crimes the vigers hadmitted. They didn''t know how this tribe in the middle of nowhere managed to offend the Count.

    But it didn''t matter.

    They also had livelihoods. They also had families to return to.

    So they couldn''t think about the livelihoods and families of others anymore.

    It was a war where neither side wanted to fight. It was a war that existed only for the pleasure of a single man.

    But it was a war that would take ce nheless.

    The Count grinned.

    His eyes were on the Saintess. Nobody else had worth in his eyes.

    "It has been a long time, Saintess¡­" he said, his voice dark and malevolent.

    He grinned, his aura ckening the sky.

    "This time will be different. This time¡­I have prepared a festival just for you."

    He raised his hand, memories shing through his head.

    "You will give me Gehenna. Otherwise¡­"

    His army began its charge.

    "...I will take everything from you instead."

 Chapter 1476 Calamity [3]

    Chapter 1476 Cmity [3]

    Every battle ended in tragedy.

    There wasn''t such a thing as a fight where nobody got hurt. It didn''t matter who was good or who was evil, in the end, everyone would end up mourning someone they lost.

    In this battle, that tragedy was even more prevalent.

    There were indeed only 250 fighters on the Gehenna Tribe''s side, and they were definitely weak by the standard of someone like Damien.

    As he and his peers dealt with unreasonably powerful people and unreasonably talented geniuses on a daily basis, the average person would always appear weak to them.

    However, the Gehenna Tribe wasn''t necessarily weak.

    Their methods may have had many weaknesses, but they survived in the cruel jungle for many generations for a reason.

    Damien himself said it at an earlier time. The heights they''d reached with their backwards techniques were genuinely impressive.

    Their opponents weren''t weak either. They may have beenmon people, but they lived under the reign of a Count who would draft troops for random death missions regrly. They were forced to learn how to defend themselves so they could have hope of survival.

    In fact, the training centers offered by the governing entity were one of the main sources of ie for the territory. The Count''s estate didn''t even eat up funds like that from the extremely high tax rates.

    In a ce where fighting power was important for the mostmon of people, there was no such thing as an easy target.

    The two sides collided without much conversation, and deaths immediately becamemonce.

    The Gehenna hunters who took the frontlines immediately rained down attacks with arrows, culling several tens of enemies with ease.

    Before the rest could advance, they took their swords out and charged.

    Weapons collided and blood was shed. Body parts and chunks of flesh and blood started to paint the jungle''s soil, creating the foundation of what would soon evolve into a huge mosaic of crimson.

    There were no shields present on the battlefield. On the Gehenna side, it was because their bodies were more flexible than anything else. It was more efficient for them to dodge and use wristguards and simr light armor to block attacks.

    As for the enemy troops¡­well, with a sadistic Count leading them, it was granted that they wouldn''t be given shields.

    The battlefield was quieter than a usual one.

    The sound of weapons shing would always remain the same, as would the screams and shouts of those fighting. However, there was ack of explosions andrge areas of madness.

    The Gehenna Tribe had developed a precise fighting style meant for hunting with absolute efficiency. They aimed for weak points to kill enemies in the least amount of strikes possible.

    Their opponents were humans. The Gehenna Tribe never hunted humans.

    But they learned how quite easily by using what they knew about the weaknesses of their own bodies.

    Their fighting power turned out to be far higher than that of the enemies, mainly due to their cooperation.

    The enemies had good fighting skills. They couldn''t match up to the Gehenna hunters who fought every single day of their lives, but not everyone on the Gehenna side was a hunter.

    Only fifty of them were hunters. The rest were merely people who could pick up their weapons and fight for their families.

    Against those people, they could fight properly and even kill. Over ten tribesmen had already died.

    Still, the tribesmen had known each other for their whole lives. They lived together and interacted daily. Their understanding of how their peers would act in battle was at its peak.

    The enemy was a force randomly chosen from throughout the Count''s territory. Most of them had never even heard of each other''s cities before, and because they had to make the trek to the jungle in silence, fearing the Count''s personality, they couldn''t get to know each other either. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    They were extremely unorganized and often got in each other''s ways. It wasn''t rare to see one of them identally kill his fellow in the heat of battle.

    The Gehenna people naturally took advantage of this. It was precisely because of the enemy''sck of coordination that they''d only lost ten people thus far.

    They got more and more confident, and the grief that flooded their hearts every time they saw someone they knew and loved die helped them find the drive to keep fighting.

    "Maybe victory isn''t impossible."

    In the heat of battle, where the Count''s presence was forgotten, sparks of hope continued to collide in their hearts, making attempts to create a huge ze that enveloped them.

    It was probably because they couldn''t see it.

    They''d moved far away to make sure they didn''t cause any coteral damage, and the explosive force had been contained within a certain area. Plus, the absence of two foreigners at a time like this wasn''t something the tribesmen could pay attention to.

    It was good that they couldn''t see it. If they could, they would immediately lose all will to fight.

    But the Saintess could see it.

    And, without a doubt, it was taking ce.

    A battle on apletely different level from the one the Gehenna Tribe was fighting.

    ***

    Tiamat and Darius were stealthy as they approached the Count and his people.

    Their goal was to take the two Demigods as far away from the Gehenna Tribe as possible, so they didn''t opt for a head-on confrontation.

    Instead, they traveled far away from the n, far enough that they could have sufficient space to fight while keeping their battle contained.

    The Uruk ruled a rtivelyrge territory in the jungle, so it wasn''t hard to find a ce that met their qualifications. From there, they focused their auras and locked onto those two Demigods, ring their bloodlust.

    Two heads immediately snapped in their direction, before turning to face the Count.

    "Go ahead," the Count said with a smile.

    "If you have been provoked, then you must answer ordingly. Go on and show them the terror I represent."

    The two kneeled and bowed their heads, thereby vanishing into clouds of smoke.

    They rushed several hundreds of thousands of kilometers to the west and finallyid eyes on the ones who dared to mock them.

    "Hello."

    Tiamat nodded, giving a mild greeting.

    The two didn''t respond. They merely red their auras, directlybating those released by Tiamat and Darius.

    The butler had a pompous expression on his face, as if he was looking at beings who weren''t worth an ounce of time or attention.

    The woman, on the other hand, remainedpletely stoic.

    "I see. Straight to the point types, are you? That works out better for me."

    Tiamat nced at Darius.

    "Which one do you want?"

    Darius rubbed his chin as he looked them up and down.

    "I''ll take the woman. That butler looks pretty strong."

    "I agree. I''ve been wanting to fight him since I sensed that vile aura he''s releasing."

    ''Aura¡­?''

    Darius didn''t sense what she was talking about at all, but he let it be, thinking nothing of it.

    "Since matches have been decided¡­"

    Darius grinned wildly.

    He was really starting to resemble Damien in his youth.

    "...then let''s get to the fun part."

    mes appeared in his hands.

    And without a single second of dy, the first explosion of the day rang out on the battlefield.

 Chapter 1477 Calamity [4]

    Chapter 1477 Cmity [4]

    First things first, Tiamat exerted her power, creating a dome that spanned several tens of thousands of kilometers to envelop the prospective battlefield.

    It was a domain of her own, which allowed her to use her power better, but it was also an istion barrier that would make sure others didn''t know the results of the ongoing battle.

    The dome was made of pure ckness, a representation of Tiamat''s Death Laws, so in the sunlight, it looked somewhat odd.

    However, since it was almost time for the sun to set, it was fine. The barrier would eventually blend in with the surroundings.

    Darius was the one who attacked first.

    His Sun and Moon Divine me, which was actually just the Sun me at the moment, filled the atmosphere and pushed the woman in the dark robes back.

    Meanwhile, Tiamat approached the butler, provoking him into following her further away.

    It didn''t take much for him to respond.

    Cairo had been the Count''s butler for a very long time now. If anyone knew how the Count liked things done, it was him.

    While Count Verex was indeed a sadist that enjoyed watching people suffer, he wasn''t someone who allowed loose ends.

    If he saw an enemy that would be a variable in his ns, he would make sure they were eliminated as soon as possible.

    These two Demigods who provoked him and Caissa were obviously not members of the Gehenna Tribe. One of them even had the skin of an otherworlder.

    It was impossible for him to know why they decided to provoke him, but regardless of their reasoning, they were variables that needed to be eliminated.

    He would respond to provocation with action. In the end, it was all the same.

    But as he approached the woman who called him out, a strange feeling enveloped him.

    It was a feeling of familiarity, yet one of equal hostility.

    It was a disgusting emotion that he couldn''t name.

    It almost felt like submission. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her.

    She certainly had the appearance of a noble. Compared to some of the other women he''d seen in the Count''s circle, she was even more beautiful, and that was putting aside her dominating aura.

    It was rare to see people who looked like her, even rarer than seeing someone who had a skin condition and ended up looking like a foreigner from the otherworld.

    However, Cairo had never seen her before.

    That was only possible in two scenarios.

    The first, she was rted to the Dark God himself.

    Laughable.

    It left only the second scenario for him to take as truth.

    She merely had the appearance without any of the ss.

    If so, he had even more reason to kill her.

    His body flickered.

    He wasn''t nning to give her a chance to fight back.

    Cairo''s hands turned into des of their own, coated in heavyyers of mkh.

    He shed out, already in Tiamat''s blind spot.

    Or so he thought.

    Tiamat stumbled.

    It looked like a lucky move, allowing her to barely dodge the butler''s de.

    However, to everyone present, it was obvious this was a nned move.

    The butler''s eyes narrowed further, and he pressed his attack harder, making sure Tiamat would die before she could show her skill.

    She didn''t fight back.

    She dodged and dodged and dodged, making Cairo infinitely angrier, but she didn''t make any moves to even the ying field as she was pushed into a corner.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    When she was observing Cairo''s fighting style, what she saw was something like an assassin.

    Tiamat''s fighting style was already set. She would always measure her opponent''s skill before charging into battle.

    Her mind was a weapon among weapons. In the few seconds or minutes she spent on the losing side of the fight, she coulde up with a n that assured she''d be thest one standing.

    When she was observing Cairo''s fighting style, what she saw was something like an assassin.

    He always tried to end things as soon as possible, but his attacks had a hint of boredom, as if he was already thinking about what he was going to do next.

    His mkh didn''t seem to contain anyws either.

    Tiamat was actually more established than Damien in this aspect for now.

    As she''d felt a connection with the Sacred Abyss Universe, she had understood a lot about its rtivew structure.

    Of course, she could onlyprehend the Death Laws of this cosmos, but she was able to see how the others functioned in the process.

    She didn''t see anything from Cairo.

    He was incredibly trained and had the skills to beat people above his level without the use ofws, but that didn''t change the fact that he couldn''t use them.

    Was it his own choice, or was it something forced upon him to keep his power in control?

    Honestly, Tiamat didn''t care.

    ''For someone like him¡­''

    An open hand, fashioned like a de, swung down on her arm.

    ''...just let his own stupidity kill him.''

    Tiamat raised her arm and blocked the attack.

    Her eyes shed, connecting with those of her attacker.

    Cairo felt Death.

    A sensation beyond words that could only be described as absolute terror.

    And Tiamat struck.

    VOOM!

    ck mana red out of her body.

    No, when Tiamat used her power in this world, the surrounding mkh expanded and allowed her to wield it as she pleased.

    It looked like she was using her own mana, but she had yet to convert her energy or find out how to store two separate energy forms in her body.

    Cairo didn''t notice that. If he did, would he have chosen to run? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It didn''t matter.

    At the end of the day, Tiamat was a Demigod who was on the cusp of Godhood.

    And she really, really didn''t like Cairo.

    His aura had the disgusting smell of whatever she''d been sensing in recent times.

    The man in her memories, the man she couldn''t decide whether to long for or hate, had a simr scent, and Cairo''s was an extremely degraded version of it.

    She didn''t want to be reminded of that person.

    She didn''t want to think about the things that would distract her from the task at hand.

    But she was distracted regardless.

    She really was having a hard time keeping her cool. The longer she stayed in battle, the more that scent made her want to kill.

    That was why she decided to attack so early.

    And that was why, when she attacked, all hell broke loose.

    The ckness of the surrounding domain was all in her grasp.

    Instantly, the tides switched between Tiamat and Cairo.

    The environment itself rose up, supporting Tiamat and trying constantly to trap Cairo in a prison of its making.

    And Tiamat wasn''t one to stand back and wait either.

    She gathered mkh, instinctually following the correct procedures to create a technique in the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    Death gathered in the vicinity, making its presence impossible to ignore.

    But even with Death causing such a scene, there was a spark in the darkness that refused to go out.

    A spark of me, like a shining sun illuminating the world.

    There were two battles taking ce within Tiamat''s domain, and among them¡­

    ¡­Darius was definitely putting on more of a show.

 Chapter 1478 Calamity [5]

    Chapter 1478 Cmity [5]

    Darius had been close to fire for his entire life.

    When he was young, he was notorious for running around causing mayhem. He always enjoyed visiting the pce forges to pull the beards of the cksmiths and y with their fire.

    There was a time when said cksmiths wanted to take him as their disciple, realizing his love for fire, but those ns fell through.

    At the end of the day, Darius was a member of the Void n. He was meant to use the main techniques of the pce.

    From the day he started learning about space and time, his connection to fire began to fade, but he had several small experiences that seemed to hint towards his affinity.

    And when Damien arrived, he was able to fully bloom, realizing his connection with fire and embracing it.

    Damien''s arrival was a breath of fresh air for everyone in the pce, not just Darius, but it was to another degree for the youngest of the Void sons.

    Ever since then, he''d been able to truly feel like himself. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Ever since then, he''d been able to get rid of the hole in his heart, left by theck of true affinity in his life.

    Every single day Darius spent training with fire was fun for him. He was happy when he was at Void Pce with ample time and resources, but when they came to the Sacred Abyss Universe was when he really gained a connection with mes like never before.

    The smiths of the Gehenna Tribe viewed fire spiritually in a way others couldn''tprehend. When he started to learn from them and internalize their ways, he gained a new appreciation for the mes that he''d been getting used to for the past ten years.

    Of the three of them, Darius was the one who made the most improvements overall.

    He had been waiting for a chance to test his mettle on the battlefield. This war couldn''t havee at a more perfect time.

    However, it was a shame that the Gehenna Tribe was involved.

    Because of them, this battle meant more to him than it should have.

    Which meant his actions were governed partly by emotion.

    The woman he chose to battle, whose name was Caissa, didn''t look like an easy target. The reason he chose her was because he could instinctually feel that he had an advantage against her.

    He started off strong. Since it was currency daytime, his me was in its sun mode. The benefit of this was its explosive power and ability to spread rapidly.

    The Sun me was more obnoxious in every way than the Moon me. It represented yang, and it was just as wild and untamed. The Sun me was far more suited for Darius'' personality than the Moon me, so when he started fighting, he immediately took the advantage.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Explosions rang out everywhere, illuminating the darkness. mes spread rapidly and enveloped a huge portion of Tiamat''s domain, marking it as Darius'' territory.

    Caissa wasn''t weak just because Darius felt an advantage against her. Rather, she wasn''t much weaker than the butler Cairo.

    Darius felt superiority because of thews he used.

    Caissa flitted around the domain to dodge Darius''rge sweeping attacks. Her body moved in and out of the darkness, expertly weeding through the chaos to stay in her enemy''s blind spot.

    It could be expected from her attire. Caissa was an assassin trained since young by Count Verex. In line with her career, she used Darkness Laws.

    Darkness and Shadow were the twows used most by assassins. Shadow had two sides, but not everyone could use them like Zara, which usually left darkness as being considered the best affinity for an assassin.

    The problem with darkness was that it was a force leaning absolutely to one side. Unlike a Shadow affinity, which had a natural resistance to many light elements, Darkness had its enemies.

    Fire was a big one.

    Fire got humanity out of the darkness at a time long past. Its perception in the hearts of many was as the force that drove away the cold, dark nights.

    Fire inherently suppressed Darkness, which meant when the battle began, Caissa was instantly put in a position where she couldn''t take initiative.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    She was able to survive because of her experience, but it wouldn''t be long before the fire consumed too much area and forced her into the light.

    Caissa was observing her enemy closely.

    Darius seemed reckless. He was obviously good with fire, but his mentality seemed to be prone to rushing and not properly thinking through things before acting.

    She, as an assassin, wasn''t somebody who fought directly. Her style was discreet, and just like the butler, she aimed to kill her opponents in a single attack.

    However, unlike her male counterpart, she didn''t look down on anybody.

    She had been looked down upon for her entire life, whether by her peers or her employers.

    She was well aware that she could kill most of them quite easily if she wanted to.

    And she was aware that she couldn''t be the only powerful person in the world.

    She was taking a simr position to Tiamat as the battle began, but unlike Tiamat, she didn''t start attacking soon.

    She, instead, continued to wait.

    Could her hesitation be considered indecisiveness?

    Perhaps in the eyes of some, Caissa was too afraid of the suppression she felt from the mes and refused to move forward because of it.

    In part, they''d be correct, but Caissa''s mind went deeper than that.

    Darius was the reckless type. If she could bait him into making a huge move and leaving an opening for her, she was confident in taking him down.

    Because she hadn''t been dodging without attacking.

    She''d actually sent out several probes of mkh to judge Darius'' perception. As of now, he couldn''t sense her energy unless it was in an amount far higher than what she needed to kill him.

    The opportunity woulde to her as long as she waited. It was even better if the enemy thought her a coward.

    Darius was throwing mes pretty wildly,

    It was the best way to use the Sun me.

    Unlike the Moon me, the Sun me didn''t like to be controlled. It would listen to its owner, sure, but it would be sure to cause mayhem in the process.

    As such, the best way to use it was to just let it do as it pleased.

    Darius loved blowing things up. He was more than happy to blow up the environment in a way that his enemy could only interpret as recklessness if it meant using his me properly.

    The Sun me may have been wild, but it was still a me with an owner.

    As Caissa moved around, trying to avoid it, it set its proverbial eyes on her.

    It watched her and stalked her movements, waiting and watching as it enjoyed the struggles of the prey it nned to consume.

    The mes grew bigger and bigger, creating massive pirs that reached the sky,

    It crashed around like a tidal wave, and as it all gathered in one ce¡­

    Caissa saw her opportunity to strike.

    Her body started to flicker. She rushed forward with all the speed she had ess to, practically teleporting through the darkness.

    She was behind Darius before he could notice her presence. The Sun me was too busy running wild to attack her before she could reach him.

    She pulled out a knife, coated with a poison of darkness that would immediately dull Darius'' power.

    She stabbed out, aiming for his throat.

    Swoosh!

    The de swept through the air.

    But there was one thing Caissa forgot to consider before she made her move.

    She may have been able to use darkness to her advantage, but the darkness here was not natural.

    This darkness had an owner.

    And that owner was very happily praying on her downfall.

 Chapter 1479 Calamity [6]

    Chapter 1479 Cmity [6]

    The moment Caissa arrived behind him, Darius grinned.

    ''Perfect.''

    He pped his hands. They came together at the exact moment before Caissa''s de pierced his neck.

    And the Sun me responded.

    The massive columns disappeared, and instead, a powerful spout ofva-like mes burst out from underneath Darius'' feet and swallowed both him and Caissa.

    The woman immediately screamed.

    Darius was immune to the mes, but Caissa wasn''t anything close to it.

    Especially when the mes in question were Heavenly mes from another cosmos.

    Darius grinned, spinning around and grabbing her by the throat.

    Her dark cloak was burned away, revealing her beautiful appearance and figure, but Darius wasn''t fazed.

    Damien was quite thorough in training him.

    Knowing Darius was still a hot-blooded youth at heart, Damien made sure he was taught not just how to use his power properly, but on how to be a proper man.

    He couldn''t be affected by beauty or unwanted emotion when he didn''t need to be. For that purpose, he had to learn how to separate his emotions into those he wanted and those he wanted to throw away.

    Perhaps a decade ago, Darius would have hesitated seeing this woman almost naked in front of him, but he didn''t have any of those feelings anymore.

    This was an enemy, and enemies could not be shown mercy.

    With sharpened eyes, he red his mes, exponentially increasing the surrounding heat.

    Caissa''s skin began to melt off.

    She used mkh to slow down the burning and save herself, but her main focus was on finding a way to escape.

    She now understood how disadvantaged she was.

    The surrounding darkness belonged to the enemy. If she tried to move through it, she''d immediately give away her position, which would be shared with Darius.

    If she wanted to kill him, she needed to do it now, at a time when her loss was the expectation from everyone present.

    She gritted her teeth and endured the pain.

    Darkness began to creep out of her body. It was the darkness in her heart and soul, formed through the endless suffering she''d experienced at the hands of many powerful figures.

    Most of them were dead. As they died, however, the darkness in her heart faded.

    So Caissa stopped killing them.

    She left them alive so the seething hatred she felt could continue to fuel her power.

    And the man who made her feel such emotion most viscerally¡­

    That was the man she decided to dedicate her loyalty to.

    Because just as much as she hated him, she couldn''t help but love him.

    Malice, hatred, and twisted emotion created darkness beyond darkness, a force that Caissa could control even better than she could regr darkness.

    Damien always said pain was power, but Caissa took it to another level.

    She allowed herself to suffer constantly, because only in suffering could she make those she despises suffer as well.

    The new darkness oozed like sludge. As it came out of Caissa''s pores, it swallowed the surrounding mes, trapping them in a prison without light.

    Caissa turned into a blob of ckness. Her physical body melted into the substance, allowing her to maneuver in ways a human could never imagine.

    Darius'' eyes widened at the sight he didn''t expect.

    He took several steps back as the ckness got closer to him. It was already on his body, since he was holding onto Caissa''s throat when she turned, and as he tried to use the Sun me to burn it away, he frowned.

    ''Dangerous.''

    His eyes went up to the growing ckness.

    He could sense the twisted insanity within that mass. It was far deeper and more cynical than anything he''d seen before.

    ''I can''t burn it.''

    His mes weren''t strong enough topete against such malevolence.

    ''Dammit.''

    He almost had it. The fact that he lost it at thest moment irked him, but he had been learning to control his emotions. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He focused on the battle.

    His inherent battle instinct, the one Damien himself praised, was telling him to retreat.

    He had no choice but to follow what it told him.

    He took several steps back, covering his retreat using the Sun me.

    Caissa had grown massive in the few seconds it took for him to make that decision.

    She was like a tsunami that melded into the surrounding ckness, charging forth with such stealth that one wouldn''t recognize one was within it even after being swallowed.

    Darius knew that even he would be heavily injured if he was struck by that.

    He varied his path, making it hard for Caissa to track him. At the same time, he enveloped himself in mes to burn off the small bits of darkness that had stuck to him.

    If she could possess those, his life would be over. It was absolutely integral to make sure no part of it could reach him.

    Darius'' eyes narrowed.

    He stopped in his tracks, stomped his foot into the ground, and summoned the height of his mes.

    They formed a huge tsunami to fight against the one approaching, and as they met, the atmosphere itself exploded under pressure.

    BOOOM!

    The Sun me wasn''t good for a battle like this.

    It was good for head-on collisions, of course, but in her current form, Caissa was hardly a physical entity.

    He needed something more magical to defeat her. At most, his current me could only hold her back.

    ''How long¡­?''

    Darius looked up into the sky.

    The sun had moved far along the horizon during the time he''d been fighting.

    It was already approaching evening when the battle started, but with the minutes ticking by, the sun had already made it to the end of its cycle.

    Soon, it would set beyond the horizon and be reced by its serene counterpart.

    ''Ten minutes.''

    Darius had learned how to judge exactly how much time it took for the sun to set over the horizon. In every new world he visited, the first thing he did was judge this cycle.

    Ten minutes.

    He was assured that in ten minutes, the moon would rise.

    And the Moon me would awaken.

    Darius continued to watch his mespete against the darkness.

    The physical weight of the mes created the wall they represented, but they weren''t actually able to burn much of Caissa''s darkness.

    Small flecks could be destroyed, but a mass like that wasn''t something it could handle in its current form.

    The Sun me was powered by emotion, andpared to the emotion he could put into it, the emotion within Caissa''s darkness was monstrous.

    Physical damage wouldn''t work here.

    ''And if physical damage won''t do anything¡­''

    Darius gritted his teeth.

    ''...then I have to hit her soul.''

    It was something he never thought he''d be capable of in the past.

    ''Speaking of the past¡­''

    The Sun me probably wasn''t the right choice for this job.

    Until the Moon me appeared, space and time techniques would be Darius'' best bet at cutting down Caissa''s size.

    He smiled slightly as he watched the darkness crash through his fire.

    ''It''s been a while, huh¡­?''

    A sword appeared in his hands.

    He took a stance that he''d nearly forgotten due to all the retraining he''d undergone.

    The 16 Swords of Heaven¡­

    ¡­what would they look like when the current Darius used them?

 Chapter 1480 Calamity [7]

    Chapter 1480 Cmity [7]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Bursts of dust and rock flew into the air every few seconds. ck sludge was flung through the air, infecting more and more of the environment with every move.

    When Caissa changed her form, her entire attack method changed. She became more disorganized and instinctual, but at the same time, the power she could output was no joke.

    It was a trade-off she didn''t usually like to make, but in a situation like this, it was necessary. She didn''t have time, nor did she have an advantage to exploit.

    Still, no matter how disorganized she was, she could still destroy a great amount of things without much effort.

    The environment was currently under Tiamat''s control, but the domain she put up wasn''t being actively controlled by her.

    She was able to read the feedback from it to help Darius when she needed to, and she could use it to her advantage to fight Cairo, but in general, the majority of the domain was self-governed based on the rules Tiamat set beforehand.

    Caissa was abusing this fact to try and turn Tiamat''s darkness into her own.

    In the end, darkness and death didn''t have much inmon, so it was difficult if she was using her original power.

    However, when the power in question was driven by emotion, it was far easier to convert a death domain into one of darkness.

    Caissa''s every attack was aimed at Darius.

    He was forced to dodge using his instincts alone because of the speed at which they struck.

    Darius was still a spatial practitioner even if it wasn''t his forte. If anything, he did have the ability to teleport.

    With that, he could avoid Caissa''s attacks quite well, and despite their power, because her control had weakened, he didn''t have to worry about old attacks chasing him or homing in on his position.

    He could dodge as he pleased, using the 16 Swords of Heaven to cut paths through the sludge for him to traverse.

    The problem was that the sludge didn''t leave once it fell to the ground. Instead, it coagted and created a coating on Tiamat''s domain, iming space for itself to thrive.

    ''If this continues, she''ll trap me.''

    Darius frowned.

    He did the right thing switching to spatial attacks when Caissa transformed, but he didn''t have enough firepower this way.

    He was forced to continue teleporting around, wasting his energy reserves. Since he couldn''t use mkh like Tiamat and Damien, he was truly limited in what he could do once he ran out.

    The Sun and Moon Divine me was able to burn as long as energy was present, making it the best method to fight in an alternate cosmos.

    ''If only I had more control¡­''

    Darius put in a lot of work, but he didn''t have nearly enough time.

    With just a few more decades of experience and practice, he would definitely be able to fight against Caissa on even footing and even overpower her in direct confrontation using the Sun me, but the current Darius was not so capable.

    BOOM!

    Another wave of sludge struck down near him. It stretched out, trying to reach him, but as he teleported away, it was forced to give up and connect to its peers.

    This was routine at this point and had been happening for several minutes.

    And that was exactly the problem.

    Darius was waiting for his opportunity toe, but in the process, he''d left a huge opening for Caissa.

    The amount of sludge on the ground now was definitely enough to cover a whole football field. When it came together and acted as a living being independent of the main body¡­

    ''Holy shit.''

    Darius'' eyes widened.

    Caissa was rtively far away, but her massive figure still stood out in the ckness. It was intimidating enough on its own, but before Darius'' eyes, another massive sludge being rose from the ground and extended its tentacles.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The attacks that only came from one side now came from two. Darius could still teleport, but it became easy for Caissa to read his direction when she could see him from multiple angles.

    BANG!

    Darius was thrown back as a heap of sludgended only a few inches away from him as he came out of the spatialyers.

    ''Damn!''

    Darius nced back. His trajectory was going to throw him into a new sludge monster that was rising from the ground.

    He nted his foot in the ground and let his Sun mes loose.

    The soles of his feet burned, and as the mes came in contact with the ground, their force propelled him into the air, narrowly allowing him to avoid the inevitable collision.

    ''At least I''m getting better at this dodging thing¡­''

    Darius joked with himself to ease his mind, but he really was in a tough position.

    Time was ticking. It had already been eight minutes, which meant there were only two remaining before he could make his move.

    Whether he could survive for two more minutes or not at the rate Caissa was growing was definitely a question, though.

    Even Tiamat had to ask herself if she needed to support him.

    Unlike Darius, who was really fighting a life-or-death battle, Tiamat was having a pretty easy time.

    The butler, Cairo, was definitely a powerful person, but it was clear that he had rarely fought people with equal or higher strength than his.

    At the end of the day, he was just a servant of a more powerful being. He did not journey for strength or try to increase his power to be the best. He only worked to be of service to his Lord.

    His Lord was not someone who liked people stronger than him, so Cairo always limited his growth willingly.

    And when he had to fight, it was usually because there were weaklings his Lord wanted gone.

    Those who would actually aid Cairo''s growth were all taken care of by others.

    Therefore, when he fought Tiamat, he did so like he was facing someone weaker.

    That was his mistake.

    Tiamat wasn''t weaker than him at all. In fact, she was a few notches stronger.

    When she unveiled the true strength of her Death Laws, empowered by the mkh that seemed to willingly respond to her everymand, he was left on the losing end of every collision.

    He was thrown back and injured several times. He suffered from tens of internal injuries, as well as many that ruined the pristine appearance he worked so hard to maintain.

    Tiamat didn''t care about Cairo''s feelings at all. She could tell he was getting angrier as they kept fighting, but that anger only made him more careless.

    It was pathetic.

    Tiamat entered this fight at the height of emotion. She felt an inherent disgust that made her want to end Cairo in the worst way possible.

    However, she didn''t feel that anymore.

    Cairo wasn''t worthy of such emotion.

    As they fought, Tiamat lost all respect she may have had for him. She couldn''t help but look down on him, because he was nothing more than a dog.

    He was pathetic in every way.

    It was a shame that someone like him could elicit such emotion from her.

    But since Tiamat realized this, she was able to rein in those emotions and fight with a level head.

    That version of Tiamat wasn''t something Cairo could handle.

    And as his death approached closer and closer, Tiamat stopped putting so much attention into her own battle. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Even if she stopped attacking now, Cairo would die to his injuries if he couldn''t escape her domain.

    More importantly, Darius'' battle had to end soon.

    It had to be remembered that they were not fighting for themselves right now.

    Almost an hour had passed since they left the Gehenna Tribe.

    And if Tiamat''s gut feeling was correct¡­

    ¡­things were not looking good for them at all.

 Chapter 1481 Calamity [8]

    Chapter 1481 Cmity [8]

    It was amazing how time could pass differently for people regardless of their distance from each other.

    It was almost like the human mind was replicating reality, as if every mind was a different cosmos that ran on a differentw of time.

    Just because two people spent their entire day together didn''t mean they perceived time the same.

    For one, the day could pass so fast it was like it never happened, and for the other, it could''ve been the longest day of their life.

    The situation in the Gehenna Tribe was like this.

    The battle Tiamat and Darius fought was fast-paced. An hour passed before they even realized it, because they were far too busy fighting to ever care about the time.

    By the time Darius even realized how much time had passed, only ten minutes remained until day turned to night.

    However, for the people fighting at the tribe, the hour that passed felt like an eternity.

    Their numbers were already small, but they somehow managed to fight.

    No matter how much they pushed, their enemies just kepting.

    The beautiful pure white glow that surrounded the Gehenna people as they fought was dwindling.

    Their numbers were doing the same.

    At the end of the day, they were indeed the advantaged side.

    At a certain point, they stopped fighting head-on.

    After losing over a hundred people, almost half of their battle strength, they began to fight in a more gueri manner like they were used to.

    The jungle was their home. Unlike the people from outside, they could use this environment as a weapon.

    That was how they turned a one thousand-man army into one with the same numbers as them.

    But how could there be such a convenient future?

    The Gehenna Tribe had a lot of advantages.

    But those advantages could only equalize their situation.

    They were too disadvantaged for anything to save them other than a legitimate miracle.

    One by one, the Gehenna warriors died.

    From the hunters to the average men who picked up arms for their families, those who defended Gehenna became cold corpses on the ground.

    There were only fifty of them left.

    The fifty of them who were hunters from the start.

    They fought with their lives on the line in a fashion that was practically suicidal.

    They charged in, using every ounce of their power to kill.

    It was a moment of hope and despair.

    Every second spent fighting felt like hours. Every enemy that fell was reced by another one, and it was only natural for the hunters to get weary. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Still, they persevered.

    They were thest line of defense.

    Plus, the Saintess was watching them fight.

    They knew she couldn''t help. Her role in the vige had nothing to do with battle.

    But her presence here, her decision to stay here instead of retreating with the rest, was enough to motivate them to push through.

    And they did it.

    Eventually, they managed to kill all of the enemies who came their way, leaving the battlefield stained in rivers of blood and sunken corpses.

    It was only at this juncture when the hunters almost found relief that they remembered the presence of the Count.

    Because Count Verex was pping happily, ruining the silence that had fallen upon the jungle.

    "Very nice!"

    He grinned as he spoke.

    He didn''t care about the troops that died. He was happy enough with the show of ughter that had been put on for him.

    "Now, where is Cairo¡­?"

    The Count barely paid attention to those who survived.

    After all, Count Verex never killed weak beings with his own hands.

    It wasn''t something like morality that held him back.

    Rather, he was a germaphobe in the most twisted definition of the word.

    The Count believed that killing lesser beings with his own hands would stain them and ruin his purity.

    Caissa and Cairo existed purely to take care of those he deemed too weak for him to kill personally.

    With them gone, the Count wasn''t going to touch the Gehenna people.

    However, he would still make sure they died.

    "Dear Saintess, are you happy?"

    The Saintess stepped out of his vehicle.

    Ayer of mkh separated him from the bloodied ground as he walked towards the Saintess.

    "You know what I desire. You have known for very many years. You could have just given it to me, but instead, you let your people die. Why is that? Do you truly hate them so much?"

    He smilingly spoke. With every step he took, the surrounding blood was pushed away, revealing a clean path in the midst of madness.

    "Saintess, why don''t you speak?"

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion suddenly rang out from behind the Count.

    A ground worm with scales that resembled those of the strongest beasts burst out of the ground. Its size was massive, taller than the tallest skyscrapers on Earth.

    Its entrance was random, unexpected by all. However, luckily for the Gehenna Tribe, it wasn''t aiming for them.

    The worm didn''t have eyes, but its senses were locked on the Count.

    It was one of the many Ancients of the jungle. Sensing the presence of a rogue God who did not belong to the jungle, it arrived here.

    The jungle had its own hierarchy.

    There was no such thing as a God who coulde here and unt his presence without being confronted by those who truly belonged here.

    The Count turned around, an irked look on his face.

    "And what might you be?"

    He sneered at the worm, more than just annoyed that his fun had been interrupted.

    "Leave this jungle."

    The worm projected its voice through mkh. It was gruff and tremor-like, as if it was the voice of the earth itself.

    "Who are you tomand me?"

    "Leave this jungle."

    The worm didn''t speak many words. It instead chose to re its aura, attempting to scare the Count off.

    But, of course, the Count wasn''t such an easy target.

    "Leave¡­? You wish for me to leave¡­?"

    The Count''s eyes were taunting, as if the notion was hrious.

    "Then prove you have the ability to remove me."

    OOOOOOOOOOOOH!

    The worm immediately charged.

    It opened its massive mouth, lined with tens of rows of teeth, and mmed towards the Count.

    It was a God itself.

    It was a True Ancient, unlike the Uruk.

    When it moved, the entire earth responded.

    The Count was entrapped in a cage of rock, and as the massive beast approached, the remnants of the Gehenna Tribe behind him froze in fear.

    That worm¡­they had never seen it before, but they knew its identity.

    It was called the Sentinel, and it managed the safety of arge portion of the jungle.

    It was said that the Sentinel never showed itself unless it was absolutely necessary, and anyone who had seen it was already dead.

    Such a being was credited with the deaths of several powerful Ancients.

    Since it was here, didn''t that mean everyone was going to die?

    The Gehenna Tribe was forced to watch without any ability to do anything as their greatest enemy became the only wall that saved them from death.

    They were forced to realize that they were going to die no matter what happened.

    But, truly, they''d rather die to an Ancient than the Count.

    The scene of two great beings colliding was meant to be a grand one.

    It was meant to cause great damage and be a battle among battles, a tale that would be passed down for generations.

    Such a thing never took ce.

    The instant the Sentinel approached the Count, he put his hand out.

    It was tinypared to the beast, like a grain of sand in front of the ocean.

    But that single grain of sand¡­

    The instant the Sentinel came close enough to devour the Count, that single hand became its nightmare.

    The Gehenna people didn''t even see what happened.

    In one second the two Gods created a scene that could be immortalized in history.

    And in the next¡­

    The Sentinel''s body was a collection of meat chunks flying through the air.

    Like a car hitting a wall at three hundred miles per hour, the Sentinel sttered in three directions, leaving everything behind the Count untouched.

    Once again, his germaphobia showed itself.

    And as he turned around, his image in the eyes of the Gehenna people became far more terrifying.

    "Now then¡­"

    He smiled as if nothing happened, looking at the Saintess.

    "...shall we return to our conversation?"

 Chapter 1482 Crown [1]

    Chapter 1482 Crown [1]

    Every step Thalia took towards the pantheon became heavier after a certain point in time.

    She felt a sinking feeling in her heart as if she was going to lose something important, but she had no way to identify the nature of those feelings.

    Unlike Damien, she didn''t even know there was an extinction-level event happening for the Gehenna Tribe right now.

    Since she was young, she''d been told she was the Saintess'' sessor.

    Her position had been decided at birth. She was chosen by the spirits.

    Thalia never understood why.

    She was definitely more talented than most people, but she wasn''t fit to lead the tribe.

    She was a hunter. That was her calling.

    She always took the things she heard about her future as the Saintess with a grain of salt, barely believing she would ever actually get raised to that point.

    But it happened.

    She arrived here quite confidently because that was the mentality she held when going into anything and everything, but in reality, it was just now setting in the kind of responsibility that was being ced on her shoulders.

    Was she ready for it?

    ''I''m not.''

    She wasn''t even close to being prepared to lead the entire tribe.

    She''d shadowed the Saintess for years and knew exactly how much she had to do to keep the tribe stable. There were many threats that only the Saintess could deal with, things that threatened the tribe that the tribespeople didn''t even know about.

    She wasn''t mature enough, nor was she stable enough in her own self to take the position that she was destined for.

    Still, she pushed down the ufortable feeling in her chest.

    No matter what it stemmed from, what was ahead of her was more important.

    The second she entered that building, everything would change.

    She wouldn''t be able to live whimsically anymore.

    She would willingly be trapping herself in a cage.

    ''But, that cage is the one I have chosen.''

    She was a free-spirited person, so it was a hard decision to make, but she always knew the answer deep down.

    She cared about the tribe more than anything else. For the tribe, she was willing to do anything.

    She may have been able to achieve the position of Great Hunter easily and gained the respect of everyone, but if she wanted to bring her ambitions to reality, the Saintess role was her only choice.

    If she wanted to bring the Gehenna Tribe as high as she envisioned it and introduce them to the wider world she saw through Damien and his peers, she needed the appropriate status.

    Therefore, her hesitation was nothing but a fleeting feeling.

    Her overwhelming confidence and the weight of her dreams allowed her to walk forward with pride, entering the pantheon to face her ancestors.

    Thalia believed that she would see a bunch of heroic statues possessing souls, or maybe even the bare spirits of the ancestors themselves, but the pantheon was surprisingly dark and empty, almost as if it had been abandoned for a very long time.

    The walls were covered in murals, stories of those this pantheon was created to worship. The ceiling was also decorated, however, it was in the image of the highest power, that being who governed all things.

    The floor looked like it wasn''t made of anything at all. Texturally and visually, it was no different from dirt.

    This was a sort of symbolism, representing humanity''s connection with the earth, its ability to create heroes, and its submission under the great cosmos.

    Despite the beautiful decorations, Thalia still didn''t see any hint of other presences in her vicinity.

    ''Could it be¡­that they have left¡­?''

    She was wrong, but she had no way of knowing that. Ironically, Thalia didn''t have much experience in the spiritual aspects of life.

    Her instincts told her to stay where she was. If she left now, the opportunity awaiting her would vanish.

    She could tell nothing else, and her environment showed no sign of hostility or danger.

    If she took this as another sort of hunt, she could easily wait as long as she needed to.

    Patience was a key skill for both a hunter and a leader.

    Thalia had long grown used to waiting hours on end for her prey to show an opening. Waiting for her ancestors to acknowledge her was light work.

    So she stood there for hours, waiting for any sort of response.

    Unbeknownst to her, those same ancestors she was waiting for had been observing her since the moment she arrived at the pantheon.

    "Her senses are incredible."

    A man with hulking muscles and shining golden armor spoke, rubbing his chin in respect.

    "Indeed. This Saintess is quite different from the others."

    Another man, his peer, responded.

    These conversations couldn''t be heard by an average being.

    There were tens of them in the pantheon, sharing opinions as they continued to watch Thalia.

    Many of them were men, Great Hunters who''d aplished miraculous feats for both the tribe and Gehenna itself.

    A majority of the rest were women, Saintesses of the previous generations.

    And unlike the men who were impressed by Thalia''s qualities as a hunter, they all had furrowed brows and concerned expressions on their faces. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It was their job to bestow Thalia with her ability.

    As such, they knew what kind of ability she''d be given.

    "She already possesses a vestige of the past generation''s Future Sight. If her own ability ispounded with that¡­"

    A certain Saintess who lived almost ten generations ago spoke worriedly.

    "...the current trajectory of the tribe¡­is it good or bad?"

    A fellow Saintess finished her thought.

    They couldn''t tell.

    Whatever Thalia became when she finished digesting her inheritance¡­

    Whatever was happening in the outside world to provoke such a transformation¡­

    ¡­there was no way for them to tell whether it would be the tribe''s fortune or its ruin.

    "In the end, it is not our duty to decide. We can only grant her the power to persevere and watch over our descendant''s journey."

    The first-generation Saintess, the woman who originally allowed the Gehenna Tribe to form a connection with a Gehenna and be what it was today, she was the one who said those words.

    And the others had no choice but to agree.

    The fate of a Gehenna Saintess could be extremely cruel. They''d experienced it personally.

    However, if a Saintess was able to persevere through that cruelty ande out the other side stronger¡­

    Only one thing needed to be said.

    There was a reason the Gehenna Tribe was once the ruler of the sacred jungle.

    Thalia naturally didn''t know any of this was happening.

    She was still waiting for some sort of reaction from the pantheon.

    She had yet to realize that something inside of her was already changing.

    As the Saintesses of past generations blessed her qualities as a Saintess, and as the Great Hunters of past generations blessed her qualities as a warrior, a massive transformation started taking root in Thalia''s body.

    A power like nothing the Gehenna Tribe had ever seen started to bloom.

    It was not a power meant to protect like most others had been, nor was it a power to foresee like the current Saintess had.

    No, it was a power that showed only one future for the tribe Thalia woulde to rule.

    Conquest.

 Chapter 1483 Crown [2]

    Chapter 1483 Crown [2]

    Conquest.

    It was a theme quite prevalent in Gehenna right now.

    Though, it was on apletely different scale depending on who was experiencing it.

    For the younger generations other than Thalia, this theme was rtively muted. They were being given inheritances that would strengthen them, but none of them could notice the subtle nuances behind the specific inheritances they were granted.

    For Thalia herself, it was something mystical, a sort of destiny that would be decided by her hands.

    And for Damien¡­

    For Damien, it was at a scale nobody here could replicate.

    With the mist as his guide, Damien went on a journey to find the Crown that existed in this realm.

    The mist wouldn''t tell him anything about it, but from what he could gather, the crown would be just as important to him as the mist itself.

    Which, when remembering that the mist was one of the six concepts of Existence, was truly telling.

    The Crown was hidden deep within Gehenna, at a ce none could reach.

    The mist around there was so thick it was almost solid.

    The Crown had existed in Gehenna for a very long time. In a certain sense, it was the source of Gehenna''s mystical nature.

    It had been unguarded and untouched, because Gehenna itself was only open to those who had already be ethereal beings.

    However, when the Gehenna Tribe managed to form a connection to the realm, things changed.

    The mist was here from the start.

    The mist was an omnipresent entity that existed everywhere and in everything. It was oneyer of the fabric of Existence, and it could observe all things.

    It noticed the Crown''s presence long ago and had been carefully watching over it, but when Gehenna became connected to the Real ne, in the Sacred Abyss Universe, at that, the mist couldn''t sit still.

    It started to maintain a more physical presence in this realm that both inhibited people aiming for the crown and gave it the ability tomunicate with living beings.

    Its first goal had been aplished thoroughly thus far, but it''s second was only fulfilled when Damien appeared.

    And, whether it was coincidence or destiny, Damien was the man who was fated to wear that crown.

    The mist was able to alter reality itself to control those within the realm. Around where the crown was located, anyone who got close would be turned around, their soulspletely forgetting the existence of such a location.

    No matter what, the mist couldn''t directly interfere with reality, so this was the extent of it, but it was surprising the number of people and spirits that had been brainwashed by this ce.

    When Damien arrived there, on the other hand, he waspletely fine.

    He was now the owner of that mist.

    He couldn''t control it unless it allowed him to, but he would not be affected by its mystery any longer.

    Surprisingly enough, as the mist itself cleared, Damien found that he was in the same ce he started.

    In front of him was a path that led to nowhere, while behind him was an arch that led to a very familiar za.

    "It''s over there¡­?" Damien asked wryly.

    The mist gave him a positive response, of course.

    "Haa, this destiny stuff is really¡­"

    If he had chosen to move in the opposite direction when he first arrived in this realm, what would have happened?

    It was pointless to think about it, but Damien was curious regardless.

    As he walked that path, he was tempted to think about cause and effect, about the actions he took in the past, and how reality itself would have shifted if he had chosen another route.

    Causality was a strange thing Damien didn''t quite understand.

    Destiny was the same.

    He always felt like he was someone who forged his own path. A path as twisted as him couldn''t be forged by anyone else.

    However, at several times throughout his life, he''d felt like he was being led by some strange force.

    To a certain point, it could be described by his own actions.

    After all, he did influence reality from the Void for a period of time after the war ended.

    His father also yed a part in it. Like the legacies left on Death Emperor Star, Dante had nted several things in the lower universe for the purpose of Damien''s quick growth.

    But that still wasn''t enough to exin it all.

    Especially when he came to the Heavenly World. The instinctive feeling that parts of his path were being altered by something greater never left him, and he was hard-pressed to ignore that feeling.

    What was he supposed to do about it, though?

    There was no way for him to find out whether his feeling was true or not.

    He could only continue on his path and believe in himself. As long as he was confident in his actions, they were his own.

    And he was confident as he entered the vicinity of the crown.

    This area was simr to the one he started in. It was also a za with an organized look. It was surrounded by statues as well, but these were statues of men, monsters, gods, and demons.

    In the middle of the za wasn''t a foundation, but a pedestal that seemed somewhat mundanepared to its position.

    Damien didn''t say anything as he approached it.

    The Crown had a specific aura around it.

    To Damien, it felt extremely familiar, yet extremely far away.

    When he got within a few feet of it, he started to hear indistinct whispering. He couldn''t make out any of the words. Thenguage seemed unfamiliar as well.

    There was one thing he caught, though.

    The Crown of Realis.

    In other words, the Emperor''s Crown.

    Its name resounded in his head, a grandiose imagery apanying it.

    But when he approached close enough to see it, it looked quite dull.

    "It''s¡­iplete."

    The Crown was covered in wear. It looked like it was made of wood, but when Damien picked it up, he could obviously feel that it was metal.

    It didn''t seem too ornate, but it also seemed like it was meant to be ornate at some point.

    It looked like somebody had stopped halfway through its creation and left it to rot in a corner.

    Yet, as the cool metal touched Damien''s hands, he felt an immediate connection with it.

    ''This crown¡­is not as it seems.''

    He raised it above his head slowly.

    Imperceptibly, the surrounding statues turned their heads to watch him.

    Damien slowly lowered the crown until he was wearing it, and as he let his energy calmly circte through his body¡­

    The crown came to life.

    It aggressively sucked up energy of any kind, with a particr preference towards Void Energy.

    Damien gritted his teeth as he coped with the sudden change.

    He allowed the crown to do as it pleased, however, he also maintained control over his mana, disallowing it from going too crazy.

    Energy boomed into the surroundings as the crown''s consumption got higher.

    The crown itself began to glow, the debris on its surface melting away to reveal its true luster.

    Damien''s eyes were wide open.

    But they were not the color of amethyst purple that hade to be known and loved.

    No, Damien''s eyes were like gxies, shining with the light of billions of suns. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1484 Crown [3]

    Chapter 1484 Crown [3]

    What did Damien see?

    As his eyes began to resemble true celestial entities, what did he experience?

    The truth was, it couldn''t be described in just a few words.

    What Damien saw, in essence, was reality.

    In the past, he once had the chance to gaze at existence through the lens of the Void. This time, he was able to see reality from the lens of Existence.

    It didn''t seem like there was much of a difference between these things, but it was actually quite significant.

    After all, Existence was quite a few steps below the Void, even if it was directly under it in the cosmic hierarchy.

    Damien also didn''t have the ability to change anything this time. He wasn''t able to maneuver himself and see specific events or change the way ordained events took ce.

    He could only watch as he was being shown.

    It was apletely different kind of experience.

    Damien wasn''t the one in control this time, so the things he was being shown weren''t what he wanted to see.

    But they still had their own particr order.

    Damien saw the birth ofs, the birth of stars, the birth of gxies, and the birth of universes.

    Just the same, he saw their deaths.

    The life cycle of a cosmos was simr to the life cycle of a human in many ways, however, there was something special about the images Damien was being shown aside from that.

    It wasn''t a true material feeling, but something from the depths of his heart.

    Damien had never seen these gxies or universes before. None of them looked simr to the True Void Universe he was used to. Still, he felt a connection to each and every one of them.

    The experience was simr to when he first became a Celestial, as if his existence had be bigger than itself.

    But what did those images mean?

    To begin with, the Emperor''s Crown wasn''t a treasure. It didn''t have an ability, and it didn''t necessarily empower Damien in any way.

    When its wear and rust peeled off, revealing the beautiful pentacolor shine of the crown''s true appearance, it didn''t do anything special or cause any sort of scene outside of the change in Damien''s eyes.

    The crown had seven main jewel slots.

    Six of them were lined up side by side, circling the entire crown, while the seventh sat above them.

    Currently, only three of the jewel slots were filled.

    The jewels themselves couldn''t be easily identified, as they weren''t jewels that existed in reality, but they shone beautifully, each in their own unique color, and truly made the crown whole.

    However, the presence of the four missing jewels was definitely felt when one looked at it.

    The Emperor''s Crown was meant to be worn by the one who could possess all seven jewels.

    And these jewel slots, at least ording to what Damien could glean, were reserved for the concepts of Existence.

    The three that he already had, Order, Harmony, and Mist, manifested in their own images, setting themselves in the crown the instant they recognized it.

    When Damien found the other three concepts of Existence, the bottom row of the crown''s jewels would surely be filled.

    But what about thest one?

    As Damien traveled through all of Existence under the crown''s guidance, he had to wonder what thatst jewel was.

    He had to wonder what he didn''t know yet.

    At this point in life, Damien had be so incredibly powerful that it was rarer to find something he couldn''t infer on his own than something he could.

    Most of reality''s truths had been revealed to him in the various encounters he''d had in the past, which inevitably caused his spirit of adventure to dim.

    What more was there for him to do but grow into his power?

    That was how he thought before he entered this ce and found the Gehenna Tribe.

    He''d been going through the motions, living with only his goals in mind. As a result, he''d neglected some more emotional aspects of life.

    He wasn''t unaware of this change in his behavior, but he allowed it to happen because he believed it was necessary.

    He had to be powerful again, and he had to regain the status he held in the lower universe. Otherwise, how could he possibly focus on other things with peace of mind?

    The threats he faced were simply too big, so big that even he had difficulty imagining them at first.

    He didn''t have time to enjoy himself.

    He held himself to that belief until recently, but as he stared into the starry sky of the Sacred Abyss Universe, his thoughts began to change.

    As he spent time with the Gehenna Tribe, learning their culture and fully immersing himself in their lives, he found that there were indeed things he still didn''t know and things for him to enjoy.

    They were just so small that he''d forgotten to look back at them when his power got so immense.

    Existence didn''t just epass therger things. It wasn''t just a grand concept that had implications beyond what anyone could imagine.

    Existence was the greatest of Gods, the peak of all peaks. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But it was just as much the life of amon farmer, and the techniques he used to make sure he could earn his family a happy life.

    The crown helped Damien understand himself. It showed him the things he wanted to see.

    Only, it didn''t show him directly at all. Instead, it analyzed his subconscious, judging his worth.

    The Crown of Realis. It was called the Emperor''s Crown because only such an existence could bear its weight.

    And as it epted Damien as its owner, it allowed him to view those same images more clearly.

    It showed him the deepest desires in his heart.

    Visions of the future, visions of the present, and even recollections of the long-forgotten past flew by Damien''s eyes in rapid bursts.

    And among them¡­

    A strange four-dimensional space, a tesseract.

    It was a microcosm of existence, yet a reality of its own.

    It was a ce where themonws of nature simply didn''t exist, a ce where the average man was never meant to go.

    However, within this tesseract, there was indeed a man.

    A man that Damien recognized very well.

    His eyes widened.

    His heartbeat sped up.

    At that exact moment, the images he saw changed. Like a camera zooming out, Damien''s sight was thrown out of the tesseract and into its vicinity.

    His field of view continued to expand. What was once a nondescript scenery suddenly became a location Damien was able to recognize.

    And as he put his everything into remembering the images he was seeing, he gained certainty on what exactly that ce was.

    It was something he''d been looking for. He didn''t think he''d be able to find its location easily, and he definitely didn''t expect it to appear in front of him like this.

    It was the source of most of his worries, and the exact goal he was currently working towards.

    There was no doubt about it.

    That ce¡­

    That ce was the Celestial Prison.

 Chapter 1485 Crown [4]

    Chapter 1485 Crown [4]

    What did it mean to rule?

    To be a leader, to be responsible for the lives of countless people, what did that feel like?

    To some, it was intoxicating. Such power to view others as ants was exactly the goal of arge portion of people, and though they were considered leaders, they did not lead.

    They used their power to fuel their own selfish desires while those under them suffered.

    Naturally, they were not true rulers.

    An Emperor would only ever be as good as his Empire. What was the use of an Emperor when the people were all dead or impoverished.

    What proper qualities of a leader did such an Emperor possess?

    Perhaps they were domineering, perhaps they had the arrogance of a leader that would allow them to make great strides in negotiations with foreign powers, but none of that mattered.

    When Thalia was asked what it meant to rule, she answered simply.

    She''d seen the Saintess work hard for the people. She''d seen the elderly woman suffer in ways nobody her age should have suffered so that her people could thrive.

    She understood sacrifice, and she understood honor.

    To her, a ruler was somebody who could maintain prosperity for their people.

    She did not want the Gehenna Tribe to live as the weakest force in the sacred jungle.

    She didn''t want them to suffer for the sake of food, always wary of the Ancients who might one day think of them as prey.

    She wanted to give them better lives, lives where they could live safely and enjoy serenity whenever they wanted to.

    She wanted to give them a life where they would never have to suffer again.

    So what did it mean to rule?

    It meant having the loyalty of the people. It meant having a strong heart that could stand against any threat. It meant truly bing one with the body one governed.

    At first, Thalia didn''t consider herself a ruler.

    Thalia was extremely devoted to her tribe. That was a well-known fact.

    In terms of the aspects most people usually ignored, she knew she''d excel.

    But she never believed herself powerful enough to achieve her ambitions.

    No matter how she looked at it, it was impossible for her to be someone capable of ruling the sacred jungle or even escaping it.

    Actually, Damien was the one who inadvertently helped her out of that mindset.

    What he showed her was power achieved through hard work and effort. What he showed her was a will that transcended such petty doubts.

    When she went to see him that fateful day in the jungle, she asked him what he did for power, what power did for him, and most importantly, how he became a monster.

    His answer was simpler than she expected.

    It wasn''t something grand or philosophical. It wasn''t a hypothetical that really didn''t answer anything at all. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He told her clearly.

    Power would change her.

    But as long as she remainedfortable in that change, it didn''t matter what she ended up as.

    As long as her people could thrive, it didn''t matter what she had to do.

    She realized then that she was willing to make the sacrifice. She was willing to give up everything for their sake.

    So when she came to the pantheon, while she did enter somewhat fearfully, it waspletely gone by the time a few hours had passed.

    Thalia sat on the floor in a meditative posture. She''d been sitting like this for a while after realizing nothing would happen if she continued to tire herself out by keeping her guard up.

    She closed her eyes and thought over the qualities she possessed, the qualities she needed to improve upon, and a realistic n for the future development of the tribe.

    She inadvertently found herself in possession of a ruler''s mindset, and once she realized it, she stopped doubting herself entirely.

    She epted her destiny.

    She epted her role.

    Truly, that was all she needed to do.

    Unlike Damien, she walked a path that was watched over by countless beings who only wanted the best for her and her people.

    All she needed to do was express her willingness and show them that she was ready, and they''d support her to the fullest of their capabilities.

    It wasn''t just Damien being crowned today.

    There were two enthronements taking ce, only, on twopletely different scales.

    For Damien, it was an enthronement that really only served as ceremony.

    The position he was trying to im was out of reach, and, at most, his crown merely gave him the qualifications to fight for that position.

    However, for Thalia, this was everything.

    A crown began to form on her head.

    The current Saintess had a feathered crown. She was gentle and reserved, quietly working for her n.

    Thalia''s path wouldn''t be anything close to hers.

    As Thalia''s crown formed, a wave of gasps spread through the incorporeal spirits who watched her enthronement.

    It was pure ck iron.

    The crown was etched with a domineering pattern with countless grooves, as if each and every one was to be filled with the blood of her enemies.

    It was spiked in four directions, almost as if it was meant to be used as a weapon.

    The metallic ckness that was almost a darker shade of grey gave off an aura of icy indifference. It made one wonder if seeing it was a sign of death or prosperity.

    The crown was not covered in jewels. It wasn''t extravagant at all.

    It was definitely muted, but not in a way that symbolized peace like the current Saintess'' crown.

    Thalia''s crown was one of an iron-blooded empress. It was a crown that prophesized her tumultuous future.

    It made the worry of her ancestors exceed its previous high by arge margin, but when it found its ce atop her head, Thalia felt strangelyforted.

    She could also see it.

    Her destiny.

    The crown didn''t hide anything from her. It made very clear exactly what Thalia would be faced with as she moved through life.

    If she couldn''t handle the adversity, then she needed to forfeit her position now.

    That was the message it gave her.

    And she rightfully ignored it.

    If adversity was enough to bring her down, she would have died a long time ago.

    She didn''t live the brutal life of a hunter, the only position in the tribe where death wasmon, for fun and games.

    She was prepared for this day.

    She would not give it all up just because it would be difficult.

    That was the rification the world needed.

    That was the mentality Gehenna needed to see.

    And as it gave its approval of her worth, as her ancestors funneled their power into her, Thalia started to feel something budding inside of her.

    It was different from barrakh, different from the way it was stored too, but it also seemed like some sort of energy container.

    This entity was extremely connected to her. While she didn''t understand the concept, it had made itself one with her core, binding with her soul.

    It was her Saintess ability.

    And it manifested in her head as a single word.

    ''Domination.''

 Chapter 1486 Wrath [1]

    Chapter 1486 Wrath [1]

    Gehenna didn''t have a pattern for when it appeared.

    It would show itself to the world when it was needed, otherwise hiding away where it was meant to be.

    Gehenna and the real world weren''t supposed to have any interaction in the first ce.

    But since they''d be connected, Gehenna had be inextricably tied to destiny.

    Sometimes, generations could pass without any sign of it.

    Of course, the Saintess would alwayse in contact with it somehow, but for a majority of the Saintesses, Gehenna appeared in their minds, not in person.

    They were granted power in their sleep, blessed by the real secretly.

    But this time, Gehenna appeared.

    It came specifically for the two enthronements that were taking ce within its borders right now.

    Damien was enlightened by the Crown of Realis. He was able to understand its purpose, and as he was shown the location of the Celestial Prison, his mood became extremity calm, almost disturbingly so.

    On the other side, Thalia''s crown formed and put the weight of responsibility on her shoulders. She felt fulfilled, as if she''d finally found her truth in this world.

    The two of them had aplished what they needed to do in this ce.

    They''d both met the objects of their destinies.

    Therefore, Gehenna had no more purpose in the real world.

    Whether it was coincidence or something nned by the mystical forces of this realm, the lesser geniuses who entered the realm also finished digesting their inheritances around the same time.

    That was why, as soon as Damien and Thalia stood up, their eyes and minds clear and their crowns proudly disyed on their heads¡­ n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Gehenna began to change.

    It was time for those geniuses to return to the real world.

    It was time for them to see the state of the Gehenna Tribe.

    ***

    Blood.

    There was so much of it.

    The Saintess had never seen so much blood before, not in real life at least.

    But she''d seen it endlessly in her dreams.

    She''d seen it, but regardless of what she did, she couldn''t change it.

    What could she have done?

    She had no fighting power.

    Her power only allowed her to see things other people couldn''t see. She didn''t have the ability to fight, nor did she have the ability to protect.

    She''d managed thus far, because she was destined to reach this point, but she didn''t believe it wouldst much longer.

    She absolutely believed in destiny.

    How could she not?

    Ever since she was a young child, she''d been seeing visions of the future. There wasn''t a single time when those visions didn''te true.

    Even when the Uruk came the first time and killed so many of the tribespeople, she knew it wasing.

    Back then, she was younger. Even though she''d been the Saintess for a few decades already, she still maintained hope that she could change things.

    And she tried.

    She did everything in her power and used all of the tribe''s resources to try and save them, but still, the Uruk came and killed.

    The tribe managed to survive, but it still lost some of its best hunters, including Thalia''s parents.

    That was when she lost all hope.

    No matter what she did, it was impossible to change the future she saw.

    The ongoing events only made her more hopeless.

    "Saintess, what''s wrong?"

    That putrid creature spoke again.

    He was the reason for all of this.

    His petty greed was the reason why all of her tribe''s warriors were dead.

    The entire 250-man group that took up arms to protect their families was lying on the ground as nothing more than bloody puddles.

    And the Count didn''t even touch them once.

    He was a germaphobe, after all.

    If one asked how they died, however, nobody would be able to answer.

    They just died.

    It was like the world itself wanted them gone.

    The Count refused to kill those he considered lesser beings. That was indeed his code, and it was indeed the reason why people like Cairo and Caissa were always around him.

    But when Cairo and Caissa were both gone¡­?

    Naturally, the moment woulde when such a situation arose, and the Count was long prepared for it.

    His method was simple.

    If he did want someone dead, he just needed someone else to kill for him.

    Cairo and Caissa were his attendants. They didn''t just take care of the trash, they also had their own jobs they''d have to do at times.

    Whenever he went on an excursion, the Count genuinely kept a third person around him, a true shadow guard, whose existence was quite literally only for the purpose of killing ants.

    It was an inefficient method at its core, but it was also the easiest and most abusive, which was always the path Count Verex would choose over any other.

    The fifty hunters who managed to survive until the end all died before they knew what happened.

    As their bodies dropped to the ground, the Count approached the Saintess with the same smile on his face.

    "Come on, now. Don''t re at me like that. Maybe a few decades ago it would have done something to me, but you''ve gotten a bit old now, haven''t you?"

    He really didn''t care.

    He didn''t care about the hatred in her heart or the grief she felt about the deaths she''d witnessed.

    He didn''t care about the people he''d killed, nor did he care about the ones hiding away in the vige.

    He was here for one thing.

    And by now, he was well aware that the Saintess had no ns of giving it to him.

    "What''s the point?" He asked.

    The Saintess didn''t reply for obvious reasons, but he continued talking anyway.

    "I really don''t understand your hesitation, but that''s not what I''m asking right now. Rather, what''s the point of me being here if you won''t give me anything?"

    He needed to find Gehenna. The Saintess was the shortest path there, but if she didn''t cave, he didn''t have the patience to force her.

    "You know I can find that ce on my own if I really try hard enough. I thought I could get a pass from you and be on my way, but now I feel like I''ve done all this work for nothing. Isn''t that a shame?"

    A shame?

    A shame¡­?!

    That''s how he considered all this ughter and bloodshed?

    In the end, to him, it was just a shame that he wasted his time?

    The Saintess was boiling over with so much rage that her face was turning red, but again, there was nothing she could do as he approached closer and closer.

    Until he was standing right in front of her.

    "Saintess, you know whates next, don''t you?"

    The Saintess closed her eyes and turned her head to the sky.

    She knew.

    She''d seen this time many times before.

    "Then¡­"

    The Count grinned.

    "...let''s get it over with."

    Unlike her people, the Saintess was someone worthy.

    And since she refused to cooperate, since she had no use to him¡­

    The Count raised his hand, and in one swift motion, he impaled his arm through her heart, holding it in his hand as it protruded out of her back.

    The Saintess coughed up a mouthful of blood, which the Count proceeded to gleefully lick off his cheek.

    And as they stood in silence, almost frozen in time¡­

    Space shook.

    Gehenna really was a cruel mistress.

    It was at a moment like this, just a moment toote, when it decided to return them to the world.

    And the first thing both Damien and Thalia saw was that.

    The scene of the Saintess'' pointless death.

 Chapter 1487 Wrath [2]

    What were they expecting?

    It certainly wasn''t this.

    Of all things they could return to, the corpses of their warriors and the sight of their Saintess with her heart in the hands of a man they''d never seen before was not what they expected in the slightest.

    And how were they to react?

    For most of them, the only answer was shock.

    Those other than Damien and Thalia were shocked into a stupor. The instant they appeared in the world, their bodies froze and their minds did as well.

    There was nothing that could be done to snap them out of this state. Until they could ept the scene before them, they would remain frozen.

    There was no sound.

    The atmosphere was eerily silent as the Count processed the situation and the geniuses tried to regain their wits.

    That only made it worse.

    Because everyone was forced to listen to the Saintess'' blood as it poured out of her chest and made impact with the ground.''

    Still, not everyone was frozen so thoroughly.

    Thalia was definitely petrified at the start.

    She couldn''t easilyprehend the scene.

    After all, she had no knowledge of the happenings of the outside world. She didn''t even know there was danger approaching until she exited Gehenna to this carnage.

    It was natural that she couldn''t ept it.

    But more than anything, what she couldn''t believe was the sight of the Saintess before her eyes.

    She knew how it usually went.

    No two Saintesses could live in the same generation. Once one was crowned, thest would lose their power and slowly pass away.

    This wasn''t slow at all.

    This was murder.

    The murder of the main parental figure she''d had in her life since the day her parents died.

    Thalia felt the exact emotions one would expect of her. It was a huge bundle of negativity and grief that clouded her mind and made her want to recklessly charge at the enemy ahead.

    However, the crown she wore pulsed, calming her emotions.

    She had to ept it.

    The Saintess was dead, and the tribe was facing a cmity.

    She was the new Saintess, effective immediately, and before she could grieve, she had to find a way to save her people.

    Thalia''s eyes dulled.

    She shut off all emotion and extraneous thought.

    She could only look at the bigger picture. She was not allowed to grieve or panic. Just like her predecessor before her, she had to suffer for the sake of the tribe.

    But Damien didn''t.

    Damien''s first thought was

    ''...I was toote.''

    He knew the Count wasing.

    He thought that as long as he moved as fast as possible, he''d be able to save them.

    He did move fast. He didn''t y around at all or spend any time exploring the parts of Gehenna he didn''t need to.

    Even his long interaction with the mist led to himprehending a concept of Existence, so it was absolutely necessary.eastern fantasy

    He did everything he could.

    Yet, he''d arrived toote.

    With an injury like that, Damien could not heal her.

    Unlike him, the Saintess was close to a regr human, especially in offensive and defensive capabilities. The second her heart was removed, her fate was set.

    Was there any way to save her?

    ''There isn''t.''

    If there was, she wouldn''t have done so much to make sure he didn''t find out about the danger until after he was already in Gehenna.

    Then, what was he supposed to feel now?

    Damien couldn''t tell.

    He''d gotten close to the Gehenna Tribe, but due to the Saintess'' machinations, he couldn''t feel the same emotions for them as he felt towards his own people.

    That was supposed to make him unwillingly indifferent to a scene like this, right?

    Wrong.

    It made him even angrier.

    Because he understood how much care went into the Saintess'' actions.

    She didn''t need to do that.

    Damien was just a guest. He had fate with Gehenna, sure, but the Gehenna Tribe had no reason to wee him.

    He was just an outsider, after all. In the end, his presence was not a benefit to their society.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Yet, what had the Gehenna Tribe been but weing since his arrival?

    Even when they doubted him, when did they ever treat him poorly?

    They were an unreasonably kind people, a kind of people that simply didn''t exist in the world today.

    Damien knew that kindness was a sin.

    However, he couldn''t help but respect those who''d managed to somehow preserve it.

    When even those people were swallowed by the greed and vice of the world

    The immutable rage in his chest wasn''t aughing matter at all.

    The Emperor''s Crown that he possessed didn''t have many effects in the short term.

    It was currently in an unsummoned state, but it was eternally existing atop Damien''s head in a dimension nobody could sense or measure.

    And as long as it was there, Damien would never experience setbacks or rejection fromws, regardless of where he was.

    The instant he returned to the Sacred Abyss Universe, itsws stopped resisting him.

    And the instant itsws stopped resisting him, heprehended them.

    Instantly.

    He didn''t need time to sit andprehend them when he''d personally experienced them for over a year. All he needed was permission from the cosmos itself for thoseprehensions to enter his soul.

    He had it now.

    That influx of powerbined with the emotion burning in his heart

    Needless to say, it was nothing good.

    Damien stepped forward.

    He looked back at Thalia, who was still shaking, but whose eyes were slowly bing more grounded.

    And he turned back to the Count.

    Count Verex grinned.

    "Are these the returnees?"

    He nced at the Saintess'' dying self mockingly.

    "It seems my goal hase to me before I had to go chasing it. Isn''t that wonderful?"

    The Saintess red at him with every ounce of emotion she could muster.

    She knew she was dying.

    She knew she wouldn''tst long.

    This was the moment her prophecies ended at.

    She couldn''t see further than this, not because there was nothing else, but because she was destined to die here.

    She''d prepared for it.

    lightsvel She''d been ready for it.

    However, as she turned her head and saw the pitiful appearances of her young geniuses, she felt a pang in her heart.

    She really didn''t want to go.

    She didn''t want to leave the tribe alone at this critical moment.

    But she had no choice but to entrust everything to Thalia.

    As she felt her final breaths approaching, the Saintess turned to Damien, a weak smile on her face.

    One word.

    She had one word.

    "...run."

    With that one word, she tried to warn him.

    And that only made him angrier.

    Damien took a deep breath.

    ''I''ve held it in for a long time.''

    Rage, anguish, negative emotion in general

    He''d been containing too much of it within him.

    But he couldn''t keep it in any longer.

    When he looked at the Count, the only thing he saw was someone who needed to die by his hands.

    There was no need for conversation with someone like that.

    There was no need for negotiation.

    Damien''s instincts kicked in, and he instantly disappeared.

    In the next moment, the sacred jungle was torn to shreds.

    A battle of untold proportions had begun.

 Chapter 1488 Wrath [3]

    Chapter 1488 Wrath [3]

    The Count was not anywhere near the strongest of the Gods who ruled the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    He was not even the strongest among the 32 Counts, and above them, there were 16 Dukes and 4 Grand Dukes below the Dark God.

    When he waspared to his peers, Count Verex didn''t have much to show aside from his massive ambitions.

    As such, he wasn''t respected by very many people, at least of those who were on the same level as him.

    He always hated that.

    But since he was such a twisted person, their animosity only worsened his bad qualities.

    The Count wanted the Crown of Realis for multiple reasons, but none of them were worthy of the crown itself.

    He wanted to be strong enough to step on his peers.

    At the end of the day, he was just thirsting for validation.

    Damien knew that.

    For some reason, as he looked at the Count, all of the man''s habits and behaviors became clear to him.

    The environment had slowed down as well, not that it mattered.

    Damien was currently seeing everything in frozen time. He was already sting towards the Count, and he was teleporting so there really wasn''t much time to be slowed in the first ce.

    Still, he felt like he had more than enough time to analyze the Count before striking him.

    ''Have I gotten stronger?''

    He didn''t know when.

    Nothing he had received in Gehenna should''ve made him stronger. The mist was like a talkativepanion, while the crown was more of an invisible aura that would provide no benefit until a certain point.

    But something like this¡­

    Why did he feel like the Count would be easy to defeat?

    Why did he feel like he could absolutely crush this man if he let loose his full strength?

    Damien was already holding himself back, you know?

    Even under the suppression of the Sacred Abyss Universe''sws, Damien held himself back so as to not scare off the people of the Gehenna Tribe.

    It had been over a year, even more than that if counting the pseudo-time of Gehenna, since Damien had actually been able to feel the full extent of his power.

    As for thest time he was able to actually use it¡­wasn''t that back when he fought that homunculus and charged through the Divine Order''s territory?

    He could feel it bubbling inside him now.

    He could feel the Ananta Matrix roaring, infused with a new sense of spirituality it had never possessed before.

    He held back so the people he cared for in this realm would not be harmed or terrified by his power.

    But they were dead now.

    So what was he holding back for?

    Power was meant to be used.

    Especially if it was to exterminate pests like Count Verex.

    Saying that the entire sacred jungle was torn to pieces the instant Damien attacked was not an exaggeration.

    He made multiple moves at once.

    Firstly, he ced a barrier around Thalia and the group of geniuses so that they wouldn''t be harmed by the coteral damage of the fight.

    Secondly, he put a barrier around the vige that froze time, just in case there was anybody inside who could be saved.

    And thirdly, once safety precautions had been taken, he let loose his aura.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosive force was massive simply because of the sheer weight of the aura.

    Damien''s power spread in every direction like the sharpest de in existence, tearing down the trees for several tens of millions of kilometers and killing several tens of thousands of creatures.

    A massive patch was formed in the sacred jungle, and that was before Damien even reached the Count.

    Once he did, he attacked again, not giving the Count a single chance to fight back.

    BOOM!

    A punchnded with a force enough to generate more heat than a thousand suns.

    It mmed against the Count''s face, cracking his jaw and sending him flying backwards several million kilometers.

    The Count''s eyes immediately turned serious.

    ''There was such a being in this remote tribe?''

    He immediately stopped underestimating the enemy when a punch that was thrown without energy to support it managed to injure him.

    He couldn''t sense any sort of Godly aura from Damien, but since the man could harm him, he had to be powerful.

    Which meant he also couldn''t joke around anymore.

    The Count raised his mana¨C

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien arrived before he could do anything.

    His energy acted like a machine.

    It was already coagted into an attack before even Damien had a chance to control it, and the instant he arrived, it burst forth. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was an energy close to Existence. Far closer to Existence than Damien had ever been.

    The Count wasn''t sent flying this time. Instead, he was mmed into the ground, his body creating a crater that only continued to widen as more and more force was thrown into him.

    "ARGH!"

    His bones shattered, and blood spewed out of his mouth.

    He roared in pain, his eyes filled with hatred for the man he''d only just seen for the first time.

    But Damien didn''t care.

    Damien was in the mood to rampage.

    And his power was supporting him wholeheartedly.

    Damien''s energy was acting different than usual. Right now, it acted as if it had its own sentience, carrying out Damien''s will without him even having to provoke it.

    ''This is the mist''s doing.''

    He felt the spirituality in the Ananta Matrix a while ago, but he didn''t realize the reason until now.

    When the mist integrated with his systems, it became like his personal assistant.

    As it was connected to his mind, body, and soul, it could execute his will with a precision that even he himself couldn''t naturally reach.

    The mist, in a certain sense, could be considered synonymous with energy itself.

    Therefore, when it had control, it could do things humans could never imagine no matter how strong they were.

    With its support, with the Emperor''s Crown''s support, and with his own power¡­

    Damien had finally reached a point where he could kill weaker Gods without tricks or schemes.

    He just had to fight.

    Which, in this situation, was perfect.

    Because he really, really wanted the Count''s blood to drench his hands.

    Damien dropped his eyes. The Count had sunk almost a kilometer into the ground before he was able to neutralize the force pushing him down.

    At the moment, he was ring at Damien like he was his worst enemy, and his mkh was filling the crater with ethereal ckness.

    It didn''t matter.

    It would never matter.

    ''You think you can fight¡­?''

    Damien didn''t say any words.

    He merely nced at the Count with clear mockery oozing from his gaze.

    His intent could be read clearly.

    This wouldn''t be a fight.

    Damien wouldn''t allow that.

    This would be a one-sided massacre.

    And the entirety of the territory the Count ruled would witness it.

    Count Verex mmed his foot into the ground and shot out of the crater.

    He was aiming at Damien, his mana prepared to exert a technique that would surely raze countless kilometers of society to the ground.

    But, again, nobody needed to get their expectations up.

    Just like the Uruk before him, the Count was just a target in Damien''s eyes.

    And a target that Damien set his sights on could only ever have one fate.

 Chapter 1489 Wrath [4]

    Chapter 1489 Wrath [4]

    Existence.

    Damien still couldn''t fathom how to properly use it.

    But in a moment like this, it seemed to fight alongside him, executing the imagination he couldn''t ess.

    The mist knew those things that Damien couldn''t fathom.

    Now that he had it, he had gained the creativity necessary to utilize Existence as aw.

    It was a benefit he never expected when he first allowed the semi-sentient entity into his body.

    Nevertheless, it was great.

    Really.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Another explosion rang out, but the force didn''te from mana.

    It came from Count Verex''s body surpassing the speed of light as his body flew out of the crater.

    He was a God in his own right. He refused to be an easy target for anyone, especially not some random person like Damien.

    His body disappeared beyond the capability of the human eye. In most cases, this would make him invisible to all perception.

    Damien wasn''t "most cases."

    Damien could easily sense him moving through the folds of reality. Even if he couldn''t, he could use the All-Seeing Eyes to enhance his visual perception until he could see him.

    Regardless, there was quite literally no way for the Count to escape his sight.

    BANG!

    The sound was fast.

    The Count arrived instantly and cut forth with his arm. Mkh red into the atmosphere and created a massive sword filled with an aura of blood and wrath.

    This de was one of the Count''s main killing techniques, God-Killing de. For most opponents, this alone was enough to ughter them.

    After all, thews within were no joke. At their height, the moment they came in contact with an opposing aura, they''d infiltrate and corrupt, giving the Count full control over his enemy''s body.

    However, the previous sound didn''te from this.

    With the God-Killing de in his arms, the Count shed at Damien''s head.

    Damien hadn''t reacted yet, almost as if he couldn''t see the Count''s movements, however¡­

    BANG!

    That was when the sound happened.

    The Count didn''t even see Damien move. He didn''t even realize something had happened until he found himself flying high into the sky.

    The pain cameter. Farter. So farter, in fact, that it didn''te until after Damien had already struck him again.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    Damien used physical strength alone. With Existence supporting him, every impact was amplified a thousandfold, mming into Count Verex with the weight of an entire gxy.

    The Count was shot further and further into the sky, his body spinning like a rag doll as he lostplete control.

    The God-Killing de was unsummoned because the Count''s mana was thrown into chaos by the strikes. He was left unarmed, and while he was trying and trying to regain control¡­

    BOOM!

    Damien mmed into him one more time.

    As his body entered what looked like the stratosphere of this world, he encountered a wall he''d never felt before.

    Damien grinned.

    ''As expected.''

    The invisible walls that separated this territory from everything else.

    If everything was as normal, these walls would have only restricted him, allowing the Count to move freely since he was a denizen of this world.

    However, again, the mist allowed Damien to use Existence to his advantage.

    The Count was subjected to the same walls, and as his body went too far into the territory''s borders, he mmed into the ceiling with the insane speed he''d gathered from Damien''s continuous strikes.

    His body ttened like a pancake.

    Blood sttered across the invisible ceiling before raining down to drench the clouds below.

    Count Verex''s body was ruined. ck smoke appeared from his internals and covered him, evidently some kind of healing ability, but it wasn''t able to do much.

    Practically all the blood in his body had been forced out of his pores. His bones were a powder, and his muscles had be no more than a pile of mush that sludged together with his organs to upy the deted frame that his skin had be.

    But the Count wasn''t dead yet.

    Damien could sense his life signs very clearly.

    That putrid breath that signified the existence of a tainted soul.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    "Come here."

    He held his arm out, and that thing was forced out of its body.

    "Did you think you could hide?"

    A soul so tainted in evil that it had turned crimson, the soul of Count Verex.

    It was hidden inside a parasite that inhabited the Count''s body. It was a safety mechanism that would allow him to escape even in the worst-case scenarios.

    However, Damien would not let him leave so easily.

    "Hmm¡­"

    He looked at the soul struggling in his hands. It had the Count''s image, which made its screaming and squealing a lot of fun to watch.

    "Gehenna is trying to take you."

    Gehenna only took the worst of the worst. Just what kind of crimes did hemit for such a ce to want him?

    "This man¡­was a God."

    At one point, the Count was someone who ruled over several trillions of beings.

    He was a being who stood near the peak of existence, the final level of power.

    However, here he was.

    He only had the chance to attack once, and even then, he wasn''t even close tonding it.

    ''Is this what I''ve be¡­?''

    Damien almost couldn''t recognize himself anymore.

    He thought back to what Thalia had asked back then.

    And he remembered his answer.

    He didn''t be a monster for power.

    He became a monster so that he could protect and avenge those he cared for. Power was just a medium.

    ''My path¡­''

    Damien took a deep breath.

    He didn''t know why he was doubting himself. Maybe it was because of what the Crown of Realis showed him, or maybe it was the things he saw in the memories of those evil spirits he''d devoured in Gehenna.

    Regardless, it was useless.

    Other people wouldn''t be peaceful because he wanted them to.

    When the other side was willing tomit enough evil to dye his soul in blood, Damien needed to be willing to do the same.

    Because if he wasn''t, he would never be able to defeat them.

    ''As long as I keep my line and don''t cross it, it doesn''t matter how much of a monster I am.''

    He''d learned this same lesson multiple times, but every single time he internalized it and kept it in his heart.

    This time, he looked at the soul of a murderer, the soul of someone who''d taken away people he cared about and people his friends cared about.

    And for his own benefit¡­

    ''Devour''

    That soul entered his body, bing a part of him.

    The sins of that murderer became his own, and he epted them willingly.

    Damien nced down at the world below.

    It was massive. Far bigger than he expected it to be.

    And as the Count''s soul became part of his existence¡­

    Something else entered Damien''s body as well.

    ''A qualification.''

    No, a deed.

    It was a mark of ownership that gave him control over the Count''s territory. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''I can¡­conquer this cosmos?''

    No, he could dominate existence.

    Damien''s eyes shined.

    ''Domination.''

    Another concept of Existence.

    It had just nowe to greet him.

 Chapter 1490 Aftermath [1]

    Chapter 1490 Aftermath [1]

    The battle seemed a little short, didn''t it?

    It really did.

    With Existence supporting Damien, the Count was practically fated to die. There was nothing he could have done, and at every turn, nothing worked out for him.

    His mana didn''t listen to him, the atmosphere disallowed him from correcting his stance or bncing himself, and he was always open to Damien''s attacks no matter what he did.

    The battle was indeed short, because Count Verex was turned into a puppet who had no free will of his own.

    But that didn''t mean it was a quiet fight.

    Damien did an insane amount of damage. It had to be remembered that the releasing of his aura alone razed tens of millions of kilometers ofnd to the ground.

    Every time he struck the Count, massive gashes were made in the jungle''s ecosystem.

    Other than Thalia and her group, who watched on, the vige, from which the surviving vigers were slowly starting to emerge, and Tiamat and Darius, who were just now returning from their battles, nothing was left untouched.

    Half of the jungle was nonexistent at this point, while the other half was barely holding on.

    When Damien threw Count Verex into the ground and formed that crater, the horrifying tremors in the earth managed to wake most of the Ancients who had been slumbering or hibernating while alerting the rest to danger.

    But it wasn''t over yet.

    BOOM!

    Damien took Count Verex into the sky.

    The first impact razed the rest of the jungle. The air pressure was truly a weaponized wind that even endangered some of the Ancients.

    The second, third, and fourth impacts only became even more ferocious.

    The amount of force Damien was using had to be remembered.

    His own physical force was enough to destroys without any supporting energy.

    When he hit the Count, Damien used that physical force amplified thousands of times by the weight of Existence.

    If he returned to the lower universe with that kind of power, entire gxies or maybe even Sectors could''ve been destroyed in the same amount of strikes.

    What would happen when that force exploded and sent its power in every direction?

    The devastation spread far past the bounds of the sacred jungle and into the rest of the territory.

    Earthquakes gued the citizens, making many houses and buildings copse.

    The rushing winds that mmed their way through thends picked up many a straggler and threw them into the sky. As for the infrastructural damage caused by the winds, it didn''t even need to be mentioned.

    Damien''s attacks, while simple in the moment, were catastrophic to those not involved in the battle.

    It truly was a battle of Gods.

    No, it was more than that.

    The destruction did happen.

    Because of Damien''s recklessness, the entire territory was almost destroyed. Countless lives were needlessly taken, an offense beyond offenses.

    When Damien was finished absorbing Count Verex''s existence, he looked down at the world and saw the result of his actions.

    This was not the domination he desired.

    He did have the desire for conquest.

    He did want to rule over existence.

    But he did not want to do so through fear.

    Just as he did in the Sanctuary, he wanted the people to live as they pleased, free to choose any path whether that be rebellion, servitude, or anything else.

    Damien did not want to kill for no reason. He didn''t want to be like the people he despised, even if he made the decision to be a monster to fight against monsters.

    At least for the innocent people who had no involvement in his path, he wanted to be something better than a monster.

    ''Fix this.''

    He told the mist to take care of it.

    Their souls were still present in this world, yet to ascend into the Wheel of Samsara.

    The mist voiced its hesitation.

    If it did as he told it to, the repercussions he''d have to face wouldn''t be a joke at all.

    If he wanted to rewrite the world like this¡­

    "I don''t care. Just do it."

    The concept of domination.

    Not only was it a concept rted to the domination of all things within existence, but also a concept that allowed one to dominate Existence itself.

    Since Damien gave themand with surety, the mist could not deny him.

    The world began to change.

    The damaged jungle regrew, and the bodies of those injured or killed in the aftermath were healed back to full health.

    Their souls found their vessels soon after, and as if nothing had ever happened, the world was reverted to the way it was before the battle.

    But their memories remained. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Damien said he wasn''t going to take away their free will.

    So he allowed them to remember what had urred, so they could make their own decisions on how to view him.

    Whether he was a savior or a monster¡­

    ''...it''s not up to me.''

    Damien took onest nce at the world below.

    ''Since the Count is dead, there aren''t any other Gods in this territory. Tiamat and Darius can handle things for a while¡­''

    Damien had a few ns in mind, which he used this moment to share with the two who had just returned to the vige.

    And with that, he disappeared from perception.

    He''d once again acted against causality.

    As such, he had to bear punishment.

    But, unlike that time with the homunculus¡­

    ¡­this time, Damien truly would suffer.

    ***

    The events that had just urred were truly a shock for any and everyone, including Tiamat and Darius.

    They had been in the middle of their own battle when it happened.

    Cairo died at Tiamat''s hands, and when the sun finally set, giving Darius ess to the Moon me, Caissa was also taken care of.

    At the end of the day, her power of twisted darkness came from the emotions in her soul.

    When Darius used the Moon me that was created to burn the ethereal and specifically target the soul, what more could she do to resist?

    She was made quick work of, and as Tiamat and Darius prepared to rush back to the vige, the entire jungle around them was blown to shreds.

    They were fine, of course. Damien sensed them and gave them protective barriers as well before he started the fight.

    However, neither of them had expected Damien''s power to have grown so much.

    They watched the battle in awe. As Demigods, they couldn''t see it directly, but they could sense it vaguely and interpret what was going on.

    It was a brutal battle, a true one-sided massacre as Damien intended it to be.

    They watched as the Count was killed in the most visceral way, where even his soul was forced to eternally suffer.

    They watched as the destroyed territory around them was brought back to normalcy, and they received Damien''s message soon after.

    It was something along the lines of, "Take care of the rest. I''ll be gone for a while."

    But they knew Damien better than most.

    They knew that something like what they''d seen at the end was not something he should''ve been capable of.

    Which meant¡­

    Tiamat sighed, while Darius gritted his teeth.

    Damien didn''t know it, but just as he watched others and noticed the small things, others watched him and did the same.

    It was things like this.

    It was the moment when he decided to take on punishment from the heavens themselves to right his wrongs when people looked at him and felt the kind of reverence and loyalty they usually felt.

    It was because of moments like this that his people never viewed him as a monster.

    And so, as Damien silently sacrificed himself to save those trillions of people who were affected by the battle, they swiftly made their way back to the vige.

    They would aplish the tasks he''d assigned them.

    Because he was a man worthy of their loyalty and respect.

 Chapter 1491 Aftermath [2]

    Chapter 1491 Aftermath [2]

    A thousand years of suffering.

    That was Damien''s punishment.

    He had to spend a timespan that was almost ten times as long as the life he''d lived in a state of torture.

    He was locked away in a natural realm made specifically for his punishment. The time in that ce was nonexistent, so there was no way for him to measure how long he''d been inside once he was there.

    He just had to sit there and suffer.

    Physical punishment, mental punishment, torture of the soul¡­

    Damien had a thousand years to experience it all.

    But nobody would ever know.

    He would return to reality not long after he left, and nobody would ever understand the kind of pain he went through.

    Still, a thousand years was quite a long time, and with it, Damien was able to somewhat improve on the things he had.

    Of course, it was difficult to do so while he was in extreme pain, but in the instances of respite he found over that millennium, he relentlessly meditated and practiced.

    The jewel representing the concept of domination appeared in the Emperor''s Crown.

    It, originally, was meant to dominate the concept of Existence. However, it did have a rtionship with the true definition of its name.

    With domination and mist, Damien gained most of what he''d been wanting for a while now.

    Damien could now control Existence to an rming degree.

    The only thing left was to find thest two concepts and trulyplete hisw.

    But there were things to be done before he could do that.

    Honestly, a thousand years of silence was something Damien needed.

    He didn''t need to stress about his thoughts because he knew that he would be stuck in the darkness for a long while more.

    Damien now knew the location of the Celestial Prison. He knew how to get there from the Straea n''s territory.

    And, it was quite coincidental, but as he was shown the Celestial Prison, the Emperor''s Crown identally showed him information about the Straea n''s forces as well.

    It was hard to find time to think, but the time eventually dide, and Damien used it to the best of his abilities to create a roadmap for both his and Void Pce''s future path.

    The pain was torturous. No matter how much agony Damien had experienced in the past, the cosmos could always find a way to make him suffer more.

    In the Sacred Abyss Universe''s perception, this was his first offense, so its standards were somewhat skewed. That was why Damien could find time to think and practica.

    There was no second chance, though. Not here, and not in the True Void Universe.

    If there was a next time, Damien was going to experience something unreal as punishment.

    Nevertheless, a thousand years passed in an instant.

    And about six monthster, Damien returned to reality.

    The light in his eyes had dulled a little, but that was it.

    He had a n, and he had the power to execute it.

    He couldn''t wait to go back now.

    Because soon, it would really begin.

    War.

    A true war against the True Void Universe''s greatest traitors.

    ***

    It took a long time for life to return to normalcy in Count Verex''s, or rather, Damien''s territory.

    For those who didn''t know the context of what had happened and experienced what could only be called a glitch in reality, it was somewhat easier.

    The people wrote it off as some sort of worldwide illusion and continued their lives normally.

    They had no way to prove those events were real, and they had no basis to believe any one person had actually caused those events.

    As for the Gehenna Tribe¡­

    Damien''s actions honestly didn''t matter much to them.

    No, it was more that they couldn''t really find it in their hearts to react positively.

    There were so many dead.

    Damien couldn''t save them.

    They had died before he came to this ce. Their souls had already entered the Wheel of Samsara.

    If he wanted to save them, he needed to do more than just twist reality.

    So, while the rest of the world regained their families, the Gehenna Tribe was forced to cope with loss.

    The first three months were spent in mourning.

    The bodies of those who''d passed were gathered and pieced back together before being burned in a massive fire pit.

    It was the usual method of cremation the Gehenna Tribe used. Through ceremonies like this, they hoped their dead could join their ancestors in Gehenna, living out eternity in peace.

    There were still a lot of people left in the tribe.

    They were the women and children, along with those like cksmiths and elders who had other roles in the vige.

    At the end of the day while almost half of their people died, they still existed. They could still live on.

    And they had to. If not for their own sakes, then for the sake of those who died to give them that chance. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Thalia had spent the past six months learning to lead the tribe from the elders. For three, she led every funeral ceremony personally, sending every single one of her deceased brothers and sisters away personally.

    Darius and Tiamat were helping the entire way.

    They helped the tribe rebuild their homes and gave them the resources to survive in a situation where they didn''t have any remaining hunters or battle-ready people in their group.

    And, ording to Damien''s n, they''d been trying to convince Thalia to take on a position bigger than herself.

    When Damien came into possession of the territory, he knew he couldn''t be the one to lead it.

    His home was the True Void Universe, not the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    He needed someone to take the reins here in his ce.

    And who was better for that task than Thalia?

    To protect the Gehenna Tribe and to make sure they wouldn''t be challenged in the future, to assure that someone trustworthy was ruling the territory in his ce, and to honor the Saintess, who''d protected him in her own way, Damien wanted Thalia to take control of this territory.

    But Thalia herself seemed¡­hesitant.

    As long as Darius and Tiamat had been trying to convince her, she''d been shutting out their words.

    For the most part, she didn''t allow them to try.

    She was busy with her duties, so it couldn''t be helped that she felt swamped. The problem was more that she didn''t seem receptive for other reasons.

    Was she running from an opportunity?

    Did she have some sort of problem?

    The two of them had no way to find out, because she would not open up to them.

    Her eyes had dulled ever since that day.

    No matter how much time passed, the light in her eyes never returned to the way it was before.

    As of now, there was only one way to find out what was holding Thalia back.

    There was only one way to see what was going on in his mind.

    Damien needed to return.

    Now that his punishment had ended and it was time for him toe back¡­

    Maybe, just maybe, the darkness that had been growing in Thalia''s heart could be cleared.

 Chapter 1492 Aftermath [3]

    Chapter 1492 Aftermath [3]

    Six months without Damien.

    To Tiamat, it was normal. Damien had a habit of disappearing for long stretches of time here and there when he ended up in situations beyond his control.

    Darius was less used to this as he''d spent less time with his brother, however, he''d heard the stories and knew Damien woulde back fine.

    As for the Gehenna Tribe, it was a bit different.

    For the most part, they didn''t know how to view him anymore.

    They didn''t hate him.

    Emotional instincts pushed them to antagonize him, since he revived so many people but the ones who died fighting to protect the tribe were left dead.

    However, their rational minds allowed them to push back that instinct.

    Damien killed a God for their sakes. If he had the ability to bring their people back to life, he would''ve done it.

    As such, the dilemma in their mind became less about whether they should view Damien positively or negatively and more about how they should treat him from now on.

    They all saw what he did.

    They all witnessed his actions that were practically those of an almighty being.

    Did they have to treat him like a God now? Did they have to view him with reverence?

    It felt strange since they''d been interacting with him in such a friendly manner until now, but at the same time, it only felt right when the gap between them was taken into ount.

    Still, as Damien didn''t return, this question slowly left everyone''s minds.

    The traumatic experiences they''d gone through were still fresh in their minds, but they still had to move on.

    That was life.

    So when Damien finally dide back and that question was brought back to their attention, they were once again stumped.

    Damien really did return as if nothing happened.

    The thousand years he spent in agony were his alone to bear. They were, at the end of the day, a valid punishment for his actions.

    He didn''t need pity or respect because he got punished for correcting his mistakes. Therefore, whether it was Tiamat or Thalia, Damien had no ns of telling anyone what happened.

    As he entered the tribe''s territory six months after everything went down, he found an atmosphere that was still solemn.

    The number of people in the vige had gone down considerably. They were still somewhat plentiful, and their daily lives were rtively normal, but nobody could ignore the loss of those people.

    There was now a massive stone monument at the center of the vige dedicated to those who protected them.

    And, unlike the generations before her, the deceased Saintess had a statue of her own, a show of respect by the people she once ruled.

    The new Saintess, Thalia, was different than most of those who came before her.

    She spent most of her time learning how to lead the tribe from the elders, but she also acted as the tribe''s main hunter, bringing in enough resources to help the tribe survive through these harsh times x

    Of course, Darius and Tiamat helped, but only minimally.

    Thalia hunted because it helped her keep her mind in order. Yes, she was helping the tribe, but she mainly went out because she could only find peace in the jungle.

    She had a spot just like Damien.

    And that''s where he went to find her.

    While he didn''t have the ability to respond, Tiamat had been sending him updates about the situation over the past half a year, so he was already informed about Thalia''s attitude towards his proposition.

    He had no ns of forcing her. If she really didn''t want to take on the position he was offering her, he''d find someone else to take it.

    But before he made that decision, he wanted to talk to her and see what was going on in her mind.

    He walked up quietly. Unlike his spot, where it was best to go at night, Thalia''s spot was better in the daytime.

    It was a peaceful ce where one could be free from the dangers of the jungle and purely enjoy the calm.

    It was a clearing at the edge of ake, clear and ssy. The red sun above painted it in quite a strange color, but it had its own ambiance that definitely felt rxing.

    When Thalia was here, she could have time alone with her thoughts.

    That was pretty much the opposite of what she wanted right now, but that was exactly why she went.

    No matter what was happening, she had to get her mind in order.

    So she sat at the edge of theke and stared at her reflection, wondering about many things.

    She didn''t expect to see someone else''s face appear in that reflection with hers, but on this day, it did.

    "I thought you wouldn''t invade my private space," she said quietly.

    "You did it first," Damien responded as he sat down.

    Thalia looked over at him, her eyes the same as they''d been since that day.

    "Did youe for the same reason as your friends?"

    "I''m the one who told them to ask you about that stuff, so what do you think?"

    Thalia sighed.

    "I¡­"

    She knew what she wanted to do. Logically, there were many pros and cons to Damien''s offer that she needed to consider, but she''d gone over most of them on her own.

    "I don''t think the tribe will survive if we''re put in the open like that."

    That was the conclusion she came to.

    She wanted to bring the tribe up to that point, sure. She wanted them to be more powerful so they could eventually grow out of their current status and be something greater.

    However, it was too big of a leap to immediately take.

    "Damien, we are weak," she said straightforwardly.

    She didn''t allow him to speak, but he didn''t mind. It seemed she already knew what he was going to ask and say.

    "I am d we have befriended you. I am d we have been given this opportunity. But we are too weak to take it. We always have been. Especially now, when our tribe can barely survive in our homnd, how do you expect us to survive out there, in a ce where people like you exist?"

    Damien almost wanted to say something witty, maybe something about how nobody like him existed outside either, but he refrained.

    Thalia was right, after all.

    He understood her hesitation.

    Genuinely, the offer he made to her wasn''t one she could ever dare to take. It was far too much of a risk.

    Maybe another Damien didn''t exist outside the jungle, but several Gods did.

    And more than the fact that they existed¡­

    "They are your enemies, are they not?"

    Thalia looked straight into his eyes.

    And Damien had no choice but to tell the truth.

    "They are."

    She nodded as if she''d been expecting it.

    "I am happy to be your ally. However, if your enemies be my enemies, how will my people survive?"

    They wouldn''t.

    She''d seen it personally the instant she returned from Gehenna.

    When someone of that level got involved, there was no future for the tribe but extinction.

    Damien watched her as she spoke.

    Her hollow eyes, her demeanor that waspletely different from the lively self she''d shown him until now¡­

    Yes, in a sense, she''d matured into a ruler.

    But that didn''t mean she had to lose herself in her role.

    And on top of that¡­

    "You''re only looking at things on the surface."

    Damien swept his hand through theke''s surface, disturbing their reflections.

    The offer he made was never as simple as just letting Thalia be the ruler of this territory.

    Even he knew that their current strength was pathetic.

    But there was one thing Thalia failed to consider.

    Damien also wanted the Gehenna Tribe to thrive. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    And with the resources he had in his hands¡­

    As long as he could keep them close, he really could help them be something amazing.

 Chapter 1493 Aftermath [4]

    Chapter 1493 Aftermath [4]

    Thalia was different now.

    The Thalia Damien knew was gone.

    The way she responded to the Saintess'' death was severe. She killed all the free will in her body and turned herself into someone who only acted for the benefit of the tribe.

    Because if she could sacrifice herself and help her people, she would do it without hesitation.

    It made Damien a bit sad seeing her current state. He didn''t like seeing her without any light behind her eyes.

    ''But it''s not my job to help her.''

    She didn''t want his help. If she did, she wouldn''t have acted the way she did.

    When he was put in this situation, what could he do?

    At most, he could try to help the tribe and hope that its revival would help Thalia gain some of her normal self back as well.

    "Do you want to be a God?"

    He could breach the subject now, because after an incident like that, Thalia''s worldview wasn''t the same as it once was.

    "I can make you one. I can bring the tribe up to that level as well. All you need to do is ask."

    It was an arrogant thing to say, but it was true.

    Thalia looked away, staring at her reflection again.

    Frankly, she also didn''t know how to act around Damien.

    Back then, she definitely had some sort of feelings for him, but she always knew it was impossible for them so she never entertained them.

    Now, she couldn''t feel those feelings even though she knew they existed, so when she looked at Damien, she just felt awkward.

    Especially when he talked about something like Godhood.

    Thalia knew what she needed. Along with power, worldview was incredibly important.

    The knowledge necessary to survive in the world outside the jungle was something she couldn''t gain without help from others, and Damien was the perfect person to give it to her.

    His backing was definitely something she wanted for the tribe.

    But¡­

    "What''s the catch?"

    Nothing in this world was free.

    "You already know the catch."

    "That''s hardly a catch."

    "Trust me, it definitely is. The world is massive. The world you''ll see if you ept my offer is even bigger. If you really do choose to get involved with it, you will definitely find yourself facing dangers beyond your imagination."

    "My promise is the power and backing to face those dangers. However, even with that, if you and your people don''t have the will to aplish what you''ve said you want to aplish, nothing can be done."

    Thalia didn''t respond.

    She had to make a choice.

    Did she want to live safely but restrict the growth of the tribe? Or did she want to take a risk that could exterminate them but also had the potential to make them powerful?

    It wasn''t an easy choice to make.

    It was something she needed to think about deeply, and it was something she needed to talk about with her people.

    "I''ll leave you alone to consider everything. Juste see me when you make a decision, and remember¡­"

    Damien put his hand on her shoulder.

    "I''m always on your side. Whatever you choose, I''ll support it to the best of my ability, so make your decision without any pressure."

    Damien told her his true feelings, and without staying past his wee, he left her alone.

    He would now return to the tribe to spend thest few days or weeks he had in the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    Soon, he would have to return to his home to fight his own battle.

    He could only help them until then.

    And he could only wait until then.

    *** n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Thalia sat staring at her hands.

    Damien had already been gone for several minutes, but she hadn''t left this position.

    In truth, the worries she voiced were not her main ones.

    She knew that Damien''s support meant the world. She did have pride of her own, and she did want to help the tribe with her own abilities, however, she wasn''t going to halt their growth because of those selfish desires.

    She was tempted to just say yes and give him control over the tribe.

    But she had a responsibility towards her people.

    And frankly, she was scared.

    It had to be remembered that Thalia was a vige girl. She''d never left the jungle before, and it was the same for most of the tribespeople.

    To suddenly thrust them into the wider world, and in a position of great power at that¡­

    For them, it was absolutely terrifying. Everything would be new. Everything would change.

    Thalia didn''t know if they''d be able to adapt properly to the terrifying world outside, and more than that¡­

    ¡­she was afraid of her own power.

    Domination.

    Damien wasn''t the only one who gained that power.

    For Damien, it was the ability to dominate existence, but for Thalia¡­

    It was the ability to control people.

    She''d tested the ability already.

    Not on people, but on beasts.

    And as she''d learned, as long as she desired it and as long as she had the sufficient ability to do so, she could force anyone to do anything.

    Thalia was afraid of what would happen if her power was allowed to grow.

    She was afraid she''d be like the Count who''d killed her people for greed and power.

    She thought back to the conversation she had with Damien, and she thought back to the way she epted the advantages and disadvantages of power.

    However, when absolute control was the power in question, she couldn''t bring herself to ept her own eptance.

    ''Will it be okay?''

    She didn''t know.

    ''Will I be okay?''

    She didn''t know.

    There was nothing she knew right now, and that was exactly the problem.

    Thalia couldn''t be a risk-taker anymore. She couldn''t put her people in danger because of her ambitions.

    But wasn''t it her job as the Saintess to help them thrive?

    Was it right to hold them back?

    Was rejecting Damien truly going to hold them back?

    She held her head in her hands. Her thoughts were getting too chaotic.

    ''I¡­really don''t know.''

    She wanted to cry, but she couldn''t force the tears out of her eyes.

    ''Saintess, what do I do?''

    She wasn''t ready for this position.

    She wasn''t ready for this responsibility.

    No matter how much she tried to prepare herself, being forced into power like this was too much for her.

    ''I don''t want it¡­''

    The tears came on their own.

    When she stopped trying to force them out, they flowed freely, wetting her face and falling into theke below.

    ''Saintess¡­''

    ''Grandma¡­''

    She couldn''t do it.

    It was too much.

    Thalia cried her heart out.

    She wailed because she knew nobody could hear her.

    Life had been cruel to her.

    She didn''t want to live this cruel life.

    She wanted it to just be over, so she could sit back and be happy.

    But was that even something allowed to her anymore?

    Was that something she could ever do?

    The problem was never Damien''s offer.

    The problem was the weight on Thalia''s shoulders crushing her into the ground and forcing her to die slowly as it killed her.

    If she couldn''t cope with that weight¡­

    Thalia cried.

    She cried and cried and cried.

    And when night finally fell, her tears went dry.

    Her eyes were back to their dull and indifferent state.

    The decision she had to make was not about whether she epted Damien''s offer or not.

    No.

    What she had to decide now was if she''d fold right here and now¡­

    ¡­or if she''d persevere through it all.

    To Thalia, who was still too young for life to hit her like this, it was a decision beyond any other.

    Because giving up seemed far too tempting to disregard.

 Chapter 1494 Decisions [1]

    Chapter 1494 Decisions [1]

    Everything went fast for the people of the territory from that point forth.

    For the Gehenna Tribe, it was a tense time.

    That night, Thalia pulled herself together. She epted her role, and truly epted her responsibility.

    Truly maturing as she wanted to would be a slow process, but what mattered was her choice to persevere.

    As long as she didn''t give up, she''d get to where she wanted to be.

    That was a foregone conclusion.

    When Thalia returned to the tribe the next morning, she immediately gathered the elders and told them about Damien''s proposition.

    After speaking to them about it, she took it to the rest of the tribe.

    Everyone deserved to have a say in this.

    For the most part, they were terrified. They didn''t think they were nearly good enough to be rulers above trillions of people.

    That simply wasn''t their role in society.

    They were justmon people, after all. Putting them in an aristocratic position when they had no knowledge or expertise in the role was absolutely not the right choice.

    The reactions to Thalia''s proposal were mostly negative.

    Not because the tribe didn''t want to grow, but because they wanted to do so slowly.

    They hadn''t even recovered from the cmity they''d just faced. How were they supposed to elevate themselves to the top of society right now?

    Thalia and the elders decided that the matter would be put to vote, so the tribe could decide what the tribe wanted to do.

    And that vote¡­

    ¡­ended in failure.

    The majority of the tribespeople said no to the offer. Those who said yes were mainly the younger geniuses who still had the hot-blooded desire to see the wider world.

    It was decided then and there that the tribe wouldn''t ept Damien''s proposal.

    However, that wasn''t the end of it.

    The tribespeople didn''t want to leave the jungle just yet, but they didn''t want to limit Thalia''s opportunities.

    Maybe for them, it was too dangerous.

    For Thalia, on the other hand?

    It was the chance of a lifetime.

    Thalia was still young. She was their Saintess, yes, but she''d always been an independent woman with dreamsrger than any of them could imagine.

    Times were tough right now, but tough times were exactly what bred heroes.

    They wanted to see Thalia thrive.

    And when Thalia thrived, she coulde back to the jungle and bring the rest of them up to her position.

    Because Thalia wasn''t just a Saintess to them, she was a daughter and friend.

    They respected her, but they also loved her.

    There had never been a Saintess who''d been forced into her role as young as Thalia was.

    In this special situation, where an even more special situation had presented itself, they also had to give a special answer.

    The tribe as one dered it.

    While they would remain in the jungle, Thalia needed to take this chance and be a ruler beyond all rulers.

    That was the destiny she was meant for.

    The support of her people meant more to Thalia than they''d ever realize.

    It was this moment when they all came together to support her that she finally managed to ovee herself.

    A little bit of light returned to her eyes.

    And the ambition she''d gradually been killing slowly started to make its return to her heart.

    That same day, Thalia went to Damien and epted his offer, telling him about the decision of the tribe.

    He, naturally, already knew what had happened, and he''d already made preparations for it.

    Six months had passed since he killed Count Verex.

    Those left at his estate had already been questioning their Lord''s disappearance. At this point, a makeshift order had been created to take care of things in his absence.

    Damien visited that cest night.

    And he exerted his power.

    Discreetly, he read every soul in that ce and weeded out the good from the bad.

    Afterwards, while removing the rotten parts of the estate, he used some mild brainwashing so the people there wouldn''t make problems for Thalia when he brought her into office.

    And, finally, Damien brought some Nox beings from the Sanctuary to fill in the positions that were left open and supervise the original members of the estate that were left. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The Nox could adapt to mkh far easier than regr denizens of the True Void Universe, and since the Nox under Yong An''s control were loyal to him, Damien didn''t have to worry about them falling prey to old instincts.

    Damien had already removed any trace of Foreign Race control from the Nox''s bodies. No matter what the Dark God''s forces tried, they''d never be able to regain the control they once had.

    Nevertheless, the Count''s estate was prepared for Thalia''s arrival already. From the Demigods who''d protect her to the people who''d help her manage managerial tasks, everyone was present.

    As an extra safety measure, Damien also left one more person though.

    Well, whether or not he could be considered a person was a real question at this point, but he was once one.

    He, of course, was Void Pce''s 6th Sword, Rein Winchester, who''d been reborn as a homunculus after Damien gained the concept of order.

    He''d been in the Sanctuary until now, getting used to his new body. Damien originally brought him along as insurance against other Gods, but now he''d found a perfect ce for the man.

    The homunculus body Rein inhabited was not human, and responded extremely well to new stimuli. It could adapt unlike anything else, so Rein could use his power effectively even if he was ced in a new cosmos.

    Everything was set.

    And Thalia matched Damien''s expectations perfectly.

    With hermitment, there was nothing left to be done.

    Damien took her to the Count''s estate, her new residence, and introduced her to everyone and everything.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t stay to watch how she grew.

    Damien had to get back to the Heavenly World as soon as possible. Not just for his own matters, but for the Gehenna Tribe as well.

    Count Verex may have been rtively weak, but he was not unknown.

    His death was sensed by several people across the cosmos, and they would soon turn their eyes to this ce.

    Before that happened, Damien had to start a war with the Straea n.

    The Celestial Prison was his goal.

    And the Celestial Prison wasn''t something that could be created by the people of the True Void Universe.

    There was only one being with enough power to create a prison that could house Dante Void.

    From beginning to end, it was because of that person that Dante was forced to suffer.

    ''The Dark God.''

    Even after absorbing Count Verex''s existence, Damien didn''t know anything about the elusive figure but his title and gender.

    All he could tell was that the man in question was more dangerous than anyone else in existence.

    And he was the enemy Damien had been working all this time to face.

    To save his father, to strike the Foreign Races, and to turn attention away from Thalia and her people, Damien needed to leave.

    He returned to the tribe only five dayster to regroup with Tiamat and Darius.

    After saying their goodbyes, which wereced with the awkwardness of not wanting to part but being faced with a strange distance and dissociation, the group made their way back to the original Dimensional Crack''s location.

    With Damien''s control over the Count''s territory, he could now open the crack from this ce at any time, but to arrive in the same position as he entered from, he needed to open it here.

    He turned around, giving the jungle onest look.

    ''It was nice while itsted.''

    A little vacation away from struggle, albeit one that was interrupted, was something he really did need.

    And now that the time hade, he opened that portal.

    He could finally return home.

 Chapter 1495 Decisions [2]

    Chapter 1495 Decisions [2]

    There were a lot of things left unfinished in the newly named True Void Territory in the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    Damien wanted to supervise Thalia''s growth so that she could rule more efficiently and provide him with the things he needed from her, but he didn''t have that kind of freedom.

    Since he''d left good people with her, though, he believed she''d meet his expectations once again, so he left without much worry.

    It was a little bittersweet, though.

    It was never mentioned, but Damien knew of the feelings Thalia developed when they were hunting together for a year.

    He didn''t say anything about it, and neither did she, but they both knew.

    On her side, it was the fact that she was more worried about the tribe than romance and didn''t think she had time for it. More than that, as a future Saintess, she would have to deprive herself of such joys.

    She''d willingly chosen to shut her feelings off, and after the Saintess'' death, whatever remnants there were got crushed.

    It was a bit of a shame that her first glimmer of romance ended in such a way, but perhaps it was better that she cut those feelings off herself.

    Because, though it was selfish, Damien would''ve felt terrible cutting them off for her.

    He already had four wives waiting for him at home. He already didn''t give them as much attention as they deserved as it was, so how could he bring another one home?

    On top of that, with his current mental state, he frankly didn''t have a single romantic bone in his body. He was too focused on his goals to look at anyone in any way that wasn''t tonic.

    It was always fated to end badly, but Damien still felt a bit sour about it.

    Especially since, putting aside her feelings, they were still close friends.

    Whatever the case, she made Damien''s time in the Gehenna Tribe a memorable one, and their time together would always have a ce in his heart.

    It was such a mentality that let him arrive home in peace, without any excess emotion ruining his mood.

    ''I guess it''s a thing with Saintesses.''

    The two Saintesses he met were the ones he respected more than anyone else in that cosmos, and they were the reason he left there with a positive impression of it.

    They didn''t know it yet, but that positive impression would go a long, long way.

    Damien didn''t waste any time after returning.

    Feeling the fresh aura of mana around him, he first checked how much time had passed.

    Since the two cosmos operated on differentws of time, it was obvious that they''d have different time flows.

    There was no urate way to measure the exact rtionship between them, but it had been around 2 months since Damien left, so that was something.

    The short span of time he''d been gone was a great thing for him.

    Some more difficult cracks did indeed take a long time to close, so nobody would question why the area had been closed down for so long.

    And in only two months, the tension between forces couldn''t have heightened enough for Damien to return to any unexpected situations.

    If there was one thing to note, it was the fact that this area, unlike any other closed crack location, was not left corroded.

    The Foreign Race territory that had formed here waspletely gone. It was the first time in history that something like this had ever happened.

    Damien met up with Dominic and the rest of the Void Pce forces guarding the crack the moment he got out, and as Darius began excitedly telling his brother about his adventures, the group made their return to the pce.

    He didn''t realize how much he missed this ce.

    The halls that had be familiar, the feeling of home he thought he wouldn''t be able to feel for a while, the people who were all family to him¡­

    He got another chance to remember just what he was fighting for.

    Damien wanted to immediately go meet his wives. He''d been thinking about how little they''d been able to see each other recently a lot, but he first had to call a meeting and inform the people he ruled about what they''d be doing next.

    This was an important moment. It could not be postponed for anything.

    Before news even got around that the Young Lord had returned, a notice of an emergency meeting concerning all important personnel was called.

    Everyone arrived with the same confusion, people like ire and Serena, the 12 Swords, the Elders, and important military personnel.

    Naturally, they were all surprised to see Damien standing at the head of the hall when they arrived.

    For the most part, nobody asked questions.

    Both from the look in Damien''s eye, and the fact that he''d called this meeting before informing anyone of his return, told them that something important was about to happen.

    And after everyone was present and seated, Damien finally opened his mouth.

    "I''ve found it."

    The first words he said.

    He looked directly at his mother as he spoke.

    "I''ve found the Celestial Prison."

    The hall was instantly thrown into silent chaos.

    ire''s eyes shook, as did Serena''s.

    Persia had serious eyes, while those from the 12 Swords had mostly surprised expressions on their faces.

    They didn''t even know Damien knew about the Celestial Prison, and he''d alreadye back telling them he knew where it was.

    If it wasn''t surprising, what was?

    The rest of the room was filled with confusion, since none of them knew what the Celestial Prison was.

    Hugo stood up and mmed his hands down on the table in front of him.

    "Are you telling the truth?!"

    His voice came out almost as a roar, which brought people''s attention back to Damien.

    Hugo, or rather, Brontus, was one of Dante''s closest friends and someone Damien called uncle even though they didn''t have any blood rtion.

    Seeing his excitement made Damien happy.

    So happy, in fact, that he couldn''t stop himself from smiling.

    "I''m telling the truth. During my excursion in the otherworld, I gained an opportunity and saw it with my own eyes. I''m confident I can get there."

    "Hahahahaha!"

    Hugo immediately broke into excitedughter.

    "Good! Good! Good!" He repeated the same word over and over again.

    Meanwhile, ire and Serena were already holding back their tears.

    The news meant more to them than it did to anyone else, after all.

    Damien looked around the room.

    Looking at all these people, every single one of whose names he knew, his mood began to change.

    Excitement, anticipation, all these emotions that were clouded by the events in the Sacred Abyss Universe returned to him.

    His smile widened into a grin.

    "The reason I''ve called you all here isn''t just to reveal this news. I''m sure it''s confusing to a lot of you right now, but it boils down to this¡­"

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    "...get everyone ready."

    Effective immediately...

    "...we will be waging war against our enemies."

    It all came down to this. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "With this operation, we will save Dante Void and bring him back to our pce safely, and¡­"

    "...this time, we won''t stop until they''re all exterminated."

 Chapter 1496 Charge [1]

    Chapter 1496 Charge [1]

    Damien proceeded toy out his n before all these eyes.

    He''d done a whole lot of pondering on this one. It was a n he''d carefully formted so that there would be no mistakes in the operation to rescue Dante.

    Wars took a long time.

    Damien had participated in many over his lifetime, and even the shortest ones raged on for several years before finally calming down.

    In a certain sense, the war between Void Pce, the Divine Order, and the Straea n had been going on for a very long time too.

    However, it was less of a war and more of a one-sided beatdown.

    But Void Pce was not going to take it anymore.

    And rather than letting this war be another one thatsted for years and years and cost more than anyone could imagine, Damien wanted to end it as fast as possible.

    Theplete extermination of the two influences that inhibited his path was his goal.

    And the current Void Pce was more than just ready to help him aplish it.

    See, the barrier around the pce was never taken down.

    The protections Damien put in ce came with a function to alter the time flow.

    When Damien asked his mother if she could look after the pce while he was gone, he wasn''t just asking her to do the dirty work that he didn''t want to.

    He was asking her to train the pce members in his ce and continue on the set trajectory they''d been following.

    ire understood her son''s intent, especially when he gave her control over the mechanism that affected the pce''s internal time flow.

    Thus, in the two months that had passed in the True Void Universe since Damien left to explore the otherworld¡­

    ire may or may not have been a little bold with it.

    Serena was also a Goddess who controlled Time, wasn''t she?

    Damien''s barrier was amazing. To be able to turn every day into a year was something most couldn''t dream of.

    However, with Serena''s expertise that focused specifically on time, that effect could be enhanced manifold.

    As such, the barrier now had an even more wondrous capability.

    And in the two months that Damien had been gone¡­

    For the majority of the pce, almost 200 years had gone by.

    Other than the areas that had their own unique time flows, like the Young Lord''s residence, the entire pce was ced in a startling dtion that nobody else in the Heavenly World could ever dream of.

    The results of that?

    Naturally, the people of the pce had grown into monsters.

    All those who hadn''t been able to ascend to Divinity were taken straight there. Even the mostmon maids of the pce were now Demigods. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As for Gods¡­well, the barrier between regr Divinity and Godhood was far greater than any barrier a practitioner would experience before that level, so one couldn''t expect a huge number of Gods to appear just because some time passed.

    There were thousands of high-rank Demigods among the pce''s warriors, though, and it wasn''t as if nobody ascended to Godhood.

    There were a few select individuals, people who were Elders or high-level members of the pce beforehand, who managed to gain the opportunity of a lifetime during these 200 years.

    5 of them, to be exact.

    The Void Pce Damien returned to had not 11 Swords like the one he''d left, but 16.

    It was perfect.

    "We''re waging war on two fronts, so we''ll have to be rtively careful with our movements. Here''s the overarching n¡­"

    Damien had already assessed the pce''s current strength beforeing here. He knew exactly what to do with his people, and he knew exactly how to strike his enemies.

    "We''ll obviously hit the Divine Order first..."

    Damien couldn''t conserve his forces or split them when he was facing them.

    The weaker of the two. They definitely had strength hidden that the pce''s informationwork couldn''t see, but Damien was confident that they couldn''t stand against the current pce.

    Plus¡­

    "...but that''s only a front."

    The main enemy was the Straea n.

    Damien couldn''t conserve his forces or split them when he was facing them.

    "We need to drop their guards, so we''ll start a few skirmishes here and there with the Divine Order to make them doubt our overall strength."

    "The core of this n is elsewhere."

    There were a few favors that needed to be called in.

    But before that, Damien gave the necessary exposition for those who needed it.

    He told them about Dante''s imprisonment, then went on to speak about what he''d learned about the Sacred Abyss Universe and the Straea n''s connection to the Foreign Races.

    After that, he expanded a little more on the few connections he''d made sinceing to this world.

    Since everyone had the necessary foreknowledge for theing conversation, Damien was finally able to get into the guts of the n he''d concocted.

    There was a lot of preparation to be done.

    Some of it was in matters the people here couldn''t even fathom, but since their Young Lord was speaking so confidently, they had no choice but to believe his words.

    This was too serious of a matter for jokes and exaggeration, after all.

    It took Damien over an hour to get through it all, and by the end, everyone in the hall was left speechless.

    The thoroughness of this n, the fact that it didn''t even leave a single crack for the enemy to escape through¡­

    It was quite a monstrous disy of scheming.

    And that''s what they thought without knowing everything.

    There was a certain fact Damien kept to himself.

    His own power level.

    He was confident in his n mainly because of how much of it relied on his own participation.

    He trusted his abilities more than anything else. The problem was, he couldn''t let others have the same feeling right now.

    He couldn''t let them get overconfident because they were following someone powerful.

    That was a fatal w that caused many an influence to fall during Damien''s days in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Nevertheless, the emergency meeting soon came to an end.

    The confusion that everyone entered the hall with was gone, reced with a sense of anticipation and seriousness.

    Damien gave them a month to prepare everything they needed.

    It was only a month because there were things that needed to be done before the war could begin.

    As the meeting hall cleared out, Damien stayed back with his mother, aunts, and uncles for some extra conversation.

    He told them a more in-depth version of what he told everyone else, and more than that, he stayed back just to chat with them.

    They were his family, after all. What was the point if he only ever talked to them about serious matters?

    By the time that conversation ended, a few more hours had passed, and by the time Damien returned to his residence, it was already nighttime.

    He''d spent the rest of the day finding the two fastest messengers the pce had to offer.

    And the two in question had just set off for their own unique destinations.

    Everything was moving ording to n.

    The only real question was whether or not all this nning was really enough.

 Chapter 1497 Charge [2]

    Chapter 1497 Charge [2]

    Within the month that passed after Damien announced his deration of war to his people, the two messengers he chose were able to effectively reach their destinations.

    On one side, at the eastern edge of the Heavenly World, a woman with starkly white hair held a token in her hand.

    There was a strange smile on her face that looked both incredulous and impressed.

    "He sent this¡­?" She asked.

    "Yes, ma''am. This messagees directly from our Young Lord."

    The one who spoke was a man in ck clothing that covered the majority of his appearance.

    "Young Lord, eh¡­?"

    She''d known the news for a while now, but it still surprised her every time she heard it.

    ''He really moved fast, doesn''t he?''

    She shook her head with a smile.

    The message she received was a wild one. For Damien to be nning something of this scale mere months after he left for Void Pce was absolutely preposterous to her.

    How could she know that it had actually been far longer than that?

    It took more than just a few words for Damien to gain respect and position in Void Pce. Perhaps nobody in the world knew what the current pce looked like because of him.

    Nobody knew how the people of Void Pce truly looked at their Young Lord.

    Regardless of her information, orck thereof, the things he''d done were not outside of her expectations. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''I''ve been scammed.''

    She smiled wryly.

    Five years of work definitely wasn''t enough payment for a job like this, but¡­

    "...oh well."

    She was the one who agreed to it, so she was more than happy to deliver on what she promised.

    "Send word back to your Young Lord," she said, addressing the messenger.

    "The Veritas n will fully support his ns."

    The messenger''s eyes widened slightly.

    It seemed he didn''t know who he was talking to until now.

    Someone who could speak for the Veritas n¡­

    Someone who just said that the Veritas n would participate in their war¡­

    Though it probably didn''t matter in the long run, there was now one more person who religiously believed in Damien.

    And that person was now returning to the pce with great news.

    ***

    On the other side, the second messenger had to make a much longer journey.

    Luckily, Damien''s support meant traveling with means that others simply couldn''t imagine. Despite the fact that the trip she made was meant to take at least a year even with teleportation arrays, she reached within fifteen days.

    Somewhere in the Northwest of the Heavenly World, she kneeled before an old man who was dressed like a pope.

    His face was clean and blessed with vitality, but one could still see the wrinkles all throughout.

    He also held a token in his hands, which he looked at curiously.

    "This¡­!"

    He almost couldn''t stop himself from eximing when he saw the contents.

    "Hahaha¡­I truly cannot believe it."

    He held his hand up to his head.

    He''d never met the sender of this message, but he was thoroughly impressed with the man''s ability.

    "So this is your sessor, Dante¡­?"

    The man smiled happily.

    "It seems he''s carrying your legacy better than you could have ever imagined."

    He looked down at the messenger, his smile still as warm as always.

    It was as if he viewed all beings as equal, all beings as his sons and daughters.

    "Please go inform your Young Lord. Our Holy Empire will absolutely aid him in his righteous endeavors."

    The messenger bowed her head and immediately left. That was all she needed to hear.

    Meanwhile, the old man turned his head to the sky, opening his eyes for the first time in a long time.

    His irises were circles of gold, with nothing like pupils present anywhere within them.

    He was looking at something others couldn''t hope to see.

    "Goddess¡­"

    There was something nuanced about his expression.

    "Is this perhaps¡­a hint?"

    There was an answer he''d been seeking for a very long time.

    And something about this moment gave him the feeling that he''d find it soon.

    "Damien Void¡­"

    The smile of the Holy Emperor was especially mysterious as he said the name.

    "...I truly can''t wait to meet him."

    ***

    Other than those two meetings, which took ce in absolute secrecy, nothing major happened during the month that passed.

    Void Pce was still keeping a low profile. It mostly focused on ruling its own territory, just as it had done until now.

    There was nothing particr going on that could raise suspicion from anyone uninvolved.

    Tensions were, of course, high between the pce and its enemies, but it didn''t look like anybody was willing to make the first move.

    The Divine Order was still being forced to hide away by the Straea n, and when it came to the Straea n itself¡­

    "Something big has happened."

    The Divine Council was holding another meeting. This was the first they''d had since they received orders from the Straea n to turtle down.

    "I am not sure of the details, but there seems to have been a stirring in the otherworld. Those at Straea have been concerned with it, but they haven''t told us anything."

    This meeting had one particr purpose.

    And that was betrayal.

    "We cannot keep on like this."

    The Divine Order had been under the Straea n''s foot for almost the entirety of its existence. Over this unbelievable span of time, they''d hardly received any benefits.

    The way they were treated was like trash. They, of course, never wanted to be someone else''s dog. However, they never had a choice in the matter.

    Until now.

    There had been a stir in the otherworld. The Foreign Races were pulling away from the Heavenly World to focus on it, whatever it was.

    At a time like this, if the Divine Order could form a greater connection with them, one that could rival or even surpass the Straea n¡­

    Wouldn''t they have an opportunity to free themselves from the Straea n''s rule?

    It wasn''t a surefire n. But they couldn''t deny the existence of the possibility, nor could they deny the ambitions in their hearts.

    The 12 Gods of the council, who were now twelve again after their deceased member was reced, hade together precisely to n for that possibility.

    However, their timing was quite bad.

    The Divine Order''s luck had never been good. It wasn''t the first time that they''d experienced a situation like this.

    But none of those other cases couldpare to this one.

    It was as if fate itself was against them.

    Because while they were still in the middle of that meeting, while they were still plotting on how to increase their standing¡­

    ¡­they got the news.

    The Southwestern Region was under attack.

    Forces from Void Pce had already crossed the border and taken the principalities on it.

    But that wasn''t it.

    On the border between the Eastern and Western cardinal regions, another army was also pushing inward.

    The Veritas n was making their move.

    And while the Divine Order was currently unaware of their presence, there was one more army approaching them from the north.

    They were surrounded, immediately turned into prisoners of their own territory.

    And as the horns red¡­

    A war between Great ns had begun to rage across the Heavenly World.

 Chapter 1498 Charge [3]

    Chapter 1498 Charge [3]

    The favor Damien called in from the two influences his pce was closest to was simple.

    He asked them to help him eradicate the Divine Order.

    He didn''t say a single word about the Straea n. That was his own battle to fight.

    The Divine Order was just a small fish inparison, and Damien didn''t mind sharing the meat.

    The Veritas n was present to provide real battle power, since most of Void Pce''s forces against the Divine Order were just there for show.

    And the Holy Empire wasing to free the citizens from their brainwashing.

    It took Damien a while to figure out how to do so.

    They had been brainwashed since birth, so none of them knew life outside of it. To remove them from the Divine Order''s control was to leave them without any identity whatsoever.

    That wasn''t the right solution.

    After a lot of research and even more postting in his mind, Damien created a theory that was basically already tested and proven.

    He modified that theory so that it could be used by others, and he gave it to the Holy Empire, since they specialized in, obviously, the more holy elements of the world.

    It wasn''t an end-all-be-all solution. All it did was remove the Divine Order''s direct control over the citizens.

    As for their belief in the religion, it wouldn''t change. Nor would their daily lives, since it wouldn''t be revealed to them that they were brainwashed in the first ce.

    For the Divine Order, Damien nned not only their extermination, but also their revival.

    He would create a religion for the people of the Southwestern Region, a new version of their own religion that didn''t exploit them.

    For that purpose as well, the Holy Empire was necessary.

    Still, that wasn''t the entire reason behind the three-pronged assault.

    To outsiders, it didn''t look like Void Pce was leading this operation.

    To them, it looked like the three great ns had formed an alliance for the sole purpose of destroying the Divine Order.

    And with the Divine Order so deeply connected with the Straea n, naturally, they couldn''t act indifferent to these matters.

    They had to be wary.

    The instant news got out about what was happening, the Straea n immediately secured their borders.

    They now had to watch out on three sides.

    Well, mainly just two.

    To the Straea n, the rising Void Pce still wasn''t enough of a threat to take seriously.

    But also because of that, they had to be careful of the alliance in question.

    Nevertheless, with the Straea n forced to watch themselves from every angle to assure their own safety, Damien gained several holes to exploit.

    It was exactly what he expected.

    His own part in this operation was quite a bit more important than everyone else''s.

    It was also the reason most of Void Pce''s forces were still hanging back.

    They were waiting for his signal.

    At the moment, Damien was already in the Northern Region.

    He spent the majority of the month of respite he had with his wives.

    It wasn''t much time at all, but it was at least something.

    ''But after this, I''ll be free to spend a lot more time at home.''

    This was a major operation. If everything went ording to n, the Void Pce would have no more enemies remaining in the Heavenly World, which meant this ce could truly be secure.

    To ensure that said security would be a reality, Damien left them once again after only twenty days, making his way towards the Northern Region.

    And after changing his existence into one he''d never used before, Damien was able to enter easily.

    The Northern Region, at least before the war began, was the easiest region to gain entry into. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Because the Straea n''s territory was unique among all the rest in the Heavenly World.

    It was called thewless zone for a reason.

    Criminals and people who couldn''t find a ce in normal society always migrated towards this ce.

    It was truly and of evil, where crime ran rampant without any sort of punishment to follow it.

    The only rule of the Northern Region was strength. As long as one was strong enough tomit the crime and strong enough to avoid persecution, one could get away with quite literally anything.

    This was and where one couldn''t live if one wasn''t evil.

    This was thend that birthed people who''d go on to work under the Straea n andmit such vile deeds that they''d be known as the 4 Evils.

    It was actually the most convenient setting Damien could have asked for.

    In a ce like this, he could act without worries.

    The disguise he''d taken on was a battle-hardened man, bald with scars covering his face.

    He wore a deep ck cloak to hide the rest of his body, but anyone who saw him could tell he was strong.

    Even if they couldn''t sense his power, they could definitely sense his malevolence.

    Damien himself hadn''tmitted much evil. When he did happen to do something against his morals, he always made sure to right his wrongs and fix his karma as he did in the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    However, Damien had devoured the evilest of evils in that cosmos.

    It wasn''t hard for him to tap into their auras and use them as his own.

    As such, he was currently bathed in a bloodthirst that made everyone around him stray away.

    The funniest part, though, was the fact that he didn''t even stand out.

    ''This level of bloodthirst is diforting to the people at the edge of the territory because most of the people here are just passing through.''

    ''Putting them aside¡­''

    Damien only had one goal ining here.

    The further he got into the region, the more Damien saw people who were bathed in bloodthirst that matched and even sometimes surpassed his own.

    ''It''s insane to see people just walking around like that, but I guess that''s what it means to live in awless zone.''

    It was a badge of honor for them, a survival mechanism as well.

    ''Putting them aside¡­''

    Damien only had one goal ining here.

    ''Infiltrate the Straea n.''

    He needed to find a way to get in contact with the highest level of the enemy n.

    Because that was where his target was.

    As he''d seen in the visions shown to him by his crown.

    The one who held the key to his father''s prison¡­

    ''...is none other than Malevalon Straea.''

    The ruler of the Straea n, a man that really only existed in rumors¡­

    ''...I have to find a way to meet him, and not only that, I have to find a way to snatch the key from under his nose.''

    That man was his father''s main enemy.

    More importantly, he was one of the top strongest people in the entire Heavenly World.

    And Damien, as a mere Demigod, had to find a way to fool him.

    "This is going to be fun," he mumbled wryly.

    At the end of the day, he was the only one who could pull it off.

    After all¡­

    ''...I guess I just have a very particr set of skills.''

    Skills that would be more than just a nightmare for people who stood against him.

 Chapter 1499 Charge [4]

    Chapter 1499 Charge [4]

    Damien''s current target was located in a study somewhere in the Straea n''s manor.

    There were several problems that stemmed from that fact alone.

    It was a ce Malevalon Straea frequented, and a ce only he could go.

    Damien didn''t gain absolute information from the visions he saw.

    He could only make guesses about most things, but he was certain he saw that man there.

    It was the first time he''d seen him, but his identity immediately became clear.

    After all, the study was filled with his aura. It was powerful, domineering, and filled with a cold cruelty that reflected a twisted indifference.

    When an aura like that was let loose, nobody in the vicinity would be safe.

    Only the owner of that aura was safe, along with those he decided to protect from it.

    However, Malevalon was not a man who knew the meaning of the word "protect."

    Whether it was ordinary people, his n, or even his own wife and kids, he treated them all equally.

    Like ants.

    When Damien told his mother and family about the true nature of his mission, they gave him plenty of information about Malevalon himself, along with information about the Straea n.

    The Straea n had always been something evil.

    They never got along with the other great ns, and they were always doing their own thing, oftentimes butting heads with their peers.

    Their rise was unquestionable, though. As was their power.

    And more than anything, they were like a necessary evil in the Heavenly World.

    Thewless zone acted as a massive prison that kept people who couldn''t roam elsewhere contained.

    As long as they were in thewless zone, they''d feel like they were free.

    And yet, they would no longer terrorize the ces they were once terrorizing.

    It had grown to the point where some people with more evil tendencies would migrate to thewless zone before they even startedmitting vile deeds.

    Overall, because of the Straea n''s existence, the amount of trouble the other great ns had to deal with had lessened considerably.

    They were allowed to exist.

    At least, until they grew to the point where nobody could decide whether they were allowed to exist or not.

    At some point, the Straea n became massive. Its growth genuinely couldn''t be exined.

    Unless one knew of their connection to the Foreign Races, that is.

    Nevertheless, the Straea n was now massive, and though it hadn''t been in any major wars throughout its existence, nobody doubted its military strength. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    For Damien to have to break into their manor, where the best of their forces lived, and steal something from their n head, a man second only to Dante Void¡­

    Wasn''t it just asking for the impossible?

    When Damien had to just think about it, yes. Yes it was.

    The problem was that he had to do it anyway.

    There was no better alternative.

    No matter how many people he brought, or how much nning he did, he was facing an enemy that could easily make all their efforts meaningless with the flick of a wrist.

    In a situation like this, there was no better option than a single expert taking the risk alone.

    Because, even in the case that something went wrong, it was still possible to extract rtively unharmed.

    ''Getting to the manor isn''t the problem¡­''

    Just like everyone else, the Straea n was quite grand in the architecture of their main edifice.

    It was a pitch-ck mansion that almost resembled Void Pce''s main pce.

    However, the aura around it was more eerie.

    ''It looks like a ce people would go to learn necromancy or something.''

    Damien was on the outskirts. Well, he was further than that.

    He stood roughly a million kilometers away. His eyes could see the manor in perfect detail regardless of the distance.

    ''I need to find a way to see inside¡­''

    ''...oh wait, that''s easy now.''

    He''d be stronger so fast that he''d forgotten how strong he''d be.

    For the current Damien, creating some type of organic life form that was connected to his own consciousness was easy.

    The main problem with this approach was the fact that a ce like the Straea n Manor didn''t have any sort of animal infestation.

    But if Damien went with something stranger, something more purpose-built, he could pull it off.

    ''I just need to create something that can traverse the manor without being noticed. It doesn''t matter what the form is as long as it can do what I want it to.''

    He contained himself within a barrier to prevent his mana from leaking, and using the Emperor''s Crown and the mist''s aid, he began the process of controlling Existence.

    It couldn''t be exined yet, because Damien was only borrowing the control. He didn''t actually have the ability to do it for himself.

    As such, the only thing he felt was the movement of his mana as his trusty helpers did the rest for him.

    A "being" was created. It had no consciousness, it had no life signature, but it had life.

    It looked stringy like a jellyfish, but without the bulbous head.

    There was no way this organism would be taken by anyone as a living thing, let alone a spy.

    As for how to get it into the manor¡­

    Well, that was the easy part.

    Perhaps it was just for show, but the Straea Manor also had a guard unit that regrly patrolled the outskirts and stood by the gates at all times.

    These guards had their own amodations within the Straea n''snd, but the point was that it was beyond the gate.

    Damien easily attached the life form to one of the guards, and when he went inside to switch shifts, he controlled it to move onto a nearby maid who was headed for the main manor.

    Really, it was that simple.

    The hard part cameter, since the life form would have to make a far more dangerous journey starting from the moment it entered the manor.

    Damien didn''t know where that study was.

    He needed to find it.

    And after he found it, he needed to observe it for a considerable amount of time so he could figure out exactly when was the right time for him to strike.

    This time, the stakes were extremely high.

    The Straea n couldn''t be allowed to gain a clue about what was happening. If they happened to mobilize their army because they sensed something wrong, the entire operation would be ruined.

    In the worst-case scenario, the Celestial Prison key would be ced under even more protection, making it impossible to reach.

    Malevalon Straea didn''t believe anyone could enter his study.

    Because of that, he disyed the key proudly.

    So he could always look at it and remember the day he defeated his greatest enemy.

    He spent a good amount of his time here. It was actually rarer to find an instance when Malevalon was out roaming.

    But Damien was only going to find that out as he continued to observe the space.

    The habits of his enemy were just too stubborn.

    With Malevalon as the enemy in question¡­

    ¡­it really became a question if sess in the operation was possible without a direct confrontation.

 Chapter 1500 Celestial Prison [1]

    Chapter 1500 Celestial Prison [1]

    How much time did Damien need to spend observing the study after his life form made its way there?

    Realistically, the answer was several months. There was no such thing as being too cautious in an operation like this.

    However, realistically, Damien didn''t have nearly that much time.

    There was a war going on, and a lot of things rted to it needed him toplete this mission and get out of the Straea n.

    The fact that they had Dante imprisoned was really the only thing the Straea n could hold over Void Pce''s head.

    The second he was saved, the pce would be free to act without restrictions.

    Until then, they had to walk on eggshells and make sure they didn''t do anything that could lead to Dante being lost.

    Such an attitude wasn''t fit for war.

    Since the operation had already begun, it was toote for failure or extraneous thought. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien observed the study for a week.

    The string-like life form he created for that purpose was doing its job properly. After leaving the body of the maid it inhabited, it managed to find the study quite quickly by tracing Malevalon''s aura signature.

    It was impossible for that life form to enter the study. The moment it did, it would be discovered.

    But that was fine, since Damien had already seen the inside of that ce.

    He knew exactly where the key was ced. It never moved, because Malevalon had no reason to move it.

    The position in which he ced it was already perfect.

    Not being able to enter the study was definitely detrimental in some ways, but what Damien wanted was to find a way to get into that ce without being noticed.

    And more than that, he had to find an opportunity when Malevalon himself left the room.

    However, over the week that passed, Damien realized that the opportunity he was looking for wouldn''te soon enough.

    Malevalon simply wasn''t leaving the study. No matter what happened outside, he stayed there, and even when he gave orders to his people, he did so remotely.

    Was there a reason why he couldn''t leave the study?

    Damien didn''t know.

    From what he''d seen of the man, he was strong and healthy. There shouldn''t have been any external circumstance that could force him to hole himself up in the study.

    But that didn''t change the fact that it was exactly what he did.

    ''I have no choice. I have to risk it.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    Malevalon wasn''t amodating at all.

    Well, that was obvious, but it was still annoying to experience personally.

    If he wanted to pull this stunt off within the timeframe he allowed himself, he needed to take the risk of direct confrontation.

    ''In the worst case scenario¡­''

    He made his way towards the manor.

    ''...it''s not shameful to run.''

    The path Damien took to infiltrate the manor was simr to the life form he''d sent prior.

    He first snuck onto the periphery and scanned the area, checking for any formations or arrays.

    There were hundreds, but none that could directly prate his stealth as long as he used Existence.

    That was all the information he needed.

    The rest he''d already done once, so it was just a matter of going through the motions.

    Damien slipped through the cracks in the guard easily, and by the time he was inside the manor grounds, he had already changed his existence to mirror one of the maids he''d seen frequently go in and out of the main manor.

    He didn''t really have a choice, since there didn''t seem to be any male servants allowed in the manor.

    What happened from there¡­?

    Well, it was fairly straightforward.

    Damien found the maid he impersonated and kidnapped her into the Sanctuary for the time being. He took her ce, doing her duties for a few days, before finally finding an opening to make his move.

    The study was rtively deep into the manor, so there was no way for him to justify himself if he tried to approach it naturally.

    As such, he needed to be a little careful about it.

    First of all, he used his memories of the past few days to alter the original maid''s memory and make her believe nothing strange had happened to her.

    After that, he switched ces with her once more, giving her life back to her.

    As for Damien himself¡­

    He''d turned into a familiar form, a stringy entity that didn''t look like it could ever be alive.

    He inched towards the study and made it outside easily, meeting up with the life form that had been waiting for him there.

    Surprisingly, he didn''t have any interaction with the main members of the Straea n during this time.

    Was it because of Malevalon''s strict rule? From the gossip of the other maids, it looked like they hardly made contact with people outside their family, and they spent most of their time hidden in their rooms training.

    The Straea n had beenying low for a long time in order to execute the ns given to them by the Foreign Races.

    The power they needed to execute those ns¡­

    Now that Damien had seen how they lived, he could tell that they weren''t aiming for something as selfish as the destruction of Void Pce.

    Their goal was bigger.

    But for now, that didn''t matter, because they''d be exterminated soon enough.

    From this point on, Damien had to be absolutely focused.

    His first move was sending the inorganic life form into the study so he could see if Malevalon would notice its presence.

    He did.

    Damien didn''t know exactly what happened, but the second that entity moved past the door to the study, it was eradicated entirely.

    ''This isn''t looking good for me¡­''

    Regardless, he had to push forth.

    Damien covered his microscopic form in ayer of stealth formed through Existence and made his way inside.

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    He could hear his own breathing, but it was all in his head.

    His current body didn''t need to breathe.

    As he made his first move through the door frame, he held his mental breath and carefully inched his body forward.

    It was a scary moment, imagining himselfbusting instantly with no idea what happened.

    However¡­

    "Huu¡­"

    Another breath.

    He made it through without problems.

    And the first thing he saw was Malevalon.

    ''He can''t see through my mana.''

    It was a relief.

    But the moment Damien made his move¡­

    He saw the Celestial Prison key on the desk. It was no more than a few feet away from him.

    "Huu¡­"

    Six feet¡­

    Damien inched forward. He didn''t think about anything but getting that key in his hands.

    Five feet¡­

    Malevalon still hadn''t noticed his presence. The man was looking out of a nearby window, observing the world as if nothing could bother him.

    4 feet¡­

    Damien was close enough to grasp it, but to do so, he needed to return to his real form.

    In that fraction of a second that it took for him to transform, Malevalon would notice his aura and attack. He needed to get closer.

    Three feet¡­

    Two feet¡­

    The desk was only a single foot away.

    The key that was on its surface was already within Damien''s grasp.

    Damien nced over at Malevalon.

    No matter how unaware the man looked, his suffocating aura made it hard to believe he would allow this heist to happen.

    Damien nced back at the key.

    It was so close.

    Even in the situation where he was indeed caught¡­

    ''Fuck it.''

    Hesitation now was just stupid.

    He gathered his resolve.

    He focused all his attention on the single movement he''d have to do to get that key.

    And without a single extraneous thought, he moved.

    Instantly, the calm study was sunken into chaos.

 Chapter 1501 Celestial Prison [2]

    Chapter 1501 Celestial Prison [2]

    The following events took ce within the span of no more than a single second.

    It truly came down to the wire.

    Damien let go of his transformation. In that instant, his body began to grow and change back into a human.

    His arm was already outstretched. He was reaching for the key since before he even decided to act.

    In terms of time, Damien took less than one ten-thousandth of a second to return to his original form, but that was already enough time.

    In the first fraction of that 1/10000th, Malevalon noticed his presence.

    His body didn''t have time to move, but his aura was already mobilized and prepared.

    From every side, it attacked Damien, and that was the cause of the first explosion.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The study stood strong. It was made to resist Malevalon''s aura. However, Damien''s body wasn''t quite the same.

    His left arm and left leg were blown off. His right left split in half vertically, and his chest caved in.

    Deadly damage was inflicted. No normal person would''ve been able to survive.

    However, Damien was obviously different.

    The Authority of Immortality went into action immediately, allowing him to continue functioning despite his injuries.

    His right arm kept moving. Damien used every ounce of his mana to protect it and its connection to his body.

    He was only inches away from the key at this point. Malevalon also got the time to turn around and face him, so his situation still wasn''t good.

    "You¡­"

    His eyes flicked between Damien and the key. He didn''t have time to speak. He could only react.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The second explosion.

    This time, it was a true attack filled with the intent to kill Damien, not a natural response.

    His head was blown off.

    He couldn''t defend himself.

    Or rather, he didn''t try to.

    But for Damien, whose soul and body had been tuned to the Void, losing his head didn''t mean death.

    His soul was still controlling his body, and his arm was still reaching forward.

    Millimeters.

    That was all that separated him from the key.

    The fact that he kept moving made Malevalon anxious. Despite the fact that Damien should''ve already been dead, Malevalon continued his attack.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The third explosion.

    The remainder of Damien''s body was blown away.

    The result of a direct confrontation between the two of them was obvious. Damien had gotten extremely powerful, but he was still not powerful enough to fight against this world''s finest.

    Only a single arm remained in the physical world.

    But Damien''s soul was untouched.

    The next attack would destroy it.

    But that soul, attached to the single arm it put all its efforts into controlling, continued to reach for the key.

    "BASTARD!"

    Malevalon''s roar finally managed toe out of his mouth.

    He didn''t even know who he was shouting at.

    After all, he couldn''t see Damien''s Void Soul.

    He could only see that arm as it grabbed hold of the key.

    The small cube on the desk made of interlocking pieces. The thing nobody else should''ve known the identity of but him¡­

    Someone had broken into his study and was trying to take it.

    This fact registered in his mind.

    But his logical reasoning told him there was no way Damien could escape with it.

    He didn''t have a body left.

    As long as that arm was destroyed, even the strangely unkible entity that was trying to rob him would fail.

    That was his thought.

    So he aimed for the arm.

    But the second Damien touched the key, it was already over.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The fourth explosion.

    It came far toote.

    In the same fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a second that it took for Malevalon to process everything and move his mana¡­

    Damien firmly took hold of the key and activated his own mana.

    The study was filled with destruction. The furniture had already turned to powder and the walls were shaking as the amount of power they had to endure continued to increase.

    But Damien was already gone.

    One second passed right then and there.

    And by the time it was over, Malevalon was once again alone in his study.

    Only, this time, the key he''d been keeping close for countless years¡­

    ¡­was gone, along with the one who stole it.

    A lot of seconds passed after that one. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It took a considerable number of them for Malevalon to truly process what had just urred.

    And when he finally reached the foregone conclusion¡­

    Well, his reaction could be imagined.

    ***

    Damien thought he went to the Sanctuary.

    That was his original intent.

    No matter how strong his enemies became, they could never reach a level where they could sense the existence of an entirely different cosmos.

    Because that was what the Sanctuary had grown to be.

    It was the perfect ce to hide away when the need arose. In an operation where Damien needed to steal something and return to the pce as fast as possible, the Sanctuary was quite literally perfect.

    However, that was not where he found himself when he escaped that room.

    The first thing he noticed was that he couldn''t sense anything.

    His soul form didn''t have that ability, and since his body was practically nonexistent, he couldn''t use physical senses to support his ethereal ones.

    It took a while for his perception to return to normal.

    His body had to regrow, and with nothing more than a few fingers left dearly clutching the Celestial Prison key after the final explosion, it took a minute.

    And when Damien''s eyes returned, he was finally able to realize that his surroundings were not what he thought they were.

    He didn''t actually know what he was seeing.

    But he could feel it.

    ''This ce¡­''

    His eyes widened slightly.

    ''...this is the Celestial Prison.''

    His perception of it was wrong from the start.

    He''d misinterpreted the visions.

    That "key" was never a key from the start.

    That "key" was a physical manifestation of the Celestial Prison.

    The moment Damien''s mana interacted with it, he was forcefully pulled inside.

    And strangely enough, he was still holding that physical manifestation in his hand.

    ''This is a trip.''

    He felt like he was on drugs.

    From what he gathered beforeing here, the Celestial Prison was a four-dimensional space that didn''t work ording to the rules of every cosmos.

    Rather, it was a ce that directly twisted those rules so that they couldn''t be exploited.

    It was only natural for the things that happened here to make no sense.

    But that didn''t matter, because Damien was here.

    Which meant he could finally find his father.

    Damien slowly felt his environment.

    He was standing, but there was no solid surface for him to stand on.

    It was like the floor was made of ss, allowing him to see the rest of this strange cuboid structure.

    But there was really no floor at all.

    Damien was confused.

    His perception couldn''t be trusted anymore.

    Even with all his power, even he was suppressed within this realm.

    ''This is the level of prison necessary to hold Dante Void.''

    The situation was definitely a bit precarious, but¡­

    ¡­Damien, as a son, couldn''t help but feel proud of his father.

 Chapter 1502 Celestial Prison [3]

    Chapter 1502 Celestial Prison [3]

    Dante Void was truly an amazing character.

    He was a genius beyond geniuses, a man born from nothing who managed to gain everything for himself.

    During his formative years, Dante was nothing more than a vige boy.

    He grew up poor, and more than that, he grew up talentless.

    While everyone else around him quickly became practitioners, he struggled.

    His starting line was behind everyone else''s.

    And while the system was said to bepletely unbiased, it gave him less than half of the experience that everyone else got to level up.

    But Dante was always a charismatic person.

    It was like nothing in the world could faze him or make him give up, and that spirit attracted people towards him.

    It attracted destiny too.

    Dante''s life was regr for a long time, but the moment he reached level ten and gained his first ss, everything turned around for him.

    His experience still didn''t rise like it did for others, but he was granted his own opportunity.

    That same opportunity granted him his special affinity.

    He was finally on the same starting line as everyone else. The moment he gained an advantage like that¡­he thrived.

    He suddenly rose to prominence in his area, and from there, he only got better and better. He met people like Alex, ire, and the rest of his friends, and he continued to have adventure after adventure to leave his mark on the Heavenly World.

    It was a long journey. Dante never stopped rushing throughout it.

    He knew what it was like to be without talent, and because of that, he did everything he could to make sure he''d never be powerless again.

    Perhaps it was that drive that allowed him to do what he did.

    There was a reason Malevalon Straea and his Foreign Race allies needed to create something like the Celestial Prison to hold him.

    This ce not only eradicated space and time, it also made sure no otherws could exist in the vicinity. If they did, they''d be distorted out of proportion so they could never be essed or used properly.

    This wasn''t a prison made for someone who controlled space.

    Something like that was far, far easier to create, while the Celestial Prison''s existence was bordering on the realm of impossibility.

    Quite literally the only person whose power seemed capable of bringing the Celestial Prison to life was none other than the Dark God of the Foreign Races.

    Why did they need to go to such lengths¡­?

    It was because Dante was an anomaly.

    His only affinity was space. That never changed. No matter how strong he got, Dante was always singrly focused on his element, ignoring all else.

    However, exactly because of that, he was able to achieve a feat greater than anyone else.

    He was able to reach an understanding of Existence itself through space.

    That was precisely what made Dante the most powerful person in the Heavenly World.

    His spatialw was so convoluted that others described it as miraculous. It looked to them more like he was controlling the fabric of reality than space, but they couldn''t doubt the mana fluctuations they sensed.

    In that sense, Dante could be considered even more of a genius than his son.

    Because he was able to reach a simr height with far less of an advantage.

    Of course, that didn''t discount Damien''s genius. He knew very well how talented he was.

    But seeing the Celestial Prison, sensing how intentionally it tried to suppress and eradicate his aura of Existence, he felt so impressed by his father that he couldn''t put it into words.

    Really, Damien was the only one who could possibly understand just how monumental his father''s achievements were.

    And, at the same time, he realized it really was a shame that he couldn''t spend his childhood with such an amazing father.

    ''It''s not like it was his fault, though.''

    Any ill will Damien had towards Dante was gone at this point.

    When he learned that his father didn''t leave him, but was forced away, when he learned that his father didn''t choose to stay gone, but was trapped in a ce he could never leave, how was Damien supposed to feel wronged?

    He wasn''t the one wronged. Their entire family was wronged.

    The target of Damien''s negative feelings changed to another person a long time ago, but the Celestial Prison truly cemented his thoughts.

    ''There''s usually a whole story behind things like these¡­''

    Just like the Saint Emperor, others probably had their own reasons for being the viin.

    But Damien and the Saint Emperor were only enemies because they disagreed on how things should be done.

    If they were born on the same side, perhaps things would''ve been different.

    The Dark God was different.

    That person had tried to ruin Damien''s family on multiple asions. He was the reason Void Pce was targeted in the first ce, and his pursuit was the reason for Dante leaving Damien alone and everything that came after.

    That was a real enemy.

    That was a person Damien had no interest in getting to know.

    Regardless of that man''s story, regardless of his reasons, Damien would make sure he died a painful death.

    Because those reasons had nothing to do with him.

    He closed his eyes.

    The strange illusive nature of the Celestial Prison made his thoughts spin, but he had to remember that he was here for a purpose.

    ''The question is¡­how do I find him?'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    There was no up or down here. There wasn''t really anywhere to go, but at the same time, the prison expanded infinitely.

    ''Perhaps¡­''

    Damien allowed his mana to flow outwardly.

    He tried to connect to the fabric of this ce, but it was difficult without a foundation of spacetime.

    ''Is it mirrored?''

    Damien tried walking in every direction, testing the waters.

    ''It seems that as long as my will can ovee the will of this ce¡­''

    At the end of the day, the Celestial Prison was also within the realm of Existence.

    The one who made it clearly tried to go beyond that limitation, but didn''t seed.

    Which meant that Damien could gain control of this entire construct as long as his power could defeat the original creator''s.

    ''Sounds easy, right?''

    He said it sarcastically, but he wasn''t necessarily wrong.

    It may have been the will of a supreme existence that Damien was fighting, but this will had been holding the prison together and suppressing Dante with all of its might for an untold amount of time.

    It had naturally experienced a lot of wear, and as Damien began trying to infiltrate it, he realized that there were a lot more cracks in its surface than he expected.

    It made him smile.

    His father¡­

    ''...never once stopped fighting.''

    Even when his power was stripped from him, he used every means at his disposal to try and escape this ce.

    And because of his unrelenting effort, Damien was able to easily seize control over what remained.

    ''Now, show me¡­''

    He spoke to the prison itself.

    ''...my father.''

    The space around Damien, a collection of infinitely mirrored ss-like cubes that both reflected off each other and gave one the ability to see through them, began to change.

    As if they were being rearranged, the individual cubes started moving, something that should have been impossible.

    And as they moved, a scene became clear in their reflection.

    A man Damien had never seen before.

    Yet, a man he''d met so many times already.

    Dante Void.

 Chapter 1503 Celestial Prison [4]

    Chapter 1503 Celestial Prison [4]

    He didn''t look anything like the man Damien had gotten used to.

    His face was haggard, and his skin was taught to his bones, showing just how much time he''d been forced to spend here.

    Especially because this spacecked its own timeflow, Dante''s body had aged ording to his own internal body clock alone.

    If that was the case, then just how much time needed to pass for an unrivaled God to reach a point like this?

    Damien''s brows furrowed.

    ''His Divinity is leaking.''

    It had been leaking for a long time. Dante didn''t have the aura of a God at all, but since there was still Divinity obviously leaking from his body, it meant that his Godhood was intact.

    But he was alive, and his vitality was extremely powerful.

    Damien walked up to him cautiously.

    ''His leaking Divinity is probably what created all these holes. As for the mechanism that brought me here instead of taking me to the Sanctuary¡­that must also be his doing.''

    In normal cases, it was impossible for anyone other than Malevalon and those higher than him in the hierarchy to enter or even interact with the Celestial Prison.

    Since the entire prison defied allws of reality, it was obviously possible to make sure others couldn''t even touch it.

    That was why Malevalon was so confused when Damien was able to steal it.

    Dante used the majority of his power to create a mechanism that would counter that one, allowing others to enter this ce.

    And judging from what Damien could sense, as someone who was temporarily controlling the prison, the mechanism he created was more than justplex.

    It made sure not just anyone could enter the prison, so a random person couldn''t get trapped within.

    However, it also wasn''t so limited that only someone like Damien was able to exploit it.

    It was a contingency n, a final effort to create hope for escape.

    ''It worked.''

    Dante''s efforts gave Damien the chance toe here, and since it was Damien of all people, Dante''s chances of survival were heightened immensely.

    Damien stood over his father, who was slouched against an invisible wall.

    ''Is he too exhausted?''

    Damien frowned. Dante''s eyes were closed, and despite Damien expressing his aura to wake him up, he didn''t remotely register it.

    ''...or can he not wake up at all¡­?''

    Damien''s frown deepened.

    He got down on one knee and gently took his father''s wrist into his hand.

    Sending his senses into Dante''s body, Damien scanned everything.

    And, as expected¡­

    ''...nothing.''

    Whether it was his soul or his body, the injuries he sustained weren''t enough to cause a state like this.

    Dante should''ve still had consciousness.

    His powerful vitality was another confusing factor when his appearance was taken into consideration.

    ''Either he willingly put himself into a stasis-like state to survive and sustain himself for as long as possible¡­''

    ''...or they did this to him.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    He didn''t have a way to find out which one was the truth.

    The only way to learn that information, and Damien''s entire purpose from the start, was to save Dante Void and hear it from the man himself.

    ''First things first, I need to save his Divinity.''

    "On the bright side, it won''t be too difficult."

    If there was one positive in this bleak situation, it was that the Celestial Prison was an entirely contained space.

    The energy trapped within wouldn''t just disappear.

    It lingered.

    Dante''s Divinity, and the Legends and ethereal factors that made it up, were still within the Celestial Prison.

    Even concepts like Divinity couldn''t escape. That was the type of security this prison was designed with.

    Damien closed his eyes and stood up, once again spreading his aura out.

    ''Please help me.''

    This time, he truly and sincerely asked the mist for its help.

    And it, as a concept that wholeheartedly wished to serve him, it allowed his audacity.

    Existence, a power Damien wasn''t supposed to have ess to without suffering from the appropriate consequences.

    In a space where thews of reality weren''t real, it was a force he could utilize without restriction.

    Damien held his hand out, watching his mana be physical.

    Its presence in the world was defined by a lustrous blue glow. As that glow got stronger and stronger, as it spread past the borders of what seemed material, a golden energy was trapped within.

    The energy gathered in Damien''s palm, endlesslypressing to form a ball. With more and more energy joining the ball, it got bigger and bigger before mming back into the size of a pearl, its aura multiplying by several times.

    By the end of it, Damien almost couldn''t believe what he was holding.

    It was still that same golden pearl.

    But the energy it contained¡­

    ''...this is energy beyond anything I''ve ever felt from a single individual.''

    That included Malevalon Straea.

    That included every single existence Damien had seen or met, both through memories and life experiences.

    Dante truly was the most powerful person he''d ever seen.

    Wasn''t it amazing that such a man was his father?

    Damien smiled wryly and shook his head, refocusing on the situation at hand.

    ''Now, what to do with this¡­''

    This energy was Dante''s to begin with, so if Damien fed it to him, it wouldn''t act aggressively.

    But with the current state of Dante''s body, even the gentle version of this enemy could cause him to copse.

    ''His vessel is still broken¡­''

    Damien knelt down again and touched his father''s chest.

    ''Bloom.''

    He gave amand, and the world responded.

    A pure white lotus flower bloomed within Dante''s chest and connected to his mind, body, and soul.

    ''That''ll protect him in the short term, and as long as itsts for a while, it''ll heal himpletely.''

    The lotus was a condensed essence created from Damien''s Authority of Immortality.

    Even if Dante was the most powerful God, it could still heal him.

    In a moment like this, Damien truly felt thankful for all the work he put in.

    Thanks to his efforts, thanks to his struggles, he always had the proper tools at his disposal for critical moments like this.

    Being able to heal his father, Damien felt like all of his suffering was validated.

    "Huu¡­"

    "Okay."

    Damien took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

    The situation was stabilized. He didn''t have to worry about Dante''s health degrading.

    ''Now, I can focus on what''s going on outside again.''

    Damien was relieved.

    He didn''t show it, but he was truly relieved.

    His father was in a bad state, yes, but it wasn''t anywhere near unrecoverable.

    In his eyes, Dante was safe.

    The biggest worry in his heart had been taken care of.

    All that remained was¡­

    ''...when I get out of here, I''ll probably be right where I left from.''

    That was the worst-case scenario.

    But it was also the most probable one.

    ''Before I leave here¡­''

    The Celestial Prison was timeless. Damien could spend as much time here as he wanted without consequence.

    ''...I need to find a way.''

    He needed to use that timelessness to his advantage, so he could find a path that would allow him to safely extract Dante from the Northern Region. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Because if I don''t¡­''

    ¡­all the effort he put in would be in vain.

    He would die.

    As would Dante.

    And everything would end there.

    With Damien being the man he was¡­

    There was no way he could allow that, right?

 Chapter 1504 Escape [1]

    Chapter 1504 Escape [1]

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a deep breath.

    ''Realistically speaking, this is going to go badly, isn''t it?''

    He had been in the Celestial Prison for a decent amount of time now. This space was great for sitting alone and thinking, and as Damien spent more time here, he realized that it had more benefits than he expected.

    In normal cases, this prison was meant to absolutely rob any and every one of their abilities. No matter how they tried to escape, they''d find their mana and strength unable to do anything.

    Even if their minds were amazing enough to devise strategies to escape, they wouldn''t have the appropriate means to actually test those theories.

    Dante was trapped here for an unknown amount of time because he wasn''t enough to break the prison''s mechanisms.

    Still, Dante was able to influence them slightly.

    And Damien¡­Damien was Dante''s greatest creation.

    He was everything Dante was and more.

    In this ce wherews were obliterated and mana was devalued, Damien found himself able to "perceive" the worldpletely differently.

    It was actually a great ce for him to iste himself and train.

    Unfortunately, even though time was frozen within the prison, it was still flowing outside.

    Damien had to leave this ce and escape the Northern Region.

    He had a n. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The problem was that his n was quite reckless.

    ''It''s just that there''s no way to do this without being reckless.''

    Plus, Damien was never one to shirk away from recklessness.

    He found a viable strategy. At least, it was viable for the most part.

    ''There isn''t any better path.''

    Malevalon Straea and his goons were not people Damien could escape just because he wanted to.

    Since he would be forced to confront them anyway¡­

    ''...let''s just do our best.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. He nced around, making sure that there wasn''t anything left in this ce that he needed to see or do.

    ''I''ll be backter.''

    Until then¡­

    ''It''s time to work.''

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took another deep breath, and as he activated his mana, he focused on the physical manifestation of the Celestial Prison, which he currently had in his hands.

    VOOM!

    A huge fluctuation of energy burst forth from the construct.

    Space and time began to twist around Damien, dragging him out of the Celestial Prison with a suction force that nobody could resist.

    Up until this point, everything was normal. Damien would have had to undergo these processes to escape regardless of when or how he tried to do it.

    The most important part came in the next few seconds.

    Damien''s mind was utterly focused on the task.

    The second he found himself in the spatial corridor leading back to the Heavenly World, he began to act.

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    Every few deciseconds, Damien released a pulse of mana filled with thews of space and time.

    The ckness around him, which stirred and swirled with the movements of the spatialyers, was expanded away from him and pushed in all different directions.

    The only thing Damien could do now was control his direction of escape.

    If he did nothing at all, he''d end up exactly where he left off, facing Malevalon in his study.

    However, as he continued to manipte and stretch the spatial corridor he used to return, his exit point was continuously changing.

    Even he didn''t know where he''dnd.

    All he knew was that as long as he continued to throw this corridor into chaos¡­

    ''...I''ll at leastnd further away from Malevalon.''

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The spatial corridor trembled.

    A light appeared at the end of the tunnel.

    Whatever Damien had done, it was all he''d be able to do, because his time in the corridor wasing to an end.

    He focused his attention on the light, his eyes narrowed and his mana ready to be thrown into use as soon as he needed it.

    And that was it.

    That was all the time Damien had to affect his return.

    So when he finally reached that light and made it out of the other side¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The world instantly exploded.

    Damien swept his arm through the air, using his mana to create a massive shield that isted him from the world.

    RUMBLE!

    The shield was struck by copious amounts of mana with four different unique signatures.

    The fourws used to attack coalesced into one as they attacked the barrier, doing everything in their power to destroy it.

    And eventually, they did.

    BANG!

    The barrier directly shattered into a million pieces, and another slew of attacks hit the point it was protecting.

    Unfortunately for the attackers, Damien was already gone.

    ''Shit!''

    He stood in the air, concealed, and cursed his luck.

    ''I won''t be able to hide for¨C''

    BOOM!

    They''d already found him.

    The attacks flying towards him right now didn''t have any precision ingrained in them. They were just being thrown with the assumption that he''d die if they hit him.

    After all, they were thrown with the power of Gods, with the power of Edicts.

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    ''I can''t even see my enemies.''

    He dodged and weaved through the air, teleporting in every possible direction to add a sense of chaos to his movements.

    It was somewhat working. The attacks that were aimed at him rarely got close, and when they did, he was able to barely avoid being struck by them.

    However, the problem wasn''t with the enemy.

    ''I can''t maneuver my mana properly.''

    The second he left the Celestial Prison, he felt it.

    ''So this was also an effect.''

    In case someone actually managed to escape the prison and make it back to the Heavenly World, they''d be unable to escape.

    There was a certain energy within their bodies, something otherworldly.

    That energy absolutely disagreed with thews of the Heavenly World, so when someone left the prison and found themselves back in reality¡­

    ¡­they''d also find themselves crippled, unable to use any strength at all.

    Damien was obviously notpletely crippled, but the energy in his body was also disagreeing with whatever had entered his soul while he was unaware.

    He could get rid of it.

    He had to.

    If he had some peace and quiet, he''d be able to do it in a heartbeat.

    But, of course¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    ¡­he didn''t have that kind of peace and quiet in the slightest.

    ''To fight while fixing myself¡­to escape this fight without encountering Malevalon¡­''

    "Fuck."

    Damien cursed to himself.

    This would be more annoying than trying to get into the Celestial Prison in the first ce.

    And the worst part¡­?

    Damien finally got a glimpse of his enemies while he was figuring out his own problems.

    A woman, tall and unreasonably skinny, with scales of green covering her entire body.

    A man who looked more like a tiger than a human, covered in a massive bloody red aura.

    Another man, this one closer in figure to the first woman, but with just as much strength pulsing from his body.

    Andstly, another woman. She had a devilish beauty about her, apanied by a strange pink fog that clouded one''s mind and controlled them.

    These four, while they were extremely different in every way, had one thing inmon.

    An absolute loyalty to the Straea n.

    These were none other than the 4 Evils.

    Other than Malevalon Straea¡­

    Right now, they were thest people Damien wanted to see.

 Chapter 1505 Escape [2]

    Chapter 1505 Escape [2]

    The Four Evils.

    They were titled as such for obvious reasons. Actually, they were the ones who chose such a title before anyone ever called them by it.

    They were born and bred by evil. They grew up in thewless zone, surrounded by people who had no concept of morality.

    And the people they became because of that environment were something they were proud of.

    At the end of the day, they survived.

    They conquered evil by bing the epitome of it, and as people who were chosen to serve the great Malevalon Straea, they were truly deserving of their title.

    Their names had been lost with time.

    Now, they were only known by the names given to them by the public.

    ''Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, and Lust.''

    Four of the seven deadly sins. They''d be perfect representations of their namesakes.

    And while Damien didn''t have too much knowledge on the 4 Evils themselves, he was more than aware of their power.

    ''I can do this.''

    It sucked that he had to face them. They were definitely weaker than Malevalon, but they were Gods among Gods, people whom even other Gods feared and worshipped.

    Damien couldn''t easily get past them. Even if he could, he couldn''t do it quietly.

    ''If I want to escape properly, I need to kill at least one.''

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The explosions kepting. Mana kept wildly popting the atmosphere, leaving Damien with less and less space to maneuver through unharmed.

    ''They''re all attacking, but it''s really only Wrath.''

    The explosive power all came from him.

    Lust''s abilities were more mental, while Envy and Gluttony didn''t have explosive power.

    Wrath had extreme physical strength, along with a terrifying ability to weaponize "force" itself.

    Every time Damien''s barriers were struck by his power, they got weaker.

    Or rather, Wrath began to understand the inner workings of those barriers through the force transmitted to him.

    It became harder and harder to block his attacks as time went by, because the more he understood Damien''s barriers, the easier it was for him to adjust his force to destroy them.

    And he wasn''t aiming for Damien himself.

    ''Wrath is just trying to expose me. I think in normal cases, the second Lust''s mana touches an enemy, they win.''

    Damien had met and fought a lot of people with mind control and mental maniption powers before. Actually, they used to be his most hated kind of people, because they would take away the freedom of those they influenced, including himself.

    Lust was on a different levelpared to them.

    She was one of the rare few who managed to establish Godhood with mental maniption alone.

    Her power was truly something terrifying. Even Gods found it difficult to resist her, let alone a Demigod like Damien.

    ''I should be fine.''

    Thinking about it realistically, Damien didn''t think he''d be affected by her power.

    ''But others¡­''

    His eyes narrowed.

    To start a war with Straea, the 4 Evils needed to die.

    And for the 4 Evils to meet their end, Lust had to die first.

    ''Okay.''

    Envy was an assassin-type. Her main speciality, however, was the ability to copy other people''s abilities.

    As for Gluttony, nobody had a real understanding of his power, but from Damien''s experience with the deadly sins, Gluttony was definitely the most dangerous.

    ''I have to be careful of them.''

    Damien was still rapidly moving through the air.

    The 4 Evils below had stopped their brainless attacks, probably out of boredom.

    They would approach Damien soon enough so he could no longer avoid confrontation.

    But that was fine.

    Because Damien was also of the mind to fight head-on.

    He immediately teleported to the ground before they could act.

    His leg raised up in the air before mming down with immense force.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive shockwave spread from his body, throwing up clouds of dust.

    The 4 Evils were strong people. Just this much wasn''t enough to faze them.

    Damien knew that too.

    In fact, his dust clouds gave Envy the opportunity she was waiting for.

    To copy someone''s ability, she first needed to have physical contact with them.

    Seeing how Damien couldn''t see her, she hid her presence and snuck around, approaching him from the back.

    At the same time, Wrath charged from the front, both distracting him and trying to steal Envy''s kill.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    Two bursts rang out as both Wrath and Envy attacked.

    But the target they struck¡­

    ¡­was not a target at all.

    In the few milliseconds that Wrath''s fist was flying through the air, Damien narrowly avoided it and danced on the tips of his toes, slipping past him.

    Envy was standing behind them. She should have seen Damien''s movements, but her eyes seemed to skew for a moment.

    It was like an illusion, or an afterimage. Damien''s body blurred and moved, but at the same time, it stood still, as if he had no idea they were trying to kill him.

    She misjudged the enemy because of his apparent strength, and because of that¡­

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    Two attacks hit nothing but air.

    And Damien had already made his way to Lust.

    She was his target.

    And she seemed to be aware of that too.

    It wasn''t rare for them to meet an enemy who underestimated Lust''s control abilities.

    If they were fighting as a group, the enemies usually attacked her or Gluttony first.

    But that was a mistake.

    There was a reason they hung back, and it wasn''t because they were weak.

    Sensing Damien''s approach, Lust controlled her pinkish fog to cloud the atmosphere, enveloping several meters of the area around her.

    If he wanted to attack, he''d have to fall into her realm of control, and if he decided to go for Gluttony either¡­

    Lust grinned.

    ''Once again, the prize is mine.''

    The 4 Evils were on good terms with each other, but they were also each other''s greatest rivals.

    Lust knew she''d get this kill, which meant she''d be the one who gained Malevalon''s praise and reward. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The thoughts of that moment clouded her mind. She was already too assured of her victory to pay attention to Damien before he was under her control.

    Was she stupid?

    No, she was just unaware.

    Because Damien was already behind her, wasn''t he?

    His arm was already outstretched and covered in mana, aiming to kill her, wasn''t it?

    Gluttony noticed before she did.

    His eyes widened, as did his mouth.

    It formed a massive cavityrger than the size of his entire body, a startling sight that the other Evils had gotten used to by now.

    Damien hadn''t, but he''d alreadymitted.

    Watching Gluttony out of the corner of his eyes, he moved his arm to strike.

    His mana went wild into the air, signaling his presence to Lust.

    She whipped around, an expression of shock in her eyes.

    And the first thing she saw¡­

    A beautiful burst of mana, so bright that it blinded her.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien''s mana exploded into the air only centimeters away from her face.

    And at the same time, Gluttony attacked.

    Wrath and Envy charged towards Damien from the back and the side.

    Amidst all of this, he began to wonder¡­

    ''...was attacking right now really the right idea?''

 Chapter 1506 Escape [3]

    Chapter 1506 Escape [3]

    Damien''s eyes widened, not out of surprise, but so that his field of view could reach its maximum size.

    He saw everything that wasing at him in slow motion.

    He saw what Envy and Wrath were doing, and he read their exact paths to understand where they were nning to go.

    He saw Lust, who couldn''t do much of anything, and Gluttony, who was perhaps the only one who currently had the chance to harm him.

    There was only a split second for him to make the decision.

    Did he want to continue attacking like this or did he want to push back?

    ''For now, retreat.''

    In any case, being surrounded wasn''t a good idea at all.

    Damien jumped into the air just as Wrath reached him.

    BANG! BANG!

    The first punch missed, but the second was aimed upward at Damien''s body.

    ''Damn!''

    Damien twisted his waist and tried to avoid the impact force, but he couldn''t from his position.

    A huge burst of air pressure struck his side, cracking several ribs.

    However, the impact also pushed him higher in the air.

    That was why Envy wasn''t able to reach him in time.

    She jumped, joining him in the air with her ws outstretched.

    All she needed was a single touch.

    But Damien knew that, and he refused to allow it.

    Using the air as his stepping stone, Damien''s feet became those of an artist. He danced through the sky in such a way that nothing could touch him, and as his body turned more illusory, he was finally given a chance to look at his own internal body.

    At the same time, on the ground¡­

    BOOOOOM!

    The explosion of Damien''s mana still struck Lust as it was meant to. There was no way for her to avoid it.

    The cloud of mana expanded rapidly and turned more and more chaotic.

    Lust was thrown back several steps, sustaining severe damage to her skin. However, before the attack could truly injure her, Gluttony stepped in.

    He''d opened his mouth for a reason.

    Like it was being suctioned by the strongest vacuum in the world, Damien''s mana was pulled into Gluttony''s throat.

    The air was cleared, and Lust was saved.

    Gluttony turned his attention to Damien''s body in the air and¡­

    Well, he burped.

    He regurgitated the energy he''d consumed in a different form. It was nowced with his own mana of Gluttony, shooting back at Damien to give him a taste of his own medicine.

    ''Tch.''

    Damien clicked his tongue.

    The 4 Evils weren''t being overly destructive, but their attacks were still terrible. With the four of them working together, Damien was never given a moment to himself for whatever reason he needed it.

    Even when he thought he was safe, one of the four would make sure he was forced back into battle.

    It was a strategy that, while less powerful overall, forcefully wore the enemy down until they couldn''t fight any longer.

    ''Are they trying to capture me¡­?''

    Damien suddenly had a realization.

    ''Right, Malevalon doesn''t want me dead, at least not by someone else''s hands. He still needs to get the Celestial Prison back, and that''s not considering all the information he''s dying to extract from me.''

    He was extremely valuable. Even someone like Malevalon couldn''t easily sentence him to death.

    ''That means¡­''

    Damien grinned.

    It seemed he had a lot more maneuverability than expected.

    ''Luckily, I''ve pretty much diagnosed the problem.''

    The issue in his body, as he thought from the start, was a foreign energy causing problems.

    In normal cases, his Void Physique would have removed this energy automatically so it couldn''t cause problems for him.

    However, this particr energy managed to avoid the detection of his physique.

    ''Is it because it''s too convoluted, or is it something else¡­?''

    Damien had to find out, and as he found out, he had to iste the energy so it couldn''t affect him.

    Of course, all while he continued to fight for 4 Evils.

    ''No big deal, right?''

    Damien grinned as he twisted his body again.

    His mana raged, swelling around his leg as he mmed it down.

    Envy was right there.

    She was concealed, but she couldn''t hide from Damien.

    She tried to grab his leg, but instead, she found iting down on her neck.

    BANG!

    The mana shield made sure Envy didn''t have contact with Damien''s skin as he struck her. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    His leg mmed square into her neck, throwing her downward, and since Damien made sure to aim properly¡­

    Her falling body just so happened to end up in the path of Gluttony''s attack.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Green scales went flying everywhere as Envy''s natural protections were destroyed.

    Her body went flying further into the air, covered in mana as she tried to correct her position.

    The other Evils saw her get hit, but none of them moved to help her.

    Recovery was her own problem.

    Their goal was to capture the target for their Lord.

    Damien focused his vision again and allowed time to slow.

    ''Wrath is about to jump. Lust will recover soon. Gluttony is¡­I don''t know.''

    Wrath''s movements were easy to read. As for Lust, she was incredibly angry, so she was also telegraphing her movements a lot.

    Gluttony merely stood there. He stared at Damien with the same dull look in his eyes, but he didn''t seem to be aiming to attack at all.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    The previous few seconds before Wrath made it to his current position¡­

    ''...I can use them.''

    Damien immediately went to work.

    His mana created a cage within his body, slowly guiding the foreign energy so that it would be trapped within.

    While it did so, Damien took the opportunity to truly analyze the energy.

    ''It''s not familiar, but it''s close¡­''

    At first, there wasn''t much he could see.

    The energy didn''t look like anything he''d seen before, and its properties weren''t simr to mana or mkh. It was an entirely new energy source that Damien hadn''t encountered before.

    ''If that''s the case¡­maybe the Void Physique didn''t grab it on purpose?''

    The Void Physique could cleanse his body, but anything it devoured would be turned into pure energy and fed back to him in a digestible form.

    If that happened to a foreign energy, it would lose the signature that allowed Damien toprehend and seize it for himself.

    ''Now that I think about it, I encountered something simr with Nox Mana too.''

    He couldn''t devour it when he was younger, and eventually, he gained mkh because of that.

    ''Whatever this energy is¡­''

    It wasn''t from the True Void Universe or the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    ''But for it to show up here¡­''

    ¡­it had to have been used by the person who created the Celestial Prison.

    Suddenly, the 4 Evils, and even Malevalon Straea, started to look insignificant.

    But still, they were the ones threatening him now, so Damien had no choice but to focus on them.

    ''For now, I''ll tuck it away.''

    He gathered the foreign energy and made sure it could no longer impede his systems.

    It was easier than expected, especially when Void Energy was brought into y.

    And as Damien''s strength began to return¡­

    ''That Gluttony guy gave me a great idea.''

    A new way of fighting.

    He was going to have fun testing it out.

 Chapter 1507 Escape [4]

    Chapter 1507 Escape [4]

    The current situation was as follows.

    Wrath had just leapt into the air. He would reach Damien within the second.

    Lust had summoned her mana. The pink fog she created was already being mobilized.

    Envy had returned to the battlefield, but she didn''t look as good as her peers. She was hanging back, watching and waiting for an opportunity.

    And Gluttony¡­

    Well, he just stood there.

    None of them noticed the change in Damien''s demeanor.

    He made sure to hide the change in his aura.

    ''It feels good to be back.''

    Damien had reached a high level.

    He knew that he''d reached a high level.

    But he''d rarely ever tested the limits of that level.

    As he looked at the 4 Evils, his mindset changed.

    ''I can escape at any time.''

    Now that he had his power back, it wouldn''t be a problem at all.

    ''Malevalon isn''t nearby.''

    Damien couldn''t sense him. Not even with Absolute Perception.

    Wherever Malevalon was, it wasn''t here.

    ''No, that''s concerning in its own right.''

    Malevalon''s location was something he absolutely needed to know.

    ''So basically¡­''

    He could test himself, but he couldn''t y around too much.

    ''Okay.''

    Damien closed his eyes. Reality began to flow as normal.

    BOOM!

    The shockwave caused by Wrath''sunch was finally allowed to spread.

    The tiger-like man appeared before Damien like a sh of light. His fist was outstretched, and a mana filled with the aura of war swarmed around it fiercely.

    ''That''s interesting.''

    The mana was abination of severalws. To imitate the aura of war was a difficult task, as one had to truly understand the various cruelties involved.

    If this mana hit someone, it would strike with the power of an entire army.

    It was truly impressive.

    ''It''ll be fun to y with.

    Gluttony gave Damien a great idea.

    To use an enemy''s power against them¡­

    Couldn''t he do that too?

    Not only could he do it, he could do it far better than anyone else.

    The concept of order and the concept of domination, though opposite in many ways, worked wlessly together for an action like that.

    Wrath threw his punch.

    War-like mana flew towards Damien at high speeds.

    But as he watched it approach, Damien just smiled.

    His mana was already moving.

    "...!"

    Wrath''s face instantly changed. He felt what happened, but he couldn''t exin it.

    His mana was moving.

    It was moving, but it wasn''t moving as he wanted it to.

    He felt like time slowed down around him.

    It was a beautiful sight, but it was equally eerie.

    His mana simply¡­floated in the atmosphere.

    It slowly wobbled and expanded, like a drop of water in a space with no gravity.

    In this space, it was just him and his weightless mana.

    And that man.

    Damien, who smiled through it all.

    Damien raised his hand as Wrath watched incredulously.

    He put his hand in that mana, waving it around and feeling its fluctuations.

    "You really are an aplished practitioner," Damien said.

    He wasn''t being sarcastic. Wrath truly was impressive.

    "However, it''s a shame that you made me your enemy."

    Wrath''s senses were screaming at him.

    Something bad was going to happen.

    But he couldn''t do anything to stop it.

    "Especially at a time when I can do this."

    Damien flexed his fingers.

    And Wrath''s mana moved.

    It was no longer Wrath''s anymore.

    Whether it was hisws or the energy itself, all of it was under Damien''s control.

    "Have a taste of it."

    Damien grinned happily.

    "The mana you''ve cultivated after all these years, I mean."

    The slowed time psed, and Wrath''s perception returned to normal.

    For a moment, he contemted if everything that just happened was an illusion.

    But the mana in his face told him otherwise.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Everything Wrath prepared for Damien struck him in the chest with amplified intensity.

    "ARGH!"

    He roared in pain, coughing up several mouthfuls of blood as he flew back.

    Damien looked down at the ground.

    He extended his hand again, and suddenly, he felt the fluctuations of an illusionary mana in his soul.

    ''So this is her power.''

    Lust''s ability of mental maniption, he controlled it through her mana and sent it towards Envy, who was now back and trying to return to battle.

    She immediately froze.

    Lust''s mana was extremely intrusive. When it touched one''s skin, it would enter through the pores and immediately drive towards the brain.

    Both mentally and spiritually, one would be subjected to an intense stimtion, and by the time it was over, Lust''s mana would takeplete control over their body.

    Any actions they took or feelings they possessed after that point could be controlled by Lust. She could do whatever she wanted with them even if they were conscious.

    They would never notice her influence. Not on their own, at least.

    Envy had gotten used to this mana after being around it for so long, but even she didn''t have a tolerance for it. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    When she saw iting, she tried to fight, but she was already injured from Gluttony''s attack, so she wasn''t able to properly free herself of control.

    Her body was frozen.

    Her mind was safe, but she was immobilized.

    At this point, the Evils noticed the strangeness they were encountering.

    Something was wrong with their mana. It was obvious that the enemy had gained a way to influence them, but they couldn''t believe the easiest and most obvious answer.

    Because they were Gods. That obvious answer was the most impossible one.

    ''They''re confused.''

    Wrath had already recovered, but he was standing back and watching with narrowed eyes.

    Lust was also staring at him strangely, while Envy was forced into stasis.

    The only one who couldn''t be read was still Gluttony.

    He was also the one Damien had the least information about.

    Gluttony was obviously someone with a devour-type ability. Damien was used to those, so he thought he''d have an easy time dealing with that particr enemy.

    That was an incorrect assumption.

    ''The longer he stands there, the more dangerous his aura bes.''

    It wasn''t his physical aura, but something more ethereal.

    ''Gluttony is definitely a trump card. If I mess with him right now¡­''

    Damien had to remember that his main purpose was to escape.

    He''d saved Dante, but only temporarily.

    To truly return his father to good health, Damien needed to take him back to Void Pce.

    He looked at the 4 Evils.

    They didn''t look nearly as threatening as they did before.

    With him in the air and the four of them on the ground with varying degrees of injury, it was obvious who''d won this battle.

    ''But if I want to kill one¡­''

    "I can''t risk it."

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    Never once had he doubted his intuition, and his intuition was telling him to just leave it at this and be satisfied with what he''d aplished.

    If he pushed any further¡­

    Damien took onest nce at Gluttony.

    ''That man¡­''

    Those dull eyes, that strange ability that was only disyed once, the general apathy¡­

    Gluttony was an unnerving presence in every way.

    ''Preparation.''

    As long as the lives of others were involved, preparation was the most important thing.

    So, while Damien had the energy and desire to continue this fight¡­

    "Tch."

    He clicked his tongue. It was a sound of annoyance loud enough for all of the 4 Evils to hear him.

    And he disappeared.

    His aura and presencepletely vanished from the vicinity, and soon enough, from the entirety of the Northern Region.

    Damien''s decision was a confusing one in the moment.

    But if one stayed on the scene for just a tad bit longer, just a few more seconds after he left¡­

    One would soone to realize just how wise of a decision it was.

 Chapter 1508 Return [1]

    Chapter 1508 Return [1]

    WHOOOSH!

    It was a huge wind, indicative of the speed the one who caused it had traveled to reach this ce.

    "Where?"

    One word.

    When the 4 Evils heard it, their bodies froze.

    That voice¡­

    That was the voice of a person they never wished to meet in their lives.

    "Where?"

    It was repeated, this time in a far sterner tone.

    They were frozen, but they had no choice but to respond.

    "He¡­he escaped¡­"

    Lust spoke for the group.

    "Escaped?"

    The man looked between them. There was no emotion in his gaze.

    "From all of you?"

    He observed their states.

    Gluttony was unharmed, and wounds on the rest of them were no more than surface level injuries.

    But what was he sensing from them?

    Was that fear?

    "Disappointing."

    Only one word again. It was like the man didn''t believe they were worthy enough to converse with.

    It didn''t matter how the battle went or what happened with the enemy.

    All that mattered was that the person the Lord wanted was gone.

    The man closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings

    His awareness spread across the entire Northern Region without halting.

    And when he sensed no sign of the man he was looking for¡­

    "Tch."

    He clicked his tongue.

    "I will report this to the Lord. Do not think your pitiful performances will go unnoticed."

    The man didn''t stop to look at the disgraces known as the 4 Evils any longer.

    He only came here for one purpose, and as it had be impossible to achieve, he would return to his Lord and report exactly what he''d seen.

    The 4 Evils could say nothing. They didn''t try to stop him from leaving.

    After all, they truly did show a pitiful performance.

    Damien didn''t have to work hard to escape.

    No, once he confused them and made them wary, rather than escaping, he just left.

    He absolutely could''ve continued the fight there, and though they didn''t want to admit it, they didn''t think they''d win if he did.

    That strange power he showed at the end was an ability unlike anything they''d ever seen. The second he started using it, Wrath, the most sturdy of them, was forced to cough blood and focus on recovery.

    They were fighting an unknown enemy. If they wanted to capture him, they needed to do a lot more to understand his strength before even trying.

    Yet, they didn''t get anything close to an opportunity to do so. It was all over after just a few shes.

    This was the most demoralizing battle they''d ever fought. It didn''t even feel like a battle, more like an encounter against someone who didn''t have any interest in fighting them from the start.

    That, of course, was a correct assumption, as Damien really didn''t have any ns to fight them, but for it to be felt meant that he truly wasn''t putting any worth in their existences.

    It made them feel a plethora of hostile emotions, but those were all squashed the moment "that person" arrived.

    They couldn''t focus their hatred on one man anymore.

    They had to show results befitting of their position as soon as possible against the enemies of the Straea n, causing as much damage as possible.

    Because as long as "that man" said even a single word, they would die.

    He was Malevalon''s true right hand.

    He was the person under one and above all others in the Straea n.

    He, Malefice Straea, was Malevalon''s blood-rted younger brother, and the strongest and most loyal person under his control.

    Malefice practiced aw nobody else understood or even knew the identity of. Thatw could kill anyone as long as Malefice wanted them dead. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    There was no way to escape it.

    He was someone who could kill Damien with a single nce, even with his newprehensions about Existence.

    Just like Malevalon, he was someone Damien absolutely couldn''t mess with right now, especially if he wanted to save his father.

    He was lucky he left when he did.

    But his departure was the worst thing that could possibly happen to the 4 Evils.

    This failure was the biggest mistake they''d ever made, and with their positions and lives at stake¡­

    They had gone insane with the desire to live, a primal urge that came from the deepest depths of their souls.

    ***

    There was a dark ce.

    It was far removed from any sort of society, located in the exact center point of the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    Here, there was a darkness beyond darkness. A supermassive ck hole that was slowly consuming everything around it.

    But it was not a ck hole.

    Rather, it was thetent energy subconsciously released by the being in the center of that mass.

    He never moved from that ce.

    Many people hardly even knew of his existence.

    However, they all knew his name.

    He was the owner of this cosmos, the supreme being that controlled any and all things within it.

    Nobody in existence could stand his aura or look at him directly, so even his own subordinates had only interacted with him through telepathy from billions of kilometers away.

    The Dark God.

    The reasons behind his stasis were unknown to the outside, but while he never moved or truly interacted with anyone else, he was always watching.

    Nothing that happened in the Sacred Abyss Universe could escape his perception.

    And as Foreign Territories spread across the Heavenly World, he gained the ability to sense the undercurrents of that ce as well.

    ''Something¡­is amiss.''

    His thoughts didn''t have true form. They''d reached such a spiritual level that they couldn''t be properly phrased in existingnguage anymore, but that was something of a summary.

    He could sense it.

    In the True Void Universe, something major was happening.

    His ns were being meddled with by an unknown factor.

    ''Something¡­I cannot sense?''

    It wasn''t that he couldn''t sense it, but that he could only sense the absence of it.

    There was something that should have been within the bounds of his perception, but instead of being there, it appeared as an emptiness toorge to be possible.

    That emptiness was ufortable yet familiar.

    To the Dark God, who had never felt familiarity with anything outside of himself, it was an extremely concerning feeling.

    ''Find it.''

    His thought was projected into the cosmos, sent to every being under his directmand.

    ''Find the anomaly.''

    It had to be eliminated.

    Throughout the entirety of time, anomalies like this were not rare. However, while they were not rare, every time they appeared, they''d cause scenarios that otherwise could not exist.

    They impeded the Dark God''s conquest, and in some cases, they truly managed to cause him trouble.

    But they never seeded in defeating him.

    They never managed to achieve anything beyond what he allowed, because they''d be eliminated before they had the chance to do so.

    This time was the same as every other time.

    That anomaly would not be able to grow, nor would it be able to thrive.

    That anomaly would fall, and the cosmos would be his.

    After all, this was not the first cosmos to fall by his hands.

    The Dark God was not a being who could be stopped.

    This was a fact the True Void Universe would soone to learn.

    He would be sure of it.

 Chapter 1509 Return [2]

    Chapter 1509 Return [2]

    Damien''s journey back to Void Pce wasn''t impeded again after that.

    After all, even if they knew where he was going, they couldn''t chase him.

    The Straea n still had to be wary of the Veritas n and the Holy Empire. If worst came to worst and they decided to expand their area of operation, the Vega n would likely step in as well.

    At the current moment, even if it was Straea, they couldn''t act outside the Northern Region.

    Of course, that was going to change soon.

    The Dark God had given his order. Both the Straea n and the Foreign Race nobility would begin acting soon enough, but that was still a ways away.

    For the Foreign nobility, it was a serious task to enter the Heavenly World. Until they could reliably travel between the two realms, they couldn''t do much.

    As for Straea, well, Malevalon was currently in a certain mood.

    He wanted to destroy the person who stole his treasure. He wanted nothing more than to directly kill that person.

    However, he had to hold himself back. It wasn''t because of those who had their eyes on him and it wasn''t because he wanted to guarantee the safety of his n.

    Instead, it was because he was given a far more important task toplete, and until he was done with it, he couldn''t focus on anything else.

    Even if that "anything else" was Dante Void and the prison he was being kept in.

    Malevalon had to quell his desire for revenge.

    He also needed to gather information to find out where that man went.

    Though, even if Damien hid his soul fluctuations and pretended to be someone else, his end goal was obvious.

    There was only one influence that would do such a thing, after all.

    Nevertheless, while the Straea n reeled from the events that happened under their noses, Damien found his way back to Void Pce, unharmed and with the best news he could possibly have.

    Dante Void had been recovered.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t just announce the information.

    For the time being, he had to withhold news about Dante''s status. This was both to keep Malevalon''s suspicions as mere suspicions and to protect Dante.

    It would take time for him to regain consciousness. It would take even longer for him to regain strength.

    Until he''d done both, the fact that he''d been sessfully extracted from the Celestial Prison was a truth the Straea n could never find out.

    That was the main reason why Damien kept his return secret as well.

    He snuck into the pce in the depths of the night and called his mother, aunts, and uncle.

    They were the only ones he was willing to tell.

    And more importantly, they were the key to Dante''s recovery.

    "Mom¡­"

    Damien smiled at her as she walked in. He nodded at the rest, giving his greetings to them as well.

    "You''ve returned¡­?" ire asked.

    She was happy that her son was back, but hardly any time had passed since he left.

    Did he return with bad news¡­?

    Did something happen to him while he was gone¡­?

    The worries that gued her mind didn''t allow her to maintain hope, but Damien''s smile was bright enough to somewhat calm her spirits.

    If he was smiling like that, then her son was fine. Even if he didn''t seed in the operation, he''d returned without a scratch.

    That was all that¨C

    "I seeded."

    "What did you just say?" Hugo asked, questioning his hearing.

    "I said I seeded."

    Damien''s smile widened.

    "I managed to rescue him."

    Silence.

    It was a silence filled with so much emotion that it could hardly be called silence.

    "W-where is he?" ire asked hesitantly.

    Damien pursed his lips.

    He didn''t want to ruin their happiness by showing them Dante''s current state.

    ''Should I wait until he''s regained hisplexion first?''

    Even if Dante was unconscious, if he looked okay, it would probably make them feel better.

    ''But how long will it take to get him to that point without Mom and Aunt''s help?''

    He used the samews as them, but they had far more experience than him. Unlike Damien, they were practiced in even the most niche concepts of thosews.

    There were things they could do that even hecked the ability to do right now.

    ''Haa¡­I guess there''s no choice.''

    "Mom, his condition is a bit¡­well, you''ll see it in a second."

    He prefaced the situation so they could mentally prepare themselves.

    And as he watched their expressions harden, he pulled Dante from the Sanctuary.

    His body was still frail and weak, his skin hugging his bones.

    His Divine aura was so heavily weakened that he barely seemed like a Divinity anymore.

    And regardless of the presence of his closest family, he didn''t open his eyes.

    "I managed to contain his leaking Divinity and heal the most immediate wounds on his body, so he''s not in serious danger, but¡­"

    "I can''t give him his Divinity back until he''s awake again, and I can''t figure out how or why he entered thisa, so I can''t wake him up."

    Damien had tried several times while he was making his way back.

    He originally went to the Sanctuary to remove the foreign energy from Dante''s body, which he aplished, but when he tried to investigate Dante''s soul and mind¡­

    "...I waspletely blocked out. I don''t think I''m capable of breaking his protections unless I''m willing to harm him. That''s why I''ll need all of your help."

    "You don''t need to say anything more."

    Serena was the one who spoke up.

    They all understood Dante''s situation clearly after listening to Damien.

    Those first words, the ones that assured them of Dante''s immediate safety, allowed them to calm their hearts and think over things logically.

    And when it came to a task like healing Dante¡­

    No matter what it took, they''d bring Dante back.

    Damien nodded, smiling wryly to himself.

    "In the first ce, you never needed to ask for help. We are more than willing to sacrifice ourselves for him."

    No matter what it took, they''d bring Dante back.

    Damien nodded, smiling wryly to himself.

    ''I guess mom wouldn''t just take anyone as her sister.'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Serena was also someone Dante held dear, and she had the samemitment to him as ire did.

    "Then, I''ll take my leave."

    Damien knew his aunts and uncle needed some time alone with his father.

    And after seeing how deep the feelings ire and the rest had for Dante were, he suddenly had the urge to go find his own people.

    Yes, this was his family.

    Hugo, Persia, ire, Serena, and everyone else at Void Pce were people he held in his heart.

    But they weren''t his only family.

    Damien had another family, one he''d found himself as he made his arduous journey to the Heavenly World.

    And right now, he was missing them more than anything.

    Not just his wives, but everyone.

    Long Chen, Su Ren, and all the other friends he''d made along the way. Tian Yang, Malcolm, and the many mentors who''d be his most trusted confidants¡­

    Damien had been too involved with the Heavenly World''s matters ever since he got here.

    Now that the war was in full swing, he didn''t have to take a frontline position as often.

    So he finally had time to spend with them.

    ''I guess this is the perfect time.''

    Damien''s demeanor softened.

    ''Let''s take our first real break sinceing to this world.''

 Chapter 1510 Desperation [1]

    Chapter 1510 Desperation [1]

    A lot happened in theing months.

    Damien returned to his daily life in the Young Lord''s residence. With the most important taskpleted, he had time to spend on the back line overseeing everything.

    But mainly, he used this time to spend with his family.

    It had been a long time since he''d had quality time with his wives. It wasn''t just because he was busy outside, but because they''d been fully immersed in training.

    The Heavenly World was a dangerous ce, especially for the weak.

    They were powerful back when they were in Grand Heavens Boundary, but unlike Damien, they experienced what it was really like for an ascender.

    Adapting to thews of this world was difficult. They were far denser, and every concept they hade to know was now far moreplex than ever before.

    To understand thesews meant to gain true power, but it was a time-consuming task.

    Especially for people who''d only recently be Demigods.

    That critical benchmark was reached not long after they arrived in this world. They already had the foundation, and if it wasn''t for the speed of the events that passed since the war against the Nox ended, they would''ve ascended long before Damien returned to take them to the Heavenly World.

    Establishing their Divinities was a job Rose, Ruyue, and Elena didn''t have any trouble with.

    Again, unlike Damien, they were absolutely certain of the paths they''d decided to tread.

    They didn''t have the vagueness of the Void and Existence clouding their vision.

    Plus, with Iris'' help and information about her experience with Divinity, they were able to rapidly grasp the concept.

    Rose''s Divinity was called True Fantasy. It reflected her desire to turn her imagination into true reality, her ability to create illusions beyond illusion.

    Ruyue, on the other hand, gained something called Absolute Yin, which furthered her ability to control all yin-rtedws and concepts.

    Finally, Elena trod the same path she found in the Holy Light Realm. Her Divinity was called Transcended Death. It was her true start on the road she''d chosen.

    Once these Divinities were established, it was all just a matter of perfecting them.

    And that was exactly what they spent their time on.

    For as long as they''d been here, they''d remained in meditation.

    Of course, they asionally took breaks to rest their minds and be familiar with the people in the pce, but their hard work was their main focus.

    They excelled inprehension more and more as they continued trying, and as they made progress, they got somewhat addicted to the feeling.

    It was normal, and it wasn''t problematic.

    But it did make them somewhat unavable.

    The people of the pce had a good impression of them. They were beautiful, had the poise to be the wives of their Young Lord, and showed a work ethic beyond even their most hard-working members.

    It was just a shame that they couldn''t make any real connections outside of ire and Serena due to their schedules.

    That problem was solved when Damien returned.

    They took a break to match his break. With the group of them spending more time together rxing and enjoying each other''s presences, others were also able to see more of the Mistresses they had to respect on the same level as their Young Lord.

    The atmosphere within the pce was quite harmonious.

    To the point where one could easily forget what was going on outside.

    But, naturally, Damien paid close attention to it. Even if he was taking some time off, he couldn''tpletely separate himself from work.

    ''The Straea n is acting strangely.''

    By this point, Straea should''ve already made several moves to strike back at the pce. Damien had ounted for their movements and made several ns to counter them.

    However, the Straea n was not fighting back.

    Instead, they huddled up and stayed within the Northern Region.

    ''This isn''t how they''re supposed to be.''

    The Straea n was arrogant and domineering. That was the image they''d built up over all these years.

    For them to act like cowards¡­

    ''...they''re nning something big.''

    Damien sighed.

    It wasn''t something he could predict. He could only try to be prepared for any situation, so they couldn''t catch him off-guard and ruin everything he''d built up.

    And while he did so, he needed to focus more on the operation against the Divine Order.

    That, unlike the matters of the Straea n, was going quite smoothly.

    How could it not?

    The assault was perfectly nned so the Divine Order would be destroyed without any hope of survival.

    Dominic and Yiren led the troops on the frontline of that battlefield, while Hestia helped them from the pce with information and strategies.

    Veritas helped them with the war effort, and the two great ns working together, the Divine Order''s power was weakened and crippled.

    That was thebat side of things.

    The Divine Order''s Council of Gods acted a few times, but after losing several Gods to the enemy, they chose to hide away rather than fight.

    And that gave Void Pce and Veritas the freedom they needed to systematically destroy the order.

    Amidst all of this, one couldn''t forget the Holy Empire.

    City after city, town after town, the people of the Southwestern Region were liberated from their brainwashing.

    They didn''t know about it either.

    They went about their days as normal, unaware that anything about their fundamental thinking capabilities had changed.

    But they had.

    The Divine Order lost control over their people, which meant they lost the cannon fodder they could use to stop their enemies'' advance.

    Those people were still believers of the order. That part didn''t change. However, they could no longer be forced to do things against their will.

    They''d regained the freedom of thought.

    Which meant they could fully absorb the situation around them and understand what was happening.

    It was a fearful and confusing time for those who were freed, but the Holy Empire wasn''t just present to free them. They provided aid and care to make the transition as smooth as possible.

    And because the Holy Empire itself was a religious order, they were able to use the faith those people held to help them.

    It was a perfect operation in every way.

    And because of that, the Divine Order was forced into an extreme position.

    If they wanted to survive through this, they had to find a way to escape the Southwestern Region.

    "They" being the highest level of the order.

    The rest had been abandoned.

    And since the rest had been abandoned¡­

    Naturally, they had to be used. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Damien forgot about one thing.

    When an insane enemy was forced into a corner¡­

    Nobody could judge what they''d do next.

    Especially when it was the Divine Order, an influence that was always forced to be suppressed and controlled by those greater than it.

    The Council of Gods held one more meeting.

    It wasn''t much of a meeting at all.

    It was merely a time for them to make sure they were all on the same page.

    They would make it out of this mess alive.

    Even if they had to bring the world down to do so.

 Chapter 1511 Desperation [2]

    Chapter 1511 Desperation [2]

    The passing months were still ongoing.

    The siege against the Divine Order continued, and nothing else really changed.

    The Vega n started paying more attention to the conflict as their informationwork was able to uncover more about what was actually happening.

    Meanwhile, the Dragon n was silent.

    They were notorious for their uninterest in worldly matters, so it wasn''t a surprise. The Western Region was a gathering ce for all dragons. It was a ce where they could be surrounded by their own kind and live without concern for other races.

    As such, the Dragon n''s borders were almost always closed off to the outside world.

    When the Holy Empire''s forces made their way through Dragon n territory, they were forced to gain permission from the Dragon God himself, and even then, they were only allowed to move through a specific route that didn''t allow them to interact with the inhabitants of the Western Region.

    The Dragon n was a huge object of interest for a lot of people, but in the current state of the world, their attractiveness had died down.

    All eyes were on the ongoing war.

    And as the war raged on, the foregone conclusion became obvious for everyone.

    The Divine Order would no longer exist after this.

    Even those within the order realized this.

    Yulia Veritas herself was leading their army, and while the Holy Emperor didn''t appear, he sent six Archangels, a force with impossible strength.

    7 of the 12 Gods in the council were killed in battle.

    It wasn''t just them either. The majority of the high level members of the order were gone. Some died in battle, others were assassinated, another group died while trying to flee, and some even ended their own lives.

    The main headquarters of the order was already surrounded by all three armies.

    It was hard for them to maintain hope. It didn''t look like defectors and those willing to surrender would be spared.

    Nobody knew whether to admire or condemn those who chose to die.

    They were too busy considering something else to even think about it.

    In this situation, what could the Divine Order even aplish?

    Was there a way out?

    There had never been a situation where the great ns formed an alliance to deal with one of their own. Nobody had ever seen the strength of multiple great ns at once before. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But it was here in the world now.

    And it was absolutely terrifying.

    With all eyes focused on them, the five remaining Gods who represented the order had to cement themselves in the path they chose.

    They didn''t really have names. The five of them were unknown in the world.

    They were Gods in their own right, sure, and they definitely had their ces in the council, but they were never the real decision-makers.

    They were the ones who stayed in the back and went along with the majority, quietly maintaining their status and luxury.

    The reason they survived wasn''t because they were strong.

    It was because they were willing to do whatever it took to survive, even if that meant betraying any and everyone.

    This time, they were nning to do just as they always did.

    To secure their own escape, they would risk everything.

    The current situation wasn''tplex.

    Void Pce was to the south, Veritas was to the east, and the Holy Empire was to the north.

    The west was open¡­open water. It wasn''t much of an escape route, but it could still be used.

    However, it was easy for Gods to chase Gods if it just came to flying.

    For the five of them to get out of this mess, they needed to provide a distraction that would force the other side to let them go.

    What could they use?

    What could possibly force all three of these great ns to allow them to pass?

    That wasn''t even a question.

    While they may have lost control over the public in terms of brainwashing, they hadn''t lost their ability to use the general public against their enemies.

    When it came to dealing with the righteous, hostages were always the right option.

    And if the number of hostages was in the quadrillions¡­

    Not even the most indifferent of people could ignore them, right?

    Dominic and Yiren sat in their tent on their side of the line.

    Yulia and two Archangels were with them, while the other four Archangels were watching the line on the Veritas and Holy Empire side.

    They were currently trying to figure out what the best method to siege the headquarters was.

    Or at least, that was what they''d been attempting to do until a moment ago.

    But at this time, something surprising happened.

    A man appeared in the air above the headquarters. He wasn''t someone anyone recognized, and from his aura, he most certainly wasn''t one of the remaining Gods.

    "I-I am speaking for the Great Order!"

    His voice was filled with terror. Every word shook, but against his will, every word was projected across thends to anyone willing to listen.

    "Void Pce, Veritas, Holy Empire¡­!" He yelled.

    "Your people wish for the destruction of mine, however, I cannot allow it!"

    The man paused for a second.

    His body began to shake uncontrobly.

    He looked in a certain direction, unwilling to say any more.

    But he was not allowed that luxury.

    Bang!

    His foot exploded into a shower of blood.

    "AAAAHHHH!"

    He roared in pain.

    Tears streamed out of his eyes, which soon widened.

    "I-if any of you t-try to block our escape¡­!"

    He immediately continued his speech, clearly in fear for his life.

    "I-if any of you t-try to block our escape¡­we will¡­k-kill a¡­ll¡­ of the citizens¡­ of this region¡­!"

    "..."

    His words were met with silence.

    Dominic and the rest had exited the tent and watched the entire event as it happened, and rather than eyes that took him as a joke, theirs were stern.

    "It''s not an empty threat."

    Dominic spoke first.

    The rest silently agreed.

    Since it was the Divine Order, since they''d decided to torture this man in front of them to force them to believe it, they knew.

    But that wasn''t enough for those five Gods.

    No, the example they were nning to make was far, far bigger.

    They arrived on the horizon as one.

    At the same time, the man who made the speech was blown to bits, turned into a deep red firework.

    The five Gods stood there in the sky, their backs turned to the ocean behind them.

    And they smiled, as if provoking someone, anyone, to try and fight them.

    It was an open threat. Not a single person was excluded from it.

    And while those with moremon sense stayed their ground¡­

    It was impossible for there to be not even a single person in the vicinity who wasn''t reckless.

    Nobody knew where it came from.

    Maybe it didn''t evene from the armies. Maybe it was organized by the Five Gods.

    Regardless of its origin, it existed.

    An attack. A firebolt that didn''t seem like it could be fired by someone stronger than 4th ss.

    It didn''t even reach the five Gods before it dissipated.

    But that was the answer they''d been waiting for.

    Someone decided to attack.

    Which meant, only a few secondster¡­

    RUMBLE!

    It didn''t happen nearby, but everyone knew what that rumbling was.

    For it to have been something capable of creating a shockwave that could arrive here¡­

    if that truly was in a city somewhere¡­

    ¡­at least a few million people had died.

    Just like that.

 Chapter 1512 Domination [1]

    Chapter 1512 Domination [1]

    The pregnant silence that followed the explosion while those presentprehended what had happened didn''tst for long.

    Yulia broke it within a few seconds, yelling towards the armies.

    "SPREAD OUT AND SEARCH THE REGION! LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED!"

    Dominic, Yiren, and the Archangels followed suit, giving the exact same order.

    It didn''t matter whether the explosion had actually killed the amount of people it had the ability to kill.

    What mattered was the fact that the explosion that took ce was too far away for it to have been controlled manually.

    A true remote explosive.

    Their existence wasn''t a surprise. Remote explosives were just asmon as any other weapon in this world.

    However, the scale of that explosion, and the fact that it truly was pre-nted, made the situation extremely hazardous.

    Whether it was a farce or not, as long as there was a possibility that such explosives were spread throughout the region, it could not be ignored.

    Even more so because those explosives hadn''t been sensed by anyone in any of the three allied armies.

    It had to be known that this was thest step of the n. This was the end of the Divine Order, which meant other than those in the main headquarters, everyone affiliated with them was dead.

    The citizens had to be freed from mind control as well, so at least onebat army and one purification army had to sweep through every single popted area in the entire Cardinal Region.

    The fact that not a single person was able to recognize the fact that there were mines below them was extremely disturbing.

    Those five Gods were willing to do anything for survival.

    Their willingness to call for extermination couldn''t be doubted.

    As such, despite knowing that there were several ways to make them stand down, Yulia and her fellowmanders decided to ensure the safety of the masses.

    This was a territory that would be under their influence regardless of whether the Five Gods lived or died.

    If the enemy was going to escape, they had to be absolutely certain that they wouldn''t have the ability to influence the newly conquered territory.

    The armies that had gathered around the Divine Order headquarters dispersed into countless groups of somewhere between five and ten people and spread throughout the cardinal region.

    Immediately as the search began, those closest to the headquarters reported that they had indeed found explosives buried under the town they''d reached.

    The mines were filled with an extremely chaotic mixture ofws and contained within a case with the ability to iste mana signatures.

    Unless they were at the level of ire or Yulia, no God would be able to sense these.

    And Yulia, while she was indeed a participant in this war, never went near the cities.

    She was fighting other Gods. To make sure they wouldn''t harm themon poption as they battled, she had to remain in the unpopted areas between cities.

    After all, even if Gods fought in the Heavenly God ne, their presence would affect the world''s mana. That atmosphere wasn''t something anyone under Divinity could handle.

    Nevertheless, the explosives that went unnoticed were finally uncovered. Proof that they existed had been found.

    That was enough justification for the decision of themanders.

    Extra forces were called in to assist in the search for explosives, while those on the backlines kept their eyes on the movements of those five Gods.

    They were being allowed to escape.

    But nobody spoke about it.

    Those Gods, in their minds, they were probably over the moon about their "genius" n that allowed them to get away from such a massive enemy presence.

    However, they had no way to know they were being watched.

    Because the person who was watching them was not someone they could everpete against.

    ***

    It had been a few months.

    Since time was nothing but a concept for Damien, it had been quite a bit longer for him and his people since his vacation started.

    The Young Lord''s residence and experienced quite a unique time flow for thest few months, to the point where those within had difficulty readapting when it was turned off.

    Really, only Damien and a few others could go in and out of the residence without being knocked unconscious by the rapid change in flow.

    But that was beside the point.

    The point was that while vacation time was nice, Damien was raring to get his hands dirty again.

    The timing was perfect as well.

    Wasn''t there a group of rats on the loose trying to stir up trouble?

    ''Gods of their level¡­''

    Damien knew all about those five Gods. Unlike with Straea, Damien was able to devour beings from the order and learn everything about their inner workings.

    He knew how strong they were.

    ''And they''re definitely not stronger than a Count.''

    Damien''s Authority of Existence had gotten even more powerful since he fought the Count. If it was Gods at the bottom of their ss¡­?

    ''They''re nothing now, aren''t they?''

    ''Status''

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    ????

    Male - Age 120

    Level ???

    Divinity: Hegemon God

    Legend: Enthroned King

    Title(s): [???????, Apostle of the Void, Evolver, Heaven''s Wrath, Supreme Genius]

    Physique: Void Physique

    Authorities:

    [Devouring - 100%]

    [Immortality - 80%]

    [Elemental - 100%]

    [Spacetime - 100%]

    [Samsara - 100%]

    [Cosmic Duality - 100%]

    [Existence - 80%]

    When his status looked like that, what did he have to worry about?

    The system could no longer quantify his level. Damien wasprehending Existence, but his actual Divinity wasn''t seeing much change.

    He was extremely powerful, but technically, he was still the lowest-level Demigod.

    Of course, Damien knew that he''d likely promote as soon as heprehended Existence, but the system wasn''t privy to such intuition.

    All it knew was that he''d gotten stronger.

    It had read his Legend, so it titled him a king.

    It saw him control Existence, so it could only try to judge how far he''d gotten by reasonably increasing the percentages next to his Authorities.

    It knew his titles, it knew his age, it knew his name, and it knew his physique.

    But that was all the system could see from him.

    He was practically already acting outside of its control.

    ''Isn''t that fun?''

    Was it because he''d spent time rxing, or was it because he''d finally seen his wives after such a long time separated?

    Whatever it was, Damien''s mood was lighter than a feather right now, and his fighting spirit was in the clouds.

    He wanted to go dominate on the battlefield.

    He''d found that he didn''t like extended fights anymore. They weren''t any fun when the enemies weren''t on his level.

    He still had to go out and fight even if he couldn''t find the perfect opponent.

    So as he took some time to himself and thought back on his past experiences, he started to appreciate a different form of fighting.

    Could it even be called fighting?

    ''No.''

    What Damien wanted to feel was¨C

    ''Domination.'' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Absolute supremacy.

    A position where no man or god could ever rival him.

    ''Let me go feel it again.''

    He was ready to take action.

    And the five Gods who''d happened to be his targets¡­

    There was no way they could know what wasing for them.

 Chapter 1513 Domination [2]

    Chapter 1513 Domination [2]

    Damien had two faces.

    He was a man who liked using disguises and concealment. These abilities allowed him to act as he wanted to without facing consequences.

    But he didn''t use disguises because he was trying to be secretive.

    Not in the slightest.

    Damien was a man who liked concealment and used it frequently.

    However, he was also a man who always fought his enemies face-to-face.

    The enemies he''d met in the Heavenly World had generally only seen one of those faces. Even when he caused a stir, it was always in such a way that Void Pce wouldn''t be brought into the mess.

    His face was too recognizable, after all.

    This time, he didn''t try to hide.

    He went out with the appearance he''d held since birth.

    And he used his abilities without restriction.

    sh!

    There was only one sh. It happened when Damien left Void Pce.

    By the time he reappeared?

    Not even a few seconds had passed, yet he was already in the Southwestern Region.

    ''Theirst known position is¡­''

    It was somewhere above the ocean.

    They hadn''t tried to return tond yet, probably because they were aware of what awaited them there, but they also hadn''t stopped since they started across the ocean.

    Their destination was unknown. There was a possibility that they were trying to find some discreet location on the ocean itself to hide away and gain strength.

    On the other hand, it was also entirely possible that they had a goal in mind and were moving with the sole purpose of reaching it.

    Damien didn''t really care.

    He could find out from their corpses.

    What mattered was the fact that they were somewhere with no witnesses, a ce where Damien could truly exert his dominion.

    It was difficult to travel across the Heavenly World. Because of its scale and the strangeness of itsnd borders, it was hard to tell which areas were safe and which ones were dangerous.

    Even if they were all dangerous, the amount of time one would have to spend, no matter what means of transportation they used, was great.

    Damien was able to teleport people unreasonable distances within unreasonable timespans since long ago.

    He''d managed to send messengers to the Northwestern Region in a mere month, hadn''t he?

    It had to be remembered that even starships needed years to travel across a single cardinal region.

    The Absolute Perception ability Damien possessed allowed him to expand his teleportation range infinitely after he adapted to the Heavenly World''s dense spatialyers.

    Now, not only could he move from Void Pce to the oceanic region behind the Divine Order headquarters in seconds, he could even move from this ce to the Straea n in the same amount of time.

    Travel was no longer a problem for him.

    The same, however, couldn''t be said about his enemies.

    Gods had a great deal of advantages in this world. Their speed and movement capabilities were some of them.

    In most cases, Gods could travel faster on foot than by any other means of transportation.

    The five Gods had managed to cross an impressive stretch of water in the time it took for the allied armies to find traces of explosives underground.

    Unfortunately for them, there was nowhere in this world they could go to avoid Damien.

    He was already above them.

    He''d been watching them for a bit, but he waited before attacking to see whether the threats they made were legitimate or not.

    Since he was now aware¡­

    ''Don''t go anywhere.''

    He didn''t say it out loud, but the five Gods responded as if they''d heard him.

    They stopped in ce.

    They couldn''t move.

    ''Iste this space.''

    Domination.

    Through this concept, the space in the surrounding hundred kilometers was isted from reality and turned into its own dimension, entirely under Damien''s control.

    "Do you guys know what you''ve done?"

    Damien walked through the sky and approached them.

    The five Gods didn''t have the power to respond.

    They didn''t even have the power to tremble as they feared for their lives.

    Just¡­what kind of being had approached them?

    The second his presence appeared in their perception, they lost all movement capability.

    Not only that, but they also felt their Divine Energy lock up. It refused to flow as it usually did, and if they tried to control it, it backfired and injured them instead.

    Those words Damien spoke were the most terrifying words they''d ever heard.

    Especially when they finally saw the face of the one who spoke.

    "Do you recognize me?"

    The five Gods couldn''t answer, but the emotions in their eyes still changed ording to their thoughts.

    Incredulity, confusion, and fear. Everything else was drowned out by these three emotions.

    Damien Void. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If they didn''t know his face by now, they''d be idiots.

    He was a boy who''d only recently ascended to the Heavenly World, yet somehow he''d be Void Pce''s Young Lord, the man destined to lead it in the future.

    They''d tried to assassinate him many times already, but none of those attempts seeded.

    Rather, none of them were able to get close to him at all.

    The assassins sent by them and all others who tried to kill Damien when he first ascended to the throne died mysteriously the moment they stepped into the main pce''s vicinity.

    It was like sorcery, even to these ancient beings who''d seen Godhood itself with their own eyes.

    Those attempts stopped without gaining much traction. For the most part, people assumed that the 12 Swords were watching the borders like eagles.

    The majority formed the opinion that Void Pce valued Damien a lot more than expected and left it at that.

    After all, even when he left the pce to investigate the Dimensional Crack, the assassins sent after him were destroyed without a word.

    There couldn''t be any other exnation.

    Except, there was.

    It was right in front of them now.

    It wasn''t that Damien was being protected by an extremely powerful force.

    The truth was far more terrifying.

    "Are you all done pondering yet?"

    His voice snapped then out of their thoughts.

    Damien Void¡­

    He was a monster beyond measure.

    He himself was the one who''d been holding them back and ruining their ns from the beginning.

    It was he who truly controlled everything from the shadows.

    This was the first time they met him in person, and it was quite a first meeting.

    Because despite the power they thought they had, despite all the cards they thought they''d prepared¡­

    "It''s not working, is it?"

    They knew what he was talking about.

    Since the moment he caught them, all five of them had been trying to detonate the explosives hidden throughout the Southwestern Region.

    They didn''t need mana or even physical motion to activate them. Exactly in preparation for a situation simr to this one, they''d devised a method that allowed them to trigger the explosions with their thoughts alone.

    However¡­

    "Your connection with the outside world ispletely severed. You can think of it like you''re in the home cosmos of those rats you guys worship. You wouldn''t be able to control mana that exists in another cosmos, would you?"

    Damien was kind enough to exin all the details to them.

    It wasn''t a bad thing to satisfy their curiosity.

    They''d been dead since the moment Damien caught them.

    Their heads were already severed from their bodies.

    Their bodies had already been devoured.

    Their souls no longer existed in this world.

    Only their egos were eternally trapped in this illusion, seeing Damien speak to them and feeling the terror that seemed to originate from their souls.

    In reality, they were already gone.

    They were already drenched in Nonexistence.

    Damien came to dominate.

    And that was exactly what he did.

    Whether in mind, body, or soul, they wouldn''t forget his terrifying dominance.

    That was something even Nonexistence couldn''t erase.

 Chapter 1514 Confusion [1]

    Chapter 1514 Confusion [1]

    The five Gods died by Damien''s hand without much of anything else happening.

    Nobody knew of it until a few dayster when Damien brought back their heads, but that had yet to ur.

    By the time Damien went out to take care of them, the search and rescue operations around the Southwestern Region were already in full swing.

    Tens, hundreds, even thousands of explosives had been uncovered, and more were still being found.

    They were ced everywhere.

    It wasn''t just in cities and popted areas. Practically the entire subterraneanyer of the cardinal region was a sea of explosive material.

    It was difficult to find it all, and it was even more difficult to disarm.

    After all, these explosives were made in the simplest, most chaotic way possible, by forcing conflictingws together and containing them so they couldn''t react.

    There wasn''t necessarily a deactivation sequence. It was possible to do so by weaving together abination ofws that brought order back to the mixture, but that took far more care and effort than the armies were reasonably able to give.

    That left two solutions.

    Technically, only one.

    The bombs had to be detonated intermittently in uninhabited areas until there were none left.

    The other solution was naturally Damien Void, the man who possessed the concept of order.

    He could easily disarm the entire mountain of explosives in a few moments.

    However, he couldn''t do it publicly and risk his enemies learning about how much Existence Law he''dprehended.

    Therefore, a n was put in ce where a portion of the explosives would be detonated for the public to see, while the rest would be handled by Damien in private.

    At first, the operation proceeded slowly because the armies had to take countless precautions to be sure that the Five Gods wouldn''t do any more than they''d already done.

    Unfortunately, no amount of nning or effort could''ve saved everyone.

    Because, in the first ce, from the moment the Five Gods decided to escape, they''d created countless contingencies.

    Damien isted them so their direct control was lost, but even without their control, the bombs were still set to explode.

    Only, there was no method to the destruction they caused.

    The timing and degree of the detonations were randomized.

    RUMBLE!

    It was a sound and feeling everyone had gotten used to after some weeks.

    No matter what they tried, they couldn''t save everyone.

    The randomized bombings took untold millions of lives, lives of people who had nothing but faith in the order that governed them.

    It was as if the people of the order wanted everyone to know that it didn''t matter if they''d been defeated and destroyed.

    Even if they were all dead, they could still terrorize the world.

    If there was one good thing, it was the fact that a lot of the randomized detonations happened within the group of explosives already removed from their original positions.

    Just as millions died, millions were saved.

    And when the news got out that the Five Gods were no more, the race to remove all threats from the Southwestern Region became fierce.

    People moved with more purpose and energy. Without the threat of conscious control always nagging them in the back of their minds, they could calmly and systematically take care of everything else.

    Minimizing damage was the most important thing.

    Sure, not everyone could be saved. But that didn''t mean that those present wouldn''t try to save as many of them as possible.

    That mentality was what led to the armies spreading thinly around the entire Southwestern Region.

    It was good for the efforts they were making.

    But there was something they hadn''t considered.

    ''This¡­''

    It was a coincidence, really.

    The first person to find themselves back in this general vicinity was Dominic Void.

    The central area of the region had been mostly ignored for a while, since the security of that region was guaranteed.

    Or at least, that was the thought everyone had.

    Until now.

    What Dominic saw was¡­

    ''It''s¡­gone¡­?''

    ¡­a hole.

    When it appeared was unknown.

    How it was done was also unknown.

    After he found it, he immediately informed those on the backlines. Investigations started as soon as the news was transmitted, but no clues were found as to the cause.

    This hole¡­

    It wasn''t always a hole.

    Rather, this was a location they''d been at only recently.

    It was, at some point, the Divine Order''s main headquarters.

    But that tall, sky-piercing collection of buildings that seemedrger than life was already gone.

    All that remained in its ce was a crater roughly a hundred kilometers wide and a few thousand kilometers deep.

    The absence of any kind of information from the crater was concerning, but that very pregnant absence was telling in its own way.

    Obviously, this event was intentional.

    It was a move made by "someone" to hide things present in that headquarters that they didn''t want the allied armies to know.

    And to hide the things they wanted to hide, that "someone" had to create a crater this big.

    Honestly, this amount of information could be gathered by anyone, but it didn''t really amount to anything. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They could guess that the Straea n was involved, since that was the most obvious conclusion, and they could guess that "something" was going on in this ce, but they''d have no way of ever knowing what that "something" was.

    This time, Damien wasn''t the only special person to take into consideration to solve this problem.

    Of course, Damien already had the answer. He''d devoured the Five Gods'' existences, so he knew more than he''d ever possibly need to know about what was happening in that ce.

    But there was someone who''d been able to deduce the same things he''d learned.

    Without taking the easy route.

    Hestia Void.

    She was never a fighter, so Damien didn''t train her to fight.

    He made sure she''d receive an education beyond any other. He allowed her to gain practical experience and grow her mind in every way she so wished.

    And as a result, Hestia had gained a talent of deduction far beyond what reality should''ve allowed.

    Logic began to follow her, rather than the other way around.

    And precisely because of that, she could infer about the things that were hidden by the destruction of the Divine Order''s main facilities.

    That, however, was a topic for another time.

    Many people were killed, but overall, the matters of the Southwestern Region were handled properly.

    The territory had fallen into Void Pce''s hands, but nobody outside the great ns was aware of that.

    To them, the war taking ce was practically imaginary.

    It was over before they realized what was happening, and the most important battles happened in ces where nobody could bear witness.

    Nevertheless, the world was lulled into a silence.

    Almost unnaturally so.

    It was something subtle that not many people had realized.

    Among those on his side, Damien was part of only a handful who noticed the strangeness.

    It wasn''t just time and space.

    It was reality.

    Reality itself was subtly flexing. The degree of this warping was increasing by the day. At first, it was barely anything at all, but by the time the war with the Divine Order ended, everyone was asking themselves the same question.

    "How did we get here?"

 Chapter 1515 Confusion [2]

    Chapter 1515 Confusion [2]

    Damien noticed it first, but even for him, it took months.

    How many months¡­?

    He genuinely wasn''t sure.

    ''Thew of time has changed. It''s not stable anymore.''

    Months, days, weeks, it was hard to tell which one was passing when the day and night cycle ended.

    Months had passed since Damien returned to the Celestial Prison. That much was for certain.

    But how did these months pass?

    He wasn''t quite sure. It all happened so fast that it was hard to take reality as reality.

    Damien''s mind immediately began to race.

    At this point, he was still above the western ocean of the Divine Order''s territory. He''d only recently sent news back of the Five Gods'' death, and he was already receiving news back about the things that happened afterwards.

    But wasn''t it only a few moments ago that they''d died?

    How was time able to move in such a way that the Southwestern Region could be cleared and left for him to take over?

    At first, Damien thought it was just him.

    He''d just left the Celestial Prison, after all. He''d been subjected to a space unlike any other he''d been to, so if reality warped around him when he left, it made sense.

    If it was solely his problem, it was easy to solve. The source of the issue could only be one of a few options, so if Damien isted and took care of them one by one, he''d find himself back in a stable reality.

    But it wasn''t only his problem.

    Others had experienced simr things, though, not to the same extent as him.

    He still didn''t know this, but he could infer based on the way events yed out that this problem wasn''t exclusively rted to him.

    ''What''s¡­happening?''

    The realization came just as fast and hard as reality itself when it hit him.

    In the first ce, where did all of thise from?

    Was it the fact that conflict was at a minimum right now?

    ''The Divine Order subjugation went pretty swimmingly. Even if there was a hup at the end, it wasn''t much of a hup at all.''

    That "hup" must''ve felt like the end of the world to those who were its victims, but to Damien, it was really just a drop in the ocean, something without much presence.

    It shouldn''t have been like that.

    ''But it just doesn''t feel real.''

    Damien frowned to himself.

    That was the problem. At the very core of everything, that was the answer.

    Reality didn''t feel real right now.

    No, reality was really copsing, wasn''t it?

    ''I have to check.''

    Damien didn''t waste time returning to the pce. He descended where he was and controlled the nearby ocean to create an isted environment to protect him from external forces.

    In that ce, surrounded by the waters of this realm, Damien delved deep into its systems.

    He studied the Heavenly Order. He studied the earth and the people who lived on it.

    His mind went into the depths of those ethereal concepts that others could only dream of.

    And thews that governed the world unraveled themselves before his eyes.

    The elements were¨C

    ''¨Cfine. There''s nothing wrong with the most base elements like Fire and Water.''

    It was the same for most of the branchingws that were formed as a result of otherws existing, such as illusion or poison.

    Life and Death were¨C

    ''¨Cjust a little skewed. It looks like the average lifespans of all beings will be elongated, but it''s also far easier to die an early death.''

    The Law of Life was more powerful than usual, which led to the first change. However, the Law of Death was also enhanced, even more so than Life, hence thetter half.

    Creation and Destruction¨C

    ''¨Ccan''t be touched by anyone, at least, that''s what I think. There aren''t any problems with them, so I should be correct.''

    But most importantly¡­

    ''Space and Time¡­that''s the most concerning disruption.''

    Unlike the other foundationalws, which showed only small signs of disruption at most, space and time werepletely twisted.

    ''Their operation looks normal on the outside, to the point where nobody would ever notice the difference in their daily lives. Over time, however, it umtes.''

    For instance, this very moment.

    Wasn''t it strange?

    Wasn''t it strange that the armies were able to sweep the Southwestern Region in no more than three months to clear all the explosives nted throughout itsnds?

    Putting aside the amount of time it took to remove those explosives and put them somewhere secure so they couldn''t hurt anyone, just the travel time was far longer than that.

    Even if the armies were massive, even if they spread incredibly thin, it should''ve taken at least a few years to finish doing what they''d done.

    Yet, in only three months, the situation had been wrapped up.

    ''The Heavenly Order¡­no, the Heavenly World itself in all facets is being affected by something grander.''

    It was changing, molding to something other than the other it had relied on for so long.

    And for unknown reasons, the first step in that change was Space and Time.

    ''Do I need to do something about it¡­?'' Damien questioned.

    In the first ce, what could he do?

    ''From what I can sense, this isn''t necessarily a man-made problem. It wasn''t caused by anyone voluntarily.''

    If so, was there a need to stop it, or was this a natural progression that the Heavenly World was always bound to make?

    ''Right now, it''s actually somewhat convenient. The annoying things pass fast, which means we can get to the most important battles sooner and with less suffering.''

    However, that convenience could very well be a facade hiding something terrible.

    Damien really didn''t know.

    As someone who''d be unreasonably strong in recent days, it had been a long time since he''d felt this way. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''And here I was wanting to run around dominating the battlefield¡­''

    Why was it that every time he found himself superb confidence the cosmos decided to bring down his mood?

    ''No, if I look at it in another way, isn''t it only the cosmos itself that can make me feel this way?''

    Damien shook his head and cleared his thoughts.

    ''For now, the best thing to do is observe and see if anyone else has noticed anything. It won''t be toote to act when the problem bes more concerning.''

    He didn''t want to make any rash decisions. Especially not when it came to decisions concerning the fate of the cosmos.

    ''But if this is really something that threatens the existence of this reality¡­''

    Damien''s eyes hardened.

    ''...then I''ll make sure to fix it myself, no matter who or what the cause is.''

    That was the end of his involvement with the issue for now.

    He returned to Void Pce, ready to live his life as he always had.

    However, his naivety, his generalck of knowledge on the issue, was truly a concern beyond what he''d expected.

    Because the changes in the cosmos weren''t simple.

    They weren''t some small changes, nor were they changes that were meant to take ce.

    Fixing them wouldn''t be a small task even for someone who couldpletely control Existence.

    And the cause¡­

    The cause was the very thing Damien least expected.

 Chapter 1516 Straea [1]

    Chapter 1516 Straea [1]

    With the Southwestern Region cleaned of the Divine Order''s presence entirely, one would expect several changes to take ce.

    However, for the most part, nothing much happened.

    As months went by, the citizens slowly forgot about the events of the past and went back to their daily lives. Trade resumed in the region, and those from external forces finally found themselves able to enter the cardinal region again.

    At first, they thought everything was the same, but there was a subtle difference.

    The people¡­weren''t they acting a little different?

    They weren''t as "kind" as before, but that wasn''t a bad thing. In the past, the kindness most people received from the citizens unnerved them. It didn''t seem natural, and the cult-like feeling that was ever present here made people want to leave as soon as possible.

    Other than those who sumbed and became brainwashed citizens of the region, everyone else viewed themon people of the southwest like they were a gue.

    That feeling was gone now.

    They seemed to be minding their own business, living their lives without being overly concerned about others.

    That was it, though.

    After the Divine Order was destroyed, everyone expected there to be a new influence controlling the Southwestern Region, but that was a wed assumption.

    The Divine Order still existed.

    Even its old headquarters were rebuilt, leaving the territory looking like nothing happened at all.

    But the people weren''t the same.

    That was the key difference.

    The Veritas n didn''t have to do much after the war ended. Other than an envoy party that went to Void Pce, the rest of their army returned home to await further orders.

    Void Pce and the Holy Empire were the ones who really cooperated in the reconstruction of the region.

    It was Damien''s idea.

    Though he still hadn''t had the opportunity to meet the Holy Emperor, he''d been exchanging letters with the man for several months.

    Through those interactions, Damien was able to learn a great deal about religion and how to act if one was in control of one.

    With this knowledge, he was able to create a new Divine Order. His own people were sat at the head of the order, so it would never stray off its original path again.

    The citizens of the Southwestern Region were able to resume their lives so soon precisely because of this.

    Damien gave them a sense of security and stability, making them feel like nothing much had changed.

    He was able to bring peace to the territory, and though he couldn''t hang his banner over it quite yet, the fact that he was the one controlling it from the dark still held true.

    The Southwestern Region needed time to stabilize entirely. In terms of economics, geopolitics, and other simr matters, the people Damien put in charge of the order had a lot of work to do.

    Namely, the 8th Sword of Void Pce, Fabio Viviani. He was the one at the absolute peak of the new Divine Order.

    He, along with the council of aids provided to him, would be in charge of ruling the entire Southwestern Region, a mission they took as a blessing from their Young Lord.

    The Holy Empire didn''t care about artificially expanding its territory, so it didn''t interfere much with what happened afterwards, only offering help where help was needed.

    The Vega n remained silent as they continued to observe how things progressed, while the Dragon n, as always, remained unconcerned with the happenings of the Heavenly World. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The only other influence who had a stake in this matter was the Kyushu Federation, who''d been oddly silent since everything began in full swing.

    Matthias Quincy promised Damien nonaggression, and that was exactly what he provided. He, like the leaders of Vega, decided that watching and being entertained was the best course of action for the current moment.

    However, he did have a promise with Damien.

    And Damien had shown him exactly what he promised to.

    The Divine Order was gone, leaving only the Straea n.

    Matthias knew better than to take their silence as submission, but regardless, he was a man who never went back on the promises he made.

    In return for a number of resources that seemed unbelievable on paper, the Kyushu Federation would be a true ally of Void Pce, attacking and retreating together, living and dying together.

    As he looked over the tens of reports telling him about everything taking ce in the outside world, he had a wry smile on his face.

    He saw it when they first met. That was the only reason he entertained the young boy who had ambitions beyond his station.

    But now that they''de this far, in a matter of months at that, he was forced to truly ept the conclusion he''d made.

    "Damien Void¡­wants to rule the world."

    Maybe "rule" wasn''t the right word.

    Whatever it was, Damien was trying to bring any and everyone together, creating a united front.

    The only question was¡­

    What was this united front for?

    Who was he trying to face?

    Even if Matthias was a member of the Heavenly World''s elite, he wasn''t aware of the true threat the Foreign Races presented.

    He was aware of the Straea n''s collusion with them, but just like everyone outside the pce, he waspletely unaware of what they''d done to Dante, and what they were nning to do to the world.

    The masses still saw the Foreign Races as a small threat.

    Damien had ns to change that.

    He couldn''t just tell them. For people like Matthias, words alone weren''t enough to prove anything.

    They needed concrete evidence.

    That sort of evidence wouldn''t show itself as long as the Foreign Races had any say in the matter.

    ''But what if they didn''t?''

    What if they couldn''t continue being underestimated anymore, no matter how hard they tried?

    Well, they''d find out soon enough.

    With the war against the Divine Order over, most people assumed that the pce was too focused on internal stabilization and the handover process to care about anything else.

    They were wrong.

    Void Pce didn''t need to put much effort into those things. Their internal situation was at the best it had ever been, and when it came to the Southwestern Region, they didn''t have to do much work at all because of Damien''s prenning.

    The majority of their forces were free and ready.

    After all, they knew that they weren''t done yet.

    Their Young Lord had led them to victory against one of their enemies, but there was still one left.

    And while they were all still in the mood to wage war and conquer¡­

    Damien couldn''t betray their expectations, could he?

    He had no ns of doing that at all.

    Even for him, the feeling was the same.

    The Straea n had been quiet for long enough. Whatever they were doing, Damien wasn''t going to give them more time to do it in peace.

    War was tedious and tiring, but it was also incredibly rewarding.

    So until everything was over, Damien refused to stop.

    The Divine Order was gone. The Straea n was next.

    Until Void Pce hit the absolute peak of all worlds¡­

    Well, nothing more needed to be said.

 Chapter 1517 Straea [2]

    Chapter 1517 Straea [2]

    The Straea n.

    Not much was known about it to the outside world.

    It had been mentioned before, but despite the grandiosity of their existence, the Straea n somehow managed to keep their internal structure hidden from the masses.

    They weren''t exclusive in this.

    Void Pce was also quite mysterious to others. Their disjointed dimensional monstrosity of a pce made it difficult for anyone to get anywhere they weren''t supposed to be.

    On top of that, with how close-knit the people of the pce were, it was difficult to gain information from within.

    However, since the pce was active in the world and openly showed its strength here and there, people were somewhat aware of its structure.

    For instance, the 12 Swords were known in both name and appearance.

    The Straea n also had their equivalent of the 12 Swords, but nobody knew who they were.

    They were headed by Malefice Straea and served Malevalon directly. They''d never appeared in the outside world before, at least, not in ways that other people could see them. But that didn''t mean they''d never appeared at all.

    The Straea n was actually quite simple.

    It was an authoritarian n even internally. Malevalon held all the power, so there was really no need for aplicated structure.

    But that didn''t mean there was none. After all, Malevalon himself wasn''t going to do all the work necessary to run a n.

    Malefice was in charge of these types of matters, and the ones who worked under him were the closest thing Straea had to leaders outside Malevalon.

    Other than them, everyone was equal.

    The geniuses wereuded as all geniuses were, but even they didn''t have much status.

    It was confusing.

    Why would a genius bother to stay in the Straea n with the kind of treatment they received?

    They were used and abused. They were treated like trash, demeaned and taught to be dogs rather than individuals.

    This treatment started from childhood.

    Because, again, the Straea n didn''t need young geniuses.

    It needed pawns who could carry out orders.

    Geniuses would be systematically groomed so they would be mindless in all matters that didn''t rte to the n.

    This education had never failed. There had never been a case of internal rebellion even once in the n''s history.

    There had never been a case of a young genius obtaining their own free will.

    There had never been such a case¡­until now.

    Somewhere in the Straea n''s hidden manor, the ce where young talents were groomed, a boy was thrown against a wall.

    Thud!

    His body slid down and fell to the ground. His legs were too weak to bring him back to his feet, and his body was covered in gashes and bruises from the beating he''d taken.

    However, the look in his eyes never changed.

    Ptui!

    He spit on the floor next to him, ring at his attackers.

    "Is that all?"

    The group of three boys didn''t respond. After staring at him indifferently, the one at their head clicked his tongue.

    "Tch. Let''s go. We can break him tomorrow."

    The boys left without much of a fuss.

    After all, they weren''t actually bullying the boy or anything like that.

    It was just the task they were given by the instructor.

    In fact, the boy who was getting beat had the same task, just for another person who wasn''t currently present.

    The talents of the hidden manor were frequently turned against each other like this. They were made to find ways to destroy their fellows, whether mentally or physically.

    To do so physically was easy. Everyone in the hidden manor was more than capable of that.

    But the mental aspect¡­

    Well, with the type of training they''d been through, no amount of physical torture could make their minds break.

    The three boys who attacked had tried just for the sake of trying, to see if that assumption was true.

    Since the boy had been beaten within an inch of his life and still kept his spirit, he obviously wouldn''t break if they did more, so it was pointless to keep trying.

    It was normal. To be beaten, to be betrayed, to be killed. Here, any of these things were just daily urrences.

    Food was scarce. To gain enough sustenance to fully maintain one''s physical condition, one had to make an unspeakable number of aplishments.

    The talents were were forced to do anything they could to survive.

    And at the same time, they were forced to kill themselves so they could survive.

    After all, if the instructors realized that they were having unique thoughts¡­

    ¡­their fates didn''t need to be described, did it?

    That was a problem for this boy.

    The boy who unfortunately donned the name of Straea.

    ''Fuck.''

    He couldn''t say anything out loud.

    He stood up, brushed himself off, and ripped off the clothes on his back to bandage his wounds.

    By the time he was done, he wasn''t wearing anything more than a rag. He walked through the halls in that state, but nobody looked at him strangely. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''It''s normal, after all.''

    There was no medical center here. If one sumbed to one''s injuries, it was nobody else''s fault.

    ''I hate this fucking ce.''

    It was quite strange, wasn''t it?

    Somehow, he''d managed to maintain a sense of free will despite being raised in a ce like this.

    He''d never seen the outside world before. He had no idea what society looked like.

    Still, he managed to form the mind of someone who''d been living independently in the world for their entire life.

    Nobody knew that he''d done so.

    He was smart enough to hide it. If there was one thing that he''d gained here, it was survival instinct.

    ''I have to find a way out.''

    It was the same thought he''d been entertaining since he was 6 years old.

    Escape.

    Now, he was closing in on eighteen. His strength had been raised to an unreasonable degree by the hellish training he''d undergone, but it wasn''t nearly enough for him to get out of this ce.

    ''But I''ll do it one day.''

    He''d been plotting for twelve years.

    On how he''d escape, and what he''d do when he escaped.

    And at the top of that list¡­

    ''I''m going to destroy this bullshit ass n.''

    Since birth, he''d been told about the greatness of the Straea n.

    Since birth, they''d been trying to indoctrinate him.

    But all that did was breed his hatred.

    The Straea n''s methods were good. Disregarding the morality of it all, they did indeed seed in producing the mindless soldiers they wanted.

    However, in this sole case where the method was wed, the method itself created a monster that only wished for the Straea n''s demise.

    His name was Ezekiel Straea.

    And while he seemed like an insignificant character that wouldn''t have any say in the matters of the outside world¡­

    He''d soon find that his fate was connected to forces far beyond his control.

    Forces that would help him attain the goal that seemed impossible to him.

    Forces that would show him what it meant to truly be a monster.

    But that was a story for another time.

    For now, Ezekiel was no more than an ant, trapped in a cage that he could never escape.

 Chapter 1518 Ezekiel [3]

    Chapter 1518 Ezekiel [3]

    A year passed.

    Was it a year?

    Truthfully, Ezekiel didn''t know what a year was in the outside world''s time.

    The hidden manor didn''t allow its students to keep track of time, nor did it teach them how to.

    Ezekiel figured out the units of measure by eavesdropping on the instructors, but he could only assume how long each unit actually was.

    Nevertheless, a year in his time had passed.

    It was enough time for the talents to cycle. New ones entered and old ones left. As for those who remained through the transition, arge number of them disappeared mysteriously.

    They''d been deemed unfit, so they''d been killed.

    ''This isn''t the first time, so it''s not like it''s surprising.''

    Life was mundane in the hidden manor.

    Sure, there was a lot going on. Every day was filled with trials and tribtions that tested one''s grit and forced one to grow stronger.

    However, even that became mundane after it was done for decades.

    The children here were made to start training the moment they started walking. From that moment on, they were raised so they wouldn''t be fazed by anything they encountered.

    Ezekiel had been through every form of torture that existed in this world, and even some that didn''t. He had been killed over and over again only to be brought back to life for more training.

    His body was practically indestructible at this point. That was why he allowed people to beat him up when they decided they felt the need to.

    He''d heal from any wounds with just a night of sleep, and if he really got pissed off, it didn''t take much to kill his peers.

    ''It''s mostly just annoying because I have to hide.''

    He had to hide his strength, he had to hide his ability to think and process information freely, and he had to hide his emotions and capability to learn.

    Ezekiel was a talent beyond talent. He''d mastered the skills others were being taught with only a single nce.

    But if he wanted to survive in this ce that raised talents, he ironically had no choice but to hide his own.

    He didn''t feel burdened by his life. Despite his independent mind, the teachings of the Straea n were quite effective.

    Those kinds of negative emotions couldn''t affect his mental state.

    It was just tiresome.

    ''When can I escape?''

    He''d schemed all he needed to, but he needed both an opportunity and a whole lot of luck if he wanted to pull anything off.

    ''But I think I can do it now. The past year made me stronger than the instructors, didn''t it?''

    Their skills, their movements, their experience.

    He''d copied it all.

    In a case where he happened to make it to the outside world¡­

    He truly did have the capability to be the bane of the Straea n.

    ''Haa, but it''s pointless to think about it.''

    There was nothing he could do.

    Life was bleak.

    He was stronger than the instructors, but he''d learned about the n that was waiting for him outside. No matter whether he escaped or not, wouldn''t he still die at the hands of those stronger experts of the n?

    ''I''m not enough by myself, and it''s not like I can convince these mindless rats to help me.''

    Even he didn''t know how he''d managed to develop a brain like his. Everyone around him was without a brain at all, only able to act on orders they''d been given.

    Hell, even the boys who usually came to beat him up were the same.

    They "acted" like they had personalities. To someone unaware, they would seem like regr stuck-up children from a major n.

    But it was all an act in the end.

    The behaviors they showcased were learned and mimicked; never internalized.

    ''It''s boring.''

    That was the conclusion Ezekiel came to.

    ''Life is boring.'' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    That was why he always craved the outside world.

    Would there be fun things to do there?

    If he made it there, would he find a way to make this bleak life less bleak?

    He really didn''t know, but he really wanted to find out.

    And as if he hadn''t had the exact same thought every single day for the past who knows how long, as if this wasn''t the only thought allowing him to maintain a little bit of sanity in this insane ce, he entertained it for hours on end.

    While he was tortured by the instructors, while he was beaten by his peers, while he beat his peers into the ground, and while he suffered endlessly, he thought about what was happening in the outside world.

    Still, life remained mundane.

    Another year passed in Ezekiel time.

    He wasn''t too far off in his measurement. His years were roughly six months in normal time. In the two years since his first introduction, only a single year had passed.

    Ezekiel''s mindset never changed. It was hard to speak about him as a person, since his thoughts and actions were monotonous like a robot.

    He had free will, but he didn''t know how to use it.

    He had never been given the opportunity.

    So another day began, and another day passed.

    Another day of suffering, another day of pain.

    Another day that Ezekiel spent staring at the ceiling, dreaming of the outside¨C

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    "What?!" Ezekiel eximed.

    He was so confused that he forgot to muffle his voice.

    A massive explosion shook the hidden manor.

    It was a building built so that no outside forces could interfere with what was happening inside, yet, somehow, an explosion rocked it to its very foundation.

    Ezekiel leapt out of his bed, well, he did the best he could considering that his bed was just a wooden floor, and rushed out of his room.

    The other talents had done the same. There was chaos in the hidden manor, but the instructors were moving through the halls and making sure everyone retained order.

    They were being raised as tools. They were not allowed to be surprised by a surprise attack.

    Ezekiel gritted his teeth.

    ''Something big is happening.''

    He didn''t know what it was.

    But there was one thing he gathered from that single explosion alone.

    ''This might be my chance.''

    The outside world was being shaken by an immense force.

    The hidden manor was shaken in kind.

    With the instructors busy trying to control the young talents they were in charge of¡­

    ''...I can find an opening.''

    It was the exact thing he''d been trained to do for so long.

    Observe the enemy. Find an opening. Exploit it and aplish the given mission in the least amount of time and effort possible.

    The current mission:

    ''Escape this hellhole.''

    It locked into Ezekiel''s mind.

    The instincts he''d trained throughout his life roared to life.

    His feet pressed into the ground.

    And he made a run for it.

    This perfect opportunity wouldn''t be allowed to slide.

    This time, he would finally¡­!

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    "ARGH!"

    Another explosion rocked the hidden manor, ripping an entire outer wall to shreds.

    Ezekiel was thrown back by the force. He raises his arms to absorb the shrapnel headed towards his face.

    THUD!

    He mmed against another wall and lowered his arms.

    His eyes widened.

    He could see it only a few meters away.

    Sunlight.

    A sight he''d never seen before.

 Chapter 1519 Ezekiel [4]

    Chapter 1519 Ezekiel [4]

    Q!

    Ezekiel hardly had time toprehend the beautiful scene.

    It blinded his eyes. He could hardly see anything in the first ce, since his eyes had be ustomed to darkness.

    In most cases, the talents who graduated from the hidden manor would leave blindfolded and would be slowly adjusted to the outside climate. Otherwise, it was difficult for them to function properly.

    Obviously, Ezekiel couldn''t really get the same treatment.

    Because the explosion that filled his arms with shrapnel wasn''t the first, nor was it thest.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    With the sound istion that once protected the hidden manor gone, Ezekiel''s sensitive ears were finally able to pick up everything that was happening outside.

    Countless explosions, somethingpletely unexpected.

    And as if the sounds from the outside weren''t bad enough, it seemed the hidden manor was being targeted purposefully, because after the first wall fell, the rest soon followed.

    Wood and metal flew through the air, crashing into the internal structures of the manor and destroying its foundation.

    Some pieces managed to perfectly locate living targets, mming through the heads of some of the talents and directly killing them.

    Blood began to fly through the air just as much as the shrapnel did.

    The amount of sound became overwhelming.

    No, the overabundance of stimuli itself was the problem.

    For Ezekiel, who''d been in a controlled environment for the entirety of his life, it was maddening.

    Maddeningly exciting.

    ''Is this¡­the outside world¡­?''

    He hadn''t moved yet.

    His eyes were only starting to adjust, and while they did, he was ducking and picking out the metal that had gotten stuck in his arm.

    Once he was certain there wasn''t anything else flying wantonly through the air, he spread his awareness as he was taught and searched for any signs of nearby life.

    ''They''re not here.''

    The instructors weren''t in the vicinity. There were a few other talents nearby, but they didn''t concern him.

    ''I can actually¡­''

    Ezekiel''s eyes lit up.

    ''I can actually leave!''

    He stood up and took onest look around, taking in the scenes of the hidden manor that were now more visible than ever.

    And with not even a single drop of lingering emotion remaining in his body, he rushed out of the destroyed building, finally feeling the sun on his skin for the first time.

    XIU!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    "AAAARGH!"

    There were a lot of sounds, and even more sights to apany them.

    As Ezekiel''s eyes adjusted, he found himself in the middle of a true war zone.

    Starships flew through the sky, droppingw-infused bombs across the Straea Manor territory.

    On the ground, several tens of thousands of troops, if not more, fought head to head, engaging in a bloody battle that imed countless lives.

    This much was already surprising to Ezekiel. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    BANG!

    This much already made his heart beat like it had never beaten before.

    But this was only the tip of the iceberg.

    BANG!

    Ezekiel jumped back, narrowly avoiding being caught in a crater that formed as an unidentified object fell from the sky.

    "DAMMIT! YOU VOID PALACE BASTARDS!"

    A voice came from the crater, followed by another bang as the figure who created it shot back into the sky.

    "That was¡­"

    Ezekiel only caught a slight nce of it, but he was sure of what he saw.

    ''The Straea n logo!''

    A top fighter from the n, one of the very people he didn''t want to meet.

    ''Luckily he seems preupied.''

    The situation finally sank in for Ezekiel.

    ''I should find a ce to hide.''

    He looked around, but there was nothing around but t ground.

    In the sky, that fighter he saw earlier was confronting a woman with emerald green hair, a member of the so-called "Void Pce."

    ''Is she strong¡­?''

    In Ezekiel''s memory, women were never very strong. The female members of the hidden manor were usually killed off first, and rarely any of them were able to survive long enough to graduate.

    ''I think she''s going to¨C''

    He didn''t even have the chance to think it.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Three massive wooden tendrils thicker than anything Ezekiel had ever seen before burst out of the ground only a few feet in front of him and shot into the air faster than he couldprehend.

    The tendrils mmed into the Straea n fighter, throwing him forward as he coughed up blood.

    The emerald-haired woman watched as he flew towards her, her eyes calmer than an undisturbedke.

    Ezekiel''s eyes opened wide.

    ''Now.''

    He saw the opportunity.

    As did she.

    Her hand sliced forward, jutting through the Straea fighter''s body anding out the other side.

    ''He''s done.''

    Ezekiel raised his brow in admiration.

    ''The outside world¡­is really special.''

    He didn''t think there were other people capable of making an attack like that, but it seemed he was more ordinary than he expected.

    As his gaze moved across the horizon, he saw many other scenes that wowed him in the same way.

    He saw the strength of Straea.

    Those fighters were not soft permissions. Their attacks made the sky shake and the earth tremble, striking genuine fear into Ezekiel''s heart.

    But fear tranted to excitement for him, and that excitement only grew as he watched how those amazing fighters were killed one by one by their enemies.

    He didn''t know what was happening.

    All he knew was that there was a lot of battle going on.

    And Straea¡­

    ''Is the Straea n actually weak?''

    ¡­was obviously on the losing side.

    The chaotic situation was no ce for someone like Ezekiel, who had no practical experience. However, he was tempted beyond belief by the mayhem.

    He wanted to join in.

    His body involuntarily moved, taking him closer and closer to the warring masses.

    ''I want¡­to kill.''

    His instincts roared. This was what he''d been trained for.

    But rather than the enemy, the entire brunt of his bloodlust was directed at those who had the Straea n''s insignia disyed on their bodies.

    ''The outside world¡­''

    ''...is it fun?''

    His thoughts were inconsequential. They flowed for no purpose other than flowing. They voiced his inner desires in the form of questions that he already knew the answers to.

    Was it fun?

    Of course it was.

    Would he enjoy it to its fullest?

    Of course he would!

    His walk turned into a run, and his run turned into a sprint.

    His steps gained more and more weight, yet they became lighter, pushing him forward with extreme speed.

    ''I''m going to kill.''

    ''I can finally kill.''

    ''I will¨C!''

    "...huh?"

    "What''s a boy like you doing in a ce like this?''

    Before Ezekiel knew what was happening, he''d been caught by the cor.

    He looked back, only to see the emerald-haired woman from earlier standing behind him with a curious look on her face.

    "I''m¡­"

    "This is no good."

    She interrupted him before he could exin himself.

    "Reya, are you there?"

    "I am here, Empress."

    Another woman appeared from the shadows and kneeled to the emerald-haired woman.

    "Take him back to the pce and get him some fresh clothes. If he wants it, let him join the armies or the staff. If not, let him leave to live his life freely."

    "Yes, Empress."

    Ezekiel was handed off just like that.

    The environment became a blur as he was hastily transported ording to the given instructions.

    The whole while, he was trying to process what was happening to him.

    ''H-huh?!''

    He stammered internally.

    Before he could have any fun¡­

    Before he could kill even a single person¡­

    It was over just like that?!

    It was.

    At least, for now.

    But Ezekiel had no way of really knowing, did he?

    This interaction, this sudden "kidnapping" that took him away from the battlefield¡­

    For him, this would turn out to be the opportunity of a lifetime.

 Chapter 1520 Ezekiel [5]

    Chapter 1520 Ezekiel [5]

    Ezekiel''s case seemed like a strange one.

    There was no reason for the pce to take him in, especially not under Elvira''s orders.

    Could it be that she saw something in him?

    To an extent, that was correct, but that wasn''t the entire story.

    Actually, Void Pce had been in the business of saving people for quite a while.

    Though Ezekiel didn''t know it, the Straea n had over ten hidden manors used for the same purpose as the one he grew up in.

    When the war began, Damien and his people were unaware of these facilities, however, after identally uncovering one during a siege, they began to offer refuge to the young geniuses trapped within.

    They''d been mistreated in every way possible. It was cruel, especially when considering that a lot of the kids in those ces weren''t even ten years old yet.

    Void Pce had a lot of space to amodate people, and more than that, it had an environment perfect for recovery.

    Those who needed sce could find sce. Those who needed structure could find structure.

    And those who needed revenge could find revenge.

    Damien never intended to choose a path for these young geniuses.

    They''d been controlled for their entire lives, so what he aimed to do was simr to what he did for the citizens of the Southwestern Region.

    He used his resources to teach them how to live for themselves. Whatever decision they made from that point on was the one they''d have to live with.

    Truthfully, most of the talents who were rescued decided to leave after recuperating.

    They offered their sincerest thanks, sure, but they were notfortable with joining anotherrge influence.

    What they did with their lives after leaving was none of the pce''s business, but if there was one thing Damien made sure of, it was that none of them returned to the Straea n.

    There was a rtively decent portion who decided to be servants so they could stay at the pce and live peacefully. As for those who joined the army, that number was by far the smallest out of all the categories.

    The main problem was those who were too young to make such decisions.

    The pce had taken responsibility for their education and growth for now, but whether it would stay that way or not was to be decided in the future.

    Ezekiel''s choice¡­

    When he got to the pce, which was an experience in its own right, he saw a lot of things he''d never seen before.

    The technology they used, the ability to move unreasonable distances in a matter of seconds, the strength of their armies¡­

    It was all exciting and refreshing for him.

    There were a lot of choices presented to him.

    He could''ve lived peacefully. He could''ve be a wanderer who decided his own fate.

    But he didn''t choose either of these options.

    For him, there was only one thing. One goal that made his life worth living. One thought that got him through his torturous daily life.

    "I want to see the end of the Straea n."

    That was what he told them.

    And they understood his intent.

    The best way to see that scene for oneself was obvious.

    The best way to achieve revenge was a path Damien set up specifically for that purpose.

    Ezekiel was a special case. He didn''t need to develop freedom of thought, so he was able to make his decision far faster than anyone else.

    He really only had one question for the man who asked him what he wanted to do from this point on.

    "That emerald-haired woman¡­is she a member of your army?"

    And the answer he got¡­

    "Emerald hair¡­? Ah, you must be talking about Commander Moonwind. Not only is she a part of our army, she was an integral part of its creation and training process. If there was anyone who has been as involved in the army''s development as the Young Lord, it would be her."

    Wasn''t that all he needed to hear?

    That woman was strong, stronger than him and the instructors, stronger than anyone he''d ever seen before.

    If someone like that was produced by the army of this ce¡­

    "...I want to join that army."

    He wanted to grow stronger.

    Not in a way that made him a tool, but in a way that made him a true fighter, capable of standing up for himself.

    The man smiled, nodding his head.

    "Very well. I''ll have to do a few checks to make sure your information checks out, but we should be able to get you registered in the next few days. Until then, just rest and recuperate. Life in the Straea n¡­must have been difficult for you."

    The man gathered a collection of files and departed, leaving Ezekiel alone in the room he was provided when he arrived here.

    It was quiet.

    ''It''s not the same though.''

    When it was quiet in the hidden manor, it meant someone was about to try and kill him.

    Here, the silence felt¡­secure.

    He didn''t know how to exin it.

    ''Was my upbringing worse than I thought?''

    There was no way for him to know. He didn''t have a standard topare it to:

    But from the way he''d been treated since the moment that woman called Commander Moonwind ordered her subordinate to take care of him, the life he''d experienced thus far was more than just a tragedy.

    He''d been brought to this ce and given a room with a bed for him to sleep on. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He''d been provided a bath and new clothes to change into.

    His internal injuries, though not serious due to his insane healing factor, werepletely removed through a variety of treatments.

    Wasn''t he practically being treated like royalty?

    ''There must be a reason they''re doing all this.''

    After all, nothing in this world was free.

    ''But as long as they can give me what I need to get back at those bastards, it''s fine.''

    In any case, this ce was obviously leagues better than the one he just came from.

    There was a lot of naivety in his thinking. His basic needs were met, and he suddenly believed Void Pce was a good ce.

    It, of course, was. However, who was to say that others didn''t employ the same strategies to swindle people and lead them into the mouth of a lion?

    Ezekiel was young. Moreover, his worldview was developed purely through imagination.

    He had more to learn than just techniques that made him stronger.

    But of all the children who were saved from the hidden manors, Ezekiel was the one Damien took a personal interest in.

    Though the boy himself was unaware, the Young Lord of this very pce was watching him closely and had been ever since he set foot within the pce grounds.

    It wasn''t because of his mentality, nor was it because of his desire for revenge.

    It was for a reason neither he nor the Straea n instructors who raised him knew.

    A "talent" that only Damien could see.

    And with Void Pce''s army as the stage¡­

    Damien nned to let that talent bloom to its fullest potential.

    Well, that was if Ezekiel could even make it through the training.

 Chapter 1521 Ezekiel [6]

    Chapter 1521 Ezekiel [6]

    As the man said, Ezekiel was greeted by another person within three days.

    "You must be Ezekiel," the woman said with a smile.

    He nodded, unsure of what to say.

    "Follow me. I will take you to your new amodations."

    "New amodations?" He asked, exiting the room.

    "Yes. Since you will be enrolling in the army, you will naturally have to live with yourrades in the barracks. You didn''t think it would be easy, did you?"

    Ezekiel smiled wryly, rubbing his head.

    He did, in fact, think it would be easy. He quite liked this room with its bigfortable bed and peaceful quietness.

    Still, since he''d decided to join the army, it was normal for him to be treated as a regr soldier.

    With the woman''s guidance, he found his way through several corridors and strange areas of the pce, some of which he couldn''t exin at all.

    There was a strange aura everywhere, as if the things he saw weren''t as they seemed.

    But he didn''t really have the mind to focus on them.

    After all, the guide woman was already giving him a rundown of what he could expect from this point forth.

    The army schedule, the intensity of training, and other facts that he had to mentally prepare himself for were stated one after another.

    They were all important things, sure, but Ezekiel didn''t really mind them.

    The things the woman spoke about didn''t seem stressful at all. Compared to the hidden manor, Void Pce''s schedules were nothing.

    "¨Cevery day. Since the war only recently started, you probably won''t be deployed any time soon, but that only means you''ll have more time to train, so it can be considered a good thing."

    "The war?"

    Ezekiel''s attention was grabbed by those words.

    "Is Void Pce the Straea n''s enemy?"

    It was an obvious question, but it was really just meant to segue into a new conversation, through which he could learn more about this world.

    "You don''t even know that much? Well, I guess they did keep you guys isted from everything. That''s right. Our pce and the Straea n have never been on good terms, but this war is about more than just the hostility between us."

    The woman finally got to the main subject.

    "By our Young Lord''s orders, we began our siege on the Straea n roughly half a year ago¡­"

    Damien didn''t waste time with the Straea n.

    It took him a few days to make the decision, but he eventually decided that there was no need to hesitate.

    He originally felt that it was too early to start a war against Straea. He didn''t know enough about what they had hidden up their sleeve, and with the Divine Order only recently demolished, he was unsure of whether moving now was worth it or not.

    But the Straea n was a conniving bunch. They definitely had hidden cards now, but if he waited, they''d have even more.

    Wasn''t it better to disrupt them so they couldn''t aplish whatever they were nning?

    That was his intent as he started the war, and the people of the pce followed happily.

    They started in thewless zone, but they didn''t spend too much time there.

    The criminals in thewless zone weren''t loyal to Straea. They were only in the Northern Region for their own benefit.

    For the most part, the Straea n actually kept the majority of its forces within its manor grounds.

    Those grounds were massive, enough to form a country of their own. There were several manors that housed the many departments of the n, with the main manor situated at the forefront of it all.

    The manor grounds had been surrounded by the Void Pce army near the beginning of the siege, but even as six months passed, not much progress was made.

    "The key yers on both sides haven''t made any moves yet. For the most part, only skirmishes and battles on the outskirts have taken ce."

    The woman looked back at him.

    "Of course, saving kids like you from those vile institutions has been one of the main priorities recently."

    Unlike the war against the Divine Order, Void Pce didn''t move with an exact n to take down the Straea n.

    After all, unlike the Divine Order, Damien didn''t know anything about Straea.

    He couldn''t say he could perfectly see through their intentions, power, or forces.

    The current period was one of probing. Both sides were trying to figure out the true strength of their opponent.

    And until they had an estimate, neither would truly engage in battle with their all.

    ''That¡­was probing?''

    Ezekiel was stunned by the fact.

    The woman he saw, who was, of course, Elvira, was extremely powerful.

    But she was only a Demigod.

    She had the ability to fight, and she had the authority tomand the army, but even she couldn''t be considered a true peak expert of the pce.

    The troops she''d brought were also those who were experiencing some of their first battles. As for the ones they were fighting, it was mostly the same.

    To Straea, even Demigods were expendables.

    Only the best experts, like Damien and the 12 Swords, or Malefice and his people, were considered truly strong.

    And all of them were quietly observing on the sidelines and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

    ''The outside world is bigger than I thought.''

    As he learned more, Ezekiel realized just how closed off he''d been from anything and everything.

    There was so much to do, so much to learn¡­

    ''...but until the Straea n is gone, I can''t do anything with peace of mind.''

    His eyes turned cold.

    The urge to ughter was strong in his heart. It had been cultivated well.

    He didn''t know whether to suppress it or not, but it wasn''t like he had the chance to make that choice here.

    There was nobody to kill.

    "Here we are."

    He snapped out of his thoughts at the beckoning of his guide.

    Before him was a door, a massive door that didn''t seem to lead anywhere.

    When he walked through it, he found himself in apletely new space.

    Ezekiel''s eyes immediately widened.

    ''Is this a training ground or a city?!''

    The military facility was less of a facility and more of its own nation.

    Everywhere Ezekiel looked, he could see soldiers doing drills or living out their daily lives.

    There were high-rise apartments in the distance, as opposed to the cramped barracks he was expecting.

    And most of all, there was a thick, suffocating aura.

    "You''ll get used to it eventually."

    Ezekiel''s head snapped to the side.

    He stepped back, raising his guard.

    The one who spoke was not the woman who brought him here. She was already gone.

    Instead, the person who spoke was a man, a person who arrived in his blind spot before he even knew what was happening.

    The man smiled wryly upon seeing Ezekiel''s reaction.

    "Calm down. I''m not here to hurt you. My name is Henry, and I''ll be guiding you from here on."

    Ezekiel slowly nodded his head, lowering his guard.

    The man gazed at him strangely.

    ''Is this the guy we''ve been waiting for?''

    He looked Ezekiel up and down, trying to gauge his strength. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    In the end, he just shrugged.

    ''Whatever the case, we''ll train him the same.''

    A grin appeared on his face.

    A grin that made Ezekiel shiver.

    ''Let''s see how he handles it, eh?''

 Chapter 1522 Arrival [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1522 Arrival [1]</h4>

    A man kneeled before another. There were many differences between them, but the most obvious one was the color of their skin.

    The kneeling man''s skin was white, while the one he kneeled to had an ashen-grey tone to himself.

    "Have the otherse?"

    The grey-skinned man asked the question, but his tone wasn''t inquisitive. It was more like he was merely observing facts, no sort of personal emotion present in his demeanor.

    "Yes. You are thest one to arrive."

    Though he kneeled, the man''s tone wasn''t submissive.

    He spoke as if he was only kneeling for ceremony. There was no respect in his voice.

    At least, not the type of respect that viewed anyone as superior to himself.

    "I see¡­"

    The grey-skinned man nodded his head.

    "The Lord ordered this attack suddenly. I''m impressed with your efficiency," he said, just as indifferent as before.

    "We have been preparing for this moment for eons. The only thing missing was the Lord''s order," the kneeling man answered.

    "I can see that."

    The grey-skinned man panned his gaze across his surroundings.

    They didn''t look like they were in the Heavenly World even though they surely were. The sky was¡­non-existent, but the ceiling of this ce was high enough to create a sky of its own.

    The darkness that loomed above was barely capable of representing the massive scale of this ce.

    Located thousands of kilometers underground, it was an entire civilization, empty and barren.

    The area was roughly the size of a Principality, or a Sector of the lower universe. And, just like the most popted Principalities in the Heavenly World, the entire span ofnd was covered in buildings and structures.

    It looked like it was the home of an ancient civilization, a ce that had gone undiscovered for millions of years.

    However, it was anything but.

    This massive area had been created by the Straea n within thest 1,000,000 years. It had only been sitting untouched for around 100,000 of those, while the rest were used to build it.

    This Principality existed for two reasons.

    The first was fairly obvious, and exined the purpose of the grey-skinned man.

    This was a ce where the Straea n could safely interact with the Foreign Races without being subject to the eyes of others.

    And secondly, the Dark God ordered it.

    Nobody else could know his purpose other than him.

    But as it stood now, this ce was a den of corruption.

    Isted from the perception of those on the surface by extremely advanced technology lining the entire ceiling of the cave, this pseudo-Principality was entirely corrupted, a true Foreign Territory.

    Though it didn''t appear on the surface due to the sheer distance, this territory was spreading its corruption throughout the Heavenly World. It had already epassed the entire Northern Region in its darkness. However, the aura of corruption was masked due to the sheer evil existing in droves on the surface.

    Thewless zone itself was the Straea n''s creation, made to hide the presence of this very ce.

    And currently, it was being inhabited by 243 beings.

    There were meant to be 244 of them, but a certain member of their ranks had been eliminated a bit ago, leaving them with this strange number.

    It was a number that felt misfortunate, so perhaps it was more worthy of them.

    After all, they were a true gue.

    The grey-skinned man who just arrived, the man whom even Malevalon Straea had to kneel to out of courtesy, made them whole.

    "Call the rest," he ordered.

    Malevalon nodded his head and sent a wave of mana through the pseudo-Principality. Immediately, multiple waves of dark energy returned his wee.

    Those waves of energy turned into auras, which then morphed into the shape of a crowd of men and women as they grew closer.

    This was the entirety of the Foreign Race nobility.

    The 243 of them were the ones who served the Dark God, people who stood behind him as he turned the Sacred Abyss Universe into his toy.

    And they''de for only one purpose.

    "Do you know what it is, the disturbance that the Lord sensed?"

    The grey-skinned man¡­no, now that his peers had arrived, perhaps it was better to address him by his position.

    Grand Duke Famas looked down at Malevalon and asked him about "that thing."

    They did not know its identity yet, nor did Malevalon. The trace that the Lord sensed was too vague for any of them toprehend its true nature.

    That was the reason they came together, even though they didn''t all n to show themselves to the public eye yet.

    Malevalon furrowed his brows.

    When he made his contract with the Foreign Races, he did not swear loyalty to them.

    He swore loyalty to only one man, the Dark God.

    The people around him now were his peers. When it came to the Grand Dukes, that wasn''t just an expression but a courtesy, but a truth about their power levels.

    Malevalon''s eyes flitted between them.

    He wasn''t ustomed to having "peers," nor did he particrly enjoy the feeling.

    But for now, he had to cooperate with them.

    "I do not know what the Lord sensed. However, I am aware of the most unique beings and events in this world. Therefore, it should not take too much effort to find it."

    The Straea n was made partially for this exact purpose.

    It wasn''t a unique situation. Every time the Dark God''s forces made contact with a new cosmos, they made sure to do the same thing.

    They created or subjugated a forcerge enough to cover the entire world.

    In the case that an anomaly appeared in the Dark God''s n¡­

    With the influence of their chosen force, they could find the cause instantly and crush it without resistance.

    Malevalon weed the war that was taking ce on the surface.

    The aura of blood and ughter created by it allowed him to bring the entirety of the Foreign Race Nobility into the Heavenly World withoutplications.

    And now that they''d arrived, it wouldn''t be long before this war was brought to an end.

    After all, what could Void Pce do against such a force?

    What could anyone do against such a force?

    Malevalon''s mentality wasn''t a new one. It had been seen amongst countless people in Grand Heavens Boundary.

    He''d given up.

    He''d submitted to the absolute power he saw when he saw the Dark God.

    In Malevalon''s eyes, the subjugation of the Heavenly World was a foregone conclusion.

    So, in order to hold power in that subjugated world, to rule it, to be part of the conquerors instead of the conquered, he joined the Dark God''s side.

    When this world was submerged in darkness, he would be its ruler.

    Even if he was always under the rule of one man, he would absolutely stand above everyone else.

    That was why he stood up, looking the Foreign Nobility in their eyes.

    "I look forward to our cooperation."

    He was their equal for now, but he would be their superior in the future.

    So only for now would he show them such courtesies.

    Really, they should''ve considered themselves lucky.

 Chapter 1523 Arrival [2]

    Chapter 1523 Arrival [2]

    The Straea n never seemed to care about worldly affairs. Anything that was unrted to them was irrelevant, or at least, that was how they treated the world.

    However, the Straea n had always been watching.

    They didn''t need to do any extra work to provide the information Malevalon spoke of.

    Even up to the current day, every special event in the entire Heavenly World, barring a few locations like the Western Region and the main pce of Void Pce, had been recorded in the Straea n''s archives.

    "Follow me. I will take you there."

    Malevalon spoke to Grand Duke Famas. It was a well-known fact that he was the one who''d represent his peers.

    The rest would stay in the hidden Principality, biding their time until their turn to act came.

    Grand Duke Famas epted his role, using mkh to change his appearance.

    His skin changed, and his features became more human. Within seconds, he looked no different from the denizens of the Heavenly World.

    With that, he followed Malevalon as the man led him to the surface.

    As mentioned several times before, the pseudo-Principality was isted from the world above. There was no way to easily make it back to the surface.

    However, in a method reminiscent of Void Pce''s halls, a series of strange warps in spacetime allowed one to make one''s way all the way to surface level within a few seconds.

    Of course, if one didn''t approach them with the knowledge of how they worked, one would be shredded by the fluctuating spacetime.

    Malevalon and Famas naturally weren''t caught in the traps, arriving in the main manor of the Straea n in just a few moments.

    From where they stood, the explosions and war outside couldn''t be heard.

    "Blood?"

    But it could still be very clearly sensed.

    "Right," Malevalon answered.

    "There is currently a war ongoing. A few bugs who believe they are strong havee to challenge us, but it is nothing but that. A mere distraction."

    "Hmm¡­if that is the case, then fine. However, it does not seem to be so simple."

    Famasmented on the situation, but Malevalon swiftly ignored it.

    Frankly, he hadn''t been paying much attention to the situation outside. He hardly had the chance with the amount of work it took to bring the Foreign Nobility over.

    Malefice was the one leading the war effort, but that alone was enough knowledge.

    As long as Malefice was in charge, Malevalon didn''t believe they would lose.

    Especially not against Void Pce.

    It didn''t matter if the pce had been getting stronger. They were still in the infancy of their strength.

    If they still needed Veritas and the Holy Empire to help them take care of the Divine Order, thinking they could take down Straea was pure arrogance.

    After all, even if all three came at the Straea n together, Malevalon was still not confident in losing.

    He and Famas soon reached his study, where all the information was contained.

    The room didn''t look much different from how it usually did, but there was one key thing missing, one thing making the atmosphere feel iplete.

    "Where is it?"

    Famas instantly noticed the inconsistency.

    "It is hidden."

    Malevalon replied without batting an eye.

    If there was one thing he wouldn''t allow, it was for his reputation to be stained.

    Perhaps the Celestial Prison had been lost, but there was no way for anyone else to open it.

    Even he couldn''t touch it. The only existence still alive in the current day who could unlock the Celestial Prison''s mechanisms was none other than the Dark God.

    Therefore, even in the worst-case scenario where Void Pce had the prison, he was certain they wouldn''t be able to do anything with it.

    The only thing that changed was its location.

    In the end, Dante Void would remain sealed for the rest of eternity, suffering in unending punishment.

    Famas didn''t press the topic any more. He also knew about the Celestial Prison''s strength, so it really didn''t matter where it was.

    Only, he had also seen the strength of the man it was created to hold.

    shbacks appeared in his mind, fragmented memories of a time he never wanted to remember.

    His interaction with that man was also the greatest defeat he''d ever suffered in his long history of existence.

    His imprisonment was the sole reason not only he, but the rest of hisrades as well, came to the Heavenly World willingly.

    But the reason he was here this time was not that man, so for his own sake, he pushed those memories down.

    Malevalon handed over the data he promised, giving Famas something to use to get his mind off of it.

    As he flipped through them, he saw many potential objects that could have been the cause of the disturbance.

    Among them was a familiar name, Ezekiel Straea.

    "A human weapon who mysteriously developed consciousness."

    That was the description by his name.

    Luckily for him, Famas didn''t pay him much attention. A small strange phenomenon like that meant nothing to his current search.

    And considering that the object of his search was able to alert even the Dark God''s perception, most matters and individuals were considered small.

    Grand Duke Famas didn''t know what he was expecting. He certainly didn''t believe that the search would be easy. However, the sheer amount of information he was presented, and the surprising amount of it that was relevant to his purpose intrigued him to an extent.

    The True Void Universe was unique in this aspect. When he apanied the Dark God to siege other cosmos, none of them were as packed with strangeness as this one.

    As Famas flipped through the information, marking in his mind the ces and people he needed to investigate, his eyes suddenly shook.

    A name he was familiar with.

    "Who¡­is that?"

    He pointed it out, letting Malevalon have a look at it.

    ncing at Famas, he spoke that man''s identity.

    "He is Damien Void. The first son of Dante Void. He only recently appeared in the Heavenly World, seemingly havinge from the lower universe, but he has caused quite a lot of trouble already. He is suspected to be a child Dante had during the time we were pursuing him."

    Famas nodded, somewhat shakily still.

    He saw Dominic, Darius, Hestia, and Yiren as well, but their names didn''t strike much of a chord in his heart.

    Grand Duke Famas was skilled in the art of reading Fate. Though this world was different and he wasn''t entirely ustomed to mana, his intuition was still as urate as ever.

    Something about Damien stood out to him.

    ''Dante Void''s firstborn son¡­''

    It wasmon in families with Godly blood. The first child born to two parents would inherit more of their talents than those who came after.

    The majority of the parents'' essence would be transferred into that first child, which is why the firstborns of many ns and influences were their most talented geniuses.

    There were, of course, exceptions, but they were called exceptions for a reason.

    This rule held true more often than not.

    ''If that boy inherited even a single percent of that man''s power¡­''

    Whether it was logic or intuition, all signs pointed to the same conclusion.

    "Damien Void is dangerous."

    Grand Duke Famas'' eyes hardened.

    "When the anomaly has been sessfully eradicated, we must take care of that variable as well."

    It was an absolute necessity.

    "Before we return to the mothend¡­" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    No mistakes could be tolerated.

    "...Damien Void will die."

 Chapter 1524 Worldly Force [1]

    Chapter 1524 Worldly Force [1]

    It had been half a year since Ezekiel joined the Void Pce army, and he had to say¡­

    ''This ce is really the best.''

    The work he had to do was monstrous, but it was always worth it.

    The drills he was put through made his entire body squirm in pain. When heid down to sleep, he''d be unable to move in the slightest until the next morning.

    It was really brutal. At times, it was even more brutal than Straea n''s hidden manor.

    But there was one key difference between them.

    Rewards and merit.

    In the first month, Ezekiel truly suffered. He wondered if his decision was a mistake or not, and he dreaded the fact that he''d merely moved from one hell to another.

    However, by the second month, he was already faithfully doing his training without a singleint.

    That was because there was nothing wasteful.

    Everything his instructors forced him to do was for his own sake. His strength would see a direct improvement proportional to the amount of work he put in.

    And while the exercises themselves were brutal enough to match Straea, the atmosphere wasn''t.

    The soldiers were free men. They were given days to explore the military city and engage in entertainment. The instructors would push people past their limits, but if they realized that their students were approaching a breaking point, they''d slow them down and make sure to prioritize their health.

    Straea never did this.

    Those who died were weak. Those who couldn''t handle training were weak. Those who lost their minds were weak.

    No matter what happened, if one didn''t adhere to their standards, one was weak and deserving of death.

    Comparing that environment to the pce made the pce look like heaven.

    And in a sense, it was.

    The men of the army were always given opportunities. As long as they could grasp them, they could be strong enough to stand atop the world proudly.

    Plus, there was a merit system.

    As long as one worked hard, not only would one be strong, one would be privileged.

    Merit points could be used to buy resources for training and growth, weapons, and even ess to ces like movie theaters and sporting arenas, where events would take ce semi-frequently to ease the soldiers'' minds.

    Damien had created this army to be absolutely loyal to the pce, just as Malevalon created the hidden manors for the same purpose.

    However, while Malevalon desired absolute obedience through force and control, Damien wanted that loyalty toe from the heart. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He wanted his men to be proud to fight for the pce, proud to die for it.

    Those were the people who would truly cause a difference on the battlefield, not those who didn''t feel pain or suffering at all.

    The soldiers here were not only well taken care of, they were allowed to be people outside their posts.

    They were weed by the pce, they were treated with respect, and even their families received countless benefits for their service.

    And, in the case that they died, the people they cared about would be given death gratuity enough to let them live their entire mortal lives in fortune.

    Frankly, not many of these soldiers had been to war yet.

    Only a small portion was taken to siege the Divine Order, and only those more powerful than the people on Ezekiel''s level had been deployed to the Northern Region.

    Compared to those who''d experienced war, they were naive. Their loyalty was also somewhat weaker, since they didn''t know what it was truly like to be on the battlefield fighting for one''s cause.

    Still, even they were willing toy their lives down for the pce.

    This was proven in the many simtors used by the army to train them.

    They''d experienced death before. They''d made the conscious choice to sacrifice themselves for the cause.

    So when the time came for them to experience it in reality, they would be trained to exhibit a simr level of calmness to soldiers who''d been brainwashed and conditioned.

    However, the fact that they still had emotions and free will gave them an aspect of unpredictability. They could make flexible decisions, and when they realized they were going to die, they could push out far more strength before their mes of life finally died out.

    Even if Damien was an indifferent person who viewed his men as tools, this would be the best strategy to make them the best army imaginable.

    However, he did not think of them that way.

    And they didn''t just think of him as an unseen Young Lord whom they''d sworn their allegiance to.

    Damien was actually pretty active in the various departments of the pce.

    He was now spending most of his time on the back line. It had been over a year since he''d been out in the world.

    Of course, he spent a whole lot of time with his family, but he wasn''t that selfish. His wives wanted to train, and others had their own matters to attend to as well.

    While he would take breaks to meet the people he wanted to meet, he spent the majority of his time bing more familiar with the people of the pce.

    He went to the forges and became peers with the smiths there, acknowledged for his skill at the forge. He went to the servant housing and learned the names of the people who were serving him, and he even went to the kitchen to discuss culinary matters with them.

    Damien had an expanse of knowledge gathered both through his own experience and through the devouring of countless individuals with countless talents.

    Their memories became his, and their experience became his.

    He was skilled in a variety of random things, but his most experienced department was obviously the military.

    Damien would asionally head down to the military city. He''d observe the ongoing training, and sometimes even train the troops himself.

    Only the main group of elites he gathered were given the chance to get a free personalized training method from him, but that opportunity hadn''t beenpletely eliminated.

    As long as the current soldiers could gather enough merit points, they could purchase it.

    It wasn''t an unreasonable amount of points either.

    Damien wanted to give them as much as they wanted. He wanted his troops to grow and bloom into their full potential.

    Merely, with the army growing, he couldn''t promise the time necessary to create the perfect technique for each and every one of them.

    A barrier of entry was added, sure, but it was a barrier that could be broken by anyone as long as they worked hard enough for it.

    That was the part of the army that Ezekiel liked the most. As long as he tried, anything was possible. It was a truth that didn''t exist anywhere else in the world.

    And he''d been trying his hardest since he arrived here. He trained harder than anyone else, gaining and saving merit points by not spending them on vices or entertainment.

    And after six months, he''d reached that point.

    He had already gone to the merit shop, and he''d already purchased his ticket.

    Soon enough, it would be his turn to meet the Young Lord he served in a private setting.

    It was his turn to discover where his potential trulyy.

 Chapter 1525 Worldly Force [2]

    Chapter 1525 Worldly Force [2]

    Damien was quite excited for this meeting.

    He''d been watching Ezekiel from the start, and since long ago, he''d known exactly what technique to create for him.

    Ezekiel was a special person. He had many special things inside his body, and the source of them all was only one thing.

    His main talent.

    The thing Damien had been waiting to nurture until this moment.

    After all, he couldn''t just give Ezekiel the key to his potential easily. He first needed to see if the boy was worthy of such a treasure.

    At the end of the day, Ezekiel came from the Straea n. Damien could see the nature of his soul, which was inquisitive and overall leaned towards good.

    However, there was a darkness inside of him that had been nurtured by Straea.

    He had an extreme desire to kill that he had to consciously suppress at all times. For all intents and purposes, he was a time bomb.

    Ezekiel''s bloodlust was directed at the Straea n, so in his normal day-to-day life, there wasn''t much of a worry about him going berserk.

    But what if his emotions were taken to the extreme? What if, when he found himself on a real battlefield, he couldn''t stop himself from killing hisrades?

    No matter how much of an interest he had in a genius, Damien wouldn''t risk the safety of the rest of his people for their sake.

    That wasn''t his way of doing things.

    Luckily, Ezekiel had shown himself to be level-headed and mostly rational.

    The simtion program used to train the army was personally created by Damien. It had multiple settings, the most extreme of which made the simtion feel like reality in every sense of the word.

    Somehow, Ezekiel learned how to control his bloodlust and utilize it only for the purpose he desired it for.

    Ezekiel was put into this level of the simtion, forced to face the Straea n in an environment where he was forced to forget that everything was an illusion.

    And he performed perfectly.

    Yes, his bloodlust was heavy. When he was facing Straea, he became a demon above all other demons.

    However, no matter how much stress he faced, he refused to cross his bottom line and involve those who were innocent in his revenge.

    Somehow, Ezekiel learned how to control his bloodlust and utilize it only for the purpose he desired it for.

    Damien was thoroughly impressed.

    He wanted to meet the genius right away and see if he was worth the hype, and conveniently enough, Ezekiel had also used his merit points for a chance to meet him.

    It was as if this meeting was fated.

    Damien was already waiting in a designated location, a small structure made with the sole purpose of housing meetings like these.

    Ezekiel was currently being led here. Judging by the time¡­

    ''...he should be arriving right about now.''

    A respectful mana fluctuation pushed through the door, a practitioner''s equivalent of knocking.

    Seeing how Damien allowed that signature''s presence and didn''t return it, those outside could understand that he''d given them permission to enter.

    The doors swung open, and two men were revealed on the other side.

    One was a military instructor, a man named Brian Frieze whom Damien had picked out from the members of Void Pce when he established the army.

    Brian was a subordinate of the 9th Sword, Terra Bloodmoon. He was an experienced war veteran, and on top of that, he had prior experience being a teacher. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The military instructors were all great leaders. They were hand-picked talents who hadn''t been able to achieve their full potential because they weren''t ying the roles they were most suited for.

    Brian was one of the instructors Ezekiel liked most, which was why he happily apanied him when it was time for them to leave for this meeting.

    "Good afternoon, Young Lord," Brian said, bowing his head.

    Meanwhile, the boy next to him curiously looked Damien up and down.

    The man called "Young Lord," seeing him in person was a different experience than what Ezekiel expected.

    He''d never personally seen Malevalon Straea, but he''d seen the kind of people who were in charge of Straea.

    Whenparing Damien to them¡­

    He had apletely different aura.

    ''Is this the guy who controls this entire ce¡­?''

    "That would indeed be me," Damien said with a smile.

    Ezekiel''s eyes widened.

    ''Is he reading my thoughts?''

    "I am."

    ''Cheesy potatoes.''

    "To each their own, but I''m sure the canteen provides better food than that, no?"

    "Woah!"

    Ezekiel eximed, finally epting the truth.

    Damien shook his head wryly.

    ''Reading his mind¡­well, I guess it''s something simr?''

    Damien did indeed have the power to directly infiltrate Ezekiel''s mind, but he couldn''t do it without being noticed.

    Not because he was weak, and not because Ezekiel was strong, but because of Ezekiel''s special constitution.

    Instead, the method he used to make a first impression on the boy was a little bit more roundabout, but it still achieved the same purpose.

    "You must be Ezekiel, right? Sit. I''ve heard a lot about you from your instructors."

    "About me? I thought they all hated me."

    Ezekiel made a sarcasticment, shooting a sideways nce at Instructor Frieze.

    "You brat! All you know is how to act cheeky!"

    Brian gave him a light knock on the head, shaking his head helplessly.

    "Young Lord, I will be leaving now. Don''t be afraid to discipline this boy if he decides to act out."

    "Hey!" Ezekiel eximed.

    Damien smiled slightly.

    "Go on ahead. I don''t think we''ll have much of a problem."

    As Brian left, Damien motioned Ezekiel to sit down.

    The boy was jittery, obviously awaiting the reveal of a perfect technique.

    Unfortunately, Damien had a few questions for him before that happened.

    "Tell me, what do you think the perfect technique for you looks like?"

    Ezekiel raised a brow at the unexpected question.

    "Me¡­?"

    He fell into thought for a moment.

    There were many things he was skilled in. Most weapons, self-healing, defense, even pure brute strength; he excelled in anything that had to do withbat.

    So when asked what the "perfect" technique would be, he didn''t know. He didn''t think the right answer was as obvious as abination of all of these things.

    ''What¡­am Icking?''

    That was the key question. It wasn''t about what he had, but about what he needed.

    ''Compared to everyone else¡­''

    He was leagues above in physical abilities. He was leagues above in battle sense and mental acuity.

    The only thing others had that he didn''t¡­

    "Laws."

    He didn''t have an affinity.

    That was the only crutch keeping him from achieving perfection.

    Damien smiled.

    "That''s right. The perfect technique for you is one that allows you topete with people who have natural affinities forws."

    One could say Ezekiel had a bad start. Not having aw affinity could be treacherous at higher stages of power, even if one managed to reach the pinnacle of something like the sword.

    In most cases, that would be a correct assumption.

    However, Ezekiel was not most cases.

    Rather, Ezekiel''sck of affinity forws was exactly what made him so special.

    It was what made Damien excited to reach him.

    "Ezekiel¡­" he said, drawing a piece of paper out of his storage space.

    "...have you perhaps ever heard the term, ''Worldly Force?''"

 Chapter 1526 Worldly Force [3]

    Chapter 1526 Worldly Force [3]

    "Have you perhaps ever heard the term, ''Worldly Force?''"

    Obviously, Ezekiel didn''t.

    The concept of Worldly Force wasn''t well known at all. Since this world was one that was ruled by Law, other forms of energy were rtively ignored.

    After all, even if they were studied, they couldn''t be used to the efficiency ofws, so their study was never invested in.

    Damien wasn''t like the rest of the world, particrly in the way he had made contact with several different types of energy over the course of his life.

    "Worldly Force" was something he was especially familiar with, since it was simr to a concept he used often as a Star Master in the lower universe.

    Ezekiel had a confused expression on his face, as if he had no idea what was happening at all.

    It was expected, so Damien went into an exnation of what exactly "Worldly Force" was.

    "It could be said that Laws are the foundation of the world, and that is a correct statement. Laws are indeed the creators and upholders of reality. However, they are not the only source of energy in the universe."

    "For instance, mana is not created byw, or as a product ofw. Mana is a natural energy of the universe that exists simply because the universe exists."

    "Worldly Force is the same."

    Damien waved his hand through the air. A strange energy followed his movements, something clear enough for Ezekiel to sense, but too vague for him to understand.

    "Worldly Force is quite literally the vitality of the world. It is the energy of the world itself, rather than an energy that forms its structure. Sure, you could say it''s a product of Law, but just like mana, as long as reality exists, as will Worldly Force."

    "You know about the Heavenly Order, don''t you?"

    Ezekiel nodded. The Heavenly Order was something he only recently became familiar with, as the talents who excelled in the army were given the chance to watch people undergo Baptisms.

    Until then, Ezekiel had no idea what the concept was. Straea didn''t have any desire to inform its younger generation about the dangers and opportunities ahead.

    Rather than giving them a rope, Straea would push them down the cliff just to see if they would survive.

    Nevertheless, Ezekiel knew what the Heavenly Order was to an extent.

    "It is the governing entity of the world. Isn''t it like¡­abination of all thews or something?"

    Damien shook his head.

    "You''re partially right and partially wrong. The first part is correct. The Heavenly Order does govern the world. However, it is not abination ofws. Rather, it is an entity above allws, something like a natural version of the system."

    "Natural version?"

    "Don''t worry about it."

    Damien smiled wryly internally. The secrets behind the system were a whole different matter that even he only had an inkling about. Someone with a worldview as narrow as Ezekiel''s wouldn''t be able to understand it.

    "Anyway, the Heavenly Order is abovews. It has the power to governws purely due to its existence. And the force it uses to govern Baptisms and Rebirths¡­?"

    "Worldly Force."

    Damien nodded.

    "That''s right. At its peak, Worldly Force can surpass and controlws. That is why it cannot be called a product of their existence."

    "Young Lord, are you saying that I have a talent for Worldly Force?"

    Without even noticing it, Ezekiel had already epted Damien as his Lord in his heart. This exnation that opened up a whole new world for him¡­it was more than enough to earn his respect.

    However¡­

    "Talent would be an overstatement."

    Damien said it bluntly.

    "There is no such thing as talent when ites to using Worldly Force. However, you have the potential toprehend it, which means as long as you put your heart and soul into your training, you have the chance to be a true master."

    "And when you reach that point¡­"

    Damien snapped his fingers.

    The small meeting room grew, morphing into a massive pagoda. The view from the outside changed until Ezekiel could gaze over the entire military city without straining his eyes.

    Worldly Force filled the air and changed the climate entirely.

    The small meeting room grew, morphing into a massive pagoda. The view from the outside changed until Ezekiel could gaze over the entire military city without straining his eyes.

    RUMBLE!

    Dark clouds swirled through the sky, thundering with arcs of powerful ck lightning, and the air itself heated up until Ezekiel felt his skin was boiling.

    "With Worldly Force, power like this is nothing," Damien said, smiling mysteriously.

    "With Worldly Force¡­"

    BOOOOOM!

    The thunderclouds exploded, turning into a sea of water floating in the sky, and then transforming again into solid ground, a fiery volcanic region that somehow managed to keep itself suspended despite its weight. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "...you can change the world itself."

    Damien brought his arm down.

    "NO!"

    Ezekiel shouted.

    It was toote.

    The floating volcanic ind mmed down into the ground below, sending zing magma flying everywhere and crushing the entirety of the military city.

    Ezekiel fell to his knees, unable toprehend what he''d just witnessed.

    "Young Lord¡­you¡­you just¡­"

    His eyes shook in terror.

    But Damien merely continued smiling.

    "Rx."

    He snapped his fingers again, and everything returned to normal.

    The room returned to its usual mundane appearance at ground level, the military city returned as if nothing had ever happened, and the entirety of the destruction caused a moment prior was reverted.

    Outside the room, Ezekiel sensed the same people he''d grown familiar with living out their days.

    They hadn''t been obliterated¡­?

    Ezekiel''s mind was thoroughly blown.

    "Young¡­Young Lord¡­" he said, stammering as he tried to regain his calm.

    "If I learn Worldly Force¡­can I do that too?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien shook his head.

    "If you want to drop a volcano on someone, you can probably reach that level after some hard training. As for what came after¡­"

    "Well, let''s just say that I used some tricks."

    Ezekiel nodded shakily.

    "Huu¡­"

    The power of Worldly Force was clearly presented to him.

    A power that seemed like a mixture of manyws, but had the power to usurp their throne.

    It was a power that could not only close the gap between Ezekiel and his peers, but a force that could allow him to stand at the top, to challenge the people he truly wanted to fight.

    Moreover, he saw something greater than Worldly Force, greater than Law, greater than anything.

    ''A glimpse of the Young Lord''s power¡­''

    It was amazing.

    There was a time when Ezekiel questioned the direction he chose. He wasn''t sure if Void Pce was enough to help him achieve his ambitions.

    Most of those doubts had faded during the time he spent with the army, but as of this moment, they werepletely gone.

    As of this moment, as he witnessed something improbable, Ezekiel started to truly consider himself a member of Void Pce.

    He kneeled before Damien, his head bowed in submission.

    "Young Lord, please teach me how to use Wordly Force."

    Damien smiled, nodding his head.

    "That was my n from the start."

    Damien didn''t know it yet, nor did Ezekiel, but this was the start of a tale that would be told for millennia.

    A story that told of the rise of the Absolute''s most loyal sword.

 Chapter 1527 Worldly Force [4]

    Chapter 1527 Worldly Force [4]

    Worldly Force, as an energy that existed ambiently in the world and parallel to mana, was the cause of a lot of Ezekiel''s natural advantages.

    The natural healing factor he possessed which was second only to Damien''s Authority of Immortality, the durability of his body, and even his talent to learn techniques at a nce, all of it came from the blessing of Worldly Force.

    The first few were obvious. With the energy of the world nourishing him at all times, it was only natural for Ezekiel''s body to be monstrous. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Thest point, on the other hand, was a bit more intricate. Worldly Force was, as Damien said, in a simr position to the system.

    While the system actively recorded any and all things, Worldly Force did the same in a passive manner.

    Alt things that flowed through the world would be touched by Worldly Force, and thus, recorded in its flow.

    Ezekiel couldn''t consciously read that flow yet, but he was inherently connected to it. Damien told the boy he wasn''t especially talented only so he didn''t be arrogant.

    In reality, there was nobody born with as unique of a body as him.

    His innate connection to Worldly Force meant that any technique recorded in its flow could eventually beprehended by him.

    That included anyw.

    ''I don''t think he''ll be able to reach my level, but he definitely has a chance to touch Existence based on potential alone.''

    Damien gave Ezekiel his technique that day. It was the first time Ezekiel had ever seen a technique that he couldn''t immediately understand.

    Hell, he didn''t even know what those things were.

    He''d taken the entire night reading over it as many times as he could, but no matter what he did, the matter didn''t be clearer to him.

    At the end of the day, this was Ezekiel''s w. He had a lot of natural talent, but since growth hade easily to him, he didn''t know how to consciously focus on practicing small things to perfection.

    It was a skill he would''ve had to learn at some point if he wanted his growth to continue smoothly, but now that it was at his doorstep, he just couldn''t figure anything out.

    After all, he didn''t know what to do.

    He didn''t have a direction, nor did he know where to start and in what order to do the things he would eventually need to do.

    Hell, he didn''t even know what those things were.

    The technique Damien gave him was extremely detailed. To any other practitioner, all the things Ezekielcked could be found within it.

    But it had to be remembered.

    Ezekiel had never been taught to read.

    Nor had he been taught how to learn.

    He had never seen a written technique before. Ezekiel had spent his entire life learning by watching others and copying them.

    Thus, as time passed, he found that the task of gaining Worldly Force wasn''t something he couldn''tplete on his own.

    From then on, his training schedule changed.

    Ezekiel stopped focusing on physical drills, and he started spending the majority of his points to buy vacation days that excused him from attending training.

    He put a hold on everything he already knew and prepared to forget everything he thought he knew.

    For the moment, he put away the training manual he''d received from Damien and focused only on himself.

    There were only two things he knew how to do.

    Observe, and fight.

    And in both matters, his instinct was what gave him the biggest advantage.

    If that was the case, then in this situation where he didn''t know what to do, he had to rely on that very instinct.

    Ezekiel began to coop himself up in his own room, which was also purchased with points. He sat in meditation every day, ignoring the rest of the world.

    He was trying to connect to his mind.

    In material terms, he was taking steps to prepare himself for Worldly Force rather than attempting to gain the power as soon as possible.

    A slow, thought-out process through which he could reap the most benefits. That was what he needed.

    Because in the process of trying to learn Worldly Force, wouldn''t he learn a great deal of other things as well?

    Right, there was no way Damien didn''t know about his ws. Damien was the person in the pce who knew the most about Ezekiel.

    Damien knew from the start that Ezekiel wouldn''t be able to gain Worldly Force easily. He couldn''t even read the manual yet.

    But that didn''t mean he would baby the boy and feed him everything.

    Whether it was a basic skill like reading or something moreplex likeprehension, Ezekiel needed to gain these skills on his own. Not just for power, but for general education and his growth as a person.

    There weren''t many soldiers in the army that Damien was this interested in.

    Even as Ezekiel started to understand his intentions, Damien watched over him, smiling the whole time.

    No matter what was thrown at him, Ezekiel never betrayed the expectations others had for him.

    Perhaps that was why he seemed so reliable despite still being in his growth phase.

    "This kid¡­" Damien muttered to himself.

    "...he''s not too bad."

    ***

    In the main residences of both great ns, events seemed rtively peaceful and slow-moving, but it wasn''t so for those outside of those ces.

    The war between Void Pce and the Straea n was getting more and more heated by the day. It wasn''t just one or two people who died in every single battle they fought. The the number of battles had stacked such that their corpses could form an entire range of mountains.

    The majority of the war had taken ce in the Northern Region, since Void Pce made the first strike, but it wasn''t exclusively there anymore.

    The war was expanding further south into Void Pce territory, and as Malefice continued tomand his troops, the pce army was pushed to its limits.

    They also had Swords supporting them from the back line, but it wasn''t enough.

    That is, until Hestia Void joined the fray.

    She had received permission to take fullmand over the army, and though she was on a probationary period at first to test her skill, her strategic mind was able to make her position final in a matter of weeks.

    She was able to not only recover several thousand kilometers ofnd that had been taken by the armies of Straea, she was able to reduce the average casualty rate of every battle by a considerable percentage.

    Damien''s training had paid off more than anyone had ever expected it to. The second Hestia was given the chance to shine, she showed that this was where she was always meant to be.

    When it came to strategy, only Hestia couldpete with Malefice.

    While neither of them were on the frontlines, the battle between armies soon turned into a battle between the two of them, a true showcase of the most advanced minds of the era.

    Regardless of what face the war was showing now, it was only background noise to the truly powerful characters of this world.

    The key yers had yet toe out.

    But a storm was surely brewing on the horizon.

    It wouldn''t be long now. Within a year at the very most¡­

    The strongest forces of those two great ns would lose their patience.

    That was when the real war would begin.

 Chapter 1528 Ice Luan Mountain [1]

    Chapter 1528 Ice Luan Mountain [1]

    Ezekiel was a quick learner. He''d spent his entire childhood learning how to adapt and problem-solve so he could survive. Even if the environment had changed, his behaviors didn''t.

    Once he''d taken a step back and understood the problem, Ezekiel immediately acted to solve it.

    First, he worked on the more baseline problems. He spent a year learning how to read and write properly, while also focusing onprehension, understanding theplexity thatnguage could hold.

    By the time that year was over, not only had Ezekiel learned to read the manual Damien gave him, he''d also corrected many critical ws that had formed due to his past environment.

    His sense of time was one of these. He was now able to follow the time flow as everyone else did, which was not only a matter of convenience, but one of vital importance.

    After all, for a practitioner to tell time meant reading and feeling thew of Time. As Ezekiel familiarized himself with the process, something that could be done with mana and perception rather than Law itself, Ezekiel finally sensed the energy for the first time.

    That was extremely helpful for him. Since Worldly Force felt somewhere in between Law and Mana, it gave him somewhere to start.

    In just four seasons, Ezekiel had built a foundation for himself to stand on.

    All he needed to do was utilize it.

    He finally delved into the manual Damien gave him.

    He learned the method to move his mana, the method to feel the environment around him, and the method to connect it all together.

    The first steps of the manual only allowed Ezekiel to obtain Worldly Force.

    As for his training beyond that¡­

    Well, while Damien highlighted some key things he needed to pay attention to, the majority of his development would depend on his own creativity.

    Worldly Force was versatile beyond all else. It didn''t necessarily have a specific set of uses, which meant it could mimic the uses of manyws at once.

    Of course, until Ezekiel reached a very high level, it would be difficult to incorporate too many properties into the force, so he needed to pick the best properties to stick with as his basebination.

    This was entirely up to him, and based on what he chose, his future would change immensely.

    That wasn''t just in terms of the potential height he could reach, but also in the path he could take.

    In a sense, he was given the freedom to choose anything.

    Because in a sense, he had an affinity for everything.

    Damien couldn''t get too deeply involved in the process precisely because of how much it relied on individuality.

    He wanted to help Ezekiel and see the boy thrive in this niche concept that nobody else could touch.

    He wanted to see someone in the generation after him who could create feats like he and his father had.

    Ezekiel had that potential, and as he adapted more and more to life outside of the Straea n''s hidden manor, he started to reveal more and more potential like a blossoming butterfly.

    It was wonderful. Such talents came once every few generations, people who could be main characters in their own stories.

    And if Ezekiel did as he always did, if he fulfilled and exceeded the expectations set for him¡­

    Damien already had ns in mind that he was excited to execute.

    Ezekiel''s legacy surely wouldn''t end somewhere average.

    Nevertheless, the more Ezekiel progressed, the less Damien paid constant attention to him.

    He would make visits to the military city as he always did, and whenever he was there, he would check on the boy.

    Like that, Ezekiel slowly becamefortable around Damien, but never enough to erase the status gap between them.

    It seemed he was aware of his post and had no desire to overstep his bounds.

    Damien didn''t mind that either. He was at a stage in his life where he wasn''t in a hurry to form rtionships with others.

    What others wanted, he would entertain if he felt it appropriate.

    He wouldn''t reject a good friend.

    However, nor would he reject a good subordinate or an unfortunate enemy.

    Damien was still young. To many of those around him, he was young enough to still be called a boy.

    However, Damien was from Earth. By his standards, he''d already lived enough to fill two lifetimes.

    Rtionships were important, but he already had enough of them to satisfy him for eternity. Whether it be his wives or his newfound family, they''d be with him for the rest of time. He wasn''t hurrying to make friends and find people to spend that same eternity with.

    Though, there was one rtionship he was itching to recover.

    The problem was that it wasn''t up to him whether it could be recovered or not.

    Damien walked through the halls of the pce, arriving in front of a room that only he and a select few others had ess to.

    Pushing open therge, ornate doors, he was weed by darkness.

    It wasn''t a bad thing. This was merely how the room was designed. The darkness was a product of the technology keeping the man withinfortable.

    Damien made his way through the room until he reached arge bed, the only real piece of furniture here.

    That was where Dante Voidy.

    Despite the passing of time, nothing had particrly changed on Dante''s side. His body was starting to look better, since he was constantly being nourished by the machines around him, but the strange condition that kept him asleep never diminished.

    At first, Damien thought it was caused by the foreign energy that was in his system, however, that was incorrect.

    Damien had removed that foreign energy, yet Dante was still like this.

    It wasn''t soul damage, since Damien healed his soul personally.

    It could''ve been something in his spiritual world, but if that was the case, it would have been more obvious.

    ''His spiritual intent is still rtively normal, and there''s definitely activity inside of his brain.''

    It wasn''t as if Dante''s mind didn''t work.

    It was just that, for some reason, his mind couldn''t connect with reality, like there was a rift between them keeping him away.

    ''A rift¡­can I fix it with the concept of order¡­?''

    Damien ced his hand on his father''s forehead and attempted to send the energy of Existence into his body.

    Bzzt!

    "Tch."

    Damien pulled his hand away quickly with a disgruntled expression.

    ''Same as always.''

    This wasn''t the first time he''d tried. Existence was something of an end-all-be-all cure, so it was obviously Damien''s first choice when it came to treatment.

    The problem wasically ironic.

    ''Since he has also reached this level to an extent, his Existence is repelling mine.''

    Damien couldn''t use Existence on Dante without express consent. Even then, the two of them would probably have to maneuver their energies so they didn''t make contact.

    Existence was always meant to be a whole. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    When two different strains of it met, they would obviously reject each other, as each believed itself the true manifestation of Existence.

    Unless one had control over True Existence, there was no way to suppress another partially formed strain of Existence.

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien sighed.

    ''All of these specificities are annoying. The universe is pretty simple at a nce, but I guess theplexity is in the fine details.''

    Damien couldn''t get past this problem with brute force.

    ''Another method¡­''

    When he started looking for it, it was only natural for him to find it.

    ''It exists.''

    He didn''t know what it was.

    But he was sure it existed.

    In order to turn his assumptions into a reality, he rushed to find a certain book.

    Persia''s Encyclopedia.

    The answer would be there.

 Chapter 1529 Ice Luan Mountain [2]

    Chapter 1529 Ice Luan Mountain [2]

    Damien knew a lot about the Heavenly World. From the memories he''d devoured, he learned things from massive secrets to small things.

    He didn''t care about what was for dinner on Monday or who had cheated on who. Usually, he filtered out memories unrted to the things he was looking for when he devoured those people.

    However, included in the tidbits that usually went forgotten were tales of things impossible, myths and legends created by the people of this world.

    Damien never got rid of the useless information, because there was always a chance that it woulde in handy.

    Today proved his hoarding valid.

    He barely remembered it. The memory was extremely vague, and he wasn''t even sure of who it came from, but it was a legend from ancient times about a location not many had ever dared to explore.

    The Heavenly World, while mostly covered in civilization, had a lot of unexplorednd. These areas were usually forbidden zones, hazardous areas where even Gods could easily die.

    No major force was willing to risk the lives of their greatest assets for whaty beyond the horizon, but many a wanderer and adventurer had tried their luck with these ces in the past.

    Some returned with glory, finding things unseen to the rest of the world, while the majority died, their corpses unable to ever be retrieved.

    In one of such ces, a man was said to have found the cure to all disease.

    A fruit that could turn one into a reflection of Buddha, granting one longevity and fortune.

    Damien rushed to find Persia''s encyclopedia because he knew that Void Pce would have records of such an item.

    And he was correct.

    Written in the book was not only the first legend that Damien knew, but also several other ounts of adventurers who''d seen the fruit in the wild.

    ''Only the one man was able to actually take it out of that ce alive.''

    The rest didn''t speak about anything other than the fruit''s existence.

    ''Either they were scared away from the start, or they encountered something they can''t talk about.''

    Whatever the case was, it didn''t matter to Damien.

    Several eye witness ounts were enough to validate his random hope.

    ''That fruit, judging by the effects that were recorded in the legend¡­''

    The original man lived to be over a thousand years old. It was said that his body never aged, his mind never dulled, and his spirituality increased by the day.

    ''...it''s not just a fruit containing immense vitality.''

    If it was something like that, the man would''ve gone insane.

    There was no record of that man being a practitioner, despite him entering that dangerous ce, and if a thousand years was considered a long lifespan, then the most he could''ve been was 3rd ss.

    A mortal''s mind wasn''t made tost such a long time.

    The power that came with longevity for a practitioner allowed them to adapt to the lengthened lifespans. They had a constant goal to reach a higher level, and when they were engrossed in training and seeking out practical experience and wealth, the years passed by fast enough for change to happen on its own, unnoticed.

    His body never aged.

    His mind never dulled.

    His spirituality was always increasing.

    These three things didn''t happen one by one. They were rted. No, they were all caused by the same thing.

    ''The base effect of that fruit isn''t something outwardly recognizable, but if I''m not wrong, it should be exactly what I''m looking for right now.''

    It was a fruit that could bring one''s mind, body, and soul into harmony. It formed an evesting connection between them that would only fade when one''s lifespan was truly at its end.

    ''This is such a reach.''

    Damien smiled wryly. Even for him, this was too coincidental.

    The chance for him to remember the exact legend he needed and for that fruit to be the exact thing he needed was¡­actually quite probable honestly.

    But that didn''t mean Damien could easily ept that this solution would be THE solution.

    Still, wasn''t it worth trying?

    ''Existence won''t work, and if anybody else had a solution it would''ve worked by now.''

    Damien wanted his father cured sooner rather thanter.

    It was truly his final worry.

    Even if it seemed like he was reaching for the clouds, making up facts to support his point, it didn''t stop him from wanting to try.

    ''The location of that fruit¡­''

    The tallest mountain of the Frostbound Mountain Range, Ice Luan Mountain.

    It had only been seen from afar by most observers, so it was named for its unique shape, like a luan rising from its nest in the morning.

    Ice Luan Mountain was one of the tallest mountains in the entire Heavenly World, and it was just as dangerous.

    However, Damien didn''t think it was too much for him.

    ''I should set out soon. The Frostbound Mountain Range is in the Eastern Region, so the Northeastern Region, so it''ll take a bit longer to get there.''

    Luckily, the territory of the Vega n was somewhere Damien could act without worry.

    He had met the executives of that n many times while he was working for Veritas. Though their rtionship was with Damien Grey, not Damien Void, he was sure that they wouldn''t bother him as long as he didn''t do anything extreme.

    ''And as long as I''m in the Frostbound Mountain Range, the extreme doesn''t happen unless I destroy it and everything around it, which would never happen¡­''

    He remembered hisst memorable experience in a mountain range, and, well¡­

    ''...I wasn''t the one who destroyed it that time, so it should be¡­fine?''

    Putting aside his track record, with a n in mind, there was nothing more for Damien to do but act.

    He spent the rest of the day informing others about his ns and making preparations, and by daybreak the next, he was already gone.

    This was the first time Damien had left the pce in over a year, and when it came to adventures like this, it had been even longer.

    Damien was quite excited, but he wasn''t too hung up on the excitement. His first priority was the goal, so even if he had to skip the adventuring and go straight for it, he would do so without regret.

    Nevertheless, he arrived in the Northeastern Region within a day and moved towards its northernmost point, where the Frostbound Mountain Range was.

    In fact, the mountain range was the very thing separating the Vega n and the Straea n. It was a natural border that even Gods didn''t dare to cross, so it offered a sufficient amount of protection for those like Vega and Veritas.

    Otherwise, how could the Vega n remain uninvolved in a war between its neighbors?

    It wasn''t hard for Damien to reach the mountain range, nor did he face any sorts of obstacles.

    But that was temporary.

    Because while Damien was unaware of it, he was being watched by many eyes. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Many of whom were aiming for his throat.

    This trip to the Frostbound Mountain Range was destined to be a turbulent one.

    And that wasn''t just because of the threats Damien would face from those outside.

 Chapter 1530 Ice Luan Mountain [3]

    Chapter 1530 Ice Luan Mountain [3]

    And of pure white.

    There was no better way to describe it.

    The forbidden zone that spanned the border of an entire cardinal region, the Frostbound Mountain Range, was not given its name without reason.

    Its base elevation was already over a hundred kilometers above the rest of the world. Unless one arrived at that height, one''s only memory of the mountain range would be that pure white wall.

    However, such scenery was only the beginning.

    The true beauty was at the top of that wall, from which one could see the mountain range beyond.

    There were tens or even hundreds of mountains that spanned as far as the eye could see no matter where on the range one was. It was so extensive that it was almost impossible to be within and see whaty outside.

    The pure white snow swept up hills and down valleys in the periphery of the range, but the main characters truly were the mountains.

    Tall, rocky, ice-covered, and full of danger. Rather than beauty, it would be better to describe them based on the terror they caused.

    Because in no way could they be considered beautiful.

    They were covered in a harsh never-ending blizzard. One couldn''t observe what lived on those mountains from afar, but one could imagine how powerful those creatures had to be to make this environment their home.

    The closer one approached to the mountains, the less one would see aside from their massive gait.

    Once one had chosen a mountain to conquer, that would be one''s entire life.

    There were hundreds of bodies on each and every mountain, some millions or hundreds of millions of years old.

    They could never be safely recovered, but they''d also never rot and decay, forever kept in stasis by the mountain range''s chill.

    Damien''s goal was Ice Luan Mountain.

    It was quite obvious with its shape. It wasn''t directly in the center of the mountain range, but it was close enough that Damien could see it from the time he first arrived at the top of the ice wall.

    The mountain was treacherous. Aside from the environmental challenges, it truly was inherited by a plethora of powerful beasts, namely Ice Luans.

    Though, luans were a rtively peaceful species as long as they weren''t provoked, so they were the least of one''s worries.

    ''There is a surprisingly active ecosystem here.''

    That was Damien''s first observation as he stood at the base of the mountain and scanned it with his awareness.

    The ecosystem wasn''t only diverse, but the animals also seemed to have established some sort of societal hierarchy. This waspletely unexpected from creatures that lived in these conditions.

    A harsh environment was a natural suppressant. Creatures who evolved to adapt to those conditions tended to be much stronger than their counterparts, however, as a result, their intelligence suffered.

    They would be mostly feral, unable to recognize anything other than their own instinct for survival.

    Comparatively, the beasts of Ice Luan Mountain were a true anomaly.

    Damien hadn''t met them yet, but even the hints of society they had formed were more than he could''ve ever expected.

    He wanted to explore it a bit more, but of course¡­

    ''I should try to find that fruit first.''

    After covering his body in ayer of Existence, concealing himself from the world, Damien began teleporting up the peak.

    His movement ability was unmatched, and he didn''t n to waste his advantages.

    While others would have to arduously climb the mountain, a ce where even flight was impossible due to the extreme blizzard, teleportation was a true gem to have.

    It allowed several weeks and months worth of work to be done by Damien in a matter of minutes.

    And once he''d reached the heights he desired, it wasn''t hard to find traces of what others had witnessed.

    A cave near the absolute peak of the mountain. It glowed with a blue halo that stood out even in the mostly blue icy atmosphere, so it was hard to miss.

    Damien entered that cave curiously, dubious as to what could actually be inside.

    And what he found was¡­ n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''...the fruit.''

    The Harmony Fruit, as Damien had been calling it since it didn''t have a name of its own.

    And alongside it¡­

    A beast of untold proportions.

    It was something like a mix between a dragon and a luan, two species that should''ve never had the chance or ability toe together.

    With its graceful yet scale-armored and domineering appearance, the beast curled around the small tree from which the Harmony Fruit was birthed.

    ''Is it a guardian¡­?''

    It wasn''t rare for treasures like these to have guardians.

    Damien wasn''t particrly wary of it, especially when it didn''t seem to be able to sense him in his concealed state, however¡­

    The moment he took a single step forward, truly entering the cave, it raised its head to look at the entrance.

    "I do not know who you are, but you cannote here."

    It spoke, its voice low yet feminine. Its eyes flitted from side to side, making it clear that it didn''t know where Damien was, but it managed to sense him regardless.

    ''Should Ie out, or should I just take it and dip?''

    "You will not be able to take the fruit like this."

    The beast spoke as if it could read his thoughts.

    "You have hid yourself from me, so you must be a thief. However, the tree has sensed you, and unless you earn her approval, you will not be able to see the glorious effects of the fruit she bears."

    Damien raised his brow.

    ''So that was the case.''

    If it was like that, then his concealment no longer mattered.

    This was another case like when he met the Primordial Undying Tree.

    ric wasn''t willing to give his power to just anyone. Only after a load of trials did he finally set on Damien, granting him his everything.

    Though the Harmony Fruit was nothingpared to ric''s existence, it was the small tree''s everything.

    Even if it could form another one after many years, that wouldn''t change the sense of loss it would feel.

    If Damien wanted to take the fruit by force, he could try, but he didn''t want to take too many risks when it came to Dante''s life.

    He undid his concealment, appearing on Ice Luan Mountain with his body for the first time.

    ''It''s cold.''

    For Damien to feel it, it really had to be cold. His body was far too evolved for any normal temperature to affect him at all.

    The slight cool in the breeze was actually a little refreshing, since it was a feeling Damien hadn''t felt in a while.

    After all, he didn''t spend too much time in icy areas.

    As he became ustomed to his surroundings and brushed the snow off his clothes, covering himself in a bit of mana, the beast''s eyes slightly widened.

    The intruder was a human¡­?

    No, that wasn''t it.

    Its nostrils red as it sniffed the air.

    ''That scent is¡­a qualification?''

    The look in its eyes became even more incredulous.

    And for a moment, it even forgot what Damien had originallye here for.

    It couldn''t hold itself back from asking the question that was now burning in its mind, no matter how stupid it sounded.

    "Human, you aren''t a dragon, are you?"

 Chapter 1531 Ice Luan Mountain [4]

    Chapter 1531 Ice Luan Mountain [4]

    "Human, you aren''t a dragon, are you?"

    The question surprised Damien.

    First off, even he couldn''t logically see himself as a human anymore, so it was nice hearing someone else say it.

    Second, though Damien did indeed have some dragon in him at some point, it had been a long time since his race had changed into something beyond existing terms.

    That draconic bloodline was already gone, turned into nothing more than an ability that Damien hadn''t used in ages.

    "I''m not. Why are you asking?"

    He was genuinely curious. He took steps closer to the beast without realizing, but the beast didn''t react, likely due to his tant absence of hostility.

    "That does not make any sense. If you are not a dragon, then what are you?" The beast asked, perplexed beyond belief.

    "Let''s just say that I''m a human who''s a little special. Now then, why are you so adamant about me being a dragon?" Damien pressed again.

    "Naturally, it is because you have a qualification."

    The beast unfurled itself from around the tree. It was massive within the cave, several hundred feet in length and three digits in its height as well.

    However, this beast had shrunken itself for convenience. Its true size couldn''t be estimated from this appearance.

    Nevertheless, it turned to face Damien directly, looking him up and down.

    "I simply cannot fathom how a qualification made its way into a human body. Please excuse my rudeness."

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien furrowed his brows.

    "This qualification you''re talking about, could it be¡­"

    "It is something that should only be found in the body of a Holy Dragon or his chosen heir."

    Enlightenment struck Damien.

    ''If it''s a Holy Dragon, then¡­there''s really only one answer.''

    A Holy Dragon wasn''t some sort of religious term, nor did it have anything to do with elements or abilities.

    "Holy Dragon" was a sacred term among dragonkind, a position of absolute honor.

    Those granted this title were the true powerhouses of the Dragon n. They were the strongest of the strong.

    And Damien¡­he did have the fortune to meet one long ago.

    ''The Azure Dragon.''

    It was an extremely valuable meeting for Damien. The memories he''d gained from that senior were still locked in his head, but many flecks of knowledge about the Heavenly World had drifted away from the pack and entered his mind every now and then.

    The Azure Dragon''s memories were a big part of the reason why he knew legends like the one about the Harmony Fruit, and they were also the reason why he knew what a Holy Dragon was.

    But from what this beast was implying¡­

    ''...that senior left me with a lot more than I originally thought.''

    What the beast sensed was obvious at this point. [Azure], which he''d gained from the Azure Dragon, was a qualification for something Damien still didn''t know.

    "What is the purpose of a qualification?" He asked.

    The beast looked into his eyes, seemingly trying to glean something about him.

    It had also been using this time to think, to rationalize the existence before it.

    The conclusion it hade to was not an eptable one, but it couldn''t be the first to look curious.

    ''This child hase for that fruit¡­''

    If that was the case, then it could buy itself some time.

    "Climb this mountain properly and undergo the trials that have been set within the path. Only then will you be able to touch that fruit, and only then will I give you the answers you desire."

    The beast raised its head proudly, looking down at Damien as if there was nothing left to be said.

    Damien stared back at it, deadpan.

    He could read its thoughts quite clearly.

    ''This beast¡­it talks smart, but it''s pretty dumb.''

    It didn''t realize how much its thoughts reflected on its face, but Damien could basically read, "he''ll leave, so I can secretly watch him and figure out what he is, right?" like it was written in big letters on its forehead.

    Whatever the case, it was true that he''d need to scale the mountain properly. His original goal was the Harmony Fruit.

    ''It''ll be annoying, but if the only restriction is on teleportation and Existence-rted abilities, then I should be able to do it fast.''

    Damien turned around, flying out unfazed by the blizzard and dropping back to the base of the mountain.

    ''What a strange interaction.''

    It must''ve been because the luan had some dragon blood in its veins.

    ''No, if it knows about things rted to Holy Dragons, it has probably lived in the Western Region before.'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    What made him curious was why the "qualification" suddenly came to light like this.

    ''Even the fact that the fruit exists is a coincidence that rtes to the Azure Dragon. The fact that a draconic entity exists here that can immediately detect the "qualification" can''t be a coincidence as well.''

    It really was curious.

    After all, whether it be [Azure], or the dragon egg that had been peacefully resting in the Sanctuary for all this time, neither had ever reacted since that day.

    ''If that beast actually knows some information, it''s worth going through a bit of a hassle to gain ess to it.''

    He raised his head. The peak that he was at before couldn''t be seen anymore. It was simply too high.

    ''Well, let''s make the best of a tedious situation.''

    Damien cracked a smile.

    ''I hope these so-called "trials" are entertaining.''

    Damien took his first steps up the mountain the way he was intended to climb it.

    Little did he know, he was not the only person walking this trail right now.

    He was not the only one who had heard that legend and went searching for the Harmony Fruit at Ice Luan Mountain.

    However, it was rare for the travelers who take on this trial to meet each other, since the actual timing between climbs often didn''t line up.

    This was a unique case, where two climbers had arrived at roughly simr times.

    And they were two climbers who knew each other, at that.

    About halfway up the mountain was a woman with swamp-green hair, a woman Damien had encountered in the past, though not on the best of terms.

    Envy of the Four Evils.

    The Four Evils had not had a good time after their encounter with Damien.

    The Straea n''s policy on failure was well known by now. They were essentially stripped of their titles and thrown away, reced by people who followed Malefice Straea.

    And in that process, Wrath had been crippled.

    The Four Evils may have beenpetitors at one point, but after they were left on their own, they were all each other had.

    The bond they''d formed was quite strong. Strong enough for Envy to risk her life at Ice Luan Mountain in order to get the Harmony Fruit to cure Wrath.

    Unfortunately, there was only one fruit.

    And only one of the two of them could take it.

    There was a huge distance between them, so, at a nce, one wouldn''t believe it was possible for them to meet.

    But fate didn''t act so kindly to those it didn''t like.

    And fate seemed to give those it favored everything they desired.

    Their meeting was destined. The only question was¡­

    Would it truly go down the way it was expected to?

 Chapter 1532 Envy [1]

    Chapter 1532 Envy [1]

    Damien didn''t know what he was expecting, but the trials he had to undergo weren''t all that exciting.

    In fact, rather than tests of strength or ability, which was what these kinds of entities usually tested, these trials were tests of character disguised as other things.

    For instance, the first scenario Damien encountered when he was ascending the mountain on foot was a small fox being hunted by three coyote-like creatures.

    Within his mind, he was suddenly provoked to interfere in the conflict, whether to save the fox or do somethingpletely different.

    It seemed the correct answer was to save the fox and allow it to see another day, but that wasn''t what Damien did.

    After all, this mountain was a cruel ce.

    All beasts needed to survive, whether it was the hunted or the hunters. If he saved the fox, sure, that one fox would live another day.

    But since it was here, cornered by its predators, its pack had obviously abandoned it, and that was if it had one to begin with.

    That fox wouldn''t survive past the next day even if it was saved now.

    On the other hand, how many mouths would be fed by its meat once it was killed?

    Ecosystems existed for a reason. They were born from the natural rtionships multiple species had with each other.

    And when they existed, they usually existed in bnce. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Unless an invasive species came and interrupted that bnce, the ecosystem would continue to thrive and be moreplex.

    Damien was invasive here. This wasn''t his food chain to meddle in, and if the foxes were being hunted for food, it was likely they were also hunting smaller beasts in the same way.

    This mountain didn''t have enough vegetation to support herbivores. That was certain.

    Nevertheless, Damien''s nonintervention didn''t coincide with the given scenario, so he felt a strange pulse in his mind like something was rejecting him.

    ''What an annoying tree.'' He thought as he sensed it.

    He understood its intentions.

    The Harmony Fruit had abilities that the first person who consumed it never dreamed of. If he had been a practitioner, he would''ve already been one of the peak forces of the world.

    To create an absolute connection between the mind, body, and soul would increase one''s power manifold. And since it couldn''t be broken, in most situations one could be considered semi-immortal.

    After all, just like in Damien''s case, unless all three were destroyed at the same time, they wouldn''t die.

    Of course, the level of immortality didn''tpare to Damien''s, since his connection of mind, body, and soul also gave all three aspects the blessing of the Void.

    However, especially for a Divinity, and even more so for a True God, achieving this state and keeping it unbroken was deeply interconnected with their power progression.

    That tree didn''t want the Harmony Fruit to end up in the hands of someone with a corrupted soul. It didn''t want to create a monster that terrorized others, for, as the nature of the fruit it bore suggested, the tree was a pacifist.

    It produced harmony and embraced it.

    It simply couldn''t allow the creation of a character that would plunge the world into chaos.

    That was all good and fine, but Damien had many other ways to prove that he wasn''t such a person.

    For instance, he literally had the concept of harmonyprehended. If he just had an opportunity to show that to the tree, it would probably hand over its fruit without much of a fuss.

    ''The problem is that old entities like these are stubborn.''

    Unless Damien underwent the trials in some way, shape, or form, the tree would refuse to acknowledge his "sincerity."

    In essence, his climb right now was for courtesy purposes at most.

    Still, it was something he had to do, so he did it diligently.

    Several simr trials presented themselves as he continued his climb.

    Philosophical problems, testing his morals and his desire to help the weak.

    Damien¡­didn''t have much of thetter, but he did like bullying the strong.

    His morals had be a lot more neutral with time.

    To him, right and wrong couldn''t be judged by an outside party, because each side had their own version of right and wrong.

    Instead, he would look at the entire situation and judge based on facts alone. Like he did with the fox, he simply wouldn''t judge right or wrong. Since the coyotes were justified, he let them be.

    Though, it wasn''t like Damien didn''t have his own views on what right and wrong were.

    If he thought something was eptable, he''d leave it be.

    However, those things that he found uneptable were different.

    If even Damien was forced to acknowledge that something was tantly wrong, then that thing was not allowed to exist in the world anymore.

    That quality of his was also shown in the trials.

    It was difficult to understand Damien''s thought process anymore.

    Things that made sense to him just made sense.

    If others didn''t agree, then fine. If his opinion didn''t fit conventions, that was fine as well.

    As long as he was acting in the best interests of himself and the people he was close to, as long as his heart wouldn''t feel burdened, he would do as he pleased.

    And the world would have to ept him for what he was.

    Either that¡­

    Or it could cope.

    Because he wasn''t willing to put on a front for anyone or anything, even the tree that was his father''s lifeline.

    He believed that sincerity, without the quotations this time, was a better way to gain someone''s favor than showing them a pretty picture of what they wanted to see.

    Was his thought process valid? Or was it just childish?

    The more Damien experienced, the harder he found it to concern himself with matters outside his own.

    That was why he went through the trials giving mostly answers that disappointed the tree, but answers it couldn''t deny.

    Damien''s progress was fast. He moved rapidly inparison to any other travelers who had dared to scale the mountain, and he made decisions without even an ounce of hesitation.

    Despite the fact that it didn''t agree with Damien''s moral code, it couldn''t help but respect his confidence in his actions.

    And no matter how much it wanted to reject his opinions, it couldn''t say that he was wrong.

    After all, it lived on this mountain and it understood the ecosystem that had formed here.

    It wanted Damien to be more benevolent, but at the end of the day, its beliefs still leaned towards harmony.

    And Damien was practically a personification of absolute harmony.

    Good and evil that had to exist for bnce would not be touched. However, anything disrupting that bnce would be destroyed.

    It was indeed a respectable code.

    But that was all in the past.

    What the tree wanted to see most¡­

    ¡­was how Damien would react to someone teetering on the edge of that bnce.

    He made it almost three-fourths of the way up the mountain in a matter of days. His pace allowed him to do something unthinkable to most.

    He''d caught up to the climber ahead of him.

    And now he was facing Envy of the Four Evils, whose eyes were as wide as saucers from the moment she realized who had approached her.

    He''d caught up to the climber ahead of him.

    And now he was facing Envy of the Four Evils, whose eyes were as wide as saucers from the moment she realized who had approached her.

    Was their battle inevitable?

    Or¡­

 Chapter 1533 Envy [2]

    Chapter 1533 Envy [2]

    Their meeting was as coincidental as coincidence could be.

    Envy was currently at the top of a steep slope that was practically a cliff. Trying to climb it with nothing more than the strength of one''s body was difficult, but she''d managed it and made it to the trial waiting for her at the top.

    She could already see the cave in the distance. It was still a little over a hundred kilometers away, but its light blue glow illuminated the mountainside, making its location clear to all.

    She was still in the middle of the trial at that time.

    Damien made his way up the same cliff, however, his physical abilities were far superior to hers.

    After all, to climb this mountain as the tree wanted, one couldn''t use mana to assist their movements.

    The only time they could use their strength was when they needed to fight.

    Damien''s physical body was preposterous. It had evolved past what was possible with a mostly human form, but because of his Void Physique, all the qualities of his physical body were contained within the form he desired.

    As such, Damien could do things that others couldn''t do without mana easily with his physique alone.

    That was why he scaled the mountain so fast.

    The weather didn''t affect him, and the snow and ice didn''t inhibit his speed at all.

    Powered by monstrous capability that genuinely couldn''t be matched anywhere in the Heavenly World, Damien rushed until he managed to reach the same ce where Envy was.

    The answer was no. Their battle was short and concise, and hardly anyone got too injured.

    And he scaled that cliff before she could even finish making the choice presented to her.

    Damien''s entrance wasn''t quiet. He wasn''t expecting to see anyone here, so he didn''t really hold back.

    A massive amount of snow was thrown into the air, and a small avnche tumbled down the mountainside below. He practically stood there and shouted, "Look at me!"

    Envy turned around, and when her eyes managed to peer through the thick cloud of white, they immediately widened into saucers.

    It was the man that still haunted her nightmares.

    Did Damien really embarrass the 4 Evils to that extent?

    The answer was no. Their battle was short and concise, and hardly anyone got too injured.

    However, Damien''s casual, nonchnt behavior as he left was the start of their nightmare. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The torture they''d endured after, the betrayal they felt as they were thrown away by the man they gave their loyalty to, all of it was attributed to Damien.

    So naturally, all four of the Evils had thought about what would happen if they met him again over and over again.

    Wrath wanted another battle.

    Lust wanted to tear him apart.

    Gluttony was still as silent as ever, but there seemed to be a subtle change in his demeanor whenever Damien was mentioned.

    And Envy¡­

    Envy didn''t ever want to see him again.

    Her power was always based on stealing power from others. That was how she managed to get so strong.

    Of course, she never had the chance to make physical contact with Damien, but that didn''t mean she didn''t glimpse the power he held.

    She glimpsed it. So much so that it still haunted her soul.

    In that moment when Damien controlled their mana, there was a tangible effect that the others seemed to miss in their shock.

    To Envy, it was a lot more pronounced, since she''d specifically worked to train her sense of touch to the best it could be.

    She felt like she was being consumed by a swarm of ants.

    Thousands and thousands of invisible hands grasped her body and refused to let go, as if clearly telling her that they could kill her whenever they wanted to.

    The others didn''t understand what had happened that day. Even when they talked about it afterward, none of them acknowledged that Damien truly did the most obvious thing that came to all of their minds.

    But Envy was different.

    She didn''t doubt his capabilities.

    She knew exactly what he''d done.

    In that moment, all the Law in the world, no, the Heavenly Order itself was under Damien''s control.

    That was not something they could handle. Not then, and not now, after Damien had been given plenty of time to grow stronger.

    She felt genuine fear when she looked at him, but she was frozen in ce.

    She couldn''t fight.

    But she couldn''t flee either.

    Not in a ce like this.

    She just stared at him, bewildered and terrified, like a lostmb in front of a tiger.

    And Damien¡­

    What was he to feel from that?

    The emotion in her eyes wasn''t hidden at all. He recognized it before he even recognized her.

    And more than that, one couldn''t forget that he could read her existence.

    Envy of the 4 Evils. The first time Damien met her, she truly did resemble her namesake.

    Her heart was filled with green. Jealousy towards her peers, jealousy towards other people''s talent and fortune, jealousy towards the world.

    It was a disgusting heap of negativity towards anything and everything. It was an envy that bordered on greed.

    She wanted everything others had. She wished she had it instead of them.

    Even though her station was so high, her authority was so vast, she still wanted more after seeing how people like Malevalon Straea could live.

    Her name was both a reminder of her origins and a mark of shame.

    The Envy he saw in front of him now was not the same person.

    It was almost miraculous how a single person had changed so much in such a short period of time.

    Envy''s heart was no longer clouded. It seemed like she''d lost all ambition.

    Her desires were like her heart used to be, extremity clouded by doubt.

    She didn''t know what she wanted, but she didn''t want to experience the things Malevalon and Malefice Straea forced her to experience ever again.

    She wanted peace.

    Perhaps she''d been shocked into reality, but Envy''s mind now was truly something Damien couldn''t believe.

    Even more so since it waspletely genuine.

    ''What did she have to go through to be like this?''

    For all of her ego and confidence to be shattered, for all of her ambition and greed to be abolished¡­

    Damien moved forward.

    Envy stepped back, but she wasn''t fast enough to do anything. Because of her chaotic mental state, she even forgot she could use mana.

    Damien grabbed her head. He could see how scared she was, but he wasn''t nning to kill her.

    Instead, he delved into her memories, reading her existence.

    He encountered almost no resistance at all.

    ''She''s been traumatized beyond belief.''

    That much could be told from the surface alone.

    The woman was haggard, and despite being a powerful God, she was acting like a harmless mortal.

    But her external appearance¡­

    The things one could see by looking at her could hardly alert one of the type of trauma she suffered.

    Damien definitely wasn''t ready.

    Because the things he saw in her existence, the things that had been mostly erased from her memories but engraved in her soul as fear¡­

    Seeing those things, even Damien had the urge to vomit.

 Chapter 1534 Envy [3]

    The 4 Evils were all different people. The way they thought about life and the way they reacted to external stimuli were different.

    Wrath was more suited for his namesake than any of the rest. His immediate reaction was rage. He directed his anger at anything he could find until he could stop thinking about the things he didn''t want to think about.

    Lust was more reserved. Despite her title, she was not such a person. Rather, she isted herself from the world when she needed to cope with something. It would be hard to see her until she''d found some peace.

    Gluttony was strange. He never seemed to show any emotion, but there was definitely something going on in his head.

    Nobody could understand him, but Envy could see that there was something going on in his mind.

    And as for Envy herselfshe overcorrected in a sense. Her entire desire for chaos was overthrown by a desire for peace, and anything rted to her old life made her weaker.

    Regardless of how they dealt with trauma, regardless of whether those methods were constructive or destructive, the fact couldn''t be denied that they''d experienced something extremely traumatic.

    Damien wasn''t the only one who could dte time. That was something he learned when he read Envy''s existence.

    Just as he''d bent time so he could spend more of it with his family, Straea had altered its flow in its prison system.bender

    Anyone being tortured or imprisoned in those cells would experience time at a rate far longer than in the ordinary world. That meant that despite only a few years passing since they''d been abandoned by Straea, the 4 Evils spent a lot more time than that in prison.

    What were they being tortured for?

    Even they didn''t know.

    Perhaps their lives had been spared because they''d be sacrifices for some cause, but the Straea n only nned to cripple their Divinities and leave asting impression on their souls.

    They, unlike everyone who hade before them, were spared.

    But every time something rted to practitioners was mentioned, they''d react violently. Envy was only able to make this trip because she was on her own, searching for a way to save herrades.

    The methods used to make sure they''d remain like that for the rest of their lives were monstrous.

    Regr torture techniques couldn''tpare. Hell, even the creative ways Damien had used to torture people seemed like child''s ypared to what the Straea n had done.

    Many of those methods were unspeakable, unmentionable. At the tamest level, they were alreadymitting atrocities beyond anything Damien could imagine.

    The torturested for almost ten years. By the time it was over, the 4 Evils that the world knew had been erased.

    lightsvl m And most importantly

    ''...they weren''t left alive without reason.''

    Damien slowly calmed himself, pushing the cruelty that he witnessed out of his mind.

    The Straea n never let anyone live. Its people were even willing to kill children if they acted out of line.

    The 4 Evils didn''t live because the n finally found some semnce of mercy.

    They were alive because they were being used for something else.

    ''These four carry seeds inside of them.''

    Rather than seeds, it was better to call them fragments.

    They felt something like the dark material Damien had faced when he was in the Trial World, but at a far more advanced level.

    ''Is it supposed to possess them, or are they supposed to use it for power?''

    The answer was neither of the two.

    These fragments were literal pieces of a singr object, but that object was not an individual.

    Still, it had some sort of connection with the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    And by what Damien could understand

    ''...it has something to do with "Descent."''

    Whatever the case was, the fact remained that the 4 Evils had be test subjects for the people they once served was true.

    And the fact that they were no longer the people they used to be was the same.

    ''Still, they''re dangerous people. If Wrath loses control, if Lust loses control, and if Gluttonywell, if Gluttony does anything, there''ll be trouble.''

    The only one who was really harmless right now was Envy.

    ''But is it worth ending them?''

    Damien had been forced to evaluate his morality once again as he''d climbed this mountain. It felt like this was yet another test.

    Unlike the others, however, this one had real-life consequences.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    And when reality was added into the equation

    ''...fuck.''

    Damien sighed. In the end, he wasn''t as cold-hearted as he liked to believe.

    He couldn''t just turn a blind eye to this situation. Not that he''d seen it.

    "What are you here for?" He asked, taking his hand off of Envy''s head.

    She stood, shaking, unable to respond.

    ''Fuck.''

    Damien sighed again and used his mana to clear her head, allowing her to answer his question.

    "M-my friendto heal my friend"

    Damien nodded. It was as he expected.

    "You don''t need that fruit for that."

    He needed the Harmony Fruit. On the other hand, Wrath''s problem didn''t require such a drastic solution.

    Damien raised his hand into the air, ignoring the tree''s desire for him to not use mana.

    The miracle of creation showed itself on Ice Luan Mountain that day.

    Energy coagted into a ball on Damien''s hand that then shaped itself into something like a pear.

    The energy turned from blue to a yellowish-gold color. Itpressed and hardened until its exterior lost its luster, bing more natural.

    A material object had formed from the energy. A fruit simr to a mango.

    However, the fluctuationsing from that fruit were intense, filled with vitality beyond its small form.

    "Take this and feed it to him. He''ll be healed, though, he may not get his Godly strength back."

    Envy looked at the fruit in his hand before looking back up at him.

    She wanted to question the miracle she''d witnessed, but she was too close to the fruit to say that it was fake.

    No, it was absolutely real.

    Had this man justcreated something out of nothing?

    This was the person they were trying to kill back then?

    She almost wanted tough.

    It truly was hrious.

    She''d gone through all the work of climbing this mountain only to be given a constion prize before she could even finish her journey.

    Sure, this was enough to heal Wrath, but she couldn''t get rid of the bitter feeling in her heart.

    Still, she grabbed the fruit out of Damien''s hand, cradling it in her own.

    He nodded.

    "I''ll send you back to the ground. Get that back to him as soon as you can."

    Envy nodded shakily, and without further ado, Damien enveloped her with spatial mana and sent her away.

    When she reappeared, she found herself in the hideout that she and the other Evils had been using as shelter for the past year since they were released from Straea.

    And truly, if it weren''t for the fruit in her hand, she would''ve thought all of it was a dream.

    It may have been an inconsequential meeting from its first appearance. It seemed like it had ended too soon, in an anticlimactic way even to Envy herself.

    But that was just because she didn''t know.

    That wasn''t thest time she''d see Damien.

    No, instead

    Their next meeting would be sooner than she could ever expect.

 Chapter 1535 New Paths [1]

    ''Fuck.''

    The older Damien got, the less he cursed, but he couldn''t help himself in this moment.

    His mood was soured.

    He watched everything that happened to Envy through the perspective of her existence.

    He felt her emotions, and he thought her thoughts. He experienced her pain and suffering, and frankly, even he found his mind swayed.

    Damien had to take a minute to regain control.

    ''The 4 Evils''

    They didn''t have much of an impact on his life, but the first time they appeared they were his enemies.

    Toe back like this

    Was it fate?

    Was the world telling him to ept that people could change?

    Damien had seen a lot of traitors in his life, and he''d seen a lot of people change for the better.

    But none of them really deviated from their core characteristics.

    They were always that kind of person, they''d just suppressed their kindness to adapt to this cruel world.

    The 4 Evils, on the other hand, were born into cruelty and grew into people who embodied it.

    However, if this traumatic experience truly changed them. Whether it would be for the better or for the worse was unknown. Whether it would be permanent was unknown.

    Still, for some reason, Damien wanted to see what would happen if he took this chance on them.

    ''It''s a path I''ve never explored.''

    There weren''t many things in this world that he hadn''t done. Yes, experiences differed and environments differed, but at their core, all of these adventures were the same.

    The paths Damien hadn''t taken, they didn''t exist in the world of adventure or the world ofw.

    They existed in the world of emotion, of human interaction.

    ''Interesting''

    Damien was bored with the trials of this mountain. He''d thought them unimportant and inconsequential.

    But it turned out that even he could learn a thing or two from them after all.

    His eyes flickered over to the cave in the distance.

    ''I''m sure that tree is loving this.''

    He could practically feel the beaming smile it had on its proverbial face. The feeling that enveloped him right now waspletely different from the one he''d felt during the entire rest of his journey.

    ''It''s not that far from here''

    He could do thest stretch in one go.

    And perhapshe could take this chance to see what happened if he explored a few more of those unexplored paths.

    ***

    Damien did indeed manage to learn something from the mountain.

    Life still had more for him.

    It had more to show him, more for him to experience. No matter how dull it seemed to get, no matter how much he felt like he''d experienced all there was to experience and seen all there was to see, there was always something more.bender

    He just had to be open to it.

    Damien''s mentality was unshakeable. This was one of his greatest advantages, but at the same time, it was also the very thing making his life seem nd.

    He always had the same thoughts, so he always took the same actions.

    Basically, Damien was stubborn beyond belief because his belief in himself was so strong.

    When he got outside of his box, when he tried things he wouldn''t have tried because he felt like he knew what would happen if he did, he experienced new things that he never could have expected.

    Because his expectations were still within the box.

    Nevertheless, Damien ended up a little thankful to the tree for making him climb the mountain, but that didn''t mean he would allow it to be annoying.

    He arrived at the cave again within 6 months of his first visit, walking in confidently to the shocked expression of the beast guardian.

    "What, why are you making that expression?"

    "Youare you really not a dragon?"

    "Do you think a dragon could do the things I can?"

    "Not in the slightest."

    "Then there''s your answer."

    Damien smiled. He felt a lot more rxed today than he did back then.

    "So, how did I do? Can I finally take what I came for?"

    His gaze moved over to the tree, which shook its leaves strangely upon receiving his gaze.

    "What''s with that expression?"

    "That"

    The beast made a strange expression.

    "Putting that aside, it seems she has approved of you. You may take the fruit."

    "Nice."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Damien walked up to the tree, which was now a journey he could make since the beast guardian moved out of the way, and reached up, grabbing hold of the Harmony Fruit.

    It was cold and beating with a rhythm that made it feel like a living heart.

    This fruit was something anyone would covet. Even Malevalon Straea would leap at it if he knew it was real.

    "By the way," he said as he plucked the fruit from the branch where it hung.

    "Why me? I don''t think I particrly have the character you wanted to see in the person who earns the fruit."

    Damien addressed the tree directly, rather than speaking to its guardian beast, causing it to ruffle its leaves in surprise.

    The tree was indeed a sentient entity, but nobody ever considered it one.

    After all, there was no way for them tomunicate.

    Or so it thought.

    "Having trouble? I guess you''re younger than I thought."

    Someone who''d been alive as long as ric could talk even in his free form.

    lightsvel This tree had Divine power, but it didn''t even know how to use its Divine Voice. It was a little funny that it acted all high and mighty when it was still just a child.

    Nevertheless, Damien put his hand on its trunk and inserted a bit of his mana, transferring some of the memories he received from ric.

    These would almost never be useful, but to a tree entity that was still in its growth phase, the experience of one who had lived for ages was more important than anything.

    [Ahah]

    Slowly but surely, the tree was able to find its voice.

    [Youare kind.]

    It spoke as if it knewnguage, but that was because it truly did.

    ric''s memories contained more than just knowledge on how to project a voice, after all.

    The tree may have been young, but it was born with a powerful status, so it was able to absorb that information rapidly and show improvements with the same speed.

    And the first words it spoke when it found its voicewere words directed towards Damien.

    "Kind?"

    He didn''t think there were many people in the world who would be able to say the same, but he appreciated the sentiment.

    [You think it is a lie.]

    The tree read his emotions like a book.

    [It is not a lie.]

    It insisted, a tinge of emotion filling its words.

    [You have a jaded soul...]

    [...but you are a hero.]

    Damien frowned.

    It wasn''t because he was angry, but rather

    Well, he understood what the tree was trying to say.

    He didn''t know how it gathered all of that though.

    Damien hated heroes.

    He grew up watching them and reading about them. In Earth''s media, he saw them everywhere, even before the World Awakening when heroes began to rise from the poption.

    To him, heroes were pitiful. To do so much for nothing, to risk oneself for people who repaid them with hatredwhenever Damien saw heroes, he wondered how they kept themselves from just killing everyone and giving up.

    But that was the thing, wasn''t it?

    Hadn''t he done the same?

    Hadn''t he risked his everything to save Grand Heavens Boundary, even saving all of its people when it copsed?

    Hadn''t he been risking his life to save the people of Void Pce, and even the people of the Southwestern Region that he''d saved from the Divine Order?

    Hell, he''d even given specific orders to save the children abused by Straea and offer them better lives.

    Damien hated heroes.

    But when it came down to the wire, he couldn''t stop himself from trying to be one:

    Because nobody else could do it. He was the only one.

    His personal reasoning for his heroism didn''t matter, nor did his feelings about heroism.

    To the people of all worlds, he was a hero.

    And that was exactly what the tree saw when it looked at him.

    [The reason you were chosenis because you did note for yourself. Even now, you are being a hero. That is why you deserve my fruit.]

    It seemed the tree wanted him to realize something, but he didn''t know what.

    Still, he epted its sentiments with a troubled expression and turned away.

    Putting aside the thoughts that made his brain melt, there was still another thing he had to hear from those in this cave.

    From the guardian beast, to be exact.

    During his first visit, it told him about a connection he''d never expected he had.

    It was time for him to figure out just what kind of gift the Azure Dragon had left him.

 Chapter 1536 New Paths [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1536 New Paths [2] </h4>

    The guardian beast seemed to know what he was after, because the moment he looked at it, it sighed.

    "It seems I have no choice in this matter."

    Damien nodded.

    "If you wanted to skimp me, you shouldn''t have made that promise."

    "Yes, it is indeed my fault. That is why I am entertaining your wishes despite your tedious personality."

    Damien nodded with a smile.

    "As it should be."

    Matters that had to do with his mind, he didn''t run away from them anymore, but he also didn''t needlessly entertain them.

    The tree had presented him with questions to ask himself, and he would take sufficient time to ask them when he could deeply ruminate over how he felt.

    Until then, wasn''t it more fun to unravel mysteries?

    "Ah, but before that. Do the two of you have names or anything? It''s more convenient for my thought process if I don''t have to refer to you as ''the tree'' and ''the beast.''"

    "I feel somewhat offended by thest bit, but I do indeed have a name. I am Katya. Though I am an Ice Luan, I, obviously, have a considerable draconic ancestry as well. It isplicated."

    "As for her¡­"

    "She does not have a name, nor is her species defined. There are none like her, and I did not dare to name her without permission."

    Katya, the Ice Luan (dragon?), was the tree''s only friend, but even she could only minimallymunicate with it.

    She could interpret its behaviors and gestures, but until Damien came and provided them with a proper means ofmunication, she couldn''t hear the tree''s voice.

    Naturally, she wouldn''t arbitrarily name it. Not when it was a conscious entity of its own.

    "I see¡­" Damien said, nodding his head in understanding.

    "With the properties of the Harmony Fruit taken into consideration, I guess the tree species should be named something like the ''Three Spirit Tree¡­''"

    Since it connected the mind, body, and soul, three spirit made some sense.

    "Plus, if that''s tranted into the ancientnguage of the Northeastern Region, it would be the Ahaiyute Tree, which sounds pretty nice."

    Damien knew quite a fewnguages. It turned out that devouring people''s existences was a great way to stack up random skills.

    [Ahaiyute Tree¡­I see. This is a good name.]

    Luckily, it seemed the Ahaiyute Tree liked the name he gave it, so there wasn''t a problem.

    "If you want a specific name for yourself, it''s better to pick that when you''re more familiar withnguage. For today''s purposes, this is enough."

    He didn''t want the tree to know, but it really was only a matter of convenience, since he really was getting tired of calling it "the tree."

    Nevertheless, that wasn''t something that anyone needed to learn. With names sorted out, Damien was ready to get into the main conversation.

    "Katya, if you will."

    The ice luan sighed. It was already an unavoidable thing, so there was no pointining anymore.

    "The information I am about to tell you is rted to the Western Region, Arulion, the Kingdom of Dragons. I must make it clear before I say any more. None of this knowledge can be known to others. Even those closest to you."

    ording to Katya, the Dragon n had a method to find people who knew certain keywords that were not allowed to be spoken. If those people were found to be outsiders, they''d be killed without mercy.

    Regardless of innocence or status.

    Damien naturally understood, and he could easily bypass such a low-effort system, so he readily agreed.

    With his affirmation, Katya sighed in relief and continued.

    "Simply put, the Western Region is apletely different worldpared to everything else. The borders you all see are illusions. The real border to Rulion cannot be crossed unless one has a sufficient amount of dragon blood."

    Arulion was a society of its own, hidden in in sight.

    The Dragon n used the Western Region as the source of their power, but it was not their home.

    It was a ce for their home to connect to, so that the dragons could alsoe and go from the Heavenly World.

    Their desire for istion was more severe than anyone would have expected.

    "Truthfully, I cannot tell you much about Arulion aside from the general facts. After all, the ss system there is extremely strict. A half-blood like me¡­well, it''s best to say that I didn''t receive the best of treatment."

    Damien could imagine it.

    Dragons were a bipr species. Half of them loved all people with dragon blood and tried to raise them up to the best of their abilities. Bai Yuxuan fell into this category.

    As for the other half, they hated people who weren''t pure dragons to the core. They believed those people had tainted bloodlines and were staining the image of dragons.

    ording to what Katya was saying, Arulion was led by thetter faction.

    She went on to speak about what life was like in the cities, what kind of economies they had, and more before she reached a point where Damien started tuning in again.

    "Ruling the kingdom is the dragon nobility. They are dragons with extremely pure blood and connections to Godbeast Ancestors."

    "There are only 10 Godbeast Ancestors in the Dragon n now, but there were once over 16. They are the true rulers of the n, and most importantly, they are the only ones with the qualifications to inherit the throne."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    Katya continued, as if to tell him that his thoughts were urate.

    "The six who no longer exist were killed for their qualifications, or so it was thought. As it appears, one of those six managed to find you, and for some reason, he trusted a human to carry his qualification."

    A qualification to inherit the throne.

    The throne of the entire Dragon n? Of dragonkind as a whole?

    "What is the nature of that throne?"

    Damien had to know.

    But Katya only shook her head.

    "I cannot tell you any more than this. To usmoners, the race for the throne was a mere legend, far too out of our sight that we could only imagine it. If you wish to learn more, or perhaps uncover the secrets thaty in that ce, then you must visit Arulion."

    Damien nodded slowly.

    ''The Azure Dragon¡­''

    Did that senior truly want him to take over the Dragon n?

    Or rather¡­

    ''I get it.''

    [Azure].

    It was a gift, but also a request for a favor.

    After all, it didn''te alone.

    Damien gained [Azure], and at the same time, he received an egg.

    Neither had shown any sort of connection to each other until now, but that was because there wasn''t one yet.

    ''[Azure] is my special card.''

    And with it, he was to aplish something insane.

    ''That senior was really expecting a lot from me.''

    To think he would leave something that wouldn''t be useful until the Heavenly World. It seemed the Azure Dragon had long predicted Damien''s rise to power.

    Still, regardless of the size of the favor, it was a favor Damien had to do.

    Because it was a favor he was asked by someone who gave him everything in return.

    ''If I don''t even repay something like that, then I''m really no better than a beast.''

    A road to a new adventure had presented itself to Damien just as he finished one he thought would be no more than him going through the motions.

    It was a trip worth more than he could have ever expected.

    And now that he had both the information he wanted and the fruit he''de for, it was almost time for him to return to Void Pce.

    ''Dante Void¡­''

    A man Damien still couldn''t quite convince himself to call "father."

    ''...I really hope this wakes you up.''

 Chapter 1537 Confrontation [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1537 Confrontation [1] </h4>

    Damien''s conversations with the Ahaiyute Tree and Katya weren''t over yet.

    Well, he gained all the information he wanted from them, but conversations didn''t exist just to spread information between people, did they?

    Damien remained for the rest of the day before he even had thoughts of leaving.

    Katya hadn''t seen people ever since she left Arulion to seek her true origins. As for the Ahaiyute Tree, it was even more socially isted.

    He taught the tree how to properly use its knowledge, and in return, the tree continued to question him about things he never thought about, opening new paths for him to explore.

    His time in the Frostbound Mountain Range was good for him. The chilling atmosphere made him feel present in his own body, and the curiosity in his soul burned bright, warming him and igniting his imagination.

    Perhaps it was because this ce was so isted from society that Damien found a moment to think like this.

    He had been surrounded by people for a very long time, after all.

    Ice Luan Mountain was lively. In the mornings, the luans would fly through the sky and create beautiful scenes of falling frost.

    The creatures that had adapted to this cold environment treasured each other, and despite the need they had to kill each other to survive, they respected their peers and didn''t needlessly ughter.

    It was a bnced ecosystem, a peaceful one.

    But Damien¡­he was never someone who considered himself a peace lover.

    Usually, if he stayed in a peaceful environment for too long, he would start to feel restless. The chaosforted his busy mind, filling it with thoughts.

    Damien hated silence. He hated when his thoughts were left alone to run wild. It wasn''t as if he was still gued by mental problems, but he still remembered those days when his thoughts would cause him more pain than anyone else ever could.

    That was why he didn''t like the silence, even to this day.

    Was the fact that he could find happiness in this peace a good thing?

    Did it mean he was finally getting rid of the lingering effects of those times?

    Or did it just mean he was jaded, disillusioned, and unwilling to deal with the world''s troubles?

    Damien didn''t know.

    He hardly felt anything. Not just in this moment, but in general.

    His emotions, which had always been reserved only for the people he cared for, were no longer able to be excited by anything else.

    It was his fault that he''d be like this.

    ''I feel numb.''

    But that numbness was only temporary. Just like everything else, it would one day fade away as he found something new to rece it.

    ''Life is¡­long.''

    But that longevity meant that he could take the time to explore anything and everything to the deepest depths. He could experience just as many wonders as he did tragedies.

    ''Even in people, there is so much variation.''

    If he just made a single choice differently than he usually did, would thatpletely change the dynamics of the people he interacted with?

    This was the curiosity he''d gained on Ice Luan Mountain.

    And aside from the Harmony Fruit, it was the thing he was most excited to take down the mountain with him.

    ''It''s about time to leave now, isn''t it?''

    He''d made a connection with Katya and the Ahaiyute Tree. He''d achieved his goal. And he''d even gained something more.

    He didn''t have to wait to go down the mountain.

    True, he was a little sad to part with this atmosphere, but all good things had toe to an end.

    For this one¡­

    That end woulde far sooner than Damien realized.

    Because he''d made a mistake during his climb.

    And now, he had a target on his back.

    ***

    Damien knew he was being watched, but he didn''t know he was being watched for more than one reason.

    For the most part, the enemies he had in the Heavenly World wanted to kill him because he was the one currently leading Void Pce.

    With his death, they could destroy the pce''s morale and gain an advantage against their troops.

    Some had personal grudges, while for others it was moreplex.

    For a certain force, however, the reason for observing Damien was different.

    The Foreign Races in the hidden principality, led by Grand Duke Famas, had been watching Damien because he was the son of Dante Void.

    They expected him to have mysterious powers and abilities beyond others simply because of his bloodline, but they were always watching to make sure those abilities weren''t out of the scope of their perception.

    And, while Damien was an important target for them, he wasn''t the most important.

    What they were looking for was an "anomaly."

    They didn''t have a lot of information. The Dark God only told them that he sensed something strange, a presence that didn''t match anything else.

    The Dark God sensed that presence first in Count Verex''s territory, but he didn''t tell his people that.

    After all, it didn''t matter. That presence had moved to the Heavenly World, and if it appeared again, he would sense it again.

    Naturally, the Dark God wasn''t a being who cared about his subjects much.

    And on top of that, since they''d always seeded, he didn''t think there was a chance for them to fail in finding the anomaly.

    The Foreign Nobility thought this would be the first time they disappointed their Lord, because no matter how much time had passed, they couldn''t find a trace of anything "unnatural."

    Even the unnatural events and characters were merely a little better than the rest. In the grand scheme of things, they didn''t mean anything.

    So the Foreign Nobility were a bit on edge, using the most of their ability to find any clues possible.

    That was the state they maintained at all hours of the day.

    It would have been odd if they didn''t find it.

    A signal from the Frostbound Mountain Range, a trace of something that "should not have existed."

    Existence itself.

    Damien used its abilities when he met Envy. It was only for a brief moment, but it was enough to confirm that "something" in the Frostbound Mountain Range was the source.

    Only the Grand Dukes were able to find something strange. They had the Dark God''s blessing, so they could tap into a percentage of his perception ability to search for anomalies.

    And when they confirmed the location¡­

    Another piece of news they''d learned because they were keeping track of a certain man made it to Grand Duke Famas'' ears.

    "Damien Void is in the Frostbound Mountain Range."

    The man who had isted himself in his iron fortress for years had finallye out?

    And the moment he came out, a clue was found in the location he traveled to?

    Only an idiot wouldn''t be able to connect the dots.

    Grand Duke Famas had arge grin on his face when he received the information.

    The man he wanted to kill, and the anomaly he was tasked to destroy¡­

    They were either one and the same or closely rted.

    And if that was the case, then¡­

    "Do not waste any more time."

    ¡­there was no need to hesitate.

    "Send a party to the Frostbound Mountain Range, and before the sun rises over the sky¡­"

    "...eliminate Damien Void."

 Chapter 1538 Confrontation [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1538 Confrontation [2]</h4>

    The Foreign Nobility worked fast. The moment they found a tangible clue about their target, they grabbed it and refused to let go.

    A party was created to make its way to the Frostbound Mountain Range within minutes.

    None of the Grand Dukes moved. They couldn''t.

    After all, they currently had the Heavenly World severely underestimating their forces. If a Grand Duke went out and showed his power, wasn''t it practically like screaming, "Hey, look at us! We''re dangerous!" to the entire world?

    The time hadn''te for them topletely reveal their strength. That time would only arrive when they finally struck the.

    Until then, they had to make sure that the general popce would never have a reason to be concerned with them.

    One Duke, four Counts, and ten Viscounts set out, their skin and features disguised to look like humans.

    Since they were already in the Northern Region, it didn''t take long for them to arrive at the Frostbound Mountain Range, and since they had no interest in peace, it took them even less time to get to the periphery of Ice Luan Mountain, where the signal was the strongest.

    Duke Horacio, who led the group, held in his hand a device that had a simple function.

    It would take the information given to it, which, in this case, was the location of the signal, and pinpoint the exact position from which the signal wasing from.

    The Foreign Nobility were experienced in the art of tracking anomalies. There would never be a time during the hunt when they arrived unprepared.

    Even now, Duke Horacio was leading an advance party. Their job was to observe Damien, dial in on whether he was the target or just a rted individual, and then ry the gained information back to the main base.

    Yet, this advance party was led by a God with 4 other Gods under hismand. Even the weaklings who were only there as a precaution were above the level of Divinity.

    After all, if they came to blows with the target regardless¡­

    Wasn''t it better for them to be fully prepared?

    Damien may have been powerful, but he wasn''t at the level of a Grand Duke. The party sent to find him was more than enough for that purpose.

    And find him they did.

    Damien was rxed. He wasn''t trying to hide his position that much, but he also wasn''t outwardly disying it.

    The problem was that thest known location of his signal was within the cave, when he gifted the Ahaiyute Tree ric''s memories.

    The cave itself was never hidden, and while Duke Horacio''s party didn''t have any reason to confront those living within¡­

    They observed from the outside, and they caught the exact moment when Damien left.

    And almostically so, that single moment was all they needed to confirm their suspicions.

    After all, the first thing Damien did, as always, was cover himself in a barrier of Existence and teleport.

    Unfortunately for him, this was one of the unique cases where his use of Existence could be sensed by the other party.

    And it was the worst possible situation for him.

    "Go. Create a barrier."

    By Duke Horacio''smand, the ten Demigods formed a perimeter around arge area with Ice Luan Mountain in the center.

    From ice wall to ice wall and spanning several thousand kilometers in all directions, a massive barrier was formed.

    It was invisible, and rather than being powered by the mana of Demigods, it borrowed the mana of Gods, using those Viscounts as nothing more than poles through which it focused its power.

    It was an incredibly subtle maneuver.

    However, Damien immediately felt the difference.

    ''Someone''s¡­here.''

    His eyes narrowed.

    He didn''t sense any hostile presences or anything concerning for that matter. If he had, then he wouldn''t have been moving so casually.

    The creation of this barrier obviously meant that someone else was here, and even more obviously meant that they were after him.

    After all, there was nothing else in this section of the Frostbound Mountain Range that required this level of preparation to face.

    WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!

    Damien rapidly dodged to the right. Out of nowhere, a massive rush of wind tried to strike him from behind and throw him off bnce.

    There was originally a doubt of it being a natural phenomenon, but when Damien''s eyes focused in on the torrent itself¡­

    ''That''s a person.''

    He immediately recognized a humanoid form within the formless winds.

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    Three more from three different sides.

    Damien''s eyes widened as he focused his senses. He dodged minutely to the right, dodging the first, flicked his body in the other direction, dodging the second, and finally, jumped to dodge the third.

    His body had turned semi-corporeal in that moment, as if he was disconnected from reality. The arms that reached out of the wind to grab him were not able to find their target, but once Damien was above them¡­

    Nothing would stop him from finding his.

    BANG!

    He flipped his body and mmed his entire weight down on the third gust of wind, nailing the one inside straight in the center of their back.

    They crashed to the ground, and without giving them a moment to rest, Damien grabbed their hair and pulled their head out of the ground.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    His hand exploded ten times in a row, filling the being''s orifices and pores with rampant mana and burns. It wasn''t enough to actually injure someone of this level, but it was more than enough to buy half a second while they were in a daze.

    By the time that half of a second was over, Damien was already gone. He''d made distance and ced himself in a position where all four of his enemies were in front of him.

    ''They''re not human.''

    They looked human, but with the look he''d just gotten at that person, he could confirm that they were not.

    Their souls were ck. Not like his, more like they''d been tinted in something horrific.

    This kind of soul¡­

    ''Only one type of being could possess it.''

    He knew that for a fact, because he''d devoured one before.

    "So you are that man''s son."

    A voice came from behind him.

    Damien''s head whipped to the side and his eyes made up the rest of the difference. He couldn''t turn his back on the four in front of him because of this hidden fifth.

    In his peripheral, he caught the form of a white-skinned man with bright emerald eyes and sharp brows. He looked somewhat heroic, but at the same time, he looked like a demon.

    "Foreign Race."

    "It is quite the offensive title you humans have given us, but I will admit. I am impressed by your deductive reasoning."

    Duke Horacio didn''t make any attempts to hide it.

    Damien''s moves just now were fast, but they weren''t enough to actually cause harm to any of those four Counts that attacked him.

    With the four of them and him, a Duke,bining their power, there was no way for Damien to escape.

    He was assured of it.

    So he happily stepped out of the air, revealing his presence to the enemy.

    "Damien Void," he said, a mysterious smile on his face.

    "I am afraid you will have toe with us. Whether you do that the easy way or the hard way¡­"

    VOOOOOOOM!

    Duke Horacio unfurled his aura, causing cracks to form in the mountain below.

    "...well, that ispletely up to you, isn''t it?"

 Chapter 1539 Confrontation [3]

    Chapter 1539 Confrontation [3]

    ??Damien''s face was currently decorated with a massive frown.

    Foreign Races, and ones that wanted to capture, not kill.

    Damien was already irked that they''d managed to surround him without him sending them.

    The fact that they had some sort of n that he didn''t know about, one that somehow rted to him, was even worse.

    Judging from their auras, they were all Gods. That didn''t worry Damien, but it made it difficult for him to kill and devour one to find information.

    With Duke Horacio trying to make a conversation out of things, Damien was given a moment to thoroughly understand his situation.

    ''Those four¡­same level as the other Count.''

    No, they were definitely stronger, but to the current Damien, they might as well have been at Count Verex''s level.

    ''It won''t be hard even if there''s four of them.''

    Damien was currently ignoring a yapfest from Duke Horacio, but from what made it into his ears, he was saying something about capturing him and eliminating him.

    ''Anomaly?''

    That was the only word that stood out, but Damien didn''t really care about it right now.

    ''How do I get out of this?''

    The first thing he did was check his connection with the Sanctuary.

    ''As always.''

    It was cut off. But this time, the reason was more tangible.

    The barrier that enveloped the wide area around him was the only reason why his connection with any and all outside worlds was gone.

    That also meant that as long as he broke the barrier, he''d be able to escape easily.

    ''That''s a viable n.''

    Fighting them all and winning might''ve been possible, but he couldn''t do it without causing an unnecessarymotion.

    ''Judging from the strength of this party, they''ve rtively guessed my strength level. It''s fine if it''s been revealed to the Foreign Races, but until I''m certain that Straea knows as well, I can''t take risks.''

    It was a rare time when Damien wascking information. Without it, he was unable to move as he pleased.

    Still, a direct confrontation that led to a massive battle that destroyed the entire Frostbound Mountain Range wasn''t what Damien wanted right now.

    That could wait for another time.

    Right about now¡­

    Duke Horacio stopped talking. Looking into Damien''s eyes, it was clear that the man had stopped listening a long time ago.

    "Nevertheless, Damien Void,e with us nicely. Do not force me to do something I really want to do."

    Duke Horacio had arge smile on his face. This was an assured victory in his book.

    That was why he continued to get closer to Damien, despite the dangers of approaching an enemy.

    He didn''t care if he lost his advantage, because he didn''t believe that his advantage could be lost.

    Was that a w?

    Not necessarily, since, in a sense, he was correct.

    However, that didn''t mean Damien wouldn''t try to exploit it.

    Duke Horacio took another step.

    Damien''s eyes flickered.

    ''Now.''

    His ultimate goal was the barrier, but he couldn''t let the enemy know that.

    He nted his foot in the ground and drew upon his mana. Not that of Existence, but that of the countlessws he''d practiced to perfection over his lifetime.

    His choice in this moment was Cosmic Duality, thebination of Creation and Destruction.

    The twows didn''tbine well. Unlike their lesser counterparts, Creation and Destruction were more like two sides of the same coin, rather than two agents that blended together perfectly.

    It was hard tobine them at all. Thatbination didn''t even have a name. "Cosmic Duality" was the system''s attempt to create one for the otherwise unseen phenomenon.

    So what kind of moves could Damien make with such abination?

    The answer was actually something terrifying.

    A power that could both create and destroy in one breath?

    That was simply a recipe for disaster.

    The creation of force and its immediate destruction would create an impossibility, a situation where energy was truly destroyed, leaving only emptiness.

    That phenomenon erupted right in front of Duke Horacio''s face, and whether one was there to witness it or not, anyone could agree that it wasn''t fun for the man at all.

    There was no sound. The sound that would have been there was consumed by the created vacuum.

    Even sound from the surroundings was sucked in like it was a ck hole.

    All of a sudden, the space within the barrier went absolutely silent.

    And within the second, all that silence filled itself again.

    ROOOOAAAAAAAAR!

    The pure amount of sound coagted into a furious roar that rocked the eardrums of all those present.

    The 4 Counts and 10 Viscounts didn''t even know what happened.

    Only Duke Horacio saw that phenomenon.

    And his eyes widened into saucers as he realized what was about to hit him.

    A thick barrier of mkh immediately surrounded his body, blocking him away from the outside world.

    It was a solid defense, especially since it was put up in a split second.

    However, it wasn''t enough.

    BANG!

    The phenomenon struck Duke Horacio''s chest. Despite theck of sound, the Duke felt like he could hear the impact resounding in his ears.

    His chest caved in, and he was sent flying. ck blood flew out of his mouth as he gritted his teeth.

    It was only a single instant, but Damien had made his stance clear.

    "So you''ve chosen the hard way."

    Duke Horacio wiped the blood from the side of his mouth, ignoring the cacophonous roar reverberating through the air.

    "Then the hard way it is."

    He was more than happy to fight.

    VOOOOOOOOM!

    Mkh flooded the atmosphere. It was unnatural in the Heavenly World, so the instant it appeared, the Heavenly Order reacted.

    Duke Horacio didn''t care. The barrier was in ce half to keep Damien contained and half to keep the Heavenly Order out.

    It couldn''t stop him from doing what he wanted to do as long as he was inside.

    Mkh functioned differently from mana. The Foreign Races'' power was the same.

    Just as the Nox relied on Demonic Providence to fight more thanw, the Foreign Races had a simr concept.

    Each and every one of them had a unique power that was somewhat derivative ofw.

    In Duke Horacio''s case, this power was something akin to telekinesis, though, at a far higher level.

    The instant he raised his arm, the never-ending blizzard paused in ce. The snow and ice that usually raced through the air became des under the Duke''s control.

    Their target was clear.

    Damien frowned, ncing around as his environment became an enemy.

    ''Four behind.''

    They still hadn''t moved, but they were getting ready to. He could sense it in their body movements.

    ''One in front.''

    Duke Horacio may have been controlling the air, but his body was still ready and able to attack alongside the wide-area maneuver he had prepared.

    ''Ten in the surroundings.''

    Those ten were upholding the barrier. Damien managed to sense them through the attack he''d sent out earlier. They were his main targets.

    ''Okay.''

    It was only a brief moment, but while he thought, it was slowed to the point where it felt like minutes had passed by the time he was done.

    The situation was not uncontroble.

    That was all that mattered.

    He''d taken note of it all.

    And once he had¡­

    Time sped up to its normal pace.

    And all those attacks that were being prepared a moment ago were sent out in unison.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

 Chapter 1540 Confrontation [4]

    Chapter 1540 Confrontation [4]

    ??BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien teleported to avoid the attacks.

    He arrived at the side of the barrier, but Duke Horacio was already following him.

    With his control over the surrounding snow and ice, he had an absolute awareness of his surroundings. Even the slightest of spatial fluctuations could be sensed by him.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Damien put up several lens-shaped barriers. Infused with the power of Vector Control, they bounced back the debris that was hurling towards Damien at untold speeds.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Taking the opportunity while he was busy blocking the Duke''s attacks, the four Counts sped into range and attacked as well.

    Damien gritted his teeth, his eyes flickering between them.

    Count Verex''s memories were helpful, but only to an extent. When it came to Dukes like Horacio, Verex knew as much as Damien did. The Dukes weren''t people Counts could casually interact with.

    It was different for other Counts. They were his directpetition, so Verex knew more about them than even they knew about themselves.

    ''Count Telebris, Count Zeas, Count Yuta, and Count Vettel.''

    They weren''t the best of the Counts, but they were all much stronger than Verex.

    Their unique specialities all worked together, as they all had wind-rted powers. That was why they could all attack and make it seem like the same attack was being thrown from all sides.

    That was a misunderstanding. Their attacks may have looked the same, but each one had a different aim. If one was careless and assumed they were all the same, one would be severely injured without the ability to resist.

    Well, that was the case for others.

    Damien had no fear of the Counts. Not just because they were weaker than him, but also because they weren''t his goal from the start.

    He bent his knees and shot into the air.

    The four Counts chased him, while Duke Horacio continued to impede him using the environment.

    Damien''s eyes were sharp.

    Flying through the air was impossible right now. If he tried, he''d be torn to shreds by everything in the air trying to destroy him.

    Damien was able to move because he could teleport.

    No, rather, he was able to survive because of his connection to the spatialyers.

    If he hadn''t been able to turn his body ethereal, it would''ve been impossible to survive a telekic whose level was this high.

    This was a moment where precise calction was more important than feeling.

    Damien had to teleport in short distances so he could throw off his pursuers, but he couldn''t be out of the spatialyers for too long either.

    Every time he entered a spatial corridor, he was already calcting how far he''d go with the next one and which direction he''d move in.

    Damien led his enemies on a wild goose chase within the contained area they''d created.

    Up and down, side to side, randomly changing even the orientation of his body, Damien did every possible thing he could to confuse them.

    And it was working.

    The Counts weren''t as invulnerable as he was. Duke Horacio had great control, but he couldn''t help it if the Counts ran into his attacks because they were chasing Damien.

    Count Telebris was the most wounded. He was the fastest, and no matter how Damien moved, he was always on his tail.

    However, that meant when Damien teleported, he took the brunt of the impact that was avoided by his target.

    Damien took note of the man.

    ''He''s easy to kill.''

    That woulde in handyter, but for now¡­

    ''I''ve pretty much understood how the barrier works.''

    Damien was certain he could destroy it.

    That was the only reason he''d been wasting so much time. He had to find the correct way to destroy the barrier in the least amount of time possible.

    That solution was now found.

    Damien teleported high into the sky, finding the apex of the barrier.

    He brought his hands together, concentrating mana between them.

    Time slowed down again.

    A force stronger than ten thousand nuclear bombs appeared in that tiny area, and as Damien pushed his hands forward¡­

    It touched the barrier and lost its bnce.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The impact reverberated off the barrier and spread between the 10 Demigods holding it up.

    They shared the damage with their bodies, which allowed the barrier to keep functioning, however, after a st like that¡­

    Five of them directly coughed up blood, while the other five wavered, struggling not to kneel.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien let off another st. He gritted his teeth as Duke Horacio''s projectiles cut through his skin and bones.

    His body was ragged, but it wasn''t enough to break him.

    The five Demigods who managed to avoid injuryst time also coughed up blood. As for the five that were already injured, they were immediately incapacitated.

    The barrier fluctuated wildly as its form lost stabilization. The five remaining Demigods did their best to share the burden between them and keep it up, but that would only work if Damien decided to give up on them.

    Duke Horacio was approaching him from below. The four Counts had attacked from the sides to make sure Damien couldn''t dodge.

    It was either he broke the barrier now, or he got hit with that attack.

    Between those two choices¡­

    The one he picked was obvious, right?

    Damien''s body was illuminated by a huge outpouring of mana. Space and Time warped, Life and Death froze, and Destruction pushed into the fluctuating barrier, transferring all of Damien''s possible force into it.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosion sounded the same, but it waspletely different.

    This time, the Demigods didn''t stand a single chance.

    BANG!

    BANG!

    BANG!

    BANG!

    One by one, the Demigods exploded into clouds of blood mist.

    The barrier went down almost instantly, giving Damien free reign over his position.

    He nced around him.

    Four Counts and a Duke¡­

    They were fast, but not faster than him.

    And now that he had freedom¡­

    ''Let''s do it.''

    Damien teleported.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    All the attacks aimed at him struck each other as he vacated his position. They exploded, creating a pressure wave that pushed even Duke Horacio back.

    This was the perfect opportunity for Damien.

    He appeared out of thin air behind Count Telebris and grabbed the man''s neck.

    The only reason he was strong was because he was in a group.

    Isted like this¡­

    He was nothing more than prey.

    BANG!

    Damien squeezed his neck, instantly crushing it into bits.

    A chaotic rampage of mana shot through Count Telebris'' systems, breaking them down one by one.

    And right before he died, he saw an unknown ckness covering his body and soul, dragging him into a dark abyss.

    Duke Horacio, Count Zeas, Count Yuta, and Count Vettel all saw it happen, but they didn''t have time to react.

    Because by the time Count Telebris died¡­

    Damien was already looking at Duke Horacio.

    No, rather, did he just¡­wink?

    Whatever the case, that was thest they saw of him.

    He disappeared again as if he''d teleported, but no matter how many seconds passed, he didn''t reappear.

    Duke Horacio gritted his teeth, pulling out the signal locator that had zeroed in on Damien.

    It only helped him confirm the conclusion he''d already made.

    "He''s gone."

    Damien had escaped.

    "DAMMIT!"

    Duke Horacio roared in anger. It wasn''t that they''d underestimated the opponent''s strength. Instead, the problem was that they underestimated his durability.

    Now that he was gone¡­

    "Return to the hidden base expeditiously. We must report this to the Grand Duke."

    Duke Horacio didn''t wallow in defeat for too long. He internalized this moment, so that it would never be repeated in the future.

    All they could do now was move forward with their ns.

    After all, they''d confirmed it.

    Damien was the anomaly.

    Which meant that the moment Duke Horacio made it back to Straea¡­

    All possible resources would be mobilized to eliminate him.

 Chapter 1541 War [1]

    Chapter 1541 War [1]

    ??Damien had escaped.

    The instant he killed and devoured Count Telebris, he used his connection with the Sanctuary to disappear from the Frostbound Mountain Range.

    It really was a convenient method of travel.

    After all, for as long as someone with an ess gate to the Sanctuary was at Void Pce, Damien would always be able to immediately return to safety.

    His escape was a good thing.

    But Damien didn''t feel good about it.

    For a long time now, he''d been escaping.

    When was thest time he actually went out and fought a battle?

    He''d been careful for the pce''s sake, keeping his strength to himself so his enemies didn''t gain information.

    But it was toote now.

    Even with all of his preparations, his enemies still managed to learn the things they weren''t meant to know.

    That was confirmed the instant he devoured Count Telebris.

    Straea knew what he could do, as did the Foreign Races.

    How?

    They got lucky. Damien dropped his guard for no more than a single moment and that was enough for all of their suspicions to be facts.

    It was simr to how everything Damien knew was being affirmed as fact by Count Telebris'' memories.

    Damien made it back to Void Pce rtively unharmed, but a change woulde from this point forth.

    That battle was thest time.

    It was thest time he would choose escape over battle.

    The strength he''d umted through all of his training, the power that gave him the right to rule billions of people¡­

    It was about time for him to truly use it to its full potential.

    ***

    Damien learned a lot of things from Count Telebris'' memories.

    His being a Count meant the information he had on the Sacred Abyss Universe wasn''t much better than Count Verex''s. He did have his own territory, which Damien could probablyy im to if he went there, but other than that, everything Count Telebris knew was something Damien also knew.

    However, Count Telebris knew everything that was happening with the Foreign Nobility infiltrating the Heavenly World. On top of that, he had a considerable amount of information on the Straea n.

    Ironically, the Foreign Noble was more useful for learning about the happenings of the Heavenly World than his own homeworld.

    Still, in this instance, that was for the better. After all, Damien wasn''t looking for the Sacred Abyss Universe''s secrets right now.

    Anything he needed to be aware of, he now knew.

    Which meant he didn''t have to hesitate.

    Damien didn''t waste a single moment when he returned to the pce. After a short greeting to those who saw him arrive, he called another emergency meeting.

    It was the same asst time.

    An announcement of war.

    The second he returned, it was war.

    Not the small, irrelevant war that had been taking ce until now, but war between Divinities, the true lifeblood of every great n.

    He wasn''t the only one who had to stop holding back. Everything Void Pce had done in these years to rise above its fellow great ns needed to be put into action.

    Straea had to go down. The Foreign Races had to go down.

    Everyone who opposed Void Pce would die.

    It was sudden for a lot of people.

    For the six months Damien had been gone, the war had been escting and the power level of the deployed troops had been increasing.

    However, neither side had nearly enough of a reason to bring out their strongest warriors yet. Strategically speaking, it was beyond stupid.

    But that was before Damien devoured Count Telebris.

    As he was now, this was the perfect opportunity.

    Plus, he couldn''t just give the Foreign Nobility space to do as they pleased.

    The chain ofmand established within the pce army was impable. Information traveled extremely fast, and as if they''d been present for the meeting Damien held, the pce troops began their retreat almost instantly.

    Rather than pushing the Straea n within their own territory as they''d been doing until now, the entirety of the army retreated to the border of the Southern Region and created an iron fortress around their home.

    It wasn''t just the troops that were already deployed. Arge majority of the army''s non-Divinebatants were ced on this line.

    Meanwhile, the Divinities were gathered together and given their roles.

    Or rather, they were given their targets.

    As long as everyone they were sent to kill was properly eliminated, the Straea n would destroy itself.

    Damien''s hit list was by no means easy toplete.

    After all, the names at the top of that list were very familiar to everyone present.

    Malevalon and Malefice Straea, the two brothers who led the entire operation.

    And the ones tasked with killing them¡­

    There was really nobody better than Damien''s own mother and her close sister.

    ire and Serena were by far the most powerful people in the pce. Damien had seen their strength firsthand only a few times, but they were the primary reason why Malevalon didn''t directly strike the pce during Dante''s imprisonment.

    If they had the power to make that man wary, then Damien didn''t have to worry about them.

    Nevertheless, ns were made quicker than anyone could process them.

    A roadmap that led to the perfect destruction of the Straea n without any room for other oues was created.

    As long as it was followed, everything would end soon.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien took a breath.

    The moment Count Telebris'' memories became his, Damien entered a warmongering mode. It felt as if all of his doubts had cleared, leaving room for only sess.

    ''I''m going to be on the battlefield too.''

    It may have been arrogant, but the fact that he himself would be able to fight was Damien''s greatest assurance of victory.

    He sat back in his chair, closing his eyes.

    This would be thest moment of peace for a while.

    So as he learned to do on Ice Luan Mountain, he enjoyed it as much as he could.

    His life would be chaos when the war began.

    But that chaos was the same environment where he thrived.

    ''Okay.''

    His mind was clear.

    His vision saw beyond the horizon.

    A few days passed after that, a time that the pce members used to brace themselves for what was toe.

    The entire world had been lulled into a silence. Amidst the retreat of Void Pce''s troops, the Straea n had be oddly quiet as well.

    It was extremely odd, especially considering how brutal the war they raged had been thus far.

    Millions had died at the very least. It didn''t seem like after suffering such losses the two influences would ever put down their swords.

    So for a silence like this to suddenly erupt¡­?

    Naturally, it couldn''t mean anything good.

    This time saw a mass migration of people into the Eastern regions of the world. As people tried to avoid the escting conflict, they moved across the Frostbound Mountain Range so they could be safe.

    Unfortunately, not everyone could make this move in time.

    Because there wasn''t much time before war erupted again.

    And this time, with countless Divinities swarming the world with the blood of their enemies as their only goal¡­

    The world would truly face a situation it had never faced before.

 Chapter 1542 War [2]

    1542 War [2]

    Duke Horacio didn''t make excuses when he returned to Straea.

    He told Grand Duke Famas exactly what had urred and how Damien got away. Rather than trying to beg for forgiveness, he highlighted the mistakes in the information they had and corrected them.

    Regardless, the mission he''d made was a sessful one. He wasn''t a coward who would kneel and beg just because he''d lost a battle.

    An honorable one, at that. Damien was never trying to fight from the beginning. He aimed for escape, and expertly tricked Horacio and his followers to achieve that goal.

    It was an impressive performance from Damien, and Duke Horacio acknowledged it.

    Grand Duke Famas was the same.

    Compared to Malevalon, he could actually be considered an understanding supervisor. He always looked at the entire situation and gleaned what he could from it, rather than focusing on defeat.

    Nevertheless, this situation was unique, and while the Grand Duke was analyzing it, Void Pce started withdrawing troops.

    Their intent became obvious.

    They wanted to throw away all pretenses and fight face-to-face.

    Whether it was Malevalon or Grand Duke Famas, both were more than happy to entertain this proposition.

    The Sapientia n noticed their movements first and immediately ryed the information to Void Pce.

    Several thousands of Divinities had left the Straea n in quick session and made their way in different directions.

    As of today, they''d arranged themselves all across the globe in groups ranging from one person to ten. They all had different strength levels, some of which couldn''t be measured at all, and from the way they openly announced their presence¡­

    It was obvious they weren''t trying to be subtle.

    Damien recognized their intentions immediately.

    It was like a circuit.

    If one wanted to get to the boss, one had to go through the minions.

    The act of dispatching Divinities could be considered Straea n striking preemptively.

    Rather than allowing the pce to decide the terms of this confrontation, they''d clearly disyed their intent as if challenging the pce.

    If they chose to circumvent this circuit, they''d bebeled as cowards. Abel like that didn''t fade easily when the entity in question was a great n.

    Damien should''ve carefully considered his options here. It might have been safer if he instead tried to storm the castle where Malevalon was.

    However, even he fell prey to the pride of the strong.

    He didn''t just want to end this battle.

    He wanted to crush the Straea n beneath his foot, totally and absolutely.

    For that, what better way was there than to perfectly entertain their little tricks and still ughter them all?

    Since that was the case, Damien first had to get some information.

    The strength and location of every Straea n group was important because only with this knowledge would he know where to deploy his own forces.

    The Sapientia n had most of what he wanted. All Demigods and most Gods were categorized by their standards, so the majority of those waiting for him were in the open.

    There were a few that they couldn''t measure, like Malefice Straea. Others more werepletely unknown, never before seen by the world.

    Those¨C

    ''¨Care Foreign Nobles.''

    Damien was sure of it without even confronting them.

    There were only around ten who fit the description, but considering how much the Foreign Nobles had been doing to hide themselves, they likely would only allow this number out into the world at once.

    Among them was one Duke Horacio who Damien had already met.

    ''I see he wants a rematch.''

    It wasn''t a bad idea, but it wasn''t what came first.

    ''With this¡­''

    Damien looked at the information in his hands.

    ''...I don''t think it''s possible for us to lose.''

    It had to be known that several thousand Divinities had been revealed by the Straea n. This was a number that far exceeded all expectations others had for them.

    Of course, most of those were Demigods as was always the case, however¡­

    ''...they have over a thousand Gods.''

    It was truly a frightening force. If it was any of the other great ns, or if it was the old Void Pce, they would''ve been defeated with this disy of power alone.

    A thousand Gods was an insane number. It was a number that was almost impossible, especially with how new the Straea n waspared to the other great ns.

    But if that was the case, then why was Damien so rxed about it?

    Shouldn''t he have been concerned?

    Well, as mentioned before, the old Void Pce wouldn''t have been able to take it.

    But the current pce¡­?

    Those troops who were steadily approaching True Godhood were given all the time in the world to make the transition between Divinities.

    And that meant that Void Pce''s Gods were also not small in number anymore.

    It started with no more than five, who became members of Void Pce''s 16 Swords.

    However, after those five ascended, it lit a spark behind everyone else.

    One after another, those who''d been trapped at bottlenecks overcame those roadblocks, letting them see thend of Gods they''d always dreamed of.

    And though his part in it all was minimal at most, they attributed their sess to Damien, pledging to him their absolute loyalty.

    Every time Damien returned to the pce, it made its appearance during itsst visit seem shabby.

    The pce itself and all the people within were striving towards greatness with everything they had. It really did fill him with confidence and allow him to act as he wished.

    That was why Damien never faltered. It wasn''t just because of his confidence in himself, but also the confidence he had in the people around him.

    It didn''t take more than a few hours from when Damien learned the identities and power levels of his enemies for him to decide which forces to send where.

    If one thing was convenient, it was that those Damien had ced on his hitlist were now waiting for him in the open. That meant the teams originally established to deal with them were still right for dealing with them.

    That only left him to worry about the people who weren''t included in that list.

    ''Actually, that isn''t much of a worry, is it?''

    Gods of all levels were waiting for him on the outside.

    His people were already upied dealing with the rest of them.

    Didn''t that mean¡­this was a perfect opportunity for him to go out and y?

    ''That''s perfect.''

    Damien had just made a deration that he''d stop hiding his strength, but with the way things were going, he was almost stuck in the pce again.

    Now, he definitely had the freedom to move some troops around and fill those empty spaces.

    He definitely did.

    But, how could he resist?

    Damien was practically outside the pce gates already.

    His first target, someone he thought he''d have to wait to fight again, but someone who was perfect to use as a way to send a message.

    Duke Horacio.

    ''I''ll kill him all shy and the likes and start this war with a bang!''

    Damien''s war spirit turned into bloodlust as the thought of fighting filled his mind.

    How long had it been since he''d been able to face the world with such recklessness and ignorance?

    He didn''t know. The only thing that mattered now¡­

    ¡­was the fact that he was absolutely raving at the chance to do it again.

 Chapter 1543 Duke Horacio [1]

    Chapter 1543 Duke Horacio [1]

    Damien urgently wanted to get back into the field, but obviously, there was one more important task for him toplete before he did so.

    He went to Ice Luan Mountain for a reason, after all. It may have been a spurt of desperation or something like an adventure powered purely by desire, but Damien still ended up getting what he wanted.

    With the Harmony Fruit in his hand and war on the horizon, Damien didn''t have much time to spend with theatose Dante.

    But he could at least feed his father the fruit and hope that a change woulde.

    That was Damien''s second priority when he returned to Void Pce since the first took a lot more preparation and time to carry out.

    Once the various meetings were over and the deployments had been sorted out, Damien went to his father''s room with his mother and Serena.

    They were the only ones he''d told about the fruit. The news could be spread to others if it actually worked. Otherwise¡­

    Well, it was better not to get people''s hopes up.

    Dante Void looked peaceful.

    His skin shone with the luster of someone who had never been sick before in his life. His expression was calm, like he was taking a short nap rather than suffering from an endless dream. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Damien had to pry his mouth open. No matter what he did, there was no response from the man himself.

    Though, Damien had be quite experienced in feeding people who couldn''t eat themselves.

    The Harmony Fruit was mostly made up of energy, so once it was put into Dante''s mouth, Damien''s main job was guiding that energy to where it needed to be.

    His mind, his body, and his soul.

    A pathway needed to be created between these three.

    Once that was done, the rest of the work would be on Dante''s side.

    ''There isn''t much I can do.''

    Damien helped the mana flow as it wanted to. He stabilized the process within Dante''s body so it would go ording to n.

    But that was all.

    Dante didn''t wake up. He couldn''t do that immediately.

    And if he was trying, there was no way for Damien to know:

    It was bitter.

    Still, it was hope.

    ''Mom and Serena will watch over him.''

    Dante would get better.

    Damien kept telling himself that no matter how much time passed.

    It was the only way for him to keep himself stable.

    ***

    It was a world of crimson.

    A crimson sun, crimson skies, and dark crimson soil. The monotonous existence of only a single color in the entire vicinity was nauseating, enough to drive anyone insane if they spent enough time here.

    That insanity would only be taken to a new level by thepleteck of any life.

    This world was created for one man. It was an eternal prison within his eternal prison, a prison that encapsted his mind and soul while his body rotted outside.

    It was the Dark God''s gift for Dante Void.

    As he was the only one present in this ce.

    A single man, sat in a meditative posture amidst the crimson environment.

    This ce never changed. Days and weeks would pass with no activity. Perhaps it had been many years, but Dante had no way of knowing.

    He stopped keeping track of time when he realized it was causing his mind to deteriorate.

    There was really only one thing he used to measure how long he''d been here.

    It was a tally of how many times he''d fought the same battle and lost.

    The time hade again.

    A being wrapped in darkness appeared over the horizon. It was massive, bigger than the world itself, and its figure was covered in such a powerful aura that it caused space itself to crack and dissipate.

    It was a shadow of the Dark God.

    And at the same time, it was Dante''s warden.

    Once again, he stood up.

    He had confronted this being 500,000 times by now. This would be the 500,001st battle and the 500,001st loss.

    But he still stood up. He would never show weakness to that man.

    His eyes opened, a pristine blue that absolutely contradicted the world.

    Despite the grueling years he''d spent here, the fire that burned in his heart never dimmed.

    He would defeat that man. No matter what he had to do to make that possible, he would do it.

    The valiant shadow cast by his back could not be viewed by anyone else. The sacrifices he made to entertain this battle would never be seen by the outside world.

    But that also didn''t matter.

    As long as the Dark God was contained, as long as he couldn''t affect the people in the outside world, Dante would continue to fight this battle, trapped within his own mind.

    Or at least, that was what he thought.

    But as he got ready to fight today, he noticed something different.

    ''A distinct connection to the outside world.''

    Something he thought impossible.

    It had miraculously manifested itself.

    Dante smiled slightly. A glimmer of hope appeared in his heart.

    ''Maybe¡­it is not as impossible as I thought.''

    Just maybe, he could one day escape this ce.

    That sentiment alone was enough to refresh his mind and heal him.

    So he walked forward, approaching the dark being on the horizon.

    Perhaps he would lose today.

    But one day, he would win.

    One day, the Dark God would be defeated.

    That was Dante Void''s entire life purpose.

    ***

    Duke Horacio wasn''t in a group. Unlike many of hispatriots, he decided to stand his ground alone, as if he were waiting for someone.

    Because he was.

    Damien wasn''t the only one looking forward to their rematch. Perhaps they didn''t fight that much during their first meeting, but the Duke had clearly sensed that Damien''s strength was about the same as his.

    The man''s choice to retreat was a strategic one. It wasn''t that Damien was forced to retreat. Rather, he weighed his options and chose returning to his people over causing amotion in the Frostbound Mountain Range.

    Duke Horacio wanted redemption. Damien wanted that too.

    As such, the battleground for their next confrontation had been set. As if they had a mutual agreement between them, they both ignored the rest of the conflict, if only for a moment, to confront each other first.

    Damien recognized Horacio''s intent easily. That was why he chose the man as his first target.

    Since he was getting back into fighting after a long time, he had to pick a battle he would enjoy, right?

    The scene was a mountaintop that was separated greatly from society. For tens of thousands of kilometers in every direction, there was only empty scenery without any human interference.

    It was a ce Duke Horacio chose after a lot of thought, a ce where Damien wouldn''t be forced to hold back his power.

    Duke Horacio wanted to see everything his opponent could offer.

    And Damien wanted the same.

    So as he approached that ce, he didn''t hide his aura.

    Duke Horacio met him in the sky.

    And though no words were exchanged between them, they had a mutual understanding of each other''s intent.

    This battle had already begun.

    It was just a matter of who was willing to make the first move.

 Chapter 1544 Duke Horacio [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1544 Duke Horacio [2]</h4>

    Usually, Damien was the one who took that role, but he found himself beaten to the punch this time.

    Their eyes had only connected for a second, but Duke Horacio''s arms were already in the air.

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    The winds whipped, controlled by his hand. Massive boulders detached themselves from the mountain below and hurled towards Damien.

    This kind of move was effectively useless against a Divinity. Mere rocks or boulders couldn''t damage them unless their speed was actually in the realm of impossibility.

    That was why, when someone who had a power that relied heavily on the environment like Duke Horacio, they would train in a certain technique that others often overlooked.

    "Infusion."

    Infusing energy into weapons and items wasn''t a rare practice. Almost everyone learned how to do it at the very start of their journey, as it was a good way to get familiar with maneuvering energy.

    However, that was the end of it. For most people, energy control and output rapidly trumped infusion, because their base abilities became stronger than anything a weapon could match up to.

    People like Duke Horacio had to tread a different path because of the uniqueness of their abilities. Rather than a mere training technique, infusion became one of their most important assets, a concept they had to raise to perfection.

    Because once they''d reached a high level of infusion, the entire meaning behind their power changed.

    This moment was proof of that.

    Damien could clearly see the presence of strong mkh within those boulders. In the moment it took for them to be torn from the mountain and flung, they''d been infused with the height of Duke Horacio''s power.

    It was a proper opening move, a show of respect and ability.

    Damien grinned as he watched them approach.

    ''If he''s going to act all proper, then I should respond in kind.''

    Damien wasn''t averse to showing respect to the enemy. When it came to Duke Horacio, they were enemies by association not by grudge.

    He put his hand out in front of him, weing the iing projectiles.

    His mana went forth, colorless and formless, almost imperceptible.

    It was the mana of Existence.

    Damien no longer needed to hide. His enemies already knew he could use Existence. Even if they didn''t know what it was, their awareness of its presence meant he could finally stop ying the pig to eat the tiger.

    Damien now had the freedom to mess around with his power as much as he wanted.

    Which meant he could do things like¨C

    The boulders approached until they were only an inch away from Damien''s outstretched arm.

    And they stopped.

    All of their built-up momentum disappeared as if it never existed in the first ce. Even the mkh within the boulders stopped responding.

    While Duke Horacio watched, the boulders crunched and morphed, miraculously changing into massive ten-foot-long icicles that turned around and pointed themselves at him.

    They werepletely freed from the Duke''s control, but strangely enough, the energy they used was still his mkh.

    "Impressive," he said with a smile.

    He had no idea what just happened, but now wasn''t really the time to act flustered.

    "If you think that''s cool, you aren''t even close to ready for what''s toe."

    Damien grinned, flicking his hand.

    The icicles immediately mobilized. They shot out jets of frost as if they were missiles and sped past sound and light barriers in an instant.

    Duke Horacio immediately mobilized a defense.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    "Khh¡­!"

    Horacio was pushed back by the force of the explosions, but he was uninjured. Compared to his peers, the properties of his mkh were extremely unique.

    Duke Horacio had reached a state where he was always in tune with the environment. Regardless of what that environment was, he could make himself a part of it.

    This was partly because of his infusion talent and partly because of his telekinesis which had evolved to a level of spatial control.

    The Duke''s mkh could mimic the properties of the natural environment around it. Whether that meant making it as smooth and fast as wind¡­

    ¡­or as flowing and flexible as water.

    Damien felt it when the ice missiles struck. The majority of their force was deflected by the water-like shield of mkh Duke Horacio made.

    The missiles tried to pierce, but they simply couldn''t fight the downward force of the stream that pushed them into the ground below.

    Damien raised his brows in surprise.

    ''I get it now. This location choice wasn''t just for show.''

    He smiled as he watched the Duke regain his position.

    ''He''s cunning.''

    This location allowed Damien to use his power as he pleased, sure, but it also allowed Duke Horacio to use his abilities to their full potential.

    ''It really is perfect.''

    The first exchange of blows didn''t mean much. It was, at most, a greeting.

    ''He''s powerful and resourceful. He''ll give me a good fight.''

    Damien''s thoughts were obvious. He admired the Duke''s thinking and was excited to fight him.

    As for Duke Horacio¡­

    ''He''s different.''

    Damien only showed a glimpse of it, but that power was obviously what made him an anomaly.

    ''He is someone that made the Lord wary.''

    It was sacrilegious to say something like that in front of the other nobles, but Duke Horacio wasn''t afraid to think it.

    The fact that anomalies made the Dark God wary was precisely the reason behind conquests like these.

    Damien had to be acknowledged as someone of that caliber. Otherwise, they would never be able to defeat him.

    ''I have to find out more about it.''

    Whether he was winning or losing, he would have to drag this fight out as much as possible.

    The two of them had very different views on their current battle, but regardless, both very much wanted to fight.

    Damien gripped his fists.

    The possibilities ran through his head.

    What could he use Existence for?

    He had to think of things he''d never done before. No, rather, he had to discover things that weren''t possible to do with justws alone.

    It was exciting, but it was just as confusing.

    ''I hope this guy can hold on for a long time.''

    Damien didn''t underestimate Duke Horacio, but he just couldn''t help but be assured of victory.

    Their thoughts were different, but they shared amon goal.

    A good, long fight.

    And for that purpose¡­

    ''Let''s pick up the pace.''

    Damien was going with his favorite, most reliable method of fighting.

    He stepped on the air, using it as if it was tangible.

    He bent his knee, activating the muscles in his legs.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The force his body created as it ripped through the air created huge shockwaves that thundered into the sky and ground.

    It was less than a single second of flight, as Damien had already arrived before the Duke in that time.

    His fist raised perfectly, shooting forward with a huge infusion of mana pulsating around it.

    Since that was the Duke''s speciality, that was where Damien would challenge him.

    The Duke''s eyes narrowed.

    Damien''s fist approached closer.

    And as he made the decision to face it head-on¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    ¡­the environment around them experienced its first great catastrophe.

 Chapter 1545 Duke Horacio [3]

    Chapter 1545 Duke Horacio [3]

    Two fists collided at supersonic speeds. Both were infused with monstrous amounts of energy; opposing forms of energy at that.

    The impact was almost perfect. Both forces canceled each other out, pushing those who created them backward.

    Meanwhile, the residual force mmed down into the ground below with nowhere else to go.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The mountain peak waspletely destroyed, leaving it as a teau. The shower of flying rocks and debris struck the ground at the base like a meteor shower, creating a mass of craters that destroyed a lot of the flora that once inhabited that area.

    The force of just one collision was enough to create a disaster for the creatures that lived on this isted mountain, but it would''ve been pitiful if it ended at only one.

    Damien and Duke Horacio immediately regained their bnce and charged at each other, fists outstretched and mana recalibrated to destroy the other side.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The two traded an array of punches. To the outside observer, they became two shes of light that rapidly jumped around in the sky, causing sparks to fly with every movement.

    Countless shockwaves spread through the air, causing boom after boom to resound through the atmosphere.

    But the details within their fight were moreplicated than they looked.

    Every punch both of them threw was aimed at the other''s fist. It was indeed a fight that took physical strength into ount, but their true battle was in the concept of infusion.

    Telekinesis was a power derivative of spatialws. The Sacred Abyss Universew that Horacio used was pretty much just space.

    Every time he threw a punch, he infused it with different concepts of space that were present in his home cosmos.

    They were highly simr to the concepts of the True Void Universe''s spatialw. After all, they were both defining characteristics of space, no matter how convoluted that space was.

    When Damien noticed that Horacio was mainly using space, he happily reciprocated using the samew.

    Space was his origin as well. His power had blossomed into something magical with the passing of time, but the very first affinity he awakened was space. It was his most favoritew.

    Damien''s current spacew was enhanced by Existence. Using this superiorw, he was able to alter andbine concepts in ways he could''ve never dreamed of before.

    A foreign spatialw versus an enhanced one. These two forces continuously collided in ways equal and opposite to each other.

    Damien and Horacio constantly made micro-adjustments to their energy, trying to usurp each other''sw. However, neither had been able to find an upper hand yet.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Out of nowhere, Damien flipped his body, bringing his foot to Horacio''s chin.

    BANG!

    It wasn''t a cheap move, but an abrupt show of proficiency that Horacio wasn''t expecting. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien''s movement took ce within the spatialyers. In his perception, the man''s body inverted out of nowhere.

    His kick to the chin was powered by space, and through the momentum gathered within the spatialyers.

    When it struck Duke Horacio, it snapped his head back and sent a shockwave straight through his skull.

    The world was warbling in the Duke''s eyes.

    He could feel within his body, several systems had been spatially disced. He didn''t recognize that it had happened until he started feeling the aftereffects of such a change.

    "Hmph!" He snorted.

    It was definitely an impressive showing from the enemy, but he wasn''t to be outdone!

    VOOOOM!

    A huge pulse of mana was expunged from his body. Along with it, his organs were rearranged back to their regr positions, and Damien was thrown away by the spatial chaos.

    The Duke cracked his neck. Against an enemy like this, using regr power wasn''t enough.

    His eyes rolled back, revealing his pure white sclera.

    Damien''s brows furrowed.

    ''Strange.''

    He took three leaps back and made substantial distance from the Duke.

    The aura around his body waspletely different from before. He still felt like himself, but at the same time, he gave off the feeling of a higher entity.

    A strange energy swirled around in the air. Mkh and Mana met in one ce, but they did not reject each other as they usually did.

    ''In front of True Godhood, all energy is just energy.''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed. He had sensed this aura before. He knew exactly what the Duke was doing.

    ''An Edict.''

    As far as Damien knew, Edicts were exclusive to the True Void Universe. However, it seemed a simr concept existed everywhere.

    ''A proof of Godhood. It is something granted to all who can reach that level, no matter where theye from. Only the form changes to match thews of the home cosmos.''

    If Duke Horacio was using his Edict, a concept Gods didn''t use unless they were facing truly dangerous enemies, then it meant that he''d acknowledged Damien''s strength and ability.

    He wouldn''t be holding back anymore.

    ''This is good.''

    Damien wanted to test his limits. He needed an enemy who wouldn''t look down on him.

    And he needed to improve Existence, which wasn''t something he could do unless the enemy was at his best.

    ''Let''s do this.''

    Did he want to go big, or did he want to go fast?

    BANG!

    Duke Horacio appeared beside him before he realized what was happening.

    ''Fast it is.''

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Damien moved back at extraordinary speeds, but the Duke always managed to keep up.

    The atmosphere made loud bangs as it became unable to handle Horacio''s presence.

    He was moving on an "impossible trajectory."

    That could only mean¡­

    ''...he''s started to influence time.''

    Damien grinned wildly. His body was soon covered in a formelsss film of energy. He disappeared from sight.

    The rest of the battle could not be viewed from the outside world. Damien and Horacio were now zipping around inside the fabric of spacetime.

    It was a confusing ethereal dimension that almost didn''t exist. They both were ustomed to it, but if anyone else was put in their shoes, their minds would have been broken by the sheer conceptuality of their position.

    Back and forth, they attacked each other.

    Strengthened by his Edict, Horacio was exerting a level of control over the natural world that Damien had never seen in someone other than himself.

    It was beautiful.

    It was fun.

    Damien was having a great time, but he wasn''t satisfied with just this.

    He didn''t want to control the fabric of spacetime.

    He wanted to warp reality itself until it was nothing more than a reflection of his desires.

    He wanted to be an Absolute.

    VOOOOOOM!

    The universe heard his call.

    The "Existence" within him roared, begging him toplete it and gain the control he spoke of.

    Reality began to twist.

    That "something" which had been changing in the Heavenly World, that "something" which Damien only recently sensed¡­

    It began to rear its head again.

    Damien felt his blood getting hotter. His mind got clearer as his thoughts disintegrated.

    At a certain point, all he saw was white.

    Space and time were merely a single aspect, but they were fundamental in keeping reality as stable as it was.

    Space and time¡­

    Under the weight of Damien''s presence, they began to tear.

    It seemed something like an "Edict" was blooming inside of his body.

 Chapter 1546 Duke Horacio [4]

    Chapter 1546 Duke Horacio [4]

    Damien''s strange state of existence confused the entire cosmos.

    He had the power of a God. He had the aura of one as well.

    However, his actual level hadn''t changed much, only being adjusted numerically by the system whenever it noticed that he was too strong for its judgement of him.

    Leveling up hadn''t affected Damien in many years. In truth, the concept of levels didn''t matter to him at all, because he was outside the control of the system.

    Damien''s Legend was only his to control. It would be enhanced by him and him alone. The system didn''t have any ce to interfere in the process or aid him.

    And if the system couldn''t do it, wasn''t it natural that the Heavenly Order couldn''t either?

    Edicts were meant to be granted to people who were acknowledged in their Godhood. They would be manifestations of everything the God stood for, a true coalescence of his self.

    But for Damien whose soul and body were unreadable, whose power was Existence itself, how could the Heavenly Order create an Edict?

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The sounds all took ce within Damien and Duke Horacio''s bodies. Their current environment didn''t allow the intrusion of sound.

    Spacetime warbled, creating pulses that resonated with each other and spread outward, affecting arge area.

    A hundred thousand-kilometer-wide area around the two men had been plunged into chaos.

    With the shifting of space, objects and living beings were disced into random areas. With the shifting of time, life forms aged rapidly and sometimes even aged backward, finding themselves in apletely different state than they were originally in.

    If that was the end of it, the problem would be somewhat manageable, but it wasn''t even close. The environment itself was subject to the discement of space and time.

    The mountain was sliced into chunks and thrown all around, the forest below aged and died, bing a barrennd. Even the soil went through a myriad of changes, absorbing mana, evolving, and dying all at once.

    Still, Damien and Duke Horacio remained unseen, hidden within the folds of spacetime. To an outside observer, this change could only be considered a terrifying disaster caused by a miracle.

    With the shifting of space, objects and living beings were disced into random areas. With the shifting of time, life forms aged rapidly and sometimes even aged backward, finding themselves in apletely different state than they were originally in.

    Fighting the Duke took a lot of mental concentration.

    Ever since the man began inadvertently touching time, his moves had be more dangerous.

    BOOM!

    Damien got hit in the shoulder. He flew back, cushioning his fall with the spacetimeyers around him.

    ''Necrosis.''

    His cells were dying. They rapidly aged, and as if that wasn''t enough, the fundamental organelles within were disced.

    Damien''s gic code itself was being changed by Duke Horacio''s power. And as he found out, while the necrosis could be dealt with through Transcendent Regeneration, the discement couldn''t.

    He had to manually rearrange his cell structures so that he as a person wouldn''t be changed into something monstrous or nonliving.

    And all the while, he had to dodge the Duke''s attacks and counterattack so that this situation wouldn''t be prolonged for too long.

    Duke Horacio approached again. His fist went out in the form of a punch, but Damien didn''t dodge backwards.

    Instead, he ducked down, changing his orientation.

    It was as Damien predicted. In thest moment, Duke Horacio pulled his arm up, and the spacetimeyers on both sides crushed in.

    If Damien had dodged in any direction that wasn''t up or down, he would''ve been caught in that move.

    ''Damn.''

    Damien had a lot of fine control over space and time, but Duke Horacio''s Edict was more instinctual. It allowed him to mobilize the power of his surroundings far faster.

    ''The basis is still telekinesis.''

    It was just that his power had been transferred to an ethereal level.

    Damien pushed his arms out.

    BOOM!

    An explosion of space and time rocked the Duke, throwing him back.

    Damien chased him, sending forth a barrage of concentrated spikes made of the twows, cutting through the Foreign Noble''s body.

    Every power that Horacio used, Damien could use as well. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    After all, the basis of the Duke''s strength was the twows Damien was most familiar with.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The back and forth between them was unending. With spacetime itself at theirmand, they worked to destroy each other''s bodies and repair their own.

    This process was rtively easy for Damien since he only had to worry about half of it, but it was different for the Duke.

    Despite using his whole strength, he was being whittled away by the umting damage Damien caused.

    ''More.''

    Duke Horacio pushed his power to the limits. The spacetimeyers around him began to flow more uniformly, merging into a massive wave of chaotic energy.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    He threw his arm forward. The entire spacetime tsunami tore towards Damien, threatening to wipe his entire existence away.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''This¡­''

    He frowned, but it wasn''t an expression of discontent.

    ''I can do this.''

    Damien felt like he could take this move easily, despite what his mind told him.

    Logically speaking, he would still have to dodge even if he could dissipate the massive wave of spacetime, however¡­

    As he let his arms fly, controlling the spacetime around him, he found it to be smoother than he thought.

    For some reason, the difficulty he had with controlling his mana was starting to disappear. It became easier for him to maneuver it however he wanted.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    With one push, Damien recorrected the spacetimeyers to their original positions.

    The tsunami dissipated as if it had never existed, but the force it contained was still left untouched.

    Damien took the force itself under his control, making that intangible force tangible.

    And as he mmed his arms to the side, reality itself obeyed, throwing the Duke back into the outside world.

    Damien rushed forward, exiting the spacetimeyers. He saw the chaos in the surroundings, but he didn''t focus on it.

    VOOOOOOM!

    Damien''s mana roared.

    Duke Horacio''s mkh did the same. He was obviously trying to push Damien back into the ce where he held the absolute advantage, but Damien couldn''t allow that.

    Space solidified around the Duke, blocking his movements.

    He tried to bend it back to its normal state and counter, but it didn''t work how he expected it to.

    This iteration of Space Law was Damien''s own creation. It waspletely separated from both of their home cosmos, and it would take more than a moment for Duke Horacio to understand and solve it.

    ''That was¡­''

    Damien looked down at his hands in surprise.

    He swept them through the air a few times, wondering if what he was feeling was a lie.

    ''Isn''t this¡­easy?''

    Damien flicked his finger forward. The prison around Duke Horacio changed. The space turned into darkness, and the darkness itself was a reflection of light, of the elements of Yang.

    Thews merged and changed so fluidly that it caught Damien off guard. And on top of that, none of thosews he used were simr to the ones he knew.

    ''Can I alter things this easily?''

    Duke Horacio had used an Edict. Since that moment, this battle had be far more difficult for Damien.

    However, why did it feel like he was using an Edict now as well?

    The Heavenly Order couldn''t provide him with one.

    The system couldn''t do it either.

    But something simr to an Edict still blossomed within Damien''s soul.

    It was born from Existence, but it was more than just Existence.

    It made Damien''s usage of Existence far easier, but that was only the base effect.

    If one was able to take a peek into Damien''s soul, one would be able to see something like a cage, a "housing" for power.

    It was still in the early stages of formation, but its sheer presence made Damien''s power more essible.

    That was exactly the difference he felt.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The cage Damien created was blown to bits. The energy that kept it together burst into the surrounding area, razing the sky.

    ''He''s free.''

    It was nice to have a moment of thought, but this fight was still going.

    Though¡­

    Something in Damien''s bones told him it would be over soon.

 Chapter 1547 Duke Horacio [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1547 Duke Horacio [5]</h4>

    Now that they''d been fighting for a while, Damien had a rtive understanding of the Duke''s strengths and weaknesses.

    The man had an incredible physical body. For him to take so many strikes from Damien and not have a single visible wound was an extremely impressive feat.

    Hisws were also highly developed. Including the concept of inclusion, the Duke had an understanding of hisws that others simply didn''t possess, especially not Foreign Races who focused more on their individual powers than thews they were derived from.

    In terms of power, Duke Horacio was the strongest person Damien had fought since Malevalon Straea.

    But the two could be differentiated by a single key difference.

    ''The Duke''s mental defenses aren''t up to par.''

    During their fight in the spacetimeyers and even in the time before and after that, the Duke had shown signs of mental confusion wearing him down.

    His power was burdensome to handle. Damien knew that from experience. While he was able topensate for that burden with several different creative methods, the Duke hadn''t done the same.

    ''He''s tanking the mental hits, but they''re wearing him down.''

    That could be observed from the amount of time it took for Duke Horacio to escape the cage Damien made.

    Plus, his eyes were unfocused as he attacked in the current moment.

    ''If it''s mental attacks¡­ ''

    Damien''s mind worked at light speed. The gears turned and turned, and suddenly, an idea appeared.

    Rather, it was a question.

    A method to defeat the Duke arose from within it, but Damien''s main focus had shifted to the question itself.

    ''Existence¡­it can do anything, right?''

    His eyes sharpened.

    Seeing the Duke charging at him, he realized that this was the perfect opportunity.

    He threw his body forward and propelled himself to the maximum speed he could reach in the distance between them.

    He primed his hand, infusing it with Existence mana that held a concept that Damien didn''t know yet.

    No, it was the concept Damien was currentlyprehending.

    Chaos.

    To enforce absolute chaos onto his enemy''s body. That was Damien''s goal.

    And with the Duke disoriented, he miscalcted Damien''s position,pletely missing his prepared attack as the man arrived next to him.

    In that second, Damien and Duke Horacio made eye contact.

    Their faces were less than a foot away from each other, but only for a millisecond before they sped past each other.

    But that millisecond was enough time.

    Because, unlike the Duke, Damien didn''t miscalcte his trajectory.

    Damien''s palm crashed into the Duke''s face.

    "Strike one."

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    A jaw-dropping pulse of mana split into Duke Horacio''s skull. His brain rattled around, and his consciousness was pulled in between reality and thend of dreams.

    Vertigo was an understatement for what the Duke experienced. His entire soul was put in a state of disharmony and disconnection from his body.

    His spiritual world was heavily protected, but those protections were torn down one by one by the terrifying force that threatened to incinerate his mind.

    Damien shot past the Duke and turned around.

    The man was wobbling in the air like a drunk. He didn''t know what the difference between up and down was right now.

    It had to be remembered that Duke Horacio''s physical body wasn''t in the best state. His cells had died in many isted locations, and while he''d also corrected his disced organelles, he had to suffer consequences for using his power at such a minute level.

    The Duke was properly incapacitated because of thebined effect of his physical and mental injuries.

    It was the perfect opportunity.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The atmosphere cracked as Damien redirected his momentum and shot back in the direction he came from without any deceleration.

    Like a speeding rocket, Damien turned into a jet-propelled monstrosity that locked onto the Duke and refused to let go.

    Damien''s hand shot out again. His aim was the same as the previous shot.

    However, the Duke wasn''t nning to go down so easily.

    His brain was a mess and he could hardly think, but his instincts were roaring at him to dodge.

    Using the bare minimum amount of mkh he could, he teleported. Just enough topletely avoid Damien''s charge.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The sheer force Damien carried with him exploded past Duke Horacio. As it grazed his cheek and gave him a sense of death, it brought his consciousness back to reality.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Duke Horacio had understood something in that moment.

    If Damien wanted him dead, he could absolutely kill him.

    He no longer had the chance to act as he pleased. He needed to recover this situation as best as he could using any means at his disposal.

    Rather than heavy-hitting, powerful attacks as he''d been producing thus far, the Duke switched to faster attacks with less power, painting a 360-degree radius around him in spatial chaos of his own creation.

    It was a temporary measure to keep Damien wary and away. Until he regained total control over his¨C

    "Strike two."

    The Duke''s eyes widened.

    When did Damien get next to him?

    And¡­how?!

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A palm struck his forehead with immense force.

    The same scenario repeated itself. The Duke''s internals were filled with terrifying mana that broke down his mind and severed the connection between his soul and body.

    Everything was spinning. Everything was spinning, including his body.

    The Duke couldn''t tell if reality was real anymore. He felt like he was back in the spacetimeyers as an ordinary mortal.

    Memories of the past and present melded as his mental protections were destroyed. His sense of self was thrown into chaos, making him confuse the abilities he had with ones he remembered from others.

    Duke Horacio could hardly control his mkh anymore. It wildly sprayed out of his body as his systems entered a confused state.

    He was both exerting power and losing control over it at the same time.

    Like a machine that was malfunctioning, Duke Horacio twitched as he desperately clutched at straws to keep himself stable.

    Unfortunately, Damien didn''t give him the chance.

    "That''s game."

    He appeared in front of the Duke as if he wasn''t supposed to be far behind the man right now.

    He reached out, mmed his hand into the Duke''s face, and grabbed his head in a tight hold.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The final expulsion of mana waspletely different from the first two.

    The Duke''s eyes rolled up into his head and leaked blood. He foamed at the mouth, losing all signs of humanity.

    His mind was absolutely crushed. His soul was still within his body, but it was swirling like a gxy and no longer held its original humanoid shape, evidence of the level of dissociation it had experienced.

    Chaos.

    That was what Damien wanted toe from his attacks. That was what Damien wanted to enforce on Duke Horacio''s existence.

    And the effects produced by that attempt¡­

    Needless to say, chaos worked exactly as it was advertised.

    Duke Horacio was alive, but only by the technical definition of the word.

    ''That''s the right state.''

    This was exactly what Damien had intended.

    ''Now, if I just¡­''

    He unleashed the power of devouring that he held, however, he did not aim for Horacio''s entire existence.

    Instead, he focused his power on the man''s spiritual world, exclusively aiming to devour his memories.

    Naturally, it was a sess. Damien was no longer a youth who didn''t know how to control the essence of the Void.

    Duke Horacio''s memories flowed into Damien''s mind, and at the same rate, they flowed out.

    It was time for the primary portion of this experiment.

 Chapter 1548 Duke Horacio [6]

    Chapter 1548 Duke Horacio [6]

    ??Damien took hold of Duke Horacio''s existence and maintained it.

    He healed the man''s body, reconnected his soul, and with those memories he gained, reconstructed his spiritual world.

    However, he made changes as he saw fit.

    He altered Duke Horacio''s confused soul and made it believe it was loyal to Void Pce.

    Duke Horacio''s new memories now included a scene where he defected from the Foreign Races and Damien took away the Dark God''s control over him.

    That was partially correct, since thetter half did happen, but obviously, Duke Horacio never surrendered on his own.

    Damien wanted to see how much control over Existence he truly had.

    It was an incredibly broad concept, so there was no real way for Damien to understand his limits. If he was able to imagine it, he could likely do it with Existence, but he''d never know for certain unless he actually tried.

    Battle was the perfect testing ground for Damien, and enemies were the perfect test subjects.

    The question he wanted answered today was simple.

    Could he alter another living being''s existence?

    Could he manipte their soul, their mind, their Legend, and even the very root of their existence to turn them into someonepletely different?

    As he continued to work on Horacio, he made sure that he didn''t make any mistakes. This was his first try, but he wanted to see a sess.

    It was hard to fool existence. The very core of one''s being, a concept a level deeper than the soul, was not something that could be interfered with easily.

    Often, even if people had their memory erased or their souls wiped, they''d instinctually react to stimuli that reminded their existence of its past experience.

    This could sometimes even lead to miraculous situations where individuals suddenly regain memories they had lost, or where certain lucky souls with powerful "existences" remember the events of their past lives.

    Existence was a powerful thing that could withstand any kind of torment or chaos. But Damien was currently interfering with its natural processes.

    He was able to "touch" the intangible force since he himself was creating "Existence." As such, he could subtly change the base structure to prevent those "miracles" from ever happening.

    Saying it wasn''t that hard, but actually doing it was different.

    Damien kept making mistakes in the beginning. He altered things that couldn''t be altered, and with those alterations, Horacio''s soul would morph.

    Those subtle changes in the soul alerted Damien, and allowed him to correct his mistakes and continue moving in the right direction.

    He didn''t have that many tries, but eventually, he was able to do the best that he believed he could.

    And when he stepped away, Duke Horacio''s body continued to hover on its own, emitting a soft halo as it retained the changes that had been made to it.

    Damien watched with anticipation.

    VOOOOOOM!

    Mkh raged into the surroundings.

    Damien stepped back and prepared himself to attack, but¡­

    As the Duke opened his eyes, something changed.

    The hostile nature of the mkh disappeared, and within a few seconds, it retreated back into his body.

    He looked around in confusion, taking in his surroundings.

    It made sense for him to do so. After all, this was quite the strange location.

    The ground below was filled with random patches of differently-grown flora. There were swatches of dense jungle that were only ten meters wide, surrounded by deserts that turned into fields of green.

    There was a¡­mountain? ¡­but it was more of a stump in the ground, surrounded by massive rock formations created by the debris of its now destroyed peak.

    As for the fauna that once called this location home¡­

    There really wasn''t much left of them.

    Most were dead, some had escaped, while others suffered the cruel fate of being fused with other animals due to the massive fluctuations in space.

    Duke Horacio was more than just confused about why he was here. Nothing in his memories could exin his current position.

    But when he looked at the person in front of him, it all came rushing back.

    ''If it''s him¡­''

    Duke Horacio''s eyes sharpened.

    Damien kept his poise as the Young Lord of Void Pce just in case, but he already had an attack prepared for safety''s sake.

    ''Though it seems¡­that won''t be necessary.''

    The look in Duke Horacio''s eyes changed.

    In a single fluid motion, he knelt in the air and bowed his head.

    "Young Lord."

    If it was the Young Lord''s doing, then it made sense that he''d arrived here magically.

    The Young Lord''s power couldn''t beprehended by an ordinary God.

    "Hmm¡­"

    Damien nodded his head.

    ''It worked¡­I think.''

    "Go back to the pce and tell them I sent you. They''ll understand"

    They wouldn''t, but Damien already sent back a message to make sure they wouldn''t make a fuss.

    ording to Duke Horacio''s memories, this was already months after he''d sworn allegiance to Damien. However, as Damien didn''t trust him, he didn''t allow him into the pce.

    This was his first time being allowed there, and naturally, he was ecstatic about it.

    "I will obey yourmand, Young Lord."

    He spoke stoically to hide it, but he truly was thankful.

    The Young Lord treated him far better than the Dark God ever did.

    Duke Horacio stood up, and after bowing to Damien once again, he started making his exit.

    But¡­

    Wasn''t something about this¡­wrong?

    Duke Horacio''s brows furrowed. He felt a strange aching in his head, as if something about his current actions was very, very wrong.

    He tried to think about it, but the more he thought about it, the more his head hurt.

    ''What¡­is it?''

    He tried to pry deeper, to find the source of that gnawing feeling that ate away at his soul.

    Something wanted toe out.

    Something wanted to change.

    And if it didn''t change now¡­

    "Oh, Horacio," Damien suddenly said.

    Damien''s call broke the Duke''s sudden stray thought.

    He turned around curiously.

    "Is there anything else?"

    Damien smiled.

    "No, it''s nothing. Congrattions on your promotion."

    Click!

    One could almost hear the sound of everything clicking into ce.

    A rush of emotion filled Horacio''s mind.

    Joy, fulfillment, validation¡­

    They were bright emotions, emotions that burned away the shadows of doubt that began to cloud the Duke''s mind.

    And as those shadows burned away, the space they once filled waspletely upied.

    The opportunity for Horacio to break free of Damien''s spell¡­

    That opportunity was already gone.

    A bright smile lit up the Duke''s face, something that had never been seen on his visage before.

    "Thank you, Young Lord!"

    They were words of happiness that he spoke before departing for the pce.

    But to Damien, they were anything but.

    Those words, that expression, they didn''t belong to a person who was free.

    They belonged to a puppet, the objects of his machinations.

    The real-world consequences of such a power were immense.

    Anyone and everyone, as long as they were weaker than Damien, could be forced to turn into anyone he wanted them to be.

    Anything and everything¡­

    It was graduallying under his control.

    Before long, people would have no choice but to see Damien as a higher being, a God above all Gods.

    And that¡­

    That was a terrifying prospect.

 Chapter 1549 Ambition [1]

    Chapter 1549 Ambition [1]

    ??Damien didn''t return to the pce with Horacio. He was already on his way to the next stop in hisbat circuit.

    But if he had, he would''ve had a great time.

    After all, even if Damien informed people that he woulde, they still couldn''t believe their eyes when a Foreign Noble walked into their pce and kneeled, dering himself a follower.

    It was truly incredulity across the board. From the highest members to the lowest, the reactions of everyone in the pce were right about the same.

    For the most part.

    There were, of course, the people who never doubted Damien''s power, those who believed that if Damien said he could do it, it was possible.

    Included in that group were the four women who held more faith in Damien than anyone else.

    His wives.

    They''d faded into the background a bit after he came to the Heavenly World. Damien definitely made time for them whenever he could, but as he began advancing at a pace too rapid for any other person to follow, they secluded themselves to do anything possible to catch up.

    They''d all made the same promise, saying that they would stand by his side, not behind him.

    And they all wanted to honor that promise to the best of their abilities.

    Rose and her sisters were all different people. The way they expressed and responded to love was different. However, at the most fundamental level, they all held the same emotions.

    At times like this, those emotions brought them together and allowed them to form a bond beyond friendship, something none of them thought possible when they first entered the rtionship.

    After all, while harems weren''t umon, it was hard to make one work.

    Rose was especially experienced in this problem.

    When she was young, she''d been driven by her father''s experiences to try to bring perfection to Damien''s harem behind the scenes.

    She suffered a lot for that before realizing that it wasn''t worth it. Their natural bond that developed through time and conflict was stronger than anything she could artificially fabricate.

    It was back then when Rose learned to live for herself.

    She was always a free-spirited and curious person. She met Damien when she was just a girl, exploring the world because she was bored of her royal atmosphere.

    At that time, she was immature. She didn''t know the kinds of scars and baggage she''d been carrying around with her, and only through her interactions with Damien and the wider world he showed her did she begin to unpack it.

    It was a fact that was both a blessing and a curse.

    The fact that he had such a huge impact on her life, the fact that he took her off of the small and boring world of Apeiron, it made her love him harder than she''d ever loved before.

    Perhaps that was when she started living for him.

    She wanted to gain power for his sake. She wanted to stand beside him so he would never be lonely. She wanted to see the peak only if he was there with her.

    She''d never really had that ambition on her own. That just wasn''t the type of person she was.

    Rose didn''t abhor power, but she didn''t necessarily like it either. It was a necessary thing to her, and while she was well into her adulthood when she finally admitted it, she used it as a coping mechanism for a long time.

    The sadistic behavior she''d exhibited on the battlefield had developed into herbat style and had influenced the way her power grew, but it actually didn''t stem from a natural sadism.

    It stemmed from the things she''d seen and experienced.

    A weak person; apassionate person just couldn''t survive in this world.

    But hundreds of years had passed.

    Rose wasn''t just an adult now, she was an experienced adult.

    And that experience revealed to her the true heart she''d been hiding for so long.

    Rose was calm. She wasn''t ambitious, but she really, really liked helping others.

    To do so, she didn''t mind getting stronger. It was a sort of half-ambition that didn''t really drive her anywhere.

    But if that was her motivation, then why did she practice so hard?

    Anyone who had seen her train called her a monster.

    She would constantly ce herself within illusions indistinguishable from reality, forcing herself to experience terrifying events.

    The number of times Rose had felt real death couldn''t be counted with four digits anymore.

    Why would she put herself through so much if she wanted to live peacefully?

    Rose wasn''t afraid to admit that it was all for him anymore.

    She wasn''t afraid to acknowledge her dependence.

    But she also wasn''t going to get rid of it.

    This was how she was. This was her personality, no matter how others saw it.

    She missed her husband. She didn''t want to spend time away from him. If she could, she''d spend every second of every day by his side for the rest of eternity.

    When Damien was absent for long periods of time, she didn''tin. She was understanding of his circumstances, after all.

    But she hated that she just had to ept it.

    If she was stronger, wouldn''t she be able to go out and experience his adventures together with him?

    She didn''t want Damien to leave her behind anymore.

    And for that reason, she trained herself like she was her own worst enemy.

    She put herself through hell and forced herself to either improve or die.

    Because of the insanity she showed in training, she raised her strength rapidly.

    It wasn''t as rapid as some others, but it was an extreme pace that even the most talented people in the army couldn''t match.

    However, it wasn''t enough.

    The second Damien sent news that he''d somehow converted a Foreign Noble to their side, she realized that.

    She was already doing everything she could.

    She really didn''t have a way to grow faster, but Damien was moving at a pace that she couldn''t catch up to even if she did.

    That was when she received word of the deployment notice.

    She''d known of its existence for a while. She saw Damien working hard to create it.

    However¡­

    ''...I never expected my name to be on here.''

    Rose and Ruyue were paired together and assigned to take care of a group of Viscounts. Looking at the strength of their enemies, it didn''t seem like a difficult task, but¡­

    ''The outside world.''

    The true Heavenly World.

    Truthfully, Rose hadn''t even seen it once yet.

    She didn''t have much of an interest in it.

    ''But¡­''

    She contemted it for a moment.

    ''That might be the only way.''

    It was an easy conclusion toe to.

    Maybe if she kept herself trapped here, dreaming of peace, she would never actually be able to achieve anything.

    Maybe the answer she couldn''t find within the pce would be somewhere outside.

    Rose liked the pce a lot.

    She got along extremely well with her mother-inw and the rest, and when she could, she would help Hestia in the operations room.

    She was also a skilledmander, after all.

    To Rose, this life on the backlines was far more her style than fighting directly on the frontlines.

    But it was obvious that if she wanted her goal to remain the same, if she wanted to spend more time with Damien, she''d have to go and fight.

    Because until there was no more fighting left to be done, Damien wouldn''t have peace.

    ''Okay.''

    It was a little funny how she and Damien calmed themselves in the same way.

    Since Damien had assigned her this mission, it meant he trusted her strength and believed she''d find something on the battlefield that she''d beencking.

    He never did anything without a reason.

    And if her husband was giving her this kind of push, if even he believed in her absurd dreams¡­

    ''...then maybe I can too.''

    Maybe it was time for her to start living for herself a little.

    Maybe she could finally find a purpose of her own, something that could ignite her passion and help her in achieving her ultimate goal.

    It was a prospect like none Rose had ever considered in the past.

    And honestly¡­

    Like a gentle breeze, flowing through a mountaintop above the clouds, meeting the sun as it set through the sky.

    Cold, yet refreshing, putting one''s mind at ease, yet filling one''s heart with a surge of indescribable wonder.

    ''...this might not be so bad after all.''

 Chapter 1550 Ambition [2]

    Chapter 1550 Ambition [2]

    ??Rose was an empathetic person. She wore her heart on her sleeve sometimes, even if she tried to keep it hidden.

    She was an understanding person as well. She was able to see things from all perspectives and take all things into ount before making decisions or letting her emotions overrun her.

    But that didn''t mean she didn''t get hurt.

    It was extremely obvious to others how she felt about Damien''s continuous long absences, especially when those absences were even longer inside the pce.

    However, that was just Rose.

    Out of Damien''s wives, she was likely the one who missed him the most consistently.

    The rest of them all had their own thoughts.

    Elena¡­really didn''t mind much.

    No matter how much time passed, nobody saw her get dispirited. Nobody saw her missing him. Rather, with every day he remained gone, she got stronger and more determined.

    Obviously, the two things weren''t directly rted, but that was how it looked to outsiders.

    Some questioned Elena''s feelings for her husband and their Young Lord, but those who mattered like her sisters and her inws, ire, Serena, Hugo, and Persia, didn''t raise a fuss.

    They knew more than anyone else that those uninvolved people were having a huge misunderstanding.''

    And they rightfully corrected them and silenced those voices.

    Elena let them speak because they didn''t bother her. No matter what they said, it wouldn''t be able to affect her bond with her husband.

    It was just that the bond they had didn''t manifest in a traditional way, at least not to those of the pce.

    Elena''s ambitions and Damien''s weren''t that different. Rose and Ruyue also had a desire for strength, and Iris was already far ahead of the three of them, but none of them could really match Elena.

    Herpetitive spirit wasn''t something to be underestimated. When she saw Damien improving at such a fast pace, she didn''t get discouraged. She got motivated.

    Elena wanted to be something on her own just as much as she wanted to be something with Damien.

    For her, whether he appeared or not this was the exact position she''d be in.

    In the Heavenly World, as a Divinity, preparing to be something even more.

    If Damien didn''t exist in her life, she''d still be here. The couldn''t be said about Rose, who gained her motivation from Damien, or Iris, who gained confidence from him.

    However, that didn''t change the fact that she loved him.

    She truly cared for him more than anyone else. She loved him just like her sisters and would never feel the same way about anyone else.

    It was just that their love wasn''t the kind that needed constant nurturing and physical touch.

    Their love transcended those bounds. The two of them would always know how each other felt. No matter how much time passed or what the two of them were doing, they would always be there when the other was in need.

    Elena wanted to do things outside her rtionship with Damien. She wanted personal sess just as she wanted sess for them as a group.

    So the fact that Damien wasn''t ever present in her life anymore didn''t bother her.

    She put her head down and trained, focusing everything she had on her desire to be stronger.

    She hadn''t left the pce only because she didn''t have a need to.

    The time dtion was extremely convenient in allowing her to manage her time, and with all the facilities present within the pce walls, she was able to train in an environment she had control over.

    This was great for rapid progress. She could experience danger and she could learn how to manipte herws with absolute precision.

    It was because of the various simtions and rifts the pce had control over that she was able to ascend through the ranks of Divinity so rapidly.

    She, Rose, and Ruyue were on equal footing in terms of power when they first arrived here, but at this point, Elena was confident she could beat either in a fight.

    Though, it wouldn''t be an easy fight.

    ''Who am I kidding. It wouldn''t even be an assured victory.''

    Rose and Ruyue were scary people. They might not have had the same motivations as her, but that didn''t mean they weren''t training hard too.

    ''Plus, Rose is crazy.''

    Rose''s training methods were¡­not something another person could handle.

    She and Ruyue had gone extremely broad in their Divinities. Rose was trying to control reality itself, while Ruyue wanted all elements of yin in her grasp.

    Unlike them, Elena had chosen to follow a more constrained path. She wanted to take a single concept to its absolute limit and transcend it.

    This meant that she wasn''t as versatile as the two, but it also meant that the potency of her attacks couldn''t bepared with theirs.

    ''The problem is¡­''

    ¡­she hadn''t been outside in a long time.

    It was the exact reason she could stand proud as a level 550 Demigod who could fight above her rank, but now that such a long time had passed, it was only inhibiting her.

    She needed real-world experience. She needed real danger, real death around her so that she could advance beyond this level.

    As someone who''d personally experienced it, Elena knew the value of danger just as well as the next expert.

    The things one could discover when control was removed from the situation, when life and death were ambiguous, were absolutely monstrous inparison to what one could learn within the confines of their own security.

    If there was anything Elena was sure of, it was that her power wasn''t just a showpiece. It needed to be used properly, or there was never a point in having it at all.

    Originally, she nned to slip out of the pce on her own and figure things out from there, but she didn''t get that chance.

    Though, the reason brought a smile to her face.

    ''Damn. He read me.''

    She was currently looking at a n that had been made not long ago.

    It was a deployment of various powerful forces with the goal of destroying the core forces of the Straea n.

    And included on that list was her very name. Not just on a little Demigod, but on an entire group of five.

    She wasn''t given a team, she wasn''t given any special orders.

    Damien''s intent was clear.

    "Go and have fun with them. Just keep me updated."

    ''Really¡­'' she thought, her smile growing wider.

    ''I fell in love with the right man.''

    Freedom and independence, the things she valued, were never taken from her.

    Instead, he was always by her side, pushing her forward and helping her improve.

    ''Then, I can''t disappoint him, can I?''

    The gift Damien had prepared was a good appetizer, but it wasn''t Elena''s entire purpose for leaving the pce.

    No, she had a personal quest that she''d yet toplete.

    Every clue she''d found led to this ce, to the Heavenly World, yet she hadn''t heard a single peep about them since she''de here.

    The Valkyries.

    Elena''s people, including her parents¡­

    What happened to them?

    And where could they possibly be?

    These were questions she needed answered.

    And rather than waiting for them to reveal themselves¡­

    ¡­she was going to find them herself.

    That was something she''d sworn to herself from the moment she embarked on her path to strength.

 Chapter 1551 Ambition [3]

    Compared to her sistersno,pared to most people in the world, Ruyue''s situation was unique.

    It could be said that she had the same independent attitude as Elena, yet the same desire as Rose.

    But weren''t those two things contradictory?

    In Ruyue''s case, no.

    Ruyue in particr wasn''t really fazed by the notice of deployment.

    It didn''t mean anything to her.

    Unlike Rose, she didn''t harbor any feelings against the outside world. However, unlike Elena, she didn''t have any particr desire to experience it either.

    Her situation was a bit special.

    Ruyue experienced a Cosmic Rebirth quite unlike anything her sisters experienced.

    She didn''t tell them about it because she didn''t want to worry them, but it was a moment she''d never forget.

    At that time, within the barrier ofw, she met a version of herself that she''d never seen before.

    She looked roughly the same, just a bit more mature. The ice-cold expression on her face, however, was exactly the same.

    That version of herself, she originally thought it was an illusion, but her opinions began to change as that Ruyue walked her through the path she was taking.

    Absolute Yin.

    It was an extreme power. In a sense, it was half of Existence.

    Damien was able to control Existence to the level he could exclusively because of his physique. If not for it, he would''ve been just like Dante or The Unrecorded, left stuck at a certain point and never able to progress again.

    What about Ruyue?

    Just like the other two, she didn''t have a physique or anything aiding her.

    But unlike them, she didn''t have an inherent connection to Existence born from an extreme level of practice either.

    She was taking a path that was massive from the start, challenging Existence with its sheer existence.

    It wasn''t a path that could be walked without consequences.

    That day, Ruyue saw her life end.

    She saw herself change until she had no emotion left. She watched as herws influenced her mind and soul to the point where she could no longer see the light anymore.

    That version of her lived for thousands upon thousands of years. She experienced so much and rose to a position not much lower than someone absolutely in control over the world.

    But in the process, she sacrificed everything.

    Because she didn''t feel anything.

    She drowned in her own power.

    That Ruyue was merely a shell of a person, a carrier ofw that had no personality of its own.

    Her indifference drove a wedge between her and the sisters she cherished. It made her abandon the family Damien introduced her to, and in the end, it led to her abandoning even him.

    The only thing Ruyue had was strength.

    The world was colorless. Life didn''t have any meaning. But in the end, Ruyue truly became an embodiment of Absolute Yin.

    Just as her Divinity promised her she would.

    Ruyue was forced to answer the question of whether she wanted to risk such a future or not.

    Did she want to throw away the path she''d been following for so long because of the consequences thaty at the end of it?

    Did she want to continue forward knowing that her emotions would die as she got stronger?

    The answer to both questions was no.

    Then, what did she end up doing?

    To this day, Ruyue''s emotions had been numbing.

    Her icy face was all anyone in the pce had seen, an expression of indifference that truly didn''t take anything or anyone into ount.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    To some, Ruyue felt more like a doll than a person.

    She''d follow the same routine, training to increase her power, and she would do nothing else.

    bender

    Of course, Rose and the rest could understand her situation. After so long, they''d learned to read Ruyue''s emotions without having to see her facial expression.

    ire and Serena also eventually learned about Ruyue''s personality. They understood that despite the way she presented herself on the outside, she had a lot of emotion within that she just didn''t express.

    Right, she had a lot of emotions.

    Rose and Ruyue had a lot more inmon than either of them realized.

    In fact, Ruyue''s emotions towards Damien weren''t much different from Rose''s. They were just a bit less dependent, but that didn''t mean either of them was wrong.

    It was just that Ruyue knew how to contain her emotions a lot better than Rose did.

    When Damien returned to the pce, she allowed her emotions to run wild and cherished the time she had with him. She loved as hard as possible for as long as possible, and when Damien inevitably left again, she closed her heart off, letting her feelings simmer until they could be released again.

    Ruyue kept her heart sealed and allowed those emotions to exist within, but she would never show others how she was feeling.

    That day in the barrier ofw, Ruyue had to make a choice.

    But she did not agree with the binary question she''d been asked.

    She refused to pick one of the answers presented to her, and instead made another sacrifice.

    She traded the emotions that weren''t essential for the ones she didn''t want to lose.

    While color would fade from her world, while everything else about life would be nd

    She would still be able to pursue Absolute Yin.

    And the emotions she held towards Damien, towards her sisters, and towards her family; the feelings she absolutely didn''t want to lose would remain untouched.

    Perhaps there were consequences to this decision. She may not ever get the chance to reach the heights she could''ve reached if she didn''t preserve these feelings.

    But that didn''t matter to her. In the first ce, Ruyue didn''t chase the peak.

    She chased power so she could protect herself, so she''d never end up in a situation like her childhood ever again.

    The world was dull to her. Power was the same. But the deployment notice did have some color, since it was her dear husband who''d created it.

    Perhaps she wouldn''t gain much from this excursion, but she''d be helping him by killing his enemies, so she really didn''t mind.

    That was pretty much half of the reason she''d been training, anyway.

    The world would continue to lose color no matter what she did.

    But it was fine as long as the colors returned where it really mattered.

    This was the permanent sacrifice Ruyue had made, whether out of ambition or pride.

    And it was a sacrifice she''d epted wholeheartedly.

    However

    Was her pessimism backed by reality, or was it just a reflection of the indifference she was cursed with?

    Was it truly impossible for her world to regain color?

    lightsvel The answer was unknown for now, but there was one fact that would never change.

    No matter how much one thought one knew about the world, no matter how dull and nd the world could seem at times

    It would always surprise its inhabitants with things they''d never expect.

    It was truly a ce of miracles, so who was Ruyue to say that anything was impossible?

    Right now, there was no way for her to understand it. But maybe, just maybe, the world would one day show her something that made her reevaluate everything.

    But that

    That was a story for another time.

 Chapter 1552 Ambition [4]

    Rose, Ruyue, and Elena were all unique people. They''d spent a lot of time together, and naturally, they''d influenced each other; but none of them ever deviated from the paths they decided to walk.

    Perhaps they moved at different speeds. While Rose was still desperate for love, Elena was content with it. While Rose was content with power, Elena couldn''t get enough of it.

    However, their strengths and differences always managed to bnce out somehow. This was the nature of the dynamic they''d created after spending the majority of their lives together.

    Then, how did Iris fit into it all?

    She was inherently different from her sisters. Putting aside the fact that she was already a high-rank Demigod on her way to challenge Godhood, she was over ten thousand years old and far more mature.

    It had only been a few hundred years since they hade to the pce, with the time dtion included of course.

    To her, that didn''t really mean anything.

    She''d lived for hundreds of years hundreds of times. This period of training was just like any other for her.

    Iris and Damien''s rtionship was like a mix of what he had with his other wives.

    Love and affectionbined with independence and space. They craved each other, but they didn''t get in each other''s way.

    Damien represented something in Iris'' life that she''d never had before. Not just in the sense of being a man she was interested in, but in most other aspects as well.

    She wanted to keep him for as long as possible, and while the method she used to do so was to act submissive, she wasn''t really a submissive person.

    It was just that there hadn''t been a time yet that she truly craved him enough to act dominantly.

    She cherished the adventures they''d had together in the Ancient Battlefield. Those experiences wouldst her a lifetime.

    Plus, Damien came back here and there to show them he still cared. She didn''t really need more than that.

    He had his ambitions. If he couldplete them in a few hundred years and spend the rest of his life with her? Whatint did she have to make?

    Nevertheless, Iris was also assigned a battle with an enemy.

    Though, that enemy was not a Demigod, but a God.

    Damien had high hopes for her.

    Back when they were in the Ancient Battlefield and getting to know each other, he''d entered her soul and seen everything she held dear.

    He knew about the fear that held her back for most of her life, and just the same he knew about the dreams she''d always held dear.

    Iris, like Elena, loved chasing the peak.

    And once she gained ess to Creation, once she got closer to the peak, that desire became much, much stronger.

    Iris was emotionally simplepared to her sisters.

    She knew her likes and dislikes well as she had millennia to figure it out.

    There was a lot she was still learning about herself, but at least at the base level, the years she''d spent weren''t spent in vain.

    She saw the world a lot more clearly now.

    ''Perhaps I should do it some more?''

    It wasn''t bad to go into the outside world. She definitely had the power to defend herself, and she didn''t think it would be difficult to defeat an entry-level God with her current abilities.

    If so

    ''Well, it has been getting boring at the pce.''

    Staying in one ce was her speciality, but she didn''t want to do it like this.

    ''Mm. I think that would be fun.''

    There were eight Cardinal Regions in this world.

    Of them, three were upied by the pce''s allies, two by the pce itself, one by the enemy, and two by people who thought it was better to stay uninvolved with the world.

    That didn''t leave many options for her, but Iris was not the open to finding possibilities where they didn''t exist.

    ''The Northeastern Region, then. I quite like the scenery there.''

    She smiled, nodding to herself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Iris didn''t mind staying at the pce and training for a while longer, but since Damien gave her a reason to see the outside world, she thought it would''ve been a shame if she didn''t make the most of the outing.

    The ns in her mind werequite imaginative, putting it kindly.

    More bluntly, she was thinking something insane.

    bender

    lightsvl m But wasn''t it insane thinking that got all of them where they were in the first ce?

    Whether it was Rose, Elena, Ruyue, or even Damien, all of them were doing things that others would call crazy.

    And they did so with confidence, disallowing anyone from telling them that their thinking was wrong.

    This was precisely the reason why they were able to mesh so well, and more so, it was the reason why all of them could gain approval from an entity like the Void.

    After all, what was life without a little bit of craziness?

    The answer to that surely wasn''t something any of them wanted to know.

    ***

    Soon enough, not only the four of Damien''s wives, but several hundred people from Void Pce made their move.

    They spread out in all directions, headed to the specific points where they were assigned.

    Waiting for them there were opponents who wanted nothing more than to ughter them.

    In the face of those opponents, they would not cower.

    They would show the might of Void Pce, so that their enemies could learn fear.

    They would act precisely without leaving any room for errors, so once they had all wlesslypleted their missions, their enemy would be no more than a bug waiting to be crushed.

    Among those dispatched were the 16 Swords in their totality, and even those like ire and Serena.

    After all, Straea didn''t just provoke them with weak and minor forces.

    Malefice Straea himself was standing on a mountain peak awaiting his opponent.

    Malevalon was, at least to the knowledge of outsiders, alone within his manor, waiting to see whether his forces would achieve victory or fall in defeat.

    Of course, that could only be assumed, because none of them knew about the presence of countless Foreign Races living beneath the Northern Region.

    But Damien knew.

    And Damien wasn''t just going to let those nobles do as they pleased.

    He was already moving in order to stop them from seeding in their ns, and along the way

    He was running thebat circuit on his own, killing several Gods who weren''t matched with opponents.

    Though, it had been a considerable amount of time since Damien started fighting alone.

    Shouldn''t he have had somepany?

    Within the next few days, the entire world was covered in an aura of war.

    Battles raged on all over, mostly in ces where others couldn''t be harmed, but spanning such lengths that they were visible from faraway cities.

    The highest ss of society, themoners, and even beggars and wanderers who had no connections told stories about those battles.

    And among them, of the few that truly stood out

    Perhaps it was courteous to name the exploits of Damien''s wives first.

    After all, not only was this the first time they were really showing themselves to the world

    this was also the first time the world would be forced to etch their names into history.

    And when it came to those

    There would be many, many more in the future.

 Chapter 1553 Combat Circuit [1]

    Chapter 1553 Combat Circuit [1]

    ??Damien was quite kind to his wives. He definitely thrusted them into unexpected situations with his choice to deploy them, but it was never meant to harm them.

    Instead, it was meant to push them forward. He hadn''t been able to see them much, but he did spend several years with them in the time dtion during hisst visit to the pce.

    Some of them told him directly what they were feeling, while others hid it, not wanting to trouble him.

    But no matter what route they chose, they couldn''t hide their hearts from their own husband,

    Damien understood what they each craved and what they needed the most.

    Ruyue didn''t tell him what was happening to her, but he could see it.

    Her demeanor had changed quite noticeably, after all.

    He respected her decision. After all, if Ruyue thought her sacrifice was necessary, then who was he to tell her she was wrong?

    The fact that she''d madepromises for his sake and for the sake of their family was more than enough for him.

    However, was Ruyue truly okay with letting her entire world go?

    Damien remembered the version of her that blossomed during their adventures together in the Cloud ne.

    She was happy, expressive, andpletely different from the ice-cold woman he''d met originally.

    She''d returned to that ice-cold state, but she''d done it by choice and nature. It wasn''t necessarily a cover that hid her insecurity anymore.

    Still, Damien knew Ruyue. He knew the kind of person she was around him, and he didn''t want that side of her to slowly be killed.

    If she wanted the power of Absolute Yin, that was fine.

    But as long as he had any say in the matter, that power would not be allowed to take away things that were rightfully hers.

    Nevertheless, it wasn''t yet time for her to realize any of that.

    Currently, Ruyue stood on a frozenke in the middle of a tundra.

    This ce was in the Eastern Region, surprisingly enough considering the climate. It could be called a forbidden zone, but it really wasn''t one.

    It was at least three steps below a forbidden zone in danger, and when Ruyue was brought into this environment, that changed even more.

    Though, she wasn''t the one who picked it.

    Rather, a group of over ten Demigods had chosen this ce as their battleground.

    The Divinities of Straea weren''t given a totally specific order.

    They were told to spread out throughout the world and wait. If anyone appeared near them, kill without mercy.

    The Divinities roughly understood that they''d be facing enemies, but they didn''t know exactly who those enemies would be.

    This group of ten had grouped together specifically because they all had simr powers. Those powers would work even better in an environment where they had the advantage, so naturally, a tundra was perfect.

    They were practitioners of Ice Laws after all.

    Did Damien just want to get Ruyue out of the house or did he really mean for there to be a challenge here?

    Ruyue was honestly indifferent to this task already, but it still made her curious.

    After all, even if there were ten of them¡­

    WHOOOOOOOOSH!

    A huge breeze blew through the tundra.

    It seemed like a natural event, something caused by the harsh environment that this location was.

    However, it was anything but.

    The ten Demigods from Straea were not weak people. None of them were below middle rank, and three of them were even high rank.

    Yet, not a single one sensed Ruyue''s approach.

    Her pure white clothes were like a reflection of the surrounding snow. Her skin, and her piercing gold eyes made her seem like an embodiment of the tundra itself.

    Her steps did not taint the purity of the atmosphere. Rather, every step she took made thend feel more sacred than ever before.

    But the Divinity she carried was not one of hope or holiness.

    It was not a thing others could worship. Only something they could fear.

    She represented destruction.

    Death. Mayhem. Murder. Madness.

    If someone tested her patience, they would die.

    If someone touched her people, they would die.

    She walked down from the sky, her visage clearing up within the forming blizzard.

    The ten Demigods she was sent to face finally noticed her presence. They went on alert and immediately summoned their mana to attack.

    Their orders were clear. Anyone who approached needed to die. Other questions didn''t need to be asked.

    But Ruyue''s mentality was the same.

    VOOOOOOM!

    Ten Demigods held a whole lot of mana between them. As they exerted their power, the surrounding snow and ice camepletely under their control.

    Using theirws to manipte the ice''s properties, to make it deadly to Divinites, they shot countless attacks at the mysterious person in the sky, aiming to get rid of them in one go.

    Ruyue looked at the approaching storm without a change in expression.

    There was no need to waste time understanding what these people could do.

    Absolute Yin.

    A power she risked everything to obtain.

    If it wasn''t leagues above its peers, then why would it be deserving of such a price?

    SHING!

    Like a sword slicing through air, a crisp sound cut through the atmosphere.

    The Demigods on the ground collectively made sounds of surprise as they realized that their mana no longer followed their orders.

    It had been frozen.

    Their attacks no longer followed their orders.

    They had been frozen.

    Their bodies¡­no longer followed their orders.

    Their souls had been entrapped within a cage of Absolute Yin.

    To fight was to exert effort. To exert effort was to care.

    Ruyue, who no longer had the ability to care, no longer had the ability to fight.

    Her only choice was domination.

    Ice was one of the most basic aspects of Yin. It was the most essible, and also her own starting ce in thergerw that she only started to truly understandter on.

    Ice was very dear to her, despite being so basic.

    So when it came to maneuvering ice, Ruyue had expertise above anyone else.

    VOOOOOOM!

    Another explosion of mana, this time from her own body.

    RUMBLE!

    The entire earth shook. It was as if an earthquake had suddenly shot through the area, but that was an incorrect assumption.

    It was a hardly noticeable vibration in the grand scheme of things. It wasn''t as if the phenomenon made itself known to everyone, but anyone who managed to sense it immediately knew what it alluded to.

    Those ten Demigods were not a part of that group.

    For the ground under them was already unstable due to their extreme maniption of the elements. For the blizzard raging around them overstimted their senses and threw them off.

    Ruyue had taken control over everything.

    As long as it was Yin and existed within a range of ten thousand kilometers, it was now Ruyue''s weapon.

    And with that cmity''s worth of Yin in her possession¡­

    Ruyue made her move.

    The white nket of the tundra suddenly changed.

    It became bumpier, lined with hills and mountains of snow and ice that didn''t exist before.

    Not many people would ever know of what happened here.

    But maybe one day far in the future, someone would dig into one of those mountains and find something unexinable.

    The sight of ten perfectly preserved Demigods encased in ice.

 Chapter 1554 Combat Circuit [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1554 Combat Circuit [2]</h4>

    The four women who were married to Damien left the pce at roughly the same time, but they arrived at their given destinations at different times.

    Originally, Ruyue and Rose were meant to go together, but when she noticed how favorable the location she was given was to her, Ruyue went alone, leaving Rose without any particr assignment.

    Now, this was done out of care. Ruyue knew that Rose had no interest in these matters, so she took over, allowing her sister to stay away from battle.

    Plus, since she was confident in her power, she felt that it would be unnecessary for both of them to take the time to make the trip.

    It could be considered a side effect of the transformation Ruyue was undergoing, but she failed to take Rose''s opinion into ount.

    She unterally decided on the practicality of the situation and ignored the emotional aspects rted to it. She didn''t have an awareness of those emotional aspects anymore, after all.

    However, Rose had a bit of an awakening in recent days. Her views were still the same, but unlike before, she did want to leave the pce.

    What was she meant to do?

    Every Demigod group had been assigned to people from the pce army to help them train.

    There were a few unassigned targets, but they were all Gods. Either Damien would take care of them personally, or other Gods would take care of them once they finished their assigned missions.

    Rose suddenly found herself in a strange position where she didn''t really have a reason to leave the pce anymore but still wanted to.

    Finding a reason¡­

    Truthfully, it wasn''t something she needed to do. It wasn''t like her movements were being restricted. If she wanted to leave the pce, all she had to do was walk out.

    But the step she was trying to take was a big one.

    She''d lived for a long time without ever considering finding a goal for herself or some sort of hobby. She knew what she wanted, but at the same time, she felt like she could do more.

    This feeling motivated her to try something she''d never tried before, to try exploring the world purely out of the desire for self-discovery.

    However, it wasn''t easy to take that step.

    Damien''s deployment order was an excuse she could use to get herself out of the house. Everything else coulde after she''d finished her mission.

    Without a mission, the motivation she''d built up began to crumble.

    Ruyue acted out of consideration, sure, but she failed to realize that Rose''s situation wasn''t the same as before.

    And because of that, she''d almost ruined her sister''s opportunity.

    Luckily, there were still people at the pce willing to help.

    In Rose''s case, it was ire.

    Rose had forged a rtionship with her mother-inw that others couldn''tprehend.

    They were simr in many ways, and their husbands were equally simr.

    ire was someone who could rte to Rose perfectly and provide her guidance as someone older and wiser.

    If there was anyone who could see Rose''s internal struggle happening in real time, it was her.

    The deployment order was final. There really wasn''t a ce for Rose to intervene anymore since her ce had been taken.

    ire couldn''t really give Rose the exact same motivation that Damien had managed to give her.

    But it wasn''t a problem to do something different to obtain the same results.

    There was one other matter within the pce that held the same importance as the war with Straea.

    Dante Void.

    When Damien camest time and fed his father the Harmony Fruit, he didn''t stay to see what would happen afterward.

    He knew his mother would take care of his father better than anyone else could. Even before he brought the fruit, she''d been tending to him every day to make sure he could befortable.

    Dante was still trapped in his mind. That had yet to change.

    However, saying that there was no change would be a lie.

    Twitching.

    Subtle yet impactful, Dante''s body would twitch every few days.

    He had never been so responsive before.

    His eyelids would twitch asionally, and his eyes themselves frequently moved around. His body was less responsive, but even it would asionally show signs of life; a huge improvement from the state Dante had shown until now.

    He still didn''t react to external stimuli, but the signs indicating that he was slowly regaining his connection with his body meant everything to ire, Serena, and the rest.

    The Harmony Fruit was truly able to provide them with a miracle.

    Yet, it wasn''t enough.

    At this rate, Dante wouldn''t wake up for hundreds or even thousands of years. It was enough to make anyone lose hope. Anyone except for ire and Serena.

    The two took Damien''s sess with the Harmony Fruit quite seriously. It was no more than a rumor that had been spoken of a few times and recorded in history, but it had shown them such a beautiful result.

    As such, the two women sunk themselves in the history books, looking for something else that could provide a simr effect, something that could elerate Dante''s healing process.

    And while most clues led to nothing, there were a few worth investigating.

    Squads had already been made for these searches. Of the five leads that were worth following, four were already being actively chased.

    The team for the fifth was just recently getting ready to leave, but¡­

    Wasn''t it okay to hand their job to someone else?

    Rose''s power existed to protect.

    If she got into a perilous situation, it wasn''t hard for her to hide herself and escape.

    Rather, when it came to concealment, Rose''s ability to mimic reality made her second only to Damien himself.

    She didn''t need a team to go with her, and the forbidden zone she was getting sent to was quite the beautiful ce.

    In ire''s eyes, the situation that originally brought Rose down was actually perfect for her.

    Because rather than sending her to war, sending her on an adventure was far more valuable to her growth.

    Rose was a little iffy about it when ire first told her, but it didn''t take long for her to warm up to the idea.

    ''I need to get out of the house.''

    Regardless of the reason, she couldn''t stay cooped up anymore. Not if she wanted to better herself.

    It would be dangerous. It would be hard. It would be excruciating at times.

    But those moments could never outweigh the beauty that such adventures held.

    Rose learned that personally in the past, traveling the world with Damien.

    Perhaps she wasn''t following the same path as everyone else.

    Perhaps her motivations and desires didn''t make sense to others.

    But they were her own, and she didn''t want to abandon them just because they were unconventional.

    Despite her rtive disinterest in it all, Rose was quite excited as she left the pce.

    With ire cheering her on from behind and with everyone else silently supporting her happiness, Rose made her way to the Western Region.

    Thend of Dragons that no other had ever visited¡­

    She was going to try and find her way in.

 Chapter 1555 Combat Circuit [3]

    1555 Combat Circuit [3]

    Rose didn''t care for battle, Ruyue did it out of necessity, and Iris was experienced enough to view it as a sport.

    The only one among them who really enjoyed battle to its fullest was Elena.

    She was also the only one who had any particr excitement for the war itself, rather than just the things that came along with the deployment notice.

    Elena had multiple purposes for leaving the pce, but fighting Straea was one of the main ones.

    This was where Rose and Ruyue differed heavily. Even Iris wasn''t so much interested in the war as she was in the side quest she''d given herself recently.

    Obviously, they all knew that the war was important. When Straea was gone, Void Pce would be able to expand its rule far more than ever before. Moreover, with all internal enemies gone, they could properly focus on the Foreign Races.

    However, they just weren''t strong enough to make a real difference. The true powers in this world were all Gods. Without the strength to fight against them, their worth was only a little better than dirt. What was the point of being overly involved with a war like that?

    Even if their goal was to help Damien or help the pce, there were better ways than joining the war.

    Nevertheless, Elena loved to fight. Straea was a perfect test dummy, an influence that could constantly provide her with strong enemies to test herself against.

    Since Damien had given her a gift, assigning her a group of

    Demigods to fight and leaving the door open for her to fight more, she naturally wouldn''t decline his good intentions.

    ''As for the Valkyries...''

    She didn''t have any clues, and she didn''t know where to start looking. It was more of a problem to think about it than to try and solve it for now, so she left it in the back of her mind.

    ''If I find something, I can put my full attention into it. Until then, there''s no point in obsessing over something that won''t get me anywhere!

    Despite what she said, Elena continued pondering the matter of her heritage until she reached the site of her battle.

    Unlike Ruyue, she didn''t approach quietly.

    The group of what was meant to be ten or so Demigods was no longer just that much.

    Apparently, a few incidents in the past few days led to Demigods formingrger groups as they feared extermination.

    Twenty-five Divinities stood against Elena now. Ten of them were high-rank Demigods, while the other fifteen were middle-rank. ''Well, this might be a bit...''

    "How''s everyone doing, gentlemen?"

    Elena''s approach was an unexpected one, but the people she faced didn''t act like those Ruyue encountered.

    Rather, they looked at her in confusion, questioning if this single woman was really nning to challenge all of them.

    It just didn''t seem possible.

    And with how awkwardly Elena had entered the area, could anyone make the assumption that she was trying to attack?

    ''It''s not like it''s my fault!

    It wasn''t her fault she got carried away by thoughts and forgot to make a cool entrance. Not everything needed to be made into a show, right?

    Still, since they reacted so strangely to her presence, she figured she might as well exploit the opportunity.

    "I''m going to need all of you to die. Thanks."Read most urately at no.(v).el...

    Transcended Death. It had a lot of ws, but it was a Divinity Elena had beenprehending since before it was even a Divinity.

    As a result, she had a lot more control over it than most people did their Divinities before they ascended to Godhood.

    Transcended Death, when Elena first discovered it, was meant to be Life that conquered Death.

    It was a way to live longer, and it was a way to control Death through Life.

    However, it had evolved past that point with time.

    Transcended Death not only meant using Life to transcend Death.

    It now meant Elena could transcend Death through even Death itself.

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    Simr to Ruyue''s strategy, Elena sent a rush of wind at her targets.

    As if to juxtapose the pure white winds of the tundra, the winds Elena released were pure ck in color.

    It was a deathly wind, and as it blew over the group of twenty-five before her, they all became wary.

    "She''s attacking."

    It wasn''t a cry of surprise, but a calm statement.

    The deathly mist was dangerous. It messed with their senses and confused them. However, the fact that their opponent was only a single person who wasn''t stronger than their average fighter changed everything.

    They didn''t need to be overly wary of such an enemy:

    Instead, as long as they worked together, defeating her would be a piece of cake.

    ...or so they thought.

    The deathly mist felt like it was made of Death Laws, which would make most people fall into a trap they couldn''t escape from.

    See, when people encountered Death Laws, their instinct was to protect their bodies with a shell of mana, making sure that the death couldn''t actually touch them.

    Without the physical touch, Death Laws that weren''t used by an expert would be far less effective, and if the mana barrier was thick enough, it couldpletely repel them.

    However, Life Laws were different. Life Laws didn''t need physical touch. They were able to affect things just by being near them.

    There was also a method to protect against this kind of attack, and it was just as obvious as using a shell to block mana out.

    However, if it wasn''t used, what was the point of its simplicity?

    The twenty-five Demigods got into formation, entering a state where none of them would ever be unguarded.

    Elena prowled in the darkness, watching their every move.

    ''They''re good!

    They''d effectively removed her chance to stealthily take them down one by one.

    ''But it''s not enough!

    The current Elena wasn''t someone who needed to use tricks like that.

    ''Yggdrasil!

    It was a move that she''d used plenty of times in the past.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Tendrils of thick wood burst out of the earth and weaved themselves together into a massive tree.

    The tree extended its roots for thousands of kilometers within a few seconds, putting the entire area inside a domain ofw.

    ''Nice!

    That was more than enough setup.

    With Yggdrasil and the deathly mist working together, there wasn''t really much she actually needed to do.

    As long as those Demigods weren''t allowed to leave the radius of those two forces for a prolonged period of time, all of their life force would eventually be sucked away and plundered.

    But such a slow style of fighting just wasn''t Elena''s style.

    She''d kill her enemies before her passives could.

    ''Alright. With everything set up, I should be good to start testing!''

    Elena was fighting this battle not only for experience and enjoyment, but to test the attacks and techniques she''d created during her time in seclusion.

    When she first saw twenty-five people waiting for her, she was a bit intimidated.

    However, the instant she realized that more enemies just meant more chances to test her attacks, Elena''s expression lit up.

    This battle would be great fun for her.

    But for her enemies...

    Well, they had definitely seen better days. That much could never be argued.bender

 Chapter 1556 Combat Circuit [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1556 Combat Circuit [4] </h4>

    Within the fog, a group of men raised their weapons.

    They didn''t attack needlessly, but their mana had been spread through the air to make sure nothing could enter their attack radius without being sensed.

    Elena knew this.

    She stayed outside and trailed in the mist, concealing herself from their senses.

    Only, she couldn''t attack carelessly.

    Just a few moments ago, she assured herself that she didn''t need to hide away and attack anymore. She had the power to fight from the front without fear.

    However, if she wanted to use these men as test subjects, she needed to be a bit more sneaky.

    BANG!

    The roots of Yggdrasil flew out of the ground and attacked the group.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    shes of mana lit up the ck deathly mist, turning it into a colorful swarm of energy.

    Unlike Ruyue''s group, these men didn''t all use the same element, so their formation was a bit more chaotic. That didn''t mean that they were weak, though.

    The twenty-five of them had ample time to prepare before anyone arrived to challenge them. They''d be familiar with each other, and for the sake of their formation, they''d learned to arrange themselves in a way where they didn''t interfere with each other as they fought.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The vitality-filled roots of Yggdrasil weren''t easy to destroy. Any time they were broken apart, they''d rebuild themselves and continue their attacks.

    They were burned by me practitioners, frozen by ice practitioners, cut apart by those who used wind, and scorched by lightning.

    Still, Elena let them continue their fruitless attack.

    Yggdrasil was only a distraction, after all.

    BANG!

    Suddenly, a hidden root sprung up from underneath one of the Demigods, wrapping itself around his waist.

    "AHHHHH!"

    He yelled as he wasunched into the air. Those around him turned to look at him, but before they could help, they were attacked specifically by Yggdrasil.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The three people who had the chance to aid their fellow were immediately forced to focus on their own well-being.

    BOOM!

    Meanwhile, the Demigod in the sky destroyed the root that held him and stabilized himself in the air.

    He looked around, trying to find the woman who was attacking them, but she found him before he could find her.

    "Hello!"

    Elena smiled.

    She was right behind him. He didn''t realize it until she spoke.

    It was already toote for him.

    She grabbed his skull in a simr fashion to how Damien grabbed Duke Horacio, and just like her husband, she pushed heaps of mana into her enemy''s body.

    VOOOOOOOOM!

    The result waspletely different.

    Elena used Life Laws and some Death Laws. She didn''t have the ability to attack someone''s mind.

    However, her power could do far scarier things to someone''s body.

    CRACK! CRUNCH!

    As her mana flowed through the man''s internals, he started morphing.

    His bones snapped out of ce and elongated. His muscles became bigger and more grotesque. His human appearancepletely disappeared, reced with that of a monster.

    Bones jutted out of his back to create wings and out of his head to create horns. Blood covered his torso, thickening until it became an imprable armor.

    Life Laws didn''t only epass the ethereal aspects of the concept. It wasn''t just about siphoning vitality and creating manifestations of life.

    Elena could effectively turn biological matter into whatever she wanted it to be.

    And in this situation, she chose a monstrosity.

    OOOOOOOOOH!

    The monster that was once a man howled. It was a sound of agony and madness as the man''s mind was corrupted by the pain he suffered.

    Though his mind was still his own¡­

    "Go."

    ¡­he could no longer control his body.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The man mmed down into the ground, returning to his peers. However, he was no longer their ally.

    OOOOOOOOH!

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The Ishtar hended, his bones elongated by several tens of feet, turning into spider legs that cut into his surroundings and skewered anything they could touch.

    Eight of the twenty-five Demigods were impaled by his bone spikes, and as if that wasn''t enough, the instant he pierced them, he sucked them dry.

    Their vitality became his own, empowering the ughter of his remaining former allies.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Chaos ensued once more.

    Rather than chasing their main enemy, the Straea Demigods were forced to focus on their own ally.

    He caused immense damage. After those eight people died, it became even easier for him to kill.

    However, after those eight were killed, the others stopped ignoring him and focused all their power on him.

    BANG!

    With the convoluted body structure that he now held breaking down with every second, and with attacks peppering him from all sides, the transmuted man exploded into a shower of blood and bits as Elena watched from the sky.

    ''It''s good for temporary use, but I guess you need to spend some time on it if you want to make a homunculus or chimera that can be used more than once.''

    It was good knowledge for her, who never really experimented on humans before.

    ''Now then¡­''

    There was more to do.

    Transmutation was the most basic move. Once she gained Divinity and her control rose, it was the first thing she figured out she could do.

    And with it, she was able to turn twenty-five into fifteen.

    ''Maybe wide-area attacks aren''t the move right now.''

    If she killed them off too fast, she wouldn''t be able to test as many things.

    ''If I want to kill them one by one¡­''

    First off, she needed to test how her powers of transmutation worked on her own body.

    ''The perfect battle form.''

    She''d already theorized it. She never tested it on herself because she didn''t want to risk transforming without being able to control it, but she didn''t have that worry anymore.

    When she turned that man into a monster, she was able to carefully and precisely manipte every part of the transformation.

    She knew she could change herself back to normal if she wished for it.

    Therefore, there was nothing left to worry about.

    BANG!

    It was the sound of Yggdrasil being torn apart.

    The tree used the vitality of the surroundingnd to support its power, so it couldn''t be destroyed so easily, but it still needed time to channel that power.

    With its trunk damaged and its roots destroyed, it needed to recover before it could attack again.

    The fifteen remaining enemies turned their eyes to the sky as the deathly mist began to clear, finally getting a clear picture of Elena.

    However, she was no longer the Elena they saw when she first arrived.

    Just like the being that had attacked them earlier, she looked like a monster.

    But her form was far more refined.

    Like a beautiful demon whose only purpose for existence was to reap the lives of others, she was covered in a ckness that couldn''t be exined.

    Her bone wings were graceful, not gruesome. Her horns were ornate as if she was demonic royalty.

    Her body was optimized forbat in a way they couldn''t understand, because the majority of the changes took ce internally.

    They looked at her and she looked at them.

    For a split second, only silence reigned in the atmosphere.

    And then¡­

    Both parties attacked.

    The silence was the first thing to be destroyed.

 Chapter 1557 Combat Circuit [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1557 Combat Circuit [5]</h4>

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Elena shot into the ground with speed far exceeding what the monstrosity she created before could replicate.

    This transformation was like the next level of the abilities she started to develop when she was just a girl.

    The desire she once had to be an infinitebatant who never got tired, this was the peak of it that she could aplish at her current level.

    Stamina didn''t exist in her mind when she was in this form. Exhaustion was the same.

    Power was not a problem, because her current physical strength could even rival Damien to an extent.

    The current Elena was truly a monster. If it wasn''t for her beautiful appearance, nobody would have ever believed she was a human.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    She immediately went to work, disarming the people around her.

    Her hands flicked forth, and miniature explosions of vitality overran the hands of those in her immediate vicinity, causing them to explode.

    Naturally, those people dropped their weapons.

    SHIK!

    Elena''s hand turned into a w and stabbed through the neck of the man to her right.

    BANG!

    He immediately lit his body on fire withw to try to injure her. His life may have been reaching an end with her move, but that didn''t mean he would just allow her to kill him.

    WHOOOOOSH!

    The mes enveloped Elena, turning her into a torch and a clear target for the rest.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    It wasn''t Elena this time.

    Countless attacks flooded her position as she was revealed to them all.

    ''Damn!''

    She dodged and weaved as much as she could, but it was impossible to avoid everything.

    BANG!

    A hit to her right side flung her left into the path of another.

    BOOM!

    It hit her straight in the chest, forcing her to cough up blood as she took several steps back.

    The fire around her wasn''t a problem. Her skin was like ayer of scales, not allowing the high temperatures to actually affect her internal body.

    However, the physical impacts she took still caused damage.

    ''[Heal].''

    It wasn''t the same [Heal] skill that Damien used, but the effect was right about the same.

    Elena''s blood returned to her body and her injuries disappeared. She stomped on the ground, mming into the air as the enemies approached her.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    A third test, but one that didn''t matter as much.

    It was more of a curiosity than anything else.

    Could Life Laws on their own be used offensively?

    Elena knew she could overload people with vitality and force their bodies to expel it topensate. This action would usually cause internal explosions and severe injury.

    The problem was that if she wanted to affect more than a single body part, she needed to precisely calcte how much vitality it would take to overload the individual she was targeting. Otherwise, she would just be healing them.

    The shots she fired were not calcted.

    Instead, they were pumped with as much vitality as Elena could produce in that short span of time and thrown wildly into the crowd.

    They did cause explosions, but they didn''t affect the environment. The energy flowed out and hit everyone nearby.

    For the most part, it was ineffective. The majority of her enemies saw themselves getting a slight buff, while others didn''t receive anything at all.

    Just one person was hit directly by the st, and he was surely overloaded.

    His body ballooned into something inhuman, almost like a certain blueberry from media, and exploded into a blood mist.

    It seemed to be the staple when Elena killed someone.

    Nevertheless, the attack was mostly unsessful.

    Including the man that just died and the man she''d killed earlier, her current form had onlyted her three kills. It wasn''t much, but she was trying to aim for individuals rather than the group, so it was expected.

    ''Twelve left.''

    In her current form, if she wanted to, she could absolutely challenge them in closebat and win.

    That was the assurance that she wanted to gain from this experiment, and since she had it, there was no reason to continue.

    This was a test run, after all. It wasn''t a battle for her to use her everything.

    One by one, she was putting the pieces into motion and turning her strength into something it had never been before.

    She was reaching her best state as the threat of true death became a real factor in her mind.

    That feeling, chilling yet thrilling, invigorated her mind.

    She couldn''t get enough of it.

    It wasn''t as if her enemies were weak.

    Of the twelve that were left, ten of them were the original high-

    rank Demigods. Those men hadn''t been injured severely by Yggdrasil or anything that followed its appearance.

    They were the ones Elena could only fight against if she used her full power, and while she didn''t do it intentionally, she eventually started saving them forter.

    The two remaining middle-rank Demigods were at the back of the pack.

    The deaths of their peers had reminded them of their mortality. They couldn''t charge into battle confidently knowing that they were just cogs in the machine.

    However, would Elena allow them to hide?

    Of course not!

    Until the two of them died, she couldn''t focus on her dessert!

    VOOOOOOOM!

    A huge aura of life spread through thend.

    Yggdrasil was finally back in action.

    Its roots were already known by the enemy. Its recovery wasn''t a surprise to them.

    The ten high-rank Demigods immediately put up their defenses and started attacking to incapacitate the tree again.

    As for the two behind them¡­

    Frankly, the high-ranks couldn''t care about them anymore.

    And without their protection, the two of them didn''t really stand any chance.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    Two roots of Yggdrasil spurted out from below them, aiming to grab them as they''d grabbed the man before.

    One of the high-rank Demigods noticed and attacked backward, shooting bursts of high-intensity me at the roots.

    These mes were blue and contained properties of ice, both cooling and heating at the same time.

    He remembered what had happened before.

    That monstrosity was killed easily because there were a lot of them, but if two more appeared at this time, it would cause chaos.

    He didn''t want the roots to take the two middle-rank Demigods, but how was he supposed to stop it while also attacking Yggdrasil and protecting his allies?

    He couldn''t.

    It was as simple as that.

    And rather than having more threats to threaten their remaining forces¡­

    ¡­he''d much rather get rid of the weak links who made them subject to such threats.

    "AHHHHHHHHH!"

    Two agonizing screams rang out.

    The blue mes enveloped not only the roots of the tree, but also the two men those roots were trying to grab.

    Their skin was burned off instantly, and their insides cooled to dangerous temperatures.

    Eventually¡­

    BANG!

    BANG!

    He stopped hesitating and made the decisive move.

    ¡­those two middle-rank Demigods were burnt to a crisp and turned into nothing more than ash.

    Ten remained.

    Ten strong enough to defeat Elena on their own.

    And facing them, Elena''s eyes widened in concentration.

    This was the main course but also the dessert.

    This was where she''d truly allow her skills to shine.

    ''Rise.''

    An army of her own, an army that she hadn''t called in a very long time.

    The warriors of Valha, those lost souls who swore their allegiance to her¡­

    They appeared in the Heavenly World for the first time.

    With bloodlust that simply couldn''t be contained.

 Chapter 1558 Combat Circuit [6]

    1558 Combat Circuit [6]

    Elena stopped pursuing her Valkyrie heritage in the sense of power when she put her whole heart into Transcended Death. At that time, the armies of Valha that she''d raised also became useless.

    But she didn''t want topletely throw them away. After all, they were incredibly useful and loyal to only her.

    The main reason Elena hadn''t used them in a long time was simply because her fighting style changed.

    When she was young, she was a closebatant. As she grew, she slowly became someone who fought from the backlines. And as her Divinity formed, shaping her power to be truest to her, she gained the ability to do both without losing anything.

    Her potential was maximized, and suddenly, she realized how to connect her Valkyrie heritage with the Transcended Death that she now prioritized.

    This way, it could still be a piece of her power without inhibiting her.

    It was difficult for the majority of her Valkyrie-rted skills, but the Souls of Valha werepletely different.

    They epted her power without any issues, as if they''d been born to control death from the start.

    And they evolved.

    Their pure white appearances were shifted into a mixture between darkness and light. Their empty souls now contained true vitality, and in a certain sense, they had been reborn.

    They still used their signature weapons, but they weren''t all closebatants anymore. They''d gained a variety of sses that could work together to achieve stupendous results.

    Elena had never been able to actually test them. She''d enhanced them to the best of her current abilities, but they had never used those powers against enemies.

    After all, the Souls of Valha were not living humans, so they did not respond well to simtions and other simr training methods.

    This was truly their first time in this world, and facing ten high-rank Demigods in their first battle, their fighting spirits soared.

    000000000OH!

    It was a roar filled with spirit,pletely different from that of the monstrosity Elena created before.

    It was thebined chant of over ten thousand troops who''d appeared in this ce. Ten thousand immortal soldiers who were more than ready to die endlessly for their Empress.

    They charged without hesitation, understanding their orders without being told.

    Suddenly, Elena found herself an observer in the battle she was supposed to be fighting.

    ''I expected them to have fun, but I didn''t expect them to be like this!

    These were soldiers she''d created a personal connection with over time.

    When they originally found her, they were wandering souls without names or egos. That wasn''t the case anymore.

    Each of them remembered the name they held in the past. They regained their egos, and they consciously made the choice to serve Elena, acknowledging their current form.

    These troops weren''t puppets anymore. They were actual warriors of Valha who wanted nothing more than to see blood again after being reborn.

    And the disy they put on made that painfully obvious.

    They outnumbered the enemy 1000 to 1. They were fragile, sure, but there was no way they''d actually disappear unless Elena decided they needed to cease existing.

    And until she ran out of mana, they wouldn''t stop attacking.

    With ten thousand warriors flooding the area, the ten high-rank Demigods were rapidly separated from each other.

    Each and every one of them was surrounded by a swarm of warriors who cut with their weapons, threw magical attacks filled with the power of Transcended Death, and did anything possible to draw their blood.

    What made it worse was that nothing they did was able to stop the swarm.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Fire, water, ice, earth, lightning, blood, wind...

    It didn''t matter whatw they used; the impact they could actually make was negligible.

    When the Souls of Valha died, their corpses would be a ghostly fog that held its enemy''s legs and trapped them in ce.

    The other souls would then crowd the area and use the opportunity to attack.

    That was it, right?

    Wrong.

    The more one killed, the more stuck one would be.

    And as more souls died and became fog, those who originally formed the fog would revive and return to battle.

    It was unending. The situation was absolutely unsalvageable.

    please! People turn to the website <nove ln ext.c~om>

    Two of the high-rank Gods gave up and died after ten minutes of this constant torment.

    As for the other eight...

    ''At least a few of them should be feeling it by now!

    Their bodies became heavier, sluggish. Even without the ghostly fog, they felt like they were moving through msses.

    Their eyelids especially. It was hard to keep them up, and a sudden wave of exhaustion made five of the eight drop to their knees and sumb to the swarm around them.

    They couldn''t see it, but they were much skinnier now than they were when the battle first started.

    Their ribs were poking through their chests, and their eyes were sunken in like zombies.

    They''d never realized it because Elena never gave them a second to rest, but the reason she attacked so constantly was also for that exact reason.

    The faster they expended energy, the faster they were drained.

    And now that so much time had passed...

    Wasn''t it about now that thebined effects of Yggdrasil and the deathly mist should''ve started working their magic?

    The life-siphoning effect may have been the most basic aspect of Life Laws, but its potential was extremely high.

    Even at the highest levels of existence, people had vitality. Vitality actually became more important in Divinity and Godhood.

    The ability to siphon it meant that not only could one slowly whittle away at and defeat their enemy, but one could weaken their Divinity by draining their vitality.

    These high-rank Demigods were effectively middle-rank, while those deceased middle-rank Demigods had been suppressed to low-rank.

    And since they''d never made moves to eliminate the siphoning effect from their bodies...

    They were now feeling the effects of having no vitality to support them.

    Those five who fell to their knees died immediately. They didn''t have enough strength to survive against Elena when they weren''t fighting back.

    As for thest three, two of them managed to stay on their feet with sheer will, while thest was inching closer to death with every passing second.

    "These three...''

    The fact that they were still alive was genuinely impressive.

    Even if it was Elena herself, if her vitality was being siphoned at an unrestricted rate, she''d be exhausted within an hour at most.

    Her vitality was monstrous due to her Laws and Divinity. For people who were more normal in these aspects...even five minutes was too long to hope for.

    ''Damn!

    There was no hope for any of them. If she even tapped them, they''d die on their own.

    ''I shouldn''t have brought out the army. It just ended everything too fast!''

    She scratched her head awkwardly as she watched those three

    slowly drown in a sea of souls, turning into bloody splotches on the ground.

    ''I guess I have to find some more of them to practice on!

    If anyone thought she was done here, they were severely underestimating the amount of time she had to hypothesize countless techniques.

    ''But it''s fun!

    Being out in the outside world was great.

    And as long as she continued on like this...

    ...I don''t think catching up to him will always just be a dream!

 Chapter 1559 Abandoned [1]

    1559 Abandoned [1]

    Ruyue''s victory, Elena''s victory, neither were the first to happen.

    The first victory actually happened in a ce nobody could expect, a ce where nobody was watching.

    The first victory of the war took ce when a group of Demigods from the pce whose names had been written in no history books arrived at their target location and eliminated those they were ordered to eliminate.

    They didn''t make a fuss over it. They didn''t try to gain recognition. Theypleted their task and returned to the pce without another word.

    That was the start of it.

    All around the world, countless battles took ce.

    Void Pce and Straea had been at odds for too long for either side to hold back as they finally shed head-to-head.

    Sometimes they lost, sometimes they won. People on both sides died at a rtively consistent rate for the most part, but once the real experts of the pce made their entrance, the scales tipped in their favor.

    All of these battles were taking ce at rtively the same time.

    There was something of a difference between their timing since it took different amounts of time to reach the battle locations, however, as they all took ce within a week of each other, this period of time was considered a time of reckoning in the Heavenly World.

    Nobody was safe.

    Hundreds of cities and towns were destroyed. Even more people died.

    And through it all, the conflict between the pce and the Straea n continued to heighten.

    It was rare for people to live in an area where they couldn''t feel the trembling of the earth.

    It was as if the entire Heavenly World was shivering, wondering when the war between its denizens would finally be over.

    Luckily for it, this war was taking ce in the shortest span of time possible.

    The way Straea set up this confrontation made it so it would all end fast.

    Everyone was fighting at the same time, so the results of this war woulde out by the end of the month.

    However, because all the battles were taking ce adjacently, reinforcing another group was simply impossible for the most part.

    Damien had to move fast during this time. He was mediating everything and making sure everything would end with Void Pce''s victory.

    He''d already defeated five Gods from Straea. As he continued looking over the Straea groups, he realized that Duke Horacio was actually not like the rest.

    He originally believed the Foreign Races had nted themselves within Straea to try and kill him, but that wasn''t correct.

    It was really only Horacio.

    The rest¡­

    Well, the rest had actually withdrawn.

    When Horacio was converted, Damienpletely removed the Sacred Abyss Universe''s influence on him. As such, the Foreign Nobility believed he had died.

    They didn''t know he was still alive as Damien''s ve.

    Considering that a Duke had died, they realized that they had to be a bit more careful with Damien.

    They had to send either a group of Dukes or a Grand Duke to stand against him.

    And if they wanted to eliminate himpletely, they first needed to separate him from everything that could protect him.

    Damien was somewhat safe, but notpletely.

    He had a moment of respite as the Foreign Races regrouped, but a moment was only a moment.

    They wanted him dead no matter what, which meant there was no way for him to escape the threat to his life unless they all died.

    The war was, of course, Damien''s main priority.

    But there were a few more things he was paying attention to.

    After all, the world was too big for the war to be the only thing happening.

    Damien was currently far away from society, in a ce that was made specifically so that others couldn''t find it.

    Here, there were four people who were hiding away, trying to avoid all conflict until they could return to their primes.

    They were the 4 Evils.

    Envy, whom Damien had met before, sparked something inside of him.

    Was itpassion?

    He went sure.

    Whatever it was, it was a feeling that he never really entertained.

    As such, he was curious about their group, about them who seemed to be headed towards reform.

    Envy had already been home for several days. She''d already exined her encounter with Damien to her peers, and she''d already fed Wrath the fruit he''d given her.

    Originally, there was a lot of confusion about how she''d returned.

    It became evident that Damien knew where they were hiding, which was incredibly dangerous for them.

    However, Envy cated their wariness.

    If he wanted them dead, he never would have let her go.

    He never would''ve given her the means to cure Wrath.

    However, even she wasn''t expecting him to visit.

    He just appeared in their small hideout as if nothing was wrong.

    And immediately, they all put up their guards.

    Damien looked around.

    Lust and Gluttony looked the same as before. Envy was looking healthier than she did when he saw her on Ice Luan Mountain, while Wrath''s body was covered in bandages that he hid under his clothing.

    "You guys are¡­"

    He didn''t want to say it, but it came out subconsciously.

    "Never mind, don''t worry about it."

    He decided against saying thest word, since he didn''te here to form enmity with them.

    "You¡­"

    Wrath growled at him.

    This entire situation was sudden and confusing. His instinctive reaction was to show hostility and try to establish dominance.

    It was animalistic, but it made sense considering his circumstances.

    "Rx," Damien said, not letting him say anymore.

    "I''m not here to fight you. I''m here to offer you an opportunity."

    "I don''t want your goddamn¨C"

    "Stop!"

    Envy stood in front of Wrath and stopped him.

    "Let''s listen to him first. If he really says something preposterous, then we can talk about it then. Don''t cause problems where you don''t need to."

    She was the only one who had epted the situation for what it was.

    A man with untold power was in front of them telling them he''de bearing gifts.

    This was a man who only she truly understood the heights of, a man who they absolutely couldn''t offend.

    Even if he came here to kill them, it wasn''t as if they could do anything about it.

    So what was the harm in listening to his offer?

    "Tch."

    Wrath clicked his tongue and looked away.

    Envy was¡­

    She was the only person he''d listen to.

    She''d gone to such lengths to save him. He couldn''t just stand here and argue with her when she clearly only had his best interests in mind.

    Damien calmly waited for them to sort themselves out.

    ''Maybe I should stop teleporting ces.''

    He wondered if it was better to enter naturally so these interactions could take ce as they were meant to.

    ''Nah, it''s too troublesome.''

    In the end, it was easier for him to just do things the way he wanted to.

    Others would eventually ept it.

    Nevertheless, with Wrath cated and the rest still watching him with the same wary expressions, he said his piece:

    "Let me enter your minds."

    That was his main purpose ining here. He wanted to see what was going on in the minds of the other Evils, to see if Envy''s change was consistent or unique to her.

    "If I like what I see¡­"

    He didn''te empty-handed.

    He truly did bring them an opportunity. It was just a matter of whether they saw it as one or not.

    "I''ll return all of you to Divinity and heal your injuries."

    The only caveat was that they''d have toy down their arms and never act against the pce again.

    Even as they listened to him, it seemed too good to be true.

    But Damien never did things without purpose.

    And when he''d already set a precedent of being willing to help¡­

    It wasn''t too much to just let him do what he wanted, right?

 Chapter 1560 Abandoned [2]

    Chapter 1560 Abandoned [2]

    ??"I''m not doing it."

    The four were alone now. Damien had given them some space so they could calmly make their decisions.

    "Wrath!" Envy eximed, looking at him like he was stupid.

    "Why do you have to be so stubborn? All we have to do is this one thing and we can get everything we wished for. Our dreams don''t have to stay dreams!"

    She couldn''t believe his decision. He''d said it the moment Damien left, and no matter how much she tried to convince him, he just didn''t budge.

    "I said I''m not doing it. I''m not letting that bastard into my brain." Wrath snarled.

    He knew what the benefits were, and he knew that he was making the wrong choice.

    But he just couldn''t let it happen.

    He didn''t want Damien to have control over him.

    He very clearly remembered what happened thest time he did that.

    He''d been betrayed, thrown away, and forced to suffer torments that not even the worst criminals deserved.

    But it was more than that.

    Wrath was an emotional person. He usually acted out before he could think things through. However, he wasn''tpletely stupid.

    He already knew that Damien didn''t want them. If he did, he would''ve done something a lot more than this to try and get them on his side.

    The way he looked at them was different.

    Rather than living humans, he looked at them like experiments.

    Damien wanted to see inside their minds. From Envy''s exnation, it didn''t seem like he did this intrusively.

    However, that didn''t change anything.

    Damien wanted the information inside their heads. He wanted to see what was happening and why it was happening.

    The idle curiosity that his actions represented was horrifying to someone like Wrath. The fact that his suffering and his memories would be food for someone else to merely satisfy their curiosity.

    Wasn''t he worth more than that?

    He had pride too. It may have been stomped out countless times, but he didn''t want to lose the smidgen of it that he still possessed.

    It was the only thing keeping him sane.

    Envy couldn''t understand that feeling, because she''d already thrown her pride away for survival.

    It wasn''t like Wrath disproved of her decision, but that wasn''t the one he made.

    He wanted to preserve his dignity however he could, and if that meant he had to stay crippled, then so be it.

    He would just rely on himself to return to his peak, and if that didn''t work, then he''d ept his end knowing that he managed to maintain his integrity.

    His deepest desires, the things he never let anyone see¡­

    He just couldn''t let a man like Damien get so deep into his psyche.

    "Lust, what about you?" Envy asked with an exhausted sigh.

    Lust nced at her and Wrath, shaking her head.

    "I''m doing it."

    She didn''t have many thoughts about it.

    Regardless of the method, as long as she could get her power back, she''d do anything.

    If selling herself to that man was the solution, then there was nothing else to be said.

    Gluttony didn''t say anything as usual. He was there, but even his own peers acted like he didn''t exist.

    After all, he was more of a mascot than an actual person.

    He never spoke, and from the way his eyes never changed, it didn''t seem like he ever had a single thought inside his head.

    He would act on orders when he needed to, and he''d protect hisrades as well. But the motivations he held, the personality he had, anything about him other than his power was unknown to even the 4 Evils.

    Gluttony was just there.

    No matter what happened, he''d always be there.

    That was why he still remained as part of their group.

    "Wrath, is there really no way¡­?"

    Envy wanted them all to stay together. Moreover, between her and Wrath¡­

    Nevertheless, she didn''t want Wrath to stay broken as the rest of them healed.

    However¡­

    "There isn''t. I won''t let it happen."

    ¡­she never had a chance from the start.

    He simply wasn''t going to change his stance.

    Whoosh!

    A slight breeze kicked up as Damien returned to the hideout.

    He looked around, gauging their expressions.

    "Then, two of you? Or is it three?"

    Damien nced at Gluttony.

    "Just as nd as ever, eh?"

    He acted strangely in their opinion, but it wasn''t strange to Damien. He knew them quite well after seeing Envy''s memories, after all.

    In fact, among the people who were in this room, he was the only one who truly understood the things they''d been put through during the period they were tortured.

    "It''s just me and Gluttony. You''ve already read Envy''s mind, so you don''t need to do it again, right?" Lust said, her tone much more uncooperative than her words.

    "Wrong," Damien responded.

    "I need to see Envy''s mind too. But it doesn''t look like she has a problem with that."

    Envy nodded, shaking slightly.

    ''As for thest one¡­''

    Damien pretty much expected it from Wrath. That man wasn''t the type to bend or break for anyone.

    Even after everything Straea put him through, he stood strong like this and kept his pain inside.

    It was his way of coping.

    Damien couldn''t judge him, for he was the same at a certain point in his life.

    He absolutely knew what it was like to be at the lowest point, where one''s pride was the only thing keeping one alive.

    Therefore, he didn''t n to push Wrath into doing anything he didn''t want to.

    He respected the man''s pride.

    "Then, let''s get it on with. I don''t have much time, and I''m sure you guys don''t want me sticking around too long either."

    Envy and Lust.

    Damien wanted to see their existences because he wanted to see how humans could change.

    They were people very different from the ones he''d met. Was it because their true selves were being overshadowed by their circumstances, or had they truly changed?

    Damien read Envy again to see how her interactions with her peers had changed since she returned from Ice Luan Mountain, and as hepared her memories against Lust''s¡­

    ''Maybe I should change.''

    He was always someone who killed first and asked questionster.

    Maybe it was okay for him to start offering his enemies other routes.

    Of course, that didn''t mean he''d change where it counted most, but there were definitely some who could be redeemed, such as the 4 Evils.

    Envy and Lust were different in many ways. The way they approached the situation they were in was different as well.

    Still, they both had the same underlying sentiment.

    They were done with their lives of needless evil.

    It was simply too tiring.

    Lust wanted to be someone for herself, so she could regain the confidence to be proud.

    As for Envy, she wanted a life in the mountains, peaceful and unbothered by society.

    She only wanted power for longevity and self-protection.

    They would likely separate after he healed them, and they''d go on their own paths.

    Lust would probably be a practitioner again, and due to the nature of her power, she''d probablymit a lot of evil deeds.

    But Damien didn''t care about that.

    A practitioner was a practitioner. It was impossible to define them within the bounds of good and evil.

    Lust did not want to be an enemy of the world anymore. Even if she did evil deeds, she would never cross the line ever again.

    And that was what mattered most to Damien.

    Yet, he still didn''t receive the answer he wanted most.

    That didn''t exist in Envy or Lust. It didn''t exist in Wrath, who watched Damien work from the corner with a permanent scowl on his face.

    The person who Damien wanted to read the most was the one with the least presence in this room.

    Gluttony.

    Just what made him tick?

 Chapter 1561 Abandoned [3]

    Chapter 1561 Abandoned [3]

    ??Gluttony was a curious one.

    He thought Envy just didn''t have much contact with him, but after seeing Lust''s memories, he realized that it wasn''t just Envy.

    As mentioned before, Gluttony was always just "there."

    He was there when the team was created, and he was there when it was crippled. He was there through their every battle, and all the while, he never changed.

    Silent, unchanging, inhuman.

    That was the way even his ownrades thought of him. That was why they treated him as a mascot.

    How could they not?

    They''d tried many times to bring even a bit of personality out of him, but they''d been able to do nothing.

    Gluttony was an imprable fortress.

    And because of that, Lust was also slightly curious about what went on in his head.

    Gluttony obviously didn''t give consent for Damien to read him, but the assumed consent from those around him was enough.

    Plus, as he approached, Gluttony remained calm.

    ''This is a guy who doesn''t know how to hold back his hostility.''

    Gluttony was an instinctive beast. He attacked anything he was hostile against and would never stop until it died.

    ''But he''s never shown hostility towards me.''

    When they were fighting, Gluttony only attacked to protect hisrades.

    Other than that, he just stood and watched the events unfold.

    Was he tortured with them?

    How did he respond to it?

    And¡­why was he like this in the first ce?

    To learn it all, Damien put his hand on Gluttony''s forehead and sent his mana into his body.

    ''That existence¡­reveal it to me.''

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the scene changed.

    ckness was the first thing Damien saw.

    A ckness that shouldn''t have existed, yet one that waspletely familiar.

    ''How am I¡­''

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    ''Why am I in the Void?''

    He''d experienced it with his own body, so he knew he couldn''t be mistaken.

    He was inside the Void, nonexistent as if he was a part of its mass rather than a visitor.

    And as he watched, the Void changed, turning into the Heavenly World itself.

    A fleck of its power fell to the surface and touched a baby who was only just born. This wasn''t a rare phenomenon, however, it was rare for any of those children to ever actually respond to it.

    For the most part, the Void''s power was simply too much even at the smallest levels, and most of it returned itself to the environment during the child''s development period.

    For some, a portion of it would be ingested and wouldter manifest itself as talent unlike anything others had seen before.

    Ruyue''s affinity with Yin could be exined through this phenomenon.

    However, on the off chance that a child could truly inherit the potential of that fleck of Void¡­

    Well, Damien would happen. A small connection would appear and bloom. The Void would be attracted to that connection and would continuously stick to that individual. And eventually, if they could meet its expectations, it would offer them the opportunity to be Absolute.

    That wasn''t what happened in the scene Damien saw.

    In that scene, another unique situation took ce.

    A child''s body reacted to the fleck of Void. However, it was not able to properly absorb it.

    That child''s body convoluted itself trying to adapt to the power flowing through it. It changed, morphing internally until its systems had begun to mimic the Void itself.

    However, in the end, it failed.

    The adaptations it made became defective, and the Void never truly clung to that child.

    It was just a coincidence that created a monster.

    That child was Gluttony. From birth, he''d been robbed of everything.

    His mind was absent of anything, a reflection of nothingness.

    While his body could absorb anything, a reflection of all things.

    The two concepts of the Void that Damien once mastered had manifested themselves in their own ways, but those ways had turned Gluttony into something of a puppet.

    A puppet that eventually came under the control of Malevalon Straea.

    Gluttony was nted in the 4 Evils by Malevalon and acted as his substitute to monitor the group''s behavior.

    He developed a connection to his group for unknown reasons that even Damien couldn''t see, for it was an instinctive response rather than something that came from the mind.

    That was an unforeseen circumstance. It impeded his ability to watch over them properly.

    Gluttony could not talk, because his body did not give him that capability. He could not think, so he could notmunicate through mana.

    However, he would protect himself and those who he instinctively connected with. He would do as he was told.

    He couldn''t physically report anything, but using Gluttony, who nobody would ever suspect, Malevalon was always able to keep his own eyes on the group through a variety of means.

    It had been a while since Malevalon nned to get rid of the 4 Evils. He just didn''t get the chance to do it because they were always finding a way to be useful.

    Their loss against Damien was a perfect excuse to terminate them.

    At least, the three of them.

    Gluttony was never included in it. He was never sent to be tortured or even reprimanded for his participation in the battle.

    Gluttony was always supposed to stay in Straea and do Malevalon''s bidding.

    However, he left with the 4 Evils, following his instinct.

    ''Malevalon¡­isn''t looking for him.''

    Was it that Malevalon decided Gluttony wasn''t worth the effort, or did he have ns toe back for him at ater time?

    Was he being stored as a trump card? If so, wasn''t it good for Damien to remove all of Malevalon''s influence from the puppet-

    like man as soon as possible?

    The answer to all of those questions was yes.

    Malevalon gave up on Gluttony, but the systems in his body assured that he could always be brought back if the need for his skills arose.

    He was something of a trump card, but not one Malevalon totally cared about.

    Yet¡­

    ''...if there are systems in Gluttony''s body that are connected to Malevalon directly¡­''

    Didn''t that mean Damien could trace those systems before destroying them to find out information about Malevalon?

    ''It absolutely does.''

    Damien dug deeper into Gluttony''s existence.

    Knowing that this man was a puppet of the Void, knowing that his everything waspletely a mess because of it, Damien felt some sympathy.

    He truly hadn''t been able to live his life at all, simply existing at the level of power he mysteriously gained at being and working for others.

    Damien almost wanted to take Gluttony in and help him regain his sense of self, but he knew the man would be morefortable with his ownrades.

    When Damien reached a level where he could freely control the Void, it wouldn''t be toote to find him and help him.

    Nevertheless, as Damien dug and dug, he found severalyers of foreign mana within Gluttony''s body.

    Again, it wasn''t unfamiliar. This mana very obviously belonged to Malevalon Straea.

    Damien removedyer byyer, taking the time to unravel them as he did so.

    Only after fifteen of suchyers of protections and spyware were removed did Damien find a connection that visually transmitted information.

    Through that, he could find Malevalon.

    Or so he thought.

    But when Damien pushed his way through that connection using Existence and saw what was on the other end, it was not a live feed, but a single memory.

    Thest thing the line had seen, thest time it was made to ry information.

    And in that short memory that was no more than a few seconds long¡­

    ''FUCK!''

    Malevalon Straea walked through a Dimensional Crack.

    He had abandoned the Heavenly World entirely.

 Chapter 1562 Danger [1]

    Chapter 1562 Danger [1]

    ??''This fucking¡­''

    Damien frowned immediately.

    The picture of Malevalon leaving gave him mixed feelings.

    There was no way for him to understand it.

    Straea hadn''t lost yet, had they? What was the purpose of abandoning his n?

    Malevalon absolutely could have continued fighting, but for some reason, he chose to retreat instead.

    ''Or is it really a retreat?''

    The Sacred Abyss Universe had a lot of unexplored opportunities. It was a cosmos of its own, after all.

    For someone like Malevalon, who''d already given up his humanity and chosen to serve the Dark God, it was a ce where he could grow into someone greater than his current self.

    ''And if he reaches that point, then the Straea n loses its value.''

    Straea was an influence that was considered big in the Heavenly World''s standards, but from what was happening, it looked like Malevalon''s opinions had changed when he saw the Foreign Nobility.

    That man believed that there was no force greater than the Dark God, but that didn''t stop him from wanting to be second only to him in all of history.

    The influence that Malevalon could build at that point would be far better than Straea could ever be.

    And if those people of Straea could be used as sacrifices to fuel the birth of that new influence, then he would happily use them.

    Even his own brother, the person most people believed to be thest person in the world whom Malevalon trusted was abandoned, left on the battlefield to fight off his enemies.

    ''I have to see it for myself.''

    Damien didn''t know much of that information, for he didn''t know much about Malevalon Straea. He was able to infer a lot from the memories of those who had interacted with him, but it was impossible to understand the man''s thoughts without finding out directly.

    "Tch."

    Damien clicked his tongue.

    He had to rush, but he wasn''t one to go back on a promise.

    [Heal]

    The skill still had the same name, but its effects had be monstrous with time.

    It was cast on both Lust and Envy. As for Gluttony¡­well, he had never lost his power in the first ce. He just hadn''t found a reason to use it yet.

    The two women immediately felt the difference. Their bodies warmed up beautifully, and a gentle force washed through them, cleansing their internals of all ailments.

    The shattered Divinities they held were slowly put back together, and while their power didn''t instantly return, "mana" didn''t feel unfamiliar anymore.

    In just five or ten years, they could probably gain back a majority of their power. The rest could be slowly regained with time.

    Nevertheless, the weight on their shoulders caused by the neverending issues that spawned in their bodies was gone. They felt lighter than they had in a very long time.

    It was enough to make even Lust want to thank Damien, but¡­

    "...where did he go?"

    "He left. Disappeared the same way he came," Wrath responded, answering her doubts.

    "I see¡­"

    He came and went like a storm, bringing storm-like actions along with him.

    Of the 4 Evils, there were now two with the qualifications to be Gods again, one who still had his power, and one who had gained an extreme motivation to return to his peak.

    Their stories would likely go untold. In the grand scheme of things, they likely wouldn''t make much of an impact.

    But their stories would still be imprinted on the world, written in its Legend.

    And who could tell, looking at them now?

    Perhaps they would eventually return to the world with gusto, proving their worth to all.

    That was still to be seen.

    Damien would''ve been curious about it in normal times, but he had to put his curiosity aside for now.

    He arrived in Straea territory within the day, and infiltrated the main manor without a problem.

    It was practically empty. There was still staff roaming about, taking care of their duties, but none of the people who originally lived here were still here.

    Where they went¡­?

    It was a variety of ces. Some were on the battlefield, others were in hiding, and others more were already dead.

    However, they were not the ones Damien was concerned with.

    And this manor was not his end goal.

    His eyes went to the ground. Far below his feet was the Dimensional Crack that Malevalon escaped through. The same Dimensional Crack that brought the Foreign Nobility to the Heavenly World.

    ''The entrance¡­''

    He already knew. Horacio and the others had all taken it to leave for the outside.

    Damien rushed through the halls, teleporting where he could until he reached the hidden location that would teleport him to the underground area.

    This was a different entrance than the one that Malevalon used with Grand Duke Famas, but Damien didn''t know about that system.

    Nevertheless, within minutes of his arrival, Damien had already found his way to the hidden principality.

    And¡­

    BANG!

    His fist mmed against an invisible wall.

    There was around ten feet of the cave that remained outside the wall, but everything else, including the hidden Principality, the Foreign Nobles, and the Dimensional Crack, was inside.

    Damien pressed his hand to it and tried to use Existence to break it down, but this was the second time he''d seen something of this kind.

    ''It''s made of Existence as well.''

    It was an Existence stronger than the one Damien currently had in his hands.

    He couldn''t break through it. At least, not without spending several days trying toprehend and solve it.

    ''Do I have that time?''

    He didn''t know. If he only looked at the war situation, then he most definitely did.

    However, at times like this, there were always¨C

    Danger.

    Everything else halted.

    In Damien''s mind, a sound of danger drowned out all else.

    It wasn''t a danger to his own life.

    Nor was it danger targeting his women.

    This wasn''t danger that he sensed through the Void.

    No, it was something that originated from the depths of his blood.

    ''Mom.''

    Danger was approaching his mother.

    She was a God. A God that was stronger than most others.

    However, she now had danger approaching her that threw Damien''s senses into chaos.

    ''She''s going to die.''

    If he didn''t do anything, she would die.

    ''I have to¨C''

    "Going somewhere?"

    A voice drew his attention.

    A man walked out from the shadows, his skin grey and his eyes filled with mockery.

    "You have gone to such lengths to visit us, so why leave so fast?"

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''Grand Duke. No, not just a Grand Duke¡­''

    All of the Foreign Nobility in this ce.

    They had him surrounded before he even realized what was happening.

    ''It was a trap.''

    He didn''t know how they predicted he''de here, but they''did out an borate trap while they were waiting for him.

    And now¡­

    ''Either I find a way out of here as soon as possible¡­''

    He could no longer teleport. The barrier of Foreign Existence had expanded to cover him as well. He was trapped inside until he could disperse it.

    ''...or mom dies.''

    It was a situation Damien didn''t even think to expect. It came out of nowhere, and now, in a single move, he''d been put into a state of do-or-die.

    Four Grand Dukes, all of whom had power simr to Malevalon Straea.

    Fifteen Dukes, roughly the same strength as Duke Horacio.

    The rest were fodder that didn''t matter, but those neen people had more than enough power to make Damien suffer.

    And as Damien tried his best to think of a way to escape¡­

    ¡­ire found herself in a foreseen yet unexpected situation.

 Chapter 1563 Danger [2]

    Chapter 1563 Danger [2]

    ??It wasn''t as if something unexpected approached ire and put her in danger. She only entered a situation that she''d been ready to enter for a long time.

    Just like everyone else in the pce, ire, Serena, Hugo, and Persia also dispatched themselves to take care of the enemies from Straea.

    While Hugo and Persia led the 16 Swords to fight against Malefice Straea''s most powerful and loyal Gods, ire and Serena confronted Malefice himself.

    They were the most powerful people in the entire pce, so it was only right for them to take on the fight themselves.

    Malefice was second only to Malevalon, and with Malevalon gone, he was now the highest authority of the Straea n. As long as he died, the rest would lose their morale and reason to fight.

    It wasn''t like danger instantly revealed itself to the two women.

    They, Damien''s mother and aunt, confidently approached the battle.

    Together, the two of them were an unstoppable force. They didn''t need to worry about a mere Malefice Straea.

    But their opinions changed when the battle began.

    BOOM!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Rock pirs several meters long and hundreds of meters high shot out of the ground, only to be instantly destroyed by an explosive force.

    ire gritted her teeth and retreated. Using her power of Creation, she blocked all of the force being thrown at her.

    The battle had only just kicked off. She arrived in the vicinity, and before Serena could evene to back her up, Malefice attacked as if he''d been waiting for this very moment for years.

    The Heavenly God ne enveloped her. The surrounding environment changed, bing somethingpletely unlike the Heavenly World.

    This was a true battle of Gods. It could not be sustained within the Heavenly World.

    To ensure that they could fight at their strongest, and to ensure that they could end it without either being able to escape, they fought in the Heavenly God ne.

    Here, they could not be touched by anyone other than another God of equal caliber.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Explosions of darkness filled the sky and the earth. The entire environment was flooded with a liquid that felt like oil but had far different properties.

    Malefice caught her by surprise, so ire wasn''t able to immediately respond.

    However, she wasn''t unfamiliar with the man''s abilities.

    When ire and Dante were growing up and making names for themselves, the Straea n was also in the process of rising.

    They''d shed against Straea more times than they could count, and as the years passed, the enmity between their two groups only heightened.

    As such, the pce always kept records of the Straea n to make sure people wouldn''t be surprised if they were to ever find themselves in a confrontation with its members.

    The particr power that Malefice used was only granted to the upper echelons of the n. It was created by Malevalon himself, and though it was a human invention, it held the same power as aw.

    Just like Swords and Weapon Laws, the "Law of the Dark Star" that Malevalon developed was considered a Human Law. It was a dark and mysterious power that others couldn''t fathom, but to the people of Straea, it was the easiest possible thing toprehend,

    The Law of the Dark Star was, in essence, Darkness Law. However, it was mixed with certain celestial elements to give it a twist that others wouldn''t expect, and as time went on, it was corrupted by the properties of mkh, setting it apart from the normal mana-based techniques that everyone else used.

    Malevalon and Malefice were skilled in the Law of the Dark Star beyond anyone else, since they were its creators.

    Malevalon might have ran, but Malefice wasn''t the same.

    He knew his brother was going to leave.

    Malevalon didn''t tell him, but judging by his behavior over the past few weeks, Malefice was able to tell.

    Still, he decided to stay behind and fight, because unlike his brother, he truly would do anything for Straea.

    Malevalon used Straea as a stepping stone. He seemed like he would do anything for its sake, however, he was really just acting for his own benefit.

    When the n couldn''t help him anymore, he stopped caring about the n.

    Malefice put so much more into Straea than Malevalon ever did.

    He was the one who raised the Gods who were loyal to their n. He was the one who created a system to provide them with a constant source of talent. He was the one who handled the economic and political needs of the n.

    In almost every way, the Straea n actually belonged to Malefice, but he never wanted to be the one everyone looked to for leadership.

    That was a job his brother was more suitable for.

    Since they were in this situation now, he was stuck between a rock and a hard ce.

    Either he took control or the n got destroyed.

    It wasn''t a choice he''d made yet, but the frustration he felt because of it all¡­

    Who would he release it on?

    Naturally, it was the first enemy he saw, and unfortunately, that was ire.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Darkness sted through the air like a rain of ink.

    The sea of darkness below was Malefice''s domain. ire couldn''t touch the ground if she wanted to keep fighting an even battle.

    The explosions that were being thrown around weren''t particrly harmful, but they were meant to probe her power so Malefice could determine the best way for him to fight.

    He was primarily an assassin. He liked attacking from the shadows. However, he wasn''t bad at fighting directly. It just wasn''t his preferred style.

    Well, when it came to Malefice''s preferences, the method that killed the enemy most efficiently was the one he''d want to use.

    ire knew that well, so she was giving him nothing.

    She used the most basic Material Creation to fight him, using powers that even regr elementalists could use. Still, with ire''s power as its base, even these simple defenses held great power.

    ire''s Creation Law was far more developed than Iris''. While the two women used the same power, it hardly bore any resemnce.

    Iris never confronted ire for advice on her power. It wasn''t just because of pride, but because of their individual takes on thew.

    While Iris focused more on material creation, taking it to its heights to create stars and gxies¡­

    ire raised her arm.

    BOOOOOOM!

    A massive shadow appeared and covered the ground, however, it never stepped foot into the sea of darkness.

    ROAAAAAAR!

    A terrifying call from a beast over a thousand kilometers long. It wasn''t a beast that had appeared here without notice.

    It was a beast that had been "created."

    ire''s speciality was not in the creation of materials. ire focused on the creation of living organisms.

    The best way to understand her power was to think of her as a summoner.

    The beasts she summoned were not merely physical entities, but full true Godly Beings that had their own Laws and abilities.

    Every single one of them had been formed with years of effort, and with the power they''d been bestowed, they gave ire ess to a wide variety of powers.

    She rarely fought in closebat, which made herpletely the opposite of Malefice Straea.

    And as the two faced each other on the battlefield, one backed by a massive Godbeast and the other backed by a million-

    kilometer sea of darkness, they didn''t look too unmatched.

    But¡­

    How long would that image of fairness be able to maintain itself?

 Chapter 1564 Danger [3]

    Chapter 1564 Danger [3]

    ??There were twelve beasts under ire''s control.

    Over her several millions of years of life, she''d only ever made twelve who''d be permanentpanions. All others were only ever meant to live for a single battle.

    The twelve of them had their own names, ancient and in a tongue that was no longer spoken, however, after experiencing life on Earth, ire had changed their names to coincide with the twelve zodiacs.

    It was something of a memento of her time as a human.

    The beast she summoned this time was the snake.

    It was once an earthly beast, but as she grew, it evolved as well until it was like a manifestation of Apophis.

    It was a true world serpent, able to fly in the sky and maneuver like a dragon, yet keeping its main form as a snake.

    Its true form could wrap around the entire Heavenly World, but it was quite inconvenient to move around like that, so it kept its smallest possible form.

    Yet, even that was hundreds of kilometers long.

    Malefice saw it spawn from thin air.

    He continued to attack as he had been, but subtly made distance to observe the creature.

    "Go see what he can do, but don''t push too hard yet."

    ire ordered the serpent forward, but also held it back.

    Serena still hadn''t arrived yet. She didn''t want to do anything drastic until she was absolutely assured of her advantage.

    ire was no longer young. She wasn''t someone who acted wildly no matter what the situation was, and she had far too much to lose.

    For her to even return to the battlefield at all was already an extraneous circumstance, but for the sake of her husband, her son, and her people, she did so without hesitation.

    Under her watchful gaze, the serpent slithered through the sky and approached Malefice.

    Its movements seemed slow, but it didn''t take more than a second for it to both arrive and start attacking.

    The snake swung its tail. Despite the massive size of its body, it moved at an impossible rate.

    The air exploded under its force, but as the tail continued to move unobstructed, the air''s destruction became an additive force to its destructive power.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    It swept by Malefice''s position with extreme power. Space trembled as countless cracks were formed in this film. Reality itself trembled as the Heavenly God ne absorbed thetent power and disallowed it from going out of control.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    His darkness formed spikes that shot through the sky and stabbed into the snake''s scales.

    Unfortunately for him, the serpent wasn''t so weak as to be pierced by such a light attack.

    Malefice was small inparison to the serpent, which was his advantage.

    His maneuverabilitybined with his power meant that beasts of this size would actually suffer against him.

    It wasn''t his first time fighting an enormous beast. He already had the strategy to defeat them.

    Malefice flew up above the serpent and charged his mana.

    A star formed above his head, burning with a halo of white around its dark core.

    It rapidly expanded to the size of a sun, and as if he didn''t need to put any effort in to create such a mass, he swung his arm and casually threw it at the serpent.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    It exploded into a rain of light, letting loose thews contained within.

    Darkness was aw that most people used in the same way, to corrode and corrupt.

    It was the easiest use of thew, after all, and it could be taken to the highest level without a problem.

    However, it wasn''t the only way darkness could be used.

    Malefice''s darkness could be most urately described as aw with the ability to "suppress" and "swallow."

    He used it as an aggressive force as well, but that wasn''t where its strengths were.

    As the darkness struck the sky serpent, it didn''t gain any visible wounds.

    It didn''t seem to be affected at all, however, the darknesstched onto its body and refused to let go, coating it like an armor.

    ROOOAAAAAAAR!

    The snake roared as it sensed its enemy''s hostility.

    Its mouth opened, and its massive fangs dripped what was, to a human, an ocean of venom.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    A darkness different from Malefice''s appeared in the snake''s maw and coated that venom, forming into needles filled with it.

    As if it was shooting a breath attack, the snake aimed at Malefice and fired.

    XIU! XIU! XIU! XIU!

    They cut through the sky and cut the sky itself.

    Malefice flew rapidly and dodged them, however, they were not as simple as mere projectiles.

    They turned on a point and followed him like there were nows they had to obey.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Malefice let his darkness loose, throwing several sts at the needles.

    The two forms of darkness fought each other, but in the end, the serpent''s darkness did not submit.

    The needles continued to chase, forcing Malefice to take a defensive stance.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Watching from the rear, ire narrowed her eyes.

    It looked like the serpent had the advantage, but she didn''t think the same.

    ''He''s stalling.''

    Malefice was not fighting at his best. He could definitely do better than this, since the serpent wasn''t one of ire''s strongest summons.

    The problem was that ire didn''t know why.

    ''The Law of the Dark Star¡­no matter how much we try to research it, we can never find much.''

    It was one of Straea''s most guarded secrets. The pce had tried many times to discover the truth behind it, but they''d never once seeded.

    Still, ire''s instincts told her that there was something wrong with this fight. It was a feeling that provoked her to attack with her fullest power immediately to end the battle as soon as possible, which, in normal cases, went against her best judgement.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    To wait or to fight¡­

    She chose to wait.

    "Push harder."

    The serpent immediately registered her order.

    Its slow attack stylepletely changed, and in response, Malefice was forced to change as well.

    The sky was immediately lit up by the extremely high-speed sh.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Malefice continued to dodge for the most part. Every once in a while when he saw an opportunity, he threw some darkness at the serpent to add to the armor that was beginning to encase its entire body.

    ''Is it time¡­?''

    He wanted to end this fight as much as the next person, but he was currently working with other people.

    His fight with ire wasn''t just a way for him to vent the anger in his heart.

    Currently, Grand Duke Famas was confronting Damien Void, the main target of the Foreign Nobility.

    Malefice wasn''t like his brother. He didn''t necessarily have a contract or loyalty to the Foreign Races.

    However, if he wanted to survive past this ordeal and keep Straea alive as well, he needed to benefit from them.

    The Foreign Nobility was the only long-term ally Straea had.

    And since they wanted Damien, since he had a feud with Damien''s parents and family¡­

    He was willing to hold back and prolong this battle.

    When he got the signal he was waiting for, the darkness he spread could finally serve its purpose.

    And ire Ellowyn¡­

    ¡­could be "swallowed."

 Chapter 1565 Danger [4]

    Chapter 1565 Danger [4]

    ??Currently, there were far too many people around Damien for him to befortable.

    The Foreign Nobility had yet to attack, but there was no way Damien would believe they didn''t have the intention to.

    ''They want me dead.''

    This, Damien knew for a fact.

    He had Duke Horacio''s memories. He knew exactly how the Dark God had ordered them to find the "anomaly," and he knew that he was that very anomaly.

    Duke Horacio had lived for¡­well, it wasn''t that clear.

    His memories were covered in a fog, not because they were locked, but because even Horacio''s own existence couldn''t particrly remember what it had experienced.

    There was something strange happening within the bodies and souls of the Foreign Nobility themselves, but that wasn''t something Damien could currently learn the answer to.

    All he knew was that Duke Horacio had apanied the Dark God''s forces to raid several cosmos, and that the process of eliminating anomalies was practically streamlined.

    ''Corner them, eliminate all variables, and destroy without mercy.''

    Anomalies weren''t always people. Sometimes they were objects with great power or even concepts andws themselves.

    In all cases, the best way to remove anomalies and create room for the Dark God''s interference was to iste them from anything that could help them and force them into a situation where they couldn''t resist.

    This way, there wouldn''t be any risks associated with the moves either.

    Damien nced around.

    ''Grand Dukes Famas, us, Lance, and Maveth.''

    They took each cardinal direction and kept Damien surrounded.

    Even they were aware that Viscounts and Counts didn''t stand a chance against him. The Dukes could probably contain him properly, but why would they risk it after they already lost Horacio?

    Damien''s power didn''t make sense. When they were facing someone they couldn''t understand, their first and only instinct was to make sure that person had no openings to exploit whatsoever.

    And they did so perfectly.

    Damien stood in the middle of their encirclement and tried to figure out a way out, but with the Existence barrier and his enemies teaming up to keep him contained, there was really nothing he could do.

    ''Unless I can kill them all and escape¡­''

    It just wasn''t possible.

    The Grand Dukes were Gods stronger than ire and Malefice. Damien was at the level of a Duke, sure, but even several Dukes together couldn''t fight them.

    The established hierarchy among the Foreign Nobility was absolute and unchanging.

    ''But it''s not like I can give up here.''

    Letting them have their way simply wasn''t an option.

    ''Then I should just¨C''

    BANG!

    "Khhh!"

    Damien gritted his teeth and grabbed his wrist, or rather, the stump where his hand was a second ago.

    "Don''t do anything stupid."

    Grand Duke us mocked him with a smile. His arm was still outstretched with two fingers pointed forward.

    A mere flick, a motion Damien couldn''t sense, was able to instantly destroy a piece of his body.

    ''They can read me.''

    Damien didn''t care about his hand. He didn''t regrow it, just for safety, but he wasn''t too worried about the damage.

    What concerned him was the fact that us had sent him a warning shot the instant he had the thought to fight.

    "What do you want from me?"

    Damien growled, pretending to be uninformed. It was only half an act, since he still couldn''t figure out why they were stalling.

    "What we want¡­well, obviously it is your life. If you are wondering why we aren''t attacking¡­"

    Grand Duke Famas looked around.

    "...do we have a need to?" He questioned.

    "You are a unique entity even among the anomalies we have seen in the past. Isn''t it okay for us to entertain our curiosity a bit before you die?"

    Famas was assured of Damien''s defeat. He talked big, acting arrogant, but he wasn''t actually as overconfident as he seemed.

    This situation¡­actually wasn''t a first.

    This had happened once before, but at that time, it was a different Void.

    Dante had been surrounded after he''d been deemed an anomaly, and the overconfidence of the Foreign Nobility gave him the opportunity to escape.

    That day, Grand Duke Famas suffered a terrible defeat, and the Foreign Nobles were forced to stand down as the Straea n and the Divine Order took over and finally captured Dante in the Celestial Prison.

    The prison turned Dante into a cripple who could no longer be a threat to the grand n. He was meant to be killed eventually, but before that happened, the Celestial Prison itself was stolen.

    And the thief was none other than his son.

    Famas wasn''t stuck in his ways. He learned from his mistakes, and because he refused to let his confidence blind him, he made sure that the plot against Damien was far more borate.

    He was only being contained for now, because before they moved to kill him, they needed assurance that he wouldn''t be able to escape.

    Assurance in the form of a hostage.

    ire Ellowyn, his mother. If they had her in their possession, would be still be able to fight and resist?

    Wouldn''t he be prepared to give his life so she could live?

    He would.

    The Grand Duke wasn''t wrong about that.

    But he severely underestimated Damien''s mentality despite all of his preparation.

    See, Damien wasn''t a man who would give up when he was forced into a corner.

    He wasn''t a coward who would ept the worst-case scenario no matter how bad things got.

    They could put his mother in danger. They could take her hostage if they wanted to.

    But why would he trust them to let her go after he died?

    "Oh? Has it been established?"

    Grand Duke Famas suddenly spoke, attracting Damien''s attention.

    Snap!

    He snapped his fingers, summoning a mana projection in the air in front of Damien.

    "I''m sure you were curious, so I made sure you''d be able to see for yourself."

    As the projection cleared up and formed the picture being transmitted to it, Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    There she was.

    His mother fighting against Malefice Straea.

    She had three beasts in front of her, each serving a different purpose. Meanwhile, her enemy was zipping around like a sentientet and fighting all three of them without breaking a sweat.

    The battle was raging on quite spectacrly, but that wasn''t Damien''s focus.

    The projection he was seeing¡­

    It couldn''t be Malefice Straea''s work.

    ''There''s someone else there.''

    Another enemy in the vicinity.

    ''Someone she can''t sense.''

    Danger.

    Huu¡­

    Damien''s breath was loud. In the silence of this ce, it resounded and echoed as if to make everyone acknowledge its presence.

    But that was the only reaction he showed.

    He closed his eyes and steadied himself.

    With every second that the projection continued, Damien got angrier.

    And the angrier he got, the calmer his mind was.

    There were only two questions he continued to ask himself. Two questions that ignored the concepts of "possibility" and "impossibility" in favor of rage.

    Those two concepts didn''t matter to Damien anymore.

    Impossibility only existed if he allowed it to.

    So there was really only one thing that mattered.

    When was thest time he found himself as cornered as this?

    And¡­

    Just how long would he allow this to continue?

 Chapter 1566 Danger [5]

    Chapter 1566 Danger [5]

    ??It was quiet around Damien. His situation had yet to erupt into something uncontroble, mainly because he was controlling himself.

    However, it wouldn''t be long before it erupted, and when that happened¡­

    Well, the consequences of offending Damien didn''t need to be mentioned, did they?

    Currently, ire was the one in a more serious predicament.

    As the battle progressed and Malefice revealed more of his power, she was forced to call out two more summons to both protect herself and attack.

    Along with the Snake, the Horse and the Rat had also been summoned.

    The snake''s fighting power was a bit weaker than the rest. It mainly focused on containing enemies within a certain area and cornering them.

    The horse was its perfect support. A beast that had mighty physical power, the horse''s legs could produce power that could shatter stars with ease.

    As for the rat, he was a king of his people. His power came from neither attack nor defense, but from numbers.

    The rat''s body was made up of trillions upon trillions of smaller rats. They could move as a swarm through any environment, able to survive in even the harshest conditions, and they would not stop until their goal had been achieved.

    They didn''t care if they died, nor did they care about their fellows. The only thing that mattered was ire''s order.

    The rats had an extremely high reproduction rate, higher than almost any other animal. As such, no matter how many of them died, more would always be avable to rece them.

    The rats usually didn''te out, since ire never had the need to destroyrge poptions or areas.

    However, they were not being used to attack this time.

    The massive horse, which was winged like a Pegasus yet not a Pegasus at all, clopped through the air confidently, rapidly approaching Malefice with the speed of lightning.

    BANG!

    It whipped its body to the side and kicked him fiercely.

    Malefice blocked with his arms. He was sent flying back by the momentum, but he wasn''t injured.

    VOOM!

    His power swirled to life.

    He pushed his arm forward, setting up a defense against the horse that was already charging again.

    XIU! XIU! XIU!

    He narrowly avoided the snake''s projectiles, and before they could turn around to aim at him again, he shot several waves of darkness out to destroy them.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    They exploded in the air, raining venom into the sea of darkness below.

    Meanwhile, the horse arrived and mmed into the barrier he''d previously set up.

    The mana shattered instantly, but the horse''s momentum had also beenpletely destroyed.

    WHOOOOSH!

    Malefice stepped on the air and rushed past the horse. As he skimmed its massive body, he extended his finger to just barely touch it.

    A line of darkness followed his movements, attaching itself to the horse that turned around to attack him.

    Flying higher into the sky, Malefice charged up another dark star, throwing it downward without aiming at anything in particr.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The dark light produced by its eruption blinded the horse''s vision for just a moment.

    The darkness sttered outward and hit the snake.

    At this point, only its eyes remained uncovered.

    Malefice narrowed his eyes.

    He flicked his hand forward, collecting his mana together.

    A line of energy shot from his finger, flying past the snake and the horse. It headed for ire directly, attacking the summoner rather than the summons.

    With three of her main beasts out, ire had a lot more room to observe the battlefield from the back line. She didn''t miss the tiny sliver of energy shooting towards her, but she also didn''t trust it in the slightest.

    "Rat."

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    It wasn''t a sound of wind. More like waves crashing against each other.

    They appeared from nowhere and multiplied instantaneously.

    Like zombies in a world apocalypse, they crawled over each other and formed a massive wall around ire.

    XIUUUU!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The line of energy split into three and mmed into the rat wall.

    The three points exploded into masses of ckness that warbled and fluctuated strangely.

    Millions of rats were immediately trapped within the ckness, and as it registered targets within its grasp, it transformed into three ck boxes that felt oddly simr to Damien''s Dimensional Cage.

    The concept was the same.

    The Law of the Dark Star managed tobine darkness and space in such a way that it could create an improved version of the Dimensional Cage, which, in the techniques of the Straea n, was known as the Dark World.

    It entrapped its subjects in eternal darkness as spacepressed around them and squished them into a paste.

    If it hit ire¡­

    Nevertheless, she sensed the danger before the attack was even close to her, and she acted ordingly.

    ''Horse and rat aren''t enough.''

    On top of that, the serpent was no longer responding tomands.

    The instant Malefice''s darkness covered its eyes, it became frozen in the sky like a statue. ire could sense its life fluctuations, but its connection with the outside world had beenpletely cut off.

    ''Those three¡­it''s not time yet.''

    There were three summons among the three who absolutely could not be summoned.

    Because the chaos that would be wrought onto the world with their mere presence was not something ire could easily let loose.

    As for the others¡­

    The Rabbit simply wasn''t suited forbat. It was a healer. The Ox and Goat wouldn''t be of much use in this situation, while the rooster was also not abat summon.

    ''In the end, there are only two.''

    ire''s power was extremely limiting.

    She''d made it that way on purpose, because the things she did when she didn''t have a limit went against the Heavenly Order.

    If she continued on that path, the world would be brought to ruin.

    She may have been a user of Creation, but there was a reason Damien was born with an affinity for Destruction.

    His father was a monster, and his mother¡­

    She was a monster that only his father could stop.

    The 12 summons who were now Zodiacs were her limiters.

    Without them¡­

    "Dog, Pig."

    She called them out, and they naturally appeared.

    One was a massive shadowhound that seemed to havee from the depths of hell. As for the other¡­

    It was just a regr-looking pig.

    "You know what to do."

    ire didn''t need to give them orders. They were some of the more intelligent beasts in her collection.

    AWOOOOOOOO!

    The shadow hound let out a howl, a war cry, and instantly shot into battle alongside the horse.

    As for the pig, it remained beside ire, its expression unchanging.

    "Do you think you''ll have to use me?"

    It spoke. Odding from a pig, but not so much considering ire blessed it with sentience.

    "I do not know. I am making preparations just in case."

    The pig nced at her.

    It had been with ire the longest. It was created before she even knew how to create biological matter through pure happenstance.

    And despite how long it had traveled together with her¡­

    ¡­ire had only ever used its power twice.

    It didn''t know why it had been called out at a time like this, especially when this battle didn''t necessarily seem like one she would lose.

    But since it was here¡­

    ''...she thinks she might die.''

    It was true.

    ire wasn''t assured of her survival.

    Not necessarily because of Malefice Straea, though.

    ''She hasn''te.''

    Serena Krone, her sister and the person who was supposed to be fighting this battle with her.

    She waste.

    And if she, who ruled over time itself, waste by even a second¡­

    Then something had gone horribly wrong already.

 Chapter 1567 Danger [6]

    <h4>Chapter 1567 Danger [6] </h4>

    Serena and ire left the pce at the same time.

    They took different paths for one reason only.

    Serena felt something odd in the folds of time.

    She was someone far more connected to time itself than anyone else in the world. To her, time was an extension of her own body.

    Every single instance when someone in this world manipted thew of time, she sensed it. That included when Damien used it.

    However, what she sensed this time was not merely someone using timews.

    She felt the presence of an "existence" who bent the spacetime itself.

    There weren''t many people who could do so without trying. Whether it was a friend or a foe, Serena had to find out what they were up to.

    As such, she nned to briefly observe the target before meeting back with ire and fighting Malefice.

    That, of course, didn''t end up happening.

    Half of it was because Malefice drew ire into the Heavenly God ne before she could wait for Serena to arrive.

    And the other half¡­

    As Serena approached the area where that being was, she immediately felt danger.

    The general area was empty of all other people. No, it was empty of all life in general. The environment was so quiet that no sane person could ever believe it was safe.

    There was only a single man standing there. He was familiar to some, but to those of the Heavenly World, he was a stranger.

    But, he was not someone Serena had never seen before.

    ''Famas.''

    With ashen-grey skin proudly disyed and an aura unmistakable for anyone else, Grand Duke Famas was standing there as if he was waiting for her.

    How, when he was currently supposed to be with Damien¡­?

    How, when he was supposed to be transmitting the scene of ire and Malefice''s battle¡­?

    How was he here?

    Damien had yet to realize it. It would hardly matter if he did, considering that all of the other Foreign Nobles were surrounding him.

    The Grand Duke Famas who existed in the hidden Principality was only a clone.

    His real body was here, happily awaiting the moment when he couldpletely ruin the family that Dante Void left in this world.

    "Famas," Serena said, not hiding her approach.

    It didn''t matter even if she tried, since she wouldn''t be able to escape his perception.

    "I didn''t think you woulde back here after what happenedst time. Your face looks¡­different from before. I guess that''s what it takes to hide those scars."

    Grand Duke Famas'' eyes flickered in her direction.

    "Scars¡­they are signs of battle, medals of honor. However, that is only for barbarians. I may have hidden those scars, but you must remember, girl¡­"

    VOOOOOOOOM!

    His aura boomed to life.

    "...you are not the one who gave them to me."

    Serena''s eyes narrowed.

    ''This attitude¡­he wants war.''

    Damien had been saying it, but now that Famas was here, it was unequivocally true.

    The Foreign Races were once again trying to conquer this ne.

    "I assume you''re here for me?" Serena asked.

    "If not you, then who?" Famas responded coldly.

    "I see¡­and your overall n?"

    "Funny."

    "Tch."

    Serena wasn''t stupid enough to think she would gain any information through the question, but she was at least certain of one thing.

    ''If the Grand Dukes are moving, then Artemis has shut down.''

    Artemis, the name for the worldwide barrier magic cast by Dante Void to keep the Sacred Abyss Universe and True Void Universe apart. It was an extremelyplex spatial mechanism that morphed Existence itself to achieve its purpose, but it seemed it had lost its function.

    Grand Duke Famas finally turned to face Serena directly.

    "The debt between me and that man cannot be solved with the death of a mere woman like you," he said, sneering slightly.

    "And it is a shame that he will not be able to see what has happened to his n in the time he was gone."

    Despite his words, he already had mkh in his hands. He clearly didn''te here just to chat.

    "Do not fret. Before I send him to meet you in the next life, I will make sure he can see your remains with his own eyes. Though, I cannot say if he will recognize you after this."

    He immediately attacked.

    Mkh went flying through the air, enclosing the two of them within a space of his own creation.

    And after making sure Serena could not escape, he centered his body in the world, creating a connection with the Heavenly God ne.

    "Come," he said, his voice colder than ice.

    "Fight valiantly before you die."

    Serena said nothing.

    This situation was already set. She could escape, but if she let Grand Duke Famas roam free, a far greater disaster would befall the Heavenly World.

    She had to fight.

    Andpared to when she was younger, she didn''t think she was as disadvantaged against this man anymore.

    Grand Dukes were dangerous, but one had to remember Serena''s current position.

    Dante Void and Malevalon Straea were outliers.

    Aside from them¡­

    She and ire were the most powerful people in this world.

    That was true without a doubt.

    Serena took a deep breath and released her mana, following Grand Duke Famas in connecting herself with the world.

    Her mana and his mkh shed in the space between them, and a connection with the Heavenly God ne was formed.

    The souls of the two Gods were transported to a new ce.

    As it was, it didn''t look much different from the outside world.

    That was because the Heavenly God ne would replicate the surrounding environment to support the battles taking ce within.

    As for the true face of this ne¡­

    None had ever seen it.

    Nevertheless, a battle between two great forces began, one far away from the battle where Serena was originally meant to be.

    ***

    Originally, it seemed like the entire plot the Foreign Races created was meant to target Damien himself.

    That was partially true. Damien was their primary target and the only one they truly had a mission to eliminate.

    However, he was not their only target.

    In fact, the feud between the Foreign Races and Void Pce began long, long ago. Back then, it was Dante Void and his party who fought against them and pushed them back.

    ire, Serena, Hugo, and Persia were all hated by the Foreign Nobility. At least one powerful noble had a vendetta against each of them.

    Currently, it wasn''t just ire and Serena being targeted.

    The Straea n acted as a proxy for the Foreign Nobles who had to focus on Damien. Both Hugo and Persia were currently stuck in troublesome predicaments of their own as well.

    This was a plot to eliminate Damien Void just as much as it was a plot to destroy Void Pce entirely.

    And as more projections appeared before Damien to show him exactly what his family was going through, this fact became abundantly clear to him.

    The answers to the questions he''d asked himself; he already knew them.

    It had been a very, very long time since thest time he''d been this cornered, if ever at all.

    And he wasn''t going to just sit back and let it happen.

    The rage in his body was growing unbearable.

    It was getting harder to stop himself from making reckless decisions.

    There was really only one straw left. The second it snapped¡­

    Damien would truly lose all regard for rationality.

 Chapter 1568 Danger [7]

    <h4>Chapter 1568 Danger [7]</h4>

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The longer their fight continued, the more disadvantaged Malefice seemed to be.

    He was hardly able to attack at this point, and was mostly dodging as the dog, the horse, and the rat continuously pushed him further and further.

    The sea of darkness he created was hardly useful at first nce. However, that was only at first nce.

    Every attack Malefice performed was powered by that sea, and as it continued to exist without being inhibited, Malefice''s power only grew stronger.

    The explosions that rung out were mainly caused by him.

    The Law of the Dark Star swarmed the air, turning it into something of Malefice''s domain.

    He was fighting against multiple enemies, all of whom had great power. It was difficult for him, but Malefice was someone who benefitted from prolonged battles.

    As his darkness flooded the atmosphere more and more, it sshed into all of ire''s summons, and their states started to look a lot like the serpent''s.

    Their movements were slowed, which made it far easier for Malefice to attack ire herself.

    XIU! XIU! XIU!

    Three needles of darkness flew toward her at untold speed.

    Malefice took some notes from the snake''s techniques, filling his darkness with a power of corrosion tobine two separate strikes into one.

    The needles hit the rat wall with extreme force, piercing through with ease.

    The rats were incredibly dexterous and had a rtively high defense, however, they were far more equipped to dam with blunt impacts than piercing strikes.

    Tens of rats died as the needles shot through their defense, but the main person who needed to be careful was still ire.

    She raised her hand, creating several walls of hard obsidian-like rock in front of her.

    BANG!

    BANG!

    BANG!

    BANG!

    Their momentum was slowed with every wall they broke through, but they continued to push as if they didn''t have enough momentum to lose.

    ire put her focus on those attacks, and using that opportunity, Malefice got behind her and struck again.

    BANG!

    It was the first time he''de close enough to give her no time to react.

    A punch, filled with the energy of the Dark Star, mmed into her back.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    ire held her groan of pain back as she turned around and swept her arm through the air.

    Malefice didn''t retreat. Instead, he dodged and twisted his body, giving himself the chance to counter.

    BOOM!

    Malefice''s fists weren''t weak by any means. It was actually the opposite.

    The Law of the Dark Star allowed him to control weight to an extent. When he struck with his fists, he made sure they weighed as much as a dying star.

    ire''s back was hit directly with that kind of force.

    She was a God as well, so the damage she took wasn''t fatal, but it wasn''t small either.

    That kind of force hit her soul directly. It hurt more than anything, and while it crippled her fighting potential to an extent, she didn''t allow Malefice to realize that.

    ire was a summoner. She rarely fought in closebat.

    But that didn''t mean she couldn''t.

    She swept her arms to the side. Two swords spawned in her hands as she pushed off the air and charged at Malefice.

    Shing! Shing! Shing! Shing!

    Her swords cut through the air with such precision that one could see the atmosphere itself get sliced.

    Pushing Malefice and giving him no room to back out of the confrontation, ire''s swords were like two individual beings of their own.

    ''Strong.''

    She may have taken a backseat when Dante Void and his son were messing the world up, but that didn''t mean she didn''t have the ability to do the same.

    Merely, she chose not to.

    Now that she was showing her power, it became clear why she was regarded so highly in this world.

    Malefice dodged and dodged. His body went right and left and spun in impossible ways, but he couldn''t avoid all of ire''s attacks.

    "Tch."

    He clicked his tongue as the two swords shed into his shoulders. The pain didn''t affect him, but his arms were effectively ruined for at least a few seconds.

    BANG!

    He charged mana into his body and released it forward.

    The move didn''t have much attack power, but it created a great deal of momentum that pushed him back and outside of ire''s range.

    However, ire didn''t bother to chase him. She''d already achieved her purpose.

    Malefice wouldn''t be able to throw any more of those heavy punches. Not for a while, at least.

    Which meant that, during this period, ire would be safe from any closebat attacks.

    ''Good.''

    She wasn''t losing.

    The ufortable feeling in her heart didn''t go away, but she didn''t think it wasing from Malefice anymore.

    ''Then¡­''

    If Malefice wasn''t the enemy who made her feel danger, then someone else was in the Heavenly God ne watching them, waiting for the time to strike.

    The Heavenly God ne was called as such because it really was a massive ne of existence. All battlefields within were connected, and while it was rare, it wasn''t impossible for people who entered from different ces to encounter each other.

    If someone had been waiting in the Heavenly God ne for them to arrive, if they had been watching this fight the entire time¡­

    ''...they are far more dangerous than Malefice.''

    Because ire hadn''t even begun to sense them.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The battle continued to rage on.

    She and Malefice were rtively equal in standing. Malefice had been injured several times by ire and her summons, and ire¡­

    Well, her summons were slowly beginning to refuse her orders.

    Rather, they were unable to do anything.

    The horse followed the serpent, then the dog followed the horse. The ckness that Malefice spread through every corner of the battlefield stuck to them and slowed them, encasing them in stone.

    The rats were able to live on due to their numbers, however, ire''s attack power had been turned into nothing as her other summons were frozen into statues.

    "It may be necessary to bring ''him'' out," the Pig said from beside her.

    Its body had the ability to turn ethereal, so it was the only summonpletely unaffected by the so-called Medusa effect.

    Malefice hadn''t even realized its presence on the battlefield. ire was the only one who could perceive it.

    "If I release him¡­"

    "...then you will never be able to go back to peace. Yes."

    "Is it truly necessary?"

    ire liked her life. She liked being a mother, she was proud of her son, and her husband was getting better every single day.

    The stable and joyful family life that she''d yearned for was almost possible. It was just barely out of reach.

    Right now¡­

    Did she want to give up peace right now, at the veryst moment?

    "I really don''t want to."

    However¡­

    Malefice retreated several hundred kilometers back.

    It seemed like he was separating himself from the battle, but really¡­

    ''There''s someone else.''

    The person ire had only just realized the existence of had revealed their existence.

    ''...I have no choice.''

    As that person''s visage became clearer, ire had to ept reality.

    If she wanted to win this battle, then she had to sacrifice herself.

    There simply wasn''t another option.

 Chapter 1569 Danger [8]

    Chapter 1569 Danger [8]

    ??The different levels of Godhood were rtively difficult to quantify.

    As one entered the final stage of power, the differences between people became more obvious.

    Every God was unique. Nobody could reach this level by using themonws and concepts that everybody else used.

    Each and every one had their own speciality, and because of that, the way they ranked up differed.

    It was hard to put a universal term on the different levels of Godhood, but people had obviously tried many times.

    Ceaseless research and an unbelievable amount of testing and effort created a system that most could acknowledge, even if it was impossible for it to bepletely urate.

    Lesser Gods were those who had just ascended to Godhood. People like the two Damien fought when he was still working for Veritas were at this level.

    They had Godly power and connections to the Heavenly God ne, but power-wise, they were far worse than any of their peers.

    True Gods were those who had gone past this level. They were roughly at the level of a peak Foreign Race Count or a lower-tier Duke, and already had a grip over their power.

    True Gods were the real start of Godhood. This was where they began exploring Legends and the Soul to an extreme that people below their level simply couldn''tprehend.

    Above them were Highgods. This was the level Duke Horacio was at, and the level Damien could fight at. These Gods had not only control over their power, but a level of experience that others couldn''t match,

    Highgods were usually more focused on a single concept within theirw than the entirew itself, because they could take those concepts to the extreme and even make them surpass themselves.

    That was the ultimate purpose of a God. To take aw beyond itself, to make the Heavenly Order adopt changes based on theirprehensions.

    Finally, above all others were the Supreme Gods. ire, Serena, Malefice, Malevalon, and the Grand Dukes. All of them were somewhere within this level.

    The concepts they''d taken interest in would automatically be far stronger. Their mere presence was enough to twist thews of the world, and they had already gone beyond what even Highgods could imagine.

    Rather than external goals, they focused more on themselves.

    Because there was nothing defined after the level of a Supreme God.

    The only people who had ever exceeded that level, at least of those who existed in the two cosmos in the current day, were Dante and the Dark God.

    They were the Unrecorded.

    It was not the title of one man, but a title given to all those who surpassed the existing levels of power.

    The Unrecorded were called as such because nobody else could figure out their power or their goals. No matter how close one got to that level, no matter how much research was done on the minds, bodies, and souls of these beings, nothing about them could beprehended by those who had not reached their level.

    Nobody had ever seen the Unrecorded fight each other. However, fights between Supreme Gods, while rare, weren''t nonexistent.

    The main Supreme Gods who ruled the world rarely showed their power on the battlefield, but they were not the only Supremes in the world.

    There were a number of them who hid themselves from society or simply didn''t desire status the same way others did. These Gods were the ones who tended to show others what a Supreme could do.

    However, currently, those same leaders who refused to show their power were the ones putting their all on the line.

    ire fought valiantly in a fight that didn''t seem like it would end any time soon, but the situation was different for Serena.

    She thought it to herself before she even started fighting.

    She wasn''t weaker than a Grand Duke anymore.

    VOOOOOM!

    There weren''t as many explosions in this battle as there were in that one.

    After all, Serena used time as her mainw.

    Countless projectiles shot through the air as they did in most battles, but before they coulde close to Serena,  they were trapped in a field of her creation.

    It existed in a ten-foot radius around her body. A barrier of time that forced any attack that entered its folds to return to a time before its creation.

    When it came to defense, there weren''t many who could keep up with her. This field was the extent of her research and training over her span as a God. It was the very thing that allowed her to be so connected with the Time Laws that ruled the world, a constantly activated defense that never left her open.

    And just because she focused on defense didn''t mean she was unable to attack properly.

    XIU! XIU! XIU!

    Bubbles of time, able to change one''s age at a level beyond mere physical difference, whizzed through the battlefield, assaulting Duke Famas.

    He moved his body quite agilely for someone who liked to act as unconcerned as him.

    His speciality wasn''t speed, but power, however, Serena''s attacks needed to be avoided.

    If his soul was touched by a power that could change its age, it could be extremely detrimental to him.

    After all, not only would his soul aging make him weaker, his soul gaining youth would erase a great deal of his achievements.

    It was a terrifying power indeed. Despite talking as if he was much more powerful than her, Grand Duke Famas was forced to ept that this wouldn''t be an easy battle to win.

    But that only made him angrier.

    While he had remained stuck at his current level, they had grown to the point where a girl he considered trivial in the past could now make him feel danger.

    This rage acted like fuel for him.

    Famas kept himself stable most of the time. He was aposed being that didn''t allow others to see his emotions.

    However, it wasn''t that he was indifferent. That was no more than a facade.

    Grand Duke Famas'' power was fueled by emotion. The happier he was, the sadder he was, the angrier he was, the stronger he''d be.

    He wasn''t a fan of this power. It didn''t match him at all.

    Still, there was a reason he made it to Supreme Godhood with it as his foundation.

    Even if he hated it, he was a genius at making it work.

    The anger he felt towards himself and his circumstances for allowing his enemies to reach him, the anger he felt towards Serena and Void Pce for the events that had taken ce in the past, the anticipation for a victory that would cleanse the shame he felt¡­

    It all stacked up, enhancing Famas'' power by manifold.

    Serena watched it happen.

    She remembered the past, the pain they''d experienced at the Grand Duke''s hand before. When his emotions reached a peak, he became a true monster that still gave her nightmares to this day.

    However, that nightmare was just a memory of the past.

    Standing in front of him now, watching his power grow by the second¡­

    ¡­she didn''t feel the same terror.

    No, her thoughts werepletely different.

    ''This is¡­surprisingly doable.''

    She believed that she could win.

    And she would make that happen as soon as she possibly could.

    Because if a Grand Duke was sent for her, she couldn''t even imagine what ire was facing.

    After all, when it came to monsters¡­

    ¡­was there really anyone as terrifying as ire Ellowyn?

 Chapter 1570 Danger [9]

    Chapter 1570 Danger [9]

    ??Damien didn''t know.

    No matter what he learned, there was no way for him to understand his mother''s strength.

    After all, the records of the things she''d done back then had been erased from the world entirely. Even those who knew were forbidden to speak a word about it to others, lest their souls be taken by Samsara.

    ire made a sacrifice all the way back then. She sealed her power in return for silence, vowing to never bring it out again unless absolutely necessary.

    And now that Dante was no longer able to calm her, it was unknown if anyone would be able to stop her if she truly let loose her power.

    Nevertheless, because Damien didn''t know, seeing his mother get injured was something he simply couldn''t stand.

    His body twitched.

    He was absolutely prepared to do something stupider than anything he''d done in his life before by challenging the group of Gods around him.

    After all, his mother''s situation was getting worse.

    As if Malefice wasn''t enough, another person appeared in the vicinity, another enemy.

    He was the person who set up the video feed that sent information back to the hidden Principality. Now that it had been modified to work without being directly controlled, he was also joining the battle.

    Damien knew who he was through devoured existences. ire knew who he was through experience.

    His name was Erwin Ellowyn. Right, Ellowyn.

    He was, by bloodline at least, ire''s great-uncle.

    However, that connection had been destroyed a long time ago. Back then, before the Ellowyn n that ire formed was ever a thing and they were just arge family in the Southern Region with a decent amount of influence, he, along with her grandfather, were the ones who led it.

    They practiced Creation even at that time, but they kept theirws unknown to the public so they didn''t cause too much havoc with their existence.

    This was the tradition their family had upheld for generations. It wasn''t just for others, but for themselves as well.

    Hidden in the shadows, they were able to live peacefully and properly foster their gifts of creation.

    Plus, they hid a secret only known to the n Patriarch that made it absolutely necessary for their existence to remain a secret.

    There was never a problem. At least, before Erwin Ellowyn.

    He had a different belief. He thought the n''s techniques needed to be broadcasted. Thinking about the status and benefits they could gain, he was ovee by greed.

    As he shed heads with the patriarch, he was slowly isted from the power structure of the n, practically abandoned.

    That was when he lost all reasoning.

    After a fierce fight, he killed the patriarch and ran off. His power corrupted, turning from Creation to Destruction, and with the battle wreaking havoc on so much of the surroundingndscape, it became impossible for the Ellowyn n to keep itself hidden.

    The mere existence of a n of Creation users was a goldmine to many. They were hunted, sold off, and used for a variety of means.

    The majority of them were eventually executed, and the very few members that still remained were saved by ireter on and brought to the pce to be incorporated into the new Ellowyn n.

    If it wasn''t for Dante, even that much wouldn''t have been possible.

    The almostplete extermination of the original Ellowyn n was entirely the doing of the man standing in front of ire now.

    And he was no longer someone corrupted by power. Over the years, he''d managed to control it and reach the Supreme God level through Destruction.

    But he still didn''t know.

    He killed ire''s grandfather before he could ever know, and ire''s father died protecting her back while she escaped, leaving only her aware of the secrets hidden within her body.

    The second he appeared, it was like a switch flipped inside ire''s mind. The enemy she''d never been able to find, the man who managed to disappear from space and time entirely¡­

    He was now standing in front of her without any protection but his own power.

    The monster she tried so hard to suppress¡­if it wasn''t for him, it wouldn''t have ever had the chance to escape in the first ce.

    And now that he''d be a trigger for its appearance¡­

    All thoughts of peace she held were thrown out the window.

    "Dragon. Tiger. Monkey."

    She summoned all three at once.

    And all three answered hermand.

    A massive golden dragon with an aura of absolute majesty, a white tiger just as massive surrounded by a ferocious blue light, and a humanoid monkey with a crown around his forehead, holding a staff made of gold.

    Each represented a seal.

    "Dragon, take that guy."

    "Yes, Mdy."

    The dragon glowed golden and morphed into a humanoid form. It still had its horns and tail, along with scales covering its extremities and neck, but it mostly looked like a human man.

    "Tiger, Monkey, take the other one."

    The tiger transformed as well. It was a woman with beautiful white hair and piercing blue eyes. She looked the exact opposite of the dragon, perhaps because the two of them representedpletely opposite concepts.

    With their forms adjusted forbat effectiveness, the three of them shot forward towards their assigned targets.

    The battle was about to be entirely different.

    However, ire didn''t stay to witness it.

    The instant her enemies were upied by her summons, she rushed away from the battlefield as fast as possible.

    She could feel it boiling up inside of her, a malevolent darkness unlike anything else that existed in this world.

    ire had¡­a special body. In a sense, she herself could be considered a type of portal.

    She was born with a mysterious connection to another world. That world waspletely outside the Heavenly World and had no connection to either the True Void Universe or the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    It waspletely inhabited by beasts, all of whom were far superior to all those except this ne''s Godbeasts. Through them, ire was able to gain the inspiration to create the twelve summons she relied on most.

    However, the connection didn''t just give her ess to them. It gave them ess to her.

    The ruler of those beasts, a shadowy behemoth whose only features ire had seen were its crimson-red eyes, had taken a special interest in her.

    It used her connection to invade her mind, corrupting her with her darkness.

    It wanted control over her body. It wanted to use her to create a portal that connected it to this world.

    But if it was only this much, then Dante would have been able to cure her with his own power.

    The real problem was that world itself.

    Its existence had been slowly transferred into ire''s. The two ovepped until ire essentially became a vessel of that world.

    And though that granted her ess to talent far beyond even the most talented geniuses¡­

    ¡­being influenced by an unknown world didn''te without its negatives.

    ire''s body became the vessel for a monster, a rogue World Core who''d suddenly gained a chance to live as a human.

    And that World Core was not a gentle existence.

    The dragon sealed her bloodlust.

    The tiger sealed her power.

    And the monkey sealed her madness.

    These three seals had now been released. Those things she''d kept locked away now flooded her mind again.

    And the ire Ellowyn that Damien and others hade to know well¡­

    ¡­vanished entirely, reced by a being of chaos.

 Chapter 1571 Monster [1]

    Chapter 1571 Monster [1]

    ??ire fled the battlefield because she wanted to try and control her transformation.

    It was an impossible endeavor, but that didn''t mean she didn''t want to try.

    ire''s beautiful amethyst-purple eyes morphed, bing somewhat draconic. Her pupils became slits, and her body snapped into ce, its anatomical structure changing.

    The skin of a human that she wore didn''t change much. Other than her eyes, there weren''t many external changes.

    Her internal body, on the other hand, was no longer human in the slightest.

    However, the most noticeable change was in her aura.

    ire was like her grandfather and father. She''d been instilled with values of peace since she was young, and though the world corrupted those values, she tried to gain them back when she matured.

    Her aura was gentle, weing, and heartwarming. She was like a hearth that made anyone feel like they were at home, like they could rx and be at peace.

    This aura caused people to trust her automatically. When Dante disappeared, she was able to take the reigns of the pce precisely because of this aura and this demeanor of hers.

    It was all gone now.

    Reced by those reptilian eyes, ire''s aura had turned a bloody red and ck color resembling destruction.

    Her mind clouded over. She fought the battle for control valiantly, but she didn''t have the qualifications to defeat the demon within her. Not even as a Supreme God.

    After all, the entities who used her as a vessel, the dark creature and the corrupted World Core, were both Unrecorded in another cosmos.

    They were not beings she could resist.

    Click!

    It wasn''t a real sound, but a representation. ire''s rationality was effectively lost.

    Her fight didn''tst more than a second. Her fierce struggle didn''t get her anywhere. Her body was no longer hers.

    She stood up straight, but if one looked closely one could see a strange hunch in her back posture.

    She looked unnatural, like a parasite pretending to be a human.

    And though she had been taken over, she did not do anything in particr.

    There was no life nearby.

    ire specifically got hundreds of kilometers away from both Malefice Straea and Erwin Ellowyn. She made sure that nobody else was near her before she turned.

    Why?

    Because the beings possessing her body didn''t haveplete sentience.

    Perhaps their true forms were extremely sentient and smart. If not, they wouldn''t have been able to abuse a connection to another cosmos at all.

    However, if they wanted to take over ire''s body, they still couldn''t use it as their own.

    That was Dante''s contribution. He was never able to truly destroy those beings, but he could at least protect ire''s mind from being shattered when they were released.

    As such, the current ire was a beast of instinct.

    If anything or anyone appeared in her vicinity, she would make sure it died.

    But until then, she would remain in stasis, searching for a ce where chaos could be let loose.

    It wasn''t a perfect n. It wasn''t even a good one. But in the short span of time she had, it was the best she could do.

    To risk herself and herself only, to make sure nobody else would get hurt as she let her power free for the first time in a long time.

    For now, at least, ire was seeding.

    ***

    It was quiet around ire. Perhaps if someone entered her vicinity, the true nature of her current form could be revealed, but with the current situation, she was essentially out ofmission.

    Her summons, on the other hand, were putting in the work expected from them.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The dragon swept its tail through the air in a way simr to the snake, but its speed and power far surpassed its fellow.

    The tail mmed into Malefice, giving him no opportunities to dodge.

    "ARGH!"

    The Straea God let out a loud groan of pain as his body was sent flying back.

    The dragon opened its mouth, charging a ball of energy that was rapidly shot at the iling man.

    XIU!

    The ball cut through the air, its energy elongating into a beam of sorts.

    Malefice put up his defenses and tried to correct his body position, but he wasn''t able to do so in time.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Another massive attack struck him square in the chest. More blood was coughed out of his mouth, and if one could see the state of his internals, it became very obvious that he was not in a good state anymore.

    BANG!

    His body mmed into the ground, creating a huge crater.

    As he pulled himself out of it, the dragon had already approached.

    It didn''t give him a single second of time.

    "DAMMIT!"

    His arm flew into the air wildly without any grace. His fingers curled in as if he was grabbing something, and he pulled his arm in ferociously.

    It was a move he was saving for a final fatal attack against ire, but that wasn''t going to happen anymore.

    What was the point of saving it if he was going to die before he could use it?

    If one looked back at Malefice''s fight with ire, one would realize that he didn''t actually try to attack her many times.

    Even when he did, he was mainly doing so to distract her from what was going on in other ces.

    All of Malefice''s nonfatal attacks, the very attacks that turned ire''s summons into statues that floated in the air¡­

    Those attacks weren''t as simple as they seemed.

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    A huge roar of winds mmed against the ground as an even greater force was propelled towards it.

    Malefice took control over the nearest darkness and threw it at the dragon wantonly.

    And the darkness responded.

    Suddenly, a statuesque serpent, roughly five hundred kilometers long, descended rapidly, catching fire as it rubbed against the atmosphere.

    The man-madeet made it to the dragon as the dragon targeted Malefice, catching it by surprise.

    And though it managed to avoid the physical impact¡­

    That was only the start of it.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Malefice''s darkness hadpletely overtaken the serpent. It was already dead, turned into a bomb that Malefice could use whenever he needed it.

    It was unfortunate that it didn''t meet its destined enemy, but it was used properly nevertheless.

    Darkness exploded forth, creating a massive egg around the dragon. The egg of darkness squished and moved like a school of fish swimming through the air,pressing itself as it tried to swallow the dragon as well.

    ck splotches appeared all over its golden scales, connecting to each other and forming a web that couldn''t be escaped by normal means.

    In most cases, nothing could escape this.

    No being had the power to remove Malefice''s control. As long as his darkness covered enough of their bodies, it was impossible for them to resist envement.

    However, as a bright golden Godly aura covered the dragon, and as a bloodlust beyond any other was released into the world, Malefice was forced to ept that his usual means wouldn''t work this time.

    The cards ire had been hiding¡­

    It was best to say that after fighting the dragon for a few minutes and seeing out of his peripheral as Erwin tried to fight the other two, Maleficepletely understood why ire was regarded as an expert leagues better than him.

    He understood why his brother decided to retreat to the Sacred Abyss Universe and participate in the war against the Heavenly World as a true member of the Foreign Races.

    Because unless he had power that far surpassed what his base human form could achieve¡­

    ¡­how was he meant to win against monsters like these?

 Chapter 1572 Monster [2]

    Chapter 1572 Monster [2]

    ??BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The battle that was once mentioned for not having many explosions had now joined the rest of the pack.

    As Grand Duke Famas'' power reached its potential, his every movement started to cause problems.

    If he was in the Heavenly World instead of the Heavenly God ne, the folds of reality would''ve been straining themselves to even hope to contain his presence.

    The Grand Duke, a man whose power waspletely opposite to his personality, was a closebat fighter.

    He used his fists more than he used weapons or ranged attacks, which, in most cases, was fine.

    After all, as long as he could reach his enemy, he could kill them with just a few punches. He didn''t need more than a single moment of opportunity to end everything.

    This battle had already been underway for several minutes at this point. The power of the Grand Duke''s fists was imprinted into the world.

    However, facing Serena, his disadvantage rapidly showed itself.

    He hadn''t even been able to hit her once yet.

    The Grand Duke was a powerful man. It was a bit of a shame that he was being underrepresented like this, but what could he do?

    He couldn''t even get close to her.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Four needles filled with thew of time whizzed past his body, while one managed to puncture his shoulder and push through.

    His skin immediately withered away, making his left arm unusable.

    Luckily, he managed to avoid soul injury, so without minding the loss of his arm, he continued to push forward.

    BANG!

    He threw a punch with his right. Space and time copsed under the pressure of his fist, and a gap formed in Serena''s permanent defense.

    Without wasting a second, he pushed forward through it and prepared himself to attack again.

    ''Good.''

    Serena wasn''t surprised.

    She''d led him into this trap.

    The longer she and Famas fought, the more she realized her advantages.

    He didn''t know what she could do.

    It was a bit insulting, but when they''d fought in the past, she was nowhere near the level necessary for him to take note of her presence.

    While she had a vendetta against him, he was only focused on Dante.

    The only reason the Grand Duke knew who she was was because she was married to Dante. As for her power, her intelligence, her fighting style, her anything, really¡­

    The Grand Duke was simply unaware.

    All he knew was that he had to be wary of her because she had reached his level.

    Since she used Time Laws, Famas assumed that he knew the extent of her power. Everyone who used time as their mainw fought the same.

    But, just like everything else he "thought" he knew, that was simply incorrect.

    It was perfect for her. The Grand Duke could be a terrifying enemy, especially in an environment where his power could be used at its full potential.

    However, she had the opportunity to rid him of that environment and lull him into a false sense of security.

    She could win this battle without even allowing him to show the world why he was a Grand Duke.

    And the instant she understood the possibility, she immediately went to work to turn it into a reality.

    The Grand Duke may have shattered spacetime, but he had not shattered Serena''s barrier. She consciously removed it so he could be kept under that illusion.

    And as he approached to attack again, she watched him carefully, slowly closing her barrier around him as he reached the point of no return.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The Grand Duke mmed his fist out again, once again causing intense damage to thews that upheld the Heavenly God ne.

    And the moment his force was mere centimeters away from her, Serena made her move.

    Timews were more uniquepared to their peers. Regardless of their level, it seemed like the method to directly use them to attack never changed.

    After all, while time was iprehensible to many proper and out of reach to even more, it was rtively simple in the way it actually worked.

    It flowed calmly, providing a backbone for everything.

    Sure, sts of time could be shot out as Serena had been doing thus far, but if she wanted to deal a truly lethal blow, could she do the same?

    No.

    Naturally, she had to put some more effort into it.

    The attack she had in mind was already prepared by the time the Grand Duke reached her. Since the time to release it hade¡­

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    Grand Duke Famas'' fingers snapped backward as they were forced to freeze in ce. Their excess momentumpounded into Famas'' wrist and shattered it into pieces.

    The atmosphere changed subtly. Well, it was only subtle for a moment.

    And then everything went dark.

    Space still existed. Movement was still possible.

    But time was no longer a factor.

    In the surrounding hundred thousand kilometer area, the concept of time itself had beenpletely removed, swallowed by Serena.

    What did that mean for others?

    It meant that no change could ever be real. Without time flowing to cement and define change, it couldn''t ur.

    Grand Duke Famas gathered himself and tried to attack again.

    His fist did the same as always. Its impact still shattered the world as it did before.

    However, even after he seeded in striking Serena, she stood there as if nothing was wrong.

    Her body was impacted by the force, and for a second, it looked like her chest was going to cave in.

    But it never happened. "Reality" didn''t respond in a "real" way.

    The "change" the Grand Duke had wrought upon the world was reverted.

    ''This¡­''

    The Grand Duke''s eyes narrowed.

    He retreated backward several hundred meters, only to see himself rubber-banded back to his original position.

    He tried to exert as much of his power as possible to break the suppression. It simply wasn''t possible, because this effect did note from something being forced onto him, but from something being taken away.

    There wasn''t a way to use his power to ovee this situation. Not unless he could somehow create his own flow of time to counteract Serena''s abyss.

    Grand Duke Famas was an intimidating guy. He really was.

    If one heard the stories of what he was doing back in the day when Dante and the rest were still growing, one might even rte him to the Saint Emperor in some ways.

    Of course, he didn''t have thetter''s heroism or purpose, but in terms of strength, the two were equally terrifying to those below them.

    That was why it was a shame. No matter what he wanted to do, Serena wasn''t going to allow him to showcase even a speck of his power.

    She removed his everything with a single move.

    The only reason she let him get so close at all¡­

    "...was so I could do this."

    She ced her hand on the man''s forehead. He naturally tried to move, but he sprung back into ce as if he was begging her to do whatever she wanted.

    A scar that had long healed but one that she''d never forget¡­

    A scar that Grand Duke Famas gave her in the past¡­it was time for her to return it to him in kind

 Chapter 1573 Monster [3]

    Chapter 1573 Monster [3]

    ??Time. It was aw that many idealized, but not one many had the opportunity ofing into contact with.

    Damien had a chance to take thisw to the peak, and for a time, he was extremely interested in its function. However, as his power grew and became broader, he became somewhat trapped within the existing conventions of thew.

    Serena was different.

    Or rather, Serena was normal in that aspect.

    For most people in this world, there was only one element. Onew that they''d spend their entire lives trying toprehend.

    They''d dig as deep as possible, and when they realized that there was nothing left to dig, they''d use the dirt they''d collected to create something entirely new out of thew''s existing form.

    It was the beauty of training. An endless process that not only improved oneself, but contributed greatly to the world and allowed one to leave a mark that could never be erased.

    Then, how could time be taken beyond its existing limits?

    Time was an extremely rigidw. Its effects could impact anything and everything, but the actual effects that it could have were limited to just a few options.

    When Serena first tried to ovee thew, she found that her best course was to study the "absence" of time.

    The result had already been made clear. She learned how to contain the Time Laws within an area inside her body, effectively erasing them from the world.

    However, that was only one step. That was a power Serena was able to begin developing as a Demigod andplete perfectly around the time she ascended to True Godhood.

    She was a Supreme God now.

    The entire length of her Godhood had been spent studying other things.

    As for what those were¡­?

    Firstly, of course, her ability to touch the soul. She could regress someone''s power, regress their soul to a state when they were a mortal, and age their soul to the point where it could no longer hold itself together properly.

    This was a power that made her better than the majority of the world. She had a superiority that they couldn''t stand against.

    However, there were still those people who were stronger than her, and those who she needed to use more power against.

    For those people, she developed something special.

    It was a power she called the "manifestation of the unseen."

    And as she grabbed Grand Duke Famas by his head, manhandling him as if he was worth nothing, this was the exact power she used.

    The world split into six, then twelve, then a hundred and forty-four. Countless iterations of the world were formed andid next to each other in a neat nket that only Serena and the Grand Duke could see.

    Manifestation of the unseen. It was more about those things that "weren''t experienced" rather than things that couldn''t be seen.

    Every iteration of reality that presented itself in that moment was different.

    In some, Famaspletely overpowered Serena and killed her. In others, their confrontation didn''t exist at all.

    Every parallel timeline, every "what if" that existed in the world was manifested by Serena''s power, and she looked through them like a window shopper considering a purchase.

    There was a nuance to this power. A certain finesse was necessary to properly utilize it.

    Serena spent tens of thousands of years mastering that finesse even after her power was solidified, and as someone who possessed such skill¡­

    She could immediately pick out the "unseen" that she wanted to manifest into reality.

    Her hand reached forward. The Grand Duke watched as she plucked a string of parallel reality out of the nket and held it up to his eyes.

    "See this?" She said, making sure heprehended her words.

    He was stuck. Even if he wanted to move, he couldn''t.

    He was forced to watch as she humiliated him.

    "I hope you''ve taken a good enough look. After all, this¡­"

    She pushed the string against his forehead, and it disappeared into his body.

    "...is going to be you from now on."

    The Grand Duke''s eyes rolled back into his head.

    shes of memory that he didn''t recognize began to imprint themselves into his soul, overriding what currently existed.

    In those memories, Famas had never been a Foreign Noble. His soul, which had been created in the Sacred Abyss Universe, was incarnated into a regrmoner of that ne.

    That version of him lived his entire life alone, and while he always looked at practitioners and dreamed of bing one, of having power, he never had the chance to achieve that dream.

    He was just a regr person.

    And unlike the True Void Universe, there was no such thing as equal opportunity in the Sacred Abyss.

    Only those chosen by the Dark God were allowed strong power. As for those who reached it without him¡­

    The Gehenna Tribe''s tragic fate was enough to exin what would happen, right?

    Apletely new Famas, one who could not attach the title of Grand Duke to his name, was born into this ce.

    "That which remained unseen," the essence of a parallel reality, imprinted itself on existence and overrode everything else.

    Famas'' entire Legend was changed in that moment.

    His mind still remembered the memories he held before the transition. Of course Serena would force him to remember it. This was meant to be painful, after all.

    But it didn''t matter if he remembered.

    Because his soul was now amoner''s, and he could not regain the power he held in the past.

    Famas'' body aged severely within a few seconds. He was around eighty in appearance now, and his vitality reflected that well.

    He and Serena were already outside of the Heavenly God ne. Just moments ago, he''d lost all qualifications to enter it.

    The duo floated to the ground under Serena''s control.

    Famas'' feet touched, and he instantly fell to his knees.

    ''My body¡­''

    Two sets of memories shed in his head, bringing him endless pain.

    His body was ruined by age. It did not work nearly the same as it used to. Hell, in his current state, even walking was a problem.

    His joints were bad.

    It was such a mortal problem that it was iprehensible to him.

    But this was his reality now.

    "You have 2 years of lifespan remaining. I''ve made sure of it," Serena said to the unresponsive man.

    "Use those two years in any way you desire. I don''t care what you do with the rest of your life."

    Serena flew into the air.

    She had to leave Famas'' vicinity because her mere presence was enough to suffocate the current him.

    But if she wasn''t conscious of it herself, she never would''ve realized. Famas was still on the ground, unmoving like a statue as he tried toe to terms with his current situation.

    Serena knew. To someone like Famas who''d been born into power and chasing power his whole life, for someone who valued power more than anything else, this was the absolute worst possible punishment.

    And that was the exact reason she created a power like this.

    To those who were stronger than her, nothing mattered more than power.

    So not only would she strip them of their power, she would leave them to live and experience powerlessness for themselves as people even they didn''t remember themselves being.

    Without identity, without strength, what was famas?

    What was anyone?

    "I truly hope you take this time to think about it. Maybe when you realize that everything is the result of your own actions, I''ll be able to see something fun."

    They were not words of condolence or advice, but pure vocalized spite.

    ''That''s enough.''

    Serena was getting bored of talking to someone who didn''t show any response.

    And she didn''t want to think about the past anymore.

    ''I need to find ire.''

    This battle was over, but the one that was taking ce over there¡­

 Chapter 1574 Monster [4]

    Chapter 1574 Monster [4]

    ??Serena found a more secluded location nearby before re-entering the Heavenly God ne to find ire and Malefice.

    She absolutely could''ve gone straight there in the real world, but she would be able to travel far faster in that ne.

    Plus, she wasn''t that far away.

    The Heavenly God ne was much less expansive than the Heavenly World since it usually only showed enough space to contain all the battles taking ce within.

    There were a lot of Gods fighting right now, including Hugo, Persia, and the 16 Swords, but they were all roughly around the same ce.

    Malefice and his main subordinates had all moved together, after all.

    Nevertheless, it wasn''t hard for Serena to find the location. ire''s summons weren''t exactly quiet.

    And when she arrived, the first feeling that set in was confusion.

    ''This is¡­?''

    It wasn''t what she was expecting at all.

    When she finally recognized the three summons in front of her, her expression changed.

    That was when the second feeling set in.

    Concern.

    Dante, Serena, Hugo, and Persia all knew about ire''s peculiarity. It wasn''t just the one time during their youth that she went berserk.

    They''d experienced it personally, and they''d been there when Dante finally figured out how to seal the demons.

    However, if the manifestations of those seals were here, then where was ire¡­?

    BOOOOOM!

    The dragon summoned a huge ball of ming light, which struck Malefice straight in the chest and threw him into the ground.

    He mmed into the earth, and his body was embedded several inches inside of it. It didn''t look like he would be getting up again.

    As for Erwin Ellowyn¡­

    The treatment he was getting was horrible.

    Serena recognized him too, since ire had shown them all pictures of the people from her past, so she didn''t jump in to help or anything.

    Merely¡­

    The monkey and the tiger acting together was a bit overkill regardless of who their enemy was.

    Erwin Ellowyn''s power had been locked by the monkey''s sealing power, and together, the two summons were torturing him slowly.

    They cut him up slowly. Every time they attacked, they''d slice an inch-thick segment of his body and then wait. Only after he felt the pain of the cut would they administer another.

    Erwin hade here because he''d followed the money. Straea had offered him many benefits for going against his grand-niece, and he happily agreed.

    ire was thest remaining vestige of his shameful past. If she could die, then it was better for him. He could finally get rid of that memory and clear his current bottleneck.

    Was he expecting this situation at all?

    Of course not.

    He was being vited, humiliated.

    It looked like he was a mortal being toyed with by Gods. Considering that he was also a Supreme God, the strength of his enemies could only be unfathomable.

    Erwin was going to die soon. There was nothing he could do to stop it. Eventually, his head would be presented to ire on a stake.

    But¡­ire, where was she?

    ''She''s still in danger.''

    Since her seals were released, her enemies obviously wouldn''t be able to do anything to her. The danger in this situation was ire herself.

    She was not only a danger to others. If she couldn''t be brought back under control in time, her own body would be slowly corrupted and destroyed by that power.

    ''I have to find her.''

    Serena spread her awareness and immediately rushed in the direction where she found ire''s aura.

    It took her a minute to find her, but it wasn''t that hard. ire hadn''t moved since the start of her transformation.

    Every bit of will inside her was used to make sure she wouldn''t encounter others.

    But that¡­

    That didn''t matter if others encountered her.

    "ire¡­!"

    Serena yelled out, announcing her presence. She was aware that she was putting herself in danger, but she had to check and see how far ire had gone.

    If there was no response at all, then she was too far gone. Only Dante would be able to fix her.

    If her bloodlust concentrated on the newly discovered target¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    ''...then she''ll attack wantonly until she''spletely worn out.''

    Serena used her power to contain the explosion as much as possible, dodging everything she couldn''t disperse.

    ''There''s good news and bad news.''

    ire had locked on to her.

    This meant that Serena was in danger, sure, but it also meant that ire could still be saved. As long as her power was properly exhausted, she would have the chance to wrestle control back from the beings who currently had her body.

    However, to exhaust ire''s power¡­

    ''I''ll try my best. If only¡­''

    If only Dante were here, right?

    That seemed to be themon thought among people who''d fought by his side.

    It was a little funny how much he and his son had inmon. It was almost as if they were the same person, just born in two different generations.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    ire''s fighting style had changedpletely, but the foundation was still creation.

    Now, ire was using a power more simr to Iris, where she controlled the nonliving side of Creation.

    Serena had to move a lot more than she did when she was dealing with Famas. She zipped through the atmosphere, expertly controlling her barrier to disperse the majority of ire''s rampant mana.

    This fight was not one where her goal was to kill the enemy. That was a huge problem for Serena, whose whole power existed to decimate her foes.

    ''Contain, not kill.''

    It was a lesson she''d had to learn in the past as well.

    But as long as she used her power properly, it was still more than possible.

    ''But until that bes possible¡­''

    She nced at ire, who was staring back at her with those reptilian eyes.

    ''...I''ll have to fight.''

    It had been a very long time since she and irest fought. And at that time, they''d vowed to never fight again after establishing a solid rtionship as sister-wives.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!!

    Another massive explosion rang out, covering both ire and Serena and hiding them from view.

    That was thest thing Damien saw.

    The projection that Erwin Ellowyn set up to follow ire was cut off.

    Whether it was by the force of the explosion, because Erwin himself died, or because ire and Serena moved too far out of range, Damien didn''t know.

    The clone of Grand Duke Famas disappeared as the man himself was turned into a regr human.

    It was unexpected, even though Famas'' fight with Serena was also being broadcast to this ce.

    Three Grand Dukes and fifteen Dukes.

    While this number was still quite impossible for Damien to approach¡­

    He didn''t have much of a choice anymore.

    The situation had changed. It wasn''t his mother against her enemies anymore. He couldn''t just trust her toe out on top.

    The ones fighting were his mother and his aunt.

    And from the looks of it, something was horribly wrong.

    ''I need to get there.''

    He couldn''t stay trapped and stuck in the background anymore.

    It was time for him to enter the fight as well.

 Chapter 1575 Escape [1]

    Chapter 1575 Escape [1]

    ??Damien hadn''t done anything until now. It was only natural for him to fade into the background.

    It wasn''t like Damien was afraid of the consequences. Despite being surrounded by a force it was impossible for him to beat, he was never afraid of confronting them.

    However, he still held his anger back. Even as he saw his mother get injured and lose herself, he held his anger back.

    Because he couldn''t say for certain whether the others would be safe or not if he decided to directly attack the people around him.

    They had him in a precarious situation where they controlled everything.

    At least, that was how it started.

    The current situation in the field waspletely outside of their expectations

    None of them showed it, but the instant Grand Duke Famas became just Famas, they''d put their guards up.

    There usually weren''t so many people this powerful.

    In other cosmos, a Grand Duke was an invible force. Even if several of their peak Gods appeared at once, they wouldn''t be able to stand up to a single Foreign Grand Duke.

    The True Void Universe was apletely different ball game.

    Serena was already so powerful, but ire had suddenly achieved a level that even surpassed the Grand Dukes. She was just a step below Unrecorded, at least, by the perception of those who watched her.

    For thest scene to appear on the projection to be ire and Serena fighting while everyone sent by them was dead or dying¡­

    Naturally, the Foreign Nobles felt a certain way about it.

    However, they had Damien locked away, and that was their main priority.

    The ns Grand Duke Famas made were all thrown out the window.

    He''d been given the lead of this entire operation, but look what happened.

    He was consumed by his own emotions and died while chasing a dream that was never possible. It could be considered a side effect of his power, but the usually calm Grand Duke was always on the edge of breaking.

    That edge just couldn''t hold him anymore, and when he saw perfection approaching, he became hasty and lost it all.

    The chain ofmand specified that if Famas went off the rails, Grand Duke Maveth would take control.

    And while he had been silently allowing hisrade to do as he pleased, he was never a fan of the way they were doing things.

    Maveth respected the hierarchy established among them. Not because he respected the others at his level, but because it was what the Dark God ordained.

    But Famas was gone.

    And Maveth had been making preparations for this moment for a very long time.

    "Move."

    Maveth said only one word, but all of the Foreign Nobles understood what he meant.

    There was no need to wait and give Damien more time to think.

    There was no need to obsess over those from Void Pce. They''d die when their time came.

    Right now, they only had one goal.

    To eliminate the anomaly in front of them.

    Before Damien could act on his thoughts, the nobles around him attacked.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    A huge explosion rang out, causing ripples in the Existence barrier.

    Damien had already teleported away.

    ''I guess there''s no need to think more.''

    Since it hade to this, then it hade to this.

    Damien''s thoughtspletely cleared out. His entire mind was focused on the current goal, escaping.

    Grand Duke us appeared behind him before he knew what was happening, sending a fist into his back.

    Damien barely felt it when it was only a few millimeters away. He didn''t have time to block or dodge, however¡­

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosive force of the punch shot through the location where Damien was as if he wasn''t there.

    His body had turned ethereal at the final moment. He just barely managed to keep himself unharmed.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The Dukes, Counts, and Viscounts knew they couldn''t y a major role in this battle, but that didn''t mean they were useless.

    Without even caring where Damien actually was, they peppered the sky and ground with attacks to limit the amount of space he had to move around.

    ''Is that everything?''

    Of course it wasn''t.

    Even more useless numbers were added to the equation, just in case their presence inhibited Damien even a little bit.

    The Foreign Vanguard was also present within the hidden principality. The five types of manufactured beasts used by the Foreign Races to invade the world, hundreds of thousands of them swarmed the ground below, creating a dark nket across the entire hidden principality.

    Originally, they''d been brought here for a simple reason. Their presence caused the corruption to spread faster, which worked towards the main goal of the Dark God, conquest.

    Now, they''d been repurposed. Not that Damien cared either way.

    ''There are only three I have to pay attention to.''

    The others needed to be kept in mind, but not actively watched.

    ''And the main goal isn''t to win the battle.''

    The main goal was to escape and find a way to his mother so he could mediate her current circumstances.

    ''I don''t know what''s happening to her, but if Aunt had to fight, then it can''t be good. If she''s been possessed or something simr, then the concept of order is the perfect solution.''

    If his mother had some sort of long-term problem that he didn''t know about, then this was his opportunity to help her permanently fix it.

    ''Okay.''

    Damien rapidly turned to the side, narrowly avoiding another projectile.

    His own energy zed outward, pushing away the mkh around him.

    It was not mana, nor was it mkh.

    It was a mixture of both, abination of the two forms of energy used by the conjoined cosmos.

    Damien flicked his hand up. The mkh around him halted and turned around, targeting the people who originally brought it into the world.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    A Viscount died just there, forcing the rest to pull back and focus on hiding while then attacked.

    The Dukes pushed forward to protect them, but even they were just at the same level as Damien. He wasn''t going to let them outdo him.

    His attacks were urate and formless. He didn''t focus on form, instead focusing everything on what went into the attacks.

    As such, form-wise, all he released were waves of energy.

    However, each wave was equipped with something magical, a mixture ofws unlike what anyone else could create.

    Damien whizzed around, and for a second, it looked like he''d be able to turn this situation into something advantageous.

    Against the Dukes, Counts, and Viscounts, at least, he could hold his own without a problem.

    But even if it was Damien, there were limits.

    He wasn''t yet at a level where he could avoid them.

    With three Grand Dukes, three Supreme Gods trying to kill him¡­

    It would''ve been strange if Damien could make it out without some suffering.

    Grand Duke Maveth stood on the ground, watching as the battle raged on.

    And he snapped his finger while Damien was upied.

    He didn''t sense the attack, nor did he feel it until it had already happened.

    Blood spurted into the air.

    This was the start of Damien''s torturous attempt to escape.

 Chapter 1576 Escape [2]

    Chapter 1576 Escape [2]

    ??Searing pain attacked him first.

    Grand Duke Maveth was a unique case where two abilities manifested in one person. On top of his regr abilities, which he had yet to reveal, he had the power to heighten the pain sensitivity of his victims.

    Every time his attacks struck, the victim''s pain would be squared.

    With a single attack, Damien was caught in the cycle, already feeling pain at twice the normal rate.

    Which was why he could feel it at all.

    His arm had been taken off with that attack. It was already regrowing, and with Damien''s tolerance, losing an arm for a moment didn''t mean much at all.

    However, he felt the sear as his nerves tried to send signals to an arm that wasn''t there. He even felt the phantom pain after his arm healed.

    ''Dangerous.''

    Damien made a mental note to watch for Maveth''s attacks. If the pain amplification got too high, his perception would be limited by the nervous responses being shot through his body.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Damien continued his defensive strategy. He took control of the mkh around him, sent attacks back to those who attacked him, and used his own mana to create chaos in his vicinity so others couldn''t easily approach him.

    The entire time, Damien remained connected to his Existence, connected to reality, feeling the Existence barrier around him.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    "Khhhh¡­!"

    Damien gritted his teeth.

    ''I can''t lose focus.''

    He had to split his attention between the battlefield and the barrier.

    With the Sanctuary locked away and separated from him, he couldn''t summon Alexander or Damian to aid him. He was on his own, forced to take the entire burden with his singr main body.

    Damien spun around, urately gauging his situation.

    ''The main attackers are us and Maveth.''

    Grand Duke Lance had disappeared into the shadows. He was likely waiting for the perfect moment tond a fatal blow.

    ''Maveth has pain amplification and¡­''

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    ''...force control.''

    The power was simr to Damien''s in that it manifested as a formless wave.

    It was hard to sense and even harder to see, but when it struck, it could hit one with the force of a million suns.

    Unlike Damien''s power, Maveth''s waves were consistent. The power contained within was always the same, and only the amount of force changed.

    However, it was a powerful ability that also contained some aspects of spatial control.

    Maveth could summon force from anywhere. He didn''t just have to shoot it out of his body.

    For instance, the attacks aimed at Damien right now¡­

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    ¡­were spawning directly on him, giving him no more than a sh of a second to dodge.

    Unfortunately, that amount of time wasn''t enough when there were tens of force explosions taking ce just inches away from each other all around Damien.

    BANG!

    He finally got struck. The pain he felt was amplified to four times the normal amount, and the attack wasn''t as simple as a severed arm.

    Damien''s chest caved in. His heart was pierced by a loose rib. Gritting his teeth, he held his scream and willed the Authority of Immortality to heal him quickly.

    WHOOSH!

    That was when us appeared behind him again.

    A massive swirl of mkh covered the two of them, and as Damien was thrown into a world of darkness, a single speck of light illuminated his vision.

    ''Dodge. I have to¨C''

    VOOOOOOOM!

    us grabbed Damien in a bear hug and squeezed as tight as he could.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Damien immediately threw several needles of mana out of his back, but us didn''t let go.

    The dot of light became brighter and bigger as it approached closer. Soon enough, the form of a spear flying faster than the speed of light became clear to Damien''s eyes.

    And it was aimed straight for his heart.

    ''Damn.''

    Damien summoned spatial mana and attempted to teleport.

    His body began to fade into the spatialyers, but exactly at that moment¡­

    CRASH!

    The spatialyers themselves shattered, leaving Damien stuck in the open.

    ''Force control!''

    Maveth''s power wasn''t just useful in attacking other people. Its effects on the atmosphere could be just as devastating.

    With us holding him in ce and Maveth blocking his escape, the massive spear that Lance threw was able to strike him without an inch of inuracy.

    SHIK!

    The spear stabbed through his chest.

    us immediately backed off.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    An explosion of dark light swallowed Damien whole.

    His skin burned off and his flesh was seared. His bones began to melt, and as if that wasn''t bad enough, Maveth saw this as the perfect opportunity.

    BANG!

    Another wave of force struck Damien.

    BANG!

    Then another.

    BANG!

    Then another again.

    Suddenly, his pain had been amplified from four times the normal amount to sixty-five thousand times what any human should''ve ever been forced to feel.

    Damien couldn''t hold it back anymore.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

    He screamed in agony. He couldn''t even exin the absolute atrocity that was beingmitted on his body right now.

    His mind went nk. He couldn''t think about anything but the pain.

    His body froze. His muscles locked up as they were bombarded with enough nervous stimtion to shatter any normal person''s mental world into a million tiny pieces.

    Damien held on by a string, forcing himself through the pain.

    But that was not something his enemies would allow.

    BOOM!

    us struck him from the back. He was a simpler battle type who had extreme speed and physical strength, but when his power wasbined with his peers, he became a monster beyond monsters.

    Lance''s power was nuanced. He could "throw" anything at speeds incalcble to the human mind. As long as an object was flung by his arm, it could be a weapon stronger than any Godly artifact.

    Those two were the main damage dealers.

    And Maveth¡­he just watched from the back, constantly heightening Damien''s pain and assuring that he would never find an opening to escape his torment.

    Famasid out a solid groundwork, but he was too emotional for his own good.

    When someone who was cold and calcting like Maveth took charge, those preparations could be fully exploited, leading to a situation where even someone as great as Damien couldn''t fight back.

    Why was he so confident?

    Despite knowing that it would end up like this, Damien was still more concerned with his mother and Aunt''s situation than his own.

    How was he able to approach the battle when he knew he''d experience so much suffering?

    The answer was quite simple, actually.

    He didn''t consider it at all.

    He didn''t even think about losing, nor did he have a thought about any sort of pain he''d have to face.

    Now, he was in it. He couldn''t back out anymore, and the pain was already upon him.

    However, he refused to fold.

    With every passing second, as he felt the constant impacts tearing his body to shreds, Damien regained a tiny bit of rationality.

    And with that rationality, he was able to seize control over the Existence in his possession.

    All things were trivial in front of him.

    All concepts were his to dominate and rule.

    As long as he remembered that singr, extremely important fact¡­

    Damien could do anything.

    Even if that meant destroying a piece of Existence itself.

 Chapter 1577 Escape [3]

    Chapter 1577 Escape [3]

    It couldn''t be overstated how little Damien understood his own power.

    He''d beenprehending Existence concept by concept, and his general understanding of it was spectacr. If one asked him to showcase the concepts of Existence themselves, he could show them something wondrous. However, ironically enough, Damien, who valued freedom so much, was restricted in thought.

    He simply could not foster an imagination wide enough to experience the full brevity of Existence.

    Of course, Damien never stopped trying. His recent curiosity towards the different paths of life and the ways humans could change was rted to his desire to expand his mentality.

    His efforts were apudable, but they just weren''t enough. At least in terms of usages of his power in battle, it was impossible for Damien to understand them until he found himself in that precarious situation.

    No matter how powerful he became, the fundamental rule of practitioners didn''t change. Practical experience was always the most valuable.

    Right now, Damien was experiencing something preposterous.

    His pain had been amplified by over a million times as Maveth continued to attack him. That wasn''t just the pain of a paper cut. The base force was already Godly strength. His body was in the process of being decimated.

    It kept regenerating, somehow faster than us and Lance could attack. Damien never truly died no matter how many times his heart and head exploded.

    It was a troubling matter for his enemies, but what was it like for him?

    Frankly, he couldn''t even feel his body anymore.

    When the pain reached a certain point, it just became numb. There was only a certain level that even Damien''s evolved physique could handle.

    And rather than inhibiting him, that numbness helped Damien. He, who had kept his rationality throughout it all, was suddenly given the freedom to act on that rationality. The pain wasn''t shattering his thoughts anymore.

    And that was when he realized it.

    Wasn''t pain just a concept...?

    Wasn''t everything around him just...

    Mana, mkh, energy...

    Humans, Foreign Races, living beings...

    The earth, the winds, the heavens...

    ...wasn''t it all just a bundle of forces under his control?

    Wasn''t reality something he could toy with as he saw fit?

    It was hard for Damien to not underestimate himself.

    He was iprehensible, but he still judged himself by the standards others had set for this world.

    It was normal, wasn''t it?

    That was exactly the problem.

    Damien was not normal.

    And perhaps...his failure to throw away all convention was the exact thing holding him back from his full potential. He had to realize at some point.

    He was the one who would rule the world.

    He was the person aiming to be Absolute.

    The arrogance he thought he was suppressing was not arrogance, but confidence with obvious backing. He did not need to suppress himself and be humble, because if he really held all of that back, he would never think he had the capability to do things he actually could do easily.

    A switch clicked in his mind.

    All of the habits he''d drilled into himself to keep himself humble and aware of all possibilities were thrown away. Everything that could possibly limit him was forced back. He had a goal he needed to aplish.

    He had people he needed to save.

    And he absolutely could not fall here.

    ''All of it...''

    Damien''s eyes shed open.

    ''I want all of it gone!

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive pulse of energy was released from his body. Everything went dead silent, as if all the sound in the surroundings had been swallowed up.

    Mkh and mana, both were different forms of the same thing, and at the end of the day, both were energies that could only make up a fraction of Void Energy.

    Damien''s formless aura enveloped the entirety of the hidden Principality.

    It had to be remembered that Existence was only half of what Damien needed. The main energy he used, the main power he chased, was not Existence alone.

    Before his chaotic yet absolutely pure energy, both mana and mkh were forced to kneel.

    All of the energy in the vicinity settled and dispersed.

    In that moment of silence, Damien looked at Grand Dukes Maveth, us, and Lance.

    He looked at the Existence barrier that he once saw and believed to be greater than him.

    ''None of this matters!

    None of it was real.

    No danger could affect him.

    ''If I want to leave...''

    Damien pushed his hand out. He allowed his mana to flow however it wanted to, uncaring of everything else around him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The sound of explosions. It was muffled to the point where it was hardly audible.

    The three Grand Dukes and their Nobleckeys continued to attack as they saw something strange happening around Damien. They weren''t just going to sit back and allow him to do whatever he pleased.

    However, there was a barrier around him.

    A barrier of Existence.

    After being trapped inside of one for so long, it would''ve been strange if Damien didn''t learn how to recreate it for himself, right?

    Whether it was force control or physical strength, mkh or mana, nothing could get through to the current Damien. The pain in his body vanished.

    His arms and legs grew back, and his organs returned to their normal positions as his chest returned to its regr position.

    ...nobody can stop me!''

    Nothing could hold him. Not even Existence itself.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Another huge pulse of energy ripped through the air.

    The Grand Dukes were thrown back, while the Dukes and those beneath them found their mkh incapable of functioning.

    A bright white light covered Damien''s body, growing and growing until it was brighter than a supernova.

    Light shed against barrier, Existence shed against Existence. The entire hidden Principality fiercely shook as it seemed like the cave could copse at any time.

    Crack!

    It was a subtle sound that only Damien heard.

    Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

    It repeated itself as a small crack turned big, expanding across arge surface.

    And eventually, when the cracks added up...

    CRASH!

    The entire structure copsed.

    BOOOOOO0000000000OOM!

    It came out of nowhere. The second the Existence barrier disappeared, all of the force it had absorbed was spread back into the environment. The entire hidden Principality was bombarded by its weight.

    The Grand Dukes were forced to go on the defensive, and together with the Dukes, they provided cover for their entire group of over a hundred.

    The Vanguards, on the other hand, weren''t so lucky.

    Hundreds of thousands became none as rampant energy and falling rocks imed the lives of every artificially engineered soldier.

    Chaos ensued in full, not giving anyone present time to do anything but survive.

    But Damien...

    He was not a part of that group.

    The instant the barrier was destroyed under the weight of his partiallypleted Void Energy, he had disappeared millions of kilometers into the distance.

    Only the Foreign Nobility were left to deal with the aftermath.

    No words were exchanged. However, the intents of all involved parties were transmitted clearly.

    The rage, humiliation, and annoyance of the Foreign Nobility...and the clear sentiment Damien left when he escaped.bender

    This time, they''d won.

    However, if he ever met them again...

    He would make sure to finish what they''d started.

 Chapter 1578 Chaos [1]

    Chapter 1578 Chaos [1]

    ??It was a curiosity, wasn''t it? How was the connection inside ire formed? What did it mean?

    Despite living with it for so long, even ire didn''t have answers. Her situation wasn''t amon thing in the cosmos, or even in all of existence.

    The nature of the connection remained unknown, which meant the actual implications it had were the same. The best ire and those around her could do was seal it off and make sure it didn''t cause too much damage.

    But it was still anomalous.

    For instance, why did ire''s power change?

    Why was it that the beings controlling her had an equal and opposite understanding of ire''sws? She used Creation regardless of her form, but the types of Creation varied so much that it was almost like twopletely different people.

    When both sides werebined, an ultimate weapon would be born.

    Was that the main purpose?

    Serena didn''t know, but as someone who''d fought ire before, she felt the clear difference between her two sides.

    She was relentless. Unlike the usual ire, she was heavy on the attack and left no space for her enemy to do anything.

    Serena had to fight back. She wasn''t given another choice. However, to fight back¡­

    How could she do that without aiming for the throat?

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Serena could dodge without a problem where she needed to. Since time and space shared a lot of simrities, she could maneuver in ways that mimicked teleportation.

    Her barrier was also perfect against someone with a power like ire''s, since objects had a far easier lifespan to control than energy.

    No matter what ire used, no matter how powerful or mind-bending it was conceptually, Serena didn''t have a problem keeping herself safe.

    But she still couldn''t find a way to take ire down.

    ''I might have to kill her.''

    In the worst case scenario, she would have to hope that ire had brought the pig out in preparation.

    ''But it¡­can probably only use that power one more time.''

    If ire died here, there wouldn''t be a next time. Was it worth the risk, or was there a better method?

    ''No.''

    Neither.

    ''I''ll have to y defensive and hope she can regain control when she starts running out of Divine Energy.''

    How long that would take¡­?

    Serena didn''t know. It could be months or even years, considering how massive ire''s mana capacity was.

    However, there was no other choice. She had to¨C

    All of a sudden, an aura arrived on the horizon. It didn''t have an owner. Nobody approached, but that aura clearly disyed itself in the Heavenly God ne.

    ''That is¡­''

    It was familiar. Of course it was.

    Though he wasn''t her biological son, she still saw him as one of her own. They''d only known each other for a small time, but she was already more than familiar with his aura and character.

    Damien was here.

    Not in the Heavenly God ne, but in the real world.

    And somehow¡­

    ''...just when did that boy get so strong?''

    ¡­he came with an aura almost rivaling theirs.

    Serena didn''t know what Damien was nning to do. She knew it was dangerous around ire right now, but she had no way to transmit that information to him unless she left ire alone here and returned to the real ne.

    ''I hope he can stay safe.''

    And if he was going to create another miracle outside¡­

    ''...then I have to make sure ire stays contained until he can work out a solution.''

    Thest person who was able to solve ire''s problem was her husband, Dante Void.

    Her son was a spitting image of him in many ways, and even more of a genius.

    It wasn''t too far of a stretch to believe that he might be able to find the solution that she couldn''t.

    To keep ire''s upied so it couldn''t cause Damien trouble¡­

    ''...that is a far easier task than bringing her sanity back.''

    If it was just that much, she could do it without a problem.

    Time, after all¡­was something she could create at will.

    ***

    Damien had indeed arrived outside.

    It wasn''t hard for him to find his mother since he was the one who originally received the reports about where each member of Straea had positioned themselves.

    On top of that, the projection allowed him to pinpoint the exact location, so he didn''t have to search around when he reached the ce where the battle was supposed to happen.

    ire wasn''t that far away. She stood in the air, alone and radiating such a field of thick energy that not even another God could easily approach her.

    Malefice Straea was nowhere to be seen. It was the same with Erwin Ellowyn, who''d already died. Thetter''s real body dispersed into ash when he met his end in the Heavenly God ne, as for the former¡­

    Damien didn''t care about any of that.

    His mother was in a precarious state. He confirmed this suspicion the instant he arrived.

    ''This energy isn''t hers.''

    For the most part, the assumptions he''d made were all correct. ire wasn''t in the right state of mind right now. She was likely possessed by something.

    ''The cause¡­''

    Damien would find out soon enough.

    ''Her soul is in the Heavenly God ne, but I should still be able to read it.''

    His perception changed. The human outline that ire''s body was disappeared. Her soul became clear to him as the ethereal superseded the physical.

    Damien instantly saw what his mother hid.

    It was something spectacr, especially in the eyes of a man who''d had more experience creating gxies and universes than anyone.

    The portal in ire''s soul was almostpletely material. It worked as if it was being powered by strong spacetimews, but there was nothing of the sort.

    It existed purely because it existed. There was nothing that could exin it.

    ''Wow¡­''

    That was a concept that meant a lot to Damien.

    For something to exist without a basis, to exist just because it did¡­

    Wasn''t that exactly what he needed to make his power absolute?

    ''Putting that aside¡­''

    The problem was easy to see when one had such a clear look at the soul.

    There was a dark energy leaking through the portal and corrupting ire''s soul. It manifested with the will of those who produced it and possessed her, forcing her to act against her own will.

    ''The base of the problem is the two way connection between Mom and the otherworld.''

    Damien couldn''t just get rid of the portal, because just as much as it cursed her, it was a source of ire''s power.

    Instead ofpletely removing it, what Damien needed to do to save his mother and permanently solve her problem was turn that two way connection into a single line, making it so that only ire had control over what came through the portal.

    ''Easy, right?''

    Not so much.

    Because if Damien wanted control over that connection¡­

    ''...then I have to fight the beings on the other side.''

    Damien put his focus into the portal, carefully maneuvering through ire''s soul so as to not damage or change anything.

    And his battle begun.

    A fight against beings that even his father could not defeat.

 Chapter 1579 Chaos [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1579 Chaos [2] </h4>

    So what trulyy on the other side of the connection?

    ire had seen them, but even she didn''t necessarily understand what they were.

    She defined them as the World Core and the beast. There was no other way to word it, since that was all she was able to see.

    However, as Damien entered the portal himself, he was able to see what others couldn''t.

    Those two entities were indeed as ire saw them, but it was a bit more than that.

    There weren''t two entities at all. From the start, it was only one.

    ire''s body hid a massive secret.

    ''It''s not that she''s connected to another world¡­''

    No, the thing she assumed was a world wasn''t anything of the sort.

    ''Her soul is linked directly to the core of an alternate cosmos.''

    She was a practically living cosmos, something that should''ve been impossible.

    ''The problem is that she''s never been able to actually ess the majority of her power, so we can''t tell why she was born with it in the first ce.''

    ire had never seen that alternate cosmos. It wasn''t because she wasn''t powerful enough, but because "something" had hijacked her connection.

    That being was the equivalent of a Supreme God in its universe. When it sensed the disturbance that was ire''s presence, it found an opportunity to be Unrecorded.

    Somehow, using its understanding ofws, it was able to block ire''s connection and upy it. Then, using it as a foundation, it parasitized ire''s soul for its own benefit.

    It was massive.

    Its true form was bulbous and hard to distinguish from a world. It had continents on its back and bodies of water that flowed off into the void. A myriad of life forms had been bred or migrated to this being''s back, and for all intents and purposes, it was indeed functioning as a world.

    ire saw both a beast and a World Core. At first, one would believe that it was because the beast had a simr function to a World Core.

    However, that wasn''t the case. Instead, the beast had swallowed a World Core at some point in its life and was now in a sort of symbiotic rtionship with it. They were two halves of the same being, bound in body and spirit.

    ''It''s not an inherently evil being.''

    If it was, then there were far more efficient ways to use the life on its back to increase its power.

    ''But its energy is malevolent.''

    There were two ways this could happen. The first was that thew the being practiced was close with darkness. The second¡­

    ''...is that the beastmits evil even while acknowledging its wrongdoing.''

    That one made more sense considering the effects it had on ire.

    ''It''s trying to break her and take her over. As for what it ns to do after that¡­''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''...I can find out through its memories.''

    Regardless of what kind of beast it was, it would die by his hand today.

    Its strength¡­simply did not matter to him.

    ''It''s not from here.''

    It couldn''t see him.

    It couldn''t interact with him because he was currently in a form that it couldn''t perceive.

    ''But I can see it.''

    And he could attack it as he pleased without an ounce of resistance.

    Damien summoned his Existence.

    He blocked the connection between ire and the alternate cosmospletely so that the effects of the battle wouldn''t backfire on her.

    What Damien proceeded to do from that point forth could only be considered cheating.

    He camped in the ethereal ne and peppered the beast''s body with attack after attack. It was like a cataclysm had dawned for the beings living on its back.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The beast was instantly alerted, and it obviously spread it''s senses to try and find where it was being attacked from.

    It even let out an instinctive burst of energy to kill or disrupt any enemies in its immediate vicinity.

    But nothing it did would work.

    Because Damien wasn''t actually there in the first ce.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The situation changed in the Heavenly God ne.

    ire''s body suddenly jerked. Serena rapidly cancelled the attack she was about to throw and rushed towards her sister, catching her before she fell.

    "ire¡­?" She said worriedly.

    No response.

    But her vitality was still strong.

    ''She''s¡­''

    ire''s body slowly turned incorporeal as she vanished from the Heavenly God ne and returned to the real world.

    Serena immediately understood what was happening. Damien had seeded somewhere, or he''d failed miserably.

    Whatever the truth was, she needed to get to where ire was expeditiously.

    She hastily left the Heavenly God ne as well. Her main body was still far away from ire. She needed some time to get there.

    That was the problem.

    Even if "some time" was only a minute¡­

    Nobody had stopped to check what happened to Malefice Straea, had they?

    Damien''s mind was too absorbed in ire''s situation, so he was left vulnerable in the outside world.

    And that was when he approached him.

    Malefice Straea had been ruined by the dragon. The attacks he received from ire earlier inhibited hisbat potential, and as the dragon who sealed bloodlust fought against him with all of its power, he was rapidly outssed.

    He''d been beaten and beaten again until he couldn''t even recognize his body anymore. His soul was so weak that it would wither with a single gust of wind.

    However, he was still alive.

    His body was embedded in the ground and forgotten. He managed to barely leave the Heavenly God ne in time to save himself from more damage.

    But his injuries wouldn''t heal themselves.

    He was crippled for life. In his current state, he would slowly lose Divinity with time until he eventually rotted away in some corner of the world.

    That was not how he wanted to die.

    With how things were going now¡­

    ''...Straea is done.''

    There was no hope for the Straea n.

    That was thest straw for Malefice.

    Without Straea¡­

    ''...my life has no meaning.''

    Everything he built up had been lost, and even his own kin was no longer on his side.

    What reason did he have to maintain his life.

    ''The cause¡­''

    The cause of all of this¡­

    It all started with Void.

    And it would all end with Void.

    Malefice was already there. Damien didn''t sense him, ire wasn''t mentally present, and there was nobody else there.

    Malefice arrived behind Damien, only one goal in mind.

    "Die."

    He wanted that man dead.

    His life was worthless, so he didn''t care if he had to sacrifice it.

    As long as that man ended up dead.

    Malefice''s mana disappeared into his body and concentrated in his very center.

    His soul, his energy, and his everything concentrated into that single location, forming into a ball of existence that was Malefice Straea.

    But this coagtion wasn''t created to define him.

    No, this was the sacrifice he made.

    Using his entire self as payment, he created a force so massive that it could destroy gxies.

    And only a few feet away from Damien, he allowed that force to ignite.

    And ignite it did.

    So well, in fact, that the light it produced could be seen from billions of kilometers away.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    A/N: This is the end of the chapter. The rest is a repeat that I can''t get rid of. Some of wn''s rules are...tedious to say the least.

    And his battle begun.

    A fight against beings that even his father could not defeat.

    So what trulyy on the other side of the connection?

    ire had seen them, but even she didn''t necessarily understand what they were.

    She defined them as the World Core and the beast. There was no other way to word it, since that was all she was able to see.

    However, as Damien entered the portal himself, he was able to see what others couldn''t.

    Those two entities were indeed as ire saw them, but it was a bit more than that.

    There weren''t two entities at all. From the start, it was only one.

    ire''s body hid a massive secret.

    ''It''s not that she''s connected to another world¡­''

    No, the thing she assumed was a world wasn''t anything of the sort.

    ''Her soul is linked directly to the core of an alternate cosmos.''

    She was a practically living cosmos, something that should''ve been impossible.

    ''The problem is that she''s never been able to actually ess the majority of her power, so we can''t tell why she was born with it in the first ce.''

    ire had never seen that alternate cosmos. It wasn''t because she wasn''t powerful enough, but because "something" had hijacked her connection.

    That being was the equivalent of a Supreme God in its universe. When it sensed the disturbance that was ire''s presence, it found an opportunity to be Unrecorded.

    Somehow, using its understanding ofws, it was able to block ire''s connection and upy it. Then, using it as a foundation, it parasitized ire''s soul for its own benefit.

    It was massive.

    Its true form was bulbous and hard to distinguish from a world. It had continents on its back and bodies of water that flowed off into the void. A myriad of life forms had been bred or migrated to this being''s back, and for all intents and purposes, it was indeed functioning as a world.

    ire saw both a beast and a World Core. At first, one would believe that it was because the beast had a simr function to a World Core.

    However, that wasn''t the case. Instead, the beast had swallowed a World Core at some point in its life and was now in a sort of symbiotic rtionship with it. They were two halves of the same being, bound in body and spirit.

    ''It''s not an inherently evil being.''

    If it was, then there were far more efficient ways to use the life on its back to increase its power.

    ''But its energy is malevolent.''

    There were two ways this could happen. The first was that thew the being practiced was close with darkness. The second¡­

    ''...is that the beastmits evil even while acknowledging its wrongdoing.''

    That one made more sense considering the effects it had on ire.

    ''It''s trying to break her and take her over. As for what it ns to do after that¡­''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''...I can find out through its memories.''

    Regardless of what kind of beast it was, it would die by his hand today.

    Its strength¡­simply did not matter to him.

    ''It''s not from here.''

    It couldn''t see him.

    It couldn''t interact with him because he was currently in a form that it couldn''t perceive.

    ''But I can see it.''

    And he could attack it as he pleased without an ounce of resistance.

    Damien summoned his Existence.

    He blocked the connection between ire and the alternate cosmospletely so that the effects of the battle wouldn''t backfire on her.

    What Damien proceeded to do from that point forth could only be considered cheating.

    He camped in the ethereal ne and peppered the beast''s body with attack after attack. It was like a cataclysm had dawned for the beings living on its back.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The beast was instantly alerted, and it obviously spread it''s senses to try and find where it was being attacked from.

    It even let out an instinctive burst of energy to kill or disrupt any enemies in its immediate vicinity.

    But nothing it did would work.

    Because Damien wasn''t actually there in the first ce.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The situation changed in the Heavenly God ne.

    ire''s body suddenly jerked. Serena rapidly cancelled the attack she was about to throw and rushed towards her sister, catching her before she fell.

    "ire¡­?" She said worriedly.

    No response.

    But her vitality was still strong.

    ''She''s¡­''

    ire''s body slowly turned incorporeal as she vanished from the Heavenly God ne and returned to the real world.

    Serena immediately understood what was happening. Damien had seeded somewhere, or he''d failed miserably.

    Whatever the truth was, she needed to get to where ire was expeditiously.

    She hastily left the Heavenly God ne as well. Her main body was still far away from ire. She needed some time to get there.

    That was the problem.

    Even if "some time" was only a minute¡­

    Nobody had stopped to check what happened to Malefice Straea, had they?

    Damien''s mind was too absorbed in ire''s situation, so he was left vulnerable in the outside world.

    And that was when he approached him.

    Malefice Straea had been ruined by the dragon. The attacks he received from ire earlier inhibited hisbat potential, and as the dragon who sealed bloodlust fought against him with all of its power, he was rapidly outssed.

    He''d been beaten and beaten again until he couldn''t even recognize his body anymore. His soul was so weak that it would wither with a single gust of wind.

    However, he was still alive.

    His body was embedded in the ground and forgotten. He managed to barely leave the Heavenly God ne in time to save himself from more damage.

    But his injuries wouldn''t heal themselves.

    He was crippled for life. In his current state, he would slowly lose Divinity with time until he eventually rotted away in some corner of the world.

    That was not how he wanted to die.

    With how things were going now¡­

    ''...Straea is done.''

    There was no hope for the Straea n.

    That was thest straw for Malefice.

    Without Straea¡­

    ''...my life has no meaning.''

    Everything he built up had been lost, and even his own kin was no longer on his side.

    What reason did he have to maintain his life.

    ''The cause¡­''

    The cause of all of this¡­

    It all started with Void.

    And it would all end with Void.

    Malefice was already there. Damien didn''t sense him, ire wasn''t mentally present, and there was nobody else there.

    Malefice arrived behind Damien, only one goal in mind.

    "Die."

    He wanted that man dead.

    His life was worthless, so he didn''t care if he had to sacrifice it.

    As long as that man ended up dead.

    Malefice''s mana disappeared into his body and concentrated in his very center.

    His soul, his energy, and his everything concentrated into that single location, forming into a ball of existence that was Malefice Straea.

    But this coagtion wasn''t created to define him.

    No, this was the sacrifice he made.

    Using his entire self as payment, he created a force so massive that it could destroy gxies.

    And only a few feet away from Damien, he allowed that force to ignite.

    And ignite it did.

    So well, in fact, that the light it produced could be seen from billions of kilometers away.

 Chapter 1580 Chaos [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1580 Chaos [3]</h4>

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The explosion was truly incalcble. It contained the entirety of a Supreme God''s Existence within it, so it had to be at least that big.

    Malefice''sw was based on darkness, but his final moments produced an unreasonable amount of light, enough to blind even the strongest experts.

    The sound was also something that had to be mentioned.

    Fierce, roaring winds behind any other. They roared like they were mourning the death of their closest person, like they wanted to destroy the world in their rage.

    It was a true spectacle, and absolutely not something the Heavenly World could see often.

    This was the true extent of a God''s power in its rawest form.

    To some, it was a beautiful moment. To others, it was a spectacle. Those caught inside were vaporized instantly, and onlyter would they be mourned by those they left behind.

    Serena thought she was far away from Damien and ire, but that turned out to not be the case, as even she was caught in the edge of the explosion.

    ''This¡­!''

    Her eyes widened in immense surprise as she put up all the defenses she possibly could.

    ''If this came from where they are¡­''

    Her instincts immediately kicked in.

    ''I have to get there.''

    She pushed forward through the rampant energy that refused to stop raging in the atmosphere, using every drop of her power to push towards Damien and ire.

    Because if they were in the very center of all of this chaos¡­

    ***

    Right, that was what it was.

    Chaos.

    Damien''s attention was immediately brought back to reality in the split second that the explosion took to reach him.

    He was forced to make a rapid decision without understanding the full extent of the situation he was in.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien''s Existence barrier went up and shed again the explosive force in that small amount of space. The energy repelled off the barrier and collided with everything else that was happening, making the space around Damien extremely bright.

    He could feel the force through the barrier. If he used a weaker force, he wouldn''t be able to protect himself and his mother.

    ''Mom¡­

    Speaking of, he''dpletely taken his attention off of the battle happening in her soul.

    ire''s body jerked and spawned in the air. Malevolent energy swirled around her as her appearance started to morph towards its possessed state.

    Crack!

    She thrashed, still unconscious.

    ''Dammit!''

    Damien didn''t have the mental capacity to speak or think.

    If he left his mother''s situation alone, the barrier he used to block her connection with the alternate cosmos would falter. The full force he''d exerted on the dark beast on the other side would rebound on her, and that would lead to the worst case scenario.

    If ire didn''t leave her life, she''d be left vulnerable, and that being would not miss the chance to sieze her body permanently.

    It was wary now that it had been attacked. It was waiting for the moment a w appeared so it could fight back.

    Damien had no choice but to split his attention.

    With half of his mind, he desperately sent sts of Existence raining down on the dark beast, continuing the attack and maintaining the barrier.

    With the other half of his mind, he maintained the barrier on the outside world, maneuvering it so that the outside force would naturally disperse itself.

    ''FUCK!''

    It was straining enough doing one of these things. To do both at the same time¡­Damien felt like his mind was being ripped apart.

    It had to be remembered that he''d juste from the hidden Principality. He may have taken away the pain he felt, but until he was Absolute, he couldn''t will away the exhaustion caused by the overuse of his power.

    He still vividly remembered that pain, and his body desperately wanted a break so it could recover.

    However, he was now in an equally precarious situation.

    "AHHHHHHHH!"

    Damien roared. With only half of his mind focused on it, the Existence barrier became flimsier. Streaks of energy made it through the cracks and struck him all over his body.

    The Ananta Matrix worked in overdrive, cycling and circting energy to the best of its ability. It absorbed everything hitting Damien and repurposed it to aid his release of power, but that didn''t mean Damien didn''t feel the impact they would''ve had.

    On the other side, the situation hadn''t changed much. The problem was that Damien wasn''t attacking nearly as fast, and with the dark beast getting riled up, it wouldn''t be long before its injuries started reflecting through the connection.

    Damien had two barriers to uphold, one physical and one ethereal. To do so while he attacked the dark beast was¡­less than ideal, to say the least.

    Still, he put his everything into it.

    The suicide of a God in this manner caused a release of energy that couldn''t be easilyprehended. The explosion that it created, the dome of light and chaotic energy, wouldn''t disperse for a few days, weeks, or even months.

    Damien would be fighting it for a very long time if it continued like this.

    ''An alternative¡­''

    He needed to find one.

    And as he searched, he found his answer in chaos.

    It was the same forceing from both sides.

    The chaotic explosion fueled by Malefice''s Legend reeked of chaos. As for the dark beast, the malevolent energy it used was chaos itself.

    Damien may have split his attention, but at a certain point, the two sides started to blend together.

    ''It''s all just chaos.''

    And chaos was a concept of Existence.

    It was almost funny how fast things flowed into Damien''s head when he finally got a grasp of what he was looking for.

    Chaos. Now that he''d found it,prehending it was like a breeze.

    Its functionality, its purpose in the universe, all of it was easily understood and registered in his mind as the concept of chaos joined its peers in his repertoire of knowledge.

    Perhaps it was because the concept was a direct opposite to order, which he''d alreadyprehended. His experience with the foundationalws made him exceptional at decipheringws from their counterparts.

    Whatever the reason, it all clicked in Damien''s head at that moment.

    This chaotic explosion that put the Heavenly World itself at risk¡­

    His mother''s lifelong curse¡­

    To destroy both at the same time¡­

    There was a solution.

    A way to make both problems disappear from this world at the same time.

    Damien''s Existence barrier expanded.

    In ire''s soul, it gotrger until it epassed the entire portal to the alternate cosmos. In the real world, it split into two and covered Damien and ire individually.

    ''Mom, I''ll be right back.''

    Damien pushed his arm out.

    He grabbed the essence of Malefice''s self-explosion and released his mana infinitely.

    It expanded and expanded, bing a massive that contained the entire st radius within it.

    Damien focused on the energy.

    ''I need to grab it and nothing else.''

    Any and all matter, any living beings or naturalndmarks, needed to stay excluded.

    ''Okay.''

    He managed to do it since he''d already found the core.

    And on ire''s soul''s side¡­preparations had already been made.

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien''s mana surged once more, the air warbled around him, and space itself manifested like a massive blob of water that moved and flexed like it was alive.

    BANG!

    It was not a force, butpression.

    In a single instant, the explosive lightpressed to a fifth of its size.

    BANG!

    Again, it got smaller.

    BANG!

    And again.

    The sound resounded over and over again, getting more and more frequent until the entire explosion was contained within the palm of Damien''s hand.

    ''This is it.''

    He''d been careful not to mess anything up thus far, but this was the moment of truth.

    He brought the two pieces of existence closer to him.

    And he activated his power of chaos.

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    The warbling space droplet opened up. It''s proverbial jaws stretched around Damien and the objects in his possession.

    ''It''s going to be a bumpy ride.''

    Damien closed his eyes.

    WAP!

    The space anomaly swallowed him whole.

    ¡­and everything went ck.

 Chapter 1581 Chaos [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1581 Chaos [4] </h4>

    Damien disappeared from the Heavenly World.

    As did the massive dome of light that seemed like it''d exist for eternity.

    As did something within ire.

    Her eyes fluttered open only moments after the scene regained peace.

    They were no longer reptilian. ire had regained her sanity.

    ''What¡­?''

    She held her head as she tried to remember what had happened after she went berserk. The memories were foggy, as they didn''t necessarily belong to her.

    The fact that she was never able to know the chaos she''d wrought in her crazed state was one of the most terrifying things about her power.

    But somehow, she''d returned to normal.

    "ire!"

    Her eyes snapped to the side as she heard a voice call her name.

    Serena approached from the distance, phasing in and out of reality as she stopped time and essentially teleported closer.

    She reached within a few seconds and instantly hugged ire.

    "What happened? Are you okay?"

    She nced around, trying to gauge the situation through the surroundings.

    ''Nothing¡­?''

    It was incredibly confusing.

    ''The explosion was¡­if ire is alright, then was it worse at the edges¡­? But that doesn''t¡­''

    Serena tried to make something of what she knew, but it was practically impossible. Nothing she could imagine could exin what was happening now.

    She was downright stumped.

    ire wasn''t any better

    "I¡­I don''t know," she muttered.

    "I just woke up."

    "That''s good, isn''t it?" Serena replied with a sigh of relief

    "Then Damien must have seeded. Where is he now?"

    "Damien¡­?" ire echoed.

    "Yes. I was trying to stop you in the Heavenly God ne when I sensed his aura from here. You only started improving when he came."

    Serena smiled slightly

    "That''s a good son you have. It''s just¡­it seems he had something urgent to attend to."

    She didn''t know where Damien was, but if he''d left so hastily, then there had to be another important matter at hand. Her nephew was a filial and caring person, and she didn''t mind covering for him in moments like these.

    However¡­

    "No."

    ire felt differently.

    Something was wrong.

    ''Damien was here¡­?''

    That wasn''t right.

    How could he havee?

    If he saw her in that state¡­

    ''No¡­''

    That wasn''t the problem. Her son was not that type of person.

    If he saw her in that type of state, and he wanted to help her get out of it¡­

    ''No¡­''

    She felt it in her soul. There was a difference in the scourge that had gued her all her life.

    The fluctuations of its energy were much calmer now. Rather than trying to invade her soul, it felt like it was strengthening it.

    And beyond that border, she no longer saw that terrifying beast.

    She saw a picture of the universe, strong and proud. It was an image that filled her entire body with energy and ideas.

    ''This is not possible¡­''

    Even Dante couldn''t do it. If he couldn''t, then who¨C

    ''No¡­''

    There was no denying it. Her son had been here.

    "Where''s Damien?"

    Serena frowned.

    Her heart sank as a bad feeling set in.

    She''d been ignoring it until now because she wanted to focus on the fact that the situation was resolved rather than "why" it was resolved.

    But the question came back to her in that moment.

    How did ire regain sanity?

    And where did the massive amounts of rampant mana coiling through the air go?

    The only outlier in the entire situation was Damien himself. The answers to their questions were with him, but he was nowhere to be seen.

    He definitely had the ability to, but there was no way he''d just leave. Serena was able to feel Damien''s concern through his aura.

    The two women looked at each other as a realization dawned on them both.

    "We need to go."

    It was a consensus between them.

    They needed to return to the pce immediately. Using all of the resources and manpower at their disposal¡­

    They needed to make sure their child was safe.

    ***

    A lot of things changed from that moment.

    Damien Void''s disappearance was confirmed by many sources. He was not anywhere in the Heavenly World.

    It was normal for Damien to disappear at this point. He''d been caught in many plots like this and had ended up in several wild ces where he found new adventures to give him strength.

    But this time was different.

    Back then, Damien didn''t have something like a home. He had his wives, but he was still a wanderer in his core. He never truly had a ce to settle down and truly call his own.

    Because of that, the only connections he made were fleeting. If he found something thatsted through it all, then he would celebrate it, but he never actively tried to create rtionships that wouldst a lifetime.

    He was used to being alone, traveling as he pleased to ces where others couldn''t go.

    Void Pce was a new thing to him. His biological family was one thing, but everyone else in the pce also considered him as family. They loved him and respected him in so many ways.

    They trusted him and put faith in him, absolutely believing that he would take them to greater heights.

    So his disappearance had far more impact than it ever had before.

    Countless people were mobilized throughout the Heavenly World to find a trace of him. The Straea n was even further isted and the war against them raged on in apletely new way.

    The current Straea was just doomed for destruction. Its head had been thoroughly chopped off.

    Of those who knew him, only his wives remained unconcerned.

    It was definitely unexpected for a situation like this to ur at this point in their lives, but they of all people had gotten used to this.

    They could feel Damien''s soul. He was alive and well somewhere in the nes of existence.

    And as long as he was alive, he''d always return.

    The four of them further entrenched themselves in their current missions, remembering their goals and why they wanted to get stronger.

    Still, while they knew he was alive, they had no way of knowing where he was.

    Only one specific group had that knowledge, and they had no ns of sharing it.

    After the destruction of the hidden Principality, the Foreign Nobles were forced to return to their homnd to hide for a bit before they could target Damien again.

    The Dark God was ying the long game. He never intended to wage a full war against the True Void Universe. He wanted to see it slowly destroy itself.

    As such, those under him had to be careful with their movements. It wasn''t yet time for them to reveal themselves openly to the world.

    It was depressing, but they had no choice.

    For Grand Duke Maveth, who took the lead of the operation against Damien, the defeat they faced was an especially humiliating one.

    However, it wasn''t long after they''d returned in shame that they sensed it.

    All of them at once.

    Some of them shot to their feet, while others immediately grabbed their weapons.

    ''He''s here.''

    There was no doubt about it.

    The presence of Damien Void¡­

    It was now in the Sacred Abyss Universe.

 Chapter 1582 Chaos [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1582 Chaos [5]</h4>

    Right, the ce where Damien ended up was the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    It wasn''t an ident either.

    Damien arrived just as he wanted to, carrying with him everything he intended to take away from the Heavenly World.

    ''With a slightly vtile grenade¡­''

    Damien looked at his left hand, where a yellow orb the size of a bath bomb calmly pulsated as if it wasn''t made of Godly amounts of chaotic energy that could blow at any second.

    ''...and some sort of interdimemsional cosmic entity¡­''

    Damien looked at his right hand, where he held that beasts contained in a barrier of Existence. It was trapped for now and wouldn''t be able to do anything he didn''t let it.

    ''...I think this is going to be a pretty fun roadtrip.''

    Damien''s disappearance. It was partially out of necessity, and partially because he figured out a great way to use his time.

    While he took the entity from his mother, he also purified her body with the concept of order, whichpletely absolved all of the problems she''d had.

    And when he had the entity trapped in his grasp, he realized that killing it wasn''t the best option.

    Especially not when he had this much rampant energy around him.

    He had to find a way to get those things out of the True Void Universe. That much remained true. However, his decision toe here was a bit nuanced.

    The battles he had to fight¡­he figured he''d get them over with as soon as possible.

    This was the Foreign Nobility''s home ground, so they had somewhat of an advantage.

    But he was also able to approach them as he wanted to. He didn''t have to be trapped in their schemes anymore.

    And more than anything else¡­

    ''...there''s almost nothing to lose here.''

    Thalia and the Gehenna Tribe wasn''t rted to him in the eyes of everyone else, so as long as he stayed away from them, they would be safe too.

    The main point was that Damien could fight here without worrying about any outside factors.

    ''So I should use the things I was given to wipe out the Foreign Nobles.''

    Malefice''s core explosion was right about powerful enough to kill a Supreme God, right?

    ''And while I''m at it, maybe I should try to meet that Dark God of theirs.''

    Damien wanted to end things here and now so current events wouldn''t repeat themselves.

    His goal in this ce was theplete elimination of all hostile Foreign Races.

    ''It''s just like my time on Al''Katra, except¡­''

    Damien grinned to himself.

    ''...unlike Al''Katra, I don''t n to do any sneaking around here.''

    He was just continuing thebat circuit he never got to finish.

    ''For now, I should put these away.''

    Damien stored the "grenade" of Malefice''s power in a safe storage space he created specifically for that purpose.

    As for the dark beast, he just threw it in his proverbial pocket, since the Existence barrier was all the containment it needed.

    ''Learning fromst time''s experience, killing a Noble means I inherit their territory. I already have Count Verex''snd under control, but I guess I should go see what Horacio was up to before he joined our side.''

    Damien immediately vanished from his position, wherever he was.

    All he knew was that he wasn''t anywhere near Count Verex''s territory, and he could feel the direction of Horacio''s territory.

    Nevertheless, he had to move.

    ''They should know I''m here.''

    With how they''d locked onto him, there was no way they didn''t feel it when he arrived.

    ''I just have to control our encounters.''

    He had to be the one in charge of it all.

    ''This territory¡­''

    It must''ve belonged to a Viscount. It was quite small as if to further that assumption.

    Damien wasn''t subject to the territory boundaries that held him when he came the first time. He didn''t use a Dimensional Crack, after all.

    As such, he was able to move through the Sacred Abyss Universe just as easily as he could the True Void Universe.

    ''Is this ce¡­also one?''

    It was a thought Damien couldn''t help but have. Thisnd was so expansive that it could trulypete with the Heavenly World.

    However¡­

    ''...the stars in the sky are real.''

    There was truly a horde of celestial bodies floating through the void of space. It waspletely different from the artificial skies of his home cosmos.

    ''This belongs to the Foreign Nobility, but it''s notcking other peoples. If this is where the majority of civilization is, then what''s out there¡­?''

    It wasn''t a question he could answer right now, but he did n to have it answered before he returned to his homnd.

    ''Okay.''

    Everything was set. ns had been properly made. Now¡­

    ''...let me return unto them the things they did to me.''

    It was going to be an exciting few months.

    ''...let me return unto them the things they did to me.''

    It was going to be an exciting few months.

    ***

    That was when it started.

    A wild goose chase with disastrous consequences.

    The Foreign Nobles could sense Damien''s position, but they didn''t have an exact measure of it. Especially since he zipped around so fast.

    Damien never stayed in a single territory for too long. Any time he senses iing presences within a few tens of millions of kilometers, he''d warp away, leaving thempletely unaware of his position.

    When it came to running, there was really nobody who could defeat Damien. At this point, it might''ve been better to stay back and try to triangte where he''d appear next.

    But even that became difficult.

    Because Damien wasn''t just running around for fun.

    There were 128 Barons, 64 Viscounts, and 32 Counts before they''d met Damien.

    That number had slightly decreased through his interactions with them, but it was nowhere near the catastrophe he''d caused them since he came back to their world.

    There were now 68 Barons, 12 Viscounts, and 15 Counts.

    Those were all Nobles he''d killed while the others tried their best to catch up to him.

    The low-rank Nobles were easy to kill. Especially the Demigods, who couldn''tst more than a single attack from him.

    Damien was able to move quite fast since he didn''t have to be too focused during battle, but he still had a lot of distance to cover.

    It was almost like this world had been divided in such a way that would cause Damien the most trouble. The weaker Nobles were all separated, strewn about in random parts of the world.

    Meanwhile, the more high-ss nobles remained concentrated. It was almost impossible to attack one without being spotted by the others.

    But Damien had it all nned out. He was ughtering the low-

    rank Nobles just for convenience. His main goal right now was information gathering.

    By the time there were only Dukes and Grand Dukes remaining¡­

    ''...I''ll be well equipped to make sure they join their friends in hell.''

    The Foreign Races didn''t know what kind of enemy they''d made out of Damien.

    The Dark God didn''t know the consequences of attacking the True Void Universe.

    The anomaly they''d encountered this time wasn''t a person they could defeat with the strategies they''d used previously.

    No, if it was Damien at the center of everything¡­

    Nothing more needed to be said.

 Chapter 1583 Chaos [6]

    Chapter 1583 Chaos [6]

    ??Months continued to pass. It was far less time in the Heavenly World, but that didn''t change how long it had been in the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    It would''ve been strange if Damien had been able to go untouched for all of this time. Perhaps it was normal for a few months, but after a while, it became a question why the Foreign Nobles kept chasing him so aimlessly.

    Well, it was because their chase wasn''t aimless.

    Damien had been caught quite a few times, and while he did manage to cause some injuries, he never actually managed to kill anyone above the Count level.

    He was always quick on the escape, just like when they''d first met him.

    In the end, it became obvious that they couldn''t catch him through normal means, but until Maveth and the others who stood on the back line finished creating a way to properly trap him, they still needed to chase, so that he would never lose the sense of danger around him.

    If he put his guard down for just a moment, if the stress got to him and he snapped¡­

    They would immediately make sure he became their prey.

    Definitively this time.

    Damien was quite aware of their ns. Though they didn''t broadcast them to everyone, the Counts he devoured still had some tidbits of information about what was happening in the world.

    It was good they thought the way they did.

    ''It means they''re acting exactly ording to n.''

    Was Damien unable to kill a Duke?

    Obviously not.

    Was he unable to do it fast enough?

    Perhaps when he fought Horacio, but now¡­?

    Damien hadprehended the concept of chaos when he tried to control the absolute chaos that raged around him when he was trying to save his mother.

    That concept was just as offensive as domination, having a far more direct impact on hisbat power than something like order or harmony.

    Damien didn''t quite know how strong he''d gotten. Just like every other time, it was a vague feeling that he couldn''t define without fighting.

    But now wasn''t the time.

    There were five gems in the Emperor''s Crown. Only one short ofpletion.

    Theoretically speaking, a Duke wasn''t Damien''s enemy anymore.

    However, he couldn''t test that, because he couldn''t let them know that he''d gotten stronger.

    ''I may be able to fight a Supreme God properly now, but I''ll for sure be at a disadvantage.''

    He definitely wasn''t at the level of those who had been Supremes for millennia yet. But if it was a recent Supreme¡­Damien didn''t think he would lose easily.

    ''That doesn''t mean I''ll be reckless, though.''

    He needed to make the Foreign Nobles underestimate him as much as possible. Convincing most of them was easy, but his main target, Grand Duke Maveth, was not.

    Maveth was calcting beyond any of the others. Damien truly had to put on a show to convince him that he wasn''t strong enough to fight, especially after what he''d pulled in the hidden Principality.

    That was why Damien got rid of all of the Barons, Viscounts, and Counts within his first year of being here.

    Most of that time was spent traveling, and more importantly, iming the territories left behind by those he ughtered.

    Damien had a considerable im to this world now, though he didn''t know what it meant for him to possess it.

    However, he would have ample time to figure it out.

    There was no way to convince Maveth that Damien waspletely powerless.

    For that reason, Damien chose a different approach.

    ''To make him believe my power is specialized in the wrong ces.''

    Concealment, defense, and escape. If Maveth was absolutely certain that Damien was strong in these aspect and weak in others, then he would move in a way that Damien was more than prepared to exploit.

    He''d already convinced the man of his power to run away. The fact that he was still alive after the torture he''d been put through when they fought was enough proof of his defense.

    Now, all he needed to do was put the icing on the cake.

    There were only 15 Dukes and 3 Grand Dukes remaining, which made it a lot easier for Damien.

    His next trick¡­

    ''...is to disappear.''

    Damien gathered his mana, converting it all to mkh.

    He phased through the world, appearing and disappearing from countless points across thend simultaneously, making it impossible to see where he actually was.

    His body began to change, bing exactly like a Foreign Race. His soul changed, mimicking what he''d seen in people like the Saintess and Thalia.

    His Legend hid itself deep, almost sinking into Nonexistence.

    And the entity known as Damien Void waspletely eliminated from this ne, reced by someonepletely different, someone who wasn''t anomalous.

    The instant Damien''s transformation finished, he promptly vanished. He didn''t use Warp or any other space-twisting movement techniques. He traveled directly through Existence itself, making it impossible for his enemies to track him.

    He arrived at a city within a random territory of the ones that belonged to him. At that moment, the "Damiens" warping through the sky vanished all at once.

    He had effectively been removed from all forms of detection.

    The main problem was his status as an anomaly. Through it, the Nobles could find him whenever they wanted. They were quite literally bred with the skills to track anomalies.

    However, gaining chaos gave Damien a way to cut them off.

    Just a slight bit of chaos in his soul, just enough to scramble his readings but not enough to make him feel like an imposter, went a long way.

    The anomalous nature of his soul could now be hidden under a veil of "talent." And when that was taken care of, Damien''s preexisting abilities were more than enough to make him invisible.

    ''Good. I now have freedom.''

    Damien nodded to himself, walking through the city and blending in with the local poption.

    ''I''ve left enough clues and I''ll keep leaving more, so I can be sure they won''t go looking for trouble in the Heavenly World.''

    And while he led his enemies by the nose, he could take a second to see what society was really like in this world.

    It was a ce he didn''t know, and observing themon people would always bring him unexpected boons.

    ''We say the Dark God is an evil person, but is that really true?''

    What was he like at his core?

    What was he like to his own people?

    These were all curiosities Damien held in his heart.

    The dtion of the Sacred Abyss Universe gave Damien a surprising amount of time to use freely. Even if he spent a year here, no more than a month or two would pass in the Heavenly World. That is, if he watched the timeflow and stayed in locations where the dtion was stable.

    He could even make the dtion more pronounced to give himself more time.

    So while he waited for the moment toe for him to initiate the next step of his ns¡­

    Wasn''t this the perfect time to explore the things that set the Sacred Abyss Universe apart from the rest?

 Chapter 1584 Chaos [7]

    Chapter 1584 Chaos [7]

    ??Living in one city could only ever introduce one to the culture of that one city. To understand the world, one had to see the world in some capacity.

    For earthlings, this wasn''t too hard. The inte made it easy to connect with others and learn of their circumstances regardless of distance. Cultures became prominent, and melded together to form new forms of culture.

    It was a truly interconnected world, but surprisingly enough, it was also an outlier.

    Perhaps it was because mana was a new thing for Earth.

    For most worlds, mana would awaken before life managed to take root. The presence of mana would transform the environment, making it inhabitable for life forms.

    This was why certain concepts of physics were ignored as the worlds in the universe drifted down their own paths. Mana had fundamentally altered thosews for its own benefit.

    On Earth, life came first. It evolved, eventually creating the food chain that existed there now. And without mana to aid its development, its dominant race found another way.

    Electricity was such a basic form of energy, but it wasn''t something everyone had learned to harvest.

    Plus, the sort of connectivity achieved by Earth just wasn''t desired by most worlds. Satellite technology and other simr branches werepletely unnecessary when men and women could fly into the sky and achieve the same results with their bodies.

    As such, when it came to technology that connected the world like cellphones and the inte, the actual number of societies that used them wasn''t high at all.

    Of course, the Sacred Abyss Universe was especially dull, so perhaps it was too much to expect technological development from them, but Damien didn''t expect their society to be so backwards.

    ''It''s like they''re still in the dark ages.''

    The Gehenna Tribe was different. They lived away from society, and thus, theirck of societal development in some aspects was understandable.

    It was different when the people in question were living inrge territories like these.

    They were developed in the most necessary ways. They had a proper currency and economic system, they had extreme technological development in fields like agriculture and production, but their society had never evolved in terms of entertainment.

    ''There''s no political structure since the politics are nonexistent. There''s no societal growth because the people are forced to live in an established hierarchy that never changes.''

    Overall, from the perspective of someone who''d seen other circumstances, it was bleak.

    However, that didn''t mean the people were miserable.

    They didn''t know any better than what they had. They didn''t look at the greener grass on the other side and wish for it.

    They made due with their situation and found their own happiness.

    Perhaps it was hard for things like equality to thrive. Perhaps discrimination was frequent based on random features that some of them had.

    But there was good inside the bad too. This was something Damien realized inmediately.

    ''Themon people are the same almost everywhere.''

    The mundane lives that people lived without power were all uniquely theirs, but also eerilymon to how their peers on others lived.

    It was almost beautiful in a way, the fact that sentient beings would always find a way to satisfy themselves, regardless of their circumstances.

    Nevertheless¡­

    ''...I''m not here just to sightsee.''

    Damien''s main goal as he traveled from city to city in several different territories to experience their cultures was not a vacation.

    He had a decision to make.

    What were the people like in this world?

    Was the Sacred Abyss Universe worth saving?

    Life would''ve been a lot easier if the answers to these questions was no.

    Just like the cosmos where the dark beast came from, if the Sacred Abyss Universe had no value besides as a tool, he could do with it as he pleased.

    However, he came to realize that the people here had potential.

    It really set in when he went to his own territory, or rather, the territory led by the new Saintess, Thalia.

    Her leadership waspletely different from that of her predecessors, and her reign begot more change than the citizens she ruled knew what to do with.

    To ept her meant to throw away the old ways. The longer a society remained in stasis, the harder it was for its people to ept change. For the people of Sacred Abyss, it should''ve been almost impossible.

    But it wasn''t.

    They changed and adapted in ways Damien could never believe.

    Their minds were strangely receptive. Despite being entrenched in prejudice for generations, they were now a society that was closer to Earth''s than any other.

    Compared to the other territories surrounding them, they looked like they came from apletely different world.

    If these people, innocent people, were to die just because they existed¡­?

    ''It just doesn''t sit right with me.''

    Damien didn''t like involving people who didn''t do anything. It felt pathetic to include their lives in the ughters that took ce.

    The fact that the Sacred Abyss Universe had thesemon people, people who were willing and able to adapt to change, at that¡­

    ''...I have to conquer, not destroy.''

    Damien had a bit to think about it.

    ''It''s not much of a problem, especially if I take precautions¡­''

    This world never had to be the main battlefield, did it?

    ''Yeah, but they''re all here, and I can''t really leave this world out of it until I kill them all.''

    It was useless to consider saving the world before he could kill the Foreign Nobles. Drawing them into space wouldn''t be beneficial at all, so it was better to just fight them, kill them, and worry about things like saving innocent livester.

    ''On that note¡­''

    Now that another year had passed, the Foreign Nobles were getting a bit desperate.

    They''d stopped scouring the world themselves and had instead resorted to something they''d barred from the masses, technology.

    There were drones in the sky at all times as if it was a science fiction work instead of fantasy. They nketed this entire world, leaving no spot untouched, despite the fact that the world itself was asrge as the Heavenly World.

    Every being existing in the world was constantly being surveilled. It made Damien''s life a bit harder, but it wasn''t the end of the world.

    He could still travel from city to city by disguising himself as existing people rather than creating new images. Plus, even with all this surveince, they couldn''t find him.

    ''If they''ve spent all of their time and effort in the past year to create a system to find me, then my bluff should''ve worked.''

    At this point, Maveth was probably confused as to what Damien''s purpose in this world was if he was simply hiding without attacking or retreating.

    ''So I''ll show him.''

    It was just another step in the n, another deception that would ultimately lead Grand Duke Maveth to his doom.

    With a trusty little gadget in his hand, a calm manifestation of absolute chaos¡­

    ''Let''s get our first boss kill.''

    Grand Duke Lance was first on the menu.

    Today, as Damien dered, he would die.

    His fate was already set.

 Chapter 1585 Chaos [8]

    Chapter 1585 Chaos [8]

    ??Grand Duke Lance''s power was "throwing."

    It wasn''t a power fit for a Grand Duke. Usually, someone with this position would be expected to have some grand power that could control thews of everything.

    Lance was an outlier. He was born with something that didn''t seem to have any use at all, but with his ambition as fuel, he worked and worked until he turned that talent into a goldmine.

    Throwing was an incredibly tedious and repetitive power to train. Lance had to understand the movements of his body beyond anyone else, and he had to obtain the most perfect form to even reach the starting line.

    Eventually, his power became massive.

    Throwing was taken to a new level.

    Anything Lance touched could be "thrown" as long as he pushed it with his arm. And as long as something was thrown, he could control it like his own limb.

    His projectiles could reach speeds beyond light and almost beyond mana. Their power didn''t need to be mentioned at that point.

    But, throwing was an incredibly tedious power to train. The work put in to make it shine was worthwhile¡­but it didn''t leave Lance with much time to practice anything else.

    There was a reason he took a supportive role in battles and never confronted enemies head-on. He had the power level of a Grand Duke, but only in a single factor.

    If one was able to get close to him, he was the weakest of the three that remained by far.

    That very fact was whatnded him at the top of Damien''s list of targets.

    Dukes weren''t a problem for him, but he didn''t want to start attacking them and give Maveth a clue about his real strength.

    What Damien wanted to paint was a picture of desperation, luck, and triumph. It was a picture that would crumble the second he ran out of luck.

    To convince Maveth that he still wanted to fight, he had to kill someone. However, how was he to do that without putting on a show?

    That was very simple, just like Grand Duke Lance''s daily schedule when he wasn''t on the battlefield.

    Lance was great at legitive things. When it came to ruling a territory, he was the best of the four. In fact, even the other three Grand Dukes often relied on him to manage their territories, as they were inept in some areas.

    In the Sacred Abyss Universe, off the battlefield, was where he shined.

    But working an office job made one sedentary. Lance didn''t move much if he didn''t have to.

    He would always be in the same ces, doing the same things. Even if he somewhat deviated from his routine, he''d eventually end up at one of the locations he spent every day at.

    There was a small coffee shop he visited in the mornings, though they didn''t sell coffee but whatever the Sacred Abyss equivalent was.

    In Damien''s opinion, it was worse. It didn''t have the same effects as caffeine and the taste was much nder. But that was beside the point.

    After he left the coffee shop, he''d walk to his office building, which was actually quite inconspicuous and built to resemble the surrounding infrastructure.

    He would stay in that office for at least eight hours every day, and when he left, after another visit to the coffee shop, he''d make his way back home, which was no more than a ten minute walk.

    ''He''s almost human.''

    That was Damien''s feeling as he continued to observe the man. His actions were like those of a modern politician or someone of simr status. To think he was a Supreme God who could destroy this entire world at will if he desired¡­

    It just didn''t feel right.

    ''Regardless, that''s how it is.''

    It was night by the time Lance left the coffee shop and made his way home. The shop usually closed earlier than this, but it would specially open back up at this time every day to serve Lance his coffee.

    Themute home wasn''t anything special, and it wasn''t like Lance had anyone waiting for him at home.

    Why did he live his life like this?

    It was just easier.

    Lance had Throwing because he did. He was a Supreme God because he was. None of those things were what he was good at.

    He was born for stability like this, and it was the environment in which he thrived.

    As such, he never left behind his routine. Not even when he was acting as a Grand Duke with his peers.

    The walk home. It was a time for him to calm his mind and embrace the monotony of life. The streets here were empty, since not many people lived in this quaint city hidden in the countryside of his territory.

    The atmosphere was to his liking.

    However, he''d gotten too predictable.

    Alleys were notmon. The buildings either had too much space between them or not enough at all. It made sense why people would forget to be mindful of them.

    But for Lance, the mistake was a lot more than just a small blunder.

    As he walked home like normal, a shadowy figure rushed out of a nearby alley and attacked him.

    He immediately reached into his pocket to grab one of the  any small objects he kept with him so he could always use throwing, however¡­

    VOOOM!

    A door of light appeared in front of him and passed over him, transporting him somewhere new.

    He looked around.

    ''This is not my territory.''

    Same world, but not nearly the same ce.

    "Yo!"

    A voice called out to him. It was the voice of the man who brought him here.

    "Damien Void."

    Grand Duke Lance''s eyes narrowed. He flexed his fingers as he prepared to send a message to Maveth.

    "I can''t let you do that."

    Damien noticed immediately. It didn''t matter, though. This space had already been prepared and covered in an Existence barrier so nothing could enter or leave without Damien''s permission.

    "That''s right. It may be confusing for you, but this has been in the making since the moment I arrived here."

    Damien nodded his head with a smile, drawing a glowing yellow grenade out of the air.

    Lance''s eyes went to the bomb and widened instantly.

    "Wai¨C!"

    "It''s toote."

    Damien dropped the grenade, letting it free fall.

    Using the same portal he used to enter the barrier, he left, closing it behind him.

    Grand Duke Lance''s eyes shot around as he assessed his situation. Several projectiles hit the Existence barrier ar horrifying speeds, but none of them could do any damage.

    In the split second he had to try and make a difference, Grand Duke Lance did whatever he could.

    That, at the very least, couldn''t be taken from him.

    However, as Damien released the restrictions on the bomb and allowed the chaos within to reign free¡­

    As the full force of Malefice''s hatred, which had been condensed and strengthened by Damien''s concept of chaos, was released into the world¡­

    Grand Duke Lance was able to understand just an inkling of what Damien was forced to endure in the hidden Principality.

    It was a sweet, sweet start to his revenge.

 Chapter 1586 Chaos [9]

    Chapter 1586 Chaos [9]

    ??Once again, the core explosion revealed itself to the world.

    Damien had a hard time containing it at all. Unlike the dark beast, it was incredibly vtile and always waiting for a moment to burst.

    He kept it in a ne without space and time, so that its explosion absolutely couldn''t happen, but the instant he brought it back to reality, it blew.

    Damien knew to leave as soon as possible. Even then he was hit by a little wave of chaos that made it out through his portal with him.

    However, the majority of the explosion was contained within the barrier he set up,pletely engulfing Grand Duke Lance.

    It had to be remembered that Malefice wasn''t much weaker than Malevalon, which meant his core explosion was at a level that had more than enough power to harm and kill Supreme Gods.

    But Grand Duke Lance was still a God in his own right. He immediately used his mana as a defense, blocking or redirecting the majority of the energy that came towards him.

    Throwing was a nuanced power once he got used to it. Even if it was energy, as long as it was thrown, it fell under his domain.

    As such, a defense like this was easy to hold up.

    It looked like Damien had underestimated him.

    ''Well, that''s probably what it looks like.''

    But that wasn''t the case at all.

    Damien never underestimated Lance even if he was the weakest of the Grand Dukes. If he wasn''t capable of at least some self protection, then he would''ve already been dead, right?

    Grand Duke Lance was the weakest only because he was beingpared to people with unreal strength.

    As someone who was trying to kill him, Damien was forced to respect his strength and respond in kind.

    That explosion which returned to the world was not the same as it was when it first appeared. No, it had been enhanced beyond belief.

    Damien toyed with it while it was in that ce without space and time. He yed with forces that should''ve never been touched. He tried to master chaos.

    It was the force of uncertainty. It existed to do things against the grain, to rebel against the ordered structure of the heavens.

    Because only with chaos could there be progress and change. It was a force just as rted to time as it was to destruction.

    Damien had a hard time at first, because he was trying to take an orderly approach toprehend it.

    That was wrong from the start.

    Chaos was chaos. If he wanted toprehend it, he needed to let it run wild and do whatever it wanted to do.

    The bomb was the perfect test subject. Damien could let it change and grow as it pleased because he was going to release it to kill. He didn''t need to worry about chaos ruining things because that bomb was also chaos incarnate.

    As such, he injected so much chaos into it that the bomb''s base properties had changed.

    Now¡­

    Grand Duke Lance experienced it firsthand.

    His barrier was torn apart, and every barrier he created after that was instantly dispersed into the environment.

    He pushed his arm out, grabbing the energy so he could use his throwing talent to defend himself, however¡­

    ''I can''t¡­?''

    He couldn''t touch anything.

    His ability wasn''t working like it normally did. He''d lost his power to grab energy like it was physical and use it to his advantage.

    ''Shit!''

    The Grand Duke''s power was limited in uses. Controlling energy was the most creative possible thing he could do with it, unless he wanted to mimic telekinesis.

    He didn''t have any ability to "create."

    With his mkh unable to form a proper barrier and his power fluctuating as if it forgot its identity, he was left defenseless in the storm.

    WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!

    The sound was atrocious. It was hard to concentrate on anything when it felt like his eardrums were about to shatter into a million pieces.

    His Godly body was filled with the energy of chaos. His skin burned off and his flesh melted like it was drenched in acid.

    Grand Duke Lance roared as pain overcame his body.

    He reached out with his soul, seeing if there was a way for even it to escape, but the instant it touched the outside chaos¡­

    Something snapped within the Grand Duke.

    That single ounce of pain was so severe that his spiritual world was shattered, leaving his mind in crumbs.

    His body and soul would follow soon enough.

    The power that was contained in that explosion¡­

    It was enough to destroy a universe if it was used in the wrong ce.

    Even if it was a Supreme God, survival was hopeless.

    After all, it wasn''t an explosion that would end in a few seconds or minutes.

    No.

    This explosion would continue to rage on for months on end.

    And by the end of it, nobody could know whether Grand Duke Lance would even be left with remains to bury.

    ***

    It was like a bass drop.

    A sound struck the earth and traveled through it until it was audible from anywhere on the.

    Everyone looked in the same direction, and even if they were on the opposite side of the world, they could see the bright light on the horizon and feel the tremors that it caused.

    Those in the immediate vicinity made treks to see it, realizing that it wouldn''t be going away anytime soon.

    Those who managed to reach it in time found themselves encountering an invisible wall thatpletely protected them against the terrifyingly beautiful energy storm taking ce on the other side.

    And vaguely, some of them thought they saw the figure of a man, or perhaps it was a ghost.

    An evil spirit who was being tormented for his sins.

    The massive dome of energy became a source for many folktales and rumors. Some even took it as an act of God and worshipped it.

    The only people who could really know what was taking ce were few.

    Among them, Grand Duke Maveth.

    He knew that energy. It felt quite familiar.

    And he wasn''t the only one.

    A man who''de here thinking it could be his new domain, Malevalon Straea.

    He felt an energy that was close to him, one that touched his very bloodline.

    The energy of his brother¡­

    An energy that could only be released if he''d died¡­

    He stared into the horizon with dull eyes that didn''t reflect an ounce of emotion.

    But deep in his heart, there was rage.

    ''My things¡­''

    If Malefice''s death aura was here, then nothing he left in the Heavenly World would remain if he ever returned.

    It wasn''t a feeling like grief.

    The things he owned, the things that were his¡­

    Those things were being destroyed.

    And that filled his heart with more hostility than anything else.

    ''Damien Void.''

    The Grand Dukes had been mentioning him frequently. It must''ve been his doing.

    ''Thest time we met¡­''

    ¡­he humiliated him and ran off with the Celestial Prison.

    ''A revenge¡­''

    ''...and a reckoning.''

    Malevalon Straea made his way towards the shining light in the distance.

    And he wasn''t the only one.

    The enemies Damien was trying to draw in were all attracted to his bait.

    This was the moment he''d been waiting for.

    With Grand Duke Lance''s death as his opening gift¡­

    ¡­Damien was going to show them what a real reckoning looked like.

 Chapter 1587 Lure [1]

    Chapter 1587 Lure [1]

    ??''Hmm¡­that''s an unexpected aura.''

    As Damien stood, watching Grand Duke Lance burn, he sensed someone approaching at a rapid pace. They were obviously headed for him, and they were more than just familiar.

    ''Malevalon¡­he wasn''t supposed to be anywhere close to here. How did he reach so fast?''

    It was truly curious, but Damien didn''t spent time thinking about it.

    ''That''s my father''s greatest enemy, and a guy who caused me a lot of pain too.''

    Malevalon fled to the Sacred Abyss Universe because he gave up on the Heavenly World, but he likely never expected that Damien would bring the fight to him.

    ''And now that I''ve used something like that, he can''t hold back.''

    Despite all of Damien''s alteration, the energy bomb that was currently erupting was still Malefice''s work. It contained his Legends, andpletely hid Damien''s interference as if to tell people that this was exclusively Malefice''s work.

    That was a clever lie for another purpose, but it seemed like it had inadvertently be bait that led a big fish over.

    ''Malevalon is¡­''

    In terms of power, Grand Duke Lance definitely didn''t match up to Malevalon. Famas had a simr power level, but Famas ended up dead because he was being stupid. Malevalon wouldn''t be the same.

    He was cold and calcting. He never made an emotional move.

    Even now, as Damien felt his rage and desire for vengeance in the approaching aura, he didn''t believe that Malevalon was actually trying to get revenge for his brother''s death.

    ''He''s here because of a personal vendetta. Since he remembers me by my strengthst time¡­''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''...I''m just an easy target to him.''

    Unfortunately, Malevalon would have to be disappointed.

    ''It won''t end the same way.''

    He''d said it before, hadn''t he?

    Perhaps it wouldn''t be a clean fight, but if someone put him up against a Supreme God, he wasn''t necessarily going to lose.

    It was worth the risk.

    Especially since Damien also wanted to settle the score with Malevalon.

    If it wasn''t for him leading the traitorous forces in the Heavenly World to chase Dante, going so far as to interfere in the lower universe just to catch him, then Damien''s life story would have beenpletely different.

    At the top of it all was, of course, the Dark God, but right under him, the person with the most fault was Malevalon Straea.

    For his own revenge and his father''s, Damien left Grand Duke Lance behind.

    His body shed away, and when it appeared next, he was already above Malevalon.

    His hand was in the sky, and mkh raged in the atmosphere, creating massive energy clouds in the sky that sparked with electricity.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Malevalon was given a fraction of a second to process the situation and respond. It wasn''t much, but it was barely enough for him.

    A lightning bolt of pure energy came down from the heavens and tried to strike him, but he managed to narrowly dodge by taking a few wobbly steps to the side.

    He nced up and saw his attacker for the first time.

    "I was just about toe find you."

    He didn''t respond in surprise. He kept that same robotic demeanor as he pushed his own hands into the atmosphere, summoning his energy.

    VOOM!

    Malevalon''s energy was weaker than normal right now. He had begun the process of converting his mana to mkh when he first came to this realm, but he didn''t have enough time to both covert his energy and regain control over it before Damien started causing a scene.

    Malevalon didn''t quite use mkh, and he didn''t quite use mana either. His energy was somewhere between the two, but unlike Damien, who could bring them into harmony, Malevalon had to cope with the constant repellent force they exerted on each other.

    Nevertheless, he fought as if he didn''t have any problems whatsoever, simply refusing to believe that Damien could match him even with these negative conditions.

    As Malevalon moved his arms, three balls of the mana-mkh mixture formted, shooting towards Damien on separate paths.

    ''That one''s a physical attacks¡­''

    Damien pushed his hand out, using Creation to manifest multipleyers of stone in front of him.

    BANG!

    One of the balls mmed against the physical barrier, exploding it into pieces. Meanwhile, the other two pushed forward as if the barriers didn''t exist.

    ''That one''s a soul attack¡­''

    Damien didn''t have to do anything to block that one.

    His Void Soul, what could a mere soul attack do to it? It was created so that even the Void itself couldn''t destroy it, so wouldn''t it be a bit embarrassing if it showed weakness here?

    VOOM!

    A pulse of energy was released from Damien''s body without his prompting. It phased through all material things, but as it came in contact with the balls, another one shattered instantly.

    The third was approaching at a rate Damien couldn''t block, but he really didn''t care.

    ''And that one¡­''

    It mmed into his head.

    ''...is a mind attack.''

    Needless to say, it instantly copsed against Damien''s imprable mental barrier.

    "Valiant effort, but it''s not enough," Damien mocked, looking at the Straea below him.

    Malevalon stepped back slightly. He had a look in his eyes as if he was reevaluating things.

    ''My strength doesn''t make sense to him.''

    Damien understood what that look meant. Malevalon waspletely overturning the preconceived notions he had about his enemy.

    ''It''s not his fault, though. My strength doesn''t make sense to me either.''

    Damien smiled.

    ''Either way, he''s done.''

    Maybe the regr Malevalon could''ve put up a fight, but this one¡­?

    BOOM!

    Damien pushed his leg down, putting pressure on the air. It copsed under him as a wave of chaos was spread through it, infecting the environment.

    Malevalon was caught in it, and immediate he felt his senses blur. His vision turned hazier just slightly, and his other physical senses suffered simr tiny adjustments that could lead to terrible consequences.

    His perceptive range was strange. It wasn''t a perfect circle anymore. In some ces, his perception would extend for several hundreds of millions of kilometers, while in other ces, he couldn''t see five feet in front of him.

    Whether mana, mkh, or a strangebination of both, all energy turned chaotic under the pressure wave, rebelling against its users.

    Damien didn''t really understand until recently. Obtaining chaos was the biggest step he''d taken towards bing Absolute thus far.

    Nothing could ignore chaos. Whether it was amon bug or a Supreme God, if afflicted with chaos, they would be its prey.

    The concept was inverse to order, but it had far more strength in the universe, since it needed to be incredibly strong to properly influence such an ordered cosmos.

    Supreme Gods were scary. Even as he currently was, Damien wasn''t confident enough to haphazardly challenge them.

    However¡­

    Maybe Malevalon Straea knew it better than anyone else.

    The current Damien wasn''t someone whose body would break from just a touch of his aura.

    No, that boy from a few years ago had grown into an even greater monster.

    And even if he was arrogant, even if he wholeheartedly believed in his strength¡­

    ¡­even Malevalon was forced to admit that Damien wasn''t an enemy he could take casually anymore.

    No, he was now someone with the power to kill him.

    He was a real enemy, and at the same time, an equal.

    This man who, astonishingly, still had the aura of a Demigod¡­

    was a bonafide Supreme God himself!

 Chapter 1588 Lure [2]

    Chapter 1588 Lure [2]

    ??BOOOOOOM!

    Damien didn''t give Malevalon even a second.

    After fighting so many people who''d had contact with him, Damien had gained a rough understanding of Malevalon''s power.

    He used the Law of the Dark Star that his brother used, but it was different. His version of thew was much colder and more precise, aimed topletely crush enemies with force.

    Malevalon and Malefice were different in almost every way. They had a connection as brothers that went beyond their personalities, but at the end of the day, they were just too different.

    But perhaps that was why they were able to rule Straea together so perfectly for so many years.

    Nevertheless, Malevalon was a person who liked to fight with full force from the front. He liked to end things fast, but he liked his enemies to be well aware of why they died.

    Damien wasn''t necessarily afraid of his power, but he was definitely wary of it.  Malevalon was hard to beat, mainly because he would never give his enemy the opportunity to fight back once he got hold of the momentum.

    That was why Damien used the full force of chaos and his current Existence to make sure Malevalon couldn''t do a thing but block.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    It was really a nonsensical sight. As Damien''s power grew, it really did be a lot more random.

    Creation bloomed, creating stars and heavy objects that mmed into Malevalon at high speeds. Destruction joined it, amplifying every impact so they were all more than fatal forces.

    The elements raged about. The twisted fires and waters of the Sacred Abyss Universe, its jagged winds and free-flowing rock rose from the ground, swirling around and attacking Malevalon whenever they saw an opening.

    Space and time were already in chaos. Malevalon''s body moved incredibly slowly as if he was walking through msses, and as his perception of time was altered, his ability to fight was majorly inhibited.

    Shing!

    A razor-sharp de of mkh sliced through his side. It contained the essence of Life that suctioned out his vitality.

    The wound quickly turned ck and necrotic, signs that Death also yed a part.

    The foundationalws were all used in some way to keep Malevalon busy, and as if that wasn''t enough, Damien made sure to use the concepts of Existence as well.

    Order and harmony were the bane of the Law of the Dark Star. Theypletely unraveled thew''s core principles, so one could imagine what happened to Malevalon''s techniques when he tried to defend himself and attack.

    Domination was even better, since Damien could directly control the Law of the Dark Star and learn its properties.

    And, of course, the mist was by Damien''s side, helping him control Existence with fluidity that he simply couldn''t achieve on his own.

    It was a monstrous showing of skill. This was the first time Damien had ever used every single ability he had to its fullest capabilities against an enemy, and the scene he created doing so was¡­

    Well, it was beautiful to say the least.

    The lights shed in all different colors, creating a neb in the sky that created even more legends in the eyes of themon people who saw it.

    The sheer amounts of energy being thrown into the atmosphere caused it to destabilize and copse, ripping open to disy the chaotic void beyond.

    Malevalon was forced into a tighter spot than he''d ever imagined he''d be in.

    ''This is not possible.''

    He was practical about it. Considering the level of skill Damien was showing, he wasn''t an enemy that could be killed unless Malevalon had all of his power.

    For that, he first needed to finish converting his mana to mkh.

    ''I must leave.''

    This wasn''t the time to fight Damien. He needed to retreat and return at ater time to finally face this battle properly.

    He didn''t like it at all, but that didn''t matter. The most practical solution was always the one he''d take.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Malevalon used pure energy to defend himself. He could already tell that the Law of the Dark Star wasn''t going to respond to him, so he didn''t bother trying to control it.

    His mana was also rebelling, but it was far easier to control. He was a Supreme God, after all. He had just as much of a dominion over energy as someone like Damien did, at least for now.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    It was difficult to adapt to the multidirectional attacks. There was no way for him to know where an attack woulde from, how much power it had, or even whatw it contained until it was right in front of him.

    Deflection was a good skill, but it could only take him so far.

    His eyes still darted around, looking for an opening.

    Damien didn''t leave him any, but he was certain that at least one opportunity would appear.

    Because he wasn''t ready to die yet. Damien could contain him with this, sure, but he couldn''t yet kill him.

    Explosions continued to ring out.

    Damien also knew he couldn''t kill Malevalon with any of his current attacks, but Malevalon wasn''t his current goal.

    He was just causing a scene while tormenting an enemy he''d wanted to torment for a while now.

    His main target¡­

    ''Ah, there he is.''

    An aura appeared on the horizon. It was the man Damien had been waiting for, another Grand Duke.

    This time, us.

    Maveth obviously wouldn''t show up yet. He was too cautious.

    ''But us was probably sent by him.''

    Damien turned his attention to the horizon. His attack on Malevalon became slightly weaker as the mist took full control over it.

    WHOOOOOOOOSH!

    The atmosphere roared with sound. The roar got louder and louder until it was enough to shatter eardrums, then¡­

    BANG!

    With a huge explosion of air pressure, Grand Duke us appeared nearby.

    He moved with pure physical strength. The natural phenomena he brought with him were merely a result of the sheer power of his movements.

    "You are a hard man to find," us said, sneering.

    "I try my best," Damien responded in kind.

    His eyes flicked to the side.

    ''He''s gone.''

    In that single instant, Malevalon found an opening to escape.

    He was so far gone that he wasn''t even worth chasing anymore.

    ''I can get himter. It would be more fun for him to die when my father wakes up.''

    Damien withdrew the forces targeting Malevalon and focused his attention on the Grand Duke.

    ''He was the one I wanted to bring out anyway.''

    The next part of the n was the same as its predecessor.

    Damien was going to use a mysterious force to kill a Supreme God, putting on a show for his favorite Grand Duke Maveth.

    By the end of it, the Grand Duke would be properly fooled and ying right into the palm of his hand.

    ''For that to work, Mr. Grand Duke us here is going to have to y a big role.''

    Damien smiled widely.

    It was incredibly disconcerting to us.

    He didn''t know why, but he couldn''t help but feel like something was very, very wrong here.

    And little did he know that he was going to find out why at this very moment.

    Damien held his hand out, the same smile on his face.

    And a small Existence barrier appeared on top of it.

    The dark beast that hid away within ire''s body¡­

    Wasn''t it time for it to get some air in this cosmos?

 Chapter 1589 Bait [1]

    Chapter 1589 Bait [1]

    ??That beast, it had a name, and it had a species name as well. Damien had been calling it the dark beast because he didn''t really know what it was. It didn''t exist in his cosmos, after all.

    If he wanted to know what it was, he needed to draw it out and read its existence.

    That would have been nice and all, and knowledge about another cosmos was always something interesting, but it could all be pushed back forter.

    The dark beast had much more intuitive uses for now.

    Damien drew the Existence barrier out, but the dark beast didn''t understand what was happening.

    In its eyes, it was experiencing something unimaginable.

    Somehow, out of nowhere, it had been assaulted and promptly plucked out of the sky, only to be ced in a white room with no bounds.

    Time didn''t pass in this ce. It felt like it was living its life normally just a moment ago, but more than enough time had psed for it to ruminate over what happened and try to find a way out.

    Naturally, its attempts were unsessful, but that was beside the point.

    The dark beast was enraged. It was a great being that none dared to offend, something like that cosmos'' First Primal Sovereign.

    So how would that being react when the white room faded, giving way for a ce it had never seen before?

    Naturally, it went berserk.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The second the Existence barrier was removed, the dark beast returned to its original size.

    Damien teleported very, very far away. Not just to avoid being crushed, but also to avoid being recognized.

    The they were currently on didn''t have a name. Almost nothing in the Sacred Abyss Universe was named. It was the Dark God''s way of forcing conformity, making bleakness the norm.

    Damien didn''t understand why the Dark God treated his cosmos like this. He would definitely benefit more if he properly nourished it.

    But that was beside the point.

    This was huge, as mentioned several times before. The dark beast wasary, easily three times the size of Earth, but it wasn''t anywhere nearrge enough to dwarf this ce.

    Rather, it fit within this world''s atmosphere. It was massive, sure, but it looked more like the size of a mountain than the size of a.

    Still, that didn''t change how powerful that being was.

    And that didn''t change its rage.

    The dark beast opened its eyes as it adapted to the atmosphere andws of this new ne. For a moment, it felt excitement at the confirmed discovery of alternate cosmos, and on the other hand¡­

    ''Life.''

    There was a living being in front of it, and a dying being trapped in a swarm of light to its side. There were countless mortals all across the surface of this world, and as it saw the sky and the vast expanse of stars there, it became excited for the possibilities this new cosmos held.

    However, it didn''t focus on those possibilities. These kinds of rational thoughts onlysted for a single moment.

    Wasn''t it said before?

    When the beast saw light again, naturally, it went berserk.

    It didn''t totally understand what was happening, but if it had just been released, then one of the two beings in the vicinity had to be the culprit behind its evident kidnapping.

    And it was hard-pressed to believe that the one who was currently half dead was able to capture it.

    Its attention focused on Grand Duke us, who wasn''t quite sure of what Damien had done.

    ''It must be a summon.''

    He was familiar with ire''s power, so he assumed that her son had followed in her footsteps and created something simr.

    That was the mentality he approached this battle with, leaving him none the wiser.

    It wasn''t wrong topare the dark beast to ire''s summons. If it had to be put side-by-side with them¡­

    ¡­maybe it could take down the dragon and the tiger?

    The beast had to be considerable if it wanted to possess ire.

    It was just that it didn''t have a chance to show its power yet.

    All of the built up animosity it had was released at once, and the onught that was originally meant for Damien was released onto the forces of the Sacred Abyss.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The beast was shaped like a turtle. It moved its gigantic leg just once, and it created a tsunami of earth that destroyed over a million kilometers ofnd.

    Grand Duke us was caught by the air pressure and thrown backward. He summoned his mkh, stabilizing his body.

    He was a physical fighter, sopared to others, he had a far easier time withstanding such an attack.

    The dark beast red down at him with its huge eyes. It registered the energying off of him as something different from its own, and¡­

    VOOM!

    The strange energy it contained, which was simr to chaos in many ways, changed and morphed.

    It wasn''t being transmuted. It was imitating its surroundings, blending in to the point where even the Sacred Abyss Universe''s Heavenly Order couldn''t distinguish it from what naturally existed.

    Only then could its full aura be felt.

    It was still being suppressed by the world before that, after all.

    The second the dark beast regained its full strength, it went on the attack.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Massive tendrils extended from the surface of its shell, like massive tree roots that chased their targets to oblivion.

    At the same time, massive hexagonal swatches ofnd ripped off in chunks and threw themselves at the Grand Duke.

    us was immediately met with physical attacks tobat his physical attacks.

    Both him and the beast could use other means to fight, sure, but this kind ofbat was where they felt the mostfortable and where they could kill the easiest.

    BOOOOOM!

    The dark beast took another step, digging the ground for several million kilometers another several thousand kilometers deeper.

    This area,pared to everything around it, was already a gaping chasm, a new natural wonder.

    BANG!

    The roots that chased him were difficult enough to block. us used his fists to m them away one by one, and while he was fully capable of deflecting them, the hexagonal disks were different.

    Not only were they as heavy as continents, they were infused with chaotic energy that messed with the flow of us'' mkh.

    Grand Duke us mmed into a wall of the chasm, gritting his teeth as he pushed off of it and shot back towards the beast.

    It was able to keep him away, so it was able to corner him, but pushing him into a wall was the wrong move.

    Now that everything was in front of him, he could see the path.

    One step took him off the wall, and the next bounced him off of a hexagonal disk and propelled him towards the beast.

    His every step was calcted, and the enemy''s attacks suddenly became cards for him to use to his advantage.

    Before long, he was in its face, staring into its eyes that resembled moons.

    Grand Duke us raised his fist and pulled it back. He infused it with a gargantuan amount of energy, and¡­

 Chapter 1590 Bait [2]

    Chapter 1590 Bait [2]

    ??BOOOOOOOOM!

    Grand Duke us'' fist, containing a force rivaling the explosive death of a gxy, mmed against the dark beast''s snout, sending ripples through space and time.

    The massive impact''s force could be best seen in its effects on the environment. It truly caused a carastrophe in the sky, and the waves that struck the ground started chain reactions that led to natural disasters all over the.

    Damien was watching from the distance, and even he had to admit that the impact would''ve shredded him. His powerful physical body would''ve been ripped to shreds. His only path to survival was the Authority of Immortality.

    That was an extremely strong attack. It was absolutely worthy of being something Grand Duke us believed would change the tides of the battle.

    But¡­the dark beast¡­

    What happened to it while everything around it was being plunged into destruction?

    The punch forced its head to the side. It closed its eyes as its thick skin absorbed the force.

    It was strange to see such a hard externalyer ripple, but it did happen. Not because the skin was loose, but because the spatial and temporal position of each particle was being shifted as the spacetimeyers shook.

    There was no external damage, but surely the beast was injured internally, right?

    Just as us tried to entertain this thought, he was proven wrong.

    Because once the beast opened its eyes again, it attacked with even more force than before.

    us was close now. It didn''t need to use such tedious methods to attack.

    If there was one problem with being sorge, it was that range of motion became a nonexistent concept. When a target was far away, it was forced to rely on a different attack technique and even different methods of perception to fight.

    However, when the opponent was close¡­

    The dark beast had a lot inmon with us, really.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    It''s eye dted, and energy concentrated in its pupil. A beam of chaos erupted forth and mmed past us, swallowing him whole.

    "Tch!"

    The Grand Duke clicked his tongue as he rapidly used mkh to protect his body. The beam eroded his energy, making it difficult for him to continue blocking.

    ''Fight.''

    That was the only answer.

    us gritted his teeth and mmed his foot into the air, shooting upward.

    He left the beam''s radius, but it followed him as he continued to fly.

    us watched the beast''s eye. The beam would onlyst for as far as its eyes could physically see, so as long as he could get out of sight¡­

    He zipped around, zig-zagging to confuse the beast as he rushed towards its back.

    He did reach.

    us was faster than the beast in every way. That was inevitable.

    He pushed against the sky andnded on its back, putting all of his weight into his legs.

    BOOOOOOM!

    The beast''s body rattled. Its legs bent slightly as the force transferred through.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    us moved a few inches backward and started raining down punches on the exact position hended.

    His fists were extraordinarily urate, and with the strength of a Supreme God, us was able to produce gxy-shattering force with every single strike.

    He didn''t have to charge his power for that kind of impact.

    If he was charging his power¡­

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Tendrils rose from the beast''s shell to attack the man who invaded it. That ce wasrge enough to make up several continents. When all of that space was used to create offensive force, it truly did create a sight to behold.

    Hundreds of thousands of earthy spines shot out of the dark beast,pletely changing its shape.

    They twisted and wormed through the air as if they had minds of their own, and while they moved independently, they were all focused on one target.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    One by one, they mmed down on us and tried to crush him.

    He fortified his barrier, refusing to give up.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    His own strikes eventually synchronized with the tendrils attacking him. Aggressive, monotonous bangs resounded through the environment, audible from light years away.

    us reached a flow state. He punched the turtle''s shell and upheld his barrier. He used the force attacking his barrier to strengthen and reinforce it.

    All of these processes happened simultaneously as us lost sight of everything else.

    And the results were clear to anyone.

    BANG!

    CRACK!

    BANG!

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The dark beast''s shell was cracking. Those cracks were connecting and widening, creating an ess point to the beast''s internals.

    But the dark beats wasn''t just sitting around either. It saw that its attacks weren''t working, and it redirected its energy towards something else.

    us was too dialed in to realize that the frequency of attacks against his barrier had decreased greatly.

    He also didn''t notice as the shell he stood on started to heat up.

    The event could be better described from Damien''s perspective.

    Something like a tangled web of ribsshed around on the dark beast''s back. Those ribs crushed each other and everything around them, creating huge storms of dust that obscured the man they were attacking from any onlookers.

    Through that dust, lines of orange began to show themselves, getting brighter and brighter by the second.

    The dust melted into nothingness, and the dark beast''s shell hadpletely changed.

    It was once a world that inhabited life, so it was built in a simr fashion. Its ridges were mountains and valleys, and it even had artificial oceans that ran across its back.

    One would never look at that shell and believe it to be part of a living organism.

    But it was no longer like that. All of its previous beauty was gone.

    The shell darkened as its inteicacies burned away. It looked like it was made of miasma-filled volcanic rock, with lines ofva highlighting the hexagonal grooves between each piece of the shell.

    It still looked natural. It was much more exaggerated than any natural area, but one could easily mistake this new variation of the shell for a volcanic ind.

    However, it was nowhere near that.

    Those orange lines weren''t magma, after all.

    That was a pure essence of chaos.

    A force that even Damien had to work hard to control.

    His eyes were peeled as he watched the beast and the Grand Duke''s every move.

    ''That thing¡­is a lot crazier than I gave it credit for.''

    It hadn''t shown much, but it had already pushed us into a corner.

    And more than anything else, the attack it was preparing now was something monstrous even in Damien''s opinion.

    ''They say sealing is easier than killing.''

    If Damien actually tried to fight that beast on an even ying field, he didn''t know if his current capabilities were enough to guarantee a win.

    ''And if I can''t guarantee anything, then neither can he.''

    Damien could only imagine Grand Duke us'' mind right now.

    Did he still want to fight?

    Or had he epted that he''d die?

    The answer was neither.

    Grand Duke us remained blissfully unaware of everything that was happening around him, solely concentrating on the hole he was boring into the turtle shell.

    All the way up until the moment when those jagged lines of chaos finally burst.

 Chapter 1591 Catch [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1591 Catch [1] </h4>

    Grand Duke Maveth never once approached the action.

    He was the first to sense Damien, as he was the current strongest Noble. However, even then, he remained hidden behind countless walls as if he was the weakest.

    Why?

    Was it because his mind was better than his strength?

    No.

    Maveth did have a great mind. He was able to create technological systems like the drones that nketed the world in search for Damien after glimpsing simr technology in the True Void Universe.

    The Sacred Abyss Universe didn''t have anything of the sort as precedent, so Maveth could only be considered a genius.

    Still, his strength was his best asset. Maveth trained from his youth as a warrior, not an intellectual. His mind was just an added plus, a talent he could use to further boost his true power.

    But that left the question unanswered.

    Why did Grand Duke Maveth seem to fear directbat in this instance?

    The truth was, he didn''t.

    Maveth was just like his peers. He had absolute confidence that he could defeat Damien if they fought in singlebat.

    He''d done it before, hadn''t he?

    Damien underestimated his pain amplification power, but that was because he didn''t realize how fast things could get bad.

    Maveth squared the pain. He didn''t just double it. If he had hit Damien with even one more attack, perhaps he wouldn''t have been able to find a way to escape.

    His reason for staying back was different.

    This wasn''t battle. This wasn''t a personal grudge. This wasn''t something that required respect or emotion in any form.

    This was a hunt for prey. It was the elimination of an anomaly, a process that was highly streamlined.

    Damien had shown them too many mysteries. He was dangerous and cunning. If they didn''t properly understand him before attacking, they would lose.

    This had been proven over and over again.

    First, he escaped them in the Heavenly World. Then, when he came to the Sacred Abyss, he humiliated them endlessly.

    The Barons, Viscounts, Counts, and even Dukes were inconsequential.

    However¡­

    ''...I am thest remaining Grand Duke.''

    Grand Duke Lance''s life signature had already vanished, while the chaotic explosion still continued to rage.

    As for us¡­

    Huge beams of orange chaotic energy sshed out of geysers that formed on the dark beast''s shell.

    At the same time, an ear-shattering bang rang out. us managed to pierce the turtle''s shell, creating a path to its fleshy inner body.

    Unfortunately, his timing was off.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Those waves of chaos crashed down on his barrier like a tsunami. Instead of pursuing the opening he''d made, us was forced to block with all of his power.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    BOOOOOOOM!

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Chaos was a terrifying force. It had no meaning, no rhyme or reason behind its actions. Chaos would do as it pleased, and everything else was forced to cope.

    The force of that bizarre independence was hard to hold, especially when using another force close to chaos.

    Mkh was a darker energy in its essence, so it naturally felt subordination to the dark beast''s energy.

    Mana, on the other hand, was a more orderly power. It would''ve had a far better chance in the current situation.

    But Grand Duke us could not use the energy of the True Void Universe, and that was only one of many reasons that led to his eventual defeat.

    The dark beast''s use of true chaos was the turning point. From the moment Damien saw it happen, he knew the battle was over.

    Maveth was the same.

    He was thest Grand Duke from that moment. Because only a minuteter, us broke under the weight of the dark beast''s onught.

    As his body fell through the air, limp and lifeless, another shadow appeared.

    Maveth stood up, his eyes trained on the projection of those events that he was watching as they happened.

    Damien grabbed the dying body of that man.

    ''He isn''t dead yet. His soul is still alive.''

    His body was finished, but he was trying to escape in his ethereal form so he could live again.

    "Unfortunately, that''s not happening."

    Pitch-ck energy surrounded Damien''s body and enveloped the body of his enemy. It ate, crunching the Grand Duke into a wave of essence and existence that showered its owner.

    Damien nced down at the dark beast below.

    Its eyes were also trained on him.

    He used his energy, and it instantly snapped out of its frenzy.

    That energy¡­

    ''That is the energy¡­!''

    This was the true culprit behind its kidnapping.

    "I''m sure you''ve realized it by the look in your eyes. I''ll say the same thing to you. Unfortunately, it''s not happening."

    The dark beast''s eyes were filled with malice and vengeance, however, us had served his purpose.

    He created the opening that Damien needed.

    And when the dark beast''s defenses were gone, when Damien could see its weaknesses with his naked eyes¡­

    ''Die.''

    ¡­it was done.

    Existence rallied at his call and shot into the hole in the dark beast''s shell.

    It struck the fleshy body beneath and infected it, eating away at the great being. Existence was a very useful power, because Damien could do anything he wanted.

    Since he wanted that beast to die, his power found a way to kill it.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    It appeared out of nowhere.

    From the top and the bottom of the dark beast''s body, a beam of pure white energy burst forth, mming into the ground below and the sky above.

    The dark beast was pierced by a Godly force. Its shell exploded along with its insides, leaving a gaping hole in its body that was big enough to house a nation.

    ''It''s like an Achilles heel.''

    Because every other part of its body had been fortified to the point where even us could barely damage it, the body the beast hid inside of its shell was incredibly fragile.

    The dark beast died, its body crashing to the ground and deepening the chasm it created by another margin.

    Damien watched it from the sky, and¡­

    "Kahak!"

    He coughed out a mouthful of blood.

    "Hak!"

    Another.

    "Hak!"

    Another.

    "Hak!"

    At this point, he was practically vomiting organs.

    His face turned pale and his body wobbled in the sky. Soon enough, it looked like he couldn''t take it anymore.

    Damien started to fall, desperately reaching out.

    BOOM!

    His body crashed into the ground, but¡­

    As it turned out, he''d managed to recall the corpse of the dark beast into his storage.

    ''But even with that, he is severely injured.''

    It was too much for him to mess with us'' soul and then try to kill the dark beast. Even if he had incredible power, it was too much for him to think he was a real God.

    ''Ever since he got here¡­''

    He''d been using trick after trick, evading everything even when he could''ve easily fought.

    ''He is not a coward.''

    But he was aware of his limits.

    That was Maveth''s final assessment of Damien Void.

    ''He''ll be going into hiding again now.''

    Until he recuperated, Damien wouldn''t show his face, and as had been proven over the past year, they wouldn''t be able to find him.

    Which meant¡­

    ''...we have to act now.''

    No, there was no longer a "we."

    Maveth had to end this himself and eliminate the anomaly while he had the chance.

    He had to join the battle.

 Chapter 1592 Catch [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1592 Catch [2] </h4>

    ''That should be what he''s thinking, right?''

    Damien was able to easily read the flow of Maveth''s thoughts, because he was the one who created it.

    Maveth''s carefulness had been slowly broken down by Damien''s schemes. The dark beast and Grand Duke us just served to perfectly wrap everything up and absolve the rest of his doubts.

    Damien needed to find a way to keep up his facade while reaping all of the benefits of the ns he set up.

    When us died, Damien was able to sneakily devour him because Maveth didn''t know what devour was. If the dark beast disappeared the same way, then suspicions would arise.

    As such, Damien coughed blood as if attacking us and the dark beast required him to sacrifice something. As he fell, he acted desperate and used fluctuations of spatial mana to pretend he was storing its corpse, when he was actually devouring it whole.

    Damien gained a lot from those two. us didn''t have as much to contribute since Damien didn''t need more knowledge about the Foreign Races at this time, but there was definitely something interesting in his memories.

    That was a story for another time, as was what Damien gained from the dark beast.

    Power-wise, his pre-existing knowledge was strengthened to another degree, leading his control to improve yet again.

    None of it really mattered to Damien. More than for his benefit, Damien devoured them out of habit, and¡­a little bit of another reason.

    Nevertheless, with the performance he put on, the main goal of this operation had been achieved.

    Damien stayed on the ground, copsed and seemingly lifeless. Blood pooled in his mouth, and his eyes seemed hazy.

    His head swung from side to side, his consciousness slipping from reality.

    Maveth arrived in an instant. He was far away, but he could cover these distances easily in the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    He nced down at the ground, not approaching it just yet.

    Damien felt an aura rinse over his body as Maveth scanned him with his awareness.

    ''The state he can gauge should put me somewhere near death.''

    Damien tried his best. His insides really were a mess to keep up the illusion. Since Damien''s body hardly relied on them anymore, he was able to destroy and rebuild them as he pleased.

    His soul was also giving off incredibly weak fluctuations, which was the most important factor for a God to consider.

    His entire image lowered Maveth''s guard, even though his guard was supposed to be all the way down before he even arrived.

    Damien could never be too careful.

    He wanted Maveth dead. He didn''t want to wait for a long time and slowly whittle him down. He wanted him dead right this instant.

    For that, his current strength simply wasn''t enough. Even if he fought, he would need days, months, or longer to bring Maveth close to death.

    And that was if he could keep Maveth fighting for that long.

    ''I''ve gotten a lot stronger, but right now, the best strategy is still to use external force.''

    Eventually, it would bepletely irrelevant.

    Unfortunately, that was not now.

    It didn''t matter how much Damien could dominate against people under the Supreme God level, did it?

    His enemies were still above him.

    Damien''s cards didn''t end with the ones he''d already used.

    He didn''t have a lot of Supreme level powers, so he had to carefully n how he was going to obtain them and kill Maveth.

    Malefice''s essence killed Lance in such a way where Damien couldn''t devour him, but us was different.

    As was the dark beast.

    Damien only needed the memories of their existence and the essence of their Legends.

    The actual power they''d built up¡­? Theirwprehensions, techniques, and pure energy¡­?

    Since when did Damien need any of that from anyone else?

    All of it had been stored,pressed, and morphed into an essence iparable to its original form.

    Everything that the dark beast and us had umted was turned into power to be used against Maveth.

    Damien truly didn''t have any better use for it.

    Why was it described in such detail¡­?

    Everything wasid out so Maveth didn''t get the chance to fight.

    Pain amplification wouldn''t be allowed to see the light, neither would force control.

    None of Grand Duke Maveth''s strength as a Supreme God would be exerted.

    That was the perfect future Damien and envisioned, and one he assured would happen through extensive preparation.

    Grand Duke Maveth approached slowly. He carefully set up a barrier around himself as he got closer to Damien, sending his energy out before him so he could test the waters.

    Bzzt!

    Damien''s body was shocked by the mkh. His pain was immediately doubled, and his body jerked as if his nerves were being controlled by the electricity.

    Maveth watched his limp body flop around and return to normal, though more rigid than before.

    Bzzt!

    He struck again. At four times the pain, Damien''s body gave the exact same reaction, and his lifeless expression andcking vitality didn''t change in the slightest.

    ''Is he truly¡­?''

    Maveth was close now.

    ''Just a few more feet¡­''

    Damien waited patiently for his moment to strike.

    BZZT!

    Yet another strike. This one was far worse than its predecessors, abination of several attacks in one.

    Damien immediately returned to the mindless state he reached when he was trying to escape the hidden principality. All of the pain Maveth tried to inflict on him was pushed away, and his body was able to give the same natural reaction without giving anything away.

    How could Maveth not be convinced at this point?

    No proper living being should''ve been able to handle that much pain without even the slightest micro expression.

    If Damien was truly in an almost deceased state, if he was truly only a breeze away from passing¡­

    Grand Duke Maveth took thest step.

    And Damien saw his opportunity.

    His arm shed out. It passed through Maveth''s mkh barrier as if it didn''t exist and grabbed hold of his leg.

    "That''s game."

    It was a phrase that Damien was starting to like a lot.

    His eyes connected with Maveth, and they both had the exact same thought.

    ''He got yed.''

    ''I was fooled.''

    Maveth had a sh of an instant to react, and to his credit, he did seed in doing so.

    He pulled away, ripped his leg out of Damien''s grasp, and summoned his mkh to create a stronger barrier.

    But¡­if Damien was relying on something as flimsy as needing to maintain contact, then he never would''ve implemented this n in the first ce.

    No, the concoction he created had mounted itself on Maveth from the moment they touched.

    A shining blue light pulsated under the skin of his shin, highlighting the veins and arteries hidden within.

    It got brighter and brighter, alerting Maveth''s attention too.

    SHIK!

    Feeling the chaotic energy, he severed his leg without hesitation.

    But as Damien said.

    It was already game.

    He snapped his fingers with a smile as Maveth tried to retreat away from his leg.

    He teleported away, getting clear of the expected st radius.

    And¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien watched as the world was showered in light.

    And soon enough, he experienced an important fact directly with his body.

    The "expected st radius" was nowhere near reality.

    Rather, it was the grossest understatement that could''ve possibly been made.

    And it made sure to let everyone know exactly that.

 Chapter 1593 Catch [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1593 Catch [3]</h4>

    Malefice''s core explosion was already big enough to be seen from the other side of the world, right?

    Well, that explosion was soon dwarfed. It''s golden-white light faded and was reced by a bright blue color and even greater pressure waves.

    Cracks formed across the entirety of the world''s surface. Massive earthquakes and eruptions made the sky and ground extremely hostile, and the world itself cried as it was forced to experience brutal agony.

    ''Shit!''

    Damien gritted his teeth as he used Existence to create multiple barriers that isted him from the explosion.

    ''The world is going to copse.''

    He vastly underestimated his opponents, because he''d never fought them at their full strength. He created the explosive himself, but the fluctuations it gave off weren''t chaotic enough to produce such horrific results.

    ''But order can also do something like this.''

    Perhaps Grand Duke us and the dark beast''s energies found some sort ofmon ground and amplified each other.

    Whatever the reason was, it held true that the world was going to die if this kept going.

    ''I don''t even need to care about Maveth anymore.''

    Damien had perfectly executed his n. He had no doubt that the Grand Duke was already dead.

    No, anyone and anything in the st radius was dead.

    There were no survivors.

    Everyone was aware of how strong Damien was.

    However, even he could only survive using Existence barriers.

    Without that power, even with the Authority of Immortality, Damien would have died.

    He would''ve been incinerated into nothingness before he could ever begin to regenerate.

    Against that force¡­

    ''Damn!''

    Damien put his arms out and spread his mana into the world, grabbing it and essentially pulling it back together.

    He used the concept of order, desperately healing each and every crack that formed until the world had returned to one piece.

    It was a tedious process, especially with a world of this size. Damien''s perception was stretched to its limits, and he felt the world ripping apart as if it was his own body.

    It was more painful because of that, but he also gained a more intuitive understanding of the ws he needed to fix, which made his job easier.

    Blue waves of energy continued to rush past him in the physical ne, unable to touch him. Damien bit down as hard as he could, concentrated all of his attention, and carefully made every necessary move until all of the necessary processes could be automated.

    And finally, he had the chance to teleport away, delegating a portion of his consciousness to manage the adhesion.

    Damien only got a true grasp of the st''s size when he left it.

    If there was a way to describe it¡­it looked like the moon had collided with Earth, except in this case, the moon was a fiery ball of destructive blue energy.

    ''If I had known, I would''ve done this from the start.''

    Damien put an Existence barrier around the area, just like he''d done with Lance.

    He allowed the explosion to continue its rage, but he contained it within an area that it wasn''t allowed to leave.

    This way, even if Maveth somehow managed to survive, he would die before the force dispersed.

    ''It''s a shame. He had a short run.''

    It was like Maveth had taken control over his fellow Nobles just a few days ago, and he was already dead, along with all of the rest of them.

    ''Time really flies¡­''

    Damien smiled to himself.

    He let go of his mana as the world finally decided to stay together on its own.

    And he looked down at his work with pride.

    The blue star was a sign of his arrival here, a greeting to anyone who was concerned.

    Those who once ruled this ne would not keep it for much longer.

    It was his territory now, and would remain that way until the day he personally decided to let it go. Not one second earlier.

    If anyone had a problem with that¡­

    ¡­then they coulde see him about it, right?

    ***

    A lot of the time after that was used for reorganization.

    With Maveth, Lance, us, and Famas dead, there was really no structure left in the Foreign Nobility.

    Sure, the Dukes hadn''t been targeted yet, but what could they do?

    Even if they banded together, they never stood a chance against a Grand Duke.

    Damien hadn''t killed one, but three people of that caliber. Why would they try to challenge him now?

    It was a misconception on their part. Damien was far stronger than an individual Duke, but if all 31 came together, then it would''ve been quite a difficult situation even for him.

    Their fear, caused mostly by his deeds that were turned into fables by the time they reached their ears, was the cause of their undoing.

    Damien once again did rounds around this world.

    Since it didn''t have a name¡­

    ''No, since it''s mine now¡­''

    He decided to name this world after his home cosmos. It was a simple name, but it was more than indicative of the world''s purpose.

    It was the True Void Universe''s first sess in conquering the Sacred Abyss.

    When the True Void World eventually became a gxy, then a universe, and then the cosmos itself, wouldn''t it be far easier tobine the two if they shared the same name?

    Nevertheless, to create a real "True Void World," Damien had to do more than just kill people.

    He ughtered all of the Dukes without fail, and within a few days, he started recing them with his own people.

    Duke Horacio made his return to this world, along with anyone else who had the potential to adapt to this cosmos''ws.

    Damien still hadn''t contacted Thalia and the rest, though, he was nning to visit after he finished iming the rest of the world.

    If it was people he met, then¡­

    Just a little after hepleted his Duke hunt, he went to the Sanctuary to consult Lynn and work out some ns for the new world.

    At that time, he happened to run into someone quite special.

    "Elena¡­?"

    He was really just walking around on Theavel to enjoy the atmosphere of the now fully-bloomed world when he saw her at a food stand on the side of the street.

    "Oh, you''re here? I thought you''d gone away somewhere," Elena responded with a smile, causally waving him over.

    It was a bit painful for him to realize howmon his disappearances had be, but at the same time, he was happy his wives had enough trust in him to expect his return so firmly.

    Damien sat down with Elena and ordered himself a snack.

    "Why are you here? You nevere to the Sanctuary."

    "What about you?" Elena returned. "If you''re here after something like that happened, then you must have some crazy scheme going on."

    "Scheme is a little harsh, no?"

    "Maybe."

    Elena smiled.

    "As for me, you know I don''t like using this ce as a cop out, but it stilles in handy as a final resort."

    "You had to escape something that bad?"

    "Yeah. It was pretty crazy."

    "But you''re okay, right?"

    "Completely fine. I made it here in time and took a few days to heal. I''m about to head back, actually."

    Elena let her words trial off, looking at Damien up and down.

    Sure, he still looked handsome and well-kempt, but she could see the subtle scratches and tears on his clothing.

    ''Which is stupid, since his clothes are made of energy.''

    Signs of wear on clothes made from his imagination could only appear if he was exhausted greatly.

    "You''re good too?" She asked, putting her hand on his.

    Damien smiled without concern.

    "Yeah, it''s all good. At this point, the hard stuff is over with and all I need is a workforce, which is¡­a little harder now that almost everyone is in the Heavenly World."

    "Hmm¡­temporary or permanent?"

    "Both, and both need people who are adaptable and talented."

    Elena nodded.

    "If it''s a temporary workforce, I can help. As for the people you need permanently¡­isn''t it easy to get in contact with the others?"

    Right, from the Sanctuary, Damien could easily contact those at the pce and gather the people he needed.

    That was why he came, wasn''t it?

    However, it seemed he wouldn''t have to do the tedious work.

    Elena promised to take care of it in his stead, and after a little more conversation, she left.

    Her story wasn''t ready to be told yet, after all.

    ''I wish we could''ve spent more time together, but¡­oh well.''

    He had things going on, and more importantly, for the first time in a while, Elena had things going on.

    She was on an adventure that was clearly both dangerous and exciting for her, because he could feel it in her soul just how eager she was to get back in the field and continue exploring.

    Their conversation was around an hour long, so in terms of small talk, they''d done enough of it to be satisfied. As for the more gritty things, they just didn''t mention it.

    This wasn''t the time for them to getfortable, after all.

    Nevertheless, that meeting was the reason Damien started going in and out of the Sacred Abyss Universe with not only humans and other natural species, but also with an army of Valha souls.

    The people were ced throughout the True Void World, assigned roles in many sectors to promote the world''s growth.

    Those who would lead the poption from here on were hand-

    picked by Damien himself, and with them at the head, he didn''t need to worry about there being any problems.

    With the arrangements made, he finally did what he''d been meaning to do since the moment he killed thest Duke.

    All at once, Damien imed ownership of every territory in this world,pletely making it his own.

    The world shined.

    Damien''s influence was immediately reflected, as the deste atmosphere was filled with light and life.

    Green, blue, and other colors melded with the natural reds and browns of the environment, creating a unique image in the eyes of the''s denizens.

    Even the most uneducated of them could tell that something massive was happening.

    Whether that would be good or bad for them¡­?

    Perhaps they''d only find out in the future.

    But Damien chose his people well, and he wasn''t someone who took pleasure in mistreating themon folk.

    The True Void World would be treated like any other world under Damien''s reign. The people would be given the same opportunities if they were able to take hold of them.

    Because this was the seed of revolution.

    This was the moment Damien''s "Grand Merger" n finally went into action.

 Chapter 1594 Catch [4]

    Chapter 1594 Catch [4]

    ??VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    It was an endless drone.

    It was inaudible in most ces. The majority of the world''s poption would be unaffected by it until the day it died down.

    But if anyone got close to it, they would hear that drone in their ears, never letting them forget that it existed.

    Not that anyone could forget in the first ce, since it was apanied by a huge blue star that was continuously colliding with the''s surface.

    Damien stood in front of it with cold eyes.

    BOOOOOOM!

    A wave of energy forced itself against the Existence barrier in front of him and sshed to the sides.

    There were many bursts in many ces, but none of them were as concentrated or powerful as this.

    It wasn''t alone either.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Over and over again in the same spot. After the first three, it was hard to keep thinking it was coincidence.

    And if anyone managed to maintain that delusion after the fact¡­

    BANG!

    "DAMIEN VOID!"

    A bloody fist mmed against the Existence barrier. The charred form of a man appeared on the other side like something out of a nightmare, staring into Damien''s soul.

    "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT AND FIGHT ME, DAMIEN VOID!"

    Split and drool sshed from Grand Duke Maveth''s mouth as he screamed like a feral beast, only for it to be evaporated by the surrounding energy.

    His fists were only half-present in theirplete forms. The bottom of his right hand and the middle of his left were just bones, reinforced by mkh to stay together.

    Damien had beening here every so often since he wlessly got rid of the three Grand Dukes. At first, it was just to look at the explosion, but around three months after the events transpired¡­

    BOOM!

    Grand Duke Maveth appeared for the first time.

    Damien thought he was dead. There was no logical way for him to survive.

    However, he was somehow managing to preserve his life in there.

    His body was broken. His head was a skull dyed in blue and ck. Seeing how his flesh shifted between nonexistent, charcoal, and normal was harrowing.

    The proud appearance of a Grand Duke was no longer with him. The explosion ate his sanity just as much as it ate his life.

    But he refused to die.

    He used force control to keep the chaotic energy away from him, just barely managing to survive. He had to keep his ability active at all times or he''d be shredded.

    The injuries on his body were the result of his many attempts to try and take a break. The moment he realized it was impossible, he went insane.

    Now, he had devolved to this.

    And Damien hade to visit him once a week to see how he was doing.

    Maveth''s willpower was definitely impressive. Damien didn''t particrly enjoy watching the man suffer like this, but it had to be done.

    He came here not for pleasure, but for the memories contained within that man''s existence.

    Maveth and Famas always stood above us and Lance. None of them had direct contact with the Dark God, but the two of them were aware of his location.

    Famas had long since died.

    As for Maveth¡­

    ''Even though he looks like this, he''s still too dangerous.''

    Wasn''t the fact that he''d been constantly expending copious amounts of mana for months and showed no signs of fatigue?

    He was injured, but his vitality didn''t decrease unless he rxed his energy barrier, an action he was now refusing to take.

    ''He''s getting more feral too. I don''t want to find out what he can do with his power when he doesn''t have rationality holding him back.''

    Damien was waiting patiently for Grand Duke Maveth to be no more than prey waiting to be killed.

    Until then, he had better things to do.

    He was turning the True Void World into a sightpletely different from its appearance a bit ago.

    Technology boomed.

    Well, that wasn''t necessarily true. Damien brought a lot of technology over and brought even more experts who could develop and create such devices. With them, he was able to mimic a technological revolution.

    It would take a long time for the denizens to learn the ways of such a society, but Damien was hoping that introducing them to these concepts beforehand would elerate their growth.

    His main focus was the environment itself.

    He could directly influence it, and he could do so in a short period of time, so he put more of his attention towards this.

    Grass was now a prominent thing. Crops could grow where they couldn''t grow before, and new ecosystems almost immediately started developing.

    The True Void World resembled the Heavenly World more and more by the day. Elena''s Valha army was surprisingly efficient, so the societal development was turning out nicely as well.

    His family already knew about what he was doing at this point.

    Elena hsdmunicated with them just as she''d promised, and they''d provided as much aid as they could withoutpletely understanding what he was doing.

    Nevertheless, as Damien continued to develop the True Void World and visit Maveth.

    No, he secured the True Void World. It was more than just the world''s growth. He made sure that nothing would be able to challenge its stability.

    And as he drowned himself in work, that time came.

    Thest remaining Grand Duke''s vitality hit an all-time low.

    And Damien made his move.

    He entered the Existence barrier to see Maveth on the ground, sprawled out as best he could with the remainder of his body.

    He saw Damien approaching, and his aura instinctively red in response. He tried to growl and hiss, but he no longer had the facilities to make sounds or express his emotions in any way.

    Damien looked at him without any expression on his face.

    This man made him suffer more than anyone else in the entire Heavenly World. As a result, his life was ending in suffering.

    "Karma''s a bitch."

    Damien knelt down and put his hand on Maveth''s head.

    "Now, give me what I want."

    From the start, he only had one purpose.

    There was one man he wanted to meet.

    And as Maveth''s memories turned into essence that filled Damien''s mind, he got the answer he wanted.

    His eyes went up to the sky.

    He snapped his fingers, and the Existence barrier shrunk over and over again until the entire remaining explosion was contained in a small ball.

    Damien grabbed that ball in his hand. Pulling his arm back to gather power, he shot it into the sky at extreme speeds.

    It broke past the True Void World. It broke past the extents of the star cluster where this world stayed. It broke past everything else in this cosmos and arrived at an isted ck hole that not a single person had seen with their own eyes.

    That was where it decided to explode.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The blue energy that ripped apart Grand Dukes like loose-leaf paper barely got to show its power for half a second before it waspletely extinguished.

    Damien never meant it as an attack, though.

    No, to a being of that level, the explosion was nothing more than a greeting.

    It was his way of clearing disying that he recognized that man''s presence.

    The man in the center of the ck hole opened his eyes slightly. His vision spread past the bounds of perception and located the man who called out for him.

    They stood so many light-years away that it wasn''t worth trying to measure the distance, but the two of them stared into each other''s eyes without a hint of deviation.

    Damien and the Dark God.

    Wasn''t it time for them to finally meet face-to-face?

 Chapter 1595 Meeting [1]

    Chapter 1595 Meeting [1]

    ??That single strike told Damien a lot of things.

    Mostly about the Dark God''s strength.

    Without a doubt, that man was too strong for Damien to face, but that didn''t mean anything to him.

    He stepped off the surface of the True Void World and into the cosmos beyond.

    He swam through space and time, covering great distances with ease as he approached the Dark God.

    It only took him a few minutes to reach the ck hole.

    [You havee.]

    That voice rumbled through space. Damien''s eyes narrowed as he felt the fluctuations contained within. They were familiar, but at the same time, incredibly different.

    [Did you think yourself ready toe here?]

    "Not in the slightest," Damien responded honestly.

    The voice was still touching his soul, making him feel more than just ufortable. Still, Damien didn''t show fear in front of this enemy.

    He couldn''t see the Dark God. He couldn''t see anything beyond the massive cluster of energy that was disguising itself as a ck hole.

    That energy, and the voice projected through it, was the impression Damien had of the Dark God.

    It was all dark, malevolent, and filled with violence. There was a feeling as if this being represented all of the hostility that existed in the world.

    But more than that, Damien didn''t feel anything.

    ''I know he''s strong.''

    It would be stupid to think otherwise. This was a man who could disperse an attack as strong as that explosion with ease that Damien could never replicate.

    And he was familiar. There was never anyone else who felt this familiar.

    ''Existence, and¡­something more.''

    As Damien looked into that darkness, he realized that he and this being were treading the same path.

    Just, their progress was at two exceedingly different levels.

    [Why have youe?]

    The Dark God spoke again, continuing what he was saying before.

    ''But it''s strange.''

    Why did it seem like he didn''t want them to meet right now? The Dark God¡­shouldn''t he have been reveling in the chance to kill the anomaly that was blocking him fromplete victory?

    His emotions were unreadable, but Damien felt like the Dark God waspletely different from his subjects.

    ''...and I don''t know if that''s apliment.''

    "You ask me why I''m here as if I have the answer. I just got curious, so I came."

    [And you believed I would entertain you?]

    "I did."

    The fact that they had gotten this far was already enough proof.

    The Dark God couldn''t converse with people. Anyone who came as close as Damien would''ve been disintegrated already, while those who stood far enough to survive would die if they heard his voice directly.

    Damien had Existence just as the Dark God did. He was able to meld into the aura that killed others and protect himself against the voice.

    For the first time in a long time, there was someone the Dark God could talk to.

    However, he was an enemy.

    [You are a confident anomaly. None have ever dared to test my patience like this.]

    "Have any ever dared to kill all of your followers?"

    [Many. None of them still live.]

    Arrogance.

    It was a word that could be used to describe a lot of Damien''s enemies, but none of them had it like the Dark God.

    This was a man beyond Damien''s scope of understanding. He was someone who''d traveled countless cosmos and conquered them, reigning over a number of beings that was simply uncountable.

    That was why he was called the Dark God in a world where "Godhood" was no more than a milestone every practitioner aimed to reach.

    He was the closest thing this world had to a true God.

    [Are you curious?]

    Damien already said he was, but he decided not to point that out.

    [You are a fledgling, aiming to be like me. However, are you aware of anything? Will you be able to do it? And if you do¡­can you reach "that" step?]

    The Dark God swarmed him with questions that he wasn''t expecting to receive.

    ''What is he talking about?''

    He was asking as if he didn''t expect Damien to answer.

    No, he was talking like Damien reaching his level or surpassing him was simply a pipe dream.

    [Damien Void. You think I cannot know you.]

    The darkness in the ck hole swirled, expanding and contracting like the beating of a heart.

    The Dark God''s voice became louder, booming in Damien''s ears.

    [Your life is clear to me. As is your ambition. You havee here because you believe I will not kill you, and you are not wrong. However, do not mistake my actions for pity or weakness.]

    VOOOOOOM!

    Damien gritted his teeth and raised his arms in front of his face, splitting the wave of energy that flowed towards him.

    [Did you believe you would gain something from me? Or were you wondering about what I am like as a person? Regardless, you are not worthy.]

    It was strange.

    The Dark God was definitely threatening, but it was as he said.

    ''Why don''t I feel threatened?''

    Damien knew it was stupid toe here. He knew that his enemy wouldn''t entertain him or give him anything helpful.

    But he was still drawn here. It was as if he had toe. Otherwise, he would infinitely regret it.

    ''Am I learning anything?''

    Damien felt more nothingness from the Dark God than anyone else. He wasn''t learning. It was more like his mind was losing function the longer they spoke.

    [You killed them all.]

    Damien''s attention was drawn back to the Dark God. This was the first time he''d acknowledged what Damien had done to the True Void World.

    [Are you trying to conquer my territory?]

    Damien frowned.

    "I am."

    He was honest, since there was no point acting oblivious at a time like this.

    [Is that why you are confident?]

    Damien didn''t say a word, but his answer was obvious.

    Yes.

    The reason he was confident enough toe face this being directly was because he had been able to aplish so much in recent times.

    He''d been able to escape when he needed to escape, and he was able to kill when he needed to kill. Damien found that Existence responded to him better if he just acted as he pleased without requiring justification, so that was what he did.

    The cosmos rumbled. It was like¡­the Dark God wasughing?

    [It seems you are yet to understand anything.]

    Damien raised his brow in confusion.

    [You havee for validation, have you not? You wish to see how your power canpare to mine.]

    The ck hole shifted with the Dark God''s emotions.

    [Very well. I will show you the levels you will not be allowed to reach.]

    There was no sound, no great explosion of energy.

    There was nothing. No phenomenon, no change, no difference.

    But something did change, and something was different.

    It was just that¡­

    ''...in that instant, he made something "exist"''

    Damien didn''t know what had been made, nor did he know where it was, but something had just been etched into Existence by the enemy. Even Damien would have to work hard to learn what to actually was.

    And as if that wasn''t bad enough¡­

    ''...he''s not anywhere near done yet.''

    Nothing was changing. There were no differences.

    But Damien¡­Damien could feel it.

    The Dark God was still doing "something."

    He was messing with forces far, far beyond Damien''s control.

 Chapter 1596 Meeting [2]

    Chapter 1596 Meeting [2]

    ??This was what it meant to truly wield Existence, but it wasn''t something that could be done with Existence alone.

    The Dark God was able to affect the world while ignoring space and time. He was able to implement concepts into reality as if they''ve always existed, which was absolutely absurd.

    The memories of all beings in contact with those concepts would be altered at an existence level, and the world itself would be rewritten to reflect the changes he made.

    History itself would change. The way people remembered things would change.

    For instance, if the Dark God wanted to alter things so that the Straea n still existed, then he could absolutely make that a possibility.

    Why was Damien unable to do these things¡­?

    It wasn''t because he didn''t have all six concepts of Existence yet. It was a level above that.

    What Damien realized in that moment was the gap between them.

    Because the Dark God was wielding Existence and Nonexistence fluently, changing all things as if they were nothing more than concepts to him.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''I''m powerless.''

    No matter how close he was to the Dark God, he couldn''t do anything against this.

    If a being like that wanted to wipe him from existence, would his family even remember him when he was gone?

    It was a terrifying prospect, and exactly what the Dark God wanted to show him.

    [Damien Void¡­]

    His voice rumbled outward, as if cementing all the changes that were made.

    [Do you pride yourself in the ughter of the Nobles?]

    It seemed like a genuine question that the Dark God wanted answers to.

    If Damien had to answer honestly¡­

    "No, not really, but it makes life a lot easier, doesn''t it?"

    The Dark God wouldn''t be able to push forces into the Heavenly World anymore. Damien had bought himself time to rid the world of corruption and Foreign Territories before he eventually had to confront his main enemy.

    Time was the most valuablemodity in existence, and Damien didn''t feel anything like pride for earning more of it.

    It was just what he had to do.

    [That is good.]

    The ck hole waved, as if the Dark God nodded his head.

    [If you are to be my enemy, then you cannot die to something like pride.]

    "What¡­?"

    Damien raised an eyebrow.

    ''Be¡­his enemy?''

    As in, he wasn''t qualified to be one yet, right?

    [Do not be disappointed.]

    The Dark God continued, patronizing Damien.

    [If you cannot recognize basic facts, then you truly have no right to call yourself my enemy.]

    Damien''s frown deepened.

    [Those Nobles you killed, that time you believe you have earned¡­]

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The Dark God released his mana, making sure Damien could feel the full extent of what he was facing.

    [...they were never real.]

    Those were the words that started armageddon.

    In truth, no words were necessary for the Dark God to understand Damien.

    He could read people''s Existences, just like Damien. His ability was actually far stronger since he could look past themon Existence and see what "could not exist" as well.

    Damien and managed to get this far because his true strength was always hidden. His trump cards were always in ces the enemy could never see.

    But the Dark God¡­

    [I can see it all.]

    [Your family, your Sanctuary, your energy, and¡­that force.]

    He refused to say its name, but it was clear that he knew very well what it was.

    [Damien Void, you are a threat that I cannot tolerate.]

    His tone suddenly seemed far darker.

    [If you are allowed to grow, then perhaps another version of "him" will be born.]

    The energy raging in the surroundings began to coagte, merging into several individual pieces.

    [If you would have stayed in your own territory, perhaps I would have continued as always. Perhaps I would have waited another million years before waging war against this world.]

    [Damien Void, I enjoy watching the suffering and tribtions of those who oppose me. I enjoy watching them fight to their greatest potential and still be defeated by my forces. I am not someone who loves mindless conquering.]

    It was a bad feeling.

    Whatever the Dark God''s words were leading up to¡­

    [However, I cannot take risks against a being with your growth potential.]

    The ck hole boomed. Suddenly, it possessed a suction force unlike any other ck hole, capable of swallowing all of existence if it had the chance.

    The "energy" in the surroundings, Damien had been able to feel it from the start, but he couldn''t see it.

    As of now, it had begun to form into shapes he could perceive. The shapes of¡­

    ''...people.''

    Damien realized.

    ''...they were never real.''

    That was what the Dark God meant.

    It started with tens of figures. They became tens of thousands and then became millions. Those millions expanded until everyst piece of the pitch-ck starry sky was covered in them.

    ''4 Grand Dukes¡­''

    Grand Duke Famas, Grand Duke Maveth, Grand Duke us, and Grand Duke Lance.

    They were familiar faces. Faces of people who had died.

    ''Another¡­''

    Grand Duke Famas, Grand Duke Maveth, Grand Duke us, and Grand Duke Lance.

    There were eight of them now. Two of each.

    And then there were sixteen.

    Under those sixteen Grand Dukes, tens of thousands of Dukes, hundreds of thousands of Counts, millions of Viscounts, and too many Barons to count.

    In a single instant, an army of Divinities had been formed in the Sacred Abyss.

    [I shall give you five years.]

    The Dark God''s voice was like an omen of disaster.

    As Damien heard it, it sent shivers down his spine, striking genuine fear in his heart.

    He wasn''t afraid for his own life. Instead¡­

    [In five years, I wille. Either you raise your territory and fight back, or¡­]

    Nothing more needed to be said.

    Against a force like this, unless Damien was able to perform a miracle on a simr scale¡­

    ''...the True Void Universe is finished.''

    Damien''s eyes slightly widened. His gaze was pulled a into the swirling ck hole.

    It''s darkness parted, giving way to a pair of eyes that Damien felt like he both could and couldn''t see.

    As his eyes locked with them, he heard that voice again. This time, clearly in his ears.

    "I look forward to your efforts."

    Damien opened his mouth, wanting to say something, anything at all, but¡­

    He could not.

    He did not have the chance.

    There was no fluctuation in space. There was no shift in the dimension.

    However, Damien could feel it as his environment suddenly reced itself with another.

    ''I''m¡­back in the Heavenly World.''

    He didn''t know where he was, but the atmosphere was filled with mana, not mkh.

    Damien didn''t even take the time to search his surroundings.

    His body instinctively released an Existence barrier, and he copsed against the tree behind him.

    Nothing else mattered right now.

    Where he was, what he was doing, all of that could be put aside.

    Right now, Damien just needed to sit down.

    That interaction¡­

    It wasn''t just about the power the Dark God disyed, nor was it just about the time limit that being had given him.

    Everything about that meeting, from what happened to what didn''t, from what was sensed to what wasn''t, from what "existed" to what "didn''t."

    Damien needed to take a moment to register it all.

 Chapter 1597 Awakening [1]

    Chapter 1597 Awakening [1]

    ??That moment was a lot more significant than Damien realized.

    The Dark God influenced the world greatly when he exerted his force. Things changed, though nobody was able to notice them, and though those changes were contained within the Sacred Abyss Universe, they were reflected in the Heavenly World and even beyond.

    His energy was strong and incredibly coercive. Even if he didn''t have a direct impact on the workings of the True Void Universe, it couldn''t help but be perturbed by his release of power.

    Not many people felt it. Not many were capable of feeling it in the first ce, and those who were had no way of making out what exactly it was.

    But there were two beings.

    Two beings who were heavily impacted by the "awakening" of the Dark God''s power after so many years.

    ***

    Tiamat began her awakening long ago.

    shes of history flickered through her mind, and her Legend began to change.

    The power that she''d umted throughout her life reacted wildly to the aura of the Sacred Abyss Universs, and as she stayed there for longer periods of time, the feeling only got stronger.

    Tiamat found her way back there a while back. Finding the end of the images in her head was more important to her than anything else, because those things were clues about her origins.

    She never really cared about where she was from or what she was. She had always been so focused on everything else that she put aside such a primal desire.

    However, as she found time to herself and a supportive atmosphere, the desire topletely uncover everything and understand herself became inescapable.

    She hadn''t found much.

    When her thoughts cleared and the shadowy figures within became more visible, she thought the most obvious conclusion was the right one.

    She was rted to the Dark God.

    But that¡­

    ''It''s not true.''

    Her soul rejected the idea. It was like she was an eagle, and a rtion to someone like the Dark God was a cage. They simply didn''t mesh.

    However, she was certain that the Dark God was somehow rted to the mysteries behind her existence.

    Tiamat wanted to search for these things, so she''d been living on True Void World with the Gehenna Tribe. She trained here and grew considerably in strength, reaching a level near Godhood, and she searched the world for answers.

    Life had been unfortunate for her. It seemed like no clues existed outside of her own mind, and those clues only revealed themselves when they felt like it.

    If she wanted to search¡­

    Wasn''t it just impossible?

    That was what she thought until that day.

    Damien came to the Sacred Abyss Universe somehow and spread havoc to every corner of the.

    Tiamat and Thalia watched his progress from the Gehenna territory. They saw as he destroyed every enemy in his path, and they basked in the deathly light of those massive explosions that had torn apart this world.

    They were present as the world began to change into somethingpletely different, but Damien never came to see them.

    Of course, he was likely nning to check on this ceter, but what was he doing now?

    As that thought swept through her mind, Tiamat suddenly felt a change.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    A massive energy wave struck the True Void World and bounced off of the worldwide barriers that protected it.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The wave was incessant, getting stronger and stronger by the second.

    Nobody else seemed to notice it. Tiamat spread her awareness, and all she saw was people living their lives like usual.

    However, every time that energy struck the barrier, Tiamat''s body instinctively jerked.

    Something within her was getting stirred.

    WHOOOOOSH!

    Her head snapped to the sky as she felt a portion of the energy make its way through the barrier.

    It showered the world, causing no change at all, but when it passed through the walls around her and touched her body¡­

    Tiamat''s head snapped back. Her eyes rolled back in her head as her body floated into the air without the aid of mana.

    The shes started again.

    She was swallowed by her mind, forced to witness scene after scene that she simply couldn''t understand.

    ''Birth¡­life¡­coronation¡­''

    She mumbled unconsciously, her words containing no sense of rationality.

    But that was what she saw.

    A scene of two boys being born.

    A scene of them living.

    And a scene of coronation.

    She saw a world that didn''t exist anymore, and a scene that was so far in the past that barely anyone still remembered it.

    The energy within her body trembled as it was influenced by the strange force descending from the sky.

    Tiamat''s body was bingplete?

    That was how it looked. Her skin gained a new luster, her energy gained an unreasonable purity, and her soul was cleansed.

    Though, it did be darker.

    ''The Dark God¡­''

    She saw him, but he was not the one she was looking at.

    There was someone else.

    The scenes in Tiamat''s head didn''t make any sense from the start. They didn''t flow chronologically, nor did they have any sound. Tiamat was forced to try and understand them by watching what was happening and assuming the context.

    She saw the Dark God, but she wasn''t sure if she was actually seeing him. She couldn''t be sure of whether he was actually in the scene or not, and even if he was, she couldn''t tell where he was or what he was doing.

    All she saw was his energy.

    And another energy next to it.

    Those two were like pr opposites. They had the potential to be harmonious, but they could never be together without chaos.

    Tiamat''s attention was entirely focused on those two energies. The scene she was witnessing faded into the background as they took up her entire perception.

    One was light, and one was darkness. One was order, and one was chaos.

    Yet, they were both darkness. They were both chaos.

    Her mind felt like it was breaking as she tried toprehend even a little bit of what was happening.

    And on the outside, her body''s changes became far more pronounced.

    The soul was a mysterious thing. It took a very long time for people to gain the ability to sense it, and it took even longer to gain control over it.

    But changing it was apletely different matter.

    The soul would grow and change as it pleased, but to consciously influence that change¡­? Most Gods still had trouble with it.

    But Gods had the qualifications to try.

    There were several factors that were taken into consideration before an individual could be considered on the cusp of Godhood.

    It was almost like a checklist that needed to bepleted.

    And at the top of that checklist, the most important step¡­

    A change in the soul, the etching of a qualification.

    When the cosmos deemed a Divinity worthy of challenging the peak level, it would give them a stamp of approval that would allow them to meet the remaining criteria.

    As Tiamat was drowned in foreign memories, her soul changed, and that qualification appeared.

    Her mind and spirit were being shattered, but something about that energy she saw was the key.

    Perhaps, at the end of this road, there weren''t just answers.

    Maybe¡­True Godhood was waiting for her too.

 Chapter 1598 Awakening [2]

    Chapter 1598 Awakening [2]

    ??Tiamat''s situation was obvious.

    The Dark God never had children, so it was simply impossible for her to be his kin. However, while her rtion to those involved was curious and vague, it was still true that she and that being had some sort of simrity pulling them together.

    As such, when his energy, when his Nonexistence pushed into the True Void World, she felt its residual effects more clearly than anyone else.

    The more curious case was somewhere else. Far, far away from the Sacred Abyss Universe.

    Actually, it was in the Sanctuary with a very familiar person.

    Or was it two?

    Zara and Alea had faded into the background ever since Damien and the rest came to the Heavenly World.

    Actually, it had been a decent amount of time since they''d even talked to Damien or his associates.

    It was¡­only partially by choice.

    Zara''s feelings for her adoptive brother were clear. She cared for him more than anyone else, and would never give up their rtionship for the world.

    As for Alea, while she didn''t hold Damien in the same regard, she was Zara''s other half, and because of that, she''d inherited some of her sister''s emotions.

    Zara obviously wanted to apany Damien and the rest of her friends in their adventures in the Heavenly World, and Alea had no ns to stop her.

    However, they hadn''t been able to.

    Their first concern was none other than themselves.

    Back then, they didn''t know how exactly their fusion worked. It was chaotic and dangerous, and if they lost control of their power, they would put the lives of theirrades at risk.

    During the war in Grand Heavens Boundary, they contributed greatly.

    ughter had be the norm.

    And when they were in that ce of ughter, their power bloomed into something magnificent.

    Unfortunately, it wasn''t the same anywhere else.

    As the war came to an end, they found that they were losing control over their mana. The closer they got to Divinity, the more it felt like they were going to lose everything.

    Despite their individual wishes, ambitions, and desires, they secluded themselves away from the world.

    They trained in seclusion to understand their power together, went on adventures throughout the Sanctuary, fully making use of its various chances and opportunities, and fought with the new evils rising in that world to gain more experience.

    Still, they could not ovee that barrier. Divinity escaped them.

    Without it, they didn''t want to go to the Heavenly World even if they had the opportunity, and that sentiment only became stronger as they came to an abrupt realization.

    One day, as they sat with their two minds in sync, they sensed it.

    "The instant we reach Divinity¡­" Zara said.

    "...one of us will be swallowed," Alea finished.

    That was the emptiness they''d been experiencing, the main reason why they stayed in the Sanctuary when everyone else was weing new horizons.

    They wanted to grow stronger, but they didn''t want to risk each other''s lives for that purpose.

    What were they meant to do¡­?

    Naturally, they could have asked Damien or anyone else. Everyone they knew could give valuable advice using their varied experiences.

    But the path to strength was not one that could be assisted. If they wanted to get everything they could out of the scenario, they needed to solve their problems by themselves.

    That was how their search through the Sanctuary began. Just like Tiamat, they scoured every end of the earth for answers.

    But unlike their Divine counterpart, they found clues.

    There was a path, a trail that seemed to be left by some ancient Godbeast. As they followed it, they encountered many things they didn''t even know were possible, and more importantly¡­

    They stood in a temple that looked far too clean for its old age. There was a statue of a chimera on an altar in front of them, and to their sides, various stone beasts d in armor.

    This temple was the end of the trail they''d been following. After going through so many twists and turns, they''d expected there to be answers here.

    However, what they found were more questions.

    A ck shadow and a white shadow stood to each side of the alter. The two of them looked at Zara and Alea with oddly warm expressions.

    They beckoned forth, calling the two to bask in the alter''s light and ept its blessings.

    ''They''re¡­''

    ''...our mothers.''

    Zara and Alea were on the same page. They weren''t conscious to see those figures that healed them when they saved Beast Emperor Star, but those two were still embedded in their memories.

    These shadows¡­

    Were they the same as the ones from before?

    Could they possibly be¡­?

    The duo originally nned to take a second and think it over before making rash decisions, but, just like Tiamat, they sensed a disturbance in the atmosphere.

    It was far more subtle in the Sanctuary than anywhere else. After all, this ce was floating in the Void somewhere far, far away from both of the two main connected cosmos.

    The Sanctuary didn''t get influenced by its proximity to the Sacred Abyss like the True Void Universe did.

    Rather¡­

    ''Damien?''

    Zara''s first thought when she sensed the energy.

    It didn''t feel anything like him, but its entry was unmistakably made through his bond with the Sanctuary.

    It filled the Universal Core before pulsating outward and slightly changing thews and intrinsic functions of this semi-cosmos.

    ''That''s not Damien. That is¡­something dangerous.''

    Alea corrected her sister. She felt an ominous premonition as that energy continued to flow over them and the altar.

    They didn''t have an immediately reaction. Their minds didn''t fill with strange things, nor did they get some sort of power boost.

    The shadows in front of them disappeared as the temple''s illusions were shattered.

    For Zara and Alea, it felt like their minds and cleared and somewhat merged into one, though their individual thought processes remained.

    The energy was dangerous, but it also signified opportunity.

    Their bodies seemed to ept it well, and more than anything, it calmed their Nox lineage, turning it submissive and docile.

    ''This power¡­we need it.''

    Alea was usually the more cautious one, but she couldn''t help but agree with Zara.

    A power like that could be the solution to their problems. It could be the path that led out of their miserable rut.

    "Keep pushing forward?" Alea asked with a smile.

    "Yeah, but the goal is different," Zara responded in kind.

    For these two who had been isted from the people they cared about for so long, relief couldn''te soon enough.

    But for them to reach that point, there was a lot more work to do.

    BOOM!

    Their hand shot out, and two winding snakes of whiteness and ckness cut through the air, striking the statue on the altar and destroying it entirely.

    "Wasn''t that supposed to be the ancestor of all Godbeasts or something?" Alea asked, raising their brow.

    "Doesn''t matter," Zara responded with a shrug.

    "The stuff here is ours now anyway. What''s the use in keeping around a statue for someone whose been pulling dirty tricks for as long as we''ve been following this trail!?"

    "I wouldn''t say he''s been pulling anything, since he''s¡­you know¡­dead and everything."

    "You get what I mean."

    The duo bantered like they always did,pletely calm in the face of the twelve stone beasts that were now radiating auras like Divinities.

    They had a huge fight in front of them, and they''d have many more as they continued to tread this difficult road. However, they didn''t fret.

    With their goals in mind, both new and old, they''d seed in everything they wanted to do and finally reunite with their people.

    They were optimistic in their thinking, and they had every right to be, but¡­

    There was no way they realized just how pivotal that random wave of energy would be on their lives.

    They had no idea that because they had perceived that energy and even gone as far as to try and take it for themselves, they''d opened up a path that only a few had ever tread before.

    Zara and Alea had faded into the background as their allies went to the Heavenly World.

    But as long as they stayed strong and persevered¡­

    It was practically guaranteed that it wouldn''t stay that way for much longer.

 Chapter 1599 Selfishness [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1599 Selfishness [1] </h4>

    Tiamat and the Zara/Alea duo were unique, but not as unique as one would expect.

    The way they reacted to the Dsrk God''s energy was unique, and was the opportunity they gained from it.

    However, they weren''t the only ones it affected.

    As mentioned before, the Dark God''s energy spread to affect all three of the cosmos that were rted to each other: the True Void Universe, Sacred Abyss Universe, and Sanctuary.

    Why Tiamat sensed the energy was obvious, but what about Zara and Alea?

    They had Nox blood, sure, but not all of the Nox were able to understand what had happened. In fact, aside from Yong An and a few others, none of them were affected in the slightest.

    But when it came to the three involved cosmos, the number of people who were truly affected by the Dark God''s actions was uncountable.

    From random farmers who were blessed by the energy to powerful experts who were cursed, countless people felt those effects and reacted in different ways.

    The Dark God never just used one power. He changed Existence itself, and the after effects of such a move were¡­

    Well, they were interesting to say the least.

    Nobody could quite tell yet, but a huge shift in reality had begun in the Heavenly World. A wave was sweeping through the people, infecting them like a gue.

    Nonexistence was that kind of power. It wasn''t inherently hostile, so for some, its presence was actually more of a boon than anything else.

    But on the grand scheme, that same sentiment couldn''t be reflected.

    With the presence of Nonexistence encroaching on the True Void Universe and coercing itsws¡­

    It was safe to say that many things would change soon. Whether those changes were for the better or worse, though¡­

    That was entirely up to fate to decide.

    ***

    So why did Damien do it?

    Even a baby could tell that trying to meet the Dark God was incredibly stupid. It put the lives of countless people in danger. It made the threat the Sacred Abyss posed manifold worse, and it gave the Heavenly World far less time to get equipped to face such a disaster.

    In the grand scheme of things, there was no good they could''ve came out of that meeting.

    Damien wasn''t an idiot. He may have been dumb in his youth, but he liked to think he''d improved since then.

    If so, then why did he still choose to make such a brainless decision.

    It wasn''t just because his instincts told him it was right. He trusted them a lot, and he would absolutely act on them in most scenarios, but this wasn''t one of them.

    Rationality told him he had no business meeting an enemy he couldn''t even touch, and when he actually met the Dark God, that conclusion was further proven.

    However, he still acted without hesitation and did what he did.

    And despite the consequences of his decision, he didn''t feel much remorse.

    It was hard to fathom the scale of it all. Everything had been thrown into chaos now.

    But Damien¡­

    Damien benefitted.

    There was no grand reason behind his actions.

    He didn''t have some benevolent purpose or even some sort of arrogant idea that he could do something.

    No, his actions were taken purely out of selfishness.

    He always talked about doing things for his own benefit, but most of the time, he acted either for a goal or for someone else''s sake.

    There were a lot of times when he ignored his selfishness because he had to focus on arger goal. This time, it was just different.

    He couldn''t stop himself, because the prospective benefits were just too amazing.

    And while the oue was tragic in many ways, practically dooming the True Void Universe¡­

    ''With this, I think I can do it.''

    Damien didn''t think it was doomed.

    The Dark God showed him a lot of power so he could see a level he "would never reach."

    That was the true showing of arrogance.

    That was the real mistake, regardless of how it seemed.

    Because as Damien sat there against a random tree in the middle of nowhere and processed the events that had just unfolded, his mind experienced a qualitative change.

    In that moment, Damien felt Nonexistence for the first time.

    Nonexistence was different from Existence, since it quite literally didn''t exist.

    To find it was a daunting task that had taken even those who managed toplete it millions of years to do.

    How did one sense Nonexistence?

    Sure, with apleted Existence in one''s hand, it seemed like it would be easy to just look for the inverse of that force andprehend it.

    But it wasn''t so simple with these two absolute concepts.

    Existence was everything.

    Everything one could possibly ever think or do was contained within Existence.

    So how would one be able to sense,prehend, or even know where to start when it came to Nonexistence?

    Damien didn''t know the answer, and the people who did were either not present, dead, or enemies.

    Fortunately, he didn''t need to anymore.

    The strange force he felt back then, true nothingness that consumed one''s soul¡­

    When it hit him, his memories of when he died became clearer than day. He was able to feel the force he was submerged in at that time and actually understand what it was doing.

    He couldn''t do it now, but it wouldn''t be too far in the future when Damien would need to startprehending Nonexistence.

    After all, it wasn''t just nothingness that he felt.

    True Existence. The end of the path he was currently treading. The Dark God''s version of it waspletely different from what Damien was trying to achieve, but it was all made up of the same six concepts.

    The concept of order, the concept of harmony, the concept of mist, the concept of domination, the concept of chaos, and¡­

    ''...the concept of control.''

    It was simple and easy, an overallprehensive concept thatbined the best of its predecessors into one.

    It was called the concept of control, but it wasn''t about controlling Existence. Rather, this concept focused on the control Existence had on all things.

    Damien had thought something simr a while back when he decided to stop holding himself back with convention.

    Before one could truly wield Existence, one had to realize the true weight of the power they were gaining ess to.

    One had to understand what it meant to control everything.

    Only then would Existence surrender to their whims.

    ''As long as I understand it, I can control it.''

    Damien had gained the keys to sess. Though he had, in theory, doomed everything¡­

    ''...if I can make the most out of what I gained, then I can change everything.''

    If he too could control true Existence¡­if he too gained ess to Nonexistence¡­

    Wouldn''t the Dark God lose all of his advantages?

    ''Five years.''

    Damien could alter the time flow in the Heavenly World if he tried, but on such arge scale¨C

    ''No, that''s not how it works anymore.''

    Convention was a thing that didn''t exist.

    He could change the time flow of the Heavenly World to give them what they needed, but that didn''t mean he wouldn''t have to push the entire world into a state of rapid improvement.

    Even with time, they needed to extensively prepare for this war.

    ''But, in the end, it all falls on my shoulders.''

    He caused this predicament, and he had to be the one to step up and solve it.

    Not because of some moral obligation, but because Damien had put himself in a situation where he was quite literally the only remaining hope.

    Selfishness.

    Or was it the mindset of an Absolute?

    For the sake of his self-improvement, Damien wagered the entire cosmos as if he owned it.

    Still, while he did feel the pressure, it didn''t make him nervous.

    This was the exact kind of stimtion he needed. Nothing would change if the stakes weren''t at least this high.

    He believed he would reach that point, and he believed he would win this war.

    Because he was Damien Void, and one day¡­

    ¡­he would be Absolute.

 Chapter 1600 Selfishness [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1600 Selfishness [2] </h4>

    ''Okay.''

    Damien calmed his racing heart and mind.

    Things were only bleak if he let them be that way. For now, there was nothing to worry about.

    ''First off¡­''

    He looked around.

    ''...why do I alwaysnd in forests at times like these?''

    Perhaps it was because forested environments were more than justmon in the Heavenly World, but that was beside the point.

    Damien felt the air and the energy around him to try and gauge his position, but for some reason, he couldn''t seem to feel any familiarity.

    ''This is absolutely the Heavenly World, but nothing about it resembles the Heavenly World I know. This mana is¡­regal? It feels like thisnd was made exclusively for royalty.''

    Damien frowned. He was quite familiar with the Heavenly World by now. Even if he was in a location he''d never seen, he would usually be able to judge where he was in the world by the atmosphere, aura, and memories of the earth.

    The atmosphere only clued that this was indeed a ce where mana was the energy source.

    As for the memories of the earth¡­

    ''How could there possibly be an area millions of kilometers wide that hasn''t ever been touched by the foot of a living being?''

    Damien''s arrival was quite literally the first time any living presence had ever stepped foot here. It was eerily impossible for something like this to happen.

    ''But if it''s the Heavenly World, then there has to be civilization somewhere.''

    Damien immediately teleported away from his previous position.

    He didn''t necessarily pick a direction, but he moved through the spatialyers and continued spreading his awareness, only stopping when he found signs of life in the vicinity.

    ''Let''s find out where I am. Once I''m situated, the first priority is to spread the word about what happened.''

    It was only right to let others know. He couldn''t train the entire world on his own.

    There was one big problem keeping him from doing so immediately.

    ''My connection to the Sanctuary has been¡­altered.''

    He couldn''t enter that ce anymore.

    He didn''t think anyone else''s connection with the Sanctuary was touched. Despite being unable to enter, he could still feel that he was its rightful owner and the one who controlled itsws.

    It was as if the Dark God purposefully gave Damien a handicap, taking away the one thing that made it absolutely impossible for him to die before escaping.

    ''I''m really all-in.''

    There was no going back now.

    ''Then¡­''

    First, to find where he was. Second, to find a way to inform the pce about what had happened, and third¡­

    ''Well, we''ll figure that outter.''

    Damien cut his thoughts short as he saw light ahead.

    ''A city?''

    If so, it was perfect.

    Damien got there within half a second, and as he gazed at the scene below, he saw a sprawling area that was home to several billions of people.

    ''How the hell did I miss this before?''

    It wasrger than many of the hub cities in the Heavenly World, and it was filled to the brim with people of all shapes and sizes.

    Some were over ten feet tall, wider than a pickup truck.

    Others were small and seemingly fragile, but still emanating a great amount of vitality.

    If there was one thing they all had inmon¡­

    ''Scales.''

    Somewhere on their bodies, all of them had scales of a variety Damien knew well.

    ''Are tbh dragonkin?''

    If so¡­

    ''Is this the Western Region?''

    The only ce in the Heavenly World where he hasn''t been,

    ''Is this Arulion?''

    Arulion, the Kingdom of Dragons. Damien had heard of it from the Ice Luan hybrid, Katya, when he was looking for the Harmony Fruit, but he never thought he''d see this ce so soon.

    ''ording to her, you need dragon lineage to enter this ce. I don''t have a bloodline core anymore, so I don''t really qualify, but¡­I guess being randomly transported by the force of both Existence and Nonexistence is a good way to avoid those types of rules.''

    Damien was pretty sure of his guess, but before hepletely epted it, he had to check.

    ''Not having to kill people to read Existence is a huge convenience.''

    If it was a mortal or someone near that level, Damien''s interference would gopletely unnoticed and would leave nosting effects on their souls.

    Hended on the street and fluidly transformed his body based on the characteristics of those around him.

    His arm brushed against a random passerby, and then another, and then another.

    These people were all under the level of Divinity, and as Damien made contact, he saw everything they''d done with their lives and learned everything they learned.

    There wasn''t much a lower existence could teach him, but if it was knowledge about this ce¡­?

    ''So I was right.''

    He was indeed in Arulion. This was the hidden world of the dragons, the space within the illusions that made up the exterior borders of the Western Region.

    ''...''

    Damien took a second to think.

    ''Should I warp?''

    If he wanted to go home, then warping was the right answer.

    ''But will I be able to return here if I do?''

    "No" seemed like the right answer, but considering how well Damien could disguise himself, even he didn''t believe it was true.

    Damien sighed to himself.

    He wanted to continue this adventure, but it could definitely wait. No matter how hypocritical it sounded, there was still a limit to his selfishness.

    ''It won''t take too long.''

    He already had everything nned out. It was just a matter of execution.

    ''Plus, now that I''ve been here and can get back, it''s not a bad idea to try and get the Dragon n on my side.''

    They would be a great help in the war, regardless of what their true strength was.

    Nevertheless, after marking his position, Damien quietly disappeared from the crowd, leaving none aware of his presence.

    He arrived back at the pce, but it was different from the one he left.

    For one, his wives were no longer present. Each of them had gone on their own adventures, so he had returned to an empty house.

    His mother and the rest, however, were still running the ship as smoothly as always.

    She and Serena had more severe reactions to his return than anyone else.

    "My son!"

    ire eximed the instant she saw him, rushing over and pulling him into her embrace.

    "How could you disappear so suddenly? Did you know how worried I was?!"

    She was both relieved to see him and admonishing him for his recklessness. She couldn''t decide whether she wanted to discipline him or forgive him.

    Damien quietly epted it all.

    This¡­

    ''This is a new feeling.''

    Motherly love.

    His childhood was filled with it, but it had been several decades since thest time he''d felt this emotion so strongly.

    Serena was the same. She stood by ire''s side and scolded Damien where she couldn''t, properly acting like a second mom to him.

    It really was wholesome, and Damien appreciated it hugely.

    Still, he returned with daunting information, and they probably wouldn''t look at him the same after he told them what he''d done.

    "Mom¡­"

    His voice was quiet, but still loud enough for both ire and Serena to here.

    "...I did something big."

    Was he supposed to call it a mistake? It wasn''t one. He''d done it entirely on purpose. Was he supposed to say it was a bad decision? In his eyes, this was a decision that would only result in benefits in the long term.

    He didn''t know how to broach the subject, but he decided to just tell theplete truth and let them judge him afterwards.

    That was the moment this impending war became real.

    And ire''s reaction¡­

 Chapter 1601 Selfishness [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1601 Selfishness [3]</h4>

    "Haa¡­"

    The only thing ire could do was sigh.

    Her son liked to be perfect. He almost always did what was expected of him and never acted in ways that would make people admonish him.

    Perhaps it was a move he made to gain everyone''s favor, or perhaps it was his nature. Regardless, Damien liked to be the person who never made mistakes.

    Even now, he couldn''t admit that what he''d done was a mistake.

    And what was ire supposed to do?

    She could see that he was waiting for her to yell at him or punish him. He had guilt in his heart, but he refused to show it.

    However, she just couldn''t bring herself to do it.''

    ''My son is not a perfect person.''

    He made mistakes too. His were considerably more damning than the mistakes normal people made, but that was just something that came with the territory.

    And, in all honesty, this wasn''t ire''s first time experiencing this scenario.

    "Your father is the same way," she said, patting Damien''s head and drawing him closer instead of doing what he expected from her.

    "He liked to run around and do whatever he wanted without thinking about the consequences. Oftentimes, we were stuck dealing with those consequences, and sometimes they were as severe as the ones thaty on the other side of your wager."

    Dante Void had taken many risky paths to get to where he was today. He failed in the end, but that was not because of the risks he took.

    Rather, the precise reason why he was able to stay alive while being chased by the full force of the Dark God''s followers was the risks he took.

    At the end of the day, no matter what he wagered, Dante always came out the victor, so those things were maintained, and he was able to train with an efficiency that others couldn''t replicate.

    If Damien wanted to relieve his guilt by hearing negative words from someone, ire and them weren''t the right people to go to.

    Not only did they unconditionally support him, as he was one of their own, they had been through things others couldn''t imagine as they followed someone who was almost as impossibly talented as Damien, so their view of reality was typically different from the norm.

    But if Damien searched the rest of the pce, perhaps he wouldn''t find anyone who would be willing to go against his decision.

    It wasn''t because he was a tyrant.

    The people of the pce trusted and respected him. He had done so much for them in the short period of time that he''d been in the Heavenly World, and every time he did something new, the pce saw a qualitative increase in strength and standing.

    Even this time, before he went to the Sacred Abyss Universe, his actions allowed them topletely eradicate the forces of the Straea n,pletely wiping them off the face of the earth.

    And, what about ire herself?

    Wasn''t one of the pirs of the pce saved from lifelong torment because of him?

    Damien wanted to feel the negativity that would inevitably rise in response to his decision, but Void Pce wasn''t going to give it to him.

    That was what it meant to have a home.

    Damien calmed himself, fully epting the benefits that came with unconditional love, and pulled himself away from his mother.

    "This is how it happened¡­"

    He already told his mother and Serena about the five year deadline and the war, but he had yet to exin to them the full situation and how it became like that.

    As he went over the events that took ce in what was the past few years for him but only months in this world, both his mother and Serena gasped, their eyes wide with shock.

    Damien was casually telling stories about fighting people on their level. He was eons younger than him, still a baby who hadn''t even lived 200 years of life.

    Yet, he was already acting on such a high level.

    In all honesty, when looking through the eyes of someone with this kind of power at a young age, Damien''s decisions became more understandable.

    He was still young and reckless no matter how mature his experiences made him.

    He still needed to take those risks in order to improve, and not even the greatest odds in the world would stop him.

    "Damien, I know you''re confused, but that only means that you are aware of the consequences of your actions," ire said.

    "Tell me, are you nning to let this world die?"

    "No."

    Damien answered without a shadow of a doubt.

    "Then is there any reason to worry? Be confident and chase your dreams. We will all support you from behind, so that even when you falter, you can stand back up."

    ire smiled warmly at her son.

    Serena nodded on the side, the same expression on her face.

    This situation would not be dire as long as they worked together.

    ''This world¡­''

    Serena was already doing the calctions in her mind.

    ''If our power isbined, then we can easily slow the time flow enough to gain what we need to prepare.''

    Damien was nning to do it on his own, but he had forgotten that he had an entire n of time users by his side, more than ready to work with him.

    ire was also making ns, more for the future of the pce itself than the world. If they wanted to properly wage this war, they first needed to be the leaders of this world, a force that all others obeyed.

    Damien saw the gears in their heads turning.

    Perhaps more than anything else, this was what cemented it in his mind wholly.

    ''This won''t be as much of a challenge as I thought.''

    Because he really didn''t have to focus on anyone but himself. While he focused on improving to fight the Dark God, the rest of the world would follow him in stride.

    Damien calmed himself again.

    "Huu¡­"

    He felt a bit troubled by the fact that he couldn''t oversee everything, but that was just how life went.

    ''Everything will be fine.''

    He had to take the prospect of doomsday out of his mind entirely.

    No matter what reality told him, it wasn''t real unless he allowed it.

    ''Then, my main focus should be improvement, and since I got the opportunity, I should reel the Dragon n in without fail.''

    There was no need to panic and there was no need to fret.

    Everything would go his way.

    Perhaps he came back here to be admonished, or perhaps he just wanted acknowledgment from the people he respected the most.

    ''Speaking of¡­''

    "How is he?" Damien asked.

    "He¡­?" ire repeated in confusion.

    "Ah, um¡­my father."

    Damien felt awkward. He couldn''t call him "dad"fortably yet, but it felt awkward calling him "Dante" as well.

    He was left without a proper way to refer to the man who contributed to his birth, and that left him childishly fiddling with his words to move around it.

    "Ah!" ire eximed as she realized what he was talking about.

    "Your father is doing better and better every day. It won''t be long before you get to meet him," she said with a smile.

    Damien nodded, not sure how to feel.

    He''d done what he needed to do here. He felt a pull to stay for longer for many reasons, but now wasn''t the time to take even a single instant of rest.

    He needed to return to the Western Region and recruit the forces there as fast as possible so they could join the rest in war preparation.

    And, while he was at it¡­

    ''I guess it''s right about time for me to truly get a hold of this thing called Existence.''

 Chapter 1602 Selfishness [4]

    Chapter 1602 Selfishness [4]

    ??Damien left for the Western Region not long after his conversation with his mother. He only stayed as long as he needed to, going over several ns with to ensure that the Heavenly World would remain stable.

    This trip was another self-satisfaction move from Damien, aside from the obvious importance of letting others know what happened.

    He childishly wanted others to tell him what he wanted to hear, so he could feel better or worse about himself. He didn''t quite know which one it was, but Damien was definitely looking for someone else to tell him he was wrong.

    He didn''t like that he was getting full of himself. He didn''t enjoy wagering the lives of countless people for his own benefit.

    But he did it anyway, didn''t he?

    It went against his moral code while following it to the tee, which caused chaos in his mind.

    He had to force himself to put it away.

    Damien never forgot his humanity. He couldn''t just throw away his emotions like everyone else seemed to do.

    He had the ability to make sure he felt nothing, but that wasn''t the kind of person he wanted to be.

    Even if he did something arrogantly like a God, he didn''t want to forget this terrible feeling in his chest that reminded him of what was at stake.

    He didn''t want to lose his sense of reality.

    Nevertheless, that was a problem for him to deal with on his own, not something for him to push on others.

    Damien teleported away, focusing everything on work.

    As his spatial fluctuations filled the room, ire turned to take a look behind her.

    "Are you sure you don''t want to see him?"

    A shadow came around the corner. He had been there from the start, but even Damien had been unable to sense his presence.

    "It''s fine. If he sees me now, it might mess with his mental state. It''s better for us to meet once he''s in a better ce."

    The man smiled. His sapphire-blue eyes gleamed in the light, and though he didn''t have his Divinity, he radiated a strange aura of power unlike anything else that existed in the cosmos.

    He walked up to ire and Serena. His smile was directed at both of them, after all.

    "He is one of ours, isn''t he?" He said, nothing but confidence in his voice.

    "I want to see how far he can go when he''s living as he pleases. For us, as his parents¡­"

    Dante Void peered through theyers of Existence,ying his eyes on Damien, who was already in Arulion.

    "...isn''t the only thing to make sure our children can be happy?"

    ire nodded with a smile.

    As of a few hours ago, her husband had woken up, and now, her son had returned and finally showed her that he was truly safe.

    Life was going to be good from now on.

    The only prerequisite was the destruction of that being called the Dark God.

    ***

    Dante was awake. That much was true.

    However, it wasn''t that simple.

    The reason Dante stayed in hisa for so long was because the Dark God was tormenting him in the depths of his Existence, forcing him to fight his shadow for eternity.

    The only way to escape that imprisonment was to defeat the phantom, but Dante¡­

    Dante didn''t have that kind of power.

    No, he had gained a great deal through those battles and had gotten much closer to reaching the peak of that "thing" he had started sensing not long before he was captured, but he wasn''t nearly enough to face the Dark God alone.

    When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw were the two women he loved more than anything else in the world carefully taking care of him.

    When they noticed that he was conscious, they erupted into emotion.

    He couldn''t make them worry by acting like something was wrong.

    Still, in his mind, he knew.

    ''I didn''t escape. That being¡­he let me go.''

    A pulse of energy flowed into the illusionary world earlier and shattered it. Dante almost wanted to thank his savior, but that energy had be too familiar to him over the eternity he spent trapped.

    What did it mean for the Dark God to let him go?

    Was it provocation? Was he saying that Dante''s presence wouldn''t change the oue of his invasion?

    After fighting against the followers of that being for his entire life, Dante didn''t think he would be gracious enough to just give him a pass.

    ''But he didn''t kill me.''

    This time, the Dark God didn''t have his people aim to kill.

    Since he was still alive in the first ce¡­

    ''...does that being know about¡­''

    It seemed like his secrets had been exposed.

    If things were as he believed, then that being was far greater than he''d ever imagined in the past.

    The illusionary world was a nightmare. The Celestial Prison was a nightmare as well. Dante was fine on the outside, and he didn''t even care about his broken Divinity and lost power.

    However, he was haunted by that experience. The Dark God hadpletely traumatized him.

    The only way for him to quiet the screeching memories that reminded him of that ce was to focus his attention on the real world.

    A world that waspletely different from the one he''d left.

    ''A lot has changed.''

    The world he woke up to was a new one. The pce was not his anymore, and the younger generation had already surpassed the old.

    The influences that were still growing in the past were now in their prime, and some of those he knew well were long deceased.

    But¡­it didn''t bother him as much as he thought it would.

    ''They really did it.''

    Hearing the stories about his sons, daughters, wives, and people, he felt immense pride.

    Especially Damien, who was born with the worst starting point of them all.

    ''He actually made it here, and¡­''

    When he regained his bearingspletely, the memories of the many clones and projections he''d left through the cosmos came back to him.

    He almost cried in that moment.

    As if he was looking at a collection of images, he watched his son change as he progressed through life.

    And he realized something.

    ''This isn''t my world anymore.''

    Everything belonged to his son now. Even his own life was primarily saved because of the countless efforts his son made to save him.

    Damien wasn''t the only one, either. Dante had five children, yet, he hadn''t seen any of the rest of them in millions of years.

    Considering that they''d only been born in the past two hundred years, the disconnection he felt was even more severe.

    That level of time dtion wasn''t easy to ovee.

    It was a bittersweet feeling to see how they''d grown. It was even worse since he wasn''t able to experience anything that had happened before now.

    The separation of a million years became painfully tangible when he saw the pce.

    Still, he was here.

    No matter how it happened, he was here.

    So there was no way he''d miss out on anything else.

    ''No more mistakes.''

    That was the promise he made to himself.

    In order to live the rest of his life in a way that he wouldn''t regret, in order to never feel the emptiness of being separated from his family again¡­

    Dante Void was willing to do anything, no matter the cost.

 Chapter 1603 Dragon Clan [1]

    Chapter 1603 Dragon n [1]

    ??Damien made it back to Arulion as soon as he left the pce and found himself a ce to stay. The money he used was¡­well, a very well-made counterfeit, but that was beside the point.

    He wasn''t in the same city he found after being transported here by the Dark God. The citizens there didn''t know much, but they knew the rough map of their ownnds.

    That city was on the periphery of the kingdom. It was one of the ces with the least contact with the true draconic lineages, and thus, it was useless for Damien''s current quest.

    Katya had told him in the past. The Dragon ns that led the rest were not friendly to those with thin dragon lineage.

    There was a requirement for people to even enter thisnd, and once they were here, if they weren''t up to par, they''d be forced to the edges of the kingdom to live with other dragonkin.

    Damien had met all types of dragons before. Some, like Bai Yuxuan, weed halfbreeds and dragonkin, teaching them the methods to rise and be True Dragons.

    But that wasn''t amon practice.

    The dragonkin knew they could be True Dragons, and they''de to Arulion for exactly that purpose. However, they would never receive direct aid.

    If they wanted to reach that point, they needed to work and use merit to earn pieces of information that could help them progress. Slowly and steadily, they were turned into more of a workforce for the True Dragons than disciples trying to reach their level.

    It was an unfortunate situation. For dragonkin, the outside world was honestly safer than thend of their own people, which was a real tragedy.

    Damien hade for the royalty. Seeing how they treated their own people, he was pretty clear on what their policies would be towards foreigners.

    ''If I just walk up and throw around some power, they''d probably try to go to war.''

    And that would be annoying.

    Dragons were, without fail, prideful creatures. If he touched their bottom line, they wouldn''t sit down and take it, nor would they throw away their pride for security.

    They were a species who would do anything for the sake of their pride.

    ''So I need to find a way to justify my presence, and I need to find a way to meet with the highest authorities of this ce the hard way.''

    He had to first earn their respect. He was trying to recruit allies, not ves or enemies.

    ''First, information.''

    Damien was currently in a city far closer to the central areas of Arulion than the one he was in previously.

    This ce was named Arvelheim, and it was something of a segregation line.

    On the line created by this city and nine others, both True Dragons and dragonkins lived together. Past this line, only True Dragons were allowed, and in front of it was the area where the dragonkin were forced to live.

    ''Though, saying they live together is an overstatement.''

    It was more like the dragonkin were being tantly enved across this line, while it was a bit more vague on the other side of it.

    This was the best ce for Damien to be before he had an idea of what was going on inside thend of True Dragons.

    It was a ce where he could meet True Dragons and read their memories to understand and mimic their culture before making rash decisions.

    ''I made one of those recently and I think that''s enough for me for the next little while.''

    Nevertheless, Damien had learned many things about the culture those True Dragons practiced, and he learned about the hierarchy they followed.

    ''There are a lot of dragon lineages.''

    There weren''t many that were highly respected, but there were a lot of dragons who could im themselves royalty.

    ''Among them, there are six Holy Dragon ns. They''re the ones that really matter.''

    The Ignis n of Fire Dragons, the Liqua n of Azure Dragons, the Noct n of Darkness Dragons, the Aurora n of Light Dragons, the Ether n of Void Dragons, and the Aureat n of Golden Dragons.

    Each of those ns was created by a Holy Dragon, the pinnacle of Dragonkind, and¡­

    ''...I happen to be acquainted with one of those Holy Dragons.''

    Damien almost couldn''t believe that the Azure Dragon he met was "that" Azure Dragon, but as he spent more time in Arulion, the memories locked away in his head became clearer.

    He knew without a shadow of a doubt that the person who''d entrusted him with his legacy was the very person who once stood at the head of that n. Perhaps he''d been reced by now, but that didn''t change anything.

    The original Azure Dragon, the being who created the Azure Dragon Godbeast Lineage¡­

    That was the Azure Dragon Damien met on Beast Emperor Star.

    ''And there was something he wanted me to do here.''

    He didn''t make his request clear, but Damien could almost ascertain it with what he currently knew.

    ''Putting that aside, the easiest way to establish myself here is to create a new Dragon Lineage that qualifies as royalty. Nobody would question it if I can prove it with my bloodline, and as long as I don''t make it too powerful, I''ll be able to exist without much prodding from others.''

    His first priority was to find a ce in the True Dragon half of Arulion. After that, he could take the step-by-step approach to get himself in the same conversations as the Holy Dragon ns.

    ''But no matter how slow and steady it is, I still have to remember my time limit.''

    It would take a few months for the barrier spells to be prepared for the Heavenly World''s time to bepletely dted. If he could help it, Damien nned to get everything in Arulion wrapped up before then.

    ''I''ve pretty much gained everything I could from here. I need to get over on the other side before I can do anything else.''

    Damien nodded to himself. Tomorrow, he would change his existence and be a Royal Dragon.

    For tonight though¡­

    Crack!

    A subtle crack immediately destroyed every n Damien had for the night.

    He raised his brow curiously.

    ''That didn''te from reality.''

    Damien turned his eyes elsewhere, to a spatial storage he hadn''t checked in a while.

    Actually, this space was created when he was in Grand Heavens Boundary and existed separately from the Sanctuary. It hadn''t been used since he ascended to the Heavenly World, but now, he was sensing something interesting from it.

    An egg that he''d almost forgotten about, yet one that had more connection to Arulion than he could ever dream of having.

    Crack!

    Another crack.

    At this point, it was hard for Damien to think anything else.

    He pulled it out of storage and immediately put an Existence barrier around his room to shield it from any peering eyes.

    There was a certain egg, gifted to Damien by a certain being.

    He was told nothing about it, but was given the task to take care of it and make sure it inherited that being''s legacy.

    That egg had remained dormant for what felt like centuries. It didn''t show reactions to anyone or anything.

    But now, that egg was hatching.

    And the being that was born from it¡­

 Chapter 1604 Dragon Clan [2]

    Chapter 1604 Dragon n [2]

    ??The Azure Dragon''s egg was a treasure. It didn''t matter who that child''s parents were or what form it came out in. Because it had the Azure Dragon''s blessing, it was destined for sess.

    Damien was quite curious about the being that gained this kind of affection from a being who was known to hold no regard for others. He watched intently as the cracks on the massive egg''s surface widened. Pieces chipped off, giving way to an oddly¡­

    ''...humanoid figure?''

    Damien raised an eyebrow. At first, he couldn''t be sure, but he eventually had to ept it. The being inside that egg had white skin, two arms and two legs like a human, and features that looked¡­

    ''...oddly simr to me?!''

    Damien scratched his head in confusion.

    ''This has to be some kind of trick, right?''

    He couldn''t believe it. Even as the egg was torn apart,pletely revealing its figure, he couldn''t fathom it at all.

    The child was certainly a boy. He had Damien''s amethyst-purple eyes and facial features, but he didn''t quite look like he was Damien''s child. Spare for the more telling features like the ocean-blue horns on his head or the draconic slits in his eyes, there were some distinct differences in his features that truly made it seem like abination of Damien''s genes and someone else''s.

    ''But my genes weren''t involved in his birth at all.''

    No, this was someone else''s child. However, he had clearly taken influence from Damien''s mana after being in the spatial storage for so many years.

    The child sat on the floor surrounded by the remains of his egg, looking around curiously at the world he''d been born into.

    When his eyesnded on Damien¡­

    "Papa¡­?"

    His first words came before he did any incessant babbling.

    "Me?" Damien replied, almost forgetting to treat the child as a child.

    "Papa!"

    The child eximed as if it had been confirmed. He crawled over to Damien and grabbed onto his leg, and, with a level of strength that should''ve been impossible for a child, he crawled up Damien''s leg and torso until he was properly sat on his shoulder.

    Damien frowned, but didn''t say anything about it.

    He wasn''t really concerned about being this child''s father.

    ''I mean, it''s literally what I agreed to when I took him from the Azure Dragon. My main concern is¡­''

    "...aren''t you supposed to be a dragon?"

    "Papa!"

    "Fair enough."

    Nodding matter-of-factly, Damien looked into the child''s existence.

    ''It''s chaotic, and for some reason, he hatched in human form, but he''s certainly a dragon. There''s no doubt about it.''

    Inside of that child, there was a vast ocean beyond anything a newborn should''ve been able to contain. His growth potential was immense, and his gic advantages were beyond anything most other dragons could ever experience.

    He was a direct descendant of a Holy Dragon.

    "Anyway, before we get you into all of that nonsense, let''s get you some clothes."

    The child didn''t have a name yet. Damien didn''t think he could name this child without feeling guilty, so he held off on it.

    Before any of that, he went to the store and found a few outfits for him, considering that he was born without clothes, and that made going out in public quite difficult.

    The excursion was really just so Damien could get a feel of what others were wearing. The clothes themselves were made out of his energy.

    ''This child has an extremely strong Azure Dragon aura. If anyone manages to sense it, things might get a lot moreplicated. After all, I still don''t know why the Azure Dragon was forced into Grand Heavens Boundary.''

    Damien''s energy could be expertly concealed as clothing, and it could mask the aura so that others would assume both he and the child were from the same n.

    That made entering the central region a lot easier, since that was something that needed to be done regardless of the child''s presence.

    He was an oddly agreeable toddler. He liked to crawl over Damien''s body like he was a cat tree, but other than that, he never cried or raised a fuss.

    The only problem was his love for food. Damien found out within hours that the child was able to eat more than a practitioner who gained power from being fat.

    A dragon''s appetite really lived up to expectations.

    ''If it was anyone else, this would''ve been a problem. Me, on the other hand¡­''

    Damien was a hoarder. He wasn''t just a hoarder, but one with ess to an infinite space where time didn''t flow. Anything and everything could be preserved.

    There were monster corpses in his spatial storage that dated back all the way to his days on the Cloud ne. With the cooking skills he''d developed over the years, it wasn''t hard at all to satisfy that demonic appetite.

    As such, Damien and the child set out on a journey to Arulion''s central region to establish themselves.

    That journey was¡­

    ''...interesting.''

    This was Damien''s first time raising a toddler. He''s adopted children in the past, but he''d never actually had to do the parenting.

    This time was different. This child didn''t have anywhere else to go, and Damien didn''t have the Sanctuary to contact people who were more suited for childcare than him.

    They were stuck together, and Damien was honestly enjoying it more than he expected.

    Life was full of challenges, but sometimes, it would be stale. The usual stimuli would lose their effect, and people became more like zombies going through routines without many thoughts at all.

    Having children was a challenge that one could give oneself willingly. It would add a vor to life that couldn''t be experienced elsewhere, a mixture of unconditional love and indescribable emotion.

    Damien had thought about it a few times before, but his life was just too busy for him to want to bring children into the world. His wives were the same. None of them were ready to settle down and take a break from their training to be mothers.

    When life became more peaceful, they could have children of their own.

    But this child, the Azure Dragon''s kin, was showing Damien what that experience would be like.

    He was a strange child who didn''t show the same naivety as other newborns, but he made Damien understand what it felt like to be a real father, to be responsible for a child''s life.

    Still, he never forgot what the child in his care represented.

    And he never forgot the Azure Dragon''s wish.

    As Damien made his way into the central region to move forward his ns of recruiting the Dragon n, he caught wind of a certain rumor.

    An event was going to take ce soon. It was supposed to be something that rarely ever happened, an event beyond all others in dragon culture.

    Whispers were spreading through the royalty, bing so loud that even a neer like Damien was able to hear them with ease.

    ''The Dragon Emperor.''

    A being above the Holy Dragons, the true strongest person in the entire Dragon n¡­

    That being was looking for someone to take his ce.

    Soon, it would start; an all-outpetition between anyone with some talent.

    The heir wars.

    It was not only a grand asion for the dragons¡­

    ''...this is my chance.''

    This was the entry point Damien had been looking for, and now that he''d found it¡­

    ''I should probably raise this little kid into a future Dragon Emperor, eh?''

 Chapter 1605 Dragon Clan [3]

    Chapter 1605 Dragon n [3]

    ??There was nothing new about the heir wars. It was a Dragon n tradition that would take ce every time an old Dragon Emperor decided it was time to end his reign.

    This one was special mainly because of the circumstances behind it.

    Nobody was ready for it. Not a single person expected it.

    The Dragon Emperor always seemed like he was in good health, and even the greatest experts believed his vitality would allow him to rule for another 100,000 years without a problem.

    However, they were wrong.

    The Dragon Emperor never revealed any weakness and never directly told anyone why he decided to start the heir wars now. As such, most of what was said about him was just guesses.

    Still, historically, there had only ever been one reason for a Dragon Emperor to step down.

    He was dying.

    While spections about his health flew around in manymunities, that didn''t stop people from preparing for the heir wars.

    There were three main rules that absolutely had to be followed in this time of preparation.

    No violence was allowed. Until the heir wars had truly begun, the several dragon ns weren''t allowed to get into altercations with each other. If they did, they would lose their spot entirely. Their n would essentially be cklisted.

    The participants had to be under a hundred years old.

    Logically speaking, this rule didn''t make sense. Why would childrenpete to be the Dragon Emperor? They didn''t have the experience, the power, or the maturity to take on such a position of power.

    The Dragon Emperor wouldn''t die immediately. Once the heir wars were announced, the Dragon Emperor''s lifespan could be estimated to have at least a thousand years remaining.

    The dragon who stood above all others and rightfully earned the heir position would be personally trained by him and instilled with the values of an Emperor from their youth.

    Adults were too stubborn. As they''d lived their entire lives developing their own opinions on the world, it was impossible to tell them what to do and expect them to follow. The position of Dragon Emperor was simply too important. That person would gain absolute control over all dragons, and someone who would abuse those privileges couldn''t be allowed to sit in the seat.

    A child who was raised to be an Emperor¡­while there were many factors that could cause such a prospect to go horribly wrong, it had never happened before. This was the method that allowed the Dragon n to function as it had for the past several eons.

    The second rule usually didn''t make thepetition any less fierce, since people under a hundred years old could still be sufficiently powerful.

    However, in the current situation of the Dragon n, it created problems.

    Dragons had powerful reproductive systems. When they mated with other races, they were guaranteed to create life every time. When they mated with other dragons, who had systems that were just as resistant as they were powerful, it became more difficult.

    There was a reason why there were so many more dragonkinspared to True Dragons. Only one to three dragons could be born to a royal pair every century.

    This century was a rut. Across the board, Dragons had found themselves less fertile than they were used to. As such, the children under a hundred that were able to participate in the heir wars¡­

    All of them had been born in the past twenty to fifty years.

    They were young, weak, and reckless.

    Since the wars hadn''t begun yet, nobody could say what that would mean. But for Damien, it meant only one thing.

    ''This kid can probablypete.''

    If Damien wanted to raise a participant in the short span of time he had before the event began, he still had the chance to do it sessfully.

    As long as he followed the first rule, and, of course, the final one.

    The third of the three was a bit stranger than the rest, and oddly enough, it was amodating.

    Usually, a Dragon Emperor would be chosen from one of the Holy Dragon ns or one of the established Royal ns. This was mainly because the talent of those children had far surpassed their peers.

    However, others weren''t barred from participating.

    Anyone with a sufficient level of talent and bloodline could aim for the Dragon Emperor position, and to make sure those with lesser backgrounds wouldn''t be too outmatched, the third rule provided them with something likepensation.

    It simply stated that anyone who wanted topete needed to register at one of three locations in the central region. These facilities were constructed specifically for testing the qualifications of those who weren''t affiliated with or backed by a major n.

    It didn''t seem beneficial, but from what Damien had heard¡­

    ''...if they deem someone talented enough, that person will be given the same amount of support as a Holy Descendant.''

    The entire Dragon n favored talent over status. After all, status was just a concept. Talent was a direct manifestation of powerful dragon lineage.

    Now, if Damien bolstered his faux lineage a little and de-aged his body and soul to seem sub-100 years old, he could absolutely murder thispetition.

    But¡­he wasn''t going to do that.

    The heir wars were meant to choose a Dragon Emperor.

    If Damien won, then wouldn''t that defeat the entire purpose?

    Rather than gaining the favor of these dragons, he''d only earn their ire.

    ''I could also ignore the heir warspletely, but¡­''

    This was the Azure Dragon''s final wish. As his memories in Damien''s mind became clearer, that fact became painfully obvious.

    The child in his care was born for the sole purpose of taking that throne.

    It definitely wouldn''t be easy to raise a dragon, especially when it needed to be done over the course of a year at most, but Damien was up to the challenge.

    Hadn''t he been looking for ways to put pressure on himself? Even if he wasn''t directly participating, supporting and backing a contestant was just as much of a challenge.

    Raising a disciple wasn''t easy. When that disciple needed to inherit the techniques of the Azure Dragon n rather than Damien''s inherent techniques, it became even harder.

    ''That senior¡­I wonder if he saw thising.''

    The power of a Holy Dragon couldn''t be underestimated, especially not when he was one of the first Holy Dragons to ever exist.

    ''A lot has changed since he left the Heavenly World.''

    The Arulion that existed now was nothing like the one in the Azure Dragon''s memories.

    And, from what Damien could gather, the Azure Dragon bloodline that existed in the current Holy Dragon n¡­

    ''...it''s a fake.''

    It wasn''t the same bloodline that the child possessed. Since Damien hadn''t seen it in person, he couldn''t say anything for certain, but he was sure of it.

    ''He didn''t leave this world voluntarily.''

    There was a conspiracy behind it all that needed to be unraveled.

    And Damien had no ns of letting darkness fester for any longer than it already had.

    The Heavenly World could only ever be a beacon of light.

    Otherwise, it was impossible for them to stand against the malevolent darkness of the Sacred Abyss Universe.

 Chapter 1606 Dragon Clan [4]

    Chapter 1606 Dragon n [4]

    ??The Central Area of Arulion was actually more of a city than half of a kingdom. There were definitely swatches of untouchednd here and there, but for the most part, the central region was both developed and connected.

    Dragons very much valued their true forms over their humanoid forms, however, the old tradition of building nests in caves was simply too outdated. As the independent beasts formed a society, they were forced to change a lot of their ways to amodate more people.

    The Holy Dragons and the strongest beings under them were given the privilege of moving around in dragon form whenever they wanted. It was possible for others to earn time they could spend transformed, but it was an expensive privilege and often used to identify the upper ss.

    Even if they were called dragon royalty to those in the outside world, the majority of the True Dragons who were able to live in the central region were still just regr middle-ss citizens.

    They maintained their human forms and lived in the megacity, pretty much entertaining the same daily lives as regr humans.

    The training process of a dragon was, after all, quite slow and uninvolved. They would eat,prehendws, and try to purify their bloodlines by gaining merit through tasks posted by the true royalty.

    It was quite funny. The illusion of high society shown to the dragonkin, the lives they yearned for and worked to gain¡­

    They weren''t much more decorated than the lives they were already living.

    Damien and the child were on the outskirts of the central region. They would eventually need to go closer to the center when the time came to register for the heir wars. However, that time was not now.

    ''This ce is good.''

    Though they were in the central region, the area was rtively rural and the people lived simple lives. There was a mountain in the distance that would be perfect for training, and since it was a more isted district of the city, there wouldn''t be any unnecessary eyes watching their actions.

    ''This kid can''t be raised as a weapon.''

    Even if his purpose was designated from birth, Damien refused to force the child to be a tool.

    He was innocent, naive, and intelligent. He had talent surpassing talent. Even if Damien waited a while, he would still be able to train that child to be great.

    ''First and foremost, he deserves a fulfilling childhood.''

    Damien had a soft spot for children. He knew how much trauma that developed in one''s youth could negatively impact one''s future. He had seen several times what happened when children raised as tools finally became strong enough to demand free will.

    In order to keep this child on the right path, in order to set him up for not only sess, but happiness, Damien chose this district.

    When he arrived with the child on his head like an ornament, he raised his arm into the air and sent out a wave of mana that rapidly grew into a dome that epassed the entire district.

    It didn''t bar entry and exit from the district. Rather, it made time truly rtive.

    Within the district, time would flow at a rate far removed from the outside world. Damien had ten years to spend as he pleased.

    The residents of this district would also be subject to the time distortion, but not entirely.

    The moment they left the territory, their time would be reoriented, and it would be as if there was never a dtion in the first ce.

    It was hard to understand and pretty much impossible to pull off without alerting those who were being influenced, however, Existence changed the story.

    As Damien got closer to the concept of control, his ability to maneuver Existence became far more precise. He could now aplish things that would usually be impossible by imposing his will upon reality, but he couldn''t yet make seamless changes like the Dark God.

    Damien still had to make sure that his powers wouldn''tpletely destroy reality. He had to at least somewhat abide by the naturalws, bending them rather than changing them to his liking.

    Nevertheless, this ce had be a home where Damien and the child would spend the next few years.

    And that was exactly what happened.

    There were three months until the start of the heir wars and six months before the entire Heavenly World was ced under a time dtion.

    Those first three months had been stretched into ten years in a ce that nobody cared about, and a mysterious man and his son had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

    At first, the residents were a bit skeptical of them. They didn''t look likemoners at all. That man was handsome enough on his own, and had an aura like a supreme ruler. However, his son was even more of a spectacle.

    He was perhaps the cutest and most well-behaved child any of these people had ever seen, and because of him, the district had be far more joyful than ever before.

    He was truly a bundle of light.

    But when the denizens asked that man what his son''s name was¡­

    "He doesn''t have one."

    Damien was honest.

    "I just encountered him recently, and it doesn''t seem like his parents ever gave him a name."

    It was a sympathetic situation. That man, Damien, had be a father to a child someone else had left behind. When they realized this, the denizens went into an uproar.

    That was the first great event this ce had held in many times. A grand feast that they put together just for the two of them.

    Damien had been unwilling to name the child because he wanted the name that child remembered to be one his actual kin had chosen for him.

    However, it was indeed inconvenient to just call him "kid" or "boy" for his entire adolescence.

    August.

    They named him after what was, in Earthen tradition, a month. It was the start of autumn, a period symbolic of change.

    However, August wasn''t the same in Dragon culture. After all, those months that existed on Earth weren''t necessarily used in the Heavenly World.

    To Dragons, August was a name close to the first Dragon Emperor, Augustine. It was a name they used to put their wishes and hopes for the child''s sess into his identity, to make sure that the universe would support him in achieving happiness and prosperity.

    It was nothing more than a nickname that would suffice until the child gained his true name from his real family, but¡­

    ''...it''s nice.''

    Damien quite liked it.

    Everything that had happened here happened in no more than three months in the dted district. The denizens warmed up to the duo fast, and before even Damien could get used to this calm lifestyle amidst the madness, they''d given him and August such a warm wee.

    It wasn''t a bad thing to use the name they''de up with, right?

    For better or for worse, these people were the ones that child would grow up around, the people that he would look up to and learn from when he was establishing his sense of identity.

    A child''s environment was just as important as their upbringing. If it was these people, then Damien didn''t have to worry about bad influences at all.

    Ten years.

    For ten years, they would remain here, living in peace.

    For now, the hurried pace of the outside world could be put aside.

    All that mattered to Damien in this moment was being a responsible parent to the child that had suddenly be a part of his life.

    Perhaps, just a little bit, he wanted to live vicariously through him.

    Maybe Damien wanted to give this child the upbringing that he could never have.

    But, the real question was¡­

    Would he be sessful?

 Chapter 1607 Dragon Clan [5]

    Chapter 1607 Dragon n [5]

    ??There was a district in a kingdom called Arulion, a district in a city sorge it couldpletely cover an entire.

    That district was small. So small and so peripheral that barely anyone even knew it existed.

    Here, people lived simple lives. They farmed when they wanted to farm, they shopped in markets and ate at stalls that their peers opened, and generally enjoyed their quaint and happy lives.

    This kind of ce was rare in Arulion. No matter how they were treated by their own kind, dragons were dragons, after all.

    Most of them refused to do mundane things. They spent their entire lives striving towards power or knowledge with everything they had.

    But, in every society, there would be outliers. The only people who were willing to live in the more rural parts of the megacity were those who had discarded that pointless chase.

    They renounced their im to power as they realized how the royal dragons truly thought of them. They lived simple lives because they could, knowing that their lifespans would allow them to enjoy peace for many, many years.

    What was it like growing up in this kind of ce?

    Time was already different in the perception of a dragon, and due to their long lifespans, their growth periods were far longer than other beasts.

    A usual dragon would take centuries to get through adolescence, and would take thousands before properly reaching adulthood.

    August¡­

    Well, he didn''t quite have that time.

    And with his intelligence, it would''ve been a waste if he had to wait decades or centuries for his body to match his mind.

    By the time he gained his name, August had already started talking. By the time a year passed, he was fluent in English, Dragon Tongue, and the universalnguage.

    Speaking English was, of course, a redundant skill to possess, but since August was his son, Damien figured it was only right to teach him his nativenguage.

    At two years old, August was not only walking and talking, he was capable of sensing mana. It was only to the smallest and most instinctive form of perception, but Damien often found August ying with mana like it was a toy,ughing happily at the sparkling blue energy floating in the air.

    He had not been taught at all. Rather, Damien had been giving him the regr education a child should have, though August was learning at the level of a middle schooler already.

    Nevertheless, with a child who was able to grow mentally and understand concepts faster than anyone his age humanly could, Damien felt it remiss to force him to grow slowly.

    With Existence, bringing his body up to match his mind wasn''t difficult at all. Still, Damien didn''t push it too much.

    August''s knowledge grew by the day, but his mental state was still that of a child. If Damien increased his age based on his smartness, August would''ve already been 14 or 15, but he was not nearly there emotionally.

    As such, though only two years had passed, August already looked five years old. He could run as he pleased without being inhibited, and his physique allowed him to y with mana without being burdened.

    ''He''s a good kid.''

    Damien smiled as he watched August y. They were on the mountain behind the district. It didn''t have a name before, but ever since Damien started bringing August here, it had gained the name, "Green Green."

    ''I''m going to have to find somenguage where that sounds cool, because there''s no way I''m letting any map call this ce Green Green.''

    Well, it was a name created by a five-year-old, so it was to be expected.

    Damien had been bringing August here since he was old enough to walk.

    August was incredibly interested in mana. He didn''t talk to anyone but Damien much, but he was always finding ways to y with his mana and experiment.

    Since he was an Azure Dragon, his ability to intuitively do wondrous things with the energy was great. The city was constraining. August couldn''t do as he wanted when he was stuck in a ce with so many people. The mountain was a perfect ce for him.

    August was a bit shy, but it wasn''t because he was socially awkward.

    ''What''s the best way to describe it¡­?''

    Was it that he couldn''t fit in with his peers? IDamien was always too strong for the majority but too weak for the minority. He never had enemies among his peers, but those stronger than him were far, far stronger than him.

    Because of his rapid development, August was in a simr situation with his intelligence.

    Though, he didn''t seem to mind it. He was very vocal with Damien, and when the two of them were alone, he was an incredibly vibrant child.

    Truly, with every day that passed, August made Damien more and more certain that his decision to provide the kid with a proper childhood was the right one.

    "Dad, look!"

    Damien''s attention was grabbed by the call. When he looked over¡­

    "Woah!" he eximed in admiration.

    Damien¡­didn''t quite know what he was looking at, but it could definitely be described as an expression of August''s creativity. The mana was entangled and strangely patterned in a chaotic manner, but no matter how disorganized it looked, it was something that required a surprising amount of mana control to maintain.

    "Good job, kiddo!"

    Damien walked over and ruffled August''s hair. He giggled, leaning into Damien as he continued toying with the mana.

    ''That time is approaching, huh¡­''

    It was a bit bittersweet.

    If August''s control kept improving like this, Damien would 00:36

    pretty much be forced to teach him so that he wouldn''t harm If August''s control kept improving like this, Damien would pretty much be forced to teach him so that he wouldn''t harm himself. And when his ancestral memories eventually awakened¡­

    Would he still be the same kid he was now?

    ''I guess this is the struggle of a parent.''

    In the end, his job was to support his child and watch over him. Whatever he became, as long as he was happy and safe, it was fine, right?

    Two years had passed, and another two years passed soon after. August continued to age, but only until he was eight years old.

    Nothing much had changed. August''s personality was consistent, and so was everything else. It was the product of the mundane ce Damien had chosen to be their home.

    Nevertheless, the passing of two more years meant that August''s skill improved by leaps and bounds. Damien had taught him some basic control skills to keep him safe, but he''d managed to hold off on any real training.

    Until now.

    For human children, Damien believed that mana training should only begin in their teenage years. That was the same principle he followed before letting Xue''er start training.

    However, dragons were inherently different, especially Holy Descendants.

    Damien could sense it. August''s ancestral memories would awaken soon.

    Before August abruptly gained great power, Damien needed to make sure he had at least aprehensive understanding of the basics and a true moral code.

    There was really only one thing that still concerned him.

    ''For some reason¡­''

    Despite the fact that years had passed¡­

    ''...he still hasn''t transformed.''

    August had never once tried to enter his dragon form.

    It was almost like¡­

    ''...he refuses the idea of being a dragon at all.''

 Chapter 1608 Dragon Clan [6]

    Chapter 1608 Dragon n [6]

    ??It was a case Damien had never seen before.

    The pride of the dragons didn''t need to be mentioned more than it already had. It was an ingrained trait that every dragon was born with.

    Most dragons spent their formative years in their original forms and only transformed into humanoid forms when they reached a certain age. This was a practice supported by thews of Arulion. No matter what one''s status was, one would be allowed to experience the pride of dragons before eventually being suppressed.

    August was¡­different?

    It wasn''t that he''d been born different. He was instilled with that same core personality trait as the rest of his species. However, his trait was almost instantly suppressed.

    Damien could''ve figured out the problem with a simple scan of August''s soul, but he didn''t want to. This was his first time experiencing parenthood, and he didn''t want to give up the learning experience for easy answers.

    His brows were furrowed as he fell into thought.

    ''Should I just ask directly, or would that make him more anxious?''

    A child''s trust was a strange thing, and Damien didn''t want to ruin their current rtionship by trying to push his boundaries.

    ''But I''m his parent, am I not?''

    He wanted to think he wasn''t some regr stranger in August''s eyes. He wanted to believe that he had privileges above everyone else.

    But¡­

    Damien remembered his own childhood. He remembered how he felt when his mother tried to learn what was happening inside his mind.

    Their inability toe to terms with each other was one of the main reasons a rift formed between them. Each and every argument they had after that only served to widen the rift and drive an immovable wedge between them.

    It took Damien''s mind breaking from trauma and a very slow recovery after that for him to finallye to terms with his parents and understand their perspective.

    As night fell, Damien brought August back to the small and cozy home he''d built for them in the city. It had a rural and wooden aesthetic like those around it, but the interior was modern like the earthen styles Damien preferred.

    After a hefty meal, enough to feed ten human adults, he put August to sleep and made his way to his own room.

    ''I wanted to start teaching him the ways of a practitioner, but it might not be a good idea to do that until he''s gotten over whatever''s happening.''

    Damien frowned.

    He was being so careful with August that it was almost hypocritical. His recent actions had been theplete opposite of careful, so he almost felt like he didn''t deserve to be this hesitant.

    ''Maybe my concern is holding me back?''

    If he treated August like he treated disciples, life would probably be much easier for him.

    ''But will it be good for him, or would it be detrimental?''

    In the end, it was that desire.

    The desire to live vicariously through his child, to use parenthood as a way to truly absolve the negatives of his own childhood by making sure his child wouldn''t suffer through any of the same things.

    Wasn''t that really the thing holding him back?

    ''Is it because I''m getting stronger? The traces of mental instability remaining in the core of my existence are slowly revealing themselves, pleading to be resolved.''

    He sighed to himself. Taking a new path in life led to new challenges in ces where he least expected them. It wasn''t unwee. It was just a bit strange and hard to get used to.

    ''Hm?''

    Damein''s mind returned to reality as he heard a knock on his door.

    "Dad, are you up?"

    August peeked his head in, his voice soft in case Damien was asleep.

    "I''m up. What are you doing standing at the door? Come in."

    August nodded and entered the room. He closed the door behind him and walked up to the bed, jumping up to sit next to Damien.

    He wiggled around to getfortable on the bed, or so it seemed at first, but as Damien looked closer, he saw the hesitance on August''s face.

    "What''s up bud? Is there something bothering you?" he asked softly.

    August nodded slightly. It was clear that he wanted to speak, but he was doubting what he wanted to say.

    Did he think Damien would get angry? Or did he perhaps fear the question itself?

    "Dad¡­" August started, the hesitance in his voice not fading at all.

    Despite the anxiety he was feeling, August tried to power through it and say what he wanted to say.

    If there was something Damien had always taught him, it was how to vocalize what he wanted.

    "Never be ashamed of yourself."

    That was the motto.

    If he wanted to ask something, he could ask without fear. If he wanted to act a certain way, nobody could tell him he was wrong.

    August had grown up shy, sure, but that was only when it came to expressing his hobbies and talents. He had never been afraid to satisfy his curiosity.

    In the end, after a few seconds of struggle, that question finally made its way out into the world.

    "...why can''t I be like you?"

    Damien was immediately stumped.

    "What do you mean?" He asked, genuinely curious.

    "Why am I different?" August fired back.

    "I want to be like Dad, but I can''t. This is actually fake, right?" he continued, grabbing his skin and pulling.

    "Dad, actually¡­am I a monster?"

    August''s voice shook as he asked. Tears welled up in his eyes.

    Damien''s expression immediately softened. He pulled August into a strong hug, as if to expel all of those doubts with a single motion.

    ''I understand now.''

    This was why August never entered his dragon form. This was the problem that had been guing him all this time.

    It was theplete opposite of what Damien expected, but at the same time, it was exactly what he thought.

    August truly didn''t want to be a dragon, but it wasn''t because of any of the normal reasons.

    It was simple, but heartbreaking.

    He could instinctively sense Damien''s soul, and despite the alterations that disguised him as a dragon, August wasn''t fooled.

    Was it the connection between father and son that surpassed even Existence, or was it because this child had been absorbing his mana since he was just an egg?

    August idolized his father. To him, Damien was the perfect person.

    But Damien was a human, not a dragon.

    And that was exactly what bred insecurity in his heart.

    ''So it ended up being my fault.''

    Damien never stopped to consider the consequences of raising a son who came from apletely different species and culture. He never thought there would be consequences at all, considering that, in all aspects, he was currently a dragon.

    Still, August hade to him honestly and expressed his worries. Since Damien now understood the problem¡­

    ''...I can work to fix it.''

    It was time for Damien to embark on a new mission.

    To build August''s confidence.

    "You''re no monster," Damien said confidently, pulling August closer to make sure he could clearly feel his sincerity.

    "You are my son. No matter what happens, no matter what differences we have, that will never change."

    He didn''t know if he was saying the right thing, but he said whatever came out instinctively.

    This was, after all, just to calm the overwhelming emotions currently controlling August''s actions.

    Actions spoke louder than words, right?

    The real surprise woulde when the sun rose.

    After this conversation ended and August was put to sleep¡­

    ''...I have a lot of preparations to make.''

 Chapter 1609 Dragon Clan [7]

    Chapter 1609 Dragon n [7]

    ??Did Damien have to exin the concept of adoption now? Since August was already questioning why he was different, it might have been better for him to know that he and Damien were different.

    But Damien didn''t think so. If August, who idolized his father, suddenly learned that he and his father weren''t biologically rted at all, how would he feel?

    For now, that information could be omitted. The most important thing was to help August value himself and stop feeling insecure.

    There was nothing at all wrong with him. He was, in fact, the coolest and most awesome 8-year-old in the entire world.

    Damien assured him of this in every way possible, adding a bit ofedy to ease his emotions.

    But there wasn''t much he could say. It wasn''t that he didn''t know what to say and it also wasn''t that August didn''t want to hear it.

    Rather, August ended up falling asleep where he sat while Damien was coaxing him. It was already incrediblyte at night, and it had taken a lot out of him just to voice his concerns.

    Now that the hardest part was over, and now that Damien had calmed him down, he was properly tuckered out.

    Damien smiled a bit sadly as he felt August grip his hand in his sleep.

    ''So it was because he wanted to be like me, huh?''

    He suddenly felt like all of his worries were unwarranted.

    For a long time now, he''d been worried about his rtionship with August. He''d been worried that he was doing everything wrong in parenting because he was too focused onparing himself and August to his mother and him from the past.

    However, while he didn''t know it, August had done something monumental for his father.

    He had shared his inner feelings. He had shown in a single action how much he trusted and respected his dad.

    And there was nothing more valuable to a father than the trust of his child.

    Damien had been validated beyond belief. He felt the tension in his body release as he realized that he was doing a good job.

    ''What a feeling.''

    There was never another feeling like this. It was a first among firsts, and the warmth it provided was indescribable.

    ''What a good kid.''

    Without even realizing it, he was a beacon of light.

    It wasn''t right to let him wallow in darkness, right?

    Damien''s body blurred as several clones jumped out and disappeared from the house.

    Tomorrow would be a day just for August.

    As for training¡­

    Well, that could wait.

    They still had six years before their time ran out, didn''t they?

    ***

    The morning sun shone through the windows across the many houses in the small district. Its rays flooded the eyes of those sleeping within, awakening them to the dawn of a new day.

    A pair of eyes fluttered open in Damien''s house. Their owner looked around in confusion before suddenly propping himself up, embarrassment written all over his face.

    ''This is¡­dad''s bed.''

    He had been sleeping in his own room for over a year now, and he thought he''d gotten used to it, but it seemed he was wrong.

    He still slept the mostfortably when he was holding his father''s hand.

    As August woke up and went through his morning routine, groggily walking down the stairs to the living room, he smelled something delicious from the kitchen.

    Now, on a normal day, he''d rush to the dining table as fast as possible to see what was on the menu, but today¡­

    "Dad¡­"

    August peeked around the corner at the edge of the stairs. He had only just remembered what had happenedst night, and despite his father''s assurances, he was still a little afraid that he''d get scolded.

    However, what was there for him to get scolded for? It was nothing more than the irrational fear of a child who was just starting toe out of his shell.

    "Oh, you''re up?" Damien said as he saw August''s small figure out of the corner of his eye.

    "Come sit down. I''m making pancakes."

    "Pancakes¡­?"

    "Potatoes and eggs too."

    "Eggs¡­"

    "Ah, and there''s also some bacon I made with the Sun-

    Swallowing Pigs we caught in the mountains¡­"

    "Bacon¡­!"

    Well, to his defense, August didn''t do it himself. His body somehow arrived at the table and seated itself without telling anyone!

    "Pfft¡­!"

    Damien held back hisughter, since August''s face was already as red as a tomato.

    He brought the food to the table, ruffled his son''s hair, and sat down himself.

    "Eat up. We have a lot to do today."

    "We''re doing something?"

    August spoke with surprise. Damien always told him the night before if he had something nned for him. This was the first time he was learning of it right before doing it.

    "Yup. It''s a surprise, though, so that''s all I''m going to tell you."

    August''s heart beat a little faster. Surprises¡­he hadn''t experienced them before, so he didn''t know how to feel.

    But, he ate far faster than usual. Damien hadn''t really given him a proper response to the questions he askedst night. He was smart enough to know that, but he also didn''t ask questions.

    For them to be going on a surprise excursion now¡­it had to be rted somehow, right?

    Right.

    To put it simply, Damien had only one goal for today.

    He wanted to show August how cool dragons were.

    August had never seen them being their true domineering selves, only ever being around dragons who embraced the mundane.

    It was about time for him to realize that he was not a monster.

    No, rather, he was a monster in the best ways possible.

    The day started with more regr activities. Damien and August went deeper into the central region, enjoying the various delicacies and cultures showcased as they came closer to thend of true royals.

    The entertainment in these ces was quite nice. There was music unique to the Dragon n and all kinds of shows and ys that represented the deeds of heroic dragons of the past.

    Watching those, August''s eyes sparkled. This was his first time seeing people who looked like him portrayed in such a good light.

    He didn''t know he could be a hero. But, as he realized the possibility, a sparkle of childish ambition lit his heart ame.

    Damien''s eyes lit up as well when he saw August responding well, but they hadn''t even gotten to the main spectacle yet.

    Once they finished up with the more regr activities, their adventure actually took them away from Arulion. The constraints of society made it so that the true nature of dragons was muted within the kingdom.

    There were some hidden experts and more traditional dragons who hid away in the mountains outside the central region, refusing to ept the more human society that the kingdom had adopted.

    And Damien''s clones had spent the entire night visiting each and every one of them, telling them about his problem, and recruiting them for a very special event.

    Damien and August arrived in the middle of an expansive tnd far away from anything else.

    August''s eyes were covered by a blindfold for the sake of the surprise.

    That was probably why he hadn''t freaked out by now.

    After all¡­

 Chapter 1610 Dragon Clan [8]

    Chapter 1610 Dragon n [8]

    ??"You ready?"

    Damien''s voice resounded in August''s ears.

    His heart pounded. The entire day had already been exciting, but it was clear that everything had been leading up to this.

    ''I''m a dragon.''

    That was what August had learned so far. He learned what dragons were, and he learned that they could be heroes and schrs if they wanted to.

    But it was all still theoretical. He''d only seen ys and reenactments. He''d never seen that sort of power with his own eyes before.

    "Here we go!"

    Damien''s voice was all he heard above the whipping winds of the environment.

    August nodded, and soon after, he felt the blindfold rising off of his face.

    When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw nothing more than an open field.

    That was until he looked up at Damien.

    No, he went to look up at Damien, but he was forced to look past him.

    WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

    A huge aura filled the sky. A massive being swept past with such speed that it caused a sonic boom to ripple through space.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The emerald-green dragon that swooped by was only the first.

    A second, a third, a fourth, a fifth¡­so many dragons, kilometers long each, swept past Damien and August, flipping and rolling through the clouds as they imed the sky as their dominion.

    "Woaaah!"

    August''s eyes widened in adoration.

    He held onto Damien''s leg, and Damien''s mana covered him to protect him from the wild energy and sound. As he stood there, heid witness to a sight that not many would ever get to see.

    Sixteen ancestral dragons zipped through the air. They roared and disyed their auras, fought and danced, and put on a show for the child below.

    They didn''t know who he was.

    They only knew that he had a very powerful and caring father.

    And if it was for a young dragon pure of spirit and uncorrupted by the ways of Arulion, then they''d happily lend their aid in helping him awaken.

    Dragons had several ancient rituals, many of which were symbolic and used to praise their species and their traditions.

    This type of maneuver, where they flew together and embraced the sky with such passion, was one of such beautiful performative rituals.

    A rainbow of beautifully deadly dragon''s breath painted Damien and August in their reflections, and the majestic aura of so many ancestral dragons washed over the young dragon watching from the ground.

    That aura made him shiver. It excited something deep within him, making his blood boil. Instinctively, he wanted to transform right then and there, embracing his true form.

    Though¡­

    "Isn''t it amazing?" Damien said, looking at August.

    "It is¡­" August responded somewhat half-heartedly.

    He truly enjoyed what he was seeing. He felt inspired and he felt more confident in his identity after seeing people like these.

    However, his heart was still a little gloomy.

    Knowing that dragons were cool was one thing. That was half of the problem, and with this, it was certain that August took pride in being a dragon.

    But that didn''t change his desire to be more like his dad.

    Weren''t the two paths too different? August couldn''t choose between them at all, and his mind was torn in two.

    "What''re you making that face for?"

    August looked up as he felt Damien''s hand on his shoulder.

    "It''s nothing¡­" he said, trying to brush it off.

    But Damien just smiled.

    "You know¡­"

    He stepped forward, turning around to face his son.

    "I can do that too."

    "You can?"

    The look in August''s eyes changed immediately.

    "I can."

    "You''re lying."

    He simply didn''t believe it. He could feel it. His dad wasn''t a dragon. No matter what happened, there was no way his dad could be a dragon.

    That was the exact reason for his sadness.

    However, Damien didn''t think the same.

    "I''m not lying. Say, do you want to see what I can do up there?"

    August was definitely still skeptical, but seeing the confident grin on his dad''s face, he had the urge to hope for a miracle.

    He nodded, his eyes slightly gleaming.

    Damien''s grin widened.

    He no longer had a bloodline core. That much was true.

    But he was part-dragon too at one time.

    His dragon form wasn''t just an imitation, but a true face of his existence. There was nothing fake about it, unlike his disguise.

    Damien sent mana into his core. He talked to the mist and brought forth Existence, sending waves of energy into his bloodstream.

    That strange ck and white blood that flowed through him was not something of this world. It morphed with just a singlemand, and suddenly, a bloodline that had long disappeared returned to Damien''s body.

    Thump!

    His heart thumped.

    Thump!

    Once again.

    THUMP!

    Damien''s body vibrated as his heartbeat echoed off the walls of his skeleton.

    His blood rushed and roared, and as it gained more and more power, his body began to change.

    He grew massive, morphing until he was no longer humanoid.

    ck scales grew all across his body, lined with a dark-purple tint that was barely recognizable in the sunlight.

    Two horns jutted out of his head and twisted around each other to form a crown as his head itself changed into that of a dragon.

    Two massive wings,rger and more powerful than those of the dragons surrounding them jutted out of his back as he grew a tail and changed from a bipedal creature to a quadrupedal one.

    A terrifying ck dragon, unlike any other in the world, was revealed.

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    Damien pped his wings and shot into the air.

    ROOOAAAAAAAAR!

    His powerful roar filled the skies, causing space itself to tremble.

    The aura of the ck dragon''s birth caused bells to chime in the heavens. Damien''s presence was recognized as that of a True Dragon, and not just any True Dragon, but one on the scale of a Holy ancestor.

    Damien''s dragon transformation was a huge event. So huge, in fact, that the sixteen ancestral dragons he''d invited to build August''s spirit had paused to watch him.

    However, Damien didn''t care about the reactions they had, nor did he care about who else recognized his otherworldly presence when the heavens chimed.

    He was focused on one boy, his massive amethyst draconic eyes looking straight into his.

    And that boy''s reaction was everything he could''ve hoped for.

    THUMP!

    It wasn''t Damien''s heartbeat anymore. August''s heart was beating so rapidly that he almost couldn''t breathe.

    His eyes were wider than saucers, shimmering with ayer of tears that appeared due to the sheer amount of overwhelming emotion he was feeling.

    That was it.

    That was all he needed.

    He could feel the authenticity from Damien''s dragon form. He could feel that his father was, in this moment, a True Dragon.

    And he looked damn cool.

    ''I can be like dad.''

    He could be like his father, and he could also be a great dragon. He didn''t have topromise one for the sake of the other.

    Being a dragon was awesome.

    And being Damien''s son was even better.

    August felt his body lighten as his worries drifted away.

    A light shined over him, and something that should''ve happened long ago finally, finally happened.

    August''s body changed.

    And his dragon form was revealed to the world for the very first time.

 Chapter 1611 Innocence [1]

    Chapter 1611 Innocence [1]

    ??Blue light cascaded from the heavens and graced the ground below.

    Far, far away, in the distant seas of Arulion, waves crashed into each other and rose to create tsunamis that charged towards thend beyond.

    HONG!

    HONG!

    HONG!

    The heavens rang bells again. It could be regarded by others as a continuation of the phenomenon that had started a bit earlier, but that simply wasn''t true.

    The unveiling of Damien''s dragon form flustered the heavens. That was the main reason for its reaction to him.

    When it came to August, the heavens weren''t flustered at all. They weren''t surprised by his transformation. Rather, they celebrated the event that should''ve taken ce several thousand years ago.

    August was, at first, perturbed by his transformation. He''d kept his human form for four years now and had be more than just used to it. He wasfortable as a human, so when his skin flipped and revealed deep blue scales that covered his entire body, when his form elongated and a tail appeared behind his back, when his aura transformed and his horns grew into their true appearance, he wasn''t just feeling difort.

    For a moment, it felt wrong, like this wasn''t who he was meant to be.

    But that was when he looked into the sky and saw his father.

    Their scales were different, as were their auras, but there he was. He flew through the sky with such dominance that all of August''s doubts disappeared without a trace.

    ''That''s my dad.''

    The immense pride he felt drowned the insecurities in his heart.

    Not just the pride he had in his father, but the pride he had in dragons as a whole.

    August embraced his natural form. For the first time, he viewed his gifts as gifts, not curses.

    And that¡­that was exactly what the heavens wanted from him.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    August''s body was filled with mana like he''d never experienced before.

    He was always enamored by the energy. The way it flowed so freely yet strictly dictated all things was fascinating, and the fact that it responded to him so openly and honestly made him feel a connection to it that only his rtionship with Damien could rival.

    He thought his bond with mana was the best it could ever be already, but that was just a product of his naivety.

    Dragons were something like apostles of mana. The energy always favored their kind, and those who were able to make use of that favor were the ones who established dragons as schrs and sages.

    The environment itself responded to August''s presence. The ambient mana chose him as its liege, swirling around him in a whirlpool of respect and submission.

    A ten-foot-long baby dragon was revealed to the world. His scales shimmered in the sunlight, and his eyes reflected the rity of an arctic reservoir. The regality in his aura was unmistakable, and though they were only invited to aid in the child''s awakening, the sixteen ancestral dragons currently present felt the need to overstay their wee.

    But could it really be called that?

    They were awestruck by Damien''s aura. That caused them to stop what they were doing and stare mindlessly.

    August was on an entirely different level.

    If Damien was respected for his power¡­

    ¡­then August was revered for his inborn status.

    ROOOOOOOOAR!

    He let out a roar instinctively. It didn''t have the extreme power of the roars these other dragons had emitted, but it stirred something deep in the souls of those who heard it.

    Even Damien, who wasn''t a dragon at his core, felt that call.

    The sixteen ancestral dragons came down from the sky, prostrating themselves on the ground with their heads bowed to the child they encircled.

    ''This is¡­''

    August''s eyes widened in shock. He looked up at Damien as if to ask what he was supposed to do, but Damien just smiled and shrugged his massive draconic shoulders.

    August smiled too.

    Right.

    ''I just need to do whatever I want.''

    He was a child who knew his desires well and knew how to differentiate the good from the bad. Perhaps it was disrespectful to ignore the disy of these ancestors, but¡­

    ''...I really want to fly with Dad.''

    It was the chance of a lifetime. August never thought he''d be able to do it, and now that he could, he really couldn''t wait.

    WHOOSH!

    He pped his wings once. He wasn''t used to having them, but controlling this form came instinctively.

    WHOOOOOSH!

    He pped his wings again. Then again, and again.

    His body rose from the ground, and as the wind grazed past his face, he angled himself upward andunched into the sky.

    ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!

    It was a far more powerful roar than the one he released before. If it had to be tranted into anguage humans could understand, then¡­

    ''WOOOOOOHOOOOO!"

    August was ecstatic. He was doing flips and rolls in the air before he even reached Damien''s altitude. When he finally did, he circled his father several times out of pure joy.

    Damien''s smile never faded.

    ''It''s a little hard to move, isn''t it?''

    If there was one major qualm he had with his current form, it was that his eye position and the structure of his head made it difficult for him to turn and watch as August did hisps.

    Still, there was nothing more rewarding than seeing the pure and unadulterated emotion on that little boy''s face as his spirits reached an all-time high.

    "How about that?" Damien said,ughing all the way.

    "I told you dragons were awesome, didn''t I?"

    "Yeah! This is awesome!"

    August was just speaking to speak, really. He was too overwhelmed to properly formte his words. He just wanted to respond to his dad no matter what.

    It wasn''t about dragons anymore.

    This happiness stemmed from all of his wishes being fulfilled.

    His dad didn''t lie to him. He didn''t say anything just for the sake of cheering him up.

    He really wasn''t a monster. He really wasn''t alone.

    The fact that everything he dreamed about was in front of him now was more valuable than any confidence he gained from all of Damien''s efforts.

    "Dad, Dad! Let''s go flying!"

    The size difference between them was monstrous. Compared to the hundreds of kilometers that Damien''s currently shrunken form filled, August was just a speck of dust.

    But did that matter?

    Since his son wanted to fly with him, he would happily oblige.

    "Come up!"

    August pushed his little wings as hard as he could in response to his father''s words, taking position above his back.

    Once Damien was sure that August was there, he covered him in a slight film of mana for one specific purpose.

    "Three¡­"

    He pulled his legs in to maximize his aerodynamics.

    "Two¡­"

    He charged his mana for a perfectunch.

    "One¡­"

    After onest check to make sure everything was good¡­

    "Let''s go!"

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Mana raged, the sound barrier broke, and Damien and August became blips on the horizon.

    This was a future Godbeast''s first flight in his dragon form.

    Since Damien was the one supervising it¡­

    ¡­he had to make it more memorable than anything else.

    That was his one and only goal.

 Chapter 1612 Innocence [2]

    Chapter 1612 Innocence [2]

    ??Damien and August shot past all of the greatest sights of Arulion without any thoughts in mind but those of enjoying every moment of their flight.

    August pped his wings with everything he had, enjoying the rush of wind against his face and the feeling of the world zooming by as if it were incorporeal.

    This wasn''t a speed he could reach on his own. Not in the slightest.

    Damien was supporting him with mana and allowing him to personally experience what it was like at the peak of a dragon''s power.

    It was truly something amazing. To fly in tandem with someone he admired more than anything else in the world was a dream for August, especially since that person was his own father.

    And even when theynded on the ground and returned to their human forms, the feeling he felt in the clouds didn''t leave him in the slightest.

    As August reveled in new sensations, Damien approached the ancestral dragons who''d waited for their return.

    "Once again, I thank you all for your help in this matter," he said, giving them a slight bow.

    They''d all retreated from the world not because they werezy, but because they didn''t support the way the current Arulion was being managed.

    Dragons were meant to be free creatures, not a people restrained by their own society.

    Arulion worked too hard to mimic human culture, and as those at the top actively worked to suppress those below them, a majority of dragons had been turned into wastes.

    To the outside world, Arulion was a haven for dragons, a ce where they could live without persecution.

    However, that reputation was merely the product of rumors. The real Arulion was nothing like that.

    Not anymore, anyway.

    "It is no trouble."

    The one who responded was the same green dragon who led the pack when they arrived. He, Alcharist Revell, was originally a Holy Dragonparable to those ruling the kingdom now, but as his element of Wood wasn''tmon enough for him to form an entire n, he couldn''t stand against the others and was eventually cast out.

    He never tried to retaliate, because revenge simply wasn''t in a Wood Dragon''s nature. Still, that didn''t mean he didn''t wish to see change in the kingdom.

    It was just that he knew he wasn''t the person who would start the revolution.

    "I hope you can deliver on what you promised us."

    Damien looked at each and every one of them.

    Some were strays who''d made it to the top through brutal struggle. Some were disowned members of royal ns, while others more were dragons as old as time who had watched the kingdom change and devolve.

    They all had the same thing in mind when Damien came to visit them. They all saw the exact same spark in his eyes.

    And when he made them that promise, they found themselves unable to reject.

    Damien smiled.

    "All of you can see it for yourselves, can''t you?" He said confidently.

    "Your future emperor¡­do you think he will lead you into ruin?"

    He turned to look at the little boy currently ying in the field they stood in. The little boy who was loved by both nature and mana.

    The ancestral dragons joined him with the same expression on their faces.

    "Indeed. If it is him, then maybe this kingdom can be led to a better ce."

    A heart as pure as his, untouched by the corruption of the upper echelon¡­if it was allowed to thrive, then there was no telling what kind of miracles would happen.

    He had only just epted himself as a dragon. He didn''t know it yet because of that.

    Realistically, he was only four years old. Yet, his dragon form was already so breathtaking.

    These ancestral dragons who''d seen geniuses rise and fall knew what that meant, but, after all, Damien knew best.

    The heir to the Azure Dragon''s throne was no soft persimmon.

    And now that he had properly reached his starting line, he would be unstoppable.

    ***

    Arulion was already a hidden world. The real Western Region was just a heap of undevelopednd. The Dragon Kingdom was superimposed on it in a different direction created by the Ether n.

    However, even it contained worlds within.

    Because of the structure of Arulion''s central region, the Holy Dragon ns wouldn''t have enough space to amodate themselves without going to war with each other. They built their pces in the absolute center of the territory, but these could, at most, be called embassies.

    They were used when visitors arrived, or when events needed to be held. Otherwise, they were just there for show.

    The Holy ns had their real territories anchored to those pces, existing as separate worlds that spanned for hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

    Despite creating a human-like society for Arulion, the Holy ns themselves enjoyed the privileges of a real dragon.

    Their territories were mostly natural. They lived in caves filled with treasure, and had more than enough space to give each and every member a territory they were happy with.

    It was a little funny, but it was equally tragic. Even the ancestral dragons living away from the world believed that Arulion''s royalty was straying away from their true lineage as dragons, but they were wrong.

    They just made sure that they were the only ones who experienced its bliss, while all other dragons were forced to live in cramped cities, suppressed.

    In one of those hidden realms belonging to the Liqua n, two people stood in front of a koi pond.

    They had humanoid forms, but were clearly not human. They made sure that even when they were choosing a smaller form for convenience, others would still see their pride as dragons.

    "Did you sense it?" The man among them asked his femalepanion, his gaze focused on the koi pond.

    "I did, however, it cannot be real," the woman responded, not a shred of doubt in her mind.

    "''That man'' died when we killed him. I still remember the feeling of my ws in his heart. For his mana to appear now, it must be the result of some sort of coincidence. If not, then someone has discovered some of his treasures."

    The most obvious reason was the awakening of one of his descendants, but as the woman said, that was simply impossible.

    That man was dead. Even if he had descendants, it was far toote for them to hatch now.

    "Nevertheless, it is worth investigating."

    "Just send a few children. There is no need to try too hard when nobody else knows of its existence but those who discovered it."

    That distinctive aura could only be felt by those of the Liqua n. As long as the other Holy ns were unaware, their onlypetition was the dragons who lived in Arulion. And they¡­

    "At most, they can only be practice targets for our geniuses. Now that the heir wars are approaching¡­"

    The woman''s eyes sharpened.

    "...we muste out victorious."

    She didn''t finish with the words she actually wanted to say, but the man understood what she meant.

    "Right, our enemies now are the other Holy ns. ''His'' treasure can wait until it is over."

    The woman nodded, but as the two continued to stare into the koi pond, the man''s brows furrowed.

    Regardless of the woman''s opinion, he couldn''t believe that anything could be so coincidental.

    ''If its children¡­''

    Then he knew exactly who to send.

    A few geniuses that even the ancestral dragons outside couldn''t touch.

    As long as they were deployed, he''d get his answers as fast and efficiently as possible.

    And anyone who could possibly get in their way¡­

    Well, their only fate would be death.

 Chapter 1613 Innocence [3]

    Chapter 1613 Innocence [3]

    ??Damien wasn''t even the one who suggested it.

    It seemed that August had glimpsed the benefits of power once he''d unlocked his dragon form, because the instant they got home that night, August practically begged for Damien to train him.

    "Dad, you''re strong, right?"

    He didn''t really understand before. He didn''t know anyone other than his father, so he didn''t have a way topare the things he''d seen to the norm.

    Damien wasn''t shy about using his power around August. Whenever it was useful for their daily convenience, he''d do whatever he needed to do.

    However, those conveniences were mundane impossibilities.

    Normal people couldn''t just create animals whenever they wanted to. They couldn''t take people from one ce to another in an instant like Damien could.

    When August saw the ancestral dragons, he was awestruck, sure, but not nearly as much as he was when he witnessed Damien''s dragon form.

    Whether it was coincidence or fate, the aura radiating from Damien was exactly what August envisioned when he imagined the strongest in the world.

    Despite the fact that those ancestral dragons were extremely strong and domineering, despite everything they''d done before Damien transformed, the second he flew to the skies, they all froze in shock.

    That was when August realized just how great the man he called "father" really was.

    And it wasn''t like Damien was going to disappoint his expectations.

    "Of course!"

    His answer was simple.

    "Your dad is the strongest man in the world!"

    What else could a young child hope for?

    August instantly jumped up and climbed onto Damien, asking incessantly for him to teach him.

    Since that was the goal from the start, there was no need to say anything more.

    "It''s going to be hard. Do you think you can tough it out?"

    The only thing left was to test his resolve.

    This path was a difficult one, and it was just as punishing as it was rewarding.

    But¡­the child was innocent. He could learn of the viciousness of society at ater time.

    For now, letting him learn as he pleased was more than enough.

    August still didn''t know anything. Unlike Damien''s worries, his ancestral memories had yet to appear.

    Damien also hadn''t gone out of his way to tell August anything about the heir wars or what he''d been born for.

    Now that a few years had passed, it was hard for Damien to see August as someone else''s child. He made some mistakes by instinctively trying to raise him like a human, but now that he''d realized his mistake, he was confident in his choices and his parenting.

    Eventually, August woulde to know these things.

    But that was a story for another time, when details about his origins slowly began trickling into his mind.

    The training for now was simple.

    Damien had August do foundational mana training exercises as usual, but he added a bit of physical training into the schedule as well.

    He was still learning about how to properly teach him the techniques of his n, since they were still revealing themselves to him, so Damien didn''t rush past the basics faster than he had to.

    ''I know he''s a dragon, but he''s still a four-year-old.''

    No matter what, he''d have to introduce August to the true struggle of a practitioner within the next two or three years, but he wanted to put it off for as long as possible.

    Be it selfishness orpassion, Damien didn''t believe August needed to lose his innocence yet.

    Rather, he just didn''t want it to happen.

    Even now¨C

    ''That''s¡­''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    He suddenly caught wind of a strange aura.

    ''It''s still far away, but I''m certain of it. Those are people from the Liqua n.''

    The distinctive aura of an Azure Dragon.

    ''No, it''s the aura of a couple of posers.''

    The Liqua n was not the true Azure Dragon''s n.

    That man, Qinglong, had formed his own n when he became a Holy Dragon, and the Liqua n could be considered a branch of it.

    For it to now be regarded as the Azure Dragon n itself¡­

    ''Hmph. Even if they''re grunts, they should have some useful information.''

    It hadn''t yete time for August to interact with those of the Holy Dragon ns. It also wasn''t the time for them to notice Damien''s presence in their kingdom.

    Unfortunately, this little scouting party would need to be slightly inconvenienced.

    Though, wasn''t it a bit more than that?

    There were five people in that party. All of them were just slightly over a hundred years old, geniuses that were technically from Damien''s generation.

    They were those who had just barely missed the cut to participate in the heir wars. They couldn''t be used for that anymore, but they would still be valuable assets in the future.

    As such, excursions such as those meant to find treasure like this one were usually left to them.

    In another reality, perhaps they could''ve be stars that shocked the entire world. Regrettably, they lived in an era where Damein Void existed. They were fated to remain nameless and mundane despite all of their power and training.

    "What are we even looking for?"

    There were two women among them. One of them, Alexis Liqua, was the one who asked the question.

    "None of us really know," Gabriel Liqua, the man who led the group, answered.

    "Apparently, this orderes from the Matriarch herself. We are to find the traces of that aura they showed us earlier and investigate it."

    They''d been given the "scent" to chase and were let loose to find it. Their search had led them to the outskirts of the kingdom, to a random field in the middle of nowhere, and frankly, it didn''t seem like they''d find anything here at all.

    Still, since it was an order from the Matriarch, they couldn''t half-ass their search. They''de here maintaining the slight hope that there would really be something amazing for them to discover here.

    And there was.

    But it was not for them to discover.

    For it had already discovered them.

    Damien hovered in the sky above the five young dragons with none the wiser to his presence.

    He watched them as they spoke about their mission, and he paid attention to their auras.

    The Azure Dragon''s legacy inside of him reacted with unbridled disgust when he got close to them, and though Damien didn''t have any particr grudges against them¡­

    ''Well, at the end of the day, they''repetition.''

    He flicked his hand out, and from a distance of over a hundred kilometers, his Existence touched the souls of those five dragons.

    Memories they had would be his. Techniques they knew would be his. And the things in their possession¡­well, while they wouldn''t be his, they wouldn''t be theirs either.

    To put that less confusingly¡­

    ''I''m going to twist the shit out of their existences.''

    It could be considered a boon for them in a certain sense.

    After all, since Damien was about to formte an entirely fake experience for them, where they discovered a tomb and unveiled a number of treasures from thest era¡­

    ''¡­I have to give them the rewards to make it real, no?''

    It felt a bit like cheating to win at apetition and then giving the losers $5 as a constion prize.

    And though that was quite the vile feeling on paper, Damien had to admit it, at least to himself.

    In this specific scenario¡­it really didn''t feel bad in the slightest.

 Chapter 1614 Training [1]

    Chapter 1614 Training [1]

    ??There was no need to overexin what happened then.

    Damien had already done something like this a few times.

    The young Liqua n dragons had been sent to investigate what everyone thought was a treasure. This excursion was a learning experience for them. They weren''t equipped to deal with someone of Damien''s caliber in the slightest.

    As such, they couldn''t put up a shred of resistance as he toyed with their existences. No, they didn''t even realize they were being manipted.

    The five of them fell unconscious. Their memories changed drastically as an experience they never had became real, and their environment followed suit. A dungeon that "didn''t exist" was born in the empty in, entrenched in the ground and overgrown as if it had been there since the beginning of time.

    Damien had their memories already. He could tell why they were here, and since his goal was to throw the Holy ns off rather than confront them, he made serious efforts to make everything believable.

    It was unfortunate that he had to use the more annoying solution, but what could he do? This wasn''t his story, but August''s. He couldn''t act as if he was doing all of this alone.

    Nevertheless, he pulled some treasures from his spatial storage and created a few more, imbuing them all with the aura of the Azure Dragon and aging them to match the age of the tomb.

    After nting them on the five young dragons, Damien threw them into the dungeon and left them there to wake up whenever they were ready.

    Or, when the mechanisms of the dungeon decided to wake them up with a deadly morning rm bell.

    Whatever the case was, Damien finished as quickly and efficiently as possible before returning to August.

    He now had some new information on not only the Liqua n, but also the heir wars that were approaching.

    And both of those things would be very helpful for August''s future training.

    ***

    How would the Liqua n feel when they realized that their geniuses had been manhandled so easily?

    Well, that depended on if they even discovered that it happened.

    There were no ws in the memories and treasures Damien left with those geniuses, so by the time they returned to their n, nobody would be able to tell that something strange happened.

    Theck of time passing between their departure and return would probably be the main issue, but Damien made sure to age the dragons up by a few years to make it seem like they''d been stuck in a time dtion, which would be corroborated by their memories.

    It really was a perfect deception.

    And for Damien, it was quite convenient.

    ''The Azure Dragon''s memories aren''t unlocking in the most efficient way.''

    Damien had learned a lot about that senior in the time he''d spent raising August. Things about his life and morals were the mostmon revtions, but the ones that concerned August were hidden much deeper in the recesses of Damien''s mind, almost refusing toe out.

    It was the same with the foundational techniques of the Azure Dragon n.

    Damien was mainly receiving memories from most recent to least. As such, he knew a lot of Qinglong''s most powerful techniques and abilities, but since he wasn''t aware of the process, he would have to experiment with and learn an entirely different discipline to interpret it all and make it something August couldprehend.

    Unfortunately, that took time. Damien was already working on it, but he would need another year or two to be proficient enough to teach someone.

    There was a far easier solution to the problem, and the Liqua n delivered it to his doorstep.

    ''It was even more convenient since they were young geniuses. They''d pretty much spent their whole livesprehending the foundational techniques of the n and observing examples of their end goal.''

    With those memories at his disposal, Damien had the starting point of the Liqua n and the ending point of the true Azure Dragon n. Trying to figure out how to get from "Point A" to "Point B" was far, far easier than what he''d been doing before.

    In fact, with a single week and some dted time, Damien was able to fully reconstruct the Azure Dragon''s techniques.

    ''That feels like I''m downying my efforts.''

    It wasn''t arrogant in the slightest to say that he''d taken those techniques and improved them beyond what they''d ever been in the past. And more importantly, he''d tailored them for August''s use.

    ''With this, we can start for real.''

    Damien didn''t need to stall anymore.

    And with August''s practically insane desire to learn¡­

    ''This is going to be fun.''

    ***

    Damien''s encounter with the Liqua n took no more than half an hour to reach an end. He went back home before August could notice that he was gone.

    After the week he spent creating the new Azure Dragon Manual, Damien took August back to Green Green, which had now been renamed the "Viridea Mountain" for the sake of future explorers and cartographers, to start his real training.

    Dragons were special creatures. Their growth system was more like "cultivation" than any other species, but they still needed to abide by the system''s mandates to grow when they were young.

    Eventually, training alone would allow August''s power to rise at monstrous rates, but for now¡­

    ''If he wants to get stronger, then he has to learn how to kill.''

    Damien couldn''t get over the difort in his heart, but there was nothing he could do.

    He had already told August honestly the night before.

    "You''ll have to do heart-wrenching things for power."

    But August didn''t flinch.

    His emotional acuity was still steadily growing, but his intelligence gave him a more practical view of life than others at his age.

    He had already presumed that he would need to lose his innocence if he wanted to enter the world that his father and others resided in.

    And his thoughts could be considered both mature and immature depending on the lens they were viewed through.

    "Dad, I have to hunt, right?"

    He could instinctively feel it. His awakened draconic instincts craved blood.

    "Yes, and not just animals. You might have to hunt people when you''re an adult, and even dragons if the situation arises."

    Damien never lied to August. He tried to sugarcoat his words most of the time, but it didn''t feel right in the moment.

    And while the prospect did strike fear in his heart, August answered by the moral code that Damien had taught him to live by.

    "Dad, I''m not scared to hunt."

    "Why is that?"

    "Because I''ll never hunt unless I have to."

    August was firm in his words.

    "If someone wants to hurt me or Dad, or if I need to hunt for a necessary cause, then I won''t feel bad. If hunting makes me feel bad, then I won''t do it."

    It was quite a rudimentary way to say it, but it was more than enough.

    August was already subconsciously distinguishing between enemies and allies. He was separating himself so that all of his good qualities would only be shown to those who deserved them, while those who stood against him would see apletely different face.

    It was a good mentality for a practitioner.

    ''But for some reason, I can''t shake the bitter feeling in my heart.''

    Damien realized that his son was growing up far too fast for his liking.

    But¡­there was really nothing he could do about it.

    Such was their unfortunate fate, such was the consequence of ack of time.

    Since it was Damien''s fault that time had been constrained so wildly, he didn''t have the right toin.

    However, that didn''t change the feelings he hid deep inside of his heart.

 Chapter 1615 Training [2]

    Chapter 1615 Training [2]

    ??The Azure Dragon Manual. It was Damien''s own creation, but its origin was a period long before he ever existed.

    These techniques were first developed by Qinglong himself doing something simr to what Damien was doing now. He took the teachings of his Dragon n ancestors and transformed them into a technique geared specifically towards people who wanted to follow the same path as him, the path of water.

    It started out simple, by having one feel water with one''s body. Damien took August to an artificial river he''d created for this purpose.

    It was actually an entire waterway that now ran along the Veridea Mountain and into thends below, branching out and creating apletely new ecosystem.

    It had to work on its own for August to truly feel "water." Damien made sure that his own influence waspletely removed from the system before they ever arrived.

    August was assisted into the river. Its flow was quite strong, so Damien had to carefully make sure he wouldn''t be swept away.

    He created a transparent mana barrier that kept August stationary, covertly adding Existence to bend thews and make that mana entirely impermeable.

    August was given the perfect environment and was told vaguely what he needed to do. The rest was entirely up to him.

    The potential that everyone seemed to see in him, would it manifest now?

    The simple answer was no.

    Laws highly depended on individual interpretation. That was the main reason why Damien couldn''t simply devour someone and immediately use theirwprehension for himself.

    He had to interpret thosews on his own. Only then could he make use of what he stole.

    It was the same now that he was teaching. August needed to establish his own perception of the Law of Water. He needed to incorporate it into his beliefs and learn whatws meant to him.

    Potential didn''t mean anything during this process. What mattered was one''s understanding of oneself.

    And August¡­

    Well, how could one expect a child to have an established sense of identity?

    He would need many years to reach that point, so obviously he wouldn''t be able to immediately grasp the flow ofw and utilize it.

    Hell, humans only startedprehendingws when they reached 3rd ss, so it was stupendous to expect someone who didn''t even have a single level to his name to rapidly grasp these unfamiliar concepts.

    Still, this was the way that dragons developed, so Damien was training August ordingly.

    It was scary at first. The rushing water carried with it an aura of death that poked and prodded at August, provoking him to lose concentration.

    Yet, at the same time, there was a familiarity, a feeling of closeness like meeting a long-lost rtive.

    August focused on that feeling for the sole purpose of calming himself, but it ended up doing a lot more than that.

    Beneath that familiarity was peace and calmness. It was the powerful and steady flow of the river that felt like the back of his father, ready to protect him at any moment.

    Water¡­

    It could be soft and flexible. Despite August''s presence impeding its path, it easily split and flowed around him, losing no time in its journey. it could also be stubborn and rigid. It forced its way through any situation that couldn''t be ovee with flexibility, and when it revealed that deathly aura to those who provoked it, it would exert a force iparable to any other.

    Water was incredibly versatile. It could kill as well as it could protect. It was a necessity for life, yet it could cause some of the most brutal deaths imaginable to man.

    August only grasped this concept in its most basic form as he experienced its flow.

    But that was only the first step.

    What did it mean to him?

    What did he want it to mean to him?

    The feeling as it brushed against his skin was almost like it was patiently waiting for him to give it an answer, for him to define the core of their rtionship.

    What do you want to use your power for?

    August felt like he could hear his father''s voice in his ear, helping him forward.

    ''I want to protect Dad and be happy.''

    It was a pretty obvious answer. The entire reason why August asked Damien to teach him was so that he could one day fly alongside his father again, just like they''d done before, but with his own two wings.

    August remembered what Damien had told him before.

    "You are blessed with the gift of water. The seas will respond to your every call, and the world itself will bend at your will. But¡­

    you must first decide. What does water mean to you? What aspect of water do you want to define you?"

    August was able to understand the essence of those sentences with his current academic level, but the more philosophical aspects were harder to digest.

    ''What is water to me?''

    August intensely pondered on the concept. This was his first time really feeling it.

    Damien told him that he could be patient and take his time to figure out his answers to those questions, but August didn''t want to.

    He already knew what he wanted.

    His goal was clear, and what water meant to himpletely depended on how it could contribute to reaching it.

    As such¡­

    ''I want to be strong.''

    He needed the rigidity of water to make sure he could protect himself and hunt.

    ''I want to be a shield.''

    He needed the flexibility to be able to stand in front of the people he loved and protect them from any harm.

    ''I want to be cool.''

    He needed¡­everything else¡­to be like his father and those ancestral dragons and heroes, unfettered by all things.

    Thest one was a bit subjective, since the first two would achieve the third, but August still felt the need to mention it.

    Because the things he''d seen in the past few days were really, really cool.

    As August started to truly formte what he wanted from the element, the element began to respond to him. A small whirlpool formed around his body, disrupting the flow of the river.

    ''To think it would be that easy.''

    Damienughed, mostly in astonishment.

    Bear in mind, it had already been over a day since they came here. August didn''t realize how fast time was passing while he silently perceived the water around him, but if it hadn''t been for Damien keeping his body satiated in secret, he would''ve copsed long ago.

    A single day to establish a fundamental bond with the element.

    This wasn''t the stage where his potential would bloom, and he was already showing a performance like this?!

    ''I guess I lied to you.'' Damien thought to himself with a grin.

    ''You really are a monster. In the best and most illustrious way, you are a monster, my son.''

    With immense pride glowing in his eyes, Damien got ready for the next step of their training.

    Even at this time, there were 6 years left before the heir wars began.

    It was more than enough time for August to be someone that hispetitors couldn''t even begin to stand against.

 Chapter 1616 Training [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1616 Training [3] </h4>

    The daily life of the father-son duo revolved around training ever since then. They didn''t even notice as the months passed. They were simply too entrenched in what they were doing.

    Damien had never been this involved in someone else''s growth before. Even when he trained Astoria and the others, he just aided them and gave them what they werecking. They all had their foundations built beforehand.

    With August, he was the one supervising from beginning to end.

    It was more than he expected.

    Damien was the type of person who learned best when he was left on his own. His mentors had always been there to help him through the roadblocks he couldn''t ovee on his own, but everything else was left to him.

    August was different not only because he was young, but because he responded to "learning" in a different way.

    Unlike Damien, who needed to experience things to learn, August did best when he was taught. He was able to interpret words and information to gather what he needed better than anyone else, and Damien wasn''t about to ruin that advantage.

    He was there every step of the way, giving August tips and tricks to get past the hurdles he faced. At the same time, August progressively learned and eventually managed to establish a connection with water that was both pure and sturdy.

    August had decided that he wanted to pursue multiple concepts of water at the same time. Damien didn''t stop him either, since he believed that the increased workload would actually stimte August''s inquisitive mind better.

    Still, one year was spent exclusively on feeling and connecting to water.

    By the end of that year, not only did August have the appearance of a ten-year-old, he also had a physical body even other baby dragons would envy and a grasp on the foundation of his power.

    With that¡­

    "It''s time."

    They couldn''t put it off anymore. It was time for August to hunt for the first time.

    ''Though, I''ve eased up a bit more now that some time has passed.''

    Damien wasn''t as worried as he was before. He had been taking August on hunts with him for the past few months, teaching him how to maneuver in both his human and dragon forms. August had seen the deaths of several creatures, and he''d be used to the rules of the jungle, at least when he was hunting for animals.

    If there was something new Damien had learned about his son throughout all of this, it was that he was more confident than he liked to let on.

    He seemed to believe that he would be able to do anything he said he could.

    There were instances where that just wouldn''t be true. Eventually, August would have to face defeat so that he could grow from it and learn how to deal with it.

    However, that was something Damien wasn''t willing to fake. It would only have a real effect if it was a loss that August felt in his core.

    Nevertheless, that didn''t have anything to do with the current situation, since there was no way for August to lose right now.

    The exercises they were starting now were meant to limate him with blood and hunting. It wasn''t meant to test his strength and push him to his limits.

    So, the animals August was to hunt really were animals. Wild animals that saw them as enemies, sure, but animals nheless.

    Against a dragon¡­

    "Remember what I taught you?" Damien asked.

    August nodded with a firm expression.

    "Hunt like a dragon."

    Be confident, don''t doubt, and always aim for the kill.

    They were already on Veridea Mountain. Damien had filled this ce with several new species and created an ecosystem that had been functioning on its own for about four years now.

    Since it was able to grow and develop, the species he created here had developed habits and personalities of their own.

    In thispletely primal environment, Damien disappeared, leaving August alone.

    That was when it finally set in.

    ''Dad is probably nearby.''

    Rationally speaking, August didn''t believe Damien would actually leave him behind. And nobody could tell him he was wrong, but¡­

    ''That''s not the right way to think.''

    Eventually, he would have to learn to give himself confidence, so he could protect his dad instead of it always being the other way around.

    He calmed his heart and focused his mind. He remembered the lessons he''d been taught, and spread his awareness to search for prey.

    ''There.''

    August''s nose twitched as he sensed them. There was a pack of wolves about five hundred feet away. They were natural predators of August''s favorite breakfast source, Sun-

    Swallowing Pigs.

    August''s eyes lit up.

    ''That means¡­!''

    If a wolf pack was exposing itself like this, then it was marking its prey. Those wolves wouldpletely vanish from perception in a few moments and start their hunt.

    That was one thing. It didn''t really matter to August. What really caught his attention was a simple¡­

    ''...bacon!''

    He was a dragon, after all. If there was one thing that was irresistible to him, it was good meat.

    And there really wasn''t a variation of meat that tasted better than Sun-Swallowing Pigs, at least, not to August.

    He rushed through the forested mountain. His feet tapped the ground lightly, but his every step propelled him forward by several feet.

    He could feel the wolves getting closer. He couldn''t sense the pigs yet, but knowing they were in the vicinity was enough. Hunting these predators came first.

    400 feet¡­

    300 feet¡­

    By the time he was within 200 feet of them, the wolf pack noticed his presence as well.

    His hostility was in as day, but since these wolves didn''t have any sort of training, they were not able to sense the draconic notes in that aura, a sign for them to run.

    No, they didn''t have a single thought of fleeing. They charged together, the twelve of them as one, towards the new prey they''d sensed on the horizon.

    August''s eyes sharpened.

    The smells in the surroundings filled his nose, the scenes his eyes perceived were digested by his brain and processed rapidly.

    Those draconic slits, no matter how beautiful they may have been, were purpose-built. They existed for the hunt, and now that August was in nature, they were responding better than ever before.

    100 feet.

    The wolves were already in sight. Their powerful aura could now be felt, but August refused to be pushed back.

    He jumped into the air. As he twirled his body, it morphed, elongating into the form of a dragon.

    ROOOAAAR!

    It was a rookie move, but August felt the need to roar anyway.

    He mmed down to the ground in front of the wolf pack, and without paying a single bit of attention to their cowering selves filled with fear¡­

    He swept his w out with all of the power he had avable to him, aiming for the kill.

    There was no hesitation.

    There was no struggle.

    The second August was given the opportunity, he took it in stride.

    Because he was a dragon.

    It was bred into his blood, his bones, and the very essence of his existence.

    He was born to be the king of the hunt.

 Chapter 1617 Awakening [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1617 Awakening [1] </h4>

    Blood. It was August''s first time seeing it in such quantity.

    He had rarely ever been cut before. His skin was, after all, draconic. No matter how he nicked himself or fell, his body was never actually affected.

    And, he never knew how strong he was inherently.

    He was able to y with Damien without any problems. He was already climbing over Damien''s body when he was still a toddler. He didn''t lose the habit when he grew up. He still liked to wrestle with his father, and he often ended up identally scratching him and whatnot.

    Damien never flinched. Even when August thought he had hurt him, Damien assured him that there was nothing wrong and even proved it by showing him the uninjured area.

    August just didn''t realize that it wasn''t because he was weak.

    He never even thought to think that Damien''s skin was just stronger than a dragon.

    Until now.

    August wasfortable in his dragon form by now. Damien allowed him to freely transform and made sure he could feel absolutely secure. As such, his actions weren''t hesitant in the slightest. The fluidity with which he attacked was more than enough to generate a ton of force.

    SHIK!

    The sound was disgusting. Blood flew through the air as the wolf August attacked bursted into pieces. The sheer force of his ws tore it apart before their sharpness could evene into y.

    August was mystified for a second. His body shivered, not with fear, but with a strange sense of glee that he couldn''t exin.

    The wolf''s Legends flowed into his body in the form of experience, and for the first time in his life, August witnessed his own Status Panel.

    Though, he swept it out of his vision instantly.

    ''Not yet.''

    He''d already been told that it would appear, but it wasn''t the right moment for him to check it.

    He was still surrounded by the rest of the wolf pack, and he refused to take his attention off of the battle until it was over.

    Now, what was the usual first battle like? It was a scene of failure and weakness where one realized that the training they had done wasn''t enough to get them through the real world. It was a time for people to adapt to the rapidly changing situation that a real battle where life-and-death were concerned was.

    However, one couldn''t expect that from August.

    After all, this was a dragon''s natural habitat. In their youth, they were meant to be reckless and belligerent. All of that talk about schrs and sages only came once they were old enough to get over those primal urges.

    August awakened to these instinctste, but now that they were allowed to shine, they flowed in full force and allowed him to feel every ounce of what they represented.

    ''More.''

    August twisted his body and shed his w down, cutting another wolf into three pieces.

    AWOOOOO!

    Another jumped up from behind, its teeth bared. August turned his head, but he found that the wolf had entered his blind spot. Covered in shining light, he flipped and returned to his human form, Mana appeared in his hands as he pushed them towards the wolf''s exposed underbelly.

    Boom!

    A pulse of water mmed into the wolf and threw it into the sky. August immediately returned to his dragon form, nting all four legs on the ground.

    ROOOAAAAR!

    A blue and white swirl of energy was released from his jaws. As August swung his head around, the beam cut through not one, not two or three, but five of the wolves in the pack, turning them into mincemeat.

    Dragon''s breath was an inherent skill. The moment August found his connection with water, he found that ability.

    And it wasn''t the only one.

    August had unlocked three of the Dragon Race''s best natural traits. Only, he hadn''t been able to find much of an opportunity to use them.

    He wanted to.

    He wanted to fight with even more power than he was using now.

    Voom!

    With six enemies left, August felt emboldened. He used more mana in his ws despite not needing it at all. He watched his enemies turn into blood mist and reveled in the feeling of it.

    He almost lost himself to that emotion.

    Almost.

    ''Remember.''

    His father''s voice once again rang in his ears. It was only a subtle reminder, but it was more than enough to snap August back to reality.

    Whoosh!

    He jumped back and crouched growling at the wolves, who took a simr position as they started to encircle him.

    ''This is a hunt.''

    This was not the time to be consumed in bloodlust.

    He was not going to be an evil dragon, nor was he going to be someone consumed by things that went against his ideals. If he wanted to reach the future he desired, then he needed to stay on the right path.

    ''Focus, August.''

    He pushed away the emotions in his mind and tried to fill it with thoughts of the battle.

    There were only six of them left at this point. They were still able to surround him, but the fact that he''d taken down half of their pack without sustaining a single wound had struck fear into their hearts.

    They weren''t stupid creatures. Their minds were developed enough for them to have a fight or flight response. Everything told them that they needed to flee as soon as possible, but they also realized that if they turned their backs on the enemy, they would instantly die.

    This was a losing battle for them. August knew it as well as they did. Now that he''d collected himself, the rest of the battle was just going through the motions.

    His ws moved rhythmically, and his body moved with the flexibility of water. One after another, the wolves were taken down.

    And only in the end did they realize how outmatched they were.

    CRUNCH!

    It was an incredibly dull sound, but it wasn''t supposed to be at all. There were only two wolves remaining, and as August focused on killing one of them, the other snuck up behind him and mped its jaws around his hind leg.

    That didn''t sound like an action that would result in a dull sound, right? Unfortunately for the wolf, that was the sound of its teeth shattering into pieces against the scales of a dragon.

    August looked back, the curious expression on his face heavily contrasting his blood-covered appearance, and nced at that wolf.

    It slowly let go of his leg and backed away, looking at the ground the entire time.

    Was it pleading for mercy?

    August frowned to himself.

    ''Would it be okay¡­?''

    He didn''t want to kill an enemy who''d surrendered.

    Maybe it wasn''t the right decision, but that was what he wanted to do.

    And if there was anything he''d been taught, wasn''t it to follow that instinct?

    August gave the wolf onest look before flying away to look for his next prey.

    And from the sky, Damien nodded as well.

    In almost every way, it was an incredibly satisfactory performance.

    It had been mentioned too many times already, but there was no way for Damien to stop feeling it.

    Pride.

    He was unbelievably proud of the boy he was fortunate enough to call his son.

 Chapter 1618 Awakening [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1618 Awakening [2]</h4>

    The rest of the hunt went swimmingly.

    August was able to keep his wits about him after the first incident. He really wasn''t an overly aggressive person in the first ce. Once he realized that his instincts were taking over, he was able to make sure it didn''t happen again.

    Wolves, Sun-Swallowing Pigs, and many other animals fell prey to August''s hunt.

    And to finish everything, he faced a tiger by himself, achieving victory almost as smoothly as he did when he fought the wolves.

    In fact, he was even more fluid since he''d be more used tobat. That tiger didn''t stand a single chance.

    The training turned out to be too easy for August. The mental hurdle that Damien originally thought would be his greatest challenge was ovee near the start. The rest was really just a matter of him getting used to his own power.

    August was still rtively innocent. He''d spared several enemies instead of making sure they died. In this way, he waspletely different from his father.

    It took Damien until recently to even consider showing mercy to his enemies. August, on the other hand, was a naturally born hero.

    It made Damien smile.

    He couldn''t say he agreed with the ideology. He was not a heroic person. He was willing to sacrifice anyone andmit any evil if it meant the things he valued were protected.

    That was not the mentality of a hero. That was just amon practitioner.

    August wanted to save everyone. When he said he would only hunt when he needed to, he truly meant it. Enemies who''d surrendered were included in his mercy.

    And, from what happened on Veridea Mountain, it seemed to work out.

    The ones who were spared never came back. Maybe it was because they were nursing their wounds, but pack animals like the wolves he spared were bound to send their pack after him sooner orter.

    Damien observed the entire mountain to make sure no outliers affected August''s training, and he saw how those animals reacted to his son''s kindness.

    It was strange, unlike anything he''d experienced himself.

    ''But maybe that''s just the fundamental difference between us.''

    Truly heroic people would be able to rouse those kinds of feelings in people. To make people change for the better, to convince them to acknowledge their mistakes and move forward¡­

    If August could do that, he would lead Arulion to a future far better than the one it was currently scheduled for.

    As such, despite the fact that he believed that all enemies needed to be killed before they became a problem, Damien didn''t try to influence his son''s thinking,

    He just resumed August''s training as usual.

    "Dad, did you see me out there?"

    When August came back, he was ecstatic. He jumped on Damien and talked incessantly as if his mouth had no off button.

    "Of course I saw it," Damien responded happily.

    "I was watching the whole time. You did amazing."

    He really did. He showed Damien that he was a real dragon, and practically affirmed his decision to let Auguste face to face with danger despite his age.

    ''But if I end up having kids, I can''t really use him as a baseline.''

    That would be far too unfair to them, and there was no way in hell he would let his human child fight and kill at five years old. That was a privilege reserved exclusively for dragons.

    Nevertheless, the two most important steps had been taken.

    August had now built his foundation and was ready to kill. Everything that came next was just textbook.

    He needed to increase his level andprehend the Azure Dragon Manual at a higher level.

    This period of training; it would be monotonous and taxing, boring at times yet incredibly rewarding.

    All August needed to do was stay strong and power through it.

    As long as he did, when the remaining years passed and he went to participate in the heir wars¡­

    Well, nothing more needed to be said.

    Though, on the topic of the heir wars, it was about time, wasn''t it?

    ''I guess I need to tell him about everything soon.''

    Damien was wrong the first time, but he was confident now.

    August''s bloodline memories would awaken soon.

    And with that, he''d be exposed to the gnarly truths behind his birth.

    ***

    Five years really could pass in a sh.

    But perhaps that was because it was only two months in the outside world.

    Not much had changed in Arulion, though, the excitement surrounding the heir wars had spread further and enveloped the entire kingdom,

    Themon people wanted to see just as much as the nobility how their next leader was chosen. And, if that leader didn''t match their expectations, naturally they weren''t going to sit still.

    Despite the policies of the current Arulion, these dragons had been living lives they''d learned to be satisfied with. It couldn''t be allowed to get worse than this.

    Nevertheless, as the time approached for the challenge to begin, more and more people lined up at the three locations that had been specified as testing centers for trial participants.

    All of those without noble backgrounds who thought themselves talented enough topete for the throne had rushed to those centers to test their qualifications, and, as expected, most of them went home in shambles.

    The level of talent necessary to participate was far higher than what amon dragon could have.

    The current Dragon Emperor was quite insistent on adding a method for themon people to get involved and participate, but in reality, it was just a pretense.

    The bar was too high. One or two people could make it through, sure, but none of them would make it that far in the actual heir wars.

    Rather than a hand extended for peace, it served more as a way to showmon people the gap between their geniuses and the noble geniuses.

    Still, every testing center would always experience a few outliers, people who couldn''t be judged by the same standards as others.

    This year was particrly filled with them.

    There had never been more than 4moners in the heir wars at a single time throughout the entirety of Arulion''s history,

    However, somehow, in these few remaining weeks before everything began, ten of them had shown up.

    Ten geniuses beyond all others. People who, based on talent alone, could easilypete with the noble geniuses.

    It was incredibly surprising for those who watched them be tested, but the true surprise hadn''t evene close to arriving yet.

    No, he was still within a time dtion, hidden away from the world.

    But he would be out soon.

    Years had passed for him, and his training had reached heights that he couldn''t have imagined when he first began.

    He was evolving into a new person, a person he quite liked, and¡­

    About three years prior to this moment, they started to awaken; memories that presented him the history of his lineage.

    Perhaps that was the moment his change became severe.

    What went on in August''s mind?

    And how did he react to the tragic story of the Azure Dragon?

    To find out what truly happened to him, one had to rewind to that time and see for oneself¡­

 Chapter 1619 Purpose [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1619 Purpose [1] </h4>

    Three years before the heir wars began was seven years into August''s life.

    But that wasn''t the key that unlocked his ancestral memories.

    Instead, it was his power level.

    In the years following his first few sessions of training with Damien, August improved rapidly. The Azure Dragon Manual was an exponential growth method, and it truly showed its worth once August started reallyprehending it.

    Damien would take him out to fight in the wild at least once a month, increasing the strength of his enemies to scale with his growing strength. Other than that, Damien would spar August once a week to help him develop his battle sense and learn how to fight against enemies who were capable ofplex thought.

    The rest was mostly up to him.

    Damien was able to guide him when he needed it. When August had questions, he could always trust that they could be answered. Still, with his inquisitive mind and those hints from his father providing him with a clear path, he was able to make rapid progress through intense studying and practice.

    Within a few weeks of killing for the first time, August had achieved his second ss. Within another year, he reached 3rd ss. And as time passed, he got closer and closer to the definitive bottleneck that was his Universe Baptism.

    That was the key. As that moment approached, the gateway to those memories slowly opened, letting them stream into his mind.

    That first night was terrifying.

    Since the Azure Dragon Godbeast lineage started with Qinglong, August''s ancestral memories were exclusively about his life.

    It started in his youth, when he was a young dragon in the Heavenly World. Back then, Arulion didn''t exist. For millions of years, the dragons truly lived openly in the Western Region, and without too many Godbeast lineages to their name, they all followed the path of the Dragon Emperor who ruled them.

    Qinglong did the same at first, but it didn''t take long for him to face disappointment. Contrary to the majority of his race, he did not have a neutral element. He was born with an affinity for water, and when he tried to practice techniques unrted to it, he was stumped and unable to move forward.

    Qinglong had a wild dream. He didn''t just want to be a great dragon. He wanted to be like the Dragon Emperor, forging his own path amidst the darkness.

    But¡­it was difficult. There was simply no basis for him to follow, even if he tried to interpte existing techniques.

    Qinglong was only ten years old when he went out into the world to explore and learn on his own.

    And for August, who was seeing these memories when he was around the same age, it felt like he was watching an alternate version of himself.

    Except, it wasn''t like that at all.

    Soon enough, August''s privilege was revealed to him.

    Qinglong was immediately struck with misfortune. He was young and ambitious, but he didn''t have the necessary power to walk the cruel world on his own. Within a year of his adventure, he''d been captured by poachers and sold into very.

    He was abused and tormented. His scales were torn off to sell to those who wanted them, and anything else that could be stripped without killing him was stripped away. By the time Qinglong was eventually sold, he was no more than a sack of skin and bones, nothing like the True Dragon he was a year prior.

    The person who bought him wanted him as a pet. He was given a lot of healing elixirs at the start and brought back to his original form, but that was the end of his new master''s grace.

    He was trained as a mount. He was whipped and beaten whenever he refused to listen, and he was forced to carry an air of subservience wherever he went.

    It was because he was a dragon.

    Humans had always been terrified of their species, as dragons did sometimes terrorize humans for amusement or other unexinable reasons. It wasn''t as if dragons didn''t earn hatred from weaker races, but it had nothing to do with Qinglong. He was just a child,pletely uninvolved with those matters.

    Still, he was singled out and tormented because he was on his own.

    Perhaps it was at that time, when none of his fellows came to his aid despite some of them knowing about his situation, that Qinglong realized how ugly the real world was.

    He only had himself.

    If he wanted to escape the hell he was subjected to, he needed the power to stand above those who persecuted him.

    To find the path of water¡­how was he meant to do it when he was in captivity?

    Qinglong''s beginnings were truly humble.

    He didn''t earn his connection with water through calm meditation in a flowing river like August and many others in the current day. He had to make do with his circumstances.

    Faucets, puddles, rain¡­

    Anything he could use, he used. The process was grueling and arduous, taking several years to finish, however, Qinglong eventually gained his starting point.

    The water he always felt connected to responded to his emotions.

    It was a symbiotic rtionship in every way.

    And the instant that rtionship was established, Qinglong felt the power brewing within him.

    He hid it away. He let others think he''d been broken.

    But as someone seeing his memories, August could feel his emotions.

    No, it was just a singr emotion.

    A rage beyond anything August knew was possible.

    That malevolence, that bloodlust, was the start of Qinglong''s journey.

    With it, he went to confront his "master" and those who''d forced him into his pitiful circumstances.

    And it wasn''t hard to imagine what he did.

    It was brutality on a level August didn''t think was possible.

    Naturally, it struck great fear into his heart.

    The disconnection he felt confused him immensely as well. When he woke up that morning in his own body, he almost couldn''t recognize himself.

    He immediately went to Damien, unable to stop the tears that welled up in his eyes.

    But, for the first time, there was nothing Damien could do.

    This was something August had to witness not only for his ancestor''s sake, but for his own good.

    This was how he''d see the world he was going to enter, and this was a test that would show whether or not he could maintain his beliefs in that icy environment.

    Damien did his best. Heforted August to the best of his capabilities and even eased up his training regimen so he wouldn''t be overwhelmed by it all.

    Yet, when August went to sleep that night, he returned to that ce, right where he left off.

    The torture of the nighttime, the memories of his ancestor¡­

    It started now, but it wouldn''t end any time soon.

    August was forced to struggle for the first time in his life.

    Qinglong''s experiences tried to shatter his mind, but at the same time, they tried to teach him.

    It was up to August to find the teachings hidden within the suffering.

    And that¡­

    For someone who had lived such a coddled life, it was incredibly, incredibly hard.

 Chapter 1620 Purpose [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1620 Purpose [2] </h4>

    August''s demeanor started to change from then on.

    This was a dragon''s process of maturing. Every single one of them would eventually go through it, but the actual "when" would differ depending on when they reached the appropriate power level designated by their ancestor.

    For most, it would happen during or after their Universe Baptism. And for most, that would onlye decades or centuries into their lives.

    During the process, they''d adopt some of the traits of their ancestors while retaining the core of their personalities. This was the reason for the massive divide in thinking between each Dragon lineage, since they all functioned on a different pre-established ideology.

    Nevertheless, even for dragons from the Holy ns, ancestral memories took decades to unlock. Their geniuses weren''t influenced by them until they were properly ready.

    August didn''t have the same privileges, because the Azure Dragon didn''t have those privileges.

    ''The Liqua n doesn''t receive Qinglong''s memories.''

    That was a fact Damien learned when he stole the memories of their geniuses. Their ancestral memories contained the experiences of dozens of ancestors and mainly focused on techniques and other power-rted matters.

    Qinglong wanted his descendants to know his story. He knew they wouldn''t be able to meet in his lifetime, so he at least wanted them to know what kind of being he was.

    Despite being only seven physically, August''s mind aged several years or decades every single night when he went to sleep. It was only natural for him to mature.

    His body had grown into that of a fifteen-year-old, but that could hardly reflect his mindset.

    Qinglong didn''t want his descendants to suffer from the curse of naivety, so he made sure they would learn from his mistakes and erase that mind state altogether.

    August still cared deeply about Damien. He became quieter, but he did find other ways to show his affection.

    It was just hard for him to stay childish.

    He had seen so much. He had seen Qinglong suffer to levels he couldn''t believe. At first, he couldn''t understand how his ancestor managed to stay sane through it all.

    But that ancestor came to him eventually.

    It was conviction.

    A pure unbridled conviction towards his goal, towards his desire to leave his mark on the world.

    Everything told him to quit. Everything told him to just give up and die. But he didn''t, did he?

    He refused to let life have the upper hand. He cursed fate and fought against it tooth and nail.

    That was the reason why Qinglong was able to eventually achieve the heights he did.

    He got revenge on the people who thrusted him into madness. He punished those who stood against him, took victory in stride, and learned from every mistake he made.

    Could August do that?

    With the mindset he''d had until that point, he knew it was impossible.

    He had to change if he wanted to survive, but that didn''t mean he had to throw everything away. Just like his ancestor, he needed to keep his beliefs strong.

    Since he was a child, he''d always idolized heroes. He wanted to save people and bring peace to the world. He wanted to create a ce where another Qinglong would never need to be subjected to those torments.

    It seemed more and more impossible the more he saw, but wasn''t it the same for Qinglong?

    Aside from maturity and a sense of reality, Qinglong gave August the conviction he didn''t have.

    Perhaps that was the greatest change.

    August wanted to train harder. In the years that came, he pleaded with Damien to train him seriously, to teach him through force.

    Damien was obviously averse to the idea, but August''s stance was immovable.

    He was practically forced to go along with it, to give August what he needed to stimte his growth.

    As a parent, it was hard to watch his child change and be someone different from the innocent child he knew. Especially when he wasn''t assured of the path his son was taking, he couldn''t help but doubt it.

    But he had no choice.

    It was not his life.

    And he was not going to let his hesitation inhibit his son. Unless something went horribly wrong and he strayed from his path, Damien didn''t want to impede a child who just wanted to be the person he wanted to be.

    He stopped holding back.

    For August''s sake, he cut off his emotions during training so he could do what he needed without doubting himself.

    That was how thosest three years passed.

    The atmosphere had lost its heartwarming air, and with fierce training as the only thing that defined it, August began to live like someone over twice his age, someone who was truly on the road to bing an expert.

    Three years went by, but August wasn''t able to easily ovee the barriers separating him from 4th ss.

    It was different for dragons. Since they got in contact withws from young instead of slowly working up tows like humans, they were always a level more powerful, however, their progress also took much longer to achieve.

    Laws weren''t kind. They didn''t just present themselves to beprehended. Even for someone with as much potential as August, it was impossible to just breeze through these extensive processes.

    Rather, because of his talent, it was even harder. He had to prove himself worthy of his natural-born gifts. He could do more, but more was expected from him in return.

    He put everything he had into training, and when the time came for that conversation to happen, he was already prepared for it.

    "August, I''m sure you''ve realized this already, but I¡­I am not your biological father."

    It was a bitte, but Damien still felt the need to say it.

    August nodded. As Damien guessed, he already knew from long ago that they weren''t rted by blood. It remained unsaid for one obvious reason.

    "I don''t care. You''re my dad no matter what anyone or anything else says."

    August was unflinching about it. Nothing could change his mind. Damien was the one who raised him. He''d done so much to make sure August would have a good childhood and grow up properly. August loved Damien as his one and only father. That was the end of that conversation.

    Damien smiled a bit at the sentiment.

    "The memories you''ve been seeing, those that once belonged to the first Azure Dragon, Qinglong¡­they tell a story that you have yet to fully witness."

    August was still young, so he was still experiencing the younger years of Qinglong''s life. That amounted to thousands of years of memories, but when that number was taken in rtion to the millions or more years that Qinglong lived, it was really nothing.

    August would experience those memories on an exponential curve, and at some point, he''d be digesting millions of years at a time, but that was not now.

    "Your ancestor was once the Dragon Emperor. He founded the Azure Dragon n with nothing but his own hard work and eventually came to be the strongest dragon in the world. However, his sess bothered a lot of people, and they eventually came to stab him in the back."

    Damien had to simplify what happened a lot to make itprehensible in a short amount of time, but Qinglong''s story was somewhat simr to his father''s.

    "Qinglong was removed from the throne and usurped by a regime that suppressed their own kind. His n was taken from him and turned into something that no longer represented what he stood for. He was forced to flee into the lower universe, a ce where his enemies couldn''t reach, and, coincidentally enough, the ce where I am from."

    August''s eyes shook as he realized where the story was going. He steeled himself, preparing for what was toe.

    "I was able to meet him coincidentally during my travels, and after seeing my memories and conversing with me, he decided to entrust your safety and his mission to me. You were born in that hidden ce. Not from two parents, but from the sacrifice of Qinglong''s Legend."

    Damien looked August in the eye, his face utterly serious.

    "You are the perfect sessor he birthed to reim the throne he left behind."

    There it was. The revtion of all revtions.

    It felt like Damien had been rushed these past few years. It was like he knew something was going to happen and wanted to do his best to prepare August for it.

    This was it.

    The revtion that he had been born for a purpose, to be the Dragon Emperor.

    And since this was being told to him now¡­

    ''It''s probably time for that to happen.''

    Something big, something that would allow August to get closer to that goal¡­

    It was here.

 Chapter 1621 Purpose [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1621 Purpose [3]</h4>

    August¡­actually wasn''t as perturbed by the news as Damien originally expected him to be.

    It was definitely troubling for him to realize that he had been born for a specific reason. The burden of his ancestor''s dying wish was a hard one to carry.

    But¡­

    While he did respect the Azure Dragon, he wasn''t willing to give up his life for his dream. His ancestor was worthy of his respect, but not his fealty.

    Obviously, the fact that Damien cared about his ancestor''s goal was the most important factor. That made August take it into serious consideration, and more than that, the reason why he was fine with doing as his ancestor pleased was¡­

    ''...that was my goal from the start.''

    He heard tales of the Dragon Emperor when Damien took him to the town. He wanted to be that person who could stand above a million dragons, and he wanted to be the shield that protected them from harm.

    The only thing Qinglong''s story changed was context.

    August didn''t know what kind of state Arulion was in until now. The new regime, the current Dragon Emperor and the Holy ns, was a cancer preying on the greatermunity.

    It made reaching his final goal more difficult, but that only further motivated August to get stronger.

    ''Plus, I''m not alone.''

    There was a definitive difference between him and his ancestor that became more pronounced as he saw more and more of those memories. His ancestor was a lone wolf. He liked doing everything on his own and would only feel satisfied if his achievements were a product of his effort alone.

    August¡­never had that kind of ego. He wasn''t afraid to ask for help or make rtionships with others. And, he knew that no matter what he did, his father would always be there to support his back.

    That was the fortune he had, and it was exactly because his ancestor had chosen Damien as his guardian.

    ''In that sense, I do need to be thankful.''

    He owed his ancestor for introducing him to his father. For that, he would make sure that he not only became the Dragon Emperor and brought Arulion to its peak, but also took revenge on the enemies that led to this unfortunate present.

    "Dad, when is it?"

    He asked directly after Damien finished his exnation. He went into a bit more detail, which gave August an even more grounded understanding of what was expected from him.

    "One month," Damien replied honestly.

    "In one month, the heir wars will begin to choose the next Dragon Emperor. You just have to participate and win. Everything else¡­well, just leave the boring stuff to me."

    August nodded with a smile.

    One month. That was enough time for him to learn more about the outside world and fully prepare himself.

    In one month, his story would truly begin.

    And though that meant there was a lot of trouble in store for him¡­

    August couldn''t help but anticipate it.

    All of his training had been for this.

    He really couldn''t wait to see what level he''d truly reached.

    ***

    That month was over before it even began. August spent all of his time digesting Qinglong''s memories, training, and studying the power structures andmon sense of the outside world.

    The sun shone to mark the start of another day. Damien and August stood in front of the house they''d called home for the past ten years.

    "This is it."

    It was the moment August left the nest on his own.

    "Dad, promise me you''ll be safe," August said.

    "You brat! I''m the one who should be saying that to you," Damien responded with a smile, ruffling his hair.

    "Remember, if anything goes wrong, just call for me and I''ll be there. Don''t befriend suspicious people, and avoid women at all costs. They''re dangerous, and with your looks, they''ll pounce on you the instant they get a chance."

    Damien was mostly joking.

    Mostly.

    Nevertheless, they kept their farewells short, since this wasn''t theirst time seeing each other.

    Damien pulled August into a strong hug.

    "Seriously. Be careful out there."

    August nodded, evaporating the tears that formed in his eyes.

    "I will, Dad. I promise."

    The Existence barrier that separated the district from the rest of the world slowly broke apart and drifted away with the wind. With none the wiser, the two time flows were merged into one and returned to their original state.

    Damien lost any excuse he had to keep August at home. Even if he wanted to ignore everything they''d been preparing for, he couldn''t ignore the genuine excitement in his son''s eyes.

    "Go, you brat," he said, turning away.

    "The world is waiting for you."

    August looked at his father''s back for a long moment. There was so much more he wanted to say, but he had already said it all.

    He rushed forward, gave Damien onest hug, and turned around to face the world.

    That first step into the unknown¡­

    August put all of his weight into that step, and the one after, and the one after that.

    His walk turned into a run, and as he ran faster and faster, he glided across the earth, leaving the small district and his home in the dust.

    Damien didn''t turn around to watch him go.

    Honestly, he was having a hard time keeping himselfposed.

    ''God, when did I be such a baby?''

    Damien chastised himself sarcastically.

    But, it was true. He didn''t think there was a time when he wanted to cry as much as he did right now.

    ''I know we''ll probably meet again soon, and it''s not like I''m going to just sit back and act unconcerned while he''s fighting for his life out there.''

    Damien was absolutely going to go watch every part of the heir wars that August was in, but that wasn''t the point.

    His son was going independent. His life was now being left to his own discretion.

    It was a monumental moment for the both of them, and truly¡­

    ''...fuck, I need to get my shit together.''

    ¡­Damien needed to take a moment to get used to being alone again.

    ***

    "Wow¡­"

    It was the only thing he could say.

    August had been traveling by himself for around a week now, and he''d finally reached the first destination on the map Damien had given him.

    This was Arievale, the closest metropolitan district. Here, he could take a teleportation array to one of the testing centers, located rtively close to the True City Arragon, where the Holy ns and Dragon Emperor resided.

    And upon seeing such a sprawling city filled with the aura of life and the vibrance of a huge society, August''s eyes immediately widened in fascination.

    In no way could he be called naive anymore. He''d seen far too much to ever suffer from such a fatal affliction.

    However, the world he''d seen in Qinglong''s memories was eons old. It didn''t resemble the current world at all.

    As August stepped out of the small district he''d called home for his entire life, he was weed with a spectacr world filled with new things for him to see and experience.

    It was only natural for him to react wildly.

    Actually, while August was definitely more mature, he made sure his personality didn''tpletely get washed away by his ancestral memories. Everything he stood for as a child was still within him in some way. That included his innate curiosity and love for the world as a whole.

    It was a great attitude to have, because right now, August felt more empowered than ever.

    He was ready to take on the world.

    ''Let''s go.''

    He made his way to the teleportation array with a fiery heart and a cool mind.

    If he was going to make a name for himself¡­

    ''...then I need to start with a bang.''

 Chapter 1622 Qualifications [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1622 Qualifications [1] </h4>

    August was now out in the wider world, but while he did have a decent amount of general knowledge from Damien''s teaching, he was still rtively clueless about the more nuanced happenings and rtionships between forces.

    There was a lot going on in Arulion. It was a massive kingdom, after all. It was hard to notice its scale when discussing it since a majority of itsnd was filled with simr people doing simr things, but it wasn''t the same everywhere.

    Take the Aureat n of Golden Dragons as an example.

    The original Golden Dragon was quite the promiscuous fellow, so it wasn''t rare for there to be several Golden Dragon lineages throughout the world.

    Every once in a while, people from these lineages would appear in Arulion, and the Aureat n epted them in stride.

    It was always good to have more people, at least, from their perspective, Because of their ancestor''s nature, they were far more epting ofmon people than their fellows of other Holy ns.

    Still, there was a strict process by which these people could enter the n, and their bloodline needed to be properly proven. The Aureat n still needed to make sure they didn''t let just anyone in.

    It wasn''t rare for Holy ns to fight each other. They ruled this ce together, sure, but they were also each other''s greatest enemies and biggest contenders. Aside from the few who had alliances with each other, they were all on rtively bad terms.

    The Aureat n had never experienced a traitor because their treatment of their own people was great. They made sure that anyone who passed their inspection was given the treatment of any other legitimate member of the n, so they were particrly liked by their people.

    And, nobody had slipped past the their defenses yet. Every single member of the Aureat n was a true member of the Golden Dragon Lineage.

    Until now.

    An individual had snuck into their n, and that person wasn''t a dragon at all!

    Golden Dragons, known for their ability to handle fate, were a rare breed in this world. The Golden Dragon n of the lower universe was one of theirst remaining branches in the outside world.

    As such, they didn''t get many new people anymore. When someone finally appeared, and their bloodline was proven as part of their n, they were extremely happy.

    They weed that person with open arms.

    Except, the entire time, that person had only arrived at their n for a single goal.

    Rose Adire.

    Originally, she came to Arulion to follow a lead about a treasure that could awaken Dante Void.

    For that purpose, she''d done extensive research on dragons and had managed to perfectly replicate their bloodline with her illusions.

    Getting into Arulion wasn''t difficult at all. Once she was there, she hunted for leads until she found a trail leading back to the Aureat n.

    It was more difficult to mimic a Golden Dragon''s bloodline. At first, Rose couldn''t find any way to perfectly mimic the way their blood felt and flowed.

    She got a lot of help from the Golden Dragon n in the Sanctuary, which she could still ess, unlike Damien.

    And after forming a rudimentary version of the bloodline, she managed to get in close contact with a few members of the main n and used them toplete it.

    It was a tenuous process, but it really wasn''t all that hard, especially since it dealt with Rose''s specialties.

    She made it into the Aureat n, and she''d spent the rest of her time here, perfectly melding into their society.

    "Fate" really was a big thing here. It wasn''t an iprehensible force like it was to the rest of the world. It was an energy, aw, another form of mana just like everything else.

    The entire hidden world was filled with the aura of fate, and it enhanced each and every Golden Dragon within, providing them with the luck to gain opportunities and chances far more often than the average person.

    Rose, despite not being a real member of their n, also happened to get this boost. Perhaps that was why she had such an easy time maneuvering and fitting in, even though she made sure not to establish rtionships with anyone.

    The Aureat n managed the finances of the entire kingdom. They were just as good with money as they were with fate.

    They also possessed the storage vault with the most treasures among all of the Holy ns.

    If it was about things that the Aureat n could teach her, there weren''t many, but Rose put aside her personal quest for a moment so that she could prioritize the treasure.

    Of course, that treasure wasn''t entirely necessary anymore, since Dante was awake, but that didn''t mean it couldn''t be helpful.

    After all, he was still in a weakened state, and not just because Damien was in possession of his Divinity.

    A treasure like the one Rose was looking for would be perfect for stabilizing his mind.

    That was its entire purpose.

    The Golden Medallion was one of the Aureat n''s crowning treasures. It could not only stabilize the mind but also provide absolute protection from outside forces.

    It was a treasure that even Supreme Gods would die to get their hands on, and if it could provide the same protection for the Unrecorded, then Dante would be free of his suffering.

    There was still a question about if it worked, and Rose wasn''t sure if it was actually in the vault or if it was being used by one of the higher tier members of the n.

    If the Patriarch was in possession of it, she''d have an incredibly hard time stealing it away.

    But, when it came to the vault¡­

    ''I''m almost in.''

    Rose had created an borate n that would allow her to take what she needed from the vault and disappear from Arulion without a trace.

    For it to work, she had practiced creating dozens upon dozens of illusions that were indistinguishable from reality.

    With weeks and months of practice, she reached a new height in her training, ascending even further through the ranks of Demigodhood.

    ''The time to strike¡­I should probably wait until the heir wars begin.''

    That was when their defenses would be at their lowest. All attention would be focused on those young geniuses in theirpetition.

    ''Plus, the Ancient Dragons will all be gone.''

    They, who represented the highest level of power under the 6 Holy Dragons and the Dragon Emperor, would be too busy facilitating the event to pay attention to their own territories.

    But regardless of how many people she has to actually face, this would be the true test of her skill.

    The illusions she made¡­

    Could they really rece reality?

    Could they fool even Supreme Gods?

    Rose wasn''t a fan of danger, but she was truly eager to find out.

    And, if she could find a new lead that would take her somewhere magical, somewhere she could find her true purpose in life¡­

    Well, the Aureat n specialized in fate, didn''t they?

    It was about time to see if that power could influence her too.

 Chapter 1623 Qualifications [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1623 Qualifications [2]</h4>

    Even Damien didn''t know that Rose hade to Arulion. Since she''d been in the Aureat n''s hidden territory for the entirety of his stay in the kingdom, he hadn''t sensed her either.

    It would be quite a surprising moment when they met each other or realized each other''s presence, but that wasn''t any time soon.

    Currently, Damien was headed towards apletely different hidden territory.

    ''August won''t be able to grow in time.''

    It was a simple yet true statement. Even if August won the heir wars, he''d face far too much opposition for him to actually be able to take the position of Dragon Emperor.

    Of course, he still wouldn''t be strong enough even if Damien removed all of the obstacles from his path, but that was something Damien had already nned for.

    ''For now, the most important thing is supporting his journey.''

    Damien wasn''t going to directly start a war with the Holy ns. Not yet, at least. He wanted to convert as many of them as possible before resorting to killing.

    Not because he was a pacifist now, but because they were necessary meat shields for when the war against the Sacred Abyss began.

    ''I mean, they are a great fighting force that will be respected and honored¡­yeah, that''s a better way to say it.''

    Damien had a lot of respect for dragons as a whole. It was the second bloodline he''d ever possessed and the basis of his strength for a long time. Most of the dragons he met in the lower universe were people worthy of respect.

    However, these Holy ns were not the same as them. They needed to be destroyed and restructured before they could be of use to anyone.

    The respect they thought they deserved was only meant for their Holy Dragon ancestors. They were nothing more than leeches.

    ''But that''s usually how it goes with things like this.''

    No matter how great the first generation was, power would eventually corrupt the family line and lead it to ruin.

    It was a story as old as time, a fate that had befallen many a kingdom and empire,

    ''The real question is¡­what is that guy doing?''

    The Dragon Emperor¡­

    Qinglong''s memories were unraveling almost to a point where Damien and August were seeing the same thing despite starting at opposite ends.

    From what Damien had seen, the Dragon Emperor wasn''t one of the people involved in overthrowing Qinglong.

    ''Rather, it''s more apt to say that he doesn''t appear in Qinglong''s memories at all.''

    It was suspicious. The position couldn''t just be taken by anyone, and if he wasn''t a member of any of the Holy ns, then just who was he?

    ''And why is he even sitting on that throne?''

    That was what Damien wanted to know, and now that August was on his way to gain qualifications for the heir wars, he was nning to find out as soon as possible.

    For the safety of his son and the prosperity of the Heavenly World as a whole, it was imperative for him to distinguish allies from enemies, and those who could be saved from those who could not.

    ''For your sake and mine¡­'' Damien thought as he rushed to that ce.

    ''...I really hope you''re one of the good ones.''

    ***

    August didn''t actually have that hard of a time in the outside world.

    It was all new to him. He wanted to stop by every shop and eat every new food he saw at every street stall, however, he was currently on his way to apletely different city, so he obviously didn''t have the time to do all of that.

    His biggest problem really was reigning in his curiosity. When it came to matters of people and whatnot, he didn''t have any trouble at all.

    August had an appearance that made him stand out.

    Damien had given him an artifact before he left home that disguised his Azure Dragon aura, lineage, and bloodline so that others wouldn''t get suspicious too soon, so that wasn''t his problem.

    His ocean-blue hair wasn''t a problem either, since it was amon trait among dragons. Their natural hair colors were more varied than any other race, since they changed to mimic the element the dragon was closest to.

    Water was an extremelymon element. Qinglong wasn''t like the Golden Dragon, but for the sake of the dragon race, all of the original Holy Dragons had been around the town quite a few times.

    If not, dragons wouldn''t have be the prolific species they were today.

    There were several types of water dragons, and though almost all of them descended from Qinglong in some way, not all of them had his bloodline.

    Those who did were rare by today''s circumstances, even in the Azure Dragon itself.

    The new Azure Dragon bloodline was contained within the Liqua n, so it was impossible for more to be born as well.

    Minor water dragons were insignificant, just like the minor versions of every elemental dragon. August had no problems blending in.

    Though, he did have quite a striking appearance. He drew gazes from all over, but it wasn''t like he noticed.

    versions of every elemental dragon. August had no problems blending in.

    August was just happily going on his way, in his own world as he made it to the teleportation array and paid the fare.

    This wasn''t his first time teleporting. Unlike most who took the arrays to get around, he didn''t feel any difort as he arrived at his destination.

    Arragon was just as prosperous, if not more, as the ce he''d juste from, but August did his best to stay focused on the goal.

    ''The heir wars¡­''

    He''d been studying about it for the past month.

    It was a long event, spanning over the course of several months or even years depending on how well the participants were doing.

    Young geniuses wouldpete in several categories, and those who came out on top would fight each other directly for a chance to be the Dragon Emperor''s sessor.

    Even then, the winner had to pass one more trial, presented by the Dragon Emperor himself.

    If that trial couldn''t be passed, then the Dragon Emperor would choose his favorite prospect from the final tournament and give them a trial.

    If even that person failed, then the tournament would have to start over and the same process would be repeated until a satisfactory candidate appeared.

    Now, it rarely took that much effort to find the sessor, however, the process waspletely fleshed out to amodate for the possibility. They couldn''t skimp on the details for a ritual so important.

    ''I wonder who I''ll meet.''

    Damien told him he would find geniuses on his level and even those above him. He was excited to meet the people who represented his generation.

    After all, they were not only hispetition, but also the allies he''d take over the world with.

    August almost forgot how to be optimistic when he was experiencing his ancestral memories. However, the world made him want to think otherwise.

    There was a lot of bad, but there was an equal amount of good.

    Optimism wasn''t something he could have just because he wanted it.

    But if he could fix the bad parts of the world and protect the good¡­

    As long as he could achieve his goals, then his optimism would be warranted.

    That was all the assurance he needed to maintain it.

 Chapter 1624 Qualifications [3]

    <h4>Chapter 1624 Qualifications [3] </h4>

    The testing center was a massive building. Dragons were surprisingly good architects when they wanted to be, so despite the fact that it was created in just two months, it stood out and was absolutely pleasant to look at.

    The line that stretched past its doors and wrapped around its entire vicinity three times, on the other hand, was not.

    ''Really?!''

    It wasn''t like August didn''t know he waste, but he still didn''t expect it to be like this!

    ''I can''t do that.''

    If he had to guess, with them testing people in batches of ten, the people at the end of the line wouldn''t actually get into the testing facility for¨C

    ''¨Cthree whole days!''

    It was unbelievable, and more importantly¡­

    ''I''m not doing that.''

    August hadn''t been taught to be a bad person, but¡­his father happened to be just a little bit mischievous.

    After seeing someone do whatever he wanted for the sake of personal convenience for ten years, August had most definitely been influenced.

    ¡­maybe Damien hadn''t been using Existence for the right things, but he just couldn''t help himself. It really was too convenient!

    Nevertheless, with Damien''s mindset, there wouldn''t be any harm done as long as nobody was actually affected by his actions.

    In August''s case¡­

    ''Sorry, Dad, but I''m gonna use it.''

    The testing center was huge. It, in its own right, was bigger than the entire district August lived in during his youth. Surrounding it was a field several tens of meters long that separated it from the rest of the city.

    August had to slip back into the city to find an alleyway where he could hide.

    Once he did, he took a silver brooch out of his spatial ring, provided by his very generous father, and pinned it to his shirt.

    Immediately, he disappeared.

    Well, not really.

    Invisibility wasn''t efficient. Perception blocking was far more practical.

    August''s presence just vanished. He was stillpletely visible, but the people around him just couldn''t register him in their minds.

    He slipped back into the street and walked back to the testing center. Not a single person could see him.

    ''It really works!''

    This was his first time trying it, and it worked even better than expected.

    Life became easy when cheats were involved.

    August made it through the doors and far into the line before he managed to find someone with a simr build to him and sneak in behind him.

    It was really perfect, since the person behind him wasn''t paying attention.

    ''Phew¡­''

    August covertly took the brooch off and stored it, and, now that his wait had been shortened to an hour, he was more than happy to stand in line and enjoy the scenery and atmosphere.

    It went by quickly.

    "Haa¡­"

    There was a man standing behind the registration checkpoint that August waited in line to reach.

    He had been here for the past three months, and frankly, he was getting tired of it.

    ''Why does everyone else get to discover a genius?''

    Out of the three testing centers, the one in Arragon was the one that found the least real talent.

    It was probably because the people who lived this close to the central area didn''t need to get qualifications to participate in the heir wars, but that didn''t make his job any easier.

    Rakon Astegarde was a member of the Scorch Dragon n that was subordinated to the Ignis n. He had been put in charge of managing this facility and overseeing the testing process.

    However, he was bored.

    Every single one of these young dragons was dreaming above their station. Most of them didn''tst more than ten minutes, and the rest were disqualified within half an hour.

    The line was long exactly because these kinds of people had lined up in droves.

    "Haa¡­"

    Rakon sighed again.

    "Send the next group in."

    He gave the order to those at the front, and the next ten people were allowed to register their names and enter the facility.

    ''All of thesemon names¡­''

    The information came through immediately, and Rakon was made aware of who each of them was. They had names that were shared by hundreds of thousands or millions of dragons, and they would probably have talent matching thatmonality.

    ''But¡­Void?''

    August Void. It was a name more like a human than a dragon.

    But, as he wrote¡­

    ''Just another water dragon.''

    They were useful in society, but unless they had the Liqua n''s bloodline, they were practically useless in all other ways.

    ''Whatever. I just have to do it. There''s only three days left at this point.''

    His job was almost over.

    So, he weed in the participants as he had done a hundred times before.

    "This test is simple!"

    He went straight to the point. The theatrics had already be too tiring to keep up.

    "First things first, we will release a True Dragon Aura on your bodies. If you cannot withstand it, then you do not deserve a chance to test for qualifications."

    It began immediately.

    A pressurized chamber opened on the other side of the room, and the aura trapped within was instantly released.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    It wasn''t an Ancient Dragon''s aura. Suppressing these youths with power couldn''t test their talent in the slightest.

    Instead, it was the pure aura of a Holy Dragon. Its suppression was exerted through bloodline, not strength.

    Draconic talent was directly linked to bloodline. Even if they weren''t from a Holy lineage, the blood of those dragons with talent would always lead back to a powerful ancestor in the past.

    Bloodline suppression would rouse the blood hidden within them and give them the strength to resist.

    However, if that blood wasn''t present, or if it wasn''t dense enough, then they would fail without a doubt.

    ''Talent is the most crucial differentiator between us and them.''

    Someone of Rakon''s level was already unreachable for most of thosemon dragons.

    ''As for those like Xaria Ignis? These people probably can''t evenprehend someone who reached 4th ss at just fifteen, could they?''

    That was like a human reaching that level as a toddler.

    Rakon had already stopped paying attention.

    Ten people had entered. He had already heard three buzzers, signifying that there were only seven remaining.

    ''As expected¡­''

    Three more buzzers sounded within ten minutes. When another ten passed, there were only three participants remaining.

    Rakon waited as he''d waited every day for months. He closed his eyes and indulged himself in random thoughts as he waited for half an hour to pass so he could call in the next group.

    But¡­

    ''Has it not been thirty minutes?''

    It certainly felt like it.

    "Say, how long has it been?"

    He turned to the woman next to him, an assistant who was helping him with his duties.

    "It has been almost an hour," she answered in a monotone voice.

    "An hour?!"

    Rakon shot to his feet and rushed to a nearby railing. He was several tens of meters off the ground on a suspended balcony, but he could see the field below clearly.

    There was one boy on his knees. He wouldn''tst much longer.

    However, thest two, a boy and a girl, stood strong; sweating heavily, yet refusing to bend a single knee.

    ''Oh¡­? Oh¡­?''

    "Oh¡­?!"

    Rakon suddenly couldn''t hold his excitement.

    It was true that this was only the first part of the test, but if this was the performance they were showing already¡­

    Rakon grinned.

    ''I can finally shut those pesky brats from the other centers up.''

    With these two kids appearing at thest second, the Arragon facility also had something big to talk about.

    At this moment, that was more important to Rakon than anything else in the world.

 Chapter 1625 Qualifications [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1625 Qualifications [4]</h4>

    VOOOOOM!

    That feeling enveloped all of his other senses.

    For a moment, when the draconic aura was released, it pushed down on his lineage and made him see ck. Within the dark world, it was only him and the dragon the aura was taken from. They stared each other in the eye, and the difference in power immediately became clear to August.

    This was a being he couldn''t touch.

    That fear crept into his heart for the first time ever, and it did mess with his senses. When the trial first started, he was almost one of the first people to kneel.

    However, he felt a small vibration in his chest.

    It spread, reaching the tips of his extremities and flowing up into his brain.

    ''Dad¡­?''

    Well, not quite. The feeling did originate from the artifact Damien gave him to temporarily hide his lineage away from the world, but that wasn''t what spread through his body.

    Rather, that first vibration was Damien''s artifact attempting to silence August''s Azure Dragon aura that was threatening to burst forth to suppress anyone and everyone.

    It didn''t seed.

    August''s blood rushed and roared. It was awakened by the threat to its nobility, and it refused to go back to sleep until that unworthy peasant was shown the difference between heaven and earth.

    The Azure Dragon was a mighty dragon. Those of their species were never cowardly, never willing to back down, and always looking for a fight to prove their worth.

    They were the rulers of the seas, the rulers of all water in existence. At their beck and call was a force that many couldn''t even hope toprehend.

    Naturally, the Azure Dragon who created this power, Qinglong, was a domineering man in his youth.

    And August was being pushed to act the same.

    His bloodline screamed in his ears, urging him to turn this entire testing facility to dust. It ordered him to subjugate the dragons around him and establish his rule.

    However, August refused.

    ''That isn''t my way.''

    He respected his ancestor, but they were different people. He was willing to use those traits to his advantage when he needed to, but he would never be ruled by them.

    He stared into that dragon''s soul, the one who tried to suppress him.

    And though he didn''t choose to release his aura, though he reigned in the bloodline that was threatening to go wild, he didn''t stand down.

    ''This is not a battle of power.''

    If his bloodline believed he could tear this ce down with his own power, then strength wasn''t the key to passing this trial.

    ''Instead¡­is it potential that you want to see?''

    The dragon didn''t answer him. He was, after all, a mere projection created in August''s mind to replicate the dragon who created it.

    But August was sure of his thoughts.

    He was sweating. Feeling an aura this majestic was still difficult for someone of his level, but he straightened his knees and his back, staring directly at the pressurized chamber that the aura originated from.

    August controlled his Azure Dragon lineage, letting it flow through his body smoothly and under his fine-tuning. That was the solution he needed to find.

    The instant he managed to achieve a level of dominance over his own lineage, the one he was facing faded into the background as if it never existed.

    The rest was easy work.

    August watched the people around him intently and made sure to match his exertion level to theirs, at least in appearance.

    He couldn''t make the judges too suspicious. That was something Damien had warned him about countless times, and even if he hadn''t, August wasn''t the type to crave unnecessary attention.

    ''Ancestor almost died too many times because he showed off his power without consideration.''

    Their differing personalities allowed August to see not only the good, but also the bad parts of his ancestor.

    While it seemed like this went against Qinglong''s attention, that wasn''t the case.

    Rather, wasn''t the exact reason he left behind his memories to make sure that his descendants would see his errors and learn from his mistakes?

    August''s acting was top-notch. Thirty minutes went by, and an hour passed soon after.

    Most others had already dropped out, including the boy who was in front of him.

    Only he and another girl remained.

    ''She¡­isn''t she the one I cut in front of?''

    It was a wild coincidence.

    The brown-haired girl was obviously an earth dragon. If it wasn''t because of her hair color, then it was because of the stance she took to withstand the iing aura.

    Her legs were at shoulder-width and her knees were slightly bent, giving her a level of stability that August didn''t have when he was standing straight.

    ''Oh¡­?''

    She wasn''t using mana, but her stance itself seemed to do something special.

    ''Is it because she''s using a stance that coincides with her element?''

    If earth was stubborn and stable, then water was flexible and adaptable.

    ''If I changed my stance¡­''

    August decided to try it. He calmed his lineage down so it couldn''t help him resist the pressure, and he aimed for a more fluid stance that allowed him to meld into the aura and redirect its energy elsewhere.

    ''Da- I mean, woah!''

    August felt the opposing lineage in its full glory for the first time. It was heavy, mountainous almost. It felt like a peak that was impossible to climb, urging people to give up the notion before even trying.

    However, August was not perturbed. He was going to try regardless of what it said.

    It took a second for him to adapt, since he''d stopped using the easiest solution, but he managed to find his groove soon enough.

    He didn''t move much, but he made slight adjustments when he needed to, and he circted his mana to change the way his body reacted to the force.

    And just as he managed to get a grasp of it¡­

    p!

    A single p resounded from the suspended balcony, and the pressurized doors mmed shut.

    The remaining aura in the facility gradually diminished, allowing August and the brown-haired girl to rx.

    "Mnia Achen, August Void¡­congrattions! You are the only two who will move on to the next test!"

    Rakon''s voice echoed in their ears, causing them to look at each other.

    August grinned.

    "Congrattions," he said.

    "You too," Mnia responded, somewhat coldly.

    "Harsh¡­" August whispered under his breath, shrugging his shoulders.

    Well, for now, they werepetitors, so it made sense.

    ''More importantly¡­''

    August watched as a corner of the training facility changed. Two massive chunks of stone rose from the ground, evidently for the "next test" that the instructor had mentioned.

    His eyes narrowed in response.

    ''So it''s going to be boring.''

    He could already tell. Until he entered the actual heir wars, he wouldn''t find anything interesting.

    ''They''re underestimating us.''

    Because they weren''t from the Holy ns¡­? Because they weremoners¡­?

    ''Bullshit.''

    August was aware of his privilege. He knew that his talent was also provided by a Holy lineage, but that didn''t change his stance.

    ''All dragons deserve a chance at excellence.''

    Their species was one that was proud and great.

    And even if his own advantages were provided by lineage, he wanted to find a way.

    A way for all dragons to reach the same heights that he could.

 Chapter 1626 Qualifications [5]

    Chapter 1626 Qualifications [5]

    The next trial was pretty much exactly what August expected.

    He and Mnia were given ten minutes to rest and recuperate before they were led to the rocks that appeared on the other side of the facility.

    "The next few tests are just to find the baseline of your strength. As long as you can reach the minimum required level, you will immediately be slotted to participate in the elimination round," Rakon said, exining to the two young geniuses.

    "Excuse me," August said, raising his hand.

    "What is the elimination phase?"

    Rakon''s brow raised slightly.

    "Well, it''s not surprising that you don''t know. Surprisingly enough, we''ve had over a hundred young talents pass the qualification phase. The heir wars allow anyone with enough potential the chance to be the Dragon Emperor, but that is only on paper."

    "Actually, nobody was expecting a number like this," he continued honestly.

    "Usually, we only have two or threemoners pass. I don''t know why the number exploded so much this time, but we really can''t have that many participants in the finopetition."

    "Even from the Holy ns, there are only fifty participants. In order to keep the numbers even and make sure that only the best of the best can take part in the sacred tradition, a new elimination round has been added."

    "It only has one purpose. To weed out those that got lucky and make sure that only the top one hundred geniuses gain a spot in the true battle."

    "I see¡­" August responded as Rakon finished his words.

    It made some sense. If the heir wars usually took months or years with threemoners and a simr number of nobles, then how long would it take if there were a hundred more participants?

    The problem was¡­

    "How is this elimination round formatted?"

    "It doesn''t matter to you yet, but there''s no harm in knowing," Rakon responded. He was more than happy to answer questions from geniuses who had already proven their amazing talent.

    "It''ll be simple, since nobody wants to waste more time. The lot of you who pass will be ced in an arena together. Simply put, you will fight until only fifty of you remain, and those fifty will proceed to the true heir wars."

    "Now," Rakon said, moving the conversation along.

    "Allow me to tell you about your current trials." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    August nodded. There wasn''t much more information he needed, anyway.

    The trial was the most basic of trials. It was used by dragons, humans, and all other races with fists alike.

    The stone was special. Mana was used to make it denser than it should''ve been. As long as August and Mnia could strike it and dig their fist a certain distance into it, they would pass.

    In this case, that distance was an entire foot.

    Dragons were physically stronger than other races, after all. They required more from their young than others did.

    Still, it was manageable.

    Punching stones was one of the most basic physical training exercises that Damien made him do.

    ''How much harder can it be?''

    August and Mnia walked up to their own stones.

    They were not allowed to use mana externally, but anything else was permitted.

    To the side, Mnia took a lowered stance and was obviously nning to use mana to enhance her movements. August could practically see it flowing through her body.

    As for him¡­

    ''I think I''ll do it with just my strength.''

    Mana was¡­

    In August''s mind, mana was not meant for things like this. Mana was purer than this, and far too sacred to be wasted on mere physical enhancement.

    He didn''t need to use it to justify his strength. He didn''t have anything against those who did, nor did he look down on them. They just had different perceptions of power and mana, and that was totally fine.

    ''I would wish her good luck, but she''d probably just re at me.''

    Scenes shed through August''s mind.

    BOOM!

    The powerful force of his father''s punches when they sparred.

    Damien practiced technique, but wild strength was more his forte. When he struck, power would be emitted regardless of what kind of form he used.

    It was an efficient type of fighting that allowed him to attack from any angle while maintaining the same amount of power.

    August didn''t fight with the same wild style, but to say he wasn''t inspired would be wrong. The ability to distribute strength that Damien had was ideal for August.

    He pulled his body back and got into position. His fist was at his side, as he wasn''t yet ready to strike.

    He closed his eyes and prepared himself. Since there was an elimination round, he needed to stand out as a top seed before it started.

    One foot¡­

    Bang!

    From the side, the sound of Mnia''s impact rang out.

    That was thest thing August heard as he tuned out the world.

    His fist and that rock. Those were the only things that mattered.

    His mana was as calm as his breathing. His heartbeat slowed as he entered a state of extreme focus.

    "Huu¡­"

    A single breath.

    He used it to prepare himself.

    He went over the motions in his head, and without an ounce of hesitation, he raised his fist, pulled it back, twisted his body, and flung it forward.

    BANG!

    August felt the rock scraping against his skin as his arm pushed deeper and deeper into its surface.

    By the time it stopped, he didn''t have much arm left. He was practically wedged into the rock''s surface.

    "You¡­"

    August made a silly expression and tried to pull his arm out.

    "This¡­"

    Rakon looked at him with wide eyes.

    "Ah¡­sorry¡­"

    August made a silly expression and tried to pull his arm out.

    "This¡­"

    It didn''t move easily. He pulled at it a few times before putting his foot against the rock and using his entire body weight to drag it out.

    Only then did¨C

    CRACK!

    August''s arm flew out, throwing him back a few steps, and the rock cracked into five pieces, crumbling under its own weight.

    "YOU¡­!"

    Rakon repeated himself, louder this time because his surprise was immense.

    August scratched his head awkwardly.

    ''Am I in trouble?''

    Rakon speed-walked up to him and grabbed his shoulders.

    "Wow! What a showing!"

    His eyes were practically glowing with excitement.

    "Young man, you are one of only three people who managed to crack the stone! Congrattions!"

    "Oh¡­?"

    August nced at the stone and turned his eyes to Mnia''s side. She had also passed, but she had just barely made it past the mark. Nothing extraordinary happened on her side.

    Currently, even she was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression.

    How could anyone expect a mega genius to appear out of nowhere like this?!

    Now, nothing had beenpared.

    There was still a mana test and a mental test before the elimination round, and only if he passed that could he be considered a real genius.

    But to produce physical strength like this, and without the help of mana at that¡­

    ''Hahaha, if he does good, then it''ll do great things for me!''

    Rakon could already see the promotions he''d receive for finding such a talent. He would even have the potential to enter the Ignis n''s hidden territory to train.

    And, if a genius he supported showed good results in the heir wars, he would gain even more.

    ''This is good.''

    He couldn''t wait to see what happened in the next two tests.

    Because if August showed the same performance as he did in the first two¡­

    ''...then supporting him will be my best investment yet.''

    aa7b5e4a913f698f2f85f05ec8699ff287d581d1fb0678555d462be31d6cebaa838707861c0c2589fcbf1281ae15f07a0d9f94aad12d149b7a5fbacbc6dc2ea61123abeeede29de6362e463dd15d8c34

 Chapter 1627 Qualifications [6]

    Chapter 1627 Qualifications [6]

    Mnia sort of faded into the background after that.

    She was still there. She did the remaining two tests along with August, but her genius was overshadowed by his at every step.

    August didn''t mean to do it.

    In thest two tests, he really couldn''t control his results. He just had to pray that he didn''t show anything too crazy.

    Nevertheless, the next two tests measured mana and mind. They were categories that would be incredibly important when the heir wars started, so even before they entered, these geniuses needed to prove that they were worthy.

    August was only 3rd ss. Many of hispetitors were 4th ss. He was also a ten-year-old, the youngest of the young.

    He''d lied about thetter when he registered, because they would probably lose their minds if he was honest, but the first part was already enough of a crutch.

    That was why Rakon needed another reason to put his money on August.

    For a 3rd ss to stand a chance, they needed to be far beyond others of their same caliber.

    The mana test was more about purity than capacity. Capacity would grow for anyone, and since they were dragons, they already had an unreasonable amount of space to house their energy. Dragons were inherently expected to haverge mana capacities. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    To them, purity mattered more. It told of how a genius treated mana, and what kind of work they''d done to maintain it.

    August was particrly skilled in this facet.

    He had been enamored with the energy since young, and it was the first thing he learned even when he didn''t have any thoughts of training.

    Mana purity was hard to achieve formoners. Since they didn''t have the necessary means to purify the mana on their own, they''d often end up with mana as rough as what their environment could provide them.

    August had Damien.

    Not only did he learn how to purify his mana, he was given an environment where the mana was already extremely pure.

    Putting those two facts together with his love for mana, which caused him to constantly interact with it, August''s mana purity didn''t even have to be mentioned.

    The testing device practically danced with spirituality when it received his energy. It was a reaction that only those of the Holy ns could produce, which instantly put August''s identity under question.

    Though, nobody actually addressed the elephant in the room.

    Rakon''s eyes shined.

    ''He''s definitely a hidden noble.''

    Sometimes, people of that caliber had strange desires. Wanting to participate in the heir wars as amoner seemed to align with those actions, usually taken under the excuse of "experiencing life."

    Mnia also thought the same. That was why she didn''t feel too bad about losing horribly to him.

    Her mana was also rtively pure, especially for amoner and an earth dragon, but how could she dream ofing close to a true noble?

    It helped her put aside the negativity brewing in her heart and concentrate on the test, so it didn''t matter to her whether her assumptions were true or false.

    ''He sure doesn''t act like a noble.''

    August was an outgoing person, and he looked to be interested in others purely out of curiosity, not out of some twisted sense of superiority.

    It was hard for nobles to hide their regality. They''d never touched themon air before in their lives, so how could they properly mimic their less fortunate counterparts?

    August''s ability to do so meant that he''d either been living away from his n for a very long time, or¡­he had a disgustingly twisted mind.

    Well, the chance of him not being a noble at all also existed, but nobody considered it in the slightest.

    When August and Mnia finished the mana test, they were led to another chamber within the facility.

    It was arge building, but most of the space wasn''t put to use for testing. Arge percentage was made to hold people, sincerge crowds were expected, and the rest was used for a variety of purposes, since these buildings wouldn''t just be torn down after the testing ended.

    Nevertheless, when they entered the room, Rakon immediately shut the door behind them without another word.

    The two of them were left alone, and before August could say anything, the lights shut off with arge bang.

    The darkness wasplete. He knew that Mnia was nearby, but he couldn''t feel her presence. He knew that his senses were working, but he couldn''t hear anything, smell anything, or attempt to perceive his surroundings at all.

    His mind was isted from all else, and that was when his final trial began.

    A trial of mind, created to see if geniuses could endure the high-risk high-reward environments they''d be thrust into when they joined the heir wars.

    If their minds couldn''t handle the pressure, there was no point in their talent. It would all go to waste regardless of what happened.

    So, this was thest test, and the most important.

    The scenes that shed through August''s mind made him feel like he was really present inside them.

    He could feel the sensations of war as he was enveloped by a battlefield. The sword in his hand was real. He couldn''t control his actions, but he could feel the movement of his muscles as his arm chopped down to kill another enemy.

    Blood was everywhere. Mayhem was everywhere. And, on the other side of it all was a treasure that everyone present wanted for themselves.

    It was all or nothing in this ce.

    And August¡­

    The light in his eyes immediately died.

    His emotions numbed, and his perception of everything changed immensely.

    This scene¡­it wasn''t new to him. Qinglong had been in wars like this thousands of times at the very least. He was always fighting tooth and nail to gain a treasure that he had no business of getting his hands on.

    For those rewards, he risked everything. He killed and killed until he was the only one left, and after attaining what he fought for, he''d go looking for the next battlefield.

    It was a tiring life in August''s opinion, but it was one he''d been forced to live every single night for the past three years.

    This was how he dealt with it.

    The instant he found himself in a life-or-death situation, he turned everything off and embraced his draconic instincts.

    When it was necessary, he''d be the monster he feared when he was a child.

    When he needed to, he could give an entirely new meaning to the name "August Void."

    And that¡­that was the most bittersweet thing for Damien to watch happen, knowing that he couldn''t do a thing to change it.

    It was a mentality a child should never have.

    But, when that child was a dragon, and the Azure Dragon''s sessor at that¡­

    It was a mark of fate, the makings of a ruler.

    It was already obvious that August would participate in the heir wars before he even entered the room.

    But if this was any indication of how that event would go¡­

    Surely, it would be far more significant than anything that had happened in Arulion in many, many years.

 Chapter 1628 Qualifications [7]

    Chapter 1628 Qualifications [7]

    The test ended soon enough.

    August''s qualifications didn''t need to be questioned anymore.

    His mental stability in the midst of chaos was astonishing. No genius at his age should''ve ever been able to show results like those.

    That includes those from the Holy ns.

    A mentality like August''s could only be developed through years of experience inbat. August had put his age down as 18. His body looked young, but just barely mature enough to be passable.

    For him to maintain such stability could only mean that he''d been involved in war for his entire life, from birth to now.

    It was iprehensible, really. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Rakon and his assistants had their jaws wide open as they made sense of the data.

    How much more surprised would they be when they realized that August had never actually been in a fight with another sentient being before?

    None of the other dragons had to go through what he did.

    Ancestral memories were called that because, in a sense, that was what they were. However, they weren''t really "memories."

    They wereprehensions. They were records of techniques and how to use them,ws and how they worked, and the most prideful moments of a draconic ancestor''s life.

    Draconic ancestors were worshiped. They were seen as perfect beings by those descended from them. Naturally, they didn''t want to ruin that perception by showing them their faults.

    Qinglong was different. Because of his unique ideologies and circumstances, August had been raised totally differently than a usual Holy Dragon sessor would be.

    The version of him that existed within his mind waspletely different from the one that existed in the world.

    Someone like Mnia ended up serving as a control. She was as a genius of her and August''s age should''ve been.

    Mnia passed the test. She had her reasons to participate in the heir wars, and she refused to give up before she even caught sight of them.

    Seeing August''s performance motivated her. If someone younger than her could achieve results like those, then what was she doingzing around?

    She put her all into the mental test, but even then, she wasn''t expecting her own reaction.

    She froze up the second she found herself in danger. Her mind was stuck in stasis, and as her illusive body followed her mental state, she was instantly cut in half by an enemy soldier and killed.

    She was revived in the illusion, but her mind didn''t stabilize. Death only shocked her further into her frozen state.

    Over and over again, she died. It was getting to the point where her health was in concern. Rakon and the rest were preparing to pull her out of the situation and mark her attempt as a failure.

    However¡­

    Even she didn''t know how she did it, but she regained control over her mind.

    Her arms shook, reflecting the instability within her, but she raised the sword in her hand regardless.

    She closed her eyes as she swung it down on the approaching enemy, but that only made the feeling of cutting through flesh and bone more palpable.

    Mnia wanted to vomit. She was nauseous beyond belief. Her every instinct told her to give up so she could leave this ce.

    She had never been in this kind of situation. She lived with her family in Arulion. Crime didn''t even exist here, and since she''d never left her district to see the wilnds where other beasts roamed, she''d never fought outside of sparring

    This was her first time seeing so much blood.

    And this was the first time she''d ever killed anyone.

    The assistants in charge of the illusion advised Rakon to pull her out. It was already too dangerous for her to continue. Her results had already been recorded as well.

    But¡­

    "Let her stay."

    He didn''t agree.

    Despite his somewhat nihilistic attitude towards the entire qualification test, Rakon was still an avid supporter of geniuses.

    He could see how Mnia was trying, and he could see that if she was given time, she''d manage to adjust.

    As such, he allowed her to continue, and eventually, she barely passed the standard by the skin of her teeth.

    That was the expected result. No, the expected result was for both of them to fail.

    If they ended up failing the mental test, they still would have been allowed into the elimination round. Mentality could be improved, unlike talent.

    However, both of them passed the test. To differing degrees, of course, but that didn''t change the fact that they both passed.

    ''Among the hundred and fifty that made it to the elimination round, only ten passed the mental test.''

    They were the ones Rakon was most excited to see.

    Yes, he held prejudice againstmoners. That was normal for anyone in his position.

    But when it came to geniuses, his standards were different.

    Plus, he really couldn''t contain his curiosity.

    If someone outside the Holy ns really did win the heir wars¡­

    ¡­what would happen to Arulion?

    It was an exciting prospect.

    And it was more than enough to make a prejudiced man drop his bias.

    ***

    Not everyone really understood what it meant, but a lot of those near the front of the line realized that something was strange when over an hour passed before they were allowed to enter the facility.

    When the line had been moving every ten to thirty minutes before that, it was a pretty obvious change.

    But, there was no way for them to actually know. After all, August and Mnia didn''t exit the facility with the rest of their group, who had been too busy suffering through the wild draconic aura to notice what anyone else was up to.

    There was still an indicator. The fact that only eight people left the facility when ten people went in let others understand that two people had either passed or done something insane.

    Since the former was more possible¡­well, tensions heightened immensely.

    Many were starting to wonder if it was even possible to make it through the qualification test after seeing so many people fail, but the fact that othermoners had passed gave them hope that they''d be able to do the same.

    Whether or not they could was apletely different issue, and it didn''t really matter to August.

    He and Mnia were taken to a room connected to the suspended balcony where Rakon was when they first entered the testing grounds.

    They didn''t need to be there. Their names had been registered for the elimination round.

    There was indeed some information they needed to know before they left, but it definitely didn''t take enough time for them to relocate and sit down for the conversation.

    Nevertheless, Rakon had brought them here with an offer, and he didn''t want them to leave until they''d at least heard it.

    "I will be honest with the two of you," he said, looking at the two youths who sat on the sofa across from him.

    "I want to sponsor the two of you."

    What did that mean?

    How would it benefit them?

    Rakon had prepared a speech to exin those things long ago, when other facilities started weing real geniuses.

    However, this was his first time actually being able to give it.

    He was quite excited for this moment, as he had been since the two of them arrived.

    August, on the other hand¡­

    He didn''t have any ns of epting that sponsorship. He lost interest in this conversation the moment it started.

    But, since he was already here¡­

    ''Well, I guess I can at least hear him out.''

    Forming rtionships with others was never a bad thing.

    And perhaps Rakon''s offer could actually provide something valuable, even if he gave it up.

 Chapter 1629 Qualifications [8]

    Chapter 1629 Qualifications [8]

    What Rakon said was rtively standard in terms of sponsorship. He didn''t want to invest too much into geniuses he''d just met, but he also wanted to give off a friendly impression in case they turned out to be more than they already were.

    What he offered them was simple.

    "Resources."

    "I can give you ess to resources that you can''t imagine right now, and I can take you to training locations that will easily boost your strength. Plus, having a connection to the Scorch n and Ignis n could never be bad, right?"

    There was a more detailed exnation, but he needed to hook them first. He was ready to give them what they needed to be great dragons even if they didn''t win the heir wars.

    "And all I ask for in return is your cooperation and hospitality when it''s all over."

    He wasn''t giving them a free contract. At the end of it, they would owe him a favor that would probably outweigh the level of aid he provided them.

    ''That''s how this always goes, right?''

    Qinglong was captured into very against his will, but after he was purchased, he was given a simr deal.

    He was told that he could work off his very and earn his freedom back as long as he promised his owner a favor in the future.

    However, when he approached that man with the money, he was met with betrayal.

    It was expected, but it was still a humiliating moment for the young Azure Dragon.

    Deals like these were presented often in the world. Young geniuses were easy to scam.

    Not all of them were nefarious, and Rakon definitely didn''t seem like he had nefarious intentions, but he was not an individual entity.

    ''He''s directly connecting this to his n. When that favores, it won''t be to him, it will be to them as a whole.''

    And at that point, nobody could say what they''d be asked to do.

    Rakon talked for several minutes before he was finished. As he looked to the two youths for their answers, August sighed.

    "I''ll have to decline your offer, but I do appreciate it," he said.

    Unfortunately, neither his father nor his ancestor were any good at pleasantries, but he did his best to sound friendly.

    "Can you tell me why?" Rakon asked, his brow raised.

    August thought for a moment before answering.

    "I think¡­I want to try and fight on my own. Maybe after I''ve established myself, we can talk about sponsorships again."

    "I see¡­"

    Rakon frowned for a second before fixing his expression.

    "What about you, then?"

    Rakon looked towards Mnia, who was silent with her brows furrowed.

    ''It looks like she has a lot more to consider than I do.'' August thought.

    A woman hade to his side and subtly given him a cue to exit the room.

    He immediately rejected it, so it was obvious that he''d never even considered the offer. If Mnia was going to seriously entertain it, it was best for her to have a morefortable environment with less prying eyes.

    August didn''t mind.

    He followed the woman out of the room and down an elevator that connected to the suspended balcony. He was shown to a door on the opposite side of the building from where he entered and escorted off the premises.

    ''They''re sinct.''

    August was given all the necessary information about the elimination round on his way out, along with an emblem that he could use to identify himself when the time came.

    ''I have a week.''

    In a few days, the qualification round would end. Only a few days after that, they''d be sent straight to the elimination round to duke it out for their final ces. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''They''re really rushing it.''

    It wasn''t just inside the facility. The entire process for admittingmoners into the heir wars waspressed into the least possible amount of time.

    ''It''s probably because the heir wars should already be underway. Was there a dy of some kind?''

    August shrugged. He didn''t know anything, so there was no point in trying to guess.

    ''More importantly, I now have a week of free time.''

    Barring the time he used for regr training, he could do whatever he wanted for the next seven days.

    ''And¡­Dad left me a lot of money.''

    August''s eyes shined.

    ''It wouldn''t hurt, right¡­?''

    After only recently entering society, August had been focused on doing what he had to do. That was mainly because he didn''t have much time left to take the qualification test.

    However, his father had been especially stern in telling him.

    "Don''t overwork yourself. If you want to explore and rx your mind, then do it without regrets."

    It was a little ironic that Damien was being so serious when he was telling August to have fun, but it was just a reflection of his strong sentiment.

    August looked into the city separated from him by arge green field.

    ''Then, let''s not waste any time.''

    There was too much to see and too little time.

    So August wasn''t going to let even a single second go wasted!

    ***

    Without an ounce of overstatement, August spent the rest of the day eating.

    Nobody couldprehend his voracious appetite. Damien managed to feed him solely because he had the power to create animals out of mana, but anyone else would''ve suffered immensely.

    That was exactly the reason Damien gave August so much money.

    He predicted this scenario.

    August went to every food stall he saw, sat down at eight different restaurants, and practically drained several vendors of everything they had to offer in the span of 6 hours.

    By the time night fell, August was in some random part of the city that he couldn''t even find on a map.

    As he nced around, there were only slightly rundown buildings everywhere, most of which were houses.

    ''And¡­I''m lost.''

    He had no idea where he was.

    He followed his nose here because he smelled something delectable, expecting there to be arge restaurant in the vicinity.

    But after an hour of searching, he realized that the smell wasing from someone''s house, and at that point, he had to give up on his quest.

    August scratched his head awkwardly.

    ''Well, I have to make my way back to the city so I can find somewhere to stay¡­''

    Where was the city? He had no idea, but that was his goal.

    August continued to walk around. He followed his nose and his eyes, searching for signs of more active areas.

    He figured that the city would still be alive at this time of night, unlike where he was now.

    However, he didn''t end up finding what he wanted.

    His path took him further outside of the city, and the houses around him became more and more decrepit.

    Slumping down against a nearby wall, August sighed again.

    ''Now I''m foodless and homeless.''

    The outside world was great, but he was also not equipped to deal with it yet.

    ''Life was definitely a lot easier when Dad was here.''

    August didn''t think about it when he was out and about, upying himself with activity after activity, but now that he was alone and stuck with his thoughts, loneliness started to dawn on him.

    ''An entire week, huh¡­''

    He didn''t think he''d be able to take it as easily as he originally expected.

    ''I guess I''ll just go train.''

    He didn''t want to sleep on the ground, but he didn''t want to waste the night searching for the city. It would be easier in the daytime.

    His best option was to just spend the night practicing. He could worry about his problemster.

    But perhaps it was because he was a lucky person.

    Just as he had that thought, he saw the shadow of a person in the distance.

    ''...is that?''

    It was a familiar face.

    ''My savior¡­!''

    August rushed over without hesitation.

    They''d only met briefly, and they''d only met today¡­

    ¡­yet, right now, Mnia Achen was his only hope of finding shelter.

 Chapter 1630 Curiosity [1]

    Chapter 1630 Curiosity [1]

    "Hey!"

    August''s voice echoed through the quiet streets.

    "Hey, wait up!"

    Mnia reacted to it. There was no way she couldn''t considering how obvious he was. However, in the darkness, the first thing she registered was an unknown shadow approaching her rapidly, so she naturally took a defensive stance.

    She was holding a bag of groceries, but she''d already prepared to drop it if things got ugly.

    "Woah, rx! Remember me?"

    August slowed down and let her eyes adjust so she could see him.

    "You are¡­the boy from before?" Mnia said, somewhat rxing but keeping her guard up.

    They didn''t know each other. There were loads of things August could do to her right now that she wouldn''t want, especially if he really was a hidden noble.

    "That''s right. My name is August. We met at the testing facility earli¨C."

    "What do you want?"

    Mnia cut him off and got straight to the point. She was too close to home to allow any random man to take up her time.

    Nothing could be allowed to go awry.

    ''Why is she wary?''

    August understood mostly, but he didn''t understand why she''d instantly assume that he was trying to do something nefarious.

    ''It must have something to do with her own experience.''

    Her life was different from his, so they reacted to things differently. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He would probably be curious first and waryter, but Mnia suppressed her curiosity and stayed cautious of everything around her.

    "Um, well, I don''t know how to say this without embarrassing myself, but¡­I''m lost. Would you mind pointing me towards the city?"

    August was frank. Obviously, she didn''t want to entertain him, so he was fine with just getting directions and leaving.

    Mnia looked him up and down.

    His clothes were dirty since he''d been sitting around on the unpaved rock that was the roads in this area. He had dark circles under his eyes, whether from worry or tiredness.

    He really didn''t look the same as he did when they first met, though his demeanor didn''t change at all.

    "Before that, how did you even get over here?"

    Disregarding her first instinct, Mnia asked about his situation.

    "I don''t really know? I was just walking, then I smelled something so I came this way, and then I kept walking, and somehow I ended up here."

    "Somehow?"

    "Yeah, somehow."

    "Ha."

    Mnia almost couldn''t believe it. This ce was three hours outside of the city. There was nothing nearby except other decrepit houses and the nd livelihoods of themon people that often went ignored.

    Was it even possible toe to this ce unless one was born here?

    Mnia didn''t think so, but everything about August told her that he wasn''t lying to her.

    ''Is he naive or is he just stupid?''

    She couldn''t tell.

    But with his attitude¡­

    "If you go back to the city now, you won''t find anything good."

    "Crime" didn''t exist here. Dragons didn''tmit "crimes."

    However, a draconic society was still a draconic society. It was a ruthless ce where the strong prevailed and the weak were suppressed.

    "Crime" didn''t exist because things that could be deemed as crimes elsewhere weren''t the same here.

    If one was strong, one could rob and steal as one pleased. If one was strong, the will of others didn''t matter.

    If one attacked someone weaker, they wouldn''t be punished. Unless, of course, someone stronger than them didn''t like what they were doing.

    If someone like August, who looked like a fallen noble, entered the city at a time like this, there was no way he''d see the sun unscathed.

    August didn''t know this, so he was a bit confused.

    ''What am I supposed to do if I can''t make it back? Sleep on the streets?''

    Wasn''t it a bit rude for¨C

    "Haa¡­"

    Mnia sighed before he could finish that train of thought.

    "Come with me."

    She started walking without another word.

    August looked around, as if he was asking the world if she was talking to him.

    But seeing her continue to walk whether he followed her or not, he just stopped asking questions and rushed to catch up with her.

    Mnia led him through the maze-like streets of this residential district until they reached one of the many monotonous residences that outsiders would never be able to tell apart.

    She only turned around to face him again when they reached the door.

    "If you say anything out of line, you''re gone. If you do anything even slightly suspicious, you''re gone. Just be mindful, sleep, and leave in the morning. You can find a hotel or something tomorrow."

    August''s eyes widened slightly.

    "Wait¡­you''re letting me stay here?"

    It was a sudden proposal, but not an unweed one. August would much rather sleep for free than pay for a hotel, especially if he had to spend hours returning to the city before he could even find one.

    "Just shut up and follow me."

    Mnia sounded like she didn''t want to deal with this at all, but¡­

    She was the one who brought him, wasn''t she?

    He asked for directions to the city, but she chose to show kindness instead.

    ''She has it in her, but her circumstances don''t allow her to be kind, huh?''

    August read it almost immediately.

    ''Is this the norm around here?''

    He was forced to wonder as he epted Mnia''s terms and followed her into the house.

    Immediately, he was blessed with warmth.

    It was quite cold outside. Arulion''s climate was varied and ever-changing. It had six seasons, and currently, it was the equivalent of winter in this sector of the kingdom.

    August was more resistant to cold than other dragons, who were already more resistant to cold than other races. It was one of the many benefits of an Azure Dragon lineage.

    Still, the warmth was much appreciated. The instant he entered the house, he felt like he''d been healed.

    "Sit over there."

    Mnia''s voice drew August''s attention. She used her head to motion over to a small chair, one of only a few in the house.

    Aside from the warmth, there really wasn''t much.

    A kitchen, a table where four people could sit, another small chair and a worn center table that constituted the "living room," and a stone staircase leading to the second floor.

    August didn''tment on it, instead opting to just do as he was told.

    Mnia went to the kitchen with her groceries and started putting them away.

    "I''ll set up some nkets for you, so you can sleep where you are right now. No matter what, the upstairs area is off-limits. If you even think about it, I''ll kill you."

    She still hadn''t looked at him more than a few times. Mnia was putting in effort to make sure this was just a random act of kindness, not something he should take for granted.

    And August epted those sentiments.

    He didn''t n to impose on her for longer than he needed to, and her¡­family circumstances had nothing to do with him.

    ''I can''t help but be curious, though.''

    Mnia''s attitude towards the upstairs area was far sharper than anything else she''d said.

    ''Her motivation¡­could it be?''

    August looked at the ceiling, but he didn''t think too hard about it.

    In the end, if Mnia didn''t want to share her life, he wasn''t going to press about it.

    He was just thankful that she decided to show him kindness.

    And for that, he had to reciprocate in kind.

 Chapter 1631 Curiosity [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1631 Curiosity [2]</h4>

    Nothing much happened that night. Mnia finished putting away her groceries and then brought him some sheets and nkets to create afortable space in the living room.

    After that, she went upstairs, and August was left on the ground floor by himself.

    It wasn''t as if that meant anything. All he did was set up his bed and lie down. His eyes were already getting heavy, whether because of the energy he''d spent throughout the day or all the food he ate.

    ''To sleep tonight and figure everything else out tomorrow¡­''

    August sighed to himself, staring into the darkness above.

    Were there really six more days worth of things for him to do?

    ''I don''t know, but I''m definitely going to find out.''

    He didn''t want to spend the next six days wallowing in loneliness. If he couldn''t find something to do, then he''d create something to do.

    A positive mindset. It was August''s best quality.

    As his eyes closed and his consciousness faded into a dreand, staying optimistic was his main priority.

    ***

    August expected to wake up and leave before Mnia even noticed, but he waspletely wrong.

    His morning was not fated to be a quiet one, and he¡­was not the first one awake in the house.

    August''s consciousness returned to him not because he was ready to wake up, but because he felt something strange.

    ''What¡­is that?''

    He squinched his eyes as light flooded into his eyelids. Suddenly, the feeling of something poking at his cheeks brought himpletely awake.

    ''What?''

    He instantly shot up. His eyes opened and he looked down to his side.

    "Ah!"

    His sudden action surprised the being who was poking at his cheek, causing them to jump back.

    August scratched his head in confusion as he looked around, but he wasn''t seeing wrong.

    There wasn''t one, but two.

    They had jumped back together, and they currently stood a few feet away from him and stared at him with a strong curiosity in their eyes.

    "You guys are¡­"

    They were small creatures, roughly three feet long, who looked more like lizards than dragons. They had small wings attached to their backs and tiny horns that indicated that they were something more, but their general figures were far different from the dragons August had ever seen.

    "They must be earth dragons."

    August smiled. He looked around to see if Mnia was anywhere, but it seemed she was still upstairs.

    "Nice to meet you," he said, addressing the two young dragons.

    Their eyes twinkled as if they understood his words, and though they were still a bit suspicious, they inched forward as their curiosity took hold of them.

    ''They must be young. Three or four years old at most.''

    August was born in his human form. It was because of Damien''s influence. Other dragons would always be born as dragons and would first transform into their humanoid forms when they were around ten years old.

    August was an outlier, but that was one of the first things he understood in life, so it didn''t surprise him.

    The two young dragons hesitated to y because they didn''t know if he was friendly. It was easy to sense from their movements.

    ''Well, she told me not to do anything suspicious¡­''

    But, wasn''t it fine to entertain them a little before he left?

    August''s smile widened. He activated his Azure Dragon Bloodline just slightly, allowing his horns and scales to grow a bit.

    It was just enough for him to have a draconic aura that the children could recognize.

    Their eyes sparkled when they realized that he was like them.

    Young dragons would always have one of two personalities.

    A portion of them would only ever recognize their families. They''d never trust others outside of their lineage until they grew and learned enough.

    The other kind was theplete opposite. They were friendly to any and all dragons, and were generally more inquisitive than anyone else.

    August was a mix of the two, a true outlier, but these kids were obviously thetter.

    The second they felt his aura, their eyes sparkled and they jumped at him, tackling him to the ground.

    "Hahaha!"

    Augustughed at their silliness and entertained them well.

    Since earth dragon children seemed to enjoy wrestling and ying physically, he summoned a string of water and waved it around to satiate their curiosity.

    ''They''re like cats.''

    August had never seen a cat before, but he''d seen them in Qinglong''s memory and heard about them from Damien.

    Watching those kids run around and chase the water string made him feel like those stories and memories wereing to life.

    It also reminded him of himself as a child.

    Just as he was fascinated with mana, they were enamored by any and all new things. They wanted to explore and learn, and that made August feel like they''d achieve great things in life.

    ''Ah¡­''

    Perhaps that would be difficult considering their starting point.

    August suddenly remembered where he was.

    In a ce like this, where even the architecture made one feel like there was no such thing as hope, how were kids meant to dream?

    How were they meant to grow up and believe that they could be something outside of their circumstances?

    And even if they did, what kind of opportunities could they have to make their way out?

    ''This is a problem.''

    Dragons weren''t meant to live like this. There was no justification that could exin these circumstances.

    ''It really is that bad.''

    He hadn''t seen those parts of Qinglong''s memories. He''d only heard Damien''s exnation.

    August trusted his father above anything else, of course, but he also wanted to see the corruption in the kingdom for himself.

    This was the start of it.

    He''d only been here for a day, but he''d already found an issue rooted in the very core of this society.

    ''I guess it really is my job to change it.''

    August shook his head.

    ''No, not just me.''

    He alone wouldn''t be enough to turn a rotten society into something magical.

    ''I need people. Allies and subordinates. People who will see this thing to the end with me.''

    He really didn''t want to do it alone.

    A passion was reignited in his heart.

    He''d always wanted to be a hero, but he didn''t really know what it meant.

    He wanted to save people, but he never really understood how.

    He was young and ignorant. He had dreams without any substance, dreams that were impossible to achieve.

    He was older now. Not fully mature yet, but enough to understand what he actually could do with his own power.

    ''My goal isn''t something that needs to be held off until I''m on the throne.''

    His goals needed to be slowly achieved as he aimed for it, and when he finally took that spot back and honored his ancestor, he could set everything in stone so that Arulion would be a real sanctuary for dragons.

    August clenched his fist as he reaffirmed himself.

    The string of water he''d summoned burst and sshed all over the two earth dragon children, which ended up being even more fun for them.

    And, as if on cue, Mnia walked down the stairs and froze at the sight she was seeing.

    Her eyes turned cold, and when August saw her, he immediately knew.

    ''I''m in trouble, aren''t I?''

 Chapter 1632 Curiosity [3]

    Chapter 1632 Curiosity [3]

    "Out."

    Mnia wasn''t ying around.

    The instant she saw her those children ying with the stranger she''d made the mistake of letting into their home, she saw red.

    "I¨C"

    "Out."

    August didn''t get a chance to talk.

    He stood up slowly with his hands up, not saying a single word.

    Mnia was too defensive. He knew he didn''t do anything, and she probably knew it as well, but she had no choice but to adopt this kind of attitude.

    Why¡­?

    ''I''ll have to find out.''

    He wasn''t going to push it. Whatever the case was, she was defensive to protect those around her.

    These earth dragon children were obviously very important to her. If this was what she had to do to protect them, then he had nothing to say about it.

    August walked to the door and out of the house in one move.

    He could hear the sad screeching of those small dragons who wanted him to stay, but he put it out of his mind.

    As he stood there, he heard the door open behind him and turned around.

    "Mnia¡­?"

    Why had she followed him outside?

    She didn''t make him wait long for the answer. In a single motion, she stuffed a piece of paper into his hand and then returned to the house. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Oh¡­"

    August opened it up, finding a map that led him back to the city.

    He smiled slightly.

    ''Well, at least I didn''t leave a bad impression.''

    His mood had slightly improved despite his sudden eviction.

    ''I know what I''m going to do for the next six days.''

    He wanted to find out why Mnia was the way she was.

    Not by stalking her or anything of the sort, but by understanding the problems of the people and the environment they were truly in.

    ''She said not to go out at night, but that''s pretty much all I''m going to do.''

    August walked away, following the map he was given.

    The city had a lot more to offer than just food and entertainment.

    It was a hub for people. A ce that contained both questions and answers. There, August could start his quest for the truth.

    ''It''ll be a good week.''

    A positive mindset.

    Since he was practically throwing himself into muddy waters with everything he hoped to attain¡­

    ¡­he really, really had to rely on that positive mindset.

    ***

    That day was spent well.

    August made his first priority when he got into the city finding a ce to stay. Once he got himself a room in a seemingly good hotel, he went back out into the world.

    To find information, what were the best ces to visit?

    Some cities had information brokers that made the job easy, but Arulion didn''t have that kind of organization.

    The noble circle andmoner circle stayedpletely disconnected. Not a single person broke that tradition or followed money, not even those from the Aureat n who treasured money.

    August had to do it the hard way.

    He traveled the city again, visiting a lot of the same spots he saw the day before.

    However, this time, he used the perception-blocking artifact.

    When people weren''t aware of his presence, when people thought there was nobody around, what would they talk about?

    That was what August wanted to know, and he spent the entire day trying to answer that question.

    ''I didn''t get much, but¡­''

    The people were not happy with their lives. That much was certain.

    ''For the most part, nobody talks about the nobles. They justin about the city being cramped and changing into something worse.''

    They didin about a few policies, but the problem was that they didn''t act like dragons at all. They''dpletely forgotten their origins, and as they''d conformed to their lives, their original instincts were killed over and over again.

    A majority of the citizens had been born into these circumstances, so they didn''t question anything. They didn''t even realize that their daily lives in their human forms were already wrong.

    They were dragons, not humans!

    Unfortunately, these dragons without strong lineages didn''t receive ancestral memories, since their ancestors weren''t strong enough to leave them.

    Was it still a problem if they didn''t realize they were suffering? If they were happy, did their lives need to be changed?

    That wasn''t a question for August to answer yet, but it was one he''d be forced to ask himself in the future.

    There was no way to bring them out of their current plight easily.

    And, though it seemed like a shame, a portion of them would likely reject change entirely, even if it was for the sake of a better future.

    ''It''ll definitely be a long road. Maybe even a life-long thing.''

    For now, he had all of the information he needed from people. But, he did have one thing he still needed to do.

    ''I remember the way now.''

    He made his way to Mnia''s neighborhood one more time and slipped something under the door.

    He left without making trouble and it seemed she wasn''t home to notice, so the story of that gift could be saved for another time.

    It was a six-hour detour, but it was one he needed to make, especially since he wanted to explore these neighborhoods again, intentionally this time.

    August once again found himself wandering the streets at night.

    He was walking back to the city, but he wasn''t taking the same route he came through.

    ''I¡­'' August thought to himself.

    ''I got luckyst time.''

    He was instantly met with more activity than he expected.

    There were people everywhere. They weren''t doing much, but they were standing around as if they were waiting for something to happen.

    When August, a rtively skinny boy who didn''t look like he belonged, arrived, their eyes immediately darted to him.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    They were obviously scanning him, trying to determine if he was worth going after.

    ''And we''re still in the outskirts.''

    There weren''t many people out at night in these parts, so what were they possibly waiting for?

    ''Ah¡­''

    August had a realization.

    ''It''s me.''

    He hade the night before. Others had probably seen him. When they noticed that he''de back¡­

    ''It looks like I identally made myself a target.''

    His guard went up instantly. He could sense their hostility from a mile away, so there was no need to doubt it.

    ''Well, it''s nice to have some practice before the elimination round.''

    He needed to see how fights with normal peoplepared to fights with his father.

    ''Though¡­''

    August smiled a little.

    ''...I really can''t sense danger at all.''

    They looked threatening, but that was about it. If they actually fought, August was confident they wouldn''t stand a chance.

    But, just like every theory, that one had to be tested.

    And when would there be a better opportunity to do so than now?

    August stepped forward, and five of those dragons who prowled the night stood up.

    They were obviously going to fight, but it was already a bit of a shame for those nameless dragons.

    After all, the man they were beingpared to was none other than Damien Void.

    Even Gods would feel inferior at that point.

    So what were they to do?

 Chapter 1633 Corruption [1]

    Chapter 1633 Corruption [1]

    Was there a point in watching the fight?

    It would definitely be interesting to see how August fought, since he didn''t have many opportunities to show off his skill, but it would definitely make more of an impact to see how he responded to geniuses on his own level.

    These dragons, while they were strong enough to run the streets, they didn''t hold a candle to people who could participate in the heir wars.

    If they got on the bad side of any of those geniuses, they''d lose more than just their lives.

    There was a reason why they stayed in the outskirts and preyed on the weak. They didn''t have any sort of standing in the ocean that was the real world, so they had to rely on the hierarchy they''d created for themselves in the small pond they inhabited.

    For August, they were just target practice.

    His physical ability alone was enough to take care of them. Considering that Damien was a closebat enjoyer and he taught August how to fight, August''s martial ability was undoubted.

    His elemental ability, his talent in utilizing mana, was what he wanted to practice. Not because it was worse than his martial talent, but because that was where he wanted to specialize.

    It was obvious since he was a child how much August loved mana. Naturally, he was going to be someone who used it as his mainbat technique.

    The offensive capabilities of water needed to be discovered by its users. For most, this meant using it to create projectiles.

    Qinglong needed to find different methods. He was a dragon. Naturally, his techniques would reflect his lineage.

    He started with the basic skills of a dragon and evolved them to work with his element. From there, he expanded and expanded until he and an entire repertoire of attacks that nobody outside of his species would ever be able to utilize.

    Now, August had those skills as a basis to create his own unique arsenal.

    It wasn''t necessary, but it was part of his ambition.

    A few shady dragons in some random street far away from any prying eyes were perfect for testing and learning what needed to be changed.

    That was the only worth they had for August.

    He didn''t view their battle as any more than it was.

    There were five of them against only one of him. As they focused on their obvious advantages, August surprised them by attacking first.

    A stream of water appeared on the ground, unseen in the darkness, and when it reached them, it stabbed upward and incapacitated one of the thugs.

    August shot forward before the rest could react. He grabbed another one''s face and mmed water into his orifices and pores.

    The scream that followed was¡­not pleasant. Anyone who saw the battle and instantly turned their eyes away.

    It was confirmed within a second that August wasn''t a target. He wasn''t someone they should''ve touched.

    These five would be the only ones facing consequences because they were the only five stupid enough to do something without confirming anything about their opponent.

    August did everything in one motion.

    All of hisbat against other sentient beings had just been against Damien, but that was only a part of his training.

    More than sparring, he was out in the mountains fighting the creatures Damien summoned to challenge him.

    They weren''t just wolves and pigs anymore, either. They were powerful creatures with more than enough ability to fatally injure him.

    August had be used to fighting against packs. He was always standing with six or more enemies on the other side, and to properly defeat them without being defeated himself, he was forced to learn how to maneuver in battle.

    August''s real power came out when he was faced with multiple enemies. The fluidity of his movements could be used to their full potential in such a setting.

    Thest three of the thugs lost their will to fight when they saw two of their friends fall within a few seconds. Neither of them was dead, but both had serious injuries that wouldn''t heal with a month or two of recovery.

    They already wanted to run, but August had no n to let them.

    The ground dampened, and while the rest had their steps slowed as the dirt became mud, August slid across the water particles on the surface and used them to propel himself forward.

    Two of them were right next to each other. They made it incredibly easy for him.

    August arrived between them and raised his hands.

    Water flowed out and grabbed one of them by the neck. The other was punched in the face. Water rushed into his throat and suffocated him until he passed out, only returning to August''s hands when he was on the ground.

    Thest one was already running.

    He turned on his heel the instant August moved towards his friends and bolted with everything he had.

    Though, August didn''t mind. He was holding the perfect projectile.

    A dragon flew through the air, though not with his own wings. He was manhandled by a water w and whipped into the air on a perfect trajectory to crash into his fleeingrade.

    Neither of them would be incapacitated by an attack like that. It was more than likely that they walked away unharmed.

    Still, August didn''t give chase. It just wasn''t worth it against opponents who''d lost their will to fight.

    His mind had already moved on to different things.

    ''It''s still not right.''

    August found a critical w in his techniques.

    Well, it wasn''t so much of a w as it was a difference.

    ''My techniques are too much like Dad''s.''

    Ever since that fateful day when August was still a young child, Damien had taken special care to make sure he taught August ording to draconic ideologies, only mixing in human ideologies where he felt they were absolutely necessary.

    However, August had always adored his father. He strived to be like him, and due to that, when he developed his fighting style, he subconsciously mimicked him.

    That meant his techniques were more like what a human would use.

    There wasn''t really a problem with this, especially since draconic techniques came out naturally when he was in his true form, but it did lead to a strange predicament.

    August couldn''t use Qinglong''s techniques when he was in his human form, nor could he interpte them into something useful.

    ''I originally thought it would be easier when I''m actually fighting, but that''s not the case.''

    Perhaps he was never destined to follow the same path as his ancestor.

    ''But...will I have to do it all from scratch?''

    August personally experienced how hard it was for Qinglong to create apletely new style. He didn''t want to do the same if he didn''t have to.

    ''Then again, I guess I don''t.''

    Qinglong left a legacy that allowed his descendants to see what an Azure Dragon could do. Damien gave him a unique thought process that allowed him to see the world from many different perspectives.

    With their guidance and experience, August already had something of a path in front of him.

    ''It''s just up to me to define it.''

    In the end, he did gain something useful from his fight.

    His mentality improved, and more importantly, themon street thugs wouldn''ty their hands on him anymore.

    All in all, despite being short and unexciting, it was a fight worth having.

    Now that it was over, August was already back on track.

    He hade here to find out some truths, didn''t he?

    He wasn''t nning to leave until he''d done exactly that. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1635 Corruption [3]

    Chapter 1635 Corruption [3]

    Mnia searched for August for several days before giving up.

    She just couldn''t find him. She wanted to talk to him about many things, but since she couldn''t find the opportunity now, she just had to wait until they saw each other in the elimination round.

    There were many things she could do before then.

    For instance, curing her mother.

    Her mother had fallen ill after having her two younger siblings. It was around the same time that their father died. Ever since then, they''d been living on barely enough money to feed themselves.

    Mnia found out what her mother''s illness was long ago. She also knew where the cure was. However, it was far too expensive for her to afford even if she worked for her entire life.

    Entering the heir wars was ast resort. She believed that her talent could at least get her noticed by a few big shots, who would provide her sponsorships and chances at higher positions where she''d get more pay.

    She was correct. After all, Rakon offered her a sponsorship the moment the qualification test ended.

    She didn''t end up taking it.

    When August left the conversation, the terms changed and became far more demanding. For someone in her position, it was still a great offer, but she decided to wait.

    The elimination round was near. If she made it through, then Rakon''s offer would pale inparison to what she''d receive. If she failed, she would do so while attracting the attention of people who want her talent for more than just the heir wars.

    It was all nned out.

    But¡­in just one day, hadn''t that n been brought to ruin?

    With the gold that August gave her, Mnia could purchase a house in a safer district and cure her mother while still having some left over.

    Considering that this was only a small portion of August''s wealth, one could assume just how much Damien gave him.

    Nevertheless, Mnia could solve the problems that originally led her to participate in the heir wars.

    Yet, she wasn''t nning to withdraw herself from thepetition.

    August gave her a far better starting point, but it wasn''t a long-term solution.

    Her goals hadn''t changed much now that her family was safer and healthier.

    Still, with her newfound hope, she was able to see theingpetition as more than just a money-making opportunity.

    She could focus more on herself and her growth.

    When five days flew by and she found herself in front of a teleportation array that would take her to the location of the elimination round, she was filled not only with stern ambition, but also excitement.

    She wasn''t going to waste the chance she''d been given.

    Nor was she going to let August''s gratitude go unreturned.

    If she did, she wouldn''t be a proud dragon at all.

    ***

    August also stood in front of a teleportation array, though it wasn''t the same one.

    Rakon''s assistants had found him at his hotel early in the morning and led him to that ce.

    The array was located inside of the testing facility, which had, by now, been repurposed as the office of some organization that August wasn''t told the name of.

    "Where''s Mnia?"

    It was the first question he asked when he arrived.

    "She will be taken to a separate array that is more convenient, considering her location."

    There was a bit of disdain in the assistant''s tone when she mentioned the outskirts, which made August frown.

    ''It runs deep indeed.''

    This woman was probably a maid or something in the Scorch n, not someone of high status in the slightest. Even still, she felt superiority over those in the outskirts.

    August didn''t say anything about it. No good woulde from lecturing this one random assistant.

    Instead, he quietly allowed her to lead him to the array and stepped into it.

    Rakon was there as well.

    "Have you thought about my offer since then?" he asked, somewhat hopeful.

    However, August shook his head.

    "It would be nice to have support, but I only came out here so that I can achieve something on my own, so I can''t ept anything of the sort."

    His answer had changed since thest time they met. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Instead of a t-out refusal¡­

    ''...did he just confirm it?''

    August practically told Rakon that he was a hidden genius from a noble n, didn''t he?

    It was a great misunderstanding to uphold since it gave August more freedom to act, so he decided to reinforce it just a little bit. It was a good way to keep Rakon off his back too.

    "I understand," Rakon responded, his eyes brighter than they were a second ago.

    "Then, prepare yourself. You will be teleported shortly. Remember, though you''ll arrive directly inside the arena, do not attack anyone until the horns are blown. That¡­will be a fatal mistake for anyone who makes it."

    Rakon left August onest piece of advice, to which he nodded thankfully.

    To Rakon, if August was a hidden noble, it was impossible to sponsor him. However, since his desire to do so had left a good impression on someone of high status, he was satisfied.

    He walked away with some pep in his step, and the array around August lit up.

    ''It''s time.''

    After so much dy, and a week that led to a surprising amount of development, August was finally on his way to participate in what was, by all means, the first round of the heir wars.

    His body disappeared from Arragon, and when they received light again, he was in a massive colosseum unlike anything he''d ever seen before.

    "This¡­"

    He couldn''t help but say it out loud.

    "This is what I was made for."

    ***

    The entire heir wars would be "televised."

    Everyone in Arulion was able to watch the event in some fashion. For those in the central region, tickets were avable that let them watch some of the events in person. For those outside of the checkpoint that only True Dragons could pass, the events were only avable to watch on projection devices.

    Still, August wasn''t alone in believing that the elimination round was the official start of the heir wars. Most people thought the same, since it was the first event that could be viewed by the audience.

    This battle betweenmoners would set the stage.

    They would create a benchmark by which every genius participating in the heir wars would be judged, and it was the key determiner of the public''s attitude towards the event.

    It was an important day, even for the nobles who didn''t have any part in thepetition.

    People flooded the coliseum stands in droves, and geniuses appeared on the stage below one by one.

    None of these people were known names. Not even the most talented of them.

    However, many of them had people in the stands cheering for them, awaiting their victory.

    August also had a person like that.

    A part of Damien was still searching for the Dragon Emperor, but his main body had taken a break from that quest.

    Today was his son''s big day, after all.

    If he wasn''t here for it, then he''d be nothing but a terrible father.

    He blended in with the dragon people and smiled as he saw August arrive on the field.

    His expression was strong, and he looked to be surveying his opponents from the second he could see again.

    Regardless of August''s performance, Damien was already set in how he was feeling about it.

    He was proud, and he was excited to see what August could do in an environment like this.

    The cheers and conversations in the stands were loud enough to create a tsunami of sound that assaulted the geniuses below from all directions, but they were all silenced with a single sound.

    A man appeared in the sky, his draconic aura fully exerted.

    "Wee, everyone¡­" he said, his voice amplified by mana.

    "Today, we see a hundred and fifty-three fine geniuses who have proved that they have the qualifications and talent to proceed, however, only fifty of them can continue on to the next round!"

    It was a brief exnation for anyone who didn''t know what was going on, but that was the end of it.

    But it raised the anticipation in the stadium to an all-time high.

    Everyone was waiting for him to say one thing and one thing only.

    Because, with a single word from him¡­

    ¡­the heir wars wouldmence!

 Chapter 1636 Elimination [1]

    Chapter 1636 Elimination [1]

    "Start!"

    The word finally came after some more introduction was done, but since nobody actually cared about the things he was saying, they hardly even heard it.

    Their eyes were focused on the geniuses below, all of whom were waiting for the moment they could let loose.

    August was also focused on his peers. He''d hardly looked into the crowd, and hepletely tuned out the man above.

    He was something of an "announcer," but he didn''t exist for anything but providing entertainment to the crowd.

    The real indicator for when the event started was as Rakon told him.

    He had to wait for the horns to re.

    ''I wonder what happens if we move early.''

    Rakon''s wording was curious when he spoke about it, so August was naturally confused. What kind of fatal mistake could be made in such a nonlethal setting?

    Sadly, nobody who''d made it to this stage was stupid enough to let recklessness ruin their opportunity.

    It seemed to go over a lot of people''s heads. In many circles, the heir wars were viewed as apetitive event that existed for entertainment purposes only.

    No.

    This was an event where the future of the dragon kingdom was at stake.

    This was an event that gavemoners the chance to be the Dragon Emperor''s disciple, and gave those who failed opportunities far beyond their station.

    It was an unbelievably important moment for every single genius in the arena, regardless of their individual goals.

    Therefore, none of them even moved a muscle when they were teleported into the arena. They surveyed those around them with predatory eyes, circting their mana calmly in preparation for the moment toe.

    The announcer''s drivel in the background eventually came to an end. The crowd went silent too.

    The geniuses took their stances, and¡­

    The horns finally red, filling the arena with a cacophony of sound.

    August took a single step and released his mana instantly.

    ''There are three nearby who could be a threat. Ten people have their eyes on me, but they''re all being eyed by others. It''ll probably be less of a group battle than I expected.''

    There were too many people for them to team up and target others, at least, for now.

    August could sense the hostilitying at him from every side. As he whipped his eyes around to find a target, the arena exploded into battle.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Clouds of dust rose as some geniuses immediately put all of their power into their attacks.

    The announcer''s voice came back as hementated about the most interesting battles taking ce.

    Chaos enveloped the arena, but for August, it was still quiet. His attention had focused in on his surroundings. All unimportant information was filtered out. His mind entered a battle state.

    ''There.''

    August found his first target. He wasn''t aiming for weaker participants. There were only a few that August felt could actually challenge him in the vicinity. They were the ones he needed to eliminate first.

    He shot forward with a n in mind, but executing it was an entirely different story.

    Boom!

    A boy and a girl had approached him from behind, one to each side.

    They didn''t have weapons, since weapons dragons were not beings who used weapons, but their extended ws were more than enough to cause damage.

    Whoosh!

    August ducked down and dodged both of their swings. He pivoted his foot on the ground and summoned a stream of water, letting it turn solid as it jutted up and stabbed towards the boy among them.

    Unlike the thugs he faced before, these geniuses had some ability. The boy dodged his attack with rtive ease and drew out more mana, obviously nning to counterattack.

    ''Not happening.''

    Bang!

    August dodged another attack from the girl and twisted his body to get behind her.

    He grabbed her head and mmed it into the ground, dealing a massive blunt-force trauma that made her world spin.

    The boy had arrived in that time. He swung his w down again, but when August dodged, he found another attack waiting for him. The boy was an earth dragon like Mnia. He''d used his mana to tie August''s feet to the ground so that he couldn''t keep moving out of the way.

    ''Solid.''

    Augustplimented the move.

    The boy''s other w wasing down at him with heavy force. If it struck, August''s flesh would definitely be torn apart.

    But, they underestimated his flexibility. Like water, his movements could not be defined by his shape.

    He bent his back strangely and used his knees to pivot the angle he leaned in.

    ''Tch!''

    The boy''s w still managed to swipe his shoulder, but only with the force to cause a flesh wound.

    August had prepared for this. His momentum was already too high for him to bring himself back to a standing position. He summoned pure mana into his legs and expelled it, breaking the rock that kept him captive into shards of rubble.

    His body kept falling backward. The boy saw this as an opportunity, but it was nothing of the sort.

    He approached closer so that August wouldn''t be able to evade again, but that was exactly what his opponent wanted.

    August kicked his feet off the ground. A pressure wave was released from his soles, pushing the boy back several steps.

    Meanwhile, a small stream of water appeared below August''s back and flipped him onto his stomach. Before he fell,pletely to the ground, he got his feet and hands down and used them to propel himself forward, recorrecting his strange position.

    Bang!

    It didn''t help that all of this was done above the nauseous girl he''d taken down before. All of the residual force from his movements mmed down on her, knocking herpletely unconscious.

    ''Dammit!''

    Realizing that he was in over his head, the boy tried to run. There were better fights for him, ones that he could actually win.

    However, this was not a street brawl.

    This was apetition.

    And August didn''t have a single thought of letting hispetitor escape without suffering the consequences of attacking him.

    The elimination round didn''t have many rules.

    The geniuses weren''t allowed to kill each other, but any degree of damage that wasn''t fatal was epted. Those who suffered could be healed back to full health by the staff on-site, so it wasn''t a problem even if they lost a limb or two.

    Mana and the physical body were the only weapons allowed, but there were no limits on how they could be used.

    And, though all of the geniuses had started in their human forms, they were given the right to transform into their true forms. However, if they did so, they wouldn''t be allowed to return to their human forms until the battle waspletely over.

    The boy that August was chasing, Jason, wasn''t a great genius. He managed to barely pass the qualification test, and he was nning to get good sponsorships and offers by attacking those who were weaker than him to seem stronger. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    That was how he''d gotten by in life until now. It was the same for the girl whom he''d allied with.

    But, the first person they''d attacked was far beyond their level, and as he looked around, he realized that there was no such thing as people who were weaker than him in this ce.

    He was at the bottom of the barrel.

    And if he wanted to survive for more than five minutes of this fight¡­

    ¡­then he had no choice but to go all out before others started doing the same!

    He saw August chasing him at a speed he couldn''t match, and that was when he made his decision.

    He nted his feet, turned around, and changed.

    August was no longer charging towards a humanoid being.

    He was charging towards an earth dragon who was ready to risk it all to defeat him!

 Chapter 1634 Corruption [2]

    Chapter 1634 Corruption [2]

    ??In societies like these, street thugs never just existed on their own. It was stupid to think that nobody in the outskirts had the power to deal with them, especially since most of them were just 2nd ss dragons.

    If Mnia wanted to, she alone could clear up the streets and let people walk freely.

    However, she couldn''t. Not because of them, but because of those they followed.

    Sometimes, small gangs would act recklessly because they were young and ignorant, but for the most part, these thugs submitted themselves to stronger powers for the sake of survival.

    They got themselves backing, so that when the situation came where they needed it, they could escape unscathed.

    There were two main gangs in Arragon. They opposed each other but banded together against anyone trying to encroach on their territory.

    It was impossible for amon thug to know the true strength of the leaders of those gangs, but they were estimated to be high 3rd ss or even 4th ss.

    Their closest associates were of a simr level. These people monopolized most of the ie of the two gangs, and they controlled everyone who wanted tomit crimes in Arragon.

    People couldn''t even stand up for themselves anymore.

    A few thugs wouldn''t alert the higher-ups of their authority being challenged, but if it happened three or four times¡­? Somebody would be sent to take care of whoever was so bold.

    The people who lived in the outskirts had families and livelihoods. They couldn''t risk standing against the gangs, so they just did their best to stay out of their sight.

    ''And if they see a stranger, they''ll avoid them at all costs.''

    Strangers meant danger here more than anywhere else. Danger meant that their families could be seriously injured or killed while nobody batted an eye. It meant they could lose everything in a single night.

    After grilling a nearby thug for information and giving him a small tip to show appreciation, August mostly understood why Mnia acted the way she did.

    She also wanted those young dragons to explore and enjoy the benefits of their youth. She absolutely wanted to be kind and trusting.

    However, she didn''t live in an environment where kindness was rewarded.

    She lived in a ce where even children could die if she slipped up.

    That was why she reacted so fiercely. If August wanted to do something to those young dragons in the time before she arrived, she wouldn''t have been able to do anything to stop it.

    That sort of helplessness could drive one mad.

    ''It''s already impressive that she''s still willing to try.''

    Mnia was a good person with an extremely strong mind. If not, how could she have passed the qualification exam''s mental test?

    She only froze because she was suddenly introduced to chaos. What mattered was the fact that she managed to pull herself out of her confusion within the test''s time limit.

    ''She''d be a good ally, but that''s only if she''s willing.

    August didn''t think she''d appreciate him approaching her now. He figured he''d wait until the elimination round came.

    ''Until then, I''m back on the case.''

    Two days had passed in a sh, and five suddenly sounded like a much smaller number than seven.

    There wasn''t much time left. There definitely wasn''t enough for August to do anything about the problems he discovered.

    Gangs weren''t exclusive to Arragon. In fact, the two in this city were quite high profile and likely had connections to even higher forces.

    In ces that weren''t so close to the holy region, the absolute center of Arulion, gangs were everywhere, even having control over the entirety of a few districts.

    Even if he managed to somehow unearth the massive gangs'' entire schemes within five days and destroy them, chaos would ensue because of the power vacuum and the situation would just worsen.

    He was just taking note of things.

    If he wanted to change this kingdom, he had to know what needed to change.

    That was, from the start, the purpose he established for his six remaining days in Arragon.

    Damien had told him there was corruption, but he was intentional in zing over the details.

    Now that August was going out into the world, things were different.

    His son would not be someone whose entire sess was attributed to him.

    August was going to be someone who could stand proud, knowing that he was the reason for his own rise.

    If he wanted to rule, he needed to have the attributes of a ruler. Some of those were inborn, but even more needed to be learned through experience.

    Damien had faith in his son, and August felt that faith strongly.

    He used the intellect that he was gifted with to its maximum potential. He unearthed the problems of the people and used them to infer what kind of issues existed in the higher tiers of society.

    He was going to be an Emperor in the future, one that could make his father and ancestor proud.

    Nothing would be able to stop him.

    ***

    Really, August spent the next five days looking for information.

    Regr thugs didn''t bother him anymore, and since he didn''t go looking for them, he didn''t attract trouble from those stronger powers.

    He kept his head down and explored, and as his presence disappeared from most people''s minds, the amount of information he got a hold of became greater and greater.

    However, because he was using the perception-blocking artifact for most of the day, he failed to find a certain encounter that was waiting for him.

    Mnia eventually went home that night. She had just gone out to train, so she wasn''t gone for long in the first ce. August just managed to find the most coincidental timing to miss her.

    Nevertheless, the moment she opened the door, she was greeted with strangeness. Her siblings were nowhere to be seen, so they must''ve been upstairs somewhere.

    It looked quiet on the ground floor, except for one little detail.

    ''What is that?''

    There was a small ring on the floor. It wasn''t ornate at all and seemed to be made of the mostmon silver, but Mnia was sure that it didn''t belong to anyone in the house.

    She was, of course, suspicious, but that was exactly why she picked it up. After examining it, she couldn''t find anything notable in its structure, which left only one thing to do.

    Mnia moved outside into the street and created a barrier around the ring before injecting mana into it.

    She was expecting an explosive or something simrly malicious, but what she found was her mind being pulled into a separate space.

    She was still conscious of reality. It was like she could see two different nes with her eyes and her mind.

    And in the one that was opened by the ring¡­

    "I appreciate the hospitality. Here''s a little something I brought to express my gratitude."

    A simple note with only two sentences on it to indicate the identity of the person who left the ring.

    And, several piles of gold.

    Mnia tripped over herself by ident as she took the barrier down and grabbed the ring, looking around to see if anyone saw her.

    After confirming that she was alone, she rushed back into the house.

    ''There''s no way, right?''

    There really was no way.

    That amount of gold, at first nce, was already enough to move her family to a better neighborhood.

    And the fact that it was inside of an unbound spatial ring¡­

    wasn''t that already insanity?

    People of her stature couldn''t get anywhere near spatial artifacts, yet, an amazing one had just dropped at her feet.

    She ran upstairs and opened the door to the second level of the house. It was just one bedroom, the ce where Mnia and her siblings stayed.

    Along with a woman who was currently unconscious on one of two beds in the room.

    She was frail and sickly, seemingly on the edge of death.

    "Mom¡­"

    Mnia copsed at the bedside, tears streaming down her face.

    "A miracle happened."

    She carefully cupped her mother''s bony hand and brought it to her face.

    "With this¡­with this, we can save you!"

    Atst, her kindness had paid off.

    Atst, her most daunting worries could be dealt with.

    August had just grabbed arge amount of money and stuffed it in the spatial ring without thinking. He didn''t know just what his gratitude meant to the ones receiving it.

    But to Mnia, the things he''d given were gifts from the gods.

    And she was never one to forget a favor.

 Chapter 1637 Elimination [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1637 Elimination [2]</h4>

    This battle was still in its infancy.

    It was a free-for-all. Nobody knew what their opponents'' strengths were, so they were not only probing each other, but also trying to eliminate those who were most threatening.

    However, this was not a battle where those unworthy could slip by because they managed to eliminate those who were meant to pass.

    No, in a ce like this, only the worthy could achieve victory, no matter what they faced.

    The crowd was already roaring. There were many individual fights taking ce that were more than worth watching. Their attention went from ce to ce, seeing everything there was to see. It really gave them no time at all to feel bored.

    Most of those battles were far away from August. His location was both lucky and unlucky in that there were really only people below his level around him.

    Even those he saw as a threat were only seen as such because of the environment. If it was just him against them, he''d be able to take them down without a problem.

    But perhaps that was a good thing.

    It hadn''t been mentioned yet because August never put much thought into it, but he wasn''t that strong.

    He was still at the peak of 3rd ss, and while that was monstrous for someone who only recently turned ten, this was apetition for everyone under a hundred years old.

    There were several geniuses here who''d already passed the 4th ss boundary. And, when it came to the nobles, all of them were at that level.

    August had yet topletely be someone who could deal with them, so for him to spawn in an area where he could first develop his skills was actually more of a boon than anything else.

    When August hit 4th ss, he would be an unstoppable force. Reaching that level was one of his main priorities after this round ended.

    Nevertheless, Jason''s transformation attracted quite a lot of attention. He was part of the first wave to do so, and in his area, he was the only one.

    It was up to August to take him down and move on to more challenging fights, butpared to others, his job was easy.

    On theplete opposite side of the arena, there were three specific geniuses who made it into the qualification round before anyone else.

    When they arrived at their testing facilities, they set precedents that others couldn''t hope to match.

    Of those who had passed the qualification exam, they were some of only ten who were above the 4th ss level.

    And that¡­

    ¡­surprisingly wasn''t as scary to theirpetitors as they expected.

    On August''s side, everyone was fighting small battles apart from each other. For them, on the other hand, it was more than that.

    There were at least twenty people attacking each of them, all of whom were in their dragon forms.

    They didn''t reveal their own true forms quite yet, and though they were under quite a lot of stress, they didn''t n to do so any time soon.

    Boom!

    One explosion knocked ten dragons back. All of them were covered in blood as their scales were pierced, but none of them gave up.

    Boom!

    Boom!

    Boom!

    It was all fire released from the girl who caused the damage, yet, her fire seemed to take physical form.

    Every time she swept her ws, shards of pure heatpressed into projectiles that seemed like they were made of metal.

    And when they struck, people were harmed. If she wasn''t holding back, it was almost guaranteed that her enemies would have already died.

    Nearby, there was a simr scene taking ce in an icier environment. It was a man this time, somewhere in histe twenties.

    He was surrounded by sculptures. The dragons who charged at

    him found their bodies intruded by cold. Their scales did

    nothing to protect them and merely froze along with

    everything else. Even when they were eventually melted and

    resuscitated, they''d sustain injuries that would need a long

    time to heal.

    The two of them were obviously eyeing each other, but now

    wasn''t the time for them to fight.

    Rather, they were united in their goal.

    This stage could only be passed by those who had the ability.

    The rules said fifty people would make it to the heir wars, but

    they didn''t see fifty people who were worthy of that privilege.

    Yes, they were alsomoners. Yes, they understood the

    struggles of their peers and the motivation that kept them

    fighting.

    But the heir wars weren''t a thing so they could prove

    themselves or gain opportunities.

    No. This was a ce from where the future Dragon Emperor

    would be born. Rabble couldn''t be allowed into thepetition,

    no matter howpelling or heartbreaking their stories were.

    These two, along with their 4th ss fellows, had made it their

    mission to eliminate ny percent of the arena at the very

    least.

    And since they were almost done cleaning out their side¡­

    ¡­people like August, who were focused on their own battles,

    would soon be enveloped in the storm.

    Whether they liked it or not.

    ***

    At this point, one could begin to wonder.

    Where was Mnia?

    She had also been transported to the arena, and she was also

    fighting, but August hadn''t seen her, nor had she been involved

    in the sh of 4th-ss dragons.

    Mnia was also fortunate in her own way.

    Just like August, she spawned in a ce that mostly had others

    on a simr level as her, and, since the fighting style she

    developed was quite¡­unique, she''d managed to evade the

    attention of those who were too strong for a very long time.

    Mnia could be best described as a trapper.

    It was a rare battle style even among humans and barely

    existed among dragons. Those who used it were usually sages

    and schrs who focused more on gaining knowledge than

    battling.

    Mnia wasn''t a schr. She wouldn''t consider herself smart

    by any means.

    But, she knew her limits. She understood that talent could only

    get her so far, especially since she wasn''t as good as a lot of the

    others who werepeting against her.

    A style that allowed her to continue fighting even when she

    was outssed, a style that perfectly fit her needs until her

    hard work could pay off and match the talent of others¡­

    That was the style she chose, and so far, it was working out as

    she''d hoped.

    Everywhere she went, sheid traps with her mana that would

    activate when other people either stepped on them or

    triggered them with their rampant auras.

    Four people had already fallen for her tricks. They were trapped

    and suffocated, left as open targets for her to pick off one by

    one.

    Nobody even knew what she was doing because of the chaos.

    Still, her main goal was to be seen, to be recognized by others.

    Eventually, she''d have to start fighting seriously, using power

    with abandon and putting herself on the line for sess.

    And that time was approaching fast.

    Due to the antics of the more powerful geniuses in the arena,

    the number ofpetitors was being cut down quickly.

    It would soon be a battle of only those who stood above

    others.

    For Mnia, especially¡­

    ¡­it really was uncertain if she could survive through it all.

 Chapter 1638 Elimination [3]

    Chapter 1638 Elimination [3]

    Boom!

    An earth dragon mmed into the ground, his consciousnesspletely gone from the real world.

    ''Done.''

    August let go of his tail and took a breath. He stayed wary of his surroundings while taking a short break for himself.

    It was hard to fight someone who had unveiled their true form while still in one''s human form. After all, dragons were best when they were in the forms they were meant for.

    August was definitely stronger than Jason. It was a strong difference that couldn''t be ovee just because of a transformation.

    Still, Jason was able to hold August up for over five minutes. August attacked and attacked, but earth dragons were known for their sturdiness.

    His water was particrly bad at piercing. He could do something about it against dragons in their human forms, but he couldn''t pierce scales with the power and techniques he had now.

    August had to resort to physical force. After enough blunt force trauma to the head and spine, Jason was done.

    It was barbaric, but since it worked, it was enough. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Nobody interrupted their battle while it happened. It seemed that many were wary of Jason''s dragon form. More so, the boy who was fighting it with his fists alone.

    Everyone was busy fighting, anyway. They dropped faster than anyone expected. These geniuses were putting everything they had into the battle, and that meant that despite individual battles taking a decent amount of time to end, people still got eliminated every five minutes.

    There were already less than a hundred people left with only ten minutes passing. And that number¡­

    Boom!

    August finally got the chance to examine his surroundings properly.

    That was when he noticed how wildly the battlefield had changed.

    In one corner, there were heaps of burnt geniuses rolling around on the ground. In another, many who were frozen into ice cubes.

    There was a third area where trees had appeared across the battlefield and suffocated loads of geniuses with their roots and branches, leaving not many areas free of total destruction.

    ''Wow¡­I must be lucky.''

    Somehow, August didn''t run into whoever was causing a scene like that.

    Luckily, right¡­?

    Wrong.

    Those three geniuses had already split up. The two that had been seen earlier, the young dragons who used fire and ice, had moved in directions away from August.

    However, thest was approaching fast. It was quite obvious from the line of trees that inched closer and closer every second.

    ''This is a big one.''

    August''s eyes narrowed.

    He had only fought one person before now, yet he was being thrown into a situation like this.

    The others wouldn''t attack him anymore. They probably wouldn''t evene near this area.

    Everyone with a brain had already started running, but August already knew it was toote for that.

    ''We''re already in the attack range.''

    Boom!

    It was as if the genius in question wanted to prove August correct.

    The trees instantly started attacking, flinging tens and hundreds of roots into the air to chase after the geniuses who ran.

    The dense forest they created hid the person who summoned them from the eyes of others, yet the impact they had made it impossible to ignore them.

    August hesitated.

    The forest was moving towards him. If he didn''t make his decision now, then it would be made for him.

    ''Either I run and keep fighting people like that earth dragon¡­''

    August''s eyes sharpened.

    ''...or I charge into that forest.''

    The safer option was the former. It might guarantee his survival and it would definitely give him a performance beyond what he could achieve in the forest.

    On the other hand, thetter option was more dangerous and created the possibility of him getting eliminated in this round.

    ''But, that''s the one that will help me grow.''

    He could sense it somehow. He didn''t know if it was fate or the strange aura calling him into the forest, but he truly believed that he would benefit most in the long term if he followed a more risky path.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    It wasn''t like he had time to ruminate over it.

    His instincts had to make the choice, and for a dragon, one raised by a man who became a legend by following his instincts, August''s decision was obvious.

    ''Well, there''s nothing I can do about that.''

    His feet were already moving.

    As everyone else fled as far away from the growing forest as possible, August shot into its depths, disappearing from the eyes of the onlookers.

    Many who saw it happen gasped. They were suddenly intrigued about the identity of that bold genius.

    Their curiosity would have to wait, though. August hadpletely vanished, and only a single person in the audience could still see him.

    ''Oh¡­?''

    Damien''s brow raised with interest.

    ''I didn''t expect something like this. Did he want to surprise me?''

    August''s performance wasn''t the best thus far, but that was only because he was holding himself back. For the sake of hiding his identity, he couldn''t use too much of his power as an Azure Dragon.

    In that ce¡­

    ''Not many people can see him.''

    Only the important ones would be able to, but they were precisely the ones he needed to evade.

    ''Hmm¡­I guess I should help a little.''

    Damien understood what was happening more than August did, and for the sake of that, he used his power a bit.

    A barrier appeared around the forest,pletely imperceptible to all outside observers regardless of power or status.

    The only thing it did was hide August''s aura so he could fight properly, but Damien was confident that it was all his son needed.

    ''Now¡­''

    He smiled as August approached the opponent waiting for him in that ce.

    ''...let''s see how he does when he''s taking things seriously.''

    August rushed through the forest, unaware of what his father was up to.

    He was confused as to why he was able to do so.

    ''Nothing is attacking me.''

    The trees all focused on those outside. The rest of the forest didn''t seem to care about him at all.

    ''Am I being provoked?''

    Either that, or this was an invitation

    Whatever the case, theck of interference from the environment allowed August to reach the center of the forest within two minutes.

    When he reached, he was met with a strange sight.

    A girl sat there in a chair made of twisting vines. Her posture was rxed as she leaned back and snacked on an apple, reading a book as if she wasn''t consciously controlling the roots that wreaked havoc outside the forest.

    She sat in a clearing that received an odd amount of sunlight, which hit her at the perfect angle. When August stepped into that clearing, she immediately raised her eyes to look at him.

    "Oh¡­? Are you the one¡­?"

    She asked as if she''d been waiting for someone.

    "The Azure Dragon child, I mean."

    BANG!

    A geyser exploded out of the ground and flooded the clearing. It burst from directly under the girl''s chair. The scalding watering from it was obviously meant to harm her.

    But, she was already on a nearby branch,pletely unharmed.

    The curiosity in her eyes had only grown.

    Because the boy who stood before her was not the one who arrived here a second ago.

    No, his eyes had changedpletely, as had his stance.

    That icy gaze, that hostility¡­

    The moment she decided to say something like that, everything went sideways.

    August was no longer just participating in apetition.

    Right now, in this moment, secluded from the rest of the arena¡­

    ¡­August was looking to kill.

    He had to be the only one who walked out of this forest when the elimination round ended.

 Chapter 1639 Elimination [4].

    Chapter 1639 Elimination [4].

    August being an Azure Dragon was an absolute secret. Damien knew. He knew. In this world, there couldn''t be anyone else who knew that information.

    August didn''t know this girl. She looked to be around fifteen, but she was already a 4th ss being, which shouldn''t have been possible for someone outside of a noble n.

    Yet, she was here taking the test with themoners.

    August didn''t understand anything about who she was, nor did he understand why she''d brought up such a crucial fact.

    However, since she had, his life was now in danger.

    Azure Dragons. The Liqua imed to be part of their species, but they were not.

    They were fakes, water dragons with a bit more talent than others who liked to pretend that they were great beings.

    In reality, Azure Dragons were a scorned race.

    If anyone with that bloodline appeared, they''d be executed as soon as possible.

    The Holy ns couldn''t allow another Qinglong to rise.

    As such, even regr water dragons often disappeared at random. If their bloodlines were too strong, the Liqua n would immediately eliminate them.

    August was able to survive as a water dragon with talent because his aura and draconic lineage signified that he had no rtion to Qinglong. Damien had made sure that nobody would ever be able to tell otherwise.

    This girl thought differently. If her thoughts spread and became more mainstream, then everything August was trying to achieve would be ruined before he even started.

    He couldn''t allow that.

    Interrogating her and finding out what she knew and who else knew it was important, but August didn''t think he''d be able to do it.

    That left only one option.

    He had to kill and then search for cluester.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    August stopped hiding his power. He still hid his bloodline aura just in case she was making assumptions without proof, but he didn''t fight with power that a 3rd ss being should''ve had.

    He swung his ws out ruthlessly.

    A manifestation of blue energy, foaming with white like rolling waves, shot forward and destroyed several of the surrounding trees.

    August watched as that girl moved around as if this ce was her home. In a sense, it was. Despite the strength and frequency of his attacks, she was able to evade everything without a problem.

    "Ooh, you''re a feisty one, aren''t you?"

    She smiled as she taunted him.

    "Try a little harder."

    Those were fighting words. They were meant to rile him up and make him reckless, but he refused to fall for her provocation.

    ''She''s nimble.''

    Just like him, she didn''t really fight like a dragon.

    ''If so, then I need to abandon convention.''

    For now, his unique fighting style was the best way to approach this situation.

    That style was not one that allowed him to attack from a distance.

    BANG!

    August shot up from the ground, propelled by jets of water. He swung his foot out and used the same jet as aser that cut through all of the trees in front of him and eliminated any cover that the girl could take.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    As the trees copsed, the girl jumped into the air, preparing to move again.

    But August was already on her tail.

    BANG!

    Another geyser erupted below her. The scalding water came close, but she managed to dodge in time.

    August twisted his hand, forcing the temperature of the water to rapidly cool.

    August didn''t wait to see the results. He shot through the steam, protecting his body with a film of mana, and found his target again.

    "Now, now. I can''t let this happen."

    As it froze, the rapid temperature change influenced its structure, and it exploded into a massive cloud of steam.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    August didn''t wait to see the results. He shot through the steam, protecting his body with a film of mana, and found his target again.

    "Now, now. I can''t let this happen."

    The girl''s eyes became more serious.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The ground around them exploded, giving way to the roots she summoned.

    Over ten thick tree roots shed at him. They were like whips, but at the same time like swords.

    In the middle of it all, August lost his chance to attack.

    ''Tch!'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He twirled his body and managed to avoid the initial attack. As his eyes swung around, he saw a root aimed straight at his shoulder, but he didn''t try to stop it.

    Shik!

    It stabbed into his flesh, and in the same moment, August located the girl and struck again.

    He needed to be more serious.

    August didn''t have ess to the most of his abilities because he had yet to be a 4th ss, but he could still do a decent amount with what he''d learned.

    When it came to flexibility and rigidity, August had done so much studying about the concepts that he could almost replicate what a 4th ss could do.

    And, he could aplish things that were impossible to others. That was a benefit of being an Azure Dragon.

    When he had to create water for himself, he''d always be restricted to his level.

    But if he could find a source¡­

    August let that tree root hit his shoulder because he needed that second of time to focus on other things.

    The girl had summoned this forest with her mana. It was created without a natural ecosystem, which meant there weren''t anykes or water sources nearby that he could take advantage of.

    However, she still used trees, and trees couldn''t survive without water.

    VOOM!

    August''s power spread across the entire forest. His senses melded in with any water that he could find, and as he pulled his arms towards himself, the water responded to his call.

    At first, she thought she was going to win easily.

    She knew he would be here and that was her only reason for participating, but from what she''d heard about him, August was still a youth who was in his growth stage.

    He wasn''t meant to be powerful.

    However, the scene she was seeing now proved her wrong.

    She could feel the vitality draining from the forest.

    ''Maybe it wasn''t such a good idea to provoke him like that?''

    She thought he would calm down after a little bit of fighting, but the calm demeanor he usually had didn''t trante to battle.

    ''I thought he was supposed to be innocent and naive.''

    However, the killing intent that had been embedded in all of the water flowing out of the dying trees told a different story.

    The girl''s thoughts were light. It didn''t seem like she wanted to be his enemy.

    But, August didn''t know that.

    He felt his power growing. He felt himself healing as the vitality from the water was transferred into him.

    ''Okay.''

    He never stopped moving, nor did the girl stop trying to attack him.

    His body was swerving everywhere, supported by jets of water as he zipped through the air. None of the roots were hitting him anymore, but they did make it harder for him to aim.

    ''But with all of this water¡­''

    August''s eyes sharpened.

    ''...I don''t need to aim.''

    VOOOM!

    His mana raged. If he kept fighting like this, he''d eventually run out, but he wasn''t thinking about that.

    He focused on the mana. He didn''t try to force it to change shape, since that went against the nature of water. Instead, he supported its flow and suggested it a path.

    The mana responded to him with the same feelings he put into it. The rtionship he''d formed with the energy over the few years he''d lived allowed him tomunicate with it in ways others simply couldn''t.

    It formed into a shape it would have never otherwise reached. It adopted a hostility that was uncharacteristic of water solely for his sake.

    And as the girl watched on, August managed to form an attack that even she didn''t think she''d be capable of.

    ''Shit.''

    She smiled wryly as she looked at it.

    ''I think I need to rify things before we keep fighting.''

 Chapter 1640 Elimination [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1640 Elimination [5]</h4>

    rification¡­it would definitely be nice, but it was toote for something like that to stop August.

    He wasn''t ready to listen to reason. Definitely not if it came from the girl who created this entire situation in the first ce.

    Humans formed their original mana techniques by watching animals and learning from their habits. That was because humanity itself was an adaptive species thatbined many of the best traits of said animals.

    However, dragons were, technically, animals themselves. They learned to wield mana through their own actions.

    They used their ws and teeth to attack, so they evolved to use their ws and teeth to attack. Even breath attacks formed by utilizing the same concept as a dragon''s roar, which was why dragons always roared when they let loose their breath.

    Wasn''t that quite constraining?

    To use no other inspiration but the movement and capabilities of one''s own body was only useful until a certain point.

    Humans eventually branched out. They studied the stars and the world, the elements and their own unique traits like weapon handling.

    Eventually, the human training method became so diverse that it couldn''t even be considered a method anymore. It was not a single doctrine, but so many that even the least talented and equipped people could find a way to learn at least a part of it.

    Then, what about dragons?

    What did they do when they found that their base capabilities weren''t enough anymore?

    Well, that truly depended on the dragon.

    For some, their elemental abilitiesbined with their physical strength were enough. Dragons were naturally gifted, so even if their techniques remained basic, they''d be able to dominate others with power alone.

    The Ignis n was like this. While their techniques were developed, they could still only be used through ws or teeth like their ancient ancestors.

    The ones who diverged from this belief were those who came to be known as schrs. Just like their human counterparts, they studied the world and the stars above.

    But, because they were dragons, their perception of these concepts was different. The techniques they created didn''t hold any resemnce to human techniques, and theprehensions within them could only be understood by other dragons.

    It was hard to describe that branch of perception.

    August had to experience it firsthand through Qinglong to even properly adopt it.

    Itpletely and utterly shed with his father''s worldview, but that disharmony was actually more helpful than anything else.

    They were twopletely different perspectives that couldn''t bebined. When they were ced within a single person''s mind¡­

    Their shing ideologies could create magic.

    The shape of August''s mana was that of a dragon. In a very human way, he mimicked another being to form the "vessel" that his power would use.

    It was an eastern dragon, resembling the Noct, Aurora, and Ether ns in its appearance.

    But within, theprehensions were all draconic.

    They came from the worldview of a being who was far more in tune with the world itself than a human. It was formed based off of the perceptions of a dragon who could truly meld with the water and be one.

    This was one of the main teachings of the Azure Dragon Manual that Damien created to teach him.

    It was, by far, the main source of August''s great strength.

    It formed within a few seconds, not giving the girl much time to do anything. August coldly flicked his wrist,manding it to kill her in one strike.

    WHOOOOOSH!

    The wind ripped apart as the dragon traveled through the air as if it were alive. Its body waved as if it was truly propelling itself with its physical capabilities, and its eyes contained a strange mirage of spirituality that couldn''t be distinguished from reality.

    It seemed to move slowly because its every minute movement could be discerned by the naked eye, but that wasn''t the case at all.

    The girl''s perception of time had slowed. It was in front of her so fast that she barely had time to put up a barrier.

    Still, she was a 4th ss dragon. She didn''t earn that power by just sitting around and meditating.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The water dragon crashed against a thick barrier of wood. The instant it lost its form, the amount of water within ballooned explosively.

    It aggressively flowed around both sides and over the top of the shield, flooding everything in its path.

    A huge wave formed on each side of the wooden barrier and rushed past the girl. After moving for several dozens of feet, they froze, blocking all but one escape route that was too far away to be viable.

    Meanwhile, the water that was mming into the shield and over it took onpletely different properties.

    It got faster and faster, using mana to umte more and more energy. Its pressure increased and the area that it targeted became much smaller.

    August could feel the energy draining from his body to support the reaction, but he continued to push forward.

    Steam rose and turned into smoke as the water reached a temperature that burned the wood into ashes.

    XIU!

    The girl was immediately forced to dodge to the side as a jet of water faster than a bullet rushed past her face.

    Her expression changed as she felt the integrity of her shield fading.

    ''This is dangerous.''

    She''d been trapped and cornered. If she tried to attack back now, the situation would escte to a point where it couldn''t be controlled anymore.

    ''And if that happens, I might be able to take him down, but I''ll definitely go down with him.''

    She didn''t need any more proof after feeling what was happening on the other side of her barrier.

    ''I need to stop this.''

    XIU!

    XIU!

    XIU!

    XIU!

    One by one, simr jets rushed past and tried to kill her. The girl was able to evade them since she could sense where they''de from, but if the entire force of the water on the other side managed to get through, she wouldn''t have anywhere left to dodge.

    ''Tch.''

    The girl took most of her mana out of the shield and directed it at the ground. Immediately, several tree roots sprung up and grabbed her ankles, pulling her into the dirt.

    She didn''t control the earth, so she couldn''t necessarily do something like this safely, but August didn''t leave her with any other options.

    As he continued to attack her barrier, she tunneled through the ground, following the paths her roots hadid out before until she was directly under him.

    ''Now¡­''

    She was covered in a film of mana that helped her breathe and conceal herself. She waited patiently until¡­

    BOOM!

    Her shield exploded.

    As did the ground above her.

    August barely had time to recognize that she was no longer trapped. His eyes went down as he heard the forceful destruction of the ground, and the first thing he saw was a girl with green hair charging at him with everything she had.

    He moved his arms, ready to attack again, however¡­

    "Ahhhhhhh!"

    Bang!

    ¡­he wasn''t expecting her to let out a war cry and tackle him.

    "Huh?!"

    August inadvertently eximed as the two of them crashed to the floor.

    He didn''t know what she was trying to do, but she''d given him the perfect opportunity.

    Drawing his hand off of the ground, he formed a de of water in his grasp.

    Killing was something that came easily to August.

    Or so he''d thought.

    But now that the moment came, he found himself hesitating, if only for a second, before actually making the necessary movements.

    Still, a second was all the girl needed.

    "Wait!"

    She shouted, taking his attention off of the de and putting it on her.

    It was ast-ditch n, meant to be used if conversation was no longer an option. She didn''t think they''d reach that point within five minutes of meeting, but such was the situation.

    She didn''t know what use it would have, but she''d been instructed to do it, so she followed.

    The girl''s draconic aura red outward. Her lineage fully expressed itself.

    August furrowed his brows, not understanding what she was trying to do. He continued to swing his de for but half a second before he froze.

    ''Wait.''

    Despite his rampant desire to kill, he was still rational.

    He sensed something off and stopped himself before he could do anything he''d regret.

    "That bloodline¡­"

    August frowned.

    ''...it''s familiar.''

    He didn''t know who this girl was. That much was certain. However, if he''d felt that bloodline before, then there was only one answer.

    ''She¡­is not my enemy.''

    August had never met an enemy dragon before. The only auras he recognized were all allies and friends.

    If she was rted to one of them¡­

    ''...wow.''

    August dropped his hand, letting the water de sink into the dirt.

    ''I almost messed up. Big time.''

 Chapter 1641 Elimination [6]

    Chapter 1641 Elimination [6]

    "Haa¡­"

    August sighed to himself.

    "Who are you?"

    He asked the question that definitely should''ve been asked a long time ago.

    The girl also rxed after seeing that he''d lost his killing intent. She got off of him and straightened her clothes, patting her chest in relief.

    "I was wondering when you were going to ask. You really act before thinking, don''t you?"

    "Not usually, but you asked for it, didn''t you? How else was I supposed to respond?"

    The girl shrugged.

    "It really isn''t my fault. If I knew you would react that way I would''ve never started off like that. You can''t me me for wanting to look mysterious."

    August rolled his eyes. He was calmer now so he was able to put away his hostility, but he still didn''t like that she''d evaded the first question.

    "Am I getting an introduction any time soon?"

    "Ah, right! I forgot about that."

    The girl smiled sheepishly and held out her hand.

    "My name is Valerie Revell," she said as August grabbed her hand.

    She helped him up while continuing.

    "I don''t know if you remember, but you met my grandpa when you were still a kid." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    August''s eyes widened.

    "Ah¡­"

    Everything became clear at that moment.

    Alcharist Revell was the name of the Wood Holy Dragon who''d helped him when he first transformed into his true body. Damien made sure that August knew the names of all sixteen ancestors who helped him back then.

    He eventually needed to repay their favor, and beyond that, they would be a great help in his quest to take the throne.

    He''d learned that wood dragons were a rare species. They didn''t have the same reproductive capabilities as the rest of their species, only birthing a child once every ten millennia.

    In return, they were able to have childrenter in their lifetimespared to others. Even the oldest wood dragons would still have a part in reproducing, since every single one of them knew how important it was to increase their numbers.

    Back when Alcharist was a Holy Dragon, he only had one son and one daughter. His entire n had less than a thousand dragons in it.

    Now that so much time had passed, not only had Alcharist''s children grown up, but they''d also had many of their own children.

    The wood dragon n was booming now. It was not quite a Holy n yet, but it was almost at that level. They had lived in hiding because they wanted peace, but it seemed like August''s birth changed their stance.

    "Grandpa said that a new Azure Dragon had been born. I don''t really know what that means, but he made it sound super important," Vrie exined.

    "I see¡­" August said, nodding his head.

    "If Senior Alcharist is the one who told you, then it all makes sense."

    Those sixteen ancestors all knew what he was. They''d been there during his first transformation, before his aura was ever concealed.

    They''d lived for long enough to see Qinglong when he was the Dragon Emperor, so it was only natural for them to understand his origins.

    Damien made sure they were sworn to silence on the matter, however, the oath only applied when they were trying to harm August with the information they had.

    "But¡­why are you here?"

    It couldn''t be because of the heir wars. She didn''t need to participate in the elimination round if she wanted to participate.

    It also couldn''t have been out of sheer curiosity. Alcharist wasn''t one to allow such reckless action.

    The only possible way for him to let her participate in thispetition was¨C

    "¨Capparently Grandpa wants me to go out to gain experience. He said that this ce would be good for my training, and more importantly, he said that a certain Azure Dragon could probably use my help."

    Valerie looked August up and down.

    "Though, it doesn''t seem like you really need it."

    August smiled awkwardly.

    "Sorry about that."

    "Eh, it''s already behind us."

    August nodded.

    She was ttering him, but he knew otherwise.

    He definitely needed help. Maybe not in the heir wars, but definitely in everything that came after.

    Alcharist had sent her knowing this.

    Her presence was a token of the entire Revell n''s support.

    They were fellows who shared the same goals as him. More importantly, if they were willing to back him in a situation where he actually had to go to war with the Holy ns, then August could act with a lot more confidence.

    He obviously didn''t know how far their willingness to help went, but he was hoping for the best from the man who went as far as toe out of seclusion to help him gain confidence.

    Even if it ended up being a minimal amount of support, August was still immensely grateful.

    There were people who wanted to see him seed.

    That meant more than Valerie could ever know.

    "Let me reintroduce myself," August said, his tone more formal.

    "My name is August Void. It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

    Valerie gave him a strange look.

    "Pfft¡­!"

    She couldn''t help butugh.

    "What? What did I do?" August asked, slightly offended.

    "Nothing, nothing," Valerie responded, still trying to stifle herugh.

    "It''s just funny to see you acting all adult-like."

    "What''s that supposed to mean?"

    "Didn''t I say it''s nothing, you brat?"

    Valerie stepped forward and, in one move, put him in a headlock and started ruffling his hair.

    "Did you forget that you''re only ten? What are you doing acting like my dad?"

    "Oi! Oi!" August eximed, trying to pull her arm off of him.

    "That''s just how I am! Let me go already!"

    "Oh? That''s just how you are? Really?"

    August didn''t know how he''d gotten into this situation, but he found himself being relentlessly teased by a girl he only just met.

    He had to admit that this was the first time someone other than his father actually treated him like he was a child. It wasn''t like he didn''t understand what she was thinking, but he really was just like that!

    He had been seeing an old man''s memories every single night for far too long for him to not act like one!

    What was he supposed to do?!

    The actualpetitive part of the elimination round ended when August decided not to kill her.

    August ended up trying to wrestle Valerie off of him. They ended up on the ground and got covered in mud before he got her off of him.

    At that point, they started sparring. They didn''t get to finish their previous fight, and they were quitepetitive people.

    Plus. if it looked too still in the forest after all of the mayhem they caused earlier, what would people think when they both walked out without many injuries?

    They at least had to simte a fight.

    And, they were both curious about who would actually win.

    August was more than able to fight her on equal terms. If they both went all-out, would she be able to hold an advantage just because she was stronger on paper?

    They fought to find out, and they fought well.

    ¡­well, for just a minute or two.

    Just as they got into it, they heard horns ring all around them.

    "Ah¡­!"

    "Oh, right¡­"

    They suddenly remembered where they were.

    In the fifteen or so minutes that they spent fighting, the situation had changed massively outside.

    The elimination round was forced toe to an abrupt halt.

    After all, rather than the fifty people they had originally nned to pass¡­

    ¡­only fifteen remained.

 Chapter 1642 Gratitude [1]

    Chapter 1642 Gratitude [1]

    There were around eighty people left in the elimination round when August first entered the forest.

    It was around half the number of those who entered, but it was still a decent amount.

    If things went as they were meant to, the battle would continue for another hour at least as these geniuses started confronting each other in singlebat and abandoning their groups.

    It was especially so since Valerie had stepped away from the battle to find August.

    The only ones left with immense power in the arena were Lucas Stroll, the ice user, and Ophelia Bannar, the fire elementalist.

    And they barreled through their opposition.

    It was hard for anyone in the arena to stand against them, and with their power, they could wipe out every single one of them in a minute if they wanted to.

    The only reason they weren''t using the full extent of a 4th ss dragon''s power was because they were testing their fellow participants.

    They didn''t just want to destroy people weaker than them.

    They wanted to preserve the sanctity of the heir wars tradition by only allowing geniuses to pass.

    In fact, of the eighty who were still in the arena, five of them had been spared by the duo and deemed worthy.

    Those five were standing behind the line they created, not really sure what they were meant to do.

    After all, they''d lost. They weren''t supposed to remain, but they had.

    The arena itself looked strange now.

    The entire middle was split by a triangr area of forest that Valerie had created.

    Tremors and explosions shook the very foundation of that forest. asionally, one could feel a burst of power or see something peek above the canopy to indicate what was happening inside.

    It intrigued not just the crowd, but also those fighting in the arena. Ophelia and Lucas were deeply curious about who Valerie had met that could make her fight on such a level, but they''d find out when the round ended, so they didn''t fret over it.

    On each side of the forest, fire and ice raged as they continued their attack, somehow not affecting the trees in the slightest.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    ROAAAAAAR!

    Ophelia was extremely aggressive.

    Her fighting style was simr to what the Ignis n and other fire dragons preferred.

    mes were king. Fire was above all else. In order to prove the strength of their element, they didn''t focus too much on making their techniques fancy and filled with intricacies.

    It was the most basic form of power.

    She shed her ws out and created huge billowing mes that enveloped countless people. She roared with her entire heart, letting loose beams of fire that incinerated even the arena grounds.

    Lucas was her pr opposite in many ways. Even humans were influenced by their elements, so it was unsurprising that dragons, who were born far closer to them than humans, would have simr tendencies.

    The conflict between fire and ice users had presented itself countless times through Damien''s century of adventure through the universe. Except for unique cases like Feng Qing''er and Lunaria Snow from the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, almost all fire and ice users formed rivalries or feuds solely based on the views they developed through their abilities.

    In this moment, they were united, but they''d been dying to fight each other since the moment they met.

    That would have to wait until they were on a bigger stage. Currently, they had different goals.

    There honestly weren''t that many people who could meet their standards. Even the fifteen who were left by the time they were done were only standing because the announcer managed to stop the two wild geniuses before they could eliminate everyone in the arena.

    Nobody did anything noteworthy. Aside from the original five, the rest were quite literally just lucky.

    That included Mnia.

    "STOP! THE BATTLE IS OVER!"

    The announcer''s mildly panicked yet incredibly stern voice resounded through the arena.

    It barely made its way over the crowd''s cheers, but Ophelia and Lucas still stopped as he asked. They couldn''t offend the administration running thepetition when they were participants themselves, could they?

    To them, it was a bit of a shame that thest ten people were still conscious, but to Mnia and the rest, it was heaven''s gift.

    ''Could I have survived?''

    They saw the waves of fire and ice that approached closer and closer to them.

    They saw as people tried their best to defend themselves, only to end up in corpse-like states riddled across the ground.

    How many of them were able to even think of formting a counterattack?

    Not a single one.

    Only those five who stood behind them. They had passed precisely because they tried to put up a fight before losing.

    Mnia wasn''t certain if she could do it, especially with her current fighting style.

    She wasn''t afraid to try. Her mentality was there.

    But, with today''s event, she learned what real geniuses looked like.

    August was, at least, still a 3rd ss being. Even if his talent was unbelievable, the strength he''d reached at his age wasn''t too far away from her.

    These two, or rather, three, on the other hand¡­

    Could she ever match up to them?

    It was a serious doubt that gued her mind.

    On top of that¡­

    ''...where is he?''

    She hadn''t forgotten about what she wanted to do here.

    She had been looking everywhere for August, but after being unable to find him despite truly making use of the entire battlefield, she was forced to believe that he''d been eliminated.

    "Contestants, pleasee forward!"

    Though, his job became redundant when the battle became more of a fight for survival.

    Everything was a bit jumbled from the perspective of those in the arena. Only when the announcer said those words did their perception of the world return to what everyone else had been seeing.

    It was also when they began paying attention to the announcer, who''d actually been speaking through the entire battle.

    He''d highlighted the parts that people would be most interested to see so that the crowd didn''t have to figure out what was happening on their own.

    Though, his job became redundant when the battle became more of a fight for survival.

    That was beside the point. The most important part was that the crowd was absolutely enamored with what they saw. That was the original goal of having an announcer in the first ce, so he didn''t take too much offense.

    The geniuses stepped forward as he asked.

    They all put away their mana and walked to the center of the arena.

    The forest that once inhabited that space was fading, dispersing into mana. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Left in the center were two people.

    When others saw them, they were immediately shocked.

    Valerie had shown her skill before she started fighting August.

    She sat in the forest without even showing herself, yet, she took out enough geniuses to match Ophelia and Lucas.

    Those who saw August rush into the forest thought he was going to lose for sure. However, they''d been proven wrong multiple times already.

    This moment stuck the nail in the coffin.

    August and Valerie were both still standing. Covered in wounds, sure, but they were in good enough condition to fit in with the geniuses around them.

    Ophelia went to August''s side while Lucas stood next to Valerie. They both eyed the boy they''d never seen before as the other geniuses lined up next to them, facing the head of the arena.

    "Everyone, do you see them?!''

    The announcer yelled, his draconic voice echoing and booming off the walls.

    "These are your geniuses! These are the youths who will represent the people in theing heir wars! They are fifteen, not fifty, however¡­their might has already been proven!"

    WAAAAAAAAAAH!

    The rush of cheers overwhelmed a lot of them.

    August, Mnia, and most of the othermoners had dumbfounded expressions on their faces when they finally realized how many people they''d been fighting in front of.

    It wasn''t a number in the mere hundreds or thousands.

    Tens of thousands of people were crowded into the stands, roaring with their hearts to support the geniuses who would represent them.

    "Do you want to see them fight again?! Do you want to see them rise and face challenges beyond anything they''ve ever faced before¡­?!"

    The announcer grinned as he heard the crowd''s affirmation.

    "...then you won''t have to wait long."

    He finished his sentence, pausing for effect.

    "The heir wars, the event you''ve all been waiting for¡­"

    "Huu¡­"

    August took a deep breath, closing his eyes and reopening them.

    He scanned the crowd until he felt a certain aura calling for him. Turning his eyes in that direction, he saw the person he wanted to see and grinned.

    "...it officially starts now!''

    The first stage was over. Originally, there would have been a few months separating the elimination round and the true heir wars, but all of that had changed.

    The heir wars would begin as soon as possible. The announcer had just officially confirmed it.

    And, to be one of only sixty-five people who had the qualifications to participate¡­

    August had to admit.

    He really loved this feeling.

 Chapter 1643 Gratitude [2]

    Chapter 1643 Gratitude [2]

    For the crowd, it really was an event to remember. The entire thing seemed to be plotted out well, keeping a sort of continuity that let them feel like they were really part of the action.

    For the geniuses, on the other hand, it was apletely different experience.

    They showed up, heard the horns, fought, and left.

    At first, they were too focused. By the end, they were too weary to pay attention to anything else.

    There was no closing ceremony. After all, they were all winners, so there wasn''t much of a ceremony to hold.

    They stood shoulder to shoulder and listened to the crowd for a few minutes before being ushered off through a door embedded in the side of the arena. It led to a ce that visitors couldn''t reach.

    Only then were they allowed to rx.

    August immediately copsed against a nearby wall, creating water to drink.

    It tasted like mana, but that was fine, since he didn''t really mind it. Others usually felt awkward about drinking water they created.

    "Damn! I wish we got to finish."

    Valerie stood next to him. She hadn''t been able toin about their battle being cut short since they were in front of a crowd, but now that they were alone, she could truly let loose.

    "I mean, I get that the battle had to end. Those two went overboard. But, still! They could''ve waited for a few more minutes, right?"

    "That was never going to happen."

    August wasn''t the one talking.

    At some point, the two in question had walked up to them and decided to join the conversation.

    "You are¡­August Void, correct?" Lucas said, looking at him.

    He was looking down since August was the only one seated, but his gaze didn''t contain any notes of condescension.

    If he was able to survive for so long against Valerie and even wound her a bit, then he was someone worth respecting.

    Lucas nodded as he shook it.

    "I look forward to seeing what you''re capable of."

    "That is indeed my name," August replied with a smile, holding his hand out.

    Lucas nodded as he shook it.

    "I look forward to seeing what you''re capable of."

    "You as well."

    August and Ophelia exchanged simr greetings, though she was a bit more direct than the icy Lucas.

    Her words were something along the lines of:

    "Next round, you''ll fight me. I want to see what you''re made of."

    ¡­though, she didn''t sound like she was being intentionally rude, so August didn''t take it to heart.

    The geniuses were being kept in this room. They were resting, sure, but they weren''t allowed to leave.

    It wasn''t made clear yet why exactly this was the case, but since it was probably rted to the heir wars, none of them made a fuss about it.

    August sat and breathed calmly, focusing on that more than anything else while a conversation budded around him.

    ''These three¡­''

    They were treating him kindly because they saw him as an equal.

    ''That''s a lot of pressure.''

    August knew they were stronger than him. His advantages were only enough to let him fight them.

    Whether he could win or not was¡­not really a question in his mind.

    ''I know the answer, and the fact that the heir wars aren''t going to start a few months from now makes that a difficult thing to think about.''

    August needed to reach 4th ss. Now more than ever, it was important.

    ''The elimination round isn''t over.''

    No, the entire heir wars was an elimination round. He had to pass and pass and pass, never losing even once.

    Otherwise, all of his goals would go up in mes. A new Dragon Emperor heir would be chosen, and if he tried to rise up as apetitor to that person, he''d have to face a far harsher and less heroic path.

    August had a lot to think about. It was a rtively short battle, but it was more than enough to teach him the things he needed to improve on.

    ''I was focusing on the wrong things all along.''

    His techniques weren''t the main problem. If he continued to use them in the way that fit him best, then they would naturally be molded as he grew.

    ''I need to focus on the foundational parts of the manual.''

    He was already prepared to go into the mountains and train.

    The question was¡­

    How much time would he have?

    As August pondered on it, a certain head peeked around the corner.

    "August¡­?"

    His gaze was drawn, along with those around him, who stopped their conversation to see who''d arrived.

    After realizing that she was a face they didn''t know, Lucas and Ophelia lost interest.

    As for Valerie, she looked at August to see his reaction.

    "I''ll be right back," he said, excusing himself.

    Valerie nodded and returned to her conversation with the other two.

    upying them was better for him, since their views towards the less talented were¡­not so friendly.

    August slipped away from the group and turned the corner.

    Mnia was already gone, but she''d left a path for him to follow.

    ''What''s up with this?''

    He didn''t really understand her actions, but perhaps that was because he wasn''t in her position.

    To her, Lucas and Ophelia meant somethingpletely different.

    Nevertheless, August followed the trail and eventually found himself in a different connected room, where Mnia was waiting for him.

    When he arrived, her face instantly lit up.

    "I knew you wouldn''t be eliminated so easily!"

    "You thought I was eliminated?" August replied, looking slightly offended.

    "I couldn''t find you, so I had no choice."

    August shrugged. It was understandable indeed.

    A slight lull fell between them. August didn''t really know what to talk about, considering theirst interaction.

    Mnia, on the other hand, just needed a few moments to prepare herself.

    Once she had, she immediately bowed a full ny degrees in his direction.

    "Thank you!"

    She had been dying to say it.

    "I''m really sorry for the way I acted back then. For you to stille back and give me gratitude¡­you don''t understand how much that meant for me and my family."

    She didn''t want to bore him with her life story. She also wasn''t trying to appeal to his pity by letting him know what she''d been through.

    All Mnia wanted was to convey her gratitude to him by any means possible.

    "Even if you want me to serve you for life, I''ll do it without hesitation. If you have anything you want, then please ask me without worry. I can''t let a favor as big as this one go unrepaid."

    August was shocked by her sincerity.

    It came out of nowhere, especially when he considered his actions nothing more than a small act of kindness.

    But Mnia was serious. The look in her eyes told him that nothing could convince her otherwise.

    He smiled somewhat helplessly.

    "Actually, there is one thing I wanted."

    "Really? What is it? I''ll really do anything, as long as it''s not¡­well, never mind."

    August snickered a little. He didn''t remember Mnia being this jittery, but it was definitely fun seeing a side of her that acted more her age.

    ''Is this what Valerie was thinking when we met?''

    He couldn''t say he didn''t understand the sentiment.

    ''Acting more my age¡­''

    Maybe he could try it sometime. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But for now, there was something more important.

    "The one thing I''ve wanted since you showed me kindness back then¡­how about bing friends?"

    "Friends?" Mnia echoed.

    "Yeah. Friends and allies who support each other when things get difficult. That''s what I want us to be."

    Mnia''s eyes widened slightly.

    Of all the requests she was expecting to hear, this was not one of them.

    She couldn''t help but smile.

    "Friends, huh¡­?" she muttered.

    "That doesn''t sound too bad at all."

    August returned her smile.

    Yes, friends. That was all they were now.

    But eventually, they would be allies who would conquer the world together.

    And that¡­

    That was August''s one true wish.

 Chapter 1644 Scheme [1]

    Chapter 1644 Scheme [1]

    Mnia expected a lot worse.

    The people she saw on a daily basis would''ve reacted to such a propositionpletely differently.

    If she offered to do anything to repay the favor she was given, then their minds would immediately go to ces that would end in her exploitation.

    August was different from them. She''d seen this from his behavior and the fact that her siblings liked him. Deciding to trust him was a leap of faith on her part, but she felt it was the least she could do after what he''d done for her.

    So she said it. She said that she would give him everything if he asked for it.

    And for him to just say that he wanted to be friends¡­

    She wanted tough at herself for worrying in the first ce.

    It was easy for them to establish a friendship. Their personalities meshed well, especially when Mnia put her guard down. Though they''d had different experiences in life, perhaps that was what allowed them to get along well from the start.

    They wanted to learn from each other with a basis of respect. Theck of arrogance was all it took.

    August originally meant to talk to Mnia for just a bit before returning to Valerie and the rest, but they ended up getting to know each other for several minutes.

    As their conversation continued, the two of them had their attention grabbed by a bell that sounded in the main room.

    When they left to go look at it, they found the other thirteen also gathering. A stranger was standing at the door through which they entered, seemingly waiting for them to notice him.

    Once they''d formed a small crowd, he opened his mouth and started talking.

    "You may be wondering what happens next," he said, looking over them.

    "For the sake of fairness, you will only be made aware of the actual challenges you face in the heir wars when you arrive in the arena. This holds true for the nobles as well. The only information you will be given beforehand is when you will be tested, and depending on the situation, who you will be facing."

    The statement elicited many nods from the crowd of geniuses.

    Knowing what the challenges actually were was a huge advantage.

    If anyone was able to hold it, others wouldn''t be able topete in the slightest.

    Honestly, August and most others didn''t believe that nobles would follow the rules and regtions. They had too many opportunities to circumvent such things.

    Giving them an inherent advantage over theirpetitors would ensure that amoner didn''t end up on the throne. It surely sounded like something the noble ns would do.

    The "organization" that controlled the testing didn''t belong to the Holy ns or the nobles. They were only somewhat involved.

    The main force controlling these matters was the Dragon Emperor''s personal troop. They took care of the most important matters so that others couldn''t interfere.

    Still, their reputation couldn''t pertain to every single individual.

    There were sure to be people who were willing to provide information to those who could purchase it, but August and the rest just had to trust in the words of this man until they had seen it for themselves.

    In the end, it would be quite obvious if it happened, wouldn''t it?

    Nevertheless, the man continued, unaware of their worries. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I will now distribute your emblems. Using these, you can learn about when you specifically will be participating. It can automatically teleport you to the arena when the timees, and, if you so wish, you can use it to view the leaderboard that will show you who is still in thepetition and who is in the lead."

    The man nodded knocked on the door behind him, leading another to enter the room.

    He immediately scanned the geniuses before approaching them one by one, giving them their emblems.

    August received his after most of the others since he was near the back of the crowd. As he gazed at it, he listened to the man''s words.

    "Please press your mana and a drop of blood into the emblem. It will be bound to you thereafter."

    August frowned.

    ''My blood¡­?''

    What was the purpose of that? A device like this could easily be bound using mana alone.

    In fact, it was a far better way to identify someone than blood.

    After all, one needed to draw blood before ever being able to examine it.

    Mana existed naturally. Even those who hid their auras couldn''t remain concealed when they actually used mana for anything.

    An expert could recognize someone''s mana from thousands of kilometers away. Each individual''s signature was simply that distinguishable.

    It also couldn''t easily be replicated or forged.

    As such, devices like these always used mana. Only less developed societies, like some of those in the lower universe, needed to use something like blood.

    For Arulion to resort to these backwards methods¡­

    ''...the blood isn''t for binding the emblem.''

    It had an entirely different purpose.

    ''Let''s stay cautious.''

    August didn''t immediately bind the emblem, waiting until he was alone to test it first. Mnia, who was next to him, did the same.

    She didn''t know why, but she decided to trust August''s actions and wait.

    Nevertheless, as the rest of the geniuses bound their emblems, the man nodded.

    "The next round will begin in two weeks. You can see if you are participating through your emblems. All other information you might find necessary will also be there."

    It was a system that allowed geniuses to stay informed without needing to find people to inform them, which was convenient¡­

    "That is all."

    ¡­and the man seemed to believe that it was better for them to learn the rest on their own. His only job was to deliver their emblems. Now that it was done, he was more than happy to leave.

    "Ah¡­"

    There was one more thing for him to say before he left.

    "You can leave at any time, however, I would not rmend it. There are¡­quite a lot of people trying to find you right now."

    They had be overnight celebrities, so naturally, there were crowds outside waiting for them to leave.

    It made life inconvenient, but what were they meant to do?

    They had be overnight celebrities, so naturally, there were crowds outside waiting for them to leave.

    It made life inconvenient, but what were they meant to do?

    They were all aiming for the Dragon Emperor position, so this kind of treatment was simply something they needed to get used to.

    Some of them left and some others stayed.

    Lucas and Ophelia went their own ways the second they had the opportunity. A few of the geniuses rode their coattails to make an escape without facing the crowd:

    Valerie stayed with August, who stayed back in the room with Mnia.

    To him, leaving right now was just pointless.

    He did have an artifact that would allow him to subvert everything waiting outside, but there were too many people around for him to ever think about using it.

    So, as he waited for the crowds to die down after satisfying their excitement through Lucas and Ophelia, he started investigating his emblem.

    There was a scheme hidden within, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

 Chapter 1645 Scheme [2]

    Chapter 1645 Scheme [2]

    August pretty much knew what he was looking for. All he needed to do was confirm.

    ''Unfortunately, I''m still weak.''

    He couldn''t do it on his own. He was talented, sure, but he was not yet powerful.

    He and those around him could not stand against those who could actually move the world.

    ''If Dad were to fight against any of them, they''d all lose faith in their talent.''

    That was the disparity between them and the true experts.

    ''Speaking of Dad¡­''

    August''s eyes brightened.

    ''...he can definitely help with this.''

    His father could do anything. They''d been apart for only a week and a few days, but August had already experienced so much.

    He saw Damien in the crowd when the battle ended. Knowing him, he was probably waiting for August to find him.

    ''But he won''t just be part of the crowd.''

    August changed his mind.

    "I have to go," he said to the two girls nearby.

    "Where to?" Valerie responded.

    "Ah, I''m going to find my dad," August replied.

    "Your dad¡­? As in¡­ah, can Ie too?"

    Valerie''s eyes were practically shining.

    Damien was someone she''d heard many stories about in recent times. From what her grandpa told her, he was a man whose existence was unreasonable even by dragon standards.

    She wanted to meet such a being. She was practically begging with her eyes as she stared at him.

    "I don''t mind," he said with a smile.

    "Why don''t both of youe?"

    "Me too?" Mnia asked.

    "Of course. Why not?"

    August wanted his dad to meet his new friends.

    More importantly, he wanted Valerie and Mnia to get acquainted.

    They had exchanged greetings a bit ago, but that was about it. Their only connection was August, after all.

    If the two of them were going to be hispanions from now on, then they would have to learn to like each other.

    Perhaps having them spend time together would make them closer?

    That was August''s train of thought.

    "He should be outside somewhere. I saw him in the stands before, but¡­I''m sure it''s not going to be easy."

    The girls were confused, but August just smiled.

    His father was¡­never the type of person to give him anything easily.

    He had to earn it if he wanted it.

    ''Actually, he probably already knows about the emblem problem.''

    If so, then he would make it even harder.

    ''I should get started as soon as possible. The field is bigger than it used to be.''

    Usually, their borate game of hide and seek would only cover Veridea Mountain. The arena was located in a city called Fort Halleya, which waspletely unfamiliar to August.

    Damien was going to be somewhere in the city. That much August could assure.

    However, where in the city¡­? Whether it be in a random store, on the side of the street, or at the top of the tallest building, Damien''s location would be something August had to actually use his brain to find.

    Nevertheless, the first challenge was the same as what everyone else faced.

    "Let''s find a way out of here without being swarmed."

    The crowd outside was filled with vultures, and they needed to escape without alerting even a single one.

    ***

    It was hard to really y games with a dragon. Damien had to find ways to keep his son entertained with things that didn''t have to do with training.

    Books did a good job. August loved to learn, so it was easy to keep him entertained when he was in the house.

    However, outdoor activities were a bit different.

    They could go flying every once in a while, but they couldn''t do it too often.

    A dragon''s version of fun would usually require another dragon toplete, and since Damien wasn''t a member of their race, he had to find a way topensate.

    After all, he was still a human. Even if he turned into a dragon when August wanted him to, he couldn''t raise him entirely as a dragon.

    Instead, he found another way for them to y.

    It was, in fact, an borate game of hide and seek.

    Damien''s job was to put himself in a ce where nobody would think to look.

    Sometimes he would even disguise himself as a different person to throw August off.

    Meanwhile, August had to use his mind to find out where Damien was using the clues he left behind, and he needed to exercise his body to run around and actually chase his tail.

    The first time they yed, Damien found that this game was the perfect way to satisfy all of August''s needs. It became a sort of tradition for them, and when he started to get more serious about training, he incorporated the game into it as well.

    In the current situation, Damien decided to be even more creative with his hiding spot.

    He transformed into a fire dragon in aura and appearance. Once that was over, he found his way into the VIP section of one of the most prestigious institutions in the entire city.

    This ce was hidden and inessible to those who didn''t know about it. Logically speaking, it was impossible for August to find him.

    ''But that boy''s intuition can hardly be called logical.''

    August was able to infer things that were scarily close to the truth based on little to no information.

    Even taking the current situation into ount, August was absolutely correct.

    Damien had indeed hidden himself in the city and made it harder than ever to find him.

    He had already learned that there was a problem with the emblems.

    Hell, he had already dissected the problem and unveiled the entire plot behind it.

    If it was August, even a ce like this wouldn''t be able to stump him.

    ''Anyway, while I wait¡­''

    The problem with the emblems was one of many things Damien uncovered as he journeyed through Arulion to find the Dragon Emperor.

    ''It''s been so long, but that still isn''t done.''

    Damien smiled wryly.

    He thought it would be easy. With his current power, sensing the locations and entrances of the Holy n hidden territories was light work. He could infiltrate any of them if he so pleased.

    However, he couldn''t find anything at all that led to the Dragon Emperor.

    ''At first, I thought he was a fake.''

    For a second, Damien even believed that the Dragon Emperor was a being that the Holy ns simply made up to keep their power solid and support their agendas.

    ''But he definitely exists. The problem is¡­I think he ended up in a situation simr to Qinglong.''

    From what Damien could tell, the Dragon Emperor was basically being used as a puppet by the Holy ns.

    Still, he was trying his best to maintain his influence.

    His people had revealed themselves when the heir wars began, surprising and confusing the Holy ns.

    They were put into a situation where they couldn''t act against him because his role in society had be absolutely vital.

    They couldn''t touch the heir wars process either since they were bound by their blood.

    The sacred tradition of the Kingdom of Dragons couldn''t be interrupted or interfered with by anyone except the Dragon Emperor himself.

    No dragon could disobey that rule. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The Dragon Emperor was hidden somewhere in Arulion.

    And while Damien took a break to attend August''s big event, his clone continued to search unceasingly for clues.

    ''I guess this isn''t the only game of hide and seek going on.''

    The Dragon Emperor was doing to Damien exactly what he was doing to August.

    It was a bit of a funnyparison.

    ''Still, if my son can find me against all odds¡­''

    ¡­then he could find the Dragon Emperor.

    Was it logical? Not quite.

    But, was it true?

    Well¡­

 Chapter 1646 Hide And Seek [1]

    Chapter 1646 Hide And Seek [1]

    It had been mentioned before, but Damien didn''t leave August to figure it all out on his own.

    He''d left clues all throughout Fort Halleya that would eventually lead him to the right ce.

    It obviously wouldn''t be easy, but it was absolutely possible, even with the particr uniqueness of Damien''s current hiding ce.

    Damien believed in his son, and August believed in his ability to read his father.

    Making it out of the crowd was a problem at first, but for geniuses who put their mind to it, evading regr civilians wasn''t a problem at all.

    In a situation like this, they were permitted to use their power, weren''t they?

    August was able to maneuver in such a way that he could avoid all prying eyes without a problem. Valerie was more high profile, but after seeing her performance in the arena, hardly anyone was willing to stand in her way.

    Mnia didn''t have either of those traits. She was good at concealing herself, but only at a basic level for now.

    Still, she had the least problems out of any of them.

    Her presence during the battle was barely a thing, so even when she left the same area as the other geniuses, people decided to focus on those like Valerie instead, so she was able to get through without a problem.

    It was a bit humiliating, but since August and Valerie didn''t see it that way, Mnia was less self-conscious about it.

    Nevertheless, the three of them escaped the arena and met up at a nearby cafe to discuss strategy.

    August had somewhat exined the game to them.

    They had to follow his lead since he was the only one who could track the clues left for them, but both Valerie and Mnia were prepared to y any role they could to help.

    Though, they didn''t believe it would be that hard.

    It was just a friendly game between father and son, right? What was the worst that could happen?

    August didn''t bother telling them otherwise, since they''d find out on their own soon enough.

    ''First off, clues.''

    "Knowing my dad, the first clue is going to be super obvious. It''s going to get progressively harder from there, but we can worry about thatter," he said, involving the other two in his thought process.

    "The question now is: where is that obvious ce?"

    He didn''t know anything about this city. He could spend time learning if he wanted to, but what was the purpose of having teammates if the work wasn''t distributed?

    Mnia hadn''t left Arragon before so she couldn''t help in this area, but Valerie had explored a decent amount of the kingdom under the guidance of her nsmen, so it was different on her side.

    "Fort Halleya isn''t a crazy popr city, but it''s still a spot that tourists really enjoy. There are a few monuments that matter more than others, but if it''s as obvious of a spot as you say, then it has to be a staple of this city," Valerie said, her brows furrowed.

    "If I had to guess, then the best ce to start would be the Monument of Truth."

    "The Monument of Truth?" August echoed.

    "Yeah, it''s not really anything special. It''s just called that. Anyway, it''d be too boring to just talk about it, so I''ll just take you there."

    August nodded, and Mnia also agreed.

    Fort Halleya was a port city, or at least, the draconic equivalent of one.

    They didn''t need to use the seas to trade with others, but there were several ns that lived in the water. They would surface at ces like Fort Halleya to umte resources and trade for things they couldn''t get in their natural habitats. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The Monument of Truth was located on that port, at the very west end of the city, outside of the walls that allowed this ce to call itself a fort.

    It was really just an obelisk made out of a dark obsidian-like material. Its height wasmendable, but the actual artistic creativity behind its design was questionable.

    Still, when a well-traveled or well-informed dragon thought about Fort Halleya, the Monument of Truth was one of the first things that came to mind.

    It was put in ce when the city was first created and had withstood trials and tribtions for hundreds of thousands of years.

    The reason it was valued was not because of its design. It wasn''t even because of the materials it was made of or its originally intended meaning.

    The reason people valued the Monument of Truth was because it managed to survive no matter what kind of arduous situation it was ced in.

    Through countless wars and countless disasters, it stood strong, reminding people of what they could do if they just kept themselves stable and refused to lose hope.

    As such, what was originally just a monument used to praise a long-forgotten king was now a symbol of the people, a site that Fort Halleya''s denizens took pride in.

    August could feel their pride as he approached it.

    Along with something else, an aura that only he''d ever be able to sense.

    "You were right," he said, looking at Valerie.

    "It looks like our quest starts here."

    He walked up to the obelisk with the girls. They could only follow him as he circled it before stopping at a specific spot on the side that faced the pier.

    "Am I allowed to touch it?"

    "Not if you don''t want to die."

    "Then¡­"

    August reached out, his fingers just an inch away from the obelisk.

    There were people who immediately turned their eyes to him with hostility, but he didn''t n to move his fingers forward to cross that final gap.

    Instead, he took a drop of mana to the very edge of his fingertip and sought a connection with the aura he felt.

    Zap!

    Like a small arc of lightning, a bolt of mana connected August''s finger to the obelisk itself.

    A gxy appeared in his eyes. Darkness enveloped him and the two behind him. The obelisk flipped on its head and started ticking like the minute hand of a clock.

    Valerie and Mnia were already confused and panicking. This situation wasn''t anything like what they were expecting.

    August, on the other hand, wasfortable in the darkness.

    ''It''s a clock¡­?''

    Was this the clue, or did he have to do something else to unveil it?

    ''Hmm¡­since it''s the first one, it would usually end here, but¡­''

    August started drawing in the air with his fingers.

    Mana was released from his hand. It first surrounded the obelisk in a circle before forming numbers and even a second hand toplete the image of the clock.

    The second hand ticked ording to the flow of the minute hand, and over time, as they synchronized, August saw a different picture.

    "Coordinates?"

    Mnia was actually the one to voice it. August looked back at her in surprise.

    "How did you know?"

    "Ah, I don''t really know. The hands aren''t really following the flow of time, so I thought they were trying to point us in a certain direction instead. The easiest way to do that is to either give us a range to explore or give us coordinates to find."

    It was quite an intuitive answer.

    Mnia had spent a lot of time trying to discover what she was good at. She''d read as much as she was able to with her status, and she learned a variety of trades to support her family.

    Reading coordinates wasn''t really a useful skill, but she learned to decipher them as part of a job that she had taken in the past.

    After gaining an interest in cartography, a skill that dragons didn''t make much use of, she did some extensive research on her own and actually developed a decent skill set to be an explorer.

    Of course, she couldn''t leave her family at home alone, so she never pursued that path.

    Still, her skills never became useless. This moment proved exactly that.

    "Nice!" August said with a smile.

    Whenever Damien gave him coordinates, he''d struggle. He hardly knew his way around a map, and to understand the position of a few numbers in a ce where he didn''t know left from right was genuinely just impossible for him.

    By chance, he had someone in his party who could make up for his weaknesses.

    And because of that, what would''ve been a taxing task that took several hours or even a day toplete could be finished in a much shorter time period.

    ''See, ancestor?'' August thought as his smile widened.

    ''This is whyrades are always important.''

    He was hoping Qinglong was watching from the heavens as he gained prominence in the world.

    Because that ancestor of his¡­while they differed a lot, he was still the only blood-rted family that August had.

    The urge to make that ancestor proud, to show him what kind of excellence he could achieve in the path he''d chosen¡­

    Moments like these helped him satisfy that urge.

    And, it solidified his own thoughts.

    He would conquer this world with hisrades.

    Not a single one of them would be left behind in the process.

    He would make sure of it, no matter what it took.

 Chapter 1647 Hide And Seek [2]

    Chapter 1647 Hide And Seek [2]

    ??Longitude andtitude obviously weren''t universal concepts. They were defined by earthlings to define Earth.

    However, the concept of having coordinates to denote locations was widespread. It was important, especially when setting up teleportation arrays.

    Without coordinates, arrays would have to be operated manually. That was a waste of spatial talents, wasn''t it?

    The system in Arulion was different from even what was used in the rest of the Heavenly World. Luckily for these three, Damien had learned it and used it for their convenience.

    Still, it wasn''t as simple as just finding coordinates and chasing them.

    Mnia immediately went to work as the other two gave her space, decoding the code she found in the clock''s movement.

    "Five¡­stop¡­sixteen¡­stop¡­twenty¡­stop¡­"

    She said a total of forty-five numbers.

    It was too many to form an actual destination by any means, but to identify those numbers, one needed to understand how to find coordinates.

    ''The actual task to aplish with those numbers is different.''

    In ssic Damien fashion, the answer wasn''t simple.

    Mnia stepped back, staring at the clock intently as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do.

    "The clock has to be relevant."

    The Monument of Truth was important because of the time it had withstood. When they were transported into this space, they''d been faced with a clock that showed them the way.

    "Maybe¡­?"

    Mnia curiously turned around and took a step forward. A slight yet noticeable "ding!" sounded as her stepnded.

    To her surprise, the ground below her foot glowed in a hazy blue color.

    Ding!

    Ding!

    Ding!

    Ding!

    She took four more steps forward and the light continued to follow her.

    However¡­

    The second she moved once more, the lights disappeared, clearly telling her that she was doing something wrong.

    "It''s a pattern!"

    Mnia went back to the start and walked again, stopping when she''d moved five steps forward.

    "Stop¡­"

    There were pauses in the code she decoded. Were they there to denote how long she needed to move in each direction?

    ''If it''s a clock, then the movements¡­"

    Mnia turned to her right and took a step.

    As expected, she was greeted with a blue light and a ding.

    Fifteen stepster, she''d already confirmed it.

    "Guys, follow my steps. I found the pattern!"

    August and Valerie smiled.

    They''d already realized what she was doing when she took those first steps, but seeing her so excited, they let her keep the lead.

    They didn''t really need to ask anyone to know that Mnia had some insecurities about her talent and power.

    If shepared herself to the rest of the geniuses she waspeting against, it was obvious for her to feel insecure.

    However, August knew from the start that she had talents worth acknowledging.

    With a disy like this, Valerie was starting to see it too.

    The two of them did as she said and followed her steps. They went around in a square pattern that ended up forming a strange rectangr spiral.

    Their steps first took them wide, creating therger parts of the spiral. At a certain point, they were led in a straight line that cut through the pattern so they could create the center.

    And when the three of them stood at its center, seeing the entire, frankly ugly, pattern around them, the blue lights that denoted their stepsbined into a single flowing stream.

    The energy started to move, pulsating from the center to the outside edges, and subtly, the pattern changed until it was swirling at full speed.

    The floor beneath them had changed.

    It lost its permanence. The blue light became the entire floor, transforming everything into energy.

    And naturally, an ethereal floor couldn''t necessarily be stood on.

    "Woah!"

    "Ahh!"

    "Don''t reach out for anything! Keep your hands to your side and focus onnding properly!"

    August warned the two, hoping to get through their surprise.

    He had assumed the form he rmended. His attention was focused on his legs.

    The three of them fell into the ckness of the space around them, but deep inside of it, August could see the makings of a city.

    It was not within the space.

    Rather¡­

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    The ckness was reced by a clear sky.

    The brush of wind against their bodies reminded them that they were back in reality.

    However, instead of being at the Monument of Truth, they were in the sky around a thousand feet above the tallest building in the city.

    ''This is¡­unexpected!''

    August''s previous advice went out the window.

    Usually, he would be dropped close to the ground somewhere, but this time was definitely different!

    ''We can''t use our dragon forms.''

    At a time like this, one would obviously default to the form with wings.

    Unfortunately, it was illegal formoners to transform unless they had received permission.

    They had to find a way tond safely with their bodies.

    Given their altitude, however, any sort ofnding on the ground would kill them.

    ''The spire!''

    August suddenly heard Valerie''s voice in his head.

    "Aim for the spire!"

    His eyes focused on that building, the only one that was somewhat visible from this height.

    He then looked to find Valerie and Mnia''s positions.

    ''Okay.''

    He wasn''t close to them but they weren''t far away.

    Mnia was falling, unable to do anything about it. Meanwhile, Valerie had already started using her mana.

    Vitality was birthed out of the air, and small vines immediately grew out of her hands.

    There wasn''t much Valerie could really aplish without the ground nearby, since most of her power relied on the forces it contained.

    She could still grow trees and forest around her body, but how could it spread without the earth''s vitality?

    If she was alone, she really would''ve been unable to do anything until she got closer to the ground.

    In this case, though¡­

    Combined with her message, August understood what Valerie was thinking.

    He immediately went to work, summoning as much water as he possibly could.

    WHOOOOOOOOOSH!

    The ever-rushing winds made it impossible for him to transport his water to Valerie, but that was exactly where Mnia came in.

    An earth dragon, a water dragon, and a wood dragon.

    Using their power together, why couldn''t they replicate the properties of the natural earth?

    Mnia provided the soil, and August provided the vitality. With those factors, Valerie was able to root her power into theirs and let her vines grow into thickly packed structures that were stronger than tree roots.

    They were falling fast. The more matter they summoned, the more their overall weight was, and the faster they fell.

    The spire was approaching closer by the second, and what did they have to show for the time they spent airborne¡­?

    Their waists were wrapped by thick vines that connected to a web of roots shielding them from the ground,

    Cocoons of water enveloped them to dampen the force of impact and dense rock armor shielded their bodies to make sure they didn''t jolt too much when they suddenly came to a stop.

    The n definitely wasn''t to just hit the ground like this. Their preparations weren''t enough to save them if that was their goal.

    Instead, with eight seconds passing, this was the best they could do, and the spire was already upon them.

    "Get ready!" August shouted out.

    The three of them braced themselves, and Valerie especially made sure to concentrate.

    Everything looked like a blur, but in that moment of truth, time slowed down.

    Valerie made her move.

    The instant before the spire made contact with the structure, the web of roots below them unraveled.

    Like a predator catching its prey, they instantly wrapped around the spire''s roof, flinging the three dragons within off to the side.

    They swung down the side of the spire, almost crashing through its highest windows as their bodies were jerked upward by the abrupt stop.

    Their shoulders met their jaws. Their necks were nearly crushed, but the many provisions they''d put in ce protected them from certain death.

    The three young geniuses kept their eyes closed and their bodies in position, trying their best to resist the forces acting against them until they finished bouncing and swinging from side to side.

    Thud!

    It took a solid ten seconds for their momentum to finally disperse.

    Their bodies created a soft thudding sound when they hit the spire''s windows, but for the most part¡­

    "Huu¡­"

    The water barriers crashed down to the ground below, giving the pedestrians who watched them pull such a stunt aplementary shower with the show.

    It was quite a sight for said pedestrians, and had definitely alerted more than just a few people.

    However, August, Mnia, and Valerie weren''t thinking about it at all.

    They looked at each other with wide smiles on their faces.

    Since they''d survived, they were allowed to admit it.

    "That¡­was fucking fun! Wow!"

    Valerie was the most crass of them, but she voiced their thoughts well.

    It was an exhrating experience, but it was nothing more than the solution to the first clue they''d found.

    By August''s experience, there would be at least two more.

    And as he learned to expect from his father by now¡­

    ''...it really never gets old.''

    ¡­he was once again surprised by a thrill unlike anything he''d imagined.

 Chapter 1648 Hide And Seek [3]

    Chapter 1648 Hide And Seek [3]

    ??"Let''s get down quickly."

    August came to his senses within a few seconds and quickly noticed the crowd that had gathered below.

    There wasn''t really aw enforcement force in Arulion, but there were means in ce to deal with people who were causing mayhem.

    The risk of being caught was definitely a thing that August didn''t want to risk.

    The spire itself was around two hundred meters tall. They had the option to jump down, but even if they cushioned their impact, they''d end up destroying the streets.

    Since that wasn''t possible, slowly lowering themselves with mana was definitely an option, but as they soon found out¡­

    Snap!

    The roots holding them up snapped and rapidly dispersed into pure mana that drifted away in the wind.

    Actually, it wasn''t just the roots, but everything they''d summoned.

    The three geniuses suddenly felt a sense of emptiness inside of them, and as they tried to find the source of that feeling, they found that they''d been ced under a restriction.

    "Our mana is locked."

    As August said it, the vines that kept them suspended disappeared, and they were dropped onto the ledge below them.

    "From this situation, it looks like we have to climb down on our own, but¡­there should be a clue somewhere around here."

    They managed to stay surprisingly calm. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline pumping through their systems, but the fact that they''d been left stranded on a random ledge high above the city didn''t seem that daunting anymore.

    More important was the quest they were on. After an experience like that, all of them were far more invested in it than they were at the start.

    Valerie was already plotting the best route down the spire, while Mnia was observing the surroundings in search for another hint.

    August had his eyes closed. He spread his senses as far as possible in search of the vague aura Damien would leave to indicate where clues were located, but he couldn''t find anything.

    "How''s it going for the two of you?" He asked.

    "It doesn''t look like there''s anywhere to find a clue here. The windows could mean something, but I doubt it''d be that easy," Mnia responded.

    "Right, our wits were tested in thest trial. This time, the basis should be something different," August agreed.

    "What about you, Valerie?"

    "Ah, it should be pretty easy to get down from here. This ce is surprisingly amodating of climbers."

    The stone that made up the spire''s exterior walls was set in intervals. Some stuck out while others were depressed into the wall.

    This pattern was set to give the spire a more unique appearance, but it actually gave them a lot of ledges to use as they were scaling down its side.

    "If there aren''t any clues up here, then we should just go down. We''re drawing way too much attention."

    "Ah, right."

    "That was a thing, huh?"

    The other two had somewhat forgotten about their circumstances while searching for clues, but now that they''d been reminded, they immediately agreed.

    The three of them were quite nimble, and their draconic physiques set their grip and core strength leagues above humans.

    To make it to the surface wasn''t even a problem with the architecture of the spire. In but five minutes, they were already on the ground, and, of course, bolting away from the spire.

    They couldn''t help butugh as they rushed through the streets of Fort Halleya and hid away in a nearby store.

    There were probably a lot of confused onlookers wondering who they were, but they weren''t yet recognizable enough to actually draw attention.

    "Do you think anyone wille after us?" Mnia asked, slight fear in her voice.

    "It''ll be fine," Valerie responded in theplete opposite tone.

    "We didn''t break or damage anything except our own bodies, so nobody willin. If that spire ended up destroyed, though, we would definitely be in for some trouble."

    It was the convenience of a draconic society. They were rowdy creatures, especially in their youths, so unless they were truly causing damage, nobody would raise a fuss.

    "Still, we ran away before we could figure anything out. What if the clue was back there?"

    Mnia''s concern wasn''t unwarranted.

    "But, I don''t think it was back there at all?"

    August''s response was strange.

    The two girls turned to look at him inquisitively, only for their eyes to follow his to see what he was looking at.

    "What the¨C"

    "Where are we?"

    This was the first time they''d looked at the store they were in.

    It should''ve been a regr street-side restaurant or cafe. Due to theyout of Fort Halleya, the dimensions of its interior could be estimated easily.

    And those dimensions definitely weren''t as massive as this ce truly was.

    Though the rows and rows of bookshelves on the walls begged one to believe this ce was a library, it did indeed have a sort of cafe inside that was serving the visitors coffee and small snacks.

    The atmosphere was quite quiet and peaceful. The main problem was the fact that it was several tens of meters long, surely too long to fit in the amount of space it had.

    "Spatial expansion magic."

    It wasn''t something amon vendor would be able to afford.

    "Just what the hell did we stumble into?"

    Valerie was asking a good question, but August had a better one.

    "Did wee here on our own, or were we led here?"

    When facing a supreme being, was free will truly a thing?

    How could they know that they weren''t merely acting ording to his ns, subconsciously being led by his flow?

    This was part of the main lesson Damien taught August during these games.

    One could never lose one''s sense of wariness when facing an unknown enemy.

    Even the most intricate of schemes could merely be ying into that being''s hands.

    Especially against a being with limitless power, all schemes fell apart.

    But, no power was limitless.

    As long as one could read the mind of a supreme, understand the way they thought, and replicate it, one could outsmart them the same way one could outsmart a child.

    Wasn''t it a ssic quote from a certain earthen strategist?

    "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will sumb in every battle."

    It all came down to the level one was seeing the world from.

    For Damien, that level had gone through immense changes. It wasn''t wrong to say that he viewed the world as something he could change as he pleased.

    He could hold it in his hands, and if he so wanted, he could manipte all living beings.

    How did a person of that stature think?

    How did the gears in their minds turn?

    August didn''t know, so he was bound to face defeat.

    But, he was in a position to learn, so that he could eventually earn victory.

    This was a game of hide and seek, sure, but it was entirely led by Damien''s flow.

    One of these days, August would diverge from it, using his own means to track his father.

    Compared to even the Holy ns, Damien was a more terrifying opponent.

    So once August learned to perfectly read him, he''d be able to outsmart the Holy ns with ease.

    He took his first steps into the library cafe, curiously scanning the bookshelves to see what the contents of their pages were.

    He was sure that this was a ce Damien wanted him to reach.

    The only question was¡­

    Why?

 Chapter 1649 Hide And Seek [4]

    Chapter 1649 Hide And Seek [4]

    ??The three geniuses split up without a word. They had a mutual understanding of each other''s specialties after the solving the first clue, so they made sure to make the most of their individual talents.

    August had been intelligent since birth. He went straight to the bookshelves on the walls to see if he could find anything significant.

    There were at least 10,000 books in this ce, far too many for him to read through, but he was hoping that there would be something in the way that they were organized that would show him the way.

    Mnia went to the cafe and looked at the menu, curious about why it even existed in this space.

    It wasn''t that coffee and books didn''t go well together. The problem was more in the aesthetics of the two things.

    This wasn''t a modern library, after all. It had clean wood floors and dark shelves that were reminiscent of a more medieval age.

    And within that aesthetic was a modern cafe with tile floors, ss cases, and kitchen equipment that couldn''t even be found in Arulion.

    The first impression Mnia received was that the cafe was the original owner of this space and the library was expanded around it, but she couldn''t be sure.

    Especially since the cafe''s menu seemed to be directly connected to the library.

    The two of them were the more intelligent members of their group.

    Valerie, on the other hand¡­

    Well, it was best to just say that she was more talented in fighting.

    She was the brawn, and since there wasn''t really anything for the brawn to do in a library cafe, she went up to the barista and decided to order herself some snacks.

    The transaction went as usual. Valerie bought a few treats and paid, finding one of the five small tables in the cafe to sit at.

    Right, she originally believed that she''d be able to sit back and let the other two take care of the matter at hand, but¡­

    "Guys¡­"

    She called them over, trying to be subtle since they were indeed in a library.

    Well, her reasoning was different, but she chose to use sound transmission over her voice.

    August and Mnia both noticed her and turned around.

    "Don''t make it obvious, but do you see that barista? She¡­no, nobody else here is alive."

    August raised his brow.

    As someone who couldn''t respond through sound transmission, he didn''t have a good way tomunicate it.

    He could only stance himself in clear confusion and try to make it as obvious as possible what he was trying to ask.

    And, nobody could say it wasn''t obvious.

    Valerie had certainly never seen a stance that screamed, "What does that even mean?!" more than how he was standing right now.

    Valerie nced around. There were only five other people in the library cafe, but she could confirm now that she''d sensed it from up close.

    "Not a single one of them has vitality in their body. They''re either undead, or their illusions."

    "Hmm¡­"

    ''So it''s basically confirmed.''

    August didn''t need more proof that his father had led them here.

    It looked like Mnia and Valerie were nning to stay calm, which was good.

    If these were beings summoned by Damien Void, then the worst thing to do was provoke them.

    ''How does this work?''

    He''d felt it a few times as Valerie used it. The sensation of someone talking in his head was strange, but it wasn''t hard to interpret.

    ''It should just be¡­''

    Transmitting his voice through mana, letting the energy carry his message.

    "Is¡­this working?"

    Valerie''s eyes slightly widened.

    "It is," she responded.

    "O¡­kay. Act norm..al. Don''t pan¡­ic and they pro¡­bably won''t attack. Tell Mel¡­ania too."

    Valerie nodded and transmitted the message.

    Mnia also agreed.

    The people here were acting on a set pattern. It had nothing to do with their current task, but as long as those patterns weren''t interrupted, they would just continue to act as puppets without any specific purpose.

    This gave them the freedom to explore as long as they were mindful.

    August made sure the other two were alright before returning to his search of the bookshelves.

    The most important conclusion he''d made was the fact that none of these books were real.

    ''They''re filled with nonsense. What even is "the dissection of how a chicken''s thought process could possibly lead it to cross the road?"''

    Every book had its name written on its spine, and none of those names made sense.

    The organization was alsopletely off.

    They weren''t sorted alphabetically or by genre. Instead, it seemed more likepletely different books that had somewhat simr tones were kept in the same section, as if the library was meant to be traversed as one''s mood changed rather than anything else.

    It was interesting, sure, but these books held no value.

    August tried to take one out and flip through it, but they were embedded in the shelf, purely for decoration.

    On his own, he came up with nothing more than an interesting fact.

    And that was the same for the other two.

    The strange names of the snacks caught Mnia''s attention and she kept trying to decipher something from it.

    As for Valerie, her findings were definitely even more odd. She was simply eating the food she paid for, but she found that nothing tasted as it seemed.

    A small cake would taste like a parfait. A parfait would taste like a brownie. A brownie would taste like a snickerdoodle cookie.

    The tastes themselves were good, but it was too disconcerting for her to honestly enjoy the experience.

    The three of them were forced to gather without much to go on.

    However, perhaps they had more information than they thought¡­?

    Mnia spoke first. She brought a menu back from the counter and put it on the table for them to see.

    "I found these, but I can''t make heads or tails of any of them. The names are just confusing," she said.

    Valerie nodded as well.

    "And they''re not even urate. Look at this one. The description says it''s chocte, but it doesn''t taste like one at all."

    "What does it taste like?" August asked.

    "Um¡­cake?"

    August nced at the menu again.

    "These names¡­"

    He didn''t recognize them, but didn''t they look strangely simr to the book names he''d seen?

    He stood up and went back to the shelves to find them.

    ''That chocte thing was called¡­"an egg that never gave up and ended up bing a sacred being?"''

    The sheer number of books made it difficult to find, but August caught the feeling that the book would be in the same section as the chicken one he saw earlier.

    And sure enough, within five minutes, he''d found the book on the shelf.

    ''Can I pull it out?''

    He couldn''t, but the book definitely moved. He tried pushing it in next, and that had apletely different effect.

    ''Oh?''

    Valerie and Mnia saw him do it.

    They immediately went to work to figure out the actual pattern, since it had be clear how to input it.

    To just go based off of the names of the menu items was possible, but Valerie had a different thought.

    None of them tasted like what they were supposed to be, right?

    Then, wasn''t that meant to confuse them?

    If she had never decided to sit around and eat, then they never would''ve realized that there was anotheryer to the entire problem.

    But since she had, they had all of the parts together from the moment they exchanged words.

    Valerie went through every item on the menu and tasted them. Afterward, she and Mnia went from top to bottom and matched the names to their specific tastes rather than appearance.

    The list was reordered, and when August pushed the associated books in with that order in mind¡­

    It was only natural for a library to have a hidden staircase into an abyss, wasn''t it?

    A part of the shelves lining the walls pushed inward and revealed it, showing them where they needed to go.

    As they stood in front of it, August took a deep breath.

    "This isn''t the end of the trial," he said.

    When they went down that staircase, they''d find out what they really needed to do.

    "Are you guys ready?"

    "More than ever at this point," Valerie responded.

    "Agreed."

    With Mnia''s affirmation, they had no more reason to hesitate.

    The three of them walked down the stairs together, their guards raised high.

    And in the library they left behind¡­

    The six people inside, including the barista, morphed into their true forms.

    They were creatures of unknown form, grey clouds of smoke that had hollow eye sockets filled with flickering blue mes.

    Their eyes turned to the staircase, or rather, the beings who had just descended it.

    And as they had been ordered to do upon their creation, they followed.

 Chapter 1650 Hide And Seek [5]

    Chapter 1650 Hide And Seek [5]

    ??The three young geniuses werepletely unaware of their ghostly pursuers. The staircase was eerie enough on its own. It didn''t need their help to frighten them.

    The darkness was lit by twin torches on the narrow walls. When the trio walked between them, they''d flicker with blue mes and reveal that there was far more staircase waiting for them than they ever expected.

    It was a much longer descent than it needed to be.

    Was it meant to destabilize their minds? If so, it definitely worked.

    There was a haunting aura to each and every step. The further down they went, the more they felt like they were walking into the underworld.

    The fact that they were together was a huge help. If any one of them had to do it alone, they might not have been able to.

    Still, they took it step by step and eventually made it to level ground again.

    When they looked up at the path of torches they''d left in their wake, they found that the surface wasn''t visible in the slightest.

    Even with the light, it was a staircase that led into an abyss.

    The ce they''d arrived in was arge cavern. There was nothing developed here, which made it look more natural.

    Actually, there wasn''t anything waiting for them to explore at all.

    Instead, it was just a single being.

    As their eyes adjusted, they were able to make out its figure in the darkness.

    Impaled by over ten extremely thick chains that were pulled taught by their ends that were embedded in the ground and the ceiling was a being with a head like a cow, but a physique more like a giant.

    He was over ten feet tall, covered in fur that couldn''t hide his bulging muscles, with crimson red eyes and arge bull ring in his nose.

    Perhaps his most prominent feature was his horns. They were not too tall or too thick, but they adorned his head like a crown that he clearly took pride in.

    They were clean and pristine,pletelycking the dirtiness that the rest of his body seemed to have.

    Except for one thing. The dull crimson stains that looked to have existed from long ago, the remnants of the blood that they had once drawn from their foes.

    "That¡­what is that?"

    Valerie''s eyes widened. It was a creature unlike any other she''d seen before, and if it managed to get its hands on the axe stuck in the ground in front of it¡­

    ''...it''s dangerous.''

    "...it''s a Minotaur."

    Valerie and August spoke at the same time.

    Valerie''s point was obvious, so August was the one who continued talking.

    "It''s a Minotaur. My dad told me about them when I was a kid. They''re mythological creatures with great strength. For us to find one here¡­"

    "...this is the actual trial we were supposed to find."

    "Correct."

    August did say that the test wouldn''t be judging their minds a second time.

    It seemed a bit too obvious for it to be a mere battle, but this was just a game, after all. It wasn''t meant to test them too much or beplicated enough to be seen as an actual challenge.

    "In the end, our job is simple," August said, a slight grin on his face.

    "That thing has an amazing regeneration ability. Do you guys know what that means?"

    He looked back, and slowly, Valerie started to match his smile.

    For Mnia, who was still confused, she voiced it out.

    "That guy is free target practice."

    For the three of them, who werepeting soon in apetition beyond allpetitions, training was the most important thing right now.

    They had 2 weeks to be the best versions of themselves before they faced the world with their talent.

    For a target like this to be provided to them in a friendly setting where they could guarantee their lives¡­

    It was truly a blessing.

    "Guys¡­what are you doing?"

    Mnia stayed back because she was still a bit apprehensive about the creature, but August and Valerie immediately approached it without fear.

    "Just watch," August said with a smile.

    "Look at what we do, and you''ll naturally join in when you''re ready," Valerie continued.

    GRRRRR!

    A rumbling growl resounded as the Minotaur recognized their presence. It nced at its surroundings, and immediately, it roared out in fury.

    ROOOOAAAAR!

    Its arms bulged as it exerted the most force it possibly could.

    Like they were made of butter, the chains that kept him contained were destroyed, shattered into thousands of pieces.

    It reached into its chest and gouged out the chains stuck in its body, and as its flesh visibly healed, it picked up its axe and looked at August and Valerie.

    They grinned, and the Minotaur huffed, letting steam billow out of its nostrils.

    As if they had a mutual understanding between them, all three bent their bodies and prepared to rush.

    In the same moment, they charged.

    The battle immediately began in front of an audience of only two.

    Yes, not one, but two.

    After all, a certain Damien Void was also spectating from far away.

    ''That one needs some mental training.''

    Damien wasn''t just watching his son''s adventure. He was assessing the people he''d chosen aspanions.

    Their personalities were good enough. The problem was more in their talent.

    ''Alcharist''s girl isn''t bad. She just needs to gain some experience and she''ll blossom. As for the other one¡­there are a lot of barriers, but if she can show some potential, it''s not impossible to help her thrive.''

    When Damien was an uing genius, he had the convenience of the Void at his beck and call.

    Because of its aid, Rose, Ruyue, and Elena were always able to somewhat match his progress so they didn''t get left behind.

    It was the same for even people like Long Chen and Su Ren who he befriended. Every single one of them received a boost in talent that allowed them to rise fast enough to face the threats that wereing at them.

    August bore the samest name, but he did not have a connection to the Void. The people around him would eventually be left behind, unable to even see his back in the endless desert that power was.

    Damien could change that future. He also knew how much it hurt to reach a level where oldrades started to view one as a god.

    It was painful, and it was lonely. Damien didn''t want August to ever have to go through that.

    Eventually, he would have to suffer some pain. This aspect would probably cause a good deal of it.

    But, while he still could, he wanted to help.

    And it started with the first few friends that his son had made.

    ''Even for me, it was the ones who were there at the beginning who stayed until the end.''

    Those three would definitely beat the Minotaur with ease. He made it specifically so that it could be killed whenever they decided they were done with it.

    However, the next trial¡­

    Well, it was a bit more intuitive.

    ''I know these tests will probably repeat themselves in the heir wars, considering that it''s those uncreative people organizing it, but¡­it''s good to prepare them, right?''

    They were new friends, so he obviously didn''t expect too much from them.

    But he really was curious.

    When it came time to unravel that third clue¡­

    Just how would they react?

 Chapter 1651 Hide And Seek [6]

    Chapter 1651 Hide And Seek [6]

    The Minotaur really didn''t deserve the treatment it received. It had been summoned and knocked out, and the moment it woke up, it faced another battle.

    Luckily, it was not gifted with the sentience to understand the woes of its existence.

    Its only goal was to kill, and kill it tried.

    However, its opponents had other ns.

    August found that his fighting style wasn''t as much of a problem as he originally expected. He needed to focus more on the depth of hisws, so that he could have a more diverse arsenal to enter battle with.

    As for Valerie, while her power was more than enough, her ability was extremely limited when she didn''t have the support of the earth.

    It was a weakness she never would have discovered on her own. Now that she''d realized it, she wasn''t nning to stop until she fixed it.

    The best way for August to train was just to fight.

    He took the main role, keeping the Minotaur''s attention and tanking most of its attacks. He rushed around its body, continuously attacking in every fashion that he could imagine. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He was causing damage, but it was healing just as fast. The Minotaur only got angrier as it continued fighting, so its attacks became stronger and stronger.

    While August did an endurance trial with the beast, Valerie stood back and focused on controlling her power through her body.

    She was able to pass her Universe Baptism with the sheer power of herws when she was on the ground. She understood so much about thew of wood that it was almost preposterous that she was only fifteen.

    However, she had never actually tried to use the wood element to focus on things other than trees.

    Sure, control of vines and other simr structures came naturally because of her understanding of trees, but she couldn''t use them effectively without the prerequisite of creating a forest.

    If she hadn''t been lucky, she might''ve never caught them when they were falling through the sky earlier. They truly might''ve just hit the ground and died.

    The threat of death helped her perform to the best of her ability and unlock the potential.

    Now that she had another environment where she could properly grow, she could focus on a deeper level and gain true control.

    The ground was already covered in vines. Valerie''s residual power caused a great change to the cavern.

    Instead of focusing on them, she had all of her attention on her hands, where even smaller, barely visible nts were growing.

    Wood was a versatile element, because it didn''t just rte to wood on a physical level.

    It was an element filled with vitality and something of a subset of Life. People who reached great heights with woodws were indistinguishable from their fellow life practitioners, if not for the fact that they had a slightly less varied arsenal.

    Instead of "wood," what had been helping her most in this game was the power to sense vitality.

    That was her focus. It would take a bit before she could join the battle in full, but she was using her vines to help August restrain the Minotaur when he needed it.

    The main concern was Mnia.

    She was a person who didn''t necessarily know her own path.

    She was a trapper, but was that the right path? She knew she could seed in it, but she didn''t know if it was enough for her to keep up with her currentpany.

    Was she even good enough to be friends with geniuses of that caliber?

    Doubts gued her mind no matter how much she tried to push them down.

    It wasn''t that she was insecure. That wasn''t the case at all.

    Rather, she looked at the future practically and couldn''t see her keeping up with them. Rationally, her talent and methods weren''t enough.

    ''At a certain level, traps be irrelevant, don''t they?''

    Unless she could turn an entire region into a trap, but she was not a void dragon or anything. She was an earth dragon, and her methods were restricted to the earth.

    Earth dragons were already the least talented of their species.

    They were the mostmon, so their bloodline was spread quite thin. Their connection with their element was usually worse than what a human could produce, and mana took much longer to move through their bodies than anyone else''s.

    But there was a reason for that.

    Mnia didn''t know it yet, but earth dragons werepletely untalented not just because of their bloodline, but because of their physiques.

    Their species was especially gifted in another area, but that was her to find on her own.

    She hadn''t quite been in a situation that could unlock that potential, so she had no idea.

    It didn''t help that there were no noble earth dragon ns that could be used as an example.

    The three had their own worries, and at this point in their friendship, none of them were quite willing to ask each other for help.

    One had to remember that no matter how it seemed, they had only known each other for a week at most and less than a day at the least.

    Their connection was still new, and though Damien was giving them a slight push to help them bond faster, he wasn''t able to make thempletely trust each other immediately.

    Mnia was with August because of gratitude. As for Valerie, it was curiosity and duty.

    For those feelings to turn into genuine trust and friendship, they needed a lot more time together than just this.

    But, if they did happen to share with each other, they definitely would''ve been able to improve at a faster rate.

    That was Damien''s main reason for trying to rush their bond.

    These two would have a positive impact on August''s growth if it all went as nned.

    Still, the "n" could barely be called that.

    Damien had seen the results of excessively controlling parents. He didn''t want his son to detest him.

    As stated before, it was just a slight push.

    If they managed to do it, then they did it. If they didn''t, then he would leave it up to time.

    ''More importantly, they have two weeks, huh.''

    August couldn''t see his schedule because he hadn''t bound his emblem yet. Damien, on the other hand, could see it, because he had found a way into the system.

    August and Valerie would bepeting two weeks from now.

    As for Mnia, she wouldn''t be included in the heir wars for another month and a half.

    She had some more time to figure out what she needed to do. At least for now, she was still too confused to be of any help.

    August and Valerie continued to harass the Minotaur for several hours before they finished.

    And, when they finally put it out of its misery, they were once again left in the cavern alone.

    There was no immediate teleportation and no obvious clue that told them what they earned from defeating the beast.

    As the other two went to investigate the cavern in depth, Mnia turned around and looked at the staircase they came from.

    She immediately froze.

    Those few beings that had been forgotten as the trio focused on the Minotaur...

    They''d now returned to haunt them.

 Chapter 1652 Potential [1]

    Chapter 1652 Potential [1]

    August felt shivers down his spine that instantly alerted him to their presence.

    It wasn''t unfamiliar to him. He had been in the presence of these beings many times before.

    "Don''t look into their eyes!"

    August shouted before he could fully turn around.

    Valerie was startled and turned to look at him, but it was toote for Mnia.

    She saw them first. The first thing she saw was their eyes.

    In front of the other two, her body slowly changed, bing statuesque.

    No, rather, she was actually turned into a statue.

    "Tch!" August clicked his tongue.

    "What are those things?!" Valerie asked, panic in her voice.

    "Furies," August replied.

    They were ghostly beings with the power to manipte minds.

    "Mnia was caught in their spell. She''ll be stuck in that stone state until she finds a way to break it from the inside."

    "We can''t help?"

    "We can''t. As far as I know, if we try to break her out of the stone, she''ll be left unconscious forever."

    It was an assumption, really. August didn''t know much about the Furies outside what he''d experienced himself.

    But, if there was one thing Damien warned him about, it was trying to interfere in a Fury''s trial.

    "What about the Furies? Can we get rid of them?" Valerie asked, looking at the rest of the situation.

    August nodded.

    "That''s not difficult at all. They''re undead. Just ssh them with some vitality."

    Valerie nodded and immediately moved towards the five ghostly beings that were slowly making their way through the cavern.

    None of them actively attacked. They seemed docile unless one happened to meet their eyes.

    Still, Valerie did more than just ssh them. She barraged them with as much vitality as she possibly could and made sure they were destroyed.

    Meanwhile, August approached Mnia with a sigh.

    ''I''m not really worried, since I''ve been through this before.''

    If anything, the Furies were more of a boon for Mnia than anything else. The problem was more in the fact that she''d been caught without knowing anything.

    ''It''s going to be hard for her to find a way out, but¡­I guess I have to believe in her.''

    "Has she really turned into stone?"

    Valerie had joined him next to Mnia while he was in his thoughts. She, who now had assurance of her safety, curiously circled her frozen new acquaintance.

    "I don''t know either. I''ve never been on the outside watching this happen. But, usually when I escape, it feels likeing out of a cocoon," August answered.

    He was somewhat curious as well, but he was a bit confused about what they were supposed to do.

    "What if I¨C"

    Valerie suddenly reached out to touch Mnia''s statue.

    And, the second she made contact¡­

    ''There''s no way, right?''

    As it turned out, touching someone who had been affected by a Fury would cause one to fall under the same spell.

    August had never faced Furies with other people before. Now that he had, he was left as the only one unaffected.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    The problem was that he couldn''t do anything to help them. The Furies were unique beings with unique powers. They forced people to face themselves, and only if they could personally find sess could they ever dream of escape.

    ''With this situation, the strangeness of today''s game has be more understandable.''

    With August''s personality, he never would''ve touched Mnia directly unless he had some sort of assurance.

    Valerie, on the other hand, was recklessly curious. She was pretty much guaranteed to do something foolish once she felt safer in the situation.

    ''These tests were designed for the two of them.''

    August was used to the game. He didn''t need to face the kinds of trials that Furies could present.

    Plus, in the current situation, unless he consciously decided to join them under the Furies'' spell, there was no way for him to be involved in it.

    ''Then, there must be someone else for me.''

    While Valerie and Mnia were being tested by Damien, August was meant to focus on the game.

    They weren''t just taking trials, after all.

    Everything they experienced was a clue. All of those clues, if properlybined, could give August the answer he was looking for.

    There was definitely another trial waiting somewhere. The clues leading to it could likely be found in the worlds that had been created in the two girls'' minds.

    However¡­

    ''I''m supposed to be using my brain.''

    He never forgot the original purpose of the game. It was his job to read Damien and determine his location without overusing the clues he was provided.

    ''I have to know his mind.''

    He had to remove the lens of their father-son rtionship and look at him as a Supreme named Damien Void, an opponent that he needed to dissect.

    ''He''s arrogant on purpose. He is the type to prepare for any situation while leaving holes intentionally for his enemies to exploit.''

    In this situation, those holes were just for the fun of the game, but August was properly reading the character within Damien''s actions to discern his thought process.

    ''He is intentionally confusing us, but maybe there''s a simple solution hidden within the madness.''

    There was a big chance that Damien wasn''t as deeply hidden as they expected.

    There was a possibility that he was, figuratively, right around the corner all along.

    ''It''s my job to figure out which corner.''

    Before the girls returned to reality, he was going to find his father. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    August suddenly thought of something Damien asionally said.

    ''I heard him say it before. I don''t really get it, but it sounds nice.''

    A grin spread across his lips as his eyes scanned the cavern walls.

    ''Let''s speedrun this thing.''

    His grin matched the one Damien had while watching him.

    Thispetition between father and son¡­

    ¡­was it going toe to an end soon?

    Was August going to exceed Damien''s expectations? Or would he fail and be forced to try again?

    Whether it be father or son, both were more than happy to y until they found out.

    However long it took, however arduous it was, they would embark on the path together until they achieved the results they desired.

    And eventually, their efforts would pay off.

    In August''s case¡­

    Well, that was a story for another time.

    ***

    There were different things that Damien wanted to test in Valerie and Mnia.

    With Mnia''s circumstances, Damien''s curiosity leaned more towards her desire for personal growth. If she could impress him with her performance, then she would definitely be rewarded.

    Valerie was a different story.

    She came from the Revell n on Alcharist''s orders. Damien could sense that she had a good soul, but her reckless curiosity was a danger to both her and her friends.

    Obviously, as she continued to live her life, she would learn to fix these habits.

    Obviously, right?

    One would believe so, but depending on the kind of person Valerie was, a different oue could present itself.

    If she didn''t learn from her mistakes and kept repeating them, she would end up killing everyone and everything around her.

    She was young, so reckless curiosity wasn''t a sin.

    But, if she couldn''t show the character to learn, to adapt, and to mature¡­

    Then she didn''t deserve a ce anywhere near someone like August.

 Chapter 1653 Potential [2]

    Chapter 1653 Potential [2]

    ??Mnia found her worldpletely changing the instant she looked into those gloomy, hollow eyes.

    The cavern where she stood in reality disappeared, reced by an arid desert and arge mountain.

    She was alone in this ce, standing at the base of the mountain. She wanted to explore and figure out what happened, but she was trapped, unable to move more than a few meters from her original position.

    ''What¡­?''

    Mnia was calm despite the sudden change in the situation.

    ''Judging by the timeline, this must have something to do with that creature.''

    She understood that much from the very first moment.

    She was already in the process of brainstorming a way to escape.

    The problem was that this realm didn''t support those kinds of thoughts.

    A strange wave of energy swept over her body, and her memories began to rapidly leave her mind.

    It pulsed and pulsed. The longer it was maintained, the more her amnesia grew.

    She clutched her head and cringed as she coped with the headache she was feeling, but nothing she did could stop it.

    It continued mercilessly until she couldn''t remember that there were memories being erased at all.

    By the time it was over, she was left with only her name and most instinctual desires.

    She rose back up until she was standing straight and let go of her head.

    She brought her hands in front of her face and looked at them in confusion.

    ''What¡­am I doing here?''

    The first question that appeared in Mnia''s mind was still concerning the surroundings.

    She nced in all directions, turning in a circle as a dull pain struck her head.

    ''Who¡­am I?''

    She couldn''t recall anything. The only memories she had were of this ce, of this sole mountain in the midst of an endlessly t desert.

    A man appeared behind her at an unspecified time.

    She had forgotten fear, so she did not jump. She looked at him curiously and asked him as well.

    "Who¡­am I?"

    "Do you truly wish to know?" He responded.

    His figure was cloaked in a thick ck veil. The only thing visible through it was the crow mask he wore on his face.

    He did respond, though, and his voice didn''t seem to contain any malice.

    Mnia nodded, easily answering his question.

    "Do you know why you are here?" He asked.

    Mnia shook her head.

    "If I told you that you journeyed here in search of power, would you believe me?"

    Mnia nodded.

    "Oh¡­? And why is that?"

    Even the man was surprised by her willingness to answer these questions so easily. He didn''t look friendly, nor did he try to.

    Why was she entertaining him despite the suspicion she had to be feeling?

    He became even more confused when Mnia didn''t answer his question.

    She only stared at the mountain, a vague expression in her eyes.

    "Do you wish for power?"

    Mnia nodded again, far faster than ever before.

    "And why is that?"

    "Because¡­"

    Mnia did respond this time.

    "...protect?"

    It was the first word that came to mind. There was nothing behind it but instinctual desire.

    "To protect, eh?" The man echoed.

    "What are you willing to do for that ability?" He asked again.

    "..."

    Mnia took a second to answer.

    She knew what she wanted to say, but something told her not to voice it.

    Still, it was the truth.

    For power, she was willing to do anything.

    Despite her decision to not say anything, the man understood what she was thinking.

    "I will give you an opportunity. If you can make use of it, then you will attain what you desire."

    Mnia turned to look at him.

    "I¡­will?"

    "That''s right."

    Mnia nodded. She had clearly epted his words.

    At that moment, a boulder appeared between her and the mountain. It was three times taller than her at the very least, and big enough to crush her into paste if it happened to roll over her.

    "Do you see that boulder?" The man said.

    Mnia was already looking at it, so there was no real point to the question.

    "Push it to the mountain peak using only your physical strength. If you use anything else, you will fail."

    The invisible walls around her disappeared. Mnia was allowed to walk away if she wanted to, but the boulder seemed far too appealing.

    It was practically torture. The mountain wasn''t kind. Once she started, she wouldn''t have the option to stop.

    There were no ledges and no subtle inclines. There wasn''t a single ce for her to rest, so if she ever got tired, she''d have to rest with the weight of the boulder on her back.

    Still, she walked towards it with the same empty expression.

    Damien didn''t take away her personality.

    He didn''t take away her rationality or her ability to process things. Her emotional age was the same as it was when she came here.

    She just didn''t have the context to think about the situation more than she had to. She couldn''t weigh the benefits and disadvantages or second guess herself.

    The crow-masked man, who was an illusion exerting Damien''s will in this ce, was confused by her behavior precisely because it wasn''t something Damien did.

    Was it because she''d allowed her instincts to take over?

    Mnia reached the boulder and slowly raised her hands to touch it.

    The cold surface caused her to jolt. The rough texture, filled with imperfections, made her feel that everything she was experiencing was real.

    And if it was real, then the offer that strange man-made was real as well.

    Her palms pushed t against the boulder. She took a position and bent her knees.

    The boulder moved just slightly.

    It was the very first movement it had ever made, but it wasn''t anywhere near thest.

    Mnia was truly confused, but once she had all of the most important information, she disregarded everything else.

    Even she couldn''t say why, but there was a voice screaming in her head, pleading for her to be stronger and more talented.

    It was a scream that told her that her entire life would be ruined if she was not able to attain her goal.

    No matter how clueless she was, she knew to listen to a desire that came from such a primal ce.

    ''Go.''

    No words were spoken once the offer was made.

    The subtle wind whooshed through the air, and Mnia''s breathing was the only thing that cut through it.

    The man had already disappeared.

    She was left to her own devices, given the chance to make her own choice without anyone else''s influence.

    Now that she had felt the weight of the boulder, she had to think it over for a second time. With a slight understanding of what was toe, it would''ve beenpletely understandable if she gave up.

    But¡­

    RUMBLE!

    The boulder rolled slightly.

    Even a small movement created such a noise because of its impressive weight.

    Mnia''s muscles were flexing to the maximum as she exerted force onto the rock.

    Her feet were dug into the dirt as she stabilized herself and pushed it forward.

    She would be stuck here from now on.

    Until she made it to the peak, she would not leave this ce.

    She would not give up.

    Even if it meant she had to die to continue.

 Chapter 1654 Potential [3]

    Chapter 1654 Potential [3]

    It was hardest at the start. It would get easier as she got further into it.

    That was an obvious lie.

    At least on the solid ground, the boulder was able to slightly roll on its own. When Mnia made it to the incline, everything got much harder.

    She couldn''t just mindlessly push the boulder anymore. She had to put thought into her every movement, methodically taking it higher and higher.

    One step. Two steps. Three steps. Four steps.

    Every single movement was intentional, so Mnia was highly aware of when she made them.

    She started sweating before she even made it to the incline. She refused to breathe heavily and tried to regte it as much as possible, but she was still breathing loud enough for it to be heard over the wind.

    She had only one goal, and now that she''dmitted herself to achieving it, she was entirely focused on doing so.

    Five steps. Six steps. Seven steps. Eight steps.

    It was only just the beginning. Was it healthy to be this hyper-aware?

    Whatever the case, it was her current state.

    And in that state, she made it to the incline and started to climb.

    She didn''t make any extraneous movements or sounds in a bid to conserve as much energy as possible. Now that she was alone, though, she could struggle as she pleased without being judged for it.

    All she had to do was push.

    She wasn''t allowed to think or be intuitive. She wasn''t allowed to use energy. Her muscles, which were stillrgely undeveloped since she rarely used them, were now being pushed beyond their limits.

    Honestly, it was already preposterous.

    When Damien gave her this trial, he only wanted to see her dedication. Once she started pushing the boulder, she''d already passed.

    The problem was that she wanted it more than he expected.

    Mnia never really showed a deep desire for power. What she wanted was the ability to protect herself and those around her, but it came from a ce of survival.

    That was what made her current demeanor curious.

    Why was she willing to put everything else away to mindlessly to chase strength?

    What motivated her?

    The trial was never meant to actually provide her with anything.

    In the end, she was to find that it was all an illusion and deal with the disappointment alone. If she seeded, Damien was nning to give her back what she earned in the illusion, a chance.

    However, if she truly managed to push that boulder to the peak with strength alone, she would end up unlocking potential that she didn''t know existed.

    And that¡­

    If she was able to properly earn it, then Damien had no ns of taking it away from her.

    Frankly, he''d already been impressed with her performance.

    It was just a matter of how much she could do.

    In the end, what should''ve taken only a few hours at most was turned into a task that wouldst for years.

    How much time would pass in reality was a different story, but in Mnia''s mind, reality didn''t matter anymore.

    The motivation was there.

    As was the desire for action.

    In the first three hours of her ascent, she''d already made it past the base of the mountain and a ways up its side.

    She wanted to rest, but she pushed on without showing a single bit of mercy to herself.

    Only once six hours had passed was she forced to give up.

    Well, she only gave up on a direct ascent. She was still absolutely nning to reach the peak at some point.

    She put her shoulder against the boulder and dug her feet into the ground. The instant she removed her hands, she rapidly turned to rest it on her back as she bent her knees and took a small break.

    From her current elevation, the endless desert below was already far away.

    She could see deep into it, though nothing changed since the scenery was monotonous no matter how far away she looked.

    "Huu¡­huu¡­huu¡­"

    Her breathing was choppy. Her legs quivered. No, her entire body was trembling and threatening to give up.

    She had stopped, so she was able to get at least the minimum amount of rest required, but that was it.

    She could never forget about the thousands of pounds that were resting on her back.

    The monotony didn''t help. Whether it be in atmosphere, environment, or any other factors that could help her put her mind at ease, none of them changed. They remained dull, as if trying to provoke her into copsing and letting everything go.

    But Mnia refused.

    With the same single-minded determination she used to move for six hours without pause on a rtively steep incline, she turned back around and put her hands back on the boulder.

    "Huu¡­huu¡­huu¡­"

    It was hard to describe what was happening in her mind and body right now.

    She was truly struggling. Her breath was more ragged than ever. Her body was hardly holding up, but she knew that she couldn''t rx a single muscle.

    It was hard. It was tiring. It made her want to lie down and die.

    But¡­was it that those feelings were vague?

    For some reason, she could barely feel them beyond the fog clouding her mind.

    It started many hours ago. Mnia started to redevelopplex thought as Damien released some of the restraints on her. Though her memories were still gone, she was allowed to keep everything else.

    However, herplex thoughts didn''t manifest into anything. At the same time, her mind became hazy and the task in front of her became her everything.

    It was like Mnia was watching herself push the boulder through a screen in her mind, controlling her body like it was a character in a game.

    She could empathize with the feelings and sensations that her body was feeling, but she didn''t feel like it was happening to her. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In the moment, this little fact seemed to be a boon. It helped her work without minding her limits.

    Right, she was able to work while unaware of her limits. When the time came for her to hit them, when the time came when she should have rested, she was able to keep going.

    That was her first mistake, and the cause of her first death.

    As Mnia worked ceaselessly for almost twelve hours, only taking a few short breaks in between, her body broke down.

    She approached a steeper incline. More of the boulder''s weight was pushed back onto her.

    Her flimsy arms, weary from the constant exertion, couldn''t keep up any longer.

    They bent. The boulder crashed down, snapping them into pieces, and as it tumbled down the mountain¡­

    What happened to Mnia, who was directly underneath it, didn''t need to be said.

    A girl appeared at the bottom of the mountain.

    She looked at it, and she looked at the bloodstained boulder that sat at its base.

    ''I''m¡­alive.''

    She was given another chance.

    With a mind suspiciously numb to the fact that she had just died, she put her hands back on the boulder and started pushing.

    She had a second chance. That was all of the information she garnered from her position before she stopped thinking altogether.

    Mnia was never kidding about wanting to see things to the end.

    Whether it took days, weeks, months, or even years, she would find a way to the top of the mountain.

    She would obtain everything that had been promised to her.

    And perhaps, in the process, she''d find out why this moment meant so much to her.

    Mnia had been sent on a journey of self-discovery against her will.

    But, it would end up being a pivotal point in her life, a memory she looked back on with pride.

    This was the real start of her story.

    And it was already guaranteed to be a grand one.

 Chapter 1655 Potential [4]

    Chapter 1655 Potential [4]

    August, Mnia, and Valerie were all undergoing their own trials.

    Mnia definitely faced something leagues above what the other two were facing, but they were all being challenged in ways that would help them grow.

    For Valerie, it was character rather than potential.

    Damien truly put her in a situation to test her loyalty. Not to August and Mnia, but in general.

    He needed to see if she would betray others for her own sake, since she was generally someone who prioritized herself over others.

    And, he needed to see if she would be a friend worthy of August.

    Regardless of the oue of her test, he wouldn''t interfere in their rtionship. If she truly was a person unfit for their group, then August would eventually learn the hard way.

    That was a life lesson for him. If Damien interfered, then it would be meaningless.

    He more wanted to know for his own sake, since he was naturally concerned with who his son kept in hispany.

    If Valerie failed the test, then he could at least be prepared for that fateful day when her mistakes caught up to her.

    If it happened far in the future and truly put August at risk, then he''d be ready to save his son.

    That was the most important thing.

    As for what Valerie''s results were¡­

    Well, her loyalty was a bit surprising.

    Valerie really was selfish. She did things for her own amusement regardless of how it impacted others. This was an arrogance that most geniuses possessed, including Damien at their age.

    She was used to seeing others as below her. Not because she discriminated against them, but because that was the truth of the matter.

    Still, she cherished those she held dear.

    The Revell n and the Wood Dragon n it controlled were filled withpassionate people.

    Their element was already peaceful, which is what led Alcharist to leave Arulion instead of defending his position. On top of that, because their numbers were so small, they truly cared about each other.

    Valerie was raised in an environment where everyone chose love over hate.

    It was both the reason for her recklessness and her loyalty.

    Valerie was hardly scolded, so she never faced the consequences of her actions severely. That was the only method for people to truly understand the weight of their choices, and until they faced it, they''d always remain ignorant.

    For her, that moment had note yet.

    Still, she was willing to throw herself in the way of danger to protect her people. And, as she battled in the imaginary war that Damien had fabricated for her, she showed the clear ability to grow and adapt to her circumstances.

    It was a brutal simtion.

    The Wood Dragon n was discovered by the Holy ns and dered an enemy of the kingdom. They were hunted down by every other dragon n and were forced to defend themselves to survive.

    Valerie mentally aged many years in the span of only a few hours. Damien didn''t let her stay in the illusion for as long as she wanted like he did Mnia, but she stillsted for a long time.

    It was only a few weeks in the illusion, but the aura of war forced Valerie to turn into apletely different person, losing the childish innocence that she still had.

    ''That won''t do.''

    Damien didn''t intend for that to happen.

    He wasn''t going to deprive the girl of her youth just because he wanted to test her. That wasn''t fair to her or Alcharist who sent her to August in good faith.

    When Valerie had proven herself, Damien blurred her memories. He reced the more harrowing experiences she''d had with more peaceful yet challenging tests.

    In the end, the oue was the same, but without the tragedy of that war, Valerie was able to stay the same person as she was before she entered this ce.

    The question was¡­

    Did Damien feel guilty?

    To toy with the lives of others in this way, was it really okay?

    He didn''t know. It wasn''t something he considered often.

    As he grew in power, his view became more detached from reality.

    Like the young geniuses, Damien naturally ended up seeing others as below him.

    That was why he consciously reminded himself of his humanity.

    He made sure he felt guilty when he needed to. He considered the perspectives of others so that he could understand the consequences of his actions and avoid them as much as he could.

    He was still toying with the lives of others, but that was the nature of a supreme being.

    The fact that he tried his best to make sure they weren''t ruined by his interference was the most consideration he could give.

    In most cases, that was enough.

    He never felt too bad about his actions.

    Valerie was included in that. He thought it was for the best, so he didn''t feel bad about manipting her memories.

    Mnia, however¡­

    Mnia was a different situation.

    Time didn''t pass the same for her as it did for Valerie.

    When Valerie felt a week pass, Mnia only felt a few hours.

    While Valerie''s trialsted for three weeks, Mnia¡­

    ¡­had been in the trial ground for 2 years already.

    And for that, Damien felt incredibly guilty.

    ***

    2 years.

    In that time, she had died three hundred times.

    She''d be numb to death. She''d be numb to emotion.

    She had climbed this mountain over and over again, and she''d even reached the cusp of the peak before.

    But she always failed.

    She was always crushed by the boulder and left stuck at the bottom of the mountain.

    Mnia had practically forgotten why she was climbing in the first ce. All she knew was that she needed the boulder to reach the peak as soon as possible.

    She had been struggling on her own, suffering from loneliness and doubt without anyone to support her or anyone to acknowledge the hard work she put in.

    But Damien had seen it.

    The entire two years that she''d suffered, he''d witnessed it.

    Countless times he''d thought about pulling her out. She''d more than earned every reward he could possibly give her, so for her own health, it was better for her to leave this mountain and forget about its existence.

    However, Damien couldn''t do it.

    He couldn''t deny the efforts of this girl who put everything on the line for power.

    Unlike Valerie, whose motivation was artificially provided by Damien for the sake of the trial, Mnia had done all of this alone.

    She had never given up. No matter how many times she failed, she always got back up and tried again.

    It was amazing.

    It was an undeniable struggle, a struggle that forced one to acknowledge the one struggling and feel genuine respect, no matter what kind of differences separated them.

    Damien knew how much those kinds of struggles contributed to his own growth.

    He was able to be the person he was because he was desperate at every step, doing everything possible to grow.

    He even died for it.

    So if she was willing to die for it, then he couldn''t deny her efforts.

    He had to let her go until she eitherpleted the trial or gave up.

    And that was how months turned into a year, and a year turned into two.

    Mnia stood on the cusp of the mountain again. She had been here many times already.

    It was hard at first. She couldn''t climb even a third of the mountain without spending an entire month.

    Nowadays, she could reach near the peak in just a week.

    The problem was that, at this level, the slope was practically vertical.

    Mnia could still find ledges to use to support herself, but she was forced to carry the entire weight of the boulder on her shoulders.

    Plus, as she got closer to the peak, it got heavier.

    The boulder weighed at least ten thousand pounds already.

    For a young dragon, this was a maddening load to carry.

    But, Mnia''s body wasn''t the same as it was when she started.

    She was covered in lean muscles that could only be seen when she flexed. They carried far more power than their appearance suggested, and with their help, Mnia was truly able to support the whole weight of the boulder while keeping it stable. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    There were only a few steps left before she reached her end goal.

    She had failed here before because she got too confident.

    This time, the same mistake wouldn''t be repeated.

    She took a deep breath, her eyes focused on the hard rock in front of her.

    Fifteen steps.

    As long as she made them precisely and safely, she would finally reach the ce that she''d been dreaming of for the past two years.

 Chapter 1656 Potential [5]

    Chapter 1656 Potential [5]

    ??"Huu¡­"

    The ledges were rtively spread apart, and because her arms were upied with the boulder, Mnia could only step in the ones that could properly support her weight.

    She already had the movements mapped for the first ten of these fifteen steps. She''d made it that far before.

    For thest five, on the other hand, her path was still only theoretical.

    Mnia''s body was hugging the wall as best as it could with the size of the boulder.

    It was almost being used as a backpack, since Mnia couldn''t do this section of the mountain without being able to see what was above her.

    Her arms were at her side with her wrists backwards.

    She was gripping the boulder with all of her strength. Indents had been created where her fingers were, and somehow, despite the boulder''s weight distribution, she was able to support all of it from the grip she had with her fingers.

    It was an impractical level of strength, but that was the only thing that allowed Mnia to make it this far, so she didn''t question why it existed.

    She unhitched her right foot moved it to the next ledge. Kicking into the wall, she created a small hole for her to wedge her toes into.

    After putting weight on her right foot to check the ledge''s stability, she unhitched her left and rapidly moved it to another ledge nearby, slightly higher than the first.

    ''One.''

    She bounced a few times, keeping her body warm in the cold air that inhabited this high altitude.

    Once again, she repeated the same movement.

    ''Two.''

    Her left foot had to move first this time, but the path was still rtively vertical so she didn''t have to make any crazy movements.

    "Huu¡­"

    ''Three.''

    "Huu¡­"

    ''Four.''

    "Huu¡­"

    ''Five.''

    One by one, she ascended through the footholds in the mountain that she''d long be familiar with.

    The first step was always the hardest, but her muscle memory kicked in the instant she took it.

    Ten steps. She took five minutes to take them, but she did end up in the position she desired.

    There were five steps remaining.

    She could see the edge of the mountainside. If she could just jump, she could grab it and hoist herself onto the peak.

    Unfortunately, without hands, jumping was an impractical solution.

    She''d already tried it thrice and failed, so she was assured of that much.

    The first step was by far the mostplicated.

    She reached out with her left leg to find a ledge far away from her current path.

    She had to move her foot against the wall to find the ledge, and once she did, she bounced her toes on it to once again check its stability.

    In the same way that she''d done before, she embedded her foot into the wall and took a deep breath.

    "Huu¡­"

    Her flexibility was just as impressive as her strength.

    She held the position for a moment, tightening her grip on the boulder. Her eyes were focused on a ledge near the one her left foot had upied.

    Mnia put as much of her weight as possible on her left leg, and hopped, rapidly moving her right foot to where her eyes were looking.

    The wind hit her from the right, which helped her move. Her hands sweated as she was forced to support the boulder on one leg for a moment, but¡­

    Tap!

    Her foot made a small sound as itnded on the ledge and dug into the cliff surface, rooting her in ce.

    Mnia leaned back slightly as she lost her bnce. She bent her knees, using every bit of strength in her core to regain control and bring herself back into position.

    ''No.''

    She was swaying too much.

    If she tried to stay here, she would fall back and turn into a puddle of blood on the side of the mountain somewhere.

    The wind helped her move, but now that she was in position, it was just making her bnce even worse.

    She didn''t have a choice. If she wanted to survive, then she needed to find another way to regain stability.

    She was swaying left and right, slightly leaning back. If she made a mistake, she''d instantly fall. However, she had to take the risk.

    The next move was a simple one. She wanted to use it to kill her momentum and regain control.

    She needed to find a ledge that was at her chest with her foot.

    It was arge reach that was made more difficult by theck of room that she had, but it would force her to regain control, so she needed to do it properly.

    Mnia rapidly moved her right foot.

    Her foot grabbed into a hole that already existed in the side of the mountain, forcing her to paste herself into the mountainside.

    She immediately stopped moving back and forth.

    As for the left and right movements¡­

    As she reached the precipice of a swing to the right and started to move left, she removed her left foot and took it to the next ledge.

    She gripped the boulder even harder and curled her toes as she tried to get as much grip with her feet as possible.

    Her eyes were almost over the top of the cliff edge.

    ledge.

    She gripped the boulder even harder and curled her toes as she She wasn''tpletely stable, but she was confident that she could make thest few moves without falling.

    Because from here on, she just had to go up.

    One step.

    "Huu¡­"

    Her eyes saw the snowy t clearing that was the mountain''s peak.

    "Huu¡­"

    Two steps.

    Her legs started to wobble from the rapid movements, but she stayed strong.

    The end goal was more than just in sight. She could feel it, smell it, touch it, and taste it already.

    Three steps.

    She was over the edge with everything above her knees.

    She utched her right foot and moved it to the t mountain peak.

    And, using all of her remaining strength, she pulled her left leg up to match it.

    The instant both of her legs were on t ground, Mnia bent her body forward, bnced the boulder on her back, and adjusted her grip so that it was once again over her head.

    Instead of taking three steps back because the boulder''s weight was on her back, she now took three steps forward, losing her grip and letting the boulder m into the snow.

    BOOM!

    It made a huge sound.

    That was thest thing Mnia heard.

    She had done it.

    She had finally made it to the peak.

    She had achieved her goal.

    And now, finally, she could rest.

    There wasn''t an ounce of energy left inside of her to celebrate.

    Right then and there, on the cold snow of this mountain peak that somehow managed to exist in the middle of arge arid desert, she copsed, losing consciousness.

    740 days, 6 hours, 17 minutes, and thirty-two seconds.

    The instant that amount of time passed since her arrival in this ce, Mnia passed a trial she was never supposed to attempt in the first ce.

    But to find out what she truly earned through her efforts¡­

    Well, she had to wake up first, didn''t she?

 Chapter 1657 Potential [6]

    Chapter 1657 Potential [6]

    By the time she opened her eyes again, the crow-masked man was on the mountain peak with her.

    She looked at him from the ground. He stood there, unmoving, waiting for her to stand up.

    She did. She looked at the boulder next to him and she looked back at him.

    Her voice was dull as she spoke.

    "I did it."

    "You did," he responded with a nod.

    "And for that, I apud you."

    Mnia nodded. She didn''t really care about any of that.

    She had taken on the challenge not for affirmation, but for the rewards she had been promised.

    Now that the crow-masked man was back, there was nothing in her mind but the desire to gain those things he promised.

    The crow-masked man could sense her impatience.

    "First, I will show you who you are."

    Damien had preserved Mnia''s ego for the past two years to make sure that the weight of her actions didn''t weigh on her too much.

    She wasn''t stable yet. Her mind was still in the state it maintained to help her climb the mountain.

    Perhaps she wasn''t ready to go back to her usual self yet. Or, maybe getting her memories back would be the perfect method to bring her mind back to peace.

    Whatever the case was, she had earned her memories back, so Damien wasn''t going to withhold them based on his own judgments.

    "Khhh!"

    Mnia gritted her teeth to prevent a groan from leaking out of her mouth. She clutched her, feeling the same dull ache that she had when she first arrived in this ce.

    Everything that was taken from her was returned. The source of her desires, the experiences that made her unique, and all else contained within her memories flooded back into her system, melding with the memories of the past two years.

    Mnia''s eyes had been cloudy ever since she lost her memories, but now, they had regained their rity.

    She looked down at her hands in shock.

    "I¡­what have I been doing?"

    She looked up at the crow-masked man, mping her hands together to see if any of this was really real.

    She remembered now. The reason for her arrival here was the creature she saw in the cavern earlier.

    That happened in the real world, but this was not there.

    "Was everything¡­a lie?"

    The crow-masked man shook his head.

    "It was not."

    Mnia was handling the fusion of memories far better than he expected. She didn''t question their validity or anything of the sort. Rather, afterparing her past two years of memories with the ones that existed before it, she was more concerned with the supposed futility of her efforts.

    However, nothing she did was futile.

    "Do you remember why you started climbing this peak in the first ce?" The crow-masked man asked.

    "Because you promised me power if I did it."

    "That is correct. I did promise you power, however, I did not promise it immediately."

    Mnia''s eyes narrowed.

    She wanted to rebuke the man and fight for what she earned, but he didn''t let her speak.

    "I will not give you power, for power must be earned. Instead, I will give you potential. Whether or not you can truly gain strength is up to you, but from now on¡­"

    The crow-masked man reached forward and touched his finger to her forehead.

    "...as long as you will it, you can be the most powerful."

    VOOOM!

    A foreign mana rushed through Mnia''s body and infested her blood.

    It boiled as it responded to the foreign invader, causing searing pain throughout.

    Mnia gritted her teeth and took it, because through the pain, she could feel her blood changing.

    It was bing stronger, denser, and vaguely, it now carried the aura of something she didn''t recognize.

    Something familiar, yet far more powerful than she ever believed she could be.

    "This is the blood lineage of Draga, the God of the Mountain. He is an ancestor to your earth dragon lineage, one who has been long forgotten. With his legacy, you can easily match the current Holy ns if you so choose."

    This wasn''t a lineage Damien had ess to.

    Instead, it was one he had recreated through Qinglong''s memories.

    It was a perfect replica, one that even Draga''s residual thoughts approved of.

    It not only contained the bloodline memories his true descendants would have received, but other tricks and techniques from earth dragons of the past that Damien has been able to study through the lens of an Azure Dragon.

    The bloodline was on par with what Valerie carried. It was more than enough for Mnia to match the talents of those around her.

    As the crow-masked man said, she had arrived at the same starting point as them. The rest was up to her.

    "And¡­"

    As Mnia fell to her knees, adapting thest bit of the new bloodline in her body, the crow-masked man withdrew his hand and turned around.

    "If you are still dissatisfied with what you have earned, then let me give you some advice. When you return to the outside world¡­well, just try punching something. I guarantee you''ll enjoy it."

    The crow-masked man''s tone had changed entirely, bing more yful.

    Mnia looked through her pain and saw his back.

    It was clear that he was leaving.

    "Wait!"

    She yelled, reaching out as if to stop him.

    There were too many questions in her mind for her to let him go easily.

    But, had he chosen this moment on purpose?

    Her body had locked up as it limated to the changes he''d made, so she couldn''t do anything to stop him.

    He did stop for a moment, though.

    He looked back, seemingly with a smile on his masked face.

    "We will meet again. If you can find me, then I will answer all of your questions. Until then, keep working to achieve your dreams. After doing something like this for two years, everything else wille easily, right?"

    The rest was up to her to discover.

    Nobody else could give it to her.

    So, the crow-masked man disappeared, trusting such a stalwart genius to decide her own path.

    The mountain started to break apart. The sky started to crack.

    Mnia''s vision went ck. She found herself standing again, but her knees still couldn''t support her.

    There was something on her body, keeping her in this position.

    It was suffocating her.

    CRACK!

    She pushed her limbs outward and shattered the material that cocooned her.

    GASP!

    She took deep breaths as she fell back to her knees.

    Crumbling pieces of dust and debris fell beside her. The damp smell of an underground space flooded her nose, and as her eyes found their sight again, she realized that she was back in the real world.

    She stayed on the ground, still feeling the rolling waves in her bloodline that affirmed all of her experiences.

    ''It happened.''

    It was an illusion, but everything that happened inside was real.

    ''Then¡­''

    She didn''t question how. Just as she didn''t question the events that happened in the illusion, she decided to just go with the flow for her own health.

    She staggered to her feet, ignoring the voices of August and Valerie who were calling out to her in concern.

    ''He said to punch something, right?''

    She dragged herself to a nearby cavern wall and raised her fist.

    She didn''t have proper form, but it didn''t matter.

    All he said was to punch something, so that was all she was going to do.

    Her fist mmed forward and made contact with the wall.

    Perhaps that was the first time Mnia realized just what she''d gained.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    An unbelievable sound.

    And¡­

    A wall that was now more of a tunnel.

    With a fist alone, Mnia had destroyed the entire cavern wall and created a ten-meter-deep hole that a person could easily walk through.

    August and Valerie immediately went quiet.

    Their jaws dropped to the floor.

    "You¡­that¡­" Valerie stammered.

    Mnia grinned. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''It was worth it.''

    Everything she had done was rewarded.

    That was all she needed to regain her happiness.

 Chapter 1658 Reward [1]

    Chapter 1658 Reward [1]

    This was the talent of an earth dragon.

    There were a few different paths that their ancestors had taken, but few were able to properly thrive.

    After all, the earth dragon bloodline was the thinnest of them all.

    Other dragons came into being through various magical means. Those who evolved did so mystically and became beings far beyond their original stations.

    Earth dragons were simply evolved lizards.

    They could fly, but they didn''t have wings like their peers. They were massive, but they were shaped like lizards with draconic features rather than true dragons.

    Their species had always been discriminated against. They rarely gained ess to resources, and since they didn''t have a powerful ancestral bloodline in their heritage at all, they weren''t able to harness the same talent that the other dragons had.

    Hell, even themon fire dragons and water dragons had some sort of lineage, even if it wasn''t powerful. They were the only ones that started at such a low threshold.

    Draga, the Mountain God, was a unique case.

    He grew up in the mountains alone, unaware of how weak his bloodline was.

    No, rather, he didn''t even know what bloodline was since he didn''t have any ancestral memories supporting him.

    He was forced to find out how to survive. And, since he was unaware that being a dragon was something special, he formed a different perspective on their existence than anyone else.

    Draga never prioritized magic. The creatures around him only had their inherent skills, so he focused on his own.

    It took a while to find them. Since mana didn''t respond well when expelled, he couldn''t mimic the ranged attacks of the creatures he saw.

    But, what about his physical strength?

    As he continued to train, his strength grew exponentially. He was able to rule the mountain with it, and he was able to expand his domain beyond it.

    The mana in Draga''s body stopped resisting him.

    Though it still couldn''t be emitted properly, it sunk into his flesh and bones and made his body infinitely stronger.

    By the end of his reign, he could easily pluck stars out of the sky. Even other Supreme Gods had to be wary of him.

    Once he went out into the world and saw how it functioned, he created an empire for himself where earth dragons could feel at home.

    There was just one problem.

    He was infertile.

    His body lost its reproductive capabilities when it started being hardened by mana. His techniques were important for earth dragons, but at the same time, they were detrimental towards their poption.

    It was a technique that couldn''t be widespread. Without descendants, Draga passed his skills on to disciples who chose to enter the same path he did.

    And as his life continued, Draga focused his efforts on finding a way to make all earth dragons prosper.

    He wanted to create a blood lineage that could promote them to the same starting line as their peers.

    Perhaps that was what alerted the other dragon ns.

    They saw him as a barbarian. He was uncouth and came from a ce outside of draconic society, so he was nothing more than an animal to the Holy n equivalents of the time. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Watching him gain influence was one thing. He didn''t intrude in their territory, so they didn''t bother with him.

    But once he became a threat? Once he started trying to change the society they created?

    Naturally, he had to be exterminated.

    Draga and his apprentices were all ughtered together to ensure that his legacy could never make its way into the world again.

    Earth dragons were left without a leader and forced to return to the kingdom that wouldter be Arulion, and Draga''s story became a fairy tale that wasn''t even told in the current day.

    Mnia had been given his bloodline because it was the strongest earth dragon lineage to ever exist.

    But, as soon as she finished digesting it, she was made aware of the consequences.

    She had to make the conscious choice of whether she wanted to follow his path or not.

    Luckily, until she figured out what she wanted to do, her natural strength talent as an earth dragon would support her.

    The hole she made in the wall was an extreme shock to both August and Valerie.

    "Mnia¡­?" August said, frowning slightly.

    He didn''t understand what had happened, but he remained calm since all of this was simted by his father.

    Mnia turned around with a curious look on her face.

    "Yeah? What''s up?"

    She acted like nothing major happened. She still remembered every second of the past two years she''d spent on the mountain, but she immediately realized that no time at all had passed in the real world.

    Adapting was something she''d be used to through her circumstances. Even if it was something on this level, she was able to y it off and keep her mind stable.

    August was even more confused after hearing her casual tone.

    She seemed to be fine, but how was she able to produce that kind of power?

    From what he''d seen, Mnia was more of a smart person than a strong one.

    Clearly, he had underestimated her severely.

    Seeing the two of them look at her strangely, unable to find a way to breach the subject, Mnia smiled awkwardly.

    "Well, I guess I got some benefits from that," she said, ncing over at the chunks of rock that used to be her cocoon.

    August and Valerie could only nod and ept it.

    Valerie was positively stunned.

    She had been looking down on Mnia. It didn''t take much for her to admit that.

    However, was she always this powerful, or did she have more talent than Valerie had ever expected?

    It seemed she had to reconsider her previous views.

    And, now that Mnia had shown her such power, she had to start seeing the girl aspetition, just as she saw August, Lucas, and Ophelia.

    It was a bit easier for August, since he knew what his dad could do.

    Mnia saying she benefitted meant that Damien had done something and she had been rewarded. If that was the case, then her strength didn''t need to be exined.

    The more concerning part was that Damien never gave things to people easily.

    For Mnia to see such an immediate increase in her strength meant she''d done something worthy of such a reward.

    If August knew that her current strength was only a byproduct of her trial¡­perhaps he''d never be able to lift his jaw off of the floor again.

    Nevertheless, Mnia didn''t give them much time to think about it and realize that there were more than a few things wrong with her vague answer.

    "What happened while I was trapped? Did you guys find any clues?"

    "Ah¡­"

    August nodded, epting her redirection.

    "There was a clue inside the Minotaur''s horn. When the Furies died, it appeared and showed us a map that leads to the ocean again. This time, it''s probably underwater instead of just on the pier," he said.

    "But, I think I''ve found something else. If I try to read my dad''s thought process, then there should be a shortcut somewhere. I''ve been looking around the cavern walls, but I haven''t found it yet."

    "As for me," Valerie chimed in, "I also just escaped a cocoon, so¡­"

    Mnia nodded. It was an easy situation to understand, especially since it hadn''t changed much since her most recent memories in the real world.

    "If it''s not on the walls, then why don''t we see what''s beyond them?" She suggested.

    "Pardon?"

    "I mean, can''t I just destroy them? It doesn''t hurt to try, right?"

    Mnia''s thoughts had definitely been influenced by her experiences. She still had her wisdom, of course, but she wasn''t averse to using brutish methods anymore.

    And, if August was beingpletely honest¡­

    "That''s probably for the best."

    Mnia seemed¡­different now. She seemed more confident in herself, and that made August more confident in her.

    Their attempts to be intuitive hadn''t reaped any results.

    So, it wasn''t bad to try another solution before they moved on, was it?

 Chapter 1659 Reward [2]

    Chapter 1659 Reward [2]

    ??August and Valerie gave Mnia space to destroy the cavern as she pleased.

    She looked at the hole she''d made before and assessed her strength before positioning herself somewhere near the middle of the cave.

    It had to be remembered at a time like this that 3rd ss practitioners were not weak.

    Whenpared to Divinities who could easily destroy worlds, they seemed like nothing at all, but they were still a bane tomon people.

    After all, a peak 3rd ss could destroy a city with their own power.

    Merely, when they lived in a society, they couldn''t really use these powers wantonly.

    Just like everyone else, they had to suppress themselves to a level that kept them out of trouble. Or, if they couldn''t, they had to find an empty field to use as a battleground.

    Mnia had a bit more room to exercise her power in this cavern because it was deep underground and empty of anyone else.

    Herrades had already moved up the staircase a bit so they wouldn''t bear the brunt of the impact.

    So, as she reeled her fist back, she couldn''t help but smile to herself.

    Feeling the muscles tense, feeling the power coursing through her body, she felt like she was high.

    This was exactly what she wanted.

    A fist of fulfilled dreams mmed through the air.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    The air pressure wave it created expanded and mmed against the parallel wall.

    It, of course, couldn''t handle the impact. The rock copsed and turned into a pile of stones on the ground. The gap she created was several meters deep. Instead of punching a hole in it, it was more apt to say that Mnia was excavating the cavern.

    She turned to her right and repeated the same motion.

    Another area of the same size was opened, connecting to the previous one and widening the cavern even more.

    Mnia did it one more time, destroying everything aside from the staircase itself, leaving the trio in a much wider area than they saw before.

    Nothing changed about the fact that it was all rock in the surroundings.

    August and Valerie were still in awe of what they just witnessed, but they came back down into the cavern when Mnia finished and started searching the newly expanded space.

    It was the best way for them to keep their minds off of the incredulity of it all.

    Still, August wasn''t too preupied with his shock to not focus on what was actually happening.

    ''There was a difference.''

    It was subtle, but there was a difference in the sound produced by the righthand wall.

    As the pressure wave Mnia creates spread through it, it struck something other than the same rock that they had been seeing until now.

    August immediately rushed there and investigated the new righthand wall. He pushed his hand into it to feel its texture, and when he couldn''t find a difference, he shed, using a serrated knife of water energy to cut the wall into pieces.

    Or, at least, that was his aim.

    ''I knew it.''

    Despite looking the same as the other walls, this one was far more reinforced.

    "Mnia, do you mind destroying this one again?"

    Regardless of how it happened, she was now physically the strongest one in the group.

    Mnia nodded, happy to help. She walked over and as August made his way past her, she punched out again.

    BOOOOOOM!

    RUMBLE!

    The wall shook.

    The dirt on its outeryer shook and fell to the ground. Hidden behind it was a sheet of ck metal that didn''t look natural in the slightest.

    "There was something like that?"

    Mnia walked up to it and knocked on its surface.

    She hadn''t punched it directly the first time, but maybe if she did¡­

    BOOOOOOOM!

    She had done it before her thought even finished. And the result¡­?

    "Ow!"

    She shook her wrist and bit her lip.

    "That didn''t work at all."

    Her wrist which didn''t get sore after pushing a boulder for two years was now aching after a single hit?

    Clearly, this metal wasn''t something ordinary in the slightest.

    "Is this the clue you were looking for?" She asked, turning to August.

    "Yeah. That''s exactly it," he responded smilingly.

    "If that''s really a wall separating us from something, then it''s a ce that pretty much nobody can reach. That¨C"

    "¨Cis exactly the type of ce where your dad would be, huh?"

    August nodded as Valerie finished his sentence.

    "The entrance probably won''t be easy to find, but now that we know what we''re looking for, it''ll be easy."

    If they went along with Damien''s machinations, it would probably take them more than a few days to find him.

    However, if they were able to properly make use of this information¡­

    "...if we''re lucky, we can even find him today."

    August''s words motivated all three of them.

    Mnia wanted to see the person who could give her hints about what had happened on the mountain.

    August wanted to find his dad not only just to meet him, but to enlist his aid in unveiling the schemes surrounding the heir wars.

    And Valerie¡­well, Valerie just wanted to meet the man who even her grandfather held in great respect.

    If they could find him today, meet him, and then spend the next two weeks training as they had been throughout these trials, then they would be more than just prepared when the heir wars truly started.

    "Good."

    August grinned.

    "Then, let''s get started."

    The three of them rushed back up the staircase. The instant they entered the library, the staircase disappeared and the library itself shrunk around them, leaving only a cafe that now had regrly named dishes.

    They were now on a timer they''d given themselves, and before it finished counting down¡­

    ¡­they would surely find Damien Void!

    ***

    The Shadow Lounge was a distinguished ce. Unlike many other VIP areas in Arulion, it didn''t allow any kind of debauchery within its premises.

    It was a ce for business, for rxation, and for activities that could only be done with a level of ss.

    More importantly, it was a ce that could still be considered kid-friendly, so Damien thought it would be for the best.

    It was an exclusive ce that only specific guests and people of high status could enter, but it actually wasn''t that hard to find.

    The only prerequisite was that one had to find out that it existed in the first ce.

    And, for people who were not of the status to be invited, if they were able to find it naturally, they would earn the right to use the lounge as they pleased as long as they were able to abide by its standards and rules.

    August, Valerie, and Mnia weren''t necessarily high-ss people in personality, but they were indeed budding adventurers who knew how to sniff out a scent once they caught it.

    They searched the entire city throughout the night, using their abilities to find clues that would otherwise remain hidden from their eyes forever.

    Anyone who had prominence in the city was investigated. Anyone who could possibly be a member of the lounge was followed until it was assured that they weren''t worth investigation.

    And by the time day arrived again, the trio had regrouped with more information than they could ever hope for.

    The Shadow Lounge was in sight.

    All they had to do now was reach it.

 Chapter 1660 Reward [3]

    Chapter 1660 Reward [3]

    The entrance wasn''t actually anywhere near the location where the actual lounge was.

    In reality, it was a door far away in a random tailor shop that nobody would expect, a ce that didn''t have nearly enough business to stay open yet had been open for hundreds of years.

    Finding it was difficult only in that it took a great deal of time.

    The trio noticed that a lot of the influential people they followed wore clothes tailored at that shop, but to actually realize that it was the location they were looking for took some more time.

    They had to actually visit the tailor shop before they confirmed anything.

    But, the second they made that visit they no longer had to ask any questions.

    The tailor nced at them only for a second before returning to the book in his hand.

    As they were left with free reign over their actions, they looked over the clothing selection and tried to find out what exactly they needed to do to get to the Shadow Lounge.

    They found their way into one of the changing stalls, and as they fiddled with the many decorations on the walls¡­

    Voom!

    The back wall gave way to a swirling blue and purple portal. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Looking at each other with excitement in their eyes, they stepped through it without fear.

    The trio arrived in a reception area. It was extremely ssy, with mahogany-like wood everywhere and sleek yet stand-out pieces of art and decor lining the walls.

    A woman stood at a desk adjacent to the back wall of the reception area. The wall was open to both of her sides, leading further into the space.

    Large round sofas could be seen in the near distance. Many were upied, and there were even a few people at the six seats in front of the quaint bar from which they were being serviced.

    It was an area like none of them had ever seen before, so when they got to the receptionist, they didn''t actually know what to say.

    Hell, they barely even knew where they were. They had found out about this ce through the words of others, so at most, they understood its purpose.

    Luckily for them, the receptionist spoke first with a cordial smile on her face.

    "Is there an August Void among you?"

    "Um¡­that would be me," August replied, raising his hand.

    "I understand. I will show you to your table."

    She didn''t say anything else, immediately walking through the door on the left and beckoning August and the rest to follow her.

    They did, and they quite stood outpared to the people around them.

    After all, they''d been adventuring around the city for a day now, and that happened immediately after the elimination round. They hadn''t quite had the time to clean up yet.

    Still, nobody paid them any mind. Since they''de here, they would follow the rules of this ce or be ejected. That assurance was enough to keep them unbothered.

    August, Mnia, and Valerie were led through the circr couches and towards the private rooms at the back of the space.

    By the time they arrived at the door of the room they were meant to enter, August could already feel his father''s aura.

    If Damien had released it earlier, then August would have immediately found him. The boy was especially keen in the regard of sensing Damien.

    However, now that he''d sessfully reached this ce, the game had already ended in his defeat.

    Damien released his disguise, and as the door swung open, he was already back to his original appearance.

    "Dad!"

    August immediately ran over to him.

    Damien grinned and ruffled his hair.

    "You''ve gotten trickier, haven''t you? Congrattions on making it here on your own for the first time," he said.

    Damien was truly impressed by his son. He expected August to eventually learn to read his thoughts. Though, he never thought it woulde so soon.

    He intentionally telegraphed his thoughts a lot more so that August could learn how to read them before actually facing challenges beyond his current level.

    But, that ended up biting him in the ass, because his son was more of a genius than he gave him credit for.

    "Dad, I know it''s only been a week, but so much crazy stuff happened!"

    August''s demeanor changed entirely. He looked like a teenager, but he was now properly acting his age, like someone who''d only recently turned ten.

    Valerie smiled helplessly, since she was aware of that little fact.

    Mnia, on the other hand¡­

    Well, it was strange for her to be seeing this side of August after getting to know him. He seemed like apletely different person.

    Nevertheless, August was too busy telling Damien about the elimination round and his adventures before it to care.

    He knew that Damien was there to watch, and he wanted to ask his dad about his performance, but that was a conversation for them to have when they were alone.

    Currently, August hadpany, didn''t he?

    "You brought your friends over, right? Are you going to introduce me?"

    Damien segued the conversation since August forgot that they were ever-present.

    "Ah, right!" He eximed as he remembered.

    "Dad, this is Mnia. I met her in Arragon when I went to the testing facility. And this is Valerie. Remember the green dragon senior who helped us when I was small? She''s his granddaughter."

    Well, as someone who, at this point, could know someone just by looking at their soul, Damien didn''t need to be introduced to the two girls.

    But, it was courteous for him to pretend, right? He couldn''t embarrass his son at a time like this.

    "Nice to meet you," Damien said, smiling at them.

    "Haha, I''m just kidding."

    In his defense, every parent had to embarrass their kid at least a few times. What was the fun if they didn''t?

    "I''m Damien Void. Thank you for being friends with my son. He really needed some."

    "Dad!" August shouted in embarrassment.

    "Haha, I''m just kidding."

    In his defense, every parent had to embarrass their kid at least a few times. What was the fun if they didn''t?

    Valerie and Mnia respectfully returned his greeting, but their minds were in other ces.

    The main thing was¡­

    The two of them didn''t look alike?

    Damien clearly wasn''t August''s biological father. Putting aside those striking purple eyes that couldn''t be replicated anywhere else, just his age made things strange.

    When August said that he and his dad yed games like the one they''d just participated in all the time, the girls were able to get a feel of how powerful Damien was.

    His external age said a lot. For him to maintain such an appearance meant he''d be powerful at an extremely young age.

    Was he a talent from the previous generation? Or was he someonepletely unknown?

    They didn''t think about it much as it was happening, but they were now wondering if he was some sort of Void Dragon variant, since only they could control space to such a high degree.

    The man known as Damien Void was a curious case to them, and while they wanted to know many things about both him and August, they withheld that desire.

    It was a bit awkward. The girls didn''t know why they were here, since there wasn''t much more to converse about with Damien after their introductions, but August knew exactly why he was here.

    "Dad, since I won, I get a reward, right?" He said.

    "That''s usually how this works, yeah. Did you have something in mind?" Damien responded.

    "Yup!" August replied.

    He pulled out the emblem that had been sitting in his spatial ring since he got it. Valerie and Mnia looked on curiously to see what he was going to do with it.

    "There''s something hidden within here and I feel like it''s a big scheme. Can you tell me what it is?"

    The strange expressions on the girls'' faces became more pronounced.

    How was Damien supposed to know that?

    August didn''t say anything that could give him clues. He didn''t even hand over the emblem for Damien to inspect.

    But, against their expectations, Damien nodded his head casually.

    "Sure. If that''s what you want."

    That scheme was above August''s weight ss, but it wasn''t too far out of range. Damien didn''t mind letting his son set it as a goal to strive towards.

    After all, that issue was rted to the crux of the problem that he would also need to deal with. Splitting the work was never a bad thing, especially if it had a positive impact on those involved.

    Since his son had chosen information as a reward over all else, despite there being better options, Damien would give him more than he hoped for.

    Besides, he was curious.

    If given all of the necessary information to understand the ins and outs of a certain situation¡­

    What would August be able to aplish?

 Chapter 1661 Half-Disciple [1]

    Chapter 1661 Half-Disciple [1]

    It was mostly as August expected.

    The emblems were indeed involved in a scheme. It wasn''t that hard to figure it out just by knowing how the noble dragons felt aboutmoners.

    Every single emblem would be and could be bound with mana. The matter about dropping blood into it was only mentioned to themon geniuses who entered the heir wars through the elimination around.

    As for what it was for?

    It would provide the noble ns with all of the information on the emblem. The genius'' blood lineage, power, talent,ws, techniques, and bodily constitution would all be transmitted to those who had ess to it.

    With that kind of information, the noble n geniuses wouldn''t struggle against any of them. It was already enough to remove the chance for amon genius to win the heir wars.

    However, that wasn''t all.

    Those who dropped blood onto the emblem would be signing their lives away. Their blood would activate a contract that allowed the noble ns to control their emblems. It forced them to promise that they would exit the heir wars if they were ever asked by a noble.

    In a situation where amon genius was able to get past the nobles and prevail, they would be forced to forfeit the heir wars if they didn''t want to die.

    It practically turned them into ves.

    Though the noble ns had to act normal and make it seem like there was no corruption in thepetition, they could easily ckmail a genius or two to betray others and create space for noble geniuses to win in any situation.

    There was only one real issue.

    "The noble ns?"

    August was curious about it.

    "From what I''ve heard, the heir wars are controlled by the Dragon Emperor''s people. How did the noble ns get so much influence in it?"

    The crux of the situation had already been revealed. Damien was also willing to provide the names of those involved and far more specific details, but would be far too lengthy a conversation.

    Damien shrugged.

    "That''s a little too much for you to know right now. Just remember that there''s a whole lot of corruption in the entire process that you guys will have to ovee with your talents alone."

    The crux of the situation had already been revealed. Damien was also willing to provide the names of those involved and far more specific details, but would be far too lengthy a conversation.

    Instead, Damien had put it all on a jade slip for August to read when he wanted to.

    He gave it to him as he spoke. August took it while nodding.

    "Okay. I knew it would be like that. I was just hoping for something better," he said, somewhat dejected.

    Damien smiled softly.

    "Well, it''s like that now, but you''re working to fix it, aren''t you? By the time you''re done here, it''ll be apletely different Arulion."

    "That''s right. When I''m the Dragon Emperor, it won''t be like this."

    It was the first time he''d said it in front of Valerie and Mnia.

    Neither of them waspeting in the heir wars to actually win, so neither felt provoked by his words.

    They were mostly bewildered.

    August had said it with such confidence that, for a second, they even thought that he could do it without a problem.

    There were plenty of struggles in his path to that ce. Even if he was able to ovee them, he would still face people who would do everything to stop his rise.

    Still, August as a Dragon Emperor¡­? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    They had to wonder what that would look like.

    "Ah, you didn''t put your blood into it, did you?" Damien said, continuing his conversation with August as his son remained unaware of the thoughts of those he brought with him.

    "Of course not! I didn''t trust it, so I waited," August replied.

    "Good."

    Damien put his hand out, beckoning for August to give it to him.

    "I''ll trick it so you don''t have to worry."

    August nodded happily.

    "Ah, can you do theirs too?"

    He motioned towards Valerie and Mnia while looking at Damien with pleading eyes.

    "You don''t have to look at me like that, brat. Of course I''ll help your friends."

    August''s smile widened. He didn''t say anything to the girls, but they''d been following the conversation, so they didn''t need to be told anything.

    They took their emblems out and gave them to Damien. He held all three and put his blood into them as the three young geniuses watched curiously.

    Damien''s blood changed, mimicking theirs as it entered the emblems.

    None of them had put their blood into the emblems in the first ce. Mnia had followed August, while Valerie had just gotten lucky.

    She had gone to find August while deciding to put blood into the emblemter. That decision ended up dragging her into the father-son hide-and-seek game that he was about to y, and she lost her chance to do it at all.

    It was a real lucky moment, because without forged qualifications, Valerie would''ve been one of the first people targeted by the noble ns.

    She might have even been killed or ckmailed to turn traitor.

    Nevertheless, since her luck did indeed save her, it was as easy to forge her specifications as it was to do August''s or Mnia''s.

    August became a regr water dragon who was only special in that he had a little bit more talent than the rest.

    Valerie was the same. Damien had to give her some peculiarities to make her strength understandable, but the information was still a lie that would throw off the enemy.

    As for Mnia¡­

    Damien passed their emblems back to them casually.

    "Just put your mana in and it''ll start working," he said.

    They did as they were told.

    The emblems changed, bing circr devices that were mostly just screens.

    Their faces appeared on them before shrinking and turning into square avatars in the top right corners of the screens.

    The rest was soon filled with information about like a leaderboard, a page that mapped their individual statistics, and pretty much everything else that the man who distributed the emblems told them they would have.

    The only one confused was Mnia.

    They could see the information that Damien had inputted for them.

    While August and Valerie turned intopletely different people, Mnia''s profile was just¡­her?

    It was everything about her from just a day ago, as if she''d actually put blood in the emblem before they arrived here.

    The information was saddening to see for any genius. It was a mathematical measure of just how useless they were.

    But¡­

    For Mnia, the problem was that she wasn''t like that anymore.

    She had gained talent and potential. With Mountain God Draga''s blood lineage, she no longer had the same stats as what was disyed on the screen.

    That was normal.

    That was how it should''ve been.

    In fact, that was the entire purpose of Damien manipting their emblems.

    The thing that confused Mnia was¡­

    How did he know?

    How did he know what her stats were like before she''d changed, and how did he know that she''d changed at all?

    Her intuition allowed her to deduce that Damien was involved with the crow-masked man somehow long ago.

    All of the trials were created by him, so clearly, he knew what she''d gone through and who helped her get to this point.

    However, Damien knew more than she expected. He knew more than someone who was just acquainted with her benefactor.

    It really made her wonder.

    ''Was he the crow-masked man?''

    If he was, then she owed a great debt to both father and son, but that wasn''t her concern.

    That man was her savior. In a sense, he was the teacher that allowed her to be powerful.

    A teacher¡­that was something she desperately needed.

    And the crow-masked man was the only person she was willing to kneel to.

    If Damien really was the crow-masked man, then this couldn''t be the end of their encounter.

    She had to find a chance to ask him.

 Chapter 1662 Half-Disciple [2]

    Chapter 1662 Half-Disciple [2]

    Damien chose the Shadow Lounge as his hiding spot not just because of its secrecy, but also its policies.

    This lounge specifically was the type of ce that didn''t ask any questions as long as one was paying proper attention to the rules.

    As for those rules, they were simple.

    Nobody in the lounge would try to enquire about other guests''s identities or conversations without express permission from said guests.

    If this rule was broken, one would be banished from the lounge. Worse consequences would follow, varying from small misfortunes to the destruction of an offender''s entire fortune.

    No fighting was allowed in the lounge.

    Peace has to be maintained, along with a certain level of decorum. If one was a nuisance to others in the lounge, then one would be banished.

    It was a simple set of rules, but one that absolutely catered to the guests.

    And it also left room for certain things.

    "As long as you arrive in the lobby, it doesn''t matter how you arrive."

    The main entrance was only for potential new members. Even the people who had used the tailor shop were arranged to test if August and his group were worthy of bing members.

    They had rmendations from Damien, so of course they were shown a bit more lenience than a normal person.

    August didn''t have the Sanctuary.

    He needed a ce where he could escape to when he had no other options. That way, Damien wouldn''t have to be an absolute presence in his son''s life.

    August couldn''t forever exist thinking that Damien would save him from anything that was too hard for him. That would never allow him to grow.

    Thest thing Damien had for the three was a gift.

    First, rings that were imbued with his power. Using them, they''d always be able to return to this ce, even if ced under spatial restrictions.

    It was only meant to be used during emergencies, so Damien made sure to warn them about their overuse.

    They were specifically designed so that they wouldn''t be indestructible. Misuse would lead to their destruction.

    Secondly, he took them to a ce outside of Fort Halleya.

    The four of them were teleported to an ind in the middle of the ocean. It was sufficientlyrge with a wild ecosystem of its own, and it was inhabited by any sentient or extremely powerful creatures.

    It was a perfect training ground.

    August would be close to the sea, Valerie would be close to the forest, and Mnia would be close to the earth.

    Here, they could spend the next two weeks honing their skills before their first match started.

    And, since they were sufficiently distanced from civilization, Damien temporarily made their rings indestructible for the sake of transportation to the maind.

    It was enough to make Valerie and Mnia''s wonder fade.

    They were forced to get used to the strangely nigh absolute power of the unknown being who August called "dad" so endearingly.

    Instead, as Damien left them to their own devices, they immediately made use of their new blessings.

    Two weeks was not a lot of time, especially when they knew the significance that this match held.

    Mnia didn''t have to fight for a month, but that just meant she had to use her time to practice even better than her peers so she could truly stand on their level.

    Her strength alone wasn''t enough against people who would attack with massive swathes of mana that disallowed her approach.

    Draga could split mountains with a stomp. He could raise the earth and wreak havoc because his physical body had evolved beyond its means.

    Right now, Mnia really was just at the starting point. She didn''t have time to focus on vague matters unrted to her training.

    She, August, and Valerie were on the same ind, but they each had their ideal training locations away from each other.

    They had the ability to converge when they needed to, but most of their training would still be done alone.

    That was how Mnia found time to sneak away to the maind in search of Damien.

    He hadn''t gone far. He decided to stay in Fort Halleya in case August needed him. Two weekster, he would go watch the first official match before departing to actively search for the Dragon Emperor again.

    The Shadow Lounge was not just a location, but a club. They had multiple safe areas around the city that served different purposes.

    Damien had booked a room in their hotel. He was nning to head there, but he''d stopped at the lounge for a moment to speak to the person who ran it.

    Mnia just so happened to catch him before he left. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien raised his brow as he saw her.

    "You are¡­Mnia, right?" He said, nodding to her.

    "Yes, sir," she replied respectfully.

    "I see. Good luck with your training. I''m sure you''ll do well."

    Damien was already leaving, so he was nning to just go on his way, but Mnia stopped him before he could.

    "Sir, please wait!" She said, somewhat desperately.

    "Please tell me if you are the crow-masked man!"

    She didn''t waste any time or try to skirt around the subject.

    Since Damien was probably more knowledgeable about her situation than even she was, she directly told him what she wanted to say.

    Damien raised his brow curiously. Being straightforward was different from this. Mnia was just saying what she thought and telling him to confirm.

    "What would you do if I was?" He asked, curious about what she wanted.

    The crow-masked man was an avatar created to show her the way. He was meant for nothing other than the distribution of rewards.

    In earthen terms, he was a non-yable character. Damien never expected Mnia to see him as anything important.

    But, he was wrong. Mnia saw the crow-masked man as the one who gave her a chance. Unlike Damien, she didn''t see it as the result of her own efforts.

    She already knew what she wanted from him.

    Damien''sck of refusal was practically admittance in itself.

    She got on her knees and kowtowed in front of him to show her sincerity.

    "Please be my master!"

    The one who gave her the technique was the one who would know more about it than anyone else.

    With Draga''s techniques, there wasn''t much to actually be taught. The process was quite straightforward.

    The problem was that the environments necessary to carry them out were not.

    ces like the mountain she''d been ced in before; she needed ess to them so she could truly push herself beyond her limit.

    That caught Damien''s interest.

    "Oh? You have already decided to pursue Draga''s path?" He asked.

    "That is correct," Mnia replied.

    "I''ve epted the consequences. All of them."

    "I see¡­"

    In front of a person like Mnia, there was no point in wasting effort denying her allegations. She believed them wholeheartedly and wouldn''t budge.

    Damien didn''t necessarily have the time to take in another disciple. It would''ve been a problem if she needed him to teach her.

    But, if all she wanted was help finding ces to train and challenge herself?

    Damien could do that without a problem.

    ''This one has a lot of loyalty towards August.''

    She was already nning to stay by his side repaying him for as long as possible. If that belief didn''t waver, then Mnia at her peak would be one of August''s greatest aides.

    ''It''s not bad to give her a little bit of help.''

    She had the worst start of them all. Mnia just wanted to stand at the same level as the rest of them. When she''d aplished that, she was fine with doing the rest on her own.

    The beginning of her development had to be done in the harshest way possible.

    Mnia needed another mountain.

    She was somewhat like Damien in that regard, willing to sacrifice herself and struggle tooth and nail for power.

    He admired that determination. And for it, he was willing to give her what she wanted.

    "Stand up," he said, a smile on his face.

    "Let''s go visit a ce."

 Chapter 1663 Half-Disciple [3]

    Chapter 1663 Half-Disciple [3]

    Damien and Mnia disappeared from the lounge. Their conversation has gone unseen by others, but it was quite monumental for Mnia herself.

    They reappeared in a ce that wasn''t even in Arulion.

    No, beyond that, it wasn''t even in the Heavenly World.

    This ce was created by Damien after he decided to ept Mnia''s plea for help.

    It was an ind in the void, t and barren. It was sufficiently sized and had more than enough room for thousands and thousands of people to live peacefully.

    However, that was not its purpose.

    "Think of anything," Damien said.

    "The environment will reflect your thoughts if it''s able."

    Mnia''s eyes widened in surprise.

    The fact that they were here was a silent affirmation of everything she''d said.

    Damien was the crow-masked man, and he had decided to help her with her training.

    She didn''t ask any more questions. What if she ended up ruining her opportunity by saying too much?

    She closed her eyes and thought about the mountain where she first gained power.

    It appeared in her memories so vividly that she felt like she was there. The dry breeze of the desert, the rolling cracked rock thatsted for eternity. The mountain that stood as a bastion in that ce. The boulder that had be her only friend for those two years.

    In the world of her mind, she saw it all. She felt it, she lived it, and she breathed it.

    And when she opened her eyes¡­

    "Ah¡­"

    There it was.

    Everything she''d imagined had reflected itself in the environment.

    Surrounded by the ckness of the void was the same desert she''d experienced before. The same mountain, the same boulder, the same winds.

    "I won''t be teaching you personally," Damien said as she marveled at the scenery.

    "You must walk this path on your own to truly understand its importance. Whether it''s me or anyone else, you cannot expect help."

    Draga, like Qinglong, was an enemy of Arulion. She would only find people who denied her lineage or wanted to destroy it. Those who wanted to help existed, but none of them had the power or dedication to do so.

    "I''ll give you ess to this ce for as long as you can maintain it. It could be until the end of this month, or it could be for the rest of your life. That is up to you to decide."

    As Mnia listened to his words, she changed the environment again.

    A snowy tundra covered in an evesting blizzard reced the desert mountain. That tundra was then reced by a thriving jungle that even had its own ecosystem.

    Life was being produced by her thoughts?

    While Mnia didn''t believe it, she saw the signs and wanted to investigate as soon as possible.

    She heard what Damien said.

    "How do I prove that I''m worthy to keep it?"

    She knew what a space like this meant. If she could keep a training ground like this for eternity, then she would be able to achieve great heights faster than anyone else.

    Damien smiled when he saw the determination in her eyes.

    "That''s simple," he said.

    "Never let down your talents and never lose your desire for growth. As long as I can see that you are using this ce to its fullest potential, then I will allow you to keep it."

    "Never let down my talents¡­"

    She liked the sound of that.

    Basically, as long as she worked hard, she would be rewarded.

    As someone who always worked hard for less than half of the rewards her peers received, just this promise was enough topletely satisfy her.

    She turned to Damien and bowed sincerely.

    "I will never forget this favor, sir."

    Damien shook his head.

    "With this, you have be something of a half-disciple of mine. There is no need to repay favors to your master. Instead, I should be the one thanking you."

    "You? Thanking me?"

    Mnia somewhat lost her courtesy in surprise.

    Damien chuckled at her reaction.

    "That''s right. I can see the loyalty in your heart, so I must sincerely thank you for staying by my son. He is still growing, but he will eventually be a great man. Having someone like you by his side will be a great blessing for him."

    "Ah¡­but don''t tell him I said that."

    Mnia couldn''t help but feel embarrassed by the statement, but it wasn''t like Damien was wrong.

    She did n to stay by August for as long as possible. He saved her life more than he could ever imagine. She wasn''t going to let him go until she''d properly saved his.

    And, now that his father was her master¡­

    Well, it was certain that Mnia was going to be glued to August from now on. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    But that was beside the point.

    "Your ring will be able to bring you here at any time. Unlike the lounge teleportation, I will not put any restrictions on this function. However, remember that this ce is only meant for training."

    Mnia nodded, understanding the responsibility she took upon her shoulders when she epted his kindness.

    She had a duty to be great. She had a duty to show him that his trust was not misced.

    In the one month before she had topete, she would train so that she could show everyone during the heir wars.

    She couldpete against the greats just like August, Valerie, and the others could.

    She was not one of those nine geniuses who only made it into the heir wars by luck.

    She, Mnia Achen, was not a soft persimmon at all.

    The whole world would know it soon.

    ***

    That was how two weeks passed.

    Mnia had be Damien''s half-disciple. As such, she was given privileges worthy of her station.

    Her growth was definitely far faster than both August and Valerie, but that was also because she had a lower starting point.

    Nevertheless, the three of them only had contact twice during the entire duration of those two weeks.

    The first was at the end of the first week so they could spar with each other and track their progress.

    The second was the day before the first round for the same reason.

    Mnia only used her physical strength, but even that grew as she continued to train. Her two friends were already surprised, but they hadn''t even seen her true capabilities yet.

    Still, they weren''t people she could pick on.

    With time at their disposal and more knowledge about where they needed to improve, both August and Valerie became unstoppable forces.

    The three of them¡­

    Two of them hade from Holy n equivalents, but they were all in thispetition asmoners.

    They were all discriminated against by those who thought that only nobles could be geniuses. They were all seen as fodder who would be eliminated in one go.

    Mnia''s determination wasn''t hers alone.

    No, all three of them felt the same thing, and as they fought each other more and more, theirpetitive spirit rose.

    Perhaps August was the only one among them who was actually vying for the position of Dragon Emperor¡­

    ¡­but none of them wanted to lose.

    Their true introduction to the scene was now.

    And none of them nned to disappoint.

 Chapter 1664 Half-Disciple [4]

    Chapter 1664 Half-Disciple [4]

    August spent his weeks in the ocean.

    He''d actually never seen it before with his own eyes, but he knew how instrumental it was in Qinglong''s rise.

    He didn''t truly realize his power until he found his way to the ocean and spent years studying within.

    Now that August had free ess to one, he was naturally going to explore.

    Azure Dragons could be born with or without wings. It didn''t really matter to them either way. After all, regardless of their wings, they thrived most in water.

    Once August got into the sea, a territory unregted by the kingdom of Arulion, he was able to use his dragon form freely and embrace his most prominent qualities.

    It was wonderful.

    There weren''t any oceanic dragon ns near the ind that Damien chose. August would need more than two weeks if he wanted to make contact with them.

    However, the ecosystem of the ocean, the power of the waves, the unique qualities that it possessed that rivers andkes couldn''t mimic¡­

    When he was exposed to these things, August had another chance to thrive.

    Two weeks. By the end of it, August was mad that it was all the time he had.

    He was given so many chances to be stronger, but with such a time crunch holding him back, he couldn''t take any of them.

    He had to focus on what was necessary.

    The techniques that he''d found ws in during the elimination round, the techniques he was inspired to create by the same event; August could only make minute changes before the heir wars began.

    And, he was still stuck at the cusp of 4th ss, unable to find his way to his Baptism.

    August had no say in the matter.

    He noted down everything he learned and everything he was saving forter.

    Once the first round ended, he coulde back and truly put his entire soul into his training.

    But, of course, the heir wars were equally as important as his training. August didn''t let himself get too down since he knew that thepetition was just as much of an opportunity as what waited for him in the sea.

    And, it wasn''t like he made no progress.

    August''s bar was high so he didn''t realize it, but the power he had now waspletely different from what he entered the elimination round with.

    He just needed some opponents to use it on for him to realize what he''d aplished upon discovering the ocean.

    Competitors had to be present in the arena early in the morning, though the event only began in the afternoon.

    Since they''d have to teleport to the arena immediately upon waking up and getting ready, August and Valerie decided to hold a small celebration the night prior. Naturally, Mnia had alsoe out of her private ind, where she''d been spending most of her time, for the asion.

    She couldn''t be in the arena directly to watch them, since she never bought a ticket, but she''d definitely be watching them on one of the many screens that would be broadcasting their struggle.

    August had plenty of money. The three of them were Shadow Lounge members as well, so they had ess to some of the best entertainment that the city had to offer.

    In fact, that privilege extended beyond the walls of Fort Halleya, but the three of them wouldn''t learn about that for a while.

    They ate well, enjoyed everything the city had to offer, and when night came, they slept while bearing all of the anticipation in their bodies.

    This was the moment.

    A lot had happened, so it felt like another passing memory in their would-be-long journeys.

    However, the heir wars were everything. This was the moment where they fought to dictate their own fates.

    If she failed here, Valerie would have to return to her n to practice in silence for who knows how long.

    If he failed here, August would lose everything he strived for. A path that should have taken decades at most to tread would turn into one that spanned for hundreds or even thousands of years.

    Anticipation and sleep didn''t go well together, but both of them eventually managed to rest.

    And when the rays of sunlight awakened them the next morning, they brought their emblems out with confidence.

    After one final goodbye to Mnia, the two of them walked through their exclusive portals and arrived at the arena grounds.

    Only a few hours separated them from that moment.

    They had to be spent wisely.

    ***

    August and Valerie were separated the instant they arrived at the other end of their portals.

    They were in their own exclusive rooms. They didn''t get many amenities, but it was more than enough to entertain them for a small amount of time.

    Along with some light snacks and drinks and appropriate furniture, there was a screen that showed them what was happening outside. The arena was already filling up with people, and many reporters were talking about the event.

    They''d procured information about all of the participants involved in the round and were presenting the facts to their audiences. Never did they believe that the geniuses themselves were watching their broadcasts to gain information about their opponents.

    Most of the nobles already knew each other. They were a tight-knit and rtively small society, after all. The prominent members of every n had met each other at least once or twice.

    In the heir wars overall, only twelve geniuses were from the Holy ns. Aside from the fifteenmoners, everyone else was from a noble n.

    There was only one genius from a Holy n participating in the first event, but that was already enough to make August, who just found out, wary.

    ''Eris Noct, they said¡­?''

    If she was from the n of Dark Dragons, then August had neither inherent disadvantages nor inherent advantages against her. In a battle of pure talent and power, would be fare well?

    ''I''ll just have to hope I don''t run into her. It would be better if they told us what the event actually is, but I guess even the reporters couldn''t figure that out.''

    The geniuses were all present at this point. There had to be a reason. August didn''t believe that it was anything good.

    He had be quite paranoid after learning about just how much corruption-riddled the kingdom. He doubted everything and somewhat believed that he would only see the worst in people.

    But, in this case, it was just an overreaction on his part.

    This was the first event of the heir wars, so naturally, there would be a ceremony preceding it.

    The geniuses here for the first round would represent all of their peers in this ceremony and thus needed to be present.

    They had to learn about what they needed to do, rehearse, and then go on stage with the announcers to carry out the actual ceremony.

    It was outside of August''s assumptions entirely. He was still new to this world, so he had never seen a highly televised event like this before.

    Though he had grown so much, he still did have a bit of naivety brought about by his age. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Nevertheless, with four hours of tiring press work ahead of him, August was about to learn about the side of an emperor that he had yet to see.

    The side of an emperor that stayed at a desk for days on end handling paperwork and administrative duties.

    And, as expected, his reaction really was a sight to see.

 Chapter 1665 Labyrinth [1]

    Chapter 1665 Labyrinth [1]

    From the genius perspective, the ceremony was simple. They needed to rehearse it only because the organizers had to make sure that nobody caused trouble when it was actually taking ce.

    After around an hour of sitting in their individual suites and watching the events taking ce on their screens, the geniuses were called out into arge hall and told what they needed to do.

    This was their first time seeing each other since arriving in this ce.

    For the noble n geniuses, it didn''t mean much. If anything, they were just d they had a chance toy their eyes on a true genius from a Holy n.

    Eris Noct was indeed present, but none of them had the chance to lick her boots or try to establish rtionships,

    The organizers made sure that the geniuses couldn''t do anything besides learn what their roles were and practice their movements.

    All they had to do was walk on stage and stand there as the ceremony took ce. The rehearsal was mainly for the organizers themselves, but the geniuses had to be prepared to stand still for an hour without doing anything.

    Frankly, the rehearsal was useful. Since they''d already heard everything that was going to be said, they could be ready for anything when the time came.

    And it came soon enough.

    With nothing more than a glimpse at each other''s faces and the thoughts they''d formted based on them, the geniuses were ushered to a side entrance of the arena to await their cue.

    It really was streamlined in a way that kept them bewildered enough to not do anything they weren''t told.

    As they stood there and assessed each other, well, it was more apt to say as they stood there and eyed August, Valerie, and the two othermoners currently present, they looked out into the arena where the ceremony had already started.

    At a time like this, it was best to go over how the heir wars actually worked.

    It was not exactly an elimination-based system. Instead, it relied on points.

    The top three geniuses in every round would be rewarded with ten, eight, and five points respectively. Those in the top ten would gain one point, while those who didn''t ce would get none.

    At the end of every round, the geniuses who didn''t have any points would be pitted against each other in a final standoff. Anyone who couldn''t score points in that match would be eliminated.

    This format would continue until there were only a few geniuses left. Those who found themselves in the topmost bracket wouldpete in single-eliminationpetitions that contained three challenges. Whichever genius won two would move on, while the other would have to leave thepetition.

    It was a rtively simple rule set, but that was exactly why the heir wars could take so long.

    If geniuses were on the same level, then they''dpete andpete until one of them finally lost. That could take days, months, or even years.

    Currently, in the arena, there were thirteen geniuses.

    The sixty-five young talents in the heir wars had been separated into five groups for the first round.

    August and Valerie were in the first group, while Mnia had ended up in the second.

    Perhaps she was the one that got lucky. Only the first group had to participate in tiring ceremonies, after all.

    There was really only one good thing about the entire process.

    The end of it.

    Not just because it was all over, but because of what the announcer said.

    "Now, you must all be wondering what the first challenge is!"

    It was time to reveal how they''d actually bepeting.

    Every group had a different challenge to make sure nobody had an advantage. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    For the first group¡­

    VOOM!

    Along with the announcer''s words, a mana barrier rose to protect the crowd from the happenings on the arena floor.

    Portals opened under the geniuses'' feet, dropping them out of the arena.

    Well, that was how it seemed, but they were actually still present. The announcer was actually the one who''d left.

    The arena began to change. Structures rose from the dirt and created a huge maze spanning its entire length.

    If it wasn''t obvious enough from the shape of the maze, the announcer told the crowd exactly what they were looking at.

    "Behold, the Eonian Labyrinth!"

    Multiple screens shed to life, disying every genius in front of the crowd.

    They weren''t visible to those directly looking at thebyrinth due to the height of its walls, but the screens helped them identify who was where and what they were doing.

    "The Eonian Labyrinth is filled with beasts of all kinds and powerful treasures! Today, your favorite geniuses willpete to see who can reach the center of thebyrinth and defeat its guardian beast first!"

    The announcer made wide motions as he spoke, bringing attention to himself as thebyrinth''s core functions activated one by one.

    "It is a winding and changingndscape filled with unexpected twists at every turn! It is an arena with both dangers and treasures waiting for our young talents to discover! In this challenge, there is only one rule! The geniuses must attack the challenge on their own! If any signs of cheating are detected, they will immediately be disqualified from the heir wars!"

    Nothing else.

    "No killing" was a rule that didn''t need to be defined because this was a public event. There was never an option to kill in the first ce.

    Aside from that, there would never be such a thing as rules in the heir wars.

    This was a battle of emperor candidates. Every move the geniuses made would be viewed and judged by the public. Every decision and path they chose would reflect their qualifications as an emperor.

    That was enough to limit their action to an eptable level.

    There was too much riding on thepetition for them to risk it all for momentary glory.

    Nevertheless, the concept was quite simple.

    The geniuses had to navigate the maze and defeat anything that got in their way. They were allowed to fight each other. They were allowed to steal and plunder. They were allowed to do anything as long as it helped them get to the center of thebyrinth in the shortest amount of time possible.

    Many of the nobles were already brainstorming on how to mess with their foes.

    A lot of eyes had already focused on August and Valerie, since they were geniuses that people had to pay attention to after the elimination round.

    And of those eyes, discounting the gazes of spectators, not a single pair was friendly.

    A healthy mixture of battle and wits. A challenge simr to certain training regimens that Damien had made him practice during his formative years.

    Unfortunately for those geniuses who couldn''t stop thinking about him, August couldn''t care less about them.

    Rather, he was even more excited for the challenge itself than he was before.

    ''Labyrinths? This is basically my specialty!''

    A healthy mixture of battle and wits. A challenge simr to certain training regimens that Damien had made him practice during his formative years.

    The fact that his enemies were nobles left his mind. The implications of him defeating them did the same. He forgot about Eris Noct, and he even forgot about Valerie.

    His mind absolutely focused on thebyrinth.

    "Everyone, are you ready?!"

    The announcer''s voice.

    Once again, like the elimination round, August only heard it when it was most important.

    "This is the official first round of the heir wars, the first showing of our realm''s greatest geniuses who are vying for the throne. They have prepared themselves on the grid, and I hope that all of you in the audience have done the same!"

    The announcer grinned.

    "Now, without further ado¡­"

    He paused for effect as he swept his arm towards the arena floor, making his voice even louder with mana.

    The thirteen geniuses who had but a minute to prepare themselves got into position.

    They waited for those words to fall, for the horns to re.

    And only a few secondster, the announcer granted their wishes.

    "...let the games begin!"

    He yelled it with all his heart.

    Horns red, filling the arena with sound.

    And thirteen geniuses shot forward, vying for their ce among the greats.

    With this, the heir wars had officially begun.

    All that was left was to see how it unfolded.

 Chapter 1666 Labyrinth [2]

    Chapter 1666 Labyrinth [2]

    ??Thebyrinth challenge began.

    All thirteen geniuses shot forward through their individual hallways, making a rush for the center of the arena.

    August didn''t do much thinking before he started. A challenge like this didn''t need more exnation than what the announcer said.

    As he dashed through the halls, his eyes darted from side to side, taking note of everything around him.

    ''There''s no point memorizing paths in a ce like this.''

    The announcer already told them that thebyrinth would be ever-changing. The paths he discovered would be ruined by the time he left the area, so it didn''t matter if there was anything he missed.

    What mattered more was patterns.

    A giant moving puzzle like this couldn''t operate autonomously while maintaining true randomness. Every wall and structure had been given a set of rules to follow which dictated their movement.

    Whenbined together, these many different patterns created an image of randomness, but in reality, it was all methodically nned.

    Finding out the nuances behind these patterns, if even just one or two, would be massively helpful as one got deeper into thebyrinth.

    When nothing seemed to make sense, these patterns could be lifesavers.

    ''Left¡­right¡­another left¡­let''s go straight now.''

    There wasn''t a method to August''s movements. He couldn''t do much in that regard, so he just moved instinctually until he hit a dead end.

    And that was what he eventually did, as would everyone who moved through the maze without direction.

    August faced a solid wall in a short corridor. He could go back and move in either direction, but first¡­

    RUMBLE!

    The walls shook slightly, causing a greatmotion as the sound bounced off of them and echoed.

    The ground was doing most of the rumbling.

    Something was approaching, and every single one of its footsteps spread tremors that were registered in August''s body.

    ''Well, I could run, but in a situation like this, it''s better to fight.''

    He was currently being watched by millions who were judging his qualifications. If he ran now, what kind of image would he create in their minds?

    He stood his ground as that being turned the corner. It wasrge, one-eyed, and barbaric. It wore only a rag around its waist, leaving its grotesque upper body visible for all to see.

    August had to look up at it. It was at least triple his size in both height and breadth.

    But¡­

    ''It''s not as strong as it looks.''

    August''s senses were hardly alerting him of the beast''s danger. That meant that it would only be able to do something to him if he dropped his guard and gave it arge opening.

    ''Since I have the opportunity, I''ll just put on a little show.''

    Power was important.

    Without power as a prerequisite, people wouldn''t even stop to consider his character and other traits.

    For a Dragon Emperor, a person who ruled over all dragons, strength was key.

    Dragons were, at their core, a society that worshiped strength.

    August nned to dominate, so he didn''t give the giant any time to attack. Hell, he barely gave it time to register his presence.

    He dashed forward, covering the few meters that separated them in a second.

    He jumped, spun, and pushed his foot forward. His sole mmed into the giant''s knee, and mana immediately burst forth.

    BOOM!

    August used ice often because its piercing power usually surpassed water, but after feeling the ocean currents, he changed his opinion.

    Water could also be a force capable of piercing and destroying.

    He just needed to move it fast enough and make it extreme enough to do what it needed to do.

    Aser-like jet of water sted through the giant''s knee, sending an explosion of blood into the floor behind him.

    ROOOOAAAAAR!

    The giant immediately roared in pain. It saw August, but he was too fast for it to do anything before the first attack.

    However, it was already swinging its giant club before its knee was injured.

    It smashed downward with all of its power. It wanted August to be destroyed in a single hit.

    But, again, he was just too fast.

    A being of that size wouldn''t be able to properly use its power against a smaller opponent until it gained sentience and strength.

    At its level, the giant wasn''t able to follow him in the slightest.

    August was already gone by the time its club reached his previous position. And, as a result of its extremely low intelligence, its attack actually mmed into its own leg instead, making the wound August created far, far worse.

    BOOM!

    ROOOOAAAAAAR!

    It happened again in the same order. The attack hit the same spot as well, and the giant dropped down to one knee.

    Its right leg waspletely useless after those two strikes.

    His left still worked, but he was forced tond on that knee, sincending on his right would only cause more pain.

    Its range had been limited to only the space in front of it, and that made it the easiest possible target it could be.

    August was already behind it.

    He held a de of water in his hand, a staple of his at this point.

    However, unlike the des he used in the past, this one was moving, swirling at a speed so fast that the water de looked more like one made of pure white light.

    He rushed forward.

    The giant heard his steps, but it couldn''t turn around.

    ROOOOAAAAAR!

    It used its voice to try to scare him and brought its club up to try and hit where it thought he would be.

    It crashed down, but its speed and power were nowhere near enough to be effective.

    Instead, it became a ledge that August could use to support his step.

    He jumped onto the club and ran up its length, jumping once more as he neared the giant''s head.

    One strike.

    That was all he needed.

    His water de shed out. It made a line in the air as it cut through the wind and continued cleanly through the giant''s neck without any resistance.

    Skin, muscle, bones; none of it could stand the pure heat and vibration of the water de August wielded.

    The giant''s head slid off of its body and thumped against the ground below.

    Its arm continued to swing weakly as its body carried out the final fewmands that the brain had given it before its connection was severed, but in the end, the body fell as well, crushing the head beneath its weight.

    Augustnded next to it, his de sheathed.

    He looked at the giant''s body for a second before turning to the halls around him.

    ''Now, which way do I go?''

    He looked left and right curiously, but before he could decide, he heard a strong rumbling behind him.

    It was far more significant than the giant''s entrance. It seemed toe more from the maze itself than the beings within it.

    August turned around with a raised brow, just in time for him to see the dead end behind him change.

    The wall that cut off the corridor was moving horizontally.

    It was rtively fast, but gave August more than enough time to register what was happening.

    There was another wall moving along with it that would soon close the dead end again, but between them, there was a small gap, just enough for a small person to fit through.

    And on the other side, August saw the corridor continue, branching off into the rest of thebyrinth.

    ''That''s the first.''

    A "pattern."

    If they were moving in a line like that, then there were several walls in a circr pattern that spanned the entirebyrinth that moved along with them.

    If the pattern was continued in other rings¡­

    August shook his head.

    He had remembered the pattern. That was all he needed to do.

    And since he''d found such a path, he didn''t need to ask himself which way he was going anymore.

    He rushed towards the dead end and contorted his body, just barely squeezing through the gap.

    It closed behind him in the next second, and he was left in a position simr to his start, with a wall behind him and a corridor in front.

    ''Nice.''

    August smiled.

    He continued forward without an ounce of hesitation.

    If he continued at a pace like this, he''d finish before anyone else had a chance.

    That was the goal he was aiming for.

 Chapter 1667 Labyrinth [3]

    Chapter 1667 Labyrinth [3]

    August''s journey was definitely being followed, butpared to others, he wasn''t as focused on.

    People wanted to see the nobles, and more than them, Eris Noct.

    These were dragons just like them, but people they could never meet in their entire lives.

    The noble ns were shrouded in an air of mystery. Despite sometimes interacting with themon poption, unlike the Holy ns, many still didn''t understand what exactly they did.

    Why did they have a status higher than them?

    Why were they meant to be revered?

    To see for themselves, most of the audience focused on those geniuses with more status.

    August, Valerie, and the othermon geniuses were a bit forgotten, but it wouldn''t be for long.

    The maze wasrge, but the thirteen geniuses had been positioned in such a way that they would inevitably run into each other.

    As August rushed through the maze faster and faster. He took down many beasts that inhibited his path and memorized patterns in the walls, making himself more knowledgeable about the maze''s structure.

    He was really just focusing on the environment itself. The beasts were merely obstructions that needed to be removed.

    August thought himself rtively separated from everyone else. From what he could assume based on the information at hand, the maze was huge enough for them to never meet each other even if they intentionally tried to cross paths.

    But, in the end, he also found himself crossing paths with another.

    It was a boy roughly the same physical age as him. He strongly radiated the aura of a 4th ss, but not one who had been at that level for a very long time.

    They met in a long corridor with no exits to either side. They could either turn their backs on each other or fight.

    And of those choices, only one was obviously correct.

    August took a step back. His opponent took a step forward.

    ''Terion nche.''

    A member of the nche n, a subsidiary of the Ether n. Though they also used space, it was to a far lesser degree.

    The subsidiaries of the Holy ns usually focused on the individual concepts within the main element of the n they followed, but it was different for space dragons, since it was a much more esoteric concept.

    Unfortunately, August didn''t know the exact details, but he wasn''t too worried.

    It was good that he was able to learn about his opponents before the round began. Through the exnations those reporters gave, he was able to get a feel for his enemy''s power.

    This one was a bit tricky since he could teleport, but when it came to space users¡­

    Whether they were human, dragon, or god, they couldn''t match up to Damien.

    The man who raised him showed him what space could truly do.

    Compared to him, what were any of these geniuses worth?

    Terion knew who August was. He knew that August used water, and he knew that he was nothing more than amoner with no backing.

    He, Valerie, Lucas, and Ophelia were all investigated by many of the noble ns once they arose. Lucas and Ophelia could be tracked, but August and Valerie didn''t have any previous records in the world.

    That meant that they were from such backwater ces that they hadn''t been registered in any way.

    Terion wasn''t one of those who saw themon geniuses as fodder to be destroyed. He didn''t see them aspetition, sure, but he didn''t look down on August specifically.

    It was more that he was confident in his power, especially against someone who had nowhere near his level of guidance or resources.

    Terion teleported.

    His body shed away and appeared right in front of August. He meant to end it all in a single attack. With his element of surprise, most enemies couldn''t do much against him before they were struck at least once or twice.

    And with enemies on August''s level, once or twice was enough.

    It was enough, right?

    Perhaps it would have been, but August was a unique case.

    He knew exactly how spatial practitioners functioned.

    Especially how they telegraphed their attacks.

    The ripples in space were clear to see for anyone who knew how to recognize them.

    August saw Terioning from a mile away, and he was already attacking by the time the other genius left the spatialyers.

    BOOM!

    A solid punchnded square in the center of his face, throwing him back.

    August followed, raising his leg in the air and dropping it down with immense force.

    "Tch!"

    Terion clicked his tongue and wiped the blood leaking from his nose.

    sh!

    He vanished again before August''s strike could touch him.

    The air behind August rippled. Before he could turn around, Terion appeared in the air and spun, kicking towards August''s head.

    Bang!

    August stumbled forward as he coped with the blunt impact.

    A wall of water shielded his back to make sure another attack wouldn''t make contact while he was stunned.

    Terion tried to attack it only once before giving up.

    The water curled around his fist and tried to consume him. It gave off a dangerous feeling, which provoked him to find other angles of attack instead of pushing on.

    ''He''s better than expected.''

    His life was more or less public. Everyone knew what Terion could do.

    He attacked first not because he was reckless, but because it was pointless for him to try to hide his power.

    August, on the other hand, was still an unknown variable.

    He was definitely weaker than the rest. It wasn''t just because of his status.

    In the current arena, August was one of the only 3rd ss individuals.

    The heir wars were open to anyone under the age of one hundred. That meant that a ten-year-old like August waspeting on the same field as people nearing a century in age who''d been training for their entire lives.

    Those people were well on their way through 4th ss. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Nevertheless, Terion wasn''t one of them, and what he saw from August was definitely not a strength that could be ignored.

    The two of them made distance from each other, eyeing the space between them warily.

    Terion had learned that August could read him. He was also a stronger person than originally expected.

    As for August¡­

    ''Does he only teleport?''

    It didn''t seem like Terion knew how to be diverse with his strength.

    Perhaps it was the consequence of being a subsidiary space dragon n, since space was an element that didn''t quite work unless it was in its mostplete form.

    Terion had probably found ways to cope with his weaknesses. If he hadn''t, then he would''ve never been a part of thispetition in the first ce.

    Unfortunately for him, August didn''t care about any of that.

    If he was just going to teleport and pepper him with physical attacks, then August wasn''t worried in the slightest.

    ''I''ll end this quickly.''

    The most important thing to remember was that thebyrinth challenge, at its core, was a race.

    Battles could be stages for geniuses to shine, but they were also setbacks that prevented them from reaching the finish line in the fastest amount of time possible.

    August wanted to win thispetition. For that purpose, he needed to score as many points as possible.

    So, while it was probably going to hurt his opponent''s ego, August was going to finish this battle swiftly and efficiently.

    He needed less than ten moves to do it.

 Chapter 1668 Labyrinth [4]

    Chapter 1668 Labyrinth [4]

    The first step was simple. August created a "domain."

    Domains were a power that not manyactuallyused, since controlling the space could be done without them once people got to a certain level of power.

    For3rd ss, however, it was very helpful. Their senses were heightened, their maneuverability was heightened, and most importantly, their enemies would be trapped in a limited range.

    Athird sspractitioner didn''t have nearly the range of those above them. More specifically whenpertaining tothis battle, a spatial practitioner was in their element when they had space.

    August made sure that Terion could only move within the space he provided. That meant that even if his movements weren''t telegraphed anymore, August could read where he was going.

    The creation of the domain was the start of their true battle.

    Terion mmed his fist into the barrier, causing huge ripples in the water. Its stability was shaken, but that was all. He wouldn''t be able to break it without giving August several opportunities to take him down.

    Since that was the case, then a direct battle was the only remaining option. August was correct about one thing. Terion could only use the spatial power of transportation. He could move himself through the spatialyers wlessly, but he could not do the things that Damien or the Ether n could.

    Just like many others, he had to find a way to seed with just the power of his n.

    He was lucky that he had the talent and financial backing to support himself. With his n''s technique and his ancestral memories guiding the way, he was able to be someone worthy of the heir wars.

    Bang!

    His fist shot forwarddespite the fact thathe was several meters away from August. August reacted curiously at first, but he rapidly moved to the side when a sudden sense of danger appeared to his side.

    Space rippled, and a fist shot out, attacking August''s previous position.

    The wind pressure mmed against August''s domain, causing it to ripple fiercely as if to show just how powerful the strike was.

    Mana was already an amazing power with destructive capabilities. When it wasbined with the ability to mobilize it anywhere, it could be more deadly than any element.

    August understood more about Terion''s power and made his second move.

    He stepped forward, turning the entire ground into a muddy swamp.

    He stepped forward again before abruptly jumping, narrowly avoiding another punch.

    Terion appeared behind him while he was still in the air. August had the time to turn around, but not nearly the space to dodge.

    Bang!

    He raised his arms and blocked as best as he could, tanking the impact as he shot back and hit the water walls he''d created.

    Still, he didn''t wince.

    ''That was the third.''

    Terion had yet to recognize it, but August had used that moment of contact to his advantage. There were already trickles of water coursing over his body, ready to activate whenever August gave them the signal.

    This battle was still in its infancy in Terion''s mind. It wasn''t going to end any time soon, even though he knew he was more powerful than his opponent.

    But, to August¡­

    Terion teleported again. This time, he didn''t use enough force to throw August away.

    His fists shot out one after another, barraging his enemy with attacks.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    August dodged where he could, but they were too close for him to stay on the defensive.

    He responded, blocking and fluidly diverting every attack like water.

    His eyes stayed focused on the target. Terion''s every move was registered in his vision, and when August was confident enough in reading his patterns¡­

    ''Four.''

    The fourth move was the start of a chain that would lead to the enemy''s untimely end.

    August stomped on the ground and disturbed the muddy floor. Terion''s feet immediately sunk in, trapping him in the ground and throwing him off bnce.

    August threw his fist forward, mming it into Terion''s face.

    Bang!

    He was still thrownbackwards, but with his feet stuck, only his upper body moved.

    Terion''s bnce was thrown even further off. He needed a second to bring himself back to normal, but August wouldn''t provide him with that time.

    August switched positions. His palm struck downontoTerion''s chest, crushing him into the ground.

    His feet were naturally freed by this move, but not in a good way. The rapid distribution of force broke his ankles, making it impossible for him to stand back up in a shortperiod of time. The seventh move was the activation of the third.

    "ARGH!"

    Terion groaned in pain as a sudden sharpness pierced his body in multiple ces.

    The water August had left before was a mine. It could''ve been used to restrain him if other methods didn''t work, but it looked like Terion''s teleportation still needed work.

    It couldn''t be activated when he couldn''t focus, which left him stuck in his current predicament.

    If August was aiming for the kill, then this would''ve been the end of it. That water would have infiltrated Terion''s bloodstream and destroyed him.

    However, August was aiming for a knockout, which was marginally more difficult.

    The water turned into knives that made sure that he would stay in a state of pain so he couldn''t teleport.

    What came next was simple, barbaric, yet effective.

    Bang!

    A punch straight to the face.

    Bang!

    Another one.

    Terion''s brain struck his skull over and over again. He was already concussed, but he was still barely conscious.

    His head swiveled from side to side as he struggled to hold it up. He looked at August with blurry eyes, barely registering the situation.

    ''This¡­''

    He blinked slowly as he saw August raising his fist again.

    ''...istotallyunfair.''

    Bang!

    His vision went ck. The next time he saw light, he''d already be outside of the arena.

    Terion wasn''t wrong. It waspletely unfair. That wasn''t a fight that August was supposed to win so fast, but his mind made everything different. Terion wasn''t given the chance to disy his strengths. Most of the time, the wariness people developed after seeing him dominate clouded their minds and threw them off of his weaknesses.

    August didn''t know anything or want to see anything. Without anything inhibiting him and with the prior knowledge of spatial users, August only saw the ws.

    He exploited them well to end a genius above his level as if he were just an ordinary mortal.

    And he was already on his way to conquer the rest of thebyrinth.

    "Did you see that, everybody?!"

    The announcer''s voice boomed through the arena. The geniuses couldn''t hear him, but the crowd did.

    Many of them had indeed seen what he saw.

    Terion was a genius many people had their eyes on. The Ether n was one of the most mysterious Holy ns, so people wanted to get a glimpse of them through the ns that followed them.

    Unlike August, the crowd had seen Terion''s journey to reach that point of the maze.

    They were already in awe of his power.

    The way he could move unpredictably and exert so much power made every beast and genius before August into fodder that could only serve as stepping stones for him.

    However, that great genius whom they had all started to revere¡­

    He was defeated so easily by amoner?!

    All of the eyes that had been watching Terion moved to August, along with many others who werepletely unaware of his presence until now.

    He had a real audience following his moves.

    And with his current performance as a precedent, not a single one of them had to worry that he wouldn''t entertain them. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 1669 Labyrinth [5]

    Chapter 1669 Labyrinth [5]

    ??As August learned only a few minutes after his fight with Terion, traps were also a very important element of thebyrinth.

    he had been fortunate enough to avoid most of them, but others weren''t as lucky.

    Most of the geniuses had been struggling more against thebyrinth itself than they did with beasts or otherpetitors.

    They all seemed simple, the most primitive traps that couldpossiblybe ced in a structure like this.

    Walls that closed shut with people in between them, floors that gave way to spike pits or pits filled with vicious beasts, minefields that would reveal harrowing consequences to those who didn''t tread carefully; looking at these traps, one might be confused as to how they couldactuallyharm these draconic geniuses.

    Well, they''d been prepared for that exact purpose, so it wasn''t much of a question.

    The walls weighed hundreds of thousands of pounds. Mere geniuses weren''t enough to move them. Leaving the maze was something disallowed if for longer than a few seconds, so that also wasn''t an option.

    It wasn''t stated in the rules only because it was a very clear vition that didn''t need to be stated.

    That trap was unavoidable. There was always a way toescape,since it was a challenge and not a real death trap, but if the challenger didn''t find it quickly enough, their fate would be sealed.

    The other traps were simrly scaled so that they''d do their jobs.

    The spike pits had gravity magic imbued that would forcefully m geniuses into the serrated tips of those spears. The minefields, the pitfalls, the hidden machinery, and everything else were perfectly enabled to kill these geniuses if they so desired.

    But, again, the goal was not to kill.

    Anyone close to death would be extracted before it couldactuallyhappen, so the audience could watch the festivities without worrying about real consequences.

    August himself ran into a runaway wall. He got trapped in a dead end while he was waiting for the wall to move so he could slip through.

    The walls had other ns for him. As if thebyrinth got tired of him exploiting its functions, it shifted and tried to crush him into a paste.

    Perhaps it would have worked on another genius, but August knew how to exploit rules.

    He climbed the walls and jumped out of the maze.

    He wasn''t allowed to spend more than five seconds above the walls. This was to prevent people from just walking across them and reaching the center without any effort.

    However, it was never stated that they needed tond in the same position as they started, as long as they didn''t touch any of the walls.

    August vaulted over the moving wall that he had been originally waiting for because he was confident that there would be a corridor on the other side.

    In most cases, they would be impossible, but this one was special.

    No, rather, this specific trap was designed so that it could be exploited in such a way.

    August became mindful of traps from that moment forth. He was able to detect and avoid them rtively easily after he got used to it, but he did get to experience every kind at least once.

    It wasn''t all bad, though.

    The trapsactuallyturned out to be quite convenient when others didn''t know that they existed.

    He was able to trick three or four beasts into killing themselves, and though he didn''t meet any geniuses to test it on, he surely wanted to.

    The universe was indeed nning to answer his wishes. August would have no small number of encounters in thisbyrinth.

    However, as he moved towards the next one, the crowd focused on those in more exciting predicaments.

    For instance, Eris Noct.

    Her screen was perhaps the most boring of them all. There was no excitement whatsoever, no challenge that could ever halt her progress.

    Still, it was precisely thisck of challenge that made it impossible for the crowd to take their eyes away.

    Eris Noct. She was twenty-seven years old this year, but she had already progressed a long way through 4th ss.

    She hadn''t reached the nine revolutions yet, but she woulddefinitelybe well within them by the time she was fifty.

    Thisbyrinthscaledto match those who fought in it.

    August''s enemies matched his strength, which was why he could take them down so fast.

    And Eris was able to do theexactsame thing, just at a much higher level.

    Seeing creatures that were stronger than anyone they''d ever met before, creatures that could destroy their livelihoods with a flick of a finger, be destroyed as if they were made of paper was more than they could ever hope for.

    It was mesmerizing.

    There were two geniuses who wereunfortunate enough to run into her.

    What happened to them didn''t need to be eximed.

    Along with Terion nche, the two of them had be guaranteed failures, people who would not score a single point in this round of the challenge.

    Everyone else had been guaranteed a point now that three had been eliminated. Even if they were defeated, they''d still be able to gain at least one point.

    Still, they were fighting for the top three ces.

    August had gotten used to being around people who were participating in the heir wars for the experience.

    Onthis stage, however, everyone was aiming for the throne.

    Whether they deserved it or not, whether it was theirpersonaldesire or something pushed by their families, all of them wanted to see themselves above all dragons.

    They wouldn''t concede, even if the opponent was a Holy n genius.

    Many others had been defeated by their peers, but none of them had been knocked unconscious.

    They stood up as soon as possible, ignored or healed their injuries, and continued their rush to the center of the maze.

    It was a simple thing.

    Left, right, or straight. Every choice individually was easy to make and mostly brainless.

    However, when out together, they became an unsolvable riddle.

    Everyone was aiming for the center. That part was true.

    But, really,only five of them were headed in the right direction.

    Another three were moving sideways, staying practically in the same ce, and thest two were moving towards the edges of thebyrinth.

    They were already counted out of thepetition.

    Valerie was one of those who was moving in the right direction.

    She''d had a calmer experience than most others thus far. Beasts and traps assaulted her the same as they did others, but she didn''t run into anything that could seriously stop her.

    At the moment, she wasactuallyfurther into the maze than August was.

    But, she was about to face a challenge that might halt her progress entirely.

    She wasing up on a genius who was regarded on the level just below Eris Noct. That person was the second most dangerous genius in thebyrinth right now.

    Valerie was strong. Unlike August, she had reached 4th ss already.

    But¡­Valerie came from a n that had been cast out of Arulion.

    When faced with a genius from a real noble n, how would she react?

 Chapter 1670 Labyrinth [6]

    Chapter 1670 Labyrinth [6]

    ??Valerie knew about the Revell n''s history. She was one of its sessor candidates, so she had to.

    It was something she''d thought a lot about. It was something she hid from other people under her careless exterior.

    But, as Damien had found when he tested her, Valerie''s thoughts were a lot deeper than she made them seem.

    And, she was far more loyal to her family than anyone knew.

    Valerie ced her n above all else. Deep down within her heart, she held the desire to bring her people back into Arulion.

    To rule wasn''t something wood dragons could do. It was an impossible wish precisely because they didn''t want the throne.

    However, when she met August, everything changed.

    He was a being with an emperor''s destiny, and he was supported by a supreme being that even Holy Dragons had to fear.

    If he could make it to the top, then her wish would be granted easily.

    If she helped him reach that point, then her n would be raised beyond their previous standing, and she could even grant her grandfather''s wish of fixing the dying kingdom.

    August was a good person. She felt like his influence would be a great help to her, and she genuinely did see him as a friend.

    With their newly formed rtionship, her reignited desires found a way to shine.

    Valerie wasn''t just participating in these things because she was curious anymore.

    She had a genuine urge to win, to beat these geniuses at their own game.

    After all, they were descended from the same people who drove her n out.

    When they found out her affiliation, wouldn''t they all cough blood and die in shame?

    Well, that was what she hoped, and her progress through the maze emboldened her.

    She rushed at an even faster pace, and that was exactly what led to the fateful meeting oftwoforces.

    The person on the other side was also a woman. She had features simr to Ophelia, likely because they shared the same element.

    The woman''s name was Remelia Haze.

    The Haze n wasn''t one of the most prominent under the Ignis n''s banner, but Remelia had been raising their status for the past few years with her existence alone.

    She was just barely below the Holy n geniuses. If she had ess to the same amount of resources, she''d be on their level or beyond them.

    The Ignis n had been trying to scout her for many years now, but she refused to leave her family, even at her parents'' and siblings'' insistence.

    The Ignis n didn''t find fault in her. Instead, they tried to make the terms of their agreement even more appealing to change her mind.

    The Haze n had be one on the same level as the Scorch n, a direct subordinate with a decent amount of contact with the main n.

    She was just on the edge of joining them, but for now, she was still representing the Haze n.

    ''It''s just my luck to run into her.''

    Valerie''s eyes narrowed.

    Her opponent had already turned to face her. It was obvious that Remelia wasn''t just going to ignore her and continue on her way.

    ''Wood against fire¡­?''

    She was at an inherent disadvantage already.

    ''But, this kind of battle is exactly what I''ve been training for.''

    Though Valerie didn''t keep her memories of the trial Damien put her through, he allowed her to keep herinspirations.

    They would slowly trickle into her mind as they were needed, and the realization that she needed to eliminate all of her most obvious weaknesses was the first to do so.

    Fire was a clear nemesis of hers, and it was also one of the mostmon species of dragon.

    Did she want to always be at their mercy even when she knew she was stronger than them?

    Absolutelynot.

    Remelia was a threat, a challenge that she might not have been able to handle.

    But, she was also a perfect tool to see if the training Valerie had done over the past two weeks was worth anything.

    She stepped forward, unfaltering in the ambient heat created by her opponent''s mere presence.

    She raised her hand first.

    No words were exchanged, but the spirit of battle was already high enough for them to understand each other''s intent.

    BOOM!

    The best way to deal with a fire user was to corner them before they could take control of the environment.

    Roots burst out of the ground and the walls around Remilia, mming into her and throwing her back.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Like spikes of pure earth and metal, the roots erupted from the ground as Remelia flew by, attempting to skewer her and end her before she could do anything.

    However, Remelia was ready from the moment they locked eyes.

    VOOM!

    The Haze n, like the Scorch n, had theirownspecialization within the element of fire.

    It was "heat."

    The air under Remelia''s back was superheated to a monstrous degree.

    Any roots that approached were vaporized into ashes that floated into the air.

    She still hadn''t corrected her posture, but Remelia''s eyes were still on Valerie. She raised her arm and flexed her hand, mobilizing her mana.

    Nothing seemed to happen. That was because Remelia''s power didn''t have color or real form.

    Valerie only realized that something was approaching when the air in front of her started to wobble.

    Her eyes widened.

    WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!

    In the simplest sense, it was just a wave of hot air that sted through thebyrinth corridor.

    But it was far more than that.

    Valerie didn''t even waste time on blocking.

    She put up a barrier for the sake of appearance and leapt into a nearby corridor, blocking off the entrance instead.

    She heard the zing wind passing by.

    She felt as the vines and roots that shielded this corridor were burned.

    But the real marker that told her just how powerful the attack was¡­

    That was the moment it struck, the moment it instantly incinerated the barrier she left in the corridor.

    ''I would''ve been done.''

    In one hit, she would''ve gone down.

    This was apletely different fire element than the one she''d trained to face.

    It wasactuallyfar worse. Valerie had trained for the Ignis n so she was confident that she could beat them.

    The Haze n was an anomaly, and their power was practically made to destroy wood dragons.

    ''It''s fine.''

    Looking at the bright side, this level of challenge would be great for training.

    The situation had to be approached with a calm mind.

    As long as she tried her best and did everything she could, it didn''t matter if she won or lost.

    This was just round one. She would have chances to make back what she lost inter rounds.

    So, what mattered now was exploiting this opportunity for everything it could give her.

    If she won, it was great. If she lost, it was still good.

    As the barrier burned away and heat started to infiltrate the corridor she was hiding in, Valerie grinned.

    This was just apetition, so she could view it with that kind of mindset.

    With the same confidence she''d entered the battle with, she covered herself in mana and returned to the corridor where Remelia was.

    Wood versus fire.

    The oue seemed obvious, but¡­with the way Valerie was acting, would itreallybe so?

    She had an apudable mentality, but she was outssed like Terion was against August.

    Fate itself was her enemy in a setting like this.

    Whether she could ovee it or not¡­

    Well, that was to be seen.

 Chapter 1671 Labyrinth [7]

    Chapter 1671 Labyrinth [7]

    ??Remelia didn''t end it with one attack.

    In the time Valerie spent dodging, she''d already corrected her posture and started walking down the corridor to track her.

    She pushed her hands to the side, creating heat barriers that blocked off the nearby corridors. She wouldn''t let Valerie escape a second time.

    Luckily for her, escape wasn''t in the n anymore.

    When Valerie returned to the corridor, she was ready for war.

    BOOM!

    Valerie had abilities very simr to Elvira. Wood was most definitely an element that could take one to the top of the world, however, it couldn''t do so on its own.

    The element had just as many drawbacks as it did advantages. Unless one could expand it beyond just wood and vines, one wouldn''t be able to achieve anything at all.

    It was a problem that a lot of the base elements shared. To raise their power beyond the worldly limits imposed on them was vital.

    Fire practitioners would attempt toprehend the concept of rebirth that was associated with fire. They''d try to touch on higherws like life or death to enhance the element they had an affinity for.

    Valerie had yet to expand her element properly, but she''d just recently understood how important it was for her to find other methods to release her power.

    With her focus on vitality, Valerie tried to connect to life to create branches and roots that could manipte the life within other things and be indestructible through the sheer force of their vitality.

    It was still a theory, so she didn''t have ns to test it in this round of thepetition.

    However, since Remelia had be a training dummy in her mind, she brought it out anyway.

    A new type of root burst forth from the ground below. In essence, it did look the same as the ones she''d summoned before. But, it was coated in a bright green aura that matched Remelia''s ambient heat in environmental control.

    The moss on thebyrinth walls grew intorger, more dangerous nts. The ground was instantly covered in grass tinged in mes as it came in contact with Remelia''s aura.

    Valerie struck before the enemy could once again.

    She had only summoned a single root, but that meant that her precision control was at another level.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Remelia kept the same nonchnt attitude that she''d maintained thus far, flicking her fingers to throw an even more superheated wave of wind into Valerie.

    She survivedst time because she dodged. This time, she wouldn''t have that opportunity.

    It was respectable that she tried at all, but that was it. At the end of the day, Valerie was not her opponent.

    Or so she thought.

    BANG!

    Her heatwave mmed into the singr root that separated it from Valerie.

    Instead of moving, Valerie pushed more mana into the construct, absolutely trusting its ability.

    And that trust was not misced.

    With mana at its disposal and Valerie''s control directing it, the root became more than just a thick piece of wood.

    It absorbed the heat from the air, turning a bright red color like metal. The wood on its surface burned and turned ck, but the internal structure refused to bepromised.

    WHOOOOOOOSH!

    The wind roared as it moved around the root and continued towards Valerie.

    The root continued its activities, taking more and more heat into its structure. It created billowing smoke that clouded the entire corridor, but somehow, it managed to stay unbroken.

    So, by the time the heatwave reached Valerie, it was nothing more than a brush of cool air, quite a pleasant experience if she had to say.

    Remelia''s eyes narrowed.

    There was a three-step process she always followed.

    The first step was the heatwave. Once the other two had been done as well, most enemies would already be gone.

    Remelia was never a person who enjoyedbattle. She just did it because it was necessary, so she used the simplest and quickest means possible to destroy her enemies.

    However, when the three-step process was carried out and the opponent still stood, she became a different person.

    Because a person who didn''t falltothe three-step process had the potential to be better than her.

    People who were better than her weren''t allowed to exist.

    Remelia stomped her foot on the ground.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    The ground turned into a line of geysers that spewed superheated mes into the air.

    They rushed towards Valerie, turning the path in front of her into a molten mess.

    Valerie moved her arms as if she was pulling something apart.

    The root she controlled widened, bing more like the trunk of a thousand-year-old tree.

    She decided to stomp as well, matching Remelia''s techniques with her own.

    The root charged forward.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    It came in contact with the first geyser. mes exploded out like liquid, sshing against the ground.

    Unlike Remelia, who created the geysers artificially, Valerie''s root was connected to the ground.

    In terms of superiority, it was definitely above them.

    When they collided, the root was given precedence by the earth. It was allowed to push forward and destroy the geyser, while the geyser had no choice but to break under its pressure.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    00:18

    BOOM!

    One by one, the root destroyed the geysers before they could do a single thing to Valerie. It approached Remelia, who already had her hand out for another attack.

    Unfortunately for her, Valerie wasn''t nning to let her dominance continue.

    The root she''d created was amazing for defense as seen by its ability to trap heat without bursting into mes and ash.

    However, how was she supposed to attack?

    The basic method of just using it as a blunt weapon seemed to be the most obvious choice, but that was far too limiting.

    How did a wood dragon use its element?

    The barbaric methods were reserved for young dragons who couldn''t understand the moreplex ones.

    Real wood dragons had techniques that could turn wood into a far greater force.

    "Rot."

    VOOOOOOOM!

    The charred surface of the root peeled off. A rush of wind picked up the ashes and sted them towards Remelia.

    It didn''t look like it was powerful, but there was a force contained within that wind that was transferred to every bit of dust and ash that it carried.

    Remelia''s eyes widened slightly.

    There was indeed a way to avoid the three-step process.

    That was if the enemy was able to make her feel danger even once.

    The only people who had ever struck fear in her heart were people she could never touch no matter how much she grew.

    The only people who made her feel danger were those with greater talent, not power.

    It was a feeling deep within her lineage, and though it seemed like it would be easy to meet this requirement, it took a lot to make Remelia specifically feel danger.

    But, as the rushing wind came closer, that feeling rose to prominence.

    Danger.

    Valeriehad the capability tomake her feel it too.

    And if that was the case, then there was no need for a process anymore.

    She just needed to aim for the kill.

    No matter what it took to get it.

 Chapter 1672 Labyrinth [8]

    Chapter 1672 Labyrinth [8]

    ??Since her techniques didn''t have as much form as most people, Remelia was looked down upon for a very long time.

    She could have just reached apoint in powerwhere her reputation would be undeniable. She eventually diddothat. However, before she became widely regarded as a genius, she had to find a way to make people recognize her.

    Remelia had two sides.

    The first was the cold-blooded killer who used invisible heat to decimate the enemy.

    The other was a lunatic. A killer who operated on insanity.

    She delegated the first side to those who were weaker than her.

    For those people, she didn''t need to use extravagant techniques with wide-ranging implications. She could just use the invisible haze to ughter them.

    It was the same for when she needed stealth.

    However, against opponents who could prolong a battle and find methods to defeat her, she acted in such a way that they couldn''t do a single thing in response.

    Valerie had just made her switch. Her expression remained equally indifferent, but Remelia''s power changed entirely.

    Her aura turned a bright orange-red color. The ambient heat that she emanated took color as well, bing hotter and hotter.

    WHOOOOSH!

    The rot mmed into her and brushed past. She could feel the ashes of the tree bark sticking to her skin, corroding her flesh and blood.

    VOOM!

    Her skin glowed like metal as it became anotheryer of defense. Remelia''s entire body was covered in veins of me. Her skin was hot enough to melt anything that touched it, including ash and rot.

    In normal cases, "rot" was able to connect to death and steal vitality from its targets.

    The heat protected Remelia''s vitality, giving her the chance to take hold of the battle''s momentum.

    BOOM!

    She steppedintothe ground and mmed forward.

    She jumped into the air, leaping over Valerie''s root and locking eyes with her.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Her hands shot out and moved through the air.

    mes covered the entire corridor, enveloping both her and Valerie.

    VOOOOOOM!

    Huge waves of fire burned through Valerie''s defenses, forcing her to concentrate mana back into her body.

    Remelia shot forward, swimming through the ze like it was water and reaching Valerie in an instant.

    She spun her body and kicked towards Valerie''s head. Valerie raised her arm to block immediately, preventing it from making contact with her more vital parts.

    BANG!

    The impact rocked through her bones. Valerie gritted her teeth, ring at the genius above her.

    She put strength into her arm and pushed her away, taking a few steps back.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Valerie resummoned her root, this time splitting it into multiple smaller parts. The wooden vines whipped towards Remelia and forced her away.

    Valerie looked at her arm, hissing slightly.

    The burn was terrible. With just a few seconds of contact, her arm had been turned into a charred mess.

    She put more mana into her arm to replenish her vitality.

    The roots were burning as well. Remelia had been held back for a second or two, but that was all.

    She would charge again at any second.

    And more importantly¡­

    ''These mes have to go.''

    They were insideofan inferno right now. Valerie''s power was being suppressed to an extreme. She could hold her own, sure, but she couldn''t win if the current circumstances were maintained.

    Her eyes darted from side to side for but a second to assess her options.

    By the time she was looking forward again, Remelia was already back.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Herlowkeyfighting style was gone. She wasattackingwith fists and feet, but her every move emitted zing mes that were superheated to an almost sma-like state.

    The burns not only limited what her wood could do, it forced her to focus on replenishing her own vitality so she didn''t incinerate.

    Remelia clearly had the advantage. She was barraging Valerie and leaving no space for the other girl to do anything.

    Valerie was able to block and stay alive because of how she concentrated her mana, but returning fire was out of the question for now.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Left, right, and straight up the middle.

    Valerie blocked them one by one while simultaneously healing herself.

    The only things she could use were the vines and moss on the walls.

    Still, it was something, so she was absolutely going to use it.

    BOOM!

    She blocked another strike and acted immediately.

    She spread her fingers and exerted as much mana as she could in such a small amount of time, summoning everything that would respond to her call.

    The vines hardened and gained some spirit. The moss seemed to gain sentience as it braved the mes to be Valerie''s sword.

    The air hissed as most of it was incinerated before it arrived, but the small pieces that made it were enough.

    They turned into knives and pierced Remelia''s arm before she could strike again.

    Valerie''s eyes widened as she strengthened her control, sharpening and condensing the moss and vines into des that could prate Remelia''s armor.

    They seeded in drawing blood.

    They also gave Valerie a single second of respite as Remelia was distracted, allowing her to withdraw from the confrontation.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    She didn''t waste time. The instant she got free, she moved to take control of the environment.

    A forest within mes. To create one was easy, but to make it withstand the mes was a different story.

    Valerie needed to channel everything she knew into it.

    The potential for wood to create and control life, the realizations she had made during the battle thus far¡­

    ''I can do it.''

    With her current mana level, it was absolutely possible. She was a 4th ss, after all. She just didn''t know exactly how to use her power the right way.

    Valerie had been taught the Revell n''s techniques since she was young. But, because of her nature, she had never been able to realize what they truly meant.

    She never made the connections she needed to. In a certain sense, she''d ascended to 4th ss through luck alone.

    Alcharist partially med himself for being too indulgent and not trying harder to make her grow. That was why he let her go out into the world.

    Only here would she be able to truly experience life and train to the best of herpotential.Only here would she learn that there was more to life than what she originally expected.

    He was correct.

    The instant Valerie found herself in a challenging situation, she blossomed and adapted.

    A forest within the mes, a forest that could destroy them entirely¡­

    She could create it as long as she tried.

    Mana raged with such force that Remelia was pushed away. She tried to approach closer, but the sheer power kept her at bay.

    The ground was once again covered in the color green.

    However, this time, whenever the grass spread, the mes that once held their position were dispersed.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    Trees grew in an instant, and a massive ecosystem of nts and grasses spawned in the corridor,pletely overrunning it.

    Despite many battles taking ce at the same time in thebyrinth, many peoplehadswitched their focus to Valerie and Remelia.

    A corridor that was half forest and half inferno, a ce where geniuses were using their true power to confront each other¡­

    It was extremely riveting for the audience.

    But, as the number of geniuses still participating got smaller, a new mechanic was added.

    When they saw it, would they still want to continue their battle to the death?

    Or perhaps¡­would they make an alliance against the other participants?

    Whatever the case was, the audience was hooked. The announcer kept their blood boiling for every single second of thepetition, and despite so many different events still raging on excitingly, the battle was arriving at its end.

    The only question was¡­

    Who would be the final winner?

 Chapter 1673 Labyrinth [9]

    Chapter 1673 Labyrinth [9]

    There were only five geniuses remainingin thepetition. August, Valerie, Remelia, Eris Noct, and a man named Mikael from the Dawn Dragon n. Now, less than half of them were left in the arena. The rest had been eliminated in some way, shape, or form.

    Mikael just took down thest one, leaving the five of them as the only remainingpetitors.

    He was nowhere near any of the others, but his actions had a profound impact on them all.

    Suddenly, a map appeared in front of each of the geniuses. Its contents were simple. A rough picture of the mazethat showedthem the rtive structure of thebyrinth without revealing its actual paths and patterns. And, on it, five red dots.

    Not a single one of them misunderstood what those dots were.

    Their positions had just been revealed to each other, as had their progress.

    Valerie had just created a territory for herself which allowed her to fight Remelia evenly, so she now had the freedom to look at the map.

    There were two groups and an individual.

    One group was her and Remelia, but the other¡­

    Two dots were moving closer and closer to thebyrinth''s center with every passing second. She and Remelia weren''t moving, so it was obvious that those were two other geniuses.

    Somehow, in the small amount of time that had passed, two people had made an alliance that allowed them to see the finish line.

    Which meant that everyone else was falling behind. "Hey, let''s stop!" She yelled, getting Remelia''s attention.

    They needed to rush towards the center before continuing this battle if either of them wanted a chance to score more than a single point.

    Remelia definitely heard her, but she didn''t react at all.

    BOOM!

    She let her mes loose, attacking Valerie as if nothing significant was happening.

    She also saw the map. She also understood its implications, but she refused to leave a battle unfinished.

    The only thing she learned from the map was that she needed to remove Valerie even faster than before.

    "What the hell are you doing?!"

    Valerie shouted while she blocked the fire and counterattacked.

    Her forest sted vitality into the zing inferno it bordered. It vied for the space, extinguishing everything that couldn''t incinerate it.

    "We need to get to the center! Now isn''t the time for us to fight!"

    In case her opponent was an idiot, she said it out loud to get it through her skull.

    Remelia, however, was more stubborn than Valerie expected.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    It was as if she made her attacks stronger and louder so that she wouldn''t have to hear Valerie''s voice.

    ''Right now, training isn''t as important as winning.''

    She''d gotten everything she could out of her fight with Remelia. From now on, everything she did would just be practice.

    Valerie could practice her newly discovered techniques whenever she wanted. Now that she had ess to them, the rest of the road was a lot simpler to traverse.

    Points didn''te so easily. The people who ced at the top of the leaderboard would blow thepetition out of the water. They''d get further and further away every single time theirpetitors contently received a single point, and in the end, only they would be participating in the final rounds.

    Valerie wanted to see thispetition to the end, which meant she had to get to the center before those two other geniuses did.

    She yelled and screamed at Remelia until she could hardly stand it anymore. "Listen to me, bitch!"

    Valerie was mad. She wanted to fight this fight at first, but the emergence of the position trackerpletely offset her ns.

    Every second she spent fighting Remelia was destroying her chance to vie for the top spot in this round.

    "We don''t have¡­" BOOM!

    "...time for this!" There was no way around Remelia. She was too good at spatial control. Even if Valerie was able to distance herself from Remelia, the woman would chase her to the ends of the earth. She still had to find a way through the maze after this battle ended. She couldn''t make those kinds of decisions while she was being assailed from behind by a mad genius.

    Valerie wantedthirdce at the very least.

    But, with one uninhibited dot moving towards the center on the other side of the two she was most concerned about, she didn''t know if she would have a chance.

    ''Either I destroy this bitch and make it there¡­''

    Valerie''s eyes sharpened.

    ''...or we both go down here.''

    It was down to the wire. None of them realized that they were thest remaining talents in thebyrinth until the map appeared. Now that they knew, all of their ns had severely changed.

    A rat race for the center, a true desperate struggle for first ce¡­

    Now that it hade to this, thebyrinth challenge returned to its most basic essence. The geniuses dropped their schemes and nning. They dropped their curiosity and ambition. They purely focused on thebyrinth, so they could find a path to the finish.

    Still, those two dots that made Valerie so wary were scarily close to the middle already.

    Who were they?

    What were they doing?

    And how had they managed to form an alliance in this free-for-all environment?

    Well, it was a funny story, actually¡­

    ***

    It happened just under half an hour ago.

    August was doing as he did, entertaining the crowd with his various tricks as he traversed thebyrinth at a speed faster than anyone else.

    He''d practically understood its entire structure at this point. With the knowledge he''d umted, finding his way to the center was simple.

    He was responsible for the defeat of yet another genius, this time one from the Karmic Dragon n.

    His power was esoteric and hard to predict, but at the end of the day, that kind of genius was more skilled in intellectual challenges.

    If it came to who could reach the center fastest without any obstacles inhibiting them, then that genius would have been a top contender for first ce.

    Unfortunately for him, he met August.

    His end wasn''t even met valiantly in battle.

    August used him as a test subject to see if he could properly exploit thebyrinth when he needed to, and he''d found exactly the results he''d wanted.

    Regardless, it was a small hup in his otherwise unimpeded journey. He continued on his way without thinking much of it. But, his fortune was also riddled with some chaos.

    His rtively simplebyrinth challenge ended with a single encounter.

    He rushed through a straight corridor and took a left turn. He took the first right after that, then continued straight for a while longer.

    In the end, August found himself at the exact dead end that he was expecting to find, and as it moved to show him what stood on the other side¡­

    He froze.

    He''d run into the only person he wanted to avoid in this entirebyrinth, the person nobody wanted to see. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Their meeting made the crowd go wild in anticipation. August Void, a neer from amon background who''d surprised them over and over¡­

    ¡­and Eris Noct, an indomitable force that had shown herself to be invincible among her peers. Were they going to fight?

    Was August going to be defeated casually like everyone else who ran into Eris?

    Or¡­would he show them another surprise and find a way out?

    The crowd was dying to know.

    But as the two''s eyes met, there was only silence between them.

 Chapter 1674 Victor [1]

    Chapter 1674 Victor [1]

    Eris was immediately hostile.

    August could tell that from the moment their eyes met, escaping back the way he came was impossible.

    He had to find a way to distract her so he could run. Otherwise, this wouldsimplybe the end of his journey.

    The power gap was too big, and Augustcouldn''tput up a convincing defense that would stop her from taking him out.

    His eyes darted through the corridor on the other side of the moving wall for a single second.

    He recognized several patterns and instantly came up with a n.

    Before the audience could even reach the edges of their seats in anticipation, he shot through the gap in the wall.

    ''One.''

    Eris was already raising her hand to attack.

    August stepped on the floor in one specific positionthathe''dcalcted before jumping out of the way.

    Swoosh!

    There was a sound of wind as the floor dropped out. Eris was taken by surprise. Her attack was broken, and she wasinsteadforced to correct her body with mana so she could float out of the pit.

    August used the opportunity to scale the wall, mming his hand down at a certain point before jumping away again.

    Arrows.

    They shot from one side of the corridor to the other, creating a wall of projectiles that kept Erisstuckfloating in the pit.

    One would believethatthese trapsweren''tenough to stop Erisin the slightest, but thatwasn''tthe case.

    After all, the maze scaled itself to match those within. Because August was present, the traps were a bit weaker, butEris''presence bnced them out.

    Even if it was her, forcinga waythrough the two tricks August had implemented would take a decent amount of time.

    And that was all August could hope for.

    He''dgotten lucky in that there were arrows and a pitfall at this specific dead end, however, luckwasn''ta factor in the third one.

    In fact, evenAugust''sactions had nothing to do with it.

    Every dead end would be apanied by a closing wall. BANG!

    The dead end closedonceagain, and suddenly, a new wall emerged on the other side, closing off the corridor.

    August was already running across the wall. He jumped over it without a problem andnded on the other side. At that point, he wasjustfleeing for his life.

    Hewas able tomake it out because he was thoroughly prepared and had the space to act freely.

    Eris,on the other hand, had to first make it out of the first two traps if she wanted a chance at dealing with the third.

    The best-case scenario was her getting trapped and disqualified, but August knew not to hope for the best.

    If he thought shewas going tofall here, hewouldn''thave run so desperately oncehe''descaped her.

    For the time being, hedidn''tthink over his movements.

    He took leftturns,rightturns,and ran as far as possible while keeping his movements as chaotic as possible. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    BOOOOOOM!

    Ahugeexplosion rang out in the distance and echoed through the halls.

    ''There she is.''

    He''dexpected her to escape, but he definitelywasn''tthinkingthatit''dbe this fast. ''Ineed to hurry.''

    August had already plotted a path to the center. With his knowledge of the maze, he could get there in just half an hour if hedidn''tencounter any challenges.

    ''Unfortunately, Idon''tthinkshe''sgoing totake that very well.''

    He bought himself some time,buthe''dalso bea target of the Holy n geniushe''dleft in the dust.

    ''Is there a way out?''

    Hecouldn''ttell if she was chasing him or not.If she was, then hecouldn''tjust move chaotically to throw her off.

    Somehatmuchstrongerthan himcouldn''tbe estimated the same waythatothers could.

    ''Ihave to read her.''

    He had to get into the mind of a Holy n genius and understand what they would do in a circumstance like this one.

    He had the experience to understand how those people thought.

    Qinglong was close friends with many peoplewho''dbeenin the same position. August could read them well after seeing themsomany times, and based on their personalities¡­

    ''Astupid Holy n geniuswould''vealready been thrown off. A smart one¡­''

    BOOOOM!

    As he expected, the path ahead was obstructed by an ocean of darkness.

    It mmed through the connected corridors, blocking any escape path.

    Eris appeared from within it, staring at himthe same wayshe did before.

    ''...would''vecaught me already.''

    August skidded to a stop,unching himself upward to gain some momentum.

    He looked over the top of thebyrinth for a second to see if there was a way out, but he was particrly isted from anything right now.

    Thereweren''tany traps in this hallway. Well, there was one, but it was already proving ineffective.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Arrows shot towards Eris. Without the element of surprise, however, they were meaningless.

    The ocean of darkness behind her rose up and swallowed them all. Itwasn''twrong to assume thatthey''dnever be seen again.

    "You¡­"

    She spoke a single word.

    Her voice actually contrasted her appearance a bit. It was just as beautiful, but rather than demonic, it held somewhat harmonious tones.

    Still, they were spoken harshly, so Augustwasn''tgoing tobe stunned by them.

    He was hardly paying attention at all.

    The only thing he cared for was whether she was attacking or not.As long as shewasn''t,he''dkeep most of his attentionon finding a way out of this ce.

    The thought of fighting never came to him. It waspartiallybecause itwas obviousthat hecouldn''tfight, but it was also due toAugust''sspecial senses.

    He could feel how dangerous she was.

    Itwasn''tmuchpared tosomeothershe''dmet, butpared to him¡­?

    Well, he wascertainthathe would be in the ground before he knew what was happening.Nothing more needed to be said.

    If trapscouldn''toffer him anything, if other corridorscouldn''toffer him anything, then he needed to find something here that would help him.

    In asinglesecond, his eyes scanned the entire wallin front ofhim.By the time the second one arrived, he hadalready surveyed the floor as well.

    "Ignoring me?" Eris Noct spoke again, but August was too busy investigating thest wall to hear her.

    She flicked her hand forward. Two sharp des of darkness appeared at her side and shot towards August.

    Whoosh!

    The sound of the wind as they barely brushed past his head was jolting.

    It was clearly a warning shot.

    August nced at the genius at the end of the hall. Hedid hearher, and he knewthatshe was trying to talk to him.However, hedidn''tregret ignoring her at all.

    Rather, he was going to keep doing it.

    ''I''mnot losing here,dy!''

    Hedidn''thave the confidence to say it, but hedefinitelythought it as loud as possible.

    He''dfound a method.

    ¡­maybe.

    August dashed towards the opposite wall and scaled it.

    To Eris, it looked like a pathetic struggle.

    She sighed as he scurried around like a rat.

    There was clearly no escape path for him. What was the point of trying?

    Someone with so much fear wasjustpathetic in her eyes, even if she understood what she represented to someone as weak as him.

    ''Perhaps heisn''tthe right one.''

    She wasinterested at firstbecausehe''dmanaged to escape using clever means, but if it was just a one-off and not something he could do consistently¡­

    Her thoughtsdidn''thave time to reach the ce they were going.

    August reached the point he had been aiming for. He punched into the wall, wriggling his hand around until it found a switch.

    He looked at Eris and smiled as he clicked it.

    Before she could do anything to stop him, August was sucked into the rock. The holehe''dmade, the switch he pressed, and he himself had all disappeared, leaving Eris alone.

    ''Ichange my mind.''Eris thought, a light gleaming in her eyes.

    ''He''sthe one.''

    Nobody elseshe''dmet had been worthy enough.

    This one, however, hadexactlywhat she was looking for.

    So despite the ingenuity of his escape methods¡­

    ¡­he could give up any thoughts of getting away from her.

 Chapter 1675 Victor [2]

    Chapter 1675 Victor [2]

    ??Augustactuallnded on his feet in an open space despite being swallowed by a wall.

    What he found was a secret corridor that ledhim deeper into the maze.

    Itwasn''tinfested with a single beast and wasactuallyquite different from the rest of thebyrinth.

    The walls were cleaner. It looked like somebody had been working to manage the space for many years.

    Augustdidn''thave time to admire it all. He dashed through the tight spacetryingto get as far away from Eris as possible.

    If he could vanish from her radar before returning to the maze,thenhis life would bea loteasier.

    ''It would be better if I could just use artifacts, butthere''sno wayI''mnot being watched right now.''

    The entire event was being televised. If a path like this was ced in thebyrinth, it would also be riddled with cameras that let them see whathewas doing.

    The path continued for quite a long time. There was a steep decline towards the beginning, whichmust''veput August underground. Otherwise, the amount of distancehe''dcovered was nonsensical.

    At the end of the path, it openedupinto a small room with two doors on the left and right.Against the back wall was a desk with a book and several stray pieces of paperon it, illuminated by a small methat restedon a side table nearby.

    There was nothing else present. August walked over and looked through the contents of the papers.

    Most of them were unintelligible scribbles thatdidn''tmean anything to August, but the diagrams they contained looked interesting.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    August furrowed his brows.

    He turned to the book and flipped through it, trying to see if it could give him anything.

    ''The same. Ican''ttell ifhishandwriting is bad orifit''swritten in apletely differentnguage.''

    Whatever it was, August decided to store the papers and the book in his spatial ring so he could go over themter.

    ''They might just be a whole bunch of nothing, but if they doend up showingme something magical¡­''

    That was all August could hope for.

    Since he was young,he''dloved research. A challenge presented to him like this was weed with open arms.

    Nevertheless, the roomdidn''thave anything else of note. August tried to see if there was anything in the walls oranyother hidden mechanisms that could take him into other hidden corridors.

    Unfortunately, his efforts were pointless.

    ''It''sdisappointing since this seems like a reward area, but I can keep my hopes up and assume that these pages are the reward¡­for now.''

    It was best for August to return to thebyrinth now that he wasa ways awayfrom where he left Eris.

    He chose the door on the right side, since that was the one that would give him more of an advantage. M

    At least, that was if his position was as he expected it to be, but that was something for him to worry about when he was back.

    ''Now, as long as Idon''trun into that crazy woman again¡­''

    August swung the door open.

    He was immediately back in the maze. It was probably somekind ofspatial magic.

    That part wasfine.

    The real problem was¡­

    "There''sactually no way."

    BOOM!

    August''sbody abruptly shot back and mmed into the adjacent wall.

    Darkness turned into a web that blocked his movements, and a suppressive aura locked onto him, making his mana sluggish.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    August gritted his teeth and red at the woman who had just entered the room.

    He really did a good job escaping. He thought he did, at least. He knew that anyone elsewouldn''thave been able to track him after he disappeared, but as he was learning now, this woman was different.

    "You''requite rude."

    Eris Noct closed the door behind her and nced at August.

    "Did you truly think you could escape?"

    It was a question that was posed more out of curiosity than gloating.

    "Imean, yeah. I thinkit''sweirder that you caught me."

    Since his fate was sealed anyway, August spoke freely.

    "Bold,"Eris replied, a small smile risingup her lips.

    "However, I am not as hostile to you as you believe."

    Shewasn''tlying. She may haveoriginally approachedhimwith hostile intentions, but now thatshe''dseenhimin action, her intent had changed.

    "Boy, how do you feel about working together?"

    August''seyes immediately widened.

    "What?"

    "You heard what I said."

    "Yeah, butalso,there''sno way you said what I think I just heard."

    "Idid."

    August''sexpression became even more stupefied.

    "You? Want to team up with me?"

    It justdidn''tmake any sense.

    But, with Eris nodding to confirm his thoughtsyetagain, he was forced to ept it.

    "Why¡­?"

    That was all he could ask.

    Aside from theirclearpower differences and the other factors that led to his confusion, August did have a previous perception of Holy n geniuses that¡­wasn''tthe best.

    Seeing how he was amoner, he only expected them to ever discriminate against him. For one to ask for his cooperation was not in his cards.

    Eris shrugged as if shecouldn''tunderstand his confusion at all.

    "The reason is simple. You have a good brain. I need the help of someone who has a good brain. The others were stupid, but since youactuallyhave worth, I want to form an alliance to challenge the central boss."

    Eris was strong enough. She wassmart enough as well, but"smart enough"wasn''tenough for a challenge like this.

    So why had she decided tocreate an alliancewith August instead of destroying him?

    It was precisely because of how fast he located a trap and activated it to distract her while he ran away. He was even able to create a way out of a situation that she thought was sure to entrap him.

    The fact that there were hidden corridors in the wall was something even shedidn''tknow.

    That led her to only a single conclusion.

    August had a better understanding of the maze than she did, and he wassmarterin exploiting it.

    Ina challenge where both brains and brawn were necessary, shecouldn''tjust push through everything alone.

    More importantly, the heir warsweren''tjust a stage for individuals to shine.

    There were times when geniuses would need to work together. At times becausetheycouldn''tdo things alone, andat timesbecausetheyneeded to show the crowd that they were benevolent or agreeable.

    Putting it clearly, Eris had no idea who August was. Shedidn''tbother to learn about her opponents in this round since none of the geniuses on her level were participating.

    But, even if she knew he was amoner, itwasn''tlike she cared.

    To enter this stage meant one was leagues aboveone''speers.

    Anyone who was herepeting had an ounce of her respect.They would only lose it if they proved to herthatthey were never worthy enough to stepfooton this holy stage.

    August had done the opposite. He had shown her why he, a mere 3rd ss,was able toarrive at a ce where nearly everyone was several lengths ahead of him in power.

    Matters of who the final winner would be or what came next could be handledter.

    Eris had seen the central boss with her own eyes,andshe knew thatshewasn''tenough to defeat it by herself.

    Gathering a team was out of the question, but if it was just a single genius who could fill in the ces where she wascking¡­

    Anyone in her positionwould''vemade the same decision.

    So, in her opinion,August''sconfusion and surprise werpletelyunjustified.

 Chapter 1676 Victor [3]

    Chapter 1676 Victor [3]

    She thought that because shewasn''pletely aware ofwhat her own status wasto the people watching thispetition.

    August''ssurprise was matched by theentire crowd that watchedthe two interact.

    Every question he asked was met with thousands or even tens of thousands of nodding heads as people wondered the exact same things.

    And every answer that Eris gave surprised them even more.

    Holy n geniuses were existencesthat werelike the heavens to normal dragons in Arulion. The social hierarchy had be so embedded in their minds that seeing one of such godly beings talk to amoner as an equal was preposterous to every single one of them. Hell, itwasn''teven them alone.Frommoners to other Holy n members,everyone was dumbfounded by the interaction between the two. Shedidn''tthink much of it, but to everyone else, her wordswere a direct acknowledgment ofAugust''stalent.

    For a Holy n genius to say those kinds of things to amoner was something that hadquite literallynever happened before inArulion''swritten history. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It was only natural for everyone to be surprised.

    Compared to the audience, August was actually apudable forbeing able to regainhis senses so fast.

    "So basically,whatyou''resaying isthat you saw the final bossandyouneed help fighting it."

    He summed it upwell. Eris nodded in response.

    "And,you chose me because everyone else sucks."

    Eris nodded again. That was right about the best way to put it.

    "What do you need my help with?"

    "You''llfind out when we get there. Idon''tfeel like exining."

    It was a poor excuse, but whatwas August supposed todo about it?

    At the end of the day, Eris was still far too strong for him. Her offer to work together wasreally a demand thathedidn''thave the right to refuse.

    "If I say no,I''lldie, right?" He asked just forconfirmation''ssake.

    "Youwon''tdie sincewe''rein the arena, but the next time you wake up,you''lldefinitely be in a hospital bed,"Eris confirmed casually.

    "That is, in fact, a situation that Idon''twant to be in."

    August sighed.

    Well,looking at the bright side, it was beneficial for him if they teamed uptoo.He would have an easy time getting to the center of thebyrinth with a 4th ss protector, and if the final boss fight was going to be scaled toEris''level anyway, it was better to be on her side than to fight alone.

    As if she sensed his eptance, Eris released the restraints holding August down.

    Her pressure also disappeared, giving his mana freedom of reign. ''Dangerous.''

    The most dangerous part was her bloodline.

    The Azure Dragon blood lineage wasamazing. It was beyond many others,but,it was still the lineage of a Holy Dragon.

    In terms ofbloodline alone, the first Dark Dragon was just aspowerfs Qinglong.

    Even his massive bloodline strength could only be equal to theirs.

    ''I''llhave to learn more about Holy n geniuses.''

    A lotof his stigmas about them were disproven withEris''existence alone.If he was going to properly fight them and perhaps even recruit them to his cause, then he needed to stop viewing them through a colored lens. "Great.It''sgood thatyou''reagreeable. It would have been a pain if you said no."

    Eris was in a situation where she needed him to say yes, because shedidn''twant to waste time looking for other people at this point in thepetition.

    After all, judging by the amount of time that had passed, they were likely in its final stretches.

    There were bound to be only a few people left.

    August cracked his neck with another sigh.

    "Do you know the way back to the center?"

    "When we get back to where I was, sure, but I lost a lot of ground whileI waschasing you,"Eris replied.

    It made sense. DisregardingAugust''soriginal random movements that took them further away from their goal, she probably had to do a lot of twists and turns toperfectlyend up on the other side of the door when he opened it.

    August nodded without much of an expression since he somewhat expected it.

    "Follow me, then."

    The path back the way he camewouldn''twork again. When the wall swallowed him,the mechanism he usedto enter was also broken.

    Itdidn''tmatter, though, since August understood how to get back there through the righthand doorthathe''dopened before.

    He led Eris out of it and rushed through the hallsonce more, this time with a far stronger genius on his tail.

    They took one turn after the other, arriving on apletely different route thanthe hey were both taking before.

    Still, it rejoined to their previous trajectoryeventually, and only at that point did Eris realize where they were.

    Shehadlet August lead her because she knew he would only be sabotaging himself by yinganytricks at this juncture.

    Yet, she found it hard to believethat they were actuallymaking progress. In her eyes,August''smovements seemed random, and they cut through many barriers thatwould''vecaused others to turn around.

    He was able to manipte the maze to his advantageunlikeanyone else. And,with that ability,not only did he getthem back on track, heeven returned them to their previous position without a problem.

    Inthis ever-changing maze where the corridors they saw were never thecorridors they traversed, this was more impressive than August could ever imagine.

    The two made their way through the final stretch before the boss room when it happened to them.

    Maps that showed them where the other participants were appeared before them, causing them to stopin their tracks.

    "This is¡­"

    "Well,it''sobvious which ones are us. The two over there seem to be fighting, and thest one¡­well, I guesshe''llbe a problemter,"August said.

    Eris nodded.

    Their dots were moving until they stopped. As for the other two,they''dbeen in the same spot for several seconds and were still there despite the change.

    If the two of themwere able toinstantly recognize what the map was, then it was the same for everyone else.

    "But, only five left, huh¡­?"

    August was definitely surprised, but it made more sense when he remembered thatthere were only thirteen of themat the start.

    ''Plus, therearen''tmany important people.''

    Mostof thenoble n geniuses participating in this roundweren''tworth much.

    Nevertheless, August and Eris were the closest to thecenter of thebyrinthby arge margin.

    And now that they knew where everyone else was, they surelyweren''tgoing tostop. Now was the best opportunitythey''dhave.

    If they waited any longer,thenthe others would arriveandthey''dhave to deal with many more annoyances.

    Looking at each other and nodding, the two started running once again.

    With every second, they approached closer to thest step.

    But theyweren''tthe only ones.

    Unlike Valerie and Remelia, who were still fighting, Mikaelwas usingthe map to its fullest to find his way to where August and Eris were.

    Itwouldn''tbe long before he arrived.

    The only question was¡­

    Would those two be able to defeat the boss before he did?

 Chapter 1677 Victor [4]

    Chapter 1677 Victor [4]

    At that point, they were only a few minutes from the final boss room.

    It was separated from the rest of thebyrinth by a massive set of stone doors. They looked like they weighed several thousand pounds, which meant pushing them open was a deration of war against the being inside.

    Somehow, though, Eris had caught a glimpse of that being.

    No, even more than that, she''d understood it to the point of knowing that she needed a smarter teammate to help her fight it.

    Since they''d arrived in front of the door, it was toote for August to run or pull tricks. Eris wasfortable enough to tell him what they were dealing with now.

    "Inside there is a beast in a room farrger than what you''re expecting," she said as he listened.

    "I''ll say it now. You don''t need to focus on the beast. Unless it''s attacking you or trying to stop you, don''t pay any mind to me or it."

    "What am I supposed to do, then?" August questioned, confused by her "orders."

    "There are six stations around the room. Each one contains a puzzle that needs to be solved. Unless they''re allpleted, the beast will be invincible. Your job is to take care of them while I fight so that I can actually kill the thing."

    "I see¡­"

    August nodded his head.

    If it was like that, then it made sense.

    Solvingplex puzzles while fighting a beast meant to be the final challenge of thebyrinth was practically impossible. The challenge was designed specifically so that at least two people had to be present toplete it.

    And, because both of them were vital to the sess of the operation, they couldn''t betray each other or scheme.

    ''It''s a good deal for me. If she wins, I get second. If she leaves any openings, I have a chance to steal the top spot.''

    There was no reason for him to refuse. As long as Eris did her job properly¡­

    ''No. I can''t rely on that.''

    As long as he did his job properly, it would end as he expected it to, even if Eris tried to get him killed.

    ''Okay.''

    The only troubling part was the way Eris was keeping him in the dark about most things.

    The way she phrased her sentences made it obvious that she knew more than she was willing to let on.

    Perhaps it was unintentional, but August was definitely not happy with the conclusion he''d made.

    ''We''ll find out for certain when we get inside.''

    He couldn''t see Eris gaining this kind of information by using honorable means, but he wasn''t going to say anything about it. "I''m assuming you''ll protect me while I solve the puzzles?" August asked for rification.

    "Of course. My victory also relies on your actions, so I won''t do anything stupid," Eris responded matter-of-factly.

    "Hm."

    August made a sound of acknowledgement as they approached the stone doors. "Are you ready?" Eris turned to him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Well, as ready as I can be."

    August responded as half-heartedly as he had to every single question she''d asked thus far.

    It seemed to be enough for Eris since she didn''t press for anything more.

    Just as much as August didn''t want to work with her, she didn''t want him here either.

    They were somewhat forced into a cooperation, him more than her, and despite not outwardly expressing ill intent towards each other, neither believed that the other party would y fair.

    Their only security was their shared goal. For the time being, it was all they needed.

    The duo approached the stone doors. Eris pushed them with just a bit of strength, but they swung open like she''d put all of her power into it.

    That was the first time August saw the beast and room in question.

    His eyes strayed away from the elephant in the room to confirm the positions of the stations Eris had mentioned prior.

    He saw six immediately. There was some distance between them, so it would be difficult to move from one to another without being targeted by the enemy.

    And, August felt that there was more to them than what he saw at first nce.

    That, however, was something for him to learn as he interacted with him.

    For now, his thoughts were so rudely interrupted by a certain elephant, both metaphorically and literally.

    After all, that beast was indeed an elephant.

    It raised its trunk and bellowed, forcing those who intruded on its space to pay attention to it.

    Of course, since it was Arulion, the final beast was draconic. It had scales covering its entire body like a coat of armor, and its eyes glowed with mes as if it were a demon from the depths of hell.

    It stomped its feet, making the ground rumble under its weight. mes billowed from its every movement, and even its tusks were equipped with what looked like energy weapons.

    The beast was created forbat specifically in the space it inhabited.

    From its body shape, it clearly didn''t have the best capabilities in terms of movement and dexterity, but the room was rtively small.

    There was just enough space for an outer ring of stations to exist around a battleground. While August did the puzzles, Eris would be stuck in the range that best fit the beast''s fighting style, pulled into its momentum.

    Nevertheless, the two of them didn''t n to lose this battle.

    They nced at each other and nodded without another word.

    From here on, they''d focus on their own parts more than each other.

    Eris dashed at the beast and mmed her foot on the ground as she skidded to a stop.

    A domain of darkness enveloped the beast and all of the space within the inner ring. The battle had probably already begun inside, but it wasn''t August''s concern.

    He immediately rushed to the nearest station and inserted his mana into the terminal.

    His eyes were graced with a holographic image of the puzzle he was toplete.

    This first one was actually very simple.

    It consisted of five rings of varying sizes that wereyered within each other. They had divots and patterns in them. August''s task was to line them up so that a ball present in the middle of the pattern could make its way out.

    This kind of pattern could be solved by anyone. Even the stupidest of geniuses could just turn every ring until they eventually found the right configuration.

    As such, August finished solving it within just under a minute.

    Voom!

    A wave of energy spread from the terminal as its lights turned from red to green.

    It sunk into the ground, bing a glowing pattern in the outer ring, one of six that would eventually inhabit it.

    August moved to the second terminal without worrying about anything else.

    He didn''t experience the changes personally, but they were indeed reflected.

    Only¡­

    Perhaps it wasn''t in the way that he was expecting.

    After all, while Eris was telling the truth about needing his help to take down the beast, she hadn''t been entirely honest with him.

    His maniption of the terminals did more than just weaken the beast.

    Those stations had another purpose that he waspletely unaware of.

 Chapter 1678 Victor [5]

    Chapter 1678 Victor [5]

    ??BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Regardless of what she''d said, Eris was still dominating in the battle against the beast.

    The elephant mainly used fire and pure energy in its ranged attacks. When enemies got close, it would use its brute strength, which was quite impressive, to attack and neutralize them.

    It was a beast that was able to attack with the power it was assaulted with.

    Since Eris immediately set up a barrier using her full strength, it immediately turned into a mid-level 4th ss beast.

    Unfortunately for it, Eris didn''t just have mid-level 4th ss power.

    BOOM!

    Waves of darkness sloshed through the space. Every time they mmed into the beast, the darkness turned permeable and stabbed into its scales.

    The beast roared, stomping its feet to try and disperse the waves.

    They hadn''t been able to prate its skin. They wouldn''t be able to until August finished his job. But, Eris kept attacking to keep it at bay.

    ''I feel a bit bad for that boy, but it''s fine.''

    At the end of the day, she didn''t lie to him.

    He was definitely weakening the beast. She felt the tremor from the first terminal being activated, and with it, she felt the beast''s aura disperse to a small extent.

    The remaining terminals would cause an avnche that would topple the beast, but they didn''t do so without consequences.

    August would be the one dealing with those drawbacks, while Eris would avoid them, since she didn''t have any interactions with the terminals.

    Her job really was the easy part.

    Still, she couldn''t make it seem too obvious that she wasn''t struggling.

    BANG!

    The beast raised its head. Energy charged into its tusks and shot out, striking Eris square in the chest.

    She shot back and mmed into her own barrier. It rippled visibly even to outside observers, letting them see just how "perilous" the battle was.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Eris kept attacking and receiving attacks, putting on a show for the audience.

    Meanwhile, August moved from terminal to terminal, dealing with the exterior challenges.

    They did get harder.

    From a simple two-dimensional puzzle where one only needed to turn dials to create an open path, the terminals turned into fullyplex three-dimensional puzzles that needed to be perfectly aligned for them to even begin to make sense.

    Still, with August''s intelligence, getting through them wasn''t the main issue.

    Eris could try all she wanted to hide it, but August wasn''t one to miss inconsistencies in mental challenges like these.

    There wasn''t anything wrong with the puzzles themselves. Solving them was quite fun, and since Eris had a barrier around the beast, he didn''t actually have to worry about danger.

    The problem was what happened when the terminals sunk into the ground.

    ''That energy wave isn''t meant to weaken the beast.''

    No, the beast was inherently connected to the array that these terminals were a part of. The instant hepleted a puzzle, it was weakened without any sort of visible reaction from the environment.

    The energy waves had apletely different purpose. August hadn''t deciphered it yet, but he could clearly feel that the waves were sinking into the walls around him rather than the internal ring where the beast was.

    There were only two real conclusions he coulde to.

    Either there was a treasure in the walls that he was being shown a path to, or¡­

    ''...I''m going to be in for a hell of a surprise when I finish this thing.''

    More than likely, it was the second option. If there was any boon involved in this task, then Eris would''ve never given it to someone else.

    ''Since she doesn''t expect a crazy performance from me, I can slow down and take time to figure it out.''

    August had gone through two of the puzzles and was now undertaking the third.

    This was where they switched from two dimensions to three, so he had just cause to slow his progress.

    ''As long as the barrier is up¡­''

    BOOM!

    It was as if Eris knew what he was thinking. At that exact moment, her barrier exploded, and she shot back, skidding across the ground until she came to a stop near the back wall of the room.

    Her eyes were still on the beast, but she could see August in her peripheral.

    ''Well, there goes my chance.''

    He sighed to himself, but he didn''t show any emotion on his face, acting as if he was fully concentrated on the puzzle.

    Eris didn''t pay more attention to him after confirming his actions.

    She shot back into the inner ring and continued her fight, but the barrier never returned.

    ''Is she suspicious?''

    No, she just wanted to put pressure on him.

    "Tch."

    August clicked his tongue and got back to work.

    ''There might be something within the terminal that can help me.''

    It was his only hope at the moment.

    He wasn''t keen on facing the consequences of other people''s actions. He also wasn''t keen on suffering so his opponents could find sess.

    August wanted to be a hero, which meant that his morals leaned more towards self-sacrifice than someone like Damien.

    But, that wasn''t a privilege that everyone had ess to.

    Those who were just, those who were innocent, and those who were worthy would receive his heroism.

    Those who schemed against him, those who did evil, and those who betrayed others would not.

    August delved into the third terminal as deep as he possibly could.

    Instead of justpleting the puzzle, he tried to understand what its actual purpose was.

    The goal was to find out exactly what the consequences were and how he could exploit them to strike back at Eris.

    The data was all encoded in the array.

    And August¡­

    Well, August had a hidden talent for array creation.

    After all, it was an entirely intelligence-based skill, and it could be learned through study alone.

    When fiction became tiring, when nonfiction became boring,whena new research subject was necessary to satiate his curiosity, August would explore anything that Damien gave him.

    He didn''t take a particr interest in arrays, but that didn''t mean he wasn''t good at making and deciphering them.

    This was the same as those, only in a more modern format.

    August dug deep into the schematics of the terminal.

    He manipted his mana so the information it showed him was more than it was supposed to. And, as he scoured the "files," he eventually found out where all of the inconsistencies within stemmed from.

    ''So that''s it.''

    August grinned.

    ''What a devious woman.''

    He understood why Eris tricked him.

    Even with her strength, if she ran into what stood at the end of these terminals, her round could bepletely ruined.

    ''In the end, I''m going to make enemies with a Holy n genius, aren''t I?''

    There would be more chances to make friends in the future.

    Since Eris decided to mess with him first¡­

    ''...I''m not going to feel guilty at all for what I''m about to do.''

    Without a word or a shred of change in his demeanor, August returned to solving the puzzle.

    By the time all six were finished, Eris would be in for the surprise of her life.

    And August¡­

    Well, to be frank, August was quite excited to see it happen.

 Chapter 1679 Victor [6]

    Chapter 1679 Victor [6]

    ??BOOM!

    Two bodies mmed to the ground, one on top of the other.

    Remelia had her hands around Valerie''s neck. She gripped it tight as her hands burst into mes.

    Valerie''s teeth were gritted hard enough to draw blood.

    It wasn''t like Remelia was the one who had the advantage here.

    She was fighting back with the same amount of strength. Her roots grabbed the woman''s neck from behind, reining her backward, trying to take her into the forest.

    The two had been in battle for over an hour now.

    In most cases, Remelia would bepletely done with an enemy by now. Valerie was different from the rest.

    The problem was that she was growing with every passing second.

    She entered this battle as someone who couldn''t even withstand the residual heat of her haze. By now, they were practically on the same level.

    Valerie had been a 4th ss for a decent amount of time now. Yet, it was only now that she learned how to properly use all of the power she had ess to.

    Remelia was a perfect opponent for her. She abused this opportunity just as she''d nned to when they first saw each other, and she''d grown more than she ever expected.

    The realization she had about life and death was monumental, more than she realized at the time.

    As she was given the situation to put it into practical use right away, it grew exponentially in a shortperiod of time.

    Valerieobviouslydidn''t want to be here.

    She could see on the ever-present map that those other two dots were already in the center of thebyrinth.

    Didn''t that mean their chances of winning were already nonexistent?

    The two of them were as far as they could bepared to anyone else, and no matter how much time passed, Remelia refused to give up.

    There wasdefinitelysomething wrong in her brain.

    Knowing it didn''t help Valerie, though. If she wanted to ce anything special in thispetition, then she just needed to find a way out.

    As she had been trying for thest hour.

    In the end, the two of them ended up on the floor like this, in a showdown to see which one would survive.

    Remelia had more immediate power.

    She was draining Valerie''s mana faster as Valerie was forced to focus more on healing than attacking.

    However, since Valerie had to be more conservative, shedefinitelyhad more longevity in each attack she used.

    The vines and moss that continued to grow out of the walls could be her ammunition, so unlike her opponent, she didn''t have to constantly put out mana to maintain her mediums.

    Nevertheless, despite theirindividualweaknesses, the two were rtively even at this point.

    It wasreallyjust a battle of who couldst longer.

    At least, that was what Remelia wanted to turn it into.

    She couldn''t be as versatile as Valerie, sure, but she was confident that she had more mana.

    In that case, Valerie had no choice but to give up and lose.

    That wasn''t something Valerie could allow.

    She was actively trying to pull Remelia off of her, but the woman had her in a death grip.

    She wouldn''t move no matter what, and it was like she didn''t need to breathe at all. No matter how long or hard she gripped her neck, Valerie couldn''t knock her unconscious.

    ''This bitch¡­''

    Valerie cursed again.

    ''She''s gonepletely insane.''

    There was hardly a semnce of the cold and indifferent Remelia remaining in the eyes of the one trying to murder Valerie.

    The only thing in her mind was victory, and that tunnel vision was exactly what would ruin her.

    Valerie''s eyes went just beside Remelia''s head, looking behind her.

    Pieces of the massive roots that suffocated her broke off, turning into projectiles that spun and spun until they were sharper than any de.

    Valerie''s eyes refocused on Remelia.

    "Crazy¡­bitch¡­!"

    She squeezed it out.

    This attack had to end things.

    It had to.

    In that second, Valerie removed mana from everywhere else. She stopped her healing and withstood the burns. Her forest disappeared, giving power back to Remelia''s domain. The restraints on Remelia''s neck loosened, though she barely noticed.

    All possible mana that could be used was used to empower those shards, and when they were glowing with so much light that they looked like stars, they shot forward, covering the few inches that separated them from Remelia in barely any time at all.

    SHIIIIK!

    They made a disgusting sound as they ripped through her body.

    There was nothing she could do to stop them, not after they''d been concentrated with such a huge amount of mana.

    Her energy field was pierced in no time. The heat around her body couldn''t do anything to wood at that level, acting as nothing more than paper armor.

    Though the shards were thin, the wounds they left were gushing with blood. They were asrge as tennis balls, holes present in her shoulders, stomach, chest, and leg.

    "Heuk¡­!"

    A hint of emotion appeared in Remelia''s eyes.

    It was pure surprise at the sudden pain.

    She looked down, blood leaking from her mouth, and saw the wounds that had been inflicted for the first time.

    Her grip weakened.

    Valerie immediately broke free of her entrapment and dashed backward, away from the bleeding genius.

    "You¡­"

    Remelia tried to talk, but her throat was filling up with blood.

    "Next¡­time¡­"

    They were frighteningst words, especially from an enemy that wasn''t going to die.

    Still, they werest words.

    Carelessness still ended up as the end of an arrogant genius.

    Her current wounds wouldn''t heal easily. Those shards were filled with death energy and rot. Since she couldn''t block it this time, it properly infested her body.

    The energy she used to continue the battle for so long was instantly sucked away. The vitality she had was dispersed into the atmosphere, weakening her immensely.

    And, in such a weak state, there was no way she could deal with wounds so severe.

    As Remeliay there, staring Valerie down with eyes filled with mes, a visible blue light covered her body in something like a bubble.

    She was lifted out of thebyrinth, disappearing as the entire bubble transported itself to the medical center.

    Remelia would be back for blood.

    But that was a problem for a future Valerie.

    Without another thought in her head, while nursing the burns covering her entire body, Valerie started to run.

    A rtive understanding of thebyrinth''s shape and an extremely undefined map were all she had, but she was going to try as hard as she could.

    If not first, if not second, then at least third.

    Now that Remelia was gone,there was only one person standingbetween her and that position.

    And he was about to be very familiar with a certain Azure Dragon.

    Mikael arrived at the boss room right as August finished the third terminal.

    He assessed the situation rapidly.

    He had three choices.

    A boss that was far stronger than him.

    A Holy n genius that was a lot stronger than it.

    Or a random kid who lookedpletely out of ce in the current scenario.

    If he had to choose which one he had to attack¡­

    Well, his decision was obvious.

 Chapter 1680 Victor [7]

    Chapter 1680 Victor [7]

    ??The Dawn Dragon n was the strongest under the Auroran''srule.

    Their power was madeto mimic the horizon as it shifted and changed.

    That was whyMikael''sentrance was so grand.

    He immediately made a break towards August, who turned his attention over immediately.

    ''Tch!''

    August jumped back and dashed towards the 4th terminal. Hewas barely able toactivate it before an entire horizon bashed into him.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Mikael''sthought process was simple.

    There were four people left in thebyrinthordingto the map. The fourthwasn''there,which meantthis was a fight for the top three.

    If the two who were here before he arrivedwere able todo as they pleased,thenhe''dbe stuck in third ce.

    Like hell he was going to let that happen!

    Especially when he sawthat there wasa 3rd ss in the boss room before him?

    He wasobviouslynning to end August in a single move, but he was soon to learnexactlywhy someone so weakwas able tomake it so far.

    By the time he attacked, August was already gone.

    He''djumped into the air.His arm was already extendedandmana had alreadybeen mobilized.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Azure Dragons were rulers of the sea. August could heat and freeze water, hecould use it to create projectiles and barriers as well. But,his heritage was always meantto control thewaters of the world.

    It wasstrong,domineering, and oppressive.

    That was somethingAugust had awakened to in the two weeks before thebyrinth challenge began.His previous opponentshadn''tforced him to draw it out, and Eris was too powerful for himto even try.

    Mikael,on the other hand, felt just strong enough to force August to try harder.

    A massive tsunami of water sted out ofAugust''shand and flooded the nearby area. Mikael was immediately washed away along with his zing horizon.

    Augustnded on the water. He was able to stand on iteasilyand run uninhibited.

    While his enemy was still struggling to gain his bearings, he checked the terminalonce more and did justasmamount of work on its puzzle.

    Fighting Mikael was important, but itwasn''tthe most important thing.

    After all, August still feltthathe could beat him if theywere to fightit out for first ce.

    Eris was his main problem, andto take care of her,he needed toplete the terminals.

    All while not letting her catch on to what he was doing.

    Mikaeldefinitelymade that easier.

    It was as if Augustdidn''thave time to think about anything else.

    Just a few seconds after his original attack, his attentionwas grabbedby a shining light at his side.

    Hedidn''tlook directly at it since that was never a bright idea, but hedidspread his awareness to locate its source.

    Naturally, it wasMikael''spower of light.

    There was heat involvedas well, but the light was mainlybeing usedas a weapon on its own.

    It shot through the air, barely perceptible inAugust''seyes.Ifnot for his already mobilized awareness, hewouldn''thave seen it at all.

    Whoosh!

    Whoosh!

    Whoosh!

    With minute movements, he avoided them, hearing them whizz past him.

    ''I''llhaveto at least trap himfirst.''

    Augustwouldn''thave the chance to do anything to the terminal until Mikael hadbeen obstructed.

    He could worry about defeating the genius afterhe''dfinished the puzzle.

    At that point, Eris would be in a situation where paying attention to his actions would cost her the victory.

    ''Okay, then, to immobilize him¡­''

    It actuallywouldn''tbe hard at all.The entire central area was filledwith traps that wouldsthimages. Itwas packedso that if the fighters stepped out of the inner ring,they''dinstantlybe forced backinside.

    Mikael wasing towards him, but he was severely limited in speed by the waterthat hewas traveling through.

    After all, waterwasn''tnecessarily the best medium for light.

    Itgave August the timeto locate the nearest traps and activate them one by one.

    Just as Eris had suffered upon their first meeting, Mikaelwas subjectedto a rain of arrows, stones, and pitfalls galore.

    Everything around him became a weapon aimed only at taking him down.

    Instead of charging forward, hewas forcedto push back, protecting himself withbarriers of light.

    His steps led him closer to the inner ring, but that was a ce heabsolutelydidn''twant to go.

    Both Eris and the beast were far above his weight ss.

    ''Good, now¡­''

    August sent his senses into the ground.

    For a while now,he''dbeen sensing the presence of an immense water source from underneath thesurface of the earth.

    It spanned over arge portion of the maze, but only here was it close enough to the surface for August to feel.

    He stomped into the ground and sent mana crashing through its surface.

    The tiled floors shattered instantly, and the bare earth belowwas litteredwith cracks.

    August''scontrol over the underground reservoir became far more fluid when there were holes that allowed him to ess it without barriers.

    BOOOOM!

    Mikael eventually escaped the traps August set off.

    His opponentwasn''tying fair, but now thathe''dsuffered twice to trickery, hewasn''tgoing todo it again.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Four cannons appeared in the air, peppering it with light beams.

    They were like turrets that zoned in on August and followed his every movement, making it impossible for him to do anything but dodge.

    BOOOOOM!

    August erected rgewall of ocean water to block and refract the light beams.

    They split into countless pieces and shot into the smooth walls of the room, shattering them and interfering with thestructure''soverall stability.

    August looked at his opponent through the wall with a grin.

    ''Ifinally have an elemental advantage.''

    Itwasn''tdirect, but it wasdefinitelypresent.

    Mikael could attack August with all the light he wanted, but as long as August could urately refract it away from himself, itwouldn''tbe able to do any real damage.

    That was why he was confident in making another move.

    Mikaelwas still focusedon trying to make it through the barrier.

    Since hewasn''treallypaying attention to his surroundings anymore¡­

    BOOOOOOM!

    August''spower red, and the underground reservoir burst into the surface world.

    August slid across the ground as it turned to ice under his feet.

    Behind him, Mikael got stuck in the massive geyser of water.

    It had formed something of a vortex cage around him, forcing him to do some puzzle-solving of his own if he wanted to escape.

    Arriving at the 4th terminal once more, August nced at Eris.

    ''Ishould be fine.''

    He made sure to do alittlebit here and there while he was still inbat with Mikael to make it seem like he was slowly putting things together and solving the puzzle. Perhaps Eris would still be a bit suspicious, but shewasn''tin a positionto do anything about it anymore.

    The beast was getting more and more powerful. Shewas strugglingto keep it at bay while being limited to the space in the inner ring.

    She had tokeep herfocus on the battle athand,lest she embarrass herself in front of everyone.

    As such, when August approached the terminal and used the small amount of timethat hehad before Mikael escaped to solve it, shedidn''tsee anything wrong.

    It was easy. After solving the third puzzle, August understood the underlying nature of the three-dimensional challengeshe''dbeen presented with.

    The 4th terminal wasdefinitelymore difficultthan its predecessor, but at the end of the day, it functioned on the same concept.

    BOOM!

    August had barely enough time. By the time he finished, Mikael was already charging at him again.

    Mikaelwasn''taware of it. His arrival put August in a one versus three situation.

    Mikael, the beast, and Eris. All of them were targets that August was nning to eliminate.

    But, with his newfound confidence, hewasn''tworried.

    He had a n, hat would leave him as thest one standing.

    And as long as nothing unexpected happened, he wasabsolutelycertainthat it would work.

 Chapter 1681 Victor [8]

    Chapter 1681 Victor [8]

    ??BOOM!

    August refracted another burst of light and returned fire with another tsunami of foaming water.

    He was using mainly brute strength against Mikael. For one, this force was hisstrongestability.It was also the best way to counteract someone who responded so poorly to waterin general.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The swirling water became sharp, adhering to the properties of swords.They became projectiles thatacted in direct opposition tothe ones Mikael was using, but their effect was fargreater.

    Beams of light went everywhere.

    Someof themflew into the walls, others hit the remaining terminals, and othersmorewent into the inner ring and struck the beast and Eris Noct.

    Her eyes darted over for but a second. Seeing August fighting Mikael, she made no move to interrupt.

    Eris wanted August to take the consequences of the terminals in her stead, which meant she technically needed him to remain in the game.

    However, shewasn''tobligatedtoactuallydo anything to help him.

    Unless he was on the verge of losing, unless sheabsolutelyneeded to save him to further herowngoals, shewasn''tgoing to go out of her way to bail him out.

    It was up to August to prove whether he wasactuallyworthy of a podium finishor not.

    Besides, itwasn''tlike shehad the freedom todo anything about it.

    The information she receivedwasn''tentirely correct.

    Originally, she thoughtthat thebeast would only weaken asthe terminals were solved. However, as she fought it, she realizedthat ithad several phases.

    In its first phase, it justclobberedaround and shot mes wantonly, trying to kill everything without putting in too much effort.

    Now, it was in its second phase. It had gotten stronger and sharper. It was specifically targetingherand learning how to adapt toherdarkness.

    Shedidn''teven want to know what its third phase was.

    Regardless, she could tell that her attacks were starting towork better, so she was still confident that she could beat it.

    After all, whenthe sixth terminal was activated, it would be a pig on the chopping block. Its strengthwouldn''tmatter at that point.

    It was just like Mikael in a sense.

    No matter how strong it was, itwas destinedto be defeated.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    August knew how to use water to the best of its capabilitiesevenwithout connecting it to a higher element.

    There weredefinitelyways to make water mimic life, death, or even time. However, thoseweren''tthe paths August wanted to take.

    He wassomething ofa purist, as were the rest of his bloodline. They could be as intricate as they could everpossiblywant, but they would do so with the base properties of water, proving that it alone could matchws of the highest ss.

    August nced towards the fifth terminal before ncing back at Mikael.

    Eris''current situationwasn''tin his best interest.

    He needed her tobe challenged,buthecouldn''tlet her feel like the situationwasn''tin her control.

    After all, at this point, it was practically confirmed. Eris had received information about the boss room beforehand.

    Essentially, she was cheating.

    Augustdidn''tn to call her out. It was too much to draw the entire Noctn''sattentionright now.

    However, he had to punish her actions somehow.

    In the end, Mikael was just a roadblock. The real target was always Eris.

    ''It''sbetter if I end this fast, but Idon''tthinkthat''llbe possible.''

    If there was one thing he could credit Mikael with, it was his resilience.

    He would probably find a way around the refraction problem soon enough. After that, the battle would only get longer and longer.

    ''Should I try to restrain him again?''

    It probablywouldn''twork, but it was worth a shot.

    He would be fine even if it failed, since hehad everything under control.

    August restrained the waves under his control and prepared another trap,this timebuilt tost for ages.

    However, hedidn''thave the time to do so.

    It had been roughly ten minutes since Mikael appeared. It passed fast since most of it was spent with himbeing corralled awayand pushed back, but some time hadindeedpassed.

    Itwasn''ta lot. The audience was still at the edge of their seats, unable to take their eyes offofthe action.

    Still, it was more than enough fora certainsomeone to find a way to the center.

    Valeriedidn''teven know how she got here. She ran and ran. She somehow found a path that made her suffer quite a lot, but got her to the center in the shortestamount oftime possible.

    Perhaps shereallywas lucky, orperhapsit had been rigged soshe''darrive here and give the audiences the most entertaining show possible.

    Either way, itdidn''tmatter.

    Valerie was here.

    And since she was here, there was no way shewasn''tgoing tojoin the excitement.

    ***

    Valerie''ssituation was theexactsame asMikael''s.

    She arrivedte andwas forcedto immediately assess her options.

    On one side, there was Eris Noct and thebyrinth boss.Both of themwere far beyond her level, so shedidn''twant to go anywhere near them.

    Another was August. He was her friend, and even if hewasn''t, shedidn''twant to fight him right now, especially not after both of them had gotten so much stronger.

    That left only one option,didn''tit?

    And it seemed like that option was also bothering August.

    Valerie shot into the room. Every step she took cracked the tile and caused an overgrowth of flora in the natural ground.

    She leapt forward just as Mikael encroached on August, and before he could reach the younger genius, he was body-

    mmed into a nearby wall.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Her eyes went to August, who was staring at her nkly.

    "What? It seemed like the easiest thing to do."

    August blinked a few times and shook his head.

    "Fair enough. Just distracthimfor a whileandI''lltake care of the rest. We can charge to the finish oncewe''vedealt with everything here,"he said.

    Hedidn''teven have to ask if they were allying themselves.

    "Everything?"Valerie echoed.

    "Everything."

    August replied with a grin.

    Since the two of them had made it to this point,both of themwould stand on the podium.

    They couldpete to see who came first and who came second once they had the freedom to do it casually.

    Until then¡­

    Valerie charged towards the manshe''dbody mmed, giving him no time toprehend the situation.

    And August rushed to the fifth terminal, continuing his n to take care of Eris Noct.

    The dynamic duo, two people who had entered this war through the elimination round formoners, two people who had fought each other until the end of that round¡­

    Now that they were on the same team, everysingleobserver wanted to seewhat they were capable of.

    And they were going to show them exactly that.

 Chapter 1682 Victor [9]

    Chapter 1682 Victor [9]

    ??The fifth terminal was another massive change.

    It and thest station were far more important than their predecessors. If the others unlocked the potential for them to activate, these two terminals were the ones thatactuallyguided and facilitated the activation.

    When August activated it and saw the puzzle for the first time, he was a bit confused.

    The difficulty level had shot up, and the actual contents had changedpletely.

    From two dimensions to three dimensions, August was already expecting a four-dimensional puzzle to present itself here.

    But that wasn''t the case.

    The puzzle was still defined within a three-dimensional space, however, it was more of a world now.

    There were tiny individuals on a tiny that presented itself as nothing more than a hologram.

    Still, they had lives and emotions, personalities individual toeach and everyone of them.

    August was just seeing the world from an outside perspective, but for some reason, he could feel their presence, the breath of life emanating from their bodies.

    Yet, he also knew they didn''t exist.

    ''This doesn''t seem like it could be done with just the power of the Holy ns.''

    Even if it was just an illusion, it was still too vivid for any dragon to produce.

    August was immediately suspicious of the terminal''s origins, but for now, he focused on the puzzle itself.

    Which, by the way, wasn''t forgiving at all.

    It didn''t tell him what to do.

    Clearly,his goal wasn''t the same as it was when the puzzlesreallywere just puzzles.

    There had to be something for him to solve in this world to make it whole. Only then would he be able to move on to the sixth terminal.

    However, it waspletely up to him to figure out what it was.

    He could zoom as he pleased and even follow a single person through their daily life if he wanted to. He could also zoom out and see the entire universe from an overseer''s perspective.

    August had been given a godly omniscience in that world.

    And he needed to figure out exactly how to use it.

    His mind woulddefinitelyreceive a workout here, but hedefinitelywasn''t the one struggling the hardest in this space.

    After all, not only was there Eris, whose fight was slowly reaching a level that August couldn''t stand, but there were also Valerie and Mikael, who had only just started fighting.

    Both were in conflicts that would determine their fates.

    And when it came to Valerie specifically¡­

    While she entered the central area in high spirits, it was fair to say that she wasn''t in the best state.

    Fighting Remelia took a lot out of her, but for the sake of her and August''s victory, she got up and fought again.

    Luckily, she''d made a lot of progress during her previous battle.

    Mikael wasn''t nearly as much of a threat as Remelia was.

    Not only because of her growth¡­

    ¡­but because their elements wereplementary.

    BOOM!

    Mikael didn''t ask questions. Since Valerie decided to attack him, he was going to fight back.

    He could always worry about Augustter. The threat in front of him was always the most dangerous one.

    After all, in this situation, all four of them werepeting for the podium, and only three of them could take their ces on it.

    Mikael didn''t care if it was August or Valerie.

    One person had to be eliminated. Whichever one served themself up for ughter was the one that would go.

    He spun in the air and kicked, creating a manifested dragon of light that rushed at Valerie.

    Several roots immediately jumped out of the ground and blocked his attacks.

    BOOM!

    There was indeed a loud sound as the two forces made impact, but it wasreallycaused by all of the wind pressure that Mikael created.

    The light itself¡­

    Well, everyone knew how wood reacted to light.

    It was absorbed, turned into nutrients that boosted the roots'' vitality.

    The only thing that Mikael''s base attacks could do to her was enhance.

    Of course, it wasn''t like he couldn''t harm her.

    Elemental advantages were always useful to have. It would lead to an inherent advantage that could only be surpassed with pure skill or absolute strength.

    Mikael didn''t have absolute strength in this situation, but he certainly had skill. It was the exact thing that let him beat out the rest of his n''s geniuses topete on this stage.

    He attacked again.

    Light was a difficult power to manipte.

    Elena had a light affinity as well, but without her connection to Valha, it would have been discarded long ago.

    Life was simply far more powerful. Light had potential, but Elena couldn''t find ways to bring it to a level powerful enough to support her on bigger stages.

    It could be used to heal, sure, but that was not abat ability.

    It could be used for speed, sure, but that left one''s actual power in the hands of their physical fitness.

    When it came to manifesting light, there weren''t a lot of options.

    Stars, balls, beams, and other simple structures were the only real mediums that a genius like Mikael had.

    Still, he made do with those restrictions and turned his power into something valuable, just as every other member of a light dragon n did.

    It worked well enough if one could do it properly. Otherwise, the Aurora n could''ve never be one of the six Holy ns of Arulion.

    When Mikael attacked again, he used properties of fire within his light.

    His body surged with power as he wrapped himself in ayer of the element.

    Speed was still important. The weaknesses of this technique could be filled in by other techniques.

    And, heat was always an important factor of light.

    Valerie had just finished dealing with someone whose entire identity revolved around that concept, so shedefinitelywasn''t happy to encounter it again.

    Still, that was how the situation turned out.

    Valerie instantly summoned a massive forest that took up a defeat chunk of the central area.

    Practically the only things left uncovered were August and the terminals, and Eris and the beast.

    The heated light beams that sted towards Valerie were stuck in the forest. They struck a few trees and burned through them, but they couldn''t reach Valerie through the thick foliage.

    That wasn''t necessarily a problem for Mikael.

    With his speed enhanced to such a degree, he could move like he was teleporting:

    With a level of dexterity that only light could possess, he shot straight through the forest, phasing through any obstacles that he couldn''t avoid directly,

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The light of the explosion as he struck towards Valerie was extremely bright, enough to almost blind the spectators outside.

    If it wasn''t for the intervention of the tournament staff, there truly would have been injuries.

    A massive forest, and in its midst, a dome of pure golden-white light.

    It was already a mystifying scene, and it became even better when audiences realized that it was only half of what was happening in the central area.

    Thisreallywas the fight to end it all.

    The oue of this altercation would determine the final rankings of the heir wars'' first round.

    And though all of the participants, except for Eris, of course, seemed like they were evenly matched¡­

    ¡­this fight would end sooner than anyone in the audience expected.

 Chapter 1683 Victor [10]

    Chapter 1683 Victor [10]

    ??The fifth terminal was extremely intuitive. When August questioned what he needed to do, he found himself in a bottomless pit of questions without answers.

    However, when he started acting just to see what kind of privileges he had in this simted world, he almost instantly figured out how to solve the puzzle.

    In fact,the focus of the puzzle wasn''t even the world that he saw when he first activated it.

    There was a second world, a dead one, not far from that one.

    It had all of the necessary elements to create life, but it didn''t have the means to undergo the proper reactions.

    August''s job was to use the first world as a guideline to help the second world grow.

    Once it birthed society, he seeded.

    It was tough.

    August didn''t have toprehend otherws to put them into use. Since he had omnipotence in this world, he could put them in ce without actually knowing how they worked.

    It was like a game.

    Still, August had to learn how the differentws worked together to support life. He had to learn how they leaned on each other, conflicted, and found harmony in a system that simply couldn''t be created by an individual.

    The universe was beautiful, and though August was never meant to marvel at its beauty, he couldn''t help but do so.

    After all, he was, in a sense,prehending its inner workings with a puzzle like this.

    Nevertheless, he took it in stride and did end up finishing the fifth terminal. This was just a few minutes after Mikael''s massive explosion.

    The problem was what happened next.

    Valerie and Mikael were off doing their own thing. As the entire forest was Valerie''s domain, their battle wouldn''t be leaving it any time soon, if at all.

    In the midst ofso much continuous action, people tended to forget about Eris.

    She was the one doing the least. She was struggling, but against a beast that was created to make her struggle.

    Her fight simply wasn''t as exciting as what everyone else was doing. Her goal was to corral the beast, to wear it down so that she could eventually unleash her full power and kill it.

    That meant she was only using the most basic attacks, never transmuting her darkness too far away from its original oceanic form.

    When Eris was the one in front of it, the beast looked like a morized punching bag no matter how hard it tried.

    But thepletion of the fifth terminal removed all of its aggro from her.

    The beast instinctually knew that there was something wrong. There was only one terminal remaining, and that piece of technology was paramount to its survival.

    If that was alsopleted, then it would die.

    Even if it didn''t have much sentience, it could understand that much.

    Eris was a threat that it had already registered. It didn''t need confirmation to know that she was dangerous.

    But August, the person who was manipting the terminals, was a threat that it had only discovered now.

    And one that was far more dangerous than Eris.

    OOOOOOOOOOH!

    The beast bellowed, its ming eyes zing to another level.

    It turned its body as a wave of power shot through its bones and nerves. Its eyes were now focused on August.

    His eyes widened in response.

    ''Oh no.''

    This wasn''t in his predictions, but now that the situation was in front of him, he had to admit that he should''ve considered it.

    He was the only one who could activate the sixth terminal.

    Which meant that from now on, the beast''s full attention would be on him.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    They were not attacks, but footsteps. Each one caused the ground to rumble and tear as the beast charged towards August.

    It shattered Eris'' swamp of darkness instantly. Nobody watching could believe that it was being restricted by the power just moments ago.

    Still, regardless of where it got its power, the beast found a way to reach August at any cost.

    To it, he was the most important person in the room.

    ''Tch!''

    August quickly leapt out of the way.

    He was lucky that it was slow, but its power made up for that weakness.

    BOOOOOM!

    The elephant stomped into the ground. A wave of earthen spikes erupted forth and chased after August, forcing him to jump out of the way.

    BANG!

    He had the wind knocked out of him by the pressure that followed those earth spikes.

    But, he avoided being skewered, so he couldn''tin.

    ''That thing¡­''

    August has a huge frown on his face.

    He obviously couldn''t handle it.

    In the second of respite that he had, he nced at Eris, only to receive a shrug.

    "If you can bring it back to the inner ring, then I can take it from you."

    In ssic Eris fashion, she wasn''t unwilling to help, but she wouldn''t go out of her way to do it.

    If August could earn his right to survive, then he could.

    If he fell here, then that was that.

    It was quite simple in her mind, especially when the other party was a stranger, moreover, apetitor.

    But Augustclearlydidn''t take it well.

    He gritted his teeth and faced the beast that was once again charging at him at full force.

    ''The inner ring, huh?''

    That was doable.

    ''If I can read a Holy n genius, if I can read a God¡­''

    His eyes sharpened.

    ''...then I can read a mindless beast.''

    Eris thought she had given him a challenge, but she''dactuallymade August''s job a lot easier.

    Plus, since she''d said those words out loud instead of using sound transmission, the audience had heard them. She couldn''t go back on her promise without breaking her image in their eyes.

    OOOOOOOOOOH!

    The elephant raised its trunk. Its eyes burned as energy gathered in its tusks.

    Two massive beams of energy sted towards August, surrounding a ball of mes that did the same.

    All three attacks were simple on the surface, but the destructive force they contained was nothing tough at.

    ''Flexibility.''

    That was the exact concept of water that he needed right now.

    He took note of his surroundings.

    Where the sixth terminal was, where Eris was, where Valerie and Mikael were¡­

    By the time he already had them all noted, the energy was already upon him.

    VOOOOOM!

    He stomped his foot again. Mana burst from the ground and created a massive wall of white water that took most of the energy into its form.

    August''s arms shook as he manipted it to the best of his ability, but once heactuallyfelt the elephant''s energy for himself, he gave up on trying to control it.

    ''This thingreallyis a mid-level 4th ss at least.''

    Even if it was mindless, its power was at a level that August couldn''t fight against until hehimselfentered that mystical realm.

    BOOM!

    August let the power go loose.

    Most of it had already been redirected, so he didn''t have to worry about the consequences.

    Just as when he retracted Mikael''s light, the beams split and hit the walls, some of the trees in Valerie''s forest, and even Eris.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    The elephant was already barreling forward by the time August finished dealing with its previous attack.

    When the white water came down and August saw it again, it was already toote for him to do anything.

    ''It''s toote.''

    He crossed his arms in front of his chest, straightened his body, and prepared to take the hit.

    ''This is going to hurt.''

    It would hurt, but he could use it to his advantage as long as he tried.''

    As crowds watched on, as Eris, Mikael, and Valerie turned their attention to him for a split second, everyone saw the collision between August and the beast.

    To say it was brutal was an understatement.

    This was the first time August had taken a serious hit since the beginning of the heir wars.

    And as he expected¡­

    Itreally, really, really hurt.

 Chapter 1684 Victor [11]

    Chapter 1684 Victor [11]

    ??BANG!

    August''s body crashed against the far wall. It wasn''t a sight that anyone wanted to see.

    Blood shot out of his mouth, spraying into the air. That was something people were used to seeing. The real brutality was elsewhere.

    The sheer force at which August hit the wall was enough to tten a normal person.

    His blood sttered all over it as his back was torn to shreds.

    As he fell to the ground and copsed on his knees, a wave of gasps dawned on the crowd.

    August had been doing so well in this tournament that they''d forgotten what his actual strength level was.

    He was able to fight against some of the weaker 4th ss beings, but at this time, August was the only 3rd ss participating at all.

    After all, while the restrictions allowed anyone under 100 to participate, no sane person would send their weaker geniuses topete.

    There were people nearingthe age limit who had been training for decades. They''d umted power that a mere teenager could never match, which practically meant that only those with the talent to reach the same level faster could properlypete.

    Someone like Eris, despite being in herte twenties, qualified as this type of person.

    Someone like August, on the other hand, was a real underdog.

    Nobody expected him to win when they looked at things practically.

    But, after seeing him fight for his ce in thispetition, they couldn''t help but root for him.

    That impact was terrifying.

    It didn''t just knock the wind and blood out of him, it shook his brain around and made him woozy.

    The entire world was spinning, but August could still see the elephantine beast charging at him once again.

    ''Is this the end?''

    It wasn''t August''s thought, but that of everyone watching him.

    They couldn''t see a way for him to get out of this situation, even with his knowledge of thebyrinth.

    August didn''t think the same.

    His state was worse for wear. He knew better than anyone just how much his body was impacted by that strike.

    However, he had a n that he needed to follow, and he wouldn''t stop until he''dpleted it.

    A grin spread across his face.

    His blood boiled.

    Death. He could feel it.

    August wasn''t like his father. He didn''t get a rush out of being on the edge of death. He didn''t chase the high that came with battle.

    Still, when he found himself in that position, every bone in his body rebelled.

    Every single cell that made up the organism known as August Void revolted, refusing to give up.

    He stood up, wobbling slightly as he stared at the elephant.

    ''My mana still works.''

    The activation of his energy hadn''t been inhibited in the slightest.

    ''Then¡­''

    August dashed out.

    His speed was far slower than before, but he turned the ground to ice to help him move.

    The elephantine beast just barely missed him, but the winds that followed it still pushed him away.

    August looked behind him and smiled.

    ''Good. This is the way.''

    He just needed to get that thing to the inner ring.

    Eris was probably hoping for more of a show, but he wasn''t going to give her what she wanted.

    The beast was mindless. Corralling it wasn''t an issue at all.

    Since it was seeing red, it was attacking without a second thought.

    It turned around when it realized that August had escaped and sent another slew of beam attacks rushingtowardshim.

    This time, August was prepared for their power.

    He summoned another wall of white water.

    Recognizing the wall as the very thing that let it hit him before, the beast charged again, refusing to use the full capability of its energy-based attacks.

    August couldn''t stand its strength.

    When it charged through that water wall, it would kill him once and for all.

    Or so it thought.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Its steps rocked the entire arena once again.

    It crashed through the white water nearly at the same time as its energy did, but when it got to the other side¡­

    ¡­it realized that August was already gone.

    It was toote.

    Instead of trying to block or disperse the energy beams, August had gone prone to the ground and expended arge portion of his mana.

    He didn''t create a thinyer of ice as he''d done before. That would just shatter under the beast''s weight. August used the underground reservoir to destroy all of the earth between it and him, and when it reached the surface and created a river in the space that was left, he froze it solid.

    What the elephantine beast found on the other side of the white water was a surface that had no traction, a surface that could support its entire weight without a problem.

    And despite its massive strength, it did the same thing that a regr animal would have done.

    It slipped.

    The beast lost its grip on the ground and slid across the ice, panicking as it tried to stabilize itself.

    It was already something of a miracle that the beast managed to keep itself upright, but, it couldn''t stop its momentum in time.

    It slid and slid and slid. August was already gone, but there was indeed someone in its path.

    ''That little bastard¡­''

    Eris clicked her tongue.

    The beast was gaining momentum with every second.

    There was a massive elephant crashingstraight towards her.

    It happened in a way that nobody had expected, but August managed to trick the beast into sliding straight back into the inner ring.

    And, because she''d already made a promise, Eris was forced to ept that she''d have to take the beast''s aggro again.

    August was already gone, far away from the beast''s perceptive radius.

    He limped as fast as he could and made it to the sixth terminal.

    All he needed to do was solve it.

    He needed to solve it and cross the finish. Only then could he pass out.

    As his left leg iled around, as blood dripped from his back and created a river, as his wounds became worse and worse, this motivation was the only thing that kept him going.

    This win¡­

    The crowd now understood just how badly he wanted it.

    His determination was infectious.

    Valerie felt her blood rush as herowndesire to win grew to mimic his.

    She looked at Mikael, who was already falling to her advantages, with cold eyes.

    Valerie was already rushing their battle, using cheap tricks to wear him down.

    But now that August had shown something like that, she wasn''t going to keep doing the same thing.

    Mikael needed to go down now because she needed to get to August as soon as possible to support him.

    It was an opportunity for Valerie to show the crowd exactly what she had as well.

    Just¡­it was unfortunate for Mikael.

    He was trying his hardest, but the remaining enemies were all the banes of his existence.

    No matter what he tried, he couldn''t gain an advantage against any of them.

    His power wasn''t enough to ovee them, and his skill was being equally matched by theirs.

    Unlike some of the other geniuses who''d participated in thebyrinth challenge, Mikaelreallydid deserve to be here.

    Unfortunately, hereallywas going to be manhandled and thrown away.

    That was the tragic future that had been written for him in the books of fate.

    And there was nothing he could do to change it.

 Chapter 1685 Victor [12]

    Chapter 1685 Victor [12]

    ??The battle between Valerie and Mikael was entertaining, but not nearly as much as what August was doing.

    People watched it because it was quite even at first, but the gap started to show itself as the minutes flew past.

    Mikael had a domain out as well. The entire forest was backed by a rising sun that enhanced Mikael''s power.

    The problem was that Valerie stole his energy and used it to enhance her own as well.

    It wasn''t something he allowed. As they fought, Mikael realized that his control wasn''t anywhere near Valerie''s level. He tried to stop her, but he really couldn''t do anything about it.

    He had to go home and train specifically to fight people who had elemental advantages against him.

    He knew how to deal with dark dragons and he knew how to deal with water dragons, but he''d never interacted with wood dragons before in his life.

    The fact that her n had been cast out of Arulion gave Valerie an unexpected advantage, and as she exploited it for everything it could give, she took the edge over Mikael.

    Her every attack made him more weary. Her every attack drew away just a little bit of his vitality.

    It wasn''t much in the moment, butwith the passing of time, it stacked up and created a massive gap between them.

    Mikael was tired. Not because he ran out of energy, but because Valerie kept stealing it.

    Mikael tried to fight, but no matter what he did, Valerie always maintained the upper hand.

    Towards the end, it became a bit depressing to see him continue to fight.

    Even Valerie felt the same.

    That was why she ended it fast.

    She appeared right in front of Mikael, who could no longer use light to increase his speed.

    She bashed his head in with the trunk of a dead tree, and when she saw that he was barely standing, she wrapped him with roots and buried him in the ground.

    At that point, it didn''t even matter if Mikael was still in thepetition.

    Valerie had already left him and the first as a whole.

    She arrived near August, who was pushing himself to finish the sixth terminal, and put a massive wooden barrier around him.

    August didn''t look up from the terminal, but Valerie could feel his gratitude.

    He also wanted them to win together, so Valerie being here was perfect.

    ''It''s all been set up.''

    August had a lot of ups and downs since he entered the central area, but everything was put in ce before Mikael ever arrived.

    He just needed to finish the terminals to activate everything he set up when he was at the third one.

    And though the sixth terminal was also nuanced like its predecessor, August didn''t need to think anymore.

    The maze had beenpletely dissected by him. Everything it did and everything it could do was within his expectations.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    A massive explosion rang out as Eris kept fighting the beast, which, by the way, was still trying to get to August.

    Valerie also held it back, creating barrier after barrier topletely separate it from him.

    August did his best to move as fast as possible, but he was currently half-crippled. His speed was naturally slower, especially when he couldn''t enhance it using mana.

    BOOOOOM!

    The beast crashed against one of Valerie''s barriers.

    Eris was somewhat leading it to them to put pressure on them, but she was making sure it didn''t get too close.

    After all, she needed August to finish too.

    Subtly, he was being supported by both other active yers in the central area.

    Maybe that was why he was able to do it without inhibition.

    The sixth terminal had a challenge simr to thest. August was forced to raise the society he created in the fifth terminal and help them thrive.

    It was hard to be a ruler, but through the terminals, August was able to gain a little bit of practical experience.

    And since hepletedeach and everyone of them, he showed everyone that he was worthy of the throne.

    No, he showed them that he was born for it.

    There was a subtle beep as he finished the sixth and final terminal.

    It sunk into the ground as August and Valerie watched on.

    The entire array shined. A mechanism was activated, though very few knew what it was meant to do.

    "What now?" Valerie asked.

    She felt rushed, but August had a rxed demeanor that didn''t originate from his injuries.

    Heactuallylooked relieved, like he''d already won.

    August grinned as if to confirm her suspicions.

    "Now, we fall."

    But those words did anything but.

    "...!"

    Valerie didn''t have time to respond. The ground opened beneath them and swallowed them whole.

    It was an abrupt change, one that nobody in the crowd was expecting.

    Wasn''t this the final portion of thebyrinth?

    Why had they been transferred elsewhere, and why weren''t the screens showing what happened to them?

    Amotion spread through the onlookers, but theyreallywere the only ones confused.

    Eris immediately felt the change.

    The beast halted for just a second, and a red aura covered its entire body.

    She knew exactly what that meant.

    It had entered its final phase.

    For most beasts, that would be the most threatening part of their transformation.

    But for this one¡­

    BOOOOM!

    The sea of darkness broke through all of Valerie''s barriers.

    And what was revealed when they fell¡­

    ''They''re gone.''

    Eris grinned.

    It seemed that not only August but Valerie had also been caught in the trap mechanism connected to the terminals.

    ''This is my win.''

    She nced at the beast.

    Its aura was far more massive than it had ever been before, but that aura came at a price.

    All of the tiny wounds that it had umted were now bleeding profusely.

    The beast was huffing furiously as it finally felt all of the wear it had gained during the battle thus far.

    Eris pped her hands together.

    ''Emptiness.''

    She released the entirety of her power.

    The central area went dark.

    It was pitch-ck, even to the viewers outside.

    They only understood what was happening when Eris lit a small light to illuminate herself and the beast.

    It was frozen in time, unable to move or even think.

    Its ming eyes were filled with emotions that nobody expected to see, emotions that could only present themselves in conscious entities.

    Confusion, panic, terror.

    Nobody understood why it was showing them such emotions.

    And nobody would get the chance.

    The small light that Eris created illuminated that thing.

    A de bigger than the entire length of the central area.

    It swung down in the silent room, melding in with the darkness.

    And the instant it made contact with the beast¡­

    SHIIING!

    A sound like metal whizzing through the air.

    With it as the only indicator of what happened, the beast''s head fell to the ground.

    The darkness cleared, giving the crowd full visibility again.

    They saw Erisa standing over the fallen beast''s corpse, and, in the next second¡­

    ¡­she disappeared as well.

    The screens went ck and disappeared before being reced with only two projections.

    One showed Eris.

    And the other showed August and Valerie.

    The only question was¡­

    Now that they''d all left the central area, just what were they doing?

 Chapter 1686 Victor [13]

    Chapter 1686 Victor [13]

    ??Eris knew she would be transported when the beast died, but she expected to be in a corridor.

    That was where the path to the finish line was. It was where she rightfully deserved to be.

    But what was this?

    Why was she stuck in eternal darkness, unable to decipher anything?

    Those questionsreallyonly existed in her mind for a few moments. Almost instantly, her mind processed exactly what had happened.

    ''That little¡­''

    "BASTARD!"

    She roared.

    There was only one person who could mess with the mechanisms of the central room, and that was the one person who had interacted with them.

    August Void.

    The genius that was originally supposed to be her stepping stone¡­

    Had he used her as a stepping stone instead¡­?

    "Unbelievable¡­"

    She truly couldn''t fathom it.

    Some random bastard from a n she didn''t care to know the name of dared to provoke her?

    He dared to y her for a fool?!

    This was the space where he was supposed to end up. It was a ce where he''d be trapped until everyone else in the trial had finished.

    But, now that it was her prison instead¡­

    ''See what happens.''

    Her eyes were practically bloodshot.

    She meant it.

    He would see what happened when someone decided that a member of the Noct n could be messed with.

    This ce couldn''t hold her.

    Nothing could hold her.

    Nothing could stop her from finding him and ughtering him.

    That much, no matter what her circumstances were, she could guarantee.

    Eris'' power roared to life.

    The ckness around her started to shrink as she consumed it, taking it into her body.

    August thought he''d gotten off easy because he didn''t understand the exact nature of the trap he''d sent Eris to deal with.

    Little did he know that his troubles were far from over.

    Whether it be thest few moments of this event or the remainder of his life once he left¡­

    ¡­Eris would ensure that he''d suffer.

    ***

    As expected, August and Valerie ended up in the corridor that Eris was expecting to see.

    "Huu¡­"

    August took a deep breath.

    "We made it!" Valerie eximed.

    "We made it, but we still need to hurry," August replied.

    He was certain that Eris wouldn''te for them any time soon, but it was best to not take risks when dealing with people like her.

    "Hey, help me out a little. Let''s get to the finish. We can decide who goes first and who goes second once we get there."

    August couldn''t necessarily walk on his own at the moment.

    Luckily, Valerie was something of a healer. She wasn''t the best yet, but her element allowed her to do basic healing even without experience.

    She used her mana on August''s leg, which allowed him to move properly.

    It wouldn''t function if he had to do more than that, but it was enough for now.

    "Let''s go."

    August nodded.

    He and Valerie rushed through the corridor. The blue light was only around 500 meters away. They could cross it in a matter of minutes.

    It seemed like an anticlimactic finish, but this was exactly what August had been working towards.

    A calm run to the finish, unobstructed by threats.

    That was how it went.

    At least, for the majority of the distance.

    Five steps.

    She appeared when they were only five steps away from the finish line.

    In her full glory, with fury in her eyes, Eris Noct appeared at the end of the corridor.

    And her aura was nothing to scoff at.

    August had severely underestimated her. What he assumed would take her at least half an hour to escape was dealt with in a matter of five minutes or less.

    And somehow, not only had she dealt with it in that shortspan of time, but she''d also made her way here.

    August didn''t know if she was cheating or if she did it legitimately, but it didn''t matter.

    Eris was already here, which meant that if they couldn''t make thesest five steps in time, they would lose.

    August and Valerie were several hundred meters away, yet they still felt suffocated when she appeared.

    "You. Dirty. Little. Bastard."

    Her words echoed through the corridor. Each one was enunciated clearly, and somehow they allnded before August and Valerie could take another step.

    They did take that step, though.

    Four steps remained until they crossed the finish line.

    The moment Eris appeared, time slowed immensely.

    It was sluggish as if even it couldn''t exist properly in her presence.

    Every single moment was excruciatingly long. Every step took ages to touch the ground.

    They had only taken a single step, but Eris was already acting.

    "DIE!"

    VOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Her aura raged. Pure ckness enveloped the entire corridor, leaving only the soft blue light of the finish line visible.

    They crawled out from the walls, the floor, and the emptiness above; creatures undefinable bymon means.

    They were pure manifestations of Eris'' power.Each and everyone was deadly.

    August only had time for one thought.

    ''She was lying.''

    The entire time, Eris had been hiding arge portion of her talent and power. Perhaps it was to throw off the other Holy ns, but it didn''t matter anymore.

    Eris was mad. She was so furious that she didn''t even care if others learned how powerful she was.

    She didn''t give a single ounce of thought to the fact that the people she was attacking could both be ended with just a slight move from her.

    Consumed by rage, Eris just acted.

    And this was the result of that.

    A massive horde of dark beasts, loyal to hermand, charging through the tight corridor that led to the finish line.

    Three steps.

    There were only three steps left before they crossed it, but that wave was already upon them.

    Two steps.

    August and Valerie rapidly put up any defenses they could, but the swarm tore through them like they were made of paper.

    August felt something tear off of his leg. Luckily, it was the leg that was still dysfunctional from his previous injuries, so it didn''t affect him much.

    But, when one of those things gripped his other ankle in its mouth and thrashed around, August truly felt the pain.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    He put mana into that ankle to temporarily ignore the damage.

    One step.

    One step was all there was separating August and Valerie from the finish line.

    That space filled with soft blue light, that very obvious indicator that their challenge would end in but a second, was right in front of them.

    They could feel it. If they reached out, they could touch it.

    But, that one step couldn''t be covered.

    Eris was already here. She teleported through the hall and arrived above them in the two steps they''d taken since the swarm appeared.

    And she was still attacking.

    August gritted his teeth and made a decision.

    His foot was already moving toplete thatst step, but instead of letting it touch the ground, he pushed off of his other foot and turned his body.

    Bang!

    "Ah¡­!"

    Valerie made a small sound as his body collided with hers.

    She stumbled and flew forward. She thought that was the end of her, but her fall was orchestrated with a purpose.

    As Valerie flew forward, August''s body naturally concluded its turn to face the iing horde.

    He couldn''t see what happened to her, but he grinned anyway.

    It wasn''t like he could check.

    The only thing he could feel, see, sense, and hear was the immense force crushing down on him from above.

    It overloaded his senses and tried to drive him insane, but his mind didn''t suffer the effects of its corrosion.

    His body, though¡­

    He tried to move his eyes up to see what was about to hit him, but he was perceiving time in milliseconds. He didn''t have nearly the opening to do it.

    August''s body flew through the air, just barely touching the finish line as he fell towards the ground.

    And¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    That was thest thing he saw.

    The terrifying beasts in front of him, Eris above him, and a wall of darkness crushing him t.

    His vision went ck.

    His mind left the world of the living.

    And that was the end of it.

    That was thest memory August had of thebyrinth.

 Chapter 1687 Allegiances [1]

    Chapter 1687 Allegiances [1]

    ??"Hnngh¡­"

    August''s mind returned to consciousness in an extremely groggy state.

    Heactuallycame back to the world of the living before his body did, so for a few seconds, he sat there and did his best to open his eyes before seeding.

    Still, he eventually did.

    Luckily, the few seconds he spent with them closed let him register the light shining through his eyelids and adapt to it. He wasn''t immediately blinded when he opened them, but it did still hurt.

    He sat up, curiously feeling his body.

    ''I''m¡­fine?''

    Thest thing he remembered was being murdered by Eris Noct. He didn''t expect to wake up with not a single indication of injury on his body.

    But, that was the case.

    It was the power of draconic healing. August''s body was a mess when he came out of thebyrinth.

    He''d been protected by the mechanisms in ce, but his limbs were severely injured and his chest was caved in. An average person would have died to such injuries, but his "death" to Eris still took ce under the restrictions of thebyrinth.

    As such, he''d been saved. Quite thoroughly, at that.

    ''I must be in the medical center.''

    He was surrounded by empty beds in a small room with some equipment in it. There wasn''t much else other than the door that led to the outside, but that was where his answers originated from.

    It opened, giving way for a woman to walk in.

    "Oh? You''re awake?" She said as soon as she saw August.

    "You are¡­?" He replied, despite how obvious the answer was.

    "I am the one who made sure that you wouldn''t suffer from anysting injuries. On that note, shouldn''t you fix your attitude?"

    She said it yfully, but August took those words seriously.

    She was a healer, so of course she deserved respect.

    "Thank you."

    He bowed his head respectfully, causing her eyes to slightly widen in surprise.

    "There''s no need. I''m just doing my job."

    August nodded.

    "Is thepetition over? How long have I been unconscious?"

    He could understand the gist of it all with the context clues that he had, but he still didn''t know how long he''d been out.

    Nor did he know how that final momentactuallypanned out.

    The nurse didn''t answer him immediately. Instead, she took a device and scanned his body before looking over the information that appeared on a screen she held.

    Her eyes went from side to side as she read through it, and when she finished, she nodded with a smile.

    "I could answer those questions, butit''s better for you to findout for yourself. Plus, you woke up at a perfect time."

    She walked to his side and helped him remove some of the sensors and machines that were attached to his body.

    "Right outside of that door is the arena that you were in before. If you want to find out how everything ended¡­"

    "...then why don''t you go see for yourself? The final ceremony is going to begin soon."

    "Oh?"

    If that was true, then he could''ve only been out for a few hours at most.

    He stood up rapidly before realizing that he had nothing but a gown on.

    "Ah¡­my clothes¡­?"

    "They''re on the table over there," the nurse said, giggling slightly.

    "I will give you space so you can change. But, before I leave, I guess I should be the first one to say it."

    She smiled, bowing slightly before opening the door behind her.

    "Congrattions, August Void."

    With that, she left.

    August raised an eyebrow.

    ''Is that good news?''

    Did he seed in doing what he wanted?

    If so, then he needed to get to the final ceremony as soon as possible.

    August hurriedly put his clothes on and rushed out of the medical center.

    He found himself in a tunnel leading to the arena. Even from here, he could hear the crowd and the announcer''s voice.

    "Look at this timing, everyone!" The announcer yelled, energy filling the air with his every word.

    "I have just received news that our star of the day has awoken! He should being now, so may I present to you¡­"

    August had been slowly walking through the tunnel while listening to the announcer, but hearing his words, he started to jog.

    All he could see was a blinding light at the end of the tunnel, but he knew what he would find on the other side.

    "A boy far younger and less powerful than everyone else, yet a man who found a ce above them all! May I present to you¡­"

    August rushed into the light.

    He was swallowed by it, enveloped in all its glory as it faded and allowed him to see what was now around him.

    "August Void!"

    RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

    Like a thundering volcano erupting, like an earthquake splitting the world, the crowd roared with such fervor that the entire arena shook.

    The sun shined through the open roof above, illuminating the tens of thousands of people in the stands.

    Tens of thousands of people who all had their eyes on him.

    Excitement, adoration, respect¡­their emotions hit him like a tidal wave, instantly overwhelming his senses.

    He stumbled a little as he took it in.

    Thebyrinth was gone. The arena floor was inhabited by only a podium and a set of seats prepared for the geniuses who didn''t ce and the elites who had the right to sit in such prestigious positions.

    There were two people on the podium and one spot open.

    August grinned when he saw it.

    The feeling of the crowd''s acknowledgement, that podium spot that told everyone that he had what it took to be the emperor¡­

    He reveled in this atmosphere.

    This feeling of being above ten thousand people, the feeling of knowing that even more were reacting the same way outside the arena¡­

    It gave August another reason to be the Dragon Emperor.

    These would be his people once he took that position.

    With their overwhelming support, August walked up to the podium and took his ce. The announcer couldn''t even say another word over the cheers of the crowd.

    "And that''s it!"

    Still, he put on a show worthy of his position.

    "Our top three finishers in the first round of the heir wars!"

    He waved his arm mboyantly, and a massive projection appeared in the air.

    "In third ce, August Void!"

    He looked a bit awkward, but perhaps that was his charm.

    "In second ce¡­"

    "Eris Noct!"

    If there was one thing that was clear whether through the projection or in reality, it was Eris'' killing intent.

    From the moment August appeared, it had been barely constrained. But, with the atmosphere being as positive as it was, neither August nor the audience took a single second to consider her emotions.

    After all, she was the viin of this round.

    And, she was only in second ce.

    The victor''s position went exactly where it was meant to be.

    "And in first ce, our overall winner¡­Valerie Revell!"

    She also looked awkward, but it was only because she felt conflicted about her win.

    Still, seeing August smiling at her, proud that she''d made it to that ce, she felt morefortable as well.

    She raised her arm in a pose of victory, and the crowd went wild.

    It wasn''t just about how thrilling thebyrinth challenge had been.

    It was the fact that two of the three podium spots had been taken bymoners.

    Above the noble ns, above even a Holy n stood amoner.

    And for a crowd made up of mainly people on their side of the ss divide¡­

    That meant everything.

 Chapter 1688 Allegiances [2]

    Chapter 1688 Allegiances [2]

    ??The final ceremony wasn''t tooplex. It was something that would be done after every round of thepetition, so it couldn''t be too much work to do.

    The top three would be ced on a podium and celebrated as they were, and the next round would be announced.

    That was the end of it.

    The cheers of the crowd never seemed to fade, though.

    August, Valerie, and Eris were led out into a separate tunnel from which they could covertly leave the arena. The rest of the geniuses also followed.

    All the way, they listened to those cheers.

    For some, it was motivation. For some, it was envy. For some, it was hatred. And for some, it was joy.

    Their mixture of emotions would be the norm as the heir wars continued. The disparity in points would berger andrger until only a select few could hope to feel the more positive emotions connected to this departing moment.

    Unfortunately, not everyone could be happy with what they had.

    Valerie, Eris, and August were respectively rewarded with ten, eight, and five points ording to the heir wars system.

    There wasn''t a huge gap between them, but they were far ahead of anyone else.

    And, they were the first podium finishers of the entire event.

    This was huge for all of them, however, Eris was too caught up in what happened to feel any joy.

    She had been thoroughly humiliated.

    Even after using so much power on a mere third ss dragon, she still finished only second.

    It was uneptable.

    And it was all the fault of the boy who she just learned was amoner.

    Eris wasn''t one to care about the ss divide. It didn''t matter to her at all.

    But, she couldn''t stand the fact that someone of that level, someone who had far fewer opportunities and resources than her, was able to make a fool out of her.

    It didn''t make sense.

    No, it couldn''t be allowed.

    "You''re dead."

    She muttered it under her breath as they walked through the tunnel, but said it loud enough for August to hear her.

    He didn''t say anything in response.

    August and Valerie nced at each other as if understanding each other''s intent.

    "She''s probably just talking big, butit''s true that we''llbe under a lot of pressure," Valerie said through sound transmission."

    "Yup," August responded with the same method, "we don''treallyhave the means or the time to deal with Holy ns right now. I don''t even think we can deal with noble ns yet."

    August had performed above his means and naturally attracted attention.

    Valerie was not only associated with him, but also the first-ce finisher. Whether it was a product of herownefforts or outside help didn''t matter.

    If she wasn''t valuable, then she would''ve never been in thatst corridor at all.

    Some people would try to recruit them, while others would do everything possible to make sure they couldn''t repeat the same sceneagain.

    At the end of the day, to most nobles, themoners were only participating in the heir wars to show crowds how great theirowngeniuses were.

    Formoners toactuallywin was never part of the n.

    "So, basically¡­" Valerie said.

    "Yeah. We''re running."

    August finished her thought matter-of-factly.

    Eris hadn''t taken her eyes off of them for even a second.

    They would part when they made it out of this ce, but she''d likely send people out to find them instantaneously.

    They had to escape before that happened, and luckily for them, the method was already in their hands.

    It happened just like that.

    The geniuses were led to an isted area where several people were waiting.

    Those people would be responsible for transporting them anywhere they wanted to go.

    Eris gave the twomon geniuses a final nce before taking a portal back to her n.

    August and Valerie, on the other hand, took a portal back to Arragon.

    It was just a temporary stop.

    The instant they arrived, they found an isted alleyway and teleported again, this time to the training ind Damien had gifted them.

    This was the perfect ce for them to hide away until their turn to participate came again.

    They could get all of the information they needed through the emblems anyway.

    There wasn''t much different about the ind when they arrived, but there was one specific change that they noticed instantly.

    Mnia was gone again.

    "It''s starting soon, huh?" Valeriemented.

    August nodded.

    Now that the first round had ended, it was time for the second group of geniuses to show their worth.

    Mnia had another two weeks before her turn topete, but she''d already left the ind.

    The two of them had no idea where she went, but after seeing how Mnia had been changing in the time that they watched her train, they didn''t worry in the slightest.

    Mnia was a different animal and the same beast.

    She had blossomed into a heavenly genius on her own, and, needless to say¡­

    Neither August nor Valerie could wait to see her on the big stage.

    ***

    Thosest two weeks; Mnia spent them well.

    She didn''t return to the training ind because it couldn''t give her what she needed. She spent all of that time in the world Damien gave her, a ce where she could torture herself without interruption.

    It was a brutal way to phrase her training, but that was the truth of the matter.

    Mnia had spent the past month enduring torture for the sake of growth.

    She mimicked the boulder problem. She fought the deep seas and the depths of depravity as she starved and suffocated in a desert.

    Mnia was a case of someone who had an extreme desire for power.

    As she had been living, she didn''t have the opportunity to discover it. All of her actions had to be taken for the sake of others.

    However, now that she was in this ce where geniuses ran amok, where training was above all else, she was able to unlock her full potential.

    After first hearing that she only had a month, she was perturbed, unable to see herself at a higher level in that time.

    That opinion only changed when she experienced it.

    As August and Valerie returned to their training on the ind, Mniapleted her own and returned to Fort Halleya.

    It was now her turn to enter the arena, topete against geniuses who stood above anything and everything she''d known until a few weeks ago.

    Just as herrades had done a few weeks before, Mnia stepped through a portal and arrived in the arena.

    She also saw her opponents on a screen in the small room she was provided. She also heard the announcer''s voice introducing them.

    And soon enough, she was also transported into the arena with the rest of her group.

    The announcer''s voice became clearer as she and her opponents observed the arena they''d entered.

    It wasn''t abyrinth. The challenge was alsopletely different.

    The reactions were mixed, as they always would be when the geniuses heard what they needed to do.

    But for Mnia specifically, the only thing she heard was good news.

    This challenge¡­it was as if it had been perfectly tailored to her.

    If it was like this, then she was confident in finding a way to the podium.

    That was a thought that she never believed she could have before today.

 Chapter 1689 Allegiances [3]

    Chapter 1689 Allegiances [3]

    ??Unlike the first round, the second round consisted of three separate events. If one person could win multiple times, they''d be granted the win. Otherwise, the winners of the separate events would fight to determine their podium positions.

    The first round was an obstacle course.

    Sandstone walls roughly fifty feet high sectioned off the course and created a sort ofbyrinth scheme for the geniuses to follow.

    However, they only needed to follow the path. They didn''t need to find the correct way through.

    In this challenge, it was whaty within the paths that mattered. Challenges that tested their agility, dexterity, strength, bnce, and other bodily strengths were everywhere.

    There were no limits on how the geniuses could pass through these areas. As long as they could make it to the other side, their solution was valid.

    The obstacles, of course, scaled to match the strength of the people facing them. This was to prevent stronger geniuses from just leaping over them.

    Naturally, flying was also disallowed.

    It was a sufficientlyplicated course.

    At least, for most.

    Mnia had an undeniable advantage in the first sector of this round.

    She looked over the sandstone walls and walked through the path to see just what was waiting for her on the other side.

    She found herself at the first obstacle quite soon.

    The path broke away, separated from the other side by a massive river.

    There were stone steps all across the river''s surface, making it obvious that she was meant to use them to cross.

    However, each one moved. Some bobbed up and down. While others moved several meters in random directions.

    Since there wasn''t an overarching pattern, it was a matter of both instinct and wits.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Mnia furrowed her brows.

    The others were probably already well on their way through this first obstacle.

    ''But do I have to do that?''

    She looked at the walls around her again and had a thought.

    ''They said anything goes as long as I don''t fly.''

    Any solution she came up with was good, right?

    Mnia walked back to the start and once again stared at the wall in front of her.

    The look in her eyes changed. The emotion within died, reced by a sharp will to execute whatever action she was about to take.

    She stepped forward twice and raised her leg.

    Her muscles tensed, power flowed through her every fiber, and as she brought it back down again¡­

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The entire course felt her wrath.

    The earth split. Cracks ran up the walls and destroyed them, causing them to fall to the ground in massive chunks.

    The tremor she caused only spread and spread. Her section of the course was enveloped in dust and the chaotic rumbling of countless structures falling to the ground.

    The audience''s attention was immediately sucked into what she was doing.

    But there was nothing much to see until it was over.

    After several minutes of pure cacophony, the dust cleared, revealing to everyone what just one stomp was able to do.

    There was nothing separatingMnia from the end of the course.

    All walls, all obstructions, and all obstacles had been decimated.

    The river from before was now filled with massive chunks of stone.

    There were many sections of in t stone where the challenges likely lined the walls, and there were even more scenes of obstacles like walls of moving des that were now just piles of scrap metal on the ground.

    This¡­was not how the challenge was supposed to go.

    This was a gross misrepresentation of just how hard it was to get through the course.

    It waspletely unexpected, but as the tournament staff took another look at the rules they''d established, they realized that nothing about her actions vited the rules.

    She didn''t fly, and technically, she didn''t cheat by using her strength.

    The restriction was specifically put in ce so a 4th ss dragon and a 3rd ss dragon experienced the same difficulty on the same course.

    It was meant to assure that they wouldn''t abuse their power, but was that what Mnia did?

    She faced obstacles that were properly scaled to her power level.

    Yet, with physical strength alone, she was able to destroy them all.

    That was within her rights as a contestant. It was her way of showing the people running the tournament that she was more than what they marked her as.

    And, as if to rub it in their faces, Mnia followed the original path.

    She casually hopped across the massive chunks of sandstone in the river and made it to the other side. She walked with ease through a chasm that suffered the same fate, one that she was meant to cross by climbing the walls.

    She did every obstacle she found, but because she''d destroyed the course, it was practically just showing off.

    Naturally, Mnia was the first to finish.

    The second didn''t join her until almost an hour had passed.

    Mnia''s training was anything but useless.

    Anothermoner shocked the world in the first few rounds of the heir wars, but she wasn''t the only one.

    Lucas was also a part of her group, and Ophelia would appear in the group after them.

    As a group, including August and Valerie, the five of them were the ones representing themon people.

    They were the only ones able to stand on equal footing with the rest of theirpetition.

    No, perhaps equal footing was an understatement.

    If it was this group of geniuses, who achieved great things with their earnest efforts and talents¡­

    ¡­there was a chance for themon people to start dreaming about defeating their oppressors.

    ***

    It was something that was always bound to happen.

    Half of the reason for August to participate in the heir wars was to give themon people spirit. The other half was, of course, to take back his throne.

    That throne was not empty, but it also was not held by an enemy.

    For someone like August, the Dragon Emperor was an entity too far away to understand.

    But to his father, it was different.

    Damien stuck around to watch thebyrinth challenge. He was in the stands as August put up a valiant effort and beat out hispetition.

    The moment it ended, however, he was already gone.

    August had returned to the ind to do his own thing, which Damien expected.

    Now that his son was properly established in the outside world, he could start focusing on hisownaffairs again.

    An entire month had flown by since he slowed his search for the Dragon Emperor.

    Coincidentally enough, it was during that month when he found proper clues leading to that man''s location.

    It wasn''t much, but it was more than enough for someone with Damien''s capabilities.

    So, as soon as he returned to the search with his main body, it was already over.

    The Dragon Emperor, a man whose true name had been forgotten by society, a man who was only ever known in reverence by themon people who told tales about his title.

    Damien arrived where that man was hiding to have a proper conversation with him.

    There were some things that neededstraightening out.

    And if the Dragon Emperor couldn''t give an appropriate exnation, then it wasn''t a problem to make him disappear.

 Chapter 1690 Allegiances [4]

    Chapter 1690 Allegiances [4]

    ??Well, it would definitely cause problems, but Damien never nned on actually killing the Dragon Emperor.

    Still, he wasn''t going to let the man go if he was truly a disappointment. In that case, there were far worse things he could do besides just killing.

    At the end of the day, the Dragon Emperor was too important of an entity to all dragons. Even if he was just a figurehead, his life was still valuable. Even if all of the Holy ns fell, the dragons wouldn''t lose hope until their Emperor was taken as well.

    Damien had a certain level of respect for anyone who held the title. It wasn''t an easy one to bear, especially for the more recent Dragon Emperors.

    At the very least, the heir wars proved that he was still trying to influence the kingdom.

    Or, he had given up and was looking for someone to take the burden off of his shoulders.

    The current Dragon Emperor was a so-called "Aura Dragon."

    He was a dragon without an element, a dragon born to control the skies themselves. When the current Dragon Emperor rose to the throne, the heavens sang and celestial phenomena decorated the skies for eighteen days and nights.

    ''Or, well, that''s what people say.''

    Damien didn''t necessarily believe it all, but since he was here to meet the man, he didn''t have to waste time making assumptions.

    This search had taken such a long time precisely because Damien moved with those rumors in mind.

    A person with that kind of ability would likely be hiding in the skies somewhere nobody else could reach.

    As he searched both the overworld and the heavens and found nothing at all, Damien began to doubt everything he''d heard.

    However, he also thought that perhaps the fact that he was in a cavern hundreds of thousands of kilometers underground was a testament to just how desperate the Dragon Emperor truly was.

    ''It might be true. At least, to some extent.''

    He sensed that being''s aura, and he allowed that being to sense his as well.

    He could confirm that the Dragon Emperor''s physique and mana did not adhere to any of the elements.

    It was more of abination.

    Damien was able to use many elements as one because he trained for years and had the Void''s support. He was able to use them in their base forms with enough skill to merge them easily.

    The Dragon Emperor was different. He couldn''t use his elements in their base forms. They were fused since birth and manifested into a power that others couldn''t understand.

    He was one of several Aura Dragons, but he was the only Sky Dragon to ever exist in the world.

    And yet, he was here.

    This location was more than just hard to find. It was nigh impossible.

    Even the Dragon Emperor himself didn''t believe he could find it a second time.

    He arrived here through pure luck. It was so far removed from anything he stood for and anything the Holy ns could expect. Its special properties allowed him tomunicate with and witness the outside world without it doing the same to him.

    The fact that anyone had found him¡­

    No, the fact that he could only feel that being''s presence because he''d been given express permission was enough to make him resign to his fate.

    He didn''t show any hostility.

    There was no point.

    He instinctively knew that his fate was in that being''s hands.

    It was an emotion he''d forgotten since thest time he felt it was several tens of thousands of years ago at the very least.

    But, oddly enough, it didn''t feel strange.

    Perhaps this was always how it was going to end.

    "Why have you found me?"

    His voice echoed through the cavern. It was deep and rumbling, but the weariness and exhaustion of thousands of years of istion rang clear tones within its structure.

    He was in his original form, curled up as if he hadn''t moved in ages, but he raised his head to look at Damien.

    That was also when Damien properly entered the tavern and saw that being.

    He had ashen-grey scales and a wizened face. His horns were long and dark, and though his wings were in tatters, their span alone was enough to impress anyone who saw them.

    Damien nced over his form.

    The damage didn''t end with his wings. He was covered in old wounds and scars. He was missing many scales, and the sharpness that he clearly used to have was worn and dull.

    ''He doesn''t have the aura of an emperor at all.''

    It had been too long since he could properly call himself one. He had lost everything that once made him great.

    "I came simply to have a conversation," Damien responded, sitting down on a chair that appeared to catch him.

    "A conversation? What could a being like you learn from me?"

    The question was valid. The Dragon Emperor felt inferior, which allowed him to infer what kind of power his visitor had. And he was somewhat correct in his assumptions.

    Damien definitely could just read his soul and learn everything for himself. In fact, that was always in his itinerary.

    "I just wanted to hear what you have to say first."

    It didn''t make much sense to the Dragon Emperor, but there was nothing he could do about it.

    "What would you like to hear?"

    "Everything," Damien responded immediately.

    It was a scary word.

    The Dragon Emperor was far past his prime. He had lost all of his motivation and will, but he clung to life for only a single reason.

    He wanted to at least maintain a modicum of stability within the Dragon Kingdom.

    He couldn''t fix it, but he could stop it from getting worse.

    The problem was that a non-draconic being had entered this ce for the first time in many, many years. If he wanted to im this kingdom for himself and use it for whatever purpose he had in mind¡­

    Even if he knew he would die, he still had to stand up and fight.

    That was his mentality. It was a good mentality too. The Dragon Emperor wasn''t even wrong. Damien did indeed n to seize Arulion and use it as a fighting force to protect the Heavenly World from the Sacred Abyss.

    But, he didn''t have any ns to do it by force.

    Mostly, at least.

    "I''m here to learn your story, so tell it as you please."

    Those were the words that surprised the Dragon Emperor.

    Rather than Arulion, he wanted to know about the emperor himself?

    About his life story, his experiences?

    ''As expected, the thoughts of a true supreme cannot be understood.''

    Still, it somewhat put his mind at ease.

    The sheer helplessness he felt in Damien''s presence collided with the subtle desire that existed in the depths of his heart that begged him to let at least one person know what he''d been through and provoked his voice.

    He started to speak without even knowing it, and eventually, he gave in.

    Even if it was a being who didn''t care at all, one who had arrived on curiosity alone, as long as that being was willing to listen, then he was more than willing to tell.

 Chapter 1691 Allegiances [5]

    Chapter 1691 Allegiances [5]

    ??It was a joyful and adventurous story at the start.

    The Dragon Emperor was once just a boy by the name of Zenith Aurora.

    He was once a Holy n genius himself.

    Zenith existed in an era when Qinglong was gone. His legacy had been reduced to ash, and though the people of the Holy ns knew who he was, they always painted him in a bad light.

    He was a powerful and dominant Dragon Emperor who did everything he could to bring equal opportunity to everyone of his race.

    He had the Holy ns at his beck and call. Even the strongest Holy Dragons were forced to obey him.

    This definitely earned the ire of those in high positions. He had been gone for countless millennia, but Zenith always heard the elders admonishing and badmouthing him.

    In fact, to even find those initial truths, Zenith had to dig for many years. In his youth, he also only saw Qinglong as a stain in the history of dragonkind.

    However, after learning more, he saw it differently.

    Qinglong was an ideal emperor. He was someone who could be looked up to. Themoners thrived and the kingdom was slowly bing a true society of dragons, something otherwise thought impossible.

    Their species was too used to being independent. When they came together, it was inevitable for them to either oppress each other or go to war.

    How did Qinglong manage to unite dragons?

    How did he manage to make Arulion a functioning society despite everything blocking his path?

    Slowly, the image of a hero was formed in his mind. He had a new goal to strive towards.

    Zenith wasn''t one of the best geniuses in the n. Rather, because of the uniqueness of hisws, he couldn''t practice the n''s techniques in the slightest.

    He was cast aside and given a minimal amount of training and resources, left to understand everything else on his own.

    Perhaps that was why he rted so deeply to Qinglong''s story.

    The Dragon Emperor''s position didn''t hold any weight anymore.

    The emperor of his time was just a puppet controlled by the Holy ns.

    He looked powerful to themoners, but in reality, he didn''t have much power at all. He was a ve under contract who could only exert the will of the Holy ns and take the brunt of the consequences on himself.

    Zenith barely had status in the Aurora n, but even he was privy to that information. It didn''t need to be exined further just how much the value of that position had diminished in the eyes of the highest elites.

    He wanted to change that. He also wanted to see dragons as a whole thrive. There was a beautiful picture that formed in his mind when he envisioned the future that Qinglong was trying to create.

    As long as the Holy ns had full control, that future would only get further and further away.

    Zenith never separated himself from the n entirely. They were a good source of resources, albeit a small amount, and the status he gained as a legitimate member of the Aurora n gave him many privileges in the outside world.

    They allowed him to leave as he pleased since he wasn''t a high-profile individual, and over the course of the next few thousand years, he adventured through not only Arulion but also the Heavenly World to properly understand and control his power.

    He realized that he had a gift. Everything possible needed to be done to improve it into a grand talent.

    In the end, Zenith only returned to Arulion when he heard news of the previous Dragon Emperor passing.

    At that time, he was still rtively young. He had developed his mind along with his power, but he wasn''t immune to emotions.

    He had an entire n where he would suppress his power and trick the Holy ns into believing him an ideal puppet. He would then use his strength and wits to quietly build himself up and change the kingdom.

    Eventually, he would be able to face them directly and end their reign.

    Eventually, he thought.

    That n seeded to the level Damien already understood.

    For a long time, Zenith was able to do everything he attempted. He did end up with a force on par with a Holy n, which made it harder for them to touch him.

    But, he never became bigger than them.

    When they realized what he was doing, they suppressed him and took away all of his options. He was driven into a corner and many of his people either defected or died. Those who stayed and were willing to run the heir wars were only those willing to die for him.

    And, of course, those who were still nted.

    Zenith knew that the heir wars wouldn''t be able to take ce without corruption. But, he had sent his people out to make sure that it never got out of control.

    The trials would still take ce fairly. The people who had real talent would still stand a chance regardless of their circumstances. Just¡­like always, the Holy ns would have an advantage over everyone else.

    It was the most he could do.

    After all that he had been through, all that led him to hide here, Zenith was running out of time. His life force was dwindling, and he needed an heir to rece him.

    Since he was still alive, he could at least attempt to find someone who would continue his mission and fight the good fight.

    "That person is likely to be a martyr. Especially if you can''t live to support them until they''re ready to take the throne."

    Damien said it inly.

    Zenith was a good man at his core. The problem was that he acted too early. Nothing he did from the start meant anything since it was impossible for him to grow bigger than the Holy ns inside of Arulion.

    He should''ve gathered forces in the Heavenly World and used them to take on the Holy ns. Out there, not only was talent more easily essible, but the people were also generally more epting.

    Nevertheless, that was old history. It didn''t matter anymore.

    The fact of the matter was that anyone who imed the title of "Zenith Aurora''s Sessor" would be a target.

    "I am well aware, but what am I to do? Am I destined to rot and die in this decrepit cave? Am I meant to watch the kingdom fall into depravity without trying to do anything possible to save it? Perhaps that young genius will be a martyr, but what if they do not? What if they are able to push the cause forward?"

    Zenith''s voice was filled with a sort of passion and desperation that Damien knew well.

    This was the same emotion that everyone in Grand Heavens Boundary held.

    When war truly came, despite the amount of corruption within the universe, people banded together with that thought,

    "If not me, then the person whoes next."

    If not that person, then the person after them.

    If their hopes and dreams were carried through enough generations, they''d eventually seed in achieving their goals.

    And it worked, didn''t it?

    Eventually, an era of heavenly geniuses arose. People like Damien, his wives, Su Ren, hell, even people like Iris and Tian Yang were born, grew, and fought until the war was finally over.

    Grand Heavens Boundary was broken many times, but it was now eternally safe within the Sanctuary under the protection of a great being.

    How proud would their ancestors be if they saw what they''d aplished?

    Zenith was only the second generation in Arulion to carry the torch, but he still had hope.

    Eventually, talents would band together and the kingdom would be saved. He didn''t have to be there to witness it.

    ''This guy¡­''

    Damien shook his head.

    He was blissfully unaware of what was going on in the Heavenly World right now. The only thing he saw was the good of his kingdom and the dream that he''d had since he was a child.

    That sort of blind and earnest hope was touching, even for a person like Damien.

    ''I want to believe him, but it''s always best to double-check.''

    Damien had to affirm that these qualities Zenith presented externally were not false.

    Well, it was something he already knew, but he wanted to understand properly.

    There wasn''t even a question of what Damien would find in Zenith''s existence. He bared himself to the first visitor he''d had in ages with no motive except getting his story out into the world.

    As he expected, Zenith was the same inside and out. No, perhaps he was even more self-sacrificing and ambitious than he liked to let on.

    ''If August gets to learn from him¡­''

    ¡­then he would turn out to be a mighty fine Emperor.

    If only Zenith had the chance, he would''ve been the same.

    Damien hade here knowing that there were only two ways this interaction could pan out.

    The first was the case where the Dragon Emperor proved to be reckless or a coward. If he was not fit for glory, then Damien would deprive everything from him and make him an existence that solely lived to give August guidance and protect him.

    And the second case was this.

    The Dragon Emperor was a man worthy of respect.

    So, Damien had a different offer.

    "Do you want to live?"

    He asked a simple question that bore incredible weight.

    Because the implications that came along with it were truly unthinkable.

 Chapter 1692 Allegiances [6]

    Chapter 1692 Allegiances [6]

    ??"Do you wish to take me as a ve? If so, then it would be more apt for you to kill me now."

    Zenith''s immediate response was a wild usation, but one that could be understood.

    Dragons were a raremodity in the Heavenly World. The fact of the matter was that the cultures of a world where people aged so slowly wouldn''t change nearly as rapidly. Those practices, where dragons and men alike were enved for others'' pleasure, were still very prominent in certain regions of the world.

    Damien was not a dragon. He was either a human or a creature disguised as one. Either way, he was from the outside world.

    It was practically impossible for him to have pure intentions.

    As someone who had lived so long, Zenith hardly believed in goodwill. Hell, even if it was goodwill, what could he even do with more life?

    All he would gain was more years trapped in this dark and deste ce, wishing for everything but never achieving anything.

    It was better for him to die than live either of those two lives.

    Damien shook his head.

    He understood the Dragon Emperor''s suspicions, but they were not warranted. When it came to Damien, "power" was never the end goal.

    Arulion was, putting it bluntly, useless to him. The current Damien was on the verge of being able to create his own kingdom of dragons purely through the use of his mana.

    He wanted this ce to rejoin the rest of the world, to properly stand up against the iing threat. And, he never nned to get their help for free.

    "I have a son," Damien said.

    It was a sudden shift in the conversation for Zenith, but he listened anyway,

    "His name is August, and quite honestly, he is not my biological kin. Instead¡­"

    Damien pulled up a projection. It showed August in the current moment.

    Deep within the seas off the coast of Fort Halleya, August was currently on an adventure to find himself amongst the water dragon tribes that livedpletely separated from Arulion''s society.

    It wasn''t hard for Zenith to understand what Damien was trying to show him.

    After all, not only was August cutting through the water in his dragon form, but¡­

    "...that aura, that appearance¡­"

    "It''s exactly what you''re thinking."

    Damien confirmed his thoughts easily.

    "When I was still young, I personally met Qinglong, your Ancestral Dragon Emperor. He entrusted me with his kin, and I have been raising that boy on my own for the past ten years."

    "He is¡­"

    "He was born and raised in Arulion. And, as you''ve guessed, he has already essed his ancestral memories."

    "At only ten years of age?"

    "That''s right."

    Zenith smiled slightly.

    "It is to be expected from that man''s descendant."

    He didn''t think it possible, but if it was Qinglong''s descendant, it made sense.

    "You must be wondering why I''m showing him to you," Damien said.

    Zenith nodded.

    "It''s simple. Currently, he is also participating in the heir wars to assume your throne."

    "HIM¨Ckeugh?!"

    Zenith raised his voice for the first time. He coughed a few times afterward as his body readapted, but his confusion and surprise were both evident.

    Such a young child who was still growing was participating in such a challenge?!

    "He already passed the first round. I guess he''s trying to reach 4th ss before he goes back for the next one."

    "I see¡­"

    It was hard for Zenith to be more surprised, so he decided to just ept it.

    A ten-year-old who was challenging the 4th ss barrier was fighting with people double to ten times his age to take the throne and be the emperor of all dragons.

    It was nonsensical, wasn''t it?

    "I''m sure that you understand my purpose by now," Damienmented, bringing Zenith''s mind back to reality.

    Zenith didn''t say anything for a while.

    "I cannot help him win the heir wars," he said.

    "And I''m not asking you to," Damien responded immediately.

    "August can win on his own. All you need to do is be a proper mentor when he does."

    "There are more challenges than just winning thepetition. More importantly, is that child even aware of what he is doing?"

    It was concerning. At that age, it was impossible for him to have enough rationality to understand the weight of his actions.

    If he was being provoked into such apetition by the will of his father¡­

    "It wasn''t me."

    Damien interrupted that thought like he could read it.

    "He awakened his ancestral memories early and matured faster than anyone could control. The will of his ancestor was definitely involved in his decision, as was a bit of mine, but I never would have forced him to enter if he didn''t want to."

    A small smile appeared on Damien''s face. It was uncontroble, really.

    "That boy has dreams of being a hero and an emperor. Rather than pushing him unnecessarily, wouldn''t I just be a terrible father if I held him back?"

    "Haa¡­"

    Zenith sighed.

    Ancestral memories were the best for a dragon''s growth and potential, but when it came to the mental aspect, it had the potential to cause ruination.

    It was impressive enough that a child so young was able to ovee it. For him to willingly take up the quest for the throne made him a beast in the best sense.

    "You want me alive so I can properly train the sessor to Arulion''s throne. Even if that isn''t your son, that remains true, yes?"

    "Sure."

    "Then, what will you do about the underlying issues? Whether your son or some other talented genius, they will all die the same if they decide to fight corruption."

    "That''s an issue for me to handle. I only need one thing from you, and that''s an answer," Damien responded.

    "So I''ll ask you again¡­"

    "Do you want to live?"

    Zenith looked at Damien with different eyes than he did before.

    This being whose name he still did not know¡­

    No, this man, the father of August, descendant of Qinglong¡­

    Was it okay to trust him?

    ***

    The rest of Damien''s conversation with the Dragon Emperor was for only the two of them to know.

    It was best to focus on what was happening in the center of Arulion rather than the preparations that were being made in its depths.

    The second round ended in roughly four hours.

    The three geniuses who took the most time toplete every portion of the challenge were eliminated, those in the middle were awarded their single point, and the top three took the stage together to fight it out for their ces.

    Though, it really was just a battle for second and third.

    The first-ce spot had been dominated by such arge margin that nobody even hoped topete for it.

    Every single round, Mnia showed the world just how powerful she was. Since she didn''t have any unreasonably powerful Holy n geniuses to inhibit her, she was able to show a performance that others couldn''t match.

    But there was one thing that became evident as she progressed through the stages.

    Mnia Achen was definitely not just a 3rd ss dragon anymore.

    She had both achieved 4th ss and progressed some of the way through it, which left onlookers with mainly one question.

    How?

    That answer was vital, because if she made some kind of great discovery¡­

    ¡­then she was about to be a target for many, many people.

 Chapter 1693 Allegiances [7]

    Chapter 1693 Allegiances [7]

    ??The masses were immensely curious about Mnia, perhaps even more than August and Valerie.

    After all, those two''s origins couldn''t be traced. They weremoners, but they didn''te from ces close enough to the central region for them to be registered or investigable.

    Mnia came from Arragon. She was in the slums, sure, but she''d been working in and around the city for many years.

    People were able to understand who she was and where she came from. They had ess to almost her entire history.

    It wasn''t a problem for Mnia, since she was able to hide on the training ind just like her friends, but her family wasn''t safe.

    Mnia had a mother and two young siblings. They had been moved to a better area of Arragon using the money August gifted her, but what difference did that make?

    In the grand scheme of things, they were simply too vulnerable.

    Mnia and August both realized the potential dangers that came with their participation in such a televised event.

    When she left the heir wars arena under the scrutinizing gazes of many others, she immediately returned to her home and took her mother and siblings to the Shadow Lounge.

    Since Mnia spent more time outside than August and Valerie, she had more of an understanding of just what they received for being members of the prestigious organization.

    The lounge was backed by strong people unaffiliated with the Holy ns. As an independent entity, they needed a way to assure their customers.

    Everyone who had the privilege of staying in the Shadow Lounge''s amodations would be protected by their staff.

    After all, if one person waspromised, then the rest could bepromised just as easily.

    To ensure the maintenance of its reputation, the lounge''s upper administration kept its existence hidden from even the highest elites in Arulion.

    And if someone happened to find one of their establishments¡­

    Well, nothing more needed to be said.

    That person would be an enemy of the lounge, which barely any one organization in the world could handle.

    The Shadow Lounge was a more powerful entity than the three young geniuses would realize for a long time.

    Damien had chosen this ce specifically because of how great it was.

    Others didn''t have the same guts or ability as the people who ran this lounge. If it was them, Damien could be assured that August and his friends would have a bastion of safety even in their darkest days.

    Nevertheless, Mnia put her mother and siblings into one of the Shadow Lounge''s safe houses. She needed to pay a fee to keep them there, but it wasn''t anything she couldn''t handle with her newfound power.

    And since her family was secured early, Mnia was able to focus on the more positive side of the second round.

    Lucas Stroll participated alongside her. Though he had not a single good opinion of her based on the elimination round alone, he was forced to change his harsh attitude the second Mnia reappeared in the spotlight.

    This kind of change was genuinely insanity-inducing. It wasn''t a feat that could be replicated easily.

    After seeing how Valerie blew everyone out of the water with her ability, even he found himself doubting if he wanted to stand up to her.

    But, it wasn''t like he had the chance.

    Lucas was defeated in the final round. He was just a second behind the person before him, but that still scored him a position equivalent to fourth ce, though anything under the podium was practically the same.

    Lucas was disappointed in his performance. He wanted to improve like Mnia had to truly show the world whatmoners could do.

    That was why he epted her offer despite being humiliated by it.

    Mnia approached him after the round and gave him a choice.

    She, as someone who now understood August''s goal and had a far more mature mentality than both him and Valerie, knew that they needed to form alliances if they wanted to properly make it through thispetition.

    Themoners would be discriminated against by their noblepetitors no matter their results. Perhaps some would show different appearances, but the majority would be furious to see them seed.

    As such, it was best for all of them to stick together, for them to help each other when they could so that they didn''t have to worry about suppression from the other side.

    Mnia wasn''t averse to recruiting nobles, but themoners would always be more open.

    Lucas was a good first choice. Once she''d convinced Lucas, Ophelia would absolutely join them as well. There wasn''t a question about it.

    So, she proposed it to him in secret as the final ceremony took ce, giving him some time to think it over before answering.

    Though, he didn''t really need it.

    Forming alliances was obviously an advantage. There weren''t any cons to it.

    Lucas was also amoner, though one with a bit more fortune than others. Whether he stood alone or with a group, he''d be seen with the same hostility.

    So when he thought of Valerie, whose performance he''d seen in the first round, August, who dominated thebyrinth challenge, and Mnia, who had just obliterated the second round¡­

    Was there any real reason for him to not want to be allied with these people?

    He voiced his agreement as they walked through the tunnel that would lead them to their respective homes.

    It was a simple alliance, not something that provoked any feelings but mutual benefit.

    At least, that was how it started.

    Within two weeks, another two rounds were held.

    Ophelia also participated in hers. She scored lower than most, but she still got one point, which put her on par with most.

    She had heard from Lucas before the round started, and after experiencing the heir wars for herself, she returned home and immediately agreed to join their alliance.

    And, by the time a month had passed, the first stage of the heir wars had ended.

    There were three people in each of the five groups who had scored no points at all, adding up to a total of fifteen geniuses.

    This stage ended, and their time in thepetition ended along with it.

    With fifty participants left, thepetition would continue into its second round.

    The impact that the first elimination had was a lotrger than expected.

    There were a total of fifteenmoners participating in the heir wars at the start.

    Usually, by this point, that number would have dwindled to zero.

    It was definitely close. Seven of the fifteen who were eliminated came frommon backgrounds.

    But, the other eight were nobles.

    For the first time in history, more nobles were eliminated thanmoners in a single stage of anypetition.

    It was monumental.

    Though subtle at first, a shift that started with the elimination round started to show more prevalence.

    Pride.

    Thosemoners who never had an ounce of it suddenly learned what a dragon''s pride felt like.

    And as they reveled in that feeling, they unintentionally got closer to their roots.

    Dragons were always solitary creatures who revolted in the face of oppression.

    Dragons were creatures that would rather die than be enved or mistreated.

    Themon people had just forgotten the instincts in their blood.

    It really didn''t take much to change Arulion.

    All the people needed was spirit and someone strong enough to put their hopes in.

    One of those requirements was being fulfilled with every round of the heir wars.

    As for the other one¡­

    It had note yet, but soon, everything would change.

    A spiritual leader, a person who could bring all of dragonkind together to fight oppression¡­

    That person already existed.

    And it wouldn''t be long before they returned to the scene.

 Chapter 1694 Allegiances [8]

    Chapter 1694 Allegiances [8]

    ??August, Lucas, Mnia, Ophelia, and Valerie.

    These five were the start of the small alliance. Whenever they found themselves in challenges together, they worked as a team and only stopped topete with each other when everyone else was taken care of.

    It was a way for them to monopolize wins while at the same time promoting teamwork between people in their circumstances.

    When the second stage started and the first two rounds went by, the othermon geniuses immediately realized the benefit of being part of a group.

    The alliance grew instantly. Mnia regrouped with August and Valerie once her round ended and the three of them caught up on many things.

    Mnia mentioned the alliance, and August immediately understood what she was trying to do.

    This was the first step to creating a force that was loyal to him. For now, they only worked together because of the benefits, but that would eventually change.

    August was certain of that because Lucas and Ophelia had already changed their attitude a lot from the moment they first joined the alliance.

    They were all young. They were independent as they all focused on training over all else, but they needed friendships and bonds to facilitate their growth.

    People would naturally grow closer when they were put together for long periods of time. This situation worked exactly the same.

    The second stage of the heir wars didn''t present any challenges.

    Honestly, it ended without that many surprises, despite the audience being entirely engaged for every single round.

    August and his friends matched the nobles in every game and gave seriouspetition to the Holy n geniuses who appeared every so often.

    The problem was that every single one of those geniuses had the same mentality as Eris.

    They wanted to dominate. Nobody below their circumstances was allowed to do better than them.

    It didn''t matter if it stained their image. As long as they defeated theirpetitors, that was enough for them.

    That group of twelve was terrifying. It was hard to find a podium that didn''t have one of them on it.

    But it also became harder to find a podium without amoner on it.

    Whether it was August or one of hispatriots, at least one person would always end up there, showing the world that they weren''t defeated yet.

    And that spirit¡­

    It was surprisingly inspiring, and not just tomoners.

    August''s alliance grew. Some nobles started to put down their pride and ask to join it, and when they found themselves so easily epted, many of them started to warm up to their less fortunate brothers and sisters.

    And, it wasn''t just people joining August.

    The entire format of the heir wars began to change as geniuses stoppedpeting alone.

    As of now, with three months passing and the second stage ending, there were two main alliances.

    The first belonged to August.

    It was made up of sixmoners and five nobles. That number was once higher, but many of their allies had been eliminated in this round.

    The second was headed by none other than Mikael from the Dawn Dragon n.

    He had another eleven nobles on his side, and they directly opposed August and his group at every turn.

    The eleven people who joined Mikael truly hatedmoners. They wanted to see all of them eliminated, and that was the only reason they''d allied.

    The funny part was Mikael himself.

    He¡­didn''t feel the same way at all.

    Instead, he felt a strong rivalry against August and Valerie after his defeat in the first round.

    He respected their strength, and though he did want to join them, he felt like it would be more engaging if hepeted against them with more fervor than ever.

    And in the process, he just happened to be the leader of the second alliance.

    August and Mikael had be friends in the past three months, but that wasn''t information privy to just anyone.

    At the end of the day, they were enemies on the battlefield.

    Nevertheless, there were now two alliances and twelve individual Holy n geniuses who refused to participate in their shenanigans.

    They had a lot of conflict in the tournament itself. There were many moments where people were forced to question which side was in the right and if what they were doing was really ethical at all.

    They used tricks against each other, schemed like they were fighting a war, and showed the audience just how desperate they were to win.

    Still, it had been quiet on the external front.

    In a certain sense, the heir wars had only just begun.

    The narrative was being written by themoners, but the only time they''d actually taken first ce in the ce of a Holy n genius was in that very first round.

    Currently, the likes of August, Valerie, and Mnia were still far below the three Holy n geniuses who were the overall first, second, and third-ce contenders in the tournament.

    On the leaderboard, it said that they were in 6th, 4th, and 5th respectively, but the gap between Valerie and Seryius Ether, who was in third, was five points.

    It wasn''t arge number, but it meant that if Valerie wanted to overtake him, then she needed to get a podium finish while he missed one.

    And that¡­

    Well, that wasn''t something the Holy ns would allow.

    Tensions were undeniably heightening.

    The pot was boiling deep underground so nobody realized that it was about to burst, but once it truly did erupt, heaven and earth would not survive its wrath.

    That was the situation heading into the third round, which was set to begin a monthter.

    What more was there to say about the individual training of each genius?

    They did everything they could to get stronger. Theirpetitors would only outdo them if they wasted a single second.

    Perhaps that was also why August and his people didn''t face too much trouble outside of the arena.

    For now, they were still protected by the heir wars.

    For now, nobody had been ckmailed or bribed into betraying theirrades.

    For now, at least.

    It was bound to happen eventually. Despite bing friends with everyone that he could, August was still wary of that situation because he knew for certain that the Holy ns wouldn''t tolerate his existence for much longer.

    August had be an anchor for those trying to diminish their power.

    To get rid of him, wouldn''t the Holy ns use the most convenient method of using someone close to him?

    He had to be ready for it.

    And now that he''d been experiencing realbat for almost half a year, the roadblock in August''s mind waspletely gone.

    What kind of fighter did he want to be?

    What kind of dragon did he want to be?

    These were the questions that held him back.

    Now that he had the answers, the heavens rewarded him with a moment that had been waiting for his response.

    As he meditated in the sea, surrounded by wildlife and even a few people from nearby water dragon ns, his eyes suddenly shot open.

    They were filled with light. August''s head jerked back, and their light shot into the sky to connect to the heavens.

    An awakening was taking ce in the depths.

    After all this time, August was going to join the rest at that benchmark.

    The 4th ss.

 Chapter 1695 Allegiance [9]

    Chapter 1695 Allegiance [9]

    ??A dragon''s Universe Baptism was different from what a human went through.

    The concept was the same. The universe would ask them to prove their worthiness through a series of tests. If they seeded, then they''d be allowed to proceed to the next level.

    Dragons didn''t have a ss system. They trained like beasts, which was why their system relied more on bloodlines and the like. They passed the 4th ss barrier to be granted a purified bloodline. Later, they would challenge the world to be Godbeasts.

    Only Holy Dragons could be considered True Godbeasts, but they weren''t the only dragons to reach this level.

    Theoretically speaking, any dragon could be a Godbeast.

    The 4th ss barrier was exactly their opportunity. If they managed to cross it, all of them could gain bloodlines akin to nobles and the potential to improve them even further.

    Sure, it was a long and arduous road to get to that point, but if themoners knew that it existed, would they care?

    If they also had the chance to be powerful, then wouldn''t most of them immediately leap at it?

    August had a bloodline whose power couldn''t be unlocked so easily. The 4th ss barrier was actually the start for him. Only at that level would he have the mana necessary to properly showcase the strength of an Azure Dragon.

    August had gotten closer to the seas to prepare for this moment. With the ability to somewhat harness their power already, the version of him that woulde to be after the Baptism would be able to immediately ess immense power.

    And, since his starting point was higher, his Baptism would be on another levelpared to those dragons without much lineage.

    He knew all of these things before it even started.

    Still, he didn''t expect it to be as hard as it was.

    Just like most other things in the universe, the Baptism was separated into a mind trial and a body trial.

    The body trial was rtively easy. It had to do with a lot of pain, and August''s endurance wasn''t the best, but Damien had trained him enough for this level to be manageable.

    He was forged. His dragon body became moreplete, more regal.

    Through the bodily trial, his bloodline was purified as well.

    The Azure Dragon bloodline was one of the purest lineages in the entirety of draconic history. Qinglong created his own Godbeast species when he rose, and technically speaking, August was his only direct descendant.

    As such, all of the purity Qinglong had achieved throughout his lifetime was transferred to August.

    The universe didn''t have much to do.

    But, the heavens took such truths as a challenge.

    When faced with something approaching perfection, it strived to show that perfection was only a concept to it.

    The universe was above everything.

    Even if it was the purest of draconic lineages, it could be enhanced or destroyed as the universe desired.

    Only, it took a bit more work.

    August found himself submerged in magma. His water-based bloodline heavily rejected its interference and rebelled, but that was exactly what the heavens wanted.

    The power of Azure rose up and consumed everything that August''s body had. It used every ounce of mana, every ounce of vitality, and every ounce of spirit to fight back against the heavenly mes.

    The fight between the most supreme form of each element was destructive. August''s body was torn apart and forced to reconstruct itself in a better form.

    The Azure Dragon lineage made sure that he reached a point where fire could never im superiority over him.

    As for his bloodline itself¡­

    It was provoked to improve on its own through the circumstances the heavens ced it in, but the universe also added a twinge of its power, as if a sign of respect to the bloodline that made it feel challenged.

    While all of that was taking ce, August was elsewhere.

    His mind was put to the ultimate test.

    In this regard, nobody was spared.

    Anyone who reached 4th ss and beyond needed to have purpose.

    It didn''t matter if that purpose was good or evil,rge or small. It just had to be strong enough to carry them through the nigh-

    impossible levels of training that woulde in the future.

    That ideal would be engrained in a practitioner''s soul, and when the time came to form a Divinity, it would act as a foundation.

    For Damien, that desire was power.

    He wanted to see the peak of everything. It was something he desired so much that he was willing to die multiple times for it.

    For August, it was something even simpler.

    He just wanted to be a hero, same as ever.

    That desire was once childish. He had to admit that there was a point in time when he didn''t know what supporting the people entailed, but it was different now.

    In just a few months, he''d seen how harsh and cruel the world could be.

    Being a hero didn''t just mean saving people. It meant sacrificing himself for their sake, taking their pain on his own body so they could be shielded.

    Was he prepared for that?

    Did he really want to live a life that belonged to everyone but him?

    It was definitely a question he had to ask himself, but oddly enough, the answer wasn''t that hard to find.

    He wanted to do it.

    Despite all of the downsides, he felt that it was his life''s purpose to y that role.

    Just as Mnia made the decision to end her lineage for the sake of power, August was willing to be a puppet of justice if it meant bringing peace to the world.

    Not many people could make that decision. Even those who did came to regret it when they got older.

    Still, regrets were for a different August to deal with. The current version of him felt nothing but steely determination to aplish everything he set out to achieve.

    The universe made August experience the pain and suffering that he''d likely experience in the future. It showed him the scenarios where he''d lose people, it showed him the times he would lose faith in people, and it showed him the times when he''d question everything and wonder if all of his sacrifices were worth anything.

    He truly had to understand the weight of his decision, because he couldn''t take it back once he''d made it.

    This would define his future path. If he deviated from it, then he would suffer in apletely different way.

    A whirlpool formed in the ocean as the barrier of world energy around him disrupted its flow.

    Many a member of the water dragon ns was alerted to themotion and came to watch.

    What they witnessed was a heavenly phenomenon that couldn''t be suppressed.

    The seas danced around the world energy barrier like children who''d received their Christmas presents. A myriad of oceanic creatures swarmed the vicinity and followed the currents, as if practicing a sacred ceremony lost in time.

    It was a beautiful sight that almost nobody was aware of, taking ce in the middle of a sea that spanned too far away from Arulion for the kingdom''s authority to hold weight.

    Here, at just ten years old and barely even approaching eleven, August Void reached 4th ss.

    He was the first dragon in the history of their species to aplish such a feat.

 Chapter 1696 Preparation [1]

    Chapter 1696 Preparation [1]

    ??The heir wars were actually progressing faster than anyone expected, and the reason was pretty simple.

    The gap between geniuses was too pronounced.

    As they''d gone so far, it looked like the noble n geniuses weren''t anything to be impressed about. They showed skills that were great and shy, but when they were consistently defeated bymoners who were far less creative in their movesets, it was hard for them to make a case for themselves.

    Even themon people could see that thispetition was no longer a ce for people with their mediocre skills. There were real heavenly geniuses this time. Those people were stronger than people twice or even ten times their age.

    The stage they deserved to be standing on wasn''t one that those regr noble geniuses could stand.

    It was a ce for the best of the Holy ns¡­

    ¡­and the fivemoners that made them appear far less impressive than they really were.

    The tournament faculty also came to understand this fact after seeing how the second stage ended, but they were in a predicament that didn''t allow them to easily change the format.

    The noble ns were nowhere near as powerful as the Dragon Emperors own forces, but they still had a significant degree of influence. The heir wars would be difficult to run if the noble ns decided to act against the event.

    However, if their geniuses were eliminated during thepetition due to their owncking skills, then their respective ns couldn''t say anything.

    The third stage was partially created with the intention of removing everyone unworthy from thepetition once and for all.

    Instead of being split into five groups, the remaining thirty-five geniuses would all participate together in a single round with massive rewards and consequences.

    And, the actual contents of the challenge wouldn''t be hidden.

    Around two weeks before the stage began, every genius received a notification on their emblem.

    ''War¡­?''

    August looked at it with raised brows.

    The concept was easy to grasp.

    Since the geniuses had pretty much already split themselves into two teams, the tournament administration was giving them a chance to determine which side was truly better.

    The third stage would be a war. The geniuses would be given their own territories to protect while also trying to invade and seize the opposing team''s territory.

    Whoever had better strategy, better power, and bigger ambition would win.

    Up to here, there weren''t any problems. It was a rtively even ying field, especially since the event itself begot the Holy n geniuses dividing themselves and joining the two teams.

    The problem was more in why they were notified two weeks in advance about the trial.

    ''We''ll be given time to enlist troops from the outside to help us. The only restriction on their strength is the same as what applies to us. They just have to be under a hundred years old.''

    It was likely a measure to prevent noble n geniuses from enlisting their elders.

    ''But it''s still an unfair advantage.''

    After all, the Holy n geniuses could also contribute to their side''s troops. In their families, geniuses under a hundred weremon.

    As August continued reading, he confirmed that the sides would be even.

    There were an odd number of them, so one person would need to be seeded in at some point, but there would be enough Holy n geniuses on his side to counter those supporting Mikael.

    But, who would they be more willing to support?

    Would they really lend aid to August and his people despite their directly opposing ideologies?

    ''This is going to get messy.''

    The total limit of troops on each side was 1000. It would be a proper wartime battle where many different tactics could be employed.

    ''And since we already know who our allies are¡­''

    August looked at the end of the message, where the teams were clearly outlined.

    ''...we should meet and start nning.''

    War didn''t begin when the fighting did.

    The first step was always taken behind closed doors when people started plotting against each other.

    August''s eyes were narrowed.

    He stood in the midst of the ocean. His Baptism had properly ended, and he could already see the depths of his newfound power.

    Hell, he didn''t even need to test it.

    Because of the impact that his Baptism had on the ocean and the aura he possessed for but a second after the world energy barrier receded, the water dragon ns had already started to worship him.

    Even their greatest elders showed him respect.

    He felt like a king.

    These were people he''d been interacting with for months now. They knew who he was beforehand, and seeing their behavior change was startling for August.

    Still, he didn''t undermine their feelings. Rather, he understood them.

    Water dragons became enemies of the kingdom the moment Qinglong died. These remote locations were the only ces where his legacy could live on.

    But, because of their worship, they had to stay isted from the world.

    ''Their help would be great, but it would immediately reveal my identity.''

    When it came to other matters, though¡­

    The water dragon ns were August''s first followers. They had pledged loyalty to thest living Azure Dragon, and they would absolutely be willing to go to war for their new emperor.

    ''So, when ites down to the wire, they''ll be the most helpful people in the world.''

    August smiled. He was more than satisfied with what he''d aplished in these months.

    ''But now it''s time to get serious again.''

    August clutched the emblem in his hand and sent mana into it, expressing a thought to sixteen other geniuses.

    It contained two lines.

    The first was a location.

    And the second was just two words.

    "Let''s talk."

    They had their differences.

    No, that was a massive understatement. His original group of eleven and the five neers who''d be joining them were already enemies.

    It was his job to find a middle ground between them before thepetition started.

    After all, if their team was already eyeing each other with hostility, then what would they do when another seventeen geniuses at the same level came at them with the intent to destroy?

    Most kingdoms at war fell to internal conflict rather than enemy fire.

    August wouldn''t allow his to be the same.

    So, as he waited for a response from his teammates, he asked himself but one question.

    ''How do I melt a Holy n genius?''

    He couldn''t entice them with benefits, since he couldn''t offer them anything better than what they received easily from their ns.

    Rationality was a good approach. If they didn''t cooperate, then they would lose. Perhaps they wouldn''t be eliminated, but they''d lose too many points for them to easily catch back up to their peers in the rankings.

    The only reason August didn''t want to use this approach was because it would only be valid until the end of the third stage.

    He wanted to form a connection that would exist beyond thepetition.

    The Holy ns were his enemies, but not every member was evil or corrupt.

    The first step to being a hero was believing in the people.

    So even if they were the kin of his mortal enemies, the targets of his revenge¡­

    ''...I want to give them a chance.''

 Chapter 1697 Preparation [2]

    Chapter 1697 Preparation [2]

    ??Every Holy n had sent two geniuses into thepetition. They made up a solid portion of the contestants at this point, so it was a little surprising that August hadn''t run into many of them.

    However, they were definitely there. All of them, including the geniuses from the Liqua n.

    The day when August met them and was forced to fight woulde soon. After all, both of them were on the enemy side.

    The geniuses from the same Holy n had to be ced on the same team for obvious reasons. The war wouldn''t be much of a war if people from the same side were able to seize control over both teams.

    The six on August''s side were from the Ether n, the Aurora n, and the Ignis n.

    Mikael was a follower of the Aurora n, so August had a good impression of them. The Ether n was more mysterious. He didn''t quite know what to think of them. Finally, those named Ignis were known for their arrogance. They would likely be the most difficult to control.

    The majority of those on his team responded to his message. The rest didn''t speak, but it was assured that they''d appear.

    For some, this meeting was a time to create a hierarchy. August had been the figurehead of this group for the longest time, but the Holy n geniuses wouldn''t easily let him tell them what to do.

    For others, it truly was a time to create a strategy to defeat the other side. It was just a matter of who was taking thepetition seriously and who was treating it as an ego battle.

    The location August chose was remote, but everyonepeting had the money to pay for private teleportation directly to the coordinates. Even those who started poor were now backed by sponsors who gave them that kind of privilege.

    August arrived first. He looked around at the familiar yet unfamiliar area.

    There was a broken pce here. It lost its significance a long time ago, but it once meant everything to dragonkind.

    It was a fortress of legends back then, but it was currentlypletely unknown. Even the most informed geniuses likely wouldn''t know what it signified.

    But August knew.

    Because he inherited the memories of the man who built it.

    August chose this location mainly because he was still something of a wanted man. He, Valerie, and Mnia all had the same status in that sense, so it wasn''t great for them to go into society.

    They''d been able to train peacefully only because Damien gave them the facilities. If it wasn''t for him¡­well, their lives would have been hell by now.

    Nevertheless, the fortress was separated from all of Arulion''s society, several thousands of kilometers from the nearest small settlement.

    It was from a part of Arulion''s history that had been erased along with most of the old continent, so the newly forged Arulion was made where nobody could ess it unless they knew what to look for.

    August had never been here in person, but seeing it for himself sparked a different kind of emotion than what he felt when he was watching Qinglong.

    It was decrepit, sure, but it was just as glorious as ever.

    ''It wouldn''t be bad if I could fix it.''

    That was a thought for another time.

    For now, August entered the fortress and waited for the others to arrive.

    Mnia, Valerie, Lucas, and Ophelia came first. Within about ten minutes, they''d made their presence known.

    The rest of their original group arrived within half an hour, and thest six geniuses, who were new, came somewhere within forty-five minutes and an hour.

    Their attitudes were immediately as expected.

    Though they couldn''t help but express their initial surprise when they saw their surroundings, they remained stoic afterward, as if this meeting was a small war between them as well.

    August smiled wryly.

    ''This is going to be harder than I thought.''

    He pped and hands and got everyone''s attention. They were in an old meeting room in the pce, so the atmosphere was just right for them to start.

    "Why don''t we introduce ourselves formally? If we''re going to work as a team, it''s best we know each other''s strengths."

    In the end, he still started with the rationality tactic. His long-

    term ns could be enactedter.

    "I''m August Void. I''m a water dragon, no specific lineage, but I''m strong enough to defend myself. More importantly, I think I''m pretty smart, so I''ll be best when ites to strategizing."

    He gave them enough of an outline of what needed to be said.

    Valerie and the rest introduced themselves as well to create the proper atmosphere, and slowly, everyone joined in.

    August and his group were all familiar with the nobles andmoners who''d joined them thus far.

    Thestmoner aside from those who were known was named Glendon Serria. He was a fire dragon like Ophelia, but they were on different levels.

    Still, he was good enough to make it this far, so he wasn''t someone to be underestimated.

    The five nobles who joined them were named Hannen, Korra, Tassien, Quinn, and Zeno. The first three came from fire dragon ns that followed the Ignis n, while thest two came from subordinate ns to the Aureat and Ether ns respectively.

    Hannen, Korra, Tassien, and Zeno were instantly floored by the geniuses who had joined their team.

    Their demeanor had changed and be more submissive, because all they had been taught since young was how to submit to the Holy ns.

    That kind of demeanor didn''t elicit respect from their stronger peers. Instead, it generated a kind of ire that made August sigh.

    Still, the fact that the rest of them had finished introductions provoked the Holy n geniuses to do the same.

    The two from the Ether n were Seryius and Cera. They were brother and sister, and their abilities directly opposed each other. While Seryius was morebat-focused, Cera had a mind beyond minds and could handle theplex calctions of spatial support abilities with ease.

    From the Ignis n came Raphael and Iridia. Once again they were a man and a woman, but they had no rtion other than that of being from the same n. As to be expected from the Ignis n, they were bothbat-focused, but they did diverge. While Raphael was good at precision movements that were deadly against individuals, Iridia had explosive wide-area damage that was more destructive than anyone else in thepetition.

    And finally, from the Aurora n were two geniuses by the names of Gio and Bianca. They were dedicated healers for the most part, but if they didn''t have thebat talent to match, they wouldn''t have been able to survive in the heir wars no matter what their status was.

    Their group was made up of mainly offensive yers, but that didn''t matter much.

    "Alright. Since we have a basic understanding of our roles now, I''ll tell you all the thoughts I''ve had so far. Feel free to interrupt with your own at any point."

    August had taken the momentum of this meeting from the first moment. And, since he was focusing on the uing battle and giving only relevant information, nobody could find an opportunity to butt in.

    There were at least a few who were looking for an opportunity, but August didn''t n to give them any attention unless they approached the conversation genuinely.

    This time was provided to them so that they could work out the gritty details before ever touching the arena grounds.

    So even if he had to take these Holy n geniuses on by himself, August would find a way to do it.

    Unless someone better could prove themself, August was not willing to give up his authority.

    Because even if this team was a ragtag group of people who didn''t get along¡­

    ¡­August was determined to lead them to victory.

 Chapter 1698 Preparation [3]

    Chapter 1698 Preparation [3]

    ??The conversation went rtively well. There were some opponents to its stability, mainly the two from the Ignis n, but the Aurora and Ether n geniuses were surprisingly epting.

    Seryius was right above Valerie in standing. He didn''t have the luxury to think himself better than her. Instead, she was apetition that he had to acknowledge.

    As for Cera, she was tied with Valerie. Gio, Bianca, Raphael, and Iridia were also tied with August and Mnia.

    The so-called fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-ce positions were ones shared by many people.

    After all, there weren''t many opportunities to gain points. Everyone only participated twice, which meant those two positions defined where they stood.

    In every round, those geniuses had finished on the podium. However, since the rest had done the same, they all ended up in the same ce.

    They were all fighting a battle to make it into the top three as people who sat on its cusp.

    The reason why most of the Holy n geniuses were targeting August''s group specifically was because they were the hurdles preventing them from moving any higher on the leaderboard.

    Cera didn''t hold a grudge. Like her brother, she was more open-minded.

    The Ether n actually didn''t participate in Qinglong''s downfall. They ignored it as they''d ignored almost anything else happening outside of their n. They weren''t the types to have the inclination to lend aid to others easily, but they were quite amiable in general.

    One just had to be sure not to trust them too much, since, at the critical moment, it wasn''t odd for them to disappear.

    Since Cera was also a skilled tactician, she volunteered to help August with strategizing.

    His position as the leader was cemented with those words. After all, if Seryius and Cera were willing to see him as an equal, the rest didn''t have an excuse to oppose him.

    The ns that were made could only be left in their infancy since there wasn''t enough information to finalize them.

    Still, assigning roles was important.

    It was a matter of consoling a conceited genius, but August allowed Raphael and Iridia to be generals. He would make the strategies, but they would be allowed to monopolize the glory.

    Valerie and Mnia would act closely alongside them, while the rest would be assigned to positions as needed once they''d actually seen their territory.

    Gio and Bianca would be most useful for their healing skills in a wartime situation. All of thebatants would need to be pitted against geniuses on the other side.

    Those arrangements required detailed effort to produce.

    The key points to tackle in the current moment were team building and recruitment.

    The first would take some more time, but the second¡­

    The families of the nobles on August''s side probably wouldn''t have supported them beforehand, but now that members of their mother ns were on the same team, it was different.

    They would easily be able to get a few tens of troops from those noble ns, but it was nearly enough.

    August''s main goal for this meeting was to secure support from the Holy ns he was now attached to.

    He knew how to differentiate people.

    And, though he would believe in the good in people who deserved it, he knew who was evil and how to treat them.

    Eventually, he would take them down with his own hands.

    But for now, he would milk them for everything they could offer.

    The act of convincing them was simple.

    First and foremost, Seryius and Cera already promised the Ether n''s help.

    ording to Cera:

    "It is our battle too. If we lose here, then it will be worse for us than what will happen if we work together with everyone. It might not be to the same extent as what the others will get, but we will at least promise as many troops as the noble ns provide."

    With that, a tenth of the necessary army was provided.

    The Aurora n geniuses spoke along the same lines.

    "We''re willing to help since all of us are in the same boat now, but our n probably won''t be as friendly as the ones on the other side."

    It was the general sentiment they all shared.

    Even the Ignis n geniuses.

    But, they were willing to fight it.

    Raphael and Iridia would be the ones leading the army, which gave them more of a stake in things than the others.

    Raphael was unwilling to cooperate with the people he disliked, but his pride disallowed him from being worse than others.

    Rather than promising whatever their n could provide, he gave his word for something else.

    "I''ll provide at least half of the army. If you are so great, then you take care of the rest."

    He spoke directly to August.

    "If you want to act like the leader, then show us that you have worth."

    That was the message in the underlying tone of his words.

    August''s eyes narrowed, but he nodded nheless.

    Everyone wanted everyone else to prove their worth. That was the way of the world.

    Instead of getting offended by the attitude, August let it slide and decided to correct it through his actions alone.

    Plus, he got more than he thought he would. Now wasn''t the time to push for more.

    "Then, we''ll reconvene every so often to confirm our ns. Otherwise, I will see you all in two weeks."

    The only person who needed to stay behind was Cera. She and August had to get limated to each other''s thought processes so they could properly scheme against their enemies.

    It wasn''t an easy task at all, especially when considering that their team only had Seryius.

    The two people above him on the leaderboard¡­

    Eris Noct, who hated August with a passion, and Wilhelm Liqua, a man who would target him solely because of his element.

    They would have more support from the outside, they would have better troops, and, more than likely, they''d have more power from person to person.

    August and Cera had the most important role.

    To ovee that strength with tactics.

    And, to create a stage where each and every person on their team could shine.

    The event wasn''t meant to eliminate one team or the other.

    It would show everyone who was worthy of staying in thepetition and who needed to be taken out.

    It didn''t matter what team they came from. If they didn''t do anything noteworthy, they''d be eliminated.

    The contestants didn''t know yet that the intention of the tournament administration was to cut their number down to only fifteen.

    At least twenty people would get eliminated through the third stage.

    The rest would be enemies.

    All alliances would be destroyed and only rivalries would remain as they all vied for first ce.

    Everything was meant to change in the fourth round.

    But the question really was¡­would they even make it there?

    From August''s perspective, only positives had risen from the heir wars thus far.

    He was still naive.

    There were terrifying undercurrents streaming through Arulion. There was an entirely different threat approaching from behind that none sawing.

    And when it finally arrived¡­

    It was safe to say that the entirety of Arulion would tremble.

 Chapter 1699 Preparation [4]

    Chapter 1699 Preparation [4]

    ??August and Cera were forced to spend a lot of time together in theing days.

    The others stopped by every once in a while to check their process and report on the collection of troops, but the two who gave the old fortress life again were none other than August and Cera.

    They had easy ess to information on the other participants, so they were able to somewhat form a strategy based on eliminating them.

    But, theing challenge wasn''t just about eliminating the enemy. Actually, it was a little friendlier to weaker geniuses.

    The main goal was to seize the other team''s territory. While they inevitably needed to sh throughout the war, actually eliminating every genius on the other team wasn''t a requirement to win.

    August kept that in mind and kept the nning to how they were going to deal with individuals.

    It was like hunting beasts. Every single one of those geniuses had their own kinks. Once their patterns were observed enough times, a strategy to defeat them could easilye into being.

    People like Eris Noct and Wilhelm Liqua were definitely terrifying to encounter out of the blue. The fear factor they used to their advantage so well, however, waspletely removed by August and Cera.

    That was all that could possibly be done in the short amount of time they had.

    After all, August still had to recruit five hundred troops.

    The rest of the army was slowly filled by the forces from various ns to the expected degree. Even Raphael delivered on his promise, gathering over four hundred mercenaries who were absolutely loyal to him.

    For what it was worth, themoners also tried to contribute.

    Those like Mnia could only produce one or two reinforcements since they didn''t have wild connections, but even Valerie brought over ten people from her n to help.

    August had to do his part.

    Somehow, he had to find a way to bring hundreds of people together in a matter of weeks.

    He had some connections, sure, but the main source of his resources was none other than Damien himself.

    Was he to ask his father for help, or was it his turn to independently win over the people he needed?

    August wanted to be independent. It was in his best interest to do as much as possible without asking for help, so he could prepare for the day when it was impossible for him to receive it.

    Though he loved his father, he didn''t want to be too reliant on him.

    To live his own life and to make his father proud through his own achievements, August wanted to do everything on his own.

    He just didn''t have enough time.

    The third stage was only a weekter by the time August had the freedom to start recruiting.

    He knew his father was busy, but he didn''t have another choice but to ask for help.

    And so, that was exactly what he did.

    He called Damien through a device very purposefully modeled after a smartphone and hesitantly posed the request.

    "Dad, can I ask for a favor?"

    At this point in time, Damien had already left the Dragon Emperor''sir to start preparing for other things, so he was more than free to answer his son''s call.

    "Sure, what''s up?" he said casually, a hint of curiosity in his tone.

    "So, it''s like this¡­"

    August quickly exined the situation with the third stage, and Damien immediately understood what he wanted.

    But, instead of giving an immediate answer, Damien asked another question.

    "If you had the time, do you think you could do it on your own?"

    "Absolutely," August responded without hesitation.

    "Then¡­"

    Damien smiled, though August couldn''t see it.

    "...prove it to me."

    The world faded away around August.

    Damien wasn''t anywhere nearby, but that wasn''t how his power worked anymore. As long as he knew what he wanted to do, he could do it with ease.

    There would nevere a day when Damien was averse to just giving August anything he wanted.

    Hell, if August decided to give up right now and just ask for Arulion, Damien didn''t mind dealing with its internal struggles personally and gifting it to him.

    He didn''t do it because he had an ambitious son. August''s voice clearly portrayed his dissatisfaction at having to ask for anything at all. Since that was the case, Damien gave him the opportunity to earn it.

    He had been sent into an imaginary world, sure, but whatever he achieved there would be reflected in reality.

    Damien gave him a year in that world.

    What he achieved there was up to him, but there was one thing Damien made sure of.

    It wouldn''t just be the number he needed.

    As long as August could achieve something greater¡­

    Every troop he recruited, and every connection he made, would follow him back to Arulion.

    ''If he really has some ambition¡­''

    Damien''s smile widened into a grin.

    ''...then he coulde back from that ce with an entire army of his own.''

    That was how it began.

    A single week in the outside world. A week when August Void suddenly vanished.

    Nobody knew what he was doing or where he had gone, but they all had the same thought.

    He would either return as a hero, return as a failure, or disappear like a coward.

    There were no in-betweens.

    ***

    It wasn''t hard for Damien to create a world.

    It actually came quite easily to him.

    He was new at controlling Existence, but he was a veteran in the matters of stars.

    As a Celestial himself, he had personally witnessed the creation ofs, stars, and the universe.

    Perhaps it was still too early for him to birth an entire universe, but if it was just a single world¡­?

    His three main World Cores from Apeiron, Earth, and the Cloud ne were still present in his mind. They didn''t talk nearly as often since they were busy managing many processes of the Sanctuary under Reva, the Universal Core Fragment''s supervision, but he could still hear them asionally.

    And he could feel their presence just as well as he could when he first bound them.

    Even if he didn''t remember everything he''d learned, he could revisit them and relearn at any time.

    Plus, it was actually easier than he thought to make a world as simple as those in the lower universe.

    Damien birthed a World Core with itsws and its foundational elements. He established a heavenly order, and as the ingredients of life spawned one after another, he sped up time to give the world millions of years to develop.

    There wasn''t a need to create theplex minds of living beings or the biological processes that allowed every single individual to function. A process with that level of involvement and precision would burn even Damien''s mind.

    Those living beings were created on their own by the functioning world energy.

    They developed sentience on their own, discovered mana on their own, and eventually rose to form their own societies, hierarchies, and power systems.

    The world that August entered was entirely real and entirely illusionary at the same time.

    He spent a year there, understanding that he was in a trial presented by his father.

    As for what he''d aplished before it came time for him to leave¡­

    Well, that was to be seen, wasn''t it?

 Chapter 1700 Preparation [5]

    <h4>Chapter 1700 Preparation [5] </h4>

    August didn''t really have time to leave a message for people to see before he vanished, but their n for the time before the third stage began was thoroughly fleshed out, so there wasn''t a need for them to have someone giving direct orders.

    One would expect there to beints about such a sudden disappearance, but everyone on the team was at least a little perceptive.

    August had left to find troops to make up the other half of their army. Until he came back with good or bad news, nobody was going to say anything.

    His most fierce opposition came from Raphael and Iridia, but they were especially understanding in this case. Raphael was the one who pushed the responsibility onto August in the first ce, so he had the least right toin.

    For the most part, all they had to do was individual training. Since there wasn''t a way for them to form actual bonds in the time they were given, most of their strategies relied on each of them acting mostly independently from the rest.

    However, they still tried.

    August''s worries were mostly unwarranted. The Holy n geniuses definitely weren''t happy to have to work withmoners, but they prioritized winning over prejudice.

    Not all of them were as short-sighted as Eris.

    Rather, even Eris wasn''t short-sighted. She had acted on her emotions in that moment, but it was a weak point for her. She usually had more sense than that. She had a calcting mind that was bred into her by the Noct n, but when she got too emotional, it all disappeared.

    Still, in this situation, there wasn''t a single person who wouldn''t willingly cooperate with their teammates.

    And though August and the rest didn''t know about it, there were definitely rivalries between the Holy ns.

    The tournament administration didn''t sort them randomly.

    The Ignis n and Liqua n had several grudges against each other because both believed themselves the pinnacle species of dragonkind.

    The Aurora and Aureat ns had conflict over their interests, since the Aureat n insisted on monopolizing control over the economy.

    And the Noct n liked to make enemies with everyone, but they were mainly hostile to those two ns: Ignis and Aurora.

    The Ether n was the only one among them who didn''t specifically have conflict with another n. They were obviously still involved in everything since they were also a Holy n, and if it had to be decided which side they stood on, then it was rtively clear.

    The main incentive for the Holy n geniuses was the opportunity to humiliate thepetition from hostile ns in front of an audience of millions.

    Perhaps that was why Raphael and Iridia stopped raising as much of a fuss when it was decided that they''d lead the armies from the frontlines and take all of the glory.

    It only happened three times over the course of two weeks, and August was only present for one, but the team had indeed trained together for several hours, learning each other and understanding how they could fit their skills together in one cohesive picture.

    They were ying a delicate game. Each and every one of them understood that, at the end of the day, they were all enemies.

    When this round ended, they''d go back to being at each other''s throats.

    Yes, they needed to work together to seed.

    However, they could never truly express themselves to the people around them. Their best cards and real strength had to remain forever hidden in wait for the day when it truly needed to be released.

    The days passed slowly for each individual, but the world experienced them quite rapidly.

    The public was unaware of what was happening in the third stage at first, but it was hard to hide it from them when such massive preparations were necessary.

    Tworge swathes ofnd just outside of Arrion, another city bordering the central region like Arragon, were imed by the tournament administration and transformed.

    Both territories were roughly the size of a European country. They wererge enough to fit several million people if necessary, but still small enough to be easily traversed.

    Not only were pces built at the far ends of both territories, but several cities were also erected throughout to simte a war between two real kingdoms.

    When thepetition started in stride, the cities would be filled with simted poptions to make the situation even more realistic.

    The preparations made on all sides were extensive.

    August''s group had some troubles. Their opponents, on the other hand, had fluid cooperation from the very first day.

    August was able to establish control over the group because of his unique position. He was both the smartest person on the team and the most trusted. His original group alliance made up the majority of the group, which meant that he already had established control that others couldn''t interfere with.

    Mikael had control over the other team, sure. The problem was that they had onlye together to deal with a mutual enemy. There wasn''t anything like trust among them.

    When the Holy n geniuses were delegated to their team, they instantly took control. Wilhem Liqua took the position of general, and though many people tried to oppose her, Eris Noct became their primary strategist.

    They''d heard news about the other team just as the other team heard about them. They hadn''t done any real reconnaissance, but Eris at least knew that August was the one who held her position on that side.

    She had been waiting for the day she could have her revenge for a long time now. If she fought him, nobody would acknowledge her win. The strength difference between them was too much.

    But, if she beat him in his own game, in a strategic battle, she could both defeat him and redeem herself in the audience''s eyes.

    It was a good n if she could execute it properly.

    Still, it wasn''t confirmed that she and August wouldn''t fight.

    After all, August was now a 4th ss dragon as well, and the power he gained ess to when he reached that milestone wasn''t small.

    August''s aura waspletely hidden by the artifacts Damien gave him. They were meant to keep his lineage hidden, but the aura concealment was an extra benefit.

    Nobody knew that August had ascended. Not even Valerie or Mnia.

    He didn''t need to use that power actively since he was taking a backline role in the war, but he couldn''t contain his excitement for battle.

    Especially once he returned from Bastille, the world that Damien created.

    Originally, August thought that Damien would give him troops when he came out.

    He made real connections in Bastille and met people that he had gotten extremely close with, but he had to treat them as illusions.

    Knowing that he had to return at some point, August hid most of his emotions from the people who came to follow him and respect him.

    It was a bittersweet feeling returning to the real world, but since it was expected and there was much to do, August tried to put it away.

    That was until he truly took note of his surroundings.

    Eventually, a wide smile appeared on his face.

    This round of the heir wars¡­

    August didn''t even have to question it anymore.

    This round belonged to him.

 Chapter 1701 Preparation [6]

    <h4>Chapter 1701 Preparation [6]</h4>

    Bastille was a world that developed simrly to those in the lower world.

    Since there wasn''t anything established and the people had to figure out their history on their own in the few tens of thousands of years that they actually had sentience, the world was divided into several territories controlled by kingdoms, sects, and other organizations.

    It was a mixture of several cultures that were simr to those that existed in the outside world, which was interesting considering that there wasn''t anything influencing them aside from the people of that world.

    Perhaps all living beings evolved in simr directions, or perhaps it was just because this world was originally created by a single man.

    If there was one thing to note, it was that everyone in Bastille was also a True Dragon. Damien made it easy for August and influenced their growth direction just a little bit so that they could properly enter Arulion without being questioned.

    Otherwise, everything in Bastille had been influenced, caused, and created by its own people.

    Whatever the case was, August found himself as a new disciple in an influence called the Forsaken Sea Sect. It bore many simrities to the Celestial Star Pce and other sects from the Cloud ne, including the systems by which disciples were able to gain status and resources.

    August''s starting point was small, so he didn''t have any immediate opportunities to create a following. He had to find a way around it.

    The first thing August did was show his strength at the inner disciple exam.

    His original intention was to dominate and make sure that he was promoted directly to a core disciple. It worked for the most part, but August underestimated his opponents.

    There was a boy among the disciples. He didn''t immediately stand out to an outside observer. Not untilbat started.

    That boy was perfectly juxtaposed to August. Instead of tsunamis born from the ocean, he controlled seas of magma. It was unclear why he wanted to join the Forsaken Sea Sect, considering its immediate impression as a sect meant for people who used Water Laws.

    August learnedter that there was a single elder in the sect who controlled mes. His techniques oddly incorporated properties of water, which elevated him to one of the strongest people in the world. Many me practitioners came to the sect to try and take him as their master.

    He had only taken eight disciples to this day.

    That boy, Juno Vasquez, was the ninth.

    August was also adopted by one of the elders of the sect. He was also a highly sought-after teacher, but the reason August chose him as a master wasn''t because of the qualities everyone else focused on.

    Oskar Piana was the furthest thing from an Azure Dragon present in the sect. His techniques focused on absolute precision and the ability to use weak strength to destroy strong opponents.

    August didn''t need a teacher when it came to the Azure Dragon Manual. Every night in his dreams, Qinglong himself would teach him. He didn''t need a teacher for his bodily training. The things he''d learned from Damien were enough to support him for a lifetime.

    The techniques that he''d need in times of peril, when he didn''t have the mana, strength, or time to use Qinglong''s techniques, belonged to Oscar.

    It was a surprise for anyone who saw how he fought.

    He and Juno had a huge sh after everyone else was eliminated. The entire stage was filled with waves of fire and water that crashed against each other with the sole goal of destroying everything.

    August and Juno were too equally matched. Everything they tried was returned by the opponent. In the end, the elders were forced to interrupt their battle for the sake of saving time.

    That was when the two boys'' rivalry began.

    Oskar and Stuart, Juno''s master, didn''t have much of a rivalry before they epted their new disciples, but August and Juno influenced them so much that this changed within a few weeks.

    August and Juno would fight whenever they got the chance, and over time, their rivalry evolved into a friendship.

    Two months into August''s stay in Bastille, the sect was invaded by a nearby enemy, the Burning Sea Sect.

    It turned out that Juno was originally the bastard son of their leader and had killed his half-brother before fleeing. SInce the Forsaken Sea Sect was sheltering him, they came under fire.

    Immediately, Juno took responsibility for everything immediately. He told the story of how his mother was brutalized by the Sect Leader and forced to carry his child. He told of how he was constantly abused by the rest of the sect until, eventually, his mother died and he snapped.

    His actions were justified from his perspective. They were justified to August as well.

    And, though Juno didn''t expect it, the Forsaken Sea Sect stood by his side.

    The war continued for four more months.

    August and Juno entered the battlefield over and over again, making contribution after contribution until they were famous throughout not only the sect, but also the region.

    Six months into August''s stay in Bastille, the Burning Sea Sect fell, giving Juno and the Forsaken Sea Sect freedom.

    It was interesting.

    August hadn''t been there for long, but he already had an incredible following in the sect. The way he led the troops in battle was impable. They somehow gained loyalty specifically to him in that short period of time.

    Juno knew from the start that he wasn''t a general. He couldn''t lead people, but he had something that August didn''t.

    Brutality.

    It had been engraved in his flesh by his upbringing. August wasn''t willing to do what was necessary all of the time. He had a moral code that he had to stand by, and though Juno did respect it, he also knew that a pure heart wasn''t easy to maintain in this world.

    August''s heart was what drew people to him. It was what allowed people to believe that their fates could be put in his hands.

    And it was what saved people like Juno from their darkness.

    In order to protect that purity, Juno resolved himself to follow August and do what his closest friend couldn''t.

    That was the beginning of their adventure.

    August developed a love for the Forsaken Sea Sect after being with its people for so long. Unlike Arulion, which was always enveloped in trouble, the sect was filled with people who were both loyal and kind.

    This sect specifically only had a few tens of thousands of people in it, unlike most that took in at least a hundred thousand disciples.

    There was a yearly examination to allow people in, but only after thorough screening were they truly allowed to join.

    In fact, the sect''s highest authorities likely already knew Juno''s circumstances from the start.

    Nevertheless, August decided to spend the rest of the time helping the sect grow.

    He took many excursions to the outside world and explored everything Bastille had to offer. He made many friends and allies who became loyal to him, and as he brought them into the sect, it expanded and expanded.

    Within just nine months, the elders had to make a decision.

    August had practically taken control of the sect and Oskar''s power had rapidly risen. How were they going to respond?

    Well, it was probably obvious from everything else said about them, but they easily made the decision to promote August to the young master position. They gave the sect to him, because they knew that he only wanted to see it thrive.

    But, a day needed toe when August told them the truth.

    He eventually had to tell Juno. He had to tell Oskar and he had to tell the rest of the sect elders.

    He was not from this world, and he was not meant to stay.

    He would have to part from the tens of thousands of people under his rule whether he liked it or not.

    Thest three months that August had in Bastille were spent nicely. He enjoyed his time with his people, with the friends he''d made along the way.

    Juno, a girl named Mika, a girl named Yuna, and a boy named Raul. The five of them had been inseparable until now, so when the final moment finally came, none of them could stand the separation.

    August returned to Arulion with sadness in his heart. For a moment, he wondered if his father had to give him an experience like that, knowing that it would leave him with scars.

    That was when he remembered.

    His father was never a man like that.

    And just a few seconds after he appeared in a in far away from Qinglong''s fortress, he suddenly felt arge presence behind him.

    He turned around shakily.

    He thought that it was an illusion. He thought that it was a result of his sadness. He wanted to pretend that he never felt it at all, because if he turned around and found nothing, he didn''t know what he''d do with himself.

    But, despite his misgivings, he couldn''t stop himself from turning around.

    "Ah¡­"

    There they were.

    Over fifty thousand people from the Forsaken Sea Sect who saw him as the young master who would lead them to glory, along with another few thousand from the influences and people August had met in the world outside the sect¡­

    Juno, Mika, Yuna, Raul, Oskar¡­

    They were all here with smiles on their faces.

 Chapter 1702 Preparation [7]

    <h4>Chapter 1702 Preparation [7] </h4>

    "Yo!"

    Juno immediately ran over and slung his arm over August''s shoulders.

    "You really thought you could get rid of me? You must be crazy."

    "Yeah, I think I''m going crazy. I keep imagining this psycho clown who can''t sleep unless he annoys me to death."

    "Oh, and who might that be?"

    "Who do you think?"

    August looked over with a deadpan face just in time to see the fist flying at him.

    He ducked down and returned the attack.

    Bang!

    Juno easily blocked it, but he didn''t pursue the fight further.

    "So it''s real¡­" August muttered.

    "It''s real," Juno echoed with a grin.

    "But¡­how?"

    August was more confused than he''d ever been in his life.

    He had been treating that world as an illusion. When he told everyone about having to return to his own world, he''d done it mainly to satisfy his own desires.

    It was hard for him to believe that the people he''d been interacting with were fake, and that led him to make many memories and friends throughout his journey.

    Yet, he never forgot the nagging feeling in the bottom of his heart, reminding him that all of this would disappear.

    Seeing everyone in this world, "feeling" their existence, August was more than just dumbfounded.

    Juno''s expression became more serious as he backed away and shrugged, scratching his head.

    "When you disappeared, a weird screen appeared in front of me. It asked me if I wanted to stay or follow you, and¡­well, it''s pretty obvious what I picked."

    August''s eyes widened.

    "The rest of you too?"

    "That''s right."

    Oskar stepped forward with a smile.

    "Each and every one of us was offered a choice, and all of us chose to support you."

    "This¡­"

    It was unfathomable. Wasn''t that world just a product of Damien''s power, a ce created for him to prove his worth?

    Weren''t these people supposed to be illusions who could never be real?

    Looking at them, seeing every single one of them agreeing that they made a conscious choice toe to this world, August almost wanted to cry.

    ''Thank you, Dad.''

    First and foremost, he was incredibly grateful to the man who made all of this possible.

    And secondly, he didn''t know how to repay all of the people who''d chosen to abandon their conventional lives to follow him into apletely newnd.

    August wanted to react massively and show them how much it meant to him, but none of them needed such things.

    They felt about him the same way he did about them. He had troubles in this world that he needed their help to deal with, so obviously they came.

    There was nothing more to it.

    "So?" Juno said, forcing August to throw away his original ns.

    "Where is this ce?"

    "Oh¡­"

    Perhaps that was indeed more important.

    Bastille''s strongest were barely Demigods, and they numbered less than ten. The most experienced experts of that world were in the nine revolutions of 4th ss.

    If August casually brought them into a world with not only Demigods, but True Gods galore, what would happen?

    "Alright."

    August steadied himself and put away his emotions, happily this time.

    He brought them here, so they were his responsibility.

    Looking at the time, he only had some hours to get them ready for this world.

    However, There was one concern that hadpletely vanished from his mind.

    Five hundred troops under one hundred, five hundred geniuses who couldpete on the same level as everyone else in the heir wars¡­

    He didn''t just have them.

    He had a surplus.

    ***

    August was really, really cutting it close.

    With only a few hours left before the event officially started, the teams had gathered to finalize their strategies.

    On August''s side, there was a moreplicated atmosphere.

    If he didn''t return at this exact moment, then their entire operation would be ruined.

    It wasn''t just about his pride. If they had half of the soldiers that the other side had, then their loss was guaranteed.

    Raphael hadn''t said anything yet, but his expression was a sight to see. Even Seryius and Cera were starting to lose hope, despite being on more friendly terms with him.

    It was silent only because they were trying to remain calm.

    If they were letting their feelings govern them, then this entire fortress would have been up in mes already.

    But it was good that they held themselves back.

    Because, as a majority of the team expected, August did return.

    The fortress was already filled with people. The geniuses and their troops would be transported to the arena grounds together, so it was necessary for them to stay in close proximity during thesest few hours.

    Everyone was gathered, and they all felt the massive aura that was approaching closer and closer.

    The sixteen geniuses immediately rushed outside to be greeted by one of Raphael''s mercenaries.

    "Boss! There''s an army approaching!"

    "How many?" Raphael asked, his expression serious.

    "It looks about five hundred. All above 4th ss."

    "Tch."

    It was an army with roughly the same strength that they had. If those people were hostile, then there was a real chance that they''d lose arge portion of their troops before the third stage even began.

    Rushing out of the fortress'' entrance, the sixteen of them caught sight of the army for the first time. They immediately saw the person leading it as well.

    "That guy¡­" Raphael muttered.

    Their eyes were more than sharp enough to understand August''s identity even at a distance.

    "...he actually did it."

    There was no way for Raphael and August to be friends. There was never a solution that would allow them to get along.

    However, in that moment, even Raphael had to admit that he''d gained respect for the boy.

    Somehow, from somewhere, he''d procured troops that proved themselves worthy with their aura alone.

    As August approached, he grinned at the rest of his team.

    "Let''s get to nning, shall we?"

    Their team was now officially prepared.

    And just in time for the third stage.

    August entered the fortress while his people stayed in the grounds with the rest of the troops.

    The final few hours were spent well, and soon enough, the light of teleportation swallowed them.

    Too much had happened in two weeks, but it had all been for this moment.

    Thirty-four people were going into this battle, but only seventeen woulde out.

    With emotions at an all-time high, as screens filled the entire kingdom, broadcasting the event to the masses¡­

    The war between geniuses finally began.

    ***

    There were two big urrences taking ce in the shadows around Arulion that would soone to affect the entirety of the kingdom.

    They werepletely unrted.

    One took ce in the depths of the earth and involved several hundreds of thousands of people.

    And the second took ce in the depths of the kingdom, in the Aureat n''s hidden territory, and only involved a single woman.

    Their purposes were different, the implications of their actions were different, but the leader of those masses and that woman said the same exact thing.

    "It''s time."

    The ns that they''d been working hard on for several months or years¡­

    Now was the time to let them all unfold.

 Chapter 1703 Third Stage [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1703 Third Stage [1] </h4>

    Thirty-four geniuses were instantly transported into two separate territories along with two thousand troops.

    Each of those troops had been vetted in the moment of teleportation to check if they had the right qualifications to participate. As for the geniuses, well, there was only one irregrity among them.

    The first, second, and third-ce geniuses were all participating in the war, so the question was¡­who was the seeded genius?

    There were thirty-five of them in thepetition, but an even number was necessary for the fairness of the round. One person had been left out.

    Well, he wasn''t going to be out of the war for the entire time, but he was definitely something of a trump card.

    None of the Holy n geniuses could be chosen for that role. Because their ns and their fellow geniuses wouldin in a way that the tournament administration didn''t want to deal with.

    The seeded genius couldn''t be one of the weakest. At that point, what was the point of seeding at all? They were just saving someone who was going to be eliminated soon anyway.

    The strongest were off the table, but there were many noble n geniuses who had particr talents that would be more useful in war than others.

    One of such geniuses was chosen to sit out for the beginning of the round. Later on, he would be returned to whichever team was able to im him as one of their people.

    As for why he of all people had earned this role¡­?

    Well, it was purely due to his "domain."

    Kashim Darkarm was a man who didn''t particrly stand out in the heir wars. He had brushed by in every round, and when alliances formed around him, he stayed mostly neutral.

    He had less of a connection to their group than anyone else, but he technically gave his allegiance to Mikael.

    Nevertheless, he had sworn an oath to the heavenly order that he would remain neutral and properly aid whichever team he ended up a part of.

    Kashim''s ability made him an imprable fortress. Taking cities would be easy when his ability was in y, because even Holy n geniuses had to be wary of his territories.

    The in-depth exnation of his ability could wait until he was also participating in the war.

    When August and the rest arrived in their individual pces, that was all they were told through their emblems.

    Kushim would eventually be an important card to hold, but he wasn''t the immediate priority.

    The teams spawned in war rooms,plete with massive tables in the middle that had holographic projections of the arena map.

    As if they were reading each other''s minds, both teams immediately approached those tables before anything else.

    "Three border cities."

    It was the first thing August noticed and the first thing that was called out.

    On both sides, there were three border cities staggered across the line that separated their territories.

    Moving inward, August''s territory had two cities to the east and one to the west, while the other side had territories evenly distanced from each other in the east, west, and center of the territory.

    The castles were at the very end of each territory, separated from the closest city by several tens of kilometers. Even if they wanted to get there as soon as possible, any troops in the castle would need several seconds at the very least to reach their destination.

    "Hmm¡­" Cera hummed.

    "With a distribution like this, should we go for n C?"

    "That would be nice, but they''ll probably be able to read it easily. That n telegraphs itself fairly obviously to those who are smart enough to see it."

    "True," Cera agreed, nodding her head.

    "Still, it''s a good starting point. We can switch into n B and even use the more destructive elements of our first draft to catch them off guard. It really just depends on how they respond."

    "Right. As you said, we can start there and figure out the rest after we see what they''re up to. Regardless, the first step is to distribute our troops and do some reconnaissance. They''re likely thinking the same."

    Until this point, only August and Cera, as the team''s tacticians, were talking.

    Now that the conversation had continued into something that the rest could also contribute to, others joined in.

    Mainly, Raphael and Iridia.

    Raphael already had his army. The mercenaries he hired would only listen to him, after all.

    He did it to make sure that his position would remain stable, but he unintentionally left Iridia with only August''s troops at her disposal.

    "Let my mercenaries take the frontlines for now. We have not vetted your people, so they can wait until they''ve proven themselves."

    August narrowed his eyes, not appreciating the man''s tone, but didn''t say anything.

    ''In the first phase, most of the troops in the border cities will be sacrifices. It''s better for mercenaries to take that role, especially since my people will be more useful for the rest of the battle.''

    Raphael was strong. He also had a lot of training since he was one of the Ignis n''s best prospective talents.

    However, he had never seen war.

    It was fine to let Raphael take some embarrassment first so he could take the rest of the war as a learning experience.

    As for Iridia¡­

    "I agree. Even if they are your troops, they will have to ept me as their general for now. Before we enterbat, I need to meet them."

    She supported Raphael for a reason different from his own. It was definitely a more rational approach as well.

    August had already informed his people that they''d be led by someone else at the start. They had epted it, but it was still unknown if they''d get along with Iridia.

    Logically speaking, keeping the five hundred of them in the cities closer to the pce was a better decision for now.

    Somehow, everyone''s opinions lined up.

    Valerie and the rest, Seryius, and the Aurora n geniuses abstained from the conversation, merely observing as the two generals and two tacticians continued to make ns despite being somewhat unaware of their enemy''s intentions.

    They were unaware, but they made ns because that was only temporary.

    The second they achieved their first victory, they could move their enemies along a predetermined path and manipte them into ying into their hands.

    For now, everything that needed to be done was still preparation.

    But the third stage had already begun.

    The announcer wasn''t in the same arena as them, nor were the crowds, but they were all watching eagerly through the invisible cameras that recorded every move that both sides made.

    Inside a massive swathe ofnd, enveloped in a golden light barrier that disallowed anymunication between that ce and the outside world, a little over two thousand people prepared for war.

    And outside of that ce, a far greater number did the same.

    It was obvious which war would start first, but¡­

    Would it be able to end before a simr situation manifested on a far greater scale?

    None of these geniuses understood how close the situation in Arulion was to erupting. Hell, even the Holy ns didn''t properly understand the storm that was brewing.

    But those few that knew that it woulde¡­

    It was safe to say that all of them had fled far, far away from the Kingdom of Dragons.

 Chapter 1704 Third Stage [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1704 Third Stage [2]</h4>

    It was like a game of chess, at least at the start.

    Both teams moved their pawns into position along with stronger pieces that would control the game.

    The three border cities were immediately upied by roughly the same amount of troops. Raphael was there, as were Valerie, Mnia, and Gio from the Aurora n.

    Meanwhile, August, Cera, Bianca, and Iridia stayed back.

    The nobles on their side were ced in the three inner cities and made to survey them before the troops arrived, and Seryius had mysteriously disappeared, off to aplish a task of his own.

    There were three geniuses in the border cities mainly for the sake of appearances. To make sure that the other side couldn''t move rashly, they had to present a sufficient threat.

    If it was anyone else, perhaps that goal couldn''t be achieved, but with Valerie and Mnia taking those support roles, everything changed.

    The two of them had shown insane performances thus far, and more importantly, they had grown impossibly in the small amount of time between rounds.

    Nobody could predict what their current strength looked like, so the nobles who mirrored them on the opposing team had to be careful.

    It was odd. Since the other team was controlled by Wilhelm and Eris, it acted a lot differently from August and his people.

    Originally, they had only sent three nobles to take the border cities. That changed, and one was reced by Estavian Liqua, Wilhelm''s fellow genius.

    It looked like a sh between Holy ns would spark from the start, but it didn''t happen as people hoped.

    Raphael was looking forward to it, but there was a reason why the Ignis n looked down on them so much.

    Unlike the true Azure Dragon n before them, the Liqua n was sneaky and filled with people who only knew how to scheme.

    It was impossible to expect them to y fairly or fight properly.

    They tried to make themselves look better for the crowds in the heir wars, but Raphael knew what was at the core of their techniques.

    Dirty, scheming bastards who only had a position as a Holy n because of a technicality.

    He hated the Azure Dragon n just as much as anyone else in his position, but at least they were honest.

    Raphael was rearing to go at the opportunity to take down the pseudo-Holy n that the Liqua n was. There were far better ns that could take their position.

    Nevertheless, it wasn''t time yet.

    The other side''s moves were oddly simr to theirs. The only difference was the distribution of troops.

    He was a general, sure, but the first move in this war didn''t belong to him.

    There were only two geniuses actually moving around the map instead of waiting for the other side to move.

    On August''s side, it was Seryius Ether. From the enemy, it was a woman named Gianna Noct.

    They were in charge of reconnaissance.

    Both of them were in enemy territory already. The entire momentum of this battle would depend on which one was caught first.

    Eris, as a member of the Noct n, knew a lot about concealment. In the same way, she knew how to detect it.

    It was a bit more difficult when the method was using space instead of darkness, but darkness mimicked the greaterw in many ways. In a sense, Eris understood how Seryius would hide himself.

    The pce was already filled with traps that would undo his concealment. There were people in every city waiting for him to appear so they could mark his aura and take him down.

    Seryius could feel the presence of these mechanisms from the instant he arrived past enemy lines.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    It would definitely cause problems. Seryius couldn''t easily enter any of the areas they''d blocked off with traps and formations.

    ''But, did they really think that was enough?''

    He didn''t know if he was being overconfident or if Eris was, but if he really wanted to get into a ce, then no formation could stop him.

    The main benefit of being born with a spatial affinity was the freedom of movement it granted.

    And when one was a dragon on top of that, the benefits were even more pronounced.

    As Seryius surveyed the enemy team''s cities and decided which one he''d infiltrate first, Gianna Noct found herself in the middle of August''s territory with confusion evident in her eyes.

    She was hidden in the pure darkness of the world, a ce that couldn''t be sensed by anyone on this team but the geniuses from the Aurora n.

    Gianna took special precautions to stay away from them, but as she looked for other traps or methods ced to reveal her position, her confusion intensified.

    ''Are they stupid?''

    That was the first thing she could think of. They had to be on another level of idiocy to leave this entire territory as free of traps as it looked.

    Unlike her team, the enemy was casual. It seemed as if they believed in their strength enough to forgo some basic defenses.

    ''Hmph.''

    She had a natural disdain for people like August, but she''d personally witnessed Eris getting humiliated by him and hisrades.

    ''That brat knows how to scheme. There must be something happening that I''m not aware of.''

    Nevertheless, it was her job to find out what that was, so there was nothing for her to say.

    Raphael and his mercenary corps were easy to read, so she didn''t need to spend too much time investigating at the border.

    As such, Gianna approached closer and closer to the castle, believing that there was nobody who could make her wary other than Bianca Aurora, who was stationed there.

    Her belief was wrong, but through no fault of her own.

    "Have you found them?"

    August stood on the castle grounds with his people.

    The one he spoke to was none other than Yuna, one of his closest friends from Bastille.

    "Not specifically," Yuna responded with her eyes closed.

    "It''s a female. She''s getting closer, but I haven''t sensed her exact position yet."

    "I see¡­well, that''s fine. If she''sing here, then it won''t be hard for you to find her for much longer."

    Yuna was a True Dragon just as everyone else in Bastille was, but dragonkind to them was what humankind was in the Heavenly World.

    They lived in many ces, from civilized societies more advanced than some on earth to barbaric ns that survived in the wilds.

    Yuna came from thetter.

    Until August came along, she and her tribe had ruled the wilnds with an iron grip, proving themselves as the apex of the food chain.

    There was a lot shecked before she was introduced to society, but there were also a lot of things she had that people born in society couldn''t mimic.

    One of those, the most important ability for a dragon that grew in the wild, was the ability to hunt.

    Yuna was important even in her tribe for one reason above all else.

    Once she caught the scent of prey¡­

    ¡­she never lost it until that prey was eliminated.

    The hunt was different when it was part of a war, but the basics stayed the same.

    Yuna focused, and she found traces of her prey.

    Now, all that was left to do was wait for it to deliver itself to her.

 Chapter 1705 Third Stage [3]

    Chapter 1705 Third Stage [3]

    ??The public was a bit dissatisfied for the first day of the third stage.

    Neither side did anything crazy. It made sense for them to approach the situation rationally for now, but that didn''t make it any less boring.

    Some were even tempted to try and break the barrier to feed the teams information that would provoke them to sh, but since that wasn''t possible, they had no choice but to wait.

    Luckily, it didn''t take longer than a day for their wishes to be answered.

    Because, while Eris'' side wasn''t doing anything special, August and his team were about to start hunting their prey.

    Gianna was given the chance to run around as she pleased for a decent amount of time.

    She was allowed to tell her people that most of their enemy''s troops were still at the castle and that the inner cities were empty aside from the simted poptions that inhabited them.

    And, she was allowed to tell her team that there weren''t any traps in ce to reveal her. That put them at ease and made sure they wouldn''t be checking up on her as often.

    It created an opportunity for August and his people.

    Gianna was, in almost every way, isted from her people.

    They could only contact her through themunication artifacts they had, and unlike Seryius, she didn''t have any safety measures to immediately return her to her home territory in the case of danger.

    Maybe since she was a Holy n genius, maybe since they''d been so dominant thus far, nobody believed that she would be taken down by August and his ragtag bunch.

    But¡­August''s people weren''t a ragtag bunch, were they?

    August had a conversation with Iridia the day prior. In essence, it went like this:

    "Let me take their spy out with my troops. Come along with us and you can learn how tomand them properly."

    "Why would I do that? I''m willing to respect them as soldiers under mymand, but you can''t expect me to do something like this andpletely diminish my authority."

    "I don''t know why you see it like that, but this will be helpful to both you and them. Plus, if you can show proper synergy, then you can one-up Raphael and get out of his shadow."

    "You¡­!"

    Iridia was obviously offended by thatst statement, but it was definitely tempting. In the end, she did submit and decide to join August on his hunt to learn how his troops operated.

    It was a small operation. Only August''s main friend group of Juno, Raul, Mika, and Yuna were going with them, but these four were the most important.

    As long as they were willing to follow Iridia, the rest would do the same.

    Gianna had been staking out the castle for the past few hours. She had already found a way in, but she had to be certain that they hadn''t concentrated their precautions in that area before she entered.

    After all, the castle was the most sacred ce in both territories.

    If it was infiltrated, then there was no point in the rest of the stage.

    The team that allowed such a blunder would lose from the start.

    Gianna was obviously hoping that August left the pce as unsecured as the rest of the territory, but no matter how much she didn''t want to acknowledge him, he had obviouslye this far in the tournament through skills alone.

    She refused to be blinded by prejudice at a critical moment like this.

    As such, she had been careful in the past few hours, sending minions to scope out the castle in her ce.

    In Gianna''s opinion, she was as covert as she could possibly be. The members of the Aurora n hadn''t sensed her movements, and judging by the movement of the troops, nobody else had either.

    Overall, she was just about ready to infiltrate the castle and gain real information that could benefit her team.

    But she was only able to get this far because August allowed it.

    The first move in anyrge conflict was gaining information on the other side.

    Those who knew more would win nine out of ten battles with that information. As such, any sane person would do at least a little bit of reconnaissance before rushing into battle.

    That was why the battle had been so boring for outsiders.

    Still, if someone was going to be sent to gather information, it was necessary for that person to be aware of their limits.

    Gianna was pushing hers from the moment she got close to the castle. Now that she was getting ready to fly into the sun, it was high time for August to cut her wings off.

    He and his friends, along with Iridia Ignis, were currently in a field rtively far from the pce.

    It was separated from everything mainly to make sure that the person who was soon to arrive here would have no way to escape.

    And more importantly¡­

    "Is everything ready?" August asked.

    "The preparations werepleted yesterday. Now that we are here, everything is in ce," Raul responded.

    Like Yuna, he was someone August met during his adventures in Bastille. He was also part of arge influence, but instead of focusing on power, they concentrated their resources on knowledge.

    Raul specifically was always a fan of formations. He believed that they were the best way to get close to the absolute truths of the world, and spent his entire life studying them in depth.

    Using the troops at August''smand, Raul was able to oversee the rapid production of an array that epassed a several-kilometer-wide area around their current position.

    "And it looks like the star of our show is here."

    August grinned.

    There was a shadow approaching from the distance. It wasn''t visible, but Yuna had already signaled its approach.

    Mika''s power was concealing them all, so Gianna couldn''t immediately sense them.

    She would definitely get the hint eventually, but by the time she did¡­

    "...!"

    Gianna''s eyes widened as she suddenly felt a heap of presences just a few kilometers ahead.

    She immediately sunk deeper into her concealment and changed her direction to avoid them, but in just a second, she mmed into an invisible wall.

    "What¡­?"

    She looked up as the barrier formed around her, trapping her in the area.

    Turning around, she focused once more on the presences she felt.

    "So, I''ve been caught."

    Her reaction was surprisingly tame.

    ''Six of them. Among them, Iridia Ignis.''

    Her eyes narrowed, but she didn''t let anything show on her face.

    Gianna wasn''t worried about the others in a situation where they were fighting head-on, but Iridia was definitely an issue.

    Fire, which was infinitely close to light, was also a natural enemy to the darkness.

    ''That barrier seems strong. I''ll need a decent amount of force to break it.''

    Regardless, the goal now wasn''t to get into an altercation with the other side.

    It was most important to report back to her own people about what was happening here.

    "Hello? Eris, can you hear me?"

    She sent a transmission just to be sure, but as expected, it bounced off of the barrier and yed loud and clear for the entire world to hear.

    None of her words could remain private in this ce. If she decided to voice them, then she had to voice them to everyone.

    This was clearly a trap prepared for her, one that she''d fallen into without any resistance.

    But if they thought she was just going to fall for this and be eliminated¡­

    "...then you''re sorely mistaken."

 Chapter 1706 Third Stage [4]

    Chapter 1706 Third Stage [4]

    ??In Gianna''s opinion, this was her time to shine. She could use this group of geniuses to stand out from the rest, since the spotlight had been hogged by a select few for the entire duration of the heir wars thus far.

    The only real problem was Iridia, but they were at the same level at least. Gianna was confident in winning a battle of speed, and since she was prioritizing escape, the rest didn''t matter.

    However, everyone else saw it differently.

    Iridia saw it as a time for August to prove himself and his ims that she could learn something here.

    And for the rest of the group, this was the moment where they could show the world their strength.

    Juno and the rest weren''t from here. Everything from the technology to the culture to the people waspletely new to them.

    There wasn''t any time to adapt before the third stage began, so they were still perplexed, but there was one fact that rang true no matter what world they were in.

    Only the strong had the right to experience happiness and freedom.

    They were nothing in the eyes of this world''s people. That much was obvious from the way Raphael and Iridia referred to them.

    In order to prove themselves, in order to not stain August''s image, they had to thoroughly dominate the genius in front of them. No matter what.

    Juno moved first, just as he always did. Their battle formations had been ironed out through several wars and excursions they''d participated in together, so the five of them, including August, had impable teamwork.

    August wasn''t participating in this battle as actively since he was still trying to hide his strength, but Gianna was a step worse than Eris, and all of her opponents were also 4th ss soldiers.

    At the end of the day, no matter how talented a Holy n genius was, they were still under the age of one hundred. They were still 4th ss practitioners who hadn''t entered the nine revolutions left.

    That meant that they were nothing but prey to these geniuses from Bastille.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Lava exploded outward, erupting from the ground everywhere and coalescing into a massive wave.

    Juno stomped powerfully and pushed his arms forward, controlling the wave to attack Gianna.

    "Hmph."

    She snorted at the rtively simple attack.

    Did they really think that something so basic could ever hope to corner her?

    A wall of darkness erected itself in front of her, solidifying as theva came closer.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Giana''s expression changed the instant it made contact. She frowned as she was forced to throw away her casual control. She pushed mana into her barrier as its outermostyers melted away.

    August and Juno were rivals. They were still rivals despite so much time passing. Juno was less talented than August if one looked at bloodline alone, but he always found a way to keep himself equal to his closest friend, even if he had to die to ensure it.

    The concepts of fire contained within that wave ofva wereplexly woven and strong enough to impress even Iridia Ignis.

    As she watched on, she couldn''t believe that a random dragon she''d never heard of was able to release such an insane amount of power. In but a single attack, Juno made her understand why August persistently insisted that she needed to understand them before trying to control them.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Juno didn''t end at just a single wave ofva. He summoned more and more, controlling an entire sea that rose into a tsunami as it approached the wall of darkness. Wave upon wave crashed against it. The darkness itself was forced to burn, but Gianna''s defense never fell.

    She created an evenrger wall and curved it to manipte the flow of theva around her. Under hermand, it crashed into the barrier walls and bombarded them with mana, weakening the system that kept her trapped.

    It was a solid n, but it required her to focus on maneuvering her enemy''s mana.

    Frankly, in a battle where she faced multiple enemies at once, it only left her open.

    Shing!

    Gianna''s eyes widened. She suddenly dropped her body, just narrowly avoiding a de aimed at her throat.

    Bang!

    She turned around just in time to feel the impact of a kick that squarely struck her ribs.

    Gianna flew back into her own darkness wall and used it to support herself as she regained bnce.

    VOOM!

    Her mana raged, making it impossible for anyone to get close. In a single second afterward, countless des of darkness were created and sent flying in every direction.

    It was a rapid and random attack from someone who couldn''t confirm her enemy''s location, but it gave her more than enough time to try and find them.

    Gianna''s eyes scanned the small area that existed on this side of her barrier.

    She caught sight of Yuna immediately, since she didn''t make any efforts to hide herself.

    Instead, she smiled and waved.

    RUMBLE!

    A huge earthen wall shot up from the ground and separated them.

    When Gianna spread her awareness, she quickly found that it was just one of many.

    The entire structure inside the barrier had been altered, boxing her in and limiting her range of movement. The maze-like structure of the walls also made it harder for her to predict where her enemies woulde from and where she herself could move.

    It was none other than Mika''s power.

    She was more skilled in concealment than the rest of them, but she wasn''t an assassin. Like Yuna and Raul, she had a unique speciality that couldn''t be easily found in this world.

    Rather than having an affinity for a single element, Mika''s affinity was the environment itself. She was incredibly skilled in controlling the surroundings, and when it came to group battles, she took a crowd control role.

    The stage had been properly set up. Juno''sva tsunami was gone for now, and Yuna had disappeared, but they had Gianna thoroughly trapped in their web.

    Slowly and systematically, they bombarded her.

    Lava crashed through the corridors whenever they needed to force her on the defensive, At times when Gianna got more confident and tried to attack, Yuna appeared from the depths of nothingness and barraged her with close-ranged attacks aimed to take off her head in a single strike.

    Dragons had an unbelievable amount of mana. Even for young dragons like these geniuses, it would take several hours of constant and unruly usage to truly run dry.

    However, that changed when they were forced to pump more and more mana out every second.

    That changed when their mental state was corroded by their circumstances.

    Gianna was still aiming to escape. She wanted to find the barrier wall and direct all attacks into it until it broke.

    The problem was that she could no longer see that wall.

    At some point, she''d be stranded in the maze with no idea which direction was what.

    In a situation like this, no matter what her status was, no matter how powerful she was¡­

    ¡­she had truly be nothing more than a pig on the chopping block.

 Chapter 1707 Third Stage [5]

    Chapter 1707 Third Stage [5]

    ??Gianna put up a good fight.

    She was, in fact, a Holy n genius. Nothing August''s group did could take that away from her.

    Over half an hour passed with this constant bombardment. The walls changed over and over again, assuring that she couldn''t memorize any sort of structure or pattern within them.

    Juno was usually someone who liked to fight in closebat, but Yuna was far more suited for the role than he was at times like these, so he stayed far away and used hisva to put pressure on the enemy.

    The killing blow belonged to none other than Yuna.

    It felt like she was using des. When she wasn''t standing still, nobody could catch a glimpse of her body. They could only see the reflection of lighting from the sharp object in her hand.

    But rather than being something she carried, that metal was a part of her body.

    Yuna was a metal dragon, a variation of amon Earth Dragon. Like Mnia, her abilities were mainly focused on her physique.

    However, metal was aplex element when it wanted to be and could absolutely grow more powerful. As a hunter from the wilds, Yuna mainly focused on how to enhance her body with the element, but just like others, she also had the ability to use it at range.

    For the majority of the battle, Yuna led her opponent to believe that she had to be in close proximity to cause any damage. That built an expectation in Gianna''s head.

    So, when that defining moment came, when Gianna was delirious from the chaotic battlefield and rtively low on mana, she changed everything.

    There was a constant barrier of darkness around the genius from the Noct n. She never let it diminish, because it was her main lifeline.

    Her eyes darted from side to side as she followed her awareness and picked up on any small movement in the surroundings.

    She was also ying the long game.

    Since she was depleted far more than her enemies, they would likely believe that she was on the verge of giving up.

    However, it was far from that. Even now, Gianna was waiting for her chance to turn the tides.

    Yuna''s next approach would be the moment.

    When that woman arrived again, she would fall, and the rest would follow her to their elimination.

    All she needed to do was wait for the proper moment.

    That was all she needed to do if Yuna truly was as she''d characterized herself to be.

    Unfortunately, she was not.

    The ground beneath Gianna began to change. Because the maze had taken on metallic properties beforehand, she barely noticed before it was toote.

    BANG!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Spikes made of metals that many humans would do anything to take hold of erupted with the intent to impale Gianna.

    She jumped into the air to avoid them, but it was already toote.

    Now that they''d appeared, Gianna''s chance to escape was gone.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The spikes chased her everywhere she went.

    Gianna was forced to withdraw herrge barrier and create several smaller ones to defend against every individual cluster.

    BOOOOOM!

    A wave ofva appeared around the corner and split into several tens of snakes that moved with sentience.

    They wrapped around each other and upied the entire corridor on both sides of Gianna.

    She nced around, still in the air, and frowned deeply.

    She had to choose.

    Either she defended against theva or the spikes. There wasn''t a way to do both.

    In that split second, forced to make a choice, Gianna grumbled to herself.

    "Well, this is just unfair."

    Status and power no longer mattered.

    There was one thing that this battle proved to the entire world.

    From the moment the heir wars began, the gap had been getting smaller and smaller.

    And by the end of the third stage, it probably wouldn''t be noticeable anymore.

    Now that everyone else had ess to great resources, teachers, and techniques¡­

    ¡­it was going to be hard for Holy n geniuses to reign supreme just because of their origins.

    BOOOOOOM!

    In the end, Gianna chose to defend against theva.

    As she fell to the floor, the spikes rose to meet her, and under Yuna''s precise control, they morphed into formless des that cocooned Gianna''s body.

    The rest wasn''t visible through the chrome exterior of that structure, but the sound was enough to confirm the suspicions of those watching.

    des piercing through skin.

    The screams of a defeated genius.

    In that moment, facing an onught of people not far from her level, Gianna Noct was defeated.

    She was the first person to be eliminated from the third stage.

    And despite the violent nature of her departure¡­

    ¡­not a single soul realized that she was gone.

    ***

    The barrier came down to show a clean terrain to all outside viewers.

    All of theva, metal, and earth that had transformed that few-

    kilometer-wide area disappeared, leaving only the six geniuses inside.

    "Raul, how is it?" August immediately asked.

    "The barrier never lost functionality. All fluctuations of her elimination were dispersed before it was taken down," Raul responded simply.

    "Nice!" Juno joined in with a grin.

    "It should take two days at most for them to realize that she''s gone.:"

    The certified hunter in their group knew it best.

    They had been able to hide it for now, but the other side would get suspicious after too much time passed without contact.

    "These two days are our opportunity," August said.

    During this time when their information was steadily flowing in and the other side was stuck in the darkness, they had the opportunity to take control of this battle''s momentum.

    August nced at Iridia.

    "Have you understood a few things?" he asked.

    She nodded with aplicated expression.

    "You could say that."

    August nodded. It was sufficient enough to show Iridia that her arrogance was misced. The way she interacted with his people would change from here on, and perhaps she could even be someone he called a friend.

    But that was a story for the future.

    For now, it was time for war.

    "Someone call Raphael," August said with a grin.

    "I''m sure he''s been dying to go wild, and now that we''re done here¡­"

    "...he can finally get his chance."

    Iridia felt a little bad for her fellow Ignis n genius.

    He was definitely going to get a chance to shine. It didn''t seem like August had anything nefarious nned either.

    Just, with the way he spoke about him, it felt like August considered Raphael a child.

    ''He is a mysterious guy.''

    He was like an open book that allowed everyone to read him, but that forting exterior was nothing more than a facade.

    The August that brought her here and showed her a scene like that was a schemer beyond schemers. That kind of person was the tactician controlling their armies from the shadows, and though that was definitely a good thing for them¡­

    ¡­Iridia had the feeling that every Holy n genius on his team would be nothing more than a pawn in his schemes.

    That, for them, was the most humiliating oue possible.

    But, unfortunately, it was already starting to look like indisputable fact.

 Chapter 1708 Third Stage [6]

    Chapter 1708 Third Stage [6]

    ??Raphael got the message soon enough.

    "You''re clear to attack."

    It was the message he was waiting for. He went to the frontlines to fight, and that was exactly his original n, but he was forced to promise that he wouldn''t act without orders.

    To August, it was a pretty easy negotiation. All he had to do was give up some vain privileges to make Raphael listen to him. If that kind of mentality wasn''t enough to make August see him as a child, then nothing was.

    Raphael had a simple mind produced by a simple and straightforward upbringing. He had never experienced real struggle, and he''d been granted anything he ever wanted as long as he performed well enough.

    That kind of person could not easily be a general. He wasn''t nearly level-headed enough tomand people through tumultuous tides, but in a scenario like this one, he was probably more than enough.

    After all, the people on the other side were just like him, and this wasn''t a struggle.

    It was apetition.

    In this setting, power was more important than all else.

    Raphael immediately gathered his troops and approached the border separating the two territories.

    He didn''t give many orders, only to kill anyone they saw on sight.

    They knew enough about who they were facing. Seryius sent back plenty of information on the type of soldiers that were recruited by the other side.

    Unlike theirs, who came from multiple ces, the soldiers on Eris'' team were exclusively sourced from Holy ns and noble ns.

    Each one had a name that was at least somewhat recognizable, which, in most cases, would be a problem for the opposing army.

    But it only made Raphael grin.

    He knew of his own inexperience. He understood where he wascking, and that was exactly why he chose to make a mercenary corps loyal to him instead of only gathering people from his n.

    They were experienced in war.

    They had seen more blood than anyone else who was participating in this war.

    Or so Raphael believed, but the truth didn''t really matter. They had more experience than the people they were fighting against. That was most important.

    "Ready your arms!"

    Raphael shouted, raising his arm into the air.

    A row of one hundred stepped out of the masses and gathered their mana.

    "Aim!"

    They formed their arms as if they were preparing to shoot bows, but they weren''t holding anything. Mana eventually coalesced to form a shape, but it was not that of a traditional bow that one would expect.

    Even if dragons used arms, they only used weapons catered to their species. To maximize their power in their human forms, and to do so in a way that showed their pride in their species, the dragons recreated human weapons in ways they imed to be far better.

    These weapons couldn''t be rted to their human equivalents unless one had special knowledge, but even humans had to admit that when dragons used their arms, they could truly create havoc.

    The one hundred bowmen took aim, raising their bows to the sky.

    Their aim was focused past the city wall roughly a hundred kilometers away.

    It was a decently long distance, but for trained draconic archers¡­?

    "FIRE!"

    Raphael roared and swung his arm down. The archers let loose their arrows, and immediately, a whizzing sound filled the air as countless mana projectiles sted through the atmosphere.

    It was quiet for a few seconds as the arrows flew too high into the sky for their sound to project. As they came over the horizon, everything changed.

    The sky was dyed red and orange. A wave of mana rushed into the surroundings as the aura of those attacks presented itself to the world, and though the enemies being struck felt their presence extremely clearly, what were they supposed to do?

    This wasn''t just an attack of provocation.

    This was a move meant topletely eradicate anyone who stood in that city.

    As for those who survived¡­

    Raphael''s eyes zed with the mes of glory.

    "Charge!"

    He led his troops across the border.

    ¡­survival for those people simply wasn''t an option.

    ***

    Estavian''s city was far more orderly than Raphael''s operation.

    He was a strategic genius. Not at the level of August or Cera, but as a member of the Liqua n, he had to know how to scheme.

    It wasn''t because they all liked to scheme against their enemies. More so, it was an attitude they developed in order to survive in their n that just happened to manifest further when they were facing external enemies.

    Wilhelm was taking the head of the armies. He was a far more tactical individual than the rest of their teammates, even Eris, who insisted on being their tactician.

    Estavian and Wilhelm didn''t have the best rtionship. Nobody in the Liqua n actually liked the people around them.

    Still, since his n member had delegated him to this role, he wasn''t in a position to object.

    Everything had been normal. There were some curiosities about why Gianna wasn''t responding to messages, but it was just like her to act on her own, so there wasn''t much to be concerned about.

    Until she finished her mission, nobody else was nning to move. Seryius Ether also hadn''t been caught yet.

    It was getting a bit boring even for him.

    Perhaps that was why he entered a house and took a break from the war.

    It would''ve been fine if he was stilling out asionally to check on the situation, but after a day passed, he was practically spending all of his time holed up inside.

    ''When is this war even going to start?''

    He stared at the ceiling and asked himself, as if it could only ever start if they decided to start it.

    But he was about to face a rude awakening in the form of a ming hell.

    Right about now, in fact.

    As Estavian faced the ceiling, he noticed that it was starting to feel heavier, which was strange.

    ''Heavier?''

    That wasn''t right, was it?

    ''I should probably¨C''

    BOOOOOOM!

    The roof exploded and the entire house crumbled as the entire city erupted into a ball of mes.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Arrows rained down hell upon the simted citizens of the city. They screamed and cried like real people as their loved ones were turned to ash, but there was nobody there to help them.

    The noble n geniuses under Estavian''smand were already panicking.

    When their defenses failed and they were exposed to the cmity around them, the only thought in their heads was to run.

    The geniuses brought from the Liqua n itself fared a little better. They managed to survive and keep themselves calm, but there were only a few tens of them in the army of several hundred.

    Left with no leader as Estavian never showed his face, they could only react passively to the ongoing chaos.

    That was the kind of situation that they were in when the city walls crashed down.

    BOOOM!

    Raphael broke through any defenses that were once present and made his way into the battlefield.

    "KILL!"

    ""KILL!""

    The mercenaries followed his lead, their bloodlust at an all-time high.

    What would follow was a ughter that didn''t discriminate between the innocent and the guilty.

    And there was nothing that anyone present could do to stop it.

 Chapter 1709 Third Stage [7]

    Chapter 1709 Third Stage [7]

    ??There were two types of war.

    The first was a war between only those involved, where civilians were excluded as much as they possibly could be.

    And the second was a war where themon people lost everything because the ones fighting didn''t care about them in the slightest.

    August always preferred to fight the first type of war. There was no such thing as a kingdom without people, so it was pointless to fight a war where they were ughtered without remorse.

    However, Raphael was different. Even if the people in the border city were real, he wouldn''t have changed his strategy. He would''ve simrly destroyed everything so he could get rid of the enemies in that ce.

    Perhaps August didn''t agree with this kind of warfare, but he was not the one inmand of the armies at this point in time, so there was nothing he could do about it.

    Just, he had to be careful about what he let Raphael do in the future.

    Nevertheless, it was toote for anyone to stop him now.

    Raphael crashed through the city walls with his mercenaries and instantly started ughtering anyone he came across.

    Anyone who had an ounce of life left in their body as they fought against the rain of fire was swiftly decapitated or chopped in half. The simted poption had their blood stter on the ground that their corpses infested, while Estavian''s troops were covered in blue light and sent out of the arena.

    Those who didn''t die retreated far away, and among them was none other than Estavian himself.

    Why would he stay inbat when the situation was already so far gone? Rather than trying to save the people who he deemed doomed from the start, he thought it was better for him to regroup with the rest and prevent any further marching from the opposing army.

    Raphael knew his limits. If he tried to move further than the middle border city, then he would absolutely be confronted by a force that he couldn''t stand against.

    Instead of risking his own untimely defeat, Raphael ordered the fires to be put out as he took the city for himself.

    Raphael''s movements were only a single step in August''s n to control the entire border.

    At the same time that he moved, Mnia and Valerie pushed forward as well, branching off into the two other border cities to confront the geniuses stationed there.

    The most important reason to secure the border was to make sure that the other side didn''t have easy ess to their territory.

    In order to even get close to the border, they''d have to go through enemy troops.

    When the entire battle shifted into their territory, how would Eris and the rest react?

    Would they even be able to retaliate?

    The other two border cities weren''t nearly as secured as the central city. It was mainly because people expected more from Estavian. If he was able to properly control his troops, then it wouldn''t be a problem for him to defend all three at once.

    Since he showed such a terrible performance, there really were only two noble n geniuses and around twenty troops that were acting as a scouting party waiting for Mnia when she arrived.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Standing outside of the city, Mnia stomped her foot into the ground. A huge earthquake spread from below her and destroyed the ground around the city.

    The air was immediately filled with screams again, but not those of agony.

    If one watched the situation from above, one could see tens of thousands of simted citizens fleeing the city through the other side, heading to the inner cities of Eris'' territory.

    The number of presences in the city rapidly depleted, and along with their mass migration, a ring rm bell rang to alert others of the invasion.

    Twenty-two people rushed to the gates of the city to confront the person on the other side.

    Seeing Mnia standing there, the two noble n geniuses hesitated.

    They knew what she could do, and there was no way they wanted to fight her with that knowledge.

    Their troops were not the same.

    Perhaps they''d seen her on a screen, but to them, Mnia only looked strong because the tournament administration made her look that way.

    Her strength was nothing more than propaganda.

    She was amoner, after all. Where could she possibly gather enough strength to actually stand against people in their positions?

    As if themand of their leaders didn''t matter, the twenty of them charged, aiming to take all the glory of the third stage for themselves.

    These people who originally didn''t get the chance to participate in the heir wars wanted to prove that they deserved to be here more than the actual contestants.

    But, if that was the case, then they would''ve been here from the start, right?

    Mnia grinned as she watched them approach her without fear.

    ''If it was a few months ago, I''d be terrified.''

    A mob of noble n geniuses was something everymoner feared. Even if they had the power to fight back, they''d lose everything if they tried. Their families, livelihoods, and dignity would be torn apart by the power of the noble ns.

    The heir wars presented someone like Mnia with a unique opportunity.

    It was a chance for her to pay back all of the oppression she''d suffered under their rule without facing retribution.

    Maybe these soldiers didn''t know it yet, but every step they took was leading them closer and closer to humiliation.

    But Mnia let them have their moment.

    After all, rather than defeating people who knew that they were fated to lose¡­

    ¡­it was far more fun to crush people who were high on misced arrogance.

    It was like they were moving in slow motion. The crows knew what was going to happen. The two noble n geniuses behind them knew what was going to happen. Mnia knew what was going to happen.

    Still, it was fun to see them charge with such vigor, showing their desire to be seen.

    Mnia slightly bent her knees and prepared herself to pounce like a tiger.

    Strength flowed through her veins and pulsed through her flesh and bones.

    Thus far, Mnia rarely had to use the techniques of the Mountain God. Most of his doctrine relied on martial strength surpassing anything that intricate mana techniques could create. The specific moves that he created for himself and his disciples were incredibly destructive, meant to wreak enough havoc on any battlefield to make any enemy lose their will to fight.

    Mnia knew she was being watched. Eris Noct, Wilhelm Liqua, and the rest of the geniuses in the castle were probably watching to see what she, Valerie, and Raphael would do.

    To an extent, it might have been unfair to these poor soldiers, but now was the time for Mnia to make a point.

    BOOOM!

    Sheunched off of the ground and flew several meters into the air.

    She gathered mana in her legs and circted it through her body in a specific pattern to maximize her output.

    And as she crashed back down to the ground¡­

    ''Tsunami.''

    The most simple skill of the Mountain God, Draga.

    ¡­a tsunami of earth consumed the heavens.

 Chapter 1710 Third Stage [8]

    Chapter 1710 Third Stage [8]

    ??Raphael still had some troubles to deal with before he waspletely in the clear. Mnia had a clean sweep of the few nobles and troops that she had to face, but there were reinforcements on their way to take her down.

    But,pared to what was headed towards Valerie, it wasn''t anything much.

    Valerie moved with a toon of ten soldiers. Obviously, she didn''t need their help just as Mnia didn''t, but they refused to leave her be.

    The few noble soldiers on their side refused to follow their lead. Instead, they only obeyedmands from other nobles and Holy n geniuses, so most of them were delegated to Raphael''s part of the army.

    Valerie was the only one among themoners who was able to find troops, since she had something of a Holy n supporting her as well. The ten young geniuses she''d brought from the Wood Dragon n were not ustomed to the outside world, and though Valerie tried to get them morefortable in the week they had before the war started, none of them could easily adapt.

    For now, they were morefortable acting under Valerie''s supervision. This would change by the end of the war, but, for now, they still needed some time.

    Valerie and her ten supporters moved to the border city on the western side of the opposing territory. What they met originally was around the same as what Mnia faced.

    When the ten wood dragons worked together, the enemy group was easy for them to eliminate.

    The entire border city was turned into a jungle. Trees and nts inhabited the space that buildings once took, and the dampness changed the entire climate into a humid and hot ecosystem.

    Within that domain of wood, the twenty or so soldiers on the other side and the noble who led them fell quickly. Under Valerie''s orders, her own toon started to move through the city and secure it.

    Meanwhile, Valerie left and scouted the perimeter, making sure that there wasn''t anything nefarious waiting for them.

    There was.

    Countless explosives that could be detonated at a distance, countless tripwires and other devices that would activate deadly mechanisms within the floor, and countless other trapsced the city, all controlled by a formation that was etched along the outer wall.

    ''I have to get rid of it.''

    Theoretically speaking, a formation etched with a method like this could be destroyed as long as she broke down the wall. It was the most vulnerable method of creating arrays, but it was also the quickest, so it made sense why they used it.

    Valerie was preparing to take down the existing wall and rece it with one made of her power.

    That was when she felt it.

    ''Someone''s approaching.''

    There was evident hostility in their aura, which waspletely visible as if the individual in question didn''t have the time to try concealing it.

    That kind of aura was extremely telling.

    ''Aureat n.''

    Metallic yet esoteric, as if rted to both material values and the most ethereal concepts in existence.

    The Aureat n was strange whenpared to the other Holy ns as their power wasn''t derived from anything like aw or element existing in this world.

    And because of that, they were the hardest to predict inbat.

    Valerie looked back at the city for a moment.

    ''Well, it''ll be fine as long as they don''t find out.''

    Just like everyone else, Valerie had grown immensely since thest time the audience had seen her.

    At this point, whether it was a Holy n genius or someone even better, Valerie wasn''t afraid of facing them inbat.

    She dashed forward, her steps bing quicker and quicker until she was flying through the air.

    Her body changed. Green scales that shimmered and blended into the ground and trees, eyes that would terrify any human child, and a head crowned with horns made of the most ancient wood in the world, all contrasted by a tan underbelly that seemed unprotected, yet was anything but.

    Her wings expanded into the vicinity and pped fiercely, pushing her forward at an even faster speed than before.

    The enemy was approaching in his dragon form, so Valerie did the exact same.

    Now that the third stage had begun, she didn''t need to hide it anymore.

    It was right about time for her to start spreading the Revell n''s name, to force people to remember those who had been buried in history.

    The first step was to show the world their majesty.

    Dragon forms were never banned from the heir wars. There weren''t any rules that prevented their use in any stage either. After all, in apetition to determine who was the next Dragon Emperor, wouldn''t it ruin everything if the contestants were forced to remain bipedal?

    Some stages were more friendly to staying bipedal, so there was no need to ask why people didn''t switch when those were ongoing. In other cases, geniuses were eliminated before they could ever show off their true power.

    There were plenty of reasons why people refrained from transforming thus far, but the main one was the same for almost everyone remaining in thepetition.

    In the dragon form, they had ess to the most power they could possibly output. Their attack forms were simplified, sure, but the actualplexity hidden within would be amplified manifold.

    Against a genius in their human form, it wasn''t always guaranteed that a dragon form was enough to win. But, it was certain that thepetition would reach apletely different stage the moment people started fighting as dragons.

    One by one, everyone would be forced to reveal their true forms and power lest they be left in the dust.

    Nobody wanted to break the bnce.

    Not until now.

    Faldren Aureat had only used his true form as a method to travel faster. He just wanted to reach the border cities as soon as possible so that the threat could be dealt with before any serious damage was done.

    But, he''d unintentionally provoked a monster.

    Audiences watched on as two dragons approached each other at incredibly high speeds.

    Their trajectories were in such a way that it was impossible for them to avoid each other, and considering Valerie¡­Faldren would''ve been forced into battle regardless.

    Closer and closer, closer and closer, the two screens that showed them individually eventually merged into one.

    In that moment, the only things the audience saw were a green blur and a golden blur.

    And the only thing they heard was¨C

    XIUUUUUUU!

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    The two dragons collided with physical force alone. They were above a in, but the environment was still eviscerated by the pure force that they released.

    The grass was torn from the ground and vaporized into ash. The earth itself instantly dried and cracked as the environment transformed into a desert.

    There were no longer two blurs, only one massive storm of light as their mana collided fiercely.

    The two dragons had already met eyes.

    Golden mana, pure green mana with hints of white; theybined and shed, refusing to coalesce as they created explosion after explosion.

    That was a collision felt by everyone, no matter where they were on the battlefield.

    And it was the trigger that changed the heir wars entirely.

    In theing days and weeks, seeing humanoid beings on the battlefield would be rarer and rarer until it waspletely impossible.

    This was a battle of dragons in the first ce, but now¡­

    Now, it truly looked like the most sacred event of dragonkind.

    This was what the heir wars were always meant to be.

 Chapter 1711 Third Stage [9]

    Chapter 1711 Third Stage [9]

    ??The tremors from Valerie''s sh with Faldren were felt at the castles of both teams.

    They reacted roughly the same as they felt the draconic auras of those who had entered their true forms, understanding that none of them would be able to refrain from doing the same anymore.

    But, both sides kept most of their attention on the border cities.

    "As expected, your friend over there was useless."

    Eris stood over the projection table and watched the map change, addressing the only other person in the room.

    "That''s just how it is," Wilhelm responded with a smile and a shrug.

    "You know his situation."

    "Yeah, you''re a sick one."

    "You aren''t being very nice, Eris. I think most people would call it ''strategy,'' would they not?"

    Eris red at the blue-haired man.

    Of the people in thispetition, including August, he was the one she despised the most.

    After all, her hatred for August was situational. When it came to Wilhelm, there was a page-long list of reasons why she never wanted to be near him.

    ''Unfortunately, we have to work together here.''

    And because she was one of the most prominent figures on their team, she had to work closely with him.

    Estavian was¡­well, that didn''t need to be mentioned at the moment. The point was that he didn''t have any power unless he was near Wilhelm. It was impossible for him to act outside of that man''smand.

    That was exactly why he''d lost so miserably, wasn''t it?

    "Still, I don''t know why you thought it was necessary to do all of that. We could''ve lured them in without losing as many troops," Eris said.

    Wilhelm had only one condition for him to leave her alone and let her properlymand the army.

    The first move had to be his. No matter what he did, she couldn''t interfere.

    Naturally, she agreed. Having him stay far away was just too appealing for her to reject.

    Yet, when Wilhelm decided to sacrifice three hundred of their troops just to lead Raphael into their territory, she couldn''t help but doubt it.

    "It doesn''t matter," Wilhelm responded simply. His always-casual attitude was part of what made him so off-putting. He was, after all, theplete opposite of a casual person.

    "Did any of them matter? Would any of them have contributed anything to our cause before dying? Whether they''re sacrificed now or sacrificedter doesn''t matter. In the end, this is a battle for those of us who actually deserve to be standing on this stage."

    "Regardless, if you think they''re stupid enough to fall for your little traps¨C"

    "¨Clittle traps? Eris, my dear, you aren''t braindead, are you? Did you actually think those basic formations were my only cards? Don''t be silly."

    Wilhelm grinned.

    "Raphael is a bit of a blockhead himself. Maybe your favorite muckblood will realize that something is wrong, but that kid¡­he has a mind like mine."

    Eris gritted her teeth. She couldn''t fight with him here. It made her blood boil, but that was the fact of the matter.

    Wilhelm''s n was simple, and it was already being carried out.

    The exterior border cities weren''t sieged with as much force as hoped, but that didn''t matter.

    The main target was none other than Raphael Ignis.

    Plus¡­

    "...when we take him from them along with those bottomfeeders he brought in from the outside, what will be left of their army?"

    There was really only one critical piece of information that Gianna was able to share before she was eliminated.

    Raphael was being followed by a famous mercenary group from the outside. They were feared, sure, but they were still just an unruly bunch that barely earned their noble titles.

    Other than less than a hundred soldiers recruited from various ns, the rest were unknown.

    The only thing Gianna could confirm was that they were all dragons and none of them had lineages she recognized. She disappeared before she could understand what the strength of those lineages was, but since they weren''t anything recognizable, nothing more needed to be said.

    Those were geniuses recruited by August Void. His origins were mysterious, but not enough to cause concern.

    ''Despite that, they''re the ones I''m most wary of.''

    Unlike Wilhelm, Eris didn''t take them lightly. Rather than the threat she knew, the one in the shadows was more fearsome.

    They may not have been from recognizable bloodlines, but if they were all 4th ss dragons as reported, then they weren''t weak by any means.

    ''Taking Raphael down is still the first priority.''

    Since they''de this far, there was nothing left to be said. Raphael had to be eliminated before they could focus on the rest of the team.

    And, if they were lucky, they would be able to take down more than just him with their schemes.

    ''It won''t be long.''

    They''d have to wait until they heard back from Gianna, but once they did¡­

    "Haa¡­"

    Eris couldn''t stop herself from sighing.

    After this ended, there was nothing they could do to stop public opinion from turning against them.

    For each and every person on their team, the only option left would be to win the heir wars.

    Only then could they truly shush any opposing voices.

    ***

    BOOOOOOM!

    The rest were unaware of what was being nned in that castle. Even Seryius hadn''t explored it too deeply out of fear of being detected.

    Everything that both Eris and Wilhelm said was recorded and disyed before the world, but nobody saw it.

    Not a single person actually witnessed that conversation.

    After all, with so much excitement going on, who was going to focus on the portion of the war that was being intentionally minimized?

    Especially at a time like this, when everyone''s attention was focused on the constant explosions ongoing to the west of the same territory, nobody was of the mind to see what anyone else was up to.

    It truly was a sight to see. When two dragons fought, it created a scene that was as beautiful as it was brutal.

    Nature itself responded to those beings.

    In the ins only a few hundred kilometers away from the western border city, the earth had be Valerie''s territory and the sky belonged to Faldren.

    A massive expanse of trees of all kinds, dead and alive, had popted the previously empty space.

    Flying above it was an emerald-green dragon that looked far too majestic to be ofmon descent.

    Meanwhile, the sky was entirely gold.

    The energy of fate flowed freely, causing a myriad of phenomena throughout the clouds. A golden dragon with ents of red flew there, adobe his peer in altitude but not stature.

    The two had not fought seriously yet. They''d been prodding each other, colliding only asionally to see where the other side''s power level was.

    They were right about even. Neither of them could win with brute strength alone.

    Then, this was going to be a more intrinsic fight, a fight closer to dragonkind.

    A battle that looked brutish on the surface, but was the most focused onplexity.

    Through a method like this, they would not learn who was the greater genius.

    Instead, theypeted to see who was the greater dragon.

    And, after gaining a sort of respect for each other through their exchange thus far¡­

    Both of them were dying to find out.

 Chapter 1712 Calamity [1]

    Chapter 1712 Cmity [1]

    ??The grand scenery around Faldren and Valerie actually wasn''t created intentionally.

    See, for dragons, creating phenomena wasn''t a necessity. They learned how to do it only so they could more efficiently release power in their human forms. When they returned to their original forms, the need to have a medium to release power disappeared.

    Humans created great forms for their abilities, copying mythical creatures or even natural beauties in order to execute their abilities properly. It seemed like the most natural thing to do exactly because it was.

    Mabna was a mysterious energy, and humans, who didn''t have a particr closeness to nature yet had an immense aptitude for adaptation had to find a way for them to exert this energy without melting their brains in the heat of its activation.

    To mimic myths and legends meant quantifying that power, making it more easily understandable while never diluting the concepts within.

    It was a genius solution to the problem they faced as a species, so much so that even dragons were impressed by their aplishments.

    Still, that was the end of it.

    Dragons didn''t have the "need" to take such detours. With their natural affinity for the energy and their heritages that gave them all of the information that they could possibly need, they were able to release mana in all its intensity without manifestations.

    Sure, to humans, dragons seemed unskilled in precise control because they didn''t fight the same way, but that was simply a false assumption made withcking knowledge.

    Where it was needed, precision could be used at any time. However, a true battle of dragons didn''t contain anything like that.

    To fight with nothing more than the strength ofwprehension, to only acknowledge the person who won as a victor if they fought without tricks and schemes; that was the dragon way.

    It was the reason why people like the Ignis n, who faithfully adhered to it, were disgusted by the Liqua n''s mentality and actions.

    It was also why the crowds were so captivated by Faldren and Valerie.

    The two had done nothing but release wave after wave of energy, but somehow, the environment responded to their presence and changed.

    They had only ever attacked each other, yet the manifestations changed and morphed along with their strikes to make their battle visible to anyone who couldn''t understand theirws.

    That was an entirely natural process, not something they provoked. It was beautiful exactly because nobody and nothing could mimic the feeling that a sight like this gave.

    Neither Faldren nor Valerie paid it any mind. They were more focused on each other.

    In a battle like this, it was impossible not to gain respect for the enemy.

    They were showing each other the greatest truths hidden within theirws, so naturally, they were forced to acknowledge each other

    And since their battle had started in full, there was no need for them to hold back anymore.

    It was hard to exin to someone who couldn''t feel the aura of that battle, but in the simplest terms, it was a fight between "Fate" and "Life."

    The Aureat n''s fate manual didn''t have a specific route for their geniuses to follow. Fate was such an elusive element that it presented itself to every individual differently.

    A genius had to first understand what Fate was saying to them and what it was willing to give them before they developed a style that worked only for them.

    Faldren was a top genius of their n because he had been granted the ability to "alter" Fate.

    He could both take it from people and give it away. It was incredibly rare for people to gain both, and when they did, it was almost impossible for them to actually control both sides properly.

    Faldren was able to ovee those struggles. With his power, he could boost his own fate and give himself more luck and opportunities than his peers. In the same breath, he could doom his enemies by severing their fates, leading them to an eventual death.

    Faldren was not an absolute god. His power was conditional, and he couldn''t just kill anyone regardless of level or ability.

    There was a reason why Valerie was still fighting him.

    The concepts of fate couldn''t be as easily defined as those of properws.

    That which Faldren was currently using against Valerie was best defined as "the futility of existence."

    This was one of the greatest concepts of fate. It deemed that, when fate was a concept that led and controlled all lives, what was the purpose of existence?

    If all people were but puppets under the control of this elusive force, then was anything they did truly something they achieved on their own?

    Struggle, tragedy, the determination to ovee; did they ever mean anything?

    Waves filled with such a concept flowed towards Valerie.

    Then, she had to match it with a concept of the same strength.

    What had herprehensione to? At one point, Valerie was actually the worst inprehension. She reached 4th ss, but she was never able to understand what her new position entailed.

    Through the heir wars, Valerie learned a lot of things. As she saw people who were supposedly at the same level as her do things that she could have never imagined and realized her inadequacy, she ended up growing at a simr pace to Mnia.

    The key was her fight against Remelia in thebyrinth. To realize that wood dragons were not just apostles of the forest, but apostles of life as a whole.

    The forest was their homnd. It was where their vitality shined the most. But, for a wood dragon to truly reach their full potential, they needed to understand that their lives did not end in the forest.

    Valerie started with only understanding what she could achieve with vitality, but it was more than that now.

    As she watched such an esoteric concept, created from the heavens'' response to the hearts of people through a multitude of already existing concepts, she didn''t feel fear.

    With sharp eyes that mirrored her determination, she released a wave of power of her own.

    Choice.

    That was the concept she chose.

    Life, in the opinion of someone who wielded fate, was just something to be controlled.

    However, for those who truly understood thew, it never adhered to that opinion.

    Life was a series of choices. One would see the impact of a choice they made far in the past in their lives decades or centuriester.

    Every choice mattered, and if even one choice was made differently, then one''s entire life would change.

    Could the luck involved in good choices be attributed to fate?

    Could the misfortune from bad choices be attributed to fate?

    Some people used fate as a way to remove responsibility from themselves. If their actions were the result of some mysterious force, then there was nothing they could''ve done, right?

    No matter what, their life would always be as fate deemed it.

    Valeriepletely rejected that idea.

    Choice was the clearest and most obvious way to show that fate didn''t exist.

    Fate could not influence the soul. A choice made in the depths of one''s heart could destroy anything that fate had nned.

    Living beings were born to go against fate, to carve their names into history, and destroy any paths that led them to misfortune.

    Even if they didn''t seed, they could always make the choice to keep fighting until it was no longer possible.

    No mere concept could form that kind of determination. Only the pure will and choice of a living, sentient being could keep them fighting even when hope and fate were against them.

    Maybe fate existed. Maybe it was always trying to control every little part of every little person''s life.

    However, as long as they willed it, fate could be nothing more than a petty excuse that held no power.

    Those two opposing concepts, those two opposing beliefs shed in the space between Faldren and Valerie.

    The beautiful manifestation of light that they created was a sight that audiences would remember for a lifetime.

 Chapter 1713 Calamity [2]

    Chapter 1713 Cmity [2]

    ??If there was one negative to a sacred battle like the one that was currently taking ce between the two young dragons, it was that a battle like this could go on for days before reaching a conclusion.

    As seen, both geniuses needed to take time to release their most powerful concepts. Only when someone lost one of these collisions would the battle end, but since it was a ce where honor was enforced, each genius was given the time they needed to create a concept that could match the other person.

    If they couldn''t create anything meaningful, then they could try tobine smaller concepts into a sort of amalgamation that could defend them, but how long would thatst?

    Eventually, the person who fell short would lose.

    But that was just eventually.

    At the moment, Faldren and Valerie''s battle had only just begun. They decided to start with their strongest concepts, so even when several hours passed, they were still trying to see whose overall belief was stronger.

    It would be many hours more before they switched to any other concept, so while they fought, it was better to focus on the movements of others.

    Noticing Valerie missing and feeling the explosive force on the horizon, the people she''d brought from the Wood Dragon n immediately rushed to her aid, but, obviously, they never arrived.

    They were immediately interrupted by the violent ringing of theirmunicators, through which August''s voice greeted them.

    "Return to base. Let Valerie fight."

    The wood dragons immediately took offense to his words.

    "But, sir!"

    They still called him respectively, since Valerie forced it into their skulls that he was someone to be treated as they''d treat her.

    "Don''t say anything. If you go over there, you will only obstruct her. Senior Revell sent her here so she could grow, didn''t he? Do you want to be the reason why she gets stunted at a critical moment?"

    It was a valid point that nobody could counter. No matter what was happening, Valerie wouldn''t die. Any battle here truly was a great learning experience.

    They saw how different the current Valerie was whenpared to the irresponsible young miss they once knew. To Valerie, they wouldn''t leave her side because they couldn''t adapt to the outside world.

    In reality, they did so to make sure she stayed out of trouble. The Valerie they knew would cause chaos with herck of care for anything other than amusement, after all.

    She clearly showed them time and time again that their worries were unfounded. There wasn''t anymore a reason for them to be so overprotective.

    They sighed, but in the end, they did return as ordered.

    They were stationed in the border city directly opposite to the one they''d captured. Raul and Yuna joined them as well.

    It was not August''s order, but Iridia''s.

    She had taken the lesson August gave her to heart, and within the few hours that had passed since Gianna was defeated, she was able to connect to the army he brought.

    There was no way for her to gainplete loyalty from them, but they respected her ability to lower her head and see them eye-to-eye. With Juno and the rest being the first to say they''d follow her orders, the rest soon acquiesced as well.

    And Iridia didn''t n to lead them the way Raphael did his mercenaries.

    She first split them into groups.

    Yuna and Raul were sent to upy the western border city with the wood dragons as they wouldter be an advance force.

    Juno and Mika were simrly delegated to Mnia, who had also returned to their side after destroying the other side''s city.

    Everyone was given that order. Raphael was the only one who refused to follow it and instead chose to upy the city he''d conquered.

    Nevertheless, with those who usually controlled them delegated to other roles, the rest of the army was forced to rely on the structure that Iridia gave them.

    She chose a few exemry warriors to lead the rest before splitting them into the two nearby inner cities.

    The third was left empty, part of a n that had yet toe to fruition.

    August and Cera mirrored Wilhelm and Eris as they stood in the pce overlooking the projection map, but the atmosphere around them waspletely different.

    "That idiot¡­he probably has no idea, does he?" Cera said, frowning slightly.

    "I tried to tell him," August responded with a shrug, "but he doesn''t want to listen."

    August specifically included in his message that the ease they felt while taking the border cities was probably a trap, but Raphael didn''t care.

    "Don''t worry about me and my people. Do your own thing and stop trying to interfere¡­"

    "...is basically what he said. I guess it takes more than just merit and skill to prove myself to him," August continued.

    "It''s just Raphael. He''s too much of a traditionalist and even the rest of his nsmen are always talking about it. Still, we can''t leave him alone, can we?" Cera responded.

    August shook his head.

    "Based on your brother''s information, there isn''t anything we can do but watch. Hopefully, he survives, but if he doesn''t, then that''spletely on him."

    August didn''t want to give up on Raphael. If this was any other situation, he would''ve done everything possible to help Raphael despite his insistence on independence.

    But, just like with Valerie, this was an opportunity for Raphael to learn and grow.

    Whether he lost here or found a way out, he''d understand the consequences of his brashness.

    In this ce, that was the most important thing.

    "After all, I never had Raphael in mind when I nned our victory from the start."

    "What was that?"

    "Nothing. More importantly, since everyone''s in ce, we just have to wait until they move, right? With all the chaos Valerie is causing, they''ll realize that Gianna is gone pretty soon. Tell Mnia and Iridia to get ready."

    It was better that Cera didn''t know what he said. She nodded and went off to prepare the things he asked for. Meanwhile, August looked at the projection map again.

    ''Wilhelm Liqua¡­''

    That man was the one leading the other side, wasn''t he?

    August had heard so, so much about the Liqua n. No, at this point in Qinglong''s memories, August had seen exactly the kinds of atrocities they''dmitted against dragonkind.

    ''Even if everyone else can be saved¡­''

    Even if August was willing to spare the other Holy ns and give them a chance for redemption¡­

    ''...not them.''

    When August first received Qinglong''s memories, he was only acting out of filial piety.

    Now that he had seen more, he had truly taken his ancestor''s grudge as his own.

    By his standards as well, the Liqua n needed to be eliminated for good.

    Otherwise, dragons would never be able to thrive.

    It wouldn''t be more than a day before August''s thoughts were validated again.

    Because Wilhelm Liqua was about to show the world exactly what kind of person he was.

    And the ones who felt the weight of that deration would not be his people, nor would it be Raphael and those he was aiming to eliminate.

    It was themon people.

    They had forgotten through the heir wars just why they were so far below the Holy ns in status and power.

    In Wilhelm''s opinion, it was about time for them to remember.

    Just how powerless they were, that is.

 Chapter 1714 Calamity [3]

    Chapter 1714 Cmity [3]

    ??A day passed without much change in matters. Faldren and Valerie upied the western half of the battlefield, Raphael kept his ground in the central border city, and everyone else waited where they were assigned for their leaders to make the next move.

    If there was one thing to note, it was that Estavian had gathered the roughly two hundred soldiers who managed to escape from the city''s destruction and formed a line to confront Raphael.

    Well, that was what Raphael believed their purpose to be, but he was severely overestimating his importance in this war.

    Because he''d been allowed to gather most of their army and make them loyal to only him, because he was able to get whatever he wanted from August through trades that he believed only benefited him, he believed that he was the pivotal point of everything.

    And in a sense, he was.

    Just not in the way that he expected.

    One had to wonder how Gianna''s death came to light.

    Well, it wasn''t anything special.

    Eris had been trying to contact her since the day before.

    Every time a new event happened while she remained unaware, she screamed into themunication device for Gianna to respond.

    They weren''t the best of friends. Eris was clearly aware of Gianna''s jealousy towards her, and she understood that the other woman would be willing to take on radio silence if it meant that she could monopolize rewards.

    But, that wasn''t enough to exin this level of silence. Certainly not when August and his people were moving so much.

    Gianna was only hurting herself by withholding information from her team. At a certain point, even pride and jealousy would have to quiet down as they faced the wall of rational thought.

    If Gianna was someone worthy of thispetition as their n believed, then she would feel that eventually and concede.

    But she didn''t.

    No matter what happened, Gianna didn''t report back.

    That was when Eris was forced to ept the truth.

    "She''s dead. That idiot managed to get herself killed before anyone else."

    It was a humiliating truth, but one that had to be acknowledged.

    "This is what overconfidence gets you, isn''t it? Or, are you lot from the Noct n just incredibly prone to throwing tantrums?"

    Wilhelm chimed in as if someone wanted to hear his opinion, but obviously not a single person did.

    "Take this seriously, bastard. We''ve lost one of our only usable forces, and they still have their information agent feeding them."

    "Hahaha, you mean Seryius? He''s definitely sneaky, but it isn''t like he can get into the pce. If he even tries, he will die. He knows that, and that''s why he''s just been skirting around the edges this entire time."

    "Whatever the case, as long as he''s still able to freely move through our territory, he is a threat. You have a lot of confidence in your own schemes, but did you know? You aren''t actually that much better than anyone here. Everything you''ve prepared will eventually be torn down if you maintain that attitude."

    "Like Gianna? I understand your concern, but that will not happen. After all, unlike her, I am not overconfident. I am only as confident as I deserve to be in my position."

    Put simply, even if he and Gianna had the same attitude, he deserved to have it and she was just pathetic.

    As always, the man named Wilhelm Liqua had no such thing as a connection to reality. Everything in his world was a fantasy meant to raise him up.

    "Putting that aside¡­" he said, his eyes never turning serious for even a moment.

    "If Gianna is dead, then it''s fine to do whatever I want, isn''t it? I''ve been dying to see what happens when they receive my gift."

    Their cue was supposed to be Gianna reporting back the enemy''s movements, but that wasn''t a possibility anymore.

    Without certainty in their movements, they needed to be even more careful about when and how they acted, but Wilhelm disagreed.

    He wanted to do it, and he wanted to do it now.

    He wanted to see destruction rain down on the world, ughtering anyone and anything that he hadn''t personally acknowledged.

    Wilhelm was not someone fit to be a ruler of people.

    No, he was a ughterer. If he was ever put in control of a kingdom, he would do everything in his power to watch it fall.

    This was only a simted environment, but it gave him the chance to do something he''d never been able to do in real life.

    His face showed an expression unlike anything Eris had ever seen before.

    His eyes shined with a murderous light as he grinned darkly. He looked like a wolf hunting for prey to torment.

    "Do it."

    He said only two words, but the individual on the other side of themunicator knew exactly what he wanted.

    Aside from Eris and Wilhelm, he was the only one. He was in charge of pushing the button. It was the only job he''d been assigned in the war thus far.

    And, eager to make achievements, he pushed it without hesitation.

    He was in the pce, so he didn''t feel it immediately, but for the people that were in the thick of it¡­

    The entire battlefield changed at that moment.

    ***

    It was an eruption that nobody expected. Even August and Cera, who''d predicted that there was something hidden there, didn''t think it would be this insane.

    That button was pressed and all hell broke loose.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    An entire strip ofnd containing all three border cities on Eris'' side was separated from the rest of their territory by a massive barrier.

    It started with just a few cracks, but they soon expanded into massive chasms reaching far into the depths of the world.

    The earth crumbled, and immediately, those three cities were destroyed.

    "Stay calm! Use mana to hover!"

    In the middle of it all, Raphael tried tomand his troops to deal with it.

    They were surrounded by the screams ofmon people as hundreds of thousands of citizens were swallowed into the earth. Magma soon rose from those cracks, melting those who couldn''t run in time and making them experience pure agony.

    BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!

    Huge explosions were happening everywhere, iming more and more lives.

    Amidst all of the screams and cries, amidst the undeniable aura of death that spread through the border cities, Raphael was forced to defend himself over anyone else he saw.

    He was going to die here.

    That thought flitted through his mind and unsettled him to his core.

    "DAMMIT!"

    He roared as he maintained the mana barrier around him that diverted any force that headed his way.

    That force went on to strike and kill many civilians around him, dying the ground with blood, but even that proof of his sin was swallowed by and submerged into magma, never to be seen again.

    Everyone was already dying. The barrier that erected itself around the area made it impossible to escape.

    As if this level of chaos wasn''t enough, there was something rising from beneath the surface.

    A huge maw, the mouth of something that should have never existed in this war, burst through the magma¡­

    ¡­and swallowed everything whole.

 Chapter 1715 Forced Change [1]

    Chapter 1715 Forced Change [1]

    ??There were no words that could be said to describe that moment.

    Audiences watched with bated breaths as that "thing" shot out of the ground. It was too big to understand what it actually was. The only thing part of its body that people could actually see was the huge mouth that swallowed all three border cities whole.

    It snapped its mouth shut with such speed that it sent a wave of turbulent air in every direction. It hit the barrier and didn''t spread further into Eris'' territory, but there were no such protections on the other side.

    It hit August''s border cities like a terrifying storm, destroying the walls entirely. If it wasn''t for Valerie, Mnia, and their people protecting the citizens inside, all of them would have died in that moment.

    In the grand scheme of the war, it was nothing unexpected. Raphael was almost certainly going to fall in that moment and nothing could change that.

    Yet, the implications of that move were not small.

    Raphael did something simr when he took the city from Estavian. He didn''t care about any innocents and let them die so that he could aplish what he set out to do, but even then, crowds only felt a little displeased.

    It was different this time. The brutal realism through which each and every simted citizen died was too much for many onlookers to stomach.

    When they thought of themselves in that position, sandwiched between two Holy ns who didn''t care about what happened to them, it became even more terrifying.

    Wilhelm made his message clear.

    The lives of themon people meant only what he decided they did. If he wanted them dead, then none of them would be able to retaliate, no matter what kind of power or status they held.

    What was the point of all of the politics and schemes of their social hierarchy when there was a ss of people so far above them? Were their lives truly as meaningless as he made them look?

    The sentiment inspired rage in many a citizen in Arulion, but there was nowhere for that rage to go. They clearly learned what would happen if they directed it at those who provoked it, and there was no point in directing it at each other.

    A deep sense of hopelessness was what spread from that moment.

    August gritted his teeth as he watched it happen from a distance.

    ''So that''s how it is?''

    He felt the same sense of injustice as everyone else.

    He couldn''t believe that this was how the other side wanted to fight this war.

    It easily could have been a battle of brawn from the start. If it wasn''t for the popce living in their territories, then August also would have been as destructive as possible.

    However, they were clearly added into the equation to ensure that the battle wouldn''t end so simply.

    ''That message¡­was it for me?''

    Though Wilhelm was never present and the event took ce like a natural cmity, August knew better.

    He could feel the malice involved in the decisions that were made on the other side, and it gave rise to boiling emotions in his soul.

    ''The long game isn''t something we can y anymore.''

    August had a good n to take down the other side systematically. He was going to show the might of his mind and defeat them before they could do anything significant.

    Unfortunately, his intelligence wouldn''t spark hope in the people watching from beyond the barrier.

    It was impossible for him to feel exactly what audiences did, but he got the gist of it through his own emotions.

    They probably wanted to revolt as well. They wanted to let themselves be known, to show the world that their lives had just as much worth as anyone else.

    He needed to be the person that returned that hope to them.

    As amoner himself, as someone who grew up surrounded by beautiful people who the world refused to remember, he had to show them that they could do it if they tried.

    They could be remembered as heroes, as artists, as schrs.

    Status wasn''t what defined them, and Arulion was not what the Holy ns presented it as.

    ''Fine.''

    If he had to throw it all away, that was fine.

    He wanted to hide for a bit longer, but if it was strength that they wanted to see, then it was strength that he''d give them.

    Raphael was swallowed by that beast. His fate, the fates of his mercenaries, and the fate of Gio, who''d been following him, were unknown.

    The beast below the surface had likely been living there for eons. Wilhelm was able to abuse its existence once, but he wouldn''t be able to use it again.

    And, since he''d sacrificed three of his own cities to create that atrocity, it would be far easier for August''s side to win.

    "Everyone, are you listening?"

    August spoke into hismunicator with cold eyes.

    As he heard most of his team report back, he steeled himself.

    "Forget everything we''ve done so far. We''re switching to n Z."

    It was a n without a proper name because they never nned to use it from the start. August called it "n Z" because it was their final n, one that was never to be employed unless they had no other choice.

    This was not that situation, but everyone understood why August made his decision.

    If the other side wanted blood, then they would show them blood.

    Their losses were somewhat equal for now, and it seemed that Wilhelm and Eris assumed they had an advantage because they''d made the first real devastating move of the war.

    August was more than happy to show them just how wrong they were.

    ***

    August and the army he brought all had realbat experience. The wars they fought in Bastille weren''t child''s y. They were far more brutal than something like this.

    People died in orders of thousands every hour. Blood flowed into the soil with such frequency that an entire portion of the earth was dyed red for years toe.

    They hadn''t used their experience there in this war because it was just a simtion. When August dered that they''d be using n Z, all of that changed.

    Wilhelm''s actions directly influenced the systematic destruction of his army.

    Most of those troops were in the three inner cities that had remained untouched until now.

    The entire territory was now separated from its sister territory by a massive chasm in the center, but it wasn''t hard to cross.

    Especially when those geniuses who wanted war decided to change into their dragon forms.

    Under August''s orders, massive attacks were carried out in every possible region of Eris'' territory. Using technology from Bastille, which was still rtively new in Arulion, August''s side was able to maintain an absolute advantage over the other side.

    In theing weeks, the war escted and escted. Most of the recruited soldiers on Eris'' side had been defeated before they were able to show an ounce of their might, and as if to get rid of anyone who wasn''t important, August''s troops specifically targeted the noble geniuses who had once banded together under Mikael and eliminated them.

    It wasn''t difficult. Once the heir wars became a battle of growth, it was supposed to be a stage reserved for Holy n geniuses. The noble geniuses had been outperformed constantly, and now that thepetition was in its third stage, they no longer stood a chance.

    Even those like Remelia, who caused problems for Valerie in thebyrinth challenge, were forced to die before showing anything notable in the war.

    Within a month, the only people left on the enemy side were the Holy n geniuses, apart from Gianna, of course.

    Valerie and Faldren kept fighting in their isted corner where nobody bothered them, but that was the only part of the battlefield that didn''t change.

    August lost troops as well. In the more recklessbat that was taking ce now, it was impossible for everyone to survive.

    And since only those who actually had a chance of winning thepetition were being kept in the war, everyone who was part of his alliance, barring himself, Mnia, Valerie, and their Holy n geniuses, was eliminated.

    Lucas and Ophelia went down after taking all of the nobles on the other side with them, so their performance wasn''t to be overlooked.

    Still, in the end, there weren''t many who could confront Holy n geniuses and win.

    There were only three outliers from themoner faction and four more who August had summoned from thin air.

    Nevertheless, August had an advantage in both numbers and power.

    The only question was how the other side would react to their current predicament.

    After all, Eris and Wilhelm never left their castle.

    Whether they were hiding like turtles or preparing something more devious than theirst move was still unknown, but it was high time for them to be confronted.

    Those two geniuses who liked to act like nothing that was happening concerned them¡­

    August was patiently waiting for the moment he could p them across their faces.

 Chapter 1716 Forced Change [2]

    Chapter 1716 Forced Change [2]

    ?More than just a few spectacr events had taken ce in the past month, but in the end, not much changed.

    The chasm actually made it impossible for either side to raid the other''s territory covertly, and though the inner cities had suffered through many battles, they had yet to fall.

    On August''s side, it was because of their nning. The three cities had be inessible unless one knew how to get past the mechanisms protecting them, so every time a force was sent to raid them, it fell under pressure.

    This was the main strategy used outside of just ughter to bring the armies of the other side from over seven hundred to just around fifty.

    August still had two hundred people at hismand, but in the current situation, the armies had faded into the background.

    Wilhelm seemed to hate following the rules. Whenever possible, he stirred the pot and absolutely ruined the civilized warfare that was going on. He made it impossible for August and Eris to have the tactical showdown they were trying to have, and more importantly, hepletely ruined the essence of the third stage.

    There weren''t any civilians left on his side of the arena. They weren''t killed as coteral damage from battles, nor had they been ughtered by August''s troops as they marched.

    Each and every one was murdered in a terrorist attack performed by none other than Wilhelm Liqua.

    He just wanted to see chaos. For Wilhelm, the heir wars were just a game. He didn''t care about who won, and he had no interest in winning, because, at the end of the day, the newly crowned Dragon Emperor would still be a pawn for the Holy ns to control.

    All of these geniuses were trying to win thepetition so that their n could hold more power over Arulion, but did they think that was actually possible?

    As long as the Liqua n existed, anyone who tried to break the bnce would die.

    They did it to Qinglong, they did it to the Dragon Emperors who came after him, and they did it to Zenith.

    Wilhelm was the most arrogant person August ever had the displeasure of meeting, but there was nothing he could directly do about it.

    Not yet.

    That man was from the n that ruined his ancestor, but he was also technically a distant rtive. The Liqua n stemmed from the blood lineage that August carried in his veins. Even if he had measures keeping the aura of that bloodline hidden, he couldn''t be sure that he wouldn''t be detected by someone who shared a portion of his lineage.

    The audience''s perception of the battle had changed since Raphael''s elimination as well.

    Rather than apetition between the kingdom''s best geniuses, it had be a battle of good and evil.

    August''s side, filled with people who kept themon popce in mind and attacked in ways that didn''t affect them, was the side of justice.

    Meanwhile, everyone around Wilhelm had been sucked into his vile reputation. Whether they agreed with his actions or not, everyone on that side of thepetition was now a viin in the eyes of the crowd.

    Thus far, the main focus had been territory. Eris was the one who controlled the armies in most matters, so she and August properly underwent the challenge as they were meant to, fighting in the light and in the shadow to see which one was the better strategist.

    Eventually, Wilhelm''s schemes led thepetition into nothing more than abat test. Genius against genius, they were to fight until only one side still stood.

    It was annoying, quite frankly.

    Nobody wanted to see the stage be ruined by an unruly brat, but that brat had too much power. His influence had woven itself too deeply into the nature of the third stage, which left everyone else dancing in his palms.

    ''Eventually, I have to confront him.'' August thought to himself.

    That day had toe, but it was not now.

    It was a miracle that Valerie and Faldren hadn''t found a way to end their battle yet, but that truly was the case.

    He had even been over there to see what they were up to, but it truly was a stalemate. Everything they threw out was properly countered. With the passing of time, they ended up learning from each other, which gave them even more ammunition to use.

    Still, they had to be running out ofprehension. Their battle was already in its final stage.

    Mnia was currently with Juno and the rest, confronting Nathanial Aureat in their quest to siege the pce.

    Wilhelm and Estavian were being cornered by Seryius, Cera, and

    Bianca, while Iridia led the remaining troops toy im to the

    three inner cities on the enemy side.

    Everyone was busy except for him. Well, for now.

    He was waiting for an opponent of his own. She wasing

    over the horizon now as if they''d agreed upon a time and a

    ce.

    ''Well, that''s because we did.''

    The third stage was, forck of better terms, going to shit

    because of Wilhelm.

    August and Eris secretlymunicated just a few days prior

    and came up with this.

    The two of them would fight, settling the grudge they formed

    in the first round. The goal was to settle everything before their

    fight ended.

    August sent his troops out without keeping anyone in reserve.

    It was easy to find everyone else, but it took Eris'' help to catch

    Wilhelm.

    Their unlikely alliance was the only thing keeping the third stage

    from sinking entirely into chaos, but it was made only out of

    necessity.

    This stage needed to end so they could move back into a

    properpetition again.

    And, this stage needed to end so they could get Wilhelm out of

    thispetition.

    At the heart of Eris'' territory, there was a great battle taking

    ce. Several separate shes in close vicinity were creating a

    scene that all audiences would have loved to witness.

    However, their focus remained on these two.

    It was subtle, the rivalry they''d formed. At first, it was just Eris

    chasing a pointless grudge against someone who beat her

    honestly.

    As the third stage went on and the two of them tried their best

    topete under Wilhelm''s tyranny, it evolved into something

    more.

    Even August wanted to see who would win between them. He

    had seen Eris'' good qualities through her tactics which

    remained honorable.

    Unlike Wilhelm, she wasn''t inherently a bad person. She just had

    a bad personality.

    Though, it wasn''t like August was going to tell her that.

    Eris arrived in her human form, which was surprising when

    everyone else had switched to their true forms.

    It was likely because August refused to transform.

    He couldn''t.

    No matter how much Damien''s artifacts helped him conceal

    himself, they''d lose their entire purpose the moment he

    transformed. It really didn''t matter if his aura was hidden at

    that point, because the sheer majesty of his appearance would

    immediately give him away.

    The current state of events was scary for August specifically. If

    he was forced to take his true form, what would happen?

    It was a question he considered many times, but this was the

    moment for his hypotheticals to be reality.

    Eris Noct, a woman who was far more powerful than him just a

    few months ago. Facing her directly, August truly couldn''t be

    sure.

    Either he would be able to end this fight without either of them

    transforming¡­

    ¡­or he would be forced to reveal his greatest secret to the

    world.

    It was either one or the other.

    There was no in-between.

 Chapter 1717 Forced Change [3]

    Chapter 1717 Forced Change [3]

    ??"August Void."

    Eris said his name with a nod as shended in front of him.

    "Should I say I''ve been looking forward to our meeting?"

    August shook his head with a wry smile.

    "It probably isn''t for the right reasons, so I''d prefer if you didn''t," he responded.

    They''de for a duel, so it wasn''t like they were going to start fighting immediately. Still, it wasn''t easy to make small talk when they weren''t on the friendliest of terms.

    They stood there, neither willing to make the first move before the other was prepared.

    The duel they tried to have was ruined by a third party.

    Eris had practically lost all of her control over their army. Everyone listened to Wilhelm, because he had a charisma that they couldn''t avoid being sucked into.

    Eris definitely had more of a chance to bring them to victory, but Wilhelm made them feel like winners. To these young geniuses who more often than not hadn''t lived long enough to develop some sense, thetter was far more appealing.

    They shared his mentality, after all. They also sawmoners as dirt. They also wanted to wreak havoc and use their power in ways they weren''t allowed in the outside world.

    Perhaps Eris and the rest were the strange ones for being different.

    Nevertheless, Eris was now a puppet leader who couldn''t do anything about what her team was doing. Since they wanted to be idiots, she figured it was better to end this whole thing and stop giving them chances.

    Just her and August fighting wouldn''t be enough to end this war, but as long as August''s troops could upy the castle while everyone else was busy fighting, then everything changed.

    The two geniuses hade to an agreement.

    Whichever of them won this fight would win the war.

    If August lost here, his troops would forfeit no matter what kind of progress they made. If he won, then their upation of the castle would be confirmed and they''d automatically gain victory.

    It was a simple solution that actually took a painful amount of nning to set up, but now that everything was set into motion, it all came back to them.

    "So, are we going to do this or what?" Eris said impatiently.

    "I''m ready whenever you are," August responded easily.

    Eris nodded and took several steps back, putting roughly ten meters between them.

    She primed herself for battle, dropping her stance. The look in her eyes changed as she became the cold-blooded killer that August knew.

    And as she did, he also took his battle stance, bing the killer she had yet to meet.

    A cool wind blew between them as if to set the stage. As a single de of wandering grass slowly drifted down to the earth, they both dashed forward.

    Bang!

    Their first collision was physical.

    August already knew what she could do with her mana, but she really didn''t know many of his abilities. Aside from the one time she''d seen him fight in the second stage, she never had the opportunity to understand exactly what his power was.

    Plus, if she tried to view him through the lens of who he was in thest stage, then she would immediately lose this fight.

    August had a new aura about him. It wasn''t anything about his power, but rather, his demeanor.

    Something told her that he had improved beyond anything she could expect, and based on that instinct, she decided to test him first.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    They exchanged blows one after another.

    Dragons were already physical creatures. Their bodily talent was just as strong as their affinity for mana.

    When they were given the maneuverability of a smaller, bipedal body, they were like tigers given wings.

    Unlike human practitioners, dragons liked to use the entire potential of their bodies.

    Eris was more prone to use her lower body. Her kicks were like lightning, moving with extreme speed and covertly enough to only be sensed when they actually struck.

    She was also extremely flexible. Her body twisted in ways that August never thought possible, both to dodge and attack.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

    She was always in motion. Her legs generated insane power from all directions, barraging August and giving him no room to maneuver around her.

    August blocked in the best way he could. He matched her in flexibility, but he''d never fought someone with this kind of lower-body focus.

    She kicked out and he blocked with his forearm. When he thought he had a chance to escape, she hooked her leg around his arm and twisted her body to essentially climb him, trying to snap his neck in an instant.

    Boom!

    August mmed his foot into the ground and countered her rotation, refusing to allow her close to his head.

    He mmed his arm out to the side and forced her to jump back as he chased her.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    It had a different effect when August attacked.

    He and Eris both moved a lot when they were on the offensive, but they did so in different ways.

    Eris was always pushing forward, but August liked to strafe around the enemy and make his attacks less predictable.

    She had more speed, but his every attack had more power.

    On top of that, August used his fists.

    He swung from both his left and right as if he didn''t have a dominant arm, and though he couldn''t maneuver his arms like Eris could her legs, he had more than enough experience to understand how to use them.

    BOOM!

    Eris'' entire body was pushed back through the dirt by the sheer force he exhibited.

    It wasn''t hard for her to block his attacks, but the force transmitted through her arms was still enough to cause serious damage. She had to match him and move constantly so she could dodge as much as possible within his unpredictable routines.

    In terms of physical skill, there wasn''t a huge difference between them, but it was definitely there.

    August approached again with extreme power and struck out.

    BOOM!

    The impact hit only air as Eris ducked below it. She twisted her body and kicked upward with the aim of disrupting his momentum, but August had already moved.

    BANG!

    Two fists mmed into her stomach and sent her crashing into the ground. Without being able to lower her leg in time, she lost her footing and lost the ability to correct her fall.

    Yet, if she hit the ground here, then she''d be at an immense disadvantage.

    ''Damn.''

    In their first sh, she was the one to lose.

    VOOM!

    She summoned her mana, turning into a shadow that teleported several meters away.

    Now that she''d used it, mana was no longer disallowed.

    But that was fine.

    In this aspect particrly, Eris was certain that she''d be the one toe out on top.

    A sea of darkness appeared around her.

    In the same breath, the ground rumbled and water responded to August''s call.

    This time, it was a battle of precise control of mana.

    Eris definitely thought she was better. With the resources in her grasp, it was hard to think otherwise.

    However, August had a teacher that others could only dream of having, and when it came to control, he was particrly talented.

    Perhaps many people thought the battle would end here, but little did they know¡­

    It would be a lot closer than any of them expected.

 Chapter 1718 Duel [1]

    Chapter 1718 Duel [1]

    ??In terms of immediate impact, Eris'' actions definitely had more.

    The darkness she summoned instantly epassed a wide area around her and created an imprable domain.

    August, on the other hand, didn''t summon a massive amount of his element immediately. This space wasn''t really able to contain an ocean. August had taken control of the underground rivers and reservoirs and was keeping their power hidden until he needed it.

    Though, they wouldn''t remain hidden for long.

    The battle had changed from closebat to ranged. The two geniuses didn''t approach each other and instead summoned their power with the time they gained from their separation.

    Eris moved first.

    ''Dance of Ten Thousand Demons.''

    Her arm raised parallel to the ground and a huge amount of mana burst forth. The darkness around her morphed, and an ability that August had seen already returned to the light.

    An army of dark beasts summoned by Eris'' power rushed towards him at unimaginable speeds. Individually, they weren''t the most powerful, but their strength in numbers couldn''t be underestimated.

    If they were allowed to approach, they could cause damage that August had personally experienced. They got his legs first, and once his movements were limited, they swallowed him whole.

    If it wasn''t for Eris defeating him before they could, his elimination from the first round would have been much more painful.

    Luckily, August was no longer the same person he was back then.

    VOOOOM!

    His mana immediately raged.

    In that moment, there was no more concealing it.

    Both Eris and the onlooking crowd realized that August had sessfully reached 4th ss.

    Now, that didn''t mean he''d have an easy time by any means, but the notion that he''d easily lose was wiped from everyone''s minds.

    ''I don''t really have cool names for my skills¡­''

    Damien told him that naming the skills he used in his human form was important only for remembering them properly. Having a name and an action reserved for an attack allowed for faster visualization and mobilization of mana.

    For that purpose, simple names were best. Efficient names that could be recalled at the fastest speeds to put his attacks in motion were all he needed.

    So, instead of something like "Wrath of the Ocean God," August merely thought a single word.

    ''Arise.''

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    Rushing water burst from the ground in the form of countless geysers that formed in the earth. The only difference from a normal geyser was just how much water was being produced.

    The entire area was soon turned into a muddy mess, and once the soil couldn''t absorb any more water., it flowed out in rushing waves that mmed in every direction.

    The army of shadow beasts crossed only half of the distance between the two geniuses before they were intercepted by the powerful water currents.

    It started with a bang as the first wave faced the sheer physical impact of such arge body of water, and it was followed by an array of squeals and screeches as they were drowned within.

    Darkness and water didn''t particrly sh, but they didn''t particrly meld either.

    If darkness and water wanted to be one and the same, then they could absolutely aplish it and show apletely different kind of power. However, in the same way, if they wanted to be opposed, then darkness would be like oil to water''s, well¡­water.

    The dark beasts were made with the earth in mind. They were meant to walk, not swim. When they were ced in a situation where they were surrounded by nothing but water and its pressure, they bursted and dispersed.

    Eris'' eyes narrowed as she prepared her next attack.

    How did a dragon''s darkness work? Naturally, it was a darkness created to swallow the world.

    Eris'' darkness specifically was more simr to the night and death than any other element. Through death, she was able to corrode the world and summon creatures from another ne.

    And through night, she was able to control space itself and turn the world into her own domain.

    It was like day turned to night when Eris released her mana for the second time. A canopy of darkness shadowed everything, throwing August into a world of darkness.

    ''Tch.''

    August''s eyes sharpened to get used to his new conditions, but this artificial darkness didn''t give him a chance to perceive anything but it.

    August felt like he was covered in a tight nket. His every sense was being overloaded by the darkness close to him, which made it impossible for him to perceive the threats that were further away.

    He stomped his foot on the ground, making sure that it was still the ground he knew. He summoned more geysers to surround him and created a makeshift barrier before taking further control of the water to make it swirl around him.

    He was just in time.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    August''s attention shot to his left as three arrows cut through the ckness and struck his barrier. The centrifugal force stopped them and turned them into nothing more than particles, but they were only the start of Eris'' assault in the ckness.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    Bang! Bang!

    BOOOM!

    A myriad of impacts, all made by attacks in different forms, mmed into the barrier. They came from every direction, clearly delineating Eris'' constantly changing position.

    ''I won''t be able to counterattack as long as I''m stuck here.''

    Either he had to find a way to break her pattern, or he had to form a domain inside of her domain.

    He didn''t think it was yet time to startpeting in their ability to dominate. But, it wasn''t impossible to make it out of this situation with brute strength.

    ''Okay. Stay calm.''

    Even if he didn''t show off his power, at this point, his lineage was already in question.

    Nobody believed that he was amoner anymore. That much could be affirmed.

    ''Since it''se to this, I just have to make them think that I''m anything but an Azure Dragon.''

    It was a good thing that August was currently using groundwater.

    Until he summoned the power of the sea, they didn''t have any reason to suspect that he was from a bloodline considered long eradicated, right?

    ''Wow, I never thought of it like that.''

    The second he realized that he could just cloak the true nature of his bloodline instead of hiding his power, August''s entire world changed.

    ''Great.''

    He grinned to himself and connected his senses to the underground water sources.

    ''Come.''

    He summoned it all.

    August''s awareness as a 4th ss dragon went several hundreds of kilometers into the ground and awakened the essence of the earth that slumbered within.

    Water. Without it, the world could not exist. It was a force taken for granted more often than not, but it was just as crucial as something like space.

    Without water, life could have never appeared. Though they''d never admit it, even dragons were once merely lizards who relied on the water to survive.

    That force of life, that force of death, August forced it to remember exactly what it was worth.

    Every ounce of water that would answer his call rose to the surface.

    And in one cohesive wave, a huge mass of liquid crashed through Eris'' darkness domain.

    BOOOOOOM!

 Chapter 1719 Duel [2]

    Chapter 1719 Duel [2]

    ??It was like they''d teleported into apletely different environment, really.

    When the groundwater tore through the earth in its desperate rush towards the only man it deemed worthy to control it, the floor beneath both him and Eris crumbled away.

    The soil mixed into the massive waves and was swept away to somewhere random. Massive chunks of rock and stone were broken apart until they were crumbs and thrown out of the newly createdke entirely.

    The battleground on which August and Eris had been fighting was sunken deep into the ground. They were now fighting an aquatic battle in a field of August''s creation.

    Naturally, the darkness domain was disrupted by the sudden appearance of so much water. Even more so when Eris was swallowed into it.

    She diverted her focus to precision control. Using the darkness present inside the water itself, she propelled herself out of the waves and into the air where she currently stood.

    Meanwhile, August was in his element when he was surrounded by water. He didn''t follow her into the air, but instead immediately attacked from his position standing atop the waves.

    ''Form.''

    August twisted his hand, and the waves morphed into twin dragons.

    ''Charge.''

    The dragons rushed into the air. They chased Eris down and opened their maws, ready to devour her.

    ''Damn!''

    Eris gritted her teeth.

    She put up a hasty defense, but it wasn''t anywhere near enough.

    BOOOOOM!

    The two dragons mmed into and through her darkness, and she was instantly drowned in their power.

    Thews of water allowed both flexibility and rigidity. When they were used offensively, they could manipte the enemy''s body into positions thatpletely disarmed or even killed them.

    Eris was a flexible person, sure, but she wasn''t anywhere near the level of water. Her body was contorted by the currents inside of the water dragons, twisted in unimaginable ways.

    Before she could right herself, the water turned rigid, trapping her in her ufortable position.

    It would have beenedic to see her like that if it wasn''t for the situation.

    Besides, August wasn''t finished yet.

    ''Pierce her.''

    With anothermand, multiple streams rose out of theke and turned to ice. They followed their dragon-formed brethren on their path and pierced as they were ordered.

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

    With the sound of them whizzing through the air, first blood was taken.

    The icicles cut through the water dragons and put holes in Eris'' shoulder, thigh, and stomach.

    "Hssss!"

    She hissed in pain as her eyes sharpened.

    BOOM!

    An aura of darkness spewed from Eris'' body and polluted the surrounding water.

    As it corroded into poison, August lost control over the dragons that contained her.

    They instead became Eris'' power.

    She stayed within the poisonous substance only because it provided a natural barrier for her.

    With the moment she had, Eris patched the holes in her body with mana and instantly prepared a move to throw off August''s momentum.

    The question was how she could do it.

    With a body of water that big, it was like he had infinite mana while she was constrained within the limits of her own body.

    She could form darkness to counteract that sea, but in the end, she wouldn''t be able topete.

    August used a natural resource that was being strengthened by his mana andws. He didn''t have to use mana to create his medium, so his consumption would be far less than hers.

    Considering that he was able to stand up to her properly and injure her so easily, it was clear that August wasn''t far below her in power anymore.

    If he had more mana, then this battle would be his win if it continued for too long.

    Eris either had to match him and find a natural source of power or end this battle before it got to the point where mana capacity was the most important factor.

    The first option¡­

    ''...isn''t impossible.''

    The time they agreed upon was in the evening, after all. The sky hadn''t turned dark yet, but it was darkening with every passing second.

    ''If I want to gain ess to that power source, then I need to prolong the battle.''

    And prolonging the battle would give August the advantage.

    She was stuck in a difficult position. It would be easily ovee if she transformed into a true dark dragon, but she wasn''t so dishonorable to force her opponent into that situation when they were already in the middle of a proper battle.

    If she had no choice, then she would transform.

    Either way, judging by the way they were currently using theirws, a battle in their dragon forms wouldn''tst very long.

    What mattered now was bringing the battle back to its starting point, on an even ying field.

    Her eyes went to theke that supported August.

    ''That¡­''

    At the bottom of every body of water was darkness. In smaller bodies, that darkness didn''t have much of a presence, but therger the body became, therger the darkness grew as well.

    A majority of the ocean was darkness. The creatures that lived there had to adapt to it just as much as they had to adapt to water pressure.

    Thiske wasn''t nearly as deep as the ocean, but it was still considerablyrge. Almost a kilometer of rock had been destroyed in the creation of thiske.

    With the amount of darkness contained within, it was definitely possible.

    Eris put her arms out and controlled her energy.

    She focused her will on the depths of theke, connecting to the darkness where only a handful of creatures could survive.

    It was a conceptual darkness, nowhere near as definitive as the shadows caused on thend. Still, if she could find a way to harness it, then this battle would turn in her favor.

    August felt the subtle change in her demeanor. She was no longer releasing mana, focusing instead on maintaining the mana she already had existing in the world.

    Her attention and focus had been diverted elsewhere, and when he followed the flow, he was able to see exactly where that was.

    ''I see¡­'' he remarked to himself.

    ''So you want to make this a domain battle after all.''

    Her domain had been crushed and his had been created. In retaliation, she was doing exactly what he refrained from doing earlier.

    ''But if you want to create a domain within mine, then you''ll have to work harder than that.''

    The stupidest thing August could do was give Eris the chance to make a big move. As long as she was restricted to only using smaller more precise abilities, she wouldn''t be able to take the upper hand or injure him.

    It was wishful thinking in a sense. Eris wasn''t someone who could be stopped using ordinary means once she''d set her mind to something.

    If she wasn''t such a person, then she would have never pursued August to this point.

    She was the first real rival he''d had in this world. Juno was different. They were friends and would never actually do anything to hurt each other.

    Eris was purely a rival. She was someone he strived to surpass and someone who refused to be surpassed by him.

    For a second, August thought that this battle meant more to him than he originally expected.

    But that thought didn''tst long.

    WHOOOOSH!

    The waters of theke fluctuated. They swished from side to side, shing against each other until a massive whirlpool was formed.

    In the middle of theke was a gaping hole that led deep underground.

    And at its bottom, the only thing present was darkness.

    VOOM!

    It was as if that darkness opened its eyes and grinned a grin filled with malice.

    August knew what Eris was trying to do, and he was already in the process of creating a counterattack.

    Yet, she''d alreadypleted her move before he had the chance to do anything.

    ''That''s a real genius.''

    She was also someone with the blood of a Holy Dragon flowing through her body. She wasn''t someone August could defeat easily like the noble n geniuses, but apetitor that had both the same starting point and potential as him.

    Against someone like her, tricks wouldn''t work.

    The only way to win was to genuinely be more skilled.

    But that was exactly what got August''s heart pumping so ferociously.

    A true test of skill, a battle where nobody could doubt the victor¡­

    ''...I''m starting to understand why Valerie''s been ignoring the war for a month.''

    This kind of battle was addicting, especially for a young genius who wanted to grow.

    He supported her precisely because he understood this already.

    Still, it was different when he was feeling it himself.

    He looked at Eris with mes burning in his eyes.

    It didn''t matter if it would take a minute or a year.

    He would defeat her properly.

    That was something he swore to make a reality.

 Chapter 1720 Duel [3]

    Chapter 1720 Duel [3]

    ??The sinkhole that was created in theke was exclusively caused by Eris'' attempts to seize control. Her darkness wanted to find a way to make their connection stronger, and the best method it discovered was to remove all obstructions that stood between them.

    The darkness spread throughout the water, so it wasn''t as if Eris could only control what was in that small area of theke, but that was where she directed her will. Through the sinkhole, which contained a darkness she was more familiar with, she was able to connect to the more elusive form of the element that existed in the depths.

    It was August''s water. That much never changed. But, swimming within it were the shadows she controlled.

    Neither of them moved. They stopped attacking each other, because the nature of their battle had changed.

    They were now vying for control over the domain. This was a simr concept to the true sacred battles that dragons could have but simplified so it could be undertaken in human form.

    August and Eris had their eyes closed as they merged their minds with their elements.

    August felt the water from the surface to the depths. He could confirm that it was all his to control, but the depths were going through immense changes.

    The darkness was bing more concrete. The water was being morphed into something that could no longer be called as such, and with every molecule that shifted, August''s control was dispersed.

    Eris was on the offensive. Separating the darkness from the water was difficult at first. Since it was naturally urring, it didn''t have the same tactile nature as darkness created by mana. Still, because she was using a medium to control it, she was able to abuse some loopholes to mimic the separation.

    Once that step was aplished, the rest was easy.

    Death and darkness were always thoroughly connected in the hearts and minds of people. Their fear of death, their fear of the unknown manifested itself in the color ck and made them fear it.

    At first, this kind of association didn''t mean anything. However, thews of the world were always changing in ordance with how they were perceived andprehended.

    Eventually, even darkness, which started as nothing more than the absence of light, gained a more esoteric meaning.

    That was why Eris could perfectly control concepts of death despite it not being her main element.

    The waters of hell were not the same as the waters of the overworld. In that ce, the rivers andkes were made to torture those who had done wrong, to erase their egos and memories and refurbish their souls to be sent back to thend of the living in a different form.

    When Eris started to transmute August''s domain, turning the water into a murky, liquid, yet extremely tangible darkness, it made even August himself feel sluggish.

    He could no longer abuse this domain to pressure Eris. Instead, he had to find a way to counteract the spread of her influence.

    Then, how was he supposed to do that?

    Eris had the inherent advantage of using the darkness within his water against him, but the substance she was transmuting it into no longer fell under August''s dominion.

    It was so far removed, in fact, that he didn''t believe he could transmute it into water again. Eris had properly secured herself a region of theke that was untouchable.

    That murky darkness, thick like ooze yet able to maneuver freely, slid through theke, infecting every ounce of water it came across.

    ''There has to be something I can do.''

    August sunk deep into thought. The best temporary defense he could use was ice.

    By freezing an entireyer of theke and creating a border between the water and the darkness, August could, at the very least, dy Eris until he found a solution.

    ''In the end, isn''t there water in everything?''

    It wasn''t hard to reach that point of thought. In the end, everything Eris created was formed with water as the base. She eradicated its presence as much as possible so that August couldn''t seize back control, but it was still in there somewhere.

    ''I''m justcking.''

    He wasn''t skilled enough to perceive those minute traces within such arge mass. He wasn''t, but he had to be if he wanted to win this part of the battle.

    August kept his eyes shut tight and concentrated his awareness on a single point, a single fleck of water.

    He observed the droplet in as much detail as possible, understanding the materials within and the way they connected to create a single, perceivable drop of water.

    Minutes passed by.

    With Eris constantly on the offensive, the ice wall that August made was practically destroyed already.

    She encroached further and further on his territory while he continued to look for a way to fight back.

    And though his study of the droplet didn''t immediately give him the solution, it gave him the path.

    If he could sense a single drop of water within thisrge body, if he could dissect it and see even further into thend beyond the eye''s perception, then he could absolutely do the same when the subject was not a body of water, but a body of darkness.

    It was still a sea, wasn''t it?

    Riding from the depths was a sea of darkness that tried to swallow everything.

    While Eris was making big moves to gain as much territory as possible in a short amount of time, August covertly separated a small portion of her darkness and sunk his senses into it just as he''d done the droplet earlier.

    He dissected it, understood it, and in less than five minutes, he found the water hidden inside.

    The texture of this darkness was disgusting. It was sticky and clumped up like expired milk. Like oil and cont mixing in ces they were never supposed to mix, the curdled darkness had an essence of water hidden deeply behind everything else that was going on.

    Once August found it, he finally had a case. The problem was what Eris had done in the time he took to do so.

    The entireke was dyed a deep ck color. The portion that August controlled was nil. Despite being confident in taking back his territory, August was forced to jump away from theke''s surface and into the air.

    After all, the darkness was already grabbing at his feet, trying to pull him into the deepest and darkest depths of its existence.

    He pushed his arms out and focused again, knowing that he wouldn''t be attacked at his current altitude.

    ''Water¡­''

    It was there.

    Hidden, yet screaming out for his aid, it was waiting for him.

    August merely needed to know how to sense that call, to understand what it wanted.

    And with the knowledge he gained through rapid experimentation, he did exactly that.

    He visualized the darkness as oil and pulled it away from the water. Creating barriers around the base element alone, he slowly connected each little trace he found until they gotrger andrger.

    It was just a speck in this sea of darkness, but it was a hint of blue nheless.

    Over time, it would spread and spread and spread until there wasn''t a darkness left to control.

    Or, well, that was what would have happened if August wasn''t in the middle of a fight.

    See, Eris knew exactly what he was trying to do, and she knew exactly how to stop it.

    Mana control and domain control were her biggest strengths.

    No matter how strong her opponent was, no matter what kind of talent he had, she refused to lose in these aspects.

    So, when August started to spread his influence, Eris immediately moved to suppress him.

    That was the firstrge sh of their domain battle.

 Chapter 1721 Duel [4]

    <h4>Chapter 1721 Duel [4] </h4>

    Strangely enough, sparks flew.

    They obviously weren''t actual sparks. Neither water nor darkness in a situation like this could produce such an effect. The sparks that manifested were actually bits of mana that were produced by the collision of these two opposing concepts.

    August''s domain of pure blue water was only a few meters long. It was surrounded by Eris'' darkness on all sides, and that darkness was constantly pushing against it as if to force it to turn into something it was not.

    August gritted his teeth as he was forced to focus on maintaining what he had. If he let go of his focus for even a second, Eris would certainly take back everything he''d taken from her.

    But, with the darkness in such close proximity, he was also presented with an opportunity.

    All he needed to do was split his focus and divert a small part of his awareness towards the task of consuming darkness and turning it into pure water. It sounded easy, sure, but it was not anything close to simple.

    Every drop of water was like a soldier. These soldiers were guarding the borders, making sure that the army of millions that sieged them could never break into theirnd. There were only a few thousand of them in this impossible defense mission. Even if they only sent a squad of five soldiers into enemy territory, they''d be losing a significant portion of their avable forces.

    They couldn''t allow any weak points in their defense, no matter how minuscule. After all, the enemy was farrger than them. Such a small mistake would cost them everything.

    What they needed now, logically, was external aid.

    They needed troops toe from other nations and siege the back lines of the attacking army so they could gain a bit of time to make a proper move.

    In a situation like this, perhaps it seemed like that was impossible, especially since August needed to pull those reinforcements in whilemanding the troops in his base.

    However, it was easier than expected¡­?

    There was a lot of groundwater in this specific region of the world. The tournament administration didn''t choose the area while knowing this, but it would have been the same no matter where the war took ce.

    Arulion was incredibly fertile. It hardly ever rained, but the climate and conditions still allowed for lush grasses to grow in almost every part of the kingdom.

    For the third stage, the staff needed to find a plot ofndrge enough and separated enough from civilization to conduct a prolonged trial.

    Any ce that met those qualifications would have been closest to farnd. In other words, the subterranean world in these regions was filled with flowing and still water of every variety, both near and far away from the surface.

    To create theke as fast as possible, August summoned everything that could immediately answer his call.

    But, there was still plenty of water below the surface that had been making its way closer and closer despite his call taking ce many minutes ago.

    When August sensed the presence of that liquid,ing from the deep underground cave systems that remained unexplored to this day, he couldn''t help but grin.

    ''Perfect.''

    BOOOOM!

    It burst through the ground at the bottom of theke and spewed into the darkness-controlled territory.

    Immediately, August gained a maneuverability that was impossible in the previous stalemate. He controlled the spewing water to force Eris into corralling it, while simultaneously pushing outward with his original territory and consuming all of the nearby darkness.

    For the next few minutes, the roles reversed and August was ced on the offensive. He aggressively drew the water out of her darkness, weakening her and expanding his domain until theke was practically split into two halves for the two geniuses to control.

    In the process, Eris'' darkness became purer, resembling water despite being nothing like it.

    The two seas crashed into each other. With each wave that sttered back into the surrounding liquid, their territories shrunk and erged as they constantly stole from each other.

    Eris and August both had their teeth gritted and their eyes shut tight. In their minds, they had truly be those waves.

    Each time they shed, each time they hissed and exploded as they contrasted, the two young geniuses attacked each other.

    In a sense, it was now a matter of mental strength. Who would be eroded first? Who would fall to the mental shocks they experienced when they collided?

    August was just barely above her in physical strength, but her refined techniques made it rtively difficult for him to gain the upper hand.

    His mana control might have seemed to be better at the start since he was the one to injure her before she could make an impact on him, but that assumption was disproved when their domain battle started.

    Now that they''d reached this stage, it was clear that they were equal in controlling mana. No, considering that Eris forced August into this evenly matched situation from nothing, she was better.

    Originally, this was his domain, after all. He was forced to destroy her power source when he was ced in the same situation, and he couldn''t say that he''d be able to do something like this, taking control of her mana and turning it against her.

    This duel went through many changes as it progressed. Through them, the two geniuses learned that their strengths and weaknesses were in different ces, but their strength was roughly the same.

    The battle of minds taking ce now was thest thing.

    As they were not Demigods with ess to their souls yet, their minds, their bodies, and their mana were the three categories they couldpete in.

    The war imagery shifted. In the minds of the two, they had entered their true dragon forms. They imagined their opponent sending waves of conceptualw at them. They imagined thews they would use to fight back, and when they lost, they reeled back as dull and sharp pain both struck their minds together.

    Minutes passed and passed and passed. Eventually, their stalemate continued for over half an hour.

    The waves had been gettingrger with every sh. The huge pitch-ck and ocean-blue waves were thousands of meters high now.

    Both geniuses were sweating fiercely. Their eyes wriggled as they endured the monumental pain they experienced for the sake of victory.

    August and Eris had done as much as they could in their minds. They were nearing a point when they''d be forced to take this sh to the extreme, to enter their true draconic forms.

    Well, that was the thought in Eris'' mind, but August was hoping to do anything he could to make sure that didn''t happen. He hadn''t yet figured out a way to hide his Azure Dragon appearance, after all.

    If he had the power to do so, he would keep that reveal hidden until thest possible moment.

    There was only one problem.

    August did not have that kind of power.

    VOOOOOOOOM!

    It was like time slowed down.

    No, time truly did slow to a crawl. A strange wave of energy,pletely independent of the heir wars and even Arulion as a whole spread through the hidden world.

    Rather, that wave of energy spread through the entirety of the Heavenly World.

    Everything it touched was disrupted, and as if it was an effect of the wave, all mana was dispersed.

    The mana being used by anyone and everything.

    Including mana-based trait that beasts used to transform their bodies.

    August felt something push through his every molecule. It was a visceral and indescribable feeling, and it only gave him time to understand what happened after it had already passed.

    ''Ah¡­'' he thought, a wry smile on his face.

    For the first time ever, he felt the desire to curse.

    As his body transformed and erged, a change he could not control.

    ''...I''m fucked.''

    August uttered his first curse word in this life.

    From any point of view, it was more than understandable.

    After all, he said it better than anyone else could.

    With this sudden and mysterious change destroying any effort that was made to keep his identity hidden¡­

    ¡­he was, by all intents and purposes, fucked.

 Chapter 1722 Chaos [1]

    <h4>Chapter 1722 Chaos [1] </h4>

    Arulion had been moving at an incredible speed. It was as if August''s appearance in the kingdom provoked all the small things that had been hiding in the shadows toe to light. Especially with him spending ten years inside of a time dtion, it was hard to believe that only a few months had passed in real-time.

    In fact, it had been less than half a year since August first hatched out of his egg andtched onto Damien.

    Unbelievable, wasn''t it?

    It was even more so for the people in the Heavenly World. None of them really had information on what was happening in Arulion, but if any of them knew that Damien somehow managed to find a son and raise him in this short period of time, they''d be bewildered beyond belief.

    After all, the Heavenly World experienced these few months quite slowly. When Damien returned from his meeting with the Dark God, all Dimensional Cracks existing in the world suddenly disappeared. The foreign territories left in those ces served as a reminder of the connection between the two worlds, but it seemed as if the Sacred Abyss hadpletely given up on their siege.

    That, of course, was a misdirection. Those of Void Pce knew better than anyone that this was only the prelude to a much greater battle.

    Perhaps it would even be the battle to end them all.

    Nevertheless, ever since Damien went to Arulion, his people had been properly taking care of matters in the world he left behind.

    The remnants of both the Divine Order and the Straea n werepletely eradicated. Of course, aside from Malevalon Straea, who was now an eternal piece on the Dark God''s board.

    The Northern and Southwestern Regions were alleged as necessary. The Kyushu Federation was given their share of the profits, and the rest was turned into bases for newly born branches of the pce.

    In these few short months, Void Pce managed to rise far above its peers in every possible way, and ire Ellowyn found herself responsible for all decisions concerning this world''s popce.

    Dante was awake, but, gued by nightmares and the stain of the Dark God in his psyche, he kept himself hidden and focused on helping ire manage her workload. For now, the only people who knew he was awake were ire and Serena.

    Right, Serena was there as well, but she didn''t have any time to help ire.

    She had an extremely important role of her own.

    Every single day in the time that had passed was spent setting up a massive array across the entirety of the Heavenly World. Tens of billions of people were employed and spread across thends toy small parts of the whole, which didn''t connect and form a circuit until the veryst moment.

    Forming the array wasn''t the only thing that needed finishing, after all.

    For context, this array was something Serena had toe up with after Damien revealed his wager with the Dark God to her.

    It was made to slow time throughout the Heavenly World. Damien said they needed as much time as possible and left Serena to figure out what the actual amount of time they could gain was.

    It really depended on her own ability. Since she, a Supreme Goddess of Time, was someone that even Damien acknowledged as more skilled than him in the maniption of thew.

    Serena spent several months brainstorming and putting all of herprehension into gaining more time. She started at only five extra years. When an array needed to be at a scale that covered the entirety of a Universe World, its power was too spread out to work the same way it did on a smaller scale.

    That was only a week into her research phase. It was a miracle for Serena to gain even five years on her first draft of the array.

    With months of nning following that moment, with repeated testing and experimentation, along with a great understanding ofws that couldn''t be matched, Serena increased that duration manifold.

    The actual final time limit was unknown to even her, because the array that gave her the most sessful results was also the one she had the least control over.

    The base concept was simple. In one fell swoop, it would harness the entirety of the world''s mana and use it to alter the folds of reality. This was a n that could only be understood theoretically. By the calctions that could be made, Serena estimated that they''d gain anywhere between fifty and five hundred years.

    After all, who could truly calcte how much mana the world had? Who could calcte how much of that mana would actually be siphoned?

    Mana was originally a force that acted on its own will at times, so there was too much variability for any stable result to be produced.

    Regardless, any other system would gain fifty years at most, so, in the time that she had, this was the best thing that Serena coulde up with.

    At least it had a chance of giving them more time. That was what remained most important.

    In the several months of the array''s creation, preparations were made all around the world.

    Firstly, they needed a way to affect both the base reality of the Heavenly World and all of the hidden worlds that existed inside of it.

    Secondly, they needed to secure any area that would be affected by the mana siphoning.

    Mainly, prisons, vaults, and other establishments that absolutely could not be allowed to lose power.

    The process would have taken an incredibly long time if the pce''s forces had to do it all on their own. When the entire world was under theirmand, however, things were different.

    The amount of power that Void Pce held nowadays really couldn''t be underestimated.

    Two great ns had been torn to the ground because they''d made an enemy of the pce. Whether they had help or not was a nonissue. Just that fact alone was enough to put reverence into the hearts of most and pure fear into the hearts of the rest.

    The people of the Heavenly World could no longer refuse their orders. If the pce said something, then it wasw.

    Everywhere around the world, special devices were installed into the most important facilities to exist.

    In a sense, that was the moment when the pce gainedplete control over this world.

    But, that was never their goal. It was merely a necessary privilege to have if they wanted to turn this world''s people into an army that could fight against the Sacred Abyss.

    Putting everything else aside, unlike Arulion, the Heavenly World was fully equipped to survive the mana dispersion without baring themselves to chaos.

    Unfortunately, their draconic brethren were so intent on staying isted that it was impossible to send them a message about what was happening.

    The array was to be activated as soon as possible. Was there another reason to put such a small amount of time between the introduction of the idea and its inception in reality?

    On that day, everyone in the Heavenly World stayed in their homes, awaiting the great change.

    For the first time in history, there wasn''t a single sentient being outside. It was silent on a worldly scale, with only the sounds of nature inhabiting every inch of the countless billions of kilometers of the world.

    And, under Serena''s direct supervision, the members of the Krone n installed the final link in the array.

    The entire n came together and transferred the entirety of theirbined mana into the array.

    The strip of runic letters they surrounded glowed with a bright golden light that immediately shot out into the world.

    There were three hundred and thirty-four great rings that encircled the world from different angles.

    The golden light spread through the ring it first originated from until it reached both points where all of the rings connected simultaneously.

    That was the moment everyone had been waiting for.

    The light exponentially multiplied and instantly spread through every single ring, and in that moment, a mystical thing happened.

    The silence in the world was amplified to an extreme degree.

    Even the winds quieted down as the atmosphere of the world transformed.

    Time slowed to a crawl. A wave spread through the air, dispersing any and all mana and sending it on a path towards the runic lines of the array.

    In the Heavenly World, countless individual specks of light illuminated the ces where alternative energy was used to temporarily sustain function.

    And though hardly anyone could actually sense the change, aside from their bodies being somewhat sluggish for a moment, the activation of the barrier was the start of something monumental.

    Both for the Heavenly World, where an army of quintillions was soon to be raised¡­

    ¡­and the Dragon Kingdom of Arulion, where only chaos was in store for the people.

 Chapter 1723 Chaos [2]

    <h4>Chapter 1723 Chaos [2]</h4>

    It all happened so fast that August couldn''t even properly perceive it.

    He changed. Eris changed as well. Everyone who wasn''t in their dragon form was immediately revealed.

    Eris'' dark dragon form was definitely majestic. Her sharp and pristine horns, her ferocious appearance, those scales that seemed imprable by any and all means, and a wingspan that one almost couldn''t believe belonged to a young dragon.

    It was something that should have captured the attention of anyone watching instantly.

    Though, nobody was watching anymore. With mana phasing out of existence for a second, the broadcasts and other simr mechanisms like the barrier around the two territories all shut down.

    The only person to see Eris'' transition was August.

    And, at first, August thought that the only person who would witness his was her.

    His shining azure scales, more beautiful than those of any other dragon, his magisterial crown and his aura that slightly surpassed Eris'' dark dragon lineage, and that iconic facial structure that no dragon old enough to remember could forget.

    The visage of an Azure Dragon. For the first time in millions of years, it had appeared in Arulion.

    And though the barrier couldn''t be easily reced, as it was only created through the efforts of several dragons over many days, the projections were different.

    They were maintained by a system that brought them back on the second mana returned to the atmosphere.

    So it was not just Eris that saw what he had be.

    No, his appearance and his aura were transmitted across the entirety of Arulion.

    That was when the surreal events began.

    Massive auras swarmed the sky.

    They arrived in an instant. All of them knew where the third stage was being held, and all of them had unimaginable power.

    They were figures that the dragon kingdom hadn''t seen in many millennia, but they''d returned for one purpose.

    They sensed that aura immediately.

    "QINGLONG!"

    A booming voice split the skies.

    August''s body was immediately frozen by a massive pressure.

    Under the weight of a Holy Dragon''s aura, he could only find it in him to do one thing.

    "Go. Go back to the Sanctuary. NOW!"

    It was a message transmitted through the teammunicator, but only two people understood what it meant.

    They also felt those auras. Nobody in the surrounding few million kilometers could ignore it, let alone the people at its epicenter.

    Valerie and Mnia both gritted their teeth, but they came to the same conclusion.

    They didn''t understand what was happening. August never exined his origins to them, after all.

    But his message unequivocally meant that those auras were targeting him, and if they didn''t want to be caught up in the madness, they had to leave as soon as possible.

    The thought to help¡­

    It definitely appeared, but it disappeared immediately. No matter their current strength, they could not do anything against the auras that were now hovering above the two nameless territories.

    If they stayed and instead became hostages¡­then they would directly cause the ruination of August Void.

    Their feelings didn''t matter anymore.

    They had to do as he said.

    They had to retreat.

    Valerie didn''t continue her sacred duel, nor did Mnia continue to push the geniuses she was fighting. They instantly put mana into the rings that Damien gave them and disappeared.

    August¡­was not so fortunate.

    Because those auras were locked onto him. Because they would not let him go.

    In the single instant it took for him to send that message and for Valerie and Mnia to receive and act upon it, the Holy Dragons in the air had already lowered themselves so that they could be seen.

    Each and every one of them wasrge enough to dwarf the heavens. When six of them came together as one, the sight was beyond horrifying.

    Andromedus, the Holy Dragon of Light.

    Noctum, the Holy Dragon of Darkness.

    Ignaqtus, the Holy Dragon of Fire.

    Shuilong, the Holy Dragon of Water.

    Noxus, the Holy Dragon of Space.

    Aion, the Holy Dragon of Fate.

    They were beings that could only be seen in legends, but now they all stood before August, staring at him with different eyes.

    Only Noxus seemed indifferent to his existence.

    The rest, particrly Shuilong, stared at him with only the intent to kill.

    And at their level, that was enough.

    "KAHAK!"

    August coughed out a mouthful of blood. Merely being in the presence of these dragons made it impossible for him to do anything.

    As for Eris who was next to him, she could only watch on with widened eyes.

    ''Qing¡­long¡­?''

    Did she hear it right?

    Was the holy ancestor of the Liqua n saying that the same August that she had been fighting was a descendant of that Azure Dragon?

    "Boy, identify yourself."

    Noctum was the one who spoke.

    He eased Shuilong''s aura somewhat with his own so August could talk.

    But it was merely an empty gesture.

    ''Kindness from one of them?''

    August wanted tough. It was pathetic even to believe such a thing possible.

    They just wanted him to reveal how he arrived in Arulion, how he managed to appear even though the ancestor whose bloodline he carried was long dead.

    They wanted to know what happened to Qinglong, because if he managed to survive somehow, none of them could feel safe.

    "I¡­"

    August responded nheless.

    With a grin on his face thatcked a fear of death, he responded.

    "I am August Void, direct descendant of Qinglong, and the true heir to the throne," he said, refusing to stop even though Shuilong''s aura once again became unbearable.

    With blood leaking from his lips, he continued.

    "I am the person who was fated to stand above all of you. I am the person who will kill all of you traitorous bastards in the future, so if you value your lives, then you should kill me now."

    His eyes were like tsunamis of energy, forcing his opinion on everyone around him.

    If he believed it so, then it could be no other way.

    That kind of light, that kind of mentality¡­

    ''...is exactly like Qinglong.''

    Perhaps Noxus was the only one able to have such calm thoughts at the moment. After all, he was the only one that didn''t participate in the battle against Qinglong.

    ''Nevertheless, it is too early for you, young one.''

    It was an undeserved attitude, because as he said, this was the moment that he would die.

    There was nothing in the world that could prevent them from taking his life. After all, Qinglong was the demon that lived in the hearts of these emperors, forever eating away at their souls despite being a figment of the past.

    Still, August grinned.

    No matter how perilous this situation was, it didn''t affect him.

    Because he had a backer that even these Holy Dragons could not match.

    If they truly made the decision to end his life¡­

    ¡­then he could guarantee that they would not meet happy endings.

    Damien was the source of August''s confidence, and it wasn''t an unwarranted feeling. Damien would not allow August to die.

    However, in this particr case, he was not the personing to August''s rescue.

    Perhaps the mana wave had created an opportunity, because when the Holy Dragons moved to suppress August, someone else moved as well.

    All mana systems slowly roared back to life, and that revealed one fact to the world.

    Well, to Aion specifically before anyone else.

    His body jolted as the information poured into his mind.

    Despite being covered in scales, one could almost see his face turning pale.

    Something more important than even August''s existence had revealed itself.

    Something detrimental to Arulion.

    ''The vault¡­''

    Aion''s eyes widened, showing an expression that he had not expressed in millions of years.

    ''The vault has been emptied.''

 Chapter 1724 Chaos [3]

    Chapter 1724 Chaos [3]

    "...you shall perish for the sins of your ancestor. Your bloodline shall not be allowed to exist in this world for even a moment longer."

    Shuilong was in the process of monologuing when Aion returned his attention to the conversation.

    It was clear that he was nning to revel in August''s death. The grudge with Qinglong originally started with the Liqua n. His emotions in this moment were more heated than any of the rest.

    However, they did not have time.

    It would take but a moment to kill August, but they did not have even a single moment to spare. "Shuilong, wait," Aion said sternly.

    "For what reason? There is no reason for you to protect this boy, is there? Or could it be that your guilty conscience is disrupting your thoughts again? Aion, now is not the¨C"

    "NOW IS NOT THE TIME!" Aion roared.

    They were the same words that Shuilong wanted to speak, but with apletely different meaning.

    "A thief has broken into the ancient vault. I cannot sense the presence of any of the artifacts stored there." Shuilong''s expression remained nk.

    "Mere artifacts. It does not matter if we lose them. Killing this child before Qinglong''s blood can bloom is more important."

    Aion scoffed. He looked around at the others, and, frankly, it irked him to see the same expression on their faces. His aura turned serious to the point where the other Holy Dragons were forced to listen to him. "Did you all forget what it means for the vault to be emptied? It was not merely treasures that we lost! Whoever was bold enough to enter that ce¡­has taken the Book of Truth and the Scales of Fate."

    The expressions of everyone present changed.

    "And the fruit of the Primeval Tree?" Ignaqtus asked. "Gone."

    It was a response that left even these Holy Dragons shaken.

    Nobody else understood what the treasures in the ancient vault meant. It was a secret kept between Holy Dragons exclusively.

    Without those treasures¡­

    ''¡­everything will fall apart.''

    Even Shuilong understood the dangers presented by the theft of those items.

    He gritted his teeth, hesitant to ept it, but he had no choice.

    "Noctum, ce him in Eternal Darkness. We will return to this matterter."

    Noctum''s slight nod was thest bit of the conversation that August could see.

    His entire world disappeared as he was surrounded by a ckness deeper than anything he''d seen before.

    This was a prison he could never escape from. Not until Noctum himself returned to free him.

    With August in such a ce, the Holy Dragons did not need to worry about him fleeing. They could return to this same ce and decimate him when they found the rat scurrying around their kingdom. The Holy Dragons immediately departed, turning into blurs of light streaking through the sky

    And as everyone in the vicinity of the third stage arena was left in confusion about everything that happened, August only had one question:

    Just what could possibly make Holy Dragons rush away so hurriedly? ***

    ''Whew, that was surprisingly easy.''

    Sure, the atmosphere was tense everywhere else, but that did not apply to Rose.

    She was cruising, to say the least.

    That energy wave came out of nowhere and made everything confusing, but the moment Rose realized that the ambient mana was dispersed, she rushed to the vault she''d been eyeing.

    As expected, it was wide open without a single security measure protecting the items inside.

    All she had to do was kill out the guards, quite an easy maneuver when they couldn''t fight back, and run inside.

    She took everything. Originally, her goal was only a single item¨C

    ''¨Cbut when in Rome, right?''

    This was a great opportunity.

    Even secret areas that were secured behind many barriers, arrays, and protection mechanisms werepletely open right now.

    Rose thought it was interesting for items to be hidden behind so much security, so without a second thought, she took them.

    Truly, she had no idea what kind of mayhem she''d just caused.

    But it didn''t really matter to her, did it?

    The dragons she''d seen while hiding in the Aureat n were pieces of shit. She didn''t feel a single ounce of remorse for her actions.

    And it wasn''t like they could retaliate against her.

    By the time the ambient mana returned and the projectors showing the heir wars turned on, Rose was already in the Sanctuary.

    Damien was the only one barred from the hidden universe, after all.

    When Rose returned to the True Void Universe, she would be back at the pce with ire and the rest.

    She had nothing to worry about.

    Though, if there was one thing more special about Rose''s experience than her theft of everything the Dragon Kingdom held valuable¡­

    ¡­then it was what she would learn when she returned home.

    ***

    Damien was actually in Zenith''s hidden territory, which had been abandoned for a long time, when chaos ensued.

    His attention was naturally caught by the Holy Dragons surrounding August. In fact, he was just about to make a move and ughter them, but something funny happened.

    It was only for a single second, but he suddenly felt Rose''s presence in Arulion. When it disappeared so rapidly, he knew exactly where she''d gone.

    It was surprising to realize that Rose was present all along. Damien had been doing things slowly instead of understanding anything and everything about Arulion so he could have some fun and feel the spirit of adventure, but it led to him narrowly missing his wife.

    Once he''d felt her presence, however, Damien immediately did a scan.

    It didn''t take long for him toprehend the situation fully. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    And that was why it was so funny.

    How coincidental did it have to be for even more members of their family to be wreaking havoc in Arulion at the same time?

    It was hrious how Rose''s actions identally saved August, and what Rose had done was even funnier.

    Of course, it wasn''t funny at all that they''d hurt August. That particr action made Damien want to kill them and everyone rted to them. But¡­there was something vague, a kind of ambient aura that could only appear in times of chaos.

    Perhaps that was why Damien kept the Holy Dragons alive.

    Because even if they were a threat to his son, they couldn''t do anything to him.

    Instead, they''d be left scurrying around the kingdom, desperately picking up the pieces.

    See, the energy wave that spread through the world did more than the Holy Dragons knew.

    Rose and August weren''t the only ones affected by it.

    Actually, there was a specific group that found themselves empowered.

    August''s reveal, Rose''s theft; they weren''t the only interesting things happening in the kingdom.

    There were two more big events about to begin.

    And Damien desperately wanted to see how the Holy Dragons coped with them. ''This is going to be fun.''

    Life had been a bit slow recently, but it was about time for things to pick up.

    Chaos.

    It wasn''t an ideal environment in any sense, but it was the ce where people with the surname "Void" thrived. Damien had proved it countless times, and soon enough¡­

    ¡­August would get the chance to do the same.

 Chapter 1725 Chaos [4]

    Chapter 1725 Chaos [4]

    August''s body disappeared from where he stood, but he was still in the exact same ce. To make it absolutely impossible for him to escape, Noctum separated him from the true reality and ced him inside of a realm of Eternal Darkness.

    That was a ce where mana did not exist outside of Noctum''s own control, and nothing aside from darkness itself could survive. August would not be directly harmed by the environment, but it was uncertain if he''d still be the same person when he once again saw the light of day.

    The nature of that space that refused to change was somewhat simr to the outside environment as well.

    Though the majority of them were too far away to actually witness what happened, every single genius in the vicinity heard the booming voices of those ancient Holy Dragons clearly announcing why they''d arrived.

    They heard that August was an Azure Dragon. To most, this meant nothing. Even most of the nobles and Holy n geniuses didn''t know why it was such a big deal. The most they could do was question the secrets August hid within his body.

    Qinglong''s legacy had been ruined in quite an orderly manner. First came the era in which Zenith was born. At that time, the ancient dragon''s identity was being smeared at every possible opportunity.

    Any records of his existence were burned and reced by a false narrative. It went against everything that the schrs and sages among the dragon ns stood for, but the decisions of the ancients could not be challenged.

    During that era, Qinglong turned from a respected hero of the dragons to the worst to ever live. Only after that did the era begin when his existence waspletely phased out of history.

    The Holy Dragons were thorough. They refused to allow anyone to find an ancient record that told the truth of their forgotten history. For the current generation of geniuses, the name Qinglong meant close to nothing at all.

    Eris was different.

    There had been many questionable changes in the ranks of Holy Dragons in the past. They actually weren''t the same dragons that existed in Qinglong''s era if one looked at their physical bodies alone. Instead, a unique method had been employed to ensure that the status of "Holy Dragon" was not given to anyone other than them.

    Noctum was the only one who never changed from then to now. His physical form and his soul were the exact same as they were when he first rose to power in ancient times, and as Eris was his most prized sessor, he''d told her stories of that time.

    Eris didn''t have any preconceived notions about the Azure Dragon. The way that Noctum described him was as such:

    "A dragon with such power that it threatened draconic society as a whole."

    It seemed like his opinion of the past''s transgressions was different from most, but that was not something to be explored when Noctum wasn''t present.

    The only thing Eris knew about the Azure Dragon was that he was unreasonably powerful to the point where even the most powerful dragons ever to exist were threatened by his mere existence.

    To hear that August was his sessor and direct descendant¡­

    Really, what she felt was confusion. She didn''t quite understand how it was possible, nor did she quite understand why it was so significant.

    Nevertheless, the real reaction to witness in this vicinity belonged to Wilhelm Liqua.

    At least, that would have been the case if Wilhelm had the chance to react.

    Their n was the only one that refused to forget the Azure Dragon. The elders who knew the true history viewed him as a stain to their reputations, and the young ones who were raised by propaganda saw him as a traitor and a weakling who had to die in order for their n to uphold their righteousness and dignity.

    The battles all across the two territories naturally came to an end when the time array''s energy wave spread through Arulion, which gave Wilhelm more than enough space to react to the ongoing situation.

    The problem was elsewhere.

    Right, even with everything that had happened thus far, it wasn''t enough to call it chaos, was it?

    Rose stole everything that the Holy Dragons held valuable, but she was already gone. They had no chance of regaining the things they''d lost.

    In this climate, they''d eventually return and take their rage out on August, which by no means would be something he enjoyed.

    There had to be something more, right?

    If one had that thought while watching the situation unfold, then they were absolutely correct.

    And as if to prove that point, destruction soon wrought thend.

    It happened both close and far away. It wasn''t close enough to perfectly perceive what was happening, but every single genius in the stage sensed the same thing.

    Blood.

    A gargantuan wave of blood with a stench that clouded one''s nose was spreading through the closest settlements to them.

    See, Serena kept evil in mind when she led the Heavenly World in their preparation for the array''s activation. Prisons and asylums were specially cared for so that nobody dangerous enough to cause chaos in the world would be released by the event.

    Arulion did not have prisoners. Not in prison systems, anyway.

    For the most part, anyone whomitted enough crime to be deemed a criminal in Arulion would either die or join arge group to have their actions justified.

    But there was another group that had been hiding in the shadows for eons.

    In the ancient days, when Qinglong was killed, there was heavy opposition from anyone and everyone. Dragons at the time had be used to the freedom of opportunity that he provided, and the entrance of an oppressive regime was not widely epted.

    Those who rebelled were destroyed without hesitation by the Holy Dragons and the influences they raised. Qinglong''s ns weren''t given enough time to properly eliminate the already existing status gaps in draconic society, so it was difficult for those rebellions to make any real progress.

    Still, they caused damage. The forces of that time humiliated the Holy Dragons and left permanent stains on their histories.

    As such, the Holy Dragons decided that death was too easy of a punishment.

    They ced a seal on their bloodlines that would carry from generation to generation. The seal cursed them and turned them into mutted beasts that could not exist in the sun, and forced them to endure great pain to live at all.

    One would be led to believe that they''d give up on survival. The most rational thing was to end their bloodlines in that generation so that nobody else had to feel their pain.

    However, they were far too vengeful to pursue such an oue.

    The ten thousand of them who didn''t die in the first few days led an exodus into the subterranean world. They, along with their families, forsook the outside world for the sake of only a single goal.

    Through all of their pain and suffering, they bred generation after generation. Each generation felt the pain of the curse, and every single one of them harbored the same vengeful spirit as if it was passed down by blood. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In that era, it would have been a miracle if their poption didn''t decline rapidly. They never would have expected that their descendants would continue to popte, creating an entire society in the underworld that maintained their original goal of destroying the existing hierarchy of the kingdom.

    Only, the passing of what was millions of years at the very least diluted their values and amplified the vengeful spirit flowing through their lineage.

    It was not a grudge held against the dictators who oppressed themon people any more.

    No, it was a grudge against anyone who was able to live on the surface in peace while they quietly suffered in the shadows.

    They would have moved regardless. They, like many others, took the heir wars as a chance to create a stage for themselves in the kingdom.

    It would have already been chaotic if they had done so.

    The problem once again came back to the time array, didn''t it?

    As its energy seeped into the ground and stole the world''s mana, it detected the vile and plentiful energy hidden within their souls and siphoned it all away to be repurposed.

    For the first time in eons, that poption was able to breathe without feeling excruciating pain in their lungs, walk without their legs shivering and breaking, and exist without pain.

    The skills they practiced were no longer just for decoration.

    And the goals they had were no longer unattainable.

    With not a single extraneous thought in their minds, they charged to the surface to see the sun for the first time in their lives.

    And, if it truly did not kill them upon first contact¡­

    ¡­then the surface world would finally feel their age-old wrath.

 Chapter 1726 Chaos [5]

    Chapter 1726 Chaos [5]

    That group of people wasn''t originally one. They were many who acted for different purposes who ended up sharing the same tragic fate and bonding over it.

    Generations of living as one and breeding into each other''s families led them to create a diverse society of united people. They, naturally, needed a ruler. Not an entity like the source of their tragedy, but a fair and just ruler who truly cared for his people.

    The system they employed was a branch of democracy created exclusively for the use of their society. It was strange, as they had to ount for their curse and other matters exclusive to those who were enemies of the sun, but the essence was still the same. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The society itself chose who was worthy of standing at its head. Currently, it was a man named Hendricks Urson.

    He was arge man. His skin was the color of earth, as were his eyes. He had a muscled body that had clearly been through countless hardships, and bright golden hair, the only feature he inherited from his original lineage.

    The conditions of the underworld produced many different ways of survival. Some members of the society turned incredibly pale as theck of sunlight affected their skin. Their physical bodies didn''t adapt as well to the environment, but in turn, they were able to develop many new skills that eventually created their current semi-thriving society.

    Others were dark, ranging from shades of brown to obsidian-ck. These people came from family lines that took to the subterranean world extremely well. They adopted properties of the stone, metal, and earth around them into their bodies and wore their skin pridefully as an eternal sign of their great aplishment.

    As dragons, they all had specific elemental affinities within their bodies. However, those had been suppressed by the curse and disallowed from blossoming in newborns. These dragons developed entirely new methods of using power, taking inspiration from the environment and the legends of their time.

    Hendricks was the man who revolutionized their skills in the modern era. He did note from the metal or mineral factions, which were usually seen as more talented, but he proved that anyone from any faction could have power if they worked for it.

    Those first few steps up a tunnel that had been long filled with boulders hiding whaty on the other side were terrifying. Knowing that he was experiencing something unheard of, he didn''t know how to respond.

    He came from humble circumstances so he was always considerate of the people around him, but he possessed the undeniable air of a leader that suppressed opposition.

    In ordance with his personality, he left the underworld first. If he lived, then he would live with his people. If he died, then he died for their sake.

    Those first few steps up a tunnel that had been long filled with boulders hiding whaty on the other side were terrifying. Knowing that he was experiencing something unheard of, he didn''t know how to respond.

    Still¡­

    ''My people must quell their thirst.''

    Their curse had been lifted. In some time, the vengeful spirit that polluted their blood would clear away.

    But, it was unknown whether that would be in a few weeks or a few generations. Hendricks sensed the growing waves of discontent from the popce. They were getting restless. More so after the ns to raid the surface were created. Many of them must have realized that they would heal with time, but their minds were too far gone for that option to remain viable.

    Hendricks was not a man consumed by his thirst for blood, but as a member of the forsaken dragon races, he possessed just as much of it as everyone else.

    He knew that they''d never be able to properly live if they couldn''t vent the umted frustrations of millions of ancestors.

    ''That is why, though I am sorry for those who will be caught up in our madness, I must allow this to happen.''

    One step after another took Hendricks closer and closer to the surface. He soon saw the creeping rays of sunlight shining into the tunnel from the outside world.

    ''It isforting to know that my death may be painless.''

    If it was instant, then he would not suffer.

    His heart was calm as he took thosest few steps. His muscles tightened slightly as he mmed out with his fist and crushed thest border separating him from the world, and¡­

    He bathed in sunlight.

    His eyes were forced closed by the immense light levels. They had evolved to be ustomed to underground conditions, so naturally, they didn''t immediately function.

    Luckily, through the experimentation of the root ns, those whose skin had turned pale, a technology had been developed to counter its effects.

    Hendricks tapped twice on his temple and slowly reopened his eyes.

    This time, he saw not only light, but also everything it allowed his eyes to process as information.

    The sweeping meadows and ins of the most rural parts of Arulion, the mountains in the distance that were more plentiful than people¡­

    It was a scenery that only existed in bloodline memories manifested right in front of his very eyes.

    Just the fact that he could see it and survive meant that the wishes of their people had truly been granted.

    There was nothing left to prevent them from bringing hell to the earth.

    And for that¡­

    ''...I truly, truly am sorry.''

    ***

    That was how it started; from a pitiful and unfortunate society with their own reasons for why they needed tomit atrocities.

    But, that was not how it would be received from the people they were victimizing, was it?

    When the forsaken dragon ns began their siege on the world, they hit the outermost western point of Arulion''s central region. It was the first bit of society they came across, so it felt the brunt of their fury.

    And, it just so happened to be near the same regions where the heir wars were currently taking ce.

    The first few cities they found were small, housing only a few thousand people at most. They were promptly burned to the ground, and every man, woman, and child present was left as nothing more than a corpse on the ground.

    The original ten thousand dragons had more than enough time to multiply. With tens of millions of them alive today and several million equipped forbat, they spread out fast and immediatelyid waste to every part of Arulion''s west.

    From there, they took many teleportation arrays and altered them to fit their needs. That unbelievablyrge mass of people had spread out across the entire kingdom with only one goal in mind.

    They just wanted to ughter anyone they came across.

    They did so while smiling,ughing, and crying. They were ashamed of themselves, but so deeply enamored by the pleasure of releasing their hidden emotions that they could not stop killing.

    The entire dragon kingdom entered hell. Those who could rise up to fight back did exactly that, and themon popce¡­

    Well, they experienced the consequences of their oppression. Without power, without will, and without lineage, they were like a school of fish facing a much smaller army of sharks.

    Numbers no longer mattered when there was such a difference in strength.

    The chaos in the dragon kingdom worsened until even Holy ns had to step in and take a stand against the invaders. A situation of such severity was created only one week into their invasion.

    Mnia and Valerie were currently defending Fort Halleya. The other geniuses had also left the heir wars stage on the orders of the people they followed. The entire event was practically canceled at this point, but there was still one person standing on that small plot ofnd.

    August had not moved yet, nor had anybodye to find him. The Holy Dragons were too busy searching for their lost treasures to even pay attention to the kingdom''s destruction.

    But, now that Damien had finished plotting with the Dragon Emperor, it was about time for him to be released.

    "Go," Damien said, looking off into the distance from his ce in the skies.

    "Show me the depths of your conviction."

    With a snap of his fingers, the Eternal Darkness around August was dispersed.

    For the first time in seven days, he saw the outside world again.

    However, it was no longer the same world he left behind.

 Chapter 1727 Chaos [6]

    Chapter 1727 Chaos [6]

    Whoosh!

    The settingpletely changed.

    If there was a benefit to the Eternal Darkness, it was that time didn''t exist. Its perception depended entirely on the individual, which meant that prolonged periods in the realm could lead to the perception of eternity and shatter the victim''s mind.

    August wasn''t trapped for nearly that long. He was still exploring the darkness and trying to brainstorm a way out of his current predicament when it was solved for him.

    So, he didn''t realize that even a week had passed. In his perception, it had been only a few hours.

    Perhaps that was why he faced such confusion immediately upon his return.

    Eris was gone, and the environment was in shambles. He could sense in the distance that both castles and all cities in this area were now in ruins, and though there weren''t many people present, there were a few.

    ''Those auras¡­what are they?''

    Dragons, definitely, but a species he didn''t recognize.

    Why were they here?

    What happened to the rest of the geniuses? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    No, what happened to Arulion?

    ''This isn''t right.''

    August didn''t take long toprehend that the time he perceived was not what passed in reality.

    The only question in his mind was if it had been too long.

    After all, the stench of blood was overwhelming. Not just from the territories, but from everywhere in the surrounding area.

    ''I need to find the others.'' Before he moved recklessly, he had to meet up with someone he knew to learn about what took ce during his absence.

    ''But first¡­''

    It was better for him to gain a preliminary understanding before moving at all.

    From the looks of it, the people in the territories were scavengers who didn''t have much individual power. The aura of blood around them served as proof that they hadmitted many murders before arriving here. It was easy to connect them to the stench in the air, but their low power levels made him think otherwise.

    Regardless of their circumstances, August could definitely gain something from confronting them.

    Boom!

    He immediately sprung into action.

    August was in his dragon form still, but there was no point in hiding it anymore. Whether it was themon popce or the Holy ns, everyone knew his identity already. Those who didn''t know better would only have no idea what to think of the information, so they''d just forget about it and move on to other things.

    Those who cared would attack him whether he was in human form or dragon form, so it was more important to stay in a state where he could put up a fight regardless of enemy or circumstance.

    In a way, it was freeing. Now that he was in the open, only his enemies had to be mindful of their actions. August could now do whatever he wanted without having to worry.

    He flew through the air like aet and immediately arrived above a group of scavengers. They had pale skin and schrly appearances, as if they had never fought a day in their lives. Still, they kept in their hands artifacts with immense auras that made August wary.

    "Ni he bansa stroe!" One of the pale-skinned dragons yelled.

    Her voice was raspy and more of a hiss than anything else, and thenguage was not one that August recognized.

    As someone who was able to study manynguages in his youth, this came as a surprise to him.

    ''They''re definitely dragons, and strong ones at that.'' Augustmented to himself while ncing at the orbs in their hands that had started to glow.

    Their appearances didn''t give off auras of strength, but August could immediately tell through their eyes that they were intelligent.

    "Who are you?" He asked without expecting an answer. He did receive one, but it didn''t mean much at all.

    "Rehavak!"

    The orbs shined with a furious light as the ambient mana collected within. Suddenly, everything they absorbed was merged by strings of light connecting the orbs and outputted as one massive beam.

    VOOOOOOM!

    August''s eyes widened slightly.

    He pped his wings to make some distance and released his own power. The power of a true Azure Dragon, that is.

    CRACK!

    The sky split open as a crack formed in reality. Through it, countless tons of seawater spilled to the surface.

    The instant it came out of the fissure, it entered August''s control and concentrated into a beam that matched the size of the oneing closer. In one smooth motion, August pushed himself out of the iing beam''s trajectory and fired his own, resulting in a huge sh.

    BOOOOOM!

    One almost wouldn''t believe that August''s power source was liquid. It seemed more like energy as it shed against the beam of pure mana and pushed it back.

    There was a concept of "solubility" that could be used here if it was twisted by August''s intentions.

    To perceive mana as something that could melt and merge into the water to be something greater took some work, but August in all of his power could do it easily.

    His water devoured the pure mana from the iing beam and empowered itself over and over again. The closer it got to the surface of the earth where the scavengers were, the stronger it became.

    "If you don''t want to die, then surrender!" August shouted.

    These people seemed foreign, but they had to know the universalnguage. It was something provided by the system, and there wasn''t a single sentient being in thisnd that was born outside of the system''s influence.

    They may have decided to speak their nativenguage instead, and that wasn''t an issue with August, but if they didn''t want to be turned into ash, then they needed to stop being stubborn and startmunicating.

    If they cared about their lives, that was the rational choice.

    But all August got in return were hostile hisses in anguage he couldn''t understand.

    "Haa¡­"

    August was never one to kill without reason. He didn''t want these people to die by his hands without confirming that they deserved such a cruel fate.

    In the end, August was a person who was willing to make tiring decisions like sparing his enemies. That was the nature that made him a hero, a part of him that Damien both respected and found himself unable to understand.

    Looking into those eyes, filled with hatred and staring back at him as if he was their worst enemy, August understood that there must have been a story behind their appearance here.

    The veracity and validity of that story could be determinedter. Whether their lives were deserved or not could be determinedter.

    First, he at least wanted to hear it.

    At thest moment, August recalled his mana and dispersed the force that it contained into the air.

    He lowered himself to the ground and transformed into the teenage form he had used until today. He walked towards them with a smile, somewhatforted by their expressions that were too fearful for them to attack again.

    Conversation¡­

    They didn''t look like they wanted to entertain it, but August still wanted to try.

    He really was a tiring person, wasn''t he?

 Chapter 1728 Chaos [7]

    Chapter 1728 Chaos [7]

    His smiling face was quite friendly. It was the type of expression that ryed his desire for peace to the people around him clearly, even if there was anguage barrier separating them.

    However, the forsaken dragon nsmen did not feel anything like benevolence from him. They hissed and sneered, backing away as he got closer. After all, there was nothing more deceiving than a trustworthy face. August''s smile turned wry as he faced defeat before even trying to engage in conversation, but he had a goal in mind that he intended to aplish.

    At the very least, these foreign dragons wouldn''t try to attack or run away, since he''d clearly shown that they would not be able to do so under his watch.

    Since getting closer wasn''t an option, August sat down where he was and looked at them.

    "I know you can understand me. I don''t know why you refuse to use the universalnguage, but life bes more convenient when you can actually talk to people instead of considering everyone around you an enemy," he said.

    Hissed and snarls were already starting to get annoying. That feeling was pushed to another level when they continued even after he tried to be friendly.

    They were obviously a civilized people. If not, then how could they have created such great technologies?

    The attack they used against him wasn''t much in the grand scheme, but if that was possible for them because of some small trinkets that they carried around for safety, then what did the ce they came from look like?

    In August''s opinion, it had to be a highly technological civilization at the very least.

    The words they used tomunicate seemed more ancient than what August knew, which was strange, but it wasn''t umon for tribes and ns to preserve thenguage of their ancient ancestors.

    More questionable was the way they presented themselves to him.

    "I''m not quite sure what''s going on, but I intend to hear it from you before I make any assumptions of my own. The auras around you¡­the aura covering the kingdom doesn''t spell good news, but if we are going to be enemies, can''t we at least understand why we''re fighting?"

    August wasn''t dumb enough to believe that he could be on good terms with these people. They clearly had the blood of Arulion''s dragons on their hands.

    However, their position was important to him, because if they could be understood even in some capacity, then the entire meaning of whatever battle was ongoing would change.

    The hisses quieted down as he continued to talk. He looked bored but interested at the same time.

    It was the first time any of them had seen such an expression from the people of this world.

    Honestly, they had not been acknowledging the people they killed as innocents or civilians. In order to maintain their sanity and separate guilt from their consciousnesses, the people of the forsaken dragon n had allowed their instincts to take over.

    Their barbaric behavior was not characteristic of them, but even they knew that they were sinning.

    In the end, their sin was directly caused by the Holy ns. If not for them, then such a situation would have never arisen.

    Their current actions were a necessity for the survival of their civilization.

    That was the thinking of those with some rationality.

    Those without it killed out of envy. Anyone who was fortunate enough to live happily on the surface was an enemy who needed to die.

    It may have seemed impossible for them to justify their actions with anything but excuses, but they were not excuses in the minds of those who spoke them.

    They were indisputable truths. "You¡­want tomunicate?"

    One of the women in the crowd spoke suspiciously, using a broken and olden form of the universalnguage.

    Luckily, August was able toprehend her words.

    "Right. You must have a reason for killing, right? I want to know it."

    The problem was that August didn''t know anything yet. He was leading the conversation in this direction because he felt like it was the best way to make them talk, but he didn''t even know what their people had done.

    He had to assume that they were invaders.

    He had to assume that they were hostile.

    He had to assume that they were more than just a few and had caused chaos throughout Arulion.

    All of his assumptions were correct, but was he supposed to act on them without confirming?

    Still, he didn''t lie. Assuming that the things he assumed were true, he really did want to know what their reasons could possibly be. There was a strong possibility that nobody else had taken the time to ask, after all. That same woman was the only one confident enough to engage with him. The rest hissed at her in their ownnguage, expressing their discontent, but she acted without considering their opinions.

    "You are young. Do not get involved, or else you will die."

    August smiled slightly.

    "It''s nice to see that you care, but as you can see, I can look out for myself. More importantly¡­"

    He used his eyes to reiterate his previous question.

    The woman gritted her teeth.

    "Very well. I cannot sense ''their'' blood from you, so I will share with you our purpose."

    Frankly, she didn''t have a good reason.

    August wasn''t the most trustworthy person. He also clearly was not on their side. They would inevitably be enemies in the future, and they''d likely kill many people that each other cared for.

    Still, the deepest emotion within each and every member of the forsaken dragon n was their desire to be heard.

    They wanted their story to be told to the world. They wanted their history included in the records. Not many would admit it, but the greatest shame they faced was not their curse or their migration.

    It was the erasure of everything they fought for and everything they were and its recement with lies. That was how August learned their story.

    He heard a tale that had already been told before, a tale where Qinglong died and tragedy struck a group of people who only wanted the best for their fellows.

    He learned of their unfortunate circumstances and their pain, as well as the unquenchable desire that forced them to ughter others.

    He heard the woman speak those words. He also heard her skirt around certain topics as if she did not want to stain the image of their people with the deeds they''d done.

    "Haa¡­"

    August sighed as he stood up. He could assume the rest from what she said.

    The people of Arulion were now being ughtered as a result of an eon-old grudge.

    ''As expected, it''s not pretty.''

    It was a shame that it was not a story he could rte to.

    But he was d he had the chance to hear it and understand how these events were perceived from the other side''s perspective. ''They think I''m going to kill them.''

    August could see in their eyes that they believed they would die the moment he got what he wanted.

    It was the same reason why the people around that woman didn''t want her to speak.

    But¡­

    "I will spare you this time."

    It was uselesspassion, but it was his nature, so August could not deny it.

    "However, if we happen to meet again¡­"

    There was nothing more to be said. Every single one of them knew which side they stood on.

    If they met again, then one side would end up dead.

    Only, that was not now.

    August''s body shined as he turned back into a dragon and shot into the air.

    His next destination was already set. In order to meet up with his people and learn the same situation from their side, he had to go to the only ce where he was sure to find them.

    Fort Halleya.

    That was his next destination. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1729 Chaos [8]

    Chapter 1729 Chaos [8]

    August obviously didn''t fly the entire way.

    He merely left the area that way so as to not give the enemy any information. The artifacts he had on his person were incredibly powerful, and allowing people to lust over them was obviously something August refused to do.

    When he was far enough away to be out of their perception range, he teleported to the Shadow Lounge and exited into the fort.

    Even this ce was different from the way he left it. The atmosphere had changed to the point where he almost couldn''t see the bustling society that used to exist here anymore.

    The streets were empty. If they didn''t have the power to fight, then they stayed at home and refused to leave.

    Those who had even a bit of ability were all within the fort''sbat regions and walls, helping defend it from the forces beyond.

    August''s eyes narrowed as he scanned the city.

    ''The poption decreased.''

    Immediately, he found that there was only around half as much life aura as there was before the third stage. Such a monumental change could only mean that civilians died in droves.

    "Haa¡­"

    Once again, he was forced to sigh.

    ''Maybe if you didn''ty your hands on innocents, things could be different.''

    It wasn''t as if their cause itself was the problem. The Holy ns had slighted the entirety of the dragon species. The people who had been killed in this ce, the people who were being killed elsewhere, all of them were victims just like the forsaken dragon n.

    They did not deserve to die. Killing them immediately invalidated any sort of just cause that the invaders thought they were acting upon.

    ''Still, from the way that woman spoke, it doesn''t seem like they''re killing willingly.''

    Didn''t it sound more like they were being forced to kill by the insanity that polluted their bloodline?

    ''If I can find a way to cure them¡­''

    August shook his head wryly.

    It was just wishful thinking, and they wouldn''t be absolved of their sins because of their circumstances. August just hoped that there was a way to end this conflict without spilling too much blood.

    He was only able to hold such thoughts because he had not experienced the past seven days.

    August rushed to the outer walls where he felt a familiar presence. She was on the opposite side of the water, which meant she was far away from his current location, but he couldn''t find Valerie.

    Mnia wasn''t particrly in the middle of anything. A wave of attacks had just ended and the troops were taking care of their losses and other matters to prepare for the next wave. Mnia had some status after her short yet impactful stint in the heir wars, so she had been given a more exclusive position.

    For the past week, she had been forced to put her everything into protecting this city. She didn''t have time to think about anything else, not even her own inexperience in real battle. Her first time killing someone didn''t even register in her mind, because the second, third, and fourth came just secondster.

    The war thus far had been brutal. Some were framing the ongoing events as a rebellion, but why rebel against the people? The noble ns and Holy ns had only recently shown their faces and started suffering losses. Only those who were weak and oppressed were being ughtered on both sides.

    Mnia came from the same circumstances. If it wasn''t for the Shadow Lounge, her mother and siblings likely would have died to the forsaken dragon ns already.

    If she wanted to protect her people, then she had no choice but to fight.

    That thought wasn''t far apart from her feelings towards training, but the difference in environment dulled her a little.

    In the end, this was the life of a practitioner. One where killing becamemonce and lives lost all of their meaning. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    She was just contemting it. The same way she did after every wave, she looked down at the battlefield from atop the walls and watched the corpses of those who died as they were recovered.

    She looked at the corpses of her enemies as they were burned and wondered just why they''dmit such cruelties and force her into such a position.

    It was a depressing train of thought, and one that she didn''t expect to be broken in the way it was.

    With her hands and face still stained with blood, she turned around to sense a surprising aura approaching.

    He arrived before she could question it in a sh of blue.

    "August?!" Mnia eximed in surprise.

    She immediately forgot about everything else.

    "What happened to you? Are you okay? How did you escape?"

    She rushed to him and hit him with a barrage of questions. Both she and Valerie fled from the third stage, but they didn''t take their eyes off of it until muchter. They saw the deliberation of the Holy Dragons and watched as August was thrown into Eternal Darkness.

    It was relieving to see that he was still alive, but with his fate unknown, both of the girls were incredibly troubled until the moment they were forced to push their extraneous feelings aside to deal with conflict.

    The fact that he was standing here was preposterous almost. He was imprisoned by a Holy Dragon, for crying out loud! It didn''t make sense for him to be running around.

    Mnia scanned his body and made sure there was nothing wrong with him as she continued to question him. August couldn''t help but crack a smile as warmth filled his body, but Mnia''s appearance was definitely cause for concern.

    Nevertheless, before he could ask her about it, he had some things to exin.

    Mnia gave notice to a few nearby soldiers that she would be absent for a bit and took August to an isted room inside the fortress walls where they could talk.

    There, August told the story from the start. He told Mnia the truth about his lineage and the story of his ancestor before leading into his childhood in Damien''s care and the mission he''d gained from his ancestral memories.

    Finally, he told of his experience in the Eternal Darkness.

    "I''m pretty sure my dad broke me out, but he didn''t say anything to me."

    Mnia nodded.

    She was more familiar with Damien''s power than anyone. It was the sole cause of her rapid growth. Still, while she expected August to be more than just amoner, she didn''t expect his origins to be so wild. August''s personal story was something he had to tell her, but, in the end, it was not the main purpose of their current conversation. Mnia was absolutely willing to support him in his path to bing Emperor. However, that could only happen when Arulion was once again safe.

    "Since you''ve been trapped for the past week, I guess you don''t know what''s been happening," Mnia said with a sad smile.

    August nodded heavily.

    "I came directly to you when I sensed your aura so that I can find out."

    "Huu¡­"

    Mnia took a deep breath.

    "If I had to describe it in one word, it would be ''atrocity.''"

    That was how she started her exnation.

    Of the past week, of the killings that had taken ce¡­

    August was about to hear a story thatpletely contrasted the one he heard from the forsaken dragon n woman from before.

 Chapter 1730 Chaos [9]

    Chapter 1730 Chaos [9]

    What Mnia experienced was hell.

    The initial scare of the Holy Dragons was already a huge event. It wasn''t discussed enough how much a collection of auras at that level could affect a young genius'' psyche.

    Unless one could properly cope with the experience, the trauma could lead to consequences beyond belief, even leaving some crippled.

    Minia''s mental fortitude was at a higher level than that of her peers. She wouldn''t fold under pressure alone. Still, the impact of the potential death of a friend like August and the sort of inevitability represented by the Holy Dragons took a toll on her mind.

    She didn''t have time to process any of it which just made her life worse.

    Just a few hours after August''s situation urred, the forsaken dragon n attacked. The beginning of their siege was broadcasted live as the territories were struck. The geniuses within had to be evacuated by their nsmen to avoid death.

    News continued to flood their minds. Soon enough, everyone in Arulion knew exactly what had happened, and not a single one of them could avoid it.

    Images of the bloody endings of those who stood in the enemy''s path were spread, and Mnia and Valerie immediately jumped in to lend their strength to the closest territory to them, which was naturally Fort Halleya.

    The first day was terrible. The entire fort was taken by the enemy, and the two young geniuses had to gather the forces left in the city to fight them off. They seeded, sure, but not without losses. Too many people died meaninglessly that day. Mnia and Valerie were unable to protect them as they protected the city. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In their memory, the two geniuses resolved to keep everyone else safe and do whatever they could to help end the conflict.

    While Mnia stayed in Fort Halleya and rallied those who remained to stand against the enemy, Valerie returned to her n to recruit their help.

    It was a tough journey for both of them.

    Mnia saw ughter on a day-to-day basis and became used to it. Valerie was traveling a rocky path back to her n, fighting through the groups of enemies she saw and risking her life to save those she met along the way.

    A lot of tragedy had already affected them at a personal level.

    Just a day ago, Mnia received news that most of the members of their alliance from the heir wars had already died.

    Only Lucas and Ophelia were still alive. Their sponsors supported them and kept them safe, but it was unknown what would happen when they actually entered the war. Someone like Damien could view this conflict as a shame and disregard it if he so chose. With the power he had, nobody in the forsaken dragon ns could even touch his toes.

    However, for Mnia and the other young geniuses, this kind of atrocity was unimaginable.

    They never thought that they''d ever see so much blood. Even bloodline memories filled with such experiences could never give them the same feeling as seeing it in person.

    "Anyway, I really can''t tell you the entire situation. From what I''ve heard, the invaders kill anyone they see on sight. A guy named Hendricks is leading them. He and the other strongest members of the rebellion are Ancient Dragons, and the rest aren''t weak either. They''ve taken hold of the west and are using it as a stepping stone to spread their troops throughout the kingdom. Anything more than that, I haven''t heard. Communication hasn''t been easy." "Hm."

    August made a sound of acknowledgement. Simply put, people were being ughtered with every second that passed.

    ''There''s really nothing that can justify it, even if it''s not something the forsaken dragons are doing willingly.'' August was tempted to share the other side of the story with Mnia just so she could know, but he didn''t think it was right.

    She had seen too much for her to feel anything for them. In fact, it might even make her opinion of them worse if she knew their motivations.

    Rather than that, August had to think of a way to end this conflict. ''But is that even something I can do?''

    He wasn''t that strong. He was a 4th ss dragon. It was hrious for him to believe that he could damage or stop a force led by Gods.

    ''But, even if I can''t fight them, I can at least do something, right?''

    With the connections he''d built, he could definitely bring a fighting force into the battle and turn the scales in a few isted areas. Was it worth making more people suffer by roping them into this conflict?

    Was it worth fighting the battle at all?

    As August contemted it, another sudden change took ce.

    But this one¡­was less abrupt. It was something that had been nned long ago, but needed to happen in a different way considering the current situation.

    A huge aura covered the entire world.

    In front of every surviving participant that was once a part of the heir wars, a projection of the Dragon Emperor appeared.

    They all recognized him immediately despite having never seen his face. That kind of aura was unmistakable, after all.

    "You all must be confused."

    Whether they were safe, struggling, or taking a break from the war, all of them were forced to pay attention to that voice.

    "I am your Emperor, the man whose position you all strive to take."

    He started with an introduction, but he didn''t take long to get to his main point.

    "Today, I present all of you with a challenge. As the heir wars were not able to conclude properly, this will act as its recement."

    August and Mnia looked at each other in surprise.

    Was now really the time to be doing this?

    It was a thought they shared with many, but their opinions didn''t change the Dragon Emperor''s message.

    "Somewhere in our kingdom, I have hidden my crown. It is the symbol of Arulion''s ruler, and the object that will give you control over the kingdom."

    "If you find it, then it is yours. If you take it, then you will be the next Dragon Emperor."

    "Your candidate emblems will act as apass. Your hearts will be deciders. If you have received this message, then you are worthy of my throne. However, if you cannot defeat those who are worthy alongside you¡­"

    "...then you may be destined for nothing."

    August''s eyes sharpened.

    Those were provoking words. They were meant to belittle the pride of a genius and force each and every challenger into epting this race.

    ''I see¡­''

    It was a move made both to provide an heir to the kingdom and to keep the geniuses away from the war.

    In the end, when all other reasons and justifications were stripped away, it was a move made to protect the younger generation, the future lifeblood of Arulion. But, at the same time, it was a race for the throne and the simplest, most direct manifestation of what the heir wars were always supposed to be. The choice that August was trying to make had changed.

    It was no longer about whether he wanted to participate in the war on arge scale or not.

    No, it was much deeper than that.

    August was forced to ask himself a question that he honestly didn''t know the answer to.

    What was more important to him?

    The throne¡­

    ¡­or the people?

 Chapter 1731 Race [1]

    Chapter 1731 Race [1]

    It was indeed a mechanism to protect the geniuses.

    Damien revisited Zenith when the invasion began. During their first meeting, they''d already nned the race for the crown. At that time, Damien hadn''t scanned the world so he didn''t know about the forsaken dragon ns or Rose yet. Still, he knew that there would be a massive change soon.

    After all, he was the one who asked Serena for help with the time array. Though he couldn''t tell exactly what they were doing, he could feel the changes in the world. Arulion was just as affected as other ces. In order to include the secluded ne without alerting its people, the array lines were run through the Western Region itself and connected to the hidden realm through more esoteric means.

    When Damien felt their presence and inspected their mechanisms, he learned of the mana vacuum concept that Serena used to power them. The Dragon Emperor''s message was originally nned to air right after the wave, pushing the geniuses into a sudden race for the throne.

    However, when the forsaken dragon ns were brought into the picture, everything changed.

    Zenith knew well that Damien was unwilling to help unless the situation became too extreme.

    It was hard to call him indifferent to suffering, but he definitely had the demeanor of a Supreme.

    The Dragon Kingdom''s issues were for the dragons to solve. He would not step in and alter their fates unless he was left with no other option.

    Damien stood too high above the clouds. To him, it was not his right to change suchrge events. He was not a person to take sides based on good or evil because his opinion of evil had changed.

    His scale of thinking had be disconnected from the reality that others lived in.

    Was it a good thing or a bad thing¡­? That was up for debate. Regardless, it remained true that if he wasn''t dealing with matters that were of his caliber or entertaining to him, then he would only intervene with worldly affairs for the sake of his family.

    The greatest evil, the person who was willing and able to turn entire cosmos worth of people into his ves and destroy any other cosmos that stood in his way¡­no, the man who toyed with other cosmos for fun and saw others as nothing more than ythings who existed to cure his boredom, that was the man Damien saw as evil.

    His scale of thinking had be disconnected from the reality that others lived in.

    Was it a good thing or a bad thing¡­? That was up for debate. Regardless, it remained true that if he wasn''t dealing with matters that were of his caliber or entertaining to him, then he would only intervene with worldly affairs for the sake of his family.

    Damien was currently acting as August''s helper. He was shaping the world so it would be ready for him when he became the Emperor, but unless August was truly in an unavoidable situation, he was not going to help his son.

    This journey belonged to August. The happenings in Arulion were his to solve as long as he was enough to solve them.

    And to Damien, August''s strength wasn''t an issue. The forsaken dragon n was a threat that he could absolutely handle if he yed his cards right.

    Nevertheless, the race for the crown was a perfect way to provide August with a chance. At the same time, with the geniuses finding their way to the crown, they would move further away from the conflict.

    Zenith wanted to protect the younger generation as much as possible, and this was the best way he could think of. Only, Damien did not agree.

    If Zenith''s goal was to help thergest number of people, then creating apetition that only involved a group of ten or twenty geniuses was no longer the right move.

    Wasn''t this a message better presented to the entire kingdom as a whole? If even enemies found themselves blinded by greed and aiming for the crown, then wouldn''t fewer people be killed on a minute-to-minute basis?

    Only the geniuses hadpasses leading them to the right location. The general public did not need to know that information.

    So, perhaps property would suffer as people ransacked every possible location in search of the treasure, but the people would stop killing each other to focus on greater things.

    Damien told Zenith his idea and let the old Dragon Emperor decide what he wanted to do. It was his kingdom, after all.

    His choice was clear, yet it did not leave him untroubled.

    In that way, he was simr to a certain genius who wouldter be ced in a simr situation.

    A choice with a clear answer that may not have been the right one¡­

    August was facing one too.

    ***

    Right, it was a matter rted to what kind of ruler he wanted to be.

    The choice was obvious in his mind, but he didn''t like it at all.

    ''I have to aim for the crown.'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    There currently wasn''t a way for him to reliably deal with the forsaken dragon n without incurring losses that invalidated his efforts. For him to properly face the threat with his measly strength, then he needed surety that he could control those stronger than him.

    The position of Dragon Emperor was an empty one. It was a shell of what it was meant to be. All of the Holy n geniuses who aimed for the crown knew this and were only trying to take the position into their n''s grasp. If one looked at who was in thepetition that actually had the goal of bing Emperor and changing Arulion, there was only August. Perhaps the crown would not give August control over the Holy ns. Perhaps his holding it would only create a bigger grudge between them, putting him in an extremely difficult situation.

    But, at the very least, August was sure that the current Dragon Emperor''s people would listen to him. The powerful people who had only ever been known as the "tournament administration" would be there to help him fight against the ongoing threat.

    And, more importantly, the people would see the crowning of their next Emperor. They who still filled the title with value would heed his call and raise their arms.

    Commoners usually didn''t have much power, but it wasn''t rare for them to reach at least 3rd ss for the purpose of living longer. Those people had enough mana in their bodies. As long as August could equip them with the tools to use power above their means, he was confident that they''d gain enough fighting spirit to defend their homes.

    It was a good n in August''s eyes, but looking for the crown was a time-consuming task. They couldn''t just blindly follow theirpasses until they found it, as they''d never reach before others.

    To first triangte its location, then find the fastest path to that general area, then enter the race to find it, and finally fight it out with the others to im it would take far too long.

    Too many people would die in that time. It didn''t sit right in August''s heart to just leave them to fate before he got a hold of the crown.

    ''A way to do both¡­''

    It existed.

    ''But I''ll need a lot of help to pull it off.''

    He chose not to make a choice between the throne or the people.

    Because, at the end of the day, they were one and the same.

    August steeled himself. He had big dreams, and he didn''t n to give up on them.

    The connections he''d made, the friends he''d made, even the enemies that he didn''t find so unappealing anymore¡­

    ¡­he needed to call as many of them as possible to put together the wild scheme that was brewing in his mind.

 Chapter 1732 Race [2]

    Chapter 1732 Race [2]

    August first proposed his n to Mnia. It had many elements that she didn''t have much information on, but August assured her that he could make it all work.

    It was an assurance that one could only believe if one had blind faith. Mnia may have resolved to follow August and be his sword, but she did not want to blindly follow his words. She was her own person with her own thoughts. If she wanted to assist him, she had to be ready to counter him when he was saying idiotic things.

    Even this time, she got the urge to tell him that his dreams were not possible. He was proposing something far beyond what people of their caliber were capable of. If he failed, then Arulion would be doomed to fall.

    Did she want to go along with it despite her opinions¡­?

    At first, the answer was a t no. However, when she saw the look in his eyes, she began to waver.

    ''He''s serious about this.''

    It wasn''t just some whim or some childish ideology that couldn''t be supported by reality. August had a look in his eyes that said he had put a lot of thought into his n. He truly believed it would seed. Not because he was dreaming, but because he had assessed the rationality of every moving piece with a tactical mindset.

    August''s thoughts were filled with that same hope and unreasonablepassion that they always had, but his eyes were utterly cold.

    This was a war, not a yground.

    Any heroism he wanted to pursue needed to be weighed on a scale of possibility. He learned personally in Bastille what would happen if he tried to save everyone without thinking.

    Mnia sighed to herself.

    "What are you going to do about the fort?"

    If she left this ce, then they would be left with only a ragtag group of individuals of varying power levels. Most of the dragons in the city focused on more human-like specialities like finance.

    The few strong soldiers they had would leave when a uniting presence like Mnia left, and everyone else would be doomed.

    She wouldn''t allow that to happen even if it meant parting ways with August here.

    August smiled. He could sense her worries.

    ''That''s exactly the reason.''

    Despite only knowing her for a short period of time, August felt like he could truly trust Mnia with his life. She was a person who liked to think pessimistically, but her core was the same as his. Just like that day when she found him on the street and allowed him to spend the night at her house, she begrudgingly sacrificed herself for the sake of these people.

    "Don''t worry," he said reassuringly.

    "Fort Halleya is where the Sea Tribes can makendfall. It''ll be secured before anywhere else."

    The most obvious aspect of the n was the Sea Tribes. They who retained their old traditions as they lived lives separate from Arulion would be more than happy to help in a situation like this.

    They would be August''s vanguard. His first real followers were a part of those tribes, and the rest were happy to repay him for the things he''d done when he was exploring the oceans.

    "You''re sure that everything will go as nned?"

    "Well, I can''t be sure of it, but I''m sure that everyone involved will try their best to do what they need to."

    Mnia stared into his eyes as if to read his soul. Her own pupils narrowed, but in the end, she conceded.

    "Fine," she said. It wasn''t like she had a choice in the first ce.

    Her heart was always going to follow him, because something about his needlessly kind and dreaming self made her feel like her own spirits were being lifted.

    If he wanted it, then he''d find a way to aplish it by any means.

    Was it baseless to believe so? Mnia didn''t know. However, as long as the Sea Tribes secured the city before she left, she didn''t have a reason to refuse.

    "We need to get to work."

    If they were going to go through with it, then they needed to start putting the pieces in motion as soon as possible.

    August nodded his head with a smile.

    "Let''s start making calls."

    From this random room in the walls of Fort Halleya, a small ripple spread.

    It was a ripple now, but soon enough, it would spread and spread until it became a tsunami that changed the shape of Arulion forever.

    Today marked the first time August proved to the world that he would be the best Dragon Emperor that would ever stand at the head of Arulion.

    But that was a story to unfold from now on.

    ***

    It was a dayter when the Dragon Emperor''s message struck the rest of the world. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    At that time, all of the geniuses who received it earlier found themselves shocked.

    They believed this opportunity was unique to them. In the current climate, many of them were thinking about sitting out of the race and just observing from the sidelines until some progress was made in the search.

    The number of forsaken dragons wantonly ughtering the masses dropped significantly. Hell, even some rtionships between their people and the people of the overworld budded as they worked together to reach their mutual goals.

    The situation morphed into one where anyone who wasn''t moving was missing out. What may have taken months to find would assuredly be found much sooner with such a massive poption participating in the search.

    Those ns were instantly thrown away. The moment the Dragon Emperor''s face appeared in the skies of Arulion and announced the presence of the crown to each and every individual within, the entire war situation was flipped on its head.

    A majority of the forsaken dragon n''s people were drawn to the race. Some of them wanted it for themselves, but for the most part, their goals were two.

    First, they wanted to make it impossible for someone from the Holy ns to get their hands on the crown.

    Second, they wanted to gift the crown to their King. With him at the head, they could im the surface world as their own. The number of forsaken dragons wantonly ughtering the masses dropped significantly. Hell, even some rtionships between their people and the people of the overworld budded as they worked together to reach their mutual goals.

    The situation morphed into one where anyone who wasn''t moving was missing out. What may have taken months to find would assuredly be found much sooner with such a massive poption participating in the search.

    More importantly, the geniuses recognized a fact that they had to conceal from even their closest rtives and friends.

    They had an absolute advantage.

    They hadpasses that directed them towards the treasure, so only they knew where to actually search.

    If anyone else learned of this information, then their chances to get the treasure for themselves would vanish.

    It was now or never. It was a free-for-all.

    Though there was still a war going on, it was happening parallel to the rat race for the throne.

    Arulion''s chaos deepened. But, perhaps only out of this chaos could order truly rise.

    Back in the walls of Fort Halleya, August and Mnia were unaware of the kind ofpetition that they were now facing, but they''d already started looking for the potential location of the crown.

    And somewhere in the forests outside theyer of the Wood Dragon n, Valerie rushed and fought against a horde of pursuers she''d gained as she made her journey.

    The group of friends was separated for now, but it would not remain that way for long.

    And, it looked like they were alone now, but they''d have many, many reinforcements soon.

 Chapter 1733 Race [3]

    Chapter 1733 Race [3]

    Thepass pointed directly to the southeast, which made life much harder for them.

    With Arulion''s shape, thend to the southeast of Fort Halleya was either mountainous to the point where tnd was hard to find, or submerged below the sea as a result of the conflicts that took ce in Qinglong''s era.

    For a group of twenty geniuses, it was an extremelyrge swathe ofnd that they wouldn''t be able to easily explore. The sea was August''s territory. If the crown was within, then he''d feel it as soon as he got close. Otherwise, it would take more than just some nning to figure out exactly where it was.

    The benefit of a starting point like Fort Halleya was that it was closer to their intended destination than anyone else''s starting points, so August and Mnia weren''t forced to move immediately.

    Instead, they waited and nned the other aspects of the overarching scheme and waited for the people they called to arrive.

    It was almost entirely familiar people.

    Valerie came first. After defeating her enemies and calling upon her n, she immediately returned. Naturally, August had to exin everything to her as well, but that was beside the point.

    The Wood Dragon n was already on the move without a real direction. They were originally just going to help where they could help and do what they could within their means, but with August hatching such an borate n, Valerie was forced to contact them with new orders.

    They were now ying a much greater role in the kingdom''s troubles than intended, but they didn''t have a problem with it.

    After all, Alcharist was already one of August''s greatest supporters. He sent Valerie into the world to aid him, and he had already promised his n''s help when the time came for August to face the world.

    Lucas and Ophelia arrived next. As they knew that they wouldn''t be able topete for the crown on their own, they epted August''s invitation to work as a team.

    The two of them were simr to Mnia in a way. They joined the heir wars originally so that they could gain sponsors and better lives for themselves.

    Truthfully, both of the young geniuses knew that they weren''t fit for the throne. It was a position that only gave one aption of hardships. What benefit was there in joining the ranks of high society people who would never respect their opinions? What could they change if they found themselves in that position?

    The resounding answer was nothing. They wouldn''t gain anything and would instead trouble themselves more.

    Instead of taking the throne, wasn''t it better for them to be content with what they had?

    They did have ambition, but they did not strive for that particr position. Still, they wanted to support a new friend they''d made in the recent months.

    If August had that desire, then they were more than willing to support him in it. Plus, this kind of expedition would be great for their growth and could provide benefits of its own, so rather than fighting against a powerful enemy in the kingdom, they preferred going on an adventure.

    Unfortunately, they were all who remained from the originally formed alliance. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    August was tempted to call the friends he made from the Holy ns like Iridia, Seryius, and Cera, but he knew that it was impossible.

    No matter how friendly they were, they would not support him in flipping the kingdom upside down and taking power away from the Holy ns.

    It was a shame, but they werepetitors and enemies at their core.

    The rest of those joining him in the race were his friends from Bastille. Juno and the rest were nearby already. They arrived soon andpleted the main raid team.

    There were many more individuals who received calls from August. Most of them responded, but none of them were going to help in the fight for the crown.

    There was only one more person who wasing for that purpose, a hidden card that August had called in preparation for the worst.

    Everyone made it to Fort Halleya within three days. It was just enough time for the first of the Sea Tribes to breach as well.

    August met them at the port as the rest learned of the ns he''d prepared.

    There were 10 Sea Tribes living in this area of the ocean. Of them, the Surge Dragon Tribe was nearest to the shore.

    They were pure dragons, however, their bodies were more simr to seahorses. When they turned into their human forms, they kept their unique fin-shaped ears that signified their n identity.

    The person who stood at the head of the group of over a thousand was a man with a weak-looking figure.

    He was young, at most somewhere in his early thirties, and everything about him seemed to beg others to underestimate him.

    However, August knew personally just how deceiving appearances could be.

    The entire Surge Dragon n had simr features to him, but they were providers for the entire ocean habitat and the ones in charge of making contact with the shore. They were given this position not particrly because they were intelligent, but because they were strong enough to force others into favorable deals.

    These dragons had a connection to Fort Halleya and even had friendships with some of its people. When August called them, they moved instantly.

    "It''s been a while, Yusuf," August said with a smile.

    "I cannot say the same to you, Young Master. Though it has only been a short time, you have improved immensely."

    The man named Yusuf spoke with a warm smile, as if he was looking at a young nephew of his.

    "Though, now is not the time for pleasantries, is it?"

    His expression changed in a sh.

    When he and his group left, Yusuf and his people would be in charge ofmunications between all of the Sea Tribes. The rest would encounter them first and learn the situation before moving to where they needed to go.

    "You said that they are killing ourrades, didn''t you? I would very much like to hear more about that."

    August nodded seriously.

    When he and his group left, Yusuf and his people would be in charge ofmunications between all of the Sea Tribes. The rest would encounter them first and learn the situation before moving to where they needed to go.

    The Surge Dragon Tribe was one of two of the most important forces in this n.

    As for the other¡­

    Well, it was obviously August''s sectmates from Bastille.

    As August walked Yusuf and his people into Fort Halleya, he exined everything from the start.

    Yusuf''s expression became darker and darker.

    "Forsaken Dragons¡­"

    It was the first time August actually heard the phrase.

    The woman he spoke to naturally refused to use such terminology. She actually didn''t use any sort of name for their n and only told of what had happened to them.

    "You know who they are?" August asked in surprise.

    "Indeed," Yusuf said with a nod.

    "As we have maintained the history passed down to us by our ancestors, I have personally read stories about the dragons who wereter termed ''The Forsaken.'' Their history¡­is an unfortunate one, but that is not of my concern."

    He didn''t take long to reach the same conclusion as August.

    "Then, what do you want us to do?" he asked.

    Reiteration was something August never experienced as much as he had today, but this was thest time he''d have to give the same exnation.

    That job now belonged to Yusuf and his master.

    Once he had passed Fort Halleya on to its new protectors, once he''d ensured that all of the moving pieces would activate properly without his direct supervision, August set out with his team to the southeast.

    This time, meeting in a ce where they were not protected by barriers or mechanisms, how would the geniuses interact¡­?

    August was hoping it wouldn''t reach that point, but¡­

    ¡­if they forced him to do so, then he was not unwilling to let them learn what it felt like to die.

 Chapter 1734 Race [4]

    Chapter 1734 Race [4]

    Most of thend in Arulion''s central area was t. The ces near civilization tended to have only a few mountains, rivers, and other natural formations.

    However, when one moved further from society, one would find that there was more variety in the world''s ecosystems than expected.

    August''s team passed through many a forest, jungle, and even tundra on their way to the mountain ranges of the south. The group used their dragon forms to travel. It was the first time Ophelia or Lucas saw what August was hiding. They couldn''t help but be impressed with his majesty.

    They were part of the crowd that didn''t understand anything about what August''s identity signified. They saw the Holy Dragons convene about him, but they still didn''t seem to get what the big deal was. After all, August was standing here safe and sound. It was impossible for him to escape on his own, so the Holy Dragons must have let him go.

    Lucas and Ophelia weren''t privy to the details of August''s life. They were his friends, but they were not life-and-deathrades. He didn''t know how much he could trust them, so he only told them about the ns he had for the future rather than the events of the past.

    Nevertheless, without knowing what questions to ask, the two naturally shut their mouths and focused on the current objective.

    Thends were mostly clear. When they first left Fort Halleya, they came across many forsaken dragons and were forced to fight, but theirbined strength was enough to easily defeat all of them.

    As they moved further and further from society as a whole, the number of forsaken dragons they saw diminished heavily.

    Those people, until recently, only had thoughts of ughtering others. They would not be in areas without settlements.

    Well, it wasn''t that there were none.

    The dragon kingdom had existed for a very long time. Over the course of its history, many ns had built their homes in its most distant regions as they desired a life outside of the kingdom''s authority.

    The journey was an educational one in that sense. Even if the encounters were brief, August and his friends were able to meet the ancient tribes in the forests simr to Valerie''s people and even the ice and snow dragons who lived deep in the unexplored tundra.

    Still, all of their stops were only made with the intention of checking theirpasses to see if they were still moving in the right direction.

    Eventually, they arrived exactly where August and Mnia predicted they would.

    What stood in front of them was a vast array of mountains that spanned a huge distance. They bordered the expansive seas and didn''t contain any signs of life, as if this area was deemed the only ce in the hidden realm unsuitable for life.

    Aside from the fact that there wasn''t anything but water past this point, the main clue leading everyone to believe that the treasure was here was the movement of theirpasses.

    The "needles," which were holographic rather than physical, were spinning chaotically. Now, perhaps on a realpass that would lead them to believe they were in a region with strange maism, but their devices did not use mas to function, so that was no longer a possibility.

    The effect was likely being mirrored to indicate that theirpasses would not give them more clues. Since they''d arrived here, they needed to do the rest of the searching on their own.

    At first nce, it looked like they were the first to arrive. Without any obvious life auras in the vicinity, it wasn''t wrong for them to make such an assumption.

    Still, they could never be certain until they checked for themselves.

    While everyone else split up to search the mountain range for any signs of tampering or residual aura, August took to the seas. As an Azure Dragon, he had something of an absolute dominion over these territories. If he managed to reach Qinglong''s level, then he would be invincible on the water.

    At the moment, he wasn''t quite there yet, but he had more than enough familiarity with the environment.

    August''s body shifted the moment he entered the sea into a draconic form more suitable for underwater travel. He connected to the water itself and used it as his eyes and ears, looking far and wide for anything interesting.

    There weren''t any civilizations here. Perhaps because temperatures were too cold for other living beings to survive, dragons refused to move here. No matter how great they were, they would still be affected by food scarcity, after all.

    The sea floor was just rocky without any coral formations or beauties. As August approached it, he realized that even the earth disallowed life. The soil itself was already extremely hard, not to mention the rocks below. August tried to break through the seafloor out of curiosity only to learn that it was impossible for him.

    Which, frankly, was a shame.

    The vacuum presented by theck of anything in the vicinity allowed August to perform a more concentrated search without obstructions, through which he sensed a strange aura deep within the ground.

    He approached the location above that ce and focused his senses into a line to see whaty below.

    His awareness bounced off of the seafloor many times before he managed to prate it.

    And when he did¡­

    ''That has to be it.''

    All he saw was a shining mass of white light hidden in a cavern. He didn''t know how to reach that cavern, and he couldn''t find out through this method.

    ''My senses are being pulled in by the light. I can either pull outpletely or let it consume me.''

    Pulling out just enough to find the path to that ce was made impossible. It was an inconvenience, but it wasn''t necessarily the worst-case scenario.

    ''There has to be an entrance on the surface if it''s like this. And, that entrance will be somewhere close to the shore.''

    Receiving confirmation from the other side that they''d received it, he started making his way back to the shore so he could help with the search.

    It wasn''t easy for him to give them details about where the cavern was, but he could visualize its location which gave him an advantage in the search.

    August immediately grabbed hismunicator and conveyed his findings to the team.

    Receiving confirmation from the other side that they''d received it, he started making his way back to the shore so he could help with the search.

    It wasn''t easy for him to give them details about where the cavern was, but he could visualize its location which gave him an advantage in the search.

    Surfacing and flying up a nearby cliff to make it back into the mountain range, Augustnded on tnd again.

    Only, he was not alone.

    "August Void¡­"

    The woman who found herself face to face with himmented in surprise. August turned to her with the same expression.

    "Iridia Ignis?" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He didn''t sense her presence at all. More importantly, if she was here, then the other Holy n geniuses had to be somewhere in the vicinity as well.

    ''That isn''t good news.''

    It meant that they were outnumbered by enemies.

    August lowered his stance. His eyes narrowed as he observed Iridia''s posture.

    They were clearlypetitors and enemies.

    So, why was she remaining so rxed?

    August was already prepared for a fight. If this was a move to catch him off guard, then it would not work.

    However¡­

    "Put your fists down. I''m not fighting you."

    ¡­Iridia''s response was even more surprising than her presence.

    It seemed she was here not for battle, but for conversation.

    To August, though, it was strange.

    He couldn''t think of anything she could possibly want to talk to him about at a time like this.

    But, he also didn''t want to fight.

    Slowly but surely, he brought himself out of his fighting stance and looked at her in confusion, asking her the question in his mind.

    "Why?"

 Chapter 1735 Race [5]

    Chapter 1735 Race [5]

    Iridia replied with a shrug.

    "It would be a shame if either of us was knocked out before we even found out where the crown was. Since you''re one of my strongestpetitors, it isn''t worth fighting you yet."

    It was sound reasoning, but incredibly strangeing from someone like her.

    "I''m one of your strongestpetitors? Since when?" August reiterated, sarcasm oozing from his tone.

    However, Iridia responded seriously.

    "Since the moment you tied with Eris Noct."

    That battle changed the way all of the Holy n geniuses saw him. "Wait, but none of you saw that happen."

    "We didn''t need to. Eris herself told everyone that you tied, and she definitely isn''t one to lie for other people''s sake."

    "Eris did that?"

    "She''s more honest than you''d expect. She just has a shitty personality that makes it irrelevant."

    "I see¡­"

    August nodded his head, somewhat epting the situation.

    Eris was stronger than most of the other geniuses who had participated in the heir wars. If he was able to fight her to a tie and force her to unveil her dragon form, then the rest of them couldn''t carelessly fight him.

    Still, calling it a tie was a bit much.

    ''If we kept going, I''d probably have lost.''

    After all, Eris had an advantage in experience due to her age. Unlike the rest, she had a decent amount of practical experience to back up her strength, which was what made her scary.

    Even after Bastille, August didn''t improve much in the sense of personal battles. War situations werepletely different from duels.

    Still, since Iridia seemed in a friendly mood, August wanted to take the chance to ask her the question that had been bugging him. "Why are you even chasing the crown?"

    It couldn''t have been as simple as what he expected, right?

    Iridia responded to his question with another. "Are you asking because you know, or because you don''t?" "The former."

    "Then, for the most part, it''s just that. People want to gain more influence, and even if the Dragon Emperor doesn''t have real power, the position is still respected by themon people. If it''s the Dragon Emperor''s will, they won''t raise a fuss no matter what."

    August frowned.

    "But you guys don''t care aboutmoners at all, do you? Their actions don''t affect theirs, and theirs don''t affect yours. In my understanding, as long as they stay oppressed, you don''t need to interfere, right?"

    "Wrong."

    Iridia shook her head. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I don''t know much about it since it isn''t discussed as often as you''d expect, but it''s something about fate. There''s a cycle that affects bothmoners and noble dragons that can''t be interrupted. If you want more information, then you''ll have to find one of the elders from our ns to tell you, because it''s not information you get ess to until you reach that stage." She continued to casually answer his questions as if she wasn''t spilling the secrets of the Holy ns like a leaky faucet.

    Her attitude was confusing.

    "Why do you think I''m chasing the crown?" August didn''t know why he asked, but he felt the need to.

    He was too curious about the other side''s perspective. "Idealism, probably."

    Iridia answered just as simply as ever. "If you think that you can change something because you''re amoner with some power, then you''re wrong. If you think you can change something because of your lineage, then you''re double wrong. From what I understand, you''re thest living Azure Dragon. You won''t be able to make an impact on the deeply rooted system that exists already."

    She genuinely believed that there was nothing to be done. As she benefited from the system, she didn''t speak about it negatively. Rather, she looked at it from his point of view and countered his possible beliefs with the facts she had the privilege to know because of her unique standing.

    It was as August thought. There was something more to the throne of the Dragon Emperor than the Holy ns wanted others to know.

    Its importance was likely crushed by them so that nobody else would expect that taking hold of that crown meant so much.

    Iridia didn''t know everything, but that wasn''t a problem. August could infer what he needed to from her statements, and he could find the rest out for himself when the time came. August responded to her with determination.

    "It''s not idealism." That was one thing he''d never act upon without reason.

    "I''m confident that I''ll change this kingdom if I get my hands on that crown. I''m going to follow in the footsteps of my ancestor and bring Arulion back to its former beauty, no matter who stands in my way. It isn''t a im I''m making based on childish ambition or unsupported arrogance. It''s something I can say confidently based on the tangible advantages I possess and the cards I have hidden."

    He did have a sufficient number of cards in his pocket, but if they were brought into the light by his enemies, then his advantage would disappear. Iridia could see the hatred for Holy ns and the desire to stand against them in August''s eyes.

    Frankly, it was extremely stupid for August to be exining something like that to Iridia. If she went back and told her n, then he would face even more suppression.

    He did have a sufficient number of cards in his pocket, but if they were brought into the light by his enemies, then his advantage would disappear. Iridia could see the hatred for Holy ns and the desire to stand against them in August''s eyes.

    If it was a few months ago, she might''ve shown him a more unruly response. She might have taken offense to his sentiments and started a battle here.

    But she wasn''t the same person anymore. What she experienced in the heir wars, and more importantly, what she experienced after they were cut shortpletely changed her perspective on things. She could understand his feelings. "After everything that happenedst time, I went home and asked about it," she said. "Your ancestor¡­it seems my n didn''t have any grudges with him. It is true that my ancestors participated in his downfall, however, it wasn''t a personal matter. Our Ignis n functions on the property of strength over everything. He was not strong enough, so he fell. If we find ourselves in the same situation, then we will also ept our defeat with grace."

    Her meaning was clear.

    Suppose August believed that he had the proper means to take down the Ignis n. If he challenged them and won, then they would ept defeat and bend to his will until the moment he was not strong enough anymore.

    That was the way of the world in their eyes.

    This was a moment when August could also take offense if he wanted to. The fact that his ancestor meant nothing to them, their choice to participate in his death merely because of such a narrow-minded ideology was definitely an affront to his existence. But, since Iridia let his words go before, he decided to do the same.

    "I hope you''re prepared for that day toe," August said after a slight silence.

    "I can be, but I''m sure my seniors are different."

    "Is now really the time for jokes?"

    "If not now, then when?"

    Her changing tone was even more confusing than her nonchnce.

    What happened to Iridia since thest time they''d met? ''Whatever it was, she''s basically turned into a different person. Is it maturity¡­or something else?''

    August wondered if she was still the same in her core or if something forced her to be something she was not.

    Nevertheless, it wasn''t something for him to concern himself with.

    Since there was nothing left to talk about in this strange chance encounter, he could take his leave.

    That was what he thought.

    He assumed that it''d end with that.

    But, as he moved through the mountains to regroup with his people, he was forced to voice his thoughts.

    Once again, they cumted into a single question.

    "Why are you still here?"

    He stopped on a random mountain and turned around to face the woman who had decided that she wanted to tag along.

    August felt a headache rolling in. Was this going to be a bigger problem than he thought?

 Chapter 1736 Race [6]

    Chapter 1736 Race [6]

    Apparently, not in Iridia''s eyes. "What? You''re moving like you know where we need to go. On top of that, did you think you could say something that bold and not gain my interest? I want to see what you''re capable of, August Void."

    "Didn''t you see enough during the heir wars?" August responded in exasperation.

    "I clearly did not. In fact, the only thing I saw was the performance of your subordinates. You never actually fought in front of me, did you?" Iridia responded with a sound reasoning that he couldn''t argue with.

    August sighed as he said, "I didn''t know you were a person like this."

    And, as if it had been preloaded, Iridia pped back in an instant.

    "I''m a Holy n genius, not a homunculus. Even I have a personality."

    "And you''re showing it to me because¡­" August said, raising a brow.

    "...I want to. Simple as that."

    Iridia''s eyes carried a certain kind of determination that August couldn''t guess the origin of. For some reason, she was resolved to follow him and see how he took on this challenge.

    August sighed.

    "Is there any way to drive you away without fighting?"

    "No."

    "Not even if I act horrendously?"

    "Have you met my nmates?"

    "Touche."

    It really was a point that he couldn''t argue against. Someone who grew up around a n full of Raphaels wouldn''t fold under any pressure that he could dish out.

    "Haa¡­"

    It seemed like he couldn''t get rid of her after all.

    ''Well, it''s not totally a bad thing.''

    Iridia was one of the good ones. She and the Ether n geniuses were the only Holy n geniuses that August actually got a chance to form a connection with, so if it had to be someone, then at least it was her. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    August made sure to notify his teammates that he was bringing a guest back, and to his surprise, they returned the exact same to him.

    While Valerie and Mnia were moving towards the rendezvous point, they happened to run into two more familiar geniuses. It was rare to actually catch them in the wild, since they often moved within the folds of space. Seryius and Cera Ether just happened to exit the spatialyers in front of the two girls, leading to their meeting.

    Was it coincidence or was it something the two geniuses nned? Though Mnia and Valerie had no way of knowing, they showed the two geniuses courtesy.

    They wererades, after all. They were divided by many external factors, but that didn''t change the fact that they were people who liked working together.

    August''s teammates had decided among themselves that it was better to add more people to their group for now to expand the range of their search. They would definitely turn against each other at some point, but that would only happen once the crown had been found.

    ncing at Iridia as he received this information, August conceded to it as well.

    "I know we all have at least some trust between us, but it isn''t enough at a time like this. For the sake of safety, let''s sign a pact. Nobody here will be able to hurt another person from the group, and everyone will have to cooperate and help each other until we''ve reached the crown. Once it''s in sight, may the best man win."

    It was indeed better to have more eyes for now. With the three people who they''d met being the three people he would feel least perturbed with including on this expedition, he lost a reason to disagree.

    Still, precautions had to be taken.

    August didn''t say anything overmunications, but that changed when the two groups met up.

    After greeting Seryius and Cera and introducing Iridia back into their group, August made a statement.

    "I know we all have at least some trust between us, but it isn''t enough at a time like this. For the sake of safety, let''s sign a pact. Nobody here will be able to hurt another person from the group, and everyone will have to cooperate and help each other until we''ve reached the crown. Once it''s in sight, may the best man win."

    Those were the two things he wanted to secure through a pact with the heavens. First, the safety of his people, and second, the distribution of information.

    If he was going to share the existence of the underwater cavern, then he couldn''t let anyone find something and refuse to tell the rest about it.

    It was a bit hard on trust to suggest something like this. Wasn''t it the exact same as saying that he didn''t trust them at all?

    Obviously, the people in his group knew that the pact wasn''t meant for them. They were being included for their own protection.

    The ones targeted by this suggestion were none other than the three geniuses who wanted to join them.

    Knowing August''s status and rtionship with their ns, the three of them understood why he felt the need to propose it. They didn''t feel good about it, but they begrudgingly made their pacts.

    In the end, this would benefit all of them.

    There wasn''t much conversation within the group. Once the information about the cavern was spread, the geniuses split up again. They were on the cliffs bordering the ocean now. Though these cliffs were dense and without openings, the mountains nearby were different.

    There were now twelve of them in the open and another helping them search from the shadows. For August personally, searching an entire mountain took roughly an hour. He could scan entire mountains with his awareness to locate any caves in their structure, but he had to investigate each cave individually to see if it led to a system and if that system was expansive enough to continue deep into the ocean.

    At that point, he could only mark each possible cave system to return toter for a more intensive search. There was too muchnd to be covered to do otherwise.

    Luckily, the mountain range was quite isted. Most of its cave systems connected to each other and led away from the ocean. After six hours of surveying, he came back with only two good choices.

    The rest were the same. Most of them found nothing, while only a few found one or two like August had.

    In total, they had thirteen possible choices.

    With twelve people, it lined up rtively perfectly.

    Time flowed by as they entrenched themselves in the search. The twelve of them contacted each other on asion only to say that they hadn''t made progress. August''s caves led close to the ocean, but connected and eventually returned to the mountain range''s main cave system.

    It was a tiring process, but this systematic approach guaranteed them sess.

    The main problem was whether it woulde soon enough. Thepetition had already started, hadn''t it? If Seryius, Cera, and Iridia were already here, the rest were definitely in the mountain range as well. For now, their group had an advantage presented by August''s ability to search underwater, but it wouldn''tst long.

    Only after an entire day passed did they see results.

    In a cave system found by Lucas, there was a small, tight area that none of them could fit through. It was no more than a crack just three or four feet wide, but when one sent one''s awareness through it, one would be revealed to a gargantuan ravine submerged entirely in water. It had a roof where the sea was separated from whaty below, but there was a hidden connection point somewhere that kept the ce filled with water.

    August went there as soon as he heard the news to confirm if it was rted to what he sensed from the ocean.

    Since it was their only lead, it was highly likely to be the right location, but he had to be certain.

    All it took was a single look to gain that assurance.

    The second their group gathered again in the tight tunnel, they started their maneuvers to open a path to that hidden ce.

    They were indeed the first to reach it, but others weren''t as far behind as they thought.

    After all, though the ocean was not his domain, Wilhelm Noct was still descended from Azure Dragons.

    Those under his control, and those watching from the sidelines to follow him when he found the right path, would all move into that same underwater ravine soon.

    That was when the heir wars would truly continue from where they left off.

    And, more importantly¡­

    ¡­it was about time for August to confront the Liqua n for the first time.

 Chapter 1737 Race [7]

    Chapter 1737 Race [7]

    The crack had to be widened somewhat with mana to allow entrance through it. There was a level of care that had to be taken, as if it was widened too much, the water on the other side would flood this cave system and create problems.

    August had to do it himself, using the natural water supply to create pressure and cut the crack just slightly wider so that they could fit their bodies through it. At most, the iing water could create a tiny waterfall, but it wasn''t enough to stop their group''s progress.

    Once again with August''s help, the other geniuses were able to quickly adapt to the change in pressure as they squeezed through the opening and made it to the other side.

    Everything relied on the young Azure Dragon now.

    Other than August, the rest had no power in an environment like this. For people like Iridia or Valerie, it was worse than most as their elements didn''t exist in the ocean.

    The underwater ravine was several thousands of kilometers long. Most of it was engulfed in a darkness that would even impress a member of the Noct n, which made it impossible to search through ordinary means.

    The group of geniuses could only survive in this environment by putting their lives in August''s hands.

    With his mana supporting them, they could breathe easily and maneuver without worry. It wasforting to know that they had this privilege, but things would have been different if it wasn''t for the pact that August forced them to sign.

    At first, it was insulting when he made that suggestion. Now, knowing that if it wasn''t for the pact, August could kill them as he pleased, it had turned into the security that he wanted it to be when he suggested it.

    Nevertheless, it was now a matter of searching for the underwater cavern that August sensed at the beginning, but this effort wasn''t nearly as involved as the scramble to find the right cave system.

    They were in the ocean. It was a part of the ocean separated from the majority, but this ravine was still part of the saltwater biome.

    As such, August''s strength was enhanced, and his strength became unparalleled.

    His eyes cut through the darkness, seeing each and every edge and ridge of the ravine. He traveled through it with his group in tow, staying roughly centered as he sent his awareness ahead of him to scan.

    Unlike the almost full day of effort required to find the right cave system, it took less than half an hour for August to relocate the cavern he saw beneath the sea floor.

    They entered through a hole in the ravine wall through which water flowed freely. As they followed it through its twists and turns and used openings that seemed impossible to traverse as doorways into less submerged areas, they arrived in a ce where the water level reached no more than their ankles.

    That was when August finally let go of his protections.

    They were in quite a massive cavern. It was almost a kilometer long and tall enough for August to stack several clones of himself on top of one another over a thousand times.

    It was filled with rocky formations at different levels of elevation, and beautiful stctite and stgmite formations made of materials unheard of in any environment that was not this one.

    And, unlike its neighboring ravine, this cavern contained life. Small creatures that were at most palm-sized scurried across the floor, cautiously avoiding their first visitors in an eternity.

    Everything about the cavern was interesting, but none of it came near what existed at its center.

    That area was at the lowest elevation out of any part of the cavern and was only around twenty feet wide. There, a pedestal with a shining white crown inhabited the cavern, radiating an aura more majestic than any Holy Dragon.

    It was an entwined aura of fate, authority, and responsibility; an aura that was impossible to understand unless one had worn the crown.

    That¡­

    "That''s our end goal."

    August spoke, breaking the silence that had enveloped their group.

    It instantly became awkward. Whoever moved first would break the pact between them and start a war. None of them wanted to be that person, as that person was most likely to lose.

    Luckily or unluckily, none of them would have to.

    After all, it wasn''t much of apetition at this point, was it?

    In fact, there were many forces following from behind and waiting for someone else to locate the crown. The instant August''s party seeded¡­

    BOOM!

    ¡­they broke the bnce.

    In that moment, the wall broke open and many people flooded the cavern. Raphael, Wilhelmm, Eris, and the rest of the geniuses from the heir wars along with their reinforcements arrived as one. August didn''t have time to wonder how they possibly arrived here. The path wasn''t one that others could traverse easily, so they shouldn''t have arrived so rapidly.

    Unfortunately, whatever logic August coulde up with didn''t matter, as they were here regardless.

    It happened before he could consider anything. His body moved on its own, making a dash for the crown.

    Everyone else reacted instantly.

    August''s group split up. Each of them went and challenged opponents they saw as soon as possible to keep them away from August, and those like Iridia or the Ether n twins waited at the back to see how the situation unfolded.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Sounds of battle filled the cavern, but August didn''t pay them any mind. His eyes and mind were entirely focused on that white light in front of him, the white light moving closer and closer to him with every passing second.

    Sadly, the enemies were too many. His people couldn''t hold them all back.

    August''s vision was covered by the figure of a man who arrived in front of him before he could react.

    His eyes widened as he tried to stop his momentum, using pure mana to create a wall around him.

    BOOOOM!

    His mana collided with the enemy, creating a huge st. However, like an immovable wall, he remained motionless.

    "Raphael!" August yelled, gritting his teeth.

    "Words are unnecessary. Fight me, August Void."

    Raphael''s eyes were cold. It was clear that he didn''t care about the crown in the slightest. He wasn''t here to impede August either.

    He was just reckless and brutish. He was a selfish man who didn''t care to consider others when he acted.

    After his defeat during the heir wars, he was extremely angry. He understood that it was entirely his fault, but that only made him angrier.

    Raphael developed a sort of obsession with August. That boy came from nowhere and exceeded his potential in every possible way. Against this unknown threat, Raphael wouldn''t feel content until they fought.

    Whether he won or lost, the result didn''t matter. He just needed to experience August''s abilities for himself.

    That was what made him choose this moment, the soonest possible chance he had to satisfy his desire.

    August nced around in less than a second to see what the rest of the battle situation looked like.

    ''The big yers aren''t moving yet. Everyone else is upied.''

    People like Wilhelm and Eris were still standing on the backlines as if they were waiting for something.

    August had no choice but to keep a part of his attention on them, but he also had no choice but to fight here.

    ''Then, as soon as possible.''

    He was going to take Raphael down without giving the other genius a chance to fight back, and he was going to im that crown.

    Nobody, not even the Holy Dragons themselves, could stop him.

 Chapter 1738 Race [8]

    Chapter 1738 Race [8]

    August and Raphael, in normal circumstances, could be considered around the same level in power.

    When August caught up to Eris, he caught up to all of them. If August wanted to fight Raphael properly, then it would likely take many hours for them to determine a victor.

    However, this was an environment that catered towards August. Plus, it was a ce where he didn''t have to worry about coteral damage.

    August liked to fight in stages. If he didn''t know his opponent''s power, then he would test them in each aspect before formting a n to defeat them.

    He didn''t have the time for that. With a preliminary understanding of what Raphael could do, he had to figure out a way to defeat him in the least amount of moves possible.

    How?

    Naturally, the answer was brute force. It was Raphael''s favorite method, and it was a way of fighting that August learned deeply as he observed his father and ancestor.

    Between water and fire, there was never a clear victor. Sometimes, they would overpower each other. Sometimes, they would exist in harmony. When it came to practitioners of the twows, though one would assume that one had an inherent advantage, they were actually evenly matched.

    It was purely a matter of who had better control and more power, just like a battle between practitioners of the same element.

    As Raphael suggested, August didn''t speak. He only attacked.

    BOOOOOOM! This time, August summoned his own element. He only raised his arms and an insurmountable mass of seawater exploded outward, mming into Raphael with extreme force.

    The ming genius gritted his teeth and raised his arms, producing a heat shield to block. All of the water that struck it evaporated into steam, and the rest was forced to go around the obstruction.

    Raphael''s feet dragged through the ground as he nted himself and withstood the pressure. His mana overflowed and sunk into the ground that he passed, setting itself up to go on the offensive.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Several massive bursts of me cut through the iing wave, presenting Raphael with an opportunity.

    He scanned with his awareness to confirm that August hadn''t moved before using the mana he left in the earth.

    VOOOM!

    The mes of the earth, residing deep below the seafloor, were called to the light. The spewing me spouts that parted the seas also served as channels through which an even stronger me could manifest.

    It was something simr to a Heavenly me, but dragons did not need such external aids to produce mes simr to the heavens.

    Their elemental affinities made them closer to the heavens than even the elements produced by that very force, after all.

    Three huge meteors of magma formed in the cavern that could barely fit them. They crashed towards August at maximum speed, melting any and every ounce of water that had been summoned before.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    With a huge explosion, magma went flying through the air. Even some of the battles on the periphery had to move so that they weren''t affected by the randomly flying mes.

    Well, for Juno, it was actually helpful, since he could steal those mes for himself, but that was beside the point.

    It looked like August had been caught in the explosion for only a second. When Raphael concentrated his awareness, he realized that he had been fooled.

    The other genius had long disappeared from his previous position, leaving only a clone of mana in his ce.

    The real August had already moved past Raphael. He could have gone straight for the crown, but he didn''t know what would happen when he touched it. Defeating the threats around him first was the best option, so August focused on doing exactly that. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He approached Raphael from behind and subtly prepared the environment as he''d done many times before.

    The Ignis n genius spun around as he sensed his presence, but he found that his legs were trapped in ice.

    It wasn''t enough to hold him. The ice melted under the weight of his aura and before August could do anything else, Raphael was already countering.

    Though, that was the moment August had been waiting for.

    Three moves were made in quick session to initiate the fall of Raphael Ignis.

    First, a physicalbat skill.

    August used Qinglong''s memories as a basis and developed a skill more simr to those of the Mountain God that Mnia followed.

    He took a stance with his fists upturned to his sides and mmed his leg into the ground.

    The earth split. In normal cases, more magma would sprout from its depths. When August used the skill, however, it was seawater that took its ce. The air was suddenly filled with mist as water flowed and flowed to fill the part of the cavern that he and Raphael were in.

    Raphael''s vision was blinded, especially when August imbued the concept of reflection into the water and made his opponent''s awareness invalid.

    If that wasn''t enough to constitute a first move, August used the waves of natural seawater to create a barrier that dampened the other genius'' power.

    The second move was made with mana, but once againced with the intent to suppress.

    To make it absolutely impossible for Raphael to fight back, August needed to seal his mana. The best method for that¡­?

    The method that August now had ess to¡­

    ¡­wasn''t it bloodline suppression?

    From the beginning, Azure stood above Ignis. Qinglong waited until the bloodline he created reached absolute perfection before bing a Godbeast, which ensured that his descendants would get the most out of his blood.

    And, he only ended up having a single sessor. Everything he had was given to August. The aura produced by such a concentration of original bloodline, for a child who came from its second ever generation¡­

    VOOOOOOOOOOM!

    August''s aura suddenly became unbearable. The weight of the world fell on Raphael''s shoulders and forced him to his knees.

    He grabbed his throat as his breath was sucked away. The vacuum around him was caused purely by the aura of bloodline.

    His own lineage tried to fight back. He was a proud son of Ignis. It had been many generations, but he was praised as the genius who shared the closest bloodline connection to their ancestor.

    Only now did Raphael realize that "closest" didn''t mean "close."

    His bloodline wriggled and burned, injuring him in the process of fighting for its dignity. It tried to burst out and cause a scene, forming an image of the original Fire Dragon. However, in front of the true Azure Dragon, it could not put up a fight.

    August''s eyes had a different light to him when he entered this state, but they did not lose their rationality.

    There were many enemies toe, and he couldn''t allow them to prepare for this kind of aura.

    In one rapid movement, August made hisst strike.

    A mix of both mana and physicalbat, a strike that contained the pure essence of August''s own techniques and the first iteration of what wouldter be his Divinity.

    It was something he was realizing as he fought in this cavern, a kind of water exclusive to him, yet absolutely true to the Azure Dragon Blood running through his body.

    XIU!

    It was a short and zippy sound.

    August''s body disappeared and appeared behind Raphael again, in the same position he started this battle.

    A clean, aquamarine line was drawn in the air, cutting through Raphael Ignis as if his body was made of butter.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Only after a second of its manifestation did the effects appear.

    Raphael was thrown to the side with blood flying out of his chest.

    He mmed into a nearby rock pattern, crushing it as he slid down to the ground.

    He was alive. He would not die any time soon.

    However, there was no consciousness left in his body, nor would the will to fight August ever manifest again.

    In that moment, something happened that only August and Raphael understood.

    But, that was something to be exined at another time.

    Currently, August was already rushing for the crown once again.

    And once again, he was to run into an interruption.

 Chapter 1739 Battle [1].

    Chapter 1739 Battle [1].

    "It''s about time for me to make my entrance, isn''t it?"

    They were whimsical words said with an even more whimsical expression, but the identity of the person saying it changed the entire context.

    August narrowed his eyes. In front of him stood two people who arrived together: Wilhelm Liqua and Estavian, who didn''t get much showtime during the heir wars.

    For the two Liqua n geniuses to appear at the same time¡­well, it was clear that they hadn''te for the crown.

    It was more like they came specifically to prevent August from getting it. Not because they saw value in its existence, but because they came from the n that had the most hostility towards the Azure Dragon.

    In the Liqua n where even the younger generation was bred to detest the man who created their lineage, letting someone like August go was not an option.

    Now, it wasn''t yet known to the world that August had escaped Eternal Darkness. In the eyes of most, he was supposed to be somewhere in Noctum''s domain, suffering in silence until the Holy Dragons returned for him.

    How Wilhelm learned that he was still alive, and why he hade here without reinforcements? August had no way to guess the answer. What mattered now was the fact that they were face-to-face.

    The heir wars didn''t provide the proper stage for settling grudges. It was a ce where people couldn''t die.

    They were in the real world now. This environment was natural and unfacilitated. It was a location where one could die and nobody else would ever realize that they were gone.

    In this ce, August could truly face the Liqua n. Fighting them when he couldn''t exact his revenge just didn''t make sense.

    Despite being outnumbered, August wasn''t worried.

    It was true that nobody was free to help him at the moment.

    Faldren Aureat had confronted Valerie again, seemingly on the same basis as Raphael. He wanted to see an end to the battle they started back then.

    The other Aureat n genius was not present, nor were the two from the Aurora n. While Eris, Iridia, and the Ether twins were still uninvolved with the battle, everyone August had brought was caught up in some sort of fight.

    If August wanted to take the two geniuses in front of them, he had to do it alone.

    But, that was how he preferred it.

    Wilhelm seemed to be waiting for an answer from him. He had some sort of wild delusion that he was the main character and there was no way August could possibly beat him.

    ''He''s disgustingly insane. That''s the vibe I''m getting.''

    And it wasn''t incorrect. If Eris heard what August was thinking, perhaps they''d form a friendship on the spot.

    Wilhelm Liqua was a crazed genius. Nobody recognized it because he hid his madness under a veil of charisma, but as someone who knew the true nature of the Liqua n, August wasn''t fooled.

    There wasn''t a possible reality where August expected decency from his opponent. Rather than engaging in pointless banter with someone he despised, he would much rather just fight.

    As such, he charged without responding to Wilhelm''s whims.

    "Rude."

    What he got in response was a single word.

    As he dashed to close the distance between him and the two Liqua n geniuses, Wilhelm snapped his fingers.

    "Go teach him a thing or two."

    Those words ignited something within Estavian.

    Or were they just keywords for a puppet?

    Estavian was definitely a real living genius of the Liqua n at some point, but he did not meet their standard.

    People who weren''t worthy of their name were repurposed.

    In Estavian''s case, the consequences were a bit more severe than others.

    See, he possessed his own personality. He was, in essence, the same person as he was before. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    However, deep in his subconscious, there was a seed that could take control at any time.

    Technically speaking, Wilhelm didn''t need to awaken that side of him. This was a battle that he could absolutely participate in without using the trump cards he had in his hand.

    The only reason he robbed Estavian of everything he thought he had was because he wanted to crush August and show him that he was worth nothing.

    In a single instant, all human and draconic features left in Estavian''s appearance disappeared. His body was mutted by an unknown force and his entire form was repurposed and changed. His skin turned into raw flesh and muscle as he grew several feet. He definitely became more robust, but in a way that looked disgustingly unnatural. His face contorted into a bestial abomination as all of his mana was turned into flesh to add to the mass that he was.

    His transformation was extreme, turning the blue-haired genius into a monster, but it was over by the time August reached him.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The beast moved too fast for its size. August was immediately forced to move back in the direction he came from as his body was riddled with wounds.

    Estavian followed him mindlessly, his fists flying too fast for August to dodge.

    He had to block and block and block, but after the first onught alone, August could feel his arms breaking.

    ''Not good.''

    "I''m here too, you know."

    Wilhelm found the need to say something every time he was about to make a move. He definitely knew that it was inefficient, but he didn''t really care. This was the way he showed August the difference in their power levels.

    This was a time to learn how the Liqua n differed from the Azure Dragon n.

    Azure Dragons were huge in their movements. They liked to use pure strength and brute force in a simr way to the Ignis n, but there was a subtlety within their moves. The sea was a terrifying ce for those unequipped to deal with it. It was filled with things that only existed to kill, and the pure expansiveness of it all was hard to imagine for the average person''s eyes. However, it was a haven for life. All things came from the ocean. Inside its deadly depths, many creatures and organisms found harmony. After all, if one could adapt to its dangers and return, one would realize that the seas were the most silent and peaceful ces to exist in the world.

    Azure Dragons were able to imitate both the good and the bad of the ocean. They were calm and benevolent, yet ruthless and cruel.

    The Liqua n dragons only took half of that. They were ruthless, but they used small precise attacks made with the sole intent to cause pain.

    What came at August while he tried to deal with the incredibly powerful puppet before him was an array of darts that couldn''t be seen with the naked eye.

    They were ethereal. August sensed them before he saw them and dodged as best as he could. Unfortunately, he didn''t sense them all.

    They were almost microscopic and packed tightly in a huge swarm of thousands, after all. He couldn''t dodge just because he knew where they were.

    "Khhhh!"

    August gritted his teeth as his eyes turned bloodshot. The pain was almost unbearable, but he tried to put it aside.

    Still, the single instant that he spent distracted was enough.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Estavian struck him with a blow that contained more power than any that came before.

    And August¡­

    August flew straight into the opposing wall, creating a thud that resounded through the cavern with such ferocity that it drew the attention of everyone present.

 Chapter 1740 Battle [2].

    Chapter 1740 Battle [2].

    "Kahak¡­!"

    August coughed out a mouthful of blood. In that moment, he felt more than just a few of his bones break. The blood sttered against the shattered rock made it obvious just how much August''s body had been impacted. Even with a draconic physique, he couldn''t avoid it.

    His mind was woozy for a second, but he bit his tongue and used the pain to force himself awake.

    He was in the middle of a battle that he had to win. An injury like this couldn''t be the reason he failed at everything he had been trying to do.

    Those people in front of him were enemies of his bloodline, people who could not be allowed to live in this world.

    Even if there were two of them, he wasn''t going to let them walk all over him.

    VOOM!

    Before he even got to his feet, August was summoning water through the cracks in the earth.

    It was impossible for him to do anything with the water that he summoned, but there was a reason why Azure Dragons could rule the sea.

    The second their bodies came in contact with the water¡­

    It was just a trickle at first, but even that felt like the healing touch of a divine. August''s legs were healed first, and when the water flow became more pronounced, his body healed further.

    But, that had not happened yet. August left the water spewing into the cavern so that it could fill the ce and naturally heal him over and over again, but for the current moment, he was forced to dash the second he had the ability to move. BOOM!

    Another fist mmed into the wall where August was once stered. The entire area of the cavern crumbled, dropping some of the ongoing battles to a lower level.

    August didn''t focus on Estavian.

    From what he could tell, the puppet''s sentience was nonexistent in this form. It could only carry out orders given to it by its master, which made Wilhelm the more important target.

    August made space between himself and Estavian specifically so he could focus on the other genius.

    ''I don''t have to defeat him.''

    When August felt Wilhelm''s power for the first time, he learned that he wasn''t an opponent who could be defeated as easily as Raphael.

    If August wanted to win thoroughly, then he needed to take time and fight the man in their true dragon forms.

    If not, he could try his aura again. Wilhelm was from a descendant n and technically had a lower status than him. If he used his bloodline, he''d be able to properly suppress the other genius, but that still wasn''t enough.

    At most, that would put them on a simr level.

    ''First, I need to get to the crown.''

    August had to remember that his grudge wasn''t the only thing that existed. He was fighting for the crown not only for his sake but for the safety of the kingdom as well.

    Even at this moment, thousands ofmoners were dying from the onught of the forsaken dragon ns. August didn''t want to use his aura because he didn''t want to leave Wilhelm with a way to object to his loss. He didn''t want to leave his opponent undefeated because he wanted to stomp this man to the ground and make him feel pain.

    However, his main goal had to be the crown.

    Once he had it, he could get all the revenge he wanted while also dealing with the kingdom''s problems.

    At the end of the day, August''s path was that of an Emperor. He didn''t live only for himself. Rather, he always put his own goals to the side for the sake of others. In order to do what he needed to do before entertaining this battle, August once again had to focus on speed.

    ''But, I guess if I can defeat him without killing him and throw him out of here, then it''ll be a different kind of humiliation.''

    August looked at the bright side as he started to formte a n.

    Of course, the first thing he did was let his blood lineage loose.

    The pressure struck both Wilhelm and Estavian. Their movements were slowed, which was particrly impactful on Estavian, and their mana rolled in a strange manner in response to the superior bloodline, which made it harder for Wilhelm to use his skills.

    "So you want to use tricks!" Wilhelm spoke with a bit of excitement in his voice, but it was also a false emotion.

    It was scorn, spite, and something darker swirling within the depths of his soul as he felt his bloodline undergo suppression.

    As someone who had grown up being told that the Azure Dragon was nothing, that it was an ancestor unworthy of being connected to the Liqua n, he absolutely couldn''t ept that his bloodline was inferior.

    The facts were hard to deny when he quite literally could not escape suppression regardless of his efforts, but he could make up any excuse in his mind to change the narrative.

    His brain was a world of fantasy where nothing had happened in a way that he didn''t allow. It was a horrifying mindset when it was born in someone with the power to ruin the world. The water of the Liqua n had a property that best mirrored termites from Earth. It would chew through its target and leave holes in them like a gue, breaking them down until they were nothing but ash.

    It was an incredibly painful way to die, which made their particr Holy n an enemy that nobody wanted to have.

    But, as August was born their enemy, he was forced to face that mana head-on. Nevertheless, he had an easier time after using his aura to suppress his enemies.

    Estavian''s slowed attack speed made his blows more manageable. August was able to dodge more easily, and when Wilhelm finally got his mana in order to attack, August was able to move around Estavian and use him as a shield.

    As such, he wasn''t hit nearly as much as before.

    He couldn''t avoid everything, obviously. The snake-like movements of Wilhelm''s attack patterns and openings made it difficult for him to predict where everything wasing from, but he was somewhat able to read the other genius, which helped. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    August was different from other Azure Dragons in that way. He respected their fighting method and did use it as his primary technique, however, he was not averse to using smaller amounts of mana to achieve the goals he aimed for.

    At the same time, he wasn''t averse to expanding the range of his imagination into non-draconic territories to improve his attacks.

    That was the only thing he could use to catch Wilhelm off guard and expressly take him out.

    The end goal was his expulsion from the cavern, not his death.

    And if it was just that much, then August could already see the path forward.

    The cavern was starting to fill up with water. The previously nonexistent water level was already covering the soles of their feet and would soon reach their ankles.

    With it enhancing his abilities, August swerved around Estavian once more and pushed his mana towards Wilhelm.

    He must have been expecting some kind of wave pattern because he put up a wide shield that would divert its flow, but that wasn''t what struck him at all.

    Instead, it was a concept that dragons often looked down on and the strength of humanity.

    Visualization.

    The very essence of a human''s ability to turn mana into anything and everything they could ever dream of...

    What would it look like in the hands of a dragon?

 Chapter 1741 Battle [3]

    Chapter 1741 Battle [3]

    Dragons found beauty in the internal structure of mana. The way they wove their concepts, the way those weaves came together to form a spectacr picture, and other simr aspects were what dragons saw as pure beauty that could not be imitated.

    However, that was only possible because dragons inherently had such a good perception ability. Humans didn''t gain a simr level of ability until they''d reached a high level, so they could not share the same interests.

    For humans who had yet to be Divinities, the beauty of mana came in its form. People were able to manifest things that they could only see in their imaginations, using mana to bring their dreams to reality so they could achieve their dreams in reality.

    It was a bit more materialistic, sure, but wasn''t that the nature of humanity? Why did it matter if it was materialistic in the eyes of others if it was beautiful in the eyes of those who mattered?

    Humans loved using mythical creatures and weapons more than anything else. As these two concepts were close to both dreams and reality and unmistakably represented power, they were the easiest visualizations to imagine and use inbat.

    When August, a mythical creature himself, used visualization instead of more draconic forms of manifestation¡­

    Well, the sight would have been somewhatedic to Damien if he had seen it.

    Rather than mythical creatures or weapons, what August summoned was a "human."

    A man made entirely of mana, a blue projection of sorts that bore a striking resemnce to a certain purple-eyed Supreme, separated from August''s body and shot towards Wilhelm.

    The mana creature almost contradictingly used physical power alone. It was like August''s version of Estavian.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The sounds of the sudden physical onught that Wilhelm had to deal with mixed with another explosion that came from behind.

    August used his awareness to find its source instead of turning around, but he was forced to see it with his own eyes due to the shock he received.

    Estavian, who was just a problem for him to deal with, was now mmed against the same wall where he was. Mnia stood in front of him with her fist still raised, making it obvious who was the cause of this incident.

    August grinned.

    ''I''ll have to properly thank herter.''

    He didn''t know exactly what was going on in his surroundings since he''d been focused on the crown, but he knew that Mnia was fighting for his sake and keeping some of the other intruders back with the rest of his group.

    For her to abandon that battle for this one, so that he could reach his goals¡­

    Mnia was probably one of the people August valued most in this life. She was his most trustedrade and someone he could almost see as family.

    He didn''t have any qualms with turning his back to her, because he knew that she would never let it get stabbed.

    Returning all of his attention to Wilhelm, his grin widened.

    ''He''s quite weak physically, huh.''

    His mana visualization, a form that, in August''s mind, symbolized absolute power, was pressuring Wilhelm better than he ever hoped it would. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    That gave him more than enough time to prepare.

    August focused on a nearby wall, a ce that bordered the underwater ravine and was far away from any of his allies.

    Concentrating on the water on the other side, he created a drill out of that mana and started to break through the wall.

    The water in that ravine contained extreme pressure already, so it wasn''t hard at all.

    It made a sound like hissing, but it was covered up by everything else that was happening.

    So, when that portion of the cavern became a cavity leading into the underwater ravine, nobody took note.

    August put up a film of mana in the cavity to keep the ocean from flooding in.

    ''Good.''

    It was simple when he decided that all he wanted to do was banish Wilhelm rather than kill him.

    His n relied on a fact that was just as simple.

    The twisted nature of the Liqua n''s water made it distinct from any specific type of water body.

    The Liqua n who called themselves a n of Azure Dragons were not dragons of the ocean at all.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Wilhelm could not defeat the mana entity. His attacks were made to cause pain and devour living beings. Against a being of pure mana, he had to try other means.

    The problem was the speed of the mana entity. It seemed to move on its own sentience despite the fact that it didn''t have anything like spirituality. Because of the nature of the visualization, it had a different type of power than what Wilhelm was used to seeing.

    He knew that he needed to attack the caster to get rid of it, but August was nowhere nearby.

    Not until now, at least.

    The second Wilhelm saw him, he aggressively dodged the mana entity''s attack and threw his mana towards the other genius. The termite-like mana seemed to chatter as it rushed at him, eager to taste his blood.

    However, August had been preparing for this.

    He mmed his foot on the ground and created a mana wall to block everything. At the same time, he summoned several swords of ice and sent them flying back towards Wilhelm.

    The Liqua n genius had to once again move out of the way, which put him in the mana entity''s path.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Without realizing it as he attacked and defended, Wilhelm was led to the perfect spot, a ce in line with the cavity August had created.

    That was the end of this battle.

    August dashed into Wilhelm''s blind spot and used countless icicles to draw his attention.

    Wilhelm easily blocked as he had easily blocked everything else that August threw at him, but he wasn''t expecting the attack to not be aimed at taking him down.

    Instead, it was nothing more than a cover.

    In that very same instant, the mana entity got in close and cocked its fist. From mere inches away, it put all of the mana that went into its creation into an attack.

    It dispersed in the same breath, but its job was already done.

    Its purpose was only to transfer momentum. August made sure that the attack carried an extreme amount of momentum despite not being unreasonably forceful, and the result was exactly what he wanted.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Wilhelm went flying backwards. He tried to stabilize himself, but in that moment, August struck him with even more force to keep his body moving backwards.

    Wilhelm turned his eyes and looked behind him with gritted teeth. He could see the cavity, but he had no idea what was on the other side. He put his arms out so he could grab the walls and keep himself from falling in, however, that wasn''t quite what happened when he reached it.

    August''syer of film had two effects. First, it kept the water from flooding into the cavern.

    And second, it created a suction force in the outside water as if the cavern was a pressurized cabin.

    The instant Wilhelm got too close to the force, his body became prey to it.

    He was sucked into the cavity like a rag doll without sentience and thrown into the underwater ravine''s powerful currents.

    He was fated to be pushed and pulled by the forces of the ocean until he could find a way to escape.

    But, since he was not an ocean dragon, it would not be easy for him.

    By the time he returned, August would already have the crown, and that was all that currently mattered.

    Estavian''s head was sticking out of the earthically, but that was only because Mnia used her power to contain him before killing him.

    There was only one other obstruction.

    August stared at her for a moment, that dark genius who stood at the back of the cavern and watched everything unfold, before making a rush through the final few meters that separated him from the crown.

    Once again, she did not move.

    The thoughts in Eris'' head that were only privy to her¡­

    It seemed like she had no desire to stop him.

    One meter¡­two meters¡­then three.

    August lunged through the air and extended an arm, grabbing the pure white light with everything he had.

    As the attention of everyone in the cavern turned to him, he ced the crown on his head.

    And once again, the situation changed.

 Chapter 1742 Battle [4]

    Chapter 1742 Battle [4]

    It wasn''t like it was a quiet event.

    When August put that shining crown on his head, his entire body was covered in the same light. He was like a disco ball attracting all possible attention to himself.

    Naturally, the people who came for the crown reacted.

    Tens of geniuses and those who served them leapt towards August, and in response, the group of people he''d brought with him circled him and formed a wall.

    They were confident in defeating everyone present. Except for just a few.

    Iridia was staying back for obvious reasons.

    In the first ce, she had no interest in the throne. Raphael was the one representing the Ignis n in their fight for it.

    She came here specifically so she could see how events went down, and when she met August and heard about his goals, her own desire changed into wanting to see how he held up against the rest.

    It was interesting, since he was an enemy who willingly walked into an inescapable trap because he thought his scissors could cut the. As someone who wasn''t particrly involved in the grudge between August and the Holy ns, she just wanted to see how it all panned out.

    If she got the chance, then she''d make use of the opportunities she stumbled upon as she observed that battle, but she wasn''t particrly greedy for them.

    After all, her goals had nothing to do with August or the throne. She chased strength so she could ovee the geniuses in her n and prove herself.

    Seryius and Cera were present as well, keeping back just as she was.

    Their reason¡­was a bit different.

    Cera had something of a friendship with August and his friends, while Seryius'' rtionship with them was more business-like.

    Still, neither of them had particrly strong feelings towards the young Azure Dragon and the people who followed them.

    The Ether n wasn''t one to get involved in fights like this. In normal cases, they wouldn''t have evene.

    However, they received a strange order from the Elders.

    "Chase the crown and observe the Azure Dragon. Do not get involved. Report the happenings when you return to the n."

    They couldn''t make sense of it. Was it because the Elders were curious about how Qinglong''s sessor would react, or was it because of their obsession with history?

    Whatever the case was, their orders were to observe August and his friends. Since they had a friendlier rtionship, the two decided to carry their mission out in the open, which was what led to them strangely standing in the corner of the cavern, watching as everyone else fought their hearts out for their greed.

    Thest observer was Eris Noct herself.

    She was the simplest to exin, as her only reason for bothing here and observing was her own curiosity.

    Nothing motivated her. Nobody told her to be here.

    Just¡­

    After hearing the legends of the Azure Dragon and seeing how much August had grown in just a few months, she wanted to see what happened here.

    She wanted to see if he would fail, and if he seeded, she wanted to see if he could follow through and do what his ancestor couldn''t.

    Though it seemed contradictory, Eris'' interest wasn''t in August at all. She didn''t care about him as a person, rather, what drew her attention was his history and journey.

    Eris was someone who actually had contact with the Holy Dragon whose bloodline she carried. She always looked down upon the elders and leaders of her n because they were never close to his level. Her ancestor was the goal she needed to surpass, the essence of true power in her eyes.

    However, there were five others with rtively simr power to him, and all of them needed to work together to kill a single dragon.

    There was something here for her. As long as she continued to observe, Eris was certain that she could see a higher peak, a ce her ancestor could never reach.

    Her goal had been devalued in her eyes and she needed a new one.

    Whether that woulde in the form of the young Azure Dragon or someone connected to him, Eris didn''t know.

    But her desire to reach the top of the world provoked her to follow this journey, promising her that she would receive what she wanted in the end.

    Nevertheless, under the gazes of those four people who were all choosing to observe for different reasons, August''s allies fought against the enemies from the Liqua n.

    August said that Wilhelm came alone, but that was only partially true.

    It was pretty much the same. Instead of bringing powerful forces like the elders from the Holy ns who would obviously go uncontested, Wilhelm arrived with only a group of other geniuses from his n.

    They were below him in strength and could, at best, serve as cannon fodder.

    But, maybe that was why Wilhelm brought them? He seemed to take pleasure in showing people that he was above them.

    There were around fifty of them when they first arrived, but that number was only around twenty now.

    Faldren Aureat could have also been included in that count, but he was only here for Valerie. She was taking care of him, while the rest dealt with everyone else.

    Explosions rang through the cavern, shaking its very foundation.

    One by one, the geniuses on the other side fell.

    Valerie took down Faldren as soon as possible without using the most honorable means. Since he was trying to have a sacred duel with her, he had left himself somewhat unguarded. She felt bad for defeating him in such a cowardly manner, but it wasn''t important for now. She was here to support her friend, not to resolve her own grudges.

    To best utilize her power in the current situation, Valerie focused on healing her allies, while Mnia coveredrge area damage so the others could act freely and fight multiple enemies at the same time.

    The team dynamic was nearing perfection. To the best that they could in the short time they had, the group of geniuses had learned each other''s patterns and adapted a cooperative battle tactic.

    That kind of synergy was exactly what allowed them to clear the area without much of a problem.

    When they were left as the only ones in the cavern, while Valerie kept watch on the geniuses that stood on the sidelines, Juno and some of the others sat down on the ground around August with exhausted sighs.

    All of this fighting had taken a lot out of them.

    However, now that August had put on the crown, their only job was to wait for him to finish.

    After all, their circle was imprable. The barrier that Raul ced around them gave them even more protection against outside forces, so it was impossible for them to get caught off guard. Everyone had somewhat rxed now that there weren''t any more enemies in front of them.

    That was why it was least expected when a de stabbed towards August.

    Yet, that was exactly what happened. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A pitch-ck de, a disgusting de filled with malice and malevolence, was inches away from August''s throat and still elerating.

    And, with all of their enemies defeated¡­

    ¡­it could have onlye from inside of the circle.

 Chapter 1743 Battle [5]

    Chapter 1743 Battle [5]

    Frankly, when only three different influences had been roped into August''s n to save Arulion, it didn''t seem like the scale was that big.

    However, that was only if one didn''t understand the scale of those three influences.

    Starting with the smallest of them, August''s people from Bastille.

    Essentially the entire sect followed him to the Heavenly World. All of the people he''d brought in from different parts of the world, all of the subsidiaries that followed them, and all of the brothers, sisters, and mentors August had spent his year with decided to see broader horizons under hismand.

    There were hundreds of thousands of them. Sure, not all of them werebat-ready, but that didn''t matter. They were not assigned to abat-centric task in the first ce. If even the smallest influence who wasn''t going to engage inbat was made up of so many people, then what about those who were actually fighting on the frontlines?

    The Wood Dragon n was the smaller of the two. With almost ten million members from the Revell n and its subordinates, they were a fighting force that didn''t have problems with tackling the forsaken dragons alone.

    Still, they had help from dragons that the world had never seen, dragons who lived and died in the seas and rarely ever showed themselves to even their own kind on thend.

    The Sea Tribes were easy to underestimate. Since their size was never expressly mentioned, one might believe that they weren''t that robust. After all, such arge number of people couldn''t have submitted themselves to August in just a few months.

    That kind of logic was partially true. Indeed, not all of them chose to follow August. Their highest elites, however, did. After seeing his lineage and realizing that the destiny of the Azure Dragon was going to unfold in this era, they obeyed the promise of their ancestors and chose him as their Lord.

    The people who followed them naturally did not object, as they trusted their leaders'' judgement. That was how August got a hold of thirteen ns and their subordinates, a force that could cover the seas and had hundreds of millions, if not billions of members.

    Obviously, not all of them surfaced. Only the best came to August''s aid. Still, their numbers already exceeded those of the Wood Dragon n by manifold.

    These forces hade together toy siege on a single influence, and that obviously didn''t bode well for their enemy.

    In the time that they''d been part of the war, which was a little over two weeks now, the Sea Tribes had started to attack the western region where the forsaken dragon ns made their stronghold.

    Their numbers exceeded the other side, and the Sea Dragons had a particrly berserker-like tendency that allowed them to sacrifice themselves without qualms.

    Perhaps it came from their insane reproductive abilities and crowd mentality. They didn''t see themselves as individuals until they reached a certain level of power, and rather than being mourned, they''d be celebrated in death.

    In just a short period, they managed to gain back arge portion of thend and push the core forces of the enemy into an edge of the kingdom.

    Meanwhile, the Wood Dragon n spread through the rest of the kingdom. While ying the stragglers of the forsaken dragons, they focused on healing everyone who could be healed.

    Most of the enemy forces had retreated to their stronghold on their king''s orders. Those who remained were only those who were too far indulged in killing to understand reason.

    In fact, the destroyed cities that were left in ce of the once-bustling cities were overrun by forests. The less injured had already joined the effort to find and save anyone else in the vicinity. Those who had injuries that were closer to fatal were enveloped by the trees and naturally healed by the forest''s vitality.

    From the looks of it, the forsaken dragon ns wouldn''t be able to withstand their conjoined efforts for a very long time.

    Other than their leader, Hendricks, and a few hundred of his men, there weren''t many who could threaten such arge influence.

    It just went to show how easily this war could have been ended if the Holy ns had taken any initiative to actually confront the threat.

    The problem that August''s people encountered was actually opposition from a third-party force.

    It was as if those ns wanted to show people how vile and disconnected from reality they were. Nobles from all different factions sent their people after the members of the two new dragon ns, aiming to erase them and rid the kingdom of their influence.

    It seemed that the power they showcased came off as a threat to those who sat atop ivory towers. They didn''t like that their citizens were shouting the names of others, and their response¡­?

    Naturally, it was the elimination of those they deemed their enemies.

    There was nothing more tone-deaf than trying to kill the people who were trying to save your nation for you, but that tended to be the characteristic of these kinds of forces, no?

    Regardless of anything else, since their integrity was threatened, they decided to fight. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    That, by the way, was something they refused to do even when their citizens were being ughtered left and right.

    To protect the people while fighting forces on two sides was extremely difficult. If it wasn''t for the nobles deciding to fight, the war would have likely ended already.

    Nevertheless, the movement of the noble ns was an expected event. August already nned for it.

    See, he wasn''t just trying to end the threat of the forsaken dragon ns.

    He was making a bid for the kingdom, trying to wrestle it from the control of the Holy ns.

    However, dealing with the nobles was a bit different.

    Surprisingly enough, that was a job given to the Bastille people.

    They had split into two groups that spread out around both the central area of Arulion where the True Dragons lived and the outer regions that contained the dragonkin.

    Their job was to set two different arrays. Once they were in y, this war could be considered ended.

    It was a simr strategy to what August and his friends used in the heir wars, but on a muchrger scale and in a much more serious circumstance.

    If it weren''t for Raul''s nmates, who were expert formation masters in their own right, then it would have been impossible altogether.

    While theyid the arrays to defeat the nobles, their two allied influences were to take care of the forsaken dragons and stall for time. And, of course, if they wanted to avoid the fallout from everything they were doing, then August needed to properly im the crown and be the heir to the throne.

    All of the moving pieces perfectly aligned just as August hoped they would. The only problem left¡­

    ¡­was now his own situation, wasn''t it?

    After all, August''s consciousness was not in Arulion anymore. It had traveled far, far away and detached from his body.

    His body which was currently on a knife''s edge, just seconds away from death.

 Chapter 1744 Crown [1]

    Chapter 1744 Crown [1]

    For Mnia, the current battle was something that was always bound to happen.

    From the moment she met Damien, she realized that supporting August meant standing against everything that the current Arulion was built upon. It wasn''t a decision that could be made easily, but it didn''t mean much to her.

    For the boy who saved her and the man who gave her a second chance, she was willing to do anything.

    From that day onward, though she didn''t make it obvious, she''d devoted her life to August. She followed him in any mission she could and helped to the best of her capabilities. She had done so much that August began to view her as one of his most important people.

    Even in the current battle, she''d focused on him more than anyone else. She put everything down so that she could help him seed, and as she''d expected, he did just that.

    August was not a person to disappoint expectations.

    However, he was no longer here. When his body dropped to its knees, his eyes were clouded by a white fog. His consciousness was clearly in some other realm, partaking in some other adventure.

    It was a necessary step for him to tame the crown, but it left him defenseless. That wouldn''t have mattered in any other situation, but it was absolutely vital.

    She could barely track that de as it approached him. It was an attack made with such speed and ferocity that none of them could react, which, likely, was the attacker''s goal from the beginning.

    Mnia noticed it before anyone else, as her physical senses were the best among them. Time seemed to flow in slow motion. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Every tiny bit of space that the knife covered took minutes in Mnia''s perception, but even then, she didn''t have much time to think about the choice she was to make.

    The thoughts flowing through her mind were rted to other things.

    Memories of her time with August, memories of her emotions, memories of how her life has changed since that fateful moment many months ago.

    Those memories made a difficult choice into an easy one.

    In that slowed world that only she could perceive, Mnia jumped forward. She put all of her energy into the movement so she could arrive before it was toote, but that left her unable to defend herself.

    In everyone else''s perception, it happened in a single second.

    A spike of hostility.

    A rapid movement.

    And the smell of blood.

    SHIK!

    The de never properly made it to August. It stabbed into Mnia''s shoulder instead.

    And that was when time returned to its regr flow.

    Mnia dropped to the ground. The hilt of the ck de was still embedded in her shoulder, and ck veins were spreading across her body with every second that passed.

    "MELANIA!"

    Valerie immediately rushed to her and used her wood mana to try and heal her.

    Massive roots escaped the ground andpletely encaged the location from where the de came. Raul created another formation around those vines, while Juno, Yuna, and Mika surrounded it to ensure that the trapped individual could not escape.

    They were hidden within the vines, but it was obvious who hadmitted the crime when they looked around.

    After all, only a single person had been isted by the vine wall.

    "Ah¡­!"

    Ophelia let out a shocked gasp. She fell to her knees with widened eyes as she looked at the man within the vines.

    "You¡­you¡­"

    She couldn''t formte her words properly. The sudden betrayal hit her harder than anyone else, after all.

    "How could you?!"

    She looked at that man, she looked at Lucas Stroll with horror in her eyes.

    However, his eyes contained not an ounce of regret or guilt.

    Lucas and Ophelia.

    Their story always started when they first met. It was a few years before the start of the heir wars when they fought at a separatepetition with the same goal, to find sponsorships to take them higher than their social status allowed.

    Back then, they were enemies through and through. However, with the passing of time, their hostility turned into a rivalry and they became closer.

    They differed in many ways. The hot-blooded qualities of a me dragon and the cold and indifferent character of an ice dragon hardly mixed, but at least in the aspect of dreams and morals, they were the same.

    Those qualities allowed them to form a connection that went beyond their differences, even though they really were more different than alike.

    That was what Ophelia thought. She believed that despite their differences, they were the same in the ways that mattered.

    Only now did she realize how wrong she was.

    Before entering the heir wars, they''d made a promise to each other.

    "We said that we''d reach the top together, didn''t we?" Lucas said, ignoring the several different mechanisms that kept him trapped.

    "It''s just that I found a way to get there first."

    "Indeed, he did."

    BOOM!

    A voice came from the distance, and the prison around Lucas shattered into pieces.

    His body disappeared and reappeared across the cavern, by the side of the man who just spoke.

    "Unlike all of you, this one has some sense."

    The n August had in mind crumpled instantly.

    Because Wilhelm Liqua had already returned.

    And he was no longer alone.

    "Your friend seems to think that everything will go his way just because he has some sort of a brain. He seems to think that our influence means nothing just because he has a few backers. But, did you know? We didn''t rise to our position because of luck."

    "Filthymoners with no power and no influence, if there was a way for your kind to gain status, then the kingdom would be engulfed in chaos, wouldn''t it? Look, with just the slightest bit of temptation, I could bribe one of your own to stab you in the back."

    Wilhelm ignored everything as he spoke. He ignored the res from the group of geniuses he was facing, and even the sour expression on the face of the man who had just joined his side.

    "He was originally meant to kill that brat in the middle, but I''m a little happy that he didn''t seed. Seriously, I can''t wait to see the expression on his face when he sees what''s happened here."

    Wilhelm grinned. He motioned at the crowd around him.

    "A scene where he wakes up in a pile of his friends'' corpses, how beautiful would that be?"

    He spread his arms with a gloating expression.

    "Well then, with the exposition out of the way, shall we set the stage?"

    He motioned at the crowd around him.

    Right, it was a crowd. The few geniuses he''d brought earlier were only present to lure August into a false sense of security.

    Wilhelm''s real n would unfold here.

    Over a hundred geniuses from the Liqua n, all of them either at Wilhelm''s level or higher, surrounded the group of ten geniuses as Wilhelm stood back and watched.

    Among that crowd were several forsaken dragons with empty eyes, ves that had been taken as war trophies.

    Lucas was not a part of that crowd. He stood back with Wilhelm, his eyes cold.

    From the start, he never had any feelings towards anyone from that group.

    He grew up learning how to befriend the right people to propel him to greater heights. With the sense he''d developed, he was able to reach a point where even Holy ns were giving him offers that he couldn''t resist.

    He knew that all of those people who considered him a "friend" would die here, but what he would gain in return was the Liqua n''s bloodline and support.

    It was the chance for him to be a Holy n descendant himself.

    Those resources, those connections, and that status¡­

    Who could reject it?

    It was a shame to see that someone like Ophelia would also be involved, but such was life.

    He didn''t doubt that she''d received simr offers.

    It was just that he made the right choice and she made the wrong one.

    Now, while she suffered the consequences, he would embrace the life of a king.

    Those were the cruel workings of fate that had beenid out for them.

 Chapter 1745 Crown [2]

    Chapter 1745 Crown [2]

    "Raul!"

    Valerie ignored everything that was going on around her. While Ophelia tried to figure out why Lucas had betrayed them, the rest didn''t care.

    He was a traitor. Nothing else mattered.

    Valerie tried to heal Mnia in the time she had, but her power wasn''t working. Originally, she left the de inserted so Mnia wouldn''t bleed out, but that wasn''t the decision she should have made.

    She only realized it after following the path her mana took and sensing the changes in Mnia''s body.

    Leaving Juno and the girls to guard the prison, Valerie hurriedly called Raul over.

    "She''s been poisoned," she said with a stern expression.

    "I can''t heal her with ordinary methods, and now that he''s here, we can''t lose any bit of our fighting power. I need you to put her in stasis."

    The poison in Mnia''s body was made to instantly kill a dragon. It was vile poison that forced its victim to suffer pain even after death. If Valerie kept trying to heal Mnia with her wood abilities, she''d only rush the threat of death.

    Mnia needed to be carefully treated with the right antidote if she wanted to live. However, none of those antidote materials could exist in this ce, and Valerie couldn''t figure out what they were when they were facing such a massive threat to their survival.

    The only option was to halt the spread of the poison through Mnia''s body and wait to treat her until the current issues were solved.

    Raul was the only one capable of performing such a technique. And he knew how important Mnia was to August.

    "Leave it to me. Will you be fine on your own?"

    Valerie nodded.

    "We can manage. Just¡­try to finish as soon as possible without rushing. We''ll need all the help we can get."

    Raul nodded solemnly and went to work drawing an array around Mnia''s body.

    Stasis arrays were the height of his n''s formation techniques. It was also their speciality, which was the only reason why both Raul and Valerie could maintain their hope of saving Mnia. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Still, her body could only be kept in stasis for so long. She would eventually sumb to the poison if nothing was done to save her.

    Valerie was certain that she could trust Raul. She heard the story of Bastille from August. These people had abandoned everything to follow him. They would not betray him.

    The traitor was elsewhere, and he''d brought with him a cmity for their group.

    When Valerie stood up again, her eyes were freezing.

    "Get up."

    She looked at Ophelia, who was unable to hold in her tears as she saw the dark side of Lucas Stroll.

    In all honesty, she was fine with killing the woman now. If she was affiliated with that man, then there was no telling what she would do.

    She didn''t care what bothered the woman. She didn''t give a single fuck about the trauma she received due to the betrayal or the personal emotions that shocked her into such a state.

    Still, she was here for August and she remembered that. He was the type to try and maintain as many lives as possible. Since Ophelia hadn''t given them a reason to be suspicious, he wouldn''t want her dead.

    Lucas, on the other hand¡­

    "I don''t know why you''d shed tears for a shithead like that. He''s a fucking asshole who dumped you by leaving you to die to enemies he brought here. Stand up and stop being a bitch. If you want to live, then you better fight."

    She didn''t care what bothered the woman. She didn''t give a single fuck about the trauma she received due to the betrayal or the personal emotions that shocked her into such a state.

    Because she wasn''t the one whose closest friend just got stabbed.

    She wasn''t the one whose friend was dying on the cold rock.

    Valerie was fuming. If she was still the same person that she was when she met August and Mnia, then she''d have already allowed her rage to put her in a dangerous situation.

    But these two people had changed her. Staying by their side, she was able to learn so much and experience so much that had been absent from her life.

    Valerie had friends in the Wood Dragon n. She was never a loner.

    However, to have people that she was willing to live and die for was apletely different feeling.

    They showed her a better way to live, and for their sake, she had to find a way to get everyone out of this predicament.

    Now wasn''t the time to be overwhelmed by emotions. Now, they needed to be as cold as possible so they could survive and deal with everything that haunted them.

    Ophelia didn''t immediately respond, but Valerie''s attention was already elsewhere.

    Whether she died or not was her own concern.

    Around this time, Wilhelm had finished his monologue. He had sent his troops to surround the group of them, and the circle around August had been tightened.

    The barrier that once separated them from the world was gone. Raul had to focus all of his energy on saving Mnia.

    So, without the two of them or August, there were only five of them.

    This battle had already be impossible for them to win.

    However, Valerie, Raul, Yuna, Juno, and Mika had the same exact thought.

    No matter what happened, they would survive and see the light again.

    All of them, without a single member missing.

    This wasn''t where they would fall. This was only the start of their story.

    Even if impossibility stood in their way, they were prepared to cut it down.

    ***

    Time was in a strange state after Serena''s array waspleted. The geniuses hadn''t even realized that they''d entered a dtion when they found their way into the cave system.

    Likely, their perception didn''t find anything because it wasn''t a natural phenomenon.

    To make events parallel, an unknown third party influenced the cavern to extend its time flow.

    That was how a week passed in the dragon kingdom in the time between their arrival in the cavern and the moment August grabbed the crown.

    In that time, the war had not progressed much. The Sea Tribes and Wood Dragon n focused on stalling for time, so while losses did increase, it wasn''t by arge margin.

    There was one main difference between the current situation and the one from before the week passed.

    The arrays beingid by the Bastille people were finished.

    Using handheld teleporters and coordinates that had been plotted since before they even began operating, they were able to move with precision and spread out enough to put together theplicated arrays in a short period of time.

    Their efforts could bepared to Serena and the Krone n in the Heavenly World. On a much smaller scale, they''dpleted a simr operation.

    Both arrays had beenid in tandem, and they would activate the same.

    As soon as news was sent back to the Surge Dragon Tribe which acted as a control center and a connection point between all of the different divisions working together, everyone came to know the same fact.

    The moment to counterattack was here.

    A long-awaited revenge against the nobles, and the extermination of a threat that was once salvation for the people of Arulion¡­

    ¡­both would happen soon.

 Chapter 1746 Crown [3]

    Chapter 1746 Crown [3]

    The function of both arrays was actually not tooplicated, but theplexity that allowed them to achieve the feats they strived for was too much for anymon man.

    When they activated, two things happened simultaneously. Firstly, the central area of the dragon kingdom was enveloped in a crimson-red haze. Energy filled the air and infested everyone the spell targeted.

    Specifically, themon popce of Arulion.

    Their bodies bulged as new muscles formed where they were needed. Their blood screamed out as it underwent a massive change.

    The array''s functions dug deep into the ancestry of themon people and drew out the blood of their nearest possible Divine ancestor. All of today''s dragons existed because of a select group of no more than fifty. If their ancestry was traced back far enough, one would be able to find the bloodlines that had been lost through eons of dilution. The main goal of the array was as simple as that. It aimed to awaken the draconic talents of any and everyone in Arulion.

    And it worked perfectly.

    As themoners awakened to their blood lineages, their suppressed draconic instincts came loose.

    In normal cases, this kind of influence would lead them to be like the forsaken dragons, machines that would kill wantonly until they were satiated.

    However, the array guided their hostility towards the people they truly hated.

    It marked all forsaken dragons and all those with noble blood, letting the berserk dragons loose on these parties.

    Arulion''s chaos deepened even further, but this was a necessary step. Those dragons needed to find their instincts and return to their original pride and stature. For that to be possible, they needed to adapt to their new bloodlines and properly ept that they were no longer inhibited by anything other than their own unwillingness and insecurity.

    The best way to show them that they''d changed was to allow them revenge against the people who killed their loved ones and the people who oppressed them.

    After all, they were berserk, but they had not lost all rationality. They would change once they experienced what it was like to be powerful.

    The bigger change was created by the second array.

    In the outer regions of the continent, the light that shined was not red, but blue.

    It infected the dragonkin just as themoners had been, invading their systems and changing them. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    In essence, both arrays did the same thing.

    Only, it meant something entirely different to the dragonkin.

    See, unlike themoners in Arulion who became content with their weakness, the dragonkin were always striving for strength so that they could eventually be True Dragons. Surprisingly enough, their lives were probably far better in the outer regions than they''d ever be in the central region.

    August''s n for them was simple.

    He was going to give them what they wanted in exchange for loyalty.

    Taking inspiration from his father''s methods, August instructed Raul''s nsmen to give the dragonkin a choice.

    A holographic window appeared in front of each and every one of them; a contract of sorts.

    What it said was simple.

    Pledge fealty to August Void and instantly be a True Dragon.

    Obviously, not everyone believed it at first, but the widespread phenomenon was bound to attract one or two risk-takers.

    When the scale was sorge, it was impossible to not know or know of someone who took risks.

    Just a few people signed the contract at first. They felt the pull in their souls as they were bound to another entity, but they hardly cared.

    After all, the bloodlines they''d been working toplete their entire lives suddenly reached perfection.

    It wasn''t actually that involved. Once a process was created to find the hidden lineages within themon people, it was easy to find a way to improve already existing semi-draconic bloodlines so they could reach their full potential.

    The requirement of fealty was implemented only so that any chaos caused by the rapid influx of True Dragons could be quelled. They would not be required to show any sort of loyalty beyond what they naturally possessed. Not in moments aside from this one, at least.

    They had been given such a gift so they could participate in the conflict of the central region.

    And though most of them were hesitant to get involved in a war that they had no part in, they had been drafted with an amazing gift.

    Even those who took pride in their efforts and didn''t want to take the easy road to power had to admit that it was almost impossible for any of them to actually evolve into True Dragons.

    Everything they''d been through turned them into the people they were, but their paths from this point forth¡­

    ¡­would continue from the same point.

    The only change was that they''d have the lineages they always dreamed of.

    That person, "August Void," was their benefactor for life. They were at least willing to repay him for the gift he''d given them.

    Like that, countless new forces entered the war on the side facing the forsaken dragons and nobles.

    The situation was rapidly overturned, leaving the nobles in a position where they had no choice but to retreat if they wanted to survive.

    Well, until even their homes were raided. Unlike the Holy ns, they could not create highly functional and discreet hidden realms to support their ns.

    They lived isted from the majority, but their methods were easy to destroy with the methods avable to their newfound enemies.

    It was uneptable.

    Uneptable to the point where the Holy ns needed to intervene.

    Right, it was about time for them to do something about the forces challenging their regime, wasn''t it?

    But..

    For some reason¡­

    No matter how many nobles died, no matter how their ns were turned into nothing more than remnants¡­

    ¡­where were the Holy ns?

    It was the worst possible situation.

    When they were needed most, they disappeared to a ce where nobody would be able to find them.

    Though, it wasn''t by choice.

    ***

    It wasn''t by choice at all.

    For tens of millions of dragons to find themselves in a darkness beyond darkness, a void beyond voids, was not an expected event for them at all.

    Still, that was what happened. Everyone who was in the hidden realms that they called their homes was instantly transported to another realm all at once.

    From the Ancient Dragons to the youngest geniuses, not a single one was spared.

    The heads of each n immediately went to work trying to learn more about their situation. They flew as far as possible to find the boundaries of the realm, attacked the ground and sky to try and break it open, and looked for clues or array lines that could be read to understand the nature of this ce.

    However, there was nothing like that.

    No borders, no sky, no clues.

    This expanse was seemingly infinite and indestructible. It was a prison made so that those within could never escape.

    As for the man who put them here¡­?

    Naturally, he wasn''t going to show his face.

    After all, they''d been removed from the world so that all things in Arulion would wrap up smoothly.

    The decision of what would be done with them¡­

    Well, that would be made at another time, by another man entirely.

 Chapter 1747 Crown [4]

    Chapter 1747 Crown [4]

    Having Damien as a father, August had be more than used to being transported into separated realms.

    His consciousness had been pulled into many spiritual realms to help himprehend hisw and strengthen his spiritual energy.

    His body had been pulled into many hidden realms for different trials that gave him opportunities to adventure and train.

    And illusions were something he''d be used to, as they were the best way to bring experiences into reality so he could experience them in a simted environment.

    His mind immediately recognized its spiritual state when he arrived in that ce with rolling hills in the distance. Within the first second of being there, he already knew that his consciousness had been separated from his body.

    With the preceding events painting an obvious picture, August could deduce that he was within a realm of the crown''s creation.

    He was only left to wonder what kind of trial he''d be facing here.

    ''It would be nice if I could get out soon.''

    Regardless of how promising the situation outside looked when he left, he didn''t want to leave his friends sitting in the cavern for too long. If Wilhelm or some of their other enemies appeared, the situation would be quite troublesome.

    August immediately went to look around and learn something about his situation. It didn''t take long for him to realize that he didn''t have much space at all.

    In fact, the hills in the background didn''t actually exist. They were just created through illusions to extend the environment.

    ''If there''s nothing here and the space is so small¡­''

    ¡­then he had no choice but to wait.

    August sat down where he was and closed his eyes. Meditation was never a bad thing. It wasn''t as if he would be able toprehend anything in this fake environment, but it was still a good way to pass the time.

    August could indulge himself in thoughts or empty his mindpletely, allowing the waves of reality to take them to whatever destination they sought.

    This time, he didn''t choose to think. He had been overworking his mind recently. Every decision he made had to be considered three or four times. In moments when he wanted to let his emotions take control, he was forced to take a step back and think about the greater good.

    He couldn''t do anything for himself in the situation he was in. It was frustrating at times, especially when he couldn''t even confirm that the decisions he made with so much thought were actually the right ones.

    ''Is this the path I''ve chosen for myself?''

    It was something he''d never taken the time to ponder.

    The consequences of trying to be responsible for so many people when his experience level was nowhere near enough for him to have that kind of ability; he epted them in theory long ago, but only after carrying out an operation concerning the lives of so many people did he experience the reality of those theoreticals.

    It was a difficult path that would drive one insane. August definitely had something of a heroplex, but he wasn''t naive to the point of mindlessly following it. He didn''t have that sort of innocence that was usually possessed by people with the same mentality, so he was forced to actually think about how much he was sacrificing to act selflessly.

    However, even if he considered it for years and years¡­

    ''...could I stop myself?''

    If the same situation repeated over and over again, could he really stop himself from trying to save as many lives as possible, even if it meant risking everything?

    ''No.''

    Nothing could convince him otherwise.

    He chose this brutal path exactly because he knew that he would never be able to turn away from the suffering of others.

    He wanted to be the Dragon Emperor. He wanted to bring glory to the dragons. He wanted them to thrive as they''d thrived in the past.

    Qinglong''s memories shed through his mind. The image of the kingdom that could have been, the grand dream of a ce where opportunity was avable to anyone and everyone¡­

    ''...if everything is going ording to n, then we''re already halfway there.''

    August opened his eyes, a slight smile on his face.

    That was when he finally noticed the entity before him.

    His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He was unable to immediately respond to the situation at all.

    [That is quite an interesting thought process you have, child.]

    The being immediately made it clear that nothing August could think in this realm would be hidden. Those words, spoken in a deep and rumbling voice that was simr to an earthquake, jolted August out of his stupor.

    "Nice¡­nice to meet you?"

    He spoke without really knowing what to say, quickly getting to his feet.

    That being also had a slight smile on his face.

    [It seems you recognize me.]

    August nodded his head shakily.

    It would have been odd for anyone else from this generation to know who he was. But August did.

    He had seen many pictures of this very being in Qinglong''s memories.

    Even back then, he was ancient and revered.

    With a body spanning over a kilometer even in his smallest form, pitch-ck scales with ents of red that screamed of destruction, blood-red eyes, horns that looked like a metallic crown with two sharp des protruding from it, and those very telling patterned wings that had never been seen in another dragon, this man had an extremely telltale form for anyone who had heard his legacy.

    August caught his breath and steadied himself. With a bow, he properly introduced himself.

    "August Void, descendant of the Azure Dragon, greets the First Dragon Emperor."

    [Haha, good manners. The Azure Dragon¡­indeed, I remember meeting such a character in the past. It is good that his bloodline has survived the tests of time.]

    August smiled wryly. He wanted to tell the First Dragon Emperor that he wasn''t quite correct, but he refrained.

    Now wasn''t the time for him to tell his life story. This being was far too noble to care about anything like that.

    Rather, seeing him now, August could confirm that what Iridia told him was not a lie.

    ''The throne of the Dragon Emperor is more than just a position. It is deeply interconnected with the fate of the kingdom.''

    Otherwise, there would be no need for someone like the First Dragon Emperor to contain a piece of his soul in the crown to meet future emperor candidates.

    [You are well informed, child. If you wish to learn more, however, you must first pass my trial.]

    August nodded with a grin.

    "In the first ce, I came here to take your trial."

    [Good!]

    The First Dragon Emperor extended his wings and flew into the air.

    [Boy, your task is simple. Land one blow on my body. Once you have achieved this feat, I will tell you all that you wish to know.]

    August''s eyes narrowed. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''He''ll tell me what I want to know, not acknowledge me as a sessor.''

    Then, there was some other condition he had to fulfill if he wanted that privilege.

    August cracked his neck and stretched.

    Landing a single hit on the First Dragon Emperor¡­

    ''How hard can it be?''

 Chapter 1748 Crown [5]

    Chapter 1748 Crown [5]

    Very, very hard. That was the obvious answer.

    August started small by trying to probe the First Dragon Emperor''s strength, but that was not something he could do in a single battle. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Boom!

    He dashed across the ground and summoned just as much water as he always did. It was a massive wave, butpared to the Dragon Emperor''s size, it looked like nothing more than a puddle.

    Using his manifestations, August tried to force the Dragon Emperor to split his attention into multiple different enemies, which would give him more room to maneuver.

    However¡­

    VOOM!

    The Dragon Emperor did no more than p his wings.

    A powerful burst of air was created. It instantly dispersed August''s mana and destroyed his manifestations. Before he could react, it struck him as well.

    The only thing he felt was numbing pain as his body exploded into a blood mist.

    In the next moment, August was back where he started. No signs of the prior battle remained.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­"

    August breathed heavily as he dealt with the phantom pain of his death.

    [How does it feel?]

    The First Dragon Emperor teased him, a yful light in his eyes.

    August smiled wryly. He had to admit that he was dreaming if he wanted to probe the First Dragon Emperor the same way he probed his other opponents.

    This was a battle against a force that, with August''s current power, was just as indomitable as Damien.

    A single hit?

    It was only easy if the person being hit was sitting still and waiting for it.

    The Dragon Emperor clearly had no ns of doing so.

    As such¡­

    ''This is going to be a long one.''

    August straightened his back and charged again.

    And again, and again, and again.

    Naturally, every single time he died in the exact same way.

    The First Dragon Emperor only needed to p his wings once to kill August. If he wanted to cause more pain, he could kill him in an even simpler fashion.

    What August found in his first few attempts was that he would never get anywhere if he couldn''t find a way around the Dragon Emperor''s first attack.

    But, how long would it take him to do that?

    August had died ten times already, and he had only been in this realm for a few hours.

    When days turned into months, or when months turned into years, how much would that number change?

    Unfortunately for August, he was about to find out.

    After all, it would take more than just some months for him to properly meet the First Dragon Emperor''s expectations.

    ***

    August''s soul was in a rtively calm situation. He was dying over and over again, sure, but it was happening in a controlled environment.

    The cavern was nothing like that. It was an environment where only chaos reigned.

    Fighting over a hundred enemies that were at the same level as them wasn''t possible no matter what kind of magic they used. This predicament that they''d found themselves in couldn''t be escaped with anything like cheap tricks.

    They had to find a way to take down each and every one of these geniuses without losing any of their own.

    To turn impossibility into possibility, the best they could do was n ahead.

    The instant Valerie returned tomand, she put exactly that in motion.

    She ordered Mika to use her power. Under Valerie''smand, she created arge maze around them.

    If Raul was avable, it would have been better, but they had to manage without him.

    Juno and Yuna were fighters who couldn''t contribute to support efforts, so it had to be left to Mika alone.

    "No matter what happens, make sure they can''t break through the walls," Valerie said.

    Mika nodded. It was difficult but possible. Since her mazes were created from the same material as the surrounding environment, she could use the cavern''s strong rock, built to withstand the pressure of millions upon millions of gallons of water, to strengthen them.

    Valerie could somewhat help as well by finding any dirt or other wood-rted elements in the ground and using them to tether the maze walls to the earth.

    It was enough to force their enemies to actually follow the formation instead of bouldering through it.

    This was all they could do. From here on, they could only fight and hope that they wouldn''t die before they killed all of their opposition.

    Valerie, Juno, and Yuna chose three separate paths to move through.

    The other two left immediately, but Valerie took a second to nce at Ophelia first.

    That woman who was still unable to lift herself off of the ground¡­ "Tch, pathetic."

    ¡­only one word was necessary to describe her.

    There was no point paying attention to someone who was content with sitting around and waiting for death.

    She turned her attention to Mika instead.

    "Close the walls."

    "Close them? But¡­!"

    "You heard me."

    Valerie didn''t let her speak.

    "Close them and fortify them. Even if you hear us pleading from the other side, do not open the walls. If the worstes to be¡­copse the maze and run with Mnia."

    Mika''s eyes hardened.

    "You won''t die here. None of you will."

    Though she was unable to believe it herself, Valerie still smiled slightly.

    "Yeah, let''s leave it at that."

    Without another word, she turned and moved into her third of the maze.

    Hearing the walls close behind her, sealing the clearing where Mnia and the rest were, her smile widened. ''I''m sorry, but there''s no way I can guarantee that none of us will die.''

    She looked down at her hand, at the pulsing green mana hidden deep within her veins.

    ''But, if ites down to it¡­''

    Her feet moved faster and faster until her walk turned into a run. Through her awareness, she could already sense the first group of enemies she had to face.

    Her attention moved away from her thoughts, and yet, that statement somehow managed to finish itself.

    ''If ites down to it, I can at least make sure that only one of us dies. As long as the rest of you make it out, it''ll be worth it.''

    Valerie was never a heroic individual.

    Valerie was actually the person in August''s group of close friends whose thought process was least simr to his.

    It was because they were her friends that she was willing to fight for them, but she was never someone willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

    She wanted to live. She wanted to see the world and reach her goals even if it meant she had to turn a blind eye to some things that were going on in the world.

    If it meant that she could live¡­perhaps she would be willing to abandon someone else.

    However, that same Valerie, whose mentality never changed, was having such thoughts of self-sacrifice.

    ''I feel stupid.''

    Really, it was a miracle what emotions could do to a person.

    ''But¡­''

    The only goal in her mind now was making sure that Mnia survived. Regardless of what her prior feelings were, regardless of what her brain told her to do¡­

    ¡­Valerie was prepared to do anything necessary to make that goal into a reality.

 Chapter 1749 Crown [6]

    Chapter 1749 Crown [6]

    Damien made sure to avoid contact with August''s people so that he wouldn''t cause any anomalies, but when he made such a big move, he had to inform someone about it.

    For the Holy ns to disappear entirely was something nobody could have ever expected. And, when it happened when the Holy Dragons themselves were gone, it became even more of an unexpected boon.

    Those six dragons weren''t even in Arulion anymore. They were in the Heavenly World, prioritizing the artifacts Rose stole over everything else in the kingdom.

    After all, if they regained those artifacts, then the kingdom''s destruction wouldn''t matter anymore. They could just create a new one.

    Nevertheless, their presence being nonexistent in the realm gave August''s forces more room to move freely. Now that they were only dealing with nobles and forsaken dragons, they didn''t have to keep being cautious about the movements of other uninvolved parties.

    Damien contacted Alcharist with a short message to let him know.

    "The Holy ns are no longer a problem. Act without caution."

    That message alone found its way into the former Holy Dragon''s ears, causing him to stumble a bit in surprise.

    "Sorry? All of them?"

    He tried tomunicate back, but that seemed to be an impossibility. Damien''s presence was already gone from his mind.

    ''As expected, great beings are hard to talk to.''

    Alcharist smiled wryly. He thought he was someone great until he met that person, but since his horizons had been broadened, there wasn''t much for him to say.

    That person would not lie about such important matters.

    Rather, that person saw no point in lying from his position above the clouds.

    If he said that the Holy ns were dealt with¡­

    ''Boy, you are lucky to have such a man as your father.''

    Alcharist sent a message to August that naturally went unheard. As Damien said, they could now act without caution. All of the more powerful members of their force had remained on the backlines for the most part so as not to provoke the powerhouses from the other side to act too early. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Originally, it was only because they believed that the Holy ns would also get involved if they saw so many Ancient Dragons and others close to that level dying, but there was no need to hesitate anymore, was there?

    There was only one force close to the level of a Holy Dragon left on the enemy side, and that was none other than Hendricks himself.

    By the time Alcharist finished processing Damien''s message, he was already in the air, flying towards that man''sst known position.

    And, when he sent the word to Yusuf, who then spread it to anyone else who needed to know, many others started moving as well.

    Calling it an indiscriminate massacre wouldn''t be right. There were definitely a few specific ns and people who were innocent and not drenched in the same sin as their peers. Those people had been properly listed in the information Yusuf received and were crossed off the list of targets.

    It was unknown how August managed to get that information, but it was inconsequential.

    None of them wanted to kill innocent people.

    If they did ughter everyone they saw without worrying about right or wrong, then how different would they be from the enemies they scorned with their righteous eyes?

    Every single person fighting under August''s banner was forced to keep that fact in mind as they moved. The people who stood at the heads of the noble ns, the people who represented the forsaken dragons¡­

    They now shared one thing inmon.

    Their fortresses were being encroached on by incredibly powerful enemies whose only goal was to kill them.

    ***

    When did everything go wrong?

    ''Right, the moment I decided to allow their actions, fate turned against us.''

    Hendricks sighed to himself.

    He understood that their ns had gone awry long ago.

    Rather, the moment he saw his citizens murdering children without remorse, he realized that there was no hope left.

    This was not the popce he ruled. These were not the same people who lived with him and peacefully coexisted for eons.

    What kind of bloodthirsty madmen had he released into the world?

    Hendricks was able to justify his actions back then because he didn''t realize just how bad their bloodlust was. He believed that not many would have to die in order for their n to attain peace, so he assumed that if he apologized in his heart, he would be able to forgive himself.

    He was wrong.

    Everything he believed was wrong. He was blinded by the golden lens through which he viewed his people.

    Because he could contain himself without blood, he thought that they would regain their senses eventually after getting it out of their system.

    How was he to know that they would be addicted to the sensation of killing? What was supposed to be a short event had be a war that threatened their extermination, and all he could do¡­

    ''...is fight.''

    In the end, regardless of who they became or how he felt about them, he was their king. He was the person who was supposed to lead them and give them stability.

    They had gone too far down this path to turn back now. Even if he said something, none of them would be willing to retreat.

    Perhaps it was of their own doing, but hundreds of thousands of their brothers and sisters had died. They would not retreat without spilling more enemy blood.

    Their chosen leader was supposed to be the one who ruled them, but in this moment, he chose to be ruled by their opinions instead.

    If they wanted to fight until thest man, then he was willing to fight alongside them.

    "Haa¡­"

    He sighed to himself as he felt a presence approach. This ce was rtively far from where his people were. Out of range enough to keep them away from the damage the fight caused, but close enough for him to always remain aware of their circumstances.

    Nevertheless, he didn''t have much time to think about them at the moment.

    A daunting foe had approached.

    With glistening green scales and a domineering appearance, Alcharist Revell flew in the skies above Hendricks.

    He stood up from where he sat, his body transforming.

    His form was still mainly draconic, however, his scales were made of metallic material and had a dirt-like appearance. There were jagged pieces of earth sticking out of his body in many ces, recing other draconic features like his horns.

    It was the appearance of a dragon who was forced to embrace the earth to survive. It may have been less regal than Alcharist''s form, but it contained a far greater story.

    He did not p his wings to fly. He didn''t have wings in the first ce.

    However, hovering his body with mana was not a problem.

    Hendricks met Alcharist in the air, fully aware of the nuances behind this fight.

    If he lost here, then his people would be exterminated. Worse, they would be enved and even their future generations would suffer the consequences of their misdeeds.

    Regardless of right or wrong, he had to win for their sake.

    That was his fate as king.

 Chapter 1750 Crown [7]

    Chapter 1750 Crown [7]

    Yuna had stealth aiding her. She was able to move through crowds of enemies unnoticed and pick them off one by one to give herself some leeway.

    However, Juno and Valerie only had one thing to rely on. As someone who used fire, Juno''s fight against the Liqua n geniuses was the same as August''s fight against Raphael. He could win against all of them as long as he could produce powerfulws.

    On Valerie''s side, water was naturally supportive of wood. Technically, they wouldn''t be able to harm her as long as she used theirws to enhance her own. Of course, the Liqua n''s water was acidic and ipatible with life, but Valerie could dissect the essence of thew and find the pure essence of water within, destabilizing their attacks and empowering her own.

    Obviously, that was just as hard as it sounded. Valerie knew what she needed to do. It was easy to theorize about how to defeat these people.

    Still, they had numbers. They had strength. They had the element of surprise.

    Valerie''s abilities were known to the world after the heir wars. On the other hand, these geniuses, while using rtively simr techniques, had hidden skills that they could pull out to surprise the enemy.

    Juno, Yuna, and Valerie were making progress at different rates, but regardless of how many geniuses they defeated, it always seemed like there were moreing. And, at the end of the line, there was Wilhelm Liqua, a man that none of them could defeat individually.

    Could they fight him if they worked together?

    Absolutely.

    Would they all be able to reach him before he decided to target them individually?

    Probably not.

    Valerie had to keep his presence in mind through everything she did, but for now, she had to focus on his henchmen.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    She was in a battle with the third group she''d encountered.

    The first only had two people, and the second had five. She was able to defeat them quickly because she caught them by surprise and took their lives, but if she had to actually fight them, it wouldn''t have been so simple.

    That was why when she met a group of ten of them, she was stuck fighting for a considerable amount of time. The environment inside the maze already resembled a forest. The entire corridor was enveloped in Valerie''s domain. As she had focused on speed, she had yet to find a method to counter the water mana of the Liqua n. So, she was currently fighting until she discovered it.

    ''There are more approaching.''

    Mika didn''t have the freedom to choose how the forces in her maze were distributed. She created a structure that would separate them as much as possible, but that didn''t mean they were actually separated.

    There were over a hundred of them in such a small space. The groups that were separated from each other were able to find each other quickly. Especially when they weren''t being hunted at a rapid pace.

    Valerie could feel another group of six approaching. In the group she was fighting now, there were still seven left.

    Her eyes narrowed.

    ''Fine.''

    It wasn''t yet time for her to burn her blood, but she definitely had to start taking it more seriously.

    In order to get through the situation, her long-term ns needed to be paused. Discovering how to counter the Liqua n''s mana specifically could be done as she continued fighting group after group. It wasn''t worth halting her progress in order to look for it.

    Valerie''s approach to the fight was more technical than it had ever been. Her thought process somewhat resembled August in these moments as she tried to imitate him in order to save the people she cared about.

    Juno was a lot more gung-ho. He had a grin on his face the whole time, uncaring of the life-or-death struggle that he was in.

    Death meant something different to him.

    He had experienced too much of it. His family had betrayed him and forced him to kill them. That experience changed him forever.

    Juno had long been aware of the darkness in his heart. He was even worse than Valerie in that sense. Even in this moment, he wasn''t thinking about saving anyone.

    He knew that he was never going to be that person. He had epted that fact back when he first decided to follow August.

    Juno wanted to be his sword, the person willing to indulge in darkness so that August could stay away from it.

    Right now, Valerie had taken August''s role. She was the one thinking about saving everyone.

    Juno was incredibly thankful to her. After all, if it wasn''t for her being the central point that brought everyone together and provided hope for sess¡­

    ''...then I wouldn''t be able to act as freely.''

    His eyes were cold.

    Juno had a talent that others in the group didn''t possess. Maybe only Yuna could somewhat hold a candle to him.

    That talent¡­

    ¡­was his talent in killing. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    They were not explosions. The sounding from this part of the maze was caused by the gargantuan waves of liquid mes that crashed into the walls as they flooded the corridors.

    The specific nature of Juno''s fire, the unavoidable waves that forced each and every person in his path to take a defensive position before he even found them benefitted him immensely.

    Juno could maneuver through the mes like they didn''t exist, but to others, the pure weight they carried was already enough to be a threat.

    This was Juno''s speciality. A battle where he stood against an army with the only goal of killing as many as possible before he died himself. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''Dead.''

    The enemy Juno met was already dead by the time he arrived to fight.

    ''Dead. Dead. Dead.''

    The following three were able to stand against the me wave, but Juno''s arrival was like the call of the reaper for them.

    He maneuvered around them and used the techniques he learned from his master. His arms turned into des of sma, and as he dashed by the geniuses in question, he got around their defenses and ughtered them before they could recognize his presence.

    People didn''t know how strong Juno was, but he was someone that even August, who grew at an unbelievable rate, had to view aspetition.

    Juno was stronger than Valerie, stronger than Iridia or Raphael, stronger than ny percent of the people whopeted thinking they had what it took to be the dragon kingdom''s Emperor.

    He wasn''t afraid of individual geniuses like Valerie.

    But he also wasn''t conserving mana at all.

    Even for Juno, a person who was able to breeze through the enemies like they were nothing, this battle felt impossible.

    Because, even though he was stronger¡­

    ¡­Juno knew that he would run out of steam before they ran out of forces.

    In the end, he was only one person, wasn''t he?

    Infinite mana simply wasn''t a possibility.

    He, Valerie, and Yuna were all making different progress. Nheless, they were not yet losing.

    As for how long that state wouldst, however¡­

    In Juno''s own estimates; twenty minutes at most.

 Chapter 1751 Crown [8]

    Chapter 1751 Crown [8]

    Wilhelm did n to stand back and watch as August''s friends were killed, but the instant they started fighting back changed his mind.

    They were not giving up hope when faced with an unscble wall. It annoyed him that they thought they could find a way out of this situation.

    More importantly, if they stalled long enough and August came back, wasn''t his surprise going to be ruined?

    In order to ughter them and leave their heads as a gift for the young Azure Dragon, he actually decided to move himself.

    He knew just as well as they did that they wouldn''t be able to fight him individually. On top of that, when he was backed by so many geniuses, he could torment them from a hidden position and take them down without a fight.

    He was going to have fun.

    That was his thought as he stepped forward to enter the fray.

    However, it seemed that others had different ns for him. In that moment, Iridia, Eris, and surprisingly enough, Raphael appeared in front of him.

    "You three¡­kindly tell me what you''re doing in my way," Wilhelm growled.

    The three of them looked at each other in surprise for a moment. Obviously this wasn''t a coordinated movement. Each one of them assumed that they''d be the only one involved in this confrontation, but it seemed like somehow, they''d ended up here together.

    "You cannot go."

    Eris raised her voice first.

    "Stay here and wait patiently until that boyes back."

    "What?!"

    Wilhelm scoffed, unable to believe what he was hearing.

    "Are you truly protecting them?"

    "...? No. Not at all," Eris responded without a moment of silence.

    "Yourckeys can kill them if they have the ability. You, however, are not allowed to join them."

    "What is your purpose, Eris Noct?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Wilhelm was already starting to get annoyed. He was known for his short temper, after all.

    When someone like Eris, who was notorious for refusing to get involved in other people''s business, decided to butt in like this, how else was he supposed to feel?

    Did she develop some sort of feelings towards that boy?

    ''Impossible.''

    Eris Noct never cared about other people to begin with. Let alone developing feelings, it would be a surprise if Eris even developed a friendship with another genius.

    "You ask what my purpose is¡­?" Eris responded, reiterating his words as she ruminated over the question.

    "I simply wish to see what happens when that boy returns. If you move now, then it won''t be interesting anymore."

    As aforementioned, Eris was chasing some kind of vague feeling in her heart that would lead her to benefits. She felt that it was rted to August in some way, and if his path was interrupted here, it would be harder for her to find its source.

    As such, she decided to help him, albeit slightly.

    She was willing to stop Wilhelm, as he would overturn the situation. However, as she said, she didn''t care about anything else.

    If August''s friends wanted to survive the assault of their current enemies, then they could do so with their own strength.

    After all, if they lost, then were they even worthy of being the followers of someone who was trying to destroy the entire foundation of Arulion as they knew it?

    Eris'' reasoning wasn''t satisfying for Wilhelm in the slightest. The fact that she was acting on a whim annoyed him even more, but that was Eris'' nature.

    This was exactly what he expected from her. A thought process that disregarded anyone and everything to get where it wanted to go.

    The other two, however¡­

    "Why is the Ignis n standing in my way?"

    When Raphael and Iridia moved at the same time, it really did seem like they were following the Ignis n''s decision.

    They were both acting on their own. Neither of them understood why the other moved, but they were certain that if the n learned of their actions, they''d undoubtedly be punished.

    "Hmph."

    Raphael sneered at Wilhelm.

    "I have no obligation to answer you," he said.

    But he was still going to. He wanted to see Wilhelm Liqua go into a rage.

    He had only recently awakened. August''s attack left him unconscious with a huge injury, so it was surprising that he was able to wake up at all. Still, he regained his mental faculties and immediately used a healing artifact to close his open wounds.

    He watched as Wilhlem reappeared and as August''s friends tried to fight. His original n was to stay down and pretend to be unconscious, but that somehow changed on its own.

    Raphael couldn''t stand it.

    The tactics that Wilhelm used were all cheap. On the other hand, while August did use tactics to his advantage, he never bullied his opponents.

    "Unlike you, that guy has my respect. Even if we have to be enemies in the future, I won''t stand here and let you defeat him through cowardly tactics."

    That was it. If August was going to be defeated, then Raphael wanted to see it happen honorably. Even if he wasn''t the one to do it, he at least wanted to stop this kind of battle whenever he saw it.

    Right, it was the Ignis n''s way to support honor and valor.

    Their founding ancestor himself might have strayed from these values, but that was none of Raphael''s concern. He knew what kind of person he was and what kind of values he held.

    He may have discriminated againstmoners at a time, and his prejudice wasn''t just gone just because of a few outliers, but during the heir wars, Raphael learned just how much an honorable battle meant to him.

    The fact that he used sly tactics himself and then fell to an even more sly tactic made him furious.

    That wasn''t the kind of battle he loved. That wasn''t the heart-pounding beauty of a battle backed by honor.

    As he fought for the position at the head of the Ignis n, he wanted to instill his values of honor into everyone and turn their people into a true warrior n.

    This was his first step towards that goal.

    To throw aside his prejudice and acknowledge a true warrior from a lower ss over a coward he viewed as an equal.

    As Raphael expected, Wilhelm flew into a rage. So much so that he stopped caring about why Iridia stopped him.

    "He has earned your respect? Thatmoner?"

    "He may be many things, but he can no longer be considered amoner."

    India''s interruption marked the destruction of Wilhelm''s patience.

    Now, he was really going to rage.

    However, when confronted with three Holy n geniuses that he couldn''t move past even if he tried his hardest¡­

    Wasn''t it more of a tantrum than anything else?

 Chapter 1752 Crown [9]

    Chapter 1752 Crown [9]

    As expected, he went on to spew a load of self-righteous nonsense.

    If anyone present actually cared about what he was saying, then it might have been worth hearing, but was there even a single person who actually shared his views?

    Every single Holy n genius in the room at the moment, at least of the ones that were still standing, hated Wilhelm for various reasons.

    Whether it was his disgusting personality, his way of fighting, or his general reputation, he didn''t really have anything going for him.

    The only thing that people couldtch onto was his strength. For dragons who liked to prioritize that aspect over everything else, it was enough.

    Wilhelm had a grand following exclusively because of his talent. He had a n that allowed him to act as deviously as he pleased without repercussions, and naturally that led him to be a person that nobody else could stand.

    Even if their levels differed a little, everyone in this room had a simr level of talent. Given time, all of them could reach or surpass his strength.

    So, what reason did they have to ignore his obvious ws?

    Wilhelm''s tantrum mostly went along the lines of:

    "You''re all disgraces to the Holy ns!"

    "It is truly unfathomable that you can be so idiotic with your upbringings!"

    "Wait until your elders hear of this. None of you will make it out unscathed."

    ¡­and various personal insults that didn''t need to be repeated.

    Truthfully, it all went in one ear and out the other for every genius who had the freedom to listen to what he was saying. But, it really didn''t matter.

    Since he wasining like this, he knew that he couldn''t get past them.

    If Wilhelm still believed that there was a way for him to seed in what he was doing, then he would put his head down and seek nonaggression until he''d found a way out of his circumstances.

    He onlyined like this when he had no better solution but petty tricks.

    Nevertheless, Wilhelm''sck of involvement only gave Valerie and the rest some time. If something didn''t change soon¡­

    ¡­their somewhat even struggle would end along with their lives.

    There was only one person who could change things now.

    And he¡­

    He was still in the process of dying in a realm where nobody could hear him scream.

    ***

    August refused to believe that there wasn''t a time difference in this realm.

    It could not be flowing as it was in the outside world.

    After all, a possible sessor could not be contained in a secret realm with their body vulnerable for so long. They would be killed without mercy in ny percent of possible scenarios. Especially considering where August entered from, he refused to believe that three years had passed in the outside world as well.

    However, his body definitely experienced three years of growth.

    Perhaps it was because his soul body was pulled into this realm rather than his consciousness alone, but August''s body had been growing with the passing of time. He was fourteen now. He could feel that even his body had experienced these changes.

    His muscture was maturing, and his mana was maturing alongside it. The power he had gathered in his short years of life was deepening as his body became more suited for controlling it.

    There was a reason why the rmended time for geniuses to start training was around twelve or thirteen years old. If they were able to gain a sufficient amount of mana, then by the time they were sixteen, the age at which an average practitioner would optimally begin practicing, they''d already have a huge head start.

    It was an important thing specifically for August at this time. His body naturally bing taller and more robust helped him immensely in his quest to strike the First Dragon Emperor.

    ''He is growing at an unimaginable rate.''

    The Dragon Emperor was truly surprised by August''s potential.

    He had been testing Dragon Emperors for a very long time. In order to ensure that his sessors were all worthy of his throne, he sealed himself here and resolved to live eternally in order to keep the dragon kingdom alive.

    Clearly, he wasn''t doing the best job. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    There had been many Dragon Emperors in the past who contributed to the kingdom''s current situation. Qinglong and Zenith were outliers.

    However, it wasn''t the First Dragon Emperor''s fault.

    He wasn''t aware of the outside world''s situation. And, even if he wanted to keep the throne in the hands of those who deserved it, what was he supposed to do when he only had bad choices?

    Before Zenith, no candidate could meet his expectations in the ambition and character departments. Every single person from every single era was unsuitable, but Arulion still needed an emperor.

    Someone needed to sit on the throne so that the kingdom''s fate would never die, so, even if he had to put a viin in that position, he made sure that it was never vacant.

    The First Dragon Emperor was always waiting for the candidate toe who he could truly entrust his legacy to. As he watched August, he started to believe that the child had the kind of soul that he had been searching for.

    ''Not only has hee closer than anyone else in three years, it seems that he is using me as a training doll as well.''

    August was no longer approaching rashly.

    In the past three years, he''d found a way to easily dodge the first wing attack and several other abilities the First Dragon Emperor used. He, in his True Dragon form, weaved and dodged with a kind of proficiency that he didn''t have before.

    The First Dragon Emperor''s element was light. He used the most basic light attacks, as even basic attacks from him were insurmountable for someone on August''s level. Despite being a dragon of an entirely different element, August learned those light attacks and incorporated their mana sequences into his own abilities.

    Speed was the key thing he took from the First Dragon Emperor.

    Previously, August had been known for his dexterity only because he needed to make up for hiscking speed whenpared to others. As a water dragon, he was definitely fast, but not enough for it to give him an advantage against other faster dragons.

    Power was an Azure Dragon''s speciality. Defense was not, but water was incredibly good at redirecting attacks so August didn''t necessarily have to worry in that aspect.

    The only thing he wascking with his element was absolute speed, and from observing and fighting against the First Dragon Emperor, August found the path to that destination which was once hidden from his eyes.

    ''He might be the fastest finisher in history.''

    For other previous emperor candidates, it had taken ten years at the very minimum tond a single hit, despite being stronger overall.

    The First Dragon Emperor could have easily assumed that it was because he himself was expressing a weaker power to make it possible for August to get close, but he did not.

    Precisely because of August''s rapid growth that could not be ignored, he believed that August''s feats were entirely the product of his own efforts.

    In the former emperor''s mind, he was certain that August wouldplete this trial in just a few years'' time.

    The only remaining concern was¡­

    Without knowing how drastic the time dtion in this realm was¡­

    ¡­would a few years be fast enough?

 Chapter 1753 Crown [10]

    Chapter 1753 Crown [10]

    Twenty minutes could never be a long time.

    In this world where people could live for millions of years, the value of a minute had fallen immensely.

    Twenty minutes. It was an amount of time that could contain many events. Twenty minutes was more than enough time for an entire civilization to be destroyed, or for peace to be brought to a people.

    Twenty minutes was more than enough time to destroy the situation in a very specific cavern on the edge of the dragon continent.

    Juno stood with blood leaking from his lips, feeling the scarcity of mana in his body.

    His grin never faded, and his thoughts were just as yful as ever.

    ''I always experience the craziest thing when I''m following that guy.''

    Twenty minutes ago, he never would have expected that he''d get this far before he felt death approaching. At this point, Juno was confident that he could end the lives of every genius in his chosen corridor.

    Though, he would definitely die in the process.

    Valerie stood surrounded by shattered walls. Her side of the amaze wasn''t able to stand the force of her battle at all. She was not bleeding, but her face was pale as she sacrificed the very essence of her bloodline so she could gain ess to the power she needed to save her friends.

    ''This sucks.''

    As expected, Valerie didn''t like the feeling at all. She couldn''t help but feel sorrowful, thinking about what kind of life she could have lived if she hadn''t happened to meet August and Mnia.

    But, it wasn''t like she would change her decision if she was given a chance. Every single time, she would follow the same path of ruin just so that she could stand by them proudly as an ally andrade for life.

    Yuna was out in the open. Her concealment wasn''t working anymore. Her abilities surpassed anyone she''d ever met in the jungle, but the geniuses of the Liqua n were not beasts. They knew how to work together and scheme when they needed to, and as she fell to those schemes, her presence was exposed.

    She¡­honestly didn''t think as much as an ordinary person. Certainly when she was in battle, Yuna''s entire mind would focus on the task ahead. Even with death around every corner, she would not sway.

    This was the kind of mentality a hunter needed to have. Rather than ruminating over victory and defeat, she had to do everything possible to catch her prey before it was toote.

    Yuna had decent abilities in the open as well, so she was able to stand against the hordes of geniuses without dying, but it became difficult as more of them approached.

    Unlike the other two, she was a person who excelled at singlebat. Her strengths couldn''t properly shine when she was faced with tens of enemies at the same time without concealment.

    She may not have been thinking it, but all of her enemies already knew that she''d go down soon.

    And even if she didn''t, the ones that made it past her while she was busy focusing on the crowd would kill the intended targets and finish the job, so it didn''t matter.

    Only those three had immediate fighting power.

    Mika had already fallen to her knees. As the tremors shaking the walls became stronger and stronger, her control over the maze waned. The material she used to make up its structure started to crumble, and she felt the destruction in her soul. Sweat dripped down her brow, but her eyes did not lose their hardened expression. She gritted her teeth and kept her arms in the ground, controlling the maze to the best of her ability.

    Raul was the one who understood how bad the poison in Mnia''s system was before anyone else. His stasis array could only slow its flow. It was still spreading and spreading and spreading. If he wanted to halt its progresspletely, then he needed to constantly fuel the array with his mana, however, as enemies found their way to the central area of the maze, he found himself unable to do so.

    Raul needed toy formations across their protective walls to keep the enemies at bay. They didn''t have thergest numbers, but ten of them could absolutely break through a wall that had be flimsy as Mika was forced to focus her power on other parts of the maze.

    Raul had to choose between Mnia and everyone in the central area. As he couldn''t allow enemies to reach August or Mnia and kill them before their time was over, he was forced to choose thetter.

    That left Mnia on the cold, hard floor alone to deal with the extreme pain that she was experiencing.

    Her eyes were open. She saw everything that happened around her, and no matter how much her consciousness begged to be separated from the world, it refused to leave her body.

    She felt every ounce of the poison''s pain and every inch of its spread through her body. She felt as the world darkened around her and as the people she cared about struggled in order to protect her.

    Her existence in this moment was futile. She had the strength to think, but what did it matter? She couldn''t move. She couldn''t speak. She could only suffer in silence as the world crumbled around her.

    This was the end. She could feel that vile mana corrupting her systems. It destroyed her mana channels first, ridding her body of its ability to maneuver the esoteric energy. Afterward, it focused on her heart, the source of vitality. It was not trying to kill her just yet. It dug microscopic needles into her heart as if to keep it prisoner and formed a cocoon around it so that the destruction in other parts of the body couldn''t reach it. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Mnia experienced the systematic destruction of her organs as she was forced to stay alive by the very same poison that killed her.

    It was horrible.

    It was even worse when the only thing she could see in front of her was the copsed body of someone who gave up on life before she even did.

    Lucas'' betrayal was meant to shatter the spirits of everyone in August''s group, but Wilhelm underestimated the cliques within their ranks.

    Lucas and Ophelia were friends indeed, but they were new friends. They were allies who met during the heir wars and became friends for the purpose of winning that event. August and his friends had gotten much closer to them, but in a situation where they started off aspetitors, would they be able to trust each other enough in a matter of a few months?

    Lucas and Ophelia were still somewhat outsiders. They were acquaintances who only met every once in a while, not people who would invite each other to family gatherings.

    As such, August''s friends were able to recover and focus on what needed to be done as soon as possible.

    But, it was different for Ophelia.

    For her, Lucas was that person.

    He was more than just a friend or an ally to her. He was more than just an acquaintance that she only checked up on when she remembered his existence.

    She didn''t want him to be at her wedding. She wanted him to be in her wedding.

    That same person that she put so much faith and trust in¡­he betrayed her so easily?

    For what?

    For power?

    There were plenty of other ways for him to reach his goals, so why did he choose this one?

    Why did he so easily ept that everyone had to die in order for him to fast track to his desired position?

    Right, it could only be that.

    From the start, he never thought of her the way she thought of him. From the start, he had only been focusing on material benefits.

    That fact broke her and left her in this state. She was known for her fiery personality, but how could she fly into a rage in a moment like this?

    The realization was too shattering for her to react as she usually did.

    She knew that people were going to die here. She knew that she could help prevent that from bing a reality. She screamed at herself to get up, remembering Valerie''s words before she bravely charged into the fray.

    However, her body would not move. Her soul could not withstand the damage it took in that moment.

    So, here she was. One of many broken souls in this cavern.

    They all had different thoughts. They all had different circumstances. But, together in this small ce where nobody would ever know what happened to them, they all awaited death.

    It was really starting to look like there was no reason to hope for anything better.

 Chapter 1754 Crown [11]

    Chapter 1754 Crown [11]

    5 years.

    ''Five years too long.''

    By the time August found himself in a state where he could confidently challenge the First Dragon Emperor and aim tond that blow, it had been five years since he first arrived in this realm.

    He was now sixteen years old. He was the same age as his friends who were always far older than him. It was unbelievable, really. In the short moments of respite that he had between training and challenging, he sometimes wondered if it was necessary to grow as fast as he did.

    However, he knew that there wasn''t another option. The situation in Arulionn was too urgent for him to slowly grow and develop into who he needed to be.

    He started to understand why Damien had him spend his childhood in that small vige in the middle of nowhere. There, far away from his problems, August actually got a chance to experience what would have been otherwise impossible for him.

    When August entered this realm, he was at the beginning of 4th ss but could disy power matching someone halfway through the same rank. Now, however¡­

    He was far, far better than he was back then. If he had to face Eris again, he was certain that he could end their battle in ten moves or less.

    That was the kind of strength he had to umte in order to even stand in front of the First Dragon Emperor with confidence.

    Time passed and passed and passed, and he got better and better and better.

    Now that five years had passed, now that his attempts were falling short by just a hair''s breadth, August knew that the end of his trial woulde soon.

    ''No, it''lle now.''

    It was the same thing he said to himself every time he challenged the former emperor, but it was motivating nheless.

    [Child, have youe again?]

    The First Dragon Emperor had be quite fond of August in their short time knowing each other. He had provided a separate area for the young genius to train and asionally told him stories of an era long forgotten to pass time.

    He had truly taken August as a future sessor, though, until August achieved what he was striving for, he didn''t need to know that he''d practically already passed the First Dragon Emperor''s test.

    "I''m back. This time, you won''t be able to catch me off-guard," August dered strongly.

    [Hahaha! How long have you been saying the same thing? What makes you think that today is the day?]

    They weren''t malicious words. The First Dragon Emperor was truly curious about what August had nned.

    "You''ll find out soon enough."

    Nevertheless, August didn''t speak. Nor did he utter a single thought about what he was going to do. He lost too many times because the former emperor was able to understand his entire n through his thoughts.

    He merely took a stance, following Yuna''s methodology to erase all thoughts from his mind.

    ''This time¡­''

    It was the only thing the First Dragon Emperor heard.

    ''...I will seed!''

    August dashed forward.

    If the former emperor was constantly changing his attack patterns, then five years wouldn''t have been nearly enough time. August would have required at least a decade in that case scenario.

    However, the patterns were always the same.

    The first attack, a powerful p of the wings. August learned how to dodge this one long ago.

    Incorporating the new light-based concepts into his element, August attached mana to the ends of his wings and spread them as far as possible.

    XIUUU!

    His body created trails of white in the air as he elerated to a degree that the environment couldn''t track.

    A furious burst of wind charged towards him, but, rather than avoiding it, August charged directly into it.

    WHOOOOSH!

    The roaring sound that he had be so used to graced his ears. Actually, in this moment, August found that his winged form wasn''t the best option. In the past five years, he learned how to consciously switch between his two forms, and as he approached the winds, he did exactly that.

    Without wings, August''s body became somewhat more aerodynamic. He rode the wind as if it was a wave of water, swimming through it with such proficiency that even a first-time viewer would know that he was incredibly skilled at this maneuver.

    ''Now¡­''

    On August''s call, the second attack came.

    The First Dragon Emperor opened his jaw wide and spat out a beam of light that could incinerate an entire city. It took August months to find a way to escape its trajectory, but once again, he eventually realized what he needed to do.

    Still in the air, August transformed again. He spread his wings and used the wind to pull him away from the First Dragon Emperor. He lost some progress, but he also rose high above the beam, which gave him a few seconds of time. VOOOOOM!

    Its light was only a few inches below him. The First Dragon Emperor was already raising his head and changing its angle to chase him.

    As August arrived below the beam, countless smaller beams of light illuminated the sky. Thousands of densely packed light columns extended from the original beam, creating a maze that August needed to find his way through.

    In response, August leaned and allowed his body to naturally fall backward. He did a few spins in the air to increase his momentum and rode the side of the light beam until he was almost under it.

    That was enough for that particr attack, but the First Dragon Emperor''s breath wasn''t like any other. As August arrived below the beam, countless smaller beams of light illuminated the sky. Thousands of densely packed light columns extended from the original beam, creating a maze that August needed to find his way through.

    ''Left. Right. Left. Down. Spin.''

    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! August expertly avoided every single auxiliary beam. He knew exactly where they would appear. He died 43 times to learn the pattern of the first area alone, and another 68 times as he memorized the further patterns.

    The light maze was arge portion of the First Dragon Emperor''s attack pattern. They would continue for over ten minutes, tracking August so that he could never escape their golden-white walls.

    Still, once he''d memorized it, the problem disappeared.

    Rather than a difficult attack to get around, this one was an opportunity for August to get close.

    As he dodged and whirled, maneuvering through every single beam that appeared, he got closer and closer to the First Dragon Emperor until only a kilometer separated them.

    ''Now.''

    VOOOOOOOM!

    August opened his own maw and gathered a ball of mana. It soon transmuted itself into water, and as a sudden unfamiliar property worked its way into the element, it took on a translucent white color like a hologram.

    XIUUU!

    It whizzed in a high-pitched tone as its speed reached untold levels. By the time it reached the former emperor, it was also an attack capable of leveling a city in one go. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A golden shield covered the First Dragon Emperor, and the breath attack faded.

    ''Okay.''

    The first phase was over. August now had a chance to get as close as possible before the second phase began.

    Usually, he would only attempt to attack in the short break between the second and third phases, but he had a different n in mind this time.

    The First Dragon Emperor was going to assume that he was following a simr pattern because his head was empty, but he emptied his head precisely to form this kind of assumption.

    The break between the first and second phases was barely noticeable, but it was a window that August knew he could exploit.

    Perhaps this battle would end faster than any other that had taken ce in this realm.

    However, for the first time since his arrival, it would end in August''s win.

    Or, at least, that was the goal.

 Chapter 1755 Crown [12]

    Chapter 1755 Crown [12]

    When the second phase started, a huge omnidirectional wave of light would spread and incinerate everything in its path. To get through it, August needed to use his mana precisely to meld into the light''s vibrations and phase through it.

    This was an intensely involved process. August could do it, but he found that he expended too much mana in the process and wasn''t able to sustain himself through the rest of theing phases.

    It wasn''t as if he hadn''t tried to attack before the second phase before, but the golden shield that the First Dragon Emperor erected was thick and unpierceable by physical or energy-based attacks.

    There was only a fraction of a second between when the shield went down and when the light wave appeared. If August couldn''t catch the exact timing, he would be turned into ash before he could do anything.

    He''d tried over and over again in the past to hit that mark and evade the wave, but when he found a more reliable solution between the second and third phases, he switched his strategy.

    It took him five years to realize a simple fact that he had been blissfully ignorant of beforehand.

    The solution was actually incredibly simple.

    He was thinking about it as a battle, so he was always doing everything he could to put himself in a better position foring attacks.

    But¡­why did he need to do that? n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    When he looked at what the trial itself entailed, he finally realized how stupid he had been.

    August never needed to "survive."

    He just needed to nd a hit."

    If he didn''t have to worry about living, then he could do so much more than he could before.

    The strategy he was currently employing relied on exactly that.

    After hundreds of deaths over the past five years, August was no longer afraid of the feeling.

    He pushed himself forward with everything he had. The light-based concepts that pushed his speed, the basic concepts of water that made him nimble and dexterous, and the physique of a dragon that was naturally more versatile in the air than any other species.

    With all three of these things backing him, August transformed his body into a blur of light that closed in on the First Dragon Emperor in the fraction of a second his shield took to deactivate.

    And, as he had charged his breath as he moved, August was already attacking by the time the air around him turned hazy and golden.

    Those two things happened at the same time.

    August''s attack flew past the barrier of light and made contact with its target.

    And his body was turned into ash instantaneously by a kilometer-tall wall of light that formed around him.

    In the next moment, he had already returned to thend of the living. Usually, he wouldn''t be able to see the results of the previous battle after his return. However, this time was different.

    He heard that explosion. The wall of light didn''t make any sound. It was a silent and immediate killer. So, August knew exactly where that sound came from.

    ''I did it.''

    He grinned wider than he ever had before.

    ''Finally.''

    With his goal aplished, the mental fatigue of five years of effort hit him all at once.

    August fell unconscious right then and there. It would be many hours before he opened his eyes again.

    ***

    August did eventually awaken, and the First Dragon Emperor was waiting for him when he did.

    [Congrattions, child. You have sessfully proven your qualifications. I am proud to say that someone as talented as you will grow into the ruler of dragons.]

    He had a wide smile on his face as he spoke.

    August immediately stood up and bowed.

    "Thank you," he said sincerely.

    Not just for the acknowledgement, but for the years of training he''d received, August thanked the Dragon Emperor.

    However, was this the end?

    He felt a little forlorn as he thought of leaving this emperor alone in this realm, waiting for the next sessor to arrive.

    [There is nothing to feel sorry about. I am merely a shard of soul. Unless a sessor enters this ce as you said, my mind and body will enter a state of stasis along with the rest of the realm.]

    Even he didn''t want to torture himself. The realm had been created so the burden on this small piece of the former emperor wouldn''t be too extreme.

    [More importantly, I assume you have many things to address in the outside world. Do you really want to stay here with a boring old man like me instead of returning to your people?]

    August frowned. He didn''t like the way it was phrased, but the First Dragon Emperor wasn''t wrong. It was better for August to leave as soon as possible so that he could address the situation outside and see how his ns were progressing.

    "Then¡­"

    [Say no more.]

    The First Dragon Emperor shook his head.

    [Return to your world and take your throne. Focus on the future, not the past. And, if you truly do wish to honor me¡­then carry my legacy well.]

    "Sorry¡­?"

    His legacy?

    August was surprised by the words. The First Dragon Emperor never called the throne his legacy, after all. He must have been talking about something else.

    [You will learn everything when you awaken. The Emperor''s Record will visit you soon and exin to you the things you must learn. And, be mindful of your mind. I have left you a small present there.]

    Feeling his body fading from the realm, August couldn''t help but feel a little rushed. He felt that there was more he needed to do here, but the First Dragon Emperor refused to give him an opportunity to speak.

    This realm was made tost until a sessor candidate passed or failed their trial. Only a few hours after that moment would it shut down and return to stasis, but August had spent those precious hours unwillingly unconscious.

    The information he needed would be transmitted to him regardless. As would the rewards he earned for his efforts.

    Only, his conversation with the First Dragon Emperor ended here.

    [Goodbye, child. May fate smile favorably upon you.]

    Those words were thest August heard from the former emperor.

    His world turned ck without his consent.

    But, no matter how much he wanted to stay, it was definitely best for him to leave.

    After all, if he was even a single minutete¡­

    ¡­then everyone he cared for would die.

    ***

    The first thing he saw was the rubble.

    It was confusing.

    ''Did more time pass than I thought?'' He foolishly wondered.

    But, as his vision cleared, he realized that the rubble was filled with corpses. Blood-stained pieces of rock littered the entire cavern.

    August''s eyes narrowed instantaneously as he felt something off.

    The emotions he carried over from the other realm disappeared from his mind. He wasn''t allowed to feel them anymore.

    In the distance, Wilhelm was staring at him. It seemed that he''d returned at some point. Three Holy n geniuses stood around him, almost as if they were holding him back, while everyone else on the cavern''s border was rtively in the same position.

    Except¡­

    ''Lucas¡­?''

    Why was Lucas over there with Wilhelm, and why was he looking at him with such a strange expression?

    Only at this point did August think to look at his periphery.

    And that was when it all sunk in.

    That was when his ears stopped ringing and he finally realized that the cavern was currently filled with sound.

    Valerie. She was pinned against a singlerge tree, her arms limp and her legs trembling. There were only two people in front of her, but there was a row of corpses leading to where they stood, all with the same blue hair.

    Juno. His body was already on the ground. He was bleeding from head to toe, but he gripped the earth with all of his strength to exert even a little more mana to form a defense around himself. Again, there was only one enemy in front of him, but the incinerated remains of many others surrounded him in every direction.

    Yuna. Copsed atop a hill of corpses with a de through her stomach, she took deep breaths as she tried to contain her life force. Mika. She was also copsed, but with no clear injuries on her body. Her paleplexion and empty eyes made it clear that she''d suffered some sort of mental trauma.

    August''s eyes trembled when he saw Valerie and shook even more fiercely when they saw Juno, Yuna, and Mika.

    When he looked down, though, they were practically quaking. Directly in front of him, practically in hisp, was a body with barely any breath left in it. That brown hair, that face¡­August knew it well.

    ''Mnia¡­?''

    Every visible bit of skin on her body was covered in dense ck lines that looked almost like tattoos. They had a slight green tinge to them, especially in the skin nearby; the only indication that it was truly an infection.

    A pair of eyes.

    Eyes were sometimes called windows to the soul. They showcased such a wide range of emotions with nothing more than their expansion and contraction that it was almost like magic.

    August''s panic and confusion; his pain was clear when his eyes trembled and quaked.

    However, when his mind finally put all the pieces together, when it looked at the blue hair of the corpses, the state of its allies, and the presence of that man in this ce, his eyes did something entirely different.

    Right, they stopped quaking altogether.

    In a single instant, they narrowed so much that they almost disappeared entirely. "You¡­"

    It was a single word. It came out of a body that had aged five years in the past few hours, so it was quite raspy and awkward.

    Yet, the chilling quality it contained, the pure hatred and rageced within, made it impossible to take lightly.

    August''s eyes were on Wilhelm.

    As the person he was aiming his eyes at, Wilhelm saw the emotions contained within more clearly than anyone else.

    No, it wasn''t just emotion.

    Contained within those eyes was a single concept.

    Death.

    Death and only death.

    The innocent and joyful appearance of August Void that people knew, the calm and tactical appearance of August Void that people knew; neither was present in this moment.

    The current appearance of August Void could only be described in one way.

    ''A monster.''

    It was a thought that many in the cavern shared as they watched him.

    But, the fact that this particr thought came from Eris Noct made it all the more significant.

    Even those who didn''t know fear felt that emotion when they looked at him.

    And before any of them could prepare themselves, he showed them exactly why.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

 Chapter 1756 Vengeance [1]

    Chapter 1756 Vengeance [1]

    August''s return wasn''t unexpected. Everyone who could turn their attention to him already had their attention on him when he opened his eyes. After all, his sess in the trial was a broadcasted phenomenon.

    His whole body suddenly shined with light, illuminating the entire damp, dark cavern. He was like a shard of ss refracting sun rays in every direction. The light originated from both his body and the crown on his head as the two merged into a single entity.

    It naturally disappeared into August''s body, signifying that he''d been acknowledged as the true sessor of Arulion. Unfortunately, he wasn''t in an environment where he could be celebrated.

    The cavern was filled with blood, not flowers. And, as he found out in his first few seconds of consciousness, everything had gone wrong.

    August didn''t know how to feel at first. The sheer devastation overwhelmed him and made his mind go nk.

    As he saw more and more, something inside of him broke. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    His actions had led all of his friends close to death.

    No, even from a single look, he could tell that Mnia wouldn''t live for more than a few more minutes.

    He couldn''t believe it.

    What had gone wrong?

    Right, as he didn''t know about the crown''s hidden realm, he thought that he could finish everything before Wilhelm returned. A single wrong assumption ended up giving his enemy a chance to end him, and as his friends protected him, they found themselves in this kind of situation.

    No, it was two wrong assumptions. Lucas¡­

    August didn''t even think about it. His mind was already nk, and as he saw the people up there standing around and doing nothing, he couldn''t hold it back anymore.

    If even one of those geniuses stood up to help, then they would have been able to leave the cavern without a scratch.

    August obviously knew that they had no obligation to help him. In the first ce, they were not his friends, but people chasing the same benefits that he was.

    Still, his mind wasn''t prepared to register that yet.

    The only thing August felt was rage.

    And he knew exactly who to take it out on.

    August mmed his arm sideways.

    Water gushed into the cavern in quantities it had never seen before.

    It rushed towards the two geniuses in front of Valerie before they could react. They, of course, instinctually put up shields. In their eyes, once they registered the attack, it would be enough for them to survive and attack back with only minor injuries.

    That assumption was based on the foreknowledge they had of August''s strength. He may have been powerful in the heir wars, but not enough to fight them. They were over a hundred years old and had trained to another degree, achieving power that August couldn''t imagine yet.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    ¡­or so they thought.

    The instant that wave hit them, their shields shattered. Their bodies were thrown back and rag-dolled by the flow.

    In the end¡­

    SPLAT!

    They went into the nearest cavern wall and turned into patches of blood.

    Dead in an instant.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    There wasn''t even a moment of silence for people to process what had happened. The singr genius in front of Juno was the strongest of Wilhelm''s deployed reinforcements. If it weren''t for his power, which was nearing the nine revolutions already, then Juno wouldn''t have been put into such a terrible position.

    He frowned when he saw August tten those two, but he didn''t panic. He had time to put up his own defenses. Unlike them, he could properly block it.

    ¡­or so he thought, right?

    ttened. Without an ounce of resistance, he was thrown into the wall and ughtered like a pig. His life held no meaning in August''s eyes, and his attacks conveyed that message clearly.

    August was focused on Wilhelm. He didn''t even look at the other geniuses as he killed them.

    Wilhem''s teeth were gritted to the point where blood was leaking from his lips.

    Seeing August''s expression, seeing that he was back, the other three backed off. Their job was over, so they were back to being observers.

    It was unfortunate for Wilhelm. Their presence served as a sort of protection for him. Now that they were gone, he was left to face every ounce of that murderous intent on his own.

    "You¡­there is no way that you were acknowledged¡­"

    Those were Wilhelm''s first words.

    And that was August''s first step forward.

    His aura grew even further. Wilhelm''s eyes shook slightly as he was forced to take a step back. ''I¡­stepped back?''

    He was confounded by his instinctive decisions.

    He felt fear from that boy?

    He felt danger?

    When they fought previously, Wilhelm allowed August to dominate so that he could gain a false sense of security. He didn''t feel danger from anything the young genius did. The only problem he saw was the difference in their bloodlines, but that was not something that could be changed.

    In any case, Wilhelm was stronger, so he didn''t have to actually worry about August. He could toy with the young genius as much as he wanted before killing him.

    "Don''t kid me! Even if you have been acknowledged by the crown, it does not mean anything. In the end, you will be nothing more than a puppet for us to control as we¨C"

    BOOOOOOM!

    He was only talking to himself in the first ce, but his words were still cut off by an explosion.

    Eris and the rest were forced to jump away as the entire upper half of the cavern was destroyed.

    Rock crumbled down as the ceiling copsed. Luckily, the cavern wasn''t flooded, but it wouldn''t be able to take much more damage before the entire thing copsed.

    August''s friends were left behind a wall of debris in the healing water that he surrounded them with. He didn''t have to summon anything new. He just repurposed the water that had already flooded the cavern while Wilhelm was bbering. The fight would take ce on this side, ensuring that they would not be harmed. This way, August could do whatever he wanted without worrying.

    Wilhelm was floored by his power. His words ended not because he got hit, but because he barely had time to both dodge and put up a shield to block the pressure waves of August''s punch.

    ''Fast.''

    He could no longer try to justify it with excuses. Somehow, August had gotten incredibly stronger.

    Even though the Holy ns knew that there was a secret realm inside the crown, they didn''t know exactly what happened within. The First Dragon Emperor always forced his sessors into a pact that forbade them from spreading his existence into the world. This was primarily so that iing sessor candidates wouldn''t try to kiss up to him or manipte the trial somehow.

    August didn''t realize how special he was to be given the former emperor''s trust, but that was beside the point.

    The point was that Wilhelm didn''t have any way of knowing that August had been away training for the past five years.

    For geniuses and dragons with their level of talent, five years was a monstrous amount of time. It was more than enough to surpass anyone and everyone at the same level, and as August showcased upon his return, he had done exactly that.

    He had only attacked Wilhelm once so far, and with a punch at that, but he made the Liqua n genius'' hairs stand on their ends. Panic and fear were emotions that Wilhelm had never felt before in his life.

    Not until this moment.

    And how did he respond¡­?

 Chapter 1757 Vengeance [2].

    Chapter 1757 Vengeance [2].

    Naturally, his first instinct wasn''t to steal himself and fight so he could escape or defeat August. His first instinct was to use any means possible to get the other genius away from him.

    "Come out!"

    He screamed in a panic as he backed away.

    August was already turning to look at him again. He was purposefully moving slowly so that Wilhelm could observe the intent behind his every action. Perhaps it was a way to taunt or torture him, but it actually worked in Wilhelm''s favor.

    He discovered that August was still alive through a certain source in another Holy n. The information was nted for an unknown reason, but once Wilhelm confirmed it with his own people, he immediately made a n.

    Rather than telling his elders so they could send someone who was overqualified to kill August, he wanted to do it himself and earn the glory.

    As such, he gathered many people under hismand and made the expedition himself under the pretext of fighting for the crown.

    His ns never went awry, so he wasn''t worried. Still, he had to watch out for even the slightest possibility that he would die.

    He brought insurance. He would not die as long as a Holy Dragon didn''t appear, and considering how they felt about August, why would they help him?

    It was a simple method. It was the same method that everyone in his n loved so much.

    When Wilhelm screamed, a shadow came out of the wall and manifested into the form of a person. That person''s eyes were hollow, but he had an air around him that only the highest authorities in a Holy n could possess.

    That person was not a living being anymore. At most, he was a puppet. However, he was not a puppet that Wilhelm could create or control. Instead, it belonged to his father and contained a trace of his will.

    Its only job was to protect him against any and all enemies. In this case, August was the person standing on the other side. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Wilhelm was already preparing to gloat when the puppet appeared, but he was not given the chance.

    After all, August prepared insurance too, didn''t he?

    He specifically added a thirteenth person to their group with the sole purpose of preparing for the worst.

    Unfortunately, that person only agreed to help if he was in danger of dying.

    August made the assumption back then that he would be fighting alongside his people, so he figured that the enemies they faced would be taken care of in the same breath as his.

    That, obviously, did not happen.

    Still, it was enough that he was moving now.

    OOOOOOOOOOH!

    A huge sound filled the area. It did note from nearby. From its echo, one could deduce that it was created in the underwater ravine beyond the cave system, but how did it still contain so much power when it arrived this far into the earth?

    That bellow froze everyone in the cavern at the same time. Wilhelm''s dark helper turned to face it, and, ignoring August, it chased the source.

    After all, it was merely a puppet. It determined that there was a greater threat to Wilhelm''s life outside, so it left.

    Wilhelm himself, on the other hand, was left in August''s hands.

    "What did you do?!" he screamed.

    "I brought a friend to talk to yours."

    That was the extent of the exnation August was willing to give.

    In the next moment, he was already in front of Wilhelm with his fist extended.

    BOOOOOM!

    WIlhelm''s strength had never been properly defined. Though dragons had ess to the system, they didn''t really use it the same way that humans did. After all, not many dragons focused on creating their own skills. They also measured strength differently. They used the same markers, but levels were meaningless in their eyes.

    To put it simply, Wilhelm''s strength was above Eris'' enough to make her wary but not enough for him to defeat her without a prolonged battle.

    If one looked at his level, he would be somewhere around level 375.

    Then, what about August now that he had left the hidden realm?

    He could definitely defeat Eris in some minutes at most, and if his level had to be estimated¡­

    ¡­then he would already be at level 399, just on the cusp of the 9 revolutions. With his ability to fight above his ss, he could disy power beyond that number.

    What was taking ce now was less of a battle and more of a beatdown. Wilhelm, who was once an enemy August could only strive to defeat, was just a doll for him to abuse now.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Though he could have ended it faster by using his abilities, August only expressed physical strength against his enemy. He used extreme speed to take away Wilhelm''s chance to counterattack and extreme power to cause as much pain as possible.

    Wilhelm couldn''t feel anything but pain. His vision was blurry. The cave swayed from side to side as his head was snapped left and right by August''s fists. His elevation changed asionally, but he hardly realized as his vision blurred further when his skull mmed against the roof of the cave.

    He couldn''t make a sound other than the guttural and unreplicable sound his throat made as he was flung around.

    With a powerful kick, August pushed Wilhelm out of the cavern and into the system of tunnels that led there.

    Wilhelm''s body was covered in blood. At this point, it was hard for him to even register pain anymore, but August didn''t care in the slightest.

    BOOOOOM!

    With a powerful kick, August pushed Wilhelm out of the cavern and into the system of tunnels that led there.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Every time hended, August appeared to kick him again, breaking his ribs and causing heaps of internal bleeding.

    However, August did not want Wilhelm to die yet.

    Even from a nce, he saw how bad his friends'' injuries were. They had suffered so much because of him. August needed to make him suffer just as much.

    BOOOOM!

    One more powerful kick threw the now limp body of Wilhelm Liqua out of the cave system entirely and into the underwater ravine.

    Well, it wasn''t a ravine anymore. The entire structure had been destroyed. The remains of the ravine were now just a deeper part of the ocean. That was why, when Wilhelm''s body entered it, he immediately started healing.

    August specifically used the sea''s power to bring him back to full health.

    A physical beating was only step one.

    In his state of absolute rage, all of August''s mental faculties were focused only on finding ways to make Wilhelm suffer for as long as possible.

    He who was always praised for his mind had a moral code that led him to always prioritize the safety of his allies over the damage he could do to his enemies.

    However, in this moment, he had lost all that qualified him to be a hero.

    August Void had be a spirit of vengeance.

    And¡­

    If he kept down this path, then it was unknown whether he could find a way back to the light.

    The four observers who followed the battle with their eyes and awareness were stunned.

    They had never seen August act without bounds before. They never imagined that a boy so young could carry within him a monster capable of inflicting such damage.

    In the end, he was still a practitioner.

    There wasn''t a single practitioner in this world who could really live only for others, forsaking killing and pursuing reform.

    No matter how much August wanted it to be otherwise, he would always be someone carrying darkness within him. That kind of person could never be a light for others.

    That was what they thought.

    But¡­were they correct?

    It still remained to be seen.

    After all, though he looked like he didn''t have an ounce of reasoning left in his body, that was not true.

    August was very aware of what he was doing.

    And, even in this moment, he had a n to save everyone.

 Chapter 1758 Vengeance [3]

    Chapter 1758 Vengeance [3]

    The destruction of Wilhelm Liqua took ce over three separate stages.

    The first stage was physical. His body was beaten and bruised by the fists of another until even his mind could no longer function properly.

    The second stage was energy. August took Wilhelm into the seas and used their sheer power to once again mutte the body of his enemy.

    All of the surrounding water was under his control. Even if Wilhelm was able to find the mind to counterattack, he would not be able to wrestle control away from August.

    This was an environment filled with his element. However, it was an environment where he had no ess to mana whatsoever.

    In this ce, water invaded his veins and polluted his blood. It went up his nostrils and into his brain, turning into multiple tiny des that cut into the fleshy interior of that organ, slowly taking away its ability to function.

    In the process, Wilhelm lost his ability to feel fear, panic, and pain. He lost his memory and lost his understanding of why he was being tortured. However, that was exactly what August wanted. Wilhelm in his current state had regained consciousness. Though he could not directly feel the results of his torture, his soul was more than aware of what was happening and forced him to feel the things he could not feel through his body.

    One might wonder how August could possibly create a third stage of destruction at this point. Wilhelm was nearly crippled in both mind and body. His methods were already cruel and unusual until now, but if he continued at this point, he would only be tormenting a living corpse for his own amusement. That was why the third stage was a matter of the soul.

    August didn''t have any ess to the soul, so he couldn''t directly target Wilhelm in that aspect. However, he had his means. Damien had equipped him with several artifacts. Some of them could be catastrophic if misused.

    August disyed the power of one of those artifacts to read Wilhelm''s soul fluctuations. With the data he received, he precisely attacked Wilhelm in the physical ne so that his soul would enter a state of eternal suffering. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Once enough trauma was induced in a person who had been driven into such a tragic state, their soul would rey that memory over and over again, as it was the only thing left for it to remember.

    August was violent. Far too violent to be the same person he once was. By the time he finished tormenting Wilhelm, the other genius'' body bore not a single resemnce to either a human or a dragon. Several of Wilhelm''s organs were floating through the open seas. His flesh and bones had been restructured until he was the same kind of grotesque puppet as Estavian.

    August was getting revenge. That much was true. However, in his mind, he was also dishing out justice.

    A justice that was long overdue, for the people who had been tormented by Wilhelm in his twenty-something years of life.

    The number of victims under his belt was in the tens of thousands at the very least. August didn''t even know how many others had been destroyed and transformed like Estavian, but he knew just how manymoners had mysteriously disappeared for the sake of Wilhelm''s experiments and whims.

    He didn''t care if his actions couldn''t be justified by such matters. He didn''t care if others saw him as a monster who was unforgiving to the extreme when it came to his enemies.

    He did what he felt that he needed to do.

    The main lesson he learned from his father, the one thing Damien made absolutely sure that August internalized before he left, was to follow his heart.

    Whatever he felt was right, he couldn''t question. If it was right to him, then others didn''t matter. Not unless they were people whose opinions August valued.

    Did he value the opinions of anyone observing his actions?

    Not in the slightest.

    And¡­

    Once he brought his friends back to full health, he didn''t need to mention this particr event.

    August stood there and stared at Wilhelm''s remains.

    He said all of that, but he couldn''t lie and say he wasn''t feeling empty.

    In the back of his mind, he was feeling disgusted by his own hypocrisy.

    How could he do something like this and act like he was different from the people he criticized?

    Was everything he stood for just a front to hide a madman who loved the taste of blood?

    It was obviously a meaningless thought, but how was August supposed to know that? Despite all the time dtions he''d been through and all the things he''d experienced, he was only sixteen years old.

    He was questioning himself, questioning his values, and questioning the world. This was the natural behavior of a young practitioner who was still finding his way.

    If he had to bepared with the father he viewed as his idol when he was the same age, then¡­

    Well, at sixteen, Damien was doing nothing but wallowing in self-pity and trying to survive, so August was definitely in a better ce.

    Still, he had a path of his own to walk, and to do so properly, moments like these where he doubted himself and reaffirmed his will were necessary.

    Nevertheless, as August''s rage faded and the emptiness swallowed him, he stood nkly in the sea for several seconds. If it wasn''t for his attention being grabbed by an approaching presence, then it likely would have continued for longer.

    "Senior¡­"

    August slightly bowed to that being.

    Since he was here, Wilhelm''s helper was also dead. It wasn''t like he stood a chance in the first ce.

    In a sense, the man who aided August was also an Ancient Dragon, but he was on apletely different level.

    He had lived for several million years at the very least. His form in the water was more like that of a whale than a dragon, but his lineage could not be ignored. He, as the person who stood above all of the Sea Tribes as their supreme ancestor, was a being that even the Holy Dragons needed to be wary of. His presence was exactly what secured the seas.

    It took a lot for August to convince him to help, but since he was already here, he was doing his job properly.

    "That puppet has been in. It seems you have taken care of your enemy as well."

    His voice was transmitted through every ounce of water, making the molecules vibrate.

    August nodded slightly, his mind still focused on other things.

    He was lucky to have someone present to remind him of what was important.

    "Regardless of what kind of battle you are fighting internally, it can wait. Child, do you not have more important matters to attend to?"

    August''s eyes widened.

    Right, he''d forgotten. He hated himself for forgetting, but that was what had happened.

    He needed to return to the cavern as soon as possible.

    Otherwise, Mnia and the rest would die.

    August put all of his mental issues aside. In the end, his doubts were just doubts.

    The friends who protected him and used their lives as shields to keep his enemies away were far, far more important.

    Right now, they were the ones who deserved all his attention.

 Chapter 1759 Vengeance [4]

    Chapter 1759 Vengeance [4]

    August rushed back into the cavern as fast as he possibly could. Hepletely ignored the five observers who were watching his every move. He didn''t know exactly how to feel about them yet, so it wasn''t worth acknowledging their presence. When he reached the cavern, he took a quick look around to determine everyone''s situation. Juno would be fine as long as he kept healing with the water. Valerie looked okay on the outside, but her aura was much weaker than normal. That was something August needed to look into.

    Yuna was close to the edge of death, but she had used a skill to seal her blood flow. Once the sword was removed from her stomach and she was introduced to the healing effects of the surrounding water, she was brought back to an eptable state. As long as she received proper treatment soon, she would be fine. Raul hadn''t taken much physical damage. He was merely exhausted beyond belief. As for Mika¡­the healing water didn''t seem to help her much, but if her issue was a mental one, then the solution to her problem was elsewhere.

    Still, even Mika saw some progress when her body was submerged in the water. Her eyes were still cloudy, but herplexion was far better and her body seemed to be in good condition. The only onepletely unaffected by the effect was Mnia.

    The ck lines on her skin didn''t fade. Rather, she had turned a different shade of green as the poison gripped her harder.

    August rushed over and felt her pulse.

    "Mnia!"

    No answer.

    ''Tch.''

    He knew what was devouring her instantly upon feeling the flow of her blood. However, it wasn''t a known poison. It had definitely been made for the sole purpose of this attack. August couldn''t find a solution in the small amount of time he had. Mnia really only had seconds left. Her hands were limp, and though he was right in front of her, she couldn''t seem to recognize his presence. ''I have no choice.''

    August put his hand to his chest.

    He gritted his teeth and stabbed his fingers into his own flesh. He dug three inches deep until he touched a piece of metal that should not have been there. This was an artifact he was never supposed to use, let alone tell people about. This was an artifact that would set the world ame if its existence was publicized, as such, it could only be used a single time.

    Damien inserted it into August''s body while he was asleep to ensure a painless procedure. The next morning, he told August of its presence, but he didn''t tell him where it was.

    That was something August learned on his own as he fought the First Dragon Emperor.

    As he died over and over and over, his chest pulsed as if something that was meant to happen was being forbidden. The First Dragon Emperor was actually the one who told him exactly what that feeling was, and though August nned to exploit it for his own benefit in the future, he couldn''t do that anymore.

    He closed his fist around the metallic object and ripped it out of his chest without hesitation. He ignored the blood leaking from the gaping wound he created as he created water to clean the artifact and make it pure again. The moment it was withdrawn from his body, it no longer considered him its owner.

    Instead¡­

    August pressed the artifact into Mnia''s chest. It shined as it recognized the flesh it was ced against, and on its own, it moved into her body.

    Instantly, her entire body was covered in the same light.

    The use of this artifact was simple, and this simplicity gave August an absolute certainty that it would work as intended.

    Its one and only use: to save its owner from death.

    No matter what kind of situation they were in, no matter how close to a corpse they were, as long as it was in their body, they would be healed back to their peak state.

    It was meant to be August''s life-saving card. In the rare situation where he was on death''s door and Damien couldn''t help him, it would be the factor that made it so August would never meet his fate before his time truly came.

    However, he had sacrificed that life-saving device for Mnia''s sake. If he had to do it again, he would do it without hesitation.

    "Khhhh!"

    The only problem was that the flesh he gouged out of his body couldn''t be healed easily. As the artifact was directly connected to his life force and he forcefully removed it, his life force was currently refusing to flow into that area of his body.

    The wound in his chest had already ckened from necrosis, but he wasn''t worried.

    ''It''ll heal eventually.''

    He knew he wouldn''t die before he found his way to a proper healer.

    The most important thing was that the dark lines that covered Mnia''s body were rapidly fading. Her skin was losing its greenish color and returning to its original luster.

    She had not awoken yet, but it was just a matter of time before she did.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    August smiled wryly. He didn''t realize how distant he''d be from mortality. After five years of not being allowed to die and an entire life knowing that he would always be saved before death, he had forgotten what it felt like to be so close to death.

    It was an odd feeling, an empty yet relieving one. August eventually had to stand on his own, didn''t he? He spent too long under his father''s protective umbre. Now that he was an Emperor''s Sessor and someone who would lead the dragon people in the future, August needed to be self-reliant.

    It was definitely nice to have a backer as strong as Damien, but it could definitely be inhibiting if August decided that independence wasn''t a necessity.

    Rather than falling into a pit that would leave him as someone who could never improve, August would much rather take a stand on his own, even if he had to fall over and over before finding sess.

    Now that Mnia''s situation was secured, August could let go of his greatest worry.

    He moved from person to person, checking on his friends until he''d done an in-depth analysis of all of them.

    The only person he really had to worry about was Mika, but even she had just sustained a heavy mental shock. With the help of a dragon with psychic tendencies, she could be easily brought back to consciousness. There was only a single remaining concern.

    August nced around and ced his hand on the cave floor. Under his influence, the entire area was turned into a fortress that would protect his friends for just a few more minutes.

    In the meantime, there was somewhere he needed to go.

    After all, Wilhelm wasn''t his only enemy. Wilhelm was just the most important one. Other than his five observers, there was only one person left who had been forgotten since the beginning of the battle.

    But that was because he''d disappeared exactly then.

    Just because he was focused on Wilhelm didn''t mean he had forgotten the main perpetrator who allowed such a tragic event to happen.

    That man who stood with Wilhelm when he was meant to be on the ground with the rest¡­ n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    August was now going to confront Lucas Stroll.

 Chapter 1760 Succession [1]

    Chapter 1760 Session [1]

    When the world faded into darkness, Mnia thought she was dead.

    Thest thing she saw through the small space left in her viting vision was August''s figure covered in light. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    She wanted to smile and wee him back, joking about something random as they confronted their enemies together. She wanted to have some sort of reaction to wee him back from whatever realm he''d gone to.

    Unfortunately, she could not.

    After watching all of the rest of her friends fall one by one in her paralyzed state, Mnia was sent into the ckness. Her consciousness was enveloped by the murky waters of the underworld as she unwillingly bathed in their current. If only a bit more time passed, she''d finally be able to let go of this life and pass over like everyone else.

    In her mind, all possibilities of survival were gone now. Mnia didn''t want to give up hope. She wanted to grab onto every tiny rope she could find if it meant that she could live for even a few seconds longer.

    However, the ropes in the sky above were all frayed. She grabbed and climbed, grabbed and climbed, but all she gained was an inconsequential amount of time. Looking back at it, there was never a reason to resist. She willingly threw herself into the jaws of death for August''s sake. Since she was able to see him safely return to the world before she died, she should have just been content.

    Most people in her situation would die before they saw if their sacrifice meant anything.

    Still, Mnia wanted to be selfish.

    She wanted to be the person who saved him, but she also wanted to live and see what happened afterward.

    Even as her soul disappeared into the embrace of samsara, she looked into the sky, hoping for a miracle.

    And it arrived.

    Somehow, her prayers had been answered.

    The darkness above that could only be considered a sky because there was a sea below; in that ce, a golden light shone. It formed a pair of wings like those of an angel surrounding a circr runic symbol that she''d never seen before.

    As its light illuminated her soul, the pieces that were fading into a haze became corporeal again. The murky water that was up to her hips by now receded along with the ckness. Warmth filled Mnia''s soul, and subtly, she once again felt a connection to the physical ne.

    Her body¡­

    She didn''t realize that her soul had been separated from it until she gained it back. The tactile feeling of her nerves firing signals in every direction, of her mana flowing through her veins, and of her heart beating powerfully was an unimaginably beautiful feeling to her.

    She had almost died.

    However, her vitality told her that she was alive. The angel who saved her from the darkness assured her that she''d live.

    The process of cleansing Mnia''s body took several minutes even for the heavenly artifact. Not only was her physical body practically dead already, but her soul was nearing the border to the beyond and needed to be retrieved from the grasp of samsara.

    It was possible as she hadn''tpletely died yet, but she really didn''t have any more time. With a few more seconds, even the artifact wouldn''t have been able to save her.

    Nevertheless, to Mnia, it felt like no time at all. She was so deeply enveloped in warmth that she could not register time. The only thing her mind saw was the beauty of life, the beauty of being returned to the world.

    And though the real world could never be as morous as it was in her head, none of that mattered.

    Mnia opened her eyes and saw a destroyed cavern filled with water. It was dark, damp, and disgusting.

    However,pared to the murky waters of the underworld, the bloody waters of reality were far more enticing.

    Compared to the dark sky of that ce, even the dreary rocks above had a kind of majesty that couldn''t be exined.

    Looking down at her own hand as it responded to her desires and gripped itself over and over again, Mnia smiled.

    ''I¡­I''m back.''

    She couldn''t stop the tears from falling. She hugged her knees and cried happily, celebrating her return from that ce.

    It was scary.

    It was so much more terrifying than she expected. Just like August, Mnia had died many times in a realm where she was invincible. As such, she had lost her fear of death.

    She was able to run into danger without qualms specifically because she''d done it so many times, but now that she had experienced what true death felt like, she didn''t know if she would continue to be reckless.

    The hopelessness waspletely unlike what one felt when dying in a realm like that. The realization that nothing could be done, that even having consciousness was meaningless for anything other than realizing one''s own insignificance.

    She didn''t understand exactly why she''d lived, but now wasn''t the time to question it.

    She cried for no more than two minutes before she got herself together and stood up. It was only then that she noticed there was a barrier separating her from the cavern. Looking around, she saw that everyone else was enveloped by simr barriers.

    Mnia sensed the strength flowing through her body. Her mana, which had been destroyed by the poison, was back.

    As such, she easily popped the barrier and stepped into the water-logged cavern.

    All around, the others were waking up too. Valerie was already standing. As was Juno. Those two never lost consciousness, so they saw what August was doing from the start. Of course, August assumed that they were focused on healing, but he was not correct.

    The things he was nning to keep hidden from others had already been revealed, though the two who watched didn''t n to mention it.

    Yuna had awoken. She checked the wound on her stomach in surprise and looked around to see everyone else.

    Raul was the same. Whether it was by coincidence or design, all of them woke up and looked around to see the rest doing the same. And though August was not present, there was definitely a ce for all of them to turn their attention.

    Valerie''s hands shook as she saw the face of the friend she thought she''d lost.

    "Mnia!" She yelled in shock and bewilderment.

    Mnia smiled. This time, she was able to hear her name being called.

    "Yeah, I''m here."

    She responded warmly. It was all she really got the chance to say. After all, in that same moment, Valerie charged in and hugged her with all her might.

    It was a reunion both of them thought impossible, but one that was allowed to happen through a collection of miracles.

    The two of them, no, everyone in this cavern had chosen to sacrifice themselves to help their friends. In the end, when thoughts of escaping left their minds, they did everything they could to kill as many enemies as possible before going down themselves so the rest didn''t have to face as much.

    In the moment of battle, all of them wondered if now was really the time to die. None of them held such thoughts, but as death filled their minds, they were forced to wonder if it was really worth it to do all of this for the sake of others.

    However, all of them came to the same conclusion. Standing here now, none of them doubted themselves in the slightest.

    Right, each and every one of them tried to sacrifice themselves for the rest. That meant that each and every one of these people was a cherishedrade and a trusted friend.

    For the sake of the people who would do the same for them, why would they hesitate?

    As everyone gathered and began conversing about random topics, d to be alive, theirst member also arrived.

    It had been too long since they hadst talked.

    Wasn''t it about time for August to reunite with his friends?

 Chapter 1761 Succession [2]

    Chapter 1761 Session [2]

    "It''s good to see all of you healthy," he said with a smile on his face.

    "I can say the same to you, you bastard!"

    Juno grinned and jumped on him, ruffling his hair.

    "I had to go through a lot of shit for you. You better properly repay meter."

    "What do you want?" August asked with an exasperated sigh.

    "You know already."

    He did. There was only one thing Juno would ever ask for in a situation like this.

    "Fine," August said. "But only this one time."

    Juno grinned. "You won''t be disappointed."

    "What are you two talking about?"

    The rest also approached. Valerie was the one who asked the question, but the rest were also wondering. After all, August was acting like he was about to do something he really didn''t want to do. It was surprising to see such a reaction from him.

    Unfortunately, Juno wasn''t going to give them an answer.

    "That''s a secret. If I tell you all about it, then he really won''t do it."

    Naturally, it was a statement that made the rest even more curious, but Juno was already in the process of crisis diversion.

    "By the way, it''s pretty obvious that you healed us, but what about Mika?"

    None of them were particrly worried.

    When August entered and acted like them being fine was normal, they understood that he didn''t want to concentrate on his own good deeds. As such, none of them brought up Mnia, who should have been dead.

    August had put another shirt on, so they couldn''t see the ck scar on his chest. He didn''t n to show it to them either.

    As long as Mnia was fine, nothing more needed to be said. It was something they all silently agreed upon. Mika''s case was different. They didn''t necessarily worry. As they''d had some minutes before August''s arrival, they had also taken the time to understand her situation.

    A mental shock of the level she received couldn''t be solved by people of their level, which was definitely not something they liked to see. However, Juno and Raul gave the rest assurance that it wouldn''t be a problem.

    After all, the solution to Mika''s problem was in her own n. Her grandmother would easily be able to bring her back, so what was the use in worrying about her?

    For now, it was better to let her rest and cure her mental fatigue. By the time she awakened, the world would be at peace.

    August exined that to them as well, and afterward, he found a ce to naturally segue into the elephant in the room.

    "...by the way, I grabbed him and incapacitated him to find out the truth. He sumbed eventually, probably because his backer is a corpse. I wanted to kill him when he told me what he did, but I figured it was better to leave it to you guys."

    He threw Lucas at them. Hended on the floor with a subtle thump. He was stillpletely fine in both mind and body. Only, August had blocked his ability to move or speak.

    Thetter of those was given back to him as he was thrown.

    "Right, this guy."

    Valerie frowned.

    He was the cause of everything to an extent. Without his betrayal, Wilhelm wouldn''t have found the opportunity to catch them off guard and trap them.

    And, he was the reason why a certain member of their team was turned useless.

    She was still in the cavern. In fact, she was watching them as they spoke.

    However, not a single other person acknowledged her presence.

    The others experienced it personally. August learned it through Lucas and confirmed it through the others'' behavior.

    Ophelia had left them to die. Because she was busy pitying herself, she refused to lend a hand in such a desperate situation. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    She was free to do whatever she wanted. She was her own person, after all. If she wanted to sit there and die, then she could do it on her own.

    Just, if that was the person she decided to be, then she no longer had anything to do with their group.

    She lost the privilege of calling them friends. As for what she would do with herself from here on, she could figure it out herself.

    The only assured thing was that it would have nothing to do with them, and it would have nothing to do with Lucas.

    This was his moment to die. August did well to bring him in front of the people he betrayed. They had quite a few words they wanted to say to him.

    As the world was filled with a variety of curses and the disgusting sounds of a dragon being beaten and killed, August looked outside and began to wonder.

    ''How is it going out there?''

    They faced many setbacks before reaching their goal. Was it the same outside?

    Had the Sea Tribes managed to push the forsaken dragons out of Arulion yet? Had therger battles already started?

    Unknowing of the fact that there was a time dtion separating him from the outside world¡­

    ¡­August was only just worrying about things that happened quite a long time ago.

    ***

    Right, when August was three years into his trial against the First Dragon Emperor, the battle outside had be one that needed to be viewed in terms of hours, not weeks.

    Hendricks was already being confronted. The Holy ns were gone. The nobles had been prosecuted. Now, enough time had passed for August to exit his trial and solve the situation outside. Naturally, even more time passed in the real world.

    August really brought together too many powerhouses for any individual force to resist. The forsaken dragons were cornered and killed as necessary, and the nobles were quelled until their few hundred ns turned into a few tens instead.

    The nobles were a force that had been scrutinized by the world for a long time, so they couldn''t escape persecution. The forsaken dragons had caused so much pain, but somehow, they didn''t face extermination.

    August had two requests for his helpers.

    The first was to spare noble ns who didn''t deserve to be killed.

    And the second was to only kill the forsaken dragons when it was necessary. Once Hendricks was defeated, the necessity disappeared.

    They were ced in a prison with their strengthpletely suppressed as they awaited trial for their misdeeds.

    Not many people understood why August wanted to give them a chance, but it wasn''t their problem. They were just following orders, after all.

    The forsaken dragons were taken away. The nobles were gone. There was nothing else holding the kingdom back.

    The people had now been awakened to their new bloodlines, and with their berserk states dispelled, they were now free to do as they wished with the gift they''d received. The poption rose rapidly as well with the many dragonkin who became True Dragons and joined the kingdom''s people.

    Arulion was in ruins, but it was more peaceful than it had been for the past month at the very least.

    And, to bring a true end to the crisis that struck them, a single dragon rose from the ashes.

    With wings that were no longer filled with holes, with a form filled with vitality rather than one that was withered, the Dragon Emperor took his ce in the sky.

    He no longer had to fear the Holy ns.

    That freedom meant the world to him.

    In order to give his kingdom something to remember him by, something other than his failures, he showed himself in front of them today.

    Because after this day, his throne would be someone else''s to bear.

 Chapter 1762 Succession [3]

    Chapter 1762 Session [3]

    It was not a projection of him, but the Dragon Emperor himself.

    He did not try to hide his form. As such, he wasrge enough to cover the whole kingdom with his wings alone.

    He stood upright, using his wings to keep himself hovering in the sky. With his size, even those at the very edges of the kingdom could see him.

    "My people¡­you may not recognize me as it has been many years since I have shown my face to the public."

    He started with quite a downying statement. Everyone knew what the draconic appearance of the Emperor was even if they hadn''t seen it in person. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Even if they hadn''t, his face had been broadcasted across the kingdom just some weeks ago, so how could they forget?

    Some people were still trying to find the crown he told them to chase, but his appearance now made it clear that it had already been imed.

    "Many of you may be wondering why I have appeared. In part, it is indeed to acknowledge the sessor who has gained the approval of the Emperor''s crown. However, I have alsoe to reveal a truth to you all, a truth that has been kept hidden for dozens of millions of years."

    Zenith had three objectives in his appearance. The first was to calm the public and end the ongoing war. The second was to bring August to the podium and have him recognized by the kingdom as its future ruler, and the third¡­

    The third was to apologize with all of his heart and tell the world about what had been kept in the shadows for so long.

    "Dragons were never meant to be lowly beings. Dragons were never meant to have such a strict system that kept us contained within the same bubble that humans and other races upy. By nature, we are independent, but in the past, the Dragon Emperors had a dream of bringing our kind together and creating a haven for it to thrive."

    "The First Dragon Emperor followed this ideology, and many who came after him, such as Emperor Qinglong who has been forgotten in history, attempted to do the same."

    "Unfortunately, power is a corrupting force. While many Emperors did try to lead this kingdom and create the utopia it was meant to be, the majority decided to instead lead it into ruin."

    As themon people watched, the Dragon Emperor told them everything.

    He revealed the schemes of the Holy Dragons and the Holy ns. He revealed how every good emperor was destroyed and defamed, and he revealed how the people were oppressed until their bloodlines thinned into nothing.

    Everything that had ever been done, every bit of misconstrued history was being rewritten as it was always meant to be in his speech. It was to the extent that themon people couldn''t even be angry.

    They listened silently as they learned the history of Arulion. They scorned the Holy ns in their minds and pitied the people who tried to do good. They wondered why it was being revealed now and what it meant for their future.

    Zenith knew that giving them too much information was never a good thing. If they wanted to learn, then he just needed to make the information easily essible. At this moment, he only told them what they needed to know so as not to overwhelm them with too much world-shattering knowledge. "...the forsaken dragons who invaded our home; even they are nothing more than victims of the Holy ns, forced to act on an instinct ced in their body without consent."

    "I do not mean to defend them, nor do I mean to downy their sins. However, you all must know the truth before deciding on their punishment."

    It was something that needed to be mentioned, but not something that needed to be focused on. The Dragon Emperor continued his speech, saying a few more things before bringing it to a conclusion.

    "Now, along with the nobles and the corrupt authorities of our dear kingdom, the Holy ns have also been quelled. There will no longer be such a thing as oppression in Arulion! Under my reign as long as it willst, under the reign of those who will follow me, there will only be prosperity for dragons!"

    "I have failed you as an Emperor, for I was suppressed by the Holy ns and forced to watch as you all suffered in silence. I know that I cannot make up for my wrongdoings through just a simple gesture, but I would still like to offer an apology."

    The Dragon Emperor looked to his side, a gesture that went unnoticed by the masses who watched him.

    However, by the time his head turned back to face them, energy was already spreading through the kingdom.

    The dragon people looked down at their own bodies in wonder. The wounds they''d umted, both new and old, regardless of severity, healed as if by a miracle of the heavens.

    They couldn''tprehend how their Emperor managed to do something so miraculous, but the gesture definitely helped cement his position in their hearts.

    Even the most average individual understood that such power could not be disyed without sacrifice. If he was willing to take that risk for their sake, why would he lie to them? Why would he mislead them?

    The Dragon Emperor may not have been able to support them, but they were living so deeply in oppression that they didn''t realize what it felt like until they gained bloodlines of their own.

    Now that he had returned with such a promise, they were willing to wait and see how he delivered on his ims.

    "I am truly sorry," Zenith said sincerely.

    "From this point forth, I will only be your Emperor in name. I will dedicate the rest of my life to training the boy who has be my sessor, the descendant of the 5th Dragon Emperor, the Azure Dragon Emperor, August Void."

    A projection appeared in front of the world. They saw a stage that was empty at first, but within a few moments, a blue light of transportation brought a group of people to stand on it.

    The boy at their head, with dark blue hair and eyes, looked around in slight confusion. He was teleported in front of a crowd that had gathered around the Dragon Emperor''s body. At first, he didn''t know how to react, but he was lucky enough to hear Zenith''s final words as he arrived.

    He firmed his expression and looked into the crowd.

    He could hear their cheers clearly. They were saying his name, screaming it with hope for the future he would bring them.

    Judging from their expressions, the words that needed to be said had already been spoken. There was nothing left for August to do but greet them.

    He smiled as he felt their embrace. The feeling that ran hot through the crowd, the feeling of finally having a chance, was intoxicating. August had big dreams for the dragon kingdom. He always did, from the moment he was old enough to choose his path.

    He was always looking for ways to improve Arulion, so he knew exactly what to do when he became the Emperor.

    His only worry was that the people weren''t ready for change.

    Now, there was much he didn''t understand, August was still unaware of the fact that the Holy ns had been taken care of.

    However, seeing the spirit his future people possessed, his final worry disappeared.

    This was a people ready for change, a people who would actively contribute to the benefit of their kingdom.

    As such, there was only one thing for him to do.

    August bowed, the smile never leaving his face.

    After everything he and his friends had been through, it was an extremely refreshing feeling toe back to a kingdom at peace.

    Only¡­

    It couldn''t be truly appreciated until they learned how it was able to reach this point.

 Chapter 1763 Succession [4]

    Chapter 1763 Session [4]

    August and his friends had minimal participation in the ceremony. It was indeed mostly August''s effort that saved the kingdom, but that wasn''t for themon people to know quite yet.

    The information would be released slowly as August''s reputation grew. For now, it was best to introduce him and keep his feats to what he aplished in the heir wars. That event turned August into a voice for themoners. As he showed a performance that surpassed all of the other geniuses in thepetition, people rallied behind him and became more confident in themselves.

    The reason themon people were able to stand up and fight was also because of people like August, Valerie, Mnia, and the rest. If it weren''t for them, the spirit of hope would have never nted its seed in their bodies.

    August was a young genius in their eyes, not a tactical mind capable of gathering forces to suppress all enemies in the kingdom. If the fact that the Sea Tribes and Wood Dragon n were August''s allies rather than the Dragon Emperor''s came out now, it would only spread fear.

    After all, someone with such connections couldn''t just be amoner, right? Was his presence just a ploy to gain their trust while their regime changed into one that was equally as bad as its predecessor?

    The kingdom had just gained a semnce of peace. It was important to retain it for as long as possible without giving any reason for evil or malicious thoughts to rise again.

    Nevertheless, that particr part wasn''t what confused August and the rest.

    August''s group was led off of the stage after a few minutes by a member of the Dragon Emperor''s posse. He was a familiar face, as he was an integral part of the tournament administration before. Everyone present had been there when August exined the overall n. In their eyes, when they exited the cavern, they would have to join the war and help bring it into its final stages.

    What was all of this about the war being over?

    Why did everyone look so happy?

    Did someone say the Holy ns were gone?

    Just what was happening?

    August''s group was led off of the stage after a few minutes by a member of the Dragon Emperor''s posse. He was a familiar face, as he was an integral part of the tournament administration before. He took them into a nearby tunnel before he started exining the majority of what took ce. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Aside from some more sensitive elements that needed to be exined by the Emperor himself, August''s group was able to gain aprehensive understanding of the events outside during the ten-minute walk to their destination.

    ''So it was a time dtion.''

    The attendant didn''t explicitly state it, but he told a story thatsted over a month, which made it more than obvious.

    It made sense for the war to progress more if a time dtion gave it more time to do so, but there were several questionable things.

    ''First of all, the Holy ns disappeared.''

    ''Second of all, the Holy Dragons disappeared.''

    ''Third of all, the Dragon Emperor healed an entire kingdom''s worth of people?''

    In August''s opinion, there was no possible way for these three things to take ce. It didn''t matter what level the Dragon Emperor was at. Even Alcharist Revell wouldn''t be able to easily aplish a feat like that. If the Dragon Emperor was capable of producing miracles, then he never would have been suppressed by the Holy ns in the first ce.

    Speaking of those Holy ns, wasn''t it impractical for them to be gone? Why were the geniuses that he was interacting with in the cavern not part of the vanished group?

    Did someone¡­kill everyone in the Holy ns? From the elders to the children; from those cruel to those innocent?

    August didn''t like it at all. He was d that the kingdom was in a peaceful state, but until all of his questions reached closure, he wouldn''t be able to ept it.

    ''Anyway, I''m being taken to meet the Dragon Emperor himself, so I might as well just ask.''

    Indeed, the original tunnel somehow opened into a grand space made fully of a white mineral-like building material. There were golden arches hundreds of feet high that still weren''t able to reach the dome-shaped ss skylight that was the roof.

    It was an unreasonably detailed structure with countless natural mimicries making up its architectural design. It had to have taken hundreds of years to build, likely why there wasn''t much furniture on the floor to fill in space.

    Rather, there was onerge roundtable that could seat up to sixty people. At the current moment, there weren''t anywhere near sixty people at that table.

    The Dragon Emperor, Zenith Aurora. He, in his human form, sat at its head. In the seats next to him were an array of familiar figures.

    Alcharist Revell, the executive members of all thirteen Sea Tribes, Oskar Piana and the representatives of Bastille, and most importantly¡­

    ''...Dad.''

    August breathed out a sigh. He didn''t know if it was relief or something else, but his father''s presence pretty much exined everything.

    The elements that he couldn''t handle himself were taken care of in his stead. He was definitely grateful, as he didn''t have nearly enough time or power to take down the Holy ns without being at conflict for years.

    However, he was also a bit regretful.

    In the end, he couldn''t have achieved much without his father''s help, huh?

    "Stop thinking useless things ande sit down. We''ll talk about itter."

    Damien''s voice suddenly rang in August''s ears. He looked at his father for a moment before nodding and doing as he was told. Right, this wasn''t quite the setting to have that conversation.

    Since he''d shown himself here, however, it was clear that he did n to have that conversation with August from the start, so at least that was nice.

    Nevertheless, as August was caught up in his mixed feelings, he and his friends were guided to their seats at the table.

    Most of them were confused. They didn''t personally recognize the Dragon Emperor, and half of them were unaware of what his position really meant, but as they knew what he symbolized either fully or to an extent, they didn''t know how they were supposed to greet him.

    "I am Zenith Aurora, the current Dragon Emperor. It is nice to meet you, my sessor."

    August bowed his head slightly.

    When they were sat at the table without the need to give anything like a greeting, they only became more confused.

    "This is our first time meeting, isn''t it?" Zenith said with a warm smile on his face.

    "I am Zenith Aurora, the current Dragon Emperor. It is nice to meet you, my sessor."

    August bowed his head slightly.

    "It is a pleasure to meet you as well."

    He tried to be as formal as possible. It wasn''t really his strong suit, but he also wasn''t terrible at it like a certain person in the room.

    Zenith nodded.

    "We have alle together today for reasons you are likely already aware of. You have already been crowned my sessor, however, you have yet to ept me as your master. Today, before all of these people. We will host your crowning ceremony and officially grant you that position."

    The people close to August had been gathered, including his father and first master, in order for him to take that next step.

    To take the Dragon Emperor as a master¡­it was an honor for anyone, even someone who had received as many opportunities as August.

    However, as August nced around, a slight frown formed on his face.

    It was definitely to his benefit to immediately agree and go along with the ceremony, but he couldn''t help but feel a little selfish.

    "Sir Emperor," he started. It was definitely an awkward way to call him, but it was enough to convey respect.

    "If it''s possible¡­may I ask for something before we proceed with the ceremony?"

    A request at a time like this.

    The Dragon Emperor was surprised, as were all of his guests.

    Only Damien smiled slightly as he read his son''s intentions. In that moment, only a single thought came to his mind.

    ''His idea of selfishness ispletely different from mine.''

 Chapter 1764 Succession [5]

    Chapter 1764 Session [5]

    "A request, you say?" Zenith repeated curiously.

    "That is right. Before I ept you as a master, I want one thing from you."

    It was a little blunt for someone asking another for a favor, but that was just August''s way of speaking.

    "Alright, then. Let us hear it."

    Zenith entertained his whims. After all, he wasn''t the only one curious about what August was scheming. This room was filled with people who supported him. Rather than feeling offended by his request, they were intrigued by what August possibly coveted enough to use as a reward for taking the throne.

    August nodded, took a deep breath, and spread his arms.

    "As you can see, I havee here with my friends and allies who have helped me immensely in my journey to take that throne. As such, I cannot possibly take the benefits quietly while they are forced to watch from the sidelines. Sir Emperor, instead of just receiving me as your disciple, could you take all of us instead? I would prefer if they received the same treatment so they can grow and achieve their own dreams in the future."

    It was a request that left everyone shocked, even Valerie and the rest.

    It was preposterous to ask a master to take multiple unwanted disciples already. When that master was someone of Zenith''s caliber, it became insane.

    They were all grateful for August''s thoughts, but they really didn''t help him for benefits. The six of them were happy enough seeing him gain recognition like this, but to be mentioned waspletely out of their expectations.

    "To ensure that I heard you clearly, are you asking me to ept six disciples and raise all of you into Holy Dragons?" Zenith asked.

    "Yes. That is the essence of my request," August responded confidently.

    "That is quite bold. How are you certain that I will be able to teach them all? Even you will mainly learn how to lead from me. Your strength training will mostly be taken care of by the memories of your ancestor, no?"

    "Maybe, but it''s enough if they have ess to the same amount of resources as the imperial prince. You can do your best to teach, and if you find that you are ipatible with anyone, then we can just search for teachers who are."

    August looked at his friends with a smile.

    "Whatever path they decide to walk, I want you to support. That is my request."

    Rather than selfish, wasn''t it selfless?

    In a sense, perhaps. However, August posed it in such a way that the Dragon Emperor couldn''t refuse.

    If he was saying that he wouldn''t ept the throne unless his friends also received benefits, then wasn''t it impossible to deny him? Arulion was in desperate need of change. From the moment he was ced in front of that crowd, August had be the face of hope and change.

    It was necessary to have him officially be a sessor and start acting within the kingdom to prove his worth. If he didn''t, the dragon kingdom would likely start moving towards another era of chaos.

    "Hahaha!"

    Zenithughed as he considered it.

    "You are indeed a smart child. I have no choice at all, do I?"

    He sounded exasperated, but it was clearly a friendly tone.

    "Very well then. The friends you have brought with you, including, of course, the child who was taken to the medical center, will receive the same amount of support from Arulion as you do. As long as they stay on paths that do not harm the kingdom, I will spare no expense in aiding them in their journeys. Is that enough?"

    "If it''s sworn on a pact, then it is enough."

    The Dragon Emperor grinned.

    ''Right, it''s his child, after all. This boy already has the necessary framework to lead a people.''

    He did nothing without assurance and leveraged his worth properly in order to gain as much as possible. That was the trait of a businessman, not a ruler, but it still portrayed the ability to make decisions properly.

    If he could do the same thing on arger scale to bring benefits to the kingdom, it was more than enough.

    Their small negotiation was over, which meant all that was left to do was carry out the ceremony and crown August on a broadcast that covered the entire kingdom.

    A momentous asion was about to begin in Arulion.

    It was an event that would heal, an event that would bring the people, both new and old, closer.

    And it was the event that would mark the start of August''s reign over the kingdom.

    His dreams¡­

    ¡­they weren''t so far away anymore, were they?

    ***

    The ceremony wasn''t anything more than that. Even in the culture of dragons, certain official procedures had to be followed for things to be properly recorded. The ceremony gave everyone a defining moment of August being crowned totch onto, which solidified his position.

    It only took half an hour at most. Afterward, August''s friends wanted to barrage him with many questions and words, most of them warm, but they didn''t get the opportunity. August was swiftly whisked away by the Dragon Emperor. It was something they wanted to contest, but Mnia and Valerie held the rest back for one reason.

    "See the man who was walking next to the Emperor? That''s August''s dad."

    Since there was something of a family matter going on, they saved their words forter. They had all the time in the world, after all.

    They allowed some nearby attendants to lead them on a tour of the pce they were in. Meanwhile, August finally received the chance to speak to Damien in private. The Dragon Emperor was present as well, but he was rted to most of what they needed to talk about, so it was fine.

    "Did you heal those people?" he asked.

    "You already knew that, didn''t you?" Damien responded.

    Since his son was older now, he was definitely morefortable speaking casually. He really only had to watch for curses at this point. The rest of his demeanor could easily shine through.

    August nodded without caring much. It made sense. He was only questioning why Damien allowed the Dragon Emperor to pretend like it was his power, but there was probably some deal between them.

    "Did you take care of the Holy Dragons?" he asked next.

    "Nope," Damien responded.

    It seemed August was a bit grumpy at the moment. He understood why, but it really was unwarranted.

    "The Holy Dragons left on their own. If you remember what happened back then, the vaults of the Aureat n were emptied out by¡­someone. Anyway, among those artifacts are the ones that allowed the Holy Dragons to convert the Fate of Arulion and the lineages of its people into their own power. Those artifacts are the reason why themon popce degraded so much over time, and without them, those old dragons will die as their bodies reject their foreign souls."

    "Oh¡­okay?"

    It was more of a bombshell than August expected. Clearly, the schemes in Arulion ran deep. This specific one was solved strangely by an outsider, which was definitely anti-climactic, but¡­

    Well, the Holy Dragons would eventually return in either victory or defeat, right? He just had to make a mental note to prepare for it.

    "Then¡­what about the Holy ns?"

    August''s somewhat cold exterior was definitely melting as his assumptions turned out to be no more than that, but he stood stalwart on what he thought he believed. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien shook his head with a smile.

    ''This brat¡­''

    He obviously cared most about this point, but he refused to admit it.

    "You could say yes or you could say no depending on how you look at it," he responded mysteriously.

    He could tell that his son was feeling extremely disappointed when he returned and found his main enemies gone. He had corralled the Holy ns to support August''s ns, but he didn''t get rid of them, did he?

    Even he knew not to steal other people''s prey.

    Still, he didn''t like that August came back with such an expression. He had been through a lot. Clearly, the world didn''t treat him amazingly. He did so much so that he could stand up to those people and rule the dragon kingdom on his own, both for the people and to make his father proud.

    He could still do that. Damien didn''t want to inhibit his son''s journey.

    But, before he did that, he figured he''d try to lighten the mood a little.

    He looked at Zenith and then back at August.

    "By the way, he''s my subordinate now. I think I forgot to mention that."

    August nodded casually.

    "Oh, the Emperor? Yeah that makes¨C"

    His words were not interrupted. He just realized what he was saying a littlete.

    He looked at his father with eyes as wide as saucers and a mouth wide enough to fit a horse inside.

    "WHO is your WHAT?!"

    A set of words said with such hrity that Damien couldn''t hold in hisughter.

    Really, no matter how he looked at it, there was no better way to react to that kind of information.

 Chapter 1765 Succession [6]

    Chapter 1765 Session [6]

    It was information that was meant to be revealedter, but Damien dropped it suddenly to snap August out of his strange state.

    It was too random, after all. Plus, what reason did Damien have to take the Dragon Emperor as a subordinate?

    As August stared at him with the same bewildered expression, Damien grinned.

    "It''s just for safety. He''s not actually listening to my orders or anything. But, he can request my help if he needs it and he will properly dedicate himself to training you and your friends. It''s good to have insurance, right?"

    August nodded dumbly. He would''ve done the same if he was in Damien''s position. This information didn''t necessarily concern him. It was just an insane thing to hear. Damien flicked him on the forehead, continuing as if it was no big deal.

    "You brat, do you think I don''t know what you want? I''m not going to run around ruining your dreams just for my own convenience. I only moved the Holy ns to a different realm temporarily. The final decision on what to do will be left up to you."

    "The¡­final decision?" August repeated inquisitively. "Right, let''s get back to that. If the Holy ns interfered while you were gone, a lot of things would''ve gone to s¨C crap. Now, they''ve been ced in a void where time does not flow. I''ll give you three options now. Think carefully about what you want to do."

    Damien''s eyes turned somewhat stern, bringing August''s mood back to a stable state.

    "What are my options?"

    August resigned to his father''s words.

    In the end, it was better for the Holy ns to be contained while he grew, so he couldn''t be ungrateful about it. He definitely couldn''t fight against Ancient Dragons or even the several lower dragons below them yet. If he wanted that kind of power, then he needed a lot more time.

    "The first, though I think it''s inconsequential at this point, is for me to kill them all right now," Damien started.

    "No, I refuse."

    August''s answer was instant. As Damien said, with August''s attitude until now, that particr option had be meaningless. Still, he stated it since it was indeed still an option.

    "The second is to leave them sealed for a period of time. I''m thinking around two hundred years or so. Hopefully, you''ll have enough strength to deal with them then."

    While August''s talent allowed him to grow rapidly, nobody could say how strong he would be in two hundred years. To take on the Holy ns, he needed to properly be a God before the time limit ended. And, when they returned, there probably wouldn''t be such a thing as good and bad Holy n members.

    They would all be teeming with feelings of revenge aimed directly at him.

    Was that a battle August wanted to fight? Was it one he could prepare for in two hundred years'' time?

    "What''s the third option?"

    He didn''t know, but he wanted all the facts before he considered it.

    Damien nodded and held up his third finger.

    "The third option is to release them now and ce them under ve contracts. Their movements will not be inhibited, but they will be forced to disy absolute loyalty when ites to you or the kingdom."

    ''In that case, it''ll be up to me to turn oppressive loyalty into something true and take hold of them.''

    August understood the choices Damien gave him well.

    The first was an easy way out in case he wanted to focus on Arulion''s rebirth more than anything else.

    The second was a path of revenge that he could take if he truly felt like he had a blood debt with them.

    And the third¡­

    ''...the third option is a way for me to gain control over them. It will be assisted for a period, but if they are forced to act against their will for long enough, it will fester a negativity that they will find some way to exert on the world.''

    If August failed, they''d be just as much of a threat to the kingdom as they were before their imprisonment.

    However, if he seeded, then he could convert those who he felt didn''t deserve to die into loyal followers of Arulion and kill off the ones who posed a threat.

    He would be able to conserve the majority of Arulion''s fighting power, but he would also need to put in a lot more work to bring the kingdom into a new era.

    ''The second option sounds nice, but if I choose it, then I will be no different than them.''

    Seclusion separated from the world in an insanity-inducing darkness was the very thing that created the forsaken dragons. Even they who once held valiant motives were turned into belligerent beasts by their circumstances, so what would happen if the Holy ns experienced the same?

    August didn''t want to deal with it. More importantly, the Holy ns were a benchmark for him to surpass and a force he needed to defeat for the sake of the kingdom. They were not objects of revenge that he wanted to dedicate his entire life to defeating.

    At least, not all of them.

    "Am I confined within these three choices?"

    "borate."

    "I want to choose two of them, however, to different capacities."

    Damien nodded as he understood August''s meaning.

    "If it''s them, then it''s fine. I also have a debt to repay to Qinglong, after all."

    August grinned.

    "Then, that''s obviously what I''m doing. I choose the third option for everyone else. However, the Liqua n¡­let the people from that ce rot until I''m strong enough to kill them myself."

    "Wow, my son is all grown up now. Who taught you how to talk like that?"

    "Wasn''t it you? Dad, you really don''t hold back when you''re telling stories, you know."

    "You¡­!"

    When was thest time the, "You¡­!" came from Damien? Likely never. After all, August was one of only a few people who could gag him like that. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Nevertheless, with Damien covering the most critical matters, August didn''t have many questions left that he needed answered immediately. His mood had also improved considerably now that he knew that he could still deal with the Holy ns the way he wanted to.

    It was wrong to say he had friends there, but it wasn''t wrong to assume that there were many possible friendships awaiting him in their ranks. People like Iridia, Seryius, Cera, and even Eris could be his closest allies if the barrier between them was broken.

    Having something akin to a ve contract binding them would definitely make it harder for August to gain their trust, but, as long as he used his privileges wisely, he was confident in forming that kind of bond eventually.

    The Holy ns could reform and redeem themselves through loyalty if they wanted to. If they didn''t, then he''d have the freedom to punish them and help them learn their ce. The ns were already forming in August''s mind, just as they always did at times like this.

    Now, there was only one thing left to attend to before August could enjoy this peaceful kingdom.

    The forsaken dragons.

    His first move as the young emperor was to determine their fates.

    Whether they''d be good or bad, whether they''d see life or death¡­

    The power was in August''s hand.

    And, ever since he left to find the crown, he knew exactly what to do with it.

 Chapter 1766 Succession [7]

    Chapter 1766 Session [7]

    August went off to deal with the remaining matters and find closure. He did somewhat apologize to Damien, but Damien didn''t really mind, so it wasn''t something they focused on. It was normal for August to lose his cool sometimes. It was normal for him to have mood swings as he grew. Damien was never going to punish him for anything like that.

    The only reason they didn''t take the time to catch up was because there was still a lot to do. As August left, Damien also did the same, but he was headed to apletely different dimension.

    With August''s choice made, it was time for him to enact the ve contracts he spoke of.

    ''I''ve been waiting for this moment. I was really hoping that he''d choose this method.''

    Obviously, Damien gave August three choices that he could pick between, but there was only one right answer.

    It was exactly as August said. To separate revenge from blood debt, to properly treat others as they were meant to be treated rather than viewing them as bugs.

    Perhaps Damien himself didn''t adhere to such ideologies, but the kind of person August wanted to be deemed that he needed to learn them.

    As his supporter, Damien chose which lessons to teach based on the path he was following by choice.

    Plus, this time, Damien had other ns as well.

    ''These few months have been beneficial.''

    He left August to take care of Arulion to teach him responsibility and the value of life. Through his experiences, August learned to not take things for granted as he would have if he was coddled by his father for eternity.

    But, he also stayed in the shadows for his own benefit. August was bringing the dragon kingdom under control. Damien didn''t need to do much, as his main goal was to have their help when the final war arrived.

    With August at their head, that problem was gone. To make preparations, he only needed a week at most.

    The majority of Damien''s time was spent in disguise.

    The concept of "control."

    It was the final barrier that separated Damien from controlling True Existence. The power he showcased made it seem like he had already attained it, but that was not quite the truth.

    Damien understood how to control Existence already. He could do mystical things and his strength had already risen past the level of even a Holy Dragon. Only the true Supremes in the universe and the Unrecorded could stand against him now.

    However, the sixth jewel refused to manifest on his crown.

    He wondered why for a long time. He changed his gic makeup and walked Arulion as a mortal for a very long time, even making some connections to the lowly people who popted its streets.

    Through this ambling, Damien believed that he would find some sort of random inspiration that led him to the answer he sought.

    In a sense, he did receive the answer he was looking for, but it was not immediately made avable to him.

    The concept of control, as thest piece of the puzzle, was a bit different from the others.

    It had to beprehended both individually and as a whole.

    For Damien to gain its acknowledgement and bring Existence under his control, he needed to show it everything. He needed to prove to Existence itself that he was able to utilize all of its power, so that it would ept him and allow him toplete the Emperor''s Crown.

    Damien started interfering mainly for this purpose. He healed, he created, he manipted, and he destroyed. He could feel in his own soul that he was on the verge of gaining eptance.

    The matter of the Holy ns was orchestrated in part so that he could aplish his objective.

    As long as August chose the third option, he''d get another chance to use Existence while also helping his son, and he''d reach the peak he had been watching ever since he arrived in the Heavenly World.

    The Holy ns were none the wiser by the time he arrived.

    They had made use of their short time in the void to create some sort of functional system through which they could cooperate and find a way out together, but it was meaningless now.

    Damien didn''t bother to say anything. Like August, he understood that not all of these people were bad and not all of them deserved to be punished.

    However, that wasn''t his problem anymore. August would hold the reigns. If he wanted to release them, he could. If he wanted to oppress them, he could. Just as August asked of the Dragon Emperor, Damien was willing to support his son as long as he didn''t stray too far into degeneracy.

    So, without remorse, he acted.

    A mana spread through the void, unnoticed by even the Ancient Dragons who led the Holy ns. It bore deep into the souls of the tens of millions of people in the realm and established itself as a statute that could not be disobeyed. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Right, they had been forcefully pledged to August Void. If they were to make any moves, direct or indirect, to damage August Void or the dragon kingdom of Arulion, then they would die.

    Though they could not feel its induction, they did feel its presence when it appeared. The statute itself called upon them and informed them of their new circumstances.

    Right, they had been forcefully pledged to August Void. If they were to make any moves, direct or indirect, to damage August Void or the dragon kingdom of Arulion, then they would die.

    A meeting was held in the void. The highest authorities of the six ns came together and called all of their people collectively to ry the news.

    These statutes were not to be interfered with at any cost. For they, who had the power to nce into their own souls, understood that there was no undoing the shackles they were now carrying.

    That statute was more powerful than an Ancient Dragon; more powerful than a Holy Dragon. Even if all of the strongest powers of their ns came together and worked for countless millennia to find a solution, they knew it would be impossible to do so.

    Not unless they could reach a level that no dragon had ever stepped foot on.

    Naturally, there were a few who tried regardless. Still, it was only a few. The scene of their bodies turning to ashes in an instant as their existences were wiped was enough to scare anyone who had simr thoughts.

    Only the Liqua n was separate.

    As a matter of fact¡­where was the Liqua n?

    It was a concern that could not be given any attention at the moment. A sudden disappearance was characteristic of their people, and there was a far bigger problem at hand. The Holy ns had quite some time to rationalize what happened and cope with their situation in the void before they were returned to the world. After all, Damien was also going through something at the moment.

    The statute he ced on their souls was extremelyplex in its own right. The amount of particrity necessary to create a shackle that wouldn''t randomly destroy its bearer or easily be released with some years of research was massive.

    On top of that, to influence the souls of tens of millions without their knowledge was almost impractical. Especially when some of those people were Ancient Dragons, it should have been impossible.

    Control.

    In the sense of the concept, it meant control over the workings of Existence. But, it could definitely mean something like this as well.

    There had been many grand events in the past few days. Most of the time, grand events were apanied by phenomena. The world was quite adamant about announcing everything and being actively involved in such celebrations.

    However, on Damien''s level, the world was no longer worthy of producing phenomena. As the sixth jewel formed on a crown that technically did not exist, as the six jewels melded and shared energy to be six different faces of the same concept, a definitive change took ce in the core of Damien''s being.

    Existence, one of only two great forces under the Void, manifested under his reign.

    It was truly a perfectly timed entrance.

 Chapter 1767 Succession [8]

    Chapter 1767 Session [8]

    The Holy ns were eventually released from the void, but that happened muchter. As Arulion first needed to reach a state where they could be brought out and people would trust that they were truly under control, they were left behind for the time being.

    August was given ess to the void so that he could connect with them until then and figure out what he wanted to do.

    Though, that wasn''t the only reason why Damien gave him ess to that realm. He would be needing it for a long time in the future.

    After all, the Liqua n would be stuck there, and rather than letting them rot and releasing themter, he thought it would be more fun to let August fight them whenever he wanted.

    From now on, that entire n was fated to be his training targets. They''d slowly be picked off or killed at once as he pleased, and the entire time, they''d be suffering the repercussions of betraying the Azure Dragon.

    It would be even more fun when their Holy Dragon Ancestor himself ended up in that realm as well, but that was also a story unrted to what was happening now in the kingdom.

    August chose to follow Damien''s method in dealing with the forsaken dragons. Obviously, he couldn''t create the kind of ve contract that his father had ess to, but he had Raul by his side. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    With the Bastille genius'' help, he was able to dispel the remaining madness in the forsaken dragons'' blood lineage. At that point, he had a heart-to-heart with Hendricks.

    He didn''t want to kill them, but he wanted them to atone for their sins. The best way to plead forgiveness from their victims was to stay in the kingdom and aid it, bing its loyal protectors once again.

    It wasn''t a bad deal for the forsaken dragons. They would be able to return to the light and live the lives they sought from the beginning, only, they''d be under theplete control of August Void through the pact he was proposing they sign.

    If they were able to change the people''s perception of them and reform, they''d be granted freedom. Even before he fought Alcharist, Hendricks was already regretting his decisions. It didn''t take long for him to agree to August''s terms.

    One by one, the members of the forsaken dragon n were taken into the main pce at the center of Arulion, which was no longer separated into a secret realm, and made to take the oath in front of notaries to verify their identities. In that way, August was able to gain another considerable force to support Arulion. The forsaken dragons who attacked the kingdom were only those physically able. They started with millions, but there were only a few hundred thousand left.

    The rest, another few million people, were the brains behind their n. The innovators, the architects, the potion makers. Those people also exited their cave once the agreement was made and joined the ranks of August''s forces.

    The people from Bastille were properly organized and finally given time to adapt to the world they''d barelye to know. The Wood Dragon n and Sea Tribes were given proper status in the kingdom to celebrate their achievements. Those straggling geniuses from the Holy ns¡­they also ended up with statutes in their souls, but they were never transported to the void.

    Instead, the group of them arrived at the pce to confront August about it.

    He was very busy with the kingdom, but he definitely needed to inform them.

    That conversation was not a smooth one, but, in the end, he got them to agree to staying in the pce for the time being.

    A lot of things were sorting themselves out. The new poption of True Dragons promoted from dragonkin integrated themselves into society, and within the first few weeks, Arulion was already showing a great change.

    Their new society would bear almost no resemnce to the one of old. There was plenty for the citizens to get used to and plenty for them to cope with, but they were prepared for this.

    Now, unlike ever before, themon popce also wanted to be part of the change they wanted to see. This was all aplished under August''s sole control with his elders and masters acting only as guides to show him the way.

    However, Damien wasn''t present to witness it.

    After all, he left just a few days after he gained control over Existence. To everyone else, it was a sudden disappearance that came out of nowhere. August was seemingly left behind.

    It was strange to see that he was the least confused out of all of them.

    But, looking back at it, it wasn''t a surprise.

    The only person who knew Damien was leaving was him.

    And naturally, Damien wasn''t going to leave without saying goodbye to his son.

    They met again while others were busy dealing with their affairs.

    Unlike theirst conversation, this one proceeded without tension in the slightest.

    It started casually as August told Damien about everything he''d been through. They spoke about Arulion, about August''s dreams, and about the future. Damien gave August a few life lessons while mainly acting as a listener to the son who wanted to be praised by his father.

    The topic of Damien''s departure was kept tucked away for many hours, but it had toe at some point.

    "Dad, you''ve never told me about the outside world," August said.

    They sat on the pce roof, staring into the stars as they spoke.

    Damien often told stories of the Heavenly World and Grand Heavens Boundary, but he always refrained when it came to certain matters.

    August caught onto it early, but only after seeing the chaos in Arulion did he begin to understand why his father was doing it.

    "There''s something you have to do, isn''t there?"

    Damien smiled wryly.

    "Something like that."

    Damien definitely got the urge to rant, but the kid didn''t need to know that the fate of everything in existence as he knew it was in the hands of his father.

    If Damien couldn''t kill the enemy in front of him, he would be giving up everything. It was a battle he could not lose by any means.

    "I have to get back there. Just like you, I''m a person who is responsible for a lot of lives," he said.

    Leaving it at that was enough.

    "Have I never mentioned it? You may be the future Dragon Emperor, but as it stands, you are also a direct descendant of Void Pce, the strongest n in the Heavenly World."

    "Void Pce?" August repeated.

    "You''ve told stories about it. It''s the n Grandpa created, right?"

    "That''s right. It''s the ce where your family is. I know you can''t leave Arulion at the moment, but as soon as you have an opportunity, I want you to visit so you can finally meet everyone else."

    It was August''s turn to smile wryly.

    "If you''re saying that, then you must be leaving soon."

    "It has to be that way. If I could stay longer and see how you improve this ce, I would love to. Unfortunately, now isn''t the best time."

    Damien stood up. It was a difficult parting for sure, but it was never meant to be permanent. The realms that separated them could be easily traversed. If they wanted to see each other, then the only thing stopping them was their individual obligations.

    "One of these days, I''ll need your help," Damien said, turning back to look at his son.

    "My help?" August echoed.

    "Correct," Damien replied with a grin. "I don''t know when it will be, but I will eventually have to call on you and the people of Arulion for help. Will youe to my aid?"

    He extended his hand. August only looked at it for a moment before grabbing it and standing up.

    The chance to help his dad¡­

    It was an offerced with danger. Anything that Damien needed help with could not be simple.

    However, it was also an opportunity that August had been looking forward to ever since he was a child.

    He grinned and looked his father in the eye with an unwavering expression.

    "Call us at any time. We''ll be ready."

    No matter what it was, no matter who they were facing, the people of Arulion would always stand by Damien''s side.

    That was August''s promise to him as his son.

 Chapter 1768 Succession [9]

    Chapter 1768 Session [9]

    It was an extremely extended farewell. August didn''t want to let go, and though Damien knew he had to leave, he didn''t want to do so without entertaining his son''s whims as much as possible.

    It had only been a few months in real time since August was just a ten-year-old boy who left home with dreams of majesty, but for him, it had been over six years of fighting and struggling for his goals.

    He missed his father. He was still in his formative years, so Damien''s presence in his life was important.

    If Damien had the chance, he would have at least left Alexander in Arulion so he could maintain contact with August, but he didn''t have ess to the Sanctuary which took away many of his conveniences.

    Plus, August probably wouldn''t like it if he felt like Damien was giving him too much protection, so Damien went with a different method.

    He erected a tower in the center of Arulion. As long as August wanted to contact him, he would be able to do so from the tower. Distance wouldn''t matter. Time wouldn''t matter either.

    That was the best he could do.

    And once the tower was created, there weren''t many excuses left to keep Damien in the kingdom.

    Damien was never much of a hugger, but in that moment, he felt the opposite.

    He hugged his son dearly and told him how proud he was. He told him that he would always be there and that he was excited to see what he could aplish in the future. He told him that he would miss him, and he told him to visit whenever he had the time, as frequently as possible.

    When that conversation ended, there was really nothing left.

    That night, as August slept, Damien disappeared from the kingdom, and his life went back to its usual routine with just a slight emptiness left in his heart.

    "Just you wait, Dad.'' August thought to himself.

    ''Next time we meet, I''ll surprise even you.''

    August had big ns for Arulion. Though it seemed like he was being a little arrogant, there wasn''t a single ounce of falsehood in his words.

    The next time Arulion became prominent in the eyes of others, it would be apletely different kingdom than it was today.

    And August¡­

    Well, the rest could wait until the time was right.

    After all, that moment wasn''t all too far away.

    ***

    The Heavenly World had gone through many changes since Damien left. It was far more than anything anyone in Arulion could imagine. After all, the main world was flowing at a speed that far exceeded all of the hidden realms incorporated into its folds. Selena was able to find a method to interfere in worlds that she could not sense, but it was naturally to a lesser extent than the main world.

    The few months that passed in Arulion could be equated to around three years in real-time. For the Heavenly World, however, it had been almost twenty.

    Under Void Pce''s influence and with their support, the people of the world were able to train at an unbelievable rate and gather great power. A new influence rose in the north to fill the void left by the Straea n, which just so happened to be fully created by Eyrissea Luminous. Rose generally understood that the array was being created, so she was aware that the Heavenly World would have changed by the time she returned, but she really wasn''t expecting this ce that looked like a utopia.

    Void Pce was too strong for another major enemy of the world to rise. There were still petty criminals everywhere, but without real obstructions, society was able to progress at a magnificent rate.

    Resources were avable to all people, which led to revolutions in the many fields of research surrounding mana. Even the smallest viges were equipped with systems that would have been considered advanced ten years ago.

    The world was now united under the pce''s banner. The other influences were still present and had control over their individual regions as a sort of division of power, but Void Pce did have the final say in all important decisions.

    As such, even the pce was no longer the same as it was when Rose left. It had been upgraded and improved several times. The overall aesthetic was still the same, but it was almost impossibly bigger and more technologically and magically sophisticated. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The most surprising thing, though, was the realization that her quest actually amounted to nothing.

    Well, the artifacts she stole seemed to be pretty valuable, so it was still worth robbing the dragons. But shouldn''t someone have told her that Dante Void was awake?!

    She was only told about it since she was part of the inner circle of the pce that only contained real family members. Damien''s other wives knew, but they happened to be invested in their own tasks at the moment so they didn''t find the time to inform her.

    Nevertheless, it was surprising to meet her father-inw before his own son had, but she left a good impression as she delivered everything she''d taken.

    When Dante saw those treasures, a grin lit up his face.

    "Those old bastards are still at it? Well, that''s good. I was just craving dragon meat."

    They would undoubtedly arrive at the pce soon as they traced the signatures of these objects. And when they arrived, they''d promptly be dealt with.

    Those pesky lizards were always holed up in the world they created so they could pretend to be the strongest. Now that their auras were present in the Heavenly World, did they think things would be the same?

    There was a time when dragons were stronger than humans to the point where they could only be feared.

    However, that was long in the past.

    A dragon had never be Unrecorded.

    Humans on the other hand had three verified members of their race who attained the unattainable.

    Confidence was infectious, and the spirit of Void Pce even more. Ten years had produced enough improvement in the world''s poption to give everyone surety that they''d be well prepared in a hundred.

    However, would they really receive the time they worked so hard to earn themselves?

    Before even Rose''s return, there were machinations influencing the universe from beyond.

    A hundred years had been given, but they could be taken away just as fast.

    From beyond the veil, the Dark God sneered as he sensed the change in reality. He peered beyond the nothingness of the Void and watched time change in the Heavenly World. [Foolish little things.]

    He snickered. It was a sound made by countless voices that mixed into one, echoing through the starry sky and shaking the surroundings.

    It was a respectable maneuver, but a foolish one nheless. [You have had your time.]

    Did they want to find a loophole in the five-year promise?

    Well, unfortunately for them¡­

    [Mimic.]

    He spoke a single word to the Existence he controlled.

    A ck fog spread from his body as it was forced to obey.

    The time flow in the Sacred Abyss Universe changed and changed and changed until it matched the True Void perfectly.

    Five years¡­

    It was meant to have increased into over one hundred, but it was no longer so.

    The two cosmos had never been perfectly aligned before now.

    And, with five years passing multiple times in both ces in tandem¡­

    ¡­the Dark God no longer had a reason to hold back, did he?

    An army was summoned from nothingness. They readied themselves for war and opened portal after portal.

    The war that was meant to be far in the distance was already beginning.

    And Damien wasn''t even slightly aware of it.

 Chapter 1769 Return [1]

    Chapter 1769 Return [1]

    Right, while they gained a little bit of time while the Dark Godughed at them, it wasn''t anywhere near what they wanted.

    Before even Rose returned, the world was once again gued by Dimensional Cracks, through which great enemies constantly flowed.

    They were mostly Vanguard forces, however, many newly created Foreign Nobles also appeared one after another. Even those who were killed always found a way to return. The Heavenly World was not enveloped in war, but that was only because they were prepared for the invasion already. It came far earlier than expected, but the basic provisions were enough to keep chaos at bay.

    There were several zones throughout the world, each of them tens of thousands of kilometers wide. They were clearly delineated by the cool blue barriers that separated them from the general popce. Several was the wrong way to number them. In reality, there were millions of them. They were all locations where cracks opened in the fabric of reality. Through the array that now covered the world, the pce was able to find them before they appeared and secure the area. These zones were heavily infested by Foreign Races. Practitioners would enter them and go to war in those specific areas. Their efforts kept the enemies at bay so that the entire world wouldn''t be immediately doomed.

    It was only for this reason that Rose could return and not sense anything too different about the world.

    However, when Damien arrived, he immediately noticed.

    He left Arulion a little after he said goodbye to August.

    At the end of the day, that was his son. Even if he made it seem like he wasn''t feeling too heartbroken by their separation, it did hurt to see him grow further away.

    Nevertheless, August had a life path he wanted to follow and Damien knew that he would never forget about his family.

    As long as August was doing fine, he had nothing to worry him over. He could cope with his own sadness alone.

    He watched over the development of Arulion for around a week before returning to the Heavenly World. It was a good thing because he got some time to sort out his mood before he returned and it was instantly darkened.

    His eyes turned cold.

    His sense of perception was already far separated from the norm. As long as he willed it, any and all information in the True Void Universe would be made avable to him.

    As such, he instantly sensed the existence of every single foreign being in the world, the barriers that entrapped them, and¡­

    "You."

    Damien stood in the sky of the empty western region, staring into the horizon.

    Others couldn''t see it. Even for him, it was still vague.

    When Damien attained Existence, it felt like something he''d always had waspleted. He stood at a peak that nobody in his cosmos had ever reached, but even then, he saw someone standing at a peak above him.

    That person who was peering beyond the veil naturally heard hisment. The fact that Damien could sense him was a surprise, but it was nothing too unexpected considering that Damien was already close to this level when theyst met.

    "I knew you liked to scheme, but this is a little much, isn''t it?" He said, not expecting a response.

    However, he did receive one. Just, in a form he wasn''t expecting.

    Words manifested in front of him in a deep ck light.

    [I merely evened the ying field. Did you believe that you would be allowed to exploit loopholes while I did not? Our promise was five years. That time has long passed. Do not get cocky, Damien Void.]

    Damien sneered.

    "I''m not the cocky one between us."

    He took his attention off of that person. He would always be watching since he had nothing better to do with his miserable life, so there wasn''t a point in entertaining him for too long.

    ''It''s good news, though.''

    The Dark God chose to send a message instead ofmunicating directly. It was a clear indication that while his power allowed him to easily observe the Heavenly World, he couldn''t influence it at will.

    He wasn''t strong enough to directly crush the True Void Universe before Damien could put up a fight, and that was certainlyforting.

    ''They got ten years, huh.''

    It wasn''t a bad amount of time, but it still wasn''t enough.

    If he wanted to help the people of this world survive theing cataclysm, then he needed to earn them more time to train.

    ''I''ll have to eliminate all of the pesky bastards on my own for now.''

    He wasn''t around August anymore, nor was he in a ce where he didn''t necessarily have a say in the lives of the people. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He was the Young Lord of the pce who was pretty much just its Lord at this point. This world, unlike Arulion, belonged solely to him.

    As such, he would not allow its people to die in vain during a war they had no say in.

    ''I just got to this level. It would be fun to test my power on strong enemies, but those don''t exist anymore.''

    Damien shook his head.

    ''Either way, ughtering a mob is fun too.''

    Damien had always been a fan of intricacies disguised asmonalities. Most of his attacks were like that, manifesting inmon forms but containing huge webs of interconnected concepts that produced results that others couldn''t replicate.

    He was always someone who theorized and tested his techniques before using them in actualbat. Most of his training as a young practitioner was geared towards this particr aspect.

    However, all of that was robbed from him. It was a sort of bittersweet realization, but that was just the truth of the matter. Now that he controlled Existence,plexity could not exist in front of him unless he allowed it to.

    Even in this moment, he did not have to gather his mana or control its cirction. He did not have to infuse it withws and weave them together. He didn''t even have to make a gesture, but he did it for effect since he knew that his audience of one would be more irked if he did so.

    Damien raised his hand and snapped, making direct eye contact with the Dark God.

    That was it. His mana didn''t explode outward or even acknowledge that it was used. The source of energy was practically infinite in Damien''s circuits now.

    From his point of view, nothing happened. That was only because the swathe ofnd around him was isted and empty.

    The Heavenly World felt the weight of that snap far more than him.

    Everywhere, no matter how remote or close to civilization, at the same time, hundreds of millions of living beings turned to ash.

    Every hostile foreign being in this world was eradicated with a single snap that nobody knew about but the two people who watched it happen.

    The ying field that Damien and the Dark God saw was far beyond theprehension of even the greatest minds in the world.

    The battle they were fighting was of apletely different weight ss.

    "Foreign Beings." It was a nket term that described every single individual or object in this world that did not originate from the True Void Universe.

    And when "hostile" was used as an adjective to describe them, the victims all became followers of the Dark God.

    Gods, Demigods, nine revolutions masters, and fourth-ss practitioners.

    Artifacts with the power to alter reality, Dimensional Cracks; it didn''t matter what the actual level of those affected was or what kind of qualities they had.

    As long as they fit the criteria Damien set, they died in a single instant.

    Once again, Damien sneered at the Dark God.

    His actions were something of a warning. "Do not think this war will end so easily," he said with his eyes.

    And as he turned his attention away from that being, set on returning to his home, his eyes turned another shade colder. The adventures in Arulion were a good break. Those few months gave him a lot of mental rity.

    Now that he was back, it was go time.

    The final war, the war to determine the fates of both the True Void Universe and the Sacred Abyss Universe¡­

    ''...it begins now.''

 Chapter 1770 Return [2]

    Chapter 1770 Return [2]

    Every time Damien returned from a long journey, he would be a different person than he was when he left. He had a habit of growing when nobody else was around, so the people around him were forced to get used to never actually experiencing his growth.

    This time, however, he was not the one who left for a long time. He only spent a few months away, but for everyone else, it had been ten years.

    They grew and changed with the time, and he was the one who had to realize what it felt like to be in their position. When he returned to the pce, it was in an especiallyrge outroar. After all, the phenomenon Damien caused was a huge deal. To him, it was nothing more than subtle provocation, but others didn''t see it the same way.

    Even Supreme Gods couldn''t cause that kind of widespread damage to kill every single foreign being in the world. At most, they could go from zone to zone and individually take care of each one within only a few seconds.

    Obviously, the people of the world had no interest in antagonizing a being who could create such a scene, but they had to find out his identity. He was too dangerous to be treated casually just because he was powerful.

    The people who served the pce now stood at the head of the world. When something of this caliber happened, it fell on their shoulders to find a cause and inform the people.

    It was a little funny how Damien''s return went unnoticed in the chaos, but it was probably better that way. They couldn''t have a huge celebration every time he came back, right?

    He walked through the halls of the new pce, smiling as he saw how it had evolved since thest time he was here.

    He scanned the vicinity for signs of his family or his wives.

    Unfortunately, Iris, Elena, and Ruyue were all still away from home. Rose, however, was still present.

    It was the same for his siblings. Only Hestia remained. Presumably, the rest of them were on the battlefield directly leading the forces of the world. Hesita¡­ She was a small girl when he first met her. She didn''t have much knowledge and the extent of her personality was the shyness she always disyed. To see that she''d grown into an adult and wasmanding all of the pce''s war efforts even at this moment made him extremely proud.

    Damien''s sense of time had truly been ruined.

    He had been thrown around in time dtions for his entire life. Most of his aging was done in ces where time didn''t match the outside world in the slightest.

    His heart had be somewhat dead to the feelings rted to time. Seeing Hestia, seeing Rose, seeing the geniuses he personally chose all those years ago in different forms, he only felt a slight tingle in his chest.

    If anything, he was proud of what they could do in only ten years'' time.

    ''Only¡­?''

    His own lifespan was not great enough for him to say something like that, was it?

    He lost count at this point, but he couldn''t have been more than a hundred and something. He was two hundred at most. To him, ten years was still quite a considerable period of time.

    Just¡­

    His mind had experienced so much more. He had seen millions upon millions upon millions of years of memories. He had the experiences of countless others living in his own mind.

    It was a miracle that he was able to maintain a sense of self, but even that was only possible because Damien experienced hundreds of thousands of years of change when he was still in his twenties.

    With Existence under his control now, his physical form had lost a lot of meaning.

    He could change his age so he was as old as the universe itself, or he could revert to his childhood appearance and power. Existence always followed him, and as a fabric that supported the fabric of reality, its influence would not be removed from him even if he destroyed every power vessel in his body.

    So, the current Damien was someone who manifested more as what he envisioned himself to be.

    There wasn''t an aura around him. He was still the same purple-eyed genius, but there was an odd quality that was not present in normal people.

    The ordinary observer wouldn''t even be able to register his face if he passed by. Only those who had deep personal connections with him could still feel the weight of his existence. He was disappearing from the world.

    No, rather, he was surpassing it.

    Nevertheless, the part of Damien that was still human cared deeply for his people. Only for this reason could they sense him no matter how he changed.

    Damien put his thoughts to the side. Anyway, he didn''t care how he changed as long as he remained the same in his core. The fact that he could still recognize his love for his family was enough.

    He approached the inner pce and went to what could be considered a "family room."

    It was the main ce where everyone gathered. Though it was usually for serious matters, it was outfitted so it could be used casually as well.

    Damien sat on a sofa and summoned Persia''s Encyclopedia. As he read its pages, it told him everything that had urred since he went to Arulion. ''It''s mostly good things.''

    The ns at hand were more than enough to protect the cosmos. If the Dark God hadn''t interfered, then it would have been perfect.

    ''But it was stupid to think he''d just let it be.''

    The Dark God was arrogant. Arrogance would usually be disyed by letting the enemy grow. This was what he was doing with Damien. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    When it came to themon popce, on the other hand, his arrogance shined most clearly in his desire to toy with them.

    They didn''t know that their enemies were infinite in number. They couldn''t know, or their spirits would be shattered.

    ''Will he force us to fight here, or will I be able to push into his territory?''

    Hypothetically, fighting in his own realm was more beneficial.

    That was only when his own realm was empty of innocent civilians.

    The Sacred Abyss barely had a poption of real living people. It would be a better ce overall to have a reality-shattering battle.

    ''I have to n that out, but I guess thises first¡­''

    "The Heavenly God ne."

    Damien muttered it to himself, but he raised his head in surprise as another voice joined him. His eyes immediately dted.

    "It''s usually incorporeal so that only souls can enter, but every ten million years, it bes corporeal for but a few days. It''s a ce that every Divinity wants to enter, since it''s filled with countless treasures and a special energy that makes ascension and training far easier. As the rumor goes, anyone who enters will leave a God. But¡­this time it''s a bit more special than that."

    A man stood at the entrance of the room, leaning against the door frame. He smiled at Damien as he took a few steps into the room.

    "It''s nice to finally meet you in person¡­"

    His blue eyes shined like sapphires. His face, a face that looked too familiar to belong to anyone else, made an expression of warmth.

    "...my son."

    Two words.

    With the power of two words, Damien''s mind was blown.

    Was that really Dante Void?

 Chapter 1771 Return [3]

    Chapter 1771 Return [3]

    His body was moving before his mind finished processing it.

    The surrounding environment changed and turned into an open field perfect for battle, and Damien''s fist arrived in front of Dante Void.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    A huge outpouring of energy razed the realm, immediately turning it into a wastnd. It was a punch that guaranteed the death of the person it was aimed at.

    Well, as long as that person was not Dante Void.

    "Not the nicest way to greet your father, is it?"

    Dante smiled wryly from the sky.

    "My bad. A younger me would never forgive me if I didn''t do this."

    "Fair enough. Let''s get it out of your system then."

    The razed environment changed again. Rather thannd, the two of them stood in the folds of space surrounded by the starry sky.

    "I''ve also been wanting to see what level you''ve reached."

    Damien grinned.

    Frankly, he didn''t have any hard feelings for his dad anymore. The grudges he held had been dispelled from the moment he learned that everything his father did was forced. Hell, how was Damien going to be mad at him for leaving when he ended up in a prison made by the Dark God himself to protect his family?

    Obviously, Damien''s rational mind won over the childish desire he had already lost.

    Just¡­

    After saying that he''d punch this guy for so many years, he couldn''t just go back on it, could he?

    This battle was just a way for them to break the ice between them so they could interact properly as father and son. With both of them being so hard-headed, it was the best method avable.

    Dante said he wanted to see what Damien could do, but that didn''t mean he was going to stand still. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He instantly recognized that his son had moved them into an imaginary space and took control of it to make it best suit his abilities.

    In the starry sky, Damien also once saw his abilities continuously enhanced. However, he didn''t have that sort of benefit anymore. No matter where he was, his power would be the equal.

    Equally dominating.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Damien immediately went to work attacking. He formed several suns and stars that collided with each other and created massive explosions of light and heat that rocked the framework of the simted universe.

    A wave of pure energy struck at Dante like lightning. In response, he merely smiled.

    He raised his hand in the air and swished it in both directions.

    The entire space changed. Severalyers of dimension sublimated through the starry sky and isted the energy wave from reality.

    Damien found himself in a mirror dimension that was a far more sophisticated version of the mirror realm he once used as a domain.

    Every inch of reality was a different dimension. If Damien tried to move, then he would be sucked into one after the other until his entire body was separated into multiple different realities.

    Spatial cracks tore through the void, opening a path to and between. Those were once objects that provoked great fear in those who came in contact with them. Their force was enough to rip anyone to shreds no matter what their skill level.

    This kind of mechanism remained somewhat true in the Heavenly World as well. Normal spatial cracks couldn''t inhibit Divinities, but a spatial practitioner with enough strength could create one that touched upon the barrier to the Void itself. It didn''t need to be said why that was deadly.

    Damien''s mobility would have been effectively limited to a range of only a few meters if he were any other expert. However, he was not just any other expert.

    He merely took a breath. When he exhaled, the imaginary space transformed and the effects of Dante''s attack werepletely dispelled.

    "That''s just unfair!" Danteined with a smile.

    "If that''s what you feel, then do something about it."

    "I already am."

    The quip came surprisingly fast. Dante opened his hand and Damien immediately sensed the change in space. Once again, several rifts appeared, but they themselves were not an offensive maneuver.

    Damien''s eyes widened slightly.

    ''That''s possible?''

    What he sawing out of those rifts was an interpted form of his own energy. The energy he used to "create" through thews of Existence had been repurposed.

    Seeing Damien''s expression change for the first time, Dante''s grin widened.

    "It''s obvious that you''ve reached that ce. Your strength has definitely surpassed mine. However, I saw it too, you know?"

    Dante formed a ball of mana in his hand. At first nce, it looked like the same spatial mana that characterized Dante''s power, but there was an entire universe contained within.

    "It may be a little less than what you can do, but don''t look down on me too much."

    Dante epted that his son had surpassed him from the moment he learned that Damien was the one who saved him from the Celestial Prison. Having several months after he awakened to cope with that and learn to be proud rather than ashamed was helpful. Now, Dante didn''t mind being the weaker of them. He only wanted to be a good father to the child he was forced to abandon.

    If the first step of that was to fight, then he wasn''t going to hold back. He also wanted to show his son why he was once considered the strongest person in the cosmos.

    The universe in Dante''s hand expanded until it took the ce of the imaginary world. Both he and Damien were enveloped by it, where life and light meantpletely different things.

    Damien marveled at the ability. Sure, he could do it too. That wasn''t the point, though, was it?

    Damien had always been a person who could never see others disy the kind of talent he had.

    He was always the one with the extremely powerful and esoteric abilities that left others unable topete. These kinds of scenes were just normal if they came from him.

    It was apletely separate matter if they came from someone else. He knew that Dante was strong. He acknowledged his father''s talent long ago when he realized that Dante had also touched upon the peak of the Unrecorded.

    But this¡­

    ''This isn''t just touching upon it.''

    Dante was able to "create" to an extreme level. For Damien to feel vitality from this universe meant that it was entirely possible for this ce to exist on its own in reality.

    This level of skill could only be disyed by a person who had done a great deal of research into the concepts of Existence.

    ''Only¡­''

    Life could potentially exist in this universe, but it didn''t.

    It was as if Dante knew exactly what he needed to do to progress further, but there was something blocking his path.

    Whatever the case, Damien would find out in detail soon enough.

    After all, this fight wasn''t close to over yet.

    Dante summoned the universe to showcase his power, but in a sense, it was an attack in its own right.

    Damien felt the pressure it put on him. This was the weight of an "Existence" controlled by someone else.

    He had only ever felt this from the Dark God before. So, to encounter it in a non-hostile environment¡­

    This was the best possible greeting that Damien could have ever hoped for.

 Chapter 1772 Answers [1]

    Chapter 1772 Answers [1]

    Dante and Damien both showcased the strength of the Existence they controlled, but the main fight took ce in closebat.

    Damie''s young fantasy was not surpassing him or making him proud. It was the sole desire to put a fist to his face just one time. Damien could learn how to fight another user of his esoteric abilities from Dante as much as he wanted in the future. For now, he just wanted to satisfy that urge.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    They went blow for blow, fighting a fast battle that was also rtively slow.

    They charged at each other, threw punches, and flew back as they received each other''s force.

    They were both trying considerably hard, but without killing intent, neither of them could really do any damage to the other.

    Their bodies were both evolved to a level beyond what ordinary people were capable of. If their mana didn''t passively regte it, both of them would have weighed as much as stars.

    It was looking like their battle would continue infinitely since they were in this imaginary world where they were rtively unreachable, but that was incorrect.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Damien''s eyes widened as he peered through the energy around him. Dante''s power really was like the starry sky. His energy was purely spatial, however, its ferocity mimicked the properties of so many other elements.

    He was able to mimic all factors inside the universe, as he had understood how to create one himself.

    Even for Damien, this kind of power was difficult to deal with.

    Now, that didn''t mean that Dante had a chance of winning here. However, unless Damien used cheap tactics by abusing Existence, this battle wasn''t one he could easily win.

    If Dante''s goal was to say that he wasn''t soft just because Damien was stronger, then he''d done more than seed.

    The grin on Damien''s face, the pure spirit of battle flowing through his veins, wasn''t something that could be roused so easily anymore.

    That feeling of pride Damien had when he learned of who his father truly was back then, he was feeling it again.

    Dante Void.

    The man who had once united the entire Heavenly World, the man who reached Existence without any sort of external aid, and the man who made even the Dark God wary as he sensed the threat of that being before anyone else.

    To be the father who sired a genius as amazing as Damien, he had to be substantially amazing himself.

    The two of them were enjoying themselves in the moment. The battle turned into something of an exhibition of skill instead, where both of them tried to do something cooler than the other just for the sake of it.

    In the first ce, it was a meaningless battle. They gave it the meaning that they thought fit it best, and as they continued to trade blow after blow, the ice that separated them as estranged father and son who hadn''t met for over a hundred years was shattered.

    They both had smiles on their faces, and theck of injuries on their bodies was quite telling. Both of them were of the mind to continue this for a few more hours so they could thoroughly enjoy it. Just the few minutes they''d been fighting already weren''t enough. Unfortunately, their battle wouldn''t be able to continue for too long.

    After all, there was an invader in their imaginary world.

    In this cosmos, there was only a single person who could walk through both Dante and Damien''s power without fear.

    "What do you two think you''re doing?"

    A voice cut through the simted universe.

    Dante and Damien were just about to sh again, but they both froze when they heard it. Their mana subconsciously reined itself in and every offensive force in the entire space was dispersed.

    The two of them turned their heads to the source of that voice like robots.

    There stood a woman there, ring at them with eyes of death.

    Two sound transmissions flitted between the two men as they resigned to fate.

    "How did she get here?"

    "I don''t know, but we''re fucked."

    "Stop talking in your heads ande down here. Now."

    "Yes, ma''am."

    They bothnded on the ground at the same time with their heads bowed. The imaginary space faded and they were returned to the family room.

    Standing there with the power to somehow interfere with Existence itself despite not even knowing that it was a controble force was ire Ellowyn, the only person in the world who could make both of them quiet down in a single instant.

    "Let me ask you again. What do you two think you''re doing?"

    The two of them nced at each other, speaking with their eyes.

    They needed to find a way out of this situation.

    It hardly ever happened, but ire was also someone who could get mad. She hid it well behind her calm exterior, but if she was given a reason, then she turned into a monster.

    Neither of them wanted to face an angry ire. But, neither of them wanted to be the one to calm her down.

    "You say something!"

    "No, you say something!"

    ¡­was the very logical conversation they had with their eyes, but Dante was the one who lost.

    Damien hit him with a critical, "You''re her husband. It''s your job," which put the final nail in his coffin.

    "Um¡­" Dante said, scratching his head.

    "Father-son bonding?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Father-son bonding, huh. Are you going to say the same thing?"

    ''Me too?!''

    Damien sighed wryly as he was forced to share the me with his father.

    "I mean, that''s just how we are¡­?"

    It was the wrong answer.

    "Exactly! That''s the problem!"

    ire stomped forward and grabbed their ears, pulling them out of the room with her.

    "Why do you always have to be so bullheaded? Sit down at the table and have a conversation like normal people, you idiots!"

    Dante just smiled wryly as if this was something he was used to.

    Damien, on the other hand, was bbergasted.

    He had seen his mother angry before, but she never spoke like this. Her tone of voice was always somewhat bleak, which made him feel guilty for making her mad in the first ce.

    Her current method of chastising was filled with life. She was furious, sure, but there was an underlying happiness there that allowed her to speak freely in a way that Damien had never experienced.

    ''She''s happy.''

    Her husband was finally back, and her son was back as well. Her daughter was healthy and growing up well. Her broken family was whole again.

    ire was now happier than she''d ever been, so even as she nagged at Dante, she had a smile on her face.

    It made Damien smile too.

    ''Yeah, this is why.''

    His mother had only been able to recently gain a smile like that.

    He wasn''t fighting the Dark God for his own sake or just for something as vague as saving the world.

    A smile like that, the smiles on his father''s face, his mother''s face, and his family''s faces¡­

    ¡­they could only now be expressed so clearly.

    And Damien wanted to do everything he could to protect them.

 Chapter 1773 Answers [2]

    Chapter 1773 Answers [2]

    ire was really just going to find Dante since dinner was ready.

    Dinner was something they were doing now that Dante was back. It started as a way for him to get closer to the family he had been taken from, but it had be a tradition that kept them all grounded in times of war.

    Finding herself arriving in a random universe when she followed his presence to the family room was strange, but seeing Damien there was even stranger.

    At first, she wanted to let them resolve their differences in whatever way they wanted. As long as they didn''t actually harm each other, it was okay.

    But they were taking too damn long!

    Dinner was ready and everyone else had gathered. She couldn''t let them hold everyone else up, could she?

    They could talk it out like real menter.

    She only acted mad because she knew how to exploit her advantages. Since they were both afraid of her, wasn''t it the best way to bring them together? She almost wanted to smile when she saw them interacting, but she was forced to hold it in at least until they returned to the table.

    Like that, Dante and Damien joined Serena, Hestia, Rose, and ire for their dinner. Unfortunately, the rest of their family wasn''t present, but most of them were already on their way back.

    Damien had a short mental conversation with Rose where they greeted each other, but they could talk moreter. Even Rose knew that Dante came first at a moment like this.

    Still¡­

    "I saw what you did in Arulion. It was pretty amazing to watch."

    ¡­that line caught her off-guard.

    Right, Damien was operating there when she was.

    Right¡­

    ''...I saw a certain name that I ignored because I thought it was a coincidence.''

    Her eyes turned a shade colder for a second, but she hid it behind a wide smile.

    ''What did I do this time?''

    Damien shivered.

    ''What did I do this time?''

    Well, he would have to find outter.

    But he got the sudden feeling that his life would be another degree harder quite soon.

    Nevertheless, Damien heard about everything that was happening in the Heavenly World again through his family and told them that Arulion would also participate in the war effort.

    There were a few hours of banter and food that was honestly better than he''d ever tasted. Granted, Damien hadn''t had food in quite a long time.

    When the dinner ended, Damien followed Dante to another room so they could finally talk.

    "You said something about the Heavenly God ne, right? What is that event?" Damien asked, starting the conversation.

    He definitely wanted to start with something deeper than this. He wanted to know Dante''s story and the answers to the questions about his father that he''d had for so long.

    But, it was better to get current events out of the way first so they could spend more time on matters that needed to be focused on.

    Dante nodded, understanding.

    "It is mostly just as I said. The Heavenly God ne will be corporeal in theing days. Only Divinities are eligible to enter, but that is all Divinities who have ess to this realm, which includes the Dark God''s forces."

    "They can enter it too? I thought they didn''t have ess to that ne."

    "They don''t. And, since you definitely killed them all when you got back, it seems even more improbable for them to be able to reach that ce, right?" Dante said.

    Damien nodded. That was indeed what he thought. "Unfortunately, that''s not the case. Since they have a connection to our realm, it will invite them as well. It is an unbiased system, after all. As long as one is a Divinity, one has the opportunity to chase its benefits."

    "Most people will immediately rush towards treasures. It is a chaotic event, but not one to be worried about. The main issue now that the Foreign Races are invited is the potential massacre of our strongest forces."

    The Heavenly God ne opening was really no different from any other secret realm opening. However, in the current situation, too many Gods and Demigods couldn''t die. They were the most essential fighting force against the Dark God''s armies, after all.

    "You said that the energy there helps with ascension as well, right?"

    Dante nodded in affirmation.

    "If you stay there for a long enough period of time, then you will inevitably ascend. There is no doubt about it."

    Damien didn''t have much interest in secret realms anymore, but this case was special.

    It could be so easily forgotten since he was already Unrecorded, but the universe still regarded him as a Demigod.

    It was funny, right?

    All of that about Edicts and ascension was inconsequential to him because Existence already brought him past it.

    However, Damien encountered something odd.

    He already had the keys to Nonexistence, but for some reason he couldn''t use them.

    As he looked at his soul, he found out why.

    He still had the soul of a Demigod, but his Void Soul allowed him to carry the weight of Existence regardless.

    If he wanted to add Nonexistence as well, however, then he needed to ascend to True Godhood and expand his soul space.

    It wasn''t like it would be hard for him to do so. Only, having the right environment was always important. A few months of effort could be transformed into only days, especially if the environment was as good as the Heavenly God ne.

    "I guess I have to participate too. When does it start?"

    "Hmm¡­judging by the spatial chaos, anywhere between today and three days from now?" Dante responded. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "That''s perfect."

    Damien could get it out of the way before anything serious happened and focus onprehending Nonexistence once he had properly unlocked the door. His fight with the Dark God was fated to take ce when he achieved a level where both concepts were equal.

    After all, the Dark God wanted to fight him when they were at the same level.

    ''It won''t be a waste since I can also take care of the idiots he sends. Rather than taking measures so that the fewest number possible die, I can preserve all of our Divine forces in a single move and instill some more loyalty in them while I''m at it.''

    There was no reason for him to miss it.

    Letting others chase treasures and gain the benefits of that realm also meant that the Heavenly World''s fighting power would increase.

    ''Huu¡­''

    Damien closed his eyes for a moment.

    He could see the end of this road already.

    All he needed to do was walk it.

    And with that knowledge in his mind, he put aside the Heavenly God ne''s matters to focus on something he actually had an interest in.

    The mood changed a little, so Dante also seemed to know what wasing.

    Damien asked without hesitation. He knew that his father wanted to tell him the story just as much as he wanted to hear it.

    "What happened to you?"

    Dante Void, a tragic hero.

    His tale was one that truly deserved to go down in history.

 Chapter 1774 Answers [3]

    Chapter 1774 Answers [3]

    Most of it had already been said.

    Dante was born in the Heavenly World and fought it in order to gain talent and be great. He eventually did, establishing Void Pce and bing one of the strongest people in the world.

    When he was at his best, his enemies targeted him and his family and forced him to run.

    Well, that was what others thought. Otherwise, there wasn''t a way for him to find a way to the lower universe to bring Damien into existence.

    "I died back then."

    Damien raised an eyebrow. It was something that would floor anyone else, but Damien had also died so it didn''t hit him as hard.

    "Damien, have you heard of the Firmament Board?"

    Damien shook his head. This was obviously not going to be a story about Dante''s life, but he was going to let his father speak anyway.

    "One day, you will sense it. For the rest of us, it was the moment when we truly became Unrecorded, but as you have attained that level before Godhood, you must not have felt its call yet."

    Another mechanic of the universe?

    Damien didn''t think there was anything else he didn''t know about the world. As he had even scanned it with his Existence when he returned, he thought that everything was within his expectations.

    Even the matter of the Heavenly God ne was something he already knew about. Dante''s exnation merely gave him more information on it. However, clearly, the Firmament Board was something different.

    It was something that was beyond "Existence" alone.

    Dante summoned another energy. Only two other people in this world knew that it existed, and that number had now be three.

    "The Firmament Board is the reason why I have lived until today. In essence, it is nothing more than another form of the universe''s acknowledgement. If you can gain its attention and carve your name onto its surface, then you will officially surpass the bounds of the known power scale. It is what gave me the ability to sense Existence, and more importantly, it granted me a gift."

    Dante summoned another energy. Only two other people in this world knew that it existed, and that number had now be three.

    "This is the energy of Boundless Samsara."

    Damien''s eyes widened in true surprise when he sensed the contents of that energy.

    It was perfect. It was an exact representation of life and death. Damien felt clearly from that energy the same thing he felt when he was facing the Wheel of Samsara itself.

    "This physique is not something that should be possible," Dante said, his eyes hardening.

    "It is a physique that makes me immortal."

    True immortality was not possible for anyone. Damien did not have a lifespan anymore, as he controlled Existence. Hypothetically, as long as the True Void Universe existed, he could constantly return his existence into being. However, nobody else was truly immortal. Gods could be killed, and if they weren''t killed, then they''d eventually die even if it took trillions of years.

    Damien was a unique case. He never worried about immortality as a curse, but it was indeed his curse if it was something he had to possess alone.

    It had always been his goal to make everyone he loved immortal as well. As he always said, he didn''t want to stand at the peak alone.

    To find out that Dante was also immortal¡­

    He was a little happy, but mainly just confused.

    "If you''re immortal, how did you die?" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    It was an easy question to answer when the previously shown energy was taken into ount, but Damien asked regardless.

    "You''re funny," Dante responded with a smile.

    "It''s as you think. If I ever die, then I will be reincarnated. I live with only an instinct to train until 4th ss and then regain my memories of the past. I died thirty-nine times in the Heavenly World before I was reborn in Grand Heavens Boundary. There, I spent almost the same amount of time as the Saint Emperor you know." A mention of the Saint Emperor at this time was not something Damien expected.

    "That means¡­you were in Grand Heavens Boundary near the inception of the Nox?"

    Dante nodded.

    "They were created to hunt me, in the first ce. Their goal only changed after I was located and the Gods of the Straea n found me."

    "Wow¡­"

    None of the memories Damien consumed said anything about that.

    ''That means it was like that only at the very beginning of the universe''s timeline.''

    At a time when even the universe itself did not have memories, Dante was there, struggling.

    "It was around that time when Earth existed."

    "Sorry?"

    "Oh, I guess there''s no way for you to know. The Earth you were born on was just a copy. I made that to mimic the world I was reborn on."

    "Wha¡­"

    "I mean,e on. Earth was a pretty normal ce where people didn''t even know that mana existed. It had a good run for a few billion years, but it was swallowed by its own sun a long time before you were born."

    "I recreated the worldter when I realized that your mother''s soul had followed me to the lower universe. There, she was reborn and I was able to meet her again, and there, you were born."

    Damien certainly didn''t think he''d hear answers to questions he''d forgotten by now. The mysteries surrounding Earth, which was a far more mystical than it was ever meant to be, were all the doings of Dante Void.

    As he continued to speak, Damien learned that the original Earth was pretty much the exact same as the new one. The only difference was, the legendary heroes of the Earth that Damien knew were all different faces of Dante.

    The myths in their history were Dante''s creations, made to resemble figures and ces that existed in the Heavenly World and the greater Grand Heavens Boundary.

    It was a ce that was almost specifically made so that Damien could be born.

    Obviously, the timeline didn''t line up. It was caused by the same time difference that allowed Damien to have a younger sibling despite his father being captured eons ago.

    The Heavenly World was a ce where the time flow was never stable between regions until Serena aligned the time flows for the sake of her array. The lower universe, as a much smaller body that had an even more chaotic time flow, could never align with it.

    As time passed, their flows separated further and further until a million years could be equated to only a few thousand.

    How long was Dante''s struggle? He moved from one to the other and back, experiencing millions upon millions of years in both ces.

    He was only focusing on the important parts, but beneath it all, Damien found a struggle even greater than his own, one that provoked immense respect.

    The Heavenly God Battlefield, the Firmament Board, the secrets of the lower universe; Dante had spilled many secrets since he started talking.

    But¡­

    Thetter two topics were left unfinished.

    There was still more left to be said. Dante hadn''t even told him why he brought up the Firmament Board yet.

    The two matters had to be connected somehow.

    And once Damien learned of that, his quest to reach the absolute peak would resume.

    The key to everything was Dante Void.

    So, for many reasons among which this one was just a small piece, Damien was very happy that his father was back.

 Chapter 1775 Heavenly God Plane [1]

    Chapter 1775 Heavenly God ne [1]

    Dante continued to talk, expanding on what he had said before. However, his main point came back to one thing.

    "Damien, the Firmament Board is your chance. As far as I have seen, it is entirely unique to our True Void Universe. I was only able to etch my family name onto its surface, which gave everyone rted to that name a boost in talent. If you can put your full true name on there, you will attain something that the Dark God never can."

    He mentioned it solely so Damien could prepare for its arrival. It would absolutely approach him soon, especially since he was already stronger than Dante.

    When it did, if he could gain the most possible benefits, then his path would be secured.

    The lower universe was no more. Damien couldn''t ess it, so it was a shame that its benefits couldn''t be reaped by him.

    Still, Dante didn''t just talk about the lower universe so he could tell his story and exin how the Boundless Samsara Physique tied together his broken timeline.

    He mentioned it because Damien didn''t understand just how many legacies Dante had left there.

    Many of them were for Damien''s sake, but many more were there because he wanted to leave a remembrance from each life in the folds of reality.

    If those legacy sites were properly utilized, then one could be a God within the lower universe before even ascending. It was a monstrous level of resources, techniques, and plenty of other things that could easily turn an ordinary person into a Divine.

    However, as Dante knew how dangerous it was to leave such legacies in open ces for anyone to find, they were all hidden in the deepest recesses of the universe.

    Grand Heavens Boundary was gone. It had been destroyed by the tests of time. Damien could only save the worlds within and have his Sanctuary''s Universal Core devour the one that wanted to die.

    He couldn''t save the universe itself.

    When he told Dante this, he thought it would elicit disappointment, as all of his hard work had been destroyed.

    But Dante didn''t respond like that at all.

    "Do you think I didn''t prepare for such a situation? Every legacy of mine is connected directly to the Universal Core. If it is as you say and your own Universal Core devoured that one, then they will all be present in your personal Sanctuary as I left them."

    It was a bit nonsensical to be so thorough, but only when the universe one lived in wasn''t always on the verge of destruction.

    Grand Heavens Boundary was thest part of the lower universe that still existed. It was the literal boundary between the lower universe and the Heavenly World. If Dante existed there since it was still a part of arger universe, then he would have been aware of its eventual fate from long ago.

    Damien didn''t ask him why he didn''t do anything about it. Even back then, Dante had lived for a period of time that would turn anyone else insane. He wasn''t of the mind to solve other people''s problems. He was too busy preparing for a return to the Heavenly World and creating a path for his son to walk. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    How was he supposed to know that the Dark God had prepared for him?

    It truly was unfortunate. If things went a little differently for Dante, then he would be standing in the position that Damien currently held.

    He didn''t mind, since it was his son who surpassed him, but it was still a shame.

    Nevertheless, Damien could sense Dante''s subtle desire to live vicariously through him.

    He wasn''t put off by it. Rather, from his childhood, he always wanted to make his father proud.

    That emotion turned into a burning desire to surpass him when it was tainted by malice. Now that he and Dante had made up, it was able to return to its original form.

    Damien wanted to show Dante the future that was robbed of him.

    ''The Heavenly God nees first, and the Firmament Boardes second.''

    It was enough to be a clear game n. Damien spoke with his father for a while longer. They went from serious topics into more casual conversation as they closed the gap of a hundred years that stood between them.

    They didn''t have a hard time at all. Dante and Damien were already pretty simr people. Damien grew up to be the spitting image of his father. Without hostility and with joint effort they connected over many things.

    When Damien left that room, he had a smile on his face.

    He understood why his mother looked so happy. The feeling of having aplete family after years and years of being apart or separated by circumstances was unreal. Even Damien, who was bing more indifferent to his humanity, was reveling in its warmth.

    He was definitely d to be home. He was even more excited for August to visit.

    ''Speaking of¡­ I guess the Holy Dragons became fodder.''

    It was a bit unfortunate, but if they followed Rose to the pce, then that was their only fate.

    After all, this was a ce that was ruled by an Unrecorded. No matter how Supreme they were, what could they do against Dante?

    If he pulled out a universe like the one he showed Damien, then they had to have died in a single instant. That kind of pressure couldn''t be resisted unless one had control over one''s own "Existence."

    There was a bit of disappointment in Damien''s mind when he realized that they''d just vanished, but what could he do about it?

    They died when August was still fighting for the crown. They died with their existences wiped from this world, so the news didn''t even reach the ns they supported.

    ''Well, it was going to happen anyway. The Fate in Arulion was recaptured by the crown when the artifacts were taken out of the realm, so their lifespans were doomed to end.''

    That was why Damien knew they would chase the artifacts to the pce despite the risks.

    They chased life with such ferocity that they ran right into the jaws of death.

    The only disappointing thing was that August wouldn''t have any Holy Dragons to use as training dummies, but Damien could find a solution to that problem if he needed to.

    Putting all of that aside, Damien returned to his own abode where Rose was waiting for him with her arms crossed.

    "So, August Void, huh."

    Those were the first words he heard.

    He smiled wryly.

    Right, there was that.

    His wives didn''t know that he now had a son.

    As for how he would exin it¡­

    ¡­well, it was simple, right?

    ***

    It was, but it took a lot of time.

    Damien wasn''t the same young guy anymore. He was more than content with what he had, so the chance of himing back with a new wife was nonexistent at this point.

    Rose didn''t doubt him. She knew it well. Just¡­it was definitely something she needed to know, wasn''t it?

    She sat Damien down and heard the whole story about what happened in Arulion.

    She definitely nagged him about August, but rather than criticism, it was more along the lines of¡­

    "Why didn''t you bring him home? Are you telling me he doesn''t even know that you''re married?!"

    Damien did mention his wives to his son, but it was always in passing so¡­

    ''...I don''t really know if August knows they exist?''

    Rose was certainly pissed about that specific aspect.

    But, it seemed like most of her feelings were directed elsewhere.

    By the time they finished talking, she was already staring at him intently.

    "...what is it?" Damien asked as he sensed something off.

    "No more dying," Rose responded without giving him a chance to say anything else.

    "We''re making a baby."

 Chapter 1776 Heavenly God Plane [2]

    Chapter 1776 Heavenly God ne [2]

    It hadn''t been that long since Damienst saw his wives when looked at from their perspective.

    Sure, he spent ten years raising August and whatnot, but in the original time flow, only a little bit of time had passed since Damien and his family took a break from the world to enjoy their time together.

    However, when it came to having a child, Damien was always hesitant.

    There were several factors influencing his decision to wait.

    First off, the state of the world.

    It was too chaotic on arge scale to selfishly bring a child into this world. To be raised in an era of chaos could be a boon for some, but Damien wanted his children to experience peace.

    Secondly, his own state.

    As he was too busy dealing with the fate of the world, he barely even had time to spend with his wives. They were all pursuing their own ambitions at the moment, so he couldn''t even see them when he returned.

    If any of them had a child, then the rest would obviously want the same. Not only would this put a halt to the things they worked so hard on, but wouldn''t it leave his children with an absentee father? N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He wanted to be in their lives supporting them. He didn''t want to be a father that they only saw every few months or years.

    He could go on to a third, fourth, or even fifth reason, but they didn''t matter. These two were enough to solidify his decision to wait and have children after everything had been solved.

    It was definitely respectable. Rose wasn''t going to force him into having a child that he couldn''t also enjoy raising.

    However, he had to think about it from her perspective as well.

    She had been with him for over a hundred years at this point. All that time, she stood by his side and loved him without wanting anything in return.

    Obviously, he loved her back just the same, but she was often the one who had to respect his wishes and put her own to the side as he was dealing with such important matters.

    She understood his concern. She knew exactly why he was holding back.

    But, she at least wanted him to consider it.

    Gods took much longer than humans to give birth, as the baby needed to be supplied with mana and talent as well as the foundational elements of life. By the time that child was born, wouldn''t Damien already have the time?

    In the situation where that child never gained sentience, then wasn''t it the same whether they had one or not?

    Regardless, if Damien lost, the True Void Universe would turn to ash and that child would never have to suffer the pain of losing its existence.

    Rose wanted to carry that child. It was something she''d been dreaming about for a very long time.

    Unlike the others, she only trained for the sake of it. Her real dream in life was ordinary. She wanted to stay at home, raise her kids, and live a life like the people she saw when she went to Earth for the first time.

    Their small mundane lives were ideal to her. They were filled with a kind of beauty that she was never able to experience as the child of a royal n.

    Rose did take Damien hostage for the next few nights. Her urge to have a child wasn''t the only one that went unsatisfied over all these years, after all.

    However, she left the decision to him. She only wanted to put the thought in the head for him to seriously consider now that he was already experienced in fatherhood.

    In essence, Rose was jealous. She wanted her and Damien''s first parenting experience to happen together. More than that, she wanted his first child to be hers.

    Obviously, when it came to biology, she could still hold that title. But she never wanted to exclude August, who was her son by default, from their family.

    That held true even though she''d never actually met him before.

    Damien was hoping that the Heavenly God ne would open sooner rather thanter, but as he sensed the changes in the world, he realized that it was still several days away.

    As such, he spent the rest of his time with Rose. She told him about what Elena, Ruyue, and Iris were up to these days. She also let him know where they were so he could visit them when he was free.

    It seemed that all of them were making unbelievable progress.

    Iris had raised an influence with simr strength to a great n in a matter of a decade.

    Elena had chased her lineage to its core truths and was currently working on rebuilding the foundation of the Valkyrie Race in the Heavenly World.

    Ruyue hadn''t yet conquered her quest to find her emotions, but she had already started to see a miraculous change that she didn''t think was possible. Slowly but surely, she found herself experiencing sensation in a different way than she had ever since she ascended to Divinity.

    It had been ten years, so her progress didn''t seem that great, but she was fighting against a binding vow of heaven. It wasn''t an easy task to regain the emotions she sacrificed for power.

    Damien wanted to see them all immediately, but he refrained. He only went to see Iris and spent a day with her.

    As for Elena and Ruyue, he was nning to visit them after the Heavenly God ne''s matters. He didn''t want to take their attention away from what they were doing quite yet.

    After all, he was back now, and his Existence was affecting the Heavenly World.

    He purely and utterly wished for their good fortune, so he knew the universe would respond and give them a fulfilling gift.

    Damien learned a lot about Existence from Dante. Though he had a higherprehension of the concept itself, Dante had been using it for longer so he knew some tips and tricks that helped Damien learn to experiment properly with the power he had.

    The three nights were spent with Rose, but the daytime was upied by Dante. He and Damien sparred, talked, and spent time together. They, who had always wanted to be a part of each other''s lives, were making the most of this little respite.

    Damien learned a lot about Existence from Dante. Though he had a higherprehension of the concept itself, Dante had been using it for longer so he knew some tips and tricks that helped Damien learn to experiment properly with the power he had.

    Basically, he fully prepared himself to ascend to Godhood in these three days, raising all of his abilities to their peak states.

    The opening of the Heavenly God ne was a big moment for the cosmos. It was rare for a secret realm to be specifically geared towards Divinities. When an opportunity like this appeared, all of them were rushing to take a hold of it.

    There wasn''t an "opening," per se. The Heavenly God ne was a realm entirely disconnected from the ne that the cosmos resided on.

    Instead, when that moment came, the Divinities in the True Void Universe and the Divinities in the Sacred Abyss that was connected at its hip received a sort of message.

    It appeared in their minds, shining in golden light and sparkling as if it was made with fairy dust.

    "Do you wish to enter the Heavenly God ne?"

    All they had to do was answer yes. Every single person who answered "Yes" to the prompt was promptly transported out of the Heavenly World.

    Including our very own beloved protagonist, Damien Void.

 Chapter 1777 Heavenly God Plane [3]

    Chapter 1777 Heavenly God ne [3]

    This event actually meant something to everyone except Damien, so it was beneficial to view it from their point of view as they raced and desperately chased treasures.

    Unfortunately, since Damien was present, this event was going to be a short and uneventful one.

    What was the Heavenly God ne supposed to look like?

    In its ethereal state, it more or less replicated the environment of the outside world. People who entered in different ces could meet, but since it was harder to travel the further one got from one''s soul, even Gods were limited to a specific area.

    It was usually assumed that the world was generated depending on howrge it needed to be. Unless one attempted to move away from one''s physical body in that ne, it would remain a dark nothingness.

    When the Divinities of the world found themselves in that ce, they thought they would encounter an empty version of the Heavenly World, a sort of shadow of their home.

    However, they were led wrong from the start. After all, the Heavenly God ne was its own realm. It only mimicked the environment so Gods could battle in the ce they decided as their battleground.

    The Heavenly God ne''s appearance was important as it was a one-in-a-million chance to see this realm in its true form. And it lived up to every possible expectation.

    It was and where the air itself was a color of gold. It shined in a way that made everyone believe that it was truly Heavenly, and its scenery helped to further support that belief.

    Huge, lush mountains floated in the sky, connected by bridges of vines and trees, a ground made of pure white clouds popted by creatures just as pure. There was an ocean as well, somehow. It flowed through the sky, twisting in the air as it separated into thousands of sky rivers that flowed into a waterfall that crashed off of the edge of the ne and into the great beyond.

    It was arge area where even the great number of summoned Divinities didn''t meet each other immediately. And, aside from its beautiful nature, there stood many remnants of a society that clearly didn''t exist anymore. Perhaps through the traces they left in this realm, something about their story would be revealed.

    Or, if that was too hard, just using Existence and scanning the ce was enough.

    ''Wow, so someone really connected this ce to the True Void Universe randomly.''

    Damien raised a brow as he looked around.

    He appeared at the top of the highest mountain, floating in the sky above everything else. As it turned out, this ce was its own cosmos at some point. It met a natural end long ago, and some passing individual decided that it should be connected to this world.

    ''That should be a more surprising revtion.''

    Though, Damien didn''t feel that it was too crazy. After seeing someone like the Dark God who could use his cosmos as a vessel to invade others, he didn''t think much about it.

    Obviously, that man''s intentions were curious, but if this had been a system for so long and nothing had happened, then did he have intentions at all?

    Damien was more than familiar with the whims of an Unrecorded. He himself had spared and saved the 4 Evils who once served Straea because of the same kind of whim.

    As such, he didn''t remain curious about it for very long. In the end, his actions benefited the cosmos, so it didn''t matter why he chose to act.

    The society that lived here was an extremely magical one. It developed without studying the scientific aspects of the world and instead fully indulged in producing the same effects through magic alone.

    They thrived for a very long time and fell as they were eventually fated to. If it wasn''t for the individual that connected this realm with the True Void Universe, it would have experienced the same fate as Grand Heavens Boundary.

    Eventually, all things would return to the Void. There was no question about that.

    Damien appreciated their lives for a moment as he looked to see where everyone else had spawned.

    Unfortunately, his wives weren''t here, but he was nning to go see them soon anyway so he put that aside as well.

    The Foreign Races and Heavenly World denizens were rtively separated at first. They appeared on two different sides of the realm as they were teleported from different ces.

    They would definitely sh. It was impossible for them to keep to themselves and focus on getting stronger, especially since the Foreign Races were literally mass-produced and didn''t need to work to get stronger.

    ''I''ll focus on myself first and let them use those guys as target practice. I just have to make sure they don''t die, right?''

    Damien could create new life, but reviving someone wasn''t a possibility with his current abilities. In order to keep the Heavenly World''s Divinities alive while he finished his ascension, he needed to do something a little more involved.

    Damien created a clone of himself that separated from his body. It contained a portion of his consciousness and power and operated separately from his main body.

    As he sat down and closed his eyes, the clone did the same. Only, while he was focusing on himself, the clone was splitting its attention and providing hidden shields for every single allied Divinity in the realm.

    It wouldn''t protect them from damage, nor would it protect them from injury. However, if a situation arose where they found themselves on the border of death, it would be assured that they would not die.

    Such provisions allowed Damien to act freely.

    He sunk into his own mind, iming this mountaintop as his sanctuary, and began the process of ascension. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    What was that process, by the way?

    It had never been explicitly mentioned.

    Ascending to Godhood was different from any other "rank up" that a practitioner experienced on their journey to power.

    It only partially had to do with level, but after a certain point, it could be done at any time as long as one had the qualifications.

    The first necessary factor was theplete control over one''s element and the realization of one''s Divinity.

    Damien easily gained this qualification even though he had many more elements than anyone else. When he was acknowledged by Existence, all of the abilities on his status screen reached 100%.

    His Divinity was that of a Hegemon God, so obviously he reached it at the same moment.

    That left him with two more qualifications to fulfill.

    The first was his Legend.

    The ranks themselves were never clearly identified. The specific words used were determined by the individual. It was said that after five changes, one would be ready for Godhood, but Damien''s Legend changed ten times before he felt that he''d attained what he needed.

    His Legend was now called "Rising Sun," likely a reference to his status as a budding Emperor.

    He was not far at all from bing an Emperor above all.

    The final qualification was something more vague.

    It was a question.

    "Are you worthy?"

    Beneath its weight, no practitioner could lie or bloat their ego. They would be forced to answer honestly, not from their own standpoint, but from that of the universe itself.

    This was the question that most could never answer. They could never look at the world from that perspective above the clouds and honestly say that they were worthy of more in their current state.

    Eventually, they would devolve and devolve until ascension became impossible. That was the end of many people''s journeys.

    Damien, on the other hand, was not even questioned.

    The cosmos snickered at the thought of posing that question to someone who had almost ascended it. The only reason Damien didn''t have Godhood was because he never tried to get it.

    Now that he was making an effort in that direction¡­

    It came to him without question.

    Within minutes of his arrival in the Heavenly God ne, the golden energy around him started to swirl in a vortex around his body.

    Really, was ascension supposed to be this easy?

 Chapter 1778 Heavenly God Plane [4]

    Chapter 1778 Heavenly God ne [4]

    The energy in the Heavenly God ne had been constantly enriched by the society that once called it their home. It turned golden to exemplify its purity. It became fog in the world as if to show others just how much it had grown. Their findings allowed their society to thrive in a way that many others couldn''t. Death, disease, and destruction were problems they eliminated, but even then they faced extinction at some point.

    The energy they left had be a ground for other practitioners to receive the final push that took them to a level they could never reach before.

    In a sense, their efforts went to a good purpose.

    Damien quite liked how it felt as it enveloped him. The energy was warm and inviting. It knew only peace and was never made familiar with the struggles of chaotic times, so it held an innocence that the mana Damien knew did not.

    It poked at him warily like a curious animal. It sniffed him, became familiar with his aura, and lowered its guard to allow him to absorb it.

    Ascension was only as grand a scene as one imagined it to be. The imagery in the world was for personal satisfaction only. It was a celebration of one''s lifelong achievements, so it would naturally resemble one''s personality in how it manifested.

    Damien saw Godhood as something he only wanted to achieve out of necessity, so there wasn''t anything like a grand scene around him. This was characteristic at this point, as even the scenes Damien created were too outside of perception to manifest in the folds of the world.

    However, the internal change was massive.

    His soul expanded greatly and became a universe of its own. His body shed all sense of mortality, bing absolutely ethereal and untethered to the mortal ne.

    He now truly could not die unless his existence itself was wiped from the fabric of reality along with any sort of memory or legacy of him that remained.

    That set him apart from other Gods, sure, but was it really something that mattered at this point?

    More importantly, as his mana changed and as his body became even purer, the empty space created in his Void Soul became a shade darker.

    Nonexistence had found the space in his body to grow. It did not need to enter, as it had already ced a seed inside of him long ago.

    That tiny ckness was enough. When Damien sat down with it and started actually understanding its unintelligible insanity, he would gain exactly what he hoped for.

    The time for that, unfortunately, was not now.

    It took over a day for Damien''s ascension to end. Despite the process being quite streamlined, it took time to establish such powerful changes in the body of a single man.

    He finished ascending to Godhood just as quietly as he began. The swirling energy calmed down, but it subtly clung to his body in respect.

    He stood up and looked at his hands.

    ''I don''t feel much different.''

    Naturally, his power wasn''t boosted. Nothing really happened at all. He just officially achieved a status that he already possessed.

    The only thing of note was that there was now a ce in his body to contain "Nothingness" itself.

    How was he supposed to feel that?

    The entire point of the concept was that it was absolutely nothing. It was the undefined. It was made up only of things that the human mind could notprehend. Damien would need to put serious effort intoprehending it. From his rough estimate as someone who had just felt its presence in his body for the first time, he figured it would take at least some years.

    When he got home, he needed to put the world''s matters aside and focus on only this.

    However, was that really possible?

    ''I''ll have to find a way. The first step is obviously keeping these people safe.'' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He looked upon the realm again and watched the race of greed. The Divinities already figured out that they were invincible for some reason and were using that benefit to aid them in their looting.

    ''It was meant to be used against the Foreign Races, but okay.''

    Damien really didn''t care what they did with it as long as they stood up properly for the real war.

    If they didn''t, then they''d die by the enemy''s hands so that was also something he didn''t have to worry about.

    ''For now¡­''

    Damien gave another order.

    And on a much smaller scale, it happened once again.

    Every Foreign Being in the Heavenly God ne was exterminated from existence.

    The Heavenly World''s Divinities were left to fight amongst themselves for the benefits of this realm.

    ''Well, that was easy.''

    Damien aplished everything he came here to do in that short period of time. Now, all that was left for him was to kick back and rx until he was sent back to his home cosmos.

    And he did exactly that.

    Atop that mountain where he was unreachable, heid in the fields of energy and enjoyed the peaceful ambiance of this realm.

    Things were going well. He''d reached a ce where other Gods were meaningless in front of him, so he was confident in protecting the cosmos until the time came.

    However¡­it was never that easy, was it?

    There wasn''t a single chance in hell that the Dark God would let Damien do whatever he wanted.

    He learned that lesson once again the very moment he left the Heavenly God ne.

    ***

    It wasn''t meant to be open for long in the first ce. The Heavenly God ne was technically connected to the True Void Universe to boost its fate and create a battlefield for Godly battles. Its appearance here truly was a rare and unnned phenomenon. It was solved in a matter of days and returned from whence it came. Those who chased its benefits were thoroughly satisfied with their spoils, especially a certain Damien Void.

    The next few days were spent in the same way. Damien would enjoy his life at home and asionally wipe all of the Foreign Races off the face of the earth whenever they appeared.

    But, that was bound to cause problems.

    Just five days after the Heavenly God ne closed, a¡­ peculiar individual arrived at the pce gate.

    He was dressed up nicely in the kind of tuxedo a butler would wear, and he had a monocle covering his eye as if he was some sort of old bank teller.

    However, he didn''t try to hide his identity as a Foreign Noble.

    He was not someone Damien recognized, so he must have been created solely to make this visit.

    And he didn''te with malicious intentions. Instead, the briefcase in his hand seemed to be filled with documents.

    What kind of scene was this?

    His appearance was definitely strange since his grey skin and exotic features were too different from the way he decided to dress. This was especially so for the people who experienced Earth, as this kind of clothing was specific to a single era of that world''s history.

    It must''ve been some kind of peace offering. An extension of a hand that wanted to seem rtable.

    "Ie in peace," the strange man told the gatekeepers who obviously didn''t believe him.

    "I would like to have a word with your Young Lord, Damien Void."

    A mysterious visitor from the Sacred Abyss, one who imed to be docile¡­

    His arrival could never mean anything good.

 Chapter 1779 Agreement [1]

    Chapter 1779 Agreement [1]

    He was granted entrance in the end.

    Obviously, Damien was curious about what a man like him had been sent here for. The Dark God wasn''t stupid. He knew that Damien could ughter this envoy if he so chose, but the message he wanted to ry must have been something that needed to be handled with an official process like this, so it was worth listening to.

    The envoy sat in an isted meeting room in the pce reserved exclusively for untrustworthy guests. Damien sat on the chair across from him as heid some documents on the table.

    "I am presenting this to you in this manner so it is familiar to you."

    The envoy spoke clearly. He made sure Damien knew that his attire and methods were only the way they were because the Dark God wanted him to know that he could read his past.

    Damien wasn''t fazed. Sure, it was difficult to get a read on where he hade from since Grand Heavens Boundary no longer existed in this cosmos, but it wasn''t impossible.

    It was a little bit concerning that the Dark God could find that kind of information in the folds of the True Void Universe''s Existence, but it wouldn''t be a problem anymore as long as he reached the same level and peered into the Sacred Abyss.

    Damien didn''t say anything, merely watching the envoy as if to tell him to continue.

    A head of sweat dripped from the envoy''s brow.

    Frankly, he was terrified. He was created by the Dark God only recently but he had the memories of someone else who had existed for a long time. He knew clearly the threat that the man in front of him posed.

    If he said a single wrong word or upset him, nothing could save him from extermination.

    He looked at his position with woe, but as he was fiercely loyal to his Lord, he could not do anything but ept it silently.

    "I havee with a message from our Lord. These papers are documents that you may read if you feel inclined that detail the offenses in question and the settlement we wish to reach."

    The envoy forced himself to look into Damien''s eyes as he spoke. It wasn''t that he thought he deserved to stand equal to him, but that he had to look brave for the sake of his Lord''s image.

    Damien looked down at the papers for a moment before ncing back at the envoy with a bored expression on his face.

    "Get to the point."

    He could very well scan those documents and know exactly what the Dark God''s intentions were, but he wanted to hear it from the person in front of him.

    What was the point of him being here if he didn''t do anything but tremble in fear?

    "R-right!" The envoy said hastily.

    He steeled himself again. It was hard to believe that Damien wasn''t doing anything to make him feel this way, but it was the truth. The people of the Heavenly World could still look at him as the same Damien Void because they didn''t know that he was the one behind the destruction of the Foreign Races.

    On the other side, everyone knew him just as his people knew the Dark God. He was the terrifying force that could not be approached at any cost. Wasn''t it natural for the envoy to feel such crippling fear?

    Still, he was created with this sole purpose as the basis of his existence. Even under immense pressure, his core processes forced him to continue as if he were some kind of robot.

    "Your mass destruction of our troops will not be tolerated. There is no point in a war like this. If you continue these rude and disgraceful actions, then we will be forced to respond in kind."

    Damien raised a brow. Rude and disgraceful was surely an interesting way to phrase it. If he was fighting against actualmon soldiers who had lived for years and trained for the war only to be exterminated by an untouchable entity, then he would understand,

    That wasn''t the case, was it? The Foreign Races that invaded the world were all just creations of the Dark God, souls that had been immortalized in his battalion.

    Those who still lived, those like the Gehenna Tribe, did not fight for the Dark God. They were never given the chance to be powerful.

    "Respond in kind, you say?" Damien said with a smirk.

    "And how are you going to do that?"

    He really was curious, but this was not a curious matter.

    Suddenly, all of the envoy''s fear vanished. The look in his eyes changed as his irises darkened into ck blobs floating in a white void.

    "I will intervene." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The voice was still the same one that Damien had been hearing thus far, but there was a familiar darkness oozing from the words.

    "Can you intervene so freely in my domain?" Damien replied, his eyes now icier than the coldest parts of the world.

    "That is for you to decide," the envoy replied with a sly smile.

    "However, can you truly say that I cannot?"

    He couldn''t.

    With everything the Dark God disyed until now, with all of the machinations he had in this world and the plots that spanned billions upon billions of years, Damien truly couldn''t say that he didn''t have the power to intervene.

    If the Dark God started to respond with the same tactics Damien used, if he decided to mass exterminate each and every being that was under Damien''s control¡­

    ''...then this world will also lose its soul.''

    There would be nothing real left here but him.

    The realization served as a reminder that the only reason the True Void Universe had a chance of survival was because of the Dark God''s whims.

    If he personally acted upon it from the start, then it would have been swallowed before Damien was ever born.

    No matter how the situation changed, the most important thing was to keep the Dark God''s attention on him, not the cosmos as a whole.

    And it seemed that his actions had resulted in the opposite.

    Damien frowned and crossed his arms.

    "Fine, I concede."

    They were words he didn''t say often, but in this circumstance, he really had no other choice.

    "I will keep my hands off of your people. However¡­!"

    Damien looked the envoy, no, the Dark God directly in his eyes.

    "Just as you stand behind them and control their every move, I will be allowed to do the same. I will cease my direct involvement in the war only if we both agree that we can still participate indirectly."

    The Dark God raised a brow curiously.

    "Oh? You wish to fight a battle of generals against me?"

    His sticky smile widened as the expression on his face became convoluted.

    "Very well. This will be fun, Damien Void."

    The envoy''s face started to melt. As his body was turned into a puddle of biological fluid, he extended his hand to the table.

    The documents vanished, reced by a single sheet of golden papyrus that outlined the terms of their contract.

    Damien looked at it, paying no mind to the dying envoy.

    "A battle of generals¡­"

    As long as he signed that pact, he would not be able to directly aid his people anymore. They would once again have to struggle, but it would not be in vain for he would do everything within his means to help them get stronger and win.

    The most important factor of that agreement was the same factor that had been most important from the start of this conflict.

    Time.

    With this, Damien could buy time.

    And with that time¡­

    ''...I can win this war.''

 Chapter 1780 Agreement [2]

    Chapter 1780 Agreement [2]

    Damien and the Dark God would both be disallowed from interfering in the war actively. This meant that other than each other, they were not allowed to fight anyone from the other side.

    A binding vow to the Heavens meant nothing to either of them. The Heavens could not contain them anymore, so those vows were meant to be broken.

    Between them, the pact had to be ced into the folds of both Existence and Nonexistence, ensuring that they would lose everything if they chose to disobey.

    Damien didn''t know why the Dark God was catering to him so much.

    This was not the same as the Saint Emperor in the slightest.

    That man catered to Damien first because he dreamed of taking the Void Physique for himself andter because he understood that his role was meant for Damien from the start. The Saint Emperor ended up entrusting Damien with his legacy, as he raised him for that purpose even when he himself was unaware.

    The Dark God had no simrities to that man. He didn''t care about the Void Physique. Hell, Damien doubted if he even knew of its Existence. It wasn''t that he didn''t have an interest in swallowing Damien, but it had nothing to do with his overarching n.

    Unlike the Saint Emperor, the time he put into this cosmos was inconsequential. This was just one of his many conquests that he was especially having fun with.

    He was raising Damien because he wanted to see him suffer and fail. Those words he spoke when they first met made that part obvious.

    Just¡­

    The "why" of it all just didn''t exist. Not from Damien''s perspective, at least.

    ''I can''t read his Existence yet.''

    It was more of a problem than expected.

    ''But there are more important things to do now than worry about it.''

    The Dark God could definitely just mass-produce Gods to wear down the Heavenly World''s defenses, but he would not do that.

    He wanted the entire world enveloped in war. From themon people to the Supremes, he would provide them with enemies so they could struggle for their lives.

    ''That doesn''t mean we won''t be overwhelmed by forces.''

    They also needed a way to mass-produce Gods. A way that came naturally, not something like enving souls.

    ''Okay.''

    Damien closed his eyes and reopened them. His mana etched itself into the piece of papyrus that proceeded to float in the air and meld into the folds of reality. The corpse liquid of the envoy vanished, and Damien stood up.

    First things first, he had to inform his people about what happened.

    And after that¡­

    It was time for the general public to learn the truth about everything.

    ***

    It happened just like that.

    Damien informed his family about his deal with the Dark God and his exclusion from the war. ire and Serena instantly went to work. As they were the ones who had been most involved in the pce''s matters in recent times, they had also be its face.

    It was better if they, Gods trusted by all as the strongest in the world, were the ones to break the news.

    To learn that the world was going to end if they didn''t win this war would be a fact that not many could rationalize. However, with the current state of the world and the people''s loyalty to the pce, it wasn''t a question if they''d rise to the asion.

    Damien entrusted such tasks to his family members. He would be there when the most important moment came, but until then, he had to focus on himself.

    His personal growth was the most integral factor affecting the oue of it all. Now that he had a sufficient opportunity, he was going to enter seclusion and train quietly.

    In the meantime, he could send a clone into the world to manage the armies, allowing him to multitask efficiently.

    The next few months or years would be very, very busy.

    So, before everything started to spiral, Damien wanted to see his wives at least one more time.

    ***

    Within the next week, Damien traveled across the world to meet his wives where they were.

    He had already visited Iris and he''d been spending most of his time sinceing back from Arulion with Rose. As such, he decided to visit Ruyue first.

    She was the one he hadn''t seen in the longest time. And, she was the one with the least definite path at the moment.

    Ruyue was definitely stronger than the rest by arge margin now. But, without her emotions or feelings, she couldn''t feelfortable with herself.

    Only when Damien was present did she find herself able to express anything. Being trapped in a cage of her own mind, forced to yearn for the emotions she once felt, she had suffered.

    Originally, she was sent out for a different reason. Damien, knowing that she would be leaving the pce for the first time, guided her just slightly.

    He convinced her to stay out, so when she finished dealing with the Straea n back then, she was able to go on a journey of self-discovery.

    What did it lead to?

    Well, there wasn''t much for Ruyue to find. Her emotionless state allowed her to analyze herself more bluntly than ever before. She was able to perfectly categorize herself and gain control over her sense of self. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    She was just looking for emotions.

    She didn''t know how. She was just experiencing life and hoping they''d return to her.

    The path to fight against her curse was actually simple in the most difficult possible way.

    All she had to do was be a being above the Heavens so the pact she signed with them would be nullified. Just¡­

    Now that Ruyue also had to chase the undefined and be Unrecorded, she was lost.

    She and Elena were the two who actually had a desire to reach that level. Iris was more than content with stopping as a Supreme God and Rose didn''t care as long as her lifespan was secured.

    Elena already had her path.

    Whether she''d be Unrecorded or not depended entirely on her own effort, but if she kept moving the way she was, then with a little push from Damien she''d be able to touch upon the base of that level.

    After all, Elena was an Empress now. She had found the remnants of the Valkyrie civilization from which her bloodline originated.

    She found the traces of her parents, Gods of the past who did not have the same fortune as Damien''s parents.

    Rather, they were crippled and fell to the lower universe and had no possibility of regaining their power. They chose Earth as the appropriate world to leave their child after sensing Dante''s presence there, but after exhausting their energy to do so, they lost their lives.

    What they left behind was a hollow civilization. Elena had taken its mantle and was already working on reviving the Valkyrie bloodline through the gifts she attained in the ruins of the old Valkyrie world.

    In the past months, she had been gathering descendants of the Valkyries and creating a kingdom of her own. Through her endeavors, she learned a lot about the administrative duties she usually left to others and the leadership ability shecked.

    She naturally became more powerful as well. Her bloodline finally had its opportunity to shine. Her advantages were less than Damien''s, but having Divine parents and a strong lineage were very important factors that would contribute to her rise.

    Ruyue¡­

    Well, she wasn''t alone.

    Ruyue and Rose had the lowest status among Damien''s wives in terms of ancestry. Rose''s indifference to power made it a nonissue, but if Ruyue wanted to continue on a path to bing Unrecorded, then she needed more than just the Xue n lineage and unique talent that took her this far.

    Damien wanted to help not only her, but all of them on their individual paths as he once again left them for a long period.

    And he knew exactly how he was going to do it.

 Chapter 1781 Agreement [3]

    Chapter 1781 Agreement [3]

    Damien spent several days with each of them, satisfying their cravings as he satisfied his own. He told them what he''d been doing and learned what they''d been up to. And, he talked to them about the future, about their ns after all of this was over.

    It seemed like everyone had reached a consensus. They were far past retirement age. It was about time for them to settle down and stop working. One day, they would have a condo far away from anything else, a ce where they could enjoy peace. They all awaited that moment when they''d achieved everything and could finally stay together as a family.

    Damien wanted to do something for them, as mentioned before.

    Iris was making a new influence simr to the Prismatic Sun Holy Land to establish more influence in the Heavenly World for herself, Damien, and Void Pce. What she needed most was exposure and status, which could be easily given.

    Iris'' sect was already the greatest influence in the Northern Region. If he just lent her a little bit of aid in clearing up the region and making itpletely safe, she would excel. For Rose, it was already clear as well. She wanted his child. She was otherwise content with her life, so what more could he provide her but himself and their future child?

    It was a big decision he needed to make. For the moment, he chose to wait and see how long it would be before the real final war started. Elena didn''t want any help. She was more independent than the rest, after all. Damien still wanted to give her something, but the most she would ept was his enhancement of the Valkyrie lineage in her possession so she could make better use of it.

    It was hard for Damien to show affection to Elena with material things. She and Rose always liked to argue, but they were most simr in the way they were happy just spending time with their husband. Ruyue camest. She was the happiest seeing Damien at this time, as she had been longing for him since theyst parted. She was also the one Damien wanted to help the most since her path was filled with too many thorns.

    For Ruyue who always quietly stood by his side and showed him the side of her that was invisible to the rest of the world, he wanted to change the world. He wanted to change thews of heaven so that she would never suffer again.

    However, she resolved herself to follow the path of an Unrecorded. Rather than resigning when she learned what was in store for her, shemitted to suffering for her sess.

    If she hadn''t set foot on that path, then Damien would have easily solved all of her problems for her.

    Since she did, he could only help her to an extent. After all, if he did too much, her chance to reach that level would be robbed of her.

    Damien gave Ruyue lineage. He gave Ruyue a talent that surpassed her own and a bloodline that could support her until the very end.

    It was just a small change in her foundation, but it was what granted her the qualifications to aim big.

    Even for Dante Void, the barrier that kept him only knowing a few aspects of Existence instead of rising above it was his foundation and his previous practice. He missed a lot of steps that he needed to take and that was precisely what blocked him at the veryst moment.

    Damien only ensured that Ruyue wouldn''t face the same roadblock. The rest was up to her, just as she wanted.

    It was good that she had purpose now. Damien didn''t like it at all when she was walking around like a ghost when he wasn''t around. He refused to take away the motivation she''d gained and the dreams she chased. An entire week passed as Damien spent a few days with each of them. The fabric of the Heavenly World was already changing as the Dark God prepared for his siege.

    Damien soon separated himself from his clone and gave it enough of his mental capacity to control and lead the people while using Existence to help them.

    Meanwhile, he, as the main consciousness, entered a secret realm of his own creation to train.

    As long as his other half was in the Heavenly World, he would always know its situation. In fact, even the concept of a "main body" was inconsequential at this point. As long as Damien decided it his main body, he could switch between any form of himself without problems. Nevertheless, the Heavenly World was put on the back burner in his eyes.

    Nonexistence became the only focus in his mind.

    Nonexistence was more than just "everything that doesn''t exist." That was its original form, theplete opposite of what existed. However, as "nothingness" was redefined through the eyes of those who attempted to perceive it, it was given another face.

    Improbability: That which disrupts the fabric of reality.

    Concepts such as "revival" were included in Nonexistence because they went against the order on which Existence functioned.

    These concepts were a starting point Damien could use to further hisprehension. At a certain point, however, his mind would enter a ne that could not be exined through words or imagery. He would be left to his own devices and tethered to reality only through Existence itself.

    He wasn''t there yet. Only after traversing that realm for a long enough time would he be able to say that his Existence and Nonexistence were at the same level, the highest level they could possibly reach.

    Damien closed his eyes as he wondered where to start.

    Revival? It was rted to life and death. By interpreting Samsara in reverse, it was easy to reach its most basic aspects. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    ''The problem is that I don''t know if that will lead me to its connection to Nonexistence.''

    In the first ce, it was a concept that had never beenprehended before despite being the long-standing wish of so many people.

    ''Is it right to delve into it?''

    Damien sighed.

    He didn''t think he''d find himself feeling like this after living for so long.

    Things were moving too fast.

    It was like Arulion was summer vacation and the instant he went back to school in the fall he was faced with final exams.

    This kind of scenario wasn''t meant toe so fast, was it?

    Damien almost wanted it to slow down so he could enjoy more experiences, but what was there left to do?

    He''de too far in this short amount of time. If there was anything to me, it was the urgency of the situation and his own talent, neither of which could be helped.

    ''Whatever. I just have to put my head down and do it.''

    The part of him that was always searching for a new thrill was hesitant, but the other part of his mind that yearned for a quiet life with his family thought differently.

    While they battled it out for supremacy and tried to lead him in different directions, Damien closed his eyes and delved into his own soul.

    Nonexistence, a state of nothingness.

    Not only was it the next step in his path, it was the exact thing he needed at this moment.

    Because, for the first time in many, many decades, his mind was incredibly loud right now.

 Chapter 1782 Seclusion [1]

    Chapter 1782 Seclusion [1]

    Damien honestly thought it would be an easy time. It would be time-consuming, sure, but in practice, it was nothing more than sitting down andprehending a concept, something he''d done countless times before.

    However, what he thought was not the reality of the situation. When it came down to it, there was more in store for him than a boring time alone in a dark ce.

    Damien spent several weeks trying to interpte the concept of "revival" into a facet of his own power. With his knowledge of Samsara, finding the root of revival was actually rtively simple. Once he put his mind to it, he had no trouble theorizing about how it could be achieved.

    However, he still needed to gain a foundational understanding of what Nonexistence truly was.

    In short, he had to bring that which did not exist into the light so he could conquer it.

    That was just as hard as it sounded.

    When Damien realized that none of his research into the concepts of Nonexistence that were created by living beings could get him to its core, he was truly stumped on what to do next.

    Existence was everything. That had to be said once again. Everything and anything that the human mind couldprehend was a concept of Existence. Only those things that were out of that realm of understanding, things that even Damien couldn''t imagine, were under the umbre of the concept he had opened the gates to.

    It was impossible toprehend. That was exactly why it was a barrier that barely anyone crossed.

    Perhaps across the myriad cosmos in the infinite Void, there were many people who had reached the peak of Existence. There were even some like the Dark God who had gone even further than that.

    However, barring those few, none could ever reach the starting point toprehend Nonexistence. None of them could do anything with the power once they''d gained it.

    But, if Damien started to think about a massive Void where countless cosmos spanned infinitely, a ce where the number of living beings was just as infinite, it didn''t make sense for there to be so little chaos.

    If people were running around using their cosmos'' to invade others, the True Void Universe would have been gone a long time ago.

    Sure, the Dark God was a Conqueror so his presence could be deemed as the reason why no other dared to approach.

    But what if it was something different?

    ''What if those people aren''t able to do the same things he can?''

    There had to be a barrier to entry that everyone faced. Once one had ess to Existence, it wasn''t necessarily hard to recognize its counterpart and gain the qualifications toprehend it.

    If everyone used the method that the Dark God exploited, challenging others and devouring cosmos, then they''d progress through that stage quite rapidly.

    Nonexistence ran rampant in those final moments of a cosmos, after all. Even if one couldn''t imagine its depth, one could slowly mimic that energy until one''sprehension saw a substantial increase.

    ''What if there''s something; a mechanism that keeps people from using that method toprehend the concept?''

    The Dark God may not have reached his status by devouring cosmos. It was entirely possible that he decided to start that conquest after he had attained a level near where he currently was.

    Damien changed his approach after considering this branch of thinking. It was all hypothetical, but without the energy that represented it, Nonexistence would be the same.

    It didn''t matter if he was reaching. Any branch of thought had to be followed until the very end. Even if they didn''t lead him in the right direction, they''d lead him somewhere. He could use them as learning experiences regardless.

    Weeks and weeks passed. In the Heavenly World, Dimensional Cracks once again started opening in stride.

    All over the world, forces were prepared to deal with them. A war with the fate of the world at stake began.

    Damien''s other halfmanded the troops as best as he could. Cooperating with his siblings and his wives, he had aprehensive understanding of the entire world''s situation that he could use to determine how he was to act.

    The first step was a merit system like no other.

    Every being in the world who was willing to fight received a pin that sunk into their skin. That pin registered every achievement they made in battle and out to determine their number of merit points.

    Up until this point, it was simple. However, the actual rewards were the wilder part.

    [Direct Rank Increase - 5000 Merit Points]

    [Godly Comprehension - 10000 Merit Points]

    [Mythical Bloodline Infusion - 15000 Merit Points.] N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Above the regr rewards like elixirs and training materials were rewards that nobody could imagine.

    5000 was a small number of points for a God, however, it was massive for a 3rd ss soldier. If those people saved up for long enough, they''d be offered a direct promotion to 4th ss?

    People didn''t believe it at first, and some still didn''t since nobody had attained that particr perk yet.

    But, when everything else was true, why would only a few of them be lies?

    The Divinities of the world fought fiercely for 10000 Merit Points. A few of them reached that point, and they received exactly what they were promised.

    A Godlyprehension of their specificw, a way for them to improve far more than even the Heavenly God ne allowed, was presented to them.

    It was a method that allowed for the rapid growth of troops without shattering their foundations and future potential. And, it was the most motivating system in existence. For those who wanted power, it offered power. For those who wanted money, it offered money. Even for those who wanted status, it presented ways to improve that aspect of their lives once this war ended such as the funds and location to build a new sect and an exclusive title from Void Pce itself.

    It worked better than expected. All sses of society, all people from weakest to strongest, were given a reason to fight in this war with their lives at risk.

    Firstly, the Foreign Races were kept at bay. They were constantly being produced, but there were blessing sights all around the world that suddenly appeared all around the world that replenished the stamina and energy of all allies fighting within their bounds infinitely. Damien wasn''t thrown off by the fact that he could not directly attack the enemy.

    No, there were so many ways for him to help his people fight for their own glory that this method was actually more preferential to him.

    His poption was alive and free-willed, while the Dark God''s was oppressed and enved. The way they fought was different. The desperation they showed was different.

    In the few months that passed immediately after Damien entered seclusion, the world changed significantly once again.

    However, only his second half was there to see it.

    The main body, the body that was busy training to reach the Dark God¡­

    He had been whisked away to a ce far, far away. A ce that nobody else in this cosmos could reach.

 Chapter 1783 Seclusion [2]

    Chapter 1783 Seclusion [2]

    How did he get there?

    It wasn''t on purpose, but everyone in his position experienced the same thing as long as they gained their power through proper means.

    Damien eventually decided to try and summon the energy of Nonexistence. He couldn''t control it and he could only slightly perceive it, but it did exist in his body.

    It was an aura that manifested in the way he wanted it to. For most people, it would turn ck, but that was a color that represented the Void in Damien''s mind.

    Existence was a formless power. Damien viewed Nonexistence the same way. As such, when he summoned it into the cave abode, it didn''t necessarily appear.

    The air became several degrees colder. Not because the temperature was decreasing, but because the air was being banished from the room.

    Nonexistence had a noticeable effect on the world even in such a small quantity. The cavern was a little dark from the start, but it was plunged into an eternal ckness the instant Damien summoned the energy.

    Existence itself was being denied and rewritten. Damien''s eyes sharpened as he wondered if the effect would be contained or if it would consume the world if left alone.

    To corral it, he had two options. The first was to put the energy away, and the second¡­

    The second was to summon Existence as well and feel what it was like to control both sides of the coin.

    This was something that everyone and anyone would eventually do. It was too tempting even if it didn''te out of a ce of curiosity. The two energies didn''t meld. They were direct opposites and could not logically interact, so they formed a state of yin and yang around Damien''s body.

    The problem was that there wasn''t an equilibrium between them. Existence took up too much space and naturally suppressed its counterpart, which Nonexistence could not ept.

    It gripped at Damien''s body and forced out more power than he could handle.

    His eyes widened. He used Existence and attempted to suppress the energy as he returned it to his body, but it was no longer listening to his orders.

    Damien''s entire body was covered in it. It went up his nose and in his mouth, polluting his system entirely.

    His eyes rolled into the back of his head. A feeling very simr to what he experienced in death filled his body and soul.

    Damien''s head lurched back like he was possessed. He tried to utter a guttural scream, purely the result of the oddity he felt with the energy around him.

    It was like pain, but it was not pain. It was like pleasure, but it was not pleasure. It was a feeling that didn''t exist and could only be rted to existing emotions roughly. The only factual thing was that it was a feeling that made Damien scream.

    His form turned into a ck fog that dispersed into the cave abode. That was thest Damien saw of the Heavenly World for a decent amount of time.

    The fog took him to a different ne. It wasn''t another cosmos like the Sacred Abyss, nor was it a remnant realm like the Heavenly God ne.

    It waspletely different from anywhere else Damien had ever been.

    ''It''s a realm that does not exist.''

    His eyes narrowed as he looked around. ''This ce¡­how do I exin this?''

    Everything looked rtively normal. It wasn''t even a particrly beautiful scenery, but there were traces that the more beautiful areas were further away.

    Damien was in a field of rolling hills. The only thing he could see in the distance was a dark lighthouse. The sky was a dark blue color like the ocean. It could have just been a strange feature of the realm, but it was what caught Damien''s eye first.

    Second was the massive ck ocean that surrounded the ind he was on. He could see other inds in the distance, but that sea seemed to be strange as well.

    ''It''s fake. All of it.''

    His instincts told him clearly.

    Everything he saw felt real and looked real. There wasn''t a single clue that supported his theory. However, wasn''t it enough that he couldn''t ess Existence?

    ''It''s different from the energy being blocked. This is as if there isn''t "Existence" anywhere near me.''

    If that was the case, then logically this realm did not exist.

    Then, how was he here?

    And¡­what were those auras he sensed in the distance?

    Damien turned his eyes in that direction and immediately saw five men approaching. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They were flying in a strange way and surrounded by a red and ck energy that oddly resembled Nonexistence in its aura.

    ''Hm?''

    First of all, was it possible for a group of five people who looked like bandits to actually have an aura of nothingness? Damien clenched his fists and fell into thought.

    ''It might be dangerous. My power isn''t working properly. But¡­judging by their auras, I should still be able to win.''

    His physical strength could probably take care of them. That was his first thought.

    ''But, maybe it''s better to wait it out?''

    If he yed it safe and acted like the victim, he could gain some information that was otherwise unavable to him.

    Damien was practically a mortal with a God-like body now. Without Existence to provide him with all of its conveniences, his life immediately became another degree harder.

    Still, he was able to adapt quickly. Even this was a situation with clear cause and effect.

    Nonexistence brought him here. With his previous train of thought as a basis, he could determine that this ce was likely the very barrier of entry that he was wondering about.

    If this was a ce where all people were taken when they reached a certain point, if there was a condition that had to be fulfilled for them to leave¡­

    ''Then everyone here, at some point in time, had the potential to be better than me.''

    However, everyone here was still here. They were not back in the ces they came from.

    The five bandit-like men approached closer and mmed into the ground before Damien.

    With ill intentions in their hearts and eyes, they stepped forward.

    "Look, we got a newbie!"

    "Keke, it''s our lucky day! Newbies don''te that often anymore!"

    "Well, we gotta show him the ropes!"

    "Yes, we do!"

    Damien raised his brow.

    What was this shitty dialogue?

    Anyway, he let them continue for the sake of it.

    As they babbled, they stepped closer, brandishing the weapons in their hands.

    "Kid, you must have been pretty big wherever you came from, but you''re nothing here. Since we''re your seniors, think of what''sing as a life lesson we''re giving you at a very small price."

    Their leader spoke with a stern expression. The ck and red aura around him focused itself on his club.

    "It''ll be good for you. Really."

 Chapter 1784 Seclusion [3]

    Chapter 1784 Seclusion [3]

    Damien kept his gaze sharp. He stepped back as they stepped forward as if intimidated by their presence.

    His eyes stayed not on them, but on their aura. It was difficult to dissect it with his awareness alone, but it was necessary to try.

    The leader seemed to be telling the truth about his whole "life lesson" thing. He was somewhat sincere in his intentions, though his n was still to beat and rob him.

    It wasn''t too surprising. If this was as Damien presumed, then all of these people once had great stature. They were beings who could rule the cosmos with their power alone, so they couldn''t naturally possess the demeanor of a street thug.

    Instead, if they chose to take on such roles out of necessity, then it was natural for a little bit of their original character to shine through.

    Damien didn''t act scared. There was no way he''d be scared in this situation. He looked more like a cornered tiger who still wanted to fight despite knowing his disadvantages.

    The bandit leader approached, not saying a single word, and raised his club. The red and ck energy swirled and turned into a manifestation of some sort, but Damien couldn''t recognize its form.

    Perhaps it was a creature from that man''s original world, but to Damien, it was something that "didn''t exist."

    ''Oh?''

    Despite his situation, Damien was pleasantly surprised.

    Right, Nonexistence was also subjective, wasn''t it? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If a person was ignorant, then wasn''t anything outside their sphere of knowledge nonexistent?

    Because Damien was on such a high pedestal, there wasn''t much that didn''t exist in his world. That made it hard for him to imagine the things he could use to get closer to the concept.

    But this was a method.

    In this way, he could absolutely strengthen hisprehension. Nevertheless, now wasn''t the time.

    Damien watched the club approach in slow motion, contemting whether or not he should let it hit him.

    He didn''t know until a secondter that it was never fated tond.

    BANG!

    Before the energy reached Damien, it was blocked by another. It was simrly dark but did not have the same red ents. Still, it smelled of Nonexistence.

    "What do you think you''re doing?!"

    A powerful voice came from behind. Hearing it, Damien really felt like he was twenty again and in a world where everyone was his senior. An aged man with a thick beard approached from behind looking at the five with furious eyes.

    "You idiots¡­do you know what it means for someone new toe here after all this time?! And you treat him like this?! sphemous!"

    "H-Harold! Wait, I was just trying to help him out!"

    "Help him out, my ass. I know it''s getting hard for you, but don''t stoop this low."

    The bandit leader gritted his teeth and red at the man named Harold. "Try it."

    Harold sneered. The bandit leader gripped his club harder, but he wasn''t allowed to take a single step. That slight sign of aggression was enough for Harold to swipe his arm, creating a cloud of ck wind that devoured the group of five whole.

    "They''lle back. Only, they''ll be a little weaker next time."

    Harold nced at Damien with a smile. "Follow me, boy. I will take you to a safer ce."

    This was indeed a ce created by Nonexistence, and there had to be a condition that needed to be fulfilled for them to leave.

    Damien nodded without hesitation. ''I was right.''

    He followed Harold, but he didn''t need all of the information the man was willing to provide.

    Damien was certain that his thoughts about the realm were correct. This was indeed a ce created by Nonexistence, and there had to be a condition that needed to be fulfilled for them to leave.

    ''The good thing is that time is probably fake here too. I''ll be back the same moment I left when I get out.''

    The bad thing was that depending on the condition, it could take an unreasonable amount of time for Damien to get back to that moment in the first ce.

    ''But as long as I do well here, I can leave with moreprehension of Nonexistence than anyone.''

    It was a huge opportunity, but it was clearly the opposite for the people who stayed here.

    Nevertheless, Damien followed Harold to learn about the specific mechanics of this ce. He also wanted to hear the stories of the people who called this ce home.

    It wasn''t yet clear if Harold was an enemy, but Damien got the feeling that he at least didn''t want him dead. That was enough for now.

    Harold took him to the lighthouse he saw in the distance when he first arrived. There was a small town around it, made up of shabby log houses that looked to be recently constructed.

    "They were built millions of years ago in our perception. However, one must reach a certain level of proficiency in the concept of the Abyss to gain time to build. Those of us still on this ind are unable to do so," Haroldmented.

    "Including you?" Damien asked.

    "Unfortunately, yes. Despite my time here, the Abyss has note closer than it was near when I first arrived."

    Damien didn''t question what the "Abyss" was. Every cosmos likely had its own way of naming Nonexistence. It was only called as such in the True Void because he decided that Existence and Nonexistence were what stood between creation and destruction and the Void.

    For someone who spoke as if he experienced the construction of these cabins to say that he made no progress was more concerning than any sort of difference in names.

    Harold didn''t take him into the lighthouse, but to the closest house to its entrance.

    Once they were inside, he motioned for Damien to have a seat and poured a strange concoction unlike anything Damien had seen before.

    "This is Urbet, amon beverage consumed by the people of my home. Feel free to try some."

    Harold sat down across from Damien, cing their cups on the table.

    "Now, neer, allow me to inform you about this realm; the Land of Nothingness."

    Harold''s expression was stern. His eyes were empty as if this story was one that haunted him during every waking moment.

    ''The Land of Nothingness¡­''

    Otherwise known as the Land of the Forgotten.

    It was a ce where the Unrecorded went to die when they became too arrogant, a ce where experts perished like flies.

    It was a prison for people who could not reach the extent of their potential, and a paradise for those who could.

    This ce was the exact reason why the Void wasn''t filled with cosmos at war. It was the ce that confined the people who had the potential to cause that kind of chaos. However, it was never meant to be a prison.

    Instead, this was the test of qualifications that Damien skipped when he became a God.

    This time, like everyone else, he had to struggle to reach the heights he dreamed of.

    However, he was prepared for it.

    His time as a supreme being didn''t erase all of the experiences that got him to that point. The spirit inside of him never died. It merely went into hibernation as it was no longer needed.

    As Harold talked, as he learned about the truths of this realm, Damien''s eyes lit up with the mes of burning determination.

    He was going to conquer this ce and return to his own cosmos.

    And he was going to do it faster than anyone else had done before.

 Chapter 1785 Land of Nothingness [1]

    Chapter 1785 Land of Nothingness [1]

    The Land of Nothingness was not created by anyone or anything. That made its entire existence an impossibility. It was entirely outside of the realm of possibility to the point where even those who had reached a state above the Heavenly Order of their individual cosmos could notprehend how they could possibly experience it.

    As the other side of the coin, did Nonexistence also have its ownws and functions? Did it have its own sort of "existence" that went unrecognized?

    These were the questions that everyone asked themselves when they first entered this ce, but they''de to find out that nothing they did could possiblyprehend these sorts of "mirrorws" contained within Nonexistence.

    This ce was the only reason they could be hypothesized in the first ce. And this ce that seemed filled with clues was not forgiving in the slightest.

    The Land of Nothingness was made up of five inds separated by a Sea of Nothingness. That sea could not be crossed through ordinary means. Instead, one could only progress to the next ind after reaching a certain level ofprehension in Nonexistence. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The inds became progressively more advanced as their poption gained more control over the realm. This one, as the first ind, was usually a ce where only the newest people would say.

    Its poption was no more than thirty. Only that many people were unable to make it past this ce, including Harold.

    As Damien guessed, a condition needed to be fulfilled at every ind to move on. On the fifth ind, one would face a final test that had to be passed in order to return to the world.

    It was said that almost nobody had passed that test. Rumors like those reached even the first ind. After all, every time someone left this realm it was a grand showing. Everyone could see that the individual in question seeded, so for there to be no such showings for so many years, it was obvious that the test was nigh impossible.

    Harold couldn''t tell Damien everything, as he spent all of his time on the first ind. However, he could spread the necessary information for a neer to learn the ropes.

    Harold seemed different from the rest. People like those bandits Damien met earlier had sumbed to their imprisonment and were acting out some sort of society to cope. Harold also didn''t have the talent to reach the next ind, but instead of resigning, he decided to guide neers so they didn''t share his fate.

    He told Damien the rumors that gued thisnd, the theories that had been collectively created about the concept they were all trying toprehend, and the rules of this ce.

    He gave his junior enough knowledge to survive on his own.

    ''So those guys weren''t being bandits for no reason.''

    On the first ind, it was just about energy umtion. It was a simple step that could be taken by ny percent of people.

    In this ce, one could umte energy in many ways, but the easiest was obviously to steal it from others.

    Unfortunately, with this ind''s poption being so small, it was rare for one to have the opportunity to steal from others. When Damien arrived, he was a clear target for the most desperate of people.

    Even his small amount of energy would be something meaningful to those who could barely umte anything. ''For the first step, the meaning behind Nonexistence has been removed. This is meant to make us treat it like just another energy and to take away the mystery around it that makes it hard to grasp.''

    This was the very issue Damien struggled with most as he tried to find a first step toprehending Nonexistence.

    ''It''s a funnel.''

    The entire mechanism was meant to help them get closer to Nonexistence. It just funneled out those unworthy in the process. If Damien could treat Nonexistence like any other concept, then he would be able to conquer it without a problem.

    Hell, he had the same problem with Existence back when he first came to the Heavenly World.

    If it weren''t for the Unrecorded setting him on the right path, he would have never progressed past the point where his father was halted.

    That was why Damien never looked for the other legacy sites of the Unrecorded. He left them for any potential Absolute who would rise in the future, so that they would have the guidance they needed to reach past their bounds.

    This realm of Nonexistence, a ce that seemed to be created by the concept''s own desire to be recognized, was the same kind of guide as the Unrecorded.

    Harold allowed Damien to use the extra room in his home until he got his thoughts together.

    By the time a day passed in Damien''s perception, he was already ready to leave.

    "Thank you for your kindness. I won''t forget it," Damien said as they bid farewell.

    "It isn''t anything like that," Harold said with a smile.

    "I just want to be able to say that I helped in the creation of a Supreme Being."

    Damien smiled as well. He could say it however he wanted, but it was true that this man had a surprisingly pure heart for someone who reached this point in power. Perhaps his stay in this realm changed him.

    "I saw that you have an interest in drinks. Since you allowed me to taste the fruits of your homnd, I have also left a concoction of mine for you. Enjoy it while you wait. I''ll make sure you can brag all you want in the future."

    Damien couldn''t guarantee anything to a man like Harold. For now, Harold was stronger than him and more knowledgeable than him. As the inds didn''t allow one to move backward, only forward, he wouldn''t be able to share his findings with Harold to help him progress his power.

    The most he could do was give him a gift and a promise. A promise that he would see the light of ascensioning from the fifth ind sooner rather thanter.

    Damien and Harold shook hands with matching smiles. That was thest time they''d ever see each other.

    It was a brief encounter with a man who wanted to be a guide, but it was meaningful only in its finitude.

    There wasn''t a particr direction Damien wanted to travel in. The ind was uniformly made of rolling hills. It was definitely not small, but it wasn''trge either.

    Still, with the awareness of an ordinary person, it was massive. Damien couldn''t fly anymore, but relying on his physical body, he could run incredibly fast. He allowed his feet to take him away until he ended up on the ind shore, looking out beyond the Sea of Nothingness at the second ind beyond.

    ''Okay.''

    He was calm. It was a surprising situation, but that was the end of it.

    From start to finish, Damien had that kind of mentality.

    He would either seed or lose everything.

    No, it was impossible to lose everything. He wouldn''t allow it.

    He had to seed.

    There was no other option in this life.

    For the sake of the ambition that had been driving him since the very first instances of his journey as a practitioner, he would seed.

    Even in ces where everyone else failed.

 Chapter 1786 Land of Nothingness [2]

    Chapter 1786 Land of Nothingness [2]

    ''So, umting energy¡­''

    ording to Harold, it could be done in multiple ways.

    The easiest aside from stealing was still stealing.

    People died often in this realm. Sometimes, people would evenmit suicide and erase their memories so they could be reborn as entirely different people.

    No matter how they died, they would always revive. The concept of death didn''t exist in this ce, but one''s existence could absolutely be wiped by the world itself. It didn''t happen often, but if a practitioner tried to touch things they weren''t meant to touch, it was a method the realm would asionally enact.

    If a practitioner died without having their existence erased, their energy would disperse into the world. The fifth ind especially was filled with this energy. It was a battleground for the Ancients who apparently reached the level of Nonexistence easily.

    This was where they killed each other and ruined the prosperity they had experienced until then.

    To this day, as the environment remained unchanged as change was not a concept that could exist here, that energy remained.

    Damien sat on the shore and looked out into the Sea of Nothingness because he believed that this ce had the thickest energy across the entire ind.

    And, he wanted to see it for himself.

    ''Harold said that if I touch the water, I die.''

    It was genuinely a manifested nothingness, so obviously anyone who had not dominated the concept would die if they came in contact with it. Even to leave the ind they needed to use the energy they collected to fly across the sea, hoping they had enough to take them the entire way.

    If their energy ran dry and they plummeted, they''d be wiped from the world. Most of those who stayed on the first ind did so out of fear of that oue.

    Or so it was said, but Damien didn''t buy it.

    ''Isn''t this a ce without convention? If even "change" doesn''t exist, then why would "distance?"''

    The Sea of Nothingness made sense. If it wanted to be separate from Existence yet still a concept that could beprehended, then the Sea of Nothingness had to exist to give people a tangible thing to grab onto.

    However, hypothetically, any amount of energy should have been enough to cross it.

    ''Isn''t it just a matter of perception?''

    If Damien had to pick what the core concept of Nonexistence that he''d learned in these few months was, it was "subjectivity."

    Nonexistence changed based on one''s position in life. One''s experiences dictated what the concept could mean, and the concept responded by incorporating those aspects into its form.

    To a child who never saw light, light did not exist. To a person who did not perceive distance, distance did not exist.

    Damien stood up somewhat subconsciously and hovered his foot over the sea.

    His eyes dted, and as the environment blurred, he saw the foot of the second ind approaching him.

    ''Nonexistence¡­''

    Damien frowned.

    ''...is it even a thing?''

    Did it even exist?

    It seemed like a stupid question, but if it didn''t exist, then there was nothing to perceive.

    ''Then, Nonexistence is only what you make of it. It is the same kind of impossibility that Existence represents, but it fills in the gaps in its peer. It was never meant to just be the opposite of Existence, was it?''

    They came into being at the same time. For one to exist, the other had to be present as well. Since Existence took everything that could be perceived and its weight increased so much, Nonexistence was forced to follow somehow.

    In order to bnce Existence, it took on everything that Existence considered impossible and turned itself into a true concept.

    That kind of concept¡­

    It was the hardest to understand, but the easiest to understand.

    It was impossible toprehend until the moment one realized just how simple everything was at its core.

    ''Huh, but that''s not really simple, is it?''

    It sounded easy saying it out loud, but how was one toe to that conclusion without context? It was simply impossible, just like everything else rted to the concept.

    For Damien to reach it this soon¡­perhaps he was just talented. Nevertheless, despite seeing the second ind right in front of him, he didn''t leave immediately.

    ''It may be useful to umte a little first.''

    It may have been, but¡­

    ''...why don''t I want to?''

    Damien immediately took back his decision to umte. Something told him that it was the wrong thing to do.

    As he thought back to the Nonexistence the bandits and Harold controlled and examined their differences, he realized that absorbing the energy of others would not be the best course of action.

    It was fine for other people, as they just wanted toprehend Nonexistence in any form.

    They consumed it in any form they could find. By doing so, they got stronger much faster than they would have otherwise, but their paths would be constrained.

    They would be like the Dark God, people who controlled both concepts separately because they refused toe together,

    Damien wanted more than that. He wanted his own perfect Nonexistence that melded perfectly with his Existence.

    After all, his goal was even grander than theirs. He didn''t just want to control the two. His final goal was to control the Void itself and reach the potential he was birthed with. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Would he attain that by absorbing other people''s energy and allowing theirprehensions to pollute his own?

    Even in the past, he seldom made use of theprehensions of the beings he devoured. When he did, he interpted them into his own techniques.

    This was the same. Instead of letting his power be a mesh of several other people, he wanted it to be purely his own.

    ''And if my theories about Nonexistence are correct, then umtion is useless from the beginning.''

    It was never a necessity.

    Perhaps the mechanism was only put in ce to help people reach the same conclusion Damien did.

    He had retracted his foot before, but it was already hovering over the water again.

    "Distance" didn''t exist.

    "Death" didn''t exist.

    As all of the things standing in Damien''s way were banished into Nonexistence, the second ind approached until there was no water separating him from it at all.

    He took a step that the thirty people on the first ind were unable to take.

    And he left them behind.

    The first ind had been conquered in just a single day.

    However, if that was the tutorial area, then this was the main game. The following four inds would be progressively more difficult until the trial was almost impossible.

    Still, Damien stepped onto the second ind with far more confidence than he had before. Technically, he''d only realized one little thing.

    That one little thing seemed small from an outside perspective.

    Yet, that one little thing was more important than anything else the realm would teach him.

    With it in his grasp, he felt like he could finally make use of Nonexistence.

    And, as long as Damien Void had ess to a concept, he would absolutelyprehend it.

    That was the Legend he created as the Hegemon God.

 Chapter 1787 Land of Nothingness [3]

    1787 Land of Nothingness [3]

    Damien didn''t have to look far to see how different the second ind was from the first. Rather than small wooden cabins, the buildings here were made of stone and concrete. There were several castles across thend that were built by the many people who hade to this ce over the years.

    There were established roads, and Damien couldn''t see the end of the ind with his eyes. It was clearly much, muchrger than its predecessor.

    There was also a considerable difference in the aura of this ce. It was definitely filled with the same energy as the first ind, but it was also filled with the aura of life. Already, the poption had ballooned inparison. There had to be several thousand people living on the ind at the very least.

    It was a little bit soul-crushing to realize this kind of scale. All of these people also reached Existence?

    All of them were also aiming to reach Nonexistence?

    This was supposed to be a sacred seat that not just anyone could sit on, but looking at the crowds of people Damien could see walking the roads despite just arriving, he couldn''t really think of it the same way.

    Was it really that easy to reach the ce he had to struggle so hard to climb to?

    ''No.''

    It wasn''t easy. Not in the slightest. Damien''s struggle could actually be considered nothingpared to what someone without his inborn talents would have to go through to reach the same height.

    Merely, the Land of Nothingness was a realm without time. People did not age, and people did not die.

    Everyone here had been here for a very long time. ording to Harold, it had been millions of years since they saw theirst neer.

    Which meant that these people were millions, billions, or perhaps even trillions of years old.

    They came from different points in time that would never align as the cosmos they came from would never interact with each other.

    If the True Void Universe was rtively young, then some of these people could potentially be older than its birth. And it didn''t stop there.

    Some of these people, in a sense, came from the future. They came from a time that Damien hadn''t experienced yet and then spent millions of years in this ce. The entire timeline was inconsequential, as anyone and everyone who tried to wield the two energies of Existence and Nonexistence together would be brought to thisnd.

    It wasn''t that Damien''s path was easy. Damien''s path wasn''tmon either.

    None of these people ever thought of reaching the Void. They only thought of controlling the two forces most powerful under it.

    After all, anyone who experienced the Void would understand that it was too unfathomable for anyone to control. All existing concepts and all nonexistent concepts became null yet were at the same time fully supported. The pure juxtaposition and dichotomy presented by an all-epassing entity like the Void simply could not be grasped by the human mind.

    ''I need to stop doubting myself. I know it''s only happening because I''vee so far, but seriously, it''s getting old.''

    Regardless of the justification, doubt was not something Damien would allow into his life.

    Not at this stage, not in the future.

    He took a few more steps onto the second ind. It wasn''t as hilly as the first ind, but thendscape was simr. There weren''t too many trees, but the ones that existed came in all shapes and sizes, none that Damien recognized.

    ''I shouldn''t bank on finding another guide like Harold. That''s a newbie exclusive experience.''

    The second ind was definitely going to be morepetitive than the first. The first ind''s small poption forced it to be calm. This ce had arge poption, all of whom were inpetition.

    People like the five hooligans from before would show up everywhere. However, Damien would have to deal with them himself if a new group ever appeared.

    ''Haa, it''s a little annoying, but¡­''

    It was a good time to experiment a little.

    ''How am I supposed to find somewhere to experiment around here?''

    He didn''t know what kind of currency they used, if any. He didn''t want to be in a ce with too many people in case his movements attracted attention from unsavory characters.

    Unfortunately, this was not a mountainous region, and Damien highly doubted that there was any sort of underground ecosystem. ''I guess I can figure something out.''

    Not having ess to any sort of mana was extremely inconvenient. However, even this was a good chance for Damien to practice.

    ''This must be why they built those castles and stuff. Using their power on this realm to influence it is extremely beneficial to their training.''

    Damien went over the crest of the hill he was on and into the small valley between it and the elevatednd where the closest road was. Putting his hand against the geological structure, he attempted to use Nonexistence to his advantage. ''Barriers do not exist.''

    Anything that barred him from his goal was banished into Nonexistence.

    Suddenly, arge hole roughly ten feet tall and nearly as wide opened in the hill. The hill itself also changed as it was forced to amodate Damien''s "creation."

    ''So that works.'' Damien thought with a smile.

    ''Then, can I be bolder with it?'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He willed it with his body, forcing those things that blocked him into Nonexistence. In some sort of twisted way, he was able to use elements of creation with the new energy.

    A shoddy cave abode was the result of his efforts. It wasrge enough to fit him and didn''t alert people to his presence. He couldn''t necessarily conceal himself from other Nonexistence users, but it was enough if he just moved covertly and kept his energy quiet.

    He gathered an invisible aura around him. It did not have a particr quality or quantity. It could not be felt or seen. It was merely there.

    As it formed a barrier around him, a territory that it could influence, he enacted thews of Nonexistence.

    ''Ignorance¡­does not exist in my mind.''

    It was something he firmly believed. He always knew exactly what was happening in the world as long as he wanted to know. Ignorance was a concept that was not allowed to affect him anymore, and he used that belief to power his energy.

    The goal of this move was obvious.

    Damien wanted to stretch the limits of conceptual energy maniption, and he wanted to see just how much he could twist things in his favor.

    Ignorance. The concept that could be equated simply to the ck of knowledge."

    When it was removed from the territory entirely¡­

    Well, the realm itself was forced to give Damien any and all information he desired.

    Nonexistence was not a power with levels or progression. In the first ce, those concepts could not dictate such an esoteric force.

    Nonexistence, once attained, would mold to its users and allow anything they could possibly imagine.

    As such, the limit to one''s power with the concept stood only with the limit of one''s creativity.

    Damien¡­was never such a creative person.

    But when he was put in contact with such a nonsensically broken form of energy, everything changed.

    His mind was burning with ideas, and his body was burning to test them.

    First, however, he needed to focus on the "condition" of the second ind.

 Chapter 1788 Land of Nothingness [4]

    Chapter 1788 Land of Nothingness [4]

    The goal of the first ind was just as in as the first in context, but it was definitely more involved.

    After all, to achieve it, one needed a considerable understanding of Nonexistence.

    That statement was already contradictory, but the challenge for this ind was just the same.

    There were so many castles because the goal was to "create" as much as possible before moving to the next ind.

    One could easily pass the trial by building anything out of materials like stone or concrete. However, the more one did, the more benefits one would receive on the third ind.

    Still, the most people could build was castles. They were intricate inside and out and had to bepletely created through methods simr to carving statues out of blocks of marble. Nonexistence couldn''t create. It was a concept diametrically opposed to the facets of creation. However, even Damien managed to understand how to maneuver around that handicap. It took a lot of finesse to perfectly manipte Nonexistence to be able to do something against its nature. One would have to use several different skills, banishing specific concepts into nothingness to allow other concepts to shine.

    Complicated, right?

    It really was. All Damien did at first was dig a hole and make the hill a little bigger, but even that took four different steps to execute.

    What he aplished in that hole was a bit more extraordinary though. A lot of people were able to think of simr things. To banish ignorance and gain all possible information was pretty much an idea that came to each and every person who attained the same enlightenment as Damien.

    However, it wasn''t as easy as he made it look.

    With Existence under one''s control, banishing anything into Nonexistence was possible. They could directly manipte their minds so that their beliefs were absolutely true no matter what. In that state, everything could be nothingness.

    Say Damien tried to banish his love for his family into Nonexistence because he was going through an emo god phase. No matter what he tried, unless he altered his own memories to make it true, he wouldn''t be able to aplish it.

    There simply wasn''t a way for him to believe that he didn''t have love for his family. It was impossible for him to distance himself from them.

    In this realm where that kind of mind alteration was impossible, it was equally impossible for Damien to have that emo-god phase.

    It was a crude example, but it worked the same way for everything. It was nigh impossible for anyone to convince themself that they weren''t ignorant. Unless they had absolute confidence that bordered on insane arrogance, how could they say that the entire world was in their grasp?

    For people who used Existence, it was a little different as the entire world was in their grasp, but after spending years on the first ind limating to the fact that Existence was unavable in this ce, they had all lost the tant arrogance they received from the concept.

    They could no longer fully believe that it was impossible for them to be ignorant after experiencing a twisted realm like this one.

    It wasn''t that Damien was the only different one, but he was definitely different from the norm.

    Firstly, he hadn''t been on the first ind for more than a day. His mind hadn''t been tarnished by its conditions.

    Secondly, unlike most who only received such abilities when they gained Existence, Damien spent a long time "devouring."

    Whether it was power, memories, or existence, Damien was umting other beings inside of his mind for a very long time.

    Because of that, he established a unique sense of identity and mental fortitude in this specific aspect, and he developed a specific confidence in always being informed or having the ability to gain information.

    As such, when it came time to banish ignorance from his reality, Damien was able to attain exactly what he desired.

    ¡­to an extent.

    ''Really, that''s it?''

    Unfortunately, he only gained a little bit of information. He saw the trial of the second ind and he saw the lives of the people who lived here in the past, present, and future.

    But that was it.

    He wasn''t able to pierce the secrets of the realm, but that was not possible in the first ce. Information on the realm didn''t exist. And, with the Sea of Nothingness blocking him, he couldn''t ess anything about the third ind and beyond.

    Seriously, this was a realm very unfriendly to the people within.

    ''Not that it doesn''t make sense.''

    When everyone who ever came was a Supreme Being, going easy and allowing easy ways out was silly. These were people who needed to remember what it was like to struggle so they would never forget the feeling in the event that they became Absolutes in the future.

    Damien stayed in the cave for a decent amount of time. He didn''t do much else after trying to gain omniscience, but he wanted to see if he had properly concealed himself from the masses. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Several minutes passed and nobody appeared. When several hours passed, Damien knew there was not a problem.

    ''It takes me back, being this cautious.''

    In a ne where he didn''t know what others could do, he couldn''t walk around arrogantly. He once again had to conceal himself and slowly grow so that others couldn''t challenge him.

    It wasn''t just about the limits of creativity. It was about the bounds of one''s ability.

    Damien had only discovered the basic side of Nonexistence. He could banish concepts into Nonexistence as long as he properly willed for it.

    However, could he bring things out of Nonexistence? Could he use the energy itself without a medium?

    He was absolutely sure that he didn''t have enough control to call himself strong in this realm yet. Plus, his physical power wouldn''t be enough now that he was surrounded by people who could make better use of nothingness.

    If someone banished his physical strength, then it would not exist on their battlefield. Without Existence, Damien wouldn''t be able to counter and bring it back.

    ''I can worry about that situationter. The second ind is rtively calm. Territory battles only happen if people try to build inside each other''snd. If I just pick a rtively secluded area, I''ll be fine.''

    It would be nice if he could avoid fighting for as long as possible so he could learn. Once he got a little morefortable with Nonexistence, he could have some more fun.

    Before that, he left his cave abode and followed the roads.

    ''There are two cities on this ind.''

    They were on opposite sides. Most people decided to start in the cities where they could use small plots ofnd to practice their creation skills. If they were able to seed by the skin of their teeth, then they''d leave the ind from there and their presence would be immortalized in the structure they built.

    It was a bit more difficult for people who wantedrger plots ofnd.

    Technically, the entire ind had been divided up. Every inch of it was owned by individuals who said they would build castles but never actually became powerful enough to do so.

    If anyone tried to build on their emptynd, they would raise a fuss. When they raised a fuss, usually it started a war until one person died too many times to care anymore.

    As the people who owned the ind had been living on it for longer than those trying to steal, they were able to defend their ims easily.

    Damien either had to challenge them for a im or find a piece ofnd that they did not yet know of.

    ''And of the two¡­I don''t really know which one is easier.''

    Well, that was for him to find out from now on.

    But he really didn''t think he''d be able to avoid fighting for too much longer.

 Chapter 1789 Land of Nothingness [5]

    Chapter 1789 Land of Nothingness [5]

    How long did it take Damien to traverse the ind on foot?

    That was a good question, and he was on a quest to find out.

    He used the roads at first to get to the eastern city. The two locations were never given names because their entire existence was impermanent. He was only nning to pass through to get to the very easternmost coast, but he wanted to at least see how others were living.

    The ind told him that the cities were filled with people showcasing their own forms of Nonexistence as they worked on their creations. Was that not something he''d want to see?

    Damien followed the road on his own two feet for a decent distance.

    There were a lot of travelers like him. Not many had forms of transportation. Those who did were obviously using them to earn money.

    The currency of this ce was energy. To gain convenience, one was forced to sacrifice the fruits of one''s efforts.

    Naturally, ny percent of the poption refused to fork over their hard-earned energy. They would rather walk the long distances, even if it took months or years to get from one side of the ind to the other.

    It didn''t matter at the end of the day. Without time, they could spend as much as they wanted without having to worry about when they''d return home.

    Damien was the same.

    The Dark God had no influence here. He couldn''t change whether Damien came back at the same time he left or toote. The other Damien was still in the Heavenly World leading things. Even if the timeline wasn''t frozen, everything would be fine.

    He would arrive right then and there, just a few months into the war. And he would return as an entirely different person.

    He smiled as he thought of this as another vacation, but it definitely wouldn''t take as long as Arulion did.

    Regardless of how safe he was here, he couldn''t just leave the Dark God behind. He needed to get rid of that threat as soon as possible so he could live happily in the real future.

    This was not a ce where he wanted to get used to being.

    Nevertheless, Damien spent the next few "years" traversing the second ind. He didn''t build anything, but he became familiar with its situation in general. Many people saw him and acknowledged him. He was the only new person here in millions of years as well, so he stood out a lot.

    As he was not trying to do anything at all, people assumed that he''d given up and was trying to find a way to ept that this world was his new home.

    Many of them sympathized with that feeling, so Damien was treated well. Whenever he went ces, people often helped him out and gave him free meals or lodging. Of course, that treatment would change when he started building, but he didn''t mind it. Everyone here was talented. It was worth making friends with the ones who didn''t change.

    By the time his few-year-long journey was over, Damien found himself back in the same ce he started, sighing.

    ''I mean, it exists.''

    There was indeed a piece ofnd unimed by anyone.

    ''The problem is that I''ll start a war if I take it.''

    Thatnd was in the northwest of the ind. It took Damien quite a while to reach.

    It was one of the most nature-filled areas that even had its own ecosystem of "living beings."

    They were just manifestations of nothingness. They were also the reason the territory remained unimed.

    That ce, Death''s Hold, was exactly as it was named. Anyone who tried to use thatnd to build was forced out. Those who refused to leave would have their existences erased.

    Damien visited it himself during his travels. The beings there were curious, but they did not meaninglessly attack anyone.

    He didn''t try exerting his power, but he assumed that was the key to their aggression.

    ''It''ll be difficult to build there even if there''s no opposition. The problem lies with the fact that Death''s Hold is extremely desirable, all things considered.''

    The people who had been here the longest, the Lords who lived in the many castles strewn across thisnd, had been eyeing thend for eons.

    They were never able to conquer it, so it had been disregarded, but what would happen if Damien randomly arrived and seeded where they''d failed?

    ''Still, it''s really the only option. They''ll alle after me eventually, so it''s not like it''s worth anything to dy it.''

    At least if he chose Death''s Hold, he would have a decent amount of time before anyone discovered what he was up to.

    ''And if I can actually make use of the environment¡­''

    If Death''s Hold properly became his territory, then he would no longer have to worry about opposition.

    Would anyone be brave enough to intrude on and guarded by beasts that antithesize their existence? ''No. They won''t.''

    In fact, Damien was already back in Death''s Hold by the time he finished thinking about it.

    There were conveniences within Nonexistence as well. If he just negated the distance he traveled, then with time and change being nonexistent, he could teleport himself back to a location he''d already been.

    The forest was dark. It was filled with a purple mist and even the trees all had dark purple or ck colors making up their form. The beasts didn''t stand out. They were made of the same colors as if to blend into the environment and catch their prey off-guard.

    Damien could tell that he was being watched by many. They would not move unless they were provoked.

    ''How do I start building without pissing them off?''

    There had to be some sort of secret in Death''s Hold.

    Death''s Hold existed. That was enough proof. In andscape filled with emptiness and nothingness, a unique area meant the world.

    Why were the highest authorities obsessed with it? What value did and of nothingness have?

    Nobody knew, but everyone could assume.

    Whether it was treasure orprehension, it was worth finding. Many adventurers were attracted to the location when it was first discovered. They''d only stopped because so much time had passed and the number of new people was nil.

    Damien sat down amidst the eerie scenery.

    He closed his eyes and tried to connect his senses with the environment.

    Once again, he was attempting something that others failed at time and time again.

    Only, he didn''t necessarily have any advantages here. The only thing he could rely on was his unique thought process. That was the same thing everyone relied on when they came to this ce.

    As he closed his eyes, all Damien felt was darkness.

    A deep darkness beyond even what the Sea of Nothingness contained. ''Is this¡­really supposed to be on the second ind?''

    Damien nced into it and immediately felt himself getting overwhelmed.

    His prior thoughts were confirmed.

    The Nonexistence he contained now was meager in front of the real thing. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The people on the third, fourth, and fifth inds would slowly show him forms simr to or more powerful than this¡­?

    Damien''s brow furrowed.

    He needed to put in real-time on the second ind.

    He couldn''t just skip past it like the first.

    If he tried¡­

    ¡­then he would probably be screwed, right?

 Chapter 1790 Land of Nothingness [6]

    Chapter 1790 Land of Nothingness [6]

    Damien''s first step was to "understand" once again.

    It was the most important thing in this realm, but he was doing it a little differently this time.

    He wanted to know what this ce was purely out of curiosity. Sure, he wanted to exploit it, but that was meaningless to his current efforts. He was being sincere and honest with the world in hopes that it wanted to see that from him.

    In most cases, those with pure intentions would always flourish. Human emotion polluted the connection between people and the world. That wasn''t necessarily always a bad thing, but when trying to reach the world to this degree, it was better to empty the mind of such thoughts.

    In essence, entering a state of nothingness. It was a little bit of a coincidence for Damien to choose this direction. However, it was indeed what he needed to do.

    The deep ckness he saw changed and morphed into the figure of a woman in a white dress. She had incredibly pale, almost translucent skin and a pair of eyes hazed over by clouds of grey. She glowed just slightly like an entity with no physical form. Perhaps it was because she didn''t exist in the first ce.

    Damien immediately understood that the woman was just the physical manifestation of a concept. The changes taking ce in her were meant to be interpreted by those who witnessed them. The woman walked, her bare feet causing ripples in the ankle-deep ck water. She didn''t seem to have a direction, but the further she went, the more the environment changed.

    Trees of the same color as the water rose from the ckness. They were only a shade lighter than the void of nothingness, so they were difficult to perceive if one wasn''t paying attention.

    Before Damien''s eyes, the pure white woman moved through the pure ck forest. As she continued, the water crept up her legs and hid them from the world. For a moment, they continued to shine subtly, though they were eventually consumed by the ckness.

    The water turned material and climbed up the woman''s body, wrapping around her left half like vines. The vines sunk into her skin, tainting the purity of her appearance. In only a few seconds, she had be a picture of yin and yang, harboring a deep ckness along with her original self.

    The two halves of the woman''s body fought. The whiteness tried to keep its form as much as possible. The ckness tried to take as much as it could, greedy for more regardless of how much it had.

    It seemed like the woman would be consumed by darkness at any moment.

    However, it never happened.

    The ckness and the whiteness fought for a very long time, but eventually, they settled in their own halves of her body.

    Unfortunately, by the time it happened, the woman was already dead.

    The two sides panicked as they lost their host. They understood their power and understood that they wouldn''t have any purpose without a host.

    The woman''s corpse shined with two opposing lights. They stayed together, unable to break apart, and found themselves unable to exert power unless they did so in tandem.

    The matter of the woman''s body was broken down and reconstructed. A new being rose from the ashes, half ck and half white. It no longer had a gender or a pure form, but it had a different kind of beauty that had to be acknowledged.

    It walked. As it walked, the ck forest changed. Half of it turned pure white, and the other half turned an even darker shade of ck.

    The world gained a sort of equilibrium, but only at the expense of that innocent woman.

    However, her corpse no longer existed. Her mark on the world was erased, reced with only those two forms. The illusion faded away from Damien''s mind. Once it returned to the familiar darkness that represented hisck of thoughts, he opened his eyes.

    ''So that was¡­something.''

    Damien took a breath.

    In a picture like that, it was easy to see the darkness as the viin.

    The whiteness had existed in that woman from the start. It was easy to see it as an innocent entity in the entire story.

    Even when the woman died, it was stuck with the ckness and led along into a new form. If one was biased towards the whiteness from the beginning, then the story could be interpreted entirely differently.

    Perhaps Damien would''ve possessed a simr outlook if it was a different situation. However, if the story was like that, how could it possibly rte to Death''s Hold?

    Damien tried to view it through a different lens.

    Say that woman was once ordinary. Say she was just a vessel. Say the whiteness possessed her a very long time ago. Say it was the very thing that led her into the ckness in the first ce.

    Say the ckness and the whiteness were always meant to be one.

    What if the woman was merely used as a conduit for that union?

    The way Damien interpreted it, the scene seemed to depict something like order and chaos. Two opposing forces of the universe without defined forms that realized they needed a host to continue functioning.

    It was a story about the beginning of everything, when "Existence" decided to manifest itself as a world that could be viewed, while Nonexistence remained a ck forest that melded into the background and went unseen despite being the other half of the picture.

    It was curious. The formation of everything definitely didn''t happen like that. Existence never found Nonexistence through a medium. They were born together as two halves of the same entity when the Void decided to define itself. Who created this storyline?

    What was its purpose?

    ''The ck forest has to be the same as this one. The form is different, but the nothingness I saw when I first connected to the environment is the exact same as that one.''

    Hell, the scene itself manifested inside of that nothingness. It was hard to realize or distinguish it from any other ckness as it had no aura, but since Damien recognized its particrity, he never forgot. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    So, then, if this was a forest created through the events of the story, if it was the mirror of a forest that called Existence its home¡­

    ''...what does it even mean?''

    Right, there was no way that was enough information for Damien to garner anything, but it was a good start nheless.

    Damien stood up from there. He looked around, meeting eyes with the beasts that watched him.

    They growled menacingly. Their voices were deep and guttural, striking fear in the hearts of the fearless.

    This was the exact point when others who tried the same thing died.

    They interpreted the story in a specific way and decided to act upon it. When they made the wrong decision, the ck forest rebelled.

    ''I''ll die too.''

    Damien was once again mortal in more ways than one. Here, even he could die.

    ''Well, that''s if the Void doesn''t want to save me again. Considering that it was for the sake of the physique''s awakening, I doubt it''s willing to do it a second time.''

    He joked to himself, but he was known to stay jovial.

    He had to make his next move very carefully.

    He had to act with absolute certainty that his interpretation of the story was the right one.

    Otherwise, he would be no different than any of the rest.

    He, in all forms, would be wiped from all Existence.

 Chapter 1791 Deaths Hold [1]

    Chapter 1791 Death''s Hold [1]

    Damien walked the forest for a long while. He didn''t know how long he spent walking, but he was subconsciously looking for the water that woman waded through.

    He felt like he could find something there. Even if it wasn''t a vestige of what once was, it would be something.

    The ck forest didn''t have the same eerie atmosphere as it did when Damien first arrived here. Perceiving it through the lens of the story instead of the rumors of the outside world, Damien felt a pang of sorrow in his heart.

    He didn''t know why.

    He tried to analyze it as he searched for the ck water, but an answer didn''te to him.

    There wasn''t a single logical reason for him to feel sorrow of all things. Sympathy, maybe. Curiosity, maybe. Sorrow, however, was not an emotion he could feel towards the ck forest.

    It existed because it existed. There wasn''t anything sorrowful about it.

    While Existence was a wide expanse of perceivable space, this was the only possible location where the ck half of the forest could reside, so its location also was not unfortunate.

    At the end of the day, it also received the means to have its existence acknowledged. Though it was more difficult, it was more meaningful as only the most powerful men and women in the entirety of Existence could find it.

    It was not necessarily a sorrowful existence. Not unless it had a mind of its own.

    That thought led Damien down anotherne. ''What if the sorrow I feel is not my own emotion.''

    Through the story, he learned that a vessel was necessary for the whiteness and ckness to gain meaning.

    The whiteness that characterized Existence already found what it wanted. It birthed everything that was known, and every achievement made was attributed to it.

    Every life and every death was attributed to it. In every waking moment, it was given praise.

    What about the ckness of Nonexistence?

    If Damien had to say whether it achieved things or not, he would definitely say it had.

    However, was it satisfied with just that?

    If Existence and Nonexistence, concepts created by the Void so everything else could be born, also had subtle spirituality and the ability to at least somewhat recognize emotion, would it be satisfied seeing its counterpart achieving everything it could not?

    Did this sorrow originate from the fact that it was feared by all?

    Was it caused by the misunderstandings that Existence unintentionally created about it?

    Nonexistence seemed like a concept too far separated from living beings for it to ever be touched. Any and all beings with consciousness feared nothingness.

    They looked at nothingness as the end, as the unknown, as death. They associated it with all of their most negative concepts and thoughts, and that became its definition.

    However, did the people know?

    Nonexistence was more connected to them than even Existence.

    Existence had setws. The people worked hard toprehend them, and those who seeded to a greater degree were rewarded with theirprehensions'' addition to the world''s existingws.

    If the people never tried to touch Existence, would it have ever responded to them?

    Nonexistence was different.

    It was just like the human mind.

    There was no real form to it in the beginning.

    It was created alongside Existence and many other things that served different purposes,rge and small.

    Realistically, it was meant to follow a straight path for the sake of survival.

    But that was not the case.

    The human mind had an unbelievable potential for growth that no other mind could replicate. It took the world in stride and granted countless paths to follow. Free will to be whatever it could possibly want to be. That was what the human mind possessed that others couldn''t fathom.

    Nonexistence was no different. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It never had a form to begin with, but it took on infinite paths as it wasn''t constrained to the same conventions put in ce by Existence.

    It grew through the thoughts of people. As other concepts were rted to it, it grew and evolved, bing something impossible if it weren''t for their idental recognition of its form.

    If nobody dreamed of what didn''t exist, Nonexistence would still just be a small ck forest.

    Was that why the concept fell in love with them?

    Was that why it felt sorrow when it realized that it would never be able to truly interact with them?

    Nobody understood.

    The people who came here always assumed they needed to y the beasts in Death''s Hold. They always acted without thought, so they died.

    Those who had a bit more sense tried to interpret the story, but only saw it as a portrayal of good and evil.

    They viewed Nonexistence as a weapon. They viewed it as the power they needed toplement Existence and erase their enemies and woes.

    Nobody saw its true value, so everyone died.

    When they tried to build on its origin while disrespecting it, wasn''t it normal for the concept tosh out?

    So, in the end, what did Nonexistence want?

    Did it want recognition? Did it want respect? Was it chasing a futile dream to be like Existence?

    No.

    ''All it wants is to be recognized.''

    Damien understood well.

    He never quite worried about it. He was always too focused on getting to whatever goal he was chasing to pay attention to it.

    However, didn''t he suffer alone for a long time?

    In the First Dungeon, he went insane and came back from the depths on his own. That was the start of it.

    He met many people who helped him in many ways. He gained connections that he never would have reached this point without.

    However, when he truly struggled, he was always on his own.

    Nobody could match his progress. Nobody could move at his pace. He found himself going from ce to ce. Almost every time, he made friends and acquaintances. Still, none of those people could ever apany him to the depths he traversed.

    It was always too dangerous for others. It was always he who had to do the most difficult things.

    And he was fine with that. That was never the problem.

    But¡­it was tiring.

    It was tiring to struggle and fight to survive, toe from nothing and be something and have nobody know his story.

    It was tiring to see how people interacted with him, telling him how much he was this or that without realizing how much pain he''d gone through to stand where he stood.

    When he saw the true faces of Grand Heavens Boundary and the Saint Emperor, he felt a sort of warmth from them.

    They were people who had been watching from the beginning.

    They understood how he became who he was at the time.

    Grand Heavens Boundary acknowledged his struggle and made him feel something familial, which is why he had to save the universe at all costs.

    The Saint Emperor was an enemy who fought him not because of old grudges or misced greed. At the end, the Saint Emperor fought him because he saw Damien as the only person who could surpass him and achieve what he couldn''t. He acknowledged Damien''s struggle in his own way.

    There were a few more examples in Damien''s life that kept him able to deal with the more tiring interactions. He had a support system that allowed him to struggle in silence without minding that others would never know how much he did.

    What about Nonexistence?

    Did it have anything like that?

    Did it have the ability to stop struggling in silence even if it was tired and filled with Sorrow?

    ''No.''

    It didn''t.

    ''No.''

    It didn''t.

    Not even in the slightest.

 Chapter 1792 Deaths Hold [2]

    Chapter 1792 Death''s Hold [2]

    Damien never found the river the woman walked.

    Perhaps it was imaginary. Perhaps it was meant to represent the rift between the ckness and the whiteness, the area that no man had ever traversed.

    If that was the case, then it wouldn''t be here.

    It was a bit of a shame for sure. Damien didn''t necessarily need to see it anymore, but that water was symbolic. He wanted to experience it at least once.

    He understood the source of the sorrow in his heart now. He also felt a deep sympathy that he didn''t feel from the story alone.

    He was understanding something too filled with emotion for it to be untrue.

    The further his thoughts went down that path, the more the sorrow in his chest grew. It felt like Nonexistence was crying out, screaming into the void as it came face to face with its emotions.

    He couldn''t doubt and say that his perception of the scene was wrong anymore.

    Did anyone else ever feel this emotion? If they felt how deep and tragic it was, how could they not understand what Nonexistence wanted to tell them?

    Perhaps Damien was unique from the start. More unique than he expected.

    After all, rather than Nonexistence, Damien saw Existence as his weapon.

    His ability to control everything both material and immaterial was enough. Why did Nonexistence have to be a weapon as well?

    When Damien entered this realm, he only knew what Nonexistence was on a very surface level. He didn''t have any preconceived notions about it in the slightest, other than his thought that it would allow him to achieve the impossible.

    He felt its grandiosity from the Dark God, and rather than being fearful, he started anticipating the day he could also control that force.

    Hisck of preconceptions made him a nk canvas to be influenced by this realm.

    He could find out what he thought about Nonexistence by interacting with it.

    And, frankly, after a scene like that, he felt more of a connection towards it than Existence.

    Existence really was like that, wasn''t it?

    It merely existed. If it weren''t for Damien''s advantages and his path, then he never would havee in contact with it. He had to work to find out how to control it on his own. It never gave him clues or acted friendly in the slightest.

    Heprehended it because he wanted to, not because it wanted him to.

    Obviously, Nonexistence was forming more of a personal connection with Damien than its counterpart. Not because it wanted something from him, but because that was the approach it developed through its love for living beings.

    It was not resigned to being a silent observer like Existence.

    It wanted to touch them, feel them, and be one with them.

    Damien just needed to give it that opportunity. It wanted to receive that chance purely. It didn''t want it to be a business rtionship.

    It wanted Damien and every other person to recognize its pain and offer to save it.

    But that was just a way to interpte its emotions.

    At the end of the day, its emotions were never soplex. It had a simr level of sentience to the Void. Sure it could make decisions against logic and sure it could act on its emotions, but its feelings would always remain at the basic level.

    Fundamentally, these concepts did not have the ability to think and makeplex assertions.

    However, in Nonexistence''s case specifically, the deep and simple emotion it felt was ryed through human experiences that had been attributed to it.

    It used those experiences to convey the depth of its feeling rather than theplexity.

    Damien was ready to make a genuine promise to the concept. His heart was clear, rid of all extraneous desires.

    This was a different matter from the second ind''s challenge.

    This was a promise he needed to make to Nonexistence for the sake of their future cooperation.

    ''No, this is how I bring the concept under my rule.''

    If Damien was one thing, it was good to his subordinates. He always ensured that the people under him would live well and attain the things they dreamed of.

    It was the same for his concepts. He would use them as much as they wanted to be used.

    And if he wanted to be Absolute in the future¡­

    ''...I can absolutely make Nonexistence into a concept that is recognized as much as Existence.''

    The ck forest had been moving with Damien as he walked its grounds. It synced with him after he saw the vision, reading his thoughts and understanding his intentions.

    It judged him and rted to him. It finally felt like it found someone who could see its meaning, so it went deeper and deeper into his mind. It saw his past and struggle. Nonexistence noticed that Damien hade closer to it than anyone else, and as it went into the deepest recesses of his mind, it saw itself.

    It saw itself housing Damien''s ego as the Wheel of Samsara pulled away his soul.

    And it saw how a certain manifestation appeared within its body to save him from that ce and bring him back into thend of the living.

    Despite an experience like that, Damien never seemed to attribute death to Nonexistence.

    No, rather, the kind of death he almost received was the same death he always dreamed of.

    A death that was both rebirth and true death. Where his ego wasid to eternal rest and his soul was gifted to the next person. Nonexistence liked Damien a lot. And when it realized the origins of the manifestation that appeared during Damien''s death, it started to trust him as well. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien raised his hand gently until it was parallel to the ground. His fingers calmly drooped as they naturally did when he didn''t actively try to control them. A drop of water appeared at the tip of his index. It slowly became bigger until it wasrge enough to be perceived by the human eye and stopped, falling away from his hand.

    Its trip towards the earth was perceived in slow motion.

    It was the first time Damien exerted his power in Death''s Hold, but rather than an aggressive assertion of his dominance, it was a gentle request for eptance.

    The ck forest reacted instantly.

    The growling of beasts once again filled Damien''s ears. They approached closer with auras of hostility, but they did not yet attack.

    Their wariness was obvious. As was their desire to consume him. They were only waiting for the affirmation of their creator force to act.

    The forest shook. The trees seemed to turn to face him. Everything seemed to turn to face him.

    The pitch-ck leaves that drifted in the wind froze. The wind itself froze. The creatures froze, the sound of their grows fading below the sound of that single drop of water.

    It was the only thing that continued to move. Even Damien himself remained frozen.

    In the still world where Damien stood at the center, a miracle happened.

    WHOOOOSH!

    A huge sound filled Death''s Hold.

    And a gushing river filled the gaping hole in its heart.

 Chapter 1793 Deaths Hold [3]

    Chapter 1793 Death''s Hold [3]

    The water was ck, dyed by the surroundings. It was a part of Death''s Hold, but it wasn''t always that way.

    Merely, when it epted Damien, it changed. From past to present to future, if one looked at one''s memories of this ce, there would always be a river. Damien smiled.

    ''So you epted.''

    He knew the concept couldn''tmunicate with him, but he was d it epted his sincerity.

    It might have seemed improbable for him to be the only person to recognize the emotional aspect of the story in the eons that this realm existed, but it actually wasn''t.

    In the first ce, Supreme Beings did not consider emotions very often. Damien found his humanity drifting further and further away from him with every passing day.

    He was still able to recognize emotions so well because he valued them. Putting aside his love for many people and the emotions they brought him, emotions had always been important to Damien.

    He remembered the depression he felt before he fell into the First Dungeon. There was a kind of raw yet naive hopelessness in his system that had never afflicted him again after that day.

    When he first fell into the dungeon, he felt desperation and fear. As he progressed through it, he lost many of his emotions to madness and bloodlust.

    In Apeiron, he gained them back. In the Cloud ne, he gained an opportunity to get rid of them.

    Over and over again after that, from his adventures in the Human Domain to the tales of Grand Heavens Boundary and beyond, emotions had been a big part of his journey.

    However, each and every time he worried about it, ruminated over it, and overcame it.

    He always managed to keep those emotions safe, even if they had to be confined to a single aspect of his life.

    If it weren''t for his emotions, he wouldn''t have reached this point. He couldn''t remember how many times the pure indifference in the core of his soul threatened to eat away at all of his emotions. However, each and every time he worried about it, ruminated over it, and overcame it.

    He always managed to keep those emotions safe, even if they had to be confined to a single aspect of his life.

    As someone who had such a connection to emotions, when he reached a ce above the clouds where even human life was nothing to him, he did not lose those emotions and ascend in mind.

    Most of the others here did. Before they entered the Land of Nothingness, they allowed indifference to be the core of their character. They permitted it to rule their lives.

    Sure, the Land of Nothingness that turned them forgotten changed them and reintroduced them to many of the emotions theycked, but was that enough?

    It was like they were given new life. The emotions they felt were heightened like their hormones were imbnced. They made impulsive decisions regrly and needed to consciously understand how to keep their emotions in check and feel them only to a moderate level. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Maybe people like that existed on theter inds, but they definitely weren''t here.

    On the second ind where the true bottom tier of the Forgotten resided, emotions dictated everything.

    Pride, greed, and lust. Anger, joy, and sorrow.

    Within the swirl of human emotion that each and every one of them felt, it was impossible to distinguish the woes of Nonexistence and sympathize.

    No, in their reckless states, they''d take the scene at face value and die before they had a chance to reconsider from a more mature perspective.

    Some of them may have even been overwhelmed by that sorrow. It mixed perfectly with the sorrow they felt being stuck on this ind and amplified it.

    Maybe this ce was called Death''s Hold because it was the ce people went to sumb to exactly that.

    Nevertheless, it had nothing to do with Damien.

    The life he chose to lead was what allowed him to reap benefits like these. He didn''t feel remorse, guilt, or sympathy. Instead, as he stared down at the ck water running over his feet, he wondered about something else entirely.

    ''What should I build?'' People went with castles because they were easier to build on arger scale. They were symmetric and the exterior structure was extremely simple to create.

    Once they had experience making the exterior, they could then the interior into a much more ornate space by focusing on smaller areas one by one.

    It was a good strategy to both grow and create somethingsting. Every castle in thisnd was unique, despite there being thousands of them. However, it wasn''t Damien''s style. He wasn''t really a "castle" person.

    He liked Void Pce architecturally because of its intricate inner space that was like a maze of different dimensions. It was ingenious and unique, a feat that forced others to admire it.

    The exterior was a masterpiece, but it was still simr to many other pces because their base structure always had to be rtively simr. With what he''d experienced in iming thisnd, he didn''t just want to popte it with a regr pce like any other. He wanted to do something special with this ce, something that would truly honor Nonexistence''s origin. He started building without a goal, just seeing where his thoughts would take him.

    Oddly enough, what came from his energy was not necessarily a man-made structure at all.

    Rather, it was nature.

    The ck river was soon surrounded by small critters and creatures who were not afraid of its current. The beasts who originally lived in the forest approached warily, captivated by their harmless appearances.

    The ground was just ck and filled with debris simr to wood chips. That changed immediately. A sprawling disy of flora popted the ground and created space for a thriving environment.

    Sure it was all the same ck color as the rest of the forest, making it difficult to discern, but that didn''t matter.

    The beauty of this ce was not meant to be recognized by anything other than the concept it was created by.

    As Damien''s power continued to thrive, Death''s Hold itself began to expand. A huge clearing was made in the middle of the forest, from which a tree more massive than any other was born.

    It rose high into the clouds, branching out into aplex canopy that looked more like abyrinth than the top of a tree.

    The trunk was lined with steps that spiraled it from top to bottom. They didn''t serve any purpose but to make the tree essible. There was nothing built for those steps to lead to.

    The forest''s vibrance was far beyond what it was before. It continued to grow as Nonexistence epted Damien''s interference.

    He focused mainly on the environment since he wanted to see Death''s Hold transform, but if he wanted to keep others from ruining the sanctity of the area, then he still had to create something here that signified his ownership.

    Then, what could he create to scare away intruders while still maintaining the sanctity of the forest he created?

    ''I know.''

    It was time to have a little bit of fun with Nonexistence.

    Well, it would be fun for him.

    For the enemies who would reveal themselves soon enough after seeing Death''s Hold''s changes, however¡­

    ¡­obviously, it was going to be the most fun they ever had. If it wasn''t, then it was also fine if they just died.

 Chapter 1794 Deaths Hold [4]

    1794 Death''s Hold [4]

    If Damien had started creating like a normal person, he probably would''ve had a decent amount of time before people noticed his movements.

    However, the change in Death''s Hold was too big. The great tree was enough to attract attention from all corners of the ind, and the fact that the forest itself became asrge as a country even more.

    Again, "change" wasn''t a thing in this realm. The forest couldn''t be anything it wasn''t even if it had all the power in the world.

    The only way to enact change in the Land of Nothingness was for an individual to actively do so.

    Naturally, everyone was going to pay attention to the mysterious person who changed Death''s Hold.

    There were hundreds of "Noble Lords" on the second ind. Most of them were reclusive and only focused on ways to find a way to the third ind. They were the ones who boughtnd but did not use it.

    Every Lord lived in a castle, but they were nothing more than squatters. The people who built those castles were gone. They already moved on from the second ind, and their creations were mobbed by people who had been stuck here for many, many eons.

    Damien was something of a new kid on the block. He didn''t understand how theyers of society were decided. He didn''t even know what the "stages of power" people created to mark their progress were.

    He definitely had ess to that information, but he didn''t care.

    What did it have to do with him?

    All he needed to know was that some idiots who weren''t good enough to do things on their own wanted to stop others from aplishing things as well. They would be here to test him as soon as they could arrive.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t the one they would be fighting. ''I want to see how they move.''

    The battle tactics created in a ce like this were bound to be interesting. Rather than experiencing them himself, Damien preferred to just watch from the sidelines for now.

    After all, the current enemies weren''t worth his time. He had more important things to worry about.

    ''Like the nature of my build.''

    He pretty much knew what he wanted to do. In concept, it was a living home.

    He wanted to create a creature with sentience that would serve as a guardian for the great tree. At the same time, he wanted something permanent that would be seen by all and recognized as a symbol of his existence.

    When it came to the guardian part, he had several ideas. The problem was that he didn''t know how to incorporate thetter half of his n into the guardian forms he''d thought of.

    Why was he thinking of making an abode that he would never live in?

    Castles dominated thisnd so it was easy for his view to get clouded by the norm. He wanted to make something more "human." Something man-made that didn''t seem like it appeared naturally.

    Just like everyone else, he wanted to make his own mark on this forest.

    He couldn''t allow the ck forest to remain a symbol of sorrow for Nonexistence. Instead, he wanted to turn it into a symbol of their unity so the concept could always look back and reaffirm that it was understood.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    A house wasn''t right no matter how he thought about it. It was a stupid idea that he couldn''t understand.

    Then, what could he build? N?v(el)B\\jnn

    For humans, the way to mark their presence was to build statues or monuments. Either that or buildings with unique structures that also had uses in society.

    When he didn''t need money from tourism, statues were out of the question. Who was he supposed to build a statue of?

    When he didn''t need to give his structure any sort of practicality, buildings were not the answer either.

    ''I guess ites down to that.''

    In this stage of his life, given the kind of creative freedom that came from controlling such vague concepts, he started to form that kind of desire.

    ''I want to make something beautiful.''

    He wanted to make art.

    He scanned the forest with his eyes.

    ''Something that doesn''t interfere with the forest, but makes it obvious that it''s built, not bred.''

    He just had to let his mind work naturally again.

    Damien never had much symbolism around him. Void Pce had a symbol, as did almost all of the other influences he joined. However, he was not trying to represent those entities right now.

    Dante told him just how much his name mattered right now. When he returned, when the Firmament Board came to him, he would need to have more confidence in that name than anything else.

    ''A symbol to represent me¡­''

    What was it supposed to be?

    He wasn''t too good at this kind of thing. Damien knew what made up the core of his soul, however, he never really cared about how others perceived him.

    A symbol only existed for others to perceive. For Damien to make something he was proud of, he first needed to decide what kind of person he wanted to present himself as.

    ''I''m not a tyrant.''

    Not to the people who followed him. However, to those who opposed him, he was willing to be the cruelest person they ever dreamed of.

    So he needed to show dominance andpassion at the same time.

    It had to be a symbol that could be regarded with fear or worship depending on the lens it was viewed through.

    ''The color¡­''

    It was quite important. People were quick to form subconscious biases off of color alone.

    ck had always been associated with evil, right? But the pure ckness of Nonexistence wasn''t evil in the slightest. It was misunderstood and misconstrued by association.

    ''White as a background would be most obvious, but I don''t really like that.''

    Damien had a new goal to make Nonexistence a concept as sacred as Existence in the eyes of the people. If so, then the stigmas associated with colors would change as well.

    Void Pce''s symbol also contained ck as its main color, but it was seen as sleek and powerful rather than fearful.

    He was already going to use ck from the start. It wasn''t just a color that represented Nonexistence, but one that represented the Void.

    Purple was also an obvious choice. It symbolized his lineage. When he was young, his aura and mana were purple for a time as well. The color had deep connections to his roots, so obviously he was going to include it.

    ''Then¡­gold.''

    It was for a bit more of amon reason than the rest. Gold was often a color used to represent regality, so he wanted subtle ents of it in the symbol.

    And finally¡­

    ''...white.''

    Not an extraneous amount. Just enough to make everything else pop.

    Everything about this symbol had to mean something to Damien just as much as it meant something to others.

    The colors were set. The shape and the design still had to be decided.

    Watching Damien struggle in his artistic endeavors was fun, but there was definitely something more interesting to pay attention to.

    Currently, on the border of Death''s Hold, three people stood and faced its darkness.

    They were the first of many invaders toe.

    And, more importantly, they were the ones who''d show Damien how people who had only been using Nonexistence for millions of years at the very least fought.

 Chapter 1795 Deaths Hold [5]

    Chapter 1795 Death''s Hold [5]

    The three who arrived first were the youngest of the Lords. This didn''t imply that they were young, but that they were forced by people much older than them to go and test the waters.

    They were all old men. Their beards were white and the hair on the top of their heads was nonexistent. Without mana or Existence, the mechanisms used by practitioners to alter their appearances were rendered useless. The appearance they maintained would be the same one they had when their bodies became immortal and their lifespans increased.

    Damien was over a hundred. In Earth terms, he''d be an old man, but with a lifespan of infinity, he was extremely young. He also never attempted to alter his appearance. His current look was as natural as it got, so he wasn''t affected.

    Unfortunately for many of those who reached greater heights at older ages, the young appearances they gave themselves were taken away and they were forced to deal with the fact that this was their true age.

    Damien would be meeting quite a few old men and women in the future, so he''d already resigned to being the only rtively young-looking person here.

    Nevertheless, his attention was half focused on these three men. The other half focused on the design.

    Damien didn''t actually need to do anything. The beasts in Death''s Hold had been tamed to an extent now that they knew what peace felt like, but that was only concerning Damien and the other creatures in the ck Forest.

    Their attitude towards intruders never changed.

    If those three people stepped into this ce and tried to cause a scene, they would die.

    Clearly, they knew that as well. They hesitated on the edge of the forest for a very long time, trying to sense the situation inside.

    They were fated to learn that it was impossible. If they wanted to investigate, they had to go inside.

    These three were in an unfortunate situation, really.

    Behind them stood hundreds of other Lords who would definitely make their lives hard if they returned empty-handed. They wouldn''t be able to peacefully live on the second ind anymore. Hell, they wouldn''t even be able to create their structures and move on to the third ind because of their interference.

    In front of them stood and of death from which not a single man had returned alive.

    Was death better than a hellish life?

    It was a question they didn''t want to answer, but in this case, they had no choice but to push forward. They''d signed a pact of nothingness when they joined the ranks of the Lords.

    They would act for the good of the group. If they failed to do so, they would be exterminated by thews of the realm.

    This applies to all of the rest of them as well, but they didn''t need to experience the downsides of the pact when they were the ones who controlled everything.

    The three of them nced at each other with wry expressions.

    Despite their thoughts, they were already moving closer to the densely packed ck trees that acted like a wall protecting the forest from outsiders.

    Immediately upon making their choice, the three of them released their power.

    It was mostly unperceivable, but there were still signs. For instance, the man on the left side had a subtle ring of ck fire circling him. It was an indicator that he and the rest were surrounded by domains. Damien subtly sent his power outward, making contact with the borders of their domains.

    He instantly felt changes in his body.

    ''I see.''

    It was a matter of preparation indeed.

    The most obvious use of the domain was to even the ying field.

    Whether the opponent had an advantage or not, it would bring them to the same level as the caster of the skill in order to absolve any advantages that they could possess.

    In Damien''s case, his physical strength plummeted.

    ''I''m not suppressed insanely, but it''s considerable. I guess this is the average physical strength of those three.''

    He had only been brought down to their level, not below it.

    ''Is it the battle etiquette of this realm?''

    It was reasonable. If they were to fight properly with their Nonexistence, then it was obvious for them topete at the same level.

    They didn''t make any drastic moves after that. They approached the forest carefully and stayed within each other''s sight. Their domains ovepped, creating a huge zone of suppression that would give them an advantage against any being they faced. They weren''t facing ordinary beings this time.

    They knew that, which was why they came even closer together when they took their first step into the forest.

    When Damien entered, there was still a process to things. The beasts wouldn''t attack anyone who entered. They''d only attack when certain conditions were met.

    Technically, those conditions were already met by the group of three, but even then they would have been given at least a few seconds to put away their hostility before they were assaulted.

    Damien''s im on this territory changed things.

    The beasts now regarded him in the same light as Nonexistence. As such, anyone other than him had been banned from this forest. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The beasts did not need to use pack tactics to confront their enemies.

    Each and every one of them had equal power¡ªabsolute power in this realm. One was enough to face the three of them, however, whether it was out of respect or mockery, three beasts stood up to the challenge, one for each Lord. And a silent battle began immediately.

    As Damien''s intention was never to kill them in a dominant fashion, the beasts went easier with their attacks. Otherwise, how was Damien supposed to learn about battle?

    A battle between two different forms of Existence was incredibly loud. Damien had fought such a battle twice in his life, and both times, they were filled with extreme scenes of splendor as reality itself was toyed with.

    In its regr fashion, Nonexistence remained invisible even when it was being used aggressively.

    There was indeed a battle being fought, but to an unaware observer, it looked like the beasts and the Lords were just staring at each other with hostile expressions.

    Damien saw a different scene.

    To him, this was just as grand as a battle of Existence.

    Hidden away from the world in a conceptual realm that even the greatest Gods couldn''t perceive was a battle so beautiful that he didn''t know how to describe it.

    Concepts were eliminated and new concepts grew in their ce. The realm was like a mirage of shifting colors and imageries that would constantly change as the concepts inhabiting the space were altered.

    It was a real back-and-forth fight. If one person couldn''t absolutely dominate, then they were forced to take turns and test each other''s skills.

    Like apetition with deadly stakes, the two opposing fighters would challenge each other to find their alterations and respond before they were set in stone.

    Once one person made a change that the other could not detect, it acted as an anchor off of which countless other changes could be made and woven together into a fabric that the other side couldn''t pierce.

    ''Is it like chess?''

    Not exactly, but it was a strategy game of some sort.

    The knowledge and experience necessary to fight this kind of battle against people who had been doing it for so long¡­

    ''...I don''t have it.''

    The situation was more serious than he expected. If Damien decided to go out there and fight personally, he probably would have been crushed.

    ''I guess I need to take my time before going to the third ind.''

    Something told him that the uing trials wouldn''t be so peaceful.

    If Damien wanted to rapidly reach the end of thisnd and return to his home, he needed to get a lot more familiar with Nonexistence.

    And right now, he was in both the perfect environment and the perfect state to do exactly that.

 Chapter 1796 Deaths Hold [6]

    Chapter 1796 Death''s Hold [6]

    The three Lords fought the beasts of the forest for many hours. In the process, Damien was able to learn more and more about how veterans maneuvered Nonexistence.

    ''It''s still the second ind, so they can''t do much. They''re making as much use of the little power they have as possible. That''s a state where creativity shines.'' From Damien''s observations, there were severalmon concepts that people usually chose to banish from existence ''If it was in the real world, mana would probably be the first.''

    Without mana, only physical fighters and people who used Nonexistence could survive.

    When physical strength differences were controlled through the establishment of a territory, only one of those groups coulde out alive.

    ''In this ce, it''s a little bit more vague. Since they''re fighting beasts, too, they''re focusing more on the mind than the body.''

    They were trying to banish things like "rationality" and "loyalty" from their enemies'' minds.

    Against groups, this kind of strategy was ingenious. Rather than putting in work, forcing the opponents to fight each other was more efficient. ''When they''re facing the beasts individually, though, they immediately bring those things back and try to use them in the opposite way.'' While focusing on obvious things like the opponent''s strength, they used concepts like loyalty to disrupt their mind and make them hesitate to attack.

    The problem the three Lords encountered when they found themselves in a prolonged fight with the beasts was that their enemies were usingpletely different kinds of concepts than them. The beasts didn''t have the kind ofplex thought process necessary to banish and manipte concepts like the Lords.

    However, they were connected to a far more primordial form of energy. They were able to find the rawest and most core concepts in the universe and banish them, instantly taking the most important strengths of the Lords away from them.

    In the first ce, it was supposed to be a one-sided ughter, not a fight.

    Nevertheless, before the three Lords died, Damien was able to gain sufficient data to incorporate into his own fighting techniques.

    ''And, I finished this thing.''

    He looked down at a g he''d created for testing purposes. On it, there was a symbol. One that represented Damien Void from his own perspective.

    The symbol was a circr swirling ck and white image. The two colors were used equally, but it did not look like it. Instead, it looked like the ck side was consuming the white side.

    However, if one viewed it from a different perspective, the white and ck were in constant motion, ebbing and flowing together like the calm waves of the sea.

    The pattern was lined with gold to entuate it and add a sense of valor. As for the purple elements, Damien originally wanted to scrap it but decided that the color was too important for him to ignore.

    It also turned into an ent like the gold, but with its addition, two more pictures were created.

    With the gold outline alone, one could see the intricate head of a dragon preparing its breath. With the purple outline alone, one could see a crescent moon within a fog of clouds.

    Together, however, they illuminated the white and ck in a yin and yang style picture of a world. All-epassing power, all-epassingpassion. A strength that rivaled the dragons, yet a leadership as calm and orderly as the movement of the moon.

    It was extremely intricate to the point where most people who saw it wouldn''t be able to recognize its intent, but it was everything Damien could have hoped for when creating his own symbol.

    As long as he worked to properly establish the reputation that followed it, he could give it the meaning he desired in the eyes of others.

    But that was only something to worry about when he returned to the Heavenly World.

    In this ce, that symbol was one of conquest.

    Many Lords followed after the first three. The group of them didn''t n to end things easily, but they weren''t given a choice.

    They sent tens of their members to attack the forest. After realizing that it was an extreme danger with the deaths of the first three, they organized a task force with great numbers and even greater power to siege it and get rid of the being inside.

    Unfortunately, Damien had already satisfied his curiosity.

    The beasts no longer had a reason to hold back and prolong fights for him to watch.

    That was the reason why Damien had the freedom to design a symbol and determine what kind of structure he was going to build while Death''s Hold was actively being assaulted. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Anyone who stepped into the forest would die with one attack from the beasts.

    They could try to attack from outside, but the tree wall was incredibly thick. It seemed impervious to any and all damage, as even the outeryer refused to chip after being attacked over and over again.

    Strategies were enacted to attack from the sky, but those failed as well.

    What would Death''s Hold be if it wasn''t secure?

    With the addition of a great tree to its ranks, the size of its domain greatly expanded. There was arge, imprable dome of Nonexistence around the entire area, created by the Land of Nothingness itself.

    Thatnd was impervious to all but Damien.

    They might have possessed a slight chance of entering it beforehand, but it had a new owner now.

    It had finally recognized the individual it had been searching for.

    Now, the people who wanted to take it for granted and use it for their own purposes could be killed without remorse, as they no longer served a use.

    The Lords were forced to take a step back after the initial siege failed.

    They could absolutely send troops after troops into Death''s Hold, but what was the point of sacrificing people like that?

    Unlike most of the realm, death in the hold was permanent. Nobody wanted to risk that. True Death in a ce like this¡­

    If they died, their existence would be erased from reality entirely.

    All memories of them, all vestiges they left, and all clues that told of their existence would be wiped.

    It would be like they were never born.

    That was the most terrifying kind of death, wasn''t it?

    Nobody wanted to suffer from it. Even the Lords who were usually extremely particr about how they acted refused to continue chasing after Damien.

    If he could control Death''s Hold, he could kill them all. What kind of idiot would make a person like that into an enemy?

    The Lords that headed the group tried to meet Damien. They went to Death''s Hold themselves with a peace offering.

    Unfortunately, all they were greeted with was silence.

    They had already confirmed that there was a man there, but this was the moment when they realized that they weren''t meant to be messing with that man from the beginning.

    On the trunk of the great tree, overlooking the entirety of the second ind, was an eye sunk into its surface.

    It was massive and purple, standing out immensely while stillplementing the colors of the forest.

    The eye looked down at them. The entire forest''s attention turned to them as it glowed with a fierce light.

    An engraved pattern in the trunk''s surface above the eye came to light, filled with the same glow as the eye itself.

    The top Lords looked at each other as the eye activated.

    And, together, they stared down at their own trembling hands.

    Their fingers¡­

    Their fingers were disappearing from existence.

    Not in the usual temporary fashion, but eternally.

    Every single Lord on the ind received the same message that night.

    "Give up. Challenging Death''s Hold is certain death."

    It was a warning that they''d heard many times, but one that never stopped adventurers from trying their luck.

    However, this time was different.

    This time, it was an absolute truth.

    Anyone who entered Death''s Hold without its owner''s permission was bound to be fertilizer for its growth.

    As such, the people of the second ind could only quietly watch as that faceless individual changed the forest. They watched as a structure peeked out from above the canopy of trees and grewrger andrger.

    Only, no matter howrge it became, they couldn''t tell what it was.

    It wasn''t their fault, though.

    Because even if one asked its creator, he would respond with one simple sentence.

    "I have no idea what the hell I''m doing."

 Chapter 1797 Deaths Hold [7]

    Chapter 1797 Death''s Hold [7]

    It was definitely a beautiful structure. Just¡­nobody could say what it actually was.

    It was biological. Tworge leaves rose high into the sky and wrapped around the tree. The intricate details of their structure could be seen clearly as the ck sun shined through. The small veins that lined them seemed to pulse like they were alive.

    The tree itself was also raised far out of the ground. There was a hill where there used to only be t ground, on which even the roots of the tree could be seen from a distance as it was so far above the rest of the forest.

    That hill was where the rest of Damien''s creation resided. It contained almost no ck dirt. The tree''s roots sunk into the structure itself, as if it was mounting itself on top.

    In this state, the hill seemed to be adorned by some sort of mechanical masterpiece.It was split into several sections, each made of aplementary material that didn''t exist in this realm. There were small spaces between each of them that contained bone-like structures that held them together.

    The massive leaf wing structures were directly linked to the hill. Clearly, they were also involved in whatever mechanism the entire structure was meant to be.

    The only thing that set it aside from the environment was its clearly man-made nature. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It was not an abode. It was not a sculpture. It didn''t have any noticeable purpose. If anyone looked at it, while they would surely appreciate its strange beauty and the way it melded into the environment, they would still call the artist himself insane.

    What was the purpose of something like this?

    Why was it so highly mechanical if it didn''t do anything?

    There were sounds of gears turning, of processes being undertaken below the ground level.

    Through the gaps in the segment, it was possible to see just a slight piece of the inner workings, which wereplex enough to confuse even experienced engineers.

    Damien sat on the hill that was lightly dusted with ck dirt to help the beasts be familiar with it and patted its surface.

    "You''ll be in charge of this ce when I leave."

    He didn''t get a response, but the slight vibration in the hill was enough.

    He knew the being he created could hear him.

    "Protect the beings who live here. Protect the legacy of this sacred ce. And, protect my name."

    Rumble!

    If one could see below the dirt, one would finally be able to see the nature of Damien''s creation.

    Its entire body seemed to be made of mossy rocks. Its shell, which the great tree resided on, was segmented and filled with different colored minerals, but in the light they all seemed to reflect and refract to form a specific pattern, one that would be familiar as time passed in this realm. Four massive legs dug deep into the earth. They were at least several hundreds of feet long, supporting the massive body of the being that was evenrger and wider.

    It was essentially a giant, mechanical, walking turtle. The leaves cocooning the tree were obviously not to help it fly, but to be used to attack invaders and defend the tree.

    There were several other attack mechanisms embedded in its structure. Each different material used on its shell contained different abilities, all of them based on Nonexistence.

    Damien created a being that would be invincible in this ce.

    And, on the off chance that something terrible happened to Death''s Hold, it could stand up and take the entire forest away on its back, protecting its legacy and inhabitants.

    This was an absolute mechanism to ensure that the sanctity of the forest would never be destroyed in the future. At the same time, it left a massive mark of Damien''s presence on thend.

    In the event that it was forced to move after he left, then the amount of meaning it would give the only crest that identified the creator was also monstrous.

    It was a being that met all of Damien''s criteria.

    Because of that, it was not easy to build in the slightest.

    The entirendscape had to change. Damien was forced to learn a great deal about manipting Nonexistence and thend itself.

    Over the past two years, he gained more than enough experience to be confident moving on to the next ind.

    The connection he''d formed with Death''s Hold was enough. He wanted to start interacting with more experts who were actually worth something, but the second ind wasn''t the ce for that.

    He could wait to start getting friendly with his fellow Nonexistence users until they became rational people worth maintaining contact with.

    On the second ind, they were either absorbed in work, absorbed in depression, or absorbed in malice.

    Really, was there a point in staying for longer?

    Even the enemies he expected to face became a nonissue with the forest''s aid. ''It was a good time.''

    Regardless, just like the first ind, the second ind taught him something that made him far more familiar with the concept.

    As he felt the pull of the next ind calling to him, he looked at the forest onest time and smiled.

    ''This is my doing.''

    The current appearance of the forest, grand and domineering, was entirely his doing.

    He couldn''t help but be proud of his aplishments.

    With that pride leading the way, Damien approached the shore of the second ind and took a step.

    The concept of distance once again disappeared.

    On this asion, the next ind didn''t easily approach. It scanned him and deemed him worthy of crossing before it allowed him to make the trek onto its surface.

    He had the proper qualifications. In a sense, he''d outdone the people who built even the most intricate castles.

    After all, the mechanicalponents inside of the turtle giant''s shell were not just for show.

    They allowed the turtle itself to support an ecosystem.

    Through its legs, it could absorb nutrients and energy from thend around it. With those mechanisms working their magic, those nutrients and energy could supply the beings living on its shell with ample sustenance to stay alive and thrive.

    It was an isted ecosystem, a mechanical monster, a weapon of mass destruction, and a bastion of absolute protection.

    On top of all of that, it could move and had sentience!

    How could any mere castlepare to it?

    Damien made an achievement that surpassed anything done on the second ind since its inception, and for that, he was properly rewarded.

    The smile remained on his face as he left thends of the second ind and stepped upon the third.

    From behind, several people who noticed his movements watched.

    All they saw was the silhouette of a young man with ck clothing and hair disappearing from sight.

    That was the only hint they received about who the owner of that mysterious symbol was.

    Perhaps they nned to act up now that he was gone. Maybe they believed that Death''s Hold would return to its prior state without him.

    It would be fun to see their reactions when they learned otherwise.

    Unfortunately, Damien wouldn''t be able to see it.

    He was already busy on the third ind, after all.

    Because the instant hended, he found himself being attacked.

    ''Just as I thought¡­'' he said to himself as he set a domain of his own.

    ''...it won''t be so peaceful from now on.''

    The "beginner" period was over.

    Now, Damien was also considered an experienced member of thisnd.

    And, ording to the rules of the third ind''s trial¡­

    ¡­he would be fighting other experts for the foreseeable future.

    It was definitely bound to be more interesting than anything that happened thus far.

 Chapter 1798 Third Island [1]

    Chapter 1798 Third Ind [1]

    When Damien''s foot made contact with the third ind, he immediately felt his physical strength get suppressed.

    He definitely had the right to assume that it was just a part of the ind''s mechanics, but what kind of idiot would follow a thought like that?

    Without hesitation, he put up a domain like the ones he''d seen from others. His physical strength didn''t rise back to its original level, but it definitely increased to an extent.

    With his barrier and the enemy''s colliding, the level at which they matched was decided as the middle ground between them.

    That made Damien curious about who exactly he was fighting.

    Nothing else changed other than physical strength, after all. That could only mean that they were already equal in most aspects.

    Damien looked around, trying to find the person who enacted the domain. They couldn''t be far.

    The battles here were like duels. Opponents would stand before each other and fight while showing all their cards. They wouldn''t hide away and sneak attack because it was pointless in a realm like this one.

    Anyway, if the enemy wanted to sneak attack, they would have never ced their domain in the first ce. Domains were practically considered duel invitations. Strangely, the person didn''t immediately appear. Their domain was likely set to automatically activate when a new person entered the ind. Damien was forced to wait several seconds before an individual with the same aura signature arrived in front of him.

    "You are a patient neer, aren''t you?"

    Damien raised an eyebrow.

    After seeing only old men for so long, it was definitely pleasing to hear a woman''s voice. She was beautiful as well. Her young appearance meant that she was an incredible genius in her own realm.

    Still, it wasn''t as if Damien was fazed. These things merely had to be acknowledged because her beauty was definitely a representation of her strength.

    By the looks of it, this wouldn''t be an easy battle.

    "I''ve been waiting to fight for a while now, " Damien admitted as heid eyes on her.

    She didn''t take that long to arrive, but she was correct in assuming that he could have fled if he wanted to.

    Her physical strength rose noticeably when he ced his barrier. Judging by that and ascertaining what his physical strength was when it wasn''t suppressed, she could easily tell that Damien had the means to escape.

    He was clearly itching for battle. His words were unnecessary for anything other than continuing the conversation.

    The woman looked him up and down, taking note of the same qualities he saw in her.

    A young and handsome appearance that contradicted what most of the poption had, and the desire for growth that many lost by the time they arrived on this ind.

    The main purpose of ny percent of people at this point was escaping. They were already content with the power they had.

    Nevertheless, Damien was correct about the fact that she''d set up this barrier to catch new people. The few seconds before she arrived were to give them a chance to leave if they weren''t confident in their skills.

    But, even if they knew they would lose the fight, running was the wrong option.

    "Neer, before we fight, I will tell you what the goal of this ind is."

    Was it courtesy? Damien didn''t know her intentions, but he could fact-check her wordster. He opened his ears curiously. The woman held up her hand and manifested a golden shield emblem with a crest-like pattern on it.

    "Your peaceful days are over," she started.

    "Unlike the first or second inds, this ce is filled with brutalpetition. To put it simply, we are in a battle circuit."

    The woman held up her hand and manifested a golden shield emblem with a crest-like pattern on it.

    "If you look within you, you will find something simr. Each and every one of us has a crest, however¡­"

    The woman watched as Damien held his hand up and summoned an empty, bronze shield emblem.

    "...it always starts from zero. As you fight on this ind and win against other denizens, your emblem will continue to grow. Once you have reached the tinum shield, you can challenge an Area Lord for their title."

    The structure of the challenge was not difficult to grasp.

    "If you defeat an Area Lord, you can choose to either remain on the ind for longer and gain more rewards as the new Lord of that region. Otherwise, you may leave from there and continue your journey. While it seems like a better idea to do thetter, most people who defeat the Area Lords don''t choose that path. They remain on the ind for a very long time before leaving."

    "Why?" Damien asked.

    "Well¡­" the woman smiled.

    "That''s for you to find out if you ever reach that point."

    Damien nodded.

    She already said enough. It was useless to even tell him about Area Lords at this point in time, but he was grateful that she did.

    Anyway, if she was telling the truth, he could thank herter.

    "More importantly, isn''t it time for us to fight?"

    He didn''t know why she was targeting neers. She either wanted to use them to build up her shield emblem or teach them the ways of the ind before they went deeper into itsnds.

    Her intentions, whether selfish or selfless, were unimportant to Damien.

    Since she presented herself as target practice, he wanted to use her as target practice.

    It had been a long time since he started preparing to fight with Nonexistence, but other than a few spars with the beasts in Death''s Hold, he actually wasn''t able to do much.

    ''The Lords of the second ind were a disappointment.''

    He nced at the woman, who smiled at him and took a fighting stance.

    ''I hope the people of thisnd are different.''

    He did the same.

    These stances meant nothing. They were not going to move as they fought, so it was pointless to take any kind of stance.

    However, for the sake of creating a sense of familiarity with the battle style by mimicking actions taken in a normal fight, they were able to produce more power.

    The environment and feeling mattered a lot in a battle like this, after all.

    Damien closed his eyes. He put himself into a mindset where the effects of the battle could be visualized.

    And, without any more hesitation, he made the first move.

    He learned many things from the Lords who fought against Death''s Hold. The mostmon strategy was to affect the opponent''s mind and stagger them before using more material attacks to finish them off.

    Damien''s first move was also of the same branch of thinking.

    ''Go.''

    He sent his energy into the world and it instantly brought back results.

    His decision was not to start by attacking.

    Instead¡­

    Once again, he banished ignorance from his mind. At the same time, he enacted a skill that aimed to banish "information" from the mind of his opponent.

    Regardless of their equal states on the battlefield, she had more experience than him. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    That had to change.

    He had to be the one in control.

    However, while he was able to give himself the information he desired¡­

    ¡­it wasn''t so easy to take things away from an experienced fighter like that woman.

    He was soon to find out that he was still in over his head.

    But, wasn''t that always the case?

    Wasn''t he always fighting enemies who were logically impossible for him to face?

    This was just one of many battles, and Damien nned to treat it exactly as such.

    And in ssic Damien fashion, he would find a way to win.

    This was his entrance into the third ind''s rankings.

    He couldn''t just lose and run away, could he?

 Chapter 1799 Third Island [2]

    Chapter 1799 Third Ind [2]

    The woman wasn''t going to allow Damien to easily put her at a disadvantage.

    When he banished "information" from her, shebatted it with her own energy to negate the effect.

    Nonexistence was powerful enough on its own. Technically, no matter its level, if it was allowed to do as it pleased it could affect anyone at any level.

    That was why it was important for people who wielded Nonexistence to always be prepared to counteract its effects.

    It was an entirely different branch of thinking, one where not many excelled. In a battle between two practitioners of the concept, it was usually a race to see who could inflict enough damage to gain momentum to push forward andnd a lethal blow.

    The woman Damien faced was different. She, who went only by the name "Kura," was an incredibly defensive yer.

    To ensure that information wasn''t removed from her mind, she had to target Damien''s attack itself.

    She found its energy in the air and read the intent Damien infused into it. In the split second before it struck, she recreated the exact same energy form, reversed it, and sent it into Damien''s energy to dispel his skill.

    The instant her energy was released, she was confident that his wouldn''t reach her. As such, she immediately began working on a counterattack.

    From what she could see, the man she was currently facing was far more skilled than the average practitioner who came from the second ind.

    Most people thought they would be skilled enough after spending many years there, so they left for the third ind before they were truly prepared.

    Only after fighting their first fight and losing would they realize how weak they were. By that point, it was already toote.

    The third ind really was a ce of constantpetition.

    Kura stayed near the beginning so that she could teach these lessons to neers. She wasn''t some kind of benevolent saint. She just wanted to make stronger people so she would have stronger opponents to face in the future.

    Any individual they met would likely challenge them to a duel. If those losses added up, then the situation would turn extremely dire.

    There were consequences to losing, just as there were benefits to winning.

    Kura stayed near the beginning so that she could teach these lessons to neers. She wasn''t some kind of benevolent saint. She just wanted to make stronger people so she would have stronger opponents to face in the future.

    As someone near the end of the gold level, it was difficult to find people who could actually help her promote herself further.

    If she kept working on the shore like this, strong people would eventually appear, right? Then, she could defeat them and finally challenge an Area Lord for their seat.

    Now that she looked at him, Kura didn''t think Damien needed the kind of training she was providing. Still, she wasn''t remiss about fighting him.

    He aimed for the mind, but she was more focused on the physical body. The intent was the same. She wanted to disrupt him so that he couldn''t retaliate when she really pulled out a fatal move.

    However, she chose the wrong opponent.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed when he saw his attack falter. ''It won''t be that easy, huh.''

    When the woman said that tinum was the highest rank and then showed her gold badge, Damien already knew he was fighting an uphill battle.

    Nevertheless, even the beasts of Death''s Hold could never directly disperse his attacks. Their strategy was to offset his energy with an even stronger concept so that it wouldn''t reach them.

    Seeing how Kura moved definitely gave him some insight, but his strategy never changed.

    ''I have to see how effective the things I''ve learned until now are, even if I lose.''

    He noticed the iing negation, but he ignored it.

    ''Physical targeting.''

    He didn''t care if his physical body was ruined. Physical pain didn''t matter to him anymore, so it didn''t mean anything.

    Rather than attempting to mindlesslybat it, wasn''t it better for him to attack? It was like two spiders weaving webs and fighting over territory. Damien weaved a web filled with mental attacks.

    He negated confidence. He negated spirit. He negated prowess, and he negated experience.

    He weaved a web that, if sessful, would rid Kura of everything that made her a good fighter.

    At the same time, he was struck with the web she weaved.

    Pestilence, famine, and death became entangled in his body. Most importantly, there was a feeling as if the immortality Damien worked so hard to achieve was gone entirely.

    ''It''s an illusion.''

    No matter what she did, she couldn''t negate his immortality.

    Perhaps she could get rid of it in a certain sense, but as long as they were in the Land of Nothingness, the only thing capable of granting True Death was the realm itself.

    Damien''s body took on a sickly form. His muscles drained and his bones became fragile. It looked like it took him a great deal of effort to even remain standing.

    However, his mind was as sharp as ever.

    Despite being the one attacking more, Kura was the one with gritted teeth and a serious expression.

    ''Seriously, what is this guy?!''

    How was he able to weaveplex webs already?

    In this realm, there wasn''t such a thing as someone willing to teach others. Even if they did something simr, it was only out of greed.

    How was Damien able to figure out how to properly wield Nonexistence without someone guiding him?

    ''How much did he fight on the second ind?''

    From what Kura remembered, it wasn''t a ce where battles were frequent. It shouldn''t have allowed him to properly affect her mind.

    Her confidence was wavering. The experience she had built up was still at hermand, but the spirit and vigor of abatant had disappeared from her body entirely.

    Obviously, if Kura tried hard enough, she could bring them back.

    The problem was¡­

    ''...I don''t have any time!''

    If she stopped defending, she''d be in serious trouble.

    She looked at the battlefield between them. In the invisible field, countless spiderwebs spread all throughout. Each strand was filled with malicious intent either left by her or her opponent.

    If either of them made a misstep, it would be difficult for them to recover.

    After all, Damien wasn''t in the best state either.

    Kura was losing fighting ability. He was not. That was his advantage.

    However, Kura had not taken any real damage yet. He had. That was her advantage.

    He could be as battle-ready as he wanted, but unless he was able to defeat her first, he would die.

    It was the consequence of taking her attacks in order to counterattack. ''Next time, I should y defensively as well.''

    In this battle, it was toote for something like that.

    Damien''s eyes sharpened as he stared at her.

    ''Either I defeat her within the next minute or so, or I experience my first death in this realm.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The stakes were already high.

    But that was the exact kind of environment where Damien thrived. He had to suppress the grin that was trying to rise on his face as he attacked again.

    Reflected in his eyes were the same spiderwebs that Kura saw. Only, there was a pattern in his vision that she''d failed to realize.

    ''It''s not much, but it''s definitely enough to be called a fatal blow.''

    All he needed was a single opportunity.

    If he could create it¡­

    ¡­then in his first few minutes on this ind, he would defeat a gold-badged practitioner.

    Exciting, right?

 Chapter 1800 Third Island [3]

    Chapter 1800 Third Ind [3]

    Kura had been frequently dispersing Damien''s attacks.

    Her unique talent to read another individual''s energy and recreate its internal structure made her an obvious contender for the best in her ss.

    If attacks couldn''t reach her, then wasn''t it obvious that she won every battle she partook in?

    Especially when people were conservative with information and unfriendly, it was easy for her to catch others by surprise and defeat them before they could get an idea of what she was actually doing.

    Damien had a better connection to Nonexistence than most of those on the third ind because of the events at Death''s Hold. His innate perception ability was also marvelous. It was the talent that shined from when he was a teenager to now.

    He saw exactly how she maneuvered her energy to mimic his. In his eyes, the interaction between the two invisible forces was clear as day.

    It was like two sets of molecules meeting and binding. Each element found something perfect to bond to, and when theybined, they turned into the same atmosphere that popted the entirety of this realm.

    It was extremely difficult to pull off a stunt like that unless one had practiced for an incredible amount of time. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Still, there was a w.

    Damien attacked and attacked and attacked. Kura was forced to continuously disperse his attacks while also forming her own, which allowed certain pieces of the webs to make it past her defenses.

    She was slowly being whittled away, but that wasn''t the important part.

    Kura was forced to focus on her side of the battlefield. She couldn''t spend too much time looking beyond at where Damien stood.

    That was exactly when she exposed her weakness.

    Being forced to use the extent of her defensive power, Kura left an opening for Damien to manipte the battlefield to his liking.

    There was a pattern within his attacks. A constetion-like line in the webs that led straight to his opponent.

    It was a surefire killshot, and Kura had no idea that it was present at all.

    "Haa¡­haa¡­"

    Damien was huffing and puffing already.

    ''I can feel my life force fading. It''s troublesome.''

    He didn''t have any fear of his missing immortality. Knowing that he would live no matter what gave him the same kind of confidence as his usual immortality even if it was different.

    Still, Damien didn''t know what happened to the people who died here. He was aware that they''de back, but was there any negative impact? What if his journey was inhibited by a single death?

    He didn''t want to risk it. Feeling the mortality clutching at his life, he frowned and decided to enact his hidden card as soon as possible.

    Damien was definitely a lot more serious than he was when the fight first started, but he wasn''t the only one.

    Kura''s gritted teeth were enough of a sign on their own even if one couldn''t see the beads of sweat dripping down her face.

    ''How is he fine?''

    What particrly set Damien apart from others and allowed him to set up so much was his ability to attack with the same ferocity even while being inflicted with every possible human sickness or injury possible at the same time.

    Nobody else could withstand it enough to maintain their efficacy in battle. That single fact was the main reason why Kura was able to acquire victory after victory despite being more of a defensive individual than an attacker.

    How much pain did Damien have to endure for him to treat his dying body as nothing but a slight hindrance?

    Even dying wasn''t enough to create a fortitude like that.

    This was the one ce where it was possible to say that. Every single person here had died at least a few times.

    Was it because Damien''s soul was almost torn to shreds by the Wheel of Samsara?

    Or was it because the Void prepared him for this?

    Pain was too important to Damien''s journey. Sure, it had been a long time since he''d really felt it, but did that matter?

    The body he forged through pain that no other had experienced was aiding him even at this step.

    It was an unexpected variable to his opponent.

    The fight onlysted for ten minutes until now, but it was more than enough time for the two to inflict serious damage on each other.

    Damien was heaving. His body was giving up on him too fast.

    However, Kura wasn''t in a better state.

    ''Did I make a mistake this time?''

    It had been decades since herst loss. Was this the day when her record was ruined?

    These thoughts would have never existed in her head if it weren''t for Damien, but that didn''t make them any less impactful.

    That was the problem with pessimistic thinking.

    If it got bad enough, it could turn anyone into a self-fulfilling prophecy. On a subconscious level, they would start to think of their pessimism as realism and fact. When that happened, everything else was a bygone conclusion.

    Kura''s thoughts went on a downward spiral, cing her in that exact situation.

    Who was Damien to ignore this blessing of an opportunity?

    The instant he saw her eyes fall, he pushed his hand out.

    It was a weak motion. Damien looked like a poorly aged old man at this point, so when he pushed his frail arm into the air, it looked like a pathetic effort.

    Of course, that was not the case.

    From the tip of his finger, a drop of Nonexistence entered the mass of webs in front of him.

    It went from point to point, illuminating the stars in the constetion Damien created.

    Kura''s eyes widened.

    The second she saw the light, everything changed.

    ''Tch!''

    She tried to read the attack. Her eyes moved to the nearest light. The moment she saw it clearly, she realized that it was already toote to disperse it.

    Her only option was to defend with concepts the same way others did.

    She had to create a web just asplex as the one Damien made.

    However, she didn''t have nearly enough time.

    If she had seen this trap long ago, the situation would have been very different. It was unquestionable that Damien would have been the one to lose.

    He was the one who created a situation where that was not the case.

    And he was not going to leave it to rot.

    The light reached Kura before she could do anything.

    Sixteen stars created a beautifully patterned constetion that ended in her head.

    The light shot through her skull, and Kura''s eyes rolled back into her head.

    With a single attack, Damien destroyed her mind. When her mind could no longer bear the burden, the energy switched to her body.

    Kura''s body began to fade. As if she was turning into ash and floating away in the wind, her skin and bones ckened and ked off.

    Her eyes widened. She wasn''t able to look at Damien in her current state, but she grinned.

    "Damn."

    She spoke her final words.

    "This really sucks."

    Kura disappeared from the world, fated to return at ater time.

    Damien felt a change in his body as his shield medallion changed.

    He looked at it and then back at where Kura once stood as he withdrew his domain.

    Damien felt a change in his body as his shield medallion changed.

    He looked at it and then back at where Kura once stood as he withdrew his domain.

    ''For some reason¡­'' he thought to himself.

    ''...I feel like this isn''t thest time we''ll see each other.''

    Damien had attained victory in his very first real battle in the Land of Nothingness.

    But he knew that this was only one of many.

    With a little more confidence in his techniques and many thoughts on how to improve, Damien left the shore for the first time.

    Now, he could finally see what the third ind had in store for him.

 Chapter 1801 Third Island [4].

    Chapter 1801 Third Ind [4].

    The third ind. From here, things became moreplicated.

    When Damien used the same strategy to gain information about the third ind as a whole, he found that Kura had indeed given him the basics of survival.

    In essence, it was exactly as she said. He could follow a path and challenge anyone he saw until he reached the tinum badge level. After receiving his tinum badge, he could choose between any of the six Area Lords to fight for a chance to move to the next ind.

    The Area Lord position never consistently remained in a single person''s hands. Hell, even the Area Lords themselves didn''t abuse their power or obsess over it.

    As Damien expected, the people on this ind had begun to cope with their reintroduced emotions. They returned to their rationality, though they still made rash actions on asion.

    Nevertheless, Area Lords only took that position for the sake of their own training. As they fought and fought and fought, they reached a level of familiarity with Nonexistence that was absolutely crucial before moving on to the fourth ind.

    This was the separation point between those who had a chance of escaping and those who didn''t. There was nothing more vital on this ind than preparation and future nning.

    ''The problem is that they aren''t allowed to lose intentionally.''

    If a practitioner decided to take hold of that position, they couldn''t just give it up when they felt bored or tired.

    ording to the rules of this ind, they had to try their best to defeat the challengers that came to them. Only when they were defeated naturally could they relinquish their position and move on.

    ''I don''t think I should take it, since I don''t think I would be able to naturally lose to anyone.''

    After a moment of random arrogance, Damien frowned.

    ''The politics are what make this ind particrly difficult.''

    Simrly to the second ind, there was a status quo in society. Unsimr to its predecessor, however, was the ability of practitioners on the third ind to raise their status.

    This was just like the societies in the outside world in many ways. As long as one had the sufficient power and ability, anything was possible.

    Still, Kura probably wasn''t a wanderer if she believed that it was easy to find opponents to fight against.

    There were three main organizations on this ind that every practitioner was forced to choose between.

    The Fire Temple, the Water Temple, and the Earth Temple.

    They weren''t based on what element one used since elements were inconsequential here. It was more about the kind of people one wanted to be surrounded by.

    The Fire Temple was filled with people who liked to fight head-on and run wild. They had brasher personalities and fiery tempers, though that didn''t mean they were bad people.

    They were just the most extroverted and open of the three temples. This faction was made to attract people who regained their fiery hearts along with the rest of their emotions.

    The Water Temple had a much calmer atmosphere. The people there liked to ponder over decisions before making them and fight in an orderly manner. They nned their steps and walked a careful path to ensure that they didn''t make any mistakes.

    In a sense, they were the antithesis of the people from the Fire Temple. Their demeanors were silent and calm like flowing water in a stream.

    Oddly enough, though, it wasn''t rare for members of the Fire and Water Temples to attract each other with their perfectly opposing personalities.

    Finally, the Earth Temple was somewhere in the middle. Its people were like monks. They focused on training more than anything else and rarely spoke. They were worldly people without worldly desires who treated all others with the respect they deserved.

    Of course, they were not pacifists by any means. The people of the Earth Temple could be as hot-headed as Fire Temple members if they wanted to, and they could n like Water Temple members if they wanted to.

    The reason they chose the Earth Temple despite these traits was because it adhered more to their principles.

    It was a ce to go if one valued being grounded over all else. It was a different kind of calm than water and a different kind of brashness than fire.

    The three temples actually weren''t enemies in any sense. Their peoplepeted with each other, but there were never any hard feelings between them, barring personal feuds between individuals.

    The three temples only existed out of necessity.

    On this ind, halfway through the five, "history" was starting to once again be a concept.

    People were able to influence time to a degree that was impossible on the former inds, which meant that "change" could be enacted freely.

    The Ancient Era where practitioners who gained control over Existence were plenty; the records of the wars that broke out in that era existed on this ind.

    The history of blood that formed the atmosphere of this environment was troubling. If people ran around wantonly and challenged anyone they came across, the entire ind would fall into chaos.

    A chaotic state like that was a negative to the ind''s environment. Only a few people coulde out of it victorious, and in a ce like this, it was better to make it so that as many as possible could seed and move on.

    They were not enemies. They werepetitors. Friendlypetition was notpetition where people dragged others down to win.

    It required an atmosphere of rtive cooperation and respect. People had to recognize others as rivals and contribute to their growth the same way others contributed to theirs.

    That was simply impossible without governing entities keeping the peace.

    Wanderers didn''t have an easy time only because people wouldn''t ept challenges from people who didn''t wear the emblem of one of the three temples. That was the order created in this society.

    This information led to another question.

    Why did Damien think it was going to be troublesome? n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It wasn''t as if he would face heavy opposition. He would have to choose an influence, but he wasn''t going to be heavily controlled or regted. He didn''t n to cause chaos, so he didn''t have anything to worry about.

    The reason for Damien''s struggle was a bit more on theedic side this time.

    ''Shit. I''m going to have to interact with people.''

    Was there ever a story about how antisocial Gods were?

    If so, Damien certainly hadn''t read it.

    He was fine with family. The people he already knew still had the same value in his heart and mind as they did before he became so powerful.

    Making new connections, though¡­

    It was something Damien dreaded a little bit.

    ''I mean,e on. There isn''t much left for me to do in the Heavenly World, and there aren''t many new people for me to meet. Everyone I do end up meeting is either an enemy or someone I have to treat as lower than me because that''s how they consider themselves.''

    The only people who feltfortable interacting with him casually were the people he had known for a long time.

    Whenever he went back to Void Pce, he''d find Long Chen, Su Ren, and Yong An to have drinks and catch up. They were fine with trashing him and joking with him despite him being the strongest person in the cosmos.

    After all, they were with him when he was just a kid or a talented genius. They didn''t have fear because they knew him on a deeper level.

    People who didn''t had no interest in doing so.

    They only felt difort when they had to treat Damien casually. If he acted casually, they showed fear because they didn''t understand what kind of person he was.

    Damien didn''t care to put enough time into people to show them otherwise. Not anymore, at least.

    As such, he''d be exactly what he feared.

    ''An antisocial God who forgot how to properly interact with people as equals.''

    He sighed to himself.

    "Haa¡­"

    ''...I guess even I have to learn some emotional stuff from this realm.''

    He really didn''t have a choice.

    Damien Void had to go on a quest to learn how to talk to strangers.

    Quite the unexpected development, was it not?

 Chapter 1802 Third Island [5]

    Chapter 1802 Third Ind [5]

    So, did the people of each temple have alliances with each other?

    Were they forbidden from fighting amongst themselves?

    The simple answer was no.

    They were allowed to fight whoever they wanted as long as the other individual was also a member of a temple. The three temples only served to separate people so they could be more easily managed.

    The heads of the temples were required to maintain good rtionships with each other. The current heads were actually close friends. Under theirmand, chaos couldn''te to this ind. Prosperity thrived because of the temples'' existence. Civilization thrived in prosperity.

    Thisndscape was not filled with castles made by people who only wanted to move on to the next ind. It didn''t just have two cities to contain the people who weren''t allowed to build as they pleased.

    The third ind had thergest poption of the five by arge margin.

    As every Area Lord was stronger than thest, a great divide was formed on this ind.

    There were arge number of people who tried and tried again only to fail. When they epted that they were not fated to leave this ce, they conceded their badges and chose to make the best of their situations. As such, the third ind was pretty much an entire nation led by the three temples.

    There were millions upon millions of people living here, all of whom failed to conquer Nonexistence.

    They were the main reason for the three temples'' existence.

    To give them better lives despite their unfortunate circumstances, and to ensure that chaos never threatened the beautiful civilization that arose because of them, the three temples moderated all active practitioners on the ind.

    Hell, even the Area Lords were managed by their people.

    On that note, the society they''d built with their system was truly something to marvel at.

    When Damien made it off the shore and started focusing on the ind itself, even he was impressed.

    How was he to describe it?

    It only resembled thends he''d been between in the fact that it was extremely developed, but it wasn''t exactly simr to any of them.

    Rather, it was like all different building styles from all different cosmos were brought together into a single picture.

    The cities wererge and sprawling. In their centers, they had skyscraper-like structures simr to Earth if it was given a few hundred more years to grow.

    The buildings defied thews of physics that humans created on that. Some were floating, others were spirals that seemed to contain too much tension tost for a long time, and others more had wild edges and curves that seemed more akin to a creative depiction of the future than reality.

    The amazing part was how these buildings melded in with the rest of the environment.

    Medieval architecture, gothic architecture, victorian architecture¡­

    It was a little bit sentimental to see how the styles of other cosmos rted to the styles Damien was already aware of. Really, regardless of where they were, humans were bound to follow a pattern.

    But, there were obviously some who didn''t like patterns at all. The architects of this society found a middle ground between the two belief systems and incorporated both into their cities.

    It really looked like a hodgepodge of styles that didn''t work together, but strangely enough, one could see a sense of order within the madness. There was a beauty to it that couldn''t quite be exined.

    ''It wouldn''t work if it weren''t for the stray structures that don''t follow any rules.''

    As if they''d been created as markers for where the architectural styles changed and merged, there were severalrge structures visible from a distance that didn''t conform to anything else done in the cities.

    These were pieces created by individuals or small teams with the support of the general public.

    ''It''s almost as if everything they wanted to aplish on the second ind but were too weak to do waspleted here.''

    Damien had to admire it.

    There was nothing wrong with falling into depression after failure. Especially in a realm like this where failure meant never returning to normal life, it was actuallymon for experts to find locations like Death''s Hold to kill them for good.

    The people here chose a different path. They resigned to being here for eternity, but they did not resign to living in sadness.

    Unlike the unweing second ind, the third had an entrance to the nearest city right off of the shore.

    Damien and Kura''s battle actually took ce not even five minutes from that ce. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It wasn''t just some port city either. This was the home of the Water Temple and one of the three Grand Cities on the ind.

    The entire south of the ind was filled with members of the Water Temple and people who chose to live under their reign.

    The Fire Temple''s territory was to the west, while the Earth Temple existed in the east.

    Damien was walking through the city just to get a feel of the environment. It was definitely strange seeing street vendors andmon people with the knowledge that everyone here had a rtivelyrge amount of control over Nonexistence, but if that was how they chose to live their lives, then he didn''t see a problem with it.

    The most surprising thing he noticed was children.

    ''I didn''t know this realm could support new life.''

    It was probably the result of Nonexistence''s emotions. Actions like these gave people a friendlier view of the concept, after all.

    ''Will those kids be stuck here for their entire lives?''

    In a sense, they were no different from people who had never been outside of their own country. There wouldn''t be any severe impact on their lives caused by the fact that they were trapped in this realm.

    They didn''t even know there was an outside world, so they were able to live happily.

    And, they had a chance to make it out as well.

    ''They''re unique. These children are born with an affinity for Nonexistence.''

    They reached the more esoteric concept first. They could absolutelyprehend it to its heights and escape the realm where their parents were stuck.

    Damien was extremely curious about what a kid like that would do when they made it to reality and saw the more visible side of the world. Would Existence ept them? Would they pursue it and be Absolute?

    They were intriguing trains of thought, but he didn''t n to have children here, so it wasn''t for him to learn.

    More importantly, Damien had to decide which temple he wanted to join.

    ''Kura was probably part of the Water Temple considering her fighting style.''

    Well, that was enough to cross the Water Temple off of the list.

    ''It''s not like I hate her. I just have this sinking feeling that if I end up at the same temple as her, I''m not going to hear the end of it.''

    She seemed like the type of person who''d chase apetitor for revenge over and over again until she won.

    Damien didn''t want to deal with that. He was being considerate, really.

    The more she lost to him, the more she''d lose that gold badge that she worked so hard to earn.

    The first catered more towards the old Damien. When he was young, he would have loved that kind of environment.

    Meanwhile, the Earth Temple was more suitable for his current self. It was calm and peaceful. The people knew how to act brazenly when they had to, but they also understood that sometimes it was pointless to expend energy on trivial matters.

    ''We''ll see about it. It''ll definitely be interesting if shees back after changing things up.''

    But, that was a matter for another time.

    ''Between the Fire Temple and the Earth Temple¡­''

    The first catered more towards the old Damien. When he was young, he would have loved that kind of environment.

    Meanwhile, the Earth Temple was more suitable for his current self. It was calm and peaceful. The people knew how to act brazenly when they had to, but they also understood that sometimes it was pointless to expend energy on trivial matters.

    The Land of Nothingness was many things for an expert on the path to bing Absolute.

    Among those many faces, one was its identity as a ce of reminiscence.

    The old emotions that were revived by the atmosphere; everyone knew that they''d have to discard most of them when they left for their own worlds.

    So, they used this ce to enjoy those emotions as much as possible before their (hopefully) inevitable departure.

    The choice in Damien''s hands now wasn''t actually one of great importance.

    It was more about what he wanted his experience in the Land of Nothingness to be defined by.

    Did he want to see it as a ce to kick back and disregard his duties for a little bit?

    Or did he want to enjoy this atmosphere from the perspective of the person he was now?

    It was a hard choice for many others, but Damien thought otherwise.

    ''I like who I am.''

    He didn''t miss his old self. After all, that part of him still existed inside of who he currently was.

    There was only one choice for him from the beginning. As someone who epted his changing personality without discarding the foundation on which it was built¡­

    ''...I have to go east.''

    ¡­the answer was obviously the Earth Temple.

 Chapter 1803 Third Island [6]

    Chapter 1803 Third Ind [6]

    Traveling was bing easier by the day.

    When crossing oceans, "distance" could be negated. Unfortunately, this strategy only worked if one knew one''s destination exactly, so it wasn''t practical for a journey like this one.

    On the second ind, people walked. Here, there was more development and change so people had vehicles and mounts. It also became more possible to traverse thends by canceling distance in increments. Because there were always small towns within sight, one could go from ce to ce and make judgements more easily.

    It was the benefit of a popted ind.

    Nevertheless, Damien didn''t cancel distance to move. It was the most simr method to teleportation, so he could use it more efficiently than the average person, but it was also too much work. Why would he take the difficult approach when there were far easier methods?

    As Damien was a wanderer, nobody was going to challenge him. He would have a rtively peaceful journey to the Earth Temple as long as he didn''t run into stray beasts or living creations that other people identally let loose.

    At a time like this, he figured that a road trip to see the sights would be better. He was going to enjoy this ce as his current self, but even his current self quite liked the atmosphere of the third ind.

    It felt more like home. It was a real society, so of course Damien was going to explore it sufficiently in the time he spent as a part of it.

    The third ind had an established road system going through every city and town on its surface. Damien didn''t know exactly where he was going, but getting lost and stopping in random towns to interact with the people and find his way was part of the fun.

    Well, to be more precise, it was training to get a little better at small talk before he arrived at the temple. But that was something Damien would never admit.

    ''...it has to be a car.''

    There were vehicles being sold by the denizens of thisnd, but none of them appealed to him.

    When it came tond transport¡­

    ''...it has to be a car.''

    Damien wasn''t particrly a car geek, but he did love to drive for the little time that he was able to. He had experienced many vehicles over the years, of which his absolute favorite were some of the starships in Grand Heavens Boundary, but obviously those wouldn''t be useful here.

    Genuinely, Damien hadn''t found a more entertaining form ofnd vehicle than the cars of Earth.

    ''That really says something about my homeworld''s creativity.''

    Maybe some of it came from the fact that it was a new world created and built by an Unrecorded, but the achievements of humanity belonged to only them.

    ''I''m lucky I gained the''s memories when I linked with its core. Otherwise, I never would have been able to replicate what goes on inside.''

    Damien held his hand out. The procedure undertaken wasplicated, as creating each individual part of a car through roundabout methods took a lot of precision, but he was able toplete it eventually.

    Having creative freedom at a time like this was amazing. The chassis belonged to a certain car from a luxury brand that existed on Earth already, but everything from the engine to the brake pads was entirely custom-made through his knowledge of the machines.

    A mmed, matte-ck beauty was formed on the road leading out of the first city.

    ''Nice.''

    Damien got in the driver''s seat and brushed his hands over the material of the steering wheel.

    ''Speaking of, I wonder how Earth is doing.''

    It had been a long time since he checked up on his home.

    ''I should do it as soon as I regain ess to the Sanctuary.''

    That moment woulde soon. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    No, it woulde the moment he returned to the Heavenly World.

    The Dark God''s ability only worked because he was using Nonexistence on a high level. When Damien returned with the same power, how could he possibly continue inhibiting his connection to the sub-universe?

    Damien started his long drive from there. His car definitely stood out from the masses, but nobody paid much attention since everyone''s vehicles stood out from the masses. If anything, people made note of the fact that he was able to recreate a vehicle from his home cosmos. When he joined a temple, he would be a seriouspetitor that they''d have to be wary of.

    It would have been a twenty-hour drive if Damien went straight there, but with his consistent stops and the three times he took a wrong turn and drove tens of miles in the wrong direction, it took around two days for him to reach his destination.

    The Water Temple was hidden within its city''s architecture. When Damien was walking the streets, he hardly noticed it until he asked someone where it was and they pointed to a building right across the street from him. The Earth Temple, however, was very obvious.

    There was a massive earthen column in the middle of the city. Calling it a column was a huge understatement when considering its size.

    It was like an entire city block was raised out of the sky, and on top of it resided a beautiful temple of gold that seemed to be one with the sun.

    ''Oh yeah, there''s a sun.''

    It was artificially created, but it definitely contributed heavily to the kinder atmosphere of this ind.

    Damien scoffed in amazement as he stared up at the temple above.

    ''Nobody would ever think that this entire structure is mechanical.''

    It made sense that they used an earthen column considering¡­well, Earth Temple, but they knew just as well as anyone else that raising it to such a height only made it inconvenient to reach.

    In reality, the temple on top of the column was mostly for show.

    The highest authorities and the Temple Master lived there, but the member residences, facilities, and everything else existed within the column itself.

    The doors leading inside were themed to match the column. They wereically massive dirt and moss-covered behemoth pieces of stone that acted as sliding doors.

    Only when they receded could one see the technological nature of the column''s interior.

    Damien walked in, staring up at the ceiling that was too far away to even be seen through normal means.

    The entire circumference was popted with over a hundred different floors, but the central area remained hollow for most of the column''s structure for the sake of a mystical lobby experience like the one Damien was having.

    After being in operation for so long, the systems of these kinds of buildings had long been established, and a job system had been made for the normal residents of the ind. Damien approached a front desk area where several attendants were dealing with the people who had business in the tower.

    ''That being said, there are more people than expected.''

    People who wanted to return to battle, people who grew up in this realm and were only now entering temples and partaking in the ind trial, and even neers from the second ind who didn''t have as efficient methods of transportation as Damien.

    It seemed that the ind''s poption was far more robust than he originally expected.

    ''And, I guess I''m about to be treated like a rookie again, huh?''

    In order to be a member of the temple, Damien had to go through a test given by its staff.

    However, thinking that he was going to be treated like a rookie was a bit much.

    After all, even if it was a procedure that he hadn''t experienced since he was weaker, he wasn''t currently weak enough to have to suffer through it.

    Just like everything else, he would be fine breezing through this test.

    In fact, it was the Earth Temple that had to be thankful that he decided to choose them!

 Chapter 1804 Earth Temple [1]

    Chapter 1804 Earth Temple [1]

    It was just as expected.

    After an hour of waiting in line, Damien finally got a chance to talk to the receptionist. Their conversation was quite streamlined as this was a process the Earth Temple went through at least a few tens of times a day.

    "I havee to apply to be a member of the temple."

    "Name?"

    "Damien Void."

    "Please take this ticket and have a seat. You will be expressly teleported to the trial area when it is your turn."

    With a nod, Damien left and found a ce to sit. There were quite a few seats in the lobby area. A lot of them were filled as well, likely by individuals rted to the business side of the temple''s operation.

    Those who looked like him, who wore strange clothingpared to the rest and had an aura of war that hadn''t yet faded, were few in number.

    Damien could see only three others that gave off the feeling of an activepetitor. ''It''s as if we''re the strange ones.''

    It was odd. Even on Earth, after the World Awakening, Awakened individuals were the main ss of society. People who lived average lives were seen as the minority.

    Damien found a ce that was more secluded so he could have some peace before he was summoned, but he obviously wasn''t going to get that kind of freedom.

    There was a strange thing about society. When everyone wanted to mind their own business, it was as if nobody existed. However, if someone decided to act indifferent in a ce where others were hyper and curious, wouldn''t they instead find themselves attracting more attention? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien saw that fighters were rare and decided that he wasn''t going to interact with anyone.

    The other fighters, however, were very curious about the new person who''d arrived at their temple.

    "Hey!"

    Damien''s attention was caught by an approaching voice just seconds after he sat down.

    "Sorry. You look like you don''t want to talk to anyone, but I really can''t help being curious. I''ve never seen you before. Are you new here?"

    The person was a man with bright blonde hair that almost didn''t seem real. He had blue eyes that sparkled on a young-looking face. In Damien''s opinion, he couldn''t have been more than twenty-four years old.

    "Is itmon to assume that someone is new just because you haven''t seen them?" Damien responded.

    "Yup! There aren''t many of us in Terra. Every challenger is at least familiar with each other''s names. I''ve never heard of you or seen you, so aren''t you obviously from somewhere else?"

    The man''s response was instant.

    Damien sighed. ''Troublesome guy.''

    The man sat down next to him and crossed his arms.

    "So? Who are you? Did youe from Alphea? Nah, you don''t seem like one of them. Maybe you''re a Rivean? It has to be one of those two. Rural folk don''t know how to dress like you."

    Damien raised his brow.

    ''Does he think I''m one of the children who was born here?''

    Alphea was the name of the Water Temple city he walked through when he first arrived on the ind. Rivea was the Fire Temple''s main city and Terra was the same for the Earth Temple.

    He spoke as if Damien had to be born here.

    ''Is it that they don''t know?''

    "Your name?" Damien asked.

    It definitely wasn''t the most courteous way to ask, but hey, he was still working on it.

    "Ah, right! I forgot to introduce myself!"

    The man didn''t seem to mind. He knocked his head and held his arm out for a handshake.

    "Nice to meet you! I''m Darius Silver!"

    Damien smiled.

    ''Same name, huh?''

    He hadn''t seen his younger brother in a while. Dominic returned to the pce while Damien was still there, but Darius was too busy. It seemed that he had be some sort of hero in the past ten years.

    ''I''ll have to go meet him when I get back.''

    Putting that aside, Damien shook the man''s hand and introduced himself as well.

    "Damien. As you said, I am not from Terra. However, your guesses are not correct either."

    Darius'' eyes widened.

    "None of them? Then are you rural?"

    "Not that either."

    "Then¡­an outsider?! S-sir, I apologize for being rude!"

    The man''s whole attitude changed when he finally discerned it.

    Damien smirked a little at theedic change of tone.

    ''Makes sense. Most of the people whoe here are old bastards who have been fighting each other for eons. They''re more war-crazed than the kids here who see this ind''s challenge as nothing more than apetition.''

    Darius was fumbling with his words, trying to show a respectful attitude to a person he knew could kill him without thinking twice.

    The outsiders on the ind, especially the ones who arrived more recently, were incredibly dangerous people.

    Every family from those who tried to keep their kids away from the challenge to those who pushed them towards it gave the same warning.

    Stay away from outside experts until they be insiders.

    "...one again, I truly apologize for¨C"

    "Darius, how old are you?"

    "Me?" The man stopped and pointed to himself.

    He scratched his head in embarrassment."

    "Compared to you, sir, I''m probably just a child. I turned 115 a few months ago."

    Damien couldn''t stop his brow from twitching.

    He expected the kid to be older than he looked. No matter what their constitutions were, the children in this realm still needed a considerable amount of time to practice Nonexistence to a level that matched even the weakest challengers on the ind.

    Still, what was this treatment from someone who wasn''t even that much younger than him?!

    "Hey Darius, how old do you think I am?"

    It was something he logically should''ve skirted past, but something in his heart couldn''t stand it.

    He was not that old! No matter how he acted, he couldn''t look that old to other people, right?

    "Hmm¡­" Darius scanned him up and down. Since Damien asked the question forwardly, he didn''t seem to have any hesitation about answering.

    "Before I knew you were an outsider, I thought you might have been a few thousand years old? Now that I know the truth, though, I think you have to be at least five million, right?"

    "Keugh¡­"

    Damien frowned.

    ''What an insane number.''

    Even he didn''t know how old he was at this point, but he figured he''d just choose an age and stick to it whenever the question came up in the future.

    "150. I''m only around 150 this year."

    "Ehhh?!"

    Darius'' eyes widened once again, this time into saucers.

    "Really?! Then it''s fine to talk to you casually, right? I was scared since you act like one of those old guys, but I guess we''re around the same age, huh!"

    Damien gritted his teeth as he got the urge to cough up blood.

    Darius'' presence was doing nothing but hurting his pride.

    He wanted to respond and say something, but he didn''t get the chance as his conversation was so rudely interrupted by the buzzing of the ticket he picked up from the reception desk.

    Damien was teleported out of the lobby with that being thest thing that he heard.

    He definitely nned to go back and finish that conversationter. More than to make friends, it was because he wanted to see the perspective of this realm''s denizens through Darius.

    But first¡­

    ¡­he had a lot of anger to take out on the trial ahead.

 Chapter 1805 Earth Temple [2]

    Chapter 1805 Earth Temple [2]

    "Wee. You must be participant Damien Void."

    A middle-aged man approached with a smile on his face. People at his age were rare to see, as most people achieved prominence when they were either very old or very young.

    He was the only other person Damien could see in the pure white hall that he was transported to. As he nced around, he noticed that the walls, floor, and even ceiling were padded with a strange material that seemed to be scanning his Nonexistence.

    More importantly, there was a piece of hidden ss on a certain part of the wall. There was likely an observer''s tform there. Whether it was empty or not was still a question.

    "Nice to meet you too," Damien responded, returning his attention to the man.

    He only looked away for a brief second, but by the time he returned his gaze to the man he was already standing in front of him.

    "We will go over the trial requirements in case you are not aware. There is no such thing as a ranking system for new members, so this trial is mainly to determine if you are ready to join thebat challenge. However, if you show a memorable performance, there are benefits you can attain," the man said while looking down at his clipboard. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Benefits?" Damien repeated.

    "Indeed. From better amodations to privileges to use specific training facilities reserved for higher tier members to even an audience with our esteemed leader. Depending on your level of skill, you could gain many advantages in our temple."

    As the man listed the many things he could earn, Damien nodded.

    ''So, if I want to live a convenient life, I should put in a little effort. Works for me.''

    "What''s the trial?"

    "Ah, that is even simpler," the man said.

    "All you need to do is kill the beasts that will be summoned into this hall. They will be increasingly stronger as you defeat them. If you make it past five levels, you will be epted into the temple. Anything after that is for extra rewards."

    It was indeed as streamlined as possible. Since the test only existed to make sure that nobody recklessly entered the folds of battle, the challenge itself was also easy at the early levels.

    After telling Damien everything he needed to know, the man went off to the side and teleported away, likely to the observer''s booth.

    At the same time, a beast appeared for Damien to kill.

    It was small in size and had canine features. It was clearly meant to test new people who had never been in battle before.

    ''Did they also think I was one of the kids raised here? Well, at least that makes me feel a little better.''

    Damien cracked his knuckles and smiled.

    ''It''s toote to increase the difficulty. I might as well just enjoy it.''

    It wasn''t as if it would take him a long time to get to the harder beasts anyway.

    Damien flicked his hand out. For a beast of this level, it wasn''t even worth setting up a domain.

    With that single flick of his wrist, the beast vanished. It turned into nothingness just as fast as it arrived.

    The next several beasts met the same fate.

    A lot of them had simr shapes to beasts that existed in the True Void Universe, but none of them were exactly the same. There was always something inherently different about them as their gic sequencespletely differed from beasts that were raised by thews of Damien''s home cosmos.

    He didn''t take that much time to consider them. The beasts that differed were normal. What made Damien more curious were beings that remained rtively unchanged across all realities.

    Humans were like that, weren''t they? There wasn''t another species that propagated the many cosmos in the way that they did.

    Was there?

    Damien went through over ten beasts without any trouble. From the eleventh onward, he had to put in a little more effort, but it still wasn''t that big of a deal.

    Over and over again, Damien cleared out the enemies ced in front of him, thinking only that they were no match for Kura or the beasts from Death''s Hold.

    Twenty, thirty, forty¡­

    Damien moved so rmingly fast that he reached forty kills before the news of his trial could be transmitted to the higher authorities.

    Nevertheless, that was something that had to happen. It wasn''t normal for anyone toe in and make it this far.

    After all, even people who came from the second ind had to adapt to seriousbat. Only after reaching this ind did people be skilled at using Nonexistence. Beforehand, even the experts like the people who tried to chase after Damien were just fodder.

    He saw it himself when they fought against Death''s Hold. Someone like Kura could absolutely draw the beasts of thatnd into a prolonged fight. She wouldn''t have been instantly killed regardless of their power.

    The Temple Master was not going to appear for a matter like this, but the news made it to his closest aides.

    Originally, there were only three people in the observer''s booth. By the time Damien reached his fiftieth beast, that number increased to ten.

    "Who is he?"

    A man with dark ck hair and a thick goatee stood facing the hidden ss and spoke to the man who originally exined the rules to Damien.

    "His name is Damien Void, sir. At first, we believed that he was rted to some family from the ind, however, his performance suggests that he is an outsider."

    "That much is obvious," the ck-haired man said.

    The attendant shook.

    "I apologize, sir. He has not been on the ind for long, and it seems like he has only fought one time. We cannot ascertain anything more."

    "Oh? He got into a fight? Was it one of those who keep watch over the shoreline?"

    "Yes, sir. It was Kura from the Water Temple."

    "And the result?"

    "His victory."

    "Oh?"

    The ck-haired man raised an eyebrow in interest. Kura''s name was well known. She was a very difficult person to deal with unless one had a power that perfectly antithesized hers. Most people avoided her, and the experts who ended up fighting her on the shore always found themselves humbled before they approached the temples.

    Not to mention, she did not attain her gold badge because of luck.

    He defeated her?

    His first fight on the ind was a victory against someone of her caliber?

    "Interesting."

    The man smiled slightly.

    ''Competition has be less fierce recently. The current Area Lords are too strong, so most neers are unmotivated and choose to stop before facing them. If someone like this arrives to throw a stone into the stagnant water¡­''

    ¡­wouldn''t the ind once again regain its fervor?

    ''I need to meet him after his trial ends.''

    As the ck-haired man gained an interest in Damien, the man himself was focusing on the final enemy that appeared before him.

    He found the answer to his previous question when it was summoned.

    The only other species that was able to exist in every cosmos the same way that humans did¡­

    Dragons.

 Chapter 1806 Earth Temple [3]

    Chapter 1806 Earth Temple [3]

    It was a bit different. Humans somehow managed to aplish an impossible feat through their existence.

    They were not the strongest, nor were they the fastest. They didn''t have the highest potential for survival, and they didn''t reproduce as fast as some other species.

    When viewed objectively from the perspective of someone who believed they were above humanity, the race didn''t have anything to offer.

    However, that was only from a jaded and arrogant perspective.

    It was exactly because humans weren''t the best at anything that they were forced to innovate and find ways to survive.

    Humanity had an unbelievable instinct to adapt and problem-solve. Even when dragons and other races threatened to wipe humanity out of existence, the human race always became the dominant race of any realm.

    Grand Heavens Boundary was split into nine sectors. Those nine sectors had dominant races of their own and other races only appeared in smaller numbers.

    However, the Human Domain was always most feared.

    They produced the most heroes, and time and time again, they were the ones to solve the universe''s crises.

    Humanity was a threat that couldn''t be exined. It was as if the Void itself was supporting them and allowing them to prosper, but in reality, they did so through nothing but their own efforts and ambitions.

    Dragons, on the other hand, weremon because of their Myth.

    The mythology of the dragon race was just too far-reaching. Every culture had its own form of dragonkind that was either worshipped or treated as an absolute evil.

    These dragons propagated all societies across all cosmos whether the race existed in those ces or not.

    And because of how prominent their Myth became, spanning the infinite realities, they were forcefully imnted into each and every existing cosmos.

    They did so not by their own strength, but through the beliefs of others.

    It was a bit strange as such a case was rarely seen. Even when Myths becamerge enough, those species who they pertained to were never able to spread through the entire Void.

    For instance, Phoenixes were just as popr as dragons and spanned almost as many cosmos.

    However, even as close as the Sacred Abyss, one could see an example of a cosmos with dragons and no phoenixes.

    The dragon summoned for Damien to fight was from a distant cosmos that he had no knowledge of, but dragons were especially easy for him to defeat.

    After all, they were the same no matter where they came from.

    And, if it came to tiers of dragonkind, Damien was at the very top.

    His blood which once was enough to call him a dragon still had the effects of those days.

    He never lost his draconic breath. And, the suppression he released onto lower draconic beings never faded.

    It came from his body and blood directly, so even this realm could not suppress it or remove it from existence.

    It wasn''t even a fight.

    In an evenly matched scenario, Damien might''ve had serious trouble with this enemy. It was meant to only be attempted by people who were worthy of being gold badge holders. Damien was able to defeat Kura, but what about a gold badge holder who yed offensively?

    He wouldn''t be able to use the same strategies, which meant that the likelihood of failure was far higher.

    Unfortunately for those who prayed for his misfortune, Damien didn''t n on dying in this realm.

    Anything that ruined the perfect Nonexistence he''d been creating was forbidden, including death and the loss of anything he''d achieved. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The second he saw that dragon, he released his aura and suppressed it.

    The dragon kneeled before him, refusing to stand up.

    As he stared into its eyes and it felt his killing intent, it was ovee by fear.

    The form of a gargantuan beast of ck scales was seared into its mind.

    And, as if to appease him, it raised its w and dug out its own heart.

    That was a scene that Damien''s observers could not forget. "Amazing!"

    The ck-haired man appeared on the floor right after the dragon killed itself.

    "I have never seen such a performance! Brother, are you perhaps a dragon?" Damien shrugged, acknowledging the powerful impression the man gave.

    "Not necessarily, but it''s wrong to say I don''t have any connections to their race."

    "Hahaha! Even better!"

    The man seemed particrly excited about Damien.

    In a peaceful situation, was there a need to be so overjoyed at a powerful challenger?

    The answer to that question wasn''t nearby. For now, all Damien could do was follow the ck-haired man who took him out of the trial room and into an elevator that moved them to a higher-floor meeting room.

    "I know it''s a bitte, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Karlen Teres. I serve the Temple Master as his Right Hand."

    Damien raised his brows in slight surprise. The Earth Temple''s master had a Right and Left Hand that controlled a majority of the organization''s operations. They were the most important people in the temple aside from the man who ruled it, so it was a surprise to see one of them in front of him the moment he arrived.

    "For what reason has someone as esteemed as the Earth Temple''s Right Hande to see me?" Damien asked probingly.

    "In and like this one, can there be any other reason?" Karlen said with a smile.

    "I am curious about you, and, of course, there is something I wish to ask of you." "You move fast."

    "I like to get to the point when I''m talking to smart people."

    Karlen leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and wrapped his fingers together in front of his face.

    "Clearing the fiftieth level of the trial may not mean anything to you as you are new here, but that kind of power has never been showcased by a neer on this ind. Your existence is far more significant than you think."

    Naturally, even in a ce like this, defeating a dragon was quite a feat.

    No, when it was a ce like this, it was even more significant than if the same achievement was made anywhere else. That dragon was specifically created to stop neers and show them that their power could notpare to the true powerhouses of the ind.

    That was why there was such a drastic difference between the 49th and 50th monsters.

    Not that Damien felt it, since he took the dragon down without any effort.

    "You must be aware that you have done more than enough to join our temple. You have also taken every possible reward that we give through the administration trial, so there likely isn''t much else that you would want. However, I still want to make you this offer," Karlen continued.

    "And that offer is¡­?"

    "Participate in the Grand Competition that ising soon."

    ''So it was a tournament arc.''

    That was enough for Damien to immediately refuse. He was too old to be doing tournament arcs, for crying out loud!

    Nevertheless, before he could speak out, Karlen cut him off.

    "There is a grand tournament that will be held between the three temples soon. If you are able to perform well, not only will you bolster our temple''s reputation, but you will also be able to rapidly progress through the ranks and challenge an Area Lord."

    ''That''s true.'' Damien thought to himself.

    If there was one good thing about a tournament, it was that the revolving door of opponents would help himplete this ind''s challenge at a much faster pace than anything else.

    If there was one good thing about a tournament, it was that the revolving door of opponents would help himplete this ind''s challenge at a much faster pace than anything else.

    "If you can take the top spot in thepetition, I am willing to reward you with anything in my power."

    Karlen''s tone was no joke.

    But, listening to his earnest request, Damien''s mind returned to the same question he had been asking himself previously.

    On an ind where peace was the main theme, was such desperation necessary?

    There must have been a hidden story somewhere. And, though he really just wanted to progress through things as fast as possible¡­

    ''...I have a sinking feeling that I''m going to get involved in some really annoying stuff.''

 Chapter 1807 Earth Temple [4]

    Chapter 1807 Earth Temple [4]

    Damien was too great of a card from the start. If he didn''t express full disclosure on their first meeting, he didn''t think it would be possible to get the other side''s help.

    "As you have likely seen, our ind functions on a system of peace. In order for the greatest number of practitioners to achieve sess and to keep ourmon poption safe, we treat the ind''s trial as a challenge rather than a death game," he said.

    "However, as you also know, there are far easier ways to grow. Especially when making use of the Emptiness, the fastest method is always murder."

    It was a story as old as time.

    A society achieved peace, but there were always people who didn''t desire peace. Through a million years of stability, the ire of those people rose and rose until they decided to revolt against the established system and plunge the world back into chaos.

    These people were discontent. The increasing levels of the Area Lords made them feel like they had no choice but to be trapped on the ind if it maintained its current status quo, so they wanted to tear it down.

    If the world was once again enveloped in chaos and they were allowed to kill wantonly, they could rapidly increase their skills without needing to work hard and train.

    Themon people were off-limits. If any of them were killed, the killer was always immediately found and captured. There wasn''t such a thing as getting away with murder on the ind.

    "As such, those people with high ambitions who are not willing to put in the effort to reach their goals have banded together."

    They formed an organization to oppose the three temples, hiding in the shadows and growing steadily over time.

    "As we do not die, it is impossible topletely exterminate them. The best we have been able to do until now is gather the ones we find in a prison below the earth, a ce from where they will never again see the light."

    However, that was until now.

    "The tournament in question was originally meant to be a front to both draw them out and make them assume that we are too focused on ourselves to care about them. However, as more of them revealed themselves for the sake of the reward, we realized that their numbers are far higher than we originally expected."

    Essentially, the tournament was a trap. The verified members of the temples had been informed that they were not allowed to participate. Some others mixed in with the culprits, of course, but a majority of the tournament''s participants were enemies of the third ind''s society.

    The problem arose there.

    It was originally nned for the best of the three temples to participate in the tournament as well. Every time they killed an opponent, the tournament arena''s formations would revive them inside of a prison.

    From there, they would be interrogated and only released if they were found innocent. The rest would all be forced to remain there for eternity.

    While the tournament was ongoing, the remaining forces of the three temples wouldy siege on the members of the enemy organization and bring the rest of them into custody as well.

    The n was honestly close toplete. Despite the unexpected numbers and other factors, the three temples were more than prepared to take down their enemy. This wasn''t the first time such a situation arose on the ind, and it wouldn''t be thest.

    However, the Earth Temple specifically ended up in a predicament.

    "Our original participant, Rosalyn, is currently incapacitated after challenging an Area Lord. As she is an impulsive person, it was impossible to stop her in time to tell her about the n."

    "So, basically, you need me to fill in that spot and clean up the idiots who entered the tournament," Damien said.

    "Precisely."

    Karlen nodded as if pleased with Damien''s quick understanding.

    As mentioned, the n was practicallyplete. Damien''s help was only needed so that the single crack within was filled.

    The matter of clearing out the members of the organization on the ind would be handled by the temples. As would everything else.

    As long as he filled that spot and properly showed off, defeating his enemies and sending them to the prison, his job was over.

    ''I don''t have a reason to refuse.''

    Damien originally believed that he would have to do a ton of work. That was how these things usually went, right?

    It was different for a society with a timeless history.

    The third ind was built on billions of years of struggle. By this point, their strategy for cleaning up rebels was established in a training manual. They really just had to follow the steps and their problems would be solved.

    ''The more concerning thing is that prison they mentioned.''

    It was a ticking time bomb. If they hadn''t found a reliable method to kill off their denouncers, then didn''t that mean billions of years'' worth of criminals were sitting together in that dark ce?

    Perhaps it wouldn''t happen in the next few million years, but at some point, they would find a way to escape.

    At the end of the day, they were using Nonexistence too. They only needed one person to be stronger than the person who made the prison to make their big break.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    That was an entirely unrted problem, but Damien still didn''t like it.

    Considering that there were children on this ind who thought of it as their home, he couldn''t just be content with letting chaos establish its roots.

    This was not just a ce of trial like the other inds. It was a true nation.

    ''I can worry about thatter. For now¡­''

    Karlen was eagerly awaiting his answer with eyes that didn''t fit a middle-aged man in the slightest.

    "I''ll do it," he said.

    "But you said there would be rewards, right?"

    Karlen smiled widely.

    "Yes. If you are unable to win the tournament, then we will give you the tournament reward as thanks for your help. If you do win, then we will provide something of equal value alongside it."

    There wasn''t an established sense of trust between them. To fill that void and make both of themfortable with working together, it was best to establish a rtionship of mutual benefits first.

    Damien didn''t care about the rewards. Unless it was formed by Nonexistence itself, he wasn''t interested in thisnd''s treasures. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Still, he was curious.

    The lesser reward was already something that forced so many members of that hidden group into the light.

    To say that he would provide something of equal value as well¡­ What kind of cards were Karlen holding onto?

    The information itself was inconsequential.

    Damien was helping them out of goodwill, though he would never say that to them.

    Plus, the tournament was the best way for him to escape the ind rapidly.

    When they gave him such favorable conditions for a not-so-difficult task, how was he meant to be caught up on rewards? He wasn''t that selfish.

    Nevertheless, after getting Damien''s approval, Karlen stood up and guided him to the door.

    "We can talk more extensively about our ns when the festival draws nearer. For now, allow me to show you around our wondrous temple."

 Chapter 1808 Earth Temple [5]

    Chapter 1808 Earth Temple [5]

    Damien somewhat expected it after seeing the man''s attitude, but Karlen himself was the one who gave the tour.

    The Temple''s Right Hand was an extremely notorious figure. There wasn''t a person on this ind who didn''t know his face.

    So, seeing him act as a tour guide for a mysterious man was definitely a strange experience for the people of the Earth Temple. They went from top to bottom. Most floors were used only for housing, so the tour didn''t take very long. There were many facilities on the higher floors that would be helpful to any practitioner who wanted to train, but they were nothing different from the norm.

    Nevertheless, the tour did a good job raising Damien''s fame. In theing days before the tournament began, he''d likely have to do a lot more to secure himself the spot he was promised.

    After all, no matter what happened, it was too suspicious for the single real tournament spot to be given to a new member.

    Sure, Rosalyn was out ofmission, but there were several people who could take her ce.

    Was the Right Hand saying that this man was better than them by parading him around and then sinctly announcing that he was going to represent the temple?

    By the time that happened, Damien was already in his room so he didn''t need to worry about it.

    But, he was able to secure some useful information beforehand.

    It happened right around when the tour ended¡­

    "Ah, it''s you!"

    An annoying guy approached Damien without reservation. It seemed his age reveal was enough to remove any kind of fear Darius had. When he saw Damien again, he instantly ran up and started talking about the rumors going around the temple.

    "Did you hear? Some crazy guy just received some crazy honors from the higher-ups. He has the same name as you too! What was it again¡­? Damien Void? His name sounds cool, but why haven''t I ever seen him before?"

    ''I change my mind. Maybe I like this guy.''

    That sentence made Damien cry invisible tears in his mind.

    For the first time in his life¡­

    This was something that had never happened before.

    For years and years and years he''d held onto the trauma it caused him, but for the first time ever, he felt like he received a little bit of healing.

    ''Finally, someone who thinks it''s cool.''

    Damien was now in a world where everyone was weird!

    He didn''t have to cringe about hisst name anymore!

    Seriously, in the Heavenly World, people didn''tugh because they feared Void Pce, but he could see it in their hearts!

    Even in that fantasy world so far removed from Earth, Void was still a cringest name!

    Hell, even Earth wasn''t the original Earth, so how cringe would it have been on that?!

    ''We''re getting off-topic.''

    Whatever the case, Damien''s opinion of Darius rose just slightly in that moment. He spent most of the rest of the time in his own thoughts, but he did process Darius'' yapping at ater time to see if he said anything useful.

    That guy seemed to have developed some kind of interest in Damien.

    It wasn''t for nothing. Damien was the only outsider who came to the ind at a young age, and though Darius was a bit on the dumber side to not notice that Damien was the very person he gossipped about, he had a subconscious understanding that the man was powerful.

    His instincts told him to get closer to that man, so he followed them. That was the kind of person he was.

    It made Damien smile. He was also like that in his younger years.

    His mind was a bit different considering what he''d been through. The eons of memories he held didn''t help him maintain a young mentality either.

    For an average practitioner, especially one from the Land of Nothingness, Darius'' age was the same as a newly eighteen-year-old individual from Earth who was just taking their first steps into society.

    It was hard for Damien to rte to the highly energetic young man, but he remained courteous and friendly. In the end, Darius wasn''t a bad person. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    No, he was actually a lot like Damien''s own Darius when he was around the same age.

    Nevertheless, their conversation at that time ended rapidly. Damien was the center of attention, after all. He was receiving all kinds of gazes from every side that Darius seemed blissfully unaware of.

    Still, Damien was able to learn the names of his actualpetition through the man.

    ''So from the Fire Temple, it''s a guy called Quill. From the Water Temple, a woman named Yanui.''

    Damien wasn''t necessarily worried about them, but it would do him no harm to understand his opponents before entering thepetition.

    Most importantly, the Area Lord who would stand as the final contender of the tournament was already chosen.

    That was where Damien directed his attention.

    ''He''s called the Dragon Lord, which makes me feel like I''ll have an advantage, but that would be pretty stupid.''

    He couldn''t be lucky enough to face a dragon, right? It would just be sad if everything ended with an unfair fight.

    ''Though, that might be the reason why Karlen was so insistent.''

    If he expected Damien to defeat the Dragon Lord as well, then it made sense. Say an Area Lord who got tired of his seat wanted to start an era of chaos so he could finally be defeated and freed.

    It was entirely a possibility, but if the person who controlled everything was the Dragon Lord, then the tournament wouldn''t have been able to exist in the first ce.

    ''But if that''s the case, then the Dragon Lord also has to be rted to that organization somehow.''

    That was even more usible in a certain sense. For such a society to gain relevance, it needed to have a strong backer.

    Say an Area Lord who got tired of his seat wanted to start an era of chaos so he could finally be defeated and freed.

    It was entirely a possibility, but if the person who controlled everything was the Dragon Lord, then the tournament wouldn''t have been able to exist in the first ce.

    How could he possibly miss the signs when the entire tournament was filled only with his people?

    If he thought it was because of their efforts rather than the temples'' schemes, then he was an idiot who didn''t deserve to say he had lived for millions of years.

    ''Schemes, schemes and more schemes.''

    It always turned out like that, didn''t it?

    The most peaceful-looking societies were the ones with rotten roots that always had something going on behind the scenes.

    ''I like that this is a ce where civilians can exist in peace.''

    A world where everyone was constantly fighting at all times was tiring. Damien was happy to see that a ce like this existed in the Land of Nothingness.

    If for nobody else, then for the people he met on his trip to Terra, and the people who led him around the city when he arrived.

    "Haa¡­"

    He sighed to himself.

    ''I''m doing troublesome things.''

    He wanted to preserve the sanctity he had felt from this ce.

    That meant, in the end, he would end up contributing heavily to this war, right?

    ''No.''

    That wasn''t Damien''s style.

    ''If I''m going to invest effort into this¡­''

    Just like he always did¡­ "...then I might as well just do everything myself."

 Chapter 1809 Earth Temple [6]

    Chapter 1809 Earth Temple [6]

    ording to Karlen''s short exnation, the tournament would take ce a monthter. Damien''s appearance was extremely convenient. If it weren''t for his timely arrival, the Earth Temple would have been in a predicament that would take until the veryst week before the event to solve.

    Since Damien was now in the temple and dered the representative, the most ring issue was solved. The highest authorities of the temple could return to their more important nning.

    Karlen left Damien with a message saying that the Temple Master would be calling him soon. Not knowing how soon "soon" was, Damien was forced to stay inside the temple for a period of time.

    He originally wanted to spend this time trying to understand the situation of this ind in more detail.

    Unfortunately, banishing ignorance didn''t help him. He could not absolutely understand the happenings of this ind. At first, he assumed it was because his power wasn''t enough, but that was not the case.

    Rather, this ind had a suppressant mechanism on the ability.

    More than likely, it was to ensure fairpetition. If people could banish ignorance and learn their enemies'' weak points beforehand, they would never truly struggle in a fight. All battles would turn into a matter of whose weakness could be attacked faster.

    Learning the enemy''s movements and tendencies was an incredibly important part of Nonexistencebat. The ind must have been equipped with such a mechanism so that it was never made otherwise.

    Still, it was just inconvenient for Damien. He would have to get creative in searching for clues on his own. His original n was to have Darius show him around the city and use it as an excuse to do some investigating, but that obviously fell apart.

    Since he was confined for this period of time by his obligation to meet the master of this temple, he figured he would at least be productive by showing off and consolidating his position in the eyes of the other members.

    That was how Damien''s week-longbat circuit cum training lesson began. At first, it was just the expected scenario.

    All of the people in line to take Rosalyn''s ce when she was taken out of the equation came to challenge him for his spot.

    He didn''t really care about their demands, but he said that he was going to be friendly and learn to socialize again, so he epted anyway.

    How did it go again?

    Right, Damien fought five of them and was quickly disappointed by their skill level. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    To be fair, they were new gold badge holders. Karlen didn''t just take Damien over his existing options for no reason.

    He quite literally didn''t have existing options.

    Other than Rosalyn, all of the other gold badge holders were either vital to other parts of the n or too weak to y the main character in their charade.

    Karlen was already resorting to looking for outside powers who could help him, such as some mercenaries and wanderers who got special permission from the temples to participate in the ind''s trial.

    Damien falling from the sky was his lucky charm. The rewards he promised were generous, but they weren''t anywhere near the amount that had to be forked over to hire outsiders for a publicized event like this.

    Damien felt a little bit of pity for the man. And, seeing these kids acting so pompous with just a little bit of power rubbed him the wrong way.

    He didn''t care if they wanted to be arrogant, but they at least needed the skills to back themselves up, right?

    So, as they were on the same side for now, Damien chose to help them gain those skills instead of putting them down.

    Despite having spent less time in this realm than them, Damien had an even more pronounced connection with Nonexistence.

    They were born with constitutions that allowed them to exist in a realm of nothingness, which gave them a huge advantage over others.

    However, Damien had been bathed in the concept itself. He died and became one with it before returning to the world, and when he arrived in the Land of Nothingness, he became the first person to fulfill the concept''s wish.

    As if that wasn''t enough, his Void Physique could never be forgotten.

    The Void was a force above both Existence and Nonexistence, so how could it be suppressed in a realm where nothing existed?

    It regted Damien''s power, purified it, and turned every ten steps he took into a hundred.

    Damien had already taken thousands of steps on his own, so what did that equate to with the Void Physique''s support?

    It wasn''t just luck that allowed Damien to do the things he did. It was practice, dedication, and inborn talent that made him equal to a gold badge holder from the moment he stepped on the third ind.

    He only meant to give him some tips, but his "tips" were filled with information they''d never even begun to consider.

    That was the problem with being too engrossed in a single realm. Eventually, that realm''s thought process would override everything else. From the challengers who had been on this ind for a long time to those who were new, frommoners to the leaders of the temples, everyone had been in the Land of Nothingness for far too long.

    They forgot how to consider opinions outside of this realm''s norm. They forgot how to act like the Supreme Beings they once were.

    Damien had barely been in this realm for some years now. It wasn''t nearly enough to be called a long period of time. At his core, he was not an inhabitant of the Land of Nothingness like these people.

    He was able to innovate and adapt, so his take on Nonexistence differed heavily from the norm that was followed by everyone else.

    When those five geniuses heard his advice, they wanted to ignore it as the ramblings of an old man, but how were they supposed to do that? He defeated them with what was said in those exact ramblings!

    Putting away their shame and epting that he was better than them, the group of five challenged him again while keeping his advice.

    The improvement they saw in the short term was not amazing, but they could feel how valuable the small changes they made would be as they continued training. News spread fast.

    Those five geniuses never left him alone, so the rest of the temple did the same. Suddenly, Damien became a teacher who had a revolving door of students approaching him for extra lessons.

    He didn''t really want to be in such a tiring position, but he was forced to ept the consequences of his actions.

    For the next week, he taught and taught and taught. He was practically sleeping in the temple''s training center since he knew he would have to return there in the morning anyway.

    It was exhausting, but Damien knew since a long time ago that he was actually someone who loved teaching. He became famous in the Earth Temple with just a week''s effort, and not a single person was left doubting his capabilities.

    Still, just when Damien thought he''d finally have the chance to take a step outside the temple, he found himself faced with another matter.

    His meeting with the Temple Master, of course, but also something much, much more annoying.

 Chapter 1810 Conspiracy [1]

    Chapter 1810 Conspiracy [1]

    Being called to see the Temple Master was an incredible boon for Damien. He was having fun teaching the kids, but he needed some time to practice for himself too.

    Not to mention, if he couldn''t leave the temple, he also couldn''t figure out what the ind''s real situation was. The longer he stayed inside, the more he felt like the conspiracy the temples were dealing with wasn''t as simple as they made it seem.

    Damien was hoping that the Temple Master was going to give him some answers, so as he was led to the temple atop the column, his feelings towards the meeting changed.

    At least he wasn''t going to look bored in front of that person anymore.

    The temple itself was impressive, but it wasn''t as decorated as one would expect. Since it was never meant to house outsiders, its decor was rtively minimalistic.

    An attendant brought him in front of a door and left him to do the rest. He walked into the room and sat on one of the couches around therge coffee table in its center.

    He didn''t have to wait long for the other person to arrive.

    "You must be Damien. Karlen has been singing your praises for many days now. I apologize as I was too busy to meet with you before now."

    Arge lion-like man was the one who greeted him. His hair was like a brown mane and his body was extremely muscr. It was to the point where he looked strange wearing a suit and acting like a high official when he looked more like a beast.

    Nevertheless, Damien didn''t have to guess his identity. He stood up and held his hand out in greeting.

    "It''s nice to finally meet you, Temple Master."

    "Hm."

    The Temple Master received his handshake and led him back to the same couches. They sat around a table, and with a wave of his hand, the Temple Master produced a teapot and two cups for them.

    The man''s aesthetic was strange, but his power was no joke. The aura he possessed was spectacr to the point where even Damien wasn''t sure if he could win in a head-on battle.

    "Do you know why I''ve called for you today?" The Temple Master asked, starting their conversation.

    "I don''t," Damien responded, "but it''s likely rted to the n for theing weeks, is it not?"

    The Temple Master nodded his head.

    "You are correct. However, rather than to speak about the n itself, I havee to give you information and make a request. I am sure you already understand the gist of how the tournament is structured. At the end, the person who surpasses the rest will fight against an Area Lord for the crowd to witness. The Lord in question is the Dragon Lord."

    ''Ah, so it was about that.''

    Damien already knew about this. Karlen sugarcoated it by saying that he would be rewarded as long as he won the tournament, but this stage was technically his entirebat circuit.

    They wanted him to win and win and win until his badge turned tinum. When that happened, he could challenge and kill the Area Lord for spectacle.

    It was strange mainly because the purpose of this tournament was to destroy the enemy organization whose name Damien still was not informed of. The Dragon Lord had to be involved with that organization, but if that was truly the case, then his presence was absolutely unexinable.

    The Temple Master must have realized that Damien would start questioning things, so he called him here to rify matters in person.

    "Actually¡­" The Temple Master started.

    "The Dragon Lord is one of our own."

    "Hm?"

    Damien made a sound of surprise at the unexpected revtion. "We found long ago that he was the backer behind the Chaos Faction. Since then, we have been at war with him and treating him as an enemy. Only recently did we learn that it is all a farce. In reality, the true backer of the Chaos Faction has been controlling him through a skill that he cannot undo."

    ''An unexpected turn of events!''

    Damien was definitely not expecting this kind of twist. If it was like that, then it definitely made some more sense.

    "Does he maintain his own ego?" he asked to confirm.

    "Yes. His ego is still able to perceive the world despite his body and mind being controlled. In order to save him, we used a loophole so he could ept our contract and enter the tournament," the Temple Master replied.

    "The only way to get rid of his curse is to kill him and let him revive. I havee to you to ask if you are confident that you can do it."

    The Temple Master''s eyes were filled with sincere emotion.

    ''So there was something like that.''

    It was certainly possible. If he died and his existence was returned from nothingness by the realm, then anything affecting his previous existence would be removed.

    However, the Temple Master''s information revealed that the true mastermind was still unknown, right?

    Didn''t that make the eradication n a lot more difficult to aplish?

    ''Or is it that he doesn''t want to share it with me?''

    Whatever the case, Damien still nned to carry out his own investigation, so he could figure it outter. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    For now, it was clear that the Temple Master just wanted to affirm that Damien himself was someone worth trusting with as important of a task as saving the Dragon Lord.

    Damien smiled.

    "My goal on this ind was always to kill an Area Lord. If I can do that while also helping you guys out, then for what reason would I not?"

    He met the Temple Master''s eyes with his own powerful determination.

    "You don''t need to worry about the tournament anymore now that I''m here. Just focus on doing everything else properly."

    The Temple Master looked at him for a moment before his lips widened into arge grin.

    "Good. I look forward to working with you, Damien Void."

    "I should be the one saying that to you."

    It was a short meeting where both people got to the point fast and reached a conclusion without any fuss.

    Damien and the Temple Master were both focused on other things, so they only did as much as they needed to when they met.

    The problem was that when Damien left that meeting, he was already faced with something else.

    Karlen appeared before he could even get to his room and prepare to leave the temple.

    "Ah, Damien, there you are!"

    He walked up with a friendly smile and a wave.

    "Do you have some time right now? The representatives from the other temples are holding a meeting soon. I believe it will be in your best interest to meet them."

    Damien sighed inwardly.

    Did he have time?

    No.

    But, since he was working right now, he had an obligation to do work-rted tasks no matter how annoying they were.

    Plus, it was just a meeting, right?

    He would be done with it in a few hours at most and then he could go forward with his ns.

    With a stale look on his face, he begrudgingly epted Karlen''s proposal.

    "Fine. Where are they?"

 Chapter 1811 Conspiracy [2]

    Chapter 1811 Conspiracy [2]

    "Ah, that¡­" Karlen smiled wryly.

    "They are already gathered. I can take you to that location whenever you are ready."

    Damien rolled his eyes.

    ''So it wasn''t a choice in the first ce.''

    It seemed Kan had been forced to grab him since he was being pressured by the fact that he was the only one missing the meeting.

    He sighed once again, but he gave Karlen a hand motion to just get it over with.

    With a grateful smile on his face, Karlen wrapped both of them in his aura and canceled distance.

    Immediately, Damien found himself in a restaurant of sorts. It was only "of sorts" because it was too far removed from society for anyone to justify the existence of a restaurant. Everything outside was just green for as far as the eye could see.

    There weren''t other patrons either. It was Damien and Karlen at the entrance, and then another man and a woman who were already sitting at a table together.

    ''They''re strong, but not to an impossible level.''

    Damien had been ignoring a very important point that the entire n revolved around.

    His own strength.

    As things were, he had 2 weeks to surpass the two people in front of him and reach a level where he could even fight an Area Lord.

    A great deal of his improvement would certainly take ce during the tournament itself, but that was not enough.

    Damien needed to take time to train on his own if he wanted to aplish anything.

    ''I have too much to do. If only I had two bodies¡­''

    Well, that was something to considerter as well. As of now, Damien just had to entertain hispetitors and see what kind of things they wanted to talk about that required the three of them toe together.

    As it turned out, those things were mainly about who was going to fight the Area Lord.

    ''They want to decide it now and have the other two throw the battle. This is so stupid.''

    They wanted to secure their chances to be the person in that position. Assuming that all of them were roughly at the same level, fighting each other seriously during the tournament could perhaps negatively impact the person who ended up fighting the final battle.

    Damien had already decided that he would be the one to do it, but he didn''t n on arguing with them to settle it now.

    ''Whatever they decide doesn''t matter if I don''t decide to follow. As long as I fight seriously during my matches, they''ll be forced to y by my rhythm.''

    Damien stayed since the food in this impractical restaurant was actually pretty good, but he was dismissive of the entire conversation. The other two took this as an invitation to decide things without him, so he was stuck listening to them squabble as he ate his meal.

    "Regardless, I have more of an advantage over the Dragon Lord than you. I should be the one to do it."

    "That may be so, but I am much better at evading and have experience in endurance battles. You are only effective for short periods of time."

    ''Is it okay for them to be revealing their weaknesses to me?''

    The two''s argument was futile and counterproductive. Damien spent the time waiting for the moment he could leave, but it wasn''t going toe to him so easily.

    "Like I said, you are weaker than¨C!"

    WHOOSH!

    Damien''s eyes darted to the ceiling. Without hesitation, he threw his hand forward and attacked.

    Yanui, the woman from the water temple, did not bother finishing her words.

    As one, the three of them and Karlen immediately rushed back in every direction as the table where they sat was turned into nothingness.

    Damien''s eyes darted to the ceiling. Without hesitation, he threw his hand forward and attacked.

    He didn''t think he could hit the enemy in this circumstance, so it was a better choice to evaporate the entire restaurant and reveal them.

    It was a shame to the owner, but that was exactly what Damien did.

    In a single move, he broke down all non-living matter above ground level, exposing everyone inside the restaurant to the artificial sunlight.

    The restaurant owner, the server, and two chefs immediately ran away without asking questions. Meanwhile, five masked men dropped from the air and faced their group of four.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''An assassination attempt? Really?''

    No words were exchanged as the battle began.

    Karlen took two of them on his own as the strongest one present, while Damien, Quill, and Yanui each took one enemy for themselves.

    Domains were established instantly, turning the area into a battlefield.

    With that development, the would-be assassins lost their chance to hide and escape.

    Four simultaneous fights started, though nobody particrly moved.

    Damien''s opponent particrly seemed to enjoy tormenting people. He was using simr strategies to Kura but for different reasons.

    The assassin had a strangely specific understanding of human anatomy. He targeted the parts of Damien''s body that would cause him the most suffering, inflicting him withcerations, internal bleeding, disease, and even mana loss.

    Damien''s style was to fight with mind attacks, but that wouldn''t work in this situation. Assassins who had been trained specifically to keep their minds steady wouldn''t fall for his maniption.

    As such, he temporarily dealt with the assassin using physical attacks while he cooked up a method to create another surefire killshot.

    All the while, he kept his eyes on the rest of the battlefield. Karlen''s fight was going surprisingly well considering that he was facing two enemies. The other two were struggling, but not to the extent that they were considered under serious threat.

    ''They''re too weak.''

    Was it because they were used to fighting from the shadows¡­

    ''...or is it that they don''t want to kill us?'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien''s eyes were cold.

    He left himself open for a moment, allowing one of his enemy''s attacks to slip through his defense.

    Though it was subtle, Damien saw the hint of panic in that man''s eyes before he narrowly dispersed its momentum.

    ''There''s something wrong with this situation.''

    It was too suspicious.

    ''And the fighting style of those two particrly¡­''

    The ones fighting against Quill and Yanui¡­

    Damien was certain that he''d seen them before.

    He returned his attention to the fight.

    Regardless of what he thought, these people were fated to die since they''de here.

    There wasn''t a chance to question them. It was only Damien''s thought at first, but it became clear as the battles reached their end.

    To stop the enemy from attacking, they had to kill. It was as if they were being specifically led tomit murder.

    ''Conspiracy.''

    It was a concept the third ind was rife with.

    Slowly but surely, the battles ended. Yanui killed her opponent, Damien killed his, then Quill finished on his side. The other two instantly went to help Karlen and thest two were dealt with easily.

    It was an attack with no provocation and an assault against all three temples simultaneously.

    Someone, somewhere was targeting them.

    Quill and Yanui returned to their home temples after a short farewell and a message that they''d be in contact with the Earth Temple''s superiors soon.

    Meanwhile, Karlen hurriedly escorted Damien back to their own temple.

    Everything moved fast.

    Far too fast for Damien''sfort.

 Chapter 1812 Conspiracy [3]

    Chapter 1812 Conspiracy [3]

    "I want to speak to the Temple Master."

    Karlen barely acknowledged it.

    This happened while he was being rushed back to his room after they teleported back.

    "Hey, did you hear me? I need to speak to the Temple Master."

    "I understand, but now is not the time. I must inform the Temple Master of the attack. He is not at the temple at the moment, and for now, it is better for you to remain in your room. Please be patient for a little while. I am sure he will grant you an audience when the situation is calmer."

    It was a small attack that barely affected anything, but it felt more like a warning shot than anything else.

    It may not have been any real harm towards the three tournament representatives, but the fact that they were targeted at all meant that someone knew about the temples'' ns and wanted to interfere.

    Karlen''s rushed attitude didn''te from the fact that Damien was almost harmed.

    It came from the fact that there was a leak inside the temple.

    And since Damien was a new member, he obviously couldn''t avoid suspicion.

    Karlen told him to be patient and wait in his room, but it was more like he was kept confined there.

    He was unable to leave without alerting the guards that surrounded the perimeter, and if he tried to sneak past them, he would only be giving into suspicions of his betrayal.

    For his own convenience and for the temple''s sake, it became a better option for him to remain "safe" inside of his room.

    Damien didn''t like it at all.

    When he told Karlen he wanted to meet the Temple Master, he meant immediately.

    However, as he remained confined, time passed and passed without a word.

    Karlen would swing by daily with updates. It seemed that a few people in the temple had been taken away for questioning. The suspicion on Damien was low, but he was still required to remain confined for now.

    The other two representatives had been attacked multiple times. Rather than fear of him being a traitor, they imprisoned him out of fear of having to find someone else to do his job in such a short amount of time.

    Damien really wanted to break out, but he chose to be civil one more time.

    This was the second strike. If he experienced something like this even one more time, he would stop considering others at all.

    However, it was clear that the temple was also aware of his discontent.

    It was a weekter, which irked Damien beyond anything else, but he was indeed granted an audience with the Temple Master. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    He found himself in the same room sitting across the same coffee table from the same man.

    The only thing that was different was their choice of beverage.

    This time, Damien summoned their drinks. "It is a kind gesture, but what is its purpose?" the Temple Master asked as he took a sip of one of Damien''s personally created liquors.

    He obviously tested it before did, but without showing signs of that it looked more like he was trusting Damien by drinking what he provided.

    "There''s no particr purpose," Damien responded.

    "I wanted to meet with you about the assassination attempt. At that time, I only had questions in my mind, but I assume you can answer them now that a week has gone by, right, Temple Master?"

    His eyes were not friendly, and his words cut like knives.

    The Temple Master smiled wryly.

    "I apologize for keeping you contained, but you must be aware of why. If I didn''t suspect you, then I would have been an idiot unfit to run this organization."

    That much was true. Damien was an outsider who had suddenly be an integral part of the temple''s ns. If he somehow made contact with the Chaos Faction before he came to the temple, then it was very possible for him to be the mole that sabotaged them.

    "However, after investigating your time on this ind in more detail, we were able to clear your name. As such, I truly do apologize."

    Damien shook his head.

    "That isn''t what I came for. Obviously, I''m not the mole. I came to see if you''ve made any progress on your investigation into the real suspect."

    The Temple Master took another sip from his cup before responding.

    "This is good wine."

    "It''s an original form."

    "To say we made progress would be wrong, but we have found the identities of the assassins themselves."

    "And they are¡­?"

    "Two you know well. They came from our temple. The other three were from the other two temples respectively. Either the Chaos Faction has decided to act to stop the tournament, or a group of them decided to act against their superiors'' orders and do something reckless. Whatever the case, until the assassins revive, we cannot make further progress into the case."

    ''As expected¡­''

    "I see."

    Damien didn''t show any outward reaction.

    "Temple Master, I am not someone who easily lets go of my prey. Please keep me informed about the progress of the investigation. If possible, I would like to interrogate the assassins personally."

    "I understand. If it is possible, then I will allow it. We can speak in more detail once we have apprehended them."

    "You''re not going to make me wait until the tournament is over, are you?"

    "Haha, I will be at the temple more frequently now that there are only some days left before the event. If you wish to see me, I will dly amodate you."

    Damien nodded. Standing up and thanking the Temple Master, he prepared himself to leave.

    He already got what he wanted, and it wasn''t anything that the Temple Master said.

    No, it was only one sentence.

    "This is good wine."

    It was definitely good wine, but that''s not all it was.

    No, the concoction Damien served the Temple Master was specifically created to probe people. When the liquid entered their bodies, it would provide Damien with information about their physical condition, talents, and even concrete power level while he was within a certain proximity.

    Through that wine, Damien could finally confirm the thought that had been nagging him in the back of his mind since the beginning.

    ''The Temple Master¡­'' he thought as he left the room.

    He didn''t have any reason to suspect the man. If anything, he had more of a reason to suspect Karlen, who directly caused interferences that forced Damien to spend two weeks locked in the temple.

    But, before he tested the Temple''s Right Hand, he needed to test its Master.

    His process was justified by the results.

    ''That guy is being controlled.''

    The condition that he described for the Dragon Lord, the curse that controlled his every word and action until the moment he died, was the very same condition that he was suffering from.

    Damien had been thinking for a long time that there was arger conspiracy at y than what he was being led to believe.

    And if even the Earth Temple Master and an Area Lord had been controlled by the true mastermind behind everything¡­

    ''...then I''m being confronted with a muchrger enemy than I originally expected.''

 Chapter 1813 Investigation [1]

    Chapter 1813 Investigation [1]

    For the time being, Damien returned to his room. There were too many parties keeping eyes on him for him to wantonly leave the temple.

    ''If the Temple Master is technically an enemy, then nothing here is safe.''

    The Earth Temple was not at fault, and Damien could tell that the Temple Master wasn''t an inherently evil person. Everything he said and did was being controlled.

    ''That means all the information I''ve received so far could be a lie.''

    It really depended on how the enemy saw Damien.

    If he was a threat to the n, then everything he was told could be falsehoods meant to direct him into a trap.

    If that same person saw him instead as a piece on the chessboard, then the information was partially true, but he was being used to aplish a step of that person''s ns.

    ''I can''t easily decide which one it is.''

    However, he was forced to treat the information as fact until he''d found evidence otherwise.

    ''The Temple Master is being controlled, and the Dragon Lord is somehow involved too. For someone to be able to take both of these figures into the palm of their hands¡­''

    That person had to be incredibly strong.

    It couldn''t be another Temple Master. The pact they signed together forbade them from acting against one another, so if it was one of them the signs would have already been clear.

    ''Other than them, the only people on this ind with that kind of power are a few individual wanderers and the Area Lords.''

    Wanderers weren''t too highly respected, but they also weren''t scorned. It would be strange for a wanderer to find a reason to want to bring chaos into the ind''s structure.

    More importantly, everyone who had the amount of power required to plot such a conspiracy was either on the ind because they wanted to be, or¨C

    "¨Cthey''re trapped here by something and have a huge vendetta.''

    The Area Lords were the most suspicious entities on the ind.

    For the most part, they didn''t leave their associated arenas. However, their actions on the ind were not controlled to a great extent. They were not allowed to fight anyone who didn''te to challenge them, they were not able to refuse a challenge they received, and they were forced to remain on the ind until they had been naturally defeated.

    These were the only rules barring them outside ofbat. Even when inbat, the only added rule was that they were not allowed to go easy on their opponent. They had to use everything they had even to hunt a rabbit. ''Area Lords aren''t able to touch other Area Lords, are they?''

    It was too confusing. Somewhere, at some time, somebody found a loophole in the system that had remained imprable for so long.

    The third ind had faced chaotic plots for a very long time, and each time the people involved were thrown into prison and left there to rot. This was the very first time that the Chaos Faction had been able to create a stir to this degree.

    ''The prison¡­''

    It was a location that had been suspicious to Damien for a very long time. It reeked of danger and nobody seemed to mind it. On top of that, its location was not hidden in the slightest.

    It was guarded and watched by the Prison Master, an Area Lord who was said to have been upholding his duty for billions of years. Was that why they thought it was better for it to be above ground and hidden in in sight?

    ''It''s a good start.''

    Regardless, if Damien wanted to investigate all of the Area Lords, then a week wasn''t nearly enough time. They lived fairly separated from each other, and Damien couldn''t cancel distance as he had never visited their arenas before.

    ''The Prison Master is in a more central part of the ind, so it will be easier to reach the rest from there. Plus, it''ll be good if I can see the state of that ce for myself. I need to judge whether it''s actually a viable solution or not.''

    But first, he needed to get out of the Earth Temple.

    It wasn''t that hard.

    Damien was the only one in this realm with ess to a power other than Nonexistence, after all.

    ''I was refraining from using it since it would inhibit my training, but this is a separate matter so it should be fine.''

    The Void Physique was always with him.

    Damien was restricted by thews of this realm, but would that still be the case if he activated the physique''s power?

    Of course not.

    The Void had not submitted to him yet, but that didn''t mean it was unwilling to support its favorite Apostle when he needed it.

    As long as Damien unleashed that power, nobody in this realm would be able to touch him.

    ''Still, I can''t overdo it.''

    He was using the Land of Nothingness to get stronger. Cheating its system wouldn''t help him do that. No, there was a possibility that doing so without moderation would offend the concept and ruin Damien''s efforts.

    However, he was never nning to ovee the ind trials with the Void''s help.

    He only used it to make his own life more convenient. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A pitch-ck energy covered his body. In one motion, it peeled off of him and formed into a clone that matched him perfectly.

    Damien''s own body transformed until he looked like apletely different man. The convenience of a reality-breaking ability, really.

    His mind was perfectly split simr to how he cloned himself in the Heavenly World beforending in this realm. And, his clone only had one ability: the power to utilize Nonexistence.

    ''Good.''

    Damien grinned. There was only one thing left to test, and that was simpler than anything.

    Damien himself canceled distance and left for Terra.

    Sensing the disturbance, the guards outside the door burst into the room, only to see Damien meditating peacefully.

    His eyes opened menacingly. "I''m not a fan of people who don''t respect my privacy, but you came at the perfect time, so I''ll let it go. You and you,e at me together. I challenge you to a duel."

    The clone stood up and faced the two guards.

    "Sir, that is not our job. We are only here to protect you."

    They obviously weren''t interested. However, Damien wasn''t going to let them off so easily.

    "Maybe, but you guys are also pissed off about having to do shit like this instead of your own thing, right? Come at me. If you win, I''ll request a change of guards and get you guys some paid time off."

    Nothing else Damien said really interested them. They were slightly annoyed about having to guard him at all times, but it wasn''t much different from their normal work so they didn''t mind it.

    The important part came after that.

    The concept of "paid time off" was nonexistent in this realm.

    The prospect of being off work but still receiving sry¡­

    It was something incredibly enticing to these men. And since Damien was someone who could really promise them something like that and fulfill it¡­

    ¡­they couldn''t just let this opportunity slide!

 Chspter 1814 Investigation [2].

    Chspter 1814 Investigation [2].

    Somewhere in the streets of Terra around ten minutester, apletely disguised Damien could be seen smiling to himself.

    He was looking at a badge that looked quite inconspicuous in his hands due to its dullness. To others, he looked like nothing more than a boy who had just received his challenger badge.

    However, Damien saw a different picture.

    He was worried for a moment. As his clone was technically a different entity, he didn''t know if it would be able to level up his badge. It would be a problem if he was away investigating when the tournament started and his clone couldn''t take his ce.

    Luckily, this event proved that worry unfounded. The change was slight since the two men weren''t particrly skilled, but as the owner of the badge, Damien noticed it.

    The clone would do just fine. It seemed like the realm epted it as part of his power.

    ''Then, I can focus on doing my own thing.''

    While the clone went to clean up his mess and apologize to the Temple Master, Damien left the vicinity of Terra on a journey to a ce wanderers never dared to approach.

    The prison was conspicuous in the same way as Death''s Hold.

    Thend within several tens of kilometers was dyed a ck and red color. It was uninhabited by anything other than the manor in the center that looked like an ind amidst a bloody sea.

    Immediately upon entering this area, one would feel one''s body bing sluggish. The closer they approached the manor, the more the effect would grip their souls.

    He was only an Area Lord in name. In reality, this environment would suppress even the strongest tinum badge holders to the point where the Prison Master could kill them with a flick if he so desired.

    Damien took some time to reach it. Terra was quite far, so even with his fastest methods of transportation, it took him two days to arrive at its boundary.

    The manor was not meant to be approached, but those with enough strength and tenacity could indeed reach it.

    ''Still, I understand why the Prison Master remains unchallenged.''

    He was only an Area Lord in name. In reality, this environment would suppress even the strongest tinum badge holders to the point where the Prison Master could kill them with a flick if he so desired.

    Damien took some time to reach it. Terra was quite far, so even with his fastest methods of transportation, it took him two days to arrive at its boundary.

    When he did, though, he was able to walk without facing the same problems as others.

    It was not because of the Void''s influence, but rather a product of Damien''s actions in the Land of Nothingness.

    The environment itself had epted him in a way simr to how humans designated "close friends."

    As such, Damien wouldn''t be inhibited by others unless it was absolutely necessary for the trial.

    He was "trusted" by the realm, a status nobody knew was possible to reach.

    He made the difficult and oftentimes days or weeks-long journey to the center of the area look easy when he finished it in a measly hour.

    Walking up the manor''s steps, he knocked on the door and waited politely.

    "Oh? A challenger?"

    A voice came from the other side no more than a minuteter. Therge door opened, giving way to an aged wizard-like man.

    "And who might you be?" He asked as he looked over Damien.

    "Sir, I am not a challenger. I am merely someone who wished to meet you," Damien responded, putting his hand to his chest and bowing slightly.

    "I see¡­"

    A strange light glimmered in the Prison Master''s eyes.

    "Very well. Come in. It isn''t as if I have a better way to spend my time."

    Whether it was out of curiosity or something entirely different, the Prison Master didn''t show Damien any signs of aversion as he invited him into the manor. "It is not a very weing ce, I know, but make yourselffortable. I will join you shortly."

    Damien nodded at the Prison Master, who walked away without looking back. ''Does he trust me?''

    No, it was just that he knew Damien wouldn''t be able to do anything he wasn''t allowed to.

    ''That must be the confidence of someone who''s allegedly been guarding this ce for an uncountable period of time.''

    How many visitors had he received? How many did he fight, how many tried to deceive him, and how many showed good intentions?

    The Prison Master had lived long enough to experience every unique experience. He could act on his whim confidently precisely because Damien was nothing more than a cornered rabbit from the very moment he entered the manor.

    ''It''s an undeniable truth, but it still hurts my pride a little.'' Damien thought as he observed the many paintings and art disys along the walls.

    ''It''s a manor that only one person has ever and will ever live in, but it''s oddly decorated with images of and representing everyone but him.''

    There was a wall dedicated to the challengers that had defeated the Prison Master before. When an observer came close to any single piece, their mind would be sucked into a projection of that battle so they could view the great feats of this realm''s past heroes.

    There were only six of them to ever exist, and each of their battles was spectacr.

    On another wall was a remembrance of those who faced eternal death on the ind. It was a wall filled with names, a nk canvas intentionally left empty so that their names were the only thing one could focus on. Even at this moment, Damien saw a name appear.

    It was someone who''d given up on life. From piece to piece, from wall to wall, the Prison Master''s manor remembered different people, ces, and events through the presented art.

    However, other than the scenes of his defeat present on the first wall Damien saw, there wasn''t a single trace of the Prison Master himself.

    ''Why?'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "It is because I am insignificant."

    As if he heard Damien''s unspoken question, the Prison Master entered the room and gave him an answer.

    "These people are heroes. They are practitioners with hearts that must be acknowledged, ces with extreme importance to our ind''s heritage, and events that shaped everything we know now. Among them, I am no more than a passing memory, as this manor and what lies beneath it are the only reasons for my existence."

    "I''d say that ''reason for existence'' is exactly what makes you as important as everything else here," Damien responded, turning around to face him.

    The Prison Master smiled slightly.

    "That may be so, or it may not. However, young man, you have note to merely speak to an old man like me, have you? I can sense that your intentions are not bad. Tell me what you seek."

    It was clear that the Prison Master was trying to change the subject, but Damien wasn''t going to push the topic. The Prison Master''s perspective on life and his own meaning was for him to decide. Damien had his own opinion, but he could tell that it would do nothing to change how the man thought.

    As such, he nodded and went along with his flow.

    "Yes, I have actuallye with a bit of an odd request. I have been struggling in my trainingtely, and I was hoping to find new inspiration in ces that an ordinary man cannot reach. I have already climbed the volcanic spires of the far east and explored the rugged snowfields of the North. This is where I''ve chosen toe next."

    It was an exnation filled with lies, but Damien needed something to justify his request.

    After all, his request was quite absurd.

    "Please allow me to take a tour of the prison you guard. I believe that I will gain great inspiration from seeing its structure and mechanisms."

    Damien spoke it with confidence, but even he knew how stupid he sounded.

    "Please allow me to take a tour of the prison you guard. I believe that I will gain great inspiration from seeing its structure and mechanisms."

    Damien spoke it with confidence, but even he knew how stupid he sounded.

    Why would the Prison Master ever let anyone see the prison''s mechanisms? Wasn''t that the same as giving military secrets to a random gamer in a very nichemunity and expecting them to not share it with everyone they knew?

    In Damien''s opinion, he was going to get rejected and would need to take a roundabout path to see the prison for himself.

    But, surprisingly enough¡­

    ¡­the Prison Master''s reaction wasn''t bad¡­?

 Chapter 1815 Investigation [3].

    Chapter 1815 Investigation [3].

    Damien could barely garner anything from the Prison Master''s expression. It changed several times. His original response was as expected. His eyes narrowed and he red at Damien in suspicion, but that onlysted for a few seconds at most.

    After that, his face looked slightly inquisitive, serious, curious again, and then turbulent as he frowned deeply.

    Still, the look in his eyes didn''t seem like it belonged to someone who was nning to reject the request.

    "Is it truly for your training that you wish to see the prison?" He asked.

    Damien looked into his eyes and tried to understand what he was thinking, but it wasn''t possible in the short term. He nodded his head with firm eyes and responded simply.

    "Yes."

    "There is no other reason?"

    "There is not."

    "Hmm¡­"

    The Prison Master had a certain quality that allowed him to see through people. When he looked at Damien, he could see that there were hidden intentionsced all throughout his words.

    The strange thing was that those intentions, while concealed, didn''t seem harmful. The aura emanating from Damien seemed to be one of¡­a helper?

    The Prison Master fell into thought for a second, seemingly debating over something. However, he made his decision rtively fast and without the need for Damien to provide any more justification.

    "Very well. You are a promising junior, so I suppose it is not a problem. You won''t mind if Ie with you, will you?" "Of course not," Damien replied with a smile.

    "Rather, how would I be able to walk such a ce without the Prison Master himself at my side guiding me?"

    "Haha, so you were nning to use me as a guide from the start."

    The Prison Master nodded.

    "You look to be a busy man, so let us not dy. Please follow me carefully, and from this point forward, only step where I step."

    Damien easily agreed.

    They were still in the same greeting room where Damien was left when they first entered the manor, but their path seemed to start here.

    The Prison Master walked casually so it didn''t seem like there was anything special about his movements to an outside observer. Nevertheless, Damien watched him carefully and did as he was told, moving exactly like the man in front of him.

    The two of them left the greeting room and entered the long hallway in the center of the manor. They walked it to its end until they reached a living room and exited the doors into the connected courtyard. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Before the bloodyndscape that Damien had traversed only moments ago, the Prison Master did something of a ritual. He bowed to the eternal sun and prayed to the corruptednd. Damien stood behind him in silence, watching carefully until he finished.

    In his mind, this was a ritual that he would also have to imitate, but he was incorrect. By the time the Prison Master finished his movements, the world was already fading away into a deep and murky darkness not dissimr to that which existed in the Sacred Abyss.

    ''I see. This isn''t the normal entrance. This must be the ritual that''s undertaken when new prisoners are brought to the prison.''

    If they entered through this method, then Damien would technically be considered a prisoner. He wouldn''t be allowed to leave if he pulled anything that the Prison Master found suspicious.

    And, if he decided to sneak back and re-enter, he would be unable to escape. ''It''s a little inconvenient for me, but I''m sure it will be fine.''

    Damien refocused on the world around him when it came back into focus.

    The floor was made of cobblestone. No, the entire structure was made of damp and musty cobblestone.

    Damien and the Prison Master were in a very narrow corridor sandwiched on both sides by prison cells that spanned as far as the eye could see. "Wee to the Eternal Sanctum," the Prison Master said as he turned around.

    "This is the ce that you have been so eager to see."

    Damien was still looking around. Something like this would not slide on his homeworld. The prison cells themselves were small enough to barely fit a grown adult male. They were stacked on top of each other ten high and submerged in eternal darkness.

    It was clear that these prisoners weren''t granted any sort of human rights. They were thrown here like pigs waiting for ughter so they could suffer for eternity. ''Eternal Sanctum¡­I guess it could be called that, but this isn''t sacred in the slightest.''

    Did Damien feel pity for the prisoners? Of course not.

    Some of them may have deserved their sentences and some of them may have been innocent or reformed, but in the end, they all did something to end up here.

    To be ced in the Eternal Sanctum meant one''s crimes were enough to shake the foundation of the ind''s peace.

    If a murderer appeared here, then they''d killed at least several cities'' worth of people.

    The Prison Master walked Damien through its halls. He could not see the prisoners through the darkness in their cells, but their asional screaming and manic ranting made them hard to ignore.

    The Prison Master walked Damien through its halls. He could not see the prisoners through the darkness in their cells, but their asional screaming and manic ranting made them hard to ignore.

    Still, his focus was, as he told the Prison Master before, mainly on the structure of the prison itself.

    He wanted to see this ce and understand if it was a viable method of containing those who could cause harm to society. He didn''t care about the conditions of the prisoners, but about the conditions of the mechanisms themselves.

    ''It''s incredibly sturdy.''

    Damien could see that even if he reached a level where Area Lords were fodder before him, he still wouldn''t be able to break through the Eternal Sanctum. It was designed in such a way that power wasn''t the only thing necessary to destroy it.

    ''If I''m reading it right, then you need a group of maybe ten or fifteen people on the same level as an Area Lord to work in perfect harmony to crack these defenses.''

    It was definitely worthy of being the most secure prison on the entire ind.

    ''But¡­if it''s gathering people with tinum badge strength, then someone''s already doing that, aren''t they?''

    As long as both the Earth Temple Master and the Dragon Lord were both involved in some way, Damien could confirm that much.

    The Prison Master did give him a tour around the prison despite grumbling about it jokingly. Those near where the two of them appeared were the less serious offenders, which was why their treatment was so "good."

    The further they went, the more serious the crimes became, and the more serious the punishment was.

    Those at the very end, those who needed to be teleported to because they were so deep in the prison, were undergoing torture that was crueler than even the depictions of Hell present in Earthen civilizations.

    Damien did gain some insights by seeing how the prison was upheld, and he was able to confirm that the structure itself wasn''t anywhere close to breaking. With that, he achieved everything he wanted to do here. Understanding the state of the prisoners was just an added bonus.

    The Prison Master took Damien out of the prison easily when they finished their tour. The man was as genuine as he first said, so there was no reason to still be concerned about him.

    Rather, the Prison Master''s intentions were elsewhere.

    "Young man, I presume you are ready to leave now?" He inquired. Damien nodded and replied, "Yes. I must sit down and ponder the insights I gained. This trip was just as fruitful as I thought it would be."

    Damien thought that the Prison Master''s words were an invitation to leave, so he spoke frankly. However, he was wrong.

    The Prison Master was not ready for them to part yet.

    "Come, sit down for a moment," he said, his eyes a bit more serious than before.

    "Let us talk."

 Chapter 1816 Investigation [4]

    Chapter 1816 Investigation [4]

    The fact that the Prison Master wanted to sit down and have a conversation was strange. The things he said were even stranger.

    He spoke like an old grandpa who truly just wanted to have a conversation with his junior, going on about the things he''d experienced as the warden of the Eternal Sanctum.

    However, Damien couldn''t believe that a man like the Prison Master had this kind of side to him.

    As everything else about him stated, he had lived for far too long and seen far too much to have emotions like this. His world had to be a dull grey color by now, highlighted only by his sacred duty.

    There had to be a reason for his attitude, and as they continued their conversation, Damien did his best to find it.

    "...the many challengers on the walls are not the only ones who havee. There have been those like you in the past, people who wanted to explore the sanctum out of nothing more than genuine curiosity," the Prison Master said.

    "I have always entertained these kinds of guests. They are interesting prospects, children who have bright minds that will take them far. I have always wanted the sanctum to inspire them, but none of them ever bear the fruits of their efforts."

    He looked at Damien with a slight smile.

    "You are the only one who has left the sanctum with a different light in your eyes. I can see that you have truly grasped a principle present in its design and are willing to incorporate it into your strength."

    He wasn''t wrong. The concept of restriction was already important to Damien''s Nonexistence fighting style.

    Currently, his power manifested as a spider web that trapped his opponent before slitting their throat. In a lot of ways, his strategies resembled the concepts used to create the Eternal Sanctum.

    He felt that if he took a few months to train using those concepts, he would be able to solidify his spiderweb and truly create an imprable cell for his enemies to die in. Still, what did that have to do with the Prison Master? Why was he bringing it up?

    Damien didn''t speak, but it didn''t look like the Prison Master wanted him to. He was more thanfortable with rambling now that he had someone who was willing to listen to him.

    "Thisnd, the Land of the Forgotten, is a cruel ce. It is a cruel ce that raises many monsters, but none of them are able to escape their fates. The people who became strong without thinking about anything else always fail, whether that be here or on theing inds. From my observations, the only ones who manage to seed are those who maintain spirits like yours, people who truly put in effort toprehend the Nothingness rather than treating it as a tool that will grow as long as onepletes the trials."

    "People like you are a hope that drives me. After guarding this sanctum for so long, I have been forced to find reasons to justify my continued tenure. In the end, perhaps it is only a sense of duty or a sense of justice, but I like to believe that I do it so that people like you have an environment where they can properly reach their potential and thrive."

    The Prison Master''s eyes contained a strange light as he looked at Damien.

    "Still, there are people in this world who do not respect my ambitions. They are people who are willing to do anything to foster an environment where only they thrive while everyone else is forced into an eternal cycle of death. This prison was built to hold such people so that society can thrive. Guarding it is the only thing I can do to fight against the perpetrators of chaos."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed just slightly. He saw it in the gaze that was trained on him, but those words¡­

    What was the tone he used to speak those words?

    That was not the way he should have been speaking. That hint of sadness¡­

    ''No, it''s not that. It''s the hint of struggle.''

    Damien''s eyes went to the Prison Master''s lips. They were sealed tightly when he didn''t speak, and even when he opened his mouth he did it in such a way that Damien couldn''t see within.

    He sharpened his hearing and his scent. He tried to pick up traces of one specific thing, and he found them almost immediately.

    ''Blood.''

    His gaze returned to the eyes of the man who was still speaking even now.

    That gaze¡­

    "Haa¡­"

    Damien waved his hand, interrupting the Prison Master before he could continue.

    "I am delighted to hear your stories and praise, but¡­"

    He summoned a certain concoction along with two cups.

    "...why don''t we continue this conversation over a drink?"

    ***

    The next time Damien was seen on the third ind, he''d already left the Prison Master''s manor. They didn''t speak for much longer after that, as Damien had matters to urgently attend to. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''I hate when things go as I expected.''

    The Prison Master was hiding the blood pooling in his mouth just so he could continue to speak. That alone was enough to confirm Damien''s suspicions.

    ''To think that even the Prison Master was controlled. Whatever the instigator has nned, it''s going to end with the extermination of everyone on this ind.''

    The Prison Master, with his unreasonable strength and mind, managed to grasp an opportunity against the parameters he''d been granted by the control skill that enved him. Those words could still be interpreted as his desire to speak to someone for the first time in a long time, so the owner of the skill wouldn''t be suspicious.

    However, he chose Damien as the person he wanted to ask for help.

    ''The Prison Master, the Dragon Lord, the Earth Temple Master¡­ No, it''s safe to say that all of the Temple Masters are under the enemy''s control.''

    If even the Prison Master was involved, then this was a plot that had been brewing for a very long time. Damien happened to appear at its climax, and somehow he''d attained himself a spot as one of its main characters.

    ''Dammit. I only have five days left. I need to find a real lead soon.''

    There was only one ce he could go if he wanted to be absolutely sure that he''d gain some kind of useful information.

    ''The Dragon Lord. Considering that the person who told me about his situation is currently being controlled, it''s highly likely that the information about him was a lie.''

    The Earth Temple Master was being used to get Damien to kill the Dragon Lord even if he had to risk his life for it.

    ''The Dragon Lord''s death has to be a trigger of some kind.''

    He needed to confirm. Once he had that piece, he would be able to see the whole puzzle. The only thing left would be to find the one putting it together.

    ''I don''t have much time.''

    In five days, the tournament would begin.

    But, at the same time, it would take Damien at least four days to reach the Volcanic Spires where the Dragon Lord resided.

    ''It''ll be on the wire.''

    He was really cutting it close.

    The only question was if he could win the race against the still-hidden mastermind behind everything.

 Chapter 1817 Investigation [5]

    Chapter 1817 Investigation [5]

    Damien took the shortest possible route to the Dragon Lord, but it was by no means short. The main issue was the terrain, full of inclines and dips that made it impossible to teleport casually. When he reached the volcanic region, it became even worse.

    There were thousands of spires surrounding the main volcano. The Dragon Lord''sir was in the very center of them all, right at the base of the volcano. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien was forced to weave through thousands of spires without making any sound. Avoiding the detection of the many people in the vicinity was also a problem, but he managed to do it with the help of the Void. Finally, he reached their itself. It was more of a mansion than a dragon''s den, but it was built to look like a natural hole in the volcano. The magma that flowed from the top was used as lighting for the structure, creating a beautiful backdrop and scenery that elevated the ambiance to another level.

    It wasn''t beautiful for Damien, though. The magma made it difficult for him to stay concealed, and since he wanted to do this whole mission covertly, the fact that he didn''t know anything about the mansion''syout wasn''t helpful.

    Still, he had to find a way to do it.

    ''And the magma ends up being the best method.''

    Damien only had a few hours to spend investigating the area. It had been four days and it was already the night of the fifth. Soon, the tournament would start and he''d reach the real final moments of this confrontation.

    He couldn''t still be looking for information at that time. From a short search, he could only see that there was a system of channels through which the magma was directed so that it flowed how the Dragon Lord wanted it to. It looked like they ran throughout the entire mansion, which was good for Damien.

    However, it wasn''t as if sneaking through the magma was an untested strategy. Many had tried, and just as many had failed. That magma was supported by the Dragon Lord and to an extent was the source of his power. Anyone who stayed submerged in it for too long would find the very essence of their soul burning.

    It was an effect with no counter in the Land of Nothingness, which made the Dragon Lord one of the most difficult Area Lords to face when he was in his home territory.

    ''Unfortunately for him, I have cheats.''

    With the Void around him, Damien could be impervious to the magma and remained concealed without an issue. Rather than approaching the mansion and crawling into the tunnels from there, he entered one of the magma streams and swam against its current to reach the entrance of the channel.

    It was just barelyrge enough for a human man to fit through. For anyone who was just slightlyrger, it was impossible.

    Damien was rtively tall, standing at six feet and two inches in height, and he had a wider frame that was built as he continued to fight and gain muscle. If he was in his original body, even he would have been toorge.

    The form he was taking to avoid surveince was skinnier and smaller, meant to blend into society and look unassuming. This kind of stature was perfect for the task and allowed Damien to infiltrate the mansion without problems.

    Still, he had to navigate the maze of channels and find one near the Dragon Lord.

    ''I sensed his aura near the back of the mansion. It''ll be difficult to reach.''

    The northwestern corner of the mansion was both the furthest from Damien and the deepest part of the mansion. It bordered the inner side of the volcano and was practically one with its magma pool. ''Maybe it would have been easier to dive from the top?''

    But it also would have been more time-consuming.

    ''Troublesome.''

    Damien put away his thoughts temporarily and focused on navigation.

    ''Right, left, up¡­I''m d that it''s all rtively uniform.''

    At the end of the day, the system was like the plumbing pipes in a house. They had a defined form and purpose, so as long as one understood where the start and end points were, finding a path between them wasn''t the most difficult thing in the world.

    The magma was rtively friendly to Damien. It was warm rather than scalding and nketed his body, lulling him into a sense of peace.

    ''It may be a different kind of danger, but it''s still dangerous.''

    Damien had to consciously make sure that his mind remained on edge as he swam. With his attention focused on keeping himself stable, he was able to reach his destination after no more than three hours of searching.

    Finally, he could sense the Dragon Lord''s aura directly underneath him.

    ''Good.''

    The Void''s energy changed and Damien''s body became ethereal. He phased through the pipes and into the walls themselves, giving him ess to the sounding out of the room.

    He didn''t care about the conversations the Dragon Lord was having with whoever he was entertaining. He was focused on that man''s arrhythmic heartbeat. Du-Dun! Du-Dun! Du-Dun!

    One short one long, one long one short. His heart was never able to beat properly as if there was something inhibiting its path.

    Damien sharpened his hearing to another degree and gained an understanding of all of the Dragon Lord''s body functions.

    He was looking for a location, and he found it through this method.

    ''His heart, his stomach, and his eyes.''

    Those three ces were giving off very strange readings as if they had been tampered with. It was odd viewing the man as more of an object, but the approach made it easier for Damien to find the actual problem.

    He sharpened his eyes to see through the wall and finallyid eyes on that man for the first time. He was just as robust as the Earth Temple Master but with fiery red hair and an equally me-like beard.

    If Damien used his own mana to probe, he would immediately be discovered by the mastermind. Damien had to find a roundabout method now that he wasn''t in a position to use the same liquor strategy as before.

    But, the base of that strategy was enough.

    ''Conveniently, they have food and drinks.''

    Damien waited patiently for over twenty minutes, waiting for the Dragon Lord to grab something to consume.

    When that moment finally came when he was most unsuspecting of interference, Damien widened his eyes slightly and shot a strand of mana inside.

    It was digested along with the food and became a part of the Dragon Lord''s regr bodily processes without being detected, and soon enough, information was pouring into Damien''s head.

    The Area Lord''s strength, bodily abilities, mental power, and other stats came first.

    But Damien''s focus was on the lumps of malevolent mana that were present in the locations he''d marked earlier.

    Despite being unable to immediately decipher their structure, Damien didn''t take long to understand what they were.

    As he thought, this piece brought the entire puzzle together.

    Because the Dragon Lord¡­

    ''...that guy has been turned into a living nuke.''

 Chapter 1818 Investigation [6]

    Chapter 1818 Investigation [6]

    The Dragon Lord''s state was unusual. If one observed his body at a nce, one would find nothing wrong. If a more in-depth approach was taken, then perhaps only signs of the control skill would show.

    To find the truth about what was going on in the Area Lord''s body, Damien had to pierce through theyers of control and find the mechanisms hidden beneath. And it was exactly as he said.

    The Dragon Lord had been turned into a living bomb that would blow when it was disturbed.

    ''Thankfully, I had the Void obscuring my mana. Otherwise, this entire volcanic region would have gone up in smoke.''

    No, perhaps that was for the better? If he blew up here, then the number of casualties would definitely be decreased.

    Damien''s killing intent rose just slightly, but he suppressed it just as fast.

    ''No. I want to maintain the established order of this ind. Even if it happens here, everything will go to shit if the Dragon Lord blows up.''

    The n was not extremely convoluted, but it likely took ages to set up.

    From start to finish, the tournament was not a stage to get rid of the Chaos Faction.

    No, it was a sacrificial altar.

    ''I was supposed to kill the Dragon Lord at the end of the tournament and trigger the bomb. It would decimate Terra and kill all three of the Temple Masters who are being forced to watch from the stands. That''ll act as a trigger for the Prison Master to let the prisoners loose, and the Chaos Faction has an easy road from there.''

    The Area Lords wouldn''t be able to stop them because of the restrictions on their bodies, and the temples would be in shambles after the deaths of their masters.

    Chaos would take hold, and the mastermind behind everything would be the king of the world.

    ''That''s probably what he wants, right?''

    A great upheaval where vile beings became the majority, where even normal citizens would be forced to turn into cruel people if they wanted to survive. Only the person who created that upheaval and established control over the world''s strongest forces would be able to stand above it and im it as his own.

    ''There is one good thing I''ve learned, though.''

    It was easy to say that forcing the Temple Masters to die because their close friend turned into a human bomb was plotted to make them feel hopelessness before their fall, but it was just as easy to say that the mastermind was not confident in killing the three Temple Masters on his own.

    ''If he''s of the same strength as them but used some esoteric methods to control them, then my life definitely bes mildly easier.''

    Not having to face a force stronger than the strongest people on the ind was enough for Damien.

    ''But he can''t be an Area Lord and he can''t be a Temple Master. The only people left with enough power to do anything¡­''

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    ''The prisoners.''

    It seemed that someone did indeed find a way out of the imprable Eternal Sanctum.

    ''I have to find him.''

    Before the Dragon Lord died, he had to find the real mastermind and kill him.

    That was the only way to stop the era of chaos from dawning.

    ***

    Damien had been gone for a week, but the only one aware of his actions was himself. The clone Damien yed his part perfectly. The majority of his time was spent training on his own as he pretended to follow the Temple Master''s orders to stay inside, while the rest was spent with the Temple Master himself, discussing the n for the tournament.

    As the event drew closer, the pain in the Temple Master''s eyes became clearer and clearer, but Damien pretended not to see it.

    ''I can''t alert anyone of my actions. Not even him.''

    He didn''t have a reputation on this ind, which meant that he could y the part of a mercenary willing to follow orders for rewards well.

    There were always eyes on him no matter where he went or what he did, so it was definitely a constraining lifestyle. He lived it only for as long as it was necessary, and when the time came for the tournament to start, the clone got excited to y his part in everything.

    ''It will take time to find the mastermind. I have to go back to the Eternal Sanctum and look for clues in ces I didn''t check before, and if he isn''t inside, then I have to search the ind until I find him.

    The main body had a difficult few days ahead of him, but it wasn''t going to be any easier for the clone.

    ''I can''t stall since the matches are timed. The best I can do is draw out my fight with the Area Lord when I get to him. Still, I have four days at most. In four days, someone will fight the Area Lord regardless of what I want.''

    That was the structure of the tournament, after all.

    With the gathered power of the people here, it was impossible to cause a disturbance and get the fight dyed. The main body only had four days to do more than he''d done in the past seven daysbined. "Thank you for joining us on this momentous asion!..."

    ''Haa¡­it''s not like it''s my fault that I showed up at the very end. If I was here a few years ago, I could''ve taken care of it without all the hassle.''

    It was only difficult because of the time crunch, but this was also something Damien was involving himself in due to his own whims.

    "...the heroes of our nation have gathered¡­"

    He could technically go fight an Area Lord right now and move on to the fourth ind, but did he want to do that?

    The position of Absolute seemed like a lonely ce.

    This was a realm that only existed to provide future Absolutes a ce to hone their power.

    Damien wanted it to be able to carry out its purpose without interference. He wanted to see more people rise from the rubble and be Supreme.

    "...give thanks to the Temple Masters who created this glorious event¡­"

    The Chaos Faction couldn''t be trusted with a duty like that. The Temple Masters weren''t much better if they let themselves get fooled by the mastermind, but they at least had the heart. They could train their strength when this incident ended.

    "....now, introducing our champions!"

    The announcer''s speech ended before Damien could give it any more thought. He and the three hundred or sopetitors walked out of the tunnel and into the stadium''s light amidst the cheers of the crowd.

    Damien sighed again.

    ''I''ll have to trust them with the aftermath.''

    He directed his gaze upward at the tform where the three of them sat.

    The Earth Temple Master, the Water Temple Master, and the Fire Temple Master. Three fools who found themselves in a bigger situation than they could handle.

    If the main body was able to free them from their curse in time¡­

    ''...then everything will be up to you.''

    There were still some days before the climax of this event, but it somehow felt like it had already arrived.

    And that was a fact that nobody who knew about it was happy about.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1819 Investigation [7]

    Chapter 1819 Investigation [7]

    The history of the third ind was vague.

    For a very long time, countless trillions of years ago, the entire Land of Nothingness was enveloped in chaos. Gods came and Gods died. Gods popted the earth and acted as the soil that birthedter civilizations.

    When the era of chaos ended, all of the inds drifted apart and a more linear trial was created for those who entered this realm. With that development, the pointless ughter became meaningless and most people stopped their reckless actions.

    From that point on, every ind changed on its own, bing more suitable for the trials in ce. The first ind was for the weakest of the weak, so it remained in a more primordial state. The second ind was able to form something of a civilization, but many factors held it back from truly thriving. The third ind was a unique case even whenpared to the two inds that came after it. It was the only ce in the entire Land of Nothingness where such a widespread civilization of innocents was created.

    The fourth ind was bare, and the fifth ind''s people could hardly be called a civilization.

    What made the third ind special? N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Sure, its development could be partially attributed to its trial and the convenience it had as the middle of the five inds. Since this ind''s trial required at least a semnce of order to exist, it was bound to develop in a different direction than its peers.

    The middle ind was also a great stopping point. Even before the three temples were established, the aura of the third ind was already far more weing than the rest. Even Damien felt it when he arrived, that cool breeze that made him feel like he was back at home.

    An environment that made onecent. The third ind possessed it in a way that could not be replicated, and when they were faced with their ownck of talent or understanding, it made it easy for practitioners to choose surrender over battle.

    However, these developments only happened because the third ind was originally special.

    It had a past that was unknown to even the three temples, as it was erased before any of them came to be.

    During a period of great war following the establishment of the trials, at a time when the Prison Master was not yet an Area Lord and was only establishing himself as the warden of the Eternal Sanctum, countless heroes and demons rose and fell.

    They stood at a level that modern people could not hope to reach. It wasn''t because they were untalented, but because society had developed too much.

    The primordial mentalities of people who only studied the rtionships between elements with their eyes and hearts were able to perceive a world that people could no longer see. They had too much information, whichpletely changed the way that their techniques were manifested.

    If the two generations were ced against each other, it was hard to say that one side would have a definite advantage, but both sides would absolutely be able to pull out techniques that the other simply didn''t have the perspective to understand.

    The Prison Master remembered those days.

    More than his dreary life as a warden that he only kept living because of the weight of his duty, his mind drifted to the days when he was still young.

    It had been a very long time since hest saw a hero of the caliber that existed back then.

    And, it had been just as long since he''d seen a crueler demon.

    They did not operate together, but it was wrong to say that they operated alone. They were an organization that was not an organization, a group of like-minded people who only followed chaos.

    Chaos¡­

    It was once the name of a concept. At the very beginning, it was an entity without form, an energy of pure disorder that drove people who witnessed it into fanaticism.

    But one day, that disorder took form.

    The cause was assumed to be a reaction between the faith of those people and the realm of that which did not exist, creating an entity that should have never been born.

    Most of this ind''s development could be directly attributed to that entity. Whether tobat Chaos or follow it, people built and destroyed civilizations. People fought and fought and fought, and when Chaos was eventually imprisoned, society was finally able to rise from the ashes to ensure that another being of the same kind would not appear. Chaos was kept in the deepest depths of the world, sealed in a facility that far surpassed the Eternal Sanctum in security. In fact, today''s Eternal Sanctum was developed based on what others hypothesized was used to seal Chaos itself.

    But the Prison Master knew better than anyone else. This prison could not evene close to the location where Chaos was sealed.

    That ce was far, far tooplex to be the development of someone on the third ind. Rather, it was more likely that an Absolute found a way to return to this realm and calm its chaos. For that reason, it could not be Chaos.

    Chaos could not rise again. Even the level of belief it received in the current era was far from its peak. It was considerably weakened, as it was a force that could not survive without people believing in it.

    A so-called Spiritual God. That was what Chaos became.

    However¡­

    ''...has that age dawned on us again?''

    The man who did not understand how he came to be trapped in his own body wondered as he looked out of the windows in his manor.

    Some days ago, he met someone who resembled the heroes of the previous era.

    And, the one who took him hostage and schemed against civilization itself bore an eerie resemnce to Chaos itself.

    Whether a new Spiritual God was born or a strand of Chaos escaped, the Prison Master did not know.

    But, even if there was a hero attempting to change fate, he could not believe that the era of chaos was not destined to return.

    It was already toote.

    ''Perhaps it is time for change.''

    The Prison Master by no means supported the Chaos Faction. If he was someone who could ever harbor dissident thoughts, he wouldn''t have been able to maintain his role throughout the countless changes that civilization had undergone in the past billions of years.

    Nevertheless, he was a man who understood that the seas of fate were already churning.

    "Change" would inevitablye to thisnd.

    Only¡­

    ''Will it be a change instilled by a hero or one controlled by a demon?''

    In this realm, he was nothing more than an observer. In this conflict, even more so.

    Thus, he watched as a change in the force surrounding the manor disappeared as if it never existed in the first ce.

    He did nothing even while knowing that an intruder was making their way into the prison that he''d kept guarded for so long.

    When that disturbance that even he could not sense appeared, the Prison Master made a firm decision.

    He would no longer have a part in this conflict.

    Now that its main characters had entered the stage¡­

    ¡­it was up to them to decide whose path was true and destined.

 Chapter 1820 Investigation [8]

    Chapter 1820 Investigation [8]

    ''I feel like I''ve been seen through, but that''s impossible.''

    Damien only believed that he could solve everything in four days because he didn''t have to travel the long distances anymore. Now that he''d been to the Eternal Sanctum and the Volcanic Spires, he had enough points across the map to be near any destination he might want to reach.

    He was able to cancel distance from his ce inside of the Dragon Lord''s magma channels and return to the Prison Master''s manor without any trouble at all. Unfortunately, he couldn''t enter the Eternal Sanctum with the same method, but that was obvious. If people could freely enter and leave by canceling distance, then it wouldn''t be much of a prison to begin with.

    More than that, what concerned Damien was the strange feeling he got when he first stepped on the property.

    The Void was concealing him, so there reasonably shouldn''t have been any force capable of perceiving his existence. However, Damien could feel the eyes on him for a moment. He shook off the feeling, thinking of it as built-up stress.

    ''There are more important things to focus on right now.''

    Even if he was truly perceived, nothing happened. Nothing happened, which meant the person who perceived his existence was not trying to interfere with what he was doing. In that case, it was better for him to leave it alone and focus on getting into the Eternal Sanctum.

    ''The ordinary methods won''t work. They''re set up so that they activate loudly. Even if the Prison Master doesn''t see that I was the one who broke in, he''ll know that someone did.''

    Damien had to create a method to break into the imprable prison for the first time in history. Easy, right?

    ''Actually, it''s not that hard either.''

    Easy was an overstatement, but hard was the same. If Damien didn''t know anything about the prison before he tried, then it would be nigh impossible. However, he got to see its inner workings with his own eyes, so the situation was different.

    Damien''s own Nonexistence and the Eternal Sanctum shared manymon factors. Using thoseparisons, he could create his own iteration of the prison. By reverse engineering his own design, he could find a way into the prison.

    It sounded like a time-consuming effort for a Damien who''d been extremely busy for the past week, but was it the same for the other Damien who''d been cooped up in his room?

    His clone did the difficultprehension work, and since they were one being, thoseprehensions were directly reflected in Damien''s mind.

    He already had the framework. The rest of the work didn''t need to be mentioned.

    ''Basically, it''s a prison that functions on a single core concept, and that''s Nonexistence itself. Those within have their very ability to think inhibited and their power sealed behind a much stronger version of itself. That makes any attempt to escape impossible. The rest of the concepts just branch off of that to take care of loopholes.''

    It was a web. It was made of steel wire and would shred anyone who attempted to bypass it, but it was a web nheless. The exterior concepts had far more space between them than those on the inside.

    That amount of space was not enough for anyone to slip through, which was why the prison had never beenpromised, but Damien was confident that he could do it.

    ''As long as I target it properly and aim to bypass instead of break, I think I can do it.''

    He closed his eyes and concentrated his power, putting even more emphasis on the Void around him. He saw that web in his mind and carried out the careful n he''d created.

    Like a fly too small to be hindered by such a massive web, he maneuvered through theplex defense mechanism and granted his mind ess to the Eternal Sanctum.

    To allow his body to follow after that was simple. In only a matter of five or so minutes, Damien was already walking its long and narrow corridor.

    He rushed through the prison, widening his senses so that every single cell was inside his range of perception. ''Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.''

    He couldn''t find a single trace of tampering. There wasn''t a single missing prisoner, nor were there any who had been swapped for fakes.

    ''It''s not here.''

    The clue Damien had been searching for was somewhere else entirely.

    ''But¡­''

    He couldn''t havee here for nothing. The answer was still certain. The person who cooked up the entire scheme guing the third ind had to be a prisoner.

    Damien scanned the rooms around him.

    ''Vile. Vile. Crazy. Crazy. There.''

    He pierced their souls and observed the core of their existences, only stopping when he found someone who fit his criteria.

    The man with shaggy brown hair and a beard that could practically be called a lion''s mane was not like the prisoners in the cells around him. Rather than wishing for more chaos or revenge, rather than going insane due to the prison''s influence, he maintained his mind and thoughts of atonement.

    A person like that was worth speaking to. Unlike those around him, there was a chance that he''d actually be willing to provide good information.

    Damien approached his cell, causing the man to look up at him.

    "The one from before¡­"

    Damien already removed his concealment, so it wasn''t strange that the man recognized him from his previous visit.

    "I''m d you remembered me. I''ve returned with a few questions, if you don''t mind answering."

    The man''s eyes widened.

    "You¡­can respond?"

    His surprise was warranted. The prison made it impossible for prisoners tomunicate with anyone, so this was the first time the man had been acknowledged as an individual in millions of years. "I can," Damien responded simply. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "However, I do not have enough time for a long conversation. For that, I apologize."

    "No. No need," the man responded, shaking his head. His voice quivered slightly as he held his emotions back.

    "Please ask your questions. To have a conversation at all, no matter its length or subject, is enough of a blessing for me."

    Damien looked at the man without speaking for a moment.

    A thought came to mind, but he left it for after everything was taken care of.

    "Were there any other prisoners here? Maybe one that escaped or got moved to another ce?"

    The man shook his head again.

    "There has never been a prisoner that escaped from this ce. It is the same for those who were transferred. I have never seen anyone or anything leave this prison once entrapped."

    Damien frowned.

    ''Is there really something I''m missing? Maybe there''s a wanderer or faction that has a grudge against¨C''

    Before he could finish his thoughts, the man spoke up again.

    "Ah, but there was one man."

    His hair covered his eyes, so Damien couldn''t see the expression he was making, but he could feel it.

    The fear emanating from that man''s body was unmistakable. As he recalled memories of that person, his body shook.

    "There was one person who was not confined in this prison. For him, they were forced to create a special containment unit elsewhere. He¡­was the most terrifying person of my generation."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    This was it. The identity of the person he was chasing was right in front of him.

    The brown-haired man looked up, meeting Damien''s eyes for the first time.

    "His name¡­"

 Chapter 1821 Confrontation [1]

    Chapter 1821 Confrontation [1]

    ''Eximus.''

    ording to the brown-haired man''s story, that person named Eximus was the most terrifying existence from ten million years ago.

    He was a follower of Chaos, someone who inherited the power of an Ancient Spiritual God and used it to wreak havoc on the world. During that time, the three temples almost went up in mes due to his actions.

    ''To think there''s a Spiritual God on this ind.'' Spiritual Gods were simr to spirits in that they were physical manifestations of nature. Only, Spiritual Gods could only be created through blind faith. They were incredibly rare entities. No more than three had been created in the entirety of the True Void Universe''s history. Even Damien only knew about them because he read the Heavenly World''s existence.

    In this ne, Chaos was something both worshiped and feared. It was trapped at the center of the earth with no hope of escaping, which was good for Damien.

    ''Facing an actual Spiritual God would be insane. Interesting, sure, but insane nheless.''

    Luckily, the one who escaped was not Chaos, but its Apostle.

    Eximus'' containment unit was hidden from all eyes. Its location was likely only known by the Prison Master at this point, but Damien couldn''t ask him for obvious reasons.

    ''Then, four days is perfect. Perfectly shitty, that is.''

    In four days, he had to find the containment unit, find Eximus'' traces, find Eximus, and then fight him?

    Before the Dragon Lord died to his clone, he had to kill the apostle of a Spiritual God?

    ''Beautiful. Really.''

    Damien was oh so happy about his circumstances, but he really couldn''tin since he was the one who got himself into this mess.

    Immediately after leaving the Eternal Sanctum, he began his search.

    There was no more investigation.

    Now, the primary concern on all sides was confrontation.

    ***

    While Damien was struggling, Damien was also struggling.

    ''I would really be struggling if it still took a toll on my mind to live through two bodies at once.''

    Experiencing parallel timelines at once was enough to shatter anyone''s mind, but Damien wasn''t just used to it now. He could do it without any side effects.

    As his main body focused on the conflict in the shadows, the clone handled things out in the open.

    The tournament started in full swing. The first two days were meant to weed out anyone who wasn''t necessary. The third day was for the quarter-finals, while the semi-finals and finals would be held on the fourth day.

    There were four matches taking ce in the stadium at the same time. They were king-of-the-hill style knockout matches where one was required to obtain a certain number of wins to pass. If one obtained that number and continued winning, then they''d be excused from the rest of the round after twenty victories.

    There were too many participants, after all. These first two days were used for culling the masses and drawing out only the strongest of them.

    Of course, Damien was dominating his podium with ease.

    The "Temple Masters" prepared a special procedure to take the Chaos Faction members into custody. As long as they were eliminated from thepetition inside of the arena, they''d be teleported directly to the Eternal Sanctum and imprisoned until it was decided how many of them would stay and how many would be repurposed.

    It was swift and easy. From the outside perspective, it was indeed a genius method to quell the disturbances in the world.

    ''But, those guys are going to meet the Prison Master, and he''s going to be forced to let them go.''

    Everything was just a show prepared to precede the main event. In these first few rounds of the tournament, Damien could do nothing butply.

    "On the fourth tform, we have another perfect finisher! Damien Void has won twenty times in a row!"

    An announcer''s voice apanied the death of the twentieth. Damien didn''t think much of it as he was escorted into a connected tunnel amidst the cheers of the crowd.

    ''At the moment, my job is the boring one.''

    The main body was taking care of the more exciting things, though even he was just running around.

    ''Seriously, I forgot how annoying it was to get information without Existence.''

    Well, even before that he could devour people. It had been a very long time since Damien was forced to put in legwork for information''s sake.

    Still, everything seemed to be lining up properly. The deadline was approaching incredibly fast, but Damien was moving at the same pace. Logically, everything would work out.

    ''More importantly, the other temples are acting strange.''

    The man Quill and the woman Yanui whom he''d met a week prior were acting very differently than they did during that meeting. Rather than the confident andpetitive attitudes they held at that time, they were showing a hesitation that didn''t make sense.

    ''I guess there''s a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes that doesn''t rte to the overarching plot that I''ve been following.''

    It made sense, but it wasn''t his problem. He merely needed to do what he did best so they didn''t find themselves in even more trouble.

    ''But before that¡­''

    The person leading him disappeared a while back. He''d been walking through the tunnel while indulging in his thoughts, but it was getting a bit annoying at this point.

    "If you guys are going to hide yourselves, can''t you at least do it properly? The quality of assassins in this realm isn''t that high, huh."

    His gaze suddenly shot to the ceiling. His eyes glowed slightly, and a group of twelve was immediately revealed.

    He could see the panicked expressions on their faces as they tried to figure out how they were spotted, but that was also not a matter of his concern.

    He grinned as he was able to find something fun to do even in this body.

    "Come at me, you bastards. I was just thinking that I needed to devour someone soon."

    Nonexistence was an especially difficult concept to use offensively. Its effectiveness dropped significantly when focused on more than one person. In a fight where multiple opponents concentrated on a single target, it was usually always fated to be the target''s loss.

    They may have lost their cover, but the assassins didn''t lose their heads because of it.

    At the end of the day, there were twelve of them and only one of him. The person they''d been ordered to kill would still end up dead no matter what he did.

    That was a very dangerous train of thought for a group that stood against Damien Void. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    After all, he had the same thoughts as they did.

    Now that his targets were clear, they''d die no matter what they tried.

    And through their oh-so-noble sacrifice, he was going to learn even more about the plots and schemes surrounding him.

    Really, they should have been honored to die by his hands!

    A domain formed around his body and enveloped the entire area. A spiderweb appeared in a single second before solidifying into imprable cages that separated each enemy from the rest.

    And as Damien pushed his hand down¡­

    The rest didn''t need to be mentioned.

    For these small fries who did not even have names, the result was never fated to be anything else.

 Chapter 1822 Confrontation [2]

    Chapter 1822 Confrontation [2]

    "Hmm¡­"

    Naturally, memories were currently being read.

    The Eternal Sanctum boosted Damien''s power to an incredible level. Once he finishedprehending the things he learned from its structure, he filled all of the gaps that previously allowed people like Kura to stand against him. Twelve came and twelve died, but not in the simple reviveable way that most people died in this realm. Those assassins met a poor end because Damien needed information. Unfortunately, they would not be returning to life.

    ''At a base level, it looks like the Temple Masters, huh.''

    Assuming that Damien didn''t know anything, then regardless of whether he had a mind-reading ability or astute observation skills, the conclusion he''de to was that the Temple Masters ordered for his assassination.

    Was it because he was outshining their participants?

    Well, since Damien didn''t have enough time to properly learn the personalities of those from the other two temples, it would be quite easy to convince him so. The previous attack he experienced served that purpose as well, though it was mainly meant to keep him from learning anything unnecessary.

    Even their memories lined up. The Water and Fire Temple Masters personally called for each of them and offered great rewards for Damien''s head.

    ''What a scheme.''

    If Damien didn''t know better, then all of the signs would have led to those two. His ire would be directed there ording to the wishes of the mastermind.

    ''But why?''

    Why did he want Damien to go against the Temple Masters?

    See, from start to finish, Damien just identally found himself involved in these matters. He was just acting as the "big red button" that set off the nuke known as the Dragon Lord. Damien himself shouldn''t have held any value to the true perpetrator, Eximus. Was he trying to make the Temple Masters suffer more by using him to ruin their reputations? Or did he just want to make the tournament more exciting from the perspective of an all-knowing observer?

    Damien got the feeling that the only real reason for involving him had to be emotional.

    ''But I can''t say for certain since he wasn''t directly involved in anything. He did leave me a nice present, though.''

    With his questions out of the way, Damien smiled as he walked away from the site as if nothing happened. He would y along with the schemes in the tournament for now, just so he could figure out why they were being plotted in the first ce.

    However, he wouldn''t need to do it for long.

    After all, those twelve were also corrupted with the control skill to shut their mouths. They had a trace of Chaos inside of them, and when Damien devoured it¡­

    ¡­it was only natural for him to receive a piece of its memories, right?

    ''That guy named Eximus might be elusive, but catching him just became far easier.''

    Damien now had a rough idea of where the containment unit was. While his main body tracked it down, all he had to do was y the waiting game.

    He hummed to himself and left the stadium, waiting for the second day ofpetition to arrive.

    It did, and it passed just as easily. There were no new attacks. Damien had a slight silent confrontation with the Temple Masters before the round started, perfectly acting out his role as someone aiming for revenge. Though nothing about that attack was publicized, it would still be dangerous for them to act immediately. Damien''s name was gaining prominence, and he was rapidly bing people''s favoritepetitor due to his dominance and story.

    He was an underdog who was still building his badge to the gold level but he was defeating everyone so overwhelmingly, so it was only natural for them to cheer him on. Damien was kept safe from assassination attempts by their cheers, and as if it was inconsequential, he casually finished his matches and returned to his room, practicing for what came next.

    So, the third day of the tournament dawned. Damien approached the stage, prepared for his first match against a realpetitor. At this point, he was facing Yanui and Quill was facing another Chaos follower. Tomorrow, he would fight the winner of that match and then have his showdown with the Dragon Lord.

    That was the original n.

    But¡­what was this?

    "It seems we have a change in the roster!"

    As Damien stood on the stage alone, the announcer did his job and announced some sudden news.

    "ording to the Water Temple, the originalpetitor, Yanui, was defeated by another temple member just yesterday! They chose to wager Yanui''s participation slot, and with the agreement of the three Temple Masters, their matchmenced! It may seem rushed, but this participant has sufficiently proved her strength through a bracket simr to what our remainingpetitors have experienced so far!"

    Amidst the murmurs of the crowd,rge projections appeared, showing a woman fighting several tens of opponents one after another and defeating them.

    As they watched the woman disy her power, the announcer weed her on stage.

    "Now, introducing our newest challenger: Kura!"

    So there was a reason why Damien had a wry expression on his face since earlier. The person who walked up the stairs and met him on the battle stage was someone he knew not too well, but someone he had a sinking feeling that he would re-encounter. She grinned, looking him in the eye.

    "Shall we have a rematch?"

    He smiled in return.

    If it was like this, then he wasn''t going toin.

    "I was looking to test how much I''ve improved, so this is perfect."

    The person Damien fought when he first came to this ind, she had clearly be far stronger in the time that they hadn''t seen each other. A rematch that mattered to only a single person, but still one that Damien couldn''t help but look forward to, began on the tournament stage.

    And, as if important events were meant to happen concurrently, Damien arrived at the ce he saw in Chaos'' memory fragment. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He found himself in an underground cavern. It was almost impossible to reach because one had to practically swim in the Sea of Nothingness to reach it, but Damien somehow survived.

    There was only one thing in the cavern. A pure white box with no entrance or exit that held one of the worst prisoners known to this ind''s people.

    As Damien gathered more knowledge on Chaos itself, he understood what kind of entity its apostle was.

    The Eternal Sanctum had nothing on this single box. Damien prodded it with Nonexistence in every way possible, but he couldn''t find even a single way to enter naturally.

    Still, there was somehow a menacing red and ck aura emanating from it. That aura was the mark of Eximus and the proof that the person Damien was searching for was beyond those white walls.

    ''Once again, I have to resort to cheating.''

    He didn''t like it, but he still had to use it. The Void''s energy wrapped around his body, and like he did not exist in the first ce, he phased through the cube''s walls and arrived inside.

    Damien could finally meet the person who used others tomit every serious crime in the ind''s recent history.

 Chapter 1823 Confrontation [3]

    Chapter 1823 Confrontation [3]

    It was an exciting match, sure, but the result was still as expected. Damien had grown unreasonably in the past few weeks, to the point where nobody on the ind could keep up with his progress.

    Kura got much better than she was when they first fought. The weaknesses in her defensive fighting style hadn''t yet been fixed, but she''d properly created a framework for the solution. She presented it in battle against Damien, and it alone was enough to make his previous strategy unviable.

    Unfortunately, his web had be much more sophisticated. And, it wasn''t just for setting up a final attack either. The web itself was an attack and defense mechanism that could easily capture opponents and weave them into a situation that they couldn''t escape.

    Nevertheless, it was a fun battle. Damien had been bored for the past two days, practically watching his other body''s point-of-view like a television show for entertainment, but he had to focus his attention on fighting Kura.

    It was by far the most interesting of the battles thus far. Even the battle that came after, with Quill and thest Chaos Faction member, was overlooked as people excitedly awaited Damien''s showing in the rest of thepetition.

    Behind the scenes, in a waiting room for the survivingpetitors, Kura found Damien again.

    "You were just a brat a few weeks ago. What the hell happened?" She asked, approaching with a grin.

    "What can I say? I''m something of a genius," Damien responded cockily.

    He was d that she wasn''t taking her loss too seriously.

    Kura was one of the few people on this ind who had the potential to move to the fourth ind soon. He didn''t want to be the one inhibiting her path.

    "You may be a genius, but I''m nothing tough at either. Just wait. One of these days, I''m going to catch up to you!" "Sure, but I''ll already be back home by the time that happens."

    Kura clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. She didn''t take his banter seriously. His tone was too obviously sarcastic. Regardless, it did somehow feel like he wasn''t lying at all.

    "Ah, right."

    Kura''s eyes widened slightly as she remembered why she hade here in the first ce.

    "Have you heard the news?"

    Damien shook his head. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Kura sighed. "Right, you wouldn''t be so calm if you had. Something strange is going on behind the scenes. I don''t know why, but it''s like they''re trying to rush you into a fight against the Area Lord."

    "Hm? What do you mean by that?"

    Damien made a sound of interest as she captured his full attention.

    Kura''s story started with how she herself ended up in the tournament.

    Originally, she challenged Yanui several times for the tournament spot. She won more than she lost, but she was forbidden from killing her opponent since she was already slotted to participate in the tournament.

    Essentially, by challenging Damien and losing, Kura lost her chance to participate.

    She tried and tried and eventually gave up, but the temple''s officials approached her not even a day prior and proposed her a deal, asking if she wanted to take Yanui''s spot.

    She, of course, agreed. She was even more tempted by the tournament after hearing that her new rival was also participating. She went and challenged Yanui again, won, and was granted the spot.

    "It''s just suspicious because it was too easy. Yanui may be weaker than me, but it''s only marginal. I shouldn''t be able to beat her so one-sidedly."

    "Hm¡­"

    Were the Water Temple''s people trying to sacrifice Kura after understanding what the end of this tournament entailed? If so, then did Yanui have some kind of importance that Kuracked?

    Damien asked, and he got the response he was looking for.

    "Yeah, Yanui is the Temple Master''s daughter. That''s why I''m saying it''s weird. She always gets preferential treatment, but now they want to be fair? It doesn''t make sense."

    "It also doesn''t make sense how that situation is pushing my fight with the Area Lord," Damien chimed in.

    Kura grinned sheepishly, realizing that she''d once again gotten off-topic.

    "I brought it up because something simr is happening in the Fire Temple too. Apparently, that guy Quill disappeared after his match. Nobody knows where he went, but he''s already been reced. And, the most important part¡­"

    "...your match against his recement is happening in an hour."

    "What?"

    Now, Damien was really paying attention.

    As Kura said, they were absolutely plotting to bring the match between him and the Dragon Lord closer. ''Damn.''

    He could guess why.

    ''My main body''s movements were noticed.''

    Someone was working against the grand scheme, so they were obviously going to try to make his struggle futile.

    The main body was already meeting Eximus, so hypothetically it wouldn''t affect the n, but¡­

    ''Tch. It''s annoying being the clone body.''

    He quite literally could do nothing but wait, follow the tournament, and stall until the main body finished all of the important matters.

    For now¡­

    "Thanks for telling me."

    "No problem. I like honestpetition, so this is rubbing me the wrong way too."

    He thanked Kura and left the waiting room. An hour was not much time at all. While it passed, he watched his main body''s perspective. His frown got deeper and deeper until he heard his name being called to the stage.

    He walked up as he had done several times before. No matter how he got used to the cheers of the crowd, they always felt disgusting when he thought about the fact that they were all being deceived into willingly walking into their deathbeds. The other name that was called was unknown. It wasn''t worth mentioning, and there wasn''t a single bit of justification apanying the entrance of a newpetitor like there was with Kura.

    The only thing the announcer said was that Quill had withdrawn with a mysterious injury and someone had been sent to rece him.

    If that person was like Kura, a worthypetitor, then there wouldn''t have been anything particrly special about it besides the fact that the fight had been moved forward by a day.

    The person who stood against him was not like Kura at all.

    ''...what is this?''

    While the announcer spoke to the audience, Damien addressed his opponent.

    "Why are you doing this?"

    The man standing across from him was quivering in fear. He was clearly unskilled and unworthy of this stage, so why was he here?

    "I¡­" he responded shakily.

    "I have no choice."

    Damien looked into that man''s eyes.

    Right, those were not the eyes of apetitor. They were the eyes of a hostage.

    He sighed to himself.

    ''In the end, the powers at hand have too much authority. Even if I try to destroy the tournament at this point, they''ll still find a way to turn this entire city into ash.''

    The match started. Damien resigned himself to facing the Dragon Lord no more than a few hours from the time this match ended.

    After all, it had be impossible for him to lose.

    ''Main body. I hope you''re fast enough.''

    Because at this point, the parallel timelines were getting eerily close to converging.

    And that was not a good thing in the slightest.

 Chapter 1824 Confrontation [4]

    Chapter 1824 Confrontation [4]

    Damien''s first thought was that he was looking at an apostate monk of some sort. The man had no hair on his head and a uniform like the ones monks wore. There were several piercings in his face,rge circr indents that formed a strange symmetry. His ears were long and he had huge gauges that were nearly falling out of his thin earlobes.

    The man''s eyes were pitch-ck like those of a demon, and the red and ck energy that radiated off of him was not intentional, just uncontrolled.

    "Are you Eximus?" Damien asked.

    "I am he," the monk responded.

    "Alright. Die then."

    Damien tapped his foot and spread his domain. It was simple, right? Now that he found the main perpetrator, all he had to do was kill him to unravel his plot.

    Of course it was never going to be that simple. Damien rushed their interaction because he knew that.

    The second his territory covered Eximus, he sighed.

    "As expected. A fake."

    "If it was expected, then why did you attack?"

    "Because it''s easier to find out where your real body is after you''re dead."

    Damien answered without much thought, spending more time ncing around the containment unit.

    "Did you think this would trap me?"

    Deductive reasoning was a great skill. Since Damien knew how to use it, he could instantly understand the shoddyst-minute trap that had beenid out for him.

    "Perhaps. Perhaps not. I have only recently learned of your existence and interference, so I apologize for not being able to show you proper hospitality."

    Damien rolled his eyes.

    Basically, Damien''s visit to the Prison Master was enough to tip Eximus off to his movements. It was annoyingly cunning for his enemy to figure out his intentions off of that much, but it didn''t change anything.

    The containment facility may have been imprable at one point, but Eximus clearly found a way out at some point. Its shattered security was only hastily repaired for the sake of trapping Damien, so escaping it would be even easier.

    "It should take you some time, no? I did not prepare all of this to hinder you. Rather, I wish to converse with the only person who has realized my existence and actions in the past millions of years."

    Damien nced back at Eximus, who sat on the floor of the white cube with a calm smile on his face. His eyes were closed, but they curved in such a way to support the rest of his expression.

    It was going to take around an hour for him to escape. That was an inconsequential amount of time in the current situation, and if Damien could gain something from conversing with Eximus in this way, then he didn''t mind.

    In the end, he now knew what the man looked like and how his aura felt. Finding him was no longer a problem.

    "What do you want to say?" he asked, his tone not friendly in the slightest.

    "It is more about what I wish to ask," Eximus responded.

    "You¡­"

    His eyes opened just slightly.

    "Why do you oppose Chaos?"

    Damien frowned.

    "Why are you asking stupid questions? I don''t like it, so I fight against it. Do I need a better reason?"

    "I suppose not," Eximus said.

    "And, like you, my reasoning for following Chaos is simple. Unlike your so-called ''Order,'' Chaos helps those in need and providesfort. It does not shirk away from the struggles of man."

    ''I guess he wants to convert me?''

    Damien didn''t really care, but the man could yap all he wanted to. He wasn''t going to stop him.

    "You know, before Chaos found me, I was but a humble farmer. I lived a good life with my wife and my daughter, worshiping the Order you defend. However, when my daughter grew up and I supported her wish to be a challenger, do you know what your Order did? It killed her. It left her without even a corpse to bury."

    ''Ooh, a revenge plot.''

    "The Three Temples have always been corrupted organizations. They hide the truth about this world, convincing the entire world that it is nothing more than a game. This world is not a game, and they are not its masters. What right do they have to act like they are worth more than others? What right do they have to sacrifice the lives of others without batting an eye?!"

    Damien raised his brow.

    This ind''s history didn''t give him all of the details, but there definitely wasn''t anything like that. Rather, the temples were always the ones preventing the people of the ind from dying meaninglessly. "How did your daughter die?"

    "She was sacrificed! That day, I swore revenge on the temples, but I had no method to attain it. I was born to a father and mother who were born to a father and mother who first came to this realm. Without ever attempting to perceive the Nothingness, I was practically no different from a mortal. Even if I desired power, I squandered my talent in my youth. It was only when Chaos found me that things changed. It gave me hope, and it gave me justice!"

    ''Casual evasion.''

    Not to mention, the calm and mysterious front he put up waspletely gone. What was left was a man with his eyes wide and filled with the color red, rambling on about the benefits of Chaos

    He looked more like an addict than a terrifying viin. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien ignored the rest of what he said and asked another question.

    "What was your daughter''s name?"

    Eximus twitched slightly.

    "Someone like you who defends Order does not deserve to know her name."

    "Okay. You can continue, then."

    Damien''s attitude was bing unbearable, but Eximus decided to bear with it and continue.

    "Chaos allowed me to partake in a journey of power. That was when I realized it. The Order of this world is fake! It is an illusion! Chaos was always supposed to be its true ruler! Within Chaos, everything I sought and everything those like me seek is present! You, how can you not seek the beauty of Chaos?!"

    Damien nodded.

    "Sure."

    He was focused on escaping the prison, so being somewhat distracted was understandable. However, time and time again Damien responded with such a standoffish tone that Eximus could hardly stand it anymore. "You¡­ Your arrogance will not be tolerated," he growled.

    "What can you do about it? You''re literally a projection. You have no power."

    "However, my main body¨C!"

    "I really don''t care. It''s not even my fault in the first ce. When you spout bullshit like that, how is anyone supposed to pretend like they care?"

    Damien''s words didn''t strike as hard as the genuine sincerity within them. He wasn''t usually one to rile up his opponents, but this time, he really couldn''t help it.

    Who was Eximus pretending to be? Did he want to cosy as a hero or a lunatic? He was like someone who never actually had a normal conversation with anyone or a chance to get his story straight. Chaos'' Apostle?

    Damien really didn''t give a shit.

    It would be more entertaining if he fought Chaos itself. The man in front of him¡­?

    This man was just pathetic.

 Chapter 1825 Confrontation [5]

    Chapter 1825 Confrontation [5]

    Whatever Eximus'' story was in the past, it was clear that he had been too corrupted by Chaos for any of that to matter. The entire story about his daughter had to be a lie since he didn''t know anything about it, and the rest of his reasoning was just nonsense from the start.

    "So, the gist of it is that you think the world order is wrong and you want to bring chaos. Cool. Who cares?" Damien said, turning to face Eximus.

    "Basically, you''re an easily influenceable person who was corrupted by Chaos and used as a vessel to do everything you''ve done. In fact, I''m starting to realize why I didn''t recognize you as a projection from the start."

    Damien scoffed. "You''re all that''s left of Eximus'' ego. The body has already been taken over by Chaos."

    It made sense. Eximus may have been feared in the past, but that was when he still had a proper state of mind. He was probably able tomit countless atrocities under the banner of Chaos, serving it as his God.

    However, with the passing of time and the containment in this isted space, that version of Eximus vanished. From the start, he was only chosen because it was easy to mold his beliefs. Chaos abandoned him when he ran out of use, stole his body, and used it to plot out everything that Damien had been chasing so far.

    To say he had been thoroughly fooled was wrong, but he hadn''t grasped the entire picture from what he investigated.

    Nevertheless, it didn''t change much.

    "Eximus, you''re a pathetic guy, you know that? You''re one of those people who has delusions of grandeur without a single ounce of ambition. Some fortunended in your hands and you suddenly became bold, but that''s not who you are and that was never who you were."

    Damien walked towards the monk, whose entire demeanor changed when Damien started talking.

    His insecurity even from their previous conversation was enough to prove everything Damien said correct, but his current state was the final nail in the coffin.

    At the end of the day, the reputation Eximus built for himself was constructed on a foundation of lies.

    All of his deeds were also the doing of Chaos and Chaos alone.

    Nothing and nobody had terrorized this ind like Chaos had. It was as if the Spiritual God wanted to make sure that its record and reputation were never surpassed.

    So, though Damien only said it jokingly¡­

    ''I guess I really am being led around by Chaos. I should be prepared to fight a Spiritual God, not a madman.''

    Damien was given a reason to hurry and find a way out of the containment unit. If he was tracking Chaos, then it was definitely going to be more difficult than he originally expected. However, since the body still belonged to Eximus, it at least wasn''t impossible anymore. "Wait! What are you doing?! Do you know who I am?! I am Eximus! Eximus, the ruler of Chaos!"

    The projected ego wed at Damien''s legs, trying to grab his attention. Damien only sighed and ignored it.

    ''Technically speaking, he''s also a victim, but if he didn''t have a tendency towards madness from the start, then he never would have been chosen.''

    A slight wisp of Nonexistence left Damien''s body and took hold of the projected ego. At this point, it was fine for Eximus to disappear and pay the price for his sins.

    As for Damien¡­

    ''This isplicated.''

    He didn''t have enough time to check whether Chaos had possessed Eximus in its full form or not. If it had, then he was nowhere near equipped to fight it without using the Void too much and offending the Land of Nothingness itself.

    He liked his chances more if Chaos had only partially escaped its seal in a weakened state, but was it safe for him to move without guaranteeing it?

    Damien had killed many people in this realm and he''d seen many more die. It didn''t affect him just as any other death didn''t, but he had a deep understanding of the consequences of dying in this realm.

    Everyone would forget him. Every trace of him left in the True Void Universe would disappear. His family, friends, and cosmos would be left as easy prey for the Dark God.

    Was it worth risking that future for a society filled with people he didn''t know? What if he lost his life over a whim and everything ended?

    ''Still¡­''

    Still, he was never the type of person to run away from a bad situation.

    ''Even if I put aside my original reasoning and abandon thoughts of helping this ind''s people, fighting a Spiritual God is still a useful experience.''

    If he won, it would yield him boons that were guaranteed to be extremely helpful to his training.

    ''And more importantly, Spiritual Gods are just a step below us.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Fighting a true Spiritual God would be good practice for his fight against the Dark God. It was worth struggling if it made that fight easier.

    Damien gripped his fists.

    Never in his life had he been concerned about the stakes. He always moved first with confidence that he could destroy everything in his path ande out sessful.

    Being an adult, being someone with the weight and responsibility of the world on his shoulders, he couldn''t just charge ahead like that anymore.

    He had to think out his decisions and move methodically. He had to stay focused on only the goal at hand and do only things that would work towards said goal.

    He couldn''t have that same attitude of walking the line between life and death with a smile on his face anymore.

    ''But I can''t forget it.''

    Even if he became a truly untouchable entity, he could never forget that part of him that was absolutely confident in everything he did.

    ''It''s not a matter of chance in this fight.''

    Especially when Nonexistence was his chosenbat method, chance didn''t exist.

    As long as he had the mind topete against the Spiritual God, he could take it down.

    ''Okay.''

    He ced his hand on the containment unit and let a pulse of power run through it. With that motion alone, the containment unit shattered.

    ''I''ve done enough thinking. I just have to wlessly execute now.''

    He had to kill Chaos.

    Neither doubt nor uncertainty would stop him anymore.

    Not after he''de this far.

    ***

    And so, a night passed. The artificial sun signaled the start of a new day, and more importantly, the start of a huge event on the third ind. The crowd was already packed into the arena. Hundreds of thousands of people watched in person, while millions more watched through broadcasts. The announcements had already passed. The anticipation levels in the stadium were too high for the announcers to interrupt. They merely introduced the two people who were preparing to fight and got ready to make the call.

    Damien and the Dragon Lord looked at each other from across the battleground.

    The final moment to decide whether this event would end in blessing or catastrophe hade.

 Chapter 1826 Confrontation [6]

    Chapter 1826 Confrontation [6]

    Really, the arena couldn''t be defined better by anything other than the crowd''s cheers.

    They were explosive. Their voices and the stomping of their feet shook the entire city of Terra where the arena was located. Compared to the previous days, they were much more plentiful. This final match was one they''d been anticipating, after all.

    Damien was a new star who rose like a rocket, dominating thepetition. Meanwhile, the Dragon Lord was a seasoned veteran who had experienced countless battles.

    Everyone wanted to see how the new and the old shed. And, more importantly, this was the first time in history that a fight against an Area Lord was being publicized.

    Not only would Damien fight him in front of everyone, but he''d do it in a ce where their energy manifested into the physical ne, giving themon people a chance to actually understand how the battle was progressing.

    The exciting event drew millions into the arena. Its size had to be expanded just to amodate them, and even then, the area outside was swarmed by those who wanted to watch on the big screens.

    Damien faced the Dragon Lord in this climate. The frown on his face looked like one of extreme concentration, but he really was just unhappy with the situation at hand.

    His voice entered the Area Lord''s mind.

    "Are you prepared for this?"

    He didn''t say anything that could trigger the curse, but it was enough for the Dragon Lord to learn that Damien knew what was going to happen.

    He nced at Damien with a strange expression.

    "I am not," he responded.

    "And I am not able to entertain you at this time."

    The announcers were no more than flies at this point. The way they riled up the crowd and prepared the stage made it difficult for Damien to dy.

    In fact, they were already in the process of starting the match.

    He looked into the Dragon Lord''s eyes, trying to find any semnce of fighting spirit. However, he only found the hollow emptiness of someone who had already resigned to fate.

    "Now, the moment you''ve all been waiting for! Let the final battle between Damien Void and the Dragon Lord¡­"

    "If there is one thing I do wish to say¡­" The Dragon Lord''s voice cut through the announcer''s words.

    "...begin!"

    "...I''m sorry."

    BOOM!

    The first impact was loud. The sounds that would otherwise be nonexistent were recreated by the arena''s systems.

    In that moment, two things happened. Half of the arena was covered in a sea of ck mes. At the same time, a metallic defense structure took hold of the other half, preventing the fire''s spread.

    RAAAAAA!

    The crowd immediately broke out into cheers, but Damien was no longer paying attention to him. His entire focus was on the Dragon Lord in front of him.

    ''The goal is not to win.''

    No, it was something much harder. To stall and stall and stall until he had no choice but to win; that was Damien''s goal for this battle.

    His eyes went to the ck mes.

    ''Is this his trait?''

    He could feel the mes corroding his own defensiveyer at every point of contact. They had a sort of ethereal burn that could be felt in the soul, and though they burned nothing in the environment, they were deadly against Nonexistence itself.

    Damien and the Dragon Lord both stayed nted within their territories. For the first few seconds, they analyzed the interaction between their energies at the center of the arena.

    To say that one of them had an inherent advantage was wrong. The Dragon Lord''s theme was to burn the enemy''s energy and existence, leaving them with nothing more than an empty vessel. Meanwhile, Damien trapped his enemies and cut through them in a single blow like an assassin, ending them quickly.

    Their strategies and energies were inherently too different to be directlypared. So, in a match like this, they were forced to find more creative ways to face each other.

    ''My web won''t work the same way against him.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It was pointless to try and trap someone who was able to melt the cage. To leave theplicated things in the background and simplify, the current match was like one between a metal elementalist and a me elementalist. That couldn''t be allowed.

    Especially when the key to his n wasnding the final blow at the exact timing that he wanted to, he needed to eliminate the variables caused by the usual method ofbat.

    ''Minimize andpress.''

    Damien''s thought process ended with the conclusion that he couldn''t fight this battle at range.

    As people in this realm were rarely able to mobilize enough power while moving, battles were carried out in the way Damien was already used to. The casters themselves would stay in position and let their abilities do the moving.

    If Damien could attain mobility, he would already have an advantage that others didn''t possess. The Dragon Lord wouldn''t be able to predict it, right?

    VOOOOM!

    A huge wave of fire crashed down onto the metal construct. The concepts within were all rted to banishment.

    Defense, fortitude, and ambition were all targeted at the same time.

    Damien was forced to respond by increasing the tenacity of his web. The defense aspect was meant to break the physical factors protecting Damien. While he was busy trying to fix them, the banishment of fortitude and ambition would heavily affect his mental state.

    ''He''s smart.''

    Ambition wasn''t something people usually targeted, but it was just as important as more obvious targets like fighting spirit.

    Ambition was the core concept that drove a practitioner. If it was taken away, they would lose a lot more than they realized.

    To truly take away someone''s ambition, the caster had to have dominance over their enemy. They had to prove that the weight of their own ambition overshadowed that of those they faced, and when that difference was made true, the opponent would crumble.

    It was a brave move to try a stunt like that from the start, but Damien figured it was more of a probe than anything.

    The Dragon Lord didn''t put any real effort into banishing the concept. He only wanted to see what attitude Damien responded with.

    And currently, he was of the mind to defend as best as he possibly could until he grasped the concept that he was trying to bring into reality.

    ''A form. A familiar form that I can use to bring the elusive things into the light.''

    He pondered on it for but a few seconds. There were only a few things that could fit the criteria for the form he had in mind, so thinking was useless.

    Only, to actually turn his current domain into a weapon that could be wielded¡­

    ''...is going to be extremely difficult.''

    Nevertheless, it was better for him. Because his job was to hold the Dragon Lord back, his current defensive strategy was perfect for that goal.

    He only needed to bring that concept into reality when the time was right.

    And, conveniently enough¡­

    ¡­it seemed the main body had also arrived at his designated battleground.

 Chapter 1827 Confrontation [7]

    Chapter 1827 Confrontation [7]

    The scene was set at the top of an active volcano. Quite an inconvenient battle environment for most people, but nothing major for the two in question. This ce was just barely past the Dragon Lord''s manor. That ce remained at the foot of this volcano because the terrifying mes were enough to burn even an expert in Nonexistence.

    These mes were the basis of the Dragon Lord''s power, and they were a perfect tool to use if one wanted to see one''s enemy suffer.

    Maybe that was why Chaos waited here. It wasn''t difficult for Damien to find him after leaving the containment unit. He made his aura clear to the only person who recognized his existence, calling him to their battleground in something like a show of courtesy.

    He waited at the top of that volcano for Damien to arrive, and without time to stall, Damien did exactly that.

    When he approached, the figure he saw was the same one he met in the containment unit. The monk''s body was clearly the same as his ego, but there was something very obviously different about him.

    Chaos was not a human. As a being born from emotions and energy, its only humanoid feature was its preference for the human form. upying Eximus'' body, it looked like a poor imitation of a man and at the same time the ideal of a very specific type of person. It was a contradictory appearance that matched the contradictory force of chaos itself.

    "I have been waiting for you."

    A voice deep and booming greeted Damien. It felt like a dark mountain whose oppressing pressure made it inhabitable to only the cruelest and most desperate creatures.

    "You¡­this is not your true form, is it?"

    Chaos immediately saw through his disguise, but Damien didn''t think it was because he could read the Void. Rather, he must''ve given himself away when he made contact with the Dragon Lord.

    "Was that one little clue enough for you? Seriously, I guess you pick some things up after scheming for millions of years," he said, gazing at the Spiritual God with a look of subtle disdain.

    His disguise lifted naturally. Damien was feeling cramped in another body, anyway. It was better for him to show himself before their battle.

    And now that he''d shown himself, it was better for their battle to begin as soon as possible. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "You look like you wish to fight, however, I will not entertain you," Chaos suddenly said.

    "What?" Damien responded in surprise.

    "As I said, I will not entertain your instinct for battle. Not until you have answered one question of mine."

    Damien naturally frowned. What kind of development was this? And why the hell did Chaos think he would go along with it?

    "You can ask your questions if you win. Do you think you can stop me from attacking when I want to?"

    BOOM!

    "Perhaps not, but I can assure you that you will not be able to touch me."

    Chaos reappeared in apletely different ce, unaffected by Damien''s sudden strike.

    "Though battle does indeed interest me, I must know¡­"

    Chaos looked over at Damien. In that moment, he felt the world change.

    The skies turned red and Eximus'' physical form was usurped by an energy being made of ck and red light. Two vague eyes and a mouth formed on that being''s face, twisted horridly.

    "Where did you receive your surname?"

    BOOM!

    Damien attacked without realizing it. In this environment, with Chaos running rampant,a simr effect was produced to what the battle arena intentionally did. Nonexistence was manifested, and all things came to light. Arge explosion took a chunk out of the volcano, and by the time its sound traveled to where Damien was previously standing, he was already charging at the enemy.

    He didn''t understand the question, nor did he wonder why it was relevant. The sheer aura that the Spiritual God released when he spoke those words put Damien''s mind into battle mode, destroying any other thoughts.

    A dangerous entity. Damien already knew that Chaos was going to be one, but he didn''t expect the gap between them to be so wide.

    Uncountable years of experience, uncountable years of worship; together they culminated into a spiritual being with power thatpletely surpassed the bounds of the third ind.

    Damien couldn''t give a being like that even a fraction of a second of time. No, he had to kill it by pressuring it and giving it not a single opportunity to resist. Otherwise, he would be the one dying here.

    Chaos once again reacted casually, appearing elsewhere before it could take any damage. Damien was originally nning to face it with Nonexistence, but he realized that the force would be useless against this entity.

    Half of Chaos'' being was Nonexistence itself. The other half was the human emotion and reverence for the concept that led to its creation. If Damien wanted to use Nonexistence, then he had to morph his own energy until it was perfectly aligned with Order.

    He was already following a simr path, but this wasn''t like the battle with the Dragon Lord. On this field, Damien didn''t have anywhere near the amount of freedom necessary to experiment in the middle of battle.

    And, while the Damien over there was stalling, this iteration of him had to end this battle as soon as possible.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    He chased Chaos'' movements with pure physical speed. He punched with enough force to disrupt the atmosphere, unintentionally using it as another attack method.

    Chaos dodged and weaved, always staying within Damien''s range as if to tell him that it was impossible for him to do anything.

    The smile on his face affirmed that, and his words even more so.

    "I told you. We will not fight until you have answered my question. Tell me from where you received that surname."

    Damien ignored the words again and remained on the attack, but he didn''t fail to hear them this time.

    ''My surname?''

    The "Void" surname?

    Why was that being mentioned now?

    It was a name Damien received from his father, and his father was a hero who rose from meager circumstances to be the greatest man the cosmos had ever seen. Their surname only became something worth talking about in his father''s generation, so why was there an ancient Spiritual God mentioning it like it was something important?

    Damien had no way of knowing what kind of answer Chaos was even looking for, so rather than focusing on it, he attacked harder. Chaos had yet to do anything but dodge. Still, Damien could feel how dangerous the enemy was. It was as if the moment he attacked would be Damien''s end.

    With that feeling in mind, he wanted to use the opponent''s current arrogance against him and do some damage before his opponent decided to return fire, but¡­

    ''Nonexistence won''t work, and physical attacks were futile from the start. Then¡­is "that" my only option?''

    It wasn''t something he wanted to do in this realm, but if he was willing to gamble with his life on the line, then he could try it.

    And if it was the only way to defeat Chaos, then it didn''t matter in the first ce.

    Damien''s life was already on the line.

    ''But it''s too soon to make that decision. I''ll test the waters some more first, and if it really turns out that there isn''t another viable solution¡­''

    ¡­then he''d pull out a card he was really hoping he didn''t have to use here.

 Chapter 1828 Confrontation [8]

    Chapter 1828 Confrontation [8]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The sh in the arena grew fiercer by the second. When Damien was forced to stop ying defensively, the crowd absolutely fell in love with the scene they were lucky enough to witness.

    Damien and the Dragon Lord were no longer stationary, nor were the bounds of their territories so easy to distinguish. ck mes littered the ground, but rising out of those mes like snakes whose only goal was to devour them was none other than Damien''s metallic web. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He fragmented it and spread it further, scattering concepts throughout the arena. With this separation, the mes were no longer able to easily melt the metal. More importantly, Damien could attack the mes as well.

    He focused more on the Dragon Lord''s energy than the man himself, but that was when the Dragon Lord proved why he was titled as such.

    In the end, he was not a man, but a dragon. He could not use the majority of his bloodline abilities without mana, but there was still one thing left invible.

    Physical strength.

    Whether he''d been informed that Damien had a powerful dragon aura beforehand or decided to save that move forter, he didn''t release his bloodline suppression.

    He charged at Damien with ck mes surrounding his fists and punched out.

    Damien didn''t try to meet the punches head-on from the beginning. He crossed his arms and blocked to test their might, allowing his body to fly back and crash into the arena wall.

    ''It''s the same strategy.''

    Instead of letting his mes do all the work, the Dragon Lord was equipping them as gauntlets and taking them to the prey. There wasn''t much of a difference between that and normal fighting. If Damien wanted to do the same, he just had to grab one of the many metal spikes on the ground and use it as a sword.

    But that wasn''t his end goal.

    ''He''s taking the base concept of the domain and replicating it in a mobile form. Rather than that, I want to take everything my domain has to offer and manifest it in a weaponized form.''

    Say Damien used the same strategy. In that case, the most he could do was create des of confinement or fatal strike. He couldn''t create a de to confine, attack, and detect weaknesses all at the same time. Still, watching the Dragon Lord maneuver his energy was definitely helpful.

    The public sentiment wasn''t entirely wrong. Though Damien wasn''t weak enough to be called a real underdog, he was indeed a neer. He didn''t have the millions of years of practicalbat experience that his opponents possessed. He had been using raw power to ovee them this entire time.

    This was a match with the world at stake, but it was still an extremely useful learning experience for Damien.

    ''I can take his punches.''

    There was no need to run. Maybe the Dragon Lord could swallow the Nonexistence used in Damien''s territory, but he was confident that the man couldn''t touch the version of the concept that existed in his soul.

    In that split second when Damien was in the wall, the Dragon Lord approached as if his n was always to turn him into a meat pancake. He mmed his fist out again, but Damien responded only by doing the same.

    BOOOOOM!

    The spectators went wild as a huge collision took ce just below them. The entire arena wall shattered into pieces, revealing the many facilities that existed under the stands. However, Damien and the Dragon Lord weren''t there anymore.

    They had moved to the other side of the arena already.

    Within that single explosion were two impacts. The first canceled the Dragon Lord''s momentum and crushed the wall, while the second threw the Dragon Lord just as he''d thrown Damien.

    Damien chased him as he flew, using his raw fists tobat the Area Lord''s energy.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    He wanted to feel how those fists and that energy coalesced. As they struck against his bare skin, he directly felt the interaction between them and how they changed when they came in contact with an object. ''This is good.''

    The Dragon Lord was showing him everything he shouldn''t do. He didn''t have to do nearly as much experimentation and hypothesizing when so many paths were closed off just because of the way the Dragon Lord used his mana.

    Damien paid close attention to it. He noticed that the Dragon Lord hadn''t taken any damage so far, which was a good thing, but it wasn''t going to stay that way.

    Regardless of skill level, this match was rigged against him. No matter what, he was going to win. If he took too long and made it seem like he couldn''tplete the job, then someone else would take it into their own hands to make the Area Lord explode.

    Damien needed to both do damage and keep his enemy from taking too much damage.

    ''It''splicated, but it''s not impossible.''

    All he needed was a weapon.

    ''Concentrate.''

    BOOOOM!

    Damien threw a powerful punch and pushed the Dragon Lord away from him.

    ''Minimize andpress. That holds true. The energy will not run rampant regardless of what happens, but to contain a myriad of concepts, I just need a myriad of faces.''

    A weapon with infinite faces, something that could hold every individual concept and empower them to create the same effect as the entire territory¡­

    Didn''t Damien already have the perfect weapon?

    He couldn''t ess the original because it was in reality, but he could make a copy using the powers of this realm.

    As the crowd watched on, Damien pushed his arm out as if he was grabbing something. His hand wrapped around an invisible sword handle, and suddenly, the sunlight started refracting and creating caustics on the ground around him.

    "Something" had been formed.

    And that "something" was none other than Mirage, a translucent sword made of an almost ss-like material. That sword had all of the characteristics necessary for containing the power of Nonexistence.

    ''It''s been beside me for almost my entire life. I''m d I was able to find another purpose for it at this stage.''

    The metal spikes and web fragments scattered around the arena rose into the air and turned into shining lights that coalesced inside Mirage.

    The translucent sword became one of light for a brief moment, and by the time it faded and returned to its original appearance, it had truly be a weapon of Nonexistence.

    ''With this¡­''

    Damien looked down at the sword with a grin.

    ''...everything bes possible.''

    He shot forward and raised it into the air. He smiled even wider when he thought about what he was about to do.

    It was a true moment of reminiscence, a meeting between past and present.

    ''Void Sword Art First Step: deless''

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    A huge gust of wind filled the arena. Nobody could understand what was happening. Space couldn''t be copsed or torn in this realm where space did not exist and was only perceived. However, somehow, through some esoteric means, Damien created something that looked awfully simr to a tear in space.

    And as it enveloped the area where the Dragon Lord was standing¡­

    ¡­the first drop of blood was drawn in this battle.

 Chapter 1829 Confrontation [9]

    Chapter 1829 Confrontation [9]

    Trying to fight Chaos was reminiscent of futility itself.

    Chaos was a force of disorder. The unique circumstances surrounding its birth allowed it to ignore conventionalws, so it had power beyond what Damien had seen in his life.

    Rather than being incredibly powerful, its nature of bending reality made it incredibly difficult to face.

    Thews of Nonexistence were twisted whenever they came close to the being. Nature itself rebelled against its natural order and twisted into something unrecognizable just because the Spiritual God existed in its vicinity.

    Facing such a being, Damien realized that everything he tried was going to be futile.

    He genuinely couldn''t do anything in this state. For the first time, he''d met an enemy that was like this.

    Usually, it was only a power gap separating Damien from his enemies. As long as he reached their level, they were no longer terrifying. Chaos was different in that there technically was not a level of power in the Land of Nothingness. Everyone started and finished with the power to control Nonexistence. To be stronger, one had to understand how to use the power one possessed properly. In that sense, Chaos and Damien were at the same level. The problem was that Chaos was an entity born from the folds of this space. Unlike the children who were birthed in the Land of Nothingness, it was birthed from Nothingness itself after it mingled with the emotions of the popce.

    Damien could try and try as much as he wanted, but no matter how he shaped or formed it, Nonexistence would not be able to harm Chaos.

    His eyes narrowed as he epted this conclusion. Even if it was bad for the current him, the knowledge that such a thing was possible was still a good thing to have. Sometimes, using the opposing force was necessary. ''It pisses me off that I have to do this. It literally hasn''t done anything yet.''

    When it came to Nonexistence, there was only one force that could be called true opposition. And to ess it¡­

    Damien frowned as he gazed at the ck and red energy form in Eximus'' body.

    ''It pisses me off that I have to do this. It literally hasn''t done anything yet.''

    Chaos was standing there smiling as if nothing Damien did mattered. It had no intention to attack or fight. After all, even if it weren''t for its question, why would it fight?

    All it needed to do was stay alive and all of its ns woulde to fruition. Damien was the one who urgently needed to kill it so that the control skill affecting the ind''s strongest people could be dispelled.

    Damien had to provoke it into a fight and kill it. He could try giving it an answer to its question, but why would he give away possibly sensitive information? In the end, he would learn the reasoning behind the question once he devoured Chaos. There was no need to entertain it.

    Then, to provoke it into a fight, he needed to injure it.

    That was why the colorless energy around him suddenly turned pitch-ck.

    Damien covered himself in Void Energy and cut his connection with the Land of Nothingness. He reached beyond the veil and pulled out a force that diametrically opposed everything about this realm''s existence.

    For the first time, Existence met the Land of Nothingness. The realm was very obviously not happy with that.

    RUMBLE!

    The skies were suddenly filled with ck clouds as the redness caused by Chaos was swallowed and spit out. Pitch-ck lightning struck the ground all around the volcano, deleting it entirely and leaving only ake ofva in its ce. "You¡­! What have you done?!" Chaos screamed. It rapidly contained its presence and backed away, trying to avoid the rampant lightning. Its attitude changed immediately once it realized what Damien was trying to do, but it was unable to stop it.

    It didn''t care if the enemy died here, but the storm had the power to kill even the Spiritual God. It urgently wanted Damien to stop his madness.

    Unfortunately, its words fell on deaf ears in a literal sense as Damien''s hearing was too consumed by the sound of a raging Nothingness to register Chaos'' screaming. Damien frowned.

    He could feel the Nonexistence he connected with clearly in his heart. Though it didn''t like that he was using Existence, it also wasn''t opposed as it knew that Damien''s resolve was real.

    The force trying to strike him down and erase his existence was a different face of the concept.

    It never had just one ego. It was a collection of an uncountable number of nameless faces, all with their own personalities and preferences. Every single interpretation of Nonexistence had its own face.

    He imed one for himself, but he had now offended another. This rage, this pure power of extinction, was the perception of Nonexistence that his own form of the concept hated most.

    ''Well, I was never nning to die here, so¡­''

    A fork of ck lightning flew on a direct path to Damien and arrived in an instant. Rather than dodging, he held his hand out to catch it.

    BOOOOOM!

    A huge sound shattered the surrounding rock as Damien wrapped his fingers around the energy.

    His eyes glowed as he looked down on it.

    He was currently surrounded by Void Energy. What did a mere Nonexistence think it had the power to do? n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien looked up at the clouds and put energy into his hand. Using the strand of lightning as a leash, he dragged the clouds closer and closer.

    They tried to resist his will and failed all the same. It had to be remembered that Chaos could only win against Damien because Nonexistence didn''t work on him. He couldn''t use the Void to attack yet, or else he would have been incinerated in a single second. The Void wouldn''t help him solve problems where it was unnecessary. However, in moments like these, it didn''t mind allowing him to shine.

    The resisting clouds of Nonexistence were dragged to ground level. When they were just above his head, Damien mmed the leash into his own chest and pushed it into his soul.

    The clouds had no choice but to follow. The face of Nonexistence that chose to challenge him was forced to be devoured, turned into food for another face.

    "Are you insane?!"

    Even Chaos couldn''t believe what it was witnessing.

    It had never encountered a force that had the power to kill it. Even the Ancient Gods who defeated him the first time could only seal him and hope that future generations would be able to finish what they started.

    That fact allowed it to develop an unparalleled arrogance. It yed around and acted whimsical with Damien because it genuinely felt not a single ounce of threat to its existence.

    This was different. The storm alone had enough power to erase it, and the storm was only a byproduct of what Damien was originally trying to do. Damien was a real threat. The first one Chaos had ever met.

    The instant the storm receded, Damien had to die.

    That was what Chaos thought, but Damien had a bit of a different opinion.

    His eyes were practically shining with light as he epted the Godly power within him.

    And, as he became a manifestation of Existence within the realm of Nothingness, he grinned.

    With this kind of power, even Chaos itself had to tremble before him.

 Chapter 1830 Confrontation [10]

    Chapter 1830 Confrontation [10]

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    By the time the wind died down, nobody had time to question how Damien possibly gained the ability to cut through space.

    Unlike the mostly defensive stance that he took throughout this battle and the even ying field that he and the Dragon Lord seemed to be on, Damien instantly started dominating with Mirage in his hand. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He dashed like aet, a beam of light that only turned back into a person when he was ready to strike. His sword was fast and domineering, full of powerful strikes that sent the Dragon Lord tumbling backward.

    At the same time, he was able to exhibit snake-like properties with his movements, dodging around the Dragon Lord''s counterattacks and striking vital points to stagger him instead.

    There was no set form to Damien''s swordsmanship. There wasn''t anything like a pattern that could be followed, because Damien was never a swordsman. The sword he picked up out of necessity covered itself in aura to acknowledge his struggle, but he never progressed to the esoteric realms that people like Long Chen had reached.

    His swordsmanship was originally just a brutish mess of stabs and shes, but that changed along with his personality. The current Damien knew how to be on both sides of the coin, so he was more varied in how he maneuvered the sword.

    Like always, he based his movements on the countless sword styles he''d seen in the past and created something wondrous out of it.

    The crowd was left in awe. The Dragon Lord was still fighting back, but Damien could be said to have aplete monopoly over the battlefield right now. He was drawing blood with almost every strike. His concepts of Nonexistence pushed against the Dragon Lord''s physical body and the energy he shielded himself with, cutting through like it was only pressing against butter.

    It looked like Damien could aim for the kill whenever he wanted to. However, since when was that his goal?

    The Dragon Lord could tell that he was not losing stamina properly. Compared to his number of injuries, their actual effect was minimal. Damien was definitely striking him with a lot of power. The pain he felt was not an illusion. However, was he being¡­healed?

    No, that was not possible. Instead, it was more likely that Damien was using the confinement properties of his energy to keep the wounds mostly sealed.

    Why?

    Was he trying to stall, or¡­

    ''...no, the expression on his face is that of a madman.''

    There was a light in that man''s eyes that craved blood. He seemed like an honorable person when they first met, but he changed the moment he saw blood.

    He clearly wanted to torture his opponent before killing. ''You may be strong, but I will not allow myself to be tormented!''

    He hadmitted many sins in this life. His greatest was not done through his own volition, but he was still willing to take responsibility for being fooled.

    He did not want to die and kill everyone here. He would not give this enemy the right to kill him so mercilessly either.

    The Dragon Lord was disallowed from having a will to live. In order to make him ept death in the arena, he had been ced in such a state. However, Damien''s vulgar actions formed a different kind of me in his heart.

    He was fine with dying and he did not want to live, but if he was going to die, then he would not do it like this.

    Damien grinned as he saw the light in his opponent''s eyes change.

    ''Good. This is working.''

    He originally put on the guise of a madman in case his methods came into question. Rather than having the curse trigger because he was stalling, he preferred to justify his actions with something usible.

    ''To trick your enemy you have to trick your friend type situation, right? But I got something unexpected out of it.''

    The will to fight that was now present in those previously hollow eyes was a good thing. Damien was now set up to ughter the Dragon Lord whenever he wanted to. If he meaninglessly tried to extend the fight when it looked so one-sided, nothing would work.

    Since the Dragon Lord looked like he wanted to fight back, Damien had an excuse to keep going.

    ''The main body decided to cheat, so it shouldn''t take much longer.''

    Until then, he could have a proper fight with the Dragon Lord.

    That man was no longer just taking hits.

    Rather, Damien was forced to jump back as a wave of power spread from the Area Lord''s body.

    The atmosphere turned red with the color of blood. The Dragon Lord''s body morphed, bingrger andrger until it filled up almost the whole arena.

    ROOOAAAAAR!

    A red dragon, a true incarnation of fire, appeared and aimed its hostility at Damien.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Damien''s eyes widened as he was suddenly assailed by balls of fire that were more akin to stars than dragon''s breath.

    He jumped into the air and continuously dodged, but he couldn''t stop the tips of his clothes from catching fire.

    ''So, Dragon Lord. Makes sense.''

    He didn''t have to question the name anymore.

    This Area Lord had been in the Land of Nothingness to transform the very core of his origin into a part of this realm.

    He was still a red dragon, strong and proud. However, any and all abilities of his bloodline were nowced with Nonexistence andpatible with the realm''sws.

    ''Yeah, this is the kind of boss battle I was looking forward to.''

    BOOOOOM!

    WHOOOOOSH!

    The raging mes epassed nearly the entire arena, but Damien''s acute eyesight found him a path.

    He dashed, his path like a spark of lightning striking towards the ground, and approached the massive creature.

    WHOOOOOSH!

    The ws of a dragon swung out with the intent of turning his body into a paste, but Damien was prepared for it. Years of teleporting made it incredibly easy for him to mimic his former main ability in short-distance situations.

    sh!

    Damien was gone in one second and back in the next, standing on the dragon''s back.

    He pushed his sword down, but the sound he heard was not the one he wanted to receive.

    CLANG!

    As metal shed against scales, massive spikes jutted out from the Dragon Lord''s back. Damien was forced to jump again to avoid being impaled, but that was exactly what the dragon wanted.

    He couldn''t attack someone on his back, but he had been alive long enough to develop solutions to such obvious problems.

    He pped his wings in a strange pattern. Creating a draft of wind that flowed up onto his back and formed a jet that propelled anything there into the sky. The scaly thorns were drawn by the gust and became projectiles that aimed for Damien.

    He observed the entire situation with a grin on his face. For the first time, the crowd''s cheers didn''t seem so ominous.

    Even he had to admit that, in this moment, he was having fun fighting.

    But it was fated to end soon.

    The moment the main body caught Chaos, the Dragon Lord would also die.

    So, he had to make the most out of this fight while itsted.

 Chapter 1831 Confrontation [11]

    Chapter 1831 Confrontation [11]

    The instant Damien finished consuming the storm, Chaos charged. The lightning that blocked his way was removed, so it had to take this opportunity to eliminate the threat to its life.

    Chaos, in reality, didn''t have a personality. It had an arrogance formed by its life as a supreme concept, but any sort of emotion or personality he showed was just an act.

    As a Spiritual God, the only "emotions" he could show were those that rted to the concept. Even then, rather than being true emotions, those were just another manifestation of Chaos.

    The ego of the Spiritual God had little to no control over its actions. It was merely born as a byproduct of the creation of a physical form. However, there was one time that any being could show true emotion regardless of whether they were allowed or not.

    When their lives were threatened, even beings who didn''t know fear would at least feel a sense of self-preservation. Unless they were specifically trained to dull this sense, it was impossible for anyone to avoid it.

    For the first time in its life, Chaos felt real emotion. It felt a desire to live that forced it to kill the man in front of it.

    The curiosity it had about his name was not small. That name held immense value that Damien himself was clearly not aware of. It needed to know if Damien was in any way rted to "that person," but it could no longer fulfill that desire.

    The ck and red energy of chaos ran rampant, sparking into the atmosphere in a form simr to the lightning that struck moments ago. It moved in close, but not nearly close enough for hand-to-handbat. It stopped its movements within just a few feet of Damien and rapidly retreated, holding its hand out and releasing power.

    A huge red dome was formed with Damien at its center. When Chaos closed its fist, the dome pulsated, releasing waves of power that bore into Damien''s body.

    "Infection" was what Chaos was most familiar with. At some point, anyone would turn into a chaotic being when injected with enough of the energy.

    It wanted to use its energy to convert even a single fingernail of Damien''s so that it had something totch onto when attacking continuously.

    However, the light-covered Damien no longer had any openings.

    He overgeared himself for the sole purpose of ughtering and devouring Chaos. It wasn''t that he evened the ying field. He shattered it and gave himself an absolute advantage.

    The pulse of Chaos couldn''t prate his skin in the slightest.

    ''That''s not to say that Chaos can''t damage me anymore, but I won''t fall to casual attacks.''

    More importantly, when Damien decided to attack¡­

    BOOOOOM!

    To use Existence in a ce where nothing existed was impossible. However, its presence created such a violent reaction that it could be used as the perfect weapon.

    Damien merely exerted the energy of Existence where Chaos stood and the realm broke apart, bing a field of ck lightning. That lightning was no longer controlled by a face of Nonexistence. As Damien devoured its face, he wouldn''t be affected by it either.

    However, for Chaos, being inside of a zone where Existence and Nonexistence shed was like being thrown into a meat grinder.

    His physical body was instantly torn apart. The energy form that truly represented him escaped, but Damien was already in the process of chasing it.

    Existence made Chaos look weak, but it was not weak by any means.

    "I will not die so easily!" It roared.

    Its energy body solidified into a humanoid form and gathered all of the power in its surroundings.

    Chaotic energy and Nonexistence became one, creating a huge ck and red wave that swallowed everything in the vicinity.

    "Die!"

    The wave crashed towards Damien from every direction. Before getting close, though, they were stopped by an invisible force.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    ck lightning exploded out from every ce of contact like deadly fireworks. The entire environment, including the Dragon Lord''s mansion, was reduced to nothingness. On the t in only inhabited by energy, Damien faced that enormous wall of chaos. He looked beyond it with a frown.

    ''Is it trying to flee?''

    If a Spiritual God''s instinct was self-preservation, then it was natural to flee. Chaos encountered a force it knew nothing about that opposed everything it stood for. Even without seeing what Damien could do while wielding that force, the correct decision was to escape and return when he had more knowledge.

    Unfortunately, this was not a battle that Chaos could avoid. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    With a sh of light, Damien canceled distance and arrived near where he sensed the concept''s energy mass.

    BOOM!

    He was not the one who attacked. Sensing the changes in the fabric of the ind, Chaos preemptively attacked.

    Its power coiled into the form of a dragon and breathed mes of chaos onto Damien. He immediately put up a shield to block it, but at that same moment, ck lightning shed behind him.

    BOOM!

    The fabric of the ind shattered again. From the center of the explosive catastrophe, hundreds and thousands of rotting ck arms reached out and grabbed at Damien. He was forced to push away, feeling a serious deathly aura from them. Only, as he was focused on those arms, Chaos took him by surprise with an attack that was guaranteed to make contact.

    After all, it grabbed the back of Damien''s head in its hands and released its energy without restriction.

    "Khhh¡­!"

    He gritted his teeth and endured the pain. At this distance, Damien couldn''t protect himself from the invasion of Chaos. He was just barely ready for it because he''d devoured a fragment of its power before, but it still wasn''t enough.

    The red and ck energy flooded his spiritual world and soul. The piece in his soul was instantly devoured, but his mind was still forced to endure. The energy aimed for his memories, altering them and filling him with aggression. It wanted to tear him apart from the inside. The goal wasn''t to kill him immediately, but to control him so that he could be killed in a single instant.

    The shining light on Damien''s body became brighter as he forcefully expelled the energy. Rather than moving away, he grabbed the Spiritual God and made sure he couldn''t run away. The energy of devouring flooded out of Damien''s palms and crawled up Chaos'' arms.

    "This¡­! This is¡­! So you are truly¨C"

    BOOM!

    Chaos detonated his arms and ran away. His words weren''t meant for Damien, but for himself. He felt the force that wanted to consume him vividly. With that alone, he made the decision that fighting simply wasn''t worth it.

    See, Spiritual Gods became stronger as the faith people had in them increased.

    Chaos definitely had a good following, but he was never expecting Damien''s intervention. The n he created himself was failing him. After all, over the past two days, countless chaos worshippers had been captured, and numerous more were forced to go into hiding to avoid persecution.

    It was originally meant to be a front, but the chaos worshippers didn''t know that yet. As they ceased their activities and stopped praying, Chaos had been temporarily weakened.

    If it wanted to be strong enough to face Damien in his current form, then it needed to gather faith and cause chaos. It needed to be stronger.

    Damien was bound to chase it, so battle was inevitable. However, before it started again, Chaos was going to be an entity that even the Damien who wielded a mysterious power could not stand against. Because anyone who was rted to "that person" could not be left alive.

 Chapter 1832 Confrontation [12]

    Chapter 1832 Confrontation [12]

    Once he transformed, fighting the Dragon Lord felt like a game.

    He had patterns that were easier to read. Breath attacks, w attacks, bites, and tail swipes were the majority of his movements. His back spikes and gust abilities didn''t work as well if Damien didn''t aim to get behind him, so they were made ineffective the moment Damien adapted to his strategies.

    This was a fight between a rising genius and an Area Lord, but it looked more like the start of a dragon yer''s journey. The crowd was enamored by each and every moment, and though the Temple Masters knew that this event was fated to end in tragedy, even they couldn''t help but be impressed by the show.

    Damien was extremely fast. When he adopted a fighting style less like that of a Supreme, embracing his skill rather than his raw power, he was able to create something majestic on the battlefield.

    His origin was war and battle. It was such an integral part of his life, so he''d grown into someone who performed best when he was not in control of absolute power.

    When using Existence or Nonexistence, battles became more boring. Though there were many intellectually fascinating things happening, the fights were more between people''s minds than their bodies.

    This was different. Though their minds were still their main weapons, they used their bodies just as much. The Nonexistence they controlled was exhibited through their every movement, through the swings of their swords and ws, and through the fantastic abilities they used.

    Damien was employing the Void Sword Art again. It had eight forms that had been developed over the course of his lifetime. Unlike anything else, these techniques were unique to him in every way. Despite having to use them with Nonexistence alone rather than their originalws, he was able to wlessly disy their power.

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Step: Spatial Copse''

    Copsing space in the Land of Nothingness was impossible, but copsing its reality was not. Damien targeted the very fabric that held the realm together and forced it to twist into a massive spatial distortion that swallowed the Dragon Lord''s body.

    The sky became the ground and the ground became the sky. The faces of the crowd turned into a mosaic of colors with no distinct features, warping the Dragon Lord''s perception of the world.

    The gravitational pull that the attack created froze his body, and as the cracks tried to cut through his scales, he roared in power.

    His aura epassed the entire distortion and ttened it to the ground.

    BOOOOM!

    The entire arena shook. The ground shattered into millions of pieces only to regenerate in the next second.

    The Dragon Lord''s body moved like a snake as he charged towards Damien. His w extended, wrapped in the same ck mes that he used before.

    However, Damien was already counterattacking.

    ''Sixth Form: Dimensional Severance''

    It was timed perfectly. The sword swung down in a straight line just before the dragon approached. As his w swiped out, he saw that thin ck line splitting the middle of his vision. BOOOOOOOOOM!

    Two attacksnded at the same time. Damien was thrown backward by the force of the w, but hended his feet on the arena wall and pushed back into battle.

    The Dragon Lord, on the other hand, was met with a near-perfect sword strike to his snout. It deleted the defensive properties of his scales and shattered his nose and jaw. His head was thrown into the air and his stance was broken, giving the mobilized Damien another opportunity to attack.

    ''His underbelly looks like a weak spot, but it''s nothing like that.''

    Just as he covered the weakness of his massive blind spot, he was prepared for people to target his soft underbelly. The moment he was thrown into the air and it was exposed to light, the entire area turned molten.

    Damien was charging straight for it, but he could not touch it. Almost like he made a sacrifice to gain greater power, the Dragon Lord found a way to gain an absolute counter ability on this part of his body.

    If Damien even so much as touched it, he would face a force greater than anything the Dragon Lord himself could exhibit.

    Luckily, he wasn''t aiming for the underbelly in the first ce.

    ''If he gained so much power in that area, then there must be an Achilles'' heel somewhere.''

    It was a rule ofw. Equivalent exchange wasn''t a concept many people paid attention to in the True Void Universe, but it was definitely a system that could match their own if one found the right use for it.

    The Dragon Lord wasn''t from the same cosmos. He used differentws that abided by a different set of principles. What was impossible for Damien as a denizen of the True Void Universe was easily achievable for him.

    In the same way, however, Damien had clear advantages over the Dragon Lord. The True Void Universe had a very direct scaling that was guided by the system. People were encouraged to go beyond what the system was willing to provide, but its aid couldn''t be denied.

    Because the system was guiding them to get stronger, allowing them to kill and kill for progress instead of forcing them to focus for ages to reach their goals, people had more room for creativity.

    Attacks that abided by thews but twisted them,ws that morphed and changed based on the achievements of the people who used them, these were the advantages of the True Void Universe.

    Damien rapidly teleported just as he reached the dragon''s underbelly, propelling himself high into the sky.

    ''Void Sword Art Sixth Step: Worldbreaker''

    The weight of his sword pulled him back down to the earth. The Dragon Lord saw him and prepared his back spikes, but Damien wasn''t afraid of them. When Worldbreaker was gaining even more power due to its momentum, back spikes weren''t enough to stop it.

    Like a meteor crashing into the ground, Damien tore through the air and mmed into the Dragon Lord''s neck.

    BOOOOOOOOM!

    His body was instantly forced to the ground. His neck made a disgusting crunching sound as several bones were broken. The back spikes shattered one by one, and Damien controlled their essence to add to his attack power.

    The ground shattered once more, dropping Damien and the Dragon Lord into a pit below the arena. The floor tried to repair itself, but it no longer had that kind of capability.

    The Dragon Lord was releasing ample amounts of energy tobat Damien''s technique, while Worldbreaker itself was releasing waves that mmed against the arena barrier and struck fear into the onlooking crowd.

    ''It''s time.''

    They had been fighting for some time now. Damien could feel the Dragon Lord''s energy bing wilder and wilder.

    ''At this point, the bomb will go off whether I like it or not.''

    Damien nced up at the Temple Masters. Through a transmission that only they could hear, he sent them five words that made their eyes go wide.

    Regardless, he wasn''t going to let Chaos have its way. If the bomb was going to go off no matter what he did¡­

    ¡­then he was going to be the one to set it off.

    He looked at the Dragon Lord who was struggling below him. To the crowd, it looked like he was still defending against the effects of Worldbreaker, but that had already passed.

    At this point, the Dragon Lord was leaking energy at increasing intensities, and Damien''s oppressive energy was the only thing keeping it frombusting.

    He already won this battle. The internal injuries the Area Lord had sustained were catching up to him, especially now that Damien had released the chains that kept him alive.

    The arena was wild with cheers, shaking the entire city.

    But the rumbling happening now was only partially their fault.

    With onest nce, Damien stabbed his sword into the open flesh he revealed with Worldbreaker.

    And the Dragon Lord dutifully fulfilled his fate as a living nuclear bomb.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1833 Confrontation [13]

    Chapter 1833 Confrontation [13]

    Chaos was running. It was running for the nearest settlement it could find. It needed to cause chaos. It needed to incite people to embrace disorder and his own power.

    It couldn''t fight against Damien. it realized that no matter what it did, Damien had be an entity that it couldn''t touch.

    The power of Existence could not be underestimated. In a realm where nothing was allowed to exist, a force like that was invible.

    Existence and Nonexistence were never meant to sh in the first ce. If they were ced in each other''s environments, they would be instantly stronger than anything else. When ced together in the Void, they were equal.

    Using the two forces one after another was possible for the most skilled Supremes, but using them as one was almost impossible, as was the task of putting them together.

    To reach the level of Absolute¡­there were so many people in the Land of Nothingness, but how many had left?

    How many of those who left were able to achieve power higher than that point?

    Damien had never interacted with an Absolute, nor had he ever heard of an Absolute existing before. He didn''t doubt that they did, but their numbers were so few that it was better if they were believed to be the product of storytelling.

    Bringing Existence into the Land of Nothingness was supposed to be impossible. There was only one Void Physique in the infinite cosmos, or it wouldn''t have been possible for even Damien.

    Since he achieved something so impossible and gained more control over Nonexistence because of it, how was Chaos supposed to stand against him?

    Spiritual Gods were extremely powerful entities. In most cases, the longer they lived, the more powerful they became.

    They could never be truly killed as they would return as long as people continued to believe in their concept. They wielded power that went against thews of nature because they were embodiments of thews of nature.

    Chaos was no different. Until now, nobody had ever been able to touch a single fleck of his energy body.

    But Damien¡­

    Damien wasn''t just able to touch it. He was able to manhandle it as he pleased, and if his mysterious energy managed to touch any piece of that energy, it would be abolished.

    Chaos was opposed to Existence. Unlike Nonexistence, it wasn''t directly opposed in such a way that neither of them could do anything to each other. Rather, a Spiritual God of Chaos was a special entity that would never be allowed to exist in Existence.

    It was the opposite of the order that governed reality. Chaos was an important part of Existence, but it was never allowed to overshadow Order.

    Damien was now the archnemesis that Chaos never wanted to meet, and he was chasing it like there was no tomorrow.

    After all, there really wasn''t a tomorrow.

    The clone''s battle wasing to an end. Damien had to catch it within the next few minutes, or everything would copse.

    Still, he wasn''t afraid.

    ''My previous doubt wasn''t unwarranted. If I was abiding by the rules of the realm, this fight would have gone differently.''

    He had to admit that he wasn''t technically a match for Chaos. It made him feel wrong to cheat for the win like this, but he did what was necessary.

    That was how heforted himself. Rather than following ethics uselessly and fighting a losing battle, he preferred to end things quickly by using everything at his disposal.

    ''And though it still makes all of this feel pointless, I already did it, so there''s no point inining.''

    He was experiencing the joy of a rtively even fight with his other body. Wasn''t it fine to experience absolute domination in this one?

    Chaos was definitely fast. Without a physical body to inhibit its movements, it really wasn''t a force that could be stopped through ordinary means.

    Unfortunately, Damien''s entire problem was that his means weren''t ordinary in the slightest.

    ''How could that person have a descendant? I thought¡­''

    Chaos was focused on the wrong things. So absorbed in its thoughts and its search for somewhere to enhance its myth, it didn''t even notice Damien''s approach.

    Or perhaps it could be attributed to the fact that his energy was currently untrackable in this realm?

    Regardless, Damien appeared behind Chaos at an unknown time and followed him, seeing what it was up to. When he found nothing particrly interesting about the Spiritual God''s rambling, he locked down the area. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    It wasn''t discreet in the slightest. Arge area around Chaos was suddenly filled with an immovable wall of ck lightning explosions. The Spiritual God turned around in fear, finally registering Damien''s presence.

    "What the hell are you?!" It screamed furiously.

    "How is this possible?!"

    It wasn''t fair. It wasn''t fair in the slightest! Why did someone like him have to exist?! Why did he have toe to this realm at the worst possible timing?!

    Chaos was reminded of an individual who came to the Land of Nothingness billions of years ago. He remembered thest time he suffered from an extremely simr situation.

    Back then, the person in question was not bothered by the cycle of all things and chose to seal him rather than kill him. The person in front of Chaos now was clearly not nning to do the same.

    It couldn''t fight back. It couldn''t resist. For the second time in its life, Chaos felt what it was like to be on the receiving end of that kind of treatment.

    Damien had the chance to humiliate the Spiritual God, but he chose not to. He did understand its sentiments, after all.

    He shook his head, resolved to end things quickly and withoutplication.

    "It might seem unfair to you, but¡­do me a favor and die for the sake of everyone else''s wellbeing."

    Damien held his hand out. Chaos immediately felt the aura of death around him.

    ''No.''

    This wasn''t it.

    ''No. No. No.''

    This wasn''t how it was supposed to end.

    ''No. No. NO!''

    It had no choice but to die here, but it couldn''t allow this person to leave the realm and be Absolute. Another face of Chaos would be born in the future, and for its sake, Damien needed to die now.

    "AAAHHHHHH!"

    Chaos screamed as if it was fed up with its circumstances.

    "Fine. Fine. FINE! If I must die, then I must die! However, I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO LIVE AS YOU PLEASE!"

    Chaos had the resolve and the reason.

    Its entire n was centered around a moment like this, but Chaos never expected that it wouldnd itself in the same exact situation.

    With no options and no hope, with only one fate awaiting it, Chaos detonated its very core as a Spiritual God. If it was going to die, then Damien was going to die as well.

    For the sole purpose of achieving that goal, it used every possible ounce of power it could muster from both its current form and the form that was still stuck in the depths of the earth.

    And the explosion created by such a massive outpouring of force¡­

    ¡­wasrge enough to turn the entire third ind into a wastnd. BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1834 Resolution [1]

    Chapter 1834 Resolution [1]

    The explosion was a mixture of ck and red, the signature colors of chaos. However, it was also very simr to the colors that represented the Dragon Lord.

    The instant the bomb went off, Damien used all of his power to contain it within a certain area. He gritted his teeth and fought against it, but, as expected, in this body, he had to deal with Chaos'' full power.

    From the crowd''s perspective, the Dragon Lord was putting up his final struggle. He was releasing everything he possibly had to destroy Damien and win the battle.

    Damien would have been d if it was just that much. The explosion wasn''t something he could deal with alone. He started sweating just from the few seconds that he spent containing it, but it was still expanding ever so slightly with every passing instant.

    Still, Damien gritted his teeth and held on. The defining factor right now was not his own effort, but the actions of his main body.

    Unfortunately, he was too focused on his current situation to pay attention to what was happening on that side, so he instead had to rely on something else entirely.

    VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien was pushed back as the explosion became exponentiallyrger. The force alone shattered the arena barrier, and a huge sound filled the entire city of Terra.

    People couldn''t take it as part of the fight anymore. Looking at Damien, he wasn''t just blocking the Dragon Lord''s attack.

    No, he was fighting for his life in that arena. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Chaos ensued just as nned. The citizens panicked and rapidly tried to evacuate the arena, climbing over each other to reach the exits.

    The rumbling soon spread from the arena and into the city itself. Cracks spread through the streets and buildings shook as their foundations were damaged. A widespread panic was ensuing.

    Damien''s entire hope for quelling this problem before it truly became a cmity was based on the five words he had spoken before.

    "Act now or die trying."

    They were words meant for only three people. It wasn''t a threat, but instead an attack aimed to remind them of their original purpose.

    They were cursed now, but they still had their original egos. Just like the Prison Master, they could make the conscious choice to disobey orders and be punished.

    Perhaps they would face permanent death, but in return, they would gain this society peace for many generations toe.

    Was it worth the sacrifice in their eyes? That was Damien''s question. He pushed through his own struggles and held onto the explosion. It had expanded into the stands already, consuming arge portion of the arena.

    ''Three seconds.''

    In three seconds, Damien would lose control over the force and it would run rampant. However, that was more than enough time.

    Suddenly, the load Damien bore became lighter. His eyes widened slightly as he nced to his left and right. A smile forced on his face when he understood what happened.

    With blood leaking from their lips, eyes, and pores, the three Temple Masters were standing alongside him, using their remaining power to bring the explosive force down.

    Outside, a few buildings had already copsed. The people were wrapped in chaos, but there weren''t severe casualties yet. Yes, thousands died, but they would all revive soon enough. As long as the force of the bomb was contained, they would not face eternal death. "We will not survive for long!" The Earth Temple Master roared.

    "Use all of your power! Before we disappear, we must remove this force from our realm!"

    The other Temple Masters nodded heavily. Damien, on the other hand, was less concerned.

    After all, his mental burden was released so he was once again able to experience his split-screen life. On the other side, his body, filled with the power of Existence, removed Chaos'' explosive force from the world entirely.

    He held his arm out and summoned a blob of red mass from the middle of the energy storm. "I told you already. Die so everyone else can live. Even if it''s a form like this, I won''t let you survive and nt seeds for your sessor to grow from."

    The red mass screeched in an extremely high-pitched tone. It was definitely speaking, but Damien couldn''t understand it.

    Plus, why did he have to bother with what Chaos said?

    Without an ounce of expression in his eyes, he closed his fist and squashed the red mass. Before its pieces could leave his reach, a ck energy consumed them and brought their essence back into Damien''s body.

    From that moment, the ind was free of a Spiritual God''s influence. The energy he let spread into the world was still there, but the active techniques he used were immediately dispelled.

    In other words, the control skill that was the foundation of Chaos'' entire n was undone. The Temple Masters were fighting through severe pain in order to mobilize their power and contain the explosion until then, but it all vanished in a single second.

    They felt the phantom pain shooting through them, a product of their confusion, but they couldn''t deny that they were not being subjected to the negative effects of the curse anymore.

    There was no time to sit down and ponder upon it. With their newfound freedom, the three used everything in their power to support Damien.

    Four people worked together in an arena that was no longer crowded to protect the city that didn''t know of their efforts from a cmity that they still didn''t understand.

    Their powersbined and molded into one as they focused on the same goal, and bit by bit, the explosion''s power was contained.

    The ck and red ball of chaotic energy retreated further and further until it disappeared entirely, leaving behind only the entirely charred body of the person who was rigged with the explosive in the first ce. ''The Dragon Lord¡­'' He was a good opponent. Whether he was dead or alive was uncertain at this time. Those who wished to know his fate would only be able to determine if he was eternally killed in a week''s time.

    For now, they could only kill his present body and offer him an opportunity to revive, as healing was impossible.

    Damien spread his being through Nonexistence and looked at the city beyond the arena.

    It was in tatters. While he was busy containing the explosion, it managed to deal a considerable amount of damage to the poption.

    This event would likely form a scar that never healed on the third ind''s society. However, if Chaos'' ns truly came to fruition, then it would have been much, much worse than just a scar.

    Damien smiled to himself just slightly.

    ''It''s a really a good feeling when everything goes ording to n.'' This event came frighteningly close to ending in tragedy, but everything Damien hoped for happened. Existence destroyed Chaos and the Temple Masters helped him in stopping the bomb. However, while everything had been mostly settled with these two events, there was still one thing left for Damien to do. And for that purpose, while his clone body apanied the Temple Masters to take care of the aftermath, the main body took a direct route to the Eternal Sanctum just one more time.

 Chapter 1835 Resolution [2]

    Chapter 1835 Resolution [2]

    Chaos'' self-destruction was insane, truly.

    When facing it personally, Damien could guarantee that he wouldn''t have been able to do anything if he wasn''t breaking the realm''sws. Genuinely, the only reason he was able to contain that force on his own was because of Existence.

    Still, he did it and he did it easily, nting a permanent memory of his face in Chaos'' mind. The current iteration of the Spiritual God was dead. Damien was nning to check his original containment unit to scatter any remaining traces of him as well.

    However, the third ind had been too far entrenched in the cycle of order and chaos. Eventually, people would once again feel discontent with peace and the creation of a new Spiritual God would begin.

    Damien only made sure that the Spiritual God who was born would remember what happened to its predecessor and hide itself. The rest was up to the temples and their masters to figure out.

    There really wasn''t a need for Damien to go to the Eternal Sanctum. The Prison Master was free of his chains atst, so he didn''t have to worry about the escaped Chaos Faction members.

    In fact, when he arrived at the prison, the Area Lord was already gone. It was clear that he''d gone to chase them from the moment he realized that he was free.

    He just wasn''t a fan of the ind''s methods.

    He couldn''t find a better solution to the problem, as none had been able to utilize Nonexistence to eternally kill another in any situation. While he was using Existence, though, he was going to make the problem much smaller.

    That way, it would take at least another few billion years for chaos to take hold once again.

    He entered the prison while its warden was away. Its prisoners did not react to his presence, likely because they''d seen many strange visitors recently.

    Were they expecting what Damien was nning to do? Definitely not. If they were, then they wouldn''t have been so calm.

    ''Hmm¡­ I can''t keep wantonly breaking the realmws. I may have eaten that one face of Nonexistence, but it won''t be fun if I keep offending the concept.''

    In the end, he didn''t want Nonexistence as a whole to see him as an enemy, nor did he want to dominate it through force.

    As such, this was thest thing he could do before putting Existence away.

    From the beginning, he was able to distinguish between the good and the bad people in the prison. There was a decent percentage of the poption that was reformed by the system. They wanted to leave and resume their peaceful lives in ces far separated from the things they did in the past. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The prison was too much for them. It tortured them until they broke, and when they broke, they became rational humans again.

    Now, the system was still wed. The number of those who went insane and only kept themselves alive through their desires for vengeance and blood was far, far higher. Those people were the roots of Chaos.

    If it weren''t for the fact that their souls were already atrocious before they were ced in the prison, then Damien could absolutely call their punishment cruel and unusual.

    A certain level of degeneracy was necessary to hold a grudge for such a long time without ever-changing, and just like Chaos, those people were terrible for the ind''s ecosystem.

    Thus, as Damien positioned himself as judge, jury, and executioner, he deemed that they deserved to die.

    His senses spread and registered every single person in the prison. They were then sorted and categorized. Nothing more needed to be exined.

    Damien carried out their sentences right then and there. Leaving a note for the Prison Master when he returned about the reformed prisoners who remained, he left the Eternal Sanctum entirely.

    Finally, he returned to Terra and met up with his clone body. ''Now that I think about it, I technically used Existence and Nonexistence at the same time.''

    He only pulled it off because he had two bodies, but it was still a considerable aplishment.

    And, more importantly in the current moment, as the two of them merged together, his badge glowed and changed.

    It went straight to the tinum level and then ascended once more, disappearing into flecks of white light. ''Good.''

    He could now leave the ind whenever he wanted. That moment was pretty much now, but he couldn''t quite go.

    He pulled his clone body away quickly, but he was actually in the middle of a meeting with the three Temple Masters. Now that they''d merged, he was the one who had to take care of it.

    Mostly, it was only for them to thank him. While Damien went to the Eternal Sanctum, Damien exined everything to the Temple Masters. They finally learned that Chaos itself was the cause of everything, and though he didn''t exin how, he made it clear that Chaos was gone for the time being.

    The city was brought back to its original state after only a few hours. Reversing change was easy in a ce where change itself was not meant to happen.

    The damage to the poption was still evident, but the Temple Masters were experienced in dealing with public affairs. They broadcasted a message across the entire ind and truthfully revealed that Chaos was the cause of everything.

    They told of the massive n that was set into motion because it was destroyed before evering to fruition. And, they framed Damien as a great hero, giving the people a figure to rally around so they could maintain hope.

    Of course, Damien was leaving soon, but it was fine as long as his actions inspired someone else to take his ce. Until then, he was sure that the Temple Masters would be able to handle any troubles that arose.

    This incident taught them a lot. They proved themselves as people who truly cared for their popce. That was enough to guarantee that they would change for the better.

    Damien had some slight attachments to this ind, but he was not sad about leaving it behind. He was happy with what he''d experienced thus far and he was ready to move on.

    After staying for a few more days to oversee the peacekeeping efforts, he bid farewell to the few people he''d be acquainted with before approaching the shore.

    Now, he could officially say that he was more than halfway done with the trials of thisnd.

    And from his experiences on the third ind, he was sure that the hardest had already passed.

    ''Yeah, I''m not doing that again.''

    Onerge conflict in this realm was enough. From now on, Damien wanted to focus only on himself.

    As he stepped onto the fourth ind for the first time, he realized that the inds were supporting his thoughts.

    After all, this ind''s test was exclusively reserved for individual participants. Its inhabitants were busy with their trials, leaving the ind itself deste.

    The ind catered to Damien a lot more than its predecessors.It was an ind where one was required to bathe in the liquids of emptiness and have their bodies baptized. This process could take a very long time for some, and those who could not adapt would be forever entrapped in the darkness.

    ''So, pretty much, I''m not going to encounter another person for a while.''

    Damien left the shores and immediately approached thekes of emptiness. If it was about being epted and molded by Nonexistence, he was confident that he could leave this ind within an incense stick of time. He raised his foot to take his first step into the waters¡­

 Chapter 1836 Harmony [1]

    Chapter 1836 Harmony [1]

    "Wait!"

    A woman''s voice stopped him. Damien turned around curiously. He could''ve sworn that this ind didn''t have anything like a poption, but it seemed there were indeed people living on its shores.

    The majority of the ind was filled with ck water everywhere. It was a shade lighter than the Sea of Nothingness, but barely to a noticeable extent. There were some small Eastern-style buildings in a few ces, but they looked old and abandoned.

    Seeing how the woman was approaching him, she didn''t seem to carry bad intentions. As such, Damien decided to entertain her.

    As long as he wasn''t sent on another quest to save the ind, it was fine, right?

    "What is it?" he asked. His tone wasn''t rude, but it properly conveyed his urgency.

    "Ah," the woman said, "I did not mean to disturb you. However, there are certain rituals you mustplete before stepping into the waters of nothingness. If you enter withoutpleting them, your body might be rejected and erased."

    "Rejected?" Damien echoed. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Yes," the woman responded, nodding her head furiously.

    "I will not deny who I am. I am a coward who faced the waters and could not find the resolve to enter, so I have lived on this ind for many years and observed its challengers. It is certainly possible to seed without partaking in the rituals, but those who do tend to gain much more security than their counterparts."

    Damien''s eyes narrowed as he scanned the woman up and down. As she said, she had the aura of someone who had been stuck in stasis for a very long time. It may have been fear that kept her away from the trial when she first came to the ind, but it was now contentment. She was fine with her circumstances, therefore she did not wish for change. Though her heart was warm, the rest of her being seemed tired of existing.

    ''Is she trying to help me because I''m special, or is this something she''s been doing for years?''

    It was definitely thetter. Damien didn''t even need to consider it. As he scanned the ind seriously, he noticed that there were no more than ten living people in the small structures decorating the shore. Most of the structures were made for other purposes, likely to aid those who came to challenge the ind.

    "How long have you all been living here?"

    "I stopped counting after one million. The Elder is the only one who still counts the time, so you may ask him if you are truly curious."

    Damien nodded. He looked into her eyes and asked another question.

    "Then, waspassion something you possessed from the start, or did you develop it after living here for an uncountable amount of time?" The woman smiled wryly.

    "What I was before is no longer relevant. I am merely a guide for those who seek guidance."

    "Hmm¡­"

    It must have been painful. Thinking about her previous life took her out of the illusion that there was nothing beyond her quiet life on the ind. Ambition was a beautiful thing for many people, but to some, it was the very thing they feared the most.

    Damien was merely curious, as it seemed that most of the kinder and more thoughtful people he met in the Land of Nothingness developed those ideals aftering to this realm.

    However, he wasn''t going to push the issue. If she wanted to be a guide, then a guide was all she was.

    "What are the rituals you were speaking of earlier? Is it anything troublesome?"

    Damien asked quite bluntly as that was his main concern. His attitude made the woman smile slightly as she shook her head.

    "No. They are not troublesome at all. It merely takes a bit of time."

    Once people reached the fourth ind, they were usually thirsty for sess. The finish line seemed so close, so it was obvious that they didn''t want to waste even a single second.

    It was a littleedic, as all of the time in this realm was inconsequential. Regardless, everyone would be returned to the exact moment they left.

    Just, it was more a matter of mindset.

    To take it slow felt like torture to many of the people who had spent too many years to reach this point. They saw a simple task and wanted to tackle it head-on to get it over with and progress.

    Damien also had that mentality until only a few seconds ago, didn''t he?

    Nevertheless, if time was all it took to reap more benefits from the waters of nothingness, then who was he to refuse?

    The woman led him to the nearest house, which turned out to be a bathhouse. "First, please use these facilities to purify your body. I will prepare the next ritual as you do so."

    The woman bowed and left him at the door. As she left, Damien went inside and started undressing.

    The facility was nice. It was mostly made from wood, but the faucets from which the water was released looked oddly simr to those from Earth.

    ''Well, I guess that kind of thing trantes.''

    It was a little funny how so many different cosmos developed in extremely simr ways. All humans reached the same conclusions, even if they were separated by different environments andws.

    That fact made Damien a little happy as he entered the empty bathhouse and chose a ce for himself.

    As he turned the water on, he noticed that it was just as ck as the natural waters of this world. The usual clear water that he knew and loved could not be found here.

    Damien let it shower his body regardless. ''Just in case I didn''t know¡­'' he thought with a smile as he saw a poster on a nearby wall that disyed the proper methods to wash one''s body.

    It was next to a mirror, which was where his attention was focused.

    How long had it been since Damien paid any mind to his own body?

    He saw the person in the mirror and almost didn''t recognize him.

    "When did I be so¡­old?"

    He didn''t really look it. He didn''t have any wrinkles or discoloration on his skin. He, to some extent, looked the same as he did when he was first entering his thirties.

    But the look in his eyes, the maturity in his figure¡­

    Rather than a young genius, he looked more like a wizened expert. The ck water ran down his body, taking with it his sense of self while making him all the more aware of it.

    To purify oneself in the Land of Nothingness meant something different. It meant erasing oneself and embracing emptiness.

    Damien watched as his eyes became more peaceful and indifferent than ever before. His skin was already glowing, but it became softer, as if to erase the invisible scars that piled up over the course of tens of years of battle. The aura of an Absolute, the look of a Supreme Ruler¡­

    Damiencked these things because he liked to stay grounded. He kept his mind on earth so he never lost his human side.

    However, as he looked into that mirror and saw himself as a Supreme for the first time, something changed.

    The "human side" that Damien cherished so much¡­

    What was it?

    Why was it so significant?

    And, if it was holding him back from reaching his full potential¡­

    Why was he holding onto it so dearly?

 Chapter 1837 Harmony [2]

    Chapter 1837 Harmony [2]

    What did it mean to be an Absolute, and was it possible to attain that level without giving everything up?

    It was a question that Damien never considered asking himself. He always just thought that he could have everything because his path had been smooth thus far, but would it really be that way?

    He could be a Supreme with that attitude, but would it be able to take him to the final level of power that stood beyond the reach of even people like the Dark God?

    Now wasn''t the time to be searching for answers, but Damien would have to keep the question in the back of his head until he found the solution he sought. Erasing oneself wasn''t about losing one''s ego. It was about putting down all material thoughts and worries, bing one with the mind of Nonexistence.

    Damien could do this easily. He had already been in that mind state before. All he needed to do was reach it a second time. He closed his eyes and focused. He put away everything about the Dark God and the Heavenly World. He put away thoughts of his friends, family, and his own future.

    When his pupils saw light again, they were hollow, amethyst voids. Though Damien was still present, it was as if his mind was in the clouds watching his body from above.

    He finished following the procedures on the wall and stepped out of the bathhouse, not giving himself a second look in the mirror. His body naturally dried itself as he summoned a new set of clothes and put them on.

    As if she could sense that he was finished, the woman arrived in front of the bathhouse door right as Damien opened it, bowing slightly.

    "I will now take you to the second ritual."

    It was the second of two. Damien was taken into a separate house. On the wood mat floors, there was an array of candles surrounding something of an altar. It did not have anything on it other than a single ck rose, picked from the garden outside of the building.

    There was another person in the room, an elderly man who looked to be the person the woman was referring to earlier. Damien sat down in front of the altar with his legs crossed. Seeing that he was in position, the elderly man began to chant.

    The candles flickered with his words. The atmosphere in the room changed as Damien''s mind experienced a euphoric sensation. Were there drugs in the smoke? Damien couldn''t tell, but he knew that his body wasn''t being negatively impacted by anything.

    Since he was already present, he quietly allowed the ritual to proceed, focusing on the man''s chants to see if he could decipher anything.

    ''The structure ispletely different from anything I can make out. The Existence and Nonexistence that this man experienced are too different from mine, so I cannot use my own knowledge to understand his.''

    Still, Damien listened. He tried his best to understand the message and emotions carried in those words. Though he was still clueless by the time it ended, he was d he did so.

    It was a new experience. Perhaps it would help him in the future, and perhaps it wouldn''t. Regardless, it was an experience that defined Damien''s existence.

    No more words were spoken after the ritual ended. As if they didn''t want to break Damien''s state of mind, the elderly man and the woman both remained silent. Even while leading him back to the waters of nothingness, the woman only used motion to convey her intent.

    It seemed that Damien''s preparations were over. He followed the woman''s example and sat in a meditative stance on thekeshore. He closed his eyes, feeling the nearby presences disappear.

    As his mind drifted into the ckness, the liquid from theke leaked out and created a puddle under him. More and more water came out, cocooning him in its grasp and dragging him into the main water body.

    Both his mind and body were submerged in Nonexistence, and once again, he was shown a story that he had never seen before.

    It depicted a man who wanted to be king. He fought hard for his entire life, winning the hearts of the subjects and getting closer to the throne. When he reached it, however, he found that he could not sit on that seat?

    Why?

    Did the people not like him? Was he not worthy?

    No, he was both well-liked and worthy. The citizens would surely follow him in their most desperate times and listen to him when they needed advice.

    However, nothing the man did proved that he was worthy of being king.

    He had to find that which made him worthy. He had to turn those citizens into loyal subjects who would notin even if he made drastic changes to their livelihoods.

    If those citizens believed that the changes he made were for their own good, then they would notin.

    A trusted king had the ability to convince his people to follow his lead in both peace and hardship.

    Did Damien have that?

    This story was about him, though it was not about his journey to be king.

    Unlike Nonexistence''s story which he was forced to interpret on his own, this story practically screamed its meaning to him.

    This was not his meeting with Nonexistence as it was for everyone else. At the moment, the one speaking to him was the Void itself.

    It needed him to prove himself, but it would never tell him how.

    That was for him to understand. If he couldn''t even do that much, then he wasn''t worth considering for the position of king in the first ce.

    He was that man. He wanted to be king, and he''d won the Void''s heart. It was willing to follow him when he was in hardship, but it was not yet willing to fully submit itself to his whims.

    It needed him to prove himself, but it would never tell him how.

    That was for him to understand. If he couldn''t even do that much, then he wasn''t worth considering for the position of king in the first ce.

    ''Right, the final goal has always been the Void.''

    He had to focus hard on controlling Existence to the point where he barely used the Void''s power. Afterward, he had to focus hard on controlling Nonexistence, so the same situation repeated itself.

    This realm taught Damien a lot about Nonexistence, but it was also constantly reminding him that this was only a single step in his journey. It may have been one of thest ones, but did that matter if he fell halfway up the final stair? N?v(el)B\\jnn

    From the very first moment when the Void Physique unlocked and saved him from his misery, his goal was to go above all existingws and stand atop the pinnacle of all things. Was that why his mind was being gued by thoughts of being Absolute recently?

    Now that he had reached such a point in his training, the world itself was telling him to stay focused and never lose the grit that brought him this far.

    All Damien had to do was confirm it.

    ''I will not be satisfied until I conquer the Void.''

    It was the meaning of his name, wasn''t it? It was the very dream his father had for him when he chose it, wasn''t it?

    The second he made that vow, his time in the waters of nothingness ended.

    Nonexistence wanted to enter Damien''s body and be one with him from the moment he entered the water. The Void was only holding it back so it could hear that promise from Damien himself.

    Now that the Void was no longer inhibiting its path, Nonexistence flowed into Damien''s body and soul instantly.

    His very existence was being changed.

    "Harmony" was finding a ce for itself in his being.

 Chapter 1838 Harmony [3]

    Chapter 1838 Harmony [3]

    The transformation wasn''t meant to fully convert one''s body into an entity of nothingness. To do so meant erasing everything other than the nothingness itself and would merely destroy any semnce of what a person was.

    This procedure was designed so that Nonexistence could find its own ce within the physical body and soul. It aided practitioners in reaching a state where their bodies could house both Existence and Nonexistence without drawbacks.

    For those whose Existence was much stronger, it would take a much longer time toe out of the waters. One''s body could refuse to adapt to the Nonexistence, and they could also be restricted by whatever they saw when they entered thekes.

    There were many factors that trapped hundreds of thousands of people in the darkness, refusing to let them go.

    Damien was not one of those people. His Void Soul easily housed Nonexistence without needing to change, and his body was the same. In total, it only took three days for Damien to speak to the Void and then finish his transformation.

    He was immediately ejected from theke when that time came. His body returned to its previous position, cross-legged on the shore.

    However, he did not stand up or exit his meditative state.

    As he confirmed that he was moving towards the Void, his goals changed.

    Of course, Damien was still using this realm to learn Nonexistence, but he had to take the external situation back into mind. The moment he left, his war with the Dark God would begin. He only had a little bit of time before he had to confront that man directly.

    While he was in this realm where time didn''t exist, he needed to get as strong as possible. That entailed not just training Nonexistence, but Existence as well.

    Sitting on the shore, Damien summoned the energy of the Void again. As he swore on the third ind, he could no longer use Existence in the Land of Nothingness, but that didn''t stop him from connecting to it.

    Problems would only arise if he manifested it externally.

    What Damien wanted to do now was check on the rtionship between his Existence and Nonexistence. Their individual levels were different. The goal was to bnce them and make them equal in every aspect.

    ''It''s actually moreplex than I thought.''

    Damien thought Existence would easily win as he''d spent more time with it, but he was wrong.

    Existence had more strength. He knew how to use it with more proficiency and power.

    However, his connection with Nonexistence was stronger. While it may not have been able to match Existence in raw strength, it was more willing to respond to Damien and exert his will. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He could tell that he had no more need to train in Existence, which meant that its current strength level was the metric he needed to use to improve Nonexistence.

    In the same way, Nonexistence getting any closer to him would be inconsequential in terms of material benchmarks. If he wanted to improve it to match Existence, all he needed to do was continue training on this ind and the fifth ind before leaving.

    But to get closer to Existence¡­

    The unique environment was what allowed Damien to form a bond with Nonexistence. If not for Death''s Hold, its origin, being housed in this realm, he wouldn''t have ever realized that the concepts could disy emotions in their own unique ways.

    The origin of Existence was somewhere in the material ne, but Damien didn''t have ess to it. It would already be toote when he got there, so using the same method was out of the question.

    ''If I want to get creative and find a way to ess it¡­''

    All Damien needed was an entry point. If he could find one, then the rest was up to his own skill and abilities. Even if he failed, he could keep trying.

    Oddly enough, Existence was far harder to reach than its nonexistent counterpart. While it was in the light, it was so unfathomably massive that it was practically unknown.

    There was a clear image of Nonexistence, no matter how vague it was. To picture Existence personified¡­ Damien just couldn''t find a way to do it.

    ''It''s a task toorge for the human mind.''

    No matter how strong he became, that would remain true. As long as he wasn''t Absolute, he would not be able to trulyprehend the scale of Existence.

    So, to find a more roundabout way to meet with its personification, Damien had to think outside of the box.

    He opened his eyes slightly, looking at the waters in front of him.

    ''Maybe¡­''

    It might have been the answer.

    He stood up, preparing to step back into the waters of nothingness.

    Almost like he was stuck in a time loop, a voice came from behind him.

    "Wait!"

    However, this time, he ignored it.

    "You cannot go back! If you return, you will truly be consumed!"

    It seemed the woman had seen a greedy practitioner die in the past and wanted to keep him from experiencing the same fate. But, Damien''s greed was different.

    Nonexistence was not the target of his avarice. It was merely a medium. He took a single step into the water and his entire body sunk deep below the surface.

    "No!"

    He could hear the woman''s cry from beyond, but it also didn''t mean anything to him. Herpassion was unwarranted.

    The ckness consumed his mind and body. It was trying to turn him into a true manifestation of nothingness.

    A pitch-ck energy even deeper in color than the waters covered his physical form, making it impossible for Nonexistence to do as it pleased.

    Meanwhile, Damien actually allowed his soul to continue the merger.

    His entire being became one with the nothingness. His mind became its, and for a moment, he himself was a face of Nonexistence wandering in the Void.

    His ego was hidden deep within his soul, protected from the force of erasure. His soul acted on the instinctivemand he left for it, wandering and wandering until it found its target.

    Light.

    The only way to approach Existence in a form that nobody had ever seen before was to be the only concept that had ever seen it.

    Damien, as Nonexistence itself, approached the light of Existence.

    Thousands of faces followed him as he approached. When his actions were noticed, those thousands became millions and billions.

    The entirety of the concept of Nonexistence rallied behind Damien''s soul and approached the border that separated them from their sibling. They pleaded, making a case for him. The light of Existence seemed uninterested at first, ignoring the words and cries.

    However, as they continued, even the concept that never knew anything other than indifference was forced to experience curiosity for the first time.

    It was being approached in its purest form by a sentient being supported by its counterpart.

    Almost begrudgingly, it opened a path.

    Damien''s soul was forcefully disconnected from Nonexistence as the concept pushed him into the arms of Existence. His ego came back to the light, and the first thing it saw¡­

    The true face of the one known as "Existence."

 Chapter 1839 Harmony [4]

    Chapter 1839 Harmony [4]

    What he saw was certainly not what he was expecting.

    Though Nonexistence was always removed from living beings, its form was humanoid. Its desire to be recognized by the people of the world made it take a form that they would sympathize with. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Existence was different. It was recognized regardless of what form it took, and as it had no such desire to change its position, it never took a single defined form.

    Damien''s eyesnded on what could be considered a monstrosity. It was abination of everything in the world. In one sense, it was a massive chimera of all that existed, a gruesome entity that was difficult toy eyes on. In another sense, it was a being with no definite form that constantly shifted between the different aspects of Existence.

    Sometimes it was fire, sometimes it was darkness. Sometimes it was a dragon, and sometimes it was nothing more than a single atom. It remained in this space that was also a manifestation of its form. As for why this space existed¡­?

    Perhaps it didn''t. Perhaps it was created for the sole purpose of giving Damien a chance, which was why Existence was unable to find a proper form for itself.

    Or was it just indifferent?

    Damien stood in that space with it, but it didn''t acknowledge his presence in the slightest.

    ''I can''t sense a hint of emotion from it.''

    It had every emotion in its being as even they were a part of Existence, but it never disyed them on its own. It did not have its own feelings. How was Damien supposed to approach such an entity? None of his life experiences thus far taught him about an event like this one.

    He didn''t know when thest time he felt so overwhelmed by any being or concept was. It had been long enough that the feeling was new again. For a moment, it interfered with his thoughts, making him stand in sheer awe in front of Existence itself.

    He wasn''t able to easily exit that state on his own. He only regained his senses when he felt a slight push on his back.

    ''Hm?''

    He turned around, but there was nothing there. Only the wide expanse that was this strange and formless realm.

    ''I see¡­''

    Considering the location, there were only two things capable of interacting with him. One was the Existence in front of him, and the other¡­

    ''...so their rtionship was never a hostile one.''

    While the two concepts opposed each other naturally, they thrived in their harmony. Nonexistence was jealous of many of Existence''s blessings, but it knew that the concept was valuable and didn''t want it to change.

    After all, its wish was never to rece Existence, but to be valued at the same level. It wanted to stand equal to its twin.

    If that desire held any malice, then Damien would have sensed it. In this moment, he could feel Nonexistence''s desire clearly. It did not want to benefit on its own. As it had submitted to him and trusted him with its wish, it wanted him to help Existence reach a simr state.

    ''They''re like real siblings.'' Damien thought to himself.

    He felt as if Nonexistence was telling him that Existence still wanted to feel the emotions that it could. Only, it never had a sense of self. It needed Damien to help it attain that.

    ''Right, it disyed curiosity when I approached, didn''t it?''

    If curiosity was the first emotion it ever felt, then it would obviously want to understand how the rest felt as well.

    ''Am I¡­really interacting with the greatest concepts of all right now?''

    It was hard to imagine that the thoughts he was having pertained to the concept of Existence itself. It felt more like he was trying to deal with an emotional teenager.

    ''It''s odd, isn''t it?''

    Had anybody else experienced this?If they had, then they weren''t here, so Damien had to ask himself the question.

    It seemed like this was more of the perspective that an Absolute had. There was no distinction between concepts or people or nonliving things. They all had their own pulses and expressions. Damien stood in a position where he could view them all without bias. Existence was no different from anyone or anything else. In order to teach it how to express itself and develop a sense of self, did he really have to do anything that he hadn''t already done?

    Damien had raised children in the past. Not just August, but Zara and Xue''er before him as well. He had experience in teaching, and if he took away all of his biases and viewed Existence as nothing more than what it truly was, the task at hand became much less daunting.

    ''This is basically a confirmation of what I began to wonder when I met Grand Heavens Boundary.''

    Just as humans were jealous of the vastness of the universe, the universe was in awe of the numerosity of existences within it.

    He approached carefully, getting closer to the ever-changing chimera of Existence. It noticed his presence. He could feel its weight on his shoulders as it observed him.

    However, he did not show fear. This pressure was natural, not intentional. He refused to treat the concept differently just because of its innate power.

    Eventually, he stood right next to it, looking up at its form. Slowly, he raised his hand and touched it for the first time.

    It flinched.

    Existence itself flinched, confused. Damien''s warm hand was not something unknown to it. As he touched it, it saw the moments in Existence that converged with his actions.

    Countless mothers and fathers brushing their children''s hair, holding them close so they felt secure. These images were familiar as they were experiences that transcended race and species. Almost all living beings showed this kind of affection for their young.

    But it felt different.

    It was transmitted the emotions of both the parent and the child in that scenario, but it couldn''t rte to those emotions at all. What it felt when Damien put it in the same situation was a subtle sense of difort and fear.

    Why?

    When the emotions it was meant to be feeling were so joyous, why did its own body feel fear?

    Damien felt it too, but he wasn''t discouraged. He removed his hand and spoke to the concept for the first time.

    "You felt fear because all of this is unknown to you."

    He knew that Existence could understand him, so he spoke to it without prejudice. His role was that of a teacher. Without worrying about his own ambitions, he was to teach Existence how to process the emotions it felt and differentiate them from the emotions of others. As for what it decided to do when it was finished learning¡­?

    Damien naturally hoped that it would act ording to his wishes, but he wasn''t going to groom it for that purpose.

    Nonexistence asked him sincerely to help its sibling, so that was what he came to do.

    In the short time that he''d been here, Damien''s mentality changed immensely. He viewed the situation in a way that nobody else could replicate.

    But, then again, wasn''t that the reason why he gained such an opportunity in the first ce?

    Existence and Nonexistence were concepts that changed along with the changes in the people, worlds, cosmos, and realities. Amidst all of that change, Damien was the only one who came along and gave them the chance to form their own independence and security. They only had the ability to think and process like humans because Damien viewed them without bias.

    So, it was only natural that Existence would be willing to meet him.

    And it was only natural that his endeavors in this specific aspect would always go his way.

 Chapter 1840 Harmony [5]

    Chapter 1840 Harmony [5]

    Damien originally thought of Existence as a teenager who was still learning how to control their emotions, but as he interacted with it more, he learned that it was more like an abandoned puppy.

    It felt extremely ufortable with any and all feelings. As it developed a sense of self, the emotions it experienced through others were separated from it by an invisible wall. Everything Damien did surpassed that wall and affected it directly.

    Any and all things beyond the wall terrified Existence. It was experiencing the unknown and needed to ovee it to make progress.

    So, that was where Damien started.

    He chose simpler methods, deciding that he could use moreplex things when it started to learn how to cope with having its own emotions.

    As such, it started like adopting a puppy. That puppy had been left on the side of the road to fend for itself for months. Before that, it was abused by its owners. Now, it waspletely untrusting of anything and everything. It acted aggressively to hide its fear, but subtly wanted to enjoy the affection it was being shown by the people who found it.

    Perhaps the healing process would be long. Perhaps even several yearster that puppy would jump at loud sounds or get scared when it was left alone, but it would eventually find true peace in a home where it was valued. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Like when it was just a puppy and its new family showed it that not everyone was bad, it just needed time to fully conquer its past trauma.

    The "past trauma" for Existence was its istion. It had to ovee the fears that came with expressing itself and giving itself physical form. It had to ept the vulnerabilities that it would develop as it gained emotions for itself.

    Because this was a change that it also wanted to make. It noticed how the faces of Nonexistence rallied around Damien. Nonexistence, which had always cried sorrowfully at its disconnection from living beings, was joyously pushing one of those very living beings towards Existence.

    It was curious about what Nonexistence had gained, and in its deepest depths, it also wanted to experience the same.

    That was why it responded to Damien''s efforts.

    It felt fear, but even that fear was a joyous thing that wasn''t possible before.

    As Damien spent more time with it, teaching it slowly and getting it morefortable with its presence, it learned and learned and learned.

    The experiences of existences were like a guideline for it. Previously, it was only able to feel those things from the perspectives of others, but now it could view the same scenes and form its own emotions based on them.

    Of course, it wasn''t such an extreme change. Existence had to be indifferent to an extent. It was not allowed to interfere with reality. That would be the equivalent of a man tearing a hole in his own stomach to touch his liver. However, it was enough.

    Existence''s form began to change at some point. Itsrge and gruesome image was molded to match the way it viewed itself.

    First, non-living entities andws were removed from its form. Like Damien, it did not discriminate against these parts of its being. Merely, the form it wished to take was separated from them.

    It did not prefer humans. That was not its reason to be humanoid. Unlike Nonexistence, Existence had a duty to treat every part of its being equally. The reason Existence eventually changed into a humanoid form was none other than Damien himself.

    He was the one who taught it how to think for itself, how to interpret its own mysteries, and how to ept itself. He was, in the most human way possible, its "role model."

    It was only natural for the concept to desire a form closer to him. Existence approached,pletely different from the entity that he knew before.

    Was it right to give Existence something simr to sentience? Its burden was so big that it needed a limited consciousness to cope with it. Now that Damien gave it the ability to thinkplexly, what would happen?

    These were worries that Damien had while he was teaching it, but he was soon able to put them down. Existence showed him personally that it would be fine. It was smart in a sense. As it had ess to all information, it was able to cross-reference and learn without Damien''s help. Since it had a genuine interest, it spent a lot of time learning how to sympathize.

    At the same time, it learned how to separate its consciousness from its duty. Just like Nonexistence, it formed faces. Some faces were unfeeling still, dedicating themselves to upholding Existence. Others were allowed to dream and possess emotions, allowing Existence to feel in the same way that Nonexistence did.

    The two concepts were separated by their duties, but they were the exact same in every other aspect. As they were the two children of the Void, the two supreme concepts that were necessary for everything to function, they were as simr as they were different.

    Time didn''t pass, but it could be interpreted. If the amount of time Damien spent with Existence was forced to be quantified, it would likely be a period of thousands of years at the very least.

    But, Damien didn''t feel the weight of that time, so it was as if it didn''t happen. To him, it had only been a short period and Existence had progressed by leaps and bounds.

    When the concept gained the ability to "understand" itself, everything changed. It was so subtle that nobody noticed it, not even those who used Existence. However, nothing was the same anymore. Everything was more vibrant. Every emotion, every nt, every action was more pronounced than before. Legends could grow at a pace that was impossible in the past, and overall prosperity became far more attainable.

    Only in a few thousand years would people be able to look back and understand that it was during this era when fortune spread across all cosmos. But, of course, none of the changes were as significant as what Damien himself experienced. When Existence materialized its humanoid form, it approached him on its own for the first time. Like a human rather than a concept, it embraced him, melting into his body.

    As if to thank him for showing it a world that it didn''t know, Existence submitted itself wholeheartedly.

    Damien could feel it. The two concepts formed a state of almostplete harmony in his body. His soul twisted as its center was defined with a new symbol.

    A broken infinity sign formed there, supported by both Existence and Nonexistence.

    Subtly, Damien could tell that this infinity sign was truly everything.

    The moment it waspleted, he''d ascend to a realm that no man had ever seen. Damien looked down at his hands. Existence and Nonexistence intertwined but refused to merge within. They would not act together, not because they opposed each other, but because they were aware that Damien wasn''t prepared to handle that kind of power yet.

    ''Still, they''re both in agreement.''

    Damien only needed to properly reach that level. The two concepts would guarantee everything that came after.

    ''Good.''

    His goal had been achieved, and he gained even more than that out of this endeavor. With Existence and Nonexistence at an equal level of intimacy, he was able to leave the realm of Existence happily.

    The Land of Nothingness¡­

    Really, it was the best opportunity he''d received since the very beginning of his journey.

 Chapter 1841 Harmony [6]

    Chapter 1841 Harmony [6]

    ''Has anyone else perceived these concepts like this?''

    It was a question Damien asked himself multiple times while he was with Existence. It was such a unique experience that he really couldn''t imagine someone else doing the same.

    But¡­he had the subtle understanding that this was his path to bing Absolute, so hadn''t at least one other person experienced the same thing?

    He only had such thoughts because he didn''t understand how much of an outlier he was. Living beings simply weren''t meant to perceive the emotions of these concepts. Before Damien came, these emotions were hidden and vague. He was the one who came along and gave them deeper meaning, bolstering the concepts in the process.

    However, even the primal emotions felt by Nonexistence before his arrival weren''t privy to anyone else. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The minds of living beings weren''t equipped to define such concepts as Existence and Nonexistence. Putting them into simple terms andprehending them was already something that only the best of the best could do. To truly understand their metaphorical hearts?

    If anyone else was forced to bear the brunt of those emotions, their minds would break. No matter who or what they were, this result would remain the same.

    Was it the Void Physique''s aid? It was normal for the Void Physique to give Damien opportunities barred from others. Its influence was the very reason why he grew at the rate he did, especially during his younger years.

    When he had that thought, two concepts within him rebelled, as if to tell him that wasn''t the case. They who perceived the Void as their parent knew that he possessed its blessing, and they could confidently say that such blessings were not the cause of his sess.

    No, it was something more primal, something within Damien, that gave him such a supreme ability ofmunication.

    ''Something within me¡­''

    Perhaps they were referring to a talent like hisprehension ability, but Damien felt differently. When they said it was something within him, it felt like they were referring to his soul. ''Status''

    [Status]

    [Damien Void]

    Title(s): [???????, Apostle of the Void, Evolver, Heaven''s Wrath, Supreme Genius]

    He focused on a single line. Everything else disappeared.

    ''The final mystery.''

    The one thing that never solved itself no matter how much time passed. Damien forgot about it after so many years. His status was irrelevant, so he never needed to check it either.

    That single title that remained an array of dots; what the hell was it?

    How could it be possible for that title to remain redacted even when Damien had both Existence and Nonexistence under his control?

    It was impossible for the title to be rted to the Void. he could sense that it was below that level at the very least. But¡­

    ''Is it something I inherited or something I was naturally born with?''

    He didn''t have a way of telling what it could be. His other titles either had slight effects or no effect. At this point in his life, they were nothing more than remembrances of times long passed.

    ''It''ll be significant at some point.''

    His gut told him that it would be significant in his rtionship with Existence and Nonexistence. Nevertheless, that was a problem forter.

    Damien was definitely d that he remembered the title. Now, he could work towards it. It wouldn''t just be sitting and rotting as it had been thus far.

    He stayed in the realm of Existence for a bit. The concept didn''t want him to leave just yet, and he didn''t mind spending more time with it.

    Eventually, he had to leave. It wasn''t a sad parting, as Existence would always be with him, but it was still filled with emotion.

    This was the period when Existence would flourish the most. It would make the most out of its new emotions before settling into itself.

    Damien was excited to see how things progressed from this point forth. However, to do so, he first needed to escape the Land of Nothingness. His mind returned to the ckness. Nonexistence cradled him, bringing him back to his body without causing harm. As his two sides came together, he once again left the waters and returned to the fourth ind.

    He instantly heard people rushing in from behind him. Clearly, the ten people who lived on this ind were all alerted to his departure from the waters. They, who heard from the woman that he returned for a second dip, were bbergasted by the fact that he had returned in one piece.

    How was he not converted into nothingness?

    It was a question that all of them wanted to ask, but the Elder stopped them before they could approach him.

    Damien stood up, slightly nodding to him in thanks.

    Both he and the Elder could tell that he was no longer the same person he entered the waters as. There was a different kind of aura about him, one that was less inviting and made everyone around him feel like they were required to bow.

    It was the essence of a ruler. It was a sign that Damien finally dropped his biases.

    To be Absolute was not to abandon humanity. Damien''s own path to that level relied on the very humanity that he held so close.

    However, being human wasn''t what Damien originally interpreted it as either. He didn''t have to hold biases and perceptions that valued humanity over all else. He didn''t have to put humanity on a pedestal and ignore everything else.

    All he needed to do was keep his core properties, the pieces of him that allowed him to bepassionate or kind. To empathize with both concepts and people was not human. It was beyond the level a human could reach, but it was still very reminiscent of the meaning of humanity.

    ''It''s always a good moment when you find a path.''

    To see the way forward and confidently walk without fearing the darkness was a beautiful feeling. In the end, his destination was in front of him. All he needed to do to reach it was walk.

    He had been in this position many times before, but it felt fresh no matter how many times he experienced it. Whether he was a young sapling just starting to grow or an old tree preparing to reach its final form, the feeling of finding the way forward would always make him smile.

    Damien remained on the third ind for quite some time. He formed his own small hut away from the society existing there and focused on training Nonexistence. In the meantime, several people arrived on the fourth ind.

    Those like Kura were already close to graduating from the third ind when he arrived. The pipeline that was frozen on the first and second inds continued from the third to the fourth. Over ten people arrived. Some of them went through the rituals and some didn''t. Regardless, none of them escaped the waters of nothingness while Damien was there.

    It was about three years if he had to quantify it. During that time, he expanded his imagination andmunicated with Nonexistence. Through this training, he was able to significantly increase its level.

    He only needed one final push to attain the heights he strived for.

    And that¡­

    Clearly, it was waiting for him on the fifth and final ind.

 Chapter 1842 Fifth Island [1]

    Chapter 1842 Fifth Ind [1]

    Damien prepared to leave without telling anyone. He rarely made contact with the people of the ind, though that first woman and the Elder would visit him from time to time.

    They never gave him their names, which made it obvious that they wanted to maintain distance as well. It was likely because they knew that he was going to leave the ind soon, so they didn''t want to get attached.

    Nevertheless, those two had helped Damien immensely during his stay here, so he at least wanted to do something for them as well.

    He first approached the Elder. He was a quiet man, but also quite considerate. He was the one who showed Damien the most care. Perhaps it was because he viewed everyone here as his grandchildren, but his attitude was unexpectedly warm.

    He helped Damien establish his privacy, and every once in a while, he''d bring with him gifts of incense or other simr objects to help Damien calm his mind for training.

    The Elder wasn''t someone he could directly help. If he tried, he would be refused.

    Then, to help him discreetly¡­

    The Elder was content with what he had. His people were happy and they had everything they wanted. If they wanted more, they could just manifest it on their own.

    How was Damien to help him?

    The most he could do was support the Elder''s wish for peace. He didn''t want people toe to this ind to meaninglessly die anymore.

    ''Hmm¡­the ind''s structure can''t be changed, but¡­''

    If more people paid attention to the rituals, then perhaps there would be a change in the death rate.

    Damien subtly interfered with the ind itself. Through his connection with Nonexistence, he influenced the atmosphere in such a way that those who arrived here would feel more inclined to listen to its poption.

    He wasn''t going to influence their decisions entirely, but he made it so that it was more appealing to follow the Elder and his people for just a few moments than to jump straight into the waters of nothingness.

    Essentially, he eliminated the rush that clouded most people''s judgements, allowing them to rationally consider their options.

    Perhaps his aid would go unnoticed and nothing would change. Perhaps the rituals would eventually bemonce and more Supremes would rise from the ashes.

    Whatever the case, there was no way to know until muchter.

    Damien did bid the Elder farewell, returning to him a gift before going to find that woman.

    She was interesting. Though she was content with her life on the ind, she had more of a desire to leave than others. It wasn''t enough to be called ambition, but it was still something.

    When Damien found her, the offer he made was simple.

    "Do you want to leave this ind?"

    If he aided her in her journey through the waters of nothingness, she would clear the trial with ease. As someone who''d submerged himself multiple times in the past few years, he could confidently assure that.

    She believed it as well. Watching him felt like watching the growth of a beast. He relentlessly pushed himself to get stronger, and the results were clear enough. Someone like him could absolutely give her freedom from this boring life.

    However¡­

    Was she prepared to take it?

    This was the first time she truly considered the possibility of escaping this realm.

    And the main emotion she felt radiated so deeply that Damien could sense it from a mile away.

    ''Fear.''

    Pure fear of the world she didn''t know.

    "I apologize, but I will have to reject your offer."

    She came to a conclusion quickly.

    This was her home now. It had been her home for millions of years at the very least. After such a long time, what would it feel like to return to the very moment from when she left?

    Everything would be unfamiliar. She hardly remembered her previous life. Rather than going back to people who still cared about her that she didn''t know anymore and a world that knew her but was unfamiliar to her eyes, she preferred to remain in this situation.

    She was content. That was enough. She didn''t strive for anything more, despite the dreams that asionally gued her. Damien looked into her eyes and read her emotions. She was feeling something he never took the time to consider.

    Right, he had barely been here for a few years. For most people, it had been eons. How would he feel about returning if he had been here for millions of years, building rtionships with people who also could not return to their own worlds?

    To them, their old families and friends were distant and painful memories. Their current environments had be their reality. ''I can''t agree with it, but I can ept it.''

    He knew that he would never lose his desire to return home. Time didn''t change anything about that. However, these people''s lives were different from his. They made their own choices and followed paths that were right for them.

    In the end, he epted her feelings and offered her a more material gift. After all, the changes he made to the ind could be considered a gift to both her and the Elder. Once people stopped dying so frequently, he didn''t doubt that both of them would be much happier.

    He bid her farewell, never learning her name even at the very end, and walked to the shore of the ind.

    The time hade to move on. Unlike the people who resolved to live their lives in this realm, he had no hesitation in his heart.

    With a single step, a step that was so much lighter for him than them, he crossed into his final hurdle.

    ''The fifth ind¡­''

    Damien sighed in admiration.

    ''...it''s definitely the coolest one.''

    The beach he stood on was the only undeveloped part of thend he could see. Everything else was a sprawling metroplex of unbelievable proportions. ''But that also means that there are more people here than anywhere else.''

    Right, this was the final roadblock before escape. The other inds may have consumedrge amounts of experts, but this one was their true grave.

    After all, the task on this ind was a nightmare for most.

    ''Simply put, it''s about purity.''

    To reach a level of purity in one''s Nonexistence that met the realm''s standards was the only goal. Once that goal was met, the light of Nonexistence would return them to whence they came, ending their time in this realm.

    It was easy, right?

    Wrong. To Damien, it was a task of extreme simplicity. From the beginning, he had been focused on keeping his Nonexistence pure. Though it didn''t meet the ind''s standard, his starting point was high.

    For most, this ind was the worst possible ce to be.

    Because most of the people in this realm absorbed its energy to grow. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Their entire journeys over the past four inds were devalued, because along the way, they ruined their chances to graduate from the fifth ind.

    The Graveyard of Supremes was this ind''s nickname.

    But, in reality, it was their greatest helper thus far.

    Damien knew this from the moment he saw that the task was purification. He went straight into the first city he saw without a single pause in his steps.

    ''Finally, the end is in sight.''

 Chapter 1843 Fifth Island [2]

    Chapter 1843 Fifth Ind [2]

    Just like the first ind, there were no guidelines on the fifth.

    The only information these future Supremes learned was that they needed to purify their Nonexistence. Other than that, they were on their own.

    So, from Damien''s perspective, what needed to be done to achieve that level of purification?

    ''I really don''t know.''

    Purifying Nonexistence wasn''t necessarily a thing that could be done. It took whatever form it took based on one''s experiences. Damien''s Nonexistence was pure because he''d never polluted it in the first ce.

    But, for those who made it this far with a polluted concept, the situation was different.

    They had to establish methods to purify Nonexistence before attempting it.

    It wasn''t much different from forming a Divinity. The people in this realm had to find out what Nonexistence meant to them. After establishing that in their core, they could chase it. Their efforts would pay off and the influence that external energy had on them would be decreased.

    That was why this ind was the hardest of the five.

    Damien already established that Nonexistence wasn''t just a concept to him. The way he interacted with it as if it was a living being with its own emotions and the lessons he learned from its faces in the process had already defined his "Divinity" in that sense.

    What about others? For those who didn''t receive the same enlightenment as him, it was impossible to define a concept like Nonexistence and personalize it.

    ''But this is the ideal environment to do it.''

    This ind was unique in that it wasn''t polluted by any kind of aura. When people died, they wouldn''t leave behind stains on the environment as they did on the other inds.

    These experts had the benefit of being able to die as they pleased because they would not lose their energy in the process. This way, they could test and test and test without worrying about their strength depreciating.

    Damien smiled. He had been staying away from death for that exact reason, but the freedom this ind gave him allowed him to drop that worry. If he was able to die continuously, he would be able to practice like never before.

    He first entered a city just to see what the atmosphere was like only to learn that it was mostly deste.

    The people here didn''t have an interest in social lives. None of them gave up like the people of the third ind.

    At almost all times of all days, they were busy training, focusing on themselves.

    asionally, there would be festivals and gatherings, but none of them were currently happening. As such, rather than focusing on the people, he decided to first find a ce for himself to stay for the next few years.

    He wasn''t joking when he said that there wasn''t a single inch of unimednd. The entire ind was turned into a sprawling city to save space and contain all of the people living there.

    It was a little funny to think that all of these experts were practically living in studio apartments, but that was beside the point.

    Damien didn''t want to go through the annoying processes of finding a ce to live within the city. It was a general rule of thumb that if one found empty space, one could im it. He chose that method instead. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Spending some time exploring the ind was a good practice for him. Over the next few months, he met some of its people and interacted with them, learning more about the culture of this ind.

    And, more importantly, he found that it was impossible to im any space. The beaches were kept empty on purpose as they were ces where neersnded, and even the mountains and volcanoes were covered in imed properties.

    How was Damien meant to find a quiet ce to practice?

    He knew that his movements weren''t going to be quiet. No, he was nning to die many times in the pursuit of his goals, so he needed the space to properly do so.

    ''Thend isn''t an option. The sea isn''t an option. Then, I''m left with the sky, right?''

    Damien was curious about why aerial architecture wasn''t considered more often. In such an overcrowded ce, wasn''t it obvious to think outside of the box?

    He was correct in that aspect, but he underestimated the difficulty of taking ownership of the Land of Nothingness'' sky. ''I guess this is my first training method.''

    As it turned out, the sky was barely different from the sea. It was made of pure Nonexistence. Though it allowed people to traverse through it if they had enough power, it was still murky and undesirable terrain.

    If Damien wanted to build in the sky, he needed to first conquer it.

    That was when his training began. He gave up on finding amodations and flew into the air on his own. His connection with Nonexistence allowed him to stay in the airspace without being inhibited.

    To do more than that, naturally he needed to practice.

    He started by sitting down in the sky and meditating, bing one with the atmosphere.

    Slowly, he released his territory and expanded it to cover more and more space. It started as just a tform to support his weight, but he was eventually able to epass several thousands of square feet for himself.

    What started as nothing more than a foundation became more and more robust with time. Building vertically was more difficult than building horizontally, but it was also a task hepleted with enough effort.

    Damien didn''t need much. He built a small cottage on the side where he could rest while keeping the rest of the space t and turning it into a training ground.

    His actions drew a lot of attention. The people living under him were quite curious about why there was a shadow over their homes now, and the people who saw it from a distance couldn''t hold back their curiosity.

    The denizens of this ind began to approach Damien. Some of them were hostile, but most held an attitude of curiosity.

    They wanted to know how he made it all possible. They wanted to learn from his aplishments and achieve more like scientists hungry for a new find.

    The fifth ind was filled with people who had been on a dreary search for answers for far too long to still have passion. Damien''s presence reignited the spark they felt when they first arrived in the Land of Nothingness.

    For these people who had been living stale lives without progress for so long, the appearance of a neer who refused to think like them was a blessing.

    Because, maybe by watching that neer execute his wild ns, they could find their own paths as well.

    Just like the third, the fifth was a ce that Damien liked a lot.

    And, since the n was to spend a decent amount of time here, he decided that it would be a good idea to be familiar with the residents. Damien''s house in the sky became something of a meeting ce for the people in a matter of one year. It expanded rapidly, making room for others to train and try things without fear of repercussions.

    The sky became synonymous with prosperity and experimentation.

    It all happened within a year. And frankly, even Damien was confused about this rapid development.

 Chapter 1844 Fifth Island [3]

    Chapter 1844 Fifth Ind [3]

    The year passed by in a breeze. Damien hardly recognized the time. He was so focused on his one improvement that he barely even understood the kind of stir he''d caused.

    Naturally, he knew that people wereing to his sky ind. He also knew that they were interested in him, as they would approach him whenever he wasn''t training to talk about Nonexistence.

    However, to him, they were just visitors. Their conversations were short, and though he weed others to stay in the sky with him, he didn''t interact with them needlessly.

    He was focused more on training than them, and they knew that as well.

    The people of the ind were respectful. They maintained boundaries when necessary because they knew how important it was to not lose a single moment. After all, every single one of them was a top expert. Most of them had near-perfect control over Nonexistence, which was the root of their problems.

    They learned how to deal with polluted essence. Their perfection was muddled by that impurity. Topletely abolish themselves and start over from scratch with apletely new type of Nonexistence was a daunting task that nobody wanted to undertake.

    Instead, they tried to find enlightenment within their perfection and improve from where they stood.

    It wasn''t an unworthy strategy, but it was definitely inefficient.

    As Damien spoke to them, he learned that ack of knowledge and ack of familiarity with Nonexistence in its pure form was their main issue. It didn''t cost him much to help, so he shared his perspective as someone with high purity freely.

    That was what set him apart from the rest. The people nearing the end of their journeys were adamant about keeping their secrets to themselves. The rise of other Supremes who could leave this realm and return home meant the rise ofpetition in the real world. Why would they help their future enemies?

    Damien''s opinion differed just as much as everything else. He believed that these people had potential and that they would be worthy subordinates if they were allowed to help.

    Plus, by helping them, he was helping himself. He learned from their practice and they learned from him. In this symbiotic environment, people were finding themselves growing at a rate they couldn''t have imagined previously.

    But what interested Damien most was "information."

    There were two people who came to see him more often than others. The first was a man named Doc and the second was a woman who called herself Syx. The two of them were weaker than Damien by arge margin, but they were also willing to put their pride down and ask questions.

    The mostmon method to learn was by watching silently from the sidelines. These two ignored all conventions and approached him like students to their teacher.

    Their eagerness to learn gave him an eagerness to teach, but the reason he thought of them now was more the stories they''d tell him. They spent many years on this ind and knew about its history.

    "They say that there''s a Fragment of True Nothingness hidden here. It''s in the form of a crown somewhere, and if someone ims it, they''ll immediately surpass all requirements of the trial. It''s apparently the other half of a crown that exists in reality, but it hasn''t been found yet. Personally, I think it has to be a hoax."

    They were words he heard from Syx. Words of a treasure hidden in the Land of Nothingness. To others, it felt like a fairytale made by people who couldn''t find a way off the ind, but Damien thought otherwise.

    The other half of that crown¡­

    ''...isn''t it my Emperor''s Crown?''

    The Emperor''s Crown was a manifestation of Existence in physical form and the mark of its emperor. Damien didn''t originally think there was a reason for Nonexistence to have one too, but it made a lot of sense.

    Their origins, their abilities, their personalities; everything about the two possessed an air of duality. It was only natural for the crown to have a sibling as well.

    ''But it''s good for me if they''re treating it as something useless.''

    As the owner of the Emperor''s Crown, Damien knew that it was nothing of the sort.

    The Emperor''s Crown was the reason his control over Existence peaked. Because of that crown, the Mist had a ce to reside and help him control thews of the world, and the six concepts of Existence could be brought together without him needing to do anything.

    It was like the bow that was tied around a Christmas gift, the final piece of the puzzle that made everything function properly.

    Damien was enticed by those rumors.

    ''I never thought it would be a problem, but now that I know about something like this, I can''t let it go.''

    He didn''t know when it happened, but Damien became a perfectionist at some point. At every step, he made sure to keep duality in mind. He acted to maintain harmony, because the coexistence of allws and concepts in his body was the most important aspect of his strength. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    If he returned without that crown, what would happen?

    Damien didn''t even want to slightly risk losing everything because he chose to bezy at a time like this.

    ''Then, to find the crown that nobody has ever seen...''

    Naturally, this mystery was going to be harder to solve than that of Death''s Hold or the third ind''s schemes.

    From the beginning, both of those were known to an extent by the public. They only missed a few details or were hindered before finding the whole truth. Damien merely had to follow their tracks until he reached the ce they couldn''t.

    This was different.

    On this ind, after billions upon billions of years, nobody had found even a single trace of the crown. Its existence was spread through rumors, and even the one who started those rumors had no idea where it actually was.

    It was more like he was coerced into making the crown known to the world by the realm itself.

    So, Damien had to tread a path that nobody had ever tread before. ''Immediately, that eliminates the entire fifth ind.''

    Whether above or underground, the people had surely searched every inch before deciding that the crown wasn''t real.

    ''Once again, I''m left with only two options.''

    The sky or the sea. One of those two unfriendly ces that attempted to kill anyone who disturbed them had to be investigated.

    No, both of them had to be investigated. At this point, Damien couldn''t leave it alone. He would use this quest to thoroughly understand everything about this mysterious realm.

    ''Let''s start with the sea.''

    It was an easy decision to make. Because everyone knew what the sea was capable of. Everyone knew the consequences of stepping foot in those waters.

    The sky¡­

    The sky usually wasn''t seen as a hostile ce. Damien built this learning zone in the sky, so its connotation was actually the opposite.

    However, his instincts screamed otherwise.

    They told him directly, giving him no chance to argue: ''If I push the bounds of the sky, then I will experience true hell.''

 Chapter 1845 The Crowns Shadow [1]

    Chapter 1845 The Crown''s Shadow [1]

    The Sea of Nothingness was notorious for killing future Supremes.

    It never approached them purposefully. Its only job was to separate the five inds so they couldn''t be easily traversed by those who weren''t worthy. However, it was still the main cause of True Death in this realm. Whenever an expert gave up on everything, regardless of which ind they were on, the Sea of Nothingness was their escape.

    As such, the connotation behind therge body of water was terrible. After all, its force was pure nothingness that could swallow anything. Who in their right mind would approach such an entity willingly?

    Well, it was up for question whether he was in his right mind or not, but Damien approached it without fear.

    He looked out into the waters for a moment, wondering how they were different from thekes on the fourth ind.

    But, hesitation wasn''t a very familiar concept to him. Even when standing in front of guaranteed death, he showed no fear.

    It was a good thing that nobody was around. Damien hovered his foot over the sea like someone preparing to take their own life, but it would have been troublesome if someone tried to stop him.

    His goal was not death, but exploration.

    This grand sea had to hold some kind of secret. It couldn''t exist just to separate inds, because as Damien learned through his experiences in this realm, Nonexistence never acted without reason.

    Everything had some sort of meaning, even if it was difficult to find.

    Damien dipped his toes in the water. He didn''t immediately submerge himself, but just having a single inch of his body in the water was enough.

    He touched what should not have been touched.

    Damien fiercely resisted from the very first moment. He brandished his own form of Nonexistence, countering what the sea threw at him.

    The aura of pure nothingness enveloped him. It, like a horde of wraiths, attacked his body and tried to take him down to the very bottom, a ce where nobody and nothing would find him.

    Damien fiercely resisted from the very first moment. He brandished his own form of Nonexistence, countering what the sea threw at him.

    In terms of sheer power, he lost easily. However, the Sea of Nothingness was stagnant. Itsws and concepts were set from the beginning. It did not have thoughts and merely acted on its programming. Damien had the versatility ofplex thought and a wide range of concepts at his disposal. With his level of purity and strength, the Sea of Nothingness was not an absolute power. He could use tricks to overwhelm it.

    A silent battle began as the sea attacked Damien. He focused on defending, putting more and more of his body into its water.

    When he was submerged to his hips, he was finally confident in reading and defending against the water body. ''Let''s do this.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Damien didn''t act without thinking. Regardless, he wasn''t able to explore deep into the sea or reach ces far separated fromnd. He simply didn''t have the energy to fight so fiercely for so long against an invible force.

    Instead, since he was originally searching for a treasure on the fifth ind, he used his abilities to scan the shore for several days before choosing a ce to submerge.

    He looked for hidden caves or cavities on the border betweennd and sea. He double-checked to see which ones were essible fromnd and which ones were not. There were many cave systems that seemed to originally be disconnected from the underground routes but were connected by excavation teams searching for treasure in the past.

    When it came to areas that had never been explored, there was only one. Damien could tell that someone tried. There was a tunnel that led straight to thisrge cave that halted just before connecting.

    From a preliminary scan, Damien assumed that they originally did connect to the cavern, but were forced to immediately patch the connection for some reason.

    ''The path had only been traversed a few times before I went. It''s likely that the original creators didn''t tell anyone about their discovery when they returned tond.''

    Either that or they died before they could spread the news of whatever was down there.

    Damien didn''t take the underground route because of that risk. He chose to approach through the natural entrance so that he would at least be prepared for whatever they encountered before seeing it himself.

    With confidence in his defense, he plunged into the Sea of Nothingness, diving deeper and deeper as if it were just a normal ocean.

    He didn''t want to spend too much timepletely submerged in the water, though. He rushed to reach the entrance, which was roughly a kilometer below the surface. Seeing the crack in the ind''s foundation, he swam through it and followed the path.

    It was a narrow fit. Damien''s robust body could hardly make it through the terrain he was trying to cross, but he forced his way through. Eventually, he reached something both positive and negative.

    ''Waterfall.''

    Damien smiled wryly as his body was suddenly engulfed in the current and flung off the edge of a cliff. Luckily, the waterfall meant he''d finally entered a cavern that wasn''t submerged, so he rapidly gathered his senses and slowly lowered himself to the nearest piece of drynd he could find.

    ''Phew.''

    He treated it like it was no big deal, but fighting against pure Nonexistence was extremely difficult. His own force was practically apologizing to him the entire way since it couldn''t interfere with the natural rules of this realm. Basically, he didn''t have any help. He had to consciouslybat every single concept of that sea for the roughly thirty minutes it took for him to swim here.

    ''I understand why it''s considered a death trap.''

    He didn''t doubt that the strongest people in this realm could also fight against the sea if they wanted to. But, whether it was him or them, they would eventually be consumed by it if they didn''t leave in time.

    Damien took his thoughts off of the water and focused on the cavern in front of him.

    He was a little skeptical at first, but that feeling was already gone. ''There is definitely something down here, even if it isn''t the crown.''

    It was like that treasure was calling out to him. It was making its presence known as if it never intended to hide in the first ce.

    A treasure with such a desire for human connection¡­ usually all of such treasures were rapidly imed and passed down through society.

    However, if this one was still here despite its desperation, then it could only mean one thing.

    ''Something is preventing people from reaching it.''

    There was originally a possibility that the first explorers who found this ce were scared away by a natural phenomenon like the waterfall Damien had been transported by.

    That possibility was naturally taken off the board. Damien approached closer and closer to the aura that called for his help. He took slow and methodical steps that made no sound to avoid alerting whatever waited for him inside.

    Only, when he saw the being he was treating so cautiously for the first time¡­

    ¡­the only expression on his face was one of confusion.

 Chapter 1846 The Crowns Shadow [2]

    Chapter 1846 The Crown''s Shadow [2]

    It was surely a being of pure Nonexistence, but he couldn''t tell if it was supposed to be terrifying or weing.

    Its physical form was rtively undefined as it was a being made of pure shadow, but it wascking an air of intimidation. Rather, the owl-like creature perched on the rock, calmly plucking its shadowy feathers, was a little cute in Damien''s eyes.

    Did that mean it was safe to approach it? Probably not, but Damien did it anyway. If he had to fight, then nothing would change even if he hesitated and came backter.

    He walked into the separated cave where the owl was. It immediately snapped its head in his direction and tilted it in curiosity. The creature instantly noticed that Damien didn''t have any innate hostility or greed. His attitude was more one of curiosity and necessary caution.

    It flew into the air and hovered there for a moment. Deciding that it wasn''t enough, the owl pped its wings and charged at Damien. He didn''t move, as its trajectory was notbative. The owl flew in circles around him as if it were wondering what a person like him was doing here.

    ''Is this thing like the mist?''

    The concept of mist on Existence''s side was also a yful entity. It wasn''t immediately hostile to anyone, but if it sensed negative energy in the souls of those who approached it, it would not respond kindly.

    The mist led Damien where he needed to go when he was approaching the Emperor''s Crown. If this owl was also a concept and a guide¡­

    ''...do I have to entertain it as well?''

    Just as he asked the question, the owl swooped down andnded on his shoulder. It made a strange sound as it turned its head to look at him. "Rx, I''ll go. You don''t have to scream."

    The owl bounced happily.

    "What are you up to?" Damien asked, not expecting any kind of answer.

    The owl cooed, seemingly displeased with his questioning. It raised a wing as if to point forward, cooing incessantly. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Rx, I''ll go. You don''t have to scream."

    The owl bounced happily.

    Damien didn''t expect it to be so expressive, nor did he expect it to be friendly. If the so-called guardian of the treasure was a yful creature like this, then why were people scared away?

    ''Did it take a liking to me?''

    Damien shrugged. The owl seemed to like the motion as it happily rid his shoulder up and down like it was on a rollercoaster. He ignored it temporarily and followed its directions, moving through the cave. He was forced to break apart the ledge where the owl was originally perched to move deeper into the system. After a few turns in a strangelyplex maze of tunnels, he reached another cave that seemed to be his final destination.

    The owl hopped off of his shoulder and flew to the end of the cave,nding on a metallic treasure chest that was waiting there.

    ''Why is something like this here?''

    It was an awfully human way to store a treasure. Naturally urring treasures weren''t wrapped up so cleanly. Usually, they''d just be sitting wherever they appeared, waiting for someone to grab them.

    With many questions in mind, Damien undid thetches and opened the chest.

    Inside, there was a single book.

    [Records of the Absolute]

    Its title was intriguing. Damien picked it up carefully, but it was in pristine condition despite the look of wear. The pages were firmly bound and unaffected by the time that ruined the book''s cover.

    Flipping through it, he read the story. Or rather, it was more of a biography.

    ''It starts a random cosmos somewhere in the Void.''

    That was where the author of this book first met the person known as the Absolute.

    It was the author''s home cosmos. At the time, he was a Supreme God who was just touching upon Existence.

    He realized the existence of the Void, and in his own words, that was the only reason why he was able to perceive that man at all.

    He walked the realm casually, as if he had nothing on his mind at all. Everywhere he went, reality itself was morphed, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

    The man didn''t seem to care. He continued on his mindless stroll with the same empty smile on his face.

    Witnessing the repercussions of that man''s presence in his cosmos, the author felt obligated to approach him and ask.

    "Why are you doing this?"

    The man nced at him. The smile on his face changed ever so slightly as he responded.

    "I do not, for I am not. Young one, are these changes not the result of your own actions?"

    It didn''t make sense to him at the time. That strange man continued walking, changing the realm as he went.

    And one day, he once again disappeared.

    Time passed and the changes he made became permanent. That which seemed destructive at first made way for new blessings to spawn. Because of the man, the author''s cosmos flourished to a new extent.

    But, the author was continuously gued by that single sentence. For years and years, as he progressed through hisprehensions and mastered Existence, he kept thinking about what that man could have possibly meant.

    Because the longer he trained, the more he realized how amazing that man was. He was a true Absolute, a person whose presence alone was enough to morph entire cosmos.

    But, his presence was also unrecognizable and nonexistent.

    It was through the existence of the Absolute that the author recognized Nonexistence for the first time. It was due to that man''s influence that he finally entered this realm.

    Those words¡­

    An Absolute was a being without meaning if not perceived. An Absolute was no different from the Void itself. Therefore, it was because the author perceived his existence that the cosmos was allowed to change permanently and achieve growth.

    If not, what would have happened?

    The author spent his entire life attempting to understand the Absolute. He felt that only after he did so could he truly reach his potential.

    But, no matter how much time passed and no matter how much stronger the author became, he could never understand that man.

    He questioned why that man even chose to speak to him. He wondered if there was supposed to be some sort of deeper meaning behind those words. However, he died without ever being able to find out the truth.

    This was not a record of the Absolute, but a record of the author''s obsession with the man he deemed Absolute.

    And, in the end, there was never a proper solution to his problem.

    ''The words of an Absolute¡­he tried so hard to give them meaning, but he was simply never able to perceive it.''

    The mind of someone who was able to traverse the Void was simply too different from that of anyone else. An Absolute could not be read or measured. Perhaps those words were never even spoken. They may have just flowed due to the man''s perception. Reality was changing when the Absolute walked by, so who was to say that the form the man saw was even real?

    In the end, the record seemed to be a useless book. The perspective was from an unreliable narrator and there wasn''t anything definite about the author''s encounter with the Absolute.

    Nevertheless, if what the author perceived was true, then it was very exciting news for Damien. After all, the author of this book confirmed the existence of at least one person who had reached the heights that Damien was aiming for.

    How could his blood not boil at such a revtion?

 Chapter 1847 The Crowns Shadow [3]

    Chapter 1847 The Crown''s Shadow [3]

    The cavern was filled with good things.

    The confirmation of an Absolute was good. It meant that the path Damien was treading truly was possible.

    He wasn''t a person defined by doubts. At this stage in his life, doubt hardly existed at all.

    However, that was one thing he''d always doubted. To truly reach the Void and not only touch upon it but conquer it; was it even possible?

    Standing equal to it was one thing, but to surpass it seemedpletely unbelievable. Despite never outwardly questioning it or showing signs of doubt, it concerned him deeply.

    The fact that someone else already aplished it, reaching a level beyond any means, was a huge affirmation for him.

    And that wasn''t the only thing the book offered. The author never revealed his name, but his insights were quite interesting. Because he spent his entire life chasing the image of a single Absolute, the way he perceived both Existence and Nonexistence was different from anything a normal person could develop.

    As Damien had never seen an Absolute, even he wasn''t privy to this kind of interpretation.

    If he studied it properly and digested the knowledge, it could possibly define his path to reaching that level even more, making his path to the peak smoother.

    This was the book''s real value. The author never realized that he was already on the right path because he focused too much on another person instead of looking within himself. However, with his wisdom at hand, Damien would be able to attain everything he couldn''t.

    It was set on following him, though he still couldn''t say why.

    Finally, and most importantly, the owl that refused to leave Damien''s side.

    He walked back to the entrance of the cavern and ascended the waterfall, fighting against the current to escape through the same method he entered with. The owl naturally disappeared when he entered the water, but he found it returned to his shoulder the instant he returned tond.

    It was set on following him, though he still couldn''t say why.

    ''Has it discovered something in me?''

    Even the mist needed to be persuaded. This owl merely saw him and immediately decided that it was not going to be hostile. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''Or is the owl something that cameter? What if those people encountered something else entirely?''

    If so, then where was that danger?

    Damien didn''t encounter it at all, which confused him, but that was not his primary concern at the moment.

    The owl was not harmful, after all. It actually seemed to have a deep desire to aid him.

    ''Clearly, the sea wasn''t going to be the answer from the start. For something like the shadow of the Emperor''s Crown, only the most dangerous ce is worthy to house it.''

    The sky was uncharted territory. At most, people used it to travel. Nobody was willing to pry too deeply into its secrets.

    At least the sea''s deadliness was nearby and known. Enough people had ended their lives in that sea for its reputation to spread far and wide.

    The sky was an unknown danger. It was an unknown danger that every single practitioner in this realm understood was more terrifying than the sea.

    Why?

    ''I''m about to find out.''

    At this point, Damien didn''t believe that there was anything new for Nonexistence to show him. From Death''s Hold to the Spiritual God of Chaos to the waters of nothingness, Damien had explored everything Nonexistence had to offer.

    He understood itpletely, which meant that nothing it could throw at him was meaningful.

    Or so he thought until he breached the realm''s sky.

    It wasn''t difficult. Not because he was powerful, but because he identally picked up something terrifying.

    The instant they reached a barrier that was meant to be uncrossable, that owl left his shoulder and flew in front of him. VOOOOOOOOOM!

    A huge aura that even put pressure on Damien was released by the beast. It pped its wings a single time, creating enough of an impact topletely shatter the barrier.

    As if nothing happened, it then returned to his shoulder, cooing happily.

    Damien shook for a moment.

    ''I change my mind. This guy is definitely the reason why the explorers before me ran away.''

    The power he felt seemed invible. It was far beyond the level of his own Nonexistence.

    But, he put it down for now. Again, he didn''t need to concern himself with questions that he didn''t need to answer.

    Damien flew past the altitude of his abode and kept going. Like he was breaching a''s atmosphere, he experienced thinner air and colder temperatures that worsened exponentially until he was in a dark vacuum.

    He looked around, observing his surroundings and his own weightless body.

    In that moment, he felt like he had abandoned everything.

    He was no longer someone that "existed."

    ''Is that it? Is that how it ends for everyone?''

    Was this infinite ckness the ce where his ego was supposed to go when he died?

    Strangely enough, there was no fear in Damien''s heart. At this point in time, any who tried to challenge the sky would start to panic, trying to find a way back into the Land of Nothingness.

    Damien did no such thing.

    He sat there, pondering his state.

    ''As long as I am conscious here, I exist.''

    His existence could not be denied. He was assured of that much. However, his surroundings were a ce where people went when they ceased existing. There was absolute nothingness in this ce, but for some reason, it was filled with so much character.

    The records of every ego that was ever abolished into Nonexistence¡­

    ''...is this where it finds its faces?''

    This realm of Nonexistence was more than just interesting to Damien. This appearance of being both nothing at all and everything at once was reminiscent of the Void.

    Only, this nothingness was not everything. It was merely an overwhelming amount of emotion, character, and memory that seemed like "everything" to the human mind that couldn''t grasp its true extent. Damien stayed within, calmly and quietly contemting it. He tried to dissect its origin, but there was no such thing. This Nonexistence did not have faces, nor did it have any sort of intelligence.

    It did not exist purely because Existence existed. In simpler terms, it was the purest essence of Nonexistence, untainted by even its own meaning.

    This was the absolute power of erasure that no person could ever resist.

    Hell, even Damien didn''t know how he was resisting it at first. Only when he noticed the subtle ck glow covering his body did he understand that this was also the work of his "guide."

    That owl he picked up along the way¡­he could feel its essence leading him in a certain direction.

    ''It''s really blocking all of the negative effects of this ce while still allowing me to perceive it.''

    The level of power necessary to aplish such a feat¡­

    It only showed him its cute side, but he couldn''t ignore that it really was a petrifying creature. ''Well, as long as I don''t piss it off, I''ll be fine.''

    Since the owl liked him, he didn''t need to question it.

    And since it was adamant about leading him through this nothingness¡­

    ¡­then he could do nothing but follow, right?

 Chapter 1848 The Crowns Shadow [4]

    Chapter 1848 The Crown''s Shadow [4]

    He felt blessed to be able to avoid such dangers easily, but he was given another reminder that this was not the product of his own power. He had yet to reach a level where he couldfortably touch the sky.

    Damien put away stray thoughts. While he was being guided to his destination, he focused on the ever-changing nothingness around him.

    This ce was unique. If it weren''t for the vanished egos around him, there wouldn''t have been a way for him to actually understand that he was moving in any specific direction.

    This vein of Nonexistence was untouched by his hands thus far, but it was also the closest to him. His ego personally experienced this space from the perspective of one who died. He felt the grasp of Nonexistence turning him into nothingness clearly back then.

    Now that he''d found a way to experience that same feeling from a secure position, all of the thoughts he had back then turned into concreteprehension that deepened his ability to control the facets of Nonexistence. The journey was both short and long. Naturally, there was no way to perceive time, so it could be said to have ended almost instantly.

    Nevertheless, the overwhelming environment made every second feel like a year. Every single piece of that space took Damien ages to observe and understand, lengthening his perception.

    Still, the end goal was never the space itself. It was the singr treasure contained in this deep nothingness. ''The Crown''s Shadow.''

    It was not necessarily a crown of its own. Damien was already wearing the crown after all.

    It was the second half of an alreadyplete structure, a piece of it that was always present but never seen.

    As such, the second crown became a shadow of the first, unseen by those unworthy of its presence.

    When Damien arrived at the crown, he was only able to see it because the owl highlighted it in its aura.

    Its physical form was specifically designed to evade the sight of a Supreme, so it was only natural for Damien to miss it.

    ''If only I could use the Void¡­''

    Not at this stage.

    The Void would reveal these things to him easily. It would probably allow him toprehend this space at a faster rate as well.

    However, he couldn''t use it. No matter how much he wanted to, he could not use its power.

    The fourth ind had to be the final time, because even then he only used it to check on his progress. Damien could tell after his encounter with the entity that it would be watching him closely from now on. If he wanted to cut corners and do things the easy way, it would remember his actions. Compared to his grand dream of ruling the Void, what was a little bit of effort? If he couldn''t put in the work, then the Void would simply never ept him as its master.

    At times like these, wishing for the Void was only meaninglessining. From start to finish, Damien had no intention of receiving its help.

    He was doing just fine on his own, wasn''t he?

    The careful steps he took on the four inds before this one, the methodical approach he took inprehending Nonexistence; together, these two culminated into a foundation that caused even the owl to willingly choose him without a fuss.

    The guide was supposed to be convinced by one''s actions or achievements. In most cases, those achievements didn''t reach the qualifications the guide was searching for, so one would need to prove their worth in the moment.

    While following the owl, Damien determined that it was satisfied with what he''d aplished thus far and chose him because he fulfilled its conditions beforehand. That was a product of entirely his own effort.

    Just like this very moment.

    Damien looked at the Crown''s Shadow and extended his hand to touch it. For a moment, he felt another sense of absolute nothingness wash over him, but it was not hostile.

    The shadow read his existence and confirmed the owl''s presence. It ensured that he truly was worthy of its power, and when it sensed the Emperor''s Crown that eternally sat atop Damien''s head¡­

    How could it think about rejection?

    If even that extremely picky Emperor''s Crown chose an owner after so long, then what right did it have to disagree?

    It seemed the person it chose was more than just adequate as well. He currently had the power of two faces of Nonexistence in his body, and the rest were willing to follow him as long as he just asked.

    This was an unprecedented feat for a human to aplish. Quite literally, Nonexistence had never been so close to another living being before. The shadow separated from the surrounding Nonexistence and slithered up Damien''s arm. It made its way up his neck like a collection of ck veins until it reached the top of his head and came together.

    Nothing visibly changed in the Emperor''s Crown, but if one was skilled enough, one would be able to see that it was now abination of two separate entities.

    The first was the proud and regal crown that Damien had been wearing until now, and the second was a dark entity with an unknown form that forced one to bow to the aura of an emperor.

    They were equally domineering. They were opposites, but in the end, they were the same.

    ''True duality.''

    It was something Damien had been striving to reach for his entire life. Now that he had both crowns¡­

    ''I feel like I''ve finally reached the cusp of it.'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien patted his chest. The owl understood his message and led him back to the surface.

    He thought he would be confused without its help, but that was no longer the case.

    Even he could now see a path in this expanse.

    He could see the way home.

    Damien came out of the sky like he was breaking through a powerful wave and taking his first breath in a long while. The owl came out of his body and returned to its usual pattern of flying around him and perching on his shoulder.

    Without a word about what happened, he returned to his abode.

    He didn''t quite know how long he''d been gone. The people there likely wouldn''t know either. They hardly kept track of time. However, Damien could tell that this was the end.

    Perhaps he would spend a little longer digesting everything he''d learned, but¡­

    ''...it''s finally time to go home.''

    To return to the Heavenly World, to return to war, and to return to the Dark God.

    That fated battle, that long-awaited spectacle was just over the horizon.

    And after seeing what he''d aplished during his time in this realm¡­

    Damien was both extremely confident and extremely excited about that battle.

 Chapter 1849 The Crowns Shadow [5]

    Chapter 1849 The Crown''s Shadow [5]

    Returning to his abode, Damien was greeted with a lot of stares. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''I must have been gone for some time.''

    His assumption was entirely wrong. Since these experts were able to hide their emotions, they didn''t show anything, but they were feeling something inexplicable from Damien.

    If he was their equal before he left, he was clearly superior now. It was to the point where those who didn''t speak to him as often were hesitant to even watch his training anymore.

    He was an Emperor while they were merely nobles. That was the difference they felt.

    It was almost disrespectful to thoughtlessly interfere with the training of someone like him.

    None of them liked the feeling that invaded their hearts, but they couldn''t deny it.

    The few who did converse with him regrly came up and said a few words as they always did, but there was a subtle distance in their interaction that Damien felt clearly.

    ''I guess it isn''t necessarily a bad thing.''

    It would be a shame if there were hard feelings about his early departure. He only just came to this ind and he''d already reached a level that the rest of them could only dream about.

    It was better for him to disappear quietly. It was better if they assumed that he went and killed himself in the Sea of Nothingness, since that was easier to handle.

    ''Well, quietly may be impossible.''

    The moment he escaped, a huge phenomenon would epass all five inds. Damien heard of this from the first ind, so it had to be true.

    Rather than leaving quietly, it was more like he wanted to disguise the fact that he was the one leaving.

    ''This ind¡­isn''t it too pitiful?''

    When it was naturally epted that absorbing energy was the right method and there wasn''t a way to go back and tell people it was wrong, was it right to me these experts for their current situations?

    Sure, it was partially their fault, but it wasn''t enough of a blunder to turn this ce into their grave.

    The experts on this ind had different personalities, goals, and interests, but each and every one of them was worthy of being a Supreme. Damien could tell that their journeys through the four inds before this one changed them all into decent people.

    ''It would be a missed opportunity if I left them all here to rot.''

    The people of thisnd were all upright practitioners even if their pasts didn''t assume the same. Perhaps it was stupid to say that all of them were good people, but he knew that they were all at least sane.

    Plus, their talent was undeniable.

    At the moment, he wasn''t too much stronger than them, so it was impossible. When he became Absolute, that would change.

    If he wanted to have a dominion over several cosmos, or if he wanted to be prepared for a potential threat that may appear, he needed subordinates, didn''t he?

    Who better than Supremes that he personally raised?

    Bringing the Land of Nothingness into the limelight. It was a new goal that Damien established in that moment.

    But, it wasn''t attainable until he became Absolute, so his focus shifted to another way to improve the fifth ind''s condition.

    ''Let''s do that.''

    A project that he could consider a culmination of everything he''d learned. If he could pull it off, then he could guarantee that he was ready to leave.

    That day, Damien left his abode again. Unbeknownst to those who inhabited that ce with him, that was thest time they''d ever see him.

    He found the tallest mountain in the realm and flew high above it. Using the mountain as a center point, he started building again.

    But this time, it wasn''t for his own sake.

    As those who lived on the mountain watched, a massive floating ind was formed above them. It appeared in a single instant, andmassrge enough to be called a mountain of its own. And, on its t surface, there was a pce of crystals and purple gold. A pce with an insignia on the front that belonged to no known individual or n.

    The people of the mountain immediately flew up to investigate. They carefully entered the pce, knowing that the one who created it was incredibly powerful. However, instead of meeting him, they found themselves feeling a sensation like nothing they''d ever felt before.

    "This¡­this¡­!"

    A certain man eximed as he looked at his own hands. He returned his gaze to the interior of the pce. The massive staircase at the entrance branched off in both directions, and on the wall of the step where that happened, there was a message for all.

    [Wee to the Void Pce. This is a space for any and all practitioners who wish to improve. It will not and may not be imed by anyone. Share with your fellows, progress through your journeys, and meet me in the real world.]

    It was a message signed with a single word.

    "Void¡­"

    The man exhaled that name with an air of reverence. He could feel it clearly. This pce wasn''t just any normal thing. Disregarding all of theplicated concepts in ce to keep this ce as a neutral zone and assure that it would never fall into the wrong hands, it only had one purpose.

    ''Passive purification.''

    For the first time in his life, the man felt like he was seeing progress in his lifelong quest.

    He could already tell that this ce was going to be a haven of the fifth ind soon enough.

    VOOOM!

    Suddenly, the man''s head whipped to the side, his eyes peering through the pce''s entrance.

    Just as people started investigating the pce and realizing its worth, a massive sh of light appeared from the shoreline.

    "Wow¡­"

    How long had it been since thest time?

    Somebody was ascending and escaping this realm.

    And that sh of light¡­for some reason, it felt extremely warm.

    Because that man knew, and everyone else would soone to know.

    That light was the first of many.

    The fifth ind was finally going to be revitalized. As for the person who created it¡­

    He was content with leaving a small piece of himself for future generations.

    Without regrets and without hesitation, he returned to the world from which he came.

    He had a lot of work on his te, after all.

    ***

    See, that was what Damien thought was the end.

    It made sense, right? Now that his adventures in the Land of Nothingness were over, it was time for him to focus on the events in the True Void Universe.

    That statement wasn''t necessarily wrong, but his long yet short trip caused a few problems.

    Damien returned to his isted training room. He could tell from the air that time had not passed.

    But, clearly, something had changed.

    The universe rushed to read his existence. It was extremely confused by his current state, but it was forced to acknowledge what he''d achieved in only a single second.

    Almost exactly when Damien appeared, he was swept away again.

    But this time, he was not taken out of the True Void Universe.

    Merely¡­

    He was once again in a ce that other people could not reach.

 Chapter 1850 Records [1]

    Chapter 1850 Records [1]

    The space that Damien was in¡­could it be considered the counterside of the True Void Universe?

    ncing around, he noticed that his surroundings were the same. He was in the same isted training area. He could sense Void Pce and the other grand structures all around the Heavenly World.

    The key point that made it incredibly obvious that this was not the True Void Universe was theck of life. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The only living being in this ce was Damien himself.

    ''Something like this existed?''

    Damien exited the isted area and walked into the world. The first thing he noticed was the sky.

    It didn''t exist.

    Instead, the sky was made up of flowing waves of blue energy that perpetually moved and maintained its energy.

    ''Ah¡­''

    That was the model that Damien followed throughout his life. That was a direct representation of the way he wanted his own internal mana circuits to work. They were close to that level now. Damien didn''t necessarily need to use his own energy anymore, so it was inconsequential, but his mana still was not infinite.

    If there was a situation where the entire cosmos was stripped of its mana, Damien''s capacity would once again be finite.

    This was a representation of a level he had not been able to reach. As it graced his eyes, he inadvertently raised off of the ground and approached it.

    The energy was unbothered by his presence. No, perhaps it was the one who called him here. As he put his arm out and touched it, his entire body shook.

    He had suddenly established a connection to something magisterial. His eyes glowed with a massively blue light. His consciousness was ripped from his physical form as he was taken to a ce where he could properly interact with it.

    In that ce, it entered a form that he was already aware of.

    [Damien Void.]

    A holographic blue window appeared before him.

    ''Ah¡­''

    He was just as speechless after understanding. ''So you are¡­''

    [Wee to the Apeiron Records.]

    It obviously wasn''t its true name, but the fact that it acknowledged the only name Damien ever knew it by was enough confirmation that it was truly that entity.

    The system that ruled over the True Void Universe, the reason why its people were able to progress through the stages of power withoutplications or doubt¡­

    Was it this perpetual energy? Is this where it was the entire time, existing in this alternate True Void that others could not perceive?

    For some reason, it was astounding. Damien, who had juste back from the Land of Nothingness, still found himself shell-shocked by this entity.

    [You have achieved a state that this cosmos has never seen.]

    The system clearly didn''t have consciousness. It was able to interact with him within its parameters, which meant that this meeting was for a purpose.

    As the system said, he was now in full control over both Existence and Nonexistence. To an extent, he was standing equal to the Void. This was a state that this cosmos had never seen, and a state celebrated by every cosmos lucky enough to birth an individual with such power.

    [In lieu of your aplishment, you have been granted the right to read the records.]

    Damien''s eyes widened.

    The system was, as named, a record of all things. Persia''s Encyclopedia did something simr to the system, but this entity acted on apletely different level. It was omniscient and omnipresent. To be granted a right to read those records¡­

    ''It is not absolute.''

    He wouldn''t be given free reign over the system. He could tell from the messages that this was a one-time opportunity.

    ''Then, rather than focusing on myself, I should think broader.''

    Rather than focusing on the True Void Universe that he could read at any time, he wanted to focus on the system itself.

    So¡­

    "Show me those records."

    The records of the system''s origin. The records of its creator.

    [Confirming ess to Origin Record.]

    [Partial ess confirmed. Some information will be omitted.]

    With those words, Damien was shown the very story he wanted to see.

    He encountered no obstacles, almost as if the story was meant for him from the very beginning.

    Once upon a time, in a world far, far away, two brothers were born. Their births took ce only a few minutes apart, however, the way they were treated was different from their very first day alive.

    The elder brother was showered with love. He was found to have an extremely rare talent during his birth, and all eyes had been on him from then.

    The younger brother wasn''t untalented, butpared to his elder brother, he was nothing special.

    Others ignored him, but his elder brother didn''t. He wasn''t blinded by the attention he got. He cherished his younger brother and wanted to make sure that he was always happy.

    However, his younger brother didn''t appreciate his sentiments.

    Every negative thing that happened to him was attributed to his elder brother. When a woman he loved decided to confess to his brother, he ignored the fact that his brother rejected her and threw her out of the house. He only cared about the fact that his brother had won again.

    One day, a prophecy was revealed. It stated that a hero would be born who would save the world and even the universe itself. The two hero candidates were none other than these two brothers. But the elder brother didn''t want it.

    He didn''t want to be the hero. He never wanted to remain stuck on this, and the stronger he got, the more he desired to see the skies and whaty beyond.

    The title of a hero was just a burden to him, but it looked like it meant everything to his brother.

    As such, he decided not topete. He announced his withdrawal from candidacy and disappeared, finally making his way into the starry sky.

    From that point on, he never saw his brother again. He hoped his brother was able to gain happiness in that small world where they were born, but he couldn''t be there to experience it with him.

    It wasn''t just because of his ambitions, but because his brother would only ever feel negativity and hostility if he stayed. For years, he wandered the cosmos alone. He gained great power and a wealth of knowledge, eventuallying across a concept known as "Abyss."

    It was everything and nothing at all. Existence and Nonexistence in one.

    He chased that concept with everything he had, and as he got closer to reaching it, he distanced himself from everything else.

    He only revisited his home world once. It was covered in statues of his brother and tales of a hero.

    However, it wasn''t all peaceful.

    Since he was there in their hometown, he helped them kill a rogue dragon that was threatening to wipe them all out. On the same day, he also helped them design certain facilities that would increase the quality of living greatly.

    He became a hero to that city, so they erected a statue of him to pay tribute.

    It was the only one in the entire world, so it definitely felt special.

    Nevertheless, that was thest time he interacted with reality under his birth name.

    After that, he became the Worldwalker.

    He eventually reached Existence and Nonexistence. Even longer after that, hebined them and became Absolute.

    The Worldwalker started passing through the various cosmos within the Abyss and observing their cultures. Sometimes, he''d lend them a helping hand or create a treasure that would help the cosmos grow.

    He was a wanderer at his core. He never wanted to stay in one ce. The infinitely expanding Abyss filled with so many different cosmos with so many different peoples and cultures was his home, and within it, he found the greatest adventures.

    Still, he was a mortal once. He perceived time, and eventually, he experienced an unparalleled sense of boredom and loneliness.

    He decided that he had lived for long enough. He found a random newly budding cosmos as his final resting ce, and he transformed it so that its people could live well.

    That random cosmos was none other than the True Void. His final creation was the system.

    After providing a route for this cosmos'' people to grow more stably and without deviation, he established it.

    And, amidst those people, heid himself to rest.

    ''The Worldwalker¡­''

    The origin of the system, and the first Absolute.

    Their cosmos had been blessed by such a being. That was the reason for its oddities and its uniqueness.

 Chapter 1851 Records [2]

    Chapter 1851 Records [2]

    Though Damien still was not truly in the Heavenly World, time resumed when he left the Land of Nothingness.

    The first stages of the war against the Dark God had begun. The Dark God himself wasn''t aware of the disturbance of several years that had only just ended. Even his senses could not detect that Damien had finished for less than a single instant and returned.

    Of course, he sensed when Damien was taken away by the Apeiron Records, but that didn''t frighten him.

    No, those records¡­

    He wanted to get his hands on those records, so it was better for him if Damien went and met them.

    When he finally killed that man, he could steal his Existence and find the method to reach them. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Everything worked out, didn''t it?

    While Damien was in the counterside of the world, the battle of generals began in full force between his clone and the Dark God.

    Immediately upon his return, the DImensional Cracks that gued thend became active, spitting countless troops into the Heavenly World.

    Damien and his people were ready. He overlooked the entire situation, waiting for the moment when he could provide backline support to his people. Hestia was the one who truly stood at the head of everything.

    In these years, she''d graduated from immaturity. She found her talents and thrived in an environment that she loved. She understood how people depended on her and wanted to show them that she was worthy of their support.

    As such, she became amander who was fated to go down in history.

    Her tactics were mainly provided to those without as much raw power. Those troops who were raised from themon popce of the world simply didn''t have enough time to reach a level where they were suited for this kind ofrge-scalebat.

    Still, in the face of their enemies, they remained calm.

    Hestia had earned herself a nickname in the ten years that Damien didn''t experience, after all.

    She was now the true Eyes of God, a person who could see through anything and everything. From the mostmon people to the Supreme Gods of the world, everyone was willing to listen to her advice on the battlefield.

    The reward system that Damien set in ce was working well. Three days passed after he was taken by the records, and somehow, people were already finding ways to redeem their points.

    On top of that, Damien personally selected a troop out of the world''s people and put them together, calling them to the pce.

    They were given specialized training in a realm of his creation and given the opportunity to instantly rank up without needing to spend points.

    They became targets of jealousy for many, but their presence was necessary.

    Not only was their power on the battlefield crucial for the world''s defense, but they were also proof that the listed rewards were truly attainable.

    Some of those people that Damien chose weremoners. Their friends and family knew that they were mortals before they left, but they''d returned as Supreme Gods who were able to save everyone from disaster.

    The efforts were going well, all things considered. There were definitely many deaths, but the people were resolved to save the world. Rather than being depressed at the loss of theirrades, they celebrated their deaths like warriors, promising to join them after taking down the enemies that killed them.

    The Heavenly World''s atmosphere had changed immenselypared to when Damien first arrived. It was not split between forces. There were no conflicts between the people.

    It didn''t matter if they were good or evil. At the end of the day, they all shared the same world.

    What was the point of robbing and killing if there was nobody to rob and kill? What was the purpose of aiming for world domination if there wasn''t a world left to take?

    No matter how big, small, or twisted their reasoning, everyone found a way to justify fighting for the world''s sake.

    Plus, those rewards were just too tempting. The war enveloping the world was fated to continue for a while, but deep in their hearts, everyone could feel it.

    Their turn to attack woulde soon. "Hope" was far too prevalent for them to think otherwise.

    Yes, they were going against what seemed like an impossible foe, but did that matter?

    Regardless of the Dark God''s power, they had a miracle on their side too.

    A miracle named Damien Void.

    ***

    ''The Worldwalker¡­''

    He symbolized a lot to Damien.

    More than just being the proof of an Absolute that the author of the [Records of the Absolute] saw. He was someone who presented the struggles and benefits that came with that position.

    In essence, he humanized the Absolute, making it clearer to Damien what it truly meant to be one. His story was interesting. In some cases, he was simr to Damien, but he was also very different.

    For instance, from start to finish, the Worldwalker never had a connection to "life."

    He was a wanderer without the need forpanions or rtionships. He never truly met anyone that he spoke to for extensive periods of time, let alone someone who could sit him down and help him understand his more human aspects.

    When he reached the Void, he was happy. He was happy to be able to explore to his heart''s content and see the cultures that were otherwise barred from him.

    Unfortunately, he did not have an anchor. He fell prey to those stray emotions because there was nothing keeping him grounded.

    The people in Damien''s life were there because he always held onto them. Even when it seemed counterproductive to stay with them, he refused to leave anyone he cared about behind.

    The Worldwalker''s story was, to some degree, validating his efforts.

    But the most important part by arge margin was the fact that Damien now knew how the system was created.

    ''It isn''t something I can''t do.''

    Well, if he wanted it to be like the records, then it absolutely wasn''t something he could do.

    But what if he wanted to do something simr on a personal level?

    ''A system that the mist and the owl can use as a medium to incorporate themselves into my power.''

    A system that would be the vessel for his power as both a Supreme and an Absolute¡­

    ''I can make that easily.''

    Damien''s meeting with the system was a reward for his own aplishments, so he wouldn''t be able to get more out of it than he was promised.

    Still, he made use of that reward to gain everything he could have possibly needed.

    ''The Worldwalker didn''t have much trouble putting the two concepts together. Is it because his personality was already close to the Void?''

    When Damien finished viewing the records, the system kicked him out of its space. He contemted the process he saw the Worldwalker undergo, trying to apply it to himself, but there was one more thing he needed to do before he could start focusing on the world around him.

    The system gave him his reward already, but the cosmos had an invible tradition.

    In that moment when Damien''s feet once again touched upon solid ground, an entity appeared before him.

    A non-living entity with only a single word on its surface.

    "Void"

 Chapter 1852 Records [3]

    Chapter 1852 Records [3]

    "Void"

    It was not rted to the entity that Damien chased, but his own family.

    A massive white board lined with gold descended from the heavens to meet him. It was backed by a holy light that almost formed a mirage of angel wings and made one feel the weight of the entire universe.

    Right, the Firmament Board could not be reached by anyone who could not bear this pressure.

    When Damien saw it, he immediately knew what to do. He raised his hand, and the world''s energy naturally formed a brush in his grasp.

    He raised it to that board, to the position underneath the one upied by his surname.

    His father was only ever able to leave four letters on this board while enduring its pressure. He was not able topletely immortalize himself in the cosmic core of the True Void Universe.

    Damien was different.

    The pressure he felt was massive, but it was not overwhelming.

    This board represented the entirety of the cosmos, but that was merely Existence, wasn''t it?

    He had surpassed the bounds of Existence alone, so he showed no fear in its presence.

    He raised that brush with a delicate hand, pressing it against the surface of the board. It shook, receiving his touch. An electrical current was shared with him through it, another form of pressure that tested his worth.

    Damien epted it without a fight. He was at that level now where every form of energy was beneath him.

    With slow strokes, he etched himself into the world.

    The name "Damien Void" was ced onto that board one letter at a time, bing an eternal part of its existence.

    Damien felt a massive aura covering him. It was not from the board this time, but a product of his own body''s interaction with this cosmos.

    He and it were eternally bound from this moment forth. It would be his greatest strength, and he its greatest Legend. The board understood quickly that it waste. Damien''s unexpected growth made this interaction shorter and easier than it was meant to be.

    But, even that was fate.

    Even that was contributing to the great Legend of this cosmos.

    Dante received his physique around this time. The mystical ability to remain immortal through reincarnation was truly only possible to attain through equally mystical means.

    Damien didn''t receive anything like that.

    Instead, in that moment when the Firmament Board returned to its position beyond perception, he felt a sense of wholeness in his body.

    He wasplete. It was that kind of feeling.

    He remembered this sensation well. Thest time he felt it was back in the Human Domain. Still, both that moment and this one were defining for him.

    ''This is a mark ofpletion. My foundation has beenpletely built.''

    With the two Crowns and the Firmament Board''s blessing, Damien could finally take up that task.

    He could merge Existence and Nonexistence, reaching that final point. ***

    Easy, right?

    With his support system so developed, it would be easy for Damien to reach the next level, right?

    That was a very, very wrong assumption. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ns had been made among the highest authorities of the world. The moment to take the fight to the Dark God had been decided.

    Damien had some time before then. He was nning to use that time topletely surpass the Dark God so that everything could be solved swiftly, but that was nothing more than a pipe dream.

    How could it be so easy to do something impossible?

    The Worldwalker''s method simply couldn''t be replicated.

    His body naturally merged the two. Like Damien, he seemed to be someone with an intrinsic connection to the Void.

    However, the Worldwalker''s connection was something more primal. It ate his personality and ate his ambitions, turning his everything Void.

    Damien had a close connection to the Void, but the Void itself regted that connection so that he would always maintain his individuality.

    Did it learn from the Worldwalker''s story? Regardless of the reason, it was true that it wouldn''t give him its loyalty so easily.

    Damien sighed,

    ''I want to talk to someone about it, but who can help me?''

    This was a path that nobody else had walked, right?

    He was now at a point where, in this world, there was no one other than him.

    ''This is a path I must walk without anyone by my side. They help me purely by being present. That is enough.''

    How could he burden anyone else with his thoughts?

    To contemte Existence and Nonexistence, these forces with such grandiosity that just listening to his exnations would destroy the minds of most, was to ept that nobody and nothing could ever be at the same level.

    It was inevitable.

    ''No, even the fact that the Dark God exists is lucky for me.''

    It was a selfish thought, but that didn''t affect its veracity. If not for the Dark God, then what would Damien possibly be doing with this amount of power?

    He never took the time to truly think about the scale of what he could do, but if he wanted to, then with just a thought¡­

    ''...I could turn this entire cosmos into ash.''

    Nobody knew what it meant to be a true Supreme. And nobody could be allowed to know.

    ''My first step is already decided.''

    The thoughts he had when he faced the records. He could start by turning them into reality.

    A metaphysical construct without true form, a coagtion of energy that manifested itself as a familiar holographic window¡­

    Damien envisioned it perfectly and executed it. His energy moved, and for the first time, the owl and the mist met eyes.

    Their presences entwined. They did not truly be one, but they mirrored the force of the Void merely by standing next to each other.

    The two of them became the so-called "system" that would manage Damien''s power from now on.

    Those two entities were practically apostles of their concepts. Though Damien could control both concepts to a great extent, they would be able to better manifest his will.

    Besides, when the two Crowns became one atop his head, the mist and the owl became a part of his power.

    The system window that Damien created was not blue like the color of pure mana. It was a murky gray color, a sign that the two concepts within were not wholly merged.

    Nevertheless, the window existed for but a moment before disappearing.

    Its physical manifestation was only necessary formunication between him and the concepts. It was a way to give them more physical presence so they could expand their dominion. What really mattered was the "counterside" that Damien created. In a way, Existence and Nonexistence could be considered his own shadow.

    ''A system that is meant to evolve me until I reach the Void¡­the Void Evolution System? No, that''s stupid. It''s just a sum of its parts. It''s not even a real thing.''

    With strange andpletely unnecessary thoughts filling his mind, Damien put away his subtle worries and troubles. Conquering the Void¡­

    Perhaps it didn''te easily, but he was confident in achieving it eventually.

    There was no need for him to rush.

 Chapter 1853 Prelude [1]

    Chapter 1853 Prelude [1]

    ''They''re so friendly with each other.''

    Not just the mist and the owl, but Existence and Nonexistence. As the two stayed in his body together, they got along quite well. The Void didn''t even have to show its presence to quell them.

    It was likely because Damien raised them in tandem. Existence helped with hisprehension of Nonexistence and vice versa. They were not strangers, but allies who had been side by side for some time.

    They were friendly. They were so friendly.

    ''But why won''t the two of you just merge?''

    Damien sighed to himself. He had really only been trying for three days or so, but he had used every single second of every single hour trying to bring them together. If he saw any progress at all, then three days would be too short of a time period for him to beining. However, there was nothing.

    There was an extremely fine line between their yin and yang. It was a line made up of empty space that contained neither Existence, Nonexistence, or the Void.

    Of course, if the Void came into y here, it could easily put these forces together. The only problem was that this was the final step to reach the Void. It naturally wasn''t going to lend its aid.

    That tiny space that was imperceptible to the eye was the root of Damien''s problems.

    Let alone getting the two forces to merge, he couldn''t even convince them to cross that line and interact.

    In a real-world application, it worked something like this.

    Damien could use Existence alone wlessly. He could use Nonexistence alone wlessly. When he tried to wield them both together, he encountered issues. He could barely maintain Existence in his right hand and Nonexistence in his left. To do so, he could only separate their flows so their paths didn''t intersect at any point between where their force was mobilized and his palms.

    If they were truly willing to cross that line, he would be able to wield them side by side just as wlessly. But, that was the next step. From where he was, that was the only step separating him from the end goal.

    No matter how much he wanted it to be aplished, he could do nothing but continue in his practice and hope that they eventually found their bnce. There was¡­time.

    It wasn''t much time, but if he couldn''t do it before the deadline, then the best way for him to improve would be through battle. His fight with the Dark God would be the logical next step regardless.

    For the moment, Damien decided to put everything down.

    He was dealing with grand things all the time, so the war on the horizon had been fully digested in his mind and didn''t cause him any worry.

    However, it was still a war with the fate of the cosmos on the line. Everyone had their own thoughts about it.

    He had only been in his isted training area for a short period of time in the eyes of others, but the years that passed in the Land of Nothingness still took their toll on him.

    Almost every single person he saw there was fated to never reunite with their families again. They were forced to start new lives in that ce.

    Now that he was back home, Damien wanted to take a moment to appreciate what he had. This was something that both the people of that realm and the Worldwalker could never keep hold of.

    Simply, the concept of family.

    When Damien exited seclusion, he was immediately met by his own father.

    "Congrattions," Dante said with a heartfelt smile.

    "It seems that you have truly reached that ce now."

    Damien nodded slightly.

    "I guess you could say that." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Good," Dante said, patting his back.

    "You are carrying a great weight on your shoulder, but it is still best to remember that you don''t need to rush. I believe you will be able to aplish everything that you desire."

    Damien smiled. Was this the fatherly affirmation that everyone sought? It did feel quite good.

    As Dante led him back inside, Damien had a sudden thought. "By the way, how did you know that I made progress?"

    It may have been a guess backed by the fact that he exited the cave, but Dante looked too sure of himself for the basis of his words to be an assumption.

    "Ah¡­" Dante made a sound of surprise.

    "You didn''t know? The Firmament Board manifests so that the entire cosmos can witness your aplishment. Back then, if it weren''t for that, Straea and the rest wouldn''t have learned of my physique," he said.

    "But you don''t need to worry, do you? The entire world knows the heights you''ve reached, and with the era you''ve ushered in¡­"

    Damien felt the pull of space as Dante moved him to a separate location.

    They were in front of a door that he opened while finishing his words.

    "...the entire world has been celebrating them."

    RAAAAAAAAAH!

    As the door opened, Damien''s heart and mind were assailed by an aura of vitality. His hearing was engulfed in a wave of cheers that did not originate from the pce in the slightest.

    No, what Dante wanted to show him when he opened the door wasn''t a crowd waiting for him conveniently in the moment.

    All Damien needed to do was spread his senses across the world to find the origin of those cheers.

    Everywhere. On every single battlefield, in every single meeting room, and at every single home, the people were cheering.

    They roared his name, they roared about his aplishment.

    Because, with the descent of the Firmament Board, the people of this world could finally rid themselves of their fear of the Dark God.

    They also had a person like that.

    They also had someone who was capable of doing everything the Dark God could.

    Which meant that as long as they kept fighting, the enemy of their cosmos would be vanquished. They would receive the glory of defending their cosmos and the stability that had been forcefully taken out of their lives.

    It was a miracle the things hope could do.

    Damien was currently looking at a situation that was almost the exact same as what happened to Grand Heavens Boundary.

    A great plot that spanned countless eons was unraveling, forcing the people to fight back for the sake of their survival.

    What was the difference?

    In Grand Heavens Boundary, the Nox were a force that people knew to fear. While many were willing to risk themselves for their homes, there was arger number that chose to give up.

    They fled, hid, or betrayed their people. Even amongst the highest echelon of society, there were so many traitors that even Damien was tempted to give up on the universe.

    The people of the Heavenly World weren''t the same.

    They knew to fear the Foreign Races, but they also knew to fight them.

    Their true threat had only been revealed at the end, and by that point, Void Pce had built up so much worldwide patriotism that it was received with cries of war, not fear. Everything that went wrongst time went right this time. And as a reward for his efforts in making that possible, Damien received these cheers, a pure cry of vitality and hope that came from the people. It was surreal. Truly.

 Chapter 1854 Prelude [2]

    Chapter 1854 Prelude [2]

    Their cheers could be considered the world''s gift to him. Damien cherished that moment when he heard them, taking it all in and digesting it fully.

    Right, if the rest of the cosmos had that much hope, then there was no need for him to be worried either.

    Hope wasn''t a power. It couldn''t magically change situations and give people the strength to do the impossible.

    Still, it was special in its own way. The will to fight present in all living beings was disyed at its greatest when those beings were desperate for survival. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Was this his doing?

    Most of what Damien did was in the shadows. He gained some recognition, sure, but nobody truly knew that he was the one making changes to the world.

    He never sought acknowledgement from the people he saved and empowered, but that didn''t mean he didn''t appreciate it when it was shown.

    ''I guess they made sure that my deeds became public knowledge.''

    The culprits were obviously the members of his one family. He smiled wryly and shook his head.

    ''How could anyone give this up?''

    With idle thoughts in his head, Damien followed his father into another room and sat down with him for some small conversation.

    They spent a decent amount of time together before Damien left. After all, he still had a lot of people he wanted to see.

    His mother and aunt, his siblings, his wives, his friends, his mentors¡­

    This cosmos was filled with people whose fates intersected with his. As Damien stood above the clouds, looking down at Existence from a new perspective, he couldn''t help but emphasize just how much those fate lines were.

    Perhaps in this world, only Rose could understand his current emotions.

    ''Come to think of it, she''s been seeing stuff like this since we were young. If she wanted to, couldn''t she also do something incredible?''

    Rose''s interest wasn''t in training, so it couldn''t be helped. Her potential was definitely something he still needed to keep in mind.

    ''With how eager she is for children¡­''

    Maybe it wasn''t a good idea to meet her now?

    ''If she finds out I thought that, even as a joke, I''m dead.''

    In the end, the only people who could truly control Damien were his wives.

    But, he had been spending a great deal of time with them recently. He was, of course, going to visit them, but there was a stop he wanted to make first.

    ''Those bastards¡­I should properly catch up with them.''

    Long Chen and Su Ren, those two men who chased only the sword even at this stage in their lives¡­

    They were treading apletely different path than him, but it never seemed to matter. No matter how much time passed or how much their lives changed, their bond was as solid as it was when they were younger.

    There were only two of them, sure, but the two of them were true friends that he''d never be able to rece.

    It was just a shame that he didn''t get time to meet them more often.

    ***

    While Damien took a break, the rest of the world continued to move. There wasn''t much that needed to be said about the never changing chaotic war situation, but a few important events happened.

    The most significant of them all had to do with none other than Arulion.

    Roughly three days after the war began, Arulionpleted its preparations. The hidden realm that housed all dragonkin and dragons finally left the shadows. Theirnd was superimposed upon the Western Region, and finally, dragonkind returned to the world. The entire kingdom changed immensely since August took control.

    Zenith, the current Dragon Emperor, gave him teachings with genuine care, ensuring that he grew into a great emperor.

    And from the position that he aimed for, August did everything he promised to do.

    He brought the entirety of dragonkind back to their roots. From those roots, they evolved by using Qinglong''s ideas as a basis and improving upon them.

    The current dragon kingdom didn''t have anything like a ss system. Nor did it have anything like amon poption. There were ns everywhere and small groupings of dragons, sure, but they all had ess to strength.

    Even the mostmon dragon could now stand on the same pedestal as the previous Holy n geniuses. As for the Holy ns themselves¡­

    Well, it was safe to say that they were repenting.

    The Holy Dragons were gone, and as the poption grew, the influence of the sheer power of the Holy ns had decreased.

    Now, even if they were freed from their very, they''d be no more than normal. They were forced to ept their positions and be August''s personal army.

    He utilized them mostly as civil servants. They quite literally served the people in whatever way possible. Their hands got dirty, they got on their hands and knees and did things they''d never experienced in their privileged lives, and for the most part, their hatred grew further and further.

    But it wasn''t as if all of them were the same.

    Liqua¡­didn''t need to be mentioned. Even August rarely visited that realm, because its insanity-inducing environment was doing horrible things to them.

    Nevertheless, the new Arulion came to the aid of the forces that already existed in the world.

    In this period of time, August managed to pull the Ignis n and the Ether n to his side. The Noct n seemed more easy to convince than he originally thought as well. Really, the Aurora n and the Aureat n were the only ones who continued to be problematic.

    Liqua¡­didn''t need to be mentioned. Even August rarely visited that realm, because its insanity-inducing environment was doing horrible things to them.

    Nevertheless, the new Arulion came to the aid of the forces that already existed in the world.

    With the dragons joining the battlefield, the Heavenly World forces started to gain an advantage that was impossible for them before.

    Because the Dark God was not sending an insane number of Supreme Gods into their world, they were still able to fight.

    However, Damien properly shared the Dark God''s information with his people. Hestia, who stood at the army''s head, knew that he had the capability to turn this entire war meaningless.

    Preparations needed to be made to that effect. They could be left in the hands of the Krone n. Their formation knowledge had already been improving by leaps and bounds over the past few years, but they were able to unravel so much new technology when the war started that it was almost unbelievable.

    Frankly, the True Void was prepared for this war. Partially, it was because they bought themselves a lot of time, but if it weren''t for the Dark God''s quirks, they would have already gone extinct.

    He was the one who created this rtively even ying field because he wanted to see them properly struggle before they died.

    It was their job to flip the situation on its head and show him that he made the worst possible decision by giving them time to prepare.

    The mostmon people in the world, the ns that once ruled it, and its strongest yers were all on the same page.

    The period of time remaining before the pot boiled over could only be called "some days."

    And the eruption that would ur when those days passed¡­

    It would be quite a sight to witness indeed.

 Chapter 1855 Prelude [3]

    Chapter 1855 Prelude [3]

    Damien spent the next two days visiting his people. He spent a long time with Su Ren and Long Chen, went and saw his wives, and even spoke to people like Tian Yang or Malcolm, who he hadn''t seen in ages.

    He was d to see that everyone was doing well. It seemed that the Heavenly World acted as a motivator for them. Despite the new environment, they flourished and found a new purpose in their lives.

    It was surprising for someone like Malcolm to even be out of the Sanctuary, but the things he''d aplished after Damien left Apeiron couldn''t be underestimated.

    When the Human Domain came together, he started working closely with some of its strongest people and learned how to be more than he was at the time. As the Human Domain connected to the rest of the universe, he excelled even further.

    But, Malcolm didn''t reach the heights of his potential until the Heavenly World. He was one of the people who''d somehow managed to be Gods in such a short period of time. His tenacity and desire for growth couldn''t be underestimated.

    By now, he didn''t stand a chance against Damien. They were in twopletely different leagues that barely had a chance to interact.

    However, the rtionship between them didn''t change. Malcolm was Damien''s first mentor in this life. The lessons he learned from the academy back then and the things he gained with Malcolm''s support were and would always be extremely vital to Damien''s journey.

    Even now, when Damien visited him, Malcolm treated him the same, giving him advice and wishing him well.

    Every meeting was meaningful in its own way, and by the end, Damien was more than satisfied. He felt like taking a break from ceaselessprehension was a great idea, because there were many other things that he still had to do.

    For one, ridding himself of the Dark God''s influence. When they first met, the Dark God toyed with Damien like he was nothing. He set a deadline, disyed his power, and severed the connection between Damien and his most valuable asset, the Sanctuary.

    Since then, Damien had lost a lot. Not only did he not have his most certain escape method, but he could no longer ess the people left in that realm.

    Lynn, Xue''er, and even Zara were in the Sanctuary and hadn''t left yet. Their reasons were different, but it didn''t change the fact that Damien had family there who he hadn''t seen in a very long time.

    Plus, wasn''t he just thinking about Earth?

    He wanted to visit and see how his homeworld was doing.

    The Dark God''s severance was effective, but not definite. Now that Damien was at the same level, he could easily undo it.

    After all, he already knew the universe''s coordinates. He would never forget the specific position of his very own creation. All Damien had to do was reach through the Void, using Existence and Nonexistence as his guides and protective detail. He had to grab onto the Sanctuary and recreate the thread that bound it to him.

    ''No, maybe that isn''t the best idea.

    He couldn''t allow the Sanctuary to be affected by his sh with the Dark God. It was absolutely possible for the shockwaves to travel through his connection and ruin that universe.

    Rather than allowing that to happen, it was better to postpone re-establishing the connection.

    Instead, he could just travel there.

    ''It would be impossible in any other case, but the Sanctuary is still a universe I created.''

    Damien could "technically" move through the Void at his current level, but he couldn''t do so for extended periods of time or in an unprotected state. Like the Dark God, he would need to use the cosmos as a starship and move closer to other cosmos through it.

    When the Sanctuary was the target, it was naturally different. He could create a temporary connection and turn his body into the pure essence of Existence to travel through it.

    It was like teleportation. More specifically, it was like turning into light and moving beyond infinity.

    It sounded extremelyplex. It sounded like something that should have been impossible.

    But, Damien was now a being synonymous with "the impossible."

    His body dematerialized in the Heavenly World and came back into being in the Sanctuary.

    He looked at his creation, feeling the familiar warmth of itsws wrapping around his body, and smiled.

    ''So even this ce is improving well.''

    Was this the same ce he left? How long had it really been since thest time he saw it?

    Logically, as he left it, the time flow should have been evenly matched with the Heavenly World. The Heavenly World had experienced multiple time dtions in recent times, so time here should have flowed at an even slower rate.

    How did they manage to get so much done?

    The Sanctuary could be considered more spread out than the Heavenly World. Because it had the concept of "outer space," the many societies all lived disconnected from each other by nature.

    It seemed that Lynn had something to say about that, because this clearly was not a disconnected society.

    ''As expected, this kind of environment is the best.''

    He loved the starry sky. It was his greatest dream when he was young, the ce where most of his battles urred, and the single greatest contributor to the development of his spatialw.

    Starships were everywhere, transporting goods and people betweens. Some worlds were even connected physically through cosmic megastructures unlike anything Damien had ever seen before.

    ''As expected, this kind of environment is the best.''

    He loved the starry sky. It was his greatest dream when he was young, the ce where most of his battles urred, and the single greatest contributor to the development of his spatialw.

    A society built while embracing space was truly the best.

    However, he didn''t juste here to marvel at the overall structure of the universe. Damien didn''t move, but space extended around him like a rubber band being pulled back until Earth arrived before him.

    He could hear its World Core happily greeting him in his mind, and as he returned those greetings, he sent his senses into the world.

    It definitely wasn''t the one he left behind.

    Their skyscrapers existed in the skies now on huge floating tforms built above the naturalndscape. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The vegetation had be too thick for the surface to be popted properly, so humanity innovated.

    They were doing well. Hunters and adventurers were able to grow on the surface and experience what it meant to be a practitioner, while society could continue to thrive in the air, giving a sense of normalcy to anyone who desired it.

    Earth¡­

    Damien didn''t know why it was so important. When he was young, he didn''t put much value into this world at all, thinking better of the other ces he visited after falling into the First Dungeon.

    But, as he grew older, the world grew in meaning.

    His "root" became a vital factor, because this world was one of the only physical locations that had a profound impact on his Legend.

    He didn''t even have a particr reason to visit.

    Just¡­when he was reaching a point where his Legend would transcend all things and be engraved in the eternal timeline, he wanted to see it.

    And after he properly appreciated it, he definitely had a few more stops to make and just a few more people to see.

 Chapter 1856 Prelude [4]

    Chapter 1856 Prelude [4]

    Damien only went and saw Lynn for a little. No matter how much time it had been, nothing would change in how they interacted. Originally, she was his mother''s Apostle, but once ire''s soul healed and she left for the Heavenly World, Lynn dedicated herself to doing the same for Damien.

    She acted faithfully as his Apostle and never overstepped her bounds. That continued even now, when she was practically the Sanctuary''s ruler.

    Zara and Xue''er took up more time, along with the people around them.

    Naturally, Xue''er wasn''t very happy about his absence. For someone who was also family, she was kept separated from the rest for an unreasonably long time.

    Of course, Xue''er had met the rest of her family members. Rose and the rest of his wives were able to take people in and out of the Sanctuary, so that meeting was always fated to happen.

    However, the Heavenly World was like a vacation destination for her. As Damien and the rest didn''t want her getting involved with the great war, she was forced to spend most of her time in this universe, away from it all.

    Sheined a lot, but Damien agreed with everyone else.

    Xue''er spent most of her life peacefully. Even when she fought, it was rare for her to find her life on the line. She wasn''t ready for war.

    She overcame her childhood trauma long ago. She was an adult now and technically the same age as Hestia, but their situations were different, so the way they were treated was also different.

    It wasn''t that she didn''t have a chance. Xue''er had good people around her who supported her dreams, so they obviously weren''t going to hold her back without reason.

    So, they tested her to see if she was ready for war. Naturally, she failed. Who could ever be ready for war except those who''d experienced it?

    Xue''er had no choice but to ept that she wasn''t going to be able to leave the Sanctuary. She justined because she could. Mostly, it could be called revenge. Since her brother decided to so rudely leave her alone for so long, she had the right to nag his ear off, right?

    Damien was happy to see how she''d grown. He stayed with her for a long time before he went to see Zara. That meeting was a bit less vocal.

    Zara hardly noticed the time that passed. Because she and Alea had been vigorously training ever since they left Grand Heavens Boundary, the time flew in her perception.

    She didn''t even truly understand what level Damien had reached now or what was going on in the Heavenly World.

    Unlike everyone else, she had yet to even leave the Sanctuary.

    Zara and Alea were a unique case. They liked the atmosphere of the Sanctuary better and stayed because they wanted to.

    After all, this universe was now capable of housing True Gods as well. Their paths wouldn''t be inhibited by the Heavenly World.

    Zara knew that if she wanted to properly coexist with Alea, she needed to continue finding herself and developing as an individual. That had been the defining goal of her journey in the past years.

    She was d to see Damien after so long, but he thought it was better if he didn''t tell her about his growth. She could no longer feel his level through their connection, and she wasn''t aware that the heights he reached had influenced her as well.

    It was impossible to say that he was the main contributor to her growth, but she would definitely see it that way if she realized the gap between them. Rather than that, Damien kept the focus on her and learned about what she and Alea had been doing.

    Zara mentioned that she wanted to do practical training. The only problem was that nobody in this universe had the guts to aim at her throat.

    Conveniently enough, there was a war about to happen. Knowing what Zara and Alea could do in battle, Damien happily invited them to participate.

    Finally, after making a few more stops, he returned to the Heavenly World, officially ending his small vacation.

    Those conversations and meetings weren''t worth exining in detail. Most of what was said was meaningless and only spoken for the sake of conversation. Still, those meaningless conversations were extremely valuable. Because of them, Damien could return to his training with a clear mind. He thought about going straight back to putting Existence and Nonexistence together, but there was another route he more preferred.

    His foundation wasplete, but he felt like that was the only ce where he made progress. As such, he made one more move to bolster it.

    The Cosmic Core.

    Damien knew it existed. Just like World Cores and Universal Cores, every cosmos had its own Cosmic Core. He had never met it or even looked for it, but he felt like the most important part of bonding with any celestial entity was meeting with and gaining the approval of its core.

    Wasn''t it strange for Damien''s "Existence" to be so entwined with the True Void Universe when he hadn''t even spoken to it?

    To solve this problem, he made that leap and established contact with the Cosmic Core.

    He put out a request, and the cosmos received it. It epted his desire to meet and entertained him.

    Again, at this point, there was nothing special about the meeting.

    The Cosmic Core had witnessed everything Damien had done. From the moment he was born to this very moment, it had witnessed almost all of his excursions. It saw him clear out the threats that gued it. It saw him try to save its lesser parts like Grand Heavens Boundary, and it watched how he positively impacted the environment of the Heavenly World.

    It was not averse to giving him its loyalty, especially in the current situation.

    It was more than aware that Damien was its only hope. What kind of survival instinct did it have if it didn''t ept him?

    Perhaps this was the true end of the path of every Celestial. The Celestial Mana Thread that once only interacted withs was now interacting with the core of the entire cosmos, easily creating a bond between it and Damien.

    Damien''s "Existence" became slightly more robust. He could now view almost the entire history of this cosmos, barring only the few events that even the Cosmic Core didn''t want him to see. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If he wanted to, he could easily pierce through its defenses and gain that information as well, but trust was the foundation of every rtionship, no? He was willing to wait. Even in this matter, there was no need to rush.

    ''One more try.''

    There wasn''t really another way to stall. Damien could only give it one more try before truly giving up.

    Existence and Nonexistence didn''t want to be one. They liked their individuality a lot, and without the true constraints of the Void inhibiting them, they were able to exhibit more freedom than ever before.

    Could he break their rebellious attitudes, or would they overpower him in the end?

    Regardless, the oue was already determined. He could never be first, since the Worldwalker already aplished it, but there was nothing wrong with being the second to be Absolute.

    Because he would be the second in all history, across all cosmos, regardless of time. That was more than enough.

 Chapter 1857 Prelude [5]

    Chapter 1857 Prelude [5]

    "Huu¡­"

    ''So you guys won''t listen until the end.''

    To say that he didn''t make any progress was wrong, but it was true that it was currently impossible for Damien to merge his concepts.

    He was forced to ept it. There was nothing he could do to change that fact.

    ''At least they aren''t just silently resisting anymore.''

    The two concepts refused to tell him why they wanted to stay apart. No matter how much contemtion he did, he couldn''t find a proper reason for them to refuse other than their desire to maintain independence.

    Did they think they''d be suppressed when the Void appeared? That was clearly a misrepresentation of how his power worked. Just because theybined didn''t mean they wouldn''t retain their individual states. Rather, the product of their merger would be separate. It would be a step above them and would not interact with them directly.

    He was clueless until recently. Now, he could finally say that he knew what their problem was.

    They weren''t being selfish. Instead, they knew that he was not ready yet.

    The foundation was built, but that was it. There was still work to be done before a castle could be built upon it. What Damien needed now was not ceaseless effort towards an unattainable goal. He needed to get used to Existence and Nonexistence. He had to properly be a Supreme and then reach past that level. What he was currently attempting could bepared to trying to jump to the second floor when one was still only halfway up the stairs. ''To climb the rest of the staircase¡­''

    From the beginning, there was only ever one proper method.

    It was the Dark God. A battle with him was the only thing that could propel Damien past where he currently stood.

    ''It was always like that, huh? Even when I went to meet him the first time, wasn''t it for this purpose?''

    Hisst act of selfishness, the choice to provoke the Dark God for the sole purpose of boosting his own growth rate.

    Everything hade full circle.

    Damien stood up, stretching his limbs.

    ''It''s time.''

    There wasn''t a need to wait any longer.

    "Call everyone. Let us prepare."

    Damien sent a request out into the world that was fated to be answered. All of the most important personnel in the world were summoned to the pce. The Veritas n, the Kyushu Federation, the rest of the great ns, and the influences that had risen in the past ten years all appeared. It was as if they were called by the Emperor of the realm. Damien''s current position was one of a Godking. His status surpassed even Dante''s previous heights. Not a single entity dared to disobey his summon, especially when it manifested as the world''s voice itself. A new space had to be created to house the tens of thousands of people who came. It was done directly in front of them by Damien himself with nothing more than a wave of his hand as a way to show them his strength and solidify their belief.

    When they arrived inside, the most important meeting in the history of thisnd began.

    "I will exin this shortly," Damien said, addressing the crowd.

    "The forces you all will be facing will likely be infinite in number. Remember, no matter how many times the Dark God''s army dies, they will be resurrected until he joins them in hell."

    "I need all of you to keep your people focused on only one thing: survival. You need to survive as long as possible and defend. It might feel impossible, but if you want to live, then that''s the only way."

    He would address the civilianster and give a more powerful speech. In this moment, when speaking to the people who would lead them, he had to be realistic. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In this battle, their job was almost irrelevant to the survival of the poption.

    To save all living beings was Damien''s job.

    They were fighting against the infinite forces of the Dark God in order to prevent them from moving through the Dimensional Cracks and destroying the entirety of the Heavenly World. Their job was to protect the non-living.

    "I know almost everything there is to know about the forces he has under his control. The purpose of this meeting is to give you all aprehensive overview of what you will be facing.:

    "And, it is to inform you about one critical truth."

    There was something about the Sacred Abyss that these people did not know that was of vital poption. Damien manifested his own memory into reality to show them.

    "Themon poption of this world is innocent. They are nothing more than prisoners of the Dark God, likely even more pitiable than our own people."

    "And, among them, there are forces that wille to our aid."

    The Gehenna Tribe had been prepared for this war from the moment Damien left them. He couldn''t have them identally targeted by his own people.

    "I will make sure that the people who are fighting with us are clearly delineated from our enemies. Other than them, try to ignore anyone who isn''t being immediately hostile. Also, if possible, attempt to take the battle into the starry sky and out of the world that we appear on. That ce can potentially be our territory in the future, so it is better to keep it in good condition."

    Damien continued to talk about the Gehenna Tribe, the history of the Sacred Abyss Universe, and the characteristics of both the Foreign Nobles and Foreign Vanguard.

    The people listened intently. Even if they knew all of the information, they kept their ears on his words in case he mentioned something new.

    After all, most of what he said was uniquely his own knowledge. It was attained by visiting the Sacred Abyss. Other than him and his group, there weren''t many who had done so and survived.

    On top of the fundamental war conversation, Damien brought up the Worldwalker and made the nature of the system public knowledge.

    It was a system created with no other intentions but to help them grow. The Worldwalker deserved to be appreciated by the people. Now that Damien knew his name, he wouldn''t allow his Legend to fade so easily.

    The meeting went on for 6 hours in total. From information, the topic switched to strategy and the presentation turned into a conversation. Everyone was included, and everyone was able to properly understand the roles their influences would take in the oing conflict.

    Finally, when they left, they were given three days to return to their own territories and arrange their troops.

    When all preparations were made in full, the entire force of the Heavenly World gathered together. Damien stood before them as their leader for the very first time. It was a daunting task, but he was ready for it. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and saying his first words.

    The wait was finally over.

    The war was no longer on the horizon.

    No, it was right in front of them, and they were going to face them head-on.

 Chapter 1858 Prelude [6]

    Chapter 1858 Prelude [6]

    It was the first time the world had faced Damien like this.

    Most of them didn''t even know his face. To them, he was more of a spiritual entity attached to the stories of heroes.

    His act of appearing in front of them signaled more than Damien himself expected. They were mostly prepared when their leaders brought them together and told them to prepare to fight for their lives, but his image set it all in stone.

    Quintillions of existences watched him, whether in person surrounding Void Pce or on screens throughout the world. They all had their eyes trained on a single man as he stood up to speak.

    "This is my first time greeting everyone like this. Maybe I should start things off with a joke?" Damien spoke with a smile. He knew that the line wouldn''t hit when the atmosphere was this dim, but it was still important. He wanted to humanize himself in their eyes, because if they saw him as one of their own, his words would resonate deeper.

    He definitely got a fewughs. When the whole world was watching, his choice to start with humor in such a grim situation definitely touched at least a few circles.

    But, the people weren''t here for his jokes.

    He was their representative, the hero of their cosmos.

    They needed to see that side of him as well.

    "You are all aware of what we face. They are not new enemies, nor are they enemies that we have never defeated. Our current enemies are nothing more than puppets created from the ashes of those we have in."

    "However, their leader is a vile man."

    "He is a man that thirsts for ournd. He is a man who wants nothing more than to see us suffering. There is nothing but greed in his eyes. In that sense, he is no better than a pig."

    The citizens didn''t have any fear when they fought in the Heavenly World. This was their home territory, so they always felt like they had the advantage no matter what happened.

    14:35

    "Since when have we, the proud denizens of the True Void Universe, allowed pigs to best us?!"

    Damien''s eyes changed. Something in his aura radiated majesty, and though he was not using any sort of techniques or technology to boost his voice, every single person could clearly hear his voice.

    He was no longer using his own mouth tomunicate. No, his voice had be one with the world itself.

    "You will see it for yourselves soon," he continued.

    The citizens didn''t have any fear when they fought in the Heavenly World. This was their home territory, so they always felt like they had the advantage no matter what happened.

    Now, as they''d been informed that the time hade to step on enemy soil for the first time, the fear theycked naturally caught up to them.

    It gued their hearts, making them wonder if they''d really be okay.

    Damien''s job was to provide them security, even if it was false.

    "The Sacred Abyss is nothing," he said. "That cosmos does not have life. It is and of death and misery. The people in thatnd are forced to struggle and survive without the same security that we have. They are the true captives of the Dark God. Our mission this time is not just to defeat the enemy, but also to save people."

    "Think about your homes. Think about your families. Think about everything this world has to offer. We are fighting to save it and to allow others to see its beauty. We are fighting to purge evil. Remember, no matter what happens in the battle ahead, each and every one of you will attain glory."

    "You may not be written by name in the history books. Most historians will only bother to name the most important figures in a conflict. However, those names do not matter, because even the people who will go down in history will remember the rest of you as the true heroes. You will be the hidden heroes of this world, its true protectors."

    Multiple different methods, all meant to give the armies purpose, were deployed.

    It didn''t matter what they aimed for.

    If they wanted to protect, they had to fight with everything they had. If they wanted to be heroes, they had to fight with everything they had. If they wanted to be recognized in the history books, they had to fight with everything they had. And, even if they only wanted the glory of being an unnamed hero¡­well, it didn''t need to be said another time.

    Damien''s words rang true with several implications behind them, but his voice seemed to carry his intent perfectly to each and every person who listened. Whether they were smart or dull, literate or not, they understood exactly what he wanted to convey.

    "The time hase for all of you to shine. After so many years, the time hase to rid this world of all of the cmities that gued it!"

    Straea was the doing of the Foreign Races. The downfall of society when Dante disappeared was the doing of the Foreign Races. The destruction of the lower universe was the doing of the Foreign Races. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    From start to finish, everything led back to the Dark God.

    The crowd was listening intently. They understood that this speech was not a final goodbye, but a moment for them to look back on with pride once they survived. Damien smiled confidently at his people. He had much more he wanted to say. Truthfully, standing in front of them and giving a valiant speech was something he''d been looking forward to doing.

    But, there was nothing left to be said.

    The eyes of those people all said the same thing. Their hearts were fueled by the same fire.

    If Damien said anymore, he would just be holding them back from what they truly wanted.

    And that was war. "These Foreign Race scum¡­" he began. He swept his arm through the air. No matter where they were, the screens in the world suddenly switched to a different picture at the same time. They showed scenes of Dimensional Cracks surrounded by Foreign Territories crawling with enemies. "...they are nothing in front of us." Those words resounded through the fabric of space and time. A mysterious wave of energy spread through thend, and in a single instant, all of it was gone.

    The Dimensional Cracks, the Foreign Territory, and the Foreign Races. All of them disappeared from the world at once.

    And, at the very same time, everyone concentrated on points nearby as their senses alerted them to rampant mana fluctuations.

    As if the heavens themselves were preparing them to assemble, new Dimensional Cracks opened. They were an aquamarine blue color and had a much warmer aura than those of the Foreign Races.

    "Now, everyone, make them kneel, and ughter without mercy!"

    Damien''s shout shook their souls. The spirit of battle he had been building within their minds and bodies boiled forth as they felt the sheer power and fighting intent in his words.

    He held his arm out, his eyes locked with those of the Dark God beyond the veil.

    Finally, he gave themand that everyone had been waiting for. "Charge!"

    RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

    The war cry of the True Void people forced the very fabric of reality to tremble before their might.

    As one, they charged through the Dimensional Cracks. There was no more time to waste; no more time to hesitate. At this very moment, the final battle for the fate of everything had begun.

    And it would not end until only one side remained.

 Chapter 1859 War [???????1]

    Chapter 1859 War [1]

    The people of the Heavenly World had some leeway in preparing for the great war, but it was different for their allies on the inside.

    Thalia was surprised to suddenly receive a message from Damien. He had not contacted her since he left the Sacred Abyssst time, and she had be so used to her duties managing the territory that she''d forgotten to wait for him to say something.

    So, when that first message came, she was met with some hollow surprise as she wasn''t actually that excited to receive it.

    However, that feeling onlysted until she saw its content.

    "In three days, there will be war. Prepare to rebel against everything you know."

    "Ah¡­"

    That was when the surprise came. The Gehenna Tribe never once thought about antagonizing the Dark God. They knew better than anyone that such thoughts would only get them killed.

    However, that didn''t mean they didn''t wish for it. The Dark God and his nobles were the reason for their and many others'' suffering. They obviously wanted him gone.

    And, it seemed that the time hade for everything to be flipped on its head. The enemy that the Dark God provoked this time was not willing to stand down and take his beating.

    No, they were headed by a mystical entity and wereing here to exact their revenge.

    ''As he said, we must prepare.''

    Thalia was very different from herst appearance. With the help of the people Damien left her, she grew into a true leader and her tribe was able to thrive. Rather than mulling over the decision or taking it emotionally, she immediately went into work mode.

    It didn''t matter how she felt. The great war would happen whether the Gehenna Tribe was participating or not.

    This was an opportunity for them to shine and show their worth. It was an opportunity for them to get revenge for the many transgressions they''d faced at the enemy''s hands. And, it was an opportunity for them to see greater horizons.

    The Sacred Abyss would thrive if the Dark God was removed from the equation. She had no qualms with helping the person who wanted to make that happen. Her people were the same.

    When she got the message, the first thing she did was contact her tribesmen and inform them of the matter.

    They had made immense progress. From a dwindling tribe that was getting smaller with the passing of time, they ballooned into an entity that could not be ignored.

    The warriors had be incredibly powerful. They couldn''t be called Gods yet, but they were definitely on par with the Divine. Even themon tribe members who used to stay in the vige found themselves learning as many skills as possible to help with the current environment they were in.

    The people of the True Void Territory were weing as well. Thalia didn''t treat them like the other nobles. As she was originally one of them and only achieved this seat through luck, she learned to rule in a way that supported themon popce.

    Though they were not aware of it as it was never shared with them, the people of this territory were practically already people of the True Void.

    Thalia was both a Lord and a Saintess. She governed two different entities, and in this moment, she wondered how many of those people would be involved in this war and how many would be lost.

    ''Still, it''s inevitable.''

    It would be nice if war was something that could be avoided, but since when was that possible?

    The Dark God could not be allowed to continue destroying this cosmos. Because, the moment he could no longer uphold its structure, it would copse.

    In the first ce, the attacking side wasn''t in the wrong. They were attacking because they had no other choice. It was the Sacred Abyss'' own ruler who was so hell-bent on attacking other cosmos and incurring these kinds of losses and tragedies.

    He had to be stopped.

    The Dark God could not be allowed to continue destroying this cosmos. Because, the moment he could no longer uphold its structure, it would copse.

    "Haa¡­"

    Naturally, the responses Thalia received from her n were all positive. None of them were averse to entering the war from the start, and when they heard that Damien was going to be confronting the Dark God, they became even more excited.

    That man was the savior of their tribe and the person who gave them a better future. His position was no weaker than the Saintess'' in their hearts.

    ''I guess there''s no point in dying.''

    The territory could be kept as a military outpost if it was necessary. Though it was more likely that the war would be one long battle to determine the victor, it was impossible for the troops to maintain their energy infinitely. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    For those who could find their way back, this ce could act as a haven. They could heal and return to battle in peak condition, since their continued presence in the war could end up saving more of their fellows.

    As for the Gehenna Tribe itself¡­

    Well, once Thalia shared the information, she didn''t need to worry about them anymore. They were already getting ready to fight in their own way. As their Saintess, it was her job to watch over them.

    The only trouble was themon people of this territory.

    Was it right to enlist them in this war?

    ''No. I can''t force them into it. The people here are rtively clueless, so they don''t know to me the Dark God for their struggles. They only me the nobles and the system. Most of them won''t be willing to fight, but I should at least let them know.''

    It was better for her territory to be prepared for the iing war. Unlike the nobles, Thalia didn''t have contact with the Dark God or the higher entities of this cosmos. She was rtively isted, and though she''d been invited to join their ranks a few times, they never bothered about her refusal.

    In a sense, the True Void Territory was an independent entity from the rest of the Sacred Abyss.

    While that was good for the overall state of the territory, it meant that Thalia was out of the loop about many things. The other nobles probably knew that this moment woulde from a long time ago.

    ''Tch.''

    She couldn''t stand them. How could she when her opinion of them was based on the man that led to the previous Saintess'' death?

    Moreover, they didn''t try to fix that reputation.

    Even the nobles that she''de in contact with¨C

    ''¨Cspeak of the devil.''

    She only just got the news and plotted her next move, but he was already here.

    The person who had been keeping watch on the True Void Territory for the Foreign Races and a person that Thalia hade to abhor. A person who was not lecherous yet had such a disgusting gaze that it made him seem like a pervert. He was also originally a member of the enemy side. Perhaps that was why the nobles put him in charge of menial tasks like this.

    Right, the person visiting Thalia wasn''t unfamiliar at all.

    In the flesh, as a member of a new race, was the Dark God''s former favorite dog in the Heavenly World.

    Malevalon Straea.

 Chapter 1860 War [2]

    Chapter 1860 War [2]

    "Thalia, have you been well?"

    It was a cordial attitudeing from an extremely disrespectful person. He appeared without notice in her office, evading all detection to meet with her.

    Naturally, she wasn''t happy to see him.

    "Why are you here?" She sneered.

    She couldn''t maintain open hostility to the nobles because she had to keep her territory in mind, but Malevalon was different. She had a justified reason to dislike him, and she wasn''t the only one either. Most of the nobles hated him and only tolerated him because he served the Dark God.

    Even if she decided to kill him here, nobody would object. It was just a shame that he would inevitably be resurrected.

    He smiled at her. It was an expression impossible to see from him in the Heavenly World. He only started doing it when he came to this cosmos, but he wasn''t good at it. Still, what could someone like Thalia do against him? He was demeaned and discriminated against by the nobles, but he didn''t care because they wouldn''t be able to do the same once he grew stronger than him.

    He was able to do whatever he wanted to the world and its people. He was able to almost see the dream he had when submitting himself to the Dark God. As such, he didn''t care if he looked disgusting when he smiled. He was going to do it anyway.

    "I havee to advise you," he said, nodding his head. "It seems that you have contact with people you should not keep in your circle. Your seniors hope that you won''t make any rash decisions in theing days."

    "I don''t know what you''re talking about. Who have I beenmunicating with? You know that this territory has been isted from everywhere else."

    Thalia''s eyes narrowed. She frowned as if she was being questioned for no reason, hiding any traces of worry or doubt in her face. ''I just received word. How do they already know?''

    It was impossible for there to be leaks in her staff or tribe. If so, then it could only mean that they''d nted other means of spying on her activities in her usual workces without her knowledge.

    It was dangerous, but it didn''t look like Malevalon hade today to kill her. "I don''t know what you''re talking about. Who have I beenmunicating with? You know that this territory has been isted from everywhere else."

    Malevalon shook his head.

    "It is fine if you wish to take that stance. Regardless, if you choose the wrong side, then you will die. Remember that your n will not be spared either. You see, I personally would love it if you remained the ruler of this ce that reminds me of my homnd, but it would truly be a shame if you left us no other choice, right?"

    His tone was as if he knew everything. It almost made Thalia question herself before she was reminded of who he was.

    "You do not need to concern yourself with my affairs."

    She left it at that, and Malevalon epted. "Indeed, I do not. Prepare yourself well. Nobody will stop you. However, keep my words in mind as you decide what you wish to do."

    Malevalon disappeared when he finished giving his warning. This time, at least, he didn''t have any other ns.

    "Tch."

    Thalia''s eyes widened as she observed the surroundings. ''Stupid.''

    She sensed the devices immediately. Tiny recording modules that transmitted her every word and action to the people who wanted to know what she was up to.

    Was there any point in adding more when the room already contained five?

    No, but as if he wanted her to see it after he left, Malevalon left an extra one where he stood.

    She only made contact with Damien this one time, and since the war was on the horizon, it seemed that the nobles believed her allegiance could be changed.

    If he contacted her more frequently, or if the staff he left behind ever showed signs of betrayal¡­

    ''...I''ve been lucky.''

    Thalia gritted her teeth. It was an annoying situation, but there was nothing to be done about it. Regardless, she would prepare for the war. And, regardless, she would side with the True Void.

    Not only was it the cosmos that her savior came from, but it was also a ce where people could thrive. With Damien''s help, her tribe and people could migrate there in search of better lives.

    Since when did the Sacred Abyss give her a reason to fight with it? It only ever fueled her hatred.

    ''Fine. Since it''s starting soon, I should make my allegiance clear.''

    Thalia had grudges with a lot of Foreign Nobles. Most of them were out of reach, but the surrounding territories were owned by people with simr strength to her own.

    She grinned as she moved to a nearby teleportation array and visited that territory. The buildings that lords of their level lived in were almost all mirrors of each other. Thalia knew her way around well, and with her knowledge, it wasn''t hard to do the same thing Malevalon did and appear in someone else''s office without notice.

    It was a perfect scenario, wasn''t it? Since everyone was fiercely loyal without thoughts of rebellion, such a thing was possible.

    "Hi!"

    Thalia appeared in front of the nearest noble with a smile on her face. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He red at her. She had no reason to be visiting anyone, so what was her purpose in acting so rudely?

    She walked towards him without losing her smile.

    "Actually, I have a little matter to settle with you. I was wondering if I could get your opinion."

    "No need. Ask someone else."

    "Really? But I was sure that you would be able to help me."

    By this point, she was already standing across from him, separated by only a desk.

    She looked down at him, making him feel a sense of unknown pressure.

    ''This woman¡­''

    She was a neer, but her aura was definitely not something tough at.

    "Haa¡­fine. What do you want?"

    He wasn''t going to entertain her, but he needed to get her to leave somehow. Hearing her out was the only method.

    Thalia nodded.

    "What I want¡­"

    This was nice. This kind of atmosphere where she was the only one who knew what was about to happen was enjoyable. It was unfortunate that she couldn''t face anyone else like this.

    But, she was still happy.

    After all¡­

    "...is for you to die. That''s okay, right?"

    The man instantly stood up and prepared for a fight without questioning her motives, but letting her get so close was already a fatal mistake.

    By the time his body was upright, his head was already in the air.

    See, Thalia had grown immensely since taking up the position of Saintess. She was no longer the weak person Damien once knew.

    She, without fear, took the first blood and first kill of the war.

    And as if tomemorate her achievement, the entire world was filled with aquamarine portals.

    The Heavenly World''s forces charged into the Sacred Abyss, and though it seemed like nothing much was happening as Thalia was able to find a noble casually in his office¡­

    ¡­there was indeed a bloody present waiting for their arrival.

    The Dark God had fully prepared himself.

    It was a battle between cosmos, after all.

    It wouldn''t be any fun if it ended because of a silly mistake.

 Chapter 1861 War [3]

    Chapter 1861 War [3]

    The Heavenly World''s troops, emboldened by Damien''s speech and their own vigor, charged straight into the Sacred Abyss.

    They were met immediately with the war they came to fight.

    Damien gave the leaders orders to move the battle off of the main, but they wouldn''t get the chance to do so any time soon. They arrived and were faced with a crowd of nobles and vanguards that charged at them without a shred of fear or hesitation.

    There were many duplicates among them. Every noble appeared at least four or five times, which allowed their numbers to match the Heavenly World''s diverse array of Divinities.

    On top of that, along with the hundred-and-something nobles that existed in the current era, the forms of several people who had once been of noble status but wereter abandoned appeared as well.

    Weren''t there Nox among them as well?

    Those who came from Grand Heavens Boundary were surprised to see the Soul Emperor, Karmic Emperor, and Inhuman Emperor manifested among the enemy forces.

    The only one missing was the Saint Emperor. He was never loyal to the Dark God or the Foreign Races in the slightest, so he did not fall under the umbre of the Dark God''s power. The sh began with so much spilled blood that it was questionable how it was supposed tost for more than ten minutes. At the rate that people were dying, wouldn''t their side be exhausted easily?

    No. This was a war against an infinite number of enemies. Measures had been taken to protect the lives of those who stood at the very forefront of the battle.

    After the first wave of death spread, a holy golden white aura filled the air and wrapped the entire Heavenly World force in canopies of the same colored light. Their defensive abilities were slightly boosted, but the main effect was the protection of their lives.

    The light was thebined force of the Heavenly World''s Light and Wood Law users. They were at the back of the army and protected by many powerful Divinities. Their abilities were sent through an array that the Krone n developed and spread through the allied force. It was an imitation of what Damien once did in the past to achieve the same effect, but it was not based on his actions. The goal was to keep the fighters alive for as long as possible. For that purpose, those same practitioners were even willing to take the umted damage upon themselves.

    It was destined to be a brutal battle. However, it wasn''t entirely hopeless. The nobles were rapidly separated from the vanguards. A wall was formed around them by the members of Void Pce and they were immediately teleported far into the starry sky. The lower existences stayed on the ground to fight against other lower existences.

    If Divinities were involved on the same stage, they were destined to die meaninglessly.

    Damien watched as everything proceeded ording to n. ''I don''t think I need to watch over them for much longer.''

    Initially, he was worried that the force of the Foreign Races would be too much for his homnd''s people. Once they proved their resolve and power, he lost that worry.

    It was unfounded from beginning to end. The Nox had that kind of power over the people. The Nox spent billions of years tormenting their enemies and built up a crippling fear that overran almost any army that faced them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Foreign Races did no such thing. They acted in a calm and unhurried manner because of the Dark God''s confidence. If Damien hadn''t shown up, a simr situation would have urred here as well.

    However, he did. He appeared and expedited everything the Dark God had nned. He erased the fear of the Foreign Races that could have been created. Now, the psychological advantage simply didn''t exist.

    The Heavenly World''s people fought like berserkers. They knew that their lives were on the line. They knew that they would never be able to stop fighting until the Dark God died.

    Still, they craved blood. They craved the scene of a mountain of dead bodies consisting of only Foreign Races.

    Regardless of what they were, everyone had found their reasons to put their all into the war.

    "Huu¡­"

    Watching them fight, Damien prepared himself as well. He could see the massive ck hole in the starry sky. He knew exactly where he needed to go and what he needed to do.

    If he wanted to shorten his people''s suffering by even a single second, he had to go there and fight his own battle.

    Not many people noticed his body disappear.

    However, they all knew that their leader was going to confront the Dark God.

    All they needed to do was survive until he seeded.

    ***

    Thalia almost didn''t have time to do anything before the war came to her. The time between when she met Malevalon and targeted the nearest noble was around three days. In those three days, her tribe was able to prepare and the people were able to learn about the fact that a ughter was about to begin.

    Unfortunately, it was not enough time for those untrained mortals to learn the necessary skills to pick up their des. They were forced to hide in their homes and hope that the sounds of destruction didn''t get any closer.

    Meanwhile, the Gehenna Tribe fought its own battle.

    Thalia went to workpletely dismantling the armed forces of the territory she''d just upied. At the same time, her tribe members invaded the remaining territories around their own for the same purpose.

    Damien didn''t order the Gehenna Tribe to join the frontlines. Their job was to take down the Foreign Races around the world and im their territory.

    When the True Void Territory expanded, its power would be able to bless the allied troops fighting within.

    It was a sort of home ground blessing that Damien organized the instant he arrived in this ne. By the time they were finished, the hope was that the mortals would gain enough power topletely overwhelm the vanguards they faced. That also gave more leeway to the Divines who were fighting in the starry sky.

    After all, the moment the entire world was imed, the blessing''s effects would be exerted on the surrounding space as well. This n was one of many that were created to promote survival rates among the troops.

    There was no need to watch the lower existences fight.

    Their battle was one of numbers against numbers for now, but it was sure to change as they became more confident in their strength.

    The more riveting battles were taking ce among the Divinities.

    And among them, the battles to focus on were naturally being fought by the people who surrounded Damien.

    It had been a long time since they had the spotlight. As Damien grew past them, they were forced to stay in the background as each and every one of them focused on their own training and adventures.

    Now that the final stage was prepared, their moment to show the world what they''d aplished was here. Hell, even Rose was fighting. She chose not to train, so she was the weakest of them all.

    Watching her performance was like setting a benchmark for the rest, right?

    Because it didn''t matter if she was the weakest.

    Because that term was rtive, and the people she was beingpared to were the best the cosmos had to offer.

 Chapter 1862 War [4]

    Chapter 1862 War [4]

    Rose''s opponent was not a Foreign Noble who existed when Damienst came to this cosmos. This trend could be seen in many other ces. The Dark God prepared an army tobat the Heavenly World directly, and for that purpose, people like this woman were created.

    She was once called Veritera, a Grand Duke of Illusion, unlike anyone who had evere before her. She was able to turn reality into her yground through those abilities, and she was now a part of the Foreign Race army for the sole purpose ofbating Rose.

    If there was one thing to note, it was that the extent of their abilities and the specific vein of concepts they studied weren''t taken into ount. Merely, people who followed the samew were promoted to the highest strength they could reach and thrown into the battlefield.

    Rose and Veritera had already disappeared from the battlefield. They were in a ne of their own creation, but at the same time, they were deep within the folds of reality. Their bodies could not be seen, but there was a sector in the starry sky that was continuously changing and bing more dangerous.

    The other Divinities fighting in space had to stay far away from that ce if they didn''t want to be caught in the collisions. That alone was enough to tell of both women''s strength.

    Nevertheless, what was unseen to others was not the same for everyone. If anyone possessed the ability to look past the reality they knew, they would find the splendorous scenes that their fight was truly causing.

    The ever-changing image of reality seemed to mirror the abilities possessed by Existence itself.

    Rose and Veritera stood far away from each other and never made attempts to close the distance. They had formed domains around them, manifestations of their control over illusion and reality. If they entered the enemy''s territory, they would be ughtered without mercy.

    The goal of this battle was to overthrow the enemy''s territory with one''s own and swallow them. Only when that happened could a winner be dered.

    They were rtively even from the beginning.

    Rose sat on a throne of swords. It was the same Illusory Throne that she used when she was young, but its meaning was entirely different.

    From this throne, she controlled reality itself. The fate strings seen by her eyes were turned into the strings that weaved into the fabric of reality, and when she pulled on them or twisted them, she could directly influence the world.

    The throne was a defensive position, but it gave her ample room to attack as well. She was not sitting in a dark space or surrounded by winds or swords. Instead, she was surrounded by the golden light of fate itself.

    Her territory almost felt holy, but if one mentioned that opinion to Veritera, she would absolutely take the opportunity to call that person an idiot.

    This was nothing like a holynd. The territory she faced was one of pure death.

    Reality was folded into severalyers, creating something like a sixteen-dimensional prism. It continued to expand and add more dimensions to its body, growing into an unbelievable monster.

    However, Veritera was never someone to be doubted. The Dark God had something of a superiorityplex when it came to women. He hardly ever resurrected them and gave them power because he felt that they were lowly.

    For a woman to gain any sort of position in his army, she needed to be worth more than his prejudice.

    Veritera was exactly that kind of person. She also followed the path of controlling reality, as did any illusion user who pursued their power to the end.

    However, unlike Rose who disyed her abilities by folding and manipting reality into a cage, she learned how to manipte it in a way simr to Nonexistence. She altered singr concepts and changed their meanings so that existing became a lethal condition. Her domain, while not nearly as bright, contained a deep purple color and an ominous fog. At the point where it came into contact with Rose''s power, shes of white light sparked with such ferocity that they tore through reality and destroyed the starry sky of the Sacred Abyss.

    ''Hmph.''

    At first, Rose didn''t n to fight in this war. She wanted to stay at home and enjoy peace until it ended. After all, she had absolute confidence that Damien would seed.

    However, everything changed after his visit.

    He supported her. He acted like he knew that she was going to stay home and essentially treated their meeting as a "Goodbye. I will be back."

    Something about that irked her.

    It had nothing to do with Damien, but the fact that she was being expected to sit the battle out annoyed her beyond belief.

    Perhaps it was because she always wanted to fight by his side and support him. It felt like he no longer expected that from her and was prepared to love her unconditionally regardless.

    Wasn''t that insulting?

    Since when did she be so unreliable?

    Obviously, Damien didn''t feel that way at all. She knew it as well, but it didn''t matter. Since that was how her mind decided to perceive it, she was provoked.

    She ended up here only because she wanted to prove to herself that ceasing her training in favor of being a housewife was her own choice. It was not a decision made because she had no other choice, but something she did willingly.

    Once she proved that to herself, she would be able to peacefully live her normal life, always aware of the fact that she could do anything else if she really put her mind to it.

    Veritera was a difficult opponent. As Rose hadn''t fought a real opponent in quite some time, spending most of her training in simtions or her own hidden realms, this was an experience that could be considered beyond her level.

    Nevertheless, she hadn''t lost her edge.

    The name "Rose Adire" used to strike fear into any enemy. Her cruel methods and sadistic fighting stylepletely contrasted the reputation she had among her allies.

    The people of the Heavenly World didn''t know. They weren''t aware of what Rose was capable of in a fight. At most, they believed in her knowledge, leadership, and stealth.

    Yet, here she was. Here she was controlling a power that was only different from Existence in name, fighting against someone whose power had the same rtionship with Nonexistence.

    Damien would have been extremely proud of her if he had been here to witness it, but that was beside the point.

    Those two domains were shing quite fiercely, but there was a problem.

    Rose''s growth rate was too fast. The technique that gave her the ability to fold the dimensions of the impossible prison she was creating wasn''t anything Veritera could replicate. In terms of raw speed, her domain was growingrger at a much slower rate.

    Rose''s eyes were trained on her opponent the entire time.

    She refused to defeat only a single Grand Duke in this battle.

    She wasn''t satisfied with showcasing the power of an ordinary Supreme God.

    It didn''t matter if it was a miracle for her to reach that level when she only ascended to Divinity aftering to the Heavenly World, but what did that matter?

    Her sisters were going to show performances that she couldn''t match.

    And though it didn''t necessarily matter who did better, it was fine for them to entertain friendlypetition, wasn''t it?

    It had been some time since theyst gathered, so they didn''t quite know what level the others had reached.

    This was the perfect time for them to disy their might. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    If they were able to get a win over their closest friends and sisters in the process¡­

    Why would they ever refuse to do their best?

 Chapter 1863 War [5]

    Chapter 1863 War [5]

    On that note, perhaps the mostpetitive of the four was the best to turn one''s focus to.

    Elena waspletely different from when shest appeared. Bing an Empress and reviving an entire race tended to lead to such oues.

    Out of the four, Elena''s fighting style was the one that changed the most. She had a habit of being fluid, choosing whatever method suited her best in the moment.

    When she was young, she was a closebat fighter. When she got older, she switched into being a summoner and then sort of incorporated both elements into her power.

    At the current moment, her style could be considered the solidified version of all of her achievements. She was a Supreme God. She was at the highest stage of power. There was no point in maintaining fluidity anymore.

    Rather, she needed to find a singr style that she could practice until it represented absolute perfection. It was a little funny. Did the Dark God know what she was trying to do? If he didn''t, then she really had to thank him for being stupid.

    Rather than a Grand Duke of Life, the opponent he prepared for her was a Grand Duke of Death.

    What was the concept Elenaprehended again¡­?

    Right, Transcended Death.

    What could that possibly look like at this stage of power?

    Well, Elena was happy to answer that question for Reigard, the Grand Duke she was facing. The Heavenly God ne usually had to be used for battles of this scale, but the Sacred Abyss was different from the True Void. Such things as methods to protect the fabric of reality didn''t exist. Elena, Rose, Veritera, Reigard, and all of the other Divinities could easily manifest the height of their power.

    Reigard was even more formidable than Veritera. His power of Death manifested as a swarm of dark entities much like Eris from the Noct n. However, at the Supreme God stage, that was apletely different thing.

    Every entity he summoned was Divine. They were manifestations of mythical beasts that did not exist in the Heavenly World, each holding a different concept of Death within.

    Under the siege of this deathly army, no one could survive. No matter their power, no matter theirw, they would always fall before they reached him.

    When he saw Elena, he assumed that this battle was going to be the same as every other battle he''d fought since developing this power. He could tell immediately that she was a Life Law user, but it didn''t make a difference.

    At the end of the day, his power of death transcended life.

    Or so he thought.

    But, he neverprehended anything like Transcended Life. Instead of doing something beneficial like that, he continued to develop the number of troops in his army and the variety of concepts they held.

    It wasn''t necessarily a bad decision in the long run, but when Elena was the opponent in question¡­

    Transcended Death was a concept that disrupted the naturalw. That which was meant to maintain duality and bnce was overthrown, making one side absolutely suppress the other.

    Frankly, it was a question of how its original owners were able to find it. If Elena didn''t have the support of the [Void Daughter] title, she definitely wouldn''t have been able to replicate their efforts and surpass them.

    She witnessed the parade of mythical beasts charging at her the moment she came face to face with Reigard. She didn''t fear it at all. Instead, she raised her hand and allowed her energy to let loose.

    VOOOOOOOM!

    With a huge amount of force, the whitish-green energy of life sprayed into the surroundings. Everywhere itnded, the starry sky became solid and mystical nts began to grow.

    They were made out of space itself using the vitality of the surrounding stars. However, they were still elements of life.

    They formed a chain of connection and spread energy between themselves to create something like a domain, but Elena didn''t intend to stay still.

    She moved forward, charging into the swarm, and her "domain" followed her like a security detail. Her every step caused space to bloom into different manifestations of life until there was an army following her as well.

    The Souls of Valha were no longer restricted to their forms and were able to manifest wherever Elena''s mana appeared. Like an army of wraiths who were servants of Life itself, they became her arms and legs.

    In this case, they were sent to fight against the army that Reigard prided himself on. Cosmic lifeforms with a strange vitality and glowing blue eyes appeared in the tens of thousands in the surroundings and instantly confronted the army.

    The servants of the Valkyrie Race were not only empowered by Elena''s strength, but also by the powerful bloodline of the people. Elena was no longer the only person representing their race. Their numbers gave them power, and in return, the Souls of Valha were able to disy even more strength.

    The first warning sign was when they started plowing through the parade of death. The concept of Transcended Death first manifested itself there.

    Like beasts, they opened their mouths and bit into the mythical beasts, tearing them to shreds and consuming them piece by piece. With every bit of flesh and blood they consumed, their power became stronger. Reigard''s army was overwhelmed from the moment Elena decided to act. It was to the point that it was hard to still consider Reigard a Supreme God. But, he didn''t notice it. Rather, he couldn''t.

    At the same time as the decimation of his troops, Elena rushed past them at the speed of light and ignored everybat technique that Reigard employed.

    Whether he liked it or not, they were going to fight personally. She wasn''t someone he could hold at bay with a mere army of summons.

    BOOOOOOM!

    Unlike Rose, who had a lot of silent collisions, Elena''s power was loud. A bright sh of light covered millions of kilometers as a sword of pure vitality manifested in her hands.

    Reigard was originally of the mind to block it directly, but he was forced to retreat. The force of that de¡­

    ''It does not siphon life, but death instead!''

    He almost gasped as it swung just inches away from his body. Even without making contact, it was able to shred away some of his deathly aura and just slightly weaken him.

    The wisps of murky ckness were absorbed into the sword and turned into the energy of vitality.

    In that moment, Reigard realized what he was up against. He was not her mortal enemy. No, it was theplete opposite. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The person in front of him refused the existence of death. Her very presence was the antithesis of it.

    In her own way,pletely disregarding Existence and Nonexistence, Elena had be an immortal entity. Death was afraid of her. Even Reigard''s ownw was shivering in fear after feeling the sharpness of her de.

    If he wanted to fight her and win, then he needed more than just luck or skill.

    To stay alive against a monster like this, he needed a miracle beyond miracles.

    And as someone who once lived in the Sacred Abyss, he was certain that he would never be granted one.

    Still, he didn''t feel a strong hatred towards Elena. Rather, he just wanted answers from the Dark God. Just why?

    Why did he have to summon them to fight against such a monstrous enemy?!

 Chapter 1864 War [6]

    Chapter 1864 War [6]

    The concept of space was frozen. The concept of time was the same. In these billions of kilometers of the starry sky that had been sectioned off, only two beings had the power to move.

    The beings of the Sacred Abyss were usually associated with powers of darkness and yin. This was only because of the Dark God''s own preferences and thoughts.

    In reality, this cosmos had just as many paths as the True Void despite the difference in energy and power system. At the end of the day, all energies came from the same origin and all paths led to the same ce. The Krone n came up with a method to make mana freely usable in the Sacred Abyss, so that problem no longer existed.

    Ruyue was the epitome of everything the Dark God appreciated. She was the embodiment of yin, so anything he usually used would be irrelevant against her. It didn''t hurt him to create a soldier worthy of facing her, but his goal was to make a person who could surpass her.

    His goal in handpicking the troops that would face Damien''s closest people was to destroy Damien''s mentality. He wasn''t taking it lightly. What Ruyue faced was an embodiment of yang. The man, named Meryon, was the direct opposite of Ruyue''s power.

    Unlike Elena, she didn''t spend arge portion of her life learning how to surpass yang. Her power was too diverse for her to have that option.

    So, it could be said that their fight was more fair.

    Though, the opposite could be said as well.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The sh was between blue and red, ck and white. One would be hard-pressed to find out what actualws were being used, but it was certain that yin and yang were going toe to toe.

    This was already against natural order, but wasn''t everything that happened in this war the same? These two forces that were always supposed to exist in harmony were now directly opposed.

    The result was pure chaos.

    Space and time were stopped by Ruyue''s power, however, her abilities could hardly affect Meryon.

    His abilities were the same for her. Unlike life and death, which had the possibility of surpassing each other if taken to proper heights, yin and yang were the representation of absolute duality. No matter what anyone wanted, those twows would refuse to cooperate. They would never be able to harm each other. So, how were Ruyue and Meryon supposed to fight?

    Well, every single collision of theirs gave birth to Chaos. Though they could do no damage to each other, the action of yin and yang had to have a reaction. The energy of pure chaos filled the air and affected both of the fighters. They were unable to control the rampant energy that was abination of what both of them possessed, but it affected them severely.

    Ruyue felt the chaotic energy entering her body and interfering with her power. As Meryon was subjected to the same feeling, they both understood how this battle was going to progress. It was a matter of attrition. They could not defeat each other, but one of them would absolutely be defeated. Whoeversted longer against the chaos would be the final winner.

    But it wasn''t as if they were going to sit still. They continuously increased the amount of chaotic energy in the surroundings to kill themselves faster. It was a self-destructive battle with the only goal of forcing the other person into hell.

    She was forced to fight with monsters that even Damien hadn''t seen directly as she adventured through thends.

    They both knew how important their presence on the battlefield was. Yin and Yang were too powerful. If they were allowed to meet the other Divinities, they would instantly overwhelm most of them. Ruyue had been searching for a long time to find her emotions. Because she wanted to live a good life when everything was over, she needed them. She couldn''t give them up forever as she originally decided to.

    In that search, she discovered everything but the feelings she wished for.

    She was forced to fight with monsters that even Damien hadn''t seen directly as she adventured through thends.

    What did it mean to search for emotions? Even Ruyue didn''t know. She followed the winds and walked the path of a wanderer, living a day at a time. Through those experiences, she was able to learn a lot about emotion and the way that people felt it, but she was never able to find her own again. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    To fight against the heavens and steal them back had been her goal for a long time. For that purpose, the path she pursued was bordering on Existence.

    And, as Damien nted a seed in her body, she would be able to challenge that level as long as she was able to reach it naturally.

    She was confident that her current achievements were greater than anything Meryon had done. Perhaps theirbat power was matched, but she would absolutely be able tost longer in the chaos than he could.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The explosions were of a ck and red color, the same as the energy of the Spiritual God of Chaos that Damien faced. The ck energy that Ruyue released was a mixture of death and destruction manifested as a massive ice storm that overran the entire area.

    Meryon was surrounded by a sea of fire in the blizzard that could not be extinguished.

    They were like mages, refusing to approach each other but constantly on the attack. Between them was a cloud of chaotic energy, and that was where their attacks were truly manifested.

    Ruyue''s fighting style was already the most chaotic of them all. She had the most mana, so she was prone to throwing out as many skills as possible in a short period of time to overwhelm her opponent.

    It was the kind of strategy that could be easily countered if one knew about it, but since when was she someone who relied on arrogance? She was always prepared for a situation where she needed to rely on skill, which was precisely what made her the most dangerous of the four. If allowed to release her full potential, if allowed to disregard all things and embrace her indifference, Ruyue''s destructive force surpassed everyone but Damien.

    Meryon was specifically created because of how dangerous she was. In a certain sense, Ruyue was the only one of Damien''s associates, aside from Dante, who the Dark God took a special interest in corralling and defeating.

    Her battle was going tost longer than the rest. In terms of kills alone, she would never be able to match her sisters in this battle.

    However, her overall impact would definitely be in contention for the greatest.

    Even Meryon could tell. If he didn''t aplish what he had been created for, then the efforts of the Dark God''s army would be meaningless.

    Still, he had supreme confidence.

    Not because of his own abilities, but because of the lord he followed. Even if he lost here, he would be able to return and fight against Ruyue over and over again until she lost.

    That was the same confidence possessed by Veritera, by Reigard, by Meryon, and by every other being who was conscious of the Dark God''s existence. It could be perceived positively or negatively, but the facts remained the same.

    In the end, everything came back to Damien. But it was not yet time to see what he was up to.

 Chapter 1865 War [7]

    Chapter 1865 War [7]

    The next target of focus was naturally Iris. She was far away from the rest, who were far away from everyone else, but that was only because the effects of her fight needed to be isted more than others.

    After all, regardless of who was stronger or weaker, thew she studied was above everyone else.

    Creation, when used with destructive intentions, created more wide-ranged chaos than any other element aside from its own twin.

    And that was exactly what she fought, wasn''t it?

    There was a clear pattern in how the enemies born to face these four wives of Damien were chosen. It wasn''t hard to guess that she was standing against a Grand Duke of Destruction.

    Yusen was his name. He existed in a bygone era like the rest, but he could be considered unique in that he was someone who served the Dark God willingly long ago.

    The rest of the resurrected Grand Dukes had their loyalty forged through torture and fear tactics after they were subjugated. They were thrown away when their use was gone and brought back when they were useful again.

    Yusen willingly followed the Dark God. He didn''t need to be instilled with loyalty, and yet, he was also eventually thrown away.

    If the rest could be considered fighting only because they had to, he was fighting because he wanted to prove his use to the Dark God. He didn''t want to be thrown away again. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Because of that, he was taking this battle much more seriously than the rest. With destruction as hisw, he became a true beast.

    The red and ck energy that was different from chaos only in its aura spewed out into the atmosphere, causing space to shatter into pieces. A massive gash leading to the chaotic void was opened around Iris, forcing her into that space.

    She was forced to react defensively. Filling in that empty space with new energy, she left herself open to attacks.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Yusen''s fighting style was simr and different. In a way, it was the version of Iris'' fighting style that would have arisen if she was born with a destruction affinity instead. Why? As people who had no contact and learned from entirely different disciplines, how did they end up at the same point?

    It could be called a coincidence, but it surely wasn''t. This phenomenon was seen in many of the other battles taking ce in the vicinity. All of these experts chased different goals using different methods, but as long as they sought strength, they''d find themselves in the same position.

    The meaning of that position only changed based on their perception. Creation and Destruction were inherently simr because they were direct opposites. When reaching the peak of those twows, there were really only a handful of paths one could pick.

    Since there weren''t many users of these elements, their styles were never directlypared in such a way. Now that the two of them hade to face each other, they realized that their weaknesses were bared to their opponent from the beginning.

    Whatever weaknesses destruction had were filled by creation and vice versa. Though Yusen seemed to be on the offensive with his continuous attacks, this offense was merely another defense.

    If he gave Iris the chance to take the momentum he was carrying, then he would be exposed almost immediately.

    As such, he targeted the weaknesses of creation that he inferred through his knowledge of destruction.

    Firstly, it did not have as much attack power. It could be skillfully used to create deadly moves, but its raw strength as an energy wascking.

    Iris was forced on the defensive because of this. Her surroundings were filled with constructs of her creation that acted as barriers to keep Yusen out, but that was within his expectations.

    The second weakness of creation was based on the same ring aspect.

    Creation was a tame element. For every ounce of destruction''s ruthlessness, it was forced to be more docile.

    Perhaps Iris could throw up shields, but her absolute defense could never beat his absolute offense. As long as he "shattered" herw, he would be able to break through.

    That was his thought process, but Iris'' mind moved along the same lines. The inverse of everything he thought was his own weakness.

    Destruction was too chaotic and hostile. It could output a lot of energy and suppress creation, but it could only do so like a raging fire.

    Creation had a maneuverability that destruction did not possess because of its refusal to be tamed. Even at the highest level, users of destruction had to sometimes bend to theirw''s will and go wild.

    Precise control could turn creation into a jet of water that cut through destruction''s mes.

    Iris was just waiting for the right moment.

    She learned to be calcting long ago. As the Holy Master of the Prismatic Star Holy Land, she had to mingle with crowds of ppl who only wanted to engage in politics, so her social literacy was at a high level.

    However, in battle, she didn''t have the same tendencies. Patience was something she was forced to learn when she started pursuing creation seriously. She ended up bing a sect leader again in the Heavenly World, but she took a different approach.

    She, now among True Divinities, no longer had to be wary. She did not have the same power as she did in Grand Heavens Boundary, but that was a benefit to her. She could now confidently lead without her eyes standing in the way. From that position, and from the experience of building a sect from the ground up instead of inheriting it, she was able to master creation almost passively.

    Still, that passive progression only came because she was endlessly learning.

    As someone who had lived far longer than any of the rest of them, Iris had a different perspective on life. She gained a lot of new things from Damien, but she didn''t necessarily revel in them like the rest.

    After experiencing them properly, their rtionship became calmer. She and Damien had an unsaid understanding of what each other wanted, and the love they''d bred was not something that needed to always be shown.

    Their rtionship was matured despite being the shortest of them all, and as that transition took ce, Iris decided that the best way to help Damien was to help the Heavenly World.

    She took control over the Northern Region to increase Void Pce''s control over the world and to prepare for this very war. Perhaps her opponent was trying extremely hard to kill her and prove himself to the Dark God, but she had been fighting to prove herself for long enough that she knew.

    Whenever the feeling was that desperate, mistakes were bound to be made. That single opportunity was all she needed. In that moment, because destruction could not be serene like creation, she would be able to end it all.

    Her eyes remained trained on his movements. Her energy stayed hidden yet on high alert. She was like a hunter in the wild.

    The armies of the Dark God¡­

    They were fearsome in the past, but they were only prey now. The True Void Army didn''te here to lose this war.

 Chapter 1866 War [8]

    Chapter 1866 War [8]

    The newest people to the Heavenly World''s atmosphere, in a certain sense, were Zara and Alea. They only came out of the Sanctuary for the sake of this war, so of course they weren''t ready to fight Supreme Gods. Still, they were upying several Dukes at once and sufficiently disying the power they worked so hard to achieve.

    The Dark God could sense the existence of the Sanctuary, but he could not sense its location or what was happening inside. As such, people like them were free from perfectly created avatars born to take them down.

    They were able to show the full extent of their power against opponents who''d reached the same level but were not able to counter them perfectly.

    Zara and Alea''s story had to be exined in a bit more detail. They were a single being, yet two. The Godbeast evolution paths of their predecessors were no longer avable to them.

    The entire time they were in the Sanctuary, their focus was on finding a path of their own to be the leaders of a new species.

    There would likely never be others like them, but their bloodline was worthy of bing Godly.

    When they progressed into the realms of Divinity, that Godbeast was partially manifested. When they reached True Godhood, that form was fully created.

    They were now the first Twin Spirit Wolf in existence. This race of Godbeasts was not defined by their exact elements, but by circumstances like Zara and Alea where two souls found themselves as half of each other.

    Their case was an impossibility only caused by the Divine Emperor''s presence, but because they''d established this new Godbeast species, it was now possible for others to be born with simr conditions.

    Twins would eventually be one, and their opposing elements wouldplement each other to create a supreme power. This was the nature of the Twin Spirit Wolf.

    Those elements could be fire and water, time and space, or anything else. For Zara and Alea, of course, it was light and darkness.

    There weren''t merely a few tens of Dukes anymore. They numbered in the tens of thousands at the very least, providing ample opponents for every Divinity who stood at the same level. It was overwhelming in a sense, but Zara and Alea''s presence decreased the level of danger significantly.

    They cruised through the battlefield like it was a safe zone. Thebination of light and darkness filled the starry sky, disying a great power that made the Dukes shiver in fear.

    Damien experienced how frightening thebination of opposingws could be when he first developed the Elemental Wargod ability. Unlike him, though, these two stayed along that path and developed their fusion to its greatest potential.

    Light and Darkness held a lot of power. They had so many different meanings in so many different ways. As the most supremews that amon person could perceive, they became the manifestation of good and evil, of the known and unknown, and many other simr aspects.

    It was ironic how Existence and Nonexistence found themselves so often mimicked in the concepts of otherws due to the interference of living beings. Each of Damien''s wives had at least a piece of one of the two concepts within their techniques, and Zara and Alea were the same.

    They did not have the [Void Daughter] title, but their importance to Damien made them like family. They were no less important to him than his blood siblings, after all.

    With their rudimentary versions of Existence and Nonexistence, they were unstoppable among opponents of the same level. It was likely that they would never face any real opposition in this battle.

    That is, if nothing unexpected happened. ***

    In a lot of ways, Tiamat was simr to Zara and Alea. Only, her story yed out a little differently.

    As she remained in the Sacred Abyss and secretly amassed her power, she was able to learn more about her hidden past.

    Right, her gut feeling was always right. She was never born as a member of the Nox Race, which was why she was always forsaken. She was believed to be unworthy to carry the true blood of the master race, so they tried to put her down.

    But, regardless of their efforts, Tiamat rose. She was born in the lower universe, but she was always meant to be a member of the Foreign Races in the Sacred Abyss.

    When those visions first gued her, she almost believed that she was something like the daughter of the Dark God, but that was never a possibility.

    The Dark God could not make direct contact with a person of lower status than him. Even if he artificially initiated a pregnancy in a woman, the baby born would have nothing to do with him. It would be the product of the mother''s genes alone, like the reproduction process of some single-celled organism.

    Tiamat could never be rted to that man, which was truly a relief.

    Nevertheless, the circumstances behind her birth were not normal.

    She was the product of research. She was born naturally to a mother and father, but they did everything possible to turn their own bodies into vessels for the power meant to flow into her.

    In that aspect, rather than parents, they were just tools. They died immediately upon her birth.

    She, as a being that had barely been conceived, was transported to the lower universe where the Dark God''s direct interference wasn''t present.

    As for why¡­?

    Wasn''t that obvious? She was a disaster project meant to bring an end to the Dark God''s reign.

    She was the final effort of a dying civilization that disappeared during ancient times. Even back then, there were no more than a few of them left, and they were kept alive only as toys. The efforts they made outside of the Dark God''s perception were only possible because they received outside help. Still, they seeded, and Tiamat was sessfully created. She was housing an untapped potential that was only awakened when she was cleansed by the energy of the Sacred Abyss.

    Tiamat''s role in this battle was more important than she made it seem with her actions of patiently watching from a hidden ce on the sidelines.

    Actually, she was the key to ending the war. Not for Damien, but for everyone else.

    Tiamat''s main power was the same as it had been. Her goals and personality were the same too. Only one thing had changed.

    Within the fabric of this cosmos, there was a weapon created by a portion of her soul.

    The second it attacked, it would all end. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The infinite resurrection that made the Dark God''s army so terrifying would be canceled. That infinite resurrection was what all of them were relying on. However, Tiamat needed to wait for the right moment. While the Dark God was so conscious of the battlefield, she could not expose her presence.

    Her moment woulde after Damien''s confrontation with that man reached an extreme.

    At that time, when he did not have the peace of mind to focus on the rest of the cosmos, she would strike.

    This was not an act of revenge or retribution.

    It was merely fate.

    The Dark God had been ying with others for so long, and Tiamat wasn''t the only one who thought it was time for him to be the one getting yed.

 Chapter 1867 War [9]

    Chapter 1867 War [9]

    As he approached, he saw that man kneeling in the sky.

    "O, God. Please lend me your strength so I may y this mighty foe."

    His opponent had been waiting for him to approach. Now that a war like this was underway, they were fated to sh. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Dante Void and his greatest enemy, the cosmos'' traitor, Malevalon Straea.

    "Pathetic."

    Dante sneered. This kind of ritual obviously had meaning since power was flowing into Malevalon''s body, but it was clearly done at this very moment to mock him.

    Even Malevalon knew that he was never strong enough to directly face Dante. In the first ce, he and his people were only able to catch him after breaking the cosmicws and infiltrating the lower universe, where they seized him before he could grow into his full strength.

    Otherwise, how could someone like Malevalon possibly challenge a man who partially controlled Existence?

    Malevalon was stronger now, but he was still not certain about fighting Dante. He didn''t know what level the man had reached, but his aura radiated much more powerfully than ever before. Dante''s fight with Damien helped him a lot. Though it was embarrassing to admit, his son taught him more about Existence than he was ever able to learn on his own.

    Damien kickstarted his father''s path. He was finally able to take the step that was originally impossible for him because his only element was space.

    Malevalon would have been killed in an instant if he was fighting on his own, but his current form was nothing more than a puppet of the Dark God.

    The energy that surrounded him was not his own. It belonged to another entity. "You''re sacrificing your own vitality for the sake of this battle. As always, you go to unreasonable lengths for the stupidest reasons," Dante spat with a sigh.

    "Dante, why would you talk to me like that? This is our first reunion in such a long time! It should be a happy moment! We should celebrate!" Malevalon responded.

    He was twitching. His body clearly wasn''t responding well to the foreign energy, but he was epting it regardless.

    His speech became slurred and his attitude changed immensely from his usual stoic self.

    Dante almost felt like he wasn''t facing the person he''d spent all these years waiting to kill.

    However, the two men were one and the same.

    The change in Malevalon was merely the result of the path he was walking. Dante was forced to ept that the things he desired were far in the past.

    He had been captured and too many years were allowed to flow without his presence. Malevalon was defeated and defeated and defeated. Facing Damien, he couldn''t find victory at any step. When he finally escaped into the Sacred Abyss and truly became a part of the Dark God, he felt a sort of ecstasy that he''d never known.

    That was the source of the change.

    The energy that turned him mad also contributed.

    Dante shook his head. Engaging in conversation with this version of Malevalon would amount to nothing. It was best to just kill him and end the lifelong debt that was guing his mind.

    Dante raised his arm to attack, but as if he was waiting for that moment, Malevalon did the same.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    Two types of energy shed between them, throwing both of their bodies back.

    Dante''s was a special kind of Existence. Meanwhile, Malevalon used a chaotic energy that seemed to be mocking Nonexistence.

    Still, the sheer power of the Dark God''s energy filled the gap and allowed Malevalon to sh directly with his foe.

    ''Perhaps this is for the best.'' Dante thought as he observed the sh.

    It felt like he was fighting Malevalon and the Dark God at the same time. He had no qualms with settling his grudges all at once.

    Dante''s eyes changed when he viewed the battle through that lens. He was a bit passive during the first collision with his spirit dampened, but he gained it all back in an instant.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    From a slow start, they rapidly moved into a fast-paced battle.

    Dante''s basew was space. The way he controlled Existence mimicked that of his spatialws.

    The starry sky itself became his weapon. On one hand, it turned physical and attacked Malevalon with a huge aura of deadly spatial mana. On the other hand, the concept itself came alive and started to constrict around the enemy, forcing him to bear the brunt of any force Dante decided to employ. This collision wasn''t actually that important in the grand scheme of things. Malevalon didn''t matter much, and while Dante was extremely powerful, he was only participating in this singr battle.

    As someone with no real enemies on this battlefield, he would catch the Dark God''s attention if he did too much. Of course, distracting the Dark God was a good thing, but it wasn''t worth it if it led to the deaths of everyone who was currently fighting.

    Even Dante had to remember it. The Dark God could wipe out their entire army in a single instant if he wanted to. Dante was here only to settle his grudge. In this war that he was originally nning to avoid for the aforementioned reasons, he only appeared because of his son''s convincing.

    Standing here now, he realized how right Damien was.

    No matter how long it had been, getting closure was still extremely important.

    ''Jeez¡­my son is so far past me that it''s almost shameful.''

    He was always the one being taught. But, that same reason was the source of his pride in the child he helped conceive.

    Speaking of¡­

    His wives were both participating in this battle. Serena was on the back line managing all of the formations being applied at every moment, but ire was on the forefront with him.

    Compared to him, she definitely had more worth.

    After all, the enemy she fought, just like Meryon, was an individual who absolutely needed to be defeated.

    And¡­it was not necessarily an individual at all.

    ire was having an experience that was rare on a cosmic scale. Regardless of how one traveled through the Void, one would find only a handful of people who''d done the same.

    Her son was one of those people.

    ire''s opponent was a Spiritual God. An incarnation of pure evil that was like the Dark God''s shadow.

    The Dark God cared about Dante more. However, he wanted to kill Dante personally after dealing with his son.

    For his wife, naturally, the most deadly of forces had to be prepared.

    The Dark God wasn''t just aiming for the destruction of Damien or Dante. No, he wanted the entire Void n and all of their associates to suffer to the extreme.

    Nobody could say why. However, that hostility was obvious.

    ire was facing it more than anyone else. Unlike the rtively even battles that were taking ce elsewhere, her match had the odds stacked against her.

    However, ire was also in a state like never before. This time, she was ready.

    She would not allow the Dark God to tear her family apart for a second time.

 Chapter 1868 War [10]

    Chapter 1868 War [10]

    The being was simr to Chaos. It was built on a foundation of many of the same ideas, since Chaos and Evil were usually associated with each other.

    There was likely a good incarnation of chaos somewhere in the Void, but evil would always be evil.

    And, as a true Spiritual God who was not allowed to develop the same human emotions as Chaos, Evil was not going to make any mistakes.

    He charged at ire the moment he caught her in his sights. His aura was vile, causing her mental state to tremble.

    She was able to fight against it, but Evil''s mind-intruding aura was passive and would continuously attack her as she fought the entity, which ire was forced to keep in mind. When Damien arrived in the Heavenly World, ire was already at the peak of the Supreme God level. That was where she stood before the whole fiasco that led to her entering the lower universe, and that was where she returned to when her soul was fully healed.

    As such, ire''s power hadn''t changed much from thest time the Dark God saw her. If anything, she''d only be more varied after seeing how her husband, son, and daughters-inw trained.

    Void Pce was always a gathering ce for spatial practitioners. The four ns were able to maintain their own disciplines, but nothing outside of that ever existed.

    It wasn''t as if they banned other kinds of practitioners, but those people used to seek out other ns as opposed to the pce that seemed to have built a clear specialization. Really, the crumbling of their reputation and then the way they were rebuilt by Damien was what changed them.

    The pce was now filled with all kinds of people from all kinds of disciplines. Their methods never aligned, but all of them were able to learn from each other.

    The naturalw was varied, but every piece of it came from the same origins. Thews were always meant to exist in harmony.

    Even ire, who thought there was nothing more to learn, found herself changing.

    That change was the source of her confidence when facing this being. This was a being who quite literally cleared the battlefield. Any and all people, regardless of which side they came from, parted ways for him until he reached ire.

    This was not an act of betrayal by the people of the Heavenly World, but their bodies'' pure instinct of survival that they could not disobey.

    Even as he approached closer, ire felt her body locking up.

    She was only able to respond because she did not need to move her mana to move her body.

    Her instincts told her she would die, but her mana had developed a resilience after its time suppressed within the shell of a mortal. Even under this kind of pressure, it moved fiercely.

    Plus, there was the "dream" affinity she developed as a mortal.

    That affinity gave her some control over the immaterial world, while her natural Creation talent gave her dominion over the material.

    She epted that she wouldn''t be able to reach Existence a long time ago when Dante was first exploring the subject. Instead of pursuing it, she vowed to be as strong as possible without it.

    VOOOOOOM!

    Before Evil came close enough to attack, she erected an array of walls around her. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Most of them were physical, made from the countless materials that could be found throughout the True Void Universe, but they were all crushed the instant they came in contact with the Spiritual God.

    However, the point wasn''t to slow him down. Within those physical walls were walls made with the dream affinity. They could not affect the mentality of a being without mentality, but they were able to contain some of his aura in a dream dimension, which gave ire a renewed ability to move.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Multiple small ck holes appeared and charged at the enemy. They warped his movement path and confused the space around him, making it more difficult for him to reach her. Stars immediately appeared all across the starry sky. Their energy depleted rapidly as beams of pure heat were released from their cores and targeted at Evil.

    BOOOOOOOOOM! Unexpectedly, it was indeed ire who kept the initiative.

    Evil didn''t take any damage. Like the ck holes she summoned, his body was able to take energy in and contain it in an eternal prison.

    However, as he was not able to approach her, his danger level decreased significantly as well.

    Without the initial advantage, Evil wouldn''t be able to kill ire as easily.

    And that was all she needed.

    The "chance" she created was more than enough to inspire her to continue fighting. After all, if she was able to make a change this time, she could do the same in the next instance. Eventually, any enemy would fall under such circumstances.

    Naturally, this thought process had its ws, but who was ire to care about them?

    ws were only important to people who would be affected by them.

    To her, none of that mattered. As it had been stated so many times before, ire was tired of all of this.

    She and Rose were able to bond over this feeling. They wanted to live peacefully and happily with their families. Why did they have to be gued by enemies and distractions at every step?

    What differentiated them was that while Rose was prepared to take that path now, ire wanted to create a way to do it properly. She fought not because she was provoked, but because she was tired.

    The only way to ensure that a simr situation would never ur again was to win this war and disy the Dark God''s head for everyone to see. Who would test them after that?

    Evil was an incarnation of its name. However, it, like the current Malevalon, was holding a portion of the Dark God''s power.

    The amount may have been minuscule in his eyes, but every inch mattered at a time like this. If ire was able to defeat Evil and disallow its energy from returning to the source, what kind of impact would it have on Damien''s fight against that entity?

    Even the small possibility of helping her son was one she had to entertain.

    The minutes passed and ire continued to keep Evil at bay. She expended as much mana as possible in as short of a time period as possible to keep it from getting a chance to attack, but this kind of strategy was forced to be countered soon. Especially against a being who was not taking damage from any of those attacks.

    As if it was acting on set patterns instead of thoughts, it took a stance and bellowed. Its aura spread wildly and disrupted all other energy in the surrounding area, creating just a single second of silence.

    In that single moment, the initiative changed hands. Evil charged through the folds and closed the distance between them.

    Now, it was ire''s turn to face endless hostility.

    As for whether she''d survive or not, nobody could tell at this moment.

    But, to get past survival and actually defeat the enemy was what ire wanted.

    And just like her survival in the immediate situation, that still remained to be seen, didn''t it?

 Chapter 1869 War [11]

    Chapter 1869 War [11]

    There weren''t many people left to be specifically focused on.

    Of course, Damien met many people on his journey to the top. Of them, most remained nearby and were willing to either fight for him or with him.

    However, not all of them were able to reach the greatest heights.

    People like Tian Yang or Elvira were of vital importance to Damien himself, but their roles in this war were no more than any other Divinity. They were strong. Their growth rate was amazing considering both their age and their circumstances.

    Unfortunately, they were only amazing whenpared to the average individual. Elvira had ascended to Godhood, but only recently. Tian Yang had to start over after his shattered Divinity was returned, so he was barely able to reach the peak of Demigodhood by now.

    There was no telling what would happen in the future, especially since the Void''s blessing did subtly touch them. Still, their stories would not bepleted in this final war.

    Interestingly enough, there were two people who stood out from that majority who didn''t have the same sort of connection to Damien as his blood family or his wives.

    Long Chen and Su Ren.

    These two sword practitioners who became his closest friends over the course of their time together were in a unique position.

    There were two reasons for this. Firstly, the sword path was that kind of road. It was extremely difficult to traverse at the beginning because it was not a naturalw. To make great aplishments meant to train until death and reach enlightenment through battle.

    What those practitioners who stuck with it until the end received was an easy road in theirter years. Because all sword paths eventually connected back into a single river of knowledge spawned from the living mind, sword practitioners would eventually reach a state where any and all swordsmanship would be easy for them toprehend.

    After that, the only thing one required to continue ascending was the growth of one''s Legend.

    Both Long Chen and Su Ren were geniuses of their generation. And, when the second reason came into y, their genius was bolstered to a new level.

    The Void''s blessing that others didn''t receive was effective on them. The Void may not have acknowledged friends as beings with enough importance to provide with a blessing, but Damien did.

    Damien wanted to see the two of them be just as strong as him. Sometimes, it got annoying to remember that there was such a huge gap between them.

    His wishes manifested as a sort of special blessing that they were able to make use of. With its help, both of them were nearing the peak of the swords they chased.

    Their paths were different, but that was only because they chose to express themselves differently.

    In terms of growth, they were evenly matched. Both of them were Gods by now. They were only in the middle of that level, but that was irrelevant. The two of them were not fighting Dukes like Zara and Alea.

    Instead, using theirbined power, they took on Grand Dukes along with their fellows.

    Together, their two swords were unstoppable.

    What Su Ren always chased was a sword that cut through any and all energies. He had not yetpletely manifested it, but he was more than strong enough to cut through the energy of the Sacred Abyss.

    Meanwhile, Long Chen had a bit more of aplicated path.

    It had to be remembered that he was born with a poison affinity. It was something he avoided for a long time, and then it was something he was forced to use by the circumstances.

    In the end, it was only through the coercion of his wives that he finally epted himself and decided that he couldn''t ignore his inherent traits.

    To find a sword that used poison but was still as honorable as the one he sought was almost impossible. It was obvious how poison was used with des.

    However, as he searched far and wide through both Grand Heavens Boundary and the Heavenly World, he was eventually able to find his answer.

    Poison was usually seen as a discreet weapon due to its nature. There were only a few people who ever used it openly, and those people usually used techniques that affectedrge areas.

    None of those styles fit Long Chen. Instead, to incorporate poison into his existing techniques and wear his affinity proudly, what he sought was the blood of a Poison Dragon.

    It was a rare subspecies that hardly existed in the Heavenly World. Luckily, he was able to find one and inherit its bloodline abilities just two years before this war began.

    The sword technique he created was not yet polished, butbat was the best ce for it to shine.

    And, whenbined with Su Ren''s abilities, his force became unstoppable.

    The sounds of explosions did not resound on the battlefields they visited. Su Ren would cut through any and all energy immediately upon his entrance, so any such scenes immediately ceased.

    After he did the preliminary work, Long Chen would focus on the enemies and y the main role in the fights.

    His poison was a sword itself. It showed itself openly and boldly as if to dere to anyone that it was not meant to be pathetic or weak.

    No, rather than being a force that caused that kind of death, Long Chen''s poison had be a part of his sword aura. It moved with his sword and was one with his heart. Even when hemanded mind swords and the likes, his poison would move too.

    Long Chen had a lot of killing power. He was able to force almost any opponent onto the back foot in seconds. From there, he pressured them and pressured them and pressured them.

    His swordsmanship was strong and direct. All of his attacks were telegraphed, however, even if one knew where they wereing from, they were impossible to avoid.

    With such techniques, he was even able to push Grand Dukes.

    Killing them, on the other hand, was a different story.

    To truly break a Grand Duke''s defense was only possible with Supreme God-level power. The only way to circumvent thisw¡­

    ¡­was it not to eradicate that defense entirely?

    Long Chen''s sword was sharp enough to cut through the flesh of a Supreme God. Behind him, he had a force that could take care of the energy.

    The moment he saw an opportunity, Su Ren would appear and strike, throwing the enemy off bnce and slicing their energy apart.

    Long Chen couldpletely capitalize on that opportunity and kill them.

    This strategy worked like a charm. On such a chaotic and expansive battlefield, it was impossible for the enemies to learn from the deaths of their allies.

    As such, ironically, the Long Chen-Su Ren duo had a much greater impact on the overall war situation than any of Damien''s wives.

    Speaking of Damien¡­

    It was curious how the war could progress without any signs of his fight with the Dark God, was it not?

    The Dark God existed in the folds of the Sacred Abyss Universe''s space. Even if the two of them moved to a different ne, at least the initial impact would cause some sort of scene.

    This kind of quiet made people assume that those two great beings had not yet met.

    But everyone who thought that was wrong.

    In fact, Damien approached the Dark God only minutes after the fighting started.

    What happened between them¡­

    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1870 War [12]

    Chapter 1870 War [12]

    The darkness around them couldn''t bepared to what others experienced in the starry sky.

    See, the Sacred Abyss did still have many stars ands. Merely, they were all uninhabited, uninhabitable, or destroyed. The only life that existed in this cosmos was contained in a small area like animals in a zoo.

    The Dark God was in the very center of the cosmos, taking the ce of the Cosmic Core. Compared to even the most spread-out Divine battles, he was extremely far away. Damien naturally didn''t need to travel for a long time to get there. He and the Dark God were now equal. Not only could he approach easily, but he was no longer affected by the aura of this ce as well.

    He saw that ck hole. As he came closer, it took on a more human form, or rather, a form more suitable for battle.

    The humanoid figure was still wrapped in a fog of ckness. It had no real features and was only a vague outline, but it was the most human the Dark God had ever been in Damien''s eyes.

    "As I expected¡­"

    The Dark God was no longer using techniques to project his voice ornguage that made him seem superior. Though he was an inherently wed being, it seemed that he no longer saw the use of disying himself so mysteriously.

    He and Damien were the same now. They were the same, but that was the exact source of the mockery in his voice. "I said upon our first meeting that you were not the one. You now have the same power as I, yet, even you were not able to surpass the final boundary."

    Damien raised a brow.

    He was clearly talking about the Void. Had he mentioned anything like that during their first meeting?

    ''No, but it was probably his thought process at the time.''

    The Dark God made a lot of ims at that time. He showed Damien an "Existence" beyond his own and even gave him a taste of Nonexistence.

    However, he only did so because he was confident after meeting Damien that he would not be able to reach the Void.

    It was likely because there had only ever been one Absolute.

    ''And from his words, it seems that he knew that person.''

    Now wasn''t the time to question it. The Worldwalker had done a lot in his life, so it was impossible to single out the moment when the Dark God decided that another person like him could not exist.

    Regardless, Damien was not of the same mind as him. If the question was about whether he would reach that ce or not¡­

    "Unlike you, I''m still quite young. I''ll eventually get there, as I''m not a being who exhausted all of their potential just to be Supreme."

    A backhandedment was a great way to greet someone who would always just be an enemy. Yes, an enemy. Back then, didn''t the Dark God say that he wasn''t worthy of being called one? Damien had to wonder what that man was thinking now that he''d be an individual with the potential of killing him.

    However, the Dark God didn''t show any signs of emotion.

    "You are indeed an enemy worth acknowledging. However, that is the end of it. Your achievements mean nothing, and you will attain nothing. By the end of this day, you will be no more than another anecdote in my biography."

    They both looked down on each other. They both believed that there was no way for the other person to win.

    Any sort of banter between them was pointless.

    It had been mentioned too many times. The Dark God was not like the Saint Emperor.

    Damien had no desire to understand him. He had no desire to find a human side in this being. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The only thing he cared about was exterminating him. Regardless of what happened, there wouldn''t be anything like pity for the Dark God.

    Damien stared at that entity, and it stared back. They were both waiting for the other person to make the first move.

    Just by existing in the same environment, the reality around them twisted. Though they were still in the Sacred Abyss, they were in a specific state of reality where they were separated from everything else.

    As if they stood inside of a ck hole, theirbined energies formed a battleground of absolute ckness reminiscent of the Void so they could disy their power to the fullest.

    There was only a single instant separating them from a sh. As soon as that single instant passed, everything changed. The fate of two cosmos was now at stake. And in a matter of time that would be seen as nothing at all by those in reality, that fate would be decided once and for all.

    ***

    The war was progressing well. Many hours had passed already. The situation wasn''t looking great, but it wasn''t bad either.

    "Send word to the ground troops. A new array is on standby for use."

    Hestia sent word from her encampment, erected in the True Void Territory. Her current efforts were going towards supporting Thalia and her people, as their progress would change the overall state of the war more than those on the frontlines.

    She was in charge of many things. Of course, she could have easily distributed her duties to others, but she was never that kind of person.

    For Hestia to be the Eyes of God, she neededplete control over the situation. The people supporting her were in charge of maintaining contact with the troops to ry her orders, feeding her information, and creating a web that connected each and every branch of their operation so that everything could be managed effectively. Through her aid, Thalia was able to move far faster than ever before. And as Thalia moved, the troops facing the enemy army were granted more and more benefits that made them stronger and more resilient. For every move that was made from their base, Hestia was the one who made the decisions.

    Through her aid, Thalia was able to move far faster than ever before. And as Thalia moved, the troops facing the enemy army were granted more and more benefits that made them stronger and more resilient. The Divinities didn''t necessarily need to be as heavily controlled. They were basically fighting all individually. When they needed to coordinate, Hestia would arrange it, but she was able to spend most of her time focused on the lower existences. They were the ones who needed more help. And, they were the most plentiful. They, as themon poption of the Heavenly World, held great importance in the grand scheme of things. Hestia''s role was equally important, but she was not in any danger. Not only was she far away from the warzone, but she was also surrounded by a heavenly troop dedicated to her safety.

    If it was about Damien''s siblings, then the other three were in more exciting situations. All three of them were fighters

    They were somewhat spread out, but like Long Chen and Su Ren, they took the opportunity to bounce off of each other''s strengths.

    Damien was too much of a star. Dante was amazing. Serena was amazing. ire was amazing. Hestia was amazing. All of them had their own roles in both the family and on the battlefield.

    However, the three of them, Dominic, Darius, and Yiren, were still trying to find their ces.

    This was their chance. They had to prove it to everyone else, and they had to prove it to themselves.

    They were also members of the Void n, and they were not going to let themselves be forgotten.

 Chapter 1871 War [13]

    Chapter 1871 War [13]

    Dominic and Darius were a dream team. That was the truth when they were both practicing the pce''s techniques, but now that Darius had found his own path as well, their synergy became impable.

    They were not fighting together at all times, but they were doing something simr to Long Chen and Su Ren at times.

    See, they were fighting on the Grand Duke level. Naturally, they were able to promote to Supreme Gods in a short period of time due to the influence of the Void.

    It could be called cheating. The fact that the people around Damien were able to have such growth rates made it unfair to everyone around them. To an extent, it even invalidated their power.

    However, the Void was not kind. All it was willing to provide for those other than Damien was an opportunity.

    It was because each and every one of them chased that opportunity as far as they could. If not, they would have nevere this far.

    Talent was a good thing. Talent was a foundation atop which so much could be built. But, no matter how talented one was, nothing was achievable without effort.

    People who put in effort were always guaranteed to beat those who had talent but no motivation. Dominic, Darius, Yiren, and the rest were not those kinds ofzy geniuses. They already had the effort. All Damien''s presence did was give them a slight boost in speed. Dominic had always been a practitioner of both the Void Pce''s techniques and the Krone n''s techniques. Time and space were both present inside of him, but it was obvious where his affinity was.

    It was around ten years in the Heavenly World that he took to reach this position, but in his own life, it had been over a thousand.

    He tried his best to embrace both sides of him. He put space and time together, and as he went further and further down that path, he found himself trapped in a dtion of reality where he was forced to reach great heights if he wanted to escape. In that ce, he went through a great transformation. He managed to escape rapidly, but he went back to that ne with every opportunity he could. That was the perfectnd for his development. Through struggle, he was now at a level Damien once reached, where space and time had merged into a single entity in his soul.

    He, of course, could not touch the timeline, but everything else was avable to him.

    His abilities were very uniquely useful in support situations, but he was always a fighter. They shined the most in battle.

    Dominic was calmer than Darius. As such, he stayed in the back and controlled the enemy''s movements. He turned into a shepherd and his enemies were no more than sheep. Plus, with Darius acting as a herding dog, they were forced to stay in line until death came to meet them.

    Darius was terrifying. He was brutal, he was reckless, he was relentless, yet he was untouchable.

    He maintained all of the qualities that made him who he was, but after refining himself, he lost the things that made him weak in battle. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The recklessness he disyed now was controlled and calcted. It was all a part of his actual fighting style instead of a product of the influence of his emotions.

    And the mes he controlled responded well to his attitude.

    They were heavenly. It was obvious, but still true enough to need describing.

    Their light was the purest in the entire world. Their heat could sear the folds of reality and change the naturalw in favor of fire.

    With the pce''s sword art and his affinity for space also at his disposal, he had truly be an unrivaled expert.

    A lot of time had passed.

    When looking at these people who showed so much growth, it was hard to imagine them as different people from their past selves.

    After all, they were stuck in the background. How much could they have possibly changed?

    However, there was one thing that could be guaranteed.

    No matter who it was, every single member of Damien''s entourage experienced the ten-year extension in the Heavenly World''s timeline intensely.

    And, every single one of them had aged by a hundred years at the very least.

    These were people who had the pce and each other''s full support. Time dtions were easily essible to them.

    As they needed to train as much as possible, they chose the method that wouldn''t waste a single second. When they trained, they trained for periods of time that were almost unspeakable in some cases.

    Dominic and Darius were still teenagers mentally when Damien first came to the Heavenly World. They were now grown men. They weremanders who would attain glory on any battlefield they graced with their presence.

    It was the same for Yiren. Back then, she was bratty. Even she had to admit it.

    She was jealous, self-centered, and unable to ept her new brother simply because of her ownplicated emotions.

    Perhaps it was the sense of disparity between their positions. No matter what anyone said, she was still the adopted child in the family. The sense of belonging she felt was always overshadowed by the reminder that she was not rted to any of these people by blood.

    It haunted her for a long time. In fact, she wasn''t even able to properly progress in her training because that feeling was clogging her heart.

    She was sent to the lower universe to observe Damien on orders that indicated that it was for his sake.

    That was a lie.

    Damien didn''t need any help. Yiren never got the chance to help him even once.

    Instead, Yiren was sent to the lower universe to learn something from him.

    He, who was a member of the main family, had never known most of them. He, who didn''t even know the true form of his own mother.

    The quest he embarked on through his own grit. The struggle he went through. They wanted her to see it and learn from it.

    Because even though they could not help Damien, he was still a member of their family. Yiren developed a respect for him that she didn''t want to admit. As she grew older, however, she was finally able to ept it.

    Her path was different from the rest because she did not reach her full potential yet. She only recently overcame her struggle in thest few years and was now making a rush to match the progress of her siblings and friends.

    This battle was a stage for her to prove herself to herself. Because she had a change in her mindset, because she was no longer stuck in her ways, because she stopped worrying about useless things and epted herself as a member of the Void n, she would seed.

    Perhaps she would not have the same impact as others, but that didn''t matter anymore.

    The attention was no longer her goal.

    All she wanted was to reach the goals that she''d established in her mind after moping around for so long.

    This final war meant a lot to everyone involved. It was an important event for reasons other than the obvious, so everyone was highly focused on doing everything they could to win.

    Perhaps it was better to let them focus on their own growth and goals for now.

    It had been a long time. By this point, it was unknown where Damien and the Dark God''s battle was. However, for the sake of rity, it was better to describe it from the start.

    From that very first sh¡­

 Chapter 1872 Clash of the Titans [1]

    Chapter 1872 sh of the Titans [1]

    The sounds of war were brutal throughout the Sacred Abyss. Themon poption was forced to remain in their homes and pray that the destruction didn''t reach them, but only some were sessful.

    They didn''t know that even then, they were lucky.

    If Damien and the Dark God were present in the true Sacred Abyss Universe, the entire cosmos would have been destroyed within minutes. Not a single person would have had a chance to survive.

    They did not immediately use the height of their power. It was as if there was an unspoken agreement between them.

    First came Existence.

    The Existence that the Dark God controlled came in direct contact with the Existence that Damien built. They werepletely different despite being the exact same.

    Existence was a strange thing in that it was always anchored. Damien''s anchor was the True Void, but despite how it looked, the Dark God''s anchor was not the Sacred Abyss.

    No, the anchor was incredibly important. If the anchor was destroyed, one''s ability to use Existence properly would suffer as well.

    Damien was willing to anchor himself to the True Void because he understood how important it was to him. The Sacred Abyss did not have the same worth to the Dark God.

    Rather, it was no more than a tool for him to exert his strength with. It was due to his decision to forgo an anchor that the Sacred Abyss was constantly copsing under the weight of his presence.

    He could have taken the easy route and calmed it, but he refused. Instead, he took the much longer and much more annoying path of holding the cosmos together with his essence. He became its anchor, a decision that Damien could not understand.

    The way they perceived Existence was inherently different as well. To Damien, Existence was a beautiful yet wed concept.

    It was everything, but exactly because of that, it was riddled with holes and ws. Existence as a concept was always meant to be imperfect, but the concept''s perception of itself, built on the human perception of it, craved perfection.

    Only after meeting it directly and spending time with it was Damien able to convince it that perfection was not necessary.

    Rather, it was perfect even with all of its imperfections.

    This interaction created a new kind of Existence based on Damien''s perception and the concept''s own eptance. That was the force under his control.

    It was tame. Though it was able to attack and it was willing to follow his will without anyints, it had a sense of tameness to it that could not be removed. Damien had treated it too docilely. There wasn''t anything wrong with that, but the result was a rtively docile Existence.

    The Dark God was clearly different. He, as a person who didn''t even know what docile meant, was far more forceful in all of his training.

    To reach this level, he did not think to be familiar with the two concepts and develop friendly rtionships with them. Instead, as he sensed the concepts further, his goal was set to subjugate them. He took control by force and did not allow any sort of rebellion against hismand. He didn''t care if the concepts had spirituality. He did not care to understand them further than what he already knew.

    With his strength alone, he forced them under him. He essentially took them hostage.

    To say that this was the wrong path was wrong. There was no such thing as a right or wrong path. In terms of familiarity, the Dark God''s many years of living made him a match for everything Damien aplished with his hard work.

    And, because the concepts under him were familiar with suffering, they were immediately hostile to anyone he used them against. So, what did the difference in their Existence look like when manifested on the battlefield?

    Damien always manifested Existence as a universe before. To him, the best way to show its power was by creating something with enough scale to house it all.

    However, after his experiences in the Land of Nothingness, that was no longer the case.

    Damien''s Existence was like a sharpened de. The de he used against the Dragon Lord was his inspiration. After trying for so long and failing tobine Existence and Nonexistence, he instead chose to use the things he learned from each concept to change the way he used the other. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Existence itself was nowpressed into the form of a translucent sword. Its aura surrounded Damien and shielded him from his surroundings, while the power itself was concentrated on the de. As his version of Existence was tamer, he had to be smarter about how he used it. Compressing it like this allowed him to manifest the same kind of strength as the Dark God.

    Because the Dark God was really, really strong.

    His Existence was a massive storm. The way it presented itself was almost like Nonexistence, but it could not be denied that the force he was using was that which existed.

    The huge storm of ck energy was terrifying. It surrounded Damien, hiding the Dark God from him, and attacked ferociously.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    What attacked Damien could be called stars and lightning bolts, but those were only the physical manifestations. In reality, the Dark God was striking him with the pure essence ofws.

    Every star contained another aspect of Existence, and when they exploded on Damien''s body, they forced him on the defensive. He had to rapidly understand what the Dark God''s attacks meant and find ways to repel them, almost reminding him of his first few times fighting in the Land of Nothingness.

    Damien''s sword was swung without technique, yet it was so beautiful that it felt like an absolute sword realm. Each cut, each stab was cutting through the storm, bringing light into this dark realm. The light danced through the air, attempting to locate the Dark God''s body.

    Damien wasn''t going to allow his enemy to put him in this kind of position. He had to admit that the Dark God''s Existence was better than his, but that was irrelevant.

    The only reason the Dark God was better was because he had millions and billions of years to learn these concepts and embolden them.

    He could also reach that level if he had time.

    The problem was that he didn''t. Regardless, their fight was happening now. Time was not something allowed to Damien.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    He jumped off of the illusory ground and approached the storm with his body.

    ''Void Sword Art Fourth Step: Spatial Copse''

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    All of the lightning and all of the clouds were blown away. That shadowy figure was once again revealed, but the Dark God was prepared.

    He had so much time while Damien was caught up. How could he not be?

    His hand struck out. Damien''s eyes widened.

    ''I have to¡­''

    It was toote.

    BOOOOOOOOOM!

    ''...dodge.''

    Even as he thought it, he was enveloped in that force.

    A twisted Existence unlike anything he''d ever felt before.

    For a moment, Damien was reminded of who exactly he was facing.

    The Dark God. The Cosmic Conqueror. The Destroyer of Worlds. This was a being who had not destroyed just one or two cosmos. No, he was far greater than that.

    And somehow, it had be Damien''s job to defeat him.

    One could call this battle many things, but easy was not one of them.

    Simple was not one of them.

    For the first time in a while, Damien had to prepare himself to struggle. Yet, even that was not a problem.

    After all, if he didn''t struggle here, then what would any of his effort be worth?

 Chapter 1873 Clash of the Titans [2]

    Chapter 1873 sh of the Titans [2]

    Damien was in the midst of a swarm of energy. When the storm parted, the Dark God''s shadowy form glitched and turned into a horde of locusts that swarmed him.

    Each and every locust was filled with the energy of Existence. It would be fine if it was only a single energy, but that was not this vein of Existence was manifested in countless different forms.

    The Dark God had traversed so many cosmos and seen so many different energy forms with differentws that he was able to create something like this. Damien was using a sword. He could act against the storm because it was arge and formless entity. Each of its attacks was rtively independent, and against concepts, just concepts were enough.

    This swarm was filled with millions of physical creatures. Each physical creature had its own concept within. Damien''s sword was fast and precise. It was able to make wide-range attacks as well, but he couldn''t just blindly swing it.

    If he didn''t want his own Existence to be damaged, he had to understand and counter each individual concept within the Dark God''s Existence. If he missed even one, it would be catastrophic.

    The problem was that these energies weren''t simply concepts of Existence that he knew. He had to discern for himself the energies of all these different cosmos and understand them first and foremost. Damien gritted his teeth. ''There isn''t a path of escape.''

    There also wasn''t time to think.

    Damien spread his senses in a spherical form around him, containing the entire swarm.

    His senses zapped between each individual locust. Time slowed until it almost didn''t exist. Damien''s mind split into hundreds, thousands, and millions of pieces, each dedicated to understanding an individual concept. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    His body was on autopilot, following the data it received as the mindspleted their calctions. Suddenly, Damien himself was a blur. The light that his sword carved into the sky as he moved in a flurry was the only thing defining him.

    Back and forth, from front to back, Damien''s body swung and contorted into impossible shapes so he could reach the locusts that he wanted to cut. He seemed wild, but every movement was precise.

    He had to use his sword to attack singr bugs in a swarm of them. He couldn''t even graze another on his path to those individuals, so how could he not be precise? It was a silent showing of glory. It was an amazing move that would kill anyone else who tried it. However, it was just a single instance in this battle.

    Damien cut through each and every locust. Time resumed and his minds merged back into one.

    What he gained from all of his efforts was merely the preservation of his life. The ten or so seconds he took to end the swarm was more than enough time for the Dark God to prepare countless attacks.

    When Damien was able to see past the swarm again, he was already surrounded. Five massive white star-like entities encircled him in a star formation.

    Damien''s jaw almost dropped when he saw them.

    ''Cosmic Cores.''

    Damien knew how densely packed the energy inside of a Cosmic Core was. To manifest five of them at once was already insane. If their energy was mobilized with the intent to harm¡­

    ''I can''t.''

    There wasn''t a difference in power between him and the Dark God. Naturally, as they''d reached the same realm, that was impossible.

    Instead, what separated them was eons of experience. Damien simply couldn''t wield Existence with the same proficiency. In simple terms, the Dark God was an old lion and he was still a cub. Before those Cosmic Cores exploded, he had to make a decision.

    No, he had to make it now.

    ''Dammit.''

    He didn''t want to lose even once to the Dark God, but he had to make the sacrifice for his eventual victory. The Dark God was better than him at wielding Existence. He had to ept that as fact.

    ''It won''t be the same next time.''

    VOOOOOOOOOM!

    Damien pulled all of his energy back into his body and opened his eyes once more. This time, the aura that surrounded him was different. With a single thought, he spread that energy throughout this empty space. The Cosmic Cores, the residual energy from the Existence he released, and everything else vanished. Nonexistence took prominence and Existence was forced to step back.

    "So this is your level."

    The Dark God taunted him immediately. He retracted his energy, epting Damien''s defeat, but he did not allow it to go unsaid.

    "That is your only advantage, so enjoy it well. It''ll be different from now on."

    "Indeed. It will be different. You will no longer have any chances to believe that you will defeat me."

    The Dark God''s words were bold, but they did not affect his opponent. Damien was confident for multiple reasons, but there was one that stood above them all.

    He could sense the aura of the Land of Nothingness. Even though he never absorbed any of its energy, even his Nonexistence had its scent as it was formed there.

    The Dark God¡­

    ''He doesn''t have that scent.''

    As he switched to the energy of Nonexistence that he possessed, Damien clearly understood its structure due to his connection with the concept. It was not anything like the energy of the Land of Nothingness. Actually, it didn''t seem to have any structure at all.

    That could only mean one thing. He somehow obtained Nonexistence before Existence. Because the two forces didn''te in contact when Nonexistence was still in a fetal state, he was never invited to thatnd. If he was never invited to thatnd¡­

    ''He''s missed out on all of the opportunities present there.''

    Damien almost wanted tough. That was how confident he was.

    Mirage changed. Its form was now closer to invisible than ever before. The entire essence of Damien''s Nonexistence was contained within, but it was not presented alone.

    His territory spread out as well and a vestige of the Eternal Sanctum appeared in reality for the first time. Instead of engaging in more conversation, Damien charged.

    "Let me show you how to wield Nonexistence, since you seem quite unaware."

    This space was simr to the arena where Damien fought the Dragon Lord. It was meant to support the manifestation of Existence and Nonexistence, so the force Damien produced was visible.

    The chains that surrounded him were the same. Rather than Damien, the Dark God saw a mangled mess of precisely plotted attacks, a humanoid arsenal. Damien could not see his expression. He was too deeply hidden in the ckness. However, as he observed and prepared his own energy, he gritted his teeth.

    ''Impossible.''

    It was merely a thought without any backing for now, but if it came true¡­

    The Dark God was not someone who would allow himself to think about anything that indicated that he was not supreme. As such, that thought cut off there and did not emerge again.

    He was better in Existence because he had been connected to the Sacred Abyss for so long. Nonexistence was different. It was the core of his self. Back then, Nonexistence was the only¨C

    BOOOOOOOM!

    The Dark God''s energy finally collided with Damien''s.

    The second round of their grand battle had begun.

 Chapter 1874 Clash of the Titans [3]

    Chapter 1874 sh of the Titans [3]

    Damien''s Nonexistence was well known already. He used it for many years beforeing up with a concrete style, and due to the environment that he trained in, he was able to make eons'' worth of progress in just a few years.

    The Dark God, on the other hand, had eons worth of practice but no solid environment to support his growth. It was for this reason that they were equal in terms of power.

    The disparity came from the fact that the Dark God had never faced another Supreme. He had seen the Worldwalker before, but he''d never seen the Worldwalker fight. In the same way, because Supremes were so rare, none of the cosmos he''d conquered until this point were able to birth one to face him.

    This was his first real battle against someone of the same level. He was always confident in his skills because he understood just how much damage he could do with them. His Nonexistence had consumed entire cosmos before. Under its weight, countless quintillions of existences were ughtered.

    Even if it was a person of his level, he didn''t doubt that he would be able to defeat them.

    But¡­did he truly know how to fight against another form of Nonexistence?

    The flow of battle was rtively simr, but it was an entirely different ballpark from the Existence battles he was confident in. He only realized this when Damien started his attack.

    Just like the people in the Land of Nothingness, Damien''s attacks followed a certain pattern. It wasn''t the same, as the Dark God was not familiar with the rules of this kind of fight, but he didn''t change much.

    Instead of staying still, he charged in and used physical force on top of his concepts. However, other than that, Damien''s strategy had already been seen.

    The Dark God was caught inside of his web. From his position as the controller of those metal webbings, Damien canceled several concepts while birthing new nonexistent ones to support them.

    Though he was able to fight back, the Dark God could not effectively counter him.

    VOOOOOOM!

    His Nonexistence raged like a powerful tsunami. There was no sense of control or finesse, but Damien had to admit that the Dark God''s connection with the concept wasn''t something to beughed at.

    Clearly, after being around it for so long, he had formed a special bond with it.

    Just, the nature of that bond was different from what Damien had.

    It felt almost as if he was relying on that force. It was like he had absolute trust in it and it was being forced to live up to his expectations.

    That rtionship was almost the direct opposite of what Damien had with his concept, and as a result, the concept manifested differently as well.

    There was no precision. There was no method. The energy swarmed wildly andtched onto each and every chain and concept Damien utilized, erasing them as they came.

    ''Interesting.''

    Rather than an energy, the Dark God seemed to treat his Nonexistence as a summoned being. When it was viewed through this lens, it became far easier to understand.

    A part of the concept protected him instinctively. Meanwhile, the restshed out and attacked anything that was targeting him.

    The Dark God himself was like an observer in the battle between Damien and his Nonexistence.

    ''It is true.''

    From that position as an onlooker, he was able to entertain the thoughts that he pushed away before.

    ''This method of wielding the concepts...it is not unfamiliar.''

    He had seen it before, but at that time, he thought it was just the aplishment of the individual in question.

    Damien''s style was different, but this refined sense of Nonexistence that couldn''t exist without some sort of guidance and the strange aura of the energy that felt like that of the person he had in mind gave way to an unquestionable realization.

    Both Damien and that person experienced something that he was not privy to.

    There had to be something. He refused to believe otherwise.

    How could this man who was not even two hundred years old control Nonexistence better than him? It simply should not have been possible, especially since he was aware of Damien''s every movement since theirst meeting.

    ''There is something I do not know.''

    More uneptable than anything else was this fact.

    It didn''t matter to him if things happened outside of his control, however, the situation in the True Void was meant to always be under his thumb. He could not directly interfere with the other cosmos easily, but watching it wasn''t a problem in the slightest.

    He watched as Damien spent time in meditation in his isted cave. He watched as the man''s power grew exponentially, but he took it as a sign of talent, another reason to end the anomaly known as Damien Void.

    This new information told him that rather than talent, Damien attained some kind of opportunity elsewhere.

    And he did so while making a fool of him. Perhaps that was one of the only things Damien had inmon with the Dark God. The desire to be inplete control that pushed them to be Supremes; Damien''s actions had vited that desire for the Dark God.

    The further their fight progressed, the more the Dark God''s emotions rose. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien was truly a master. His every movement trapped the Dark God''s Nonexistence and took away its power. Despite being at the same level, it was powerless.

    Was this what Damien felt during thest round?

    No, this was to another degree. This was far more pronounced of a gap than what existed between the two of them in terms of Existence.

    The Dark God could feel the air around him constricting as any and all concepts were banished. He was forced to focus on protecting himself and his own mind, as it didn''t slip his perception that Damien was trying to find a way in.

    If there was one thing he could never allow, it was the invasion of his mind.

    ''I will not lose.''

    The situation was like this, but he refused toy down his arms and cancel Damien''s attacks with Existence. Damien made that move earlier, and he mocked the man for being defeated. If he was forced to do the same, then it would be too much of a blow to his ego.

    Though it didn''t seem like it to people who didn''t know, the Dark God did have emotions. He wasn''t dull and unfeeling.

    No, he was actually someone who valued his emotions more than most.

    However, the actual feelings that he held and the weight he gave them were not normal.

    Damien would learn more about that as the battle continued. For now, they only touched upon the supreme concepts they controlled, but this fight was fated to be more than that.

    Because when Supremes shed, the oue wasn''t like any other battle.

    And the process¡­

    Well, it was enough to say that expecting an ordinary battle was just in stupid. The twists and turns toe were fated to be unexpected to the both of them.

    It truly made one wonder how they''d react when those moments finally came.

 Chapter 1875 Clash of the Titans [4]

    Chapter 1875 sh of the Titans [4]

    Damien knew that he was going to dominate. The odds were tipped too far in his favor, so there was no chance of the Dark God winning in this stage of their fight.

    Still, it was going better than he ever expected.

    See, when he knew that he was going to lose, he was quick to ept it. Within no more than fifty moves, they had already switched into this battle. ying the long game meant moving on when it was necessary. Damien wasn''t so prideful as to deny it. However, the Dark God was different. He did not want to admit defeat no matter what kind of situation he was in. He refused to learn from Damien, but he was trying to improve mid-battle and surpass him.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    As he was now in possession of the battle''s momentum, Damien''s own thoughts were given time to run wild.

    He wondered about the Dark God''s attitude. He was someone antagonized by the cosmos for so long, but he hadn''t really been interacted with. In fact, when was thest time someone from the True Void actually met the Dark God and saw him as more than an imaginary being?

    Dante met him but was still too weak to truly see him. Instead, he faced the form of someone who may as well have been a real God to him.

    Damien was the only one to stand equal to the Dark God and dare to view him from that perspective. As such, he felt that what he assumed was different from reality.

    He was a terrifying and powerful enemy. That couldn''t be understated. In terms of sheer strength, none couldpare. However, when it came to he himself as a person, was he really so great?

    His ability wasn''t enough to make him a ruler. He had a mind capable of plotting millions and billions of years'' worth of steps in order to systematically destroy an opposing cosmos, but even that did not give him the qualifications of an Emperor.

    The way he treated his people like they were nothing¡­did he fail to grasp how much the vitality of the people mattered to the life of a cosmos?

    The Dark God was supposed to be great. He was extremely wed, but his ws were meant to be different from this.

    Damien had doubts that he couldn''t exin. His Nonexistence was meant to intrude on one''s mind and dismantle it from the inside. Meanwhile, the chains would attack physically and entrap the enemy until they had no choice left but to die.

    He couldn''t make it into the Dark God''s mind as he was focusing most of his defensive efforts there, but the information he received was more than enough for a preliminary estimate.

    To him, it felt like an absolute emptiness. It was hollow,cking everything except a few certain things. Damien didn''t know what they were, but other than those three or four concepts, the Dark God did not value anything.

    He was a strange man. That much was certain. For him to be so unknown even at this juncture was unbelievable considering everything he''d done to Damien, his family, and the True Void Universe.

    Damien said he didn''t want to learn more about this man many times, but that was a lie. He wanted to know what led the Dark God to be the person he was today. Only, he had no interest in sympathizing with that story.

    Nevertheless, for now, he was just trying to kill.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The majority of the attacks were being made with Mirage. The territory was used to pressure the enemy, but the sword was the true killer.

    shes of ckness illuminated the area impossibly. The air whirled, but it was not because of force.

    Rather, theck of concepts holding up the fabric of this reality was starting to affect it.

    This space was made only to properly manifest their power, but it was still a product of the cosmos. When they started to go beyond its power, they would still cause serious environmental damage.

    Theck of concepts formed a vortex as the existing concepts of the space tried to fill in the gaps they left. They were, of course, unable to do so. However, that was better for him, wasn''t it?

    The environment itself was acting against the Dark God while Damien was able to maneuver through it freely. His advantages were stacking up and leaving no crumbs for his enemy.

    The Dark God''s shadowy form was forced to constantly retreat. His energy was ring into the world with such intensity, but it was barely able to do anything.

    At first, it put up a good resistance. Through pure force, it could dismantle Damien''s attacks and give the Dark God some respite.

    But Damien''s pushing was incessant. The summoned beast-like energy without a truemander couldn''t keep up with his intentional and methodical attacks.

    The Dark God held on for many minutes. It was impressive when his weakness was considered, but in another vein of thought, it was idiotic.

    Even he was forced to eventually admit that he didn''t have a method to ovee Damien in the short term.

    And when the long-term was irrelevant, what was the point in considering it?

    His pride was floored in that moment, but what else could he do?

    Gritting his teeth to the point where blood was drawn, the Dark God spread the energy of Existence, ridding the world of Nonexistence.

    "You don''t look too good. Did something happen?"

    Damien naturally took the opportunity to mock him.

    "I see that you''re nothing more than that. Didn''t your parents teach you not to talk big if you can''t back it up?"

    The Dark God practically growled in response. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "This means nothing, Damien Void. Do not think that this will change anything."

    He refused to give up a single inch. Though he conceded, he justified it in his own way.

    "It is pointless to continue with such meaningless battles. Use the power you gained as a Supreme and see the difference between us."

    Damien sighed.

    "You''re quite antisocial, it seems. This mysterious attitude you''re trying to push is truly not working for you."

    He summoned those two forces.

    With Existence in his right hand and Nonexistence in his left, he faced the Dark God proudly.

    "I may have less experience, but you have to admit that I''m more talented."

    The Dark God summoned his two forces as well. They were in the opposite hands from the forces that Damien controlled, but they would not be confronting their antitheses. Instead, it was just a physical representation of the value the Dark God ced in each concept.

    "Talent¡­it is no longer an important metric. Today, all of your talent will go to waste. Regardless of how you learn, you will never reach my level."

    His confidence was not unwarranted. No matter what he''d been through, Damien''s experience with controlling Existence and Nonexistence together was limited to no more than a few days. His starting point was too far behind for him to reach the Dark God.

    ''Or so he thinks.''

    In reality, Damien had been preparing for this very moment for a long time. He knew that his starting point was not the best, but¡­

    ''¡­nobody should ever doubt my ability to learn.''

 Chapter 1876 Clash of the Titans [5]

    Chapter 1876 sh of the Titans [5]

    BOOOOM!

    The two of them instantly resumedbat. There was a clear disparity here as there was in every stage of this fight thus far, but it was no longer nearly as one-sided.

    Existence and Nonexistence couldn''t exist in the same space with either of their power. Though they could be used concurrently, they had to remain separate.

    This time, neither Damien nor the Dark God moved, but it definitely seemed like they were moving when one noticed how fast the atmosphere was blurring and changing.

    Their minds split in two. They fought in a world that had split into two different nes of existence. At a nce, it looked like this was just abination of their previous two bouts in one, but it was very different.

    Damien and the Dark God were controlling Existence and Nonexistence together, It looked like they were two separate battles only on the surface. In reality, it was one massive battlefield.

    The difficulty here was to urately judge what moves needed to be made on both battlefields concurrently. The realm wouldn''t be able to handle this kind of stress, so before the battlefields merged and reality itself shattered, they had to determine a winner.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The storm was back, but it was no longer the same. Along with the chaoticws of Existence that it originally held stood a power of nothingness that manifested as lightning.

    It struck at Damien with the same intensity as the lightning he faced in the Land of Nothingness. Naturally, he put up a defense with Nonexistence immediately and nned a counter.

    Still, while that was happening, Damien was also being assailed by Existence. Thew of fire itself became physical and attacked. Thews of darkness, death, and destruction did the same, molding themselves into a perfect form that was technically not allowed to exist.

    This kind of merger that didn''te from duality was impossible to find in nature. This attack was an example of Nonexistence being used to support Existence, a technique far too advanced for Damien.

    "Khh¡­"

    He gritted his teeth and did his best.

    ''Luckily, Existence is enough to block it.''

    He wasn''t going to arrogantly im that he would be able to match the Dark God immediately, but that wasn''t his intention. He knew that he would be able to properly defend himself from the onught no matter how bad it was, so the goal was to learn from the enemy and use his own expertise to defeat him.

    In that vein as well, they differed. Damien did not like the Dark God or anything about them. However, he was able to respect his opponent''s strengths.

    He did not let his ego get in the way, so something like this was possible.

    Damien knew everything he needed to reach the level of efficiency he desired. All he needed was the knowledge of eons of training that the Dark God''s attacks contained. With it in his arsenal, what did he have to fear?

    When he found himself in the Void, Damien saw Existence as a ten-dimensional painting of sorts. The current environment could be considered something simr.

    As the worlds got closer to each other, the painting became even more abstract and muddled.

    Reality continued to split and fragment under the Dark God''s might, and in each small piece of the mirror, he existed, putting pressure on Damien.

    Damien could only follow his lead. He had to split his mind and exist in all of those dimensions if he didn''t want to die. He had to defend, taking attacks from all angles, even nonexistent ones. Still, with each and every time he was struck, he learned.

    He learned how to wield the two concepts together more fluidly. He learned how to use one to support the other and create even greater attacks.

    Every second that passed was another second where Damien showed improvement.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Universes collided. The Nonexistence that swallowed life after death manifested itself in two forms and started a battle. The world itself twisted to such a degree that it was impossible to exin.

    If one did not have the powers of a Supreme, this iprehensible picture was enough to destroy one''s mind.

    At every second, life was born and life was taken. In every instance, newws were made to create the structures of new potential cosmos as the circumstances at the beginning of Existence were replicated, but in each second, they were once again destroyed.

    Colors lost meaning, yet every movement from the two fighters gave them more meaning. All senses became irrelevant, yet were heightened to the greatest of their potential.

    Damien was enamored by this form of battle. He almost couldn''t believe his own eyes.

    Like the Dark God, he had never seen something like this before. This was his first time having a fight against another Supreme.

    Everything the Dark God could do was something he could do. Only now did Damien finally ept just how powerful he was as a Supreme.

    ''I see. So it''s like this.''

    He was like a sponge soaking up the entirety of the Dark God''s waterfall of power. Damien''s eyes hadn''t been mentioned in some time, but he never forgot about them.

    The All-Seeing Eyes were always a power that helped him. When they became a natural part of his body, it became useless to speak about them because they were constantly working.

    They constituted his eyesight at all times. This advantage was useful in every aspect of life and was one of the hidden contributors to his sess in the Land of Nothingness.

    The All-Seeing Eyes took hisprehensive abilities to new heights. With their power, even in this moment, Damien was able to see "everything."

    He could delve into the very core of the Dark God''s techniques as he faced them and dismantled them. He could see the eons of effort that went into creating them, and he could dissect the very process through which they wereprehended.

    When he reversed thoseprehensions using the same tactics, his improvement was guaranteed.

    Slowly but surely, the field evened. Damien started to attack more as he gained confidence, and soon enough, the Dark God lost his absolute monopoly.

    He and Damien were evenly matched within three hours of this sh. Before that time came, the Dark God was not able to prate his defense.

    Damien was finally able to muddle the painting on his own.

    He formed his own image, an abstract work of countless colors that offset the Dark God''s ck and grey world.

    His techniques were so different, built on a different wealth of experience and worldview. However, it was just as powerful. The art he made by wielding the most supreme concepts of all was truly beautiful.

    They were artistspeting in a world that only they could see.

    And as that world came closer, as their two worlds started to merge into one, reality truly started to break. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The cracks that spread through the fabric were proof enough. If they weren''t them was the rumbling atmosphere and catastrophic destruction enough?

    The world rebelled because it knew that it would not be able to stay whole for much longer. Storms raged and seas of energy formed, crashing about as stability disappeared.

    How much time did it have left? It still remained to be seen, but nobody and nothing could deny that the merging of two worlds was not going to bring about pleasant oues.

    And one did not need to wait long to see what they were.

 Chapter 1877 Clash of the Titans [6]

    Chapter 1877 sh of the Titans [6]

    The fight continued with the same ferocity for a very long time. No, rather, since Damien was better equipped now, they had be even more ferocious. The original painting was no longer anything like that. Instead, it was a canvas that had been torn to shreds and rearranged in the name of art.

    Damien knew that the world was falling apart. He and the Dark God could both feel the fabric of reality peeling away with their every movement. Of course, they paid it no mind. When this realm broke, they would create another, then another until there was no longer a reason to create another field. This was their shared opinion as Supremes who were new tobat at their level. The nes in question at the moment were just two. There were over fifteen nes of existence through which the two of them fought, but they were all illusory sub-nes that branched off of the two main nes. Half of them were used for Existence and the other half for its twin.

    There was never a single ne where both existed, but there was indeed a border where they were forced to interact.

    At these borders, they touched each other with both hostility and interest. They stayed close, bing infinitely closer to the aura of the Void, but were separated and constantly bashing each other like they had a grudge.

    It didn''t help that there were two faces of each present. Damien''s Existence shed against the Dark God''s Existence and both versions of Nonexistence. In the same way, the Dark God''s Nonexistence fought against his Nonexistence and both versions of Existence.

    Each force was fighting against three others. Each of them was releasing enough power tobat them properly. Because of the nature of these concepts, they could produce an infinite amount of energy and infinitely expand from nothing, which, from the border''s perspective, was a nightmare. The problem was only exacerbated by the fact that the fight wasn''t anywhere near over. Damien and the Dark God didn''t slow down. They only sped up and became more aggressive. Paintings were no longer enough to describe the battle of forces between the two beings. Instead, it was better to see them as great ancient gods.

    The Dark God was a king of the sea and its darkness. He stood above it as the waves circled him and awaited hismand.

    Meanwhile, Damien stood in the sky as the being closest to heaven. His dominion over the light was a direct contrast to the darkness below, as if the universe itself wanted to make their rivalry clear. The seas challenged the skies, forcing them to disperse their ethereal state and be a true piece of the world. However, as it had done for eons, the sky suppressed the sea, guiding its currents and keeping it at bay.

    These two forces could be considered equal to some. To others, their power was far too mismatched and one was obviously better than the other.

    In this moment, all of those trains of thought became real. All of the "opinions" in the world became truths at once, creating an absolute chaos within which Damien and the Dark God found harmony.

    They mobilized everything against each other. To the greatest extents that they could manage, they fought and fought and fought.

    The time that went by was not short at all. This round of the fight continued for days upon days. It likely would have gone on for longer, but they had no influence over that.

    In fact, when the realm was finally destroyed, they would not be able to create another one.

    Amidst the furious shes between their energies, the cracks in the realm turned into ruptures. Those ruptures expanded into masses of ckness that swallowed anything and everything.

    The borders between dimensions that kept Existence and Nonexistence separate were banished, and the two elements flowed into a singr ne together.

    That was when it happened.

    A great explosion that was witnessed even in the true Sacred Abyss Universe manifested in that realm''s destruction and consumed the two fighters.

    The abstract painting had finallye to life in the Void that appeared when Existence and Nonexistence connected.

    As for Damien and the Dark God¡­

    ¡­they had been sucked into the flow of that painting.

    Their situation at the moment was more than just a bit strange.

    *** BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Right, that bright white light was reflected throughout the Sacred Abyss Universe and even parts of the True Void. For a moment, the attention of all active fighters was captured as they saw the sight they had been somewhat nervously awaiting.

    It should have beenmon sense for their leaders to be in the midst of battle by now, but without any visual cues, nobody could be certain.

    The people of the Heavenly World didn''t see Damien as a god-like figure. Rather, they saw him as a hero with the power to defeat the demon king. That was an invible kind of power, so they expected it to create some sort of grand showing.

    In the same way, the troops that came from the Dark God were confused because they were excited to truly see his might as he vanquished his foe. It had been a long time since most of them had seen him exert himself, and for some, it was a sight they had never seen in their infinite lifespans.

    As if to answer their concerns, two days into the war, that bright sh appeared. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    It appeared and it blinded them, rocking the very foundation of the Sacred Abyss. Dante was able to sense the change better than most, and it made him incredibly concerned.

    He trusted his son to win, but the amount of energy hidden in the light was not something to be scoffed at. The rumbling of the cosmos wasn''t just caused by the destabilization of its foundation, but by the ruptures created in reality as well.

    Rose and Veritera sensed those instantly, as they directly interfered with the fight between them. Suddenly, they had to be conscious of reality breaking. Both the forces of the True Void and the Sacred Abyss needed this cosmos to stay alive.

    A strange situation arose. While they continued to fight each other, the Divinities also worked in tandem to stabilize the copsing cosmos.

    With their aid, it was able to return to its proper state after another day and battles were able to resume at full force.

    Still, that eruption was a sign to them. It was one of many that would inevitably strike this cosmos if those two Supreme Beings continued to act so roughly.

    And if that kind of sh was allowed to happen more than just a handful of times, they would not be able to hold the cosmos together anymore.

    Every person involved in this war now had to be careful of another factor. However, their priority remained the enemy.

    Unlike Damien''s battle with the Dark God, which was moving back and forth, this one was far too even.

    A change needed to take ce, and it needed to take ce soon.

    The stalemate created here was bound to fall.

    It was only a matter of who would be the first to tip the scales.

 Chapter 1878 Clash of the Titans [7]

    Chapter 1878 sh of the Titans [7]

    As the worlds merged, everything else was forced to merge as well. There was no longer a ne to hold Damien and the Dark God, and the cosmos knew that there was absolutely no way it could allow their power to exist in its folds.

    So, what happened to them?

    Damien was expecting himself to appear in a different ce, but he didn''t know where. When his eyes were greeted with the new environment, however, he recognized it instantly.

    ''This is¡­Earth?''

    He moved his body and felt a sense of disassociation. Looking down, he noticed that his skin was no longer the same color. It was a far paler white, and his body itself wasnky rather than built.

    In the middle of the city, it wasn''t hard to find somewhere to see what he looked like. This appearance¡­

    ''Jin.''

    His first enemy in this life. Why had he appeared as this person?

    The city was filled with people as always, but none of them seemed to notice his presence. He was not ethereal, but they all subconsciously walked around him as if his existence was meaningless. It took a moment for Damien to understand the situation, but it wasn''t hard to grasp.

    ''This space is manifested from my memories.''

    When reality itself broke, the only safe ces to contain two Supremes were their own mindscapes. They were currently in Damien''s memory, at the very first moment that he held important.

    There was a gate nearby. It seemed that this was just moments before Damien and Elena arrived for the expedition.

    ''If I''m here, then he must be here too.''

    And if he was in a different form, the Dark God had likely also be someone in this world.

    ''I have to find him.''

    Damien looked at the gate.

    ''No, he''s going to find me.''

    This world moved along with the flow of his memories. All events would eventually congregate at the gate where his life changed. The Dark God was bound to be someone who went on that expedition, which meant that he was bound to either already be here or arrive soon.

    Damien returned to the gate, feeling the state of his current body.

    ''My mobility is shit. This guy really only relied on mana.''

    It had been a long time and Damien had practically forgotten about this small viin by now, so those words weren''t jabs. Merely, now that this body was his own, he was suffering from the consequences of that man''sziness.

    ''Really, how difficult.''

    The mana in his body was not the pure and rich energy that he usually possessed. It was the mana of a being who only recently learned of its existence, and mana that could only ever be familiar with a single element.

    ''I wonder¡­''

    Damien thought he had some time to take interest in the environment, but he was wrong. It became clear why he was even given these few minutes to begin with.

    A certain bus arrived at its station. Two people got out, and when Damien turned his attention there, the only thing he saw was his old self.

    BOOM!

    An explosion of light blinded his vision in the next moment. Without hesitation, he used the mana in his body and retreated into a nearby shadow to dodge the abrupt attack.

    ''I see.''

    His eyes turned cold.

    Naturally, the one who attacked him was Elena.

    The Dark God took those minutes that it took for the bus to arrive to understand Elena''s power. The instant he was given the opportunity, he located Damien and attacked.

    ''How?''

    He wanted to know how the Dark God picked him out of the crowd, but he wasn''t in a situation where he could figure it out.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Though he was using Elena''s power, the Dark God utilized what she had with far more skill than she could at the time. He was the same with Jin.

    Realistically, this was a battle that needed some time since their elements were contrasted, but Damien refused to let that happen.

    "You need to get the hell out of her body."

    He didn''t care if this was simted from his memory. Someone like the Dark God was not allowed to remain in Elena''s form.

    Instead of waiting for the light to die down, Damien flew through it and approached his enemy.

    He had an inherent advantage because he knew this environment better. Elena''s body was naturally equipped for her infinitebat path at this time, so the way he was exerting his enemy actually caused a lot of strain. He couldn''t easily learn the techniques that Elena used, so he could never properly inhabit her body.

    Damien, on the other hand, knew how Jin fought. The two of them hadn''t met many times before the situation in the dungeon. In fact, they''d never really met at all. Still, Damien could remember each and every instance of their time in the First Dungeon. Jin was not skilled at the time, so it was easy to discern what kind of path he was attempting to follow.

    Two daggers appeared in Damien''s hands. Since this path was actually somewhat simr to a style he''d explored in the past, he was able to rapidly bring it to life.

    His daggers swung out, aimed for Elena''s neck. A sword appeared in her hands, which she moved into a parrying position, but Damien was never nning to strike from the front.

    He disappeared as the world was enveloped in shadow. The darkness became his yground, and like a spatial practitioner, he moved incessantly around his opponent and attacked from all directions.

    The Dark God tried to let loose more and more light to destroy the darkness, but there was nothing he could do when Damien was so determined.

    They were no longer Supremes. They were limited in power and ability. In this ce, killing the Dark God was child''s y.

    "Elena" continued to swing her sword. She took advantage of her speed to make distance and continue her attack, but Damien was following right behind her.

    He kept the pressure on the Dark God while keeping track of his mana. It was being used at an astronomical rate, but he had no doubt that it was the same for his opponent.

    In order to defend against this kind of onught, he had no choice but to expend mana as if it were nothing. Continuously, Damien attacked until there was nothing left in either of their tanks.

    And, with thest of his mana, he teleported into the Dark God''s blindspot.

    "Die."

    Shing!

    Two daggers swung out and a head flew in the air. It did not belong to Elena, but instead to a dark and faceless entity. Damien looked into the sky with a frown.

    "This isn''t the end."

    It was only the beginning. Beyond the borders of this world, he could feel the existence of several more. ''Let''s not stay in my memory.''

    It was fake, but killing Elena wasn''t fun regardless. He would much rather prefer to leave his memory so a simr situation didn''t ur. He held his hand out and gripped the air. It turned material in his grasp, and as he clenched his fist, the sky shattered.

    Only after being surrounded by ckness for a single moment, Damien found himself in a new city.

    A city that existed in a very different ne from the one Damien was familiar with.

 Chapter 1879 Clash of the Titans [8]

    Chapter 1879 sh of the Titans [8]

    This world existed in a different setting entirely. The city was rundown and medieval. The houses were not made of brick, but instead of wood and a preliminary form of cement. The streets were cobbled, not paved. There were storefronts all around, but they did not have windows. They were denoted by signs that simply exined the kinds of services they provided. Clothing-wise, the era was hard to distinguish. The only thing certain was that it was very ancient. This was the budding stage of this civilization.

    Damien had shaggy blonde hair in his eyes and a scrappy body once again. He was smaller than he was as Jin, but it didn''t seem to be because the owner of this body was malnourished.

    Rather, it was an inherent condition. He was well-fed and definitely came from a good family, but his body didn''t seem to grow.

    However, he had an unbelievable amount of untapped potential in his body.

    He was no more than a mortal, but with Damien''s senses as an individual, he could easily understand that this child would be great if given the chance to grow.

    There were no mirrors in this ce where ss was a rarity. He couldn''t see his own face, but he felt like he should know his name.

    Damien wandered the city with true curiosity in his bones. ''This has to be his memory.''

    If they were starting from the beginning, then this was the city that the Dark God associated with his earliest and most important memory.

    Was there anything that stood out about it?

    Damien lived in and around one of the biggest cities in the world, and this seemed to be something of the same. There were countless people. The standards weren''t the same and they looked very different, but they were definitely humans. As Damien observed them, he found himself following an unknown path through the city. He didn''t know itsyout, and he knew it was impossible for him to find the Dark God, so he just explored.

    The Dark God''s form¡­what could it possibly be?

    Would he manifest as himself or as someone else like Damien did?

    Still, just like his own mindscape, this world directed all of its events towards a single ce.

    Damien was already unconsciously approaching it, when all of a sudden, he was once again attacked from the shadows.

    Shing!

    A de tried to cut into his neck. He just barely avoided it with his mortal body and dashed out of the way.

    ''I have to run.''

    Quite literally, he had no way to fight. He did not have ess to mana or any sort of energy. His body was able to naturally circte energy with every breath, growing stronger and stronger, but he could not yet handle it himself. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    If he wanted to defeat the Dark God in his own realm, then he had to depend on the benefits this body came with. His physical strength would be enough to navigate certain maneuvers soon. He just had to survive until then.

    Damien stayed on the main roads until then, but with the appearance of the Dark God''s assassin-like attacks, he was forced to run through the backstreets.

    Shing! Shing! Shing!

    The sword shes came every so often when Damien was least expecting them. He turned left and right through alleys and used the main streets to connect to new systems, rushing and rushing and rushing. Bang!

    He tried to fight back only for a short period of time. After sensing the approach, he turned around and faced the de with his body.

    The Dark God was cloaked in a physical cloak this time. Damien still couldn''t see his face, because he made an active effort to keep it hidden.

    ''He must be himself.''

    There wasn''t another reason for him to go through all the effort. He was so concerned about it that he dyed his attack when Damien recognized his presence and took a hit to keep himself concealed.

    That was the only time he was able tond a hit. The Dark God became more serious after that. His every attack was done only when Damien would not be able to sense him. His form became so shadowy that it was almost like he was able to use mana.

    But he was not able to use mana. Damien was able to sense at least that much.

    At a certain point in time, he realized he was being herded. Whenever he made it to an intersection, the Dark God would attack and draw him to move in a different direction.

    Damien got closer and closer to the city center. He epted the herding because he was getting faster and stronger in the process, but he had to question the Dark God''s intentions.

    There had to be some purpose to this. There had to be a reason why the Dark God was going to such lengths to lead him to the center of the city, where he stood in front of a statue depicting a heroic man.

    The original flow of this world was leading him somewhere else entirely. Damien still felt the pull of that location despite being too far away to ever properly reach it. Sure, he was led away from that ce because the Dark God wanted to keep himself hidden within this world that was centered around him.

    However, Damien got the feeling that it was more than that. In part, it was to hide the true location that anchored this world, but this statue also had to have meaning. He looked up at it for a second as the attacks slowed down. It wasn''t too ornate. It looked like it was created by a society that didn''t have many resources at hand. Still, their adoration for the man in question was unquestionable. "Look at it. See it with your own eyes before you die. I am the one who seeded, not you."

    Damien suddenly felt a de on his neck as if everything that had happened was purposeless. That line¡­

    ''That line was not meant for me.''

    The Dark God acted like Damien did not exist. He spoke to this body with such ferocity and emotion that it simply couldn''t have been directed at Damien.

    Rather, what he felt was a representation of those few important things he saw in the Dark God''s mind. The first was hatred. The second was the form of an individual. That individual was faceless back then, but not anymore. His consciousness remained in that body for a few moments after his head went flying. In those split seconds, he saw his appearance sh in a faraway mirror.

    The face he possessed, the face that was no longer hidden by the shaggy hair on his head, was one he recognized.

    Hisst thought before the world vanished was true to that recognition. ''Why is¡­the Worldwalker¡­''

    Right, the Worldwalker. The person who created the system¡­

    This version of him was not an Absolute. This version was nothing more than a child who had yet to even take notice of his potential.

    That meant that the Dark God did not meet the Worldwalker in hister years. He did not form a grudge against the Absolute. No, the Worldwalker was born in the Sacred Abyss Universe, on the very same where the Dark God spent his childhood.

 Chapter 1880 Clash of the Titans [9]

    Chapter 1880 sh of the Titans [9]

    Just what was the connection between them?

    Damien knew that the Dark God was familiar with the Worldwalker, but he assumed it was one of many fate lines that appeared as the Worldwalker walked his journey across the Void. However, that city painted a different story. The fact that the Dark God was so quick to kill him yet positioned him so that his death allowed him to imagine a situation that did not ur in reality was suspicious.

    It was clear that he had a seething hatred for the Worldwalker, but its origin was still a mystery.

    VOOOOOM!

    Damien appeared as himself this time. He was in the First Dungeon, which meant that if the battle was allowed to continue without any interference, it would take a very long time for them to determine a victor.

    Every time they killed each other, they left a piece of their own energy in the other person''s mindscape. That energy meant nothing in small amounts, but as they continued to fight, kill, and die, the amount of energy would increase until it was enough to kill indefinitely.

    The goal here was to win more than one lost so that in the end, one could kill the other before it was toote. If their minds were broken, their opponent was given the opportunity to do anything and everything while they were automatically recovering. Allowing another Supreme so much freedom and control was practically begging for death.

    Damien didn''t need to walk to find the Dark God. The moment he returned to was then, when he first met Zara. She was facing a beast tide back then and needed his help to survive.

    He originally assumed that the Dark God would appear as the young wolf, but that was incorrect.

    ''He must have found a way to influence things.''

    The Dark God put himself in a beneficial position. Rather than bing a single entity that he could not understand, he split himself into many forms and took control over the entire beast tide.

    Of course, he was in control of the wyvern as well.

    All of those beasts turned to face Damien with fury in their eyes. That fury was directed at him, but it seemed to being from the wrong ce.

    ''What is this feeling?''

    Damien was starting to believe that he was not the enemy in the Dark God''s mind. Still, he was the one fighting. The Dark God''s malicended on him only because there was nowhere else for it to go.

    The horde of beasts charged at him, forcing him to fight back.

    They were no longer the same beasts he fought before. As the Dark God gained some control over the mindscapes, he was able to tip the scales and shift the memories.

    More specifically, he exploited Damien''s old memory of this ce.

    When he was traumatized still, he viewed this part of his life very differently. In his mind, those beasts were invincible entities that were practically the apostles of death.

    That was how he was forced to fight them. With his small power as a low-level being, he had to face them like it was his first time. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Dark God clearly could not speak in his current form, but his thoughts were perfectly conveyed as their mindscapes were connected. His seething rage provoked him to tear apart anything and everything. The very fact that Damien appeared in his memories as the Worldwalker sent him off the edge.

    His personality was actively changing.

    Or rather, his personality was finallying out of the shadows. Everything that he kept hidden behind the veil of confidence and godly demeanor came to light, and Damien was the one who had the pleasure to experience it.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Explosions ran rampant in the cavern as a battle erupted in full force. Damien was back to his old ways, teleporting and using the Void Sword Art to maneuver through the crowd and kill as many beasts as possible.

    All the while, he was in his thoughts. There was an entire battle ahead to consider everything he was questioning about the Dark God.

    More importantly, he needed to turn the tides in his favor.

    ''At this moment, neither of us have left much of anything in each other''s mindscapes. But, he is gaining strength and I am stagnant.''

    He also wanted to find out how to change the memories to benefit himself. He also wanted to be bigger and stronger so he could unravel everything he wanted to know and defeat his enemy.

    Instead of ending the battle rapidly, Damien tried to prolong it. He took the chance to focus on the mindscape itself and be familiar with its ways.

    The Dark God had time in the first world to learn. He had time in the second world as he held the absolute advantage the entire time. Damien never had this time. He was forced to create it in the midst of battle just to make the same achievements.

    ''It alles back to our concepts.''

    At the end of the day, even this space was created through the merger of Existence and Nonexistence. It looked like a stroll through memoryne, but it was nothing like that.

    These scenes were merely manifested because they were closest. They could be reached easiest, so their environments could be recreated to house the two Supremes.

    To gain influence and change things, all he needed to do was properly use Existence and Nonexistence.

    Luckily, the Dark God taught him exactly how to do that. Damien killed and killed and killed. He was used to killing mindlessly, so he didn''t pay the Dark God any mind as he focused instead on the mindscapes themselves.

    It did not appear in their reality, but his energy was definitely in use. It surrounded the mindscape and created a cocoon, allowing Damien to influence it.

    ''That is¡­''

    His eyes widened slightly. As he wrapped his energy around his own mindscape, it touched upon something else as well.

    He tried to stretch his power further, but that secondary space resisted fiercely. Damien grinned. That space could only be one thing. He couldn''tpletely cover it, but he could definitely grab onto the edge.

    That was enough. He ced as much energy as possible in the space between the two areas and brought them closer and closer.

    He forced them to bleed together.

    RUMBLE!

    The space shook as its structure was broken. The Dark God''s power advantage disappeared along with all of the other conveniences and cons of this First Dungeon clone.

    And, as Damien cut down thest of the beasts, he jumped and shot into the hole that appeared in the sky. This battle was clearly not anywhere near its end, but this installment of it was surely getting there.

    This was a perfect ce for him to answer all of his questions about the Dark God. In this ce where the Dark God could not hide himself, he could reveal everything about that hidden entity.

    The Dark God''s mystery was the only thing that kept him fearsome.

    Damien was no longer different from him.

    If thatyer of shadows was ripped off, if the Dark God''s true self was revealed to the world¡­

    ¡­then Damien would absolutely win.

    He had no doubt about it.

 Chapter 1881 Clash of the Titans [10]

    Chapter 1881 sh of the Titans [10]

    Two worlds bled together and became one. Damien found himself in an older body than thest time he was in the Dark God''s memories, but the internal structure told him that he was the same person.

    ''The Worldwalker again.''

    He was inside of a massive cathedral as the Worldwalker, but outside was not the scenery that was associated with this memory. Instead, they stood on therge ring that once surrounded Grand Heavens Boundary, Eien.

    They had skipped a decent portion of Damien''s memories when he tore apart the established boundaries, but only a few years had passed on the Dark God''s side considering that the Worldwalker, who was roughly fourteen in the first instance, was now around eighteen or twenty. He had be familiar with his potential at this point, judging from the way his energy was moving.

    ''Good. This will help.''

    The Worldwalker was someone who grew stronger just by existing. At this time, he seemed to have only recently begun learning techniques and methods to control his power, but in terms of base value, his strength was superior to many people.

    No, it wasn''t his strength, but his constitution. This magnificent body allowed Damien to exhibit Godly power because of his knowledge and skills. If the Worldwalker at this age was given the knowledge of his future self, he would have instantly be Divine. Damien left the church and flew into Eien. This time, he was not going to be ambushed. He scanned the entire field with his senses. The worlds were truly merged, as there were several cities on Eien filled with races that did not exist in the True Void Universe.

    However, if Damien appeared as someone from the Dark God''s memories, the Dark God had to be someone from his.

    ''Around this time, the Four Emperors were my greatest concern.''

    Logically, the Karmic Emperor couldn''t be here since he was plotting with the Immortal Blood Asura. The Inhuman Emperor was off causing mayhem elsewhere, the Soul Emperor was deep in the Abyss sending World Cores to the Foreign Races, and the Saint Emperor¡­

    ''He''s the only one.''

    The Saint Emperor was always following Damien''s movements in some way. This ce that stood on the border between Grand Heavens Boundary and the Abyss was the stage where he could observe Damien the closest. ''Round two, then.''

    Damien activated the energy in the Worldwalker''s body. Though he was not in control of it, the entire world responded to his will. He was one with nature yet a being that existed outside of it. In front of him, nature naturally fell into submission. It was a kind of instinct.

    Everything that could not be seen was revealed to Damien''s eyes, including the location of the one he sought.

    He instantly arrived there and attacked before the Dark God could respond.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Still, he was in the Saint Emperor''s body. He had control over all of thews in this world and some understanding of Existence itself at hismand. Damien''s advantages were only enough to match him.

    Damien once again engaged in a battle with that being who he both respected and could not justify. Just¡­

    It was bound to be different, right?

    The Dark God didn''t have the same motivations and ambitions as the Saint Emperor. He didn''t have the sameplicated character that turned this battle into something beautiful. Instead of the scene they caused when they put their all into fighting each other on the Ancient Battlefield, this battle seemed more regr.

    And, it did not continue for long.

    As the two worlds bled more and more, bing a singr ne, the Dark God''s form continuously changed. He cycled between the different enemies and allies Damien created throughout his life as his contribution to the environment did the same.

    The environment created by the Dark God''s mindscape changed as well, but there was one thing that remained constant.

    Damien himself.

    Damien never left the body of the Worldwalker. He was never forced to redefine his understanding of his form in the middle of the fight. One would believe that this was enough to give him an absolute advantage, but that was incorrect.

    As the Dark God became Malevalon Straea, the Golden Dragon Emperor, or Tian Yang, he switched between different forms of the Worldwalker from when he was very young to when he was an older man.

    He even found himself as a baby for just a moment, but his age never crossed thirty or so. Both he and the Dark God were constantly adjusting their stances and readjusting to their levels.

    They shifted from being mortals with no training at all to experts who could destroy the entire realm. For a moment, they even became each other. That was the only time Damien ever felt what it was like to shift into a different person in the midst of battle.

    And, that seemed to be the final change.

    The atmosphere was destroyed and reconstructed over and over again. Damien and the Dark God died and revived, died and revived, each time leaving their mark on the world.

    The juxtaposition between the environments they formed with their minds became more severe as their influence grew, and eventually, the environments themselves were the ones fighting and threatening to devour each other.

    When the two of them became each other, they experienced a change that was unexpected to both of them.

    The bleeding environments finally closed their wounds. When they were patched and healed, they had already be a single entity. There was no longer anything like separation between the minds of the two Supremes.

    However, it was the same oue Damien had been aiming for. It just came at an unexpected time.

    The bleeding environments finally closed their wounds. When they were patched and healed, they had already be a single entity. There was no longer anything like separation between the minds of the two Supremes.

    They could have used this moment to instantly be familiar with the other person''s skills and achievements, but neither of them did so.

    After all, what was the point? After fighting for this long, they were already well aware of each other''s fortes and ws in battle. What mattered more was the core of what defined them. In other words, their "identities."

    As Supremes, they did not only aim to injure their opponent in a literal sense. A Supreme was essentially an immortal being. There was only one way to bring about the death of one. That core of existence, that bundle of concepts and feelings that defined a person, was one of the most vital things. The universe itself forced one to understand oneself to an extreme level and form that core through the processes undergone to rank up after 4th ss. This was because, at the highest level, it was the core of one''s existence that would allow one to transcend space and time.

    As long as that core was present, a Supreme could be reborn over and over and over again. This ability was the basis by which the cosmos created Dante''s physique.

    If one was able to get ahold of someone else''s core and steal their identity, if one was able to undefine the ego of another person, then even if that person was a Supreme, they were guaranteed to die.

    So, Damien and the Dark God did not waste this moment where they were connectedpletely to look at meager things like techniques.

    No, they delved into each other''s histories. They viewed each other''s Legends and understood each other to the greatest degree possible. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    As for the results of that decision¡­

 Chapter 1882 Clash of the Titans [11]

    Chapter 1882 sh of the Titans [11]

    The Dark God found himself enveloped in Damien''s past and present.

    Damien grew up as an only child in a single-parent household, which was something the Dark God had never experienced. In those first sixteen years when nothing much really happened, his thoughts on Damien were no more thanparisons to his own situation.

    ''This life¡­this world¡­''

    This was a ce where nobody existed except him. As such, all of the barriers he used to hide his true self from others were gone. He was finally acting like an actual person.

    As he saw how Damien grew, the feeling that spawned in his heart was strange.

    Was it envy?

    Becausepared to his life, even what could be considered suffering for Damien was nothing?

    Damien had a difficult life, but he was still privileged. Even if he had to sleep on the streets asionally, he was never truly homeless.

    Hell, even if he was homeless, he would have had it better.

    The homeless in the Dark God''s era and homnd were not given the conveniences of paved streets or separated walkways. They didn''t have the convenience to beg for money or find a way to survive.

    Instead, because the homeless were attributed to disease, they were rapidly beaten and discarded into the slums. That ce was allowed to rot and get infested while the rest of the city remained bubbly and vibrant.

    Damien''s starting point, the First Dungeon, was a terrifying ce, sure, but it was nothing more than an opportunity for Damien.

    Frankly, the Dark God did not care about the emotional turmoil and trauma this environment caused. Damien was able to survive and be stronger rapidly. More importantly, he was able to awaken his god-given gift.

    The Void Physique.

    How could someone who possessed the Void Physique ever struggle? Wasn''t itughable to even think such a thing was possible?

    No, Damien was just weak for perceiving these events in a negative light and being mentally impacted by them.

    Even his physical injuries were the same. He lost his arm. If he had continued to exist with a single arm, perhaps there would have been a struggle. However, did he even have to try to grow it back?

    He was extremely lucky to be returned his faculties before he ever left the First Dungeon. Apeiron was just a ce riddled with opportunities for him. That world had little to no danger, and if anything, it only existed for the purpose of introducing him to the Nox.

    The universe told him about the overarching schemes threatening it so early because it knew that he would rise to save it.

    The Cloud ne was nothing more than a romantic fantasy getaway. Damien went through some things there, but he really just used the realm to heal from the weak traumas that held him back.

    Even then, didn''t he develop new problems?

    It was infuriating.

    Why were geniuses always like this?

    Damien didn''t have anything like external pressure putting him into precarious situations. He was either putting himself in those situations like an idiot or wallowing in his own sadness without any sort of cause at all.

    From the unnamed world to the Divine Realm, nothing changed. He got stronger and stronger with little to no suffering. Even when he experienced great pain, he always knew that he would live.

    Damien was backed by the Void. Damien had always been backed by the Void. The Dark God finally epted it.

    Yes, this feeling was envy. This feeling was a kind of burning jealousy and envy that he had never felt for anyone else except for a single person.

    How could someone be born with a guaranteed path to Godhood? How could one possess such a physique that allowed them to be Absolute as long as they put in a little bit of effort?

    Why did these things always have to go to other people? Why did he have to struggle so much to reach his current state?

    Did Damien even understand what it meant to be born untalented, to be discarded as useless and be forced to climb up from nothing?

    He didn''t!

    None of them did!

    It was always like this. As the Dark God continued to watch Damien''s life y out, he understood that the Void was not as fair and just as it imed to be.

    It was unjust. It showed favoritism. It was not perfect. It was wed.

    Why?

    ''Why? Why? Why?''

    Why did it always have to be like this? Why couldn''t the world show him the same love that it showed others? What did he ever do wrong?!

    The Dark God clutched his head in his hands.

    His long ck hair flowed over his shoulders and reminded him that he was not in his own body. Rather, he was inhabiting the body of that person he despised so much.

    "WHY?!"

    He roared, tearing at his own skin. His nails dug into his face as he ripped it off. His eyes bulged out of their sockets as he drowned in his own envy.

    It didn''t matter how far or how deep into Damien''s memory he dove. His opinion did not change.

    Damien was given unbelievable benefits in return for no work at all. Obviously, that was not true, but was he entirely wrong?

    He was not.

    Many of his skills were the same. His improvement would not have been so fast and his journey would not have been so smooth if he didn''t have the support of both the Void and the cosmos itself.

    In the first ce, for Transcendent Regeneration to appear so early was preposterous. That was a skill that healed him perfectly even when he was in the nine revolutions. It should not have been given to a young genius who was still bing familiar with the system.

    Many of his skills were the same. His improvement would not have been so fast and his journey would not have been so smooth if he didn''t have the support of both the Void and the cosmos itself. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Wasn''t it enough proof that nobody around him was dead? That kind of situation was almost impossible to find in a cruel ce like the one he conquered. Even those people¡­

    The Dark God would never admit it, but he was envious of their existence as well. He was currently trying to kill them brutally and present their heads to Damien before he died for that exact reason.

    Everything about Damien''s life was something the Dark God felt that he could only ever wish for.

    This was exactly like¨C

    Whatever the case, because of these memories, the Dark God''s mentality shifted.

    Damien was also someone who needed to be surpassed. He was someone who absolutely needed to be destroyed so that he could prove himself as the best.

    Geniuses like him should not have been allowed to exist.

    To the Dark God, nothing about this was necessarily new news except for the existence of the Void Physique, which he only assumed beforehand. Now that he knew it was real, he knew he needed to find a way to take it for himself.

    Nevertheless, this situation was his loss. No matter what he learned or gained, he was still defeated.

    Because at this very moment, Damien was also witnessing his past, the past he tried so hard to hide.

    And unlike the Dark God, once again, he was receiving far more than he should have been allowed.

    Nothing was ever fair or just in this world.

    Really.

 Chapter 1883 Clash of the Titans [12]

    Chapter 1883 sh of the Titans [12]

    Once upon a time, in a world far, far away, two brothers were born. Their births took ce only a few minutes apart, however, the way they were treated was different from birth.

    The elder brother was showered with love. He was found to have an extremely rare talent during his birth, and all eyes had been on him from then.

    The younger brother wasn''t untalented, butpared to his elder brother, he was nothing special. That was the origin of the Dark God.

    The Worldwalker, the man who established the system in the True Void Universe, was originally a member of his race, and his blood-rted older brother.

    The Worldwalker was always a mysterious man whose intentions could not be understood, and his talent far outstripped anyone else.

    He was loved by the people, he was loved by the heavens, he was loved by women, and he was granted everything he wished.

    Meanwhile, the Dark God was stuck in his shadow.

    The woman he loved used him as a stepping stone to reach his older brother, his talent was mediocre inparison, and frankly, he wasn''t loved by many at all.

    Damien was watching the story y out through his perspective, so he couldn''t tell if this was entirely true. He definitely saw that the Dark God was treated poorly inparison to the Worldwalker, but that was truly just inparison.

    It looked like they came from a good family so the Dark God still had both parents and a safe and secure childhood environment. Maybe he didn''t turn heads everywhere he went, but his ordinary life was just fine.

    However, the Dark God''s perception of the world was skewed from birth. Because his brother was heaven''s chosen, he expected that kind of treatment for himself as well. He thought that the life of a heaven''s chosen was what every person was supposed to have, so to him, his own experiences were terrible mistreatment. He had maids and servants who genuinely worried for his safety. His father and mother definitely neglected him more than they should have, but rather than their negative feelings towards him, it looked more like they were struggling with their own matters and couldn''t pay attention to either of their sons very much.

    Damien could tell. The look on their faces in the few memories where they went to see the Dark God was the same as the one his mother used to wear.

    However, the Dark God''s perception of the world was skewed from birth. Because his brother was heaven''s chosen, he expected that kind of treatment for himself as well. He thought that the life of a heaven''s chosen was what every person was supposed to have, so to him, his own experiences were terrible mistreatment. And, his hatred for his brother was formed out of a deep, seething envy. In the Dark God''s mind, the Worldwalker became the cause of everything. When he needed to concentrate his hatred on something tangible, the only answer he found was his own brother.

    His resentment grew with every passing day, until finally, a prophecy was granted upon their world.

    The prophecy chose a hero, and both he and his brother were hero candidates.

    The Dark God saw this as a chance to surpass his brother, and worked as hard as he could to be stronger before the day of the chosen ceremony.

    However, on that day, the Worldwalker simply declined the position and left without a word.

    It was an utmost showing of arrogance.

    The Dark God''s fall into depravity started there. Realizing that his brother never even considered his efforts anything at all, he became vengeful beyond belief.

    Even though he was chosen as the hero, nobody regarded him as one. They regarded him as his brother''s substitute and nothing more.

    However, when the Worldwalker disappeared, they had no choice but to ept him.

    The Dark God toiled away for hundreds of years trying to gain validation from those people, but in the end, they threw him away when he lost his use.

    There was nobody who ever cared about him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The statue of the hero in their world did not depict him, but the Worldwalker. His mind became twisted.

    The holy power he possessed was corrupted, and a new type of disgusting ck energy was created.

    Using it, he corrupted the entire world and destroyed everything.

    He subjugated everyone who could be corrupted and killed everyone else.

    At some point, the entire cosmos became his, and the variety of peoples who existed there were reduced to a new race of his creation.

    He felt empty when everything was destroyed.

    Until one day, he found a trace of the Worldwalker in a distant location.

    He traveled beyond the bounds of his own cosmos for the first time and found another one. He found his brother''s influence throughout it and realized that even in conquest, he''d been surpassed.

    His rage was reignited. He waged war against that neighboring cosmos and destroyed it. Along the way, he realized that swallowing the cores of those cosmos could increase his power further.

    From then on, he followed his brother''s path. He destroyed several dozens of cosmos and searched for the final object of his revenge, and thest clue he found was the True Void Universe.

    Therefore, he waged war once again.

    It was a desperate invasion that reeked of a desire to find something, anything that bore the mark of the Worldwalker.

    It was the work of an existence whose life was only given meaning by someone else''s traces.

    That was how Damien perceived it, at least.

    To say that the Dark God''s entire life story was built on delusion was wrong. After he fell into depravity, he definitely experienced real struggle.

    His energy was corrupted by his own darkness into something new. That something new gave him traces of Nonexistence, from which heter extrapted Existence as well.

    He did not go to the Land of Nothingness. He did not earn the six concepts of Existence before gaining control over it.

    He consumed cosmos after cosmos and artificially raised the strength of his concepts. Any improvement he made outside of that was achieved by toying with the Sacred Abyss to the point where it was destabilized and he was forced to take the ce of its Cosmic Core.

    In a sense, he could be praised for making it this far while walking that twisted path.

    However, Damien seemed to realize something from his memories. He realized a truth about the "core" of the Dark God''s existence.

    Even in these memories, even as Damien watched him grow up from a baby into a monster, he remained covered in that same ck veil.

    In his own memories, the Dark God refused to acknowledge his own face.

    This was a past he tried to hide not because he was embarrassed by it, but because he was trying to remove himself from it. If he reached the Void, he was prepared to change every timeline in every cosmos in order to give himself a different story.

    His first step, the step that turned him Supreme, was his action of erasing himself from his own Legend.

    Damien had his own thoughts on the matter. He considered them as his ego took form.

    When they finished viewing each other''s memories, concurrently, they reformed their detached auras into bodies. They stood on a ne that could no longer be described. The background was a mixture of shing colors. The Dark God was a bundle of ckness, and specifically in order to contrast him, Damien appeared as a bundle of whiteness.

    Though their power had not changed and they technically had not managed to do damage to each other yet, something seemed to have changed.

    The air between them was different.

    It became evident that a clear power dynamic would be established between them soon.

 Chapter 1884 Clash of the Titans [13]

    Chapter 1884 sh of the Titans [13]

    The war had continued for a week now. As it was a war, that was quite a short period of time. Usually, the individual battles that constituted a war would take ce weeks or months apart, but it was different here. The battles continued constantly. Every time the Heavenly World''s people killed a member of the Foreign Race army, the dead would return no more than a dayter. In order to cope with the numbers, they adopted a revolving door strategy where they constantly swapped the troops on the frontlines.

    The ground troops were able to use this strategy, the arrays of the Krone n and their allies like the ns who followed August, and the blessing they received from Thalia''s group''s progress.

    The majority of the world was taken into the True Void Territory at this point. It was highly unlikely for the Vanguard forces to make any progress in destroying the True Void forces.

    There were several different ces on the battlefield where one could focus.

    At one point, the Nox were there. Those who came with Damien and those who ascended without staying in Grand Heavens Boundary were all led by Yong An. Under hismand, they finally reached for the revenge they had been yearning for.

    On another side, the members of the Void n and their associates were fighting against the most important Foreign Nobles in the starry sky.

    They were all making progress at different levels. It was certain that none of them were losing, but it would take more time for some of them to defeat their enemies than others.

    For example, ire naturally couldn''t take down the incarnation of evil in one fell swoop. She was still in the process of reading it and discerning the method to defeat it. At the moment, she was able to stand against it without constantly being under pressure, but she was still unable to do any damage.

    Ruyue was the same. Absolute Yang was a force that she couldn''t dispel easily. The Chaos between her and her opponent was enough to form a sea, and they were both drowning in it. Their bodies could only be represented by their burning silver and gold auras that cut through the waters.

    She didn''t expect to find it here, but this situation was able to surprise her. As her Absolute Yin came in contact with Absolute Yang, heaven''s restrictions loosened. She felt herself getting closer to that point where they couldn''t affect her at all.

    The solution was nearby all along. All she needed to do was ask Damien to manifest Absolute Yang for some time so she couldprehend everything she needed.

    To thank her opponent for that revtion, she continued to attack the atmosphere, increasing the level of chaos and granting him a quicker death. Rose was practically done with her fight already. She was able to use the cracks in reality that Damien and the Dark God created to her advantage to dismantle her opponent''s power.

    As for Elena, it was already clear when she wasst seen. She killed her enemy over and over again. He had no power against her.

    It got to the point where he stopped aiming for Elena and looked for other opponents, which gave her time to rampage through the field and cause mayhem for the Sacred Abyss side.

    Everyone was doing their part. From sky to ground and all around, it was impossible to find a single person cking. Even Tiamat, who remained hidden until this moment, was ying her role perfectly.

    Because the time was almost here.

    The first sh happened some days ago, but from the way the sky was trembling with greater frequency with every passing hour, she predicted that the second would take ce soon.

    That was her opportunity.

    When everyone was once again focused on the shattering reality, when reality itself was broken enough for her to intervene as she wished, she would act.

    And that moment, the moment she showcased the power that had been bred into her by the grudges of countless ughtered innocents¡­

    That would be the moment when the True Void Universe attained victory over the Sacred Abyss.

    The instant their egos reformed into tangible beings, they started fighting once more. They didn''t hold a single thing back, because they could both see and feel exactly what the other person was thinking.

    ***

    Their battle was indeed about to explode one more time.

    The instant their egos reformed into tangible beings, they started fighting once more. They didn''t hold a single thing back, because they could both see and feel exactly what the other person was thinking.

    Universes were thrown around. Cosmos themselves were created within the folds of the Sacred Abyss. Their peoples, their cultures, and their structures were recklessly thrown around as they were used as attacks. With such strain being ced on the fabric of this reality, it was only natural for it to tear.

    BOOOOOOOOOOM!

    That second explosion happened, but neither of them felt the effects of its aftermath. Neither of them sensed what Tiamat had done because they were no longer contained within Existence.

    Their battle reached such a scale that it could no longer contain them. Their current environment was like a film, a tinyyer of space that separated them from the Void.

    The backdrop was that very concept. They were mere inches away from it, but the Dark God especially was ensuring that they did not touch it.

    He now knew Damien''s growth potential. He understood that if Damien was allowed to make contact with the Void, he was highly likely toprehend it. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Damien could feel the Dark God''s envy clearly. As their minds were one, that burning feeling, that feeling that was as deep and wide as the greatest of oceans, was perfectly transmitted to him.

    For the same reason, the Dark God felt the emotions Damien held towards him.

    The ones he expected were there. The mild nature of the emotions like hatred and whatnot was confusing, but those emotions were present.

    What Damien felt more strongly, however, was scorn and pity.

    But the Dark God didn''t need to read his emotions to know that. The look in Damien''s eyes had changed. He was no longer seeing the same Dark God he saw before.

    That scorn was so clearly represented. Those cold eyes that looked at him like he was nothing were incredibly familiar.

    Why was he using that expression?

    In that moment, those eyes ovepped with a pair that the Dark God knew well. Those empty eyes that did not care one bit about his struggles were the same ones he saw from the Worldwalker.

    The faces of the two ovepped in his mind. His eyes bulged behind the veil of darkness as he gritted his teeth and attacked as ferociously as he possibly could.

    "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

    He roared. Damien reeled back at the unexpected words. The Dark God lunged at him with an arm out for his throat, but Damien quickly substituted his body with air and used an ethereal state to travel to another point in space. Even behind the veil, the other party''s madness was not hidden.

    Damien''s eyes didn''t change despite the fact. No, he was only given more reasoning to have that expression on his face.

    The conjectures he had when he watched the Dark God''s memories did not have to remain hypothetical.

    He was sure that it was true.

    And that¡­

    That only made him respect the Dark God less.

 Chapter 1885 Clash of the Titans [14]

    Chapter 1885 sh of the Titans [14]

    As Damien''s respect disappeared, the Dark God became more manic.

    And as he became more manic, he became more powerful. Damien had the upper hand for a second there, but the Dark God took it back almost instantly.

    He pushed him back and forced him into a corner. Damien''s energy was special because it could be used very precisely, but it took time to make the necessary calctions.

    That amount of time wasn''t much at all, but the Dark God was able to prevent Damien from having even a single fraction of a fraction of a spark of a second to think. Using pure volume to ovee any and all obstacles, he created a situation where he held a great advantage.

    Damien''s memories made him feel endless envy, but he watched them all. He understood the core of Damien''s existence extremely well. The problem was that it wasn''t very easy to target.

    The center of Damien''s everything was his own name. It was the pride he held in himself, his integrity, and his morals. To break something like that took a lot of time and effort. Luckily, Damien managed to rile the Dark God up, and the Dark God was someone who had endless power hidden within his envy. His emotions were intrinsically tied to his energy. Damien saw his history, so he knew this for a fact.

    When the Dark God was born, he actually had holy energy. He was connected to the heavens through a strange link, which made him a prime hero candidate. If he continued on that path without looking at his brother''s achievements, he would''ve lived happily and achieved great feats.

    Unfortunately, his energy was corrupted. When his energy was corrupted, his ego dipped into a pit of envy so deep that it touched upon Nonexistence.

    Nonexistence became a crutch for the Dark God. He used it as a way to affirm himself and assure himself that he was not useless. It became his emotional support, and because it liked this position, Nonexistence responded to him.

    However, it entertained an emotion it should not have touched. Rather than bing a pure representation of itself, it became a twisted weapon of his.

    It was exploited so he could gain control over Existence, and that Existence which never willingly chose him was corrupted as well.

    This bundle of corruption was held together by one and only one thing. Emotion. Emotion was an interesting fuel for Existence and Nonexistence. Perhaps this was the only aspect where Damien could find a parallel between him and the Dark God.

    He also used emotion to connect to the two concepts, but rather than his own, he focused on theirs. He gave them the opportunity to feel like a human and evolve past their original states, and they epted wholeheartedly.

    Because of that rtionship, the flow of Damien''s energy was smooth and buttery. It was wless, like the whitest of swans in an iceboundke at the top of the most beautiful mountain in the world. It was like crystal-clear cier water. Meanwhile, the Dark God''s energy was murky. It was a sludge of muddy water filled with the residue of his emotions. Because he focused on himself instead of the elements themselves, he influenced their states negatively.

    They became further from the Void, further from their fullest potential. As such, they manifested in ways that were simr to his internal state. Naturally, that wasn''t a good thing. If he wanted to reach the Void and change all things so that his Legend would change, then he needed to first reach a state of selflessness and be one with the Void.

    Damien was under the assumption that the Dark God had never even felt the Void with his own body. There was a real chance that the current madness he was exhibiting was caused by the visions of the Void he saw in Damien''s memories.

    ''Why did he ever think that?''

    Why did he ever think he was going to be able to reach the peak if he was pretending like the concepts of Existence and Nonexistence were nothing more than concepts to be controlled?

    ''Wait¡­''

    ''Why did he ever think that?''

    Right, Damien was able to get this far because he always took the two concepts into consideration. Always, right?

    That was it. He wasn''t looking for it. For the first time since he came back to the Heavenly World, he didn''t think about the merger between Existence and Nonexistence at all. Hepletely put it out of his mind with the thought that he would focus on it after the Dark God died.

    But, precisely for that reason, the clue he needed came to him. The things that evaded him when he was single-mindedly focusing on reaching the peak finally dawned on him. In the first ce, Existence and Nonexistence needed more than just his control toe together.

    He treated them as their own beings with thoughts and emotions while he wasprehending them, but he never once maintained that mentality after he came out of the Land of Nothingness.

    The two concepts still had their emotions after bing one with him. They embraced him because he showed them that he was willing to consider them and recognize them in a way that nobody else could.

    Now that he was trying to force them together like ordinary energies, what reason did they have to continue listening to him?

    Their refusal to bond was something of a rebellion, and he only now realized why they were rebelling at all.

    He understood that they needed to achieve a kind ofpatibility before they could begin their merger. He was hearing their voices again, listening to theirints. They felt themselves being heard and could see the qualitative change in the way he handled their energy.

    That was when they finally responded. Their energies stopped disobeying hismand, and finally, he was able to aplish the things he desired.

    In an instant, he returned to the attack. He used his own energy to suppress the Dark God. His emotion-fueled barrage was unable to stand against his connection to Existence and Nonexistence. The space trembled, and subtly, the Void came closer. Damien split his mind into millions, billions, and used the power of each individual topute a new concept to either add into Existence or remove. His purpose was one. He was going topletely remove the Dark God''s energy from the world. In any other case, this would have been irrelevant, as it didn''t have any real effect on their battle. However, Damien''s goal was a little different. Physical attacks were meaningless. Any sort of impact taken by their bodies was made inconsequential by the fact that they would always be able to heal back to perfect condition.

    Still, Damien closed the distance between them. As the energy blocking his way was destroyed, as the space quaked and adjusted itself to amodate the ongoing battle, Damien regained control.

    He didn''t wait a second longer to make his move.

    Existence and Nonexistencebined in his hands. Their power was no longer exercisedpletely separately. They were starting to mingle, a sign that Damien was getting closer to that final boundary. He looked at the Dark God with extreme scorn in his eyes.

    "In the end, you are nothing more than a child trapped in his brother''s shadow." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    With one sentence, Damien waved his hand and destroyed everything the Dark God used to keep himself hidden. For the first time, his true form was revealed to the world.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1886 Clash of the Titans [15]

    Chapter 1886 sh of the Titans [15]

    Indeed, his form was that of a child. He looked very simr to the Worldwalker when he was around fourteen. He had the same face, but his hair was brown instead of blonde and he was much taller. Still, he looked like a young child, which made the expression on his face hard to fathom.

    That kind of malice, resentment, and envy simply couldn''t exist in someone of that age.

    But, of course, the Dark God was not fourteen.

    Damien felt it as well. When he became closer to the peak, his form changed somewhat. He became the version of himself that he saw. In essence, his mental image of himself became reality.

    As Damien was someone who always remained confident in his sense of self, not much changed. Rather than someone in his early thirties, he looked like someone in his mid-twenties. The Dark God clearly experienced something different. Because he was so stuck in the past, because he saw nothing but his brother''s traces, his body was reverted to the form he took at that time. He was unable to escape his past both in mind and body. His eyes were ck holes, pits of misery that sat front and center on his face. They were signs that he had already lost himself. It was the effect of his decision to sever his Legend and his increasingly prominent envy.

    As he became stronger and stronger, he only came to truly understand what the Worldwalker was capable of. He wasn''t able to celebrate his own achievements because no matter what he did, his brother had already been there or done it.

    His envy never quieted down for a moment. Every cosmos he conquered only gave it more fuel. In the end, he became this kind of being.

    Damien knew that he was nothing like the Dark God.

    He knew there wasn''t really a grand connection between them like there was between him and the Saint Emperor.

    Still, he kept trying to make thatparison. Because the Saint Emperor was everything he envisioned a great viin to be, he was trying to find some simr qualities in the Dark God. He was someone who found Nonexistence before Existence and threw his ego into the maws of envy to use it to increase his Existence level. He was someone who devoured everything he abhorred and turned the cosmos into nothing more than a yground. Even his conquest against the True Void was because he sensed the Worldwalker''s final traces there. He had caused so much damage to so many cosmos. He had to be an enemy with aplicated story or respectable motives, didn''t he?

    He had to be someone who was entwined with the True Void on an intrinsic level, someone Damien had no choice but to find understandable. He had to be what a Supreme should be.

    But that simply wasn''t true.

    To ept this fight, Damien had to ept something else first. Sometimes, chaos did take hold. Sometimes, people would do unimaginable things without any sort of reasoning. That was the kind of freedom given to all living beings. They did not exist just to enrich each other''s stories. He was not the enemy the Dark God was looking for. He was not the main character in the other person''s life. From beginning to end, the Dark God was looking for the Worldwalker. He was not "fated" to be here. He just happened to be the one who had the potential to rise up and stop the Dark God''s madness. Perhaps he was not the enemy the Dark God was looking for, but he was the enemy he''d found. And he was not nning to let there be another. The Dark God was furious about his veil being torn off. More than anything else, because Damien was now someone who confirmed his past.

    He needed topletely detach himself from that past if he wanted to live properly. He needed to be a new entity, but now that Damien existed in this world, it was impossible.

    The only way for him to erase his past was to destroy any relic of it. The previous Sacred Abyss no longer existed, so all physical traces and individuals who knew him at the time were dead. He was at the very end of his path, on the cusp ofpletely extinguishing that history, but now Damien had be the greatest obstacle he ever faced.

    Damien understood who he was. With the revtion of his form, he was certain and his mind would not be changed easily.

    That only meant one thing.

    Damien had to die.

    Everything came back to that, didn''t it?

    There was a reason why the Dark God''s attacks had be unfathomable and inescapable. Damien was being pressured intensely despite the advantage he possessed before.

    He had an absolute advantage in the sense that he understood the core of the Dark God''s existence. The Dark God was matching and even surpassing him through sheer emotion.

    Two faces became one in the Dark God''s mind.

    He was convinced of it. Damien was not unrted to the Worldwalker.

    Through his memories, the Dark God knew that there was no direct connection between them. After all, Damien only learned about the Worldwalker moments before they fought.

    Still, there was something.

    Their demeanor, their energy, their talents¡­

    It was impossible for him to not draw wild conclusions about how they could be connected. His envy bred a sense of twisted curiosity. He had to know, because depending on the truth, his attitude would need to change again.

    Frankly, that curiosity wasn''t his alone.

    As Damien listened to the Dark God''s thoughts, even he was forced to entertain those thoughts.

    The Void Physique chose him at random. He really didn''t have anything special to draw it to him other than his origin. That was a fact he believed for a long time, but the origin he thought mattered was Dante.

    What if it was something else?

    The Void Physique was not just unique in the True Void Universe. There was only a single Void Physique in the entire Void. No matter how many cosmos one traversed, one would never find a second.

    A physique with such uniqueness couldn''t just pick its hosts at random. There had to be a definite reason for the Void to believe that Damien was the one out of countless contenders who would be able to reach it. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The thoughts of these two beings shed and came together. As the Void was their spectator on their current battlefield, wondrous things weremonce.

    If they weren''t so busy fighting, they would have been able to use the countless phenomena around them to heighten theirprehension and perhaps even fuse their two concepts.

    However, they were not able to do so for obvious reasons. They didn''t realize how magical the space created by their battle truly was.

    The Void was known to answer to those who wielded it. When the desires of two Supremes came together, even it felt an obligation to show them what they wanted to see.

    So, it did.

    In that moment, it froze their battle and ced them into a scene like that.

    A scene that showed them the hidden history of the True Void Universe.

 Chapter 1887 Clash of the Titans [16]

    Chapter 1887 sh of the Titans [16]

    The Void showed Damien and the Dark God a story that nobody else knew. It was a story that was never told to the world because its main character wanted it that way.

    Still, when these two people pleaded so earnestly, the Void had no choice.

    For these two people especially, it was important to see.

    It started in the Sacred Abyss. It started when the Worldwalker returned to that world and saw it covered in mementos of his brother.

    No, it started when he saw his brother tearing down the singr statue of him that existed in that world. At that moment, as he saw the raw emotion in his brother''s eyes and actions, as he witnessed something so powerfully deep for the first time, he first took notice of it.

    Still, it was at a farter time when that note became a true interest and curiosity.

    What the Worldwalker witnessed more than anything else during his travels was "emotion."

    This thing called "connection," the "rtionships" between people. It was entirely new to him when he first saw the world from the grand perspective of an Absolute.

    He remembered the rtionships he once had, and he remembered the rtionships that could have been formed if it weren''t for his detachment from all things.

    He had never been curious about it before. As he was still learning himself, he didn''t take the time to consider the things that were set in stone. He merely epted that he was the way he was.

    Frankly, he only epted the value of emotion in hister years. It was the only thing that could be felt by all living beings. No matter what cosmos they came from or what culture they practiced, all people and things had emotion.

    Such a thing could only be possible if the concept of emotion was something the Void took interest in. It was from there that he gained his curiosity, and it was in that moment when he decided to try and find it for himself.

    As the Worldwalker wandered the Void, he started interacting with people. Those interactions were slight most of the time because people couldn''t help but view him as a God, but he did gain some insight from them.

    The feelings that others held towards him gave him a rtively negative view of the concept. He wondered why the Void cared about them so much when they were so useless.

    Wouldn''t his path have be more difficult if he entertained emotions?

    Perhaps the Void realized its mistake.

    When he was born, the Worldwalker also had something like the Void Physique. Only, it was an unrefined version. His physique did not have any restrictions. Unlike Damien''s physique which existed separately and only came closer to him through time and effort, his physique gave him everything without conditions.

    He was immediately connected to the Void, and that was what ruined him.

    His entire being became void. His personality disappeared and he became a mindless entity who only strove for the Void. He could not experience life because his fate was that of a puppet.

    The Void was not seeking this kind of person as itspanion. It understood that it made a mistake. It could not change what happened to the Worldwalker, but it gave him a chance.

    The Void was not an entity, but a concept. It was a concept that had sentience because without it, sentience could not be born as a concept at all.

    The past, present, and future were all its children, and it could see the flow of events that could be brought into existence by its decisions. Still, it gave him a chance. At this point in time, the Worldwalker was experiencing his first emotion, boredom.

    The sheer emptiness of his existence finally caught up to him. He decided that it was time for his life to end. He went down to the True Void, and that was the true start of the story Damien and the Dark God were witnessing.

    As he gave up on his desire to be Absolute, the Worldwalker became a being that the Void could once again influence. Its code of conduct was simr to what Damien practiced. Fate was not something to be meddled with, because it would be too much to change everything to create a personal utopia.

    The role of an Absolute was to watch over the worlds and help them maintain their existence. The paths of each individual were guided by their thoughts, actions, and circumstances.

    The Void did not give the Worldwalker emotions. It merely nted a seed in him, a seed that he was made aware of. As long as he fed that seed his desire, it would give him ess to the things hecked.

    He didn''t immediately take it. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    For hundreds of years, the Worldwalker lived in the Heavenly World and became one with its people. He inhabited a lonely mountain but was known by the people in nearby towns and cities as a great immortal who lived in seclusion.

    They were unfamiliar with the concept of training and didn''t understand his true position. Merely, because he never aged, because he was always there, he became a being that they respected and loved.

    It was a strange feeling.

    They saw him as a God but they did not treat him as one. Rather, they treated him as a member of theirmunity.

    They concerned themselves with his health and well-being, and as their attitudes were replicated by their future generations, they created a crack in his heart.

    The man who never knew emotion finally decided that in this period at the end of his life, he at least wanted to know what they were like from the perspective of everyone else.

    All the while, the Worldwalker''s strength faded. He started to age like a normal person, and his lifestyle became more like a mortal.

    For that experience, he fed the seed the Void gifted him.

    Emotions slowly started to sprout in him. Happiness filled his lonely world with color, and soon enough, it was joined by all of the good and bad emotions in existence.

    All the while, the Worldwalker''s strength faded. He started to age like a normal person, and his lifestyle became more like a mortal.

    And, in the midst of that process, he met a woman.

    It was a bit of a cliche, but it happened to the Worldwalker as well. He met a woman who showed him what love was, and with her, he spent his final days. Love, a concept he''d ignored for his entire life, suddenly struck him like a train. He married that woman. He made a family with her and joyously experienced fatherhood.

    However, her life was eventually threatened. The empires of the world finally started to covet this area, and as bloodshed becamemon, he was forced to make a decision.

    In his current state, the power of an Absolute in his body was difficult to reach. If he wanted to ept it again, then he would not be an Absolute. He would be one with the Void and his existence as an individual would disappear. It was an easy choice for him back then, and it was an easy choice for him now.

    The only difference was that before he went to the True Void, he would have easily disappeared for self-preservation. He would not have used his power for anyone else''s sake.

    Now, the easy direction was in the opposite direction. Now, after no more than a few decades with his wife and family, he understood why emotion was so valuable.

    Because of emotion, he was even willing to do something like this without hesitation.

    The Worldwalker disappeared at that time. He was never seen again, but he took with him the wars guing the region. Nobody understood where the sudden peace came from except for a single woman.

    He sacrificed himself for her sake. His life ended that way.

    But his wife survived, as did their children.

    That was the start of the lineage.

    The lineage that wouldtere to be known as "Void."

 Chapter 1888 Clash of the Titans [17]

    Chapter 1888 sh of the Titans [17]

    To Damien, this story only filled in the gaps. It gave him a clear reason for his possession of the Void Physique and his father''s ability to reach Existence with space.

    Dante''s upbringing was normal at best, but that was because the Worldwalker lived a mortal life. His lineage had talent in their blood, but they were not innately fated for greatness.

    Dante was the one who broke the cycle, and Damien was the first who came after. Perhaps if Dominic or Darius came first, his story would be theirs instead.

    Surely, the information made Damien consider some things. Definitely, he realized that he was a lucky person. But, what else? What else could this story possibly do for him?

    It was good to know, but the news didn''t make a great impact on his life. After all, he didn''t know the Worldwalker. He respected the man who he now knew as his ancestor, but that was the extent of it. If he wanted to find any sort of use for the knowledge, then he had to wait until he returned home. The Dark God didn''t respond the same way for obvious reasons. The story was originally supposed to be about the True Void Universe''s hidden history, but the Dark God''s desires held too much weight. It ended up being a story about the Worldwalker, which was not the greatest oue. Envy.

    Envy. Envy. Envy.

    It was an emotion that had been mentioned too many times in this conversation about emotion. Damien, the Worldwalker, and the Dark God all experienced it differently, but it was a vital point to all of their stories.

    However, the Dark God was different from the other two. When talking about his story, the only emotion that could be mentioned was envy.

    It was hard to fathom the true level that his envy had reached. It was hard to fathom before, but with that story, it had be unfathomable.

    The fact that there was a genuine connection through blood between Damien and the Worldwalker was one thing, but what hurt him the most was something else.

    The Worldwalker no longer existed. He had be one with the Void, an entity that essentially didn''t exist. The tail the Dark God chased for so long led to nothing.

    In the end, his brother was already gone. Once again, he left selfishly without considering the Dark God at all.

    ''What gives you the right?''

    The Dark God''s eyes were clouded with redness. How dare he?

    How dare he leave on his own after so long?! Without a single word, without a single trace! Damien was not wrong. The Dark God knew it as well. His entire life was focused on his brother. If it weren''t for his brother, he never would have reached his current level.

    At the end of the day, all he wanted to do was reach the same position and confront him. All he wanted was a single chance to prove himself for once in his life.

    It was all gone now. Because of something as useless as boredom, because of something as useless as love, everything he ever dreamed about was destroyed.

    ''WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT?!''

    Who gave him the right to feel love? After he spent so long neglecting his own family, how dare he end his life so happily?!

    The Dark God''s mind shattered. He had only been keeping himself in one piece in preparation for that moment. However, with no Worldwalker, he no longer had purpose.

    He looked at Damien and reality changed. ''Reality is changing.''

    The fact reiterated itself in his mind. He realized the state that his power had reached.

    ''If only I were Absolute¡­''

    If he were Absolute, then the Worldwalker would have never escaped him.

    "If I were Absolute¡­"

    ¡­wasn''t the Worldwalker''s blood standing in front of him now?

    Damien Void was his own person, but as long as he became Absolute, he could entirely erase Damien Void and rece him, couldn''t he?

    The Worldwalker could be reborn in his body, couldn''t he?

    The Dark God simply could not ept things ending this way. He did not want such an anticlimactic ending to his grueling story.

    And, he was prepared to do anything necessary in order to change things.

    The form he held now was that of a child. If he was a regr Supreme, he could have easily found a way to change his physical form. The problem was that he was not.

    In fact, the Dark God''s true form was somewhere else. Because he was stopping himself from reaching that state, he was forced to cope with the form his thoughts assigned him. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He wanted to look somewhat human. He wanted to possess an appearance that the Worldwalker could recognize. There was no longer a need for that.

    Finally, the Dark God fellpletely into the pits of envy. He willingly jumped off of the edge and embraced the darkness that had been brewing inside of him for such a long time. In essence, he reached his final form.

    Damien was forced topletely remove himself from the ne and shift into a different dimension. The child-like form of the Dark God that was only allowed to exist for a small period of time waspletely destroyed.

    A creature that could not be called anything close to human emerged in its ce.

    A mass of flesh and bone, a bloody chimera of millions of hands and eyes. The souls of those it devoured were trapped within. Their forms could be seen trying to escape, pulling against its flesh and bing pieces of its external appearance. This being was a monster in every form of the word. Damien understood its identity well.

    Right, the Dark God himself was just a way to hide it. The person who came to be known as the Dark God had given himself up a long time ago.

    In his mindless pursuit towards his goal, he sacrificed even his own identity.

    He was represented by three things.

    The Worldwalker, envy, and the hatred that fueled it.

    With the Worldwalker gone, the core of his existence was just that.

    He had transformed into a true incarnation of envy.

    It was best not to believe that this being was the same as the Spiritual Gods of Chaos and Evil. Such a misinterpretation would only cause needless ughter.

    This Incarnation of Envy was a being that had fed itself until it reached the ultimate level. In this form, the Dark God was the closest to the Void that he had ever been for all the wrong reasons. He was nowpletely uninhibited andpletely mad. Damien was no longer Damien in his mind, but the Worldwalker.

    Coincidentally, Damien did be the main character in his life.

    But that was not good news for him.

    BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    In a single instant, the defenses he used were all shattered. Those millions of arms charged at him and grabbed his body from every direction and in every possible ne. He was dragged into the darkness that manifested from the great mass of envy. In that ne, he was nothing more than prey. The Dark God had an absolute advantage that he needed to break as rapidly as possible.

    But the way out¡­

 Chapter 1889 Clash of the Titans [18]

    Chapter 1889 sh of the Titans [18]

    Their battle could no longer be tracked, but the scene was monstrous. Damien only witnessed the true form of the incarnation of envy before he was dragged into this space. If he hadn''t seen it, then his perception of the monstrous being would have been even more terrifying than its appearance.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Arms that numbered in the millions came after him from every direction. The ceiling of the darkness was decorated by those millions of eyes that saw into the past, present, and future and witnessed everything in every dimension of every reality. Those eyes made it impossible for Damien to hide, retreat, or dodge.

    Anywhere he went, there was another arm waiting.

    And it wasn''t as if he could just take the hits.

    The Dark God was, of course, still using Existence and Nonexistence, but the power of the incarnation of envy twisted those concepts. It was almost like a secondary Void was being created by the incarnation''s actions, and Damien was to be its central point and anchor.

    The terrifying concepts were enough to obliterate him a hundred times over. Damien fought back using his own concepts and only managed to avoid beingpletely overpowered because they started to mingle only moments prior.

    If he never made the realization that he was making a mistake in his control method for the two concepts, he would already be dead.

    "Khh¡­!"

    As if this space was absolute, he could not find any method to escape. There were no weak points to target, and the space itself was incredibly resistant to his concepts. If he had some free time, he could maybe find the necessary method, but where could he find it?

    He made a sound of struggle. The Dark God''s body had be this very space, so he was able to urately perceive every inch of it without exerting too much effort. Damien couldn''t do the same. No matter how he split his mind or altered his perception, reaching the same level of awareness was simply impossible if he were to remain in this space.

    The problem originated from there.

    ''I can''t find a way out.''

    As if this space was absolute, he could not find any method to escape. There were no weak points to target, and the space itself was incredibly resistant to his concepts. If he had some free time, he could maybe find the necessary method, but where could he find it?

    The Dark God would not allow such a thing.

    ''I have no choice but to admit his power.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    His methods were wrong and stupid, but the end result was a level of power that simply couldn''t be matched. Damien could try to limate to these conditions as much as he wanted to, but with the Dark God in his current state, there was really only one way to win.

    ''I have to reach the Void.''

    His concepts that were only beginning to mingle had to fully fuse. Otherwise, the Dark God''s win could be dered here and now.

    Damien''s eyes narrowed.

    Chaos was indeed a concept to be respected. The Spiritual God that represented it in the Land of Nothingness did it no justice.

    It was only through Chaos'' influence that the Dark God was able to manifest the incarnation of envy. If not for chaos, such a path simply would not have been avable to anyone.

    That man''s path was carved with the souls and sacrifices of others. It was an incredibly selfish path that did not consider anyone or anything, including the person who walked it.

    Still, the fact that it existed in the first ce¡­

    As an Absolute, one couldn''t merely stand for order. Order was one side of the coin and would always be that way. The concept provided security to many, but it also made the lives of the minority hell.

    Still, only kings and emperors considered the majority and minority. To an absolute existence, they all appeared the same.

    All beings and all things were equal, therefore, what did it matter that Order benefited the majority? Chaos'' necessity was proven by the minority. Chaos had to exist so that the fairness and bnce of all things could be maintained.

    So, though its influence was less prominent than order, chaos was just as significant.

    The Land of Nothingness was precisely the reason why people like the Dark God could never be Supremes, but chaos gave him a way to avoid it entirely and reach that stage regardless.

    Now, he, as a manifestation of envy and a greater being than chaos, was administering its will unto the world in ways it never could have imagined.

    Guided by this train of thought, a portion of Damien''s mind went into a state of contemtion as it extrapted more and more information out of the confusing and muddled painting of the Void. His concepts were actively being ced closer and closer together at a rate that could barely be perceived, but that was not important at the moment.

    Rather, outside of his mind, the situation took a turn for the worse.

    Damien needed to put his entire mind into the fight if he wanted to survive. That was how he had been surviving before, but it clearly wasn''t possible anymore.

    He took a risk in order to win, and the consequences of that choice appeared instantaneously.

    The Dark God couldn''t ignore his slowed reactions. He refused to ignore such a good thing. Countless hands charged Damien''s body and wrapped around him. He was only able to half-mindedly survive for thirty seconds before he was caught.

    The hands caressed him disgustingly, feeling every part of his body. The information received from that sensation was transmitted to the Dark God, and suddenly, Damien was indeed prey.

    Malice entered his mind and body. Damien noticed it, but the best he could do was protect the portion of his mind that was busyprehending. The rest was sacrificed along with his body, and that malice immediately misused its freedom.

    Damien''s memories and ego were targeted. They did not immediately fall, but with everything around them changing, they were bound to eventually do the same.

    His figure itself shifted. His gic sequence mutated until it belonged to someone who was not Damien Void.

    His hair turned blonde, his eyes turned blue, his skin became paler and his height decreased rapidly. His body lost all of its muscle mass and though he did still look like a man, he was weak and fragile. A new set of memories entered his mind. They were not real, but instead an assumed history of the Worldwalker created by the incarnation of envy. The life seen by the Dark God through his own eyes and the memories of the universe were used as a basis. The perspective was shifted to a first-person view, and events were created to link the more important events together. The Dark God''s intent didn''t need to be explicitly mentioned. He would ensure that Damien became the Worldwalker so the Worldwalker would die the death that he wanted to see.

    He would change reality itself to achieve his goals. And erasing Damien had be the first step in that n.

    His body and half of his mind were rapidly changed, but the transformation couldn''t bepleted.

    Nevertheless, Damien''s "essence" still remained. It burned brightly and turned the traces of the Worldwalker into ash.

    However, in the process. Damien''s body and soul were burned as well.

    In the darkness was only a bright golden light, a strand of energy one could say.

    That was the only remaining trace of "Damien Void" in existence.

    No, that energy was "Damien Void" himself.

 Chapter 1890: Clash of the Titans [19]

    Damien''s body waspletely destroyed in the darkness. His physical form and soul were both gone, so in a certain sense, he could be considered dead.

    The human known as Damien Void was already exterminated, however, he was no longer human in body and soul. He was a Supreme, and his body responded to death like a Supreme''s would.

    His existence maintained itself. His Legend shined bright through the ckness and created a ce for him to exist. The Void Soul and Void Physique still existed, anchored to that essence. They were ready to reappear at any time.

    This kind of state could not be considered disadvantageous in any other situation. Damien was essentially impervious like this, and with resurrection on the horizon, he wouldn''t usually experience danger even if he was forced into such a corner.

    The Dark God was an issue because he could target what others couldn''t. His target changed when he managed to erase Damien''s body. After realizing that superimposing the Worldwalker onto him wasn''t enough to create the oue he desired, he changed his strategy.

    He was now targeting exactly the few things that held Damien together. He went after his Legend and dismantled it from beginning to end. He went after his body and did his best to destroy anything that gave him strength.

    All of the connections Damien made as a Celestial were shattered. The World Core Fusion Reactor managed by the fragmented Universal Core, Reva, disappeared. His spiritual world was rid of everything that he established there and returned to a nendscape with no defining features.

    Damien''s physical body was gone, but its properties were maintained in his essence. The Dark God targeted those, reverting his bloodline to what he possessed when he was just a human, destroying his traits, including his regeneration, and doing everything possible to disrupt the Void Physique''s existence.

    The physical body and soul that had been baptized by the Void were meant to be unbreakable, but the Dark God transformed into an entity that was the antithesis of such words. He was so close to the Void now that even these aspects had to stay to the side and let him have his way.

    Because this was Damien''s final challenge. No matter what he did or what happened, the Void would not help him.

    He either survived this and became Absolute or died in mediocrity. Its stern demeanor would not give him another choice.

    It was undeniable that Damien was dying, but he did not pay it any mind. His ego, hidden in the deepest recesses of his existence, was too busy with other things.

    He spoke to Existence and Nonexistence. He formed a connection between them whileprehending their interactions.

    With every passing second, the light that made up his essence became dimmer and dimmer. However, with every passing second, his two concepts became closer and closer.

    If Existence and Nonexistence were considered as two pieces of a puzzle that was half white and half ck, then most of the pieces would already be in ce.

    Merely, there were ten pieces in the very middle that were not in ce, leaving the ck half and white half disconnected.

    Damien ced the pieces down one by one.

    Nine¡­eight¡­seven¡­

    Six¡­five¡­four¡­

    His efforts had him progressing at a speed that he had never reached before in hisprehension of anything. The pieces filled themselves properly, because now that Damien was in such a state, Existence and Nonexistence had to make a choice.

    Inevitably, either he or the Dark God would be a representative who spoke for them. Damien was the better of the two choices, at least in the opinion of his own concepts, so they stopped fighting.

    They supported his efforts and wholeheartedly epted him as their everything. And with that eptance, he was granted progress.

    Enough progress to make that key realization.

    The seconds were too important. Not many of them had passed, but from the moment when Damien was destroyed to now, his essence was devoured at a disastrous rate.

    His light was too dim to even be seen for a long period of time. It was protected by a thin invisible film that the Dark God could not cut for a very long time.

    Still, under such a violent onught, anything and everything would eventually be destroyed.

    The light of the essence almost disappeared from reality. Damien reached the tip of true death, his entire being almost consumed by the incarnation of envy.

    However, that final moment was like a lifetime. The light disappeared entirely for only a second before a real difference was seen in the incarnation of envy''s behavior.

    Suddenly, it reeled back as if it was panicking. As its darkness retreated, a spark could be seen. It was no bigger than a grain of sand, but it was light nheless.

    Damien still existed. He did not allow himself to fall into the jaws of death.

    No, he revealed the very core of his existence and lured the Dark God in. He used the sensation of beingpletely erased to finally fill in the parts where he wascking.

    Damien finally perceived it. That state of an Absolute which could only be imagined became tangible on the line between life and death.

    It could be seen even from the Worldwalker''s story. Absolutes were existences closer to selflessness than anyone else. To be Absolute, one had to be more than just an individual.

    It was a necessity to grow past that point and be a being that could not be defined through pre-existing concepts,ws, or even their nonexistent equivalents.

    What Damien experienced on the line of erasure was the cold feeling of the Void that his body was not allowed to feel when he was sent there before.

    Back then, he couldn''t survive it so it was hidden. Now, it was different, wasn''t it?

    He felt it clearly, and by feeling it, he achieved what he needed to be more than himself.

    ''That''s it.'' Damien thought to himself.

    His essence experienced a qualitative change. For this moment, he had been waiting his entire life.

    From the moment the World Awakening took ce, when that set of asterisks appeared in his status window. Damien questioned it many times throughout his life, but he never delved too deeply into it. At some point, it lost meaning to him and he stopped caring about learning what it was.

    However, it was the most important piece of his essence and the reason why he was able to resist the Dark God''s attacks while in an energy state.

    The title in Damien''s status window revealed itself, and finally, its effects became true.

    ''It was that the entire time. In this moment, I am to be¡­infinite.''

    He was to throw away his connection to the mortal ne if only for a second. Because, even if he wanted to be an Absolute who stayed grounded, he had to reach infinity first.

    His essence exploded. Everything that originally created the existence known as "Damien Void" in mind, body, and soul was dismantled.

    [Child of Infinity]

    For that moment, the title was the only thing that remained in reality.

    The title that signified his fate, the title given only to him.

    It was a title that told him that no matter what happened, he was always bound to be infinite.

    And it was the key that unlocked for him the door to the Void.

 Chapter 1891 Clash of the Titans [20]

    Chapter 1891 sh of the Titans [20]

    The tiny speck of Damien''s existence rapidly expanded. In a single instant, his soul was returned to being. It was pure ck in color but extremely tangible. It was hard to imagine that this was not a physical body.

    That was until the physical body appeared around it. Damien''s soul was reformed into a True Void Soul. It reached itsplete state. The body that appeared around it was not immediately perfect, but its changes were very noticeable.

    The [Child of Infinity] title activated and gave Damien the road to the Void. It did indeed act as a key to the massive door that blocked everyone else from the peak. The door was open. That was a fact. Damien could now see the proverbial staircase that led him to the position of Absolute.

    However, those stairs still needed to be climbed. Damien''s two concepts did not immediately merge and form some sort of beautiful situation where he could easily destroy the Dark God. Instead, those puzzle pieces started to fill themselves in very slowly.

    He had no room to consciously interfere anymore. Just like the Worldwalker, he would reach the Void purely by existing. Unfortunately, there was someone present who wanted anything but that to happen. The form of the incarnation of envy was always terrifying, but it was even more so now. The souls writhing on its surface expanded and exploded. The condensed power of their misery was then used to enhance the natural vessel of the incarnation, which happened to be the Dark God''s body. He used his hatred to fuel its power. He used all of the hatred and envy in the world to his advantage, bing a true apostle of sin. This change further twisted the Existence and Nonexistence in his body into an entirely different group of forces. Though he did not realize it, to Damien, this was a subconscious sign that he had already given up on bing Absolute.

    In his heart of hearts, the Dark God was destroyed from the moment he learned the truth about the Worldwalker. Everything after that was merely desperation. He didn''t truly think it was possible to turn Damien into the Worldwalker, nor did he believe that he would be satisfied with whatever oue he brought about through his actions.

    He was only acting because he wanted to preserve the meaning of his life by any means possible.

    Still, that struggle was just as valuable as his race for the peak. It meant just as much to him, so it was able to produce an equally dangerous situation. The incarnation of envy becamerger and more adept. The "Envy" it controlled reached a new level.

    The Dark God didn''t hold anything back. The only change was that he was no longer fighting an image of the Worldwalker. He was looking at Damien, acknowledging that Damien was the one putting him in danger.

    When all of the feelings he held for the Worldwalker were transferred onto a new person, that new person was bound to suffer immensely. The incarnation attacked Damien with even more ferocity, and though he wanted to y defensive until his concepts finished merging, he quickly realized that it was impossible.

    In thesest few minutes, he had to have an all-out sh with the Dark God. Otherwise, there was a real possibility that his ascension would be interrupted.

    BOOOOOOOM!

    It was really something fantastical.

    Damien flew through the air chased by millions upon millions of arms. His path was not linear in the slightest. He formed a strange abstract painting of curving light through the air with his movements. It seemed to be a trail of aura, but it was actually energy infused with attacks.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Explosions erupted throughout the mass of arms and hands, destroying many of them in the process. Damien''s eyes stayed focused on the scene in front of him, but that was only one method of perception. His actual sight was directed in all directions as if he was controlling himself through a screen. He could see the countless dimensions and nes being created around him. They were filled with the Dark God''s corrupted energy. He could not risk touching even a single one, for if that energy was allowed to once again pollute his mind and body, then the intensive processes his body was undergoing would be ruined.

    That was the reason for his insane movement.

    He precisely twisted and turned through the air, changing his altitude freely. Every few degrees that he moved allowed him to dodge another dimension, carving his own line through the ne and establishing himself as an existence.

    It truly was an image of lights and colors alone. White, ck, red, green, blue, purple, and anything else on any other color spectrum became a medium through which Damien and the Dark God released their power.

    The most menial things in the universe that were taken for granted all the time became the most important concepts to ever exist, for the fate of two cosmos relied on them.

    As the stars collided, creating a series of great white shes that shook the Sacred Abyss, Damien''s concepts started to be one.

    Existence and Nonexistence finally epted that they were united in their differences. There was no need for them to remain separate, for they''d always be independent and valuable on their own. They would not be overshadowed by the Void. They were merely a part of its power, the most important part, at that. It was unknown how many times the Sacred Abyss had been destroyed already.

    It was clear when the battlefield became so confusing that the cosmos could no longer handle them. In reality, the cosmos had been erased several hundreds of times already.

    Only, it was reconstructed naturally in the very same instant, so it was as if it never happened in the first ce.

    It was too absurd of a battle, really. In a certain sense, it was a battle that could be considered nonexistent. All of these events could be said to have never happened. They''d only be immortalized as fiction through the eyes of those who witnessed their aftermath. Still, the battle was no more than a backdrop to Damien. It had already be secondary, because the situation ended up like that. He needed to reach his final goal if he wanted to win, so why would he focus on the Dark God? n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Still, the battle was no more than a backdrop to Damien. It had already be secondary, because the situation ended up like that. He needed to reach his final goal if he wanted to win, so why would he focus on the Dark God?

    From beginning to end, the Void was most important.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    His progress was easy to see. His movements became more precise at first, but they eventually slowed down. Damien''s body became stronger, so his need to dodge decreased. At some point, he stood still. He stopped moving entirely and allowed the stars to strike his body. Their explosions decorated the sky and fractured the Sacred Abyss, but the scene caused by those attacks was irrelevant.

    Damien closed his eyes. He felt his body reach that impervious state.

    There was no longer a need for him to keep his focus on the battle. He finally reached that ce. No matter what the Dark God did, he would no longer be able to injure him.

    There was only a single step left for him to reach the Void.

 Chapter 1892 Clash of the Titans [21]

    Chapter 1892 sh of the Titans [21]

    The darkness faded long ago. The setting was currently something like the Void in that both the Sacred Abyss and the True Void could be seen in the background. The incarnation of envy''s body moved disgustingly as the Dark God tried his best to damage Damien, but it truly was no longer possible.

    His body was already at that point. It would only take a little while longer for him topletely reach it. "This will not happen."

    The Dark God was speaking clearly for the first time. He was no longer entertaining his inner monologue or his twisted perspective of the world. The aura around his enemy''s body continued to change. It was not bing closer to the Worldwalker, but more and more definitively that of an existence called "Damien Void."

    He understood what this meant. For anyone else, the opposite would be perceived. Damien was fading into the background and bing one with the unimaginable. He himself was bing Void. However, the Dark God was at the level just below him. What he saw was a being who was bing defined in a way that could not be understood. Damien was truly bing an "individual."

    In any timeline, in any reality, in any space, in any dimension, he was the same person.

    Regardless of whether he was born in the True Void Universe or another cosmos somewhere in the middle of nowhere, if a potential Damien existed in the folds of the Void, it became a part of him.

    This was the effect of transcending space, time, and dimension entirely. Damien was now independent of Existence and Nonexistence. "You¡­you have¡­"

    Damien could not hear him, but the Dark God addressed him directly.

    "How did you reach that ce?"

    It was the same boundary he had been aiming for. How could he not recognize it?

    The incarnation of envy trembled. The basis of its existence was a delusional belief that it was always right. To validate the Dark God''s path, delusion was a necessity. The moment Damien achieved something that broke his delusion, everything else shattered alongside it.

    "I will never¡­"

    He mumbled to himself unintelligibly. In the end, his meaning could only be perceived. "It was never meant to be me."

    The realization broke him.

    "Why does the Abyss hate me so?! What have I ever done?! Why was I forced to live such a miserable life?!"

    He was no longer speaking to Damien. His countless eyes were directed at the sky along with his millions of hands. He pleaded to the entity above all, unresigned to his fate.

    "My fate¡­yes, my fate was always scorned. When all things fade, even you are my enemy."

    His eyes opened wide as he raged at the Void.

    "He is the one you have chosen, I see. Then, I must be the reason you are ruined."

    If the Void was going to be his enemy, then he would treat it as such. He knew it was impossible to destroy it. The Void was an entity that could neither be created nor destroyed.

    However, he witnessed its love for Damien. In reality and in Damien''s own memories, it was always guiding his path.

    Therefore, if he wanted to ruin the Void, then all he needed to do was ruin Damien.

    Naturally, Damien could not hear him. From the moment his body became impervious, his focus shifted to the unbelievable change taking ce in his being. He did so because he was confident that the Dark God could not harm him, and that confidence was not unwarranted.

    Damien was now an existence simr to the Void, which meant that he could neither be created nor destroyed.

    However, unlike the Void, he could still be ruined.

    The Dark God''s perceptionnded on the war. He saw how his own troops were being treated, but it did not matter to him if they won or lost.

    Right, Damien''s core. It was extremely self-centered in all ways except one. His only exception was his own family.

    If they were to vanish¡­

    The Dark God''s many eyes red with madness. He could already see the bleak future Damien would lead, a bleak future that led to a death even more pathetic than the Worldwalker''s.

    And with that prospective future guiding his actions, he chose to act drastically.

    His body rapidly expanded in a single instant.

    The energy of Existence and Nonexistence within him, the pure and disgusting energy of the incarnation of evil, and the energies of both the True Void Universe and the Sacred Abyss Universe were all pulled into his being.

    He quickly becamerge enough to encapste the entire Sacred Abyss and continued growing. All the while, the energy he controlled became extremely vtile.

    His n was obvious.

    With no hope remaining, he did the only thing he could think of. By putting his own life at stake, he was going to destroy anything and everything that Damien loved before he could cross the final boundary. He was now a living bomb that Damien seemingly had not perceived. And, as he used the power of a Supreme to destroy himself, the effects were almost instant. The Dark God roared. Damien had his eyes closed. He was not paying attention. However, he did not care. His words were going to carve their way into his soul regardless.

    Everything came down to a matter of a fraction of a fraction of a spark of a second once again.

    Time stretched around them, and this single instant became the defining moment of all things. The Dark God roared. Damien had his eyes closed. He was not paying attention. However, he did not care. His words were going to carve their way into his soul regardless.

    "In the end, you will be no better than me! You will be a monster who lives alone in a world of puppets! Damien Void, I may die today, but you will never see true happiness either!"

    The Dark God raged maniacally as the energy he gathered became more and more destructive.

    He was too far into this to back out now. He was guaranteed to die, however, everything was bound to die with him. His form was massive, epassing both the True Void Universe and the Sacred Abyss Universe by this point, but¡­why?

    Why did his eyes tremble as he lowered them to look at Damien?

    That man was still the same size. He was still but a human standing before an invible force, however¡­

    Why did he seem so massive?

    With cold eyes indifferent to all, Damien met the Dark God''s gaze. When did he open his eyes? n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He disregarded the legitimacy of everything the Dark God was trying to do with one look, and with one sentence, he destroyed that man''s pride as well.

    "You talk too much."

    Were those words worthy of being thest before all Existence was destroyed?

    As they were spoken, the Dark God''s body reached a tipping point and became pure energy. The explosion that was bound to leave the two cosmos as no more than ash particles in the Void started, but for some reason, Damien''s voice was louder.

    What was meant to be a grand scene was ruined by one person.

    Without a sound, without a trace, and without a show, Damien reached that point.

    His energiesbined, and he became a person above everything.

    He could feel it in his body. Nothing mattered if he didn''t want it to. Now, even the Dark God held the same value as amon frog.

    As long as he desired it¡­

    "Hush."

    The white light that spread so rapidly that it covered the entire Sacred Abyss in an instant disappeared just as rapidly. It did not touch the Sacred Abyss. It did not touch the True Void. It did not spread further than the Dark God''s body.

    Rather than a massive sound that came from the rupturing of countless celestial bodies, what came about was a small "St!" as the Dark God himself was blown to pieces.

    Damien was not looking at him. He had no need to. He was now seeing "everything."

    The incarnation of envy disappeared and died so simply that it was hard to imagine that it ever held any power. The Dark God died in that moment, but Damien was not finished.

    His gaze turned to a certain direction. The cosmos itself pulled a small knob of flesh towards him. Space and time twisted, preventing its escape.

    As if it was always fated to be there, the entity appeared in Damien''s hand.

    It was squirming wildly and trying to escape. Its small and twisted face growled menacingly to curse him, but he paid it no mind.

    "Goodbye."

    This being was once his ancestral uncle. In another timeline, they could have be close friends. He saw the possibility in the myriad Existences, but it was just too slim.

    In all but one future, he chose envy.

    Such a being did not deserve to exist in this world, and no longer would after this moment. It was a quiet and uneventful day, or so it seemed as one observed Damien.

    He aplished something great. He killed the great enemy of his cosmos and even ascended and became Absolute. It should have been a much grander asion than this, but Damien''s face and mind did not show such emotions.

    No, in but a moment, his entire mentality changed. His view changed to that of an Absolute, therefore robbing all things of meaning.

    Whether it was the Dark God or an ant on the side of the street, whether it was the Dark God or any other viin he had ever encountered, Damien now saw them all in the same light.

    Such was the fate of a man who surpassed any and all things, both existing and nonexistent.

 Chapter 1893 Aftermath [1]

    Chapter 1893 Aftermath [1]

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The war had to be watched through multiple perspectives to truly be understood. Perhaps it was better to begin with the Divinities, as their battle was much more one-sided.

    There were so many Foreign Race Divinities present on the battlefield, but their numbers didn''t do much for them. They were able to misuse their advantages for some time, but that was no longer an option.

    Tiamat did her duty. When the Dark God was moved to a ce where he could no longer sense this world, when his position did not allow him to consider anyone or anything else, she acted.

    Her body was torn apart as the seed in her soul sprouted. An array of ck webs shot through the Sacred Abyss andtched onto its very being. Thews suddenly changed. The Dark God''s influence suddenly disappeared.

    The "immortality" of the Foreign Army waspletely destroyed.

    As a result, Tiamat was destroyed as well.

    To say that she died was wrong, but it was equally incorrect to say she was living. Her soul was ripped to shreds and her existence was maintained as something different from what it used to be. The power of the Divinity she created was dispersed as it was used as finite fuel for the seed.

    The person known as Tiamat disappeared, and her ego was disced into an entirely different body. When she awoke, she was in the fields of an unknownnd. It was a mystery where her story would go from here. She was satisfied in the peace of her new environment knowing that she did her duty. She could still see the cracks in the sky, so she knew that she would still be informed when everything came to an end.

    Her disappearance went unnoticed because her appearance itself was isted. However, her impact was immense. Elena was the first to realize. She actually found her original opponent once more while she was rampaging through the battlefield. It wasn''t the first time, but it was certainly thest. Like always, she killed him before moving on, denying his existence.

    Only, he did not return.

    Ruyue finally overcame Chaos and led her opponent to ruin. He did not return either. One by one, the people who died remained dead. One by one, the Dark God''s forces were culled once and for all.

    Rose, Iris, and the restpleted their battles and moved on, using their immense power against weaker Divinities to end the war at a quicker pace. As stronger and stronger beings began to interfere with the battles of those below them, everything was able to end quite rapidly.

    On the surface of the world, it was a bit different. The Vanguards weren''t resurrected through the Dark God''s power. Instead, there were billions upon billions of them hidden away in storage. They did not need to be replenished as they could be reced.

    This meant that the battle of lower existences couldn''t end so quickly.

    They were doing the best they could, but they could not avoid uncountable losses. There was great tragedy on that battlefield, but through it, they fought. They fought while cing their hopes on the forces fighting to support them.

    In other words, those led by Thalia. Even after the whole world was taken into the True Void Territory, there was work left for them to do. As mentioned beforehand, there were billions of Vanguard forces hidden within the. Now that they had control, they could find the facilities where they were stored and destroy them all.

    It was convenient for them that inactive Vanguards were left dormant. They did not fight back as they were ughtered, which made the task achievable.

    Everything seemed to be working in their favor. The many moving pieces never desynchronized. The connected hearts of all people as they fought in this shattering cosmos kept them united.

    There were scars all across the sky, streaks of white and blue where the cosmos itself had been ruptured beyond repair. The ambient energy levels were dropping, and it was obvious that it would only take a little longer for this entire ce to be uninhabitable.

    Still, they fought and fought and fought. They fought because there was no such thing as a tomorrow for them if they didn''t fight.

    It was not over yet.

    In the starry sky, a ce that was dangerous to even exist in, another change urred. The Incarnation of Evil that ire was fighting was brought close to death, but it turned out that leaving it in that state was the worst possible choice. In that final moment, it expanded along with the Dark God and became a true demon. It was a beast of untold proportions with power greater than a Supreme God. It wasn''t enough for ire alone to fight it.

    It wasn''t enough for anyone to do so.

    Dante appeared immediately. He was observing from the sidelines, but he was forced to intervene.

    Using all of his power, he kept that being contained.

    It had ess to Existence, after all. Its level was simr to his because it neverprehended that concept. It was merely reflecting a portion of the Dark God''s power through its own body.

    Dante''s efforts kept the beast''s ability at bay. It could not utilize anything above the Supreme God level while he was present. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In consequence, he could not participate in the battle. Technically, he was having a battle of Existences with the beast already.

    Its physical body was still unbelievable. Its power was still difficult for Supreme Gods to handle. Fortunately, there were many of them.

    The Divinities of the world all came together. From the weakest of Demigods to the strongest of Gods, anyone who could deal even a smidgen of damage to the beast contributed as much as they could.

    They could feel it. As the white stripes decorated the starry sky and tore it apart, they could tell that the battle between Damien and the Dark God was reaching its end. So, how could they not put their everything into the moment?

    Not a single person thought about conserving their energy or surviving through the sacrifices of others.

    No, they were warriors and practitioners. They entered this battlefield for pride and glory. They would not leave it with such stains on their names.

    Desperation reached a peak at the same time as hope. Everyone started to wonder just how long they would be forced to continue fighting.

    And as if to answer them, a wave of mysterious energy spread through the cosmos.

    All things rted to the Dark God turned to ash. The Incarnation of Evil disappeared as if it never existed, leaving countless Divinities stunned.

    Thalia''s team was inside of a Vanguard research facility. They saw the dormant beings turn to ash in their pods.

    The confusion of the people onlysted for a single second. Soon, a wave of understanding made its way through their ranks. The world''s environment faded away as it was reced.

    The Sacred Abyss Universe was always characterized by its darkness, but what appeared in this moment was a great light.

    Even the mostmon of people could sense it in the air. They could smell it, the scent of pure nature and rity. This cosmos was healing. In that battle where the titans who governed all things shed¡­

    ¡­a victor had been decided.

 Chapter 1894 Aftermath [2]

    Chapter 1894 Aftermath [2]

    It wasn''t quite as people saw it. The light people saw was a bit dyed. Their perception didn''t catch it, but in that single moment before it appeared, the cosmos copsed.

    It was actively copsing in a way that could not easily be repaired now. Not because there was destruction tearing it apart, but because this was its fate from the beginning.

    The Dark God was the Sacred Abyss Universe''s Cosmic Core. The moment he died, it was left iplete. How was it supposed to thrive when it did not have a brain?

    Damien was forced to temporarily take his ce and be the center of the cosmos. It was when he made that choice that the light began to spread.

    He experimented with his power curiously. The cosmos changed ording to his thoughts, giving him absolute control.

    ''This is why he was arrogant.''

    This point of view almost forced one to believe that one was invincible. However, it was just a facade.

    This power was not everything.

    No, only now did Damien realize what "everything" truly was.

    There was no longer such a thing as a limit. Anything he thought could be a reality. And, unlike before, he was no longer defined by a human mind. He would never again experience the problem of not being creative enough to use his power to its greatest potential.

    Nothing was iprehensible to his eyes.

    Still, he took this position so he could experience what the Dark God felt.

    Well, he didn''t even have to do this much, did he?

    The second he felt the desire for it, the information came to his head. He saw the Dark God''s story not through his own eyes, but through the eyes of the cosmos itself.

    He could determine only one thing.

    The Dark God was his own greatest enemy.

    He was the reason he found himself in such unfortunate situations. From childhood, his delusion was too intense.

    Feelings were not as pronounced as they used to be. Damien definitely felt some pity, but it was muted.

    The Dark God really was just ill back then. Back then, when he had no sins, if he had help¡­

    If he had help, perhaps he could have lived an entirely satisfactory mortal life. However, as he saw when he first reached this position, there was only one possible scenario where the Dark God found himself on the right path. He was an inherently wed being.

    Damien entertained himself with such thoughts as he brought the Sacred Abyss back to stability.

    Instead of creating a new Cosmic Core immediately, he first ced the cosmos in stasis and made changes.

    The single habitable world was turned into a green wondend where nature could thrive. Thews were shifted to be more amodating, but they were not made simr to the True Void.

    At the end of the day, these two cosmos had their own ways. He was not going to treat one with bias.

    Thews were only tweaked back to their original form. The Dark God''s influence disappeared, and finally, this cosmos reached a point where it could function again. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Damien spread energy through thends to give life to many of the uninhabitable worlds.The ruptures in the cosmos were healed and filled with new space. He created an ecosystem that was fated to thrive and survive.

    And when he was finished, he brought forth a new Cosmic Core to take the ce of the one that this cosmos lost long ago.

    The stasis was removed and time resumed. This was when the people of the world saw light. The changes made were solidified, and the war was put to an end.

    Damien sighed to himself.

    ''Okay.''

    The most pressing matters were dealt with. Now, the most important thing was returning.

    Damien wondered how others would react to him now.

    Perhaps they wouldn''t be able to sense it and nothing would change. There was also a situation where he became a God in their eyes.

    That was not what he wanted.

    At least for the people around him, he wanted to remain the same Damien as always.

    What good did it do them to know how vast his vision was?

    What use was it to tell them that he could see past the nes they knew, across untold distances of emptiness in the Void?

    He could see the past, present, and future of all things. He finally understood the world that the Worldwalker spent so long exploring.

    It was truly magnificent. Thatndscape tempted him. It told him to go visit it as soon as possible to take his throne.

    However, he was forced to resist. He was forced to say no to the Void because he knew that going there now would ruin him.

    This was the defining moment. Now that he was Absolute, he needed to engrave into the Void his own rules and standards.

    His status was important to him, sure, but it did not take precedence.

    Above all was his family. Nothing and nobody would ever be able to change their position in his heart.

    With that thought in mind, Damien descended to reality.

    He was standing in the Sacred Abyss, but it was impossible to say that he was in the same realm as others.

    He was a unique existence and he existed in a unique ne. If he wanted to be in the same ce as the rest of them, he had to make a conscious effort.

    Was that why the Worldwalker refused to make connections for so long? Was this separate state of existence the reason why he saw emotions as useless things?

    Yes, perhaps at the beginning of his life, it was like that.

    But, as Damien returned to the world, he realized that it was something else entirely after that man became Absolute.

    Hended on the surface of the now-green and walked it until he found someone he knew. He left it up to chance as he was focused more on observing than meeting people as of now, and coincidentally enough, the first he saw was Thalia.

    It had been some time since they''dst seen each other, and she had been working closely with Hestia. It would be nice to apany her and her troops as they returned to headquarters.

    That was what he wanted, but had he been too single-minded?

    Why didn''t he realize it until he was in front of them?

    He stood there and waved at Thalia with a smile on his face, but¡­

    ¡­she walked right through him.

    She walked through him like he was a ghost that didn''t exist and remainedpletely unaware of his presence.

    And if that wasn''t enough¡­

    ''No¡­''

    Damien''s heart dropped for a moment. He felt a sense of emptiness that he did not expect. As all of his other emotions became more muted with every passing second, that emptiness filled every cavity in his body and mind. The reason why it was so difficult for the Worldwalker to understand emotions until he became mortal again¡­

    The reason why he felt such boredom as an Absolute¡­

    For Damien, who did not have those problems, it served as a reminder.

    He was no longer the same as others.

    And that was a truth that was not apanied only by blessings.

 Chapter 1895 Aftermath [3]

    Chapter 1895 Aftermath [3]

    It began when Thalia walked through him as if he didn''t exist. Her group moved with her, and when he turned around to face them, he noticed that they were no longer the same.

    The entire world was twisting and changing. The newly revived Sacred Abyss was being destroyed again.

    Why?

    Damien purposefully changed his being so that he would not harm this cosmos, so why?

    The answer was not one he wanted to hear.

    No matter what he did, he was still Absolute. Even if he made an effort to ensure that nothing would happen, he no longer had a choice. The Sacred Abyss inherently feared and worshiped him. It bowed in reverence and automatically treated him like an Absolute.

    His any thought would be manifested as reality. The cosmos would change because in its core, it believed that the only way for it to survive was to absolutely bend to his will.

    The only way to stop these rampant changes and the twisting of reality was for Damien himself to be mindless. He had to enter a state where he had no thoughts or emotions, because only then would reality regain stability.

    What was the point of that?

    How was he supposed to interact with his people and live a normal life like that? He did not want to be a mindless existence whenever he tried to interact with the worlds contained in the Void.

    He was not the Worldwalker. He would not walk the same path.

    ''However, that does not change anything.''

    Still, Damien could not stay in the Sacred Abyss. If he spent a single second longer in this cosmos, it would destroy itself in an effort to please him.

    Damien sighed and stepped out of reality. He stood on the periphery of the cosmos for a moment before leaving for the Void.

    Standing there, he could have gone back to the ten-dimensional painting of reality that he had seen before, but that was not what he needed now.

    Instead, he swept that painting away and saw things as they were. He saw the Sacred Abyss, the True Void, and even the Sanctuary below him. If he raised his eyes and stared into the distance, he could see many, many more cosmos.

    Only, they were properly spread out.

    Beings from different cosmos were never meant to interact with each other. The Dark God was unique because he used his cosmos as a war machine. The majority of the cosmos in the Void were very spaced out, and between them were seas of Existence and Nonexistence that refused to meld.

    Though the two concepts existed everywhere, they were different depending on the cosmos they were attached to.

    They functioned differently, had different origins, and even different meanings. That was the original reason why they were called differently in every cosmos.

    Nevertheless, he kept his eyes on three cosmos: Sacred Abyss, True Void, and Sanctuary

    ''I will never be able to return to any of them.''

    If he wanted them to remain safe and uninhibited, he could never see those cosmos from the inside ever again.

    He could only peer into their folds from the Void and watch the ongoing events. He could only see his wives and family question his disappearance from the perspective of an outsider.

    For a moment, he felt that existential dread. He wondered if he would be forced to live on the same lonely path as the Worldwalker. ''However, this is not the end.''

    He refused to be resigned to fate. That was not the kind of person he was. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Loneliness in the Void? He had been considering it from the very moment he decided to walk the long path of power, and since long ago, he had been preparing.

    All of the people he met, all of the people he knew and loved; they were his anchors and would always be a part of his life. No matter what, that would never change.

    How could he ever call himself Absolute if he was limited by the rules of the Void? He had no qualms with letting go of those three cosmos, but he would not let go of his connections.

    ''To think I believed I was going to bind the Sanctuary at this time.''

    That was no longer happening. Instead, he waved his hand and expanded it.

    If he was going to let it go, then he would at least give it what it needed to survive on its own. That Sanctuary was his first-ever creation and step towards the Void. It held a lot of value in his life.

    The True Void Universe was the same, wasn''t it?

    The Sanctuary was originally the lower universe of the True Void. Leaving his home cosmos as no more than the Heavenly World didn''t sit right with him.

    Damien connected the Heavenly World and the Sanctuary and made them one. They would no longer be a lower universe and a higher universe, but one, ever-expanding True Void Universe.

    He didn''t add anything in particr except for the fundamental elements necessary for the two entities to be one. There was only one massive change he made, and that was the creation of a.

    It was a made entirely of stone, and engraved on its surface were the names of all of those who were lost in the great war.

    It was not a world for people to live in. Rather, it was a monument dedicated to the people who fought to create the stability that their future generations were bound to enjoy.

    The Sacred Abyss¡­

    It was to be its own cosmos, but the time had not yete for it to exist on its own. Damien connected it to the hip of the True Void. While the Sacred Abyss was still growing, the True Void could act as a perfect anchor.

    These three, or rather, two ces would now be able to function easily without intervention.

    "Huu¡­"

    Damien was ying with these cosmos as if they were nothing. By how easily he was able to change them and bend the veryws of reality to allow his changes to work, he could tell just how easily he could make them all vanish.

    He could make everything vanish.

    If he so desired, he could leave the Void empty and exterminate all life.

    Was it possible to understand that scale? He was so impossibly powerful that nothing mattered in front of him.

    He began to understand why the Void took such precautions before allowing him to be Absolute.

    But that was beside the point.

    Now that the True Void and Sacred Abyss were secured, it was time for him to move to his more personal ns.

    His own life in the past, present, and future could be determined here.

    He started not with the present or future, but with the past.

    Suddenly, all of the cosmos in the Void faded away. The surroundings became a painting with so many dimensions that they couldn''t all be perceived.

    From the moment he was born to this very moment in the Void, everything was represented here. This was the canvas of his life. It was his right to make alterations at this stage, wasn''t it?

 Chapter 1896 Aftermath [4]

    <h3 style="text-align:justify">Chapter 1896 Aftermath [4]

    When he first came to the Void, Damien did something simr. He made some changes to the timeline to set the path he''d followed in stone, and in the process, he questioned who was leading him along his path the entire time.

    He did not have to look any further for the answer, for he himself was it.

    Damien saw now even that moment. He could even change it if he pleased. There were no longer restrictions, so if he wanted to, he could alter anything and everything to turn his path into something else.

    His history was whatever he wanted it to be. This was what the Dark God was aiming for.

    ''But, he would not have reached his goals.''

    Damien had no desire to, but he could feel in his soul that bringing the Worldwalker back was impossible. As he sacrificed himself and became one with the Void, he was no more than its energy and essence. He truly did not exist and could not exist. That was the eternal price he paid to save his people.

    Damien didn''t want to bring anyone back. Instead, he just wanted to do the same thing he did before.

    He became the guiding voice in his own life. Above Dante, above the former version of himself, he was the overarching cause for his own fortune.

    Such a change was quite literally impossible to make. Damien essentially confirmed his path. Now, regardless of what happened, he was always fated to be Absolute. Nothing and nobody could stand in his way.

    Hell, in this ce where time was irrelevant, he supported his ownprehension of the Void so he was able to save the cosmos before they were destroyed.

    It felt a bit unfair to the Dark God, but he was fated to lose from the beginning. Now that Damien was here, it could be said that he was bound to be here from the moment he was born. He was a truly immortalized existence.

    What else was there to change?

    ''I usually maintain an attitude of selflessness in that I will not selfishly influence matters for my own benefit, however¡­''

    The lives of other people? Maybe, but he didn''t know if he wanted to.

    At most, he was willing to create a smoother path for his wives and friends to reach their goals.

    ''I usually maintain an attitude of selflessness in that I will not selfishly influence matters for my own benefit, however¡­''

    There were no longer consequences to his actions. Perhaps it was unfair to others that he was exclusively giving this treatment to his own people, but that was his right.

    He made it all the way here so they could all live the lives they wanted. He would not sumb to indifference and refuse to aid them now.

    After taking care of everything, he once again put away the painting of life. He focused on the Void itself, prepared for his main project.

    He closed his eyes and focused. The Void constricted around him and a decent amount of space was made between himself and the cosmos he was watching.

    In his new position, thews within the Void began to merge and order themselves.

    Existence and Nonexistence became prominent. They were in their inherent forms at first, but as Damien''s influence spread through the Void, they started to take shape as the concepts he''d worked so hard to mold.

    With those two at his side, he could finally begin.

    A shining light was created in the Void. It was a massive ball of energy that exploded and became immaterial. Its essence acted as its core, and the ends its energy reached served as its borders.

    A thin separation was made as the energy turned into space and time. Creation and Destruction allowed it before entering that new area of spacetime to weave the fabric of reality.

    He swept his hand and altered the flow of time to let billions of years flow by. Worlds and universes were created and filled with life. The cosmos developed its own "history" that was entirely unrted to Damien.

    A brand new cosmos was appearing in the Void. It was a cosmos like no other, because it was the only cosmos in existence that had been intentionally created by a single being.

    And naturally, it was made to that being''s preferences.

    Thews of this cosmos allowed its people to perceive Damien. It allowed him to live without twisting the very fabric of reality.

    He swept his hand and altered the flow of time to let billions of years flow by. Worlds and universes were created and filled with life. The cosmos developed its own "history" that was entirely unrted to Damien.

    He entered that cosmos and chose a world, a world awfully simr to Earth, to call his home.

    With that, there was only one thing left to do.

    ***

    There was definitely amotion in the cosmos after Damien left.

    His presence disappearing was felt by many people, but it was different from death. They did not panic, but they were forced to marvel when they saw what was happening around them.

    The changes Damien made were immediately reflected. The new appearance of the True Void Universe was a sight to behold, but most people attributed it to the strange wave of energy that spread as a result of the great war.

    Only a few people were able to attribute this phenomenon to Damien, and those few were the ones who worried.

    They only hoped that he was not overexerting himself to use power at such a high level. They understood that he had reached a stage they couldn''t fathom, but did that change anything?

    They wanted to see him, and they wanted to celebrate the lives they''d earned themselves.

    It was to those people that the invitation came.

    Through a notification window like those from the system, they received a question with very simple answers.

    [Damien Void is inviting you to a new world. Would you like to go?]

    Though the message was simple, the context was engraved in their minds as they read it.

    Damien could no longer exist here, so he had to live somewhere else. He wanted them to live in that ce with him, but it was up to them whether they made the choice or not.

    There wasn''t any pressure on them. In the end, the new world would be connected to the True Void Universe, so anyone who did not move could visit at any time. Damien was the only one restricted.

    Still, it wasn''t hard for anyone to make the choice.

    Hundreds of fingers moved forward to press the window that said, "Yes."

    And though it wasn''t a surprise, among them were his wives.

    Unlike the rest, when they appeared in the new world, they stood in front of a house.

    It wasn''t too big or too small. The best way to describe it was "ordinary."

    It was a house like that of any upper-middle-ss family.

    In front of it stood the man they came to see.

    Everything was over now. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Their stories were reaching their close.

    Wasn''t it about time for them to start working on the things they''d promised themselves?

    It had been a long time since Damien had peace, but there were many things that he''d denied himself, waiting for this very moment toe.

    Now that it was here, he wanted to start making progress on those things.

    "We have all the time in the world now, so¡­"

    He looked at them with a smile.

    They looked at him with varying expressions. Rose and Elena matched his smile, Ruyue looked at him with warm eyes, and Iris rolled hers with an expression that couldn''t hide her happiness. Regardless of what they''d been doing or what they wanted to do, all of it could wait.

    They were all together, and as Damien said, they had all the time in the world.

    So¡­

    "...those promises we made, let''s fulfill them. All of them, one at a time."

 Chapter 1897 The End [1]

    Chapter 1897 The End [1]

    Time.

    Time was a thing that had to be admired even by the Absolute.

    Time was something that was meant to slow down as events came to a close and peace returned to the world, but why did it move just as fast?

    Rivers would maintain their flow for hundreds and thousands of years, carving their presence into the surrounding structures, but time still dispersed them and left those structures as their only vestiges. Stars would shine for what seemed like an eternity, but even they would eventually fall to time and die in splendorous bursts of light.

    Time was something that affected everyone, even those who it could not touch.

    This world was very beautiful. It was like Earth in many ways, but it was also fantastical. This cosmos was not a simple one with no energy, after all.

    It was a world where immortals coulde and experience the mundane pleasures of life. It was a world where peace was always guaranteed, as it was the home of a great being.

    That being was worshiped by the masses in a ce far, far away, but in this ce, he was just a man.

    A man who strived every day for happiness.

    The True Void and Sacred Abyss Universes took a long time to heal. The aftershock of the Great War could still be witnessed after many decades. It was remembered very differently for those peoplepared to Damien.

    He did not see what they went through, but he could feel their experiences. There was an entire, an entire worldrger than Earth that was covered in the names of the deceased. Not even a single inch of itsnd was left empty. They had to struggle and survive in a way that only mortals could understand.

    But they were now healing,

    The atmosphere of that cosmos was not shrouded in negativity, but instead engulfed in an attitude of improvement. Its new state and new fate were enough to give endless hope to its people, allowing them to keep their fighting spirits.

    If one wanted a peaceful and slow world, that was not the ce to go.

    No, instead, the wondend created by the Absolute was much better.

    "Damien Void."

    In a cosmos that none of this ce''s inhabitants would ever know, he was regarded as a Godly Being, a great Absolute who vanquished the Dark God.

    However, in this world, he was nothing like that.

    He only had two titles here.

    Husband, and¨C

    "¨CDad, what are you doing?!"

    A high-pitched voice called out very clearly inint.

    "I don''t want to wake up! It''s the weekend!"

    A child no more than eight years old turned over in bed and pulled her nket over her head. Unfortunately, with sunlight bleeding through its fabric, she was unable to avoid the fact that it was already morning.

    "Don''t me me," the child''s father said from the bedside.

    "Your mom is the one who told me to wake you up."

    "Mom?"

    The child''s eyes peeked out from under the covers.

    She had snow-white hair and bright purple eyes. Her features made it clear who her mother was, and even she knew how strict her mother could get when she wanted to.

    "Which mom is it today?"

    She wasn''t asking about Rose and the rest. To her, they were "aunties." Her question could be easily misunderstood due to their unique family situation, but Damien knew exactly what she was asking.

    "We''re talking about stage 3 mom right now. She isn''t close to stage 4 yet, so if you hurry, you might be able to bring stage 2 mom back."

    "Stage 2 Mom?!"

    The child''s eyes lit up with hope.

    "Great! I''ll get up now!"

    Damien ruffled her hair.

    "Good. I''ll see you downstairs."

    Leaving the room, he almost couldn''t hide the sneaky smile on his face. Stage 4 Ruyue was an existence that terrified even him. The amount of nagging he''d had to endure was almost traumatic, so he knew she was the perfect excuse to get his kids to wake up.

    Still¡­

    "Stage 4?"

    ¡­it didn''t work out so well if he was instantly caught.

    Ruyue stood outside the door with her arms crossed, ring at him in annoyance.

    "What exactly is a stage 4, honey?"

    Damien''s entire body shivered. Twenty years and three kidster, was it finally time for him to be discovered?!

    Ruyue approached him menacingly and grabbed his ear. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Stop joking around ande to the kitchen. Rose wanted you to help with breakfast today."

    Ruyue naturally ignored his pain and whining. He was an Absolute, for crying out loud. How was he going to be hurt from his ear being pulled?

    She had to maintain her current stern appearance only because she knew her children were watching. Still, she couldn''t hide the slight smile on her face as she watched Damien''s antics.

    Two girls and a boy with her, a boy and a girl with Rose, a boy with Elena, and a pair of twins with Iris. Damien had been busy these past two decades, and the family they''d all created together in that time was quite the hectic one.

    Their eldest children, one of hers and one of Rose''s, were getting ready to enter society as real adults already. The teenagers were all going to school with dreams of being powerful and renowned throughout the world, unknowing of their parents'' positions as the strongest people in the entire cosmos.

    The aunts and uncles they greeted every once in a while were beings that the leaders of this world had to bow down to in greeting, but it was best for them to remain unaware of such things until they were older.

    Wouldn''t it just make them arrogant if they realized that in this cosmos and many others, their parents were Supreme?

    Other than Damien, the rest were still active in the world and working on their goals. Merely, they did so semi-secretively. Their children knew that they were not ordinary. After all, a regr house was no longer enough to support a family of their size. They lived in arge mansion, and their father seemed to have endless money when he needed it.

    Still, Damien wasn''t the most forgiving parent. He wanted his children to grow up with humility and a sense of independence, so he didn''t shower them with gifts and luxuries unless they earned them.

    Parenting was an experience like no other. Even for him as a Supreme, the years he spent watching his kids grow up were more valuable than anything.

    It would have been even better if August was here, but he was an adult now. He was too busy managing the new and improved Arulion to live with the rest of them. The visits he made every month or so were more than enough.

    Life had been peaceful in this ne, and life would continue as such.

    Peace and freedom to do anything. Peace that implied that a new threat would not be appearing any time soon.

    This peacested for decades and centuries without end.

    Damien enjoyed his quaint life with his family for as long as he could. He had children with his wives, watched them grow, and eventually had the pleasure of seeing his own grandchildren appear in this world.

    He was able to do everything he ever wanted to do within those few hundred years.

    Yes, everything he wanted to do was already done.

    So¡­what came next?

 Chapter 1898 The End [2]

    Chapter 1898 The End [2]

    Time.

    To an Absolute, it was perceived like that.

    It felt like just moments ago, his youngest daughter was just seven years old. Peace was still young and every day felt like a refreshing breath of air. However, that was just a faded memory. All of their perspectives of life back then were just dreams in his mind, things he saw from his omniscient point of view. It had already been a thousand years since then. Life had already moved on.

    It wasn''t as if those people and memories were gone. This was a world where people were not forced to remain mortal, especially those with talent. How were Damien''s kids supposed to be untalented?

    They were still alive and well. He could visit them whenever he wanted to check up on them, and their family of course gathered every few years.

    Just¡­

    It wasn''t the same anymore. In a thousand years, Damien''s status changed immensely.

    All of his children grew up to be Godly Entities. His wives also revealed themselves to the cosmos as the hidden leaders behind its greatest organizations. He and his wives still lived in the same house they raised their children in, but only he and Rose were really maintaining this mundane lifestyle.

    He didn''t have a problem with it. He still enjoyed the calm and there was still much he could do if he so had the desire.

    However, even on a day like this, even when their family was all together, he couldn''t stop looking at the stars and wondering about what kind of horizonsy beyond them.

    What remained for a man who reached the Void? Truly, what was there left to do?

    The answer was as simple as it seemed. For those who reached the absolute peak, there was nothing left. For that reason, Damien did not consider bing Absolute his only goal. It was merely a protection so he could do everything else with peace.

    He was able to experience happiness in eternity unlike the Worldwalker, but that was not to say he was entirely happy.

    At the end of the day, he was a man who fell in love with work. He lived two centuries of his life, a period that felt like thousands of years, constantly moving from one goal to the next.

    His family was here now. His children grew up and introduced him to his grandchildren. His grandchildren grew up and introduced him to their children. As the cycle continued, he no longer felt the same spark that kept him going for all this time. Everyone was living their own lives. He was happy to spend more and more time with his wives. He knew he would never get tired of this peace no matter how much time passed.

    However, there was an ache in his heart. An ache that nobody else could understand. It was nighttime now. The day''s events had ended and everyone else had already left. He found himself alone, entertaining thoughts that nobody else could fathom.

    Yes, they were forced to admit that they could not fathom his thoughts even after all of them had ascended beyond the Supreme God level, but they could still understand him.

    That look on his face was one they knew well. After all, it was that same look on his face that he''d had for many centuries as he stared at the same sky. How could they not know it?

    Damien stayed on this ne because he wanted to spend time with them. He wanted to see his children grow up and he wanted to be a father to them and a grandfather to his grandkids.

    However, it was past that now.

    It had been too long. He was God on this and something even greater on the cosmic scale. With the passing of hundreds of years, the separation between him and the newest generation of his bloodline was too wide to even consider measuring. Naturally, they were still present. Everyone that Damien invited to this realm was still here, and they would oftene visit. Yet, even they could see it. This life was not the end Damien wanted to see. Rose smiled wryly as she watched him. It felt strange to say, but¡­ It was enough. He had spent enough time here.

    Wasn''t it about time he focused on the horizon he could never stop admiring no matter how much time passed? "Go."

    It was unknown who said it, and it was unknown when they decided to approach him, but it didn''t matter. All four of them were of the same mind about this matter.

    "Pardon?" Damien asked. Rose smiled and stepped forward.

    "Go. We know just how much you yearn for the things the rest of us cannot see. You''ve been considerate enough, so don''t feel burdened by us and go."

    "I was never being considerate, Rose. You know I truly¨C"

    "¨CI know."

    She cut him off, not allowing him to contest her.

    "I know it isn''t anything like that, but still. Even if you don''t want to admit it, it pains you to limit yourself to stay here, doesn''t it? Just as much as you want it for us, we want you to be happy. You''ve seeded in making us eternally happy all this time. Now, isn''t it time for us to do the same for you? For the first time in centuries, go explore that beautiful horizon once more."

    She looked back at her sisters, who nodded to support her. "In the end, no matter what, you''ll return to us, won''t you?" Damien looked at her with widened eyes. His confusion melted rapidly as he processed her words, and the expression on his face slowly shifted into a heartfelt smile. He''d been caught red-handed, but he couldn''t be mad about it. Who could ever get mad about having such supportive wives?

    Yes, there was something he wanted to see. A ce where he could only go alone. He withheld himself for a long time, but perhaps¡­it was finally time?

    He looked between them. Rose, Ruyue, Elena, and Iris, the four women who would apany him for eternity.

    "Of course. No matter what, I''ll always find my way home."

    The day when he was truly separated from them would nevere. He hugged them sincerely, transmitting the weight of his love for them through his embrace. And, with his wives as the only witnesses, he stepped forward and bid his farewells to this world.

    Finally, as it had been craving ever since that moment, his body was able to ascend to its rightful ce.

    A ce that was truly beyond anyone and anything else.

    ***

    It was dark. Damien felt a pull that he could not resist, a rampant desire that brought him into the Void.

    This was not a location to him, but a part of his own body. It was where he felt mostfortable, and it was where the ustrophobic feeling of containing himself disappeared.

    The Void was all things, yet, it was also the foundation on which every Cosmos was built. It was filled with a myriad of different energies, cultures, and worlds to explore.

    Yet, Damien was able to experience it all in a single instant. He learned everything, explored the connections between everything, and understood the very patterns that defined the Void in its truest state.

    He felt the passing of time only through the time he spent in the many different cosmos. These travels allowed him to understand what the Worldwalker experienced, and he found joy in the same thrill.

    It truly was beautiful. All of their differences and all of their simrities were truly magnificent. Every time Damien entered a new world and experienced a new culture, his omniscience faded into the background and he truly felt like a traveler who was learning everything as he experienced it. But it was still a shame.

    The Void was lonely. The Worldwalker was dead, leaving Damien as the only person who could ever experience this feeling.

    He earnestly wished that another would appear. Paying special attention to the Void''s Supremes, he waited for the day that one of them crossed the final boundary. That was when he heard it.

    In some random cosmos in the middle of nowhere, while observing a battle between its greatest entities, perhaps eons or maybe only a few seconds after his own ascension, he heard it.

    A "Sound" in the Void. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A sound in the Void that should not have been possible.

    His ears perked up. He immediately dropped everything he was doing and rushed to its source.

    For it was a moment that he had been long awaiting¡­

    ¡­and a sign of something spectacr.

    The End.

 Chapter 1899 Authors Note

    Chapter 1899 Author''s Note

    Don''t unlock this if you don''t want to read me yapping for an unreasonable number of words. The main point goes like this: Thank you all so much for reading! I hope to see you all in the next adventure as well! Anyway, let me change the tone for the people that want to read it. I''m going to try my best to be serious, I promise. So, it''s finally over. 2,500,258 wordster, we find ourselves here. I shall now fulfill my sacred duty to leave a 1000 word long yap session for you all to enjoy, or in fancier terms, an "Author''s Note."

    From what I''ve seen, I''m supposed to talk about a lot of fancy things here, but I''m not very good at that. How do I exin it best? VES started because some of my friends gave me a push and told me to try writing. I did exactly that and found my love for it. This book was what was born from that. In essence, I was a reader who decided to write the story I wanted to read. I wanted to see a main character with spatial powers. I wanted to see the creative imagination I''d formed by reading so many books manifested in a story of my own creation.

    It was a good outlet. Even if I wasn''t very good at it when I started, it was something I really enjoyed doing and something I encourage others with simr minds to try even if they never end up pursuing it.

    When I started writing VES, I never thought it would reach a ce like this. Back then, I was thinking Damien''s story would end a long, long time ago.

    However, as time passed and as the world grew bigger, I fell too far in love with writing. I ended up treating this book as my personal yground where ideas could run wild. At times it was fantasy, at times it was sci-fi, and at times it was just in cultivation (though a lot of people didn''t take well to that part.) The world developed into something just as magical as it was massive because my ideas were forced to weave together to be one big picture. In part, I guess it was an ident, but I like to think that it ended up this way because it was always meant to be like that. Damien went from a character I created because I wanted to see an mc who used space as his main power to an absurd being that''s literally hard to describe in words. Trust me, I struggled enough to realize that in the depths of my soul. I mean, even you guys didn''t expect that we''d end with literally controlling everything, did you? For me, it was a learning experience more than anything else. It''s been 2 years, but this was still my first time trying to write anything that wasn''t a school essay. Seriously. First time. Ever. It''s genuinely insane to me that things turned out this way. I feel the need to reiterate it infinitely. It''s a book filled with mistakes. There were many times when I looked back at old chapters (you know the ones) and cringed at my own writing. It is impossible to fathom the mental state I was in when some of those things were written, I swear.

    I had the chance to edit things and make them eptable, too, but I made the conscious decision not to. It has affected and will continue to affect iing traffic to the book, but that doesn''t really bother me. After all, this book has some sentimental value to me. It''s my first real creative piece, and despite its ws, I think I did a pretty damn good job.

    This book is like a record of my first steps as an author. As Damien improved, my writing ability improved. You could even consider his development as a character to be a direct representation of me learning how to maneuver my way around a plot.

    The mistakes in this book and the cringe moments are all valuable moments, as when Ie back to this book yearster, those are the things that''ll make me smile.

    People hated how long it took for Damien to reach a proper mental state, but I thought it wouldn''t do justice to him if I easily had him get over his issues. As hundreds of chapters turned into thousands, Damien Void became clearer to me, and even as a character in a book, I wanted him to have proper growth apanied by all of the stumbles and falls that naturally happened along the way.

    Regardless of how it turned out, I made amitment that I stood by for two years, and you guys made the samemitment to read through all the highs and lows to reach this stupid little note I''m attaching to the end for my own sake. I''m seriously appreciative of all of you, especially the ones who leftments and interactions that let me know that there were people who wanted to see the end of the story just as much as I did (special shoutout to the beppers. You know who you are.) Back to the point, whether it''s a third-rate novel or the best masterpiece ever written, I don''t care. I''m d that I wrote it, and I''m d that you read it. Thank you all for staying with me until the end. I''ll see you all again on the next one!

    (It''s called Tower of Heaven and it''s out now. I promise that it will be at least moderately less cringe than VES since I have some experience now.)

    The concept is a mix of cultivation and a tower story. It sounds a little cliche, but I had a lot of fun nning this story, so I hope you all give it a chance. I know it''s a terrible plug, but what can I do? I''m not good at doing serious things. Anyway, if you''re interested, go check it out. If not, then that''s fine too. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Once again, thank you for enjoying Damien''s story until now. Your support means the world to me :)

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!